Reginald Stanley's mansion house as it looked c.1910*.	A map of the Manor Court and grounds**	Invitation to meeting of the Abbey Lodge branch of the Freemasons, Dec 5th 1922 George Helps, Manor Court owner from 1915-1951, was Master of the Knights of Malta, Lodge of Freemasons.

Situated close to the heart of Nuneaton town is a small area of unspoilt woodland through which flows a pleasant stream, the Abbey brook. The brook at this point is an open watercourse, little changed for hundreds of years. Yet either side of this precious woodland it is culveted as it makes its way from Camp Hill to the River Anker. Set in this timeless oasis is a magnificent red brick mansion, built over one hundred years ago in 1895. The story of the house and its occupants forms the basis of our narrative. A story as interesting as any in Nuneaton.

One hundred and fifty years ago Manor Court as we know it today did not exist. It is true that there was a track across the fields from the Cock and Bear through the Abbey ruins to the top of Abbey Street and this was an ancient thoroughfare but in the early part of the 19th century it was simply used as a short cut from the wharf at the Cock and Bear bridge to Abbey Green, mainly for pack horses with panniers of coal from the various pits in the Stockingford area. It was unmetalled and at various times unpassable.

The most interesting feature where the remains of the Abbey which straddled both sides of the trackway. Those remnants on the north side are now largely obliterated and those on the south side are partially incorporated into St. Mary’s Abbey Church. At one time a stream, almost a river, at certain times of the year, had run in an open channel from the Barpool down into Nuneaton town centre. This stream was a great cause of annoyance to local people as it overflowed after heavy rain and flooded was is now called Queens Road, but was then appropriately known as Wash Lane, for it was often indeed “all awash”. This stream had been so important at one time that it had been dammed twice or possibly three times as it travelled just a very few miles from start to finish. Vernons Lane follows the rim of one dam and Pool Bank Street gets its name from being built on the site of a mill pond of some kind.

By 1891 Manor Court Road had been partially constructed at the Abbey Street End, probably the short distance down to where the Baptist Church is, although that had not been built them, and in that year permission was sought to extend the road from there right the way through to the Cock and Bear. In 1892 the work was complete and a new road constructed 450 yards long and 50’ 0” wide throughout at a cost of £1300. In the same year new trees were planted along its whole length of half a mile. Looking at it now it is clear that this road was to be the most salubrious address in Nuneaton. New villas and stylish Victorian terraces sprang up along its length inhabited by the great and the good of the town.

The open fields on the north side were owned by the lords of the Manor, the Tomkinson family, who sold good building plots off. Bit by bit.

The story of Reginald Stanley, the brickmaker, is well known. By the 1890’s he had purchased some ground in Manor Court Road from Rt. Hon. James Tomkinson whose family resided at Willington Hall, Cheshire. The land was opposite the Abbey Church, and scattered about the fields were remnants of old Abbey outbuildings, by this time reduced to their foundations after generations of Nuneaton people had found the derelict building a convenient “quarry” for pre-cut stone.

Some local historians have said that amongst these buildings was a mansion styled ‘le Habyte’ or a manor house, parts of which are said to have remained as late as the 17th century. It was referred to in documents as late as 1786.

This is apparently how Manor Court got its name, and this name was used as early as the beginning of the 19th century.

Mr. Stanley commissioned a Birmingham architect Mr. W. Yates to design his new house and appointed Mr. Thomas Smith of Chilvers Coton, the town’s most prominent builder, to carry out the work. The specification called for a three storey dwelling with twelve bedrooms. Many of the materials were made in Mr. Stanley’s own factories. Red and blue bricks, glazed bricks, tiles, chimney pots, finials, sanitary pipes, and glazed wares such as sinks and sanitary ware all made at his Stockingford brickyards. The iron water pipes, gutters, manhole covers and gully gratings manufactured at the Nuneaton Engineering Company, also owned by Reginald Stanley.

The house was set in landscaped gardens laid out by his personal chauffeur, groom and gardener, Mr. Albert West. Adjoining the house was a coachhouse, stables and a smithy. Mr. West drove Mr. Stanley’s automobile, the first car in the district.

