Owlpen Manor

Owlpen Manor is a

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.^[3]

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.^[1] 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.^[4]

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.^[5] The Daunts were clothiers who had been settled in Wotton-under-Edge since the 14th century.^[6] They later acquired land as planters 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. The Daunts altered the medieval manor house, inserting the ceiling in the great hall (dated 1523) and rebuilding the parlour/ solar block in the west wing (1616).^[1] This followed a celebrated law case between the Daunts and John Bridgeman, who had claimed possession in right of his wife, Frances Daunt, following the death of her brother Giles in 1596. He became embroiled in a dispute with her uncle Thomas Daunt over the manor of Owlpen, but lost the case when he was accused of forging deeds before Sir Edward Coke, Chief Justice.^[4] The manor was to continue in the Daunt family until the male line failed for a second time on the death of Thomas Daunt VI in 1803.^[7]

Nineteenth century

In the nineteenth century, the fortunes of the manor suffered after the Stoughton family, Anglo-Irish landowners from

Towards the end of the 19th century, the old manor became an icon of the

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.^[16] 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'.^[17] Jewson has documented his repair work in his classic memoir, By Chance I did Rove (1951, twice reprinted).

Owlpen Manor was designated by Historic England as a grade I listed building on 23 June 1952.^[18]

Owlpen today

Owlpen Manor is the Gloucestershire home of

The manor house and gardens have been open to the public since 1966.[23]

Gardens

The formal terraced gardens with yew topiary are listed by Historic England Grade II. Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe, the landscape historian, stated they represented one of the earliest continuously cultivated domestic gardens in England, laid out within late medieval stone walls.^[24] They were probably reordered in their present form with their hanging terraces, defining topiary and yew parlour in early Stuart times, about 1620.^[7] They were admired as a romantic survival in the 20th century by many distinguished garden writers, including Gertrude Jekyll, who published drawings, plans and photographs in 1914,^[25] and Vita Sackville-West.^[26] 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.

Owlpen estate

The Owlpen estate, for many years managed on organic and sustainable principles, consists of species-rich permanent pasture and meadowland fringed by ancient woodland surrounding Owlpen Manor, and traditional farm buildings and cottages. Strip lynchets on the estate date to medieval times.

Nine historic cottages on the estate, including a

There is a restaurant in the late medieval cyder house, dated 1446,^[28] which was extended using pole building framing techniques as a venue for weddings, concerts and events in 2020.

Media

Owlpen Manor has been the inspiration and title of a number of 20th-century poems, including 'Owlpen Manor' by

.

Owlpen Manor appeared as Bramscote Court in the BBC's period drama adaptation of

jihadist known as "the White Widow".^[34][35]

Quotes

• "The loveliest place in England" – Fodor's Britain Guide, 2002
• "The epitome of the English village" – HRH The Prince of Wales, A Vision of Britain, 1989
• "Owlpen in Gloucestershire —ah! What a dream is there!" – Vita Sackville-West, English Country Houses, 1941
• "The ruinous little old manor-house with its old hanging gardens of the 16th or 17th century, tidy & sweet & splendid ... a paradise incomparable on earth. Only a poet could describe it" – Algernon Charles Swinburne letter to William Morris, 28 October 1894

Literature

• ISBN 0-9546056-0-8
  .
• Nicholas Mander, Owlpen Manor, Gloucestershire: a short history and guide to a romantic Tudor manor house in the Cotswolds. (current edition: 2006).
  OCLC 57576417
• Nicholas Mander, Country Houses of the Cotswolds (Aurum Press, 2008)
  ISBN 1845133315
• Norman Jewson, By Chance I did Rove (Cirencester, 1951, 1973; Barnsley 1986)
• Nicholas Kingsley, The Country Houses of Gloucestershire, Volume One, 1500-1660 (1989), pp. 142-4
• Hugh E. Pagan, Owlpen Manor (1966, reprinted 1975)
• The Rev. John Daunt, Some Account of the Family of Daunt (Newcastle, 1881; Scarborough, 1899)

