The History of Cuffern Manor - so far!

Cuffren comes from the Welsh word Coffrwm meaning..
From the 12th century the manor of Cuffern had connections with the Knights Hospitallers of Slebech.  In the 15th century it was still listed amongst their possessions.

The manor of Cuffren, distinct from Roch, had several landowners.  In 1770 the present house was built by a member of the Stokes family.  In 1691 one Antony Stokes, described as a Gent, claimed a messuage and 190 acres at 'Coffrom'.  By 1775 John Rees had adopted the name John Rees Stokes when he married Frances Warren of Trewern and he is the presumed builder of the house.  A record of 1837 shows the estate consisted of 240 acres of land with the manor, the 94 acres of Cuffren Farm, the 114 acres of the mountain and the 95 acres of Start farm.

In 1811 Fenton visited the house was entertained by John Rees Stokes.  He wrote " 'Kyffern' 'here under this hospitable roof I lose the fatigues of the day and next morning pursue my route.' "

In 1899 there was a fire at the house.  The extent of the damage is not known but when the house was listed in 1963 it explained that the roof had 'before the fire' been 'behind a front parapet as shown in the water colour of 1830's.'

The big break up of the estate took place, like many others, after the First World War.  On the 29th May 1918 at the Castle Hotel in Haverfordwest it was sold in eight lots, 592 Acres in total.  It mentioned it as being "the remaining portions of the estate...with compact holdings known as Home Farm, Rock Farm, Ferny Glen, the Start, Slad, Middle Slad, Dirty Gate and Gwachal and High Gate."

In 1963 the manor was being used as a hotel.  We have found some bar stools in the wood and one friend has told us how her father first ate caviar here, either a special occasion or their usual fare.  The swimming pool in the front of the house and the tennis court inside the walled garden were presumably part of this era rather than that of the later nursing home!  There was a time when it fell into disrepair and in 1986 the interior was refurbished to provide for the nursing home, which it remained as until 2000.  The extension was probably built around 1986.

The current owners bought the house in 2004.  Mary and Richard Owen came from Ely and Jayne and Julian Rutter from Bath.