![Manydown1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/Manydown1.gif)
Manydown — or Manydown Park — was an ancient
manor
Manor may refer to:
Land ownership
*Manorialism or "manor system", the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of medieval Europe, notably England
*Lord of the manor, the owner of an agreed area of land (or "manor") under manorialism
*Man ...
in
Wootton St Lawrence
Wootton St Lawrence is a small village in the civil parish of Wootton St Lawrence with Ramsdell, in Hampshire, England, west of Basingstoke. The name is derived from the Old English ''wudu tun'' meaning woodland settlement or farm.
History
The ...
,
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. The fortunes of the estate were associated with those of the
Wither family for more than 400 years. Author
Jane Austen
Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...
(1775–1817) was a frequent visitor at the Manydown
great house
A great house is a large house or mansion with luxurious appointments and great retinues of indoor and outdoor staff. The term is used mainly historically, especially of properties at the turn of the 20th century, i.e., the late Victorian or ...
''circa'' 1799–1806 and received her only known proposal of marriage there.
History
The manor of Manydown at Wootton was a possession of the
prior and convent of St. Swithun from the time of the
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
(1086). (A Manor of Wootton was probably created for
Ethelric the thegn in the year 958, long before the name “Manydown” was first devised.) Manydown estate was granted a licence to impark the wood of Wootton in 1332 and was visited by royal huntsmen in 1361 and 1363. In 1377 it was fenced in.
William of Wykeham
William of Wykeham (; 1320 or 1324 – 27 September 1404) was Bishop of Winchester and Chancellor of England. He founded New College, Oxford, and New College School in 1379, and founded Winchester College in 1382. He was also the clerk of ...
(1324–1404) was supplied with oak timber from the estate when he reconstructed
Winchester Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity,Historic England. "Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity (1095509)". ''National Heritage List for England''. Retrieved 8 September 2014. Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Swithun, commonly known as Winches ...
nave around 1390–92. In 1449, William Wither — whose family had lived at Manydown as tenants since at least 1402 (some sources say as early as 1344) — purchased the manor. William thereby commenced a long and eventful connection between his descendants and Manydown that continued for some four centuries.
The connection with the local priory continued until the time of the
dissolution of the monasteries, when, in 1540, King Henry VIII granted Manydown to the Dean and Chapter of Winchester Cathedral. This situation continued until 1649–50 when, under the Commonwealth Republic, it passed into the hands of the Contractors of the Long Parliament and was sold to another William Wither (1584–1653). Following the
Restoration
Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to:
* Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage
** Audio restoration
** Film restoration
** Image restoration
** Textile restoration
* Restoration ecology
...
(1660), it was returned to the Dean and Chapter, without compensation being paid to the Wither family. They did allow the then current Mr. Wither to retain the Manydown manor house and the estates as their tenant on a 21 years' lease, renewable in the usual way every seven years, at a small annual rent and a moderate fine.
In 1789, the last Mr Wither died without an heir and a cousin of his — the Reverend Lovelace Bigg (1741–1813) — inherited the estate. Bigg and his two sons thereupon changed their surnames to “Bigg-Wither”. Lovelace also rebuilt the south front of the manor house in 1790. Manydown was at this time one of a number of important estates located to the west of
Basingstoke
Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southa ...
that were socially connected and the social life of which was the subject of the novels of
Jane Austen
Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...
(see below). Harris Bigg-Wither (1781–1833) inherited Manydown when his father Lovelace died in 1813, and he rented it out and moved to nearby Tangier Park. Harris's son — also named Lovelace (1805–1874) — inherited Manydown, and later also bought Tangier Park.
The last recorded court was held at Manydown in 1863 and on the last day of that year, house and park were converted into freehold, alienated from the manor, and sold to the younger Lovelace Bigg-Wither. The long association of the manor with the Wither and Bigg-Wither family finally ended when the estate was purchased by
Sir Edward Bates (1816–1896) in 1871. Sir Edward's grand-nephew — Col. S. Arthur Bates (1879–1958) — was the last “lord of the manor” at Manydown. An auction was held to sell the estate's moveable property in 1962 and the great house itself was finally pulled down in 1965.
List of Lords of the Manor at Manydown
:''With dates of tenure in parentheses'':
*Thomas Wither (1484–1506)
*John Wither (1506–1536)
*Richard Wither (1536–1577)
*John Wither (1577–1620)
*William Wither I (1620–1653)
*William Wither II (1653–1671)
*William Wither III (1671–1679)
*William Wither IV (1679–1733)
*William Wither V (1733–1789)
*The Reverend Lovelace Bigg-Wither (1789–1813)
*Harris Bigg-Wither (1813–1833)
*Lovelace Bigg-Wither (1833–1871)
*
Sir Edward Bates, 1st Baronet
Sir Edward Bates, 1st Baronet DL (17 March 1816 – 17 October 1896) was a ship-owner and Conservative politician who represented Plymouth.
