Site of Fitzharry's Manor

Image: © HelenK Taken: 8 Apr 2017

The site is marked by this modest plaque in an open space surrounded by houses. The manor house has also given its name to a local street. "Fitzharris Manor was just to the north of the historic centre of Abingdon. It was surrounded by ornamental grounds and paddocks, and also held farmland encircling the north and west of Abingdon, from Northcourt to Shippon. The house was demolished in 1953. ... Nothing of the house now remains above ground, but its position is marked by a stone plinth. Although not of great architectural merit, it had interesting features and a long history, and would have been well worth retaining. Fitzharris originated at the beginning of the twelfth century as a property of Abingdon Abbey. .... After the dissolution of the Abbey in 1538 the freehold passed to the new Borough of Abingdon. .... In 1862 the freehold was sold by the Borough and passed through a succession of owners. The farmland was gradually sold for housing development. The last of these freeholders was Major-General Sir Charles Corkran who died in 1939. After war-time occupation by a girls’ school evacuated from Kent, the house and its home-plot were purchased by the Ministry of Supply as the site for an estate of 140 houses for senior staff at the new Atomic Energy Research Establishment. No use could be found for the manor house, which became neglected and vandalised, and was eventually demolished." http://www.abingdon.gov.uk/history/streets/fitzharris-estate

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