We research, care for and share the archives of the parish of Barton Stacey, Hampshire.
Bransbury Manor
www.british-history.ac.uk
A HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE HOUSES OF BENEDICTINE MONKS
1. THE PRIORY OF ST. SWITHUN, WINCHESTER
The manor of Bransbury was farmed from at least the time of Domesday to support the monks of St Swithuns, but was granted by Henry VIII after the Dissolution to the Dean and Chapter of Winchester and their successors for a yearly rent. However, it was sold into private hands in 1649 by the trustees under the Act for 'abolishing of Deans and Chapters' and has since passed through private hands by inheritance or purchase.
‘At the present day (1910) Bransbury belongs to Mr. R. K. Hodgson and Mr. P. C. Tarbutt, but all manorial rights have long ceased. Mr. Hodgson's part, the larger, has come to him partly by inheritance, partly by purchase, Mr. Tarbutt's by purchase.’ Robert Kirkman Hodgson owned the Gavelacre Estate (sold by his widow in 1924), of which Church Farm in Bransbury was a part. Percy Coventry Tarbutt was a mining and consulting engineer who then owned Bransbury Mill in Bransbury (and in 1911 leased Rupert Cottage in Newton Stacey and the Wherwell Shoot).
Bransbury Manor House
The house now known as Bransbury Manor was called Bransbury House until the beginning of the 20th century. It is a Grade II listed building, built in 1791 (Listing NGR: SU4201142325, English Heritage), though whether on the site of any original manor house is presently unknown. It was sold in 1924 by the Hodgson family, along with cottages, farm buildings and most of the land in Bransbury. These lands were part of the Gavelacre Estate and were bought by the Wills family and so are now part of the Middleton Estate.
Of the 22 dwellings now existing in Bransbury, very few have been built since 1900. The farm workers' cottages and farm buildings which once belonged to the Gavelacre Estate or to Bransbury Mill are now privately owned or let by the Middleton Estate.
Bransbury Mill
The oldest house in Bransbury is the Mill House;
a mill has existed on its present site since
at least the time of Domesday.
Mrs Kidd,
date unknown
William & Mary (Prater) Gilbert & family 1890, owners from c.1885.
Frederick Henry Dumas Man (1861-1941), who purchased the Mill House from Percy Coventry Tarbutt in 1915.