page_title: Selly Manor
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Selly Manor / History
caption_attribution_description: English: 18ft long 1630s oak table originally from the now demolished Crooke Hall in Lancashire, now at Selly Manor, Birmingham, England.
context_page_description: Selly Manor is a timber framed building in Bournville, that was moved to its current site in 1916 by chocolate manufacturer and philanthropist George Cadbury.
  Together with the adjacent Minworth Greaves, it is operated as Selly Manor Museum by Bournville Village Trust as a heritage site, community museum and as a venue for functions including weddings, for which it is licensed. The museum is open all year and stages regular events. It houses the Laurence Cadbury furniture Collection of early furniture and domestic objects which date from 1500 - 1900.
context_section_description: Over its 500 year history this building has had several names as well as two locations. The earliest records for the house date from 1476. At that time it was called Smythes Tenement and was on land belonging to William Jenette, lord of the sub-manor of Selly. William Jenette leased Smythes Tenement to a local farmer, John Othe’field (John of the field).  
  In 1561, attorney and bailiff John Setterford, his wife Phylis, and her son William Pritchett  leased the house. This family is significant as they prospered and bought the house. Phylis Setterford outlived her husband, and when she died in 1608, an inventory of the contents was made, which details the layout of the building as well as every item in it. From this, it is evident that at that time, the middle section of the building was a medieval hall. Hearth tax returns show that this section was replaced by 1664 with the three storey brick section that is now in place. The house was owned and occupied by Phylis Setterford’s descendants until 1699. After this date, a succession of absentee landlords failed to invest in the building and its status declined. The house became unfashionable, and its status fell further in 1795 when the house was sold separately to the land that went with it.  
  The condition of Smythes Tenement continued to decline and by 1853 it had been split into three cottages to be leased, and was known as The Rookery. The census records show that by 1861, ten members of the Davis family lived in the smallest end cottage, the middle cottage was occupied by four members of the Thompson family, and the remaining cottage was home to seven members of the Williams family. The house deteriorated further still and following the death of its owner Edward Olivieri, the Rookery was put up for sale by auction in 1907.
caption: The Crooke Hall table on display at Selly Manor Museum. The carving states 'an arelome to this house forever'.
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