History of a Melksham icon

FOR over 300 years, Melksham House has been a much-loved focal point for the town.

And whilst the Grade II listed building currently lies empty – awaiting news from its current owner, Wiltshire Council, about its future use – the building has had many uses, including a home, a Red Cross hospital during the war, and a sports and social club.

Built between the 17th and early 18th century, Melksham House has also seen its fair share of owners and tenants over the year.

In 1699 it is reported that Richard Coxeter sold the property to Sir Walter Long, with the house remaining in the ownership of the Long family until the mid 19th Century.

“Melksham House was originally called The Grove, or Grove House, or Grove Mansion, and had been in the Long family for a while,” explains local historian Lisa Ellis.  

“The Longs were huge landowners, and quite a scandalous family. Direct descendent Cheryl Nicol wrote a book about them called ‘Inheriting the Earth’. An Amazon review starts out, “Described by the BBC in 2011 as ‘one of the most powerful dynasties in England’, the Long family of Wiltshire derived enormous power and prestige from land ownership.”

“Since I focus my research more on the later years, I can go into more detail about Melksham House from 1841, when The Grove was advertised for immediate let by owner W L Wrey, a bachelor with no offspring – he was part of the Long family. 

“Later in 1841, the house was sold, along with Wrey’s ownership of some Spa property, all purchased for 22,900 guineas.

“Retired reverend E L Barnwell bought the property and it was around this time the house was referred to as Melksham House, so he probably was responsible for renaming it. Barnwell made massive changes to the property. The pond was actually just a watering hole that farmers took their cattle to drink, but Barnwell modified it so that farmers weren’t tempted to trespass – his reasoning was that the banks were too high and cattle kept falling in and drowning. In 1887, Barnwell died, and the property was put up for sale in 1889.

“I can’t say for exact sure when the Awdry family bought it, because there continued to be newspaper adverts mentioning yet another auction of the property for several years to follow. 

“The censuses don’t go into detail if the Awdrys lived in the house at any stage, or if they leased it. What I do know is that the Awdrys owned it and leased it out at various times.

“The Awdry family were quite well known and owned much property as well; their seat being primarily Notton House in Lacock. There are connections to Jane Austen and Wilbert Awdry, writer of the Thomas the Tank engine stories, but that’s a tangent off our topic.

“The final private owner of Melksham House was Charles Selwyn Awdry, but he never lived in it. When he died in battle during WWI his estate put the house in auction, but it did not sell. Awdry’s widow allowed for it to become a Red Cross Hospital in 1918. 

“After the war, Avon bought the property in 1920 and renovated it for use as a social/sports club for their employees. The renovations sparked a huge fire which took out about half the property. It’s around this time that the pond was turned into a swimming pool. 

“In 1935, the town council approached Avon to ask if the town could use its facilities as there was a clambering for some sort of leisure/pool facility. People were using the River Avon for swimming and there were quite a number of accidents. Avon said ‘no’.

“And then we get to the present day, when around 10 years ago, Wiltshire Council purchased Melksham House from Cooper Tires (a part of Avon) for use as an in-town campus. It’s still in progress.”