# Eye Manor

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**Eye Manor** is a [Carolean](/source/Restoration_style) [manor house](/source/Manor_house) in [Eye](/source/Eye,_Herefordshire), [Herefordshire](/source/Herefordshire), England. It dates from the late 17th century and was built for Ferdinando Gorges. Noted for its interior [plasterwork](/source/Plasterwork), the house is a [Grade I listed building](/source/Listed_building).

## History

[Ferdinando Gorges](/source/Ferdinando_Gorges) (c.1565-1647) was an English soldier whose establishment of the Province of [Maine](/source/Maine) saw him called the "Father of English Colonization in [North America](/source/North_America)".[1] His descendant, also Ferdinando, bought the Eye estate in 1673 and began building the house shortly thereafter.[2] A [datestone](/source/Datestone) above the main doorway carries a date of 1680.[3] [Coats of arms](/source/Coat_of_arms) within the house carry the insignia of Gorges and of his wife, Meliora Gorges, née Hilliard.[4] Gorges' son, Henry sat as a [member of parliament](/source/Member_of_Parliament_(United_Kingdom)) for [Herefordshire](/source/Hereford_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) in the early 18th century.[5]

In the 20th century, Eye Manor was the home of the publisher [Christopher Sandford](/source/Christopher_Sandford),[6] who owned the [Golden Cockerel Press](/source/Golden_Cockerel_Press), and his wife [Lettice Sandford](/source/Lettice_Sandford). Their son [Jeremy Sandford](/source/Jeremy_Sandford), the writer and director of the television drama *[Cathy Come Home](/source/Cathy_Come_Home)*, grew up at the house.[7] Following his death in 2003, the manor was sold.[8]

In 2009, the house was bought by the [Conservative](/source/Conservative_Party_(UK)) politician [Robert Jenrick](/source/Robert_Jenrick) for £1.1 million.[9][10] In April 2020, during the [coronavirus pandemic](/source/COVID-19_pandemic_in_the_United_Kingdom), Jenrick, then serving as the [Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government](/source/Secretary_of_State_for_Housing,_Communities_and_Local_Government), became the subject of media interest when he visited the house, and his parents' home in [Shrewsbury](/source/Shrewsbury), in apparent contravention of the [government's](/source/Government_of_the_United_Kingdom) advice against non-essential travel.[11][12][13]

## Architecture and description

Eye Manor is noted for the quality of its interior decoration,[14] which [Pevsner and Brooks](/source/Pevsner_Architectural_Guides) describe as "an astonishing surprise" within an exterior "as noncommittal as a black double-breasted overcoat".[3][15] The house is built of red brick to a traditional double-pile plan. Later additions include the [doric](/source/Doric_order) porch which dates from the 18th century,[3] and some minor modification undertaken in the early 20th century. It is of two storeys, with cellars and attics.[4]

The plain exterior conceals the embellished interior[16] which has "gorgeously enriched" [panelling](/source/Panelling), [bolection moulded](/source/Bolection) stone fireplaces and "outstanding" [plaster](/source/Plasterwork) ceilings.[3] The quality and style of the plasterwork in the house bears similarities to that at [Holyrood Palace](/source/Holyrood_Palace) which led Geoffrey Beard, a historian of English decorative arts, to suggest that the same craftsmen may have been involved.[a][17]

Eye Manor is a [Grade I listed building](/source/Listed_building).[4]

## Notes

1. Sir [John Summerson](/source/John_Summerson) also notes the similarities between the woodwork and plasterwork at Holyrood and "early Restoration work in England".[18]

## References

1. Laughton 1890, p. 241.

1. Herefordshire Archaeology (2 March 2015). ["Herefordshire Through Time"](https://htt.herefordshire.gov.uk/1363.aspx). *htt.herefordshire.gov.uk*. Herefordshire Council.

1. Brooks & Pevsner 2012, pp. 231–233.

1. ["GORGES, Henry (c.1665-1718)"](http://www.histparl.ac.uk/volume/1690-1715/member/gorges-henry-1665-1718). *www.histparl.ac.uk*. History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 10 April 2020.

