Abenhall Manor House (General)

by Jefff , West London, Middlesex, Thursday, June 23, 2011, 02:17 (4906 days ago) @ acdymond

Hi, acdymond,
sorry for not spotting your query earlier, as I could have saved you and other forum users the inconvenience. I must admit to not being expert in this matter, and my post was based partly on reading the splendid reference already mentioned, thanks Slowhands. However as I'm sure you are aware, my post contained a glaring error which I've now amended, I incorrectly typed Abenhall when I should have typed Mitcheldean !
I'm sorry for inadvertantly misleading you and wasting you good people's time.

My post was made while learning about the Wilderness Estate and John Ayleway, and it rather proves to me that reading and posting very late at night after long workdays is not wise on my part! Oddly enough, it's for this very reason I've been offline for a while, having realised that as fascinating as our local history is, it shouldnt keep us from our sleep !.

The text concerned, which I'm sure you know, was;
"An estate mostly comprising leasehold land in Mitcheldean and Abenhall belonged to William Bridgeman, who was given part of it, including a house in Mitcheldean, by his father John (d. 1548). William, who in 1549 purchased some land belonging to a chantry in Mitcheldean church, died in 1581 and his son and heir Thomas sold bits of the estate piecemeal to John Ayleway. John's purchases included much of the Wilderness, which was held from the Crown as of St. Briavels castle in free socage. John (d. 1607) was succeeded by his son John, who came of age in 1619. He died in 1626 and his brother and heir William sold the estate in 1630 to Nicholas Roberts, owner of part of Mitcheldean manor with which it descended. John Ayleway's house, which after his death in 1626 was occupied, sometimes only in part, by a tenant, came to be regarded as the manor house by the end of the century when Maynard Colchester held courts in it. The house, which was at Court Farm, immediately north-east of the town, was later used as a farmhouse and was rebuilt in the early 19th century. It was demolished c. 1970 to make way for an extension of the Rank Xerox factory.

From: 'Mitcheldean', A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 5: Bledisloe Hundred, St. Briavels Hundred, The Forest of Dean (1996), pp. 173-195.
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=23259&strquery=Ayleway