There has been a manor at Lackham since the Saxon period, when it formed part of the lands of the thegn of Boscombe, Aelfstan who was an advisor to Edward the Confessor. After the Norman Conquest it was held by William, son of the Count of Eu.  The actual manor was held by Ralph Bluet, who also held Silchester in Hampshire amongst other lands.

The Bluet family were major Barons of the area and of the Welsh Marches and were closely connected with the Earls of Pembroke, this association winning them extensive lands and power.  They dealt extensively with both Lacock and Godstow nunneries.

When the local Bluet line died out in the mid fourteenth century the Baynard family inherited and held the land and manor for further centuries.  They were influential within the local area, Robert Baynard was visited by Henry VIII in 1545 and Robert has a commemorative brass in St Cyriac’s church in Lacock.

When their line also ended, just before the Civil War, the heiress Mary Baynard married James Montagu, the third son of the Earl of Manchester.  The Montagus held the Manor until the middle of the nineteenth century.  Several of them, for example Admiral John Montagu and his brother George Montagu the naturalist, were nationally important.

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