Ashton Gifford House is a Grade II listed country house in the hamlet of Ashton Gifford, part of the civil parish of Codford in the English county of Wiltshire. Ashton Gifford House is mentioned in the Wiltshire edition of the Pevsner Architectural Guides. The house was built during the early 19th century, following the precepts of Georgian architecture, and its estate eventually included all of the hamlet or tithing of Ashton Gifford. The house sits in the Wylye valley, part of the Cranborne Chase Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Early history Ashton Gifford is recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book, listed as land belonging to Humphrey de l'Isle. The land was held by Robert, previously (under King Edward) having been held by Cynewig. Ashton Gifford was a relatively prosperous estate, valued at six pounds (from four pounds in 1066). The estate consisted of of meadow, and pasture "6 furlongs long and as much broad".
The site of the Anglo Saxon settlement can be seen in the field to the south of the current Ashton Gifford House, where different patches of colour in the earth indicate the sites of Anglo Saxon houses.
There is reference to the manor being known as Ashton Dunstanville in the late 14th century."Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society Journal" 1872, page 334
The 1773 version of Andrews' and Dury's map of Wiltshire refers to Ashton Gifford as "Isherton". The map shows around eleven houses forming the tything or hamlet of Ashton Gifford."Codford: Wool and War in Wiltshire", John Chandler, Phillimore 2007"
Enclosure
In September 1811 the following notice was published in local newspapers: "Notice is hereby given, That Application is intended to be made to Parliament, in the next Session of Parliament, for leave to bring in a Bill for dividing and allotting in severalty the Open and Common Fields and Downs, Common Meadows, Common Pastures, Commonable and Waste Lands, in or belonging to the Tything of Ashton Gifford, in the parish of Codford Saint Peter, in the county of Wilts.""Salisbury and Winchester Journal" 23 September 1811
An Act of Enclosure was passed for the "Tything of Ashton Gifford, in the Parish of Codford Saint Peter" on 27 May 1814."An act for inclosing Lands in the Tything of Ashton Gifford, in the Parish of Codford Saint Peter, in the county of Wilts. This allowed for the enclosure of lands in the hamlet, naming William Hubbard Esq., William Hinton Esq., and Sarah Bingham, Spinster as the owners under the Lord of the manor of Codford St Peter (Harry Biggs Esq.). Three "gentlemen" were appointed Commissioners for the enclosure: John Hayward of Rowde, John Rogers of Burcombe and Ambrose Patient of Corton. The Commissioners were instructed to meet at "a certain House called the George Inn in Codford Saint Peter aforesaid". The George still exists, as the George Hotel, in Codford High Street, though it was rebuilt in the later 19th century.
Construction
The main house appears to have been built in two principal stages. The central part, of three storeys, has thick walls which were constructed as external walls and which now lie in between the central portion and the east and west wings of the property. It is surmised that this part of the property was constructed around 1806 by Benjamin Rebbeck, a local landowner who had purchased the property (including around of land) from the estate of the Earl of Shrewsbury.The title of lord of the manor of Ashton Gifford was held by the earls of Shrewsbury until this sale in 1806, at which point the lordship dissipatesAn R. Rebbeck, Esq. is listed as a subscriber to "The Works of the Rev. P. Doddridge" which was published in 1805. The address is given as "Ashton Gifford" Rebbeck was a churchwarden and parish overseer of the poor in Codford St Peter."The Salisbury and Winchester Journal" 24 June 1811 Rebbeck lost the house to the mortgage holder in 1815 as a result of his spiralling debts, for which he was imprisoned in 1818 in Fleet Prison,"Salisbury and Winchester Journal" 13 January 1817"Salisbury and Winchester Journal 27 January 1817"Salisbury and Winchester Journal 18 May 1818"Salisbury and Wiltshire Journal" 15 June 1818 and the mortgage holder, William Hubbard, who is mentioned in the enclosure of Ashton Gifford, took possession of the house and added the two ashlar wings. Hubbard appears to have been resident by May 1817 (at the latest).Auction Catalogue of D&E Lake Limited, citing William Hubbard of Ashton House as provenance for a lot, as of 17 May 1817 Hubbard also increased the size of the estate, to around .
The walled garden, which appears to have been constructed around this time, and which is still a part of the property, lies to the west of the current house. It has been described as the largest in the county, at .West Wiltshire District Council heritage It was in use as a vegetable garden into the 1980s, when the house was occupied by a school (see below).Skyviews aerial photographs
In the 19th century, significant modifications to the property were undertaken. The owners added a service wing to the western side of the house, running from the original Georgian structure towards the walled garden, providing kitchens for the house (two in number), two dairies, pantries and store rooms, and servants' accommodation.Auction brochure, Ashton Gifford House, Constable and Maude (of London), for a public auction held on 20 November 1929 This wing was damaged by fire in the 1950s, and demolished in the early 1970s. The westernmost portion of the wing remains, and is now in use as garages.
