An estate bequeathed by William the Conqueror and owned by a Guinness heiress is on the market for the first time in 60 years
Penny Churchill takes a look at Chaddleworth, an estate in Berkshire with a wonderful storied past.
Momentum is beginning to build for the autumn sales season and the buzz is being amplified by the arrival to the market of a number of distinguished residences that are steeped in history and have fascinating back stories.
Top of that list is Chaddleworth House in west Berkshire, with its Norman connections and racing pedigree, which is for sale for the first time in more than six decades with an asking price of £7 million via James Walker of Knight Frank and Ed Sugden of Savills.
That purchase price buys a Grade II-listed house, set in 31 acres of parkland on the edge of the picturesque small village of Chaddle-worth on the southern slopes of the Berkshire Downs, seven miles south of Wantage and 11 miles north-west of Newbury, within the North Wessex Downs National Landscape.
Chaddleworth is now on the market following the death in July 2026 of its long-term owner, Lady Eliza Mays-Smith, née Guinness, one of heiresses of the great brewing dynasty. Lady Eliza was a lifelong supporter of horse racing, Lady Eliza is probably best remembered for her association with nearby Lambourn, where, for many years, she and her first husband, the late David Nugent, ran the racing town’s famous downland gallops, now owned by Jockey Club Estates.
Approached from the village lane along a sweeping drive that passes by the ancient village church of St Andrew and leads to the south front, Chaddleworth House enjoys wonderful views across a ha-ha to its own parkland with panoramic vistas over the surrounding countryside and the Wroughton Woolley Park estate.
The house sits happily within its gardens, which are well stocked and include a wonderful walled garden, a tennis court and a swimming pool.
Built on a symmetrical, Georgian, four-square plan of grey brick under a slate hipped roof, the main house offers some 11,000sq ft of timeless family accommodation on three floors.
This includes, on the ground floor, a cheerful reception hall, a central stair hall with an elegant cantilever staircase, four principal reception rooms, a large kitchen and various domestic offices.
The principal bedroom suite, three further suites, five further bedrooms and a shower room are on the first floor; and three further bedrooms, a bathroom and attic are on the second.
Additional accommodation is provided in the four-bedroom garage annexe and the 18th-century former coach house and stable block.
Chaddleworth House stands on land granted by William the Conqueror to Robert D’Oyley, a Norman nobleman and landowner from Ouilly, near Lisieux, who took part in the Norman Conquest and eventually held no fewer than 36 Domesday manors across six counties.
According to David Nash Ford’s Royal Berkshire History, for much of the Middle Ages the manor of Chaddleworth was held by Amesbury Priory in Wiltshire, which was granted the lands in 1284 by Henry II’s consort, Queen Eleanor, as a token of support for Eleanor of Brittany, who was one of the nuns.
After the Dissolution, the manor eventually passed to William Nelson, a successful government lawyer, whose family was to own it for more than 250 years.
The present Chaddleworth House was built between 1809 and 1811 by George Kerr Nelson, whose son sold the manor estate to the Wroughton family of nearby Woolley Park, another racing dynasty, many of whom were lord lieutenants of the county.
Chaddleworth House is for sale via Knight Frank and Savills.
