Flitwick Manor
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Flitwick Manor is a
Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
country house in the south of
Flitwick Flitwick () is a town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "a hamlet on the River Flitt". The spelling ''Flytwyk'' appears in 1381. The nearby River Flit runs through Flitwick Moor, a natur ...
,
Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...
,
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 ...
. It is located on Church Road off the A5120 road. Now operating as a hotel, the manor is a
Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
. Now owned by Flitwick Town Council, much of the Grade II
Register of Historic Parks and Gardens The Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England provides a listing and classification system for historic parks and gardens similar to that used for listed buildings. The register is managed by Historic England ...
listed park is accessible to the public.


History

Edward Blofield built Flitwick Manor in 1632. He died in 1663 and left the property to his wife Jane. In 1668 she married Samuel Rhodes and the property passed through the Rhodes family until it was bequeathed in 1736 by Benjamin Rhodes to Humphry Dell who was a relative. Humphry Dell (1706–1764) was a physician who practised in Flitwick. He was a friend of Jeffrey Fisher and acted as godfather to his daughter Anne who was born in 1757. When Dell died in 1764 he left Flitwick Manor to Anne Fisher, his goddaughter, but as she was only seven years old her father Jeffrey Fisher was the proprietor until she turned twenty-one. An engraving of Flitwick Manor was made during this time in 1776. Anne married James Hesse of Edmonton in 1778 but he died in 1783 and in 1789 she married George Brooks (1741–1817). The manor then came into the possession of the Brooks family where it remained for the next 145 years.


Brooks family

George Brooks was a barrister and banker in London. After he married Anne he continued to live there and let Flitwick Manor to tenants. Robert Trevor was a very significant tenant as it was he who instigated the significant changes to the manor between 1793 and 1808. He agreed with George Brooks to pay half of the costs. In 1816 George's son John Thomas Brooks (1794–1858) was given Flitwick Manor on his marriage to Mary Hatfield. This couple lived there for the rest of their lives, and made extensive improvements. The grounds were praised by the landscape architect
John Claudius Loudon John Claudius Loudon (8 April 1783 – 14 December 1843) was a Scottish botanist, garden designer and author. He was the first to use the term arboretum in writing to refer to a garden of plants, especially trees, collected for the purpose of ...
in the 1820s and 1830s, especially the arboretum, planted in a "natural arrangement". John Thomas Brooks wrote several diaries which give a picture of life at Flitwick Manor. The most important event in these diaries seems to be the death of his only daughter, Mary Ann Brooks (1822–1848), who died aged 26, in 1848. He was particularly fond of his garden and made major improvements to the grounds. When he died in 1858, his eldest son John Hatfield Brooks (1824–1907) inherited the manor. Major John Hatfield Brooks was educated in Rugby, Warwickshire and later became an officer in the 1st Bengal Light Cavalry. He served over in British India. It was in Calcutta that he married Sophia Margaret Cloete in 1850. The couple had two daughters. When John died in 1907, his eldest daughter Catherine Mary Frances Brooks (1853–1934) inherited the house. Catherine did not marry and lived in the house until she died at the age of 81 in 1934. Her obituary outlined her work in the village of Flitwick and praised her generosity. When she died she had no heirs so she left the property to her cousin Robert Adolphus Lyall (1876–1948). When he died in 1948 it was left to John Comyn Lyall. He advertised it for sale in 1953.


Later history

After being advertised for sale, Flitwick Manor was bought by Anthony Gilkison, a film director, who lived there until the early 1970s, when it was purchased by The Saxby Family. The manor stayed in private hands until 1984, when it was converted to a restaurant. This was sold in 1990 and the manor is now a hotel, operated by
Best Western Best Western International, Inc. owns the Best Western Hotels & Resorts brand, which it licenses to over 4,700 hotels worldwide. The franchise, with its corporate headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona, includes more than 2,000 hotels in North America. ...
. In 2009, the main park including the arboretum and two adjoining fields to the south of the property were acquired by Flitwick Town Council to preserve it for the community. Access to the public is available during daylight hours. Disabled parking is available at the main entrance to the park on the corner of Dunstable Road and Church Road


Reputed haunting

Flitwick Manor is reputedly haunted, and these stories have sometimes been used for publicity since it became a hotel. The manor was featured in the episode "The Jim Twins/Flitwick Ghost" of the television series '' Strange but True?'' in 1995.


Architecture

The main part of the existing house is the entrance block which dates from the early 18th century. It is two-storeys and is built of red brick. This block encases the earlier 17th century house and has a
mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called a French roof or curb roof) is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope, punctured by dormer windows, at a steeper angle than the upper. The ...
below a
parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...
. The architectural style is
Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
, in contrast to the garden frontage which is later and was undertaken in a
Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
style. Charles O'Brien, in his 2014 revised ''Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire and Peterborough'', in the Pevsner Buildings of England, series, identifies earlier work from the late 17th century and later, 19th and 20th century, extensions.
Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...
dates the 20th century work to 1936 and ascribes it to Sir
Albert Richardson Sir Albert Edward Richardson (London, 19 May 1880 – 3 February 1964) was a leading English architect, teacher and writer about architecture during the first half of the 20th century. He was Professor of Architecture at University College Lon ...
. Flitwick Manor is a
Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
. The pleasure gardens surrounding the house were laid out by George and John Thomas Brooks in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. They were much admired by contemporaries, including Loudon. Much is now lost under 20th century housing developments. The park is listed Grade II on the
Register of Historic Parks and Gardens The Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England provides a listing and classification system for historic parks and gardens similar to that used for listed buildings. The register is managed by Historic England ...
. A
grotto A grotto is a natural or artificial cave used by humans in both modern times and antiquity, and historically or prehistorically. Naturally occurring grottoes are often small caves near water that are usually flooded or often flooded at high ti ...
in the grounds is listed Grade II.


Footnotes


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * {{cite book , last1=Wiltshire , first1=Kathleen , title=Ghosts and legends of the Wiltshire countryside , date=1973 , publisher=Compton Russell Ltd , location=Salisbury , isbn=978-0-859-55007-9


External links


Flitwick Manor Hotel website

Flitwick Town Council Website , About Manor Park
Flitwick Houses completed in 1816 Hotels in Bedfordshire Country houses in Bedfordshire Grade II* listed buildings in Bedfordshire Georgian architecture in England Manor houses in England 1816 establishments in England Grade II* listed houses Country house hotels Reportedly haunted locations in the East of England