Manor house

Ightham Mote, a 14th-century moated manor house in Kent, England
Branicki Palace, Białystok, a 18th-century palatial manor house in Białystok, Poland

A manor house or fortified manor house is a country house, which has historically formed the administrative centre of a manor (see Manorialism), the lowest unit of territorial organization in the feudal system in Europe. The term is sometimes applied to country houses which belonged to gentry families, as well as to grand stately homes, particularly as a technical term for minor late medieval fortified country houses intended more for show than for defence.

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History and architecture

In general terms, the manor house was the dwelling house, or "capital messuage", of a feudal lord of a manor, which he occupied only on occasional visits if he held many manors. As such it was the place in which sessions of his "court baron", or manor court, were held. Sometimes a steward or seneschal was appointed by the seigneurial lord to oversee and manage his different manorial properties. The day-to-day administration was delegated to a bailiff, or reeve.

Although not typically built with strong fortifications as castles were, many manor-houses were partly fortified: they were enclosed within walls or ditches that often included the farm buildings as well. Arranged for defence against robbers and thieves, it was often surrounded by a moat with a drawbridge, and equipped with small gatehouses and watchtowers; but was not provided with a keep or with large towers or lofty curtain walls so as to withstand a siege. The primary feature of the manor-house was its great hall, to which subsidiary apartments were added as the lessening of feudal warfare permitted more peaceful domestic life.

By the beginning of the 16th century, manor-houses as well as small castles began to acquire the character and amenities of the residences of country gentlemen. This late 16th century transformation produced many of the smaller Renaissance châteaux of France and the numerous country mansions of the Elizabethan and Jacobean styles in England.

Architecture of French manor houses

Château de Trécesson, a 14th-century manor-house in Morbihan, Brittany

In France, the terms château or manoir are often used synonymously to describe a French manor-house. Maison-forte is another French word to describe a strongly fortified manor-house, which might include two sets of enclosing walls, drawbridges, and a ground-floor hall or salle basse that was used to receive peasants and commoners. The salle basse was also the location of the manor court, with the steward or seigneur's seating location often marked by the presence of a crédence de justice or wall-cupboard (shelves built into the stone walls to hold documents and books associated with administration of the demesne or droit de justice). The salle haute or upper-hall, reserved for the seigneur and where he received his high-ranking guests, was often accessible by an external spiral staircase. It was commonly "open" up to the roof trusses, as in similar English homes. This larger and more finely decorated hall was usually located above the ground-floor hall. The seigneur and his family's private chambres were often located off of the upper first-floor hall, and invariably had their own fireplace (with finely decorated chimney-piece) and frequently a latrine.

In addition to having both lower and upper-halls, many French manor-houses also had partly fortified gateways, watchtowers, and enclosing walls that were fitted with arrow or gun loops for added protection. Some larger 16th-century manors, such as the Château de Kerjean in Finistère, Brittany, were even outfitted with ditches and fore-works that included gun platforms for cannons. These defensive arrangements allowed maisons-fortes, and rural manors to be safe from a coup de main perpetrated by an armed band as there was so many during the troubled times of the Hundred Years War and the wars of the Holy League; but it was difficult for them to resist a siege undertaken by a regular army equipped with (siege) engines.[1]

