Taplow Court

The history of Taplow Court begins with traces of human settlement from the Stone and Bronze Ages. A fortified settlement existed here as early as 1000 BC, and an Anglo-Saxon chieftain was buried in a barrow on the grounds in the 7th century. The estate was already a manor house before 1066 and was given by Harold, the future king, to his follower Asgot. After the conquest by William the Conqueror, it passed to Odo of Bayeux and later to the de Turville family. In 1197, Merton Priory acquired the estate, managing it until the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539. It then reverted to the English Crown. In 1604, Sir Henry Guiltford became its administrator and leased it in 1614, but a fire destroyed the house two years later. It was rebuilt by Thomas Hampson, who bought it in 1629, and was damaged during the English Civil War. Around 1700, George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney, acquired the property. Through inheritance in the female line and subsequent sales, it changed hands several times. Thomas John Hamilton had it renovated in 1831 and built the Norman Memorial Hall.