The Royal Connections of Benham Place, Berkshire
As you are passing through Berkshire on the London to Bath road, you may notice this rather imposing gateway. It is the entrance to Benham Place, sometimes called Benham Park, an elegant Georgian mansion. You might think that this gateway, with its double entrance lodges, is a little grand even for an aristocratic mansion. The archways suggest guardposts, as if it were a royal residence, and in fact the house was at once time exactly that. The royal associations of Benham go back a long way. In 1086, the Domesday Book mentions Beneham as a manor in Berkshire held by one Wigar, who is "the King's thane". This meant that he was a noble with special privileges. Only the King had jurisdiction over him. In 1251, the manor was given by King Henry III to his young half-brother William de Valence, hence it became known as Benham Valence. Tomb of William de Valence in Westminster Abbey In 1548, the manor was given by Henry VIII to Sir Walter ...