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Bear Place
Harehatch, Wargrave, Berkshire

Bear Place is a grand house, built in 1784 by David Ximenes, standing amid the many 'Bear' place-names of Northern Harehatch. It sits on the slopes of Linden Hill, once known as 'Bear Hill'. It adjoins the woods of 'Bear Ash' and is only a stone's throw from 'Bear Corner' - now commonly referred to as 'A'Bear's Corner'. It is one of the pseudo-manors of the parish of Wargrave. For there is little evidence that it ever held the formal status of 'manor,' despite the medieval moat of a manor-type house still being a prominent feature of the park today.

The place has always, traditionally, been associated with the A'Bear Family and it seems likely that this was their original home prior to the move to Hill Farm. Bear Place is probably was referred to, without mention of the owner,  in the Testa de Nevill of about 1261, where its lands were reported to have been encroached upon by the Bishop of Winchester. Later, in 1438, "the Bere" is mentioned in the inquisition post mortem of Sir John Harpeden, taken in 1438. So presumably, the A'Bears had moved on by this time. It certainly seems likely that they were at Hill Farm by the 1550s.
 

    © David Nash Ford 2001. All Rights Reserved.