# Manse > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Manse > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Manse.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manse > Source revision: 1356365591 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Clergy house in Presbyterian and Nonconformist traditions For other uses, see [Manse (disambiguation)](/source/Manse_(disambiguation)). This article has been nominated for merging into Clergy house. You are welcome to participate in the merging discussion, which will decide whether to merge it into Clergy house. This discussion may also result in the article being deleted, redirected, or draftified. Feel free to improve the article, but do not remove this notice before the discussion is closed. Find sources: "Manse" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR%5B%5BWikipedia%3AArticles+for+deletion%2FManse%5D%5DAFD [The Old Manse](/source/The_Old_Manse), [Concord, Massachusetts](/source/Concord%2C_Massachusetts), built in 1770; associated with [Ralph Waldo Emerson](/source/Ralph_Waldo_Emerson) and [Nathaniel Hawthorne](/source/Nathaniel_Hawthorne) A **manse** ([/ˈmæns/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English)) is a [clergy house](/source/Clergy_house) inhabited by, or formerly inhabited by, a [minister](/source/Minister_(Christianity)) of a [Christian](/source/Christian) congregation. Dictionaries define the term as the house of a Christian minister, especially in Scotland or in Presbyterian usage. It is used in [Presbyterian](/source/Presbyterian), [Methodist](/source/Methodism), [Baptist](/source/Baptist), and other [Nonconformist](/source/Nonconformist_(Protestantism)) traditions, and differs in usage from terms such as [vicarage](/source/Vicarage) and [rectory](/source/Rectory), which are associated with Anglican parish clergy. The word derives from the Latin *mansus*, "dwelling", from *manere*, "to remain", and is cognate with [mansion](/source/Mansion). In older ecclesiastical use, a manse could refer to both a dwelling and land attached to a minister's office; in modern use, it usually means the house itself. In Scotland, children raised in manses by ministers are sometimes described as "sons" or "daughters of the manse", a phrase common in journalism and political commentary about public figures from Presbyterian ministerial households. ## History and etymology The word *manse* entered Middle English from medieval Latin *mansus*, the past participle of *manere* ("to remain"), used in medieval land tenure to denote a unit of land sufficient to support one household. It shares a root with [mansion](/source/Mansion) and *manor*. Dictionaries define the modern term as the house of a Christian minister, especially in Scotland or in Presbyterian usage.[1][2] In Scots ecclesiastical law, *manse* became the standard word for the parish minister's residence, distinguishing it from Anglican terms such as *vicarage* or *rectory*. The [Oxford English Dictionary](/source/Oxford_English_Dictionary) dates the ecclesiastical use of the term in English to the 16th century, at which point it referred both to a dwelling and, in church contexts, to a unit of agricultural land.[3] The 1911 *Encyclopædia Britannica* similarly described a manse as originally a dwelling-house with enough land to support a family, and in ecclesiastical law as the house and [glebe](/source/Glebe) attached to a church.[4] The land sense is now secondary in ordinary English; the building sense is the dominant modern use. ## Modern denominational usage ### Church of Scotland The [Church of Scotland](/source/Church_of_Scotland) is the denomination most closely associated with the manse. The Church's General Trustees describe manses as homes provided for ministers and maintain a Manse Handbook covering policy, standards, condition schedules, maintenance, and responsibilities for congregations and ministers.[5] The Church of Scotland's manse standards distinguish between essential, recommended, and suggested requirements, reflecting both housing standards and the minister's use of the property for work connected with the parish.[5] ### Free Church and other Scottish Presbyterian bodies The same terminology is used by other Scottish Presbyterian bodies, including the [Free Church of Scotland](/source/Free_Church_of_Scotland) and the [United Free Church of Scotland](/source/United_Free_Church_of_Scotland). Many former manses built for Presbyterian congregations survive as private dwellings. ### Methodist Church The [Methodist Church of Great Britain](/source/Methodist_Church_of_Great_Britain) uses the term manse for its ministers' houses and issues guidance on their purchase, design, maintenance, letting, and sale.[6] Its guidance notes that a study in the manse may be used for ministerial work and that access, privacy, room layout, maintenance, and long-term suitability should be considered when buying or maintaining a manse.[6] ### Baptist The [Baptist Union of Great Britain](/source/Baptist_Union_of_Great_Britain) uses the term for church-owned houses or flats used by ministers or other church workers, or let by local churches. Its property guidance includes leaflets on buying, selling, shared ownership, letting, and occupancy of manses.[7] ### Other usage The term is also used in other Reformed and Nonconformist contexts. ## Role in parish ministry The manse historically was both the minister's private residence and part of the institutional structure of the parish. In rural areas especially, the minister's household was often closely involved in parish administration and pastoral work. Church of Scotland guidance treats a manse primarily as a ministerial residence, while noting that parts of it may also be used for meetings, office work, and other duties connected with ministry.