Eye Manor
Encyclopedia
Eye Manor, at Eye, Herefordshire
, is a Grade I listed Carolean
manor house
between Ludlow
and Leominster
that is considered amongst the finest small Restoration
houses in England with important plasterwork ceilings.
The 17th Century square brick shell was completed in 1680, but rests on an earlier Medieval sandstone
plinth
with extensive cellars. The modest exterior, belies an impressive panelled interior with its plaster ceilings by the craftsmen who went on to decorate Holyrood
. The 10 plaster ceilings in the naturalistic style are considered the finest complete set of Restoration ceilings in a private home in England and represent an exuburent plasterwork display of exotic fruits, cherubs and mythical scenes.
There is a secret passage and priesthood discovered during the Second World War by Jeremy Sandford
that is believed to have been used in the 17th Century to bring Catholic priests into the house, but which was mysteriously still in use at the time of the Protestant Gorges family. The original mullioned windows were changed for wooden sash windows when the house was remodelled probably during the early 18th Century.
The house was built by Ferdinando Gorges, a prominent merchant and owner of sugar plantations in the West Indies and his wife, Meliora Gorges. According to Pevsner, Ferdinando Gorges was known by contemporaries as 'The King of the Black Market' owing to his profitable involvement in the slave trade. Ferdinando Gorges was the godson of Sir Ferdinando Gorges
, the colonial entrepreneur and the founder of the US province of Maine
and brother of Richard Gorges, Governor-General of New England. In his early commercial activities, Ferdinando Gorges is believed to have chartered the ship, The Mayflower. Ferdinando's son and grandson, Richard and Henry Gorges served as Members of Parliament for Leominster
. Ferdinando Gorges's daughter, Barbara was married to the statesman Thomas Coningsby
1st Earl Coningsby, but the marriage led to a noted litigation and divorce case. Amongst other incidents, Ferdindo Gorges was involved in a protracted property dispute with Sir Christopher Wren that was described by Samuel Pepys as, "the most dirty litigation in the land".
The Gorges silver plate, originally in the house, but later dispersed and now in other private collections are amongst the finest examples of early 18th Century silverware and suggest that magnificent interiors of the house at this time.
In the 18th Century the house became part of the adjoining Berrington Hall
estate of the Lords Rodney (descended from Admiral Rodney) and later of the Lords Cawley (Berrington Hall is now owned by the National Trust
), before returning to separate ownership. Admiral Lord Rodney was a frequent visitor to the house and the north-west bedroom is known as the 'Admiral's Bedroom'.
In the 20th Century Eye Manor was the home of the acclaimed private publisher Christopher Sandford
of the Golden Cockerel Press
and his wife Lettice Sandford
, a noted artist and proponent of traditional country crafts and reviver of the corn dolly. During their tenure the house became a literary and artistic centre of the late Arts and Crafts movement and was visited by numerous writers, artists and poets of the mid-20th Century including Sir John Betjaman and Evelyn Waugh. The house was open to the public from the 1950s to the early 1980s. It is currently closed to the public.
Jeremy Sandford
, the writer, broadcaster and director of the award-winning television documentary, Cathy Come Home
grew up at the house and subsequently wrote of his childhood in Herefordshire. Christopher Sandford's mother-in-law, the propular Irish writer Mary Carbery
wife of Algernon 9th Baron Carbery of Castle Freke, County Cork lived and died in the house. Lady Carbery spent much of her early life crossing Europe in Creeping Jenny a caravan drawn by white oxen which at one stage was parked in on the lawns of Eye Manor. Lady Carbery's son, John, 10th Baron Carbery was an Irish nationalist and member of the Kenyan Happy Valley set. During the Second World War the house was the HQ of the English Resistance who were intended to go underground in case of a German invasion and then emerge to engage in acts of sabotage. The estate was the home of the North Herefordshire Home Guard and the neighbouring Berrington Estate was the encampment for US servicemen prior to the notorious Slapton Sands disaster.
In the late 20th Century Eye Manor was home to the late distinguished amateur gardener, Margary Moncrieff, who laid out the present gardens in an intricate series of outdoor'rooms' in the style of Vita Sackville-West
's Sissinghurst
.
