Francis Lovell and Minster Lovell Hall

The manor house in which Francis Lovell almost certainly lived the first eight years of his life, which he renovated, hosted a king in and possibly spent other important milestones of his life in no longer stands in its entirety. However, its ruins can still be seen today.

Located in Minster Lovell, a village which got its name for its association with the local lords in the 13th century, and directly next to the river Windrush, the ruins seen today are those of a manor mainly built by Francis`s grandfather William on the remains of an earlier one. It was said to be a large and impressive, if for the time fairly conventional manor, built in the 1430s. According to Anthony Emery in his book “Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales, 1300–1500: Volume 3, Southern England", the one notable feature of it was that it had an unusual number of windows.

It was there that Francis Lovell was almost certainly born and spent his earliest years; certainly, his father John Lovell died there on 9th January 1465. This event caused Francis`s removal from Oxfordshire as it saw him put into the care of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick and move to the earl`s principal holdings in the north of the country.

Like so much of his life sadly is, Francis`s whereabouts in the next decade or so are sadly speculative, but by March 1477, he, together with his wife Anne, seems to have returned to live in Minster Lovell Hall, for a letter from Elizabeth Stonor, wife to William, living close by, references her sending presents to them on his orders, presumably to establish good neighbourly relations.

At around this time, Francis also had a tower added to the manor, which Emery describes as a "four-storeyed tower overlapping the south-west corner of the west wing and almost touching the edge of the river. It was a combined garderobe and lodging tower with prospect room, standing to roof level on the west side and partially so to the north and south. It was built in better-quality stone than the adjoining west wing and was richly decorated with traceried windows and gargoyles at roof level and supporting the newel turret. The ground floor was divided into two garderobe closets served by a pit against the end wall, flushed by the river. An external stair rose to the first floor, retaining a single light and splay evidence of a south facing window. The two principal rooms above were reached from the first floor landing by the newel that terminates in an octagonal head above roof level. The second floor room was fairly low, with a drain and south-facing window, while the uppermost room retains part of a larger south-facing oriel with stopped hood." (Emery, 119, 120). He may have employed William Orchard, architect of, among others, the Great Tower at Magdalen College - which Francis himself had connections to as well - as an architect for this. There has also been speculation that Francis was either inspired or even employed the same men for the task of building the tower as his friend Richard of Gloucester employed for the renovation of the nearby Sudeley Castle at around the same time.

Despite this, we do not have evidence of Francis or his wife spending much time in the manor, or in Oxfordshire at all. Like his friend Richard, he is more connected with the north of England. It is from there that most of his known associates come, and most of his whereabouts we can ascertain during his life are there as well.

A notable exception is the time span from 29th July to 2nd August 1483, which we know Francis spent at his ancestral home, hosting Richard III on his first royal progress. 

After Richard`s defeat at Bosworth Field, Francis chose not to accept Henry VII and all his properties were declared forfeit in Henry`s first Parliament in November 1485. In March 1486, Minster Lovell Hall was granted to Jasper Tudor, and there is no telling if Francis ever saw it again. Certainly, those rebels he was associated with later did not come from the area.

A later legend stated that remains supposedly found in the ruins of Minster Lovell Hall in the eighteenth century were those of Francis, but there is no evidence to support this, and given that the manor at the time was in the possession of Jasper Tudor, it seems unlikely.