Grafton Manor
Encyclopedia
Feckenham Forest
Feckenham Forest was a royal forest, centred around the town of Feckenham, covering large parts of west Worcestershire and Warwickshire. As such, it was not entirely wooded, nor entirely the property of the King. Rather, the King had legal rights over game, wood and grazing within the forest, and...
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The Lords of the Manor were influential figures in medieval and early modern Worcestershire, with a number becoming High Sheriffs or Members of Parliament for Worcestershire. A few were also national figures, especially the Talbots and Earls of Shrewsbury. Grafton was connected with Catholic worship in the County after the Reformation
Reformation
- Movements :* Protestant Reformation, an attempt by Martin Luther to reform the Roman Catholic Church that resulted in a schism, and grew into a wider movement...
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The house is now a listed building containing a hotel and restaurant, in the modern Civil parish of Dodford with Grafton in the Bromsgrove District
Bromsgrove (district)
Bromsgrove is a local government district in Worcestershire, England. Its council is based in the town of Bromsgrove.It borders the built up area of Birmingham to the north...
of Worcestershire
Worcestershire
Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...
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Manor house
The current L-shaped building dates to the early 1500s and was extensively altered around 1567. A fire in 1710 destroyed parts, and restoration work took place in 1860 by David Brandon and the later 20th century.Above the parlour window, there is an inscription:
Plenti and grase ti in this plase whyle
even man is plesed in his degre there is both pease and uniti. Salaman saith
there is none acorde when every man would be a lorde
St Michael's Chapel
The adjacent Chapel, originally annexed to the Parish of Bromsgrove, were granted by the Bishop of Worcester, William of Blois to the sacrist of St. Mary's, Worcester, who had to burn a taper before King John's tomb in the Cathedral. Disputes are recorded over the inheritance of the revenues (advowsonAdvowson
Advowson is the right in English law of a patron to present or appoint a nominee to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living, a process known as presentation. In effect this means the right to nominate a person to hold a church office in a parish...
) and the costs of maintenance took place between John de Grafton family and the sacrist of St Mary’s. Eventually, the advowson was in the hands of the Stafford family at Grafton, and was passed to the Talbot family.
The chapel was the “head quarters of a Roman Catholic mission” and there is a small burial ground next to it. It was disused and ruined by the end of the 1700s.
Influence in Worcestershire
Members of the families holding the manor are frequently listed as holding positions as local MPs and as the High Sheriff of WorcestershireHigh Sheriff of Worcestershire
This is a list of Sheriff and since 1998 High Sheriffs of Worcestershire.The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been...
.
Pre-Norman Conquest
The manor was held of Earl Edwin by five thegns who had to support the Lord of the ManorNorman period
In 1086, the manor was held by a man called Roger, from Urse d'AbetotUrse d'Abetot
Urse d'Abetot was a Norman as well as a medieval Sheriff of Worcestershire and royal official under Kings William I, William II and Henry I...
. During the next centuries, a number of men bearing the name ‘de Grafton’ are mentioned in records, including Henry de Grafton in 1166, Richard de Grafton in 1166-7, Ralph de Grafton in the reign of King John, followed by two Johns. Edmund de Grafton is noted in 1315, followed by his son John (1349–50). John’s son Roger granted the manor to Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick in 1350-51. By 1367–8 John de Hastings had the manor, passing it to his daughter Maud, who married Ralph Stafford.
Edmund de Grafton represented the two member Worcestershire constituency
Worcestershire (UK Parliament constituency)
Worcestershire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832. It was represented until 1832 by two Members of Parliament, traditionally referred...
in the early House of Commons of England
House of Commons of England
The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of Great Britain...
four times.
Staffords
Ralph Stafford died in 1409-10, leaving the manor to his and Maud’s son Humphrey Stafford. His son John Stafford held the manor between 1419–22, and also inherited Upton Warren. His brother, Humphrey, inherited. He died fighting rebels in Kent and can be identified alongside his brother William as characters in Shakespeare's play, Henry VI, Part 2Henry VI, part 2
Henry VI, Part 2 or The Second Part of Henry the Sixt is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1591, and set during the lifetime of King Henry VI of England...
