Except for the Moats. Charles I put those in during the English Civil War.
Horsenden Manor is situated in the small Village of Horsenden within the Vale of Aylesbury some 2-miles West of the Chiltern Scarp. The 29-Ha Site lies 1-mile South‐West of the Centre of Princes Risborough & 7-miles South of Aylesbury. The Lower Icknield Way, an Ancient Route, passes 750Ms South of the Site, at Saunderton. The Site lies at the Northern end of Horsenden Lane, a no‐through Road giving Access from Princes Risborough and High Wycombe. The immediate surrounding area is Rural with a scattering of Village Houses. The 21stC Princes Industrial Estate lies 150M to the Northeast of the Manor, flanking the North‐East Approach Avenue from Summerleys Road. The Site is Bounded to the North & North‐east by Horsenden Lane & to the South & West by Fields with traditional Hedging, of which Nut Walk forms part to the South‐West of the House. Along the Northern Boundary of the Site & abutting the Main Entrance Gate there is a 19thC Metal Railing Park Fence. The Elevation is below 100Ms & the Soil is Gault Clay. Water plays an important role in the character of the Site. The Stream which bisects the Site from South to North rises on the Chiltern Spring‐Line at Saunderton to the South. The Stream enters the Pleasure Grounds on the Southern Boundary & Flows out of the Site at a Weir to the North of the House, next to the present North‐East Entrance Gates. Within the Site, it is Dammed & controlled by a number of Sluices to form Ponds & River‐like Stretches. It eventually joins the River Thame at Longwick Mill 0.75M to the North. Some 350Ms South of the House (outside the Historic Boundary) is a Medieval Settlement which was part of a Manorial Complex held by Ralph Brown in 1300, within Roundabout Wood. The Site is Moated & includes a Fish Pond. The North‐West, Entrance Front of the House was intended to command Views to the Northeast of the Ancient Whiteleaf Cross some 2-miles away & the sweep of the Scarp Slope of the Chiltern Hills in which it is set. The Pleasure Grounds & Park were also apparently Designed to enjoy these Views. Jamiroquai Vocalist Jay Kay has owned Horsenden Manor since 1995 & has a Recording Studio, Granary & Garages for his top-end Car Collection. Horsenden Manor
Timbering, half-Hipped Thatch Roof. 19thC Brick Chimneys with Diagonal Shafts, 2 between right Bays, 1 between left Bays. 1½-Storeys, 3 Bays, that to left a 20thC Extension. Left Bays have 3 or 4-light 20thC barred Wooden Casements, those to Upper Storey in Thatch. 20thC 3-light leaded Casement to Ground Foor of right Bay. Board Door between right Bays has Pointed Arched Head & 20thC Porch with Hipped Tile Roof on Wooden Posts. Right Gable has Canted Bay window with 4-Arched leaded lights. Lean-to to Rear.
Beside the main drive to Horsenden Manor & South of Gate Cottage. From here there are views along the Manor Drive, along the Lane. Next to the Cottage is a late-19thC Single-seater Brick Built Privy. Behind it are 2 Weatherboarded & Tile roofed Outbuildings, also Grade II listed, one with a Tower Dovecote. They have been converted to a dwelling in recent years. Victorian Post Box: this is set within the front railings and hedge to Gate Cottage in a Brick structure with a plinth & a pitched top. It is rendered and encloses a Red Letterbox with the initials ‘VR’ so pre-dates Queen Victoria’s death in 1901.
The Main Entrance to the Site is from the North‐West off Horsenden Lane. Here the Northwest Gateway lies 100Ms to the North‐West of the House adjacent to the West side of the Churchyard & its Entrance. From here the Drive curves South‐East to a Forecourt below the North‐West Front of the House. The Stable Yard is entered from the Drive immediately to the South. From the Forecourt the Drive continues North‐East across a Bridge to the North‐East Gateway & back onto Horsenden Lane. This access is shown on Maps since the 1794 Grubb proposal Plan, which shows a turning Circle in front of the House from a proposed Main Entrance through Gates at a point where the Road widens to the West of the Church. The North‐East Drive enters 100Ms North‐east of the House off Horsenden Lane opposite 17/18thC Thatched Gate Cottage. The Gate Cottage (Listed Grade II) 250Ms North‐East of the House stands adjacent to the Avenue Entrance off Horsenden Lane leading North‐East to Summerleys Road.
