Manor by the Lake began life as Arle Court, a Gothic Revival house designed by Thomas Penson and built between 1854 and 1858 for the Reverend Thomas Walter Packer Butt, who evidently had no interest in Cheltenham’s prevailing Regency good manners. The result is asymmetrical, quirky and rather wonderful — elongated windows, intricate skylights, and a personality that has only been sharpened by an unusually eventful history.
And what a history. Herbert Unwin added the clock tower and left the motto Far from Court — Far from Care carved above the fireplace in the Rock Bar, where you can still read it. Sir George Dowty, the aviation engineer, took the house on in 1935, laid a cricket pitch and threw jazz evenings; during the war the estate hosted government meetings, had an air raid bunker dug beneath it, and lost its dome so that enemy aircraft couldn’t navigate by it. From 1995 it was Cheltenham Film Studios, with Cider With Rosie among the productions shot there, before a restoration brought it back as a wedding venue in 2014.
The setting is the other half of the appeal. A natural spring-fed lake sits below the house, with Italianate gardens, the Italian Pavilion and the Manor Arches arranged around it, and the whole estate is yours exclusively for the day. There are 12 individually designed bedrooms in the manor sleeping around 24, with cottage and lodge accommodation nearby for anyone else who wants to make a weekend of it, and the kitchen team have a shelf of awards to their name. All of this is minutes from the centre of Cheltenham and the racecourse, which makes it unusually easy for guests to reach.
Where the band plays
The ballroom is the room the evening is built around, and it does what the name suggests — a big, handsome space with the height and the floor for a full band and a crowd that means it. A large seated wedding breakfast fits comfortably, with numbers rising again once evening guests arrive, and the period proportions give live music a generous, resonant sound rather than the flat acoustic of a purpose-built function room. The lake and the pavilion outside give a drinks reception somewhere beautiful to happen, and an acoustic duo by the water during canapés is a lovely way to open the day.
How the evening runs
Ceremonies take place indoors or out by the lake, drinks follow in the Italianate gardens, and dinner and dancing move into the house. The manor is licensed to midnight, so the shape of the night is clear from the start: speeches, dinner, first dance, two band sets and a finish while the floor is still full. With bedrooms upstairs and the town close by, guests aren’t scrambling for transport. Load-in is easy for a town-edge venue, with parking on site and a short carry from the vehicles into the house.
Bands available in Gloucestershire and perfectly at home in a venue like this.
More live music in Gloucestershire.
- Gloucestershire Wedding Bands
- Gloucestershire Events Bands
- Tribute Acts in Gloucestershire
- Wedding DJs in Gloucestershire
- Corporate Entertainment in Gloucestershire
Worth reading before you book: Sound Limiters Explained. More questions answered on our England & Wales FAQs.