Wymering Manor
Encyclopedia
Wymering Manor is the oldest building in the city of Portsmouth
, England
and was the manor house of Wymering
, a settlement mentioned in the Domesday Book
. It is first recorded in 1042, when it was owned by King Edward the Confessor
. After the Battle of Hastings
it became the property of King William the Conqueror
, until 1084.
A Roman settlement existed at Wymering from c. 43 to 408 – a marshy coastline ran close to the present site of Wymering Manor and a Roman outpost camp was likely to have been sited there to defend Portchester Castle.
In Saxon times, c. 409, a tribal leader named Wimm lived near the shore of Paulsgrove Lake and may have included the land of Wymering Manor in his village. Attributed with the origin of the name of Wymering as a hamlet at the crossroads of the Portchester to Cosham and Portsdown Hill to Paulsgrove Lake tracks.
The first recorded occupant of Wymering Manor was William Mauduit who probably came across with the invasion of 1066 from his home in Normandy and was involved in local research for the Great survey of 1086 – known as the Domesday book. He held other manors in Hampshire and married a Portchester girl named Hawyse in 1069 with whom he had three children.
The majority of the current building is 16th century in construction. However, there still exist parts that contain Roman
and medieval
materials. The cellars are reputedly Saxon
in origin. The early origins of the site are supported by archaeology of the area that implies that the area has been inhabited since at least the Roman period.
Inside the manor is a spacious hall which is dominated by twin Jacobean
staircases and gallery with barley sugar twist balusters. The panelled walls and pilasters are in building styles associated with the Tudor Elizabethan
period. Two priest-holes are also located in the house.
Wyymering, which came to the Bigg-Withers on the death in 1768 of Rev. Richard Harris, brother of Jane Harris, who was the mother of Lovelace Bigg, is of special interest to the family as the home of the Rev. Charles Blackstone (Vicar of Wymering 1774–1804) and of Harris Bigg-Wither from his marriage (1804) to the death of his father, Lovelace Bigg-Wither, in 1813. Here Harris Bigg-Wither's six elder children were born.
The history of the manor has been sketched by Mrs. Andrew Davies in her History of Cosham (pub. 1906). At the time of the Domesday Survey (1086) it was held by William the Conqueror in demesne as it had been by King Edward the Confessor, in connection with Portchester Castle.
In the thirteenth century the manor was granted first to Fulkes de Wymering and afterwards to William de Fortibus, and was held of the King by military service at Portchester.
In 1285 Edward I granted the manor to John le Botelier, in whose family it remained for a century; it then passed to the Waytes, from whom it passed in 1570 by marriage to the Brunnings, a well-known Roman Catholic family. On the death of Edward Bruning, aged 98, in 1707 the manor changed hands several times until in 1761 the Rev. Richard Harris (great-grandson of Warden Harris), Vicar of Wyrmering and Rector of Wydley, bought a moiety of the manor from Sir Edward Worsley, and in 1768 the rest of the manor from William Smith.
The Rev. Richard Harris died without issue and intestate in 1768, and the manor went to his nephew and heir at law,
Lovelace Bigg, who in 1783 added to the property 127 acre (0.51395122 km²) by purchase from Lord Dormer.
In 1835 the old manor house and sixty-eight acres was sold by the Rev. Lovelace Bigg-Wither for £5000 to Mr. John Martin, who had long been tenant, and the rest of the property, comprising about 336 acres (1.4 km²) with house, was sold in 1858 to Rev. G. Nugee and Mr. Thos. Thistlethwayte for £14,827. 14s. 8d.
Wymering Manor is linked with St Peter & St Paul Church and churchyard, which is the last resting place for Jane Austen
’s brother Vice Admiral Sir Francis Austen
and his family. Sir Francis (1774–1865), served on one of Nelson
's ships and eventually became Admiral of the Fleet
.
