The Manor House is adjacent to the Parish Church at the south end of the village. It is a mid 15th-century two-storied brick house, originally built for the Abbot of Ramsey.
The Manor House was substantially extended by Sir John Leman, who bought the manor in 1622 and died in 1632. The house has remained essentially unchanged since then although electricity and plumbing have been installed!
The front has rounded and shaped gables, and within is a staircase and upper hall installed by Sir John.
To the north of the Manor House is a 16th century brick barn. The roof of the barn has been faithfully restored, and the building has been converted to provide an apartment, a large open social area and offices for the house.
In 1670 an Act was passed for settling the boundary between Warboys and Ramsey manors. The Bedford Level Commissioners had placed Warboys Fen
within the manor of Warboys, and Sir Henry Williams attempted unsuccessfully to have it included in Ramsey.
In 1774 an Act was passed for draining certain lands in Warboys, including 300 acres called High Fen and 60 acres, part of New Pasture. Again, in 1795, an Act
was passed for dividing, inclosing and draining the open common fields in Warboys. A further Act was passed in 1798 to amend the last Act as regards the
lands allotted in lieu of tithes.
Warboys became conspicuous in 1593 by the trial and execution of three persons of the Samuels family in the village for allegedly bewitching the five daughters of Robert Throckmorton, lessee of the manor, and Susan Lady Cromwell, Sir Henry Cromwell’s wife whose family owned the Manor. Lady Cromwell was the step-grandmother of The Protector, Oliver Cromwell.
MANOR
Warboys was the gift of Archbishop Dunstan to the Abbey of St. Benedict of Ramsey, and was confirmed by King Edgar in 974, by Edward the Confessor, by
William the Conqueror in 1077, and by Edward III in 1334; and further by Pope Alexander in 1178, and by Pope Gregory in 1229.
Warboys was returned in the Domesday Survey among the lands of St. Benedict of Ramsey; and it was stated then that the abbot had 10 hides in the manor which paid geld. There were a priest and a church and 3 acres of meadow. There was wood for pannage 1 mile long and 1 mile broad.
The Abbot of Ramsey’s tenants at Broughton had rights of pasturage in the marsh, but had to pay to the manor of Warboys for licence to enter. The tenants of
Warboys with those of Broughton had rights of common in Wystow Marsh, but not beyond the “Drauht” without licence of the abbot.
In 1279 the Abbot of Ramsey held the manor of Warboys cum Caldecote of the king, including a windmill, and a messuage with a garden of 2½ acres [the same area as the current garden] and gallows, tumbrel, view of frankpledge and all appurtenances.
In 1535 the site of the manor was leased by the abbot to John Mayhue or Mayhew of Warboys, husbandman, for 40 years at a rent of £8. Two days before, a close in Warboys called Caldecotts had been leased for 40 years with the site of the manor of Broughton to John Lawrence of Ramsey, bailiff of Warboys.
In 1540 after the Dissolution the manor of Warboys with grange or farm, wood, fisheries and marsh, was granted to Richard Williams alias Cromwell. The Cromwells leased the house to Gabriel Throgmorton.
The sitting room enjoyed by the Cromwell and Throgmorton families
has essentially remained unchanged for over 600 years.
In 1622, Sir Oliver Williams alias Cromwell, jointly with his wife Anne, Henry his son and Dame Anne Carr, Henry’s wife, and Henry Williams alias Cromwell his brother, sold the manor to Sir John Leman, Kt., citizen and alderman of London, and to Robert Leman, and William Leman, son of Sir John’s deceased brother William.
In 1628 Robert granted his interest in the manor to Sir John and his nephew
William.
Sir John Leman created the splendid dining room.
This retained the Tudor fireplace that formerly would have been the main source of heat for the whole house.
Sir John Leman was a member of the Fishmongers’ Company, and Lord Mayor of London, 1616-17. He was the son of John Leman of Beccles in Suffolk and died unmarried in 1632. His elder brother William had four sons, John, Robert, William and Philip. John the eldest predeceased his uncle, leaving a son William,
who was his grand-uncle’s heir. Sir John Leman, however, bequeathed Warboys to his nephew William, third son of William his brother. William married in 1628
Rebecca, daughter and co-heir of Edward Prescott, of London, and they together in 1655 settled the manor on their son William’s marriage with Mary, daughter of Sir Lewis Mansel by his third wife Elizabeth, and granddaughter of Henry Montagu, first Earl of Manchester.
