ASTWOOD MANOR

Identity: confirmed — The Feckenham location and alternative name Astwood Court (Manor) match the documented moated manor house Astwood Court on Astwood Lane, near Astwood Bank and Feckenham. Historic England identifies the house as a c.1500 farmhouse on a moated site, records the Culpeppers' 16th- and early-17th-century occupation, and gives the precise National Grid Reference SP0309162305. The 1731–1732 Worcestershire Archive map and terrier catalogue entries explicitly identify the Manor of Astwood in Feckenham.
Representative point: 52.2589, -1.9560
Basis: documented_manor_house — Astwood Court, Astwood Lane: listed historic manor house on a surviving moated site; Historic England listing NGR SP0309162305, converted to approximate WGS84 coordinates.
Point confidence: high
Boundary status: representative_point_only
Boundary period:
Boundary confidence: none
Boundary basis: The archive catalogue confirms a 1731–1732 map and accompanying terrier relating to the Manor of Astwood in Feckenham, but the online catalogue records do not provide the map image or a machine-readable boundary. Available evidence establishes the manor house and general locality, not a defensible polygon for the historical manorial land. The Feckenham parish boundary and modern Astwood Bank boundaries have not been substituted.
Sources:
- Historic England: Astwood Court, listed building entry 1157332: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1157332 — Identifies Astwood Court on Astwood Lane, describes the c.1500 manor house, surviving complete moat, Culpepper occupation, and gives NGR SP0309162305.
- Historic England: Moated site at Astwood Court, scheduled monument: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1020711 — Documents the medieval moated manorial site at Astwood Court in Astwood Bank and Feckenham and describes its dimensions and archaeological character.
- The National Archives: 1731–1732 map with other manors, reference x705:7/BA 7335/154: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N16411025 — Archive catalogue lead for the Vernon estate map book containing the Manor of Astwood in Feckenham.
- The National Archives: 1731–1732 terrier relating to map book, reference x705:7/BA 7335/155: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N16411027 — Archive catalogue lead for the companion terrier relating to the map book and other manors.
- Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service: Index to the Inventory, Maps to 1849: https://www.explorethepast.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Index-to-Inventory-Maps-to-1849.pdf — Indexes the 1731–1732 item as 'Astwood, Manor of [Astwood in Feckenham in Redditch]' under Vernon and Bowater estates, BA 7335/154.
- University of Birmingham: scholarly study citing VCH Worcestershire III, pages 115–116: https://research.birmingham.ac.uk/portal/files/17448932/Bassat2009_S0263675109990032a.pdf — Confirms that Astwood in Feckenham was a distinct late-medieval sub-manor, separate from the similarly named Astwood in Dodderhill, and directs to the relevant VCH treatment.
Warnings / uncertainty:
- Do not confuse this manor with Astwood in Dodderhill/Wychbold, including Astwood Manor Farm there.
- The representative coordinates identify the documented manor-house site, not the full historical extent of the manor.
- A historical boundary polygon should be created only after consulting the original 1731–1732 map and terrier at Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service.