The Manor Country House Hotel in Weston-on-the-Green is a building of historical significance and is Grade II* listed on the English Heritage Register. [1] It was built in the late 15th century and was the home of many notable people over the next five centuries. Today it is a hotel which provides accommodation, restaurant facilities and caters for special events.
In the late 15th century the house was built for the Bailff of Osney Abbey. It was originally within a 13th-century moat but this has since been filled in.
In the 16th century, the house was re-fronted and the entrance hall and Tudor fireplace constructed. The drawing room paneling dates from about 1680 from the reign of William and Mary. [2] During this time the house was owned by the Norreys family (sometimes spelt Norris) who were influential politicians and landowners. In 1669 Sir Edward Norreys was the owner and when he died in 1712 he passed it to his only surviving son James. [3] When he died in 1718 he bequeathed it to his nephew James Bertie who was Sir Edward’s grandson from his daughter Philadelphia’s marriage to Henry Bertie. [4]
James Bertie {1687-1728) married Elizabeth Harris (1693-1720) and they had one son Norreys Bertie (1717-1766) who inherited Weston Manor when James died in 1728. All three of them are buried in St Mary’s Churchyard at Weston-on-the Green. Norreys Bertie also inherited Notley Abbey, Yattendon and Hampstead Norreys. [5] In 1743 he rebuilt most of St Mary’s Church which is nearby. When Norreys died in 1766 his property was inherited by his nephew Captain Peregrine Bertie. [6]
Captain Peregrine Bertie (1741-1790) was responsible for the additions to the Great Hall. In about 1780 he added a timber rooftop outline and linenfold panelling that had been transferred from his property Notley Abbey in Buckinghamshire. He married late in life and had no heirs so when he died in 1790 the house was inherited by his brother Willoughby Bertie, 4th Earl of Abingdon. He died nine years later in 1799 and Weston Manor was inherited by his son Peregrine Bertie (1790-1849). He retained ownership until his death in 1849. The Tithe map of 1848 records him as the owner and also the occupier of the house.
When Peregrine died in 1849 the house was passed to his younger brother Reverend Frederic Bertie (1793-1868) who in 1851 made major alterations and additions to the house. Frederic was born in 1793 and was educated at the University of Oxford. In 1825 he married Lady Georgiana Anne Emily Kerr who was the daughter of Vice-Admiral Lord Mark Robert Kerr. The couple had ten children. In 1835 the famous artist Sir William Beechey painted Georgiana with her son Charles. The portrait is shown. Also shown is a photograph of Reverend Frederic Bertie with his daughter Agnes.
For many years Frederic was the Vicar at Albury, Oxfordshire and he commuted between his estate and the vicarage at Albury. He died in 1868 and his wife Lady Georgiana continued to live there until her death in 1881. She is recorded in both the 1871 and 1881 Census as living there with her unmarried daughter Agnes and six servants. Agnes remained on the estate until her death in 1900. She lived in a house called “The Cottage”. [7]
After Georgiana died her son Captain Frederic Arthur Bertie (1837-1885) and his wife Rose moved into the house. He had joined the army and was part of the Bengal Staff Corps. In 1873 he married Rose Emily daughter of John Pratt de Montmorency of Castle Morres in Ireland. [8] The couple had three daughters and one son. Frederic died in 1885 but Rose and the children continued to live at the Manor. Unfortunately, Richard their only son died in the War in 1917. There is a plaque in St Mary’s Church, Weston-on-the-Green which is in his honour. [9] In the following year Rose sold the house and it was bought by David Margesson, 1st Viscount Margesson David Margession (1890-1965) was a politician. In his youth he decided to live in the USA where he met his wife Frances Howard Leggett. The couple married in 1916 and two years later they moved to Weston Manor where they lived for the next four years. In 1922 he sold the house to Charles Greville, 3rd Baron Greville.
Charles Beresford Fulke Greville, 3rd Baron Greville (1871-1952) was a British soldier and aristocrat. He was A.D.C. to the Governor of Bombay (Lord Northcote). 1900-03, and Private Secretary to the Governor-General of Australia (Lord Northcote) in 1904. [10] In 1909 he married Olive Kerr (nee Grace) who was the widow of Henry Kerr a wealthy American. [11] The couple had one son. The Grevilles lived there until 1934 and then advertised the house for sale. [12] It was bought by Stuart James Bevan.
Stuart James Bevan (1872-1935) was a British barrister and Conservative politician. [13] His first wife Sylvia died in 1932 and two years later he married Clair Marguerite Jacobson (1885-1984). In 1935 he died and in the following year the house was sold by Clair. Both of them are buried in St Mary’s Churchyard.
