MANORS.
In the reign of Edward the Confessor
9½ hides in Stanmore, presumably part of the lands
which had been granted by Offa to St. Albans, (fn. 82)
were held by Algar, the man of Earl Harold. In 1086
they formed part of the fief of Roger de Rames, who
was also lord of Charlton but whose main property
lay in Essex. (fn. 83) The lands, which probably included
the later manors of both LITTLE STANMORE,
sometimes called CANONS, and Edgware, passed
to Roger's son William but were divided, with the
rest of the Rames barony, between his sons Roger
(II) and Robert by c. 1130. Their holdings were
separated by the road running north-westward from
Stone Grove in Watling Street towards Watford.
Part of the Domesday manor east of Watling Street,
i.e. most of Edgware, may have passed from the
Rames family on the marriage of Adelize, probably
Roger's daughter, to Edward of Salisbury. After the
rest had been divided between the two brothers, the
property north of the old Watford road was treated
as part of the vill of Edgware, while that to the south
was considered to belong to Stanmore and eventually,
since it was smaller than the St. Albans estate, to
form Little Stanmore. The reunion of the two
Rames estates under Roger's son, Roger (III), made
the name Little Stanmore less appropriate, although
the northern part was for long described as in
Edgware. (fn. 84)
Alienations of the Domesday manor began with
gifts to the priory of St. Bartholomew the Great,
West Smithfield, by Roger (II) and Robert de
Rames. In the south Roger (II) gave St. Lawrence's
church, with land stretching east to Watling Street
and north as far as the Watford road, while in the
north-western corner of Edgware Robert gave the
church of St. Bartholomew, 'Elstree'. Roger (III)
granted half his lands in Edgware and Stanmore,
except his dwelling-house, the church and an
adjoining meadow, to Adam, son of Ranulph
Bucointe, to be held as ½ knight's fee, and pledged
30 a. which the family had retained in Edgware to
Humphrey Bucointe. Roger's son William (II), to
recover the 30 a., surrendered to Humphrey 120 a.
in the northern angle between Watling Street and
the old Watford road. William also gave land in the
north to St. Bartholomew's and, by 1191, lands to
the south along Watling Street to Waleran, the
husband or future husband of Lucy, Humphrey
Bucointe's daughter. William was succeeded c. 1196
by his son and namesake and in c. 1203 by his
grandson, also called William, a minor, who rebelled
against King John but was restored in 1217. William
de Rames (IV), for £42 and land in Essex, in 1238
released to St. Bartholomew's all his reversionary
interest in Little Stanmore which was enjoyed by his
mother Gille, although in 1241 the prior sued Gille
and her husband, William Hanselin, for despoiling
her dower lands. Meanwhile the lands of Adam
Bucointe had passed to his son Henry and those of
Humphrey Bucointe and of Waleran to the latter's
daughter Lucy Waleran. (fn. 85) In 1242–3 the former
Rames holding in Little Stanmore, which had
constituted one knight's fee in 1210–12, was divided
into ½ knight's fee held by Henry Bucointe and two
¼ knight's fees, held by Lucy Waleran and William
Hanselin, all held of St. Bartholomew's. (fn. 86)
Within a century of acquiring the remaining
interest of William de Rames, St. Bartholomew's
had secured most of the lands which his ancestors
had granted to the Bucointes. Land in the north-west, extending into Great Stanmore, had been
conveyed by Adam Bucointe to the abbot of St.
Albans, who incorporated it into Aldenham and so
shifted the boundary of the Stanmores and of
Middlesex to the south-east, (fn. 87) and Adam's son
Henry had granted a house and a croft, with land in
Stanmore marsh, to the Knights of St. John of
Jerusalem. (fn. 88) The rest of Henry's property passed in
turn to his sons, Henry and Ranulph, the second of
whom retained part for his mother Joan and his two
daughters but sold the rest to Thomas Esperun, who
sold it to Nicholas Longespée. Nicholas gave his
lands in Little Stanmore to his daughter Alice on her
marriage to Geoffrey de Jarpenville, but by 1277
Jarpenville's lands and those of Ranulph Bucointe's
mother and daughters were fraudulently acquired by
the moneylender Adam de Stratton. In the meantime
the estate of Lucy Waleran, wife of Robert de Paris
and later of Andrew Blund and Sir John Garland,
passed to her son William de Paris (d. 1271).
