Topic summary
Cumnor Place
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Cumnor.
History
The earliest known record of Cumnor appears in a Saxon charter of 931 AD as Cumanoran. The Domesday Book of 1086 terms it Comenore. Other medieval spellings include Colmonora and Colmanora. The name derives from Old English for "Cuma's hill-slope". However, a Benedictine called Cumma was Abbot of Abingdon about 730 AD. The parish in the Middle Ages was among the largest in Berkshire. It included Wytham, Seacourt, North Hinksey, South Hinksey and Wootton and was one of several in the Hundred of Hormer. In 1560 Cumnor Place saw the accidental death and rumoured suicide or murder of Amy Robsart, ailing wife of Lord Robert Dudley. The house was pulled down in 1810, because, it was said, her ghost gave locals trouble. In reality the house had become decrepit.