History of Wyndham Arms, Clearwell (General)
Does anyone happen to know the history of the Wyndham Arms, at Clearwell? How old is the building? how long has it been a public house/hotel?
On an 1841 map there is a house and garden on the site, owned by the Earl of Dunraven. There is no mention of it being an inn. Neither can I find an "innkeeper" on the 1841 or 1851 census (except for a John MORGAN, in '51, but seemingly in the wrong location). I stayed a night in the hotel a few years ago, and didn't get the impression that the building is particularly old.
David Steel
Adelaide
History of Wyndham Arms, Clearwell pt 1
by slowhands , proud of his ancient Dean Forest roots, Monday, April 12, 2010, 06:51 (5418 days ago) @ dsteel
I understand that the building known as the Wybdham Arms was originanlly Clearwell Manor circa 13th century. ( not to be confused with the Castle !)
http://www.thewyndhamhotel.co.uk/index.php
Greyndour evidently secured an unrestricted title to his wife's estate, which from the early 15th century was known as the manor of CLEARWELL, the chief residence and most of the demesne lands being by then situated in Clearwell tithing. John was succeeded by Robert Greyndour, his son by his first wife Marion. (fn. 29) Robert Greyndour (d. 1443) was jointly enfeoffed of the estate with his wife Joan, (fn. 30) who married before 1455 (fn. 31) John Barre. John died in 1483 (fn. 32) and Joan in 1484, when the Clearwell estate passed to Robert's heir Alice, the wife of Thomas Baynham (fn. 33) (d. 1500) (fn. 34) and later of Sir Walter Dennis (d. 1505 or 1506). Alice (d. 1518) was succeeded by her son Sir Christopher Baynham, (fn. 35) and Sir Christopher was succeeded in the estate, apparently in his lifetime, by his son George Baynham. (fn. 36) George, who was knighted in 1546 and died that year, (fn. 37) left the estate to his son Christopher, who was a minor in the king's custody in 1548. (fn. 38) From Christopher (fl. 1555) (fn. 39) it passed, probably by 1558, (fn. 40) to his brother Richard (d. 1580), who was succeeded by another brother Thomas (fn. 41) (d. 1611). (fn. 42) Thomas Baynham settled his estates in Newland and the adjoining parishes on his elder daughter Cecily, wife of Sir William Throckmorton, Bt., while his younger daughter Joan, wife of John Vaughan, received estates that he owned elsewhere in the Forest area. (fn. 43)
Sir William Throckmorton (d. 1628) was succeeded in the Clearwell estate by his son Sir Baynham (d. 1664) (fn. 44) who paid a large fine to recover his estate from sequestration after the Civil War but forfeited it again later, buying it back in 1653. Before his death Sir Baynham apparently made the estate over to his son and heir, and the son, also Sir Baynham, was still in debt in 1672 as a result of the recovery of the estate. (fn. 45) The younger Sir Baynham Throckmorton died c. 1680, having provided for his estate to be sold for the benefit of his wife Catherine and his daughters. In 1684 James Stephens agreed to purchase the estate but died before completion, and in 1698 Catherine, her daughter Catherine Wild, her stepdaughter Carolina Scrymsher, and Stephens's widow Barbara sold Clearwell to Francis Wyndham. (fn. 46) From Francis Wyndham (d. 1716) the estate passed in the direct male line to John (d. 1725), Thomas (d. 1752), (fn. 47) and Charles. Charles Wyndham inherited the Glamorganshire estates of Dunraven Castle and Llanvihangel, and under the will of the uncle who left him the latter he took the surname Edwin. He died in 1801, when he was succeeded by his son Thomas Wyndham (d. 1814). Thomas was succeeded by his daughter Caroline, wife of Windham Henry Quin of Adare (co. Limerick), who took the additional surname Wyndham. W. H. Wyndham Quin, who had the courtesy title of Viscount Adare from 1822 and succeeded to the earldom of Dunraven and Mount-Earl in 1824, died in 1850; Caroline, countess of Dunraven, retained Clearwell until her death in 1870. (fn. 48) Under family trusts the estate passed before 1876 to the countess's grandson Windham Henry Wyndham Quin, who with the trustees conveyed it c. 1882 to John Eveleigh Wyndham (fn. 49) (d. 1887). (fn. 50)