[8] The [glebe](/source/Glebe) provided supplementary income before fixed stipends became common. Ministers might farm the glebe or lease it, and in some parishes glebe income formed part of the minister's living. As the land component receded, the word *manse* increasingly referred to the residence alone.[4] ## Sons and daughters of the manse The West Manse, [Sanday](/source/Sanday%2C_Orkney), Scotland, formerly the manse of the [Free Kirk](/source/Free_Church_of_Scotland_(1843%E2%80%931900)) The phrase **son of the manse** (or **daughter of the manse**) describes a person raised in a manse as the child of a minister. Used predominantly in Scotland, the phrase carries cultural weight beyond biography and is commonly applied to public figures raised in Presbyterian ministerial households.[9] [Gordon Brown](/source/Gordon_Brown), prime minister from 2007 to 2010, is often described as a son of the manse; his father was a Church of Scotland minister in [Kirkcaldy](/source/Kirkcaldy).[10] Actor [David Tennant](/source/David_Tennant) is another example frequently discussed in Scottish media; his father, [Sandy McDonald](/source/Sandy_McDonald_(minister)), was a Church of Scotland minister and later [Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland](/source/Moderator_of_the_General_Assembly_of_the_Church_of_Scotland).[11] ## See also - [Christianity portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Christianity) - [Preacher's kid](/source/Preacher's_kid) - [List of children of clergy](/source/List_of_children_of_clergy) ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-oxford-learner_1-0)** ["Manse"](https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/manse). *Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary*. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 24 May 2026. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-merriam_2-0)** ["Manse"](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/manse). *Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary*. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 24 May 2026. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-oed_3-0)** "Manse". *Oxford English Dictionary* (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. 1989. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-eb1911_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-eb1911_4-1) [Chisholm, Hugh](/source/Hugh_Chisholm), ed. (1911). ["Manse"](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Manse). *[Encyclopædia Britannica](/source/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica_Eleventh_Edition)*. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 598. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-cos-manses_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-cos-manses_5-1) ["Manses"](https://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/about-us/departments/general-trustees/property-management/manses). Church of Scotland. Retrieved 24 May 2026. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-methodist-manses_6-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-methodist-manses_6-1) ["Guidelines for Manses"](https://media.methodist.org.uk/media/documents/2018-guidelines-for-manses.pdf) (PDF). Methodist Church in Britain. Retrieved 24 May 2026. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Manses and Church Houses"](https://www.baptist.org.uk/Groups/220735/Manses_and_Church.aspx). Baptist Union of Great Britain. Retrieved 24 May 2026. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["Guide to church compliance"](https://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/about-us/departments/general-trustees/property-management/health-and-safety-and-fire-safety/general-trustees-health-and-safety-toolkit/guide-to-church-compliance). Church of Scotland. Retrieved 24 May 2026. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-herald-manse_9-0)** ["To the manse born"](http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12761025.To_the_manse_born/). *[The Herald](/source/The_Herald_(Glasgow))*. 18 August 2007. Retrieved 2 December 2017. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["The making of Gordon Brown"](https://web.archive.org/web/20250108195349/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1554039/The-making-of-Gordon-Brown.html). *[The Daily Telegraph](/source/The_Daily_Telegraph)*. 8 June 2007. Archived from [the original](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1554039/The-making-of-Gordon-Brown.html) on 8 January 2025. Retrieved 2 December 2017. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["Did I tell you that I kent Doctor Who's faither?"](https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/2175305.tell-kent-doctor-faither/). *The Herald*. 7 April 2008. Retrieved 26 September 2025. ## External links Media related to [Manses](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Manses) at Wikimedia Commons The dictionary definition of [*manse*](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/manse) at Wiktionary --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Manse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manse) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manse?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.