Travelling across England you will often see all types of homes from the basic detached home to sprawling manors. If you plan on visiting some of these stately homes, then learning a little about their history can certainly richen your experience.
Here we’ll share the history of Hughenden Manor located in the same place as our High Wycombe law firm in Buckinghamshire, so you can see what sets this place off from all the rest that you can visit as you are touring the English countryside.
Founding
While the manor house has changed some over time, it was actually first recorded in the year 1086. This was during the time of Queen Edith, which was only 20 years after the landing of William the Conquerer. This is a place that has managed to gain a bit of history over time. Although it has changed somewhat, its rich history continues to prevail it.
The land itself would be held by William, the son of Oger until he couldn’t pay his debts to the crown. At this point, the land was forfeited to the crown and at that time the crown would retain control of the property. However, King Henry, I would gift the land to his chamberlain and he’d have the land occupied by one of his workers as the chamberlain, Geoffrey de Clinton, did not want to give up his personal residence at the time.
The property would continue to be honoured as a gift until the crown would take back control in the 14th century. The land would then be gifted again in 1539 to Sir Robert Dormer. It would remain in the Dormer family’s hands until the property and manor would be sold in 1737 to Charles Savage by the 4th Earl of Chesterfield. The house would be sold back and forth several times over the years, but it would also see itself as the future home of British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli who would spend his childhood there.
The Disraeli family would continue to live on the property and would eventually be buried in the Anglican Church Cemetery next to the manor house. However, the home did serve a great time in modern history as well. It would actually be one of the secret bases that the RAF would use during World War II. The base would be called Hillsdale and it would be one of those places where the RAF would study the pictures of the German aircraft and start to figure out how to defeat the airpower of the German Air Force, that at the time was seen as being one of the critical factors that lead to victory.
As for an even more modern time, the property would be turned over to the National Trust in 1947. This was just the start of an amazing run as the property would even be considered as one of those that landed on the Grade I listed buildings.
The garden, which was hardly mentioned in the home’s history, but was beautiful, managed to land itself on the Grade II Register of Historic Parks and Gardens as the place has been restored to look like it did during the Disraeli family. It certainly is a peaceful tourist attraction compared to shopping in High Wycombe town.
Finding country manors around England is very easy to do. However, if you are looking for a place that has some of the best things for you to do it will be very difficult for you to find a Manor that is better to visit than Hughenden Manor, which is easily one of the most beautiful manors to visit and a refreshing difference to the windy Chiltern Hills!
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