Clifford Manor - Revision history

Tomsalmon at 08:51, 2 October 2022

2022-10-02T08:51:20Z

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	[[File:DJI_0632.JPG\|thumb\|300px\|left]]		[[File:DJI_0632.JPG\|thumb\|300px\|left]]
			[[File:DJI_0725.JPG\|thumb\|300px\|left]]

	''We peeped through the bars of the white gates that rose so stately between their stone pillars, and were presently invited in by the courteous owners.''		''We peeped through the bars of the white gates that rose so stately between their stone pillars, and were presently invited in by the courteous owners.''

Tomsalmon at 08:45, 2 October 2022

2022-10-02T08:45:30Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:45, 2 October 2022
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	==Clifford Manor==		==Clifford Manor==


	[[File:Clifford manor.jpg\|thumb\|400px\|right\|Clifford Manor]]		[[File:Clifford manor.jpg\|thumb\|400px\|right\|Clifford Manor]]

		⚫	''“Our first halt was at Clifford Chambers – a village of a few well-to-do cottages on the Stour. But the pride of Clifford is its Manor House. Tall white gates in a high brick wall form the end of the turf-bordered road, called by courtesy the village street. Within the gates stands the old house.''

			[[File:DJI_0632.JPG\|thumb\|300px\|left]]
⚫	''“Our first halt was at Clifford Chambers – a village of a few well-to-do cottages on the Stour. But the pride of Clifford is its Manor House. Tall white gates in a high brick wall form the end of the turf-bordered road, called by courtesy the village street. Within the gates stands the old house.''

	''We peeped through the bars of the white gates that rose so stately between their stone pillars, and were presently invited in by the courteous owners.''		''We peeped through the bars of the white gates that rose so stately between their stone pillars, and were presently invited in by the courteous owners.''

Tomsalmon at 13:24, 27 August 2022

2022-08-27T13:24:24Z

Show changes

Avrilsalmon: /* Past Owners */

2014-03-11T20:31:55Z

Past Owners

Show changes

Avrilsalmon: /* Past Owners */

2014-03-11T20:22:22Z

Past Owners

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:22, 11 March 2014
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	As for the owners, - once the property was taken away from the monks by Henry VIII (which, by now, boasted a Church and lands called Mounckes Close and Moorse Hill) - two were knighted, one was involved in the Civil War (and as he was a Royalist, was on the losing side, taken prisoner, then escaped!) One was a barrister-at-law and two were Vicars and became Rectors of Clifford Chambers. Their names you will recognise – Raynesford (later Rainsford), Dighton, Annesley, West.		As for the owners, - once the property was taken away from the monks by Henry VIII (which, by now, boasted a Church and lands called Mounckes Close and Moorse Hill) - two were knighted, one was involved in the Civil War (and as he was a Royalist, was on the losing side, taken prisoner, then escaped!) One was a barrister-at-law and two were Vicars and became Rectors of Clifford Chambers. Their names you will recognise – Raynesford (later Rainsford), Dighton, Annesley, West.

			Owners of the Manor and lands

			The Rainsford's possession of The Manor were:-

			free warren lands tenemnts meadows woods and hereditaments called Wincott in the parish of Clifford: free warren in the manor of Clifford and in all lands meadows etc. to the said manor belonging: free warren in the manor of Aleston, free fishing in the waters of the Stower; the advowson of the church of Clifford; 2 messuages, one cotttage and 2 virgate of land in Clifford; 20 selions of land there late parcel of the demesne lands of Clifford; one parcel of meadow there called Brooke meadow; one messuage and half a virgate of land, meadow and pasture there in the tenure of Richard Wilkes, and of divers lands meadows pastures and hereditaments there.

			-oOo-

			All this changed when Job Dighton, barrister, took over the guardianship of Henry Rainsford, who inherited the property on the death on 10th April 1648 of his father. Henry Rainsford reached the age of 18 on 12th May 1648.

			Henry, under age, took up arms for the King – was ruined with his family in the King's cause; made prisoner by the Parliamentary forces at Oxford. But managed to escape.

			To compound his possessions, he had to lease the Lordship and Manor of Clifford and the Hamlet of Allston to his guardian Job Dighton for 99 years. A sum of money 1,371l. 3s 10d. He was then aged 26. He went overseas and died in East Indies unmarried.

			From then on the Dighton family carried on with the succession of owners of The Manor and land.

