In 1086 the king, as successor to Queen Edith, held WESTBURY. It could thus later claim to be ancient demesne of the Crown. The royal manor was assessed at 40 hides, and was co-extensive with the hundred. The process of fragmentation of this large manor by royal grant had begun before 1086, for by then William Scudet, the king's cook, held an estate of 4½ hides which was to form later the manor of Dilton. Several further grants of land in the manor were made in the 12th century. Henry I gave 4 bovates to Salisbury Cathedral which later formed the Rectory manor. The Empress Maud granted land to Humphrey FitzOdo, and also made a large grant to William Defuble. A gift by Defuble to the priory of Le Pré (dép. Seine-Inférieur) later formed the manor of Westbury Priory. The rest of Defuble's land was regranted by Henry II to Joce de Dinan, and by division between his heirs and subinfeudation formed the manors later known as Westbury Mauduits, Leigh Priors, Westbury Leversage, and Bremeridge. Other unrecorded grants by Henry II or his predecessors gave rise to the manors of Leigh, Penleigh, and Bratton. What was left after all these gifts was granted away in 1173, and by successive division between coheirs formed the estates later known as Westbury Stourton, Westbury Seymour, Westbury Arundell, and Brook. Other estates, acquired by religious houses from various gifts, were known as the manors of Godswell and Heywood.
The capital manor of Westbury, after its reduction by the grants mentioned above, was held at farm by four men from 1170 to 1173, when it was granted by the king to Reynold Pavely. He was holding the manor in 1194, and must have died c. 1200, when the wardship of his heir was given to Ralph de Beauchamp. In 1209 the Pope threatened to place Westbury under an interdict if it were not restored to Queen Berengaria of whose dower it was then claimed it formed a part. The outcome of this threat is unknown. On his death in 1256 Walter Pavely was holding Westbury by the service of one knight's fee. The manor at that time comprised the four estates or hamlets of Brook, Headinghill, Stoke, and Dilton. It passed from Walter Pavely to his son, Reynold (d. 1280); from Reynold to his son Walter, who was sheriff of Wiltshire in 1289 and 1296, and died in 1323; from Walter it passed to his son Reynold (d. 1347), and from Reynold to his son John. Sir John Pavely died in 1361. His heirs were Joan, Elizabeth, and Eleanor, daughters of his daughter Alice by his first marriage, who had married John St. Lo and survived her father by half a day only, and Joan, his daughter by his second marriage. All the girls were under age.
The wardship of Joan Pavely was granted to the Bishop of Winchester. By the partition of her father's lands Joan received the manor of Westbury, the hamlet of Headinghill, and half the profits and perquisites of the view of frankpledge, the hundred, fairs, market, and portmote of Westbury. The rest of Sir John's property went to John St. Lo for his daughters. After Joan's marriage, her husband, Ralph Cheyney, objected that his wife's share was inferior in value to that allotted to the daughters of John St. Lo, and a second partition was made in 1368. By this Ralph and Joan Cheyney were to hold the manor of Brook, the hamlets of Ditteridge, and Hawkeridge, and half the profits of the view of frankpledge, the hundred, fair, market, and portmote of Westbury; the manor of Westbury with the hamlets of Headinghill, Stoke, Milborne, and Leigh, the other half of the profits mentioned above, and the whole of the rent of the 'shamelhouse' in Westbury were assigned to John St. Lo for his daughters. John St. Lo died in 1375 and the manor of Westbury with the hamlet of Headinghill was divided between his two surviving daughters, Joan, wife of Sir John Chidiock, and Eleanor, wife of Thomas of Bradeston.
Sir John Chidiock died in 1390 and his heir was his son John (II) aged twelve. Joan, his widow, survived her husband and married secondly John Bache upon whom she settled the manor in 1392. John Bache died in 1409 and the manor reverted to John Chidiock (II). John Chidiock (II) died in 1415 and was succeeded by his son John Chidiock (III), also a minor. On the death of John Chidiock (III) in 1450 his share in the manor of Westbury was divided between his daughters, Katharine, wife of William Stafford, and Margaret, wife of William Stourton (d. 1477).
William Stourton succeeded to the title of Lord Stourton in 1462 and his share in the manor of Westbury descended with the title until the execution of Charles, Lord Stourton, in 1557 for the murder of Thomas Hartgill, when it was fortfeited to the Crown. In 1570 this estate, by now known as WESTBURY STOURTON, was granted to Edward Dyer. Dyer conveyed it in the same yeare to Stephen Whitaker on whose death in 1576 it passed to his son Henry. Henry was succeeded by his second son, William, who sold it in 1619–20, with the exception of Bitham House, a fulling mill called Bitham Mill, and a close called Gaston, to Sir James Ley (cr. Earl of Marlborough 1626). Among the property which comprised the manor at this time was land near Dogget's Lane, a close called Apsleys, presumably near the present Apsley Farm, Stourton's Wood, no doubt to be identified with Stourton Bushes, in Dilton Marsh, and land scattered throughout the fields of Westbury, Dilton, Leigh, Heywood, Hawkeridge, and Bratton.
