Manor Farmhouse & Moated Site, Fulbourn Road, Teversham

History of Manor Farmhouse Teversham

Listed building

Farm house of late C16 or early C17.

Moated site: Despite partial infilling of the ditch, the moated site at Manor Farm survives well. The island is largely undisturbed and will retain buried evidence for structures and other features relating to its former use. The buried silts in the base of the ditches will contain both artefacts relating to the period of occupation and environmental evidence for the appearance of the landscape in which the moated site was set.

There were at least four cottages on the farm occupied in the earlier 20th century. One of these, no. 4 was lived in by a Mrs Starling who seems to have taken in evacuees during WWII.

Corney Grain was a popular Victorian entertainer who was born and brought up at Manor Farm. He was born in 1845.

His father John Grain was the biggest farmer in the village. He was also a churchwarden, parish representative on the Poor Law Board of Guardians and chairman of their finance committee. There were seven farming families in 1851. By 1881, all except one had left the village.

1851

John Grain, 44, wodower, Manor Farm, 560 acres, 28 men and 1 boy.

1861

John Grain was farming 408 acres. Most of the land was rented from Gonville and Caius College but he also ha 60 acres from Pembroke College.

1862

John Grain gave up his holdings. William Fison took over Manor Farm from Gonville and Caius; John Fison took over the Pembroke College Farm. The Fison family were involved in numerous enterprises, in particular the extraction of coprolite and the development of other new fertilisers. They also tried their hand at inventing new agricultural equipment.

1871

John Fison, landowner agricultural machinist, coprolite raiser, founder

John Fison made an impact on life in Teversham becoming chairman of the Parish Vestry and serving as churchwarden. He employed many labourer; in 1871 he had 104 on his books.

1876 catastrophic fire at Manor farm. Damage was roughly £2,000. Half fell on the landlord, Gonville and Caius, but £1,000 fell to Fison and he was not insured. In 1878 he gave up his lease and in 1881 left England for Central America.

1881 Thomas Tuddenham, tenant of farm.