Seend Manor (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Sende

In the civil parish of Seend.
In the historic county of Wiltshire.
Modern Authority of Wiltshire.
1974 county of Wiltshire.
Medieval County of Wiltshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: ST944610
Latitude 51.34843° Longitude -2.08080°

Seend Manor has been described as a probable Fortified Manor House.

There are no visible remains.

Description

In 1419 the 'site' of the manor covered 2 acres, on which stood a tiled hall and chamber and a thatched stable and dovecote. Licence to crenellate was granted in 1347. In 1612 'Seend manor' lay inside the park. The house now called the Manor House, immediately east of Church Lane, was rebuilt by Ambrose (IV) Awdry, (d. 1789), and altered and enlarged in the 19th century. (VCH)

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1347 Dec 22 (Click on the date for details of this licence.).

Comments

Humphrey de Bohun was granted a licence to crenellate his 'masum manerii' at Sende, Wilts in 1347. Presumably on or near to site now occupied by C18 manor house which is within a landscape considerable more grand than is usual for a small village manor house.
The form of de Bohun house is not known. There doesn't appear to be any evidence of a moat and the lack of remains and ease in which the site was rebuilt may suggest a house with relatively thin walls and, possibly, with considerably timber elements. The 'chamber' mentioned in 1419 may have actually been a solar tower block of residential rooms. On the other hand a house of this status would, regardless of a licence to crenellate, be expected to have a boundary wall and entrance gatehouse and decorative battlements. The licence here was probably more to do with securing the legal status of the manor after a few decades when the manor had passed between de Bohun and Despenser hands.

Sources of information, references and further reading

County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) ST96SW469 (Deer Park).

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Wikipedia entry
Books
- Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 3 Southern England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 695
  Pugh, R.B. and Crittall, E. (eds), 1956, VCH Wiltshire Vol. 7 p. 91-121 online transcription
  Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol. 3 Part 2 p. 415 online copy
Periodical Articles
- 1996, Wiltshire Archaeological & Natural History Magazine Vol. 89 p. 97 (park)
  1911-12, 'The Awdry Family' Wiltshire Archaeological & Natural History Magazine Vol. 37 p. 486 online copy
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1903, Calendar of Patent Rolls Edward III (1345-48) Vol. 7 p. 450 online copy

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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