Little Compton (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Parva Cumpton

In the civil parish of Compton Wynyates.
In the historic county of Gloucestershire.
Modern Authority of Warwickshire.
1974 county of Warwickshire.
Medieval County of Gloucestershire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SP26133028
Latitude 51.97047° Longitude -1.62093°

Little Compton has been described as a Palace although is doubtful that it was such, and also as a probable Fortified Manor House.

There are no visible remains.

This is a Grade 2* listed building protected by law*.

Description

John, Archbishop of York, was granted a licence to crenellate, in 1291, his 'mansum' at Parva Cumpton, Gloucestershire (now Warwickshire). Thompson asks if this was a refuge for the archbishop. He also writes the archbishop did not own this parish but Condicote to the west. Presumably this house would have been on the site now occupied by the C16 manor house.

Little Compton, Warwicks. appears in Thompson's list. Little Compton was not in episcopal hands (VCH Warwicks 5: 51). Thompson says "Licence 1291. The Archbishop did not own this parish but Condicote to west." The VCH for Condicote (Glos. 6: 65) states that the manor was owned by the church of Winchester at Domesday and was always subinfeudated. There is no mention of a bishop's residence here or at Little Compton, although the manor house at Little Compton was once home of William Juxon, bishop of London, then archbishop of Canterbury 1660-3. (Payne)

This parish was an isolated portion of the county of Gloucester until about 1845, when it was transferred to Warwickshire. (VCH)

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1291 Nov 11 (Click on the date for details of this licence.).

Comments

Tenurially the manor seems to have been held by Deerhurst Abbey in 1291 so, presumably, John was a subtenant of that house. The current Little Compton Manor is dated from the C16 and neither the PastScape record, the Warwickshire HER nor the Listed building report mention an earlier house but there can be little doubt the Manor occupies the site of John's licenced house. The house must have been a private residence, rather than an episcopal house, and part of the function of the licence to crenellate may have been to assert this.

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1116486
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 332826.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) MWA3813.

Books
- Thompson, M.W., 1998, Medieval bishops' houses in England and Wales (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing) p. 118, 167, 188
  Salzmann, L.F. (ed), 1949, VCH Warwickshire Vol. 5 p. 50-52 online transcription
  Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol. 3 Part 2 p. 403 online copy
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1893, Calendar of Patent Rolls Edward I (1281-91) Vol. 2 p. 451 online copy
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Payne, Naomi, 2003, The medieval residences of the bishops of Bath and Wells, and Salisbury (PhD Thesis University of Bristol) Appendix B: List of Medieval Bishop's Palaces in England and Wales (available via EThOS)

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Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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