Follow
Historic Buildings of Berkshire
England
Image right - Windsor Castle
By Diliff - Own work, CC BY 2.5, Wiki
The object of this project is to provide information about historic buildings in the county of Berkshire, with links to sub-projects for specific buildings as appropriate. GENi profiles of people associated with those establishments can be linked to this project and/or to individual projects where they have been set up.
See Historic Buildings of Britain and Ireland - Main Page
If you have information about any of the Buildings mentioned below please share it here. If you have ancestors linked to any of the places please add them to the project.
Names with Bold links are to Geni profiles or projects. Other links take you to external biographical web pages. Please copy and paste the bullet used - ● - instead of * when adding items to the list. You will need to use two breaks between entries.
Abbeys and Priories
● Abingdon Abbey, Berkshire (now in Oxfordshire)
● Ankerwycke Priory, Wraysbury Benedictine nuns founded c.1160 by Gilbert de Mountfitchet, Kt., Lord of Wyrardisbury and his son;dissolved before 8 July 1536; granted to Lord Windsor 1538/9 then to Sir Thomas Smith 1550/1 ruins in grounds of Ankerwycke House The Priory Church of Saint Mary Magdalene, Ankerwyke Ankerwick Priory 51°26′37″N 0°33′26″W
● Ascot Priory Winkfield Anglican nuns founded 1861; extant The Priory Church of Jesus Christ 51°33′26″N 0°46′43″W
● Bisham Abbey Bisham - geograph.org.uk - 1155.jpg Augustinian Canons Regular priory founded 1337 by William Montacute; built to the northeast of the site of the former Knights Templars' preceptory (see immediately below) dissolved 1536 Benedictine monks abbey founded 1537 by Henry VIII; the abbey incorporating parts of the former Knights Templars' structure; (transferred from Chertsey, Surrey); dissolved 1538; granted to Sir Edward Hoby c.1554; extant preceptory & demolished priory/abbey site now headquarters of the National Sports Council The Priory Church of the Jesus Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, Bisham The Abbey Church of the Holy Trinity, Bisham Bustlesham Priory; 51°33′25″N 0°46′45″W Bisham Preceptory # Knights Templar founded before 1139 by Robert de Ferrers; dissolved 1308-12; Augustinian priory later founded to northeast of site (see immediately above); extant preceptory & demolished priory/abbey site now headquarters of the National Sports Council 51°33′25″N 0°46′45″W
● Bradfield Abbey ~ monks documented 1066 land granted by King Ine to Hean, Abbot of Abingdon, and Ceolswyth 688-90 to found a monastery; community included monks, status and site otherwise unknown
● Bradley Priory ~ Benedictine monks dependent on Abingdon (Oxfordshire) manor, described in 1547 as 'lately a priory'; status and site otherwise unknown 51°26′38″N 1°08′17″W (approx)
● Bromhall Priory Sunningdale Benedictine nuns daughter of Chertsey, Surrey; founded before 1200 by Edward, the Black Prince; accidentally burnt 1462; dissolved 1521 when the last prioress died and the remaining sisters left; given to Saint John's College Cambridge remains destroyed or incorporated into farm buildings The Priory Church of Saint Margaret, Bromhall 51°23′23″N 0°37′42″W (approx)
● Charney Manor Historical county location. See entry under List in Oxfordshire
● Cholsey Abbey Historical county location. See entry under List in Oxfordshire
● Cold Ash Centre Francisan Friars Minor and sisters Novitiate house for the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary founded 1930s; extant The Cold Ash Centre 51°25′22″N 1°15′21″W
● Coxwell Grange Historical county location. See entry under List in Oxfordshire
● Donnington Friary Crouched Friars founded before 1404 (1392/3), land granted by Sir Richard Abberbury to the London Friary c.1376; dissolved 1538 (recorded at suppression as Trinitarian, later corrected to Crossed Friars); site now occupied by country house of named 'The Priory' Donington Friary 51°24′53″N 1°19′52″W
