Historical names: Atteneston (Manor)
Location: Adstone, Northamptonshire
Places / associated places: Adstone, Northamptonshire
Location & Extent
GPS Location & Recorded Land Areas
Representative GPS point: 52.1589, -1.1327
Identity: confirmed — The supplied TNA/MDR record, authority GB/NNAF/M299832, Adstone location, and historical form Atteneston identify the Adston/Adstone manor associated with Canons Ashby Priory. The identification is corroborated by the surviving Adstone House, which Historic England records as a mid/late 17th-century manor house formerly listed as The Manor House, within the Adstone settlement. The evidence does not justify merging this record with Canons Ashby manor itself or treating all Domesday holdings at Atteneston as one later manor.
Representative point: 52.1589, -1.1327
Basis: documented_manor_house — Adstone House, B4525, Adstone, formerly listed as The Manor House; Historic England NHLE entry 1040930 gives National Grid Reference SP 59428 51530, converted to decimal WGS84 coordinates.
Point confidence: high
Boundary status: representative_point_only
Boundary period: Not established from the sources reviewed
Boundary confidence: none
Boundary basis: The sources establish the manor house and the historical association of Adstone lands with Canons Ashby Priory, followed by the post-Dissolution and later Stowe estate histories. The 1916 sale particulars document a separate Adstone unit within the wider 3,289-acre Stowe and Adstone estates and list Adstone farms and properties, but the accessible evidence does not supply a clearly delimited historical boundary for this exact manor. The modern parish, conservation-area boundary, or the full 1916 combined estate cannot safely be substituted for the medieval or later manorial extent.
Sources:
- Adstone House and Attached Garden Wall, NHLE entry 1040930: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1040930 — Historic England identifies Adstone House at SP 59428 51530 as a mid/late 17th-century manor house, formerly listed as The Manor House, providing the best documented surviving manorial site for Adstone.
- Adstone Historic Environment Record, MNN3579: https://her.northamptonshire.gov.uk/Monument/MNN3579/ — The Northamptonshire HER places the historic Adstone settlement at centred SP 59624 51448 and records Adstone House and Manor Farmhouse among its associated historic buildings, while also noting a possible unlocated country house.
- Particulars of Sale of the Stowe and Adstone Estates Extending to 3,289 Acres, 1916, SC00802: https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/photos/volume/SC00802 — Historic England records the 1916 sale particulars and their separate Adstone properties, including Adstone Farm, Elliotts Farm, Manor Farm, and Adstone village holdings. This supports the existence of an Adstone estate unit but does not expose a secure perimeter for the exact manor.
- Canons Ashby: archaeological survey by the RCHME: https://historicengland.org.uk/research/results/reports/7568/CANONSASHBYNorthamptonshireAnarchaeologicalsurveybytheRCHME — The RCHME survey documents the medieval Canons Ashby settlement, priory-associated landscape, roads, fields, and post-Dissolution house, helping distinguish the Canons Ashby complex from the separate Adstone manor record.
- TNA/MDR record F278607: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F278607 — The supplied registry record is the principal identity reference for ADSTON (ASHBY PRIORY) MANOR and its authority/reference GB/NNAF/M299832.
Warnings / uncertainty:
- No historically defensible polygon was found for the exact Adston (Ashby Priory) manor; boundary injection is therefore unsafe.
- The representative point is the documented Adstone manor house, not the centre of the modern parish.
- The 1916 Stowe and Adstone sale covered a combined estate of 3,289 acres and cannot be assumed to equal the medieval or later manorial extent.
- Domesday holdings at Atteneston were divided between Geoffrey de Turville and the monks of Bee and should not be treated as the complete later Adston manor boundary.
- Canons Ashby manor and the Adston/Adstone manor component are related historically but are not interchangeable records.