Eye, Herefordshire
Eye is a village in the county of Herefordshire, England, in the River Lugg catchment, north of Leominster and south of Ludlow.Berrington Hall is nearby; a Henry Holland house with Capability Brown landscape, built for Thomas Harley....
, is a Grade I listed Carolean
Carolean
Carolean can refer to:* Restoration style* Caroleans, soldiers of Charles XII of Sweden...
manor house
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
between Ludlow
Ludlow
Ludlow is a market town in Shropshire, England close to the Welsh border and in the Welsh Marches. It lies within a bend of the River Teme, on its eastern bank, forming an area of and centred on a small hill. Atop this hill is the site of Ludlow Castle and the market place...
and Leominster
Leominster
Leominster is a market town in Herefordshire, England, located approximately north of the city of Hereford and south of Ludlow, at...
that is considered amongst the finest small Restoration
Restoration
Restoration may refer to:-Historical examples :* Kemmu Restoration * Restoration * Portuguese Restoration War...
houses in England with important plasterwork ceilings.
History
The house stands on what was once a marsh island ('Eye' being the Saxon word for island), beside a 12th century church noted for its 15th Century alabaster tombs.The 17th Century square brick shell was completed in 1680, but rests on an earlier Medieval sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
plinth
Plinth
In architecture, a plinth is the base or platform upon which a column, pedestal, statue, monument or structure rests. Gottfried Semper's The Four Elements of Architecture posited that the plinth, the hearth, the roof, and the wall make up all of architectural theory. The plinth usually rests...
with extensive cellars. The modest exterior, belies an impressive panelled interior with its plaster ceilings by the craftsmen who went on to decorate Holyrood
Holyrood
Holyrood is an anglicisation of the Scots haly ruid . It may refer to:*Holyrood , relics of the True Cross on which Jesus died-Scotland:* Holyrood, Edinburgh, an area of Edinburgh...
. The 10 plaster ceilings in the naturalistic style are considered the finest complete set of Restoration ceilings in a private home in England and represent an exuburent plasterwork display of exotic fruits, cherubs and mythical scenes.
There is a secret passage and priesthood discovered during the Second World War by Jeremy Sandford
Jeremy Sandford
Jeremy Sandford was an English television screenwriter who came to prominence in 1966 with Cathy Come Home, his controversial entry in BBC1's The Wednesday Play anthology strand which was directed by Ken Loach...
that is believed to have been used in the 17th Century to bring Catholic priests into the house, but which was mysteriously still in use at the time of the Protestant Gorges family. The original mullioned windows were changed for wooden sash windows when the house was remodelled probably during the early 18th Century.
The house was built by Ferdinando Gorges, a prominent merchant and owner of sugar plantations in the West Indies and his wife, Meliora Gorges. According to Pevsner, Ferdinando Gorges was known by contemporaries as 'The King of the Black Market' owing to his profitable involvement in the slave trade. Ferdinando Gorges was the godson of Sir Ferdinando Gorges
Ferdinando Gorges
Sir Ferdinando Gorges , the "Father of English Colonization in North America", was an early English colonial entrepreneur and founder of the Province of Maine in 1622, although Gorges himself never set foot in the New World.-Biography:...
, the colonial entrepreneur and the founder of the US province of Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
and brother of Richard Gorges, Governor-General of New England. In his early commercial activities, Ferdinando Gorges is believed to have chartered the ship, The Mayflower. Ferdinando's son and grandson, Richard and Henry Gorges served as Members of Parliament for Leominster
Leominster
Leominster is a market town in Herefordshire, England, located approximately north of the city of Hereford and south of Ludlow, at...
. Ferdinando Gorges's daughter, Barbara was married to the statesman Thomas Coningsby
Thomas Coningsby
Sir Thomas Coningsby was an English soldier and Member of Parliament, notable for his diary of military action in France in 1591.-Birth:...
1st Earl Coningsby, but the marriage led to a noted litigation and divorce case. Amongst other incidents, Ferdindo Gorges was involved in a protracted property dispute with Sir Christopher Wren that was described by Samuel Pepys as, "the most dirty litigation in the land".
The Gorges silver plate, originally in the house, but later dispersed and now in other private collections are amongst the finest examples of early 18th Century silverware and suggest that magnificent interiors of the house at this time.