● Douai Abbey Woolhampton Douai Abbey, geograph.jpg Benedictine monks (community founded at Douai, Belgium, 1615) removed from Douai 1903; extant The Abbey Church of Saint Edmund, King and Martyr, Upper Woolhampton 51°24′31″N 1°10′17″W
● East Hendred Cell Historical county location. See entry under List in Oxfordshire
● Faringdon Abbey Historical county location. See entry under List in Oxfordshire
● Greenham Preceptory Knights Hospitaller founded c.1180 (1199) on estates granted by Matilda Countess of Clare and Gervase Paynell; last preceptor d. 1442; made part of the estate of the prior of England by the grand master of Rhodes 1445 dissolved 1540; briefly restored under Queen Mary 51°24′03″N 1°19′10″W (approx)
● Hurley Priory + St Mary's Church, Hurley - geograph.org.uk - 595442.jpg Benedictine monks founded before 1087 (1065) granted by Godfrey de Magna Villa (Mandeville) to the Benedictines of Westminster to found a cell; dissolved 1536; granted to Leonard Chamberleyn c.1544 nave of church now in parochial use The Priory Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Hurley 51°33′03″N 0°48′31″W
● Kintbury Abbey possible Saxon abbey, minuter or oratory founded before 931, not mentioned in Domesday survey; land granted to Fontevrault Benedictine nuns and brothers 1147 by Robert Le Bossu to found a monastery; transferred to new site at Nuneaton, Warwickshire 1155; planned refoundation probably never established Saint Mary 51°23′30″N 1°27′19″W (approx)
● Poughley Priory Augustinian Canons Regular founded c.1160 by Ralph de Chaddleworth; dissolved 1524 and granted to Cardinal Wolsey's college at Oxford and was occupied by scholars of the college; remains (cellar range) now incorporated into after-dissolution farmhouse without public access The Priory Church of Saint Margaret, Poughley 51°28′44″N 1°24′06″W (approx)
● Reading Abbey ReadingAbbey.JPG Cluniac monks founded 1121 by Henry I - Abbey House Palace masonry ruins/remnants
● Benedictine monks refounded c.1210; dissolved 1539; granted to Edward, Duke of Somerset c.1550; quarried and dismantled c.1550-1643 ruins extant The Abbey Church of Our Lady and Saint John the Evangelist, Reading 51°27′23″N 0°57′55″W
● Reading Nunnery ReadingMinster.jpg nuns founded 979 dissolved 1016; granted to Battle, Sussex by William the Conqueror; apparently on the site now occupied by St Mary's Minster Church (restored 1551-1555 with masonry and timbers from the demolished Reading Abbey) 51°27′16″N 0°58′25″W
● Reading Greyfriars, earlier site Franciscan Friars Minor, Conventual (under the Custody of Oxford) founded 1233 by permission of Adam de Lathbury, abbot of Reading, and the abbey's convent; transferred to new site 1285-6 (see immediately below)
● Reading Greyfriars + ReadingGreyfriars.jpg Franciscan Friars Minor, Conventual (under the Custody of Oxford) transferred from former site (see immediately above) 1285-6 with permission of the abbot of Reading; church built 1311; dissolved 15 September 1538; used as hospital, a poorhouse then a town jail; converted back to a parish church Saint Francis 51°27′24″N 0°58′36″W
● Sandleford Priory Augustinian Canons Regular founded 1193/1202 by Jeffrey (Geoffrey), Earl of Perch and his wife Maud (Matilda); arrangements made 1274 by Maud de Clare, Countess of Gloucester and Hertford to refound as a double house for Fontevrault Benedictine nuns and brothers, but this did not come about; dissolved 1478 remains converted to a country house; now an Anglican Convent School The Priory Church of Saint John the Baptist, Sandleford 51°22′39″N 1°18′59″W
● Shalford Preceptory Knights Templar founded c.1198, apparently granted by Simon de Ovile; Knights Hospitaller dissolved after 1276; by 1338 had become a member of Greenham Brimpton Commandery;
● Brimpton Preceptory 51°22′41″N 1°11′54″W (approx)
