Great Tew Manor

Great Tew was settled during the Anglo-Saxon era and the original manor house was occupied in 990 by Ælfric of Abington.  (Typing that gives me chills. The 990 part.  Ælfric doesn't do so much for me.) Ælfric willed the manor to Saint Alban's Abbey.  In turn, the abbey leased the manor in 1049  "to Tova, widow of Wihtric, in return for 3 marks of gold and an annual render of honey; lease, for her lifetime and that of her son, Godwine, of land at Cyrictiwa, with reversion to St Albans."  

Bouncing forward a few centuries, (skipping over William the Conquerer, his step brother Odo, and a few others) Sir Lawrence Tanfield bought the manor in 1611.  Evidently Sir Lawrence was not a very kind "overlord" though since he deprived his villagers of lumber which caused some of the cottages to fall into disrepair.  He also enclosed part of the common lands which meant that the villagers could no longer travel or forage from them.  Boo! According to the Britain Express, "He was reviled locally for his high-handed interference in local affairs, and had a reputation for greed and corrupt practices in office. Indeed, for two centuries after his death, Burford residents gleefully burned an effigy of Lord Tanfield each year."

tomb of Sir Laurence Tanfield, Burford, Oxfordshire

Time passed, people lived and died and the manor house was eventually demolished around 1800.  (However, the original stables and dovecote still survived.)  George Fredrick Stratton owned the property by then.  (His father, who made his fortune in the East India Tea Company, purchased the property in 1783.)  The Stratton family lived in the dower house and George Fredrick invested his time (and money) in building a largely unsuccessful model farm, including a lodge with a paper roof.  The extravagant farm was designed by JC Louden, a famed Scottish botanist and garden designer. Loudon also founded a short-lived 'agricultural college' at Great Tew in 1808, but it seems to have amounted to little more than a few pupils staying at his house.  "Loudon's more enduring impact, however, was on the landscape of the northern part of the estate, where North and South Drive, now partly overgrown, were built as farm roads, avoiding awkward gradients by following the contours of the northern valley; the Lodge ponds were created to provide power to the threshing mill, and some progress, though probably less than Loudon claimed, was made in draining the fields and grubbing up hedges. Above all Loudon was responsible for tree planting, particularly on Cow hill and along the new roads, where exotic trees still flourish. Though Loudon's planting program was not completed, he achieved much in a short time. When Stratton sold the estate in 1815, it contained well over 120 acres of woodland, excluding that outside the parish."

Matthew Robinson Boulton purchased the Estate from George Fredrick and continued to add onto the Dowager House, which had become the main house.

Great Tew Manor House

Self taught English architect Thomas Rickman and his apprentice, Thomas Fulljames were largely responsible for the additions to the manor, including the library.

I wonder what the little door at the bottom of the wall is.

ornate woodwork

Servants quarters?

love the light pouring through

amazing that this is preserved.

I'm going to continue to delve into the history behind this house.  I'd love to know who visited, who grew up here, did they hold fancy balls here, what was it like growing up here?

Berkyn Manor

Berkyn Manor, while slowly and quietly vanishing from this earth, contains generations of stories if one has the patience and imagination to look for them.  In so many ways, it appears as if the owner of the Manor has only stepped away, perhaps to tend to his cattle or maybe gone to town for some reason.

According to the History of Horton and the town of Coinbrook, the original house belonged to Sir John Egerton. Sir John and his elder brother, Thomas, served under the Earl of Essex at the siege of Cadiz in 1597 and both were knighted.  Sir John was elevated to Earl of Bridgewater in 1617.  Historians are unsure as to how Sir John obtained the property in Horton, but when Poet John Milton's family fled London after the plague, they rented Berkyn Manor from him and stayed for about six years.  The chancel of the St. Michael parish church contains the grave of Sara Milton, his mother.

Berkyn Manor was rebuilt in 1848 by Edward Tyrell who was Remembrancer of the City of London.

  Mr. Gyll describes the rebuilt Manor this way,

"The modern residence, approached from the road through very handsome iron gates, to which a lodge is attached of a corresponding character, is of deep red brick, Elizabethan style, with stone insertions, comprising all the indipensables of modern comfort, and constructed with a becoming and judicious taste."

Tyrell purchased the property from the estate of Mr. John Cook in 1848. 

An odd side note, Mr. Gyll describes the poisoning of Mr. Cook's son, John Parsons Cook in 1855.  It wasn't really relevant to the history of the house so I assume that he, like I, was fascinated by the details.  John Parsons Cook was a gambling man and evidently had shares in different racehorses.  One of the horses, Polestar won a large stake at Shrewsbury races.  After this win, Mr. Cook evidently had an anxiety attack of sorts and his friend, Dr. William Palmer prescribed morphine.  Mr. Cook took it under diress, (according to Mr. Gyll, he had a "prophetic" feeling about Dr. Palmer) and suffered strong convulsions and died.  Dr. Palmer was arrested and it was proven that he had purchased strychnine from a local chemist.  It was also revealed that Dr. Palmer had a habit of insuring people and then collecting on their premature deaths.  Mr. Gyll states that some sixteen deaths, including Dr, Palmer's wife and brother, were attributed to him.  See how fascinating this is?  Tug on a little thread and all of these stories unravel and fall into your lap!