By about 1946 Weston Manor was a hotel and still serves this function today.
Earl of Lindsey is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1626 for the 14th Baron Willoughby de Eresby. He was First Lord of the Admiralty from 1635 to 1636 and also established his claim in right of his mother to the hereditary office of Lord Great Chamberlain of England. Lord Lindsey fought on the Royalist side in the Civil War and was mortally wounded at the Battle of Edgehill on 23 October 1642. He was succeeded by his son, the second earl. He also fought at Edgehill and surrendered to the Parliamentarians in order to attend his mortally wounded father. Lord Lindsey later fought at the First Battle of Newbury, Second Battle of Newbury, and at Naseby. His son from his second marriage, James, was created Earl of Abingdon in 1682. He was succeeded by his son from his first marriage to Martha Cockayne, the third Earl. He represented Boston in the House of Commons and served as Lord Lieutenant of Lincolnshire.
Robert Bertie, 1st Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven PC, styled17th Baron Willoughby de Eresby between 1666 and 1701, and known as 4th Earl of Lindsey between 1701 and 1706, and as 1st Marquess of Lindsey between 1706 and 1715, was a British statesman and nobleman.
Peregrine Bertie, 2nd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, styled The Honourable Peregrine Bertie between 1686 and 1704, Lord Willoughby de Eresby between 1704 and 1715 and Marquess of Lindsey between 1715 and 1723, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1708 until 1715 when he was called to the House of Lords.
Willoughby Bertie, 4th Earl of Abingdon, styled Lord Norreys from 1745 to 1760, was an English peer and music patron.
Henry Norris was an English courtier who was Groom of the Stool in the privy chamber of King Henry VIII. While a close servant of the King, he also supported the faction in court led by Queen Anne Boleyn, and when Anne fell out of favour, he was among those accused of treason and adultery with her. He was found guilty and executed, together with the Queen's brother, George Boleyn, Sir Francis Weston, William Brereton and Mark Smeaton. Most historical authorities argue that the accusations were untrue and part of a plot to get rid of Anne.
Montagu Bertie, 6th Earl of Abingdon was a British peer and politician. He was styled Lord Norreys from birth until acceding in 1854.
Brownlow Bertie, 5th Duke of Ancaster PC, styled Lord Brownlow Bertie until 1779, was a British peer and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1761 to 1779 when he succeeded to a peerage.
Beckley is a village in Oxfordshire about 4.5 miles (7 km) northeast of the centre of Oxford. Beckley is part of the civil parish of Beckley and Stowood. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 608. The village is 400 feet (120 m) above sea level on the northern brow of a hill overlooking Otmoor. The hill is the highest part of the parish, rising to 463 feet (141 m) south of the village near Stow Wood. On the eastern brow of the hill is Oxford transmitting station, a television relay mast that is a local landmark.
Willoughby Bertie, 3rd Earl of Abingdon, of Wytham Abbey, Berkshire and Rycote, Oxfordshire, was an English landowner and Tory politician who sat briefly in the House of Commons in 1715.
Henry Bertie, JP, of Chesterton, Oxfordshire was an English soldier and Tory politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1678 and 1715.
James Bertie, 1st Earl of Abingdon, styled Hon. James Bertie until 1657 and known as the 5th Baron Norreys from 1657 until 1682, was an English nobleman.
Montagu Venables-Bertie, 2nd Earl of Abingdon PC, styled Hon. Montagu Bertie until 1682 and Lord Norreys from 1682 to 1699, was an English nobleman.
Montagu Bertie, 5th Earl of Abingdon, styled Lord Norreys until 1799, was an English peer.
Francis Norris, 1st Earl of Berkshire was an English nobleman and courtier.
Captain Peregrine Francis Bertie was a British naval officer and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1774 to 1790.
John Doddington was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1640.
Sir Peregrine Bertie was a Jacobean soldier and landowner from Lincolnshire. He represented that county in Parliament in 1614, attended to local land improvements, and took part in several wars on the continent. He and his elder brother Lord Willoughby were frequently at odds with Lord Norreys.
Norreys Bertie was an English Tory politician. From a junior branch of the Bertie family which had inherited estates at Weston-on-the-Green in Oxfordshire, he represented that county in Parliament from 1743 until standing down before the bitterly contested 1754 election. He was unfriendly to the Hanoverian succession and sat in opposition to the government.
Anthony Henley, of the Grange, near Alresford, Hampshire, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1727 to 1734.
Sir Edward Norreys was an English Tory politician.