● Sheffield Lesser Priory ~ Benedictine monks alien house: manor-grange dependent on St Martin-de-Noyon, Charleval; founded after 1086, manor granted to Charleval by the Count of Evreux; locally known as a 'priory' dissolved and privately leased c.1166-7; passed to Reading 1270
● Sonning Minster Saxon minster held by Bishop of Ramsbury/Sherborne 10th/11th century sometimes considered joint-see with Ramsbury, Wiltshire; current parochial church dating to 9th century, largely rebuilt 1852-3; restored 1870-90 Hundredal Minster 51°28′27″N 0°54′47″W
● Steventon Priory Historical county location. See entry under List in Oxfordshire
● Stratfield Saye Priory Benedictine monks alien house: priory cell dependent on Valmont founded 1169 or 1170 by Nicholas de Stoteville (Nicholas d'Estouteville): hermitage granted to Valmont; dissolved 1399; house named 'The Priory' built on site (Beech Hill in the Berkshire part of Stratfield Saye) St Leonard Stratfield-Say Priory 51°22′28″N 0°59′03″W
● Templeton Camera Knights Templar possible small hospice or hostel with chapel; passed to Knights Hospitallers in 1311; in private hands at Dissolution; mansion named 'Templeton House' built on site 1895 51°23′40″N 1°28′56″W (approx)
Historic houses in alphabetical order
Including Castles, Manor Houses, Mansions, Stately Homes, Country houses, Estate houses, Courts, Halls, Parks and other listed buildings of historic interest.
A
● The Abbey at Sutton Courtenay
● Ardington House, Berkshire, (now O×fodshire)
● Ascot Heath House
● Ashdown House,Berkshire (now Oxfordshire)
B
● Beaumont College
● Beckett Hall, Berkshire (Now Oxfordshire)
● Berkshire College of Agriculture - Hall Place
● Billingbear Park Waltham St. Lawrence (aka Billingbere) was a manor owned by the Bishops of Winchester and then the Crown, until 1549 when King Edward VI granted it to Sir Henry Neville, a younger brother of the 5th Lord Bervagenny. He was unable to take possession until 1567 and instantly set about building himself a fine red brick Tudor mansion. He was buried in the church at Waltham St. Lawrence where there is a large figured monument to his memory. Sir Henry’s son and namesake was Ambassador to France, so spent a number of years away from Billingbear. He was implicated in the plot against Elizabeth I with the Earl of Essex and imprisoned in the Tower. During the Civil War, the family had divided loyalties. Fortunately, the Royalists won through and, after the Restoration, the house played host to the King, the Duke of York, Prince Rupert and many other nobles at a great dinner party in 1667. Two years later, Cosmo, Duke of Tuscany, also visited and one of his party wrote an extensive account of his two day stay. In the 18th century, the heirs of the Nevilles were the Lords Braybrooke and Billingbear was their chief residence until the 3rd Baron inherited Audely End in Essex. Billingbear Park suffered a devastating fire in 1924 and the surviving shell of the house was torn down soon afterward. Only a few architectural featured survived which were incorporated into the newly restored Old Bulmersh Court the following year. Billingbear Park no longer stands.
● Buckland House, Berkshire (Now Oxfordshire)
C
● Carswell Manor, Berkshire, (Now Oxfordshire)
● Caversham Court, and Caversham Park, Oxfordshire (now Berkshire)
● Charney Manor, Berkshire (Now Oxfordshire)
● Cippenham Moat Henry III (1216 - 1272 ) had a palace at Cippenham, where Cippenham Moat is marked on modern maps (quite near the M4 today). Cippenham Green was where villagers grazed their cows, until the end of the 19th Century, and is the only ancient village green left within Slough's boundaries.Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall - brother to Henry III - had his honeymoon here, and later created a deer park. By 1575, however, Saxton's map shows the parks at Windsor and Langley, but not Cippenham. It was rediscovered by farmers in early Victorian times and is now a listed monument.
