Swainston Manor is an English country house, lying to the east of Calbourne,

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. It is now a hotel.

History

Swainston Manor was originally a

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 held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals with ...

on a site dating back to 735 CE. Eight centuries ago, it became the location of a palace built by the Bishops of Winchester. It has a 12th-century chapel on its . Most of the present building was constructed in the 18th century, but an attached hall dates from the 13th century.

Warwick the Kingmaker Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Wh ...

reportedly dined at Swainston Manor. It is a Grade II* listed building. Swainston is derived from its original name, "Sweyn's Town". It was founded by king

Sweyn Forkbeard Sweyn Forkbeard ( non, Sveinn Haraldsson tjúguskegg ; da, Svend Tveskæg; 17 April 963 – 3 February 1014) was King of Denmark from 986 to 1014, also at times King of the English and King of Norway. He was the father of King Harald II of ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establishe ...

, whose son was King Canute. The parish of Calbourne was at one time dependent on Swainston Manor. The poet

Alfred Lord Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...

also visited Swainston a few times. It is claimed that he wrote "Maud" on its grounds. He also wrote "In the Garden at Swainston" after the death of his friend and Swainston's owner, Sir John Simeon. The house was severely damaged by incendiary bombs during World War II. The church on the site, however, was untouched. Swainstone was one of the locations for the King James School during the 1960s. Other locations for the school included Newport and Cowes.

In literature

Swainston features, as "Swaynestone", in

Maxwell Gray Mary Gleed Tuttiett (11 December 1846 – 21 September 1923), better known by the pen name Maxwell Gray, was an English novelist and poet best known for her 1886 novel ''The Silence of Dean Maitland''. Life Tuttiett was born and brought up in N ...

's 1886 novel ''

The Silence of Dean Maitland ''The Silence of Dean Maitland'' is an 1886 novel by Maxwell Gray (the pen name of Mary Gleed Tuttiett). Set in a fictionalized Isle of Wight, particularly around Calbourne, it concerns an ambitious clergyman who accidentally kills the father ...

''.

References

External links

Official website
{{Alt text missing, England Country houses on the Isle of Wight Manor houses in England Grade II* listed buildings on the Isle of Wight