Knighton Gorges Manor

Knighton Gorges Manor
Entry gate posts of the demolished Knighton Gorges Manor
Location within Isle of Wight
General information
Architectural style	Tudor architecture
Town or city	Near Newchurch, Knighton, Isle of Wight
Country	England
Coordinates	50°39′52″N 1°12′30″W / 50.66444°N 1.20833°W / 50.66444; -1.20833Coordinates: 50°39′52″N 1°12′30″W / 50.66444°N 1.20833°W / 50.66444; -1.20833
Construction started	12th Century
Demolished	1821
Technical details
Structural system	Brick

Knighton Gorges Manor was one of the grandest manor houses on the Isle of Wight. Located in the hamlet of Knighton, near Newchurch, it is reported to be one of the most haunted locations on the Isle of Wight.

The Elizabethan-Tudor style house’s history has been a saga of tragic events. It started with a ghastly note of Hugh de Morville, an escapee who resided there after murdering Becket Aragediea of Canterbury, the then Archbishop of Canterbury, on 27 December 1170, along with his three other comrades in crime Reginald Fizure, Richard Brito and William Tray, then the death of Tristram Dillington in 1718 under mysterious circumstances and finally, 100 years later, followed by another tragic event of the owner of the Manor, George Maurice, destroying the manor in 1821 on his own volition (before his death), purely as a parental annoyance and spiteful action, to his daughter marrying a clergyman, against his wishes thus preventing her from owning the manor.

These events have also generated reportedly paranormal events occurring at the manor location, witnessed in the form of the destroyed manor house itself appearing in an apparition form, ghost of Sir Tristram riding a ghostly horse each year on the anniversary of his death, and sighting of animal-like gargoyles on top of each gatepost at the entrance to the manor site.

Sir Hugh de Morville(d.1202) fled to the house after taking part as 1 of 4 knights in the murder on December 29, 1170 of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. He fled thence to Knaresborough Castle, Yorkshire, which was held by him. The manor was owned by the de Morvilles until 1256 when Ralf de Gorges acquired it by marriage, which is where the name Knighton Gorges comes from. The early 13th-century holders were a family of De Morville, of whom John or Ivo de Morville died in 1256, leaving a daughter and heir Ellen married to Ralph de Gorges, who survived her husband and was in possession of the manor at the end of the century.