History

Newbottle features in the Domesday book and there was certainly an earlier house on the present site of Newbottle Manor which was built about 1490.  Added to over the following 300 years, large parts were destroyed by fire in 1795.  What remained was converted into the present house in the middle of the 19th century.

Up to about 1500 the village of Newbottle had a population of some 200 inhabitants.  At that time the owner of the Manor enclosed the surrounding fields and moved the population a mile down the road to Charlton.  Now Newbottle has a population of 14 and Charlton about 500.  The small group of buildings at Newbottle now include the Manor, Church, the former Vicarage and a charming dovecote.  It is still possible to see the outline of where the original houses were.  Charlton is now a thriving village with an excellent primary school, village shop, post office and pub.

Brief History of the Newbottle Estate

F.E. Smith, the first Lord Birkenhead and his wife Margaret first came to Charlton in 1907 where they leased a farm house.  Over the following years the house was bought and extended.  They also developed the garden and two grass tennis courts were built which are still in use today.  Winston Churchill was a frequent visitor.

It wasn't until after the Second World War that the 2nd Lord Birkenhead and his wife started acquiring some of the surrounding land.  Over the following years the holding has been added to as opportunities arose.  At the present time the Estate owns 650 ha of land and 25 houses, some of which are occupied by Estate staff but most are let.

Newbottle Estate Today

All the houses at Newbottle are in the ownership of the Estate, including the Manor, the home of Mr John and Lady Juliet Townsend, grand daugher of F.E. Smith, which is now the centre of the Estate.  Other houses are mainly at Charlton including the Cottage and Holly House.  One of the more unusual properties is the Old Forge, run for nearly a hundred years by the Grant family.  It is still a working forge and at the present time occupied by Jonathan Whitrow.