of Mannings Hill

From Pinhills by P.D. Buckeridge and J.D. Pocock. 1941

Mannings Hill or Woodland (names now forgotten)
was a property smaller in area than Laggus and occupying
the sloping ground overlooking Bowood Lake. In the four-
teenth century " Wodeland " was in the hands of a certain
Will. Michel, who gave it to Phil. le Marler in 1328. The
Marlers sold their property to the Mannings, whose name
was associated with the place for years afterwards. They
were succeeded by the family of Gawen, Gawine, or Gawne,
who were in their turn followed by several generations of
the name of "Servaunte alias Ralfe ". In the eighteenth
century a certain Rogers of Bremhill was owner, but the
place was heavily mortgaged and later acquired by a
John Wilson. In passing it should be mentioned that, a
few years before Shelburne purchased Mannings Hill, the
Rogers family was possessed of ninety-three acres of land
in Coombe Grove which was sold to Shelburne in or about
1765.
John Wilson ("clerk, late of Bremhill ") bequeathed
Mannings Hill to the Master and Senior Fellows of Clare
Hall Cambridge, for the maintenance of " two poor
scholars " at that College. In his will, Wilson added the
condition " that if any of his kindred at any time stood to
be chosen by the said Master and Senior Fellows into the
said scholarships, being equally sober and learned, they
might have the pre-eminence".

The project of the lake necessitated the acquisition of
this property by Shelburne. To do so, however, a special
Act of Parliament had to be passed. All proceedines went
well and Shelburne was authorised to buy the "College
Land" which he did in 1766, for the sum of 1,074 pounds 18s6d.
on condition that the Rev. Peter Stephen Goddard, D.D.,
Master of Clare Hall, should invest the money in real estate
in order to continue to support the Wilson scholars.

Shelburne's transaction also brought him a " pew in Calne
Church belonging to the said capital messuage ".
Frequent references in Calne Parish Registers showthat there
was a considerable settlement at Mannings Hill,
prior to the construction of the lake. A number of the
cottages now lie beneath the water, and according totradition,
an old lady occupying one of them refused to leave
her dwelling until the rising waters of the lake reached her
hearth.

A few extracts from Lady Shelburne's diary describe
the lake in the making:-


"1766. June 17th. As soon as breakfast
was over we took a walk and were
vastly pleased with the ettect of the water, which flows
into a magnificent river,
and only wants now to rise to its proper
height, which it comes nearer to
every day"

" July 2nd. walked down to the head, which had
so nearly overflowed by the extaordinary rain,
that they have been forced to cut a passage for the
water into Farmer Cowley's field "

" 1767 April 17th. The work they are now
upon is leveling the lawn before the house to the
edge of the water."

After a period of nearly two centuries, since the com-
pletion of the lake, the plain marks of man's hand in this
work have been smoothed over by nature and the wide
extent of water appears as though it were indeed quite
natural.

Mannings Hill does not now exist, even in name; the
farmhouse at Laggus is used as two cottages: the Alders,
in name only, are fields representing a small area of the
farm with which they are included. This collection of
properties, shorn of its glories, presents from anhistorical
viewpoint an appearance of quiet decay, but is a pleasant
and interesting landscape notwithstanding. The farmhouse
at Pinhills, with its walls of grey mellowed stone andgabled
roof, overlooks this vale of meadowland, dotted with oaks
and elms. The windows of the facade look out over the
site of the old manor and afford a view of the coral ridge
guarding entrance to the vale of Chippenham, and beyond
the distant hills of the horizon.