Baynton House

Coordinates: 51°17′02″N 2°04′17″W / 51.2838°N 2.0713°W / 51.2838; -2.0713 Baynton House is a Grade II^[1] listed 17th century country house situated at Coulston in Wiltshire.

Originally owned by the Godolphin family, after the death in 1781 of William Godolphin, it was bought by William Evelyn, who enlarged what had been previously a house 'of very small pretensions'.^[2] William Long purchased it in 1796 after his own manor house of Baynton in Edington had been destroyed by fire. He also made alterations and renamed it Baynton House. Parts of the rear of the house probably date from the first building of c.1658, and in the hall there is re-used panelling of the same era. In the late 18th century, the east front of the house was built; it is of five bays and two stories with a central Doric porch. A somewhat later addition is the south wing.^[3] Constructed of rendered brick, the house sits in parkland, with its own lake.

John Long of Monkton Farleigh, (nephew of Richard Godolphin Long) inherited the property after the death of the widow of his cousin William Long in 1822, who had left it at her disposal. In 1830 365 Roman coins known as the Baynton Hoard were dug up in the grounds,^[4] 101 of which are now kept in the Wiltshire Heritage Museum, Devizes. John Long sold the property in 1842, and it subsequently passed to Simon Watson Taylor of Erlestoke, from whose heirs it was bought by G. S. H. Pearson about 1915.

The house was sold by R. H. Pearson in 1964 for £25,000. A book named after the house was published in 1955, written by R. H. Pearson. The book chronicles the story and lives of the Pearsons who lived at Baynton House.

The house is still a private residence.

References

External links

• Image of Baynton House retrieved from www.wiltshire.gov.uk