Watlington Manor House

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Watlyngton

In the civil parish of Watlington. In the historic county of Oxfordshire (Modern Authority of Oxfordshire, 1974 county of Oxfordshire).

Site of a manor house, possibly fortified after 1338 as a licence to crenellate was granted in that year. The manor house is first recorded in a document of circa 1250 and had probably been demolished by the early C17. A moat was documented in 1442 but no trace of one survives.
The earliest reference to the manor-house occurs in c. 1250 when a pit in the curia of Richard, Earl of Cornwall, is mentioned. Nicholas de la Beche was given licence to crenellate in 1338 and may have fortified or rebuilt the house. Some years later in 1349 and 1350 the king's sons were staying there. When the site of the manor was granted for 40s. a year to the king's sergeant Richard Lyllyng in 1442 all the houses built on it, two crofts, two meadows, and the water called a 'mote' round the site were mentioned. This moat was partly in the present churchyard and is still met with in digging graves, and partly beyond the end of Church Street where it is still visible. The manorhouse was not kept up and in the early C17 the king's bailiff was accused of giving away the timber and stone instead of using it for the repair of the king's tenements in Watlington. In 1660 the vicar said that its 24 acres of meadow had been divided up. (VCH Vol8)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SU68559479

Air Photo from Air Photo and general mapping	1st edition OS Map from Mid to late 19th century maps
Modern Map from Landscape form and features	Modern Map from General location and route planning
Geograph British Isles occasionally has photos of the site and will usually give an idea of the surrounding landscape.

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 242004
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 3984 'grey' literature, such as watching brief reports, held by H.E.R.s is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded in this website.

• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of The Thames Valley and The Chilterns (Malvern) p79
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p387
    Lobel, Mary D. (ed), 1964, VCH Oxfordshire Vol8 p211 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=63826
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Potts, W., 1907, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Oxfordshire Vol2 p330
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p412
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1853, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol2 p268
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Calendar of Patent Rolls (1338-40) p24