The Wilderness is a Grade II listed building in the Wiltshire local planning authority area, England. First listed on 24 July 1985. House. 7 related planning applications.
The Wilderness
- WRENN ID
- forbidden-roof-juniper
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Wiltshire
- Constituency
- Melksham and Devizes MP: Brian Mathew (LD)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 24 July 1985
- Type
- House
- Address
- The Wilderness, Church Lane, Box, SN13 8NR
- OS grid reference
- ST 822 685
- Coordinates
- 51.41541, -2.25599
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Wilderness is a house dating from the mid-to-late 18th century with additions circa 1840. Originally marked on Ordnance Survey maps as Becket Mill, it is constructed of ashlar with a stone-tiled mansard roof to the earlier section and a slate, low-pitched hipped roof to the later west end.
The original two-storey and attic range is double-fronted and features a mansard roof, coped gables, and end wall stacks. A single dormer is present. It has two 16-pane sash windows on each floor, and a raised band with a blocked central door in a raised moulded surround. The rear features an ashlar stair tower with a hipped roof, flanked by outshut roofs.
A large range was added around 1840 for G. Mullins. The west front of this section has three windows, with 16-pane outer sashes, a 12-pane first-floor centre sash, and a projecting ashlar enclosed porch with a pilaster surround to double doors. The ground floor windows on the west front also have margin lights. A similar ground floor window is located on the south end, with a floor band and a sunk panel containing a small oval light above. A three-storey north end wall completes this section.
The site sits on part of the location of a large Roman villa and a medieval mill site. Deeds from 1727 mention two tenements and two water-powered grist mills.
Local climate
The Wilderness receives an average of 850 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 59% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 63% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 33 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 55% of listed buildings. Of these, 14 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
- Sale history — 2 transactions since 2019
- Related listed building consents — 7 applications
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
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