Cowdray House
Cowdray House in Sussex is a 16th-century Tudor mansion which was badly damaged by fire in 1793. Construction began in the 1520s after Sir David Owen demolished a 13th-century manor house on the site and was completed by William Fitzwilliam in 1542. The ruins have been open to the public since the early 20th century.
History
The Bohun family owned Coudreye, and in 1273 Sir John Bohun began building a manor house there. The estates descended with the family until the late 15th century. When the Bohun line became extinct in the late 1490s Sir David Owen inherited the family property through his marriage to the daughter of the last John Bohun. [1] Beginning in around 1520, Owen set about demolishing the 13th-century manor house at Coudreye and building a grand house for himself.[2]
Owen did not live to see Cowdray completed, and died in 1535. Before that, Cowdray House had been sold to Sir William Fitzwilliam in 1529. By this point parts of the house were habitable as Owen was permitted to spend his remaining years there and Fitzwilliam moved in on the previous owner's death. The building work was finished under Fitzwilliam. After his death in 1542, Cowdray House and its lands passed to his half-brother, Sir Anthony Browne.[3] Four years earlier King Henry VIII had Battle Abbey, also in Sussex, to Brown.[4]
References
- ↑ Howard, Bridget (2009). Cowdray. Midhurst: Cowdray Heritage Trust. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-85101-428-9.
- ↑ Woodburn, Bill and Guy, Neil (2005–6). "Cowdray House", Castle Studies Group Journal vol 19. p. 32.
- ↑ Woodburn & Guy, "Cowdray House", pp. 32–33.
- ↑ Coad, Jonathan (2007). Battle Abbey and Battlefield. London: English Heritage. pp. 41–42. ISBN 978-1-905624-20-1.