Wayne Manor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In DC Comics, Wayne Manor is the personal residence of Bruce Wayne, who is also Batman.
The residence is typically depicted as a huge stately mansion on grounds outside Gotham City that the one servant, Alfred Pennyworth, somehow manages to keep in good condition. The manor has belonged to the Wayne family for several generations.
The Manor grounds include an extensive subterranean cave system that Bruce Wayne discovered as a boy and later used it as his base of operations, the Batcave. The method used to access it has varied across the different storylines in the comics, movies, and shows. In the comic books, it is typically accessible from a hidden door in Wayne Manor's den — behind a non-functioning grandfather clock — which opens to a stairway below when the hands on said clock are turned to 10:47 pm, the time Thomas and Martha Wayne were killed.
The grounds also includes a large hill that was partially hollowed out for Batman's aerial vehicles and there is also an underground river system that is large enough to accommodate docking space for the Batboat and has a large opening for the boat.
While these grounds are the regular home of Bruce Wayne, he temporarily vacated it in the stories from the late 1960s to the early 1980s, preferring to live in a penthouse apartment on top of the Wayne Foundation building in the city, which also included a secret sub-basement acting as a Batcave.
During the events of "Cataclysm" a massive earthquake struck Gotham City, the epicenter of which was less than a mile from Wayne Manor. The mansion was seriously damaged, as was the cave network beneath. The ground beneath the mansion shifted significantly, and actually revealed the Batcave below. The original Manor was damaged beyond repair, forcing Bruce Wayne to redesign the Manor along with the the Batcave. The new Manor is a veritable fortress, a pastiche of Gothic architecture combined with castle dwellings. Solar panels are installed to the new Manor, providing eco-friendly electrical utility to the house. [1]
[edit] Other media depiction
In 1989's Batman, Knebworth House, a Gothic Tudor mansion 28 miles north of London was used for the exterior. The interior however, is Hatfield House, Hertfordshire. The gaming room from the movie used the long gallery, and the marble hall was used for Wayne's 'arsenal' with the two-way mirror. In Batman Forever, Webb Institute was used for the exterior shots of Wayne Manor. Whereas, in the more recent Batman Begins, the former Rothschild estate, Mentmore Towers in Buckinghamshire, was used to portray Wayne Manor's exterior and interior. In Batman Begins, the mansion is largely destroyed by fire, however its foundation survived and rebuilding efforts are underway as the film ends, with Alfred suggesting to Bruce to make improvements on the mansion's southeast corner.
In the 1960s live action series, the primary passage was located in Bruce Wayne's study that was disguised as a bookshelf that slid away when a switch hidden in a bust of William Shakespeare was activated, revealing two labeled firepoles leading to the Batcave. In the 1992 movie, it is uncovered by turning on the lights of an ornament in a nearby aquarium. In the 2005 movie, the secret passage is an elevator shaft originally built as part of the Underground Railroad, accessed by playing three notes on a nearby piano.
[edit] Other Wayne Manors
Contributing journalist for the professional wrestling magazine Power Slam bills himself as Stately Wayne Manor, in reference to the estate [[1]].
Wayne Manor is also a selective living group at Duke University. The group is known for its strong community service, academic excellence, and campus wide parties. Originally located in Few Quad on Duke's West Campus, the group moved to Wannamaker Quad in 2001.
