THE FAMILY HOME FIT FOR POLDARK

Hidden in woodland, Chavenage seems to speak for the proud stone manor houses for which the Cotswolds are famous – and is best known today as the fictional manor house Trenwith in the historical TV drama Poldark. Chavenage has been owned by the Lowsley-Williams family since 1891. Now, three generations of the dynasty live here, giving the house its character – busy, well loved, and well lived-in. David and Rona Lowsley-Williams live in the main house, as they have since David inherited the estate in 1958, ‘I think Chavenage has a rare atmosphere, it is a family home on many levels and a survivor from another age,’ he says.

Daughter Caroline runs events in the house; her brother George and his son James manage the estate; and sister Joanna and family live in a wing, from which she runs her own business. She says, ‘We feel part of this house, and it is a place to which we all return’.

The Stephens family, wealthy from wool, acquired the estate and built

the house in the 1560s. They stayed for nine generations, adding a tiny church around 1700 that was originally built as a folly.

The Lowsley-Williamses began a substantial west wing, with a fine oak-panelled ballroom, in 1904. Caroline says that her greatgrandmother ‘ thought it would have been social death not to have a ballroom’. David adds, ‘She was certainly a forceful lady, but all her improvements obliged them to sell other inherited Gloucestershire estates.’ This handsome room has come into its own for wedding parties in more recent times.

Two bedrooms are hung with Flemish tapestries including the Cromwell Room, which features a portrait of Oliver Cromwell, a gift from novelist Barbara Cartland, a relative of Rona’s. When the Lowsley-Williams opened the house to the public in the 1970s, they made use of the former servants’ domain. Rona recalls, ‘We moved our sitting room to the servants’ hall, which we found was the warmest room in the house. The house and furniture still belongs to the generations who went before, who surround us in paintings and photographs. Our job is to keep it all polished, and ready for future generations.’ Filming Poldark (above) and (right) the Cromwell Room

Chavenage’s Edwardian extension and small church