Chenies Manor House & St. Michaels Church
Location: WD3 6ER
Chenies Village, formerly as Isenhampstead, took its name from the Cheyne family who were at that time in residence, having been granted manorial rights in 1180. The majority of today’s structure having been built in 1460. Henry VIII and his Queen at the time, Katherine Howard and Queen Elizabeth I have also been in residence here. John Russell, the 1st Earl of Bedford did some major extensions, having gained possession of the house via marriage and in 1427 the 3rd Earl of Bedford moved the family home to Woburn Abbey, leaving Chenies to be occupied by relatives. The house remained in Russell family possession until the 1950s until it was purchased by the present owners, the MacLeod-Matthews family. It is a beautiful and historically interesting house with wonderful gardens, which is still ongoing restoration work and definitely worth a visit.
The first Church on this site, dedicated to St. Michael, was built of wood and was possibly built by Alexander de Isenhampstead in the 12th century and later replace by the one here today in stone and flint by probably Sir David Phelip (elsewhere spelt Phillips), husband of Dame Agnes Cheyne. In his will he left four pounds “To fynyshe my building of the Parish Church of Chenies”.
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