Grafton Manor (13 miles north-east of Worcester and 2 1/2 miles south-west of Bromsgrove, Worcestershire) was established before the Norman Conquest.[1] Grafton means "settlement at or near the wood" and may indicate a role in woodland management within a larger estate, for instance.[2]
For a time, in the reigns of Henry II to Edward I, it was subject to forest law as part of the Forest of Feckenham.
The Lords of the Manor were influential figures in medieval and early modern Worcestershire, with a number becoming High Sheriffs or Members of Parliament for Worcestershire. A few were also national figures, especially the Talbots and Earls of Shrewsbury. Grafton was connected with Catholic worship in the County after the Reformation.[1]
The house is now a listed building[3] in the modern Civil parish of Dodford with Grafton in the Bromsgrove District of Worcestershire.
- ^ a b Willis Bund, Doubleday & Page 1913, pp. 123–127
- ^ Watts 2004, p. 257
- ^ Anon 1986