Wymering Manor

The oldest building in Portsmouth

Wymering Manor is the oldest surviving building in Portsmouth, with origins dating back to at least the twelfth century and possibly earlier. The grade II* listed manor house stands on Old Wymering Lane in the Wymering district of Cosham, surrounded by later housing that has grown up around it over the centuries.

The manor has a complex architectural history. The core of the building is a medieval hall house, with thick stone walls and the remains of a medieval roof structure. Tudor and Stuart additions extended the building, and later modifications adapted it for use as a farmhouse. The result is a building that tells the story of a thousand years of English domestic architecture in its fabric, from the rough masonry of the Norman period to the brick additions of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

The manor of Wymering was recorded in the Domesday Book, though the present building dates from somewhat later. The manor passed through various hands over the centuries, reflecting the changing patterns of land ownership in Hampshire. By the modern period, the building had declined from its status as a manorial hall to a working farmhouse, and its historical significance was not fully appreciated until the twentieth century.

In the mid-twentieth century, Wymering Manor was used as a youth hostel, providing accommodation for walkers and travellers exploring the south coast. This use kept the building occupied and prevented it from falling into complete dereliction, but maintenance was minimal and the fabric deteriorated.

Local campaigners formed the Wymering Manor Trust to advocate for the building's preservation and restoration. The trust has worked to raise awareness of the manor's significance, to secure funding for repairs and to find a sustainable long-term use for the building. The task is substantial, as centuries of under-investment have left the building in need of significant structural and cosmetic work.

Wymering Manor is a remarkable survival. That a building of this age and significance stands in a suburban housing estate in one of the most densely populated cities in England is extraordinary, and its preservation matters not just locally but nationally.