Yarnton Manor was built by Sir Thomas Spencer, whose father bought the estate at Yarnton in 1580. The house retains some Jacobean features it was largely restored by Thomas Garner in 1897. Thomas Garner (1839–1906) was one of the leading English Gothic revival church architects of the Victorian era. His name is usually mentioned in relation to his almost 30-year partnership with George Frederick Bodley. Garner never received full recognition for his remarkable abilities, scholarly knowledge and extraordinary achievements in designing and constructing ecclesiastical, private and public buildings. This is attributable, according to Edward Prioleau Warren, a fellow architect, to his singularly shy and retiring disposition and to the fact that his name was for so many years coupled with that of the distinguished Mr. Bodley, leading to frequent confusion of their individual efforts and a mistaken attribution of their designs.