A distinguished visitor during Victorian times was Queen Emma of The Sandwich Islands
. Her son Andrew was a godson of Queen Victoria.
In the 1930s the owner was a designer, Mr Metcalfe, for Airspeed
, and during this period Nevil Shute
the novelist and Amy Johnson
both visited the manor.
The manor then passed into the ownership of Portsmouth City Council, who leased it to the Youth Hostel Association for this period. During this time the Manor became a favourite of ghost hunters from across the UK.
In 2006 the manor was sold to a private organisation after the cost of the upkeep became too much for the council. The purchasers intended to restore the manor and turn it into a hotel and function rooms, trading on the historic and paranormal links after a visit by the Most Haunted Live television programme in May 2006. However, the development has never taken place and Portsmouth City council are now trying to sell it again.
The Manor was put up for sale by auction in London on 21 September 2010, but failed to sell.
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and was the manor house of Wymering
Wymering
Wymering is a residential area of the city of Portsmouth in the English county of Hampshire. Unlike the majority of Portsmouth, it is located on the mainland rather than Portsea Island....
, a settlement mentioned in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
. It is first recorded in 1042, when it was owned by King Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor also known as St. Edward the Confessor , son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066....
. After the Battle of Hastings
Battle of Hastings
The Battle of Hastings occurred on 14 October 1066 during the Norman conquest of England, between the Norman-French army of Duke William II of Normandy and the English army under King Harold II...
it became the property of King William the Conqueror
William I of England
William I , also known as William the Conqueror , was the first Norman King of England from Christmas 1066 until his death. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name William II...
, until 1084.
History
Wymering Manor is a Grade II* listed building located in a conservation area. It was originally listed as a Grade II building in 1953 and upgraded in 2003.A Roman settlement existed at Wymering from c. 43 to 408 – a marshy coastline ran close to the present site of Wymering Manor and a Roman outpost camp was likely to have been sited there to defend Portchester Castle.
In Saxon times, c. 409, a tribal leader named Wimm lived near the shore of Paulsgrove Lake and may have included the land of Wymering Manor in his village. Attributed with the origin of the name of Wymering as a hamlet at the crossroads of the Portchester to Cosham and Portsdown Hill to Paulsgrove Lake tracks.
The first recorded occupant of Wymering Manor was William Mauduit who probably came across with the invasion of 1066 from his home in Normandy and was involved in local research for the Great survey of 1086 – known as the Domesday book. He held other manors in Hampshire and married a Portchester girl named Hawyse in 1069 with whom he had three children.
The majority of the current building is 16th century in construction. However, there still exist parts that contain Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
and medieval
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
materials. The cellars are reputedly Saxon
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
in origin. The early origins of the site are supported by archaeology of the area that implies that the area has been inhabited since at least the Roman period.
Inside the manor is a spacious hall which is dominated by twin Jacobean
Jacobean architecture
The Jacobean style is the second phase of Renaissance architecture in England, following the Elizabethan style. It is named after King James I of England, with whose reign it is associated.-Characteristics:...
staircases and gallery with barley sugar twist balusters. The panelled walls and pilasters are in building styles associated with the Tudor Elizabethan
Tudor style architecture
The Tudor architectural style is the final development of medieval architecture during the Tudor period and even beyond, for conservative college patrons...
period. Two priest-holes are also located in the house.
Wyymering, which came to the Bigg-Withers on the death in 1768 of Rev. Richard Harris, brother of Jane Harris, who was the mother of Lovelace Bigg, is of special interest to the family as the home of the Rev. Charles Blackstone (Vicar of Wymering 1774–1804) and of Harris Bigg-Wither from his marriage (1804) to the death of his father, Lovelace Bigg-Wither, in 1813. Here Harris Bigg-Wither's six elder children were born.
The history of the manor has been sketched by Mrs. Andrew Davies in her History of Cosham (pub. 1906). At the time of the Domesday Survey (1086) it was held by William the Conqueror in demesne as it had been by King Edward the Confessor, in connection with Portchester Castle.
