History of Snowshill Manor

Published:: 19 March 2025; Expert curated

The south front of Snowshill Manor in Gloucestershire — Snowshill Manor in Gloucestershire | © National Trust Images/James Dobson

Snowshill is a small manor house and garden, in Gloucestershire, once owned by English kings and queens. In the 20th century, it was purchased by Charles Paget Wade who refurbished the house and garden to provide a home for his extensive and eclectic collection.

Early origins

The manor of Snowshill is first recorded in AD821 when Coenwulf, King of Mercia, gave it to Winchcombe Abbey. The earliest parts of the current building may date to the middle of the 16th century. After the dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century by King Henry VIII, it was taken into royal ownership and given to Queen Catherine Parr (1512–48). It was owned by Edward VI (1537–53) and Queen Mary I (1516–58) who gifted it to Frances Bulstrode (c. 1513–c. 1568) in 1557, who quickly sold it to Henry Willougby in 1561. It never returned to Crown ownership.

The main house was altered in either one or two phases during the 17th century. A new range to the south was probably built on the footprint of an earlier building. The main changes in the early-18th century were the completion of the grand five bay frontage block. It does appear that, from the mid 18th century, the house began to diminish in status, becoming a farmhouse rather than a minor country house. During this long period, several of the windows were blocked, presumably to reduce the Window Tax assessments. Tenant farmers then occupied the house for well over a century before it was bought in 1919 by Charles Paget Wade (1883–1956).

Charles Paget Wade and Caribbean connections

Charles was a skilled architect and artist with a deep love of theatrical performances and the past. As a young man he worked in London, was an associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects, illustrated books and his artworks were exhibited at the Whitechapel Art Gallery.

He inherited family land and businesses in the Caribbean in 1911 which provided the funds to buy and develop Snowshill. Charles’s ancestors first settled on St Kitts in the 18th century, and historic registers reveal they were enslavers of people. The Wade family was of mixed racial heritage. Charles’s white grandfather married a Black, freeborn woman and they had seven children together, one of whom was Charles’s father.

Multiple statues, trinkets and other collection items stored in a Japanese lacquer cabinet at Snowshill Manor and Garden, Gloucestershire — 18th century black lacquered cabinet that belonged to Granny Spencer | © National Trust / Oskar Proctor

The collector

Charles Wade created his own coat of arms, which bore the motto “Let nothing perish” which describes his approach to collecting.

His love for collecting began when he was 7 years old and lived for a while with his maternal grandmother, ‘Granny Spencer’. She owned an 18th-century black lacquered cabinet. Charles was allowed to open this cabinet with a “magic key” every Sunday to marvel at the objects secreted within its drawers and recesses. He later recalled the feeling of enchantment that this cabinet evoked, stayed with him all his life. “Now, after all the years, for me this cabinet has lost none of its enchantment. It still weaves spells and is my favourite treasure of all at Snowshill.”

Charles went on to build a collection of over 20,000 items, made up of furniture, costume, bicycles, musical instruments, paintings, arms, and armour and much more. He largely focused on English makers but was also interested in objects from overseas when they displayed strong colours, which he was very drawn to. Usually, he found them in junk or antique shops and through antique dealers in England.

Interior shot of a panelled room, painted in a turquoise. Ornate display cabinets, built from dark woods and gold fixtures furnish the room, boldly contrasting with the colour of the walls. — The Turquoise Room at Snowshill Manor, Gloucestershire | © National Trust Images/Dennis Gilbert

A home for his collection

After reading an advertisement in ‘Country Life’ magazine, Charles purchased Snowshill Manor on the 24 June 1919. He wished to display his treasured collection, within a house, rather than a museum. Charles gave every room in the manor house to the collection, choosing himself to live and work in a small cottage opposite, now known as the Priest’s House. He also turned the farmyard around the house into an Arts and Crafts garden with the help of his friend and architect Mackay Hugh Baillie Scott (1865–1945).

Charles named each of the 20 rooms in the manor according to their contents, position, or decoration. He painted these names on the lintels over the doorways. ‘Zenith’, the high point of the house experience, was the name of the room where he placed Granny Spencer’s cabinet, which had been his early inspiration. ‘A Hundred Wheels’ was where he displayed his personal transport collection.

Life at Snowshill

The fame of Charles’s home and collection soon spread among writers and artists, and he welcomed several famous figures to Snowshill in the early 20th century. They included J B. Priestley, Virginia Woolf, Graham Greene, and even Queen Mary. Charles would create dramatic tours for some visitors, occasionally disappearing through secret panels to reappear in another, unexpected place, sometimes even wearing historic costumes from his own collection.

In his 60s, Charles met his wife Mary McEwen Gore Graham (1902–99). Mary was the daughter of a rector. With the outbreak of the Second World War, Mary was living in Broadway, Worcestershire. She worked for a time at Gordon Russell Limited, a local furniture company making model airplanes that were essential for training the observer corps and armed forces in airplane recognition. When she met Charles in 1945, a month after the war had ended, she was working as a waitress at St Patrick’s Tearoom in Broadway. They married in 1946 and initially lived at Snowshill in the cottage but began spending increasing amounts of time in St Kitts from the early 1950s where their home was called White House. From here Charles produced over thirty notebooks depicting people and places across the Caribbean.

Interior view of a cluttered, rustic living space. An old wooden wingback chair sits in front of a large fireplace, a refectory table is to the left of the chair, using old church pews and a swing as seating. — The Living Room in the Priest's House at Snowshill Manor, Gloucestershire | © National Trust Images/Dennis Gilbert

Safeguarding Snowshill Manor

Charles gifted Snowshill Manor and its contents to the National Trust in his will, but on advice from his solicitor he handed it over earlier to avoid paying higher death duties. The condition being Charles and Mary could continue to live in the cottage for the rest of their lives. Snowshill Manor was officially opened to the public by the National Trust on May 3, 1952. Charles and Mary were on St Kitts at the time. During a visit to England in 1956 Charles was suddenly taken ill and died on 28 June that same year. He is buried in the churchyard at Snowshill.

Charles left instructions on the presentation of the collections, for example the use of candlelight to create a sense of theatre and drama, which subsequent National Trust curators have tried to adhere to. Today, electric historic light fittings replicate this atmospheric effect. Charles also wanted the National Trust to build a gallery for the display of his large costume collection, to his own grand design, but this has never been achievable.

Ensuring the long-term preservation of the collection in the Manor has meant that over the years some more delicate items have been moved out of display rooms to more controlled conditions – such as the costume collection or samurai armour.

Research underpins the care and presentation of the Manor and its collections today. For example, detailed historic paint analysis helps the trust to fully understand Charles’s intended decorative painting schemes, both inside and out, to ensure the perfect match during ongoing redecoration works.