A joy to behold

Mary Miers retraces the history of Sausmarez Manor and marvels at the beauty of the house and its subtropical gardens.

- Mary Miers

SCION of diplomats, admirals, generals, politicians, colonial governors and adventurers, sportsman and inventor Peter de Sausmarez is the latest in his illustrious line to leave a mark on Guernsey's most ancient manorial seat, Sausmarez Manor. The de Sausmarezs first came here as Seigneurs of the Fief de Sausmarez in the 13th century, but their connection with the place might have died out had Philip de Sausmarez (1710-47) not been serving on HMS Centurion when it seized the Nuestra Senora de Covadonga off the Philippines in 1743. Philip, who played a leading role in the capture, was put in command of the highly prized Spanish galleon and sailed it to Canton, where it was sold. The cargo-36 cartloads of gold, silver and other treasures plundered in Acapulco-was divided up among the key participants and so great was its value that the de Sausmarez fortunes were transformed.

When Philip was killed at the second Battle of Cape Finisterre, he left his money to his brother, on condition that he buy back Sausmarez Manor, which had passed out of the male line in the 16th century. Thus, in 1748, this younger branch of the family regained its ancestral home. Some years later, the leading sculptor Sir Henry Cheere, who had carved the marble monument to Philip in Westminster Abbey, was commissioned to make a unicorn and greyhound for the Sausmarez Manor gate piers. Heralding the main entrance on the St Martin's to St Peter Port road, these splendid armorial beasts trumpet the family's reconnection with its Guernsey roots.