AYOT ST PETER MANOR

Identity: confirmed — The registry record is identified with the historic manor of Ayot St Peter, whose medieval and early-modern alternative name was Ayot Montfichet (also Ayot Montfichet/Ayot Place). Historical accounts state that the original manor was divided in the early fourteenth century into the Westington moiety and the Ayot Montfichet moiety. The supplied 1615–1652 court-roll references are consistent with the documented Ayot Montfichet manor estate and do not indicate a different Ayot manor.
Representative point: 51.8198, -0.2438
Basis: documented_manor_house — Ayot Montfitchet, formerly Ayot Place, is a documented fifteenth-century hall house identified in the local historical record as the manor house or principal manorial residence of Ayot St Peter. Historic England records its location as OS Grid Reference TL 21140 14923.
Point confidence: high
Boundary status: representative_point_only
Boundary period: Medieval to early modern; especially the Ayot Montfitchet moiety before reunion with Westington in 1832
Boundary confidence: none
Boundary basis: The sources establish the manor's historical identity and location but do not provide a sufficiently clear, source-backed perimeter for the manorial land. Domesday records a holding of 2½ hides in Ayot St Peter, and later sources describe Ayot Montfitchet as one moiety of the original manor, but neither the surviving online evidence nor the supplied court-roll catalogue entries defines the moiety's mapped boundary. The modern parish boundary and the present Ayot Montfitchet house estate cannot safely be substituted for the historical manor boundary.
Sources:
- The National Archives: Ayot St Peter Manor, TNA/MDR record F242913: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F242913 — Registry record supplied for Ayot St Peter Manor, associated with Ayot St Peter, Hertfordshire, authority GB/NNAF/M213750.
- Historic England: Ayot Place, Ayot St Peter, List Entry 1348132: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1348132 — Identifies Ayot Place as a fifteenth-century hall house at OS Grid Reference TL 21140 14923, providing the best documented surviving manor-house location.
- Ayot St Peter parish story: manorial history: https://www.ayotstpeter.com/the-parish-story/ — States that the single manor of Ayot St Peter was divided in the fourteenth century into two moieties; one retained the name Ayot Montfichet, while the other became Westington. It also records the reunion of the moieties in 1832 and gives the Domesday holding as 2½ hides.
- Ayot St Peter: the church area: https://www.ayotstpeter.com/the-church-area/ — Identifies Ayot Montfitchet as the later name of Ayot Place and describes the house as the historic manorial residence, with the earliest surviving part dating from about 1485.
- Heritage Statement: Ayot Montfichet: https://planning.welhat.gov.uk/Document/Download?fileName=Heritage+Statement_Combined.pdf&imageId=1&isPlan=False&module=PLA&planId=1586567&recordNumber=94052 — Confirms the historic name Ayot Montfichet, the statutory address Ayot Place, and the precise National Grid Reference TL 21140 14923.
- British Library court-roll catalogue reference: Add. Roll 35376: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N14335780 — Supplied research lead for a 1615 court roll associated with the manor record.
- British Library court-roll catalogue references: Add. Rolls 35377–35378: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N14366608 — Supplied research lead for court rolls dated 1624–1628 associated with the manor record.
- British Library court-roll catalogue reference: Add. Roll 35379: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N14296215 — Supplied research lead for a 1639 court roll associated with the manor record.
- British Library court-roll catalogue reference: Add. Roll 35380: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N14344264 — Supplied research lead for a 1652 court roll associated with the manor record.
Warnings / uncertainty:
- The manor's historical territorial extent cannot be safely represented by the modern Ayot St Peter parish boundary.
- Ayot Montfitchet was one moiety of the original Ayot St Peter manor until the two moieties were reunited in 1832; the exact historical extent of that moiety remains unestablished from the available evidence.
- The representative coordinates identify the documented manor-house site, not the centre or boundary of all historical manorial lands.