Landguard Manor is a manor house

Manor house

A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...

 in Shanklin

Shanklin

Shanklin is a popular seaside resort and civil parish on the Isle of Wight, England, located on the east coast's Sandown Bay. The sandy beach, its Old Village and a wooded ravine, Shanklin Chine, are its main attractions. The esplanade along the beach is occupied by hotels and restaurants for the...

 on the Isle of Wight

Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...

, England. Mentioned in the Domesday Book

Domesday Book

Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

, over the centuries it was home to numerous notable gentlemen. It is a Grade II listed building. One of the finest known portraits by Sir Thomas Lawrence, English portrait painter and president of the Royal Academy

Royal Academy

The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...

, is located in its drawing room

Drawing room

A drawing room is a room in a house where visitors may be entertained. The name is derived from the sixteenth-century terms "withdrawing room" and "withdrawing chamber", which remained in use through the seventeenth century, and made its first written appearance in 1642...

.

Geography

The house is located off Landguard Manor Road, about 0.66 miles (1.1 km) north of the town centre. Nearby is Landguard Camping Park, Lake Common, and well as the Shanklin Cemetery which contains the HMS Eurydice memorial honouring the sailors who died in the area in 1878 during one of Britain's worst peace-time naval disasters.

History

The Landguard estate was recorded in the Domesday Book.

Landguard is an ancient manor house that later became a farmhouse before another manor home was built at the site in the mid to late 19th century.

The English numismatist and antiquarian Charles Roach Smith

Charles Roach Smith

Charles Roach Smith , FSA, was an English antiquarian and amateur archaeologist who was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, and the London Numismatic Society. He was a founding member of the British Archaeological Association...

 was born at Landguard Manor in 1807.

The later manor-house was erected by Colonel Francis Henry Atherley (1831–1897) on the site of the older one. His wife, Lady Isabella Julia Elizabeth Howard (c. 1843–1910), was the daughter of Charles Howard, 17th Earl of Suffolk

Charles Howard, 17th Earl of Suffolk

Charles John Howard, 17th Earl of Suffolk, 10th Earl of Berkshire , styled Viscount Andover between 1820 and 1851, was a British peer and Whig politician.-Background:...

. Their son, Arthur Harry Howard Atherley was born at the manor house in 1865. Landguard Manor was the constant host to Riflemen of the 60th

King's Royal Rifle Corps

The King's Royal Rifle Corps was a British Army infantry regiment, originally raised in colonial North America as the Royal Americans, and recruited from American colonists. Later ranked as the 60th Regiment of Foot, the regiment served for more than 200 years throughout the British Empire...

 and Riflemen Brigade.

Architecture and fittings

The south facing building was built in the late 18th century. It was extended in 1878 and remodelled in 1906. The original front of the building has five bays, constructed of brick, and featuring stone quoins. Currently, the main frontage is the former east side of the 1878 extension. The irregular facade is of stone and for the most part is Neo-Jacobean

Jacobean architecture

The Jacobean style is the second phase of Renaissance architecture in England, following the Elizabethan style. It is named after King James I of England, with whose reign it is associated.-Characteristics:...

. There is a large balustraded porch, probably part of the 1906 addition, with multiple round arches. Some of the internal features include a two-tiered colonnaded hall, a well staircase, and a wing with an arched loggia. In 1995 the house was designated a Grade II listed building.

Flora and fauna

Flora around the manor includes Lesser Dodder

Cuscuta epithymum

Cuscuta epithymum L., is a parasitic plant assigned to the Cuscutaceae or Convolvulaceae family, depending on the taxonomy. It is red-pigmented, not being photosynthetically active. It has a filiform habit, like a group of yarns...

, Purple Broomrape, Northern Hard Fern, Savi's Club Rush. A Hoopoe

Hoopoe

The Hoopoe is a colourful bird that is found across Afro-Eurasia, notable for its distinctive 'crown' of feathers. It is the only extant species in the family Upupidae. One insular species, the Giant Hoopoe of Saint Helena, is extinct, and the Madagascar subspecies of the Hoopoe is sometimes...

was recorded near the manor in 1897.