- Beckett Hall
Beckett Hall is a
country house atShrivenham in the English county ofOxfordshire (formerly inBerkshire ). The present house dates from 1831.History
This ancient historical manor is first mentioned in the
Domesday survey, and acquired by King John in 1204. [http://www.spaceagency.co.uk/villages/v_detail.php?id=805]"The King holds Scrivenham in the demesne [domain] that King Edward held it. There are 46 hides. There is land for 33 ploughs. On the demesne there are 4 ploughs and there 80 villeins and 17 borderers with 30 ploughs...In the Manor are two mills worth twenty shillings, and 240 acres of meadow and woodland" "to render 20 swine. In the time of King Edward it was worth 35 pounds, and afterwards 20, not 45 pounds."
The property was held by William, the Count of
Evreux , on behalf of King John who occasionally made residence there. In return for service, King John granted ownership of the estate to the de Becote family who held the manor until 1424.In 1633, the Manor was bought by
Sir Henry Marten , a judge, then inherited by his son Henry Marten, a prominent Civil War politician and one of theregicide s of King Charles I. In 1648, the house was ransacked by royalists. [http://www.familyhistoryarticles.com/Article/Henry--Harry--the-Regicide--Colonel-MARTEN/5] On the son Henry Marten's death, the lands were sold to Sir George Pratt. [http://www.neffa.org/news/2003_fall.pdf]In 1666,
John Wildman bought the property. Wildman's son adopted John Shute as his heir. In 1716, John Shute was bequeathed the Barrington name by Francis Barrington and inherited the Beckett Estates. He was also the recipient of a newly createdPeerage of Ireland ,Viscount Barrington of Ardglass. He changed his name to John Shute Barrington, and established Beckett as the family seat. The Barrington family held the estate for many years.In 1938, Beckett Hall was acquired by the War Office for use as an Artillery School. [http://www.francisfrith.com/pageloader.asp?page=/shop/books/bookcontent.asp&isbn=1-85937-430-1] During
World War II , it became an Officer Cadet Training Unit with up to 10,000 US troops based in the area, run and operated byUnited States Army Forces in the British Isles or European Theatre of Operations United States Army (ETOUSA). In 1946, Beckett Hall became home to the Royal Military College of Science, now known asDefence College of Management and Technology , and served as an officers mess, then as the college library. The library has since vacated the Hall, moving to a new building on the DCMT campus, and the Hall has become a management centre. A modern extension has been built providing accommodation.Notable residents
*
John Shute Barrington, 1st Viscount Barrington - English statesman and 1st Viscount Barrington, resident of Beckett, Shrivenham
*Samuel Barrington - British Admiral and fourth son of John Shute Barrington
*Shute Barrington ,Bishop of Llandaff , of Salisbury and of Durham
*William Barrington, 2nd Viscount Barrington - British politician and eldest son of John Shute Barrington
*Henry Marten - English politician,regicide and resident of Beckett HallTrivia
The estate and the Barrington family who lived there were the inspirations for the naming of
Becket, Massachusetts andGreat Barrington, Massachusetts .
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.