In the thirteenth century the manor was granted first to Fulkes de Wymering and afterwards to William de Fortibus, and was held of the King by military service at Portchester.
In 1285 Edward I granted the manor to John le Botelier, in whose family it remained for a century; it then passed to the Waytes, from whom it passed in 1570 by marriage to the Brunnings, a well-known Roman Catholic family. On the death of Edward Bruning, aged 98, in 1707 the manor changed hands several times until in 1761 the Rev. Richard Harris (great-grandson of Warden Harris), Vicar of Wyrmering and Rector of Wydley, bought a moiety of the manor from Sir Edward Worsley, and in 1768 the rest of the manor from William Smith.
The Rev. Richard Harris died without issue and intestate in 1768, and the manor went to his nephew and heir at law,
Lovelace Bigg, who in 1783 added to the property 127 acre (0.51395122 km²) by purchase from Lord Dormer.
In 1835 the old manor house and sixty-eight acres was sold by the Rev. Lovelace Bigg-Wither for £5000 to Mr. John Martin, who had long been tenant, and the rest of the property, comprising about 336 acres (1.4 km²) with house, was sold in 1858 to Rev. G. Nugee and Mr. Thos. Thistlethwayte for £14,827. 14s. 8d.
Wymering Manor is linked with St Peter & St Paul Church and churchyard, which is the last resting place for Jane Austen
Jane Austen
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...
’s brother Vice Admiral Sir Francis Austen
Francis Austen
Sir Francis William Austen, GCB was a British officer who spent most of his long life on active duty in the Royal Navy, rising to the position of Admiral of the Fleet.-Background:...
and his family. Sir Francis (1774–1865), served on one of Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, KB was a flag officer famous for his service in the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. He was noted for his inspirational leadership and superb grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics, which resulted in a number of...
's ships and eventually became Admiral of the Fleet
Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy)
Admiral of the fleet is the highest rank of the British Royal Navy and other navies, which equates to the NATO rank code OF-10. The rank still exists in the Royal Navy but routine appointments ceased in 1996....
.
A distinguished visitor during Victorian times was Queen Emma of The Sandwich Islands
Queen Emma of Hawaii
Queen Consort Emma Kalanikaumakaamano Kaleleonālani Naea Rooke of Hawaii was queen consort of King Kamehameha IV from 1856 to his death in 1863. She ran for ruling monarch against King David Kalākaua but was defeated....
. Her son Andrew was a godson of Queen Victoria.
In the 1930s the owner was a designer, Mr Metcalfe, for Airspeed
Airspeed Ltd.
Airspeed Limited was established to build aeroplanes in 1931 in York, England, by A. H. Tiltman and Nevil Shute Norway . The other directors were A. E. Hewitt, Lord Grimthorpe and Alan Cobham...
, and during this period Nevil Shute
Nevil Shute
Nevil Shute Norway was a popular British-Australian novelist and a successful aeronautical engineer. He used his full name in his engineering career, and 'Nevil Shute' as his pen name, in order to protect his engineering career from any potential negative publicity in connection with his novels.-...
the novelist and Amy Johnson
Amy Johnson
Amy Johnson CBE, was a pioneering English aviator. Flying solo or with her husband, Jim Mollison, Johnson set numerous long-distance records during the 1930s...
both visited the manor.
The manor then passed into the ownership of Portsmouth City Council, who leased it to the Youth Hostel Association for this period. During this time the Manor became a favourite of ghost hunters from across the UK.
In 2006 the manor was sold to a private organisation after the cost of the upkeep became too much for the council. The purchasers intended to restore the manor and turn it into a hotel and function rooms, trading on the historic and paranormal links after a visit by the Most Haunted Live television programme in May 2006. However, the development has never taken place and Portsmouth City council are now trying to sell it again.
The Manor was put up for sale by auction in London on 21 September 2010, but failed to sell.