two towers overlook the entrance. Manor houses The number of mansions, old country houses and stately homes is a marked feature in Wiltshire. Few parishes, especially in the north west of the county, are without their old manor house, usually converted into a farm, but preserving its flagged floor, stone-mullioned windows, gabled front, sometimes two-storeyed porch and oak-panelled interior. Place House in Tisbury, and Barton Farm, at Bradford-upon-Avon, date from the 14th century. The best examples of 15th-century work are the manor houses of Norrington, in the vale of Chalk; Teffont Evias, in the vale of the River Nadder; Potterne; and Great Chalfield, near Monkton Farleigh. At South Wraxall the hall of a beautiful house of the same period is celebrated in local tradition as the spot where tobacco was first smoked in England by Sir Walter Raleigh and his host, Sir Walter Long. Later styles are represented by Longford Castle, near Salisbury, where the picture galleries are of great interest; Heytesbury House; Wilton House at Wilton, Kingston House at Bradford-upon-Avon, Bowood House near Calne, Longleat near Warminster, Corsham Court at Corsham, Littlecote near Ramsbury, Charlton Park House near Malmesbury, Compton Chamberlayne in the Nadder valley, Grittleton House and the modern Castle Combe, both near Chippenham, and Stourhead, on the borders of Dorset and Somerset. Each of these is noteworthy for its architecture, its art treasures, the care lavished upon it or the beauty of its surroundings. See also History of England Wiltshire Victoria County History Wiltshire Record Society Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre Notes References Withshire