1965 - The Manor, Church Road
The Manor, Church Road. It is said to date back to 1619, but this may apply to some internal features only as the house is probably early 1700s, later reclad, probably 1820/30s. Known that it was thatch until 1905. Existence of dovecote suggests Manorial quality.
Francis Beynon (married to Elizabeth Dorothy, nee Okell, daughter of Royle Bateman, vicar of Spratton from 1684 - 1733) was known to have acquired an estate of just under 300 acres at the time of the Inclosure Award of 1766. This passed on his death in 1778 to his only surviving child, Elizabeth (married to Andrew Hackett and of Moxhull in Warwickshire), who erected a memorial in the church. On her death, it passed to her son Francis Beynon Hackett, who never lived in Spratton, but resided at Moor Hall, Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire. It is known that the estate included the White Horse Coaching Inn (in what is now Brixworth Road), and also the Manor House in Church Road and adjacent 3 acre site (then known as Greens Close, upon which St. Luke's Close development was made in the 1960s). The Estate was put up for sale in 1826. When nothing sold, it was put up for sale again in1838, when the Manor and adjacent Close were bought by Edward Butlin from Hackett's heirs.
In 1871, Rev Llewellyn Roberts was considering buying the house (there is a draft contract in the Record Office), but this never proceeded. At that time the close was farmed (together with the easterly 27 acres of the Broomhill site) by John Rixon, who lived in the Manor house. Later, Edward Copson bought the house in 1874 and the Close in 1880. At that time it was a single long dwelling (now 2 houses, numbers 6 & 8) with the entrance at the back. Shortly afterwards it became the Post Office, requiring the construction of the Church Road entrance and steps so as to facilitate the handling of mail bags. Mr Copson divided the house into its present two dwellings at around the turn of the century. The thatch was destroyed by a terrific storm in 1905, and the house was then slated. The house passed to Ernest Copson, and when he went to the War in 1916, the Post Office was transferred elsewhere. Ernest Copson's widow remained in residence after his death. In 1926, when they moved to Spratton, the Saul family became her tenant. The house was then known as Church View and included the now separate house of that name. Later it became The Manor. The property owned the land that became St. Luke's Close - this was sold early in the 1960's.
Tony Griggs lived here from 1967 -when he moved in there was an outside loo only and no bathroom - until 2007.
Image Reference: 0879
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