.

Budbury Manor House

Budbury Place, Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire

.

The Manor of Budbury, land at the top of the hill that overlooks Bradford on the northern side, existed at the time of the Domesday Book survey in 1086, separate from the main Manor of Bradford, but by the early 12th century it was in the hands of the Abbey of Shaftesbury, like the rest. The Manor consisted of one or 1½ hides (120-180 acres) of land, probably a few cottages and the capital house and farm, or Manor House.

The present stone house preserves some of its medieval features, although much altered. It was probably built after Budbury had been joined to the neighbouring Manor of Ashley for Robert Ashley, who was MP for Wiltshire in 1419, but may have replaced an earlier house of timber. It would have been consisted of an open hall with a cross-passage from front to back and another room beyond, which has disappeared. One side of the entrance remains on the northern side.

After the medieval period Ashley became the main house of the joint manor and Budbury became redundant and was divided into several homes until reunited, without the missing western part, in the mid 20th century. In the 1960s and 1970s it became surrounded by new houses.

For much more information see the Museum’s booklet “Budbury: from hillfort to houses”