Longnor Hall is Grade I listed. Sir Richard Corbett started the build in 1668. His son, Uvedale, finished the job 24 years later. The house was sold in 1952 for £18,000.

The Corbetts’ story really starts in 1066 when Robert le Corbet came over with William the Conqueror. Having helped William with the invasion, he played his part in keeping the Welsh at bay, operating out of Caus Castle near Westbury.

Jump forward to the 1370s, when the Corbett name arrived in Longnor. John Corbett of Habberley married Joan, a descendant of Fulk le Strange, who was heiress to half of the Longnor estate. Edward de Acton owned the other half.

Advantageous marriages are part of the Corbett story. Joan and John’s great great grandson, Thomas Corbett, married an heiress in 1588, and was able to buy back the Actons’ half of the estate. With his new found wealth he also donated £25 (about £10,000 in today’s money) towards arming troops to fight the Spanish Armada.

Being on the right side of history is also important. Thomas Corbett had a close shave, as he was friends with the Earl of Essex, who was executed by Elizabeth I for treason. Thomas’s son, Edward, fortunately supported Charles II in the turbulent years of the Civil War. He was made a Baronet in 1642 for loyalty to Charles, and for propping up the crown with cash.

Joseph Plymley Corbett gets the prize for the greatest number of Corbett offspring. He had four with his first wife (one sadly died), and a further nine with his second wife. In 1796 his second wife, Matty, gave birth twice in the same year. She died aged 40 having been pregnant almost continuously since she was 22. A report of her death in the Gentlemen’s Magazine in 1812 said:

“disinterested and unaffected in every situation, she was exemplary as a faithful wife, an affectionate mother, and a liberal benefactor to the poor. She had passed through many years of bodily pain, which as it did not diminish the patience of her mind, so neither had it injured the beauty of her person, when by a short illness she was lost to this world January the 5th 1812, aged 40 years.”

Perhaps the most advantageous marriage was Uvedale Corbett’s to Mildred, daughter of the Earl of Salisbury, in 1696. She came with £10,000 (about £2 million today). This meant Uvedale could finish building Longnor Hall. Lady Mildred had five children in five years, before Uvedale died in 1701.