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Ashton Gifford House, front view taken from the north west corner of the property, looking back at the house

Ashton Gifford House is a Grade II listed building in the hamlet of Ashton Gifford^[1], Codford in the British county of Wiltshire. The house was built during the late 18th century, following the precepts of traditional Georgian architecture.

The 1773 version of Andrews' and Durys' map of Wiltshire refers to the hamlet of Ashton Gifford as "Isherton".^[2] This map may predate the building of the house, as there is no depiction of a building of the size of the Georgian elements of the current property.

An Act of enclosure was passed for the "Tything of Ashton Gifford, in the Parish of Codford Saint Peter" on 27 May 1814.^[3] 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".

English Heritage, in their Images of England section ^[4]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. Distyle in antis Tuscan portico to centre with inserted double half-glazed doors and flanking tripartite sashes, inner door with 6 fielded panels, fanlights and flanking margin-pane round- arched sashes with interlaced glazing bars, ground floor of centre block rusticated. The first floor has three 9-pane sashes, and the second floor has a plat band and three 6-pane sashes. The two-storey side-bays have 8-pane margin sashes and a plat band. At the roof level there is a moulded cornice to the plain stone parapet with twentieth century pineapple decorations.

At the rear of the property there are two central bays which break forward with 12-pane sashes to ground floor, 9-pane to first and 6-pane sashes to second floor, side-bays have 8-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 existence of period window shutters. On the ground floor, the drawing room has a scrolled plaster ceiling margin and a white marble fireplace, which is singled out for special mention.

In 1870 there were some significant modifications to the property,^[5] undertaken by John Ravenhill (the owner).^[6] Ravenhill added a service wing to the western side of in the house, running between from the original Georgian structure towards the walled garden. This wing contained the kitchens for the house (two in number), two dairies, pantries and store rooms, and servants' accommodation.^[7] A doorway at the rear (southern side) of the property, which had previously led to the cellars, was bricked up at this time.

The Ravenhill family occupied Ashton Gifford House (then known as Ashton House) from the 1840s until the 1870s.^[8] John Ravenhill was a magistrate and a banker, the Chairman of the North Wiltshire Banking Company ^[9]. His son, John Richard Ravenhill (1824-1894) was Deputy Lieutenant of Wiltshire, and (in 1870) High Sheriff of Wiltshire. The family were actively involved in the Codford St Peter School.^[10]

In the 1880s the house was owned by George Clement, a race horse trainer,^[11] along with his family. By 1891, however, the house was in the hands of Thomas Harding, a farmer, who was still there in 1901.^[12]. The establishment was somewhat reduced under Harding. While the Ravenhills had run the house with six indoor servants (in addition to the gardening, coach and farm staff), Harding had only three servants in the house.

By 1929 the house and land were auctioned by Constable and Maude of London.^[13] The property was described as a "Residential and Sporting Estate", and at the time comprised sixty acres of park land. There was an ornamental lake, woodland, parkland and pasture, and a variety of estate buildings. The auction lot included stabling and garages (in the two former coach houses, whcih were advertised as accommodating up to six cars). There were also two lodge buildings: a main entrance lodge to the north east of the propery (on the Codford High Street), and a "Station Lodge" with a thatched roof at the end of the south west drive, near the (now disused) Codford station. The station was in fact part of the Ashton Gifford hamlet, some way to the south of Codford.

The estate was advertised as possessing a wide range of farm buildings, and a baliff's farm house. The baliff's accommodation was substantial, with three reception rooms in addition to the kitchen.

Ashton Gifford House itself was described as having twelve bedrooms and dressing rooms - though there was only one bathroom servicing the main house (on the first floor) with a ground floor "Gentleman's W.C.". There were seperate (outside) facilities for the servants. On the ground floor of the property, along with the "Gentelman's W.C.", there was an entrance hall, dining room, library, and two sitting rooms. At this time the external front door to the house was positioned in the most easterly of the three bays of the entrance portico. The doorway was subsequently repositioned in the central bay, restoring the symmetrical appearance of the front of the house. The Georgian portion of the house had, at this time, an additional four chimney stacks - two on the eastern and two on the western outer walls, servicing the upper floors.

The house was occupied in the early 1930s (until his death) by the Irish peer Lord Headley - Rowland Allanson-Winn, 5th Baron Headley.^[14]. Lord Headley is sometimes referred to as the first Muslim peer of Britain (a misnomer, as he was actually the second). He was President of the British Muslim Society, and died in 1935.^[15]

In 1940 Greenaways Preparatory School was evacuated from Bognor Regis, Sussex to Ashton Gifford House, and the property became a school.^[16]. There was a fire during the 1950s which partially destroyed the Victorian era service wing of the property. Greenaways School remained in possession until the 1960s, when the school closed. Ashton Gifford House remained a school (trading as Ashton Gifford School in the 1980s) until finally closing as a school in 1989.

There were attempts to have the property's use changed to that of a private residence in the 1970s (which were rejected by the planning authorities)^[17], and the estate buildings were gradually sold for conversion into accommodation (including the stable block).

Between 1989 and 1992 the property was owned by a charitable trust, with the aim of providing education.

In 1992 Ashton Gifford House was sold, and planning permission was granted to convert it back to a private residence. The Codford by-pass (the A36 road) was built through the northern-most part of the property in the mid-1990s, shortening the drive. This required some of the agricultural land and woodland to be sold to the Department of Transport. The main drive for Ashton Gifford House now emerges onto Sherrington Lane, to the east of the property.

1. ^ grid reference ST961401
2. ^ Wiltshire County Council Community History Codford map
3. ^ "An act for inclosing Lands in the Tything of Ashton Gifford, in the Parish of Codford Saint Peter, in the county of Wilts.
4. ^ Images of England listing
5. ^ Commemorative stone, southern terrace of Ashton Gifford House
6. ^ 1871 UK Census
7. ^ Auction brochure, Ashton Gifford House, Constable and Maude (of London), for a public auction held on 20 November, 1929
8. ^ 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881 UK census
9. ^ 1871 census
10. ^ Wiltshire County Council Community History page http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/community/getschool.php?id=1040
11. ^ 1881 UK Census
12. ^ 1891 and 1901 UK Census
13. ^ Auction brochure, Ashton Gifford House, Constable and Maude (of London), for a public auction held on 20 November, 1929
14. ^ Who's Who, 1931
15. ^ Lord Headley's role as a Muslim http://wokingmuslim.org/pers/headley/
16. ^ Wiltshire County Council, Community history
17. ^ West Wiltshire Council planning department

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