About the Manor
Adston, also recorded as Atteneston, was a medieval manor and estate in the township and later civil parish of Adstone, Northamptonshire. Domesday evidence records land at Atteneston held in separate portions by Geoffrey de Turville and the monks of Bee; that evidence should not be treated as proving that the whole later manor belonged to either holder. The component represented by this record is the Adston estate associated with Canons Ashby Priory, an Augustinian house founded in the mid-12th century. Medieval evidence records the Canons Ashby canons as landowners in Adstone, and a royal grant in the reign of Edward II gave them free warren over their demesne lands there. By the 19th century the historical account stated that the monastery appeared to have held the manor from that period until the Dissolution. The priory and its associated lands were dissolved in 1536 and passed through the Crown to Sir Francis Bryan, who sold the property to Sir John Cope in 1538. The post-Dissolution Canons Ashby estate subsequently came into the Dryden family, although the surviving sources distinguish between the former monastic estate, the priory site, and the wider manor and do not provide a continuous separate title record for every part of Adstone. In 1714 the Corporation of the Sons of the Clergy purchased the Stowe estate, which included a separate Adstone unit; late-19th- and early-20th-century descriptions identify the Corporation as lords of the manor at Adstone. The combined Stowe and Adstone estates were offered for sale in 1916. The record should not be merged with Canons Ashby manor merely because Adstone was a chapelry of Canons Ashby: the secure connection is the explicitly documented inclusion of Adstone lands and manor within, or associated with, the Canons Ashby monastic estate.
Ownership / Holder Account
The earliest secure evidence relevant to this record is the statement that the monks of Canons Ashby owned land in Adstone during the reign of Henry III and that, following the grant of free warren in the reign of Edward II, the monastery appears to have held the manor until the Dissolution. The Victoria County History records earlier Domesday holdings at Atteneston, but those holdings were divided between Geoffrey de Turville and the monks of Bee and cannot safely be equated in their entirety with the later Adston (Ashby Priory) manor. At the Dissolution in 1536 the Canons Ashby priory and its property were acquired from the Crown by Sir Francis Bryan. Bryan sold the property to Sir John Cope in 1538. Historic England records that the Dryden family acquired the former monastic estate on the death of Sir John Cope in 1558, while the Northamptonshire Historic Environment Record states that the Drydens held a considerable part of the manor from Cope during the following thirty years and acquired most of the manor in 1665. These sources establish the Dryden succession for the Canons Ashby predecessor estate, but do not document every intermediate conveyance of the distinct Adstone manor component. In 1714 the Corporation of the Sons of the Clergy bought the Stowe estate, which included Adstone as a separate estate unit. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries the Corporation was expressly described as lord of the manor of Adstone. The estate was sold in 1916; the purchaser of the Adstone manor component has not been securely identified in the public sources reviewed.
Manorial Rights & Privileges
Historic manorial rights / privileges (1)
Free warren over the demesne lands at Adstone
Provisional
A royal grant in the reign of Edward II granted the Canons Ashby canons free warren over their demesne lands there.
Records & References
Sources and references mentioning this manor/title which are not necessarily conveyances or transfers.
6 records found · showing 1–6.
1525-1526: court roll, with other manors
Held by: The National Archives
1519-1520: court roll, with other manors
Held by: The National Archives
1484-1486: court roll, with other manors
Held by: The National Archives
1481-1482: court roll, with other manors
Held by: The National Archives
1451-1452: court roll, with other manors
Held by: The National Archives
1415-1423: court roll, with other manors
Held by: The National Archives
Conveyance & Descent
First holder to present holder: blood proximity & distance travelled
First recorded holder: Canons Ashby Priory
Present holder:
Recorded title journey: 6 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.
Canons Ashby Priory, Augustinian priory of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Transfer: Held the Adstone/Atteneston manor or the monastic estate from which the manor is identified
Shared holding: Canons Ashby Priory
Previous holder: Earlier local and Domesday interests are not securely shown to be the same manor holding
Samuel Lewis records that the monks of Canons Ashby were owners of land in Adstone in the reign of Henry III and that, after receiving free warren over their demesne lands in Adstone in the reign of Edward II, the monastery seems to have held the manor until the Dissolution. This is the principal direct evidence linking the Adstone manor to Canons Ashby Priory. The wording is cautious and does not establish an exact acquisition date.
