Summary

Tucked away down an inconspicuous lane leading to a beautiful National Trust valley lies Bellhouse, the south-west wing of the spectacular Grade II listed Woodchester Park House. Sleeping 8 guests, the house has 4 bedrooms with 3 bathrooms, a cosy sitting room, well-equipped kitchen, and high-ceilinged dining room. This unique holiday home emanates a sense of understated grandeur, perfectly complimented by its old-English charm. As well as benefitting from its own private garden and courtyard, Bellhouse is perched on the edge of the National Trust owned Woodchester Park, with direct access to around 500 acres of wonderful woodland, fields and five beautiful lakes.

Introduction
The first thing that strikes you as you enter the drive is the sheer size and beautiful architecture of Woodchester Park House. Its location is idyllic, surrounded by acres of enchanting, wildlife-filled parkland. If you’re a keen walker and looking to lose yourself in the beauty of nature, Bellhouse is the perfect property. From the house, you can walk for miles in peace and tranquillity in the valley, the only noise you may hear will be from grazing livestock or the serene gliders from the nearby Cotswold Gliding Club. You can also walk from the house up onto the Cotswold Way.
Woodchester Mansion and Park is a popular visitor attraction, now owned by the Woodchester Mansion Trust and National Trust respectively. They are a short walk down from the house into the valley. Woodchester Park itself was laid out in the 18th-19th Century (with advice from Capability Brown and Humphrey Repton). The stream through the valley was dammed to create five lakes of varying sizes, the largest of which contains a man-made island with a heronry. The lakes are home to many large carp and eels and there is a restored boat house which acts as a roost for bats.
Woodchester Park is quite literally a hidden gem that never feels busy or overcrowded. Owned by the wealthy Gloucestershire family, the Ducies, they originally built a Georgian house that stood on the site of the current building from the 1600s until 1845. In 1843 they sold their family home to William Leigh, who, on advice from Pugin, demolished the Georgian House and began to build the Gothic revival mansion that stands on the site today. Leigh died in 1873 before the work was complete, and his family, not sharing his love of the gothic revival style, employed a new architect to redesign the house before realising they could not afford to complete a new mansion. The mansion was consequently never completed, and fell through various states of semi-occupancy and disrepair before it was eventually bought by Stroud District Council in 1992, and is now leased to the Woodchester Mansion Trust who manage and conserve the building in its state of ‘glorious abandonment’, opening it to the public Friday – Sunday from beginning of April until the end of October.
Woodchester Park House, formerly known as The Cottage, had its own role to play in the history of Woodchester Mansion. The house was home to William Leigh and his family while the demolition and then reconstruction of Woodchester Mansion took place. After William Leigh died, his family stayed in The Cottage before it was eventually sold in 1938. Woodchester Park House has had a number of uses since the time of the Leighs. At some point before the Second World War it was used as a ‘home for poor girls’ who were instructed in skills such as sewing. During the war it was taken over by a Roman Catholic teacher training college, run by nuns, evacuated from Birmingham. Since then it has been used as a school (for children of leaders of our commonwealth countries) and as a field study centre.

The current owners bought the house in 1995 and returned it to a ‘home’. With 16 bedrooms (but only one bathroom and a couple of showers) work was needed. Now, Bellhouse, the rambling south-west wing of Woodchester Park House is a comfortable and charming holiday home, decorated throughout with quality antique furniture, period art and quintessential country living features such as two wood burners. This is a much-cherished property that offers an authentic homely sense of warmth and conviviality – an ideal home away from home.