Chenies History

One record states that “There has been a manor house, and a farm adjoining it at the site of the present manor, at least since 1150 AD”.  It was then held by Alexander of the Barony of Wolverton, a member of the Cheyne family who came over with the Norman barons in 1066.  

The dwelling at the time was probably of wattle and daub, with a wooden tower on the east of the present manor.  There was no moat as the chalky soil would not retain the water, instead there would be a wooden palisade for outer defence. Nothing exists of this first period of settlement, except some relics of a capital and font in the present church, said to have come from an earlier church on the site. 

In 1285 the manor was forfeit to the crown and the young Edward 1, who already had a manor at Kings Langley.  He rebuilt the Saxon Manor as a hunting lodge, a structure of stone consisting of a hall, a bedchamber and the vaults. The crown held the manor for 60 years and Edward II and Edward III continued to use it as a hunting lodge. In 1346 it was restored to the Cheyne family, because of the services of John Cheyne who was shield-bearer to the Black Prince at the battle of Crecy.  Through the fortunes of war, politics and newly arrived commerce, the manor stayed in one branch or another of the Cheynes until 1526

Of the whole Cheyne era, which ended in 1526, only the church and part of the manor remain.  The ‘crypt’ in the manor garden may be as old as 14^th century.  The north wing and tower of the present manor house, although subsequently renovated, go back to the mid-15^th century, probably to the last John Cheyne of the line. In 1526 the manor came into the possession of John Russell, Earl of Bedford, through marriage, and he immediately started to alter and rebuild.  Probably the manor was very much run down as the Cheyne family line died out, and the house had passed to more distinct relatives, who held it from 1468 to 1526.  In any case John Russell rebuilt the manor, and a visitor to it soon after (Leland the antiquarian) wrote “the old House of the Cheynes is so translated by my Lord Russell that little or nothing of it yn a manor remayneth untranslated and a great deal of the House is ben newly set up made of Bricks and Timber; and fair leggings be erected in the garden”. This is best example of Tudor architecture in the village*. 

The bricks were dug from a nearby field (still known as “Claypits”) and are typical of that period, thin, and laid with blue diaper patterns at some points.  Southwards, this building, which is a modified ‘shape’, with a battlemented tower in the angle, is joined by narrow galleries to the South wing, known as “new buildings”.  These appear to have been added between 1523 and 1526 by the first Earl of Bedford, to improve the accommodation available for his guests.  At this time the also, fireplaces were incorporated in the older buildings, as well as the additions, and nearly all the flues were furnished with ornamental chimneys, 22 of which survive.  It is known that the workmen who rebuilt Chenies Manor also worked at Hampton Court, which Henry VIII was enlarging about the same time where the chimneys are very similar.  Those at Chenies are among the best of their period.

Chenies Manor House as thus extended comprised two courts, the outer being bounded by walls (now partly hedges) and the Partish Church, the inner surrounded on 3 sides by the house.  The North wing, containing mainly domestic offices such as the  salt-beef house, a bolting house (for bran, porters lodge, etc. fell into decay about 1750, so that the inner courtyard now has the house on two sides and walls on the others.

The first, second and third Earls of Bedford made Chenies their principal home.  The first several times entertained King Henry VIII and his court there, particularly in 1534 (with Anne Boleyn and the infant Elizabeth) and in 1542.  On the latter visit the King was accompanied by Kathryn Howard, who was carrying on an affair with one of the Kings attendants, Thomas Culpepepper.  It culminated in her adultery, Chenies being one of the places it took place. The king was suffering from an ulcerated leg; the sepulchral footsteps have been heard sometimes on the staircase and in the gallery approaching the bedroom in which Kathryn was possibly lodged and are said to be those of the King!

