Mulberry House - The Butts
Mulberry House - The Butts


Built in 1835 by George Seagram as a ‘Dower House’ for his mother, Mulberry House has Flemish-bond brick elevations under a Welsh slate roof with a trio of dormer windows and is Grade II listed. The interiors also retain a host of period features including working shutters and fireplaces. Seagram had previously rented an older house on the site belonging to Joseph Emms whilst he wooed Miss Ballard of Bratton House. The house faces north and apparently this was so his mother could keep an eye on the goings on at Bratton House.

Mr Webb, a retired vinegar brewer, and his wife bought the house in 1937. Having taken in a young Jewish refugee boy who had escaped Nazi Germany on the Kindertransport, when World War Two began their own daughter and three grandchildren were also evacuated from London to the safety of Bratton. They were then joined by a mother and three daughters from Plymouth, who were given the rooms at the top of the house.

The house was then sold to the MOD in 1949, to be used as the quarter for the Major General in charge of the Regular Commissions Board (now called the Army Officer Selection Board) in Westbury. The renowned explorer and founder of 'Operation Raleigh', Colonel John Blashford Snell, lived in the house during this period.

When Penelope and David Fairclough bought the house from the MOD in 1982 it was still known by its original name of ‘The Butts’, but when post codes were introduced it became No 10 The Butts. When they came to sell in 2018 the estate agent didn’t think that this would be attractive to potential buyers so it was changed to Mulberry House, after a lovely specimen tree in the garden. The original name of the house can still be seen on the metal signs near the gates to the house. These were made at Reeves Ironworks which were located on what is now the village green until it closed for business in 1970 and was then demolished.

The Coach House, next door to Mulberry House, was converted by the MOD into a 2-bed 1st-floor flat above the coach house and stables for the General’s batman. The Faircloughs converted it into a 3-bed house adding an extension when they decided to move from the main house in 2018.

Historic England listing



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Bratton History Association.

The Bratton History Association aims to provide all those curious about local history with an opportunity to meet, exchange ideas, and discover more about the history of Bratton and Wiltshire. Activities include monthly meetings, talks by professional historians, visits to places of interest to historians, and our own local history project.

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