C J Mander and Sons , solicitors

In 1086 South Mimms was held by Geoffrey de Mandeville as a berewick of the manor of Edmonton, and in the time of King Edward it had belonged to Ansgar the staller. The overlordship of South Mimms manor followed the descent of Enfield. The manor seems to have been subinfeudated in 1140-4, when Geoffrey de Mandeville, earl of Essex (d. 1144), granted half of it to Hugh of Eu. By 1210-12 the whole manor was in the hands of Ernulf de Mandeville, probably a descendant of Geoffrey's eldest son, Ernulf, who held it of the honor of Mandeville for one knight's fee. Ernulf seems to have been deprived of his holding, for in 1216 the manor was granted by King John to Henry the Teuton. Ernulf's son, another Ernulf, had regained possession by 1235-6 and from him it apparently passed to his brother Hugh. It was later in the possession of the Lewknor family, who seem to have been connected with the Mandevilles, for in 1268 Sir Roger Lewknor held a Suffolk manor of Hugh de Mandeville. Sir Roger was succeeded in 1295 by his son Thomas, whose heir Thomas secured a grant of free warren in South Mimms in 1313. The first recorded lease of the manor was by Thomas's son, Roger, to John de Byllyngdon in 1394 for 20 years. The manor remained in the Lewknor family until 1483, when Sir Thomas Lewknor was attainted and his lands granted to Robert Scrope. In 1484 Lewknor was pardoned and his lands were restored in 1485.

It is uncertain when the manor was transferred from the Lewknor family to the Windsors. In 1503 the manor court was held in the name of Edmund Dudley, and other feoffees, to the use of Dudley's brother-in-law Andrew Windsor, later Lord Windsor (d. 1543). In 1519, however, Roger Lewknor, who was said to be seised in fee of the manor, leased it to Sir Andrew and George Windsor, during the life of Sir Thomas West and others. In 1525 Sir Edward Neville, who was Sir Andrew's son-in-law and said to be the sole surviving trustee, released the manor to Roger Corbett and Henry Draper. In 1530 South Mimms was conveyed by Draper to Sir Edward Neville, William Windsor, and others. In 1542 it was claimed by Anne Knyvett, a daughter of Roger Lewknor, and her husband John Vaughan, from whom it was eventually conveyed in 1567 to Edward, Lord Windsor (d. 1575). The manor descended in the Windsor family until 1606 when Henry Howard, earl of Northampton, and other executors of Henry, Lord Windsor (d. 1605), sold it to Robert Cecil, earl of Salisbury (d. 1612). The manorial estate has remained largely intact in the hands of the Cecil family.

From: 'South Mimms: Manors', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5: Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, Edmonton Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham (1976), pp. 282-285 (available online).