Dictoria Ibtstor^ of the Counties of Enolanfc EDITED BY WILLIAM PAGE, F.S.A. A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE VOLUME II THE VICTORIA HISTORY OF THE COUNTIES OF ENGLAND BUCKINGHAMSHIRE LONDON ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND COMPANY LIMITED This History is issued to Subscribers only By Archibald Constable & Company Limited and. printed by Eyre & Spottiswoode Limited H.M. Printers of London INSCRIBED TO THE MEMORY OF HER LATE MAJESTY QUEEN VICTORIA WHO GRACIOUSLY GAVE THE TITLE TO AND ACCEPTED THE DEDICATION OF THIS HISTORY THE VICTORIA HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF BUCKINGHAM EDITED BY WILLIAM PAGE, F.S.A VOLUME TWO LONDON ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND COMPANY LIMITED 1908 DA 670 Bs Ve v/,2 CONTENTS OF VOLUME TWO PACI Dedication ............... v Contents ............... ix List of Illustrations and Map* . xiii Editorial Note .............. iv Romano-British Buckinghamshire . By Miss S. S. SMITH, Oxford Honours School of Eng- lish Literature ....... i Ancient Earthworks . . . .By GEORGE CLINCH, F.S.A. SCOT., F.G.S. . . .21 Social and Economic History . . By Miss C. JAMISON, Oxford Honours School of Modern History . . . . . . -37 Table of Population, 1801-1901 By GEORGE S. MINCHIN 94 Industries By Miss C. JAMISON, Oxford Honours School of Modern History Introduction ...... ....... 103 Lace-making .............. 106 Wooden Ware and Chair-making . . . . . . . . . .109 Paper-making ... 1 1 1 Tanning and Shoe-making . . . . . . . . . . .112 Straw-plaiting . . . . . . . . . . . . . • 1 1 3 Bricks, Tiles, and Pottery . . . . . . . . . . . -114 Bell- Foundries . . . . (By ALFRED HINEAGI COCKS, M.A., F.S A.) . .116 Iron-Foundries, Shipbuilding, and Railway Works ............ .126 Needle-making -1*7 Textile Industries ........... . .128 Forestry By the REV. J. C Cox, LL.D., F.S.A. . . .131 Schools By A. F. LEACH, M.A., F.S.A. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . '. . -145 Eton College 147 The Royal Latin School, Buck- ingham 207 Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe . 210 Stony Stratford Grammar School . . . . . . . . . .212 Amersham Grammar School . . . . . . . . . . .213 Sir William Borlase's School, Marlow . . . . . . . . . . . . . .214 Aylesbury Grammar School . . . . . . . . . . .215 Wycombe Abbey School . . . . . . . . . . . .216 The County High School for Girls, High Wycombe 217 Wolverton County School . . . . . . . . . . ...218 Elementary Schools founded before 1 800 v . . . .218 ix i •> CONTENTS OF VOLUME TWO Sport Ancient and Modern . . Edited by E. D. CUMING Foxhounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . .223 The Old Berkeley Hunt . By O. P. SEROCOLD 223 The Whaddon Chase . . By E. D. CUMING 227 Stag Hunting .... „ ........ 228 The Royal Buckhounds 228 Lord Rothschild's Stag- hounds . . . . . . . . . . . . .228 Earl Carrington's Blood- hounds . ............. 229 Harriers. . . . By E. D. CUMING ....... 229 Beagles ..... „ ........ 230 Otterhounds .... „ ........ 230 Coursing. . . . By J. W. BOURNE ....... 230 Racing . . . . . By E. D. CUMING . . . . . . .230 Flat Racing . . . . . . . . . . . . .230 Steeplechasing . . . . . . . . . . . . .232 Shooting . . . . -By COL. ALFRED GILBEV, J.P. . . . . -233 Angling By C. H. COOK, M.A 236 Cricket . . . . -By SIR HOME GORDON, BART. ..... 239 Golf By A. J. ROBERTSON ...... 240 Rowing (Henley Regatta) . . By THEODORE A. COOK, M.A., F.S.A. . . . 240 Athletics . . . . By J. E. FOWLER-DIXON . . . . . .243 Topography ..... General descriptions and manorial descents compiled under the superintendence of the General Editor ; Architectural descriptions by J. MURRAY KENDALL and S. F. BECKE LANE, under the superintendence of C. R. PEERS, M.A., F.S.A. ; Heraldic drawings and blazon by the REV. E. E. DORLING, M.A.; Charities, from information supplied by J. W. OWSLEY, I.S.O., late Official Trustee of Charitable Funds The Three Hundreds of Aylesbury General descriptions and manorial descents by Miss (Risborough, Stone, Aylesbury) C. JAMISON, Oxford Honours School of Modern History Introduction ............. 245 Risborough Hundred 247 Bledlow with Bledlow Ridge . . . . 247 Horsenden . . . . . . . . . . . -253 Monks Risborough ........... 256 Princes Risborough ........... 26o Stone Hundred ............. 367 Cuddington . 267 Dinton with Ford and Upton . . 271 Haddenham . . ... ... 281 Great Hampden 2g7 Little Hampden . . . 291 x CONTENTS OF VOLUME TWO PACK Topography (continueJ) The Three Hundreds of Aylesbury (cmAnueif) Stone Hundred (cuitixueJ) Hartwell 293 Great Kimble • 298 Little Kimble 303 Stone 307 Aylesbury Hundred 31* Alton Clinton . . 312 Bierton (with Broughton) . . . . . . . . . .3x0 Buckland . . • 327 EIle»borough 331 Halton 339 Hulcott 342 Lee . . 345 Great Missenden . (By Miss M. E. SEEBOHU, Hist. Tripos) . . . 347 Little Missenden . ( „ ) . . 354 Stoke Mandeville 360 Weston Turville 365 XI LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PACK High Wycombe. By A. R. QUINTON . Fnnt'ufiece Romano-British Buckinghamshire : — Little Brickhill : Plan 5 Castle Thorpe : Armillae 6 Crendon : Sarcophagus containing three Urns ........ 7 Great Horwood : Silver Spoon, &c. ...... full-page plate, facing 8 Latimer : Plan of Roman Villa ........... 9 Stone : Plan showing Sites of Roman Remains ........ IO „ Sections of a Cavity containing Roman Remains . . . . . . 1 1 Tingewick : Plan of Roman Foundations . . . . . . . . .13 „ Roman Objects . . . . . . . . . . 14 ft »> i» ...........15 Wycombe : Plan of Roman Settlement . . . . . . . . .16 „ „ Town, showing Roman Sites . . . . . . . .17 „ „ Roman Villa . . .18 Ancient Earthworks : — Bow Brickhill : ' Danesborough ' .......... SI Cholesbury Camp ............. 23 Hedgerley : Bulstrode Park 25 Monks Risborough : Pulpit Wood . . . . . . . . . 2 5 West Wycombe ............. 26 Castle Thorpe 27 High Wycombe : Castle Hill 28 Little Kimble : Cymbeline's Mount . . . . . . . . . .28 Typical Examples of Homestead Moats in Buckinghamshire . . . . . .31 Great Missendcn : Camp in Bray's Wood . . . . . . . . -33 Industries : — Inscriptions, &c., on Bells ........... 120-4 Topography : — Bledlow Church : Plan 250 The Tower from the South . . . ) „ A Capital in the South Arcade of the Nave \ ' **** #*>*** * 5 • Monks Risborough Church : Plan . 258 „ „ „ Interior looking East . . . full-page plate, facing 258 Princes Risborough : The Market Place 261 „ „ Church Street 263 „ „ Church : Window in South Aisle . ) I . full-page plate, facmg 266 „ „ Panelling in the Manor House . J Cuddington Church from the South-east ......... 268 Plan . 269 xiii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Topography (continued) Dinton Hall : The Staircase .272 „ Upper Waldridge ............ 273 „ Church : South Doorway of Nave „ ... -, . , „ • full-page plate, facing 278 Cuddmgton : Tynngham House . . ) Haddenham Church from the South-east . . . . . . . . .282 Great Hampden ; Hampden House : The I4th-Century Doorway . ) ™ \ TK w i v w I fM-page plate, facing 288 „ Church : The Nave looking West . . . J Little Hampden Church : The North Porch . . . . . . . .292 Hartwell House : The Entrance Front ......... 293 „ „ Entrance Porch on North Front . ) PTL i«_ • r • full-page plate, facing 294 „ „ The Tapestry Room . . . ) „ » Plan ... ...... 295 Great Kimble : I Jin-Century Building now used as a Barn ...... 298 Stone Church : Plan . . . . . . . . . . . .310 >, „ North Arcade of Nave ..... full-page plate, facing 310 Aston Clinton Church : The Sedilia . ) Bierton Church : Nave looking East . } ' ' J&+V t**,fi**g 3i« „ „ from the North . . . . . . . . . .320 » „ Plan ............ 325 Ellesborough Church : Croke Monument ) Hulcott Church: South Aisle looking West } ' ' fa»-P*t' Placing ^(> „ Stairs of the Manor House ...... full-page plate, facing 342 Little Missenden Church from the South-east . . . . . . . -354 „ „ The Manor House from the Churchyard . . . . . -356 „ „ Church : Plan . . . . . . . . . . -358 Great Missenden Church : Nave looking East ") Stoke Mandeville Church : Interior looking East j ' ' fa1'^' P^te, facing 362 Weston Turville Church : The Font . . ) „..._,.}• . . . full-page plate, facing 370 „ „ „ Piscina in Chancel J i, ,, „ from the South-east . . . . . . . .371 LIST OF MAPS Roman Map . ............ faf;a& , Ancient Earthworks Map ............. 21 Index Map to the Hundreds of Buckinghamshire ........ „ 245 » » Three Hundreds of Aylesbury (Stone, Risborough, and Aylesbury) . . 246 xiv EDITORIAL NOTE THE Editor wishes to express his indebtedness to Prof. F. Haverfield, M.A., LL.D., F.S.A., for reading the proofs of the article on the Romano-British Remains of the county ; to the late Mr. I. Chalkley Gould, F.S.A., for suggestions regarding the article on Earthworks ; to Mr. William Crouch, clerk of the peace of the county, and Mr. A. J. Clarke, town clerk of High Wycombe, for information supplied to the author of the article on the Social and Economic History ; to the Earl Howe, G.C.V.O. ; Mr. G. Laurence Gommc, F.S.A. ; Mr. A. Heneage Cocks, M.A., F.S.A. ; Rev. G. Blamire Brown, M.A. ; Mr. A. E. W. Charsley ; Lieut.-Colonel L. E. Goodall, D.L., J.P. ; Mr. A. Lasenby Liberty, D.L., J.P. ; and Mr. W. Rose for information as to the history and descent of manors, and to Mr. A. Heneage Cocks and the proprietors of the Reliquary for illustrations. XV A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE KOMAN MAP OF BUCKINGHAM o OXFORD Reference HenleyonThan.es I Villages &.cA denoting permanent A Villas &.c: J civilized occupation. 4- Burial. • Miscellaneous Finds ; not generally denoting civilized occupation. WindsorJ -^ Roman Roads. " Doubtful RofTv&n Roads. ROMANO-BRITISH BUCKINGHAMSHIRE THE county of Buckingham partakes of the essential characteristics of the midland counties, and shares in that lack of striking phy- sical features which especially marks this part of England. It is traversed by no great rivers or high hills, the Chilterns consti- tuting its highest range, and, with the exception of the extreme southern border where the River Thames divides the county from Berkshire, is unusually artificial in the position of its boundaries. Hence, taken as an item in the Roman Province of Britain, it is comparatively unimportant. It is difficult in describing its Roman remains to satisfy the demands which a county history necessarily makes, and to separate the county district from surrounding areas, or to evolve any history of these remains. Buckingham- shire constituted in Roman times a small district in that part of Britain which may be described as the Lowlands. The greater Roman highways for the most part run outside the county. It is only in the extreme north-east that one of these traverses it, and that only for a few miles, where Watling Street runs through Fenny Stratford and Stony Stratford. As a natural corollary to this, there were no towns of any importance throughout the district, nothing, in fact, larger than the posting station at Magiovintum on Watling Street. The Roman remains for the most part participate in the undistin- guished character of the physical features of the county, and there is very little which can throw light on the character and customs of the former inhabitants. With the exception of a few isolated sites, at Olney in the extreme north, at Mentmore in the east, and at High Wycombe, Latimer, and Great Missenden in the south, these remains fall into lines along the course of the roads or tracks in the county. Thus, we have those near to the course of Watling Street, at Stony Stratford, Shenley, and a little distance from it, at Haversham and Castle Thorpe. There is another rough line of remains along the modern road passing through Buckingham and Fenny Stratford, consisting of those at Buckingham, Thornborough, Whaddon Chase, Bletchley, and Fenny Strat- ford, which last stands on Watling Street. The third line constitutes the Roman branch-way from Alcester to Magiovintum and passes through Bicester, Steeple Claydon, and Winslow, A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE terminating at Little Brickhill ; and the last line follows the course of the British way which runs in two parallel lines known as the Upper and Lower Icknield Way. With regard to these remains there are two facts to be specially noticed. There are no traces of military occupation. There are few villas, and these, where they do occur, are unimportant, and lie away from the track of the roads. The villas are insignificant in character, few in number, and, as would be expected from their position in the district, show no signs of wealth or luxury. They point rather to habitation by a poor people whose occupation was chiefly pastoral, as would be expected in low-lying lands. The traces of any local industry are extremely scanty, consisting simply of three isolated relics — the melting crucible and compasses at Tingewick, the steelyard weight at Haversham, and the kiln at Stone — and these indicate the satisfaction of individual needs rather than the establishment of any general industry. The villa at High Wycombe and the burial, apparently that of a woman, at Weston Turville alone raise doubts concerning the theory as to the poverty of the inhabitants of this district. The villa, by its size, and the burial, in the costly character of some of the relics, point to wealth possessed by the owners of two individual properties. Probably the valley of High Wycombe, in which the villa was situated, tended to the production at least of agricultural wealth. The one great exception to the general lack of individual interest or importance is the pit at Stone. This is quite unusual in its characteristics (vuk Index). The orderly nature of the remains found within it, together with the shape of the pit, has led many archaeologists to the conclusion that it was made especially for purposes of sepulture, and was not merely a rubbish hole, as are the majority of the somewhat similar pits which have now and again been described as sepulchral. It has been thought, indeed, to have been a rough columbarium, resembling in its general attributes those at Rome. It is compared by Akerman l with the pits at Ewell, near Epsom, and others in the Isle of Thanet. THE ROADS Watling Street. — Of the four great Roman roads mentioned in the Itinerary of Antoninus, only one passes through Buckinghamshire. This is given in the Itinerary as running from Luguvallium (Carlisle) ad portum Ritupis (Rich- borough). Of this road the part between Uriconium (Wroxeter) and Rich- borough is generally known as Watling Street, and the part which here concerns us is that small portion running from Durocobrivae (Dunstable) to Lactodurum (Towcester), across a part of Buckinghamshire which can only be called its north-eastern protuberance. The Roman character of this road is testified with much certainty, both by literary and archaeological evidence. The distances given in the Itinerary — from Lactodurum XII m.p.m., from Magiovintum XVII m.p.m., from Durocobrivae XII m.p.m. — coincide with the distances between the modern Towcester, Little Brickhill, and Dunstable. 1 Arch, rxxii, 451. 2 ROMANO-BRITISH BUCKINGHAMSHIRE For once antiquaries are in agreement as to its course, which Lysons* de- scribes in the following passage : — The Waiting Street enters the county with the modern Irish Road, at the 42nd mile- stone, and proceeds perfectly straight through Little Brickhill, Fenny Stratford and Stony Stratford, at which last town it crosses the Ouse into Northamptonshire ; all traces of the Roman causeway are of course obliterated by the present turnpike road, but no doubt seems to be entertained of its line, whatever difference of opinion there may be in determining the sites of the Itinerary stations upon it. Though all actual traces of the Roman causeway may have been obliter- ated, there exists almost certain evidence of its course, in the straight boundary line between the parishes which lie along the route between Little Brickhill and Stony Stratford. Moreover, the names Stony Stratford, Fenny Stratford, and Old Stratford speak of a Roman origin. The archaeological evidence is further strengthened by the discovery of what are certainly Roman remains at these places ; of foundations in the Auld Fields near Fenny Stratford, of an : urn and bust of Roman workmanship at Little Brickhill, and the remains of a villa, and an urn containing silver plates, etc., near Stony Stratford. But though there can be no question as to the course of Watling Street through the county, yet there has been much dispute with regard to the position of the Itinerary stations upon it. First as to Lactodurum. There can be little real doubt that the modern Towcester is built upon the site of this Roman station. But again and again we hear that Stony Stratford marks the site, and Stukeley, with his usual ingenuity, has derived the name Stony Stratford from ' Lactorodum,' which he takes as the name of the Roman station. From Lactodurum we pass on to Magiovintum and Durocobrivae. With regard to these there can be little doubt that the Roman stations were at or near the modern Fenny Stratford and Dunstable, respectively, a con- clusion which has been well worked out by Akerman.8 Indeed, it is only by placing the sites thus that the distances can be made to coincide with the distances given in the Itinerary. As to the precise situation of Magiovintum, however, many surmises have been raised, and Fenny Stratford and Little Brickhill have run the gauntlet of antiquarian opinion. Fenny Stratford has usually had the pre-eminence, for Leland, alone, of the antiquaries before the present century, places Magiovintum at Little Brickhill. It seems now better established, however, that Magiovintum should be placed at or near Little Brickhill, and that the site near Fenny Stratford has less probability. The other Roman, or possibly Roman, roads are four in number, and are for the most part merely branch roads. Road from Bicester to Towcester, or to a point "within some little distance of it.* — This road, starting from Alcester, runs north-east and south-west between Fringford and Stratton Audley, through Newton Purcell, and enters Buck- inghamshire a little to the north of Barton Hartshorn. Here it becomes coincident with the north-west boundary of the county, proceeds to Little Tingewick, where its course is marked by a villa and a ' M agna Britannia, i, 483. ' Jrtb. xxvii, 96. 4 Dr. Plot, Nat. Hist. ofOxon. x, I 3 ; Stukeley, I tin. Curioium, 18, 21, &c. ; Rec. of Bucks. (Arch. Soc. of Bucks.), iv, 154; Burgess, Raman Roads in Bucks.; Lytons, Hist, of Bucks, iii, 483 ; O.S. xxvii, NE. SE., etc. ; f.C.H. ttorthants. i. A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE considerable number of remains. From here it passes to Water Stratford where the name again testifies to Roman origin, runs near Stowe, leaves the county near Lillingstone Lovell apparently on its way to Towcester, the Lactodurum of the Romans, where, or near where, it joins the Watlmg Street. Road from Grandborough to Akeman Street.* — Mr. Haverfield has called attention to a possible road which would probably run into the Akeman Street. It began near to where the Claydon brook forks close to the Grand- borough Road Station and followed probably the line of a boundary between the parishes of Grandborough and Hogsham to the place where the roads from Grandborough village, Grandborough Road Station, and Waddesdon meet. It thence follows the road to Waddesdon for about four miles, forming the boundary of various parishes. Akeman Street. — This road runs from Alcester, where it is joined by another road (also called Akeman Street) which runs from Alcester to Ciren- cester. There are branches of the Akeman Street given by Stukeley and Dr. Plot, but little probability can be attached to these branch roads. Akeman Street proceeds by way of Waddesdon into Buckinghamshire, running through Aylesbury,6 where Roman coins have been discovered. There it takes a straight course through Aston Clinton and leaves the county west of Tring. The Icknield Way. — It is fairly certain that this road must be considered of British extraction. In its general character it is quite unlike a Roman road.7 Mr. Haverfield thinks that some portion of it was employed as a road by the Romans, but that it was not Roman in its origin (i-in. O.S. Bucks., 237. 238). TOPOGRAPHICAL INDEX ASTON CLINTON. — A Roman amphora was discovered in the spring of 1871 on the Vetches Farm. It was buried on its side in the large field immediately opposite the farm-house, about 2 ft. from the surface, filled with burnt wood and earth. It is 2 ft. 10 in. in height, 2 ft. 10 in. in circumference, and is now in the possession of Mr. W. L. Lutton, of North Church [Rec. of Bucks, iv, 147 ; Bucks. 25-in. O.S. xxxiv.]. Near Aston Hill is the supposed site of a Roman or British encampment. In a cottage garden, not many years ago, a coin of Vespasian (A.D. 70-9) and one of Hadrian (A. D. 117-38) were discovered. They are now in the possession of Mr. Fowler, of the ' White Hart,' Aylesbury. AYLESBURY. — Roman pottery, spindles, etc., were dug up in Granville Street ; they are now ex- hibited in the museum at Aylesbury. Silver and copper coins were also shown in the Loan Exhibition at Buckingham, 1855 [Catalogue in Rec. of Bucks, i]. BIERTON. — Part of a large urn 15 in. in diameter, 12 in. in depth, said to be Roman, was dis- covered here 3 ft. from the surface. It was imperfectly burnt, and had a rude attempt at orna- mentation. Human remains and coins were found in a field to the west of the Red Lion Inn [Rec. of Bucks, iv, 224]. Human remains and Roman urns were also found in a garden on the east side of a road to the east of the Red Lion Inn [25~in. O.S. xxviii, 2]. BLETCHLEY. — At the Dove Cote Farm, on the Shenley estate, near Bletchley, portions of a tessellated pavement, bricks and other indications of a Roman villa were discovered by Mr. Grimwood [Haverfield, ' Quarterly Notes on Roman Brit.' Antlq. xxxvii]. BRICKHILL, LITTLE. — Near Fenny Stratford in the parish of Little Brickhill a small intaglio (ex- hibited by Mr. Byles, of Boxmoor Station), of pale cornelian, of oval form and small size, ' Bucks, i -in. O.S. 219, 237. 6 Burgess, 'Roman Roads in Bucks.' ; Rec. of Bucks. (Bucks. Arch. Soc.), iv, 154. ' For discussion as to the name vide V.C.H. Norf. i, 287. It crosses the Wading Street at Dunstable, enters Buckinghamshire a little to the north-west of Dagnall, and is to be clearly traced as far as Ivinghoe. Thence to Little Kimble, where there is a Roman villa and other remains, its course can only be conjectured, but from Little Kimble to Bledlow, where it leaves the county, it is again clear. 4 ROMANO-BRITISH BUCKINGHAMSHIRE engraved with a figure of Jupiter, his right hand extended and his left holding a sceptre, with an eagle at his feet, was found with an early bronze fibula made in one piece, and a plain armilla [Proc. Sac. Antiq. (Ser. 2), ii, 60]. The station of Magiovintum has been placed by the concurrent opinions of antiquaries at Fenny Stratford [Proc. Sac. Antiq. i, 246 ; otherwise, Arch, xxvii, 96], a conclusion which Mr. Pretty of Northampton thinks is confirmed by the dis- covery of numerous Roman coins and other remains in its vicinity, more particularly in certain fields adjoining to and in the neighbourhood of the White Hart Inn ; chief among these were the figure of an eagle discovered on Little Heath, and coins of Severus Alexander (A.D. 222- 35) ; two third brass of Gordianus Pius (A.D. 238) ; Postumus (A.D. 258-68) ; Tetricus (A.D. 268-73); Valens (A.D. 364-78) ; Claudius Gothicus (A.D. 268-70) [Rtc. of Bucks, v, 154 ; MS. Min. Soc. Antiq. xxv, 126. Inf. supplied by Mr. W. Bradbrook] ; also a bust of Roman workmanship [Arch, xxvii, 96]. ' At Fenny Stratford in a place called the Auld-Fields,' says Lysons, ' foundations of buildings have been found as well as coins' [Hist. Bucks. 483]. The site of the Roman station of Magiovintum has been placed with more probability at Little Brickhill on the Watling Street, a short distance from Fenny Stratford. BRILL. — Roman coins were discovered 14 December 1758 [MS. Min. Soc. Antiq. viii, 98]. There is a square entrenchment described as a ' Roman Camp ' on Muswell Hill [Bucks. 6-in. O.S. xxvi, SE.]. Camden [Brit, ii, 330 (ed. Gough, 1722)] mentions Cold Harbour fford 8 6 PLAN or LITTLE BRICKHILL Farm, north-east of Brill, as the site of a Roman town, and he is quoted to this effect by Stukeley, but there seems no evidence to warrant such a statement, and the name does not necessarily imply a Roman connexion [Bucks, i-in. O.S. 237]. BUCKINGHAM. — Many Roman coins have been dug up in the vicinity of Buckingham ; a coin of Antoninus (A.D. 138-61) in 1819 [Lipscomb, Bucks, ii, 547], and in 1741 a copper coin of Carausius (A.D. 287-93) [MS. Min. Soc. Antiq. iv, 56]. Pottery, coins, implements and ornaments from Grove Hill Farm, discovered in 1875, were also exhibited at the Loan Exhibition, Aylesbury, July 1905, by Mr. T. Gardner [Catalogue of Loan Exhibition]. CADMORB END. — In 1877 five Roman coins were discovered here, of Titus (A.D. 79-81), Domitian (A.D. 81-96), Trajan (A.D. 98-117), Hadrian (A.D. 117-38), Faustina (A.D. 138-41), re- spectively. They were exhibited in the Loan Exhibition at Aylesbury 1905, by the Rev. R. Bruce Dickson of Stewkley [Catalogue of Loan Exhibition]. CASTLE THORPE. — In a field called Burtles Hill was found a small black urn containing a pair of armillae and a silver ring, with twenty silver and about twenty-five large brass coins of the Upper Empire, ranging from Nero (A.D. 54-68) to Verus (A.D. 166-70), one being a coin of Antoninus Pius (A.D. 138-61) with Britannia reverse. The coins are now in the possession of A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE Mr. F. H. Hughes [Brit. Arch. Assoc. Journ. ii, 352-3 ; Num. Chron. vii, pi. iv.] Bracelets of the pattern illustrated have been found more than once in England, and can be dated with precision. They are of base silver, with the terminals slightly expanded to represent serpents heads, and the hoop engraved with geometrical designs. The serpents' heads may have had som; religious significance [cf. gold specimen from Backworth, Northumberland, Arch. Journ. viii, 39]. They were originally in the Bateman Collection, Lomberdale House, Derbyshire, but are now in the Bri- tish Museum. Similar bracelets have been found near Carlswark, Derbyshire [Jewitt, Reliq. viii, 113], at Ham Saltings, Upchurch, Kent, now in the British Museum with part of another from Coldham Common, Cambs. [Payne, Collectanea Cantiana, 74]. The ring which is set with a cornelian intaglio is of a type common about A.D. 200 [Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc. ii, 35 ; Bate- man Coll., Lomberdale House, Catalogue, 130-1 ; Reliq. xiii, pi. xviii]. Though a skull and pottery fragments were later ARMILLAE FROM CASTLE THORPE found on the site, this deposit of about A.D. 1 70 was evidently a hoard un- connected with any burial. Mr. Pretty of Northampton, who recorded the find, added that there was probably a villa at Calverton End near Castle Thorpe, a fact which he deduced from the discovery of pottery there. Professor Haverfield, however, considers that this is inconclu- sive. Mr. Pretty's additional note on the subject of the Portway Lane in Castle Thorpe drew attention to the fact that the name Port does not imply a Roman origin. COLNBROOK. — Camden [Brit. 327 (ed. Gough, 1722)] wrongly identifies Colnbrook with the Ponies of Antoninus, because it is at equal distance on both sides from Wallingford and London, and here the Coin is divided into four channels, which, for the convenience of travellers, have as many bridges over them [Reynolds, Iter. Brit. (1848), 340]. CRENDON or LONG CRENDON. — In the year 1824 labourers, digging in a field at the north side of the church near a road named the Angle Way, found the remains of a cemetery near the supposed site of the castle of the Giffards. The field which contained these remains is of stone brash, in which each of the urns discovered was embedded separately. The principal objects found were an urn described as of blue clay, unglazed ; a small portion of another urn, of large size, 3 ft. in height, diameter at brim 6 in., with handles 5 in. in circumference, joined to the neck and body of the vessel, which was of coarse yellowish ware, with a reddish tint. It was quite plain, had the marks of the lathe perfect, and appeared to have been coated with varnish. Besides ashes and burnt bones, including those of birds, there were also found seven rings of brass, so much decayed that the stones set in most of them were corroded and de- stroyed. Two of these had portions of wire attached to them and might have been ear pendants. There were also found a number of small urns ; eight paterae of Samian ware, each 6J in. in diameter, i£ in. deep, having a small rim ; one stamped OF. L. Q. VIRIL. ; a small incense pot of the same fabric formed in two half circles, the larger above the smaller, and, intersecting it, with a circular stamp or cipher at the bottom ; a lamp quite perfect and of the same ware ; a small sarcophagus containing three small urns all perfect [Lipscomb, Bucks. i, 212 ; C. R. Smith, Coll. Antiq. iv, 155 ; Letter from G. Lipscomb, Gent. Mag. (1831)]. There was also found at a later date near the site of the former discoveries a pot of small Roman coins, some of Claudius (A.D. 41-54). The greater number were much corroded. It is probable that this group of remains is of Roman date, but a further note of Lipscomb points to the fact that a Saxon interment was made on the site of the Roman one, as some of the remains which he indicates could not have been Roman. He adds: ' Many skeletons were found regularly interred, and near them abundant and satisfactory indications of crema- tion and urn burial ; great quantities of ashes, scoriae and semi-vitrified masses, together with vast numbers of fragments of urns and other vessels, bones of large quadrupeds and of birds promiscuously intermingled.' ELLESBOROUGH. — Foundations of buildings [Lysons, Bucks. 483] and Roman coins have been found here [Lipscomb, Bucks, ii, 171. Vide Little Kimble]. ETON. — A Roman vase was discovered in 1863-4, 507 yds. north of Barnes Pool Bridge, a little to the west of the main road from Windsor to Slough. A Roman urn, 21 in. high, and the same 6 ROMANO-BRITISH BUCKINGHAMSHIRE in extreme diameter was discovered in 1890 about 18 in. below the surface of a field at Willowbrook, a little to the north of Eton on the way to Slough flnf from Mr R. P. L. Booker, M.A., F.S.A.]. FOSCOTT. — The following remains from a supposed Roman villa at Foscott were exhibited at the Loan Exhibition at Buckingham in 1855, by the Rev. W. Lloyd of Lillingstone. Hypocaust tiles, bone spoons, pin, part of bone pipe, a bronze socket, glass and pottery fragments, a piece of oak pile, and some glass, also fragments of tessellated pavement [Catalogue of Exhibition, Rec. of Bucks, i]. HAVERSHAM. — A Roman steelyard weight in form of a woman's head was ploughed up in the parish of Haversham near Newport Pagnell [Bucks. N. and Q. (1901), 228; Proc. Soc. Antiq. (Ser. 2), v, 13]. Roman coins have also been found here, one a first brass of Marcus Aurelius (A.D. l6l-8o) [Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc. ii, 355]. Mr. Pretty of Northampton, who notes the discovery of the coins, adds that it is a significant fact that the coins found on the Buckingham side of the River Tove, among which those at Haversham are included, are generally of earlier date than those discovered at Cosgrove, Old Stratford, and Paulers- pury. HEDSOR. — The remains of pile dwellings were discovered here in 1894, but the ob- jects accompanying then1, e.g. spear heads and the bones of animals, point to a prc-Roman origin [Journ Brit. Arch. Assoc. (Ser. 2), v, 267]. Simi- lar dwellings have been found at Cookham in Berkshire, which is near Hedsor ]f.C.H. Berks, i, 198, 205]. HITCH AM. — A Roman key, to- gether with Roman coins, was found near the pre- sent Bath road \Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc. xxxiii, 206 ; xlix, 176]. HORWOOD, GREAT, AND WINS- LOW. — A silver drinking- cup of late Roman work, of a common form in pot- tery, but uncommon in silver, height 4* in., great- SAICOPHACU. CONTA.N.NG TH«. URN, AT CWNDON est width 2^ in., was turned up in a field and broken by the ploughshare, so that the fracture revealed other objects, some of which had been bent in order to put them into the cup : two silver spoons, very much bent, having oval bowls decorated with a kind of ribbed or feathery pattern ; one had the inscription VENERIA VIVAS (compare with this a sepulchral inscription to Lady Veneria in the Museum at Caerleon). Altogether five spoons were found on this occasion, and a small pin 2$ in. long, with a flat circular head, closely resembling other 7 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE Roman pins in bronze ; a small fibula, showing signs of wear, the type of which is rare in England ; also a silver ring with octagonal exterior and a blank facet \_Rec. of Bucks, iv, 209 ; Arch. Journ. xxxiii, 357]. HUGHENDEN. — In 1826 an urn containing four small silver coins and three copper ones was turned up in a field near Hazlemere turnpike-gate ; near this deposit was an arch of flints, supported by two side walls, about the size of a common grave, not more than 3 ft. long. About it were several broken Roman tiles, pieces of urns, fragments of unburnt pottery and of what appeared to be part of a quern [Lipscomb, Hist. Bucks, iii, 583]. It has been suggested that this was a Roman burying-place, but there is not sufficient evidence for such a conclusion. Yet the remains are not entirely Roman in character, for a battle-axe was also discovered, which points to a deposit, perhaps a later one, of Saxon origin. A vase, probably Roman, was also dis- covered in the excavations at Hughenden Vicarage, 1883. This was exhibited at the Loan Exhibition at Aylesbury, 1905 [Catalogue of Loan Exhibition]. KIMBLE, GREAT. — Great Kimble stands on the higher track known as the Upper Icknield Way, to which should probably be assigned a British origin, though it is possible that the road was here used by the Romans. The following remains were found in a barrow and are very probably British, although described as Romano-British [Proc. Sac. Antiq. (Ser. 2), xii, 340] : two urns, the larger of the two in an inverted position with the smaller one resting on its shoulder, 17 in. in height, containing white powder and a small perforated vessel, which was possibly an incense cup, these were buried in a shallow grave in the chalk. The lower part of the grave was covered with black ashes. Lipscomb [Hist. Bucks, ii, 341] also speaks of a square camp commanding the track of the Icknield Way, on the brow of the hill, south of the church, at the north-west corner of Pulpit Wood. KIMBLE, LITTLE. — The remains possibly of a Roman villa were discovered here. Fragments of a small tessellated pavement were found near the turnpike road, laid in mortar, measuring 4 ft. by 3 ft. Foundations of flint were discovered at the same time, and in the adjoining fields near Great Kimble, Roman tiles and coins have been occasionally found, and buckles, rings, tiles, tesserae, and painted plaster, fragments of which were exhibited at the Loan Exhibition at Buckingham, 1855 \_Rec. of Bucks, i, 39; Ibid. 'Catalogue of Exhibition']. The three sites of Great Kimble, Little Kimble, and Ellesborough are in such close proximity that it is possible the three together formed one settlement. LATIMER. — A little to the south-west of Latimer, which is situated on the road from Chenies to Chesham, is Dell Farm, shut in on two sides by Lane Wood and West Wood. On this spot there is a slightly-elevated mound, in which Roman tesserae were discovered in 1 834 by workmen who were employed in diverting the road here, which originally ran between the farm- house and the river. A few yards to the north-west were four human skeletons with coins and fragments of earthen vessels deposited near them, which were taken away by a stranger. The following account of later discoveries is given by the Rev. Bryant Burgess \_Rec. of Bucks. iii, no. 5, pp. 181-5]. '^n ^63 numerous tesserae of various sizes, pieces of tile and mortar, with the peculiar pink tinge which is characteristic of Roman manufacture, were found lying by the side of the road where it was cut thrpugh the mound, and at three inches below the level of the road a tessellated pavement of coarse red ware.' Excavations were made in 1864 and are described by Mr. Bryant Burgess. From his description it appears that a portion of a villa of the corridor type was disclosed, comprising a range of rooms with a corridor on the north-west 8 ft. 6 in. wide (3, 5 on plan). The corridor was divided by a wall and doorway, to the south-west of which it ran for 34 ft. and was paved with flat tiles 16 in. by 12 in., and to the north-east it was traced for 39 ft. and was paved with red tesserae. There was probably a corridor on the opposite side of the range of rooms, as fragments of a tessellated floor were discovered at ay a, a, on plan. Room i (see plan) measured 19 ft. 6 in. by 22 ft. ; the tesserae in the room were I J in. square. The walls were plastered, and the part remaining was coloured a dull red, but pieces of plaster were found in the room painted white with a red or green stripe, and some of three different colours. The floor here, as in the other rooms, was covered with a black powder of decayed wood, with which iron nails from i^ in. to 5 in. in length were intermingled ; above this was a mass of broken ridge and flanged tiles, together with large flints and mortar, evidently the remains of the rafters and roof-tiles. These would perhaps point to the villa having fallen to decay and not having been destroyed. Room 2, which was 19 ft. 6 in. in length by 9 ft. 3 in. in breadth, com- municated with room i by a doorway 5 ft. wide, and also by another doorway to room 4. Possibly it was a vestibule, as it had a doorway 6 ft. wide through the north-east wall. The floor was of concrete. Room 4 was 19 ft. 6 in. by 12 ft. It was paved with red tesserae, and contained a considerable quantity of broken pottery and charred wood. Upon the south-west wall were the remains of colour. Rooms 6 and 10 were only partially traced. A few tesserae SILVER SPOONS, ETC. FROM GREAT HORWOOD ROMANO-BRITISH BUCKINGHAMSHIRE were found in one corner of each, but the ground had been lowered at a previous date and the floor destroyed. Room No. 7 formed a passage 5 ft. 5 in. wide, with a step at the entrance to the north-west corridor. It was paved with red tesserae. Room 8 was 19 ft. 6 in. by 1 8 ft. 9 in. The wall on the south-east was scarcely traceable, but the other walls were in good condition to the height of i8in. The pavement, the middle of which was destroyed, was of white tesserae for a width of 27 in. from the wall ; the interior, so far as it remained, had the usual red pavement, but in the three corners it was continued for some inches into the border. Room 9 measured 19 ft. 6 in. by 12 ft. 9 in. ; the tesserae of the pavement were mostly red, with a few white, yellow, and black, which in some cases adhered together in an orna- mental pattern as they had been laid. Room 1 1 was probably a passage. Another range of buildings extended to the north-west of room 5, and at f there was a mass of rubble wall with tile courses, which was traced to a depth of 4 ft. Here a number of small bones of a cat or rabbit were found. The following articles were found in the villa : — Two brass coins of Constantino the Great (A.D. 306-37) ; a brazen or copper coin of Tetricus (A.D. 268-73) ; a small British coin of brass, possibly of the age of Tetricus ; a pin of ivory or very hard bone, carved, in perfect preservation, except the point, measuring 3-^5 in. ; another pin, of darker colour, and finer workmanship, imperfect ; a great deal of broken pottery, with a few pieces of Castor and Samian ware ; a piece of stag's horn ; oyster shells and whelks, the former in considerable PLAN OF ROMAN VILLA DISCOVERED AT LATIMEK. Scale 20 ft. to I in. quantities ; pointed pieces of iron, "]\ in. and \\ in. in length ; pieces of lead and a large quantity of iron nails ; a small piece of a glass vessel and fragments of window-glass ; flue-tiles, mostly broken, measuring 15^ in. by i6Jin. by 4^ in., one nearly perfect, ornamented on two sides with a pattern, the rest merely scored on the wider side with a comb ; flanged roof-tiles, measuring 16 in. by 12 in. at the broader and lojin. at the narrower end, but the measure- ments vary considerably in different tiles ; these, together with ridge-tiles measuring about 15 in. by 7^ in. by i£ in. were found mostly in a broken state, overlying the pavements in all parts of the building [Rec. of Bucks, iii (5), 181, et seq.]. LEE. — Roman remains from Bray's Wood, near Lee, were exhibited at the Loan Exhibition at Buckingham, July 1855. There is a square entrenchment at Bray's Wood [Bucks. 6-in. O.S. xxxviii, NE. ; Rec. of Bucks, vi, 297 ; Lipscomb, Bucks, ii, 359]. MARLOW. — On 4 May 1780 two small bronze human figures, supposed to be of women, were found near Marlow [MS. Min. Soc. Antiq. xvii, 37]. In February 1779 a bronze Roman fibula was also found near here [MS. Min. Soc. Antiq. xvi, 213]. MENTMORE. — Remains were discovered here which possibly indicate a Saxon interment on a Roman site, though the coins, which are the only indication of a Roman origin, may have accompanied the Saxon burial [Prac. Soc. Antiq. iii, 72]. In 1852 there were found a spear -head (obviously a Saxon relic), a bronze clasp, a coin of Constans or Constantius, several bones of animals, and Roman coins [Bucks. 6-in. O.S. xxiv, SE.]. At a date previous to this a cup-shaped fibula and an ' ornament probably from a soldier's belt ' were revealed [drch. xxxv, 380]. 2 9 2 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE MISSENDEN, GREAT. — Fragments of Roman pottery have been dug up to the south-east of the village [Rec. of Bucks, vi, 297]. NASH LEE. — At this place is said to be the site of a Roman villa [6-in. O.S. Bucks, xxxiii, SE. par. Ellesborough]. The following extract is given in the Name Book of the original Ordnance Survey of Buckinghamshire, dated 1896-8 : — ' No visible remains of this ancient building now exist, but undoubted evidence of its former existence were discovered by the late G. S. Stone, Esq. In the month of September 1858 the foundations of a Roman Villa, together with Roman tiles and pieces of Roman pottery, including the greater portion of two urns and two bronze coins, one on the foundation and the other a short distance off, were discovered by this gentle- man and presented by him to the Bucks. Archaeological Society.' OAKLEY. — Roman pottery and coins were found in a field on Ixhill Farm, midway between Oakley and Worminghall, also part of a flue-tile. In 1892 excavations were made to remove some large stones which interfered with ploughing, and several cart-loads of stone were dug up and removed, which, it has been suggested, point to the existence of some Roman building here [Journ. of the Berks. Bucks, and Oxon. Assoc. iv, 46]. OLNEY. — Silver coins were found in the neighbourhood between the Lavendon and Warrington Roads in a field called Ashfurlongs, north of Olney ; three of Gratian (A.D. 375-84) or Gallienus (A.D. 253-68), Victorinus (A.D. 265-7), and Allectus (293-6), respectively, still remain at Olney [jfourn. Brit. Arch. Assoc. iii, 255 ; 25-in. O.S. ii, 16]. In the Journ. of the Berks. Bucks, and Oxon. Assoc. (April 1904, p. 26) are mentioned coins dating from Nero (A.D. 54-68) to Constantino (A.D. 306-37). One fragment of Samian, some gray and black ware, and a bronze figure of Mercury were also found. PRINCES RISBOROUGH. — ' Coins have been found at Princes Risborough ' [Lysons, Bucks. 483], and others were discovered on Risborough Top, Chiltern Hills, three-quarters of a mile east of Princes Risborough [25-in. O.S. xxxvii, 7]. STEEPLE CLAYDON. — 'In 1620 an earthen pot full of brass money bearing the stamp, name, and picture, some of Carausius (A.D. 287-93), some of Allectus (293-6) was found under the root of a tree ... by the great pond there in the wood of the worthy knight Sir Thomas Challoner ' [White Kennet, Paroch. Antiq. Bucks, ii, 419]. STONE. — Many antiquities, probably from a Roman cemetery, have been found here. On the north side of the road, immediately opposite the vicarage, in December 1 87 1, a natural hill of sand was excavated, and what was apparently a Roman kiln, in the shape of a basin, lined with burnt clay, 4 ft. in diameter inside, 2^ ft. in depth, the top i ft. from the surface, therefore whole depth 3^ ft., was found. It was filled with sand, charcoal, and a great quantity of coarse broken SCALE. 6 '" I MILE . MILE. PLAN OP STONE, SHOWING SITES OF ROMAN REMAINS 10 NORTH t» SOUTH EAST h WEST NATURAL SURTACC BASEMENT ROCK YELLOW SAND 5 10 SECTIONS or A CAVITY CONTAINING ROMAN REMAINS, FOUND AT STONE, BUCKS. ROMANO-BRITISH BUCKINGHAMSHIRE pottery [Rtc. of Bucks, iv, 122 ; Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc. (Ser. 2), ii, 116]. A pit or well was discovered in the field where the County Lunatic Asylum now stands. At a depth of 8 ft. the workmen came to a stratum of hard blue stone, a foot in thickness, through which a circular hole had been made. Im- mediately beneath a chamber was found in which were dis- covered many fragments of cinerary urns made of dark slate-coloured clay, some of which contained human bones, the bones of some large animal, and portions of burnt oak and beech. Through the centre of the chamber the perpendicular shaft was continued for 1 1 ft. to another and thicker stra- tum of rock. Beneath this, again, a second chamber was discovered and cleared out. The contents were similar, with the addition of the skull, teeth, and one horn of an ox, a portion of skin, tanned and preserved by the action of the sulphurous acid of the blue clay below, and wood burnt, unburnt and partially consumed, twelve urns of various forms and sizes, two bronze rings, apparently formed for armillat, of the rudest construction, 2j in. in diameter, and a bucket with iron hoops and elects for the handle, which could not be found. About 50 yds. north-west of the pit, 2 ft. below the surface, were a double-handled urn, one of smaller size, an urn with a single handle, and a smaller one of dark clay. Thirty yards south-west of the pit were several fragments of urns, 2 ft. below the surface, of the coarsest fabric [Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc. xx, 276-7 ; Arch, xxxiv, 26 ; xlvi, 447 ; Proc. Soc. Antiq. ii, 101 ; Arch. Journ. viii, 95]. Near the same spot were two coins in middle brass of Domitian (A.D. 81-96) (reverse, fig. of Spes) and Vespasian (A.D. 70-9) (reverse, altar between letters S.C.). STONY STRATFORD. — A Roman villa has been discovered in the parish of Paulerspury near Stony Stratford, close to the course ofWatling Street. In 1850 it was recorded that 'a fine tessellated pavement is already cleared ' \lllm. Land. News, 1850, i, 214]. It has perhaps been sufficiently proved that Towcester, and not Stony Stratford, occupies the site of Lactodurum, though the opinion hitherto held by the majority of antiquaries was that the latter marked the site of the Roman town. An urn found in 1835 was exhibited in the Loan Exhibition at Aylesbury, 1905. In 1789 Roman silver plates and other articles in silver and brass were found in an urn at Windmill Field near Stony Stratford [MS. Min. Soc. Antiq. xxxiii, 306, June 1813]. Lysons describes them in the MS. Minutes as ' a considerable number of plates of silver, of a base quality in form of leaves, much resembling those at Barkway, together with many other articles of silver and brass of various shapes,' and suggests that they were parts of Roman military standards. Lysons states that the following inscription is on one of the silver plates, which, though very slightly cut, may be read thus : — DEO IOVI ET VOLGA VASSINVS CVM VELLINT ME CONSACRATVM CONSERVAAE PRO MISI DENARIOS SEX PRO VOTO The remainder of the last line is obliterated except the final three letters, which seem to be LIT. Drawings, together with the most remarkable of the antiquities, were exhibited to the Society of Antiquaries. The originals are now in the British Museum and have been copied by Prof. Hubncr (Corp. Inter. Lot. vii, Nos. 80, 81, 82). Lysons mentions a thin piece of brass worked in a conical form with several appendages of the same metal fastened to it with II A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE chains, which he suggests was fixed at the top of the staff. Other objects he describes as possibly ' the pi/ae, sometimes styled circuit, and clypei, which are said by Isidorus to have been just added by Augustus.' These were of brass, with apparently plates of silver soldered to them on one side. They were soldered together, and probably had rings by which they were suspended to the staff. Several thin plates of silver in the form of leaves were found, two of which had scratched on them an inscription, which may be read DEO MARTI SANCTO, and others had figures of Mars standing in front of a temple, Mars and Victory, and Apollo. Two brass fibulae were found at the same time. TAPLOW. — In a mound or barrow near the old parish church objects in gold, silver, bronze, glass, and pottery were found. They were of Anglo-Saxon date, except some slight early remains of Samian and other pottery [Proc. Sue. Antiq. (Ser. 2), x, 19 ; Journ. Brit. Arch. Asm. xl, 63, an]. THORNBOROUGH. — Bronze vases, a cinerary urn of glass, a bronze lamp with a crescent on the handle resembling one found near Halesworth in Suffolk, and other remains were discovered in a tumulus on the estate of the Duke of Buckingham, and exhibited at the Loan Exhibition at Buckingham by the Hon. Richard Neville [Arch. Journ. vii, 82 ; xii, 276]. TINGEWICK. — The remains of a Roman villa were found in the parish of Tingewick, which lies about two miles westward from Buckingham, and near to the ancient road from Bicester, through Stratton Audley and Water Stratford in the direction of Towcester. The field in which the discoveries were made is called ' Stollidge,' and is more than a quarter of a mile from the village. The foundations stood on the brow of a hill, which slopes in a north- westerly direction towards the River Ouse, about a quarter of a mile below Tingewick Mill, a situation unusual for the Romans, who generally chose a southern slope. The first discovery was made in 1860, and the excavation was continued in 1862. The foundations had in places been disturbed, and were too fragmentary to give a complete plan of the building ; but from the plan and description made at the time the main building seems to have been a villa of the corridor type, lying east and west, the corridor running along the north side. The total length of the house was about 93 ft., and the width 27 ft., inside measurements, the rooms being about 12 ft. wide, and the walls about 2 ft. thick. To the south of this building, about 106 ft. away, was a smaller one, measuring externally 22 ft. 4 in. by 12 ft. It was divided into two apartments, the larger of which, to the west, measured 1 1 ft. 6 in. by 9 ft. 6 in., and had walls on the south and west sides 18 in. to 20 in. thick, and on the north 12 in. thick. The smaller apartment was divided into two, the larger part of which was 6 ft. 6 in. by 4 ft. 10 in., and the smaller 3 ft. loin, by i ft. loin. The latter, which was apparently a tank, was surrounded by strong masonry, on the south 18 in., on the east 2 ft. loin., on the north 2 ft., and on the west 3 ft. thick. The floor, which was 1 7 in. below the ground level, was, together with the sides, plastered with mortar said to be hardened by fire. It had a moulding 2^ in. wide carried round the bottom, and a drain or flue 5^ in. by 6 in., sunk a little below the level, and passing through the outer wall in the lowest course of the foundation, the top of the drain being formed by one tile 15 in. long by i^ in. thick. The drain, on passing out of the building, curved in a westerly direction and ran down the hill. The floor of the larger apartment was paved with tiles, and was 13 in. below the bottom of the tank and 2 ft. 6 in. below the prob- able level of the smaller apartment. A number of flue-tiles were found within and with- out the walls, which suggested to Mr. Beesley the idea that this small building was a bath ; but it seems more likely to have been a workshop of some kind, possibly a part of one of the small dye-works which seem to have been a feature of Roman Britain. Southward of the drain above mentioned, about 42 ft. distant, were traces of another drain or ditch running parallel to it. About 78 ft. westward of the corridor house was a third drain on the slope of the hill, which is said to have contained several circular holes or rubbish pits, which were excavated to a depth of about 120 ft. From this last ditch the greater number of the antiquities was taken. They are very numerous, comprising broken pottery, floor, roof, and other tiles, bones of animals, iron nails, coins, and implements ; and also earthenware vessels. In one part of the field a large quantity of dark-coloured earth was found, and this yielded several objects of interest. Amongst others were found close to the smaller building, a pair of bronze compasses (fig. i) in perfect preserva- tion, 6£ in. long, which work on a nail as a pivot or axis, the pointed or sharp end of the nail projecting half an inch on the side opposite to the head or nut, and having the point bent downwards ; portions of bronze armillae (fig;. 2 to 7) ; part of necklace (fig. 8), made of rings of silver wire, ornamented with glass beads, the rings, each consisting of two coils of fine wire, set alternately, two and three together, divided by small beads of dark blue glass. The fragment is 3 in. in length, and the clasp at one end perfect. There were found also the pin of a. fibula (tig. 9), 4 in. in length, and formerly gilt, a very similar bronze pin from Wood- perry, Oxon., may be compared with this [Arch. Journ. (1846), iii, 120]; a bronze ring with 12 ROMANO-BRITISH BUCKINGHAMSHIRE hoop and two links of wire chain broken (fig. 10) ; part of a clasp, or snap (fig. 1 1), bronze, formerly gilded, which seems to have belonged to a belt ; a triangular piece of bronze (fig. 12), the surface and edges, which are rough, appear to have been plated with gold, probably part of some ornament; two bronze rings (figs. 13, 14); the bone handle of a knife (fig. 15); a fragment of a bone armilla or bracelet (fig. 16) ; a bone pin, broken at both ends (fig. 17) ; a comb formed of several pieces of bone riveted together with bronze fastenings, it was quite perfect when discovered ; a flat piece of bone nearly square, with a small hole perforated at each of the four corners ; portions of iron cutlery or knives ; a bronze knife ; an iron ladle ; the head of a small iron spear ; an iron arrow head, and other iron objects. Besides these were discovered a large iron ladle for melting metal, a lump of molten lead, another of bronze, pieces of charcoal, a large quantity of nails, an iron spindle, several bronze styles or pins, a key, numerous fragments of Stonesfield slate used for the roofs, some of them having the nails by which they were fastened to the timber still remaining on them, and a piece of Andernach lava, which, from its shape, may have formed the keystone of an arch, or was possibly part of a quern. The fragments of pottery were very numerous, though PLAN OF ROMAN FOUNDATION! AT TINGIWICK '3 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE no complete articles were found, and none were large enough for the investigators to distinguish the shape, size, and ornamentation of the vessels to which they belonged. Among them were several fragments of amphorae of large size, in coarse light red ware, and of mortaria, one of which was roughened with iron scoriae. There was only one piece of Samian ware. One fragment of a crucible of blacklead ware like those used by metallurgists, was found. A few pieces of glass were found, yellower in colour than the usual Roman glass. In addition to these antiquities thirty-nine coins were discovered, singly distributed throughout the field, ranging in date from Elagabalus (A.D. 218-22) to Theodosius (A.D. 379-95). WAVENDON HEATH. — An amphora was found in a sand-pit [Lysons, Bucks. 483]. ROMAN OBJECTS FOUND AT TINGEWICK 14 ROMANO-BRITISH BUCKINGHAMSHIRE WESTON TURVILLE. — Remains of a Roman burial were discovered here in 1855 [Arch. Jaurn. xxxv, 290 ; lllut. Land, News, 21 July 1855]. In the rectory garden, at a depth of 4 ft. 6 in. below the surface, a Roman vessel of coarse yellow pottery was found, which bore traces of old fractures, probably either an amphora or a cinerary urn. It was placed in a hole i8in. in diameter, in cretaceous clay, very tenacious and impervious to water ; the contiguous clay was streaked with dark lines. The accompanying objects were in glass : a bluish-green circular vessel, with pieces of bone adhering to it 5 a green glass vessel, 6 in. in height, 2^ in. square, m. 17 ROMAN OBJECTS POUND AT TINCEWICK '5 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE which contained ashes ; a similar vessel, 2f in. square, of which only the bottom was found, containing ashes ; a vessel of thinner glass, of lighter green, 3 in. square. A patera of Samian ware, nearly entire, more than 2 in. high, diameter 7 in., potter's mark MVXTVLLIM, containing ashes and leaves; another patera, if in. high, 6^ in. in diameter; a cup with the potter's name, MEIII. M., nearly 2 in. in height, 4^ in. in diameter, if in. at bottom, was also found, and some silver beads with wire attached to them ; with them were an orna- ment like a bugle in shape, ^ in. long ; a._fibu/a, or brooch, in bronze ; and a bronze ornament 1 in. high, like a fly ; also a vessel of coarse light red pottery, with the neck broken off, 7 in. in height, largest diameter 4 in., containing ashes ; vessels in drab-coloured ware, one ornamented with an imperfect cross-barred pattern, height rather more than 3^ in., diameter 3 in. ; another, probably about 9 in. or 10 in. high, diameter 5^ in. ; a third, more than 2^ in. in height, in diameter not quite 2 in. Besides these there were ornaments and various articles : iron with rivets, and short nails with fibres of wood adhering to them ; fibulae; a segment of a circular plate in silvery bronze, perhaps part of a mirror or circular _/%«/,?; part of a pin with ornamented head, 2 in. long, in coloured bone ; part of a plain bone pin, 3 in. long ; a small piece of leather with nails in it. Probably these were the remains of a female burial. WHADDON CHASE. — In February 1849 coins, together with the fragments of an urn or earthen vessel, were discovered by a labourer while ploughing a portion of Whaddon Chase, but it is doubtful if the coins were Roman. About three hundred and twenty of the coins were preserved. It is said that none were inscribed ; about a quarter of them were stamped with the figure of a horse unbridled, the reverse was a wreath dividing the field, while one division was filled by a flower. The average weight of the coins was 90 grains Troy \Rec. of Bucks. i, 15]. Our authority states that 'further search in a part of the adjacent chase yet uncleared led to the discovery of a very perfect Roman camp, inclosing an area of about five acres.' *»* "^> f-* *****!&& N.I ,-;- r VN1«:»-"-'-"" MARSH GREEN I \\ " ANCIENT _.,,...„.. COINS FOUrtO * KEEP HIUU PLAN OF ROMAN SETTLEMENT NEAR WYCOMBE 16 ROMANO-BRITISH BUCKINGHAMSHIRE of wheels' still two feet thick, be unusual with would probably WORMINGHALL. — A Constant in :':m bronze coin found here was exhibited in the Loan Exhibition at Aylesbury, July 1905, by Mr. R. VV. Stone of Long Crendon [Catalogue of the Exhibition]. WYCOMBE. — There seems to have been a Roman settlement here of some importance. A tessel- lated pavement was discovered in 1724 in Penn Mead at the west end of a pasture called the Rye, about half a mile from Wycombe. According to a record of the time it was 'set in curious figures, as circles, squares, diamond squares, eight squares, hearts, and many other curious figures, with a beast in the centre in a circle, like a dog standing sideways by a tree,1 all set with stones in red, black, yellow, and white, about a quarter of an inch square ; the whole pavement was about fourteen foot square, the fine work in the middle was ten foot long and eight foot broad, the rest was filled up with Roman brickabout an inch and a half square.' In 1 862 excavations were made on the site at the expense of the late Lord Carrington, and under the supervision of Mr. E. J. Payne and Mr. William Burgess. It is difficult to follow the lines of the building disclosed from the plan of these excavations that has been preserved, but the villa was only partially explored. Mr. Payne in his paper on the excavations, and Mr. Parker following him in his History of Wycombe, describe a portion of a range of buildings, to the south-east of which were found two apartments 1 8 ft. apart. These are described as towers forming an entrance to the range of buildings before mentioned, south-west of which were found other living rooms. The suggestion as to the towers is improbable, notwithstanding the assertion that 'traces remain in the wall connecting them. The walls, which are only about are not strong enough for towers, and fortification of this nature would the Romano-Britons. If complete excavations of the site were made they show that the rooms and walls discovered formed portions of a courtyard type of house of the Romano-British period. The principal part uncovered was apparently the north-western range, which comprised an inner and outer corridor with a series of apartments between them. The large room at the north-eastern end of the north-western range had a tessellated pavement at its south-western end, which has been thus described : it consisted of a ' square flanked by two oblongs. To the south-west of this were other tessellated pavements, one with the remains of a design in very fine tesserae ; to the south-east of this was another room, the floor of which was destroyed and the pilot of the hypocaust exposed." A small apartment at the south-western end of the range, which is shown by Mr. Parker, but not by Mr. Payne, is supposed by the former to be that discovered in 1724. In the south-eastern range were the two rooms paved with common red tesserae which have been described as towers, and southward of these were other remains which were only par- tially explored, consisting of a large apartment with a hypocaust and the ruins of pilot mixed with pieces of pavement of guilloche pattern. Ad- joining this was found what Mr. Parker describes as without doubt the bath, with a pavement of white tesserae about an inch square, and a margin of red tesserae. The walls were decorated with paintings, a 'part of a fish resembling a roach ' being seen. Remains of other walls were found which were possibly on the line of the inner corridor. Among the objects brought to light were an arrow head, two bone pins, a bronze steel- yard similar to one found at Circn- cester, and many fragments of pottery. The designs of the pavements were worked in very fine tesserae, described as no larger than peas, indicating probably good work and an early date. Near to these villas is the site of an ancient camp, in which eleven ancient British gold coins have been found. PLAN or TOWN OF WYCOMBE, »HOWING ROMAN SITES 1 This central subject, Mr. John Parker suggests, is Cave Caaem, but we may with more probability sup- pose that it represented some mythological incident. 2 '7 3 PIAN OF ROMAN VILLA AT WVCOMBE ROMANO-BRITISH BUCKINGHAMSHIRE Some Roman tesserae were discovered a little to the north of this villa in a field called Holywell or Hallewell Mead, which has given rise loan improbable theory that here was a Roman fortress. A Roman vessel was found in High Street, Wycombe, and Roman coins of Nerva (A.D. 96—7), Antoninus Pius (A.D. 138-61), and Marcus Aurelius (A.D. 161-80) have been found in the neighbourhood, and a Roman wall and tessellated pavements in the garden of a hou-e in All- hallows Lane, adjoining a house called The Priory, on the west [E. J. Payne, Rec. of Bucks, iii, no. 5, p. 160 et seq. ; Parker, The Early Hist, and Antiq. of IVycombe, 2, 3], In 1863 a bronze ornament was discovered, 4^ in. long ; a quadrangular tube with flanges round three sides of one end, and a bust of Minerva at the other end ; midway on each side of the tube was a square hole. The workmanship of the head was bold and coarse. Probably it was part of the pole of a chariot. It is now in the British Museum. Recent excavations for the Great Western and Great Central Railway Companies in the neighbourhood of High Wycombe have disclosed Roman coins. One was of the date A.D. 322. The obverse has a bust to t'le right with the legend CRISPUS NOBIL c. In its centre the reverse has a decorated altar inscribed VOTIS xx ; around it BEATA TRANQUILLITAS, and below, p. LOND., indicating a London mint. Another coin of the date A.D. 300 shows the bust of the Emperor Valerius ; the legend is MAXIMIANVS NOB. c.*s., the reverse a standing figure representing the genius of the Roman people, with the legend surrounding it CENIO POPULI ROMANI [Dally Telegraph, 3 Mar. 1904]. A third isolated coin of the 2nd century is silver. The obverse has a bust of the empress, with face to the right and superscription JULIA PIA FELIX AVG. ; the reverse has VENVS GENETRIX, with an image of a goddess [Daily Chron. 26 Aug. 1902]. MAP showing of BUCKINGHAMSHIRE Reference B Hill Forts etc. Rectangular Camps etc . 3 Castle Mounts Castle Mounts with attached Courts Homestead Moats Manorial Strongholds Ancient Village Sites Unclassified Earthworks ANCIENT EARTHWORKS The student of the earthworks of a county, or larger tract of country, who attempts anything in the way of classification finds his efforts beset with considerable difficulties. The present form of the ramparts and fosses is a matter which causes little, if any, trouble, and the plans published in the maps of the Ordnance Survey (25 in. to the mile) will be found generally sufficient. The chief difficulties he encounters are : (i) in ascertaining the respec- tive ages or periods of the works ; and (2) in discovering to what extent the earthworks, as originally constructed, have been modified or obliterated. Without something more than an examination of the surface this is often not only difficult, but impossible. Under these circumstances the decision of the Congress of Archaeological Societies to record the remains as they actually exist, without at present attempting to assign them to any particular period, is undoubtedly wise. Certain works, such as regular Roman camps and Norman strongholds, are, of course, sufficiently well marked to be classified. The present description of the ancient defensive and other earthworks of Buckinghamshire, which has been written in conformity with this prin- ciple, will be understood, it is hoped, to be by no means a final or complete record of these interesting relics of ancient times. Before any such precise summary can be written it will be necessary to make careful and minute investigations, aided by extensive excavations of the various sites. The main divisions of ancient defensive earthworks contemplated in the scheme of the Congress just referred to are as follows : — A. — Fortresses partly inaccessible, by reason of precipices, cliffs, or water, additionally defended by banks or walls. B. — Fortresses on hill-tops with artificial defences, following the natural line of hill ; or, though usually on high ground, less dependent on natural slopes for protection. C. — Rectangular or other simple inclosures, including forts and towns of the Romano-British period. D. — Forts consisting only of a mount with encircling ditch or fosse. E. — Fortified mounts, either artificial or partly natural, with traces of an attached court or bailey, or of two or more such courts. F. — Homestead moats, such as abound in some lowland districts, consisting of simple inclosures formed into artificial islands by water-moats. G. — Inclosures, mostly rectangular, partaking of the form of F, but protected by stronger defensive works, ramparted and fossed, and in some instances provided with outworks. H. — Ancient village sites protected by walls, ramparts, or fosses. X. — Defensive works which fall under none of these headings. The ancient defensive earthworks of Buckinghamshire are divisible into several classes, the earliest hill-top fortifications being closely related to the Chiltern Hills, a range of chalk downs which, with the exception of the 21 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE Thames Valley in the extreme south, occupies practically the whole of the southern half of the county. Compared with the earthworks of some other counties the works of Buckinghamshire are of small extent, and, owing to the wooded character of the hills, they are less easily seen than they are in such a district as the South Downs of Sussex, for instance, where the ramparts and fosses are prominent features, sometimes visible from considerable distances. In any attempt to take a general survey of the ancient camps of Buck- inghamshire, it is desirable to bear in mind the important natural features of the Chiltern Hills, which run across the county in a practically-east-and-west direction, the hilly ground of the chalk being to the south, and the low-lying pasturage ground of the Vale of Aylesbury stretching away to the north. The hills of Buckinghamshire N. never afforded such an essentially grazing dis- trict as the South Downs, and there was no reason to construct camps of large size capable of in- closing and defending vast flocks of sheep or herds of cattle. The fertile plains of Bucking- hamshire were appa- rently brought into cul- tivation at a time when this system of protective inclosure was no longer in vogue nor necessary. SCALE Or FEET O IOO tOO 2>OO HILL FORTS (CLASS B) ' DANESBOROUGH,* Bow BRICKHILL A number of the Buckinghamshire earth- works come under this heading owing to the fact that the lines of artificial defence follow the natural contour of the ground, and are placed at the point where tolerably level ground or table-land develops into inconvenient or dangerous declivity. Bow BRICKHILL : DANESBOROUGH. — This is a rather irregular oval earth- work consisting of a single rampart, broken by a considerable space on the north, and damaged from the north-east side by the construction of a modern road. CHOLESBURY CAMP. — The form of this camp, as will be seen from the accompanying plan, is fairly oval, slight irregularities being discernible on the west and north-west sides. The camp, locally known as ' the Bury,' occupies a piece of level ground on the summit of a range of the Chiltern Hills which marks the junction of the eastern part of Buckinghamshire and the western part of Hertfordshire. 22 ANCIENT EARTHWORKS The works, which encompass an area of about ten acres, inclose the parish church and churchyard of Cholesbury, which are situated in the south-west part of the inclosure. Lipscomb, in his History of Buckinghamshire? writes : — The lines consist of a very deep trench and strong vallum or rampart of earth, on the north, east, and part of the south sides, strengthened by a second line at the north-eastern and north-western angles ; and also from the south-eastern part, in a parallel line along that side, until it disappears near the churchyard : part of which seems to occupy the inner bank, as the site of the minister's house does likewise the exterior rampart, which has evidently been levelled. On the east and west sides or ends of the encampment the foss is single ; in some places 30 ft. in depth, but towards the south-west it is nearly obliterated. In those parts where the trench is double, the width is about equal to the depth ; and the ,^> '// dr $z »v jJ* ^cr >»$ c- ,- / ^// ^n & = £ ** // £? - - -* = s ^ o$? &/f Church - Pond ^^ ^f^ *:-?.* A* >* v»> v^ v*- s.i~"--z n.. —u P^^W ->.^ »VL«V -^•; »XSt SCALE Of FEET o \oo too soo CHOLESBURY CAMP rampart between them, as well as the sides of the ditches and verge exteriorly, are covered with trees and brushwood, excepting only where a narrow approach to the area has been left on the south and west. About the centre of the north side appears to have been another opening, but long disused, so as to have become obscured by trees and bushes ; and now, only to be conjectured one of the original entrances. Lipscomb speaks subsequently of the camp as an oblong square, an opinion formed apparently by his misunderstanding of the addition to the north-west corner of the camp already alluded to. The fosses on the southern side of the camp are of considerable depth, and the curve they follow is determined apparently by the natural contour of the hill. On the 1 (1847) iii, 314. The camp is regarded by Lipscomb as of British or Danish workmanship. 23 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE north side the contiguous ground is nearly on a level with the area inclosed by the vallum : but on the east and west, where the trench is single but of great depth, it declines rapidly. On the south, where are two fosses, the ground immediately contiguous is nearly on a level with the entrenchment, but soon gradually declines. Along this part of the camp is the course of an ancient road. The general conclusions formed by Lipscomb from his examination of the camp are that it is a work of Danish origin,3 and that originally it was constructed as a single vallum round the top of an eminence, advantage having been taken of the irregularities of the ground. He saw traces of only two entrances, but a subsequent writer 3 succeeded in finding definite traces of four entrances. There is a good pond inside the area of the camp, which like West Wycombe and Castle Thorpe incloses the church of the parish. DESBOROUGH CASTLE. — This important earthwork, popularly called ' The Roundabout,' lies on the top of a hill a little to the south-west of the road which leads along the valley from High Wycombe to West Wycombe. The camp must have been one of considerable strength in ancient times on account of its important strategic situation and the arrangement of its defences. Originally the top of the hill appears to have been occupied by a pre-historic camp inclosing a considerable area of ground. Subsequently a smaller camp, oval in outline, and consisting of an outer fosse and an inner rampart of great height and strength, was thrown up. A writer on this camp, Mr. R. S. Downs, of Wycombe (Rec. of Bucks, v, 249), regards the older camp as outworks of the newer camp, in which, he remarks, there can be little doubt that there was a building of considerable strength, as the remains of old tiling, hewn stone, and masonry plainly indicate. Whilst felling trees which grew here about 1743 (he writes) portions of stone gothic work were dug up resembling the jambs of a church window. Of the once-famous Desborough Castle, nothing now remains but the name and the tradition that such a building once existed here. The earlier earthworks at Desborough Castle have become much modi- fied since the period when they were thrown up. Flint implements have been found upon the site. Numerous attempts have been made by different writers to show that Desborough Castle is of Saxon or Danish origin, but these theories appear to be merely speculations based on no solid or sufficient evidence. It is sig- nificant, however, that Desborough Hundred derives its name from this castle. Desborough * was also probably a place of popular meeting or folk-mote, and from every point of view was a central and locally important place ; but an inspection of its interesting earthworks is sufficient to suggest that its importance began at a far earlier time than the Saxon or Danish periods. HEDGERLEY : BULSTRODE PARK. — The chief feature about this camp is its size, which is unusually large for Buckinghamshire. The entrenchments, it will be noticed, are double on the north-east side, treble at one or two points, and inclose an area of 2 1 acres of land. The breaks on the north- ' Of this we can find no evidence. ' Rev. W. Hastings Kelke, Arch. Journ. xiv, 273. 4 Rec. of Bucks, viii, 464. 24 ANCIENT EARTHWORKS west and south-east sides are probably larger now than they originally were owing to damage or subsequent modification of the earthen banks. When Lipscomb wrote' the camp was disfigured by some large oak-trees growing on the ramparts, a blemish which still remains. MONKS RISBOROUGH : PULPIT WOOD. — This hill-top camp may be described as consisting of an irregular and interrupted circle of rampart strengthened by a fosse, which is more complete than the bank, a circumstance which may be explained, at least in part, by the subsequent degradation, by rain- wash and other forces, of the ram- parts. The double line of ramparts on the north-east, east, and south- east sides was necessary, in order to cut off the camp from a small area of flat ground to the north-east. The manner in which the natural features have been utilized, and the extent to which these "'••.iMimimmiiniiMKii' JCALlOf fttT « 190 too ».»0 features have affected the shape of BULSTRODE PARK, HEDCIRLET the camp, are points which strike the observer at once, and clearly testify to the skill of the people who made the earthwork. On the north- western side of the camp the natural slope of the earth is so great as to render a built-up rampart hardly necessary. A fosse, therefore, has been constructed with a small expenditure of effort by throwing the moved soil down the hill, in the manner indicated in the sec- tion C— D in the accompany- ing plan. This s a speces of labour-saving fortification, of which there are numerous other pre-historic instances. In this county there is an even finer example of its use on the south-west side of the very interesting series of earthworks surrounding the upper part of the hill on which stands the church of West Wycombe. On the north, north-east, east, and $! *- MJ> SECTIONS. SCALE Or 100 zoo 300 PULPIT WOOD, MONKS RISBOROUGH * Hut. and Antiq. of Bucki. (1847), iv, 507. 25 /i, *, N 05 Church A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE south-east sides of Pulpit Wood there is a double set of ramparts, and exactly on the east side is a large entrance. In the inclosure of the camp and round it many flint flakes and chip- pings, indicative of a Neolithic factory, have been noticed ; and, although it is perhaps not wise to pronounce positively upon the matter, there is some reason to believe that this is entitled to rank as one of the Neolithic strong- holds of Buckinghamshire. HIGH WYCOMBE : KEEP HILL. — This is another hill-top camp which may be mentioned under Class B. WEST WYCOMBE. — This is a nearly circular earthwork, inclosing the church and churchyard of West Wycombe. From the north to the east the rampart is double. On the south-east the works have been destroyed in connexion with the building of a large eigh- teenth-century mausoleum for the use of the Dashwood family. From the south to the west the natural slope of the ground is so great as to render fosses unnecessary, and the defences, therefore, consist of two terraces. The inner ring of defence is pretty clearly indicated by the fence inclos- ing the churchyard. A narrow neck of land of about the same level as the camp runs to the northward, where it joins the hills beyond, but on the other sides the hill has steep natural slopes on which grow numerous yew trees. The terraced defences just referred to are interesting, and may be com- pared with a similar but single piece of work at Pulpit Wood. WENDOVER. — On Boddington Hill there is an unmistakable camp, and at Backham Hill the alleged camp is probably a barrow which has sub- sequently been used as a beacon station. WHELPLEY HILL. — There is a fine oval camp here nearly obliterated. 'Mausoleum SCALE OF FEET O 100 zoo sop SECTIONS. C.Hass of Hertfordshire Conglomerate . EARTHWORKS ROUND WEST WYCOMBE CHURCH 26 ANCIENT EARTHWORKS RECTANGULAR OR OTHER SIMPLE INCLOSURES (CLASS C) Examples of rectangular earthworks remain at MUSWELL HILL, near Brill, where the site abounds in flints ; GREAT MISSENDEN. — One at Reddenwych Wood, and another on Castle Hill, called Rookwood Camp ; SHENLEY CHURCH END ; and WHADDON. FORTS CONSISTING ONLY OF A MOUNT WITH ENCIRCLING DITCH OR FOSSE (CLASS D) At Cublington, six miles to the north-east of Aylesbury, there is a work known as ' the Beacon,' marked as a tumulus on the Ordnance Survey map, which may be placed under Class D, as it appears to have been a castle mount. MOUNTS WITH ONE OR MORE ATTACHED COURTS (CLASS E) Buckinghamshire furnishes only a few examples of moated mounts with courts, or baileys, attached. In addition to those which remain, it is possible that the earthwork defences of Buckingham Castle were of the moated mount and bailey type. The small engraved bird's-eye view in Speed's early seventeenth-century map shows an eminence marked ' Castell Hill,' which certainly suggests this ; but as the site has been entirely altered and levelled it is impossible to say positively. CASTLE THORPE. — The evidence for this belonging to Class E is not very strong, but the mount is clearly defined, and in the case of one of the baileys or in- closures, part of the defences consists of dou- ble ramparts. The parish church, as in the case of two other Bucking- hamshire sites, is built within the precincts of the more an- cient earth- SCALEOFFECT '//imV too 3QQ Mary* for protection. EARTHWORKS AT CAVTLI THORPE 27 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE SCALE OF FEET I IOO ZOO 3OO iii CASTLE HILL, HIGH WYCOMBK HIGH WYCOMBE. — Castle Hill, standing in private grounds at High Wycombe, may possibly be part of an earthwork of the Class E type. LITTLE KIMBLE : CYMBELINE'S MOUNT. — This work, as has been remarked, occu- Barrow pies an important and prominent look-out point on a spur of the Chiltern Hills. It may be conveniently placed under Class E. Its situation and small size give it a peculiar interest. Compared with the finest types of Class E, such as Arundel, Lewes, Ongar, and Windsor, this work appears to present a species of defence which is much more nearly allied to pre-historic times, than to the Norman period, an era to which the regular mount and bailey earthworks are now commonly referred by antiquaries. It must have been always a very good point from which much of the surrounding country could be overlooked. Indeed, the earthwork seems in many ways far more suitable for such a purpose than for a purely defensive camp possessing strategic advantages. Cymbeline's Mount consists of a circular pyramidal mount with trun- cated top. This top is surrounded at the base by a well-developed fosse, the earth from which has been utilized in making the annular rampart which incloses the whole. This fact is clearly demonstrated by the re-arranged chalk revealed in rabbh-burrows. Tradition assigns this work to Cymbeline, or Cunobelinus, the king of south-east Britain who was reigning a few years before the Christian era, and about forty years after it ; but the evidence of Neolithic implements found within one of the square inclosures points to earlier occupation of the site. Small fragments of pottery of pre-Roman character have been noticed in the camp by the present writer. The inclosures or baileys may perhaps have contained stockaded villages or places for the shelter and protection of sheep, or indeed for both purposes. No traces of masonry or foundations are seen on the surface of the ground. The work overhangs Icknield Way. On the still higher ground to the south of Cymbeline's Mount there are remains which may possibly be those of ancient hut-floors. k»*L? SCALE OF FEET 0 100 gOO 300 CYMBELINE'S MOUNT, LITTLE KIMBLE ANCIENT EARTHWORKS HOMESTEAD MOATS (Class F) Earthworks of this kind, consisting of simple inclosurcs formed into artificial islands by water-moats, arc found mostly in the lowlands of the county in such districts as the richly pastured plain known as the Vale of Aylesbury. The purpose of the typical homestead moat was to afford protection from marauders or wolves, and possibly to avoid risk of loss of, or damage to, cattle and farm produce from a spreading fire. Yet, although they were not constructed to withstand powerful enemies or regular military operations, they were not infrequently of considerable size. They present much variety of form, as will be seen from the typical examples here figured. The probability is that the homestead moats of Buckinghamshire have been constructed at different periods ; but if, as seems extremely probable, they represent the period when the inhabitants of the county settled down to the regular and systematic pursuit of husbandry, most of the really ancient examples are probably Saxon. In the accompanying plate are represented plans of nine typical or note- worthy forms of homestead moats in Buckinghamshire. Fig. i. — A very simple square inclosure with entrance at north-east corner : Horton. Fig. 2. — A very similar example in which the water, represented in solid black, has probably shrunk in bulk, leaving precipitous sides within and without the moat : Bow Brickhill. Fig. 3. — A completely surrounded square island, the moat being crossed by a bridge : Horton Hall, Slapton. Fig. 4. — Two square islands surrounded by a moat : Apsley, Little Kimble. Fig. 5. — A curiously shaped semicircular island surrounded by a moat, with an entrance at the south-western side : Church Farm, Pitstone. Fig. 6. — A nearly regular five-sided island entirely surrounded by a moat : Little Pednor Farm, Chesham. Fig. 7. — A curiously irregular moat, roughly square outside, with narrow entrance on north side : East End, North Crawley. Fig. 8. — Dry moat at Cippenham, Burnham, inclosing the site of the palace of Richard, earl of Cornwall and king of the Romans, therefore probably a work of the thirteenth century, or earlier. Fig. 9. — An irregularly shaped moat and inclosure, with a strengthening rampart on the north-east and east : Dinton. The following is a list, which has no pretension to completeness, of homestead moats in Buckinghamshire : — ASHLEY GREEN. — Moat inclosing ruins of chapel. ASTON ABBOTS. — Remains of a moat. ASTON CLINTON. — Rectangular moat : also a dry moat at Vatche's Farm. ASTON SANDFORD. — A moat one mile north-east of church. ASTWOOD. — Portions of a moat at The Bury : also a small quadrangular moat. AYLESBURY. — Moat ij miles east of the town. 29 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE BIERTON. — Moat J mile south of the village. BOARSTALL. — Two quadrangular moats. Bow BRICKHILL. — Simple quadrangular moat (see fig. 2). BRADWELL ABBEY. — Irregularly shaped moat at Moat House ; and remains of a circular moat. BROUGHTON BY BIERTON. — Moat at Manor Farm. BUCKLAND. — Moat of irregular quadrangular form, near Moat Farm. BURNHAM. — Moat of large size and somewhat mutilated, at Burnham Abbey : also moat round site of royal palace at Cippenham (see fig. 8). BURNHAM BEECHES. — Harlequin's Moat. CHEDDINGTON. — Moat near Cheddington Manor House. CHESHAM. — Moat at Little Pednor Farm (see fig. 6). CHETWODE. — Moat near church and Priory House. CHICHELEY. — Moat i mile east of church. CLAYDON, EAST. — Portions of a quadrangular moat. CRAWLEY, NORTH. — Curious moat inclosing five small ponds at Up End ; also moat at the manor-house at East End. DENHAM. — Moat at Denham Lodge. DINTON. — Irregular moat, with protecting rampart (see fig. 9). DRAYTON BEAUCHAMP. — Irregular moat, consisting possibly of three nearly related inclosures. EDLESBOROUGH. — Moat at Church Farm, and another at Manor Farm. Moat at Butler's Farm. ELLESBOROUGH. — Moats at Nash Lee, Terrick House, Grove Farm, and Chalkshire Farm. GRENDON UNDERWOOD. — Moat of irregular form near the church. HAMPDEN, GREAT. — Moat at Moat Farm, Kiln Common. HANSLOPE. — Moat (part of) at Ivy Farm. HARDMEAD. — Oblong moat at Astwood Farm : also a moat almost sur- rounding the site of Hardmead Manor House. HARTWELL. — Moat 2 miles south-east of church. HAVERSHAM. — Nearly complete quadrangular moat near church. HOGSHAW. — Moat near Hogshaw Farm : also remains of rectangular moat at Fulbrook Farm. HORSENDEN. — Irreguhr fragments of moat. There is also a fairly com- plete but irregular moat at Roundabout Wood. HORTON. — Moat at Horton Hall. Another to the south-west of Horton Mills (see fig. i). Remains of Moat at Berkin Manor. HORWOOD, LITTLE. — Moat at Moat Farm. HULCOTT. — Quadrangular moat, with entrance at north-west corner. IVINGHOE. — Moat of quadrangular form, with extension to the north- east. KIMBLE, GREAT. — Moat at Marsh. Moat of irregular form at Grange Farm. KIMBLE, LITTLE. — Moat at Apsley : with double inclosure (see fig. 4). LANGLEY MARISH. — Moat, of lozenge form, at Parlaunt Park Farm ; two other moats at ' Trenches ; ' and another at Parsonage Farm. LAVENDON. — Lavendon Grange and site of Lavendon Abbey, also at Uphoe Manor House. 30 N N N N N TYPICAL EXAMPLES OP HOMESTEAD MOATS IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE LUDGERSHALL. — Small quadrangular moat ; also moat, of irregularly quadrangular form, at Tetchwich Farm. MARSTON, NORTH. — Two moats, 2 and 3 miles west of the village. MARSWORTH — Moat at Marsworth Great Farm. MISSENDEN, GREAT. — Moat at Bury Farm. MURSLEY. — Moat to the south of the village. OLNEY. — Moat in the township of Warrington. PITSTONE. — Moat inclosing a nearly semicircular space at Church Farm (see fig. 5). PRINCES RISBOROUGH. — Fragment of moat at the old vicarage ; another adjacent moat, partly dry, but originally quadrangular, called ' The Mount.' QUAINTON. — Moat, possibly once quadrangular, of large size, at Dod- dershall House. QUARRENDON. — Two moats of quadrangular form. RAVENSTONE. — Remains of a moat, originally of some importance. SHENLEY CHURCH END. — Moat adjoining the rectangular camp. SHERINGTON. — Nearly quadrangular moat inclosing manor-house. SIMPSON. — Moat i mile south-east of church. SOULBURY. — Dry moat to the south of Liscombe Park. STEWKLEY. — Moat near Stewkley Church. STOKE GOLDINGTON. — Dry moat at Church Farm ; also a nearly rectangular moat, with entrance on west side. STOKE MANDEVILLE. — Moat at Moat Farm. STOKE POGES. — Moat at Ditton Park. TATTENHOE. — Moat near church. WENDOVER. — Two moats 2 miles west of the town. WESTON TURVILLE. — Small circular moat to the west of Weston Manor House ; a dry moat ; small fragment of moat ; and another moat at Manor Farm. WEXHAM. — Moats of irregular forms at Wexham Court. WING. — Traces of moat at Ascott Hall. WOTTON UNDERWOOD. — Moat (fragments of) at Moat Farm. It is noteworthy that the homestead moats of Buckinghamshire, which are generally of square, normal shape, in many cases inclose a space which is associated with farmsteads bearing the suggestive appellations of manor farm, moat farm, &c. In some homestead moats in the county one may find considerable irregularity of shape, a circumstance which is probably due to enlargement or modification arising from the amalgamation of several adjacent inclosures. The distribution of homestead moats in Buckinghamshire, as elsewhere, is largely governed by the presence or absence of water. They are to be found in some abundance in the valleys and low-lying ground in the middle and northern parts of the county, and even on the sides of the Chilterns and other hills up to about 400 ft. above ordnance datum. This is at the present time much above the level where water usually occurs, but probably it was not so when the homestead-moats were constructed. ANCIENT EARTHWORKS STRONG DEFENSIVE INCLOSURES (CLASS G) An earthwork which apparently belongs to this class is the circular moat-like work which incloses Hawridge Court. ANCIENT VILLAGE SITES (CLASS H) There is an important inclosure, once stockaded, which may be placed in this class, at Hoggeston, a parish in the north of the county, situated 3$ miles to the south-east of Winslow. The following particulars have been very kindly furnished by the Rev. C. H. Tomlinson, rector of Hoggeston. The inclosure, which is oblong in shape with rounded corners, is of large size, measuring nearly a quarter of a mile from east to west, and about one-eighth part of a mile from north to south. The inclosing ditch is more pronounced on the east and west sides than on the north and south, but it is quite clearly traceable all round. Towards the north-east corner of and within the inclosure there is a pond, and there is another pond on the south side, and still another close to the eastern ditch on the outside. The church and rectory house are inside the inclosure. The probability is that this was an original settlement in the Forest of Bernwood, entrenched and stockaded as a defence against wild beasts and unfriendly neighbours. MISCELLANEOUS EARTHWORKS (CLASS X) GREAT MISSENDEN : EARTHWORKS IN BRAY'S WOOD. — The rectangular banks of which these works consist comprise a complete square inclosure with an imperfect oblong inclosure partly surrounding it, but lying mainly to the west. In the present condition of the works it is not possible to say whether the three remaining sides of the oblong were ever completed by a fourth side in such a way as entirely to surround the square work, but there are one or two points which seem to indicate that such was not the case. The probability is that the square por- tion of the entrenchments was constructed for the protection of a dwelling-house or small collection of houses, whilst the oblong addition SCAUEOF FECT 100 200 300 33 CAMP IN BRAY'S WOOD, GREAT MISSENDEN 5 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE served as a defence for the outbuildings and cattle. The discovery 6 of fragments of Roman pottery and remains of buildings actually inside this square inclosure rather confirms this view, and, although suggesting occupation of the spot during the Roman period, by no means precludes the possibility of an earlier or a later origin. To the east there are some minor works which may have been field inclosures. One of them is broken, giving access to a pond, doubtless for the benefit of cattle. Whatever may have been the condition of the square inclosure in pre-historic and in Roman times, it is known that in much later days a moated house was built upon the site, and early in the nineteenth century large quantities of building material, flints, &c., were carted away. The whole place has been much obscured and damaged by a dense growth of forest trees. Other remains of miscellaneous earthworks which may be mentioned are (i) the defensive works of Bolbeck Castle at Whitchurch ; (2) works at Brill near the church ; (3) works at Ivinghoe and Pitstone Hills ; and (4) works near Great Kimble Church. There is a roughly square entrenchment, called Grove Bank, 2j miles north-east of Chesham. At its north-wrest are some traces of walling, as if intended for a castle, but now levelled. At Oving there is a circular camp, and at Medmenham there are two works, viz. Danesditch and States Farm Camp. GRIMES DYKE. — There are several variations in the popular name of this important earthwork ; Grymes, Grymer's, or Grim's Dyke or Ditch being amongst the most common. Of the great antiquity of the work there can be no doubt. It is mentioned in a charter of the time of Henry III, and the important place it occupies in local folk-lore is sufficient indication, one may imagine, of its very early historic, or even pre-historic, antiquity. The purpose of the great ditch or dyke is a matter of some uncertainty, but it seems clear that it should be included in this account of the ancient earth- works of Buckinghamshire, through which county it runs. Grimes Dyke is, as its name suggests, a ditch of considerable importance. It consists of a fosse and rampart which, in certain more perfect parts, measure about 40 ft. in width and 30 ft. in depth. Its course, which one writer 7 considers to be its main feature, runs through the southern part of Buckinghamshire along the Chiltern Hills. The ditch keeps within the platform of the high ground of the hills. It is by no means easy to follow its exact course, but the writer 8 just referred to, who evidently had an intimate knowledge of the district, points out that it has been traced from Bradenham, whence it runs in bold outline through the woods to Lacey Green, forming the boundary of the parish of Princes Risborough. Thence, turning at an angle, it maintains its conspicuous course by Redland End, through Hampden Park, where, again turning sharply round, it runs near Hampden House, and onwards towards Great Missenden. Crossing the valley the course of the ditch runs near King's Ash, in Wendover parish ; then, passing through woods near St. Leonards, it continues in a now muti- lated state over Wigginton Common, and is met with in full preservation 6 Rev. W. J. Burgess, Rec. of Bucks, i, 171. 'Ibid. 1,25. 8Op. cit. 34 ANCIENT EARTHWORKS above Berkhampstead, in Hertfordshire. Crossing the valley northward at that point it stretches over Berkhampstead Common towards Ashridge. The purpose of Grimes Dyke is a question which has exercised the minds and imaginative powers of many people in different periods. Some have wildly suggested that ' Grim ' is a translation of Severus, whilst the character of the name itself clearly attributes the work to a supernatural origin. Another theory is that this great ditch running along the Chiltern Hills served as a line of embankments to connect the strongholds of West Wycombe, Cholesbury, and other camps by which it passes. The obvious objec- tion to this explanation is that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to defend such an extremely extended bulwark without the aid of an armed force which was entirely out of the question at the time. Again, it cannot have been constructed for a roadway, because it passes over hills too steep for vehicles. It is quite certain that it could not have been constructed for purposes of fortification, because the works are less developed on low ground than they are on steep hills. It seems almost certain that this ancient line of fosse and rampart was intended to serve as a boundary-mark, separating the districts occupied by different tribes or principalities. It is clear, too, that such an extensive line of earthworks must have been the work of peaceable times, and of a large combination of willing hands. Such operations as these would have been impossible in war-like times, and in the presence of active and belligerent enemies.' Without presuming to have finally settled what has long been a vexed question amongst antiquaries, we may suggest this as a useful working theory. It is possible, of course, that future discoveries may have the effect of proving quite clearly that the earthworks were made for another purpose, but in the meanwhile the boundary-mark theory seems to be open to few if any objections. In conclusion the writer desires to express his thanks for valuable assis- tance, particularly in reference to little-known earthworks, courteously given by Mr. A. Hadrian Allcroft, M.A.,and Mr. C. Angell Bradford, F.S.A., and to the late Mr. I. Chalkley Gould, F.S.A., for kindly reading the proofs of this article. * Arch. Journ. xiv, 272-4. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY * "W" T is true of this County, that it liveth more by its lands than by its hands. Such the fruitfulness, venting the native commodities thereof at great rates (thank the vicinity of London, the best chapman), that no handicrafts of note, save what are common to other counties, are used therein excepting any will instance in bone lace, much thereof being made about Owldney in this county.' This description of Buckinghamshire in Fuller's Worthies of England1 sums up the conditions of social and eco- nomic life in the county for many centuries. Until the eighteenth century, when lace-making was extensively carried on, the population was occupied mainly in agriculture and those trades supplementary to it. Corn-dealers, brewers, butchers, masons and men employed in other branches of the building trades, weavers and fullers, tailors, shoemakers, and hatters are the tradesmen that most frequently appear in the county. The county is divided into two very distinct divisions by its natural features. In the Chiltern districts the greater proportion of the land is arable and well wooded. To the north of the Chiltern Hills lies the Vale of Aylesbury, a famous pasture country, stretching from the foot of the Chilterns and the borders of Oxfordshire to the western boundary of Hertfordshire, and on the north as far as Wingrave, Wing, and Whitchurch, though the country lying beyond is sometimes included in the vale. Leland ' describes the Vale as being ' cleane barren of wood and is champaine,' and in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries its pasture was mainly used for sheep-farming, but later, and at the present day, dairy-farming has been found far more profitable owing to the great demand in the London market. The towns of Buckinghamshire at no time occupied a very important place in the economic history of the county. In the Domesday Survey Buckingham was the only borough mentioned separately, though a few burgesses were found on the manor of Newport. Aylesbury and Wendover only appear as manors in the hands of the king, and Wycombe as a town is not mentioned at all. In the Hundred Rolls* two towns are mentioned, Newport Pagnel and Wycombe, but they were held as parts of a manor, and paid whatever service was due to the lord of the manor. Certain privileges and exemptions were claimed at Newport Pagnel : no hidage was paid, and some unspecified payment was not made from the borough because the bur- gesses had no land except 'free burgage.' At High Wycombe the whole 1 p. 193 (ed. Nutttll). ' I tin. iv. ' llund. R. (Rec. Cora.), i. The reference to Wycombe is for a grant of King John. 37 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE manor had been held by King John, but he had granted it away in two parts, the ' surburbum ' to Robert de Vipont and the whole borough to Alan Basset, who paid a rent of £20 a year. None of the boroughs in the county were incorporated by royal charter until the sixteenth century, but at Chepping Wycombe, as the borough is still called, a fine was levied between the lord and the burgesses in 1226 or 1 2 27,* and was confirmed by successive kings. The burgesses complained that Alan Basset had done them certain damages and injuries contrary to the liberties which they held of the ancestors of the king, and Alan granted to them the whole borough and town of Wycombe, with the rents, markets, and fairs, and with all other things appertaining to a free borough. Alan reserved his demesnes and lands in the ' foreigns ' and certain privileges, but the bur- gesses were to pay the rent and the service of one knight due to the king. In 1237-8 the king confirmed this fine, with a slight alteration in the rent — the fee-farm of the burgesses was £30 and I mark of silver. Alan Basset had also the right to take tallage in the borough whenever the king tallaged his demesnes. The fine was also confirmed by Edward I and Henry IV, and took the place to a certain extent of a royal charter. At High Wycombe a ledger has been preserved in which the important orders made by the officers of the borough were entered from time to time. The first entry was made early in the fourteenth century, and mentions the merchant gild and the officers of the borough : Every son and heir of every burgess shall have the liberty of the Gild of Merchants after the death of his father by hereditary descent according to the custom of the town, and gives 10^., viz. id. to the mayor, ^d. to the clerk, \d. to the sub-bailiff, 8a. to the gildans, ^d. to the Master of the Hospital of St. John. This is the only mention of the merchant gild until the charter of Philip and Mary, and at this time its membership was evidently co-extensive with the number of burgesses. The chief officers were the mayor and bailiffs, the sub-bailiff, the clerk, and the gildans. The gildans were responsible for the management of the market and the preservation of the trading rights of the gild. In 1316 an order was issued concerning the weavers who wished to work in the borough. Previously they had paid \2d. a year to the gildans for every loom working, but this was remitted, apparently to encourage weavers to settle in the town. The order was made in ' plena magna Gilda,' but, in 1313, an order to the butchers was made ' In magna et plena curia villate de Wycumb de unanimo consensu communitatis.' At the end of the fifteenth century a similar order restraining the freedom of the corn-dealers in the market was ' ordeyned by the avys of the sayd mayre and hes brederne with th' assent and grant of all the Broges and Commonoulties of the town of Wicombe for a fast and staboll Act.' The tribute of the corn-dealers was to be paid to the bailiff and not to the gildans, and probably the merchant gild had been completely identified with the borough. The mayor's 'brederne' were presumably the bailiffs. In 1398 there were strict orders that no one of any condition should wander about the town after ten o'clock at night \, if anyone was found out of doors without a reasonable cause he might be seized, punished, and detained until set at liberty by the mayor and commonalty. 4 Feet of F. Bucks. 10 Hen. III. 38 SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY The privileges of the borough court were also closely guarded ; the pay- ment of a fine or imprisonment was the punishment for a burgess impleading anyone without the borough unless permission had been obtained from the mayor. At Aylesbury there are no records at all before the sixteenth century, but no sort of incorporation was effected by the inhabitants. In 1 500 ' the lord of the manor held the courts as for an ordinary manor, the court-leet and view of frankpledge and the ' Curte,' no mention being made of bur- gesses or of a borough court of any kind. Buckingham was a borough by prescription, though it never sent members to Parliament until the sixteenth century. In the fourteenth * cen- tury two precepts were sent to the borough by Edward III to send two representatives to a council. The precepts were addressed to the mayor and two bailiffs, the borough officials. In a court roll7 in 1454—5 the names of the courts held in the town are found. The ' Curia Burgentum ' was held once in the year, the ' port mot ' once a month, but the entries are not enlightening ; in the former two men made default, in the latter there were frequent presentments for making and selling bread under weight, but there are no entries as to the trade or government of the town, nor is there any mention of the merchant gild amongst the records of the borough.8 Wendover, Amersham,9 and Great Marlow 10 sent members to Parlia- ment in the reigns of Edward I, Edward II, and Edward III, and in consequence obtained incorporation in the seventeenth century ; but they were small market towns of little importance. Colnbrook ll was another market town that was incorporated from 1544 to 1653. At different times markets were held in thirty-seven places in the county, besides many fairs ; of these the markets of Aylesbury, Wycombe, and Buckingham were of great importance. The tolls, piccage, and stallage dues of a market were part of the perquisites of the lord of the manor until a town was incorporated, so that only at Chepping Wycombe did the borough control and receive the profits from the market. In the Domesday Survey the county was divided into eighteen hundreds or districts for the purposes of local government, but some time before 1285'* they were consolidated and formed into six groups, each containing three of the old divisions, the 'Three Hundreds' of Buckingham, Newport, Cottesloe, Ashendon, Aylesbury, and the Chiltern Hundreds of Desborough, Burnham, and Stoke. It is noteworthy that in this county the king retained all the hundreds in his own hand. Hence the local courts were held by the sheriff, the chief royal official in the county, and through him the king received the ferm of the shire and other dues. In spite, however, of the administrative and criminal jurisdiction being thus controlled by the officers of the crown, the Hundred Rolls show that at the end of the reign of Henry III, corruption, oppression, and abuse of power were rampant. • Arch. 1. 93. * Browne Willis, Hut. of Buckingham, 41 : P.R.O. Court Rolls, ptfo. 155-6. 1 From information kindly given by Mr. T. R. Hearn, town clerk of the borough of Buckingham. ' Lipscomb, Hut. and Antiq. of Biukt. iii, 161. " Ibid. 597. " Ibid, iv, 430-1. " FeuJ. Aids (Rec. Com.), i, 89. 39 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE Bailiffs and sub-bailiffs of the hundreds, escheators and coroners, with their subordinates all exercised their different offices and all, from the highest to the lowest, regarded them as sources of personal profit. Various inquisitions were held during the thirteenth century to bring to light all such irregularities. In the hundreds of Bonestowe, Molesho, and Seggelawe, the sheriff had gradually raised the ferm since 1265 from IOQJ. to jTS, and the hundreds of Newport had suffered a similar increase. On another occasion the sheriff received money due to the king, gave no receipt for it, and never accounted for it in the royal exchequer. Again, he exacted a fine for beau- pleader at Chicheley which was not due from the township. Whether the sheriff personally or the king was the gainer in this case does not appear. The coroners extorted money from the various townships when they came to hold inquests, and Elias de Eugaine, a bailiff, imprisoned a man, Hugh son of Hugh by name, without cause and held him in durance until payment of 105^. was made. Bribery was also rife amongst all officials. The same Elias de Eugaine, when sheriff, accepted money to excuse men from serving on inquest ; the coroners and bailiffs took bribes from different places to conceal crimes committed within their boundaries, and to connive at the escape of prisoners from gaol. The escheators who came to take possession of the lands falling in to the king, do not seem to have been the personal gainers by the irregularities practised, but the heirs of the last tenants suffered in many ways from the wrongful seizure of land. In the fourteenth century a special assize ls was held by the itinerant justices of all ' Oppressions and Extortions.' The sheriffs and bailiffs were still guilty of similar offences, but a prominent place was given to irregu- larities in the collection of wool granted to the king. The collectors were accused of refusing to give receipts for wool they had taken, or else of weighing it falsely. To gain any picture of the social condition of the inhabitants of Buck- inghamshire in the Middle Ages, recourse must be had not to the towns but almost exclusively to manorial records, for the manor was the unit around which the whole local life of the country revolved. The manors were for the most part in the hands of lay lords, for until the twelfth century there were no religious houses in the county itself, though a few manors were held by monasteries outside its boundaries.14 Later the foundations were numerous, but they were all small and included no house of the first importance. In consequence, there are no great collections of docu- ments concerning the lands and tenants of the monasteries, which elsewhere contribute so largely to the materials for the social history of the twelfth and the two succeeding centuries. An early extent of the manors of Missenden Abbey for the fourteenth century exists, and similar documents for one or two manors which were temporarily in the hands of the king, but it is from the court rolls and ministers accounts of lay manors for the most part that all information must be gathered.16 11 Assize R. No. 74. " The abbot of St. Albans claimed to hold Winslow and Horwood by a charter of King Offa ; Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 27. 15 Few of the court rolls or accounts date back to the thirteenth century, but from the method of com- piling the latter, it is possible to obtain information of an earlier date than the actual date of the document. 40 SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY The records in the northern part of the county are extremely scanty, but in the Chiltern districts and the Vale of Aylesbury a fairly complete picture of local organization can be drawn. The private jurisdictions which existed in all parts of England may be divided into two classes, the franchises of regalities, and the feudal rights inherent to the possession of a manor and the mere fact of having tenants. According to the royal theory regalia could only be exercised by a subject in virtue of a direct grant from the crown, and it was this theory that Edward I adopted in the vigorous ' Quo Warranto ' inquiry. Very few lords in these cases could show a definite grant of regalia, but relied on the vague words of the old charters granting ' sac and sok, toll and theam and infangfhief.' In entry after entry in the Quo Warranto Rolls,1' the royal lawyers declared that this formula only gave the right to an ordinary manorial court and not to the view of frankpledge. Some lords too could not even show a charter at all, but could only plead their prescriptive right to hold the view of frankpledge and other royal privileges, the most common of which were the assize of bread and ale, infangthief, waifs and strays, and the right to hold markets and fairs. The great abbeys and barons held many such franchises, and the different manors belonging to the great tenants in chief in some cases formed an ' honour.' The earl of Gloucester held the honour of Giffard," of which Crendon was the chief manor, and lands in the county were parcel of the honours of Dudley, Peverel, Toctesburg, Chester, Berk- hampstead, and Wallingford, the last being in the hands of the earl of Corn- wall, brother of the king. Honour courts are not definitely mentioned in the hundred rolls except for the honour of Peverel. The most important franchises were held by the abbot of St. Albans and by the lords of the honours of Wallingford and Peverel. The abbot at Winslow and Horwood had ' all liberties, pleas of replevin, and the return of writs,' and the earl of Cornwall had the same franchises in the manors of the honour of Wallingford, but in the honour of GifFard the return of writs was not granted, and thus the sheriff and his officers were not excluded from the carl of Gloucester's lands. At Fawley William de Valence held all the pleas belonging to the sheriff, and the abbot of Westminster held the manor of Denham with ' all liberties and regalia ' by charter. The great majority of lords did not possess the important franchises, but a view of frankpledge was held so universally that at one time it must have been regarded as a manorial right rather than as a royal jurisdiction. At the same time, however, small payments were made by some lords for this right to the sheriff or bailiff of the hundred. The feudal lords held the view of frankpledge for their men, with- drawing their suit from the sheriff's view, and making their manorial court a court for the presentment of offences against the peace. The jury of twelve freeholders was continually dispensed with ; probably on many manors it could not be obtained, but in spite of this the lord still held his view. Thus at Kingsey, Cippenham, and Eton, for instance, in the fourteenth century only the tithing-men made presentments. On the other hand, in the Fawley courts, the twelve free jurors were regularly called u Plac. de Quo tTarranto for Bucb. " HtaiJ. R. (Rcc. Com.), i. 2 41 6 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE together and made a separate presentment. Generally they merely said that everything was well, but occasionally some concealed offence was presented by them. The business of the court was a review of the tithings and the presentment of offences against the peace. For certain offences the lord himself levied fines. He thus was responsible for the condition of the roads, and dealt with encroachments and poaching. If he also held other franchises, such as the assizes of bread and ale, and waifs and strays, the numerous offenders were presented at the view of frankpledge, and finally the tithing- men gave a fine to the lord de certo from their tithings. The view of frankpledge was afterwards called the court-leet of the manor. The name was used once at Fawley, in I377,18 but afterwards the older designation of the court reappeared. In 1500 there was a court-leet at Aylesbury, but at Wingrave the name had not been introduced sixty years later. Besides the jurisdiction originating in a grant from the crown the lord of a manor had the right, inherent to the possession of a manor, to hold a court for his tenants, both free and customary. In the fourteenth century there was no trace of any divisions of courts for the two classes of tenants. At that time the free tenants had, when possible, withdrawn their suit, and the service was specially noted in their charters if it was to be exacted. It was, however, extremely difficult to enforce the attendance of the more important tenants, and a long list of absent free tenants continually began the business of the court, although the lord could distrain their goods for default. For the customary tenants on the other hand the manorial court was the only court of justice. The suits between tenants were so numerous as to suggest that litigation was one of the few excitements in an otherwise monotonous life. The chief actions were for debt and trespass, and were decided by the verdict of recognitors. Pledges for appearance and fines for non-appearance in these suits were levied by the lord, so that the perquisites of the court were a valuable asset. At Kingsey,19 for instance, Thomas Chapman summoned William de Aston to recover a debt of js. William denied that he owed the money, and put himself ' at law.' He was, however, unable to find the necessary pledges, and so was held to be convicted of the debt, which Thomas was to recover, with damages to the same amount. In another case Henry le Webbe accused John le Cornmonger and his wife Isabella of having harboured the son of the Cornmonger after he had killed a pig belonging to the plaintiff, worth %d. The plea failed, however, since John and Isabella were not held to be responsible, and Henry was fined for making a false accusation. In other cases the plaintiffs came to terms before the end of the suit, and paid a fine to the lord for leave to make a formal agreement. Cases of disputed inheritance of customary land were brought to the lord's court and settled by the evidence of the suitors. All grants of lands, both free and customary, were recorded in the Court Rolls, in the latter case the actual transfer of the land being made in court, while fines and dues were also paid to the steward in the same place. Lastly, fines were exacted in punishment of all encroachments on the " B.M. Add. R. 27029, rot. 2, i. «• P.R.O. Ct. R. ptfo. 155, No. 15. 42 SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY lord's rights. The presentments of the hayward for trespass in the meadows, for instance, were accepted apparently without any trial, and the offenders fined. An entry in a roll at Kingsey 20 suggests, however, that the tenants had some control over the amount of the fines. Omnes tenentes tarn liberi (quam) nativi consensierunt quod si aliquis eorum convincatur super dampno facto cum animalibus suis in prato de Suthmcd, nisi quibus dc suo proprio, quod dabunt domine 6d. nomine pene. At Fawley" a distinction was made in the presentment of different offences. In questions concerning land if any point was put to the suitors for evidence the presentment was made by the whole homage, but on other occasions the presentment was made only by the bondsmen in matters that affected none but the unfree suitors of the court. The manor of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries may be regarded as an independent community, very nearly self-supporting, having little communication with other places outside its immediate neighbourhood. Its population was almost entirely agricultural, but in spite of the similarity of occupation there was a remarkable difference of status between the members of the community ; in each manor some of the inhabitants were freemen, others were serfs or bondsmen, described in the Latin of the time as nativi domini or villani. These latter were probably in the majority on most of the Buckingham- shire manors, but exceptions were to be found. At Beaumond," a very small manor in Little Missenden, the list of tenants in 1333 comprised eleven freemen and six bondsmen, but earlier the number of bondsmen may have been larger, since in the fourteenth century the class was already diminishing. This difference of status had its counterpart in the system of land tenure. Within the manor the land was divided into two parts, one of which, the demesne, was generally cultivated by the lord or his steward for the maintenance of himself and his household, while the other was granted to different tenants. Some of these tenants held freely and some in villeinage, and the distinction in tenure as a rule corresponded to the distinction in status, but exceptions were to be found, though not as a rule until the personal disabilities of a villein were disappearing. At Fawley the parson, a freeman, held a tenement in villeinage, for the services tended to become inherent upon the tenements apart from their tenants. The free tenants of a manor were bound to their lord in two ways : there was the personal tie created by the performance on entry into their land of homage and fealty, by which they became the ' men ' of their lord, and also the relation created by the grant of the land in return for money or service. The different kinds of free-tenure were entirely unconnected with the size and importance of the tenement, and their characteristics were the same for a great baron and for the humblest freeholder within a manor. From the Conquest the right in all land emanated from a grant from the crown, but the tenants in chief might grant their land to sub-tenants, so that there might be many lords between the king and the man in actual seisin of a piece of land. " P.R.O. Ct. R. ptfo. ijs, No. 15, m. 8. " B.M. Add. R. 27027. " P.R.O. Ct. R. ptfo. 155, No. *. 43 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE In Buckinghamshire the most common form of tenure in chief was tenure by military service, the tenant holding his land in return for provid- ing so many knights to serve in the royal army. In 1 166 23 a full return was made of the number of knights due from the land of the military tenants in chief, each of whom had enfeoffed the majority of his knights. Thus Earl Walter GifFard held no land in demesne (for which he would have to supply knights to the king's army) within the county, all his quota of service having been distributed among ninety-six knights, and these knights did service for their land which they held of him. The size of these grants was very various, for Hugh Bolebec owed the earl the service of twenty knights, and Geoffrey the son of William twenty-six knights, but others had only to provide half the service due from one knight. In other cases, however, part of the land alone had been granted away ; William Malduit thus provided four and a half knights from his demesne, depending most probably on the service of members of his household, and when that was not available employing hired soldiers, for the word miles at this time meant little more than a mounted soldier. A tenure in many ways akin to military service was that of serjeanty ; it was called grand serjeanty when the tenant held of the king, and petty serjeanty when he held of a mesne lord. The tenant in serjeanty performed some specially personal service for his lord, and in grand serjeanty he could alienate no part of his land without leave. Several such tenancies were found in Buckinghamshire. At ' Aston and Ilmire ' ** John son of Bernard held of the king by the serjeanty of keeping his hawks ; Thomas son of Bernard 2t held i oo solidatae of land by the serjeanty marescancie accepitrum domini regis. The most interesting example, however, was at Aston Clinton. The manor was held by William de Montagu 26 in grand serjeanty, but under the previous lord much of the land had been alienated to tenants who paid him a money rent. This had been done without the king's licence, and when Robert S7 Passelewe was sheriff part of this rent was recovered to the king and was paid through the lord of the manor. The demesne land of the manor had, however, undergone another change, being held by military tenure by the service of one knight ; but so late as the reign of Edward VI K the tenants were still paying their rent under the name of serjeanty. On the foundation of monastic houses the donors as a rule granted their lands in ' frankalmoin,' i.e. a tenure for which the grantee did spiritual service only. The most common service performed was that of praying for the souls of the grantor and his ancestors. By an inquisition the monastery of Biddlesden 29 was said to hold all its lands in frankalmoin, but not all the houses were so fortunate. When land was held by military service or serjeanty, the abbot himself was responsible for its performance and the lands were distinguished as the abbot's temporalities. The abbot of Missen,denso thus held land at Aston Clinton by serjeanty ; at Kimble he held 20 hides of land by military service. Lastly, freehold land was held by common socage, that is, a money rent was paid by the tenant. The older monastic feoffments were often made n Cartae Baronum, Black Bk. of Exch. " Hmd. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 25. K Ibid. 27. K Hund R. (Rec. Com.), i, 20. " Testa de Nevill (Rec Com.), 256, 257. 18 P R.O. Mins. Accts. Edw. VI. w Harl. MS. 84, £.31. K Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 20, 31. 44 SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY in common socage. The prior of St. Frideswide's,'1 at Oxford, held Upper Winchendon of the king by ancient feoffment for the sum of £20 a year. The abbot of St. Albans held land in Oving," paying 5 marks a year, but the jurors, when the inquisition was taken, stated that no one remembered the origin of the grant. Lay lords of manors holding for a money rent are also to be found. Alan Basset held half of Wycombe, including the borough, for 2OJ. a year, and Towersey was also held by socage in chief of the king. Socage tenure was, however, most usually found amongst the smaller free- holders in a manor, and often a few agricultural services were also performed for the lord ; the tenant did fealty and suit at the manorial court. The status of a villein brought with it many disabilities, but the con- ditions described in the law-books" of the time seem to have been much mitigated in practice. At Ilmer, in a survey taken of the manor in 1337—8,** there is a list of the most important burdens laid on a villein. He might be elected to the office of reeve ; on his death his lord received the best four- legged beast or the produce of the best half-acre of his land chosen by the lord in place of the beast. His son could not be clerked nor his daughter married without his lord's consent. He might not sell his horse or ox, nor leave the fee of his lord without permission ; for, in the language of Bracton the chief legal commentator of the thirteenth century, he was asc riptus glebae. That these restrictions were fully enforced the Court Rolls of different manors afford abundant evidence. At Kingsey s* a man was presented at the court and fined for having sold his beast without leave. In theory all the posses- sions used by a villein were said to belong to his lord, but in practice he was recognized as an owner of property, since instances occur of a villein buying his freedom of his lord. At Kingsey there is the following entry at a court held in 1317— 18, ' Et predicta Elena dat domine los. pro se et sequela s* sua a servitute liberanda . . . .' The legal disabilities of a villein were also very great, since the royal courts only recognized his existence through his lord ; and, except in the case of danger to his life or limb, he had no remedy against any act of his lord. The Assize Rolls87 of the itinerant justices continually contain cases of land suits being dismissed because one of the litigants was of servile condition, owing to his descent from villein ancestors. Up to this point the disabilities enumerated all resulted from the personal status of the villein, but they were even more stringent with regard to his land. Various classes amongst the tenants in villeinage were to be found, but the terms of their tenure were all of the same type ; unlike the free tenants they were distinguished from one another by the amount of land attached to the different tenements. Generally there were two main classes — the cus- tomary tenants and the cottagers. The latter appear under various names in Latin, the most common being cotterelli and cottarii, but all refer to the lowest class of tenants. There seem to be no records in Buckinghamshire which show how these two classes developed from those found in the Domesday manors. In the 11 llund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 27. " Ibid. 23. * Cf. Bracton. Extracts in Digby's History of tht Lam tf Real Properly. " P.R.O. Rentals and Surv. R. 79. " PRO. Ct. R. ptfo. 155, No. 16. " Ibid. No. 1 5. * Assize R. Bucks. 54. 45 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE eleventh century there were generally sokemen, who often might leave or sell their land at pleasure, ' villeins,' ' bordars,' ' cottars,' and ' serfs.' In the earliest thirteenth-century records38 only villeins and cottagers are to be found, the other classes having entirely disappeared. A fairly numerous class of small freeholders had arisen, developed apparently from the sokemen and some of the Domesday villeins. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the villein tenements were held at the will of the lord, and in the latter period also according to the custom of the manor. Each tenement was granted in full court to the new tenant by the lord or steward, some outward token passing from hand to hand.39 The rent and services were agreed upon, but the tenant had no other security against ejection or the demand for increased services than the custom of the manor. None of the royal writs and assizes, which protected the freeholder, could be used by a villein to recover possession of his land. In practice, however, the rents, fines, and services in each manor were fixed — all tenants of the same size of holdings performed the same services, and no change took place in them year after year — for it was of no advantage to the lord, who depended on his tenants' labour, to make the terms of their tenure impossible. One of the most usual forms of grant for customary land is to be found continually in the Fawley Court Rolls. A messuage and tenement were granted to a man, his wife, and his son, according to the custom of the manor, a heriot being taken on the death of each of them. At other times customary tenements were practically hereditary ; at Ilmer40 the eldest son possessed the tenement in which his father died on payment of a fine, and subject to the widow's interest. The tenement, of course, still had to be surrendered into the lord's hand, but custom decreed that the son should have it back on payment of a fine for entry. The tenant in villeinage could not demise or sell his land without leave. In a roll" of 1331 at Westcott, Richard Audren was fined for having demised his land at firm without his lord's consent. A few years later Thomas Benhul 43 had exchanged i acre of land for another, and it was ordered that the land should be seized into the lord's hand. The new tenant in some manors did fealty to the lord,*8 though in theory this was only due from free tenants. Generally the widow of a villein was entitled to the whole of his tene- ment for life on payment of the heriot ; this was called her 'free-bench,'44 but the phrase does not appear frequently. At Ilmer *° she held the whole tenement only so long as she remained a widow ; on her re-marriage she was entitled to have a house and 4 acres of land of the second-best quality in the tenement in place of her ' dower.' ' Dower,' properly speaking, was only used in connexion with freehold, but the similarity of the conditions led to the misuse of the term in reference to a villein tenement. The similarity, indeed, was so great that at Beaumond45 the widow of a villein had a customary right to one-third only of her husband's land, the regular rule for a tenement held by knight's service. In a few manors another kind of tenancy existed — that of 38 Inq. Hen. Ill, passim. 39 B.M. Add. R. 27030. "" P.R.O. Rentals and Surv. R. 79. 41 P.R.O. Ct. R. ptfo. 155, No. 28. «lbid. no. 28, m. 7. 43 B.M. Add. R. 27026. " P.R.O. Ct. R. ptfo. 155, No. 15. 46 Ibid. No. 2. 46 SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY the sokemen of the ancient demesne. Those manors which were in the hand of the king in Domesday Book were known as the ancient demesne of the crown, and always preserved certain characteristics which never obtained in later acquisitions of crown property. In Buckinghamshire there were only six such manors, Aylesbury, Brill, Wendover, Swanbourne, Princes Risborough, and Upton ; but amongst the tenants there, as in other counties, a special class of privileged villeins arose. Their fines were fixed and also their services, and, still more important, a special writ, the Little Writ of Right Close, ran in the court of the Exchequer, by which they could sue in the royal courts for their tenements. In the thirteenth century at Bierton,** a manor appendant to Aylesbury, certain tenants were summoned to answer an assize of novel disseisin before the itinerant justices, but they pleaded with success that they could only be sued by their special writ, being tenants of the ancient demesne. These rights were continued even after the manor was granted away from the crown, since Aylesbury and Bierton were then held by the descendants of Geoffrey FitzPeter.47 The references to the later history of the sokemen of the ancient demesne are rare, but such tenancies can be traced. At Brill, in 1254,** there were 33 virgates of land held in chief of the king, each of which paid an annual rent of 5^., and performed five days' specified customary work. This in all probability was the sokemen's land, for the tenements and services of ordinary villeins would not have been mentioned, and the exact similarity in the rent and services due from each virgate would scarcely occur in freehold. At Aylesbury,*' in 1517, a Court Roll has been preserved in which the suitors declare ' that all londes and tenements holdyn of the said manor within the manor and lordshypp afor .... as well charter as copyhold to be ympleted be writt of ryght clos after the custom. . . .' At Princes Risborough the fines paid in 1 323-4 M certainly suggest that their amount was fixed ; twice over 31. was paid on entry to a tenement and 6s. for maritagium, but no more details are given for other years. As late as the seventeenth" century, however, the copyholders, who were then the only kind of customary tenants remaining, claimed that the manor had always been reputed to be ancient demesne. The fine on death or alienation was declared to be fixed at the rate of two years' quit-rent or old accustomed rent, which had been zs. a year. Another kind of tenancy was to be found on the manors of Langley Marish " and Cippenham," in the hundred of Stoke. A class of tenants called ' gavelmen ' are mentioned in the ministers' accounts at both places, but there is no clue to their exact status. Probably the men held their land by a tenure on the border-line between freehold and villeinage, but the only definite statement classes them amongst the customary tenants, though their services were very slight. The terms of tenure, whether free or villein, within the manor were closely connected with the system of agriculture generally known as the three-field system. The arable land was divided into three large open fields, * Assize R. 1 188. " Chart. R. 5 John, pt. 117, mm. 6, 7 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. *$ Edvr. I, 50*. - Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 34. " Arch. \. 98. " P.R.O. Min». Accu. bdle. 761, No. 13. " Exch. Dcp. Mich. 26 Chas. II, No. 46 ; Mich. 29 Chts. II, No. 18. " P.R.O. Mint. Accu. bdle. 761, No. 17. " Ibid. bdle. 760, No. 4. 47 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE in which each tenant had so many strips according to the size of his tene- ment, and the demesne land of the lord lay mixed with that of his tenants. The rule of cultivation, each field lying fallow in rotation every third year, was also followed by him. At Ilmer M in 1337—8 the demesne lands were divided in the following manner : — The prima sehona contained 35 acres, I rod, iaf perches of land, and was sown with corn. The secunda sehona contained 62 acres, I rod, 34^ perches, and was sown with beans and peas. The tertia seisana contained 57 acres, 3 rods, n£ perches, which lay fallow. They were evidently scattered amongst the tenants' land, and it is obvious that this division of the fields necessitated a system of cultivation carried out by all who held strips in the field. The interdependence of the lord and his tenants in the cultivation of the manor is clearly shown in Domesday Book, by the careful enumeration of the villeins' ploughs, as well as of those belonging to the demesne. The three-field system in itself had no connexion with the manor ; but in Buckinghamshire, as in the greater part of the country, the tenants of the manor also formed a self-sufficing agricultural community. Each tenement in a manor, as a rule, contained a messuage, arable land, and meadow, with common right in the pastures and woods. The size of a tenement, when given, generally refers to the arable land only, so that if a man was described as holding J virgate of land, this would only refer to his share in the open fields of the manor. In the greater part of Buckinghamshire the land was divided into hides and virgates. The tenants were generally classed according to the parts of a virgate that they held, and virgatarius and semi-virgatarius are the names found on several manors, while at Ilmer quationarius also appears. The cottarii were smaller tenants, who held little or no arable land in the common fields, but only a curtilage or garden. The cultivation of the demesne land was originally carried out by the customary tenants, for the performance of agricultural labour was the condi- tion attached to their tenure. The villeins and cottars worked for their lord a definite number of days in the week, as well as special boon-days at harvest and other important seasons. The amount and kind of work varied in every manor, and in theory was regulated entirely at the will of the lord, but in practice it varied but little during a long period of years, and was fixed by the custom of each manor. At the opening of the fourteenth century a great revolution in manorial economy was taking place. Instead of performing the actual services, the villeins commuted them for a money payment, and the lord cultivated his demesne by wage-paid labourers. The week-work was commuted much earlier than the boon-work, for naturally the right to a supply of extra labour at specially important times was a privilege of great value to the lord, while the week-work was inconvenient to both lord and tenant. In the ministers' accounts, however, the services are still given, as well as their equivalent money value, so that the older state of affairs before com- mutation took place is shown. The customary tenants worked so many days a week, at any work to which they might be set. " P.R.O. Rentals and Surv. R. 79. 48 SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY In Ditton " there were six customary tenants who worked, from the last day of May to i August, every Monday, Thursday, and Friday ; in autumn they worked every day except Saturday, but in both seasons feast- days and vigils were holidays. At Cippenham " the smaller tenants worked for the lord every other day in the winter half-year, but not in Christmas, Easter, and Whitsun weeks ; in summer they worked every day in the week for the space of five weeks and a day. The whole list of services is very characteristic of the duties inherent in servile tenure. There were many customary tenants each holding a quarter, or half, or a whole virgate of land, but the work was accredited to the land itself, and not to the tenant for the time being, proving that the custom of the manor had undergone no altera- tion for a considerable time. From each virgate one acre was ploughed and harrowed, both at the winter and Lenten sowing time. Each virgate threshed and winnowed two bushels of wheat and four bushels of oats, which were carried to the field and sown. In winter the smaller tenants worked three days a week, and in summer every day. In hay harvest one man was sent from each of the i6£ virgates held by twenty-five tenants to mow and make the hay of the whole manor, which, it was reckoned, would take seven days. When the hay was carried each virgate sent two men, probably for four days. Another 3 virgates, held by four tenants, also sent two men each to carry hay for the four days. Thirty-four tenants, holding 2of virgates, sent one man from each virgate for seventeen days to hoe. In autumn the twenty-five tenants, who held i6j virgates, sent two men from each virgate, receiving no food from the lord, every other day from the gules of August till the harvest was finished. In autumn boon-work was also required of the tenants. The twenty- five tenants sent three men from each virgate every other day, except Saturday, receiving one meal a day. Twelve gavelmen sent twenty-one men to reap for one day in autumn, with one meal a day. Thirty tenants, holding 19! virgates, reaped, bound, and cocked in the fields an acre of wheat and an acre of oats for each virgate. From harvest to Michaelmas they also worked every other day. Pre- sumably the tenants did not work for the whole day for the lord as a rule, for it is expressly specified that in summer and autumn after harvest they were to work for the whole day, but there is no clue to the number of hours that they worked at other times. The meal given at the boon-day is also specified, every two men receiv- ing bread, beer, meat or fish, to the value of \d. each, and \d. worth of cheese. In 1322 and 1323" the value of each service per day is given, even of the boon-work, but by no means all the tenants had commuted their services. On the boon-days food was still provided, and the entry of money paid for each separate work was very small ; but on the other hand the number of tenants who paid an assized rent in place of all services due throughout the year does not appear in the account. u P.R.O. Mins. Accts. bdle. 760, No. 1 8. The account it dated I* Edw. II. " Ibid. No. 4. " Ibid. * 49 7 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE Generally, however, in the fourteenth century, even in the list of services such daily work as was done at Ditton and Cippenham is very rare. The tenants did not go to perform any work that might be required of them by the lord's bailiff, but their work had become a certainty, whether plough- ing, hoeing, reaping, &c., so that one of Bracton's proofs of unfree service, its uncertain nature, had nearly disappeared. The different kinds of boon-work found on the Buckinghamshire manors are interesting. At Cuddington M there was a customary service of benerth, which obliged the tenants to sow wheat and barley for their lord ; they received food from him, since in the reign of Henry V an economy in the expenses of this food was effected by employing the farm-servants on the boon-work. At Langley Marish " benerth also was performed, and the custom of ploughing the meadow. A boon-day at Islehampstead Chenies 80 was called a 'Love-bone,' but nothing is said as to its purpose. At harvest time at Langley Marish two boon-days were called 'Water Bedrypes,' at which no beer was given as at an ordinary bedrype at Missenden. In other manors belonging to Missenden Abbey" the harvest boon-day was called the Magna precaria Abbathi. The manorial tenants also made various customary payments for privi- leges allowed by the lord. Pannage'8 for the right of sending their pigs into the lord's woods was paid frequently, and the same payment was called 'Garshanese' both at Langley Marish63 and at Ditton.64 Derfold and bensed are also mentioned at Langley ;65 the latter appears at Wendover,66 when one pint of wheat from every virgate of land held by certain tenants was paid at Martinmas. At Brill a yearly payment was made of 4^. 