Architecture English Heritage, in their Images of England section describe the property as having a limestone ashlar front with side walls of brick. The property is three-storied, with a three-window central block breaking forward and two-storey same-height side-bays. The main entrance is a distyle in antis Tuscan portico to the centre with inserted double half-glazed doors and flanking tripartite sashes, an inner main door with six fielded panels, fanlights and flanking margin-pane round-arched sashes with interlaced glazing bars. The ground floor of the centre block has rusticated stonework. The first floor has three nine-pane sashes, and the second floor has a plat band and three six-pane sashes. The two-storey side-bays have eight-pane margin sashes and a plat band. At roof level there is a moulded cornice to the plain stone parapet, with 20th-century pineapple decorations.
At the rear of the property there are two central bays which break forward with 12-pane sashes to ground floor, nine-pane to first and six-pane sashes to second floor, while the side-bays have eight-pane margin sashes to ground and first floors. The interior features of the property that are highlighted by English Heritage include the central entrance hall with an oval open-well staircase (which has a continuous handrail and cast-iron balusters). Also noted are the presence of period doors, of six-panelled design, in panelled reveals and moulded architraves, and the period window shutters. On the ground floor, the drawing room has a scrolled plaster ceiling margin and a fireplace, which are singled out for special mention.
The house is mentioned in Pevsner's Wiltshire edition, referencing the staircase and Tuscan columns to the porch.
Nineteenth century After Benjamin Rebbeck lost the house, the mortgage holder William Hubbard completed the building of Ashton Gifford House (also known as Ashton House) sometime between 1815 and 1824, had occupied it by 1817D&L Lanes op citSalisbury and Winchester Journal", 22 June 1818, listing supporters of Mr Benett who was standing for Parliament and remained in residence until his death in 1831."Codford: Wool and War in Wiltshire", John Chandler, Phillimore 2007. However, William died in Crockerton in the nearby parish of Sutton Veny - probably Crockerton House, former residence of his friend Gregory Seale.William Hubbard was listed as living at Ashton Gifford in the Dorset Natural history and Archaeological Society proceedings of 1821 One Henry Hubbard is recorded as having obtained a game licence at Ashton Gifford in 1817 and in 1825.Salisbury and Winchester Journal, Monday 27 October 1817, List (1) General Certificates at £3 13 6d each, and Monday 19 September 1825, List (1) General Certificates at £3 13 6d each William Hubbard married three times. First, to Margaret Wilkinson in St.Petersburg, by whom he had three children: Henry, Jane, and William. Second, to Grace Powditch in London, by whom he had three further children: Grace, Susannah and Elizabeth. Third, to Jane Turner Ingram, with whom he lived at Ashton Gifford; there were no children from this marriage. William's brother was John Hubbard, of Forest House, Leyton.Priscilla Alexander gr.gr.gr.granddaughter of William Hubbard and William Hubbard's will Around 10 of the old village houses were still standing in 1817, but these had been removed by 1839. The only original village building to be retained was a 17th-century cottage, which became the western (or Station) lodge house, now known as Ashton Cottage.
After Hubbard died in 1831, the trustees of his estate sold the property in 1834 to James Raxworthy. The house was then sold to Wadham Locke in 1836, who at the time of the 1841 census was living at Ashton Gifford House with his wife Caroline and daughter Charlotte.1841 UK Census The estate at this stage amounted to some . In 1844 Locke married for a second time (Caroline having died in 1842). His new wife, Albinia, was the daughter of the landowner John Dalton (of Keningford Hall, Yorkshire and Fillingham Castle, Lincolnshire).The Gentleman's Magazine 1844. Albinia was the fourth daughter of John Dalton. The marriage took place at Ripon
Locke was formerly an officer in the first Dragoon Guards, and went on to become High Sheriff of Wiltshire in 1847The Jurist 1847 (he was occasionally described as being of "Ashton Giffard", the alternative spelling of the locale). He was a huntsman, purchasing a "famed" pack of foxhounds known as the Headington Harriers for "two seasons" from a Mr Jem Morrell, before selling them to Sir John Cam Hobhouse (later Lord Broughton)."Drafts on my memory: Celebrities I have known", William Pitt Lennox An account of hare coursing on the Ashton Gifford estate is given in the Sporting Review of 1840.The Sporting Review, edited by Craven, 1840 Locke's father, also Wadham Locke (of Rowdeford House),"Book of the Lockes: A Genealogical and Historical Record of the Descendants of William Locke of Woburn", John Goodwin Locke, 1853 had been High Sheriff in 1804 and was Member of Parliament for Devizes in 1832;"A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain", Sir Bernard Burke he was the senior partner in the banking company of Locke, Hughes and Co of Devizes."Twigg's corrected list of the country bankers of England and Wales", 1830 Wadham Locke II's youngest sister (Wadham Locke I's youngest daughter) became Frances Isabella Duberly, who achieved notoriety for her presence with the army at the front line of the Crimean War. After her mother's death in 1838, she lived with her brother at Ashton Gifford, until her marriage in 1845."Mrs Duberly's War" edited by Christine Kelly Locke apparently collected stuffed birds, amassing almost a thousand British and foreign specimens kept in glass cases."To Naturalists, Curators of Museums, and Others", Devizes and Wiltshire Gazette, 1 November 1849
Wadham Locke paid for the construction of the village school at Codford St Peter, and subsequently supported it financially.Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1845, cited by Wiltshire OPC project at