Early History of Leckford

At the time of the Domesday Survey the manor of Leckford Abbess – as it was then known – was owned by the Abbey of St Mary, Winchester. Originally in possession of the crown, the manor had been granted to a mass priest called Edulf by King Edred in 947, on the condition that half the land would pass to the Abbey when he died.

After the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539 ownership reverted to the King, and in 1544 Henry VIII gave the manor to Sir Richard Lyster and William Thorpe. Thorpe died in 1548, and his son and heir, Francis, died three years later, leaving his younger brother George to inherit the land. The manor was sold in 1567, and eventually passed to Thomas Phelipps and his wife, Charity, in 1616. It remained in their family for over a century.

In 1736 Elizabeth Bolney – the sister and heir of Sir James Phelipps, fourth baronet – conveyed the manor to his kinsman, Sir Henry Joseph Tichborne, who died in 1743. By his will the manor passed to his two daughters, Mary Blount and Frances Brounlow Doughty. Frances left her share of the property to her second son, George, and Mary Blount sold her share to Henry King. George and Henry sold the manor in 1780 to William Longman and a Mr Lywood.  These two men divided the estate between them; Mr Longman took the house and manorial rights, and Mr Lywood took New Farm.

Mr G M Miles-Bailey bought Abbess Grange (now the Abbas) from William Longman’s executor in 1900, and the manorial rights six years later. He owned the property until 1929, when he sold it to John Spedan Lewis.