East Markham's Royal Manor up for sale
EVER dreamt of living in a home with a past stretching back over 800 years?
Does local history interest you and are you enthralled by tales of England's favourite folk heroes – in particular, Robin Hood?
If so, and providing you've around 1million to splash out, East Markham's Royal Manor could be right up your street.
Currently on the market for a cool 900,000, it used to be owned by Robin's mortal enemy, the wicked King John, and it's only about five miles out of Retford.
Known as Kingshaugh – the King's Enclosure – the Royal Manor has enjoyed a chequered past.
Despite its one-time royal connections, not too long ago it came very close to being demolished after being left to rot for a number of years.
But now, having been lovingly refurbished and restored by present owners, furniture restorer Aubrey Elliot and his wife, painter Kathryn Elliot, it is once again in pristine condition, in need of a buyer who will preserve it for future generations.
The Royal Manor House was originally built as a small castle in the forest of Sherwood by followers of Richard the Lionheart.
But it was seized by his brother, John, who, in the 13th century spent over 500 – an enormous amount of money in those days – converting it into a hunting lodge together with a chapel.
He even enclosed a portion of Sherwood that surrounded it – around 340 acres in all – where he could come and hunt deer to his heart's content.
But this situation didn't sit too well with Robin and others like him. According to legend this was one of the many grievances Robin had against John, ultimately forcing him into life as an outlaw in the forests with his merry men.
The whole area is steeped in history and over the years the king was known to have visited Kingshaugh several times.
When it was known that he was coming to England to seize his possessions by force, Kingshaugh was one of the mansions fortified in readiness to resist him.
Local knights were pressed into service, including Robert Mallovel-de-Rampton who, in 1194 paid a fine of 20 marks for being a Knight of Earl John.
The property remained in the hands of the Crown for the next four centuries until it was finally sold in 1604 by James.
It eventually ended up in the hands of the Welby family from Lincolnshire. They built the present Jacobean manor house around the medieval walls.
Although the property is very old, if some of the artefacts discovered in the area are anything to go by, Kingshaugh goes back even further.
For starters, it sits on an Iron Age site – experts say its moats and earthworks are still visible – and flints and pottery fragments and even Roman remains have, over the years, been found around the buildings.
And It was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086.
Then in the 1960s the ownership of the Manor transferred to the Retford Co-operative Society, who farmed the estate for a while.
"But by 1988 when we bought it in an auction, it was a complete ruin," said Kathryn Elliot.
"We paid 102,000 for it and people thought we were mad. After all, it was an unheard price and the place was in the middle of nowhere."
But now, thanks to their dedication Kingshaugh has been lovingly restored to its former glory. However, it's taken 10 years and an enormous amount of money.
"We've installed 34 hand-made windows, 296 panes of glass, four oak doors and frames, 25 tonnes of flagstones and 7,500 Tudor bricks," said Kathryn.
But don't look for a lot of mod cons at the property – there's no central heating and no plastic windows – from the outside the place looks much as it did when it was built.
Having devoted all their time and energy on the house, the time has finally come for the Elliots to sell their beloved home.
Unfortunately, Kathryn became stricken with arthritis two years ago, stopping her from giving paying guests a tour of the property.
Once they find a buyer for Kingshaugh they are hoping to find a more manageable property on the North Wales coast.
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Wednesday 23 May 2012
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