Description

ASHBURY SU28NE 5/11 The Manor House 21/11/66 (Formerly listed as Manor House.) GV II*

House, c.1488 with additions in early C16, 1697 and later. Built for Abbot Selwood of Glastonbury Abbey. Light brown limestone ashlar to ground floor and chalk ashlar to first floor. Porch of uncoursed sarsen rubble, with first floor faced in Flemish bond brick with vitrified headers. To right of straight joint right of porch walling is of chalk. West gable wall of sarsen uncoursed random rubble. Rear elevation of squared and coursed chalk. Rendered gable-end stacks and chalk block rear stack: stone slate roof. Ground-floor hall house; L-shaped plan with hall and two parlours, originally detached from east kitchen block which was joined to house in early C16; first floor contained garderobe in rear wing and has two large chambers for Abott and lodgers. 2-storey, 3:1:2 fenestration. 3 centered arch with moulded architrave to porch and 4-centered arch with moulded architrave and quatrefoiled spandrels to original studded and planked front door. 3-bay facade to left has 4-light stone mullioned and transomed windows to ground floor and 2-light stone mullioned windows to first floor: each window has flattened ogee and cinquefoiled head and each bay divided by buttress: similar 2-light window to first floor of porch; early C16 2-light stone-mullioned window with arched head to first floor right of porch; other windows are mid-C20 casements, one of which blocks original doorway to kitchen. Insertions c.1960 include 4-centered door replacing window in west gable wall; 2-light stone mullioned window in similar style to top right hand of north facing gable of projecting rear wing. Some other C15 windows have been restored; rear wing has 2 early C18 leaded casements. Gabled roof; end and ridge stacks. Interior: Large chamfered beam and bressumer in kitchen. Hall has moulded beams with floral bosses (including Tudor Rose) at intersections; early-mid C16 panelled partition divides original hall in two; stopped chamfers to beam in rear wall. Stud and plank partition on first floor divided Abbot's chamber from lodgers' dormitory; moulded cornice to both rooms. Abbot 5 chamber has carved frieze with mouchettes. Perpendicular style corbels beneath present inserted ceiling support arch-braced roof with curved struts to collar, chamfered butt purlins, cusped windbraces. Between Abbot's chamber and the room over the porch is a screen with trefoil-headed openings to the upper half. Winders to straight-flight stone stairs at junction with rear wing; adjoining stairs is plank and stud screen with 2-arched doors having moulded oak architraves, opening to 2 rooms in rear wing, one formerly the garderobe. Early C19, 1x1 bay rear block, joined by 2 storey block to main range. Squared and coursed chalk with brick dressings; tiled and hipped roof; mid C20 2-light 2-light leaded casements; brick string at floor level and dentil eaves. One brick rendered lateral stack. The Manor House was built by Abbot Selwood (1457-93) as a lodging place for students on their way to Gloucester College, Oxford, and for the Abbot travelling on the Somerset to London road. Parallels have been drawn between this early example of a 2-storey manor house and the similar late C15 Somerset priests' houses connected with 61astonbury Abbey: the cusped windbraces and arch braces are also typical of western carpentry syles. (Country Life. Oct. 20, 19bb, pp.974-7: Oct.27,1966, pp.ii)84-7: M. Wood, "Ashbury Manor Berks", Transactions of the Newbury & Districts Field Club XI, No.3,pp. 5-18.)

Listing NGR: SU2631685228

External Links

• Wikidata Q17550357

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Recommended Books

• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Leeds, Bradford and the North (Pevsner Architectural Guides / Buildings of England)
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)