Manor Cottage was one of the properties belonging to the Westmorland Estate, and was one of the identified properties put on the market in 1892 when the 13th Earl of Westmorland, Anthony Mildmay Fane, inherited the Estate which was badly in debt. Unfortunately for him, this property and many others did not sell at that time and they were all passed to Lord Brassey when he purchased the Estate in 1904.
On 25 November 1920, Henry Leonard Campbell Brassey sold what was described as Manor Farm to John Leonard, a farmer who lived in the area after coming up from Devon. The farm consisted of 238 acres of land and various buildings in Woodnewton including Manor Farm House, Manor Cottage and the Manor House. The consideration for all the land and buildings was £5150.00.
In 1933 John Leonard set up a trust, which held the land and buildings for the benefit of the family. The Trust did sell off parts of the land and buildings at certain times, but it was on 17th December 1976, that Manor Cottage was sold to Cecil John Parker, a small developer from Oundle. He converted the two dilapidated cottages into one property. We believe that the thatch was removed from the cottage at this time too.
So what is known about the cottage itself?
It was built in 1688 (date-stone on E. gable) as a one storey building with attics. 
We know from * RCHM who provided an inventory of all Architectural Monuments in 1984 that it had a classification of 4a, (which shows that it had one chimney-stack at a gable end and that the entrance to the property was in the middle of the long wall). The survey also showed that the rear and gable walls had much ironstone and the front wall had been re-built in the 19th century. Attached to the western end was the village’s former ‘Reading Room’, which was also recorded as being built in the 19th century.
Village records also provide us with the knowledge that a long low timber building – the British Legion Hut, was situated to the right, behind the house as shown here in the photograph, which was taken from the school playground in the early 1970’s. This building was removed during renovations in 1977/78.
As previously mentioned, this cottage was part of the Manor Farm complex and there is no doubt that Estate employees lived there. We know from the censuses that the Wright family had been living in Woodnewton since the first census in 1841, but it is not until 1881 that we can definitely confirm that they can be located at this property, because at that date, we know that Elizabeth Needham lived in the Farm House next door. Charles Wright is recorded at this address until he died in 1912. His wife, Eliza, continued to live at this property until her death in 1914.
The Reed family were the last tenants to occupy the cottage and they were at the address until 1976 when they moved into the new bungalows in Orchard Crescent.
As can be seen from the photograph above, this property was thatched and during the 1977/78 renovation, this was removed and the property covered in a Collyweston Slate roof. When the renovation and conversion work was completed, the property was purchased by Richard Hegarty on 3rd January 1979. In 1980, he purchased some extra land at the eastern end of the property from the Leonard Family Trust and had an extension built onto the original cottage, which gave it an ‘L’ shaped ground plan.
The present owner, Jane, who moved into the cottage in 2007, has carried out extensive interior renovations.
* Royal Commission on Historical Monuments
2021