Sir Francis Tanfield (d. 1558), governor of Lord Falkland’s Colony of Newfoundland, Canada 1623–25 built the Manor House in the village in the early 17th century and this house has some similarity to Sir Thomas Tresham's at Lyveden New Bield. It is probable that Sir Francis was the son of Clement Tanfield and his wife, Anne, of Gayton. He was born in 1565 and was knighted in July 1603 and, in September, accompanied the new ambassador, Lord Spencer, to the court of the Duke of Württemberg, now part of southern Germany. The Hughes of Gwerclas family, a Welsh family of native royal blood, resided at the Manor House during the late 18th Century.