Shall We Dance?

Two Georgian manors are excellent for large parties, not to mention riding and fruit-picking, and another in the South Downs was once home to a maharajah

BUILT in the late 18th century with early- and late-20th-century extensions, Grade ii-listed Bartley Manor at Bartley, three miles from lyndhurst, Hampshire, is one of few Georgian manor houses to be found within the bounds of what is now the New Forest National Park.

It was precisely this attribute that attracted the attention of Bartley Manor’s current owners, who were looking for a house in the New Forest when, in 2000, a picture of the manor in a Winchester estate agent’s window caught their eye—and fired their imagination. Having bought the house with its former farm buildings and 30-odd acres of land in a ‘very rundown’ state, they embarked on a major programme of renovations.

Now, with downsizing on the agenda, a rejuvenated Bartley Manor has been launched on the market through Knight Frank (01962 677234) at a guide price of £4 million.

A handful of dedicated owners have left their mark on the manor, the longest tenure being that of the Maitlands, a distinguished military family from Devon. From the late 1850s until his death in 1926, the manor was home to Capt Reginald Paynter Maitland of the Royal Artillery, succeeded by his son, also Reginald. Exemplary service as a battery commander with the Royal Horse Artillery during the First World War saw the young officer awarded the DSO and Croix de Guerre and he retired with the rank of Lt-Col in 1932. He died at Bartley Manor in April 1939, aged 57.

Soon afterwards, a footnote in Country Life (August 26, 1939) announced that ‘Bartley Manor, a Georgian house in 48 acres on the fringe of the New Forest three miles from Lyndhurst Road Station, can be bought for £6,500, through Messrs Ralph Pay and Taylor. It is two miles from Bramshaw golf links’.