Eye Manor
Eye Manor is a Grade I listed Carolean house, noted for its plasterwork ceilings and situated at Eye, Herefordshire, between Ludlow and Leominster. It was purchased by the Conservative politician Robert Jenrick for £1.1 million in 2009.[1]
History
The house stands on what was once a marsh island, beside a 12th-century church.
The 17th-century square brick shell was completed in 1680, but rests on an earlier Medieval sandstone plinth. The modest exterior belies an interior with plaster ceilings by the Italian craftsmen who went on to decorate Holyrood.
The present house was built by Ferdinando Gorges, a merchant and owner of sugar plantations in the West Indies and his wife, Meliora Gorges, née Hilliard.
In the 18th century the house became part of the adjoining Berrington Hall estate of the Lords Rodney (descended from Admiral Rodney) and later the Rectory to Eye Church.
In the 20th century Eye Manor was the home of the private publisher Christopher Sandford of the Golden Cockerel Press and his wife Lettice Sandford, an artist, proponent of traditional country crafts and reviver of the corn dolly.
Jeremy Sandford, the writer and director of the television drama Cathy Come Home, grew up at the house.
Jessica Juliet Kirby also grew up at the house. She is a botanical artist who now resides in Williamsburg, VA.
References
External links
- Eye Manor, A souvenir Guide with Historical Notes, by Christopher Sandford, John Roberts Press
- A Herefordshire Childhood, Jeremy Sandford.
Coordinates: 52°16′12″N 2°44′24″W / 52.270°N 2.740°W