			UNTIL

			Alice daughter of Francis Keyt Dighton married Rev Arthur Annesley DD Trinity College Oxford, vicar of Chewton Mendip in Somerset. Their son Arthur Annesley applied for Rector in 1793. He and all the Rectors of that family from then on lived at The Manor until the Rev Pippet took Holy Orders at Clifford, and lived in a house he built for himself and his family.

			The Manor and land then came into possession of the West family in 1865 - then Gratrix in 1903 – followed by Miss Kathleen Wills later Douty until her husband's death and then Mrs. Rees-Mogg on her marriage to Col. Rees-Mogg.

	== Rees-Mogg ==		== Rees-Mogg ==

Tomsalmon at 18:11, 4 September 2013

2013-09-04T18:11:27Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:11, 4 September 2013
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	File:Funeral_sevice_sheet_Gilbert_Douty_B.jpg\|Funeral service sheet, Back		File:Funeral_sevice_sheet_Gilbert_Douty_B.jpg\|Funeral service sheet, Back
	</gallery>		</gallery>

			==Servants==

			From Peter Stenson, Claines, Worcestershire:

			:My Mother, Doreen (known as Dorrie) Marjorie Stenson nee 'Roythorne' went to work at Clifford Manor on 4th May 1936. She was then aged 16. She was employed as an under-house-maid for the grand sum of seven shillings a month!

			:The other staff she remembered were: - Mr. Hall, carpenter and outside work - Mr. Salmon 'odd man' and gardener - Mr. Holman butler - Caroline head housemaid - 'George' hall boy (irrespective of their real name all the hall boys were called George!). 'James', footman (whose real name was actually George but had to be called 'James' for the same reason as the hall boys being called 'George') Gilmore 'Gillie' Whittle footman - Mrs. Yateman cook - Mary Owen kitchen maid - Kitty Jenner second scullery maid (she could not be called by her proper name Kathleen, as it was Mrs. Rees-Moggs first name) - Lillian head scullery miad.

			:Kitty and Mary were my Mum's best friends at Clifford and, although the work was hard and the hours were long, she did recall having lots of fun too. Mrs. Rees-Mogg was known as one of the more enlightened and kind employers that my Mother worked for.

			:Mother had to be up at 5.00am. Her first job was to collect and empty all the slops from the bedrooms in a bucket.

			:One morning when the house was full of guests, she rushed into the servants' bathroom where she poured her slops into the lavatory. She rinsed out the bucket and turned to leave the bathroom only to discover that the bath was occupied by the Bishop of Gloucester! Fortunately there was a good covering of soap bubbles floating on the water. She hurried red-faced from the bathroom.

			:The next time she saw Dr. Arthur Caley Headlam was on Wednesday February 24th 1937, when he confirmed my Mum and Kitty at the village Church.

			:Mrs. Rees-Mogg was very keen that all her staff attended Church regularly. She presented Mother with a signed Book of Common Prayer within weeks of her starting at the Manor, and insisted that she get herself confirmed as soon as possible. After the confirmation, she also presented Mother with a signed copy of 'Daily Light on the Daily Path'. The Rector F Meridith Brookes also presented a Plain Communion Book. Mrs. Rees-Mogg also supplied some rather nice light grey material so Kitty and Mum could make confirmation dresses.

			:Mother's other early morning jobs, were to clean and lay fires in all the occupied bedrooms. She was terrified of dropping anything in the grate and waking the sleeping occupant. She also had the main stairs to sweep with a brush and dustpan. No wonder she had painful knees in later life.

			:One of her least favourite jobs was washing a long green-tiled corridor which had to be cleaned with stale milk. This had to be collected from outside the dairy. Mother used to cheat by adding hot water to stop her hands freezing on very cold mornings.

			:Mrs. Rees-Mogg, not surprisingly, had a fear of fires and one of the first things Mum had to do when she started, was to have fire practice. The local Fire Brigade was in attendance and, after a demonstration, all the staff had to slide out of an upstairs bedroom window, and down a canvas tube. All the female staff had to pin their dresses up to prevent the men waiting at the bottom of the tube, from seeing their knickers!

			:All sorts of fun started as soon as the family left the Manor for various social events. One one occasion, the footman chased the shrieking housemaids around the garden with a snake in a basket. 'James' also donned a lion-skin, complete with stuffed head and jumped out on the kitchen maid who was on her way up the stairs. In the chase that followed, he managed to scratch her cheek with one of the lion's claws. She had a permanent reminder of her lion attack.

