Hall Place, Bentworth
| Hall Place | |
| Hampshire | |
|---|---|
 Hall Place in 2012 | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SU66333998 |
| Location: | 51°9’19"N, 1°3’11"W |
| Village: | Bentworth |
| History | |
| Built Early 14th century | |
| Information | |
Hall Place (alternatively Hall Farm; formerly Bentworth Manor House or Bentworth Hall) is a manor house in the parish of Bentworth in Hampshire. It is about three hundred yards south-west of St Mary's Church and thre and a half miles north-west of Alton, the nearest town.
Built in the early 14th century, the house is a Grade II listed mediæval hall house, known by various names through the centuries. It stands half a mile from the current Bentworth Hall that was built in 1832.
History
In 1348, William de Melton obtained the king's permission to give his manor to William Edendon, Bishop of Winchester, and then ownership of the manor of Bentworth passed by marriage to the Windsor family, who had been constables of Windsor Castle. However, this hall was evidently returned to the Melton family, as it is mentioned among his possessions in an inquisition taken in 1362–3, and descended to his son, Sir William de Melton.[1] Sir William de Melton's son, John de Melton, inherited the house in 1399 and was still being recorded as owner in 1431.[2] He died in 1455, and was succeeded by his son (d.1474), then his grandson John Melton.[3] The manor of Bentworth itself was said to have remained in possession of the Windsor family for at least one hundred and fifty years.[1]
In 1590, Henry Windsor (1562–1605), the 5th Lord Windsor, sold the "sub-manor of Bentworth" to the Hunt family who had been tenants since the beginning of that century,[1] from whom it passed in 1610 to Sir James Woolveridge of Odiham and in 1651 to Thomas Turgis, a London merchant, whose son, described as one of the richest commoners in England, in 1705 left the manor of Bentworth to his relative William Urry, of Sheat Manor on the Isle of Wight.[1]
In 1777, the Urry descendants were daughters Mary and Elizabeth, who married two Roman Catholic brothers, Basil and William Fitzherbert of Swynnerton Hall, Staffordshire:[1] their sister-in-law was Maria Fitzherbert, the secret wife of the Prince Regent, later King George IV.[4]
In 1832, the Estate was put up for auction by the Fitzherbert family and was sold to Roger Staples Horman Fisher for about £6000. Almost immediately he started building the present Bentworth Hall about a mile south of the old Manor House on what was then open downland.
Architecture and fittings
Hall Place (the former Bentworth Hall or Manor) is a Grade II* listed mediæval manor house, located along the main road of Bentworth. It was built in the early 14th century, with extensive additions in the 17th and 19th centuries.[5] The hall is believed to have been constructed by either the constable of Farnham Castle, William de Aula, or John of Bynteworth (Bentworth), and served for some time as the manor court.[6][5]
The hall has thick flint walls, gabled cross wings,[7] with a Gothic stone arch and 20th-century boarded door and two-storey porch.[5] Pevsner mentions that the porch is early 14th century.[8] The west wing of the house has a stone-framed upper window and very large attached tapered stack. The east wing has sashes dated to the early 19th century.[5] The old fireplace remains in the north-facing room with its roll moulding and steeply pitched head.[6] Pevsner notes that this building is now a dairy.[8]
Grounds
A chapel in the grounds was part of the house complex. It was added soon after the construction of 1330 under the request of Matilda de Aula.[6]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 A History of the County of Hampshire - Volume 4 pp 68–71: Parishes: Bentworth (Victoria County History)
- ↑ Feud. Aids, ii,. 1856. p. 314. https://books.google.com/books?id=mHpIAAAAYAAJ&q=Robert+Magewick+burkham&dq=Robert+Magewick+burkham.
- ↑ Yorkshire Archaeological and Topographical Association (1886). The Yorkshire Archæological and Topographical Journal. The Association. p. 420. https://books.google.com/books?id=1Y-MexpI2TkC. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
- ↑ Munson, James (2001). Maria Fitzherbert: The Secret Wife of George IV. Constable. ISBN 978-0-09-478220-4. https://books.google.com/books?id=EoVnAAAAMAAJ. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 National Heritage List 1338928: Hall Farmhouse, Bentworth (Grade II* listing)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Emery, Anthony (2006). Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales, 1300–1500: Southern England. Cambridge University Press. p. 309. ISBN 978-0-521-58132-5. https://books.google.com/books?id=g7EXvaDEYioC&pg=PA309. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
- ↑ "Hall Farm, Bentworth, Alton, Hampshire". Thames Valley Archaeological Services. http://www.tvas.co.uk/reports/pdf/HFB04-74wb.pdf. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England: Hampshire & The Isle of Wight, 1967 Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-300-09606-4