Location: Acton, Middlesex
Places / associated places: Acton, Middlesex
Listed in Domesday Book: Yes
Location & Extent
GPS Location & Recorded Land Areas
Representative GPS point: 51.51093, -0.2573
Identity: confirmed — The supplied TNA/MDR record F236147 identifies Acton Manor in Acton, Middlesex. The historical evidence places the manor within the Bishop of London's Fulham episcopal estate and distinguishes the manorial unit from subsidiary estates and houses in East Acton.
Representative point: 51.51093, -0.25730
Basis: documented_manor_house — Approximate position of the former entrance to East Acton Manor House on the east side of East Acton Lane, nearly opposite Shaa Road. The house was rebuilt in the eighteenth century and demolished in 1911; the former entrance survives as the gateway to the sports ground.
Point confidence: medium
Boundary status: representative_point_only
Boundary period:
Boundary confidence: none
Boundary basis: The sources establish the manor's location and provide descriptions of individual customary and freehold holdings, but do not supply a sufficiently clear, manor-specific perimeter. The documented acreage of the Fosters/East Acton Manor House estate represents a subordinate estate or property complex and cannot safely be substituted for the territorial extent of Acton Manor itself. The modern parish, borough, conservation-area and estate boundaries are likewise not valid substitutes.
Sources:
- The National Archives: Acton Manor, TNA/MDR record F236147: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F236147 — Registry authority record for Acton Manor, Acton, Middlesex.
- East Acton Manor House, Survey of London Monograph 7: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/East_Acton_Manor_House_-_being_the_seventh_monograph_of_the_Committee_for_the_survey_of_the_memorials_of_greater_London_%28IA_eastactonmanorho00unse%29.pdf — States that East Acton Manor House stood on the east side of East Acton Lane; identifies the property as partly freehold and partly copyhold of the Manor of Acton; records the earlier name Fosters and detailed seventeenth-century holdings.
- Acton Park Conservation Area Character Appraisal, Ealing Council: https://www.ealing.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/2086/acton_park_conservation_area_appraisal.pdf — Identifies the gateway to the sports ground, nearly opposite Shaa Road, as the former entrance to the manor house, rebuilt in the eighteenth century and demolished in 1911.
- East Acton Lane and environs, East Acton, 1930, Britain from Above: https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/image/epw031281 — Provides georeferenced historic aerial imagery for East Acton Lane and Shaa Road, supporting the approximate coordinate placement.
- Old Oak Common Worksites Archaeological Detailed Desk-Based Assessment: https://learninglegacy.crossrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Old-Oak-Common-Worksites-Archaeological-Detailed-Desk-Based-Assessment.pdf — Summarizes the historical position of Acton as a division of the Bishop of London's Fulham estate and notes the existence of a distinct sub-manor of Acton alongside other local estates.
- Fulham Palace institutional history: https://www.fulhampalace.org/house-garden/the-house/ — States that the Bishop of London's Fulham estate acquired in AD 704 covered most of Fulham, Hammersmith, Acton, Ealing and Finchley.
Warnings / uncertainty:
- The former East Acton Manor House/Fosters site is a defensible representative point for the manor record, but the house estate should not be treated as the full legal extent of Acton Manor.
- No historically documented or reliably reconstructable perimeter for the entire manorial extent was located in the available sources.
- Do not substitute the ancient parish of Acton, modern Ealing boundaries, the Acton Park conservation area, or the Goldsmiths' Company estate for the manor boundary.
About the Manor
Acton Manor was the Bishop of London's manor in Acton, Middlesex, and formed part of the much larger Fulham episcopal estate, which covered most of Fulham, Hammersmith, Acton, Ealing and Finchley. Acton was within the Bishop of London's estate by the Domesday period. Medieval and early-modern references show Acton functioning as a distinct manorial unit, with a manor court and customary holdings, although the relationship with the larger Fulham estate remained important. The surviving evidence also shows that Acton contained more than one subordinate or subsidiary manor or estate, so individual houses and estates in East Acton should not automatically be treated as the lordship of Acton Manor. In 1606 and 1610 the court rolls of the Bishop of London's manor record admissions and surrenders of customary property in East Acton. By 1899 the Ecclesiastical Commissioners were recorded as lords of the manor. The precise legal date and instrument by which the manorial lordship passed from the Bishop of London to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners has not been established from the sources consulted.
