Wickhamford Manor

Last updated

Wickhamford Manor
Wickhamford Manor House (geograph 1648455).jpg
"highly picturesque"
TypeHouse
Location Wickhamford Worcestershire
Coordinates 52°04′42″N1°54′07″W / 52.0783°N 1.902°W / 52.0783; -1.902 Coordinates: 52°04′42″N1°54′07″W / 52.0783°N 1.902°W / 52.0783; -1.902
Built16th century
Architectural style(s) Vernacular
Governing bodyPrivately owned
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameManor House, Wickhamford
Designated30 July 1959
Reference no.1215988
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameDovecote approximately 100 m south east of Manor House
Designated30 July 1959
Reference no.1216194
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameBarn approximately 75 m south of Manor House
Designated30 July 1959
Reference no.1215990
Worcestershire UK relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Location of Wickhamford Manor in Worcestershire

Wickhamford Manor, Wickhamford, Worcestershire is a manor house dating from the 16th century. It was the childhood home of James Lees-Milne, the writer. The manor is a Grade II listed building.

Contents

History

The manor was originally a monastic grange in the possession of Evesham Abbey. [1] Following the Dissolution of the monasteries, it was granted by Elizabeth I to Thomas Throckmorton in 1562. Throckmorton sold the manor to Samuel Sandys in 1594 and the Sandys family retained ownership until 1860. [2] Penelope Washington, daughter of a later Sandys and a distant relative of George Washington, lived at the manor in the 17th century. Her tomb in the estate church of St John the Baptist, [1] is carved with the Washington coat of arms, three stars above two bars (or stripes), which is traditionally assumed to be the origin of the Stars and Stripes, [3] [4] although this is disputed. [5]

In 1906 the manor was bought by George Lees-Milne. [6] The Lees, and their relatives the Cromptons, were originally from Lancashire, where they had made considerable fortunes from coal mining and cotton spinning. [7] In 1908, George's son James was born at the house. [8] An exaggerated portrait of his parents as "a pair of ludicrous eccentrics", [9] and his difficult relationships with them is recorded in the early chapters of his volume of autobiography, Another Self. [10]

George Lees-Milne sold Wickhamford in 1947, two years before his death. [7] In 2010, it was again for sale, at a guide price of £2.95 million. [11]

Architecture and description

Pevsner describes the grouping of manor house, ancillary buildings and church around a lake, originally a medieval fish pond, as "highly picturesque". [1] The present manor buildings date from the 16th century, with later additions. [12] It has a timber frame, infilled with limestone rubble, is of two storeys and built to an E-plan. [12] Much is early 20th century reconstruction and expansion undertaken by George Lees-Milne. The dovecote by the lake is genuinely medieval, dating from the 13th century, [1] and has its own Grade II listing. [13]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 Brooks & Pevsner 2007, pp. 662–663.
  2. "Wickhamford Manor House". www.badseysociety.uk. The Badsey Society. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  3. "Church of St John the Baptist". www.badseysociety.uk. The Badsey Society. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  4. "Wickhamford". www.worcesteranddudleyhistoricchurches.org.uk. Worcestershire & Dudley Historic Churches Trust. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  5. Vile 2018, p. ?.
  6. "The Official James Lees-Milne Website". www.jamesleesmilne.com. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  7. 1 2 "George Crompton Lees-Milner (1880–1949)". www.badseysociety.uk. The Badsey Society. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  8. Bloch 2009, p. 5.
  9. Bloch 2009, p. 8.
  10. Lees-Milne 1970, pp. 2–52.
  11. "Impeccable provenance of the perfect manor house". The Birmingham Press. 21 October 2010.
  12. 1 2 Historic England. "Manor House, Wickhamford (Grade II) (1215988)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  13. Historic England. "Dovecote approximately 100 m south east of Manor House (Grade II) (1216194)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 28 March 2020.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coat of arms of the Washington family</span>

The coat of arms of the Washington family is first documented in the 14th century, borne by the Washington family of Washington Old Hall in County Durham, England before making its way to the Colony of Virginia in the 17th century with George Washington's great-grandfather.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shelsley Walsh</span> Human settlement in England

Shelsley Walsh is a small village and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, on the western side of the River Teme. For administrative purposes it is presently located in the Teme Valley ward of the county’s Malvern Hills district. In the 2011 Census there was an estimated population of 28 people in 12 households. The site has been farmed since Anglo Saxon times and there are also vestiges of former industry, but it is now best known for its association with the Shelsley Walsh Speed Hill Climb.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Lees-Milne</span> English architectural historian (1908–1997)

(George) James Henry Lees-Milne was an English writer and expert on country houses, who worked for the National Trust from 1936 to 1973. He was an architectural historian, novelist and biographer. His extensive diaries remain in print.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abbots Morton</span> Human settlement in England

Abbots Morton is a village and civil parish in the English county of Worcestershire. It consists of approximately 70 dwellings and 250 people. It retains 4 mixed working farms within the village boundaries. The village was the country retreat for the Abbots of Evesham Abbey and the moat that surrounded their house is still visible. The village church is dedicated to St Peter and is over 1000 years old.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coughton Court</span> Historic house museum in Stratford-on-Avon, United Kingdom

Coughton Court is an English Tudor country house, situated on the main road between Studley and Alcester in Warwickshire. It is a Grade I listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Badsey</span> Human settlement in England

