About Sulgrave Manor

Built by Direct Ancestors of
George Washington

In 1540 the Crown sold three manors, including Sulgrave, to Lawrence Washington, a wool merchant who in 1532 had been Mayor of Northampton. Washington’s descendants retained the manor until 1659, when one of them sold it.

In 1656 a descendant, John Washington of Purleigh, Essex, emigrated to the Colony of Virginia. He is noted for being the great-grandfather of George Washington, who from 1775 commanded the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War and in 1789 was elected first President of the United States.

Deep Historical Connection

Lawrence Washington had Sulgrave Manor built in about 1540. It is at the northeast end of the village, built of local limestone, with a southwest front, a kitchen and buttery, a great hall, and above it a great chamber and two smaller private chambers. Finds of what seem to be Tudor foundation stones up to 50 ft (15 m) west of the current house suggest that the original building may have been substantially larger than the surviving house. The great hall has a stone floor, and its Tudor fireplace contains a salt cupboard carved with Lawrence Washington’s initials.

A Century of Peace

In 1914 the house was bought by public subscription to celebrate a century of peace between the UK and USA since the War of 1812. Under the direction of the architect Sir Reginald Blomfield the house was restored in 1920–30 and a new west wing was added in 1921 in symmetry with the surviving east wing. The house is open to the public and since 1997 has been administered by the Sulgrave Manor Trust.

In 1914 members of the British Peace Centenary Committee bought Sulgrave Manor through a public subscription and presented it to the peoples of England and the United States. This was to celebrate one hundred years of peace since the War of 1812, and to perpetuate their Anglo-American relationship. It’s important to note that 2012 marked 200 years of peace between the two countries.