Chenies Manor House

Chenies Manor House
Chenies Manor House
Alternative names	Chenies Palace
General information
Type	Country house
Location	Chenies, Buckinghamshire
Country	England
Construction started	1460
Client	Sir John Cheyne

Chenies Manor House at Chenies, Buckinghamshire, southern England, is a Tudor Grade I listed building once known as Chenies Palace, although it was never a royal seat nor the seat of a bishop. It was owned by the Cheyne family, who were granted the manorial rights in 1180, and passed by marriage to the Russell family in 1526.

John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford set about improving the house both as his home and enlarging it to the size and standard needed to house the royal court, so he could host visits from the king. The house was probably constructed by him around 1530-1550, while the significantly larger north range, which included the royal apartments, has been demolished. Russell had a meteoric career as an advisor to successive monarchs, becoming wealthy and titled and acquiring other properties. By about 1608 Woburn Abbey had become the principal family residence. Thereafter Chenies became increasingly neglected, the surviving buildings are the ones which were still considered practical.

At the northern end of the west wing, there is an undercroft from the previous medieval manor house which occupied the same site, which is a scheduled ancient monument (SM 27145).

The buildings are situated at a high point in the local landscape, 400 yards (370 m) south of the River Chess, which forms the boundary between Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire. The general area shows evidence of occupation in Roman times, including a villa found to the north east of the church, which was occupied between the 1st and 4th centuries AD. A house on this site is recorded to have existed in 1165, when the locality was known as Isenhampstead. There is no specific mention of the settlement in the Domesday Book, but it is thought to have then formed part of the Manor of Chesham. The church of St Michael stands directly to the east of the current manor and has parts dating back to the 12th century, although it was extensively reconstructed at later times. A watermill also stood, on the nearby river, in the 12th century.