At the northern end of the west wing, there is an undercroft from the previous medieval manor house which occupied the same site, which is a scheduled ancient monument (SM 27145).

The buildings are situated at a high point in the local landscape, 400 yards (370 m) south of the River Chess, which forms the boundary between Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire.

The general area shows evidence of occupation in Roman times, including a villa found to the north east of the church, which was occupied between the 1st and 4th centuries AD.

The church of St Michael stands directly to the east of the current manor and has parts dating back to the 12th century, although it was extensively reconstructed at later times.

The Sapcote family was on the losing side with Richard at Battle of Bosworth Field, where Henry VII claimed the throne for the House of Tudor.

[5] On the occasion of his marriage to Anne and acquisition of Chenies, the king gave him a wedding present of the neighbouring Manor of Amersham.

Part of the Chenies lands were enfeoffed, transferred to a new landholder in exchange for taking on feudal obligations which came with the manor.

Sir John Leland visited the house in 1544 and wrote: One of the deer parks is described in a lease made in 1571 as covering 484 acres.

Francis had been part of the attempt to place Lady Jane Grey on the English throne instead of the catholic Mary, and as a result had been imprisoned and then exiled.

He took part in the Battle of St. Quentin (1557), which involved Spanish and French forces, and had recovered some royal favour by the end of Mary's reign.

Records exist of a survey of the house listing repairs and alterations in preparation for the visit, including 18 square feet of glass for the Queen's rooms.

An inventory of Chenies was drawn up for the purposes of a sale of household goods and reveals many details about the house: It had nine principal bedrooms, three kitchens and an armoury with equipment for fifty men.

By this time the Russell family had developed their estates in London (Bloomsbury and Covent Garden) as well as their other holdings around the country, and Chenies was very much a backwater to their personal and financial lives.

However, the family continues to this day to be buried in the Bedford Chapel[5] on the north side of Chenies parish church, next to the manor house.

In 1749 Horace Walpole visited the house, and reported that it consisted of buildings on three sides of a quadrangle, in very poor repair with some of the roofs missing.

Immediately outside the gates is the parish church of St Michael on the north side of which is the private Bedford Chapel, built by Anne Sapcote, the widow of the 1st Earl, as requested in his will.

Architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner visited the manor house in the 1960s and described it as: "Beautifully mellow under the trees by the church, and archaeologically a fascinating puzzle."

[5][10] It was known at the start of this process that the existing west and south wings had formed parts of a much larger building which was partially described in old documents.

It was believed that there had most probably been a quadrangle with north and east wings and a grand gatehouse, later demolished when the building ceased to be owned by such a wealthy family.

Attention then turned to the northern side of the supposed quadrangle, and evidence was indeed found for a substantial Tudor building, broadly in line with the adjacent St Michael's church and extending towards it as had been described historically.

Seven timbers from the roof of the long gallery were positively identified to have precise felling dates in the range 1547–1552, suggesting construction during the year 1552.

[5] The evidence from the roof timbers suggests that at the time of the royal visit by Henry VIII, the southern wing had not existed.

The excavations revealed evidence that the central block had originally had a straight northern face, overlooking formal gardens further north, which had then been remodelled with bay windows.

Taken with the existence of the Tudor and medieval buildings, plus the adjacent church, it is reasonable to assume this was also the site of Isenhamsted Manor.

It has also been used for scenes in dramatisations of classic period novels such as by Jane Austen and more recently the TV serial Little Dorrit, based on the eponymous book by Charles Dickens, in 2008.