Historical names: Abbetstone (Manor) | Abbotstan (Manor) | Abbotteston (Manor) | Abston (Manor) | Abston and Wick (Manor) | Abstone (Manor) | Wick (Manor) | Wick and Abson (Manor) | Wyke and Abbetstone (Manor)
Location: Wick & Abson, Gloucestershire
Places / associated places: Wick & Abson, Gloucestershire
Location & Extent
GPS Location & Recorded Land Areas
Representative GPS point: 51.4525, -2.4393
Identity: confirmed — The record's primary name and historical variants correspond to the documented manor of Abson and Wick in the Wick and Abson chapelry/parish, Gloucestershire. The associated Wick Manor is a listed historic manor house at The Green, Wick, and the archive leads include medieval and early modern court rolls, accounts, a rental and a 1641 survey for Wick and Abson manorial administration.
Representative point: 51.4525, -2.4393
Basis: documented_manor_house — Wick Manor, The Green, Wick, identified by Historic England as the historic manor house associated with the manor record. Coordinates are an approximate WGS84 conversion of Historic England NGR ST6940872374.
Point confidence: high
Boundary status: representative_point_only
Boundary period:
Boundary confidence: none
Boundary basis: The accessible evidence establishes the manor's location and its association with Abson and Wick, but does not publish a defensible historical manor-land boundary. The documented 1641 survey, 1545 rental and court-roll series are strong archival leads, but their catalogue entries do not expose mapped parcels or a perimeter. The acreage and limits of the former chapelry/parish cannot safely be substituted for the manorial extent, particularly because the wider Pucklechurch estate historically included Abson and other surrounding settlements.
Sources:
- Historic England: Wick Manor, Wick and Abson, List Entry 1216154: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1216154 — Identifies Wick Manor at The Green, Wick and Abson; describes the building as having a seventeenth-century origin remodelled in the eighteenth century; gives National Grid Reference ST6940872374.
- Parks & Gardens: Manor House, Wick and Abson: https://www.parksandgardens.org/places/manor-house-wick-and-abson — Identifies the Manor House as the principal historic building in Wick and Abson and locates it at OS grid ST695725, with published latitude and longitude close to the Historic England reference.
- More Famous Houses of Bath and District: Wick, or Abson and Wick: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/More_famous_houses_of_bath_%26_district%3B_being_the_second_series_of_that_work_%28IA_morefamoushouses00meeh%29.pdf — States that Abson and Wick formed part of the large Pucklechurch estate, passed from Glastonbury Abbey to the see of Bath and Wells, and was acquired by Henry VIII during the Dissolution period.
- National Archives catalogue: account roll for manor of Wyke [Wick], 1322, AC/M/21/2: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N14345847 — Provides an early direct archival reference to the manor of Wick, one of the historical components of the Abson and Wick manor record.
- National Archives catalogue: 1641 survey, HA/M/2: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N14339653 — Identifies a 1641 survey held by Bristol Archives, potentially relevant to reconstructing the manorial extent, but the accessible catalogue entry does not provide the survey's boundary or mapped contents.
- National Archives catalogue: 1545 rental, D421/M85: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N14334828 — Identifies a sixteenth-century rental for the manor, potentially relevant to constituent holdings, but the accessible catalogue entry does not expose a parcel list or boundary.
- TNA/MDR record F242043: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F242043 — Registry record supplied for the exact manor identity and its historical name variants, location and associated authority reference.
Warnings / uncertainty:
- The representative point marks the documented Wick Manor house, not the geometric centre of all historical manorial land.
- No historical manor boundary polygon has been returned because the accessible evidence does not distinguish the manorial extent from the former chapelry/parish or the wider Pucklechurch estate.
- The archive survey and rental should be consulted directly before attempting any future boundary reconstruction.
About the Manor
Abson Manor, also recorded as the manor of Abson and Wick, was the principal manorial estate associated with the villages and former chapelry of Abson and Wick in Gloucestershire. The place-name forms Abston, Abbotston and Abbetstone reflect historical variants of Abson. Medieval and early modern accounts connect the estate with the wider Pucklechurch estate, which included Abson and surrounding settlements. The manor was associated with the historic manor house at Wick, now known as Wick Manor; the surviving building has a seventeenth-century origin and was substantially remodelled in the mid eighteenth century. The parish is now within South Gloucestershire, although the historical county designation is Gloucestershire.
