Chenies Manor House

Grade I listed building in Chenies, Buckinghamshire

Chenies Manor House in the parish of Chenies in Buckinghamshire, England, is a Tudor Grade I listed building once known as Chenies Palace, although it was never a royal seat nor the seat of a bishop. It was held by the Cheney family since 1180 and passed by marriage successively to the Semark and Sapcote families and thence in 1526 to the Russell family, Earls of Bedford, later Dukes of Bedford, by whom it was held for several centuries. Although the Russells soon abandoned Chenies as its main seat in favour of Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire, Chenies parish church remains the site of the private "Bedford Chapel", the mausoleum still in use by that family. John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford set about improving the house both as his home and enlarging it to the size and standard needed to house the royal court, so he could host visits from the king. The house was probably constructed by him around 1530–1550, while the significantly larger north range, which included the royal apartments, has been demolished. Russell had a meteoric career as an advisor to successive monarchs, becoming wealthy and titled and acquiring other properties. By about 1608 Woburn Abbey had become the principal family residence. Thereafter Chenies became increasingly neglected; the surviving buildings are the ones which were still considered practical. At the northern end of the west wing, there is an undercroft from the previous medieval manor house which occupied the same site, which is a scheduled ancient monument (SM 27145).

The buildings are situated at a high point in the local landscape, south of the River Chess, which forms the boundary between Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire. The general area shows evidence of occupation in Roman times, including a villa found to the north east of the church, which was occupied between the 1st and 4th centuries AD. A house on this site is recorded to have existed in 1165, when the locality was known as Isenhampstead. There is no specific mention of the settlement in the Domesday Book, but it is thought to have then formed part of the Manor of Chesham. The church of St Michael stands directly to the east of the current manor and has parts dating back to the 12th century, although it was extensively reconstructed at later times. A watermill also stood, on the nearby river, in the 12th century. It is believed Chenies passed to the Semark family of Thornhaugh, Northamptonshire, to re promote the family at court. The Sapcote family was on the losing side with Richard at Battle of Bosworth Field, where Henry VII claimed the throne for the House of Tudor. Phelip married Ann Semark after Bosworth, Phelip had a close friendship with the Cecils of Burghley, the Cecils and Semark were kin.

John Russell was a rising man in Tudor England, who from a modest gentry background created a dynasty by being a loyal servant to Henry VII, Henry VIII, and Edward VI, for which he was well rewarded. He fought in wars, was knighted, joined the royal household and became a gentleman of the Privy Chamber to both Henry VII and Henry VIII, became a diplomat responsible for secret negotiations, member of parliament, privy councillor, Lord High Admiral, in 1539 Baron Russell of Chenies, Keeper of the Privy Seal, and one of the executors of Henry VIII's will. In 1550 he was created Earl of Bedford during the regency for Edward VI, and was reappointed Lord Privy Seal by Queen Mary after Edward's death. Russell made improvements to the house, and was probably responsible for the south wing. Henry VIII is known to have visited the manor several times, with a court and retinue which might amount to 1000 persons. In 1534 he attended together with Anne Boleyn and Princess Elizabeth, and was probably there at the time of the execution of Sir Thomas More. In 1541 he visited with Katherine Howard, and the house was mentioned in evidence against her as somewhere she had committed adultery with Thomas Culpepper. Sir John Leland visited the house in 1544 and wrote:

"The old house of Cheynies is so translated by my Lord Russell that little or nothing of it in a manner remaineth untranslated: and a great deal of the house has been newly set up made of brick and timber: and fair lodgings be new erected in the garden. The house is within diverse places richly painted with antique works of white and Black. And there be about the House two Parkes as I remember. The Manor Place standeth at the West Ende of the Parishe Churche. In the Parishe Churche on the North side of it, as in a Chapelle, be two Tumbes of the Cheynies Lords of the Manor and the small village bearing their name". (Leland’s Itinerary, fol 122)

