![Hemingford Grey - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Hemingford_Grey_-_geograph.org.uk_-_901724.jpg)
The Manor is a house in the village of
Hemingford Grey
Hemingford Grey is a village and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England. Hemingford Grey lies approximately east of Huntingdon. Hemingford Grey is situated within Huntingdonshire which is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire as well a ...
,
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...
. It was built in the 1130s and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited houses in Britain — often claimed as ''the'' oldest, although this is disputed. Much of the original house remains intact despite various changes over nine centuries.
During the early 18th century, the manor was home to the "Beautiful Miss Gunnings", sisters
Maria
Maria may refer to:
People
* Mary, mother of Jesus
* Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages
Place names Extraterrestrial
* 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877
* Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...
and
Elizabeth Gunnings, who had a reputation of being among the most beautiful women in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
.
William Cowper
William Cowper ( ; 26 November 1731 – 25 April 1800) was an English poet and Anglican hymnwriter. One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th-century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and scen ...
, the poet, on observing them whilst walking his dog by the river described them as "two nymphs adorned with every grace". Maria later married the
Earl of Coventry
Earl of Coventry is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of England. The first creation for the Villiers family was created in 1623 and took its name from the city of Coventry. It became extinct in 1687. A decade later, the second ...
. Elizabeth was married twice, firstly to the
Duke of Hamilton
Duke of Hamilton is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in April 1643. It is the senior dukedom in that peerage (except for the Dukedom of Rothesay held by the Sovereign's eldest son), and as such its holder is the premier peer of Sco ...
and secondly to the
Duke of Argyll
Duke of Argyll ( gd, Diùc Earraghàidheil) is a title created in the peerage of Scotland in 1701 and in the peerage of the United Kingdom in 1892. The earls, marquesses, and dukes of Argyll were for several centuries among the most powerful ...
. She had two sons with each and became the mother of four Dukes.
The house was made famous by its long-term resident,
Lucy M. Boston
Lucy M. Boston (1892–1990), born Lucy Maria Wood, was an English novelist who wrote for children and adults, publishing her work entirely after the age of 60. She is best known for her " Green Knowe" series: six low fantasy children's novels p ...
, who bought it in 1939 and rechristened it as
Green Knowe
Green Knowe is a series of six children's novels written by Lucy M. Boston, illustrated by her son Peter Boston, and published from 1954 to 1976. It features a very old house, Green Knowe, based on Boston's home at the time, The Manor in Hemin ...
and wrote several books set there. Apart from the fictional
St Christopher on the side of the house, almost everything in the books can be found at The Manor. During the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, she gave
gramophone
A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...
recitals for nearby airmen. The house remains much as Boston left it on her death in 1990, and is open for visitors by appointment.
The gardens, which were laid out by Lucy Boston, are surrounded by a moat and have
topiary
Topiary is the horticultural practice of training perennial plants by clipping the foliage and twigs of trees, shrubs and subshrubs to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes, whether geometric or fanciful. The term also refers to plants w ...
, old roses, award-winning
irises and herbaceous borders. They are promoted by the
Campaign to Protect Rural England
CPRE, The Countryside Charity, formerly known by names such as the ''Council for the Preservation of Rural England'' and the ''Council for the Protection of Rural England'', is a charity in England with over 40,000 members and supporters. Forme ...
.
[Members Guide 2012, published by CPRE, 2012]
References
External links
The Manor websiteInterview with Diana Boston: Part 1Interview with Diana Boston: Part 2
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manor, The (Cambridgeshire)
1130s establishments in England
Country houses in Cambridgeshire
Buildings and structures in Huntingdonshire
Historic house museums in Cambridgeshire
Gardens in Cambridgeshire
Literary museums in England
Women's museums in the United Kingdom
Manor houses in England
Hemingford Grey