In 1893 the Wyndham trustees sold the estate to Henry Collins, whose mortgagees later secured possession (fn. 51) and in 1907 offered the estate for sale. It then comprised Clearwell Court and 14 farms in Newland and St. Briavels, a total of 2,300 a. (fn. 52) A large portion, comprising Noxon and Trowgreen farms and Noxon Park wood, was sold in 1907 to the Crown Commissioners of Woods, and a larger portion to Col. Alan Gardner, the tenant of Clearwell Court. Gardner died a few days after completing the purchase and his executors sold his estate in 1910 to James Lewis. Lewis sold the farms in 1912 to the Commissioners of Woods, (fn. 53) having sold the house and its park the previous year to Charles Vereker, later Col. Vereker, who died in 1947. (fn. 54) In 1992 the Crown's Clearwell estate covered 487 ha. (1,203 a.), formed of Noxon, Longley, Platwell, and Wainland farms in Newland and Bearse farm in St. Briavels. (fn. 55)
From: 'Newland', A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 5: Bledisloe Hundred, St. Briavels Hundred, The Forest of Dean (1996), pp. 195-231. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=23260 Date accessed: 12 April 2010.
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Ἀριστοτέλης A Gloster & Hereford Boy in the Forest of Dean ><((((*>
History of Wyndham Arms, Clearwell pt 2
by slowhands , proud of his ancient Dean Forest roots, Monday, April 12, 2010, 06:51 (5418 days ago) @ slowhands
Philip Joce had a house at Clearwell in 1324 (fn. 56) but John Greyndour had a house in Newland village in 1414, (fn. 57) and the owners of the estate may not have been consistently resident at Clearwell until the time of Robert Greyndour, the first to be styled of Clearwell rather than of Newland. (fn. 58) In 1443 Robert's house at Clearwell comprised hall, chapel, 12 chambers, buttery, pantry, and cellar, besides farm buildings. (fn. 59) It was presumably at the site of Clearwell Court, south-west of the village, which remained the principal residence of the owners of the estate until the early 19th century when the Wyndhams lived also at Adare and Dunraven. (fn. 60) Clearwell Court had 21 hearths in 1672, (fn. 61) and c. 1710 was a rambling structure, presenting a long multigabled front to the west. It was mainly of the 17th century but probably of several different builds within that period. (fn. 62) It was rebuilt by Thomas Wyndham c. 1728 from designs by Roger Morris (fn. 63) as a large mansion in castellated Gothick style. Initially it was of few rooms, with a two-storeyed centre recessed between short three-storeyed wings, all on a high basement. The windows of the principal floor have twocentred heads with simple Y tracery above mullions and transoms, those of the first floor having square heads within mullions and transoms and all having hood mouldings. At the outer angles there are diagonal buttresses, and the roof is hidden by an embattled parapet bearing the Wyndham crest. In the mid 18th century additions, including a long axiallyplaced library, were made at the rear of the house. It is not known how the interior was fitted: a number of surviving fireplaces in early 18th-century style have been attributed both to Morris and to the mid 19th century when the interior was altered for the countess of Dunraven by John Middleton. (fn. 64) North-east of the house, a stable range with a central carriageway and a screen wall and road gate are probably by Morris, but the east end of the stables appears to incorporate part of the 17th-century stables, and the lodges at each end of the screen wall are 19th-century additions. The terracing of the gardens is probably contemporary with the mid 19th-century refurbishment of the house. The house, which was usually called Clearwell Castle in the 20th century, was gutted by fire in 1929 and was repaired by Col. Vereker. After his death in 1947 it was left empty for some years, and fittings were removed and the fabric badly damaged by vandals. In 1952 the house was bought by Frank Yeates, (fn. 65) son of a former gardener on the estate, who spent many years restoring the house, the work being done by himself and members of his family. The Yeates family sold the house in the early 1980s, when it became a hotel. (fn. 66)
From: 'Newland', A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 5: Bledisloe Hundred, St. Briavels Hundred, The Forest of Dean (1996), pp. 195-231. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=23260 Date accessed: 12 April 2010.
