History of Mompesson House

Expert curated

Mompesson House watercolour by George Henton (1888), at Mompesson House, Wiltshire — Mompesson House watercolour by George Henton (1888) | © National Trust Images

Mompesson House stands on the north side of Choristers’ Green, within the Cathedral Close of Salisbury, Wiltshire. It is a picture–perfect townhouse of the early 18th century. Leased to a succession of different families, its history is tied to the city, the cathedral and to the many people who have called the house their home.

Early history

Salisbury was, and is, dominated by its cathedral. This was not, however, the first cathedral of this diocese. Its predecessor lay within an Iron Age hillfort, known today as Old Sarum, some two miles to the north. In 1220 work began on building the present cathedral and the city of Salisbury emerged with it, growing quickly to become one of the largest towns in England.

The Cathedral Close, in which Mompesson House is located, stood apart from the town. It contained houses for the bishop and clergy and was surrounded by the River Avon to the west and south. The remaining sides were closed by the deep ‘Close Ditch’, which channeled water eastwards from the Avon and provided drainage for the houses.

The Mompesson family

Though growth had slowed, 17th-century Salisbury remained the largest town in the county of Wiltshire. In 1635 Thomas Mompesson (d.1640) renewed a lease on part of the site of the present Mompesson House from the dean and chapter of Salisbury Cathedral.

The Mompessons were a long established Wiltshire family, who owned manor houses and estates at Bathampton on the River Wyle, ten miles to the northwest of Salisbury. The family’s holdings consisted of two manors, named Great Bathampton and Little Bathampton, with their associated farmstead, buildings and land. By the 17^thcentury the family had produced several sheriffs of Wiltshire and would go on to count members of parliament amongst their ranks.

A fashionable address

Thomas Mompesson’s son, another Thomas (1630-1701), was a Member of Parliament and a Royalist, who supported John Penruddocke’s rising against the Commonwealth in 1655. Thomas is credited with building the stables and may have begun work on the present Mompesson House.

Originally houses in the Cathedral Close had been intended for the clergy but by the late 17th century the Close had become home to local gentry and to some professional men. Existing residents were prompted to improve or rebuild their houses. It was a fashionable place to live.

Building the house

The current building is named after Thomas’ son, Charles Mompesson (c.1670-1714), for whom it was created in 1701. Charles was a trained lawyer and became Member of Parliament for Old Sarum in 1698.

The hopper heads at the top of the downpipes of Mompesson House bear the initials CM together with the date of construction. Above the front door, a cartouche is carved with both the Mompesson and the Longueville coats of arms, commemorating Charles' marriage to Elizabeth Longueville (1678-1751) in 1703.

Detail of the initials 'CM' and the date 1701 on a lead rain water head on the front façade at Mompesson House, Salisbury, Wiltshire. — Detailing on a lead rain water head at Mompesson House | © National Trust Images/Nick Meers

The Longueville family

Elizabeth Longueville was the daughter of William Longueville (1639-1721), a successful lawyer, who had managed to somewhat repair his family’s fortune, which had been lost by his less successful father.

Following her husband’s death in 1714, Elizabeth and her father continued the tenancy on Mompesson House. After the death of her father, Elizabeth personally renewed the lease, both in 1723 and in 1737, though it seems her brother, Charles Longueville (c.1678-1750), took up residence after this date. The richly decorated interiors were introduced during this period and include an expensive oak staircase and ornate plasterwork.

Charles was one of a number of members of parliament named in a 1721 committee of enquiry, investigating who had accepted South Sea Company financial shares without payment. The South Sea Company was at the centre of the first rapid financial cycle or ‘bubble’ of modern times. Their business included the transportation and sale of enslaved African people.

Charles died in 1750, and his sister died a year later. In her will, Elizabeth granted Mompesson House to Charles’ natural son, John Clark, on condition it pass to her friend ‘Mr Thomas Hayter of Salisbury’, on his death. By 1753, it appears Thomas bought John out and the Hayter family remained at Mompesson House for two generations, leaving it much as they found it. The family were followed, in turn, by a series of residents, who each brought furniture and belongings to fill an empty house.

The Portman family

About 1798, a recently widowed Ann Portman (d.1814) moved to Mompesson House with her daughters, Ann Mary, Henrietta and Wyndham. Mrs Portman died in 1814 but Anne Mary and Wyndham continued to live in the house. It was probably the Portman sisters who extended many of the windows down to the floors and fitted new sash frames and shutters.

Henrietta, the only daughter to marry, sold Mompesson House in 1846. The advertisement which appeared in the Salisbury Journal that year described their home as ‘A good FAMILY HOUSE… It has a southern aspect, is in complete repair, and is very dry and airy’.

The Townsend family

For the majority of the next century Mompesson House became home to local solicitor, George Barnard Townsend (1811-70) and his wife, Elizabeth Eyre (d.1846) of Hungerford Chantry, the house next door. They had a son, George, and daughters, Barbara, and Jane. Elizabeth died in 1846 giving birth to a third daughter, Gertrude.

The diaries of Elizabeth and Jane, now held by the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre, reveal much of their life in Salisbury and at Mompesson House, including archery parties in the Close, balls in the Assembly Rooms and sermons in the cathedral.

It was Barbara Townsend (1842-1939), however, who became the family’s most well-known member, living at Mompesson House until her death. She was a self-taught artist, working mostly in watercolour, who recorded life in the Cathedral Close as well as travels further afield. Today, some of her work is in the National Trust collection and often forms part of changing displays within the house.

In the years following Barbara’s death, the freehold of Mompesson House was transferred from the dean and chapter of Salisbury Cathedral to the Church Commissioners. After a brief period as residence of the Bishop of Salisbury, the property was sold in 1952.

The Drawing Room in 1857 by Barbara Townsend at Mompesson House, Wiltshire — The Drawing Room in 1857 by Barbara Townsend at Mompesson House | © National Trust Images

Denis Martineau

Mompesson House was sold to Denis Martineau (1907-1975), a London–based architect looking for a weekend home in the country. Having seen an advertisement in Country Life, Denis purchased the freehold from the Church Commissioners on the condition that it passed to the National Trust on his death.

Denis carried out extensive repairs and modernised the services. He redecorated the interiors in bold colours, redesigned the garden and opened his renovated house to the public for two afternoons per week.

The National Trust

In 1975, when Denis died, the National Trust inherited a building that was, once again, empty of contents. Over the past five decades Mompesson House has been redecorated to celebrate its Georgian heyday and filled with carefully selected collections of 18^th and 19^th-century art, furniture and porcelain. This includes a display of nearly four hundred of the finest 18^th-century drinking glasses, bequeathed in 1970 by Captain Oswald Turner to the National Trust.