One of our latest jobs has been to look at Seend House, a grade II* asymmetric villa based the on the Doric order in the centre of Seend, adjacent to the church. It was built between 1807 and 1815 for Thomas Bruges, a Melksham maltster and estate agent to Katherine Long of South Wraxall. 

He was born in 1751, the son of Thomas Bruges senior, a well-to-do farmer of Semington. The younger Thomas became rich as a Melksham maltster and also by acting as land agent for Miss Katherine Long of South Wraxall. He was a Justice of the Peace, and a Commissioner of both the Canal and Turnpike Trusts. Miss Long relied on Bruges’ friendship and advice. With her financial assistance, he bought Craysmarsh and Green Lane farms in Melksham Without, and built, just to the north of the church, the mansion later called Seend House. The Bruges’ family coat of arms is carved on the central pediment on the front elevation of the house, and the drive entrance on each side is flanked by a pillared lodge. Niklaus Pevsner in Wiltshire (the buildings of England series) calls it one of the two best houses in Seend, the other being the Manor House.

 
The Bruges' coat of arms

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