633 '37 138 '5' '37 '43 146 ii.s 118 Horsenden . . 535 52 34 5° 37 27 5' 45 46 46 39 35 Hulcottft . . 717 117 125 '39 '45 '33 150 '43 125 "9 1 08 88 Kimble, Greatf 2,507 3>6 3>9 360 436 489 501 408 459 422 395 345 Kimble, Little f 850 142 '43 165 176 '77 184 182 203 161 '7o 158 Lee .... 502 150 172 198 186 142 126 116 104 122 "9 125 Missenden, Great 5,820 1,411 ',576 ',735 1,827 2,225 2,097 2,250 2,278 2,170 2,385 2,166 Missenden, Little 3,214 625 678 814 937 1,011 1,142 1,089 1,148 1,113 1,136 1,112 Risborough, 2,873 768 899 934 i, 01 8 ',083 1,064 985 938 847 810 7'4 Monks t Risborough.Princes 4,697 ',554 1,644 1,958 2,122 2,206 2,3 '7 2,392 2,549 2,418 2,318 2,189 Stoke Mandeville f ',773 248 34' 402 461 493 538 477 528 497 480 4" Stone7 1 . . . . 2,568 5'5 592 716 773 809 785 1,094 1,292 1,368 ',433 ',393 Wendover t . . . 5,832 1,397 1,481 1,602 2,008 ',877 ',937 1,932 2,033 1,902 2,036 2,009 Weston Turville J 2,323 497 524 611 637 718 748 724 812 824 79' 720 Buckingham Hundred Addington J . . 1,303 93 99 89 72 84 7« III 141 '34 100 1 02 AdstockJ . . . i, 166 289 3'4 393 445 419 393 385 383 352 330 329 Akeley t . . . . 1,325 245 257 295 291 362 373 366 378 387 380 34i Barton HartshornJ 892 100 92 "3 '45 165 '37 126 127 in 102 78 Beachampton J 1,528 187 217 251 254 248 248 272 283 217 181 1 80 Biddlesden ft • • 2,052 147 160 '75 184 169 144 169 150 125 124 84 ChetwodeJ . . . 1,171 123 98 '3' '49 197 217 '77 '73 '55 170 '57 Edgcottf . . . 1,140 122 121 1 60 i So '95 193 182 224 '87 150 136 FoscottJ . . . 719 85 9' "9 107 "9 99 96 79 72 58 46 HillesdenJ . . . 2,606 183 216 247 251 262 244 251 274 221 '97 181 LeckhampsteadJ . 2,57" 346 397 S'9 499 505 518 482 447 340 302 241 *• See note 3, unit. • Dinlim also extends Into Ashendon and Desborough Hundreds. It is entirely shown In Aylesbury Hundred. ' Slant. — The increase in population in 1861 is attributed to the erection of the County Lunatic Asylum between 1851 and 1861 ; the Asylum was enlarged between 1861 and 1871. 2 97 '3 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE TABLE OF POPULATION, 1801—1901 (continued) PARISH Acre- age 1801 iSn 1821 1831 1841 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901 Buckingham Hundred — cont.) Lillingstone 2,223' III 132 127 150 187 207 198 250 275 273 259 Dayrell ft Lillingstone 1,269' 135 144 1 60 159 140 171 185 152 161 156 '37 LovellfJ Luffield Abbey 216 16 — — 10 5 17 18 5 8 7 6 Extra Par. 8 Maids' Moreton J . 1,366 239 3'S 407 474 570 573 543 5" 448 444 425 Marsh Gibbon J . 2,818 534 6?6 738 812 863 944 858 876 743 696 598 Padbury J . . . 2,029 459 510 618 708 696 660 550 60 1 530 490 439 Preston Bissett J . l.523 322 337 396 502 5i7 554 469 485 344 31' 290 Radclive J . . . 1,186 252 227 296 334 364 387 356 339 367 321 295 Shalstone with] The Den, or h 1,383 158 183 201 198 20 1 247 246 232 1 86 172 205 Old Wick | Steeple Claydon J 3,329 646 704 804 881 849 869 946 906 852 780 721 Stowe't. . . . 3,088 3" 395 478 490 410 342 352 370 338 3" 246 Thornborough J 2,392 458 539 572 673 762 754 694 687 577 564 481 Thornton . . . 1,347 85 70 78 94 101 103 in 103 67 80 78 Tingewick J 2,178 642 711 832 866 911 877 914 945 787 7'4 635 Turweston \ . . 1,295 211 252 3M 371 361 322 335 362 305 269 257 Twyford J : — 4,458 517 547 623 660 754 848 694 596 56i 554 534 Twyford . . . 1,567 296 317 367 416 452 577 429 346 339 349 340 Charndon 7,9/7 146 153 165 160 190 204 170 165 150 131 148 Hamlet Poundon Hamlet 980 75 77 91 84 112 133 95 85 72 74 46 Water Stratford J . I,IO2 143 160 167 1 86 172 179 179 227 1 88 '37 "3 Westbury ft . . 2,530 308 320 345 391 471 458 379 419 417 357 302 Burnham Hundred Amersham \ : — 7,969 2,3M 2,688 3,104 3,313 3,645 3,662 3,550 3,259 3,001 3,129 3,209 Amersham * 6,119 2,130 2,259 2,612 2,816 3,098 3,104 3,0 J 9 2,726 2,500 2,613 2,674 Coleshill Hamlet 1,850 184 429 492 497 547 558 531 533 501 516 535 Beaconsfield J . . 4,5°4 1,149 1,461 1,736 1,763 1,732 1,684 1,662 I,524 1,635 ',773 1,570 Burnham : — 6,866 1,519 1,640 I,9l8 2,137 2,284 2,301 2,233 2,281 2,356 2,9'5 3,689 Burnham f . . 6,383 1,354 1,490 1,716 1,930 2,095 2,142 2,081 2,179 2,241 2,513 3,144 Boveney, 483 165 150 202 207 189 159 152 102 115 402 545 Lower Chap. Chalfont St. Giles J 3,726 762 924 1,104 1,297 1,228 1,169 1,217 1,243 1,264 1,286 1,362 Chalfont St. Peter 4,758 ', '74 1,153 1,351 1,416 1,483 1,482 1,344 1,459 1,456 1,509 1,753 Chenies, or Isle- i,759 423 510 595 649 625 565 468 495 388 378 324 hampstead Cheyneys J Chesham . . . 12,746 3,969 4,441 5,032 5,388 5,593 6,098 5,985 6,488 6,502 8,0 1 8 9,005 Chesham Bois J . 910 135 130 100 157 218 185 218 258 35' 552 767 Dorney t ... 1,560 190 247 279 268 324 355 367 374 3'9 401 358 Farnham Royal : — 3, '04 851 1,053 1,149 1,193 1,258 1,298 1,378 1,443 1,5/6 1,586 1,647 Farnham Royal 1,664 550 624 686 777 792 787 817 884 1,042 1,053 1,162 Hedgerley Dean 551 77 180 199 777 185 196 227 242 204 249 200 Hamlet Seer Green 889 224 249 264 245 281 315 334 317 330 284 285 Hamlet J Hitcham .... 1,484 200 161 172 232 267 236 205 270 395 5'2 553 Penn9 . . . . 3,992 927 950 1,054 '.'°3 1,040 1,254 1,096 1, 086 I,IOO 1, 02 1 1,030 Taplow .... 1,762 422 592 586 647 744 704 8n 1,028 1,063 1,029 1,056 Cotttsloc Hundred Aston Abbots J 2,198 276 267 321 303 356 343 3" 327 290 281 200 Cheddington f J • 1,429 273 301 341 375 439 508 628 745 744 654 580 Cholesbury J . . 178 122 114 132 127 124 i'3 105 109 99 95 107 Creslow . . 887 6 5 5 5 7 10 9 6 10 12 5 8 Luffitld Abbey. — The population was included in that given for Stowe Ancient Parish in 1811 and 1821. A small part appears to be in Northamptonshire ; the entire area and population is included in Buckinghamshire. 9 Penn.— The decline in population in 1861 is attributed to the absence of woodmen temporarily present in 1851. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY TABLE OF POPULATION, 1801—1901 (continued) PARISH Acre- age 1801 1811 I82I 1831 1841 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901 Cottesloe Hundred (cont.) Cublington J . . 1,223 271 233 259 284 290 287 288 283 259 223 215 Drayton 1,888 191 224 272 27S 23' 261 268 227 '94 177 '49 Beaucbamp f Drayton 1,75° 307 287 372 416 526 490 468 479 473 425 369 Parslow 10 J Dunton J . . . '•'97 85 89 98 116 107 98 1 06 96 So 7' 82 Edlesboroush f t • 4,647 997 1,146 1,378 M90 1,722 1,838 1,671 1,814 i,598 ' ,448 1,099 Grove J . . . . 437 25 33 18 21 25 38 '9 23 17 '9 '9 Hardwick t :— 3,001 563 554 627 640 747 739 708 7'7 647 596 488 Hardwick . . 1,213 178 196 207 235 319 292 283 254 214 183 767 Weedon 1,788 385 358 420 405 428 447 425 463 433 413 321 Hamlet t Hawridge J . . . 697 121 144 208 217 233 270 276 254 242 214 209 Hoggeston J . . 1,57' 197 190 1 88 '73 204 220 207 I91 '75 1 66 129 Horwood, Great J . 3-^7' 537 581 688 720 712 834 846 866 712 639 554 Horwood, Little J . 1,948 339 325 429 43' 392 427 449 411 309 304 267 Ivinghoeft • • 5,618 1,215 1,361 1,665 ',648 1,843 2,024 1,849 1,722 1,380 1,270 ',077 Linslade J . . . 1,693 203 281 370 407 883 1,309 1,511 ',633 ',724 1,982 2,'57 Marsworth f "\ f 259 264 39' 427 472 463 T Long Mars ton and Asthorpe j 1,266 f- _ 12 16 }-549 564 455 385 396 Extra Par. J I J Mentmore J . . '-575 279 298 302 329 348 356 309 408 3'4 307 289 Mursleyut. . . 2,975 3.8 3'0 473 495 479 553 482 488 363 369 367 Pitstone : — 2,459 360 389 461 578 522 545 581 612 544 574 484 Nettleden 804 85 101 108 142 98 107 124 133 111 115 88 Hamlet Pitstone 1 1 • • 1,655 275 288 353 436 424 438 457 479 433 459 396 Shenley (part of) " :— Brook End 1,659 232 230 224 244 264 283 289 290 219 215 1 86 Township Slapton f t . . • 1,211 228 202 3H 36o 336 298 325 325 265 2'4 161 Soulburyl . . . Stewkleyt • • • 4,226 3,982 526 680 §02 547 933 578 ',053 615 1,262 628 ',432 589 '.453 55' ',43' 475 1,36' 510 ',328 550 i,'59 Swanboume J . . 2,552 529 499 616 668 679 646 603 558 474 429 405 Tattenhoe, or 647 3' 24 16 '3 '5 55 64 63 '7 45 16 Tottenhoe J Whaddon :— 3-772 810 8n 900 889 910 987 955 936 745 704 584 Nash Hamlet . 7,247 265 263 375 377 366 439 462 460 340 306 263 Whaddon 2,525 545 548 525 512 544 548 493 476 405 398 321 Township J Whitchurch . . . I,7»7 646 7'4 845 928 930 9'5 884 799 725 709 619 WingJ Wingrave with 5,703 2,488 993 602 937 588 1,086 675 1,152 783 ',274 814 1,376 8'3 'IS 1,520 908 1,636 903 ',799 926 1,740 827 Rowsham f t Winslow * t . . . 1,920 1,101 1,222 1,222 1,290 ',434 1,889 1,890 1,826 1,663 1,704 '-70S Dcsborough Hundred I'.radenham ft- • 996 170 181 220 363 226 138 185 169 183 152 '54 Fawley J . . . . 2,213 181 189 276 254 280 254 272 289 302 266 235 Fingest .... 1,285 3'6 303 295 340 379 3»7 352 337 333 364 367 Hambleden . . . 6,598 1,074 1,110 I,28l ',357 1,241 ',365 1,464 M6I 1,502 ',557 ",5'7 Hedsor t . . . . 548 140 162 1 88 207 194 '83 '75 225 '55 191 166 Hitchenden, or 5,828 887 989 1,247 ',457 1,481 ',54' ',653 >,792 1,803 ',765 1,728 Hughendon Ibstone (part of; '* 848 258 247 272 3'3 177 162 '53 140 '42 '49 116 Lewknor(partof)I4t 456 7' 63 52 61 33 24 10 Drayton Parslow. — There were 52 persons temporarily present at the 1841 Census, owing to the annual village feast. 11 Murtliy. — The decline in population in 1861 is attributed to the absence of men temporarily present in 1851 and engaged on railway works. " Shenlty Anoint Parish is situated partly In Cottesloe Hundred and partly in Newport Hundred. u Ibstatu. — The remainder is in Oxfordshire (Pirton Hundred). The entire population is shown in Buckingham- shire 1801-31. 14 Ltwknor. — The remainder is in Oxfordshire (Lewknor Hundred), where the entire population is shown 1801-41. 99 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE TABLE OF POPULATION, 1801—1901 (continued) PARISH Acre- age 1801 1811 1821 1831 1841 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901 Dtsborough Hundred (cent) Marlow, Great t 6,245 3>236 3,965 3,763 4,237 4,480 4485 4,661 4,701 4,763 5,250 5,645 Marlow, Little f 3,328 728 730 775 783 927 894 790 964 9/6 922 939 Medmenham J . 2,442 284 323 369 384 385 401 380 310 336 320 387 Radnage \ . . 1,369 306 319 366 399 401 433 478 476 427 452 385 Saunderton * 1 1 1,831 '93 I92 2IO 231 232 380 428 411 424 373 370 Turville J . . 2,328 376 382 362 442 476 436 437 456 423 468 371 Wooburn f I • 3,133 1,401 1,604 1,831 1,927 1,830 2,026 2,245 2,343 2,431 2,727 3,328 Wycombe, Chep 6,395 4,248 4,756 5,599 6,299 6,480 7,179 8,373 10,492 13,154 16,409 19,282 ping Wycombe, West. . 6,533 1,330 1,362 1,545 1,901 2,002 2,000 2,161 2,343 2,390 2,599 3,466 Newport Hundred Astwood f t • • • 1,286 160 209 263 268 243 268 247 268 222 187 168 Bletchley :— 3,364 1,038 1,103 1,160 1,254 1,450 1,544 1,658 1,862 2,432 3,3ii 4,269 Bletchley . . . 2,348 824 916 884 1,011 1,183 1,303 1,416 1,619 2,184 3,070 4,068 Water Eaton 1,016 214 187 276 243 267 241 242 243 248 241 201 Township Brad well-. . . . 917 255 259 271 257 381 381 1,658 2,409 2,460 2,899 3,946 Bradwell Abbey 447 12 10 2O 17 21 16 '4 10 28 16 18 Extra Par. Brayfield, Cold . . 744 82 75 80 93 83 80 99 86 85 80 79 Brickhill, Bow J . 1,848 43' 392 438 475 566 59' 546 468 460 464 448 Brickhill, Great \ . 2,383 560 554 558 776 721 730 590 566 557 522 491 Brickhill, Little J . 1,367 385 409 485 5'4 563 483 423 291 241 3'2 278 Broughtont. . . 937 157 194 191 172 168 182 155 174 '59 122 H3 Calvertonf • • • 2,011 321 332 370 425 493 505 595 579 550 658 711 Castle Thorpe . . 1,372 260 242 348 366 365 346 338 366 329 441 539 Chicheley J . . . 2,O7O 189 179 219 218 256 271 265 250 181 1 80 208 Clifton Reynes \ . i,454 221 238 230 246 213 217 212 216 203 170 122 Crawley, North f t 3>362 6l7 681 775 791 865 914 981 933 699 622 541 Emberton 15 f . . 2,364 549 541 549 598 658 613 632 637 653 526 5IO Gayhurstf . . • 1,012 89 89 90 118 116 88 129 95 9' 91 IO4 Hanslope . . . 5,801 1,289 1,345 1,479 1,623 1,553 1,604 1,792 1,726 1,584 1,489 1,424 Hardmead ft- • i,'45 45 68 75 83 83 61 9' 92 92 79 5' Haversham J . . 1,634 223 256 289 313 283 280 288 262 237 224 200 Lathbury ft • • 1,394 189 177 164 172 127 147 147 136 121 152 1 88 Lavendon 16 1 • • 2,615 544 546 613 664 691 769 820 916 783 665 704 Linford, Great " J 1,836 313 376 408 420 474 486 557 468 437 481 478 Linford, Little J 727 44 40 73 55 64 57 58 58 69 70 70 Loughton J . . . 1,536 302 288 293 325 361 335 386 359 324 348 371 Milton Keynes J . 1,909 280 287 338 334 327 3'7 346 321 244 207 219 Moulsoe J . . . 1,654 282 229 260 303 297 239 234 241 194 214 190 Newton Blossom- 1,014 221 211 243 237 264 332 277 320 260 191 177 ville18! Newton 1,735 459 486 486 473 565 595 547 537 471 415 424 Longville J Newport 3,432 2,048 2,5'S 3,103 3,385 3,569 3,651 3,823 3,824 3,686 3,788 4,028 Pagnel * t Olney :— 3,260 2,075 2,268 2,339 2,418 2,437 2,329 2,358 2,74i 2,430 2,467 2,740 Olney 2,359 2,003 — 2,344 2,362 2,265 2,284 2,672 2,362 2,409 2,705 Township " " Warrington 901 72 — — 74 75 64 74 69 68 58 33 Hamlet f Ravenstone 1 1 1,920 381 370 418 430 415 446 400 431 370 300 224 Shenley (part of)18" :— Church End 1,662 232 211 225 240 227 210 203 209 184 1 80 1 66 Township Sherington J . . 1,805 671 773 796 804 856 826 839 718 604 566 548 15 Embirton includes the area, and population 1841-1901, of Petsoe Manor, which became a separate Civil Parish •under the Extra Parochial Places Acts. 16 Lavendon, Newton Blossomville, Weston Underwood, and Olney Township. —The increase in the population of these places in 1871 is almost entirely due to the presence of men engaged in railway construction. v Great Linford. — In the 1821 volume four families are said to live here in turf-huts and to be engaged in .cultivating woad. 18 Olney Township includes the area, and the population 1851-1901, of Olney Park Farm, which became a separate Civil Parish under the Act 20 Viet. c. 19, having been previously Extra Parochial. isa See note 12, ante. IOO SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY TABLE OF POPULATION, 1801—1901 (continued) PARISH Acre- age 1801 iSn 1821 1831 1841 1831 1 86: 1871 1881 1891 1901 Newport Hundred— (coM.) Simpson J . . . 1,366 367 372 395 470 585 540 562 678 737 727 73' Stantonbury . . 806 39 3* 40 5' 42 27 29 40 35 29 4' Stoke Goldington " 2,352 636 617 818 912 855 902 963 875 808 767 629 Stoke Hammond J 1,566 268 283 320 323 407 438 401 369 365 312 288 Stony Stratford- 55 893 968 969 ',053 1,227 1,256 1,356 1,186 i, 216 1,100 ',395 West Side, or St. Giles " f Stony Stratford- 69 528 520 530 566 530 501 649 790 727 859 958 East Side, or St. Mary Magdalen Tyringham with ',792 236 1 80 204 227 206 1 88 226 246 199 '55 198 Filgrave J Walton t . . . 772 79 97 1 02 114 103 95 95 105 112 93 84 Wavendon t . • 2,791 635 685 721 802 846 935 879 953 971 ',384 ',659 Weston Under- 1,873 357 339 420 441 438 405 398 430 352 325 275 wood ""• { Willen t . . . . 678 97 78 83 98 97 98 80 76 86 86 9' Woolstone, Great . 5'4 "3 116 1 08 120 94 72 7i 84 81 80 45 Woolstone, Little . 631 103 88 114 124 "5 IO2 125 117 81 83 85 Wolverton . . . 2,325 238 258 335 4'7 1,261 2,070 2,370 2,804 3,6 1 1 4,'47 5,323 Woughton-on-the- 1,224 3" 285 299 303 354 337 3'4 273 231 208 202 GreenJ Stoke Hundred DatchetJ . . . 1,386 357 710 839 802 922 898 982 990 1,202 1,582 ',834 Denham J . . . 3,939 796 1,000 1,189 t,i69 1,264 1,062 i. 068 ',234 1,254 1,242 1,146 Eton .... I [3,526 3,666] Eton College } 786 2,026 2,279 2,475 3,232 83 I3o 3,«22 3,261 3,984 2,955 3,666 Extra Par. J j Fulmer . . . 1,895 292 262 340 391 355 328 35' 412 428 349 340 Hedgerleyt. • 1,097 '37 126 158 187 161 150 153 '75 132 118 '47 Horton . . . 1,367 647 723 796 804 873 842 810 835 86 1 824 834 Iver .... 6,467 1,377 1,635 i, 661 1,870 I QJ8 i 085 2 I 14 2 2 1O 2 ^OQ 2 4?6 " fi.i, ) Langley Marish 3,937 • I J / 1 1,215 1 J J ',57' • I*-"-* j 1,616 i*-*/ ** 1,797 » iy-f vj 1,844 ,yw j 1,874 *, • • *f 1,874 *1* J7 1,964 •*»jvy:/ 2,162 *t*t / v 2,474 *(V^fW 3,'67 Stoke Poges" J 3,465 741 838 1,073 1,252 1,528 1,501 1, 600 1,850 2,150 2,356 3,175 Upton-cum- ',943 1,018 1,083 1,268 1,502 2,296 3,573 4,688 5,940 7,030 7,7oo 9,406 Chalvey * Wexham t . . . 748 172 178 '54 181 '75 20 1 196 218 172 231 239 Wyrardisbury, or 1,679 616 560 520 682 672 701 735 73' 658 660 779 Wraysbury J Ayhsbury Borough Aylesbury * f . . 3,302 3,186 3,447 4,400 5,021 5,429 6,08 1 6,168 6,962 7,795 8,680 9,099 Buckingham Borough Buckingham * . . 5,006 2,605 2,987 3^65 3,610 4,054 4,020 3,849 3,703 3,585 3,364 3,'52 GENERAL NOTE AS TO BUCKINGHAMSHIRE The following Municipal Boroughs and Urban Districts, were, at the Census of 1901, co-extensive with one or more places mentioned in the Table : — Municipal Borough, or Urban District Beaconsfield U.D. Buckingham M.B. Fenny Stratford U.D. . Linslade U.D. Newport Pagnel U.D. Place Beaconsfield Parish (Burnham Hundred) Buckingham Parish (Buckingham Borough) Bletchley Ancient Parish (all except Water Eaton Township), and Simpson Parish (both in Newport Hundred) Linslade Parish (Cottesloe Hundred) Newport Pagnel Parish (Newport Hundred) '• Stoke Goldington includes Gorefieldj, which was formerly Extra Parochial. * Stony Stratford Witt Sidt.—The population for 1801 is an estimate. «•« See note 16, tntt. w Stake Pogei.—Tbo population for 1801 is an estimate. 101 INDUSTRIES INTRODUCTION BUCKINGHAMSHIRE has never been a manufacturing county, and before the i6th century there were probably no industries but those which supplied the actual wants of the local agricultural population. During the last three centuries the industries carried on in the county, though on a small scale, have been very various. The most interesting are those which may be called cottage industries : lace, straw-plaiting, and chair-seating. Of these, the two latter owe their origin to natural products grown in the county, the wheat-straw being suitable for plaiting, and the beech woods of the Chiltern Hills being famous throughout the his- tory of the county. Chair-making is now per- haps the most important manufacture, and is still peculiarly local in its character, although much of the wood used is not grown in the district. Other trades owe their prosperity to the water- power, arising from the Thames and its tribu- taries in the south and the Ouse in the north. The chief of these is the manufacture of paper, the mills being grouped for the most part on the streams running into the Thames. In the northern part of the county much of this water- power was lost, owing to the construction of the Grand Junction Canal. Other industries have existed in the county without apparently any dependence on natural commodities or situation. Needle-making, for instance, was a trade carried on for more than two centuries at Long Crendon, where it was difficult to procure wire, and the manufacturers did not attempt to utilize the water that lay close at hand. Silk mills were opened in the early i gth century with the defi- nite object of providing work for the unem- ployed, and more recently branches of London printing works have been established in the •county. The growth of the town of Slough should be noticed in connexion with the Buckinghamshire industries. Originally quite a small village, it seems to have mainly grown up since the build- ing of the station on the Great Western Railway. Its population is to a great extent industrial, em- ployed in a great variety of undertakings, the chief being perhaps the brick-fields. Until very recent years the means of communication, how- ever, in the county have offered no incentive to the local industries. The roads as a whole seem to have been uniformly bad for many centuries. Each township or parish was responsible for the roads which ran through it, the different land- owners being bound to repair particular pieces. At the close of the I3th century indulgences were granted to encourage the repair of the roads in the county. In 1 292, during the episcopate of Bishop Sutton l of Lincoln, such an indulgence was granted to those who were bound to contri- bute to the repair of Walton Street, in Aylesbury parish, and in the succeeding years similar indul- gences* were granted for the repair of the bridges at Newport Pagnell and Great Marlow. Pre- sentments in the manorial courts of different obstructions left on the roads were very frequent, and it seems doubtful if the courts were of suffi- cient authority to have much effect, the same offence coming up in court after court.1 In the 1 6th and I7th centuries the justices of the peace superseded the lord of the manor in this duty, but the change seems to have had no effect. In 1634-5 the county was charged with a share of carrying certain timber from Oxfordshire to London. In April the justices wrote that the roads were ' impassable, or at least so foul and unfit for carriages of weight ' that the loads must be very small, and therefore they begged that the work might be done later in the summer.4 In the 1 8th century a highway rate could be levied on different parishes by order of the justices under an Act of William and Mary instead of the different inhabitants providing labourers for so many days.* The repairs, however, at the close of the cen- tury were carried out mainly by gangs of parish labourers, who were underpaid and without supervision. The establishment of turnpike trusts for the repair of the main roads produced some improvement, but of course the by-roads 1 Line. Epii. Reg. Sutton Mem. ' Ibid. ' Add. MS. 27039, 27148, 27152. Instances are frequent throughout the series of Fawley Court Rolls. 4 S.P. Dom. Cha». I, ccxv, 38. * Quarter Sessions Rec. East. 1718. 103 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE were not affected, and the frequent collection of tolls was often a heavy tax on the farmers of a district. Thus at Aylesbury there was no road out of the town free from toll, and there were no less than seven turnpike trusts, each managing a different road, with a different set of lawyers, officials, and toll-collectors to be paid.6 The tolls varied slightly under different trusts, but in Buckinghamshire and the neighbouring counties the usual rates were as follows : — 7 For a horse ridden or led, I \d. For a horse drawing any vehicle, \\d. A carriage and pair gJ. and so on. Cattle lod. a score, and sheep and pigs rather less. In 1813, in a survey of the county made for the Board of Agriculture, the state of the roads is heavily condemned. The by-roads naturally were the worst ; some were even dangerous, the ruts being so deep that the surveyor reports ' that when the wheels of a chaise fall into them, it is with the greatest danger an attempt may be made to draw them out ; nay, instances may be produced where, if such an attempt is made, the horse and chaise must inevitably fall into bogs.' This actually happened on the road from Risborough to Bledlow, the horse of the surveyor falling into a bog up to his chest.8 The main roads at the present time are under the control of the County Council. Their course has been dictated from the earliest times by the posi- tion of the Chiltern Hills, the roads from London passing in the most cases through the different gaps in the hills. The road from London to Chester passes through before it reaches Buckinghamshire, which it enters at Little Brickhill, and runs north-west, covering the course of Watling Street. The Liverpool road enters the county near Woburn and passes through the town of Newport Pagnell, which owed its prosperity to its being a posting stage on this road. In the south of the county there are two roads to Oxford from London. The one follows the valley of the Thames, the other enters the county near Uxbridge and passes through High Wycombe, going over the Chiltern Hills. From this road a branch road runs up the Missenden valley to Aylesbury and Buckingham, while there is a more direct road to the former town by Tring and Aston Clinton. Other roads of course connect the different towns and villages with one another. The county was better served by water communication than by road. The Thames was used by the manufac- turers established near its banks, and the Ouse is navigable throughout its course in Bucking- hamshire. The Grand Junction Canal has also supplied a much-needed means of communication 6 J. K. Fowler, Rec. of Old Times, 14. 7 Ibid. for the towns in the centre of the county, which were long without adequate railway service. The main canal passes through Ivinghoe, Fenny Stratford, and Stony Stratford, but is also con- nected with the three towns of Buckingham, Aylesbury, and Wendover. The Act of Parlia- ment for making the cuts was obtained in 1794. This canal was so much used in the early part of the i gth century that the road from Stony Strat- ford to Newport Pagnell, along which the com- modities sent by canal were distributed in the county, was at many seasons of the year abso- lutely impassable, being cut up by the heavy wagons.9 In the early days of railways the Buckinghamshire landowners offered so much opposition to any scheme that the county was. badly serve^ b) railways for many years. When the Londu.. and Birmingham Railway, now the London and North - Western, was surveyed George Stephenson's original plan was to bring the main line down via Aylesbury and Amer- sham to London, but so much opposition was raised that the line was diverted through the Countess of Bridgewater's land by Berkhamp- stead and Tring. ' The land,' she is reported to have said to him, ' is already gashed by the Canal, and if you take that course you will have no severance to pay, it will disarm opposition, and the position of the locks will be some guide to you in your levels.' lu Thus the line, when it was opened in 1 838, only passed through a small portion of the county by Bletchley and Wolver- ton. Subsequently several branch lines have been built, opening up the northern part of the county. From Cheddington Junction there is a line to Aylesbury ; from Bletchley there are two lines, one by Fenny Stratford to Bedford and Cam- bridge, and the other to Oxford. The Banbury line passes through Buckingham, leaving the main line at Winslow, and another branch con- nects Wolverton and Newport Pagnell. In the south the chief railway is the Great Western ;. the main line, entering the county near Coin- brook and passing through Slough, leaves the county at Maidenhead. It has branches to- Eton and Windsor, and to Oxford, via High Wycombe, Princes Risborough, and Thame. A small line was projected in 1 846 by Robert Stephenson, its object being to connect the two great lines, the centre of the county being then practically without railway communications. Part of the scheme was abandoned, and not till 1861 was the Act obtained for the Aylesbury and Buckingham Railway. The project met with opposition of every kind, but finally an arrange- ment was made for the new line being worked by the Great Western.11 Afterwards, however, an extension was made bringing the line from. St. John Priest, Gen. View of dgric. of Bucks. 125. 9 Ibid. 342. 10 J. K. Fowler, Recollections of Old Country Lifer 339-42- 11 J. K. Fowler, Rec. of Old Times, 186. 104 INDUSTRIES Aylesbury to London, the terminus being at Baker Street, and the Aylesbury and Bucking- ham Railway was bought by the Metropolitan Railway Company. The line is known as the Metropolitan Extension Railway, and a steam tramway is run in connexion with it from Quain- ton Road to Brill. The Great Central Railway, since its extension to London, also passes through the centre of the county, entering it near Buckingham. It then passes through Quainton Road Junction, Aylesbury, and on to the Marylebone terminus. The Great Western and Great Central Joint Committee have built a new line from Quainton Road, through Princes Risborough and Wycombc, joining the main line near Kingsbury-Neasden and so on to London. Several industries have sprung up in the county for different reasons during the latter part of the last century. Amongst these may be classed boat-building, on the banks of the Thames. This trade has probably occupied a large number of the riverside population throughout the history of the county. In 1831 there were said to be ten boat - builders and 998 boat - makers or menders," but the trade in its present form has only developed recently. At Eton it dated from the time when the boys at the college began to row — about forty-five years ago." It is now one of the four centres in the country for the building of racing-boats. The industry received a further stimulus about twenty years after the introduction of racing by the popularity of pleasure-boating on the river. A large number of the boats built for this purpose are kept on the Thames for letting on hire, the rest are sold to purchasers in all parts of the country. Re- cently the demand for punts has brought an increase of trade, which had been decreasing owing to the popularity of motoring and other amusements.14 A large export trade was at one time carried on by the boat-builders at Eton to most continental countries, but this has been stopped by the establishment of boat-building firms in these countries ; boats are still sent to Africa, India, Italy, Portugal, amongst other places. One firm has also extended its business by manufacturing oars and sculls, besides supply- ing the London County Council with a large number of mahogany boats for use in the Lon- don parks. The industry now gives employ- ment to a considerable number of men, whose work is very various, the chief classes being builders, varnishcrs, decorators, upholsterers and watermen. The wages paid to first-class hands are good, the rate of wages amongst the builders reaching between £3 and £4 a week, » Pof.Rft. 1 83 1, i, 34. u From information kindly given by Mr. G. F. Winter, Kton. " From information kindly given by Mr. G. Raines, Old Windsor and Wraysbury. Although the manufacture of paper has been one of the chief industries of Buckinghamshire for so many years, there do not seem to have been any large printing works established until recently. In the second half of the 1 8th cen- tury there was a printer at Aylesbury,1* and for a short time, in the year 1792, the Buckingham- ihire Herald was printed there by a man named Norman, and at the present time there are printers in most of the towns of the county. The Buckinghamshire Standard \& printed at New- port Pagnell, as well as the Newport Pagnell Gazette. The South Bucks Standard at Wycombe, the Buckingham Standard at Buckingham, and the Bucks Herald at Aylesbury, are all printed in the towns where they are published. In the last- named town are large printing works owned by Messrs. Hazell, Watson & Vincy, Ltd." The firm was founded in London in 1845, but the Aylesbury works were not opened till 1867, when they were started as an experiment in an old silk-mill, with the object of establishing works in the country rather than in London. All kinds of printing are done by the firm, who also are book-binders, printing-ink makers, printers' roller makers, &c. A great many institutions and clubs have been established at Aylesbury for the em- ployees of the firm, who are also shareholders under different schemes, the total value of the shares so held being between £16,000 and £17,000. There are numerous coach and carriage builders in all parts of the county. Their trade appears to be of recent development, since in 1831 only twenty-three men were so employed. The chief centres are at Newport Pagnell, Great Marlow, and Slough. At Slough a large export trade is carried on and this has prevented one firm at least from suffering from the increasing demand for motor cars.17 Embrocation is made by two firms in the county, the Line Romanelicum Company at Newport Pagnell and the well-known Messrs. Elliman & Sons, Ltd., at Slough. Brewing was carried on in Buckinghamshire, as in the rest of England, in nearly every village in mediaeval times, and the industry was super- vised as a rule by the lords of the manors or their officials, claiming the right to hold the assize of ale. Owing to the process then ob- taining, no large quantities of beer or ale were made, so that the business was carried on on a very small scale. At High Wycombe, in the 1 6th century, there were severe orders against those who brewed selling, or as it was then called ' tippling,' their beer at their own houses.18 Instead it was to be sent into the town to be '• Gibb, Hut. ef Aylesbury, 628-9. " After Hours, published by Messrs. Hazell, Watson & Viney, Ltd. 17 Information kindly given by Messrs. Brown & Sons, Slough. " Wycombe Borough Records. 105 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE sold by the ' tipplers ' at the price fixed by the mayor of the borough. The more important breweries, in the modern sense, seem to have been established during the i8th century. At Great Marlow brewing is the most important industry in the town, the chief brewery having been established by the Wethereds in 1758. The same family still carries on the business, which, however, was formed into a company in 1899. The brewery now carried on by the Newport Pagnell Brewery Co., Ltd., has also been established for at least a hundred years. There were also breweries at Buckingham, Bletchley, and Aylesbury, but these are now all in the hands of the Aylesbury Brewery Co., Ltd. The oldest nursery gardens in Buckinghamshire are the Royal nurseries at Slough, which were founded by Mr. Thomas Brown in 1774..™ In 1848 they passed into the hands of the late Mr. Charles Turner, and they have remained in his family to the present day. The nurseries have always been noted for ' Florists' Flowers/ the chief kinds grown being carnations, picotees, pinks, roses, auriculas, pelargoniums, dahlias, etc. Roses grown at Slough were specially famous, and Dean Hole described Mr. Charles Turner as ' the king of florists.' " At the present day the gardens cover about 150 acres of ground. In the same neighbourhood Messrs. Veitch & Sons, of Chelsea, have opened nurseries at Langley Marish. In 1880, 20 acres of land were purchased, and more has been added till the nursery includes about sixty acres in all. The principal culture is that of fruit trees, roses, and herbaceous plants, but flower and vegetable seeds are also grown there. The nursery is particu- larly noted for its pears and apples. There are various nurseries in different parts of the county, which have been developed of late years and have profited by the new lines of railway. Of these, the nursery near Claydon was started about four- teen years ago ' to develop a local trade for small orders for ready money.'21 Tomatoes, bedding plants, and chrysanthemums are grown in large quantities, and cut flowers are also supplied. Fruit of all kinds is grown, and some twelve years ago a Fruit Growers' Association was formed, so that customers living near could obtain the best variety of fruit trees at wholesale prices. To encourage fruit-growing amongst the tenants of Sir Edmund Verney, bart., on whose estate the Claydon Nurseries are situ- ated, compensation for disturbance is given to the cottagers and others who have purchased fruit trees through the Association and have left their cottages within six years after planting. Various other branches of work have also been undertaken, such as fruit-preserving, bee-keeping, and wood-growing. The Claydon Nurseries Company is co-operative so far as the horticul- tural department is concerned, the profits being annually divided amongst the permanent em- ployees of that branch of the work. LACE-MAKING Lace-making for a very long period formed the most important industry of Buckinghamshire. There seems some doubt as to its origin in the county, but tradition attributes it to Queen Ka- therine of Aragon, who besides holding several manors in Buckinghamshire as part of her dower, also lived for two years at Ampthill in the neigh- bouring county of Bedford.1 Thread-lace was made in England as early as 1463^ and bone-lace, the original name for pillow-lace, is mentioned in 1577.* The type of lace made in England at this time was Flemish, and may have been first brought to England by refugees from Flanders. Pennant * speaks ' of the lace-manufacture which we stole from the Flemings,' but Queen Kather- ine may still, in the first instance, have brought 19 From information kindly given by Mr. Charles Turner, The Royal Nurseries, Slough. " Memoirs of Dean Hole (1893), 207. " From information kindly given by Mr. J. Milsom, Claydon Nurseries. 1 L. and P. Hen. Fill, vi, 66 1. 1 Par!. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 507^. ' New Engl. Diet, 4 Journey from Chester to Land. 342. the industry to Buckinghamshire. It seems to have been flourishing by the beginning of the I7th century, since in 1611 men 'who continu- allie travelled to sell bone-lace on the Sabbath day ' were presented at an ecclesiastical visitation.5 A time of depression, however, followed, prob- ably owing to the monopolies granted by James I. In High Wycombe and the neigh- bourhood there was a great deal of distress in 1623 mainly due to lack of employment, since both the clothing and bone-lace trades were daily becoming more depressed.6 This depres- sion was, however, merely temporary. Three years later, in the neighbouring town of Great Marlow, Sir Henry Borlase founded a school for twenty-four boys and twenty-four girls, and the latter were to learn to knit, spin, and make bone-lace. The chief centres of the lace indus- try were Newport Pagnell, or Olney, High Wycombe, and Aylesbury. Fuller, in 1660,' specially mentions Olney, but the industry was already widely spread in the county. A few 6 F. W. Bull, Hist, of Newport Pagnell, 17. 6 S.P. Dom. Jns. I, cxlii, 44. ' Worthies of Engl. (NuttalFs ed.), 193. 106 INDUSTRIES years later Sir Edmund Verncy,8 at Claydon, writes that one of his men had given him some very good lace made by his daughter. She re- ceived a guinea, and the lace was made into a cravat of the latest fashion. The greatest time of prosperity in the indus- try came, however, in the i8th century, when bone-lace was in great demand. The Spectator, when deploring the extravagance of women in their head-dresses,' speaks of ' childish Gewgaws, Ribbands and bone-lace.' In 1717 the lace- makers on a large scale, living at Wycombe and in that neighbourhood, petitioned against a de- cision which forced them to take out licences as petty chapmen or hawkers.10 One of the chief of these lace-makers was Ferdinando Shrimpton of Penn, who was eight times Mayor of Chep- ping Wycombe.11 He and other men of his class kept several hundred workers constantly employed.11 They went weekly to London, generally on a Monday, and sold their goods to the London milliners at the lace markets held at the George Inn, Aldersgate Street, or in the Bull and Mouth Inn in St. Martin's by Aldersgate. They returned with a stock of thread and silk, which they gave out to their workwomen to be made up according to their orders.13 In the northern part of the county Newport Pagnell was a sort of staple town for bone-lace,14 and it was said to produce more lace than any other town in the country.18 A lace-market was held every Wednesday at which great quantities were sold. Lace-buyers also came round from the London houses about once a month, meeting the lace-makers at some inn, such as the ' Nagg's Head ' at Thame, and there buying their stock.18 The Anti-Gallican Society some years before had awarded its first prize for lace shown by Mr. William Marriott, of Newport Pagnell,17 and in 1761 Earl Temple, the Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire, presented the king, on behalf of the lace-makers, with a pair of fine lace ruffles, made at the same town.18 Aylesbury was also noted for the fine quality of the lace made there.1* In the i8th century the women in the workhouse were employed in lace-making instead of spinning.*0 In 1784 the overseers entered two cloths for lace-pillows in their accounts ; " in the same year they paid \d. ' Memoirs of tht ferney Family, iv, 2 1 3. ' The Spectator, no. 98. " Treasury Papers, ccviii, 47. " Langley, Hist, of the Hun,/, of Deshorough. " Treainry Papers, ccviii, 47. 11 Pinnock, Hist, and Topog. of Engl. i, 3 1 . " Defoe, Tour through Great Britain (1778), ii, 173. 11 Bull, Hilt, of Newport Pagnell, 17. " W. Shrimpton, Notes on a decayed Needle-land, 25. " Mrs. Bury Palliscr, Hist, of Lace (1902), 380. " Ibid. " Defoe, Tour through Great Britain (1778), ii, 173. 10 Aylesbury Overseers' Accounts. " Ibid. to ' four girls cutting off,' and on another occasion Mary Slade received 31. yd. to set up lace- making.** Lace played a prominent part also in the Parliamentary elections for the borough.13 No candidate could hope to be successful if he did not promise to uphold the bone-lace in- dustry and denounce the machine-made lace of Nottingham. A lace-pillow was mounted on a pole and carried at the head of processions, and banners were hung with Aylesbury lace, for which enormous prices were paid. The lace trade flourished in the early part of the 1 9th century, and its extent is well illustrated by the village of Hanslope.** In 1801, 500 people out of a population of 1,275 were employed in lace-making, and both men and women made it their regular employment. No women's labour for agricultural work could be obtained in the county ** owing to the good wages they were paid for lace-making. The decline came very quickly after the close of the French wars. The introduction of machine-made lace about 1835 ** and the effects of free trade gradually killed the industry." The quality of the lace made fell off, and in spite of temporary revivals the trade proper became ex- tinct about I884.*8 The industry, however, lingered on in many parts of the county, and of late years a great effort has been made to bring about a revival. The North Bucks Lace Association was formed in 1897, and is the largest association of the kind. It aims not only at reviving old patterns and improving the quality of the lace made, but also at securing a better price than the workers can obtain for themselves. In other parts of the county various people have interested themselves in the industry, and very beautiful lace is now made, such as the lace in Hughenden Church. In the south of the county other trades, especially chair-making, afford both an easier and at the same time a better paid occupation for the women, so that there is less lace-making than round Buckingham and Newport Pagnell. Another difficulty in the way of the revival of the industry is the length of time taken in learn- ing to make lace. It seems probable that after the present generation of workers has passed away no fine, wide lace will be made any more with the object of earning a livelihood. Chil- dren, in order to become expert workers, must begin very young and work more hours a day than is possible whilst they are attending school. In the flourishing days of the industry there were hardly any schools except lace-schools in " Ibid. " Gibbs, Hut. of Ajksburj, 62 I . ** Lysons, Magna Brit, i, 482. " St. John Prie»t, Gen. Clew of Agric. of Burks. 346. " Bull, Hist, of Newport Pagnell, 196. " Palliser, Hist, of Lace (1902), 393. " Bull, Hist, of Newport Pagnell, 196. 107 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE the county. Sir William Borlase's school at Great Marlow was not continued long, but in 1672 the Aylesbury overseers paid Mary Sutton 5*. to teach the workhouse children to make lace.29 At Hanslope children were sent to the lace-schools when they were five years old,30 and both boys and girls could maintain themselves by the time they were eleven or twelve. The hours were very long, and schools were held in small cottages without sufficient light or ventilation. In some parts of the county the children were sent to the lace-schools at four years old. The old woman who kept the principal lace school at Lane End died about a year ago at the age of eighty-six. The schools must have disappeared about thirty to thirty-five years ago, but the children then seem to have had first about an hour's reading lesson, followed by six to seven hours' lace-making.31 Besides the children, the skilled workers were crowded in large numbers into a small room, with the result that the in- dustry was most unhealthy. As early as ijSz31 Pennant noticed the pale faces of the girls at Newport Pagnell, due to their sedentary trade, and three years later a writer in the Gentleman's Magazine 33 suggested remedies for. this state of things. In the course of a journey in Bucking- hamshire and Northamptonshire his attention was drawn to ' the frequent sight of deformed and diseased women in these counties.' He found they were mostly lace-makers, growing deformed and ill from the stooping position in which they worked and from sitting in ' small, low and close ' rooms. His recommendations probably had no effect, and in 1797 lace-making in the towns of the hundred of Desborough did not ' induce those habits of neatness and industry which appear highly necessary to render an occupation beneficial to a county." 34 The kind of lace made in Buckinghamshire has passed through many variations, but it has always been pillow-lace of one kind or another, the most characteristic lace being pillow-point, or ' half-stitch ' as it is called in the county.38 The earliest Buckinghamshire lace was old Flemish with a wavy and graceful pattern and well- executed ground. Some of the patterns seem to have been worked in with a needle on the net ground. In 1778 point-ground was introduced, and from that time the staple pillow-lace of the county developed. Much of the point-ground was made by men. The principal branch of the 89 Aylesbury Overseers' Accounts, quoted in Gibbs, Hist, of Aylesbury, 6 1 7. 30 Lysons, Magna Brit, i, 482. " Information kindly given by Miss E. Johnson, Lane End, nr. High Wycombe. ij 'Journey from Chester to Land. 342. 33 Vol. Iv, 938. " Thomas Langley, Hist, of Hund. of Desborough, 10. 36 Palliser, Hist. of Lace (1902), 384. trade was ' baby lace ' and edgings, mostly used in trimming babies' caps.36 Point-ground was used, while the patterns were copied from Lille or Mechlin lace.37 Large quantities were ex- ported to the United States until the outbreak of the Civil War, when the demand ceased rapidly.38 Other sorts of grounds were made, such as 'wire,' 'double,' and ' trolly.'38 Fresh kinds of lace were introduced at the outbreak of the French War at the close of the i8th century. Manufacturers undertook to supply French laces, and both true Valenciennes lace and ' French ground' were then made in Buckinghamshire.40 Early in the igth century Regency Point came into fashion, a point lace with cloth or toile on the edge. Insertions were also introduced, and made in large quantities. A lace made of worsted of various colours, called Norman lace, suddenly became fashionable, 41 and the demand was great, especially in the United States. The trade dropped, however, as suddenly as it had arisen. In the middle of the igth century Maltese lace was introduced, resulting in a great recovery in the industry.42 It was made both of thread and silk,43 and completely ousted the older Buckinghamshire lace, which could no longer compete with the machine-made article. At the Exhibition of 1862 hardly anything but Maltese lace was exhibited, but a fresh impulse was given to the trade.44 New kinds of Maltese lace were introduced called ' plaited laces,' but this revival of lace-making came to an end about 1870, the quality of the lace having be- come worse and worse, both as to pattern and material.4* The last variety of lace appeared about 1875, and was called Yac lace. It was made from a species of goat's hair dyed to all colours, but the fashion died out very quickly.46 Maltese lace-making lingered on in the different villages, and is still made, but the North Bucks Lace Association and kindred societies encourage the older and more charac- teristic ' Buckinghamshire lace.' Old stores of lace have been sought out and the patterns revived. A good deal of jealousy used to exist with regard to the copying of patterns, and the same feeling has again appeared of late years. The pattern is pricked on a strip of parchment and pinned down to the pillow. It is about ten inches long,47 and in Buckinghamshire the custom 36 Defoe, Complete English Tradesman (1738), ii, 347- " Palliser, Hist, of Lace, 385. 88 Ibid. 386. " Ibid. 387. 40 Ibid. 388. 41 Bull, Hist, of Newport Pagnell, 1 96. 41 Ibid. 43 Palliser, Hist, of Lace (1902), 392. 44 Gibbs, Hist, of Aylesbury, 622. 45 Palliser, Hist, of Lace (1902), 392. 46 Bull, Hist, of Newport Pagnell, 196. 47 Palliser, Hist, of Lace (1902), 391. 1 08 INDUSTRIES is to have two of these strips, and as one is finished the other is placed below it, the lace- maker thus working round and round the pil- low. The lace is made of linen thread, and at the present day there is considerable difficulty in procuring it fine enough and even enough.4* This was probably a difficulty in earlier times, and silk was used many years before Maltese lace was introduced.4* Amersham and Great Marlow were specially noted for the black silk lace made there.*0 The bobbins were originally made of bone — hence the name bone-lace ; but more frequently they are of wood.11 The number used varies according to the design, but for a wide pattern as many as 500 may be needed. Old bobbins often show an interesting history of their owner, since it was the custom to inscribe them with names and the dates of various events occurring in her life. Forty years ago it was still the custom to give bobbins, often of intricate workmanship, as love-tokens." The pillow was, however, the costliest part of a lace-maker's implements. It is a hard round cushion, stuffed with straw and well-hammered to make it hard, and covered with ' pillow-cloth.' w The making of pillows was almost a monopoly, one family making them for a district.*4 A pillow with all its appurtenances in some cases cost as much as ^5 in the early part of the igth century. In the prosperous days of the industry women could earn very good wages, often making more than their husbands, who were agricultural labourers. In 1794 the average wages of the best lace hands were from ii. to u. 6d. a day,'* but about the same time in the Thames Valley women only earned lod. a day and girls about \d. and 6d.M In 1813 the wages given were rather lower, <)d. to is. a day, but good workers at Aylesbury, before machine-made lace killed the trade, could earn 25J.18 a week, and married women who did not give their whole time to the work often made as much as £i a week. The workers were sometimes, however, only paid once a month, after the lace-buyers had come round and the local lace-men had sold their store of lace.** At the present day the lace-makers are paid by the hour, and the wages are not high, vary- ing from i^d. to i^d. per hour.*0 Many old customs existed amongst the lace- makers. St. Catherine was their patron saint, and her festival was kept as a holiday till recent years.*1 The Aylesbury Overseers*' even gave the lace-makers in the workhouse ' 3». to keep Catern,' and special Catern cakes were made to celebrate the holiday. At Aylesbury a lace-queen was chosen from among the lace-makers and carried round the town on a platform, working on her pillow, and accompanied by a band and a great crowd.** Whether these processions were held on St. Catherine's Day is not clear, but more prob- ably they took place during fairs, since the time of year commanded indoor celebrations of the lace-makers' holiday rather than street pro- cessions. In some parts of the county the women, who have lost their employment owing to the decline of the lace trade, have taken to sequin and bead work. This is the case round Princes Ris- borough, particularly at Lacey Green, Amer- sham, and near High Wycombe.64 At Lacey Green bead-work has been done about twenty- five years, and was sent to London, but the demand is lessening, and only an occasional order is now received. WOODEN WARE AND CHAIR-MAKING The beechwoods of the Chiltcrn districts have naturally led to the manufacture of wooden ware for many years. Presumably the 1 3th- century names, Hubert Turnator, Peter le Turnur, and Bartholomew le Turnur, specify the trade carried on by their bearers, a trade which afterwards obtained a considerable im- u Pamphltt of the North Bucks. Lace Aisoc. 7. * Aylesbury, Overseers' Accounts, 1 787. ** Pinnock, Hist, and Topog. of Engl. i, 25, 52. " Pamphlet of the North Bucks. Lace Assot. 9. "Ibid. " Palli«er, Hist, of Lace (1902), 391. M Gibbs, Hist, ofAylesbury, 617. " W. James and J. Malcolm, Gen. View of Agric. •fBucki. 14 Arthur Young, Six Months' Tour, iii, 356. " St. John Priest, Gen. Yievi of Agric. in Bucks. 3|6. portance, and was and is specially centred at Chesham.1 In 1725 Defoe1 mentions the supply of beechwood which was then used for making felloes for ' the great cars of London, cole-carts, dust-carts, &c., which the city laws do not allow to have tyres of iron,' for the billet wood for the king's palaces and similar purposes, and lastly for chairs and turnery ware. *• Gibbs, Hist, of Aylesbury, 621. ** Shrimpton, Notes on a Decayed Needle-land. M Information kindly given by Miss E. Johnson. * M em. of the Perney Family, i, 1 1 . " Overseen' Accts. 1 797. 0 Gibbs, Hist, of Aylesbury, 621. 64 From information kindly given by Mrs. Robson, Lacey Green Vicarage, and Miss Tighe, Looseley House, Princes Risborough. 1 llund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, «, 35, 36. ' Tour in Gt. Brit. (1725), ii, 7*. 109 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE At the close of the i8th century the value of the woods had considerably increased, frequent felling having been found more advantageous to the owners than allowing the trees to come to a considerable size.3 Even then, however, the wisdom of carrying this new system too far was doubted. The uses to which the wood was put were much the same as in Defoe's time — spokes, felloes, bedsteads, and chairs.4 Chesham be- came noted for its turnery ware early in the following century, but in 1862 its wooden ware and turnery trade was declining.' There are, however, a considerable number of manufac- turers still carrying on the trade in the town and neighbourhood, wooden dairy utensils being a speciality of some makers. Several firms also make brushes of various kinds. Chair-making, though possibly of later development than the wooden-ware manufactory, has outstepped it in importance. Both Defoe and Langley mention chair-making as one of the uses to which the beechwoods on the Chilterns were put, but the industry does not seem to have become of great importance until the igth century.6 In 1830 there were said to be only two chair manu- facturers in High Wycombe,7 which has since become the centre of the industry. In 1862 one of the chief manufacturers of the town described the early condition of the business in the following words8: — 'When I began the trade ... I loaded a cart and travelled to Luton. All there was prosperous. There was a scramble for my chairs ; when I came home I laid my receipts on my table, and said to my wife : " You never saw so much money before." ' The demand for chairs grew rapidly, and the Wycombe chair-makers supplied the chairs for the Crystal Palace, for St. Paul's Cathedral, and many barracks,9 and a large export trade, espe- cially to the Colonies, was developed in the middle of the igth century.10 It was then the boast of Wycombe that it turned out a chair a minute all the year round, or 1,800 doz. per week,11 that is, over 1,100,000 per annum. In 1885 there were about fifty chair-makers, large and small, in Wycombe,12 and at the present day the number has reached nearly a hundred. The trade has, however, suffered a depression of late years, owing to the loss of some of the foreign trade, which has passed into American s Langley, Hist, of the Hund. of Desborough, 9. 4 Ibid. 6 Pinnock, Hist, and Topog. of Engl. i, 24 ; Lips- comb, Hist, of Bucks, iii, 263 ; Sheahan, Topog. of Bucks. 838. 6 Tour in Gt. Brit, ii, 72 ; Hist, of Hund. of Desborough, 9. ' Factory and Workshops Rep. xv, 185. 8 Sheahan, Topog. of Bucks. 220. Ibid. Ibid. 11 Factory and Workshops Rep. xv, 185. » Ibid. and Austrian hands, and the competition at home is so severe that some of the work done is unre- munerative.13 Nevertheless nearly every village round Wycombe has its manufactory, employing both men and women, boys and girls.14 The falls of timber take place in November and March, when the trees are sold by auction, and the manufacturers lay in their stock of wood.16 Beech wood forms the greater part of the raw material, but elm is used for the seats, and ash for the bows of Windsor and similar chairs. Oak and walnut are only as a rule procured for special orders.16 The manufacturers in 1885 were divided into three classes, which still obtain at the present day. In the first place there are those who have their own steam saw-mills, and turn out the finished article ; then come manufacturers who send their wood to public saw-mills to be cut up into lengths, and afterwards turn out the chair complete ; and lastly, there are smaller men who live in the surrounding villages and supply the manufacturer proper with what is called ' turned stuff,' i.e., with fore-legs, stretchers, and lists of chairs according to pattern. Thus it often happens that only the backs, hind-legs, and seats are made at the factory proper, other parts being sent in from the country. There much of the work is done in the cottages, the wood being turned by hand, after it has come, cut up in lengths, from the saw-mill. Certain factories in High Wycombe specialize in a particular part of the chair, and turn out nothing but chair-backs, or seats. The seats are made by women and girls, who learn the trade at an early age. When the work is done at home, they can earn about ijrf. an hour for caning, and rather more for ' matting,' a dirtier and harder process.17 The greater number of chairs made in this district are, however, seated with cane, not rushes, and the splitting is all done by hand. All kinds of chairs are made, from the common kinds known as Windsor, cathedral, bedroom, kitchen, barrack chairs, to the more elaborate patterns made by the larger manufacturers of High Wycombe. The oak chairs, for instance, made for the judges at the Royal Courts of Justice were manufactured at Wycombe, and, more recently, the mahogany chairs used by the peers and peeresses at the coronation of King Edward VII.18 Besides the actual chair-makers there are several firms who make articles used in the manu- facture, such as varnish and chair-makers' tools. 13 Ibid. 14 Information given by Miss E. Johnson, Lane End. 15 Factory and Workshops Rep. xv, 185. " Ibid. 17 Information given by Miss Johnson, Lane End. 18 Copies or examples shown at an exhibition held at Aylesbury, July 1905. IIO INDUSTRIES PAPER-MAKING Various causes have made paper-making a profitable undertaking in Buckinghamshire. Espe- cially in the Thames Valley, the water-power ob- tained from the tributaries of the river, the easy means of communication by water, and the nearness to London, all favoured its manufacture, and at the close of the reign of Elizabeth paper-mills had already been established. John Spilman, the queen's jeweller, obtained a licence that he himself, or his deputies, should alone build any paper-mills or collect linen rags in the country,1 but by 1600 other mills had been erected, and he peti- tioned for assistance against the paper manufac- turers. John Turner, Edward Marshall, and George Friend, had built a mill in Buckingham- shire, but its exact position is not mentioned in Spilman's petition. Other mills must have been built very quickly in spite of his licence. In 1636 there were twelve paper-mills in the county,1 one of the most important being at Horton, worked by Edmund Phipps. He waschief constable of the county, and seems to have worked his mill with but little consideration for the conve- nience of his neighbours. In fact the paper-mills seem to have been thoroughly unpopular in the country, owing to the importation of rags, and the consequent outbreaks of the plague. Phipps was presented at an ecclesiastical court in 1635 for working his mill on Sunday all through the year.1 The next year the mills were stopped owing to the prevalence of the plague, and the paper-masters petitioned for a contribution from the county towards their relief. This made them even more unpopular than before, and the justices of the peace made a counter petition, not only against the rate, but for the destruction of the mills altogether. Some of these mills were already built at High Wycombe,4 or near the town, and this district became the centre of the paper-making industry in Buckinghamshire. At Horton, Richard West had succeeded Phipps as paper-maker by 1649.' At the close of the I7th century* a bill was brought into Parliament for the formation of a company with the monopoly of making white writing and printing paper. Whilst it was before the House of Lords, the mayor, alder- men and inhabitants of Chopping Wycombe petitioned against the formation of such a com- pany, which would ruin their trade. There were then, in 1690, eight paper-mills at High Wycombe ; probably they were not all within 1 S.P. Dom. Eliz. cclxxvi, 6. ' Ibid. Chas. I, cccxliv, 40. 1 Ibid, ccxcvi, 17. 4 Ibid, ccccviii, 148. • Gyll, Hitt. ofWrajtburj, 98. * Hitt. MSS. Com. Rep. xiii, App. pt. v, 74. the borough itself, but were in the neighbour- hood, and fifty families were employed in making paper. The men had mostly been apprenticed to the trade, and if the prohibition against making white paper became law, they would come, for the most part, with their families on the rates. The Wycombe mills were worked by water from the River Wye, but other mills were established on the Loddon, which runs into the Thames between Wycombe and Great Marlow.7 In the 1 8th century paper-making was the most important industry in the county, with the possible exception of lace.8 In 1797 Thomas Langley wrote : — 'The paper manufacture is very flourishing and has experienced every attention its importance so highly deserves.' * The paper- mills at Horton and Wyrardisbury (Wraysbury) were worked during the greater part of the i8th century, but for a time were converted into iron or copper mills.10 Wyrardisbury mills were re-converted into paper-mills early in the igth century,11 while in the northern part of the county the manufacture was carried on at Newport Pagnell and at Marsworth,1* and other mills may have existed on the northern streams. The Marsworth mill was destroyed by the construction of the grand Junction Canal, which took away all the water of the stream, for the reservoirs and canal. In 1831 there were seventy-six paper manufacturers in the county, while 220 men or boys were em- ployed in the trade either as masters or work- men.18 Since then a mill at Chenies stopped working between 1851 and i86i,u and at the present day the chief paper-mills are in the south of the county, the most important being at High Wycombe, Great Marlow, Wooburn, Iver, and Bledlow. The first paper made in Buckinghamshire was writing and printing paper of good quality,11 but in 1636-7 complaints were made that the paper would not bear ink on either side, while the price had risen considerably.1* So little com- petition was there, that Phipps and his fellow manufacturers seem to have made a great profit on the manufacture of bad paper, while a few ' Defoe, Tour in Gt. Brit. (17*5), ii, 70. • W. James and J. Malcolm, Gen. Vino ofJgrit. In Bucks. (1794). •T. Langley, Hilt. ofHunJ. ofDesbonugh, 9. "Gyll, Hitt. of Wraysbury, 71, 198. 11 Lipscomb, Hist, tf Bucks, iv, 620. " Pinnock, Hist. anJ Tofog. ofEngl. i, 3 1 . Informa- tion supplied by Rev. W. Ragg. "Pop. Ret. 1831, i, 34. "Ibid. 1861, i, 298. " S.P. Dom. Eliz. ccclixvi, 6. "Ibid. Chai. I, cccxliv, 40 (i). Ill A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE years before they had stopped their mills by combination to bring down the price of rags. The Wycombe mill-owners claimed to make the best kinds of white writing and printing paper. The price varied from 3*. to 2os. a ream, and the Paper Act of 1690 aimed at preventing their making it over 4.1. a ream.17 Some makers did make this good paper, but the greater part was probably of a cheaper kind, since in mentioning the paper-mills near Wycombe and Marlow in 1725, Defoe18 said that printing paper was made ' good of its kind and cheap such as generally is made use of in printing our news- papers, journals, &c., and smaller pamphlets, but not much fine or large for bound books or writing.' During the i8th century, however, many improvements were made in the manufac- ture. These were due largely to the efforts of Mr. John Bates, a paper-maker at Wycombe Marsh. His chief discovery was a method of pro- ducing paper for mezzotints and other engraved plates, which was equal to the French paper for the same purpose, and for this he received the gold medal of the Society of Arts in lySy.18 Besides the invention of this special paper, other manufacturers at the close of the i8th century were making only papers dt luxe. The Rye Mill at High Wycombe, for instance, which has been in existence for certainly a hun- dred years and probably for longer, has always produced paper of this class for writing, drawing, ledgers, and bank notes.20 TANNING AND SHOEMAKING Several tan-yards used to exist in the county, but they are now closed and there is only one firm of tanners in Buckingham at the present day. So important were the tan-yards of the town of Buckingham that the tanners formed one of the four companies to which all the burgesses of the borough belonged.1 In 1831, 2 131 men were employed in the business there, but no other tanneries are mentioned. At Olney, however, the tan-yards must have been working at that time,8 and it was noted for the excellence of its leather in all parts of the kingdom. Leather tanning seems to have been given up some thirty years ago, when the tan-yard, worked by Mr. Joseph Palmer for oak- bark tanning, was closed. His yard, however, has been purchased within the last few years by Messrs. W. E. & J. Pebody, Ltd., and the works re-constructed, being old-fashioned and disused for many years. The process of chrome tanning is now carried on by the firm at the Olney yard. The manufacture of boots and shoes, which has developed at Olney during the last twenty years, was not established till after the tan-yard was closed, so that its growth can have no connexion with the tannery. Boot and shoe-making is also the most im- portant trade of the town of Chesham. One of 17 Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiii, App. pt. v, 74. 18 Defoe, Tour in Gt. Brit. (1725), ii, 70, 71. 19 Robert Gibbs, Worthies of Bucks. 30 ; T. Lang- ley, Hist. ofHund. ofDesbonugh. 80 Information supplied by Messrs. T. H. Saunders & Co. Ltd., Rye Mill, High Wycombe. 1 Brown Willis, Hut. and Antiq. of the Town, etc. of Buckingham. 1 Pop. Ret. 1831, i, 35. 3 From information kindly given by Messrs. W. E. & J. Pebody, Ltd. Cowper Tannery, Olney. the chief manufacturers at the present time states that there has been an industry there for many generations, and that it was probably due to the existence of several tan-yards in the town. These latter have been given up a very long time, owing doubtless to the later mode of pro- ducing leather by much larger firms in London and other leather centres, and to the large quan- tity of leather imported. In the i6th century the shoemakers at High Wycombe succeeded in closing the market to ' foreign ' shoemakers,4 but at the close of the reign of Elizabeth a new order was made by the mayor and bailiffs, in which the restriction against showing goods in the market was specially removed from the victualling and shoemaking trades. There is, however, no mention of any particular locality in which shoes were made in any quantity. Early in the igth century a great many hands were employed at Chesham in the shoe- making trade, the goods manufactured being sent in the main to the London market.* It is curious, however, that shoemaking does not ap- pear among the handicrafts or manufactures of the county in the census of 1831.' A few years, later the trade was flourishing,7 and by 1862 it had assumed very considerable proportions, the goods being both sent to London and ex- ported to foreign countries.8 For many years all the boots and shoes were made by hand throughout, and the work was done in the homes of the workers. This is still the case to the extent that hand-work is produced, but there are few, if any, young ' hand sewn ' men in the town. When boots began to be riveted> * Wycombe Borough Records. 4 Lysons, Magna Brit, i, 536. 'Pop. Ret. 1831,!, 34. 7 Lipscomb, Hist, of Such, iii, 263. 8 Sheahan, Hist, and Topog. of Bucks. 838. 112 INDUSTRIES a number of these men took to that branch of the trade, and the term shoemaker is no longer used, except among the hand-makers, for several hands contribute now in the making of a pair of boots — the riveters, sewers, and finishers and several others all carrying on a specialized part of the work. At one or two factories the welting machine has been introduced and then discarded as not satisfactory for the somewhat stronger classes of boots for which Chesham has become noted. For many years these classes of boots formed the staple of the Chesham factories, and to a large extent this is still the case. The boots, when finished, are sent all over the country and a considerable quantity of them are exported. The conditions of the trade at the present time are said to be good. 'The families engaged in the boot trade here are very well paid and gene- rally occupy good class cottages of the better order ; a strike is scarcely ever heard of ... employers and employed appear to get on very well together. There is no trade union here, from time to time efforts have been made from outside to establish one. There is sufficient demand for labour that an unreasonable employer would find his men leave him.' ' STRAW-PLAITING A second home industry, which still employs a certain number of people in Buckinghamshire, is the manufacture of straw-plait for hats and bonnets. The manufacture first became import- ant in Italy, Leghorn hats being still famous, but it does not seem to have been introduced into England until the i8th century, when the French War stopped the importation of foreign plait. The industry spread quickly in Bedford- shire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire, where the wheat-straw produced was the most favour- able for English plait. In 1768 when Arthur Young visited Dunstable,1 the manufacture of straw-plait was established, but had not grown to much importance, basket-work being still the chief industry of the neighbourhood. Probably in the neighbouring county of Buckingham there was then no straw-plaiting, but by the end of the 1 8th century it had spread all over the county. In 1813 lace and straw-plaiting were the chief industries* of the county, occupying so many women and girls that none of them worked in the fields. When foreign plait was unprocurable, the Eng- lish article was much used, but the large size of the wheat-straws used made it very inferior to the Italian plait.1 To overcome this defect the straws were split and the narrow ' splints ' used instead of the whole straw. At first this process was done by hand with a pen-knife, but it was tedious and difficult to obtain uniformity in the size of the splints. A straw-splitting machine was then introduced, which greatly added to the suc- cess of the industry. It is not certain who was the original inventor, several stories existing as to the first machine made. One of these, how- ever, claims that the honour belongs to a Bucking- ' Information given by Messrs. J. & E. Reynolds. 1 Si* Months' Tour, i, 1 6. ' St. John Priest, Agr'u. Surv. of Bucks. 346. 1 Penny Cyclopaedia xziii. 2 113 hamshire man. In an account of straw-plaiting written in 1822, the following story is given4 : — Our informant states that his father, Thomas Sim- mons (now deceased), was residing when a boy, about the year 1785, at Chalfont St. Peter's, Buckinghamshire, and that when amusing himself one evening by cutting pieces of wood, he made an article upon which he put a straw and found that it divided it into several pieces. A female who was present asked him to give it to her, observing that if he could not make money of it, she could. She had the instrument, and gave the boy a shilling. He was subsequently apprenticed to a black- smith ; and on visiting his friends, he found them engaged in splitting straws with a pen-knife. Per- ceiving that the operation might be better performed by an apparatus similar to that which he had made some time before, he then made some machines of iron on the same principle. The straw-splitting machine does not seem to have come into general use until about 1815. The most successful period of the manufacture was during the French War, when foreign plaits were prohibited. The latter were in many ways superior to English plait, but various efforts were made to improve its quality, especially by the Society of Arts.* These efforts maintained the industry for a considerable period and it was in a flourishing condition in the middle of the iQth century. Lipscomb, writing at that time,* says that at Broughton ' the female population were chiefly employed, formerly in lace-making but more recently in platting straw or chip hats and bonnets ' and at High Wycombc lace-making had been almost entirely superseded by straw and chip plaiting.7 Very good wages, for the time, were earned at the trade. In 1813 women were able to earn 3<3J. a week,8 but this was probably the highest 4 Ibid. 109. 'Johnson, Universal Cyclopaedia. * Hist, of Bucks, iv, 77. ' Ibid, iii, 644. •St. 346. John Priest, Gen. View of Agric. of Bucks. A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE rate obtainable, and in the Aylesbury district 22s. a week were the best wages obtained while the in- dustry was most successful.8 Ivinghoe and Ayles- bury were the chief centres of the manufacture in Buckinghamshire. At the former, the Satur- day market was largely for straw-plait, which was still brought to it in considerable quantities in i862.10 At Aylesbury a plait-market was estab- lished by Mr. Robert Thorpe in 1846 n and suc- ceeded for a time, but was finally given up owing to the drop in prices that shortly occurred. In 1862 the following places carried on the industry in the county, Bow Brickhill, Great Brickhill, Little Brickhill, Wavendon, Aston Abbots, Drayton Parslow, Hoggeston, Pitstone, Stewkley, Swanbourne,Whitchurch, Amersham, besides the Ivinghoe and Aylesbury districts.13 The industry had many different kinds of workers, with a great deal of specialization ; there were bleachers, cutters, dyers, flatters, stringers, drawers, and packers each doing their own particular work in making the straw-plait.13 Although the end of the French War made straw-plaiting less profitable in England than it had been before, it was not till the removal of the import duties on foreign plait, that the real decay of the industry set in. Buckinghamshire seems to have lost the greater part of its trade in this article sooner than the other straw-plaiting counties,14 but it is still carried on about Ivinghoe and Ed- lesborough.15 A rough estimate fixes 500 to 600 as the number of straw-plaiters in Bucking- hamshire, but the industry is still declining, the demand being very small. The workers, too, prefer factory or domestic service, for both of which there is a great demand. BRICKS, TILES AND POTTERY In a county possessing but little stone for build- ing, the manufacture of bricks was one of the most important industries. In the rates of wages fixed by the justices of the peace in I562,1 only five kinds of artificers are especially mentioned, namely, master carpenters and sawyers, brick- layers, tilers and thatchers. Bricklayers and tilers were to receive 8d. a day in summer and 6d. in winter, and their labourers dd. and 5^. respectively, though in fact they received much more. In the I yth century,8 Sir Ralph Verney started a considerable amount of building, and in his correspondence with his steward there are many details about the brick-fields at Claydon. In 1 656 he paid the brick-maker 6s. a thousand for making and burning bricks, I s. a quarter for burn- ing lime, and 51. a hundred for making and burning pavements. The year before he had procured brick pavements from the neighbouring villages. They were 9 in. square and there was some difficulty in the carting of them to Claydon. The steward wrote that if Sir Ralph ' take soe great a quantity, as from 12 or 15 hundred to- gether .... 6 oxen would not well draw 500 at a loade, for they are not near twice so heavy as brick and an ordinary cart will bring on 5 or 6 hundred of brick at a loade now that wages are good.' The building had to be stopped very soon "Gibbs, Hiit. of Aylesbury, 667. 10 Sheahan, Topog. of Bucks. 694. 11 Gibbs, Hist, of Aylesbury, 667. 11 Sheahan, Topog. of Bucks. "Gibbs, Hist, of Aylesbury, 667. "V.C.H.Beds. ii, 121. 15 Information kindly supplied by Mr. William Gray, plait merchant, Edlesborough. 1 S.P. Dom. Eliz. xix, 43. * Memoirs of the Verney family, iii, 132. after this owing to financial straits of the Verneys after the Civil War, but Sir Ralph had already ordered 100,000 bricks to be made and the work- men could not be discharged at once. Two years later, however, in 1658, the building was begun afresh ; the brickyard was trenched and as soon as the brickmakers could come, tools, wheel-bar- rows and moulds were delivered to them by their employer. Bricks and tiles were made at the same period at Brill from the earth of Brill Hills * and the brick-fields in the neighbourhood on the line of the Brill Tramway still continue. The earth there was also used for earthenware drain pipes. Brick-making was carried on in other parts of the county in early times. In 1831,* 116 men were employed in the industry either as masters or workmen, and in 1862 there were brick-fields at Fenny Stratford, Whitchurch, Burnham, Chalfont St. Peter and Hillesden.6 It is curious, however, that the brick-fields at Slough are not mentioned at that date, since they are now the most important in the county and had been established before 1862. The town of Slough has grown up very recently ; the demand for houses there and the facilities for the transportation of bricks have both been made by the building of the Great Western Railway. The brick-fields were started about sixty-three years ago by Mr. Thomas Nash and are now owned by a company formed in 1 893 under the name of H. & J. Nash, Ltd. The fields extend into the neighbouring parishes of Langley Marish and Iver, and about four- teen million bricks are made annually, steam- "Lipscomb, Hist, of Suds, i, 53. * Pop. Ret. 1831, i, 34 6 Sheahan, Hist, and Topog. of Bucks. 538, 772, 815, 827, 281. 114. INDUSTRIES power having been used for the last twenty years.* Buckinghamshire is not famous for any great potteries, but the Brill pottery dates from very ancient times. The first mention of potters there is in 1254,' in an inquisition as to rights of gathering wood in Brill Woods. The jurors gave evidence as to the privileges of certain ecclesias- tical lords and ended with saying that the potters took small-wood, &c., for their kilns contrary to the forest regulations. The right to dig brick earth in Barnwood Forest was probably theirs from time immemorial, but the lord of the manor of Brill exacted an annual payment of 4*. bd. known as the 'Claygavel.' This was paid in the I3th and I4th centuries with regu- larity and is continually entered in the steward's accounts.' At the disafforestmcnt of Barnwood in the reign of James I,' an allotment of common- able land was made for artificers and cottages, by an order of the Court of Chancery, ' many artificers of Brill having received employment by making brick, tyle, lyme and potts out of the soyle of Brill hills.' A pot was dug up at Long Crendon near Brill, about 1885, containing coins of the period of the Civil War and earlier, and presumably was made by the Brill potters. More recently the chief pottery works were carried on by a family of the name of Hubbocks, the last descendant being still at Brill at the present time.10 They were potters for 1 49 years and the father of the present Mr. Hubbocks owned the last pottery. His kiln is still to be seen, and was used till within three years of his death, which took place about thirty-two years ago. He used the old wheel and fashioned the pots with his finger and thumb. At one time, presumably during the lifetime of the elder Hubbocks, there were seven potteries in Brill, and in 1831 thirty-five men were employed in making earthenware pottery in the county.11 The industry was, however, not in a flourishing condition a few years later, owing to the in- creased price of fuel and the cost of carriage,11 but in 1862, there was still a pottery for the manufacture of brown earthenware. The colour however, seems more generally to have been ' From information kindly given by Mr. A. H. Woolley, 14 Mill Street, Slough. 7 HunJ. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 21. ' Mins. Accts. bdlc. 759, nos. 30, 31. I Lipscomb, Hist, of Bucks, i, 107. '* From information kindly obtained from Mr. Hub- bocks, by Mrs. Riley, Brill Vicarage. II Pop. Ret. 1831, i, 34. " Lipscomb, Hut. of Bucki. i, 107. varying shades of yellow and green, produced by the different kinds of clay from which the pots were made. Hubbocks made for the most part flower-pots and large pans and jugs, one or two of which are to be seen at Brill, but they bear no date since he only dated his pots at the request of the customer. His stock was bought up some years ago ' for a museum in Oxford.' An older pot is in the possession of Mr. F. H. Parrott, of 'The Camp,' Kimble. It bears the indented inscription 'M.M. 1764 'on its side and on the bottom is written ' John Sheperde, Poter, Brill, Bux.' The pot is of rough red earthenware with a greenish-brown glaze and was found in a cottage at Brill where it was bought by a man at Aylesbury, who sold it to its present owner. There were other potteries at Coleshill, a ham- let in the parish of Amersham, and at Chalfont St. Peter, in the early part of the i gth century.11 The latter, which is now called the Beaconsfield Pottery, was established in 1 805 by Mr. William Wellins, but changed hands shortly and was bought by Mr. John Swallow, who practically was the real starter of the pottery. It has never assumed very large proportions, and Mrs. M. Saunders & Son, the lessees of the pottery, now chiefly produce flower-pots, stands, chimney-pots and pipes and similar articles.14 It has, however, continued working to the present day, in spite of the keen competition in the industry. A pottery of another character existed near Great 'Marlow until the present year, when it was moved to Staffordshire.16 The Med- menham pottery was established ten years ago about a mile from the town of Great Marlow, with the object of producing architectural pot- tery and tiles with individuality in design and execution. To secure this, the works were established in the country, materials from Mar- low being used when possible and village work- people only employed for the most part. It has however, been found impossible to continue the pottery in Buckinghamshire, so far from the main pottery districts. Some of the chief pieces of work accomplished were, however, done while the pottery was still at Marlow, one of the most important being the frieze surrounding the new hall of the Law Society in Chancery Lane. 11 Ibid, iii, 146 ; Sheahan, Hut. and lopog. of Biukt. 8*7. 14 From information kindly supplied by Mrs. Saunders & Son, Beaconsfield Pottery. " Information kindly given by Mr. Conrad Dressier. A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE BELL-FOUNDRIES In the church tower of Caversfield, formerly in Buckinghamshire but since 1845 included in Oxfordshire, is what is probably the oldest church bell remaining in England ; it may be fairly considered as of ' local ' as opposed to London origin. Its very curious form and inscriptions have been fully described by the present writer elsewhere,1 but its quite excep- tional interest merits additional notice. The shape is probably unique ; it has a very round shoulder, an extremely long waist, and it is nearly the same size all the way down from shoulder to lip. Ordinarily the greatest thick- ness of a bell is at the sound-bow, diminishing again thence to an edge at the lip ; but in this bell the thickness continues increasing below the sound-bow until it ends abruptly in a flat lip 2 in. thick. The diameter at lip is 2of in. ; height to crown 2o£ in. The large canons add about another 7 in. to the height (5^ in. visible under the stock). Round the sound-bow is very legibly inscribed, with a perfectly plain initial cross, in equally plain capitals of Roman character, except only that the G is curved in Lombardic character, the A has a cross-bar on the top, and the 3 is reversed : — + INHONORG • DEI • GT2ANTI • LAVRGNCII Round the sound-bow is a second inscrip- tion,1* which had hitherto baffled all attempts to decipher it. It was scratched in extra- ordinary characters by hand on the cope, not stamped, and is reversed, that is it reads from right to left. It cannot be adequately repro- duced in type, but the intention was apparently as follows : — HUGLH] GARGATfE] SIBILLAQCUE] UXOR EJUS H[/EC] TIMPANNA (= tympana) FECERUNT ECPONI (=exponi) At the beginning of the reign of Henry II, Brian Fitz Count, Lord of Wallingford, the owner of the manor of Caversfield and other estates, entered a religious house ; the king seized the properties and bestowed this manor on Roger Gargate. Ten years later (1164) Roger granted the church of this parish to the Abbey of Missenden, to take effect on the next voidance of the rectory. Browne Willis2 states, 1 The Ch. Bells of Bucks. (Jarrold, 1 897). u This inscription was erroneously described (torn, cit.) as if on another and now destroyed bell. ' Hilt, and Antiq. of Town of Buckingham, 165. In the 'Liber Cartarii Monasterii Beate Marie de Mis- sendene ' are transcribed ten deeds concerning this parish, but all dates are omitted. on the authority of the Register of Missenden Abbey, that Hugh Gargate confirmed his father's donation, and that Hugh's wife, Sibill de Cavers- field, swore that she would not interfere. Hugh seems to have been in possession of the estate by 1207, as his name appears in the Fine Rolls for that year (9 John) ; and he was apparently still living in 1216, as his name appears in the Close Rolls for that year ( 1 8 John). He must have died soon afterwards — in or before 1219 — because Kennett2 under the date of that year (3 & 4 Hen. Ill) quotes a deed by which Isabel daughter of Hugh Gargate of Caversfield, widow, gave to the church at Burcester part of a croft (the other part having been already given by her sister Muriel) on condition that the canons of that church should receive her and her mother into the prayers of their house for ever. Though the omission of her father's name does not prove that he was dead, it tends to suggest that supposition ; and dated the same year is another deed in which there occurs — ' ego Sybilla de Kaversfeld quondam uxor Hugonis Gargat in pura viduitate,' which leaves no doubt as to the fact. An agreement follows between William de Ros and Sibil de Cavers- field and Muriel her daughter, by which Sibil and Muriel did remit to William de Ros the lands which lately belonged to Hugh Gargat in the village of Warmington. Dated 4 Hen. Ill apud Oxon. (= 1220). It seems therefore clear that the bell was cast before 1219. There is nothing to give any clue to its founder, but in early days the difficulty of car- riage usually necessitated the casting of church bells either on the spot, or at a foundry within some dozen miles, unless water-carriage was available. No village is too small to have been the site of a foundry, and many early bells were turned out by monks in the religious houses, but the three nearest towns to Caversfield are Bicester (Oxon. 2 m. S.), Buckingham (8£ m. NE.), and Woodstock (Oxon. 10 m. SW.). There is apparently nothing to connect either of the Oxfordshire towns with this craft (until the 1 7th century, when James Keene from Bedford set up a foundry at Woodstock), but Buck- ingham was the site of a flourishing bell-founding business by the i6th century at any rate, and several other bells have to be mentioned, show- ing probably at least three ' local ' foundries not out of range, in the course of the 1 4th century. Oddly enough, the next five bells in age in the county to that at Caversfield are by a London " Par. Antiq. (ed. I, 1695), 189 ; (ed. 2, 1818), i, 264, 266, 268. 116 INDUSTRIES founder, Michael de Wymbis, by whom no other bells arc known anywhere ; but there is docu- mentary evidence proving that he was founding bells in London in 1290, and dead by 1310.' It seems a long way to have dragged two of his bells all the way from London to Old Bradwell and one to Lee ; the other two are at Bradenham, and there is evidence apparently leaving no doubt that they only came there in the i6th century, probably bought second-hand after the suppres- sion of some religious house not very far off". As Bradenham itself is within a few miles of the Thames, and the original home of the bells may have been still nearer the river, their journey from London would have been comparatively simple. One other 1 4th-century bell in Buckinghamshire, at Tattenhoe, is by a London founder, Peter de Weston, who died in 1 347," but as the bell is quite small, not much over I cwt., its transport would have presented no serious difficulty. Within a radius of 1 1 miles from Buckingham as centre, or actually within a radius of under and to his wife Katherine, daughter of Thomas Bullok.9 It is very probable that William the Bellmaker of Toddington is identical with William Rufford, and the existence of a bell foundry at Toddington seems to be placed be- yond doubt. William Rufford was still living in 1415, for another William, possibly his son, is called 'junior' at that date. The family took their name from Rufford, in Chalgrove parish, co. Oxon, where Thomas Rufford at his death in 1420 held 63 acres of the heirs of Dru (Drogo) Barentyn as of the manor of ' Chalgrave ' 10 in Oxfordshire, as well as land in chief at Edles- borough in Buckinghamshire. Mr. Gurney further mentions finding an Andrew Roffard of an earlier date than John, who may have be- longed to the same family. He was one of many rioters to arrest whom commissioners were appointed on 20 May 1348, on complaint of the Black Prince, for having assaulted his ser- vants, detained his horses and carts, and carried away his goods at Thame.11 7 Cb. Belli of Bucks. 18. 8 Kindly communicated by letter to the writer. ' Cal. Pat. 1388-92, p. 305. 10 Inq. p.m. taken at Oxford, 8 Hen. V. By a coincidence there is a village of 'Chalgrave' only i mile from Toddington in Beds. 11 Cal. Pat. 1348-50, p. 156. INDUSTRIES For over a century, beginning from the latter part of the 1 3th century, when bell-founders in London begin to be recognizable, they were almost always styled ' Potter,' or by the Latin equivalent 0//ariui.™ Patter was a common name in Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire from at least as early as 1213, and its very natural corruption Porter appears from 1275. In the Visitation of Bucks., by Wm. Harley, claren- ceux king at arms, 1566, the arms of a John Porter of Barton Hartshorn, who married about the first half of the 1 4th century, are given as * sa. 3 Bells ar.' ll This certainly seems a likely coat to be borne by the descendant of a bell- founder, although a local bell-founder would hardly have had a coat of arms. In the History, etc., of the Prebendal Church, ttc., of Thame (Oxon.) by the late Rev. F. G. Lee (1883), are many quotations from the oldest known volume of Churchwardens' Accounts of that parish.11* Among them a bell-founder named Thomas Swadling is mentioned, who was em- ployed there in 1450. No hint is given as to his locality, but if he was a veritable founder he was probably ' local.' Under 1465 'A man from Ewelme ' (Oxon.) was perhaps a bell-hanger or carpenter, rather than a founder. Dr. Lee states that 'The Powells, or Ap Powells, of Buckingham, had been likewise employed at Thame, as early as the year 1503.' In the same accounts for 1548 ' Richarde Hylton' purchased the great bell and three little hand- bells, but that is no reason why he need have been a bell-founder. Beginning in December 1552, the name of John Appowell appears frequently in the Records of the Borough Court of Buckingham. In July 1556, he is first described therein as 'Bel- founder.' In the Churchwardens' Accounts of Wing (Buckinghamshire) for 1556, is: — If payde for ou' coftp at buckyngam when we made bargayne for the bell xxjV. II payde for oure coltf at )>" caftynge of the bell iiij/. \d. If payd to the bell founder . . iiij/7. viij/. \yl. Other items follow proving the existence of a bell-foundry in Buckingham at the above date, " Ch. Bells of Bucks. 8 and 17. "MS. B.M. 5181, fol. 80, and three other copies, in one of which, No. 5867 (printed 1883), the tincture of the field is given as Gules. lu This exceptionally interesting volume was pre- sented to the library of the Bucks. Archit. and Arch. Soc., during the 'fifties of last century, but had disappeared. Long search ultimately resulted in discovering it at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, to which it had been sold for £20 ! It was eventually recovered by the exertions of the late Messrs. J. Parker and E. J. Payne, and the present writer ; but several years too late for references to be included in the Cb. Belli of Bucks. but mentioning no name ; but in the following year's account, 1557, comes : — If payde to John appowell for the bell ........ iijA vj/. viijV. According to the above Borough Records, he seems to have been continually before the court, sometimes as plaintiff*, sometimes as defendant, in actions to recover very small debts.14 He was Bailiff of Buckingham in 1559—60. In the Thame Churchwardens' Accounts for the year ending Ascensiontide, 1560, is : — Ifm payd to John Appowell for Makyngc of Certayne Iren about the bells . . . iijV. and in the following year's account is : — Itm pd to John Appowell for xv finale barrf of Iren for the west wyndow in the Churche. iij/. \d. It seems very probable that the founder may have had a contemporary namesake, who was a blacksmith, and lived at Thame. In the Visitation of Buckinghamshire, by Wil- liam Harley in 1566, already referred to, John Appowell is mentioned among the ' Burgefses and late Baylifrs.' In the Thame Churchwardens' Accounts for the year ending Ascensiontide, 1567, is : — Payd to John Appowell of Buck- ingnm the bellfoundre for Caftinge of the bell . . . xliij/. with confirmatory entries in the same and two following years. In 1569 John Appowell served the office of Bailiff of Buckingham for the second time, and in 1572 he was churchwarden. In the Churchwardens' Accounts of Shillington, in Bedfordshire,1' for the year 1575, the foundry is proved to have been in existence : — Payd when they went to buckyng- ham when they went w' the great bell .... and a few lines further on : — [George Edwards] He laid forthe at buckingham when they went w' y* bell ..... xxijV. ij/. iiijV. with various other entries concerning the trans- action, but no mention of the founder's name. John Appowell was Bailiff of Buckingham for the third time in the year beginning i May 1576. His death is recorded in the Bucking- ham Register, thus: — 1577 Johes Appowel grosj et Ballivus Bucking fepultz 0 good friday bonus dies veneris. 14 Detailed in Cb. Bells of Bucks. 175 et »eq. " North, Ch. Belli of BeJs. 1 86. 119 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE His second son George succeeded to the bell- founding business, but died in October of the following year (1578). He had married in February, and his young widow evidently only survived him a few days. The wills of both John and George are given in extenso in Church Bells of Bucks., and many other details con- cerning the family, including mention of several persons of the same surname living at Thame, and glimpses of founders of the same (or very similar) name working in London. Probably two generations of John Appowell appear in the Churchwardens' Accounts of St. Lawrence's, Reading, from 1516, and one or two other un- important points combine to make it likely that John Appowell came from Reading, and had learnt his trade at the old-established foundry there. No bells can be with certainty assigned to him, though it is probable that bells bearing a portion of the alphabet, or a string of letters of which the interpretation, if one existed, is lost, in one or other of two sets of lettering or a mixture of both, may be the produce of this foundry. They are at Croughton (Northamptonshire), Twyford, Ickford, Em- was closed, or whether another Appowell or some one else whose name has not come to light carried it on during the next few years, is un- known; but before long two young men who had learnt the craft in the celebrated Leicester foun- dry settled at Buckingham, and soon got together a good business. On 7 February 15 80 Thomas Newcombe II of the Leicester Foundry was buried at that town, leaving three sons and a daughter, and also an apprentice named Bar- tholomew Atton, ' Tanner and Bellfounder ' (like his master), who was admitted to the Merchants' Gild of Leicester in 1582-3. Robert New- combe, the eldest of Thomas's children, and Bartholomew Atton, evidently realizing that other members of the Newcombe family had the entire trade at Leicester, migrated to Buckingham as partners, and set up for themselves. The Wing Churchwardens' Accounts for 1586 show that a bell was cast for that parish at Buckingham, some time apparently between June and No- vember 1585, but the name of the founder is not mentioned. At Passenham, Northampton- shire, but only 6£ miles from Buckingham, is a bell inscribed in the large florid letters associated Lr FIG. i mington (Oxfordshire), Hulcott, Bloxham (Ox- fordshire), Little Brickhill, Tadley (Hampshire), Milcombe (Oxfordshire),16 and doubtfully a few others. One of the sets of lettering is no doubt much older than John Appowell, and the initials of the original owner are R.K. The following 16th-century bells in neigh- bouring counties want founders, and are probably ' locals ' : — The treble at Finmere (Oxfordshire), 4 miles from Buckingham, and with the same lettering the treble at Midgham (Berkshire), 1 1 miles south-west of Reading ; the saunce at Streatley (Berkshire), 10 miles from Reading; also the second at Aston Tirrold, and the third at Padworth ; the last two (both in Berkshire) have the same lettering. The oldest dated bell in Buckinghamshire is the single at Horsenden, bearing four illegible letters, ornamented, but apparently completely worn out (fig. i), and the date 1582, in ex- tremely distinct evenly-formed figures. It is probably of ' local ' manufacture. What happened to the Buckingham foundry on the death of George Appowell, whether it 16 Rubbing kindly lent by Mr. A. D. Tyssen, D.C.L. subsequently with the Buckingham foundry exclusively : — + A + TRVSTY + FRENDE + YS + HARDE + TO + FYNDE + 1585 + +++++ and at Hoggeston (about 9 miles from Bucking- ham) is a bell similarly inscribed, except that being smaller there was not room in a single line for the whole inscription, so the last word was omitted, the inscription ending with TO and the date, the latter for the same reason is stamped (as to its first three figures) above the final orna- ment, and the unit is indistinct, and may possi- bly be 3 instead of 5. This inscription points to the partnership, and the lettering came from Leicester, so there is no reason to doubt that these partners began work at Buckingham not later than 1585. At Seaton, Rutland,17 is an undated bell in- scribed in the same lettering, but all set back- wards : — + RYECHARDE BENETLYE BELLFOVNDDER 17 North, Ch. Bells of Rutland, and his Ch. Bells of Northants. 120 INDUSTRIES As this is in the neighbourhood of Leicester, and as the name appears in the registers of Leicester, but not in those of Buckingham, Richard Bentley was evidently founding at the former town, whether on his own account, or as an assistant. A Richard Bentley was married at All Saints* in that town in 1571, and four chil- dren of presumably the same Richard Bentley were christened there between 1577 and 1585.'* Further proof of the origin of Bartholomew Alton is afforded by two bells,1' one at Treding- ton, Worcestershire, inscribed in ornate capitals I in. high : — + BARTELMEW ATON ^cB? preceded and followed by a cross and crown, which are known marks of the Newcombe Foun- dry ; the other bell is at Baddesley Clinton, Warwickshire, and is inscribed in the same let- tering, with Thomas Newcombe's shield. In the Churchwardens' Accounts of Wing for the year ended 14 June 1590 is the earliest documentary evidence of Bartholomew Alton founding bells at Buckingham : — pd vnto Bartholomewe Alton of Buck- yngam for the caftyng of the fecund bell W pultyng in ij C I xfi. weyghl of new mcttell more then the old bell weyghed As some of the entries referring to this trans- action precede the charge for ringing on St. Hugh's Day, Alton must have been at work in Buckingham before November 1589. At Hard- wick the tenor, dated 1590, is inscribed ROBART MEWCOME MADE ME with an ornate cross, and ihe shield (fig. 2) ; in the same year, the tenor at Loughton, and ihe treble at Stoke Hammond have the other Fie. 2 "In the Trans. Leici. Archil, and Arch. Soe. viii, 173 (1896), is recorded the will of a Richard Bentley, of Sharnford, 1582, who was therefore probably not the father of the above children. " Ex inform. Mr. H. B. Walters, F.S.A. partner's name, which continues regularly from that year to appear on bells. Robert Newcombe was buried according to the Buckingham Parish Register on 2 February 1591-2. In 1598 and iwo following years, Bartholo- mew's name appears several times among the lists of burgesses in the court rolls already mentioned. In 1605 he was Bailiff of Buckingham. A bell at Great Horwood dated that year is inscribed in lettering (togeiher wilh an ornameni) belonging to this foundry : — B A R A. A Robert Atlon was chamberlain of ihe borough of Leicesler in '592-3, but judging by ascertained dates it seems likely thai he was father lo Bartholomew, and lhal Robert ihe bell-founder whoappears from ihis date was a son of Bartholomew. The Baptismal Regisier of Buckingham is missing from May 1589 lo March 1592-3, during which interval some of Bartholomew's children were probably born ; and Robert may either have been among ihe number, or he may have been baptized before his parents left Leicester. Two leaves* from the Churchwardens' Ac- counts of Woodford Halse, Northanls, were found loose in an old book purchased al a sale al Byfield ; one of ihem dated 1609-10 enumer- ates certain expenses of a deputaiion who personally attended ihe casling of a bell : — Imprimis payed for ihe earring of the Bell unto Buckingham .... vu. It. payed for alle when the Bell ware a melting viijV. It. payed for alle when the Belle ware a running vjV. It. payed for the Berriying of the Bell- founder xj/. It. payed for ale when the Bell ware a taking up out of the mold . . . vjV. It. payed Bell money unto the Bell- founders men iij/. iiijd. It. payed for a Band making that wee did take of the Bellfounder . . . vjV. It. payed for the casting of the Bell . . liij/. iiijd. It. payyed for mettill for ihe Bell . . xlvij/. iijd. It. payed for our charis in our dial in ling Bockingame ziij/. As ihe negalive evidence of ihe Regislers goes to show that no Buckingham bell-founder died just when the deputation from Woodford Halse were seeing their bell recast, it may be that ' burying of the bell-founder ' is a slang term meaning a big drink on ihe occasion." " Transcribed in Northanti. N. and Q. (vol. i, Northampton, 1886). " ' Burying a wife ' is a feast given by an apprentice at the expiration of his articles (Halliwell, Diet, of Archaic and Provl. Words). In the above quotation 'earring' is not an accidental mis-spelling, but the Buckinghamshire pronunciation of the word to the present day (and no doubt the Bedfordshire as well) ; a ' Band ' is of course a Bond, or Agreement ; 'charis' probably means chargfs, or possibly shares; and ' ling ' no doubt wants a mark of abbreviation, and means leaving, . 121 l6 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE There are, however, certain changes in the lettering used on bells from this year, and the arabesque (fig. 3) makes its appearance ; and the fact of Bartholomew's name appearing on a few bells of later date, may merely be an early in- stance of the common modern trade practice of re- taining a man's name in the title of the firm for years after his death. This was almost certainly done in the case of Robert, a few years later. A bell at Chellington, Bedfordshire, has : — ROBERT n ATTOH n MADE n MEE a 1611 a W ATTOM a This is the only bell known to bear the name 23 of W. Atton, whose baptism seems to be re- corded by the fol- lowing entry in the Buckingham Register: — '1596 September Wm. films Bartholomei Atton decimo die.' He probably discarded bell- founding in favour of a draper's busi- ness, and served the office of Bailiff of Buckingham four times, dying in October 1655. Of his two sons who survived in- fancy one was cer- tainly, and the other with little doubt, a draper, neither having any connexion with bell-founding. Bartholomew's name is reported23 on a bell at Paulerspury, Northamptonshire, dated 1613 ; on one at Kidlington, Oxfordshire, dated 1621 ; 24 on one at Passenham, Northampton- Fic. 3 shire, dated 1624 ; and on one formerly at Blisworth, Northamptonshire, dated 1626. All of these (except perhaps the Kidlington bell), have also Robert's initials, who continued bell- founding until 1628, in which year the Buck- ingham Register records that he was buried on 6 May. Robert had a son and namesake, but the subsequent history of the business leaves hardly any doubt that the entry refers to the elder of the name. Dated this year is the fourth bell at Grand- borough, inscribed : — ROBERT ATTON NATHANIEL BOLTTER and ornamented by stamps already used by the Attons, and a new running pattern (fig. 4), which forms a connecting link between this foundry and the Bagleys, as mentioned a little further on.25 There was formerly a similarly dated and inscribed bell at Harpole, Northamptonshire, but the devices are not recorded.26 Bolter was evidently not a native of Bucking- ham. In the registers of All Saints', Leices- ter, is an entry of the burial of a William Bolther in 1594-5. Between 1654 and 1664 there was a Nathaniel Bolter at the Salisbury bell-foundry, and a Jonathan Bolter there in 1656. A bell at Great Horwood and another at Tingewick, dated 1623, are inscribed in one of the Atton sets of letters, ornamented with one of their roses : — PRAYSE YE THE LORDE ALWAYSE The same inscription, with the rose again, but wanting the last word, is on the third bell at Grandborough ; and a bell at Edgcote, and another at Paulerspury, both in Northampton- shire, have the full inscription again, but the lettering and ornaments are not stated.27 This inscription on five bells in the same year, and on no other known bell from this foundry, suggests that some one besides Robert Atton had a hand in their casting, neither his name or initials being on any of them. On the Great Horwood bell are, in addition, the initials FIG. 4. " Mr. North, in Bells of Beds, mentions a bell " The saunce at Chipping Norton, Oxon. by R.P. inscribed w. ATTON & SON. but this is shown in Bells 162^., hi> this running pittern (Ex inform. Mr. H. B. of Bucks (p. 208) to be an abso'.ute illusion. Walters, F.S.A.). M North, Bells of Northants. " North, Bills of Northnnts. " Ex Inform. Mr. A. D. Tyssen, D.C.L. " Ibid. 122 INDUSTRIES (neither pair arc the rector's) : — I B , G V , R B. It certainly seems probable that the first and last pair belong to Jonathan and another Bolter. The initials N B appear on four bells at Salis- foundry at Drayton Parslow, his native village, only a dozen miles from Buckingham, where we may conjecture he learnt the art. Richard was baptized in 1601 -2 ; and there is a bell at FIG. 5 bury, in conjunction with W P (William Purdue II, of Salisbury), in 1656, and on two bells at Great Durnford, Wiltshire, dated the following year.** The arabesque (fig. 5) is on a bell at Tinge- wick by Robert Alton in 1627. In 1630, the Buckingham Register records the burial of Bartholomew Alton on 29 May, and it is most probable thai ihis was the bell- founder from Leicester. No bell is known to have been cast at this foundry between 1628 and 1631, in which year the treble at Loughton announces that ROBERT ATTON MADE ME, and the fourth at OIney, for the first and only time, gives his address:— ROBERT ATTON OF BVCKING- HAM MADE ME, and with other ornaments already used has a new shield charged with three bells (fig. 6). 1633 saw the founding of the last two bells at Buckingham, the treble at Ashendon bearing Robert's initials, and the tenor at Beachampton, inscribed like the Loughton bell of two years previously. It is extremely likely that Henry Bagley I, who opened his foundry at Chalcombe in North- amptonshire, in or before 1632, learnt his business at the Buckingham foundry, and ob- tained thence the running pattern (fig. 4) noticed on the bell at Grandborough dated 1628, bearing Nathaniel Bolter's name. Mr. H. B. Walters has found a copy of the shield first used at Loughton in 1631 (fig. 6), having the initials I M added in the field on either side of the upper bell, used by a Worcester founder, John Martin (or possibly two of the same name), between the years i644-93.w By 1636, Richard Chandler, son of Anthony Chandler a blacksmith, had established a bell- " Lukis, Ch. Bells. " 'The Ch. Bells of Worc«.' Worci. Dioc. Arcblt. and Arch. S«r. Rep. 1901 (Reprint, p. 36), and 'Some Note* on Worcs. Bell-founders,' Arch. Journ. btiii, '93 Thornton, with nothing but the date 1635, which may be by him, although none of the figures certainly correspond with his known set. RICHARD CHAMDELER 1636 together with four little ornaments, was on bells at Grand- borough (now melted), and Stcwkley (Bucks), Nettleden (Herts, formerly Bucks.), and Milton Bryant (Beds.), the last only bearing two out of the four little ornaments. The Nettleden bell in addition has an interesting survival in the shape of the later of the two lion-head stamps which belonged to the Wokingham-Reading foundry, and was apparently last used not later than 1540. Only one other bell by Richard is known — the tenor at Cheddington dated 1638, where the name is inscribed twice over, and only two of the four little ornaments were used. Richard Chandler died in June of that year, Fie. 6 123 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE and his will 30 was proved by his widow Bridget on the 22nd of the following November. His eldest son Anthony was baptized in August 1622, and was, therefore, probably not sixteen at the time of his father's death. Very likely he kept the smithy going with the help of a journeyman, but the bell-foundry appears to have ceased until 1650, when he cast the treble at Simpson (recently melted), which was quite a curiosity ! It was hardly of greater diameter at the lip than at the shoulder, while the waist, about half-way between crown and lip, was of considerably less diameter. It was inscribed, as were most of his bells, CHAMDLER MADE ME with no Christian name or initial, followed by the pattern (fig. 7). Orders at once came to him in steady succession. Meanwhile there were certainly two Richard Chandlers connected with the business besides the first of the name who died in 1638 as above mentioned. figures may have been pressed on the ' cope ' in readiness for the new year (though then not be- ginning until 25 March) before his death. Two bells, however, respectively dated 1 71 1 and 1715, inscribed actually on the waist, maybe considered as antagonistic to the theory. A few bells dated 1651, 1654, anc' apparently others in i684,81 on which the name appears as CHAHDELER without Christian name, may also perhaps indicate his workmanship. How- ever this may be with regard to Richard Chandler II, his nephew and namesake, Richard III, the eldest son of Anthony, who was baptized 15 December 1650, evidently became partner with his father on completing his twenty-first year, from which time Anthony distinguished the bells he cast by the addition of his Christian name. His will33 is dated 28 August 1679, and was proved on 2 1 April following, so an entry of burial of an Anthony on i September 1679 evidently refers to the founder, though three Fie. 7 FIG. 8 In 1675 the name of Richard Chandler be- gins again on bells, and this seems to have been Anthony's elder son, whom we may call Richard III. The second Richard seems to have been Anthony's younger brother, and never to have had the honour of inscribing his name on a bell, but his work is possibly recognizable by the expedient of the inscription (either the sur- name only, or with Richard prefixed) being placed on a few bells somewhat lower down than usual, generally on a line with, and taking the place of portions of, the ' rims ' ; so that it reads thus : — ICHAUDLER: IMADE: :ME: He was buried I January 1704-5, and though the latest bell inscribed in that position (the tenor at Wavendon) is dated 1705, this does not necessarily invalidate the theory, as the M Given at length in Ch. Bells of Bucks. other Anthonies are recorded as buried subse- quently at Drayton. In 1 68 1 Anthony's second son George began placing his name on bells. His baptism is re- corded on 3 March 1654. After 1683 his name disappears for the long interval of nineteen years, unless Lipscomb ** is correct in saying that he cast the former tenor at Wing in 1687, which was unfortunately exchanged in 1863. Begin- ning in 1683, while some bells bear Richard's name, numerous others bear merely the surname (as in Anthony's time), which Mr. Stahlschmidt34 suggested represent the work of ' the firm ' as opposed to a particular individual. The pattern, fig. 8, was used by ' the firm ' on the saunce at Beachampton in 1695, and by Richard at Bicester (Oxon.) in 1715. 31 Ch. Bells ofNorthants. at Stoke Bruerne. " Given at length, Ch. Bells of Bucks. 228. 33 Hist, of Bucks, iii, 527. 34 Bells of Herts. 49. I24 INDUSTRIES There is no evidence of a second George Chandler blossoming into a bell-founder by 1 702, when the name reappears on bells : and it seems quite a reasonable conjecture that it was found that the two Richards (nephew and uncle) were sufficient to manage the bell-founding, and that George either devoted himself to the smithy, or may have migrated elsewhere in pursuit of work ; and that some time after his uncle had passed his threescore and ten years it was found advisable to get the assistance of a younger man. 1723 is the latest date on which the name of Richard III appears on a bell, and the saunce at Emmington, in Oxfordshire, is inscribed in one of George's sets of lettering, so there is no question of its foundry : T. C. 1723. This must be attributed to Thomas, the younger brother of Richard III and George, who thus made his first and last appearance. The third at Stone, by ' the firm,' in one of George's sets of lettering, in 1726, is the latest known bell bearing the name Chandler ; Richard was buried on 27 April of that year, three years after the appearance of his last bell. George probably then left the village, as his burial does not appear in the register of his native parish, nor in that of the neighbouring parish of Stewkley, where several entries of this surname occur. Thomas (younger brother of Richard III and George), was buried in his native parish in 1732. The Drayton Parslow foundry was continued by Edward Hall, who had in all probability been previously working there. He may have been the son of a Henry Hall of Stewkley, but nothing is known about his previous history. The burial of his wife Elizabeth is recorded on Christmas Day, 1733-4 according to one register, or 1734-5 according to another one; and on 30 April 1741 he married Mary the widowed daughter of Richard Chandler II. His business, owing no doubt to the gradual concentration of this trade in the large businesses of London and other centres, as roads improved, was evidently very small — less than one bell a year so far as is known ; and at last comes the entry in the Drayton Parslow register (in the rector's hand- writing) : — (Buried) Edward Hall poor old Bellfounder Feb. 9 1755. There was until recently at Hillcsden a bell inscribed : — W HALL MADE ME 1756 This is the last bell known to have been cast at this foundry. The individual is not men- tioned in the register of the parish, but probably he was a son of Edward, born before his father's migration to the foundry. The late Rev. T. A. Turner mentions " being " Records of Buckt. ir, 125 (1872). told by an old man named Baldwin that he in early life succeeded in the village smithy business a William Hall, who it was suggested was a grandson of Edward, but it seems as likely that he belonged to a generation later — that is a grandson of the founder William. Baldwin had met with various bits of bell-metal, metal cast- ings, sand and other things, which William Hall had told him his grandfather used in the bell- foundry business.** The saunce at Westbury seems to be of the time of Edward III, and as Westbury is only 5 miles from Buckingham, this bell should apparently be added to the group above described. The bell in the clock tower at Aylesbury is blank, but is undoubtedly an old bell, and is probably the bell mentioned in a report at the Record Office dated 1555 as having come from the house of Friars of Aylesbury, and was then used as the market bell of that town.17 It is probably of ' local ' origin. The two bells at Ibstone are probably of the 1 8th century, and are more likely to be by an itinerant than by a strictly ' local ' founder. On the single bell at Fingest is incised : — J. HOBBS LANE END 1830. He was an iron-founder, and this appears to be his sole attempt at bell-casting. His son, Mr. Walter Hobbs, continued the iron-foundry until his death in 1902, when the business was pur- chased by Mr. Richard Smith, who afterwards closed the works, which, however, have now been re-opened. The Fingest bell, no doubt from a want of technical knowledge having resulted in a wrong gradation in the various degrees of thickness, sounds at a distance as if it were cracked, but as one approaches it is found that the bell is quite sound, but is badly out of tune with itself. If the crooks used to form the core and cope are scientifically shaped, so as to ensure the correct thicknesses throughout the bell, it should give, when lightly struck, the key-note, third, fifth, and octave at the respective distances up the side; and when struck a full blow (as by the clapper) on the sound-bow, the common chord results ; if therefore the thickness at any part is incorrect, the bell becomes out of tune with itself (and many bells are slightly so). The saunce at Hardwick, besides the names of the churchwardens, bears : — 1850. S. SEYMOUR, AYLESBURY He was an ironmonger in that town, and there can be little doubt that he did not cast it himself. " Cb. Belli ofButkt. 237. " Ld. Rev. Rec. bdle. 1392, file 10. 125 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE IRON-FOUNDRIES, SHIPBUILDING AND RAILWAY WORKS In 1772 Wyrardisbury mill was tenanted by Jukes Colson, who worked it as an iron mill, but five years later it had been turned into a copper mill by the Gnoll Company.1 The mill was again sold in 1790, and was tenanted early in the i gth century by George and Thomas Glascott, who were brass-founders. They, however, closed their works in 1820, and the mill has since been converted into a paper-mill. A mill at Horton was also at one time used for iron works, but these were closed early in the igth century.2 In 1831 only eleven men were returned as being employed as iron-founders,3 either as masters or workmen, but thirty-four were employed at copper mills. In the middle of the i gth cen- tury several foundries were established. The Castle Iron Works were started at Buckingham in 1857, and were owned by a limited liability company, the shareholders being mostly local people,4 anxious to improve the trade of the town. The foundry was chiefly occupied in making steam-engines of various kinds. Certain road engines were made there which acquired a considerable amount of importance at the time. In 1858 a road locomotive was built for the Marquis of Stafford, which attained to the speed of twelve miles an hour, and a few years later the foundry produced a steam carriage for export to Belgium, which held three passengers as well as the stoker. It averaged ten miles an hour, but on good roads could attain to sixteen, and its inventor, Mr. Thomas Rickett, the manager of the Castle Iron Works, drove it in 1860 to Windsor, where it was inspected by Queen Victoria.6 Various machines for agri- cultural purposes were also made, a locomotive steam cultivator being exhibited at a meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society at Chester in 1858. Another engineering business, known as the Watling Works, was started at Stony Stratford about the same time as the Castle Iron Works at Buckingham. The position of the little town on the Grand Junction Canal gave it better means of communication, and the business is still carried on at the present day.6 In 1845 tne late Mr. Edward Hayes started the works for general engineering, but gradually the business has become confined to the building of steam 1 Gyll, Hist. ofWraysbury, 72. 1 Ibid. 198. * Pop. Ret. (1831), i, 34. 4 Sheahan, Hist, and Topog. of Bucks, 231—2. 6 lllus. Lond. News, n Feb. 1860, with illustration. 6 From information kindly supplied by Mr. Edward Hayes. 126 yachts, tugs and launches. These are exported to all parts of the world ' for steamers and machinery of various descriptions have been built for the British Admiralty, Crown Agents for the Colonies, the Board of Works, Trinity House Pilots, the Shah of Persia, the Sultan of Morocco,' besides various foreign governments and well-known shipping lines. ' During the late South African War a little steamer destined to work in connexion with the landing of troops and stores actually steamed from the place she was launched, the Old Stratford Wharf, which is a branch of the Watling Works, along the Grand Junction Canal to the Thames and thence to Delagoa Bay, South Africa.' In Stony Strat- ford it is not an unusual sight ' to see one of these steamers being drawn on large eight-wheel trolleys by a powerful traction engine ' from the Watling Works, where they are built, to the wharf half a mile away, and often followed by its engine and boiler on separate trolleys. In 1 86 1 a display was given at the works of a patent steam windlass for which Mr. Hayes had obtained high honours at an exhibition at Leeds, and the firm have since been equally successful at later exhibitions. The steamers originally built for the river-side work of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade came from the Watling Works, and the present Mr. Edward Hayes has taken out numerous patents for improving steamers, one of the most recent being ' for cheapening and facilitating the exportation of small steamers abroad, making it possible to erect steamers at the site of their work and where only unskilled native labour can be obtained.' Other iron and brass-foundries are worked at the present day at Maidenhead, Horton, Chalfont St. Giles, Looseley Row, Chesham, and Walton (Aylesbury). At Slough there is also a large firm of manu- facturing ironmongers and engineering contractors whose business was established in i8l5-7 The Wolverton works, belonging to the Lon- don and North Western Railway, give employment to a large number of people in the neighbour- hood and date from the earliest days of the railway.8 When it was opened in 1 838 as the London and Birmingham Railway the works were started for building engines, and were purely locomotive works until 1865. At that time Wolverton Station was of great importance, all trains stopping there, and descriptions of its magnificence figure largely in accounts of the ' Letter from Messrs. Mark Duffield & Sons, Ltd. High Street, Slough. 8 Description of the London and North Western Railway Company's Carriage Works at Wolverton, 1 907. INDUSTRIES county written in the middle of the I gth century. Around the station and works sprang up two new villages, New Bradwell and New Wolver- ton, inhabited entirely by the employees of the railway and tradesmen supplying their needs. In 1840 about four hundred hands were em- ployed, but in the next twenty years the numbers had increased to between 2,300 and 2,400 and the factory contained brass and iron-foundries, shops for erecting, repairing, and fitting engines, and for making boilers, &c.* In 1 860, however, a change was decided upon resulting in the conversion of the Wolverton works into carriage works,10 and the removal of the engine factories to Crewe. The removal took place between 1865 and 1877 and since that time the works have grown beyond recog- nition, and contain shops for building carriages and all their accessories and also for repairing them, covering in all about eighty acres of land and employing about four thousand five hundred hands. NEEDLE-MAKING The village of Long Crendon was long celebrated for an extensive manufactory of needles. There is considerable doubt as to the date of the introduction of needle-making into England, the tradition being that an ' Indian ' first brought the art to London about 1545, but that it died out with him.1 It must, however, shortly have been revived, for it seems to have been brought to Long Crendon about 1560 by one Christopher Greening.* In some accounts, a Mr. Damer, a member of a Roman Catholic family, is said to have settled the Greenin:; family in the village in 1650,' but this is most prob- ably merely a confusion in the date, since the Greenings had then lived there for nearly a hun- dred years. A Christopher Greening lived at Long Cren- don in 1558* ; from 1556 to 1568 he was also churchwarden and drew up, with John Padnoll, the first parish register book preserved there.' Another Christopher, the son of John Greening, was born in 1587,' and against his name is a later marginal note saying, ' this man first brought out needle-making.7 ' Probably he was the grand- son of the first needle-maker, but having the same Christian name, later tradition confused the two Christopher Greenings. Other accounts say that needles were made in the village before Greening's arrival, but that he was of some importance in the trade and hence its introduction was attributed to him.8 The chief family of needle-makers were the Shiimptons, many of whom lived in the neigh- bourhood of High Wycombe and were officers of the borough.' In the i8th century the trade was flourishing. When a sufficient quantity of * Sheahan, Hist, and Topog. of Bucks. 647. 10 Carriage Works at Wolverton. 1 Home Counties Mag. vi, 184. ' Ibid. * Chambers1 Journ. 17 May 1856. ' Lay Subs. R. ,%. 5 Home Counties Mag. vi, 185. 1 Ibid. ' Ibid. " W. Shrimpton, Notes an a Decayed Needle-land, 9-27. • Ibid. needles had been made, a journey to London was undertaken by one of the more important manufacturers. He took from seven to ten days, going by the stage-coach from Oxford. The goods had been first conveyed to Tetsworth, where the coach was met and the needle-maker was accompanied by armed men for his protection. This was more especially needed on the return journey, when he bought back a considerable sum of money for the wages of the workmen. A stock of wire was also brought back, part payment for the needles often being made in wire, which was difficult to procure direct from Birmingham. In 1736, the needles were chiefly made in the living rooms of the workers, but later factories were built, one of which is still standing in the village of Long Crendon.10 At the beginning of the igth century the chief manufacturers bore the names of Harris, Shrimpton and Johnson.11 The processes em- ployed were extremely primitive ; everything was done by hand labour, no stamps were used, and the methods of pointing made that part of the trade at least very injurious to the health of needle-makers. The fame of Redditch needles was beginning to grow and the Long Crendon manufacturers felt the pressure of competition in the market. They seem to have taken no steps, however, to meet it or to improve their methods. They never employed the water- power at Notley Mill and were very late in introducing machinery of any kind. In some ways the position of Redditch gave it an advantage over Long Crendon, particularly from being near Birmingham, but the Shrimptons had many opportunities of improving their trade, of which they never took advantage. London merchants offered money so that new machinery might be set up and the workshops improved, but the Crendon manufacturers had been so long without encountering competition that they were utterly unprepared to meet the new conditions of the industry. They seem to " Home Counties Mag. vi, 1 84. " Shrimpton, Notes on a Decayed Needle-land, 14. 127 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE have given far more attention to all the pastimes of the countryside, bull-baiting, cock-fighting and boxing, than to their business. Hence the Long Crendon needle-trade gradually died out and the trade in sewing needles was practically lost. Several makers made a speciality of large needles, however ; sail and packing and netting needles were made in considerable quantities, and a revival of the trade took place about 1848. A John Harris had set up for himself and was more energetic in business than others ; machinery was also introduced by him and some of the Shrimptons. A London firm, Kirby Beard & Co., started a factory at Crendon, where they had long been customers of the needle-makers. The lack of railway communication, however, proved fatal to their undertaking, and in 1862 they moved to Redditch, taking with them four-fifths of the needle-makers. Almost immediately afterwards the railway was opened to Thame, but it was too late to affect the manufacture at Long Crendon, and even the trade of large needles was obtained by the Redditch makers. Emigration had, however, been going on slowly for many years; as early as 1824, Jonas Shrimpton journeyed to Alcester, Studley, and Redditch to observe the state of the manufacture there. He advised the Crendon makers to bestir themselves, but nothing, as has been said, was done, and some of the younger men migrated in the next few years. Even in 1861, while Kirby Beard & Go's, factory was still open, the population of the village was declining, the cause being migration of the needle-makers to seek work in other parts of the country.12 TEXTILE INDUSTRIES A considerable amount of wool was grown in Buckinghamshire as early as the I3th cen- tury and consequently many men were engaged in the wool trade. The wool grown by the monks at Biddlesden, Ankerwyke, and Notley is mentioned by Pegolotti.1 Buckingham was a staple town for wool in the time of Edward III, till the staple was removed to Calais. It was then amongst the towns which petitioned Parlia- ment in 1525 for relief, their trade having been destroyed.1* In the xyth century Buckingham still seems to have been a centre of the trade, and possessed both a wool hall and wool market, the profits belonging to Christ's Hospital, founded by Queen Elizabeth.2 In 1731, these profits only amounted to ^5 a year.3 A wool fair was also held at Great Marlow, but it fell into disuse in the first half of the i gth century. Wool merchants in the i6th century were, however, sternly repressed, no individual being allowed to buy more wool than he could weave himself. In 1577 the ' broggers' of wool were bound over in £100 apiece, 'that neither they nor their heirs shall at any time hereafter buy or bargain any manner of wools that grow or hath grown within the county of Buckingham, but only such quantity of wools as they by themselves or their apprentices shall yearly make in his own mansion house.' * The cloth trade never assumed very large proportions in the county, but a certain amount of weaving and fulling was done, presumably for local use. 11 Pop. Ret. 1 86 1. 1 Cunningham, The Growth of Engl. Indus, and Commerce, i, 629. la Browne Willis, Hist, and Antiq. of the Town, Hund. and Deanery of Buckingham (1755), 46. 1 Ibid. 86. " Ibid. 4 S.P. Dom. Eliz. cxv, 28. Early in the I4th century the governing body of the borough of Wycombe tried to attract the trade to their town by remitting a tax on looms.6 The effort seems to have been successful, and the records of the borough contain many orders with regard to weaving, fulling and dyeing.8 These trades were gradually limited to the burgesses of the borough, foreigners being forbidden to carry them on without making a heavy payment. Even amongst the town craftsmen there were strict rules for their government.7 Besides ap- prenticeship rules, no one man might carry on more than one of the three trades at the same time.8 Early in the I7th century foreign craftsmen paid 6d. for every loom working, but how often the fine was to be paid was not specified. The increasing strictness of these orders was probably due to the failing condition of the cloth trade. In 1623 this was commented on by the Justices of the Peace and the Mayor of Wycombe 9 and the poor in the town suffered a great deal of misery. The fullers seem to have suffered even earlier from the loss of their trade. Various fulling mills are mentioned in accounts of the bailiffs of manors in the I4th and I5th centuries,10 but in the following century, for instance, at Taplow, when the mills were rebuilt in the reign of Henry VIII, certain old fulling-mill stock was found. Many years later a witness, in an inquisi- tion taken in 1613 about these mills, suggested that the name of an eyot or island in the Thames called ' Tenter Eight ' took its name from the Ibid. 6 Wycombe Borough Records. • Ibid. 7 Ibid. 9 S.P. Dom. Jas. I, cxlii, 44. 10 Mins. Accts. bdle. 761, no. 4 ; bdle 763, no. 9 ; bdle. 653, no. 10565 ; bdle. 654, no. 10577 > bdle. 655, no. 10597. 128 INDUSTRIES tentering of cloth.11 Moreover, at Newport Pagnell a fulling-mill had existed at one time, but it had been converted into a grist mill before 1623. Weaving was still a trade of the town, since George Fynnall, a weaver, gave evidence about the mills at that date.u At High Wycombe a fulling-mill, known as Gosham's mill, was working at this time, and was in the hands of a family of the name of Raunce.13 Buckinghamshire sheep and rams were famous throughout the I7th century, but more for their size than their wool,14 and the local cloth trade seems to have gradually disappeared. Sacking was also manufactured in the ijth century. The paupers in the workhouse at Aylesbury 1§ were mainly employed in spinning hemp. Their yarn was either sold or sent to the weavers, and afterwards the overseers of the poor sold the manufactured article." Sacking was probably made throughout the i8th century, but in 1831," only forty men were employed in making mats and sacking. Silk-weaving was carried on in Buckingham- shire for some years during the igth century. A large mill was established at Tring in 1824 by Mr. William Kaye of Tring Park.18 It was first worked by Mr. Joseph Kaye, but he afterwards moved to Manchester. On his death the Lan- cashire factory was given up and his manager RobertNixon was thus thrown out of employment. He determined to set up a silk-mill at Aylesbury in connexion with the Tring mill and further, made an agreement with the Aylesbury overseers, who were in great need of employment for the parish paupers in the workhouse. The numbers there were rapidly increasing, and the decline of the lace trade left the overseers with no means of giving them work. The latter undertook to build a silk factory on part of the workhouse " Exch. Dep. by Com. East. 10 Jas. I, no. 14. " Exch. Spec. Com. no. 3596. 11 Chan. Inq. p.m. (S«r. 2), ccclxxxvi, no. 100. 14 Fuller, Worthies of England (ed. Nuttall), 193. '* Aylcsbury Overseers' Acct w Ibid. 17 Pop. Ret. 1831, i, 34. " Gibbs, Hiit, of AyUsburj, 624. premises in Oxford Road, and to spend £200 on it, Nixon promising on his part not to employ any hands but paupers chargeable on Aylesbury parish. Forty looms were set up in 1830, but probably women were employed for the most part, since in 1831 " there were only 30 male silk weavers in the county. The mill afterwards passed into the hands of Messrs. Evans, who had for many years worked the Tring mill.10 They first bought part of the workhouse premises in 1844, and in 1859, the original parish mill. Soon afterwards 2OO hands, mostly girls, were employed, and steam-power had been introduced. In 1885 there were 70 steam looms at the Ayles- bury mill. The actual weaving was the only process carried on there, none of the earlier pro- cesses being undertaken. Branches of the Tring and Aylesbury mill were set up near the latter town. At Waddesdon a mill was established in 1843. It stood in the middle of the village, and in 1862 employed some 40 women, but only hand-looms were used. A smaller mill was also worked at Whitchurch.11 Silk was manufactured at Wyrardisbury mill n about the time that the Aylesbury mill was estab- lished, while silk and shawl printing was carried on at the neighbouring town of Horton. The latter works were in the hands of Messrs. Tippets & Co., who employed about 60 persons, but in 1859 a decline of trade made them close their works, and the buildings and stock were sold by auction. Cotton mills also existed in Buckinghamshire.^ the close of the i8th century. At Iver and Tap- low visitors were appointed by the justices of the peace in 1802 under an Act of 42 Geo III to inspect the cotton mills there.88 At Amersham another cotton factory was working in 1825 ; I4 it employed many of the inhabitants but no cotton weavers are returned in the census of 1831." "Pop. Ret. 1831, i, 34. " Gibbs, Hut. of Aylesburj, 624. " Sheahan, Hist, and Tofog. of Bucks. 429, 772. n Gyll, Hut. ofWrajsbury, 72, 198. ** Quarter Sessions Records, 1802. " Pinnock, Hist, and Tofog. of Engl. i, 25. » Pop. Ret. 1831,1,34. 129 '7 FORESTRY I authentic history of the woods of Buckinghamshire ' may be said to begin with the Domesday Survey, in which the general distribution of woods throughout the county is strikingly manifested. In this county the com- missioners estimated the extent of the woodlands by certifying how many swine could be sus- tained ori its acorns and beech mast, and it is quite obvious from these returns that con- siderable woods were to be found in every direction. Taking the larger woods, which were sufficiently extensive to support 500 swine or upwards, we find they run as follows : — Wen- dover, 2,OOO ; Chesham, 1,600 ; Lillingstone, 1,200 ; Marlow and Princes Risborough, 1,000 each ; Oakley, 806 ; Marsworth and Iver, 800 each ; Taplow, 700 ; Chalfont St. Peter, Burn- ham, Farnham, and Chalfont St. Giles, 600 each ; and Wraysbury, High Wycombe, Stoke Poges, Missenden, and Hampden, 500 each. These places are to be found north, south, east, and west, and in the centre of the county. The swine-feeding powers of the woods throughout Domesday are almost invariably expressed in round numbers. There is however a curious exception to the rule in this county. The woodland of Akeley is said to have found sustenance for 806 swine (octingentis porch et vj) ; such an entry as this is a corroboration of the theory that the extant Domesday is a condensed summary of the actual returns, and that the original detailed return has in this case been accidentally retained. There are two references to the royal forest of Bernwood. Brill (Erunhelle\ on the confines of Oxfordshire, is named as a manor of King Edward's; under this manor jCi2 is entered as the annual issue of the forest. Oakley was in the same forest, and it is entered that the wood- land would feed 200 swine, 'save that it is the king's park in which it lies.' At Long Crendon, adjoining Oakley and Brill, Walter Giffard had a park for beasts of venery (parcus bestiarum silvaticarum\ which is a truer forest translation than beasts of the chase. 1 Camden considered that the very name Buckingham meant the beechen village, owing to the number and •ize of its beech trees, from boccen or buecen, derived from bat, a beech tree. Although this derivation has been doubted by Lysons and Lipscombe, its accuracy is still maintained by several modern etymologists. The four beasts of venery, the hart, wolf, wild boar, and hare, were sy/vestres, that is, they spent their days in the woods, and were taken by what was considered true hunting, being tracked or roused by the lymers and lymer hounds (corre- sponding to the modern tufters of the Devon and Somerset Staghounds), and afterwards pur- sued by the pack. The beasts of the chase were termed campestres, that is, they were found in the open country by day and therefore required none of the niceties of tracking and harbouring in thicket and coverts, but were roused straight away by the hounds ; these were the fallow and roe deer, with the fox and martin.