Byfleet Manor is a Grade II* listed house[1] in Byfleet, Surrey, England. Byfleet Manor has been used as a filming location in three television series, most notably Downton Abbey.
History
Byfleet Manor's precursor was a royal hunting lodge given by Edward II to Piers Gaveston, his reputed lover.[2]Anne of Denmark, wife of King James I, the house's last royal owner, commissioned a fresh house here in 1617.[3] She kept horses sent by her brother Christian IV in the park, and spent at least £250 on the house. However, she died before the work was finished. According to John Aubrey, the house was completed by the courtier James Fullerton.[4] The front walls and gate piers, which can still be seen today, date from that time.[5]
A rebuilding followed in 1685 as the Jacobean house was reported to be ruinous. This change led to a much smaller building. In 1672 the lands were granted to Lord Holles and others to hold in trust for Queen Catherine of Braganza for her life, and afterwards for Charles II of England and his heirs. In 1694 Sir John Buckworth, lord of the manor of Byfleet, was accused of neglect in repairing a bridge over the Wey. It was found, however, that he was not responsible for such repair, as he was only a "termer for years" in the manor under a "lease made by the late queen mother's trustees." There is very little trace of the manor for about a century after this.
An Enclosure Award, privatising fields, was made in 1811 for 780 acres (3.2 km2) in the parish, including common fields of Byfleet Manor, i.e. formerly whose profits were shared between its owner, tenants and subtenants.
The house remained virtually unaltered until 1905, when it was restored and enlarged with the addition of asymmetrical wings. The scant modern vestiges of the ancient manorial rights were sold to a firm of solicitors in that decade.[6] In February 2013, a hidden room was found within the home.[7] The owners have allowed the patios and front rooms to be hired to host 1920s-themed tea parties.[8]
^Howard Colvin, The History of the King's Works, 4:2 (London: HMSO, 1982), pp. 58–59.
^John Nichols, Progresses of James the First, 3 (London, 1828), p. 187: William Brenchley Rye, England as Seen by Foreigners in the Days of Elizabeth & James the First (London, 1865), p. 217.
^ abH.E. Malden, ed. (1911). "Parishes: Byfleet". A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 3. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
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