			:Colonel Rees-Mogg had a rather distinctive speech impediment and seemed to spend quite a lot of time in bed with real or imagined illness. Although my Mother tried to creep quietly past his bedroom one mid-morning, he called out “Dorrween! Dorrween - ask Holman to bwing me the Daily Miwaa”. Why a person in his position should be reading the Daily Mirror remains a mystery.

			:During the early years of the war, there was a plane crash nearby and Moses, one of the scruffy terriers that roamed about the buildings and gardens, brought home a souvenier of the crash – a human finger, which he left on the lawn. On another occasion – a quiet afternoon when sitting in the garden over-looking the river, the staff were upset by the arrival of the otter-hounds in full cry.

			:My Mother also remembers the great upset that was caused when Gilbert Douty was killed after being hit on the head by a bottle.

			:At Christmas time, the family provided gifts for all the staff and we still have the amber necklace that Mother received in 1938.

			:In 1940, at the prompting of her father, my Mother applied to the Air Ministry instead of going into the forces, for a job as a clerk. She had no sooner started, then she was moved to Worcester where she later met my Father.

			:Mother died after a short illness in April 2012 aged 92.

Avrilsalmon at 19:15, 1 January 2012

2012-01-01T19:15:06Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:15, 1 January 2012
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	[[File:Clifford manor.jpg\|right]]		[[File:Clifford manor.jpg\|thumb\|400px\|right\|Clifford Manor]]


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	[[File:Restoration of manor after fire.jpg]]		[[File:Restoration of manor after fire.jpg\|thumb\|400px\|Restoration of Clifford Manor after fire]]



	== Village Wedding ==		== Village Wedding ==
	[[File:Col_rees_mogg_and_others.jpg\|right]]		[[File:Col_rees_mogg_and_others.jpg\|thumb\|400px\|right\|Col. Ress-Mogg]]

	When I first arrived in this village in the late 1960’s, many people in the village could remember The Wedding, especially two ‘children’ who were invited with their parents to St. Margaret’s, Westminster, to see Mrs. Douty marry Col. Rees Mogg. Kath Salmon could remember with delight, how the car in which they were travelling back to Clifford, was mistaken for the bridal car. Mr. Ainley, Mrs. Douty’s Agent, had to hurriedly get out of the car to persuade the lads of the village to hold on to their ropes until the right car came along. Eventually it did, and the lads tied ropes round it, and the newly married couple were pulled along the village street to the Lodge (the Manor still being rebuilt after the fire) with Col. and Mrs. Rees Mogg regally waving to the villagers standing either side of the village street. Then, on arrival at The Lodge, they both stood up in the car and gave speeches even more regal! The bride had been treated very regally in the village for many years, due to Miss Wilding’s insistence that her pupils must either curtsey or take off their caps (depending on sex) when her car passed them.		When I first arrived in this village in the late 1960’s, many people in the village could remember The Wedding, especially two ‘children’ who were invited with their parents to St. Margaret’s, Westminster, to see Mrs. Douty marry Col. Rees Mogg. Kath Salmon could remember with delight, how the car in which they were travelling back to Clifford, was mistaken for the bridal car. Mr. Ainley, Mrs. Douty’s Agent, had to hurriedly get out of the car to persuade the lads of the village to hold on to their ropes until the right car came along. Eventually it did, and the lads tied ropes round it, and the newly married couple were pulled along the village street to the Lodge (the Manor still being rebuilt after the fire) with Col. and Mrs. Rees Mogg regally waving to the villagers standing either side of the village street. Then, on arrival at The Lodge, they both stood up in the car and gave speeches even more regal! The bride had been treated very regally in the village for many years, due to Miss Wilding’s insistence that her pupils must either curtsey or take off their caps (depending on sex) when her car passed them.
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	''Mr. Hodgson then presented the bride and bridegroom with a Cromwellian leather settle, with oak feet, which is about 300 years old, and also a Ruskin bowl from the children.''		''Mr. Hodgson then presented the bride and bridegroom with a Cromwellian leather settle, with oak feet, which is about 300 years old, and also a Ruskin bowl from the children.''

