ASSERTON MANOR

Identity: confirmed — The exact registry manor is confirmed by the 1655 survey record titled “The Manor of Asserton” for Berwick St James, together with Wiltshire local history identifying Asserton Manor as the distinct historic manor and estate in the parish of Berwick St James.
Representative point: 51.15367, -1.89420
Basis: documented_manor_house — Asserton House, the documented historic manor-house site associated with Asserton Manor, at Ordnance Survey National Grid Reference SU 07471 39394.
Point confidence: high
Boundary status: representative_point_only
Boundary period: 1655 survey context; broader medieval and post-medieval extent not securely reconstructable from the available evidence
Boundary confidence: none
Boundary basis: A 1655 cadastral survey of the Asserton estate is documented and reportedly shows divisions of the land and surrounding properties, but the accessible record does not provide a usable image or transcribed perimeter. The available local history establishes the manor as a separate estate centred on Asserton and later known as Asserton Farm, but does not define a reliable historical polygon. The modern Berwick St James parish boundary cannot safely be substituted for the manorial boundary.
Sources:
- The Manor of Asserton, Berwick St James, Wiltshire (Historic England Archive AO0002): https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/photos/item/AO0002 — Documents a 1655 cadastral map and survey of the Asserton estate by J. Lodge, showing land divisions and surrounding properties.
- Asserton House, Berwick St James (Historic England NHLE 1146241): https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1146241 — Identifies Asserton House in Berwick St James at National Grid Reference SU 07471 39394, providing the precise documented manor-house location.
- Berwick St James community history, Wiltshire Council: https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Community/Index/16 — Provides the distinct historical ownership and descent of Asserton Manor, its identification with the Little Winterbourne estate, its later development as Asserton Farm, and its location near the present Asserton House.
- TNA/MDR record F272922: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F272922 — Registry authority record for Asserton Manor associated with Berwick St James, Wiltshire.
- Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre map reference 1553/72H: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N16165923 — Archive catalogue lead for the 1655 map supplied with the manor record research data.
Warnings / uncertainty:
- The manor-house location is well supported, but no defensible historical manorial perimeter could be extracted from the accessible online evidence.
- The 1655 map is evidence that a mapped estate survey exists, but its boundary geometry is not available in the accessible catalogue record; a polygon should not be injected without examining the original map or a high-resolution copy.
- Asserton Manor was historically distinct from Berwick St James Manor, although the two estates were temporarily reunited in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.