* So far as Buckinghamshire was concerned with royal forests the position was distinctly peculiar. The shire had no large forest of its own entirely within its bounds, but it shared portions of four distinct forests with adjacent counties, namely Windsor, Whittlewood, Salcey, and Bernwood. The smallest of these shares was that of Windsor in the south of the county. Parts of the parishes of Datchet, Langley Marish, Slough, and Eton, on the Bucks side of the Thames, immediately opposite Windsor and the present Home Park, were for many generations considered part of Windsor Forest. At the present day 293 acres of meadow and other land in Datchet, abutting on the Thames, are Crown lands, as well as upwards of 2OO acres at Eton. The forest of Whittlewood lay chiefly in Northamptonshire, but a considerable section overlapped into the north-western district of Buckinghamshire, including the parishes of Lil- lingstone Lovell, Lillingstone Dayrell, and parts of Biddlesden, Akeley, and Stowe. All that remained of Whittlewood Forest in this county in 1792 was 220 acres in Lillingstone Dayrell, which was included in Wakefield Walk. It was not until August 4, 1853, that the much-re- stricted area of old Whittlewood Forest ceased to exist. On that day An Act far Disafforesting the Forest of JVhittltwood became law ; the deer were destroyed or removed, and the forest officers discharged. Salcey, another of the royal forests of North- amptonshire, in the south-east of that county, 1 Cox, Royal Foreiti, 61—3. ManwooJ, so continu- ously cited by writers on old hunting, has strangely blundered in his misleading lists as to legal beasts of the forest and the chase. A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE also protruded into Buckinghamshire, extending in old days over the whole of the parish of Hanslope as well as in the adjacent parts. Han- slope gave its name to one of the walks of this old forest. In 1825 An Act for Dividing, Allot- ting and Inclosing the Forest of Salcey, in the Counties of Northampton and Buckingham, was passed. The fourth of the Buckinghamshire forests, that of Bernwood, was by far the most important so far as this county was concerned. Bernwood Forest stretched out far into Oxfordshire, em- bracing the subsidiary forest stretches of Shotover and Stowood, and approaching almost to the very walls of Oxford by way of Headington. But the larger section of Bernwood Forest as well as the centre of its government was always in Buckinghamshire. In that county the consider- able projection, about the centre of the western border, which included the parishes of Boarstall, Brill, Oakley, Worminghall, Long Crendon, Ashendon, Chilton, Dorton, Ludgershall, and Wotton Underwood, were always within Bern- wood Forest ; whilst for a long time it extended much further north to the Claydons, as well as further to the centre or east. Its exact boundaries cannot readily be determined, they fluctuated much at different periods, some of the old perambulations are difficult to decipher, and the identification of several of the places named as bounds is peculiarly difficult. The earlier Norman kings added largely to the area of Bernwood Forest on the Buckingham- shire side, until a considerable section of the county was subject to the severity of the forest laws. By the Forest Charter granted at the opening of the reign of Henry III, it was pro- vided that all forests which Henry II had af- forested should be viewed by good and lawful men, and that all that had been made forest, other than royal demesne, since his coronation, was forthwith to be disafforested. In accordance with this charter special perambulations were ordered to be made by not less than twelve knights elected for that purpose before March, 1224-5. There seems to have been some special delay in the case of Buckinghamshire, or else disputes caused the perambulations to be ere long repeated ; for there is a verdict of twenty-four knights extant of 1228 de metis foreste in Com. Buc. This perambulation, starting from a ford over the Thame, went as far north as Steeple Claydon, and much was stated to have never before been con- . sidered forest. On the back of this small docu- ment appear the names of the twenty-four knights, including Robert Fitzalan, Walter de Fulebrot, Ralph Fitzjohn and Ralph de Lang- port.4 There is also extant at the Record Office a 4 Misc. Chan. Forest Proc. bdle. 1 1, file I, Nos. 14, 15. These documents are in part illegible. perambulation of the year 1298, which was undertaken in the presence of John FitzNeal, the chief forester or warden, of four foresters, of four verderers, of two elected knights, and of two Crown commissioners. The following is a careful English rendering of this perambulation, but it is difficult to follow. The stream called the Yhyst may be identical with the one now called the Ray, which crossed into Oxfordshire to the west of Grendon Underwood : — Imprimis to wit at a certain stream which is called Yhyst and therefrom going up towards Hethenaburgh and so to Stodfolddem and so from thence to Pedyngton [Piddington] moore and so stretching to a certain place called le Dedequene beyond the lord King's wood, [Kingswood] and so going up through Lotegershale [Ludgershall] Hay between the wood of the King's demesne and Lotegershele Wood as far as Colleputtes And so from thence to the Brechs and so from thence going down to the stream to Brechehurne And so to Coppedhegge and then proceeding outside the haye to Todeleshall corner And from thence between the King's wood and the wood of Richard Grenoile de Wotton to Siketon as far as Colhurch on the east And so proceeding by the aforesaid wood to War- borughwell Books (?) And from thence to Tremeren and so to Wolvesthorpe and so to Dreyhurst And from thence through the stream to Phippenhoohurne and so to Aylyenewellesture and from thence to Whithorn and so across the Quareinte which is called Burnegrove to Brehull [Brill] forks And from thence to Morlesmede and so to Aysshegh without the mes- suage of Walter de Byllyndon And so direct through Alkedonemersh to Apcrofte and thence by the Porte- weye to Stamford And so between Wormenhael [Worminghall] Field to le Wykehouse And from thence to Gulpesmede And so by the ridge of Delefield to le Spanne And so to Stonyhurstend And so from thence to Honybrugge and from thence to Stonyhurstende and from thence to Hildesle and from thence to Ffoulesle and then to Okelyngoke through the stream to Waterfall in Smythedene And from thence to South Wellredy And thence to Southwell and thence to Halsadetonge and so to Gashale and then to Grymes dich and so to Stony- crouch and thence to Merlakebrugge And so always by the bounds in the counties of Bucks and Oxon to the aforesaid stream of Yhyst.' It has been supposed that the name Bernwood had relation to Bernulph, the successor of Kenulph and grandson of King Offa, but this, as Lipscombe remarks, is mere conjecture. There is, however, no doubt that it was an extensive and well-wooded forest tract that per- tained to the Saxon monarchy for a long time previous to the Norman Conquest. Brill, which was within the confines of Buckinghamshire, was a royal manor of importance in Saxon times, and said to have been an occasional residence of the Confessor. A royal precept of Henry I (1109-11) relative to the canons of Gloucester is dated from Brill.6 5 Exch. Accts. Forest Proc. K.R. bdle. i, No. 8. 6 Royal Chart. Duchy of Lane. No. z. 132 FORESTRY The place is mentioned in grants of Stephen and Matilda, and we know from charters that Henry II was sojourning here in 1160, 1162, and 1177. King John was at Brill on 23 October, 1205, and also kept the following Christmas at the same royal seat.7 Henry III stayed here in 1224 and on several occasions afterwards ; and Edward I was at Brill yearly from 1273 to I28i, and again in 1293.* The Pipe Rolls of 1 169-70 record £31 4*. ^d. from the wastes, assarts, and pleas of the forest of Buckinghamshire, but in the following year only 57*. icd. In 1172-3 the amount was 551. Sd. Only a mark was entered for the forest in 1173-4 and 1174-5, and but half a mark in 1176-7.* The very large amount entered in 1169-70 probably arose from the Pleas of the Forest before justices being held in that year. In the first year of Richard I the sheriff of Buckinghamshire was indebted in the sum of 24*. (>d. for the wastes, assarts, pleas, and pur- prestures of the forest of Buckinghamshire. Mention is made at the same time of Ralph the forester.10 By the forest of Buckinghamshire, in these Pipe Roll entries, is evidently meant the Buck- inghamshire division of Bernwood Forest, which was usually described in the thirteenth century as the forest of Brill. In considering the question of the administra- tion of the ancient royal forests of Buckingham- shire, however briefly, it seems essential to recollect that the use of the term ' forest ' as applicable to a great wood is a comparatively modern custom. Such a use came into fairly general adoption in Elizabethan days, but origin- ally and for several centuries the English word * forest ' meant a waste tract of country reserved for royal sport, and hence placed under special laws and restrictions. Within the forest of Bernwood or Brill there were many great woods and thickets of undergrowth, far more, doubt- less, than would be formed on such forests as Dartmoor, Exmoor, or the High Peak, but there would certainly be a considerable share of open ground and heaths. Within this area, although there would be a good deal of private property, all such inclosures as were of sufficient height to exclude the deer, did they desire to enter, were forbidden, save under special licence. The owners of woods that were in private hands were bound to appoint woodwards, who were to a great extent foresters of the king, for they were sworn to arrest venison trespassers. Though the owners of such woods could usually take freely all wood they might require for their own use, they could not fell to any considerable ' Lipscombe, Bueks, \, 97-8. * Close and Pat. R. passim. 1 Pipe K. Hen. II (Pipe R. Soc.). " Magn. Rot. Pip. 35, 37. extent, or sell wood, or burn charcoal, or do any- thing that might be prejudicial to the king's deer, without a licence. The administration of a forest was partly national and partly local. From time to time, often at prolonged intervals, forest justices of the crown came round to hold Pleas of the Forest for inquiring into privilege claims, for exacting fines for assarts and purprestures (the terms for illegal inclosures or encroachments), and for punishing trespasses against venison and vert. Vert was a term for which the English form of ' green hue ' was occasionally used, implying all damage to trees, underwood, and forest herbage. Local courts were also held at regular and frequent intervals, when the minor vert offences were dealt with, including illicit agist- ment or feeding of cattle or pigs, and stray animals ; and venison trespasses were enrolled, and the commitment of offenders to prison oc- casionally arranged. Over these local swain- mote or attachment courts, the crown-appointed warden or chief forester presided, with the verdcrers (usually four in number) as assessors. These were men of position elected in the county court; they had no fees, but were entitled to certain perquisites both of vert and venison. The foresters were those who had charge over different sections or walks of the forest, and it was their duty to present offenders at the courts, and also under certain circumstances they were expected instantly to arrest venison trespassers or hunters and to convey them to prison. The delinquents could, however, generally obtain liberty without much difficulty on sufficient bail from either the particular justice of the forest or direct from the crown. They were bound over to appear before the next eyre of the justices of Forest Pleas ; but the delay was so great in holding these eyres that not a few offenders were usually dead before their case came to trial. By the Forest Charter no one could for any forest offence be imprisoned for more than a year and a day.11 Robert de Drewes was entrusted with the charge of the royal manor of Brill, at pleasure, in 1217, together with the forest pertaining to the manor." When the great storm of 1222 occurred which devastated the woods throughout England and caused the usual customs as to windfallen timber in royal forests to be held in abeyance, instructions as to the disposal of the cablish were forwarded to the vcrderers and foresters of the 11 It feems best to give this summary of forest pro- cedure to help towards the understanding of some of the extracts here cited ; those who desire to gain a better understanding of the various processes and the intricacy of administration are referred to Turner, Select Pitas oftke Foreit (Selden Soc.), or to the more popular Cox, Royal Forests. 11 Pat. 2 Hen. Ill, m. II. '33 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE forest of Brehull (Brill). The long list of forest officials to whom like communications were made does not include any other reference to Buckinghamshire.13 In 1219 the crown ordered general inquisi- tions to be held throughout England as to the assarts or inclosures that had been made within royal forests. These orders for Buckingham- shire were addressed to the sheriff, verderers, and foresters, who were to meet at Buckingham ; the crown named four inquisitors, Simon de Litlinton, Walter de la Haye, Miles Neirnut, and Richard de Stokes, and with them was associated Hugh de Baton as clerk.14 The sheriff of Buckinghamshire received the royal mandate, in 1229, to issue summons for a regard of the forests of the county, and to see to the election of regarders in the place of those who had died or were infirm, so that there might be the full complement of twelve in each regard. For the same year Brian de Insula was appointed justice of the forest for Buckingham- shire and several other shires.16 Another order for holding a regard was issued in 1235, to prepare for the coming of the justice of the forest. The foresters were to swear to bring twelve knights elected in their bailiwick to view every kind of trespass, as expressed in the chapters of the Regard.16 Ranulf Brito, in 1229, obtained letters patent authorizing him to hunt for life with his dogs the hare and the fox, without any interference whatsoever from foresters or their servants, through the whole royal forest in the bailiwick of Hugh de Neville, in the counties of Buckingham and Northampton.17 William son of Walter de Bruhull was pardoned by the king, in 1232, for the trespass of skinning a deer that he found dead in this forest ; Peter de Rivallis received orders to release him from prison.18 In 1234 John de Neville, the bailiff of the forests between the bridges of Stamford and Oxford, was ordered by the king to kill, salt, and make bacon of the pannage pigs of Brill and other forests of Huntingdonshire and North- amptonshire, and to take ward of it for the king's use.19 Various royal gifts out of the forest of Brill are entered on the Close Rolls of Henry III. Thus in 1228 William de Wurdie, servant of Walter de Clifford, was permitted to take forty cartloads of dry brushwood out of the forest of 11 Pat. 7 Hen. Ill, m. 6. 14 Ibid. 3 Hen. Ill, m. 4 d. 16 Ibid, i 3 Hen. Ill, m. 2, 9 d. As to regarders, and the full and independent reports they were expected to draw up every year, see Cox, Royal Forests, IO, 1 1 , &c. 16 Pat. 19 Hen. Ill, m. n d. ir Close, 14 Hen. Ill, m. 20. 18 Ibid. 1 8 Hen. Ill, m. 3. 19 Ibid. 1 8 Hen. Ill, m. 4. Brill, for Walter's hearth. In the same year King John's grant to the canons of Nutley to use two carts, at pleasure, fetching fuel wood from Bernwood Forest, was renewed by Henry III and again confirmed in I23O.20 The Friars Minor of Oxford received a royal gift from this forest, in January, 1231, of thirteen leafless oaks.21 Later in the same year Walter de Clifford obtained a considerable gift of building timber from the same forest.22 The brethren of the hospital of St. John- without-Oxford obtained five oaks from Brill Forest, together with another five from Shotover Forest, in February, 1232, for the building of their hospital, and in July of the same year ten tie-beams for the hospital chapel to be taken wherever they were most suitable from either of these forests.23 In 1234 the abbot of Oseney was granted twenty oaks from Brill towards the building of his church, and the lepers of Walling- ford an oak for making shingles to roof their chapel.24 Peter de Rivallis, as warden of the forest, was ordered in 1233 to provide the honest men of Oxford with 100 Brill oaks, to be taken where they would be least missed, for building the turrets of the walls round the city of Oxford, and for making planks for the same.25 In the following year there is a particularly interesting entry on the Close Rolls relative to the timber of this forest. John de Neville received the royal mandate to supply the iacrist of Abingdon Abbey with four oaks for making a certain cross.86 Royal gifts of venison were not infrequent. In 1229 Hugh de Neville, forest justice, was ordered to allow Drogo de Trubleville a buck out of Brill Forest and like gifts to Philippa, the wife of William de Symilly, Drogo's niece, and to Thomas Basset.''7 In September of the same year, the king sent Alan de Neville and Roger de Stopham, with their running dogs, to hunt fallow deer in Brill Forest, and instructed John de la Hoes, the forester, to sanction them.28 Later in the same year Thomas Basset received three does out of this forest, and Gilbert Marshall four does.29 In 1230 a royal gift was made to Hugh de Plesset of two does,30 and in 1231 two bucks were given to Robert de Curtenay.31 In the following year John the Fool and Philip his companion, royal huntsmen, 10 Close, 1 2 Hen. Ill, m. 6. "Ibid. 15 Hen. Ill, m. 19. " Ibid. 13 Ibid. 16 Hen. Ill, mm. 14, 7. "Ibid. 17 Hen. Ill, mm. 8, 7. "Ibid. 17 Hen. Ill, m. 2. 16 Ibid. 1 8 Hen. Ill, m. 10. "Ibid. 13 Hen. Ill, mm. 10, 6. * Ibid. m. 4. Ibid. 14 Hen. Ill, pt. i, mm. 23, 22. 29 30 Ibid. m. 13. "Ibid. 15 Hen. Ill, m. 12. FORESTRY were dispatched to Brill Forest to take with their dogs two or three red deer, against the coming of the king to Woodstock,1* while in September, 1233, Roger de Quincy was granted ten live bucks and does from this forest towards stocking his park at Chinnor.*1 Pleas of the Forest for the county of Bucking- ham were held at Buckingham on Monday after the feast of St. Mark, 1 255, before William le Bretun and three other justices. These pleas were partly concerned with trespasses committed in the small section of the Northamptonshire forest of Whittlewood that came over the border into Buckinghamshire, but more especially with the Buckinghamshire division of Bernwood Forest, usually known as the forest of Brill. Con- sequently the eyre had to be attended by both sets of forest ministers.84 One of the cases of presentment from Whittle- wood Forest involved the question of the cruel custom ofexpeditating or lawing the dogs within a forest area, so as to hinder them from chasing the deer. By the forest law of Henry II this mutilation was only done to mastiffs, but it gradually came about that it was applied to all dogs. The Forest Charter laid down that a view of the lawing of dogs in the forest was to be held every third year, and a fine of 31. paid for each found unlawed. This lawing consisted in cutting off the three claws of the forefoot, leaving only the ball. The right to have un- lawed dogs within a forest was occasionally granted by the crown to persons of position. Thus, the bishop of London, the dean and chap- ter of St. Paul's, and the canons of Waltham held grants exempting their house dogs in Essex Forest ; whilst the earl of Arundel and other lay- men had complete exemption. Two mastiffs belonging to Simon de Pateshull were found in a wood at Heyburne, belonging to Simon, worrying a brocket (a hart of the second year) which had been wounded in the right haunch. He was charged at the eyre not only with this offence, but with the unlawed condition of his mastiffs. Simon, however, was able to put in a chartered exemption from dog-lawing, but he was fined two marks for the conduct of his mastiffs. Some of the cases considered at this eyre went back as far as 1 248. Three delinquents were charged with having hunted in that year in the wood of Stockholt, in Whittlewood Forest, with bows and arrows, and with resisting the riding foresters who sought to attach them. In the same year, Alexander, chaplain of Wotton, and two men with him who escaped and whose names were unknown, committed a forest offence in Bernwood. When the justices in eyre came round, seven years later, Alexander, who was on bail, was dead ; a return had to be made of his chat- " Close, 1 6 Hen. Ill, mm. I 5, 7, 6. a Ibid. 17 Hen. Ill, mm. 1 1, 9, 3. 14 Exch. Accti. Forest Proc. T.R. 251. tels, which were only worth lit. yl.t with an unvalued burse containing relics. Amongst other interesting cases may be mentioned that of Hugh de Molond in 1249, who was found going out of the forest with a bow, which he handed to his brother Richard. The foresters found at his house a bow and four barbed arrows. Hugh and Richard were both imprisoned and bailed ; the justices fined the former a mark and the latter half a mark. At this Buckingham eyre it was stated that John Durant, woodward of Roger de Wotton of his wood of Stockholt, had been presented by his lord before Robert Basset, the steward of the forest ; and afterwards presented by his lord before Edward de Bosco, forest justice, at Selves- ton. William Curtis, woodward of Simon de Sancto Licio for his part of the wood of West- bury, had been presented by his lord before the forest steward, and afterwards presented and sworn before Hugh of Goldingham, the forest justice. Walter de Clanfield, woodward of James le Savage for his part of the wood of Westbury, had also been presented and sworn in like manner.*4 In 1266 an inquisition was held at Hartley, in Bernwood Forest, as to the bailiwick of John, the son of Neal, which he held in that forest by hereditary right (forester in fee of Boarstall), as the king wished to be certified as to his rights and customs and services. The jury testified that he held by hereditary right the bailiwick from Stony- ford as far as a certain water called the Burne, running between Steeple Claydon and Padbury ; that he had rights of cheminage or way-leave, of after-pannage, of all rents, of dead woods and of the loppings and roots of all trees given or sold or taken for his own use by the king. Two other rights are sufficiently interesting to be set forth as Englished by Mr. Turner : — He has and he ought of hereditary right to have throughout the aforesaid bailiwick trees felled by the wind, which is called cablish, and that in the form underwritten, to wit, that if the wind fells ten trees in one night and one day, the lord king will have them all ; but if the wind fells less than ten tree* in one night and one day, the aforesaid John will have them all. Also this same John has of right all attachments and issues of attachments made of small thorns, to wit, of such a thorn as cannot be perforated by an auger (tarrera) which is called ' Restnauegar.' The meaning of this last clause is that the undergrowth of small thorns was John's per- quisite, and that the question of what was small and what was large was tested by whether the thorn stem was sufficiently large to be pierced by a standard auger. The last clause of the verdict of this inquest was to the effect that John had to guard this u See Turner, Select Pleat of tbt Foreit (Selden Soc.), Ixviii. '35 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE forest bailiwick (that is to find and pay the under- forester) in return for these privileges and also to make an annual payment to the king of 4Cw.36 In 1280 there was an inquisition as to a night trespass in Bernwood Forest, Buckinghamshire, when the foresters took and imprisoned a com- pany of thirteen. The foresters swore that one of the number, Robert Cripelard, was engaged in placing a snare, formed of a single cord ; but the jury held that Robert was not culpable.37 In connexion with the Forest Pleas for Buck- inghamshire, lists were drawn up in 1286 and 1287 of quittance of the common summons. Among those whose presence at the eyres was thus excused by the crown, although free tenants or holding privileges within the royal forests of the county, were the abbess of Godstow, the abbess of Barking, the bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, the priors of Merton and La Grave, the abbot ofOseney, the prior general of St. John of Jerusalem, the master of the hospital of St. John-without-Oxford, and the earls of Cornwall, Hereford, and Surrey.38 The prison for trespassers in the whole forest of Bernwood was at Brill. In February, 1277, John Fitzneal, the warden of the forest, was ordered to deliver Peter le Provost and his son John, imprisoned at Brill for forest trespass, in bail to twelve men pledged to deliver him before the justices of Forest Pleas when next they came to those parts. In the following May the same warden received a like mandate from the crown to release in a similar manner Hugh Magot and his son Humphrey from imprisonment at Brill.'9 In 1292 Elias de Hauvill, steward of Bern- wood Forest, received the crown mandate to release on bail, from the prison at Brill, William de Boyton and seven others, all confined there for forest trespasses.40 In the same year Aumary de St. Amando, king's yeoman, obtained licence by letters patent to hunt the fox, hare, badger, and cat, with his own dogs, throughout the forests of Bucking- hamshire, except during the fence month, so that he did not take great game or course in warrens.41 Occasionally in the forests of this county, as elsewhere, trespassers obtained immediate pardon from the crown. Thus, in 1294, the justices next in eyre for Forest Pleas in the county of Buckingham received royal orders not to molest James de la Plaunche for the trespass he was said to have committed in taking harts and hinds, as well as bucks and does, in the Bucking- hamshire portion of Salcey Forest without the king's licence, as the king had pardoned him the "Inq. p.m. 50 Hen. Ill, No. 25. " Misc. Chan. Forest Proc. bdle. n, file 3 (22). 18 Close, 1 4 Edw. I, m. 8 d. ; 15 Edw. I, m. 5 d. " Ibid. 5 Edw. I, mm. 1 1, 8. 40 Ibid. 20 Edw. I, m. 9. 41 Pat. 20 Edw. I, m. 10. 136 trespass. A like letter was directed to the justices next in eyre for the county of North- ampton.42 In October 1297 the sheriff of Buckingham- shire received the king's mandate to the effect that he desired the late king's Forest Charter to be observed inviolable in all its articles, and he had therefore appointed Adam Gurdon and William de Mortuo Mari, together with two of the most discreet of the knights of the county, to cause a perambulation to be made, in the presence of the foresters and verderers, to con- firm the perambulations of the late reign which had not been disputed. The sheriff was ordered to summon all the knights of the county to meet Adam and William, and from their number to appoint two successors.43 When the perambulation of Whittlewood Forest was shortly afterwards undertaken, Roger le Brabazon and Ralph de Hengham took a sore (a buck of the fourth year) and three does in the Buckinghamshire part of the forest. Letters close were, however, addressed by the crown to the justices next in eyre for Pleas of the Forest, both of the counties of Buckingham and Northampton, ordering them not to molest or aggrieve Roger and Ralph, as they and the others assigned by the king to make the perambu- lation took them by his licence in the course of making the perambulation.44 Soon after the accession of Edward III, the sheriff of Buckinghamshire was ordered to take anew in his county court the oaths of the verderers of Bernwood Forest, who had been elected in the late king's lifetime, to inquire into their qualifications and to cause others to be elected in the place of those who might be insufficiently qualified.48 An inquisition was held at Brill in 1363, before William of Wykeham,46 as to the pasture rights of the tenants of Brill, Boarstall, and Oakley, when it was held that they had rights of depasturing their cattle through the whole forest, save in the haye (or park) of Ixhull, without molestation except in the fence month. In the following year an inquisition was held at Headington, before Peter Atte Wood, deputy of William of Wykeham, as to the condition of the whole forest of Bernwood.4' There is an original inquisition as to the state of the Buckinghamshire division of Bernwood Forest at the Public Record Office, held in the year 1377, with the rows of small imitative seals " Close, 22 Edw. I, m. 9. "Ibid. 25 Edw. I, m. 4<£ 44 Ibid. 28 Edw. I, m. 4. 45 Ibid. 2 Edw. Ill, m. 27. 16 This was the great William of Wykeham, who became bishop of Winchester in 1367. His appoint- ment as warden of Bernwood Forest is not named by any of his biographers. " Kennet, Punch. Antij. \\, 146. FORESTRY of the jury still pendent on tags of the parch- ment. But there was nothing to report of any moment, and it is a mere formal return, seven lines in length.48 In July, 1489, Forest Pleas were held at Buckingham before Sir John Ratcliif and Sir Reginald Gray. There were ninety-seven pre- sentments, and fines were inflicted varying from half a mark to loos. The offences included the killing of several fallow deer, and in two cases of red deer, also of wholesale game hunting with bows and arrows and cross-bows (ba/istis ac quarel- Ki) by a large company chiefly from Notting- hamshire and other counties. The vert pre- sentments numbered 117, the fines varying from one to two shillings ; in seven of these cases an alibi was established, and nine were excused fines on the score of poverty. William Rede was presented for having kept a coppice closed for seven years which ought to lie open, to the great hurt of the king's deer. Among those claiming chartered liberties in the Buckinghamshire forests were the abbots of Oseney and Nutley, the prior of Frideswide, the prioress of Studley, and the provost of Oriel College.4' The dissolution of the monasteries was, in Buckinghamshire as elsewhere, sadly disastrous to the woodlands of the county. In 1541, commissioners were appointed to regulate the sales of the coppices of Bundon and Echyllthorn at Horwood, in Whaddon Chase, late the pro- perty of St. Al ban's Abbey. At the same time other commissioners were appointed for the sale of Honers Wood, late the property of Missenden Abbey." The priory of Tickford, Newport Pagnel, was surrendered to Wolsey in 1525, but on the cardinal's fall came to the crown, when the lands surrounding the house were turned into a deer park. A certificate was presented by Thomas Tavener and Robert King, 'prescvators of the Queenes Majesties woods within her highness Parkes of Tyckford and Hanslopp,' as to the felling of woods and trespasses done in the years 1587-8. In January, 1587, there was a sale in Tickford Park of underwood, when six trees were taken out of the coppice, valued at £4, without the leave of the woodward or his deputy. George Annesley, the park keeper, was charged with selling forty loads of ' Browse wood ' (winter food for deer) at 5 Aug. Proc. (P.R.O.), bdle. 14, No. 25. 93 Add. MS. 37069, fol. 140, Lipscombe, Hist, of Bucks,\i\, 498 ; F. of Fines, Bucks. Trin. 5 Edw. VI. 94 Add. MS. 37069, fol. 144. 95 ' Also the comyners that boundes upon the chasse do clayme and hath had tyme owte of mynde sufficient hedge boote owt of the Chasse to repayre the Chasse mownde, as oft as nead dyd require,' while certain wood rights were claimed by Lord Grey, Mr. Percival Jefferson, the farmer of Snelshall, the ' baylye of Wynsloo ' and others. Add. MS. 37069, fol. Towards the end of the month of March, 1594, Sir John Fortescue wrote on behalf of the queen to Thomas Fortescue, His Majesty's Sur- veyor of Lands in Buckinghamshire, and to Thomas Stafford and Edward Walter, Her Majesty's Woodwards, that he was informed that a great deal of the paling and rails of Whaddon Park was blown down and utterly decayed. Repairs must be taken in hand lest 'her Majestie's deer breake forth to the decaie of the game there.' The timber necessary could be felled in the park itself, while the top and lop might be sold and the money applied to meet the necessary expenses.98 In the autumn of the same year, after the death of Mr. John Savage, lieutenant of the chase, orders were ratified by the Lady Sybil Grey as to the perquisites of the officers. The lieutenant was to have one buck and one doe each year with all waifs and strays and the dead hedges of every coppice, beside all windfalls in the chase above a load, and six loads for fuel, while a certain number of loads of wood were to- be allotted yearly to the other officers who were under the general charge of Mr. Underwood, apparently the senior keeper.97 Fees of all the deer in the park were to belong to the keeper of the park only, but ' all the other keepers in the chace to haue all the fees of the deare killed every man alyke in his turne.' No browsewood should be sold except in one special case four loads a year, and it was further directed for the protection of the young trees that no horse or geldyng be suffered to goe into any coppice there till it shall be 8 or 9 yeres growth without they be tied in any playne where no wood is growyng. In the early years of the next reign considerable attention was directed to the woods and forests of the crown, and about 1608 a survey98 was made of several extents of woodland in Bucking- hamshire and along the Northampton border, including ' Whaddon Chase and Parke parcell of" the Queenes Majesties joynture and Abbottes woodes late the Lord Grayes not in her Majesties, joynture.' As a result of this survey 328 trees were sold for the sum of ^517 Js. ^d. Of these the park furnished forty-two and Abbots Wood eighty-five, the rest belonging to the chase proper.99 But the middle of the seventeenth century saw the most serious destruction of the timber in the 98 Add. MS. 37069, fol. 199. 97 The park-keeper was apparently Thomas Peers. There seem to h;ive been four keepers in the chase, William Underwood, Richard Smyth, John Maynard, and John Brown, besides William Lorde, in charge of ' Shucklo Warren,' and John Cartwrich, the wood- ward. 98 P.R.O. Exch. Spec. Com. 7107. 99 For a later sale of dottard trees in the reign of James I see Egerton MS. 808, fol. 3 et seq. 142 FORESTRY chase, which was at this time in the hands of the duke of Buckingham. In 1649 and 1651 Parliament100 ordered that £3,000 should be raised by felling wood in Whaddon Chase to meet the expenses of the garrison of Windsor and for other purposes, and this was accordingly carried out, while the encumbered condition of the Villiers estates after the Civil War invited further waste, and Catherine, duchess of Buck- ingham, converted the park into pasture and tillage in the reign of Charles II. A lamentable picture of the state of the wood- lands 101 is drawn at the end of the next century by the reporters to the Board of Agriculture. Whaddon Chase was then divided into several coppices, covering about 22,000 acres, part of which was shut up for a certain number of years, usually nine, and then laid open to the deer as well as to the commoners for twelve years. The coppices produced large oak, ash, and other timber as well as underwood, ' but from the custom of the deer and the commoners' cattle being suffered to depasture thereon unlimitedly, the young timber is at this time totally destroyed.' The reporters proceed to point out that if the deer were confined to one spot and the chase and commons divided among the parties interested, it would be a very important advantage gained to the proprietors, and a great national benefit, inasmuch as the growth of oak and other Umber would be en- couraged. They further state that large sticks have formerly been sold from this chase for upwards of ten pounds per tree ; it is therefore the more to be deplored, that the young timber should be so continually destroyed, the land being so well adapted to its growth. From a further report lw by the Rev. St. John Priest to the Board of Agriculture in 1813 we learn that the coppices were twenty-eight in number, of which twenty-one belonged to Mr. Selby of Winslow and the rest to New College. Besides the chase proper, he mentions certain 'busky-leys* which 'are somewhat of the same nature, except that they have not been the pro- perty of the Crown as Chaces have.' The recommendations made to the Board of Agri- culture in 1794 did not bear immediate fruit, as the deer were still allowed to roam at large over the chase for between forty and fifty years longer before they were finally limited to the inclosure of the park. The General View of the Agriculture tf the County of Buckingham, drawn up in 1794, by Messrs. James and Malcolm, has already been '" Cal. Comf. Gen. Proc. 376, 484, 520, 556, and S. P. Dom. Interr. cxxx, 10, 52. 101 James and Malcolm, Gen. yiew Agric. Bucks. (1794), 42. l" Op. cit. 26, 27. referred to in connexion with Whaddon Chase. This comparatively brief reference to woods and woodlands stated, at the outset, that from Marlow to Fingest, and through that district bounded by the London and Oxford road on the south and the Thames on the north, one sixth part of the land was covered with beechwood, ' which may yield a profit of from 141. to 20*. per acre per annum.' The woods required but little atten- tion, as the old trees shed a sufficient quantity of seed to keep up a constant supply of young plants. In the parish of Wycombie there were 700 acres of common beech woodland. In the neighbourhood of Chesham, the large thriving beech woods were under good management. There were also particularly fine woods of beech growing upon the chalk in the parish of Amers- ham. Mention is made of the large amount of planting, chiefly with Scotch firs, which had recently been undertaken on the heaths in the parishes of Wavendon and Brickhill, which was in a very thriving state. Mr. Priest, in the tenth chapter of his report of 1813, deals particularly with woods and plan- tations. It is there stated that the Whaddon coppices were sold as firewood and also for fences ; the faggot wood at 241. per hundred, viz. 120 faggots. The thorns were sold not only for fences but also to fill up underdrains, and for that purpose were carried many miles. At Hillesden Wood, seven or eight acres were felled once in twelve years, and at Emberton, where there were about eighty acres of wood, six were felled yearly. There were 140 acres of copse wood at Stoke Goldington. On many farms strips were set aside to grow sallows, ashes, and elms to serve as stuff for hurdles. The Chiltern Hills, particularly at West Wycombe, are mentioned as abounding in low- growing junipers. Beech is named as by far the most abundant wood in the county, and in general use for the manufacture of chairs. Beech wood is sold at from I ^d. to i fd. a foot. The beech wood was exceptionally beautiful at Shard- low, where Mr. Drake had one beech which was perfectly straight and 75 ft. in height up to the first bough. The girth, two feet from the ground, was 7 ft. 8 in., and it was estimated to contain 229 ft. of timber. The timber of Ashridge Park is described as noteworthy, and the measurements are given of several oak and beech trees. There are some interesting comments offered upon the growth of trees, owing to the difference of soil above and below the Icknield-way. The beech, ash, larch, and fir are stated not to flourish below the Icknield-way, whilst all other trees, such as oaks, elms, horse-chestnuts, and whitethorn were very promising. A remarkable old oak is named at Thornton, which was quite hollow and capable of containing seventeen persons ; it had a girth at the roots of 45 ft. »43 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE As to the numerous old-established private parks of Buckinghamshire, apart from royal forests, abounding in fine timber and well stocked with deer, much information has already been recorded of Ashridge Park (chiefly in Hertford- shire), of Fawley Court Park (partly in Oxford- shire), as well as of the historic parks of Biddlesden, Bulstrode, Claydon, Ditton, Doddershall, Hart- well, Langley, Stoke, Stowe, Thornton, Turville, Whaddon, and West Wycombe.103 Langley Park, of 383 acres, is well timbered with oak ; to the north of the park is a large tract of woodland, about l£ miles long by three- quarters of a mile broad, appropriately termed the Black Park, which is covered with Scotch firs ; it was originally planted about the middle of the seventeenth century, but the greater part of it is self-sown. There are several parks in the county which are not deer-stocked, but are quite noteworthy for their fine timber : three of the best examples are Butler's Court, Beaconsfield, of 400 acres ; Gay- hurst Park of 250 acres ; and Hughenden Manor House of 140 acres. The county affords instances of an exceptional number of fine avenues of diversified interest. To gain the noble park of Stowe from Bucking- ham, an avenue of trees two miles in length has to be traversed. Thornton Hall, with a park of 181 acres, has a good avenue of elms. At Taplow Court there is a long avenue of well- grown cedars of Lebanon. Wavendon House has a fine elm avenue, half-a-mile in length ; whilst Wavendon Tower has an avenue of limes and horse-chestnuts. At Yewdon Manor, Hambleden, there is an ancient avenue of yews. A singularly fine yew hedge is also worth noting at Remnantz, Great Marlow. The somewhat wild avenue of beech and Spanish chestnuts at Great Hampden is of historic interest. Some of the finest beech trees of the county are in the grounds of Hampden House ; and excellent examples will also be found in the beautifully diversified grounds near Chesham. At Burnham Beeches, in the south of the county — a beautiful remnant of English woodland scenery, purchased by the corporation of the City of London, under the provisions of the Open Spaces Act of 1878 — there are numbers of great mutilated, but picturesque beeches, pollarded in early days. la> P.C.H. Bucks, i, 172-5. The ash is widely distributed throughout the county, but chiefly in the shape of hedgerow timber. The woods of the north of the county are chiefly oak with an undergrowth in which the sloe largely predominates, and the crab-apple is not infrequent. There are large plantations of pine and larch at Brickhill. Throughout the Thames Valley wych elm as well as common elm is numerous, and frequently attains to a great size. In the south of the county the black poplar is fairly common. On the chalk, the yew, juniper and holly are frequent, though usually in stunted forms. The box flourishes and is probably indigenous on the northern chalk escarpment, especially in the neighbourhood of Ellesborough. The hornbeam is perhaps com- moner in Buckinghamshire than in any other county, particularly on the eastern border ; and the maple sometimes grows to a fair size, especi- ally about Moulsoe. The recent official agricultural returns testify in a remarkable manner to the steady growth of England's woodlands during the last quarter of a century, owing to the greater attention that has been given to the whole subject of arbori- culture. During the ten years between 1895 and 1905 the total area of the woodlands of England and Wales has increased by 52,483 acres. Of this increase Buckinghamshire has had its full share. The woodland area of this county was 29,421 acres in 1888; 30,732 in 1891 ; 32,125 in 1895 ; and 34,548 in 1905. The return of 1905 divides the woodlands into three classes; (i) the coppice, under which head are included all that springs up again from the old stools after periodical felling ; (2) the plantations, under which are reckoned all that has been planted or replanted within the last fifteen years ; and (3) other woods. The Buckinghamshire total includes 4,586 acres of coppice and 1,322 acres of plantation. The recent considerable increase in the wood- land of this county is doubtless due, as elsewhere, to no small extent to what has been termed the luxurious value of forest trees and coverts on the larger estates ; that is to say, to the beauty of woodland landscape and to planting as an assist- ance in the maintenance of game. But, at the same time, some portion of the Buckinghamshire increase is doubtless due to the commercial value of beechwood in general turnery, and more especially in the manufacture of chairs. 144 SCHOOLS INTRODUCTION BUCKINGHAMSHIRE is for histori- cal purposes a single-school county. The Grammar School of the Royal College of the Blessed Mary of Eton by Windsor bulks as largely in the sphere of records in the past as it does in the world of education to-day. The other grammar schools of the county have been de- prived, by the carelessness, or worse, of their parents and guardians, of all their early history, as in later times they were of their proper status, until restored by the Endowed Schools Acts and the Charity Commissioners. It is incredible that in a county like Buckinghamshire grammar schools should begin in the year 1440. But this date, the date of the first foundation of Eton College, is in the present state of knowledge the earliest to which we can definitely assign any educational foundation in the county. It can- not really be the case that Buckingham, or High, otherwise Chepping, Wycombe, or New- port Pagnell, or Aylesbury, were without gram- mar schools till the middle of the i6th century. But as things stand, though it may be suspected, it cannot be proved that they did possess them.1 The only grammar school besides Eton which can be proved to have existed in the county before the Reformation is one, long extinct, at Thornton. This was founded by one of two brothers who both bore the same name, that of John Barton. The elder was a successful lawyer and Recorder of London. Presumably he had come from Buckingham, which county he repre- sented in Parliament in 1397, as by his will, 5 June 1431,'* he directed his body to be buried in St. Peter's Church in St. Rombald's aisle, and gave 401. to the Hospital of St. Thomas Becket, called of Aeon, London, to pray for his soul, and all his lands to his brother, John Barton, junior, on condition of maintaining a chantry chap- lain for his and his parents' souls, to be appointed by the master of the aforesaid hospital. These 1 While thil was passing through the press, the proof as to Buckingham School has been found. In a renul of John Barton (probably the elder of the two mentioned below) of his lands in Buckingham at Michelmas, 1423, the fint item is: ' Of the school- master (Je magiitro icolarum) 40^.' at each of the four terms of the year, or 1 3/. 4^. a year (B.M. Lansd. Chart. 572). " Browne Willis, Hut. Biuki. 54. lands appear to have included the manor of Thornton, conveyed to the two Bartons and others in 1414.' John Barton, junior, also founded, or refounded, a chantry, which had originally been founded in 1344 by his prede- cessor in title, John le Chastillon, with licence from the Bishop of Lincoln, in whose diocese Buckinghamshire was, the chantry chapel being the chancel of the church. Barton directed this,1 by his will in 1443, to be rebuilt, and there he and his wife still lie in effigy on an altar tomb. The new foundation was either not completed at the time, or else, being founded under licence from Henry VI, it was thought prudent to re- found it, under a licence from Edward IV. He on 8 July 1468 4 granted the necessary permis- sion, at the request of Thomas Littleton, ' Little- ton on tenures,' Lord Chief Justice, and other feoffees for Isabel the widow of John Barton, who had become Isabel Shottesbrook, to Robert Ingilton, who had bought from them the manor of Thornton. In consequence the Chantry Commissioners of Henry VIII * reported it as — Barton's Chauntrye, founded by Roberte Ingleton, to the intente to fynde a prieste for euer. And that the said prieste shalle gyve yearly to 6 poore folkes contynu- ally 6V. the weke for euery of theyme. And to gyve for the lyuerey of 6 poore children euerye yeare to euerye of theyme 4;. And also the said prieste to teache the children of the said towne. The said chauntrye . . . is obserued accordynge to the foundacyone. . . . And so is verye necessarye. . . . Ycrly value £il IU.6J. [Outgoings] 59/. 5| Wayne- flete received a livery, described next year as 5 yards of violet cloth as provost of Eton, while Sever continued to receive a gown as royal chaplain. This shows that Wayne- flete became provost at some date between Whitsuntide and Christmas 1442, probably at Michaelmas, as Sever was made Chancellor of u Bekynton'i Corresfxmdence (Roll§ Ser.), i, p. cxix. Not Nov. as Maxwell Lyte, op. cit. 19. The day is specially said to have been the Translation of St. Edward (the Confessor). "• Exch. K.R. Wardrobe Accts. 19-20 Hen. VI. "•Ibid. 2I-* Hen. VI. Oxford towards the end of the year. This would leave less than a year for Wayneflete to be head master, if he ever was head master. On 21 December 1443 Bishop Bekynton, with the Earl of Suffolk, as commissioners of the founder, formally gave statutes to the college and swore Wayneflete to them as pro- vost, who in turn took the oaths of the other members of the college, namely 5 fellows, 2 clerks, 2 choristers, and 1 1 scholars. But it is specially recorded that, as the buildings were not finished, nor the full endowment received, the king dispensed the college temporarily from the observance of some of the statutes, viz. (i) as to keeping the intended full number of fellows, scholars, and poor ; (2) the fellows being only 5, instead of 10, they were only to be bound to 5 masses a day instead of 10 ; (3) the scholars were not required to say the prayers and adora- tions set down for them till the morrow of the Epiphany, ' so that meanwhile they may be in- structed and fully informed in them,' while (4) c as neither church nor hall, towers, chambers, chests, common archives, keys, bursary, treasury, nor gates were yet fully built,' the statutes relat- ing to these were suspended. At the same time a special statute provided that as John Clerk had given up a sufficiently fat living (beneficio satis competent?) to take a fellowship, he should be vice- provost not for a year only, as the statutes or- dained, but for life. This first and perpetual vice-provost was another Wykehamist, a native of Newbury, scho'ar of Winchester 1406, of New College 1410 ; and the benefice he gave up was that of Adderbury, Oxfordshire, one of the richest New College livings. The proceedings were witnessed by Richard Andrew, LL.U., then King's Secretary ; Walter Lyhert or Le Hart, Provost of Oriel, and William Say, an- other Wykehamist, then Dean of St. Paul's. It has been constantly repeated that Wayneflete took with him to Eton half Winchester College, viz. 5 fellows and 35 scholars. It was reserved for Mr. Kirby,17 an Etonian, but Bursar of Win- chester College, to show that this was almost certainly untrue, and quite certainly without authority. There are no such ' gaps in the [Winchester] Register which such a migration would make ; only six scholars are recorded in the margin of the Register to have quitted Win- chester for Eton. It is possible that the number of 35 may have been made up from the ranks of the commoners and day-boys, but no evidence exists as to this. Nor is it recorded of any fel- low that he quitted it for Eton. Two old scholars exchanged fellowships of New College for fellowships of Eton College.' Even this reduced statement is not quite accurate. Only " Kirby, Annalt of Winchester Coll. (1894), 199. In the last edition of Maxwell Lyte (1899), p. 17, Mr. Kirby's statement has been substituted for the older story. '55 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE five scholars are in fact recorded as quitting Winchester for Eton. The sixth and senior Winchester scholar who went to Eton had been admitted at Winchester I February 1432-3, and had left the school for some unspecified time before going to Eton. ' Recessit ad obsequium primo, postea ad collegium de Eton.' He had presumably failed to get off to New College, and abandoned the path of learning for secular service of some kind, presumably with some magnate, but now returned to it, on prospect of a fellow- ship at King's College. Also, of the two fellows of New College mentioned by Mr. Kirby, neither went at or near the opening of Eton. One, Foster or Forster, went to Eton not in 1443 but in 1453, and not as fellow but as head master ; the other, Morer, went up to New College as a scholar in 1443, and only became a fellow of Eton in 1465. So that neither of these can be reckoned in the migration. Nor is it at all probable that the number of 35 or anything like it was made up from commoners. As to com- moners proper, commoners in college at Win- chester were limited by statute to ten in number. The hall-books of the time, showing those who dined in hall every week, are extant. They show that there was no clear-out of commoners. Fauley, who appeared for the last time in hall in the second week in October 1441, when, by the way, Mr. William Wayneflete was dining as a guest, showing that he had not yet gone to Eton, though he had ceased to be head master of Win- chester, may probably be identified with Richard Fauley of Dorsetshire, who was elected from Eton to King's on 26 September 1444 at the age of sixteen. Only one other commoner, Lysle, left during the same time. The possible migra- tion of commoners in college is therefore limited to two, and is probably limited to one. There were, however, other commoners attending the school, living in St. Elizabeth's College, next door, and perhaps elsewhere, and there were probably oppidans or town boys attending as day- boys. Of these we have no record. It is not, however, very probable that any, and it is certain that not many, could have gone to the new school as scholars, since only 1 1 scholars in all were sworn to the statutes. They were Thomas Constantin ; John Pay n, a Londoner, of St. Alban's, Wood Street, who had been a Winchester scholar from 1438 ; Thomas Say, a relation of the Dean of St. Paul's ; Thomas Seggefeld ; John Goldsmith, who went to King's next year ; Edward Hancok, who also went to King's next year, whom one suspects of being a relative of Thomas Hancok of Pusey, Berkshire,a Winchester scholar in 1447 ; Richard Fauley, from Dorset, one of the IQ filii nobilium ; William Stock from Warmington, Northamptonshire ; John Plentie from Warwickshire ; and John Brown from Berkshire, who went to King's in 1444 ; and William Wether, who is untraced. However, it is really remarkable to find that in a ' tradition ' of this sort there is so much substratum of fact, that it is true to the extent of about one-six- teenth ; and that five scholars, one ex-scholar, and probably one commoner of Winchester did actually go to give Eton a start, and import Wykehamist traditions there. But of the six scholars who went in 1443, only three were ever more than colourably scholars at Eton. For three of them, John Langport, Richard Cove, and Robert Dummer, had already been admitted scholars of King's on 19 July 1443. This was under the second charter for that college, dated nine days before, 10 July 1443, which converted the rector, William Millington, into a provost,18 changed the name from St. Nicholas College to that of St. Mary and St. Nicholas, augmented its numbers from 12 to 70, and bound it to Eton as New College was bound to Winchester, so that only scholars of Eton were admissible to it. John Langport, who came from Twyford, now almost part of Winchester, had been at Winchester someeleven years. Robert Dummer,19 also a Hampshire boy, had been eight years at Winchester, and Richard Cove of Bromham, Wiltshire, had been there seven years. They were, therefore, Winchester 'thicks,' who, in default of being able to get off to New College, Oxford, were thought good enough for ' New College, Cambridge,' as it was often called. Langport became vice-provost of King's.20 The two other Winchester scholars were John Payn above mentioned, and Richard Roche of Taunton, who must have been a boy of exceptional promise. Admitted to Winchester in 1439, he went to Eton on St. Margaret's Day, 20 July 1443, an<^ was too young to be sworn to the statutes in December 1443, being only fifteen years old when admitted a scholar of King's, 26 September 1444. He afterwards became vice-provost of Eton. The statutes cannot have been strictly observed at the first election to King's in July 1 443, as the other two out of five elected were Master Wil- liam Chedworth, M.A., already for 20 years fellow of Merton, Oxford, who three years afterwards became provost of King's, and then Bishop of Lincoln and the founder or endower of Cirencester Grammar School ; and Thomas Rotherham,21 afterwards Lord Chancellor, Arch- 18 Mullinger, Univ. of Camb. i, 306. Mr. Mul- linger says that William Millington was ejected because he objected to the exclusive connexion established with Eton by the statutes ; but as this connexion is expressly stated in the charter in which he is named as first provost, the statement cannot be reconciled with the facts. 19 Misread into Dommetge by Kirby in Annals, and also in Scholars, 57 ; a mistake naturally followed by the Eton historian Mr. Wasey Sterry. 10 B.M. Cole MSS. 5814-7, fol. 12. " See account of him under Rotherham College in A. F. Leach, Early Torks. Schools, xxvii. IS6 SCHOOLS bishop of York, and founder of a small Eton at Jesus College, Rotherham, in 1480, who was already more than 19 years old. As only those above 1 5 n had to swear to the statutes, it looks as if even in December 1443 the school was not filled up. The completion of the college was marked by the famous Amica- bilis concordia or covenant of alliance between Wykeham's two colleges of the Virgin at Oxford and Winchester and the two royal colleges of the Virgin of Cambridge and Eton for mutual assistance, signed by their respective wardens and provosts i July 1444. The first head master mentioned at Eton is William Westbury, in the Bursars' or Audit Roll of 1444-5, which is the earliest preserved. Now William Westbury was an old pupil of Wayne- flete's. He was in all probability son of William Westbury, serjeant-at-law, who appears in the Winchester Bursars' Roll for 1423-488 receiving half a mark as leader of several counsel in an action about some Andover property of that college, and was a judge of the King's Bench in 1426. He came from Westbury, Wiltshire, where he endowed a chantry. The son is described as of Alresford, when admitted a ' poor and needy ' scholar of Winchester in 1428-9. He went on to New College in 1433. The New College records report him as leaving his fellowship ** 'in the month of May 1442, transferring him- self to the King's service.' It can hardly be doubted that the royal service to which he was transferred was that of head master, and, it is contended, first head master of the royal col- lege. The Audit Roll of 1444-5 shows indeed, by its beginning with 'arrears ' or surplus received from the bursars of the preceding year, that it was not the first, though the small amount of the sur- plus, £3 3*. id., compared with one of j£54 odd carried over to the next year, and other entries, make it probable that it was only the second roll ; and that nothing like the full income had been received in 1443—4. The Dictionary of National Biography avoids all difficulties as to the opening of Eton School and the first head master by the assertion that Wayneflete was ' in the first charter of Eton, 1 1 October 1440, nominated a fellow and removed to Eton in 1442. A class-room was then open, but the pupils were lodged in private houses.' The first two statements are, as we have seen, wrong. Wayneflete was not named in the charter of 1440, and he left Winchester in 1441. The last two statements may be true, but no authority for them now exists, nor is any cited. 0 When the Winchester boyi were iworn to their statutes in 1400, 36 out of 70 took the oath. " The protocol* of admission of fellows show that his successor was admitted ' in loco Willelmi West- bury transferentis se ad obsequium," to which another hand has added ' regis." The statutes given to the two royal colleges in 1 443 made them now like the two Wykehamical colleges. As the statutes, in words copied from those of Winchester, say : ' Though situate in different places, they come from one stem, and originally issue from one spring ; they do not differ in substance, and so naturally do not produce different effects.' The statutes of Eton are in fact a mere transcript of those of Win- chester, mutatis mutandis. Even the mutanda are limited to the narrowest possible changes, such as the substitution of Eton for Winchester, Cambridge for Oxford, and Henry VI for William of Wykeham, the very title of the Patron Saint, Our Lady of Eton, being closely adapted from Our Lady of Winchester. The adaptation of the statutes is much closer even than that made by Chicheley for his own college of All Souls, though that is close enough, or by Wayneflete himself for Magdalen College. The whole 45 statutes of Winchester, with the preamble, called in the Eton copy the Mem et Intentio fundatoris, and the solemn ' end and conclusion of all the statutes,' appear verbatim et literatim, for the most part, in the Eton statutes. These number 62, however, because the preamble and conclusion are num- bered as statutes, and nine statutes were added for the almsmen, not included at Winchester, and destined quickly to disappear from Eton. Mr. Mullinger's remark in his History of Cam- bridge University, ' The Latinity ... is more correct, and copious to a fault, and there is also to be noted an increased power of expression,' is not easy to understand. The expressions are identical, even to the anachronistic repetition in the King's College statutes of the Black Death and its successors in 1361 and 1368 as having caused a dearth of properly educated clerics, for which Chicheley in the statutes for All Souls substituted the more up-to-date cause of the wars between England and France. The corporate title bestowed on the college was markedly different. Instead of being ' the Warden and Scholars Clerks ' (scolares cleric!), it was the Pro- vost and College (Prepositus et Collegium). The title of provost was substituted for warden, undoubt- edly by way of distinction from Winchester. That title, and not rector or master, was no doubt chosen because the head of the college of St. Elizabeth, which stood next door to the college at Winchester and is now part of it, was called provost, as was also the head of King's Hall (Oriel) at Oxford, a post held by John Carpenter, who took some part in the foundation, and was consecrated Bishop of Worcester in Eton Chapel, and the head of Queen's College, founded next after Oriel. The corporate body was almost the same as at Winchester, being a provost and 70 scholars with 10 fellow* and 16 choristers. But there were ten instead of only three hired chaplains, who from being ctnductitii tt '57 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE remotivi, hired and removable, instead of holding freehold offices, were and are called conducts, 10 chapel clerks instead of three, while 13 poor youths, scholars, and 13 almsmen had no precursor at Winchester. The increase of chaplains and clerks was to augment the splen- dour of the services. Of the 10 clerks four were to be honest men, of good conduct, skilled in reading, psalming and singing, skilled also in part- singing('etiam cantu organico24 peritiam habentes') with voices of equal power (' in vocibus similiter bene dispositi '), one of whom at least was to know how to improvise on the organ (jubilare in organis), and he alone of all the clerks of the college, if another could not be had, was allowed to be a married man. The organist in Italy is to this day often a layman, though a cleric is preferred. There was also to be a parish clerk who was able to teach the grammar scholars, and a vestry clerk, each of whom were to receive five marks extra. The tale of ten was made up of four gentlemen clerks (clerici generoii) who were to sit at the first dinner at a gentlemen's table (' in primis refectionibus ad aliquam mensam generosorum ') with the chap- lains, and were to be taught part-singing, their instructor having £6 and three others to have six marks. There were also added 13 poor youths, between 15 and 20 years old at the time of their admission, who were to be taken from the outside scholars (i.e. oppidans) of the college, who were to act as chamber-servants to the provost, fellows, and head master, and to ring the bells, but were also by the instruction of their masters and attendance in the grammar school to render themselves fit in learning to take holy orders, ' for which reason above all we have thought good that they should be admitted to our college royal.' The school, the grammar school as it was called, though the main object of the college, only occupies six whole statutes and small por- tions of eight others, out of the total of sixty-two statutes. The bulk of these statutes was occu- pied with the duties of the warden, bursars, fellows, chaplains, and others, the conduct of the church services and the obits for the soul of the founder. The provisions for the school differed little from those at Winchester. As there the master teacher (Magister Informator) was the second person in the college, sitting at the upper table in hall above the fellows (except the vice-provost, 14 Not ' singing to the organ.' The organ was not used with the singing, but between the singing parts, till after the Reformation ; it was played with the foot, and the great object was ' to make a joyful noise before the Lord ' (Jubilare in organis). On the other hand, the organum, still called in Spain canto de organo, an organ being always in the plural organa, is part- singing unaccompanied ; cf. f.C.H. Lines, ii. C. F. Abdy Williams in Musical Times, Feb. 1 907. who changed every year), and sitting according to his academical degree in the church ; whence perhaps the custom of becoming D.D. or D.C.L., the latter more common in old days. His stipend was 24 marks or £16 a year, as against £10 for the fellows and £30 for the provost. His commons (stat. 1 5) were at the same rate as the fellows', viz., iQd. a week or ^4 6s. 8d. a year ; there being also allowance to the whole table of is. id. on twenty-five days for augmenta- tion. His livery of cloth, which was to be black or dark grey, was 6 yds. at 35. $d. a yd., or £i. He might have one of the youths (juvenes) as servant (stat. 10), who was to be found commons and livery by the college, and to receive such wages as the master agreed on with him. The qualifications of the master were simply to be 'sufficiently learned in grammar, having experience of teaching,' with an addition not found in the Winchester statutes, a testi- mony to the growth of the University, and the increased supply of M.A.'s, that he shall be 'a master in arts, if such can be conveniently gotten, by no means married, or beneficed in any college, chapel or church with cure of souls within 7 miles of our college of Eton.' The usher (kostiarius), who, as at Winchester, was only to be 'sufficiently learned in grammar,' without previous experience in teaching, was to have the additional qualification of being un- married, not in holy orders, ' a bachelor of arts if such can be conveniently had.' Master and usher were ' to assiduously instruct and teach the scholars of the said college in grammar, and at- tentively supervise their life and conduct ; punishing the idlers and offenders without par- tiality, with this caution that in chastisement they no way exceed moderation ' — a caution which favourably distinguished Wykeham from many previous and later school legislators, who were more anxious to get the boys well flogged than careful to prevent their being too much flogged. As at Winchester, both master and usher were strictly forbidden ' to presume to exact, ask or claim in any way anything from any of the scholars or their parents or friends for their labour about the said scholars bestowed or to be bestowed by reason or occasion of such instruction." In other words, the school was a free grammar school. The contemplated pay ot the masters was decidedly on a higher scale than that laid down at Winchester. The provost had ^30 instead of j£2o, the master 24 marks (j£i6) as against £10, and the usher 10 marks as against 5 marks (£6 13*. 4-d. instead of £3 6s. 8d.). A similar rise took place in the salary fixed for St. An- thony's School, London, for which statutes were made by Wayneflete and Say in 1447. However, the loss of endowment under Edward IV pre- vented these figures being realized, and the salary of the head master of Eton was in practice only 158 SCHOOLS the same as at Winchester, £10. The allow- ances for commons were raised, as compared with Winchester, from is. in ordinary times and is. 6d. in time of scarcity, to is. 6d. in ordinary times and 21. in times of scarcity. For some reason, however, the livery of cloth for gowns was reduced in amount, the master having 6 yards instead of 8, and the usher 5 yards, the same as at Winchester. They were obliged, however, only to keep their gowns for one year instead of five years, as at Winchester. A similar advance was noticeable in the arrangement as to cham- bers. While at Winchester the master and usher, and, if necessary, another priest, were to share a chamber, and the fellows were to sleep three in a room ; at Eton each fellow and the head master were to have separate rooms, and the hostiaritu and chaplains were to be two in a room. Besides the master and usher provision was made for an assistant master, it being provided that the chapel clerk, who acted as parish clerk, should also be able to teach the grammarians. His pay was 5 marks (£3 6s. 8^.), and his commons i$d. a week. The provisions as to the scholars were in identical terms with those at Winchester ; that is, they were to be 70 in number, poor and needy (pauperes tt indigentes], between eight and twelve years old at the time of election, completely instructed in reading, plainsong, and grammar ; with a proviso that anyone under seventeen might be elected if he showed promise of being sufficiently learned in grammar by the time he was eighteen. They were to be born in Eng- land, with preference for those coming from places and counties in which the college had property. But there were two additions not present in the Winchester statutes, viz. that ' regard was to be had to the choristers ' of Eton and King's, ' whom on account of their labours and services rendered in the said royal colleges it is right should according to their merits be pre- ferred to those who are on a par with them in the conditions and qualities above-mentioned,' but * no villein (nativus) or illegitimate ' was to be admitted. The provisions as to examination for college at Winchester had specially included ' other boys and the choristers of the chapel there' to be examined, and as a matter of fact, till the reign of Henry VIII at least, nearly all the choristers did get into college. In this respect, therefore, the definite preference given for choristers was only a legalization and extension of existing practice. Whether the exclusion of those who were unfree was also in accordance with practice at Winchester, and not a retrograde provision, is a moot point. When Wykeham first started his school, about 1370, and when he definitely en- dowed it in 1382, it is probable that no one would have thought the son of a slave or a bonds- man eligible for a scholarship at Winchester any more than he ordinarily was for the priesthood, though it is to be observed that in 1 3 1 2 a fellow of Merton, Master Walter of Merton in Oxford, received manumission from the Cathedral Priory of Durham.1* But by the rejection of a Bill sent up by the Commons in 1392, excluding villeins' sons from schools, Richard II, or his advisers, threw the school doors open to them. As a sequel to the Peasants' Revolt, by the time of Henry VI the number of bondsmen was much reduced, so that exclusion of the unfree, while at all events not a liberal measure, was not so illiberal as it would have been in the 141(1 cen- tury. One danger in the selection of its scholars Eton escaped by having a royal founder ; the absolute right of admission and the special privi- leges given to kin of the founder, which in the 1 7th century nearly ruined Winchester, were absent from the Eton statutes. The electing body was the same, mutatis mutandis, as at Winchester; the provost of King's, with two fellows called posers (i.e. opposers or apposers), came to Eton between the translation of Thomas Becket (7 July) and the Assumption of the Virgin (15 August), and with the provost and vice-provost and head master of Eton held a scrutiny to detect anything amiss in the conduct of the college, and then examined and elected the Eton boys to King's, and the choristers and others for admission to Eton, putting their names on a roll, those named being admitted in order as vacancies occurred. The scholars of Eton were to dwell in the ground-floor chambers of the inner quadrangle with three prefects or prepostors in each cham- ber. It is a moot point with the Eton historians whether they ever did so, or whether Long Chamber, in which the whole 70 slept in one barrack-like room, was original or only an inno- vation, dating from the time when the west side of the inner quadrangle and Lupton's Tower was devoted to the provost by Provost Lupton at the end of the reign of Henry VII. It seems, however, wholly incredible that the statutes, which were altered from those of Winchester in every minute point in which circumstances were altered, would have been retained unaltered on so important a point of school life as the chambers, if so great an alteration had been made as to sub- stitute one large chamber for six smaller ones. The words in the Winchester statutes as to chambers, directing the ' great house ' below Hall to be used as a school — it is now Seventh Cham- ber— and the prohibition of wrestling, dancing, jumping, singing, and shouting in Hall, because it was over school, are omitted from the Eton statutes, because Hall at Eton was a separate * Rtg. Palat. Duntlm. (Rolls Ser.), 97. At late as the day* of Elizabeth a manumission ii found of a fellow of Exeter College and his family. '59 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE building outside the quadrangle, while the pro- vision as to the master and usher having the north-west corner for their chamber was also omitted because they had separate chambers. The fact that the provisions as to the boys' chambers remained the same as at Winchester is conclusive proof that at first the masters and the boys were not in the outer but in the inner quadrangle, and lived not in one but in seven several chambers, the 16 choristers occupying one, and the 70 scholars the other six. It should be observed that the cost of the com- mons of the scholars was raised from 8d. a week at Winchester to is. T>d. a week. As for livery, while at Winchester white, black, russet, and grey gowns were expressly prohibited, because of the black, white, russet, and grey monks, canons, and friars who swarmed there, at Eton the gowns were ordered to be black or dark grey, there being no regulars near for whom the scholars could be mistaken. At first the cloth for the gowns was bought at Winchester. Tunics worn under the gown are mentioned. There is no direct evidence what the dress was like. A portrait in brass of John Stonor, of 29 August 151 5,26 at Wraysbury on the Thames, is now commonly cited as that of a scholar of Eton and as showing what the dress was then. But it is quite certain that the brass in question does not show the dress of an Eton scholar, and it is almost certain that the subject was not an Etonian at all. The Rev. Herbert Haines, second master of Gloucester Cathedral Grammar School, in his Monumental Brasses, published in 1 86 1,27 is responsible for saying, without giving any reason, ' It probably exhibits the dress of an Eton scholar.' Subsequent writers on brasses, including the latest,28 have converted the ' probably ' into a positive assertion that it is that of an Eton scholar. There is, however, no evidence to show that John or any other Stonor ever was an Eton scholar. His name is not in any Eton list yet known, pub- lished or otherwise. Even if he was, there is no reason except the somewhat small dimensions of the brass for supposing that the brass is that of a boy. It is now well established from the cele- brated brasses at Salisbury and Winchester, once supposed to be those of boy-bishops, that the small size of a figure is no indication of the small size of the subject. Stonor's figure is certainly not that of a person in statu pupillari. It is clad in a long gown with a white fur border down the middle and at the bottom. By sumptuary laws, the latest of which, at Stonor's * The inscription is : ' Here lyeth John Stonor, the sone of Walter Stoner, squyer, that departed this world ye xxix day of August in yere of our lord mdcxv.' " p. Ixxxvi. 18 Herbert Drewitt, A Manual of Costume as Illus- trated by Monumental Brasses (1906), 14.2. date, was I Henry VIII, cap. 14 (1509-10), no schoolboy, certainly no pauper et indigent scolaris, would have been allowed to wear fur, which was restricted to the upper ranks of laymen and the upper orders of clerics and academics. More- over the figure portrayed has on the head a hood close-fitting to the face, with liripips or streamers behind, and above it a round cap, also of fur or bound with fur, which are almost certainly the hood and cap (pileuni) of a doctor of laws. Schoolboys went bareheaded, as was still the custom at Winchester 30 years ago in the college precinct, and at Christ's Hospital still. John Stonor's brass gives therefore no indication of the dress of a scholar of Eton. In the absence of any other evidence we may therefore assume that the scholars of Eton were dressed like the scholars of Winchester, in a long gown with a low collar 29 buttoned at the neck, and closed in front and hanging down to the heels, which may be seen in the brass in Head- bourne Worthy, Hants, of 'John Kent once scholar of the New college of Wynchestre and son of Simon Kent of Reading,' who died in 1434. The present gown at Winchester only differs from this in that the sleeve now does not go down to the wrist, but is cut short up at the elbow and puffed, and the gown is now worn open, except by a junior when speaking to a master, but when closed it is still held by only one button at the neck. At Eton the sign of superannuation used to be the cutting of the top button, letting the two sides of the gown fall open apart from each other. But the modern Eton gown is, as at Oxford, a garment not worn always, but only in school and chapel, and then donned over ordinary modern dress. It is strange to find that, in spite of the statutes, the colour of the gowns was in 1446-7 30 blue ; in 1447-8 'mustre devillers,' which is striped blue and yellow ; in 1458 partly plain, partly rayed (stragulatam). In 1567-8 russet was bought in London ' for schollars lyvyrye.' Besides scholars there were from the first at Eton, as at Winchester, commoners in college (commensales in collegia). By an almost casual entry at the end of a statute forbidding strangers to be lodged in college, except (and that for two days at a time only) parents or friends of scholars, Wykeham said : ' We allow however that sons of noble and powerful persons, special friends of the college, may, to the number of ten, be instructed in grammar and educated in the 19 In A. F. Leach, Hist, of Winchester Coll. this was misdescribed, from the drawing given of it in Ann. of Winchester Coll. as a high collar, the line of the chin being mistaken for part of the collar. The illustra- tion in the article by him on ' Schools ' in V.C.H. Hants, ii, 274, shows clearly the collar the same as in the present Winchester gowns. 30 Eton Aud. R. 25 & 26 Hen. VI. This is the second extant roll. 160 SCHOOLS college without burden to the college ; so that it be without prejudice, damage, or scandal to the members of the college.' The same words were used at Eton, but the number was doubled, twenty extranet commensales or tabling strangers being admissible. ' Noble ' of course had not the limited sense now given to it, but included all of gentle birth, squires and country gentlemen — in fact anyone who bore arms. Lastly, over and above all these the school was open as a Free Grammar School to all coming to it from all parts of England. In this respect Eton was unlike Winchester and like the ordinary grammar school. At Winchester no provision was made for outsiders, probably be- cause there was already an existing high school or city grammar school in the town, of imme- morial antiquity, to which outsiders could go, and for trenching on the monopoly of which, by admitting scholars and gentlemen-commoners at all, Wykeham thought it necessary to get a papal bull. In point of fact, however, outsiders were admitted. For a rescript by Bishop Beaufort, Wykeham's successor in the see of Winchester, IO April 1412, states the 'the master is con- tinually instructing and educating in grammar 80 or 100 outsiders in our college, contrary to the pious intention of the founder,' and ' because one master is not enough to teach so large a number,' he forbade the warden ' to admit any outsider beyond the number limited by the statutes to be taught grammar in the college, or allow them to be admitted without your (the warden's) special licence.' This licence must, however, have been freely given. Extant accounts of the provost of St. Elizabeth's College, which stood where the warden's garden now is, show the admission in 1400 of commoners, and the next extant accounts in 1455 and 1460-4 show commoners of whom some are specifically stated to be attending school in ' New College,' as Winchester, like its sister college at Oxford, was then called. Wayneflete no doubt had himself taught these commoners at Winchester. Convinced, therefore, of the advantage of them, he ensured their admission at Eton, not at the mercy of the provost, but by adding to the master's salary and making it his duty to admit them free and giving the boys an absolute right to come. There was, however, at Eton no St. Elizabeth's College and no Sisters' Hospital, one on each side of the college, to board them under care, and no city to receive them into lodgings, but only a village with a few houses. Yet so important was the admission of outsiders deemed, that, by a patent of 20 June 1444, Henry VI forbade the providers of victuals for the king's household to take any property of the college or of the parishioners of Eton for the king's use, or to billet anyone in Eton against the will of the provost, and declared ' that all the inns (hosf>itia)y houses, and mansions in the town and parish of Eton shall be specially reserved for the boys and scholars coming together there for their educa- tion (diidplina) and others coming there for any reason connected with the college, at the discre- tion of the provost or his deputy, so that no one else shall lodge there either himself or anyone else without their leave.' So that the whole town of Eton was placed under the rule of the provost and reserved for the school. Moreover, on 12 March 1444-5 a" lands and tenements in Eton were granted to the college, and to ensure a supply of provisions two fairs, one for three days after the Carnival, the other for four days after the Assumption of the Virgin (15 August), were established. In the same spirit it is said 31 that by patent 24 Henry VI the grammar school of the college was given a monopoly, and no other school was allowed in Eton or within 10 miles of it. The absence of any indication whatever of the time-table or curriculum of the school in all the voluminous statutes might be thought strange were it not that a similar absence of detail is characteristic of school foundations in every age. Indeed, the latest formula of the Board of Edu- cation for school curriculum is merely to say that ' instruction shall be given in such subjects proper to be taught in a Public Secondary School as the governors in consultation with the head master may from time to time think fit.' The Eton curriculum was summed up in the one word ' grammar,' taught in a way to fit the scholars for the university. There is no specific evidence to show what grammar included or how it was taught at Eton for nearly a century after the foundation. But we know** that grammar meant Latin grammar and the Latin classics, with composition both in Latin prose and Latin verse, and conversation carried on in the Latin tongue, both in and out of school. Besides this, the Eton statutes go in one respect into rather more detail than those of Winchester, in that they direct (stat. 14) that ' the master, or, in his absence, the usher, is to make a dispu- tation in grammar, to be publicly held in the nave of the collegiate church or the cloister of the same, or other fit place, on the day of the Translation of St. Thomas the Martyr, by some advanced scholar of the royal college in the presence of all the boys learning grammar and of all others coming there — he to be answered in the accustomed manner by another scholar.' This institution of a Speech Day was no doubt not a new thing in schools. The reference to its being held in the cloister shows that it was modelled at all events on Winchester practice, " B.M. Sloane MSS. 4840, fol. 313. I am bound to say that I have failed to find the patent in question. " e.g. by the regulations for Grammar Schools and Grammar Schoolmasters at Oxford in Oxford Uni- versity Statutes. ibi A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE where in the summer the upper classes at least were held in cloisters, and the summer term was and is still called Cloister Time ; while the dis- putation in grammar prevailed at Westminster election till half way through the igth century. A curious ' Memorandum ' on the Eton Election Roll for I468,33 that ' Kercy,' whose name ap- pears in the body of the roll as Kersey, but with- out the usual details of age and place of birth, ' is not found in the examination papers,' appears to show that the examination was really com- petitive, and that written papers were set in it. The use of the word ' examinations,' not ' elec- tion,' and the plural number seems to negative the idea that the missing papers were merely this boy's application for election. But as to what subjects the examination was in, besides Donatus or the accidence and plain chant, we are left to guess. But there can be little doubt that a very considerable amount of real classics was done. The now well-known letter of William Paston, written 23 February 1479, when an oppidan about nineteen years old, living in a dame's house — he calls her ' my hostess ' — under the tuition of a fellow, Thomas Stevenson, concludes thus : ' And as for my coming from Eton, I lack nothing but versifying, which I trust to have with a little continuance. Quare u quo modo non valet hora valet mora ? Unde di[citur] Arbore jam videas exemplum. Non die possunt Omnia suppleri, sed tamen ilia mora. And these two verses aforesaid be of mine own making.' The false quantity in making the e in ' die ' short is shocking to the modern classical scholar; but it must be remembered that Paston was only an oppidan, and was already spending his time attending weddings and falling in love with a young lady from London, to whom the bulk of the letter is devoted. The verses, however, on the monument of William Westbury, the first head master, who died in 1472, would perhaps be equally startling to the modern master : — Nate Dei patrls," anime miserere Wilhelmi Westburi cujns ossa sub hoc lapide Condita sunt ; natus erat et nutritus in Alford, Wintonie juvenis grammaticam didicit. Oxonie studuit, et in artibus ille magister Etone pueros grammaticam docuit. Inde theologus est hie functus Prepositura, Tolle decem menses, lustra per integra sex. 83 ' Memorandum, quod non inventus in papiris examinacionum Kercy.' 31 ' Why, when the hour does not avail, does delay avail f ' This is the theme set by the master. The words ' on which it is said ' usher in the boy's answer : ' You may see an example in a tree. Every- thing cannot be supplied in a day, but it is by waiting.' " ' Son of God the Father, have mercy on the soul of William Westbury, whose bones are buried under this stone. He was born and bred at Alresford, at The lengthening of the syllables marked was not done in the golden age of Latin elegiacs, though it is probable that in the third line erat had been misread for fait. But hexameters and pentameters were a mere exotic in Latin. The authors on whom Westbury was brought up were probably largely the authors of the bronze age, or of even baser metal, the Christian poets of the 4th and 5th centuries, Sedulius and Juvencus and Prudentius, whom Colet even half a century I later regarded as models of pure Latinity ; and they exercised equal or even greater licence, even making the o of the ablative short, as if it was the modern Italian o. The practice in this respect of some ten centuries was probably nearer the real pronunciation than the narrower rules which prevailed in the single century of the golden age of Roman literature. We may now revert to a regular chrono- logical order of history. The evidence already given points to the school beginning, not in October 1442, when Wayneflete left Winches- ter, but at Midsummer 1443, when he was already provost. Even then it began with a very scanty number, which was increased at the election of 1444 ; but the full complement was not made up, as the Audit Roll of 1444—5 shows, till the election of 1445. That roll records the purchase of 370^ yds. of linen 'for sheets, shirts and other necessaries for scholars and choristers,' out of which thirty pairs of sheets were made ; while fifteen canvases were bought and a cart-load of straw to fill them, and 82 yds. of woollen cloth for blankets (lodicibus), showing that the scholars did not, as has been alleged, lie in straw, but on straw mattresses with all the para- phernalia of modern beds. In that year, too, sixty-three gowns and hoods were made by two tailors, the cloth for which was bought at Winchester from Thomas Filde, draper, as it was every year till 1476, after which it was bought at St. Bartholomew's Fair, London. The record of the weekly commons shows a sudden in- crease from 46 in the third week, and 58 'scholars, choristers, and servants,' the latter meaning the 12 pueri servientes, in the twelfth week, to 84 in the thirteenth week. The cause of this accession of numbers is to be found in the first regular elec- tion of scholars on 26 September I444.36 Then seven scholars from Eton were elected to King's, headed by the ex- Winchester scholar, Richard Roche of Tawnton (Taunton in Somerset), who was only fifteen, while three others were nineteen, one eighteen, and Richard Fauley, the ex-Win- Winchester as a youth he learnt grammar, he studied at Oxford, and as a master in arts taught boys gram- mar at Eton. Then, becoming a theologian (i.e. D.D.), he discharged the office of provost here for 6 whole lustra (30 years), less ten months.' 56 This and the following rolls, the existence of which was previously unknown, were discovered by the writer in searching for the Audit Rolls. 162 SCHOOLS Chester commoner, sixteen years old. Two came from Somerset, two from Dorset, one each from Hanpshire, Berkshire, and Warwickshire. No fewer than 25 were elected to Eton. They were headed by Richard Denman from the county of Durham, who had already attained the extreme age allowed, of seventeen years, while a Yorkshire boy, John Freeman, was six- teen. On the other hand, one from Eton itself and one from London were only ten years old. The rest ranged from twelve to fifteen years of age. It would almost appear that the widest possible range was purposely taken, no county contributing more than two boys, except York- shire, which sent five; but of these one came from York and one from each of the three Ridings other than the West Riding, which sent two. Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, and Hertford- shire each contributed two scholars ; while Lon- don, Cambridgeshire, Devonshire, Gloucester- shire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Middlesex, Northamptonshire, Surrey, Somerset, and West- morland each contributed a single scion. The names of Yarborough (Yarbrow) from Lincoln- shire, Catesby from Northamptonshire, Bower from Yorkshire, Salkeld from Westmorland, and Dorman from Leicestershire, all county families — and no doubt to those having local knowledge many of the other names — show that the words pauperes indigentes by no means meant, as has sometimes been asserted, the ' poor and needy ' in the sense in which it is used nowadays, in the Poor Law sense, but included the younger sons of the upper middle classes, ' those who without help could not keep their sons at the universi- ties.' The next election roll forthcoming is that for 1446, and contains 35 names of those ' nominated to the college royal.' If they were all admitted, this year, when the school was built and the college practically finished, marks the final filling of the college to its full number. The age in this roll is much lower than that of previous elections, the eighteenth on the list being only eight, while the fourth and fifth were ten years old, and none of the first 18 were over fourteen years of age. No fewer than 6 of them were Londoners ; the rest came from Bedford- shire, Berkshire, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Kent, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxford- shire. In the next extant roll, that for 1453, a distinction is drawn between those ' elected and admitted ' (aisumptorum) on 3 August, and those ' elected, nominated, and to be admitted ' (assum- endorum). The former list consisted of 15 names ; the latter contained no fewer than 65, of whom not a tenth could have been actually admitted. The name of Nicholas Wallop of Farleigh, aged eleven, of the ancient Hampshire family now represented by the Earl of Portsmouth, shows what the status of the poor and indigent scholars was. Counties so distant as Cornwall and Derbyshire sent representatives. In 1444-5 tne college had got into working order, with William Westbury as head master and Thomas Chaunterie as first usher, while two clerks, Henry Sulbyand Henry Warde, instructed in singing. The endowment was not yet com- pleted, the total income of £946 8;. $\d. being made up by three gifts 'of the most gracious Founder' of jTi 20, of £i 8 provided by the pro- vost, and another £18 the proceeds of the con- tributions at the Assumption of the Virgin ; but as the staff of confessors, who with their servants occupied thirty beds, and the entertainment of strangers cost £29 19;. 3/f., the bulls for the feast were a losing speculation. This year saw the erection of the school, ' a house and two chambers at the end of the same (the old church), inside the precinct of the college, to teach the gram- mar scholars in,"7 at a cost of £71 16*. 9^., or some £2,150 of our money. With its two class- rooms it was 70 ft. long by 24 ft. broad, or about 5 ft. narrower, but 25 ft. longer, than the magna domus which formed the school at Winchester. The total area was 1,680 square ft. as against 1,350. At 12 square ft. each this gives room for 140 boys, which would leave room for only about 2O oppidans. But with the closer packing of those days, allowing I o square ft. each, some 50 oppidans, making 190 in all, might have been admitted. However tight the packing, it could not in any case have been contemplated that oppidans should be in the majority, as against the 119 members of the college. The college precinct was completed by ' making gates in the paling round ' it, i.e. the outer gate, at a cost of £8 1 8*. -id. Next year the almshouse was built in the outer quadrangle, probably where Uoper School now is ; it was finished in the following year. The Old Hall mentioned in the accounts was also in 1445—6 in course of being superseded by the present hall, the chief mason going to consult the Marquis of Suffolk on its 'making' in November 1445—6. It was in use before Midsummer 1449, though it was not till 1450 that 'storied glass' (vitri bistorialis) was placed in its windows. In its dimensions, 82 ft. by 32 ft., it was distinctly intended to surpass that of Winchester, which was only some 63 ft. by 30 ft., though, oddly enough, it was smaller than that of New College, 87 ft. by 35 ft. In 1446-7 the total number of 'scholars choristers and servitors ' was raised from 86 to 1 06, the total possible being 109, viz. 70 scholars, 1 6 choristers, and 13 servitors. The usher had changed, William Child or Chylde, a 17 Willis and Clark, op. cit. i, 403. ' In divcrsis custi- bus pro factura et nova construccionc cuiusdam domus et duarum camerarum ad finem eiusdem infra pro- cinctura dicti collcgii pro scolaribus gramatice intus informandis.' This Mr. Clark translates ' to teach the scholars grammar in,' but the proper translation is as given in the text. 163 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE Winchester scholar in 1437 an^ fellow of New College, having succeeded Chaunterie at or before Michaelmas 1446. The provost's pay was now increased to ^75 a year by the addition of £25 a year instead of the rectory of Eton. The total income was ,£1,536, but as the roll is imperfect we do not know how much came from endowment or whether any of it came from gifts by the king. It is to be noted that on Maundy Thursday the ' Founder's alms ' cost no less than £12 5*. 8d., some ^370 in our money ; among the items being 7 casks of red herrings and 400 white herrings, a dozen (? casks) of ale, while a penny each was given to no less than 1,000 poor, and 13, probably the almsmen, had 4^. apiece. No less than 5,600 wafers (panibus) were consumed in the church during the year, a number which in 1447—8 in- creased to 8,450. 8o£ ells of Flanders and 43 ells of Brabant, with 38 ells of unnamed linen, were bought for table-cloths, and 28 ells of diaper for napkins for the hall, so that the 15th- century frequenters of halls lived in no less gentlemanly a way than their successors. An interesting item is ' 9 green boughs of " cero " for the adornment of the hall on St. John Baptist's (Midsummer) day ' ; on which day later rolls show that it was customary to set up a great candle in hall painted green and- red, ' turmyn- tyne' and 'vermelon' being bought in 1449 for the feast, and in later years ' verdegris ' and ' ver- milion,' while ' talwode ' was provided for a ' bonefyre ' on the eve of the day, as also on the eves of St. Peter and St. Paul on 29 June and the Translation of St. Thomas the Martyr (Becket) on 7 July. For the boy bishop is. 6d. was ex- pended on making his rochet (in factura unius rochet ordinate pro episcopo Nicolaiensi). That re- paired in 1507—8 at a cost of lid. (pro repara- tlone le rochet pro episcopo puerorum) was a later gift of Canon Denton, an old Etonian. The boy- bishop is called by the Elizabethan master, Malim, episcopus Nibilensis, which Sir Henry Maxwell • Lyte has translated ' a bishop of nothingness ' instead of ' a bishop Nicholas,' i.e. Santa Claus. The boy-bishop ceremonial, which appears to be a Christian adaptation of a custom at the Roman Saturnalia of the slave sitting in the place of the master and the master doing the duty of the servant, was expressly authorized at Eton by statute, with a curious and not easily explicable variation from the similar Winchester statute. Wykeham, after directing the fellows and chaplains to do duty on certain saints' days, said, ' We allow, however, that on the feast of Innocents the boys may say and celebrate vespers, matins, and other divine offices read or chanted after the use and custom of the church of .Sarum.' The age seems to have grown more scrupulous in the interval ; for Henry VI said, •*on which day (St. Nicholas, 6 December), and jnot by any means on the teast of the Holy Innocents, we allow divine service, except the sacred portions of the mass, to be performed and said by a boy-bishop of the scholars, to be elected among them yearly for the purpose.' It is easy to see the objection of the pious king to the mummery of the boy-bishop performing even the most sacred portions of the mass, but it is not easy to see why the performance was transferred to St. Nicholas's Day. Perhaps it was not horror at the indignity offered to the Holy Innocents, but for the greater dignity of his own birthday and patron saint that the change was made. It will be seen that Eton being in the diocese of Lincoln, whose chief saint was the boy Hugh, one of the numerous alleged blood-offerings of the Jews, the election was held on his day, 1 7 November, and the celebration on St. Nicholas's Day. Even in the reign of Elizabeth the day was kept with cakes and wine. It is strange that there is no mention in the accounts of 1446-7 of the great event of the year, the passing of Provost Wayneflete to the throne of Winchester, though they do record a payment to the ex-usher, Mr. Thomas Chauntrie, and another, ' for their labours about the induction of the new Provost.' Cardinal Beaufort, Bishop of Win- chester, died 1 1 April 1447, and Henry VI having written the same day to the conventual chapter of Winchester to elect William Wayneflete as his successor, he was duly elected on 13 April. By 6 May he was with the king at Winchester. In July he was consecrated in Eton Church, when his old college of Winchester gave him a horse at a cost of £6 13*. 4<£, and the warden, sub-warden, and others rode over to Eton to pre- sent it, and gave ' the boys of the College royal of Eton 135. 4 a°d to the 'great west gate by the almshouse' in 1516-17, it is clear that the almshouse stood where Upper School now stands. 71 Pro antijuis ami ; but perhaps it means ' the old arras.' cameras puerorum). In the same year mention is made of ' the chambers of commoners ' (cubiculii commensalium). Provost Lupton, with the wealth of accumulated livings and canonries and lucra- tive legal and civil offices, such as the clerkship of the Hanapcr, which he held in 1509, and the mastership in Chancery, bestowed on him in 1 529, was not content with the four chambers formerly assigned to the provost. Wishing to extend and rebuild the provost's lodging on a magnificent scale, he had first to move the school and the masters' and scholars' chambers. So he rebuilt them anew on the ampler spaces of the outer court, now the schoolyard. That it was considered an improvement at the time is shown by Long Cham- ber, and not the smaller separate chambers of Win- chester, having been adopted as the model at the re-foundation of Westminster by Queen Eliza- beth, though a Winchester man was made the first head master. But in the long run it proved a mistake. The life in Long Chamber became that of a barracks and a bear-garden, with the consequence that college at Eton was never full and the scholarships went begging. Not till after the middle of the 1 9th century was civiliza- tion introduced by annexing the master's cham- bers at the east end and the usher's at the west end, and cutting Long Chamber up into separate cubicles. As soon as the new school and chambers were finished in 1515-16 the 'old buildings' on the west side of the quadrangle were pulled down, and on 2 March 1517 ' the first stone was layd yn the foundacyon off the west parte of the college, whereon ys buylded Mr. Provost's logyn the gate and the lyberary.' The Library is now Election Chamber (Clark), or Election Hall (Maxwell Lyte), and the whole range is now the Provost's lodging, though his front door is to be found in Weston's Yard. The Lupton Chantry was completed by 1515 and its chaplain endowed next year. Lupton's obit was kept from that time onwards, though he was still alive, on 1 1 January,76 but was changed after his death to the day on which he died, 27 February. For presence at it the provost received 2s. 8d.t the master if. 4^., the usher 8d., and the scholars and choristers \d. each. Besides extending the boys' quarters, and, we may suppose, enlarging the school, Lupton seems to be entitled to the credit of another most im- portant innovation, the creation of Playing-fields, probably the first and certainly the best and most extensive enjoyed by any school. Thanks to the latest addition of the magnificent ' Agar's Plough,' this they still remain. It is certain that these Playing-fields have had no little share in making Eton what it is. Before this time it is probable, as will be shown later a propos of " Maxwell Lyte, op. cit. 105, probably through a misprint, says 21 Jan. '73 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE ' montem,' that the boys had no place for play in college, but, like Winchester, marched out two and two to the nearest hill, Salt Hill, to play there. The fellows had always enjoyed a garden, but the boys do not seem to have had any open space. In 1506—7 we come across for the first time a mention of Playing-fields by the college, 4^. being paid 'for clearing the drain in the boys' fields ' (in eampis puerorum) ; while in 1510-11 a shilling was paid 'for a pad- lock and key to the Playing-meadow close ' (pro sera pensili et clave ad clausuram prati lusorii). In 1514-15 they appear in English under the name which they retained for three centuries, ' Playing-leas,' a term which is of course much more correct than the modern Playing-fields. The ' clockeeper ' was paid ' for tiling theforica at the playing-leys.' So in 1523-4 a shilling was paid to John Grome (the groom) for work- ing 'in le plaing lees' in carrying out soil for three days. Frequent references occur after this to the Playing-leas or Playing-leasowe, which became an established institution. Another institution which is perhaps also due to Lupton, at all events it makes its first appear- ance in his time, but is now extinct, though it has been preserved at Westminster, was that of a yearly play at Christmas. Throughout the history of the college some- thing in the nature of theatricals had always taken place in the boy-bishop ceremony ; while mummers and strolling players had often per- formed in hall at Christmas under the name of minstrels (ministrallii), mimes (mimis)y and actors (kistrioniius). Thus in 1482-3 is. 8d. was paid to certain mimes dancing (saltantibus) before the provost and fellows on 2 January, and in 1505 ' the king's players received ' 2s. But in 1519 we find George the tailor receiving 6s. lod. for ornaments for the play (vestifici pro ornamento Jusorio), and in 1526—7 the Informator is paid 14.5. 'for the apparatus of the players at Christmas,' and a regular stock of clothes appears to have been kept by the head master for the purpose, 8s. yd. being paid him ' for repairs of the clothes of the players' in 1 531-2," and next year 5*. zd. ' for the clothes for the use of the players on Christmas day,' which in the paper draft account, which has also been pre- served for this year, appears as ' for clothes for the use of the plays' (pro vestibus ad usum ludicrorum). We shall see that Nicholas Udal took a troupe of boys to London to perform a play before Thomas Cromwell. Even in the Puritan days of Edward VI we find in 1549 ' 8d. for making 2 jerkins for players' ; and in 1551 '6 lyncks for the comedy in the haull ' cost 2*., the comedy or Latin play being no doubt presented by the head master ; while 6s. 8d. was paid 'to Mr. Ussher for an Interlude that was played in " Audit Bk. 2 1 & 22 Hen. VIII. The head master was Richard Cox. the haull.' For in the statutes of Westminster School it was provided that the head master should present a Latin and the usher an English play. In Elizabeth's day the play flourished. Then in 1566-7 we find the entry : ' Spent at the play in candles 10 Ib. 15^., tenter hookes for the playe [no doubt to hang the curtains on] i8d.,' while 'Mr. Scholmasters charges about the playe last Christmas ' were ' 20*.' A hun- dred years later, 1663-4, we find : 'Given to the scholars by consent for acting their comedies last year, j£i.' When these plays ceased to be performed does not appear. In the 1 8th century plays were performed in Long Chamber, and also by oppidans, but were surreptitious and un- authorized, if not illegal. Lupton held the provostry for some thirty years. In 1527 he founded77* the free grammar school of Sedbergh, his native place, connecting it with St. John's College, Cambridge, by six scholarships, for which j£6oo was given to the college, and by vest- ing in the college the appointment of the master, adding in 1537 another ^400 for two fellowships and two more scholarships. The school, re- covered from the clutches of Edward VI through the fiery eloquence of Dr. Thomas Lever, Presi- dent of St. John's, and re-endowed with the fragments of several chantries, attained great fame in the I7th century, and is now again so pros- perous that it is sometimes called the Eton of the North. In 1531 Lupton, as provost, had to carry out an exchange with Henry VIII, by which the college gave the king St. James's Hospital in the Field with 185^ acres belonging to it, 64 acres south and 94 acres north of the high road from Charing Cross to Eye (? Hay) Hill, and 1 2 acres at Knightsbridge. The college reserved the outlying lands of the hospital at Hampstead, the White Bear (Bere) in West Cheap, and a house in Westminster. The grant to the king was made on 24 December 1531. Two days after they received in exchange the manor of ' Bawd- wyns ' at Dartford in Kent, and the rectory of Newington, and lands at Chattisham, Suffolk, which had been possessions of monasteries sup- pressed by Wolsey and given to his college at Ipswich. So that once again Eton was endowed out of dissolved monasteries. The transaction has been misrepresented as a sort of robbery, and a rhyme, ' Henricus octavus took away more than he gave us,' is quoted as if it proved the case. The rhyme, however, is evidently modern, and only one of the usual libels on Henry VIII founded on ignorance and prejudice. The ex- change was no robbery. The immediate result of it was to increase the income of the college by some j£S5 a year, equivalent to at least £1,100 a year to-day, while their only increased expense was for the rent of ^3 6s. 8d. for the provost's house near Westminster. Apparently the college 77a Leach, Early Torks. Schools, ii, 289-335. 174 SCHOOLS no longer used the hospital as a provost's residence ; at least for the previous fifteen years it, or a great part of it, had been let to Mr. Peter Carmeliano at the very large rent of £5 a year, and after- wards to Archdeacon Magnus, who was much employed as ambassador to Scotland. They got nothing from the lands, which went to the maintenance of the sisters of the hospital. A * robbery ' was in a sense committed, in that Henry VIII suppressed the useless leper hospital to turn it into a palace. But Eton was particefn cri- minisy as it now derived rents from the lands of the hospital which had previously gone to support its inmates. The college paid the pension to one of the sisters, Anne or Agnes, but as that was only 131. \d. a year, the burden was not great. At that time no one could anticipate that 200 years afterwards the fields round the leper hospital would become valuable building land, seeing that even when Burlington House was built in the 1 8th century it was purposely built as at an ultima Thule, beyond which no houses could go. Moreover, as both the Dartford and the Hampstead land are now selling at building prices far higher than those which would have been reached by a sale of St. James's Street a century and a half ago, the present benefit is greater also. Lupton resigned the provostry of Eton in 1535, retaining his canonry at Windsor, the rectories of Caistor, Brancepeth, Skipton, Hazle- ton, and the chapel of Ascot. In his latter days he was accused to Cromwell of divers ecclesiastical and moral offences, which he repudiated with scorn in a letter of 29 January 1540: 'I beg your favour. I have lived 83$ years and have been taken for an honest man, and now a sort of light men inform you to the contrary. But I will be reported by all the honest men of Eton and Windsor ' ; and again on 3 February : ' How can any man of my age offend in that thing which is laid to my charge ? I will be judged by any 1 2 honest persons in Windsor and Eton.' On 23 February 1540 he made his will. Besides his obits at Eton and Sedbergh, he now provided for an obit at St. John's College, Cambridge. He gave £16 131. \d, to be bestowed in ij dinners in Eton Hall, one at the day of my burial], and another at my monthes mind. To buy blacke govvnes for 20 poore men that here torches at the day of my buriall, £10. Item to be distributed to Mr. Provost of Eton, the masters [i.e. fellows], scholemaster, preistes, clerkes, children [i.e. scholars], quiristers [choristers], officers of the college and children of the town at my day of buriall and monethes mynde in manner and forme followinge, £19 1 6s. SJ. ; first to the Provost the day of my buryall 1 3/. \d. ; item, to 7 masters and the scole- master lot. a piece, £4; item to the chaplcins and usher 3/. ^J. a piece, 3 j/. 4^. ; item to 3 score and 10 children of the colledge and quiristers, i6 der Litynyi And Vulgart The foorthe forme Terentiut, Octo partea Lilii Latynt (wiet every weke Idem Idem Idem , Vergilii buccolica in the mornyng at the after none render rulyi Vergilii hue olica at after none rendre Litynyi It Vulgara The fyflhe forme Wrytyng of a theme, Silui tiut, Vtnifyeng rulyi drawne owte of dei pan teriui other modui conic The lame lave they make veriei The lame uve they make nothyng Epiitole tullii makyng of epittlei beiide Saluitiui Vergilii Eneia in the mornyng at the after none rendering of rulci lerayd the hole weke Vergilii Eneia repetyng of Latyna & Vulgan Icrnyd that weke ribendi epii toln The ayite (Forme * the Sevenihc forme Horatiui or tnlliua, moaellanyi figure* or Copia renim et Terborum of Eraamui All lyke Monday lave they make ver«ei Like ai afore aave they make nothyog Epiitole Tullii Making of Eplli beiid« Vergilii Eneia in the mornyng At the after none rendryng of rulci lernid the hole Vergilii Eneia repetyng of Latyni A Vulgara lernyd all ye wek« Horatiui weke Every quarter one fortenyght every forme rendryth all thyngi lernyd that quarter 179 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE of Lollardism in the form of Lutheranism, which had already undermined Romanism in England. Despauterius, or Despautier, calls himself Nini- vita, and was master of the school of St. Ginnocus at Bergis or Bergen-op-Zoom ; he published the first edition of his An Ephtollca at Argentora (i.e. Strasburg) in 1512, and a second at Antwerp in 1529. The over-refining classification of the schoolmen still prevails in it, letters being divided into three classes — the descriptive, the political, and the familiar ; while each letter is made to comprise a salutation, a statement, a petition, and a valediction, as if all letters were begging letters. Mosellanus, so called because born on the Moselle, was Peter Schade, a schoolmaster of Leipzig. His Paedologia, Latin dialogues be- tween schoolboys and students on their work, their play, their poverty, and their religion, was written when, though only twenty-five years old, he had already been master of the school for eight years. They are extremely entertaining, and though only published in 1521, three years after Luther's theses, scoff at such ceremonials as that of Candlemas Day and the boy-bishop. On the former Valerius asks Nicholas : ' Why have you not a candle ? ' To which Nicholas an- swers : ' How could I, when I have not enough money to buy food ? If I were at home my mother would have bought me these baubles soon enough ! ' Valerius : ' How dare you laugh at sacred things ? ' Nicholas : ' Why not ? I shall not be a heretic even if I don't carry a candle ... it would be more pleasing to Christ if the money wasted on candles were spent on poor relief.' As to the boy-bishop, ' What's the good of it ' — says one boy ; ' Why none, except that you get an uncommonly good dinner,' replies the other. Mosellanus's Flgurae are terribly detailed excursuses on the figures of speech written in Latin hexameters. The book begins : — ' Arte novata aliqua dicendi forma figura est. Sunt ejus species metaplasmus, schema, tro- pusque ; Schemata dant species tibi lexeos et dianeas.' Mosellanus goes on to express scorn for his pre- decessors who sacrificed metre to sense, but as he only avoided the fault by interlarding his dis- course with Romanized Grecisms, of which, being a novelty, he was excessively proud, the learner might perhaps think that in the new writer he had fallen out of the frying pan into the fire. The use of the words schema, lexeos, and dianeas shows how Greek had already made its way in schools. It may be noted that Mosel- lanus's predecessor, as teacher of Greek at Leipzig, was an Englishman and an Etonian, Richard Crook. The Quos decet in mensa, out of which the boys learnt at the same time manners, morals, and verse, was the work of Sulpicius, a grammar schoolmaster at Rome in the 1 5th century. It got its name from its beginning : — ' Quos decet in mensa mores servare docemus, Virtuti ut studeas litterulisque simul.' Good manners for the table here we tell, To make our scholars gentlemen as well. In elegant elegiacs are set out all the good old nursery rules as to behaviour. Before meals you are to wash your hands and face and clean your teeth. At meals do not rush to your place ; when you cough, spit or blow your nose, turn your head away. Don't put your elbows on the table, don't champ your jaws when eating, don't take large mouthfuls, don't bite your bread but cut it, don't gnaw your bones. Remember that you eat to live and do not live to eat (' Esse decet vivas, vivere non ut edas '). Did Sulpicius invent this famous epigram ? In drinking, only lift the cup with one hand, unless it is of the kind that Theseus or Bel used to hurl at an enemy ; don't look over it while you drink, don't swallow too fast, or drain the pot, or whistle in drinking. Wipe the cup. When you leave the table, bend your knee, join your hands and say ' Prosit' for grace. There are other com- monplaces of the manners that make man. There was nothing new in all this except the setting. It is found in Facetus, a pseudonym of Johannes de Garlandia, a 13th-century writer of a Latin-English vocabulary and a treatise on manners, a copy of which was presented by Wil- liam of Wykeham to Winchester College. He is said to have been an Englishman, and his book was frequently printed in England from 1500 onwards. No doubt it, too, descended from immemorial antiquity. Not the least interesting part of Richard Cox's memorandum is that setting out the disciplinary and domestic arrangements. Herman's Bulgaria showed that the prefect system, the system of self-government of boys by boys was in full operation, the prefects being called prepostors. There were two school prepostors ; four prepos- tors of chapel, two in the choir, two in the body of the church ; prepostors in the playing-fields, to put down fighting, tearing of clothes and giving of blue, or, as we say, black eyes ; prepos- tors to look after dirty boys. Then there were two prepostors in each form to give in a scroll of those absent, and a custos in every form above the third to see that they talked nothing but Latin. There were separate houses, dames or ' hostise's ' houses, to which the boys had to march two and two under a monitor ; and in every house having more than four or five in it, a monitor to stop chiding or wrangling and to enforce talking Latin. Finally there were ' privy monitors,' a sort of delators or spies, a most un- pleasing institution in mediaeval schools, much attacked in Mosellanus's dialogues, to report secretly misbehaviour to the master. It would appear 180 SCHOOLS that the prepostors were not themselves to keep order or punish so much as to report delinquents to the master. That the reports were not with- out results we may gather from the character given of Cox by Walter Haddon, already men- tioned," in the conversation on flogging in schools reported by Roger Ascham, which was the occasion of his Scholemaster. The Secretary of State, Sir William Cecil, having expressed himself against flogging, Mr. Peters*7 had argued that it was both necessary and useful : ' the rod was the sword of justice of the school.' ' Then,' writes Ascham, ' Mr. Haddon was fullie of Mr. Peters' opinion and said " That the best schole master of our time was the greatest beater," and named the person. " Though," quoth I, " it was his good fortune to send from his schole unto the university one of the best scholers in- deede of our time, yet wise men do thincke that that came so to pass, rather by the great toward- nesse of the scholer than by the great beating of the master ; and whether this be true or no, you yourselfe arc best witness." ' This ' best schole- master ' and ' greatest beater ' is commonly said to be Udal. But it is quite clear that Ascham was referring to Haddon himself, who was solely Cox's pupil. If Haddon had meant Udal, who •was then dead, Ascham would not have hesitated to give his name ; but Cox was still alive and a bishop, and therefore for obvious reasons the name was suppressed. The mistaken reference to Udal was originally made by James Bennett, * master of the Boarding-School at Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire,' in his edition of Ascham's Works in 1 761,** and has been blindly repeated ever since. Udal, as will be seen, was no sparer of the rod. But Cox must have the credit, or otherwise, of being reputed by an old pupil the best schoolmaster and greatest beater of his age. It is a grievous pity that Cox did not, as his Elizabethan successor Malim did, give a time- table of the year as well as the week, an account of the feasts and holidays as well as the work. In Malim's time many of the feasts, and the customs connected with them, which in Cox's time before the Reformation were still fresh, are recorded as obsolete or obsolescent. The net result was that hard as the whole-school-days •were, each a ten-hours' day, there were only five or indeed four of them a week ; and there were so many feasts that hardly a week could have passed without at least one whole or half holiday. For every greater feast day was a whole holiday, and on every eve of the ' greater doubles,' feast * Haddon, scholar of Eton, fellow of King's, after being master of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and presi- dent of Magdalen College, Oxford, was now a master of the Court of Requests and Dean of Arches. " Peters or Pctre was a Secretary of State under Edward and Elizabeth. " Thi Eng/. H'orki of Rogtr Aicham (Lond. R. and J. Dodsley, 1761), 141 n. days on which double rations were enjoyed, there was a partial holiday, no work being done after dinner at 1 1 a.m. Most of the greater doubles were the same everywhere, but certain of them varied with the diocese, the local saints enjoying special days. The greater doubles at Eton were I Janu- ary, the Circumcision ; 6 January, the Epiphany ; 2 February, the Purification of the Virgin ; 25 March, the Annunciation ; then came Easter, Whitsuntide, Corpus Christ! Day, i.e. Thursday after Whitsuntide ; 24 June, Birth of St. John Baptist; 29 June, St. Peter and St. Paul; I August, St. Peter ad Vincula ; 1 5 August, the Assumption of the Virgin ; 8 September, the Nativity of the Virgin ; I November, All Saints' Day ; 30 No- vember, St. Andrew's Day ; Christmas Day, and the four following days, the last being the day of St. Thomas the Martyr. In Lincoln diocese there was also St. Hugh's Day, 17 November; and at schools St. Nicholas's Day, the boy-bishop's day. Again, Ash Wednesday was given up, not to lessons, but to confession to the fellows or con- ducts, each boy choosing his own confessor. On the obit of William Wayneflete, 13 January, every boy received id. ; on 7 February, the obit of Provost Bost, there was a half holiday ; on 27 February, the obit of Roger Lupton, every boy received id. and there was a holiday from dinner- time (n a.m.) ; and on 26 May, the obit of Henry VI, every boy had zd. In Malim's time apparently only one memorial day of Henry VI was observed, but previously, as at Winchester for Wykeham, an obit was kept each quarter. At Easter the school did not break up, though, to judge from Winchester, there were extensive exeats for those who could go home. For all there was a ten-days' holiday (cessatum a put/ids itudiis) from Wednesday in ' Holy Week,' which, in Malim's account, means the week in which Good Friday falls, to the Monday after Easter, except that on ' work days ' they had writing lessons beginning on Wednesday. Maundy Thursday was a holiday. Those who commu- nicated sat at table by themselves, had a better dinner, and leave out afterwards to wander over the fields, only they were not to go into taverns or beer shops. On Good Friday, in Malim's day, there was a writing lesson before 9 a.m. and a sermon from the head master at I p.m. But these were post-Reformation observances. On Saturday before Easter Malim records that ' while the custom flourished ' of the Easter Sepulchre, three or four of the eldest boys chosen by the master at the request of the sacrist watched round the sepulchre with wax lights and torches, ' lest the Jews should steal the Lord,' or, as he adds with a sceptical Protestant touch, ' more probably to prevent any damage from negligence in looking after the lights.' On May Day, St. Philip and St. James, those who wished got up at 4 a.m. to gather boughs of may ; but with a curiously grandmotherly care, which shows a 181 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE very different spirit from that commonly imputed to ourscholastic ancestors, the licence was coupled with the proviso ' that they do not wet their feet.' The windows of Long Chamber were then hung with may and herbs. In writing verses at this time they might write English ones on 'the flowery sweetness of Spring time,' as long as they included something adapted from Virgil, Ovid, or Horace. ' St. John Lateran before the Latin gate,' 6 May, * brings many advantages, for from now after dinner they had a siesta in school, until the prepostor of hall and the ostiarius " call out " Get up " (Surgite) at 3 p.m., when they have beavers or bever,' an interval for drinking beer, the equivalent of the modern afternoon tea. Malim recalls the line : ' Porta Latina pilam, pulvinar, pocula prestat,' i.e. ' St. John Lateran's day brings the cricket ball, the couch, the drink.' Ascension Day began the summer holidays, which lasted till the day before Corpus Christi Day, the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, anyone not present at evening chapel on that day being flogged. On St. John the Baptist's birthday, i.e. Midsummer Day, Malim records as extinct the custom, which flourished no doubt under Cox, for all the scholars to go after evening prayers to a bonfire, made in the open space at the east end of chapel, and then, after the choir had sung their anthems, to a bever. On the eve of that day the boys adorned their chambers with pic- tures and verses on the ' life and gests of the Forerunner,' which they wrote out with illumi- nations and stuck at the foot of their beds. As it was nearly nine before they went to bed, they were allowed to lie in bed till six on the feast itself instead of getting up at five. The same custom was observed on 29 June, St. Peter and St. Paul. Thecustom of the Eton and Winchester match being always held on one of those two feast days is perhaps ultimately due to this cus- tom. On 7 July, the Translation of St. Thomas (Becket), there was also a bonfire, but no verses. The Feast of Relics in July was another whole play day. Election time began then, and there was a holiday if the provost or one of the posers sent his hood into hall. On 29 August the after-dinner siesta, and merenda or bevers, ceased. The Nativity of the Virgin, 8 September, was a great feast, on which day Long Chamber was swept. On a day in September, fixed by the master, on petition from the boys in Latin verses on the joys of harvest and the pains of the hard winter coming, the school went a-nutting, and presents of the spoil were given to the master and fellows. On All Souls Day (2 November) they still in Malim's time said prayers in memory of benefactors, and made vulguses (vulgaria) on 99 ' Censor Aulae et Anagnostes.' I give the Win- chester translation of ' Anagnostes.' The ' ostiarius ' was the prefect ' in course ' for the day, who sat near the door to supervise the going in and out of school. Maxwell Lyte leaves the word unexplained. immortality — substitutes for the prolonged ser- vices and requiems of pre-Reformation days. ' On St. Hugh the bishop's day,' says Malim, ' there used at Eton to be an election of a bishop Nicholas (episcopi Nihilensis}™ but the custom has fallen into abeyance. Formerly the boy-bishop was thought a noble person, and at his election a learned and laudable exercise was celebrated at Eton to give strength and agility to their wits.' At Eton, as at Winchester, the boy-bishop was directed by the statutes to perform divine service on St. Nicholas's Day, 6 December, and not on the usual day, that of the Holy Innocents. This was probably to avoid clashing with the estab- lished boy-bishop celebrations of the choristers of the cathedral and of St. George's respectively. At Eton, there being a chantry of St. Nicholas already existing before the college was founded, it is possible that the day was already in vogue for the boy-bishop. It is noteworthy how Eton, like other schools, as e.g. the Great Grammar School at Lincoln, had turned an idle mummery into a literary exercise, with verses in honour of the boy-bishops, St. Hugh and St. Nicholas, and also a sermon, much after the style of the Terrae filius address at Oxford, for him to preach. Originally mixed up with the boy- bishop was the custom that on St. Andrew's Day (30 November) the schoolmaster used to choose the best and most appropriate stage plays, i.e. plays of Terence or Plautus, ' which the boys perform sometimes in public during the Christmas holidays, not without the elegance of the games (sc. of Rome), before a popular audience.' ' Sometimes,' Malim adds, ' the master exhibits a story written in English (Anglice itrmone contex- tas fabulas) with wit and humour.' Apparently in Malim's day the practice was already being attacked by Puritans, as he thought it necessary to put in the defence that ' The actor's art is one of no moment, but it cultivates, as nothing else can, the action and appropriate gestures and movements of the body necessary to orators.'' So that already at Eton the object of the school had been developed from that of producing priests and parsons into that of educating prospective preachers, lawyers, and statesmen. As we saw, plays were performed at Eton by or under Cox. In 1533 he wrote101 a copy of Latin verses for the coronation of Anne Boleyn.. They do credit to his Latinity, but not to his poetical faculty, being a string of dreary plati- tudes and fulsome compliments on her beauty, modesty, ability, and the like. In spite of his successful career after leaving Eton, ending as it did in a bishopric, Cox is now forgotten, while his successor, less successful in the world, Nicholas Udal, has become a name of fame in all the classrooms, as ' the father of English comedy,* 182 100 See supra, p. 164. I01Harl. MS. 6148, fol. 117. SCHOOLS in his play Roister Dottier, which has been claimed as an Eton product. Unfortunately nearly every date connected with Udal's career has been wrongly given, and many wrong in- ferences have been consequently drawn. His name itself is a notable example of the vagaries of phonetic spelling. It was really Uvedale, Latinized by himself into Udallus, and then adopted by him in English as Udal. But being apparently pronounced Oovedale or Oodal it occurs as Woodal, Wodall, and in all the other possible variants of that form. He was one of the Uvedales of Hampshire, the family which became, by marriage with the heiress of the Scures in the latter part of the I4th century, Lords of Wickham. He was admitted scholar of Winchester in I5I7,10* and of Corpus Christ!, Oxford, in June I52O,101 under the name of Owdall. Anthony Wood asserted, and all other writers have followed him, that he went to Corpus at the age of fourteen. As a matter of fact, he was at least sixteen and a half at the time. The boy undergraduate is a somewhat mythical being. He was paid, as Wodall, as a lecturer at Corpus in 1526-8. With the famous antiquary, Leland, he produced ' dites and interludes ' 103* to be per- formed in London on the occasion of Anne Boleyn's coronation, 31 May 1533. Leland's contributions are all in Latin ; Udal's, which form the chief part, arc mostly in English, the speeches being each spoken by a 'child,' 'at Cornhill beside Leadenhall,' ' at the Conducte in Cornhill,' and ' at the little Conducte in Cheepe.' Both the Latin and the English compositions are very much superior to Cox's effusion on the same occasion. It is very probably owing to the success of these verses that at Midsummer 1534 he became head master of Eton. In February 1533—4. he published Floures for Latine Spekynge, selected and gathered out of Terence and the same translated into Englysshe. Its colophon is Londoni in aedibui Bertheleti mdxxxiii, but the dedication * to my most sweet flock of pupils ' is dated IM 28 February 1533-4, 'from the monastery of the monks of the order of Augustine.' This is an ambiguous description ; there were no monks of that order, and whether Austin friars or Augustinian canons were meant is open to doubt. The book was published with laudatory Latin verses by John Leland, the antiquary, who was then resident in London, and by Edmund '" Kirby, Winch. Scholars, is misleading. The original entry runs, 'Nicholaui Owdall de Sowthampton in parochia Sancte Crucis, xij annorum in fcsto Nativitatis Domini preterito,' i.e. Christmas 1516. His name luggests that he was born on 6 Dec., Bishop Nicholas's Day. fa Fowler, Hist. C.C.C. (Oxf. Hist. Soc.). '"• B.M. 1 8 A, Ixiv. IM ' Nicholas Udal suavissimo discipulorum gregi ... ex coenobio monachorum ordinis Augustini pridie Kalendas Martias, post Natale Domini, 1534.' Jonson. Now the latter was a Winchester and Oxford contemporary of Udal's, a scholar of Winchester 1514 and of New College 1520. From 1528, and perhaps a year earlier, he was Hoitiarius at Eton, a post which he left to be- come master of the school of St. Anthony's Hospital, then the most famous and flourishing school in London. Established, as we saw, at the same time and by the same Wykehamists who established Eton, the master's salary was £16 a year, with the same ' diet' or commons, livery, and other advantages as had been originally assigned to the master of Eton, before the reduction consequent on partial disendow- ment. So that St. Anthony's was probably the best scholastic appointment in the kingdom. Now St. Anthony's Hospital and School were in Threadncedle Street, close to Austin Friars. So it is highly probable that Udal was usher in St. Anthony's School under Jonson, who was two or three years his senior, and was living next door to the school in Austin Friars. At all events it is quite clear that the flock of pupils to whom the book was dedicated were not Eton scholars, as Udal was not then master of Eton. The sugges- tion in the Dictionary of National Biography that the book was dedicated to Eton boys in advance is unlikely, as in those days they seem never to have got their masters till the place was vacant or on the verge of vacancy. The audit book for 25 & 26 Henry VIII, i.e. Michaelmas 1533 to Michaelmas 1534, contains the earliest record of Mr. Nicholas Woddal, as he is called, being paid as Informator for the last quarter of that year, viz. from Midsummer to Michaelmas 1534. In later years he is called Informator puerorum (' of the children') or ludi grammaticalis or schole grammaticalis (' of the grammar school *). It is not until 1537-8 that he appears as Udal. Besides his salary of j£io and £i for livery, Udal enjoyed the petty receipts (minutis) of 8;. 4. (Caraden Soc. 84), ii, 31, 33. '" Cf. Diet. Nat. Blag. minster, on the dissolution of the abbey in 1 540 ; the only previous school in connexion with the abbey being an almonry or charity school in the subalmonry of the monastery for some 24 boys, which began with some two or three about 1356. It has been supposed that Udal was the last master of the Cathedral Grammar School, which he is alleged to have resigned and the school to have been suppressed on the re-erection of the abbey 7 September, and the return of monks to it 21 November 1556. It is, how- ever, now certain us* that Udal was not master in 1554, and that he did not resign but died in office, and that the school was not suppressed in 1556. In the will of Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester and Lord Chancellor, dated 8 November I555,u* there is a bequest of 40 marks (£28 13*. 4^.) 'to Nicholas Udale, my scolemaister ; ' which is sufficient proof that Udal was not then at Westminster. In what sense he was Gardiner's schoolmaster it is diffi- cult to guess. He was not head master or usher of Winchester College. The Winchester Al- monry School, which corresponded to that of Westminster, came to an end with the dissolu- tion of the monastery. The old High School, or City Grammar School, which, under the im- mediate control of the bishop, existed ages before Winchester College, last appeared as a going concern in the appointment of a master, who bore the same name as the present dean, in i488,11Sa and the schoolhouse was let in 1529-30 at 5/. a year. It is just possible that Gardiner revived it and appointed Udal master. However that may be, the Act Book of the Westminster Chapter established by Henry VIII, among admis- sions of petty or minor canons, scholars and almsmen, contains the following entry : — ' Scole- master. Mr. Udale was admitted to be scole- master 1 6 December anno 1555.' The entry is crossed out by a line drawn through it, prob- ably as being considered out of place. The last chapter order is dated 6 March 1555—6, but leases were granted as late as 24 September 1556. The parish register of St. Margaret's, Westmin- ster, contains under ' Burials in December anno Domini 1556,' ' 1 1 die Katerine Woddall.' ' 23 die Nicholas Yevedale." Whether Katherine was Udal's wife, or some relation or not, it is certain that Nicholas Yevedale is Nicholas Uve- dale or Udal. For in the one and only extant account of the cellarer of the revived monas- tery for the year ending Michaelmas 4 and 5 Philip and Mary, i.e. 1556, under 'fees and lu* Mr. G. Russell Barker, who has for »ome year* been accumulating materials for the history of West- minster School, first mentioned this. I am indebted to the dean, the Very Rev. J. Armttagc Robinson, for references and recourse to the abbey muniments which prove it. 111 P.C.C. 3 Noode*. Proved 25 Jan. 1557. '"• y.C.H. Hanti, ii, 256. 185 24 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE wages' is a payment of ' cash to Thomas Notte, usher (hippodidasculo) of the boys, £6 I Of., and to the scholars called grammar children (Sco/as- ticis vocatis le Grammer ckilderri}, of £63 6s. 8d., showing that the school was still going on, but that Udal's place as head master had not been filled up. These payments are for half a year. But next year there were a master and usher and the full tale of scholars. An account of John Moulton, the receiver- general of the abbey, of payments to be made for the last year of Philip and Mary, i.e. I557-8,114 shows under the heading of 'fees and wages granted to certain persons by letters patent of the monastery for life,' to John Passey, schoolmaster (pedagogi) of Westminster yearly, £20, and Richard Spencer,114 usher (subpeda- gogi) yearly, ^15, while the 'master of the choristers' received jCiO. Under 'wages and salaries without letters patent continued accord- ing to the form of the foundation and erection established by Henry VIII,' is the payment of '40 grammar boys, £133 (>s. 8d., and 10 chor- ister boys singing in the choir, ,£33 6s. 8dS i.e. £3 6s. 8d. for each scholar and chorister. This appears to be conclusive proof that Udal had a successor, and that the school went on and was only re-enacted, not re-established, by Queen Elizabeth's charter refounding the collegiate church on 21 May 1560. No doubt there were under Udal and under his predecessors town boys as well as the 40 scholars. Udal's successor as head master of Eton was ' Tyndall,' according to Maxwell Lyte's list. He was no doubt Henry Tyndall, M.A. Oxford 1516-17, and B.D. 5 June 1526. A fellow of Merton, his stay of only a year may perhaps be accounted for by his desire to return to Merton, of which he was elected warden in 1544. Smyth, who followed in 1541, was probably Nicholas Smyth, a Buckinghamshire boy from Fenny Stratford, scholar of Winchester 1536, of New College 1541, B.A. 1545. He held office with first Alphyn or Alphild as usher, and then John Fuller, who, like himself, was of Winches- ter (1537) and New College (1540). Smyth re- turned to New College in 1545. He became a fellow of Eton in 1554, and died rector of Petworth. At Lady Day 1545 another Wyke- hamist succeeded, Robert Cater, a Berkshire boy from Newbury, scholar of Winchester 1526, of New College 1 5 3 1 , M. A. 1 1 June 1 5 3 9. He was the last representative of the mother college in the capacity of head master of Eton. He died in office i January 1 546-7, and was buried in Eton Chapel with an inscription which, in view of the false quantity in the second line and the bad 114 Westm. Abbey Mun. 33194. II4a He was probably Richard Spenser, scholar of Winchester, 1543, and of New College, 1549, fellow 1551-3 ; Kirby, Winchester Scholars. scansion of the third,116 we may hope was either not written by him, or was miscopied by the person who recorded it. William Barker, who filled the gap, was a demy and then fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. He was master when Eton was again threatened with destruc- tion, being included with Winchester and all the other colleges and collegiate churches, not except- ing the cathedrals, in the Act for the Dissolution of Colleges and Chantries of 1545, which pro- vided for the dissolution at the king's pleasure of any of them to provide for the costs of the wars with France and Scotland. The report for Eton by the commissioners under the Act 118" is as follows : — ETON COLLEGE Founded by Kynge Henry the sixte. Robert Aldridge, Bisshop of Carlill, is proves: there. The seid college is a parishe churche. The seid college is of the yerely value of £1066 i6s. <)%J., wherof Paide for collectours fees and rentes resolutes, and suche other as doth appere in the Ministers accomptes, £62 I3/. l% retired to practise physic, receiving as a retiring gratuity in 1594 £40 in lieu of a lease of Eton property asked for by the queen on his behalf. He became a court physician and died in 1617. Richard Langley (King's 1580) succeeded in 1594. Provost Day was made Bishop of Winchester in 1595, but died within a year. His successor at Eton, Sir Henry Savile, who had held the wardenship of Merton since 1584, and continued to hold it, was elected on 26 May in pursuance of royal letters of 18 May 1596, for which he offered Sir Robert Cecil 300 angels. He was an ex-tutor of Queen Elizabeth in Greek and mathematics, and ' an extraordinary handsome and beautiful man — no lady had a finer com- plexion.' He was a scholar of European reputation. At Eton he converted the Fellows' Library from a hay-loft and set up a printing press in what was during the iQth century the head master's house, to print a great edition of Chrysostom. He is said to have been a stern disciplinarian and to have discouraged youthful brilliance ; ' Give me the plodding students. If I would look for wits, I would go to Newgate — there be wits.' The reputation he and Langley enjoyed caused the school to grow. In 1613 there were 193 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE loo candidates for election to college, and in 1615 the commensals' tables in hall had to be enlarged. Con O'Neil, son of the Earl of Tyrone, held a hostage for his father, was sent there by the Government in 1616. It cost him £90 a year, but he had two or three servants. Young Lord Wriothesley and a page paid about I if. a week or some £60 a year. Ordinary commensals paid 31. 