Wickhamford Manor

Wickhamford Manor, Wickhamford, Worcestershire is a manor house dating from the 16th century. It was the childhood home of James Lees-Milne, the writer. The manor is a Grade II listed building.

Wickhamford Manor
"highly picturesque"
Type	House
Location	Wickhamford, Worcestershire
Coordinates	52.0783°N 1.902°W / 52.0783; -1.902
Built	16th century
Architectural style(s)	Vernacular
Governing body	Privately owned
Listed Building – Grade II
Official name	Manor House, Wickhamford
Designated	30 July 1959
Reference no.	1215988
Listed Building – Grade II
Official name	Dovecote approximately 100 m south east of Manor House
Designated	30 July 1959
Reference no.	1216194
Listed Building – Grade II
Official name	Barn approximately 75 m south of Manor House
Designated	30 July 1959
Reference no.	1215990
Location of Wickhamford Manor in Worcestershire

History

The manor was originally a monastic grange in the possession of Evesham Abbey.^[1] Following the Dissolution of the monasteries, it was granted by Elizabeth I to Thomas Throckmorton in 1562. Throckmorton sold the manor to Samuel Sandys in 1594 and the Sandys family retained ownership until 1860.^[2] Penelope Washington, daughter of a later Sandys and a distant relative of George Washington, lived at the manor in the 17th century. Her tomb in the estate church of St John the Baptist,^[1] is carved with the Washington coat of arms, three stars above two bars (or stripes), which is traditionally assumed to be the origin of the Stars and Stripes,^[3][4] although this is disputed.^[5]

In 1906 the manor was bought by George Lees-Milne.^[6] The Lees, and their relatives the Cromptons, were originally from Lancashire, where they had made considerable fortunes from coal mining and cotton spinning.^[7] In 1908, George's son James was born at the house.^[8] An exaggerated portrait of his parents as "a pair of ludicrous eccentrics",^[9] and his difficult relationships with them is recorded in the early chapters of his volume of autobiography, Another Self.^[10]

George Lees-Milne sold Wickhamford in 1947, two years before his death.^[7] In 2010, it was again for sale, at a guide price of £2.95 million.^[11]

Architecture and description

Pevsner describes the grouping of manor house, ancillary buildings and church around a lake, originally a medieval fish pond, as "highly picturesque".^[1] The present manor buildings date from the 16th century, with later additions.^[12] It has a timber frame, infilled with limestone rubble, is of two storeys and built to an E-plan.^[12] Much is early 20th century reconstruction and expansion undertaken by George Lees-Milne. The dovecote by the lake is genuinely medieval, dating from the 13th century,^[1] and has its own Grade II listing.^[13]