Ownership / Holder Account
The earliest securely reported history places Abson and Wick within the large Pucklechurch estate held by Glastonbury Abbey before the Norman Conquest; a local historical account states that the estate had been given to Glastonbury by King Edward the Confessor. In 1205 Glastonbury Abbey relinquished its right in Pucklechurch, Abson and Westerleigh to the see of Bath and Wells. The bishops of Bath and Wells are reported to have held Abson and Wick for more than two hundred and fifty years. A record of a fine levied by Hugh Dennis in the eleventh year of Henry VIII provides a direct contemporary link between Dennis and the manor, but the available account does not establish whether he held the whole manor, a share, or a legal interest created by the fine; it is therefore not treated here as a proven conveyance of the lordship. Henry VIII acquired the manor from the bishopric during the Dissolution period, approximately 1536-1540, together with the advowson of the rectory and Friers Wood in Abson. The available public account states that the King subsequently granted the manor, but the grantee and date of that grant were not recoverable from the accessible material. A documentary gap therefore remains between the Crown acquisition and the nineteenth-century holders. Richard Hayne was reported as lord of the manor in 1851. By 1863 and 1870-1872, sources variously report James Tolman, or James Tolman together with members of the Batterbury family, as lord or lords of the manor. The 1876 directory names James Tolman alone. In 1891-1897, directory evidence describes the trustees of the late James Tolman as lords of the manor. These nineteenth-century references conflict or may reflect concurrent interests and changes in the legal holding; no unrecorded conveyances have been inserted. The accessible public evidence does not establish the later twentieth-century descent or a current holder.
Records & References
Sources and references mentioning this manor/title which are not necessarily conveyances or transfers.
16 records found · showing 9–16.
1625-1627: court rolls (1 bundle)
Held by: Bristol Archives
1545-1545: rental (1 roll)
Held by: Gloucestershire Archives
1539-1539: court rolls, with other manors
Held by: Lambeth Palace Library
1513-1514: court rolls of Wick, with other manors
Held by: Lambeth Palace Library
1442-1443: account rolls, with other manors
Held by: Lambeth Palace Library
1440-1440: court rolls of Wick, with other manors
Held by: Lambeth Palace Library
1432-1432: court rolls, with other manors (3 files)
Held by: Gloucestershire Archives
1322-1322: account roll for manor of Wyke [Wick] only (1 membrane)
Held by: Bristol Archives
Conveyance & Descent
First holder to present holder: blood proximity & distance travelled
First recorded holder: Glastonbury Abbey
Present holder:
Recorded title journey: 7 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.
Glastonbury Abbey, Abbey of Glastonbury, Benedictine abbey, holder of Ashbury manor
Transfer: Held as part of the wider Pucklechurch estate, which included Abson and surrounding settlements; the estate is reported to have been given to Glastonbury Abbey by King Edward the Confessor.
Previous holder: The Crown or pre-Conquest royal estate; the accessible source does not provide a separate conveyance into Glastonbury's hands.
The evidence concerns the wider Pucklechurch estate, explicitly said to include Abson and Wick, rather than a separately named Domesday manor of Abson. This is treated as the predecessor estate from which Abson Manor developed, not as proof that Abson was separately named in Domesday.
Source: J. F. Meehan, More Famous Houses of Bath and District, second series, 1906, p. 92, discussion of Abson and Wick; corroborated by the historical account of Abson and Wick published from nineteenth-century gazetteer material. — source link
Transfer: In 1205 Glastonbury Abbey relinquished its right in the manors of Pucklechurch, Abson and Westerleigh to the bishopric of Bath and Wells.
Previous holder: Glastonbury Abbey, Abbey of Glastonbury, Benedictine abbey, holder of Ashbury manor
The source expressly names Abson among the manors transferred to the see of Bath and Wells. A separate episcopal holding is therefore secure from 1205, although the exact terminal date is expressed as the Dissolution period rather than a single year.
