The red brick pillars of Canon Frome Court

Canon Frome Court is a large red brick country house in a small rural parish on the River Frome. While its present form was built in 1786 by architect Anthony Keck, the site has a long history, with remains of a Roman fort nearby and the Canons of Llanthony Abbey establishing a presence here in 1280. The house served as the ancestral home of the Hopton family for 300 years, following a 1591 marriage between Michael Hopton and Martha Hareford, the heiress of the estate.

The house has seen significant changes over the centuries, including a Royalist garrison during the English Civil War and a conversion into a state secondary school in 1957. In 1978, it was purchased by the Windflower Housing Association. Today, the manor is divided into 20 apartments as part of a cohousing community where the land is worked collectively.

Details of the Hopton lineage are preserved in the architecture and grounds. The driveway is flanked by red brick pillars dated to 1905, which support iron gates. Atop these pillars are sandstone statues featuring elements of the Hopton coat of arms: a griffin's head with a bloody hand in its mouth and a talbot hound with a floral collar. Inside the building, a late 16th-century carved wood overmantel remains in the former Billiard Room, featuring initials and figures representing Prudence, Justice, and Wisdom.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons