Wimbledon Manor House
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Wimbledon manor house; the residence of the
lord of the manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...
, was an
English country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...
at
Wimbledon, Surrey Wimbledon () is a district and town of Southwest London, England, southwest of the centre of London at Charing Cross; it is the main commercial centre of the London Borough of Merton. Wimbledon had a population of 68,187 in 2011 which includes ...
, now part of
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. The
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 ...
was over the centuries exploded, burnt and several times demolished. The first known manor house, The Old Rectory was built around 1500 still stands as a private home, despite very nearly falling into a state beyond repair, in the 19th century. The ambitious later
Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...
prodigy house, Wimbledon Palace, was "a house of the first importance" according to Sir
John Summerson Sir John Newenham Summerson (25 November 1904 – 10 November 1992) was one of the leading British architectural historians of the 20th century. Early life John Summerson was born at Barnstead, Coniscliffe Road, Darlington. His grandfather wo ...
, and is now demolished. The manor house passed through several further iterations, being entirely rebuilt three times. From the 18th Century onwards the manor lands began to reduce in size as various owners sold off parts. What was known as the 'Old Park', an area of around 300 acres stretching westwards from the present Cannizaro House (now a hotel) and public park, was sold off in 1705. Most of the present day
Wimbledon Common Wimbledon Common is a large open space in Wimbledon, southwest London. There are three named areas: Wimbledon Common, Putney Heath, and Putney Lower Common, which together are managed under the name Wimbledon and Putney Commons totalling 460 ...
was also once part of the manor, with grazing rights given to tenants of the
lord of the manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...
. The
Common Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally com ...
was saved from
enclosure Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or " common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...
and development in 1871 by a remarkably early act of conservation. 42 acres, previously part of the manor parklands, are now occupied by the
All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, also known as the All England Club, based at Church Road, Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London, England, is a Gentlemen's club, private members' club. It is best known as the venue for the Wimbledon ...
that has made ''Wimbledon'' synonymous with tennis. Further tracts of the Grade II* listed public
Wimbledon Park Wimbledon Park is the name of an urban park in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon and also of the suburb south and east of the park and the Wimbledon Park tube station. The park itself is in area. The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club is immedi ...
include its present-day golf course and the lake, the latter created along with further improvements to the park by the famous landscaper 'Capability' Brown for Earl Spencer, in 1768.


Early History

Until 1328, Wimbledon manor formed part of the manor of Mortlake. In 1364,
Simon Islip Simon Islip (died 1366) was an English prelate. He served as Archbishop of Canterbury between 1349 and 1366. Early life Islip was the uncle of William Whittlesey. He was a cousin of Walter de Islip, Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer:Ball, F. E ...
, the
Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...
, gave the
demesne A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. The concept or ...
lands to Merton Priory. Wimbledon was among the possessions of the church forfeited by Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1397. On the accession of Henry IV, Arundel was restored, and the archbishops continued to hold the manor of Wimbledon until 1536, when
Thomas Cranmer Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556) was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build the case for the annulment of Henry' ...
, then archbishop, handed the manor and
advowson Advowson () or patronage is the right in English law of a patron (avowee) to present to the diocesan bishop (or in some cases the ordinary if not the same person) a nominee for appointment to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living, ...
to Henry VIII, as part of the
Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
and the Dissolution of the Monasteries, who then granted them to
Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false charge ...
. In 1540, Wimbledon manor was taken back from Cromwell on his death by the crown and annexed to
Hampton Court Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chief ...
.
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
gave it to his queen,
Catherine Parr Catherine Parr (sometimes alternatively spelled Katherine, Katheryn, Kateryn, or Katharine; 1512 – 5 September 1548) was Queen of England and Ireland as the last of the six wives of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 12 July 1543 until ...
, in 1543. After her death in 1548 the manor remained in the Crown until 1556, when Queen Mary granted it to
Cardinal Pole Reginald Pole (12 March 1500 – 17 November 1558) was an English cardinal of the Catholic Church and the last Catholic archbishop of Canterbury, holding the office from 1556 to 1558, during the Counter-Reformation. Early life Pole was born a ...
as part of the Counter Reformation.
Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...
seized it back and gave it to
Sir Christopher Hatton Sir Christopher Hatton KG (1540 – 20 November 1591) was an English politician, Lord Chancellor of England and a favourite of Elizabeth I of England. He was one of the judges who found Mary, Queen of Scots guilty of treason. Early years Sir ...
in 1576 who sold it to Sir Thomas Cecil the same year .


