Historical names: Abbot's Manor; Abbot's Hold; Brooke Manor; Brookes Manor; Manor of Risborough; Manor of Princes Risborough
Location: Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire
Places / associated places: Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire
Location & Extent
GPS Location & Recorded Land Areas
Representative GPS point: 51.7248, -0.8343
Identity: confirmed — The registry record's ABBOTS MANOR matches the Buckinghamshire Heritage Portal record for ABBOT'S MANOR at Princes Risborough. The record identifies it as the separate medieval and post-medieval ecclesiastical manor associated with Notley Abbey, distinct from the King's Manor, and records its later association with Brooke Manor/Brookes Manor and eventual joint holding with the King's Manor.
Representative point: 51.7248, -0.8343
Basis: documented_manor_house — The surviving Manor House, formerly Brooke House, on Church Lane is historically associated with Abbot's Manor. Historic England gives the listed Manor House coordinates 51.7248, -0.8343; the Buckinghamshire Heritage Portal separately locates the Abbot's Manor monument at OS grid reference SP 8064 0351.
Point confidence: high
Boundary status: representative_point_only
Boundary period: Medieval to post-medieval; documentary position particularly secure at the Dissolution and in the sixteenth to seventeenth centuries
Boundary confidence: none
Boundary basis: The sources establish the manor's association with Notley Abbey, its manor-house/site in the historic core of Princes Risborough, and its later joint holding with the King's Manor. They do not provide a sufficiently explicit, manor-specific perimeter or mapped parcel schedule from which a defensible polygon can be reconstructed. The parish, civil-parish, town, deer-park, and later combined King's Manor extent cannot safely be substituted for the Abbot's Manor boundary.
Sources:
- Abbot's Manor — Buckinghamshire's Heritage Portal, monument record 0097600000: https://heritageportal.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/Monument/MBC3029 — Identifies the medieval to post-medieval Abbot's Manor, summarizes its Notley Abbey, Dissolution and later ownership history, records its relationship to the King's Manor, and gives location grid reference SP 8064 0351.
- Manor House and Attached Garden Walls, Princes Risborough — Historic England listing: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1311048 — Documents the surviving Grade II* Manor House on Church Lane and provides the representative location used here, approximately 51.7248, -0.8343.
- Manor House (Brooke House), Princes Risborough: Understanding Historic Parks and Gardens in Buckinghamshire — Buckinghamshire Gardens Trust: https://bucksgardenstrust.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Manor_House-Brooke_House.pdf — Explains that the Manor House was probably part of Abbot's or Brookes Manor but was probably not the original medieval manor house; this supports using the site as a documented associated manor-house location while cautioning against treating it as proof of the medieval manor's full extent.
- Princes Risborough Historic Town Assessment — Buckinghamshire Council: https://media.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/documents/princes-risborough-final-report.pdf — Distinguishes the King's Manor and Abbot's Manor, records the latter's 1589 sale and apparent merger with the King's Manor after 1624, and discusses the associated deer park and later large woodland holdings without defining a separate Abbot's Manor perimeter.
- TNA/MDR record F242857 — The National Archives Discovery: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F242857 — Registry authority record for the exact manor entry researched: ABBOTS MANOR, Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire, authority/reference GB/NNAF/M204906.
Warnings / uncertainty:
- The representative point is suitable for locating the documented surviving manor-house site associated with Abbot's Manor, but the Buckinghamshire Gardens Trust cautions that this was probably not the original medieval manor house.
- No manor-specific historical boundary polygon was found. Do not substitute the modern parish, civil parish, town, King's Manor, deer park, or later combined estate boundary.
- After the seventeenth century Abbot's Manor appears to have been held together with the King's Manor, making later territorial reconstruction as a separate manor especially uncertain.
