Water Stratford - Manor

Manor

The toponym "Stratford" is common in England, being derived from the Old English for "ford by a Roman road". The Roman road is still traceable through the village. The prefix "Water" was added to differentiate the village from other places called Stratford. The name has evolved through the centuries from Stradford in the Domesday Book of 1086, through Stratforwe, Straford and Westratforde in the 13th to 15th centuries.

The earliest known record of Water Stratford is from the time of Edward the Confessor (reigned 1042–66). After the Norman conquest of England Water Stratford was one of many manors in the region that William of Normandy granted to Robert D'Oyly, who built Oxford Castle. The Domesday Book of 1086 assessed Water Stratford's cultiveated land at eight hides. Water Stratford remained in the D'Oyly family until the 13th century, when it passed from Henry D'Oyly to his nephew Thomas de Beaumont, 6th Earl of Warwick. The Earl died heirless, leaving his sister Margaret, by whose marriage Water Stratford then passed to the du Plessis family. Late in the 13th century Hugh du Plessis seems to have granted Water Stratford to Edward I in an exchange of lands. The manor was then the property of successive Princes of Wales until the English Civil War in the middle of the 17th century. No record of the feudal overlordship is known from after 1650.

The present manor house bears a date stone inscribed with the year 1598. The upper flight of the staircase has early 17th century pierced balusters. Other details were added to the house in the 20th century.

The Domesday Book records that by 1086 Water Stratford had a watermill, presumably on the River Great Ouse. It is recorded again in 1278–79, but it was destroyed in 1349 by Isabel de Stratford, widow of a Lord of the Manor of Water Stratford.