Warneford Place
{{Short description|Country house in Wiltshire, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox building
| name = Sevenhampton Place
| native_name = Warneford Place
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| image = Warneford_place,_sevenhampton.jpg
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| image_caption = Warneford Place, around 1963
| map_type = Wiltshire
| map_alt =
| map_caption = Location within Wiltshire
| map_size = 200px
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| location_town = Sevenhampton
| location_country = United Kingdom
| coordinates = {{coord|51.61217|-1.70108|format=dms|type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
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| completion_date = 17th century
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| renovation_date = 1963
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| owner = Patrick McNally
}}
Warneford Place, also known as Sevenhampton Place, is a Grade II listed country house in Sevenhampton, south of Highworth, in Wiltshire, England.
The main house is modern but is listed because it incorporates some features from the original 18th-century mansion. Warneford Place dates back to at least the 16th century during the reign of Elizabeth I,{{Cite web |last= |date=20 April 2015 |title=Ian Fleming buried in Wiltshire |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/content/image_galleries/ian_fleming_swindon_gallery.shtml?7 |access-date=2023-05-01 |website=BBC – Wiltshire |language=en-gb}} and was home to the Warneford family.{{cite web|url=http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F19696|title=The Discovery Service|first=The National|last=Archives|date=|website=discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk|access-date=18 March 2018}} That family, although often impoverished, had been established in the area since around the 12th century and owned much of its land. The house was often empty and neglected.{{cite ODNB|id=28752|title=Warneford, Samuel Wilson (1763–1855)}}{{cite journal |last=Priest |first=W. M. |title=The Rev. Samuel Warneford, M.A., LL.D. (1763-1855) |journal=British Medical Journal |year=1969 |volume=3 |issue=5670 |pages=587–590 |doi=10.1136/bmj.3.5670.587|pmid=4897076 |pmc=1984343 }} In 1902, there was an auction of the Warneford Place Estate and its contents.{{cite web|url=http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/e26bc4df-96d3-430b-af99-658045d3073b|title=The Discovery Service|first=The National|last=Archives|date=|website=discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk|access-date=18 March 2018}} The house has been Grade II listed (as Warneford Place) since 1979.{{National Heritage List for England entry|num=1023373|desc=Warnford Place|access-date=18 March 2018}} It was home to the politician and animal rights activist Lord Banbury, who died there in 1936.{{Cite news |date=1936 |title=Obituary: Lord Banbury - A Parliamentary "Character" |pages=14 |work=The Times}}
In 1960, the James Bond author Ian Fleming bought the "demolished Warneford Place", and built a new house which he named Sevenhampton Place, incorporating some elements of the original building.{{cite web|url=http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/news/7276162.Daring_raid_on_tycoon_s_home/|title=Daring raid on tycoon's home|author=|date=|website=This Is Wiltshire|access-date=18 March 2018}}{{cite web|url=http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/2300371.Celebrating_the_life_of_the_man_from_00_Sevenhampton/|title=Celebrating the life of the man from 00-Sevenhampton|author=|date=|website=Swindon Advertiser|access-date=18 March 2018}} He did not move in until the new house was completed in 1963 and spent little time there. He died in 1964, aged 56, and is buried in the Sevenhampton churchyard, along with his wife Ann and son Caspar. His widow Ann Fleming lived at Sevenhampton Place until she died there on 12 July 1981.{{Cite web | url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/40227 | title=Fleming [née Charteris], Ann Geraldine Mary [other married namesAnn Geraldine Mary O'Neill, Lady O'Neill; Ann Geraldine Mary Harmsworth, Viscountess Rothermere] (1913–1981), society hostess | Oxford Dictionary of National Biography}}
In 1987, the house was bought by the Formula One businessman Patrick McNally for £7 million.{{Cite web |title=Warneford Place (Warnford Place) (Sevenhampton Place) |url=https://www.thedicamillo.com/house/brockhampton-park-seavenhampton-sevenhampton/ |access-date=2023-05-01 |website=DiCamillo |language=en-GB}} In 2004, the house was robbed by The Johnson Gang, a group of notorious gypsy criminals,{{Cite news |last=de Bruxelles |first=Simon |title=Notorious Johnson family members jailed for UK’s biggest heist |language=en |work=The Times |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/article/notorious-johnson-family-members-jailed-for-uks-biggest-heist-mjj76lxd85w |access-date=2023-05-01 |issn=0140-0460}} who stole items to the value of £750,000.{{Cite web |title=Gipsy gang jailed for Britain's biggest robbery |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2510711/Gipsy-gang-jailed-for-Britains-biggest-robbery.html |access-date=2023-05-01 |website=www.telegraph.co.uk}}