St Giles House
Early property owners in St Giles included the Malmayne family. Matilda Malmayne, heiress of the Malmayne estate, married Edmund Plecy. Ownership of the estate encompassing the present-day St Giles House has not changed hands through purchase since the Norman Conquest. In 1375, the manor estate was known as St Giles Upwymbourne Plecy.
The Plecy male line became extinct towards the end of the 14th century, and the estate was transferred to Edmund and Matilda's descendant Joan Plecy, as heiress. Lady Joan Plecy was soon married to Sir John Hamelyn (d. 1399), high sheriff of Somerset. When Hamelyn died, there were no male heirs. The estate went to Sir John's daughter Egidia, by his second wife, who married Robert Ashley. The family estate, initially known as the Ashley Manor, has belonged to the Ashleys and Ashley-Coopers ever since.
The cornerstone of St Giles House, home to the Earl of Shaftesbury, was laid by Sir Anthony Ashley-Cooper, (then 2nd Baronet), later Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury on 19 March 1650. The country house was built on the remains of Ashley Manor. Incorporating late medieval work in the basement and cellars, the continued construction of the main body of St Giles House was initiated in 1651.
Read more about this topic: Wimborne St Giles
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