Sheldon Manor - History

History

The medieval settlement of Sheldon, first mentioned in 803, no longer exists, having been deserted by 1582; a 1976 survey confirmed its remains to lie to the rear of the Manor, which itself stands on the site of an older habitation known as "The Holloway".

The manor of Sheldon was granted to Sir William de Beauvilain in about 1180; on his death, as a Norman, it was forfeit to The Crown as an escheat and then granted to the de Godarville family in 1231 by Henry III. In 1250 it passed to Sir Geoffrey Gascelyn on his marriage to Joan de Godarville. In 1424 the Manor was sold to Sir Walter Hungerford, and after some time was eventually granted to Catherine Parr temporarily until the Hungerford heir achieved majority.

For many years, the property was tenanted until Sir Edward Hungerford sold the Manor in 1684 and in 1711 it was bought by William Norris, whose last survivor died in 1828. In 1854 it was bought by Sir Gabriel Goldney, whose son lived there until 1911, followed by the Bailey family.

From 1917 the Manor was owned by the Gibbs family being Major Martin Anthony Gibbs (1916–1995), a former High Sheriff of Wiltshire, his wife Elsie Margaret Mary (b. 1922, née Hamilton-Dalrymple) and their six children. In 1982, Mrs Gibbs published a historical and architectural account of the Manor.

The Manor is now within the civil parish of Chippenham Without; unbroken occupation since 1282 makes Sheldon Manor Wiltshire's longest continuously inhabited manor house. It was granted Grade I listed building status by the Historic Building and Monuments Commission for England in 1960.