The Old Rectory

The Old Rectory, Wimbledon's first known manor house and its oldest surviving residence, originally known as the Parsonage House, was commissioned by the church in the early 1500s and is Grade II* listed. The house was once
moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...
ed, and adjoins the grounds of St Mary's Church. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries the former rectory manor and its "Parsonage" or "Rectory" house, compulsorily purchased from the church and vested in the Lord Chancellor,
Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false charge ...
, in 1536, were on his downfall in 1540 seized by
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
who gave them to his sixth and last wife
Catherine Parr Catherine Parr (sometimes alternatively spelled Katherine, Katheryn, Kateryn, or Katharine; 1512 – 5 September 1548) was Queen of England and Ireland as the last of the six wives of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 12 July 1543 until ...
in 1543. On 20 December 1546, in the months prior to his death, during a tour of his
Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
estates, the king was overcome by his various ailments and was unable to continue on to his Palace at Whitehall, so he stopped for three days at Catherine's house. In 1550, the house became a grace and favour home for Sir William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley. Described by one of Cecil's biographers as "not luxurious, but adequate", a survey from 1649 describes The Old Rectory as "A two storey house with a large dining hall, a withdrawing chamber, a parlour and little chamber, and extensive service quarters. A spiral staircase to the first floor with ten chambers and five closets, with five garrets in the roof". By 1720, it was known as The Old Laundry House, presumably for the Cecil house built in 1588, next door (see below). The house was uninhabited when Sir Theodore Janssen bought the manor in 1717 (see below) and who allegedly pulled down the south wing and restored the remainder of the house. By 1861, the house was a near ruin when it was sold as part of Wimbledon Park (but not the manor), by Earl Spencer, to the developer, John Beaumont (see below). Beaumont restored and extended The Old Rectory, repaired the exterior, transformed the interior, laid out the grounds and planted the famous fig walk. His successor, Samuel Willson, who bought the house for £6,000 in 1882, carried on the works, adding two-storey drawing-room wing and installing carved-oak doors and English, Flemish and Italian chimney pieces. In 1909 the house was purchased by marine engineer Matthias Jacobs, who enlarged it considerably with help from his brother, an architect, who designed a new single-storey billiard room, a large service wing to the north and a study extension to mask the chapel. In 1923, Thomas Lethaby purchased the house and he concentrated on embellishing the interior. The drawing room was fitted with oak panelling from the Chantry House, Newark, an elaborate plaster ceiling based on one at Knole House, and a grand fireplace. The Lethabys sold the house in 1947. In 1953,
Russell Brock Russell Claude Brock, Baron Brock (24 October 1903 – 3 September 1980) was a leading British chest and heart surgeon and one of the pioneers of modern open-heart surgery. His achievements were recognised by a Knighthood in 1954, a Life Peera ...
, later Baron Brock of Wimbledon, an eminent cardiologist, bought the house for £13,750. The Brock family sold it in 1978 and the kitchen garden was sold and developed for housing known today as Rectory Orchard. The Old Rectory was then bought by an Iraqi entrepreneur and philanthropist, Basil Faidhi. Faidhi had fled Iraq for Britain and though he spent vast sums restoring the house with assistance from
English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...
, he also created a basement discothèque for his daughter, Nina, and a bar. In 1992 Faidhi commissioned Wimbledon historian Richard Milward to write a history of the building: ''The Rectory – Wimbledon’s Oldest House''. In 1994, the astrophysicist, songwriter and lead guitarist of the rock band ''Queen'', Brian May CBE, paid £4 million for the house, with the intention of living there with his partner and later wife, the long-running
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
TV soap opera ''
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'' actress Anita Dobson. In 2006 May sold The Old Rectory for £16 million to an Italian architect-owner Antonella Carminati and her husband, who initiated further works with the help of the architect Sir Donald Insall CBE. In 2012, the Carminatis put The Old Rectory on the market for £26 million. The house standing in acres, was sold in June 2013 for an undisclosed sum to Ian Taylor.


Cecil Wimbledon

Sir Thomas Cecil, later Earl of Exeter, had connections with Wimbledon manor, before he bought it in 1576, for he had lived there when he was a child, in The Old Rectory. His father, Sir William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, had tenure of the house as a grace-and-favor residence by the Crown. Whilst Sir Thomas did own The Old Rectory, as it came as part of the manor, he decided to build a grand new Wimbledon manor house which was to be known as Wimbledon Palace. This was built next door to The Old Rectory and completed in 1588, England's '' Annus Mirabilis''. It was a leading example of the Elizabethan prodigy house. Sir Thomas' son
Edward Cecil Edward Cecil, 1st Viscount Wimbledon (29 February 1572 – 16 November 1638) was an English military commander and a politician who sat in the House of Commons of England, House of Commons at various times between 1601 and 1624. Life Cecil was ...
was made 1st Viscount Wimbledon on the basis of this seat. Edward's sarcophagus sits within the Cecil chapel at St Mary's church, Wimbledon, near the site of his demolished home. The site, which was near the village of Wimbledon, was near the top of a high hill, astride the upper part of what is now Home Park Road, with extensive views northwards over the present day Wimbledon Park, above a steep slope that was dramatically terraced with massive retaining walls. The house was built on a modified H plan, with a slightly recessed central range facing south, and on the north, a central entrance between deep flanking wings, with matching staircase towers in the inner corners. An informally arranged service wing, not part of the symmetrical design, lay to the west. The entrance court, essentially a deep gated terrace entered from the sides, lay 26 steps below the upper '' cour d'honneur'', which could be approached only by a monumental axial staircase with paired helical flights rising from a central raised landing. Wimbledon's series of terraces and axial stairs and its hilltop site was "inspired presumably" by the Villa Farnese at Caprarola. The estate stood within a day's ride of
Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...
, making it eminently suitable for an active courtier; there, the Cecils entertained Queen
Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...
for three days in 1599.
John Thorpe John Thorpe or Thorp (c.1565–1655?; fl.1570–1618) was an English architect. Life Little is known of his life, and his work is dubiously inferred, rather than accurately known, from a folio of drawings in the Sir John Soane's Museum, to whic ...
's undated plan of Wimbledon's ground floor and forecourts of ''ca'' 1609, suggests that they were about twelve acres in extent, divided among eleven separate spaces, featuring plantations, walks, and parterres, laid out asymmetrically on the sloping site. The house was damaged in 1628 by the accidental igniting of gunpowder stored there. The glories of this house, after repairs had been effected, were concentrated in the long Gallery, one of two in the house, which was richly painted and marbleized, no doubt by
Francis Cleyn Francis Cleyn (or Francesco Cleyn or Clein; also Frantz or Franz Klein) (c. 1582 – 1658) was a German-born painter and tapestry designer who lived and worked in England. Life and career Francis Cleyn was born in Rostock in Germany, and while ...
, who was responsible also for the exterior that was painted ''
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'' in tones of yellow and burnt ochre.


King Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria

Immediately after Viscount Wimbledon died, in 1638, the manor together with manor house was sold by his heirs to trustees for the queen of
Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...
, who gave it to Queen Henrietta-Maria. Alterations and expansion were made in 1640–41, just at the outbreak of the
English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
. Overseeing plans and construction was the court architect
Inigo Jones Inigo Jones (; 15 July 1573 – 21 June 1652) was the first significant architect in England and Wales in the early modern period, and the first to employ Vitruvian rules of proportion and symmetry in his buildings. As the most notable archit ...
, Surveyor of the King's Works, and on site was the prominent sculptor-builder Nicholas Stone. The two-storey house with a flat balustraded roof was severe in outward aspect.
Thomas Fuller Thomas Fuller (baptised 19 June 1608 – 16 August 1661) was an English churchman and historian. He is now remembered for his writings, particularly his ''Worthies of England'', published in 1662, after his death. He was a prolific author, and ...
calls Wimbledon manor house "a daring structure;" and says, that "by some it has been thought to equal Nonsuch, if not to exceed it." The magnificent gardens which were created for the Queen by French garden designer Andre Mollet, were later described in a Parliamentary inventory taken in 1649; after noting the lower court and the upper court, the survey reported its several ascents in detail, counting the very steps:
The scite of this manor-house being placed on the side slipp of a rising ground, renders it to stand of that height that, betwixt the basis of the brick-wall of the sayd lower court, and the hall door of the sayd manor-house, there are five severall assents, consisting of three-score and ten stepps, which are distinguished in a very graceful manner; to witt, from the parke to a payre of rayled gates, set betwixt two large pillers of brick; in the middle of the wall standing on the north side of the sayd lower court is the first assent, consisting of eight stepps, of good freestone, layed in a long square, within which gates, levell with the highest of those eight stepps, is a pavement of freestone, leading to a payr of iron gates rayled on each side thereof with turned ballasters of freestone, within which is a little paved court leading to an arched vault neatly pillowred with brick, conteyning on each side of the pillers a little roome well arched, serving for celleridge of botteled wines; on each side of this vault are a payre of staires of stone stepps, twentie-three stepps in assent, eight foote nine inches broad; meeting an even landing-place in the height thereof, leading from the foresayed gates unto the lower court, and make the second assent; from the height of this assent a pavement of Flanders brickes thirteene foot six inches broad", leading "to the third assent, which stands on the south side of the lower courte, consisting of a round modell, in the middle whereof is a payre of iron gates rayled as aforesayd, within which is a fountayne fitted with a leaden cesterne fed with a pipe of lead; this round conteynes a payre of stone stayres of 26 stepps in assent, ordered and adorned as the second assent is, and leades into the sayd higher courte, and soe makes the third assent; from the height whereof a pavement of square stone nine foote broad and eightie-seaven foote long leades up to the fowerth assent, which consists of eleven stepps of freestone very well wrought and ordered, leading into a gallery paved with square stone, sixtie-two foote long and eight foote broad....
From the forementioned first assent there is a way cut forth of the parke, planted on each side thereof with elmes and other trees, in a very decent order, extending itself in a direct line two hundred thirty-one
perches Perch is a common name for fish of the genus ''Perca'', freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Percif ...
from thence quite through the parke northward unto Putney-common, being a very special ornament to the whole house.


Civil War and the Interregnum

As a consequence of the
English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
, the monarchy was overthrown in 1649 and the
Crown lands Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. ...
were put up for sale. The manor passed to the
Cromwellian Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...
General
John Lambert John Lambert may refer to: *John Lambert (martyr) (died 1538), English Protestant martyred during the reign of Henry VIII *John Lambert (general) (1619–1684), Parliamentary general in the English Civil War *John Lambert of Creg Clare (''fl.'' c. ...
. "Lambert," says Roger Coke, in ''A Detection of the Court and State of England during the four last reigns and the interregnum'' (1719), ''"after he had been discarded by Cromwell, betook himself to Wimbledon-house, where he turned florist, and had the finest tulips and gilliflowers that could be got for love or money; yet in these outward pleasures he nourished the ambition which he entertained before he was cashiered by Cromwell."'' The reputation of Wimbledon manor house in the history of flower gardening thus begins with General Lambert, who painted some of the flowers he was cultivating. Though the Queen's flower gardens may have fallen to ruin in the decade of the Civil War, the glory of Wimbledon aside from the straight avenue of elms and other trees centred on the house, that stretched forth as far as Putney was chiefly its fruit. Among a thousand fruit trees of every kind, the Parliament-men who inventoried the house and gardens in 1649 noted the "three great and fayer" fig trees that covered a very "greate part of the walls of the south side of the manor-house" "by the spreading and dilating of themselves in a very large proporcion, but yet in a most decent manner"; to have grown so extensive in 1649 the figs must have been planted in the time of Lord Exeter or his son Lord Wimbledon. The orangery in 1649 held 42 orange trees planted in boxes, valued at £10 each, and 18 young ones, a lemon tree "bearing greate and very large lemmons" (£20) a "pomecitron" tree" ('' Citrus medica'', valued at £10), and six pomegranate trees. Doubtless the inventoried bay tree (''
Laurus nobilis ''Laurus nobilis'' is an aromatic evergreen tree or large shrub with green, glabrous (smooth) leaves. It is in the flowering plant family Lauraceae. It is native to the Mediterranean region and is used as bay leaf for seasoning in cooking. I ...
'') and the equally tender " Irish arbutis, very lovely to looke upon," were being taken into the orangery for winter protection, as England was then in the frigid grip of the
Little Ice Age The Little Ice Age (LIA) was a period of regional cooling, particularly pronounced in the North Atlantic region. It was not a true ice age of global extent. The term was introduced into scientific literature by François E. Matthes in 1939. Ma ...
.


