Historical names: Elleorde
Location: Aldworth, Berkshire
Places / associated places: Aldworth, Berkshire
Listed in Domesday Book: Yes
Location & Extent
GPS Location & Recorded Land Areas
Representative GPS point: 51.5107, -1.203
Identity: confirmed — The registry name and location identify the principal historical manor of Aldworth, Berkshire, associated with the medieval De Ferrers lordship. Historical sources distinguish this manor from the separate lesser manor of De la Beche, whose fortified manor house stood at Beche Farm south of the church.
Representative point: 51.5107, -1.2030
Basis: supported_manorial_centre — The principal manor house of Aldworth is reported to have stood next to St Mary's Church. The point uses the documented church location as the best surviving geographic anchor for the adjacent, now-lost manor-house site; it is not the separate De la Beche manor at Beche Farm.
Point confidence: medium
Boundary status: representative_point_only
Boundary period: Medieval to early modern; exact period of intended territorial extent not established
Boundary confidence: none
Boundary basis: The evidence confirms the manor's location and distinguishes it from De la Beche, but the sources located do not provide a defensible polygon for the manorial landholding. The Aldworth parish boundary and the 1841 tithe-map coverage cannot safely be substituted for the historical manor boundary without parcel-level manorial evidence.
Sources:
- Royal Berkshire History: History of Aldworth, Berkshire: https://www.berkshirehistory.com/villages/aldworth.html — Identifies the De Ferrers manor as the main manor of Aldworth and states that its manor house stood next to the church; distinguishes it from the lesser manor centred on La Beche Castle.
- West Berkshire Historic Environment Record: De la Beche, Aldworth, MWB4130: https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?resourceID=1030&uid=MWB4130 — Provides the documented location of the separate De la Beche fortified manor at grid reference SU 553 784 and records that it lay south of the church, preventing confusion between the two Aldworth manors.
- Church of St Mary, Aldworth, Historic England listing data: https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101313119-church-of-st-mary-aldworth — Provides the geographic anchor for St Mary's Church at approximately latitude 51.5107, longitude -1.2030, adjacent to the reported site of the principal Aldworth manor house.
- Aldworth, Berkshire: historical description: https://forebears.io/england/berkshire/aldworth — Records the historical Aldworth manor and states that the mansion-house was situated on an eminence near the village; also identifies Beche Farm as the site of the separately fortified De la Beche residence.
- Aldworth Tithe Map catalogue lead, Berkshire Archives: http://ww2.berkshirenclosure.org.uk/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=DD1%2f4%2f1 — Confirms the existence of the 1841 Aldworth tithe map, but no accessible parcel-level evidence was found tying a complete historical boundary to Aldworth Manor.
Warnings / uncertainty:
- Aldworth parish contained more than one manor, notably the principal Aldworth manor and the separate De la Beche manor at Beche Farm.
- The representative point is an evidence-based manorial-centre proxy adjacent to the documented church location, not a surviving precisely located manor-house footprint.
- No historically grounded manor-territory polygon was established; do not substitute the modern civil-parish boundary or the De la Beche site.
About the Manor
Aldworth Manor was the principal manor of Aldworth in the historic hundred of Compton, Berkshire. Domesday evidence records Aldworth, then written as Elleorde, as held by Theodoric the goldsmith in 1086. A later medieval descent records the manor in the hands of Thomas de Clare, who conveyed it in July 1276 to Robert de Muscegros in exchange for Irish possessions. Robert's daughter and heir Hawise brought the manor by marriage to John de Ferrers, Lord Ferrers of Chartley. The manor subsequently became associated with the Langford family, whose descendants held it until about 1509. In the Elizabethan period it was held by Sir John Norreys, then by the Bertie family. Willoughby Bertie, 3rd Earl of Abingdon, sold it in 1756 to Richard Palmer of Sonning. By 1899 John Bligh Monck of Coley Park was recorded as lord of the manor, and a 1911 Berkshire directory named George Stanley S. Monck as lord. Aldworth also contained a separate manor or estate known as De la Beche, centred on the fortified manor house at Beche Farm; that separate holding must not be merged with the principal Aldworth Manor without further documentary proof.
