Bucklebury Manor is a

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

Bucklebury Bucklebury is a village and civil parish in West Berkshire, England, about north-east of Newbury and north of the A4 road. The parish has a population of 2,116, but the village is much smaller. Bucklebury Common, with an area of over , is one ...

in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

county of

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

. Since 2012, it has been the home of

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and

Carole Middleton Carole Elizabeth Middleton (''née'' Goldsmith; born 31 January 1955) is a British businesswoman. She is the mother of Catherine, Princess of Wales, Philippa Matthews, and James Middleton. Born in Perivale and brought up in Southall, London ...

, parents of

Catherine, Princess of Wales Catherine, Princess of Wales, (born Catherine Elizabeth Middleton; 9 January 1982) is a member of the British royal family. She is married to William, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the British throne, making Catherine the likely next ...

History

Manorial status

The land on which the house stands was part of the Bucklebury Estate, belonging to the Winchcombe family and their descendants for many generations. In 1830, their home, Bucklebury House, was gutted by fire and demolished shortly afterwards, leaving only servants’ quarters and associated outbuildings standing. In the mid-1830s, Winchcombe Henry Howard Hartley had a smaller

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built on the higher ground immediately south of the old house, calling it 'The Cottage'. The Hartley family then mostly lived on their estates in Gloucestershire. However, shortly before these were sold in 1906, the chief heiress to the estates, Mrs Nina Webley-Parry, moved to the Cottage and renamed it ‘Bucklebury Manor’.

Post-manorial house

The Winchcombe descendants finally left the Manor and it ceased to be the local manor house when Major Derrick Hartley Russell restored the buildings at old Bucklebury House in 1957. In 2012, Bucklebury Manor and its grounds were purchased by

and

, the parents of

Architecture

The

Bucklebury Manor contains within its interior an early C17

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

fireplace that is carved with panelled pilasters that support a rich cornice. There is also an over-mantel with shallow carved decoration, and a moulded flat arch with Delft type glazed tiles behind. There are seven bedrooms. Bucklebury Manor has been listed as Grade II by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

since 22 November 1983.

Location

Bucklebury Manor is located at Pease Hill in Bucklebury, a village in

West Berkshire West Berkshire is a local government district in Berkshire, England, administered from Newbury by West Berkshire Council. History The district of Newbury was formed on 1 April 1974, as a merger of the borough of Newbury, Bradfield Rural Distric ...

.British Listed Buildings: The Manor, Bucklebury
/ref>Why Prince William and Kate Middleton have chosen Bucklebury as Prince George's first home
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Hello ''Hello'' is a salutation or greeting in the English language. It is first attested in writing from 1826. Early uses ''Hello'', with that spelling, was used in publications in the U.S. as early as the 18 October 1826 edition of the ''Norwich C ...

'', 20 August 2013 The house's surrounding estate covers 18 acres.

References

{{Authority control Country houses in Berkshire Grade II listed houses Bucklebury