MenuBowood House, Wiltshire
Bowood House is a Georgian country house near the village of Derry Hill, Wiltshire. The first house at Bowood was built c. 1725. The house was bought in 1754 by the first Earl of Shelburne who engaged the architect Henry Keene to extend the house. William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne, commissioned Robert Adam to decorate the grander rooms in Bowood and to add a magnificent orangery. The gardens were laid out from the 1760s by Capability Brown and, later, Charles Hamilton. It is within the council area of Wiltshire.
Historic England Grade I Listed 1253268.
Place Type: Georgian House
Historic County: Wiltshire
Lat, Long: 51.428549,-2.0376219
Grid Reference: ST 9748 6995
Civil Parish: Calne Without CP
Council Area: Wiltshire CA
Police Area: Wiltshire PA
GBPN ID: 300053
Entry Type: Main listing (P)
URL: https://gazetteer.org.uk/place/Bowood_House,_Wiltshire_300053
Peruse Wiltshire on Wikishire
From The Haunted Homes and Family Traditions of Great Britain (Ingram, 1897):
In the popular Memoirs of Mrs Schimmelpenninck, the well-known authoress, a curious story connected with Bowood, the seat of the Marquis of Lansdowne, is related as having occurred whilst the celebrated Dr Priestley was librarian there to Lord Shelbum.
"One day," says Mrs Schimmelpenninck, “ Mr Petty, the precocious and gifted youth, sent for DrPriestley (Lord Shelburn, Mr Petty’s father, being then absent, I think, in London). When the doctor entered, Mr Petty told him he had passed a very restless night, and had been much disturbed by uncomfortable dreams, which he wished to relate to Dr Priestley, hoping that, by so doing, the painful impression would pass away.
"He then said he dreamed he had been very unwell, when suddenly the whole household was in preparation for a journey. He was too ill to sit up, but was carried lying down in the carriage. His surprise was extreme in seeing carriage after carriage in an almost interminable procession. He was alone, and could not speak; he could only gaze in astonishment. The procession at last wound slowly off. After pursuing the road for many miles towards London, it at last appeared to stop at the door of a church. It was the church at High Wycombe, which is the burial-place of the Shelburn family. It seemed, in Mr Petty’s dream, that he entered, or rather was carried into the church. He looked back; he saw the procession which followed him was in black, and that the carriage from which he had been taken bore the semblance of a hearse. Here the dream ended, and he awoke.
"Dr. Priestley told him that his dream was the result of a feverish cold, and that the impression would soon pass off. Nevertheless, he thought it best to send for the family medical attendant. The next day Mr Petty was much better; on the third day he was completely convalescent, so that the doctor permitted him to leave his room; but as it was in January, and illness was prevalent, he desired him on no account to leave the house, and, with that precaution, took his leave. Late the next afternoon the medical man was returning from his other patients; his road lay by the gates of Bowood, and as Lord Shelburn was away, he thought he might as well call to see Mr Petty and enforce his directions. What was his surprise, when he had passed the lodge, to see the youth himself, without his hat, playfully running to meet him! The doctor was much astonished, as it was bitterly cold and the ground covered with snow. He rode towards Mr Petty to rebuke him for his imprudence, when suddenly he disappeared — whither he knew not, but he seemed instantaneously to vanish. The doctor thought it very extraordinary, but that probably the youth had not wished to be found transgressing orders, and he rode on to the house. There he learnt that Mr Petty had just expired."
Historic England Grade I Listed 1253268.
Place Type: Georgian House
Historic County: Wiltshire
Lat, Long: 51.428549,-2.0376219
Grid Reference: ST 9748 6995
Civil Parish: Calne Without CP
Council Area: Wiltshire CA
Police Area: Wiltshire PA
GBPN ID: 300053
Entry Type: Main listing (P)
URL: https://gazetteer.org.uk/place/Bowood_House,_Wiltshire_300053
Peruse Wiltshire on WikishireFrom The Haunted Homes and Family Traditions of Great Britain (Ingram, 1897):
In the popular Memoirs of Mrs Schimmelpenninck, the well-known authoress, a curious story connected with Bowood, the seat of the Marquis of Lansdowne, is related as having occurred whilst the celebrated Dr Priestley was librarian there to Lord Shelbum.
"One day," says Mrs Schimmelpenninck, “ Mr Petty, the precocious and gifted youth, sent for DrPriestley (Lord Shelburn, Mr Petty’s father, being then absent, I think, in London). When the doctor entered, Mr Petty told him he had passed a very restless night, and had been much disturbed by uncomfortable dreams, which he wished to relate to Dr Priestley, hoping that, by so doing, the painful impression would pass away.
"He then said he dreamed he had been very unwell, when suddenly the whole household was in preparation for a journey. He was too ill to sit up, but was carried lying down in the carriage. His surprise was extreme in seeing carriage after carriage in an almost interminable procession. He was alone, and could not speak; he could only gaze in astonishment. The procession at last wound slowly off. After pursuing the road for many miles towards London, it at last appeared to stop at the door of a church. It was the church at High Wycombe, which is the burial-place of the Shelburn family. It seemed, in Mr Petty’s dream, that he entered, or rather was carried into the church. He looked back; he saw the procession which followed him was in black, and that the carriage from which he had been taken bore the semblance of a hearse. Here the dream ended, and he awoke.
"Dr. Priestley told him that his dream was the result of a feverish cold, and that the impression would soon pass off. Nevertheless, he thought it best to send for the family medical attendant. The next day Mr Petty was much better; on the third day he was completely convalescent, so that the doctor permitted him to leave his room; but as it was in January, and illness was prevalent, he desired him on no account to leave the house, and, with that precaution, took his leave. Late the next afternoon the medical man was returning from his other patients; his road lay by the gates of Bowood, and as Lord Shelburn was away, he thought he might as well call to see Mr Petty and enforce his directions. What was his surprise, when he had passed the lodge, to see the youth himself, without his hat, playfully running to meet him! The doctor was much astonished, as it was bitterly cold and the ground covered with snow. He rode towards Mr Petty to rebuke him for his imprudence, when suddenly he disappeared — whither he knew not, but he seemed instantaneously to vanish. The doctor thought it very extraordinary, but that probably the youth had not wished to be found transgressing orders, and he rode on to the house. There he learnt that Mr Petty had just expired."