Skip Navigation
 
 

Welcome to Bedford Borough Council

Home > Community Histories > Studham > Studham cum Barworth Manor

Studham cum Barworth Manor


This manor was held by Dunstable Priory, possibly deriving from a gift by Alexander de Stodham of the parish church and half a hide in the late 12th century and then built up by subsequent acquisitions. It may have originally been part of Studham Manor but this is not clear from surviving records. In 1544, following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the manor was granted to William Belfield, the former tenant of the Priory.

The manor remained in the Belfield family until 1815 when, under the terms of Ellen Bayley, sister if Henry Belfield, it was sold - the purchaser being John William, Earl of Bridgewater. Under the Earls the manor was united with Studham Manor. From the Earls of Bridgewater Studham cum Barworth, like Studham Manor, descended to Earl Brownlow, who held it in the early 20th century.

A succession of Law of Property Acts in the 1920s extinguished all manorial incidents, courts and copyhold tenure of land. This effectively abolished manors in all but name. The manor house may have been on the site of the present day Bury Farm [Historic Environment Record Number 10943]. The name of the manor clearly suggests that it was based. Alternatively, the presence of earthworks suggests that it might have been on the site of Studhamhall Farmhouse [HER 10928]