Snowshill Manor and Garden

Snowshill Manor was built in c.1550 of Cotswold stone. It was developed in the 1600’s and again in the early 18th century. In the 1920s it was restored by the architect, artist, poet and craftsman Charles Paget Wade. Plaster ceilings were removed, oak panelling was fitted and every effort was made to bring the house into line with post-Morris Arts and Crafts taste. Outside, there is a terraced garden designed by Baillie Scott which was modified by Wade in 1920-3. A small building adjacent to the house, once a bakehouse and brewhouse, was converted by Wade into accommodation for himself, leaving the manor free to house his collection. By 1940 Wade had amassed a vast number of items, ranging from mousetraps to Samurai armour. Appropriately, his motto was Nequid Pereat – ‘Let nothing perish’

Snowshill Manor and Garden, Gloucestershire

This collection has 16,522 items online

In the heart of a traditional Cotswold village, Snowshill Manor is the home of Charles Paget Wade, architect, artist and craftsman, who devoted his life to amassing an enormous and varied collection of ceramics, model ships, toys, bicycles and much more: ‘I have not bought things because they were rare or valuable. My guiding essentials have been good design, colour and workmanship. What a joy these old things are to live with, each piece made by the hand of a craftsman, each has feeling that no machine could ever attain. Though each room of the house is filled with items of interest, each has a restful atmosphere. They are rooms to linger in – rooms one must return to – rooms where there is always something to discover – rooms which inspire a thousand fancies’.

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