Earlier Houses: The house was built on the site of a 12th century Cluniac priory.

House & Family History: Sir Charles Hobhouse, the 4th Baronet, was a relatively minor political figure in the late 19th and early 20th centuries who came to prominence in the 1970s with the publication of his political diaries. A member of the Liberal cabinet of H.H. Asquith between 1911 and 1915 (as chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster between 1911 and 1914 and as postmaster-general between 1914 and 1915), Sir Charles's diaries, which cover the years 1893-98 and 1904-15, were discovered after his death by a nephew in a drawer at Monkton Farleigh. Providing lively portraits of the people in Asquith’s cabinet and the events of the time, about a third of the diaries were published in 1977.

Garden & Outbuildings: Between 1842 and 1848 Wade Brown(e) erected a tower folly on the estate that has come to be called Browne's Folly. In 1972 the folly was sold to the Avon Wildlife Trust, who found it challenging to keep vandals out of the tower; thus, in 1998 ownership passed to the Folly Fellowship, who raised money to repair the roof and install a steel door.

House Listed: Grade I

Park Listed: Not Listed

Current Seat / Home of: Hobhouse family; here since 1873.

Past Seat / Home of: Seymour family, 1737-1804. John Long (tenant), 1812-33; Long family here until circa 1840. Wade Browne (tenant), circa 1840-1851. Sir Charles Parry Hobhouse, 3rd Bt., 1873-1916; Sir Charles Edward Henry Hobhouse, 4th Bt., 1916-41; Sir Reginald Arthur Hobhouse, 5th Bt., 1941-47.

Current Ownership Type: Individual / Family Trust

Primary Current Ownership Use: Private Home

House Open to Public: No

Historic Houses Member: No