1. Binney, Marcus (26 September 2008). ["A stunning Herefordshire manor for only £1.5m"](https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/property-home/article/a-stunning-herefordshire-manor-for-only-pound15m-rcpfbwq86pq). *[The Times](/source/The_Times)*. Retrieved 10 April 2020. – via www.thetimes.co.uk.

1. Rogers 2011, p. 37.

1. Guardian staff (15 May 2003). ["Obituary: Jeremy Sandford"](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/may/15/guardianobituaries). *The Guardian*

1. Edwards, Jim. ["The UK Treasury's Robert Jenrick talks to Business Insider about inequality, productivity and GDP growth in the UK"](https://www.businessinsider.com/interview-with-robert-jenrick-mp-2018-4). Business Insider. Retrieved 10 April 2020.

1. Milner, Leah (25 July 2019). ["Who is the new housing secretary Robert Jenrick?"](https://www.mortgagestrategy.co.uk/news/who-is-the-new-housing-secretary-robert-jenrick/). Mortgage Strategy. Retrieved 10 April 2020.

1. Halliday, Josh & Murphy, Simon (9 April 2020). ["Cabinet minister Robert Jenrick visited his parents during Covid-19 lockdown"](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/09/cabinet-minister-robert-jenrick-visited-his-parents-during-covid-19-lockdown). *The Guardian*. Retrieved 10 April 2020.

1. Merrifield, Ryan (April 10, 2020). ["Tory minister 'breaks lockdown rules twice' by going to 'second home'"](https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/cabinet-minister-robert-jenrick-breaks-21844275). The Mirror. Retrieved 10 April 2020.

1. ["So much for lockdown, minister!"](https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-the-papers-52239171). BBC News. 10 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.

1. Hill & Cornforth 1966, p. 230.

1. Pevsner 2003, p. 49.

1. Gomme & Maguire 2008, p. 217.

1. Beard 2011, p. 52.

1. Summerson 1955, p. 152.

## Sources

- Beard, Geoffrey (2011). [*Decorative plasterwork in Great Britain*](https://books.google.com/books?id=O82qCgAAQBAJ&dq=eye+manor+herefordshire&pg=PA52). Dorset: Donhead. ISBN 978-1-873-39491-5.
- Brooks, Alan & Pevsner, Nikolaus (2012). [*Herefordshire*](https://books.google.com/books?id=yNhxpwAACAAJ&q=herefordshire+brooks+pevsner). The Buildings of England. New Haven, US and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-12575-7.
- Gomme, Andor & Maguire, Alison (2008). [*Design and plan in the country house : from Castle Donjons to Palladian boxes*](https://books.google.com/books?id=9QyzoRo_c0cC&dq=eye+manor+herefordshire&pg=PA217). New Haven, US and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-12645-7.
- Hill, Oliver & Cornforth, John (1966). [*English Country Houses: Caroline, 1625-1685*](https://books.google.com/books?id=PuBOAAAAYAAJ&q=eye+manor+herefordshire). London: Country Life. [OCLC 462687501](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/462687501)
- Laughton, J.K. (1890). ["Gorges, Sir Ferdinando"](https://archive.org/details/dictionarynatio04leegoog). *Dictionary of National Biography*. Vol. 22. New York: Macmillan and Co. pp. [241](https://archive.org/details/dictionarynatio04leegoog/page/n253)–43.
- Pevsner, Nikolaus (2003). *Herefordshire*. The Buildings of England. New Haven, US and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-09609-7.
- Rogers, Pat (2011). [*The Life and Times of Thomas, Lord Coningsby: The Whig Hangman and His Victims*](https://books.google.com/books?id=-kg6QxoxlVgC&dq=cathy+come+home+eye+manor&pg=PA37). London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-441-13798-2.
- Summerson, John (1955). *Architecture in Britain: 1530-1830*. Pelican History of Art. London: Penguin Books. [OCLC 915707152](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/915707152)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Eye Manor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_Manor) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_Manor?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.