Merstone Manor
| Merstone Manor | |
| Hampshire | |
|---|---|
 The gates of Merstone Manor | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SZ52148544 |
| Location: | 50°39’59"N, 50°39’59"E |
| Village: | Merstone |
| History | |
| Built 1605 | |
| Information | |
| Owned by: | Crofts family |
Merstone Manor, also known as 'Merston Manor', is a Jacobean manor house in Merstone on the Isle of Wight in Hampshire.
The manor was first mentioned in the Domesday Book. Before the Norman Conquest, Merston Manor was owned by the Brictuin family. The present home, built in 1605 in the Jacobean style by Edward Cheeke, and was rebuilt in the Victorian era. This structure may be the oldest brick house on the Island. The manor now belongs to the Crofts family.[1]
Today it is a Grade II* listed building.[2]
Early history
Domesday Book, in the entry referring to Merstone, tells us that in the time of Edward the Confessor, the manor was held by Brictuin, and that he held it from King Edward. The entry is as follows : " William Fitz-Stur holds Merestone and Hunfrid under him. Brictuin held it allodially of King Edward. Then and now it was assessed at half a hide. There is one carucate in demesne with one villein. Was and is worth 10s."
In an Inquisition taken in under King Edward III in 1334, it is recorded that 'Robert Giros, now Geoffrey de Insula holds a fourth part of a farm at Merstone'.
In about 1374, the Chekehill (later 'Cheke') family obtained possession of Mottestone, not far from Brook in the West Medine, and eventually also became owners of Merstone: in the latter half of the 16th century this is recorded as held by Edward Cheke who, with his second wife, Elinor (the daughter of Sir William Oglander of Nunwell) built the manor, house that now stands at Merstone.
The Manor of Merstone remained with the descendants of Edward and Elinor Cheke until the time of King Charles II, when it was purchased by Eustace Mann, the owner of Osborne. His granddaughter, Elizabeth Mann, carried by her marriage Merstone, as well as Osborne, into the family of Blachford. During the ensuing centuries the property passed through many different hands, now belonging to the Croft family.
References
- ↑ Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England: Hampshire & The Isle of Wight, 1967 Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-300-09606-4
- ↑ National Heritage List 1292159: Merstone Manor
- IOW Women's Institute: Merston
- Hampshire Field Club and Archaeological Society: "Proceedings, Volume (1898)"