William Stafford, husband of Katharine Chidiock, died in 1450, and his share in Westbury passed to his son Humphrey, who was created Earl of Devon in 1469 and executed the same year. He left no issue, and the fee of the manor remained with his mother, who survived him. She married as her second husband Sir John Arundell. The manor, with certain other estates, was mortgaged to raise money for the fine imposed upon Arundell for his part at the battle of Tewkesbury. He died deeply in debt, and his wife, who married thirdly Roger Lewkenore, died in 1479 leaving as her heir Thomas Arundell her son by her second husband. Thomas died in 1485 before he had been able to pay off his father's debts, and the manor passed to his son John, who was said to hold it of Sir Robert Willoughby, who was a cousin of Humphrey Stafford. Thomas's son, Sir John Arundell, sold, in 1549–50, to Thomas Long, clothier of Trowbridge, a mill and various tenements in Westbury, which probably comprised the whole of this part of the manor. Thomas Long died childless seised of the manor in 1562, and the manor passed under his will to his nephew Edward Long. Edward and his son Gifford sold the manor in 1613 under the name of Westbury and WESTBURY ARUNDELL to Sir James Ley. The estate at this date included a mill, and was said to lie in Westbury, Bratton, Imber, and Edington.
Eleanor of Bradeston, the second daughter of Sir John St. Lo, married secondly Sir Richard Seymour, who died seised of his wife's share of the manor in 1401. His heir was his son Richard, but Eleanor survived her husband, and in 1408 conveyed the manor to John Seymour, presumably a younger son, and his wife Margaret, a daughter of John Erlegh, and their issue. After the death of John Seymour, Margaret married Sir Walter Sondes, who held the manor in her right at the time of his death in 1428. Margaret married thirdly Sir William Cheyney and died in 1443 when the property passed to her grandson, Thomas, son of John Seymour. Thomas settled the manor upon his son John Seymour and Elizabeth his wife and their heirs. Elizabeth outlived John and married secondly John Biconill and on her death in 1505 was succeeded by her granddaughter Joan, daughter of her son William Seymour who died in 1503. Joan married William Drewry and died childless in 1517, and her heirs were her cousins John Stawell and Edward Bamfield, sons of her aunts Anne and Margaret, sisters of William Seymour. Edward Bamfield died in 1528 and was succeeded by his son John. John Stawell sold his share in 1566 to Thomas Webbe and Margaret his wife, who also acquired from Richard Bamfield that part of the manor which had belonged to John Bamfield. In 1574 they settled the two parts upon themselves with remainder in tail to their daughters, Joan, wife of Alexander Chocke, and Elizabeth, wife of Robert Webbe. Thomas Webbe died in 1585, and in 1602 Robert and Elizabeth Webbe conveyed their interest, which was the remainder in default of heirs of Joan and Alexander Chocke, to trustees for the queen and her successors. This interest was granted in 1616 by James I to Sir Francis Popham and Richard Organ. Between 1605 and 1607 Alexander and Joan Chocke settled the manor on themselves and their heirs, with remainder to their nephew Alexander, son of Alexander the elder's younger brother Francis. This apparently superseded the settlement of 1574, for on Alexander the elder's death without issue in 1607, the manor, then known as WESTBURY SEYMOUR, passed to his nephew Alexander. In 1621 this Alexander, his wife, his father, and representatives of Elizabeth and Robert Webbe conveyed the manor to Sir James Ley, who thus became possessed of the whole manor of Westbury.
Sir James's son Henry, Earl of Marlborough, died in 1638 and his widow married Thomas Wanklin, who compounded for his life interest in the manor in 1651. Henry's son James, Earl of Marlborough (d. 1665) sold the manor in 1639–40 to Henry, Earl of Danby (d. 1644). On the death of Danby, Westbury apparently passed to his brother Sir John Danvers, the regicide, who in 1651 was receiving the profits of the hundred. Danvers died in 1655 and his heirs were his two daughters, Elizabeth, wife of Robert Villiers, who assumed the name Danvers, and Anne, wife of Sir Henry Lee. Anne and Henry Lee had two daughters, Eleanor, wife of James, Lord Norris, and Anne, wife of Thomas Wharton (cr. Marquess of Wharton and Malmesbury 1714–15). In 1670 a moiety of the manor was settled on Robert and Elizabeth Danvers. Robert died c. 1675, and his widow, who assumed the title Viscountess Purbeck, married John Duvale. In 1681 they conveyed their share in the manor to James, Lord Norris, who had married Eleanor, a daughter of Anne and Henry Lee. By a conveyance of the same date the share belonging to Anne and Thomas Wharton was apparently sold to James and Eleanor Norris, and in 1689 the whole manor was settled on them. James was created Earl of Abingdon in 1682, and Westbury descended with the title until 1777 when a large part of it was advertised for sale. The Abingdon lands were then sold in parts at sales held in 1788, 1790, 1797, 1799, and 1808. In 1810 the manorial rights were sold to Sir Manasseh Massey Lopes, bt. The manor then passed with this title until c. 1904 when Sir Massey Lopes conveyed it to his nephew Henry Ludlow Lopes, Baron Ludlow of Heywood (d. 1922). In 1920 the lordship of the hundred and manor of Westbury were sold to Mr. Frank Parsons, of Westbury. It was said to be worth £3 a year.