ALBURY MANOR

Claim

Historical names: Aldebury; Albury

Location: Merstham, Surrey

Places / associated places: Merstham, Surrey

Location & Extent

GPS Location & Recorded Land Areas

Representative GPS point: 51.259, -0.1473

Location / boundary notes:

Identity: confirmed — The registry record is securely identified with the reputed manor of Albury, also styled Aldebury, in Merstham, Surrey. The Victoria County History records its tenure of the Prior of Christchurch, Canterbury, by Sir Edmund de Passelew and John de Passelew, its later descent through the Timperley, Elingbridge, Dannett, Southcote, Docminique and Jolliffe families, and its eventual union with Merstham Manor. Historic England independently identifies the medieval moated site at Albury Farm, Merstham, as the site of the Albury manor house.
Representative point: 51.2590, -0.1473
Basis: documented_manor_house — The manor-house site is identified with the medieval moated enclosure at Albury Farm, Merstham. Historic England gives National Grid Reference TQ 29376 52721; the representative coordinates are a rounded WGS84 conversion of that documented site location.
Point confidence: medium
Boundary status: representative_point_only
Boundary period:
Boundary confidence: none
Boundary basis: The consulted sources establish the manor-house location but do not provide a defensible perimeter for the historical manorial land. The Victoria County History mentions specific holdings and a licence to impark 40 acres of wood, 100 acres of land, 80 acres of pasture and 30 acres of meadow in Merstham, but does not identify their complete spatial arrangement or the manor's outer boundary. The scheduled-monument boundary at Albury Farm represents the archaeological moat and manor-house site, not the territorial extent of Albury Manor, and therefore has not been substituted as a manor polygon.
Sources:
- The National Archives, Albury Manor, TNA/MDR record F245688: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F245688 — Registry record identifying Albury Manor as a reputed manor in Merstham, Surrey, and associating the manor-house site with the medieval moated enclosure at Albury Farm.
- A History of the County of Surrey, Volume 3, Victoria County History, page 290: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:The_Victoria_History_of_the_County_of_Surrey_Volume_3.djvu/290 — Documents the historical identity and descent of the reputed manor of Albury or Aldebury in Merstham, including the de Passelew, Timperley, Elingbridge, Dannett, Southcote, Docminique and Jolliffe connections, and states that the old manor-house site is marked by a moated enclosure.
- Historic England, Medieval moated site, Albury Farm, Merstham, List Entry 1015977: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1015977 — Identifies the medieval moated site at Albury Farm as the former manor-house site, links it to the de Passelle family, and gives National Grid Reference TQ 29376 52721.
- The National Archives, Albury Manor court roll with rentals, DD/HY/10/5: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N14307364 — Archive reference for a 1512-1565 Albury Manor court roll with six rentals, supporting the existence of manorial records but not supplying an accessible complete boundary in the consulted catalogue entry.
- The National Archives, Albury Manor rental, DD/HY/11/1/2: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N14274217 — Archive reference for a 1633 Albury Manor rental, potentially relevant to reconstructing the estate's parcels, but the catalogue entry does not expose a mapped territorial extent.
Warnings / uncertainty:
- No reliable historical polygon for the full manorial extent was located in the consulted sources.
- The representative point denotes the documented medieval manor-house site at Albury Farm, not the centroid or complete boundary of the manor's lands.
- The Historic England scheduled-monument boundary has deliberately not been returned as the manor boundary.

About the Manor

Albury Manor, also recorded as Aldebury and Albury, was a reputed manor in Merstham parish, Surrey, held of the Prior of Christchurch, Canterbury. In the early fourteenth century it was held by Sir Edmund de Passelew and his son John. The manor-house site is identified with a medieval moated enclosure at Albury Farm, Merstham. The estate was later associated with the Timperley, Elingbridge, Dannett, Southcote, Docminique and Jolliffe families. It was eventually united with the manor of Merstham. The place-name and local roads and institutions, including Albury Road and Albury Manor School, preserve the manor's association with South Merstham.

Ownership / Holder Account

The secure documentary descent begins in the early fourteenth century with Sir Edmund de Passelew and his son John, who held Albury of the Prior of Christchurch for an annual service of £16 and suit at the Merstham court. John inherited about 1327 and conveyed his right in 1339 to Richard de Burton, while John le French held the tenement under a lease beginning in 1338. The subsequent record indicates that Nicholas le French granted the manor for eight years to Fulk Harwode, who conveyed his right to Nicholas de Lovayne in 1365–1368. The next securely reported lord is John Timperley, whose tenure falls in the reign of Henry VI; the precise transition from Nicholas de Lovayne is not recorded in the consulted sources. Timperley conveyed the manor to John Elingbridge, who settled it on his second wife Anne. John Elingbridge died in 1473 and was succeeded by his grandson Thomas, who died in 1507. Thomas's daughter Anne became heiress after the death of her posthumous brother John in 1507 and later married her guardian, John Dannett. Albury remained with the Dannetts until 1579, when Leonard Dannett and Christiana his wife sold it to John Southcote. After Southcote's death in 1585 the manor was settled on his son John and John's wife Magdalen Waldegrave. Two-thirds of the estate were regranted by the Crown in 1633–1634 to John Southcote and his son Edward, described as recusants, for an annual rent of £100. The manor was settled on John Southcote's grandson John in December 1637, shortly before the elder John died in January 1637/8. It remained in the Southcote family until its sale to Paul Docminique in 1727. The manor later became the property of William Jolliffe, but the consulted source does not establish the exact date or instrument of that transfer. It was subsequently united with Merstham Manor, with Lord Hylton identified as owner in the Victoria County History's early twentieth-century account. Several intermediate transactions and the precise date of the union remain undocumented in the sources consulted.

Manorial Rights & Privileges

Historic manorial rights / privileges (3)

Held of the Prior of Christchurch, Canterbury

Provisional

The early fourteenth-century holding is expressly described as being held of the Prior of Christchurch, Canterbury.

Annual service of £16

Provisional

The early fourteenth-century tenure was subject to an annual service of £16.

Suit at the Merstham court

Provisional

The early fourteenth-century tenure included suit at the Merstham court.

Records & References

Sources and references mentioning this manor/title which are not necessarily conveyances or transfers.

7 records found · showing 1–7.