Ownership / Holder Account
The secure public-source descent is incomplete in the medieval period. Theodoric the goldsmith is the Domesday holder in 1086. By July 1276 Thomas de Clare held and conveyed the manor to Robert de Muscegros. Robert died in 1280, and his daughter and heir Hawise is reported to have brought the manor by marriage to John de Ferrers. The later transition from the Ferrers interest to Sir Thomas Langford is reported by nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century county descriptions, but the precise conveyance and intermediate holders are not identified in the sources located. Langford descendants were said to remain connected with the manor until 1509. The manor was then associated with Sir John Norreys during the reign of Elizabeth I, later passed to the Berties, and was sold in 1756 by Willoughby Bertie, 3rd Earl of Abingdon, to Richard Palmer of Sonning. The precise transfer from Richard Palmer to the Monck family is not established by the sources located; Monck lordship is nevertheless directly attested by 1899 and again in 1911. The De la Beche manor in Aldworth is a distinct and separately documented estate and is excluded from this descent.
Records & References
Sources and references mentioning this manor/title which are not necessarily conveyances or transfers.
5 records found · showing 1–5.
1714-1714: court book, with other manors
Held by: Oxford University: Bodleian Library, Special Collections
Further information: NRA 4474 Bertie
1685-1690: court roll (fragment from court book)
Held by: Royal Berkshire Archives
Further information: NRA 879 Palmer
1647-1647: court book, with other manors
Held by: Oxford University: Bodleian Library, Special Collections
Further information: NRA 4474 Bertie
1635-1647: court rolls, with other manors
Held by: Oxford University: Bodleian Library, Special Collections
Further information: NRA 4474 Bertie
1598-1598: extracts from court rolls, with other manors
Held by: Oxford University: Bodleian Library, Special Collections
Further information: NRA 4474
Conveyance & Descent
First holder to present holder: blood proximity & distance travelled
First recorded holder: Theodoric the goldsmith
Present holder:
Recorded title journey: 11 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.
Transfer: Domesday Book records Aldworth, written as Elleorde, as held by Theodoric the goldsmith. The earlier descent into his hands is not established here.
This is the earliest securely evidenced holder of the principal Aldworth manor. The source distinguishes the medieval Aldworth manor from the later De la Beche estate in the same parish.
Source: Domesday Book, Berkshire entry for Aldworth; corroborated by Kelly's Directory of Berkshire, 1899, Aldworth entry, and Victoria County History, Berkshire, volume IV, 1924, pages 3-8. — source link
Thomas de Clare, Anglo-Irish nobleman and landholder
Transfer: Thomas de Clare conveyed the manor of Aldworth to Robert de Muscegros in July 1276 in exchange for Bunratty Castle, the cantred of Tradree and Ui-Corbmaig in Ireland.
Previous holder: Unknown; the earlier route by which Thomas de Clare acquired Aldworth is not established here.
A near-contemporary-derived account explicitly identifies Thomas de Clare as the grantor of Aldworth in July 1276. No inference is made from family or feudal relationships before that date.
Source: Victoria County History, Berkshire, volume IV, 1924, pages 3-8; corroborated by the account citing National Archives and published medieval records for Robert de Muscegros. — source link
Robert de Muscegros, Knight, Constable of Bristol Castle, holder of Aldworth
Transfer: Received Aldworth from Thomas de Clare in the July 1276 exchange involving Bunratty Castle and Irish territorial interests.
Previous holder: Thomas de Clare, Anglo-Irish nobleman and landholder
Robert de Muscegros is directly identified as recipient of the manor of Aldworth in the 1276 exchange. He died on 27 December 1280. His daughter Hawise is described as his daughter and heir, but the exact date and instrument by which her interest was realized are not supplied.
Source: Victoria County History, Berkshire, volume IV, 1924, pages 3-8; Robert de Muscegros, Royal Ancestry-based account citing VCH Berkshire IV and National Archives records. — source link
Hawise de Muscegros and John de Ferrers, Hawise: heiress of Robert de Muscegros, John: Lord Ferrers of Chartley
Transfer: Hawise de Muscegros, daughter and heir of Robert de Muscegros, brought Aldworth by marriage to John de Ferrers. The marriage is documented as occurring before 1300, but the precise date of the manor settlement is not established.
Holding arrangement: Joint
Shared holding: Hawise de Muscegros and the Ferrers family
Previous holder: Robert de Muscegros, Knight, Constable of Bristol Castle, holder of Aldworth
The manor connection is stated in county and genealogical-historical accounts: Hawise was Robert de Muscegros's daughter and heir and brought Aldworth to the Ferrers family by marriage. This entry records the marital holding without asserting a separate legal conveyance date. John de Ferrers died in Gascony in 1312; the subsequent Ferrers descent is not fully reconstructed from the sources located.
