History Is Present

Grafton Manor

Grafton Manor was built in the village of Grafton Regis in the south Northamptonshire.

Gradton Manor in The White Queen

From 1100 to 1348, the manor was in the hands of a Norman monastery whose bailiff or lessee probably occupied the house. It wasn’t until 1440 that the mansion officially became a 'manor house' which belonged to the Woodville family during which time the village was known as Grafton Woodville.

The manor was the birthplace of Elizabeth Woodville, queen consort to King Edward IV. Elizabeth was the first commoner to marry a King of England. Elizabeth was born on the 3^rd February 1437 to Richard Woodville and Jacquetta of Luxembourg, the Dowager Duchess of Bedford. Her siblings were also born at the family home: Lewis Woodville (c. 1438), Anne Woodville (1438/9 – 30 Jul. 1489), Anthony Woodville, (c. 1440 – 25 Jun. 1483), John Woodville (c. 1444 – 12 Aug. 1469), Jacquetta Woodville (1445–1509), Lionel Woodville (c. 1446 – Jun. 1484), Eleanor Woodville (d. c. 1512), Margaret Woodville (c. 1450 – 1490/1), Martha Woodville (d. c. 1500), Richard Woodville (1453 – Mar. 1491), Edward Woodville, (1454/8 – 28 Jul. 1488), Mary Woodville (c. 1456 – 1481), and Catherine Woodville (c. 1458 – 18 May 1497).

Elizabeth and her two boys Thomas & Richard Grey

The Woodvilles were an respectable family, were genteel rather than noble, a reasonably-landed and wealthy family that had previously produced Commissioners of the Peace, Sheriffs, and MPs rather than peers of the realm. Richard Woodville was a knight and his father had made a good career in royal service, rising to be Chamberlain to John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford and Richard followed in his father footsteps into service with the Duke, and so first met Jacquetta of Luxembourg who at the time was the Duchess but would become his wife later on.

Elizabeth met King Edward on the road to Northampton to plead for the protection of her widows' jointure and the rights of her sons and he was so ensnared by her feminine wiles that he wanted her to become his mistress but she refused anything except marriage and they were secretly married on the 1^st May 1464.

Elizabeth and Edward’s grandson Henry VIII stayed at Grafton with Anne Boleyn during a hunting trip giving “regis” to the village’s name. The manor is now a privately owned hospital.

Grafton Manor seems a lovely place and I would love to visit it one day.