Wymering Manor

[2] In Saxon times, c.409, a tribal leader named Wimm lived near the shore of Paulsgrove Lake and may have included the land of Wymering Manor in his village.

[citation needed] The first recorded occupant of Wymering Manor was William Mauduit who probably came across with the invasion of 1066 from his home in Normandy and was involved in local research for the Great Survey of 1086 – known as the Domesday Book.

At the time of the Domesday Survey (1086) it was held by William the Conqueror in demesne as it had been by King Edward the Confessor, in connection with Portchester Castle.

Inside the manor is a spacious hall which is dominated by twin Jacobean staircases and gallery with barley sugar twist balusters.

Richard Harris died without issue and intestate in 1768, and the manor went to his nephew and heir at law, Lovelace Bigg, who in 1783 added to the property 127 acres (0.51 km2) by purchase from Lord Dormer.

Lovelace Bigg-Wither for £5000 to John Martin, who had long been tenant, and the rest of the property, comprising about 336 acres (1.36 km2) with house, was sold in 1858 to Rev.

The Reverend Nugee made major alterations to the manor, from which he ran a training college for overseas missions, as well as rebuilding Wymering Parish Church opposite, during his residence from 1859 and 1872.

[4] A local campaign resulted in the property being purchased by Portsmouth City Council in 1960, financed by selling off two-acres of the gardens for house construction and leasing of the building to the Youth Hostel Association.

[3] While serving as a YHA hostel, the Manor, which was upgraded to Grade II* listed in 2003, became a favourite of ghost hunters from across the UK.

[10] The Trust held the building's first community open day on 5 May 2013,[11] and subsequently received £50,000 from the People's Millions, a collaboration between the Big Lottery Fund and the ITV (TV network).

[10] although a local chartered surveyor had described it as a unique selling point likely to appeal to developers wanting to turn it into a guest house.

They will always be part of the manor but there is so much more to the house, as we give it a bigger, new life.The reported paranormal activity includes sudden drops in temperature, children whispering, furniture moving and apparitions of more than twenty ghosts.

[13] During the medieval period, according to local legend, Sir Roderick of Portchester rode to the manor to take advantage of a young bride who had been left alone on her wedding night when her new husband had been called away by an emergency.

broadcast on 24th June 2006 as part of its Panic in Portsmouth strand, which also included episodes from Southsea Castle and the Royal Marines Museum.