Associated title (legacy text): Lordship of Kingsbury Episcopi
Historical names: Kingsbury
Location: Somerset
Places / associated places: Somerset
Listed in Domesday Book: Yes
About the Manor
Together with the village green, the “Ham stone lock-up” and fee farm rents
This lordship is about four miles from Langport, in the Somerset Hundred of Kingsbury on the River Parrett. The area of the manor is about 3,646 acres. Before the Norman Conquest, in the reign of Edward the Confessor, this lordship belonged to the Bishops of Wells. In 1086 Bishop Giso was lord of the manor.
The Domesday Survey records that there were twenty four carucates of arable land, and that the demesne was six hides, two carucates, worked by four servants, six villeins and four cottagers with eleven ploughs. There were two mills and a hundred acres of meadow. The pasture land consisted of an area one mile long and three furlongs broad.
In 1256 the Bishop of Wells was granted a charter of free warren in Kingsbury by King Henry III.
This lordship later became a royal manor and was granted by King Edward III in 1330 to Sir William Montacute, for his whole life in peace as well as in war. He was created Earl of Salisbury. After his death, the manor returned to the Crown and was given to Edmond of Woodstock, Earl of Kent. His son, John, Earl of Kent, died lord of the manor in 1352.
His wife, Elizabeth, daughter of the Marquess of Juliers survived him and made for her dowry an assignation of this and other manors. When Elizabeth died, Joan, sister of John, Earl of Kent, inherited the lordship. She had married Sir Thomas Holland. Thus, the manor came to the Holland family.
The Wyndham family acquired this lordship in 1653 and they continued to be lords of this manor until 1959 when George Wyndham conveyed the lordship to Baron de Lancey.
The village green, which is registered under the Commons Registration Act 1965, as belonging to the lord of the manor, together with the ancient village lock-up, and the fee farm rents receivable by the lord of the manor, amounting to £23.14 annually, are sold with this lordship.
Rights, customs and incidents
In 1256 the Bishop of Wells was granted a charter of free warren in Kingsbury by King Henry III.
The village green, which is registered under the Commons Registration Act 1965, as belonging to the lord of the manor, together with the ancient village lock-up, and the fee farm rents receivable by the lord of the manor, amounting to £23.14 annually, are sold with this lordship.
Associated manorial documents / archive references
- 1 Legal hundred and hallmoot court rolls 1342-1539
- 2 132 deeds 1630-1789 in five boxes
Ownership / Holder Account
Historical holder / succession information
- In 1086 Bishop Giso [source claim requiring identity review]
1086 · lord_of_manor · historical_holder_or_transferee
Source wording: In 1086 Bishop Giso was lord of the manor. - Holland family
passed_to · historical_holder_or_transferee
Source wording: Thus, the manor came to the Holland family.
Manorial Rights & Privileges
Historic manorial rights / privileges (4)
Free warren
Provisional
A charter of free warren in Kingsbury was granted to the Bishop of Wells by Henry III in 1256.
Village green
Provisional
The village green is recorded as belonging to the lord of the manor.
Ancient village lock-up
Provisional
The Ham stone lock-up is identified as an incident or appurtenance sold with the lordship.
Fee farm rents
Provisional
Fee farm rents receivable by the lord of the manor are identified as an incident of the lordship.
Conveyance & Descent
First holder to present holder: blood proximity & distance travelled
First recorded holder: Holland family
Present holder:
Recorded title journey: 3 holder entries in this manor's saved Conveyance & Descent history.
No recorded holder currently has a usable saved direct-blood or collateral-blood relationship path from which to calculate proximity percentages.
First recorded holder → present holder
A usable saved blood relationship path between the first recorded holder and the present holder has not yet been recorded, so that first-to-present genealogical distance cannot be calculated.
Holland family
Transfer: passed_to
Source role: historical_holder_or_transferee. Thus, the manor came to the Holland family.
Source: Lot #27 of Bernard Thorpe Auction - March 1987
Transfer: held as lord of the manor
Previous holder: Bishops of Wells
The Domesday Survey records Bishop Giso as lord of Kingsbury in 1086.
Sir William Montacute, 1st Earl of Salisbury, 2nd Baron Montagu, royal soldier and courtier, royal administrator and military commander
Transfer: granted by King Edward III for life, in peace as well as in war
Previous holder: The Crown
The lordship was granted by Edward III in 1330 to Sir William Montacute, who was created Earl of Salisbury; the life grant ended at his death.
Lordship / Title Associations
Associations are recorded by period so changes in estate composition do not imply that every manor remained attached to the same title indefinitely.
Associated · medieval period – 1959 · Provisional
Source: Offline model knowledge; source verification required
The supplied record expressly describes the property as a lordship and records its conveyance in 1959; survival or extinction after that date is not established.
Corrections / Challenges
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JSON API
Machine-readable published manor data, including public images, mapped land areas, notes, rights, conveyances, relationships, records, source/document-library entries and public file links.
https://manorialregistry.com/index.php?rest_route=/mhr/v1/manor/kingsbury-episcopiPublic API access is currently disabled. Authorised API clients must use a private X-MHR-API-Key; currently only administrator keys are enabled.
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