Southbroom House

The Southbroom area, south-east of Devizes town centre, was part of Bishops Cannings parish until boundary changes in 1894 and 1934 brought it into the town. The first known owner of Southbroom House was John Drew (or Trew), a wealthy clothier from Devon. When John Drew occupied the estate in 1501 it consisted of the house, a dovehouse, a small park, orchards, and gardens. A small pond was thought to have existed on the estate at that time although this was not shown in later records. This could have some connection with Drews Pond, which is on the outskirts of Devizes. The estate passed to John Drew's grandson who was also called John. When he died in 1614, the estate passed to his son,…

In the days when the Eyles family owned the house the attics had one main use, to provide a place to sleep for the servants. Each night the butler would bring a ladder to the attic entrance so that the servants could go up to their room to sleep. He would then remove it until the following morning when again he would bring the ladder and allow the servants to get down. The house consisted of a dining hall, library, study, drawing room, servants quarters, morning room, bedrooms, bathroom and conservatory. Also there were extensive gardens and shrubberies. The house was considerably altered and extended in the 19th and 20th centuries for use as part of a school. The original building dating…