The Great Manors of Stoke by Nayland
In the Confessor's time Robert or Rodbert held the main manor with 4 carucates of land with soc. There were 25 villeins, 32 bordars, 8 slaves, 2 plough teams in demesne, 12 belonging to the men, 25 acres of meadow and wood, and 60 hogs, valued at 10 pounds. Also a church living with 60 acres of free land. By the time of the Norman Survey the value of the manor had risen to twelve pounds, and there had been added to it a plough team in demesne, 2 mills, 3 horses, 8 beasts, 20 hogs, 70 sheep and 4 goats, but the villeins had come down to 15, the bordars to 23, the slaves to 6, and the plough teams of the men to 7. The same Robert had also in this place freemen by commendation and soc, having 1 carucate of land among them which they could sell, and 1 freeman with 12 acres by commendation only (for the soc and sac belonged to the Abbot of St. Edmund) having formerly a plough team and a half, but then one team only. The value was 30 shillings and it paid in a gelt 20. The extent was 8 quarentenes long and 4 broad, and the manor was one of those belonging to Suane of Essex. (The Manors of Suffolk, Copinger 1905)
The house stood on high ground overlooking the River Stour. William Tendring's house of the late thirteenth century had passed by the end of the fifteenth century to the Howards, Dukes of Norfolk. The medieval house of the Howards was rebuilt after the estate was acquired by Sir Thomas Rivett in 1563. A tower from this Tudor house survived when the rest was taken down in the eighteenth century. After the Rivetts Tendring was owned by the Windsor family for three generations. In the first half of the eighteenth century Tendring was owned by Sir John Williams, an alderman of the City of London, a merchant ‘at the head of the Turkey trade’ and ‘one of the greatest exporters of cloth in England’. In 1748 he settled the estate on his son, Richard Williams. Richard became bankrupt shortly thereafter and his financial affairs were the subject of an Act of Parliament. Tendring was sold in March 1750 to Admiral Sir William Rowley, the first of a line of distinguished naval officers. In the years that followed the land holdings of the Rowleys were increased by the purchase of a number of neighbouring estates, including in 1785 the nearby Shardelowes estate from the trustees of Sir John Williams. On his death in 1768 Sir William was succeeded by his son, Joshua, Rear Admiral of the White, who was created a baronet in 1786. Sir Joshua's wife, Sarah, was the daughter and heiress of Bartholomew Burton, Governor of the Bank of England, a painting of whom by George Dance which hung at Tendring was sold to the Bank in 1933. Sir Joshua was responsible for the rebuilding of Tendring Hall, his new house dating from 1784–6 being designed by Sir John Soane. The house was demolished in 1955.
Tendring Hall
Giffords Hall
Robert Mannock, alive in Edward's reign, was the great-grandfather of Philip Mannock, who purchased the Giffords manor in 1427 or 1428. The Mannock family and their successors would hold the house for nearly 500 years. Following Philip's purchase, the estate would be expanded, for instance acquiring the manor of Raven's Hall in 1464. remaining largely of only local importance. Philip may have built the main ranges of the house today, such as the Great Hall, at times (therefore incorrectly) called "King John's Banqueting Hall". The house is currently the residence of the Brocklebank family.
Leavenhey (Leavenheath)
The "Manor of Leavenheath" refers to a historical manorial estate in the parish of Leavenheath, Suffolk, which historically was part of the larger parish of Stoke-by-Nayland. While the original medieval manor house no longer stands, the site is associated with specific locations and successor buildings in the modern village. The historical manor was held by the de Vere family, Earls of Oxford, during the medieval period. The site of the medieval manor house included a large pond or lake known as "The Fishpond" to the south. Manor Farm: The original house at the manorial site was a timber-framed building, likely dating from the 16th to 17th centuries, which was much altered over time. This building was known as "Manor Farmhouse" and was situated on a moated, rectangular platform. The house was demolished in the 1970s, with the rubble used to fill one of the ponds. Archaeological excavations have since been carried out on the site.