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Sir Humphrey Stafford inherited Grafton and Upton Warren in 1449–50. After fighting at the Battle of Bosworth with Richard III
Richard III of England
Richard III was King of England for two years, from 1483 until his death in 1485 during the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty...
, Sir Humphrey Stafford broke sanctuary and supported Viscount Lovell
Francis Lovell, 1st Viscount Lovell
Francis Lovell, 9th Baron Lovell, 6th Baron Holand, later 1st Viscount Lovell was an English nobleman. He probably knew the later King Richard III of England from a young age, and was to become his lifelong friend and staunch ally....
in a further rebellion
Stafford and Lovell Rebellion
The Stafford and Lovell rebellion was the first armed uprising against Henry VII after he won the crown at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. The uprising was led by Viscount Lovell and the Stafford brothers, Humphrey and Thomas, and occurred during Eastertime 1486.-Rebellion:The conspirators against...
. He was executed for treason on 8 July 1486 at Tyburn
Tyburn
Tyburn is a former village just outside the then boundaries of London that was best known as a place of public execution.Tyburn may also refer to:* Tyburn , river and historical water source in London...
by Henry VII
Henry VII of England
Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....
.
The Staffords also represented Worcestershire in the House of Commons.
Talbots
Grafton and Upton Warren were given to a branch of the Talbot family close to the Earls of Shrewsbury. Sir Gilbert TalbotGilbert Talbot (soldier)
Sir Gilbert Talbot of Grafton, KG was an English Tudor knight, a younger son of John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury and 2nd Earl of Waterford, and Elizabeth Butler.-Life:...
held them until he died in 1517; he also held a position as Keeper of Feckenham Forest
Feckenham Forest
Feckenham Forest was a royal forest, centred around the town of Feckenham, covering large parts of west Worcestershire and Warwickshire. As such, it was not entirely wooded, nor entirely the property of the King. Rather, the King had legal rights over game, wood and grazing within the forest, and...
. The manor passed to his sons Gilbert and then John. John's son John held the estate until 1555. His son then inherited, John Talbot
John Talbot of Grafton
Sir John Talbot of Grafton, Worcestershire was a prominent recusant English Catholic layman of the reigns of Elizabeth I of England and James I of England. He was connected by marriage to one of the Gunpowder Plot conspirators, and by acquaintance or family ties to other important Catholic figures...
, who became a famous recusant and was suspected of involvement in the Gunpowder Plot
Gunpowder Plot
The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was a failed assassination attempt against King James I of England and VI of Scotland by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby.The plan was to blow up the House of...
as his daughter Gertrude was married to one of the plotters, Robert Wintour.
Earls of Shrewsbury
In 1618, George TalbotGeorge Talbot, 9th Earl of Shrewsbury
George Talbot, 9th Earl of Shrewsbury, 9th Earl of Waterford was the son of Sir John Talbot of Grafton in Worcestershire, a prominent Roman Catholic priest....
succeeded to the title Earl of Shrewsbury
Earl of Shrewsbury
Earl of Shrewsbury is a hereditary title of nobility created twice in the peerage of England.-First creation, 1074:The first creation occurred in 1074 for Roger de Montgomerie, one of William the Conqueror's principal counselors...
. The Earls of Shrewsbury had or acquired other country residences, including Barlow Woodseats Hall
Barlow Woodseats Hall
Barlow Woodseats Hall is a Grade II* listed manor house situated at Barlow Woodseats, on the edge of the village of Barlow, in Derbyshire. It remains the only manor house in the Parish of Barlow, and the current house dates from the early 17th century, although there are much earlier origins.-...
(sold in the mid-1600s), Heythrop Park
Heythrop Park
Heythrop Park is an early 18th century country house southeast of Heythrop in Oxfordshire. It was designed by the architect Thomas Archer in the Baroque style for Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury. A fire in 1831 destroyed the original interior. From 1922 until 1999 Heythrop housed first a...
(developed as the family’s main seat in the early 1700s) and Alveton Lodge
Alton Towers
Alton Towers is a theme park and resort located in Staffordshire, England. It attracts around 2.7 million visitors per year making it the most visited theme park in the United Kingdom. Alton Towers is also the 9th most visited theme park in Europe...
(rebuilt as the family seat in the 1800s).