References

1. ^
   ISBN 0-9546056-1-6
   .
2. ^ Plans and accounts by Thomas Daunt, 1719-39 (D979a E3, E6-8), (Gloucester Archives)
3. ^ Smith, A.H. (1964). The Place Names of Gloucestershire: Part II. Cambridge. p. 244.
4. ^ ^{a b} Smyth, John (1885). Description of the Hundred of Berkeley. Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society. p. 312.
5. ISBN 978-0901571878
   .
6. ^ The Rev. John Daunt, Some Account of the Family of Daunt (Newcastle, 1881; Scarborough, 1899)
7. ^ ^{a b} "Owlpen Manor Park and Garden". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Archived from the original on 25 August 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
8. ^ Cooke, Robert (1957). West Country Houses. Batsford. pp. 86–87.
9. ^ • Gloucestershire: the Cotswolds, David Verey, Pevsner Architectural Guides: The Buildings of England, Penguin, 1970, ISBN 0-14-071040-X, pp. 415–417.
10. ^ "Owlpen Manor". Stone Art. Archived from the original on 6 September 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
11. ISBN 0-9546056-1-6
    .
12. ^ Tipping, Henry Avray (1929). English Homes: Period III, vol 1. London: Country Life.
13. ^ Morris, May (1936), William Morris: artist, writer, socialist, p. 647
14. ^ Mander, Nicholas (2006). Owlpen Manor. Owlpen Press. pp. 44–5.
15. ^ Case files of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, London
16. ISBN 978-0711239241
    .
17. ^ Comstock, Francis (1966). A Gothic Vision: F.L. Griggs and his work. Oxford: Ashmolean Museum. p. 203.
18. ^ "Owlpen Manor". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
19. ^ Mosley, Charles, editor, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes (Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 2, page 2589, sub Mander baronetcy of the Mount [U.K.], cr. 1911.
20. ^ Tyzack, Anna (4 March 2018). "Great Estates: inside the 'haunted' Tudor country house which starred in Phantom Thread". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 15 August 2018. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
21. ^ Mander, Nicholas (Autumn 1997). "Painted Cloths: History, Craftsmen and Techniques". Textile History. 28 (2): 119–48.
22. ^ "A Brief History of the Mander Family". History website. Archived from the original on 6 September 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
23. ^ Hugh E. Pagan, Owlpen Manor (guidebook, 1966)
24. ^ Jellicoe, Geoffrey (1927). Gardens and Design. Ernest Benn. pp. 111–13.
25. ^ Jekyll, Gertrude and Weaver, Lawrence. Gardens for Small Country Houses. (London: Country Life, 1914).
26. ^ Sackville-West, Vita (1941). The English Country House. Collins.
27. ^ N.W. Alcock, Cruck Construction: An Introduction and Catalogue, 1981)
28. ^ Bridge, ‘Dr M.C., The Dendrochronological Dating of Timbers from the Barn at Owlpen Manor, Gloucestershire (ST 801 984)’, Oxford Dendrochronology Laboratory Report 2017/16
29. ^ "The Girl in the Photograph by Kate Riordan Weekend at Owlpen Manor". Archived from the original on 21 July 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
30. ^ https://adam-hinks.squarespace.com/literature/?offset=1472034209521
31. ^ "Booktrail: The Tea Planter's Wife by Dinah Jefferies | The Bookseller". thebookseller.com. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
32. ^ "Oscar-winner Daniel Day-Lewis said to be filming new movie at Owlpen Manor in Uley". Gazette Series. Archived from the original on 6 September 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
33. ^ https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81013210
34. ^ "Terrorist's widow". The Yorkshire Post. 24 September 2005. p. 1.
35. ^ Herbert, Ian (24 September 2005). "Portrait of bomber as a dupe fails to convince bereaved". The Independent. p. 16.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Owlpen Manor.

• Owlpen Manor official website
• photos of Owlpen Manor and surrounding area on geograph