Stoke Priory
The Priory of Prithlewell had the advowson in 1301, rather inferring that it then obtained the same ; but amongst the Bodleian Charters is a deed dated nearly a hundred years earlier, probably about 1220, reciting the appropriation of the Church of Stoke Nayland with the Chapel of Eylond by Pandulph Bp. elect of Norwich to the Priory. Ministers' accounts while the manor was in the possession of the Priory Edw.will be found in the Public Record Office. There are letters patent of Edw. III. confirming a composition between the Bp. of Norwich and the Priory of " Priterwell " relating to the patronage, and presentations were made by the Priory as late as the year 1510. In 1536 the presentation was made by the Crown, and in 1546 the Crown granted the manor to Thos. Thorowgood and John Foster, and it was in 1551 sold to Thomas Wiseman, who sold in 1563 to Robert Bell and Dorothy his wife. They had licence to alienate to Francis Mannock, of which they availed themselves and conveyed to him. He died in 1590, when the manor passed to his son and heir William Mannock. From this time the lordship probably descended in the same manner as Gifford's Hall Manor. (Copinger)
Withermarsh
This manor was one of those held by Robert Suane's father before the Conquest and continued to be held by the son notwithstanding the change of dynasty in consequence of the aid rendered by the family to William the Conqueror. The manor consisted of 4 carucates with soc. In Saxon times there were 27 villeins, 32 bordars, 2 slaves, 3 ploughteams in demesne, 13 belonging to the men, i mill, and 30 acres of meadow, valued at 10 pounds. By the time of the Domesday Survey the value had risen to 12 pounds, and there were 2 horses, 20 beasts, 24 hogs, 15 fore t mares, and 80 sheep, but there were 3 villeins and 5 bordars fewer, and i slave only, while the ploughteams in demesne had come down by one, and those belonging to the men had fallen from 13 to 8. The length of the manor was 8 quarantenes and the breadth 4, and it paid in a gelt 20. In I553 George Bacon and Margaret his wife, daughter and heir of John Abell, had a grant of the manor, and in 1563 Sir Thos. Revett held it by grant. The manor then probably descended through the Waldegraves and Windsors to the Rowleys, as in the case of Tendring Hall Manor, the title to which has been already deduced. (Copinger)
Causers, Peachams and Shardelowes
Edmund de Shardelowe in 1288 had lands held of him here ; and in 1563 Sir Thomas Revett had a grant of the manor, according to the Davy MSS . Mr. Davy considers that after this the manor probably descended as did the manor of Tendring Hall. The manor of Shardelowes is mentioned in the Inquisition p.m. of Roger Darcy who died the 3 Sept. 1507 leaving Thomas his son and heir," and also in a suit as to tithes between Peter Baker and Wm. Mannock and others particulars of which suit are to be found amongst the Exchequer Depositions, and this fact seems to operate somewhat against the idea of a grant of the manor in 1563 to Sir Thomas Revett. (Copinger)
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Scotland Hall
John de Scotland, who held this lordship, died in 1334, and it then passed to his son and heir William de Scotland by deed of Edw. III. [1335] who gave it to his mother Margaret who remarried Robert de Rokewode, and they held it in 1357. It passed to Thomas de Rokewode son and heir of Robert in 1359 and he died without issue, when it went to his brother and heir John. John de Rookwode represented the county in Parliament in the 34 and 42 years of Edw. III. [1360 and 1369]. He married Joan daughter of Sir Robert Swynborne. (Copinger)
Chamberlains
This manor was vested in Ralph le Chamberlaine in the time of Henry III. The Chamberlain family, from whom no doubt the name was derived, were settled in the parish at even an earlier date. Davy says he was succeeded by his son and heir Sir Thos. le Chamberlaine ; but we find in 1275 Roger le Chamberlein holding land here, and bringing an action against John de Tendring touching common of pasture in Stoke, and in 1281 against Thomas Giffard touching a way stopped up there. This Roger le Chamberlaine was, according to Davy, the son and heir of Sir Thos. and died in 1319 seised of the manor,4 which passed to his son and heir Richard le Chamberlaine, and it fs in 1341 mentioned in the Inquis. p.m. of Alice, the wife of the said Richard le Chamberlaine. (Copinger)
There was in Stoke by Nayland apparently a manor of the name of Dounes or Dounings of which Sir Robert Peyton died seised the 27 March 1518 leaving Robert his son and heir 20 years of age and upwards ;' possibly this was the manor of " Stoke juxta Nayland " of which Sir Richard Corbett died seised the 25 June 1524 leaving Richard his son and heir. (Copinger)
Dounes
The "Davy" in Suffolk history primarily refers to David Elisha Davy (1763-1851), a major antiquarian who amassed vast manuscript collections on Suffolk's genealogy, heraldry, and topography, now in the British Library.