Since the original Saxon cottage, there have been many manor houses at Brambletye. In the Doomsday Book of 1086, the new Norman owner, Ralph, is living at the site in the first manor house. This fell into disrepair so by 1327 the manor was “a house worth nothing without repairs, and a dovecot, worth 40d, a water mill worth 20s after repairs and 220 acres of land enclosed in a park, worth nothing due to the shade of the trees.” Shortly afterwards, the River Medway was diverted and a fashionable moat constructed around the manor house site and a new house constructed. In 1419, this was described as a great hall, the great chamber, a bakehouse, a stable, 2 sheep pens and a building called the Norserye, which are described as timber framed. This moat is still in water and visible today. When the ironworks opened in 1562, another new house was probably constructed, using the same site which was conveniently close to the ironworks.