Dinmore Manor

Dinmore Manor is a house in Herefordshire. It is the private residence of mobile phone tycoon Martin Dawes and no longer open to the general public.

Sitting on an elevation of around 500 feet (150 m) above sea level, with views over the Malvern Hills, the site was developed from 1189 by the Knights Templar. It was later taken over as a Commandery of the Knights of St John of Jerusalem. The site includes a 1,200-year-old Yew tree.

The chapel of St John of Jerusalem remains on the site. Erected in the early part of the 12th century and formerly attached to the Commandery, it was rebuilt in 1370 in the Norman and Decorated architectural styles. A rectangular building, it consists of a chancel, a nave, a north porch and a western tower with spire. It was thoroughly restored in 1886 by Rev. Harris Fleming St John MA, chaplain (1878–1903), and filled with painted windows executed by himself. Stated to have had the privilege of sanctuary, there are sittings for 50 persons.

In the main house, the Music Room is actually a hall with a vaulted ceiling and a Victorian Aeolian Pipe Organ. The compact formal gardens include a rock garden, a collection of Acer trees and a water garden.

The house overlooks the garden and lawn, and cloisters flank it to the right. The back wall of the cloisters features stained glass windows, through which coloured light streams onto the supporting columns in the late afternoon.

In 1950 British Railways named one of its GWR 7800 Class after the manor. This locomotive, No.7820 is now preserved, and currently operating on the GWR railway at Toddington, Glos.

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