Avebury Manor

Avebury Manor (east gate)


Avebury Manor (south gate)

A Brief History

The Tudor Manor at Avebury dates from the mid 16th century, the site however is considerably older and has monastic roots. There have been few excavations of note in the area but those that have been permitted, have revealed several small finds which would indicate the site to have been occupied for at least a thousand years.

Earliest records of a building on the site date from 1114, when the Benedictine alien priory owned by the French abbey - St Georges de Boscherville of Normandy, stood approximately where the Manor now stands. It is possible the Manor may contain fragments of the original building in its foundations. The priory was a small unit, just a handful of monks eking out a simple existence, raising sheep and farming the land. The monastic order was to prosper in later years however and according to a document of 1324-5, they owned 600 sheep and the priory had grown to included a kitchen, bakehouse, brewery, cellar and dairy, as well as a great hall.

In 1378, England was at war with France which ultimately spelled expunction for the monks at Avebury priory. The last prior to be expelled from Avebury was Stephen Fosse in 1379. Fosse was one of many monks expelled from England during that year. A succession of chaplains took charge of the priory until it finally passed into the hands of Fotheringhay College in 1411 where it stayed until the Dissolution of the Monasteries (1536-1541). At some point the order was given to have it demolished.

The first house to be built at Avebury was by courtier and wealthy businessman - William Dunch, who bought the site in 1551 from Sir William Sharington, owner of Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire. The house was built primarily of grey stone but later extensions to the south in 1601 by Sir James Mervyn and to the west in the early 20th century by Col. Leopold Jenner were faced with sarsen stone, most likely quarried from the Marlborough downs where it can be found in abundance, or possibly from Avebury's Neolithic stone circle at a time when the stones were of little interest other than for building material.

During its 450 year history, the Manor would have commanded significant importance in the village, surrounded as it is by high boundary walls and formal gateways. Although not the most prestigious of country houses, it still retains an air of opulence with its impressive gables, deep mullion windows, tall imposing chimneys and beautiful topiaried gardens.

The Ghosts of Avebury Manor

Sir John Stawell of Cothelstone

The staunch Royalist - Sir John Stawell, purchased the Manor from William Dunch in 1640. Sir Johns' allegiance to the crown was to eventually prove his undoing, for during one of his many campaigns in the West Country he fell foul of the Parliamentarians and was captured and arrested and later tried in 1646 for the rather dubious and scarcely legal charge of refusing the command ‘not to bear arms against parliament‘, in other words - high treason. He was immediately committed to Newgate Prison. In July 1650 he was moved from Newgate to The Tower of London where he spent the next 11 years. His estates were sequestrated and in 1652 Avebury Manor was sold to George Long who in turn leased it to Sir Edward Baynton.

Sir John was to remain in the Tower until his release in 1661 during the Restoration. In 1660 his estates and possessions had been reinstated in full. He returned to Avebury where he lived a short time until his death in 1662. It is said he died a broken man, suffering from ill health and depression. It was rumoured that he took his own life in a moment of utter despair, although there is no evidence surviving to support this claim. I suppose it is not surprising that such rumours grew in view of his state of mind, lord knows what conditions he must have had to endured during his imprisonment.

It is the aptly named Cavalier Bedroom, or Crimson Bedroom to give it its formal title, where the ghost of Sir John Stawell has been seen gazing out of the south window which overlooks the gardens. He has also been spotted standing quite motionless to the left of the fireplace. He is described as being solid in appearance, just like you or I and suited in the finery of a Cavalier of the time. A melancholy figure by all accounts, who, when encountered, appears to be weeping. Some say his arrival is often preceded by the fragrant smell of roses. During that period, rose water was often used to disguise body odour, as personal hygiene was yet to establish itself. Sir John is said to have adored his garden and spent a lot of time strolling therein, which may also account for reports of his ghost being seen thereabouts.

The White Lady

The house and gardens are reputedly haunted by a beautiful young woman dressed in white. ‘The White Lady‘ is arguably the most active of the Manor's ghosts. Her story is one of tragedy, as are many ghost stories. Although her identity is uncertain, it is believed she may well have been a ward of Sir John’s. Sir John ran a strict house, especially with regard to protecting the young lady’s integrity and virtues.

In defiance of Sir John's house rules, she met and fell in love with a hansom young man who worked on the estate. Sir John got wind of her deceitfulness and immediately put a stop to their secret rendezvous. She was to have none of it and continued to meet covertly with her young suitor.

Their brief romance was to be cut short, for the young man received orders to join ranks and participate in the Civil Wars. As each day past she would pray for his safe homecoming, for they had decided to elope together at soon as he returned. Then came the news that she had been dreading. She received notification that her lover had been killed in active duty. Broken hearted and with little to live for, she took her own life by jumping from a second floor window breaking her neck in the fall.

Her ghost is said to follow visitors around the gardens where she will randomly select a gentleman (preferably with a beard it would seem) and tap him on the shoulder. It is believed this ‘tap on the shoulder’ signifies her attempt to identify whether the recipient of her advances is that of her lover. The startled gentleman who has been “selected,” would turn round to find no one behind him, confirmation one would assume, that the poor girl had got it wrong again.

