Sulgrave

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Sulgrave
Sulgrave Manor
Sulgrave shown within Northamptonshire
Area	3.2 sq mi (8.3 km²)
Population	410 ^[1](2001 Census)
- Density	49.4/km² (127.9/sq mi)
OS grid reference	SP557453
- London	73 mi (117 km)
Parish	Sulgrave
District	South Northamptonshire
Shire county	Northamptonshire
Region	East Midlands
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BANBURY
Postcode district	OX17
Dialling code	01295
Police	Northamptonshire
Fire	Northamptonshire
Ambulance	East Midlands
European Parliament	East Midlands
UK Parliament	Daventry
Website: www.sulgrave.org
List of places: UK • England • Northamptonshire

Coordinates: 52°06′11″N 1°11′02″W / 52.1031, -1.1839

Sulgrave is a small village and civil parish in the district of South Northamptonshire in England, with a population of 410 people. It is situated near Banbury (in Oxfordshire).

Sulgrave Manor, near the village, is famous for being the home of the ancestors of George Washington; Washington Old Hall in Washington, Sunderland is the original ancestral home of the Washington family and was occupied by the family from 1100s to 1539. Sulgrave Manor has a road named after it: Sulgrave Court, situated in a housing district of Milton Keynes called Great Holm.

1 The original building
2 'ER' and stars and stripes
3 Later alterations
4 Sulgrave Village Shop
5 References
6 External links

[edit] The original building

Sulgrave Manor, the second cradle of the Washingtons.

After leaving Washington Old Hall, Lawrence Washington bought the Priory of St. Andrew, Northhampton, from the Crown in 1539, following Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries and turned it into Sulgrave Manor.

The house was built of local limestone, with a wide south frontage, a kitchen and buttery, a Great Hall, and above it a Great Chamber and two smaller private chambers. All these parts survive and can be seen today. Finds of what appear to have been Tudor-era foundation stones as much as 50ft(15m) west of the current house suggest that the original dwelling was considerably larger than the surviving house. The Great Hall has a stone floor, and its Tudor fireplace contains a salt cupboard carved with the initials of Lawrence Washington.^[2]

The Washingtons held it for over one hundred years.

[edit] 'ER' and stars and stripes

Lawrence added an entrance porch to the house's south front after 1558. Over the doorway set in plaster the royal arms of England and the letters 'ER', to indicate 'Elizabeth Regina' in honour of Henry VIII's daughter Elizabeth I, who had ascended to the throne. The doorway spandrels were decorated with the Washington family arms: two stripes and three stars.^[3]

[edit] Later alterations

A north wing, set at right angles to Lawrence Washington's manor, was added c.1700 by then owner, John Hodges. It contains the Great Kitchen and the Oak Parlour, on the ground floor, beneath two sleeping chambers, now known as the White Bedroom and the Chintz Bedroom. Another extension, the west wing, was built in 1929 when the house was being restored.^[4]

[edit] Sulgrave Village Shop

Sulgrave Village Shop Association Limited (SVS) was incorporated in July 2004 as an Industrial Provident Society, owned by the residents of Sulgrave, with the object of operating a shop and Post Office. Under its constitution, profits are not for distribution to its members but must be reinvested in the enterprise for the continuation and development of its services to the community. The shop began trading in September 2004 under the direction of a management board employing a full time shop manager and supported by some 50 volunteers.

As part of a newly established Rural Enterprise Network, SVS, by selling locally grown and sourced products, seeks to provide a focus for other producers and suppliers to develop and expand locally-based businesses.