Horton Court
Encyclopedia
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
situated in Horton
Horton, Gloucestershire
Horton is a village on the Cotswold Edge, in South Gloucestershire, England. It is about 2½ miles from Chipping Sodbury. The nearest settlement is Little Sodbury, about 1½ miles away; Hawkesbury Upton and Dunkirk are both 2½ miles away....
, near Chipping Sodbury
Chipping Sodbury
Chipping Sodbury is a market town in the county of South Gloucestershire, south-west England, founded in the 12th century by William Crassus . The villages of Old Sodbury and Little Sodbury are nearby...
, South Gloucestershire
South Gloucestershire
South Gloucestershire is a unitary district in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, in South West England.-History:The district was created in 1996, when the county of Avon was abolished, by the merger of former area of the districts of Kingswood and Northavon...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The building has been a National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
property since 1949.
All that remains of the rectory is the hall and an exceptionally fine detached ambulatory
Ambulatory
The ambulatory is the covered passage around a cloister. The term is sometimes applied to the procession way around the east end of a cathedral or large church and behind the high altar....
.
The ambulatory or loggia
Loggia
Loggia is the name given to an architectural feature, originally of Minoan design. They are often a gallery or corridor at ground level, sometimes higher, on the facade of a building and open to the air on one side, where it is supported by columns or pierced openings in the wall...
was built for William Knight
William Knight (royal servant)
William Knight was the Secretary of State to Henry VIII of England, and Bishop of Bath and Wells.Knight was sent to Rome in 1527 to try to get Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled...
after his return from Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in 1527.
The house has been empty for the past 3 years but the National Trust are opening the ground floor on Friday and Sunday afternoons during July and August 2011 and are actively considering how to make it more readily available. See local news article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-13990607