The large lawn at the rear of the premises became well known as a venue for open air Wesleyan circuit meetings; and for fetes and parties given to the numerous poor children of the area.

In 1895 Mr. Stanley and his wife Maria Octavia, left their old home in Church Street, Attleborough to take up residence at the Manor Court.

It was during these boom years in Stanley’s fortune, that the great business men of the Nuneaton area, met to map out their future in Nuneaton’s expansion in the billiards room of the Manor Court.

Kit Eliot the cook must have taken great pleasure, in preparing meals for Mr. Tomkinson, Mr. Swinnerton, Mr. Greatorex, Mr. Stubbs, Mr. Knox, Mr. Coleman, Dr. Nason, Mr. Melly, Mr. Fielding Johnson amongst many others.

Mrs. Stanley only enjoyed her new home at Manor Court for three years as she died on December 10th 1898. Crisis for Reginald Stanley came with the Boer War (1899-1902). He had South African mining interests and it is understood the loss of these interests prejudiced his financial position in Nuneaton. To such an extent that his fellow directors gradually grew into a position of power over him, and this consequently brought about his retirement at Managing Director of Stanley Brothers Ltd in 1908. It seems that shortly after this date Mr. Stanley moved out of the Manor Court into another property in Manor Court Road and following as stroke he moved into his retirement home, Milby Court in Bexhill-on-Sea. After his death on 18th July 1914 the property was sold by his executors for a reputed sum of £980 in 1915 to a Mr. George Helps.

George Helps was born in 1864 and was educated at Christ’s Hospital in London. In his early days he was a reporter on the Bath Herald newspaper. Through the influence of his uncle who was engineer to the Bath Gas Company, he secured a position with that utility and shortly thereafter obtained a position as an engineer to the Hastings Gas utility. Later, he became assistant engineer and accountant to the Bahia Gas Company, South America and after two and a half years he moved to Portugal where he joined the Gas, Coke & Light Company of Portugal.

In 1894 he returned to England to become manager of the Hinckley Gas Works and in 1896 came to Nuneaton to take up a similar position. In 1901 he was living at Lansdowne Terrace, Manor Court Road.

His leisure activities included being a Master of the Knights of Malta, Lodge of Freemasons. It is probable that during his first years in Nuneaton he met and married his second wife Mary, the sister of Mr. Joseph Phillips proprietor of Ansley Hall Coal & Iron Co. Ltd. He had a son, George, by his first marriage but we do not know who his first wife was.

George Helps had four children by his second marriage, Joyce, Betty, Garside and Maurice. Mary Helps employed several staff at the Manor Court including a Mr. Wetherall (caretaker gardener) and a Mrs Johnson who was thought to be the daughter of Reginald Stanley’s cook-housekeeper, Kit Eliot.

Helps had a verifiable reputation as an inventor and innovator in the Gas industry and amongst the stories told about him was that Mr. Teddy Knox, director and general manager of the Arley Colliery gave him a load of unsaleable coal from the colliery to see what he could do with it. Mr. Helps using his expert knowledge of the gas process put some in to a retort and managed, after several days’ experimentation, and much to everyone’s concerned amazement, to produce a type of coal brickette and other by products which were then readily saleable.

It is said that George Helps had a remarkable physical resemblance to Winston Churchill, and during the 1940s, according to Norman Porter, Mr. Helps’ secretary at the time, that on visits to London on business, he was frequently accosted and mistaken for the war time leader.

During the 1920s and 30s the Manor Court was the scene of many business and social events. A Miss F. Clay later Mrs. F. Darcy Tremlett (whose husband was a director of one of the Hartshill quarries) was one of several young debutantes of the day who attended various balls that were held there.

The Helps family were one of the horsey set and belonged to the local hunt associations. This group included members of the Knox family, the Bournes and the Frenches of Hall & Phillips hat factory, Povey Harpers, Atkins of the Hinckley hosiery factory, etc. At this time a Mr. Salisbury was groom / gardener and he often received the assistance of Mr. Vertigan (groom to the Phillips of Ansley Hall Colliery fame) in the caring and grooming of Mr. Helps’ equine stock.

When Maurice Helps married Sue Povey Harper it was acclaimed as one of the grandest occasions of the Nuneaton social calendar.