6d. and 5*. 8d. a week, according as they commoned as scholars or as fellow commoners. Barlow, the Bishop of Lincoln, as diocesan, attacked Langley, ' who, having 2 rich benefices (as I am informed) farr distant from his schole, and beeing a Doctor of Divinity, continueth the teaching of children, and neglecteth his principall charges, which are the souls of his people.' Savile defended him, where- upon Barlow replied that he thought no one could sink so low ' as from an interpreter of the Holy Ghost to become an expositor of profane facts.' At length in 1611 he was forced to resign. Langley died a canon of Windsor in 1615. Savile promoted the usher, Richard Wright, fellow of Merton, to the vacant post. Barlow attacked him for being a priest, describ- ing it as ' a gross abusing of our sacred function that a Priest should either bee or bee entituled an kostiarius.' The real gravamen seems to have been that he was not an Etonian. Savile yielded, got Wright elected a fellow, and put in two Kingsmen, Matthew Bust as master and William Otes as usher. On Savile's death in 1622 an impecunious Scotsman, ' neither English, graduate or priest,' Thomas Murray, became provost, but died next year. A crowd of candidates then came for- ward, including the great Bacon, then Lord St. Albans. The place remained vacant until the all-powerful favourite, the Duke of Bucking- ham, returned from Spain, when it was given to Sir Henry Wotton, who had just been recalled from being ambassador at Venice. In that post he had never got over his famous mot that an ambassador was 'an honest man sent to lie abroad for the good of his country ' ; which, reported in Latin, in which the pun disappeared, was misrepresented as a piece of Jesuitry. He was the last Wykehamist, being a commoner of Winchester and New College, to preside over the destinies of the daughter college. Wotton, though a layman and statutably ineligible, was given the place as a convenient way of paying arrears due to him as ambassador. He gave to Eton the great picture of contemporary Venice which hangs in Election Hall. He is also said 13° to have set up the row of wooden pillars in Lower School, 'on which he caused to be choicely drawn the pictures of divers of the most famous Greek and Latin historians, poets and orators, persuading them not to neglect rhetorick. . . None despised eloquence but such dull souls as were not capable of it.' The pillars, however, could only have been recased at most, for men- tion is made of them in 1514-15, when Will Edmunds was paid £i 'according to agreement for the pillars (postibus) in school.' There had no doubt been 'posts,' as the existing posts in chambers and the old school at Winchester are still called, in the old school at Eton. It would almost seem that the provost of this time took part in teach- ing, for Izaak Walton continues : ' He would often make choice of some observations out of these historians and poets ; and would never leave the schole without dropping some choyce Greek or Latin apopthegme or sentence, such as were worthy of a room in the memory of a growing scholar.' The school flourished under Provost Wotton, Matthew Bust, and his successor as master, John Harrison. It was ' very much thronged with young nobility.' Robert Boyle, ' the father of chemistry and uncle of the Earl of Cork,' was sent there with his brother in 1635 at the age of eight, and placed specially under the protec- tion of Wotton, because Wotton was ' not only a fine gentleman, but very well skilled in the art of making other so.' Harrison, the master, ' would often dispense with him from school to instruct him privately and familiarly in his chamber.' It was well to be a magnate in those days. Among Boyle's contemporaries were the sons of the Earls of Peterborough, Northampton, and Westmorland. The scholars were largely nominees of the court, sometimes nominated by the Secretary of State, sometimes by the king himself. Thus, 25 July i624,m the king him- self wrote to the provost recommending ' Robert Newman as a scholar of Eton, an exception having been taken to a former recommendation as not being under his own hand,' the former one being by Secretary Conway on 8 July 1623. Newman was duly elected and went on to King's in 1628. A curious mixture of classes was nominated : in 1624 the sons of 'one of the pastry ' and of the king's shoemaker ; in 1628 Sir Robert Hatton's son was admitted on pressure, and Wotton wrote to John Dineby, ambassador at the Hague, about his son ; in 1629 a place was begged for the son of an exiled baron of Austria, and Sir George Kevet's (? Knyvett's) son headed the list. The election of that year Wotton describes as ' the most troublesome election that has ever been since that nurse first gave milk, over charged with King's letters 4 recommendatory and one man- datory, besides messengers and intercessions from divers great personages . . . enough to make us think ourselves shortly electors of the empire.' Next year he writes to a ' noble nephew ' that ' his list of names cannot be served,' and recom- 130 Izaak Walton, Lives (ed. 1864), 117. 131 Etoniana, May 1907, from Cat. S.P. Dom. 194 SCHOOLS mends dividing them between Eton and West- minster, where the election was three weeks earlier, adding ' that school mouldeth good scholars and of certainer preferment to either of the Universities (for some go to Oxford and some to Cambridge) than this, out of which the issue is always hard and the entrance not always easy.' In 1638 Wotton tells of four Privy Councillors, ' three of them of the highest,' already promised, and says ' the world is nimble in the anticipating of voices.' Wotton died in 1639 and was buried in chapel with an inscrip- tion which shows that he was somewhat inor- dinately vain of his mots : ' Here lies the first author of this saying — " The itch of disputation is the plague of the church."' His portrait is in the provost's lodge. The mastership had passed in 1636 from John Harrison to William Norn's, usher from 1623. His incoming is described by Robert Boyle as ' the change of his old courteous school- master for a new rigid fellow,' which drove him from Terence and grammar to history. Norris was probably Puritanically inclined. When the new provost, Richard Steward, an ex-fellow of All Souls, Oxford, clerk of the king's closet, and Dean of Chichester, went off at the beginning of the Civil War to join the king, taking with him the college seal and, it is believed, all the old plate, Norris stuck to his post and remained mister till 1646. No statutable election to King's could take place in the absence of the provost ; but, in spite of a royal mandate on 6 July 1643, elections did take place both in 1643 and 1644. Steward was displaced and 'Francis Rous of Brixham, Devon, esquire,' made pro- vost by ordinance of Parliament 10 February 1643—4. So far from being 'an illiterate old Jew,' as Anthony Wood calls him, because he was a Parliamentarian, he was of a good old family, and a learned man. Son of Sir Anthony Rous of Hutton St. Dominick, Cornwall, he was a commoner of Broadgates Hall (now Pem- broke College), Oxford, in 1593, B.A. 1596, and afterwards spent some time at the University of Leydcn. He entered at the Middle Temple in 1601, and was M.P. for Truro in 1626, for Tregoney 1628, and for Truro in the Long Parliament. He sat for Devon in the Parlia- ment of 1653. He. wrote the metrical version of the psalms used in the Kirk of Scotland, and other learned and theological works. In August the Committee for PlundereJ Ministers and Schoolmasters were ordered to fill up the places of the fellows who had deserted. For the often repeated allegation 1M that ' the destruction of Eton was imminent,' there is not the smallest foundation in fact. On the contrary, so careful was Parliament about the schools, that when an order was made for the sequestration la: "* Maxwell Lyte, op. cit. (ed. 1 899), 248. '» Ibid. of the lands of deans and chapters as ' notorious delinquents who had taken up arms against the Parliament,' lest the incomes of cathedral gram- mar schools, including Westminster, might be jeopardized, and Winchester and Eton might be thought included, it was on 20 October ordered ex abundantl cautela that it be ' referred to a committee ... to consider of the college of Westminster, the colleges of Eaton, of Christ- church in Oxford and Winchester, to provide . . . that none of the revenues assigned for the scholars and almsmen be stopped, or the payment thereof intercepted, notwithstanding the ordi- nance.' On 4 November another reference to the same committee to consider how to seques- trate chapter estates was accompanied by directions ' to provide that the allowances assigned for scholars, almsmen, and other charitable uses might not be intercepted or diverted.' In point of fact, the cathedral grammar schools, Canter- bury, Gloucester, Durham, and the rest, were so far from suffering from the Commonwealth, that nearly all of them which had been kept at the fixed payments originally prescribed by Henry VIII were for the first time augmented when the canons, ' the drones, were driven from the hive.' As Eton College was clearly not within the ordinance, it never was in any more danger than Winchester, which flourished under a Puritan or at least judicious warden and head master. Nowhere did any school suffer. Even notorious Royalists were left alone, as Busby at Westminster, if they did not openly oppose Parliament. As a matter of fact even deans' and chapters' revenues were not touched until 1644. At Eton the chapel services were of course made to conform with the dominant views. On 17 February 1642-3 Cambridge University petitioned Parliament against the statute ' which imposeth the wearing of surplices upon graduates and students . . . reinforced by the canons of 1603," as 'against law and the liberty of the subject,' and it was declared not to be binding ; and on 20 February 'the colleges of Westminster Eaton and Win- chester were added and comprehended within the order . . . concerning the imposing upon young scholars the wearing of surplices.' It has been guessed that all the commensals and oppidans disappeared because of the Civil War. Thanks, probably, to the fanatical furore of the Restoration, the audit books from 1642 to 1646 inclusive have disappeared. But later there is positive evidence that there were oppidans. Mr. Wasey Sterry m has printed a letter from Peter Sterry, presumably an ancestor, one of Cromwell's chaplains, to his two sons who were oppidans. ' Son Peter ' had got into trouble and was advised to ' keep the colledge and not goe into towne. Be with no company, especially in private places. Never be in com- Annals, 132. '95 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE pany of any woman kinde. Be very free to your master. Speak often with him, acquaint him with all your temptations, and dangers, and troubles. . . . Go to your master for whatever you want, pens, incke, or paper or anything ... he will supply you. . . If you finde the temptations of the place too strong for you, I am resolved to remove you before the Devil have prevailed to farre over you.' The boy must have been a boarder with one of the fellows. Again, Andrew Marvell, the poet and M.P. for Hull, lived at Eton in the house of one of the fellows, John Oxenbridge, in charge of Dutton, a ward of Cromwell's. So that though the war no doubt diminished the numbers of oppidans, as it did the revenues of everybody, it is clear that if there was a slackening, there was no cessation, in the flow of boys to the school. The election of 1645 was held in the ordinary way. The roll to King's was headed by Christopher Wase, who, after being head master of Tonbridge School, migrated to Oxford, where he became Esquire Bedell of Law, and got together materials for a history of schools, which unfortunately still remain in MS.135 At Eton as at other schools, notably Westminster, a remarkable result of the biblical furore of the time was the stimulus given to Hebrew. John Janeway is recorded as passing an examination in the language at the election.136 Provost Rous issued on 7 August 1646 some 'Rules for the Schollers.' They dealt chiefly with religion, substituting for the old prayers a psalm and prayers at getting up at 5 a.m. and going to bed at 8 p.m., and providing for notes of sermons and catechizing on 'the Lord's Day.' The provost provided a preacher at £50 a year out of his own pocket. On 13 February 1648-9 an Act of Parliament abolished deans and chap- ters, and ordained a sale of their temporalities. The spiritualities, tithes and livings, were reserved for the Trustees for the Maintenance of Minis- ters to make provision for preaching ministers and schoolmasters. On 29 May it was thought desirable, owing, no doubt, to the reservation in the former Act, to pass ' an Act declaring that the Act for abolishing of Deans and Chapters doth not extend to the colleges of Winchester and Eton.' But as the Act had contained an express direction that all revenues, even of the abolished chapters, which 'before 1st December 1641 had been or ought to have been paid to the maintenance of any Grammar School or Scholars, should continue to be paid,' any fears for Eton, which was not under a chapter, must have been groundless,137 and the Act was due to excessive caution, owing to the fancied resem- blance of Eton to Westminster. On the same 135 At C.C.C. Oxf. 186 Maxwell Lyte, op. cit. 246. 137 Yet Mr.Wasey Sterry, Annals of Eton Coll. (1898), says ' the college nearly lost all its property.' day the committee for regulating the universities was ordered to nominate visitors ' for regulating Winchester and Eaton.' On 12 October 1649 various officials were by Ordinance of the House required to sign ' the engagement ' 'to be true and faithful to the commonwealth of England as the same is now established without a king or a house of Lords,' and among them are the ' mas- ters, fellows, and schoolmasters138 in Eton, Win- chester, and Westminster Colleges.' Only one fellow of Eton refused the test and was deprived — John Hales, called ' the ever memorable ' by ' the wits,' because he was a great conversationalist and anecdotist. At first he had held latitu- dinarian views, which he suppressed to become chaplain to Laud and Canon of Windsor. After his deprivation he went on living at Eton, where he died in 1656. He is recorded as 'loving canary.' Nicholas Gray, the head master who had suc- ceeded Norris in 1646, is alleged139 to have been deprived for the same reason. But this statement appears to be refuted by facts cited by those who made it. Gray was an old Westminster, and student of Christ Church, who had been appointed first head master of Charterhouse in 1614,3 post which he had to resign on marriage. He was then made head master of Merchant Taylors' School, which he resigned in 1632 for the vicarage of Saffron Walden, Essex. Here he quarrelled with the head master of the grammar school, because, as was alleged, he wanted to convert him into a kind of curate, and to take boarders for the school. Gray must have been a Puritan and Parliamentarian, or he would not have been appointed by Rous to the head-mastership of Eton. The date of the appointment cannot be exactly ascertained, as there are no accounts preserved between 1641, when Norris was still master, and the year 1646-7, when Gray was paid for the whole year. It is certain that he was not ejected on the ' engagement.' For he ^>ad re- tired from the mastership more than a year before the execution of Charles I, his successor, Home, appearing in the audit books as head master for the whole year Michaelmas 1648—9, while Gray was paid up to Michaelmas 1648. Gray could hardly have been expelled from his post for refusing an engagement not invented till a year after he had left. The mistake seems to have originated with Anthony Wood, who, how- ever, does not say that Gray was turned out of the mastership, but out of a fellowship and a living. But Wood did not know the facts, for he made Gray become master in 1631. Moreover he is notoriously unscrupulous in his assertions as to any ' Roundheads ' or their doings. In point of fact there must have been some sort of bar- 138 Not the scholars, as Maxwell Lyte (op. cit. p. 248), perhaps from a misreading of 'schoolemrs.' 139 Maxwell Lyte, op. cit. 251 ; Sterry, op. cit. 128 ; Cust, op. cit. 88. 196 SCHOOLS gaining about Gray's retirement. For when Thomas Home, head master of Tonbridge School, came in his place, Gray took Home's post at Tonbridge. The governors of Tonbridge, the Skinners, a City company of London, the main support of Parliamentarianism and Puritanism, would not and indeed could not, have appointed to their school a man expelled from Eton for refusing the engagement, which all schoolmasters as well as ministers were obliged to take. Gray held Tonbridge School till the Restoration, and was succeeded there by John Goad, who must have been some relation of George Goad, whom Sir Henry Maxwell Lyte interpolates as head master in 1648, but there seems to be some mistake about this. His name appears in the audit book, not as master, but as a fellow, and at the Restoration he was allowed to keep his fellowship on the express ground 14° that he had been appointed before the execution of Charles I. Gray himself was at the Restoration given a fellowship at Eton, and died a few months later. Thomas Home, the recorded successor of Gray, wa^ a Derbyshire man, of Magdalen Hail, Oxford, B.A. 1628, M.A. 1633. After keeping a private school in London and then being for two years master of Leicester Grammar School, he was elected to Tonbridge in 1640. In 1645 he published a "Janua /inguarum, ' an easy method and course for the attaining all tongues especially Latin.' It was a sort of Bulgaria with 1,400 Latin sentences in it. In 1641 he dedicated to the Skinners' Company, the Tonbridge governors, a Manuductlo in aedem Palladis, a ' guide to the house of Pallas,' a treatise on the use of Latin authors. Home held office at Eton till his death 22 August 1654. He was succeeded by John Boncle, pronounced Bunkley, as Wood informs us, and indeed so spelt in the Eton audit books. He, like Gray, had been master of Charterhouse School, appointed there in 1653. He was a Cambridge man who had been admitted M.A. of Oxford 22 December 1652, on special letters from Protector Oliver. He stayed only a year as head master at Eton, then taking a fellowship, from which he was expelled at the Restoration ; but he found employment as master of the Mer- cers' School 3 April i66i,m where he remained for fifteen years till his death in 1677, when his son succeeded him. Thomas Singleton, the next Eton master, was the son of a vicar of Basildon, Berkshire, and had matriculated at Queen's College, Oxford, 19 May 1637. He was master of the Free Grammar School of St. Mary Axe in London. Provost Rous, after being Speaker of Bare- bone's Parliament, and a Lord of the Upper "• S.P. Dom. Chas. II, quoted by Lytc himself, op. cit. 262. 111 John VVatncy, Ike Merctrf Schoel (1896), 13, >5» 37- House, died on 7 January 1659. He was buried in Lupton's chapel at Eton, which in his will he described as 'a place which hath my deare affections and prayers, that it may be a flourishing nursery of pietie and learning to the end of the world.' His monument was dese- crated and defaced by the ' fool-fury ' of the Restoration. His portrait as Speaker still adorns the provost's dining-room. His connexion with Eton is still living, as he founded by his will 8 March 1675-8 (proved 10 February following) what is now a scholarship of j£6o a year for Etonians at Pembroke College, Oxford. The original gift was one of two annuities of ^40 and ^2O respectively, charged on the tithes of Great Bookham, Surrey, and on land at Cookbury, Devonshire, for 3 scholars 'of low fortune, viz. under jTio a year '^-equivalent to about j£iOO a year now — of his next of kin, or ' failing such . . . then of the two upper forms of Eton school.' They were to study divinity and to give some public specimen of their proficiency therein before becoming B.A's. The University Commission in 1857 abolished the preference for next of kin, and consolidated the three scholarships into one. The value of the scholarships was magnificent at the time ; but being secured by a fixed charge, the gift is only one of many instances of the superior wisdom of those benefactors who gave land in specie to provide for their benefac- tions in perpetuity. Provost Rous therefore deserves more gratitude than party writers on Eton history have allowed him. After Rous' death, on 14 January 1659, the fellows elected Nicholas Lockyer, one of them- selves, as provost. But on the Restoration a few months later he resigned, and George Monk, brother of General Monk, the traitor who brought back the Stuarts, was appointed on 7 July 1660 by letters patent. A few months later he was made Bishop of Hereford, but retained the provostry with it. He died 17 December 1661. After Dr. Thomas Browne, the king's nominee, had been rejected on the ground of heresy and schism, Dr. John Mere- dith, warden of All Souls, was appointed February 1 66 1 . He too, was a pluralist, con- tinuing to reside at All Souls, where he died in 1665. Singleton, the master, received short shrift. A letter to the Secretary of State, Nicholas, from John Price, one of the new fellows, written at the Cockpit, Whitehall, on 14 July 1660, informs him that Singleton had been removed by the provost and fellows and asks that in case he 'shall petition to be restored (as I understand he intendeth to doe),' the proceedings should be stayed till the college could be heard. If Singleton petitioned he did so in vain. Thomas Mountague, ' who had been 1 9 years usher in the scholc, a vcric worthie gentleman, and '97 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE debarred of any farther promotion, because not well looked on by Mr. Rouse and Mr. Lockier, the late pretended Provosts,' had been already admitted. This promoted usher was an Etonian, who had headed the roll to King's in 1632, so that he was quite old for those days, being forty before he became master. He held office for eleven years, retiring on a fellowship in 1671. His first usher was John Price (King's 1645). The next was William Home (King's 1656), son of Thomas Home, the master. He after- wards became head master of Harrow, to which school from this time Eton stood in much the same position of foster-mother as Winchester had done to Eton. It is to its Etonian masters modelling it on Eton that Harrow is indebted for its later greatness. Anthony Wood has preserved U2 some interest- ing notes on the school at this date : — At Eaton the Mr came in at 7 & took themes, read- ing the good & bad, commending the one & shameing the other, together with punishing it. He went from one forme to another till 9, then they went to break- fast and at 10 to prayers & so came no more to school at morning, but after dinner were obliged to goe to exercise in the fields at skittles, etc., till one a clock. Also an hour after, the Mr came in & staid till three, then the schollars went to their beaver till 4 & then came to school till 5. They had theme & verse every night. They translated out of verse into prose & i contra, & out of latine in to Greek. Some time translated an oracion into English. At first they began with the parts of a theme, then threw them off. They repeated all their verse without book at week's end & construed & parsed exactly every lesson, but learnt al[l] their prose without book. They learnt nomenclaturae at breakings up. At Eaton they read Demosthenes, Homer, Zeno- phon (lie), Tull[y's] Tusculane Questions, Terence, Juvenal, Persius. They acted Andria. They read Janua Knguarum in theii private studyes. They make verses at 3 in the even and make 30 to 40 lines of Theme by next morning. They make nonsense verses at first. They had collections which the master allowed time to peruse. He gave them an English Curtius, and he held the Latine one in his hand, & then shewed them their faults. They used Winchester phrases. Mr. Montague, the schoolmaster, said Virgil words may serve for prose ; they are so natural and good Latine. At the elec[c]ion they have a theme given them over night which they shewed next morning. And then new Themes given them whereupon in half a quarter of an houre they are to turne to a window & make 2 or 4 Latine verses, & [are] examind to construe some of the Greek and Latin authors they read. 'Tis easy getting in schollars because there are so many void yearly. At Kings Colledge they dispute every other day for 3 weeks & have declamations on Thursdayes. 141 Bodl. Rawl. MS. D. 191, fol. 4-6, c. 1670. Mr. Davies wrote to Wood : — Westminster, Winchester and Eaton schollers think none schollers but themselves. Discipline seems to have been slack at this time, as in 1665 Provost Meredith found it necessary to provide that ' the publique dores of the Schoole and Longe Chamber shalbe secured by new locks, and the keys . . . taken every night immediately after prayers, and that those schollers whoe shall goe out of the schoole or college any evening, without leave of the Provost, or Vice- Provost shalbe admonished and registered for the first fault ; severely punished for the second, and the third expelled.' Four boys, for going to the ' Christopher,' the celebrated inn which for cen- turies proved a snare to Eton morals, had to read ' a form of repentance ' in school. A few weeks later one of them, Curwin, and another boy, Baker, ' were admonished and whipt and regis- tered for going out of their bounds to Datchet ale-houses and beating the fishermen.' Curwin was, notwithstanding, elected to King's the same year. On Meredith's death, Richard Allestree, an old Westminster boy and student of Christ Church, who had fought at Edgehill for the king, had been ejected from Christ Church by the Par- liamentary visitors, and subsequently imprisoned during the Protectorate as a suspected royalist spy, was nominated provost. He was then Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford, and as such continued to reside at Oxford during the sixteen years of his provostry, only going to Eton for audits and election:.. On Mountague's retirement from the master- ship in 1671, another 'alien,' John Rosewell, was elected. He matriculated at Magdalen Hall, Oxford, in 1652, and subsequently became fellow of Corpus Christ! College. He took his B.A. degree in 1655, his M.A. in 1659, and hisB.D. in 1667. His reign is distinguished by the first Eton School list, preserved among the Rawlinson MSS. at the Bodleian, Dr. Rawlinson having in 1710 designed a history of the colleges of Win- chester and Eton. It is for the year 1678, and no other list is forthcoming for forty years after. It is written, not printed, on a half sheet of parchment. The school numbered 207, includ- ing nine who were probably choristers. The Vllth form had now disappeared. In the Vlth form there were only eight boys, all collegers, in the Vth form 19 collegers and 19 oppidans. Form I had disappeared, and form II was already disappearing, consisting only of nine collegers and 25 oppidans. The Biblers' Seat, if indeed it be intended for a form, consisted of one boy. Oddly enough the collegers numbered 78. But perhaps the eight boys in the Vlth had already been, or were on the point of being, elected for King's. It is remarkable that only one lord, and that a Scotch one, the son of the Earl of Stirling, 198 SCHOOLS figures in the list, but there are three baronets. Comparing this list with the contemporary one at Winchester, where lists are extant, with some gaps, from 1653, it shows that Eton was already the bigger school, Winchester containing 136 names only. It, too, only boasted of one lord, Clifford, and four sons of noblemen. West- minster was probably bigger than either, as its earliest list in 1656 contains 241 boys. Through- out the 1 7th century Winchester was the most frequented by the aristocracy, being patronized by Charles II, whose favourite residence was Winchester. In the i8th century, when the next extant Westminster lists are found, West- minster eclipsed both Eton and Winchester in numbers, in aristocratic connexion and in the scholars, poets, statesmen, and other celebrities it produced. In 1706, for instance, it had 353 boys, in 1725 434; while Eton numbered 353 in 1707, but in 1742 only 284. It is to the patronage of George III, making Eton a school for the Tory aristocracy in rivalry to the detested Whig junto who flocked to Westminster, that Eton owes the beginning of its proud pre- eminence among schools. From this time we may date the modern era in schools. Henceforth the religio-political rivalries, which had caused provosts and fellows and masters to be put in or put out as one fac- tion or the other dominated church and state, ceased to operate on schools. Schools indeed went up or down in numbers on account of their political connexion during the i/th and 1 8th centuries, but this was owing to the pre- dilections of parents, and no longer to the forcible interference of politicians. Rosewell is said 'to have much raised the credit of the school.' He retired on a fellow- ship in 1680. His successor was Charles Roderick, Etonian and Kingsman, who had been usher. From his time until now, the head- mastership, instead of being held chiefly by outsiders, together with the other masterships, was always held by Etonians, and, until 1868, by collegers and Kingsmen. Roderick, who held office for ten years, was described as 'the flogging schoolmaster of Welsh extraction with a Spanish name.' He became in 1690 the hero of a struggle between King's College and the Crown for the right to elect its own provost, in his person, and prevailed. Again the usher, John Newborough, succeeded to the vacant place, and held it for eleven years. In 1694-5 the present Upper School was built. A new Upper School had been erected not thirty years before by Provost Allestree, but was so badly built that it was already falling down. The cost of the new one, raised chiefly by subscrip- tion,, came to just under ^2,300. Newborough is highly spoken of in Rawlinson's unpublished history as ' of a graceful person and comely aspect. . . . Very pathetical were his reproofs and dispassionate his punishments, and when any hopes of amendment appeared he declined severe remedies.' From which it would seem that the rule of the rod was somewhat abated. He had 'a delightful copla vcrborum . . . Terence's vis comica received new graces from his mouth.' On Newborough's resignation in 1711 An- drew Snape became head master. So successful was he that the school had risen to 399 when in 1719 he was elected Provost of King's. Henry Bland, his successor at Eton, headed the roll to King's in 1695, the next but one being Robert Walpole, the first Etonian Prime Minister. From 1700 Bland had been master of Doncaster Grammar School, where his salary was ^50 a year, with £10 'for a good usher not concerned in any curacy in the church or chapel.' There was not then the gap which now separates the grammar school, which arrogates to itself the exclusive title of Public School, from the gram- mar school of local fame ; the county families then frequented the nearest grammar school, whether Eton or Chesterfield, or Doncaster. Bland had the honour of educating William Pitt, the great Lord Chatham, who, however, does not appear to have thought himself much indebted to Eton, as he brought up his even more famous son at home under a private tutor. The elder William Pitt's school bills are pre- served. His half year's bill in 1719 amounted to ^29 Of. 3<£ He was then under Mr. Good, the usher, to whom he paid two guineas for the half year, and double that amount to his tutor Mr. Burchet, while j£i 21. was paid to the writing master. His great rival, Henry Fox, and Charles Pratt, afterwards Lord Camden, were his contemporaries there. William Pitt wrote from school to his father as ' Honored Sir* and gave his ' duty to mama.' Bland, being a good Whig, was made Dean of Durham by his old school-fellow, Walpole, in 1728, and four years later also Provost of Eton. Bland's son-in-law, William George, followed him at Eton. He is said by Lord Chancellor Camden to have been ' pompous, sour tempered, ill-mannerly and brutal.' Yet two of his pupils were the sprightly Horace Walpole, and Thomas Gray, the author of the Ehgy, who delighted 'to cleave with pliant arm the glassy wave . . . to chase the rolling circle's speed, and urge the flying ball.' It is a moot point whether the ' rolling circle ' is a hoop or a cricket ball ; the ' flying ball ' must be football. The first re- corded school rebellion took place in George's second year. His successor, William Cooke, who had been an assistant master, held office for only three years. According to Cole, the anti- quary, who was an Etonian, Cooke ' being found not equal ' to the post ' was made fellow to let him down gently and to get rid of his imperti- nence, insolence, and other unamiable qualities.' Of John Summer, the next master, Cole 199 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE writes that he had been private tutor to Lord Mountfort, and was ' a great scholar. It was supposed his reputation would retrieve the mis- chief of Cooke's mastership ; but success was not adequate to expectation.' In 1745 the numbers had sunk to 244. But the reputation of the school was restored and more than restored under Edward Barnard, 1754-65, when they rose to over 500. Charles James Fox was the most distinguished of them, but he owed little to Eton, from which his father used to take him to play the fop at Paris. Barnard mitigated the rule of the birch. John Foster, who succeeded him on his election as provost in 1765, could only govern by its aid. He was the son of a Windsor tradesman, which of itself did not increase his popularity. The result was that he brought the school down to 230 and had to resign in 1773. In 1768 a rebellion broke out in which 156 boys and the Vlth and Upper Vth forms left the school, threw their books into the Thames, and spent a night out at Maidenhead, owing to a controversy as to the right of assistant masters to send back pre- postors to college when caught out of bounds. Many went home ; among them William Grenville, afterwards Prime Minister, who was sent back by his father to be flogged and then removed. There is extant a full curriculum and time-table143 drawn up about 1765 by James, who went to King's in 1766, and, as head master of Rugby, first made that school into ' a great Public School.' It is recorded144 that George III, who was more Etonian than Eton- ians, in congratulating James on his success at Rugby, said : ' No wonder ! you were educated at Eton.' James's time-table shows that, as at Winches- ter, all saints' days were holidays, every Tues- day was a whole holiday, and every Thursday a half-holiday, while on Saturday school ended with afternoon chapel at 3, this being called ' a play at four.' The other days were known as whole-school days. But arithmetic and geo- graphy, for which Salmon's Geography was used, and writing for ' the littles,' were taught on holidays. On whole-school days school now began at 7 o'clock, though the first lesson was still called 'six o'clock lesson.' Breakfast was at 9. School began again at n, and ended at 12. Afternoon school began at 3 and ended at 5. The Vlth and Vth forms seem to have begun work at 8 o'clock only, but went on in the afternoon to 6. It is amazing to find that in construing Homer, which was done on Mon- day morning, the Vlth form still construed it, not into English, but into Latin verse, about thirty- five lines at a time, while the Vth did it into 143 Etoniana, July 1906. The original belongs to the present Chief Commissioner of Works, the Rt. Hon. L. Vernon Harcourt. 144 Annals of Eton, 204. English, about fourteen lines at a time. In reading Cicero, Middleton's Cicero was used, which the boys were supposed to read by them- selves out of school, with Roman and Greek history, Milton, Pope, 'and all other books necessary towards making a compleat scholar.' An immense amount of repetition was done. Monday was ushered in with twenty verses of Greek Testament by heart ; the other days thirty lines of Epigrammatum delectus or Selecta ex Tullio, &c., and, in the summer, Horace's Odes, at the rate of seven or eight a day. Theocritus was read on Thursday, and on Saturday Greek plays, including Aristophanes, and Thucydides. But no author was read as a whole, only in selections. There was a great quantity of Latin prose and verse done. Every Monday a theme ' on some good subject from the Spectator or Tatler or Guardian,' for about twenty lines of prose was done, and at 3 p.m. an extempore epigram of four lines, with a joke in it, had to be made. The writer actually thinks it necessary to say that ' if the boys are not able to cut a joke on the theme, they ought by no means to be punished.' Subjects for ' Longs and Shorts,' or Elegiacs, were given out on Monday, and twenty to twenty-six lines sent in on Thursday. Alcaics or other irregular metres were done for 'Third Exercise.' One Greek Exercise a week was done, a translation from Latin into Greek. A month before the end of term, Declamations were spoken every Saturday and likewise speeches. English litera- ture, it will be seen, was by no means wholly neglected, and was probably the better appre- ciated by being not a regular subject taught in school, but read in leisure time and chiefly with a view to illustrate the classics. At this time there were, besides the head master and the usher, now called the lower master, ten assistant masters and three writing masters. A French master taught out of school, as did the drawing master ; the latter was Henry Angelo, and his family long remained at Eton. The masters, except one of the writing masters, Evans, did not keep the boarding houses, which, as in Malim's day, were kept chiefly by ' Dames,' though there were three 'domines.' College contained only 52 boys. It had become a very rough and undesirable place, and remained so until it was thrown open to competitive exami- nation, nearly a century later. Oppidans would hardly consort with the ' tugs,' as collegers were called, who were largely drawn from the lower ranks, noble lords getting, it was said, their butlers' and other poor dependants' sons into it. Hence it was seldom if ever full. It seems strange to read in the Nugae Etonenses, written about this same year, that the games played included battledores, peg-top, hop-scotch, marbles, hoops, trapball, puss in the corner, chuck [farthing], and hunt the hare. Cricket 200 SCHOOLS and fives head the list, and the Eton fives court, with its pepper box and step, was derived from the space between the two chapel buttresses near the door, which formed the principal court. A tennis court is mentioned. From this time onward the career of Eton has been one of almost unchequered success. To the influence of George III this is largely due. Living chiefly at Windsor, he identified himself with the school like a local patriot ; the boys were frequently asked up to the castle to f£tes and entertainments, and the king or his family often attended the Speeches and other school functions, and in 1 799 he actually performed the duty of marshal to the 'Montem' procession. Jonathan Davies, who succeeded Foster as head master in 1773, created a record in the length of his stay in the office, which was just short of twenty years. He was ' in conversation too much of a Stentor,' but ' learned, pleasant, generous.' He had to cope with a rebellion in 1783, when the whipping-post or flogging-block was broken up ; but the cause of the outbreak was a contest of the lower forms with the assistant masters, not with him. In 1791 he retired on election as provost. The first printed school list is for this year, and shows 433 boys, of whom 45 were in college. He founded some scholarships for collegers. George Heath, who followed, was a great flogger, and after flogging 70 boys on one occasion — it is supposed on the occasion of the first cricket match played against Westminster in 1796 at Hounslow Heath, which resulted in a complete defeat — he was laid up with aches and pains for more than a week. In 1798 there was another great flogging because a number of Vth Form and Lower boys shirked 'absence 'to row up to Maidenhead. There were then four 8-oars and two 6-oars in the pro- cession on the king's birthday, 4 June, which had, not without reason, superseded the obit of Henry VI as the great day at Eton. Boat races had not yet begun. In 1802 Heath retired on a fellowship. Joseph Goodall reigned from 1802 to 1809, when he was made provost ; Benjamin Heath, recommended by the Prime Minister, being rejected by George III because 'he ran away to Harrow,' i.e. had been head master there. The greatest name in his day is that of Shelley, who, however, does not seem to have enjoyed his schooldays. Then began the 'reign of terror* of John Kcate, who had been lower master. His name is famous as the modern Orbilius, the champion flogger of modern times. He was very unpopular to start with. He is described in Kinglake's Eothen as ' little more if at all than 5 feet high,' with bushy red eyebrows, which he used as a beetle does its antennae, as a kind of index fingers. ' He had a really noble voice, which he could modulate with great skill, but also had the power of quacking like an angry duck, and he almost always adopted this mode of communication in order to insure respect.' His determination to enforce discipline, which had been very slack under Goodall, soon brought him into collision with the boys. In 1810 a rebellion was caused by an ' absence ' being imposed to prevent an unseemly rush into chapel. Some HO boys were involved. When 20 had been flogged the rest began to throw rotten eggs. The other masters were summoned, and flogging or expulsion was offered to the culprits ; and 60 more submitted to the flogging. The well-known stories of ' Be pure in heart or I'll flog you,' and of the flogging of a whole confirmation class because the list of them was taken for a flogging bill, must be received cum grant, as good stories, in the double sense. During his long reign of twenty-five years Keate encountered at least two more e'meutes which were of the dimensions of a rebellion. One was in 1818, when he tried to put down tandem driving. His desk was broken to pieces. When 4 boys were expelled and the rest were told to behave better, one Palk exclaimed ' Never,' and was expelled on the spot ; so the rebellion became known as Palk's rebellion. Towards the end of Keate's career an outbreak took place over the expulsion of a boy named Monro, who went to a boat race when he ought to have been doing a poena or imposition. The Vth Form shouted ' Monro ! Monro ! ' at absence, so three penal ' absences ' were imposed. Over 100 stayed away, but Keate waited till they were in bed and then had them up in blocks of 10 to 20 and flogged them all, the opera- tion lasting till the small hours of Sunday morn- ing. On this occasion he was cheered by the Vlth Form next morning. It must not be supposed that Eton was singularly barbarous at this time. Winchester, Harrow, Rugby — all had their rebellions and their floggings. The whole system of the Public Schools was behind the age, and the turmoil they lived in was due to the manners and customs of barbarous ages being continued at school in times when home life and manners in society had become civilized. With all his flogging Keate did not succeed in keeping order even in school. The reason chiefly was that the classes were enormous. In 1833 for 570 boys in the Upper School, which had repeatedly enlarged itself at the expense of the Lower School, the lower forms gradually vanishing away, there were only 9 masters all told. Keate had at one time 198 boys in his own division, and one of them records that he was only called on in school twice in a whole half. By further sub-divisions these were reduced to 170 boys, and eventually to 100. But order or decent teaching with even 100 boys in a class was well-nigh impossible. Songs were sung in school, paper pellets, and, on occasion, rotten eggs, were thrown. As an illustration of Keate's milder moments, a story is told of how one 201 26 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE Dallas hurled a stone at him in school. Keate demanding who it was, Dallas got up and said : ' It was me, sir, and I beg your pardon,' and nothing further was said. Those boys who wished to learn learnt from the 32 private tutors who looked after them out of school. Keate himself was a good scholar, and his Vlth Form lessons in ' chambers,' the old head master's chamber by Long Chamber, were said to be inspiring. But the books used were still limited to those of James's day, somewhat en- larged, the Scriptures Graeci and Scriptorti Romani. An immense amount of verse was done, and that secured good scholarship. The best training was that of the boys themselves of themselves in the magazines they started, the College Magazine, the Horae Otiosae, W. M. Praed's Apis Matina in 1820, the Etonian in 1821, the Eton Miscellany in 1828, and the Eton College Magazine in 1832 ; still more in the plays that they performed ; and, above all, in the debating society, officially known as the Eton Society, commonly called ' Pop.' This was started in 1811 by C. F. Townshead, who died at the age of twenty-two when a candidate for Parliament for Cambridge University. Its members were at first called literati, and the name of ' Pop ' is said to be due to the twenty original members having first met at Mrs. Hatton's, a cook-shop or popina, where they breakfasted once a week. The successes of Etonians at the universities showed that it was possible to learn there if you had a turn for learning, and probably the learning was all the keener for being almost wholly a voluntary effort. It was at this time also that games began to take their present form. In 1818 cricket matches began with Harrow, when Harrow won ; and in 1826 with Winchester, when Winchester won. In 1826 and 1830 there were boat races with Westminster. In 1834 Keate, being a canon of Windsor, retired to a Windsor living in Hampshire. The boys made him a presentation of plate costing jTooo, at which he was so overcome that he could only acknowledge it by lifting the redoubt- able cocked hat which he wore as his official head covering, and which he hurled on the floor on taking leave of the assistant masters, never to be worn again. The senior assistant master, Edward Craven Hawtrey, member of an old Etonian family, succeeded Keate. A heavy fall from 627 boys to 486 took place, whether from the change of man or from an outburst of criticism of the Eton system is not clear. Hawtrey introduced some reforms, especially that of a reduction in the size of the forms, placing the masters in separate class-rooms, and giving each form a separate master specially responsible for it. Provost Francis Hodgson, who was forced on the college by the Crown after Goodall's death in 1840, was more efficient as a reformer. He reformed college at a cost of ,£ 14,000, giving separate rooms to 49 seniors, and improving the food, while he made admission depend on competitive examination, with the result that instead of being half empty, and a place to be shunned by every- one not driven to it by dire poverty, it is now sought after a great deal too much. When the sons of Speakers and cabinet ministers, and still more, men rich with revenues that do not die with them, are found in it, the intention of the founder seems to have been departed from as much as in the days when it was handed over to the lackeys of the great and the petty tradesmen of the rich. In 1851 mathematics were made a part of the regular curriculum, and six mathematical masters appointed. The numbers rose from 444 in 1835 to 777. Provost Hodgson died prematurely in 1852, and Hawtrey, the head master, succeeded him. Charles Old Goodford, an assistant master, ' honest, righteous, brave, prudent, but sleepy, weak in health, and unpolished,' became head master. He enlarged the area of selection of masters by no longer restricting them to Kings- men or to collegers. In 1861 the Public Schools Commission was appointed. The same year saw the earnest of future innovations in the be- ginning of the new schools or classrooms, a red brick building in the Tudor style, on the oppo- site side of the Slough Road to Upper School. Hawtrey died in i86i,and Goodford became provost in his place, the provostry being now regarded as almost a perquisite of the head master. Edward Balston, an assistant master, afterwards Archdeacon of Derby, succeeded. He was not a man to initiate reforms, and when the Public Schools Act was passed he retired. Under this Act a new governing body was substituted for the provost and fellows, consisting of the provosts of the two colleges, nominees of the two ancient universities, of the Royal Society, of the Lord Chief Justice, and of the Eton masters, and two to four co-optatives. In 1871 they made new statutes, repealing the old, which had in fact ceased to be observed. The chief change was the partial severance of the connexion with King's, that college being no longer confined to Etonians, though Eton has the preference for half the scholarships. Of late years these have so much declined in value that often the full number from Eton is not filled up. The new head master, John James Hornby, was the first for nearly 200 years who was not a Kingsman or a colleger or an assistant master. An oppidan and an Oxonian, at Balliol he had obtained a first class in classics in 1849, and rowed in the Oxford eight ; and as a fellow of Brasenose he had attained distinction. He had also been a tutor at Durham University. As second master at Winchester in 1866 to 1868 202 SCHOOLS he had won all hearts, and shareJ in and wit- nessed the advantage of the reforms effected there by Dr. Ridding. He was thus able to bring a wide experience to bear on the difficult problems with which the report of the Royal Commission (published in 1865) confronted him. The re- forms accomplished by him "* were so great that, as Sir Henry Maxwell Lyte remarks, less differ- ences are observable between the time-tables of 1765 and 1865 than between those of 1865 and 1875. Many of them were the result of the recommendations of the Commission. 1. Morning chapel was introduced ; a short- ened daily service being held, attended by all the school, at 9.25. Previously boys attended chapel, or rather church as it was more correctly called till about 1 860, at 1 1 and 3 on holidays and at 3 on half-holidays. Instead of this ' Absences,' i.e. ' Callings over,' were substituted. 2. For the system of moving upwards from the Vth form merely by seniority was substituted admission to the first three divisions, the First Hundred, by ' trials ' or examination. 3. Extra Studies, or ' Extras ' as they were called, were imposed on the ' First Hundred,' every member of which might choose a subject from modern languages, science, history, and the less-read classical authors, on which he had to spend four hours a week. For this purpose two extra school hours (at 9.45 and 10.30 respec- tively) were established on all half-holidays. Instead of this one hour a day is now given. But there has been no increase in the number of hours, as stated by Sir H. Maxwell Lyte. 4. French became compulsory for all boys below the first three divisions. 5. Science became a regular part of the work of the Vth form in 1869, and of the ' Remove ' in 1875. A chemical laboratory and lecture- room were built at a cost of j£ 3,000 contributed by the head master and some old Etonian friends — the college being at the time too poor to undertake the work. The assistant masters con- tributed liberally. 6. All the mathematical, science, and French masters were raised to the same status with the classical. The scale of payment was rearranged. 7. 'Dames,' or keepers of boarding-houses who were not masters, were abolished. No new leases of boarding-houses were given to anyone not on the teaching staff. 8. An army class was established,1" separated from the rest of the school, so as to admit of "* The main authority for thii is Eton, by A. Glut- ton Brock, of New College, Oxford, in George Bell's Handbooks to the Great Public Schools. 144 Sir H. Maxwell Lyte states that this separate class was first instituted by Dr. Warre in 1886. Dr. Warre, on his accession, discontinued the separate class for a time in order to try whether the ordinary school work was sufficient or not. After a trial of less than two years the separate class was revived. more continuous instruction in the particular subjects required. This, under Mr. Walter Durnford's management, proved very successful, and showed that boys going straight from Eton could obtain the highest places in the exami- nation without resorting to private tuition. 9. Among many minor changes two may be specially mentioned as departures from very old customs, viz. the abolition of Leaving Money' and ' Leaving Books.' Under the former of these every boy had been compelled to leave a fee on the head master's table when he took leave of him. A capitation tax was henceforth substituted for this curious custom of ' tipping.' But the head master still gives every boy who obtains his bent disceait a copy of Gray's Poems, as a ' leaving book.' It had long been the custom for boys to give each other leaving books. The Royal Commis- sion, observing that this pleasant usage had degenerated into extravagance, and had become a serious tax upon parents, recommended its dis- continuance. 10. The Eton Mission in Hackney Wick was started in 1880, under the Rev. W. M. Carter, now Bishop of Pretoria. Dr. Hornby's rule lasted for sixteen years — from 1868 to 1884. It was a time of change, and of much external criticism — sometimes fair, sometimes malicious — perhaps the most critical period through which Eton has passed in the last hundred years. The danger was happily over- come by the wisdom and tact of the head master, to whom Provost Goodford U7 ' gave very generous and ungrudging help.' The change in the system of education produced no violent dis- location of the teaching machinery, and when, in 1884, Provost Goodford died, and was suc- ceeded by Dr. Hornby, the school had passed through its revolutionary period, and it remained for the new head master only to improve the efficiency of the system already established. The new head master was Edmund Warre, who left Eton in 1855 for Oxford as a scholar of Balliol, and in due time became a first-class man and fellow of All Souls. He was, when elected, an assistant master at Eton and captain of the Rifle Corps. He might perhaps best be described as of the school of Tom Hughes, the author of Tom Brown's School Days, an apostle of muscular Christianity and strenuousness. In 1889 the memorial stone of 'Queen's Schools,' which include a science lecture-room and a museum, was laid by Queen Victoria. The same year the lower chapel, to hold 400 lower boys, was begun, the architect being Sir Arthur Blomfield ; it was opened in 1891. Of an in- ferior kind of churchwarden Gothic, it can hardly be considered a thing of beauty. '" Provost Goodford had done excellent work, and introduced numerous reforms as head master. 203 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE No bounds being set to numbers, the boys under Dr. Warre passed the thousand, attaining 1,007 in 1891, and the then high-water mark, 1,035, in 1896. Dr. Warre saw out the igth century. At the beginning of the 20th century, in Dr. Edward Lyttelton, Eton has turned once more to Cambridge, though to Trinity, not to King's, for its head master. His success, first as a house master at Eton, and then as head master at Haileybury, and the position he had taken in educational discussions, had marked him out as the certain successor to Dr. Warre on his retire- ment in 1905. Among recent buildings most prominent is the red-brick stone-pedimented palace in the style of Charles II, the new boarding-house of Mr. E. L. Vaughan, called Wotton House, fronting on Timbralls, otherwise Tymbershaw, otherwise Sixpenny. It is one of the most striking build- ings which meet the eye on approaching Eton from Slough. A building destined for a school library in a rococo Renaissance style, with a dome somewhat after that of the church of Santa Maria della Salute at Venice, is in course of erection on the opposite side of the road to Wayneflete's ante- chapel. A stronger contrast than the new presents to the old building could not have been devised. Theory has not been without results in prac- tice. There has been an introduction of scien- tific gymnastics among the younger boys. Germane to this is a system of physical mea- surements and of medical inspection of all new boys. In intellectual matters a great deal of cautious experiment is going on in regard to the curriculum ; large modifications have been made to give scope to what is called specializa- tion for the older boys. This has involved an increase in the staff, and of course increased expense. Meantime current controversies are causing much thought and discussion on the methods of teaching the older subjects, classics and mathematics, especially the former, and at- tempts are being made to restrict within practical limits the aim of teaching Greek as well as Latin to average boys. The difficulty in doing this is considerable when a large number of masters are concerned, but in general it may be said that there is a great improvement in the adaptation of methods and subject-matter to boys of different intelligence. French is now taught almost entirely by experts, and more time is given to the subject than used to be the case, so long as a boy learns it. But nothing in these matters can at present be looked upon as final, since in addi- tion to difficulties in the school there are perpetual changes in outside examinations. The subject of handicraft, as an alternative to book-work, is being gently introduced, and music is given more opportunity than it had. In regard to the general tone of industry there has been an extra- ordinary improvement in the last twenty years, and part of the problem now is how to diminish the strain on the younger boys, and on nearly all the masters. It is idle in a sketch of these dimensions to attempt to sum up or gauge the growth of Eton or its influence on England. To enumerate its famous men would be to give a catalogue of the most distinguished names in public life, and in the Army and the Navy, and many other pro- fessions. Such an enumeration is as impractic- able as an attempt to estimate how much these distinguished persons owed to Eton, and how much to birth and nature. Suffice it to say that throughout the century, as the largest school in the country, recruited from the highest and richest class, it has occupied the position of facile princeps among the public schools which was held in the i8th century by Westminster, and before that was a matter of rivalry among the three graces, Winchester, Eton, and West- minster. In a century in which not less — even more, perhaps — than in previous centuries the governor-generalships and the great offices in the State fell to the abler scions of great houses and their associates, it is not so much surprising that Marquess Wellesley, Governor-General in India and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland ; the Duke of Wellington and Earl Roberts, Commanders-in- Chief wherever English blood was shed ; Fox and Canning, Gladstone and Mr. Balfour, Lord Rosebery and the late Sir Henry Campbell- Bannerman, Prime Ministers, have issued from Eton to the highest posts in civil or military life. The wonder rather is that Eton has not monopo- lized these posts altogether. More remarkable is it that in the domain in which more than any other success is influenced by no considerations but those of the work itself, the domain of poetry, Eton has produced the two greatest lyric writers of the i gth century, Percy Shelley and Algernon Swinburne. In the sphere in which achieve- ment is due mainly to personality and strenuous persistency, that of the law and the Church, Eton has, as might be expected, been less successful ; two Chief Justices, Denman and Coleridge, were Etonians, but no Chancellor and no bishop or archbishop of the first rank. But of late years Eton has been as strenuous as other public schools. That the future historian may not complain that the Eton day of the aoth century is un- known, we will endeavour to set it down. The normal school week consists of twenty-two hours. For the SixthForm and First Hundred these hours are allotted as follows : — Divinity, one hour ; Latin and Greek, seven hours each ; English, three hours ; while what are called extra studies, which mean and include Mathematics, French, German, Science, and Drawing, and various specifications in Classics occupy the remaining three hours. The hours are divided among the days thus : Divinity, on Sunday (questions on 204 SCHOOLS Scripture History, the Gospel in Greek, or a book of the Septuagint) is given the place of honour ; the first hour on Monday morning, from 7 to 7.50 — we are speaking of the Summer term, 1 908 — being devoted to going over with the mas- ter what has been prepared, or supposed to be prepared, on Sunday, difficulties discussed, and explanations suggested. Religious instruction is given on one morning of the week for fifty minutes. On other days than Mondays Classics occupy that hour, save on Thursday, when there is a lecture on History. From 8 to 9.25 is devoted to breakfast and preparation, the length of time of one or the other being at the option of the in- dividual. One of the strangest features of Eton life until the last ten years was that, though the charges for board and lodging were higher there than at any other school, breakfast was not pro- vided by the master, but by the boys at their own expense, in theirown rooms. Even in college the ' poor and needy scholar ' had to keep a room up town in which to get his breakfast and live during the day. Now, however, in all the houses but one breakfast is provided in the boys' rooms, mostly in messes of four. At 9.25 is chapel, a shortened service. School begins at 9.45, and lasts for fifty-five minutes, during which 'Extras,' or extra studies, are done in form. Extra studies is a charming instance of survival ' in nomencla- ture. It meant, at first, extra subjects beyond the ordinary purely classical curriculum, and the list includes English (which includes History), Mathematics, French, German, Science, Draw- ing, and Spanish ; but it also includes, for the bulk of the first 1 20, who are on what in more modern schools might be called the classical side, Greek play for the university, Plato, and Pindar. Why Greek play, or Greek philosophy, or Greek lyrics should have been considered extras in a classical curriculum it is not easy to explain. At 1 1 o'clock school the ordinary Classics, that is, construing of authors, resume sway, except on Tuesdays, when the hour is devoted to History in the form of doing questions on Monday's lec- ture, and on Thursdays, when it is given to Latin prose, which is, however, done out of school, and shown up at lunch-time, 1.30. Classics means in 1908, in preparation for the Higher certificates of the Oxford and Cambridge Schools Examinations Board, Livy's History, Book V ; Virgil's Aeneid, X ; Horace's Odes, IV ; Thucy- Hon. A. E. Par- ker ... E. G. Bromley Martin . H. R. Bromley) Davenport J H. W. Studd . H. R. E. Harri- son . . . F. H. E. Cun- liffe . . . C. E. Hatfield . 6 for 35 and 6 for 42 ; 4 for 63 and 5 for 64 6 for 28 5 for 50 and 7 for 42 ; 6 for 42 and 6 for 57 8 for 37 6 for 46 and z for 48 ; 6 for 88 and 4 for 49 5 for 79 and 4 for 73 ; 6 for 44 and 2 for 67 6 for 27 and 8 for 72 6 for 29 and 3 for 26 7 for 54 and 6 for 40 5 for 35 and 7 for 58 Of the seventy-six matches played with Win- chester to 1908, Eton has won twenty-five and lost twenty-four, eight being drawn, with a tie in 1845. The centuries for Eton have been in 1863, when the total was 444 ; A. Lubbock 1 74 not out, and E. W. Tritton 130 ; in 1874 when the total was 381; H. E. Whitmore 109, and Hon. A. Lyttelton 104 ; the latter in 1875 scored IO2; in 1885 H. Philipson scored 141 ; in 1886 Hon. H. Coventry 119; in 1887 the late W. D. Llewellyn 124, and in 1905 W. N. Todd 134. The only Wykehamist centuries have been in 1852, E. R. Trevilian 126; in 1892, J. R. Mason 147, and in 1901, E. L. Wright 113. The home matches played by Eton are generally with I Zingari, M.C.C. and Ground, Free Foresters, New College, Oxford, Windsor Gar- rison, &c. The following old Etonians have played in Test Matches in England: — Lord Harris, Hon. Alfred Lyttelton, C.T. Studd, and B. J.T. Bosan- quet ; while the following have been on tour to Australia : — Lord Harris, Hon. Ivo Bligh (now Lord Darnley), C. T. Studd, G. B. Studd, Lord Hawke, A. E. Newton, H. Philipson, P. R. Johnson, B. J. T. Bosanquet. The following have represented the Gentlemen at Lord's since 1878: — Lord Harris, Lord Hawke, Hon. Alfred Lyttelton, A. W. Ridley, Hon. Ivo Bligh (now Lord Darnley), C. T. Studd, G. B. Studd, W. F. Forbes, P. J. de Paravicini, H. W. Bainbridge, H. W. Forster, F. Marchant, H. Philipson, Lord George Scott, A. E. Newton, F. H. E. Cunliffe, and B. J. T. Bosanquet ; and the following have represented the Gentlemen against the Austra- lians : — Lord Harris, Hon. Edward Lyttelton, Hon. Alfred Lyttelton, G. B. Studd, C. T. Studd, and Lord Hawke. Since 1878 the following old Etonians have found places in the Oxford eleven : — W. F. Forbes, A. E. Newton, H. W. Forster, H. Philip- son, Lord George Scott, the late W. D. Llewellyn, the late D. H. Forbes, R. T. Jones, C. C. and H. C. Pilkington, F. H. E. Cunliffe, B. J. T. Bosanquet, C. H. B. Marsham, H. A. Arkwright, W. Findlay, G. E. Martin, R. V. Buxton, A. M. and F. H. Hollins. In the Cambridge eleven : J. E. K., G. B., C. T., and R. A. Studd, H. Whitfeld, Hon. Ivo Bligh, C. W. Foley, Lord Hawke, P. J. de Paravicini, H. W. Bainbridge, Hon. C. M. Knatchbull Hugessen, F. Mar- chant, F. Thomas, H. J. Mordaunt, W. C. Bridgeman, R. C. Gosling, H. R. Bromley- Davenport, H. K. Longman, E. F. Penn, C. P. Foley, H. W. de Zoete, P. R. Johnson, and P. W. Cobbold. The writer as an old Etonian may be per- mitted to add : floreat Etona, ftoreat flortbit. 239 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE GOLF The ranges of hilly country in the Chilterns, which stretch across Buckinghamshire from the southern extremity of Bedfordshire to the southern part of Oxfordshire, make an admirably diversified ground for golf. The soils are a mixture of rich loam, clay, chalky mould and loam, lying upon a subsoil of gravel ; and in certain districts some of these soils are largely intermingled. At any rate they grow turf which is highly suitable for the game. The Burnham Beeches Golf Club, which was founded in 1892, owes its existence to Mr. F. C. D. Haggard, Dr. A. E. Wilmot, Mr. F. C. Carr- Gomm, Dr. Abercrombie, and other gentlemen. At the present time it has 250 ordinary members, 6 life members, 50 provisional members and 100 lady members. The course of 1 8 holes is situated 2 miles from Taplow, and 4^ miles from Slough. The holes are laid out on undulating pasture land ; and viewed as a whole, the course provides an admirable variety of play. The holes vary in length from a little over 100 yards to 500 yards, but the most interesting are those varying in length from 300 to 430 yards. There are also several very interesting short holes, and the natural hazards have been skilfully supplemented by artificial ' pot ' bunkers which turn to the best account the natural lie of the land. The soil being gravel, the course even in winter is per- fectly dry, making play possible all the year round. The game indeed is most largely played in the autumn, winter, and spring. H. R. Chestney is the professional. Among the half-dozen clubs in the county, probably the next in importance is the Datchet Club, instituted in 1894, and the members of which now number 150. The course of 9 holes, which vary in length from 1 74 to 420 yards, is situated on the right side of the road from Datchet to Windsor. The holes are laid out over pasture land, and the hazards are partly natural and partly artificial. The Chesham Club, instituted in 1900, plays over a g-hole course, situated on Ley Hill Com- mon, 2 miles from Chesham, while at Grovebury, 2 miles from the railway station, the Leighton Buzzard and District Club, founded in September 1905, have also laid out a course of 9 holes. For several years up to the opening of 1906, the West Wycombe Club played over a g-hole course laid out on Downley Common about a mile from West Wycombe railway station ; the hazards consisting of gravel pits, ponds, roads, and whins. This club ceased to exist in Feb- ruary 1906. The Wycombe and Bourne End Club, founded in 1 904, plays over a g-hole course laid out on Flackwell Heath. ROWING HENLEY REGATTA The meeting at which the establishment of Henley Regatta was determined on was held in the Town Hall of Henley on 26 March, 1839. The importance of the fixture lies in the prestige which attaches to a victory in its best race ; this race has long been considered the ' Blue Ribbon ' of the amateur rowing world among prizes which are open to competitors other than those from the two universities. If proof of this were needed it would be sufficient to say that at the time of writing, the Grand Challenge Cup, first offered for competition nearly seventy years ago, is now in the possession of a Belgian crew. It will, perhaps, be convenient to give the slight sketch of the history of the regatta which the space available alone permits, in the form of a chronological list of the most important develop- ments since 1839. In that year Trinity, Wad- ham, and Brasenose Colleges entered from Oxford for the Grand Challenge, which was won by the first named, the only other race being the Town Challenge Cup Fours. In the next year Wadham rowed again and were beaten by the eventual winners, the famous Leander Club, whose first appearance this was on the Henley reach. This year (1840) is also memor- able for the fact that the District Challenge Cup for Fours was won by a Henley crew stroked by Mr. J. Page.1 In 1841 occurred the first race for the Stewards' Cup, which was won by the Oxford Club of London ; and in 1842 we find the Cambridge University Boat Club beaten in the final heat for the Grand Challenge. It has, of course, long ceased to be the practice for university crews, as such, to race at Henley. Perhaps the most important event connected with university rowing on the Henley course was the celebrated episode of the Oxford seven-oar in 1843. In the final heat this crew was drawn 1 It may be mentioned that Mr. Page, who was born before Waterloo, was present in the Town Hall in July, 1907, when a testimonial from the rowing men of England was presented to Mr. Herbert Thomas Steward, the president of the Henley stewards. 240 SPORT ANCIENT AND MODERN against an eight which rowed under the name of the Cambridge Subscription Rooms, London, and was entirely composed of men who had either got their ' blue ' already or won it directly afterwards. It was, in fact, a strengthened university eight. The Oxford crew lost their stroke, Mr. Fletcher Menzies, through illness, just before the start, so they put in their No. 7 (the brother of Tom Hughes of Oriel) at stroke, called down Lowndes of Christchurch from bow to seven, and left bow's seat vacant. With only seven oars they won by nearly a length. Part of their boat is still preserved in the Oxford University Barge. In 1844 the Diamond Sculls were instituted, and were first won by T. B. Bumsted of London. In the next year two more races were added, namely, the Ladies' Plate, first won by St. George's Club of London, and the Silver Wherries, afterwards known as the Silver Goblets, for pairs, which were first won by Mann and Arnold, of Caius. In 1847 the Wyfold Challenge Cup was first offered for eights ; this event did not become a four-oar race until 1855, when 'Royal Chester' won it. In 1848 the Visitors' Cup for fours was instituted and won by Christchurch. In 1849 Wadham College, Oxford, which had made its mark at the first regatta ten years earlier, carried off both the Grand and the Ladies'. By 1850 the regatta had attained to an im- portance which justified the framing for the first time of ' Laws of Boat Racing,' by which the various crews engaged to abide ; and this legisla- tion no doubt laid the foundation of that world- wide influence which the stewards have exercised in the matter of amateurism and fair sport. In the following year the Prince Consort recognized the existence and value of this influence by becoming a patron of what was henceforth to be known as Henley Royal Regatta. These early meetings, which seem to have generally taken place about the beginning or middle of June, had apparently become famous for the bad weather which attended them. But in 1856 the unaccustomed sunshine which was vouchsafed the regatta seemed appropriate to the first appearance of a boat which practically revolutionized the art of building racing craft. This was the keelless ship designed by Matt Taylor for the Royal Chester crew, who proved her excellence by winning the Grand Challenge and the Ladies' Plate. In the next year the Visitors' and the Ladies' Plate were apparently restricted to the public schools and the colleges of Oxford or Cambridge or Dublin University. But this regulation, if it ever were such, cannot have been observed, inasmuch as in 1878 a crew from Columbia College, New York, was not only permitted to enter for the Visitors but won the cup and carried it across the Atlantic. The year 1861 witnessed a feature which ever since has been one of the most popular races of the regatta ; this was the race in which Eton rowed against and beat Radley for the first time. Eton has beaten Radley regularly ever since ; but it is only right to say that there have been many very close finishes. In 1883, for instance, Eton only got home first because No. 4 in the Radley boat broke his slide at Remenham ; and in 1891 when both crews were in the final, Radley was only beaten by a short half-length by an Eton crew including C. M. Pitman and W. E. Crum, besides other good oars. Radley has been coached for the last few decades by Mr. H. M. Evans, and the good done to English rowing by Dr. E. Warre at Eton can best be measured by the number of his pupils who have become members of both university crews. At the Henley of 1 866, for instance, out of twenty- eight medals given for eights and fours, twenty- seven were won by nineteen Etonians ; and of the nineteen no fewer than seventeen were Dr. Warre's pupils. Though Dr. Warre has now retired from active coaching, his influence on oarsmanship is still very strong, particularly in the direction of scientific boat-building. In 1868 the stewards as a body gained much in the estimation of the rowing world by electing Mr. Playford and Dr. Warre to be of their number. The same year saw two important innovations : the Thames Cup — now one of the most popular races at the regatta — was established, being won by Pembroke College, Oxford ; and in the race for the Stewards' Fours the revolu- tionary mind of W. B. Woodgate, the famous old Radleian, initiated the idea of coxswainless fours ; the astonished authorities being obliged to disqualify Brasenose because their gallant steers- man leapt into the water at the word ' go.' This proceeding led to legislation in the next season, and in 1869 a cup was specially given for Cox- swainless Fours, which was won, appropriately enough, by a crew with another old Radleian at stroke, T. H. A. Houblon, now canon of Christ- church. The rules for the regatta were also thoroughly revised, and a steam launch was used for the first time to carry the umpire (Mr. George Morrison) up and down the course ; he had previously been dependent upon crews of water- men. The improved system of starting races — from punts in which watermen held the sterns of each boat — had been adopted by 1868, and about the same time the boat-house for the use of competitors was built. In 1872 the last of the great developments in the construction of racing boats occurred, sliding seats being used for the first time at Henley. By 1874 the Stewards', the Visitors', and the Wyfolds* were all being rowed in coxswainless boats. In 1877 Radley beat Cheltenham in a private match for which special medals were given ; such private matches have occasionally formed a feature in the regatta ever since. 241 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE In 1878 the appearance at Henley of the Shoewaecaemette Four, which lost the Stewards', and of the Columbia crew, which won the Visitors', brought up the question of foreign entries. The result was the adoption of legisla- tion with regard to foreign crews, more especially with regard to the definition of an 'amateur.' In this year was started a new race for fours called the Public Schools Challenge Cup, to be rowed on fixed seats ; Cheltenham beat Radley in the final of the first race. In 1885 the stewards very rightly discontinued this prize, which was passed on to another meeting. The business of conducting the regatta became heavier as more and more races were added, and in 1 88 1 a committee of management was appointed to deal with its affairs. A signifi- cant tribute to the value of the work performed by the Henley Committee was paid them by the International Olympic Committee, who awarded the Henley officials the cup allotted to that body which had done most during the preceding year for promoting the amateur sport of the world. This valuable trophy was handed over to the stewards during the regatta of 1907 by Lord Desborough. The presentation of this cup, which had only been awarded once before, exemplified in a very striking way the grati- tude felt by amateur oarsmen all over the world to the Henley authorities, and it could not have been made in a more appropriate year than that in which English oarsmen had testified, by the gift of a gold replica of the Grand Challenge Cup, their appreciation of the long and arduous services rendered by Mr. Herbert T. Steward in perfecting every detail of the regatta. Another famous name in the annals of Henley makes its appearance in 1885 ; in that year Mr. Guy Nickalls first rowed for Eton, and won the Ladies' Plate. In 1907 the same oars- man was in the Magdalen crew which beat Leander in the final of the Stewards' ; he had not rowed in every regatta between those two dates, but had taken part in thirteen successive years. After apparently retiring in 1897 he came out again with undiminished vigour and success in 1905, 1906, and 1907. No one can boast so fine a record of Henley prizes as Mr. Guy Nickalls, who has also four times held the amateur championship as winner of the Wingfield Sculls, and has rowed five times in the Oxford crew, being successful on two occasions against Cambridge. By 1886 it had become necessary to extend the regatta to three days, and twenty years later four days were necessary to get through the programme. It was in 1886 that the greatest change in the course took place ; before that year crews had to go round the point and finish near Henley Bridge, giving a palpably unfair advantage to the Berkshire shore ; in this year a waterway was piled out of exactly the same length (i mile and 550 yards), but starting just below the tail of the island and finishing at the upper end of Phyllis Court Wall. This water- way, which is about 1 50 ft. wide, remains the course at the time of writing. The only other necessary improvement was added when the executive determined on the addition of long booms between each post from start to finish. This innovation has proved invaluable ; not only does it keep the course clear of the vast crowd of boats, it enables two races to be rowed within the short interval of only five minutes whenever necessary, and saves the spectators in boat, punt, or canoe from the wash of the umpire's launch. The advantage of the Buckinghamshire shore over the Berkshire station has always been a matter for discussion, but as a matter of fact this is not extraordinary, unless there happens to be a very strong breeze ofF the Buckinghamshire shore, when the boat on that station is able to enjoy the shelter of the bushes. In 1906 — a year remarkable for fine weather and almost perfect conditions — the Buckinghamshire station won thirty-one times and the Berkshire won twenty-four times. In 1907 — which was re- markable for extraordinarily bad weather — Buck- inghamshire won thirty-five times and Berkshire twenty-seven times. From these figures either side can derive whatever arguments may suit them. It may be added that the natural course of the stream is direct from the bridge upon the projecting wall of Phyllis Court grounds, nearly opposite Poplar Point ; then obliquely towards the gate below the point ; and then still more obliquely and more quietly to the overhanging trees near Fawley Court, leaving comparatively dead water for some distance below the grounds of Fawley Court. The stream becomes stronger as it approaches the island, but is much sharper on the Buckinghamshire side than in the Berk- shire channel. In 1887 our present king and queen — then Prince and Princess of Wales — visited the new course with a large party of royalties. In 1894 the rules concerning amateurism and boat-racing received a further most important revision. In 1 902, owing to the regretted retirement of Colonel Frank Willan, captain of the Oxford Four, which had beaten Harvard on the tide- way, the present umpires — Mr. Frederick Pitman, the famous Cambridge stroke and sculler, and Mr. W. A. L. Fletcher, D.S.O., of Oxford- were appointed. The judge is Mr. Frederick Fenner, who has probably held that office in various races on the Thames longer than any other living man. It was in 1902 that, in pursuance of their resolute policy of keeping rowing the purest sport in England, the Henley stewards stopped professional coaching in all except sculling races, in which such assistance is usually essential during practice. But it should be noted that Mr. Kelly, whose sculling record 242 SPORT ANCIENT AND MODERN is the finest performance at the regatta, never used professional help. In 1906 the stewards appointed as official time-keepers Mr. H. Elling- ton, London R.C., and Mr. Theodore A. Cook, O.U.B.C. The records for the various races, corrected up to II July, 1907, are as follows : — Rice Holder* Date Finish Grand . f Leander (P. London) (New College (v. Leander) • • 1891 I897 6.5I 6.5, Ladies . . Eton (v. Emmanuel) . 1892 7-i Thames London (v. Thames) , 1886 7-8 Stewards . f Leander (r. New College) \Third Trinity (v. Winnipeg) • 1897 1904. 7-30 7.30 Visitors . . New College (v. University College) 1898 7-37 Wyfolds Burton (P. Kingston) .... 1902 7-43 Goblets . (Barclay and Muttlebury (v. The McLeans) . Johnstone & R. Powell (v. Graham & Kelly) 1887 1906 8.15 8.15 Diamonds . . Kelly (v. Blackstaffe) 1905 8-10 ATHLETICS Sports have been held in various towns and villages for very many years ; but some of the older meetings have ceased to exist. Some thirty years ago, a famous fixture was held annually at Olney. The races were run on a rather rough up and down hill grass course, which militated against fast times ; but the results were seldom lacking in interest. It was at the Olney sports in the early seventies that James Gibb, after- wards four mile champion of England, made his first appearance as a lad of sixteen. He was handicapped liberally on account of his youth, and easily won the mile. In the following year he was placed at scratch, and again won, a per- formance which he repeated for two years in suc- cession. The Bucks Constabulary meeting is a highly popular one, its open events being always well supported by athletes of good class. Other good meetings, which have been long established, are those at Aylesbury, Leighton Buzzard, High Wycombe, Newport Pagnel (whence came another famous ex-champion, C. Pearce), Stony Stratford, Chesham, Buckingham, and Amersham. The oldest of all the paper- chasing clubs, the Thames Hare and Hounds, which has been established nearly forty years, chose a route across country, from High Wycombe to Princes Risborough, for one of their outlying runs. 243 AYL \, %••''•••....... .-^S DESBOROUCH INDEX MAP to the HUNDREDS of BUCKINGHAMSHIRE TOPOGRAPHY THE THREE HUNDREDS OF AYLESBURY (RISBOROUGH, STONE, AYLESBURY) RISBOROUGH HUNDRED CONTAINING THE PARISHES OF BLEDLOW WITH BLEDLOW HORSENDEN RISBOROUGH, PRINCES RIDGE RISBOROUGH, MONKS STONE HUNDRED CONTAINING THE PARISHES OF CUDDINGTON HAMPDEN, GREAT KIMBLE, GREAT DINTON WITH FORD AND HAMPDEN, LITTLE KIMBLE, LITTLE UPTON HARTWELL STONE HADDENHAM AYLESBURY HUNDRED CONTAINING THE PARISHES OF ASTON CLINTON HULCOTT WESTON TURVILLE1 BIERTON WITH BROUGHTON LEE BUCKLAND MISSENDEN, GREAT AYLESBURY WITH WAL- ELLESBOROUGH MISSENDEN, LITTLE TON HALTON STOKE MANDEVILLE WENDOVER The county of Buckingham was divided into eighteen hundreds at the time of Domesday Survey. At the close of the I3th century, however, they had become consolidated into eight groups of three hundreds.' Of the older divisions, the Hundreds of Aylesbury, Risborough, and Stone formed the Three Hundreds of Aylesbury, containing twenty-seven parishes.8 Practically no change has taken place in the bounds of the Three Hun- dreds since Domesday Book, but the parishes of Cuddington, Little Hampden, Hulcott, and Lee are not named in the Survey.4 Marlow, however, seems to have been included under the Hundred of Stone in the entry of Walter de Vernon's lands, but this was probably merely an omission of the heading of Desborough Hundred,' since elsewhere in the Survey Marlow is placed in the last-mentioned hundred." The Liberty of Brand's 1 Pop. Ret. 1831, i, 25, 26. * Feint. Aidi, i, 89. 'Ibid. 4 y.C.H. Bucks, i, Dom. Map. • Ibid, i, 260*. ' 'Ibid, i, 265^. 245 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE Fee in Aylesbury Hundred is in the parish of Hughenden in Desborough Hundred (q.v.). The Hundred of Risborough contained the four parishes of Bledlow, Horsenden, Monks Risborough, and Princes Risborough. The parishes con- tained in the other two hundreds varied, however, at different times ; in 1316 the Hundred of Aylesbury contained Aston Clinton, Aylesbury, Buckland, Broughton and Hulcott, Ellesborough, Halton, Great Missenden, Little Mis- senden, Stoke Mandeville with Hallinge, Wendover, and Weston Turville.7 The Hundred of Stone at the same date contained Dinton, Haddenham with Cuddington, Great Hampden, Hartwell and Little Hampden, Great Kimble, Little Kimble, Stone, and Upton.8 Dinton parish spread into the two Hun- dreds of Desborough and Ashendon, the liberty of Moreton being in the former and Aston Mullins and Walldridge in the latter hundred. ' Feud, Aids, i, 112. •Ibid. 113. THREE HUNDREDS of STONE RISBOROUCH AND AYLESBURY 246 RISBOROUGH HUNDRED BLEDLOW HUNDRED OF RISBOROUGH BLEDLOW Bledelai (xi cent.) ; BleJelaw (xiii cent.). Bledlow parish lies on the western boundary of Buckinghamshire. It is nearly separated from the other parishes in the Three Hundreds of Aylesbury by a piece of Desborough Hundred, which lies between the parishes of Bledlow and Horsenden. The southern end of the parish lies on the Chiltern Hills, and is called Bledlow Ridge, being between 600 ft. and 800 ft.' above the Ordnance datum. The lower Icknield Way runs parallel to the line of the high ground from north-east to south-west, along the north and west sides of the parish, and the village and church stand back from it about half a mile on the lower slopes of the hill;. Close to the east end of the church is a steep wooded combe called the Lyde, in which several springs break out from the chalk and form a small pool. The nearness of the church to th: steep banks of the combe has suggested a local rhyme — They that live and do abide Shall lee the church fall in the LyJc, but fortunately this disaster does not seem very imminent. The brook running from the pool is called the Lyde Brook, and is used for two paper- mills, BleJiow Mill and North Mill. The western boundary of the parish is formed by Cuttle Brook, which run< south to the River Thame. The higher slopes of the hills are in parts well wooded, and in one of the open spaces, on the north slope of Wain Hill, is the Bledlow Cross, cut in the turf, and visible for miles as a landmark.* The village is picturesque, its small houses, sur- rounded by gardens, lying for the most part along the side of the hill, but there are outlying houses in the lower ground on the side roads which join the Icknield Way. The subsoil on the hills is chalk, and in the northern part of the parish Upper Greensand and Gault.1 The surface soil is partly chalk loam, and partly stiff clay. The inhabitants are mainly engaged in arable farming, the parish containing 2,694$- acrcs of arable land, and 963 acres of permanent grass.' There are several poultry farms, and in the Lyde there are watercress beds. The paper-mills of Mr. A. H. James provide occupation for part of the population. Both the Upper and Lower Icknield Ways pass across the parish, and the Wycombe branch of the Great Western Rail- way runs through it, with a station one mile to the north of Bledlow village. There are six hamlets in the parish. Of these Bledlow Ridge has been formed into a separate ecclesiastical parish since 1 868. The other hamlets are Pitch Green, Rout's Green, Forty Green, Skittle Green, Holly Green. The whole civil parish contains 4,168} acres.* Amongst the vicars of Bledlow the name of Ti mothy Hall (1637 ?~9o) occurs. He held the livings of Horsenden, Princes Risborough, and Bledlow in suc- cession, being presented to the last named in 1674. Three years later he became rector of Allhallows Barking. He published the Royal Declaration for Liberty of Conic. ence in 1687, and the next year became titular Bishop of Oxford. He was consecrated, but the canons of Christ Church refused to install him. On the accession of William of Orange he refused to take the oaths, but yielding at the last moment retained his titular bishopric until his death.4 In the time of King Edward the MANORS Confessor, Edmer Atule, one of the royal thegns, held the manor of BLED- LOHT, and could sell it at will.7 William the Con- queror, however, granted it to his half-brother, Robert, Count of Mortain, who held it in 1086.' William the son of Count Robert joined the rebellion of Robert of Bellesme against Henry I, and in conscqi-ence for- feited his lands in 1104.* The honour of Mortain was known in Buckinghamshire and the neighbouring counties as the honour of Berkhampstead,10 but it seems probable that Bledlow was separated from the honour, since it was held, at least from the time of Henry II, from the king in chief," and not from the varijus grantees of Berkhampstead." The privileges attaching to the honour of Mortain however still continued in Bledlow.1* Henry II ap- pears to have granted the manor to Hugh de Gurnay before 1 177," but in I 198 Hugh made an exchange " with the monks of Bee Hellouin in Normandy, by which the manor passed to that alien abbey, and was held in frankalmoign " in chief of the king.17 The priory of Ogbourne was an English cell of the abbey of Bee, and the prior seems to have answered for its English lands, and at times was described as lord of the manor.1* During the French wars of the 1 4th and I5th cen- turies the lands of the alien priories were seized by the king, and Ogbourne was ultimately dissolved by Henry V. He granted the manor of Bledlow to his brother John, Duke of Bedford,1* who died in I435,10 when it passed to Henry VI as his nephew and heir. In 1462 the king granted it to his new foundation, the College of St. Mary, Eton," the provost and fellows of which college are at the present day the lords of the manor. In the 1 5th century the Hampdcns, of Great Hampden, held CORHJMS M4NOR in Bledlow under the provost and fellows of Eton College." Thomas Hampden died seised of the manor in 1485." His grandson John Hampden settled it on his younger daughter and co-heiress Barbara, the wife of Sir 1 t'.C.H. Bueki. i, Geographical map. • See y.C.H. Buck,, i, 189. • y.C.H. Bucki. i, Geological map. 4 Inf. from Bd. of Agric, (1905). • Ord. Surv. • Diet. Nat. Bitg. M!T, 91. ' V.C.H. Buck,, i, 143*. • Ibid. . HIT*, ii, 165*. >• y.C.H. Buclu. i, 111. " Cf. FnJ. Aidi, i, 85, 97, 113. 11 Ibid, i, 107-31 i y.CM. Htrtt. ii, 165-7. '• FtuJ. Aidi, i, 97. " Pipe R. 13 Hen. II, m. 9 d. ** Hiit. MSS. Com. Rtf. U, App. i, 356* ; Auize R. 63, m. 19 4. " TIIU dt Ntvill (Rec. Com.), 145. 247 '? FeuJ. Aidi, i, 85, 97, 113. u Ibid, i, 113; Cat. Pat. 1381-5, P- 354- " Chan. Inq. p.m. 14 Hen. VI, no. 36. *> Ibid. 11 Cat. Pat. 1461-7, p. 73. 11 Eich. Inq. p.m. bdle. 51, no. II. " Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. l), niii, no. 47- A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE George Paulet," who obtained various confirmations of the grant from the members of the Hampden family.15 In 1585 Hampden Paulet16 sold this manor to Roger Corham, and in 1624 it was held by William Corham and his wife Jane.*7 They sold it in the HAMPDEN. Argent a saltire gules between four eaglet azure. PAUL»T. Sable three swords set pilfuihe 'with their hilts or. same year to Alban Pigott and Ralph Pigott of Col- wich,*8 in the parish of Waddesdon. Alban Pigott apparently left three daughters,*9 but which of them inherited Corham's manor does not appear. Daniel Cox, jun., held the manor in 1703,*° but some years later he sold it to Richard Badcock.31 The last men- tion of the Badcocks is in 1823, when John Lovell Badcock, with Anne and Susannah, probably his sisters, made a settlement of the manor." The family of Spiers also seems to have had some interest at this time in Corham's manor. William Spiers, lessee of the manor,33 subscribed to the building fund of the chapel at Bledlow Ridge. In 1823 Thomas Spiers was a party to the settlement made by the Badcocks.*4 It seems probable, however, that he was only a lessee under the Badcocks, though he may have owned other land in the parish. About 1826 the manor was sold, possibly by the Badcocks, to Captain Wood, who seems to have held it for more than thirty years.*5 The present owner of the manor is Mr. Robert White, of Chinnor, Oxon, but the land is for the most part enfranchised.36 Hugh de Gurnay appears to have kept certain tenements in Bledlow after the exchange made with the Abbot of Bee, since Juliana, the heiress of the Gurnays, was summoned, when still a minor, to give warranty for certain lands in the parish.37 She married William Bardolf, and in 1285-6 she and her husband attempted to recover the manor from the Abbot of Bee,38 She claimed all the manor with its appurten- ances except 5 messuages, I mill, and 2 carucates of land, which presumably she already held. Finally the abbot obtained a quit-claim from Juliana and William Bardolf for 200 marks sterling. Her descendants held rents in Bledlow without interruption till the begin- ning of the 1 5th century, when Sir Thomas Bardolf held the tenements above alluded to.39 The lands retained by Hugh de Gurnay were the fees of Odo of Bramoster and of John de Turri, who presumably were military tenants.'0 In 1 1 80, before the grant to Bee, John de Turri paid 10 marks for confirma- tion of his land in Bledlow.41 In 1228 Richard de Turri, together with the Prior of Ogbourne, brought an action with regard to common rights over their lands in Bledlow.4* The whole manor of Bledlow, which was granted to the Count of Mortain by the Conqueror, does not seem to have been included in the grant to Hugh de Gurnay.43 The family of de Rual or Druel held certain land, afterwards known as MESLES or DRUELS, in Bledlow, of the honour of Mortain in the 1 3th century. Simon de Rual paid scutage for land in Bledlow in 1236." This tenement seems to have been the hamlet of Mosleye or Mesle, which John Druel held in 1284—6" and in I3O2-3-46 His son John Druel made a settlement in 1333 of the messuage and rents in Bledlow,'7 by which there were remainders to Giles son of John Druel, and his wife Amabel daughter of Thomas de Reynes and their issue, and in default to William brother of Giles and his wife, another daughter of Thomas de Reynes. It is not clear whether Giles and William were the sons or brothers of John son of John Druel. In 1346 this John and Roger Puttenham held the fee formerly held by John Druel,48 but after this date the name of Druel disappears. Like the manor of Horsenden,49 this land has a complicated history during the Wan of the Roses. The manor of Mesles or Druels, as it was called in the 1 5th century, appears to have come into the possession of Edmund Hampden and John Brekenoke.60 They demised it in 1458-9 to Sir John Fray and William Brown,41 who in turn granted it to John Leynham or Plomer and his wife Mar- garet.5' Various releases and sales were afterwards made,53 and in 1528 the manor had passed into the possession of Sir Edward Don.54 He left an only daughter and heiress who married Sir Thomas Jones,54 and his lands descended to his two granddaughters Frances and Anne. In the division of their shares of their property the manor of Druels came to Frances, the wife of Ralph Lee.56 Together with their son and heir Edward Donne Lee they settled the manor on Thomas Lee,57 who died seised in I572.56 It then reverted to Edward Donne Lee, who sold it to William Quarendon.59 In 1583 Quarendon and his wife Margaret held the manor.60 Afterwards it was divided, presumably between two heiresses, since John Franldyn in 1640 died seised of half the 84 Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 4 Edw. V ; L. and P. Hen. Vlll, xiii (i), 1000. ** Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 4 Edw. V ; Mich. 3 Edw. VI ; Mich. I & 2 Phil, and Mary. 36 Recov. R. Mich. 27 Eliz. ; Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 27 Eliz. "? Ibid. Trin. 21 Jas. I. 98 Ibid. ; Close, 17 Jas. I, pt. II ; pt. 7, no. 30. 89 Lipscomb, Hist, of Bucks, i, 486. 80 Feet of F. Bucks. Trin. i Anne. " Ibid. Mich, and Hil. 7 Geo. I. 82 Ibid. Mich. 4 Geo. IV. 88 Lipscomb, hist, of Bucks, ii. 84 Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 4 Geo. IV. 85 From information obtained at Bled- low by Mr. C. O. Shilbeck. 86 Ibid. 8? Assize R. 55, m. 12. 88 Ibid. 63, m. 19 d. " Chan. Inq. p.m. 23 Edw. I, no. 9 j 32 Edw. I, nos. 64-9 ; 3 Edw. Ill (ist nos.), no. 66 ; 13 Ric. II, no. 6 ; 4 Hen. IV, no. 39. 40 Assize R. 63, m. 19 d. 41 Pipe R. Bucks, and Beds. 26 Hen. II, m. 9 d. 4a Maitland, Bracton's Note Bk. case 274. 48 V.C.H. Bucks, i, 243*. 44 Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 258*; Assize R. 56, m. 23. 248 44 Feud. Aid;, i, 85. 46 Ibid, i, 97. 4? Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 6 Edw. III. 48 Feud. Aids, i, 123. 49 Cf. Horsenden. 60 Cal. Pat. 1467-77, p. 471. "Ibid- "Ibid. 63 Close, 14 Edw. IV, m. 7 ; Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 14 Edw. IV. 54 Recov. R. Mich. 20 Hen. VIII. « Cf. Horsenden. M Feet of F. Bucks. East. 2 Eliz. s? Ibid. East. 1 3 Eliz. 58 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), clx, no. 15. 59 Feet of F. Bucks. East. 22 Eliz. 60 Ibid. East. 25 Eliz. RISBOROUGH HUNDRED manor or farm of Mesles or Druels." The only trace of this manor to be found in recent times was a wood named Druels Wood, near Bledlow Ridge, which has now been grubbed up. In the 1 4th century the family of Fresel held an estate known as FR4TSELLES in Bledlow. James Fresel in 1316-17 made a settlement, by which he settled this on himself for life, with remainder to James his son and his issue ; in default with remainder to another son, Thomas." This James Fresel was a man of some importance in the county, being a knight of the shire in I 329." He also obtained an indult from Pope John XXII, that his confessor should give him plenary remission at the hour of death,64 and by his will left valuable bequests to the church of Bledlow." His father's name was Robert, but he does not appear as tenant of land in Hledlow." In his will dated 1341 James Fresel named only two sons, Edmund and James,87 but Thomas appears in the settlement mentioned before, and was probably his father's heir, since he succeeded to the greater part of the 'estates before '343" Elizabeth daughter of Thomas Fresel claimed various tenements that her father had held in neigh- bouring parishes in 1364 or 1365, and presumably was his heiress." Some years later Richard ap Yenan held lands and tenements called 'Freselles,' in Bled- low," but it does not appear how he obtained them. In 1524 Walter Curzon died seised of the manor of Frayselles,71 which afterwards came into the possession of George, Earl of Huntingdon, who sold it to Sir Michael Dormer and John Goodwyn in 1537." The Dormers held the manor" till 1584-5, when a sale took place of the site of the manor of Frayselles, which came into the hands of Edward East.74 This sale probably included the whole manor, which was held from this time by the lord of the Rectory Manor (q.v.), and was apparently united with it." In the i 5th century the manor was held of the Rector of Bledlow,76 at that time the Dean and Chapter of the Free Chapel of St. Stephen, Westminster." After the Dissolution, however, it was apparently separated from the rectory, and held, in Queen Elizabeth's reign, of the honour of Ewelme by fealty and rent." There seems to have been a RECTORT M4NOR of considerable size in Bledlow. There is no specific mention of it until after the Restoration, though the Fresels' property was said to be held of the rector in the I 5th and l6th centuries." It evidently belonged first to the abbey of Grestein, and subsequently to the BLEDLOW Free Chapel of St. Stephen, Westminster." After the Dissolution the Rectory was granted to Thomas East and Henry Hoblethome, who, however, surrendered their lease in 1552." Edward VI then gave a lease for twenty-one years to Thomas Forster,8* but in 1562 or 1563 Queen Elizabeth granted the Rectory to William Revett and Thomas Bright and their heirs to hold in chief." The following year, however, they had licence to alienate it to Edward East." He made a settlement in 1609,** by which it was held by him for his own life, then to the use of Cecilia his wife for her life, then to the use of the executors of his will for one year, and then to the use of Edward Fitz Herbert." Fitz Herbert predeceased Edward East and Brigit Fitz Herbert,*7 probably his widow. She seems to have married Sir Edmund Windsor, and to have held the Rectory in 1630." William Fitz Herbert is men- tioned at the same date," and he and his wife Anne held it afterwards. He was sequestered during the Civil War as a recusant, and compounded for Bled- low Parsonage for £200 in 1647.** He seems, how- ever, to have sold it to William Brereton and James Blanks." The former was one of the trustees of Sir John Fitz Herbert, father of William Fitz Herbert." Great efforts seem to have been made by William Fitz Herbert to preserve his lands by various sales,"1 but William Starbuck, minister of Bledlow and his parishioners made complaints against him for com- pounding for his estates in the parish at an under- valuation.*4 Their object seems to have been to obtain posses- sion themselves, for they offered to pay £300 for the Rectory.95 After many inquiries Brereton and Blanks succeeded in establishing their claim, and their lease was judged good by Chief Justice St. John at the Assizes. They were, therefore, discharged by the Committee for Compounding." John Blanks re- tained possession of the Rectory after the Restoration,97 when the estate was called ' the manor of the Rectory of Bledlowe.' * His granddaughter and heiress married Johnshall Crosse.99 She was succeeded by her son Henry,100 who married Elizabeth Jodrell,"" and their fourth son Thomas held the manor in 1745."" He died without children, his heir being his sister, the wife of William Hayton."8 Her daughter married Samuel Whitbread, who succeeded to the estate on the death of his mother-in-law.104 Their son, another Samuel, sold the manor in 1801 to Lord Carring- ton,104 whose successor holds it at the present day. At the time of the Domesday Survey there was one mill in the parish, which yearly yielded to the •' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. l), cccczciv, no. 48. « Feet of T. Buckt. HiL 10 Edw. IL « Col. Chit, I 317-30, p. 528. M Col. if Papal Ltmrt, ii, 391. •• Hiit. MSS. Com. Rip. a, App. i, 47* "Ibid. •Ubid. •* Ctl. Pat. 1 343-5, p. 91 ; Awize R. 1431, m. cod. " Ibid. 1451, m. 4;. "° Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Hen. V, no. 57. "' Exch. Inq. p.m. bdle. 22, no. 6. •* Feet of F. Buclci. Mich. 19 Hen. VIII ; Recov. R. Mich. 29 Hen. VIII. •• Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. z), liiiii, no. 10 ; Feet of F. Bucks. Eatt. 4 Edw. VI ; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), XCY. no. 5j ibid, cln, no. 2. 7« Feet of F. Buck*. HiL 17 Eliz. " Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxxxv, no. 24 ; Feet of F. Buck*. Trin. 6 Chai. I ; Trin. 1649; Mich. 165?. 7* Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 1 Hen. V, no. 7. 77 Exch. Inq. p.m. bdle. 72, no. 6. 7* Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), clxx, no. 2. "• Ibid. 4 Hen. V, no. 57, file 254 ; Exch. Inq. p.m. bdle. 12, no. 6. " See 'Advowton.' « Aca of P.C. 1552-4, p. 109. •Ibid. * Pat. J Elir. pt. 3. « Ibid. 6 Eliz. pt. II. " Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), CCCXZZT, no. 24. "Ibid. •? Ibid. « Feet of T. Bucks. Trin. 6 Chat. I. 249 •• Ibid. •» Cal. of Com. for Compounding, 68. 11 Ibid. 1489. * Ibid. 1488. » Feet of F. Buck*. Trin. 1649 ; ibid. Mich. 1653. •« Cal. of Com. for Compounding, 1489. * Ibid. «• Ibid. •7 Feet of F. Buckt. Mich. 18 Chat. II. « Ibid. 24 Chat. II. n Ibid. Eait. 32 Chat. II ; Trin. IX Will. III. »« Ibid. «" Ibid. Div. Cot. Trin. 13 Ceo. II. '« Recov. R. Mil. 19 Geo. II. 1M Feet of F. Di». Cot. Mich. 13 Geo. II ; cf. pedigree, Lipicomb, Hat, of Bulks, v. '« Ibid. l<* Lyiont, Mapii Britannit, 32 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE lord of the manor twenty-four loads of malt.106 It was presumably the same mill that Hugh de Gurnay excepted from the grant of the manor to the abbey of Bee, and which at that date, 1198, was held by WHITHREAD. Argent CARRINGTON. Or a a chevcron benueen three che-veron couflcchstd sa- hinds' heads raxed gules, ble between three demi- griffins sable, the rwo in the chief face to facet •with a molet gules for difference. Simon Hochede.107 In 1240-1 Alice, widow of Simon, sued William Neirnuit for the third part of certain tenements, a mill with its appurtenances being specified.108 A second Simon, the heir, was in ward- ship and Juliana de Gurnay, also a minor, was the overlord of the tenements in question.109 Some years later Nicholas Hochedee appears in a suit ao to land in Bledlow, but the mill is not mentioned ; 110 in 1304, at the death of Hugh Bardolf, the rent of a water-mill was held by Christiana, daughter of Regi- nald de Hampden.111 In the 1 3th century the Abbot of Bee claimed to hold view of frankpledge, gallows, waifs, and other regalia in the manor of Bledlow, basing his right on the grant of Hugh de Gurnay, his feoffbr, and its confirmation by Henry II."1 The church of THE HOLT TRI- CHURCHES NITr consists of a chancel 31 ft. by 1 6 ft. 6 in., a nave 44 ft. 1 1 in. by 1 5 ft. 1 1 in., north and south aisles respectively 8ft. 9^ in. and loft. loin, wide, a western tower I 3 ft. 6 in. by I 3 ft. 4 in., and a south porch. There is evidence of the existence at the east end of the present north aisle of a late 1 2th- century transept, parts of its north and east walls remaining ; to the east of it there seems to have been a chapel, entered through an archway, the south re- spond of which is still in position. At this time the church was probably cruciform in plan, consisting of a chancel, central tower, transepts, and a nave about thirty feet by f o u r t e e n feet, the western wall of which coincided with the position of the east wall of the present tower. During the course of the 1 3th century almost the whole structure was rebuilt, the first work undertaken being the north arcade and aisle of the nave. The south arcade and aisle were probably added immedi- ately afterwards, the central tower being destroyed and a new tower begun at the west. Towards the end of the 1 3th century the chancel was rebuilt and enlarged to its present size, and the present tower was completed, the aisles being extended to its western wall. After this there were no further additions to the plan except that of a south porch in the 1 4th century, but windows were inserted at various points. The old high-pitched roof was removed, probably at a late date, and the existing roof substituted for it. The present clearstory windows appear to be completely modern, but the walls in which they are inserted belong to the I3th century, and the windows them- selves may have had prototypes of that date. The east window of the chancel is of 13th- century date, and consists of three shafted lancets with an internal reveal, the shafts having moulded circular capitals and bases. The lancets are of two chamfered orders, and stilted. In the north and south walls are small niches, with trefoiled heads, of 1 5th-century date, though much restored. That to the south is a piscina, and the other now contains the brass of William Herne, priest, 1525. Of the three windows in this wall, the eastern is a single trefoiled light and the second of two trefoiled lights with a sixfoil over, both probably of the date of the wall. That to the west is continued as a recess below its sill, and pierced for a low side window. A scroll-moulded string runs along the wall, and is broken downwards just west of the middle window, at which point is in- serted a crocketed and finialled pinnacle of later date. The westernmost window of the south wall is of the same general design and date as the middle window of the north, but differs in having a moulded rear arch and shafted jambs to its inner reveal, with circular moulded capitals and bases. Further to the east is a window of two trefoiled lights with a quatrefoil over, of somewhat earlier type than the others, and between the windows is a blocked priest's door, which is hid- den by the organ, but externally is of 18th-century Scale • of • feet- PLAN OF HOLY TRINITY CHURCH, BLEDLOW 6 V.C.H. Bucks. \, 243*. 7 Assize R. 63, m. i6d. "8 Ibid. 55, m. 12. ""Ibid. »10 Feet of F. Bucks. Hil. 47 Hen. III. 250 111 Chan. Inq. p.m. 32 Edw. I, no. 643. 113 Plac. de Quo War. (Rec. Com.), 88. RISBOROUGH HUNDRED date, with white marble shafted jambs and moulded two-centred head of poor imitation Gothic detail. Below the window there is the same string-course as on the north, with an inserted pinnacle opposite to that in the north wall. Their intention is not clear, as they are so near to the west of the chancel. The chancel arch is of mid- 13th-century date, of rather blunt two-centred form and two square orders, with a plain roll label on the west side. Just above the haunches of the arch are two early 15th-century head corbels as supports to a rood beam which ran across the top of the arch, the label being cut away to allow for this. At the spring the label is also cut away to allow for the rood loft, here supported upon plainer corbels. The jambs of the arch are plain, with a stopped chamfer, and the inner order is supported on moulded half-octagonal capitals with corbels under, carved into a face. The nave is of four bays, and though the south arcade is a trifle later than the north, the detail throughout is the same. The arches are two-centred, of two square orders, with a plain roll label towards the nave. The columns are round, with circular moulded bases on square plinths, and bell-shaped capitals enriched with beautiful cinquefoiled and trefoiled leaves in relief, and with octagonal abaci square edged above. The capitals are all of the same general style, but in some the leaves lie close to the bell and in others are undercut. There are no re- sponds, but the arches at the ends of the arcades spring from corbels with semi-octagonal capitals. The corbels on the north arc plain, but on the south are foliated in the same way as the capitals. The clearstory windows are modern, of three tre- foiled lights under a flat lintel, but the openings are old. They are six in number, three on either side of the nave. In the external angle between the north aisle and chancel is the south respond of a I zth-century open- ing to a chapel east of the transept of the earlier church, with a chamfered and beaded abacus. The arch has completely disappeared, but a straight joint in the east wall of the aisle on the outside suggests the line of the north wall of this chapel, while a partly built-up recess on the inside is evidently the opening from the transept to the chapel. In this recess has been inserted a late 14th-century window of two trefoiled lights, with a square head and tre- foiled spandrels. To the north of this window is a rich but mutilated canopied niche of eirly 15th-cen- tury date. In the north wall are three two-light windows. The first and last are of similar design and date to the south-east window in the chancel. Be- tween them is a mid- 1 4th-century window of two trefoiled lights with flowing tracery and a quatrefoil over. A little west of this is a small north doorway of early 13th-century date, with a semicircular head of one square order and rather roughly-moulded abaci. At the west end of the aisle is a half-arch buttressing the east tower arch, so much restored ai to appear modern. The south aisle has a blocked east window, which was apparently a late insertion ; externally the wall has been rcfaced. At the cast end of the south wall is a piscina with a plain two-centred chamfered head, and in the same wall are three windows. The first from the east is a very fine example of early- 1 4th- BLEDLOW century date. It is of four lancet lights, with trefoiled subheads and oval quatrefoils in the lancets, the jambs, head, mullions, and tracery being moulded internally and externally, and there is an external label. Partly under it is a mid- 14th-century tomb recess with jambs and a low pointed arch of two wave-moulded orders. The second window is of the same design and date as the window opposite to it in the north aisle. The south door, immediately west of this window, is of the same date as the arcade, with a two-centred head of three moulded orders, the inner being continuous and the outer pair resting upon detached circular shafts with moulded capitals and bases. The third window is of two uncusped lights, much restored, and is a 1 3th-century opening. At the west end of the original aisle is a half-arch similar to that on the north, but all of late- 1 ; th-century date. It is of two chamfered orders, and springs from a carved corbel capital. The tower is of three stages, with a plain coped parapet resting on a fine corbel table with grotesque and mask corbels. The belfry openings, four in num- ber, are of two uncusped lancet lights with a quatre- foil over, set in a moulded reveal with a two-centred head and a scroll label. In the second stage are three small lancets of two chamfered orders, and on the east face appears the steep weathering of the 1 3th- century roof, the ridge of which reaches to the sill of the belfry openings. In the north, south, and east walls of the ground stage of the tower are arches opening respectively into prolongations of the aisles and to the nave. These arches are of two chamfered orders, the outer continuous and the inner resting upon half-octagonal pilasters with moulded capitals and bases. The west window in this stage is of two cinquefoiled lights, with cusped tracery over ; the cusping has been mutilated, but the window is appar- ently of 14th-century date. The west door, of some- what later date, has continuous wave-mouldings of two orders, with an external label. The part of the north aisle flanking the tower is lit by a small 14th-century trefoiled light in the west wall. The corresponding space on the south of the tower is used as a baptistery, and is lit on the south by a modern window of two trefoiled lights, and on the west by a small, much-restored round-headed window of doubtful date. The south porch has a wide outer arch of two moulded orders, of good 14th-century detail, and the porch has stone benches on the east and west, and at the north-east a small square holy water stone. The font is of late 12th-century date, of local type, with a circular scalloped bowl on a square base formed like an inverted cushion capital and ornamented with foliage in lunette panels, and the short stem is circular, with cable mouldings. The roofs throughout are very plain, of low pitch, covered with lead, and may possibly be of I 5th-century date. There are no pews, the nave and aisles being filled with chairs, and the chancel stalls, rood screen, and pulpit are modern. At the east end of the south aisle is a 17th-century altar table and a late carved wood eagle lectern. In the same place is preserved a curious 18th-century carved wooden candle and candlestick. The candle is painted, and the candlestick with its clawed foot and the candle-flame are gilt.'" u* Thi« appear* to be one of the 'three ihim tapen in candleitickt carved and gilt' which Mood in 1785 on the pediment over the attar-piece. It it now 251 laid to have been for UK at funcrali See Y.C.U. Bucki. \, 34.1. A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE The brass already referred to in the chancel bears the figure of a priest in mass vestments and the in- scription : ' Hie jacet dns Willrn Herri in artibus baculari' nuper vicarius istius ecclie qui obiit anno dni millmo quingetesimo xxv. cuius ale propicietur deus amen.' There are considerable traces of painting through- out the church. Over the chancel arch was a paint- ing of the Doom, and on the walls of the nave are traces of an early vine design and a masonry pattern. On the north wall of the north aisle is a large figure of St. Christopher. There is very little painted glass, but the quatrefoil in the head of the window to the south-west in the chancel is complete in 14th- century glass of conventional design. The tower contains five bells, the treble dated 1636, and the second, third, and fourth 1683, the last bearing the inscription ' Richard Keene cast this ring.' The fifth was cast by W. & J. Taylor in 1842. The church plate comprises an Elizabethan cup of 1569 ; a salver, the gift of John Cross in 1693, hall- marked for 1689 ; a small standing paten of which the date letter is almost illegible, but appears to be that for 1668 ; a flagon inscribed as the gift of John Blankes in 1672, and hall-marked for the same date ; and a plated cup. The first book of the registers contains all entries between 1592 and 1 706 except in the case of burials, which run to 1705. The second contains all entries between 1707 and 1755 excepting marriages, which run to 1752. A third book has marriages between 1754 and 1787; a fourth baptisms and burials between 1756 and 1812, and a fifth marriages between 1787 and 1812. The church of St Paul, Bledlow Ridge, is built of flint with Bath stone dressings in the 1 3th-century style. It consists of chancel and nave with south porch and western bell-turret containing one bell. It was consecrated in 1868, but the register dates from 1 86 1. The church of the Holy Spirit is ADVQWSQN mentioned in 1 284,'" and the same invocation appears in James Fresel's will in 1 34 1, '"but at the present day it has been changed to the church of the Holy Trinity. It was granted to the abbey of Grestein in Normandy in the time of Robert Count of Mortain.115 As lord of the manor of Bledlow he granted certain tithes from his demesne lands to the abbey, then the patron of the church. The English possessions of this house were held by the Prior of Wilmington, and were seized by Edward III as part of the temporalities of an alien house before 1338 during the French War.116 The Abbot of Grestein, however, in 1358 or 1359 granted ro John Taleworth, burgess of Wycombe, and his heirs in annuity of £50 and the advowson of Bledlow Church.117 This grant can only have been enjoyed for a short time, if indeed at all, since in 1361 Edward III granted the church to the Free Chapel of St. Stephen, Westminster. The vicarage was ordained in 1405 under Bishop Repingdon, and appropriated to St. Stephen's.118 After the dissolution of the Free Chapel the rectory and advowson of the church were granted to Thomas East and Henry Hoblethorne,119 since which time the advowson has always been held by the lay rectors. James Fresel in 1341 bequeathed £20 for covering the chapel of St. Margaret at Bledlow with lead, and various smaller sums for the maintenance of lights there in the church of Bledlow.1*0 No further men- tion of this chapel is found, but in 1590 a chapel at Bledlow Ridge, with a close called the ' chappel yard,' was granted to 'fishing grantees,' so that apparently it had fallen into disuse before that date.1" No mention of it occurs in the Buckinghamshire Chan- try Certificates, so that it was apparently not merely a chantry chapel. A chapel was built in 1834 for the inhabitants of the hamlet of Bledlow Ridge. It was formed into the separate ecclesiastical parish of St. Paul's, and was endowed out of the Common Fund in 1868 and 1870.'" The living is a vicarage in the gift of the Peache trustees. There are two Wesleyan chapels in the parish, one at Bledlow and the other at Bledlow Ridge. In 1618 Henry East by his will, CHARITIES proved in the Archdeaconry Court of Buckingham, charged his tenement and close, called Picked Close, with an annuity of 2O/. for four poor widows at Lady Day and Michael- mas. The annuity is paid by Mrs. Saunders of Maidenhead, the owner of the property charged, and 5/. a year is given to each of four poor widows. This parish is entitled to share in Henry Smith's General Charity. In 1906 the sum of £9 was allotted from the Thurlaston estate, Leicestershire, and applied in the distribution of seventeen pairs of blankets. In 1671 John Blanks by will demised certain lands in the parish, the rents after payment of 101. to the vicar for a sermon on 27 December yearly, and 2/. 6tt. to the parish clerk, to be distributed in bread. The property now consists of 33. or. 38 p., known as Ford's Close, let at £4 io/. a year, and 2 a. I r. 17 p. adjoining the workhouse school gardens, known as the Poor's Piece, let to twenty-two allotment holders, producing £7 3/. a year. The distribution in bread is made in conjunction with the income of Edmund Slaughter's Charity mentioned below. In 1672 Margaret Babham by will directed that £100 should be laid out in land, and that out of the profits 4o.r. a year should be applied in providing two poor men and two poor women with coats to be marked with her initials M. and B., and 101. to the vicar for a sermon on the anniversary of her burial, 30 April 1672 (old style) and 21. to the parish clerk for keeping her tomb clean. The principal sum became a charge on a farm in the parish known as Sand-pit Farm, now belonging to Mr. R. White, who pays the fixed sum of £2 1 2/. a year. By an order of the Charity Commissioners made under the Local Government Act, 1894, the endowments of this and the preceding charity for ecclesiastical purposes were separated from the charities for the poor, and trustees appointed for their respective administration. In 1905 the sum of 40.1. was applied in the distribution of flannel to twelve poor people, chiefly women. In 1831 Edmund Slaughter by his will, proved in 113 Feet of F. Bucks. East. 12 Edw. I. 114 Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. ix, App, 470. 115 De Banco R. 55, m. 50. 116 Cal. Pat. 1338-40, p. 85. "7 Close, 32 Edw. Ill, m. 2. 118 Line. Epis. Reg. Repingdon, Inst, fol. 457. 119 Actt ofP.C. 1552-4, p. 209. 252 120 Hiit. MSS. Com. R,p. in, App. i, 474. m Pat. 33 Eliz. pt. I, m. 34. 1MZW. Gas. 1 8 June 1869, p. 3474; 22 July 1870, p. 3484. o to u 1 3 X u -- X U — RISBOROUGH HUNDRED HORSENDEN the P.C.C. on the 26 July, directed his executors to invest £100 in the public funds, the income to be applied in the distribution of bread. The trust fund consists of £119 6s. 8 Cf. Bledlow .nd y.C.H. Him. i, 165 -7. • Tnu de Nrvill (Rec. Com.), 28, 36, 162, 201. ' Feet of F. Buck*. 12 John. 10 Rot. Lit. Ptt. (Rec. Com.), 196. 11 Tnu dt Ntvill (Rrc. Com.), 14;. u V.C.H. Buck, i, 24 3 J. " Pipe Roll, 12 John, m. id. j Feet of F. Buckt. 12 John. 14 P. R.O. Liu tf Sktriffi. 14 Roger of Wendorer, Flora Hiit. iii, *37- " Ibid. " Rot. Lit. Claui. (Rec. Com.), i, 116, *4J- '« Ibid. 321. " Curia Regii R. 92, m. 16. «° Feet of F. Buck*. 16 Hen. III. 253 u Dugdale, Baronage oj EngUj Colt Inq. f.m. Hen. Ill, 781, 916. » Ibid. « Feud. Aidi, i, 8$. M Chan. Inq. p.m. 33 Edw. Ill (itt not.), no. 31. u Chan. Mite. 49, file I, no. 1 9 ; Tent dt Ntvill (Rec. Com.), 254. » Ftud. Aidi, i, 85. "Ibid, i, 112; De Banco R. 15;, m. 66 d. ; Chart R. 7 Edw. Ill, m. 7, no. 33 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 33 Edw. Ill (itt not.), no. 31. A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE until the male line came to an end with Sir Gerard Bra/brook, who died before i^z.13 He demised the manor to the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's, London, and others in 14.26,™ and in 1432 Sir William LATIMIR. cross paty or. Gula a BRAYBROOK. Argent seven voided lozenges gulei Beauchamp and Elizabeth his wife, the eldest co- heiress of Sir Gerard Braybrook,30 released all their right in the manor31 to the Dean and Chapter. For nearly one hundred years the history of the manor is obscure : it appears to have been granted by the Dean and Chapter to John Ferity, Nicholas Wotton, Thomas Knolles, John Hampden of Kimble, and two others in I437.31 In 1458-9 John Brekenok of Horsenden and others (John Hampden of Kimble being again named) granted it to Sir John Leynham or Plomer." Various settlements were made by him on his mar- riage,31 and he was jointly seised of the manor with his wife Margaret." They had no children,36 and granted the manor to Thomas Gaune and others to hold to the use of John Morton, Bishop of Ely, Lord Hastings, Ralph Hastings, and others," presumably after the death of Sir John.38 He died in I48o,39 and the next year the manor was conveyed to the grantees to the uses named in the previous charter.40 Which of these grantees had actual seisin of the manor does not appear, but early in the 1 6th century it came into the possession of the Donnes, probably by grant of Sir George Hastings." In 1529 it was held by Sir Edward Donne,4* but he left no son.43 His daughter, who seems to have predeceased him, was the wife of Sir Thomas Jones, and had two daughters ; Anne, who married John Cotton of Whittington, Gloucester- shire, and Frances, who married Robert Lee.44 Horsenden formed part of Anne's share of their inheritance," and continued in the Cotton family. It was held successively by Richard,46 William,47 and Ralph,43 the sons of John and Anne. Ralph, who matriculated at Hart Hall, Oxford, in 1572, and entered at the Inner Temple in 1580," married Apolina Childe.50 His only son, Don, died in his lifetime,51 leaving two daughters Anne and Apolina, who thus became their grandfather's heiresses.52 Anne, to whose share Horsenden fell, married Sir John Denham,53 the author of Cooper's Hill, who had by her '£500 per annum, one son, and two daughters.'41 Denham was active in the royal cause during the Civil War, and, consequently, lost his property and estates," Horsenden being bought by John Fielder in l654.:6 At the Restoration Denham seems to have re- covered it,57 for in 1662 he sold it to John Grubbe,58 whose descendants59 held the manor until 184.1,™ when another John Grubbe sold it to the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos. The latter mortgaged it almost immediately,61 and the holders of the mort- gage, the Norwich Union Office, foreclosed and sold it in 1842 or 1843 to the Rev. William Edwards Part- ridge, who held it till his death in 1886." The manor then passed into the possession of his daughter and heiress, Mrs. Leonard Jaques, the pre- sent owner of the manor. On the division of the in- heritance of Sir Edward Donne between his two granddaugh- ters,63 although the manor of GRUBEE. Ermine a chief battled gules and three roses or therein. Horsenden passed to the eldest, £2,000 charged on the manor appears to have been part of the share of Frances,64 the younger heiress, the wife of Robert Lee. The debt had come by assignment to William Page of Westminster in 1654,^ when the manor was among the lands forfeited to the Commonwealth. In order to remove this obstruction in the sale of the manor, it was said to have been sold to William Page to hold during the life of Sir John Denham, but this seems incompatible with the sale to John Fielder in the same year. Three pieces of land in Horsenden, not granted to the Count of Mortain, are mentioned in Domesday Book.66 The Bishop of Bayeux held I £ hides of land there, of which the hide was held by a sub-tenant named Roger and the half hide by Robert.67 Before the Conquest this land was all held by a man of Earl Leofwine, Godwin by name.63 A small tenant in chief named Harding also he'd l$ hides here ; he had succeeded Ulvured in the land.69 This land must have been afterwards united to the main manor of Horsenden, since Gerard de Braybrook claimed that the whole of the township70 belonged to his fee in 1285. » Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 1 1 Hen. VI. 89 Hist. MSS. Com. Ref. ix, App. i, 40^. 80 De Banco R. 686, m. 137. 81 Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 1 1 Hen. VI. 82 Hist. MSS. Com. Ref. ix, App. i, 41 a. 88 Cal. Rot. Pat. (Rec. Com.), ii, 471. " Ibid. 85 Chan. Inq. p.m. 19 Edw. IV, no. 74. •« Ibid. 87 Close, 20 Edw. IV, no. 16. 88 In the Close Roll Philip Plomer is mentioned, but this is probably a mistake for John, since the latter left no heirs of the name of Plomer ; Cf. Chan. Inq. p.m. 19 Edw. IV, no. 74. 89 Chan. Inq. p.m. 19 Edw. IV, no. 74. « Close, 20 Edw. IV, no. 16. 41 Recov. R. Mich. 20 Hen. VIII. « Ibid. 48 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), no. 98. 44 Ibid. 46 Feet of F. Bucks. East. 2 Eliz. 46 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxcvii, no. 162. 4~ Ibid, cccxxxvi, no. 40. 48 Ibid. 49 Foster, Alumni Oxon. (Early Ser.). 60 Visit, of Devon, 1564, 1622. 61 Genealogist, xiii, 273. •' Ibid. 58 Ibid. ; Feet of F. Bucks. Trio. 1 8 Chas. I. " Aubrey, Brief Lives (cd. Clark), i, 21 8. 15 Ibid. M Cal. of Com. for Compounding, 1793. 254 W Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 14 Chas. II. " Ibid. 59 Mich. 14 Chas. II; Trin. 35 Chas. II; Hil. 5 Will, and Mary; Mich. II Will. Ill ; Trin. 53 Geo. III. 60 From information given by Mr. W. Grubbe, of Southwold, Suffolk. 61 From information given by Mrs. Leonard Jaques, of Easby House, Rich- mond, Yorkshire. M Ibid. 68 Close, 1654, pt. 9, m. 5. «4 Ibid. « Ibid. 66 y.C.H. Suets, i, 235. 67 Ibid. 68 Ibid. 69 Ibid. 276*. 7» Plac. de Quo War. (Rec. Com.), 98. RISBOROUGH HUNDRED Horsenden Manor was held by military service, as one knight's fee of the honour of Mortain.'1 It is also described, however, as two-thirds of a fee or half a fee,'1 but this was only in feudal assessments, when the fees of the honour were privileged to pay less than the full amount due. When the manor passed from John de Horsenden to Robert de Braybrook, the latter was to pay John 21. a year for all service, except forinsec service." This rent does not seem to have been continued, and the elder branch of the Braybrooks held in chief of the king.'1 The younger branch also held by mili- tary service.'4 The Cottons, however, held of the king in chief as of his honour of Wallingford by fealty and suit of court at the honour.7* In the 14.1(1 cen- tury the free tenants of the lord of the manor of Horsenden had pannage rights for their pigs in a wood belonging to the manor of Princes Risborough." In 1 5 74 John Cotton, who then held Horsenden, took estovers in the wood of Hellworke in Princes Ris- borough ; " he also paid 1 Ib. of pepper as rent to the lord of Princes Risborough Manor," but whether this was for his manor or for the right to take the estovers is not certain. Gerard de Braybrook, in 1333, obtained a grant of free warren * to himself and his heirs in their de- mesne lands of Horsenden." In 1285 or iz86 Gerard de Braybrook claimed the view of frank- pledge in Horsenden " as part of his inheritance. It had, however, then been demised for a term of years, together with the manor, to Henry de Shenholt.81 Gerard answered, however, to the Quo Warrant! in- quiries himself and also claimed the right to have tumbrels. He paid nothing to the king for these rights. At the time of the Domesday Survey one mill belonged to the Count of Mortain's manor in Horsenden, but it was of no value in lo86.M It is not mentioned again for many centuries, but when the Cottons were lords of the manor there was a water-mill appurtenant to it ; M in 1813 two water- mills are mentioned in connexion with the manors of Horsenden and Princes Risborough, one of which was probably in Horsenden.8* The church of ST. M1CH4EL hav- CHURCH ing fallen into disrepair in 1765 the old nave was pulled down, with the western tower, leaving only the chancel standing. The pre- sent church consists of the mutilated remains of the HORSENDEN chancel 45 ft. by 20 ft., with a western tower built from the old material of the nave. It is lighted by five windows, all of the same design and of 15th- century date, though somewhat restored. They are of three cinquefoiled lights with smaller trefoiled lights over and two-centred heads. At the west end of the south wall is the blocked opening of a squint, at one time opening into the south aisle of the old church. A description of this church is preserved in a letter addressed by Dr. Browne Willis to Mr. John Grubbe," as having consisted, in 1 728, of a chancel, a nave with a blocked south arcade, and an embattled tower ; it extended to about as far west as the present stables of Horsenden House. The tower is of two stages with an embattled parapet. The belfry openings are square-headed, and there is a west window of two trefoiled lights, with a plain chamfered west doorway beneath. The font is modern, octagonal, and of 15th-century detail. The roof is modern, and also all the fittings, with the exception of the upper part of a 15th-century screen, which is planted against the west wall. It is divided into rather narrow trefoiled openings by stout chamfered mullions, and the spandrels are filled with alternating rosettes and leopards' faces. On the walls are a number of memoria's of the Grubbe family, the earliest to Bathewell Grubbe, 1666, the wife of John Grubbe, who died in 1700, and to whom there is another tablet. There is one bell in the tower dated 1582. The church plate consists of a cup of 1 66 1 and a small 18th-century standing paten, of which the hall-marks are illegible. There is only one old book of the registers, which contains baptisms from 1663 to 1809, burials from 1637, and marriages from 1707 to 1754, the latter entries being continued in a printed book from 1754 to 1841. The advowson of the church has JDfOfrSON been held by the lords of the manor since 1210, when it passed from John de Horsenden to Robert de Braybrook.88 In 1660, however, the Bishop of Salisbury collated to the rectory, presumably during the forfeiture of Sir John Denham's lands." The living is a rectory, and the present patron is Mrs. Leonard Jaqucs, the lady of the manor. There are no endowed charities in this parish. n Tea* di Kevill (Rec. Com.), 254. " Ftud. Aidt, i, 85. "' Feet of F. Buclu, 12 John ; Pipe R. 12 John, m. id. 1* Feud. Aidt, i, 85. 75 Ibid. ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 33 Edw. Ill (lit not.), no. 31. '* Chan. lacj. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxcvii, no. 162. fl Ibid. 28 Edw. I, no. 44. '* Exch. Dep. by Com. Eait. 16 Eliz. no. i. •' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Scr. 2), cccixxvi, no. 40. "> Chart R. 7 Edw. Ill, m. 7, no. 11 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxcvii, no. 162. "* Plac. dt Qua War. (Rec. Com.), 98. » Ibid. •* y.C.H. Buck,, i, 243*. " Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxcvii, no. 162 ; cccixxvi, no. 40. * Recov. R. Trin. 5.3 Ceo. III. *• Ree. of Bucki. iv, 75. 88 Feet of F. Bucki. 12 John. " P.R.O. Init. Bki. 1660. 255 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE MONKS RISBOROUGH Hriseberga (1006) ; Riseberge (xi cent.) ; Parva Risborwe (xiv cent.) ; Monks Rysborough (xvi cent.). The parish of Monks Risborough lies on the north-western slope of the Chiltern Hills, and is remarkably long and narrow in shape. Near Green Hailey Firs the land rises to a height of 813 ft. above the ordnance datum, but in the north-west of the parish it is under three hundred feet. On the hills the subsoil is chalk, but in the lower parts it is Upper Greensand and Gault ; * the surface varies, con- sisting of hard chalk, clay, and loam. The parish is well wooded, and contains 5zof acres of wood.* The people are mainly occupied in arable farming, but there are extensive watercress beds near the village of Monks Risborough. There are I,lz8f acres of arable land and 830^ of permanent pasture.3 The small village and church stand on the west side of the main road, which runs along the foot of the slope of the Chiltern Hills, the church standing back from the road, with the modern vicarage to the south-east. In the vicarage garden, just east of the church, is a pool fed by a spring from the chalk, from which a stream runs northward past a moated site, whose banks and ditches are now half obliterated. To the north is a farm-house, and in the field between it and the church stands a square pigeon-house, the walls of which are probably mediaeval. It has a north doorway of curious pseudo-Gothic detail. A small stream runs from Askett hamlet to Monks Risborough Mill and Alscott. Both the Great Western and the Great Central Railways run through the parish, but the nearest station is at Princes Risborough. The main road from Aylesbury to High Wycombe passes through the village of Monks Risborough and follows the course of the Upper Icknield Way. Grim's Dyke can be traced here, running in a south- westerly direction across the southern end of the parish. On the hills to the east of Monks Risborough is cut the probably prehistoric landmark, known as the Whiteleaf Cross, now well cared for by the owner of the Hampden estates.4 Two tumuli exist in its neighbourhood. There are four hamlets in the parish : Owlswick, Meadle, Askett, and Cadsdean. At Askett there is a Baptist chapel built in 1839, with a small burial-ground attached. Master John Schorne is said to have been vicar here before he went to Long Marston, c. 1290. In 1701 Hum- phrey Hody was presented to the vicarage of Monks Risborough. He was appointed Regius Professor of Greek at Oxford in 1697-8, and by his will left various exhibitions to Wadham College.5 The manor of Monks Risborough was MANORS granted to the monastery of Christchurch, Canterbury, at an early date. In 995 Ethelred II confirmed a grant of the manor made by Archbishop Sigeric to Bishop ^Escwige of Dorchester for 90 ' librae ' of pure silver and 200 ' mancusae.' 6 In the next year, however, ^Escwige restored the manor,7 which apparently was only granted as security for the loan of money.8 It was confirmed to Christchurch by King Ethelred in 1006,' and by Edward the Confe;sor.w During the reign of the latter it was held by Asgar the Staller," with the condition that he could not alienate it from the Church. In the Domesday Survey " it is said to be held by the 'Archbishop himself ; this was probably because the lands of the prior had not been separated from those of the archbishop, since by the I3th century the manor was held by the Prior of Canterbury of the king in chief.13 The monastery held the manor without interrup- tion until it was seized by the king " at the Dissolution. It was not restored by him to the Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral Church, but was granted in 1541 to Sir Francis Bryan and Thomas Lawe.15 In the same year, however, these grantees obtained licence to alienate the manor to Ed- ward Restwold and his wife Agnes." Agnes held the manor after the death of her husband in 1548," but having apparen ly married as her second husband Sir Thomas Water- ton,18 it was sold by them to Thomas Fletewood," whose widow Brigit held the manor on the death of her husband,*0 and was succeeded by her son George." George Fleetwood sold it in 15 69" to Richard Tredway of Beaconsfield and his son Walter, and Richard Tredway again sold it to Elizabeth Clarke, daughter of George Clarke of Monks Ris- borough.13 She married Henry Ewer,** and they held the manor till 1617, when it was sold to Sir Jerome Horsey.*5 Before his death he had settled it on Sir John Bonner, Sir John Curzon, and John Hampden in trust for his sons,*6 reserving only certain tenements to himself.*7 Very shortly after his death, John Hampden and William and John Horsey sold the manor to John Barber alias Grigge of Wendover.88 It again changed hands in 1633, when CHRISTCHURCH, CAN- TERBURY. Azure a cross argent -with the letters £ sable thereon. 1 V.C.H. Bucks, i, Geological Map. 1 Inf. from Bd. of Agric. (1905). » Ibid. * y.c.n. Bucks. ;, 189-90. * Diet. Nat. Biog. xxvii, 77. * Kemble, Cud. Dipl. dclxxxix. 7 Ibid. dcxc. 8 Dugdale, Mon. i, 95. 9 Kemble, Cad. Dipt, dccxv, dcccxcvi. " Ibid. " V.C.H. Bucks, i, 2333. 12 Ibid. 18 Tata de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 245 ; cf. for the division of the estates between the archbishop and the monks, P.C.H. Kent, ii, ' Religious Houses'; Feud. Aids, i, 97, 113, 123 5 Plac. de Quo War. (Rec. Com.), 86. " Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), i, 18. 15 Pat. 33 Hen. VIII, pt. 4 ; L. and P. Hen. fill, xvi, 947 (18). 16 Ibid. 947 (22). *' Chan Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), Ixxxvi, No. 5. 18 Feet of F. Bucks. HiL 6 Edw. VI ; East. 7 Edw. VI. 256 " Ibid. Hil. 2 Eliz.; East. 2 Eliz. 20 Monks Risborough Ct. R. in the possession of Mr. G. L. Gomme, 21 Ibid. 22 Close, 44 Eliz. pt. 25. 23 Ibid. 2 Jas. I, pt. 21. * Monks Risborough Ct R. j Feet of F. Bucks. Trin. 4 Jas. I. 25 Ibid. Mich. 14 Jas. I. 26 Ibid. Trin. 21 Jas. I. 2" Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), D. ii, no. 40. 