In 1665 this son William was created a baronet; he succeeded his father in 1667, became sheriff of Hertfordshire in 1676, and M.P. for Hertford in 1690.
In 1682 and 1683 Sir William Leman, bart., with his wife Mary and his son Mansel Leman, settled the manor evidently at the marriage of Mansel with Lucy,
daughter of Richard Alie, alderman of London. Mansel died in 1687 and his father Sir William in 1701.
In 1708 Mansel’s son Sir William Leman, bart., of Northaw, co. Herts, settled the manor of Warboys. He married Anna Margareta, daughter of Colonel Brett, and mistress of George I, and with her settled the manor in 1738.
In early 1741 Sir William Leman died childless. His widow died on 24 December.
Mansel Leman’s sister Elizabeth had married Henry, son of Richard Alie, brother of Mansel’s wife. Their son Richard Alie was adopted by Sir William Leman, and inherited Northaw, and presumably Warboys.
In 1749 Richard died childless after having assumed the surname Leman, but not inheriting the baronetcy.
In 1753 Richard’s sister and heir Lucy died childless. She gave Northaw to John Granger, who took the name of Leman.
In 1781 John Leman (alias Granger) died leaving his estates to his wife with a reversionary interest to a William Strode, whom she afterwards married and
whom she predeceased.
In 1789 the Manor was held by John Newnham apparently of Maresfield Park, Sussex, whose daughter Wilhelmina married Sir John Shelley, bart., by whom the
manor was held.
In 1794 the Manor was conveyed to William Palmer. The inclosure Acts of 1793 and 1798 return John Richards of Brampton and John Kirton of Gray’s Inn as lords of the manor.
In 1813 John Carstairs, of Stratford Green, Essex, appears as lord. John Carstairs left two daughters and co-heirs, Cecil, who married Wilson Jones of Hartsheath, co. Flint, in 1822, and Johanna, who in 1840 married Sir John Henry Pelly, bart.
In 1870 the Manor passed to Henry Carstairs Pelly, son of Sir John Henry Pelly. After his death,
In 1877, after his death it was held by his trustees; his daughters, Annie Evelyn, widow of Capt. Thomas Rivers Bulkeley (killed in 1914) and Constance Lilian, wife of David, 27th Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, the Premier Earl of Scotland.
In 1918 they joined in selling the manor to W L Raynes, of Cambridge, who conveyed it to Mrs. Fanny Elizabeth Spearing and Mrs. Mary Florence Raynes. At the same time most of the lands in the Manorality were sold off to the tenants.
In January 1919 the Manor House and 600 acres of surrounding farmland was conveyed to George Ekins JP. It remained in his family for three generations.
In 1982 the Manor House and 2.5 acres were conveyed to John Hacking who completed much of the restoration of the house.
In 1994 the Manor House and gardens were conveyed to Captain Victor Lucas, Royal Navy and his wife, Diana. Victor is a Freeman of the City of London and
was Upper Warden of the Plumbers Company. He is a Deputy Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire and County Councillor for Warboys and Upwood.
Photo from the collection of Victor and Diana Lucas
Photo of the Manor House, Warboys taken early 1900s. The Manor House is Grade II* listed by Historic England, list number 1128357.
Photo © www.tvkphotography.co.uk 2014
Photo of the Manor House, Warboys taken early 2014
Archaeology Finds at the Manor House
Warboys Archaeology Project is a sub group of Warboys History Society.
With the help of the Jigsaw Community the Project undertook a Geophys/Resistivity survey of the Manor House lawns. As a result of the survey three test pits were dug in 2013.
At the bottom of one of the test pits a brick floor was found around a metre below the lawn level. To investigate this brick floor a 2 week archaeological dig was planned from 31 March 2014.
The results can be seen in the Photos above. The current assessment of the floor and walls is that they are 17th century.
All Photo’s © Evan Tringham 2014