Bird Henge Stage No 6 Knook Manor and Church

200 yards. From the bridge you will see Knook Manor dating from the 16th century. The image below shows the manor in 1774. The manor estate was bought by Lord Heytesbury in 1828 from the Duke of Somerset.   A century the house was in ruins and the estate was largely broken up in a series of sales. The next image shows it in 1926.It was bought and restored by two sisters Esther and Marjorie MacGill Crichton Maitland to whom there is a memorial in the church next door.

The banks of the River Wylye were higher then in 1926 than today but the Manor House still sat serenely above the floods in January 2014 (see below)

This typanum on the south side of the church used to be considered to be Saxon but the experts now say it is later. There is some carving by the altar still considered to be Saxon.

At the crossroads just beyond the church turn left and you will come to a foot bridge across the River Wylye