Cowdray House consists of the ruins of one of England's great Tudor houses, architecturally comparable to many of the great palaces and country houses of that time. It is situated in the Parish of Easebourne, just east of Midhurst, West Sussex standing on the north bank of the River Rother. It was largely destroyed by fire on 24 September 1793, but the ruins have nevertheless been Grade I listed. Manor House The original fortified manor house was built between 1273 and 1284 by Sir John Bohun across the river from the town of Midhurst. He named it Coudreye, the Norman word for the nearby hazel woods. 16th century In the 1520s, Sir David Owen, uncle to Henry VII, began construction of the current Cowdray House on the site of the former home Coudreye, which he had acquired upon the death of his wife Mary Bohun in 1496. In 1529, Sir David's son, Henry, sold the estate of Cowdray to Sir William Fitzwilliam. In 1533 Henry VIII granted a licence to Fitzwilliam's trustees to inpark of meadow, pasture and wood and build fortifications at "Cowdry". In 1536, following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Sir William was given the nearby Easebourne Priory and other properties, whilst in 1538 his half-brother and heir who later inherited Cowdray, Anthony Browne, received Battle Abbey. It is rumoured that a dispossessed monk from Battle cursed the family and house by fire and water, thy line shall come to an end and it shall perish out of this land. Henry VIII made three visits to the house during his reign, in August 1538, July 1539 and August 1545. Mary of Guise, widow of James V of Scotland, stayed a night at Cowdray in October 1551. The house was also visited by Edward VI in July 1552 and by his sister Elizabeth I in August 1591. The speeches and entertainments for Elizabeth were printed later in the year. In November 1538, the last surviving member of the House of Plantagenet, Lady Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury, was imprisoned at Cowdray until September 1539. She was the niece of Richard III, the last Plantagenet King who died at Bosworth Field in 1485. She was removed to the Tower of London, and was executed in May 1541. In 1548, Anthony Browne's son, Sir Anthony Browne inherited Cowdray; he was later ennobled as the 1st Viscount Montague upon the marriage