Manor houses of Northern Europe

Channel Islands

England

  • Alford Manor House
  • Ascott-under-Wychwood Manor
  • Ashton Court
  • Avebury Manor
  • Aydon Castle, Northumberland
  • Barrington Court
  • Baddesley Clinton
  • Bank Hall, Bretherton
  • Barkham Manor, Berkshire
  • Begbroke Manor, Oxfordshire
  • Bettiscombe Manor
  • Birtsmorton Court
  • Bitterne Manor
  • Bletchingdon Manor
  • Boarstall Tower
  • Boothby Hall
  • Bradninch
  • Bramall Hall
  • Bromley Palace
  • Brooksby Hall
  • Brympton d'Evercy
  • Bucknell Manor
  • Burghley House
  • Calcot Manor
  • Chambercombe Manor
  • Chavenage House
  • Cheddington
  • Chenies Manor House
  • Childwickbury Manor
  • Clevedon Court
  • Cothay Manor
  • Cothelstone Manor
  • Cranborne
  • Desning Hall
  • Duns Tew Manor
  • East Riddlesden Hall
  • Edlingham Castle
  • Etal Manor on the Ford Castle and Etal Castle estate
  • Farleigh House
  • Finchcocks
  • Gainsborough Old Hall
  • Garsington Manor
  • Gidea Hall
  • Great Chalfield Manor
  • Great Snoring/Snoring Magna Manor
  • Great Tew Manor
  • Greaves Hall
  • Grimshaw Hall
  • Groby Old Hall
  • Garsington Manor
  • Halsway Manor
  • Halswell House
  • Hampton Gay Manor — burnt out
  • Harlaxton Manor
  • Hartham Park, Corsham
  • Hatfield House
  • Hinxworth Place
  • Hestercombe House
  • Hever Castle, Kent
  • Hughenden Manor
  • Ightham Mote
  • Icomb Place
  • Kelmscott Manor
  • Kemerton Court
  • Kirby Muxloe Castle
  • Knole House
  • Lambton Castle
  • Langdon Court
  • Les Augres Manor
  • Lesingham House
  • Levens Hall
  • Linford Manor
  • Little Barford
  • Little Snoring Manor
  • Little Tew Manor
  • Lytes Cary
  • Montacute House
  • Manor House Hotel, Castle Combe
  • Newton Surmaville
  • Northborough, Cambridgeshire
  • Nunnington Hall
  • Orchardleigh Estate
  • Oxon Hoath
  • Owlpen Manor
  • Pixton Park
  • Poundisford Park
  • Roos Hall
  • Rufford Old Hall
  • Sandhill Park
  • Sawston Hall
  • Scotney Castle
  • Shutford Manor
  • Simpson's Place
  • Snowshill Manor
  • Somerton Castle
  • Speke Hall
  • Stanford Hall
  • Stockbridge Manor
  • Stokesay Castle
  • Ston Easton Park
  • Stourhead
  • Sturminster Newton
  • Sulgrave
  • Sutton Court
  • The Manor House Bishop Bridge
  • Theobalds
  • Thorndon Hall
  • Tretower Court
  • Tyntesfield
  • Ufton Court
  • Waddesdon Manor
  • Walton Hall, Milton Keynes
  • Wanborough Manor
  • Washington Old Hall (ancestral home of George Washington)
  • Water Eaton Manor
  • Whalton Manor
  • Wightwick Manor
  • Wilderhope Manor on Wenlock Edge
  • Wingfield Manor — deserted
  • Woodeaton Manor
  • Woodstock Manor
  • Woolsthorpe Manor
  • Yalding Manor
  • Yarnton Manor

Estonia

Taagepera manor house

Northern Germany

Wellingsbüttel Manor

Ireland

Latvia

Netherlands

Northern Ireland

Norway

Poland

Kozłówka Palace, a classicist manor house in Kozłówka, South-Eastern Poland
For more, see dwór (manor house) and Palaces in Poland.

Scotland

Muchalls Castle, a 17th century house in Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Sweden

Wales

Manor houses of Western Europe

France

  • Château de Pirou in Manche, Normandy.
  • Château du Plessis-Josso in Morbihan, Brittany.
  • Château de Puymartin in Dordogne, Aquitaine. (French)
  • Château de la Roche-Jagu in Côtes-d'Armor, Brittany. Strategically important maison-forte in Trégor. (Fr)
  • Château des Rochers-Sévigné in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany. (Fr)
  • Château de Rustéphan in Finistère, Brittany. Ruins of large 15th–16th century manor house.
  • Château de Trécesson in Morbihan, Brittany.
  • Manoir de Dur-Écu, 16th century manor in Urville-Nacqueville, Normandy.
  • Manoir de Mézarnou, 16th century manor in Finistère, Brittany. (under extensive restoration)

Manor houses of Southern Europe

Spain

Portugal

Manor Houses of South Asia

Bangladesh

Sri Lanka

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ Barbier, Pierre (2005). Le Trégor Historique et Monumental. Saint-Brieuc: La Decouvrance Editions. pp. 419. 
  2. ↑ "European Heritage Open days - Armagh". http://www.ni-environment.gov.uk/events/events-ehod/events-ehod-armagh.htm?show%3D10%26page%3D4&id=36132. Retrieved 16 August 2010.