Built about 1130 by Payn Osmundsen, tenant of Aubrey de Vere. 1256 – 1490 owned by the de Grey family, then, amongst others, Edmund Dudley, Henry VII’s favourite and Richard Cromwell, Oliver’s grandfather. The beautiful Miss Gunnings, Maria and Elizabeth were born here in the 1730s. The house had been doubled in size by their uncle. The extension burnt down in 1798.

Lucy Boston bought the house on 31 May 1939 and restored it, as much as possible, back to its Norman original.

Hemingford Grey Manor is a very special place; it is the oldest, longest continuously inhabited house in the country, dating back 900 years to the Normans. Diana Boston, Lucy Boston – the author of the Greene Knowe books and world-renowned patchworks – daughter-in-law, tells Liz about the incredible history and artefacts in the house.