BALLINGHAM

Identity: confirmed — The registry locality, associated place, historical-name variants, National Archives manor record F280001, and the surviving Ballingham manorial evidence all identify the Herefordshire manor of Ballingham. Historical sources place the manor near Ballingham church and Ballingham Hall, and record its medieval association with St Guthlac's Priory followed by the Scudamore family.
Representative point: 51.98178, -2.61789
Basis: documented_manor_house — Ballingham Hall is the surviving historic manor house/manorial centre. Historic England identifies the listed building at NGR SO 57677 31704; the WGS84 point is approximately 51.98178, -2.61789. The house was built by William Scudamore in 1602 on a site occupied since at least the later Middle Ages, and a manorial court was held there.
Point confidence: high
Boundary status: representative_point_only
Boundary period:
Boundary confidence: none
Boundary basis: The evidence confirms the manor's location and links it to Ballingham Hall, the adjacent church area, and historically documented holdings in Ballingham. However, the accessible sources do not provide a sufficiently clear manor-specific perimeter. The Ballingham parish boundary, modern civil boundaries, and the wider Holme Lacy estate cannot safely be substituted for the historical manorial extent.
Sources:
- The National Archives, Ballingham manor record F280001: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F280001 — Registry authority record for the exact manor identified as Ballingham in Herefordshire.
- Historic England: Ballingham Hall, List Entry 1288731: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1288731 — Identifies Ballingham Hall in Ballingham parish at NGR SO 57677 31704 and describes the surviving C17 farmhouse, including the former 1602 Scudamore inscription.
- Church of England Church Heritage Record: Ballingham and Bolstone, St Dubricius: https://facultyonline.churchofengland.org/church-heritage-record-ballingham-bolstone-st-dubricius-618085 — States that before the Dissolution Ballingham was a manor of St Guthlac's Priory and that the manor may have been located at the later manor house near the church; it also places Ballingham Hall immediately east of the church.
- The Ballingham Charters, Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club Transactions: https://www.woolhopeclub.org.uk/system/files/documents/transaction/woolhope-club-transactions-volume-xxxiv-1952-1953-1954.pdf — Provides historical charter evidence for Ballingham and records the Scudamore family as builders of the Court in 1602; the indexed material also identifies Ballingham-related lands and neighbouring geographic features.
- Ballingham Hall, Parks and Gardens UK: https://www.parksandgardens.org/places/ballingham-hall — Describes the present house as standing on a site occupied since at least the later Middle Ages and supplies the historic-site location in Ballingham.
- National Archives record: 1824 perambulation with other manors, R70/1: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N16651576 — Registry research lead indicating a surviving 1824 perambulation relevant to the historical boundaries of Ballingham and associated manors; the accessible catalogue record does not expose enough boundary detail to reconstruct a polygon.
Warnings / uncertainty:
- No historically defensible manor-specific polygon was found in the accessible evidence.
- Do not substitute the modern Ballingham civil-parish boundary, the wider Holme Lacy estate, or the modern estate/farm boundary for the medieval or early-modern manor.
- The representative point marks Ballingham Hall, not necessarily the geometric centre of every historical parcel held by the manor.