Owlpen Manor

History

Owlpen Manor is recognised as one of the most romantic early manor houses in England. It was designated by Historic England as a grade I listed building on 23 June 1952. The manor house is of medieval origins, incorporating fabric dated to c. 1270, but was largely built and rebuilt in the Tudor period by the Daunt family between 1464 and 1616. Since then it has not seen significant development, except for some improvements early in the 18th century, when the east wing of the house, together with the gardens, church and Grist Mill, were reordered by Thomas Daunt IV between 1719 and 1726.

Medieval period

Owlpen (pronounced locally "Ole-pen") derives its name, it is thought, from the Saxon thegn, Olla, who first set up his pen, or enclosure, by the springs that rise under the foundations of the manor, about the 9th century.

There are records of the de Olepenne family (who may have named themselves after the place) settled at Owlpen by 1174. They were local landowners, benefactors to abbeys and hospitals, and henchmen to their feudal overlords, the Berkeleys of Berkeley Castle, whose wills and charters they regularly attest as their attorneys and witnesses. They held Owlpen of the Berkeleys as a sub-manor at half a knight's fee and for a rent of 5s. paid to Wotton manor.

Tudor period

In 1464 the male line failed after twelve generations of Olpennes and the manor and lands passed to the Daunt family on the marriage of Margery de Olepenne to John Daunt of Wotton-under-Edge. The Daunts were clothiers who had been settled in Wotton since the 14th century. They later acquired land in Munster, Ireland, where by 1595 they had their principal estates at Gortigrenane Castle, near Carrigaline, and at Tracton Abbey, near Kinsale, both in County Cork.

There is a tradition that the manor house was visited by Queen Margaret of Anjou before the Battle of Tewkesbury in May 1471, since then her ghost is said to haunt the great chamber where she slept.

The Daunt main line failed for a second time on the death of Thomas Daunt VI in 1803.

Nineteenth century

In the nineteenth century, the fortunes of the manor suffered after the Stoughton family, Anglo-Irish landowners from County Kerry, inherited by marriage in 1815. They built a new mansion c. 1848, called Owlpen House, a mile to the east of the original settlement, to the Italianate designs of Samuel Sanders Teulon. It was demolished in 1955–6, although outbuildings including the gas works, lodges and stable block remain. The Church of the Holy Cross behind the manor house, of medieval origins, was rebuilt in two phases in 1828 and 1874.

Twentieth century

Towards the end of the 19th century, the old manor became an icon of the Arts and Crafts movement. It was described by early visitors such as the poet Algernon Charles Swinburne as an 'incomparable paradise', set in its remote valley as a Sleeping Beauty which had not been inhabited for nearly a hundred years, a picturesque ruin much decayed, overrun with ivy, and dwarfed by enormous yew trees. After the First World War, there was concern for its survival and the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings recommended that it should be vested in the National Trust, which however had no funds available for its repair.

Finally, in 1924–25, the Owlpen estate was sold for the first time in nearly one thousand years. The future of the manor house was assured when it was acquired and repaired by Norman Jewson, a Cotswold Arts and Crafts movement architect who had worked with Ernest Gimson and the brothers Sidney and Ernest Barnsley (who was his father-in-law) in Sapperton. In 1930, his friend, the artist F. L. Griggs dedicated his etching of Owlpen Manor to Jewson, who had 'saved this ancient house from ruin'. Jewson has documented his repair work in his classic memoir, By Chance I did Rove (1951, twice reprinted).

Owlpen today

Owlpen Manor is the Gloucestershire home of Sir Nicholas and Lady (Karin) Mander, and their family. Since 1974 they have repaired the manor house and outbuildings, with the cottages and estate. They have re-created the formal Stuart gardens and added family and Cotswold Arts and Crafts collections.

The manor contains a series of painted cloth wall-hangings dated about 1700, illustrating the life of Joseph, as well as several notable features, including Tudor wall paintings, panelling and plasterwork.

Nicholas Mander's father, the third Mander baronet of The Mount, died in 2006. The Mander family gave Wightwick Manor to the National Trust in 1937.

The manor house and gardens have been open to the public since 1966.

Gardens

The formal terraced gardens with yew topiary are listed by Historic England Grade II. They are said to represent one of the earliest continuously cultivated domestic gardens in England (Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe), laid out within late medieval stone walls. They were probably reordered in their present form with their hanging terraces, defining topiary and yew parlour in early Stuart times, about 1620. They have been restored and extended with box parterres, extensive tree planting and a walk around the Georgian mill pond and pear lake, since 1980.

Media

In recent years, Owlpen Manor has been used as the location for a number of TV feature films, game shows and documentaries. They include Most Haunted (Series 4, 2004); The Fly and the Eagle (a BBC drama about the romance of Bristol poet laureate Robert Southey and Caroline Anne Bowles); The Trouble with Home (a documentary about the Manders at Owlpen made for HTV West); What the Tudors did for us; Countryfile; The Other Boleyn Girl; Watercolour Challenge; as well as antiques, cookery, gardening, travel, and art programmes. The holiday cottages and restaurant featured on BBC1's Holiday programme, presented by John Cole and introduced by Jill Dando.

Owlpen Manor appeared as Bramscote Court in the BBC's period drama adaptation of Tess of the d'Urbervilles (2008), starring Gemma Arterton and Eddie Redmayne and (briefly) in Becoming Jane (2007), on the life of novelist Jane Austen.

Owlpen Manor has been the inspiration and title of a number of 20th-century poems, including verses by U.A. Fanthorpe, John Burnside and Reginald Arkell. The house is reputed to have inspired scenes in novels by John Buchan and Wolfgang Hildesheimer, and more recently in the romantic fictions of Kate Riordan, The Girl in Photograph (Penguin Books, 2015), and Dinah Jeffries, The Tea Planter's Wife (Penguin Books, 2015).

Owlpen estate

The Owlpen estate consists of species-rich permanent pasture and meadowland fringed by ancient woodland surrounding Owlpen Manor, and traditional farm buildings and cottages.

Nine historic cottages on the estate, including a Grist Mill (1728), Court House (1620s), Tithe Barn (c. 1450), and weavers' cottages, are available for holiday accommodation.

There is also a restaurant in the medieval cyder house.

Paranormal

The manor house is said to be one of the "most haunted houses in the West of England", where at least four ghosts are recorded. They include a black monk from medieval times, Queen Margaret of Anjou, an alchemist from the 17th century and a mischievous child. The ghost stories have featured in a number of TV programmes and books. Episodes of the television show Most Haunted were filmed in the house with Yvette Fielding and Derek Acorah.

Quotes