Ownership / Holder Account
The earliest securely evidenced lordship is that of the Bishop of London. Fulham Palace's institutional history states that Bishop Waldhere acquired the Manor of Fulham in AD 704 and that the estate included most of Acton; Acton was part of that episcopal estate by the Domesday period. A later antiquarian study of East Acton Manor House describes Acton as possessing more than one manor, subsidiary to Fulham, and identifies the property from early times with the Bishops of London. The court rolls cited by that study expressly describe the Bishop of London as lord of the manor of Acton in 1606 and 1610. The early-modern individuals named in the court-roll and probate evidence, including John Suckling, Richard Sutton, Sir Richard Ashfield and members of the Goldsmiths' Company, were holders of particular freehold or copyhold properties within Acton and were not thereby lords of Acton Manor. By 1899 the lordship was in the hands of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. The intervening conveyance or statutory vesting has not been identified, so no specific transfer date is asserted.
Manorial Rights & Privileges
Historic manorial rights / privileges (2)
Manor court
Provisional
Acton functioned as a distinct manorial unit with a manor court; court rolls survive for at least 1606 and 1610.
Customary holdings
Provisional
The court rolls record admissions and surrenders of customary property in East Acton.
Records & References
Sources and references mentioning this manor/title which are not necessarily conveyances or transfers.
41 records found.
1587-1619: court rolls, with other manors (court leet and view of frankpledge)
Held by: The National Archives
1563-1585: court rolls (7)
Held by: Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section
1547-1552: court rolls (3)
Held by: Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section
1544-1582: court roll extracts
Held by: British Library, Manuscript Collections
1542-1900: rents of fee farms
Held by: Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section
1539-1565: court rolls, with other manors (court leet and view of frankpledge)
Held by: The National Archives
1526-1527: court rolls, with other manors (court leet and view of frankpledge)
Held by: The National Archives
1522-1525: court roll
Held by: The National Archives
1514-1526: court roll
Held by: Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section
1507-1512: court rolls, with other manors (court leet and view of frankpledge)
Held by: The National Archives
1506-1507: court roll
Held by: Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section
1487-1496: court rolls (3)
Held by: Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section
1437-1479: court rolls (10)
Held by: Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section
1419-1431: court rolls (6)
Held by: Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section
1412: account
Held by: Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section
1403-1495: court rolls, with other manors (court leet and view of frankpledge)
Held by: The National Archives
1401-1406: court rolls (2)
Held by: Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section
1391-1393: court roll
Held by: Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section
1384-1398: court rolls (3), with other manors (with separate pannage courts)
Held by: The National Archives
Further information: See SC2/188/65-67;SC2/188/65-67
1383-1384: court roll
Held by: Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section
Conveyance & Descent
First holder to present holder: blood proximity & distance travelled
First recorded holder: Bishop of London
Present holder:
Recorded title journey: 2 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.
Bishop of London
Transfer: Acton was recorded within the Bishop of London's wider Manor of Fulham by the Domesday period. The sources do not establish a separate conveyance creating or transferring the lordship of Acton Manor at this date; this entry records the securely evidenced episcopal lordship rather than inferring a particular transaction.
Shared holding: Episcopal corporate estate
Fulham Palace states that Bishop Waldhere acquired the Manor of Fulham in AD 704 and that the estate covered most of Acton. Acton was part of the Bishop of London's estate at Domesday. A nineteenth-century survey of East Acton Manor House describes Acton's manors as subsidiary to Fulham and belonging from early times to the Bishops of London. The 1606 and 1610 court-roll evidence identifies the Bishop of London as lord of the manor of Acton. This is lordship of the manor, not merely overlordship of a named tenant's holding.
Source: Fulham Palace, 'The house'; Philip Norman, East Acton Manor House, being the seventh monograph of the Committee for the Survey of the Memorials of Greater London, pp. 10-11 and 16-17. — source link
Transfer: The precise transfer from the Bishop of London to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners has not been established. Kelly's Directory of Middlesex for 1899 records the Ecclesiastical Commissioners as lords of the manor, demonstrating that the institutional lordship had changed by that date without supplying the transfer instrument or date.
Shared holding: Ecclesiastical corporate estate
Previous holder: Bishop of London
This entry records the latest securely evidenced historical holder found in the consulted public sources. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners should not be confused with tenants, estate managers or owners of individual Acton properties: the 1899 source expressly describes them as lords of the manor. The date of vesting is left open because no source located during this research identifies the exact conveyance or statutory transfer.
Source: Kelly's Directory of Middlesex (1899), entry for Acton, reproduced by Forebears; the entry states that the Ecclesiastical Commissioners are lords of the manor. — source link
Lordship / Title Associations
Associations are recorded by period so changes in estate composition do not imply that every manor remained attached to the same title indefinitely.
Corrections / Challenges
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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.
https://manorialregistry.com/index.php?rest_route=/mhr/v1/manor/acton-manorPublic API access is currently disabled. Authorised API clients must use a private X-MHR-API-Key; currently only administrator keys are enabled.
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