About the Manor
Abbots Manor was the separate ecclesiastical manor associated with Notley Abbey in Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire. It is also found under the names Abbot's Manor, Abbot's Hold, Brooke or Brookes Manor, and in some later descriptions as the Manor of Risborough or Princes Risborough. The manor should not be confused with the separate King's Manor, the former royal and later princely manor of Princes Risborough. The available evidence indicates that Notley Abbey held the manor and rectory at the Dissolution, when the estate was valued at £40 per year. The manor was subsequently involved in Crown and episcopal grants and was sold by Elizabeth I in 1589 to Thomas Crompton, Robert Wrighte and Gilley Merick. It was later acquired by Joan Chibnall and Vincent Barry in 1624. From the Civil War period the Abbot's Manor appears to have been brought into the same ownership as the King's Manor, although the precise legal conveyance or date of that merger is not established. The surviving Manor House or Brooke House site was associated with the Abbot's Manor, but the Buckinghamshire Gardens Trust cautions that it was probably not itself the original medieval manor house.
Ownership / Holder Account
The secure documentary history begins with Notley Abbey's possession of the manor by the Dissolution of the Monasteries, although the abbey's earlier grants in Princes Risborough from the twelfth century do not by themselves establish the exact date at which it acquired the whole manor. After the Dissolution, the manor was initially granted to the Dean and Chapter of Oxford and was then returned or otherwise removed from their possession. In the reign of Edward VI it was granted to Robert King, Bishop of Oxford. In 1589 Elizabeth I recovered the manor from the bishop and granted it to Thomas Crompton, Robert Wrighte and Gilley Merick. Crompton subsequently conveyed it to John Jackman; Jackman died seised in 1622, after which the manor passed to his unnamed son. In 1624 the son sold it to Joan Chibnall and Vincent Barry. Ralph Adeane is reported as having obtained or held the manor during the Civil War, but the source describes this as presumptive rather than certain. By a 1675 suit concerning the customs of the two manors, both the King's Manor and the Abbot's Manor were said to be held by Thomas Adeane. The later history of the Abbot's Manor cannot safely be reconstructed as a separate descent because the two manors appear thereafter to have been held together and the available sources do not provide a complete chain of title.
Records & References
Sources and references mentioning this manor/title which are not necessarily conveyances or transfers.
19 records found.
1849-1859: court book
Held by: Buckinghamshire Archives
1845-1845: fines of court, with Princes Risborough
Held by: Huntington Library
Further information: NRA 7519 Huntinton
1813-1841: fines and quit rents, with Princes Risborough
Held by: Buckinghamshire Archives
Further information: NRA 17870 Grubb
1812-1812: appointment of a steward, with Princes Risborough
Held by: Huntington Library
Further information: NRA 7519 Huntinton
1789-1812: court rolls (draft) with Princes Risborough
Held by: Buckinghamshire Archives
Further information: NRA 17870 Grubb
1782-1784: fines and quit rents, with Princes Risborough
Held by: Buckinghamshire Archives
Further information: NRA 17870 Grubb
1755-1755: court minutes, with Princes Risborough
Held by: Buckinghamshire Archives
Further information: NRA 17870 Grubb
1750-1750: court roll (draft) and minutes
Held by: Buckinghamshire Archives
Further information: NRA 17870 Grubb
1750-1750: court papers, including minutes, presentments, fines and suit roll, with Princes Risborough
Held by: Buckinghamshire Archives
Further information: NRA 17870 Grubb
1750-1750: court roll (draft) and minutes, with Princes Risborough
Held by: Buckinghamshire Archives
Further information: NRA 17870 Grubb
1702-1780: quit rent rolls (draft) with Princes Risborough
Held by: Buckinghamshire Archives
Further information: NRA 17870 Grubb
1700-1700: custumal, with Princes Risborough manor
Held by: Hampshire Archives
Further information: NRA 5382 Mildmay
1700-1700: custumal, with Princes Risvorough manor
Held by: Hampshire Archives
Further information: NRA 5382 Mildmay
1688-1695: court book, with Princes Risborough
Held by: Buckinghamshire Archives
Further information: NRA 44585
1683-1687: estreat rolls (3)
Held by: Hampshire Archives
Further information: NRA 5382 Mildmay
1683-1695: court rolls, some with Princes Risborough (8)
Held by: Hampshire Archives
Further information: NRA 5382 Mildmay
1656-1656: court roll, with Princes Risborough
Held by: Hampshire Archives
Further information: NRA 5382 Mildmay
1653-1656: court rolls (2), with Princes Risborough
Held by: Hampshire Archives
Further information: NRA 5382 Mildmay
1440-1442: reeve's accounts (fragment)
Held by: The National Archives
Further information: See SC6/762/24;SC6/762/24
Conveyance & Descent
First holder to present holder: blood proximity & distance travelled
First recorded holder: Notley Abbey
Present holder:
Recorded title journey: 9 holder entries in this manor's saved Conveyance & Descent history.
