p 12 Paul Ayshford, Lord Methuen (1886–1974), R. A., F. S.A., M.A., Hon. LL.D., Hon. F.R.I.B.A., PPRWA, was a key figure in the Ellises’ professional career and a prominent figure in art and conservation circles: Trustee of the Tate and National Galleries and Imperial War Museum, Monuments Officer in the Allied Forces, Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Branch principally in Normandy, then in Belgium and Holland (August 1944-June 1945), member of the Royal Fine Art Commission (1952–59), he played an active role in the nascent National Trust and served on their Historic Buildings Committee. He was a frequent exhibitor, and a President of the Bath Society of Artists.
p15 Corsham Court was altered and enlarged in the eighteenth century, most notably, in 1761, by Capability Brown, who not only landscaped the park but designed new interiors including the 72-feet-long east wing picture gallery to house the celebrated Sir Paul Methuen collection of old masters. In 1800, the house was again remodelled in a more picturesque Gothic style by Nash and Repton with a new north front and further Picture Gallery, yet by the 1840s, their north front required rebuilding and from 1845 to 1849 Thomas Bellamy made the final Jacobean-Renaissance-inspired alterations, including the great stair tower.