manor house farm - worle history society · revised 04sep14 page 1 manor house...

WORLE HISTORY SOCIETY

Manor House Farm In words and pictures

Dave Hart

The research is not finished. There may be some mistakes, and there are still a lot of questions to be answered. Was it once a manor house or a farm attached to a manor? When was it built? Who owned it at various times. This is, however, an excellent, erudite start, and we must thank Dave Hart for his meticulous and fascinating work.

Revised 04SEP14 Page 1

Manor House (“Manorhouse”)Farm, Spring Hill, WORLE. by Dave Hart

Manor House Farm stands at the west end of Worle High Street, at the foot of Spring Hill.

My interest in Manor House Farm (or Manorhouse Farm as it is sometimes written) started because I

live in a house built on land which was originally part of the farm’s young orchard between Spring

Hill and Church Road. However, this fairly insignificant building at the foot of Spring Hill, has in the

past played a very significant part in Worle’s history, with links to many of the well-known and

important Worle families. The Tripps, the Mays, the Frys, the Plaisters and the Staples are all

associated with the farm, and possibly the Hardwicks too.

The research is not finished. There may be some mistakes, and there are still a lot of questions to

be answered: Was it once a manor house or a farm attached to a manor? When was it built? Who

owned it at various times?

History of Manor House (“Manorhouse”)Farm

Romano British remains were found on the site of Manor House Farm when houses were built on

the farm yard, now Deacons Close, in the 1970s, so the area has been occupied for thousands of

years, probably due to the nearby fresh water spring at the foot of the hill now known as Spring Hill.

Manor House Farm is alleged to have been built in the 17th century but early records are yet to be

found. It is not shown on the 1792 or the 1809 maps! Why?

Map 1792


Map 1809

John Tripp, who married Mary Every at Bleadon in 1778, moved from farming in Bleadon to farming

in Worle sometime in the late 1700s. He died in 1810.

1831:

Map 1827


Map 1831

Manor House Farm, Nutwell Farm and Fairfield House appear on the 1831 map of Worle, but

there are no other buildings at this end of Lower Street except Ivy Lodge and tenements

forming The Square. There are no houses on Spring Hill either, the area that also became

known as the Splots,

1839:

Tithe Map 1840


Tithe Map 1840

John Tripp’s son, also called John Tripp (1779 – 1850) is defined by the Tithe Apportionment of

1839 as owning and occupying Manor House Farm (541, 542, ,543, 544, 556, 557, 558) as well

as the land around it in Kewstoke parish (451,452,450, 453). It may be that John Tripp Snr was

at Manor House Farm around the turn of the century, when he moved to Worle from Bleadon.

The tithe apportionment of 1839 also shows that John Tripp owned or occupied a large

amount of land around Spring Hill and off Mead Lane. He is down as owning and occupying all

the land around Nutwell Farm (320, 333, 334, 327) but not the farm buildings themselves.

Did John Tripp’s father build the farm or was it there already?

It is said that there was a brick lined well in the garden 18ft deep which was fed by the spring

in Spring Hill, and that water boys used to carry water from it up the hill to upper Worle.

1840: The land for the Weston to Worle turnpike was purchased from John Tripp for 300 Guineas.

He held the lease of the Turnpike tolls for 1845-46.


1850:

Tripp family tree

John Tripp had at least 14 children. On his death in 1850 the farm and all the houses and

lands that he owned were sold within 12 months and divided between his wife, twelve living

children and two grandchildren, with £200 to bring up his 2 youngest children until they are

21.

1851:

In the 1851 census, Edward Tripp (1805 – 1859), John’s son, is recorded as being in Lower

Street as a “farmer out of business”, with his younger siblings Mary Anne (30; 1821-1857),

Alfred (11; 1839-1889) and Mary Matilda (8; 1842-1881: m. 1869) and also his step-mother

Elizabeth, John’s third wife aged 34. It is presumed that they are still living in Manor House

Farm waiting for it to be sold. Do they stay there until it is sold and then buy Nut Tree Farm?

