Bere Court

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Bere Court
Bere Court Pangbourne Berkshire Beard And Co 1866.jpg
Bere Court in 1866
Type Country House
Location Pangbourne, Berkshire, England
Coordinates 51°28′15″N1°06′51″W / 51.470762°N 1.1140995°W / 51.470762; -1.1140995
OS grid reference SU 61630 75016
Built13th century
Rebuilt18th century
Architectural style(s) Georgian
Listed Building – Grade I
Official nameBere Court and Bere House
Designated24 October 1951;72 years ago (1951-10-24)
Reference no. 1213565
Berkshire UK location map.svg
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Location of Bere Court in Berkshire
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Bere Court (England)

Bere Court is an English country house. It is a historic Grade I listed building. The house is located southwest of Pangbourne, Berkshire where it was once the manor house.

Contents

History

The house was originally built in the 13th century as the manor house for Pangbourne. The only remaining parts of the original house are the medieval cellars. [1]

Pangbourne came under the control of the Abbots of Reading and the house became one of their main manors. [2]

In his role as Abbot of Reading, Hugh Faringdon was residing at Bere Court in 1539 when he was arrested for high treason during the dissolution of the monasteries, ostensibly for providing funds to rebels. While he was taken to the Tower of London, apparently his death sentence was passed without a formal trial, and he was hanged, drawn, and quartered in the courtyard of Reading Abbey on 14 November 1539. [3]

In 1613 the house was acquired by Sir John Davis, who had been part of the Duke of Essex's Rebellion in 1601, had been convicted, and sentenced to death, but then pardoned. [4]

The estate was purchased in 1671 by John Breedon, onetime High Sheriff of Berkshire. The current form of the house is his family's work. It was remodeled over the course of the 18th century into its current red brick Georgian design. [1]

During the time the Breedons owned the house they occasionally rented it out. One of the renters was George Spencer-Churchill, 6th Duke of Marlborough who had been born at nearby Bill Hill. [2]

The Breedons finally sold the house in the 1890s. As of 2024 it is a private residence.

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 Tyack, Geoffrey; Bradley, Simon; Pevsner, Nikolaus; Brindle, Steven (2010). Berkshire (New, rev. ed.). New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press. p. 425. ISBN   9780300126624.
  2. 1 2 Ford, David Nash. "RBH: History of Bere Court, Pangbourne, Berkshire". berkshirehistory.com. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  3. ↑ Wainewright, John. "Blessed Hugh Faringdon." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910.
  4. ↑ Ford, David Nash. "RBH Biography: Sir John Davis Senior (1560-1625)". berkshirehistory.com.
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