‘Extraordinarily Rare’ Medieval Chest Discovered in Somerset

A remarkably rare medieval chest, once owned by the influential Hungerford family and kept at their ancestral home, Farleigh Castle in Somerset, is set to go under the hammer with an estimated guide price between £8,000 and £12,000.

David Houlson, Oak Furniture Consultant to Woolley and Wallis auctioneers, explained, “Dating from around 1480, this chest is an exceptionally rare survivor from the 15th century. It’s extraordinarily uncommon to find any piece of furniture from that era intact.”

What makes this chest truly extraordinary is that it retains not only its original front but also its sides, back, and lid—an enduring testament to the craftsmanship of the time.

“Comparable pieces are rarely seen outside of churches, museums, or prestigious private collections,” Houlson added. “To find one on the open market is almost unheard of, making this a unique opportunity to acquire a piece untouched for over five centuries.”

The Hungerford family were major landowners in Somerset from the late 14th to the 17th century, with Farleigh Castle as their seat. Sir Thomas Hungerford was notably the first recorded Speaker of the House of Commons, and his son Walter, 1st Lord Hungerford, served as Treasurer of England. They significantly shaped Somerset’s political and social landscape for over 300 years.

Despite later financial decline and scandals that led to the sale of Farleigh Castle in 1686, the Hungerfords remain a prominent name in the region’s medieval and early modern history.

The chest belongs to a distinctive group of decorated furniture believed to originate near Lincoln, with other examples found in churches at Glentham, Fillingham, and Ewerby. A related chest housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum, donated by Robert Mond F.S.A., was traced to a farmhouse near Stamford in Lincolnshire. Furniture historian R.W. Symonds proposed that many such chests were crafted in a single workshop in Watford, Northamptonshire.