Summary

Cheylesmore Manor House, the earliest buildings of which appear to have been laid out in the late 12th or early 13th century. By the 1530s contemporary documentary sources suggest that the manor house was disused and in a ruinous state. The south and east ranges were discovered during excavations in 1992.

Monument Type(s):

• MANOR HOUSE (Earlier Medieval to Later Medieval - 1200 AD to 1539 AD)

Protected Status

• Conservation Area: Greyfriars Green Conservation Area
• Listed Building (II*) 218536: CHEYLESMORE MANOR, MANOR HOUSE DRIVE

Full description

1,2> Built in 1230-4 by William de Albanie, Earl of Arundel. Passed to the Montalts then to Queen Isabella (wife to Edward II) who is thought to have spent several years there. At one time called the Cheylesmore Castle, as it was built to replace the Earl's Castle.

3> The Manor of Cheylemsore lay only a stone's throw away and the first royalty to hold it was Queen Isabel, wife of Edward II… following: John of Eltham, Earl of Cornwall, Edward III … Edward the Black Prince, Duke of Cornwall, Richard II and many others.

4> More recent excavations for a petrol station discovered a large stone wall, 9ft wide, but no clue to its purpose is found, unless it was a wall erected to hide the view of the Cheylesmore manor. Some thought it was the city wall, because its width was the same, but the city wall did not run in this direction. A few pieces of 14th century pot were found.

6> They only manor house which stood within the actual walls of the late medieval city of Coventry was that of Cheylesmore…The north range gatehouse survives today and constitutes the city's modern Register Office. The east range almost survived to the present, being demolished in c. 1955. Contemporary photographs show that within a nineteenth century skin of brick, elements of the medieval range remained, particularly a distinctive crown post roof of the fourteenth century. However, a great deal more has been learnt about the manor as a result of extensive excavations in 1992 which concentrated on the east and south ranges…[the manor] was surrounded by a ditch to demark the distinct jurisdictions of manor, town and friary (Greyfriars)…Originally the manor was established by the Earls of Chester, probably the last of the direct family, Ranulf de Gernons, who's seat was moved there from the fortified but ill-suited Coventry Castle in the town centre in the early 13th century…The earliest manor buildings appear to have been laid out in the late 12th or early 13th century. The south range comprised a massively constructed stone hall-keep measuring 18m x 9m and containing four bays at 4.5m centres…The first east range, although contemporary was far flimsier, and possibly all timber framed, comprising stone post-settings with sole-plates between, marking bays of 3m width. This early east range was probably replaced in the 14th century by a successor on almost the same footprint…When the great traveller John Leland passed through Coventry in the 1530s he described the manor as 'a place…now somewhat in ruin'.

7> Site of Cheylesmore Manor.
High levels of major archaeological survival across site, in places only few cm
below ground surface. Main trench 50m x 6.5m on N-S alignment. 3 headings:
E range; S range; Town Wall & ditch. E range consisted of W wall of range
punctuated by internal abutting partition walls, effectively forming 3
rooms. Courtyard area outside: considerable sequence of courtyard
surfaces/features. S range: 2 considerable walls (E & pt of N), with internal
partitioning. S wall robbed entirely to build Town Wall. 14th century Town Wall &
ditch caused partial dismantling of S range. Quality of this section of Town
Wall implies Royal support & access to park quarries. Summary of phases (by
stratigraphy, doc research & finds analysis): 1a) early agricultural, pre
manor occupation, 1b) laying out of ground, poss enclosure & structures, 2) E
C13 manor structures, stone hall keep as S range & contemporary, poorly
aligned E range, 3) redevelopment of manor, new E range on same alignment as
predecessor, 4) construction of Town Wall & partial dismantling of S range, E
range poss reframed, LC 14 - EC 15, 5) S stairway of E range dismantled,
degeneration & destruction of S range, C15-C16, 6) Decay of E range,
renovated MC16, continued decay of ruinous S range until 1662 destruction of
Town Wall, 7) change of use of E range, external reburbishing, horticulture
in courtyard c1700-1900, 8) total dereliction of E range by 1941, dismantled
1955-7.
9> …the buildings dismantled with care (not just demolished) in 1995-7 were not the original manor but a 14th/15th century reframing of a late 13th century wing. Amazingly, the dismantling of these buildings, so lamented by archaeologists at the time, had caused almost no damage to any archaeological layers earlier than the 19th century…This was not the earliest building on this site as beneath this wing was a building of the early 13th century and agricultural occupation of the 12th. Perhaps the greatest revelation was the discovery of a south range, the Great Hall, spoken of as 'down' and 'in ruins' in the 16th century. Every likely it was a wreck, the Town Wall had been built through it in 1385; no mean feat considering this range was fortified and must be viewed in the same mould as perhaps Stokesay Castle and Longthorpe Tower…nearly 3000 sherds of pottery which showed no difference from any other site in Coventry, cerrtainly as far as status was concerned. That the site was owned (if not tenanted) by Royalty between 1327 and the mid 16th century was only visible by looking at the animal bones recovered: cow, sheep, pig, deer, rabbit, goose, chicken, teal, mallard, pheasant, partridge and heron, not to mention the odd fish. Such wealth was the preserve of the landed, not just wealthy folks in society.

<1> J. B. Shelton, 1949, The Story of Twenty-Two Years Excavations in Coventry, p.1 (-MANUSCRIPT). SCT1614.

<2> Austin's Monthly Magazine of Instructive and Useful Information, 1932-1939, Extracts from "Austin's Monthly Magazine" of articles written by Mr J.B. Shelton 1932 - 1938, Vol. XXVI No. 325; Vol. XXIX No.361 (--ARTICLE). SCT1615.

<3> Rylatt, M. and Montes, M., 1998, A Harvest of History: The Life and Work of J.B.Shelton MBE, p.32-3 (TEXT). SCT1616.

<4> J. B. Shelton, 1949, The Story of Twenty-Two Years Excavations in Coventry, p.24 (-MANUSCRIPT). SCT1614.

<5> Lancaster J.C., 1974, Coventry Historic Towns HTT 1974 (-MAP). SCT970.

<6> Soden, Iain, 2005, Coventry: The Hidden History, p199-202 (TEXT). SCT1116.

<7> Coventry Museums Archaeology Unit, 1992, Cheylesmore Manor Excavations 1992 (--MONOGRAPH). SCT532.

<8> Coventry Museum Archaeology Unit, 2000, Manor House Drive 2000: Evaluation of the Cheylesmore Manor (--EVALUATION REPORT). SCT1405.

<9> Soden I, 1993, Cheylesmore Manor in CADAS Newsletter 295 January 1993 (--MONOGRAPH). SCT533.

Sources and Further Reading

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• ECT192 - Manor House Drive (Ref: COVE123)
• ECT72 - Cheylesmore Manor, Manor House Drive/Friars Road (Ref: COVE1)

Related records: none recorded

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