East Ginge

East Ginge today

East Ginge is a small group of houses at the top of a lane that climbs south from West Hendred towards Ginge Down. The main buildings are Ginge Manor House and its cottage, Ginge House and The Malthouse, all private homes. There is no church, pub or shop; West Hendred, a mile to the north, is the parish centre. West Ginge lies a few hundred metres to the west, and bridleways lead up to the Ridgeway.

History

Domesday and the Norman owners

The Victoria County History found no Domesday entry naming East Ginge, but Open Domesday identifies it with a small holding at Ginge held in 1086 by Cola the hunter, with 12 households, meadow and a mill. In the early 12th century the estate belonged to two Normans. It was later taken into the king’s hands and from 1157 was granted out for fixed terms, until in the 1230s it was split into two halves that were never reunited.

Manor and families

One half passed through the Plukenet and Morice families to the Giffards of Rodenhurst, who sold it in 1609. In 1626 it was bought by Richard Tubb, and the Tubb family held it for about a century. They are thought to have added the brick wing to the manor house in the early 18th century. Later owners included Edward Towsey of Wantage and the May family, and in 1897 Lord Wantage bought the manor; Lady Wantage passed it to A. K. Loyd in 1912. A second manor house belonging to the Greenway family stood in East Ginge in the early 17th century, with a water mill on the stream, but it had been pulled down by 1824.

The buildings

Ginge Manor House is an early 17th-century brick and timber house with an early 18th-century cross-wing, which inside has a staircase with twisted balusters and panelling of that date. Ginge House, just to the north, is a mid-18th-century brick farmhouse, and The Malthouse is a mid-17th-century brick house with timber framing at one end.

Things to see

• Ginge Manor House, early 17th century with an early 18th-century wing (Grade II, private; seen from the lane).
• Ginge House, a mid-18th-century brick farmhouse (Grade II, private).
• The Malthouse, a mid-17th-century house (Grade II, private).
• Holy Trinity Church, West Hendred, the parish church, a mile north (Grade I).