Bere Court
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.
Pangbourne came under the control of the Abbots of Reading and the house became one of their main manors.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Breedons finally sold the house in the 1890s. As of 2024 it is a private residence.
See also
References
- ^ Tyack, Geoffrey; Bradley, Simon; Pevsner, Nikolaus; Brindle, Steven (2010). Berkshire (New, rev. ed.). New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press. p. 425. ISBN 9780300126624.
- ^ Ford, David Nash. "RBH: History of Bere Court, Pangbourne, Berkshire". berkshirehistory.com. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
- ^ Wainewright, John. "Blessed Hugh Faringdon." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910.
- ^ Ford, David Nash. "RBH Biography: Sir John Davis Senior (1560-1625)". berkshirehistory.com.