Northcourt Manor is one of three manor houses, along with Woolverton and Westcourt, that is located in Shorwell, on the Isle of Wight, England. It was begun by Sir John Leigh, Deputy Governor of the Island, in 1615, but was unfinished at his death. Northcourt is currently in use as a hotel. [1]
North Shorwell, or North Court, is referred to in the Domesday Book:
" Isd. rex ten. Sorewelle. Tres taini tenuer. in paragio et iii. aulas habuer. Tc. p. una hida et dim. modo p. iii. virg. Tra. e. iii. car. In dno. e. una car. et dim. et ii. vill, et viii. bord; cu. i. car. ibi vi. servi. Silva ad clausura. Val. et valuit iiii. lib."—[The King holds Shorwell. Three of the king's servants (or thegns) held it jointly, and had each his mansion. It was then assessed at one hide and a half, now at three virgates.- The land is three carucates. In the demesne there are one carucate and a half, and two villeins, and eight borderers. With one carucate there are six slaves. There is a wood for enclosure. It is, and was worth four pounds.]
From The History, Topography, and Antiquities of the Isle of Wight (1856): [2]
This manor, with the other lands of the king's, went to Baldwin de Redvers, when he obtained the Lordship of the Island; and remained in that family until Amicia, Countess of Devon, bestowed it (temp. Henry iii.) upon the Abbey of Lacock, in Wiltshire. Her daughter, Isabella de Fortibus, (4th Edw. I.) confirmed the grant; and it is stated in the Record of the Liberties claimed by, and allowed to her, that the Abbess held of her one fee in capite, whence •he possessed in demesne the manor of Shorwell. In the 13th Edward III. the Abbey was charged to supply three men-at-arms, and two bowmen towards the defence of the Island.—On the Dissolution of the Religious Houses, the manor reverted to the Crown. It was in the possession of Thomas Temes, Esq., in the 2nd year of Elizabeth; and towards the close of her reign, was purchased by Richard Bull, Esq. [...]
The mansion-house was built by Sir John Leigh, in the reign of James I. After his death (in 1629, at age 83), it was completed by his son Barnaby Leigh. Extensive repairs and additions were made at a later period by Barnaby Eveleigh Leigh.
Willoughby Gordon (1772–1851) lived at Northcourt Manor. His son Sir Henry Percy Gordon, 2nd Baronet occupied it in 1856. [2] The writer Mrs. Disney Leith was brought up here when Swinburne was her playmate. She married and lived here with her husband, General Colonel Robert William Disney Leith CB, until he died in 1892. [3]
The grounds contain a spring, and the Shor Well which feeds a stream.
It is the largest ancient dwelling in the Isle of Wight. Modelled after larger houses on the mainland, it is of Jacobean style, and lies back from the road. An unusual feature is that it has only one wing. [4] The entrance front has canted bays and mullioned windows. Sash windows were added in the 18th century, at which time a general internal remodelling on classic lines occurred. An extension was made to the north front in 1906 with the addition of a billiard room and offices. [5]
Shorwell is a village and civil parish on the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom. It is 4+1⁄2 miles (7.2 km) from Newport in the southwest of the island. Shorwell was one of Queen Victoria's favourite places to visit on the Isle of Wight.
Thomas Holmes, 1st Baron Holmes was a British politician who was Vice-Admiral and Governor of the Isle of Wight (1763–4) and sat in the House of Commons between 1727 and 1774. He managed elections in the government interest in the Isle of Wight during the 1750s and 1760s.
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General Sir James Willoughby Gordon, 1st Baronet was a general officer in the British Army. He notably served as most long-standing Quartermaster-General to the Forces, holding the position for some 40 years.
Sir Henry Percy Gordon, 2nd Baronet, FRS was a barrister and artist.
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Wolverton Manor is a manor house in Shorwell, on the Isle of Wight, England. The original house was started by John Dingley, Deputy Governor of the Isle of Wight. The Jacobean style home, built by Sir John Hammond after the death of Sir John Dingley, is the second house built on the site. There is a two-storey porch which features a flat roof and hollow angle columns.
Westcourt Manor is one of three manor houses, along with Woolverton and Northcourt, that is located in Shorwell, on the Isle of Wight, England. According to the Domesday Book, it was part of the possessions of Gozehne Fitz Azor, and had been held in the time of the Edward the Confessor by Ulnod in abeyance. At the time of the countess Isabella's record, we find that Sir John Lisle had this manor, with many others, which he held of her in capite, or by knight's service. It was possessed by Colonel Hill. An Elizabethan manor, it is connected to a farm of 200 acres.
Thorley Manor is a manor house just outside Yarmouth, on the Isle of Wight, England. Built in 1712, it features a modillion cornice, hipped roof, as well as tall chimneys.
Woolverton Manor is one of three manor houses, along with Northcourt Manor and Westcourt Manor, just outside Shorwell, on the Isle of Wight, England.
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Sir John Leigh (1598–1666) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1640 and 1660.
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Sir John Chichester, 4th Baronet of Youlston Park in the parish of Shirwell near Barnstaple, Devon was a British landowner and Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1734 to 1740.
The Shorwell helmet is an Anglo-Saxon helmet from the early to mid-sixth century AD found near Shorwell on the Isle of Wight in southern England. It was one of the grave goods of a high-status Anglo-Saxon warrior, and was found with other objects such as a pattern-welded sword and hanging bowl. One of only six known Anglo-Saxon helmets, alongside those found at Benty Grange (1848), Sutton Hoo (1939), Coppergate (1982), Wollaston (1997), and Staffordshire (2009), it is the sole example to derive from the continental Frankish style rather than the contemporaneous Northern "crested helmets" used in England and Scandinavia.
Richard Henry Alexander Bennet FRS was a British landowner who represented Newport in Parliament from 1770 to 1774.
Richard Bull (1721–1805) was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1756 to 1780. He was a noted art collector who lived in a historic house on the Isle of Wight.
Julia Emily Gordon was a British painter and engraver.
Mary Charlotte Julia Gordon became Mary Charlotte Julia Leith (1840–1926), she was best known as Mrs Disney Leith who was a British novelist and traveller. She was a childhood friend of Swinburne and after her husband died she visited Iceland numerous times, writing about the country and translating works from Icelandic.
Media related to Northcourt Manor at Wikimedia Commons
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