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| In 1812 the site of the present hotel came up at auction as part of a 23 acre lot containing a cottage & carpenters lodge. The sales description predicted accurately that it had "the capability of being made into a highly ornamental & picturesque residence".
Attracted by the lands "extensive views & rich quality", as well as parish rates averaging 6d, a John Thomas Dawson purchased the land & built the original mansion four years later. |  |
| | After the death in 1850 the house passed to his eldest son the Reverend John Dawson & it was the clergyman's own demise twenty years later which led to a macabre attempt to settle a dispute over inheritance.
The Reverend was widowed with several children to raise & so married his housekeeper Alice who also bore him several children. Upon his death he left Woodlands to John his son by Alice rather than to his elder children & there was no sign of a will.....so causing a lasting furore in the village. Finally to allay persistant rumours that legal papers had been placed in the coffin of the Reverend his body was exhumed six years later! |
| |  | Reporting on the grisly occurrence, the local newspaper revealed "The carpenter who had screwed down the lid averred that previous to this being done the nurse who had attended the deceased in his last illness placed under his body a bundle of documents tied with red tape".
It took all night to lift the gravestone while constables stood by to keep back the sensation seekers. At last the coffin was broached to reveal the documents as no more than love letters which had passed between the Reverend & his first wife-these had been placed there at his dying request. |
| | | Subsequently the property passed into the hands of the local Justice of the Peace, William Long Fitzpatrick, who may have been related to the Novel Irish Family that inherited nearby Ampthill Park in 1736 & provided three Members of Parliament for Bedfordshire over the ensuing 80 years. It was William who commissioned the Manor we see today, built by the local architects Usher & Anthony. The date of the building-1901-and the Fitzpatrick family crest are displayed over the main entrance. |
| | | After World War II the Manor was used as a guest house & as a hospital for the Ministry of Supply. Later it was used as a research established for a time before becoming a hotel in 1973. |
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| | An exclusive location just outside of Bedford. The Manor House Hotel is found within acres of woodland and gardens. |
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