Rothamsted Manor is a former manor and current

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

, situated in Harpenden Rural in the English county of

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

. A Grade I listed building, dating in part from the 17th century, it is now an events venue, while the surrounding estate is home to the Rothamsted Research Centre. 20050828-007-rothamsted

History

The first recorded mention of Rothamsted is in 1212, when Richard de Merston owned lands there. In 1221, a house with a chapel and garden are referred to in a land grant. By 1292 Rothamsted had passed to the Nowell family, passing to the Cresseys by 1355, and to the Bardolphs by 1525. By this time there was a substantial manor house, with at least 16 rooms. In 1623 Edmund Bardolph sold Rothamsted to Anne Wittewronge. The Wittewronges were

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

s who had fled religious persecution in

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

in 1564, and had founded a

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of b ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. In the 17th century, Sir John Wittewronge, Anne's son, gave the house its Dutch style. The manor remained with the Wittewronge family until 1763, when Thomas Wittewronge died and the manor passed to his cousin John Bennet. He in turn left the manor to John Bennet Lawes, the son of his sister. In 1843, Sir John Bennet Lawes, the son of the earlier John Bennet Lawes, founded the

Rothamsted Experimental Station Rothamsted Research, previously known as the Rothamsted Experimental Station and then the Institute of Arable Crops Research, is one of the oldest agricultural research institutions in the world, having been founded in 1843. It is located at Harp ...

, an agricultural research station, on the grounds of the manor. In 1931, his descendants decided to sell the estate, and after a successful public appeal, the Experimental Station was able to finance the purchase of the estate in 1934. In 1938 the Harpenden Urban District Council purchased the portion of the estate now known as Rothamsted Park from the Experimental Station, in order to provide playing fields and to preserve an important open space. The remainder of the estate is still used by Rothamsted Research, as the Rothamsted Experimental Station is now known. The manor house used to serve as accommodation for staff, but now functions predominantly as a function venue. The New Zealand architect Frederick Strouts used Rothamsted Manor as his inspiration for the design of Ivey Hall, which was built between 1878 and 1880 and is now the main building of Lincoln University.

References

External links

Web site of Rothamsted Enterprises
{{coord, 51.8059, -0.3693, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Country houses in Hertfordshire Geography of Hertfordshire Grade I listed buildings in Hertfordshire Grade I listed houses Harpenden Military history of Hertfordshire Y service