William's widow Sibyl and her daughters Lucy,
wife of John Pypard, and Clarice, wife of Richard de
la Grave, all surrendered their rights to Adam de
Stratton but regained them on his disgrace in 1290. (fn. 89)
Their lands, 1/5 knight's fee held by William Pypard
and William de la Grave in 1306, (fn. 90) were acquired by
St. Bartholomew's in 1314, when William Pypard
was licensed to alienate 182 a. John de Barnville,
who presumably had acquired part of Henry
Bucointe's former estate, alienated land to the priory
in 1316. (fn. 91) More land, which probably formed at
least part of that given to the Knights Hospitallers
by Henry Bucointe, was acquired by exchange in
1330. John le Blount of Biggleswade (Beds.) conveyed land in 1331 and Henry le Hayward and
Roger de Creton, to support a chantry in the priory
church, in 1335. (fn. 92) The priory's total acreage in
Little Stanmore, 379½ a. in 1306, was thus raised to
957½ a. (fn. 93) Held as one knight's fee in 1353, (fn. 94) it remained the largest single estate of St. Bartholomew's
until the Dissolution. (fn. 95)
In the 16th century, if not earlier, the priors leased
out many portions of their property in Little
Stanmore, normally for at least 30 years. A lease in
1501 of the manor of 'Little Stanmore called Canons'
provides the earliest instance of an alternative name
being given to the manor, (fn. 96) Canons originally having
been the land granted to the priory in 1330. (fn. 97)
Thereafter the second name became increasingly
common, until it was often used on its own, although
a few documents, including a will dated 1693,
continued more accurately to refer to the manor of
Little Stanmore and the capital message called
Canons. (fn. 98) It was as the manor of Canons that the
great manor-house and gardens were leased,
separately from most of the estate, to William
Daunce of Whitchurch in 1535. (fn. 99)
St. Bartholomew's was surrendered in 1539 and
Little Stanmore, like Great Stanmore, was granted
for life to the last prior, Robert Fuller, in 1540. (fn. 1) It
reverted to the Crown on Fuller's death later in that
year and in 1543 the manor-house of Canons, as
leased to William Daunce, was granted to the sitting
tenant Hugh Losse and his heirs. (fn. 2) Losse, a merchant
who accumulated much monastic property, obtained
more lands formerly of St. Bartholomew's in Little
Stanmore in 1544 and 1546, (fn. 3) and bought the rectory
and most of the other property once leased out by
the priory there in 1552. (fn. 4) He was succeeded in 1556
by his son Robert (fn. 5) and afterwards by Robert's son
Hugh, knighted in 1603, who in 1604 sold the manor
of Canons otherwise Stanmore the Less to James I's
secretary of state, Sir Thomas Lake, and his wife
Mary. (fn. 6) In 1630 it passed to Lake's son, Sir Thomas,
who in 1641 conveyed it in reversion, on the death of
his mother, to Dame Frances Weld, (fn. 7) who in turn
transferred it to Sir Thomas's younger brother
Lancelot in 1654. (fn. 8) Sir Lancelot, knighted in 1660,
was followed in 1680 by his second son, Lancelot,
who in 1689 left the manor to Lancelot (III), son of
his late elder brother, another Sir Thomas (d. 1673).