One of the National Trust guides at the Manor told me of an experience he had during a film shoot for the Trust in the gardens. He described his encounter as suddenly being “gripped by the shoulders and pulled back.” He spun round to see who was there but to his surprise discovered there was nobody near him. The White Lady has also been seen in various rooms within the Manor, assuming it’s the same ghost of course. She is most often encountered on the first floor stairway, where she has been seen by guides and visitors. She is dressed in a flowing floor length white gown and described by all who have seen her as 'stunningly beautiful'.

The Hooded Monk

With the Manor's monastic roots, it is not surprising to learn that there have been several sightings of phantom monks. One such story is that of a hooded monk, said to have been murdered at the priory. It is well documented that several monks were held in jail at Marlborough in 1249 on suspicion of murder at Avebury. The monk has been seen in the dining room, the kitchen, the library and the church of St. James opposite. One of the earliest documented encounters of the monk or monks, was during the occupancy of the Manor by Lord William Dunch in 1551. The story goes, that one evening while the maid was busy organizing the dining room for the evening meal, she was briefly interrupted by Lord Dunch who called to her from the kitchen. They spoke briefly in the kitchen regarding some matter or another, after which the maid returned to the dining room stopping just short of the threshold, for standing at the dining room table was a 'tall imposing hooded figure', the maid looked over her shoulder towards the kitchen where she enquired of his Lordship, “sir - do we have guests for dinner?” “No!” came the reply from Lord Dunch, at that, the maid looked back into the dinning room to find the intruder had disappeared.


St. James Church

One of the more recent sightings of the monk occurred one evening as the previous curator of the Alexander Keiller Museum was locking up for the night. As he turned from the door he noticed a hooded figure standing motionless amongst the gravestones in the adjacent church of St. James. Thinking it to be a young local lad who had been up to mischief on several occasions near to the Manor gates and in the churchyard, the curator decided to confront him. As he drew closer to the churchyard gate, the figure started towards him. Startled and a little concerned at this sudden advance, the curator backed away from the gate, at which point the figure began to fade until nothing was left except a fine amorphous mist which slowly dissipated.

The Little Boy in the Churchyard

Another ghost which has been witnessed several times in the churchyard is that of a little boy dressed in Victorian garb. One recent story is both charming and has an unexpected, if not coincidental outcome.

The story goes that a local woman and her two year old daughter had just popped down to Avebury village to post some letters. On returning home, they decided to take a shortcut through the churchyard. It was midmorning on a clear day in March as they passed through the lychgate and into the churchyard. Starting down the pathway toward the church, her daughter suddenly pointed animatedly from her pushchair toward the church door. Her mother stopped and looked to where she was pointing and saw a little boy of about eight years old hopping up and down on one of the table tombs by the church entrance. She later described him as 'solid in appearance and dressed in a short brown jacket with matching knickerbockers cropped at the knees where they met with white stockings. He wore a brown cap, from which poked out a tousled mass of mousy brown curly hair that framed the cutest of rosy-cheeks'. Intrigued by his appearance and thinking he was part of some local play or the like, they started to approach him. He paid them no heed as they covered the short distance between them, absorbed in his game of tomb-hopping and quite oblivious to their presence. They were little more than a few yards away from him when suddenly he looked up in mid-hop, smiled, then abruptly vanished.

The unexpected outcome to this story was that soon after her encounter with the little boy she fell pregnant, which was of great surprise to her and her husband, as she was judged infertile after the birth of her daughter due to ovarian cysts.

She still lives locally and has a lovely baby boy who she adores. I wonder, coincidence, or something stranger.

Alexander Keiller

Alexander Keiller was an extremely wealthy man, heir to the highly successful Dundee-based Marmalade and confectionery business of James Keiller & Sons. He was a playboy; fond of fast cars, aviation, women (he married four times) and wild cocktail parties. Primarily though, he was a dedicated archaeologist, who was passionate about the conservation of Avebury and surrounding landscape. So in 1937, he bought Avebury Manor from Col.Leopold Jenner.

Although his ghost does not haunt the Manor, well, not as far as I know, I think it would be remiss of me not to mention Kiellers' tireless dedication spent at The West Kennet Avenue, Windmill Hill and Avebury henge. His substantial wealth enabled him to acquire 950 acres of land for preservation. He conducted excavations and re-erected many of the stones that now form the Avebury stone circles and created a small but informative museum in the stable block near the Manor to interpret the site and his findings.

Kieller died in 1955 at his home in Kingston Hill Surrey.

I have a personal fondness for Avebury Manor, as I occasionally help out as a room guide for the National Trust. It is a superbly atmospheric building with a wealth of history. However, I still await my first ghostly encounter but I have a feeling it wont be too long.

Avebury Manor is well worth a visit, if only to stroll through its tranquil and beautifully topiaried gardens, a design which owes much to Col. Leopold and Mrs Jenner, who owned the Manor in the early 1900's.