Byfleet Manor

Byfleet Manor's precursor was a royal hunting lodge given by Edward II to Piers Gaveston, his reputed lover. Anne of Denmark, wife of King James I, the house's last royal owner, commissioned a fresh house here in 1619. However, she died before it was finished.[2] The front walls and gate piers, which can still be seen today, date from that time. A detailed ownership and account of royal rights is set out in sources covering this period of history, such as the Feet of Fines and the Assize Rolls kept in the royal collections and The National Archives, but which is well summarised in, for example, the Victoria County History.[3]

A rebuilding followed in 1685 as the early Jacobean architecture house was reported to be ruinous. This change led to a much smaller building. In 1672 the lands were granted to Lord Holles and others to hold in trust for Queen Catherine of Braganza for her life, and afterwards for Charles II of England and his heirs. In 1694 Sir John Buckworth, lord of the manor of Byfleet, was accused of neglect in repairing a bridge over the Wey. It was found, however, that he was not responsible for such repair, as he was only a "termer for years" in the manor under a "lease made by the late queen mother's trustees." There is very little trace of the manor for about a century after this.

An Enclosure Award, privatising fields, was made in 1811 for 780 acres (3.2 km²) in the parish, including common fields of Byfleet Manor, i.e. formerly whose profits were shared between its owner, tenants and subtenants.

The house remained virtually unaltered until 1905, when it was restored and enlarged with the addition of asymmetrical wings. The scant modern vestiges of the ancient manorial rights were sold to a firm of solicitors in that decade.[3] In February 2013, a hidden room was found within the home.[4] The owners have allowed the patios and front rooms to be hired to host 1920s-themed tea parties.[5]

It has served as the dower house in ITV's Downton Abbey, as well as in the television adaptation of Agatha Christie's Poirot: After the Funeral and in the BBC television series Cranford.[6][7] In the Disney production Into the Woods in 2014, its exterior was used as Cinderella's home.[8]

Media related to Byfleet Manor at Wikimedia Commons

• Homepage of Byfleet Manor