This Entrance 1st appeared between 1806 & 1823, after a similar Route was sketched lightly in Pencil on the 1794 proposal over the Watercolour Body. From this Gateway the Drive curves South‐West to the Forecourt below the House & joining the North‐west Arm of the Drive (as shown on the 1794 Plan). A sunken Railing Fence/Ditch follows the Northern Line of the Drive, possibly a Ha‐Ha. Today the remains of a 19thC Approach Avenue are situated to the North‐East of the Main Grounds. This former Drive flanked by mixed mature Trees is now used as access to the Princes Industrial Estate & as a Public Footpath entered from Summerleys Road some 650Ms North‐east of the House. From here it runs South‐West for 550Ms to Gate Cottage, linking with the North‐east Entrance to the Grounds across Horsenden Lane. The Avenue 1st appeared in the early-19thC as a formal approach for Visitors to the House directly from Princes Risborough & Thame/High Wycombe & was subsequently noted as an Avenue Approach by Sheahan (1862). From 1862 it provided Access for the Family from the nearby newly‐built Railway Station.
Horsenden Manor is a typical Regency Villa built in 1810 in Stucco (recently largely removed) with Sash windows & Slate Roof. The 2-Storey House had Battlemented Parapets (now gone) & a 3rd-Storey was added during the 19thC. Notable features include the 5-Bay windows on the Northwest Entrance Front & the Doric Porch with 4-rendered Columns & Entablature. Each end of the House has Bowed Projections with 3-Bays of tall paired Wooden Casement windows overlooking the Grounds A 2-Storey Linked Service Wing (Brick Built) to the West of the House, incorporates remains of the Earliest Manor House some of which dates from the 15thC. The South‐East, Garden Front has 3-Bays of Sashes. The Centre window is Venetian in style over a Pedimented Doric Porch. The Brick & Stone Stable Building to the West is dated 1912.
Manor Farm is Later, with a Date Stone of 1891 lies 75Ms North‐West of the House. The Farmhouse is a rendered 3-Bay house. Improvements were made in the late-19thC by Mrs Jacques. The Church of St Michael (Grade II) is a fragment based on its Medieval Chancel. In 1765 it fell into disrepair & the Tower & Nave were pulled down leaving a very small Building as an eye‐catcher for the subsequent Manor Grounds.
The Pleasure Grounds & modest Park of a Regency Country Villa, on the Site of a Medieval & later Manor House. A Civil War Moat has been incorporated into the Pleasure Grounds Design which is focused on an unusually complex series of informal Ponds & Watercourses & also on the Parish Church. The Regency Layout (c.1810) survives largely intact as it had developed by the early-20thC, with some later alterations. The extent & survival of Villa Gardens is not well recorded & this is a good example at this Scale, with an ensemble of typical features as well as the unusual Water Features.
The South Pleasure Ground is bisected by the Serpentine Ponds into West & East halves. An Overflow Channel runs North‐west from the North end of the Park Pond (Adjacent to the South side of the Pleasure Ground) out into Agricultural Land. The House is enclosed by Lawns & Gardens to the South & East which are bounded by a Serpentine Pond which is believed to have Originated as a 17thC Civil War Moat & by the Overflow Channel. The area to the South & East of the ‘Moat’ Pond is more Wooded.
The North Pleasure Ground is Enclosed to the West, South & East by the Drive & to the North by the Churchyard (where a Sunken Fence forms the Boundary with the Churchyard) & Horsenden Lane. It is overlooked by the North‐west, Entrance Front of the House. The area is laid to Informal Lawn with Specimen Trees & overlooks the small Parish & Churchyard. This area includes part of the former Churchyard which was taken into the Grounds between 1823 & the 1840s leaving a truncated Churchyard. Views of the 1840s show the House with a Bow‐windowed Stuccoed East End as well as the Fragment of the Church before it was Extended & Restored in the 1850s‐60s. The House & Church are shown as though a Single Property in a Park with Cattle & Sheep. A 19thC Photograph shows a Sunken Fence/Ha‐Ha around the Churchyard Boundary, allowing clear Views of the Church set among Ornamental Trees in the Churchyard
Archaeological Interest: The House incorporates the remains of the previous Manor House, some of which dates from the 15thC (Service Wing). The Site of part of the former Churchyard occupies part of the Lawns to the North of the House, adjacent to the present Churchyard Boundary (established early-19thC). South of the House & outside the Designed Landscape Boundary is a Medieval Settlement Site with a Moat & Fishponds.
