Shellingford Manor

Has been described as a Questionable Uncertain

There are no visible remains

NameShellingford Manor
Alternative NamesShellingford Castle; Shillingford
Historic CountryBerkshire
Modern AuthorityOxfordshire
1974 AuthorityOxfordshire
Civil ParishShellingford

The Manor house of Shellingford, described by Lysons as an ancient stone building "called, it does not appear for what reason, Shellingford Castle" has now disappeared (Lysons), but foundations of the house were pointed out to W. Money some years before 1910. He refers to the buildings as Shellingford Castle (Money). An early C16 range of buildings southwest of the Church, and now converted into cottages, is probably the remains of the manor house offices (Long) There are no remains of "Shellingford Castle", and the site is now occupied by a farmyard and a grass plot. The cottages to the S.W. of the church have been much altered and retain little of C16 date or interest. A water-colour by Buckler (1818) of Shellingford Castle is in the Bodleian Library. This shows a C16 house of 2 storeys with gables containing attic windows. The S.W. face has 3 gables and the S.E. face 4 gables. The painting shows the frontage of the house to be flush with the N.E. end of the above mentioned cottages and the house would therefore be centred at SU 3197 9348. (field investigators comments 1964) Shellingford was a principal demesne manor of Abingdon Abbey estates in 1086. It produced cheese. Fishpond earthworks have been recognised but no documentation has yet been traced. There were two manors here, one of which was Shellingford Newbury. There is documentary evidence only for a dovecote and a corn mill (Bond). (PastScape)

Gatehouse Comments

The tenurial history, as the chief manor of Abingdon Abbey, argues against a castle although the medieval manor house may have been used by the abbot and may, therefore, been of high status and impressively built. However, it would seem most likely that the castle name is a later, fanciful, attribution.

- Philip Davis

Not scheduled

Not Listed

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceSU319934
Latitude51.6392707824707
Longitude-1.53988003730774
Eastings431960
Northings193470
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

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Books

  • King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 13
  • Page, Wm and Ditchfield, P.H., 1924, VCH Berkshire Vol. 4 p. 475 online transcription
  • Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (London: Methuen and Co)
  • Lysons, D. and S., 1806, Magna Britannia Vol. 1 p. 360

Journals

  • Bond, C.J., 1979, 'The reconstruction of the medieval landscape: the estates of Abingdon Abbey' Landscape History Vol. 1 p. 59-75
  • Long, E.T., 1941, 'Medieval Domestic Architecture in Berkshire' Berkshire Archaeological Journal Vol. 45 p. 32 download copy

Other

  • Letter from W. Money dated 3-11-1910