A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes. There were manor houses in most European countries, where they were sometimes referred to as castles, palaces, and so on.
"Manor house" is also a technical term in the UK for a minor late-medieval country house. They were often fortified but this was intended more for show than for defence.
Read more about Manor House: History and Architecture, Manor Houses Outside Europe
Famous quotes containing the word house:
“Shall I still be love’s house on the widdershin earth,
Woe to the windy masons at my shelter?
Love’s house, they answer, and the tower death
Lie all unknowing of the grave sin-eater.”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)