# Bere Court
> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bere_Court
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bere_Court.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bere_Court
> Source revision: 1347569381
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
{{Short description|Grade I listed historic house in Pangbourne, Berkshire, United Kingdom}}
{{Infobox historic site
|name = Bere Court
|image = Bere Court Pangbourne Berkshire Beard And Co 1866.jpg
|caption = Bere Court in 1866
|type = [Country House](/source/English_country_house)
|coordinates = {{coord|51.470762|-1.1140995|display=inline,title|format=dms|type:landmark_region:GB}}
|gbgridref = SU 61630 75016
|locmapin = Berkshire#England
|location = [Pangbourne](/source/Pangbourne), [Berkshire](/source/Berkshire), [England](/source/England)
|architect =
|architecture = [Georgian](/source/Georgian_architecture)
|built = 13th century
|built_for =
|rebuilt = 18th century
|restored =
|restored_by =
|demolished =
|cost =
|original_use =
|current_use =
|owner =
|website =
|designation1 = Grade I Listed Building
|designation1_offname = Bere Court and Bere House
|designation1_date = {{Start date and age|df=yes|1951|10|24}}
|designation1_number = {{Listed building England|1213565}}
}}
'''Bere Court''' is an [English country house](/source/English_country_house). It is a historic [Grade I](/source/Grade_I) listed building. The house is located southwest of [Pangbourne](/source/Pangbourne), [Berkshire](/source/Berkshire) where it was once the [manor house](/source/manor_house).
==History==
The house was originally built in the 13th century as the manor house for [Pangbourne](/source/Pangbourne). The only remaining parts of the original house are the medieval cellars.[{{cite book |last1=Tyack |first1=Geoffrey |last2=Bradley |first2=Simon |last3=Pevsner |first3=Nikolaus |last4=Brindle |first4=Steven |title=Berkshire |date=2010 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven, Conn. |isbn=9780300126624 |page=425 |edition=New, rev. |ref=Pevsner}}]
Pangbourne came under the control of the [Abbots of Reading](/source/Reading_Abbey) and the house became one of their main manors.[{{cite web |last1=Ford |first1=David Nash |title=RBH: History of Bere Court, Pangbourne, Berkshire |url=https://berkshirehistory.com/castles/bere_court.html |website=berkshirehistory.com |access-date=18 February 2024}}]
In his role as Abbot of Reading, [Hugh Faringdon](/source/Hugh_Faringdon) was residing at Bere Court in 1539 when he was arrested for high treason during the [dissolution of the monasteries](/source/dissolution_of_the_monasteries), ostensibly for providing funds to rebels. While he was taken to the [Tower of London](/source/Tower_of_London), apparently his death sentence was passed without a formal trial, and he was [hanged, drawn, and quartered](/source/hanged%2C_drawn%2C_and_quartered) in the courtyard of Reading Abbey on 14 November 1539.[[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07518a.htm Wainewright, John. "Blessed Hugh Faringdon." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910.]
In 1613 the house was acquired by Sir John Davis, who had been part of the Duke of [Essex's Rebellion](/source/Essex's_Rebellion) in 1601, had been convicted, and sentenced to death, but then pardoned.[{{cite web |last1=Ford |first1=David Nash |title=RBH Biography: Sir John Davis Senior (1560-1625) |url=https://berkshirehistory.com/bios/jdavis.html |website=berkshirehistory.com}}]
The estate was purchased in 1671 by John Breedon, onetime [High Sheriff of Berkshire](/source/High_Sheriff_of_Berkshire). The current form of the house is his family's work. It was remodeled over the course of the 18th century into its current red brick [Georgian](/source/Georgian_architecture) design.