MANORS AND OTHER ESTATES.
Blaisdon
was not mentioned by name in Domesday Book but
may have then formed part of William son of
Baderon's manor of Longhope. (fn. 39) The manor of
BLAISDON was apparently included in the
knight's fee which Richard of Blaisdon and Walter
son of Robert held from Margaret de Bohun in
1166; (fn. 40) the de Bohuns' overlordship was recorded
until the late 14th century, (fn. 41) although c. 1300 the
lords of the two moieties of the manor were said to
hold by the serjeanty of serving as foresters-in-fee. (fn. 42)
In 1199 ½ knight's fee in Blaisdon was being
disputed by Baderon of Blaisdon and Robert son of
Walter (alias Robert de Shipton), and Robert quitclaimed his right in it to Baderon in 1203. (fn. 43) Baderon
may have been succeeded by his son Richard. (fn. 44)
Walter de Mucegros held the manor of Blaisdon at
his death c. 1265 when his heirs were Walter of
Blakeney and John of Didmarton. (fn. 45) Walter of
Blakeney's moiety had passed by 1300 to Ellis of
Blakeney (fn. 46) and he or a successor of the same name
retained it in 1339; (fn. 47) by 1346 it had passed to Philip
Marshal. (fn. 48) John's moiety had passed by 1272 to
Ralph of Abenhall (fn. 49) who was succeeded in 1301 by
his son John (d. 1316). (fn. 50) John of Abenhall's nephew
Reynold settled the moiety of the manor on himself
and his wife Sibyl in 1318, (fn. 51) and in 1333 on himself
and his wife Joan with remainder to his sons Reynold
and John. (fn. 52) The elder Reynold died in 1341 and the
two sons held the moiety in 1346 and 1349. (fn. 53) The
reversion after their deaths, however, belonged to
their brother Ralph of Abenhall who granted it in
1347, with the reversion of another estate at Blaisdon
held by Hugh of Abenhall, to Robert of Staverton. (fn. 54)
Robert granted the reversion in the next year to
Richard Talbot. (fn. 55) In 1358 Geoffrey Marshal, chaplain, and John Aram granted one moiety of the
manor to Flaxley Abbey (fn. 56) which was said to own
½ knight's fee in Blaisdon in 1374 while 1/10 fee was
held by Philip Marshal and 1/20 fee by Richard
Onyman. (fn. 57) In 1407 the abbey and John Blakeney
held moieties of the manor. (fn. 58)
Flaxley Abbey's moiety of the manor was granted
with its other possessions in 1537 to Sir William
Kingston (d. 1540). (fn. 59) In 1544 it was confirmed to
Sir William's son Sir Anthony, (fn. 60) who was succeeded
at his death in 1556 by his son Edmund Kingston,
who was apparently illegitimate. Edmund conveyed
the estate in 1565 to his brother-in-law Edward
Barnard, who devised it at his death in 1570 to
Edmund's son Anthony Kingston (d. 1591). (fn. 61) The
estate passed to Anthony's son William (d. 1614),
who was succeeded by his uncle Edmund Kingston
(d. 1623). (fn. 62) Edmund's estate passed to his son
William (fn. 63) and to William's son Anthony, who was
living at Blaisdon at his death in 1687. Anthony's
estate had passed by 1705 to Thomas Wade, but c.
1707 Thomas's claim was disputed by Anthony's
nephew Henry Carter. (fn. 64) Mrs. Wade held the estate
in 1750 (fn. 65) and by 1757 it had passed to John Wade. (fn. 66)
John Wade of Woodchester died holding the estate
in 1793 and was succeeded by Anna, the wife of
William Gordon. (fn. 67)
The moiety of the manor held by John Blakeney
in 1407 was apparently held in 1476 by Roger
Cowley (fn. 68) and in 1527 by William Cowley. (fn. 69) In 1546
William Cowley settled the moiety of the manor on
himself with remainder to his sister Joan and her
husband Thomas Kyrle; (fn. 70) Thomas and Joan, who
lived at Walford (Herefs.), had evidently succeeded
to the estate by 1554. (fn. 71) Joan, as a widow, held the
estate in 1563, and her son James apparently held it
in 1584. (fn. 72) By 1608 it had passed to John Ayleway, (fn. 73)
and Robert Ayleway of Blaisdon sold land there in
1652; (fn. 74) Robert Ayleway and Richard Long were
dealing with the moiety of the manor in 1673, (fn. 75) and
a Mr. Long held it c. 1703. (fn. 76) In 1638 Henry Payton
of London and in 1656 Samuel Sheppard of Minsterworth made leases of lands as lords of Blaisdon
manor, (fn. 77) but whether their right was to the Ayleway's moiety or to that of the Kingstons, traced
above, has not been discovered.