Source: J. F. Meehan, More Famous Houses of Bath and District, second series, 1906, p. 92, citing the 1205 transaction and the subsequent episcopal tenure. — source link
Henry VIII and the Crown, King of England, 1509-1547, Supreme Head of the Church of England, King of England and Ireland, claimant and supreme royal authority in the grant recorded for the manor, Lord of Ireland, later King of Ireland, King of Ireland, 1541-1547
Transfer: Acquired from the bishopric of Bath and Wells during the Dissolution period, together with the advowson of the rectory and Friers Wood in Abson.
Previous holder: See of Bath and Wells, Bishopric of Bath and Wells
The available source states that Henry VIII acquired the manor when it was still in the possession of the bishopric. It also states that the King granted the manor onward, but the grantee and date of the grant were not recoverable from the accessible public material. The Crown holding is therefore entered, while the subsequent private transfer is left as a documented gap.
Source: J. F. Meehan, More Famous Houses of Bath and District, second series, 1906, p. 92; nineteenth-century gazetteer summaries also state that the manor passed from Bath and Wells to Henry VIII. — source link
Richard Hayne, Esquire, reported lord of the manor of Abson and Wick in 1851
Transfer: Reported as lord of the manor in an 1851 directory account.
Previous holder: Unknown; the post-Dissolution descent has not been established from the accessible sources.
Richard Hayne is directly identified as lord of the manor in the 1851 account of Abson and Wick. No deed or other conveyance linking him from the Crown's later grantee has been located, so the intervening transfer is left unknown.
Source: Post Office Directory of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire and the City of Bristol, 1851, Abson and Wick entry, reproduced in the Abson and Wick historical directory compilation. — source link
James Tolman and John Henry Batterbury or the Batterbury interest, Reported lords of the manor of Abson and Wick
Transfer: Reported in directory and gazetteer material as the lords of the manor, or as the persons to whom the manor belonged.
Holding arrangement: Joint
Shared holding: Messrs. Batterbury and Tolman
Previous holder: Richard Hayne or another undocumented holder; no conveyance has been located.
The 1863 directory names Messrs. Batterbury and Tolman as lords of the manor, while the 1870-1872 Imperial Gazetteer says that the manor belonged to Messrs. Batterbury and Tolman. The sources do not state whether this was a joint legal holding, separate shares, or a directory shorthand for concurrent landownership. The entry is therefore marked joint as the closest available description, with the uncertainty preserved.
Source: Post Office Directory of Gloucestershire, 1863, Abson and Wick entry; John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales, 1870-1872, Abson entry, reproduced by Vision of Britain. — source link
James Tolman, Esquire, reported lord of the manor of Abson and Wick in 1876
Transfer: Reported as lord of the manor in the 1876 directory.
Previous holder: Unknown; the directory does not explain the relationship to the earlier Batterbury and Tolman report.
The 1876 directory names James Tolman as lord of the manor. This conflicts or may be compatible with the 1863 and 1870-1872 references to Batterbury and Tolman together; no conveyance or partition has been located to explain the difference.
Source: Abson and Wick directory entry for 1876, reproduced in the historical directory compilation. — source link
Trustees of the late James Tolman, Trustees and reported lords of the manor of Abson and Wick
Transfer: By the 1891-1897 period, directory evidence described the trustees of the late James Tolman as lords of the manor.
Holding arrangement: Trust
Shared holding: Tolman estate trustees
Previous holder: James Tolman, Esquire, reported lord of the manor of Abson and Wick in 1876
The directory wording indicates a trust or estate administration after James Tolman's death. It does not identify the individual trustees, the date of Tolman's death, or the instrument by which the manor was vested in them. This entry should not be read as a proven conveyance of the whole estate beyond the directory's description.
Source: Kelly's Directory of Gloucestershire, 1897, Abson entry, reporting that the trustees of the late James Tolman were lords of the manor; the same wording is reproduced in the parish historical compilation and in contemporary directory extracts. — source link
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JSON API
Machine-readable published manor data, including public images, mapped land areas, notes, rights, conveyances, relationships, records, source/document-library entries and public file links.
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