28 Close, i Chas. I, pt. 7, no. 8. RISBOROUGH HUNDRED John Barber and his wife Anne told it to Edmund Wat.1* The Wests seem to have held it for a longer period than any of their predecessors since the first grant by Henry VIII, for in 1694-5 a Roger West sold it to John Poynter," in whose family it still remained in 1719." At the present time the Earl of Buckinghamshire is the lord of the manor. The hamlet of OWLStHCK was apparently in- cluded in Monks Risborough in the early grants to Christchurch. After the Norman Conquest it was held by a military sub-tenant. Three such tenants are mentioned in 1210-12;" Henry de Lawike, Thomas de Berewike, and Humphrey de Rede held one fee in Risborough and Ncwington. The first- named may be identified as a member of the family who held Owlswick of the archbishop some years later. Henry de Owlswick held half a knight's fee there in 1284-6," and he was the ancestor of the Baldwins who held the manor of Owlswick in the next century. Baldwin son of Baldwin quitclaimed all his right in certain land " which had originally been granted by his ancestor Henry of Owlswick to the abbey of Missenden," and John Baldwin made an agreement with the abbey as to land in the hamlet." Henry Baldwin in 1332-3 held lands and tene- ment* in Monb Risborough.17 He also held the manor of Owlswick with his wife Alice, and after his death was succeeded by his son John Baldwin." William son and heir of this John granted two- thirds of the manor to John Grise and Nicholas Bagenhale, excepting a tenement held by a life- tenant." In 1 390 he granted the remaining third of the manor, which his mother had held in dower, to the same grantees." Nicholas Bagenhale41 enfeoffed Edmund Hampden, Thoma* Swynerton, Bernard Saunterdon, John Aspley, and Thomas Durham, of the manor, probably in trust for the Hampdens, and they held it in 1401." Two years later Henry son of John Baldwin, the nephew of William Baldwin, made an unsuccessful claim to the manor as the son of the brother and heir of William.41 Nicholas Bagenhale was called to give warranty and the feoffees remained in possession. William Hampden made a settlement of the manor in 1500" and Jerome Hampden ** died seised of tenements in Owlswick in 1541. His son Richard ** and grandson Alexander47 also held the manor. The heirs of Alexander were his three nieces Anne, Margaret, and Mary, daughters of his brother Edmund.41 He provided for the shares in this manor of Margaret and Mary, respectively the wives of Thomas Wenman and Alexander Denton, by a settlement made in 1639" and left their two- thirds to his brother Christopher for life.10 The re- MONKS RISBOROUGH maining third and the reversion of the bequest to Christopher he left to his eldest niece Anne, the wife of Sir John Trevor." The Trevors finally obtained possession of the whole manor," but in 1657 they sold it to William Claydon." His daughter Bashe- well married John Grubbe of Horsenden, and the manor of Owlswick," under the will of William Claydon, passed to her three daughters, Elizabeth, Lettice, and Hester." These heiresses, however, sold it in 1716 to Edward Stone,5* who had married their half sister Elizabeth Grubbe.*7 His grandson Edward Stone, rector of Horsenden,* held the manor in 1769," and it descended to his only daughter and heiress Sarah, the wife of Charles Shard.40 In 1847 it was in the hands of Mrs. Shard of Grimsdyke Lodge, Lacey Green. About 1861, Mr. Grey bought the manor from Mrs. Shard, but in that year he re-sold it to Mr. Humphreys, whose son, Mr. George Humphreys of Brogton Park, Aspley Guise, Bedfordshire, is the present lord of the manor of Owlswick. A small quit-rent is paid to the lord of the manor of Monb Risborough, and the copyhold lands in the manor of Owlswick are also subject to fines payable to him. The Prior of Christchurch held the manor of Monks Risborough in frankalmoign of the king in chief." He held a view of frankpledge for his tenants ** and claimed to have waifs and strays, the chattels of felons and outlaws, and to receive the fines of his men when they were fined in the king's courts.** He also had gallows, tumbrel, and a pillory in the manor.*4 When called upon by Edward I to show his war- ranty for these rights he quoted a charter of William the Conqueror confirming the comprehensive rights and regalia granted to the Archbishop of Canterbury by Edward the Confessor." The prior held the assize of ale within the manor,** and he obtained in 13163 grant of free warren in his demesne lands in Risborough,'7 which was confirmed by Edward III.** No mills are mentioned at Monks Risborough in the Domesday Survey. In the I4th and I5th centuries, however, the millward was continually presented in the manor court for taking excessive tolls from the manorial tenants." At the dissolution of the monas- tery there were two mills at Risborough, which were occupied by leasehold tenants.70 These were the same two mills presumably which were described in the next century. Sir Jerome Horsey kept these in his own hands when he settled the manor on his sons, and at his death he died seised of a windmill on Brokenhill, and a water-mill, both of which had been formerly parcel of the manor of Monks Risborough.71 • Feet of F. Buck>. East. 9 Chu. I. "> Ibid. Div. Cot. Hit. 7 Will. III. " Ibid. Buclc«. Eait. 6 Geo. I. « R«t Bk. tfExck. (Roll! Ser.), 471. » FtuJ. Aid,, i, 85. " Hirl. MS. 3688. » Ibid. * Ibid. •7 Feet of F. Bucki. Hil. 6 Edw. III. " De Banco R. Trin. 4 Hen. IV, m. 119. •" Feet of F. Bucki. Mich. 14 Ric. II. «• Ibid. 41 Or Dagenhale. «• De Banco R. 570, m. 119. •» Ibid. 44 De Banco R. Bucks. Chart. Enr. Trin. 15 Hen. VII, m. I d. 4* Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), Uiii, no. I ; Eich. Inq. p.m. bdle. 35, no. 6. *• Feet of F. Div. Co«. Trin. 10 Eliz. « Ibid. Buck.. Hil. 29 Eliz. • Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclxrvi, no. 96. *» Ibid. » Ibid. ( P.CC. 37 Meade. " Ibid. ** Feet of F. Bucks. Bait. 1 9 Jai. I j ibid. Mich. 20 Jat. I ; ibid. Mich. 16 Clu.. I. » Ibid. Hit 1657. M Liptcomb, Hat. of Buckt. ii, 332. " Feet of F. Buckt. Trin. 33 Chu. II; ibid. Eait. 36 Chat. II j ibid. Mich. 7 Anne. »• Ibid. Trin. i Geo. I. 257 " Liptcomb, Hiit. of Bucki, ii, 332. " Ibid, ii, 444. " Feet of F. Buckt. Trin. 9 Geo. III. 60 Liptcomb, Hiit. of Bucki. ii, 444. 0 FtuJ. Aidt, i, 97 ; Col. Chu, 1346-9, p. 218. •a Ct. Rollt, • Plat. Ct. RoUt. 17 Chart. R. 10 Edw. II, m. 24, no. 60. •» Ibid. 38 Ed*. Ill, m. 8, no. 156. •» Ct. Roll i. '° Valor Ecel. (Rec. Com.), iv, 249. 71 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), D. ii, no. 40. 33 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE The church of ST. DUNSTAN con- CHURCH sists of a chancel 36 ft. 6 in. by 16 ft. 6 in. with a modern organ chamber on the north ; a nave 47 ft. 7 in. by 2 1 ft. 8 in. ; a north transept 1 6 ft. 8 in. by 1 3 ft. 3 in. ; north and south aisles respectively 9 ft. 10 in. and 10 ft. 2 in. wide ; a south porch and a western tower 10 ft. by 10 ft. 8 in., all measurements being internal. Owing to exten- sive rebuilding in the late 1 4th and in the isth cen- turies the early history of the church is somewhat obscure, but the tower is of fairly early 14th-century date, and at the time of its building the church con- sisted of a nave of the same plan as the present one, roofed with a high-pitched roof, the traces of which are clearly visible on the east wall of the tower, and presumably a chancel within the lines of the present chancel. There is nothing to show whether the nave had aisles at this time, but the north transept evidently existed before the present north arcade was built, and is possibly of 13th-century date. Towards the end of the 1 4th century a period of rebuilding SCALE Of FEET PLAN OF ST. DUNSTAN'S CHURCH, MONKS RISBOROUGH and addition was entered on which lasted well into the 1 5th century. The first work taken in hand was the north aisle with its arcade, the eastern bay of which is wider than the other three, in order to suit the plan of the north transept. At the beginning of the 1 5th century the south aisle was built, and a little later on the chancel was rebuilt and the chancel arch inserted. At the same time, or a little later, the south porch was built, while the last work undertaken was the clearstory and present nave roof. In modern times the north organ chamber was added and a certain amount of restoration carried out, including the re-roofing of the chancel. The east window of the chancel is quite modern and of three trefoiled lights with tracery of early I4th- century detail. In the north and south walls of the chancel are two 15th-century windows of three cinquefoiled lights with tracery over, with four-centred arches. Between the pair on the north is the modern opening to the organ chamber, and between the south windows is a small modern priest's door. The sill of the south-east window is carried down to serve as a seat. The wide chancel arch is of two hollow-cham- fered orders which are continuous, being stopped on a large broach stop about 4 ft. above the floor. The north arcade of the nave is of four bays. The arches are of two chamfered orders, the inner of which is stopped with a cone-shaped stop, the outer with a broach stop. The columns are octagonal with moulded capitals and bases. There is no west re- spond, but in its place a half-capital upon a corbel. At the east end is the upper door to the rood-loft, which was originally entered from the transept. The south arcade, of the same number of bays as the north, has arches identical with those on the north, but the detail of the capitals and bases is somewhat later in character. The east bay, as in the north arcade, is wider than the rest ; perhaps in this case in order to correspond to the north arcade. In both cases it appears that the walls above the arcades were rebuilt. The clearstory has four 15th-century windows a side, each of three cinquefoiled lights under square heads, with deep hollow- moulded external reveals. The north tran- sept has a very good 1 5 th - cen- tury east window of three cinque- foiled lights with tracery under a four-centred head. In the north wall is a similar win- dow. To the south of the east window is an im- age bracket of 15th-century date with a carved head corbel, and on the north a mutilated niche, also of 15th- century date, wilh shafted jambs, a foliated projecting bracket, and the remains of a crocketed canopy. The arch to the north aisle is of the same detail as the north arcade, and rests on the south upon the first pier of the latter and on the north on a corbelled half-capital. The north aisle has two windows to the north, the first of three cinquefoiled lights, like the windows of the transept but of later detail and date, and with a straight-sided four-centred head. Following on this is the north door of the same date as the aisle, with an external label and continuously moulded jambs. West of the door is a 15th-century window of three cinquefoiled lights under a square head. The west window of the same date, or slightly later, is small, placed high in the wall and of two trefoiled lights under a square head. The south aisle has a modern east window of three cinquefoiled lights with uncusped spandrels, of early 1 4th-century detail. In the south wall are two two- light windows. The first of these is of early 14th- century detail, and having been apparently reset, is probably one of the old nave windows moved out 258 MONKS RISBOROUGH CHURCH : INTERIOR LOOKING EAST RISBOROUGH HUNDRED when the aisle was built. The internal jambs are doubly shafted and have circular capitals and bases, while the rear arch is elaborately moulded. There are both internal and external labels, and the latter is finished with mask drips just above a string-course in which are worked two grotesque heads forming secondary drips. The second window, also pre- sumably re-used, is of later 14th-century date and much restored ; it is of two trefoiled lights with two trefoils and a quatrefoil over. The south door, between these windows, is of early I 5th-century date, continuously moulded in two double-ogee orders with a hollow between. The south porch has in its north-east angle a mutilated holy-water stone, with a rounded bowl upon a short square stem. There are small cinquefoiled lights in the east and west walls, and the outer arch- way is of two hollow-chamfered orders with sunk spandrels and an image niche over. The tower is of three stage;, with a plain parapet and a large square south-east staircase turret. The tower arch is of three continuous chamfered orders, with an internal label which is continued as a string to the north and south nave walls. The external string between the first and second stages is carried round the east wall of the turret, which now forms part of the west wall of the south aisle, showing that the turret stood free at this height in the first in- stance. The belfry openings are of two cinquefoiled lights with sharp two-centred heads. Below the parapet is a corbel table, which is carried round the stair turret which rises some feet above the tower. The west door, of 14th-century date, has a two-centred head of two richly-moulded orders, the inner of which is continuous, while the mouldings of the outer die out at the springing. The west window has modern tracery of the same detail as the south-west window of the south aisle. The font is of the local I 2th-century type, with a circular scalloped bowl, moulded stem, and square base, ornamented with conventional foliage. The chancel has a modern high-pitched tiled roof, while those of the aisles, transept, and nave are of low pitch and leaded. The last is of 1 5th-century date with moulded principals, purlins, ridges, and wall- brackets with cusped spandrel tracery, resting in some cases upon grotesque stone corbels. The transept roof is similar but perhaps earlier. The porch roof is also of early 15th-century date, but is of steep pitch, and a good deal of I ;th-century work is incorporated in the aisle roofs. There is a much-restored rood- screen in position, and on the jambs of the chancel arch are faint traces of the coved soffit of the rood- loft. The screen itself is of 15th-century date with five wide arched bays, from the heads of which the wooden vaulting has been removed, the spandrels being filled in with modern tracery. The lower panels are solid, and painted with figures of bearded saints Wearing ermine-trimmed hats and tippets ; the drawing and colour can only be called barbarous, and they appear to be 1 8th-century repaintings of earlier work. It is quite impossible to identify any of the figures. There is a considerable quantity of 1 5th- MONKS RISBOROUGH century work incorporated in the seating of the church, four bench-ends in particular having well-designed finials carved with figures standing or kneeling upon two faces, back to back, or in one case upon two pelicans. The oldest monument is the brass figure of Robert Blundele, priest, 1431, in mass vestments, and there is another brass of a civilian and his wife, e. 1460, with two sons and five daughters. The children, however, do not belong to the same monu- ment as the two larger figures. In the eastern window of the south aisle are some fragments of 1 4th and 15th-century glass, the most perfect piece being a small figure of our Lady and Child. There is also some 15th-century glass in its original position in the upper lights of one of the north windows of the chancel. The tower contains six bells, the treble cast by Warner & Sons in 1885, the second and fourth dated 1637, the third, fifth, and tenor dated 1636. They are all by Ellis Knight of Reading. The church plate consists of a modern jewelled chalice of mediaeval design, hall-marked for 1877 ; a chalice inscribed as the gift of William Quarles in 1726, hall-marked for 171 o.and a salver, standing paten and flagon similarly inscribed, the first hall-marked for 1697, the second with no date-letter, and the third with the date-letter for 1725. The first book of the registers contains all entries from 1587 to 1802, except in the case of marriages, which cease at 1754. There is also a recent and beautifully-made copy of this book. Baptisms and burials are continued in another book from 1803 to 1812, and marriages, after a gap, in a third from 1778 to 1812. The church of Monks Risborough 4DrOWSON was one of the two benefices belong- ing to the deanery of Risborough, within the exempt jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury." The deanery was abolished in 1841 at the renewal of the rural deaneries, and the church of Monks Risborough was assigned to Wendover (first division).7* In 1865, however, it was again transferred, and now belongs to the rural deanery of Aylesbury." The church does not seem to have been assigned with the manor to the monastery of Christ- church, Canterbury, when the division of estates between the archbishop and the monks took place.'4 No vicarage was ordained, and the rectory was not amongst the possessions of the monastery at its disso- lution." The archbishop collated to the living, since during the vacancy caused by Archbishop Morton'* death, the Crown instituted a new rector in 1500." His successors78 collated to it until 1837, when with the rest of Buckinghamshire, the ecclesiastical parish of Monks Risborough was transferred to the diocese of Oxford, and the Bishop of Oxford became patron of the living.79 A chapel at Owlswick existed in the 1 4th century, since in 1368 Robert Testyf was 'vicar of the church of Olneswyk.' *° Tithes were set apart for the chapel by John Wakeman, rector of Monks Risborough, in the 1 5th century." In 1631," and again during the Commonwealth," there were difficulties as to the 7* Dugdale, Mm. i, 89 ; falar Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv, 149. n V.C.H. Buck,, i, 344, 345. •* Ibid. '• Cf. manor of Monki Ritborougb. 7« Valor Eccl. (Rcc. Com.), i, 18. f Hut. MSS. Com. Rtf. ii, pt. i, 1090. '' P.R.O. Init. Bkt. 1671 1789. "• Lond. Gam. 30 May 259 80 Feet of F. Buck*, Bait, and Trin. 41 Edw. III. 81 Lipicomb, Hiii. of Bucks, ii, 419. » Cal. S.P. Dom. 1631-3, p. 132. " Exch. Com. Mich. 1656, no. 14. A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE payment of the tithes to the vicar of Owlswick. The rectory of Monks Risborough was sequestrated in 1 646, and Nathaniel Anderson had thereupon been admitted to the benefice, and had undertaken to find a curate for the chapel to whom he was to allow about £30 a year, a vicarage house, and certain tithes.84 Whether, under ordinary circumstances, the curate of the chapel was provided by the vicar of the parish church or by the patron does not appear, since the chapel was destroyed during the Civil War. There is now a school chapel in the hamlet, built in 1866. The charities of the Rev. Hum- CH4RITIES phrey Hody, D.D., and the Rev. William Quarles, D.D., for appren- ticing, are endowed with 14 acres, purchased with £100 left by will of Dr. Hody, 1706, and with £150 left by will of Dr. Quarles, 1727, and with 8 acres allotted in 1830 under the Inclosure Award. The land is let at £12 a year, which is applied, as opportunity offers, in paying the premium on appren- ticing one boy, selected from the Sunday school. In 1905 there was a balance in hand of £.66. The said Dr. Quarles likewise devised his close called Ives Heath to the rector in trust to pay 40^. a year for instruction of poor boys in writing English and to read their Catechism. The annuity is paid towards the support of the Sunday school. The Poor's Allotment consists of 273. 3 r. 36 p., allotted under the Inclosure Act, 2 Geo. IV, cap. 1 7 (Private), to the poor, in satisfaction of their right of cutting and taking beech and other brushwood or fuel from the waste called the Scrubbs, the rents and profits to be laid out in the purchase of fuel to be dis- tributed among the poor. The land is let at £50 a year, which is applied by the parish council in the distribution of coal. An annual sum of £l, issuing out of land in Barnes Field, is paid by Mrs. Jaques of Horsenden House, in respect of a gift by a donor unknown, which is applied by the parish council in the distribution of stockings. PRINCES RISBOROUGH Riseberge (xi cent.) ; Magna Risberge (xiii cent.) ; Earls Rysebergh (xiv cent.) ; Princes Risburgh (xv cent.). The parish of Princes Risborough lies on the western side of the county of Buckingham. It contains 3,936^- acres, the greater part, viz. 2,620 acres, being arable land.1 There are 1,276^ acres laid down in permanent grass, and 40 acres of wood. The subsoil is chalk,2 but the surface soil is variable ; on the hills it is generally light and chalky, and in the lowlands either loam or strong clay. The parish lies on the north-western slope of the Chiltern Hills, rising to over 770 ft. above the Ordnance datum. The occupation of the people is almost entirely agricultural. There is an iron-foundry at the hamlet of Looseley Row, and sequin and bead-work is done by women at Lacey Green. Water-cress beds exist near the town of Princes Risborough, where there are several springs. Princes Risborough is a small market town, lying 8f miles south of Aylesbury on the high road from Aylesbury to Wycombe. The road from Wycombe to Thame branches off to the north-west at the northern end of the town, and the Upper Icknield Way also crosses the parish. The Wycombe branch of the Great Western Railway runs to the west of the town, the station being about three-quarters of a mile away. In 1906 the Great Central Railway opened a branch line to Aylesbury in conjunction with the Great Western Railway, and this line passes through Princes Risborough Station. The centre of the town is at the junction of the three main streets, where the square, red-brick market-house stands, with open arcades and a covered walk on its lower story, and a wooden cupola containing a bell rising from its low slate roof. There are a good many 18th-century red-brick fronts, and near the market-house a gabled half-timber house with herringbone brick filling and a fine central chimney stack. The church is at the north-west corner of the town, standing in a large churchyard, and to the east of it is the manor-house, with remains of two sides of a deep moat in its grounds. The manor-house is a handsome red-brick build- ing with pilasters and mouldings in cut and rubbed brick. It appears to date from the beginning of the 1 8th century, but its staircase and the panel- ling of the drawing-room are some fifty years earlier, and may have been removed from an older building on the same site. They fit so well into their present position that it seems as if the house must have been built with a view to receiving them. The staircase is of oak with a heavy moulded hand-rail and a balustrade of scrollwork, and large square newels with ball finials and moulded pendants. The drawing-room panelling is in two ranges with tall arched upper panels, with small moulded key blocks. Above is a frieze and an elaborate cornice of many moulded members. The mantel is part of the general design, and is enriched with a small Tuscan order, a central oval panel, and flat baluster pilasters below the mantel-shelf. At the window recesses are pilasters reaching from floor to ceiling, the propor- tions, workmanship, and design being extremely good, and though comparatively plain, the room is a charm- ing example of its date. The entrance hall is also panelled, but not so elaborately, and is probably of the same date as the house. The windows through- out are sashed, and have heavy glazing bars. Henry VIII made a grant to the inhabitants of Princes Risborough in 1523 of a weekly market and two yearly fairs.8 The market was held on Wednes- days, and the fairs for three days at the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, and on St. George's Day. The market day in 1792 had been changed to Saturday, and again in 1888 to Thursday. In 1792 there was only one fair held, on 6 May.* A second fair has since been revived and is now held on 21 October. The town obtained a charter from Queen Eliza- beth in 1598, granting to the inhabitants immunity 84 Exch. Com. Mich. 1656, no. 14. 1 Inf. from Bd. of Agric. (1905). • V.C.H. Bucks, i, Geological Map. 8 Pat. 15 Hen. VIII, pt. i, m. 23. 260 4 Rip. Royal Com. on Markets and Tolls, vol. i. RISBOROUGH HUNDRED from serving on juries and paying tolls.' The ancient earthwork called Grim's Dyke enters the parish on the north-eastern border by Lilly-bottom Farm, and reaches to Lacey Green. To the west of the church- yard of Princes Risborough there is a site of about an acre surrounded by a moat that popular tradition asserts to be the site of the Black Prince's palace. The civil parish of Princes Risborough contains the hamlets of Longwick, Lacey Green, Looseley Row, and Speen. Before the Norman Conquest MANORS PRINCES RISBOROUGH belonged to King Harold.* There was attached to the manor in his time a burgess of Oxford, who remained there after the Norman Conquest, and a salt-worker of Droitwich paid an unspecified number of loads of salt to the lord of the manor in 1086.' William the Conqueror kept the greater part of Harold's lands, and so Princes Risborough became part of the ancient demesne of the Crown. Half of this part of Risborough seems, however, to have been granted to Ansculf de Pinchengi very shortly after the settlement of the Normans,' but was exchanged for part of Ellesborough with Ralph Talgebosch or Taillebois, by the king's command. Soon afterwards Risborough again changed hands, and was held by the second Earl Walter Giffard, who made various grants from these PRINCES RISBOROUGH lands to the abbey of Notley.* From 1162 to 1180 Princes Risborough is said to belong to the honour of Giffard,10 but on the death of the earl in 1164 it reverted to the Crown," and does not appear to have been included in the grant of his honour made by Richard I to William Marshal and Gilbert de Clare, the heirs of the Giffards. Before 1165 the manor was granted to Richard de Humeto," the Constable of Normandy, and from this time was reckoned among the ' lands of the Normans.' The original grant was probably made by Walter Giffard, but in 1 173-4, after his death, Henry II gave a new charter " to the con- stable. This grant was renewed on Richard's death to his son and successor, William de Humeto.1* The latter does not appear, however, to have held the manor, which went to his younger brother Engelard," but by what charter or right he held it is doubtful. Engelard's son, named William de Similly," succeeded him, and held the manor till his death, circa \ 205, when it escheated to the king." While in the royal hands, various grants of land " in Risborough were made, but only of a temporary nature, and by 1224 " William de Similly's son, another William, was in seisin of the manor. The heirs of Earl Giffard K now made a determined attempt to recover Princes Ris- borough, claiming that it was part of the honour to which they had succeeded. Moreover, they denied PRINCES RISBOROUGH : THE MARKET PLACE • Thii charter ii now in poneuion of Mr. G«orge Stritton of High Street, Prince* Riiborough. • r.C.H. Biuki. i, XJM. 7 Ibid. * Ibid, i, 154*. * Dugdale, MM. »i, 178. 10 Pi ft R. vi, 17. 11 Rid Bk. tf Exit. (Roll! Ser.), 311 ; Pi ft K. ix, 1 5 j G.E.C. Comfltti Peiragr. w Pipe R. rii. « C*l. Doc. Franct, 186. " Ibid. 187. u Maitland, Braeton'i Nate Bk, ca»e 1734. " Ibid. « Rot. Lit. Claui. (Rec. Com.), i, 86. 26l " Ibid, ni, 46, 50, 75*, 576; Kid Bk. of Exck. (Roll* Ser.), 537 j Pipe R. 14 John, m. 14. u Curii Rcgii R. 8j, m. n | Tatt J* Ncvill (Rec. Com.), zjii. 10 Curia Regii R. 87, m. 7 | Maitland, Bracnn'i Nta Bk. cate 17541 Auiz* R. 54, m. gd. A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE that William de Similly could claim from the grant to the Constable of Normandy, as that grant had been made to Richard de Humeto and his heirs, and Wil- liam was not his heir. No result came of their suit, since it was decided that the question must stand over till the king was of age. A second suit " was subse- quently brought by Gilbert, Earl of Gloucester, against William de Similly, but the result is not recorded. The latter,™ however, remained in peaceful seisin of the manor " till his death before 1 242.** The land then escheated to the king, the heir being a minor, and the rights of wardship were granted to Drogo de Trubleville.'5 The heir of William de Similly is never mentioned again, and presumably died before coming of age, for in 1243 Henry III granted the manor of Princes Risborough to Richard, Earl of Cornwall and King of the Romans.*6 Richard was succeeded by his son Ed- mund, Earl of Cornwall,*7 who held the manor till his death in 1300,** when it again came into the king's hands, Ed- ward I being the next heir. The king held it in demesne in 1 302-3," but immediately afterwards he granted it to Queen Margaret for life, in exchange for certain castles and lands with which he had dowered her.*1 Margaret, the Countess of Cornwall, however, held a third as part of her widow's dower during her life.31 The rever- sion was granted in 1 309 to Piers Gaveston and his wife Margaret,31 one of the heiresses of the Clares, and also one of the descendants of the GifFards, but this grant was surrendered in the same year.33 Queen CORNWALL. Argent a lion gules crovjned or in a border sable bezanty. ENGLAND. three leopards or. Gules OLD FRANCE. Azurt ptrwdercd with Jlturs-de- lit or. Margaret lived till 1 3 1 6,M and from the time of her death till 1327 the manor of Princes Risborough was held by the king.35 At the latter date Edward III granted it to Queen Isabella in reward for her ser- vices with regard to the treaty with France and the suppression of the Despensers' Rebellion.36 In 1330 John de Eltham, Earl of Cornwall and brother of the king, obtained a grant of the manor of Risborough,37 but after his death in 1337 "Queen Isabella again held the manor. The reversion was granted to Henry de Ferrers,39 who obtained possession after the death of Isabella, and died seised in 1344.*° His son was a minor, and the custody of the manor was granted to the Black Prince,41 from whom it took its present name of Princes Risborough." The prince ** held the manor till his death, when it passed to Richard his son and heir." The latter, while still prince, granted the manor for life to Lewis de Clifford." He confirmed the grant on his accession to the throne, and Lewis held it for his life. Under Henry IV the manor came into the hands of the Crown, and was again granted to the Prince of Wales.40 Henry VI succeeded to the manor,47 which formed of his queen THE BLACK PRINCI. Old France auarterea •with England, a label ar- gent for difference. part of the dower Margaret of Anjou.48 Afterwa:ds, ENGLAND. France quartered tuith England. ANJOU. Old France i border gules. however, it seems to have been held by his SOB Edward, Prince of Wales.49 It remained in the hands of the Crown apparently till Edward VI granted the manor to Princess Elizabeth for life.4* James I granted it to Anne of Denmark as part of her dower," and on her death to Sir Henry Hobart to the use of Prince Charles.51 In 1628 Charles I con- veyed the manor to the City of London in part pay- ment of the large debts of the king.53 The fee-farm rent from the manor54 was granted in 1671 to Lord Hawley in trust for the king's heirs and successors,55 until it was sold. This sale took place in the same year to Sir Peter Lely,66 the painter. Under the Commonwealth the manor of Pr.nces Risborough, distinguished at this time as the King's Manor,57 came into the hands of Ralph Adeane.58 He held it in 81 Assize R. 54, m. 9 d. 88 Cal. Close, 1231-4, p. 561. 88 Testa de Ne-uill (Rec. Com), 245, 262. 84 Chan. Inq. p.m. Hen. Ill, file 2, no. 6. 25 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), i, 5. m Cal. of Chart. 1226-57, P- 276 i Assize R. 56, m. 43 d. *> Cal. Inq. p.m. Hen. Ill, no. 808 ; Feud. Aids, i, 85. 88 Chan. Inq. p.m. 28 Edw. I, no. 44 (21). 89 Feud. Aids, i, 97. 89 Cal. Pat. 1301-7, p. 118. 81 Chart. R. Bucks. 3 Edw. II, m. IO, no. 27. 88 Ibid. 88 Cal. Close, 1307-13, pp. 225, 226. 84 Feud. Aids, i, 112; Abbrev. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), 240. 85 Ibid. M Cal. Pat. 1327-30, p. 68. °7 Chart. R. 4 Edw. Ill, m. 7, no. 12 j Cal. Pat. 1330-4, p. 52. 88 Ibid. 1334-8, p. 418. 89 Ibid. 1343-8, p. 92. 40 Chan. Inq. p.m. 17 Edw. Ill (l»t nos.), no. 57. 41 Cal. Pat. 1343-5, p. IIJ. 48 Cal. Close, I 343-6, p. 32. 48 Feud. Aids, i, 122. « Cal. Pat. 1377-81, p. 157. 262 « Ibid. 4S Ibid. 1422-9, p. 94. 47 Ibid. 1461-7, p. 146. 48 Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. 18, m. 50 d. (pt. 2). « De Banco R. Mich. 6 Hen. VII, m. 307. 60 Pat. 4 Edw. VI, pt, 3, m. 25 ; ibid. 5 Edw. VI, pt. 3, m. 31. 51 Ibid. I Jas. I, pt. 20. 'a Ibid. 17 Jas. I, pt. I. w Ibid. 4 Chas. I, pt. 35 i Cal. S.P. Do™. 1628-9, P* 426. 64 Close, 24 Chas. II, pt. 9, no. 23. « Ibid. 66 Ibid. W Close, 1653, pt-39> no. 33. M Ibid. RISBOROUGH HUNDRED 1653" and 1655," and after the Restoration Thomas Adeane, a minor, was lord of the manor as heir of Ralph." In 1684, however, Edward Bigland and George Pelham appear to have been in seisin." In DENMARK. Or plun- dered ivitk kearn jf'-/« three leopardl azure vuith goldn crwini. CHAHLIS, Prince of Walei. The royal armt of the Stuarn, FIANCE and ENGLAND quartered viith SCOTLAND and IK- LAND, with the difference of a label argent. 170* and in 1729 Henry Penton held this manor a In 1766 it was sold by the Penton family to John Grubbe of Horsenden.*4 In the same year he, together with his next brother Samuel, sold it to Edward, the third brother." Edward's grandson John held the manor in i 8 13,' 6 but in 1841 it was advertised for PRINCES RISBOROUGH sale by auction.*7 It was, however, purchased privately by the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos on the day previous to the sale " The duke's lands were sold very shortly after the purchase of this manor, which, in 1862, was in the hands of Mr. James Cuddon " At the present day Mr. Humphrey Brill, of Aston Clinton, claims to be lord of the manor of Princes Risbo rough. This manor in Princes Risborough was held by William de Similly by the service due from one knight's fee,78 and the same service was performed by the Earls of Cornwall." In later grants the service is not defined. The lords of the manor under the Commonwealth paid a fee-farm rent, which in 1671 was given as £82 4*. J\d.n It is interesting to note that this rent had hardly varied from the yearly value of the manor 300 years before. In 1303 it was £82 9/. 3d-./1 and in 1337 £84," and 1381 £90." Earl Walter Giffard and Countess Ermengarde granted a wood called Lullested in Princes Risborough to the abbey of Notley, on its foundation." This grant was confirmed by Henry II and John and by Edward III." In 1291 the temporalities of the abbey in Princes Risborough were lands and meadows worth 1 2/. <)J. a year." The abbey probably obtained further grants of land in the parish, since at the Dissolution it held PRINCES RISBOROUGH : CHURCH STREET *• Recor. R. Mil. 1653. « Feet of F. Bucki. HiL 1655. " Eicb. Dep. by Com. Mich. 26 Chat. II, no. 46 ; Mich. 19 Chit. II, no. it. •» Recor. R. HiL 36-7 Chat. II. « Feet of P. Buck*. Trin. 1 3 Will. IIIj Recov. R. Hil. 3 Geo. II. " From information lupplied by Mr. W. J. Grubbe, Southwold, Suffolk. " Feet of F. Bucks. Trin. 6 Geo. III. •• Ibid. Trin. 53 Geo. III. 1 Lipicomb, Hitt. of Bucki. ii, 333 ; Timet, 13 Aug. 1841. ** From information lupplied bjr Mr. W. J. Grubbe. •* Sheaham, Hiit. and Topog. Bucki. 191. 7° TatJ Jt Nfvill (Rec. Com.), 152*. 263 H Cal. e,f hi), f.m. He*. Ill, no. 808 ; Feud. Aidt, i, 97. 7* Clou, 24 Chat. II, pt 9, no. 23. J» Cal. Pat. 1301-7, p. II 8. 74 Ibid. 1327-30, p. 68. " Ibid. 1377-81, p. 157. 1* Cal. Rot. Chart. (Rec. Com.}, i, 46 ; Dugdile, Man. vi, 278. Tl Ibid. 71 Pt ft Nick. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 32. A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE the manor and rectory of Princes Risborough, valued at £40 a year.™ Henry VIII granted this manor, known as the ABBOT'S M4NOR, to the dean and chapter of Oxford,60 but they forfeited it not long afterwards. Edward VI on his accession to the throne gave it to Robert King, Bishop of Oxford," but Elizabeth recovered the manor from the bishop in 1589."* In the same year she had already granted it to Thomas Crompton, Robert Wrighte, and Gilley Merick.™ Crompton sold it to John Jackman,84 who held it at his death in 1622,^ when it passed to his son. The latter sold it in 1 6 24 to Joan Chibnall and Vincent Barry,86 who was the steward of the King's Manor.87 During the Civil War this manor presumably came into the hands of Ralph Adeane, who certainly had the rectory.88 In a suit as to the customs of the manor in l6y5,89 the King's Manor and the Abbot's Manor are both mentioned ; the former is said to belong to the ancient demense of the Crown, and not the latter, but both seem to be held by Thomas Adeane, and from this time con- tinued to be held together. In Elizabeth's grant to Thomas Crompton,90 a mansion-house called ' Broke House ' is specially men- tioned, and appears in the majority of the deeds relat- ing to the manor. The latter indeed is sometimes called Brooke, the description in 1813" being the ' manor of Risborough or Princes Risborough or Brooke or Abbot's Risborough commonly called the Abbots' hold.' By Walter GifFard's grant the wood was held by the abbey in frankalmoign,9' and the Bishop of Oxford held the manor in the reign of Edward VI on the same tenure, but also paid rent for h.a CULPERTON is first mentioned in 1247." Stephen son of Hugh of Culverton then held I hide of land of Philip son of Oliver. He had formerly paid the yearly rent of I mark, but it was changed by agreement to the payment of a clove gilly-flower yearly. In 1317 Hugh of Culverton made an ex- change of land in Princes Risborough with John de Foxle and his wife Constance. Hugh by this settle- ment was to hold his land and tenements for life, with remainder to John and Constance and the heirs of John.95 The other piece of land which changed hands was to be held by John and Constance and the heirs of John.96 These arrangements suggest that Constance was possibly the heiress of Hugh de Culver- ton. John de Foxle died, in 1324-5, seised jointly with his wife of land at Culverton.97 Constance then held them alone and presumably was succeeded by Thomas de Foxle.98 In the next century Richard de la Hay held the manor of Culverton, which in 1443 was settled intact on Matthew de la Hay and his wife Anne.99 It wa» sold in 1516-17 by Thomas a Botre and his wife Joan to Robert Bonner.100 It had apparently been the inheritance of Joan.101 In 1633-4 tne manor of Culverton alias Frogmore House passed from Charles Alden and his wife Alice to Ralph Baldwin ; 108 five years later the latter conveyed it to Francis Steevens.103 John de Foxle held his land in Culverton of the king in chief, of the manor of Princes Risborough.104 He did suit of court at Risborough every three weeks, and paid a yearly rent of 3 3/. gJ.wi In 1316-17 the king granted him and his heirs the right of free warren in all his demesne lands in Princes Risborough and Saunderton.106 The manor of Princes Risborough THE PARK in 1086 was assessed at 30 hides, and of these 20 were then contained in the demesne of the king.107 This suggests that even in the I ith century the nucleus of a park already existed, and a few years later the wood of Earl Walter GifFard is mentioned in the foundation charter of Notley Abbey.108 The park is mentioned in the inquisition taken at the death of Richard Earl of Cornwall,109 and the Abbot of Notley had various, rights in it,110 to maintain which he was continually making complaints to the king.111 Edward II and probably his predecessors used the park of Risborough as a stud-farm. The buildings in the manor were repaired in 1 3 1 8,1'2 so that the horses of the king's stud could be properly kept there, and a special in- closure was made in which the horses might be exercised. Orders were given that the keeper of the stud should have whatever was required for the horses.1" The colts are particularly specified in some of the orders, and in the appointment of William de Framesworth as keeper of the stud it is specially men- tioned that he was to have the custody of the colts as well as of the horses already broken in.114 The deer in the park are also mentioned in 1337,"* when orders were given that thirty-two should be taken from the parks of Risborough and Cippenham, and sent to Westminster for the funeral expenses of John Earl of Cornwall, the king's brother. The park was however, always granted with the manor until Henry VIII granted an inclosure, called Risborough Park, to Sir Edward Don.1'6 The Dons had already held the parkership of Risborough ; Edward IV had granted it to Sir John Don, who retained his office after the accession of Henry VII.117 In 1520 the office of parker was granted to Sir Edward himself, and to Sir John Daunce in survivorship.118 Sir Edward's daughter and heiress Anne married George Cotton of Whittington,119 Gloucestershire, and she held the park for her life.120 The reversion, to fall in 7» Dugdale, Mon. vi, 278. 8« Pat. 34 Hen. VIII. pt. 6, m. 12. 81 Ibid. 1 Edw. VI, pt. 5, m. 31-6. 82 Feet of F. Div. Cos. Hil. 32 Eliz. 88 Pat. 32 Eliz. pt. 9, m. 9. 84 Feet of F. Bucks. East 36 Eliz. 85 Chan. Inq. (Ser. 2), ccclxxxvi, no. 95- 86 Feet of F. Bucks. Hil. 22 Jas. I. 87 Exch. Dep. by Com. Mich. 29 Chas. II, no. 1 8. 88 Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 1658. 88 Exch. Dep. by Com. Mich. 26 Chas. II, no. 46. 80 Pat. 32 Eliz. pt. 9, m. 9. 91 Feet of F. Bucks. Trin. 53 Geo. III. n Dugdale, Mon. vi, 278. "Pat. I Edw. VI.pt. 5, m. 31-6. « Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 32 Hen. III. 84 Ibid. Trin. 10 Edw. II, no. 20. 86 Ibid. no. 24. 87 Chan. Inq. p.m. 18 Edw. II, no. 32. 98 Cal. Close, 1323-7, p. 388. 88 Feet of F. Bucks. East. 21 Hen. VI. 100 Close, 8 Hen. VIII, m. 43. 101 Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 9 Hen. VIII. l°» Ibid. Hil. 9 Chas. I. 108 Feet of F. Bucks. East. 14 Chas. I. 104 Chan. Inq. p.m. 18 Edw. II, no. 32- «« Cat. Close, 1323-7, p. 388. 106 Chart. R. 10 Edw. II, m. 12, no. 26. 264 W V.C.H. Bucks. \, 2323. 108 Cal. Rot. Chart. (Rcc. Com.), i, 46. 109 Cat. of Inq. p.m. Hen. Ill, no. 808. 110 Chan. Inq. p.m. 32 Edw. I, no. 241. 111 Cal. Close, 1323-7, p. 232 ; ibid. lla Cal. Close, 1318-23, p. 147. 113 Ibid. p. 60 ; ibid. 1330-7, p. 448. u< Cal. Pat. 1343-5, p. 368. 115 Cal. Close, 1333-7, p. 640. U6 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xv, 733 (12). 117 Rolls ofParl. (Rec. Com.), vi, 341*. «8 L. and P. Hen. VIII, iii, 967 (8). 119 See Horsenden. 120 Com. Pleas Deeds Enr. East. 4 Eliz. m. II. RISBOROUGH HUNDRED DORUEK. Azurt ten killta or and * ckiif or •with a demi lion sable. after her death, was sold in 1562 by Edward Daunce to Sir William Dormer.1" Robert Lord Dormer, the son of Sir William, died seised of the Risborough Park1" in 1617, his heir being his grandson Robert, whose estates were sequestered during the Civil War.1" In 1 56 1 George Gosnald, of Colston Basset, Notts., obtained the estate of Lord Dormer in Princes Ris- borough on a lease, paying £230 a year."* Lord Dormer was said to have held it at a yearly rental of £ I oo."* This estate was not definitely called the Park of Princes Ris- borough, but it seems prob- able that it may be identified with it. No mention of the park is made after the Restoration, and it seems to have been re- covered by the lords of the manor. When Ralph Adeane held the property in 1653 lw there were 800 acres of wood and 60 of furze and heath attached to the manor, the total acreage of land of all kinds being 1,360 acres, and rents being paid further to the value of £15 a year. The Abbot's manor was not included in this. In the Domesday Book there were two mills at Princes Risborough, worth 14*. 9J. a year.'*7 They may probably be identified with the two water-mills mentioned in the reign of Henry III. Geoffrey Neyrnut held one of these of the King of Almain, then Richard Earl of Cornwall, the lord of the manor, and the second of Richard de la Forde."* One water-mill was held in the 1 7th century by William Hampdcn.1" It was left under his will to his cousin Richard Hampden."0 It was then called Longwick M'll, a name which is still used for the water-mill in the hamlet of Longwick at the present day. A water- mill was also held by Robert Lord Dormer, early in the 1 7th century,111 and a water-mill and a windmill are mentioned in 1712, being then in the possession of Charles Dormer.111 In the 1 4th century there was a water-mill at Culvcrton.1** A mill was first mentioned in the settlement made between Hugh of Culverton and John de Foxle in I3I7,1*4 and the latter died seised of a water-mill.13* In the conveyances of the manor of Culverton in the I7th century the water-mill passed with the manor.1" The church of OUR LADY consists CHURCH of a chancel 32 ft. 9 in. by 1 7 ft. 10 in., with a modern organ chamber on the north ; a nave 60 ft. 9 in. by 26 ft. 3 in. ; north and south aisles 1 1 ft. 3 in. and 8 ft. wide respectively ; a south porch and a western tower. Up to the first quarter of the 1 3th century the church consisted of a chancel and an aisleless nave of the same width as at present, but some I oft. shorter. About 1220 north and south aisles were added, and about 1300 the nave and aisles were lengthened by one bay, a tower being probably begun at the same time. A PRINCES RISBOROUGH little later, in the !4th century, the chancel was re- built, and the clearstory was a 15th-century addition. In modern times the church has been drastically re- stored, few of the windows remaining untouched. The clearstory and north aisle were rebuilt, and the east responds of the nave arcades, which were of some depth, pierced with small arches in continuation of the arcades. In 1907 a new tower and a tall stone spire were begun from the designs of Mr. Oldrid Scott. The east window of the chancel is modern and of geometrical detail. In the north wall is a much- restored early 14th-century window of two uncusped lights, with an uncusped circle over and shafts to the internal splay. West of this is the opening to the modern organ chamber. At the south-west of the chancel is a trefoiled piscina, circa 1330, with a shelf and a double drain. The two windows in the south wall, of 14th-century style, and the door between them, are all much restored but in part ancient Below the western window is a blocked low side win- dow, with a square head and plain chamfered jambs and with its iron bars still in position. The chancel arch is modern and of late 13th-century style. The nave is of seven bays, and the two arcades are practically identical, the arches throughout being of two chamfered orders. The first arch on either side is modern, and also the first column, circular in plan and with moulded capital and base. The second, third, fourth, and fifth columns and arches, and the sixth arch are of ^th-century date, the columns being octagonal and the arches having plain chamfered labels, with moulded capitals and plain bases. The seventh pair of arches, circa 1300, have a filleted roll label, and the sixth columns and the western responds are of the same time and are of quatrefoil plan, with moulded capitals and bases of the same form and date, but varying from each other in the details of moulding. The tower arch is modern and of early 14th-century design. The clearstory has five modern sixfoil circles on either side, and is shown by Lips- comb to have originally had two-light windows in this position.1*7 The north aisle opens to the organ chamber by a modern arch, and the north wall of the aisle has been completely rebuilt ; but in the main with old materials. The windows are four in number, the first two of three trefoiled lights with tracery over, the others of two lights, and all with segmental heads and of 14th-century detail. Some old stones are set in their jambs and splays, but the tracery in all cases is quite modern. The blocked north door in the middle of this aisle is of 14th-century date but very much restored, with continuously moulded jambs and two-centred head of two orders. There is no west window to either aisle. The south aisle has a much-restored east window of 14th-century date, with two uncusped lights. The shafted jambs, mullion, and splays are old, and have circular moulded capitals and bases. In the south wall, at the east end, are a much-defaced piscina and sedile of 14th-century date, with the remains of 10 Pat. 4 Eliz.pt. 10, m. 5. 1X1 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. z), ccclviii, no. '» Cal. of Com. fir Compounding, 1785. »»« Ibid. "» Ibid. >» Recov. R. H.I. 1653. •* y.C.H. Bucki. i, 23". *" Cfl. Inj.f.m.Htn.III, no. 903. '* Exch. Dep. by Com. East, i Jai. I, no. 8. **• Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. i), ccczl, no. 188. 111 Ibid, ccclviii, no. 101. "* Rccov. R. East. 1 1 Anne. 265 '*• Chan. Inq. p.m. iS Edw. II, -,2. **• Feet of F. Buck*. Trin. 10 Edw. II, no. 20. "* Chan. Inq. p.m. 18 Edw. II, no. 32. "• Feet of F. Bucki. HiL 9 Chat. I } ibid. Bait. 14 Chat. I. u' Lipscumb, Hilt, of Bucki. ii, 336. 34 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE elaborate projecting canopies with shafted jambs ; in the piscina is a stone shelf. Immediately west of this is a very remarkable three-light window, which looks like 13th-century work reused and altered circa 1320. The lights are uncusped, and have a square inner reveal and stilted moulded rear arches resting on free- standing shafts with octagonal moulded capitals ; there are engaged shafts to the tracery orders also. Partly under this window is a 14th-century tomb recess with a sub-cusped cinquefoiled ogee head, and another like it to the west ; both are now empty. Close to the south door is a small plain much restored holy water recess, and from this point to the sedile runs a string- course on the level of the sill to the window last de- scribed. The south door is of late 13th-century date, with a deeply-moulded two-centred head and shafted jambs with circular bases and capitals. West of the south door is a window of three cinquefoiled lights, repaired, but of 14th-century date, and there is a contemporary moulded string-course forming its sill and extending some distance on each side of it. Be- low are two tomb recesses similar to those already described, but having shafted jambs. The south porch is modern and has a small lancet on either side. The new western tower is of three stages, with a tall stone spire, and incorporates the old tower, which has been refaced. The font is modern, with a plain octagonal bowl. There are no monuments of interest in the church, and the roofs and seating are modern. There is, however, a 17th-century oak pulpit. There is only one bell, dated 1838, and a small 'ting-tang,' dated 1805. The church plate consists of a communion cup of 1752, given by Thomas Penn, rector ; a plated paten ; and a flagon of 1629, given by Miss Mary Chibnall. The first book of the registers contains baptisms and marriages from 1561 to 1695 and burials from 1561 to 1678. Burials are continued in a second book from 1678 to 1727, and baptisms and marriages in a third from 1695 to 1721. A fourth book contains baptisms and marriages from 1721 to 1754; a fifth and sixth burials from 1721 to 1786 and from 178610 1812. Baptisms, after a gap, are con- tinued from 1788 to 1812, and three books containing marriages with banns run from 1754 to 1776, from 1776 to 1 803, and from 1803 to 1812. The church of Princes Risborough ADVOWSON was granted by Walter Giffard to Notley Abbey Is8 at its foundation, with the tithes of his demesne lands there. A vicar- age, however, was not ordained. In 1258 the abbot obtained leave from the pope that the churches and chapels belonging to his abbey should be served by the canons or other priests, who should be answerable to the abbot and convent.139 This method of serving the churches caused various complaints in the I4th and I 5th centuries,140 but the privilege was confirmed by Boniface IX in I4O2.141 The rectory belonged to the abbey of Notley at the dissolution of the monas- teries.14' It was afterwards granted by Henry VIII to the Dean and Chapter of Oxford,143 and was held with the Abbot's Manor till the I9th century. A vicarage is mentioned in the grants of Henry VII i 144 and Edward VI,14S but this was probably a mistake. The advowson of the church was granted with the rectory to Thomas Crampton,146 and the church was served by a perpetual curate appointed by the impro- priator of the rectory. The patronage was transferred to the Bishop of Oxford in i86o,147 and finally the benefice was declared a rectory in i868.148 A chapel of St. John the Evangelist was built at Lacey Green early in the igth century,149 the plan being mainly carried through by the exertions of the Rev. Richard Meade, rector of Horsenden and per- petual curate of Princes Risborough. It was conse- crated by the Bishop of Lincoln in 1825. The hamlet, with Looseley Row and Speen, was, however, formed into an ecclesiastical parish in 1 8 5 1 ; 1M the living is a vicarage in the gift of the rector of Princes Risborough. The Abbot of Notley, at the time of the Dissolu- tion, was bound to distribute certain charities to various poor persons at the church of Princes Risbo- rough, to the value of 2O/. a year, for the benefit of the souls of the Earl Walter Giffard and the Countess Ermengarde.141 An acre of land was also granted to provide a light at Princes Risborough, presumably within the church.151 A Baptist chapel was built in 1707 in Bell Street, and a second chapel was opened at Looseley Row in 1862. There is a branch of the Bell Street chapel at Longwick, where there is also a Wesleyan chapel. The Wesleyan Methodists have a chapel in Princes Risborough, built in 1869. At Speen there is a Baptist chapel opened in 1813, and the Primitive Methodists have a chapel at Lacey Green. For many years there was an ancient custom at Princes Risborough by which the impropriator gave a bull and a boar on Christmas Day for the use of his parishioners. They were distributed ' in large pieces, smoking hot from the copper at five o'clock in the morning • for breakfast on Christmas Day.' 1M Four bushels of wheat and four bushels of malt were also made into bread and beer and given away. The custom however was given up before l847.164 In 1615-16 William Smith by his CHARITIES will left £40 for the use of the poor. The legacy was laid out in land, in respect of which 3 a. 2 r. 3 6 p. in Near Side Field were allotted on the inclosure in 1820. The land is let in allotments, producing about £j a year, which is applied in the distribution of money, 2/. 6 Feet of f. Div. Cos. Mich, i Hen. VIII ; Chan. Inq. p.m. voL 31, no. 21 ; Feet of F. Buck.. Trin. zi Hen. VIII. »i Ibid. Trin. 1 8 Elii. ; ibid. HiL 19 Eli*. •> Exch. Dep. by Com. Mich. 25 * 16 Eliz. no. 19. " Diet. Nat. Biog. xnrii, 114-1$. M Feet of F. Bucki. HiL 1 8 Ja». I. *• Chan. Inq. p.m. 36 Hen. VI, no. 39 ; ibid. vol. 15, no. 58 ; ibid. vol. 31, no. 21. *• De Banco R. Mich. 18 Hen. VII, m. i if. * Pat. 27 Elir. pt. 5, m. 15. * Cloie, 31 Eliz. pt. 15, no. I. "Ibid. 40 Feet of F. Buck«. Trin. 14 Jai. I j LIpicomb, Hiit. of Butkt, i, 519. "Ibid, i, 528. 41 Clo«e, 1649, pt. 26, m. 12. «• Ibid. « Feet of F. Buck*. HiU 18 Jai. L « Ibid. Ea.t. 19 Eliz. « Ibid, g Jai. I. «7 Ibid. 31 Chaa.II. « Ibid. Mich. 24 Chat. IL •Ibid. HiL 13 Geo. III. 269 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE the west side. The second bay in the north arcade is therefore wider than those to the west of it, and while copying the details of the rest has a label of early 14th-century section, giving a clue to the time of the alteration. In the latter part of the 1 3th century a further enlargement took place, the east bays of the south aisle being widened to form a south chapel. At a later date, difficult to fix, but perhaps in the iyth century, the north aisle was shortened by one bay, the western bay of the north arcade being replaced by a solid wall. The south porch is an addition of c. 1340, and the west tower is of 15th-century date. The small north vestry is modern. The east window of the chancel is a modern one of three cinquefoiled lights with tracery of 14th-century style. In the north wall is a small plain modern door to the vestry and at the west a square-headed I 5th-cen- tury window of two cinquefoiled lights with tracery over. In the south-east angle of the chancel is a small hexagonal moulded bracket with a shallow pin-hole in its upper surface. In the south wall is a square-headed 14th-century window with two cinquefoiled lights and quatrefoiled spandrels, and to the west of it another window of the same date but of two trefoiled lights with a quatrefoil over and a two-centred head. The chancel arch is of two roll-moulded orders with an undercut label to the west, which is continued as a string north and south to the walls of the nave. The responds of the arch are half-octagonal, with moulded capitals and bases of the same details as the eastern responds of the nave arcades. The nave is of four bays, the first bay of the north arcade having an arch of two chamfered orders, with a filleted roll for a label. The first column of this arcade is octagonal, having been made up, as already noted, from the respond of the transept arch. All the other columns of the arcades are circular, and the arches are of two hollow-chamfered orders with the angles of the cham- fers bevelled off, the workmanship being rather rough and uneven. This is particularly the case with the wider arch (the second), in the north arcade, which, as already explained, is probably an early 14th-century alteration. The first column of the south arcade, and the second of the north 0° have circular capitals with fluted scallops, a survival of Romanesque forms, while all the other columns have plainly moulded capitals. The present west respond of the north arcade, which is of three bays only, is really a round column half buried in the walling of the blank western bay. The west respond of the south arcade is a half-octagon, like that at the east. The north aisle has an early 14th-century east window of three cinquefoiled lights with modern tracery and an external scroll-moulded label. In the north wall of the aisle, to the east, is a modern win- dow in an old opening, with two trefoiled lights and tracery of 14th-century style. The north door is also modern, with plain chamfered jambs and two-centred head, and west of this is a two-light window of I 7th- century date with rounded uncusped heads and a flat lintel. The west window is probably of the same date, and is of three uncusped lights with smaller un- cusped lights over and a four-centred head. The south chapel has a late 13th-century east win- dow of three uncusped lights with much-restored in- terlacing tracery. There are internal and external labels, and jamb-shafts with moulded capitals and bases, both having a member ornamented with a cable pattern. In the south wall are two windows, the openings of which are of the same date as the east window, but have been cut back in the ijth century and filed with tracery of two narrow trefoiled lights with smaller lights over under a square head. On the internal jambs portions of the I 3th-century jamb-shafts and the cable-moulded capitals and bases are still visible. At the east end of the south wall is a 15th-century piscina with chamfered jambs and trefoiled head. The chapel opens to the south aisle by an arch of two moulded orders, of rough late 13th-century workman- ship, with responds of three half-round shafts separated by square projections, having coarsely-cut and moulded capitals and bases. The north respond is somewhat clumsily set against the second column of the south arcade, and the south respond is pushed back into the south wall of the nave to make the passage-way from the aisle as wide as possible. The south doorway of the nave is of the date of the south aisle, and has a pointed arch of two orders with filleted rolls and a band of dog-tooth ornament on the outer order. In the jambs are circular shafts with coarsely moulded capitals and bases. The south porch has a small modern west window, and an outer archway of two moulded orders c. i 340. The tower, of the 1 5th century, is of three stages with an embattled parapet, above which rises the turret of a north-east staircase. The belfry openings are of two cinquefoiled lights with a quatrefoil over, and the west window of the ground stage is of three cinque- foiled lights under a four-centred head, the second stage being lighted by small trefoiled openings. The west doorway has a four-centred head, and jambs with continuous mouldings. The font is of late 12th-century date, having a slightly tapering circular bowl, carved with narrow pointed flutings, and a short stem with a roll-moulded base. The roofs throughout the church are modern, and though there is a good deal of old material used up in the open seating there is no woodwork of any particular interest. A plain 17th-century altar-table has been preserved. In the east window of the south aisle are two heads of angels in 15th-century glass. The tower contains six bells, all cast by John Warner & Sons in 1884, and a sanctus which is. blank. The plate is modern, and comprises a silver-gilt chalice, paten and flagon, and a silver paten. The first book of the registers contains burials be- tween 1653 and 1812 ; the second baptisms between 1663 and 1811, and the third marriages from 1698 to 1750; while the first printed book of marriages contains entries from 1754 to 1812. The chapel of Cuddington was ap- ADVOWSON pendant to the church of Haddenham,. and was held by the Priory of St. Andrew, Rochester, until its dissolution in 1 540." The vicarage of Haddenham was ordained by Bishop Hugh of Wells (1209-35) and appropriated to the 50 These are really the corresponding columns in the two arcades, as that on the north was the first from the east as origin- ally set out, the transept arch not being reckoned as part of the arcade. 270 "CottMS. Dom.x,fol. 105 ; Dugdale* Mon. i, 169. STONE HUNDRED Priory." It consisted of the whole altarage of Had- denham Church and all the chapel of Cuddington, the vicar finding a chaplain to celebrate at the latter place." The advowson of the vicarage of Cuddington, to- gether with that of Haddenham, was granted by Henry VIII to the Dean and Chapter of Rochester, who are the patrons at the present day." Queen Elizabeth in I 5 79 granted to Edward Thomlynson and Anthony Page, their heirs and assigns, all the late free chapel of Cuddington, commonly called Cudding- ton Chapel, with all land belonging to it, but this grant does not seem to have taken effect." There is a Bap- tist chapel in Cuddington, built in 1831, and a Wesleyan chapel which was built in 1894. Nicholas Almond, by deed of feoff- CHARITIES ment bearing date 4 April 1 8 Charles I, conveyed a parcel of land, part of Middle Moor, containing between five and six acres, upon trust that the rents and profits should be applied for apprenticing or otherwise for the benefit of the poor, subject to the payment of 61. %J. to the minister for DINTON preaching a sermon every Easter Monday. In 1906 the sum of £14 I 5/. was received as rent of the Moor, which, after payment of 6/. 8V. for a sermon, was applied, together with a sum of £\ charged in 1695 by William Almond on land called Nunhcycs, in the distribution of I/, to each recipient. The poor are also entitled to receive one sack of wheat, and two sacks of barley out of the Great Tithes, being also the gift of the said Nicholas Almond. Thomas Hill, by will, proved in the P.C.C. 7 Jan- uary 1 804, charged his estate with the payment of a certain quantity of wheat and barley, which was for- merly distributed with the last-named charity, but the distribution was discontinued on the ground that the bequest was void under the Mortmain Act." The Rev. John Willis, a former rector, by will proved in 1855, left £600 consols (with the official trustees). Theannual dividends, amounting to^l 5, are applied in accordance with the trusts in the dis- tribution of coal, 3$ cwts. being given to each recipient. DINTON Daniton (xi cent.) ; Dunigton (xiii cent.) ; Donyng- ton (xiv cent ) ; Dynton (xvi cent.). Dinton is a large parish in the Vale of Aylesbury and it lies in three hundreds. The village of Dinton and Upton hamlet are in Aylesbury Hundred ; Moreton Farm or Liberty is in Desborough Hundred, and Aston Mullins Farm and Waldridge hamlet in Ashendon Hundred. The River Thame forms part of the northern boundary, and Bonny Brook flows from Marsh hamlet through Dinton parish near Ford. There is water in the grounds of Dinton Hall. The subsoil is Kimmeridge Clay, Portland Beds and Gault ; ' the surface soil is Clay, Sand, and Lime- stone. The occupation of the inhabitants is entirely agricultural, 2,288 acres being laid down in permanent pasture and 1,177^ in arable land.' Duck and poultry breeding is also carried on. The village of Dinton lies on a side road running parallel to the main road from Thame to Aylesbury, at a short distance to the south. A lower road from Thame also crosses the parish. The nearest railway station is at Aylesbury, 4 miles away, for the Great Western, Great Central, and Metropolitan Extension lines. The common fields were inclosed under Act of Parliament, the award being made in 1804.* Various Anglo-Saxon remains have been found, and are pre- served at Dinton Hall. The parish is celebrated for having been the place of residence of two regicides in the 1 7th century, Simon Mayne at Dinton Hall and Sir Richard Ingoldsby at Waldridge. John Bigg, joint secretary to the two regicides, also lived at Dinton. Tradition names him as the actual executioner of Charles I. After the Restora- tion, apparently pursued by remorse, he became a hermit and lived in a cave in the parish, without ever changing his clothes. He died in 1696, and one of his shoes is preserved at Dinton Hall, the other being in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford. There are four hamlets in the parish : Ford, Upton, West- lington, and Gibraltar. Westlington is the most considerable of these, and lies to the west of the grounds of Dinton Hall, the church and village of Dinton adjoining the same grounds on the east. Upton is a little farther to the north-east, all three settlements being built on the southward slope of the narrow ridge of land along which the Aylesbury road runs. All this part of the parish is very well timbered, especially near the church and Hall. On the southern boundary of the churchyard are some disused alms- houses of 18th-century brickwork, with a little timber work of earlier date, the south entrance to the churchyard being by an archway through the build- ings. They face on to a pretty green, with the boundary wall of the Hall gardens on the west, and a line of tall trees, beneath which the village stocks and whipping-post yet stand. The road runs on the east side past two small houses with half-timbered gables of early 1 7th-century date, which are the two wings of an H-shaped house, whose central block has been destroyed, leaving two fireplaces exposed on the wall of the south wing. The hamlet of Ford, as its nime implies, lies to the south at the point where the road from Dinton village crosses the Ford Brook, and farther to the south stand the farm-houses of Upper and Lower Waldridge. The small collection of houses known as Gibraltar is on the main Aylesbury road, north-west of Dinton village, and about half a mile to the west of the ridiculous 18th-century ruin known as Dinton Castle, built in 1769 by Sir John Vanhattem. Though in itself of no importance, it stands on a Saxon burial mound from which a number of valuable objects have been dugout. Besides the church there are two buildings of historical interest in the parish, Dinton Hall and Upper Waldridge. Of these the former, said to have been in great part " Line. Epii. Reg. Bithop Bck'i Init. 4*-7- • Mi "Pit 33 Hen. VIII, pt. 9, m. ••Pat. 21 Elii. pt. 7, m. 38. •• Ckar. Cam. Ref. i«vi, 73. 271 1 I'.C.H. Buck, i, Geol. Map. 1 Inf. from Bd. of Agric. (1905). • Com. Indt Avtard, A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE built by Archbishop Warham c. \ 500, has been much modernized, but shows a few traces of work as early as the I4th century, though the main part of the building appears to be of I yth-century date. In the cellars, under the present drawing-room, is a curious structure apparently designed to support a projecting fireplace above (the present fireplace is over it), and constructed of arched ribs of stone stiffened by horizontal slabs, and springing from corbels carved with the masks characteristic of 1 3th and 14th-century Gothic work. The plan is quite abnormal, the situation, on the side of a fairly sharp southerly slope, probably accounting for this. It is possible that there were at one time wings extending northwards at either end of DINTON HALL : THE STAIRCASE the existing house, which runs east and west, and is entered from the north. The north face has been much restored in modern times and little or none of the old masonry, whether stone or brick, remains. The entrance doorway opens to a corridor running east and west, at either end of which is a I yth-century staircase. On a level with the corridor are two rooms facing south, the western of which is panelled from floor to ceiling with very fine moulded oak panels of large size and late 17th-century date. In a bedroom over these rooms is a mantel of 16th-century date, with carved ornament which seems a later addition. East of this central portion are the kitchen and offices, on the north elevation of which is a brick cloister with plain three-centred arches. West of the hall, and at a higher level, is the drawing-room, which has been completely redecorated in compara- tively modern times. Opening out of it to the west is a small room of one story, once used as a chapel, and probably mediaeval, though its open timber roof is of 18th-century date, and there are no masonry details of an earlier period now visible. Above the drawing-room is a large room partly in the roof, ex- tending from north to south of the house, in which are preserved a number of curiosities more or less connected with the Hall. The south front was largely rebuilt in the i8th century, a contemporary drawing show- ing it fitted with sash windows. In comparatively recent times, however, this front was restored to what must have been, approximately, its original con- dition, with stone mullioned casements. Upper Waldridge, now a farmhouse, is a picturesque example of early i yth-cen- tury design. The main feature of the plan as it now exists is a large central stack of chimneys, the shafts of which are set anglewise above the tiled roof. Round this the rooms are grouped, open- ing out of each other with no attempt at corridor or suite planning, the staircase being on the south side. As the house evidently extended farther to the east, it is possible that what remains is one wing and half the main block of an H-shaped house. The original work is all half- timber filled wilh herring-bone brick- work, but the south and west faces have been refronted later in the iyth century with a thin skin of brickwork, with stone mullioned and transomed windows set in projecting brick panels with ribbed brick cornices and base-moulds. The north gable remains in its original state, and has a very pretty projecting gabled window on the first floor, of five latticed lights with wooden mullions and a transom. In the time of Edward MANORS the Confessor DINTON was held by Avelin, one of his thegns, but after the Norman Conquest it was granted to the Bishop of Bayeux.4 It was assessed in Domesday Book at 1 5 hides of land.' Bishop Odo lost all his lands under William Rufus, and many of them afterwards came into the possession of the family of Munchesney. Dinton presumably followed the history of Swanscombe in Kent, which belonged to the barony of the Bishop of Bayeux, and was held by the same under-tenant, Helto, in io86.6 Swanscombe was the head of the honour of the Mi nchesneys, and in the early izth century was held by Geoffrey Talbot.7 He died in 1140 during the civil wars of the reign of Stephen,8 and his barony passed to Walter of Meduana. Walter's widow, Cecilia, Countess of Hereford by her first husband, Roger Fitz Miles of Gloucester, Earl of Hereford, 4 V.C.H. Buck,, i, 234*. » Ibid. • See V.C.H. Kent, iii, Topog. 1 Red Bk. ofExcb. (Rolls Ser.), 195. 272 » Chron. of Sufi,. Hen. II, and Ric. I (Rolls Ser.), iii, 37, 38, 68. STONE HUNDRED DINTON and daughter of Payne Fitz John, held his barony after her husband's death. She seems to have been succeeded in the barony by her nephews, the sons of her sister, Agnes de Munchesney,' but in 1185 Agnes herself held Dinton.** In 1190-1 the latter was a tenant in chief in Buckinghamshire," but she must have died very shortly after- wards. Possibly she held as a sub-tenant of her eldest son, Ralph de Munchesney," who obtained various pri- vileges in Dinton dur- ing the reign of Henry II." He seems to have died before 1 196, when Cecilia, Coun- tess of Hereford, and William de Munches- ney, the second son, an- swered for 29 knights' fees of the honour of Walter de Meduana.15 He was succeeded by his son William, a minor in 1 204." The latter only lived till 1213, and was succeeded by Warine dc Munchesney,1* presumably his brother, who held the manor ' by ancient tenure by the gift of the king.'" He was living in 1253," but in the next year William de Valence had obtained a grant of the manor." He had married Joan, daughter of Warine de Munchesney," and tried to wrest the inheritance from her brother William, of whose lands and person he had custody." This latter William, however, obtained seisin of his lands," of Dyonisia, and further efforts to oust her from her inheritance also failed." She married Hugh de Vere," but had no children, so that Dinton finally came to the Valences, as the heirs of Joan de Munchesney, MOMCHIIHIY. Or thru Kutchtoni tarry vair and guilt. VAUMCK. liurilly ar- gent and azure an orle of martlitt guilt. and died leaving an only daughter Dyonisia." William de Valence again attempted to get possession of her lands, casting doubts upon her legitimacy. The Bishop of Worcester gave his judgement in favour DINTON : UPPER WALDRIDGH Dyonisia died about 1314," and Aymer de Valence, son of the above-mentioned William de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, and Joan his wife, succeeded to her pos- sessions." Aymer, some time between 1316" and his death in 1324," granted the manor to his wife Mary de St. Paul, Countess of Pembroke, who held it for life.19 Subsequently his lands were partitioned amongst the heirs of his sisters,30 and Dinton came to Elizabeth Comyn, who married Richard Talbot." Talbot granted the reversion of the manor to Thomas Talbot, clerk, and his heirs,3' and on the death of the Countess of Pembroke in 1377-8 the manor passed to Gilbert Talbot, the great-nephew of Thomas.13 Finally in 1384 this Gilbert Talbot granted the manor to Sir John Devereux," who had already become his tenant for a term of years." Sir John died in 1 392—3, and was succeeded by his son John, a minor.** The latter, however, died three years later, his sister Joan, wife of Walter, Lord Fitz Walter, inheriting his lands." Joan died in 1409, having survived her husband, and left two sons, Humphrey and Walter.*5 Humphrey died while still under age, and was succeeded by his brother, who in 1423 sold the manor to John Barton, sen., and John Barton, jun." The latter died in I433-4,40 having held it in common with John Longvillc and others, who, however, do not appear to have had any • Rat. dt Dominakut (ed. Grimaldi), 16. •» Ibid. 20. 10 Rid Bk. ofExcb. (Roll* Ser.), 71. >* Rir. dt Dominakui, 26. " Plac. dt Quo (far. (Rec. Com.), 85. « Red Bk. ofExch. (Rollt Ser.), 96. >« Cal. Roe. Chart. (Rec. Com.), 133 | Pipe R. 6 John, m. 2. " Fine R. 1 5 John, m. i. >• Tata dt Ntvill (Rec. Com.), 145*. » Cal. of Chart. R. 1126-57, p. 42*. >• Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, ji. 1* Hilt. Angl. (Rolli Ser.), iii, 301. *> Ibid. 346. *> Tata dt Ntvill (Rec. Com.), 260. «• HunJ. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 44- » Rot. Part. (Rec. Com.), i, 38 ; Feud. AUi, i, 97. M Chin. Inq. p.m. 7 Edw. II, no. 51. *» Ibid. » Ibid. * Ftud. Aidi, i, 113. * Chin. Inq. p.m. 17 Edw. II, 7$. M Ftud. Aidt, i, 122 j Chan. Inq. p.m. 51 Edw. Ill (nt not.), no. 28. 273 M Chan. Inq. p.m. 17 Edw. II, no. 75. 11 Ibid. Ji Edw. Ill (lit no..), no. 28. M Ibid. •» Ibid. " Cloie, 8 Ric. II, m. 28 d. •» Cal. Pat. 1381-5, p. 471. M Chan. Inq. p.m. 17 Ric. II, no. iff. *> Ibid. 20 Ric. II, no. 24 ; ibid. 21 Ric. II, no. 20. ** Chan. Inq. p.m. 10 Hen. IV, no. 40. H Cloie, 2 Hen. VI, m. 2, 3, 7 ; ibid. 4 Hen. VI, m. 18. 40 Chan. Inq. p.m. n Hen. VI, no. 35. 35 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE right in the manor after his death.41 His sisters were his heiresses, but Dinton was settled on his wife Isabella." A certain Andrew Sparlyng was seised of the manor to the use of Isabella and sold it to Sir Robert Whitingham ** and other feoffees, Isabella holding it for her life by a grant from the new tenants. Sir Robert was a strong Lancastrian par- tisan, and on the success of the Yorkist cause he for- feited all his lands, which were granted by Edward IV to Sir Thomas Montgomery, first for life and finally in fee-tail." Margery Whitingham, Sir Robert's heiress, had however married John Verney, the son of Sir Ralph Verney, a Yorkist, who had rendered great service to his party. Consequently many attempts were made to recover the Whitingham lands. Sir Ralph first obtained a grant of the reversion of the manor of Dinton, a prudent measure since Mont- gomery was elderly and childless.46 Long law suits ensued and 46 the Verneys, on the accession of Henry VII, changed the ground of their claim from the Yorkist services of Sir Ralph to the faithfulness of Sir Robert Whitingham to the Lancastrian cause. John Verney finally obtained his wife's lands,47 and his son, Sir Ralph Verney, jun., held them in peace.48 The Whitingham and Verney monument in Aldbury WHITINGHAM. Ar~ gent a fesse vert "with a lion gules otter all. VERNEY. Atsure a cross argent with jive pierced motets gules there- on. Church, Hertfordshire, is a complete record of this phase of the family history.49 Early in the 1 7th century the Verneys sold the manor of Dinton to Simon Mayne. Between 1585—6 and 1 604, Thomas Saunders appears to have had some right in the manor, but presumably only as trustee or mortgagee,50 since there is no record at Dinton of his ever being lord of the manor. Simon Mayne bought the manor in 1604," but he does not seem to have settled there till two years later.51 He was succeeded by his son, Simon Mayne, the regicide, who died in the Tower in 1 66 1. By a special provision he was excepted from enjoying the benefits of the Act of Indemnity and Oblivion passed by the Restoration Parliament,53 and his estates were forfeited to the Crown. It seems probable, however, that his son and heir recovered possession of the manor of Dinton. In a dispute as to tithes in 1 794 it was MAYNE. Argent a bend sable 'with three right hands argent there- on. stated that Charles II granted the Mayne estates to James Duke of York, but there is no other record of the grant.54 Simon Mayne the younger certainly obtained office after the Re- storation. He was sub-com- missioner of Prizes at Ports- mouth till 1689," and Com- missioner of Victualling until the Accession of Queen Anne.56 He also sat in Parliament in the reigns both of William III and Anne." In a petition for a renewal of his Crown lease of the tithes issuing out of ' the demesne lands of the manor of Dinton,' Mayne was stated to be the owner of the lands in question.59 This certainly suggests that he had recovered possession of the manor. It is possible that this occurred after the flight of James II, since Mayne represents himself as having been devoted to the Protestant interest.69 He died in 1725, and his son, another Simon, inherited the manor,60 which he, together with the Hon. Edward Harley, of Iwood, Herefordshire, Auditor of the Im- prest, sold to Sir John Vanhattem in 1727." Sir John Vanhattem died in 1787, and left an only daughter and heiress, who married the Rev. William Goodall. Her descendant, Lieut.-Colonel Goodall, is the present owner of the manor of Dinton.61 The homage of the manors of FORD and ffEST- LINGTON is said to be included in the manor of Dinton, while a small manor called BLOMERS be- longed at one time to the Hampdens, lying intermixed with Ford.6* It is said to have passed from the Hampdens to the Claytons and in 1813 was .the property of the Earl of Chesterfield.63" It now be- longs to the lord of the manor of Dinton. The manor of Dinton was held by military service as one knight's fee.64 At one time one mark was paid on St. Nicholas' Day for hidage and suit to the shire court, but this payment was remitted by a charter granted by Henry III either to Warine de Munches- ney or William de Valence before I254-65 The latter held the view of frankpledge for his tenants at that date,66 and Dyonisia de Munchesney also held the Assizes of Bread and Ale.67 In 1253 Warine de Munchesney obtained a grant of free warren for him- self and his heirs in the demesne lands of Dinton.68 ASTON MULLINS, otherwise known as ASTON BERNARD, was probably included in the Domesday Survey either in Ilmer or in Aston Sandford. Both these townships were in the hands of the Bishop of Bayeux, and the same under-tenant Robert held both in demesne.68 It lay in the hundred of Ashendon. Afterwards Aston Mullins was held with Ilmer, and like Ilmer did not pass to the Munchesney family. 41 Chan. Inq. p.m. II Hen. VI, no. 35. 43 Early Chan. Proc. bdlc. 9, no. 207. 48 Ibid. ; Cat. Pat. 1436-41, pp. 31, 51. 44 Col. Pat. 1461-7, pp. ill, 367. 44 Ibid. 1467-77, p. 309. * ferncy Memoirs, i, 41, 42. 4? Feet of F. Div. Cos. Mich. 12 Edw. IV ; ibid. Hil. 2 Ric. III. 49 Chan. Inq. p.m. 44, no. 91. 4« y.C.H. Herts, ii, 146. 60 Feet of F. Bucks. Hil. 28 Eliz. *' Ibid. Trin. I Jas. I. 6* From information supplied by Lieut.- Colonel Goodall of Dinton Hall. 63 Treas. Bks. Early Entry Bks. vi, fol. 64-8. M Lipscomb, Hist, of Bucks, ii, 143, quoting Dec. of Tithe Causes, iv, 443. " Col. S.P. Dam. 1689-90, p. 295. 64 Treas. Papers, Ixxxix, no. 51. " Ibid, ccxlviii, no. 41. « Ibid. •» Ibid. 10 Lipscomb, Hist, of Bucks, ii, 153 ; Dinton Par. Registers. 274 0 From information given by Lieut.- Colonel Goodall of Dinton Hall. M Burke, Landed Gentry, 1 906. 83 From information given by Lieut.- Colonel Goodall. 68* Lysons, Mag. Brit, i, 551. 64 Feud. Aids, i, 97. 65 Hand. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 20. «« Ibid. 1 Ibid. 44. » Cal. of Chart. 1226-57, p. 428. «» V.C.H. Bucks, i, 236/. STONE HUNDRED How long they remained in the king's hands after the forfeiture of Bishop Odo does not appear, but in the izth century they were held by the family of Rumenel.70 David de Rumenel held Aston Mullins and died, probably leaving two daughters." Of these Aubrey married William de Jarpenville," and brought to her husband her father's office of marshal of the king's falcons.™ William died before 1203-4, leaving as his heir his daughter, Alice de Jarpenville.'4 She married Thomas Kitz Bernard, from whom the manor first took its name, and by grant from Aubrey he became marshal of the royal falcons." During the lifetime of Aubrey, Thomas held Aston Mullins, while she kept Ilmer in her own hands.7* In 1222 Aubrey de Jarpenville was involved in a law- suit with Robert Achard, Roger de Cauz, Almaric de Mowers, and Gilbert de St. Clare, who claimed a moiety of Ilmer and Aston as part of the inheritance of David de Rumenel," their common ancestor. Presumably they were the descendants of the second daughter of David de Rumenel, since they claimed half his inheritance. The suit, however, resulted in their yielding their rights to Aubrey." She died before 1226, and her daughter Alice succeeded to her lands." Ralph Fitz Bernard, the son of Alice and Thomas, recovered his father's lands in 1214 from the hands of Isaac of Norwich, a Jew.80 He was succeeded by John Fitz Bernard. Land in Aston Mullins, however, was held by Joan, the widow of Ralph Fitz Bernard, who afterwards married Humbert Pugeys." John Fitz Bernard was in seisin of the manor in 1254," but he died a few years later, leaving his son Ralph as his heir.8* Ralph was still a minor," and Humbert Pugeys obtained Aston by a grant of Henry III, presumably to hold in wardship." In 1284-6 Ralph was himself holding the manor.** He died between 1 302 w and 1 307," his heir being his nephew Thomas, a ward of the king." Aston Mullins formed part of the dower of Ralph's widow Agatha,*0 but the reversion of the manor on her death was granted by Thomas Fitz Bernard to Sir John Blacket in 1313." The final conveyance took place in 1315," and Sir John held it until his death before 1328-9." His widow Gille married Sir Johjj de Molyns,*4 and the latter acquired the manor of Aston Mullins from John the son and heir of Sir John Blacket.** De Molyns obtained fur- ther security in this manor by releases of their respec- tive rights from John Fitz Bernard ** and Giles " and Isabel Blacket." Various letters patent ** and charters DINTON from the king were also obtained, one amongst them granting leave to Sir John de Molyns and his wife to embattle the house at Aston Mullins.100 In i 344 the manor was seized by the king with the other lands of Sir John de Molyns,101 but the next year he regained the king's favour and obtained fresh grants.10* Gille de Molyns died in 1367-8 seised of the manor of Aston Mullins, which then passed to her son Sir William de Molyns. '°* The family held it until 1440, when Sir William de Molyns died, leaving an only daughter Eleanor.104 She married Sir Robert Hungerford, Lord Hunger- 000 ooo MOLTNI. Sable thief or •wit/i ihree l enget gulet therein. HuNGi«ro»D. Sable fan ban and in tht chief tkrtt nundeli all mrgnt. ford and de Molyns. lo* He was taken prisoner in Gascony during the French War, and to raise his ran- som of £3,000 Aston Mullins with various other manors was given in surety to the Bishop of Win- chester and other feoffees.106 Eleanor, after the death of her husband, had some difficulty in recovering possession of these manors.107 Her son Thomas, Lord Hungerford, succeeded to his mother's possessions. He was attainted as a Lancastrian, but the sentence was reversed by Act of Parliament on the accession of Henry VII, and his daughter Mary recovered her inheritance.108 She was in the wardship of Lord Hastings, and was married to his son Edward.10* The family of Hastings held the manor of Aston Mullins till 1537, when George Hastings, Earl of Huntingdon, and his heir Francis, sold it to Michael Dormer."* Geoffrey Dormer made a settlement of the manor in 1561, by which he was to hold it for seven years, the reversion being granted to Elizabeth, widow of William Serjeant, with reversion to Richard Serjeant her son and his wife Marian Boiler."1 Marian sur- vived her husband, and held the manor till 1614."' Her son William Serjeant also predeceased her, and Richard her grandson succeeded to the manor.1" The ?• Cart. Antiq. I, 305 Feet of F. Buck*. 6 Hen. III. 7> Ibid. 7* Cart. Antiq. I, 30. " Ibid. '• Ibid. •s Ibid. » Fife R. (Pipe R. Soc.), «JT, 130; Feet of F. Bucki. 6 Hen. III. " Ibid. | Maitland, Bracmn'i Note Bk. case 301. 7» Ibid. n Excerfta t Rat. Fin. (Rec. Com.), i, If*. •» y.C.H. Kent, iii, Topog. Manor of Kingidown; Teita dt Ntvill (Rec. Com.), 254*; Rat. Lit. Clara. (Rec. Com.), i, 181*. n Atiiie R. 56, m. 42 d. » HunJ. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 15. 83 Chan. Inq. p.m. 44 Hen. Ill, no. 10° Chart. R. 10 Edw. Ill, m. 26, no. « Ibid. " Auize R. 56, m. 41 d.| 57, m. 3 d. 5 Tata dt Ntvill (Rec. Com.), 245*. * Feud. Aidi, i, 84. *> Ibid. 94. " Chan. Inq. p.m. I Edw. II, no. 25. "Ibid. *> Cat. Pat. 1307-13 p. 551. •» Ibid. •* Feet of F. Bucka. Mich. 9 Edw. II. " Feud. Aids, i, 1141 Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 Edw. Ill (nt not.), no. 27. M Ibid. 41 Edw III (lit not.), no. 42. M Feet of F. Buck.. Hil. 9 Edw. III. * Ibid. Mich. 1 3 Edw. III. "• Cloie, 21 Edw. Ill, pt. i, m. 29. M Ibid. 32 Edw. Ill, pt. I, m. 27. N Cal. Pat. 1334-8, pp. 195, 212. 275 Hen. 55- m Cal. Clou, 1343-6, PP- "9*, 4*9- "» Ibid. pp. 603-6. «• Chaa Inq. p.m. 41 Edw. Ill (nt not.), no. 42. "o* Ibid. 18 Hen. VI, no. 38. u* Feet of F. Diy. Cot. Eatt. 38 VI. 1M Cloie, 38 Hen. VI, m. 9. 10" Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 28, no. 1 1 1. 10» Material, far Hilt, of Hen. yil (Rolla Ser.), i, 132. lw G.E.C. Comflett Peerage. "° Recov. R. Mich. 29 Hen. VIII j Feet of F. Bucka. Mich. 29 Hen. VIII. 111 Feet of F. Bucki. Trin. and Mich. 3 Elit. 111 Chan. Inq. pjn. (Ser. 2), cccxliii, no. 143. "» Ibid. A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE Serjeants held Aston Mullins till the 1 8th century, and the last members of the family who are mentioned as holding it were Jane Serjeant, widow, and Winwood Serjeant.114 In 1793 Matthew Raper and his wife Anne owned the manor,115 and in 1827 Henry Raper had succeeded them.118 General Raper was lately in possession of a farm called Aston Mullins in Dinton parish, but it has now passed into other hands.117 The manor of Aston Mullins was held in grand serjeanty, together with Ilmer, the holder being the marshal of the king's falcons.118 This service was unchanged until the abolition of feudal tenures, the last mention of it being in 1613, on the death of William Serjeant. The manor was then held of the king-in-chief ' by the service of serjeanty, viz., Mar- shal of the goshawks and birds of the King.' "* Sir John de Molyns, owing to the high favour in which be stood with Edward III, obtained the grant of many liberties and franchises within his manors, the chief being the return of writs, in-fangthief, out- fangthief, gallows ; freedom from toll, murage, pavage, and pontage, throughout the kingdom, for himself and his tenants, and free warren in his demesne land.180 Early in the 1 3th century, a considerable number of alienations of this serjeanty seem to have taken place. Though only Ilmer is mentioned, the aliena- tions in Aston Mullins seem to have been included under this heading. Robert Passelewe, in the reign of Henry III, recovered these alienations for the king. The tenants paid a fixed yearly rent, while military service was substituted for serjeanty.1'1 Robert Pykoc held I £ virgates of land and pasture of this serjeanty, and had also granted another half virgate to Richard Pykoc.1" This land was probably in Aston Mullins, since a conveyance was made be- tween John Pykoc and Robert Pykoc of messuages and land in Aston Mullins and Waldridge in I3lo.ln After the Norman Conquest Miles Crispin ob- tained the grant of I J hides of land in Upton,1" the origin of the estate of NETHER UPTON. In the Confessor's time it had been held by a thegn named Albric, and he remained in possession of this land as a sub-tenant of Miles Crispin.1*6 The lands of Miles Crispin, together with those of Robert Doyly afterwards formed the royal honour of Wallingford,1'6 to which this part of Upton belonged.187 In the 1 2th century William de Upton appears to have been the tenant of this land. In 1 197 there was a law- suit between Samson de le Pomerae and his wife Christian and William as to the service due from 6 virgates of land in Upton, of which Samson appeared to be the mesne tenant between William de Upton and the honour of Wallingford.118 Geoffrey, son of William or Geoffrey de Upton, succeeded his father,119 but in 1235 another William de Upton paid the feudal dues from the land.180 He was succeeded by Geoffrey de Upton,131 who, however, granted all his land in Upton to William Giffard in I267.131 The heirs of Geoffrey de Upton attempted to recover their posses- sion and seized the land.133 Long law-suits ensued, the pleadings being rather obscure. The jurors said that Geoffrey de Upton never enfeoffed William Giffard with the tenements in question, namely, one messuage and 183 acres of land, 8 acres of wood, and 8 acres of meadow, but that the latter entered on the tenement shortly after the battle of Evesham. William demised it to Adam de Caudes for life, but afterwards resumed it into his own hands.134 In spite of this evidence it was. acknowledged that in 1267 Geoffrey de Upton came before the Chancellor and quit-claimed for himself and his heirs his manor of Upton to William Giffard."5 Geoffrey's heirs were two nieces, Cecilia de Gatesdon and Alice Haket, and John de Middleton, John de St. Owen, and Robert Covert. The three last-named were presumably the nephews of Cecilia and Alice.136 Finally William Giffard appears to have recovered possession of the manor.137 During the disseisin of Giffard, John de Middleton and his co-parceners enfeoffed John le Waleys and his wife Maud with half of the land in question. After the death of John, Maud married Simon de Kingesmede.138 In 1290 they were dis- seised of their land by Hamo Hawtrey, the descendant of William Giffard.139 They petitioned the king, and presumably recovered seisin, since in 1 302-3 Master William Bernel and Simon de Kingesham (or Kingesmede) 14° held this part of Upton. In 1346 it was held by Michael atte Watre and John le Waleys,141 the son and heir of John le Waleys and Maud.1" The later history of Nether Upton cannot be traced. In 1 346 John de Handlo died seised of rents in Upton by Aylesbury, which he held of the honour of Wallingford.143 Hence the land from which they were paid was presumably in Nether Upton. His heir was a minor, Edmund, son of Richard de Handlo.144 Edmund died before 1363, and his lands were divided between his two sisters Margaret the wife of Sir John Appleby and Elizabeth the wife of Edmund de la Pole.115 The land in Upton belonging to the honour of Wallingford was held as the twentieth part of a knight's fee.146 Before the Norman Conquest Alwin, a thegn of Queen Edith, held 3^ hides of land in UPTON, which he could sell as he pleased.147 At the time of the Domesday Survey this land had passed to William Peverel,148 and formed part of the honour of Peverel of Nottingham.149 William Peverel had granted this land to a sub-tenant named Robert,160 but later it was held by the family of Hussey. 114 Recov. R. Hil. 2 Anne. 115 Ibid. East. 33 Geo. III. "« Ibid. 8 Geo. IV. 117 From information supplied by Lieut.- Colonel Goodall. "8 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 25. 118 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxliii, no. 143. ""Chart. R. n Edw. Ill, m. 17, no. 56. 141 HunJ. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 25. 1MIbid. 31; Tata de NeviU (Rec. Com.), 257*. la» Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 3 Edw. II. 1M f.C.H. Bucks, i, 2610. IK n,id. 1*6 ibid- 2,4. "7 Testa de Ne-vill (Rec. Com.), 261. 188 Fines (Rec. Com.), i, 161. IW Testa de Ne-vill (Rec. Com.), 245* ; Curia Regis R. (Rec. Com.), ii, 87, 160 ; Fife R. (Pipe Roll Soc.), xiv, 137. 180 Testa de NeviU (Rec. Com.), 257*, 261, 258. "! HunJ. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 31. !»> Cal. of Chart, ii, 71. 188 Ciram Rege R. no. 20. 184 Ibid. 14, 20. l"5 Ibid. 20. "« Ibid. "7 Ibid. 276 188 Rot. Parl. (Rec. Com.;, i, 52*. "» Ibid. 140 Feud. Aids, i, 97. "Ubid. 122. 14a Abbrev. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 281-2. 148 Chan. Inq. p.m. 20 Edw. Ill (ist nog.), no. 51. "« Ibid. 145 Close, 36 Edw. Ill, m. 38. 146 Teiti de Ne-vill (Rec. Com.), 257^ ; Feud. Aids, i, 97, 122. "7 V.C.H. Bucks, i, 2530. "« Ibid. 14S Cf. Hartwell «» V.C.H. Such, i, 25 3*. STONE HUNDRED The first mention of Upton after the entry in Domesday Book occurs in 1207, when one knight's fee in Upton was in the king's hands, but three years earlier William Hussey held one fee in the county."1 About 1210 Henry Hussey held Upton,1" and in 1 21 1 or 12 1 2 William Hussey is mentioned as the tenant.1" Not long after this, however, another Henry Hussey held it.1*4 In i 302-3 it was held by a sub-tenant of his heir,1** but after this the name of Hussey does not appear in connexion with land in Upton. Henry Hussey granted his fee in Upton to the abbey of Oseney.11* This grant was confirmed in HDHIY. Barry ermine and guJti. OiiNir ABBEY. Ature fun htndi or. I238,"7 and in 1276 the abbot was said to hold the manor of Upton of Henry Hussey, doing suit at the court of the honour of Peverel.1** In 1346, how- ever, he held a knight's fee in « Upton cum Stone ' of the king in chief,1" and it belonged to the abbey till its dissolution. '•* The manor of Upton was granted in 1541 to Sir John Baldwin, Chief Justice of Com- BALDWIN. Argent three peurs of oaklcnvei vert viith itotki uble. BORLAII. Ermine a bend table and thereon two arms coming out of clouiit, the handi grasfing a konethoe or. mon Pleas.1* In his will it was left to the king ' for the wardship and primer seisin ' of his heirs, Thomas Pakington and John Borlase.1*1 The latter was the son of the younger daughter of Sir John, and Upton formed part of his share of the inheritance.1** The WALLOP, Earl of Portsmouth. Argent a bend wavjr table. DINTON Borlases held the manor1*1 until the death of Sir John Borlase, bart., without heirs male in 1688-9,"* when the four daughters of his uncle, William Borlase, inherited Upton."* John Wallop, who had married Alice, the eldest sister, apparently bought the other three shares of the manor. His second son John, who afterwards became Earl of Portsmouth, inherited it in 1762.'" The second earl held it in 1789-90,"* and his son and successor was said to hold it in the first part of the century."* Upton is at the present day a sub-manor appendant to the manor of Dinton, the land being owned by Mrs. Parker.1™ The manor of Upton was held by the military service due from one knight's fee."1 The Abbot of Oseney held it in fnnkalmoign of Henry Hussey and his heirs, paying 5/. a year1" at Michaelmas. This rent was afterwards paid to the bailiffs of the honour of Pcverel.1" The abbot, however, was answerable for the service due to the honour, and paid the feudal dues from his fee."4 In 1254. the bailiff held the view of frankpledge, pleas of namio vetifo, and the return of writs within the manor."* The abbot claimed the view of frankpledge and waifs in the reign of Edward I. He presented a charter of Henry III, which confirmed rights granted by Henry II as warranty, but he renounced his claim to waifs.17* The Borlase family and their successors also claimed to hold the view of frankpledge and a court-leet in their manor of Upton.177 In the time of Edward the Confessor two socmen held WALDRIDGE. They were respectively the men of Avelin and of Alveva, sister of Earl Harold, and they could sell their land at will.178 After the Conquest this land, containing I hide and 2 virgates, was granted to the Bishop of Bayeux."' It passed with the manor of Dinton in succession to the Mun- chesneys 18° and the Earl of Pembroke ; 1M the last mention of the overlordship of Waldridge occurs in 1316, and was then held by Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke.1" Helto, the steward of the Bishop of Bayeux, held Waldridge as an under-tenant in io86.lss In 1254, 9 virgates of land were held by John de Stoke and Richard de Middleton.1" Geoffrey de Upton also held 3 virgates of land, but his overlord was said to be Adam Rumbald.14* No further men- tion of this mesne tenancy appears. Geoffrey, how- "i Rid Bk. of Excb. (Rolli Ser.), 181, •37- "« Ibid. $36. "• Ibid. 58?. 1" Tata de Ntvttt (Rec. Corn.), 145* ; Hmd. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 31. lu Feud. Aidt, i, 97. »• Teia dt Nevill (Rec. Com.), »45*, 158-9, z6ii. "7 Feet of F. Buck.. Eatt. zz Hen. III. "• Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 31, 44. »*fW. Aidi, i, 11*. >« L. and P. Hen. Fill, ivi, 703 (8). 1" Ibid. } Pat. 32 Hen. VIII, pi. 8. 1(1 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Scr. l), Izxiii, 00.7. "* Feet of F. Div. Cot. Eait. 5 Edw. VI. "' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Scr. l), ccclix, no. 48 ; Feet of F. Bucki. Mich. 33 Chat. II. *** G.E.C. Co* flea Baronetage. "• Feet of F. Bucki. Mich. 33 Chti. II ; and Mich, l Will, and Mary. W G.E.C. Complete Peerage. ln Recor. R. Ilil. 30 Ceo. III. "* Lipicomh, Iliit. of Bucks, ii, 1 59. I'~° From inf. giren by LicuU-Col. GooJaU. '"' Rid Bk. of Excb. (Rolli Ser.), 581;. » Feet of F. Buck*. Bail zz Hen. III. WPlac. dt Quo ffar. (Rec. Com.), 93- 277 W« Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 31 j Foul. Aidi, i, 97. W» Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, ji. »• Plae. deQuo War. (R«. Com.). 93. W Feet of F. Buck*. Mich. 33 Chat. II ; Mich. 1 Will, and Mary ; Recov. R. Hil. 30 Geo. III. »••• Y.CJi. Buckt. i, 136*. ir» Ibid. 180 See manor of Dinton ; Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, zc. "» F,ud. Aidi, i, 1 14. 181 Ibid. »" y.C.H. Bucki. i, Z36*. Hund. R. (Rec, Com.), i, 15. A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE ever, held more land in Waldridge,186 and in 1267 he granted it as a member of the manor of (Nether) Upton (q.v.) to William Giffard.187 The latter, together with John le Waleys, held 1 1 virgates of land in I284-6.1*8 The heirs of Geoffrey de Upton at- tempted to recover Waldridge as well as Upton (q.v.), with presumably the same result, and its history at that time is very obscure.189 Five virgates of land in Waldridge were granted by Edward IV to Sir Thomas Montgomery in 14.64..™ The reversion in the event of his dying without heirs male was obtained by Ralph Verney and Richard Fowler.191 The manor of Waldridge, however, came into the possession of the Hampdens. In 1487 Margery, the widow of Thomas Hampden, claimed a third as her dower and recovered her seisin.198 Land in Waldridge was held by the family until the death of Sir Alexander Hampden,193 a fine of messuages, lands, and rents in Waldridge being levied in 1622 between two of his heiresses, Anne the wife of Sir John Trevor, and Margaret the wife of Sir Thomas Wenman.194 The manor, however, appears to have come into the possession of the Serjeants before this time. In 1615 William Serjeant died seised of a capital mes- suage or farm in Waldridge.195 In 1650 Sir Richard Ingoldsby the regicide pur- chased the manor of Waldridge from the Serjeants and lived there.198 The family remained as residents in the parish for many yean, and presumably held the manor of Waldridge. In 1 849 it was purchased by the lord of Dinton Manor, the father of Lieut.-Col. Goodall, and is now appendant to the main manor.197 In 1254 John de Stoke and Richard de Middleton paid zos. a year to Warine de Munchesney for the 9 virgates that they held of him.198 They held the view of frankpledge for their tenants, but made a yearly payment of zs. to the king for this right.199 Geoffrey de Upton, however, paid 1 5*. a year to his immediate lord, and did no forinsec service to the king.*00 The manor or liberty of MORETON belonged to the hundred of Desborough. It is not mentioned separately in the Domesday Survey, but it may have been included in West Wycombe,*01 since it was after- wards held by the Bishop of Winchester,*0* and was appendant to his manor of West Wycombe.*01 Bishop Richard Pope held a court-leet for Moreton in the reign of Henry VII,*04 but in 1551 Bishop Poynet surrendered his manors of West Wycombe, Moreton, and Ivinghoe to the king.*05 The two last-mentioned manors were, however, restored to the see of Winches- ter. The bishop held the manor in I6I3,*06 and in WALLER. Sable three •walnut leaves or between nuo bends argent. 1797 it still belonged to the bishopric.*07 Moreton was held in frankalmoign of the king- in chief.208 John Buncombe held a capital messuage in Moreton in the i6th century.209 It passed into the hands of John Saunders of Long Marston, Hertfordshire, who sold it to Richard Saunders.*'0 The latter died in 1 60 1, leaving a son John as his heir,*11 from whom Robert Waller bought two messuages, a garden, an orchard, and 90 acres of land in Moreton and Dinton.*1' Edmund Waller was his son and heir, but was a minor at the time of his father's death in 1617.*" His descendant, Edmund Waller, held Moreton under the Bishop of Winchester in 1 797,"' and the Wallers still own Moreton at the present day.'14 In 1 606 Sir Thomas Lee died seised of a farm called Moreton Farm in Dinton, which had previously been held by Ed- mund Waller.'16 How Sir Thomas had obtained this farm does not appear, nor the date of its recovery by the Wallers. Moreton is, however, best known as the first place of residence of the Lees in Buckinghamshire. Thomas and Ralph Lee held lands in Moreton, which they granted on lease to Francis Lee for twenty-six years.117 Thomas. Lee, the son of the lessee, held the remainder of this lease at the time of his death in I572."8 He left in his will the house in which he lived at Moreton to his wife, together with all lands belonging to it and other tenements there.*13 The Lees had probably settled there in the 1 5th century, a brass to William Lee, of Dinton, who died in 1485, still existing in the church. The family of Compton held land under the Bishop of Winchester in the 1 5th century. There is a brass in Dinton Church commemorating mem- bers of the family, and bearing the date 1424, and John Compton held land in Moreton in 1407.*"* Sir Ralph Verney (jun.) died seised of COMP- TON'S M4NOR in 1525 and it formed part of the jointure of his wife Elizabeth.**1 His son and heir Ralph succeeded him.*** William Serjeant, however, held this manor at the beginning of the 1 7th century.*** Compton's Piece and Compton's Lane are mentioned in 1 7 14,'*' and Compton's Farm is mentioned in the early part of the I gth century.**4 The tenure by which the Comptons held their land does not appear. Sir Ralph Verney, however, held the manor of the Bishop of Winchester,**6 and 188 Assize R. 56, m. l8d. 187 Coram Rege R. zo ; CaL of Chart. ii, 71. 188 FeuJ. JjJ^ \t g^. 189 Cf. Nether Upton. 190 Cal. Pat. 1461-7, p. 367. 181 Ibid. 1467-77, p. 309. 192 De Banco R. Mich. 3 Hen. VII, m. 501. 198 See Owlswick in Monks Risborough; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclxrvii, no. 96. 194 Feet of F. Bucks. East. 1 9 Jas. I. 195 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxliii, no. 142. 196 From inf. given by Lient.-Col. Goodall. W Ibid. 198 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 25. 199 ibid. a» Ibid. «" V.C.H. Bucks, i, 233* •» Testa de Nevitt (Rec. Com.), 246. *» Feud. Aids, i, 92. «x Eccl. Com. Ct. R. Ref. no. 155657! (3), bdle. 85, no. I. 905 Acts of P.O. 1550-2, p. 359. 208 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxliii, no. 142. W Thos. Langley, Hist, of the Hund. of Desborough, 435. 908 Feud. Aids, i, 92. 909 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccbcx, no. 129. NO Ibid. «" Ibid. 919 Ibid, ccczxxix, no. 136. 278 «" Ibid. "" Langley, Hitt. of the Hund. of Dei- borough. n" From inf. given by Lieut.-Col. Goodall. 918 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccxxxiv, no. 77. ^Ibid. clx, no. 15. •" Ibid. n> Ibid. "» Feet of F. Bucks. Trin. g Hen. IV. 921 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xliv, no. 91. 923 Ibid. 498 Ibid, cccxliii, no. 142. 924 Exch. Dep. by Com. Mich. I Geo. I, no. 2;. 995 Lipscomb, Hist, of Bucks, ii. 288 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xliv, no. 91 DINTON CHURCH : SOUTH DOORWAY OF NAVE CUDDINCTON I TVRINGHAM HofSE STONE HUNDRED William Serjeant held it of the bishop as of his manor of Moreton by fealty and a yearly rent of 1 6i.at The church of ST. PETER and ST. CHURCH PAUL consist* of a chancel 39 ft. by 1 7 ft. 8 in.;anave 56 ft. 9 in. by 23 ft. i J in.;a south aisle 1 4 ft. 3 in. wide with south porch, and a western tower 1 5 ft. 2 in. by 1 2 ft. 2 in. The church seems to have been almost entirely rebuilt in the i 3th century, but the walling above the south arcade is probably older than the arcade, and at the east end a shallow pilaster buttress shows in the east wall of the south aisle, which looks like 12th-century work. The south doorway is also of this date, and was doubtless removed to its present position from the wall of an aUlelcss nave. In the first half of the I3th century the nave was brought to its present plan by the rebuilding of its north wall, perhaps a little outside the line of the former north wall, and the addition of the south aisle and its arcade. The present chancel arch was built about the same time, and the chancel was rebuilt as it now appears, except in the matter of length. This has been increased by some feet in modern times. In the north wall of the nave pilasters were set to take the ends of the roof timbers, corresponding with the spacing of the south arcade, but all the windows of this date have been replaced by later work. At some time in the i.fth century four buttresses were built to support this wall, spaced symmetrically on the outer elevation, without regard to the pilasters within, and in the i£th century three large square-headed windows were inserted, also set with regard to the outside elevation, as far as the internal pilasters allowed. The tower is of the I 5th century, the 1 3th-century west door of the nave being removed to serve in the west wall of the tower, and the south porch is also of the i jth century. The church is covered externally by an almost complete coat of rough-cast, the only part not so treated, the chancel, having been largely re-pointed and re-faced in modern times. The church was 'restored' by Street in 1868. The east windows of the chancel, three lancets, are entirely modern. There are three lancets also in the north and south walls, which though re-tooled are in the main old. The south doorway, between the first and second lancets, is also in part old, and now blocked with masonry. At the east end of the north wall is a square locker rebated for a door, and in the same posi- tion on the south a much-scraped and restored piscina of 1 3 th-ccntury date with a trefoiled head and label. At the west end of the south wall is the opening of a squint which passes through the south respond of the chancel arch, giving a view of the former position of the high altar from the south aisle. The chancel arch appears to be of the same build as the nave arcade, and is of three plain chamfered orders set centrally with both nave and chancel. The responds are semi-octagonal with moulded capitals and bases, the abaci being continued as a string across the west face of the wall, and ranging with those of the south arcade. The pilasters in the north wall are semi- octagonal and very slender in form, with small moulded capitals, which are probably 15 th-ccntury additions to take the feet of the wall brackets of the principals, a purpose they continue to fulfil in the case of the modern roof. The south arcade is of five bays with octagonal 1 Chin. In ). f.m (Ser. a), cccxliii, no. 141. DINTON columns having moulded capitals and bases ; the arches are of two chamfered orders struck from a point well below the springing line. All the north windows are square-headed, the first from the east being of two trefoiled lights under a square head; it is of the same section as the others in the wall, though its tracer}- has a somewhat earlier character. The others are three in number,with ogee cinqucfoiled lights under a square head with small quatrefoils in the spandrels. Above the crowns of the three eastern bays of the south arcade are i;th-century clearstory openings with quatrefoil heads in a square frame, the wall above the arcade being set out on a chamfered string on account of the irregularity of the old wall face below. The east window of the south aisle is of three trefoiled lights, with tracery of I 5 th-ccntury detail, and almost entirely modern. At the east end of the south wall is a piscina with a hollow-chamfered two-centred head and an old drain, and above it a much restored three-light i 5th-century window with modern tracer)'. The south door, nearly opposite the middle bay of the south aisle, is of 12th-century date, c. 1 140—50, a very fine specimen, with a semicircular arch of two orders with zigzag ornament, a continuous label with triple billet ornament, spirally fluted shafts to the inner order, and a carved tympanum and lintel. The capital of the western shaft is scalloped, and that of the eastern has a bird with outspread wings. On the tympanum is a conventional tree between two monsters, and on the lintel below are St. Michael and the Dragon, the underside of the lintel and the upper border of the tympanum having bands of inter- lacing ornament. On the lower part of the tympa- num and the upper edge of the lintel is the inscription >J< PREMIA PRO MERITIS SI O.(u)lS DESP(ER) ET HABENDA AUDIAT HIC PREC(E)PTA SIBI QVE SI(N)T RETINENDA )J( The jambs of the inner order appear to have been altered, and have stops of modern classical character immediately below the lintel. West of the door is a three-light i 5 th-ccntury win- dow of the same design as that on the east of the door, and, like it, much restored. The west window, of two lights with tracery of 15th-century design, is almost completely modern, the sill and a few stones in the jambs alone being old. The porch has a good 15th-century roof with moulded timbers resting on four stone carved corbels ; the inner tie-beam being cut away to show the details of the inner door- way. The tower is of three stages, with an embattled parapet and belfry windows of two trefoiled lights with a quatrefoil in the head. The tower arch is two centred, of three chamfered orders, dying out at the springing. The west window of the ground stage is of I 5th-century date, with three cinqucfoiled lights and tracery over in a four-centred head. The west door has a two-centred head of three deeply-moulded orders and double-shafted jambs, the inner order being con- tinuous. The label has mask drips, and the doorway is a fine piece of 1 3th-century detail. The font has a large cup-shaped bowl on a wide circular moulded base, and much resembles in outline a type of late 12th-century font common in the neigh- bourhood. The base appears to be of that date, but the details of the bowl look like 14th-century work, and it is possible that it is in reality a 1 2th-century font rccut. It has a scroll moulding on the lip, and 279 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE below it a band of quatrefoiled circles, the lower part of the bowl being fluted, with trefoiled ogee heads to the flutes. The roofs, except that of the porch, are modern, those of the nave and aisle being of low pitch and covered with lead, while that of the chancel is of steep pitch and tiled. The seating is also modern, but there is a fairly good i yth-century pulpit, and in the vestry, at the west end of the aisle, is a table with large carved baluster legs dated 1606, and an inscription cut on the top, FRANCIS HUNTTS GEVEN BY THE YOUTH OF UPTON the initials, presumably, of the donors being cut on the front of the frame. There is also a chest with linen panels and styles carved with detail of c. 1540, but a lid of I yth-century date, and under the tower a cupboard made up of similar materials. At the north- east of the nave is a tablet to Simon Mayne of Dinton, 1617, who married Collubery, the daughter of Richard Lovelace of Hurley, Berkshire, and had one son and one daughter. In the tower is a small wall monument to Richard Ingoldsby, 1703, his wife Mary (Colmore), seven sons and seven daughters. In the same place is a large monument of black and white marble with Ionic columns carrying an arched pediment, commemorating Richard Serjeant, 1661, and his two wives Anne (In- goldsby) and Jane (Harrington) ; on the plinth is an inscription to the last with blanks left for the age and date of death. Above are the arms : Gules a bend wavy argent between two dolphins or impaling Sable fretty argent, which are the arms of his second wife. In the floor at the west end of the south aisle are the following brasses : John Compton, 1424, and his wife Margery (Hurley), with four sons and five daughters ; William Lee of Moreton in the parish of Dinton, 1486, and Alice his wife ; John Lee of Moreton, 1500 (in- scription plate only) ; Francis Lee, 1558, and Elizabeth his wife ; Elinor, wife of Sir Thomas Lee of More- ton, who had twenty- four children and died 1633 ; Simon Mayne, 1617, and Collubery his wife, 1628 (see above) ; Thomas Grenewey, 1538, and his wife Elizabeth, 1538 ; and their son and heir Richard Grenewey, 1551, and his wife Joan (Bulney). On the last named are the arms of Grenewey : Gules a fesse and a chief or with three martlets vert in the chief. In the chancel are some 18th-century monu- ments to the Vanhattem family. Under the tower hangs a funeral helm of 16th-century type. In the south-east window of the south aisle is a shield of old glass bearing Barry .... in chief three griffins' heads. There are six bells ; the treble, second and third of 1656, the fourth by Richard Chandler, 1682, the fifth of 1658, and the tenor of 1892. The bells of 1656-8 are from the Knights' foundry at Reading. The church plate is very handsome, and consists of a large covered cup of Elizabethan design bearing the date letter for 1569 ; a salver inscribed as the gift of Thomas Ingoldsby in 1721 and hall-marked for that year ; and two large flagons, the gift of Sir John Van- hattem in 1772, hall-marked for 1771. The first book of the registers contains all entries between 1562 and 1648; the second all between 1653 and 1742, and a third book contains burials in woollen from 1689 to 1737. After 1742 there is a gap, baptisms and burials being continued in one book from 1773 to 1812, while two books contain the marriage entries between 1754 an(^ '7^8, and 1768 and 1812. The church of Dinton wa» ADVOWSON granted by Agnes de Munchesney to the convent of Godstow, Oxford- shire, in the reign of Henry II. m The rectory was impropriated and the vicarage ordained by the time of Bishop Hugh of Wells.'" After the dissolution of the convent, Henry VIII in 1545 granted the rectory and church with the advowson of the vicarage to Robert Brown, Christo- pher Edmesdes, and William Windlow."30 They enfeofFed Robert and John Doyley,'31 the former of whom sold the rectory and advowson in 1 5 5 6 to Richard Shrimpton.*J> From Shrimpton they passed to John Duncombe,*33 who together with his son Edward granted the rectory,*" and apparently the advowson also, to Elizabeth, the wife of Richard Saunders, for life, with remainder to Richard and to his son John.135 After the death of her first husband Elizabeth married Sir — Hoddesdon,*36 and John Saunders- seems to have entered into possession of the rectory and advowson.*37 The latter he granted separately in 1623, with the consent of his mother, to William Carter of OfHey, Hertfordshire.238 John died in the same year, leaving an only daughter Elizabeth, aged seven at the time of her father's death.*39 She probably married Sir Walter Pye,"° and they were in possession of the advowson of the church of Dinton in 1639."' Elizabeth died seised of the rectory and advowson, which were inherited by her son Walter.10 He sold the advowson of the vicarage about 1650 to Simon Mayne the regicide,*43 so that after the Restoration it was forfeited to the Crown. It was not alienated,"1 and the patronage of the vicarage of Dinton is in the hands of the Lord Chancellor at the present day. The rectory was not sold by Sir Walter Pye with the advowson, but he conveyed it to John Harrington and Richard Serjeant (jun.) in 1655.*" The warrant for a grant of the rectory and tithes of Dinton was made out in 1662 to the Bishops of London and Winchester and others, to be held in trust for the maintenance of a minister.*10 The rectory was then said to have come to the Crown by the forfeiture of the lands of Simon Mayne ; *4' but this presumably was a mistake, since he does not seem ever to have bought the rectory. In 1705 Winwood Serjeant and his wife Martha held the 228 Cart. Antiq. G.G. 6. *» V.C.H. Bucks, i, 284, n. i. »o Pat. 37 Hen. VIII, pt. 13. 281 Com. Pleas D. Enr. East. 20 Eliz. m. 29. 282 Ibid. ; Feet of F. 3 & 4 Phil, and Maty. 288 Ibid. East 13 Eliz. 294 Ibid. 42 Eliz. Bucks. Mich. 385 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cclxx, no. 129. 885 Ibid, cccxliii, no. 142. ffl7 Ibid. ass Ibid. 289 Ibid, cccci, no. 100. 240 There is considerable confusion as to the identity of the wife of Sir Walter Pye ; cf. Lipscomb, /ft/, of Bucks, i, 382 ; ii, 151. 411 Feet of F. Bucks. Trin. 15 Chas. I. 280 242 Chan. Inq. p.m. Misc. dxxxvi, 16 (ha-. I, pt. 31, no. 12. 248 Treas. Bks. cccxlviii, no. 41. 244 P.R.O. lost. Bks. 1660, 1662, 1684, 1692. In 1717 Hatch Moody, gent., presented, but in 1773 the Crown again presented. 245 Feet of F. Bucks. East. 1655. 246 Cal. S.P. Dam. 1662-3, P- 489- »7 Ibid. STONE HUNDRED HADDENHAM rectory, hence his family had presumably owned it without interruption since its purchase in 1655.** There is a Baptist chapel at Ford in this parish, built in 1716, with a mission chapel attached to it at Dinton. Dame Elizabeth Hoddesden, who CHARITIES died II March 1637, by will left £15, the interest to be given yearly on the day of her death to ten or twelve poor old persons by the direction of the minister and church- wardens. The principal sum appears to have been received and spent by the parish, but no mm by way of interest has been distributed for many years. Mrs. Matilda Phelps by will, proved in 1867, left £100 to be invested and income applied by the vicar of Dinton, and the owner of Dinton Hall, in the distribution of coals to poor and aged widows and spinsters. The legacy is represented by £103 l8/. <)J. India 3 per cent, stock with the official trustees. The dividend, amounting to £3 21. \ V.C.H. Bmckt. i, Geological Map. ' Information from Bd. of Agric. . Bttki. i,»3i«. « Ibid. • Cott. MS. Dom. x, fol. 105. • Ibid. 107 j Rymer, FeoJtra (Sjrlla- bu.),,. 28l 1 Campb. Chart, vii, I } r.C.H. Bttki, i, an. • Wharton, Anglia Sacra, i, 337. • Campb. Chart, vii, i. 10 Uugdalr, Mm. i, 155. 36 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE monastery, being mentioned in confirmatory grants by Archbishops Anselm " and Theodore.11 Haddenham remained in the hands of the Prior and Convent of Rochester, without intermission, until the Dissolution, except for a short period early in the reign of Edward III, when, owing to the deposition of John, then Prior of Rochester, the escheator of Buck- inghamshire took the manor into the king's hand.15 In December 1333, he was ordered not to intermeddle further with the manor, but apparently the command was not obeyed, for in March 1334 a further order was sent that he should 'amove the King's hand without delay,' and restore the issues of the manor to the Prior of Roches- ter. It was stated at the same time that the manor had never been out of the control of the monastery since the grant of William II." In May 1539, the Prior of St. Andrew's, Rochester, obtained a licence to alienate the manor to Sir Edward North,15 who apparently exchanged for it some lands in Suffolk and Cambridgeshire of the yearly value of £^-O.w The king confirmed this exchange, but three years ROCHESTER PRIORY. Argent a taltire gules. later, in 1543, he obtained possession of the manor from Sir Edward North and his wife Alice.17 The manor was from time to time leased out by the Crown until the reign of James I.18 A Mr. Anstell is the first lessee mentioned, but in 1583 he had been succeeded by Richard Beake, who had married Colluberry Love- lace.19 Another Richard Beake,™ his son, held the remainder of his lease, but in 1618 it was said to be de- fective, and a new lease for forty years of the mansion house and the site of the manor was made.*1 James, however, granted the manor to Henry Prince of Wales in 1611." On the death of the prince it was sold to Francis Poulton and Tho- mas Plumpstead, who held the manor, site and mansion house, lands, rents, &c., at a fee- farm rent of £115 15^. \oJ.13 This rent was granted to Prince HENRY, Prince of Wales. FRANCE and ENGLAND quartered "with SCOTLAND and IRELAND, •with the difference of a label argent. Charles in 1617 for the term of ninety-nine years." Poulton in 1616" sold the manor to Sir John Dormer and John Wakeman. In 1625 Sir Robert Spiller held it and settled it on his son Sir Henry." The latter made a settlement of three manors in HADDENHAM CHURCH FROM THE SOUTH-EAST 35- 11 Add. MS. 29437, fol. 25. 12 Stowe MS. 940, fol. 108. 18 Col. Close, 1333-7, p. 167. 14 Ibid. 206. "Pat. 31 Hen. VIII, pt. I, m. *' Feet of F. Bucks. East. 34 Hen. VIII. 18 Exch. Dep. by Com. Mich. 2; & 26 Eliz.no. 29; Cal. S.P. Dam. 1611-18, p. 596. 19 E*ch. Dep. by Com. HiL 37 Eliz. 16 L. and P. Hen. VIII, jciv (i), 482 no. 12 ; ibid. Mich. 25 & 26 Eliz. no. 29. '1056). Cal. S.P. Don. 1611-28, p. 596. 282 21 Pat. 1 6 Jas, I, 6. 22 Ibid. 8 Jas. I, pt. 41, no. 2. 25 Ibid. 12 Jas. I, pt. 2, no. 2, m. 24. 24 Ibid. 14 Jas. I, pt. 20 ; Orig. R. 14 Jas. I, no. 4, roll 126. 25 Feet of F. Div. Cos. Mich. 13 Jas. I. 26 Recov. R. Hil. i Chas. I; Close, 10 Chas. I, pt. 27, m. 15. STONE HUNDRED 1642," after his death on another Henry Spiller, probably hit eldest son, and then in tail male on the ten sons of Henry Spiller, with various other re- mainders and a power of revocation in the case of the manor of Haddenham. In 1 645, however, Sir Henry Spiller, being imprisoned at Gloucester by the Par- liamentarians, was approached by the attorney of the Earl of Pembroke, who proposed a marriage between the earl's son James Herbert and Jane, the grand- daughter of Sir Henry." Sir Henry obtained leave to go to London to discuss the matter, but could come to no satisfactory arrangement with the earl and would not consent to the marriage. Hence he was sent to the Tower, and while there the marriage took place without his consent. It is not clear what settlements were finally made, but when Sir Henry Spiller died in 1 649," James Herbert and his wife entered on the manors and kept them, in spite of the persistent efforts of Henry Spiller to recover possession under the settlement of 1642, efforts that were still continued in 1690.*° The Herberts, however, had, in 1675, conveyed the manor to Peregrine Bertie " and Charles Bertie, who in the same year conveyed it to Lord Danby, the high treasurer, and his son and heir, Edward Osborne.™ It remained in their hands until 1709, when it was conveyed to John Whishaw together with the manor of Kingsey." Haddenham passed from John Whishaw to Thomas Falkner in 1737,** but in 1751 it appears to have been held by Sir Philip Wenman, bart., Vis- count Wenman in Ireland." His daughter and heiress, Sophia, married William Hum- phrey Wykeham, of Swaldiffe (co. Oion.), in 1768." She was succeeded by her son, William Richard Wykeham, whose lands passed to his daughter and heiress Sophia, created Baroness Wenman in 1834. She died unmarried, and the family estates passed to her cousins. The eldest, Philip Wykeham, died un- married, and by his will his estates passed to his eldest nephew, Mr. Wenman Aubrey Wykeham-Musgrave, of Thame Park," the present lord of the manor of Haddenham. In the 1 3th century it was claimed that Hadden- ham had of old belonged to the king's manor of Brill, and so formed part of the ancient demesne of the Crown." In the technical sense the claim does not appear to be tenable since Lanfranc held Haddenham at the time of the Domesday Survey, but there may have been some connexion between the two manors under the Saxon kings. In the time of Edward the WYKERAtl-MutOtAVX. Azure six ringt or and a quarur argent for Mut- GRAVE, quartered 'with argent HIM ckeveront tattle between three rout gulet for WYIIKAM. HADDENHAM Confessor the king held Brill * and Earl Tostig, the brother of Harold, held Haddenham." In 1254 the township of Haddenham was reckoned as 40 hides and assessed at .£40," being accounted of the same size and of the same value as at the time of the Domesday Survey.41 In the taxation of 1341 it was assessed at 50 marks, but it was able to pay only 46 J marks, as owing to the dry ness of the season the hay crop was unusually small." In 1295 the Prior of Rochester received a grant of a weekly market, and of a yearly fair to be held on the eve, day, and morrow of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and of free warren in both Haddenham and Cuddington.44 At the dissolution of the monasteries the manor and rectory of Hadden- ham were valued at £92. u In 1210-12 Richard de Haddenham held land of the bishop,4* which was afterwards apparently known as GRENflLLE'S M4NOR ; some years later it was in the hands of Geoffrey son of Richard, who may be identified with Richard de Haddenham.47 Various members of the same family are mentioned in docu- ments relating to Haddenham. A John de Hadden- ham ** was murdered about 1274. John, son of William de Haddenham, acquired land in the parish in 1286," and was the bishop's tenant of his family lands in 1302-3.** Geoffrey de Haddenham, the son of John de Haddenham, is mentioned in 1316," but he had died before 1337, leaving apparently only daughter) to succeed to his lands." His widow Christina held part of these in dower in 1337, the reversion to her lands being the right of Joan, the widow of Richard de Grcnville, of Wotton." His wife is said to have been a daughter of Lord Zouche of Harringworth, but if so it does not appear what right she could have in this land.44 In 1346 John Sergeant, John Marshall, and Agnes and Nicholaa Grcnville held the lands that once had been held by John, son of William [de Hadden- ham].4' The descent of the Grenville lands only, however, can be traced, and it does not appear whose daughters Agnes and Nicholaa were. Joan, the widow of Richard de Grenville, in 1337 held the reversion of 1 3 messuages, 2 tofts, 339 acres of land, 30 acres of meadow, and 30;. rent in Haddenham, and released her right in them to William de Grenville." He and his wife Margaret ob- tained a quitclaim from Ralph Cras of White Waltham and BS GRINTILLE. Vert a enn argent w/'M fvt rounJell guilt thereon. his wife of tenements in Haddenham in 1347, but he had died before 1351." W Hitt. MSS. Com. Kef. xiii, App. T, 127. « Ibid. "Ibid. » Ibid. » Feet of F. Div. Cot. Hil. 27 & 28 Chat. II. " Recov. R. Hil. 26 Chat. II. " Ibid. Eatt. 8 Anne, rot. 77. M Ibid. 10 Ceo. II, rot. 11. " Feet of F. Bucks. Trin. 24 & 25 Ceo. II. M Burke, Landed Gentry, 1906. *> Ibid. " Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 31, 36. » V.C.H. Butkt. i, 231*. 40 Ibid. 233*. « Hund. R. (Rec. Com.}, i, ji. 4« f.C.H. Buekt. i, 232*. 41 ha. No*. (Rec. Com.), 328. 44 Chart. R. 33 Edw. I, 88, m. I, no. 7 ; Cat. Rot. Chart. (Rec. Com.), 1 26. ** Dugdale, Man. i, 188. * Red Bk. of Exct. (Rolli Ser.), +74. « Tata de Ntvill (Rec. Com.), 245, 162. 283 ** Cal. Clue, 1272-9, p. 73. " Feet of F. Ruck.. Eatt. 14 Edw. I. ** Feud. Aidt, i, 97. " Feet of F. Bucki. Trin. 9 Edw. II. " Ibid. Mich. 10 Edw. III. » Ibid. M Cullint, Pierage (ed Brydget), ii, 400-1. •* Feud. Aidt, i, 122. " Feet of F. Bucki. Mich. 10 Bdw. III. W Ibid. Eait. 20 Edw. Ill « Cal. Clou, 1349-54, P- 178. A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE The Grenvilles held this land with apparently no interruption until .the 1 6th century. In 1536 Edward Grenville died seised of tenements in Had- denham, leaving Edward, then a boy of eleven, as his heir.59 The latter sold this land in 1 548 to William Wright, of Winchester,60 and ten years later it was again sold to Thomas Rose of Waddesdon and John Goodwin of Upper Winchendon.61 On 10 Decem- ber 1569 it was conveyed to Robert Rose, John Ross, and Robert Morse jointly,6' but Robert Rose seems afterwards to have obtained possession of the whole. The Grenvilles' land by this time was known as ' Grenville's Manor.' These purchases seem to have been confirmed to Robert Rose in I57I,63 when a quit-claim was obtained from Edward Grenville, Richard Grenville and his wife Mary, and William Wright and his wife Elizabeth. Robert Rose, by his will dated 1598, left the manor to his son Edward,64 and died in 1606-7.^ The descendants of Robert Rose have owned the manor since 1569. It seems to have descended to Thomas Rose, who died in 1715, and was buried at Had- denham. Some time after this date the manor passed to an- other branch of the same family, to which the present owners of Grenville's Manor belong. This family resided for more than 200 years at another house in the village.66 Robert Rose, the father of the present owner, Joseph Rose, came into possession of Gren- ville's Manor on attaining his majority in 1826." The Haddenhams held their land of the Bishop of Rochester by military service, as three-fourths of a knight's fee.68 Robert Rose at the time of his death in 1606-7 held one messuage and 89 acres of land,69 presumably Grenville's Manor, of the king as of his manor of Haddenham in free socage by fealty.70 Appurtenant to the manor is the right to fish, hawk, or fowl throughout the whole parish of Had- denham." Previous to the inclosure of the common fields of the parish the owners of Grenville's Manor paid a dog-rose yearly for this right. It was placed on the front entrance gate of the manor place each Midsummer Day.7' SIGGESTROP appears to have been a hamlet or farm in Haddenham, held of the Bishop of Rochester. In 1210 Mathias at Biggestrope held this land in Haddenham.73 He seems to have died shortly after this, since his land, early in the reign of Henry III, was held by Adam de Spaldington, probably holding in wardship.74 Geoffrey de Biggestrope was the tenant in I 302," and the same name again occurs in 1 346,™ but after that date this land is not mentioned again in any document. A freehold farm called Bigstrup Farm, in the parish Ros* of Waddesdon. Azure a cheveron ermine between three •water- budgets argent. of Haddenham, was advertised for sale by public auction in 1 797. It appears to have then been in the possession of the owner of the manor of Upton, in the parish of Dinton,77 and a farm in the parish still bears the same name. The land was held in 1210 for the service due from a fourth part of a knight's fee,78 but in the 1 4th century the service had been considerably reduced.79 Two mills are mentioned in the Domesday Survey, and were worth zo/.80 A water-mill in Haddenham was granted for forty years to Richard Beake by James I.81 The church of OUR LADY consists CHURCH of a chancel i6ft. loin, by 35ft., with north chapel 17 ft. 6 in. by 14 ft. 2 in., and small south vestry ; a nave 20 ft. by 58 ft.; north and south aisles I o ft. 6 in. wide ; north porch, and west tower 1 2 ft. 6 in. square within the walls. There is some evidence of an aisleless nave earlier than the end of the 1 2th century, but the general character of the church is of later date, and apparently due to a complete rebuilding begun in the opening years of the 1 3th century, and carried on slowly, the tower being the latest part of the work, and belonging to the latter part of the century. The chancel arch has half-round responds with capitals of very late Roman- esque detail, th.it on the south having small scallops, c. 1 200, and the other being perhaps a clumsy later copy of it. Its bell sets back from the face of the respond, and the carving on it may be of very much later date. The responds have been thrust outwards, but the pointed arch, of two chamfered orders, shows no signs of dislocation, and is either a rebuilding or a successor of the original arch. The aisles were probably rebuilt and widened in the 1 4th century ; and the north porch is of the same date. In the ijth century the north chapel and the western bays of both aisles were rebuilt, and the rood-stair at the east end of the north aisle is also of this time. The original south chapel has dis- appeared, but parts of its east wall exist in that of the vestry now on its site. The proportions of the church are very good, both nave and chancel being fine and lofty ; the latter has no buttresses, and its eastern angles, quoined with large stones, give a great effect of height. The walls of the chancel have been lately repointed on the outside, but within retain their old plastering in a very perfect condition, with a masonry pattern in red lines, which has been treated to represent courses of Purbeck marble, or something of the kind, round the windows. Little of this particular detail remains, as the dressings of the windows have been unfortunately cleared of the plaster with which they were from the first covered. In the east wall are three modern lancet windows, with tall detached banded shafts on the inner face, and in each of the side walls are two lancets, much shorter and narrower. The heads of those on the south are cut out of unusually large single stones, 59 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xlix, no, 52. 60 From information kindly given by Mr. Walter Rose of Grenville's Manor. 61 Ibid. « Ibid. « Feet of F. Bucks. Hil. 13 Eliz. 64 From information given by Mr. Walter Rose. 65 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Sen 2), ccxcviii, no. 78. ** From information given by Mr. Walter Rose. V Ibid. « Red Bk. of Exch. (Rolls Ser.), 474 ; Testa de Ne-uill (Rec. Com.), 245, 262. 69 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccciv, no. 87. 7° Ibid, ccxcviii, no. 78. 71 From information given by Mr. Walter Rose. 1* Ibid. 284 " Red Bk. ofExcb. (Rolls Ser.), 674. 1* Testa de Ne-uill (Rec. Com.), 245. ?5 Feud. Aids, \, 27. 7« Ibid, i, 122. 77 Lipscomb, Hist, of Bucks, ii, 161. 7» RedBk. ofExcb. (Rolls Ser.), 474. 79 Feud. Aids, i, 97, 122. 80 y.C.H. Bucks, i, 232*. 81 Pat. 1 6 Jas. I, pt, 6. STONE HUNDRED which make a permanent centnng for the relieving arches, but the north windows are treated in a more ordinary manner. At the north-west and south-west of the chancel pointed arches of two chamfered orders with half-round responds and plainly-moulded capitals open to the north chapel and south vestry ; the roll string, which runs round the chancel below the window-sills, is level with the capitals of the arches. In the east wall, behind the altar, is a large rectangular recess which doubtless served as a place to keep some of the church possessions, and on either side of the altar are smaller recesses, with arched heads, that to the south having at the back a wooden beam, and in it a sinking which may have served as the base of a flue. The piscina, at the south-east, has a trefoiled head, and may be of the I 5th century. The north chapel has an east window of three cinqucfoiled lights with tracery, of i 5th-century date, containing a good deal of contemporary glass, mostly in jumbled fragments. The tracery lights are in better condition, and have St. Bartholomew and St. Matthew in the two middle lights, with St. John Baptist and St. Paul on either side, and seraphs in the outer lights. The canopies in the main lights are in fairly perfect condition, but all the rest of the centre light is filled with fragments, many of which are inscribed with parts of the Apostles' Creed. The north window is of the same character, but of four lights, with a transom in the tracery above, and at the north-west is a small four-centred doorway with a square label and carved spandrels. In the south wall is a very beautiful 13th-century piscina, with a moulded trefoil arch and engaged shafts set in a panel of diapered stonework surrounded by a moulded string. Over the arch is a label enriched with small dogtooth ornament, now unfortunately much clogged with whitewash. The south vestry is modern, but its east wall is apparently on the line of that of the former south chapel, and in its east window of 14th-century type a few old stones are re-used. On the south is a modern doorway, and the arch opening to the chancel is filled with a i 5th-century screen, the upper panels of which have open tracery with cusps ending in carved heads. The sill of the screen is a re-used beam with church- wardens' names and the date 1 709. The nave is of four bays, the arcades having circu- lar columns with moulded capitals and bases, and clustered responds with three shafts. The bases all show the characteristic hollow moulding, but the capitals are of several different sections, and some have been cut back and re-worked. The arches are pointed, of two chamfered orders, and have a filleted label. There is no clearstory and the ceiling is a plaster cove of 18th-century date. The north aisle is lit by three three-light windows. The first two are of 1 4th-century date with trefoiled heads and flowing tracery. Between these is the north door, of late 14th-century date, the head and jambs continuously moulded with a double ogee. West of the second window is a square-headed 15th- century window of three cinqucfoiled lights with tracery over, while in the west wall is a small re-set and restored 14th-century trefoil light. At the east end of this aisle are the remains of the rood-stair, with both upper and lower doorways. The north porch is of late 14th-century date with an embattled HADDENHAM parapet, and has east and west windows of two tre- foiled lights with a quatrefoil over. The south aisle has at the south-east a much-re- stored five-light 15th-century window, with a straight- lined head, the tracery being quite modern. Beneath it is a 15th-century piscina with a trefoiled head and a stone shelf. West of this window is the south door, of late 14th-century date with a continuous moulding and an external label. The two remaining south win- dows and the west window correspond to those in the same positions in the north aisle. The tower is an unusually fine specimen of its period, and is of three stages with corner buttresses to the ground stage and a stair in the south-west angle. The tower arch is of three chamfered orders, the two outer dying into the two square orders of the jambs, whil: the inner is supported upon almost completely detached round shafts with circular capitals. The west door is of three continuous chamfered orders with a label, and above it are three modern lancets within a shafted I 3th-century recess with a moulded two-centred head. There are narrow moulded lights in the second stage, except on the east side, where the pitch of the original roof rises to the base of the belfry stage. The belfry stage is arcadcd on each face with five moulded arches springing from circular shafts with capitals and bases. The first, third, and fifth arches on each face are blind, but the second and fourth have window openings filled with luffer boards. Above is a line of corbels carry- ing a plain parapet. The roof of the chancel is modern and of the same pitch and height as the old roof. That of the nave is hidden by the coved ceiling already noted, and is of lower pitch than the original roof. The roof of the north chapel is of I ;th-century date with moulded timbers and wall brackets carried by carved corbels. The font stands close to the western pillar of the south arcade, and is of late 1 2th-century date, with a tapering circular bowl on a moulded base, resting on a pentagonal block of stone. The bowl has a band of foliage, in which is a dragon, round its upper part, and has tall and narrow scalloped ornament below. There is a considerable quantity of old woodwork re-used, including some bench ends with fleur-de-lis finials. On one of the latter is carved a plough and the letter A, and on another a tun, from which springs a small spray of foliage, and the letters W and R. There are also some remains of 15th-century screens, one length between the tower and the nave, and others between the north aisle and chapel and between the chancel and vestry. The lower panels are solid, and the upper pierced with traceried heads of normal type. The double door in the north porch bears on an upper rail the initials G. W. and T. G. and the date 1637, and has had an ingenious arrangement of weights and pulleys to keep it closed On the south wall of the chancel is a small marble monument to John Marriott, 1677, ornamented with wreaths and cherubs' heads and a cartouche bearing the Marriott arms impaling Ermine six roundels. In the north chapel is another w.ill monument to Rich- ard Beake, 1627, with the Beakearms impaling Ermine on a bend three cinque foils. Near this is preserved a funeral helmet. In the same part of the church are the remains of some brasses. One is the figure of a priest wearing a long-sleeved cassock and fur almuce with, beneath, the inscription : ' Hie jacet Thomas Nassh quondl Vicari' de Haddcnam qui obiit xiii° Die 285 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE Marcii Anno Dni M° cccc° xxviii0 Cujus aie ppiciet' deus ame.' Another is also the figure of a priest of early I Jth-century date, in mass vestments, wearing an apparelled amice and albe and a fanon. Below is an inscription belonging to another brass : ' Here lyeth Gyls Woodbryge xv xx and ix and Elizabeth his wife which the four day of August changyd ther lyffe.' The tower contains a ring of eight bells cast by J. Briant of Hertford in 1 809. The church plate consists of a chalice of 1 706 in- scribed with the churchwardens' names and the date 1707, a standing paten inscribed as the gift of John Marriott in 1716, and a plated flagon and salver. The first book of the registers contains baptisms and marriages from 1653 to 1726 and burials 1653—78 ; with a gap. The second contains baptisms and burials 1727-32; the third, baptisms 1762-96, and burials 1761—95 ; the fourth continues the baptisms and burials to 1812, and the fifth and sixth are the mar- riage registers 1754-91 and 1791-1812. In the Domesday Survey the ADVOWSON church was held of Archbishop Lan- franc by Gilbert the priest, the large glebe consisting of three hides of land, which were sufficient for one plough.8* It was granted to the Priory of St. Andrew Rochester in the charter of William Rufus,83 and after Lanfranc's death the grant was confirmed.84 It appears that Ernulf, Bishop of Rochester (l 1 1 5—25), gave the church of Haddenham, with its lands and tithes, to the priory for the main- tenance of the lights in the church.85 The vicarage was ordained by Bishop Hugh of Wells ( 1 209-3 5).81 The chapels of Cuddington and Kingsev belonged to the church. A separate vicar was appointed for Kingsey, the vicar of Hadden- ham being responsible, however, for providing a chap- lain at Cuddington.87 The rectory of Haddenham was excepted in the grant of the manor made by Rochester Priory to Sir Edward North.88 It thus fell into the king's hands at the dissolution of the priory in 1 5 40,*® but in 1541 the king granted it, with the advowson of the vicarage, to the newly constituted Dean and Chapter of Rochester,90 who are the patrons of the living at the present day. In 1559, however, the rectory and advowson were granted by the Dean and Chapter, on a lease of 1 80 years, to John Fytche at £88 I/, zd. per annum." This lease came into the possession of Simon Mayne, by mesne assignments.91 Possibly the lease was in the possession of Richard Beake, the firmer of the manor under Elizabeth, and his widow, Colluberry by name, married Simon Mayne." His son, the regicide, held the lease, which was forfeited to Charles II on his accession.9* Various petitions were made for the remainder, one indeed from the Dean and Chapter of Rochester,85 but it was granted in 1 660 to Richard Lane.98 In some way, however, it was recovered by the son of the regicide, who presented to the vicarage in 1684, 1689, and I732.97 The lease terminated, however, before 1 749, when the Dean and Chapter themselves presented.98 The chapel of St. Mary in Haddenham was granted by Queen Elizabeth in 1559 to Sir George Howard, with half an acre of land called the ' Lamp halfacre.'99 The Lady Chapel in Haddenham was granted in 1585 to John Walton,100 but whether it was the same chapel that had appeared in the earlier grant is not clear. One branch of the Rose family were amongst the earliest of Buckinghamshire Quakers, and meetings were held for many years at Grenville's Manor. Their descendants possess a distraint warrant for church tithe made on Edward Rose, junior, in l649.101 A meeting-house was licensed in 1711, but in 1813 there were no regular services held there.10* The Quakers' burial ground still exists. A Baptist chapel was built in 1 8 1 o, and there is also a Wesleyan chapel in the parish John Hart of Cotesford, county CHARITIES Oxford, by his will, proved in the P.C.C. 15 May 1665 (among other charitable gifts) devised to the churchwardens and overseers a yearly rent-charge for ever of £3 to be issuing out of his lands and premises of Easington in the said county, for the binding of one poor, honest, godly boy to some good trade. The annuity — less land tax — is received from the executors of the late Thomas Greenwood, esq., of the Manor House, Easington, and is duly applied. The Alms Corn Charity. — The table of bene- factions mentioned that the poor were entitled to receive one quarter of wheat, and two quarters of barley to be paid annually out of the great tithes every Good Friday. The charity is paid in kind by the representatives of the late Henry Bode, esq., and was in 1906 divided amongst thirty-eight persons. The Church Land, containing 2 r. 37 p., islet at £2 a year, which is carried to the church expenses. The Poors' Land adjoining, containing 26 p., the rent of which was carried to the poor rate, was sold under an order of the Poor Law Board. In 1813 Joseph Franklin by will left £50 a year to- be laid out in bread for the poor at Christmas for ever. A sum of £ i, 666 1 3*. ^d. consols was set aside to pro- duce the annuity. The stock was, by the costs in a chancery suit, reduced to £1,352 <)s. 2 Tntt d, Nrvitl (Rec. Com.), 245*. • Ft mi. Aidi, i, 98. 