Byfleet Manor
{{Short description|House in Byfleet, Surrey, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox historic site
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| image = Byfleet Manor House (geograph 3492825) (cropped and squared up).jpg
| caption = Byfleet Manor in 2013
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| locmapin = Surrey
| coordinates = {{coord|51|19|53.6|N|0|27|49.9|W|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline,title}}
| gbgridref = TQ 07116 60280
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| built = 1685
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| designation1 = Grade II*
| designation1_offname = Manor House and Manorside West
| designation1_date = 22 July 1953
| designation1_number = {{Listed building England|1236613}}
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Byfleet Manor is a Grade II* listed house{{NHLE|num=1236613|desc= MANOR HOUSE AND MANORSIDE WEST|accessdate=6 November 2014}} in Byfleet, Surrey, England. Byfleet Manor has been used as a filming location in three television series, most notably Downton Abbey.
History
Byfleet Manor's precursor was a royal hunting lodge given by Edward II to Piers Gaveston, his reputed lover.{{cite web |url=http://www.surreylife.co.uk/out-about/surrey_mansion_s_starring_role_as_dame_maggie_smith_39_s_home_in_downton_abbey_1_1571864 |title=Surrey mansion's starring role as Dame Maggie Smith's home in Downton Abbey - Out & about |publisher=Surrey Life |date=2012-09-21 |accessdate=2014-01-18 |archive-date=1 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201182755/http://www.surreylife.co.uk/out-about/surrey_mansion_s_starring_role_as_dame_maggie_smith_39_s_home_in_downton_abbey_1_1571864 |url-status=dead }} Anne of Denmark, wife of King James I, the house's last royal owner, commissioned a fresh house here in 1617.Howard Colvin, The History of the King's Works, 4:2 (London: HMSO, 1982), pp. 58–59. She kept horses sent by her brother Christian IV in the park, and spent at least £250 on the house. However, she died before the work was finished. According to John Aubrey, the house was completed by the courtier James Fullerton.John Nichols, Progresses of James the First, 3 (London, 1828), p. 187: William Brenchley Rye, England as Seen by Foreigners in the Days of Elizabeth & James the First (London, 1865), p. 217. The front walls and gate piers, which can still be seen today, date from that time.Frances Mitchell, [https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/library/browse/details.xhtml?recordId=3181220 'The Manor House Byfleet', Surrey Archaeological Collections, 20 (1907), p. 161]
A detailed ownership and account of royal rights is set out in sources covering this period of history, such as the Feet of Fines and the Assize Rolls kept in the royal collections and The National Archives, but which is well summarised in, for example, the Victoria County History.{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42996 |title=Parishes: Byfleet |editor=H.E. Malden |publisher=Institute of Historical Research |year=1911 |work=A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 3 |accessdate=14 February 2014 }}
A rebuilding followed in 1685 as the Jacobean house was reported to be ruinous. This change led to a much smaller building. In 1672 the lands were granted to Lord Holles and others to hold in trust for Queen Catherine of Braganza for her life, and afterwards for Charles II of England and his heirs. In 1694 Sir John Buckworth, lord of the manor of Byfleet, was accused of neglect in repairing a bridge over the Wey. It was found, however, that he was not responsible for such repair, as he was only a "termer for years" in the manor under a "lease made by the late queen mother's trustees." There is very little trace of the manor for about a century after this.
An Enclosure Award, privatising fields, was made in 1811 for {{convert|780|acres|km2}} in the parish, including common fields of Byfleet Manor, i.e. formerly whose profits were shared between its owner, tenants and subtenants.
The house remained virtually unaltered until 1905, when it was restored and enlarged with the addition of asymmetrical wings. The scant modern vestiges of the ancient manorial rights were sold to a firm of solicitors in that decade. In February 2013, a hidden room was found within the home.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-21539879 |title=BBC News - 'Downton' house could unlock secrets of Surrey history |publisher=Bbc.co.uk |date=2013-02-23 |accessdate=2014-01-18}} The owners have allowed the patios and front rooms to be hired to host 1920s-themed tea parties.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLyGXop3lQk |title=Tea Vintage at Byfleet Manor |publisher=YouTube |date=2013-06-03 |accessdate=2014-01-18}}
=Filming location=
Byfleet has been used as a filming location including; Downton Abbey, Agatha Christie's Poirot: After the Funeral, Cranford and Into the Woods.{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0974077/locations |title=Internet Movie Database |website=IMDb |date=2013-10-19 |accessdate=2014-02-14}}{{cite web|url=http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/local-news/downton-abbey-home-home-dame-4809001|title=Downton Abbey home from home for Dame Maggie|author=Jennifer Morris|date=12 September 2012|work=getsurrey|accessdate=12 May 2015}}{{cite web|url=http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/into-the-woods/into-the-woods-the-journey-from-stage-to-screen-20150116-12rnwc.html|title=Into the Woods: the journey from stage to screen|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=16 January 2015 |accessdate=12 May 2015}}