Saltford House is a Grade II listed building in the village of Saltford, Somerset, England.[1]

History

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The house was built in 1771.[2][3] It was probably built for his own use by the architect Thomas Bennett.[1] The three storey limestone building has a central door with ionic half columns on either side.[1] The gateways and garden walls were built at the same time as the house.[4]

Saltford House was the home of Mary and William James. He was a lieutenant-colonel of the East India Company in 1817 when they were in Cawnpore and their daughter Julia was born. She would be a Temperance campaigner in Shrewsbury.[5] In 1830 the house was nearly demolished to make way for the railway, but Major James wanted such a high price that Isambard Kingdom Brunel would create a better route that would just miss the building.[6]

In 1856 it was bought by Admiral Benedictus Marwood Kelly who died there on 26 September 1867.[7][8] In 2016 the local member of parliament, Jacob Rees-Mogg unveiled a blue plaque at the house commemorating the time when the admiral was resident.[8]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Saltford House and attached garden walls to north and west". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  2. ^ "Saltford House and attached garden walls to north and west". historicengland.org.uk. Historic England. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  3. ^ "Saltford Parish Plan" (PDF). Saltford Parish Council. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  4. ^ "Pair of gateways and garden wall enclosing front garden of Saltford House". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  5. ^ "Wightman [née James], Julia Bainbrigge (1817–1898), temperance activist and author". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/39165. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Retrieved 28 June 2020. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  6. ^ "Online Museum (19th Century) of past life in and around Saltford - published by SEG". www.saltfordenvironmentgroup.org.uk. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  7. ^ "Admiral Benedictus Marwood Kelly". The London Gazette. p. 6603. 29 November 1867. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  8. ^ a b "Blue plaque honours Admiral Benedictus Kelly". BBC News. 2 October 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2016.

51°24′17″N 2°27′23″W / 51.4046°N 2.4564°W / 51.4046; -2.4564