Shendish Manor is a country house at Apsley in Hertfordshire.
Shendish Manor is a country house at Apsley in Hertfordshire.
The history of Shendish Manor goes back to the 13th century when Ralf de Chenduit was granted land in the area. [1] Ralf de Chenduit's family built a manor on the site in about 1300; it passed to Richard and Alice Parker in about 1364, to John Cheyne, the local squire, in about 1560 and then to John Beale, a London grocer, in about 1650. [1]
The house changed hands many times before coming into the ownership of Charles Longman, who was part of the long standing family publishing firm Longman, in 1853. [2] Charles also joined the associated company of John Dickinson and Co. In 1835 he married Anna Maria Surman Lewis who was the daughter of John Hampton Lewis of Henllys in Wales. [3]
In 1853 Charles Longman commissioned the architect John Griffith to build Shenish. The famous landscaper Edward Kemp was employed to design the gardens. Kemp wrote about this task in his book “How to Lay Out a Garden”. [4] The house was described by one newspaper in the following terms:
When Charles died in 1873, his son Arthur Hampton Longman (1843–1908) inherited the property. He also inherited a very large fortune which had been accumulated by Charles. Arthur was also in the publishing business but was particularly interested in local public affairs. He was also enthusiastic about many forms of sport including hunting, yachting, shooting and fishing. [7] An article, with photo, was in the publication "Baily's Magazine of Sports and Pastimes". [8]
In 1866 he married Alicia Forster, daughter of John Forster of Malverleys, Newbury, Hampshire. However the couple had no children so when Arthur died in 1908 Shendish Manor was inherited by his cousin Thomas Norton Longman (1849–1930) who lived there from 1908. [9] After Longman's father died he became a Director of the Longman publishing firm. [10]
The house was used as a British Army camp during World War I. [11] Henry Longman sold the property in 1936 to John Dickinson Stationery who used it as a sports and social club. [11] In 1994 it became a hotel and conference centre. [12]
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. The largest settlement is Watford, and the county town is Hertford.
Apsley is a village in Hertfordshire, England, in a valley of the Chiltern Hills below the confluence of the River Gade and Bulbourne. It was the site of water mills serving local agriculture and from the early 19th century became an important centre for papermaking. Today it is a suburb of Hemel Hempstead.
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John Dickinson invented a continuous mechanised papermaking process. He established in 1809 the English paper and stationery producer Longman & Dickinson, which later evolved into John Dickinson Stationery.
Sir John Evans was an English antiquarian, geologist and founder of prehistoric archaeology.
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The High Sheriff of Hertfordshire was an ancient Sheriff title originating in the time of the Angles, not long after the foundation of the Kingdom of England, which was in existence for around a thousand years. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972, the title of Sheriff of Hertfordshire was retitled High Sheriff of Hertfordshire. The High Shrievalties are the oldest secular titles under the Crown in England and Wales, their purpose being to represent the monarch at a local level, historically in the shires.
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