ASHTON THEYNES MANOR

Identity: confirmed — The registry record's exact name and Long Ashton location match the historically documented manor of Ashton Theynes, also styled Aston Theynes or Aston Thaynes. The National Archives record and the associated Bristol Archives survey, rental and court-roll references belong to the Ashton manors of Long Ashton. Historical accounts identify Ashton Theynes as one of several distinct manors within Long Ashton parish.
Representative point: 51.44625, -2.64739
Basis: documented_manor_site — A nineteenth-century description states that the demolished manor house called Ashton Theynes stood within the bounds of the present Ashton Park/Ashton Court park. The coordinate is a low-precision representative point for the documented park/site area, not an exact surviving building location.
Point confidence: low
Boundary status: representative_point_only
Boundary period: Medieval to early modern manor; documented in surviving records from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries
Boundary confidence: none
Boundary basis: No reliable source located provides a plotted or reconstructable perimeter for Ashton Theynes Manor. Local historical research states that Long Ashton was divided among several manors, but their lands were scattered and their boundaries could not be strictly defined. The surviving survey, rental and court-roll catalogue entries confirm documentary activity but do not expose a mapped territorial extent in the online records.
Sources:
- The National Archives: Ashton Theynes Manor, record F253532: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F253532 — Registry authority record identifying the exact manor record.
- Bristol Archives: Survey with other manors, AC/M/11/13: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N14685551 — Surviving 1595–1603 survey associated with Ashton Theynes and other Long Ashton manors.
- Delineations of the north-western division of the county of Somerset, Long Ashton section: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Delineations_of_the_north_western_division_of_the_county_of_Somerset_%28IA_delineationsofn00rutt%29.pdf — States that an ancient manor house called Ashton Theynes, now demolished, stood within the bounds of the present park.
- A History of Long Ashton, Ruth Poole: https://www.lalhs.org.uk/Long%20Ashton%20History — Identifies Ashton-Theynes as one of five manors in Long Ashton and cautions that manorial boundaries cannot be strictly defined because lands were scattered through the parish.
- Long Ashton Neighbourhood Development Plan, historical appendix: https://www.longashtonparishcouncil.gov.uk/uploads/27_60c2055e53128961708157.pdf?v=1623328094 — Confirms the division of the parish into Ashton-Lyons, Ashton-Meriets, Ashton-Theynes, Ashton-Philips and the Parsonage manors, with scattered holdings.
- Bristol and Avon Archaeology, volume 5: Long Ashton archaeology: https://bristolandavonarchaeology.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/vol-5.pdf — Discusses the scattered property of the Long Ashton manors and the concentration of some demesne lands around manor houses; it does not establish a complete Ashton Theynes boundary.
- Historic England: Ashton Court registered park and garden: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1000560 — Documents the Ashton Court/Ashton Park area used as the geographic basis for the approximate representative point.
Warnings / uncertainty:
- The representative point is approximate because the Ashton Theynes manor house was demolished and its exact position has not been established from the accessible evidence.
- Do not substitute the modern Ashton Court registered park boundary, Long Ashton parish boundary or Ashton Theynes housing-estate boundary for the historical manor boundary.
- The medieval village or earthworks near Lower Court Farm have been suggested as possibly associated with Ashton Theynes, but the archaeological evidence is inconclusive and also supports an Ashton-Philips interpretation.
- The manor's lands were historically scattered among the other Long Ashton manors; a compact polygon would be speculative without consulting the original Bristol Archives surveys, rentals, particulars or estate maps.