Monkton House

In the 12th century Cluniac monks of the Order of Saint Benedict founded a monastery at Monkton Farleigh, acquiring land in the neighbourhood. On the Dissolution of the Monasteries the priory and abbey land, including the manor of Monkton, were given to Sir Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford. Seymour leased it in 1600 to Edward Long, son of a wealthy Wiltshire clothier, Henry Long of Whaddon. Edward had already purchased the manor of Rood Ashton three years before. Long later bought the house on 15 May 1615 and left it to his two sons Edward and John, who occupied it in succession. John appears to have carried out an extensive building programme in or around 1647 (marked by a plaque on…