Biography
Bates was the son of Joseph Bates, a wool finisher and exporter and his wife Rebekah Walke ...
(1871–1896)
*Sydney Eggers Bates (1896–1924)
*Colonel Sydney Arthur Bates (1924–1958)
Literary connections
Richard Wither (died 1577), grandfather of the satirist and poet
George Wither
George Wither (11 June 1588 O.S. (21 June 1588 NS) – 2 May 1667 O.S. (12 May 1667 NS)) was a prolific English poet, pamphleteer, satirist and writer of hymns. Wither's long life spanned one of the most tumultuous periods in the history of En ...
(1588–1667), resided at Manydown.
The celebrated novelist
Jane Austen
Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...
(1775–1817), and her elder sister
Cassandra
Cassandra or Kassandra (; Ancient Greek: Κασσάνδρα, , also , and sometimes referred to as Alexandra) in Greek mythology was a Trojan priestess dedicated to the god Apollo and fated by him to utter true prophecies but never to be believe ...
(1773–1845), were friends for many years with three of the Bigg sisters then living at Manydown Park: Alethea, Elizabeth and Catherine Bigg (they had not added the “-Wither” to their surnames). Life at Manydown influenced Austen's works, providing material for her to create her famous and lasting legacy to English literature. Jane stayed at the house often, and wrote to her sister Cassandra of a ball of 8 January 1799: "Catherine
igg
Immunoglobulin G (Ig G) is a type of antibody. Representing approximately 75% of serum antibodies in humans, IgG is the most common type of antibody found in blood circulation. IgG molecules are created and released by plasma B cells. Each IgG ...
has the honour of giving her name to a set, which will be composed of two Withers, two Heathcotes, a Blachfo
, and no Bigg except herself". In late January 1801, Jane again visited the Bigg-Wither family at Manydown. Jane had recently been admonished by Cassandra, who at last had found the right suitor for her at
Sidmouth
Sidmouth () is a town on the English Channel in Devon, South West England, southeast of Exeter. With a population of 12,569 in 2011, it is a tourist resort and a gateway to the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. A large part of the town has ...
, a clerical gentleman who unfortunately had died before the two could meet. Soon after the Sidmouth affair, on 25 November 1802, Jane and Cassandra arrived for a visit at Manydown yet again. A few days later (Thursday, 2 December), Lovelace's son Harris Bigg-Wither proposed marriage to Jane and was accepted (her only known engagement). Jane was almost 27; Harris was only 21 – an overgrown, timid, stammering, red-faced young man who had just graduated from Oxford. Bigg-Wither family celebrations were soon curtailed, however, when next morning Jane announced a change of heart. The ensuing confrontation ended with the Austen sisters demanding that their brother James abandon his duties as a clergyman and escort them back to Bath. They recovered from the incident with James and his wife Mary at
Steventon.
[Harris Bigg-Wither married Anne Howe Frith (1783–1866) in 1804 and from that time to the death of his father in 1813 he resided at ]Wymering Manor
Wymering Manor is a Grade II* listed building, which is the oldest in the city of Portsmouth, England, and was the manor house of Wymering, a settlement mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. It is first recorded in 1042, when it was owned by ...
, about 30 miles away. There his six elder children were born. From February to mid-March 1806, the pair of Austen sisters visited the estate a final time, returning to
Bath
Bath may refer to:
* Bathing, immersion in a fluid
** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body
** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe
* Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities
Plac ...
via Steventon.
Description
The Manydown manor house was situated about one mile to the southwest of the village of Wootton St Lawrence and was surrounded by some 1,500 acres of parkland (reduced to 250 acres by the 20th century) along with 400 acres of plantations. The house itself was of considerable antiquity, some parts dating back to the 14th century, and included a central well, with a unique raising gear mechanism such that water could easily be conveyed to the upper rooms. The fabric of the house at the time of its demolition was mostly late 16th and early 17th century. Modernization had provided an elegant staircase leading to a grand first-floor drawing room which had a large bay window overlooking the impressive grounds. The house was built around a square court, known as Cheyney Court, on one side of which was the old court room, where the “
courts Leet and Custumary” would be held.
Gallery
Image:Manydown3.jpg, Late 18th century engraving of Manydown
Image:Manydown4.jpg, Photo of Manydown in the early 20th century
Image:Manydown5.jpg, Window etching of Manydown in Wootton St Lawrence Church
References
Citations and notes
{{reflist
Further reading
*Kitchin, G.W. (1895)
''The Manor of Manydown, Hampshire'' London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
: Simkin & Co., Ltd, Stationers' Hall Court;
Winchester
Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...
: Warren & Son, High Street.
*Bigg-Wither, Reginald Fitz Hugh (1907),
Materials for a History of the Wither Family',
Winchester
Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...
: Warren & Son.
External links
Manydown Park, Basingstoke, England
Country houses in Hampshire