Summary

Early C16th manor house with possible monastic origins.

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Description

Sarsen rubble with stone tiled roofs. E and S ranges are pre 1548 and most likely monastic buildings. Later brewhouse incorporated at N end. Porch to S range remodelled circa 1601 by Sir James Mervyn. Projecting S Parlour and Chamber over by William Sharington, 1548. Later additions to N side circa 1750 and 1850 in brick with clay tiled roofs. W library wing built circa 1907 in sarsen rubble with stone tiled roof and exterior limestone stair. The early history of the site is contradictory; it may have been given by Henry I to William de Tankerville, Chamberlain of Normandy, who gave it to St. George de Boscherville thereby endowing a Benedictine House there. Another source (Wiltshire Collections, Aubrey and Jackson) states that Henry III gave the land to the Abbey of Cirencester who held it until the dissolution. Amongst the remains is an unfixed fragment of a double capital of twin Norman colonnettes presumably from the cloister. The south hall range walls are very thick - the W gable wall is over 100cm which suggests an earlier date than 1548. This substantial construction is especially remarkable in an area that is not noted for its good quality building stone.

Sir Francis Knowles who learnt much about the construction of Avebury Manor during his refurbishments claimed to have uncovered the signs of Gothic arches in the north east corner which had been filled in during Elizabethan times.

Fortheringhay College ( Northants) was granted the Priory of Avebury Manor amongst other possessions in 1411 who exchanged it for other lands in 1545. In 1547 it was sold to Sir William Sharington.

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