287 1 Ibid, i, 113. r.c.ll. Buck,, i, a 54*. ' Liptcomb, Hi it. of Buck,, ii, 301. A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE direct succession by Baldwin, Robert, and Bartholo- mew. In the lawsuit, Alexander appears instead of Bartholomew, his mother being Alice, the daughter and heiress of ' Remerus le Loherer.' 10 Alexander was followed by Reginald" and another Alexander, who held the manor, as one knight's fee, early in the reign of Henry III." He was Sheriff of Bedford- shire and Buckinghamshire in 1249 and 1259." He died between 1272—3" and 1302— 3, when he had been succeeded by his second son Reginald.1* John de Hampden, the son of Reginald, held the manor in I346,16 and was a knight of the shire in two Parlia- ments of Edward III in 1351-2, and again in 1363." He died in 1375, and his son Edmund inherited the manor,18 and, like his father, repre- sented the county in Parlia- ment.19 He was also sheriff of the two counties five times during the reigns of Richard II, Henry IV, and Henry V." John Hampden, his son, suc- ceeded him," and obtained, in 1446—7, a charter of liberties within his manor of Great Hampden, granting him a view of frankpledge twice a year, with the assize of bread, wine, and ale, and other privileges. He also had a grant of free warren in his demesne lands, and licence to inclose and impark 500 acres of land and 100 acres of wood in the manor." He was sheriff in 1456." Thomas Hampden succeeded him in 1457-8," and held the manor till his death, shortly after the accession of Henry VII." His heir was his son John Hamp- den,86 but the manor seems to have been in the hands of trustees or feoffees till 1495, when they demised it to John Hampden." He died the next year," and Great Hampden passed to his son John.*9 The second John Hampden was knighted before 1513, and in that year was with the royal fleet in command of The Saviour.*0 He also may be identified with the Sir John Hampden ' of the Hill ' who followed Henry VIII to the Field of the Cloth of Gold," and attended him at his meeting with the Emperor Charles V.32 On his death in 1 5 5 3 M he left two daughters as his heiresses, but he left Great Hampden by will to his cousin John Hampden,*4 the son of William Hampden of Dunton, and of Audrey one of the daughters and heiresses of Richard Hampden of Great Kimble.35 John Hampden left the manor to his son Griffith in tail male, and the latter HAMFDIN. Argent a laltire gules between four eagles assure. succeeded to it on his father's death in 1558." He died in 1591, and it passed to his son William Hampden,37 who married Elizabeth daughter of Sir Henry Cromwell and aunt of the Lord Protector.38 He did not survive his father many years, dying in I597,39 and naturally had not taken so much part in the public life of the county as some of his predeces- sors. His will is interesting, and suggests that his life was mainly occupied with country pursuits, his horses being carefully described and generally be- queathed by name.*0 His son and heir John was a minor at the time of his father's death.41 He after- wards became the most famous member of his family, earning the name of the ' Patriot ' " by his refusal to pay the illegal tax of ship-money. He was born in London, but probably lived as a boy at Great Hamp- den." He was sent for three years to the grammar school at Thame, and in 1609 became a commoner of Magdalen College, Oxford.44 In 1613 he was admitted a student of the Inner Temple,45 and six years later he married his first wife Elizabeth Symeon. The next year he was returned to Parliament for the first time,46 and from 1625 to 1628 he represented the borough of Wendover without interruption.47 In these years he mainly lived in London, and though sitting on many committees, did not take a leading part in Parliamentary affairs. Before the dissolution of 1629 he retired to the country and lived at Great Hampden.*8 There are, however, practically no records of his life there, his private letters that have been preserved being very few in number. He is said to have been fond of making improvements in his estates and house, and parts of the present house may have been built by him in 1629 and the succeeding years. To Great Hampden the sons of Sir John Eliot frequently went during their father's imprisonment in the Tower.49 Eliot himself received provisions from Great Hampden, one such present being sent with the following letter : ' This bearer fe appointed to present you with a buck out of my paddock, which must be a small one to hold proportion with the place and soyle it was bred in.' M In the county he was active as a justice of the peace for the Three Hundreds of Aylesbury." In 1634 he was presented at a special ecclesiastical visitation for not always attending his own parish church. His opposition to the Church of England and the bishops had not at this time become so pronounced as it did later, and he made his peace with Sir Nathaniel Brent, the vicar-general, promising his willing obedience to the laws of the Church in the future." 10 Curia Regis R. 73, m. 6 d. " Ibid. 18 Testa dt Kevlll (Rec. Com.), 245*, 259*. 18 List of Sheriffs, P.R.O. » Feet of F. Bucks. Hil. I Edw. I. « Feud. Aids, i, 98. " Ibid. 123. V Return of Members of Part. 19 Lipscomb, Hist, of Bucks, ii, 231. 19 Return of Members of Part. » List of Skeriffi, P.R.O. sl De Banco. R. 813, m. 442. » Chart. R. 25 & 26 Hen. VI, no. 26. 88 List of Sheriffs, P.R.O. 84 Chan. Inq. p.m. 36 Hen. VI, no. 9. 85 Ibid. (Ser. 2), xxiii, no. 47. * Cat. of Inq. Hen. VII, no. 124. In the Buckinghamshire inquisition, the name of the heir of Thomas Hampden is given as Edward, but this is a mistake for John, who appears in the Essex return. «De Banco. R. Mich. II Hen. VII, m. 1 1 2 d. 98 From a brass in Great Hampden Church. "Lipscomb, Hut. of Bucks, ii, 233 ; Feet of F. Bucks, Mich. 28 Hen. VIII. *> L. and P. Hen. VIII, i, 3980. M Ibid. 88 Ibid iii (i), 906. 88 From a brass in Great Hampden Church. 84 P.C.C. 1 1 More. 85 Exch. Inq. p.m. bdle. 25, no. II. 88 Ibid. bdle. 51, no. 21. *' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxxxii, no. 67. 288 M Diet. Nat. Biog. rxiv, 254, 89 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxlviii, no. 39- 40 Lipscomb, Hist, of Bucks, ii, 235. ** Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxlviii, no.. 39- 48 Diet. Nat. Biog. xxiv, 254. 48 Nugent, Mem. of Hampden, 20. 44 Ibid. 45 Ibid. 4« Ibid. 4' Return of Members ofParl. 48 Nugent, Mem. of Hampden. 49 Ibid. ; letters of John Hampden to. Sir John Eliot. *» Ibid. 79. 61 Cal. ofS.P. Dom. 1629-31, p. 417 i '63r-3> PP- 44> 3°8 i l634~5. P- 447- 68 Cal. ofS.P. Dom. 1634-5, P- 25°- i o •f. x h X U o O O Q h it ul U x B X s X STONE HUNDRED Clarendon describes him at this time as being 'of ancient family, and a fair estate in the county Buck- ingham, where he was esteemed very much, which his carri.ige and behaviour to all men deserved very well. But there was scarcely a gentleman in England of so good a fortune (for he was the owner of above £1,500 land yearly) less known out of the county in which he lived than he was, until he appeared in the Exchequer chamber to support the right of the people in the case of ship-money.' a The determination, reached in 1636, to oppose the levy of ship-money severed the close connexion between John H.impdcn and his own parish. From that date he was rarely at Great Hampden, and after 1640 never lived there again.44 On the outbreak of war he raised a regiment of Buck- inghamshire infantry, and commanded it until his death." At the battle of Chalgrove Field, where he was mortally wounded, he would not wait for his own regiment, but went as a volunteer with the troops that had already come up.4* He died shortly after the engagement, and is supposed to have been buried in Great Hampden Church, but the places of his death and burial have been much disputed. Richard Hampden," the son of the patriot, suc- ceeded his father in the family estates,48 and shared his political opinions. He was, however, an ardent supporter of Oliver Cromwell and voted for his accepting the crown in 1656." He was nominated in the same year a member of the Other House, and so incurred the satire of a republican pamphleteer, who ascribed his nomination to the desire ' to settle and secure him to the interest of the new Court and wholly take him off from the thoughts of ever follow- ing his father's steps or inheriting his noble vir- tues. . . .' * He sat in Parliament, either for Wen- dover or for Buckinghamshire, in many of the Parlia- ments after the Restoration." He was a Presbyterian and a great advocate of the Exclusion Bill.1'' He did not, however, take part in any of the plots of the time, though his son John was implicated in the Rye House Plot in 1683, and two years later joined Monmouth's Rebellion." Richard Hampden sat in the Conven- tion Parliament in 1689, and on the accession of William III obtained office, being appointed Commis- sioner of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Ex- chequer.14 He died :n 1695 ** and was succeeded by his son, who had obtained a pardon for his share in Monmouth's rising." John sat with his father for Wendover in the Convention Parliament," but suffered from depression from the time of his trial for high treason and finally committed suicide in 1696." He was succeeded by his son Richard,6* who also represented Wendover or the county in several Par- liaments." He was appointed Treasurer of the Navy in 1717-18," but in 1720 a deficiency of £73,706 odd appeared in his accounts, said to be due to speculations in the South Sea scheme." His estates GREAT HAMPDEN were liable to sequestration, and a bill was brought in to enable the Treasury to compound with him. The affair created great excitement, and is mentioned in a news letter of the time — ' Hampden's petition and the Wycombe election, both scandalous, are the only subject of talk. I know not what is done on the first, I believe what Sir Robert hinted, but would not propose, will be followed, to take half the estate to the public, and to settle the remainder on his wife and brother.' n This was practically the procedure followed, and Great Hampden, which was preserved, passed to John Hampden, the half-brother and heir of Richard, who died in 1728." John Hampden was the last member of the family in the male line to hold Great Hampden, which, on his death in 1753, passed under his will to the descendants of Ruth, the second daughter of John Hampden the patriot." She had married Sir John Trevor, and the Hampden estates came to her grandson Robert Trevor.7* By royal licence he took the name of Hampden for him- self and his heirs male in lieu of his patronymic of Trevor.77 He succeeded his brother as fourth Baron Trevor of Brom- ham in 1764, and in 1776 was created Viscount Hamp- den of Great and Little Hampden.78 His two sons succeeded him at Great Hamp- den,7* but on the death in 1824 of John, the younger son, without children, the estate passed under the will of the John Hampden of 1753 to the descendants of Mary, the sixth daughter of John Hampden the patriot. She had married Sir John Hobart, hart., and her descendant, George Robert Hobart, fifth Earl of Bucking- hamshire, succeeded to the Hampden possessions.60 In 1824 by royal licence he took the name of Hampden only, but died in 1 849 without direct heirs. He was suc- ceeded by his brother, who took the name of Hobart- Hampden,81 and his estates are now held by the present Earl of Buckinghamshire, his great-grandson. The manor of Great Hampden has been enfranchised, but the earl remains the sole landowner in the parish. The church of Sr. MARY MAG- CHURCH DALEN consists of a chancel 27ft. 7 in. by i 5 ft. 10 in. ; a nave with clearstory 42 ft. 6 in. by 19 ft. 3 in. ; north and south aisles TREVOR. Party bend sinistenvite ermine and ermineet a lion or. HOBAKT. Sahle a itar or between two faunchei ermine. " Hhl. of the Rebellion (ed. 1888), iii, 59-60. " Nugent, Mem. of HamfJen, 135. •» Warwick, Memoirei of At Rtipu of King Chat. I (ed. 1703), 140 ( Hiit. MSS. Com. Ref. liv, App. ii, IO1 ; Lipicomb, hilt, of Biuh. ii, 247. " Clarendon, Hut. of Rebellion, bk. yii, no. 79-80. W Diet. Nat. Biog. iiiv, 166. » Recov. R. Mich. 1653 j Feet of F. Buckt. Eatt. 26 Chat. II. " Harl. Miu. iii, 463. » Ibid. 487. n Return of Member! of Part. n Liptcomb, Hiit. of Bucki. ii, 260. ** Ibid. 16 1 j Diet. Nat. Biog. xxir, 264. •< Ibid. 266. « Ibid. « Ibid. 264. •f Return of Memkert of Part. *• Diet. Nat. Biog. xnv, 264. " RCCOT. R. Hil. 13 Will. III. 7° Return of Membert of Part. n Portland MSS. (Hitt. MSS. Com.), 289 " Lipicomb, Hiit. of Biuki. ii, 265. »» Portland MSS. (Hitt. MSS. Com.), Tii, 4*9- '4 Liptcomb, Hitt. ofBuc/ki. ii, 269. '• G.E.C. Comflete Peerage. " Ibid. " Ibid. n He had bought the manor of Little Hampden in 1765 from John Dodd. "• G.E.C Complete Peerage. » Rfcov. R. Mich. 5 Gco. IV. 0 G.E.C. Comflete Peerage. 37 ' A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 9 ft. 3 in. and 8 ft. wide respectively ; a south-west tower 7 ft. 3 in. square, and a south porch, all measure- ments being internal. Previous to the I4th cen- tury the church appears to have consisted of an aiseless nave and a chancel of the same size as at present, or nearly so. Aisles were added to the nave in the 1 4th century, between 1325 and 1350, the north aisle being probably the first to be built. If they had predecessors no trace of them is now visible. The lower part of the tower, which carries on the lines of the south aisle and practically forms its western bay, belongs to the same period. The upper stages are of later date, and it may be that the work here was interrupted by the Black Death. The chancel arch was inserted towards the end of the 1 4th century, and at the beginning of the I ;th cen- tury another scheme of enlargement was taken in hand. The tower was completed, a clearstory added to the nave, and the north wall of the north aisle was taken down and the aisle widened, the junction of the 1 4th and 15th-century work being still clearly visible at both ends of the aisle. Up to this time the aisles were probably roofed by an extension of the high-pitched nave roof, the line of which is to be seen on the east wall of the tower ; but at the date of the widening of the north aisle, the new north wall of which was built higher than the old one, a low-pitched roof was put on the aisle, and at the same time the south aisle walls were raised and a similar roof constructed on this side of the church. The chancel seems to have been rebuilt or remodelled about the same time, and its windows and those of the aisles belong to this date. In modern times the tower has been largely restored and an outer steep-pitched roof put on the nave, but traces of both the older gables are to be seen on the west wall of the nave and less clearly on the east wall. The chancel is lit by five three-light 15th-century windows, one to the east and two in the north and south walls. On either side of the east window is a modern canopied image niche designed from frag- ments found here and now preserved in a glass case in the north aisle. At the east end of the south wall is a small I 5th-century piscina, and in the western jambs of the north-west and south-west windows are the openings of squints from both aisles. The chancel arch is of two orders, continuously moulded with a hollow chamfer and a double ogee and irregular half- octagonal moulded capitals. The nave is of four bays. The north arcade, earlier in date than the other, has piers of four half- round shafts with hollow chamfers between and moulded capitals and bases. The arches are two- centred and of two moulded orders, with labels having grotesque drips over the piers, while at a considerable height above the crown of each arch is a two-light clearstory window of 15th-century date with a seg- mental head, trefoiled lights, and a deep external splay, the glass line being nearly in the middle of the wall. The south arcade is of the same detail, except in regard to the capitals, which are deeper and of a somewhat later section. This arcade is of three bays only, on account of the position of the tower at the west end of the south aisle, and there are also only three south clearstory windows. The west window of the nave is of 14th-century date, with three tre- foiled lights and flowing tracery of late and rather clumsy design. The north aisle has a three-light 15th-century east window, of the same design as those of the chancel, and two similar windows in the north wall, between which is the north door. This is of 14th-century detail, and must have been moved outwards when the aisle was widened. There is no west window to this aisle. The south aisle has an east and a south window like those of the north aisle. At the east end of the south wall is a 14th-century piscina with a cinque- foiled head of two orders and a shelf. The south door is of the same date, with plain chamfered jambs and two-centred head, and opens to a contemporary south porch with a moulded outer arch, small square- headed windows on east and west, and stone benches. In the western bay of the south aisle stands the tower, its eastern arch being of two wave-moulded orders which die into widely chamfered responds. The tower has, in its lowest stage, two small lancets very much modernized, and is of three stages with an embattled parapet, its external masonry being in great measure modern. The two-light belfry windows are very small, and have above them two quatrefoiled openings on each face, which are entirely in modern stonework. The woodwork of the church is of no special in- terest. The nave roof, resting on stone corbels carved with shield-bearing angels, is of 15th-century style, with moulded tie-beams and carved brackets beneath them, and in the south porch is a good roof with 1 5th-century detail, ornamented with roses and a shield of the Hampden arms. There is also a I yth-century Communion table, and within the altar rails two handsome carved oak chairs of about the same date. The font, in the north aisle, is circular and of 1 3th-century date with a circular moulded stem and cup-shaped fluted bowl, with a band of ornament round the upper edge. It belongs to a type developed from the local 12th-century form. On the south wall of the chancel is a Purbeck slab to Elizabeth wife of John Hampden, 1634, daughter and sole heiress of Edmund Symeon of Pyrton in Oxfordshire. In the south aisle is a wall monument to Richard Hampden, 1662, and his wife Anne Lane, 1674, with a shield bearing the Hampden arms, impaling Party azure and gules three saltires argeni, which are the arms of Lane. In the chancel floor are the following brasses : — The figures of John Hampden, esq., 1496, and his wife Elizabeth Sidney, with four sons and six daughters. On the slab are five shields : (i) Quarterly, 1st Hamp- den, 2nd and 3rd, Argent a chief gules and therein two harts' heads caboshed or, for Popham, 4th, Six lions ; (2) Hampden impaling Or a pheon azure, for Sidney ; (3) and (4) Sidney ; and (5) Hampden. Griffith Hampden, 1591, and Anne Cave his second wife, 1594. An inscription plate without figures. On a shield are the following coats : Quar- terly, 1st, Hampden ; 2nd, Popham ; 3rd, Six lions ; 4th, Hampden with a border azure for Hampden of Great Kimble ; impaling : Quarterly, 1st and 4th Azure fretty argent, for Cave ; 2nd and 3rd Ermine a bend" with three boars' heads razed thereon. William Hampden, 1597, son of Griffith Hampden, and Anne his wife ; no figures. On a shield of twelve quarters: 1st, Hampden; 2nd, Popham ; 3rd, Six lions ; 4th, A lion ; 5th, Three spear-heads ; 6th, A cheveron between three fleurs-de-lis ; 7th, 290 STONE HUNDRED Sidney ; 8th, Cave ; gth, Ermine on a bend three boars' heads razed ; I oth, Three cheverons ; 1 1 th, A lion ; 1 2th, A lion. The figures of five sons and three daughters, with no inscription, but a shield with Azure three horses' heads cut off at the neck with their bridles or impal- ing Hampden, which shield commemorates the match of Sir Jerome Horsey, let., with Elizabeth, eldest daughter of John Hampden and Anne Cave. The figures of Sir John Hampden, kt., 20 De- cember, 1553, Elizabeth Savage his first wife, Philippa Wilford his second wife, and three daughters. There are three shields : (i) Quarterly, 1st, Hampden ; 2nd, Sidney ; 3rd, Popham ; 4th, Six lions ; impal- ing : Argent a pale indented sable, for Savage ; (2) The quartered coat as above ; (3) The same, im- paling Gules a cheveron between three leopards' heads or with a ring on the cheveron, for Wilford. An inscription plate to William Hampden, Lord of Emmington, Oxfordshire, 1612. On the north wall of the chancel is a large monu- ment set up by Robert, afterwards first Viscount Hampden, in 1754, bearing a relief of the battle of LITTLE HAMPDEN Chalgrove Field, at which John Hampden was mortally wounded. Above is a tree hung with sixteen shields showing the alliances of the Hampden family. The grave which is said to be that of John Hamp- den was opened in 1828 in order to test the accuracy of the accounts of his death, but the results were not conclusive. There are three bells, the treble by Taylor, 1906, and the other two of 1625 by Ellis Knight. The plate consists of a chalice of 1805, a paten of 1804, and a plated flagon and second paten. The only old book of registers contains baptisms from 1537 to 1812, burials 1557 to 1812, and mar- riages 1557 to 175*. The marriage register for 1752 to 1812 seems to be missing. The church of St. Mary Magda- JDfOfrSON len* is a rectory, the advowson of which was held by the Hampdens, and under the will of John Hampden passed to the Trevors in 1754 and to the Hobarts in 1824." The Earl of Buckinghamshire is the patron of the living at the present day. LITTLE HAMPDEN Hambden (xiii cent.) ; Parva Hamdene (xiv cent.). Little Hampden parish lies to the north-east of Great Hampden parish, on the Chiltern Hills, the greatest height being 778 ft. above the Ordnance datum.1 The parish contains 1 1 5 J acres of wood, and the chief occupation of the inhabitants is farming, 285 acres being arable land and 84 acres permanent pasture.' The subsoil is chalk,' and the surface clay and gravel. The nearest station is at Great Missenden, on the Metropolitan Extension Railway. The village lies on a cross road running south from Ellesborough, the few houses of which it is composed being built on the western slope of a valley in the chalk hills, with the church at the south, looking out eastward over the Missenden valley. The lower slopes are covered with copses, but where the village stands is grass land, the road rising to the north and running across Little Hampden Common. Near the church is the Manor House, an old building, but with little to which a definite date can be given. The greater part of the parish now forms part of Great and Little Hampden civil parish, which was formed by a Local Government Board Order dated 25 March 188;. LITTLE HJMPDEN appears to have MANOR been originally included in the parish of Hartwell. In Domesday Book there is no distinction made between Great and Little Hampden. ' HampJcn ' was part of the land of William son of Ansculf, and later was united to the honour of Dudley, to which Great Hampden alone belonged.4 It seems probable, therefore, that this entry in Domesday Book did not include Little Hampden, which was either omitted entirely, or else formed part of William Peverel's lands in Hartwell. The latter supposition seems probable, because at the end of the I2th century Walter de Hcrtwell and his son Barnabas were said to hold one knight's fee in Hartwell ; 4 when they granted their land to William de Luton, the manors of Hartwell and Hampden were specified,' but in 1302-3 Thomas de Luton still only held one knight's fee in Hartwell with Little Hamp- den.7 In 1316 they are also described as forming one township.8 Little Hampden is first mentioned separ- ately in the grant referred to above,' and from that time its descent followed that of the manor of Hart- well (q.v.) until the 1 7th century.'" Sir Thomas Lee, bart., of Hartwell, is said to have sold the manor of Little Hampden to Samuel Dodd in 1 68$." Another account gives 1710 as the date of the sale." In 1763 John Dodd held the manor of Little Hampden," and two years later, together with his son, he sold it to Robert Trevor, Viscount Hamp- den," who had taken the name of Hampden on inheriting the Hampden estates in 1753." On the death of John, third and last Viscount Hampden, in 1824, Little Hampden was left to Robert Trevor, the son of his cousin Mary Cock, who had married Robert Trevor of Tingrith." Robert Trevor died in 1834, leaving three daugh- ters, none of whom married. On the death of the * Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. i), xiiii. no. 47. *• Exch. Inq. p.m. bdle. 8 1, no. 21; Recor. R. Trin. 1 1 Ch.n. I ; Feet of F. Bucki. Eait. 26 Chaa. II ; Recor. R. Mich. 5 Geo. III. 1 Ord. Sur». * Inf. from Bd. of Agric. (190;). • V.CM. Butki. i, Geol. Map. • Ibid. 254*. • Rtd Bk. of Exck. (Roll* Ser.), 90, 109 j Exctrfta i Rat. Fin. (Rec. Com.), 291. • Feet of F. Bucki. Eait. 55 Hen. III. 7 FruJ. Aidi, i, 97. * Ibid. 113. • Feet of F. Buck*. Eait. 55 Hen. III. 10 In 13*5 the manor of Little Hamp- den, with land in Hartwell, wai granted to N cholai de Luton and Joan hit wife, bjr hit father, Thorns* de Luton. Nicho- 29I lit afterwarda aucceeded hia father aa lord of both manori. Cat. Pat. 1324 7, p. 133. 11 LipKomb, Hiit. of Bucki. ii, 295. 11 Lyiona, Mag. Brit, i, 571. « Recov. R. Hil. 3 Geo. III. " Feet of F. Bucka. Trin. 5 Geo. III. " G.E.C. Complin Petragi. u Burke, Landid Gntrj, 1 906. A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE youngest, Catherine, in 1871, the manor, under the will of Viscount Hampden, passed to the descendants of Matthew Cock, brother of Mary Cock.17 His granddaughter, Jane Letitia Crispin, married Charles Battye, but on inheriting the Trevor estates she took the name of Trevor-Battye. Her grandson, TREVOR, Party bend- tinisterwise crminois and pean a lion countercoloured. BATTYI. Sable a che-veron argent between three goats argent, each having two roundels sable upon him, and a chief in" •vecked or -with a demi- man holding a club and cut ojf at the waist be~ tween two cinque foill gules therein. Mr. Charles Edmund Augustine Trevor Trevor- Battye, is the present lord of the manor. The church (dedication unknown) CHURCH stands on a somewhat contracted site, the ground falling rapidly from east to west, and consists of a chancel 15 ft. 6 in. by 13 ft. 10 in., a nave 20 ft. by 1 3 ft. 3 in., and a wooden north porch with an upper floor serving as a bell turret. Externally the nave and chancel are of equal width. The walling of the nave may be of the I 2th century, and a carved fragment of that date is set in the chancel wall, but there is nothing in the architectural features to prove that any part of the structure is earlier than the 1 3th century. The chancel has been almost completely rebuilt in modern times, and its greater internal width as compared with the width of the nave is probably due to a thinning of the walls rather than to any process of rebuilding round a former chancel. The chancel arch has also been widened in modern times, the new crown being formed of brick. The south porch and bell-turret are apparently of 1 6th- century date, while about the end of the 1 8th century new windows were inserted in the nave and all the old ones destroyed. The east window of the chancel is modern, of two trefoiled lights with 14th-century detail, and on either side of the chancel is a single trefoiled light, also modern. A third window at the west end of the north wall is a small lancet of 13th-century date, the sill of which forms the head of a small low side window, rebated for a frame, the hinges of which are still in its jamb. At the east end of the south wall is a 13th-century piscina with a chamfered pointed head and a label ; on the face between the label and the chamfer is a band of running foliage ornament. In the same wall, a little to the west, is the 12th-century fragment already mentioned, a carving of a bishop or abbot in mass vestments, with his right hand raised in benediction, and holding a crozier in his left. There seem to be traces of an inscription above his head. The pointed chancel arch is plain, of a single square order, and much mutilated. The nave is lit by three plain pointed 18th-century two-light windows, two on the south and one on the west, the latter taking the place of an earlier window, of which a few traces remain, though not enough to show its character. Of the windows in the south wall, the westernmost is built in the place of the old south doorway, the lower part of the opening of which remains, blocked with brickwork. The only opening in the north wall is the north doorway, a plain arched opening with chamfered jambs and head, which may be of the 141)1 century. The north porch is a picturesque half-timber structure of two stories, with a red-tiled gabled roof, and small louvred openings to the second stage, which contains the single bell. The arched entrance is formed of two naturally-curved pieces of timber, which are chamfered, and form a rough two-centred head. The font is of 1 8th-century date, with a small round basin upon a slim baluster stem, and there are no fittings of any interest except the altar slab, now placed under the altar table. It has the five con- secration crosses, but no detail from which it might be dated. The roof of the nave also, though undoubtedly old, is so plain as to give no clue to its date. The great interest of the church lies in the wall paintings in the nave, which are of various dates from the 1 3th century onwards. On either side of the chancel arch are figures under trefoiled canopies, of late 13th-century style, and on the south wall remains of a 14th-century Weighing of Souls. The figure of St. Michael is almost destroyed, but the scales are clearly visible, and also the figure of the devil pulling down the balance on the one side, while Burke, Landed Gentry, 1906. LITTLE HAMPDEN CHURCH : THE NORTH PORCH 292 STONE HUNDRED HARTWELL our Lady on the other seeks to counteract him. On the north wall is a mass of painting of various dates. There are two particularly finely drawn lions to a large scale and of i^h-century workmanship, and part of a large 15th-century figure of St. Christopher, while to the west of the north doorway is a very interesting figure, also representing St. Christopher, but of early I4th or late ijth-century style. There is only one bell, which was cast by Thomas Mean in 1791. The church plate consists of a chalice of 1771, a paten of 1 86 1, and a pewter flagon and almsdish. There are only two old books of registers, the first containing baptisms and burials from 1672, and marriages from 1701 to 1768, while the second book has the baptisms and burials from 1770 to 1812. The marriage register for this period is missing. The church of Little Hampden was appendant to the church of Hartwell." How closely the con- nexion was maintained is not certain, but presenta- tions were made to the two churches together." In 1754 there were, however, separate churchwardens for Little Hampden." The ecclesiastical parishes were separated by an Order in Council dated 28 June 1892, and Little Hampden was then united with Great Hampden. The advowson was held by the lords of the manor until the latter was sold to the family of Dodd. Sir Thomas Lee retained the advowson, and his descend- ants presented to the rectories of Hartwell and Little Hampden " until the separation of the parishes. The Earl of Buckinghamshire now holds the advowson of the united living of Great and Little Hampden. HARTWELL Herdwelle (zi cent.) ; Hertwell (xiii cent.). The parish of Hartwell lies in the Vale of Ayles- bury, bordering on Aylesbury parish on the west. The height of the land varies from 200 ft. to 300 ft. above the Ordnance datum. Various streams run through the parish and join the River Thame, and there are several springs of water. The subsoil is London Clay, Kimmeridge Clay, and Portland Beds;1 the surface soil is rich loam. The population is chiefly occupied in agriculture, on grazing farms or in market gardens. A large brick-kiln, however, pro- vides work for a considerable number of men. The main road from Thame to Aylesbury passes through the parish, and the nearest station is also at Ayles- bury. The common fields of Hartwell were inclosed under an Act of 16 George III, the award being given in 1779. The parish contains 9 1 8 acres ;' 853 are laid down in permanent grass, and 234 are arable land.' Various Anglo-Saxon remains have been dug up, chiefly consisting of iron weapons. The park in which Hart- well House stands takes up a great part of the parish, and the church is within its boundaries and close to the house. The old rectory is a pretty piece of early i8th- century brickwork with a well designed cornice. There is no village of Hartwell, but the chief collec- tion of houses is known as Lower Hartwell, on the north-west boundary of the park, end is com- posed for the most part of small half-timbered and thatched cottages. Hartwell House is an interesting example of a mid- i8th-century remodelling of an early 17th-century plan. The latter was evidently of the |-| form, with a main block standing east and west, about 105 ft. long, and east and west wings of about the same length, the main block joining the wings near their north ends ; the wings extended southwards and formed two sides of a courtyard open to the south, with projecting buildings in the north-cast and north- west angles, the former containing the principal stair- case, while the site of the latter is now occupied by the chapel, an arrangement which may have existed in the older building. In the middle of the i8th HARTWELL HOUSE : THE ENTRANCE FRONT " F«t of F. Buckt. E»tt. 55 Hen. Ill ; RecoT. R. Trin. 14 Ja«. I | ibid. Trin. 11 Chat. II. " P.R.O. Intt. Bki. 1694. » Churchwardeni' Acct. Bk. in poi- icuinn of the rector of Great Hamp- den. « P.R.O. Init. Bka. 1694, 1793. 293 > V.C.H. Buck, i, GeoL Map. 1 Ord. Surv. 1 Inf. from Bd. of Agric. (1905). Thcie return! include land in other pariihei. A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE century the east front was rebuilt and the court between the wings on the south almost completely filled in with new rooms. The north front, how- ever, with the exception of the parapet and cornice, retains its old character. The house is faced with wrought stone in two stories, and is entered from the north through a two-story porch in the middle of the front. The doorway has a panelled semicircular arch flanked by pilasters carrying an enriched frieze and cornice, and above it is an extremely handsome projecting semicircular oriel window, with stone mullions and transoms springing from a large conical corbel richly carved with lines of architectural orna- ment. The porch is flanked on either hand, but not with exact symmetry, with tall mullioned and transomed bay windows, that on the east side lighting the hall, and the other a room now the butler's pantry. Both bays have similar windows on the first floor. The hall has a large fireplace in the south wall, and is a handsome room somewhat over- decorated with plaster panels and ceiling during the 18th-century operations; it preserves none of its original fittings, all traces of the screens at the west having disappeared. At the south-east are doorways to the main staircase and to the breakfast-room. The north ends of the two wings of the house project some 1 5 ft. from the north front of the main block, and have, at what was the old first-floor level, large projecting bay windows resting on moulded corbel courses. The present first floor is at a higher level and cuts across the lower lights of the windows. At the south-west of the hall a doorway, originally opening from the south end of the screens, now leads into a large semicircular lobby two stories in height, lit by a skylight and with a gallery running round at the first-floor level. The decoration of this is some- what later in character than the other 1 8th-century work, being in the style of the brothers Adam. The great staircase south-east of the hall is part of the lyth- century house, and an unusually fine example of its style. The stairway is 8 ft. wide, all of oak and decorated at intervals by large panelled newels sur- mounted by statues of gods and heroes, &c., amongst them Samson with the Jawbone of the Ass and Her- cules in his Lion Skin. A curious feature is that the swords and spears carried by these figures are loose and may be removed, possibly in order that, upon state occasions, they might be replaced by flambeaux. The breakfast-room, east of the hall, is panelled with lyth-century oak panelling in small squares. The east wing was presumably gutted in the 1 8th century and completely rearranged. The great chamber was probably at its north end lighted by the large bay window which still shows on the north front ; the wing now contains the dining-room, drawing-room and library, all of which are decorated in a manner somewhat similar to the hall. The library in par- ticular is an excellent piece of work, with ranges of white-painted book shelves with gilded wire screens, containing an interesting collection of books. From the east side of the library an observatory was built out early in the iQth century, but has now been pulled down. A chimney-piece in this wing bears the date 1658, but its original position is- uncertain. On the first floor above the hall and beyond it to- the west is the long gallery now used as a museum, and west again of this is a small bedroom completely panelled in lyth-century oak and furnished with some very fine carved oak, part of which came from the hall, and part was brought here in recent years. It also contains some good tapestry of about the same- date. The west wing is mainly occupied by the servants' quarters, and the space corresponding to the staircase on the east is taken up by a room formerly used as a chapel. The entrance to the park, quite close to the house on the west, is by means of a monumental arch, in a range of 18th-century stabling. The house contains a number of good paintings by Vandyke, Reynolds, Kneller, &c., and collections of Egyptian antiquities, fossils, and illuminated manuscripts. Historically it is interesting as the abode of the exiled French court from iSloto 1814, when its accommodation seems to have been severely tested, as some 140 persons were crowded into it and the outbuildings. Louis XVIII used the library as his reception-room, and the study and an adjoining room as his private apartments. The Prince and Princess de Condi inhabited and slept in the drawing-room, and the. Duke and Duchess d'Angoulgme in the upper floor of the east wing. During the residence of the court the queen died, and the room over the library was fitted up for her lying in state. An interesting relic of this part of the history of the house is the confes- sional of the royal family in the room used by them as a chapel, and there are also pictures of the king and the Prince de Conde, the missal and lectern of the Archbishop of Toulouse, &c., and the names then given to the rooms are still to be seen painted over the bells, 'The King's Room,' 'The Queen's Room,* ' The Archbishop's Room,' and so forth. Alwin, a thegn of King Edward, held M4NOR the most important part of the township of HARTWELL? After the Norman Con- quest this manor was granted to William Peverel, and in the Domesday Survey it was assessed at 6 hides and 3 virgates of land.6 It belonged to the honour of Peverel of Nottingham, which came into the hands of the Crown shortly after the accession of Henry II.* In 1086 William Peverel had sub-infeudated Tekel with this manor.7 At the close of the I2th century Walter de Hertwell held one knight's fee of the honour of Peverel.8 He died before 1205, in which year Barnabas son of Walter gave the king 40 marks to- have seisin of the knight's fee9 in Hartwell, which had belonged to his father Walter de Hertwell.10 Bar- nabas probably died before 1229, when Walter de Hertwell paid a fine to be quit of military service across the seas, due from his lands." He also paid scutage in 1234." Soon after this he was succeeded by William de Hertwell, who, however, died before 1247." In 1254 his heir was still a minor14 in the wardship of Ralph son of Nicholas, and was presumably the William son of William de Hertwell who held < V.C.H. Bucks, i, 2533. 6 Ibid. 6 Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 245* ; Pipe R. 2, 3 & 4 Hen. II (Rec. Com.), 39. ' y.C.H. Buck,, i, 2533. 8 Red Bk. ofExch. (Rolls Ser.), 109. 9 Rot. de Finibus (Rec. Com.), 292. 10 Little Hampden was included in this fee. See Little Hampden, and Feud. Aids, '. 97- 294 11 Cat. Close, 1227-31, p. 220. u Testa dsNe-vill (Rec. Com.), 258(2. 13 Cal. of Inj. p.m. Hen. Ill, no. 116. 14 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 31. HARTWELL HOUSE : ENTRANCE PORCH ON NORTH FRONT HARTWELL HOUSE : THE TAPESTRY ROOM 295 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE the manor in 1271." This William granted the manor to a sub-tenant in that year,16 and his de- scendants probably became the mesne lords of the manor. The de Lutons, the new demesne lords, held it of successive Hertwells,17 the last mention of them being in 1645.™ In 1271 '" William de Luton and Alice his mother, who may have been a daughter of William de Hertwell the elder,19* were joint grantees of the manor ; William is mentioned as holding it in 1273*° and Alice in 1280." The two are mentioned as joint tenants in the same reign." William de Luton appears in 1286 in a conveyance of land in Hertwell,'3 but Alice de Luton was seised of one knight's fee at her death in or before 1 294." Her son only lived till the next year, his heir Thomas being a minor.86 Beatrix his widow held land in Hartwell as part of her dower/6 and also had custody of Thomas's lands until he came of age in 1 300." A settlement was made in 1325, by which Thomas de Luton and Margery his wife were to hold the manor for their lives, with remainder to their son Nicholas and Joan his wife and the heirs of his body, and then with remainder to the right heirs of Nicholas.85 Nicholas had already been granted 6 messuages and 3 virgates of land belong- ing to the manor.89 Thomas and Margery both had died before 1 346,30 and Nicholas held the manor of Hartwell until l359-6o.31 He was succeeded by his son Robert who died circa 1391 leaving a boy of twelve as his heir.3* This boy was the last of the Lutons. He apparently died before coming of age, and the manor passed to the descendants of his sister Eleanor.33 Her daughter Agnes was the heiress of the Lutons and married Sir Thomas Shingleton. Agnes also had an only daughter Elizabeth, who married Richard Hampden of Great Kimble." After the death of Sir Thomas Shingleton his widow married again — Petite, and on her death in 1480 was succeeded by her grandson William Hampden." Hartwell Manor was held by Thomas,35 Jerome,37 Michael,3* and Alexander Hampden in turn.39 On the death of Alexander in 1618—19 the manor passed to Thomas Lee, sen., of East Claydon, his kinsman.40 The Lees of Hartwell held the manor without interruption " until the death of the Rev. Sir George Lee, bart., in 1827." Under his will the manor passed to the descendants of William Lee, Lord Chief Justice of England, the second son of Sir Thomas Lee, bart., who died in 1 690. The grandson of the Lord Chief Justice died without direct heirs, having taken the name of Antonie instead of Lee.43 John Fiott the son of his second sister Harriet, under the wills of his uncle William Lee Antonie and of Sir George Lee, succeeded to the estates of the Lee family, taking the name of Lee. John Lee left no children, and his estates passed to his brother, the Rev. Nicholas Fiott, who then took the name of Lee. He died in 1858" and was succeeded by his son Lee Percyvale, who, however, died in the same year, the next heir being his brother, Colonel Edward Lee, the present lord of the manor. LEE. Azure two bars or •with a bend cheeky or and gules over all. FIOTT. Azure a cheve- ron between three lozen- ges or 'with an anchor sable on the cheveron. The service by which the manor of Hartwell was held was complicated by the grant from the Hert- wells to the Lutons. The former held by military service of the honour of Peverel, performing, for Hartwell and Little Hampden, the service due from one knight's fee.45 This service was afterwards performed directly to the lord of the honour of Peverel by the Lutons,46 who held the manor of the Hertwells by a nominal yearly rent of one clove gillyflower.47 This rent was mentioned so late as I645-48 The double service seems to have given rise to some confusion with regard to the overlordships, the Lutons and their successors being sometimes described as holding of the king in chief as of the honour of Peverel, and at other times as holding of the Hert- wells.49 The manor of Hartwell did suit to the court of the honour of Peverel.50 The bailiffs of the honour held the pleas of replevin, the view of frankpledge, and also had the return of writs within the manor. « Feet of F. Bucks. East. 55 Hen. III. " Ibid. V Chan. Inq. p.m. 33 Edw. Ill (2nd nos.), no. 104 ; Exch. Inq. p.m. bdle. 1 6, no. 7; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xlv, no. 43. 19 Ibid. (Ser. 2), Misc. dcccvii, 21 Chas. I, pt. 32 (101). " Feet of F. Bucks. East. 55 Hen. III. 19a Visitation of Bucks. 1566 (ed. Met- calfe), 1 6. 20 Feet of F. Bucks. Trin. I Edw. I. M Cal. Pat. 1272-81, p. 418 ; Feud. Aids, i, 75. 33 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 44. 38 Feet of F. Bucks. East. 14 Edw. I. M Chan. Inq. p.m. 22 Edw. I, no. 17. 25 Ibid. 23 Edw. I, no. 20. *> Cal. Close, 1288-96, p. 463. W Cal. Gen. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 614. 88 Cal. Pat. 1324-7, p. 133; Abbrev. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), ii, 289 ; Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 19 Edw. II, no. n. 39 Ibid. Mich. 19 Edw. I, no. 10. 80 Chan. Inq. p.m. 20 Edw. Ill (ist nos.), no. 29 ; Feud. Aids, i, 122. •l Chan. Inq. p.m. 33 Edw. Ill (2nd nos.), no. 104. 83 Ibid. 15 Ric. II, no. i. "Harl.MS. 5867, Visit. of Bucks. 1566. Sir Robert Luton Eleanor = Thos. Stokes Thos. Shingleton = Agnes = — Petite Elizabeth = Ric. Hampden William Hampden *» Ibid. 85 Chan. Inq. p.m. 19 Edw. IV, no. 34. 88 Exch. Inq. p.m. bdle. 16, no. 7. 87 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xlv, no. 43 ; ibid. Ixiii, no. i. 88 Feet of F. Div. Cos. Trin. 10 Eliz. ; Recov. R. Mich. 3 Eliz. 89 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), clvi, no. 3 ; W. & L. Inq. xiii, no. 117. 296 40 Chan. Inq. p.m. ccclxxvi, no. 96 ; Recov. R. Trin. 31 Jas. I; Chan. Inq. p.m. Misc. dcccvii, 21 Chas. I, pt. 32, no. 101. 41 Feet of F. Bucks. Trin. 12 Chas. II ; Recov. R. Trin. 12 Chas. II; Hil. I & 2 Jas. II ; East. 23 Geo. II ; Trin. 29 Geo. Ill ; Mich. 42 Geo. III. 43 G.E.C. Complete Baronetage. 48 Burke, Landed Gentry, 1 906. 44 Ibid. « Red Bk.of Exch. (Rolls Ser.), 109,^85; Rot. de Fin. et Oblat. (Rec. Com.), 292. 46 Feud. Aids, i, 75, 113, 122. 4? Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclxxvi, no. 96. 48 Ibid. Misc. dcccvii, 21 Chas. I, pt. 32, no. 101. 49 Ibid. 33 Edw. Ill (2nd nos.), no. 104 ; Exch. Inq. p.m. bdle. 16, no. 7 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. xlv, no. 43 ; ibid, clvi, no. 3 ; W. & L. Inq. xiii, no. 117 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclxxvi, no. 96 ; ibid. Misc. dcccvii, 21 Chas. I, pt. 32, no. 101. 50 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 31. STONE HUNDRED These liberties existed in the time of Henry II, and practically resulted in the exclusion of the sheriff and his officers from the manor." In 1280, however, Alice de Luton obtained the privilege of freedom from suit to the honour court for her life for her men whether free or bondsmen.1' She also was quit both of attendance from the view of frankpledge at the same court and of the payment of St. a year for her own view " ; she obtained leave to hold the assize of ale in her own court and to receive the fines for trespasses against it.M In Domesday Book several pieces of land are mentioned as belonging to Hartwell,5* which were apparently at some later date severed from the parish. The manor held by the Hertwell and Luton families apparently included the whole of the later parish of Hartwell. In 1254 the fee contained 6i hides, so that it had varied but little from the assessment in 1086, at 6 hides 3 virgates.56 Besides this land belonging to the honour of Pcverel, the Bishop of Bayeux held 4 hides in Hart- well, three of which Helto held of him, while the fourth was in the hands of Robert." In the time of King Edward the 3 hides were held by three sokmen.*8 One, a man of Archbishop Stigand, held half a hide ; the second, a man of Earl Leofwine, had 2 hides ; and the third, a man of Avelin, held half a hide. Avelin, a thegn of King Edward, himself held the hide given to Robert after the Conquest." This land presumably passed with the rest of the Bishop of Bayeux's land to the Munchesney family and belonged to their barony of Swanscombe. In 1 302-3 Hugh de Vere, who had married Dionysia, the heiress of the Munchesneys, held half a knight's fee in Hartwell.*0 Aymer de Valence inherited the honour of Swanscombe, and in 1 346 his widow held this half fee." This land may perhaps be identified with the manor of West Orchard in the township of Hartwell in the parish of Stone." Walter de Vernon also held half a hide of land in Hartwell of the king in chief in 1086. He had suc- ceeded Turgot, a thegn of King Edward.*1 Another 2 hides were held in chief by William the chamber- lain, and Robert held them as his sub-tenant. Pre- viously Wlmar, a priest of King Edward, had held this land." The church of THE ASSUMPTION CHURCH OF OUR LADY is a curious structure, begun in 1753 and finished in 1755, the chapter-house of York Minster having been taken as the source of its design, though the details are founded on ijth-century work. It consists of an octagonal nave with a small eastern sanctuary with a tower above it, balanced by a similar tower set against the west side of the octagon. The east window is a very poor thing of five lights, and there are three-light windows with 15th-century tracery in the north-west, south-east, north-east, and south-west faces, with shafted jambs and crocketcd and finialled labels, all executed in plaster. There are north and south doors, and the building is further HARTWELL lighted by quatrefoiled openings over both doors and windows. The principal entrance is from the west, the lowest stage of the tower forming a porch. Over the inner door, and opening into the body of the church, is a small gallery serving as a private pew to the Lee family, who built the church. The ceiling is of plaster in the form of elaborate fan vaulting springing from the internal angles. There are no fittings in the church of any interest. Beneath the church is a vault, and over the north and south doors are two boards bearing painted inscriptions commemorating those whose remains were placed there at the building of the church, having been removed from the old structure, and many whose bodies have been placed there since. The earliest names recorded are those of Sir Alexander Hampden, buried in 1617, and Dame Elizabeth Hampden his widow, buried in 1675. Amongst others also recorded are Sir Richard Ingoldsby of Waldridge, Buckinghamshire, buried 1685, and his wife Dame Elizabeth Ingoldsby, who was also the widow of Thomas Lee of Hartwell. Sir Thomas Lee, bait., son of Sir Thomas Lee of Dinton, 1 690, and many more of the same family, notably Sir William Lee, kt., Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench, died 1754, who contributed £1,000 towards the cost of the church. The tower contains three bells, the treble by Richard Chandler, 1691, the second by Warner, 1906, and the tenor is inscribed R. S., Esq., 1715.*** The first book of the registers contains baptisms and burials from 1550 to 1741 and marriages from 1553 to 1743. This book also contains the burials in woollen from 1678 and also an interesting list of the inhabitants of the parish in 1730. The second book contains baptisms and burials from 1742 to 1812, and there is a MS. marriage book containing entries from 1754 to 1812. The church of the Assumption of JDfOIfSON the Virgin Mary," in the parish of Hartwell, is a rectory, the chapel of Little Hampden being appendant to it until 1892. The separation took place by Order in Council, dated 28 June 1892, and by a second Order, dated 1 8 August in the same year, the rectory of Hartwell and the vicarage of Stone were united.66 The advow- son has apparently always been held by the lords of the manor. The Lutons in the 1 4th century made a settlement of the manor and advowson," and from them it passed successively fo the Hampdens** and the Lees.6* Some time before the Reformation an acre of land was given in Hartwell to provide a light ;. it was worth %d. a year in the 1 6th century.70 Louis XVIII, King of France, CHARITIES who resided at Hartwell House for several years during the French Wars, forwarded to Sir George Lee, bart., £ too to be applied for the benefit of the poor of the parishes of Hartwell and Stone. The gift is represented by £ 1 17 consols, with the official trustees. The dividends amounting " Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 31. •» Cat. Pat. 1*71-81, p. + 18. "Ibid. " Ibid. " y.C.H. Bucla. i, 234*. «• Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 3 I. •7 V.C.H. Bucla. i, 2 34*. "Ibid. » Ibid. •» fW. Aidi, i, 97. " Ibi). 112. •' See Stone. " V.C.H. Bucki. i, 265*. « Ibid. 266*. •••See Cocka, Cb. Bill, of Bub, 4J7- 297 " De Banco R. Chart. Enr. Trio. 15 Hen. VIII, m. I d. " From inform, aupplied bjr Rev. J. L. Challia, vicar of Stone. « Feet of F. Buck*. Mich. 19 Edw. II. n Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), clvi, no. 3.. • P.R.O. Intl. Bki. 1662, 1802. 7* Chant. Cert. Buck*. 5, no. i. 38 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE to £2 1 8s. \d. are distributed at Christmas in sums •of 2s. 6J. to 6s. to widows and labourers. 'Dr. Lee's Charity' consists of £112 13*. 4<£ consols, with the official trustees, bequeathed, 1868, .by will of Cecilia, wife of the late John Lee, LL.D., of Hartwell House. The dividends amounting to £2 l6s. ifd. are, under a declaration of trust, 1889, applied by the rector and churchwardens for the benefit of the poor not in receipt of parochial relief, usually in the distribution of coals. GREAT KIMBLE Chenebella (xi cent.) ; Kenebell (xiii cent.) ; Magna Kynebell (xiii cent.) ; Magna Kymbell (xvi cent.). The parish of Great Kimble lies on the north- western slope of the Chiltern Hills and stretches down to the Vale of Aylesbury in the north. In the upland part of the parish the subsoil is chalk l and the surface soil chalk and flints. In the Vale the subsoil is Upper Greensand and Gault ' and the surface soil is stiff clay. The farms in this part of the parish mainly consist of pasture lands, 1,015 acres being laid down, in all, in permanent grass. There are, however, I,oi9f acres of arable land in the parish.* The highest point in the hills is the camp in Pulpit Wood, which reaches the height of 8 1 3 ft. above the GREAT KIMBLE : FIFTEENTH-CENTURY BUILDING USED AS A BARN ordnance datum, while Kimblewick in the northern part of the parish is less than 300 ft. above it.4 A brook connecting with the moat at Grange Farm runs northwards to Bonny Brook in Little Kimble parish. The latter brook also passes through Marsh, a hamlet in the north of Great Kimble parish. The road from High Wycombe to Aylesbury runs through the village of Great Kimble and at this part of its route follows the Upper Icknield Way. The Lower Icknield Way also runs through the parish. The nearest station is at Little Kimble, on the Aylesbury branch of the Great Western Railway. There are two hamlets in the parish, Kimblewick and Marsh. On Pulpit Hill is an ancient camp and there are entrenchments and a mound to the north of the church, close to the churchyard boundary. There is a moat at Grange Farm near Great Kimble vil- lage, and at Marsh a large moat remains, but the house or buildings which it once surrounded have disappeared. Near the church to the north-west is a large I jth-century wooden struc- ture now used as a barn, but possibly once the church house. It is covered externally with weather boarding, but this is comparatively modern and any windows which may have been in the walls have disappeared. The roof, however, is fairly complete, and its moulded and embattled timbers are too elaborate to have belonged merely to a barn. It is of iteep pitch, supported by a number of more or less restored principals with moulded tie-beams, purlins, braces, &c. The parish of Great Kimble, to- gether with Ellesborough and Little Kimble, was inclosed under an Act of Parliament of 43 George III ; the in- closure award was dated 2 May 1805.* In 1885 all the parish of Little Kimble and part of Little Hampden were united with Great Kimble parish. The area of the present civil parish of Great and Little Kimble is 3,415 acres,6 but in 1831 the old parish of Great Kimble was returned as containing 2,570 acres.7 In the time of Edward MANORS the Confessor, Sired, one of the king's thegns, held GREAT KIMBLE,* but after the Nor- man Conquest it formed part of the broad lands granted to Walter Giftard.9 NOW . Bucks, i, Geological Map. * Ibid. 8 Inf. from Bd. of Agric. (1905). 4 Ord. Surv. 6 Common Inclosure A'wards, ' Ord. Surv. < Pof. Ret. 1831, i, 26. » f.C.H. Backs, i, 247*. 'Ibid. 298 STONE HUNDRED Walter also held 2 hides of land in Hart well, which may perhaps have later become part of the parish of Great Kimble." They were granted to the same sub-tenant, Hugh de Bolebec, so that such a trans- ference seems possible, since no land in Hartwell appears to have belonged to Walter Giffard's descen- dants." The 2 hides had not, however, been added to Great Kimble in 1254, when it was said to con- tain 20 hide;," the same assessment having been made in the Domesday Survey." Walter Giffard was made Earl of Buckingham," and his lands formed the honour of Giffard, of which Crendon, in the hundred of Ashendon, was the head in England." On the death of the second earl, Walter Giffard, in 1 164," the honour came into the hands of the Crown." It was not divided amongst the de- scendants of Rohais, daughter of the first earl, until the reign of Richard I." Her heirs were William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, and Richard de Clare, Earl of Hertford." Crendon went to the Clares, but Great Kimble formed part of the Marshals' moiety." In 1254 the overlordship of the three knights' fees in Kimble was held by Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester," in dower, together with his wife Eleanor, the widow of the second William Marshal, Earl of Pem- broke." On the death of the last Earl Marshal with- out children, Great Kimble was assigned to Eva de Braose, one of his sisters and co-heiresses.** Eleanor outlived Eva, but in 1275 the escheator was ordered to deliver her purparty to the heirs of Eva, who were Roger Mortimer and his wife Maud, Eudo la Zouche and his wife Milicent, John de Hastings and Humphrey de Bohun.14 None of these heirs, however, seem to have obtained the overlordship of the fees in Kimble, and in 1284-6 it was held in chief by Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester," inheriting them from Isabel, another sister of the Earl of Pembroke." Thus Great Kimble was united with the other moiety of the honour of Giffard, of which Crendon was the head. In the 1 4th century these fees seem to have been claimed by Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke." He had inherited the lands of the Munchesney family," and Warine de Munchesney had married Joan, one of the five sisters of William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke." Aymer had thus a claim equal to that of Eva de Braose and the Earl of Gloucester to the three fees in Kimble, but they do not seem to have been divided, since in 1403 Edmund Earl of Stafford is said defi- nitely to hold three knights' fees.*0 In spite of this Aymer de Valence," his co-heiress Elizabeth Comyn, and her husband Richard Talbot," and their son Gilbert, are all said to have held knights' fees in Kimble.** GREAT KIMBLE Walter Giffard sub-infeoffed Hugh de Bolebec of his land in Great Kimble " Hugh was succeeded by his son, another Hugh, who confirmed various grants made by sub-tenants to the abbey of Missenden,** and in 1 166 he held twenty knights' fees of the honour of Giffard." He was succeeded by Walter de Bolebec." The latter died before 1 190-1, leaving only daughters. One of these, Isabella, was in the wardship of Aubrey de Vere, Earl of Oxford.** She married his eldest son Robert, and became Countess of Oxford in his right.1* Early in the I3th century she held the mesne overlordship of three knights' fees in Great Kimble,4* which was inherited by her son,4' and was- held by the de Veres until the abolition of feudal tenures." In 1631 Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford, died seised as over- lord of three knights' fees, his lands passing to his son and heir Aubrey." The chief sub-tenant in Great Kimble under Hugh de Bolebec early in the I zth cen- tury appears to have been Giffard Palefridus of Kimble. He granted the church of Great Kimble44 to the abbey of Missenden shortly after its foundation in 1133," with a virgate of land and meadow. His son, William Giffard, or William son of Giffard de Kimble, confirmed this grant,46 and his grandson Richard Giffard made additional grants." Hugh de Kimble, presumably the son. of Richard Giffard, died about 1205-6, when a re- grant of the wardship of his heir was made to Adam de Essex.48 John son of Hugh de Kimble made large grants in the parish to the abbey and to various members of his family.4* His mother Amice married Geoffrey Crok, and they obtained from John a grant in fee for the yearly rent of * V .C.H. ButkM. i, 147*. "Ibid. >> Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, ji. « V.C.H. Bucki. i, 247*- 14 G.E.C. Comflett Peerage. " Cart. Antiq. (P.R.O.), S. 19. " G.E.C. Comflett Peerage. V Red Bk. ofExck. (Roll. Ser.), 37. u G.E.C. Complete Peerage. »• Cart. Antiq. (P.R.O.), S. 19. Ibid. Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 31. Cal. if Clou, 1271-9, p. 190. Ibid. " Ibid. FcuJ. A'sdi, i, 75. G.E.C. Comflett Pierage. 17 Chan. Inq. p.m. 17 Edw. II, no. 7;. • Cf. Dinton. • De Banco R. 434, m. 308. w Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Hen. IV, no. 41. u Ibid. 17 Edw. II, no. 7$. nCal. of Clou, 1323-7, pp. 173-4 1 Chan. Inq. p.m. 10 Ric. II, no. 51. u Ibid. 7 Hen. V, no. 68. •* y.CM. Buck,, i, 247*. u HarL MS. 3688. « Red Bk. ofExtk. (Roll. Ser.), 311. *! Ibid. 54, 71. » Ibid. 71. " Ibid. 138 | Bxctrfttt t Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), i, 75. • Teita dt Nevill (Rec. Com.), 247. 41 Cal. of Chit, 1271-9, p. 190 ; Feud. Aid,, i, 75. 299 41 Ibid, i, ill; Chan. Inq. p.m. 10 Ric. II, no. 38 ; ibid. 38 & 39 Hen. VI,. no. 39 ; Ezch. Inq. p.m. bdle. 15, no. 1 1 ; Feet of F. Bucki. Eait. 26 Eliz. a Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccUiiii no. 15. 44 HarL MS. 3688. « y.C.H. Buck,, i, 369*. "Harl. MS. 3688. V Ibid. 41 Rat. dt Fin. tt Oklat. (Rec. Com.), 318. « HarL MS. 3688. *° Feet of F. Buck*. 12 Hen. Ill, no. 26. *Hund.R. (Rec. Com.), i, 31. *• Feud. Aid,, i, 75. A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE MISSKNDEN ABBEY. Barry -wavy ermine and sable 'with a crosier or bendivise. hands of Walter de Upton and Robert Fitz Neel,63 who may possibly have obtained them by marriage with the descendants of John son of Hugh de Kimble. In 1254 the Abbot of Missenden was said to hold 4 hides of land in Great Kimble of the gift of John de Westhull." The charter of John de Westhull is given in the Missenden cartulary, but the abbey only obtained some of its lands in Great Kimble from this bene- factor." In 1284 the abbot held one fee in Great Kimble of the Earl of Oxford,66 and in 1330 in an extent of the possessions of the abbey this land is called the manor of Great Kimble.67 After the dis- solution of Missenden Abbey, the manor of Great Kimble was granted in 1541 to Michael Dormer, with all the lands belonging to the abbey in Great and Little Kimble.58 The Dormers held the manor until 1579-80, when William Dormer sold the reversion to Griffith Hampden.59 William Hampden died seised of this manor,60 and it passed to his descendants with Uptons Manor (q.v.). In the 1 3th century FENEL'S GROPE or WHITINGHJM'S MJNOR was held by the family of Fitz Neel, but it is not clear how they became possessed of it. In a charter granting land to Missenden Abbey in the time of Henry II, Richard Fitz Neel is mentioned .as a previous donor of land to the abbey,61 and Hugh de Bolebec in a charter confirm- ing the alienation of the church •calls him 'his man.'61 Robert Fitz Neel witnessed various •charters to the abbey in the reign of Henry III,6* and held •one knight's fee in Great Kimble in 1 2 84-6." He had a. son named Walter, who held land in Great Kimble.65 Robert Fitz Neel held the \ FITZ NZKL. argent and gufes. Tal •Of fee in 1302-3 and I3I6,66 and must presumably have been his son or grandson. Robert Fitz Neel died before 1345, leaving an only daughter, Grace, the wife of Sir John Nowers.67 She held the fee in I346,68 but died in 1350, and John son of John de Nowers was her heir, at that time •still a minor.69 He, however, released the manor to King Edward III, and Sir Ingelram de Couci, Earl of Bedford, who had married the king's eldest daughter Isabella or Elizabeth.70 The earl had come to Eng- land as one of the hostages for King John of France, but had risen to great favour with Edward III. On the accession of Richard II he resigned his earldom to the king and gave up all his English land on retir- ing to France.71 His wife, however, remained in England, and held the manor till her death, which took place before 1382." Richard II then granted the manor to Queen Anne for her life.73 Henry IV apparently granted it to Queen Joan, who held it in dower in 1425." He granted the reversion of the manor to his second son John Duke of Bedford, and the grant was confirmed by Henry V, the manor to remain to the duke and the heirs of his body.75 On the death of the duke in 1435," the manor passed to his nephew and heir Henry VI,77 one- third being held in dower by Jaquetta of Luxembourg, the widow of Bedford.78 The king in 1439 sold the manor, which at this time was known by the name of Fenel's Grove, to Cardinal Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, to hold for the rent of id. a year.79 The same year the bishop sold it to Robert Whit- ingham, Squire of the Household, and servant of Henry VI.60 Various confirmations of this grant were obtained from the king.81 Whitingham was succeeded by Sir Robert Whitingham, his son, who was attainted on the accession of Edward IV, and forfeited his lands.81 John Verney and his wife Margery, the daughter and heiress of Sir Robert,63 attempted to recover Fenel's Grove as part of her inheritance.84 Although their son, Sir Ralph Verney, was said to be the overlord of the manor in 1 5 1 6,85 it seems very improbable that the Verneys ever re- covered possession. In 1499 Richard Whitingham was in seisin,86 and a long lawsuit ensued between him and Richard Empson, John Danvers, Thomas Hasilwode, John Dey, and William Wodward ; Empson and the other plaintiffs appear to have re- covered seisin of the manor of Fenel's Grove or Whitingham's Manor in Great Kimble, after the pro- ceedings had lasted for four years.87 On Empson's attainder after the death of Henry VII, the ' manor of Kimble ' was granted to Thomas Parre and Matilda his wife for life.88 The estates of his father were, however, restored to Thomas Empson by Act of Parliament,89 and he recovered the manor of Fenel's Grove amongst them. In 1538 he sold it to Michael Dormer, Alderman of London,90 who died seised in I545.91 Geoffrey Dormer sold the manor in 1555 to William Serjeant.9* Richard Serjeant was the eldest son and heir of William at the latter's death in 68 See Uptons Manor and Fenel's Grove. M Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 31. « Harl. MS. 3688. * Feud. Aids, i, 75. '7 Harl. MS. 3688. " L. and t. Hen. VIII, rri, 379 (iz). 69 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A. 6019 ; Feet of F. Bucks. HiL 22 Eliz. 60 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxlviii, no. 39- " Harl. MS. 3688. M Ibid. <* Ibid. M Feud. Aids, i, 75. 85 Harl. MS. 3688. 66 Feud. Aids, i, 96, 113. 87 Chan. Inq. p.m. 5 Edw. Ill (ist cos.), no. 75 ; ibid. 23 Edw. Ill (pt. i), no. 85. 88 Feud. Aids, i, 122. 89 Chan. Inq. p.m. 23 Edw. Ill (pt. i), no. 85 ; Cal. Pat. 1348-50, p. 413. Robert the eldest ion of Grace, on whom the land was settled by Robert Fitz Neel, was unable to manage his lands, having been hit on the head with a lance at cer- tain jousts. He apparently had died be- fore 1350. 70 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A. 387. 71 G.E.C. Comf/ete Peerage. 7" Cal. Pat. 1381-5, p. 203. 7* Ibid. 203, 529. 7< Chart. R. 3 & 4 Hen. V, no. a. » Ibid. 7« G.E.C. Complete Peerage. 77 Par!. R. (Rec. Com.), vi, 317. 7s Cal. Pat. 1436-41, pp. 260, 520. 300 7» Parl. A vi, 3 1 7. 80 Ibid. 81 ibid. »« Ibid. 88 See Dinton. 84 Parl. R. (Rec. Com.), vi, 317. 85 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), Ixxvii, no. 123. 88 De Banco R. Mich. 15 Hen. VII, m. 310, 361. "7 Ibid. Hil. 19 Hen. VII, m. 21 ; Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 15 Hen. VII j ibid. Mich. 19 Hen. VII. 88 Pat. 2 Hen. VIII, pt. I, m. 8. 89 Diet. Nat. Biog. xvii, 365. 90 Close, 30 Hen. VIII, pt. 2, no. 16. 91 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), Ixxiii, no. 10. 83 Feet of F. Bucks. East. I & 2 Phil, and Mary. STONE HUNDRED 1 562," but four years later William Serjeant, sen., held Fenel's Grove.*4 He alienated parts of the manor during his life — a third to John Stampe and Isabel his wife in I 594—5," and two-thirds to his son William and his wife Elizabeth." This William, however, seems to have held the whole manor, but alienated it in 1626 to Edward Symeon and others.*7 These were probably trustees for some settlement made by John Hampden, who married Elizabeth, the daughter and heiress of Edward Symeon.** Four years later William Serjeant died seised of lands and tene- ments in Great and Little Kimble, but not of this manor." By 1653 it was held by Richard Hampden, the son of John Hampden the patriot ;IO° he also held the other manors in Great Kimble, and the manor of Fenel's Grove from this time was held with Uptons Manor (q.v.). In 1284 Walter de Upton held his fee, afterwards known as UPTONS MANOR, in Great Kimble 101 alone, but in 1302-3 he held it jointly with Hugh the Marshal,1™ and the manor apparently was divided from this time ; but whether Hugh was a tenant of Walter de Upton, or whether they both held of the Earls of Oxford, does not appear. Walter de Upton died between 1316 and i^^6,m and John de Upton his heir died in his lifetime, leaving a daughter Joan,104 whose husband Roger Blome held the fee in 1 346.101 His son John Blome died in 1 349, but according to the inquisition made on his death, he only held lands and tenements in Great Kimble of the Earl of Oxford.10* His daughter and heiress Matilda l07 married William Noble.108 She died in 1377,"" and William held her lands till his death,"0 when they passed to the descendants of Amice, sister of John de Upton,1" who had married one of the Hampdens of Great Hampden. The Uptons* land in Great Kimble descended to her great-grandson John Hampden.11' Richard, the eldest son of John Hampden, married Elizabeth Shingleton, the heiress of the Lutons, and thus obtained the manor of Hartwell,1'1 and in consequence the land in Great Kimble passed to his younger brother Thomas, who died seised of the 'manor of Great Kimble' in 1485.'" Richard Hampden, his son and heir, held the manor, and also died seised in 1527, leaving two daughters, Ethelreda or Audrey and Sybil."* The manor of Great Kimble was left to the elder daughter Audrey, who had first married William Hampden of Dunton, a member of another branch of the family, and secondly Griffin Richards."* The latter held the manor for life with succession to Audrey and her heirs by William Hamp- den, her late husband.117 This settlement was made 1537."* John Hampden, the second son of GREAT KIMBLE Audrey, inherited the Kimble estates, and died seised of the manor in 1558."' The Hampdens held the manor until 1725-6, when Richard Hampden of Great Hampden, having incurred debts to the Crown, was, under Act of Parliament, forced to sell his four manors in Great Kimble, Uptons being the principal manor.110 The trustees sold them in 1730 by public auction to Sarah, Dowager Duchess of Marlborough, who left the manor of Great Kimble by will to her grandson John Spencer.1" His son John Spencer, first Earl Spencer, succeeded him, but sold it in 1803 to a Mr. Richford, who conveyed it the same year to Scrope Bernard, afterwards Sir Scrope Bernard Mor- land, but."* The latter held it at his death in 1830, but it was shortly sold to Sir George Russell, bart.,m and at the present day it is in the hands of the ASTLEY. Awirt a (inyuefoil ermine in a bor der engrailed or. ROIIILL. Argent » lion gulei and a chief tabli vfitk three rout argent therein. in " Chan. Inq. p.m. (Scr. z), cmiv, no. 189. •' Feet of F. Buck* Hil. 37 Elii. i E nt. 41 Elii. •Mbid. Bucki. Hil. 37 Elii. * Ibid. Eait. 43 Elii. •7 Ibid. Coi. Undef. Eait. 2 Chat. I. " Out. Nat. Biof. zxiv, 254. •* Chan. Inq. p.m. (Scr. z), ccclvi, no. 49- 00 Recov. R. Mich. 1653. 101 Feud. Aids, i, 75. "> Ibid, i, 96. 101 Ibid, i, 1 13, izz. 104 Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 1 Hen. IV, no. 1 3. "• Feud. Aidi, i, i zz. "• Chan. Inq. p.m. 31 Edw. Ill (itt ooi.}, no. 4Z. FlANtLAND. A~ure a dolphin or and a chief or with two sail: res gules therein. trustees of his descendant, Mr. Henry Frankland- Russell-Astley, a minor."4 Ralph the Marshal held the manor of MARSHALS in Great Kimble in 1290,"* and in 1302-3 Hugh the Marshal appears as a sub-tenant of part of the fee that Walter de Uptone had previously answered for alone.1" In 1 346 his land had passed to Thomas Marshal.117 Sir Michael Dormer held the manor of Marshals in the 1 6th century, and on his death in w Ibid. «• Ibid, ii Hen. IV, no. 13. »»» Ibid. 110 Ibid. i$ Ric, II (pt. i), no. 50. 111 Ibid. 1 1 Hen. IV, no. 1 3. ut The exact deicent it difficult to trace. In the Hampden pedigree (Lipt- comb. Hist, of Bucks, ii, 302), Amice ii •aid to have married Richard Hampden, younger ion of Sir Reginald Hampden. In an inquitition (Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 1 Hen. IV, no. 13), howerer, made in 1409, the it laid to be the mother of Richard Hampden ; her hutband mutt in thit cate have been Reginald Hampden. The wife of the latter in the pedigree quoted above wat Nicola, daughter of John Grcnville, 301 but he may quite poiiibljr hare had two wivet. "» See Hartwell. ll< Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. z), i, no. 1 54. 111 Eich. Inq. p.m. bdle. zc, no. 1 1. »• Ibid. W Feet of F. Bucki. Trin. and Mich. Z9 Hen. VIII. "» Ibid. •" Kxch. Inq. p.m. bdle. ci, no. zi. >» Prir. Act of Parl. I z Ceo. I. 111 Lytont, M ana Brit, i, 588. «• Ibid. *" Sheahan, Hiit. and Tofog. of Bucks. "' Burke, Landed Gentry, 1906. '« Feet of F. Bucki. Eait. ig Edw. I. "• Feud. Aidi, i, 96. W Ibid. 111. A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 1545 it passed to his son Thomas.118 Godfrey Dormer held it in I558,1*9 but probably his son William Dormer sold the reversion in 1579-80 to Griffith Hampden, who died seised of the manor.130 On the death of William Hampden, the son of Griffith, he was found to be seised of a capital messuage m or farm in Kimble called Marshals, which was probably the manor of Marshals. This had been acquired by purchase from William Dormer by an indenture dated 25 January 1579-80. From this time the manor passed with the manor of Uptons (q.v.).138 The view of frankpledge in Great Kimble was held by the chief overlords. The bailiffs of the honour of Giffard held two views in Great Kimble,'83 this right being preserved by the Dukes of Buckingham till the 1 5th century.131 On the forfeiture of their land, Henry VIII gave these courts to Edward, Prince of Wales, who held the view of frankpledge about I548.»> The lords of the honour held other important regalia. Their bailiffs held the pleas of replevin and their tenants paid no hidage to the king, nor did they do suit to the shire and hundred courts.136 In the 1 3th century John son of Hugh de Kimble granted his mill in Great Kimble to Gilbert Martel,1" who in turn granted it to the abbey of Missenden."8 Gilbert Martel held the mill and its appurtenances for homage and service and l Ib. of pepper paid yearly at Michaelmas, for all services, ex- cept the foreign service due to the king from two acres of land.139 The abbot held as a sub-tenant of Martel, paying 6d. a year for the mill and all the land belonging to it.140 The church of ST. NICHOLAS CHURCH consists of a chancel 26ft. 6 in. by 1 5 ft. 3 in. with north and south chancel aisles 8 ft. and 6 ft. 5 in. wide respectively ; a nave 5 2 ft. 6 in. by 1 9 ft. with north and south aisles 6 ft. and 5 ft. 5 in. wide respectively ; a western tower I oft. loin, square and a south porch, all measure- ments being internal. The early history of the church has been much obscured by recent drastic restorations, but sufficient remains to show that the aisles were added about the middle of the 1 3th century, at which time the nave was of the same size as at present. The old chancel has, however, completely disappeared, and the present chancel arch belongs to the early years of the 1 4th century. At about the same time the tower was added, while the aisles of the chancel were built somewhat later in the I4th century. In the 1 5th century the clearstory was added, while in modern times the south aisle, tower, and chancel arcading have been practi- cally rebuilt, the external surface renewed, and much new material inserted throughout. The east window of the chancel is modern and of three trefoiled lights with cusped circular lights over and shafted jambs. On the north are two bays of arcading of 14th-century detail with obtuse two- centred arches of two hollow chamfered orders. The column is of four half-round shafts with round fillets between with circular capitals and bases, while the responds have half-octagonal corbel capitals with carved heads. Such old work as remains in the arcade is of mid- 14th-century date. There is a similar arcade of two bays on the south, but of slightly different detail and not quite as much renewed. The chancel arch is of two wave-moulded orders with a modern label to the west and responds of three half-round shafts with moulded capitals and bases. The north aisle of the chancel is lit by three modern windows of 13th-century type, a single lancet to the east and double and triple lancets on the north. At the west is a modern arch to the north aisle of the nave. The south chancel aisle is used as a chapel and is also lit by three modern windows, that to the east being a single lancet with an elaborately moulded rear arch. The two on the south are double lancets, and that to the east has a modern piscina drain in its sill. Between these two windows is a small modern door, and there is an arch to the nave aisle similar to that on the north. The nave is of four bays, and both arcades are of the same detail and date. The arches are two- centred and of two orders with plain and hollow chamfers, both orders being stopped at the springing. The columns are octagonal with excellently moulded capitals and bases on square plinths. Above the arcade and on a level with the sills of the clearstory windows are a series of small plain corbels, the supports of a former roof. The clearstory windows, three on either side, are on the north single trefoiled lights of 15th-century date ; those on the south are modern and of two cinquefoiled lights. The tower arch is of three chamfered orders, the innermost resting on carved corbels, the outer pair dying into plain square responds. The north aisle of the nave has on the north three windows, each of two trefoiled lights under a square head. The east and west of the three windows are of late 14th-century date much restored, but the middle one has hardly an old stone remaining. Between the pair to the west is the north door, much restored, and with plain chamfered head and jambs. The west window is a modern lancet. The south aisle has three modern windows to the south, each of two cinquefoiled lights with square heads and quatrefoiled spandrels, while the west window is a much restored 13th-century lancet. The south door, between the westernmost pair of windows, is modern and of two chamfered orders. The south porch is also modern, with an entrance similar to the south doorway and small east and west windows of two cinquefoiled lights with a sixfoil over. The tower is of three stages, and has been largely rebuilt. The embattled parapet is completely modern, and below it is a plain 14th-century corbel table. The belfry openings, much restored if not quite modern, are of two trefoiled lights with a blind quatrefoil over. The west door is also modern or completely restored, and is of 14th-century detail, while the west window is of 15th-century date and two cinquefoiled lights. The font is of the common local type, of late I zth- century date with a circular scalloped bowl and. 128 Chan. Inq. p.m.(Ser.2), Ixxiii, no. 10. 1M Recov. R. Trin. 4 & 5 Phil, and Mary. 180 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Scr. z), ccxxxii, no. 67 ; Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A. 6019. 181 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxlviii, no. 39. 18a Ibid. 188 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 31. 134 Chan. Inq. p.m. 38 & 39 Hen. VI, no. 39. 302 I"5 Ct. R. (P.R.O.), ptfo. 155, no. 13. 186 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 31. W Harl. MS. 3688. "8 Ibid. 18» Ibid. "° Ibid. STONE HUNDRED square scalloped base, the stem being moulded and the rim and base of the bowl richly ornamented with foliage. The nave roof is of 15th-century date, low in pitch, and of the king-post type with cusped tracery in the spandrels. The other roofs are practically modern. There is a I jth-century altar table and a good chest (in the vestry) with mediaeval ironwork. The modern fittings of the chancel are good. A curious and unusual feature is the use of Doulton ware for the reading-desk and low chancel screen. The tower contains a ring of six bells, the treble and second cast by G. Mean in 1860, the third and fourth by Henry Knight in 1587, and inscribed re- spectively, ' Gloria in Excelsis Deo,' and ' Ave Maria Gracia Plena.' The fifth and tenor were cast by Mears & Stainbank in 1897. The communion plate is modern. The first book of the registers contains all entries from 1701, baptisms and burials running to 1 802, and marriages to 1754. Marriages are continued in a separate book from 1754 to 1812, and baptisms and burials in a third book from 1803 to 1812. The church of Great Kimble was JDfOirSON granted by Giffard Palefridus in the 1 2th century to the abbot and con- vent of Missenden.1" The grant was confirmed some LITTLE KIMBLE years later by Hugh de Bolebec, the mesne lord of the fee, at the request of three of his men, Hugh of Kimble, Richard Fitz Ncel, and Humphrey de Kimble."* In this confirmation the grant is of the church of St. Nicholas of Kimble, the invoca- tion being the same as at the present day. The rectory was impropriated and the vicarage was ordained before or during the episcopate of Hugh of Wells (I209-34)."1 After the Dissolution, the rectory and advowson of the church were granted to Sir Richard Dormer with the manor belonging to Missenden Abbey."4 William Dormer sold the reversion of the rectory and advowson and the appendant tithes in 1579-80 to Griffith Hampden,10 and the owners of the Great Hampden estates have held them till the present day,"* the Earl of Buckinghamshire being the patron of the living. There is a small mission church at Marsh. The Poor's Land consists of CHARITIES 4 a. o r. 1 3 p. in the parish of Elles- borough, and an allotment in Box Field containing 3 r. 14 p. awarded under the Inclo- sure Act, 1803. In 1905 the sum of £5 9/. id. was received as rent, of which / 4 \s. 6d. was distributed in bread to thirteen recipients, and £i \i. 8< Ibid. 96. "Ibid. in. A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE leaving no direct heirs." The descendants of his sister Sybil claimed some of his lands in Notting- hamshire, but neither they nor the descendants of William Russel seem to have laid any claim to Little Kimble.17 In 1486, however, a manor in Litt'.e Kimble was said to be held of the heirs of Edmund Russel.18 The Moels rarely claimed the whole of Little Kimble. In 12 84-6 "and 1302-3 Roger de Moels and John de Moels *° were joint overlords with the Russels. John de Moels died seised before 1310 of half the hamlet of Kimble ; " his grandson, however, another John, held the overlordship of one knight's fee in Kimble at the time of his death." He left two daughters, the elder of whom inherited Little Kimble in 1338." She was the wife of Sir Thomas Courte- nay," and their daughter and heiress Muriel married John Dinham.15 Shortly after this the sub-tenancy of part of Little Kimble appears to have lapsed, and thus ooo MOELS. Argent two bars gules •with three roundels gules in the chief. /„. DINHAM. Gules a ise indented ermine. the Dinhams, who succeeded the Moels, became the tenants in demesne of their manor. Sir John Dinham died in 1457—8 seised of the manors of Eythorpe, Crendwell, and Little Kimble, held of Edward, Prince of Wales, as of the honour of Wallingford, by right of inheritance of Joan his wife, who survived him.16 His wife was the heiress of the Darches family," who had held the two first-named manors, and probably part of Little Kimble,29 as sub- tenants, but presumably Sir John's right in the manor came also through his great-grandmother, Muriel de Moels. He was succeeded by his son John, Lord Dinham, who died leaving his four sisters and their children as his heirs.*9 In the inquisition on his lands, however, he was said to be seised only of tenements in Little Kimble,10 but his heirs afterwards appear to have held portions of the manor. These heirs were his sisters, Lady Elizabeth Fitzwarren, a widow, who afterwards married Sir Thomas Brandon, and Lady Joan Zouche, and his nephews, Sir Edmund Carew and Sir John Arundel, sons of his sisters Margaret and Katherine respectively." Elizabeth died seised of a fourth part of the manor in 1516, leaving John Bouchier as her son and heir.31 Lord Zouche and his wife Anne also held a fourth part in 1 53 1,33 and one of the co- parceners apparently sold a share to Sir William Compton.84 His grandson Henry, Lord Compton, conveyed this to Ralph Redman, William Hawtrey, and Richard Hollyman,35 who very shortly afterwards acquired the share of the Arundels as well.36 Nothing more is known of the manor for the next hundred years, but at the close of the iyth century it was apparently held by the family of Gibson. In 1692 there was a lawsuit between Thomas Gibson, sen., and others v. Richard Croke concerning rights of free warren in Little Kimble. It was asserted on this occasion that Croke was lord of the manor, and that it had belonged to his father before him.37 The manor here referred to is probably Bulbecks (q.v.), but the suit would seem to show that the Gibsons already had some interest in the parish, and in 1696 Thomas Gibson, sen., and his wife Mary, and Thomas Gibson, jun., and his wife Frances, appear in a deed concerning tenements in Little Kimble and a court-leet and view of frankpledge to be held within the manor of Little Kimble.*8 Thomas Gibson, jun., apparently left no male heirs, and the manor passed to Mary and Elizabeth Gibson, who held it in I739.39 Elizabeth apparently married Thomas Hill and held a moiety of the manor in 1767,'° and Mary married Robert Smith." They held the manor jointly in 1771," but after their death their property was divided. In 1817 a moiety of the manor was held by Sir James Fellowes and his wife Elizabeth in her right/3 In 1086 a sub-tenant named Albert held Little Kimble of Turstin son of Rolf." Very shortly after its acquisition by the Russels and the de Moels, Hum- phrey le Dun appears as the sub-tenant of a knight's fee in Little Kimble. Half of this he held in demesne and half as a mesne lord.45 He paid scutage, however, for the whole fee in I235-46 He died before 1246,*' and left an only daughter Margaret, who was a minor in the king's wardship.48 In 1254 John le Waleys held Little Kimble, having probably acquired it by marriage with the heiress of Humphrey le Dun.4' John died between 1283 and I289,60 leaving four heiresses by his wife Margery and a son John by another wife.61 Little Kimble was divided among the daugh- ters,6* so that it seems certain that it was the inheri- tance of their mother, who may thus be identified as the daughter of Humphrey le Dun. Of her daughters, Isabel married Simon de St. Lys, Agnes married John de Middleton, Lucy married Adam de Kyngesham (or Kyngesmede), and the fourth daughter married John du Park.6* Adam de Kyngesham appears to have 16 De Banco R. 517, m. 299. W Ibid. 18 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), luciii, no. 47. » Feud. Aids, i, 78. *> Ibid. 101. 11 Chan. Inq. p.m. 3 Edw. II, no. 36. M Ibid, ii Edw. Ill (ist not.), no. 56. » Ibid. « Ibid. 85 G.E.C. Complete Peerage. 46 Chan. Inq. p.m. 36 Hen. VI, no. 39. * G.E.C. Complete Peerage. 88 Chan. Inq. p.m. 18 Edw. II, no. 18; ibid. 2 Ric. II, no. 57 ; Assize R. 1458, m. 26 d. 29 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), XT, no. 58. » Ibid. 81 Ibid. *a Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxxi, no. 21. 88 Feet of F. Div. Cos. Trin. 23 Hen. VIII. 84 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), Ixxiii, no. 9. 85 Feet of F. Bucks. Trin. 18 Eliz. 88 Ibid. Hil. 19 Eliz. " Exch. Dep. by Com. East. 3 Will, and Maty, no. II. 88 Feet of F. Bucks. Trin. 7 Will. Ill ; ibid. East. 4 Anne. 89 Ibid. Trin. 13 Geo. II. 40 Ibid. 7 Geo. III. 41 Ibid. East. 1 1 Geo. III. 304 « Ibid. 48 Ibid. Div. Cos. Trin. 57 Geo. III. « y.C.H. Bucks. \, 267,1. 48 Testa di Ne-vill (Rec. Com.), 245. « Ibid. 259. 4' Excerpt. cRot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), 1,454. 48 Assize R. 56, m. 21. 49 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 31. 60 Cal. of Inq . p.m. Hen. Ill, no. 673 ; Abbrev. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 281-2 ; CaL of Close, 1279-88, p. 241. " Abbrev. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 281-2. " Feet of F. Div. Cos. East. 17 Edw. I ;. Chan. Inq. p.m. 25 Edw. I, no. 28 ; Feud. Aids, i, 96. » Abbrev. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 281-2. STONE HUNDRED answered for the whole manor in matters of feudal incidence.*4 His wife Lucy, after his death, probably married Walter de Shobintone,** who also answered for the whole fee in 1316.** In 1346 the tenants of the half fee that Humphrey le Dun and John de Waleys had held in demesne were Simon de St. Lys, a minor in the king's wardship, Richard da Park, and John de Middleton, the descendants of the four heiresses of John le Waleys." Some years later, how- ever, Nicholas Darches claimed a third of the manor of Little Kimble from John atte Morhalle and John de St. Lys, the latter being apparently the heir of Simon de St. Lys." The exact claim of Nicholas is not given in the pleadings, but he recovered seisin of the tene- ments in question.** The history of the sub-tenants of Little Kimble cannot be traced from this time, owing probably to the subdivision of land among the descendants of the co-heiresses of John le Waleys. Haifa knight's fee called BULBECKS MJNOR in Little Kimble was held by the Bolebec family, under the mesne lords of the whole fee.*0 Herbert de Bolebec granted land in the parish to the abbey of Mi-isen Jen in the 1 2th century," and after his death his widow Alice succeeded him as the tenant of the half fee." In a charter Gilbert is named as her son and heir,6* but in 1254 another Herbert held the land.*4 At his death, which took place before 1 266, he held the manor of Kimble and onecarucateoflanj there, which passed to Gilbert his brother and heir.*6 The latter died before 1 298," leaving a son named Henry." In 1 346 John de Bolebec and his tenants'* held the manor, and he also con- firmed the grants to Missen- den made by his ancestors." During the i;th century the Hampdens obtained posses- sion of the manor. Edmund Hampden, the second son of F.dmund Hampden of Great I lampJcn," forfeited his lands to Edward IV, amongst them being a messuage, 60 acres of land, 6 acres of wood, and 8 acres of meadow in Little Kimble, but the manor was probably held by the elder branch of the family, and so was not forfeited to the Yorkist king." Thomas Hampden of Great Hampden died seised of the manor at the close of the I 5th century. He was succeeded by his son " and grandson, both named John ; the latter left two daughters, and Little Kimble passed to Barbara the second." She married first Edmund Smith, by whom she had a daughter Anne,74 the wife of William Paulet." Philippa, LITTLE KIMBLK the widow of the second John Hampden, married, as her second husband, Sir Thomas Smyth, and in 1554 they quit-claimed the manor of Little Kimble to William Paulet and his wife." Elizabeth Paulet, their only daughter and heiress, married Oliver St. John.77 The manor was sold by St. John in 1609 to Robert Waller,1' who again sold it to Edward Ser- jeant for £1,850.™ The manor changed hands again in 1626, when Richard Serjeant is said to have sold it, under the name of ' Buli-ccks Manor,' to Richard Brasey of Thame, co. Oxon.* The latter in his will, proved in 1647, left the yearly revenue from lands and wood and tenements in Little Kimb'.e to his wife for her life. After her death they were to pass to Richard Croke, the son of Anne, the daughter of the tes- tator, for life, and to descend to his children." Richard Croke and his son, another Richard, both held the manor," which descended on the death of the latter to his daughter Charlotte. She married William Ledwell," and they held the manor of Little Kimble in 1758.** The property passed on his death to his heir-at-law, — Ledwell of Cowley, co. Oxon.** In 1792 William Bridges Ledwell, his son, held the manor,** and sold it to Scrope Bernard, after- wards Sir Scrope Bernard Morland, bait.87 The manor was presumably bought at the same time as Great Kimble by Sir George Russell, bart., and is now in the hands of the trustees of Mr. Henry Frank- land-Russel!-Astlcy, a minor.** In 1254 John le Waleys and Herbert de Bolebec held the view of frankpledge in their manors/* In 1617 James I granted to Edward Brudenell the right to hold a view of frankpleJge twice a year in Stoke Mandeville, Ellesborough, and Little Kimble,* but in the i8th century a court leet and view were claimed by the Gibsons." The church of ALL SAINTS is a CHURCH small structure consisting of a chancel 1 8 ft. 6 in. by 1 4 ft., a nave 38 ft. 9 in. by 1 5 ft. 4 in., and north and south porches, the latter of which is used as a vestry. Until the middle of the 1 3th century the church consisted of a chancel narrower than the present one, and a nave of the same size as that now existing, but at this date the present chancel arch was inserted unsymmetrically and the- chancel widened by rebuilding the south wall. It is thus probable that the nave walls and the western half at least of the north wall of the chancel are ot 13th-century date or earlier. The chancel has also been lengthened, but this may have been done at a later date than the I 3th century. At the beginning and middle of the 1 4th century windows were inserted in the walls of nave and chancel, and the porches were added, while in modern *« FruJ. AiJi, i, 96. » Feet of F. DIT. Cot. Mich. 7 Edw. II) Chan. Inq. p.m. n Edw. HI (lit noi.), no. 56 ; Ctl. Pat. 1517-50, p. 189. *• t'fuJ. AUi, i, 1 1 J. " Ibid. lia. *• Ai«itc R. 1458, m. 16 d. » Ibid. » Tnu di Ntvill (Rec. Com), 1+5*. •> Harl. MS. )688. "» Ibid. ; Tata di Nevill (Rec. Com.), « Harl. MS. 3688. "Hu*d. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 31. « Col. if 1*1. f.m. Hn. Ill, no. 673. "Col. Chit, 1296-1301, p. 147. WAnct. D. (P.R.O.), C. 1509. ** FtuJ. jli.li, i, in. " Harl. MS. 368*. "° Lipicom b, Hiit. of Butkt. ii, 301. 71 Cat. Pat. 1461-7, p. 473. "Chan. Inq. p.m. (Srr 2), iiiii, no. 47- '•Lipicomb, Hill, tf Biuki. ii, 301. W Ibid. " Feet of F. Dir. Col. Mich. I 4 * Phil, and Miry. » Ibid. "CIoie, 10 Jaa, I, pt. 1 8, DO. 36. * Feet of F. Di». Cot. Trin. 6 Jis. L 1609. " Clote, 10 Jai. I, pt. 1 8, no. 36. 305 •" I.ipicomb, Hill, if Buckt. ii, 351. "P.C.C. WiU. 156, Fine*. " Eich. Dep. bjr Com. Eait. 3 Will and Mary, no. n. " Lipicomb, Hiti. of Biuki. ii, 351. * F«t of F. Dir. Cot. Hil. 31 Geo. II. •* Lipicomb, ///if. of Buck, ii, 3(1. * Recov. R. Eait. 3* Geo. III. " Feet of F. Bucki. Hil. 31 Geo III. " See Great Kimble. »H*nd. R (Rec. Com), i, 31. *°Pat. 14 Jai. I, pt. i. « Feet of F. Bucka. Trin. 7 Will. Ill ; Eait. 4 Anne ; Trin. 7 Geo. Ill ; Eait. 1 1 Geo. Ill | Di». Coi. Trio. 57 Geo. III. 39 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE times the south and east walls of the chancel have been either rebuilt or modernized and the stone bell-cot on the west gable of the nave has been added. The east window of the chancel is modern, of three lights and early 14th-century detail. In the north wall of the chancel are two windows. The first, of two lights and early 14th-century date, is curiously crude in worlmanship. The lights are trefoiled and have a roi^gh cusped circle over them, while the whole head of the window including the label, a very flat roll, is worked out of one thin stone or flag. The second window, probably of the same date as the first, is a plain uncusped chamfered lancet set low in the wall without an external rebate, the lower part of which has been fitted with a shutter, the hinges remaining. The only window on the south of the chancel is a single-light modern window of 14th-cen- tury detail. The chancel arch is two-centred and of two chamfered orders with half-octagonal responds and moulded capitals and bases, and is set to the south of the axis of the nave. The north wall of the nave contains two windows east of the north porch of the same date and detail as the two-light window on the north of the chancel, but their heads are not worked in single stones. The north door is either quite modern or completely restored, and is of two continuous moulded orders with a label of 14th-century detail. West of the door is a small plain lancet of doubtful date. In the south wall are two two-light windows in corresponding positions to those on the north, but of late 14th-century date, with square heads and cinqucfoiled lights with curious cusped flowing tracery. Below the sill of the eastern- most of these windows is a small piscina with an uncusped two-centred head moulded with a filleted bowtell and hollows. The south door is of the same detail as the north and of 14th-century date. To the west is a window of two uncusped lights under a square head of simple and late detail. The west window of the nave is of early 14th-century date and has three cinquefoiled lights with quatrefoils over. The font has a large round tub-shaped bowl probably of 12th-century date. The porches are both of the 1 4th century, though considerably restored, and have outer arch- ways continuously moulded in two orders with a hollow between. The seating of the church is modern, but a pulpit and reading desk have been worked up out of lyth- century carved panels. On the walls of the nave are the remains of a series of interesting 14th-century paintings. On the west wall are traces of figure subjects, now quite defaced. On the north wall, beginning from the west, is a figure of Christ, some 4 ft. high, remarkably well drawn in a dull red line. Above and to the right of this is part of a judge- ment scene with souls in torment. Near the north door is a life-size figure much defaced and partly obscured by a wall tablet. Between the two eastern- most of the windows on this side is a large figure of St. George, with the remains of a scroll bearing his name below, represented in mail, with shield, sword, and lance. The splays of these two windows are also decorated with paintings. In the east splay of the easternmost window is a drawing of St. Francis preaching to the birds, while the remains of various male and female figures are visible in the other splays. On the south wall is a cowled figure holding a book (about three-quarters life-size) and a smaller painting of two angels laying a saint, perhaps St. Katherine, in a tomb. In the chancel floor are set some very fine late 13th-century tiles, with subjects from the mediaeval romances : a king on his throne, a man giving a book to a woman, a knight charging, a knight cleaving the helm of his adversary, and a lady holding a squirrel. There are a few fragments of old glass in the win- dows, the quartered arms of France and England being in the north-east window of the nave. The modern stone gable bell-cot contains two bells re-cast from older ones by James Warner and Sons in 1875. The church plate consists of a covered cup of 1570 of the usual Elizabethan pattern, a salver hall-marked for 1827, and a pewter flagon. The first book of the registers contains baptisms from 1675 to 1735, burials from 1658 to 1712, and marriages from 1657 to 1702. The second book contains baptisms from 1726 to 1782, burials from 1726 to 1780, and marriages from 1727 to 1775, with further notes of banns to 1783. A third book has baptisms between 1783 and 1812 and burials between 1784 and 1811, while a fourth book contains marriages from 1786 to 1812. The church of All Saints91 in Little Kimble was given to the abbey of St. Albans by Humphrey de Kimble early in the 1 3th century.93 His charter was confirmed by Alice de Bolebec,94 who died before 1254." No vicarage seems ever to have been ordained, and in the valuation of churches made in 1535 Henry Champyn appears as rector of Little Kimble.96 Henry VIII granted the advowson of the rectory to John Cokk and Sir Michael Dormer,97 the latter of whom already held the lands in the parish that had belonged to St. Albans.98 Afterwards the advowson appears to have been recovered by the lord of the manor. Lipscomb99 mentions a presentation by Edward Serjeant in 1620, but the advowson is not mentioned in the numerous sales of the manor in the 1 7th century. The Crokes, however, presented twice to the rectory, Richard in 1 66 1 and Martha Croke (widow) in i66^.m In 1689 Elizabeth Chapman presented ln and the advowson was held by the family of Chapman for many years.101 William Chapman in 1788 los and Samuel Chapman in 1810 held the living on their own presentation.104 The rectory of Little Kimble is now consolidated with the vicarage of Great Kimble and the right of presen- tation has since the consolidation been held by the Earl of Buckinghamshire. In 1327 Walter de Shobinton and his wife Lucy alienated a messuage, mill, and pond, together with land and rent in Little Kimble and Aston Ivinghoe, to a chaplain to celebrate divine service in the church w Cal. Pat. 1327-30, p. 189. •» Lansd. MS. 375. M Ibid. •» Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 31. 46 Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv, 249. ijt (l), 1035 W L, and f. Hen. (97). 88 Ibid, xiv, 379 (12). mHist. of Buck, ii, 353. w> P.R.O. Intt. Bks. 1661, 1665 306 101 Ibid. 1689. 10" Ibid. 1723, 1725, 1737, 174.1, '744- los Ibid. 1788. l" Ibid. 1 8 10. STONE HUNDRED STONE of Little Kimble for the souls of Walter and Lucy, their ancestors and successors.101 A chantry in Little Kimble it mentioned in a grant by Queen Elizabeth, but there is no certificate of its dissolution under Edward VI.'*1 There is in the parish a dissenting chapel, which serves for all denominations. Under the Inclosure Act, 1803, CHARITIES an allotment containing i a. z r. 26 p. was awarded for the use of the poor in respect of a right of cutting firewood on certain hills. The land produces about £3 a year, which is applied in the distribution of two to three hundred weights of coal to about twenty recipients. STONE Stanes (xi cent.). The parish of Stone lies completely in the Vale of Aylesbury. It is well watered by the River Thame and its tributaries which flow through the Vale. There is a spring at Sedrup hamlet. The subsoil is Kimmeridge Clay, Portland beds, London beds, and Gault,1 and the surface soil is loam and sand. There it excellent pasture-land to the extent of 1,504 acres, and 892 acres are arable land.' Market gardening and poultry and duck-breeding are carried on by the inhabitants. The small village of Stone stands on the highest ground in the parish, 368 ft. above the sea-level, at a point where the high road from Thame to Aylesbury is crossed by a small road which runs from Eythorp to Bishopstone. The church is close to the cross-roads, standing on a mound which may be partly artificial, and the houses of the village are grouped round it. The most conspicuous building is the County Asylum, west of the village, with its large modern red-brick and stone buildings facing the main road. It was built in 1852, and has since been enlarged. There is not much timber in the parish, what there is being chiefly on the high ground on which the main road runs. Pevcrel Court, south-east of the village, is a modern house built in 1862. The nearest station is at Ayles- bury, 3 miles away. The parish was inclosed under an Act of Parlia- ment for the imlosurc of Stone and Hartwell, the award being dated 19 March 1777.' The area of the parish it 2,641 acres.' Various Anglo-Saxon remains have been found here, the most important being a bronze-g It brooch of unusual size.' Two successive vicars of Stone were men of some eminence. Joseph Bancroft Reade (1801-70) held the living from 1839 to 1859, when he was presented to the vicarage of Ellesborough. He was distinguished as a chemist, microscopist, and a photographic dis- coverer, and at the time of his death was president of the Royal Microscopical Society.' James Booth (1806-78) was presented to the vicarage in 1859. He was treasurer and chairman of the Society of Arts, and was mainly instrumental in establishing its system of examinations.7 The township of Stone was held in MANORS two portions before the Norman Con- quest, and the same division was con- tinued for several centuries. One-half had been held by Ulf, a housecarl of King Edward,' but at the time of the Domesday Survey it was held by Robert de Todeni, the lord of Belvoir,* Leicestershire, and was assessed at 7 hides of land.10 The overlordship of this part of Stone belonged to the lords of the honour of Belvoir for many centuries." Before 1086, Robert de Todeni had granted BRACERS MA"i\OR in Stone to a sub-tenant named Gilbert." During the reign of Henry I, William de Bracey granted the church of Stone to the abbey of Oseney,11 and was in all probability holding the manor as one knight's fee of the honour of Belvoir. Gilbert, his heir, confirmed this grant and afterwards gave I hide of land in addition to the abbey." Charters also are given in the Oseney Cartulary of Robert de Bracey and Gilbert his son.1* Early in the 1 3th century this Gilbert held seven- eighths of a knight's fee in Stone,18 but before 1286 he had been succeeded by Roger de Bracey." Robert de Bracey in 1316 " and John de Bracey" in 1346 held it in turn, but before 1402 Bracey's Manor in Stone was held by John Glover of Little Kimble," who probably held it in right of his wife." In 1415, however, John Barton, sen., held a knight's fee in Stone by Aylesbury of Lord Ros of Hamelake." Andrew Sparlyng, presumably holding as a trustee for the widow of John Barton, jun., sold the manor to Sir Robert Whitingham.13 After the downfall of the Lancastrian cause, his lands were forfeited and granted by Edward IV to Sir Thomas Montgomery.** Sir Ralph Verney, whose son John had married Margery Whitingham, Sir Robert's heiress, nude every effort " to recover her lands for his son. He was successful as far as Bracey's Manor was concerned,1* and Sir Ralph Verney, jun., the son of Margery Whitingham," his son (another Sir Ralph) and two grandsons, both Edmund by name, were seised in turn.1* Edmund Verney, jun., sold the manor to Sit Alexander Hampden," and on his eath in 1619 it passed by settlement to the Lees," and from that time followed the descent of the manor of Hartwell. 104 Cal. Pai. 1317-30, p. 189. »« Pat. 31 Eliz. pt. 5. > y.C.H. Buck,, i. Geological Map. • Inf. from lid. of Agric. (1905). • Com. Intl. Award. 4 Ord. Surr. • V.C.H. Buck, i, 197. • Diet. Nat. Biog. xlvii, 360-1. ' Ibid. T, 394-5- • y.CM. Buckt. i, z$7*. • Ibid. 113. >° Ibid. 157*. M Ct Fiud. Aidt, i, 75, 97, in i Cat. Clou, 1339-4-9, P- lo6- i Chmn. Inq- p.m. z Hen. V, no. 40 (file 241) ; ibid. (Scr. z), cccclxxvi, no. 96. » y.C.H. Buck,, i, 157*. uCal. Clou, 1337-9. P- 3741 CoM. MS. ViL E. IT. » Ibid. '• Ibid. » Tnu di Nrvitt (Rec. Com.), 145 | Hun• Ibid. izz. » Fret of F. Bucki. Mich. 14 Hen. IV. " Ibid. 307 " Chan. Inq. p.m. z Hen. V, no. 40 j Feet of F. Buck*. Bait. 1 5 Hen. VI. » Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 16, no. 703. « See Dinton. * Ibid. M Esch. Inq. p.m. bdle. 5, no. i ;. r> Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. z), xliv, no. 91. " Ibid. Ixxiv, no. z ; ibid. c«, no. 4 ; Feet of F. Buck*. Hil. 3 Elii. » Recov. R. Mich. 16 Eli*. M Chan. Inq. p.m. (Scr. z), ccclxzvi, no. 96. A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE The second part of Stone, known later as ST. CLERES M4NOR, reckoned at 7 hides in the Domesday Survey, was held in the time of King Edward the Confessor as a manor by two brothers, one a man of Ulf and the other a man of Eddeva, and they could assign or sell the land as they pleased." This land, however, was given at the Con- quest to Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, and was held from him by Helto, probably the steward of the bishop, from whom he also held Swanscombe in Kent." When Odo was deprived of his lands they passed to the Munchesney family, and the overlordship of this part of Stone follows the same descent as the manor of Dinton (q.v.).33 The land in Stone, however, does not appear amongst the knights' fees held by Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, at the time of his death.34 A certain William Cluppe, however, had held lands in Stone of the earl." In the reign of Henry I this manor was probably held under the Munchesneys by William de St. Clere (or Sengler), who granted land in Southcote (q.v.) in Stone parish to Oseney Abbey.*6 Before 1 187 John de St. Clere appears to have held land in Stone," and a little later he was said to hold one knight's fee as mesne lord of the honour of Swanscombe.*8 The heir of John de St. Clere had succeeded him in 1284—6," and in 1302-3 Ralph de St. Clere of Kent held the overlordship of the fee.40 John de St. Clere, however, had enfeofFed various sub-tenants to the pre- judice of his son Hugh. The greater part of this land41 he granted to Simon de St. Clere, whose son Gilbert held it in 1219." During the I3th century William de St. Clere held in demesne 6 hides and half a virgate of land as three-quarters of a knight's fee.43 He was succeeded by his son or grandson Robert de St. •Clere,44 who made a settlement of his land in Stone on Limself and his wife Joan for life with remainder to his four sons and to John Golye and Joan his wife, and finally to the right heirs of Robert.45 Robert died before 1 346, when Joan de St. Clere held his land in Stone.48 On the death of Joan, the four sons •of Robert probably held the land in turn, but Thomas, the youngest, is the only one definitely men- tioned.4' All these sons, as well as John Golye and his wife, had died before i^oi,48 leaving no direct heirs. In that year the right heirs of Robert de St. Clere, his daughter Amice and the descendants of her two sisters " tried to recover this inheritance, claiming under the settlement mentioned above from various tenants. Of these John Glover and his wife Joan were the most important, since they also held Bracey's Manor. The result of the suit cannot be traced, but the claimants were not successful, since a few years later John Pigot, the grandson of Amice, again laid claim to certain lands in Stone, but a second time the result is not given.60 It seems probable that the claimant did not get possession of the St. Clere's lands and that at this time they were held with the other half of the parish. Sir Robert Whitingham held the manor of ' Stone called St. Clere's alias Bracey's,' " a title which suggests that the two were at this time united. The same designation is given in the grant to Sir Thomas Montgomery, but in the struggles of the Verneys to obtain possession of the forfeited lands of the Whitinghams," St. Cleres Manor was again separated from Bracey's Manor. In some way it came to the Crown and Henry VIII granted it to Sir Anthony Lee, to be held, with other lands, as one-hundredth part of a knight's fee." At his death Sir Anthony is said to have held a moiety of the manor of St. Cleres, but this may only refer to its separation from Bracey's Manor.54 It was settled on his widow for life, but before 1553 it had passed to the Dormers, Sir Robert Dormer dying seised of a moiety of the manor of St. Cleres.15 In 1566 Nicho- las Harcourt held a moiety of the manor, which he granted to Sir William Dormer two years later." Sir William died seised of the whole manor of St. Cleres,47 and the Dormers held it till 1662-3." I" l^at year Charles Dormer, Earl of Carnarvon, sold 2 messuages, 100 acres of land, 10 acres of meadow, 10 acres of pasture and common of pasture in Hartwell and Stone to Sir Thomas Lee, bart.69 This sale may have brought the greater part of the land belonging to St. Cleres Manor to the Lees, who held Bracey's Manor in Stone. St. Cleres Manor is mentioned, however, in various documents of the late 1 7th and of the 1 8th centuries, as being in the possession of the Earls of Chesterfield, who inherited the lands of the Dormers.40 At the time of the inclosure of the common fields of Stone the Earl of Chesterfield owned certain tithes in the parish,61 but there do not appear to have been any manorial rights, which probably disappeared after the sale of the land in 1662-3. There is now only one manor in Stone, the names of Bracey's and St. Cleres Manors having disappeared, and it is held by Colonel Lee of Hartwell. In Stone Hundred, William son of Constantino held at the time of the Domesday Survey I virgate DORMER. Azure ten billets or and a chief or •with three martlets atture therein. « V.C.H. Bucks, i, 234*. •« Ibid. 88 Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 24.5, 254; Feud. Aids, i, 75; Anct. Deeds (P.R.O.), A. 9840 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 17 Edw. II, no. 75. 84 Ibid. 86 Cal. Close, 1323-7, p. 212. K Cat. Close, 1337-9, p. 374; Cott. MS. Vit. E. XT. W Maitland, Bracton's Note Bit. case 18. 88 Testa de Nevill (Rcc. Com.), 245. •• Feud. Aids, i, 75. « Ibid. 97. 11 The other sub-tenanti of John de St. Clere were William de la Mtrie and William Blacluton, who held 5^ virgates of land ai the fourth part of a knight's fee, which their descendants held as late as 1 346. Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 245 ; hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 3 1 ; Feud. Aids, i, 97, 122. 48 Maitland, Bracton's Note Bk. case 18. 48 Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 254 ; Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 31. 4* Feud. Aids, i, 75, 97, 113. 45 Feet of F. Bucks. Mil. 5 Edw. Ill ; De Banco R. Mich. 3 Hen. IV, m. 517. 46 Feud. Aids, i, 122. 4? De Banco R. Mich. 3 Hen. IV, m. 5'7- « Ibid. « Ibid. M De Banco R. Trin. 8 Hen. IV, m. 332d. 61 Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Edw. IV, no. 44 ; 308 Cal. Pat. 1461-7, p. 367 ; ibid. 1467-77, p. 309. M See Dinton. " Pat. 37 Hen. VIII, pt. 16, m. 24. M Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. z), xc, no. 2. 55 Ibid. XCT, no. 5. M Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 10 & II Eliz. •' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Scr. 2), clzz, no. 2. "Feet of F. Bucks. Hil. 13 & 14 Chas. II. " Ibid. w Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 22 Chas. II ; Recov. R. Trin. 2 Jas. II ; Feet of F. Div. Cos. Hil. I Will, and Mary ; Recov. R. Bucks. Hil. 9 Anne ; ibid. East. 3 Geo. I ; ibid. Mich. 7 Geo. IV. *l Lipscomb, Hist, of Bucks, ii, 461. STONE HUNDRED STONE and 6 acres of land in Southcote." This has been identified with SOUTHCOTE in Stone, though the name is now lost. Before the Conquest the land be- longed to Ulvric, a man of Archbishop Stigand." William son of Constantine had granted the land to Suetin. The Domesday entry, however, cannot refer to the whole of Southcote, lince at a later date various grants were made to Oseney and Missenden Abbeys.*4 In the reign of Henry I William Sengler or St. Clere gave l messuage with I virgate and 2 acres of land to Oseney Abbey," and Richard le Palmer gave I messuage and I virgate of land in Southcote and Bishopstone to the abbey." In the next reign land in Southcote teems to have been granted to Simon de St. Clere with the other land of the family in Stone." His son Gilbert succeeded him, and in 1254 it wu held by another William de St. Clere." He held I hide of land which had apparently been alienated from the serjeanty of Ilmer," but in 1302-3 it is mentioned as part of the serjeanty of the lord of Ilmer and Aston ; ** the tenants, however, are not mentioned separately." Lucy de Brinton, the mother of Simon de St. Clere, held one-sixth of this hide of land in Southcote, and with the consent of Simon, granted it to her younger son Ignarius.71 Ignarius granted this land to Missenden Abbey, and the gift was confirmed after his death by his nephew Gilbert." The abbot paid a rent of | Ib. of pepper yearly to the St. Cleres,'4 and when the serjeanty was arrented " he paid 5/." a year to the Exchequer for I virgate of land. One virgate of land was also granted to Oseney Abbey, and the cartulary of the abbey contains a licence from Henry III for the alienation of the serjeanty." The last time land is mentioned in Southcote is in l 546 in the grant of St. Cleres Manor in Stone to Sir Anthony Lee and John Croke." The other half-fee called fTEST ORCHARD was held under the Munchesneys by the family of Cloville in the I3th century. In 1234 William de Cloville held half a knight's fee of Warine de Munchesney." Some years later Savaric de Cloville was the tenant of 2 i hides of land in Stone," but there is no trace of this land after the reign of Henry III, unless it may be identified with the manor of We>t Orchard in the township of Hartwell in the parish of Stone. In Hartwell, however, the Bishop of Bayeux" held 4 hides which do not afterwards seem to have belonged to the parish of Hartwell. Three of these were held by the same man, Helto, who was the tenant of the bishop's land in Stone." In 1 302-3 Hugh de Ver and his tenants held half a fee in Hariwell pertaining to the barony of Swanscombe." The barony passed to the Earls of Pembroke, and Aymer de Valence died seised of rent in Hartwell and land there.*4 This was assigned to Mary de St. Paul his widow as part of her dower,** but it belonged to the purparty of Elizabeth Comyn, as one of the heirs of Aymer de Valence." In the 1 5th century Robert Whitingham, who obtained possession of several manors belonging to the honour of Swanscombc, held the manor of West Orchard, and on his attainder the manor was granted to Sir Thomas Montgomery,*7 and was described as being in the township of Hartwell and the parish of Stone. It was granted with the manor of St. Cleres by Henry VIII and apparently was held with that manor by the Dormers." The church of ST. JOHN THE CHURCH BAPTIST consists of a chancel 376. 9 in. by I 5 ft. 3 in. ; a modern north organ chamber ; a nave about 61 ft. long by 19 ft. 9 in. wide ; a north aisle 6 ft. 8 in. wide ; a north transept 1 2 ft. by 1 2 ft. 9 in. ; a south transept 1 6 ft. by 18 ft. ; a south porch, and a western tower 1 1 ft. 8 in. square, all measurements being internal. In the 1 2th cen- tury the church seems to have consisted of an aisleless nave, somewhat shorter than at present, and a chancel, which must have been of about the same width as that now existing, but a good deal shorter. About 1 1 70 a north aisle of three bays was added, and in the first quarter of the 1 3th century the nave and aisle were carried westward to their present length, the old respond of the arcade being moved and a new pillar set up. In the same century the south transept was added and the chancel was rebuilt to its present dimensions. The north transept and the chancel arch belong to the first part of the 14th cen- tury, and towards the close of this century the tower was added. In the 1 5th century no additions were made to the plan, but the nave walls were heightened and several windows inserted. In modern times the church has been drastically restored, and no doubt much evidence of the earlier work destroyed. The chancel in particular was almost rebuilt in 1843, the north wall of the aisle rcfaced, and the upper part of the tower greatly modernized. The organ chamber and south porch are quite modern. The chancel is lit on the east by a modern triplet of lancets, probably reproducing the original arrange- ment, of which only portions of the relieving arches remain. On the north are two modern lancets, and between them the arched entrance to the organ chamber, which is entirely modern. In the south wall are three lancets, also modern, but showing traces of the ancient openings, and between the second and third is a blocked south door, which retains a little 13th-century masonry. The east gable has been rebuilt together with the upper parts of the •» r.C.H. Bnckt. i, 266*. " Ibid. «« Hirl. MS. 3688 ; Hund. R. (Rcc. Com.), i, 32. "Ctl. Clm, 1 337-9. P- J74- " Ibid. W Harl. MS. 3688. « IbU. •* Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, JI } Ttilt Jt Nrvill (Rtc. Com.), 161. 7* FtmJ. Aidi, i, 9;. "Ibid, i, 75. In 1184. Robert de St. Clere was uid to hold half • fee in Southcote of the heir of John de St. Clere aod that hair of William de Munchesney and William of the king in chief. Thia entry thould apparently refer to Stone and not Southcote. •' Harl. MS. 3688. » Ibid. » Ibid. •»Hu«d.K. (Rec. Com.), i, 31. "• The rent of 51. it a mistake for 71. 6 Ibid. 41 G.E.C Ctmflete Peerage, • Ibid. 44 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. j), rrviii, 131. * G.E.C. Ccmflete Peerage. «* Ibid. «7 Ibid. 41 Pat. 1 PhiL and Mary ; Pat. 31 Eli/. pt-3. 3'3 4t G.E.C. Comflra Peerage. 10 Pat. i Edw. VI, pt. 5, m. 8. " Pit. i It i Phil, and Mary, pt. 5, m. 31. » Ibid. " G.E.C. Comfliti Baronetage. ** Recov. R. Eait 11 Elix. u Pat. 31 Elix. pL J. *• Pat. 11 Jaa. I, pt.. I j Cat. S.P. Dom. 1611-18, p. 148. w Pat. 1 1 J». I, pt. 39. » Feet of P. Buck.. Mich, n Ja». I j Recov. R. Mich. 11 Jit. I. *» G.E.C. Cam f l,t, Baronetage. *> Recov. R. Trin. 10 Chai. II. 11 G.E.C. Comflete Bartnettre. " Ibid. ** Recov. R. Mich. 6 Gco. HI. 40 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE defeating the French force that landed there. He was commander-in-chief in India from 1 800 to 1805, and won the battles of Delhi and Leswarzi in 1803. He represented the borough of Aylesbury in Parlia- ment from 1790 to 1802, although during part of the time he was absent from England. He died in 1808, and was succeeded in his titles by his two sons in succession.64 The third Viscount Lake died in 1848, leaving two daughters as his heiresses, and all his titles became extinct. The manorial rights in Aston Clin- ton were extinguished by the Inclosure Act of 1814, in return for several acres of land, but the estate was in the possession of the Lakes till shortly after the death of the last Lord Lake. In 1851 it was pur- chased by Sir Anthony de Rothschild, bart.,65 and is now held by his widow Louisa, Dowager Lady de Rothschild. The manor of Aston Clinton was held by grand serjeanty, but the exact service is differently described at different times. In 1210-12 William de Clinton held it by the serjeanty of the larderer.66 Some years later, however, Nicia de Clinton was bound to pro- vide a Serjeant, with horse and arms to serve in the king's army at her own cost for forty days.6' The different lords of the manor, however, and especially the elder William de Clinton,68 had alienated part of the serjeanty without the king's consent." This appears to have passed unnoticed, until many of the services due from the serjeanties in Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire were commuted by Robert Passelewe,70 probably between 1246 and 1255." William de Paris received over £15 a year for the alienated land, but under the pressure of the royal officials an agreement was made as between William and his tenants.71 The latter were to answer to him for the third part of the value of his tenement, and to pay in/, a year, which he paid to the king.™ His own service, for the land that remained in his own hands, was changed from serjeanty to the mili- tary service due from one knight's fee.74 The rent from the tenants was paid through all the changes of the lords of the manor.75 It is mentioned in a rental, made in the reign of Edward III,76 and again when the manor of Aston Chiverey (q.v.) was in the hands of Henry VI.77 The rent was finally purchased in 1671 7S from the trustees for the sale of the fee-farm rents payable to the Crown by Sir Francis Gcrrard, who then held the manor. The rents, however, had then been settled or were about to be settled on the queen for her life as part of her jointure, and there- fore she was entitled to take the rents during her life, the reversion being vested in Sir Francis.79 AUDLEY. Cults fretty A court leet, a court baron and view of frankpledge were held for the manor.80 At the end of the izth century William de Clinton alienated 40 librates of land, which after- wards formed the manor of 4STON CHirERET, to Reginald de Mohun in frank-marriage with Alice, probably the daughter of William de Clinton.81 After the death of Reginald Alice held the manor herself,61 but before 1215 she married Robert de Beauchamp,8* and they held the manor jointly.84 Between 1247 and 1261-2 the manor of Chiverey was granted at ferm to James de Audley, who after- wards became possessed of the fee-simple.85 Alice de Audley, the widow of James de Audley, or his son of the same name, held the manor of Aston Chi- verey in the 1 4th century. She died in 1342, and was succeeded by William de Aud- ley, the grandson of James de Audley." He claimed to hold it by descent from the original feoffees of William de Clin- ton.87 William de Audley settled the manor of Chiverey on himself, his wife Joan, and their heirs.88 He died in 1367, and his widow held it till I382,89 when it passed to Eliza- beth the niece of William de Audley and daughter of Thomas de Audley.*0 Elizabeth married John Rose, an esquire of Richard II." She seems to have predeceased her husband,91 who held the manor for life, according to a settlement made in I387,9S and by agreement with Philip St. Clair,94 who seems to have been the heir of Elizabeth Rose. His only relationship to Elizabeth was apparently through the mother of William de Audley, who was one of the sisters and co-heiresses of Edmund de Bere- ford.95 Another sister married John St. Clair the grandfather of Philip.96 Philip St. Clair never was in seisin of the manor, since John Rose outlived him.97 The latter died in 1410, and Aston Chiverey was seized into the king's hands during the minority of John son and heir of Philip.98 John died before coming of age,99 and the manor passed to his brother Thomas, who twice in a very short time tried to evade the rights of wardship of the king. In 1424 he was fined £zoo for having married Margaret Hoo without the king's consent, while he was still a ward of Henry V,100 and in 1425 "" he made a settlement of the manor of Aston Chiverey with the intent to defraud the king of the wardship of his heirs, and 84 Diet. Nat. Biog.; G.E.C. Comflea Peerage ; Ret. of M.emb. ofParl. 65 Sheahan, Hist, and Tofog. of Bucks. 86. 66 Red Bk. ofExch. (Rolls Ser.), 537. " Assize R. 55, m. 22 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. Hen. Ill, lilt 5, no. I. 88 Assize R. 58, m. 17 d. 69 Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 254*. •o Ibid. 71 Chan. Inq. p.m. Hen. Ill, file 5, no. I ; ibid, file 18, no. 2. 7" Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 254*. » Ibid. 7« Ibid. 76 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 20. " P.R.O. Rentals and Surv. 72. 7" P.R.O. Ct. R. portf. 155, no. I. 78 Close, 23 Chas. II, pt. 20, no. 10. " Ibid. 80 Chan. Inq. p.m. 13 Hen. VI, no. 28. 81 Assize R. 57, m. 8 d.; 58, m. 6 d. The relationship of Alice to William de Mon- tagu is omitted in the Assize R., but in a rental of the reign of Edward III the grant is said to have been made by William to his son with his wife ; P.R.O. Rentali and Surv. 72. 82 Assize R. ;8, m. 6 d. ; Tata de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 257*. 88 Rot. Lit. Clam. (Rec. Com.), i, 235. 84 Chan. Inq. p.m. Hen. Ill, file 5, no. i. 85 Assize R. 56, m. 17 ; 57, m. 8 d.; 58, m. 6d. 86 Chan. Inq. p.m. 15 Edw. Ill (ut nos.), no. 10. 8< P.R.O. Rentals and Surv. 72. 3U 88 De Banco R. 352, m. 130 ; Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 21 Edw. Ill; Chan. Inq. p.m. 10 Ric. II, no. I. 89 Ibid. 6 Ric. II, no. 5. 90 Ibid. 7 Ric. II, no. 8. « Cal. Pat. 1381-5, p. 459 ; ibid. 1385-9, p. 223. 88 Chan. Inq. p.m. I Hen. VI, no. 4. 98 Feet of F. Bucks. Mich, n Ric. II. M Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 7, no. 211. 95 De Banco R. East. 7 Hen. IV, m. 1 20. 96 Ibid. Mich. 36 Edw. Ill, m. 268. •7 Chan. Inq. p.m. 9 Hen. IV, no. 44. •« Ibid. 94 Ibid, i Hen. VI, no. 30. 100 Cal. Pat. 1422-9, p. 1 80. 101 Close, 3 Hen. VI, m. 2 ; Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 5 Hen. VI. AYLESBURY HUNDRED was fined £60. lw He died in 1435,"* leaving three daughters, the eldest of whom was then thirteen years old. In the partition of his lands the manor was assigned to Eleanor, the second daughter, who married John Gage.104 They held it jointly till the death of Eleanor, and then John held it for life.10* He died in l4fj6,M and was succeeded by his son William Gage and grandson Sir John Gage.1" The latter, together with his wife Philippa and Edmund and John Gage, sold the manor of Aston Chiverey in 1532 to Margaret, Countess of Salisbury, Reginald Pole, clerk, and others,10" and from this time it was held with the manor of Aston Clinton lo* (q.v.). Another manor, known as VJCHES M4XOR, in Aston Clinton, appears to have been held by Richard de Turri in the early part of the 1 3th century. He obtained licence to build a chapel in his land in Aston from Bishop Grosteste (1235- 53)."° He died before 1 27 1, but his manor did not pass to his son and heir Richard, but to Richard de la Vache.111 The latter obtained a quit- claim from the younger de Turri, who acknowledged the manor to be the right of Richard de la Vache.1" There were suits between them as to land and messuages111 in Aston Clinton, but Richard de la Vache remained in undisturbed possession of the manor.114 Before 1 302-3 he was succeeded by Matthew de la Vache,11* who was followed by another Richard de la Vache,1" his son. The latter obtained a grant of free warren in his demesne lands in Aston Clinton in 1364..'" He was succeeded by his son Philip de la Vache, who was certified of full age in 1 37 1.1" Philip was made a knight of the Garter, receiving the honour after February 1 398-9."* He was keeper of the royal park at Chiltern Langley,"0 and was a knight of the shire in the Parliament of I387-"1 He married Elizabeth daughter of Sir Lewis Clifford, ln and various settle- ments were made of Vaches Manor which appears to have been held by a John de la Vache and his wife Elizabeth for life.1*1 Philip also granted it to several feoffees, presumably to the use, after his own death, of his wife and heir.1*4 Sir Philip de la Vache died in 1407 or 1408,'" and his widow held the m.inor for life in 1410 ;"* she enfeoffed John Kirk- ham and his wife Anna to hold during her life. After Di LA VACHE. Gultt three ham argent kaving ASTON CLINTON her death Kirkh.im refused to give up the manor to the feoffees of Sir Philip, represented by John Buktoft, and a lawsuit ensued, the result of which does not appear.1" The heir of Philip dc la Vache is said to have been his daughter Blanche,"* the first wife of Richard Grey de Wilton, who certainly obtained Vaches Manor."* He had a further claim on it, since his grandmother had been Matilda, the sister of Matthew de la Vache."0 He granted the manor UI to Richard Henbarowe, John Clubbewell, and Richard Koppe, but some years afterwards, in i^2,ta the last- named feoffee regranted it to Richard and his second wife Margaret in fee-tail. Reginald Grey was the son and heir of Richard,1* but Margaret held the manor for her life."4 Edmund, Lord Grey de Wilton, and his wife Florence held it in 1506,"* but in that year they sold it to Thomas Craford, William Lynne, Nicholas Shelton, Richard Lee, and the heirs of Shelton. Vaches Manor afterwards passed to John Colet, Dean of St. Paul's,"* and formed part of the endowment of St. Paul's School."7 The trustees of the school, the Mercers Company of London, still own Vaches Farm in Aston Clinton. At the close of the 1 2th century the manor of DUNDRIDGE was held by Henry de Crokesley of William de Clinton.1" Henry granted land with the consent of his heir from his tenement in Dun- dridge to the abbey of Missenden in the time of Robert de Braybroc, who was under-sherifF of the county in 1197 and 1199 and sheriff in 1204 and 1205."" The grant was confirmed by William de Crokesley, the nephew and heir of Henry, when in possession of Dundridge, and also by a Roger and a second Henry de Crokesley.1*0 The manor was after- wards held by Richard de Crokesley in the 1 3th century, '" certainly between 1240—1 "' and 1286.'** After the grant of Aston Clinton Manor by Wil- liam de Paris to William de Montagu, Richard de Crokesley brought an action in lz6l10 against the latter, to recover reasonable estover in a wood at Aston, appertaining to his manor of Dundridge. John de Crokesley is mentioned in I275,IU but whether he ever held the manor does not appear. Shortly afterwards the subtenancy must have lapsed, since William de Montagu, Earl of Salisbury, died seised, c. 1320,"* of lands and messuages at Dun- dridge, and in a survey of the manor made in the reign of Edward III,147 Crokesley's land is mentioned among the free tenements held of Isabella de Montagu. Thomas, Earl of Salisbury, died seised of the manor of Dundridge in 1428, '** and it was held with the 101 Cal. Pat. 14219, p. 352. 1M Chan. Inq. p.m. 17 Hen. VI, no. 56. >" Ibid. 15 Edw. IV, no. 16. 1" Ibid. >« Ibid. '« Ibid. (Ser. l), siii, 105. "• L. and P. He*, fill, T, 909 (xi). IM Feet of F. Bucki. EaiL 24 Hen. VIII. 110 Line. Epi«. Reg. ; Bp. Groitcitr'i Init. "i Feet of F. Buck.. Mich. 55 Hen. III. >« Ibid. »• Ibid. Ea.t. 8 Edw. I. u« Ibid, Trin. 1 1 Edw. I. >u Feud. AiJi, i, 91. »• Feet of F. Bucki. Trin. I 3 Edw. III. »' Chart. R. 37 Edw. Ill, no. 155, m.4. 111 Chan. Inq. p.m. 44 Edw. Ill (lit not.), no. 82. »« Shaw, Knigtu of Engl. «° Cat. Pal. 1405-8, p. 441. »» Kit. ofMemb. of Par 1. la G.E.C. Comfltu Pitragi ; Collins, Pteragi (ed. Brydgei), vii, ill. "• Feet of F. Bucki. Eatt. z Ric. II ; ibid. 10 Ric. II ; ibid. Diy. Co. zz Ric. II ; ibid. 5 Hen. IV. IH De Banco R. no. 571, m. $zod. ; Cloie, 12 Hen. IV, m. 38. "•Shaw, Knigkn of Engl. ; Col. Pat. 1405 8, p. 442. >» Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 1 1 Hen. IV. "W Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 7, no. 204. Mi G.E.C Comfliu Petragt. "• Chan. Inq. p.m. 20 Hen. VI, no. 23. 3'5 "• De Banco R. Mich. 22 Hen. VI, m. 408. U1 Chan. Inq. p.m. 20 Hen. VI, no. 23. U1 Ibid. "» Ibid. «•« Feet of F. DiT. Co. Trin. 26 Hen. VI. « Ibid. Trin. 21 Hen. VII. •* Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. z), MY, 160. W Ibid. >•» Harl. MS. 3688. «• P.R.O. Liu ofSlurifft. "« Harl. MS. 3688. » Tau dt NtvilKRcc. Com.), 254*. '" Aiaize R. 5 5, m. 3d. 14« feud. Aidi, i, 85. M* Awiie R. 58. >« Feet of F. Buck*. Trin. 3 Edw. I. "* Chan. Inq. p.m. 13 Edw. II, no. 31. "' (P.R.O.) Rentalt and Sur». no. 72. "• Chan. Inq. p.m. 7 Hen. VI, no. 57. A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE manor of Aston Clinton "' until it passed into the hands of Henry VIII on the attainder of Margaret, Countess of Salisbury. In 154.4 the king sold the manor of Dundridge to Sir John Baldwin,150 who died seised of the manor.151 It then passed to his grandson Sir Thomas Pakington, and in 1578 it was sold by John Pakington to Henry and Richard Baldwin.152 Henry Baldwin obtained a grant of free warren in his lands in Aston Clinton from James 1 1M in 1620. Before 1628 154 the manor passed to Richard, presumably the son of Henry Baldwin, and he settled it on his wife Christian and his own heirs male, on his brother Silvester, and the four sons of Silvester.145 Richard died in l636,156 and although his widow survived him,15r Dundridge seems to have come into the possession of Henry Baldwin, his nephew.15* Before 1670 it passed to Edward Baldwin, who sold it to Thomas Baldwin.159 Another Edward Baldwin appears to have succeeded to the manor before i689,1M and his family held it till 1768, when Robert Monteith Baldwin sold it to the father of Edward Darell, who owned Dundridge in 1813. 