Lancelot (III) died in 1693, leaving Canons to his
father's younger brother Warwick Lake, who in 1709
sold it to James Brydges, husband of Lancelot (III)'s
sister Mary. Warwick's death in 1713 gave possession
of Canons to Brydges, its most famous resident, soon
to succeed as Lord Chandos of Sudeley and to rise
through the peerage to become, in 1719, duke of
Chandos. (fn. 9)
In the 18th and 19th centuries the manor was
normally described as Little Stanmore, to distinguish it from the mansion of Canons. James, duke
of Chandos (d. 1744), having made a fortune as
paymaster of the duke of Marlborough's armies, had
land in several counties. The debts left at his death
were not serious but by that time his surviving son
Henry had incurred much heavier liabilities. An Act
of 1746 accordingly authorized Henry to sell the two
Stanmore manors, with Canons and much other
property in Middlesex and Hertfordshire. (fn. 10) Despite
the break-up of the Canons estate, (fn. 11) the lordship of
Little Stanmore, like that of Great Stanmore,
remained in the Brydges family and so passed to the
duke of Buckingham and Chandos. (fn. 12) In 1838 the
duke still owned fields along Marsh Lane and farther
north, on the other side of London Road, bordered
on the east by the much larger estate of the Plumers,
who had acquired Canons. The duke's land, 103 a.
in 1838, (fn. 13) had been reunited with Canons by 1887, (fn. 14)
although the manor continued to pass through the
same hands as Great Stanmore. (fn. 15)
The manor-house in 1535 was to be kept in repair
by the tenant, William Daunce, who had to reserve
four chambers for the use of the prior. (fn. 16) The
building which passed to Brydges in 1713, traditionally ascribed to John Thorpe (fl. 1570–1610),
presumably had been designed for the first Sir
Thomas Lake. (fn. 17) Something is known of it from two
plans of c. 1606, one of them inscribed 'Canons, my
Lady Lake's house', (fn. 18) and it was evidently of brick,
since Brydges before deciding to rebuild merely
contemplated alterations, including a new brick
façade. Work began on outlying offices as early as
1713, under William Talman, but Brydges, increasingly ambitious yet often indecisive and cheeseparing, turned to a series of architects whose
individual contributions cannot now be distinguished. John James, from 1714 to 1715, and James
Gibbs, from 1716 to 1719, received the largest sums,
but advice was also sought from Sir John Vanbrugh
and Robert Benson, Lord Bingley. Gibbs, who
claimed to have been the architect, at least modified
the external design, whereas it is unlikely that more
than the final touches were put by John Price, named
as architect on engravings of the south and east
elevations. The engravings, the only depictions of
that time to survive, are dated 1720. (fn. 19) By that year
the outside was probably finished, although work on
some of the rooms continued until 1723.
Chandos's mansion was almost square, with a
central courtyard, built on an axis north-north-west
to south-south-east. A chapel, at a right angle to a
projecting wing of offices, probably jutted out from
the north-east corner (fn. 20) and a second wing may have
projected north from the north-west corner. The
great entrance hall was in the centre of what may be
called the south range, with the saloon overhead; the
second or main floor also boasted the largest room,
the library, which filled the centre of the north
range. (fn. 21) The entire building, stone-faced and contained in an Ionic order, may have appeared
monotonous, for it lacked the stamp of one man's
genius. Measuring 146 ft. × 124 ft., it was not enormous by the standards of its age. The interior, thanks
to Chandos's obsession with opulent detail, was
more remarkable: rare woods and marbles vied with
ceilings painted by Thornhill, Kent, Belucci, and
Laguerre, with Gobelins tapestries, and with art
treasures which included cartoons by Raphael. The
grounds too were outstanding, with their sculpture
and wrought iron, their canals and parterres, their
87 a. of pleasure garden, the hothouses, the aviary,
and the lines and clumps of elms. After the closure
of the road from Edgware to Watford, avenues
radiated from the house northward to London Road,
westward to Marsh Lane in Great Stanmore, south
to St. Lawrence's church, and south-east to
Edgware. Most visitors presumably used the third
avenue, 1,300 yards long, and so, by approaching at
an angle, glimpsed two fronts totalling 270 ft., as did
the enraptured Defoe. (fn. 22) Pope, who, despite his
denials, was widely believed to have pilloried Canons
as Timon's Villa, scorned such a setting, where
The suffring eye inverted Nature sees,
Trees cut to statues, statues thick as trees. (fn. 23)
His invective, and the easy journey for gaping tourists
from London, helped to make Canons a byword for
ostentation. So too did the style of living of 'princely
Chandos', who maintained a corps of Chelsea
pensioners, lodged in pairs of houses at the three
main gates, as well as his famous private orchestra, (fn. 24)
and whose collecting mania led agents to scour the
known world for exotic birds, animals, and plants.
