Snowshill Manor

The significance of Snowshill Manor relates less to its pre-First World War architectural qualities or social history as a manor house than to the individualistic but important collection, arrangement and garden orchestrated between 1919 and 1951 by Charles Paget Wade. This paper considers how the realities of managing a historic building and collection open to the public, combined with the Trust’s changing views on the significance of Wade, have impacted on the buildings. It considers what influence the conservation of, and visitor access to, the 22,000-artefact collection have had,– and are continuing to exert, on the building fabric and context of this Cotswold manor house since the National Trust took ownership in 1951. It emphasizes how crucial it is for a body such as the National Trust to fully understand what makes a place significant and then commit to preserving these values before acquiring it. This paper only discusses the collection insofar as it has influenced changes to the building fabric Wade knew.

Figure 1 The south front of Snowshill Manor, with the Priest's House to the left. Within the hipped roof is the attic space containing One Hundred Wheels. (National Trust Photo Library: Nick Meers)

Jonathan Howard

Born and educated in New Zealand, Jonathan Howard completed his postgraduate degree in Historic Conservation at Oxford Brookes University in 2003 while working as House Steward at Snowshill Manor. Subsequently he worked as the Building Research Assistant for the National Trust Building Department before returning to New Zealand in 2006 to take up the position of Heritage Adviser Conservation for the Otago/Southland regions for the New Zealand Historic Places Trust. He is currently writing a biography of Charles Paget Wade.

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Donhead Publishing 2012