Introduction
Capel Manor as it is now called, is currently the main administration offices and Higher Education base for Capel Manor College. It is where I worked for 20 years and first attended as a student in 1995, where we had our classes in the panelled drawing room.
Since that initial encounter, I have been intrigued by the house, it’s history and how it became a college.
This blog post was originally written for my PG Diploma ( and was limited to 2000 words).
It was an attempt to uncover some of the stories of the people who lived in the house, both owners and their families. Limiting the period covered, from around the 1841 to 1920s, when the several generations of the Warren family lived and owned the house.
Description of house
The house was first listed grade two in March 1951 and updated in December 1975. According to it’s grade two listing, Capel Manor is described as : “Mid-late C18 house., Main block of 2 storeys and attic, 7 windows; with 2 -storey one-window side wings. Gambrel roof, of graduated green slates, with 5 flat dormers. Brick walls painted red. Moulded brick cornice and stone-coped parapet 1st floor band. Gauged flat brick arches to sash windows with glazing bars. Central porch mostly glazed but with 2 projecting columns supporting entablature broken forward in centre. Door of 6 fielded panels with patterned fanlight. Similar rear elevation but with Roman Doric central porch having open mutuled pedimented hood. Fancy interlaced bars to fanlight. Inside some rich interiors of late C19 in a reproduction Restoration style with much carving and panelling.“
The estate dates back to the 13th century with an original manor house which was probably on the site of what is now Capel Manor Primary School (over the road from the college). This became Crown property in the 16th and then passed to successive owners. In 1745 Robert Jacomb demolished the old house and built Capel House which was then demolished before 1800. A second house was built (which is now called Capel Manor) which remains as a red brick seven-bay 18th century house. A timber porch with Corinthian columns is said to have come from Rotherhithe. The Warren family took over Capel Manor in 1840, leaving their mark with tea and coffee-themed decorations, a testament to their plantation life. They also carried out some modernisations and was an early adopter of electricity, gas, and running water, along with a convenient dairy and remnants of an ice house on the grounds.
Location
Capel Manor is located on Bullsmoor Lane in the London Borough of Enfield, minutes from junction 25 of the M25 where it meets the A10 (shown in red box), the area is the northern most point of Greater London and in the green belt. The sound of the motorway is constant in the background.
The area is collectively known as Enfield Chase and as the name implies, a ‘Chase’ was a type of royal hunting forest. Although there were other royal hunting forests near London such as Waltham Forest, Enfield is unique in having the only Chase in London and the south east. Enfield Chase reached prominence during the Tudor and Stuart periods. Within a day’s ride of the royal palaces at Whitehall, Hampton Court and Placentia (Greenwich), the Chase was a principal centre for sport and recreation for Queen Elizabeth I and King James I. Enfield Chase was important not only for entertaining the powerful; feudal rights of common on the Chase made it a lifeline for the poor.
There are several grand country houses around this area including Myddelton House once owned by the Bowles family (Queen Camilla’s first husband), and Elsyng Palace which lies beneath the ground of Forty Hall Estate was a former home of Henry the VIII and regular residence of his son Edward VI and daughter Elizabeth I.
The original house was part of the Manor of Honeylands and Pentriches (or Capels). Little is known of the early history of these manors, and the first name to be recorded is that of Sir Giles Capel, who in exchange for other lands conveyed them to the Crown in 1547. In 1562 Queen Elizabeth sold them to William Horne, a merchant, and after changing hands several times they were purchased by Rawson Hart Boddam, who knocked down the old manor house and built the house now known as Capel Manor. Boddam owned the house from about 1804, he had been employed by the East India Company for 37 years, becoming Governor of Bombay in 1784.
In 1840 Capel House was bought by James Warren, he was the owner of a tea plantation in Assam, India, the company still exists today. The house was subsequently owned by his nephew, also James Warren, from 1869 to 1904. He was a member of the local Board of Health from 1879 and of Enfield Urban District council from 1894. He was involved with Jesus Church, Forty Hill, and was instrumental in the erection of St. George’s Church, Freezywater.
House Owners
The Warren Family
The Warren family owned and some times occupied Capel House for some 70 years. The families roots are in Berkshire, so it is quite puzzling as to why the 1st James decided to invest in a house in North Middlesex, perhaps it was an easier commute for country weekends in the country?
1st James Warren (1788-1868)
The 1st James to own Capel House was born on 16th March 1788 in Willingford, Berkshire, England to John Warren and Lydia (born Munday) the middle child of eleven. James married Jane Kemble in 1830 at Christchurch Saint Mary in Swindon , he was recorded as being from the parish of St Botolph Bishopsgate. Sadly Jane died the following year, she is memorialised in St Mary’s Uffington in Berkshire.
James bought Capel House via auction around 1840.
On the 1841 census James’ is living in St Botolph Without Bishopsgate, occupation a grocer, also registered in the 1841 Kelly’s Post Office Directory as whole sale tea dealer.
In 1850 James bought an experimental tea plantation in Assam, India . He sent his nephews out there to manage and develop the plantation. Thus began a family business which was to develop tea plantations in many parts of the world and in recent times was known as Warren Plantation Holdings Ltd.