Popular interest, attracted on so many counts, was
afterwards gratified by reflections on the transience
of Canons's glory.
As late as 1731 it was hoped to extend the southern
avenue for 2½ miles beyond St. Lawrence's church.
Other expenses, however, were being pruned and
Henry, duke of Chandos, could reside only briefly at
Canons after his father's death there. The first sale,
of books and pictures, took place early in 1747,
followed by auctions of furniture in the following
year. The mansion itself, denuded, had been pulled
down by 1753, when the site and everything left on
it were bought by William Hallett, a cabinet-maker
of Long Acre who himself had worked for Chandos.
Much of the land also went to Hallett or to a Col.
Fitzroy, the purchases not being completed until
at least 1754. Relics of Canons which perished later
included the marble staircase, taken to Lord
Chesterfield's London house, (fn. 25) and a figure of
George I in Leicester Square. Surviving treasures
include an equestrian statue of George II in Golden
Square (Westminster), two wrought iron side-gates
and some railings bought for St. John's churchyard,
Hampstead, another gate at the Durdans, near
Epsom (Surr.), and a panel by Grinling Gibbons
from the library, the Stoning of St. Stephen, which
eventually reached the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Much has been rescued from the chapel, which was
dedicated in 1720 and demolished in 1748: its
windows and the centre of Belucci's ceiling, with
papier-mâché mouldings of Bagutti's stucco-work,
are now at St. Michael's church, Great Witley
(Worcs.), (fn. 26) the organ is at Holy Trinity, Gosport
(Hants), and the pulpit, altar, and some panelling
are at Fawley (Berks.). It is no longer thought likely
that Canons supplied railings for New College,
Oxford, or the outsize portico at Hendon Hall. (fn. 27)
William Hallett (d. 1781) (fn. 28) built a villa on the
same site. The bulk of his estate had been enfranchised and evidently followed the same succession as some copyhold property which included the
coach-house of North Lodge. (fn. 29) Hallett's grandson
William, the young man in Gainsborough's 'The
Morning Walk', (fn. 30) sold the copyhold in 1786 or
1787 (fn. 31) to Col. Dennis O'Kelly (d. 1787), (fn. 32) a racehorse owner enriched by his stallion Eclipse. (fn. 33) Philip
O'Kelly was admitted as the colonel's brother and
heir in 1790 and was succeeded in 1811 by his son
Andrew. In the following years Andrew O'Kelly
conveyed his copyhold property (fn. 34) to Sir Thomas
Plumer (d. 1824), later vice-chancellor of England
and Master of the Rolls. (fn. 35) His son, Thomas Hall
Plumer (d. 1852), (fn. 36) owned more than 450 a. of farmland in 1838, when he was the largest landowner. (fn. 37)
Soon after Lady Plumer's death there in 1857
Canons was offered by her grandson Hall Plumer to
a German speculator, one Strousberg, and finally
sold in 1860 to Dr. David Begg. Begg died at Canons
in 1868 and his widow in 1887, whereupon the estate
was offered for sale in nine lots by trustees. (fn. 38) At that
date the land stretched from Whitchurch Lane north
beyond London Road, and from Edgware Road
westward to Marsh Lane. Apart from the mansion it
contained the farm-house which had belonged to
Marsh farm, North and South lodges, at the
Edgware gates, and Stone Grove House, Lodge, and
Cottage, along Edgware Road; there were also four
'superior' houses at the corner of Dennis Lane and
London Road (fn. 39) and fields at the corner of Marsh
Lane and London Road which in 1838 had belonged
to the duke of Buckingham and Chandos. (fn. 40) Morris
Jenks bought the entire estate, amounting to some
479 a., and sold it in 1896 to the Canons Park
Estate Co., (fn. 41) which in 1898 issued a prospectus of
its plans for development. (fn. 42) Arthur du Cros,
founder of the Dunlop Rubber Co. and later a
baronet, bought the mansion but in 1905 sold part of
the estate. In 1919 he formed a trust, the Pards
Estate, and in 1920 Canons itself was offered for sale,
with lands that had been greatly reduced in the
north, west, and south-east. Canons Park, formerly
Marsh, farm-house and the other houses had been
sold and 150 a. remained, almost corresponding to
the present open space but still stretching eastward,
along the north of the avenue, to reach as far as
Edgware Road. In 1926 George Cross bought 85 a.
and in 1928 the remainder was bought by Canons
Ltd. and, on the west, by Harrow U.D.C. as a park.