Who buys Manor House Farm?

1861:

There is no record of who lives in Manor House Farm, but John Coles (37)farmer of 88 acres is

at the west end of Lower Street with his wife Mary (39). He is in “Manor Farm” in 1871, so

maybe that is where he is in 1861. Does he own the farm or is he a tenant?


Setting the scene in Village Worle

Springfield House

James Hardwick (1802 – 1878)(58) appears in Springfield House in 1861 as a farmer of 150

acres. He is one of 10 children whose grandfather is James Capell of Ashcombe Manor Farm.

Four of them are living in The Newtons at this time, a farm of 500 acres, so they are obviously

a rich family. James Hardwick’s sister Louise (1797 – 1861) married Thomas Castle, who

opened the Worle brewery with James May in 1795. Did James Hardwick build Springfield

House? He is a farmer, so where is his farm? Is part of his farm Manor House Farm, purchased

from John Tripp’s estate, and which he has let to John Coles?

Does this link with the Capells suggest that the land around Manor House Farm was more

associated with the Manor of Ashcombe rather than the Manor of Worle? Parts of Manor

House Farm are in the Parish of Kewstoke which includes Milton.

Thomas Castle, who lived in St Georges, dies in 1861. (There are plaques in St Martin’s Church

to Thomas Castle, who died in 1861, his first wife Mary, who died in 1850, and his second wife

Louisa, who also died in 1861.) Thomas’s brother-in-law, James Hardwick, is one of the

beneficiaries under the will


Fairfield House

In 1861, James May’s son, Edmund May Senior(64) lives in Fairfield House in Lower Street with

his wife Susan (66) and his children, Mary Ann (30),Elizabeth (32) and Samuel (26). James

May’s other son, Mark May lives in Mays Green, Puxton.

The Brewery

Edmund’s other son, Edmund May Junior, Assistant Brewer (33), lives in the brewery in 1861

with his wife Mary May (31), James (6), Edmund (4) and Mary (1).


Elizabeth Tripp (43), Alfred (21) and Mary Ann (18) are in Wick Road with a farm of 44 acres

(Nut Tree Farm?). Edward had died in 1859. When Elizabeth marries again, this time to a Mr

Stotford, John Tripp’s trusted friend and executor of his will, she leaves Nut tree Farm with

Alfred. Where do the Stotfords go?

Edmund May senior dies in 1864, and the brewery is sold in 1865.

Was the brewery sold because of the death of Thomas Castle in 1861 and that of Edmund

May Senior in 1865?

1871:

John Coles (47) is still in “Manor Farm” of 70 acres with his wife Mary (48) and Benjamin

Crossman, brother-in-law (44).

One local history book states that Robert Fry and his wife Mary owned Manor House Farm

from about 1865 but this is not confirmed by the 1971 census.

Alfred Tripp (31) in Nut Tree Farm has married Louisa and they have one child, William Henry

Alfred (2).

Elizabeth Plaister (59) is a farmer of 25 acres at Lyefield in Ebdon Road with 4 children Joseph

(25), Mary Ann (28), Edward (21), and Charles (17).

There is no reference to Springfield House but James Hardwick (68) is in Springfield Villa as a

farmer and land owner. They appear as 2 separate houses on the 1881 census so has he sold

Springfield House and retired to a smaller property? The census doesn’t say how many acres

of land he has.

May Family Tree


Spring Hill: The boy is facing Manor House Farm.

In 1871, Edmund May Junior (44), his wife Mary (40), and their three children, James (16),

Edmund (14) and Mary (12) have moved to a house in the Splots near Springfield Villa. (Have

they bought Springfield House with money made from the sale of the brewery in 1865?)

Edmund May senior’s son Samuel has died by 1871. Samuel’s widow Charlotte (37) and her

three children Arthur (8), Charles (6) and Mildred (2) are still in Fairfield House.

