The History of Burton Court

The Manor of Burton is mentioned in the Domesday Book, the spelling being Beuretune, and is stated to be worth 2 hydes. It is probable the name Burton is of Saxon origin, being derived from the Saxon words Burh+ton, meaning fortified dwelling place.

The surviving rolls of the Manor began in the reign of Edward III, 1331, and it was here that Henry, Prince of Wales (later Henry V), stationed his troops to watch the movements of Owen Glendower.

The most notable of the squires of Eardisland and Lords of the Manor of Burton were the Brewster and the Clowes families.

The Brewsters first appear in the middle of the 17th Century and remained in continuous occupation until 1865. Dr William Brewster was baptized at St Mary's Eardisland in 1665. He was an eminent scholar of his time and when he died in 1715 he left some of his magificent collection of books to All Saints Church, Hereford, where they formed the famous chained library; now housed in Hereford Cathedral.

In 1865 the estate was bought by John Clowes, who was by all accounts a typical country gentleman of the Victorian era. John Clowes handed the estate over to his son, Colonel Peter Legh Clowes when his son married in 1895. He married a Miss Warren of the Warren Steamship Line, plying between Liverpool and Boston. The period between 1902 and 1914 may be considered the hey-day of Burton Court in recent times, when the court staff alone numbered 23 odd. The frontage of the house was redesigned by a young upcoming architect, Sir Clough Williams-Ellis, who later created Portmeirion, which was made famous as the setting for the 1960's TV show 'the Prisoner'.

The Great War changed everything, Warren Peter Clowes, the only child of Colonel and Mrs. Clowes, was commissioned into his father's regiment, the 8th Kings Royal Irish Hussars in 1916. On the 30th March, 1918, during the defense of Amiens, he was killed in action on the Western front near Warfussee, Abancourt, aged 20 years. Colonel Clowes died in 1925, and his widow in November 1949.

In May 1950 the estate 1,050 acres was broken up and sold in lots. Burton Court, with its stable block, servants hall, and 19 acres of land, was something of a white elephant in the 1950's. In 1960 it was bought by the present owner, Lieut. Cdr. Robert Macaulay Simpson, for use as a residence and for a soft fruit growing enterprise.

On the 1st of September, 1972, he married Miss Helen Norton of Hereford. They have 2 sons Henry Robert born 6th July 1973, and Edward Murray born 1st October, 1974.