Chenies Manor House

Chenies Manor House, at Chenies, Buckinghamshire, southern England, a Grade I Listed Building, known formerly as Chenies Palace, was owned by the Cheyne family who were granted the manorial rights in 1180. His widow, Lady Agnes Cheyne, left the manor house in a contested will to her niece, Anne Semark, wife of Sir David Phelip in 1494.

It is believed Chenies passed to the Semark family, of Thornhaugh Northamptonshire to re-promote the family at court. The Sapcote family was on the side of Richard at Bosworth. Phelip married Ann Semark after Bosworth, Phelip had a close friendship with the Cecil's of Burghley, the Cecil's and Semark were kin.

Additions were made to the house in 1526 by John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford and in 1560 it was restyled by Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford, who had made it his principal home. Henry VIII was entertained here, as was Queen Elizabeth I in 1570. The manor remained in the possession of the Russells until 1954 and is now the Macleod Matthews family home.

It is open to the public at limited times, being still used as a private house most of the time. It includes a medieval well, a dungeon and a reputed priest hole. In 2004 the British TV series, Time Team, undertook an archeological dig here. It is noted for its surrounding gardens,...
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