Stanway House

Built between the late 1500s and early 1600s for the Tracy family, it offers genuine insight into how an important gentry household actually lived and operated across centuries. The land had been controlled by Tewkesbury Abbey for eight hundred years before the Tracys acquired it, and they held onto the estate for five centuries afterwards.

What makes Stanway architecturally distinctive is its unusual design. Rather than following the typical Tudor layout with a central hall, the main rooms stretch out along a long south-facing L-shaped range, giving the building a noticeably different character from most houses of its period. The kitchen court was added later by William Burn in 1859, and you can clearly see how different eras have left their mark on the structure. It's Grade I listed, reflecting its architectural importance.

The house opens seasonally and really rewards taking time to explore properly. You'll develop a strong sense of how the space functioned as a working family home across generations. It's worth combining a visit with a walk through the village itself and the surrounding landscape. Winchcombe, the nearby market town, makes a good base for staying in the area, and you're well-positioned for exploring this particularly appealing corner of Gloucestershire with its rolling hills and stone villages.