Bredon Bishops Manor (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Bredon.
In the historic county of Worcestershire.
Modern Authority of Worcestershire.
1974 county of Hereford and Worcester.
Medieval County of Worcestershire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SO91923703
Latitude 52.03163° Longitude -2.11920°

Bredon Bishops Manor has been described as a probable Palace.

There are no visible remains.

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

Description

The Manor House is mainly 18th century, and part of an earlier, timber framed, building is incorporated in its northern side. It is not of outstanding architectural interest. (Field Investigators Comments–P 28-APR-66) Bredon mansion house, called Bishop's House, was in 1563 described as very ruinous and almost fallen down for want of repair. The manor was in the possession of the Bishops of Worcester from before 1086 until 1558-9 when it passed to the Crown (VCH). (PastScape)

In 1086 the manor of Bredon with its members was in the possession of the Bishop of Worcester. By 1118 the bishop had increased his demesne lands at Bredon by 3 hides, and in 1254 and 1255 free warren was granted to him there. In 1275 the Bishop of Worcester complained that the Earl of Warwick had impeded him from having free warren at Bredon, and had tried to get possession of his demesne lands there, and in the same year certain persons (unnamed) came to the bishop's manor of Bredon, assaulted his servants, and carried away his goods. The manor remained in the possession of successive Bishops of Worcester until under the Act of 1558–9. (VCH)

Bredon manor had a great hall, at least six chambers, a chapel, kitchen, brewhouse, bakehouse, dresser (for meat preparation), and two stables. The farm buildings which lay to the south-west round a courtyyard included a granary, byre, stable, sheepcote, pigsty, poultry house, and dovecote, with a barn on the west side built by bishop Bransford which still stands. (Emery)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1117053
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 117881.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) WSM04628.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- The Tithe Barn at Bredon
Books
- Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 2 East Anglia, Central England and Wales (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 466
  Thompson, M.W., 1998, Medieval bishops' houses in England and Wales (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing) p. 187
  Dyer, C., 1980, Lords and Peasants in a Changing Society: The Estates of the Bishopric of Worcester, 680-1540 (Cambridge University Press)
  Page, Wm and Willis-Bund, J.W. (eds), 1913, VCH Worcestershire Vol. 3 p. 282-3, 501 online transcription
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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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

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.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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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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