On the 1851 census he is a wholesale grocer at 96-97 Houndsditch St Botolph’s with one nephew and 5 servants , the occupants of Capel House were servants :. From 1852 onwards James is registered at Capel House on the Electoral Register, where his residence is recorded as Capel House. On 1861 census James is recorded at Capel with 3 servants, occupation is “Sugar Merchant”.
James died 4th August 1868 at 98 Houndsditch of “diarrhoea and exhaustion”. his London residence. James and his late wife had no children, so he bequeathed Capel House to his nephew James Warren.
2nd James Warren (1836-1904)
The 2nd James Warren was born 6th March 1836 in Wallingford, Berkshire to Stephen and Eliza Warren, he was baptised as an adult at St Botolph’s without Bishopsgate in 1856 living at the Warren residents at 96 Houndsditch. James is recorded as a resident at Capel House on the 1871 census, his occupation is “India Merchant”.
James married Mary Letitia Shepard in Caterham, Surrey, on 30th October 1872 when he was 36 years old. They had 6 children, all born at Capel House and baptised in the local parish church, Jesus Church. On 1881 census he is a “gentleman” living with his wife, 4 children and 6 servants. Sadly Mary died in 1887 in San Remo, Italy, she was aged just 35 years old.
James became very well known in the district. He was a member of the Local Board of Health from 1879 and represented the Bulls Cross Ward in the newly formed Enfield District Council in 1894. For 27 years he was elected in Vestry as Church warden for the Bulls Cross District. He served as a Trustee of the Parochial Charities and was a Governor of Enfield Grammar School.
On 5th June 1890 James married Minnie Le Mare in Croydon, Surrey, she was 25 years his junior, the eldest daughter of John Thomas Le Mare.
On 1891 census James was a visitor staying at Exeter Hotel in Holdenhurst, Hampshire with his eldest son James (17), no occupations recorded for either of them. His wife Minnie was at Capel House with 4 servants. Minnie and James had 3 children together, all who were baptised in the local parish church, Jesus Church. James died 27th November 1904 aged 68 at Capel of Gout! Capel was passed to, according to the will of James (1st), to James 2nd’s sons older that 21 in equal shares.
3rd James Warren (1873-1950)
The house was rented out until about the year 1911 James (3rd) and his brother John, again made Capel House the family home. Both were bachelors (and died bachelors). They carried out a complete refurbishment of the ground floor rooms and lined the walls with oak panelling.
It would appear that the business underwent temporary difficulties as Capel had to be sold in 1921 but was bought back four years later by James who continued to own the estate until 1932. During that time the house carried quite a substantial staff both inside and around the estate which had a productive walled garden, a fine stable block, a dairy and even a gas making plant.
Conclusion
Even today relatives of the Warren family call in to see what was once their country seat! As for the tea business, Warren Tea company still exists today. The house has gone under some major changes but always within the grade 2 listing and many of the original features still exist, including the panelled drawing room which was my classroom when as a student I studied for my Royal Horticultural Certificate in 1994. The current residents have changed a bit, are now mostly four legged!
The house is not only a Further Education college, but the house and ground are open public, with: a holly maze, mini zoo, which? gardening trial gardens, temple lake, cactus house, café, and historical gardens including: the walled garden and the old manor house garden. They also hold many events throughout the year.
Appendix
Number of Occupants over the years
| Year | Owner/ family | Staff/ servants | Total occupants |
| 1851 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| 1861 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 1871 | 2 | 9 | 11 |
| 1881 | 6 | 7 | 13 |
| 1891 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| 1901 | 7 | 8 | 15 |
| 1911 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 1921 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 1939 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
Census Transcriptions
Bibliography
Primary
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Baptisms (PR) England. St Botolph Without Bishopsgate, City of London, London Church of England Parish Registers; Ref. No. P69/Bot4/A/01/Ms 4519/6. WARREN, James. London, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1923. 20 February 1856. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/ : accessed 20 January 2024.
Census records. England. Enfield, Middlesex. 19 June 1921. MARTIN, John. RG15/6966. RD 132. RS 7. SN 72. ED 16. http://www.findmypast.co.uk : accessed 23 January 2024.
Census records. England. Enfield, Middlesex. 2 April 1871. WARREN, James [head]. PN: RG10/1343 FL. 108. SN 128. ED 5. p. 27. http://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 23 January 2024.
Census records. England. Enfield, Middlesex. 3 April 1881. WARREN, James [head]. PN: RG11/1393 FL. 82. SN 136. ED 6. p. 25. http://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 23 January 2024.
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Census records. England. Enfield, Middlesex. 5 April 1891. WARREN, Minnie [Wife]. PN: RG12/1087 FL. 18. SN 172. ED 9. p. 29. http://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 23 January 2024.
Census records. England. Enfield, Middlesex. 7 April 1861. WARREN, James [head]. RG 9/798 FL 90. SN 119. ED 5. p. 22. http://www.ancestry.co.uk : accessed 23 January 2024.
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Secondary
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Auction notice. Enfield local studies and archives
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Capel House Front Photograph. Karen de Bruyne.
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not just any family 