[2] Much of their initial influence was owed to their patrons, the Earls of Pembroke of nearby Wilton Abbey.

[3] They were a notable Royalist family, with Colonel John Penruddock, an owner of the house, being the namesake for the failed 1655 Penruddock uprising against Oliver Cromwell.

The drawing room from about 1700 has panelling and rich decoration in Grinling Gibbons style, with a plaster ceiling from the same period.

In the dining room, part of the 1780 additions, is a plaster ceiling in Adam style.

[8] The house is set in parkland, once a medieval deer park, overlooking a lake formed by damming a stream running north into the River Nadder.