​It is believed that the earliest parts of Uphill Manor were built in the late 1700’s, but the documented history begins in 1805 when the bulk of the Manor was completed. It was known as Uphill Castle. Purchased in 1853 by Thomas Tutton-Knyfton he added the drawing room, octagonal hall and tower in the Victorian High Gothic style - striking architecture with intricate stonework and stencilling. The wallpaper used in the drawing room was designed by Augustus Pugin in the 1840’s and is also used in the Palace of Westminster. The interior design of this new extension was carried out by JG Crace, a student of Pugin, and has been described as “one of the most complete Pugin inspired schemes in existence". Two others are Abney Hall near Manchester and Eastnor Castle in Herefordshire.

 

The Manor remained in the same family ownership from 1853 until 1993 when the last owner from that family, Marjorie Graves-Knyfton, a spinster, died. Uphill Manor was purchased by the current owners, Craig and Tina Kennedy, whose family has a long history of business in the area, including butchery, pubs, hotels and cheese processing!

 

We had little or no idea what we might do with The Manor other than to live there with our 2 daughters and son! We soon realised that we would need to do a little more towards the upkeep of such a property, so having completed the “domestic” wing for our use (formerly the servants quarters) our background in hospitality dictated our next step…a luxury Bed and Breakfast property. With limited funds but unlimited enthusiasm and significant experience, we embarked on this project with the help of many and varied tradesmen, craftsmen, labourers, friends and family.

 

The task of creating a unique Bed and Breakfast, a Country Hotel in Town, as some called it, was completed in 1997. We subsequently spent the next 20 happy and successful years running our “most unusual urban hotel in the country” looking after a huge variety of guests, many of whom became friends. Incidental to this we brought up our then young family in these wonderful circumstances.

 

In 2016 both the Manor and we, were devastated by a huge fire; luckily we were closed for the weekend so the building was empty. We were properly insured and there was no hesitation in embarking on a major rebuilding scheme which resulted in a wonderful restoration, completed in 2018, of all the historic features in the building and sensitive modernisation in other parts of the house which now boasts modern plumbing, heating and electrical services and of course efficient internet access.

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The Kennedy Family