By 1713 part of the manor had been acquired by
Robert Hayle, (fn. 78) whose widow Anne held it until her
death in 1736. (fn. 79) The Hayles' estate was later said to
have represented a share in the Kingstons' moiety
which became vested in George Kingston (d. 1644),
descending to his son Anthony and to Anthony's
son George (d. 1689), (fn. 80) but the elder George is
recorded as holding lands in Blaisdon only by a
lease for 99 years granted by his brother Anthony
shortly before his death in 1591; (fn. 81) the history of the
advowson (fn. 82) makes it more likely that the Hayles'
estate was the other moiety of the manor acquired
from the Longs. Although the Hayle family retained
an estate at Blaisdon which was the largest after that
of the Wades in 1754, (fn. 83) their share of the manor was
apparently devised by Anne Hayle at her death to
her sister Elizabeth, who married a Mr. Chinn;
Elizabeth devised it to her daughters Anne Chinn,
Mrs. Jones, and Mrs. Richardson, who sold their
claim c. 1800 to Anna Gordon, (fn. 84) thus uniting the
two moieties.
Anna Gordon, whose first husband was dead by
1802, (fn. 85) married secondly a Mr. Burland (d. by
1811). (fn. 86) She was succeeded before 1839 by her son
Robert Gordon who then owned c. 620 a. in Blaisdon, including Velthouse and Spout farms and over
200 a. of woods. (fn. 87) Robert, who lived at Kemble,
died in 1864 and his daughter Anna sold the estate
in the following year to Henry Crawshay, an ironmaster (d. 1879). (fn. 88) Henry was succeeded by Edwin
Crawshay, and c. 1890 the estate was acquired by
Peter Stubs (d. 1905). Stubs was succeeded by his
daughter Mary Helen who married Colin MacIver. (fn. 89)
Colin MacIver died in 1927 and his widow in 1928 (fn. 90)
and the estate was put up for sale in 1931; (fn. 91) it was
sold in parcels over a period of several years in the
early 1930s. (fn. 92) Part of the estate, including the manorhouse Blaisdon Hall, Stanley farm, and Stud farm,
and some of the woodland, was bought in 1935 by
the Salesian Society which established an agricultural
school for training deprived children; the farmland
was sold c. 1960 but Blaisdon Hall continued as a
school for vocational training. (fn. 93) The Huntley Manor
estate acquired 175 a. of woodland in Blaisdon c.
1932. (fn. 94)
There were chief houses for both parts of the
manor in the 14th century, (fn. 95) but few later lords of
the manor were resident and apparently no particular house was regarded as the manor-house until
the Crawshays built Blaisdon Hall in the 1870s. (fn. 96)
The house, which stands on high ground to the
north of the village in a wooded park commanding a
view across the Severn, is a large ornate stone
building mainly in the Jacobean style; it has
mullioned windows, pinnacled and decorated gables
and dormers, tall chimneys, and a tower with two
stages of decorative pilasters above the main entrance. An addition was made on the north in
1907, (fn. 97) and school buildings were built near the
house by the Salesians in the mid 20th century.
A serjeanty in Blaisdon was recorded in 1255 when
Richard de Grenville held it; he then agreed to
acquit his under-tenant Walter of Prescott of the
service owed to the Crown. (fn. 98) The estate was later
taken into the king's hands on account of Richard's
unlawful alienation of it to his brother William, and
in 1256 Henry III granted it to his mason John of
Gloucester. (fn. 99) In 1260 the king granted it to his cook
Henry de Wade. (fn. 1)
An estate at STANLEY was said to have been
acquired by the Bullock family in Elizabeth's reign, (fn. 2)
and John Bullock of Stanley was mentioned in 1637. (fn. 3)
Edmund Bullock of Stanley died in 1764, (fn. 4) and the
estate was held by William Bullock c. 1780. (fn. 5) In
1839 George Bullock owned 102 a. based on Stanley
House, (fn. 6) a two-story 17th-century timber-framed
house with a later brick addition. The estate was
later acquired by the MacIver family and was put
up for sale with their other property in 1931. (fn. 7)