Sulgrave

infobox UK place
country = England
official_name= Sulgrave
latitude= 52.1031
longitude= -1.1839
static_

static_image_caption= Sulgrave Manor
area_total_km2= 8.3
population_density= Pop density km2 to mi2|49.4|precision=1|abbr=yes|wiki=yes
area_footnotes=
population= 410 [ [http://neighborhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=3&b=797382&c=sulgrave&d=16&e=15&g=473937&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1205198006625&enc=1&dsFamilyId=779 Neighbourhood Statistics - Parish Headcounts] Retrieved 2008-03-10.] (2001 Census)
civil_parish= Sulgrave
shire_district= South Northamptonshire
shire_county= Northamptonshire
region= East Midlands
london_distance= convert|73|mi|km|0|lk=on|abbr=on
constituency_westminster= Daventry
post_town= BANBURY
postcode_area= OX
postcode_district = OX17
dial_code= 01295
os_grid_reference= SP557453
website= [http://www.sulgrave.org/ www.sulgrave.org]

Sulgrave is a small village and civil parish near Banbury, Oxfordshire in the district of South Northamptonshire in England It has a population of 410 people.

Sulgrave Manor, near the village, is famous for being the home of the ancestors of George Washington; Washington Old Hall in Washington, Sunderland is the original ancestral home of the Washington family and was occupied by the family from 1100s to 1539. Sulgrave Manor has a road named after it: Sulgrave Court, situated in a housing district of Milton Keynes called Great Holm.

The original building

Leaving Wharton, Lancashire (now Cheshire), to which the family had spread in the 14th century, Lawrence Washington bought the Priory of St. Andrew, Northhampton, from the Crown in 1539, following Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries and turned it into Sulgrave Manor. [H. Clifford Smith, Sulgrave Manor and the Washingtons, London, 1933, p48.]

The house was built of local limestone, with a wide south frontage, a kitchen and buttery, a Great Hall, and above it a Great Chamber and two smaller private chambers. All these parts survive and can be seen today. Finds of what appear to have been Tudor period foundation stones as much as 50ft(15m) west of the current house suggest that the original dwelling was considerably larger than the surviving house. The Great Hall has a stone floor, and its Tudor fireplace contains a salt cupboard carved with the initials of Lawrence Washington. [Phillips, 104]

The Washingtons held it for over one hundred years.

'ER' and stars and stripes

Lawrence added an entrance porch to the house's south front after 1558. Over the doorway set in plaster the royal arms of England and the letters 'ER', to indicate 'Elizabeth Regina' in honour of Henry VIII's daughter Elizabeth I, who had ascended to the throne. The doorway spandrels were decorated with the Washington family arms: two stripes and three stars. [Phillips, 104]

Later alterations

A north wing, set at right angles to Lawrence Washington's manor, was added c.1700 by then owner, John Hodges. It contains the Great Kitchen and the Oak Parlour, on the ground floor, beneath two sleeping chambers, now known as the White Bedroom and the Chintz Bedroom. Another extension, the west wing, was built in 1929 when the house was being restored. [Phillips, 105]

Sulgrave village shop

Sulgrave Village Shop Association Limited (SVS) was incorporated in July 2004 as an Industrial and Provident Society, owned by the residents of Sulgrave, with the object of operating a shop and Post Office. Under its constitution, profits are not for distribution to its members but must be reinvested in the enterprise for the continuation and development of its services to the community. The shop began trading in September 2004 under the direction of a management board employing a full time shop manager and supported by some 50 volunteers.

As part of a newly established Rural Enterprise Network, SVS, by selling locally grown and sourced products, seeks to provide a focus for other producers and suppliers to develop and expand locally-based businesses.

References

* [http://www.sulgravemanor.org.uk/index.htm "Sulgrave Manor. The ancestral home of the Washingtons in Britain"] . Retrieved November 10 2005.

*Phillips, Charles. "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Castles, Palaces & Stately Houses of Britain & Ireland". Hermes House. London, England. 2007

External links

* [http://www.sulgravemanor.org.uk/ The official Sulgrave Manor Website]
* [http://www.sulgrave.org/ Sulgrave Village Website]
* [http://www.sulgravevillageshop.org Sulgrave Village Shop] .
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/northamptonshire/360/sulgrave.shtml A virtual tour of Sulgrave Manor on the BBC website] .
* [http://www.britishtours.com/360/sulgrave_manor.html Virtual tour of Sulgrave on the British Tours website] .