About
Chavenage House is an Elizabethan manor house near Tetbury in the Cotswolds, still lived in today by the Lowsley-Williams family, who have owned and cared for the house and its contents since the 19th century. Built in 1576 on the site of an earlier medieval building, Chavenage retains a remarkably intact Elizabethan character, with a striking gabled stone façade, a great hall hung with historic tapestries, and interiors furnished with an eclectic and personal collection of family portraits, oak furniture, armour and curiosities accumulated over more than four centuries of continuous private ownership. Unlike many grander Cotswold houses that passed through institutional or corporate hands, Chavenage has always remained a genuine family home, and this lived-in character is central to its appeal for visitors.
The house carries strong associations with the English Civil War: local tradition holds that Oliver Cromwell stayed at Chavenage, and that Colonel Nathaniel Stephens, the house's owner and a reluctant regicide who voted for the execution of Charles I, was subsequently haunted by guilt — a story commemorated in the house's "Cromwell's Room" and its ghostly Cavalier legend, still recounted by family members and guides on tours today. This blend of genuine historical significance and colourful storytelling has made Chavenage a memorable and distinctive visitor experience, quite different from the more formally curated presentation found at larger National Trust or English Heritage properties.
In more recent decades, Chavenage has become widely known as a popular filming location for British television and film productions, most notably featuring prominently as a location in the BBC's Poldark and, earlier, in Channel 4's Berkeley Square and various other period dramas, bringing the house to a new generation of visitors drawn by its screen appearances as much as by its architectural and historical merits. The Lowsley-Williams family continues to conduct guided tours personally on the house's limited public opening days, giving visitors a genuinely personal, family-led encounter with a historic house that has largely escaped the institutionalisation common to many comparable Elizabethan properties.
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Plan Your Visit
⏱️ Recommended Visit Duration
💡 Visitor Tips
- Visits are by guided tour only — check current opening days (Thursday and Sunday afternoons in season) before travelling.
- Tours are often led personally by the owning family, so ask questions — the anecdotal, personal detail is a highlight of the experience.
- Fans of Poldark and other period dramas filmed at Chavenage will want to ask guides to point out specific filming locations within the house.
- Check the website in advance, as public opening can be suspended during active filming periods.
- Combine your visit with nearby Westonbirt Arboretum or Tetbury town centre for a fuller Cotswolds day out.
- Free on-site parking is available, making a car the most practical way to visit this rural location.
- Group and coach bookings should be arranged well in advance, as tours are personally guided and capacity is limited.
- Wear comfortable shoes, as tours involve stairs and uneven historic flooring.
Highlights
The Great Hall and Elizabethan Tapestries
Chavenage's Great Hall is the architectural and visual centrepiece of the house, hung with historic tapestries and furnished with oak pieces that have remained in the house for generations. The hall's proportions and surviving decorative scheme give visitors a strong sense of Elizabethan domestic grandeur on a manageable, human scale, quite different from the vast state rooms of larger contemporary houses.
Guides typically use the Great Hall as the starting point for tours, introducing the house's architectural history and the family's long ownership before moving through the more intimate rooms beyond.
Cromwell's Room and Civil War Legend
Local tradition holds that Oliver Cromwell stayed at Chavenage during the Civil War, and the room associated with this visit — known as Cromwell's Room — is one of the house's most atmospheric spaces. The house's Civil War story centres on Colonel Nathaniel Stephens, the owner at the time, who was pressured into voting for the execution of Charles I and is said to have been consumed by guilt, dying shortly afterward and, according to legend, being carried away from the house in a phantom hearse driven by a headless Cavalier.
This blend of documented history and enduring ghost story is one of Chavenage's most distinctive draws.
Poldark and Screen Appearances
Chavenage has become widely recognised as a filming location for the BBC's popular Poldark adaptations, standing in for key locations within the drama's Cornish setting, and has also featured in numerous other British television productions and period films over several decades. Guides often point out specific rooms and exterior views used in filming, and the house's shop stocks material relating to its screen history, giving fans of the productions an additional reason to visit beyond its architectural and historical interest.
Family Portrait Collection
The house displays an extensive collection of family portraits spanning several centuries of ownership, documenting the Stephens and, later, Lowsley-Williams families who have shaped Chavenage's history. These portraits, combined with personal anecdotes shared by family members leading tours, give visitors an unusually direct sense of continuity between the house's historic past and its present-day status as a genuine family home rather than an institutionally managed heritage attraction.
Collections
Chavenage's collection comprises family portraits, Elizabethan and later furniture, historic tapestries, armour and assorted family curiosities accumulated over more than four centuries of continuous ownership by the Stephens and Lowsley-Williams families, displayed largely as they have been arranged and added to within the house rather than as a formally catalogued museum collection.
The Stephens Family and the Civil War
Guided tour theme exploring Colonel Nathaniel Stephens, Oliver Cromwell's associations with the house, and the Cavalier ghost legend
Chavenage on Screen
Display and guided commentary on the house's appearances in Poldark and other film and television productions
Current Exhibitions
No current exhibitions. Please check the museum website for updates.