Wickhamford Manor
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| Wickhamford Manor | |
|---|---|
.jpg) "highly picturesque" | |
| Type | House |
| Location | Wickhamford, Worcestershire |
| Coordinates | 52°04′42″N 1°54′07″W / 52.0783°N 1.902°W |
| 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 | |
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.
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]