Ockwells Manor House, Cox Green - geograph

Ockwells Manor is a timber-framed 15th century manor house in the civil parish of Cox Green, adjoining

Maidenhead Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England, on the southwestern bank of the River Thames. It had an estimated population of 70,374 and forms part of the border with southern Bu ...

, in the English county of

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

. It was previously in the parish of Bray. The manor used to own most of the land that is now Ockwells Park. Ockwells is an early example of a manor built without fortifications, which Sir Nikolaus Pevsner called "the most refined and the most sophisticated timber-framed mansion in England". It preserves a superb set of contemporary heraldic

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

in the hall. Many of its bargeboards and other exterior timbers are run with rich mouldings and carved. Herringbone brickwork provides the infill.

History

The manor was originally given, in 1283, to Richard le Norreys, the chief cook to Queen Eleanor. It passed down through the Norreys family, ending up in the possession of Sir John Norreys, Keeper of the Wardrobe to Henry VI, who started re-building the manor in 1446. In the windows of the great hall, Sir John inserted beautiful stained glass, proudly showcasing his Lancastrian connections by displaying the

arms Arms or ARMS may refer to: *Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to: People * Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader Coat of arms or weapons *Armaments or weapons **Fi ...

of his friends at Court: *

the King In the British English-speaking world, The King refers to: * Charles III (born 1948), King of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms since 2022 As a nickname * Michael Jackson (1958–2009), American singer and pop icon, nicknamed "T ...

* the Queen * the Duke of Warwick * Duke of Somerset * Duke of Suffolk * Bishop of Salisbury *

James Butler, 1st Earl of Wiltshire James Butler, 5th Earl of Ormond, Earl of Wiltshire (24 November 1420 – 1 May 1461) was an Anglo-Irish nobleman and soldier. Butler was a staunch Lancastrian and supporter of Queen consort Margaret of Anjou during the Wars of the Roses. He w ...

*Sir John Wenlock, Baron Wenlock *

Baron Mortimer of Chirk Several members of the Mortimer family were summoned to Parliament during the reign of Edward I, thereby making them hereditary barons in the Peerage of England. The most important family with this surname were the lords of Wigmore, a marcher l ...

Sir William Laken Sir William Laken (died 6 October 1475) was a prominent English serjeant-at-law and judge during the reigns of Kings Henry V and Henry VI. Career Sir William was the son of Richard Laken of Willey in Shropshire. His father served as counsel and ...

*Sir Richard Nanfan *Sir John Langford *John Purye *Richard Bulstrode * Abingdon Abbey The Norreys family lived there until 1517. At that time, Sir John's great-grandson, also Sir John, had to surrender the estate in return for a pardon after having murdered a certain John Enhold of Nettlebed. Ockwells was then owned by Sir John's uncle, Sir Thomas Fettiplace. It passed through the Fettiplace family, before being owned by the Day family. In 1942 Ockwells' owner, Sir Edward Barry, wished to sell the estate to the National Trust for £75,000. James Lees-Milne, Secretary of the Country Houses Committee of the National Trust, could not justify this sum, and therefore the property was never handed over to the Trust. Lees-Milne revisited Ockwells in 1973 with architectural historian John Cornforth, who commented that the property is an 'over-restored fake' and deemed it too unimportant for the National Trust.

Notes

Sources and external links

Royal Berkshire History: Ockwells Manor
Buildings and structures in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Grade I listed buildings in Berkshire Country houses in Berkshire {{Berkshire-struct-stub