The Restoration

When the monarchy was restored in 1660 with Charles II, Wimbledon manor was promptly given back to Charles' widow Henrietta-Maria, who sold it the following year to trustees for John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol. Bristol's widow sold it to
Thomas Osborne, Earl of Danby Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds, (20 February 1632 – 26 July 1712), was a prominent English politician. Under King Charles II (and known at the time as Lord Danby), he was the leading figure in the government for around five years i ...
, the Lord Treasurer, who was afterwards created Duke of Leeds.
John Evelyn John Evelyn (31 October 162027 February 1706) was an English writer, landowner, gardener, courtier and minor government official, who is now best known as a diarist. He was a founding Fellow of the Royal Society. John Evelyn's diary, or memo ...
's name is loosely connected with the gardens on the grounds he went with the Lord Treasurer to view the house and grounds, 18 March 1678: of an entry in his diary that same year: ''"My Lord Treasurer sent for me to accompany him.to Wimbledon, which he had lately purchased of the Earl of Bristol ; so breaking fast with him privately in his chamber, I accompanied him with two of his daughters, my lord Conway, and Sir Bernard Gascoyne, and having surveyed his gardens and alterations, returned late at night."''


Sir Theodore Janssen

The Duke's heirs sold the manor in 1717, to Sir Theodore Janssen 1st Baronet of Wimbledon, one of the founding directors of the
Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...
, the new parallel
East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
, and the ill-fated South Sea Company. Janssen paid the famous architect
Colen Campbell Colen Campbell (15 June 1676 – 13 September 1729) was a pioneering Scottish architect and architectural writer, credited as a founder of the Georgian style. For most of his career, he resided in Italy and England. As well as his architectural ...
and Gould, £70 as "overseers" of a new house to be built for him at Wimbledon in 1720. Built in part with brick from the Elizabethan manor house on a new site to the south west of St Mary's church. Janssen, as a director of the South Sea Company, was heavily involved in the
South Sea Bubble South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...
fiasco, where the directors were accused by
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
, in 1721, of committing fraud. Parliament itself was not immune from implication in the scandal, for several members of the
cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...
were impeached for their corruption. The
Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...
, John Aislabie, was found guilty of the "most notorious, dangerous and infamous corruption", and imprisoned. Janssen petitioned Parliament for leniency before they introduced a
Bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...
enabling them to confiscate the assets of the directors. Parliament allowed him to keep £50,000 but in the end he evidently kept £100,000" Consequently, in 1721, he was also stripped of Wimbledon manor by Parliament. In 1741, Janssen, appears to be living next door to the house he had built, albeit with the Campbell design incomplete (see map). Because the house was sold in 1749, the year after his death, this might indicate that he at least continued to own the house, which had been separated from the manor estate, in 1721; with the Rush family as tenants (see map). This theory appears to be confirmed by the Wimbledon Museum: "Although he (Janssen) was allowed to keep his newly built house he preferred to live in another, nearer the High Street". Reports that the Duchess of Marlborough owned and demolished this house, therefore, seem to be incorrect. Sir Theodore continued to live out his life quietly in Wimbledon. He died in 1748 aged 94 and is buried in the graveyard of St Mary's Church. So in 1749 the Janssen house and land comprising some 70 acres, was sold to Mrs Martha Rush. In 1759 it was inherited by her son Samuel. In 1782 alterations were made to the facade and a further storey was added; possibly completing the original Campbell design (see pic). In 1783 the estate was inherited by Sir William Beaumaris Rush who died there in 1833 aged 83. The family were for a century and a half the proprietors of a great vinegar yard in Southwark, afterwards Potts's, and from the last of those wealthy merchants Sir William inherited a large fortune. The house, which had become known as Belvedere House, stood at what became the rear gardens of today's Nos. 6-12 Alan Road, was eventually demolished in 1900, to make way for a housing development to be known as the Belvedere Estate.