During the second world war many bombs fell on Nuneaton and one night Manor Court road was badly damaged by bombing, many houses being destroyed and blast damage over a wide area. Fortunately Manor Court was almost undamaged, hardly a window was cracked. The stable block roof, however, collapsed, and had to be rebuilt.

In 1947 George Helps sold his interest in the Nuneaton Gas Company and retired. Frequent visitors to the Manor Court were Canon Sinker and his wife. A regular feature at Christmas time were singers from the Abbey church who sang carols in the hall way of the house.

In 1951 Mrs. Helps died, and not many months later Mr. George Helps passed away. They were both interred in their family vault in Ansley Church.

In 1950 Mr. W. B. Cocks, due to ill health, asked the rotary Club if it would be prepared to take over trusteeship of the residue of the late Alderman, R. W. Swinnerton’s estate. The whole estate had been largely dealt with except for a sum of £8500 which had been bequeathed for an old people’s home. Following the death of Mr. Helps it was learned that the Manor Court was on the market for the sum of £6500. However, a major obstacle was the cost of re-furbishing, altering and re-equipping the home which was estimated to cost in July 1953, approximately £21,000. Apart from the purchase price the main costs were £2,700 for re-wiring and plumbing, £2,500 for equipment and furnishings, and £8,276 for alterations and re-decoration. The Swinnerton Trust provided £8,872 and a grant was obtained for £3,000 from the National Council for the Care of Old People.

The object of the Trust was to provide and maintain a home for elderly people, who were not able to look after themselves, but not in need of continuous nursing.

After a lot of hard work by Rotarians, members of the Inner Wheel, Business & Professional Women’s Club and the Soroptomists etc. plus the selling off of ground and timber within Manor Court, finance was raised to purchase the property, and convert the house into a 24 bed roomed home for the elderly. Trustees appointed were Mr. E. J. Garner JP (chartered accountant), Mr. L. H. Lester (chemist) and Mr H. N. Jepson (architect), the home being administered by a management committee. Mr. S. Drakeley became Honorary Secretary. In November 1954 the first residents were accepted for a £4.4s.0d. weekly charge.

Following Mr H. N. Jepson, another Rotarian, Mr. A. J. Riley (clothier) took his place. Mr. Riley became Chairman of the Committee, until succeeded by Rotarian, Peter Douglass (London Brick Company).

In 1960 the coach house and stable block were converted into flats, and the large orchard razed to the ground. Lock up garages were erected, the income from these, helping towards the upkeep of the house.

Amongst the first members of staff appointed to run the home were Miss Arrowsmith, matron in charge, Mrs. Wardle, cook; Fred Lovett, gardener and Gladys Hampton, domestic assistant who was to be employed at the home for 26 years.

Some of the earliest residents were: Mrs. Ellison; Mrs. E. Cook; Mrs. O. Bull; Mrs. A. Slingsby (of the ribbon and regalia manufacturers); Mrs. M. Aucott (from the family of the late Hinckley Brewery). Later came Mrs. F. Betts (wife of C. H. Betts, headmaster of Manor Park School and local historian etc); Miss G. Betts (a former teacher at Abbey Green School for some 40 odd years); Miss A. Colley (believed to be a former seamstress from Lord Sephton’s household); Mrs. Tipping (who was related to Whitehouse – the opticians); Mrs. Baker (of Baker’s the Chemist); Mr. Groose; Mr. J. Wright; Miss Lenton; Miss Birney; Mrs. F. Tremlett (the same Mrs. Tremlett who in her debutante days visited Manor Court at the time of George Helps). Mrs. Tremlett was well known for her love of animals and birds. Miss L. Butler (shopkeeper opposite the Ritz Cinema [now a Bingo hall] in Abbey Street); Miss Ruck (Arden Lodge and associated with Parsons & Sherwins); Mr. F. Hayes (ex-groom to Col. Atkins and the Povey Harpers), Miss P. Bourne (of Hall & Phillips hat factory) and Mrs. N .Brown.

