Rowington Hall

1 A Manor House appears to have existed on the site of the present Rowington Hall at an early date and may have been built by Adeliza, wife of Roger d’Ivery, who held the manor. The manor was granted to the Abbey of Reading from 1133 onwards and it is possible that the Manor House was built by one of its Abbots. The Abbot visited Rowington occasionally to hunt in the nearby Park, staying in the Manor House and hearing serious cases at the manor court.

2 John Oldnall farmed the demesne lands at the time of the Dissolution and is described as the lessee of the manor of Rowington with the rectory and all its lands. The house in which Oldnall lived was erected on the ancient site ‘whereon the Manor House stood’ and might have incorporated parts of the older building. In 1605 the outbuildings consisted of two stables, six barns, a keeper’s house and a dovehouse. In 1614 the Manor House and its lands passed to Thomas Betham. The Bethams lived here until about 1700. The Manor House remained as a farmhouse until 1806 when it was purchased by William Smith who made many alterations including refronting and encasing much of it in stone.