Halswell House

History

An Elizabethan manor house at Halswell was largely absorbed into the fabric of the estate once a new Baroque wing was built in 1689, leaving the older building given over mostly to service rooms. The estate remained intact until it was broken up in 1950, after which the house fell into decline before the current owner began a full restoration of both house and grounds.

Architecture

The house pairs an Elizabethan manor with a later English Baroque wing added in 1689, a combination architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner described as the most important of its date in Somerset.

Worth knowing

Current owners lead behind-the-scenes tours that trace the restoration of both the Elizabethan and Baroque sections and the history of the families who built them.

Gardens & grounds

The surrounding eighteenth-century parkland holds temples, follies and lakes, including water gardens at Mill Wood that are themselves being restored folly by folly.