Occasional Magazine N.S. Vol.2 (2004)
The Story of Newlands Manor by Jean Macdonald.A historic house and its owners are given a critical evaluation as published accounts are quite often contradictory. Newlands Manor lies between Milford and Everton, most of it built in 1803-07 in the then fashionable style called Strawberry Hill Gothic. The land had been bought in 1785 by (Sir) John Hadley D’Oyly and a house of some description built there for renting by 1793. There was no old manor called Newlands: D’Oyly probably made the name up. The bachelor Admiral William Cornwallis, friend of Nelson and Commander of the English Channel Fleet, rented Newlands in 1800 but, while absent, some part of the house burned down on Christmas Day 1802. Nevertheless he bought the freehold the following year and invited his recently married Flag Captain John Whitby and his wife to live at Newlands with him. John Whitby died in 1806 leaving Mrs. (Mary Ann) Theresa Whitby with a baby daughter also named Theresa. Mrs. Whitby became the Admiral’s housekeeper, she never remarried and she looked after the old man till his death in 1819. Though very young, she had displayed exceptional managerial talent during the rebuilding of Newlands Manor after the fire and she eventually inherited the estate. She is specially remembered for her great expansion of Newlands through purchasing land in Milford and Hordle: the original 62 acres had grown to 1900 acres by her death in 1850. The stately home of Newlands Manor was built to resemble a gothic castle but, using false materials by the precepts of Strawberry Hill Gothic, it became affordable and satisfied the romantic origins of the style as both picturesque and practical. It seems likely Sir John D’Oyly had wanted the new Gothic fashion but Mrs. Whitby, thoroughly acquainted with the contemporary lifestyle immortalised in Jane Austen’s novels, influenced the planning of house and grounds. The paper has comprehensive descriptions of both aspects accompanied by six illustrations. At Mrs. Whitby’s death her daughter Theresa, now married to Frederick West, inherited Newlands. West was heir to Ruthin, a very large estate in Wales; the couple were mostly there or abroad and made little change to Newlands. When Theresa died in 1886 their second son William inherited and changed his name to Cornwallis-West, even though unrelated to Cornwallis. William and his wife Patsy used Newlands in the 1890s to entertain lavishly in Society – inclusive of royalty – and to make distinguished marriages for their three children. Thanks to these children the house and gardens saw major innovations, but William’s grandiose plans for developing part of his estate, Hordle Cliff, as a superior seaside resort were a financial failure on top of the extravagant lifestyle. His son and heir, George, went bankrupt in 1913 but on William’s death four years later inherited Newlands and Ruthin. He quickly sold off most of Ruthin and put Newlands up for auction in 1920. It had become run down but was extensively refurbished and improved by the new owner, property developer Sir John Power. The estate was auctioned again in 1948; the house with 38 acres was divided up into the present-day separate units in 1950. Three turrets have had to be taken down as unsafe but Grade 2 listing was accorded in 1954. The interestingly written paper concludes by describing the historic features that still survive today plus a probable ground floor plan from the 19th century and a lengthy list of source publications.
No Comments
Add a comment about this page