Bere Court

[2] In his role as Abbot of Reading, Hugh Faringdon was residing at Bere Court in 1539 when he was arrested for high treason during the dissolution of the monasteries, ostensibly for providing funds to rebels.

While he was taken to the Tower of London, apparently his death sentence was passed without a formal trial, and he was hanged, drawn, and quartered in the courtyard of Reading Abbey on 14 November 1539.

[3] In 1613 the house was acquired by Sir John Davis, who had been part of the Duke of Essex's Rebellion in 1601, had been convicted, and sentenced to death, but then pardoned.

[4] The estate was purchased in 1671 by John Breedon, onetime High Sheriff of Berkshire.

One of the renters was George Spencer-Churchill, 6th Duke of Marlborough who had been born at nearby Bill Hill.