of old Compton Verney House The first record of a settlement at Compton Verney was the late
Saxon manor of Compton, meaning "settlement in a valley" (combe-town). It had good communications, being served by the
Fosse Way, which runs north–south half a mile from the site and led originally from the
Roman settlements of
Cirencester to
Leicester. The
Domesday Book of 1086 lists Compton as two manors, the largest of which was among the many holdings of
Robert de Beaumont (c. 1049 – 1118),
Count of Meulan, one of the few proven companions of
William the Conqueror who fought at the
Battle of Hastings in 1066. It descended to his younger brother
Henry de Beaumont (d.1119) ("Henry de Newburgh") who granted the church as a
prebend to support one canon of the
Collegiate Church of St Mary. :
When this town was depopulated I cannot directly affirm but it seems to have been antiently for I find that our countreyman Rous hath it in the list of those whereof he so much complains.
Murdac At some time before 1150 the
manor was granted to Robert Murdac when it became known as
Compton Murdak, and was inherited by his descendants and thence to the heirs of the Murdak family. In 1370, after two hundred years of ownership by his family, Sir Thomas Murdak surrendered the estate to
Alice Perrers, mistress of King
Edward III.
Verney In about 1441 it was acquired by
Richard Verney (d.1489) with the assistance of his younger brother John Verney,
Dean of Lichfield, formerly
Rector of
Bredon in
Worcestershire, and supervisor and receiver-general to
Richard Beauchamp (1382–1439). The Verney family had begun acquiring lands in the area surrounding Compton Murdak in the 1430s before purchasing the estate. In about 1500 the
manor became known as Compton Verney. According to William Dugdale in his
Antiquities of Warwickshire (1656) a new
manor house was built in about 1442: with some others, by which it appeareth that he was one of those that adhered to the
House of Lancaster"''. The
Manor House was extended by succeeding generations as the family's fortune expanded. In 1695
Richard Verney (1621–1711) established his claim to the
Baron Willoughby de Broke before the
House of Lords, following the early death of his fifteen-year-old great-nephew
William Verney, only male descendant of his elder brother
Greville Verney, and moved from his
Rutland estate to live at Compton Verney. His son
George Verney (1659–1728) rebuilt the house and landscaped the gardens in the early 18th century.
John Peyto-Verney (1738–1816) completely remodelled the house to the design of
Robert Adam and the grounds to the design of
Capability Brown.
Watson Adverse financial circumstances forced the Verney family to let the house from 1887 to various tenants. Finally, it was sold in 1921 to the
Leeds soap magnate
Joseph Watson (d.1922) of Linton Spring near
Wetherby in
Yorkshire, who in 1922 was raised to the
peerage as "
Baron Manton of Compton Verney". He never lived in the house as he died in 1922 of a heart attack whilst hunting nearby with the
Warwickshire Foxhounds. His title was taken from his
horse-racing training establishment at
Manton near
Marlborough in
Wiltshire. He was buried nearby in the
churchyard of his estate at
Offchurch, Warwickshire. His eldest son and heir
Miles Watson (1899–1968) resided at Compton Verney for a short while, but soon sold it and moved to
Plumpton Place in
Sussex.
Other It then belonged to various owners before being requisitioned by the
War Office during the
Second World War. After the War, the house was never lived in again. It now belongs to the
Compton Verney House Trust who run it as an
art gallery. ==See also==