D
●Denman College, Berkshire, (Now Oxfordshire)
● Donnington Castle Donington; Donyngton; Dennington; Dunnington Masonry Castle masonry ruins/remnants
● Donnington Grove - The Donnington Grove Estate is set in a delightful and secluded position on the outskirts of Newbury and is overlooked by the historic Donnington Castle. The present house was built by James Pettit Andrews between 1763 and 1772 to designs by John Chute. This style is now known as Strawberry Hill Gothic, after the house created for his friend, Horace Walpole, in Twickenham. The land purchased by Andrews, adjoining his brother's estate at Shaw House, was, at the time, not extensive and, during his ownership, Donnington Grove could more properly be described as a house with grounds rather than a country estate.
Records show the house was expensive to construct and the house and grounds costly to maintain. For whatever reasons, the estate was sold to William Brummell in 1783 and it was this gentleman who turned Donnington Grove into a proper country seat. By the time of Brummell's death, in 1794, the estate covered some 800 acres, the house and stables had been extended, Grove Farm created and the entrance lodges erected. There is no doubt that it was Brummell who was responsible for much of the landscaping that can be seen today. Although no record of a landscape architect can be found, it was likely that William Brummell, the father of Beau Brummell, would have mixed in the sort of circles to have picked up an extensive knowledge of estate landscaping. Brummell's will stated that the estate should be sold after his death and the proceeds divided amongst his children. In 1795, Donnington Grove transferred to John Bebb, an East India Company Official and, after the death of his widow in 1850, the estate again changed hands to Head Pottinger Best. The house remained in the family until 1936, when it was sold to a Mrs. Amy Swithinbank. However, like so many other country estates, the house was requisitioned in 1940 for Allied Supplies Ltd. After the War, the estate was sold to the Hon. Reginald Fellows and remained in the family until its purchase by Shi-tennoji International in December 1991. The estate, which comprises of 550 acres, was a mixture of parkland, farmland and woodland, with the River Lambourn running through it. These variations in the landscape provided an ideal setting for a championship golf course. Dave Thomas, one of Britain's foremost golf architects was assigned the task of creating a golf course that was in keeping with the listed landscape gardens and lake to the south of the house. The construction of the course started in November 1991 and on the 12 June 1993 the Donnington Grove Country Club opened.
E
● Elcot Park - On the north side of the road from Hungerford to Newbury is Elcot Park, the property of Sir Richard Sutton, bart., of Benham Valence. It is a twostoried 18th-century house added to and remodelled in the 19th century when the whole of the exterior was stuccoed. The tithing of Elcot was inclosed in 1780 under an Act of 1779, and Kintbury in 1815 under an Act of 1809–10. A polished flint axe-head was found a few years ago by the roadside at Denford by a boy in the Wesleyan school at Hungerford. Traces of what is believed to be the Roman road from Spinae to Cunetio have been noticed in the north of this parish, both in the township of Clapton and that of Denford. About the year 1870 a pot of black earthenware, containing, amongst others, a fine silver Campanian coin (B.C.290–40), now in the Newbury Museum, was found on the Wormstall estate. In 1762 a large quantity of Saxon coins of the reigns of Edred, Edwy and Edmund were found in the churchyard, and not for off, on the top of the chalk cliff, there were found before 1870 some skeletons, the tibiae of which were markedly platycnemic. There was a settlement here as early as 931. Roads in Denford, called Icknield Street and Coleway, are mentioned about the year 1252. Henry Brinkelow the satirist ('Roderigo Mors') was a son of Robert Brinkelow, a farmer in this parish. Henry, who died in 1546, began life as a Franciscan. friar, but left the order and married. Walter Harte, prebendary of Wells, a nonjuror and father of Walter Harte the poet and essayist, died here on 10 February 1736.
