Holcombe Manor was built in 1887 as a house by the first mayor of Chatham, George Winch (September 20, 1842 – February 22, 1914), for him and his wife Mary Clarke Bluette to live in. Mary was brought up in the village of Holcombe Rogus, Devon. Winch built the new family house in a near-identical style to that of her childhood home, Holcombe Court in Devon, calling it Holcombe. There was a lake in the grounds, and a sunken Italian garden.