No recorded holder currently has a usable saved direct-blood or collateral-blood relationship path from which to calculate proximity percentages.
First recorded holder → present holder
A usable saved blood relationship path between the first recorded holder and the present holder has not yet been recorded, so that first-to-present genealogical distance cannot be calculated.
Notley Abbey, Augustinian abbey
Transfer: Prior possession; the manor and rectory were held by Notley Abbey at the Dissolution before the Crown disposal of the former monastic estate.
Shared holding: Augustinian abbey
Previous holder: Not established from the consulted sources
Notley Abbey had held the manor and rectory of Princes Risborough by the Dissolution, when the property was valued at £40 per year. The abbey's documented twelfth-century grants of church, rectory and land in Princes Risborough establish an earlier connection but do not securely prove the date of acquisition of the whole manor, so no earlier whole-manor holder is entered here.
Source: Princes Risborough Historic Town Assessment, Buckinghamshire County Council, section 5.4, 'Abbots Manor'; citing W. Page, ed., A History of the County of Buckingham, Victoria County History, vol. 2, 'Parishes: Princes Risborough', pp. 260-267. — source link
Dean and Chapter of Oxford, Dean and Chapter of Christ Church
Transfer: Granted from the Crown after the Dissolution of Notley Abbey; the manor was subsequently returned, forfeited or otherwise removed from their possession.
Shared holding: Cathedral corporation
Previous holder: Notley Abbey, Augustinian abbey
The available local historical summary states that after the Dissolution the former abbey manor was initially granted to the Dean and Chapter of Oxford but was returned shortly afterwards. The exact grant and recovery dates are not supplied, so the end date is deliberately left imprecise.
Source: Princes Risborough Historic Town Assessment, Buckinghamshire County Council, section 5.4, 'Abbots Manor'. — source link
Transfer: Granted by the Crown during the reign of Edward VI after the manor had been removed from the Dean and Chapter of Oxford.
Shared holding: Episcopal corporation
Previous holder: Dean and Chapter of Oxford, Dean and Chapter of Christ Church
The local historical account states that Edward VI gave the Abbot's Manor to Robert King, Bishop of Oxford. The evidence supports the reign-period date rather than a specific calendar date. A separate archaeological report contains an apparent regnal misstatement, calling this the reign of Edward IV; the Edward VI dating is preferred because it is consistent with the local account and chronology.
Source: Princes Risborough Parish historical account, 'The Manor of Risborough or Princes Risborough or Brooke or Abbot's Risborough'; corroborated in John Moore Heritage Services, St Mary's Church, Princes Risborough archaeological watching brief. — source link
Transfer: Recovered from the Bishop of Oxford and immediately granted by Elizabeth I to Thomas Crompton, Robert Wrighte and Gilley Merick.
Shared holding: Crown
Previous holder: Robert King, Bishop of Oxford, or the episcopal estate
The consulted account states that Elizabeth recovered the manor from the Bishop of Oxford in 1589 and had already granted it in the same year to Thomas Crompton, Robert Wrighte and Gilley Merick. This is therefore recorded as a short Crown holding or reversion immediately preceding the 1589 private grant, not as a long independent period of possession.
Source: Princes Risborough Parish historical account, 'The Manor of Risborough or Princes Risborough or Brooke or Abbot's Risborough'. — source link
Thomas Crompton, Robert Wrighte and Gilley Merick, Thomas Crompton is described in other Buckinghamshire records as an esquire, titles of Wrighte and Merick are not established here
Transfer: Granted by Elizabeth I in 1589; the manor was subsequently conveyed by Thomas Crompton to John Jackman. The respective shares and the date of Crompton's conveyance are not stated.
