The History of Manor Farm/Hardwick Hall, Hardwick (Oxfordshire)

Manor Farm in Hardwick (also known as Hardwick Hall) was built sometime between 1580 and 1643 by Sir Richard Fermor, the then Lord of the Manor. 

The Fermors leased the house to the Day family in the 18th century, and between 1793 and 1812, the property was occupied by the Collingridge family. Hidden inside the house is a priest hole, which were relatively common in large houses in days gone by!

In May 1932, the fire brigade were called out to the house, as two corn ricks and one straw rick in a rickyard close to the Manor were ablaze. Thankfully, the fire was extinguished, resulting in no damage being done to the house; it was then in the possession of Mr Vivian-Smith of nearby Tusmore House, although the Manor itself was unoccupied at this time.

Tusmore and Hardwick had a large percentage of Roman Catholics, who would worship at the Fermor family's chapel at Tusmore House, as well as in the attic of Hardwick Hall! The Fermors, along with the other tenants of the manor house, were all devout Catholics, and the property became a hub of worship for others in the locality until the Catholic chapel in Hethe was built in the 1830's.

I believe that Sir Richard Fermor was the same Richard Fermor, born in Somerton, who married Cornelia Cornwallis, and was the son of Thomas Fermor and his second wife, Bridget Bradshaw.

Thomas was born circa 1510, and died in August 1580.

Interestingly, it would appear that the Fermor surname actually comes from the maternal line; Richard's 2 x great grandmother was Agnes Fermor, who married Henry Ricardes in 1419. Richard's great grandfather - another Thomas Fermor - had been a wool merchant of Witney.

Through Sir Richard's wife, Cornelia Cornwallis, later generations of Fermors were actually descended from medieval Dutch noble dynasties, such as the van Amstels.

The name Fermor means 'tax-farmer' (someone who undertook the collection of taxes), and was first brought to England during the Norman Conquest, implying that the Oxfordshire Fermors may also have been descended from Norman/French nobility.

(Photograph courtesy of Geograph).

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