Stockland Bristol: Manor and other estates

MANOR AND OTHER ESTATES.

The manor of STOCKLAND was held by Ralph de Reuilly from Ralph Pagnell in 1086. Its Saxon owner is unknown. (fn. 1) The manor subsequently descended with East Quantoxhead to Maurice de Gaunt (d. 1230), who left Stockland in his will to the hospital of St. Mark at Bristol. (fn. 2) Maurice's heir, Andrew Luttrell, successfully claimed the manor in 1232 but agreed to sell it to the hospital. (fn. 3) Geoffrey, Andrew's son, released his rights in Stockland c. 1265 to his brother Alexander, who was said to have been given the manor by his father, (fn. 4) notwithstanding charters of 1259 and 1267-8 confirming the hospital's ownership. In 1271 Alexander Luttrell disseised St. Mark's but they recovered possession and bought Luttrell off with an annuity. (fn. 5) The hospital remained in possession of the manor, known from the late 13th century as STOCKLAND GAUNTS. (fn. 6) A further claim to the manor was made by the Luttrell family between 1337 and 1340, which the hospital bought off with a second annuity. (fn. 7) In 1541, following the dissolution of the hospital, the king granted Stockland manor to the mayor and commonalty of Bristol. (fn. 8) The manor remained in the ownership of Bristol corporation, from which it derived its alternative name of STOCKLAND BRISTOL, until 1839 when it was sold to Thomas Daniel. (fn. 9) Thomas (d. 1872) was succeeded by his son the Revd. Henry Arthur Daniel (d. 1912). (fn. 10) Henry's son Henry Thomas (d. 1952) gave his land in Stockland to his son Henry Cave Daniel, who dismembered the manor, selling mainly to the tenants, in 1947 and 1952. (fn. 11)

The court house was recorded in 1317. (fn. 12) There is no later record of a capital messuage or court house. During the 18th century the corporation officers appear to have stayed in Stogursey or elsewhere when keeping courts. (fn. 13) The vicarage house, renamed Stockland Manor after 1884 when a new house was built for the incumbent, was the residence of Henry Daniel. A small park was established on former glebe land south of the house. (fn. 14) In 1912 the rooms included four reception rooms, study, schoolroom, nursery, fifteen bedrooms, and servants hall. The Tudor-style house of stone and slate has a six-bayed entrance front and is of four storeys including attic and basement. It retains many decorative features both inside and out including coffered ceilings and oriel windows. (fn. 15) The house was sold by Henry Cave Daniel in 1952 (fn. 16) and was divided into three dwellings.

An estate called JUVENIS, Jouverney, or Juffnies, (fn. 17) may have belonged to the Iuvernay or Gyverney family in the 13th century. Richard and William Gyverney were recorded in the area in 1286 and 1297, and in 1338 an estate in Otterhampton and Stockland was settled on Richard Gyverney and his third wife Margaret. (fn. 18) Richard was succeeded by Maud, said to be his sister, and her husband Henry Power (d. 1361). Their daughter Joan married William Shareshull, who is said to have sold his Somerset estates to William Bonville. (fn. 19) In 1408 Juvenis belonged to William Bonville and descended with the manor of Idstock in Chilton Trinity. (fn. 20) Edmund Bowyer sold Juvenis with Idstock to Edward Colston in 1707 and it formed part of the estate of Colston's hospital, Bristol, until 1919. (fn. 21) In 1920 Juvenis was divided among several owners. (fn. 22)

A house, described as an old mansion house and probably the capital messuage, had gone out of use by 1616 but a new house on a slightly different site may have been built by 1621. (fn. 23) The house called Juvenis probably dates from the 19th century.

The RECTORY was appropriated to St. Mark's hospital, the lords of the manor, in 1316. (fn. 24) It comprised in 1547 the great tithes, three fields, a barn, and a dovecote. (fn. 25) Barn and dovecot were in decay in 1573, and by the 17th century there was only one field but the tithes were retained. (fn. 26) The dovecot, standing west of the church, belonged to Stockland manor in 1657. (fn. 27) The field had been absorbed into one of the farms of the manor by the early 19th century. (fn. 28) The tithes, demanded in kind in 1820 (fn. 29) and commuted for a rent charge of £60 in 1837, were sold with the manor by Bristol corporation to Thomas Daniel in 1839. (fn. 30)