Dorney Manor is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, as having been held before the Norman Conquest by Aldred, a man of Earl Morcar.

From here it passed successively to families named Cave, Parker, Newnham, Paraunt, Carbonell, Scott, Restwold, Lytton, Bray, and Hill.

[2] Sir William Garrard, who bought the manor of Dorney from James Hill in 1542, served as Lord Mayor of London in 1555.

[3] From Sir James, Dorney Court has passed from father to son in direct succession in the Palmer family down to the present day.

[6] The great hall has numerous family portraits and contains linenfold panelling brought from Faversham Abbey in Kent; in times past it was used to hold the manor court, and it is still the site of the annual Commoners' meeting.

[6] Susan Cooper, who grew up in the village, uses Dorney Court (as the Manor) in her children's fantasy series The Dark Is Rising.

It has featured as a location in numerous films and TV programmes, such as Hogfather and The Colour of Magic (Death's Domain), Midsomer Murders, The Optimist, ITV's Agatha Christie's Poirot episodes "The Adventure of the Western Star" and "Sad Cypress", 24: Live Another Day, Sliding Doors, The New World, All Is True and Bridgerton.