Mary Hardwick dies on March 24th 1876 and James Hardwick dies on August 18th 1878. Both

are buried in St Martin’s graveyard (A11). (Did he have a will? Did he own Manor House

Farm?)

So why have I included the Mays in all this? It is known that the four great grandchildren of

James May; Arthur, Mildred, Mary and Edmund, owned Manor House Farm and its land in the

early 1900s, so when did they buy it? Does Edmund May buy Manor House Farm from the

estate of James Hardwick in 1878, or from John Coles?

1881:

Alfred Tripp (42) and his wife Louisa (34) now have 4 children at Nut Tree Farm, John (9),

Louisa (8), Elizabeth (6), and Alfred (2).

Joseph Plaister (33) is now running the farm at Lyefield with his mother Elizabeth (65) and

Charles (26).

After Mr Stotford’s death, Elizabeth appears in the 1881 census with her grandsons William

Tripp (12) and John Tripp (8) in Lower Street in a farm of 32 acres.


The Mays have all left Worle. Sarah Sawkins (70), her sister Eliza (65) and brother-in-law

Matthew Ward (51) are now in Fairfield House. (Have the Mays let the house?)

In the 1881 census, Springfield House is now down as the home of George Little (47), a retired

calico printer, with his wife Mary (41), George (16), Walter (9), S Elenor W (6), and Annie G B

(4).

Springfield Villa is down as the home of Richard Poole, proving that Springfield House and

Springfield Villa are two separate dwellings.

Robert & Mary Fry 1870

Mr Fry & his cows


John Coles has disappeared and now Robert Fry (46), farmer of 113 acres, his sons Robert

(20), John (17) and Frank (14), and daughter Mary (19) have taken over Manor House Farm

and are there for the next thirty years. His first wife Mary (nee Collings) died in 1876 aged 44.

Fry family tree

1891:

Robert Fry (55) is in Manor House Farm, a farm of 113 acres, with his second wife Sarah Ann

(52)(b 1839), and son Frank (24)(b 1867).

Joseph Plaister (40) in Lyefield has married Mary (nee Fry, daughter of Robert Fry) (30) and

they have a 3 week old baby.

Alfred Tripp in Nut Tree Farm has died and Louisa (43) is running the farm with William (22),

John (19), Louisa (18), Elizabeth (16), Alfred (12), Arthur (9) and Gertrude (4).

Sarah Sawkins (80), her sister Eliza (75) and brother-in-law Matthew Clover Ward (61) are still

in Fairfield House.

Springfield House is still occupied by George Little (56), with his wife Mary (48), George

Malcolm(26), Eliza May (21),Walter Ernest(19), Agnes Ethel (17, and S E Witchie (16).

1901:


Map 1903

In the 1901 census, Robert Fry (66) is in Manor House Farm with his son Frank (30).

Louisa Tripp (52) is running the Nut Tree Farm with Louisa (27), Elizabeth (25), Alfred (22),

Arthur (19), Mary (18) and Gertrude (14).

William Tripp is in Nutwell Farm with his family.

Joseph Plaister (45) and Mary (38) in Lyefield now have Sarah (12), Clifford (10), Ernest (8),

Maud (5), Francis (2) and Dorothy (7m).

There is a Edward Hardwick (40) Retired Farmer lives in Springfield with his wife “H.R.” (29)

and daughter Violet M. (9). Are they related to James Hardwick?

1911:

Joseph Plaister is now in Manor House Farm with his wife Mary, Henry, Ernest, Mary Maud,

Francis, Dorothy and Violet. (Did they move in when Mary’s father Robert Fry died?)

William Tripp (1868-1949) is in Nutwell Farm with his wife Mary and 4 children, William (1899-

1974), Alfred (1901-1978), Reginald ( -1973) and Ruby.

Charlotte T May (77) is again in Fairfield with her daughter Mildred Katherine (42).


