Cowdray House, Midhurst, West Sussex

The ruins of a great Tudor house. The original fortified manor house was built between 1273 and 1284, across the river from the small town of Midhurst. It was named Coudreye, the Norman word for hazel woods, which grew nearby. During 1520 the uncle of Henry VII began building a new House on the site of the old manor house when he inherited it in 1496. The house was passed on to generations of the family for the next 300 years. Until On 24 September 1793, during restoration work, a fire started in the carpenters' workshop in the North Gallery where some smouldering charcoal fell onto sawdust and shavings on the floor. The house was gutted. The last of the family line died penniless with no heir in the early 19th century, and what little remained of the once grand house was left to fall into ruin. In 1908 the estate was sold to Sir Weetman Dickinson who in 1917 became the 1st Viscount Cowdray. He put a halt to any further decay by carefully removing the ivy that had overgrown and restoring any unsafe parts. It still remains in the ownership of the Cowdray family.

Cowdray House West Sussex Midhurst