ASHLEWORTH MANOR

Identity: confirmed — The TNA/MDR record, alternative forms Ashelworth and Asleworth, Ashleworth location, and the associated Gloucestershire archival manorial records identify the historic manor of Ashleworth in Ashleworth parish, Gloucestershire. The Victoria County History confirms that Ashleworth was a Berkeley berewick, then a possession of St Augustine's Abbey, Bristol, and later an episcopal manor.
Representative point: 51.925181, -2.265125
Basis: documented_estate_centre — Ashleworth Court, Quay Lane, was the manor's demesne house or grange and formed part of the surviving medieval estate hub with the tithe barn, church and quay. The point is based on the documented Ashleworth Court site, rather than the separately listed building called Ashleworth Manor, which the VCH identifies as the former vicarage house.
Point confidence: high
Boundary status: representative_point_only
Boundary period: c.1730 survey, with medieval and later territorial context
Boundary confidence: none
Boundary basis: The surviving c.1730 Ashleworth manor survey records a demesne of approximately 287 acres, 54 tenant holdings totalling approximately 1,015 acres, and approximately 200 acres of common pasture, giving total manor lands of approximately 1,503 acres. The survey's map has been lost, although the VCH reconstructs the distribution of lands from field names and later sources: demesne land around Ashleworth Court, Foscombe Hill, Winnalls, Widdenham and Longridge; tenant open-field and enclosed land around Barrow Hill, White End, Foscombe, Berrow Farm, Nup End and Longridge; and common pasture in the Ashleworth share of Corse Lawn. This establishes a substantial territorial extent across much of the historic parish, but does not provide a sufficiently recoverable perimeter for a defensible polygon. The historic parish boundary cannot be substituted for the manor boundary.
Sources:
- Victoria County History, Ashleworth draft: Manor and Estates: https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/12422181/ashleworth-draft-april-2012-victoria-county-history — Identifies Ashleworth Manor, its descent from Berkeley to St Augustine's Abbey and the bishops, the demesne house or grange at Ashleworth Court, and the c.1730 survey's approximately 1,503 acres of manor lands. It also states that the survey map has been lost and only approximate land dispositions can be reconstructed.
- Ashleworth Court, Historic England NHLE 1091401: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1091401 — Authoritative identification of Ashleworth Court as the documented medieval house at Quay Lane. Its location corresponds to the historic estate hub used for the representative point.
- Ashleworth manor survey, Gloucestershire Archives reference D123/M2: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N14333911 — The archival catalogue reference for the c.1730 survey used by the VCH to quantify and locate the manor's demesne and tenant lands.
- Ashleworth Manor, Historic England NHLE 1091361: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1091361 — Documents the separately named listed building Ashleworth Manor at White End, helping distinguish that former vicarage building from Ashleworth Court, the historic demesne centre.
- TNA/MDR record F240552: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F240552 — Registry record for the exact manor identity, including the authority/reference GB/NNAF/M225685 and Ashleworth location.
Warnings / uncertainty:
- No defensible historical manor perimeter polygon was found. The c.1730 survey map is reported lost.
- The approximately 1,503-acre figure describes manor lands including demesne, tenant holdings and common rights; it should not be interpreted as a single contiguous estate polygon.
- Do not substitute the modern civil parish boundary for the manorial extent.
- Ashleworth Manor at White End is a separately identified former vicarage building; Ashleworth Court is the better-supported historic demesne and estate centre for this manor record.