Southill House | |
Location Town: | Cranmore |
Location Country: | England |
Completion Date: | Early 18th century |
Map Type: | Somerset |
Coordinates: | 51.1819°N -2.4708°W |
Southill House in Cranmore, Somerset, England, is an early 18th-century manor house. It was given a new facade by John Wood, the Younger, of Bath, in the late 18th century. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building.[1]
The house is on a site which may have been used for Roman buildings including a hypocaust.[2] [3]
The current 18th-century building includes some remains from a 17th-century building,.[4] standing in a landscaped park.[5]
in World War II the house was used as a base for the Auxiliary Unit Scout Patrol.[6]
The house received moderate publicity in 1998 when a "cow grazing near the croquet lawn" fell through the turf into a forgotten tunnel. The writings of a Victorian servant in the house, Edwin Charles Cox, revealed that the passages were said to be haunted but upon his exploration only contained remainder furniture.[7]
In 2011 the house was short-listed in a competition run by Country Life magazine to find England's Favourite House and was chosen as the South West regional winner.[8] [9] [10] The house was owned by the Cotterell family for over 10 years who then eventually sold the house to Stephen Ellis, a London banker.