• The first Earl of Bedford died in 1556 and the widow constructed a chapel for his remains, adjoining the parish church, St. Michaels in which his descendants continue to be buried to this day.
• His son Francis, the 2^nd Earl, was a strong Protestant, and a devoted adherent of Elizabeth 1 who frequently visited Chenies manor.  During her visits, many interesting and historic states of state were done by her and the courtiers. 
• The 3rd Earl of Bedford succeed in 1585, at the age of 12.  He is best known for his part in Essex plate against Quen Elizabeth, in 1602 (for which he was ordered to stay within three miles of Chenies) and for having married Lucy Harrington, whose father invented the water closet.
• The 4^th Earl resided mainly at Chiswick but visited Chenies where much local activity was centred prior to the outbreak of the Civil War.  The patriot John Hampden was close friend and when war broke out, it was a detachment that were quartered in the house.  A skirmish took place there in the autumn of 1642, in which Hampden’s on was killed.

There was a period of relative prosperity during the occupation of the Manor House by the Earls (later Dukes) of Bedford, but in 1635, after the Civil War, the family left, and soon after took up residence at Woburn.  The estates were left in the hands of agent and bailiffs, and the manor house reverted to a farm.  It fell into such decay that Horace Walpole, visiting it in 1749 wrote: “There are but piteous fragments of the house remaining, now a farm, built around three sides of a court.  It is dropping down in several places without a roof, but in half of the windows are beautiful arms in painted glass”.  Perhaps part of it went beyond repair, as the service wing and porters lodge north of the entrance were demolished about 1750, thus destroying the E shaped Tudor plan. 

By the middle of the 18^th century the manor house became the residence of a tenant farmer, Mr Davis.  This gentleman, without the Russells consent, converted part of the South wing into five tenements for his labourers and this was not discovered until about 25 years later when he was made to reinstate the building at this own expense.  The fenestrations of the house was extensively restored (copying the originals) in about 1815, when the present front porch and door were added, and the west and south elevation of the North wing cased in Georgian brick. 

In the 1950’s the house was bought from the Duke of Bedford by Alistair and Elizabeth Macleod Matthews. It was nearly derelict and the gardens overgrown.  Since that time it has been lovingly restored and has passed to the next generation, Mr Charles Macleod Matthews and his wife Bo.  Detailed pictures and much more can be viewed on their website:  www.cheniesmanorhouse.co.uk

Antiquarian – other items of interest:

• Priest’s Hole – the ‘pink bedroom’ has an adjoining small closet which ws provably used for devotional purposes; and beneath it, reached by a (modern) trapdoor is a large hiding place (about 10ft x 4ft x 4ft high) with its own concealed ventilator.
• Armoury – a primitive long (144ft) gallery on the top storey which was used as a barracks room in the ‘Civil War. It formerly communicated to the ground by an external staircase.
• Camels and Ester Eggs!  Edward I was reported to have Chenies as a hunting-box. The record of one of his visits (in 1296) indicates that he brought a camel with him; and also describes the boiling and distribution to the villagers, on Easter Day, of 130 eggs.  This is said to be the first recorded reference to Easter eggs in English history.
• Quinine use – in 1538 the 1^st Earl of Bedford was seriously ill with malaria at the Manor.  His wife essayed to treat him with quinine, the first recorded use of that specific in England.
• Mediaeval well – 180 deep and 10 ft in diameter
• Escape tunnels – ancient brick tunnels lead from beneath the house and gardens into the wood, reputedly used for escape. 
• Queen Elizabeth’s oak – a young oak was presented to the Manor by the Woburn Estate as an eventual replacement for Queen Elizabeth’s oak.  It is a scion from an acorn taken from the branch on which the last Abbot of Woburn was hanged by the commissioners of Henry VIII.

Time Team visit – 2004 saw the visit of the Tony Robinson and his team of archaeologists.  

content sources:   Chorleywood Field Studies Centre, Dr Roy Bruton ‘A Study in Historical Anthropology’, pamphlet Chenies Manor House, Historical and architectural description (revised Aug. 1978), various leaflets (authors/sources unknown), chimneys picture Nigel Ince

contributor:    Andy Homewood               date published:  27/11/2025