Badsey is a village and civil parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, England. It has two parks and a small first school located in the centre of the village.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buckland, Oxfordshire</span> Human settlement in England

Buckland is a village and large civil parish about 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Faringdon in the Vale of White Horse District. Buckland was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 588. Outside the village the civil parish includes the small settlements of Carswell and Barcote to the west, Buckland Marsh to the north, and the modern development of Gainfield on the southern boundary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madresfield Court</span> Country house in Madresfield, Worcestershire

Madresfield Court is a country house in Malvern, Worcestershire, England. The home of the Lygon family for nearly six centuries, it has never been sold and has passed only by inheritance since the 12th century; a line of unbroken family ownership reputedly exceeded in length in England only by homes owned by the British Royal Family. The present building is largely a Victorian reconstruction, although the origins of the present house are from the 16th century, and the site has been occupied since Anglo-Saxon times. The novelist Evelyn Waugh was a frequent visitor to the house and based the family of Marchmain, who are central to his novel Brideshead Revisited, on the Lygons. Surrounded by a moat, the Court is a Grade I listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Water Eaton, Oxfordshire</span> Human settlement in England

Water Eaton is a hamlet in the civil parish of Gosford and Water Eaton, between Oxford and Kidlington in Oxfordshire. Water Eaton was a separate civil parish until 1932, when it was merged with its neighbour Gosford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kemerton Court</span> Country house in Gloucestershire, United Kingdom

Kemerton Court is the principal manor house of the village of Kemerton, near Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bretforton</span> Human settlement in England

Bretforton is a rural village in Worcestershire, England, 4.4 miles (7.1 km) east of Evesham, in the Vale of Evesham. It is the largest farming village near Evesham. At the 2001 census, Bretforton had a population of 1,023 in 428 households. The area of the parish is 2.83 square miles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cornwell, Oxfordshire</span> Human settlement in England

Cornwell is a small village and civil parish about 2.5 miles (4 km) west of Chipping Norton in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, near the county border with Gloucestershire. The 2001 Census recorded the parish's population as 66.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gayhurst House</span> Country house in Gayhurst, Buckinghamshire, UK

Gayhurst House is a late-Elizabethan country house in Buckinghamshire. It is located near the village of Gayhurst, several kilometres north of Milton Keynes. The earliest house dates from the 1520s. In 1597 it was greatly expanded by William Moulsoe. His son-in-law, Everard Digby, completed the rebuilding, prior to his execution in 1606 for participating in the Gunpowder Plot. The house was subsequently owned by the Wrightes, and latterly the Carringtons. Robert Carrington engaged William Burges who undertook much remodelling of both the house and the estate, although his plans for Gayhurst were more extensive still. In the 20th century, the Carringtons sold the house, although retaining much of the surrounding estate. It is now divided into flats, with further housing in the surrounding estate buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Furtho</span> Human settlement in England

Furtho is a deserted medieval village and former parish in West Northamptonshire, England. It is now part of Potterspury civil parish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wickhamford</span> Human settlement in England

Wickhamford is a village and a civil parish in Worcestershire, England. It is situated on the A44 road approximately halfway between the towns of Evesham and Broadway. It is mentioned in 1086 in the Domesday Book under the name of Wiquene when it was owned by Evesham Abbey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westwell, Oxfordshire</span> Human settlement in England

Westwell is a small village and civil parish about 2 miles (3 km) southwest of the market town of Burford in Oxfordshire. It is the westernmost village in the county, close to the border with Gloucestershire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hangleton Manor Inn</span> Historic manor house in Hove, Sussex, England

Hangleton Manor Inn, the adjoining Old Manor House and associated buildings form a bar and restaurant complex in Hangleton, an ancient village which is part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. The manor house is the oldest secular building in the Hove part of the city; some 15th-century features remain, and there has been little change since the High Sheriff of Sussex rebuilt it in the mid-16th century. Local folklore asserts that a 17th-century dovecote in the grounds has been haunted since a monk placed a curse on it. The buildings that comprise the inn were acquired by Hangleton Manor Ltd in 1968, and converted to an inn under the Whitbread banner. The brewery company Hall & Woodhouse have owned and operated it since 2005. English Heritage has listed the complex at Grade II* for its architectural and historical importance, and the dovecote is listed separately at Grade II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thurland Castle</span> Historic site in Lancashire, England

Thurland Castle is a country house in Lancashire, England which has been converted into apartments. Surrounded by a moat, and located in parkland, it was originally a defensive structure, one of a number of castles in the Lune Valley. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. Situated between the villages of Cantsfield and Tunstall the castle stands on a low mound on a flat plain, with the River Greta on the south side and the Cant beck to the north. A deep circular moat surrounds it.

Shaw and Crompton is a civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. It contains 19 listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. Of these, one is listed at Grade II*, the middle grade, and the others are at Grade II, the lowest grade. The parish contains the town of Shaw and Crompton and the surrounding countryside. Most of the listed buildings are farmhouses, farm buildings, houses and cottages, many of them dating from the late 18th century. The other listed buildings include an ancient cross shaft, churches, a lych gate, and a war memorial.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shire Hall, Worcester</span> County building in Worcester, Worcestershire, England

The Shire Hall is a municipal building in Foregate Street in Worcester, England. It is a Grade II* listed building.

References