The Rectory / Thorpe Mandeville Court

Thorpe Mandeville Court, on the opposite side of Bulls Lane to the Manor, is the former Rectory (above photograph, 2009). 

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The house is believed to have 17th century origins but it has been materially extended – no doubt when the church received capital or land in lieu of tithes. For many years it was the home of the Humfrey family who provided five generations of rectors between 1727 and 1902 with only one gap of 19 years. Memorials in the church recognise their contribution to the parish. The Rectory was also used as a boarding school for boys by Rev’d Algernon Humfrey during the late 19th century. The 1901 census records the family having a cook and two servants.

The Rectory was sold into private hands by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in 1923. 

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In the same year the Commissioners also sold a terrace of three cottages subsequently known as Court Cottages which were later converted into one dwelling, Court’s Farthing.

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(Old photographs courtesy of the Humfrey family and later photographs courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. J. B. Greenhalgh)

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