Roke Manor seen from footpath - geograph

Roke Manor is a 17th-century

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

approximately north-west of Romsey in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

, England. The house and grounds are the headquarters of Roke Manor Research Ltd, a subsidiary of Chemring Group.

History

The first known reference to a settlement at Roke appeared in the 'Feet of Fines' papers of

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

in 1256. In 1709 the estate was passed to a John Fifield of

Stanbridge Earls Stanbridge Earls School was a coeducational independent special school located near Romsey, Hampshire, England. Students ranged in age from 10–19. The school catered for both boarding and day pupils. The school specialized in teaching and he ...

and remained in the possession of his family until 1858. During this time many improvements were made to the house and grounds, and the house was renamed 'The Park'. The next owner, Thomas Wingate-Henderson, considerably enlarged the house and gave it its present appearance. In 1895 the estate amounted to about . In 1935 the estate was bought by the

Ansell Ansell is an Australian company which manufactures protective industrial and medical gloves. It was previously well known as a condom manufacturer but sold that division in 2017. History Early years Ansell was formed as Dunlop Pneumatic T ...

family, a

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

-based brewery firm. Some of the Ansell racing cars were maintained at Roke until the 1950s. In 1956 the house and surrounding it were bought by the Plessey Company and named Plessey Research Roke Manor Limited. Plessey was taken over in 1990 and in 2010 the facilities were bought by Chemring Group; it continues in use as a research and development centre and the head office of Roke Manor Research Ltd. The grounds had a walled garden, stable block and cottages when bought by Plessey, but since then all buildings except the house have been demolished and most of the grounds covered by buildings and car parks.

References

Country houses in Hampshire {{Hampshire-struct-stub