Snowshill Manor in Gloucestershire
was owned by Winchcombe Abbey from the 9th century
until 1539 when it passed
into the hands of the Crown following the Dissolution. The main part
of the manor house dates
to around 1500, but the house was substantially rebuilt around 1600
and altered again in the
early 18th century. In 1919 Snowshill was bought by CHARLES PAGET
WADE, whose family owned
sugar plantations in St Kitts in the West Indies. Wade never lived
in the manor house at Snowshill
but instead used it to store and display his vast collection of
craftsmanship from
across the world, including clocks, bicycles, weapons and armour, toys,
model ships, musical instruments,
spinning wheels and paintings. Wade himself lived in
relatively austere conditions
in a small cottage near the manor house. Wade died in 1956,
having presented the house
and its contents to the National Trust five years earlier.