When the Earl of Shrewsbury title and property was inherited by Henry John Chetwynd-Talbot
Henry Chetwynd-Talbot, 18th Earl of Shrewsbury
Admiral Henry John Chetwynd-Talbot, 18th Earl of Shrewsbury, 3rd Earl Talbot, 18th Earl of Waterford, CB, PC , styled Viscount Ingestre between 1826 and 1849 and known as The Earl Talbot between 1849 and 1858, was a British naval commander and Conservative politician.-Background:Shrewsbury was the...
in 1860, Ingestre Hall
Ingestre Hall
Ingestre Hall is a 17th century Jacobean mansion situated at Ingestre, near Stafford, Staffordshire, England, which is now in use as a Residential Arts and Conference Centre. It is a Grade II* listed building.Ingestre is mentioned in the Domesday Book...
and other properties became part of the estate. It is unclear how much use was made of Grafton by the Talbot family.
Francis and Anna Talbot
Francis TalbotFrancis Talbot, 11th Earl of Shrewsbury
Francis Talbot, 11th Earl of Shrewsbury, 11th Earl of Waterford was an English peer, the second son of the 10th Earl of Shrewsbury....
died as the result of a duel at Barn Elms
Barn Elms
Barn Elms is an open space in Barnes in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.It is located on the northerly loop of the River Thames between Barnes and Fulham....
with the Duke of Buckingham
George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham
George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, 20th Baron de Ros of Helmsley, KG, PC, FRS was an English statesman and poet.- Upbringing and education :...
over his wife, Anna Talbot
Anna Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury
Anna Maria Talbot was Countess of Shrewsbury from 1659 to 1668, by virtue of her marriage to Francis Talbot, 11th Earl of Shrewsbury....
. Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...
related that:
from the whole house the discourse of the duell yesterday between the Duke of Buckingham, Holmes, and one Jenkins, on one side, and my Lord of Shrewsbury, Sir John Talbot, and one Bernard Howard, on the other side: and all about my Lady Shrewsbury, who is a whore, and is at this time, and hath for a great while been, a whore to the Duke of Buckingham. And so her husband challenged him, and they met yesterday in a close near Barne-Elmes, and there fought: and my Lord Shrewsbury is run through the body, from the right breast through the shoulder: and Sir John Talbot all along up one of his armes; and Jenkins killed upon the place, and the rest all, in a little measure, wounded. This will make the world think that the King hath good councillors about him, when the Duke of Buckingham, the greatest man about him, is a fellow of no more sobriety than to fight about a whore.
... The whole House full of nothing but the talk of this business; and it is said that my Lord Shrewsbury's case is to be feared, that he may die too; and that may make it much the worse for the Duke of Buckingham: and I shall not be much sorry for it, that we may have some sober man come in his room to assist in the Government.
Charles Talbot
He was succeeded by Charles TalbotCharles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury
Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury, KG, PC was an English statesman. Born to Roman Catholic parents, he remained in that faith until 1679 when—during the time of the Popish Plot and following the advice of the divine John Tillotson—he converted to the Church of England...
, who served several English monarchs. Charles Talbot built Heythrop Park, which became the family’s main residence.
Twentieth century
The estates and titles to the Manors of Grafton and Upton WarrenUpton Warren
Upton Warren is a village and civil parish in the Wychavon district, in Worcestershire, England. The village is situated just off the A38 road between Bromsgrove and Droitwich Spa, and on the River Salwarpe...
stayed with the Earls of Shrewsbury until the early 20th century, who owned other properties including Alton Towers
Alton Towers
Alton Towers is a theme park and resort located in Staffordshire, England. It attracts around 2.7 million visitors per year making it the most visited theme park in the United Kingdom. Alton Towers is also the 9th most visited theme park in Europe...
, which, like Grafton, was sold. Grafton Manor house was sold in 1934 to Alfred Murray-Willis. The Earls also owned Heythrop Park
Heythrop Park
Heythrop Park is an early 18th century country house southeast of Heythrop in Oxfordshire. It was designed by the architect Thomas Archer in the Baroque style for Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury. A fire in 1831 destroyed the original interior. From 1922 until 1999 Heythrop housed first a...
until a fire in 1831.