Snowshill Manor

Summary
A Tudor manor house of Cotswold stone, Snowshill houses Charles Paget Wade's collections of design and craftsmanship.

The House
Snowshill is a typically charming Cotswold manor, built in the Tudor period, but based on an even earlier medieval monastery. The manor now boasts a Georgian front on one side of the exterior.

The appeal of Snowshill is not in the architecture but the interior furnishings. Within the house is a maze of rooms crammed full of the decidedly eclectic (and eccentric) collections of Charles Paget Wade, who rebuilt the ruined manor beginning in 1919.

Wade spent a lifetime acquiring items of the highest workmanship and design quality from around the world, in accord with his Arts and Crafts Movement philosophy of the value of the individual artisan.

Several guests have reported seeing a ghost at Snowshill. The spectre is that of a monk, presumably one who lived here when the house served as part of a monastery before the Reformation.

It is almost impossible to categorize the collection at Snowshill. Cheek by jowl are bicycles, clocks, toys, musical instruments, masks, spinning wheels, weaving and spinning tools, Japanese armour, and on and on. All items are examples of the finest craftsmanship.

In addition there is a very enjoyable Arts and Crafts style garden composed of distinct garden rooms with an emphasis on blue and purple colours in the planting. This emphasis is accentuated by the number of garden ornaments painted "Wade blue" to accent the plantings.

Mr. Wade did not live in the house himself, preferring the peculiar cottage in the garden. One story goes that he took refuge in the cottage after being unnerved by the ghostly monk in the main house. Of course it could also be the case that the house was simply too full of his collections to allow for habitation.

The most unusual feature of the cottage is the galleried bedroom, which can only be reached by an outside stair. One note for people considering a visit to Snowshill; the manor is reached by a 10 minute walk along a path with undulations. A buggy is available for those who require assistance with the path. Snowshill is now administered by the National Trust.

Location
Snowshill, 3 m S Broadway, Worcestershire, off A44.