Holding arrangement: Joint — Joint holding; individual shares not stated
Shared holding: Three named grantees
The 1589 grant named Thomas Crompton, Robert Wrighte and Gilley Merick. Later summaries sometimes simplify the transaction by saying that Elizabeth sold the manor to Thomas Crompton, but the more specific account identifies all three grantees. The source then says Crompton sold the manor to John Jackman; because it does not explain the legal interests of Wrighte and Merick, the entry preserves the joint grant and does not infer their individual shares.
Source: Princes Risborough Parish historical account, 'The Manor of Risborough or Princes Risborough or Brooke or Abbot's Risborough'; the 1589 grant is also summarized in the Buckinghamshire County Council Historic Town Assessment. — source link
John Jackman, No securely established title in the consulted manor sources
Transfer: Acquired by conveyance from Thomas Crompton; the exact date and legal form of the conveyance are not stated.
Shared holding: Private owner
The local account states that Thomas Crompton sold the manor to John Jackman, who held it at his death in 1622. Because the source does not provide a precise conveyance date, the start is recorded only as before 1622.
Source: Princes Risborough Parish historical account, 'The Manor of Risborough or Princes Risborough or Brooke or Abbot's Risborough'. — source link
Transfer: Inherited or otherwise received the manor after John Jackman's death in 1622; the son's name and the exact legal mechanism are not stated.
Shared holding: Unnamed successor
Previous holder: John Jackman, No securely established title in the consulted manor sources
The source states that after John Jackman's death in 1622 the manor passed to his son, who sold it in 1624. Since the son is not named in the consulted sources, he is retained as an unnamed holder rather than being identified with any particular member of the Jackman family.
Source: Princes Risborough Parish historical account, 'The Manor of Risborough or Princes Risborough or Brooke or Abbot's Risborough'. — source link
Joan Chibnall and Vincent Barry, Vincent Barry is described as steward of the King's Manor, Joan Chibnall is described as the purchaser and later testatrix connected with Brooke House
Transfer: Purchased from the unnamed son of John Jackman in 1624.
Holding arrangement: Joint — Joint holding; individual shares not stated
Shared holding: Joint purchasers
Previous holder: Unnamed son of John Jackman
The Abbot's Manor was sold in 1624 to Joan Chibnall and Vincent Barry. Vincent Barry is described in the local tradition as steward of the King's Manor. The Buckinghamshire Gardens Trust independently identifies the 1624 purchase of the Brooke House site by Joan Chibnall and Vincent Barry and notes that the site was associated with the Abbot's Manor. The evidence does not establish the date on which their joint holding ended.
Source: Princes Risborough Parish historical account, 'The Manor of Risborough or Princes Risborough or Brooke or Abbot's Risborough'; Buckinghamshire Gardens Trust, Site Dossier: Manor House (Brooke House), Princes Risborough, pp. 4-5. — source link
Thomas Adeane, Local landholder, later holder of the combined Risborough manors
Transfer: Appears as holder of both the King's Manor and the Abbot's Manor in a 1675 suit concerning the customs of the manors. The transfer from the preceding holder is not established.
Shared holding: Combined Risborough manor holding
Previous holder: Not established; Ralph Adeane's connection is only presumptive
A suit concerning the customs of the manors in 1675 mentioned both the King's Manor and the Abbot's Manor and stated or indicated that both were held by Thomas Adeane. This is the latest securely located evidence in the consulted public sources for a named holder of the Abbot's Manor. It demonstrates common holding of the two manors, but it does not prove the exact conveyance by which Thomas Adeane acquired the Abbot's Manor or establish that the separate legal identity of the Abbot's Manor had been extinguished.
Source: Princes Risborough Parish historical account, 'The Manor of Risborough or Princes Risborough or Brooke or Abbot's Risborough'; Buckinghamshire County Council, Princes Risborough Historic Town Assessment, section 5.4, 'Abbots Manor'. — source link
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