Source: Victoria County History, Berkshire, volume IV, 1924, pages 3-8; corroborating account of Hawise de Muscegros and John de Ferrers citing Complete Peerage, Calendar of Papal Letters and related medieval records. — source link
Transfer: The manor or associated Langford estate is reported to have subsequently become the property of Sir Thomas Langford. The precise conveyance from the preceding Ferrers interest is not identified.
Shared holding: Langford family
Previous holder: Ferrers interest; exact preceding holder unknown
Nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century county descriptions state that after the estates passed to the sisters of Sir Nicholas de la Beche, the property subsequently became that of Sir Thomas Langford, who died in 1391. Because the same descriptions also discuss a separate De la Beche manor in Aldworth, this entry preserves the reported association but warns that the source tradition may conflate or compress the principal Aldworth manor and the De la Beche estate. The exact conveyance is therefore unknown.
Source: Kelly's Directory of Berkshire, 1899, Aldworth entry; Berkshire historical directory material; compare Victoria County History, Berkshire, volume IV, 1924, pages 3-8, for the distinction between Aldworth and De la Beche holdings. — source link
Transfer: The county description states that Sir Thomas Langford's descendants continued in possession or association with the property until 1509. Individual holders and the precise transfers are not named.
Holding arrangement: Other
Shared holding: Langford descendants
Previous holder: Sir Thomas Langford, Knight, landholder associated with Aldworth and Bradfield
This is a documented but non-personal succession statement. No individual Langford descendant is entered because the available source does not identify the persons who held the manor or the instruments by which it descended.
Source: Kelly's Directory of Berkshire, 1899, Aldworth entry, reporting that the Langford descendants continued there until 1509. — source link
Transfer: The manor was reported as belonging to Sir John Norreys during the reign of Elizabeth I. The precise conveyance from the Langford interest is not identified.
Shared holding: Norreys family
Previous holder: Langford descendants; exact transfer unknown
The date is expressed as the reign of Elizabeth I rather than an exact year because that is the precision supplied by the source. The source identifies Sir John Norreys as holder of the manor, but does not provide the transfer instrument or exact date.
Source: Kelly's Directory of Berkshire, 1899, Aldworth entry; corroborating Berkshire historical accounts of the Norreys family in the Aldworth and neighbouring Yattendon area. — source link
Willoughby Bertie, 3rd Earl of Abingdon
Transfer: Held the manor as representative of the Bertie interest and sold it in 1756 to Richard Palmer of Sonning.
Shared holding: Bertie family
Previous holder: Bertie family
The source states that the manor passed from Sir John Norreys to the Berties and that Willoughby Bertie, 3rd Earl of Abingdon, sold it in 1756. The date of the earlier Norreys-to-Bertie transfer is not supplied.
Source: Kelly's Directory of Berkshire, 1899, Aldworth entry, quoting the historical descent of the manor. — source link
Richard Palmer, Esquire of Sonning, purchaser of Aldworth Manor in 1756
Transfer: Purchased Aldworth Manor in 1756 from Willoughby Bertie, 3rd Earl of Abingdon.
Shared holding: Palmer family
Previous holder: Willoughby Bertie, 3rd Earl of Abingdon
Richard Palmer of Sonning is directly named as purchaser in 1756. The date and circumstances of the subsequent transfer to the Monck family are not established by the sources located.
Source: Kelly's Directory of Berkshire, 1899, Aldworth entry. — source link
Transfer: The transfer from Richard Palmer or the Palmer family to the Monck family is not identified. By 1899 John Bligh Monck was recorded as lord of the manor and chief landowner.
Shared holding: Monck family
Co-holder: George Stanley S. Monck
Previous holder: Richard Palmer or Palmer family; exact transfer unknown
John Bligh Monck's lordship is directly attested by Kelly's Directory of Berkshire for 1899. The source does not state when or by what instrument the manor passed from the Palmer family.
Source: Kelly's Directory of Berkshire, 1899, Aldworth entry. — source link
Transfer: A 1911 Berkshire directory records George Stanley S. Monck as lord of the manor and chief landowner. The precise transfer from John Bligh Monck is not identified.
Shared holding: Monck family
Co-holder: John Bligh Monck
Previous holder: John Bligh Monck or Monck family
This is the latest securely located public-source holder evidence for the principal Aldworth Manor. The source does not establish whether George Stanley S. Monck acquired the manor by inheritance, conveyance, settlement or another arrangement.
Source: Kelly's Directory of Berkshire, 1911, Aldworth entry, reproduced in the digitized directory extract. — source link
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