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Ἀριστοτέλης A Gloster & Hereford Boy in the Forest of Dean ><((((*>
History of Wyndham Arms, Clearwell pt 2
by peteressex , Monday, April 12, 2010, 07:01 (5418 days ago) @ slowhands
Nice one, slowhands, you beat me to it by moments and with your usual grasp of access to detail!
History of Wyndham Arms, Clearwell
by peteressex , Monday, April 12, 2010, 06:59 (5418 days ago) @ dsteel
I think the current proprietors could help. The home page of the hotel's website (www.thewyndhamhotel.co.uk) refers to it as "our 13th century former manor house." On www.booking.com/hotel/gb/wyndhamarms.en.html it says "the building dates back to the 13th century". There is similar info on enjoy-gloucestershire.co.uk. Even if it's now on a registered title, there might well be historical deeds retained with the current title documents, of which the present owners, or their solicitors, would have knowledge. Difficult to believe these references to the 13th century are just hype.
History of Wyndham Arms, Clearwell
by slowhands , proud of his ancient Dean Forest roots, Tuesday, April 13, 2010, 06:44 (5417 days ago) @ dsteel
http://www.gloucestershirecamra.org.uk/pubs/glospubs/new/
The earliest reference to the inn is in 1347, in the reign of Edward III. A reference in Slater’s 1852 Coleford directory lists the pub as the Wymondham Arms. The Wyndham Arms was for a long time ran by Maynard and Louisa Keyse. Maynard held the license in 1903 and nearly 60 years later Louisa was still serving behind the bar. When John and Rosemary Stanford bought the Wyndham Arms back in 1972 for £20,000 it was, apparently, a dilapidated cider house. Over the next 24 years the couple worked hard building up the facilities and reputation of the Wyndham Arms and in 1997 it was put on the market for £1.5 million.
A report in the Gloucester Citizen (17th June 1997) stated that: “when John and Rosemary purchased the run down Grade II listed building it was taking just £150 a week. Now they serve 40,000 meals each year, put £20,000 a week into the tills, employ 32 staff and have 17 luxury bedrooms.” When John and Rose Stanford finally retired in 2002 they were the longest serving licensees in the Forest of Dean. Their son Robert took over the running of the Wyndham Arms for a further five years.
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Ἀριστοτέλης A Gloster & Hereford Boy in the Forest of Dean ><((((*>
History of Wyndham Arms, Clearwell
by dsteel , Friday, April 16, 2010, 12:43 (5414 days ago) @ slowhands
Many thanks to those who posted replies to my query re the history of the Wyndham Arms, Clearwell.
David Steel
History of Wyndham Arms, Clearwell
by tonyjenkins , Sunday, April 18, 2010, 14:17 (5412 days ago) @ dsteel
Hi David
Based on your copy of the 1840 Tithe map I have tried to recreate the route of the 1861 census numerator based on the fact that my Peter Jenkins lived in the cottage between plots 1915 and 1918
In my opinion the 1861 numerator walked down Newland Street as follows
plot 1919 Thomas Williams
plot 1920 John George
plot 1922 Richard and Susannah Jenkins (my 3x GGrandparents)
plot 1922a Thomas Morgan (Wyndham Arms)
The numerartor the crossed the road to
plot 1915 Thomas Williams
plot ? Peter and Esther Jenkins (my 4x GGrandparents)Red on your Tithe map
plot 1918 Margaret Jones
He then continued up the north side of Newland street towards The Lamb
The 1860 census for Clearwell was completed in two parts the second coming down from Clearwell Castle to the cross then turning right towards the Chapel of Ease
For interest Plot 1922 is made up of a cottage (attached to the Wyndham Arms and a seperate barn type building). The attached cottage is now used by the Wyndham arms as their kitchen. The seperate barn has an open area to the right. I believe this barn was used for the preparation and dressing of stone used to build Clearwell Church. If my theory is correct it would match the trade followed by Richard Jenkins(Stone cutter/Mason)
Hope this helps
Regards
Tony Jenkins