Eye Manor
Eye Manor, at Eye, Herefordshire, is a Carolean or Restoration style manor house between Ludlow and Leominster that was described by Lord Euston as 'The perfect English country house.'
History
The modest square brick shell resting on a sandstone plinth was finished in 1680, but the impressive panelled interior with its plaster ceilings by the craftsmen who went on to decorate Holyrood may have taken several years to complete.
The original mullioned windows were changed for wooden sash windows when the house was remodelled probably during the 17th Century. The house was built by Ferdinando Gorges, a prominent merchant and owner of sugar plantations in the West Indies and his wife, Meliora Gorges. According to Pevsner, Ferdinando Gorges was known by contemporaries as 'The King of the Black Market' owing to his profitable involvement in the slave trade. Ferdinando Gorges was the godson of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, the colonial entrepreneur and the founder of the US province of Maine and brother of Richard Gorges, Governor-General of New England. In his early commercial activities, Ferdinando Gorges is believed to have chartered the ship, The Mayflower. Later owners of the house, Richard and Henry Gorges served as Members of Parliament for Leominster. Ferdinando Gorges's daughter, Barbara was married to the statesman Thomas Coningsby 1st Earl Coningsby, but the marriage was mired in controversy and ended in divorce. In the 18th Century the house became part of the adjoining Berrington Hall estate of Lord Rodney and later of Lord Cawley (now National Trust), before returning to separate ownership. In the 20th Century Eye Manor was the home of Christopher Sandford and the Golden Cockerel Press and his wife Lettice Sandford, the noted artist and proponent of traditional country crafts. The writer, broadcaster and director of the award-winning television documentary, Cathy Come Home, Jeremy Sandford grew up at the house. Eye Manor was also home to the writer Mary Carbery and latterly to the distinguished amateur gardener, Margary Moncrieff, who laid out the gardens in an intricate series of 'rooms' in the style of Vita Sackville-West's Sissinghurst. The house stands on what was once a marsh island, beside a 12th century church noted for its 15th Century alabaster tombs, and has a secret passage discovered during the Second World War by Jeremy Sandford. During the war it was the HQ of the local English Resistance who were intended to go underground in case of a German invasion and then emerge to engage in acts of sabotage.
References
- Eye Manor, A souvenir Guide with Historical Notes, by Christopher Sandford, John Roberts Press
- A Herefordshire Childhood, Jeremy Sandford.
- Times Article on Eye Manor