Wimbledon manor house; the residence of the lord of the manor, was an English country house at Wimbledon, Surrey, now part of Greater London. The manor house was over the centuries exploded, burnt and several times demolished. The first known manor house, The Old Rectory was built around 1500 still stands as a private home, despite very nearly falling into a state beyond repair, in the 19th century. The ambitious later Elizabethan prodigy house, Wimbledon Palace, was "a house of the first importance" according to Sir John Summerson, and is now demolished.
The manor house passed through several further iterations, being entirely rebuilt three times. From the 18th Century onwards the manor lands began to reduce in size as various owners sold off parts. What was known as the 'Old Park', an area of around 300 acres stretching westwards from the present Cannizaro House (now a hotel) and public park, was sold off in 1705. Most of the present day Wimbledon Common was also once part of the manor, with grazing rights given to tenants of the lord of the manor.
The Common was saved from enclosure and development in 1871 by a remarkably early act of conservation. 42 acres, previously part of the manor parklands, are now occupied by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club that has made Wimbledon synonymous with tennis. Further tracts of the Grade II* listed public Wimbledon Park include its present-day golf course and the lake, the latter created along with further improvements to the park by the famous landscaper 'Capability' Brown for Earl Spencer, in 1768.
Early history
Until 1328, Wimbledon manor formed part of the manor of Mortlake. In 1364, Simon Islip, the Archbishop of Canterbury, gave the demesne lands to Merton Priory. Wimbledon was among the possessions of the church forfeited by Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1397. On the accession of Henry IV, Arundel was restored, and the archbishops continued to hold the manor of Wimbledon until 1536, when Thomas Cranmer, then archbishop, handed the manor and advowson to Henry VIII, as part of the Reformation and the Dissolution of the Monasteries, who then granted them to Thomas Cromwell. In 1540, Wimbledon manor was taken back from Cromwell on his death by the crown and annexed to Hampton Court. Henry VIII gave it to his queen, Catherine Parr, in 1543. After her death in 1548 the manor remained in the Crown until 1556, when Queen Mary granted it to Cardinal Pole as part of the Counter Reformation. Queen Elizabeth I seized it back and gave it to Sir Christopher Hatton in 1576 who sold it to Sir Thomas Cecil the same year .
The Old Rectory
The Old Rectory, Wimbledon's first known manor house and its oldest surviving residence, originally known as the Parsonage House, was commissioned by the church in the early 1500s and is Grade II* listed. The house was once moated, and adjoins the grounds of St Mary's Church. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries the former rectory manor and its "Parsonage" or "Rectory" house, compulsorily purchased from the church and vested in the Lord Chancellor, Thomas Cromwell, in 1536, were on his downfall in 1540 seized by Henry VIII who gave them to his sixth and last wife Catherine Parr in 1543. On 20 December 1546, in the months prior to his death, during a tour of his Surrey estates, the king was overcome by his various ailments and was unable to continue on to his Palace at Whitehall, so he stopped for three days at Catherine's house. In 1550, the house became a grace and favour home for Sir William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley. Described by one of Cecil's biographers as "not luxurious, but adequate", a survey from 1649 describes The Old Rectory as "A two storey house with a large dining hall, a withdrawing chamber, a parlour and little chamber, and extensive service quarters. A spiral staircase to the first floor with ten chambers and five closets, with five garrets in the roof".