The Duchess of Marlborough

In 1723, the manor was purchased for £15,000 by
Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, Princess of Mindelheim, Countess of Nellenburg (née Jenyns, spelt Jennings in most modern references; 5 June 1660 (Old Style) – 18 October 1744), was an English courtier who rose to be one of th ...
. Sarah was the widow of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, who had died the year before, in 1722.The Duchess demolished the remains of the old Cecil manor house then she turned to the "Architect Earl" of Pembroke, Henry Herbert, for another house on a new site completed in 1733. This was immediately behind where the former Cecil house had stood and close to the junction of the present Arthur Road and Home Park Road in the grounds of the current Ricards Lodge school.This iteration of Wimbledon manor house was engraved in 1771 for the fifth volume of '' Vitruvius Britannicus'', where attribution for the design of fifty years previous was given to Lord Pembroke's assistant Roger Morris. Letters of the Duchess of Marlborough do mention Morris on the site, but implying that he was acting on Pembroke's behalf, and the architect-builder
Francis Smith of Warwick Francis Smith of Warwick (1672–1738) was an English master-builder and architect, much involved in the construction of country houses in the Midland counties of England. Smith of Warwick may refer also to his brothers, or his son. Architectura ...
is also mentioned, as surveyor.
Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...
Wimbledon manor was a compact house of gray brick with
Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building sto ...
dressings, of seven bays, its broader end bays slightly projecting; the three central bays were crowned with a
pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...
over a lightly projecting Ionic portico of four attached columns.The ground floor was sunken to allow the Duchess, who had gout, to enter at first floor level, without going up steps. Evidently the Duchess was not pleased with the finished house for she wrote to her granddaughter, Diana, Duchess of Bedford, sometime between 1732 and 1735 that the Earl's talent was little more than to "imitate ill whatever was useless" in
Inigo Jones Inigo Jones (; 15 July 1573 – 21 June 1652) was the first significant architect in England and Wales in the early modern period, and the first to employ Vitruvian rules of proportion and symmetry in his buildings. As the most notable archit ...
and
Palladio Andrea Palladio ( ; ; 30 November 1508 – 19 August 1580) was an Italian Renaissance architect active in the Venetian Republic. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily Vitruvius, is widely considered to be one of th ...
's buildings.
English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...
, which lists
Wimbledon Park Wimbledon Park is the name of an urban park in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon and also of the suburb south and east of the park and the Wimbledon Park tube station. The park itself is in area. The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club is immedi ...
a Grade II* protected monument, suggest that the Duchess consulted the landscape gardener Charles Bridgeman, but the extent of his contribution is unknown. Through the Duchess of Marlborough, Wimbledon manor passed, in 1744, to her heir, the 10-year-old John, Viscount Spencer, soon to be made the 1st Earl Spencer.Under a contract of late 1764
Lancelot "Capability" Brown Lancelot Brown (born c. 1715–16, baptised 30 August 1716 – 6 February 1783), more commonly known as Capability Brown, was an English gardener and landscape architect, who remains the most famous figure in the history of the English la ...
undertook landscaping projects in the park, which still comprised some 1200 acres; his work, which included the lake (Wimbledon Park Lake), was complete by 1768, In 1780,
Hannah More Hannah More (2 February 1745 – 7 September 1833) was an English religious writer, philanthropist, poet and playwright in the circle of Johnson, Reynolds and Garrick, who wrote on moral and religious subjects. Born in Bristol, she taught at a s ...
visited the house as the guest of
Jonathan Shipley Jonathan Shipley (1714 – 6 December 1788) was a clergyman who held offices in the Church of England (including Dean of Winchester from 1760 to 1769), who became Bishop of Llandaff from January to September 1769 and Bishop of St Asaph from Sept ...
, Bishop of St. Asaph, to whom Lord Spencer lent the house annually for a season: ''"I did not think there could have been so beautiful a place within seven miles of London. The park has as much variety of ground, and is as un-Londonish as if it were an hundred miles out." ''Hannah More enjoyed the Duchess of Marlborough's books in the library, where: ''"numbers of the books were presents to her from the great authors of her time, whose names she had carefully written in the blank leaves, for I believe she had the pride of being thought learned, as well as rich and beautiful.''"Bartlett 1865, p. 70. "elegantly fitted up, and are used as an occasional retirement by Lord Spencer's family. The situation is singularly eligible, having a beautiful home prospect of the park, with a fine piece of water towards the north, and an extensive view over the country of Surrey on the south." The house burnt down at Easter 1785, spreading from the laundry-room where linen was being aired in preparation for the return of the family after a brief absence. Lord Spencer cleared away the ruins and leveled and turfed the ground, so that scarcely a trace remained of its foundations except for a tunnel, which still survives, which had linked the main house to the separate staff quarters.


