Offchurch Bury
Offchurch Bury is a manor house about one mile north-west of the village of Offchurch in Warwickshire, England. It is thought to stand on the site of a palace used by the Anglo-Saxon King Offa of Mercia. The name “bury” comes from burh, meaning a fortified place, and the site sits near the old Fosse Way, a Roman road.
Parts of the house date back to the time of King Henry VIII, but most of the current building is from the 19th century. In 1954 about three quarters of the house were demolished to create a smaller residence. The remaining main block has a south-facing entrance, a Strawberry Hill–Gothic style battlemented facade, and Tudor-arched windows. Inside are the drawing room and inner hall.
Today the house is privately owned and not open to the public, although the surrounding park is sometimes used for equestrian events.
Offchurch Bury’s history is long. It is not listed in the Domesday Book of 1086. In the 13th century it was held by Coventry Priory. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Sir Edmund Knightley acquired the manor in 1542, and the Knightley family owned it through several generations, with ties to the Earls of Aylesford. In 1917 the estate was sold to Joseph Watson, later Baron Manton, who used it for his farming ventures.
The estate was bought in 1923 by Henry “Harry” Johnson, a Coventry-based textile manufacturer. His son Henry Leslie Johnson ran the estate and built a horse business, including the Offchurch Bury Stud. After Henry’s death in 1991, his son Henry Edward Johnson and his wife Carol took over.
Today the estate is owned by Henry Johnson, with his twin daughters Emily and Tessa running the polo stud and the polo club. The grounds have hosted horse trials, national Pony Club championships, film and TV work, and events such as The Wolf Run and a Young Farmers Festival.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 17:05 (CET).