F
● Farley Hall - Farley Hill Place was built about 1730 by John Walter, on land inclosed by Col. Charles Lannoy, an ancestor of Henry Lannoy Hunter of Beech Hill; it contains a hall ceiling painted by Nicholas Lancret of Paris (1690–1743). It was bought by Rowland Stephenson of Mr. Dearsley, and was subsequently held by Mr. J. P. Anderdon, who had a fine collection of paintings.It is now the residence of Mrs. Gray, the widow of Col. Gray, late M.P. for Bolton-le-Moors. Farley Castle, originally Wragg or Ragg Castle, built on land called Raggets, is a modern house built by the late Mr. Martin-Atkins, and Woodbury, the property of Mr. Benjamin Brodie, is also a modern house. Farley Court was about 1820 the residence of Charles Dickinson, whose wife was a friend of Miss Mitford, and whose daughter was the late Mrs. Elliot, author of Old Court Life in France and other works; it was lately the seat of Mrs. Brooks. Of the scattered smaller houses at Farley Hill some are halftimbered and thatched and others of brick. Part of the Beaumys estate lies within the ecclesiastical parish of Beech Hill, formed from Stratfield Saye in 1868.The site of Beaumys Castle, where the remains of a moat and some earth-works are still to be seen, is just within the parish of Swallowfield.
● Farley Castle - Farley Castle is an early 19th-century modern house situated at Farley Hill, Swallowfield, Berkshire.The Gothic-styled, two-storey house in red brick with battlements and round turrets, was built by Martin-Atkins and Woodbury c. 1810, and was the former home of Benjamin Brodie. From around the 1960s to the mid-1980s, the castle was the central focus of Hephaistos School. Hephaistos was founded by Miss Dorothy Woolley, for the purpose of educating boys with physical disabilities. Initially a day school based in the castle, Hephaistos became a Special School with the addition of amenities including a teaching block, dormitories, dining hall and a swimming pool. During the 1990s, the area around the castle was developed into a housing estate.
G
● Ginge Manor Berkshire, (now Oxfordshire)
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
● Ockwells
P
Q
R
● The Red House (Sonning) - In the street which forms the northern side of the village is the Red House, a handsome Georgian structure of red brick. Near the west end of this portion of the village is Sonning Acre, a cottage built a few years since by the late Mr. Holman Hunt. On the south side of the village is Grove House, a 17th-century building with 18th-century additions and alterations. At the east end of the village is Sonning Farm, an 18th-century building of brick. Here is a fine barn of half-timber and brick. On one of the principals of the roof is cut the date 1775. Holme Park, the grounds of which adjoin the churchyard on the south, was built about 1810 and rebuilt in 1881. The old house near the river was pulled down in 1798. The Congregational chapel was built in 1807.
● Royal Berkshire Hotel - The red-brick mansion was originally built in 1705 as the home of Sir Robert Walpole's daughter, Lady Mary, and Charles Churchill, son of the first Duke of Marlborough and relation of Sir Winston Churchill.
The building was named The Oaks for many years after its construction, but became known as Little Paddocks at the start of the 20th century when it was owned by Colonel Sir James Horlick (of the malted milk hot drink fame) until his family decided to donate the grounds to serve as a school for the blind. The building stayed as a school until the late 1960s, and the modern day tennis courts within the grounds are the final resting location of several of the facility's guide dogs.
Modern use of the building as a hotel began in 1971, when the Hoffman family, experienced European hoteliers, renovated the property.