The gardens and woodland surrounding the Manor Court home are of great interest to the naturalist. The mature trees which are such a splendid feature of the Manor Court setting can best be considered in conjunction with those in the vicarage grounds on the opposite side of the Manor Court Road. The vicarage was built in 1886 and an early photograph shows the then incumbent Rev. de Havilland with his family and gardeners at work. In 1892 Charles James Tomkinson gave the land for the recreation ground and it is known that Reginald Stanley contributed 72 trees. He was friendly with the Rev. de Havilland and so was almost certainly involved in the vicarage plantings. The vicarage trees included two rare Huntingdon elms which were felled in 1891 before elm disease could make its own claim.

When Reginald Stanley built the Manor Court at least fifteen tree species were planted including some interesting varieties. For example the beeches to the right of the entrance gate show quite contrasting foliage and in spring and autumn make a dramatic display.

1952 saw changes. The line of black poplars along the stream which each year supported a rookery were felled. A specimen oak was also cut down and its paddock gave way to houses.

Ten years later an interesting group of maples along the north east wall was taken and so was the apple orchard, being replaced by a block of garages. Apart from these calamities much of the original protective woodland still remains. The 55 yew trees forming a hedge on two sides of the former tennis courts are a nice feature. Whilst the massive plane tree at the entrance is positively awe inspiring. Amongst the many species of tree that can be found are; Hornbeam, Lime, Elms, Corsican Pine, Sycamore, Black Poplar and Yew. There are a variety of wild animals to be seen including Fox, Hedgehog, Pipistrelle Bats and Long Tailed Field Mice. Many birds have been recorded such as Heron, Lapwing, Dunlin, Swallow, House Martin, Redstart, Linnet, Wren, Goldfinches. In total 90 species of butterfly have been seen in the area including: Small Tortoiseshell, Meadow Brown, Ringlet and Common Blue. From those far off days when Stanley planted his woodland trees, [over] one hundred years ago, we are privileged to enjoy the wonderful result of his good judgement, faith and foresight right in the heart of town.

The Manor Court home is now an oasis of tranquillity, its lovely gardens and stream running through it a beautiful bit of old Nuneaton hemmed in by the ever encroaching suburbia of what has risen from a town of 11,580 people in 1891 to a small city with a combined population with Bedworth of 118,500. Long may it remain so.

Webmaster’s note: since the writing of this article, and since the production of the attached map, a semicircular road name “Earl’s Road” (most likely named after Robert, Earl of Leicester; who founded the local Abbey/Nunnery)  has been built with houses on both sides. This has encroached significantly upon the northerly gardens and woodland around the Manor Court, though the grounds still provide a pleasant and tranquil setting for the home.

The authors:

Reg Bowley has lived and worked at the Manor court for many years, was gardener and handyman there before his retirement. His wife, Doreen, and sister, Violet Pickering, were all employed as staff at the home. He has made a special study of the house and its two private occupants, Reginald Stanley and George Helps. Reg was a founder member of the Nuneaton Society. He has produced two booklets printed by the Nuneaton Society, one dealing with Reginald Stanley’s life and times in America and Nuneaton. Another featured the pioneer and brickmaker’s diary of his American exploits which were recently serialised. His quest for new information on the Manor House continues.

Harold Lapworth is another founder member of the Nuneaton Society who for many years maintained the Courtaulds clock, now sadly departed from the town. He is a lifelong conservationist and, with his sister Jean, are the leading heritage campaigners in the district.

Peter Lee is Vice Chairman of the Nuneaton Society and Chairman of the Nuneaton Family History Group. He specialises in industrial and architectural history.

The authors wish to acknowledge with thanks, the help of:

Mr. Bernard Stanley, Dr. D. Cruikshank, and Mrs. Thompson, Manager of the Manor Court home and Jean Lapworth.

*  By this time ivy had almost completely covered the walls giving it a dark and foreboding appearance. In later years the vegetation was removed to reveal Stanley Bros. red facing bricks and best terracotta work and this is how it remains today. ((c) Peter Lee collection)

** Since the writing of this article, and since the production of the attached map, a semicircular road name “Earl’s Avenue” has been built with houses on both sides. This has encroached significantly upon the northerly gardens and woodland around the Manor Court, though the grounds still provide a pleasant and tranquil setting for the home. ((c) Peter Lee)