Assassin's Apprentice (The Farseer Trilogy, Book 1)

Wade Ashby inherits his grandfather's estate in Oxfordshire, England, becoming 13th Baron of Ashby Manor. He travels from Australia with his friend Hugh to take up his birthright and find out why there is secrecy surrounding certain aspects of the baronage and members of the family. the two are caught up in strange dreams and odd time occurrences. Led back through the Manor's sordid and fascinating history, it seems there had once been a circular structure in the gardens, known locally as the temple of Knowledge. One of Wade's forebears dabbled in alchemy and the new sciences - Wade digs up weird, archaic technology, and it becomes a race of repair time before the situation is out of everyone's control!