Main description:

Edward Jenner is perhaps the world's most famous doctor. He developed a vaccination for smallpox beginning in 1796, long before the world knew about bacteria and viruses. He has been described as `the man who saved more lives than anyone else'. He bought The Chantry at Berkeley in 1785 and modified it to make a home fit for his beloved wife, Catherine. This book is the result of a three-year investigation that set out to discover the house that Jenner prepared for Catherine. It traces the origin of the house, which was built in 1707, and the many changes throughout the next 300 years. It turns out that the site has a history going back to Anglo-Saxon times. Edward Jenner lived there for only thirty-six years, but the house has been much changed since. The investigation set out to define the house that Edward Jenner lived in, separating it from the original and many changes afterwards. The book includes a great deal of information and stories about the people involved, including Edward Jenner and his family and estate. It also includes the inventory of Jenner's goods in 1823 and profiles of the internal plasterwork, which may be of interest to restorers and historians.

Contents:

Preface; List of Illustrations and Abbreviations; Introduction; 1 1000-1695, Anglo-Saxon Britain, The Norman Conquest, The Chantries and The Chantry Priests, Henry VIII, The Moyle Survey, The Aftermath; 2 1695-1785, Charles Weston, The Building of the Mansion, Jane Weston (1763-1840), Evidence for the Older Building; 3 1785-1823, Edward Jenner's Development, The First Phase 1785-1794, The Second Phase 1788-1799;
4 1823-1854, Robert Jenner's Changes, The Trust; 5 1854-1981: The Chantry as Vicarage, Changes of Ownership, Structural Changes in the 1870s, The Curate's Apartment, The Premises to the North (Figure 14), The Extension of the Greenhouse, The Pent-Roofed Shed and Heating Changes, The Carriage House, The Bedroom above the Drawing Room, the East Wing, and the Dining Room, New Windows in the West Facade to Enhance the Light in the Dining Room, External Rendering, The Dilapidations Survey and Purchases by the Diocese, 1886, 6 1981 Onwards,
Site Changes, Refurbishment and Conversion to Museum, 1983.