Shillington Manor - Apsley End, Shillington, Bedfordshire, UK
Posted by: Dragontree
N 51° 58.523 W 000° 22.289
30U E 680532 N 5761563
This house stands in an estate near the Bedfordshire/Hertfordshire border.
Waymark Code: WM8M34
Location: Eastern England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 04/17/2010
Views: 5
Shillington Manor was once Apsley Bury Manor. The nearby farm still has evidence of a moat on the map and stands just across the road on the estate.
Pevsner has some brief details on this house describing the interior as including a timber ceiling dated 1581 with panelling. These come from a house at Droitwich NMR.
The Shillington website describes the Manor:
(
visit link)
'During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the site of the mansion-house of the manor was leased out by the crown, which reserved to itself the right of holding court leet and view of frankpledge in the manor.
From 1594 to the mid nineteenth century the ownership of the manor passed through many families until it eventually settled. There is mention of another manor in Shillington called Shillington or Aspley (sp) Bury (now Apsley End), held of the abbot of Ramsey, in 1476.'
This website also records that Shillington Manor was destroyed by fire in 1911.
There is an interesting painting called The Maid and the Magpie from 1834 detailed here (
visit link) painted by William Henry Hunt for George A Musgrave, Esq F.R.G.S. 45 Holland Park,W. It was found at Shillington Manor.
From the road the only visible feature of the estate is the cupola on top of the stable block. The entrance has some gates which date to the early 19th century and are Grade II Listed. There is a long drive to this historic estate. There is further evidence that the old house was demolished in 1992 so this present property would have been built on the estate land with remnants of the original.