Anyway, back to the Berkyn Manor...

baby carriage/pram

the library

I wonder what the last song played was?

various curatives for cattle and sheep

Papers including a baptismal certificate from December 25, 1938 and a 1939 national registration identity card. (As WWI approached, identity cards were issued and contained their address, name, sex, date of birth, marital condition, occupation and whether a member of the armed forces or reserves. Three main reasons were put forward by the government for passing a law requiring registration in September 1939. The first was the major dislocation of the population caused by mobilization and mass evacuation and also the wartime need for complete manpower control and planning in order to maximize the efficiency of the war economy. The second was the likelihood of rationing, actually introduced from January 1940 onward and the third main reason was that the Government needed recent statistics about the population. As the last census had been held in 1931, there was little accurate data on which to base vital planning decisions. 

In 1945, the manor (and 60 acres of land) was purchased by the Rayner family who own it to this day.  The Manor itself is a "destination" dream site for urban explorers.

I guess my biggest question is why.  Why did they abandon the home (with all the history) and the possessions?  And I guess I will have to use my imagination for the answers.

Duchess of Abercorn

Louisa Jane (née Russell), Duchess of Abercorn

1880s

She still looks regal after fourteen children.  It's fitting that she is the great great great grandmother of Diana, Princess of Wales.  

Louisa was the sixth child and second daughter of John Russell, sixth Duke of Bedford and his wife, Lady Georgiana Gordon.  Lady Louisa and James Hamilton were married at Gordon Castle (her grandfather's estate) on October 25, 1832.

As I mentioned, Louisa and James had fourteen children and they had fascinating lives as well.  

Lady Louisa Jane Montagu Douglas Scott

William Henry Walter Montagu Douglas Scott

Their third child, Louisa Jane (Jr.?) was Mistress of the Robes for Queen Victoria and Queen Alexandria in addition to being Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry.  She was married to William Henry Walter Montagu Douglas Scott and eventually became the grandmother of Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester and great great grandmother of Sarah, Duchess of York.  

James Hamilton, second Duke of Abercorn

After three daughters, Louisa and James welcomed a son (named James) in 1838.  James (the second) was well educated and eventually held his masters degree from Oxford.  He was a very busy man, holding the titles of "Lord of the Bedchamber" and "Groom of the Stole" to the Prince of Wales, embarking on at least two diplomatic missions, becoming Lord Lieutenant of County Donegal, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Ireland, Chairman of the British South Africa Company, Knight of the Garter and father to nine children.  

Louisa's daughter Albertha Frances Anne married George Spencer-Churchill in 1859.  He divorced her in 1883, shortly after he inherited the title of Duke of Marborough upon the death of his father.  Albertha's lovely mother-in-law described her as "stupid, pious and dull."  I think Louisa should have smacked the tactless Lady Frances Anne. (Evidently she didn't like son Randolph's wife either.  Never mind that Randolph and Jennie were the parents of Winston Churchill.)

Daughter Maud Evelyn married Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, Marquess of Landowne and was the vice-regal consort of Canada from 1883 to 1888 and vicereine of India from 1888 to 1894.  The Marchioness was a british courtier, Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Alexandra and Extra Lady from 1910 until 1925.  During the first World War, Maud set up the Officer's Family Fund and she and Henry gave up their home to be used as it's headquarters.  

Lansdowne Home, 1800s

Caricature of Lord FS Hamilton MP, Vanity Fair Magazine, February, 1895.

Frederick Spencer Hamilton was the sixth son of Louisa and James.  Frederick was the editor of the Pall Mall magazine for four years.  The Pall Mall was a monthly literary magazine that included poetry, short stories, serialized fiction and commentaries.  While serving as an aide-de-camp ito the Governor General of Canada in 1887, Frederick was the first person to introduce skiing to Canada.  He never married and never had children.

Louisa and James had nine other children, two of which died young (Ronald was eighteen and Cosmo was a day old.)  Lord Ernest was an author, Lord Claud served in Benjamin Disraeli's first ministry.

Lady Katherine

Royal shooting party with King Edward VII including Katherine's husband and son.

Lady Katherine died at the age of 36 after having four children with her husband, the fourth Earl of Mount Edgcumbe.

Portrait of Lady Louisa Jane with daughter Harriet, 1834

by Edwin Henry Landseer

Lady Harriet married the second Earl of Lichfield and had nine children, and Lady Beatrix married the second Earl of Durham.  They had thirteen children, including a set of twins.  Beatrix died at the age of 35, three days after the birth of her son, Francis.