Sir John de Heytesbury

Heytesbury House, the seat of Lord Heytesbury, is on the N side of the town; was partially rebuilt about 1784; contains a fine collection of pictures: and stands in a well wooded park. Cotley Hill rises from the woods of the park; commands a very fine panoramic view; is crowned by a tumulus; and was anciently fortified.

The village of Heytesbury is a very ancient one. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Hestrebe, but Sir Richard Colt Hoare of Stourhead, wrote in 1824 in his “History of Modern Wiltshire and the Hundred of Heytesbury” employed in the compiling of the Domesday Book softened the rough Saxon Hestredesbirig into Haseberie. … In the last century Heytesbury was often pronounced ‘Hettsbury’.

Houses of historical interest are Heytesbury House which stands on the medieval mansion of east court. This was the house that Walter, Lord Hungerford was repairing and enlarging when arrested on a charge of treason, he was beheaded by King Henry VIII. The house was seized by the King, and the commissioners reported that the mansion surrounded by a moat would have been suitable for the King to occupy if the alterations had been completed. The house continued in semi-derelict condition until the 17th century