Cold Ashton Manor, adjacent to the Church of the Holy Trinity, is considered one of the most impressive Jacobean manor houses in the Cotswolds. Built c.1629 for John Gunning (a former Mayor of Bristol), its gabled facade, mullioned windows, and walled garden epitomise the domestic architecture of the period. The manor belonged to Bath Abbey before the Dissolution, and was acquired by William Pepwall, a Mayor of Bristol, in 1564. It reflects the prosperity of the Gloucestershire gentry in the Tudor and Elizabethan periods. Unlike so many comparable houses, Cold Ashton Manor survived the Civil War and later centuries without major remodelling, making it an unusually authentic example of Tudor domestic architecture set against the backdrop of the Cotswold escarpment.
“The manor belonged to Bath Abbey before the Dissolution, and was acquired by William Pepwall, a Mayor of Bristol, in 1564.”