161 His daughter Eliza- beth married John Jeffrey, and her grandson, the Rev. John Jeffrey, rector of Barnes, inherited it.161 In 1900, on the death of Canon Jeffrey of Hawkhurst, Kent, his trustees sold his estate at Dundridge. The house and 150 acres of land are owned and occupied by Mr. Robert T. Green ; about 130 acres were sold to Mr. Frederick Butcher of Tring and the remaining 50 acres were purchased in three separate divisions.1'8" The manor of Dundridge formed part of the serjeanty of Aston Clinton, and like the main manor its service was commuted by Robert Passelewe in the reign of Henry III.1* The Crokesleys had, like the lords of Aston Clinton, alienated part of their land, and Richard de Crokcsley's tenants also answered by agreement for a third part of his holding,1" paying the annual rent of us. <)d.l>> This rent was bought in 1671 by Sir Francis Gerrard at the same time that he obtained the rent due from his own manor.16* The service from the land retained by Richard de Crokesley in his own hands was changed from ser- jeanty to military service, and his whole fee answered for the thirtieth part of a knight's fee.167 In 1254 he paid half a mark yearly to the king, to be quit of suit of court, and los. yearly for the right to hold the view of frankpledgc for his tenants.168 Henry de Crokesley alienated part of his land in Dundridge to the abbey of Missenden, with the consent of William de Clinton.1" He granted them ' 1 3 solidatae ' of land, with the tenants living there, and a third part of his demesne land, excepting the land previously granted to the chapel of St. Leo- nard.170 In 1254 the Abbot of Missenden was said to hold in chief of the king, paying i$s. a year by an agreement with his tenants,171 but previously he had held of the serjeanty of William de Paris.171 The possessions of the abbey were confirmed by the Popes Innocent IV and Boniface IX, and rents and services in Dundridge are mentioned.173 The abbey held the lands in Dundridge until the Dissolution. In 1540 Henry VIII granted land in Aston Clinton to Michael Dormer, that had formerly belonged to the abbey of Missenden,1'4 but it is not said to be at Dundridge, and four years later he gave two messuages called Brunes and Brownes, respectively, and certain demesne lands at Dundridge to Henry Bradshawe.174 The tenement called Brownes passed into the hands of John Ginger, yeoman, before 1607, when he sold it to his son Michael for £300. 176 The manor of MONTJOr in Aston Clinton was held by the Montagus in demesne. Of its earlier history there seems to be no record, but in 1 397 William de Montagu, Earl of Salisbury, died seised of lands and tenements in Montjoy held of the king by fealty.177 He had granted them in fee to Sir William Farendon, who obtained a regrant from the king on the death of the earl.1"* The manor is mentioned for the last time in an inquisition on the lands of Edward Earl of Warwick, taken in 1 5 1 3 I79 some years after his attainder. The manor of OKE was apparently in the parish of Aston Clinton, but it is only mentioned twice in the I4th and 1 5th centuries. John Rose and his wife Elizabeth held the manors of Chiverey and Oke in I389.180 Thomas St. Clare also held the manor of Oke in I424,"1 but it is not mentioned again in the descent of the manor of Aston Chiverey. In Domesday Book there was one mill at Aston Clinton of the yearly value of five ' ores ' of silver.181 In the 1 3th century Robert son of Martin held the mill, with land and wood, from William de Paris,1" and a water-mill is mentioned as appurtenant to the manor, when it was held by the Earls of Salis- bury.1'4 In the first years of the 1 6th century, it was in such a complete state of disrepair that no tenant could be found to take it,'85 but by 1520 this had been remedied, and a new tenant was in pos- session.188 There is no water-mill in Aston Clinton parish at the present day. The church of ST. MICHAEL CHURCHES AND ALL ANGELS consists of a chancel 346. gin. by 1 6 ft. 4 in., a nave 5 1 ft. 8 in. by 176. 6 in., north and south aisles, 7 ft. 6 in. and 8 ft. I in. wide respectively, a west tower 13 ft. 5 in. by 12 ft. 2 in., and north and south porches. The church probably consisted of an aisleless nave and chancel up to the latter half of «• Feet of F. Bucks. East. 9 Hen. VI ; Cal. Pat. 1429-36, p. 23 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 13 Hen. VI, no. 28 ; ibid. (Ser. 2), xxviii, 1 3 1 (P.R.O.) ; Mins. Accts. 6-7 Hen. VII, no. 24. 150 L. and P. Hen. fill, xix (i), 1035 (10). 151 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), Ixxiii, 7. 1M Pat. 20 Eliz. pt. 5, m. 13; Feet of F. Bucks. Trin. 20 Eliz. ; Com. Pleas D. Enr. Hil. 21 Eliz. 168 Pat. 18 Jas. I, pt. 15. 1M Recov. R. East. 3 Chas. I. ls6 Ibid. 164 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxxxi, 31. "? Ibid. 1M Fine R. 13 Chas. I, pt. 2, no. 50 ; Feet of F. Bucks. East. 1 8 Chat. I. »» Feet of F. Bucks. East. 22 Chas. II. l«° Recov. R. Mich. I Will, and Mary. 161 Lysons, Magna. Brit, i, 500. ""G'ibbl, Hill, if Jylctburj, 316; Burke, Landed Gentry (1906). 1Ma From information kindly given by Mr. Fredk. Bailey. 168 Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 254*. 1" Ibid. "5 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 20. 166 Close, 23 Chas. II, pt. 20, no. 10. 147 Tata Je Ne-vill (Rec. Com.), 254*. "» Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 20. 16» Ibid. '7° Harl. MS. 3688. 171 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 20. ^a Testa de Ne-vill (Rec. Com.), 254*. ''• Cal. Papal Letters, v, 435. 3l6 174 L.and P. Hen. VIII, xvi, 379 (2). 175 Ibid, xix (2), 340 (14). 176 Chan. Inq. p.m. Misc. dxxx, 2 Chas. I, pt. 25, no. 164. '"' Ibid. 20 Ric. II, no. 35. V Cal. Rot. Pat. (Rec. Com.), 239*. l~* Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxviii, 131. 180 Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. i 1 Ric. II. m Close, 3 Hen. VI, m. 2. W" V.C.H. Bucks, i, 2634. 183 Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 254*. 18< Chan. Inq. p.m. 13 Edw. II, no. 31; ibid. 13 Hen. VI, no. 28. "5 (P.R.O.) Mins. Accts. Bucks. Hen. VII, no. 24. 186 Ibid. lo-n Hen. VIII, no. 132. AYLESBURY HUNDRED the 1 3th century. Towards the end of that century the south aisle, and about the middle of the 1 4th the north aisle, were added. It is impossible to say when the original tower was built, for this part of the church was completely rebuilt about 1800. The chancel was also rebuilt in the 1 4th century, and at the same time and in the century following windows were inserted at various points. The original clear- story probably belonged to the latter date. The east window of the chancel is modern and of three trefoiled lights with tracery of 14th-century detail and elaborately shafted jambs and moulded rear arch. On either side of it are modern niches with trefoiled heads and finialed canopies. In the north wall it a much- restored niche of late 14th-century work with a trefoiled head and an elaborate finialed andcrocketed canopy on modern corbels Carved into heads in mail hoods. This niche, possibly an Easter sepulchre, it engraved in the Gentleman 'i Magazine for 1796, p. 841 that is previous to its restoration, and is shown without the carved corbels but with small side buttresses surmounted by figures. At the back of this, externally, is a small square recess, now glazed. West of this is a blocked 14th-century door continu- ously moulded on its internal jambs, but not showing on the outer face of the wall ; it once led into a vestry, which is now destroyed, and of which the recess was one of the fittings. Between this door and the west wall are two mid- 14th-century windows with geometrical tracery of two trefoiled lights with two trefoils and a quatrefoil over, a moulded rear arch and internal and external labels. At the south-east of the chancel are three beautiful mid- l^th-century sedilia and a piscina, divided from each other by small buttresses with richly crocketed pinnacles. The heads are cinquefoiled, in the case of the sedilia sub-cusped, and of ogee form with richly moulded crocketed and finialed labels, while the backs of the sedilia are concave, and there is a shelf to the piscina. The seats are at one level throughout. Above is a blocked 14th-century window, and west of it a small priest's door of 14th-century date, and two 14th-century windows similar in every respect to those on the north except that the western one has its western light continued down- wards to form a low side window, the sill of the window above forming a square transom head. The chancel arch, belonging to the first half of the 1 4th century, is of two wave-moulded orders, the jambs having half-round shafts with moulded capitals. The nave is of four bays. The north arcade has two-centred arches of two wave-moulded orders and an ogee label with carved drips. The east responds, the first and the third columns are octagonal, the second column and the west respond are round, while all have moulded capitals and bases. The south arcade, c. 1280, ha* two-centred arches of two hollow-chamfered orders, broach stopped, and an undercut label mitred over the piers, with buckle drip* over the responds. The columns and responds are round and octagonal, arranged in the same way as in the north arcade, and have moulded capitals of rather plain section and plain chamfered bases. At the east end are doors on either side to the rood loft. There are three much-restored clearstory lights on either hand; the first and third are quatrefoils, the second a circle with eight cusps. The tower arch is modern and of ASTON CLINTON the same detail as the north arcade, but there are a few old stones in the jambs, which suggest a 14th- century date for the original tower. The north aisle has an east window of 15th-century date with three cinquefoiled lights and cusped span- drels under a square head, and with a moulded rear arch and external jambs of two moulded orders. In the south wall are three two-light windows of the same date and of similar general design. All of these have external labels and have been much restored. To the west are two modern trefoiled lights in an old opening. The north door, between the western pair of windows, is of 15th-century date with a blunt two-centred head and spandrel sinkings. The porch is moJern. The east window of the south aisle is of three cinquefoiled lights with tracery and of early 1 5th- century date, but is an insertion in an older opening, which it does not fit. At the east end of the south wall is a late 1 3th-century piscina with a moulded two-centred head and a curiously crude label, which is carried completely round the piscina, forming a sort of frame. There are three two-light windows to the south. All are very much restored, the westernmost is almost entirely modern but the openings are old. The lights are cinquefoiled, with cusped spandrel- lights over under a square head, and are of 15th- century style. Sufficient old stone remains, par- ticularly in the easternmost, to make it appear pro- bable that their tracery is a faithful copy of former work. The sill of the first window is carried down to form sedilia, and both this and the one next it have shafted jambs, and all have moulded rear arches and external jambs with square labels. The west window of the aisle is also of 14th-century date, with two trefoiled lights and two quatrefoils over in a square head. The south door, between the westernmost pair of windows, of late 14th-century date though much restored, is of two double ogee orders separated by a deep hollow, and has an ex- ternal label. The south porch of 15th-century date is of two stages, but the upper part has been completely rebuilt in recent years with the use of a great deal of new material. In the north-west corner is the door to the staircase, and the upper story is lighted by a modern square-headed south window. The porch entrance is of two orders and much restored. The tower, which was completely rebuilt in 1 800 and restored since then, is of three stages, the lower two of which are rough cast, the upper and the em- battled parapet being faced with flint rubble. The belfry openings are modern and of two cinquefoiled lights with a square label. The west window is modern, of 14th-century detail with two trefoiled lights with tracery over. The octagonal font is modern and of early 1 5th- century detail, but in the south aisle is preserved the basin of a 12th-century font of crude work- manship ornamented with alternate raised and sunk rosettes. The chancel roof is modern and of steep pitch. The roofs of nave and aisles are of low pitch and modern. There is little woodwork of any interest, but a 17th- century table remains, and a couple of chairs of the same date stand within the sanctuary rails. The tower contains six bells cast by Thomas Mean & Sons 1806, and a sanctus dated 1778. 3'7 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE The church plate consists of a modern chalice, a standing paten of 1715, and a plated flagon. The first book of the registers contains marriages from 1560 to 1721, baptisms from 1567 to 1722, and burials from 1560 to 1722. The second book contains all entries from 1723, marriages running to 1754 and the rest to 1752. A third book contains all entries from 175410 1812. The church of ST. LEONARD is a small plain plastered building with a nave and chancel of equal width, 1 6 ft. 3 in., and without any structural division, the chancel being 24ft. 3 in. long and the nave 25 ft. 3 in. The latter is continued I oft. further west to inclose a bell turret. There is a north porch to the chancel and a south-west porch to the nave. Little can be said of the history of the church. The earliest remains are a piscina and one sedile in the chancel which apparently date from the middle of the 141)1 century and may not be in their original position, as there is evidence that a second seat adjoined the single one which remains. The nave roof looks like ijth-century work, but can hardly be older than the repairs made by Cornelius Wood late in the 1 7th century. The windows are all modern or so much altered that their date is matter for conjec- ture only, and the chancel roof and the porches are modern. The east window of the chancel is of three cinque- foiled lights under a four-centred head, and on its sill is set an embattled cornice, which is all that remains of a 15th-century reredos. On the north of the chancel is a pointed doorway which has been reset inside out and plastered so that its date is doubt- ful. At the east end of the south wall of the chancel is a cinquefoiled piscina ranging with a single sedile of the same detail, both having moulded labels ; the start of the label of a second seat is to be seen. The bowl of the piscina projected from the wall face, but has been cut back. West of this is a window of two cinquefoiled lights under a four- centred head. The nave is lit by three windows, two on the north and one on the south. The latter, towards the east, is of two cinquefoiled lights under a four- centred head and opposite to it in the north wall is a similar window. The second north window is a single three-centred uncusped light under a square head. The south door, very plain, is modern of 14th-century detail. West of the nave is the bell-cot around which a thin wall in continuation of the nave walls has been built, the old west wall being destroyed and a modern window set in the new west wall. The fittings are modern including the font which is octagonal in form, with a slender stem and traceried bowl. On the north wall of the nave is a marble monu- ment with a pilastered entablature surmounted by a skull set up in memory of Mr. Seth Wood and Elizabeth his wife by their eldest son Cornelius Wood in 1707 ; it bears a note to the effect that another son John Wood was minister at St. Leonard's for 30 years. The arms of Wood are : crusilly three demi-woodhouses proper ; crest an oak tree. On the south wall is a large florid monument to Cornelius Wood, who died 1712 aged seventy-five, and was colonel of a regiment of horse and lieutenant- general in the army of Queen Anne. On the tomb is an armed bust surrounded by warlike trophies and flanked by cherubs blowing trumpets. Over it are hung a funeral helmet, gauntlets, and crest. In the chancel is a small monument to Samuel Baldwin, 1760, and another to Mary Willis 1704, daughter of Joseph Willis, minister, bearing the arms : a cheveron between three mullets. The bell-cot contains one bell. The church plate consists of a communion cup and cover paten of 1612, a second cup of 1814, and a standing paten inscribed as the gift of R. Penn, esq., and hall-marked for 1775. Only one book of registers exists, which contains baptisms and burials from 1738 and marriages from 1739, all entries running to 1812. This book con- tains a few sheets stamped for the threepenny duty imposed on entries in registers from 1783 to 1794. The church of Aston Clinton is JDfOirSON a rectory, and till the i8th century the advowson was presumably held by the lords of the chief manor in Aston Clinton. It is not, however, mentioned in any document during the Clinton tenure of the manor, nor in the regrant m.ide by Edward I to Simon de Montagu in 1 290. "' His grandson William de Montagu, Eail of Salisbury, diei seised of the advowson of the church of Aston Clinton in I397,183 but there seems to have been some question whether the right of presentation did not belong to the Crown. This may have arisen, however, after the forfeiture of the lands of John, Earl of Salisbury, who opposed the accession of Henry IV to the throne.169 Henry IV presented Thomas Tuttebury as if the church was in his gift,190 and on the resignation of Tuttebury he again in 1402 presented to the benefice.1'1 On the petition of Thomas de Montagu, Earl of Salisbury, however, the letter of presentation was revoked, and the advow- son was recognized to be the right of the earl.19* After the attainder of Edward Earl of Warwick, the advowson, together with the manor, came into the possession of the Crown, and Henry VIII presented several rectors to the church.19* Edward VI granted the advowson to Lady Mary,194 and it afterwards passed with the manor to the Harringtons and the Gerrards.195 In 1727 the Lakes sold it to the Principal and Fellows of Jesus College, Oxford,186 who are still the patrons of the living. The chapel of St. Leonard is first mentioned in a charter of Henry de Crokesley, grant- ing land to the abbey of Mis- senden, in which he excepted from the gift of a third part of his demesne lands at Dund- ridge, 1 3 acres of land that he had granted to the chapel of St. Leonard.197 Henry de Crokesley died before JESUS COLLEGE, Ox- ford. Argent three harts tripping gules. W Chart. R. 18 Edw. I, no. 38, m. 18. 138 Chan. Inq. p.m. 20 Ric. II, no. 35. 189 Cal. Pat. 1401-5, p. 217. i»° Ibid. 191 Ibid. 190. 193 Ibid. 206, 217. 193 Lipscomb, Hist, of Bucks, ii, 88, 89. 194 Pat. 2 Edw. VI, pt. 5, m. 8. 195 Recov. R. East. 22 Eliz. ; ibid. Mich. 12 Jas. I ; P.R.O. Inst. Bks. 1663-7. 318 196 Lysons, Mag. Brit, i, 500-1 ; P.R.O. Inst. Bks. 1746, 1751, 1783, 1784, 1799, 1804. "7 Had. MS. 3688. ASTON CLINTON CHURCH : THE Si IUI.IA BIKRTON CHURCH : NAVE LOOKING EAST AYLESBURY HUNDRED ASTON CLINTON 1193, and probably granted this land to the chapel during the reign of Henry II.1* It wai called in the 1 3th century the chapel of St. Leonard of Blakmere, and more land does not then seem to have been attached to it."* Another account, by Lips- comb, gives 1278 as the date of the foundation of the chapel,100 when Bishop Gravesend of Lincoln, during a visitation, granted to William de Clinton, patron of the church of Aston, a chapel within the same parish."1 He apparently took a confirmation of an old grant for the foundation itself, since the chapel was in existence many yean before, and the last William de Clinton had been dead more than fifty yean.*1 The Montagus presented to the chapel after they had ob- tained the manor of Aston Clinton, the king present- ing in 1403, during the minority of Thomas, Earl of Salisbury."* It was served by a stipendiary priest, and at the time of the dissolution of the chantries the messuage and land attached to the chapel were worth 23/. a year."* There were at that time about thirty-five 'houscling* people living in the hamlet of St. Leonards,104 about 3 or 4 miles away from the parish church, and the chapel seems to have escaped dissolution since it thus served as a chapel of ease. An inquisition was taken in 1570 to show why the land had been unlawfully detained from the hands of the Crown,"* but the tenants of the house and land, Henry and Silvester Baldwin, successfully brought forward the plea that the chapel was a necessity for the hamlet."' The land was ihen worth $ot. a year, and this was used for the repair of the chapel and the support of the services there,108 and for the repair of the highways. A grant was made to William Tipper and Robert Dawe, the noted fishing grantees, of the chapel and Chapel Farm."* It is mentioned in 1 640,"* but after the Civil War the building was in ruins, only the bare walls remaining. It was rebuilt by a loyalist, Cornelius Wood, who endowed it with provision for a minister exempt from the jurisdiction of the bishop and archdeacon, and receiving his appointment solely from the patron, without institution or induction."' He placed the chapel and land in the hands of trus- tees, who are also the patrons of the benefice. Tl c chapelry was formed in 1860 into a separate ecclesi- astical parish, and the living is a vicarage in the gift of the trustees. There is a Baptist chapel, built in 1830 and rebuilt in 1846, and again in 1897. The Poor's Land, devised by will CHARITIES of Mrs. — Turpin, widow, an extract from whose will was contained on a tablet in the church, came into the possession of the parish in 1736. The trust property consists of mea- dow land containing 3 acres or thereabouts, let at £10 i ;/. a year, and thirteen plots of garden allot- ments producing £» ids. a year. The income it applied, in accordance with the trust, in the distribu- tion of loaves of bread. The Church Estate, which it is understood was originally derived under the will of Sir Gilbert Ger- rard, bart., now consists of 7 a. 2 r. 4 p. at Broughton near Aylesbury, known as Mepham's Land, let at £16 1 6s. a year, and a moiety of a field in College Road, Aston Clinton, let at £10 i;/. a year. The net rent* are carried to the church expenses. Ecclesiastical District of St. Leonards. — The Parlia- mentary returns of 1786 mention that a rent-charge of £\ per annum was given to the poor by an un- known donor. The annuity is regularly paid by the owner of DunJridj e Farm in this parish, and dis- tributed in sums of I/, each to twenty poor persons on St. Thomas's Day. The Church Trust, founded by Thomas Plaistowe by feoffment dated I September, 23 Hen. VII, it regulated by a scheme of the Charity Commissioner! of 1 5 December 1 896. The real estate consists of the Chapel Farm, containing 1 1 9 acres or thereabouts, and 27 a. 3 r. 21 p. at Whitchurch (Buckinghamshire) let at £145 a year, 23 acres of woodland at Mcnt- more (Buckinghamshire) in hand, and 3 cottages at St. Leonards, let at £11 a year. The personal estate (including a legacy of £IOO bequeathed by will of Robert Fox, proved in 1 869) consists of £2,667 1 5/. 6J. Canada 3} per cent, stock, and £2,694 4-*- '^ South Australian 3^ per cent, stock, the rents and dividends making a gross income of £344 a year. The stock is held by the official trus- tees. By the scheme the net income is applicable in the payment to the churchwardens of any proper charges for the maintenance and repair of the fabric of the church, and the residue — subject to the pay- ment of £10 a year for any public purpose for the benefit of the inhabitants, and £10 a year to the official trustees towards the formation of a ' Fabric Fund' of not less than £200 consols — is received by the incumbent. >"> Roll, efKinjt Cl. (Pipe Roll Soc.), "• Cf. n IMF, 127. *• Cat. . minor of Alton Clinton. , Pat. 1401-;, p. 140. "• -Trm di Nrvill (Rec. Com.), 254*. *>' Chint. Cert. Bucks. 5, no. 65. end* 1 Liptcomb, Hiir. of Bucki. ii, 93. Line. Epii. Reg. Init. of Grim- "» Ibid. ** Memoranda R. Paich. Rec. 1 1 Elli. rot. 20. ** Ibid. » Ibid. •" Pat. J2 Elii. pt 4, m. I. n» Cal. S.P. Dam. 1640-1, p. 3$. ul Lipicomb, Hut. of Buck, ii, 94. 3'9 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE BIERTON (WITH BROUGHTON) Burton (xiii cent.) ; Beerton (xv cent.). Bierton parish lies in the Vale of Aylesbury, to the north-east of Aylesbury parish. It contains 2,476^ acres,1 which are mainly laid down in permanent grass, only about 396 acres being arable land.1 The population is mainly employed on grazing farms ; duck-breeding is also carried on to a very considerable extent. The subsoil is Portland Beds and Kim- meridge Clay, the surface clay.8 The land lies for the most part between 200 ft. and 300 ft. above the Ordnance datum, the highest point being only 2i4ft.4 The parish is well watered ; Thistle Brook forms the northern boundary, and various streams rise near the hamlet of Broughton, flowing northwards. There is a moat at Manor Farm. The Aylesbury branch of the Grand Junction Canal also crosses the parish. The village of Bierton lies about a mile and a half from Aylesbury, on the main road to Leighton Buzzard. A branch road turns off at the north end of the village to Hulcott. The village spreads along the road, and is composed of modern houses, with one or two of an older date, which are not of any par- ticular interest. The church lies at the south-west end of the village, and is surrounded by a small churchyard, with a detached portion, now used, to the east. The hamlet of Burcott almost forms a part of the village, and consists of a few cottages and farm houses. Broughton, another hamlet, comprises a row of small cottages. The Aylesbury branch of the Lon- don and North- Western Railway crosses the parish, and the nearest station is at Aylesbury. The most important house is Bierton House, the residence of Mr. J. W. Grist. Various neolithic implements and a British urn have been dug up at different times.6 The parishes of Bierton and Hulcott were inclosed under the same Act of Parliament, and the award is dated 15 July I78o.6 The manor of BIERTON was prob- M4NORS ably held as parcel of the manor of Aylesbury, which was in the hands of the king at the time of the Domesday Survey.7 In 1258, in a lawsuit as to lands in Bierton, the defendants did not appear, pleading that the manor of Bierton was a member of Aylesbury, which belonged to the ancient demesne of the Crown, and that therefore they could only be impleaded by a little writ of right-close.8 Aylesbury Manor was in the hands of the Mandevilles, Earls of Essex, in the 1 2th century.9 A new grant was made by King John to his favourite Geoffrey Fitz Piers of the manor with its appurtenances at an increased rental.10 Geoffrey was to hold it with the same right and exemptions that Earl William de Mandeville had had. This probably included the manor of Bierton, since Fitz Piers' grandson and suc- cessor," Lord Richard Fitz John, died seised before 1297 of the manor of Aylesbury with the hamlet of 1 Ord. Surv. * Information supplied by Bd. of Agric. (1905). • V.C.H. Bucks, i, Geological Map. BIERTON CHURCH FROM THE NORTH 4 0 d. Surv. * y.C.H.Buck,\, 192. 8 Com. Inch Aivards. ^ y. C.H.Bucks, i, 231. 320 8 Assize R. no. 1188. 9 Cart. Antiq. A A. 23. « Ibid. 11 G.E.C. Complete Peerage. AYLESBURY HUNDRED Bierton." Bierton was assigned to his widow Emma to hold in dower, but his possessions were finally divided among his four sisters or their heirs." Trie manor of Bierton was assigned to Joan the wife of Theobald le Botiller, and it has ever since been held by her descendants or their successors as appendant to the manor of Aylesbury (q.v.).'4 The mano:s of Aylesbury and Bicrton are at the present day in the hands of the trustees of the late Mr. John Parker. Certain lands and rents in Bierton and Aylcsbury were assigned to Richard de Burgh, Earl of Ulster, on the partition of Richard Fitz John's lands," and these were afterwards known as the manor of BIER- TON afia, BIERTON and HULCOTT. Richard de Burgh received the reversion of 9$ virgates of land, the suit and service of certain tenants in villeinage, and rent to the amountof £10 01. <)\J., to fall tohim on the death of t'mma the widow of Richard Fitz John. He died before this reversion fell in, leaving his son William as his heir." The latter was a minor, and the king in 1333 committed his lands and rents in Bierton to Elizabeth de Burgh to hold during the young earl's minority." The latter died the next year seised of rent in Bierton, which was held by his widow in dower." His only daughter and heiress Elizabeth was one year old at his death." She after- wards married Lionel, Duke of Clarence, the third son of Edward III." Their only daughter and heiress Philippa married Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March and Ulster," who died seised of the manor of Whad- don (part of the possessions of Richard Fitz John), 'with its members of Bierton and Amersham.'" His heir Roger was a minor at the time of his father's death. Roger was killed in I 398, and his son Ed- mund died in 1424.— 5." His possessions passed to his nephew Richard Duke of York," and from him descended to Edward IV. The manor of Bierton was granted by the king in 1461 to his mother Cecily Duchess of York, for life, in recompense for her jointure." Richard III confirmed this grant," and in 1492 the reversion of the manor was granted to her granddaughter Elizabeth of York for her jointure on her marriage with Henry VII." After her death her sisters and co-heiresses, Katherine Courtenay, Countess of Devon, and Anne Howard, claimed the manor, but in 151 I * it was settled on Henry VIII as the son and heir of Elizabeth. Katherine of Aragon held lands and rents in Bicrton," and the manor was granted in turn to Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, and Katherine Howard." After the execution of the last-named queen the manor of Bicrton remained in the hands of the Crown until James I in 1603 granted it to Anne of Denmark as part of her dower." After the death of the queen the manor was granted BIERTON to Sir Henry Hobarc and others" as trustees for Prince Charles, afterwards Charles I. Soon after his accession to the throne it was released to the mayor and citizens of London as security for a loan of money,™ and was to be held at the accustomed rent. In 1650 Thomas Greene bought this rent from the trustees for the sale of the fee-farm rents, formerly payable to the Crown." Six yean later he was said to be a lunatic, but his heir was unknown, so that the rent presumably again came into the hands of the Govern- ment." After the Restoration, Sir Allan Appesley is said by Lipscomb" to have conveyed the fee-farm rent of £10 izi. %\J. issuing out of the manor of Bicrton to Thomas Morlcy, who reconveycd it to Timothy Neale in 1675." The same historian also mentions a sale of the manor itself by Alexander Hawkins to Timothy Neale," and the Neales certainly held the manor of Biei ton some years later. John Neale was seised in 1719,™ together with the manor of Hul- cott (q.v.), and from this time these manors have been held together, and are now in the possession of Mr. Leopold de Rothschild. The family of Stonors held lands in Bicrton which were afterwards called the manor of STONORS afiai STONORS CROFT afiai BIERTON-STONORS. In 1325 John de Stonor and his son Richard held lands in Aylesbury, Walton, Bierton, Hulcott, and Caldecott.40 In an inquisition taken in 1336" it was found that John de Stonor, after making certain grants in mortmain, would keep the manor of Bierton - Stonors, from which he could perform his foreign services. He held it by military service of the Earl of Ormond. He died in 1354, >c'scd °f lands and tenements in the township of Bierton.0 His son and heir was John de Stonor, but in i 370 Edmund de Stonor " granted an annual rent out of the manor to the Bishop of Winchester. John de Stonor, son and heir of Edmund, died" seised of rents in Bierton in 1389. His brother and heir Ralph de Stonor granted the manor of Bierton-Stonors to William Sutton of Cam- den4* and others, but this was presumably only a mortgage,4* since the manor was afterwards recovered by the Stonors. Gilbert the son and heir of Ralph de Stonor was a minor at the time of his father's death," and he died while still in the king's wardship in 1396." The manor of Bierton-Stonors is not mentioned among his lands in an inquisition taken in 14 16," so that it was probably still in the hands A/W STONOR. Aairt nut ban danctlty or and a ckitf argint. 11 Chan. Inq. p.m. 15 Edw. I, no. 504. >• Ibid. « G.E.C. Cam f lilt Pitragi ; Col. Clou, •Jjo-l. P- 5°'; ArcbanhfM, I, 935 L. and P. //«.. rill, iT (2), 734 (14) ; Feet oi F. Buckt. Trin. 30 Hen. VIII ; ibid. Mich. < Jat. I. '• Ctl. Clou, 1330-3, p. 501. " Ibid. >? Ibid. u Chan. Inq. p.m. 7 Edw. Ill (lit not,), no. 39 ; Ctl. Clou, 1333-7, p. 148. " Chan. Inq. p.m. 7 Edw. Ill (lit not.), no. 39. " G.E.C. Com f lilt Pitrap. 11 Chan. Inq. p.m. 43 Edw. Ill (pi. i), no. 13. " Ibid. 5 Ric. II, no. 43. * G.E.C. Comfliu Peeragi ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 12 Ric. II, no. 34 ; 3 Hen. VI, no. 3». * Ibid. M Ctl. Pat. 1461-7, p. 131. " Pat. 1 Ric. Ill, pt. v. * Ptrl. K. (Rec. Com.), vi, 4634. » Feet of F. Dir. Co. Mich. 3 Hen. VIII. *• L. ma P. Htm. rill, i, 1 5 5. *° Ibid, avi, 107 (9) ; ibid, iv, 144(1); Pat. 31 Urn. VIII, pi. 6. 11 Pat. I J.H. I, pt. 10 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. i), cccvii, no. 93. " Pat. 17 Jai. I, pt. I. * Ibid. 4 Chat. I, pt. 35. " Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. i), Mite, dir, no. 169. 32I •» Ibid. " Ilia, ef Built, ii, 100. *> Cote, 17 Chai. II, pt. 17, no. 17. " Hnt.of Biaki. ii, 100. M RCCOT. R. Mich. 9 Geo. I. * Feet of F. Buckt. Mich. 19 Edw. II. 41 Chan. Inq. p.m. 10 Edw. Ill, no. 4'- a Ibid. | Chan. Inq. p.m. iS Edw. Ill (nt not.), no. 58. « Clote, 44 Edw. Ill, m. 4, c. M Chan. Inq. p.m. 13 Ric. II, no. 48. u Coram Rege R. Mich. 10 Ric. II, TV. 16, Rex. M Clow, 14 Ric. II, m. 38 d. 4" Chan. Inq. p.m. 3 Hen. V, no. 34. «• Ibid. « Ibid. 41 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE VERNEY. Azure a cross argent -with fvt pierced mole ft gules there- on. of mortgagees. His heir was his brother Thomas, who came of age in that year,40 and probably recovered the manor. Another Thomas de Stonor, presumably his heir, together with his wife Joan, sold it in 14.69 M to Sir Ralph Verney and others. Sir Ralph, who died in 1478, was seised of lands and tenements in Bierton, but it is probable that he had settled the manor on his second son, another Sir Ralph Verney.6* The latter died seised of the manor and had settled it on John Cheyne " and others to hold, to the use of his wife Eleanor for her life, and then to the use of John Verney his son and his issue. John died before 1549," leaving a daughter Mary as his heir. His widow Dorothy entered the manor on his death, and a long lawsuit " was brought against her by Mary, who had married Lewis Reynolds. The result is not given, but in 1552 Dorothy Verney and Lewis Reynolds sold the manor for ^236 to Leonard Chamber- lain, Robert Woodiest, and William Howse." The manor of Bierton-Stonors shortly afterwards passed into the possession of John Bosse, who died in 1 5 5 8," seised of lands called Stonors in Bierton. In the in- quisition taken after his death it is impossible to dis- cover if his property was called a manor or not. His son Richard was his heir," and he held lands and rent in Bierton in 1585." Some years later Sir Edmund Verney made a claim for the lands of his ancestors in Bierton, and sued Samuel Bosse and Francis Howse.M Samuel was the son of Richard Bosse,61 and he held the manor of Bierton-Stonors at the time of this lawsuit in I598.6* The result is not given, but the plaintiff lost his case, since Samuel Bosse continued in possession. He died seised of a capital messuage6* in Bierton. John Bosse was his son and heir,64 but Bierton-Stonors was settled in 1614" by Samuel on his second son Thomas on his marriage with Grace Butterfield. Thomas Bosse held it in 1637 and died seised in the same year.'6 His heir does not appear, but the manor afterwards became united with the manor of Waynford (q.v.), passing to the family of Howse, possibly through the Temples.67 It had passed to one of the Howse family before 1 6 70,68 from which date the name of Waynford is rarely used, their manor being called in that year the manor of Bierton. William Waynford held land in Bierton during the reign of Henry VI,69 which was afterwards known as ff^rNFORD'S Manor. On the accession of Edward IV Waynford forfeited his lands, having been an active partisan of the Lancastrian party during the Wars of the Roses. In consequence his lands were granted in 1462 to Thomas Seyntleger for life,69a but in 1467 Sir Ralph Verney70 obtained a grant of them for himself and the heirs of his body, to hold by military service. The grant consisted of three messuages and 150 acres of land and meadow. Waynford's Manor appears to have passed like Bierton- Stonors to Ralph the younger son of the first Sir Ralph Verney and then to his son and heir John.71 On the death of this John Verney 7> his widow Dorothy held Waynford's Manor, but it is also said to have been sold by Sir Ralph Verney, presumably the father of John, to Robert Woodlyfe,7* who immedi- ately sold it to William Howse for no profit because he found his title was defective.74 There is, however, considerable obscurity about the history of the Verney lands in Bierton at this time, but William Howse certainly seems to have obtained Waynford's Manor before 1553." In that year he obtained a quitclaim from Edmund Verney,76 the direct descendant of the eldest son of the first Sir Ralph Verney,77 who was also the heir of the younger branch of which the last representative was Mary Reynolds. The brother and heir of this Edmund Verney, himself Edmund by name,7* attempted to recover Waynford's Manor at the same time as Bierton-Stonors in 1598." Francis Howse, the son of William Howse, held it at that time *° and retained it against Sir Edmund's attacks. Thomas Howse of Bierton was summoned to make proof of his arms and gentry in 1634," an<^ was Pre" sumably a descendant of Fran- cis. He was returned as a papist and delinquent under the Commonwealth, and his estates in Bierton were seques- tered.81 He died before 1647, when they were valued for the Committee for Compound- ing at £60 a year.83 In 1 670" John Howse and his wife Martha held the manor. In 1697" their son and heir was Finch Howse, and in 1756 John Temple Howse and his wife Mary had suc- ceeded to the manor.8* In 1 801 the manor of Bierton- Stonors with Waynford was bought by the Marquis of Buckingham,87 afterwards Duke of Buckingham and Chandos. It was sold with the greater part of his property in the middle of the igth century, but the name of the manor is now lost, and it does not seem possible to identify the land which it comprised. GRENVILLE, Duke of Buckingham and Chan- dos. Vert a cross argent viith Jive roundels gules thereon. 60 Chan. Inq. p.m. 3 Hen. V, no. 34. « Feet of F. Buckt. East. 9 Edw. IV. 62 Memoirs of the Verney Family, i. " Ct. of Requests, bdle. iv, no. 3. 64 Common Pleat, D. Enr. Ea»t. Z Edw. VI, no. 8. 65 Ct. of Requests, bdle. iv, no. 3. » Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 5 Edw. VI. 57 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cxviii, no. 4. •* Ibid. 69 Feet of F. Bucks. East. 27 Eliz. 60 Exch. Dep. by Com. Mich. 40 &4I Eliz. no. 14. '} Exch. Com. no. 460. 68 Exch. Dep. by Com. Mich. 40*41 Eliz. no. 14. 61 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), dviii, no. 21. " Ibid. «* Ibid. M Feet of F. Bucks. East. 13 Chas. I ; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxxxv, no. S6o. «7 Feet of F. Bucks. East. 1 3 Chas. I. 48 RecoT. R. East. 22 Chas. II. 69 Cat. Pat. 1461-7, p. 77. •" Ibid. 7° Ibid. 1467-77. P- 33- 71 Memoirs of the Verney Family, i. 7» Exch. Dep. by Com. Bucks. Mich. 40 & 41 Eliz. no. 14. 322 » Ibid. » Ibid. " Feet of F. Bucks. Trin. I Mary. ?• Ibid. 7" Memoirs of the Verney Family, i. T« Ibid. 7' Exch. Dep. by Com. Bucks. Mich. 40 Si 41 Eliz. no. 14. » Ikid. 11 Ctl. S.P. Dam. 1634-5, p. 167. *' Ctl. tfCtm.fir CemfotinJing, 68. «• Ibid. ** Recor. R. East. 22 Chas. II. 85 Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 9 Will. III. 86 Ibid. Mil. 29 Geo. II. 8? Lysons, Magne Brit, i, 510. AYLESBURY HUNDRED BIERTON Before the Norm.m Conquest," Edward, a thegn of King Edward the Confessor, held the greater part of the township of BROUGHTON, and could $ell his manor there at will. It was then (T.R.E.) worth £ i o a ye.ir. At the time of the Domesday Survey William de Warcnne, Earl of Surrey, was lord of the manor, which had depreciated in value by £2." Presumably it descended to his son and grandson in turn, and then to Isabella,10 the heiress of the Warennes, since her husband, William, Count of Boulogne, the second son of King Stephen, confirmed a charter granting land in Broughton " to Missenden Abbey. This grant resulted in the division of the township into two parts, and the manor remaining with the Count of Boulogne was known as the manor of BROUGHTON PARVA alias HOLAND alias LOVEL alias STAVELT. At the death of the count his lands escheated to the Crown," and the manor was presumably not alienated until either Henry III or Edward I granted it to Edmund, Earl of Lancaster, the second son of Henry III. He died seised of the manor of Broughton Parva in 1295," and it descended to his son Thomas, Earl THOM.»«, Earl of Lincaiter. ENG- LAND •wilka lattlof FRANCE. H o L A N 0. Avturt ptnodertd with jleuri-dt- lil a Hot argtnt. of Lancaster," who subinfendatcd it, but from this time it was held of the earldom or duchy of Lan- caster." The earl granted the manor about 1320 to Robert de Holand M and his wife Maud, but when his lands were seized, after his execution by Edward II, the Holands were dispossessed of Broughton Parva." Maud de Hol.md and her son Robert petitioned Edward III in 1328 to recover their lands, and were successful in obtaining them." Since the earldom of Lancaster was in the king's hands at this time, he held the manor during the minority " of the young Robert de Holand. Maud seems, however, to have recovered the manor, possibly after her son had come of age, and she died seised in 1 349."" It seems probable that she had granted it for life or a term of fUWl AAAA OAAA Lovtu Barr or and gulti. yean to her younger son Thomas, afterwards Earl of Kent. Thomas held it in 1 346,"" and after the death of his mother obtained a renewal of the grant "* of the manor for life from his brother. On the death of Thomas in 1361 '" it reverted to Robert de Holand, who died seised of it in 1373 ; lo* his son, another Robert de Holand, had predeceased him, leaving a daughter Matilda as his heir. She married Sir John Lovel,'06 and the manor of Broughton Parva passed to them on the death of her grandfather."* Sir John Lovel, their son and heir, succeeded his mother in possession of the manor, and also died seised in 1413."' Another John Lovel, a minor, was his son and heir,"" but probably a mistake was made in the inquisition on his lands, made after the death of Sir John, as a William Lovel "* succeeded to the estates. The manor of Broughton Parva was, how- ever, held by his mother Eleanor for life,"11 but he granted the reversion to Henry Archbishop of Can- terbury, Alice Lady Deyncourt, and others."1 After- wards, by a further grant, Sir William Lovel trans- ferred it to William Tresham and his heirs, on condi- tion that the latter would give up certain deeds that were in his charge, between Sir William and Sir John Radcliff.1" The two survivors of the first grant, John Potter and John Waget, also transferred their right "* in the manor to William Tresham to hold to him and his heirs and assigns. On the death of Sir William Lovel in 1454'" his son Sir John Lovel was his heir, and in 1461 "* he obtained a ratification of the manor of Broughton Parva, of which he was said to be seised in fee-tail, but no descendant of his appears to have held any further right in the manor. William Tresham died seised in 1450,'" and was suc- ceeded by Thomas Tresham, his son and heir. The latter sold the manor in 1 466 '" to William Stavely, from whom the manor obtained its fourth name. In 1495 "* Stavely made a settlement of it to the use of himself and his wife Alice for life, and then to the use of his son George Stavely. Alice died in 1500'" seised of the manor, which passed to George Stavely, who settled it on himself and his wife Isabel by charter in 1523 ; "° he held it till his death in 1525,"' when his son and heir John succeeded him. John Stavely mortgaged Broughton Parva '" to Thomas Walker and Simon Lowe, two London merchants, but in I 544 a sale of the manor was made by Stavely, Walker, and Lowe1" to Alice Baldwin, daughter of Sir John Baldwin, for £340. In a copy of the will T.C.tf. Butk,. 1,252*. » Ibid. • G.E.C. ComfltH Peirtp. >l Harl. MS. 3688. n C.E.C. Comfliu Pitrtp. M Chan. Inq. p.m. 2; Edw. I, Ju. w Cat. Par. 1317-21, p. 431. M Chan. Inq. p.m. 13 Edw. Ill (pt. i), no. 58. •• Ctl. Pal. 1317-11, p. 431. "I Purl. R. (Rcc. Com.}, ii, 29*. » Ibid. H Cat, Clot, 1327-30, p. 248. 100 Chan. Inq. p.m. 2} Edw. Ill (pt. i), no. 58. 101 Feud, jiidi, i, 124. 101 Chan. Inq. p.m. 3 5 Edw. Ill (pt. I ), no. 104. "• Ibid. >« Ibid. 47 Edw. Ill, file 233 (lit not.), no. 19. "» Ibid. w Ibid. 9 Hen. IV, no. 29. ">•• Ibid. 2 Hen. V, no. 30. "» Ibid. X" Clow, 8 Hen. VI, m. 6. "« Ibid. "i Ibid. { Chan. Inq. p.m. 33 Hen. VI, no. 28. "» Ibid. 323 10. 114 IU 111 10. iw iu Chin 11> l*t in in i VIII 1 Chan. Inq. p.m. 34 Hen. VI, no. Ibid. 33 Hen. VI, no. 28. Cal. Pa. 1461-7, p. 8 5. Chan. Inq. p.m. 34 Hen. VI, no. Anct. D., A. 684. Feet oft. Bucki. II Hen. VII; Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xix, no. 64. Ibid. Ibid, lux, no. 126. Ibid. Clou, 35 Hen. VIII.pt. 2, no. 70. Feet of F. Buck*. EaM. 36 Hen. A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE of Sir John it appears, however, that he bought the manor from John Stavely, but that he put his daugh- ter Alice,1" together with William Welshe and John Gelly, in seisin. Sir John Baldwin's lands "5 were in- herited by his two grandsons and co-heirs, Thomas Pakington and John Burlace,186 and at the division of his lands between them Broughton Parva came to Thomas Pakington."7 His descendants held the manor until 1 80 1,188 when Sir John Pakington sold it to the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos.129 On the sale of the duke's lands it was bought by Mr. Tindal,130 at the same time as the manor of Bierton, and is now in the hands of the trustees of the late Mr. John Parker. In 1616-17 James I111 granted the manor of Broughton Parva to Richard Goodwin and Hugh Dashfield, their heirs and assigns, for £110 and the rent of I z marks a year. They may, however, have been fishing grantees, since they never had seisin of the manor, which was held at that time by the Paking- tons, a rental of whose tenants exists for the year 1627.'" The Earl of Lancaster183 granted the manor of Broughton Parva to Robert de Holand and his wife in fee-tail. Matilda held it 134 by the service of pay- ing one rose a year to the Earl of Lancaster, but the military service from half a knight's fee was also due to the king, and was performed by her son Thomas de Holand.1" Sir William Level and William Tresham,136 how- ever, are said to have held the manor of John New- port, and Tresham paid the rent of I Ib. of cummin. Alice the widow of William Stavely l37 held of the king as of the duchy of Lancaster by fealty and the rent of I ^d. a year. By the time of Sir Thomas Pakington, who died in 1 57 1,138 the tenure was un- known, and presumably all payment of rent to the duchy had ceased during the many changes of owner- ship in the 1 5th century. The Pakingtons held the view of frankpledge "9 in Broughton Parva all the time that the manor was in their possession.140 In 1772 Ul a free fishery there is also mentioned. In the first half of the 1 2th century various aliena- tions were made of lands in Broughton to the abbey of Missenden, which afterwards formed the manor of BROUGHTON MAGNA or ABBOTS, BROUGH- TON. Hugh de Gurney granted his whole tene- ment to Missenden u> with the consent of his wife Milicent and his son Hugh. He held of Robert Maunsel, who made an agreement with the canons as to the service due from the tenement, and the Count of Boulogne confirmed both grants. The manor of Abbot's Broughton was held by the abbey until its dissolution in I538.143 Three years later the king granted it to Sir John Baldwin,144 from whom it de- scended, like Broughton Parva, to Thomas Pakington, and was held by his descendants during the 1 7th century. In 1665-6 Sir John Pakington, bart., and his wife Dorothy 14S granted a lease of the manor to John Backwell for ninety-nine years, for the rent of one grain of pepper, in return for £200. Various assignments of this lease appear to have been made ; in 1670'" William Reeve and his wife Sarah, to- gether with Edward Backwell, quitclaimed the manor to Thomas Bowdler for £240, but in the next year I4' they sold the manor and farm to Henry Johnson. The latter also seems to have obtained the manor from Sir John Pakington 148 and his son and heir, another John Pakington. Its subsequent history is obscure, but it seems to have afterwards come into the possession of William Meade.149 He sold it in 1721— 2 1=0 to the trustees of Aylesbury Grammar School, who bought the manor of Abbot's Broughton )5' with part of the money given in 1 7 1 4 by Mr. Henry Philips for the re-endowment of the school. The trustees held it in i8i3,15> and are the lords of the manor at the present day. The manor of Abbot's Broughton was held by the abbey of Missenden in frankalmoign, apparently in chief of the king.153 Sir John Baldwin, however, held it as one-tenth of a knight's fee, and paid a yearly rent The abbot and canons of Missenden obtained a grant 1M of free warren in their demesne lands in Broughton in 1301—2, which was confirmed by Henry VI.156 The abbot also held a view of frank- pledge in 1254,'" and paid 121. for hidage from Broughton and Hulcott, which then formed one township. A mill is mentioned at Broughton in Domesday Book,"8 being then worth los a year, and a water- mill is mentioned in an extent of the manor of Broughton Parva in I296.1" The abbey of Missen- den held a mill in Broughton,180 which was granted to it before 1330. In 1721—2 a mill is mentioned161 in connexion with the manor of Abbot's Broughton. In the time of Edward the Confessor one hide and three virgates of land in BORTONE was held by two sokemen,16' one a man of Alwin Varus and the other of Earl Leofwine. This has been identified with Bierton in the Domesday Survey,163 but from its post- Conquest history it seems more probable that the land lay in Broughton. In 1086 it was held by the Bishop of Bayeux, who had subinfeudated it to a tenant named Roger.164 As overlord and tenant the bishop and Roger also held Weston Turville and Bed- grave,165 and it seems most probable that this land 144 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), Ixxiii, no. 7. 116 Ibid, clvi, no. I. 1M Feet of F. Bucks. East. 5 Edw. VI. 11? Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccxviii, no. 69. 1M Recov. R. Mich. 1 5 Chas. I ; Feet of F. Bucks. East. 4 Will, and Mary ; ibid. Trin. 7 Geo. I ; Recov. R.East. 32 Geo.II j Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 13 Geo. III. lat Lysons, Magn* Brit, i, 510. 130 Sheahan, Hist. *nd Tafog. of Bucks. 95, 103. 181 Pat. 14 Jas. I, pt. z. 1M Cott. MS. I, 4. "» Cat. Clou, 1327-30, p. 248. 184 Chan. Inq. p.m. 23 Edw. II (pt i), no. 58. 185 Feud. Aids, i, 124. 188 Chan. Inq. p.m. 33 Hen. VI, no. 28 } ibid. 34 Hen. VI, no. 10. 187 Ibid. (Ser. 2), xix, no. 64. 188 Ibid. (Ser. 2), clvi, no. 1. 189 Cott. MS. I, 4. '« Feet of F. Bucks. Trin. 7 Geo. I j ibid. Mich. 13 Geo. III. 141 Ibid. '« Had. MS. 3688. 141 Valor Eccl. iv, 246 j L. and P. Hn. A7/7, xvi, 779(8). '« Ibid. 145 Feet of F. Bucks. Hit. 17 & 18 Chas. II. "• Ibid. Hil. 22 & 23 Chas. II. 14< Close, 24 Chas. II, pt. I, m. 9. 148 Recov. R. Trin. 25 Chas. II. 324 "> Feet of F. Bucks. Hil. 8 Geo. I. l*> Ibid. 161 Lysons, Magna Brit, i, 510. 1M Ibid. 'M Harl. MS. 3688 ; Feud. Aid!, i, 1 125 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 20. ls< Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), Ixxiii, no. 7. lss Chart R. 30 Edw. I, no. 95, m. 5, no. 32. 151 Cal. Pat. 1422-9, p. 344. 157 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 20. l™ y.C.H.Bucks.'\, 252*. lw Chan. Inq. p.m. 25 Edw. I, no. 51*1. «• Harl. MS. 3688. "l Feet of F. Bucks. Hil. 8 Geo. I. «" Ibid. 1(>4 Ibid. i« Ibid. AYLESBURY HUNDRED BIERTON followed the descent of the manor of Weston Tur- ville."* Part of the land belonging to the manor of Weston Butlers, afterwards united to the manor of Weston Turville,"7 lay in Broughton, and part of Broughton, like Weston Turville, belonged to the duchy of Lancaster."* The church of ST. JJMES is a cruci- CHURCH form structure, the internal measure- ments of which are as follows : Chancel, 1 4 ft. 6 in. by 21 ft. 9 in. ; central tower about 1 3 ft. 9 in. square ; north transept, 17 ft. by 1 6 ft. 3 in. ; south transept, 1 6 ft. Sin. square ; nave, 1 7 ft. 6 in. by 5 2 ft. ; in. ; and north and south aisles, 7 ft. 3 in. wide, with a north porch. The church appears to have been built complete about the middle of the 141)1 century, since which time practically nothing has been done to alter the plan. At a late date, perhaps in 1636, the original high-pitched roof over the nave and aisles was removed and a low-pitched roof put in its place, the aisle walls being heightened and an upper part of an Easter sepulchre, and of the same date as the chancel. The only window in this wall is also original. It is of two trefoilcd lights with tracery in the form of trefoils with a quatrefoil over. The rear arch and the jambs of the internal splay are moulded with a broad wave mould, and there are internal and external labels with drips in the form of heads. At the east end of the south wall is a piscina with shafted jambs and moulded two-centred head, all considerably restored ; and in this wall is also a duplicate of the north window already described. The roof of the chancel is a modern one of steep pitch. The central tower is carried on four large clustered piers and arches of three simply moulded orders, the western arch having a label towards the nave. The tower stair is in the north-east angle of the south transept, entered from the transept, and the belfry windows are plain pointed openings filled with luffer boards. The tower finishes with a low roof and a plain parapet which projects on corbels carved with ball-flowers. The steeple it said to have fallen in a Scale . of . feet PLAN or BIERTON CHURCH tier of windows inserted in them — probably to light galleries. It is probable that the roofs of the transepts were also treated in this way at the same time, but the whole church was reroofed about the middle of the 1 9th century. The windows have also been altered at various dates from the 1 5th century to the present day. But despite these various altera- tions and additions the church remains a notable example of c. 1330-40, the nave arcades and the arches of the tower being particularly handsome in proportion and well thought-out in detail, while the tracery of inch of the original windows as remain is of the best character. The east window is of three cinquefoiled lights with ijth-century tracery, and is a modern insertion, the head and defaced moulded jambs and rear arch of the original and wider 14th-century window still being visible. On either side of this are image niches also of 14th-century date with cinquefoiled heads. In the north wall of the chancel is a fairly large niche with moulded jambs and a moulded trefoiled head, possibly report of the church made in 1636, and its present upper stage is probably a rebuilding of that date. The north transept contains one much-restored ijth-ccntury north window of three cinquefoiled lights, under a four-centred head. There are no east or west windows ; the arch to the north aisle is of two plain chamfered orders the outer of which is con- tinuous, the inner having half-octagonal moulded capitals like those of the nave arcades. The south transept has a south window like that in the north transept, with traces in its jambs and head of the original 14th-century light. In this transept are two doors, one to the tower stair and the other external. The former has a trefoiled head and a crocketed label of late 14th-century date, and seems to have been added after the church was completed, the label cutting into the respond of the tower arch. The external door is in the south wall and has a plain four-centred head. It has been cut through the back of a single sedile, evidently part of the original fittings, with an ogee cinquefoiled head, a crocketed and Ct WC.IOQ Tnmlle. ^ fW. AUt, i, 86. 325 "• D. of Line. Miic-bdle. 6, no. 15. A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE finialed hood-mould and small side buttresses orna- mented with traceried panelling. The underside of the head is carved to imitate rib-vaulting. There is also a moulded 14th-century image bracket on the east wall with two mail-clad heads supporting it. The nave arcades are of four bays, the piers being composed of four half-round shafts with moulded fillets between, and having circular moulded bases and capitals similar to, but not identical with, those of the tower piers. The arches are two-centred, and of two orders, both of which, towards the nave, are moulded with a deep hollow between two small square fillets, and two wave-moulds, while towards the aisles the mouldings are simplified to a wave-mould on each order. The arches have also labels towards the nave similar to that over the western tower arch, with grotesque heads as drips at the east end, and grotesque heads are inserted in the crowns of the western pair of arches. The west door, also original, has a two- centred head, both head and jambs being continuously moulded with an elaborate section of wave-moulds, hollows and fillets worked on a splayed face. There is also an external label. The west window of the nave is a 1 5th-century insertion with a deep hollow moulded external reveal, a four-centred head and label and four cinquefoiled lights with tracery above. The roof of the nave is modern, of low pitch, and continued over the aisles, but the trace of the original steep-pitched roof of the nave is clearly visible on the west wall of the tower, and from this it is evident that the north and south walls of the nave retain their original height, while a change in the masonry of the north aisle, visible where the external rough- cast has fallen away, suggests that the aisles were originally roofed at about half their present height, the old nave roof running over them without a break. The north aisle contains two original three-light windows, both with wave-moulded rear arches, and internal and external labels. The western of these two windows has, however, lost its original net tracery, and now has clumsy mullions and transoms of late date. The north door between these windows is similar in detail to the west door, but has been much de- faced. Above the door and windows are three two- light clearstory windows, insertions of late 15th-cen- tury style with cinquefoiled lights under a flat head, but probably dating from the I Jth century. The south aisle has two two-light windows, the western one being similar to the corresponding win- dow on the north, both as to the original opening and the inserted tracery, while the second window is a replica of the north and south windows of the chancel. The original south door between these windows is blocked, while the clearstory over them has three two-light windows of I yth-century date, with rounded uncusped heads, plainer than those in the north aisle, as not being visible from the road. The north porch is a comparatively recent addition of timber, lath, and plaster. On the south wall of the chancel is a wall monument to Samuel Bosse 'of Byrton,' the founder of a local charity, and his wife Cecily, nine sons, and four daughters. The circular font is rather plain, with a cable moulding round the top, and of late 12th- century date. There are six bells by Briant of Hertford, the tenor of 1809, and the rest of 1816, and there is also a small sanctus bell cast by Richard Chandler in 1678. The church plate consists of a chalice of 1693, a standing paten of 1718, a flagon of 1729, bequeathed by the Rev. John Sambee, vicar of Bierton, who died in 1728, and an interesting small mediaeval paten without marks of any kind bearing the vernicle within a sunk quatrefoil. It has originally been parcel gilt, but the gold is almost entirely worn away. The first book of the registers contains baptisms and burials from 1560, and marriages from 1563, the latter two classes of entry continuing to 1723, and the burials to 1688, from which time they are con- tinued in a separate book, containing notices of the affidavits of burial in woollen, to 1809. A third book contains baptisms and marriages from 1723 to 1757 and 1753 respectively, while a fourth book contains baptisms from 1758 to 1809, and a fifth baptisms and burials from 1810 to 1813, and there is a printed book of marriages by banns from 1754 to 1812. The chapel of Bierton originally ADVQWSQN belonged to the prebend of Ayles- bury. In 1266 Richard, Bishop of Lincoln,169 with the consent of Master William de Shirewode, rector of the prebendal church, granted the chapel to the Dean and Chapter of Lincoln. The reason of the grant is to be found in the poverty of the cathedral chapter, while the prebend was said to abound in temporalities. This grant was confirmed in 1315 "' by Edward II. Besides the chapel of Bierton, the chapels of Buck- land,1" Stoke Mandeville, and Quarrendon were at the same time detached from the parent church of Aylesbury and granted to the Dean and Chapter. The grantees obtained the ordination of a vicarage for the four chapels during the episcopate of Bishop Sutton "* (1290-9). Bierton, however, seems always to have been the principal church, the other three being ap- pendant chapels. In 1535"* the benefice was called ' Bierton with members,' and consisted of the church at Bierton with the chapels of Broughton, of the value of £20 a year, Buckland locv., Stoke Mandeville with Stoke Hailing £10, Quarrendon £6 13*. 4« y.C.H. Bub. i, 233*. A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE de Bussey.11 He died about 1185, leaving two daughters, Matilda the wife of Hugh Wake and Cecilia the wife of John de Builly. Buckland was divided between them, each holding the fee of one knight." Matilda's moiety passed to her daughter Joan, the James Wake 13 who was the son and heir of her husband being presumably the son of a second wife. Joan first married Alan de Mumby, and secondly Thomas de Gravenel.14 The latter obtained seisin in 1 2 1 8 " of all the lands that his wife claimed by right of inheritance from Matilda de Bussey her mother. Joan died about 1247, when her son and heir John de Gravenel 16 did homage for lands that he held in chief, and he probably obtained her moiety of Buck- land at the same time from the Bishop of Lincoln. He made an agreement with the holder of the other moiety of Buckland in 1257," by which he granted his moiety of the manor to Robert de Vipont and his heirs for ever, while Robert then granted to him the whole manor,18 presumably to hold for life only, since it afterwards passed to the Viponts. The moiety of Buckland which was held by Cecilia and her husband John de Builly passed to their only daughter and heiress Idonea, the wife of Robert de Vipont. She appa- rently died about 1 24 1 ,19 when her lands were seized into the king's hands, and her son and heir John de Vipont ** died very shortly afterwards. He was succeeded by his son Robert de Vipont, who was a minor at the time.81 Robert made the agreement with John de Gravenel mentioned before, and the whole manor of Buckland finally descended to his two daughters and heiresses, Isabel and Idonea." Isabel married Roger de Clifford, who died seised of a moiety of one messuage and a garden, and 1 1 o acres of arable land and 2 acres of pasture in Buckland.'3 For this land he paid ^os. scutage, when it was levied, to the Bishop of Lincoln. At the time of his death, however, the fees of knights and free tenants and the advowsons of churches that formed Isabel's inheritance had not been divided be- tween her and her sister Idonea. Isabel held a moiety of the township of Buckland in 1285," pre- sumably half of the manor also, since Idonea's husband Roger de Leyburn died seised about 1283" of the other moiety. The manor does not appear, however, to have been permanently divided, since Isabel's moiety VlPONT. Or six rings gules. did not pass to her son and heir Robert de Clifford, but Idonea, by some settlement of their inheritance, obtained the whole manor. Her second husband, John de Cromwell,26 paid the feudal dues from the whole in 1302-3 and 1316. A few years later, how- ever, they seem to have sold the reversion of the manor " after their deaths to Hugh le Despenser. It was seized by King Edward II in I326,'8 because John de Cromwell stayed out of England without licence, but being the inheritance of his wife, she was allowed to receive the issues and profits'9 of the manor, and also to retain her own ' robes, beds and jewels and other things pertaining to her chamber.' The king meanwhile seized John's horses, destriers, armour, falcons, vessels and jewels for himself.3* Idonea recovered the manor before her death, since she was in seisin 31 at that time, the reversion then be- longing to Edward le De- spenser, the second son of Hugh le Despenser the younger. The manor was afterwards settled on Edward " and his wife Anne, by fine with the over- lord, the Bishop of Lincoln. Edward died in I342,33 and Anne held the manor in 1 346." She surrendered it during her lifetime34 to her son and heir Sir Edward le Despenser, lord of Glamorgan. He made various grants of the manor and rent issuing from it, which led to a long lawsuit after his death. In 1 37 2s6 he granted a pension of 20 marks a year for life to Nicholas Bernak his esquire, and previously a rent to one Henry Ham- wode.3' The manor itself he granted for life to his brother Thomas le Despenser,58 who died seised in I38o.39 It then passed to Thomas, Lord Despenserr the son and heir of Sir Edward le Despenser, and he granted Buckland in 1398'° to Thomas Percy, Earl of Worcester, Hugh le Despenser, and other feoffees. Probably this was a grant to the use of his daughter and heiress Isabel," since she afterwards inherited the manor. She married as her second husband Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick." The manor was granted to John Mangan, or Nanston, esq., for life," and he held it at the time of the countess's death in 1439.** He also outlived her son and heir Henry Beauchamp,4* Earl of Warwick, and the manor, when the reversion fell in, presumably passed to Anne, the sister of the earl and the wife of Richard Nevill,46 who was. afterwards created Earl of Warwick, and became famous as the ' Kingmaker.' After his defeat and DISPENSER. Argent quartered ivitk gules fretty or and a bend sable over all. 11 Rat. de Domtn. (ed. Grimaldi), 6. 13 Rot. Cur. Reg. (Rec. Com.), ii, 99-201 ; Rot. de Domin. 6. The wife of William de Bussey was Roesia daughter of Baldwin son of Gilbert, and Buckland may have belonged to her inheritance ; cf. Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 245*. 18 Excerfta e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), i, 18, 21 ; Cal. of Inq. Htn. Ill, no. 858. 14 Excerfta e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), i; 18, 21. " Ibid. « Ibid, ii, 7. V Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 42 Hen. III. 18 HunJ. R. (Rec. Com. ), i, 44. 19 Excerfta e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), i, 357- 80 Ibid, i, 171, 389. 81 Ibid. ; De Banco R. 39, m. 67. w Ibid. 28 Cal. of Inq. Edw. I, m. 478. 24 Feud. Aids, (,85. 24 Cal. of Inq. Ed-w. I, no. 525. 26 Feud. Aids, i, 98, 112. V Feet of F. Div. Col. Mich. 14 Edw. II ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 6 Ric. II, no. 1 66. 28 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), i, 299 ; Cal. Close, 1323-7, p. 603. 29 Ibid. •» Ibid. 81 Chan. Inq. p.m. 8 Edw. Ill (ist nos.), no. 66. 82 Ibid. 16 Edw. Ill (lit nos.), no. 49" 328 88 Ibid. ; G.E.C. Complete Peerage. 84 Feud. Aids, i, 123. 85 Chan. Inq. p.m. 49 Edw. Ill (ist nos.), pt. ii, no. 46, pt. 8;. 86 Cal. Pat. 1381-5, p. 181. 8" Chan. Inq. p.m. 6 Ric. II, no. 166 j ibid. 9 Ric. II, no. 131. " Ibid. 8« Ibid. 4 Ric. II, no. 21. 40 Cal. Pat. 1399-1401, p. 417. 41 G.E.C. Complete Peerage. 42 Chan. Inq. p.m. 18 Hen. VI, no. 3. 4S Ibid. « Ibid. 45 Ibid. 24 Hen. VI, 00.43. 46 G.E.C. Complete Peerage. AYLESBURY HUNDRED BUCKLAND death at the Kittle of H.irnet in 1471, his lands were seized by Edward IV, and were divided between the earl's two sons-in-law, the Duke* of Clarence and Gloucester, the brothers of the king." The Despenser lands passed to Clarence, the claims of the Countess of Warwick being entirely passed over. After the accession of Henry VII, they were restored to her by an Act of Parliament of 1487, but she immediately rcgranted them to the Crown.4* In this grant the manor of Buckland is named, and it remained in the hand* of the Crown until the reign of Queen Mary." Henry VIII, however, granted a lease of the demesne lands and another tenement in the manor to Thomas Green way in 1522** for twenty-one years, a second lease for twenty-one years being drawn up in 1535" to Thomas and his son Richard, when the same lands were described as parcel of the lands of the late Earl of Warwick. The manor of Buckland was granted by Queen Mary" to Sir Anthony Browne, Lord Montagu," whose daughter Elizabeth married Robert Dormer, first Lord Dormer. It was given to the latter in 1584," and his direct male descendants held it until the death of Charles Dormer second Earl of Carnarvon in 1 709," with perhaps a short interval during the Civil War." Robert, the first Earl of Carnarvon, was killed at the first battle of Newbury," fighting on the Royalist side, and possibly his lands were confiscated. Charles, his son, seems to have made an assignment of the m.mor in 1653," but possibly his relationship to Philip Herbert Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery,4* an influential Parliamentarian, and a party in this assignment, enabled the Earl of Carnar- von* to recover his lands. His daughter and co- DODO D D 0 DORMER. lil'tti or tnd a chief or with a Jtmi-lion table therein. STANMOTI. Quarterly irminl tad gulil. heiress Elizabeth married Philip Stanhope Earl of Chesterfield," who held the manor in 1717." The fifth Earl of Chesterfield held it in 1 8 1 3,° but after his death, during the minority of his son and heir, it was sold by the trustees under the direction of the Court of Chancery*4 to George Hassall of Chole*- bury. The latter died in 1821, and ' is said to hive bequeathed, by will, his estates in this county to John Atkinson, and others, solicitors, in London.' ** The manor has since passed into the hands of Mr. Peter Parott who is the present lord of the manor. In I 308 ** John de Cromwell and his wife obtained a grant of free warren for ever in all their demesne lands of Buckland. This was also held by their suc- cessors the Dcspensers ** and Robert Lord Dormer obtained a new grant of free warren, and also of free park in Buckland from James I." The right to hold a view of frankpledge in the manor of Buckland is not mentioned until the 14th century. Idonea de Leyburn, the widow of John de Cromwell, held a view twice a year at Michaelmas and Hockday,** but presumably her ancestors had also held it for their tenants in Buckland. The Despensers '* held the view in the I 5th century, and in the grant of the manor to Sir Anthony Browne, Lord Mon- tagu," he obtained all the privileges that the pre- vious lords of Buckland had exercised. The view of frankpledge was alto held by the Dormers in the 1 7th century.™ No mill is mentioned in Buckland in Domesday Book, nor in later surveys of the manor, and there is no mill there at the present day. The church of ALL SAINTS consists CHURCH of a chancel 22ft. by 15 ft., a north vestry, a nave 36 ft. 6 in. long and of a mean width of 19 ft., a north aisle 8 ft. 6 in. wide, and a western tower. The church has been so many times restored as to have been practically rebuilt. The north arcade of the nave is of mid-i 3th-century date, and the chancel and west tower retain evidence of work of the same period, but the architectural history of the building is effectually obscured by the modern work. The nave is irregular, being 1 4 in. wider at the west th.in at the east, and the centre line of the tower is a little to the north of that of the nave. The east window of the chancel is modern and of three trefoiled lights with tracery of early 14th-century style over, and in both the north and south walls of the chancel is a modern window of two uncuspcd lights with a quatrefoil over. West of the window in the north wall is a 13th-century arch opening to the vestry. In the south wall at the east is a 15th- century piscina with a trefoiled head, and at the west a single lancet very much restored but originally of 1 3th-century date. Between the two window* in this wall is a small modern priest's door. The chan- cel arch is of an obtuse two-centred form, and on the east has one plain chamfer, while on the west it is of two chamfered orders ; its date it doubtful, and perhaps late. The jambs are square and on the west have a square-edged string-course on the springing line, which probably carried the back beam of the rood- loft, and may belong to the time when the loit was set up. '-" Diet. Ntt. Bitf. »!, 196. — Matiritli for Rtign of Htm. FII, (Rolit Ser.), ii, 141. «• L. tnd P. Hn. nit, i, 896 j iii, 779 ('5). •* Ibid, iii, 1x97 (it) ; Pat. 14 Hen. VIII, ft. ii. " L. tnJ P. Hn. fill, viii, 961 (9). " Rot. Orif . i * a I'hil. and Marr, pt. iii, R. 63. * G.E.C. Camflftt Pttraft. M Feet of F. Buckt. Eatt. 16 Eliz. 11 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclviii, no. 99 ; ibid. no. 102 ; Feet of F. Div. Co. 2 Trin. 8 Chat. I ; RrcoT. R. Trin. 8 Chat. I ; Chan. Inq. p.m. Mite. (Ser. ii), dxiimi, pt. 31, no. 105; C.E.C. Ccmfleti tetrift. M Pat. 34 Eliz. pt. IT, m. 21. Queen Elizabeth (ranted the manor of Buckland in 1 591 to William Tipper and Robert Dawe, who were, however, only tithing grinteet. •' Diet. Ntt. Biof. IT. M RI-CUT. R. Mil. 1653 i Feet ofF. Dir. Co. Mich. 1653. " G.E.C. Cimflrtt Ptertp. " Ct Horienden. 329 11 G.E.C. Camflflt Peerigt. " Recor. R. Eait. 3 Geo. II. ** I.ytont, Magna Brit, i, $30. " I.i| tcomb, Hiit. ofBucki. ii, 1 17. "Ibid. ** Chart R. 1 Edw. II, m. 14, no. JO. ••"Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Ric. II, no. xi. "Pat. 14 Jai. I, pt. 1 1, no. 12. "Chan. Inq. p.m. 8 Edw. Ill (lit noO, no. 66. 7»Ibid. 4 Ric. II.no. xi. 71 Rot. Ori(. pt. iii, I ft a PhiL and Marjr.R.63. J» Feet ot F. Dir. Co. Trin. 8 Chai. I. 4* A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE The nave is of three bays with a north arcade having two-centred arches of two chamfered orders, with an undercut label and round columns with moulded bell capitals which have alternately octagonal and circular abaci. In the east respond is the 15th- century opening to the rood-loft, and over the arcade are three modern clearstory windows, each of two trefoiled lights. In the south wall are two windows, that to the east is of two uncusped lights under a pointed head, and though very much restored appears originally to have been of early 14th-century date. The other window is quite modern, and is of two trefoiled lights with tracery of ^th-century detail. The south door is of late 14th-century date, and has been much repaired. The jambs and two-centred head have a wide hollow between two double ogees, enriched with four-leaved flowers, and on the old stones are scratched many almost indecipherable 1 5th and 16th-century inscriptions. The whole of this south wall has been rebuilt, and some pieces of 14th-century window tracery are set in the outer face of the wall. Two heads set in the wall are tradition- ally known as those of two robbers executed at Hang Hill, 2 miles away. The north aisle has also been rebuilt and has in its north wall two modern two-light windows, and between them a modern north door. To the east of the aisle is a modern arch to the vestry, and at the west a modern two-light window, a few old stones being re-used in its splay. The tower arch is two-centred, of two chamfered orders dying into flat responds, and appears to be late 13th-century work. The tower itself is of three stages with an embattled parapet, and has been com- pletely rebuilt in recent years with the use of much of its old material. There are modern single belfry openings and a modern west window of one cinque- foiled light. The modern south porch is of wood upon a dwarf wall. The font is circular, and though much restored is of 13th-century date, with a fluted bowl and a band of heavy foliage running round the rim. The roof of the chancel is modern, but those of the nave and aisle are of I 5th-century date. The seating and rood screen are modern, but there is a late I jth- century altar table in the north aisle. There are no monuments of interest in the church. The tower contains three bells : the treble by Ellis and Henry Knight, 1675 ; the second by Chandler, 1693 ; and the tenor by the same founder, 1708. The only piece of silver plate is a small communion cup, 8 in. high, of Elizabethan date. The first book of the registers contains baptisms, marriages, and burials between the years 1653 and 1753. The second book contains baptisms and burials between 1762 and 1781 ; and the third marriages and baptisms between 1783 and 1812, and burials between 1784 and 1812. The chapel of Buckland was origi- ADrOWSQX nally dependent on the prebendal church of Aylesbury, together with the chapels of Bierton, Stoke Mandeville/3 and Quar- rendon. It was separated with them from the mother church in 1266," and the four chapels were given to the Dean and Chapter of Lincoln. In 1294 the vicarage of Bierton with the chapels of Stoke Mandeville, Buckland, and Quarrendon was ordained," but in 1858 the chapels of Buckland and Stoke Mandeville ™ were separated from Bierton and formed into separate bene- fices. In 1281 77 the lords of Buckland Manor, Roger de Clifford and his wife Isabel, and Roger de Leyburn and his wife Idonea, claimed the advowson of the church of Buckland from the Bishop of Lincoln and the Dean and Chapter. They maintained that their ancestress Idonea the wife of Robert de Vipont had presented a certain Robert le Esquier in the time of Henry III to the church and he had been admitted, and so they claimed that the right to present to the benefice had descended to them. The bishop and dean answered that the church of Buckland was a chapel appurtenant to the church of Aylesbury, which William Rufus had given to the church of St. Mary of Lincoln, with the chapel of Buckland. They pre- sented his charter and its confirmation by Edward I. The result of the suit is not given, but the Dean and Chapter presumably gained it, since they were in peaceful possession in 1294 at the time of the ordina- tion of the vicarage. They are still the patrons of the living at the present day. There is a Wesleyan chapel at Buckland, built in 1831, and another at the hamlet of Buckland Common, built in 1 860. Charity of William Hill — see under CHARITIES Bierton. The annual sum of £i received from the trustees is given to eight parishioners, and one overcoat is also given to one old man each year. "8 See Bierton and Stoke Mandeville. ?4 Cal. Pat. 1313-17, p. 304. ?5 Line. Epis. Reg. Bp. Button's In»t. ; Rec. of Bucks, i, 233-5. '' Sheahan, Hist, and Tofog. of Bucks, 1 09. "' De Banco R. 39, m. 67. 33° AYLESBURY HUNDRED ELLESBOROUGH ELLESBOROUGH Ellesborough is an irregularly-shaped parish, lying on the northern slope of the Chiltern Hills. It con- tains nearly 3,595 acres.1 The highest point is Combe Hill, which is 8 5 2 ft. high,' but in the northern part of the parish the land lies between 300 ft. and 400 ft. above the Ordnance datum. In the hills the land is well-wooded, with 5 1 4} acres of woods or plantations.* The park at Chequers Court contains tome fine timber. The subsoil is chalk and Upper Greensand, the surface variable — chalk and flint in the uplands and loam in the low-lying district. The occupation of the inhabitants is entirely agri- cultural ; the proportion of arable land and permanent pasture is nearly equal, with 1,158 acres of arable and 1,143 of grass.4 The main roads in the parish are the Upper and Lower Icknield Ways. The latter forms at this part of its course the main road from Wycombe to Aylesbury, and passes through Terrick End. The Upper Icknield Way wanders from the main road, running from Little Kimble Church to Wendover, through Ellesborough village »nd the ham- let of Butler's Cross. The parish is well watered by various streams running northwards ; one of these turns the Ellesborough mill and another passes near Chalkshire. There are springs to the north of Ellesborough village, feeding a good-sized pond, used for water-cress growing. Moats still exist at Grove Farm, where there is an old dovecote, possibly of the l6th century, Terrick House, at which there are re- mains of I yth-century work much modernized, and Nash Lee Farm ; there is a also reservoir near Beacon Hill in the southern part of the parish. Between Nash Lee and Terrick House the site of a Roman villa has been discovered, and various British coins ' have been found in the parish. The nearest railway station is at Little Kimble on the Aylesbury branch of the Great Western Railway. Wendover station on the Metropolitan Extension Railway is 2 miles away. The parish was inclosed by an Act of Parlia- ment* for the inclosure of the three parishes of Great and Little Kimble and Ellesborough, the award being dated 2 May 1805. Before the Norman Conquest the MANORS township of ELLESBOROUGH was held in three parts, by Earl Harold, Baldwin the man of Archbishop Stigand,' and Levenot the man of King Edward.' The land held by Earl Harold* was assessed at 13$ hides, and was called a manor. At the Conquest it was given to Ralph Talgebosch or Taillebois, but before the Domesday Survey was made he had exchanged it with Ansculf de Picquigny for half of Risborough at the king's com- mand, and William Fitz Ansculf was the tenant in I086.10 The latter also held the land of Baldwin, but had enfeoffed Osbert as his sub-tenant." Ralph Paganell became possessed of all the lands of Fitz Ansculf," which formed the honour of Dudley or Newport. He was succeeded by his son Gervase Paganell," who paid feudal dues for lands in Buck- inghamshire in 1190-1." Four years later, how- ever, his honour '* was in the hands of the king, but it afterwards passed to Ralph de Someri," the son of John de Someri, who had married Hawisia Paganell." The Someris held the honour until the death of John de Someri in 1323," when his possessions were divided between his two sisters Mar- garet and Joan, and Ellesborough was assigned to the latter," who was the widow of Thomas Botccourt. The overlordship appears to have lapsed after the honour was broken up, and in the 1 5th century this part of Ellesborough was held in chief under the honour or castle of Nottingham." In 1086" Ralph held the manor of ELLES- BOROUGH of William Fitz Ansculf, but its descent in the following century is lost. At the close of the 1 2th century, however, it was in the hands of Richard son of William, but he, during the civil wars of the reign of John, granted it to William Cauntlow." A dispute arose between his widow Geva and William Cauntlow in 1224" about her dower. An agreement had previously been made be- tween them," but in spite of this she brought a claim for a third part of the manor, which she obtained by judgement of the king's court. William Caunt- low died in 1239 * and was succeeded by an- other William Cauntlow," who held the manor as mesne lord till his death in 1251." He had been the close friend of Henry III," but this friendship was not extended to his son and heir William," whom the king treated with great harshness." He did homage for his lands in the same year, 1251, but only survived his father a short time. His early death, which took place in 1254," was lamented by the chronicler Matthew Paris,1' by whom he was described as 'juvenis elegans et dives.' His heir was his son George, who was either two or three years old at the time of his father's death.** George died just after reaching his majority," and Ellesborough passed to Milicent, the elder" of his two sisters and co- heiresses. She had married first Eudo la Zouche,** and afterwards John de Montalt." Ellesborough passed to her son William la Zouche,*8 and on his 1 OrJ. S*rv. • Ibid. • Inf. from Bd. of Agric. (1905). • Ibid. • y.C.H.Biukt. i, 192. • Com. Intl. Avoardi. ' Eddleiborough ' it printed in the Blue Book bjr miitakc. 7 f.C.H. Buki. i, 1544. • Ibid. 269*. • Ibid. 2J4A '« Ibid. » Ibid. " Ibid. 21). u Dugdale, Mm. Jtnfl. vii, lojS. " ReJ Bk. of E*ch. (RolU Ser.), 71. " Ibid. 90. " Ibid. 109, 113. W Dugdale, Moa.Angl. Tii, 1038 ; Ctl. Inj. f.m. EJw. I, no. 813. 11 Chan. Inq. p.m. 16 Edw. II, no. 72. '• Ctl. Clou, 1318-23, p. 630. 10 Chan. Inq. p.m. 19 Edw. IV, no. II; Exch. Inq. p.m. bdle. 5, no. 3. » y.CM. Buck, i, 254*. " Aniie R. 54, ir. 5 d. ; Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 20. » Feet of F. Buck*. 8 Hen. Ill, no. 6. M Aiiite R. 54, m. 5 d. u Matt. Paria, Ckron. Maj. (Rolli Ser.), iii, 519. • «.»,/. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 20. " Exccfta i Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), ii, loo. 33' » Matt. Paria, Ckr Col. lnt. f.m. Hn. Ill, no. 3 1 8, 340. " Matt. Paria, Ckrtn. Maj. (RolU Ser.), T, 463. ••Ctl. Inj. f.m. Hin. Ill, no. 318, 340. 14 Ibid. £o J vc CAUNTLOW. Gules three feurs-de-lis coming out of leopards' heads re- versed or. ZOUCHE. Gules bt- taanfy and a quarter er- mine. seised in 1404, and the manor reverted to his nephew William la Zouche," the son of his elder brother William. The reversion, however, had already been granted by William la Zouche to Henry, Bishop of Lincoln, and other feoffees in 1402," and William la Zouche made a further release of his right in the manor of Ellesborough to John Toly and William Glen, clerks," two of the original feoffees. At his death, however, in 1416, he was said to have enfeoffed Sir William de Roos of Hamelake 45 and others, probably another set of trustees, of the manor; but only Thomas, Lord Berkeley, Thomas le Warr, and Robert Isham survived at that date.'" William la Zouche left a son William, in whose interest the feoffments had probably been made. In 1430" the manor appears to have been held by Thomas Bronus, clerk, Roger Heron, clerk, Robert Chatheley, John Barton the younger, and Thomas Compworth, but they then conveyed it to John Cotesmore, John Cheyne, and others." Henry Chicheley, Archbishop of Canter- bury,4' also released his right in the manor to the new feoffees. These numerous enfeoffments seem to cover a transfer of the manor between 1416 and 1430 from the Zouche family to John Cheyne, who held it in I432.60 Shortly afterwards, however, Cheyne enfeoffed Thomas Frowyk," Henry Frowyk, and William Walton," who held the court of the manor in 1442." Cheyne and his feoffees next released the manor to John Hampden of Kimble4' and Edward Brudenell on condition that they enfeoffed John Brekenok " on his payment of a sum of money to Cheyne. Breke- nok failed to pay at the appointed date,56 and Cheyne tried to recover the manor from Hampden and Brudenell, who refused to relinquish it.*7 Brekenok probably paid after a time and held the manor till 1458, when he and his wife quitclaimed it to John Heton, Edward Brudenell and others for £200." Who was in actual seisin at this time is very doubt- ful, but the manor shortly afterwards must have passed to the Poles, since in 1479 Geoffrey Pole died seised.69 His son Richard, who married Margaret daughter of the Duke of Clarence, inherited it.™ Their son Henry Pole, Lord Montagu, a minor at his father's death,61 had livery of his lands in 1513," but afterwards was attainted and executed, and his possessions reverted to the Crown in 15 39-40." Henry VIII sold the manor of Ellesborough to Sir John Baldwin, Lord Chief Justice of Common Pleas," for £623 iSj. 5^." From him it descended to one of his two grandsons and heirs, Thomas Pakington, the son of Ann Baldwin and Robert Pakington.66 It was held by the Pakingtons, his descendants,67 until it was bought in 1770 by Sir John Russell, who held the manor of Chequers in Ellesborough.68 The Pakingtons claimed the paramount lordship in Elles- borough in the 1 8th century,69 but this claim was abandoned when a farm in the parish was bought of the Pakingtons by the Russell family. The manor of PAKINGTON. Party cheveronivise table and argent 'with three pierced molets or in the chief and three sheaves gules in the foot. R-JSSZU.. Urgent a lion gules and a thief sable with three roses ar- gent therein. Ellesborough is now held by the trustees of Mr. Frank- land-Russell-Astley, who has inherited the estates of the Russells.70 In the 1 3th century the manor of Ellesborough was held for a tim- by a younger branch of the Caunt- lows. The first William Cauntlow or his son and heir, William, apparently subinfeudated Nicholas the second son,71 who was seised in 1254." William, the son of Nicholas, succeeded him, but granted the manor to his mother Eustachia and William de Ros her second husband for life.73 He, how- ever, was re-enfeoffed jointly with his wife Eva for their lives by Eustachia and her husband,7* and held the manor at his death in I3o8.75 It then reverted to his mother and William de Ros for life. William Cauntlow's heir 76 .was his son another William, but the latter died childless, so ** Col. Close, 1349-54, p. 416 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 26 Edw. Ill (ist nos.), no. 51. « Ibid. 41 Chan. Inq. p.m. 6 Hen. IV, no. 17. « Ibid. « Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 4 Hen. IV. <4 Cal. of Anct. D., B. 1453. <6 Chan. Inq. p.m. 3 Hen. V, no. 46. <• Ibid. *' Cal. af Anct. D., B. 1458. « Ibid. « Close, 8 Hen. VI, m. 7. K Cal. of Anct. D., B. 1456. 41 Ibid. " Ibid. 1457. *• P.R.O. Ct. R. pt. 1 5 5, no. 1 1. " Cal. of Anct. D., B. 1452. u Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 17, no. 151. «« Ibid. »7 Ibid. •• Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 37 Hen. VI. " Chan. Inq. p.m. 19 Edw. IV, no. II. 60 G.E.C. Complete Peerage. 61 Exch. Inq. p.m. bdle. 5, no. 3. « L. and P. Hen. Vlll, i, 4325. •8 Exch. Inq. p.m. bdle. 33, no. 7 ; L, and P. Hen. Vlll, xiv (i), 1354 (45). " Pat. 36 Hen. VIII.pt ix. •» L.and P. Hen. r///,xix(z), 166(37). •* Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), Ixxiii, no. 7; Visit, of Bucks. 1566 (ed. Metcalfe). 87 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), clvi, no. I ; Feet of F. Bu.ks. Mich. 5 Jas. I; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccxviii, no. 332 69 ; Feet of F. Bucks. East. 4 Will, and Mary; Trin. 7 Geo. I; Mich. 13 Geo. Ill ; G.E.C. Complete Baronetage. 68 Lysons, Magna Brit, i, 555. •• Ibid. 10 Cf. manor of Chequers. 71 Close, 1 5 Ric. II, m. 23 ; Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 20. 'a Cal. Inq. p.m. Edia. I, ii, 504. 7» Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 44 ; Ex- cerpta e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), ii, 349 j Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 29 & 30 Edw. I. '4 Cal. Close, 1307-13, p. 80; Feud. Aids, i, 98 ; Cal. Pat. 1301-7, p. 468. '* Chan. Inq. p.m. 2 Edw. II, no. 51. ~> Ibid. AYLESBURY HUNDRED ELLESBOROUGH that Nicholas his brother obtained the manor on its reversion to the Cauntlows.7' Nicholas settled the manor of Ellcsborough on his wife Joan for life," with remainder to Nicholas his grandson and son of William Cauntlow and the heirs of his body." If these failed the further remainder was granted to William brother of Nicholas with the same restric- tions.10 Nicholas the grandson died without heirs of his body," and William obtained seisin of the manor." He died in 1376, his father William Cauntlow being his heir." The latter seems to have had no other children besides the two sons who had pre- deceased him, so that on his death the manor reverted to the Zouches, as the representatives of the elder branch of the Cauntlow family." William Cauntlow held the view of frankpledge for his moiety of the parish of Ellcsborough,'5 but in l 254 the origin of his right to do so was unknown." Probably, however, Richard son of William who had granted his father the manor of Ellesborough had also held the view, and Cauntlow continued to do so without any definite grant. The view was probably held by the Zouches, and in the ijth century the feoffees of Sir John Cheyne held it," the right afterwards coming to the Pakingtons in the lyth century.™ In the reign of James I" Edward Brudenell obtained a grant of a court leet and view of all his tenants in Stoke Mandeville, Ellesborough, and Little Kimble, to be held twice a year, but probably the Ellesborough tenants belonged to his manor of Stoke Mandeville. APPESLET aliaj APSLEY is first mentioned in a charter of Roger de Hampton, granting 5/. rent to the abbey of Missenden, which William de la Merse paid him for land in ' Aspeleia.' N It presumably belonged to the honour of Dudley, since in 1486-7 it was held of Geoffrey Pole, who then held the manor of Ellesborough." In 1 247 " William de Appesley brought an action against the Abbot of Missenden concerning a free tenement and rent in Ellesborough. Another William de Appesley was plaintiff in a fine for lands and rents in Ellcsborough in I 316," but the manor of Appesley is not definitely mentioned until 1486—7, on the death of Thomas Temple." His heir was his son William, a minor. During the reign of Henry VIII Francis Temple obtained possession of the manor probably in succession to William. He was seised in 1537,** and made various settlements for the use of himself and his wife Elizabeth and the heirs of their bodies. After his death ** Elizabeth brought several actions against lessees of the manor and lands to recover possession." It seems to have passed to one John Temple by 1575," and from him to Thomas Temple before 1584-5," since in that year Thomas, together with his wife Cecily, sold Appesley Manor to William Sheppard of Great Rollright, co. Ozon.1M It passed on his death in 1625 '" to his son William, whose descendants held the estate "* until 1733,'* when William Sheppard sold it to William Ledwell. His son William Bridges Ledwell again sold the manor of Appesley in 1792 lw to Sir Scrope Bernard, afterwards Sir Scrope Bernard Morland, bart. At the beginning of the 1 9th century it had again been sold to James Humphreys,1" but it 1844 it wat obtained by Mr. Edward W. Blanchard. In 1894 Lieut. -Colonel Horwood of Walton Warren, Ayles- bury, purchased Appesley Manor Farm, and is the owner at the present day.'** The reputed manor of MORDAUNTS in the parish of Ellesborough was held as a sub-manor under the Cauntlows, and so belonged to the honour of Dudley. In 1274-5 Lawrence de Brok died seised of 6 marks rent, which he held of Nicholas Cauntlow."7 His son and heir was Hugh de Brok,"" who held the same rent in 1284-6."" Hugh died before 1 300, when his widow Isabel granted away certain lands and rents in Ellesborough for the term of her life.110 Another Law- rence de Brok, her son, held tenements in Ellesborough,1" the rents and services from which he granted to John de Bykton for fourteen years, and in 1 309 made a settle- ment of loot, rent in Ellesborough on himself and his wife Ellen.'" His lands descended to his granddaughter Helen,111 who married Edmund Mor- daunt.1" The latter died seised of rents in Elles- borough in 1374,"* which were held of William Cauntlow ; he was succeeded by his heir Robert, then a minor. The Mordaunts presumably held this rent in Ellesborough uninterruptedly during the 15th century, and in 1504 or 1505 Sir John Mordaunt held land in Ellesborough.1" He was raised to the peerage as Baron Mordaunt of Turvey, and was succeeded by his son and grandson in turn.1" In 1560 "* their possessions in Ellcsborough were de- scribed as the manor of Ellesborough, and this name was again used when Lewis the third Lord Mordaunt B>OK. Gulet * ckirf argent tvitk a lion fattant gulei therein. 71 Akbrrv. Ktt. Orig. (Rec. Com.), ii, 336 ; Chin. Inq. p.m. 16 Edw. II, no. 71. ""Chan. Inq. p.m. 45 Edw. HI (nt not.), no. 13. "» Cloit, it, Ric. II, m. 13; Chin. Inq. p.m. 49 Edw. II (itt noi.), no. 28 ; Aiilze R. 14^8, m. 17 d. •"Chan. Inq. p.m. 4; Edw. Ill (lit not.), no. 13 ; 49 Edw. Ill (lit not.), no. aS. "' Ibid. •> fad. AiJt, i, U}. M Chin. Inq. p.m. 49 Edw. Ill (lit not.), no. 18. « Ibid. " Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 10. " Ibid. 1 P.R.O. Ct. R. portf. i c;, no. 1 1. « Feet of F. Bucki. Mich. 5 Jat. I. * Pit. 14 Jit. I, pt. 17. « Hart. MS. 3688. " Cal. Inj. Hi*, yil, no. 306. " Aiiize R. $6, m. 20. " Feet of F. Bucki. Trin. IO Edw. II. * Cal. Inq. Hen. yil, no. 306. N Chin. Proc. (Ser. z), bdle. 1 76, no. 77- "Ibid. bdle. 60, no. la. " Ibid. 39, 29. • RCCOT. R. Mil. 18 Eliz. ; Feet of F. Bucki. Mil. 1 8 Eliz. *• Ibid. Mich. 21 Elii. j Eait. 21 Eliz.; Recor. R. Hil. 21 Eliz. 100 Feet of F. Bucki. Hil. 27 Eliz. 101 Chin. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccxix, no. 46 ; ibid, ccccil, no. 67. X* Feet of V. Bucki. Ea.t. 8 Chai. I ; Recor. R. Hil. 7 Anne. "» Ibid. Mich. 7 Ceo. II | Feet of F. Bucki. Mich. 7 Ceo. II. 333 '"' Ibid. Hil. 32 Geo. Ill ; Recor. R. Ent. 3 2 Geo. III. 104 l.yioni, Magna Brit, i, 555. 106 From informition kindlr given by Meiin. Horwood ind Jimci of Aylei- burr. '»•" Cal. Inq. f.m. EJvi. I, no. I IO. «• Ibid. w» FeuJ, Aidi, i, 86. "» HarL Chirt. 46, F. Ji. »> Ibid. 46, G. 5. l" Feet of F. Bucki. Trin. 3 Edw. II. "» Hart. PuU. Sue. six, 41 i riiii.tf Bulti. 1(66 (ed. Metcalfe). 114 Ibid. "• Chin. Inq. p.m. 47 Edw. Ill (lit not.), no. 27. 114 Eich. Inq. p.m. v, no. 2. W G.E.C. Complete Peerage. »» Recor. R. Mich. 2 & 3 Eliz. A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE XA\ MORDAUNT. Argent a cheveron between three start table. sold it to William Hawtrey in 1571.'" It afterwards became known as the manor of Mordaunts, and from the time that it passed to the Hawtreys was held with the manor of Chequers (q.v ).120 The first Laurence de Brok held his rent from Nicholas Cauntlow by the service of a clove gillyflower paid annual- ly,121 but in 1374 Edward Mordaunt held it by military service.1" William Fitz Ansculf sub- infeudated the l$ hides of land in Ellesborough that Baldwin had held before the Norman Conquest.183 They were held at the time of the Domesday Survey by Osbert, who also held the manor of Great Hampden.124 This land prob- ably came into the possession of the Hampdens,125 the successors and possibly the descendants of Osbert. In 1 200 126 — de Hinton paid I mark to the king for a judgement as to half a knight's fee in ' Esseburg,' which was apparently given in his favour against Michael Malherbe and his wife Mabel. Twenty-one years 127 afterwards Robert de Pinkeny paid I mark for a similar suit as to II virgates of land against Roger de Hamp- ton and his wife Mabel. Roger held land in Elles- borough in 1240-1,"' but he had died before 1247, in which year his widow claimed land there as her right.129 Whether this Roger was any relation to the main branch of the Hampden family does not ap- pear. He had granted certain land to the first William Cauntlow in I228,130and it seems possible that all the land belonging to the honour of Dudley became united under the Cauntlows. The third part of the township was given after the Conquest to Maigno the Breton,131 and was held by his descendants as half a knight's fee belonging to their barony of Wolverton. It passed to his descendant Hamo son of Meinfelin who, in 1 1 66, owed the ser- vice of fifteen knights to the king.132 Hamo was succeeded by his son, known as Hamo son of Hamo,133 and the latter confirmed a grant of land in Elles- borough made to Missenden Abbey.134 On his death his son William obtained his possessions,136 but taking part with the barons against King John he forfeited them for a time.136 He made his peace in 1216, paying a fine to the king,1" and held the barony of Wolverton till his death c. I248.138 In that year his brother and heir Alan son of Hamo did homage to the king for his lands,139 but in the same year the new lord of Wolverton died and was succeeded by his son John son of Alan.140 John was the overlord of WOLVKRTON. Azure an eagle or with a bend gules over all. this part of Ellesborough in I254,141 and presumably held it till his death in 1271-2. 142 It was amongst the knights' fees assigned on dower to his widow Isa- bella, who married as her second husband Ralph de Ardena.143 John son of Alan's heir at the time of his death 144 was his son Richard a boy five years old, but he seems to have died before he came of age and the barony of Wolverton passed to his brother John.1 5 The family at this time appear to have taken the sur- name of Wolverton.146 This John was a knight in 1318"' and died before 1342."" He was succeeded by his son John de Wolverton "9 and grandson Ralph de Wolverton.150 The latter, however, died while still a minor, and the barony was divided between his two sis- ters Margaret and Elizabeth.151 The former was betrothed at the time of her brother's death to John le Hunte, and the overlordship of Elles- borough was assigned to her.1''2 Her daughter and heiress Jo.in succeeded her and married John Longville.15" He held her inheritance by courtesy after her death for his life,154 and then it passed to her son and heir George Longville.15* His descendants held her moiety of the honour of Wolverton until the 1 7th century, and in 1636 Sir Henry Longville held the overlordship of half a knight's fee in Ellesborough among his other possessions belonging to the manor of Wolverton.158 In 1254 John son of Alan paid 3/. a year to be quit of suit to the shire and hundred courts and ^s. for the right to hold the view of frankpledge for his tenants at Ellesborough.157 No further mention of this view is made, but probably the lords of the barony of Wolverton held a view for all the tenants of their barony. The land held under the honour of Wolverton was probably subinfeudated before 1 1 66 and one moiety of it was afterwards known as SEfTON'S M4NOR or the MJNOR OF GROPE. William Brito held certain land in Ellesborough 15S shortly after that date, and may perhaps be identified with William son of Alan who was then one of the knights of Hamo son of Meinfelin.159 William Brito granted land to Missenden Abbey in the time of Hamo son of Hamo.160 He seems to have been succeeded by Alan Brito, possibly his son, who died during the reign of Richard I.161 A lawsuit was held as to his lands in Ellesborough between his nephew Simon de Maidwell, apparently his heir, and William de Med- 119 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Bucks. Trin. 13 Eliz.; Feet of F. Bucks. Trin. 13 Eliz. 120 Ibid. East. 16 Chas. I. 121 Cal. Inq.p.m.Edvi.l, no. no. 122 Chan. Inq. p.m. 47 Edw. Ill (i»t nos.), no. 27. i*8 V.C.H. Buekt. i, 2544. l" Ibid. 125 Cf. Great Hampden. 126 Pipe R.2 John, m. i8d. "7 Ibid. 5 Hen. Ill, m. 1 3d. "" Feet of F. Bucks. Hil. 25 Hen. III. 129 Assize R. 56 n. i"° Feet of F. Bucks. 12 Hen. Ill, no. 24. "1 y.C.H. Bucks. 1,269*. 18» Red Bk. ofExch. (Rolls Ser.), 3 14. 188 Dugdale, Mon. iv, 350. 134 Harl. 3688. 185 Dugdale, Man. iv, 350. 186 Rot. de Oblat. et Fin. (Rec. Com.), 568. i"7 Ibid. l88 Excerpta e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), ii, 1S9 jbid. . 42j 59. l« Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 20. 143 Cal. Intj. p.m. Hen. Ill, no. 8 1 2. 148 Cal. Close, 1272-9, p. 351. 144 Cal. Inq. p.m. Hen. Ill, no. 8 1 2. I*5 Dugdale, Mon. iv, 350. 1« Cal. dote, 1288-96, p. 36. 334 "7 Ibid. 1318-23, p. 94. "8 Chan. Inq. p.m. 15 Edw. Ill (ist nos.), no. 25. 149 Ibid. 23 Edw. (pt. i), no. 35. l*0 Ibid. 25 Edw. Ill (ist nos.), no. 6. 151 ibid. " 15S Ibid. ""Ibid. 17 Hen. VI, no. 38. 1" Ibid. 1" Ibid. l56 Ibid. (Ser. 2), ccccxxx, no. 131. "7 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 20. »8 Harl. MS. 3688. «• Red Bk. ofExch. (Rolls Ser.), 314. "0 Harl. MS. 3688. "l Rolls of the Kings Ct. (Pipe Roll Soc.), xiv, 125. AYLESBURY HUNDRED mcnham, who called to warranty his wife Matilda, who in her turn called to warranty Henry de Pin- keny ; the last-named had, it was alleged, given the land to Matilda's father. The result of the suit is not given, but Simon de Maidwell was one of the parties to various fines concerning land in Elles- borough at the time, the last being in izoz.10 He also obtained a grant of free warren in his lands there from Henry III.10 He was succeeded by Alan de Maidwell, probably his son,1*1 who was defendant in a suit as to land in Ellesborough, and about th.it time held a quarter of a knight's fee of the barony of Wolverton. lu He is mentioned for the last time in 1241.'"* Possibly he left a son Simon, since in 1261 or 1262 Alice daughter of Simon de Maidwell re- covered various charters of lands in Ellesborough, which had been kept by the executor of her father's will.1*7 She was a minor in the wardship of Richard de Seyton of Maidwell, North- amptonshire."* He married his ward, and her land, which she held as the heiress of William Brito, passed to the Seyton family.16* She died before 1284-6 and was suc- ceeded by her son John de Seyton.170 He was at that time a minor, and his land was in the ward^ip of Anthony de Bek."1 He was holding it himself in I3O2,17> but had been succeeded before 1312 by Nicholas de Seyton.171 Nicholas died in or just before 1316,"' and his manor passed to his son John de Seyton, who held it till his death.17' His son and heir John de Seyton did homage for his manors to his overlord in 1361— z. "' John made two grants of the manor of Grove to feoffees, who were presumably trustees for his lands while he went to the Holy Land.1'7 He died at Jerusalem in 1 396 I7> and was succeeded by his son and heir John. The latter held the manor till his death, which took place about 1436-7. His son Thomas de Seyton assigned it at that date in dower to his father's widow Joan,1" but in 1446 he granted the Sr.vTos. Gales a bend bttvjeen six martlets argent. ELLESBOROUGH manor of Grove to John Kempe, Cardinal and Arch- bishop of York, John Stopyngton, Thomas Kempe, and others.180 These grantees in 1459'" conveyed the manor to Sir Ralph Verney and Robert Whit- tyngham and others, to the use of Ralph Verney his heirs and assigns. The Verneys held the manor for about a hundred years,'" John Verney being seised of the manor in 1530,'° and Edmund Verney in '553-'M I* changed hands shortly afterwards and passed to Robert Hewster of Chalford, Oxfordshire, who in 1564 conveyed it to Nicholas Eggleton. In 1579 the latter complained that his son and heir Wil- liam had entered into the manor and detained certain deeds concerning it, but by 1596 Nicholas had re- covered seisin.18* In 1631"* Christopher Eggleton was lord of the manor, and in that year settled it on his son Christopher on the marriage of the latter with Margaret daughter of Thomas Style.1" They were in seisin in 1654,"* and were succeeded by Thomas Eggleton, whose daughter and heiress Amy married Sir Lyon Pilkington, bart.'* The latter was seised together with his wife in 1 694,"° but they shortly afterwards, or possibly at that date, sold the manor of Grove. Presumably it passed into the hands of Alexander Horton ' of the Grove ' who died in 1715-16.'" William Horton shortly afterwards held the manor,1" but in 1735 he sold it to John Bristowe.'" Richard Bristowe held it in 1768, but he or his heir sold it in 1798 to Sir John Russell, and from that time it has followed the descent of the manor of Chequers (q.v.).1*4 The manor of CHEQUERS belonged to the half- fee in Ellesborough held under the barony of Wolver- ton, but it is difficult to ascertain whether it was held immediately from the lords of Wolverton or from the de Maidwells and Seytons as mesne lords.1*6 The name of Chequers was probably derived from the name of the first tenants. Helyas de Scaccario, or of the Exchequer, appears amongst the witnesses to two charters,"4 one of which is dated 1187, to the abbey of Missenden. Henry de Scaccario was the plaintiff in several lawsuits in the beginning of the 1 3th century,197 and held a quarter of a knight's fee in Ellesborough of the barony of Wolverton."* Henry de Scaccario had a son Ralph, whose "• Feet of F. Buckt. 10 Ric. I, no. 60 5 ibid. 4 John, no. zo. 1M Abbrrv. flac. (Rec. Com.), 242. '*• Auize R. 54, m. i 3. >•» Titta de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 248 ; Cat. Cine, 1271-9, p. 351 ; FiuJ. Aids, i, 86, 98, I2J. It it difficult to ascertain if the Miidwelli held the whole half fee in EUefborough belonging to the barony of Wolverton >nd had tubinfeudated a tenant with i quarter fee or if they only held a quarter of a fee, while the other quarter wai held direct from the lordi of Wolver- ton. The Maidwelli and their luccedort the Seytoni were fometimci Hid to hold a half fee and tometimei the quarter. It Kemi pouible that they only held the latter, but that they were responsible for the payment of the feudal duel and icr- vice from the whole half fee ; Ttiu Je Nevill (Rec. Com.), 248 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 23 Edw. Ill (pt. i),no. 35 i ibid. 25 Edw. Ill (lit noi.), no. 6 ; ibid. 17 Hen. VI, no. 38. 1M Anue R. 55, m. ]. "' Ibid. 57, m. iz ; ibid. ;g, m. lod., 14 d. u Ibid. 57, m. 12. »• Re* Bk. of Excb. (Rolli Ser.), 728 ; Cat. Cine, 1272-9, p. 351 j De Banco R. 15, m. 16. i"> V,ud. Aids, i, 86. »H Ibid. >7« Ibid. 98. CT Feet of F. Bucki, Bait, 5 Edw. III. V Ftud. Aids, iv, 24, 209 ; i, 1 1 X. "• Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 1 1 Edw. Ill; B.M. Add. Chart. 21164; *<«<*> Aids, i, 113. >;' Add. Chart. 21181. '" Ibid. 22213-15, 19912. W1 Yiut. tf Montana. 1564 (ed. Met- calfe). '" Add. Chart. 20303-4-5. *"° Feet of F. Bucki. Eait. 24 Hen. Ill ; Add. Chart. B.M. no. 7383. "" Eich. Inq. p.m. bdle. 25, no. 12. 182 See manor of Stonori Croft in Bier- ton. "» Recov. R. Trin. 21 Hen. VIII. *" Feet of F. Bucki. Trin. i Mary. »» Ibid. Mich. 38 & 39 Elii. "• Recov. R. Trin. 7 Chai. I. In the 1 5th, i6th, and 171(1 crnturiet there it •ome confuiion ai to the overlordihip of the manor of Grove. Sir Ralph Verney 335 wai laid to hold it of the Abbot of Miwen- den (Exch. Inq. p.m. bdle. 2;, no. 12), and in 1637 Christopher Eggleton (ten.) held it of John Fleetwood, ai of the late monastery of Minenden ; Chan. Inq. p.m. Miic. dxxzviii, 13 Chas. I, pt. 33, no. 95. The monaitery, however, never •eemi to have had any right in the manor, and at the time of the Dissolution in only posiesiinn in Elleiborough wai a rent of 8). ; /'a/or Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv, 246. '"' Chan. Inq. p.m. Mile, dijuviii, 1 3 Ch«. I, pt 33, no. 95. •«" Feet of F. Bucki. Mich. 1654. 189 G.E.C. Comfleu Baronetagt, ii. >» Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 5 Will, and Mary. m Monument in Elleiborough Church. >M Recor. R. Mich. 9 Ceo. II. >« Ibid. "" Lyioni, Magma Brit, i, 555 ; Shea- ban, Hiit. and Tofog. if Bucks, 121. I— Cf. Manor of Grore, n. 165. >•» Harl. MS. 3688. 117 Feet of F. Bucki. John, caie 14, file 4 { ibid, i Hen. Ill, no. i ; 9 Hen. Ill, no. zi ; 20 Hen. VII, no. viii. »» Testa Je Nevill (Rec. Com.), 148. A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE DE SCACCARIO. Cheeky argent and azure. daughter and co-heiress Catherine married William Hawtrey.199 In 1286 lands in Ellesborough were conveyed by William Hawtrey, jun., to William Hawtrey, sen., and Katharine his wife.m In 1383 William Hawtrey, and in 1422 Richard Hawtrey, both appear in charters referring to the manor of Grove."1 In 1350** and 1439 tos the heir of Henry de Scaccario held a quarter of a knight's fee of the barony of Wolverton, and as late as 1544 Thomas Hawtrey died seised of the manor of Che- quers, with land and tene- ments in Ellesborough.'04 His heir was William his grand- son,105 son of Thomas Hawtrey and Sibilla daughter and co-heiress of Richard Hampden of Kimble.*06 The son of William Hawtrey died leaving four daughters, of whom the eldest, Mary, married Sir Francis Wolley.*" She probably inherited the manor of Chequers, since a settlement of the manor was made in 1594s08 by William Hawtrey and Sir John Wolley. Mary died without children,*09 and the manor passed to her next sister Bridget, the wife of Sir Henry Croke.*10 His son Sir Robert Croke was certified as a delinquent during the Commonwealth, but he was said to have had no real property in Ellesborough."1 In 1660, however, he was seised of the manor of Chequers,"8 and on his death in 1680 the manor passed to his daughters. Susan, the eldest, had married Samuel Wall, M.D.,'15 but neither she nor the third sister Isabella had chil- dren, and Mary the second sister obtained the whole estate of Chequers."4 She married John Thurban, serjeant-at-law, and the manor descended to their daughter Johanna,215 who married first Colonel John Rivett. Her three sons, of whom the eldest, John Rivett, was a party to a common recovery in I759,216 all died leaving no children, and the manor passed to their sister Mary Johanna, the wife of Colonel Charles Russell."' Their son Sir John Russell, bart., was seised of the manor in I765.'18 He died in 1783,"' and was succeeded by his two sons John and George in turn, but both died without direct heirs. On the death in 1 804 of Sir George Russell, who had enlarged the estates of his family in the parish of Ellesborough by various purchases,™ Chequers passed under the will of his father to his aunt, Mary Russell, with remainder to the Rev. John Russell Greenhill. m The latter was a descendant of Elizabeth, the sister of Colonel Charles Russell.8™ The estate, however, was given up by them to Robert Greenhill, the son of John Russell Greenhill, who held it in 1813.'" He took the name of Russell in addition to Greenhill, and was created a baronet in 1831.*" On his death in 1837 Chequers passed to Sir Robert Frankland, bart.,"5 a distant kinsman of the Russells. He assumed the name of Russell, by sign manual, and on his death in 1849 left five daughters as his heiresses.'" Chequers came to the youngest, Rosalind, the wife of Colonel Astley,*17 and she took the additional names of Frank- land-Russell in 1872. On her death in 1900 she was succeeded by her son Bertrand Frankland-Russell- Astley, who was lord of the manor till his death in 1904. Chequers is now in the hands of the trustees of his son Henry Frankland-Russell-Astley, a minor. Chequers Court is situated in a small valley in a position south-south-east of the parish church. The many small hills by which it is surrounded and the slopes and spurs of the Chilterns forming the park are thickly wooded with beech trees, interspersed with larch, holly, and box. The present house dates from the end of the I5th century, but is on the site of an earlier building of which no traces remain. The 15th-century house appears to have consisted of a central block with two projecting wings, the fourth side of the court being probably formed by a wall. In 1565 the house was much altered by Sir William Hawtrey, but the present north and east fronts are apparently a part of the earlier work, though re-decorated. The west wing was completely rebuilt by Sir George Russell towards the end of the i8th century, and the south front was at the same time much altered, while both fronts were stuccoed and gothicized in the approved manner of that date. A small wing with a clock tower was added, a little later, at the south- west. Considerable alterations were made during the i gth century, and a good deal of oak panelling is said to have been cleared out. In more recent years, however, the house has been restored to something approaching its original form. The gables which had been battlemented have been restored and the stucco almost completely cleared off. Mullioned windows have also been inserted in place of some of the 1 8th- century sashes and the court has been covered in to form a hall. The library is a large gallery occupying the greater part of the west wing, and though altered in the i8th century retains its mullioned windows. Over the bay window appear the Croke arms. Over the drawing-room bay, a part of the 1 6th-century work, appear the Hawtrey arms and the initials A.H. and W.H., with the date 1565. The house contains many pictures of great interest and a large collection of Cromwellian relics, including some of the Protec- tor's clothes, his sword, jack boots, &c., and several contemporary portraits. The church of ST. PETER JND ST. CHURCH PAUL "" consists of a chancel 30 ft. by 1 8 ft. with south organ chamber and vestry ; a nave 52 ft. by 21 ft. 2 in. with south aisle 119 Cf. Sir Alexander Croke, Gen. Hist, of the Croke Family ,• Visitation of Bucks, 1566 (ed. Metcalfe). 200 Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 14 & 15 Edw. I. "M B.M. Add. R. 22213 ; ibid. 7383. 202 Chan. Inq. p.m. 27 Edw. Ill, pt. I, no. 35. «°» Ibid. 17 Hen. VI, no. 38. 2" Ibid. (Ser. 2), Ixxiii, no. +. 405 Ibid. *• Gen. Hist, of the Croke Family. *? Ibid. *» Feet of F. Bucks. East. 36 Eliz. 809 Gen. Hist, of the Croke Family. 810 Feet of F. Bucks. East. 16 Chas. I. 811 Cat. of Com. for Compounding, i, 68. 818 Recov. R. Bucks. Mich. 12 Chas. II. 818 Feet of F. Bucks. Trin. 3 Jas. II. 214 Ibid. Mich. 3 Will, and Mary. 215 Ibid. Hil. 2 Anne. 916 Recov. R. East. 32 Geo. I. 81 ' Berry, Bucks. Pedigrees. »8 Recov. R. East. 5 Geo. III. 819 G.E.C. Complete Baronetage. 336 220 Lipscomb, Hist, of Bucks, ii, 196. 821 Lysons, Magna Brit. \, 555. 222 Berry, Bucks. Gen. 223 Lysons, Magna Brit, i, 555. 824 G.E.C. Complete Baronetage. 125 Burke, Landed Gentry, I 906. 836 Ibid. Peerage and Baronetage. ™ Ibid. Landed Gentry, i 906. 228 In a lawsuit of the time of Edward I the dedication is given as in honour of St, Peter only i De Banco R. 15,. m. 26. £ o x h I u tf 3 o s o flC U E U at 3 r U z u AYLESBURY HUNDRED EI,LESBOROUGH 9 ft. wide, south porch, and a south-west tower 1 o ft. 6 in. square, all measurements being internal. The whole building seems to be of 15th-century date, with modern additions and repairs, and has had its outer surface entirely renewed, so that hardly a trace of old work shows on the outside. The situation is an unusually fine one at the top of a •pur of the Chiltern Hills, 500 ft. above the Ordnance datum and overlooking the Vale of Aylesbury. The east window of the chancel is completely modern and of three cinquefoiled lights with tracery over. The two windows in the north wall of the chancel are also modern and of late 14th-century detail, that to the east being of two lights, and that to the west of three, while in the south wall is a two-light window like that opposite to it on the north and the door and arch to the vestry and organ chamber, all modern and of plain detail. In this wall is a small i£th-century piscina with a shelf and a bracket, the head of its recess being embattled. The chancel arch is also much restored, but in the main of 1 5th-century date. The nave is of five bays and is lit on the north by three large three-light windows with modern tracery of 15th-century detail in 15th-century openings. The blocked north door is between the west pair of windows and is of two moulded orders contemporary with the rest ; it has a trefoiled recess for holy water to the east. The south arcade is of four bays with four-centred arches of two moulded orders, octagonal pillars and capitals, the abaci of the capitals being slightly concave in plan. West of the arcade is a single arch to the tower which is built at the west end of the aisle. The arch detail is identical with that in the nave arcade, while the abacus of the west respond of the arcade is con- tinued round the north-east pier of the tower and runs into the capitals of the tower arches. The west window of the nave is of three lights like those on the north and, like them, has modern tracery in a 15th-century opening. The west door externally is completely modern but the internal reveal and moulded rear-arch are of 1 5th-century date. At the east end of the south wall of the aisle is a two-light window similar in detail, date, and degree of restoration to the north windows of the nave, but somewhat broader in proportion. The south door opposite the fourth bay of the arcade is continuously moulded with a double ogee and, externally at least, is quite modern. West of this is a modern single cinquefoiled light with tracery over. The south porch is completely modern and has a continuously moulded entrance arch of 14th-century detail, over which are a pair of modern niches containing figures of St. Peter and St. Paul. The south-west tower is of three stages with an embattled parapet and a south-east octagonal turret staircase, it is of considerable height with belfry windowsof two cinquefoiled lights, single trefoiled lights in the second stage, and a two-light west window on the ground stage. The font has an octagonal 14th-century bowl upon a modern base and stem. The bowl is moulded and of ogee profile, its faces being panelled with flowing tracery in relief. The roofs throughout are modern. In a recess in the aisle is a handsome black and white marble monument to Bridget Croke, 1638. On a moulded sarcophagus of black marble is the white marble effigy of a woman in the costume of the period of Charles I, an extremely well executed and well preserved piece of work, the various details of the costume being treated with the utmost care and exact- ness. Above the effigy is a white marble semicircular pediment springing from the cornice of a complete entablature of the composite order, which is supported on either hand by a free and an engaged black marble column with white marble bases and capitals. The soffit of the entablature is panelled, the panels having alternately cherubs' heads and rosettes in relief. The inscription is cut on a slate slab let into the white C»OKI. Cults a feat btrwctn six martlets ar- gent with a triseent tablt on the feu* for dijftmct. HAWTHIT. Arftnl four leopards fauant btnd- vaays ktnottn doubli totssis table. marble back and has no date. Above is Croke impaling Hawtrey, between Croke and a lozenge with Hawtrey. In the north aisle on the wall is a brass with the figures of Thomas Hawtrey, I 544, Sybil his wife, and eleven sons and seven daughters, with the Hawtrey shield, apparently engraved over another coat. Below is the inscription of another brass to Mary, ' somtyme the wyfe of Willm Hawtrey,' who died in 1 555. In the floor of this aisle are slabs to the following : Henry Croke, 1588, with the Croke arms quartering a fesse nebuly between three rings ; Henry Croke, 1662, with Croke quartering a shield bearing a chaplet ; Sir Robert Croke, 1680, with Croke bearing the last quartered shield in pretence, and Susannah Croke, 1685. In the chancel is also a slab to Robert Wallis, rector, 1666. In the windows of the organ chamber are preserved a few fragments of 1 5th and I jth-century glass. There is no woodwork of any interest in the church, but in the vestry is a large chest with handsome brass hinges, lock-plate, &c. of 1 7th-century date. The tower contains six bells, the treble cast by Mean and Stainbank in 1870; the second, third, fourth, and tenor by Thomas Mean, 1823, and the fifth by G. Mean, 1863. The church plate consists of a large covered cup of 1 569, of extremely graceful design with a band of typical Elizabethan ornament. The sacred monogram and some of the Crucifixion emblems have been engraved on it at a later date ; there are also a plated flagon and salver. The first book of the registers contains all entries between 1603 and 1663. The second book (over- lapping the first) contains baptisms from 1659 to 1739 ; burials from 1660 to 1739, with burials in woollen from 1678 and marriages from 1662 to 1739. A third book contains all entries from 1740, baptisms and burials running to 1812, and marriages to 1753. A fourth book contains the marriages and banns from 1754 to 1812. 337 43 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE Towards the close of the reign of JDPOJfSON Henry II Gervase Paganell, then lord of Dudley honour, granted to the priory of Sandwell, in Staffordshire, as much of the church of Ellesborough as appertained to his honour.*29 In 1398 the prior and convent obtained leave to impropriate their half of the church,830 and on the death or resignation of the rector then holding the benefice, to serve it by a secular priest or by one of the monks of Sandwell. In the 1 5th century a lease of the advowson and half the rectory nl was held under the priory by Henry Danvers, William Danvers, and Joan Selwood in turn."' In I 5 24, however, the house was dissolved, and no vicarage is mentioned amongst Its possessions,*35 but only the advowson of the rectory of Ellesborough and tenements there, and in 1535 the benefice is described as a rectory.*34 The priory of Sandwell was amongst the religious houses dissolved and granted to Cardinal Wolsey for the endowment of his new college at Oxford,*35 and the advowson and half the rectory of Ellesborough were in consequence given to Cardinal College.'36 When Wolsey fell from the king's favour his foundation was deprived of many of its possessions ; those in Elles- borough passed by an exchange, made in 1531 by Henry VIII, to the Carthusian Priory of Sheen.*37 After the dissolution of Sheen in I 5 39,138 the advow- son of the church of Ellesborough was granted to William Sewster, who, however, very shortly obtained leave to alienate it to William Gardiner and his wife Anne.*39 Gardiner died seised of the advowson in I558,'10 but his son and heir John Gardiner sold it to Roland Beresford.'41 The advowson changed hands from this time with great rapidity, passing from Beresford to Henry Newman in 1599-1600,"'* and from Newman to Thomas Weedon in 1 620.'" Weedon held it at his death in 1624.,'" but his brother and heir William sold it to Robert Wallis, clerk, ten years later.*" His family still held the advowson in I725,*44abut before 1728 it had passed in- to the possession of Joseph Wells of Aston Clinton."4 He died in 1732, and the advowson passed to his son the Rev. Joseph Wells, who was still the patron of the living in i8i3.'45a In the previous year he had sold the advowson to Sir Robert Greenhill Russell, presumably reserving to himself the next presenta- tion.!4S It is now in the hands of the Frankland- Russell-Astleys. The moiety of the rectory granted to the prior of Sandwell by Gervase Paganell was held with the advowson until the sale of the latter to Sir Robert Greenhill Russell ; Joseph Wells appears to have retained the rectorial estate in his own hands. Allotments were made under the Inclosure Act of 1803 for the glebe rights of common and the great and small tithes. On the death of the Rev. Joseph Wells in 1818, the allotment passed to his widow, with remainder to her son Fleetwood Wells. The lords of the honour of Wolverton probably granted their half of the church of Ellesborough to their sub- tenants, with the manor of Grove. William Brito presented to the church in the reign of Henry II,"' and his heirs Richard de Seyton and his wife Alice claimed the advowson in 1276 against the Prior of Sandwell.*48 The plaintiffs lost their case, not, how- ever, because they had no right to the advowson, but because their moiety of the church was not vacant at the time. When Thomas de Seyton granted the manor of Grove to John, Archbishop of York, and others in I446,"9 the advowson of the church of Ellesborough was also alienated.130 The Verneys were enfeoffed of the advowson,251 but it seems probable that the right to present to the church of Ellesborough was not claimed by their successors the Eggletons. From the 1 7th century certainly the patrons of the other moiety alone have presented to the benefice. Lands in Ellesborough were given for lights in the church, and they were valued, after the dissolution of chantries by Edward VI, at 7/. yearly/5' There is a Baptist chapel at Chalkshire, which was built in I873- Dame Elizabeth Dodd's Charity for CHARITIES almspeople and pensioners, founded by will bearing date 2 March 1720, and the subsidiary endowments are regulated by scheme of the Charity Commissioners of 28 July 1885, as varied by a scheme of 1 1 April 1899. The trust estate consists of 36 a. I r. 15 p. in Great Kimble, let at ^75 a year, and 5 acres of pasture land in Ayles- bury, let at £16 a year, and £2,456 l^j. zd. India 3 per cent. Stock, with the Official Trustees, the rents and dividends making a gross income of In 1 907 the four inmates received 5*. a week and £2 each in clothing, and 6s. a week was paid to four out-pensioners. The Poors' Allotment consists of 45 acres or there- abouts of scrub land allotted to the poor for fuel on the inclosure. The sporting rights are let at ^lo a year, which is the only income, and is, after payment of rates, &c., distributed among the non- ratepayers. In 1907, 2/. was given to seventy-one persons. The charity of Dame Louisa Anne Frankland Russell founded by will, proved 1871, is regulated by scheme of the Charity Commissioners of 4 January 1878 as modified by scheme of 3 July 1885. The trust fund consists of .£218 12s. loj. consols, with the Official Trustees, producing yearly £5 9*. \d.t which is added to the funds of the coal and clothing clubs, containing in 1907 fifty-nine members. a>> Dugdalc, Man. iv, 90. *"° Cal. of Papal Letters, v, 263. 481 DC Banco R. East. Hen. VII, m. 377 d- 282 Ct. of Requests, bdle. I, no. 5 ; Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 235, no. 41 ; ibid. bdle. 1 60, no. 9. 288 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. z), Ixxvi, no. J. *" Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv, 249. 2"5 L. and P. Hen. Vlll, iv (i), 650, 697. 236 Ibid. 1913 (i), 1167 (i) ; ibid. (2), 4001 (2), (3), 5117 (i)} Pat. 17 Hen. VIII, pt. i, m. 38 ; Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 18 Hen. VIII. *»7 L. and P. Hen. VIII, v, 403 : vi, 299 (ix). 188 Dugdale, Man. vi, 30. "• Pat. 36 Hen. VIII, pt. iii ; L. and P. Hen. yill, xix (2), 166 (82). 410 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cxviii, no. 3. *1 Feet of F. Bucks. East. 35 Eliz. "I » Ibid. Hil. 42 Eliz. <"a Ibid. Mich. 17 Jas. I. 248 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccxx, no. 90. *" Feet of F. Buck». Trin. 10 Chas. I; Common Pleas Recov. R. Trin. 10 Chas. I, m. 9. 2«» Feet of F. Bucks. Hil. 12 Chas. I ; 338 Trin. 34 Chas. II ; Trin. 36 Chas. II ; P.R.O. Inst. Bks. 1665, 1686, 1722 ; Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. I Jas. II; Mich. 12 Geo. I. 245 Lysons, Magna Brit, i, 555. *ta P.R.O. Inst. Bks. 1 745, 1749, 1804; Lysons, Magna Brit, i, 555. 246 Sheahan, Hist, and Tofog. of Bucks. 122. *« De Banco R. 15, m. 26. "48 Ibid. *» Feet of F. Bucks. East. 24 Hen. VI ; B.M. Add. Chart. 7383. m Recov. R. Trin. 21 Hen. VIII. 251 Exch. Inq. p.m. 25, no. 12. 152 Chant. Cert. Bucks. 5, no. 67. AYLESBURY HUNDRED HALTON HALTON The parish of Halton lies on the northern slopes of the Chiltcrn Hills, and comprises 1, 45 5 J acres.1 It is well wooded, particularly on the higher and southern parts, about four-sevenths of the total area being woodland. The highest point, about 800 ft. above the Ordnance datum, is in H.ilton Wood, but in the northern part of the parish the land lies for the most p.ut between 300 ft. and 400 ft. above the Ordnance datum. The Wendover branch of the Grand Junc- tion Canal crosses the parish near the village of Halton, but there are no natural streams of any size in the parish. The most important road passing through the parish is the Upper Icknield Way. The village lies on a cross road running between the Upper and Lower Icknield Ways, joining the latter near Weston Turville village. The nearest station is at Wendover, 2 miles distant, on the Metropolitan Extension Rail- way. The people are mainly occupied in agriculture, There are gas-works on the Grand Junction Canal. The principal building in the parish is the great modern house of Mr. Alfred de Rothschild. The manor of HALTON seems to have M4NOR been in the possession of the monastery of Christchurch, Canterbury, in the latter part of the loth century. A tradition names Queen Edith ' as the first donor of the manor in 959, but there seems to be no documentary evidence of such a grant. Possibly it came into the hands of the monastery at the same time as Monks Risborough,' which certainly belonged to Christ- church before 995.' There are charters concerning land in Halton of Archbishop ^Ethel- noth about 1033,' and Arch- bishop Eadsige between 1045 and 1052.* Both were dated from Monks Risborough and related to the gift of land at Halton by one To- briges, who gave it after his death to Christ- church. In the time of Edward the Confessor the manor came into the possession of Earl Leolwine,' who probably had no right to it, for the family of Godwine were accused of despoiling the church of its lands.' Archbishop Lanfranc apparently held the manor after the Norman Conquest,' but there was no distinction made at that time between the lands of the archbishop and the lands of the monastery. The restitution of Halton was probably obtained before CHRISTCIU RCH, CAN- Ti»u»r. Azure a emit argent with the sacred monogram £ table upon the troll. 1074, and as the king gave it without demanding any price, theclaim of the monastery must have been strong.10 In the division of the lands between the archbishop and the monks " under Lanfranc, Halton went to the monastery," and the prior held the manor in chief of the king in frankalmoign until the Dissolution,1* when it was worth £21 14*. 4^. a year." In 1541 Henry VIII granted it to the newly-formed Chapter of Canterbury " in frankalmoign, but four years later they were forced to make an exchange of lands with the king," and it was sold to Henry Bradshawe " to hold as one-fortieth of a knight's fee for 800 marks. He probably belonged to the family of Bradshawe of Wendover. There is a brass in Wendover Church to William Bradshawe, who died in 1537, giving a list of his nine chil- dren and twenty-three grand- children, and it is possible that Henry Bradshawe was his eldest son. Henry was a member of the Inner Temple, and served as reader, treasurer, and governor of the society." He became solicitor-general in 1540," attorney-general five years later,10 and in 1552 Chief Baron of the Ex- chequer." Very little is known about him beyond the outlines of his career. He was Chief Baron till the end of the reign of Edward VI, and witnessed that king's will in favour of Lady Jane Grey. He died a few weeks after the accession of Mary in 1553, and so escaped removal from his office or further dis- grace. According to his will the manor passed to his widow Joan during the minority of his heir," and she was in seisin in 1562." His heir was his son Benedict," who was a minor at the time of his father's death. He only survived him a few months," and the reversion of the manor passed to his two sisters, Christiane the wife of Thomas Winchcombe, and Bridget the wife of Henry White. Christiane died in I 5 5 7," and her husband came into possession of her moiety of the manor and held it till his death B»AD>HAWI. tVfO ban gulei nine lecfardi or. Azure in 1574 .** when her son Benedict Winchcombe ' succeeded him. Benedict Winchcombe had however quitclaimed 'the manor in his father's lifetime " to his aunt Bridget, Benedict Bradshawe's other co-heiress, and her second husband Thomas son of Richard Fermor, a merchant of the Staple of Calais, who settled at Easton Neston (Northants)." Thomas, though a younger 1 Information (applied by Bd. of Agric. (190;). By thii there ire 1,112 icrei of woodland, 271 acre* of arable and 566 acres of gratt, which girea a total exceed- in,' the area of the parnh, owing to the returni being made by the farmer! of landi cultivated by them which •ometimei citrnd into other parUhea. LipKomb, Hht. tf Such, ii, 219, Ci". Monki Riiborough. Kemble, Cod. Difl. dcluuix. 'i'l. mcccxxi. I , . rncccixxvi. • y.C.II. Buiki. i, 233*. •Ibid. 210. •Ibid. 233*. 10 Dugdale, Man. i, 97. 11 Somner, Antij. tf Cam. ill. u Tetta de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 245*. " llunJ. K. (Rec. Com.), i, 20, 44 ; Cat. Pat. 1429-36, p. 418 | L. end P. Hn. yill, xyi, 87* (59). " ytltr Eul. (Rec. Com.), i, IJ. " L. and P. Hen. fill, x»i, 878 (59) ; Pat. 33 Hen. VIII. pt. 9, m. 20. " Pat. 37 Hen. VIII, pt. 6, m. 41. W L.tnd P.He*. F7//,ii(i), 465 (51) ; Pat. 36 Hen. VIII, ft. 9, m. 63 ( Orig. R. ft. 5, 36 Hen. VIII, 101. u Foat, J*d[tt of Enfl. T, 292. 339 » Pat. 32 Hen. VIII, pt. 5, m. 55. 10 Pat. 37 Hen. VIII, pt. 13, m. 21. 11 Pat. 6 Edw. VI, pt. 6, m. 13. ** Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), c. no. 2, clxxKJv, no. i ; cii, no. 7. » Lay Subi. R. (P.R.O.), bdle. 79, no. 188 ; bdle. 79, no. 190. " Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), c. no. 2. •* Ibid, cii, no. 7. * Ibid, cliiiuv, no. I. W Ibid. » Ibid. * Feet of F. Buck*. Hil. 19 Elii. ; Pat. 19 Klir. pt. 3, m. (22). •" Collina, Peerage (ed. Brydgej), ir, 200-1. A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE FF.RMOK. Bendy of eight pieces or and gules and a chief argent with three jleurt de Its azure therein. son, inherited the estate of his uncle at Summertown and Tusmore, Oxon, besides holding the greater part of the Bradshawe estates.31 He represented the borough of Wycombe in 1562—3," but does not seem to have been a member in later Parliaments. He died before his wife,3* and at her death the manor of Halton passed to their son and heir Richard,34 a child of three. After attaining his majority, he settled the manor in 1598 upon Sir Francis Wolley and his wife Mary,35 with contingent remainder to Lady Elizabeth Egerton, the mother of Sir Francis. On the death of Sir Francis in 1601 36 Halton re- verted to Sir Richard Fermor, who was holding it in 1641." Henry Fermor, presumably the son and heir of Sir Richard, was a papist,38 and had to compound in 1647 for £556 for his reversionary estate in Halton. A settlement was made of the manor in 1656" between Henry Fermor and a younger Richard, presu- mably his son and heir, and in 1671 Henry Fermor bought from Lord Hawley and other trustees for the sale of rents belonging to the Crown the fee-farm rent *° of 4O/. "]\d. due from the manor of Halton. Richard Fermor succeeded Henry before 1678, in which year he leased the manor for ninety-nine years,41 probably in mortgage, to Sir Thomas Crewe, Edmund Verney, Ralph Sheldon, Basil Drake, and Ambrose Holbech, for whom presumably the last-named acted, as his name appears in a settlement of the manor made in 1684," and he presented to the rectory, which was leased at the same time.43 Halton passed to Henry Fermor before 1684," and to his son James before 1719." In the next year James Fermor w sold the manor with its appur- tenances and a water-mill to Francis Dashwood, afterwards Sir Francis Dashwood, ban., whose de- scendants held it for more than a hundred years,47 and his grandson, Sir John Dashwood King, lived at Halton Manor House,43 but after his death it was unoccupied for some time. The manor was sold either by his executors or by his son George Dashwood in 1851 ts to Baron Lionel de Rothschild, and Mr. Alfred de Rothschild is the present lord of the manor. The prior and convent of Christchurch obtained a grant of free warren in their demesne lands in Halton from King Edward II in i3i6,M and the grant was afterwards confirmed by Edward III " and Henry VI.5' In the latter charter, reference is made to a charter of Henry II, granting warren in the lands of the church of Holy Trinity, Canterbury, in Buck- inghamshire and Oxfordshire,53 so that the monks of Christchurch had presumably exercised the privilege long before the grant of Edward II. The prior also claimed to hold the view of frankpledge in Halton,54 and to have waifs and the chattels of felons and fugi- tives, and was quit of suit to the shire and hundred courts for himself and his men.55 When his privi- leges were challenged by Edward I he quoted a charter of William the Conqueror5* to Archbishop Anselm with a long list of ancient privileges. He also claimed to have his own gallows, tumbril, and pillory, but it was said that neither tumbril or pillory existed at Halton.57 No privileges are mentioned in the grant to Henry Bradshawe, nor in documents relating to the Fermors. In 1786, however, George Dashwood claimed certain general privileges in the manor,58 and presumably both the Fermors and Dash- woods held the view of frankpledge. A piece of land in Halton appears to have been parcel of the honour of Gloucester in the 1 4th and 151)1 centuries. Presumably it had formed part of the lands of Walter Giffard, Earl of Buckingham,59 many of which descended to the Earls of Gloucester, and from them to the Earls of Stafford, who were overlords of a knight's fee, or part of a fee, in Halton in the 1 4th century. In 1386°° John Hampden was the tenant of this land, and may presumably be identified with the John Hampden who inherited Upton Manor in Great Kimble in I377-61 His heir is mentioned in 1460," but this land in Halton is not again referred to. The church of ST. MICHAEL is a CHURCH completely modern structure consisting of a shallow chancel, a nave of four bays with north and south aisles, and a western tower. It was built in 1813 and is faced with Heath stone, and designed in a poor adaptation of 13th-century style. The nave is separated from the aisles by arcades of four bays with pointed arches and columns with foliate capitals. The windows are either lancets or have simple tracery. The tower is a small one of three stages with an embattled parapet, and contains a stair to a small gallery, projected through the tower arch, which serves as an organ loft. The seating, fittings, woodwork, &c., are all modern, except the font, which is of late 18th-century date. It is con- structed of white marble inlaid with coloured marbles, and has a small square bowl, ornamented with grotesques, which is supported upon a twisted stem. The only trace remaining of the old church, which occupied about the same site, is some stone curbing laid down to the east of the present church, marking the lines of the old chancel. In the sanctuary, affixed to the north wall, is a brass, removed from the old church, with the figures of a man in armour, his wife, four sons, and four daughters. The inscription runs : ' Orate p alab} 81 Collins, Peerage (ed. Brydges), iv, Zoo- 1. »2 Ret. ofMemb. of Parl. 88 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), clxxxviii, no. i. M Ibid. M Ibid. (Ser. 2), Misc. 9 Jas. I, dviii, no. 8. M Ibid. w Lay Subs. R. (P.R.O.), bdle. 80, no. 302. 