● Royal Lodge
S
● Sandleford Priory (Now St Gabriel's School)
● Swinley Park - Swinley Lodge was at one time used as an occasional residence by the master of the Buckhounds. The old house was pulled down about 1830, but there is an allusion to the gardens of Swinley in the private journal of Queen Victoria in 1830.The manor of WINKFIELD at the date of the Domesday Survey belonged to the abbey of Abingdon.In 942 Winkfield had been granted, together with Swinley, by King Edmund to a certain holy woman called Saethryth, who is said to have transferred it to the abbey of Abingdon, but it was not until 1015 that the abbey received the estate from Eadfled, a noble matron.William I is said to have taken from it 4 hides to enlarge Windsor Forest, and also two woods called Jerdelea and Bacsceat. Half a hide of this, however, seems to have been restored by William Rufus, who ordered Walter Fitz Other, constable of the castle, not to encroach upon the abbot's lands. In an undated list of the possessions of the abbey during the first half of the 12th century Winkfield is assessed at 3½ hides and is said to be held by the kitchener of the monastery, who was to use the proceeds for the purchase of lard. In 1225 it was alleged that each of the villeins of Winkfield had to render yearly a bundle of myrtle (fesseletum de mirto) and three baskets (hopas) of oats to the abbey. There was apparently a revolt among the tenants of the abbey, who banded themselves together, refusing the customary services due from their lands. The dispute appears to have been renewed in the latter part of the 15th century.The grange of Swinley was part of the Abingdon estate in Winkfield (see above), and was granted by the abbey in the reign of Henry II to the abbey of Stratford Langthorne in Essex. In 1224 the abbot was engaged in a suit against Geoffrey de Bagshot, who successfully claimed the right of pannage in the wood there. The property was assessed in 1291 at £1 12s. Swinley was one of the walks of the forest in the 17th century. In 1782 George III also bought the Swinley property from the Meekes and Nevilles, and it still belongs to the Crown.
T
U-V
W
● Wallingford Bridge Fortified Bridge masonry ruins/remnants
● Wallingford Castle see also Historic Houses of Oxfordshires
● Wallingford Priory Historical county location. See entry under List in Oxfordshire
● Wallingtons (now St Cassian's Centre)- The estate known as WALLINGTONS was purchased in 1230–1 of John Belet by Robert de Wallington (fn. 199) (Waleton), and in 1292 was held by Adam de Wallington (fn. 200); it was increased by the purchase of a messuage, curtilage and two crofts in 1343 from Edmund de Polhampton by another Robert de Wallington. (fn. 201) Thomas de Wallington and Alice his wife sold it in 1447–8 to Thomas Walronde, of whom it was purchased in 1478–9 by Robert Strongbow. Robert sold it in 1481–2 to William Wayneflete, Bishop of Winchester, who gave it to his new foundation of Magdalen College, Oxford. (fn. 202) The estate was leased by the college in 1768 to Samuel Dixon, owner of Balsdon, and the lease was renewed to the owners of Balsdon until the middle of the 19th century. (fn. 203) It was then sold to Mr. William Williams Brown of Chapel Allerton, Leeds, who gave it to his daughter Margaret, wife of Major-General William Dunn. Mrs. William Hew Dunn sold it in May 1912 to Mr. A. S. Gladstone.
● Wytham Priory Historical county location. See entry under List in Oxfordshire
X-Y-Z
References and Sources
Berkshire Specific
General
- National Trust
- English Heritage
- WIKI List of country houses in the UK
- Britain's Finest
- Britain Express
- Lankdmark Trust
- Historic Houses Association - represents 1,500 houses in the UK
- Hudson's Historic Houses and Gardens - UK - guidebook of over 2,000 houses open to the public
- The DiCamillo Companion to British & Irish Country Houses - database of over 7,000 houses
- Lost Heritage - A Memorial to the Lost Country Houses of England - list of over 1,700 houses
- National Trust for Historic Preservation - online database of historic houses in the United State
- - http://www.hha.org.uk/ Historic Houses Association
- WIKI Treasure Houses of England
- List of country houses in the United Kingdom
Main Reference WIKI Berkshire Information shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License - see Creative Commons Licenses
Getting Involved
Free to follow, request to collaborate
To join the project use the request link under "actions" at the top right of the page.
Visit
Geni's Project Plaza
Working with Projects
Wicked Wiki
Geni Wikitext, Unicode and images which gives a great deal of assistance.
See the discussion Project Help: How to add Text to a Project - Starter Kit to get you going!
Other Pages for Historic Buildings of English Counties
Historic Buildings of Cumberland - Today's Cumbria includes parts of the historic counties of Westmorland and Lancashire
Rutland now East Midlands
Shropshire (Salop)
Historic Buildings of Sussex divided into two projects
Westmorland Now Cumbria/Cumberland
this project is in History Link 