Spencer Wimbledon

Between 1799 and 1802 the 2nd Earl Spencer had Wimbledon manor house rebuilt, in the
Regency style Regency architecture encompasses classical buildings built in the United Kingdom during the Regency era The Regency era of British history officially spanned the years 1811 to 1820, though the term is commonly applied to the longer perio ...
, very close to the site of the Marlborough house, incorporating the surviving staff quarters. The new house would be called Wimbledon Park House, allegedly to designs by 'Capability' Brown's son-in-law, Henry Holland.
Joseph Paxton Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...
, renowned later as the designer of
the Crystal Palace The Crystal Palace was a cast iron and plate glass structure, originally built in Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park, London, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. The exhibition took place from 1 May to 15 October 1851, and more than 14,000 exhibit ...
for the 1851 Great Exhibition, worked here as a garden-boy assisting his brother, the head gardener. Sir Joseph Paxton returned to design new formal gardens in the 1840s for the Duke of Somerset, Spencer's tenant at the house from 1827. In 1838 the Duke entertained
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
there. In 1846 the Spencers left Wimbledon Park House, selling the estate (but not the manorial title) for £85,000 (£71 an acre), to the real estate developer John Augustus Beaumont, an insurance company director, who reduced the size of the park after 1860, with speculative streets of houses. The last Wimbledon manor house, Wimbledon Park House, isolated from its parkland and surrounded by increasingly dense suburban development, and having passed through a succession of owners, became dilapidated — the house was demolished in about 1949. The land on which it and the Marlborough house had stood was the site of Park House Middle School, built in 1972 and demolished in the early 2000s after Merton Council reverted to a two-tier school system. It now forms part of the sports fields of Ricards Lodge School. In 1864, still
lord of the manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...
, the 5th Earl, attempted to get a
private parliamentary bill Proposed bills are often categorized into public bills and private bills. A public bill is a proposed law which would apply to everyone within its jurisdiction. This is unlike a private bill which is a proposal for a law affecting only a single p ...
to enclose
Wimbledon Common Wimbledon Common is a large open space in Wimbledon, southwest London. There are three named areas: Wimbledon Common, Putney Heath, and Putney Lower Common, which together are managed under the name Wimbledon and Putney Commons totalling 460 ...
, which he still owned, for the creation of a new park with a house and gardens and to sell part for building. Though Sir Joseph Paxton testified on Earl Spencer's behalf, in a landmark decision for English
common land Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect Wood fuel, wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person ...
, and following an enquiry, permission was refused and 1871-created Board of Conservators received the land to preserve it in its natural condition. In 1996 the 9th Earl Spencer sold his vestigial interest in Wimbledon, the title of lord of the manor of Wimbledon, to a buyer from Brazil for £171,000; manors may bring minor rights such as fishing, lesser mineral, and foraging rights but no powers nor property are believed to appertain to the archaic estate (interest in land), an incorporeal hereditament.


Notes

{{Reflist, 2 Country houses in Surrey Gardens by Capability Brown Buildings and structures in Wimbledon, London