An early-19thC Villa, Park & Pleasure Ground with unusually extensive Water Features, which shape & bisect the Design, incorporating parts of a Civil War Moat. The mature woody planting & views of the Church contribute to the Design. The layout largely reflects a finely executed anonymous proposal of 1794, for John Grubb IV (CBS) which incorporates earlier features & has been subject to some Later Alterations. The 19thC Landscape survives intact including a 400M long Avenue from Summerleys Road, formerly giving direct access to the House from Princes Risborough. The principle Entrance Front was intended to command Views of the Ancient Whiteleaf Cross & the Chiltern Hills.
The Property has been associated with important & influential figures, including John Morton 15thC, leading wealthy Religious/Statesperson & Political Advisor to Henry VII & the Donne Family. There are Strong Associations with the Civil War when the House was Garrisoned. In the 17thC the Manor passed to the Grubb Family who were responsible for the Development of the Site as it Survives & apparently Commissioned the fine 1794 Design proposal Plan.
Historic Development: In 1086 the Land at Horsenden is recorded as being held by Robert, Earl of Morton & Cornwall (Domesday Survey). During the 14thC the Land was reported as Poor & Lay Barren. In 1462, the Manor was Granted to John Gaune & Others to Hold for the use of John Morton (1420‐1500). It is doubtful whether he spent a significant amount of time at the Manor & there was probably no Development of the Grounds, his Primary Residence being Knole House in Kent. He was appointed Bishop of Ely in 1479, Henry VII appointed him Archbishop of Canterbury in 1486 & Lord Chancellor of England in 1487. Sir John Donne, a notable figure in the Yorkist Party, named Horsenden as his Primary Residence in 1489.
The Donne Triptych by Hans Memling shows the Family, including a daughter possibly Anne (later Cotton). A Household Book kept between 1510 & 1551 by Sir Edward Don (Donne) mentions a Saffron Garden, Orchards & Gardens. Anne Cotton’s daughter Jane married John Denham, Surveyor of the King’s Parks & Buildings, a Royalist. They were living in the House during the Civil War during the Conflict it was Garrisoned & the Moat Dug or Enlarged. The Manor was Seized by Parliament & after the War conveyed to William Page for the Duration of the Commonwealth. In 1662, John Grubb of Kimbell became the Owner. In 1784 John Grubb III (c.1700‐85) and his wife Mary were each Painted in their later years by the fashionable Artist Johann Zoffany.
In 1794 a detailed proposal for the Grounds was Drawn for John Grubb IV (d.1812), including Informal Pleasure Grounds containing a number of Garden Buildings, an Orchard & Water Features. In 1810 John Grubb IV had the House largely re-Built on the Site of the old Manor House. Alterations to the Gardens Established the framework of today’s Layout, reflecting much of the 1794 Proposals. The Grounds were Enclosed & in the Pleasure Ground part of the former Defensive Moat was Incorporated into the Garden Design around the East & South of the House. Beyond this in the New Park a ‘New Walk’ (now known as Nut Walk) was formed to the South‐West & a Lake was created from former Fishponds. Between 1812 & 1823 a Straight Drive flanked by an Avenue was created Extending from Horsenden Lane opposite the Northeast Entrance in a North‐East direction to Summerleys Road, giving Access directly from Princes Risborough. By the 1870s this had been Bisected by the Railway Line. By 1838 Pleasure Grounds, Lawns, Ponds & a Kitchen Garden were laid out by John Grubb V around the re-Built Villa. In 1841 the Duke of Buckingham Purchased Horsenden (450-acres) as part of a Lot, including Princes Risborough & Abbots Risborough totalling 1240-acres. During this time there was no change made to the Landscape it seems. Lipscombe noted the Key Elements of the Grubb Landscape by 1847 included ‘Ornamental Trees & Shrubs, interspersed with Gravel‐walks’ with the ‘Principal Front commanding a view of the Chiltern Hills & the celebrated Whiteleaf Cross’. He also Noted the Lake with an Island & the Park‐like Grounds of some 50-acres. Sheahan (1862) noted the North‐Eastern Approach Avenue about 0.25 mile long, along with 9-acres of Pleasure Grounds including Ornamental Water & 2-Cascades.
In 1848 (after the Bankruptcy of the Duke of Buckingham) the Rev William Edwards Partridge, Rector of Horsenden became the Owner. It was inherited by Mrs Leonard Jacques in 1886. A subsequent Owner, Mrs Gourlay, is believed to have employed Lanning Roper the American Landscape Architect (also worked at Highgrove) who wrote 2-Reports for the Garden (1970s). It is unclear whether his Proposals were Executed. The Site remains in Private Ownership (Jay Kay).
Aston Rowant & Chilterns Spring Line Villages 