Culver House

Culver House, now divided into three dwellings, was originally built in the mid-16th century, with a northeastern range dating to the 16th-17th centuries. A mid-19th century division and a 20th-century southwestern extension have altered the original structure. The house is constructed of coursed limestone rubble with dressings, incorporating reused ashlar and carved stonework. It features an ashlar axial stack, two eastern gable stacks, and an interlocking tile cross-gabled roof.

The original plan consisted of a two-room layout with a single-depth northeastern range. The main front is two storeys and attic, with a two-window range. Cross-gables are present on both sides and at the gabled ends. A central axial stack rises from the main body, and an original doorway has been replaced by a late 18th-century round-arched doorway below the southwestern gable. A two-light mullion window with cavetto mouldings, metal casements, and a label mould is present on the first floor and in the northern gable’s attic. The northeastern range has a blocked first-floor mullion window with splayed jambs and an oak lintel on its north elevation, and a garderobe loop at first-floor level. Later windows feature oak lintels, and the east elevation has early 19th-century segmental-arched openings. The northeastern range is one storey and attic in height, with a two-window front. It incorporates a round-arched doorway with a keyed surround, a fanlight, and a boarded door, alongside segmental-arched openings. At the rear, original 16th-17th century detailing includes a three-light mullion window with reserved mullions and label moulds, plus two gabled dormers. Blocked windows with timber lintels are also present.

The interior features a collar truss roof, a central fireplace with a heavy bressumer, and a winding stair with a carved newel post on its eastern side. There are chamfered ceiling beams, steps down to a former cellar and kitchen, the latter having a fireplace with dressed jambs and lintel. A door leads to steps, and there are reused plank and muntin panels with original ironwork. The northeastern range contains chamfered ceiling beams and a salt niche beside the fireplace, with stop-chamfered spine beams with run-out stops.

Historically, the southern face of the building abuts the former town wall. The presence of reused ashlar is a notable feature of post-Dissolution work in Malmesbury. The house was reputedly the residence of Parliamentary Military Governor Colonel Nicholas Devereux from 1644-1646, and later the home of Dr Edmund Wilkins, Alderman and High Steward of the Old Corporation from 1775.