Henley Manor  in Crewkerene

The manor of HENLEY in Crewkerne was held in 1222 by Richard de L'Estre for ½ fee, when he sold it to Agnes de Windsor, widow of Richard de Esse. From her it evidently descended to John de Asshe who, in 1280, brought an assize of mort d'ancestor against Nicholas le Frye for 2/3 of the manor.

John de Asshe may possibly be the John of Henley who held the estate for 1/4 fee in 1292. (fn. 246) By 1346 the manor was owned by Nicholas le Duyn and his wife Alice, and it may be the 1/4 fee in Crewkerne held in 1377 by Robert Montague.

Thereafter it evidently continued in the Montague family, for William Montague (d. 1489) was described as of Henley between 1460 and 1473 and in 1483 he settled the manor on his son William (d. 1484) and his son's wife Florence for their lives.

The second William was succeeded by his son Robert, although in 1490 John Wyke received a grant of 1/3 of the manor, evidently held in dower by Florence Montague, William's widow, and by his death in 1517 Wyke held the whole estate.

The manor had been settled on John Wyke's younger sons, John and Robert, but it passed in 1534 to Thomas Wyke with reversion to Richard Wyke of Nynehead.

Thomas leased the manor for his own life to Robert Merifield who acquired in 1557 a 41-year reversionary lease which Richard Wyke had made to Arthur Disshe a year earlier.

Merifield assigned the lease to Sir Hugh Poulett in 1557, and the lease on Thomas Wyke's life to Christopher Sampford in 1559.

In 1577 Richard Wyke (d. 1590) settled the manor on himself and his wife for their lives and in 1579 leased it to his younger sons Henry, Richard, and William. Henry and Richard assigned their rights in 1601 and 1603 to their eldest brother John (d. 1622).The fee, however, evidently passed to his brother Henry, whose daughters and coheirs, Barbara, Averyn, and Elizabeth, sold their shares to Robert Henley of Henley between 1632 and 1636.

South Somerset Listed Buildings here

BHOL  HENLEY Manor Crewkwerne

In 1577 Richard Wyke (d. 1590) settled the manor on himself and his wife for their lives and in 1579 leased it to his younger sons Henry, Richard, and William. Henry and Richard assigned their rights in 1601 and 1603 to their eldest brother John (d. 1622). (fn. 251) The fee, however, evidently passed to his brother Henry, whose daughters and coheirs, Barbara, Averyn, and Elizabeth, sold their shares to Robert Henley of Henley between 1632 and 1636. (fn. 252)

Henley manor-house,  known as Henley Manor, was mentioned in 1473 when an oratory was licensed for mass there.  The present house surrounds three sides of a courtyard which is open to the south. The northern range is possibly of late medieval origin, but has been much altered. The eastern range, which incorporates features which suggest it was the earlier hall range, now appears to be of c. 1700, possibly the result of remodelling on its purchase by Lord Poulett. The western range is of the later 16th or early 17th century and may have been built as lodgings.

Lands at Hewish were evidently among those granted to William Briwere (d. 1233 BREWER  held Berry Pomeroy after 1194  when Henry & Joscelin were attainted ) in marriage with Joan daughter of William de Reviers.

In 1256 Joan granted 3 1/2 virgates and a ferling of land in Hewish to the priory of Christchurch (Hants), to found a chantry for the souls of herself and her parents.  These lands were among those which Isabel de Forz tried to recover, without success, in 1272.  

The estate was retained by the priory until the Dissolution and was sold in 1545 to Roger Long of London.   Long conveyed the property to William Johnson of Hinton St. George in 1547, and he sold it in 1557 to Robert and Elizabeth Merifield of Crewkerne.  Robert was succeeded by John Merifield (d. 1581), whose estate was described as the manor of HEWISH on the death of John's son Robert in 1608. 

The estate passed through successive generations to John (d. 1623), John (d. 1666), Robert (d. 1686), and John Merifield (d. 1695).   The manor was then left equally between the sisters of the last John Merifield: Susanna wife of William Merifield (d. 1728) of Woolminstone and Alice (d. 1739) wife of John Donne a Crewkerne grocer. Disputes within the family led to a private Act of Parliament for settling the estate and to the physical subdivision of the manor into three parts under successive partitions of 1740 and 1745. 

One third was granted to William Merifield of Woolminstone, son of William and Susanna, and was sold in 1752 to Henry Hele, M.D., of Salisbury (d. 1778). Hele's executors conveyed it to William Gray of Crewkerne, who sold it to John, Earl Poulett, in 1809, after which it merged with the other Poulett lands in Crewkerne. 

Another third passed to John Donne of Crewkerne (d. 1768), son of John and Alice, and descended successively to his son James (d. 1783) and granddaughter Anna Maria Susanna (d. 1856), wife of the Revd. George Donisthorpe. She left the estate jointly to her distant cousins Benjamin J. M. Donne (d. 1928), and his sister Elizabeth (d. 1897), wife of Henry Parsons of Misterton. 

The third was not mentioned thereafter. The final share was inherited by Mary, widow of Robert Merifield of Shaftesbury (Dors.) (d. 1739), who was half-brother of John (d. 1695), and to her son Matthew. Mary released her share to Matthew Merifield (d. 1782) in 1750, and it evidently passed to Matthew's brother-inlaw, Peter Battiscombe of Bridport (Dors.) (d. 1798), and then to Peter's son Robert of Windsor (Berks.) (d. 1839). Subsequently it descended to Robert's son, the Revd. Richard Battiscombe of Hacton in Upminster (Essex) (d. 1873), and was last recorded in 1876 when it was held by the latter's son Robert Charles Battiscombe. 

….

Among properties owned by Forde abbey at the Dissolution were lands called Laymore, which were granted to Richard (later Sir Richard) Pollard with the site of the abbey in 1540.   The grant did not include all the land called Laymore, for some was sold in 1545 to Guy Bonville of Street in Winsham and John Preston of Cricket St. Thomas.

Subsequently these lands with others in Thorncombe and Broadwindsor (Dors.) came to be regarded as a single estate called Laymore and Southcombe.  Sir Richard Pollard’s son, Sir John,  sold the estate in 1572 to Sir Amias Poulett, and he conveyed it to William Rosewell, solicitor-general. Rosewell's son, Sir Henry, sold it in 1649 to Sir Edmund Prideaux (d. 1659).