In the 18th Century the house became part of the adjoining Berrington Hall
Berrington Hall
Berrington Hall is a country house located near Leominster, Herefordshire, England.It is a neoclassical country house building which was designed by Henry Holland in 1778-81 for Thomas Harley. It has a somewhat austere exterior , but the interiors are subtle and delicate...
estate of the Lords Rodney (descended from Admiral Rodney) and later of the Lords Cawley (Berrington Hall is now owned by the National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
), before returning to separate ownership. Admiral Lord Rodney was a frequent visitor to the house and the north-west bedroom is known as the 'Admiral's Bedroom'.
In the 20th Century Eye Manor was the home of the acclaimed private publisher Christopher Sandford
Christopher Sandford
Christopher Sandford of Eye Manor, Herefordshire, was a book designer, proprietor of the Golden Cockerel Press, a founding director of the Folio Society, and husband of the wood engraver and pioneer Corn dolly revivalist, Lettice Sandford, née Mackintosh Rate.-Biography:He was born in Cork,...
of the Golden Cockerel Press
Golden Cockerel Press
Golden Cockerel Press was a major English private press operating between 1920 and 1961.The Press was founded by Harold Midgley Taylor in 1920 and was first in Waltham St Lawrence in Berkshire where he had unsuccessfully tried fruit farming...
and his wife Lettice Sandford
Lettice Sandford
Lettice Sandford, née Mackintosh Rate, was a draftsman, wood-engraver, pioneer corn dolly revivalist and watercolourist of her beloved Herefordshire...
, a noted artist and proponent of traditional country crafts and reviver of the corn dolly. During their tenure the house became a literary and artistic centre of the late Arts and Crafts movement and was visited by numerous writers, artists and poets of the mid-20th Century including Sir John Betjaman and Evelyn Waugh. The house was open to the public from the 1950s to the early 1980s. It is currently closed to the public.
Jeremy Sandford
Jeremy Sandford
Jeremy Sandford was an English television screenwriter who came to prominence in 1966 with Cathy Come Home, his controversial entry in BBC1's The Wednesday Play anthology strand which was directed by Ken Loach...
, the writer, broadcaster and director of the award-winning television documentary, Cathy Come Home
Cathy Come Home
Cathy Come Home is a 1966 BBC television play by Jeremy Sandford, produced by Tony Garnett and directed by Ken Loach, about homelessness. An industry poll rated it as the best British television drama ever made. Filmed in a gritty, realistic drama documentary style, it was first broadcast on 16...
grew up at the house and subsequently wrote of his childhood in Herefordshire. Christopher Sandford's mother-in-law, the propular Irish writer Mary Carbery
Mary Carbery
Mary Carbery , pen name and married name of Mary Vanessa Toulmin, who married first Algernon, 9th Baron Carbery of Castle Freke, County Cork, Ireland and second Professor Arthur Wellesley Sandford of Frankfield House, County Cork, Ireland. She was born and spent her childhood at Childwickbury...
wife of Algernon 9th Baron Carbery of Castle Freke, County Cork lived and died in the house. Lady Carbery spent much of her early life crossing Europe in Creeping Jenny a caravan drawn by white oxen which at one stage was parked in on the lawns of Eye Manor. Lady Carbery's son, John, 10th Baron Carbery was an Irish nationalist and member of the Kenyan Happy Valley set. During the Second World War the house was the HQ of the English Resistance who were intended to go underground in case of a German invasion and then emerge to engage in acts of sabotage. The estate was the home of the North Herefordshire Home Guard and the neighbouring Berrington Estate was the encampment for US servicemen prior to the notorious Slapton Sands disaster.
In the late 20th Century Eye Manor was home to the late distinguished amateur gardener, Margary Moncrieff, who laid out the present gardens in an intricate series of outdoor'rooms' in the style of Vita Sackville-West
Vita Sackville-West
The Hon Victoria Mary Sackville-West, Lady Nicolson, CH , best known as Vita Sackville-West, was an English author, poet and gardener. She won the Hawthornden Prize in 1927 and 1933...
's Sissinghurst
Sissinghurst
Sissinghurst is a small village in the county of Kent in England. Originally called Milkhouse Street , Sissinghurst changed its name in the 1850s, possibly to avoid association with the smuggling and cockfighting activities of the Hawkhurst Gang.The nearest railway station is at...
.