In the records of Evesham Abbey we find the Manor, including the lands
comprised therein, among the earliest property granted for its
endowment. The erection of the Abbey commenced about 701, and William
of Malmesbury, writing of the loneliness of the spot, tells us that a
small church, probably built by the Britons, had from an early date
existed there. In 709 sixty-five manses were given by Kenred, King of
Mercia, leagued with Offa, King of the East Angles, including one in
Aldinton _(sic)_, and Domesday Survey mentions one hide of land
(varying from 80 to 120 acres in different counties) in Aldintone
_(sic)_ as among the Abbey possessions at the time of the Norman
Conquest.
Abbot Randulf, who died in 1229, built a grange at Aldington, and
bought Aldington mill, in the reign of Henry III., when the hamlet was
a _berewic_ or corn farm held by the Abbey; and at the time of the
Dissolution it was granted to Sir Philip Hoby, who appears to have
been an intimate of Henry VIII., together with the Abbey buildings
themselves and much of its other landed property. The Manor remained
in the hands of the Hoby family for many years, and was one of Sir
Philip's principal seats. Freestone from the Abbey ruins seems to have
been largely used for additions probably made in the reign of Queen
Elizabeth, for in some alterations I made about 1888, I found many
carved and moulded stones, built into the walls, evidently the remains
of arches from an ecclesiastical building, and Sir Philip Hoby is
known to have treated the Abbey ruins as if they were nothing better
than a stone quarry.
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