	[[File:Col_rees_mogg_dog_and_others.jpg\|250px\|left]]		[[File:Col_rees_mogg_dog_and_others.jpg\|thumb\|250px\|left\|Col. Rees-Mogg]]

	''In reply, Mrs. Rees-Mogg said that she did wish to tell them how deeply she appreciated the splendid present that they had given them. They had shown to her husband very clearly that which she knew already – that at Clifford they were surrounded by most kind, warm and hearty neighbours and friends. Through the days of sorrow and years of loneliness and through the dreadful disaster, they had all given her proof of their goodwill and sympathy. She was glad that their marriage did not mean saying goodbye as so often was the case after marriages. In that case, it only meant that instead of finding two friends at The Manor (for they must count her son Gilbert) they would in future, she hoped, find three. (applause). They had made their homecoming delightful with the glorious welcome they had given them, and she thanked them all a thousand times for it, and for the beautiful presents they had given them. Those were tokens of good wishes which they would value all their lives.''		''In reply, Mrs. Rees-Mogg said that she did wish to tell them how deeply she appreciated the splendid present that they had given them. They had shown to her husband very clearly that which she knew already – that at Clifford they were surrounded by most kind, warm and hearty neighbours and friends. Through the days of sorrow and years of loneliness and through the dreadful disaster, they had all given her proof of their goodwill and sympathy. She was glad that their marriage did not mean saying goodbye as so often was the case after marriages. In that case, it only meant that instead of finding two friends at The Manor (for they must count her son Gilbert) they would in future, she hoped, find three. (applause). They had made their homecoming delightful with the glorious welcome they had given them, and she thanked them all a thousand times for it, and for the beautiful presents they had given them. Those were tokens of good wishes which they would value all their lives.''
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	== Gilbert Douty ==		== Gilbert Douty ==
	[[File:Mrs_rees-mogg.jpg‎\|right]]		[[File:Mrs_rees-mogg.jpg‎\|thumb\|400px\|right\|Rees-Mogg family with young Gilbert Douty]]

	Gilbert was sent to a boarding school and was only seen in the village during holidays. However, on his 21st birthday, he was given a sports car by his mother – and everyone saw him in the village then! In fact, his mother, very concerned at the speed with which Gilbert drove his new possession through the village, made a point of finding out from her son when he was intending to go out his in his car! Then word was sent round the village, so the mothers would keep their small children off the street until Gilbert was safely on his way out of the village. There was not much warning however, when he came home from his excursions, and the villagers would watch him roar up the village street, and hope children would have the sense to scurry out of his way. Those working in the Manor gardens would see the cloud of dust as Gilbert’s car came up the drive, and the car, with a quick turn, would skid to a stop with the gravel spitting against the front door of the Manor.		Gilbert was sent to a boarding school and was only seen in the village during holidays. However, on his 21st birthday, he was given a sports car by his mother – and everyone saw him in the village then! In fact, his mother, very concerned at the speed with which Gilbert drove his new possession through the village, made a point of finding out from her son when he was intending to go out his in his car! Then word was sent round the village, so the mothers would keep their small children off the street until Gilbert was safely on his way out of the village. There was not much warning however, when he came home from his excursions, and the villagers would watch him roar up the village street, and hope children would have the sense to scurry out of his way. Those working in the Manor gardens would see the cloud of dust as Gilbert’s car came up the drive, and the car, with a quick turn, would skid to a stop with the gravel spitting against the front door of the Manor.

Tomsalmon at 16:43, 17 September 2011

2011-09-17T16:43:29Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:43, 17 September 2011
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	[[Manor Cottages]] \| [[Clifford Manor Estate Auction]]		[[Manor Cottages]] \| [[2 Manor Cottages]] \| [[Clifford Manor Estate Auction]]

	= Clifford Manor =		= Clifford Manor =

Tomsalmon at 16:21, 17 September 2011

2011-09-17T16:21:11Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:21, 17 September 2011
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	''The funeral has been arranged for Thursday afternoon July 14th, at Clifford Chambers Parish Church.”''		''The funeral has been arranged for Thursday afternoon July 14th, at Clifford Chambers Parish Church.”''

			<gallery perrow="2">
	[[File:Funeral_sevice_sheet_Gilbert_Douty_A.jpg\|thumb\|Funeral service sheet, Front]]
	[[File:~~Funeral_sevice_sheet_Gilbert_Douty_B~~.jpg~~\|thumb~~\|Funeral service sheet, ~~Back]]~~		File:Funeral_sevice_sheet_Gilbert_Douty_A.jpg\|Funeral service sheet, Front
			File:Funeral_sevice_sheet_Gilbert_Douty_B.jpg\|Funeral service sheet, Back
			</gallery>

Tomsalmon at 15:35, 17 September 2011

2011-09-17T15:35:14Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:35, 17 September 2011
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			[[Manor Cottages]] \| [[Clifford Manor Estate Auction]]

	= Clifford Manor =		= Clifford Manor =