One of the deer parks is described in a lease made in 1571 as covering as 484 acres. Queen Elizabeth visited the house in July 1570 and stayed for four weeks. Records exist of a survey of the house listing repairs and alterations in preparation for the visit, including 18 square feet of glass for the Queen's rooms. Francis died in 1585 with significant debts. An inventory of Chenies was drawn up for the purposes of a sale of household goods and reveals many details about the house: It had nine principal bedrooms, three kitchens and an armoury with equipment for fifty men. There were two separate ranges of buildings for the accommodation of servants. Francis's widow died in 1601, when living at Woburn Abbey, and her will listed Chenies as unfurnished and unoccupied. Francis was succeeded by his grandson Edward Russell, 3rd Earl of Bedford, who was part of the abortive Essex Rebellion against the queen led by the Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex. As a result, he was fined £10,000 and confined for a time under house arrest at Chenies. Lady Anne Clifford, the Earl's cousin, stayed at Chenies for a month in 1602. The family fortunes revived after 1603 when King James VI of Scotland succeeded to the English throne as James I, and Edwards's wife, Lucy Russell, Countess of Bedford, became a Lady of the Bedchamber to the queen, Anne of Denmark. In 1608 Chenies was again in the hands of servants and the Russell family never returned. In 1627 the estate passed to Edward's cousin Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford, who had become a member of parliament and a supporter of the parliamentary side in the growing conflict between king and parliament. Francis died in May 1641 before the Civil War broke out, but his son William Russell, 1st Duke of Bedford was also on the parliamentary side, and Chenies was garrisoned with parliamentary troops. Graffiti found in the surviving medieval undercroft suggest that it might have been used as a prison at this time. William was part of the peace faction which sought to come to terms with the king, briefly defecting to the king during 1643, so that he took part in battles on both sides. William had an uneasy relationship with King Charles II after the Restoration of the Monarchy, but returned to favour in the reign of William and Mary, when he was created Duke of Bedford in 1694. By this time the Russell family had developed their estates in London (Bloomsbury and Covent Garden) as well as their other holdings around the country, and Chenies was very much a backwater to their personal and financial lives. However, the family continues to this day to be buried in the Bedford Chapel It was known at the start of this process that the existing west and south wings had formed parts of a much larger building which was partially described in old documents. It was believed that there had most probably been a quadrangle with north and east wings and a grand gatehouse, later demolished when the building ceased to be owned by such a wealthy family. Time Team started by surveying the region of the existing Tudor boundary wall on the east side of this quadrangle, which it was thought could once have been part of the wall of an eastern wing, but no evidence was found that there might once have been a more substantial structure in that area. Attention then turned to the northern side of the supposed quadrangle, and evidence was indeed found for a substantial Tudor building, broadly in line with the adjacent St Michael's church and extending towards it as had been described historically. However, this was not one side of a quadrangle, but extended an equal distance west of the current west wing. Dating evidence obtained from timbers used in the west and south wings showed the southern wing to be later in date, though still Tudor. Seven timbers from the roof of the long gallery were positively identified to have precise felling dates in the range 1547–1552, suggesting construction during the year 1552. One large beam from the floor was also tested, giving a felling range of 1540–72, consistent with the date for the roof above. The floor used a timber design with one transverse major beam and tall narrow intermediate joists spanning from it, which makes this the earliest floor to this design which has been positively dated. The building still lacked a formal entrance. A freestanding building still exists west of the current west wing, dating back to Tudor times. It was considered that this might have framed the formal gateway, which would have been between it and the western end of the missing north wing, facing west. Other buildings might then have framed a yard to the west of what is now the western wing. The demolished north wing was widest in the centre, with narrower extensions at either end. The excavations revealed evidence that the central block had originally had a straight northern face, overlooking formal gardens further north, which had then been remodelled with bay windows. It was estimated that the Tudor building was perhaps six times the extent of the buildings still remaining. During the course of the excavation samples of 12th and 13th century pottery were found at various places. While this did not prove the existence of a manor house on the site at that time, it did confirm there was some sort of occupation. Taken with the existence of the Tudor and medieval buildings, plus the adjacent church, it is reasonable to assume this was also the site of Isenhamsted Manor. One piece of pottery was discovered probably dating to the early Bronze Age.

The manor has been used many times in television programmes, such as To Play the King and also Midsomer Murders. It has also been used for scenes in dramatisations of classic period novels such as by Jane Austen and more recently the TV serial Little Dorrit, based on the eponymous book by Charles Dickens, in 2008. In 1999 it appeared as the big house in the film Tom's Midnight Garden. In 2007 it was used as a location for the Woody Allen film Cassandra's Dream. Actors Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell filmed scenes in the garden area. The gardens, famous for their tulips, are promoted by the Campaign to Protect Rural England.