1916 – 1919:

Trooper Ernest Plaister of the Royal Gloucester Hussars was wounded and taken prisoner by

the Turks in the First World War.

Various mortgages, remortgages, re-conveyances and deeds of family arrangements relating to

Manor House Farm between:

1. Kate May, Rev Arthur May, Mildred May, Alfred Ford & Sidney Cubitt.

2. Phyllis Evelyn Trenchard May & George Henry Kite.

3. Cicely Marguerite Baghot May, Frederick Trenchard, Mary Ellis Maier & Mildred

Katherine May.

1919:

Manor House Farm sold by Rev Arthur William May of Castle Cary, Mildred Katherine May of

Castle Cary (previously of Fairfield), spinster, Edmund May of 3 Grove Place, Weston-super-

Mare, and Mary Elizabeth May of 3 Grove Place, Weston-super-Mare, spinster.

Map showing Grove Place in Weston-super-Mare


View of the farm from Pine Hill, 1930

12 acres including Manor House Farm are bought by James Court, Kewstoke farmer, and his

wife Annie.

In 1919, Joseph Plaister (1846 – 1925) is still the tenant with his wife Mary (d 1924 aged 62).

It is said that they left the farm at this time.

1925:

Joseph Plaister dies. Did Daisy Parsons, James Court’s daughter, is the next to live in Manor

House Farm. Did she move in when the Joseph Plaister died?

1937

James Court dies in March 1937.

High Street


James Court’s daughter, Daisy Parsons (nee Court), wife of George Parsons, lives in Manor

House Farm at this time.

1946 Aerial view with Worle Senior School in the centre.

August 4th 1937, James Court’s son, Reuben Howard Court of Home (Holme) Farm, Kewstoke,

and Daisy Parsons sell part of Worle Field (526) to Somerset County Council for Worle Senior

School (1940).

1946 Aerial view of Worle Senior School


1944:

Front of the farm 1949 1958

Manor House Farm sold by Reuben Court to Edward Henry Durbin, The Laurels, Rolstone,

Hewish for £15,000.

1959:

E H Durbin sells 10.6 acres of land sold for £15,000 to Eric Walter Judge, Prospect Farm,

Kingston Seymore, builder.

Farm pictures, including Percy Staples in the garden.


The farm house and farm yard are sold separately to S P H (Percy) Staples of Staples Dairies

and run as a dairy business. He married his wife (nee Dyer) from Home Farm, Uphill in 1914.

His daughter was Muriel Elsie Staples (b 1926) who went on to live in their grocery shop in

Milton Road. The Milton shop was operating during the war period. Mr Staples is a Worle

Parish Councillor and meetings of the Worle Parish Council were for a time held at his home.

Percy Staples’ nephew Graham Jones lived with his family on the first floor with his uncles

family on the ground floor.

Staples Dairy

1960:

Sales map 1960 (1938)

Eric Walter Judge sells 10 acres for £34,650, along with 50 acres of land from Alfred Stanley

Tripp and Reginald Walter Tripp for £80,350 to Charles Oliver Developments Ltd, London.


1962 – 1964:

Aerial photo of Church Road in 1964

Residential housing built on all the land on the south side of Church Road, The Weind,

Wayside and Priests Way.

1970s?

Farm yard to the west of the farm and garden to the east are sold (by the Staples?) for

housing. (Deacons Close)

1977:

The farm house is sold by Staples to Mr Tony Redman, a retired squadron-leader of the RAF,

and his wife Pat, who used it as a guest house.

1984:

The farm house is used as a Residential Home by Tony Redman, with a resident matron and 11

elderly residents.


2013 - 2014:

House sales pictures


As a private house now known as just The Manor House, it is up for sale in September 2014

for £450,000 (Offers invited). You can then add your name to the list of occupants.


Side Elevation of The Manor House, 2014

2014: Near the gate where Robert & Mary Fry stood in 1870

manor house farm - worle history society · revised 04sep14 page 1 manor house...

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