Description
The Manor Houses of The Isle of Wight
by
Winter
Published; Dovecote press
Hardbacked
First Edition 1984
Despite its size and comparative isolation from the mainland, the Isle of Wight contains a quite remarkable number of early manor houses. This rich architectural heritage is easily overlooked, both by residents and visitors, and no account of the Island’s manor houses has been written since the publication of Percy Goddard Stone’s Architectural Antiquities of the Isle of Wight in 1891.
The Domesday Survey of 1086 mentions 126 manor houses, all of which C.W.R. Winter has listed — and added to by including a further 15 medieval manors. Following an introductory chapter linking the Island’s history to the changing character of its houses, the author has written a full and always fascinating account of 26 of the most important of them. They range from the smallest, Shalfleet, to North Court, built by Sir John Leigh in 1615 and possibly the largest manor house on the Island. Others no longer stand. Appuldurcombe, principal seat of the Worlseys for over three centuries, was reduced to a roofless shell by a parachute mine in the 2nd World War. Knighton Gorges, once the home of Hugh de Morville, murderer of Thomas a Becket, was demolished in 1821 by its dying owner so as to disinherit his daughter.
Personalities such as these, be they villains or nameless and now forgotten gentry content to live quietly in the Island, are superbly served by the author. For the houses are a reflection of their owners: their tastes, eccentricities and love of extravagance. As well as the history of each house, C.W.R. Winter has delightfully portrayed the lives of their owners through successive generations, evoking atmosphere a~ well as architecture and bringing the history of the houses up to the present day.
Very well illustrated with photographs
Condition; Very Good with dust -jacket which has upper edge wear
Interior clean , Binding tight