The mansion and 10 a. were sold in 1929 to the
North London Collegiate school. More land was
acquired by the school in 1936 and by the county
council for playing fields, which were lent to the
school. (fn. 43)
Some of Chandos's materials were used for the
new Canons. The third duke, on a visit in the 1780s,
thought the result elegant but rather modest for the
grounds, whose richness defied description. (fn. 44)
Humphry Repton landscaped the gardens for Sir
Thomas Plumer (fn. 45) and by 1887 evergreens had been
planted along the south-eastern avenue to replace
trees which had been felled by Dr. Begg. (fn. 46) Sir
Arthur du Cros heightened and brought forward the
third, attic, storey, and added a new entrance
forecourt to the east, with a kitchen wing to the
north balanced by a screen to the south; beyond the
screen, and also on the northern side, paved gardens
were laid out. (fn. 47) Hallett's stone house, so extended,
remains the core of the school buildings, although
large brick additions, of the same height, have been
made to the north. (fn. 48)
The manor of STANMORE CHENDUIT, so
described in 1276–7, (fn. 49) originated in the land settled
by Nicholas Longespée on his daughter Alice and
her prospective husband, Geoffrey de Jarpenville, (fn. 50)
in 1260–1. The property comprised a house and one
carucate in the south-east of Little Stanmore and
lands in Colmans Dean, which lay in Kingsbury. (fn. 51)
In 1272–3 Geoffrey and his wife gave a messuage,
land, and rents in Little Stanmore, with land in
Edgware, to Stephen Chenduit, in exchange for an
estate at Langley Chenduit or Shendish, (fn. 52) his manor
in Kings Langley (Herts.). (fn. 53) All that Stephen
Chenduit had received from the Jarpenvilles was
conveyed in 1274–5 to Adam de Stratton. (fn. 54) In
1276–7 Stanmore Chenduit contained a 'court' and
396 a., of which a field called Wimborough comprised 120 a., marshland 94 a., and Colmans Dean
70 a. (fn. 55) The manor is not recorded again and in the
14th century was presumably merged in the other
lands of St. Bartholomew's.
The reputed manor of WIMBOROUGH was so
called in 1540, when it was granted for life to Robert
Fuller. (fn. 56) Wimborough, possibly Wina's hill, a fieldname in 1276–7, (fn. 57) had become a separate estate by
1528, when the tenant was Geoffrey Chamber's
father-in-law Nicholas Burgh. (fn. 58) In 1534 it was again
leased out by St. Bartholomew's, to Richard Warde.
Warde's sons Christopher and John sold their
respective interests to John Franklin and William
Hawtrey, who in turn sold them to Robert Losse. (fn. 59)
Although the lands granted to Fuller were said to
include the manors of Little Stanmore, Canons, and
Wimborough, in the late 16th and 17th centuries the
last two names were often used to denote the manor
of Little Stanmore. It is not clear, when both names
occur, which parcels belonged to Canons and which
to Wimborough: in the 17th century Wimborough
was apparently the larger, whereas its profits had
accounted for only £6 out of the priory's income of
£19 19s. 4½d. from Little Stanmore at the Dissolution. (fn. 60) Sometimes only Canons was named, as in
1641 when it was said to include two parcels called
Lower Wimborough, two called Wimborough hill,
and Wimborough house field (perhaps the Wimborough Wicks of 40 years later). (fn. 61) Wimborough was
reputed a manor between 1691 and 1753, after which
the name died out, (fn. 62) until its revival for the modern
Wemborough Road.