ASTLEYS MANOR

Identity: confirmed — The registry identity is securely matched to the Blakeney/Snitterley manor recorded in the Norfolk and TNA leads. The Blakeney Area Historical Society catalogue explicitly identifies 'Snitterley Astley manorial admissions' for 1697–1804, while the associated Norfolk Record Office material includes Astley court rolls, court books, rentals and manorial records. The historical name Snitterley is an established former name of Blakeney and was used particularly in records concerning the church, manors and property. The evidence distinguishes this manor from the separate Calthorpe and Wiveton Ducis manors also associated with the later Blakeney estate.
Representative point: 52.95129, 1.02498
Basis: supported_manorial_centre — Point placed at the historic core of Snitterley/Blakeney beside St Nicholas's Church. Documentary evidence establishes Snitterley as the medieval and early-modern name used for Blakeney's manorial and property context, but no surviving source located in this research identifies a separate Astleys manor house or precise manor-site coordinate. This is therefore a cautious representative point for the historical manorial centre, not a claimed building site.
Point confidence: medium
Boundary status: representative_point_only
Boundary period: Late sixteenth to nineteenth century, based on the surviving Astley court and manorial records
Boundary confidence: none
Boundary basis: The available web evidence confirms the manor's association with Blakeney/Snitterley and identifies it as one of the manorial interests later appearing alongside Calthorpe and Wiveton Ducis. It does not supply a documented Astleys Manor map, mapped parcel schedule, explicit perimeter, or sufficiently specific historical boundary description. The modern civil parish, estate-sale area, or wider Calthorpe estate cannot safely be substituted for the Astleys manorial extent.
Sources:
- Blakeney Area Historical Society: Accessions Public Register: https://bahs.uk/history-centre/collection/bahs-accessions/bahs-accessions/ — Lists 'Snitterley Astley manorial admissions (short summaries)' for 1697–1804 and related Astley/Calthorpe/Wiveton Ducis manorial quitrent and suit-roll copies.
- The National Archives: Astleys Manor record F236988: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F236988 — Registry record supplied for the exact manor identity, with authority/reference GB/NNAF/M167926 and location Blakeney, Norfolk.
- Norfolk Record Office catalogue: MC 1812/2, Astleys court roll: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N14294029 — Archive lead for an Astleys Manor court roll dated 1606–1617, confirming the early-modern manorial record series.
- Norfolk Record Office catalogue: MC 1812/9-16, Astleys minute books: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N14265035 — Archive lead for Astleys Manor minute books dated 1596–1672, held by Norfolk Record Office.
- The Glaven Historian, issue 10: The Calthorpes in Norfolk and Blakeney estate material: https://www.bahs.uk/GH-Files/GH10/GlavenHistorianIssue10.pdf — Discusses the Calthorpe and Astley family connection at Blakeney, the later grouping of Astley, Calthorpe and Wiveton Ducis manorial interests, and the broader Blakeney estate; it does not provide a defensible Astleys Manor perimeter.
- North Norfolk District Council: Blakeney Conservation Area Appraisal: https://modgov.north-norfolk.gov.uk/documents/s2325/Blakeney%20CAA%20Part%201.pdf — Explains the historical relationship between Blakeney and Snitterley and records that Snitterley continued in use for the church, friary and town/property context.
- Historic England-listed St Nicholas's Church, Blakeney: https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101039495-church-of-st-nicholas-blakeney — Provides the coordinate for the principal historic church at the representative Snitterley/Blakeney manorial core: 52.9512, 1.0249.
Warnings / uncertainty:
- No documented Astleys manor house, manor-site plan or historical boundary polygon was located.
- Do not substitute the modern Blakeney civil-parish boundary, the 1911 Calthorpe estate-sale area, or the combined Astley-Calthorpe-Wiveton Ducis estate for the Astleys Manor extent.
- The representative coordinate is suitable as a cautious map point but should not be interpreted as the exact site of the manor house.