Barton Court

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Barton Court, Kintbury, was an extensive estate to the north and west of Kintbury village.

It is the manor house of Kintbury Amesbury, named after the Wiltshire Abbey which owned it throughout the Middle Ages.

The present house is thought to have been built in 1772. It was the home of the Raymonds and their descendants, the Dundas family, for over two hundred years.

In 1875 the family sold up to Sir Richard Sutton Estate.

In the period post WWII, the house became a preparatory school - Purton Stoke Prep School.

In September 2025, Dan Wittleton emailed from Queensland, Australia, to add: "I have been looking at the article about Avington Church, which I found interesting and brought back memories of my prep school days.

In the late 1950’s, early 1960’s I was at Purton Stoke Prep School (Barton Court), Kintbury and every Sunday we would walk from the school to the church (along paths adjacent to fields) for a morning school service which, I think, was usually administered by the head master Graham Clark (not sure if the spelling is correct). At Christmas there would be a carol service attended by parents (in a very cold church) and from what I remember, because it was a late afternoon/evening all school boys were transported by horse transport lorry sitting on benches! Not a health and safety issue at the time!"

By the 1960s, Barton Court was standing empty with part of the adjoining land being worked for gravel.

In 1972 the estate was bought by Terence Conran (of Habitat fame), who fully restored the house and grounds.

The long and varied history has been carefully recorded in the Heritage Report researched and written by Worlledge Associates in December 2022, and available on the West Berks Planning website.