Sulgrave Manor

Thursday a group from the SJWWC Women’s Club visited Sulgrave Manor, the home of George Washington ancestors. It was the 275th anniversary of George Washington’s birth and Gwyn Davies our wonderful guide showed us around this wonderful example of a manor house of Tudor Times. In 1539 the manor was bought by from Henry VIII. For the next 120 years Lawrence Washington’s descents were to live in the house. In 1656, his great, great grandson Colonel John Washington (a royalist!) left England to take up land in Virginia. Col. Washington was the Great Grandfather of George Washington, first President of the United States of America. The parts which remain of the original Washington house are to the south, the porch and screens passage and the Great Hall on the ground floor, the Great Chamber and two smaller rooms above. In 1914, Sulgrave Manor was presented by British and American donors to the peoples of Great Britain and the United States of America, in celebration of the hundred years peace between the two nations. In 1924, the National Society of Colonial Dames of America generously endowed the Manor House and started it on its road as a place of education and history!
The tour was very entertaining and enlightening. We got to see a handle from George Washington’s coffin, learn that the Welsh were indeed involved in the war of 1812 and the most beautiful embroided bed hangings I think I have ever seen. I can hardly sew on a button but they alone are worth the visit to the Sulgrave Manor.