Manor Farm, Ruislip

Manor Farm
The Great Barn, built around 1280
Location within Greater London
General information
Classification	Grade II and II* listed buildings
Location	Ruislip
Town or city	Greater London
Country	England
Coordinates	51°34′42″N 0°25′42″W / 51.578206°N 0.428451°W / 51.578206; -0.428451
Completed	13th century

Manor Farm is a 22-acre (8.9 ha) historic site in Ruislip, Greater London. It incorporates a medieval farm complex, with a main old barn dating from the 13th century and a farm house from the 16th. Nearby are the remains of a motte-and-bailey castle believed to date from shortly after the Norman conquest of England. Original groundwork on the site has been dated to the 9th century.

Ownership of the site passed to the King's College, Cambridge in the 15th century, with whom it remained until 1931. At this point Manor Farm was included in the sale of Park Wood as a gift to the people of Ruislip. The Great Barn and Little Barn were recognised by a member of the Royal Society of Arts in 1930 as in need of conservation. The site continued as a working farm until 1933.

Throughout 2007 and 2008, the site was restored with National Lottery funding, and has become a heritage area for the London Borough of Hillingdon. Manor Farm is within the Ruislip Village Conservation Area. Events are regularly held within the 13th-century Great Barn and around the rest of the site.

What remains of the motte-and-bailey castle can be seen today in part of the moat and bank on the site. Today, the moat on the site is a scheduled monument, believed to have been extended to create an oval area upon which a wooden castle covering 350 foot (110 m) by 200 foot (61 m) was built, presumably for the landowner, Ernulf de Hesdin. He was given control of the manor of Ruislip shortly after the Norman conquest, in recognition of his loyalty to William the Conqueror. The castle is believed to have been built between 1066 and 1087, but does not appear in the 1086 Domesday Book and so could have been demolished or changed significantly. It may never have been finished.

Ruislip parish was owned by the Benedictine Bec Abbey of Normandy between 1096 and 1404 during which time the prior built a home for himself on the site, surrounded by a moat. During the 16th century, the remains of the motte-and-bailey site were used as the gardens of the Manor Farm House when it was built. In 1888 the moat extension was filled in by Henry James Ewer, who farmed on the site. The moat's shape and the presence of traces of a fortified building have allowed this part of the site to be dated to the 11th century. However, the castle is believed to have been built around 1066 then either demolished or changed significantly as it does not appear as a castle in Domesday Book.