Westbury Old Ley Court

Has been described as a Possible Fortified Manor House

There are earthwork remains

NameWestbury Old Ley Court
Alternative NamesWestubury
Historic CountryGloucestershire
Modern AuthorityGloucestershire
1974 AuthorityGloucestershire
Civil ParishWestbury On Severn

Aline and Robert de Sapy's share was usually known later as the manor of LEY; Robert, who was licensed in 1330 to inclose the estate and build a peel-house, died c. 1336, and his widow apparently granted the estate in 1337 to Richard Talbot, later Lord Talbot (d. 1356). ... the house called Old Ley Court in the north-east part of the parish. (VCH)

Licence for Robert de Sapy to enclose the manor of Westubury, co. Gloucester, with a fence (ligno) and to make a wooden peel-house. (CPR)

A Medieval or Post Medieval moat and nearby water channel is partially visible as earthworks on aerial photographs. The site is centred at SO 7442 1788 and comprises two sections of ditch, one of which is the probable southern side of a moat.

A rectangular block of trees, which is centred at SO 7440 1788 and measures 50m long by 36m wide, obscures the northern, eastern and western sides, and probably fills the moated site. The moat ditch measures 57m long and 9m wide. A water channel, which may have linked the moat with the Ley Brook, is situated to the east at SO 7446 1787. It measures 38m long by 9m wide and is orientated north-west / south-east. Ridge and furrow, which may be contemporary with the moated site, is situated to the west and south. (PastScape)

Gatehouse Comments

The manorial history of Westbury parish is particularly complex with the initial manor being subdivided amongst heirs on several occasions. The licence to crenellate may have been about confirming Robert Sapy holding of this manor, which had come to him through his wife, one of these heirs or it may have been about assuaging the concerns of the other heirs and neighbours. It was not the same building as Westbury Court.

- Philip Davis

Not scheduled

Not Listed

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceSO744178
Latitude51.8588905334473
Longitude-2.37304997444153
Eastings374420
Northings217880
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

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Books

  • Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 3 Southern England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 132
  • Herbert, N.M., 1976, in Elrington, C.R. and Herbert, N.M. (eds), VCH Gloucestershire Vol. 10 p. 85-6 online transcription

Journals

  • Rawes, B., 1978, 'A Preliminary Check List of Moated Sites in Gloucestershire' Glevensis Vol. 12 p. 37 online copy

Primary Sources

  • Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1893, Calendar of Patent Rolls Edward III (1330-34) Vol. 2 p. 11 online copy