Source: Samuel Lewis, A Topographical Dictionary of England, entry for Adstone, 1848; reproduced with the cited source attribution by Parishmouse. — source link
Transfer: Purchased the dissolved priory and its associated village and lands from the Crown
Shared holding: Post-Dissolution Canons Ashby estate
Co-holder: Sir John Cope
Previous holder: Canons Ashby Priory, Augustinian priory of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The Canons Ashby Historic Environment Record states that at the Dissolution the priory and village were purchased from the Crown by Sir Francis Bryan. Because Adstone lands are independently identified as part of the Canons Ashby monastic estate, this is the documented post-Dissolution succession for the predecessor estate. The source does not separately itemise the Adstone manor in the 1536 transaction.
Source: Northamptonshire Historic Environment Record, 600/3 Canons Ashby Priory, MNN11470, full description. — source link
Transfer: Bought the Canons Ashby property from Sir Francis Bryan
Shared holding: Post-Dissolution Canons Ashby estate
Co-holder: Sir Francis Bryan
Previous holder: Sir Francis Bryan, courtier and landowner
The Canons Ashby Historic Environment Record states that Sir Francis Bryan sold the priory and its property to Sir John Cope in 1538. Historic England likewise records that Sir John Cope bought the property from Bryan soon after the Dissolution and constructed a house on the former monastic site. The source establishes succession of the predecessor estate, but does not provide a separate parcel-by-parcel conveyance for Adstone.
Source: Northamptonshire Historic Environment Record, 600/3 Canons Ashby Priory, MNN11470; Historic England, Canons Ashby scheduled monument entry 1015534. — source link
Transfer: The former Canons Ashby monastic estate passed to the Dryden family after the death of Sir John Cope; the Drydens held a considerable part of the manor and subsequently acquired most of it
Shared holding: Dryden ownership of the Canons Ashby estate
Previous holder: Sir John Cope, owner of Canons Ashby
Historic England states that Canons Ashby House was first constructed by John Dryden, who acquired the former monastic estate on the death of Sir John Cope in 1558. The Northamptonshire Historic Environment Record gives a more qualified account: the Dryden family appear to have held a considerable part of the manor from Cope during the following thirty years, with a lease modified in 1573, while Cope apparently retained the priory site; it further states that most of the manor was acquired by the Drydens in 1665. This entry therefore records the Dryden succession of the Canons Ashby predecessor estate, while preserving the uncertainty over the precise legal descent of the separate Adstone component.
Source: Historic England, Canons Ashby scheduled monument entry 1015534, lines describing John Dryden's acquisition in 1558; Northamptonshire Historic Environment Record, 600/3 Canons Ashby Priory, MNN11470. — source link
Corporation of the Sons of the Clergy, charitable corporation, lord of the manor of Adstone
Transfer: Purchased the Stowe estate, which included Adstone as a separate estate unit
Shared holding: Stowe and Adstone estate
Previous holder: Earlier estate ownership is not fully documented in the reviewed sources; the Dryden succession is secure for the Canons Ashby predecessor estate but not for every Adstone parcel
The Stowe Nine Churches historical account states that the Corporation of the Sons of the Clergy bought the Stowe estate in 1714 and that the estate included farms and cottages in Adstone as a separate unit. Later directory evidence expressly describes the Corporation as lords of the manor of Adstone. The 1714 purchase therefore provides a good estate-level succession, while the exact conveyance by which the distinct manorial title or all manorial rights passed to the Corporation has not been located.
Source: Stowe Nine Churches, Friends from the Past, account of the Stowe estate and Corporation of the Sons of the Clergy; Kelly's Directory of Northamptonshire, Adstone entry, early 20th century. — source link
Unknown purchaser or purchasers
Transfer: The combined Stowe and Adstone estates were offered for sale; the purchaser of the Adstone manor component has not been securely identified
Holding arrangement: Other
Shared holding: Stowe and Adstone estates
Previous holder: Corporation of the Sons of the Clergy, charitable corporation, lord of the manor of Adstone
Historic England catalogues the particulars of sale for the Stowe and Adstone estates dated 2 June 1916 and lists Adstone farms, houses, and Manor Farm among the properties. The public catalogue record establishes the sale event but does not identify the successful purchaser or demonstrate whether the manorial rights were conveyed with a particular lot. No later holder is entered.
Source: Historic England Archive, Estate Sales Particulars collection, SC00802, Particulars of Sale of the Stowe and Adstone Estates, dated 2 June 1916. — source link
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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.
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