The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - The Telegraph Magazine
Meet the real Poldark
The master of Chavenage house
As Poldark returns to our screens for the last time, James Lowsley-williams, true master of the manor used in the TV drama, takes Susan Springate on a tour of Chavenage – home to the famous scything fields, and with a roof paid for by the Queen. Photographs by Gavin Smith
WHEN THE FIFTH and final series of Poldark starts on BBC One tomorrow evening, it’s not only the sight of actor Aidan Turner, charging up the drive of his ancestral home on the back of a black stallion, that viewers will enjoy seeing again.
The Poldark family pile, Trenwith – or Chavenage, as it is known in real life – has loomed large in the series. The façade of the Elizabethan mansion (which is not in Cornwall but in the Cotswolds, equidistant between Highgrove and Gatcombe Park) has become a familiar sight for the drama’s legions of fans, and has provided the backdrop to some of its most memorable scenes.
But what of the real-life master of Chavenage? Like his on-screen equivalent, James Lowsley-williams is not your typical lord of the manor. The 27-year-old is neither Eton-educated nor an Army man like his father, George, who served in the Royal Hussars. James decided to bypass university to go directly into professional cycling and was ranked in the country’s top 20 before he retired last year. Since then, he has worked as a presenter on cycling network GCN, where he takes on daredevil feats, including next year’s Race Across America, described as the world’s toughest bicycle race.
‘I am slightly different to your usual master of the manor,’ he concedes, leading a six-year-old black thoroughbred mare up the gravel drive of the property. ‘I haven’t followed the usual route for someone in my position.’
As the eldest son, Lowsley-williams always knew he would one day inherit the 1,900-acre estate, but it wasn’t until his 18th birthday that the enormity of his future responsibilities began to sink in.
‘I had to sign my will and take out life insurance – not the typical thing to do on your 18th,’ he laments, explaining that due to financial considerations, the estate has skipped a generation, passing directly to him from his grandfather, David Lowsley-williams, seven years later. ‘At an age when most people are starting out in their lives, I had sort of arrived at my end goal,’ he says. ‘I am expected to make a success of it, not just for myself and the estate, but for all the people who depend on it. That’s a daunting task.’
His future plans include a bike track, a farm shop and eco-style holiday lets – and he has already built his own state-of-the-art, environmentally friendly home on the site of the former butler’s house, with stunning views across the fields.
Although Lowsley-williams is officially master of Chavenage, its day-today running remains a family affair: his grandparents, who are in their 80s and
‘I am slightly different to your usual master of the manor. I haven’t followed the usual route’
live in the main house, still accompany visiting groups; his father George is head gardener and manages the 2,000acre farm; while aunt Joanna takes care of catering. James oversees everything and deals with paperwork in the evenings, while his other aunt, Caroline, has developed the filming side of the business, which has seen Chavenage playing host to dozens of productions, including Wolf Hall, Larkrise to Candleford and an upcoming new adaptation of Emma.
Unsurprisingly though, it’s Poldark that has had the greatest impact. Busloads of visitors from around the world queue up for the Poldark tour, and it’s not unheard of to encounter random chaps taking bare-chested selfies in the barley field where Aidan Turner filmed his scything scene in series two.
On a practical level, the show has helped pay for ongoing maintenance work on the property, including refurbishing the casement windows and replacing the ridge tiles on the roof. ‘Every penny earned from filming
goes back into the house,’ says Lowsley-williams. it’s the Queen, however, who is responsible for replacing the roof itself, by purchasing some rare drawings of the private apartments at Windsor Castle, which had been signed by George IV and were discovered in the attic in 1970. ‘The Queen insisted on paying market value for them, so she was key in fixing our leaking roof,’ laughs Lowsley-williams.
Along with the house’s exterior, instantly recognisable rooms inside include the Great Hall, with its minstrels’ gallery, which serves as a dining room in the series, and the exquisite Oak Room with its elaborate 16th-century panelling. Upstairs is the so-called Cromwell Room – occupied by the man himself when he visited in 1648 – but is better known by Poldark aficionados as the bedroom where Charles Poldark breathed his last, early on in the drama.
Prior to the Lowsley-williams family, the house was owned by Colonel Nathaniel Stephens, MP for Gloucestershire, who voted for the execution of Charles I. Soon after the king was beheaded, Stephens died and according to legend his ghost was seen leaving Chavenage in a carriage driven by a headless coachman in royal vestments. Chavenage has been considered one of the most haunted houses in the Cotswolds ever since.
The royal connections don’t stop there. Princess Anne and Prince Charles have often visited, and due to the no-fly zone over Highgrove, the Prince’s guests land their helicopters on Chavenage land. Princes William and Harry often played here as boys, as their groom grew up on the estate.
Lowsley-williams will miss the Poldark cast and crew when the series comes to an end later on this summer. ‘They have become part of the family,’ he says, adding with a laugh, ‘We’ll probably miss the free lunch, too.’
‘The Queen insisted on paying market value, so she was key in fixing our leaking roof’