88 Cal. of Com. for Compounding, i, 68. 89 Recov. R. Trin. 1656. 40 Close, 24 Cha«. II, pt. 9, no. 12. 41 Ibid. 43 Recov. R. Trin. 36 Chas. II. 48 Notes of F. Bucks. Hil. ; 30 & 31 Chas. II; (P.R.O.), Inst. Bks. 1691. 44 Recov. R. Trin. 36 Chas. II. 48 Ibid. Hil. 6 Geo. I. 46 Close, 7 Geo. I, pt. 18, no. 21. 47 Recov. R. Trin. 26 Geo. Ill ; Lysons, Magna Brit, i, 567. 48 Ibid. 49 Sheahan, Hist, and Tofog. of Bucks. 138. 50 Chart. R. IO Edw. II, m. 24, no. 60. 61 Ibid. 38 Edw. Ill, no. 156, m. 8, no. >5- 34° " Cal. Pat. 1429-36, p. 418. » Ibid. w Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 20. " Plac. de Quo (far. (Rec. Com.), 86-7. * Ibid. *7 Ibid. " Recov. R. 26 Geo. III. 69 Cf. Great Kimble. 60 Chan. Inq. p.m. 10 Ric. II, no. 38 ; ibid. 16 Ric. II (pt. i), no. 27. « Cf. Great Kimble. M Chan. Inq. p.m. 38 & 39 Hen. VI, m. 59. AYLESBURY HUNDRED HALTuN henrici Bradschawe Armig'i capitfis bardl seen dm Regis & Johane uxoris eius qui quidem hcnric' obiit vii° xxvij0 die julie a° dnlmv'liij A°R^ V Reg' E vi" cui' Sic ppicietf dcf.' On another plate is a shield of arms : Two bends and a chief with a fleur de lis between two roses dimidiated, quartering quarterly I and 4, Party bendwise a crosslet, 2 and 3, On a cross five lozenges, the whole impaling a trellis. This is perhaps a memorial of a Fermor marriage. The tower contains four bells, cast by John Briant of Hertford in 1814. The church plate comprises a covered cup of 1 569, the foot of which was remade in the 1 7th century ; an unmarked standing paten and a salver of 18th- century date and a ewer of 1830. The first book of the registers contains baptisms from 1663 to 1718, marriages from 1607 to 17*4, with a gap between 1639 and 1654, and burials from 1606 to 1773, with notes of affidavits of burials in woollen from 1678. The second book contains baptisms from 1729 to 1757, marriages from 1744 to 1757 with a gap between 1751 and 1754, after which date the entries are in the form of the 1754 printed book, and burials between 1729 to 1770. The third book contains marriages with banns between 1760 and 1812 ; and the fourth baptisms from 1763, and burials from 1783, both running to 1812. The church of Halton, like that 4DVOWSON of Monks Risborough, belonged to the deanery of Risborough, in the exempt jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury." The exempt jurisdiction was abolished in 1 841," and Halton, like Monks Risborough, is now in the diocese of Oxford. The church of Halton presumably came into the possession of the monastery of Christchurch, Canterbury, as early as the manor, but it is not defi- nitely mentioned till the 1 3th century. After the separation of the monastic and episcopal possessions it passed to the archbishops," who held the advowson of the church until the reign of Henry VIII." Arch- bishop Cranmer surrendered it" with the ratification of the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury to the king, and Henry VIII granted it in 1565-6™ to Sir Edward North and his wife Alice. Edward VI ap- pears to have made reparation for the loss of the advowson of Halton Rectory to the Archbishop of Canterbury," but it was itself never recovered. Sir Edward North sold it in 1 548-9 n to Henry Brad- shawe, and from him it passed to the Fermors. In 1667 the advowson was quitclaimed by Henry and Richard Fermor to Henry and Francis Harris and the heirs of Henry," and the latter probably presented in 1678. John Harris was the new rector, and in a list of rectors :l he is said to have been presented by Francis Harris, and admitted by Archbishop Sancroft, but owing presumably to some confusion the arch- bishop is said elsewhere to have collated to the rectory himself in that year." The right to present to the rectory passed for the next time to William Wilmer, who exercised his right in 1685." Some years pre- viously, however, in 1678," Richard Fermor had granted a lease of the advowson for 99 years, and the lessee, Ambrose Holbech, presented to the rectory twice in 1691.™ The Fermors recovered possession of the advowson before 1719,'' and it was sold with the manor to Sir Francis Dashwood,™ and has since then been in the possession of the lord of the manor,™ Mr. Alfred de Rothschild being the present patron of the living. The rectors of Halton do not seem to have been in any way distinguished like many of the clergy in Buckinghamshire. Two of them indeed seem to have had an unenviable reputation. In 1 3 1 8 " Philip de Walton was accused with several others of theft at Hulcott, and in the 1 7th century John Larimer obtained a grant of pardon " for the man- slaughter of ' Christopher Harper, his servant, who was hurt through his passionate and indiscreet correc- tion, but lived 9 months after.' In 1553, as appears from a Decree CHARITIES of Commissioners for Charitable Uses, 1630, Mrs. Alix Bradshawein her will gave out of her lands in Edlesborough and Dagnall 2O/. a year, of which 6/. SJ. was for the poor of Halton. See under Wendover. The annuity is paid by Earl Brownlow. The poor of this parish are entitled to a moiety of the income of Mrs. Joan 1'radshaw's Charity in Wend- over. In 1906 the sum of £16 121. 6J. was received as the half share of the George Inn, Wendover. Widow Turpin's Charity consisted of a rent-charge of 1 8/. payable out of a close called Turpin's Spring, in this parish, which is distributed in bread at the church porch on St. Thomas's Day. An annuity of £1 is paid by Mr. A. C. de Rothschild. Edmund Lambert, M.D., by will dated 1st Octo- ber 1866, administration of which was granted 5 February 1878, left a sum of ordinary stock of the Great Western Railway, now represented by £100 like stock, the dividends to be applied for the benefit of the poor. The stock, together with a sum of I ii. \d. consols, is held by the Official Trustees, pro- ducing in 1907 £5 7/. 6J. The incomes of these charities are administered to- gether. In 1906 £18 was distributed in money, £5 in blankets, and £i in bread. • Cf. Monkt Riiborough. « Ibid. » Ctl. Pat. 1 131-47, p. 199. 14 fa/or Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv, 249. « Pit. 37 Hen. VIII, pt. 14. " Ibid. •• Pat. I Edw. VI, pt. i, m. 16. 7« Feet of F. Buck*. Hil. i Edw. VI; Ent. a Edw. VI. 1 Feet of F. Bucka. Mich. 19 Chai. II. '* Lipicomb, Hiit. of Bucki. ii, 119. 7* P.R.O. Intl. Bki. 1678. '« Ibid. 1685. 7> Notes of F. Bucki. Hil. 30 & 31 Chai. II. 7* P.R.O. In.t. Bki. 1691. tf Recov. R. Hil. 6 Ceo. I. "* Cloae, 7 Geo. I, pt. 18, no. 21. ?• Recov. R. Trin. 26 Geo. Ill ; Intt. Bki. (P.R.O.), 1736, I755,>765. '8°5. 1826; Shcahan, Hut. and Tofog. of Bucki. 138. 10 Cal.Pat. 1317-11, p. IOO. n Ctl. S.P. Dam. 1667, p. 459. 341 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE HULCOTT Hulcott is a small parish in the Vale of Aylesbury, lying on the Hertfordshire border, and containing 74-of acres of land,1 of which 36 acres are arable hnd, 595 acres permanent grass, and no woods.3 The population is almost entirely occupied in agriculture, and as might be expected from the large proportion of pasture to arable land, the farms are chiefly grazed by dairy stock. The land lies between 200 ft. and 300 ft. above the Ordnance datum ; 3 the subsoil is Kimme- ridge Clay and Portland Beds,4 and the surface is clay. The parish is well watered by the Thistle Brook, and there is water in the village of Hulcott. No main road passes through the parish, two branch roads from the Aylesbury to Tring road being the most important. The Aylesbury branch of the Lon- don and North- Western Railway passes through the parish, and the nearest station is Marston Gate, on the same line, 2 miles away. An Act of Parlia- ment was obtained for the inclosure of the two parishes of Bierton and Hulcott, and the award was given on 15 July 1780.' The village stands round a wide green, the church being on the east side, and the manor house near it on the south. There is a moated site to the east of the church, with water in some parts of the moat. The vicarage stands on the south of the village green, the schools on the west, and scattered cottages on the north-west. The manor house has been modernized, but the staircase is of early 17th-century date, and in the panels of its timber partitions are some well- preserved contemporary paintings, with the stories of Phaedra and Hercules. There appears to be no record of the M4NOR manor of HULCOTT before the I3th century. In 1254, however, it was held of the honour of Wormegay,6 which at that time was held by William Bardolf, through his mother, Beatrix, the heiress of William de Warenne, of Wormegay.7 His descendants in the direct line held the overlord- ship of Hulcott till the reign of Henry IV,8 when Thomas, Lord Bardolf, was attainted and forfeited his lands.9 His two daughters and heiresses recovered many of his possessions,10 but the overlordship of Hulcott appears to have lapsed. The manor was held by the family of Graunt under the Bardolfs in the 1 3th century. In 1254 and 1284 William Graunt was lord of Hulcott, which he held by charter of the king.11 He lived till after the year 1290, and was succeeded by his son Walter Graunt." In 1322 Walter made a settlement of the manor, excepting certain tenements which had already been dealt with,13 by which he was to hold it for life, with remainder to his son William and Clarice wife of the litter." William succeeded his father in the manor,15 and died presumably towards the close of the reign of Edward III, leaving a daughter Joan as his heir.16 In 1369 17 William Brys or Bryd and his wife Joan made a settlement of half the manor, to be held by William and Joan and their heirs, or by default by the heirs of Joan. Hence it appears to have been held in her right, and probably this Joan was the daughter and heiress of William le Graunt. Two years later, however,18 William Bryd and his wife sold the manor to William Brancingham, with the homage and services of their tenants. In I 307 19 the son and heir of Joan daughter of William le Graunt was called John de Bury. There may have been a confusion in the names of Bury and Bryd, or Joan may have been married twice. The manor must have AAAAAA BUTLER. Or indented azure. been conveyed very shortly by Brancingham to James Butler, Earl of Ormond, who was holding certainly as early as 1396, and died seised of it in 1405."" His successor, the fourth e.irl, together with John Neel, clerk, granted the manor of Hulcott to James Butler, Earl of Wiltshire, son and heir of the earl, and others, and to the heirs of the body of the Earl of Wilt- shire.21 The Earl of Ormond died in 1452," and his son obtained licence to alienate the manor in mortmain to the hospital of St. Thomas of Aeon," of which John Neel was then master. The hospital was founded " by the sister of Thomas Becket, and the But- lers were her descendants. The master of the hospital25 and his successors were to find two priests to pray daily for the souls of the king and queen, and many of the an- cestors of the Earl of Wiltshire and Ormond. Of these, his father and mother were both buried at the hospital. A con- firmation of this grant of the manor was obtained from Parliament in I472.26 In 1535 " the hospital held the manor of Hulcott, which was then in lease to Benedict Lee for sixty-one years.*8 After the Dissolu- tion Henry VIII granted the reversion, and the rents HOSPITAL or ST. THOMAS or ACON. Azure a cross Jorrny party gules and argent. 1 Ord. Surv. 2 Inf. from Bd. of Agric. (1905). " Ord, Surv. « y.C.H. Bucks, i, Geological Map. 6 Com. Incl. Award. 6 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 20. 1 Excerpta e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), i, 411. 8 Feud. Aids, i, 86 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 32 Edw. I, no. 64* j ibid. 3 Edw. Ill (istnos.), no. 66 ; ibid. 13 Ric. II, no. 6 ; ibid. 4 Hen. IV, no. 39 ; ibid. 7 Hen. IV, no. 1 9. 9 Parl. R. (Rec. Com.), iii, 6o6a. 10 Ibid, v, 222* ; Cal. Pat. 1405-8, p. 448. 11 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 20 ; Feud. Aids, i, 86. " Cal. Close, 1288-96, p. 132 ; Abbrev. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 344 j Chan. Inq. p.m. 32 Edw. I, no. 6411. 18 Feud. Aids, i, 112; De Banco R. Mich. 21 Ric. II. " Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 16 Edw. II, nos. 4, 5. 15 Chan. Inq. p.m. 13 Ric. II, no. 6. 16 De Banco, Mich. 21 Ric. II, R. of Protections and Chart. V Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 43 Edw. III. 18 Ibid. Hil. 45 Edw. III. 19 De Banco, Mich. 21 Ric. II, R. of Protections and Chart. 80 Chan. Inq. p.m. 7 Hen. IV, no. 19. 81 Ibid. 31 Hen. VI, no. n; Pail. R. (Rec. Com.), v, 2570. m Chan. Inq. p.m. 31 Hen. VI, no. n 88 Parl. R. (Rec. Com.), v, 257*. 21 Ibid. as Ibid, vi, 62*. * Ibid. V Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), i, 391. l*L.andP. Hen. Pill, xiv (i), 1056 (+7)- : STAIRS OF THE MANOR HOCSE AYLESBURY HUNDRED HULCOTT reserved on the lease, namely £14 13*. 4> Feet of F. Buck*. Hil. 39 Geo. III. ** Lyiont, Magna Brit, i, 582-3. *• Sheahan, Hiit. ami Tofof. tf Such. 163. *• Feet of F. Mich. 16 Edw. II. ** Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxlvi, 119; Recov. R. Hil. 14 Chat. I. *• Recor. R. Mich. 6 Geo. I. *' Feet of F. Buckt. Mich. 1652. " HunJ. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 47 ( Attrev. Plat. (Rec. Com.), 274. H Feet of F. Buckt. Trin. 24 Chat. II. 343 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE It has a plain chamfered outer arch and a square- headed window on the west. The east bay of the south arcade has an obtusely pointed arch of three chamfered orders and half- octagonal responds with moulded capitals and bases, while the second bay has plain splayed jambs without capital or base and an arch of two chamfered orders. It is roughly worked and of 16th-century date, the eastern arch being of much better detail, c. 1330. To the west of it a 14th-century window remains in the wall, unglazed, and having lost its central mullion ; its tracery is a 15th-century insertion, of two cinquefoiled lights with a quatrefoil over. The west window of the nave is of three cinquefoiled lights, contemporary with the north window. The south aisle has an east window of three trefoiled lights under a straight-lined four-centred head, and south of it is a small image bracket. To the north in the angle of the aisle is a blocked square-headed recess which seems to have been a squint to the chancel. The south and west windows of the aisle are of the same character as the east window, and all are of the 1 6th century, as is the rather clumsy trefoilsd piscina recess at the south-east. The south doorway seems to be 14th-century work of the first half of the century, and has a continuous casement moulding between two sunk chamfers with a label, much patched with Roman cement. The bell-turret is covered with modern weatherboard- ing and has a short spire ; in the belfry stage the beams have a double hollow chamfer. All the wood fittings of the church are modern, but in the south aisle is a 1 7th-century altar table ; the corbel for the south end of the rood-loft remains. The altar is modern with a white marble front elaborately carved in relief with the journey to Calvary. In the south aisle is an altar tomb against the south wall with a chamfered marble slab, evidently not in its original position, and having indents of the brasses of a man and his wife and one child, with four shields and a marginal inscription. The font at the west end of the south aisle is modern, octagonal with quatrefoiled panels on the bowl. There are three bells, the treble blank, the second apparently an alphabet bell with a blundered inscrip- tion, and the third of 1621 by James Keene of Woodstock. The plate consists of a chalice, paten, flagon, and alms- dish, of plated ware and modern date. The first book of the registers contains entries from 1539 to 1805, the second being the marriage register 1754-1810, and the third the baptisms and burials for 1806-12. In the 1 4th century the advowson ADVOWSQN of the church of Hulcott belonged to the Graunts,60 and from the heirs of William Graunt it probably passed with the manor to James Butler, Earl of Ormond. His grandson James, Earl of Wiltshire, granted it to the Hospital of St. Thomas of Aeon," in whose hands it remained till the dissolution of the hospital in 1538." In that year Benedict Lee presented to the rectory, by reason of a grant from the Hospital of St. Thomas of Aeon,65 but in the recital of two leases of the manor to Lee the advowson is expressly excepted.61 Still he may have obtained a separate lease from the hospital. Henry VIII granted the advowson of the rectory to Richard Greenway, subject to the lease to Lee.64 After Lee's death 66 his widow Joan held the advow- son, she and her second husband, Michael Harcourt, presenting to the rectory in 15 57." The advowson was sold, together with the manor, to John Fountain,68 and was held by the lords of the manor till 1741. In 1 666 ra George Wyatt presented, presumably hav- ing acquired the right for one time. Timothy Neale presented in 1679,'° and John Neale owned the advowson in 1 7 1 9." It was not sold to Sir John Fortescue Aland with the manor, but continued with the Neales, who, however, did not hold it for long, since in 1755 John Marriot presented." In 1768 the name of Edward Bangham occurs as patron,71 but he probably held the presentation for one time only. In 1776 '4 Thomas Marriot and his wife Jane sold the advowson to Stephen Langston, who pre- sented to the rectory in 1779 and 1790." The Rev. Stephen Langston appears as the next patron in 1 803." Rebecca Langston, presumably his widow, presented in 1817," and in 1819 John Brereton appears to have become possessed of the advowson, and was holding it about l847,78 but before 1862 it had passed to Dr. Kenny.79 It was shortly afterwards purchased by the Rothschilds, and Mr. Leopold de Rothschild is now the patron of the living. There are no endowed charities in this parish. 60 Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 16 Edw. II; Mich. 43 Edw. Ill ; Hil. 45 Edw. Ill; East. 26 Hen. VI. 61 Par!. R. (Rec. Com.), v, 257* ; vi, 6^a. M Dugdale, Man. vi, 646. 63 Lipscomb, Hist, of Bucks, ii, 340. "Pat. 31 Hen. VIII, pt. 3,m. 14. 65 Pat. 3 8 Hen. VIII.pt. 7. 66 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), jrcv, 4. 67 Lipscomb, Hist, of Bucks, ii, 34.0. 68 Feet of F. Bucks. East, and Trin. 13 Eliz. M (P.R.O.) Inst. Bks. 1666. 7° Ibid. 1679. 71 Recov. R. Mich. 6 Geo. I. 7' P.R.O. Inst. Bks. 1755. 7» Ibid. 1768. 7< Feet of F. Bucks. East. 16 Geo. HI. 7s P.R.O. Inst. Bks. 1770, 1790. 7«Ibid. 1803. 77 Lipscomb, Hist, of Bucks, ii, 340. 78 Ibid. ,H»f.a«J Tofog. ofJ3uclts,i6j. 344 AYLESBURY HUNDRED LEE LEE Legh, xiv cent. Lee (or The Lee) it a small parish, lying on the northern slopes of the Chiltern Hills. It contains 502 acres' of land, which are divided into arable and permanent pasture lands in nearly equal propor- tions. There are about 14 acres of old woodlands and about 16 acres of more recent plantings.' The land lies mainly between 600 ft. and 700 ft. above the Ordnance datum, the highest point rising to 730 ft.' The subsoil is chalk.4 The parish is very secluded, no highway or railway passing through it. Several winding by-roads are the chief thorough- fares ; one, starting out from the high road between Wendover and Amersham, forms the northern parish boundary from King's Ash to the hamlet of Lee Gate ; King's Lane, in which are some remains of the ancient earthwork known as Grim's Dike, also bounds the parish on the west and south. The village of Lee lies on another by-road, on three sides of a village green, on which is a large glacier-borne sand- stone rock dug up in the neighbourhood, and erected on a pedestal by the present lord of the manor. The village contains a small number of picturesque houses, farms, and cottages. The nearest stations are Wen- dover and Great Missenden, on the Metropolitan Ex- tension Railway, which are 4 and 3 miles away respectively. The official postal address for the village is The-Lee. The population is mainly employed in agriculture. Straw-plaiting was formerly a con- siderable industry and is still carried on to a limited extent. The manor house, which was restored and enlarged in 1901, is the residence of the lord of the manor, Mr. Arthur Lasenby Liberty. The manor of LEE is not mentioned MdNOR in Domesday Book, but from later evidence it seems probable that it was granted by the Conqueror to Odo, Bishop of Kayeux, and fol- lowed the same descent as Weston Turville,' being held of the honour of Leicester, and later of the Duchy of Lancaster.' In the 1 2th century it was held by Ralph de Halton,' but it is not clear whether he held it directly from the Earl of Leicester, or from the Turvilles as mesne lords. He was succeeded by Geoffrey de Turville, clerk,' the brother of William de Turville, who was lord of Weston Turville * at the close of the izth century. Geoffrey granted Lee to Missenden Abbey in franlcalmoign,10 and his grant was confirmed by William de Turville " and Robert, Earl of Leicester. Unfortunately the charters, though they appear in the index of the Missenden Cartulary, are missing in the text, but there are several papal confirmations" of the grant. In 1535" Lee and Brondes were enumerated amongst the temporalities of the monastery, and were valued at not. a year. Brondes was presumably a freehold farm in the neighbourhood of Lee. A reference in the Monastics records that Ralph Marshall, admitted Abbot of Missenden on 10 July 1356, was convicted of counter- feiting and clipping the king's coin, namely, groats and sterling, at his manor called ' Legh,' near Mis- senden. "* After the dissolution of Missenden Abbey the manor of Lee " remained in the possession of the Crown till Edward VI granted it in I 547 " to Lord Russell. Francis Russell, Earl of Bedford, succeeded him, and was probably holding it in 1583," when he mortgaged certain land in Lee. How long he retained the manor does not appear, but it is not mentioned in the inquisitions taken on his lands at his death, and at the death of his son." Its subsequent history is very obscure, but it seems probable that it passed into the hands of the Plaistowe family during the i/th cen- tury. William Plaistowe ob- tained a lease of the tithes in Lee in 1635 " for ninety- nine years. In 1641 " his land there was assessed at 50;. annual value, but it is not certain that he also held the manor. His family, however, was obviously established in Lee at this time, though on another supposition the Plaistowes only obtained the manor after the Civil War, during which many of the Russell estates were sequestered. Before 1665 William Plaistowe had been succeeded by Thomas Plaistowe, who may probably be identified with the Thomas Plaistowe of the Lee, whose monu- ment is in Lee Church.10 He died in 1715 at the age of eighty-seven. In a monument in Little Kimblc Church he is called Thomas Plaistowe of Amersham," and this suggests that he was the first of the family to own the manor, and that their chief estate had pre- viously been at Amersham. At Lee he was succeeded by his youngest son William, who married Dorothy the daughter of Richard Plaistowe of Small Deane." He in turn was succeeded by his son Thomas, pre- sumably the Thomas Plaistowe who died in 1785,° leaving an only daughter and heiress Elizabeth." She is said to have advertised ** for a husband, and by this means married an Irishman named Henry Deer- ing. Mrs. Deering died in 1812," and her husband held the manor for many yean after her death," Before 1861, however, it reverted to the family of Plaistowe, and in that year John Plaistowe was lord PLAISTOWC. Culit a lion argent tetn-etn Hva btndi or. 1 OrJ. Surv. A proposal ii it pment before the Buck* Count/ Council to en- large the emitting pariih of Lee bjr adding to it certain outlying portion! of the pariihei of Great Miitendenand Wendorer. 1 Inf. supplied bjr Bd. of Agric. (1905). • OrJ. Sitrv, • f.C.H. Buch. i, Geological Map. • Cf. We»ton Turrille. • Marl. MS. 3688 | (P.R.O.) Rental, and Sunr. (fen. »er.), portf. 19, no. 1 3. 7 Harl. MS. }688 ; Cal. of Papal Lreurt, »i434- • Ibid. Harl. MS. 3688. • Cf. Wetton Turville. " Harl. MS. 3688. 11 Ibid. " Ibid, j Col. ofPaftl Ltluri, T, 434. u yalar Eetl. (Rec. Com.), iv, 146. u* Dugdale, Man. vi, 547, note i. M(P.R.O.) MUc. Bk.. (Aug. Off.), CCCCT, 19. » Pit. I Edvr. VI, pt. I. " Fret of F. Bucki. Ent. 15 Eli*. '" Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccii, no. iSa. 345 >» Feet of F. Buck*. Mich. 1 1 Chat. I. " (P.R.O.) Lay Subi. bdle. 80, no. 301. " Lipicomb, Hiit. of Bucki. ii, 358, quoting monument in Lee Church. "Ibid.ii, 3 5 5. "Ibid, ii, 358, quoting monument In Lee Church. « Ibid. M Ibid.) Lyiont, Marna Brit, i, 594. 14 Lipicomb, Hiit. ofButki. ii, 356. " Ibid. " Lyiont, Mafia Brit, i, 594; Lipicomb, loc. cit. A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE of the manor.*9 In 1900 Mr. Lasenby Liberty bought the manor from John Plaistowe, and is the present owner of the estate. The Abbot of Missenden obtained a grant of free warren in his demesne lands at Lee from Edward I in 1287-8," which grant was confirmed by Henry VI.30 The abbot held a view of frankpledge for his tenants at Lee, paying 2s. a year to the Duchy of Lancaster." The supposition that Ralph de Halton held Lee of the Turvilles as mesne lords receives corroboration from the fact that he apparently did not hold the whole of Lee. Hence some land remained with the Turvilles, and was not included in Geoffrey de Tur- ville's grant to Missenden Abbey. After the division of the manor of Weston Turville between the three heiresses" of the second William de Turville, the fee that passed to Hugh de Herdebergh included land not only in Weston, but also in Little Broughton, Bedgrove, and Lee,33 which all formed one township in 1285. This land in Lee presumably belonged to the manor of Weston Butlers, and afterwards to the united manor of Weston Turville.54 The church of ST. JOHN THE CHURCHES B4PTIST was built in 1868, on a site 100 yds. or so east of the old church, and consists of a nave, chancel, south porch, and north organ chamber. It is constructed of brick in 13th-century style. At the east end of the south wall are a well-designed piscina and sedile of the middle of the 1 3th century, which were removed from the old church, and reset in their present position. Both have shafted jambs and a scroll label with buckle drips. The head of the piscina is moulded with a roll and a filleted bowtel, and has an inner cinquefoiled head, and there is a shelf, while the drain is old but mutilated. The head of the sedile has a plain hollow-chamfered arch, and in both cases the engaged shafts have circular moulded capitals and bases. There are also a number of wall monu- ments removed from the old church, one to Elizabeth (Welch) the wife of Thomas Plaistowe, died 1762, of grey and white marble in Adams style, and another, an excellent though somewhat florid piece of work, is in white marble with a rococo cartouche and cupids' heads, to Thomas Plaistowe, died 1715. All the fittings of the church are modern, including the font, which is octagonal. There is one bell in a small stone bell-cot or gable, at the west end of the church. This bell was removed from the old church, and is of considerable antiquarian interest, only four others by the same founder being known. It is inscribed ' Michael de Wymbis me fecit.' It is not certain when Michael de Wymbis lived, but the style of his bells suggests a date of about 1 2 go.34" The church plate consists of a flagon, chalice, and two patens, all the gift of Mrs. Elizabeth Deering in 181 1, and hall-marked for the previous year. The first book of the registers contains burials between 1679 and 1802, baptisms between 1 679 and 1797, and marriages between 1700 and 1799. After this there is a gap, the baptisms being continued in a second book with entries between 1804 and 1812, while the other entries are only continued from 1812. An extensive rectangular earthwork probably marks the boundary of the old monastic grounds, and there are traces of fishponds on the north. The OLD CHURCH, now used as a Sunday school room, is built in chalk, and consists of a nave and chan- cel in one range and a south porch ; it is lit on the north by three lancets of 13th-century date, and on the south by two, while the east window is a late 1 3th- century one reset with shafted jambs and inserted tracery. There are two doors to the south, a small one near the eastern end, and one at the western end of 15th-century date with a four-centred head, on the rear-arch of which are some traces of colour decoration. The south porch is of early I gth-century construction. There is also a west door, a late insertion with a round head, and traces of a consecration cross on the masonry below. On the west and north interior wall are some indistinct traces of colour decoration and, pre- served on shelves, a number of fragments of late 13th- century date, capitals, portions of mouldings, &c., but the dismantled state of the building makes it impossible to assign these to their places. The font, which was removed when the new church was built, forty years ago, has recently been re-erected in its original position. It is old but of uncertain date. The stained glass in the east window, the gift of the present lord of the manor, contains in the centre light the figure of John Hampden, supported in the two side lights by Oliver Cromwell and Miles Hobart. At the top of the centre light, and occupying its original position in the window, is a very interesting and well-preserved fragment of 13th-century glass. The chapel of Lee was originally 4DyOtVSON appendant to the church of Weston Turville,34 and seems to have been served by the rector of that parish. Ralph de Halton, when he held Lee,36 made an agreement with regard to the chapel, by which he was to pay 5;. a year at the altar of Weston Turville on St. Thomas' Day in com- mutation for all tithes due from his land at Lee. Geoffrey de Turville 37 confirmed this agreement. He appears to have granted the chapel as well as his manor to the abbey of Missenden,38 and various dis- putes arose as to the payments due from it to the rec- tor of Weston Turville. It was finally agreed however that the abbot and canons were to pay 6s. a year to the mother church, and were to hold the chapel in peace.39 The chapel was served by the canons, and the rectory was impropriated. In I 5 3 5 40 the benefice was described as the rectory of Lee and Brownes and was let at farm, the tenant in 1 540 being Thomas Adam." Lord Russell obtained a grant of the rectory as well as the manor of Lee in I 547 4> and no endow- ment seems to have been left for the chapel. No vicarage appears to have been ordained," and though there were churchwardens in 15 37," two years earlier, "SSheahan, Hiit. and Tofog. of Bucks. 169. w Chart. R. 30 Edw. I, 95, m. 5, no. 32. 80 Cal. Pat. 1+22-9, P- 344- 11 (P.R.O.) Rentals and Sury. (gen. «er.), portf. 19, no. 13. 83 Cf. Weston Turville. 88 feud. Aids, i, 86. 84 Cf. Weston Turville. «*• A. H. Cocks, Church Bells of Bucks. 444- 8S Had. MS. 3688. M Ibid. »7 Ibid. » Ibid. 89 Ibid. ; Valor Etc!. (Rec. Com.), iv, 247. 40 Valor Ecd. (Rec. Com.) iv, 247. 41 (P.R.O.),Misc. Bks.(Aug.Off.), ccccv, fol. 2q. 346 «« Pat. I Edw. VI, pt. i. w In 1422 in the Lincoln Episcopal Registers there is an entry of the ordina- tion of ' Lega,' but it was appropriated to the priory of Canons Ashby. Hence it seems impossible that it refers to Lee ; Bp. Fleming's Inst. 1420-6. 44 L. and P. Hen. VIII, lii (2), 221. AYLESBURY HUNDRED GREAT MISSENDFN when it was in the hands of the abbot, ° it was still called the chapel of Lee. It is not certain whether Lcc had become a separate parish at this time, but the extraordinary position of the chapel was apparent as early as 1537. In that year two churchwardens, Richard Westwood and Thomas Newynt(on), appear to have gone round the neighbouring parishes "ask ing charity for their church. A curious story has been preserved that on going to the house of Francis Fongc of Little Missenden for this purpose, Alice his wife asked them to come in to drink. In the house Westwood saw a book of the gospels in English lying open in the window. He read the opened pages and shortly afterwards accused his hostess, who was there- upon indicted for heresy." The result unfortunately is not forthcoming. The efforts of the church wardens to raise money probably enabled them to tide over the difficulty caused by the dissolution of the monas- tery, and the chapel may very likely have been con- tinuously served by the ex-canon, John Slythurst, to whom an extra pension of £8 a year was granted in 1539 to serve the cure at Lee ;** if he refused, the pension was reduced to £$ 6s. 8" and Joan about 1252. She left two daughters, Christiana, who married first William de Sideham," and secondly John de Plessy, afterwards Earl of Warwick," and Agnes, the wife of Matthew Husee.'6 The manor of Great Missenden was divided between these two heiresses, the moieties being known at a later date as Overbury and Netherbury. The moiety of the manor of Great Missenden subsequently known as O7ERBURT was assigned to Agnes and Matthew Husee. Matthew died before 1254, at which time the wardship of his son Henry was purchased by John Maunsell, whose niece, Joan Fleming, Henry was to marry.87 Henry Husee lived until 1 290,*° when his lands passed to his son Henry, who was succeeded about 1332 by a third Henry, to whose mother Isabella one-third of the manor was assigned in dower.*9 In 1 348 the manor was con- veyed to Thomas de Mussenden,30 the king's groom, who seems to have settled it on himself in that year, although Henry Husee did not finally quitclaim his right in the manor until 1356." Certainly Thomas de Mussenden was in occupation before that date. He was still living in 1367, and his wife Isabella, widow • Red Sk. Excb. (Rollt Ser.) i, 3 12 ; Gt. R. of the Pipe (Rec. Com.), 1189-90, p. 37 ; Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 247, 258 ; Rit. Hund. (Rec. Com.), i, 20. 6 G.E.C. Complete Peerage. ^ Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 247 ; G.E.C. (Complete Peerage) says that the English estates were granted to Richard, Earl of Hertford, but it seems that they only came into this family by a later marriage. 8 G.E.C. Complete Peerage. » Plac. de Quo. War. (Rec. Com.), 95 5 Feud. Aids, i, 85-98 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 8 Edw. I, no. 36 ; ibid. 20 Edw. I, no. 156 ; ibid. 29 Edw. I, no. 54 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 8 Edw. II, no. 68. » Ibid. 1 1 Edw. II, no. 74 ; G.E.C. Complete Peerage ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 6 Edw. Ill (ist. nos.), no. 66 ; Feud. Aids, i, 123 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. II Edw. Ill (ist nos.), no. 38. 11 Chan. Inq. p.m. 21 Edw. Ill (lit nos.), no. 59. 18 Ibid, i Hen. IV, pt. i, no. 73, and pt. ii, no. 20 ; ibid* 8 Hen. IV, no. 19 ; ibid. 8 Hen. V, no. 87 ; ibid. 2 Edw. IV, no. 10 ; ibid. 2 Ric. II, no. 20 ; ibid. 3 Ric. II, no. 43 ; Inq. a.q.d. file 401, no. 10 ; G.E.C. Complete Peerage. » V.C.H. Buck:, i, 247*. 14 Chan. Inq. p.m. 3 1 Edw. Ill, no. 2, 5 ; Harl. 3688. According to another docu- ment (Lansd. 257 A) William de Missen- den founded the abbey in 1336. Possibly this it a confusion with another man of the same name, who, perhaps, gave it ex- tensive endowments. 15 Ibid. fol. i8a and b. " Ibid. fol. 1 8*. 1? Red Bk. ofExch. (Rolls Sen), i, 312. 18 Harl. 3688, fol. i8i. 19 S. Grimaldi, Rot. de Dominabus, 20. 80 Gt. R. of the Pipe (Rec. Com.), 1 189- 90, p. 37. M Harl. 3688, fol. 20 ; Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 259-61. *> Cal. Close, 1231-4, p. 330. 348 88 Excerpta e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), i, 253 ; ibid, ii, 147; Chan. Inq. p.m. 37 Hen. Ill, no. 8. 84 Excerpta e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), i, 253- 25 G.E .C. Complete Peerage. 88 Excerpta e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), i, 253 ; Close, 37 Hen. Ill ; MSS. Cardig. quoted by Lipscomb, Hist, of Bucks, ii, 361. *7 Dugdale, Baronage, i, 623, quoting Pat. 37 Hen. Ill, m. 20; Rot. Hund. (Rec. Corn.),!, 33. 88 Ibid, i, 44 ; Plac. de Quo War. (Rec. Com.), 95 ; Feud. Aids, i, 85 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 8 Edw. I, no. 36 ; ibid. 6 Edw. Ill (ist nos.), no. 66 j Feud. Aids, i, 123. 29 Cal. Close, 1330-3, p. 469. 80 Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 22 Edw. Ill ; Chart. R. 28 Edw. Ill, m. 3, no. 12. 81 Feet of F. Bucks. Trin. 20 Edw. Ill ; Chart. R. 41 Edw. Ill, m. 3, no. 13. AYLESBURY HUNDRED GREAT MISSENDEN of Sir John Golafre, survived until after 1383." Edmund de Missenden, son and heir of Thomas, died in I 394," the manor having been settled on his wife Juliana for the term of her life and one year be- yond. She married secondly Thomas Shelle, who died about 1400," and died herself in 1407, when the manor passed to her son Bernard de Missenden.* Bernard died in 1420, leaving two daughters, Katherine and Alice," the manor being apportioned to the elder, who married John Iwardby.*7 Nicholas Iwardby, son of John,** became lord of the manor upon the death of his father," and was succeeded by his son John in 1462," who being under age was placed under the custody of Richard Fowler." He died in 1485, leaving three daughters, Elizabeth wife of William Elmes and afterwards of Thomas Pigot, Margery wife of Ralf Verney, and Helen who married first William Cutland " and secondly Thomas Clifford." This manor was apparently assigned to Elizabeth, the eldest daughter, as it afterwards de- scended in the family of Elmes. John, son of William Elmes, succeeded his father,44 and in 1557-8 the manor was held by Edward or Edmund Elmes, son of John.4* Edmund's son, John Elmes," was lord of the manor previous to 1624, in which year he died, and was succeeded by his brother Thomas.47 The latter died in 163 2," and Ovcrbury passed to his son William,4' who was succeeded in 1641 by his son Arthur.60 Arthur Elmes and his wife Jane were still holding it in 1660," but later there must have been a sale, for in 1684 Ovcrbury appears in the possession of William Flcetwood, owner of Nether- bury.*' The two manors being thus again united descended together ** and formed once more the single manor of Great Missenden. The moiety of the manor of Great Missenden assigned to Christiana and John de Plessy was sub- sequently known as NETHERBURT. After the death of Christiana John married Margaret, Countess of Warwick, in whose right he became Earl of War- wick.*4 Upon his death in 1263 this manor passed to his son Hugh de Plessy,** who lived until about 1292." He was succeeded by his son Hugh in that year," and in 1301 by his grandson of the same name, who was then a minor in wardship of John de Se- grave.*1 A fourth Hugh, son of the last, became lord of the manor in 1337,** his mother Millicent retaining half of it in dower.*1 He died between 1351 and 1357, half of his lands passing to his sister Eleanor, who was the wife of John Lenneysey," or Lenveysey, and the other half remaining for life to his widow Elizabeth, who married secondly Roger Elmerugge, and reverting upon her death in 1378 to John son of John Lenneysey,** who had succeeded his father before I374.*3 John Lenneysey the younger died in 1379, and his lands passed to his kinsman John Cheyne of Isenhampstead *4 (now Chenies), who in 1381 conveyed Netherbury to trustees for the pur- pose of a gift to Missenden Abbey." They leased it for life to Isabella de Missenden, widow of John Golafre and lady of the manor of Overbury, and in 1383 conveyed the reversion in mortmain to the monastery of Missenden.** Netherbury presumably remained in the possession of that house until its dissolution, and afterwards in the hands of the king until 1614, when it was granted to Sir Marmaduke Dan-ell.*7 He was still holding the manor in 1623, and had a son and heir Sampson,*8 who perhaps suc- ceeded him. Sir Marmaduke died some time before 1638, by which date his widow Anne had married Gilbert Neville." By 1655 another Marmaduke Darrell " had succeeded to the manor,71 and soon after, apparently later than 1663, conveyed it to Sir William Bowyer, for in 1 668 he sold it to William Fleetwood,71 who died in 1691. He was succeeded by John Fleetwood," said to have been his son, and said to have been succeeded in 1745 by his sister Mary,74 who had married Thomas Ansell in 1715." Thomas and Mary Ansell had two sons, Thomas and John, who both died unmarried, whereupon the manor came to their daughter Mary, wife of Thomas Goostrey.7' Mary died in 1780, and after the death of her hus- band the manor passed to their eldest daughter Mar)', the wife of William Lowndes, who died in 1786." Great Missenden is said to have been sold in 1787 to James Oldham Oldham, who died in 1822,™ after which the manor came into the posses- sion of George Carrington,7* in whose family it has " Inq. i.q.d. file 401, no. 10. She wat •aid to be the kinswoman and heir of William de Mittenden, erroneously re- ferred to ai founder of the abbey in I 336. Lantd. 207 A, fol. 491. Thomai de Miuenden ii here stated to be the ion of John Marshall of Miuenden. n Chan. Inq. p.m. 18 Ric. II, noi. 30 and 33. " Ibid. I Hen. IV, pt. i, no. 73 ; pt. ii, no. zo. " Ibid. 8 Hen. IV, no. 19. "Ibid. 8 Hen. V, no. 87. •" Lantd. MS. 107 A, fol. 491. "Ibid. "Anct. D,C. 1181. 40 Chan. Inq. p.m. a Edw. IV, no. 10. 41 Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 31, no. 455. 41 Chan. Inij.p.m. (Ser. i), «liv, 91. a Liptcomb, ///if. of Bucki. ii, 395. 44 Metcalfe, r/iif. Nortlutn, it. 44 Ibid. ; Mem. Patch. Rec. 4 It 5 Phil, and Mary, rot. 1 6. 44 Metcalfe, fiiit. Nort/iann, 18. <; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. j), ccccviii, no ; Recor. R. Bucki. Mich, zz Ja». I, rot. 80. •Hit Inq. tlatet that he held both Ovcrbury and Netherbury, but the latter appear* to hare been at thit time in the poMctaioo of Sir Marmaduke Darrell. 49 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. z), cccclxviii, 87 ; Feet of F. Buck*. Trin. 9 Cha«. I. *° Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. z), ccccicvii, 88. " Recov. R. Buck*. Mich. 1 z Chat. II, rot. Si ; Feet of F. Bucki. Mich, iz Chat. II. " Feet of F. Bucki. Trin. 36 Chat. II. " Ibid. Eatt. 3 Geo. III. ; ibid. Trin. 1} Ceo. III. M G.E.C. Com f left Pttragt ; Rot. Hund. (Rec. Com.), i, zo. ** Chan. Inq. p.m. 47 Hen. Ill, no. 27. u Rot. Hund. (Rec. Com.), i, 44 j Plae. di Quo War. (Rec. Com.), 9$; t'tud. Aidi, i, 8;. *• Chan. Inq. p.m. zo Edw. I, no. I $6. *• Ibid. Z9 Edw. I, Do. $4; t'cuJ Aidi)\, 98 j ibid, i, iiz. "Chan. Inq. p.m. II Edw. Ill (lit not.), no. 38 ; Ftud Asdi, i, 113. «• Abkrro. Rat. Orif. (Rec. Com.), ii, lie. " Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 31 Edw. III, no. 3z ; Chan. Inq. p.m. z Ric. II, no. ZO. " Chan. Inq. p.m. z Ric. II, no. zo. M Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 48 Edw. Ill, no. 1 10. M Chan. Inq. p.m. 3 Ric. II, no. 43. 349 " Feet of F. Buckt. 5 Ric. II, no. 4. M Inq. a.q.d. file 401, no. 10 ; Cal. Pat. 1381-5, p. 264. " Pat. iz Jat. I, pt. v, no. iz. In 1577 Robert Bradbury died teited of the rcveriion of the ' manor of Miuenden ' after the death of Margaret hit wife. Hit heir wat hit brother Henry. Pottibly thit document refert to Netherbury ; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. z), clziviii, 54. w Feet of F. Bucki. Mich, zi Tat. I. " Cal. S.P. Dot*. 1638-9, p. 380. *° Pottibly the tame ai Marmaduke Darrell mentioned in 1613 (Feet of F. HerU. Mich, zi Jat. I) ; Recov. R. Mich. 15 Chat. II, no. 17. "' Feet of F. Bucki. Mich. 1655. 71 Lantd. 93, no. 94 ; Feet of F. Bucki. Eait 24 Chat. II. "• Recov. R. Bucki. Mich. 10 Anne, rot. $8. '4 Lipicomb, Hiit. ofBiuh. ii, 377. 74 Ibid. 387, quoting Pariih Reg. "Ibid. 377 ; Feet of F. Bucki. Bait. 3 Geo. HI ; Lipicomb, Hut. of Biub. ii, 387, quoting Parith Reg. "Ibid. 377. "• Lipicomb, ///'if. of Bucki. 385, quoting Monumental Inscription. "Ibid. 378. A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE since remained. Mrs. Carrington was lady of the manor until after 1899 ; Mr. George Carrington is the present lord. The privilege of holding a fair on the eve and day of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin (14 and 1 5 August) was granted by Henry III to Joan de Sandford,80 and confirmed in 1367 to Thomas de Missenden.81 A fair is vaguely mentioned in the grant of Netherbury to Sir Marmaduke Darrell.** Later, fairs were held on Easter Tuesday and the Monday after Michaelmas, but have been abolished since 1883. A market to be held weekly on Tuesdays was granted to Joan de Sandford together with the fair, and follows the same descent. It does not now sur- vive. View of frankpledge is mentioned in Great Missen- den as early as I254-63 It remained with the courts leet in the possession of the overlords until the I ;th cen- tury,84 and was leased by them to the sub-tenants. In the reign of Edward I the sub-tenants of both moieties of Great Missenden claimed to hold the view to- gether, paying ids. for it to the Earl of Gloucester. They also held tourn twice a year ' without any ser- vant of the king,' and had the right of gallows, pillory, and tumbril.84 Free warren was granted to Henry Husee in his moiety of Great Missenden in 127 1,66 and was con- firmed to Thomas de Missenden in I354.8' A water-mill called Deep Mill, which is still in existence, in the south of the parish, on the River Misbourne, seems to have belonged, until the Dissolu- tion, to Missenden Abbey.88 It was granted in I 545 to Richard and Robert Taverner,89 after which it came into the possession of Anthony Nyxe, miller, who sold it in 1584 to William Fleetwood, who died seised of it in I594.90 In 1610 it was granted to David Fowles, who married a Fleetwood," but had returned to William's grandson John Fleetwood before l639,9> after which it descended in that family with the manor of Great Missenden.93 A windmill is mentioned in I773,93a and is perhaps that now situ- ated at Prestwood. The reputed manor of PETERLET or PETER- LErSTONE (Peterlaia, xii cent.) belonged at an early date to Missenden Abbey, and seems to have been given to that monastery by Hugh de Noers and his son William in I I4i.94 It remained in the possession of the abbey until its dissolution,^ when it seems to have been granted to Geoffrey Dormer.96 It was held of the king as of his manor of East Greenwich.97 In 1551 Geoffrey conveyed it to Robert Woodliffe,98 but pos;ibly for a term of years only, or in mortgage, for Robert Dormer, Geoffrey's grandson,99 appears as lord of the manor in 1580. In 1557 Robert Woodliffe settled Peterley upon himself and Anne Drury, whom he was about to marry. He died in 1593 and was succeeded by his son Drew Woodliffe,100 who in 1596 joined with his mother in conveying the manor back to Sir Robert Dormer.101 Sir Robert was created by James I Baron Dormer of Wyng, and hereditary Chief Avenor and keeper of the king's hawks.10* He died in 1616, having settled his newly-built manor house of Peterley on his wife Elizabeth for her life, with reversion to his third son Robert,103 who is referred to as Robert Dormer of Peterley.104 The latter died in 1656 and was succeeded by his son Charles,105 and by his grandson Charles in 1677. ,m The last-named Charles became Baron Dormer of Wyng upon the death of his cousin Rowland Dormer in 171 2,107 and the manor of Peterley has since descended with that barony, and is now the residence of the thirteenth baron.108 The Abbot of Missenden obtained a grant of free warren in Peterley in 1302, which was confirmed in I426.109 The lyth-century house having been allowed to fall into decay was completely destroyed and replaced by a small building of no particular interest in the first half of the igth century. The ABBEY OF GRE4T MISSENDEN for Arroasian Canons was founded in 1133 by William de Missenden, lord of that manor, who endowed it with lands in the parish, including Potter Row (Pot- terewe), Ballinger (Balenger), Kingshill (Kyngeshull), Peterley, Prestwood, and Moretensend.110 The ad- vowson of the monastery remained in the hands of his successors. Upon the dissolution of the monastery of Great Missenden the site and lands belonging were granted early in 1541 to Richard Greenway, a gentleman usher of the king's household, for twenty-one years.111 8° Chart. R. 41 Edw. Ill, m. 3, no. 13. 81 Ibid. 83 Pat. iz Jas. I, pt. v, no. 12. 88 Rot. HunJ. (Rec. Com.), i, 20. 84 Chan. Inq. p.m. 8 Edw. II, no. 68 ; ibid. 1 1 Edw. II, no. 74 ; ibid. 21 Edw. Ill (ist nos.), no. 59 ; ibid. 10 Ric. II, no. 38 ; ibid. 16 Ric. II (pt. i), no. 27 ; ibid. 22 Ric. II, no. 46 ; ibid. 4 Hen. IV, no. KPlac. Je Quo War. (Rec. Com.), 95 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. n Edw. Ill (ist nos.), no. 38. *6 Col. Chart. 1257-1300, p. 176. »' Chart. R. 28 Edw. Ill, m. 3, no. 12. »8 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xx (2), 496 (7)- 89 Ibid. 90 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxxxriii, 69. »' Pat. 8 Jas. I, pt. 35, no. I ; Lips- comb, Hitt. of Bucks. 386, quoting Paro- chial Reg. m Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccxci, 88. 83 Rccov. R. Bucks. East, i Jas. II, rot. 191 ; Feet of F. Bucks. Trin. 13 Geo. III. »» Ibid. W Harl. 3688, foL i8A. He gave a virgate of land in Peterleia held by Le- venadus the Smith. •* Cal. Pat. 1422-9, p. 344 ; Dngdalc, Man. vi, 549. 86 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxxxiv, 34- >' Ibid. Misc. 21 Chas. I, pt. 32, no. 105. 93 Ibid. (Ser. 2), ccxxxiv, 34. M Genealogist, vii, 173 ; Recov. R. Bucks. East. 22 Eliz. rot. 105. In 1574 there was a grant of Peterley to Anthony Kynwelmershe and his heirs. Probably he was a fishing grantee. Pat. 17 Eliz. pt. xi, m. 5. 100 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxxxiv, 34 ; Fine R. 35 Eliz. pt. i, no. 37. lul Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 38 & 39 Eliz. 1»" G.E.C. Compltte Peerage. 108 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclviii, IO2. 10< G.E.C. Complete Peerage. Robert Earl of Carnarvon, grandson and heir of the 350 first Baron Dormer of Wyng, appears from his inquisition in 1645 to have been seised of the manor of Peterley, but this must have been a false claim, for his uncle Robert was still living, and was holding the manor just before his death in 1656 ; Lipscomb, Hist, of Bucks, ii, 384, quoting monumental inscription ; Feet of F. Bucks. Trin. 1656. 105 G.E.C. Complete Peerage. '«• Ibid. ; Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. J Will, and Mary. I0' G.E.C. Complete Peerage. 108 Burke, Peerage, I 907. A so-called manor of Peterley appears in the posses- sion of William Fleetwood in 1684, and in that of his descendants in 1763 and 1773. It was perhaps an error of expres- •ion arising from their holding lands in Peterley ; Feet of F. Bucks. Trin. 36 Chas. II ; ibid. East. 3 Gco. Ill ; ibid. Trin. 1 3 Geo. III. 109 Cal. Pat. 1422-9, p. 344. «° Harl. 3688; Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv, 247 ; Dugdale, Afon. vi, 548. 111 L. and P. Hen. I III, xvi, 726 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xcv, 4. AYLESBURY HUNDRED GREAT MISSENDEN MIIIINDIN AIIIY. Ermine two ban wavy table vjitk a croxier or bendviiayt over all. Richard lived until 1552, but he seems to have sur- rendered the grant shortly before, as in 1550 and 1551 Edward VI gave the site of the abbey to his sister Princess Elizabeth for life.1" At the end of the same reign it was granted to the Duke of Northumber- land,"1 who was, however, executed in the same year for his support of Lady Jane Grey, and his lands forfeited.1" Missenden Abbey then re- mained in the possession of the Crown until 1560, when it was granted for thirty years to Richard Hampden."' In 1574 the reversion of the abbey lands was granted to Robert Earl of Leicester,1" who sold it in the same year to William Fleetwood. The latter died in 1594 and was succeeded by his son Sir William,"7 to whom the abbey was confirmed in 1612. John Fleetwood, son of Sir William Fleetwood, inherited his father's estates in 1 63 1, '"and died in 1639 leaving a son William who was only aged 4^ years at his father's death. In 1672 he became lord of the manor of Great Missenden, in which the site of the monastery presumably became absorbed. The house now called Missenden Abbey stands on the site of the cloister of the monastic buildings, and contains a good deal of old masonry. The church, which stood to the north of the cloister, is completely destroyed, and a kitchen garden now coven its site, but the walls of the eastern range of claustral build- ings are in large measure preserved, and the open ijth-century roof which covered the dorter of the canons is still in existence, and parts of it may be seen in various bedrooms now occupying the upper story of the east wing of the present house. Unfortunately no mediaeval masonry details are visible, and though the present kitchen must approximately occupy the lite of the chapter house, no trace of the ancient arrangement remains. The walls of the southern range, which must have contained the frater, still stand in part, as do probably those of the western range, and the area of the cloister with its walks is almost entirely filled in with additional buildings, the corridors on the ground floor evidently following very nearly the lines of the former south and west walks of the mediaeval cloister. These corridors, with most of the architectural features of the house, are in the imitation gothic of the early I gth century, and have a vaulted plaster ceiling, and the whole building has evidently undergone many alterations, a 17th-century picture of it which is preserved being now hardly recognizable. To the east the ground rises steeply towards the parish church, and at the foot of the slope is the bed of the intermittent ' bourne,' which supplied the monastic buildings. The boundary wall of the garden on the north it in part old, and may be part of the mediaeval precinct wall, the stream being carried under it through a low arch. In a summer-house are prcservad some very pretty piece* of 13th-century detail, doubtless from the monastic church, and a green glazed tile with raised patterns, also of the 1 3th century, has been dug up on the site of the church. The church of ST. PETER AND CHURCH ST. PAUL has a chancel 3 1 ft. 3 in. by igft., a nave 58ft. Sin. by 19 ft. ; north and south transept 2 1 ft. by 15 ft. ; a north aisle 1 7 ft. 8 in. wide, a south aisle 8 ft. wide, a western tower, north and south porches, an organ chamber and a vestry. The church was largely rebuilt in the first half of the 1 4th century, the chancel being widened to its present lines, the chancel arch inserted, the aisles and transepts added, and the tower begun but perhaps not finished. In the ijth century the clearstory and roof were added and a number of windows inserted. About the middle of the 1 6th century the tower was enlarged on the south side, evidently to make more room for bells. The lower part of the addition cont.iins a stair, and it seems that the parish must have obtained the bells of the suppressed abbey which stood close by on the west. Of the four belfry lights three are of this date, but the fourth, that to the west, is a mutilated early 14th-century window which it is quite probable formed part of the abbey buildings. The south porch is a late addition. In recent years the north aisle has been rebuilt and greatly widened, the old material being re-used and the door and windows reset, while a new north porch was added. The organ chamber is also modern. The east window of the chancel has in a 14th- century opening modern tracery of 15th-century detail in five cinquefoiled lights with tracery over. Externally the window is almost entirely modern, but the internal jambs and rear arch are rich 14th-century work, elaborately moulded with deep hollows, double wave moulds, and ogees in two orders. The inner order rests on mask-corbels, the outer upon slender circular shafts with richly carved foliate capitals, and circular moulded bases upon octagonal plinths, while some of the hollow members of the rear arch are en- riched with carving in a running floral design and with four-leaved flowers. On either side are two highly decorated image niches of 14th-century date with moulded and shafted jambs and internal heads carved into ribbed vaulting, while traces remain of spire-like canopies. At the east end of the south wall is a series of modern canopied niches, seven in number and of 14th-century detail, which are said to have been designed from fragments uncovered at this point during the last restoration. Below is the cinquefoiled head of a single late 14th-century window, forming a niche now used as a credence, and west of this is the blocked opening of what was once a squint from a vestry. The vestry door, a little west of the altar rails, is of 14th-century date, but was much repaired and reset a little west of its old position at the recent restoration. The arched opening to the organ chamber is quite modern. At the east end of the south wall is a large 14th-century window, with moulded jambs and rear arch and with an internal label, now filled with 18th-century tracery in five uncusped lights. There is also a very gracefully designed 14th-century piscina with a sharp trefoiled "« P.t. 4 Edw. VI, ft. iii 5 5 Kdw. VI, pt. iii, m. ji. "• Pat. 7 Edw. VI, pt. riii. »« G.E.C. Ctmflete Peerage. "» Pat. 2 Eli*, pt. XT. 111 Pat. 1 6 Eliz pt. i, m. 5 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Scr. 2), ccmviii, 69. 35' Ibid.j Pat. 10 Jai. I, pt. T, no. 7. Chan. Inq. 99 | ibid, cccczci, "• Chan. Inq. p.m. (Scr. 2), ccccbdv, ci, 88. A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE head with curiously slight cusping and a cinquefoiled ogee sub-head. The sill of the window before- mentioned is carried down to form sedilia, the backs of which had slightly sunk panels with sub-cusped cinquefoiled heads, now much defaced. In the western jamb is a small filled-in niche. West of the sedilia is a small priest's door also of 14th-century date, richly moulded on both faces and now blocked. There are two further 14th-century windows with tracery, some- what restored, in two trefoiled lights with trefoils and a quatrefoil over. The jambs and rear arches are continuously moulded and there are both internal and external labels. Below the westernmost of these windows is a low window of the same date with a moulded rear arch and two trefoiled lights, the heads of which are modern or of very late insertion, and through its west jamb is pierced a squint from the south transept. The chancel arch is of similar detail to the nave arcades, the capitals ranging, but the arch itself is higher and of steeper pitch and has perhaps been rebuilt and widened in the 1 5th century, when the rood-stair was inserted. It is of two plain chamfered orders, and the responds have engaged quarter and half-round shafts with square fillets between and moulded circular capitals and bases. In its original state the chancel must have been a splendid example of the style of its time, and even in its defaced and ' restored ' condition is extremely interesting. The nave arcades, as already stated, are similar in design to the chancel arch, but have labels with grotesque dripstones, and the chamfer on the outer order of the arches is carefully stopped, while the details of the capitals and bases are slightly different. In the two eastern responds are the rood-loft doors, and there is a clearstory with five windows on each side, each of two trefoiled lights with trefoils in the spandrels. They are of early 15th-century date and have moulded internal jambs and rear arches with a square main head. The roof is of the same date, of flat pitch with six deep moulded principals and a moulded ridge, purlins, and wall plates. Beneath the principals are brackets, with cusped tracery in the spandrels, resting upon corbels in the form of angels holding shields. The tower arch is rather low and of three chamfered orders, the two innermost dying into the jambs and the outer being continuous. The north transept has a three-light north win- dow of early 15th-century date of three trefoiled lights, the middle one slightly higher than the side lights and sub-cusped, while the main head is square with trefoils in the spandrels. In the middle of the east wall is a 14th-century window of cinquefoiled lights with flamboyant tracery over and double wave-moulded jambs and rear arch now opening to the organ chamber. North of this is a wide niche or recess with a slightly ogee-shaped head. The back has been elaborately painted to represent hangings of crimson brocade worked in a flowing floral design. In this niche is a fragment carved with a shield bearing three bulls passant, two and one. There is a smaller niche to the south of the window, and below it a plain pointed piscina with a modern drain. At the south end of the wall is a low door, largely if not entirely modern, opening into the organ chamber ; it replaces the lower door of the rood- stairs, the upper door of which, with a portion of the curved wall of the turret, is still visible. On the west are two bays of arcading opening to the widened south aisle, one arch of which, with one respond and the pier, are modern and of 14th-century detail. The roof is modern. The north wall of the north aisle is quite modern and has two reset three-light 15th-century windows. Between these is the reset 14th-century north door with wave-moulded jambs and two-centred head. Internally and a little to the east of it a plain holy- water stone has been inserted in the wall. The porch is quite modern and of 14th-century detail with a small two-light window on either side. The south transept has a three-light window of early 15th-century date at the north end of its east wall with a four-centred main head and a double wave-moulded rear arch, the same mouldings occur- ring in two uncusped image niches, on either side of this window. South of these is a two-light 14th- century window similar in detail to but much smaller than the two windows at the west end of the south wall of the chancel. In the south wall is a small door either modern or completely restored and in the centre of the wall an early 15th-century window of three cinquefoiled lights. On the west is a single light of late 14th-century date, and a plain arch of two chamfered orders without responds opens to the south aisle. The windows of the south aisle are identical with those on the north and the south door is opposite the north door and is similar in detail. At the west end of the aisle is the door to the added tower stair and just west of the south door is a small niche with a cinquefoiled head. The south porch, a late addition, appears originally to have been of two stories. The floor, however, has been removed, though a dormer window remains. The tower is of three stages with an embattled parapet. The west door of 14th-century date is continuously moulded with double sunk chamfers and hollow moulds, but has been much restored. Above this the head and parts of the jambs of a late 15th- century window have been inserted, probably at a late date. The north, south, and east belfry openings are of two lights under a square label, but the west opening is filled with part of a fine early 14th-cen- tury window of three cinquefoiled lights, and enough remains to suggest elaborate tracery, though it has been cut off square a little above the lower heads. Internally the jambs are shafted, with rich floral capitals and circular bases, and there is an internal label. The font is of the type so common in this neighbourhood, the finest example of which is perhaps that at Aylesbuiy. It is of late 12th-century date and has an octagonal bowl on a short circular moulded stem worked into a square base shaped like an inverted cushion capital. The seats, &c. are modern, but some old carved tracery has been worked in. In the south transept are the remains of several brasses, the only figure remaining being that of a woman of c. 1510 There is also a beautifully designed helm and mantling, part of a 15th-century achievement of arms, with the crest of a maidenhead. Below is an inscription in Roman lettering to Zacheus Metcalfe 1595, and Margaret Metcalfe 1596. There is also the inscription of a brass to John Iwardby and his wife Katherine the daughter of Bernard de MU- senden ; she died 1436, but the date of his death is 352 AYLESBURY HUNDRED left blank. The brass was evidently in the Abbey Church. In the south aisle is a monument to William liois, 1631. It has a broken pediment surmounted by a figure of Time with his scythe over an arch fantastically constructed of books. In the north aisle is a monument to Dame Jane Walker, 1635, some time the wife of Daniel Bonde of London and later of Sir John Boys of Canterbury. The tower contains a sanctus in a small opening, dated 1 78 2, and six bells: the treble dated 1692 ; the second cast by Joseph Carter in 1603, and bearing his mark ; the third dated 1640; the fourth cast by Thomas Mean in 1824 ; the fifth by Ellis Knight in 1623 ; and the sixth by Thomas Mean in 1840. The plate is modern and consists of two chalices, a flagon, two standing patens, and a perforated spoon. The first book of the registers contains all entries from 1694, baptisms and burials running to 1782 and marriages to 1753. A second book contains burial in woollen with notes of the affidavits from 1678 to 1784 and a further continuation of burials to 1812. The third book contains baptisms from 1783 to 1809, and a fourth the same from 1809 to 1812, and there is the first banns book of marriages from 175410 1786. The patronage of the church of JDyOWSON St. Peter and St. Paul at Great Mis- senden belonged to the lord of that manor until it was given with its tithes by William de Missenden to the abbey, which he founded there in 1 133."* The living was appropriated by the monas- tery, a vicar being appointed by the abbot.110 At the Dissolution the advowson fell to the Crown, and the vicarage was granted to Thomas Barnerdes, one of the former monks, in lieu of a pension."1 The right of presentation was kept by the Crown until about 1607, soon after which it seems to have been granted to John Ramsey, Viscount Haddington, for in 1609 he sold it, together with the rectory, to William Fleetwood."* The advowson and rectory then be- came united, and have since followed the same descent, until the death of John Oldham Oklh.im in 1822, since when the advowson has been in the hands of his trustees.1*1 The rectory of Great Missenden, which came into the king's hands at the Dissolution, was in 1541 granted to Richard Greenway, a gentleman usher of the Household, for a term of twenty-one years."4 In i 560 the reversion of the rectory at the end of that term was granted to Richard Hampden, principal clerk of the king's kitchen, for thirty years, and fell to him late in 1561."* He, however, surrendered it about 1578, when it was granted for life to Griffin Hampden, and after his death to his daughters, Mary and Ruth, for their lives.1" Mary, who subsequently married James Russell, and her sister were both living in 1597,'" but evidently died before 1606, for in that year the rectory, which would revert to the Crown at their death, was granted to John Ramsey, GREAT MISSENDEN Viscount Haddington.1* The latter sold it in 1609 to William Fleetwood,"* who died seised of it in 1 63 1,1" and in whose family it descended in the same manner as Missenden Priory and Great Missen- den Manor,131 in which it has presumably become merged. There are Baptist chapels at Great Missenden, Lee Common, and at Hyde Heath, and a Primitive Methodist chapel at Lee Common. In 1629 Nicholas Almond by deed CHARITIES conveyed to trustees his messuage in Thame — now a house and shop, 2 Corn Market, let at £i 6 a year — upon trust for the poor, subject to the payment of 6/. 8V. for a sermon on the Wednesday in Easter week. The charity is regulated by a scheme of 20 April 1 865, but the income has been absorbed in recent years in repairs of the property. The charity of Dame Jane Boys, John Hampden, and another, founded in 163;, consists of a house and 4 acres at Prestwood, and allotment land, producing yearly £20 lit. \oJ. By an order of the Charity Commissioners of 9 June 1896, made under the Local Government Act, g'jth part of the net yearly income was apportioned as the ecclesiastical branch. In 1907 there was after repair and removal of the monument of the foundress a balance in the hands of the churchwardens of £2 l<)i. The net income of the remainder of the charity was, under the title of the Borough Charity, applied in apprenticeship premiums and outfits. In 1 690 Thomas Gregory, by will proved in the P.C.C. 29 March, gave £5 a year for poor house- keepers not in receipt of parish relief. The annuity is paid by the owner of Knives Farm, Hughenden. The operation of the charity was in abeyance, and in 1 906 there was a balance in hand of £2 1 1 8*. 6J. In 1864 William Dent by deed gave a sum of £l,ooo consols fur educational purposes, the dividends of which are duly applied. In 1888 Miss Jane Douglas, by will proved at London 23 August, bequeathed to the vicar and churchwardens a legacy, now represented by £327 I 5/. 2» L. *»J P. Hn. yill, xir (i), 161. U* Feet of F. Buck*. Bait. 7 Jai. I. «• CItrical Guidt ; Clrrg, Lut. >" L. 1*4 P. Hen. ytll, «i, 716 1 Pat. 10 Elix. pt. ri, m. 16. m Pat. 10 Elic. pt. ri, m. 16. 1* Ibid. "7 Feet of F. Buck*. Mich. ^ Eliz. 111 Pat. 4 Jai. I, pt. Tiii. '« Feet of F. Buck*. Eait. 7 Jai. I. 140 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. i), ccccliir, 99- UI Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccxci, 88; Recor. R. Ducki. Mich. 1655, rot. 10 1 ; Init. Bki. (P.R.O.) ; Recov. R. Bucki. Eait. I Jai. II, rot. 191 ; ibid. Mich. 10 Anne, rot. c.8 | Feet of F. Eaal. J Ceo. Ill } ibid. Trin. 13 Ceo. III. 353 45 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE LITTLE MISSENDEN Missedene, Messedena (xi cent.) ; Musindone. The parish of Little Missenden has an area of 3,214 acres. It is fairly open country, and lies for the most part at an altitude of over 500 ft. above the Ordnance datum, except where it is crossed by the valley of the Misbourne in the north, where the level sinks to between 300 ft. and 400 ft. 1,641 J acres of the parish are arable land, 8 53 J acres permanent grass, and 340^ acres wood.1 The main road from London to Wendover passes through the north of the parish, and the village of Little Missenden is situated on a road which branches off and runs parallel to the main road for some distance before rejoining it. The church of St. John stands on the outskirts of the village, on the road from Wendover to Amersham, to the north of which there is a thick plantation. Three roads turn south from the village, leading to Beamond End and Holmer Green. In the north- west a road turns westward from the main road, and leads to Little Kingshill, with branch roads south to Holmer Green. The village consists of a few sniall houses of the 1 8th century, of brick and rough-cast, and some cottages. Of late a number of week-end cottages have been erected in the parish. The manor house has some remains of I yth-century work, but was modernized in the early part of the igth century and later. The house called ' Little Missenden Abbey,' the residence of Mr. E. Callard, possibly in- corporates the remains of an old house. It is the property of the trustees of Mr. Seth Smith. The hamlet of Little Kingshill lies on the western boundary of the parish, and the village of Holmer Green in the south, with Beamond End about J a mile to the east, and Spurlands End about the same distance to the west. Bray's Green and Mantle's Farm and Wood, with the supposed site of a castle, lie in the north-east of the parish. The subsoil is chalk, and the surface soil clay and chalk. The Metropolitan Extension Railway passes through the north-west of the parish, but there is no station, the nearest being Great Missenden, 2^ miles distant. The Inclosure Award was made in 1854, and is in the custody of the Clerk of the Peace.' The manor or reputed manor of MANORS HOLMER (Halmere, Holemere, xiii cent.) appears to have been identical with the hide held in Missenden before the Conquest by Alwin, a man of Syred, son of Sybi. In 1086 it formed part of the lands of the Count of Mortain, the Conqueror's half-brother.' It was held of him by Wigot, of whom nothing is known. The sub-tenancy seems to have died out. Robert Count of Mortain died between 1088 and 1097,* his lands passing to his son William, who, however, was taken prisoner by Henry I at the battle of Tinchebrai in 1106, and all his honours forfeited.6 His lands thus came into the possession of the Crown, and were ultimately granted by the Empress Maud or by King Stephen in 1141 to Reginald Earl of Cornwall, natural son of LITTLE MISSENDEN CHURCH FROM THE SOUTH-EAST 1 Inf. supplied by Ed. ofAgric. (1905). a Com, Inct. Awards, 12. • V.C.H. Bucks, i, 2433. * G.E.C. Complete Peerage, ii, 360. 354 * Ibid. ; A. S. Ellis, Dam. Tenants of Glouc. AYLESBURY HUNDRED LITTLE MISSENDEN Henry I,* at whose death in 1175 they reverted to the Crown.' Holmer perhaps followed this descent, but, if so, unlike the rest of the estates, which were reserved for the use of Prince John,' it appears to have been granted to Gilbert Basset, son of Thoma- Rasset of Compton,' for he and Egelina his wife appear as owners of property in Little Missenden in i i8a." Gilbert's granddaughter Idonea, daughter of Eustachia Basset and Richard de Camvill, married William Longespee, Earl of Salisbury." who was lord of the manor of Holmer in 1236." He was succeeded in 1250" by his son William, whose daughter and heir Margaret married Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lin- coln," lord of Holmer in right of his wife in 1284." Hen y de Lacy died in 1 3 1 1 in possession of the manor, leaving an only daughter Alice, who married first Thomas Earl of Lancaster." holder of the manor in 1 3 1 6," and, secondly, Eubold Lcstrange, who settled Holmer upon his wife and himself in 1326." Eubold died without issue in 1335 "(his holding at that time not being called a manor), his wife Alice surviv- ing until 1 348." In 1339, however, Roger Lestrange, kinsman and heir of Eubold, granted the reversion of the manor, after the death of Alice and her tenant Robert le Warde, to the convent of Burnham, to hold in frank- almoign." Holmer continued in the possession of Burnham Abbey until the Dissolution in 1539, when it fell into the king's hands, and was annexed to the honour of Windsor Castle." The tenant at that time was Giles Mower, to whom a lease of the manor was confirmed by the king for twenty-one years,*1 to expire in 1560." In 1557 a second lease of twenty-one years, from 1560, was granted to David and Sybil Penn,** holders of the manor of Beamond, and in 1573 a third lease for the same term, from the expiration of Penn's lease in 1581, was granted to Reuben Sherwood." Thus Sherwood's term would not expire until 1 602 ; however, in 15868 further lease of twenty-one years from the end of Sherwood's term was granted to George Lee," and again in 1590 for a similar period to Druce Payne at the end of George Lee's term," which would expire in 1623. Druce Payne, however, had hardly gained possession of it when in 1624 the manor with appurtenances was given by James I to Edward and Robert Ramsey ** 000 BURNHAM ABBEY. Or * chief argem with thru lonenget gulti therein. in fee-farm, at the request of John Ramsey, Earl of Holderness. The actual lite of the manor was at this time in possession of John Honor, who died in 163*.** Holmer was, however, acquired by Thomas Style about 1625," probably by purchase from the Ramseys. He died about 1639, and his successor William Style, in 1640, leaving it entailed successively on his brothers Francis and Robert and his sisten." Francis held it until 1646 ; in 1653 and 1661 it was held by William and Elizabeth Standen, guardians of Elizabeth's daughters Mary and Elizabeth Style." Elizabeth Standen was probably the widow of Francis Style (see brass in church). The daughter Elizabeth afterwards married Edward Hoby, and Mary became the wife of Henry Sayer." Robert Style w.is holding it as their guardian in 1664 and 1669," after which he held it himself as late as 1688. Some time before 1694 it was acquired by Henry Harris, who was still holding it in 1705, and whose widow Margaret was lady of the manor in 1 709. In that year she sold it to Edmund Lambe,** who seems to have died in 1737. In 1738 Holmer was held by John Davis in right of his wife Sarah, which implies that she was the daughter and heir of Edmund Lambe. In 1757 he sold the manor to Nathaniel Collyer, who must have immediately conveyed it to James Mallors." The lat- ter seems to have died in I 766 leaving his son a minor, for in 1767 and 1768 the manorial courts were held by Benjamin Rosewell and Francis Mallors, James Mallors the younger appearing in 1770. About 1771 Holmer was acquired by Assheton Curzon," in whose family it has since descended." Earl Howe is the present owner. The lords of Holmer had view of frankpledge 'without the sheriff' from the beginning of the 1 3th century." Courts are mentioned as pertaining to Holmcr in 1557, when they were reserved by the king " until granted to Robert and Edward Ramsey with the manor in 1624. View of frankpledge and court baron still pertain to it. BE4MOND Manor was probably part of the Mortain lands in Little Missenden, as it seems to have been given by Gilbert Basset to the monastery of Biccster, together with the church of Little Mis- CunzoN-HowK, Earl Howe. Or a fiut te- rwcen three viol-vet* kradi cut off table, for HOWE ; quartered with argent a trend table with three farrott or having collars gules thereon, for CL-RZON. • G.E.C Comflete Peerage, ii, 361. " Ibid. ; Clutterbuck, Hut. of Hern, ii, *9J- • Ibid. • HarL 1411, fol. 63. 10 Dugdale, Mom. vi, 434. » Harl. 141 1, fol. 63. 11 Col. Pal. 1131-47, p. 147. « G.E.C. Comflcte Peerage ; Hot. Hand. (Rec. Com.), i, zo. M G.E.C Comflete Peerage. '• Feud, Aids, i, 85. "Chin. Inq. p.m. 4 Edw. II, no. S>- » Feud. Aids, i, ill. u Col. Pat. i 314-7, p. 156. " Chin. Inq. p.m. 9 Edw. Ill (lit not.), no. 41. " G.E.C. Comfleti Peerage. 11 Cat. Close, 1339-41, p. 107; Cal. Pat. 1345-8, p. 151 ; t'eud. Aidt, i, 114. " L. and P. Hen. fill, XT, 498 (35). » Ibid. 561. M Pat. 1 5 Eliz. pt. T, m. 40. "Ibid. » Ibid. *" Ibid. 18 Eliz. pt. vi, m. 12. " Ibid. 31 Eliz. pt. i«, m. 13. M Ibid. 11 Jat. I, pt. viii, no. 1 1 ; Cal. S.P. Dem. 1613-;, p. 316; Chan. Inq. p.m. 8 Chat. I, pt. i, m. 1. "> Ibid. Mite, dzxvii, 7 ; £>ch. Dtp. II Chat. I, E. 3. " CL R. in pot*, of the tteward of the manor. " Ibid. ; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccxcvii, 71. 355 * Ct. R. in pott, of the tteward of the manor. " Feet of F. Buckt. Hit zo it 21 Chai. II. " Ibid. M Ct. R. in pott, of the tteward of the manor; Feet of F. Buckt. Mich. 8 Anne. " Feet of F. Bucki. Trin. 30 & 31 Geo. II ; Ct. R. in pot*, of the iteward of the manor. » Ibid. " Recov. R. Buckt. Trin. 45 Geo. Ill, rot. 156} ibid. Eatt. I Geo. IV, rot. 304. « Rot. Hand. (Rec. Com.), i, 10. 41 Pat. 15 Eliz. pt. T, in. 40 ; ibid. 18 Eliz.pl. »i, m. II ; ibid, 12 Jat. I, pt. viii, no. II. A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE senden, in 1182 ;4' it is found in the possession of that abbey in 1330-2," and remained so until the dissolution of that house in 1536. In 1541 Beamond was granted by Henry VIII to Sybil the wife of David Penn ' in consideration of her services in the nurture and education of Prince Edward,' ** and was confirmed to her and her hus- band in 1553." David Penn died about 1565, and was succeeded by his son John, whose lands passed to his son William in i$<)6.4e William's son John in- herited the manor in January 1638-9," and died in 1641, when he was succeeded by William Penn,48 whose son William died in 1693. Roger Penn became lord of Beamond upon his death,49 and died unmarried in I73I,50 when the manor passed to Sarah Penn the wife of Sir Nathaniel Curzon of Kedleston,51 in whose family it descended. Assheton Curzon, second son of the fourth baronet, inherited this manor, was created Baron Curzon of Penn in 1794 and Viscount Curzon in 1802. His grandson was created Earl Howe in 1821. The present Earl Howe is now lord of the manor. The lords of the manor have possessed court leet and view of frankpledge from the 1 4th century," which still survive. Free fishery is mentioned in 1618." The reputed manor of M4NTELLS (Mauntel- court, Mauntelesse xv cent., Maundeles xvi cent.) was held in the time of Edward the Confessor by Seric, a man of Sired, and in 1086 by Turstin Mantel,54 and was assessed at half a hide. It was held of the king in chief by serjeanty of being the king's naperer." In 1486 it is said to have been held by the service of -^ of a knight's fee,5* and in the time of Elizabeth and Charles I by grand serjeanty.67 The half-hide remained in the family of Mantell, and in the 1 2th century was held by Robert Mantell, whose son and heir was a minor in custody of the king in li85.M This boy, who was ten at that time, was probably the Walter Mantell who held it be- tween 1201 and I2I2,59 when it was called a hide. He was succeeded by William Mantell, probably his son, who died in 1249 leaving a son Robert,60 at which time it was described as a messuage, lands, and rent. He was followed by another Robert, who was living in 1284, and seems to have died shortly before 1291, when his lands were in the king's custody by LITTLE MISSENDEN : 1 HE MANOR HOUSE FROM THE CHURCHYARD * Dugdale, Mm. vi, 434. 48 Ct. R. ptfo. i 55, no. 2 ; Valor Eccl. (Rcc. Com.), ii, 189. 44 L. and P. Hen. Vlll, xvi, 718. 45 Ibid, xiii (2), 1257 n.; Acts of P.O. 1552-4, p. 252 ; Pat. 7 Edw. VI, pt. iv ; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cxli, 47. <6 Ibid, ccxlviii, 31. 4~ Ibid, ccccxciv, 63 ; Lipscomb, Hist, of Bucks, iii, 291, quoting monumental inscription. 48 Recev R. Bucks. Mich. 1649, rot. 51; ibid. Trin. 2 Jas. II, rot. 72 ; Lip»- comh, Hist, of Bucks, iii, 290, quoting monumental inscription. 49 Recov. R. Trin. 10 Will. Ill, rot. 94. 60 Lipscomb, Hist, of Bucks, iii, 292, quoting monumental inscription. 61 Ibid. 289 ; Recov. R. Bucks. Trin. 27 Geo. Ill, rot. 123 ; ibid. Trin. 45 Geo. Ill, rot. 256; ibid. East. I Geo. IV, rot. 304. 62 Ct. R. ptfo. 155, no. 2 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cxli, 47 ; Pat. 16 Jas. I, pt. vii. " Ibid. 44 y.C.H. Bucks. \, 267,1. 45 Red Bk. Exch. (Rolls Ser.), i, 139; 356 Testa de Ne-vill (Rec. Com.), 256 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. Hen. Ill, file viii, no. 19 ; ibid. 2 Hen. VI, no. 13. 4« Cal. Inq. Hen. VII, 149. 47 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cxx, 2 ; ibid, ccccxxxiv, 93. 68 Rot. de Dominabus, &c. 20, S. Grimaldi. "Red Bk. Exch. (Rolls Ser.), i, 139; Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 245 and 256. 60 Chan. Inq. p.m. Hen. VIII, file viii, no. 19 ; Rot. Hund. (Rec. Com.), i, 20 ; Feud, Aids, i, 85. AYLESBURY HUNDRED LrrrLE MISSENDEN reason of the minority of his heir," and were farmed for 35/. \\J. This heir would probably be the Robert Mantell who in 1336 enfeoffed his son Walter of the manor," so called for the first time. Walter died in 1356, and was succeeded by his son John," whose son John Mantell of Hartwell inherited the manor in 1424.** Some time after, perhaps at the death of the last-mentioned John, the manor seems to have come into the possession of John Hampden, whose son Thomas died seised of it in 1485, leaving a son Richard." Richard Hampden apparently conveyed it to trustees,64 from whom it was presum- ably purchased by Thomas Woodmancy, who died possessed of it in 1505." He left a widow Anne, who seems to have married secondly Robert Girton, and two sons, Thomas and John, who together with their mother conveyed Mantells in 1520-1 to Simon Watson." The manor remained in the Watson family until 1554, when Kenelm Watson sold it to Thomas Denton of Hillesdon.** Thomas Denton died seised of it in 1558, and was succeeded by his son Alexander,70 after whose death about 1574" Mantells seems to have been sold to Richard Tothill, for he died in possession of it in 1593." His son William died in 1626 leaving as his heirs a daughter Katharine Tot- hill and a grandson William Drake, son of his daughter Joan," between whom the manor was divided. In 1632, however, Katharine conveyed her moiety to William Drake 74 of Shardeloes and Amersham, in whose family it has descended, and is now possessed by Mr. Tyrwhitt Drake of Amersham. Mantle's Farm and Wood still exist. In 1254-5 Robert Mantell paid hidage of dd. yearly and nothing for suit." A half-hide in LITTLE MISSENDEN was held in the time of Edward the Confessor by Wulfwig, Bishop of Dorchester, but did not, however, remain to that see, for in 1086 it formed part of the lands of Hugh de Bolebec.'* Hugh de Bolebec was succeeded by his two sons, Hugh who died without issue, and Walter " who was lord of the Little Missenden half- hide in 1 1 66." The latter died before 1185, leav- ing an only daughter and heir Isabel, who in that year was a minor in the custody of Earl Albric.7* She married Robert de Vere, third Earl of Oxford, and the Bolebec estates thus became merged in his earldom. The overlordship of this half-hide con- tinued in the possession of the Earls of Oxford as late as 1634."° It was held from the I 3th century onwards as half a fee. The sub-tenant of the Little Missenden half-hide previous to the Conquest was Ulviet, who was still holding it in 1086 of Hugh de Bolebec." Nothing is known of his descendants. In 1 1 66 it was held by Raveingus de ' Musindone,' ** after which there is no record of a sub-tenant until 1254-5, when the holder was William de Sumeford." At this time por- tions of it were also held by Hugh de Messenden, perhaps a descendant of Raveingus, and William de BOLIBIC. Vert a lion ermini. VERE. Quarterly gulet and or with a molet ar- gent in the quarter. Derneford or Demeford,84 which suggests that they were perhaps husbands of three sisters, between whom the half-hide had been divided ; William de Sume- ford assuming the lordship as husband of the eldest. Hugh de Messenden was still living in 1 262,** and for some time previous to 1275 Lawrence de Brok held a half-virgate in Little Missenden of William de Derneford,9* so that William de Sumeford seems to have died without heirs. In 1275 Lawrence died, and was succeeded by his ion Hugh de Brok." In 1284-6 the half-hide was held by Hugh de Brok and Henry de Bray," which implies that Hugh de Brok had obtained the portion of William de Derne- ford, and that Henry de Bray had succeeded Hugh de Messenden. If this Henry was Henry de Bray the King's Escheator he fell into disgrace and probably forfeited his lands about izSg.93 Hugh de Brok seems to have had heirs,90 but apparently they did not succeed to Little Missenden, for shortly afterwards it appears in the possession of Joan le Botiller." This lady was one of the sisters and heirs of Richard Fitz John who died in 1297,"' her husband being Theo- bald le Botiller. As neither Richard Fitz John nor Joan herself were seised of Little Missenden when they died, * she can only have held the estate for a while. In 1371 Little Missenden was held by Peter de Brewcs," who received grants of lands in Bucking- hamshire from Edward III." He had a son John who died without issue in 1426 or 1427, and a daughter Beatrice who married Sir Hugh Shirley.** After Peter de Brewes there is no further record of tub-tenants in this portion of Little Missenden. It seems probable that this fee became absorbed in one of the other manors of the parish, and thus disappeared. In 1254-5 William de Sumeford paid hidage of 11 Exch. Accti. bdle. I, no. 16. •' Abhrev. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), ii, 107 ; Cat. Pat. 1334-8) p. 228. « Chan. Inq. p.m. 47 Edw. Ill (lit not.), no. 24. •» Ibid, i Hen. VI, no. 1 3. •• Col. Inj. Hen. VII, 149. ** Pit. 15 Hen. VII, pt. ii, m. 5. •" Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xx, 6. " FeetofF. Buck.. Ea.t. 12 Hen. VIII. •• Com. Pleat D. Enr. Trin. i Mary, m. tit. 7° Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. i), cix, 1. "' Liptcomb, Hilt, of Butki. iii, 171 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Scr. 2), clxxvi, 4. 38 7* Ibid, ccxl, iS. " Ibid, ccccxxxir, 93. » Feet of F. Dir. Co. Ea.t. 8 Chat I. '• Rot. HuitJ. (Rec. Com.), i, 20. 1 Y.C.H. Butki. i, 264*. ~ Bankt, Dorm, and Ext. Peeraget, I, 1 Red Bk. Exck. (Roll. Ser.), i, 316- "' S. Grimaldi, Rot. di Dtminahui, lie. *° Teita de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 24 5 4 and 247* ; Feud. Aidi, i, 85 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 4; Edw. Ill, no. 45 ; ibid. (Ser. 2), cccclxiiii, 15. « f.CJi. Butki. i, 2644. 357 ** Red Bk. Exeb. (Roll« Ser.), i, 317. * Rot. Hund. (Rec. Com.), i, 20. « Ibid. •» Ai.iie R. 57, m. 6d. M Chan. Inq. p.m. 3 Edw. I, no. 10. 1 Ibid. » Fiud. Aidi, i, gj. « Red. Bk. Bxtb. (Rolla Ser.), iii, cccixrii. " Wrottetlejr, Fed. from Plea R. 428. " Teita de Ntvill (Rec. Com.), 247*. n Chan. Inq. p.m. 2; Edw. I, no. 50. * Ibid. 31 Edw. I, no. 32. " Ibid. 45 Edw. Ill, no. 4J. "Add. MS. 5524,foU 17*. «• Ibid. A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE £l a year. Hugh de Messenden and Walter de Derneford, his fellow-owners, paid nothing for suit.9' JFFRICK'S F4RM or Manor (Auffrykkes, xvi cent.) was at an early date given to Godstow Nunnery, for it appears to have belonged to that house in 1 29 1,98 and to have remained in its possession until its dissolution.99 In 1541 it was granted by Henry VIII to Sybil Penn together with the manor of Beamond,100 and followed the same descent.101 Affrick's Farm still exists. The church of ST. JOHN THE CHURCH BAPTIST consists of a chancel 17 ft. by 1 2 ft. 10 in., a nave 366. 2 in. by 1 6 ft. gin., a north chapel 25 ft. loin, by 12 ft. 8 in., a north aisle 7 ft. 4 in. wide, a south aisle 1 2 ft. 7 in. wide with a south porch, and a western tower 1 1 ft. i in. square, all measurements being internal. It is one of the oldest buildings in the district, the nave and perhaps the chancel dating from the beginning of the 1 2th century. In the second half of the 1 2th century a south aisle was added, and late in the same century a north aisle. About the same time clear- story windows were inserted in the south wall and PLAN OF LITTLE Scale of feet' MISSENDEN CHURCH perhaps in the north. The chancel shows no features earlier than the 1 3th century, but its plan and perhaps its walls are of the same date as the nave walls ; it was at any rate remodelled in the I3th century, while a north chapel, probably much shorter from east to west than at present, was added to it in the 1 4th century. The tower is an addition of fairly late 15th-century date, at which time the north aisle was reconstructed, and in the i8th century the south aisle was re- built. In modern times little has been done beyond the most ordinary repairs, but whitewash and plaster have been most liberally used, the latter covering even the tooled stonework in several layers. For this reason some points in the early history of the church must remain uncertain ; the length of the old south aisle, the number of clearstory windows, and the date of the eastern bay of the south arcade can only be decided by removing some at least of the accumulated whitewash and plaster. The east window of the chancel is of three uncusped lights with shafted jambs and rear arches supported upon circular shafts with moulded bases and capitals, all of late 1 3th-century detail, but the window has been so much restored as to be of doubtful date. On the north is the 14th-century opening to the chapel with a two-centred arch of two chamfered orders, the outer of which is continuous. In the middle of the south wall is a lancet window with a rounded rear arch and a wide splay, c. 1200, and on either side are later lancets, that on the east having a late 13th-century moulded rear arch, while that to the west is a single trefoiled light set lower in the wall than the others. Its head appears to be a late insertion. The chancel arch is low, of a single plain order, semicircular, with a rough square abacus, but has been so much cut about and smothered in plaster and whitewash that its original details are not to be seen. The north arcade of the nave is of three unequal bays. The eastern bay has a small round-headed arch with no eastern respond, and evidently of very late date, cut through the wall in the i8th or igth century. The two remaining bays have plain round-headed arches and hollow-chamfered abaci with a deep upper member, showing that they belong to the end of the 1 2th century. A section of the old nave wall some 7 ft. long is left be- tween the arches, and the angles of the jambs are worked with small shafts or bowtels surmounted by small foliate capitals. The south arcade is of two bays, the eastern being considerably the wider, having been enlarged at a late date, probably when the south aisle was rebuilt in the 1 8th century. The second bay remains untouched and is similar to the two bays on the north except that the jambs are plain and the abacus is of earlier type. Above this arch is a blocked round-headed clear- story window, the 15th-century wall plate cutting through its head, and to the west at a lower level is one of the original windows of the early 1 2th-century nave, a plain round-headed opening, now blocked and covered with plaster and whitewash. At the east end of the south wall is a dormer window to light the pulpit. Between the two arches, on the south face of the wall, is a low and shallow recess, whose nature is not apparent under the plaster and whitewash. The north chapel has an 18th-century east win- dow of three round-headed lights ; and a two-light north window of 14th-century date with trefoiled heads and a quatrefoil over, and a moulded rear arch with an internal label. Beneath and to the west is a mutilated tomb recess of the same date with a low pointed arch. The arch from the chapel to the north aisle is also of I4th century date, like that to the chancel. The north aisle has three 15th-century windows of two cinquefoiled lights under a square head, one in the west and two in the north wall, and between the W Rot. Hund. (Rec. Com.), i, 20. 98 Dugdale, Man. iv, 369. 99 Ibid. 373 and 377. H" L. and P. Hen. Vlll, xvi, 718. 101 Ibid, xiii (2), 1257 n. ; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cxli, 47 ; ibid. (Ser. 2), 358 ccxlviii, 31 ; ibid. (Ser. 2), ccccxciv, 63 ; Recov. R. Bucks. Trin. 2 Jas. II, rot. 72 ; ibid. Trin. 10 Will. Ill, rot. 94. AYLESBURY HUNDRED LITTLE MISSENDEN latter is the north door of the same date with continu- ously moulded jambs and four-centred head. The south aisle is built of flint and brick and has an east window of the same detail as that of the chapel. In the south wall are two 18th-century pointed windows with two-light wooden frames and a doorway with a 1 5 th-ccntury moulded head reset on plain chamfered jambs. Immediately west of this is a small single 1 8th-century light placed rather high, and a west window of two clumsy trefoiled lights is of the same date. The south porch, mainly of brick, incorporates the remains of a 1 5th-century wooden porch, the outer archway and some carved detail being preserved. The tower, of three stages with an embattled para- pet and a south-east turret staircase, is of 1 5 th-ccntury date throughout. Its eastern arch is of two orders, the outer, with a double ogee moulding, being contin- uous, and separated by a wide hollow from the inner order which springs from round shafts with octagonal bases and capitals. The west door has a straight sided four-centred head and moulded jambs the inner members of which are carried round the arch, while the outer form a square head. The west window is of three cinquefoiled lights under a four-centred head. The belfry openings are of two cinquefoiled lights under a square head. The font is of the local izth-century type, with a fluted bowl and square base with inverted scallops, enriched with foliage carving in the usual manner. The wooden fittings of the church are of little interest, but in the chancel are some 18th-century altar rails and panelling, and a I yth-century altar table. The roofs of both nave and chancel are plain work of early 15 th-ccntury date with moulded wall plates, and ceiled on the underside of the rafters. In the north chapel is an oak chest with elabo- rately mitred panels bearing the date 1693 in nail heads. In the chancel is a brass with the figure of John Style of Little Missenden, 1613, and a slab on which were formerly the brass figures of Francis Style, 1646, his wife Elizabeth (Penn), and two daughters ; the inscription and a small part of the figures of the two daughters are all that now remain. There is also a slab to Sarah (Drury), 1679, the wife, first of John Penn of Penn, and then of Robert Style. The tower contains five bells : the treble cast by John Warner and Sons in 1881 ; the second, inscribed with the salutation, by a London founder of the 14th century, John Rofforde ; the third has ' Sancta Mar- gareta ora pro nobis,' and is the work of John Danyell of London, c. 1460 ; the fourth was cast in 1603 by Joseph Carter of Whitechapel ; and the tenor is by Henry Knight, 1663. The plate consist! of a fine covered cup of the puritan type, hall-marked for 1639 ; a flagon and standing paten hall-marked respectively for 1729 and 1720 and both the gift of Mrs. Isabella Drake of Shardeloes. The first book of the registers contains all entries between 1559 and 1718. The second book contains all between 1719 and 1774 except in the case of the marriages, which run to 1754- A third book contains burials and baptisms between 1775 and 1812, while marriages are continued in two printed books running from 1754 to 1777 and from £777 to 1812. Burials in woollen are contained in a separate book between 1711 and 1718 and there is a churchwardens' ac- count book for the yean 1711-87. The church of St. John the Bap- ADrOWSON list at Little Missenden was grant- ed by Gilbert Basset and Egelina his wife to the monastery of Bicester in 1182,"" 'for the good of his own soul, that of Egelina his wife and those of his children,' and was confirmed to it in 1 3 1 5 by Edward II.1" The living wa> appropriated and a perpetual vicar appointed,104 but the rectory and advowson of the vicarage have always followed the same descent. They remained in the possession of Bicester Monastery until the Dissolution,'** after which they were granted in 1541 to Sybil Penn,106 and followed the descent of the manor of Beamond (q.v.)107 The present patron is Earl Howe. Christ Church, Holmer Green, was erected in 1 894, and is served from Holy Trinity, Penn Street, an ecclesiastical parish formed in 1850 from part of the civil parishes of Little Missenden and Penn.10* There are Baptist chapels at Holmer Green, built in 1877, and at Little Kingshill, built in 1814, and a Wesleyan chapel. — Brigginshaw, as mentioned in CHARITIES a deed dated 10 May 1757, gave a yearly sum of Id/, out of his estate called Mill End for the poor. The annuity is now paid by Mr. W. W. T. Drake of Shardeloes, Amer- sham, and given in half-crowns to poor people. In 1775 William Line, by will, charged his two meadows, called Elders and Calves Close, and an orchard adjoining at Little Kingshill with an annuity of £4 61. %d. for providing weekly bread for poor attending church and not receiving parish relief. The annuity is paid by Mr. Clark the owner of the property charged, and distributed in bread to the clerk and six of the poorest and oldest people every Sunday. In 1793 Sarah Bates by her will left a legacy, now represented by £100 consols with the official trustees, the income to be applied in providing clothes, bedding, medical aid, &c., to the poor, especially poor widows. The sum of £2 lot. it usually given in money. In 1867 Miss Charlotte Raine by her will, proved on 20 May, bequeathed 2,000 shares in the Lambeth Waterworks Company, also a further 2,000 shares in the same company (subject to the life interest of a niece, who died in 1 894), to the minister and church- wardens, the income to be distributed half yearly amongst the oldest and infirm poor (not exceeding ten for each bequest), the recipients to be selected for their respective lives, if considered deserving. The trust funds are now represented by £14,208 I5/. loJ. Metropolitan Water (u) Stock 3 per cent, with the official trustees, who also hold a sum of £147 8/. loJ. consols, representing the invest- ment of the proceeds of three letters of allotment in respect of the said shares. The annual income amounts to £429 19;. In 101 Dugdale, Man. ri, 434. »" Cat. Pat. 1513-17, p. 359. 101 E^crion Chart. 412. «• Vtltr Eal. (Ree. Com.), ii, 189. «• L. ind P. lln. yiil, «vi, 718. 359 "7 In.t. Bki. P.R.O. Clirp Liu. "* Land. Can. II Jin. 1850. A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 1 907 annuities were given to twenty beneficiaries at a cost of £431. Charities founded by Miss Charlotte Raine by deeds of 1875 and 1876 : — (a) For the distribution of flannel ; trust fund £157 Ijs. lid. consols, producing yearly £3 l8/. 8*/. (b) For soup and wine, &c. ; trust fund, .£209 y. consols, annual income £$ 4*. \d., and (c) For repairs, &c., of church ; trust fund, £166 I3/. 4<^. consols, annual income £4 3/. \d. The several sums of stock are held by the official trustees. In 1880 James Henry Bird, by deed, dated 7 December, declared the trusts of two houses in Paddington, being Nos. 1 08 and no Church Street, let on lease for a term of 79 years from Michaelmas 1842, at a yearly rental of £l 9. The same donor by his will, proved in 1884, bequeathed a legacy represented by .£725 14*. 8 Ftud. AiJi, i, 98. " Feet of F. Buclu. Mich. 3 Edw. II. >* Ibid. * Chan. Inq. p.m. 20 Edw. II, no. 31. " Ibid. * De Banco R. Trin. 6 Edw. II, m. 147 d. ; Feet of F. Buck*. Trin. I Edw. III. * FiuJ. Aidi, i, 123. * Nicholli, Hill, and Antij. if Ltiei. i*, pt. 2, p. 870. The Mcond William Moton it omitted in the pedigree in Viiit. of Norn. (Harl. Soc. iv), 128, 129. * Chan. Inq. p.m. 16 Ric. II (pt. i), no. 21. *• Cal. Pat. 1401-5, p. 175. 10 De Banco R. 570, m. 268 d. ; ibid, m. 442 d. 11 Ibid. •* Cal. Pat. 1401-;, p. 175. " Chin. Inq. p.m. 3 Hen. V, no. 46. * Collint, fttragt ofEngl. (ed. Brydget), iii, 488. » Ibid. * I' nit. ofBueb. 1566 (ed. Metcalfe). •7 Esch. Inq. p.m. bdle. 29, no. 4. M Lipicomb, Hiit. of Bucki. ii, 447. Pedigree of Brudenell from Cardigan MSS. " According to the fiiit. of Bueki. 1566, Francit wat the greit-grandion of thit John Brudenell. 40 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser 2), cclrxxiv, no. 100. 41 Feet of F. Bucki. Eatt. 8 Jat. I ; ibid. Trin. 16 Jat. I ; Chan. Inq. p.m. Misc. dxzi, pt. 25, no. 127. 4> l.yioni, Ma fun Brit, i, 635. *• Feet of F. Bucki. Eait, 4 Chat. I ; Recov. R. Eait. 4 Chat. I. 44 Feet of F. Bucki. Eatt. 4 Chat. I ; Recor. R. Eait 4 Chat. I. 4t Hiit. of Bucki. ii, 448. « Ibid. 449. *. Cf. Charitiet of Stoke Mandeville. *~> Feet of F. Bucki. Eait. 18 Geo. II. 48 Burke, Commoner!, i, 1 10. 41 Lytont, Magna Brit, i, 635 ; Burke, Commoner it i, 1 1 o. H Lytont, lot. cit. " Ibid. M Sheahan, To fog. of Bucki. 197. « Hand. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 20. 46 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE MANDEVILLK. Quar- terly or and gules. Bishop of Lincoln. Geoffrey died before 1269" leaving his son John de Mandeville as his heir. The manor and parish seem to have taken their name from Geoffrey de Mandeville, but his family did not hold the fee for long, since John held no lands in Bucking- hamshire at his death." In 1284-6 M his moiety was held by John de Kirkeby, Bishop of Ely, but it has not been traced how he obtained it. Shortly afterwards he granted it to his brother William de Kirkeby and his wife Chris- tiana for their lives." William died seised in 1301 or 1302," and Christiana held it alone in 1 302-3 M and I3I6.60 William de Kirkeby was his brother's heir ; 61 hence on Christiana's death some time after 1 3 16 61 the Bishop of Ely's moiety of Stoke Mandeville passed to the heirs of William. He had no children and his lands were divided amongst his four sisters,63 Stoke Mandeville forming part of the share of his eldest sister Margaret. She had married Walter Doseville,64 but both she and her husband pre- deceased Christiana. Her eldest son John died with- out direct heirs,65 and Hugh Doseville his brother66 succeeded to the moiety of the manor, which seems to have been settled on Hugh in I3I3-67 In I3I468 he enfeoffed Master John Doseville and Robert Dose- ville and the heirs of Robert of its reversion. Robert was in seisin in I332,69 when Robert son of William Grimbaud, the descendant of another of the heiresses of William de Kirkeby, claimed a moiety of the manor of Stoke Mandeville from him. Hugh Doseville was called to give warrant'.-/0 but the suit was indefinitely postponed, as one of the parties was under age. The Dosevilles, however, were not dispossessed, since in 1 346 " Nicholas Doseville had succeeded Robert. The manor appears to have undergone a further sub- division, since three tenants appear, and the Dose- villes held only a half of a knight's fee.78 Nicholas Doseville seems to have been the last of that name to hold the moiety of Stoke Mandeville manor, and possi- bly left two daughters as his heiresses. The moiety seems to have been the inheritance of Joan the wife of Robert Derwahhaw and Cecilia the wife of Sir Robert le Straunge.7* In 1372 the latter complained that she had been disseised of the manor of Stoke Mandeville by Robert Derwalshaw and Joan, but in 1374" Robert le Straunge and his wife and her heirs quitclaimed a moiety of the manor to Derwalshaw and Joan and her heirs. These latter granted the rever- sion, to fall in on their deaths, to John de Kyngesfold, who in turn sold it to Alice Ferrers the celebrated mistress of Edward III.75 She deputed John Bernes and others to receive her interest from Robert Derwal- shaw 76 on the understanding that they should re-en- feoff Robert and Joan for their lives. This was done, but on the attainder of Alice Ferrers the moiety of the manor was seized by the king's escheators,77 though she had no right in it, but only in the reversion. She, however, also held two-thirds of a messuage in Stoke Mandeville78 of Robert Derwalshaw. In 1378" Robert, his wife having died, obtained restitution of his moiety to hold for life without paying rent, on condition that he kept it without waste. The rever- sion was vested in the king,80 who, however, granted it in 1380 in fee simple to Sir Willi.im de Windsor,81 who had married Alice Ferrers. To whom it after- wards passed does not appear. Sir William apparently held no lands in Buckinghamshire at his death,83 and the family of Brudenell seem to have obtained possession of this moiety of Stoke Mandeville at this time. It seems possible that it was known as the manor of Newbury. Edmund Brudenell, the eldest son of William Brudenell of Aynho and Raans,8* was a Clerk of Parliament during the reigns of Edward III and Richard II, and is said84 to have held the manor, but it is not mentioned in his will, dated 21 June 1425. His only daughter and heiress Alice ** became a nun, and his lands in Stoke Man- deville may have passed to his brother Henry, whose descendant Francis Brudenell of Stjke Mandeville died seised of the manors of Newbury and Oldbury in 1 60 1 — ».** The two manors were held together from this time, and the manor of Newbury followed the same descent as Oldbury (q.v.). In 1254" Geoffrey de Mandeville held the view of frankpledge in Stoke Mandeville and paid l8/. a year for the right. In 1616-17 Edmund Brudenell obtained a grant of view of frankpledge to be held twice a year for his tenants in StoKe Mandeville, Ellesborough, and Little Kimble.88 The Clarkes of Ardington also held view of frankpledge and many other rights.89 William de Kirkeby "° obtained a grant of free warren in his demesne lands in Stoke Hailing, a hamlet in the parish, from Edward I. The manor of BURLETS apparently took its name from the family of Burley who held land in Stoke Mandeville in the early part of the 1 4th cen- tury. It seems to have been held at that time of the Kirkebys, but afterwards, about 1346, of the Bishop of Lincoln himself. In 1304" Peter de Leycestre died seised of lands in Stoke Hailing, held of Robert de Burley and his heirs, and in 1 3 1 3 9S the same Robert obtained certain lands in Stoke Mandeville from William Billy. In 1346 93 William de Burley's name appears as paying the feudal aid due from one knight's fee in Stoke Mandeville, 61 Exarfta e Rot. Fin. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 495; 5a Cal. Inf. p.m. Ediv. /, no. i 54. •• Feud. Aids, i, 86. *7 Chan. Inq. p.m. 30 Edw. I, no. JI. *8 Ibid. 69 Feud. Aids, i, 98. «» jbid. , 1 2. 61 Chan. Inq. p.m. 18 Edw. I, no. 37. "Feud. Aids, i, 112. 88 Chan. Inq. p.m. 30 Edw. I, no. 31 ; Abkre-v. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), i, 123. •4 Ibid. « De Banco R. Hil. 5 & 6 Edw. II, m. 152. 68 Ibid. Trin. no. 286, m. 139 d. •' Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 7 Edw. II. «8 Ibid. 8 Edw. II. 69 De Banco R. 286, m. I39d. 7» Ibid. 71 Feud. Aids, 1,123. 7» Ibid. 7' Assize R. 1477, m. 46. 7< Feet. off. Bucks. East. 47 Edw. III. "5 Cal. Pat. 1 377-8 1, p. 226. 76 Ibid. 7? Ibid. 78 Chan. Inq. p.m. I Ric. II, no. 30. 7« Cal. Pat. 1377-81, p. 226. * Ibid. 81 Ibid. 503. 88 Chan. Inq. p.m. 8 Ric. II, no 38. 362 88 Collins, Peerage ofEngl. (ed. Brydges), iii, 488. 84 Lipscomb, Hist, of Bucks, ii. 86 Collins, Peerage (ed. Brydges), iii, 438. 88 Lipscomb, Hist, of Bucks, ii, 447 ; Pedigree of Brudenell from Cardigan MSS. 87 Hand. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 20. 88 Pat. 14 Jas. I, pt. 13. 89 Recov. R. Mich. 2 Geo. IV. 90 Chart. R. 89, m. 3, no. 23 (24 Edw. I). 91 Chan. Inq. p.m. 32 Edw. I, no. 42. » Feet of F. Bucks. Trin. 6 Edw. II, nos. 17, 1 8. 93 Feud. Aids, i, 123. GREAT MISSENDEN CHURCH : NAVE LOOKING EAST STOKE MANDEVILLE CHURCH : INTERIOR LOOKING EAST AYLESBURY HUNDRED STOKE MANDF.VILLE which had formerly been held by Christiana de Kirkeby. The division of the two knights' fees be- longing to the Bishop of Lincoln at this time suggests th.it a mistake was made in the return, since it seems unlikely that only one fee remained to the heirs of William and Christiana de Kirkeby respectively, while the other fee had been alienated to the Burleys. More probably William de Burley, who may have pre- viously held of the Kirkebys, now held his land directly of the Bishop of Lincoln, and so appears for the first time as paying the feudal aid due from his land. In 1354" Alice de Burley, possibly the widow of Wil- liam, held land in Stoke Mandeville. In the i;th century the manor of Burleys came into the possession of the elder branch of the Brudenell family. Edmund Brudenell of Raans,*6 nephew of that Henry Bru- denell who first held the manor of Oldbury, granted Burleys Manor in 1452 to Edmund Rede and others, presumably as trustees. Edmund Brudenell died in 1470" and was succeeded by his son Drew,*7 but whether the latter ever was seised of the manor is not certain. At his death ** no men- tion is made of it, but it afterwards came into the possession of his nephew Thomas, who inherited part of his lands. Drew's son and heir, Edmund, died, leaving no children," and in 1538 Thomas Brudenell held a court baron for Burleys Manor.100 In the next year he sold it "" to John Bosse, in whose name the manorial court was held.10* From John Bosse 1M it passed to his descendants Richard, Francis, Samuel, and Thomas Bosse in turn.104 The last- named, together with his wife Elizabeth, sold the manor of Burleys in 1617 to Alexander Jennings,1" who was holding it in 1640,'°* when his land was assessed at the yearly value of ,o/. Lands in Stoke Mandeville were conveyed by Francis Jennings of Stoke Mandeville to Richard Jennings in 1653,"" but the manor of Burleys is not mentioned in the indenture. In 1 664 "* the land formerly held by Alexander Jennings was held by Anne Jen- nings, widow, and Michael Jennings. In the 1 8th century the manor was held by John Smith lo* with the manor of Stoke Mandeville, and afterwards passed to the Clarkes of Ardington. The family of Stonor acquired lands in Stoke Mandeville and Stoke Hailing during the 1 3th cen- tury, and their lands were afterwards called the manor of STONORS. In 1297-8 "° Robert Albon and his wife Alice sold some land in Stoke Hailing to Peter de Leycester. Peter died about 1304'" seised of several tenements there, which he held of various lords, and they passed to his kinswoman Juliana de Leyccstre the wife of Walter de Bernthorp. The latter was pre- sented in 1305-6 '"for obstructing a common road at Stoke Hailing, but in I 323, after the deathof Juliana,"1 Robert Albon released to John de Stonor his whole right in the land that had belonged to Peter de Leycestre or Gilbert Poygant ; Peter de Barton and Nicholas de Leycestre also quitclaimed '" tene- ments in Stoke Hailing to John de Stonor. Juliana's husband held his wife's lands for life. Thus the Stonors seem to have succeeded Juliana de Leycester, and both Peter de Leycestre and John de Stonor held some of their lands in Stoke of the Burleys.1" John de Stonor died in 1354"* and was succeeded by his son and heir, another John de Stonor. The lands in Stoke Mandeville passed after his death to his son Edmund Stonor,"7 who in turn was succeeded by his son John. The latter, who was a minor, died be- fore he attained his majority,1" and his lands passed to his younger brother Ralph in 1389 or 1390.'" Ralph enfcoffed William Sutton and others of lands and tenements in Stoke Mandeville,"0 but this was presumably merely a settlement, since he died seised of tenements there in I 394. '" This, how- ever, seems to be the last time that the Stonors are mentioned as holding this estate. In the 15th century the manor of Stonors in Stoke Mandeville apparently came into the possession of the Brudenells. Edmund Brudenell, who had held the manor of Burleys before 1452,"* does not seem to have held Stonors Manor as well, and possibly it remained with the Stonors until the time of Thomas Stonor, who in 14.70"* sold the manor of Bierton- Stonors in the neighbouring parish of Bierton. Thomas Brudenell, however, held the manor of Stonors about 1539, apparently in right of his wife. She was Elizabeth Fitz William,"4 and it does not seem likely that she can have had any right in the manor except by a marriage settlement. They sold it in I 540,"* to- gether with Burleys Manor, to John Bosse, from which time the two manors were held together. A mill is mentioned in Domesday Book,1" and was then worth lot. a year, but to which moiety of Stoke Mandeville it afterwards appertained does not appear. In 1628'" Edmund Brudenell, who was then seised of the whole manor, held a water-mill amongst the appurtenances. The church of ST. MART is a CHURCHES modern structure consisting of a chancel, nave, south aisle, and south- west tower, and is constructed of flints with brick quoins and dressings to the windows. It was built in 1886, and is designed in a style distantly approaching that of the I 3th century. The OLD CHURCH consists of a chancel 246. by 1 2 ft., and a nave 40 ft. by 1 7 ft. 9 in., within the western end of which is built a late brick tower, a »' Chan. Inq. p.m. 18 Edw. Ill (lit no*.), no. 58. •* Liptcomb, Hitt. tf Bucki. ii, 447. •• Chan. Inq. p.m. 9*10 Edw. IV, no. u- ••• Ibid. » Cat. l»f. f.m. Hen. ril, not. 563, 564. n Ibid. no. {64 ; Collini, Pttrtgi (rd. Br.dget), iii, 491. i" B.M. Add. Chart. 47360. ><" Feet of F. Bucki. Mich. 31 Hen. VIII. 101 B.M. Add. Chart. 47369, m. 2. >•• Chan. Inq. p.m. (S«r. 2), cxviii, no. 4. "* B.M. Add. Chart. 47369, m. 3 j Feet of F. Buck*. Bait. 27 Kliz. ; B.M. Add. Chart. 47369, m. 567 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), Miic. dviii, no. 21. 1M Feet of F. Bucki. Mil. I ; Jit. I. ««• (P.R.O.) Lay Subt. R. bdle. 80, no. 302. lo? Clote, 1653, pt. 39, no. 30. 1B» (P.R.O.) Lay Subt. R. bdle. So, no. 336. "• Cf. Stoke Mandeville Minor. 110 Feet of F. Bucki. Hil. 26 Edw. I. 111 Chan. Inq. p.m. 32 Edw. I, no. 42. »» A bkrrv. Plat. (Rec. Com.), 298. "'• Ibid. 348. 114 Feet of F. Bucki Mich. loElw. II. 114 Chan. Inq. p.m. 32 Edw. I, no. 42 ; if id. 28 Edw. Ill (lit not.), no. 58. 363 »• Ibid. W Vilit. of Oxm. (Harl. Soc. T), 143 , Chan. Inq. p.m. 13 Ric. II, no. 48. "" Chan. Inq. p.m. 13 Ric. II, no. 48. '" Coram Rege R. Mich. 20 Ri, . II, m. 26. "•Cloie, 14 Ric. II, m. 38d. In Chan. Inq. p.m. 18 Ric. II, no. 39. »» Ibid. 9 & 10 Edw. IV, no. 34. "• Feet of F. Bucki. Eatt. 9 Edw. IV. »< Collini, Ptertgt (ed. Bridge.), iii, 49'- >» Feet of F. Bucki. Mich. 31 II n. VIII. '« y.C.H. B«*i. 1,233. "' Rccov. R. Eatt. 4 Chat. I ; Feet of F. Bucki. Eatt. 4 Chat. I. A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE south aisle 7 ft. 6 in. wide, and a half-timbered north porch. The narrow chancel arch appears to be the only remaining architectural feature of a small 12th- century church which consisted of a nave of the same size and a chancel somewhat shorter than the present ones. In the first half of the I3th century the chancel was lengthened, but the side walls were probably not rebuilt, and the south aisle was added in the first quarter of the 1 4th century, and the large north-east window of the nave probably dates from the middle of the same century. In the 1 5th cen- tury the nave walls were raised, and a low-pitched roof put on, but the only clearstory windows appear to be of much later date. The tower belongs to the last half of the lyth century. The east window of the chancel is of three cinque- foiled lights with trefoiled lights over, beneath a two- centred head, and is of 15th-century date. The north wall is without openings, but the south contains two windows. That to the east is a 1 3th-century lancet with a wide internal splay and external rebate, and beneath it is a 13th-century piscina with a shouldered head, and a drain in the sill of the recess. The other window is square-headed, of two trefoiled lights, the jambs being of 14th-century date, but the head of the 1 5th. The mullions and jambs, both external and internal, are moulded, the latter with a pointed bow- tel. Between these windows is a very narrow door- way with a chamfered three-centred head, probably of the 1 5th century. The chancel arch is round-headed, 5 ft. 9 in. wide, of a single square order with a cham- fered and beaded abacus, which is continued on the west face up to the north wall of the nave. On either side are two small roughly-cut squints, that on the north side having a cinquefoiled head about mid- way in the thickness of the wall. It has been blocked with a thin brick wall of recent date, and the southern squint is entirely built up on the west side. The north wall of the nave, which probably retains in the lower part its 12th-century walling, has one large 14th-century window near the east end, from which the tracery has been removed and replaced by a wooden frame. The north door is of 14th-century date, with a continuous wave-mould in the jambs and two-centred head. The porch is perhaps of the 1 5 th century, with a low-pitched roof, which cuts into the label of the doorway. It is entirely of timber con- struction. The south arcade is of three bays with octagonal piers, and moulded capitals and bases, the latter very plain. The arches are two-centred, of two chamfered orders, both chamfers having carefully de- signed stops, those in the inner order taking the form of heads of men or beasts, and the label of ogee section has grotesque human heads for drips. The west win- dow of the aisle is of late 15th-century date, with three cinquefoiled lights under a three-centred arch. The two clearstory windows are square-headed and perfectly plain, probably 18th-century insertions, one at the south-east to light the pulpit, the other at the uorth-west to light a west gallery. The south aisle has a 15th-century east window of two cinquefoiled lights with tracery under a square head ; to the north of it is a small image bracket. In the south wall the eastern window is of two trefoiled lights with a quatrefoil over of flowing tracery, c. 1325, and just to the east of the south doorway is a single three- centred light of late date. West of the doorway is a square-headed 1 5th-century window of two cinquefoiled lights, and rather coarse detail. The south doorway has a two-centred head of a single hollow-chamfered order, and is of the date of the arcade. The east wall of the tower is of plastered brickwork, and is carried on a pointed arch which springs on the north from a chamfered respond with an engaged shaft, and on the south from a complete pier of the same detail, set a little to the west of the second column of the south arcade, but to the north of its line. It stands free on all sides, the wall which it carries butting against the north face of the arcade, the label of which is cut away from this point. The mouldings of arch and pier are carefully worked in plaster on a brick core, the details of the capitals being of the Tuscan order, and above the arch is a moulded string breaking up over the crown. The stair is on the north side, being carried up from the first floor in an octagonal turret at the north-east, finished with a domed cap of brickwork. The windows of the belfry stage are of two pointed lights under a round head with a pierced spandrel, and there is a similar window in the second story on the west. The chancel roof is underdrawn with a plaster ceiling and covered with red tiles ; the nave roof is plain work of I 5th-century date, and the aisle roof is probably contemporary with it. In the chancel arch are the marks of a screen, and also in the east respond of the south arcade. The church has been abandoned since the building of the new church, and is now in a deplorable condi- tion. The nave roof is rotten and full of holes, the walls cracked and sodden with rain, and the whole building smothered in ivy, which has pushed its way through the roofs and unglazed windows. A few decaying pews remain in the nave, which is open to any chance comer, and desecrated with the scribbled names of trippers."* A few fittings taken from it are preserved in the new church. The font is octagonal, of the 151)1 cen- tury, with square panels on the bowl, the alternate panels containing a rose, a leaf pattern, a blank shield, and what seems to be the representation of a shrine with a gabled top, on which is a cresting of trefoiled arches, with a cross at either end. There is also a canopied tomb of Jacobean style to three children of Edmund Brudenell, with a rhyming inscription : — Cruell death by mortal blades Hathe slaine foure of my Tender babes Whereof Mary Thomas and Dorothye Within this place there bodies lie But God which never man deceaved Hath their souls to him receaved This death to them is greatest gayne Increasinge their joy freeing them from payne O Dorathie my blessed childe Which lovingly lyved and dyed mild Thou wert my tenth even God's own choys In the exceedingly I did rejoyse Upon Good friday at night my doll depted Adew my sweet and most true hearted My bodye with thine I desyre should lye When God hath appointed me to dye la8 That »uch an interesting building, with its beautiful south arcade, and long history, should be left to its fate in this 364 manner is nothing less than a public dis- grace to the parish. AYLESBURY HUNDRED Hoping through Christ he will provide For my soul wlh thyne in heaven to abide And I your father Edmund Brudcnell Untill the resurection with the will dwell And so adew my sweet lambs three Untill in heaven I shall you see Such is my hope of Richard my son Whose body licth buried in King's Button. There are five bells, the treble and second by Ellis Knight, 1633, the third of 1730, the fourth of 1659, an early work of the younger Henry Knight, and the tenor by Ellis Knight, 1636. A plated set of communion vessels is in use ; other stiver plate exists but cannot, it is alleged, be found. The registers are said to be lost. The chapel of Stoke Mandeville JDPOfPSON was originally appendant to the pre- bendal church of Aylesbury, together with the chapelries of Bierton, Buckland, and Quar- rendon.1" In 1266 "* the four chapels were granted by the Bishop of Lincoln to the Dean and Chapter of Lincoln, and in 1294"' a vicarage was instituted of Bierton Church, with the chapels of Stoke Mandeville, Buckland, and Quarrendon. A separate chaplain was to be found by the vicar of Bierton to serve the chapel of Stoke Mandeville,1" the altar dues being worth 7 marks a year. In 1858 the chapels of Stoke Mandeville and Buckland '" were separated from Bierton, and formed separate benefices. The Dean and Chapter of Lincoln are still patrons of the living, which is now a vicarage. The rectorial estate has belonged since 1 294 to the dean and chapter. It was leased by them in the 1 8th century to the governors of Christ's Hospital, London, who held it in 1813 and 1862.'" The rectorial estate became the property of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in I870.1"* A detached portion of Stoke Mandeville parish, at Prestwood, was amalgamated in 1852"* with parts of Hughenden and Great Missenden parishes, and as- signed to the Consolidated Chapelry of Prestwood, which forms a separate ecclesiastical parish. The living is a vicarage, of which Mr. C. D. Disraeli is the patron. The church of the Holy Trinity •was built shortly before the formation of the parish, WESTON TURVILLE and was consecrated in 1849. It was enlarged in 1885. There is a Wesleyan chapel in Stoke Mandeville, built in 1818. George Shaw,"* who was curate of Stoke Man- deville and Buckland in 1774, attained consider- able fame as a naturalist in the i8th century. He was the younger son of the Rev. Timothy Shaw, the vicar of Bierton, and was born in 1751, and as a boy showed his love for natural history. He was ordained deacon in 1774, but afterwards abandoned the Church as a profession, to study medicine at Edinburgh. He then went to Oxford as botanical lecturer. He took part in 1788 in the founding of the Linnaean Society in London, where he had prac- tised for a year, and became one of the vice-presidents of the society. In 1791 Shaw was appointed assistant- keeper of the natural history section of the British Museum, and was keeper from 1807 till his death in 1813. He was an indefatigable worker, and the writer of many scientific papers and books. In 1726 John Jackson, for carry- CH4RITIES ing out the desire of his late father, Thomas Jackson, by deed settled a yearly rent-charge of £i for providing 120 twopenny loaves of good wholesome bread for the poor on Easter Day. The rent-charge is paid out of three cot- tages situated near the Bull Inn. Charity of Annabella Ligo, founded by indenture of 1 5 October 1733, consists of 3 roods in this parish, let at £z a year. In 1907 45 poor persons received gifts of bread in respect of these charities. Unknown donor — In the Parliamentary returns of 1786, a yearly sum of £i io/. was stated to be dis- tributed to the poor of this parish, who also had a right to forty days' thrashing of wheat, barley, and bean straw. In respect of this charity, the sum of £5 a year was formerly paid by the Governors of Christ's Hospital under a lease from the Dean and Chapter of Lincoln of the rectorial estate of this parish, which became the property of the Ecclesi- astical Commissioners in 1870. The charge was redeemed by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in 1880 by the transfer to the official trustees of .£167 new 3 per cent, stock, now consols, now producing yearly £4 3*. 4^., which is distributed in gifts of money. WESTON TURVILLE Weston, xi cent. ; Weston Tnrville, xiii cent. The parish of Weston Turville contains 2,323} acres of land,1 of which rather more than 1 ,070 are arable, the rest, with the exception of about 7^ acres of wood, being laid down in permanent pasture.' The subsoil is Gault, Upper Greensand, and Chalk, the surface being variable, either loam or day. The population is occupied in agriculture and duck breed- ing. A little straw-plait is still made, but the indus- try is gradually dying out. The parish is well watered by various streams running north, one of which supplies the water for the mill. There are moats at the Manor House, Manor Farm at West End, and near Broughton Farm. The Wendover branch of the Grand Junction Canal crosses the parish, and there is a large reservoir belonging to the Canal Company in the extreme south. The land lies for the most part between 200 ft. and 300 ft. above the Ordnance datum, and the village stands 300 ft. above the same datum. The Akeman Street, which runs from Aylesbury to Tring, and the main road from Aylesbury to Wendover, which follows the line of the Lower Icknield Way for part of its course, cross the parish, and the village of Weston Turville lies at «• Cal. PH. 1313-17, p. 304. i" Ibid. ul Line. Epii. Reg. Bp. Sutton't Init. ut Rte. of Bucki. i, 233-45. 10 Sheahan,//!!/. tnd Tofog.ofBucti. 1 09. 114 Ljrioni, Mtna Brit, i, 6 3 5 ; Shcahan, Hiit. and To fog. of But la. 199. uu Cf. Chiritici of Stoke MandeYille. 365 «* Lund. Can. 9 April 1851 (1019). "• Diet. Nat. Biog. li, 436. 1 Ord Surv. 1 Inf. supplied bjr Bd. of Agric. (190;). A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE the crossing. The nearest station is Stoke Mande- ville, on the Metropolitan Extension Railway, about l£ miles away. A Roman amphora and other objects were discovered in the rectory garden. The parish was inclosed by Act of Parliament, the award bearing the date 5 July l8oo.s The manor-house is the residence of Mr. T. C. H. Hedderwick. In the time of the Confessor* MANORS WESTON TURVILLE was held in four parts. Earl Leofwine held 9^ hides of land himself, and two of his men held \\ hides ; z hides were held by a man of Earl Tosti ; Godric the sheriff held 3^ hides as one manor, and two of his men held another 3^ hides, making a total of 20 hides. After the Norman Conquest 5 Weston Tur- ville belonged to the lands of the Bishop of Bayeux, and the earlier division into four parts was obliterated. After the forfeiture of the bishop, Weston Turville was presumably granted to one of the Counts of Meulan, Earls of Leicester, and in this way became part of the honour of Leicester.6 Simon de Montfort as Earl of Leicester 7 held it early in the 1 3th century, but after his death the earldom was granted to Edmund of Lancaster, the second son of Henry III.* The latter died seised of three knights' fees9 in Weston Turville. From his time the honour of Leicester was held by the Earls and Dukes of Lancaster, so that Weston Turville became part of the Duchy of Lan- caster.10 Under the Inclosure Act of 1 798 a piece of ground, rather more than half an acre in extent, was allotted to the Duchy of Lancaster. It was to equal one-twelfth of the common and waste lands and grounds as a ' compensation for all rights and interest of his said Majesty as Lord of the Manor.' This \ acre was sold shortly before 1862 to Mr. John Eldridge of Weston Turville. The paramount lord- ship presumably passed with it, but apparently no homage had been done to the duchy from any of the manors in Weston Turville since the inclosure of the common fields." The Earl of Leicester in the I3th century held the pleas of namio vetito and the view of frankpledge in Weston Turville. In 1254 the rights were said to have belonged to the overlord of the manor since the Conquest, except for a time when the honour of Leicester was in the hands of the king.18 This presumably refers to the time just before Simon de Montfort was made Earl of Leicester. In the reign of Edward I the lords of the honour also claimed to have the return of writs in the manor of Weston Turville.13 The Bishop of Bayeux '* had subinfeudated all his land in Weston Turville in 1086. One hide was held by the Bishop of Lisieux, and the remainder of the land was in the hands of Roger, who may have been the Roger from whom the Bolebecs traced their descent in the female line. His son was named Anketill, and Roger son of Anketill was said to be in seisin 15 of the manor of Weston Turville in the time TUBVILLE. Gules three cheverons vair. of Henry I. Roger's daughter Isabella married a Bolebec, and through this marriage his descendant Herbert de Bolebec claimed the manor in I2I2.16 Whether his family ever held it in right of Isabella is not clear, but at the time of his claim the Turvilles were in seisin. How they became possessed of it is also lost in obscurity, but they may have obtained it through another daughter and heiress of Roger son of Anketill. William de Turville held the manor in the reign of King John,17 and in I 206 he granted it for the term of thirteen years to Geoffrey Fitz Piers, Earl of Essex. William de Turville was succeeded by his son William, who had, how- ever, died before 1222, appa- rently leaving no children." His heirs were Cecilia the wife of Reginald or Roger de Croft, Isabella the wife of Walhamet le Poure, and Petronilla the wife of Simon de Crewelton or Turville, who were presumably his sisters.19 The manor of Weston Turville was divided between Cecilia and Petro- nilla, but the land was divided amongst the three heiresses,20 who seem each to have held one fee." The moiety of the manor assigned to Petro- nilla obtained the name of WESTON MOLTNS. Simon de Crewelton seems to have assumed the name of his wife's family and to have transmitted it to his descendants. In 1236 he and Petronilla obtained a quitclaim21 from Gilbert de Bolebec of his claim to Weston Turville. They were succeeded by William de Turville before 1278," and he in turn was succeeded by Nicholas de Turville before 1 296-7." William was sheriff of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire in 1288 and I29I,25 and Nicholas in I293.26 The latter granted the manor to Hugh de Turpleton in 1329," but before 1 333-4 it had passed to Sir John de Molyns.'3 Walter son of Hugh de Turpleton quitclaimed it to Sir John and his wife Gille and their son John in 1 338-9." The new tenants had obtained a pardon from the king,30 shortly after entering in the manor, of all debts and arrears of farms due at the Exchequer from William and Nicholas de Turville, contracted during the time of their shrievalty. Sir John de Molyns held the manor in 1 346. He enfeoffed his son John de Molyns and his wife Joan for themselves and the heirs of their bodies, with remainder to William the brother of the feoffee.*1 John de Molyns the younger predeceased his father,82 but his widow Joan, who afterwards married Sir Michael Poyninges, held the manor till her death in 1369." She had no children by her first husband, and it passed, according to the settlement by Sir John de Molyns, to William de Molyns. The latter died in 1380-1," and the • Com. Incl. Awards. • y.C.H. Bucks, i, 234*. • Ibid. • Tata de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 245*. • Ibid. • Feud Aids, i, 86. 'Chan. Inq. p.m. 25 Edw. I, no. 5i{4). 10 Ibid. 4 Ric. II, no. 38. 11 Sheahan, Hist, and Tofog. of Bucks. 214. " Hund. R, (Rcc. Com.), i, 20. 13 Ibid, i, 44. " V.C.H. Bucks, i, 234*. " Cur. Reg. R. 55, m. 8. « Ibid. '7 Cart. Antiq. R. Z. 34. 18 Cur. Reg. R. 81, m. 8 ; Maitland, Bracfon's Note Bk. ii, no. 203. " Ibid. 10 Testa de Ne-vill (Rec. Com.), 245*. n Feud. Aids, i, 86. M Feet of F. Buck.. Trin. 20 Hen. III. *> Ibid. Mich. 6 Edw. I ; Feud. Aids, i, 86. 366 M Chan. Inq. p.m. 25 Edw.I, no. 51 (i). 84 List of Sheriffs, P.R.O. M Ibid. * Cal. Close, 1327-30, p. 524; Feet of F. Bucks. Trin. 3 Edw. III. 28 Chart. R. 7 Edw. Ill, m. I, no. 3 ; Cal. Pat. 1330-4, p. 493. 29 Feet of F. Bucks. Mil. 12 Edw. III. 80 Cal. Pat. 1334-8, p. 119. 81 Chan. Inq. p.m. 43 Edw. Ill, pt. z (ist nos.), no. 15. 81 Ibid. " Ibid. 84 Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Ric. II, no. 38. AYLESBURY HUNDRED WESTON TURVILLE manor was held by Margery his widow till her death." It then passed to her grandson Sir William de Molyns," who granted it to Margaret Bedford for life." She held the manor at the death of a second Sir William dc Molyns in 1429," but his daughter and heiress Eleanor presumably entered on the manor on Margaret's death." Eleanor married Robert Hungerford, Lord Hungerford and de Molyns, *° and they held the manor of Weston Molyns jointly, but it was mortgaged in 1460*' with other lands to raise Lord Hungerford's ransom when taken • prisoner in Aquitaine. Lord Hungerford was at- tainted" after the battle of Towton and died in 1465 ;° afterwards his wife married Sir Oliver Maningham, and brought a lawsuit to recover the ooo Di MDLVNS. Palj viavj or And gf/et. HuNGERFORD. Satlt two hart argent with rwo roundels argent in tht ckief. mortgaged manors," alleging . that the debts had been paid." Apparently she recovered Weston Mo- lyns, since in 1491 ** Maningham granted the manor to certain feoffees during his life, and afterwards quitclaimed to them his right in it for ever." Eleanor's son and heir, Thomas Hungerford, was also attainted and beheaded in 1469.''' On the accession of Henry VII the attainder was reversed, and Mary his daughter and heiress was restored in blood." She was in the wardship of William, Lord Hastings, and was mirried to his son Edward.60 The latter was created Lord Hungerford," and he and his wife re- covered many of the manors belonging to her inheri- tance, Weston Molyns being among them." After the death of Edward Hastings his widow married Sir Richard Sacheverell, and they were in seisin of the manor in 151 2." It was apparently sold to Sir Andrew Windsor, first Lord Windsor, who also acquired the other moiety of Weston Turville about the same time. His grandson Edward, Lord Windsor, held the whole manor of Weston Turville in 1568,** and died seised of it." Before 1617-18, however, his successor must have sold it to the family of Hill." In that year William Hill settled the manor, after his WINDSOR. Gules t ultire argent between twelve cmiilen or. death and that of his wife Dorothy, on his son Bartholomew and Katherine his daughter-in-law and on their sons in tail male, with further remainders.57 Bartholomew in the same year, however, was found to have been a lunatic for many years, but the 'lordship or manor of Weston Turville formerly known by the names of the manors of Weston Molyns and Weston Butlers ' w.is still held by his mother according to the settlement.1^ Bartholomew's heir was his infant son William," who may presumably be identified with the William Hill who held the manor in 1677.* Another William Hill had succeeded him in 1 703," and, together with his wife Jane, was in seisin of Weston Turville Manor. He had died before 1717-18," when it was in the hands of Jane Hill, widow, Mary, Elizabeth, and Katherine Hill, and Martha Potter, widow, the last four being probably his daughters and heiresses. From them it seems to have passed to Henry Tom- kins, who held the manor in 1754." He died in 1784," and Weston Turville presumably passed to his son Henry. The latter only survived his father a few years, and about 1789 his brother, Lieut.-Colonel Tomkins, succeeded him.*4 Lieut.-Colonel Tomkins died in 1 800, and his widow held the manor during her life." She presumably died about 1835, when it was advertised for sale " at the Auction Mart in London. It was then or shortly afterwards sold by H(enry) Tomkins to the Duke of Buckingham, who bought large estates in Buckinghamshire at this time. Many of them were mortgaged, and in a few yean were seized by the mortgagees. Weston Turville was sold to Sir Anthony de Rothschild, bart.,** a few year* before 1862, and Lord Rothschild is now lord of the manor. The other moiety of the manor of Weston Tur- ville was held by Roger Croft and his wife Cecilia, one of the heiresses of William de Turville." Roger Croft held one fee in demesne,70 and his moiety of the manor afterwards became known as the manor of WESTON BUTLERS. He and his wife obtained a quitclaim similar to that given to Simon de Tur- ville and Pctronilla from Gilbert de Bolebec in 1236." A Roger de Croft died in 1 25 5," but he held no land in Buckinghamshire, and apparently his land, held in demesne, had passed to Hugh de Herdebcrgh in 1254." Hugh wa» succeeded by his son Roger de Herdebergh,74 who, however, died u Chan. Inq. p.m. 21 Ric. II, no. 31 j QOM, 23 Ric. II, m. 4. M Chan. Inq. p.m. 22 Ric. II, no. 31. * Ibid, g Hen. VI, no. 38. • Ibid. " Ibid. « Feet of F. Div. Co. Eait. 38 Hen. VI. « Ibid. ; Clow, 38 Hen. VI, m. 9 | Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Edw. IV, no. 56. — O.E.C. Comflete Peerage. • Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Edw. IV, no. (6. « Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 1 2 Edw. IV. u Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 18, no. ill. " L)e Banco R. Chart. Enr. Hil. 7 Hen. VII, m. I. « Ibid. * G.E.C. Comflete Peerage. «• Ibid. » De Banco R. Hil. 20 Hen. VII, m. 147. " G.E.C. Comflete Peerage. " De Banco R. Hil. 20 Hen. VII, m. 147. * Feet of F. Diy. Co. Trin. 4 Hen.VIII. M Ibid. Eait. 10 Eliz. " Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cUxviii, 00.47. M Ibid, duui ; Miic. 3 Chat. I, pt. 16, no. ii. •• Ibid. M Ibid, cccouuiii, no. 46. " Ibid. M Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 28 Chat. II. •' Ibid. Trin. and East. I Anne. « Ibid. Hil. and Trin. 4 Geo. I. 367 " Recov. R. Mich. 28 Geo. II. " Liptcomb, Hut. of Bucki. ii, 497. « Ibid. ** Lrioni, Mafna Brit, i, 66 1. 17 Liptcomb, Hut. of Bucks, ii, 497. " Sheahan, Ilia, and Tofog. of Bach, 215. " Maitland, Bracan't Note Bk. no. 203 | Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 262. "° Tat* de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 245*. 71 Feet uf F. Bucka. Trin. 20 Hen. III. ?» Col. Ina. Hen. Ill, 87. 7» HnnJ. R. (Ree. Com.), i, 20. 7* De Banco R. IO Edw. Ill, m. 348 ; Excerfta e Rat. Fin. (Rec. Com.), ii, 386 j f'tud. Aidi, i, 86. A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE BoTILtER. Guilt a feat cheeky argent and sable between tix cross- lets or. before 1296," when his land was held by his heirs, his two daughters Ella and Isabel. The former married William le Botiller of Wem,7' and her sister may perhaps be identified with Isabel the wife of John de Hulles, who, jointly with her husband, granted the manor of Weston Turville to Ella widow of Walter de Hopton.77 This perhaps was a settle- ment of the inheritance of the two sisters, since Ella may have been married to Walter de Hopton before her mar- riage with William le Botiller. It is, moreover, certain that this moiety of the manor of Weston Turville was not sub- divided at this time, but passed to Ella and her heirs. Ed- mund le Botiller held one knight's fee in I346,79 and after his death it passed to his brother Edward.79 He also died without direct heirs in I376,80 and the moiety of the manor of Weston Butlers was subdivided among his four sisters or their heirs.81 Dionisia, the eldest, was alive at the time of her brother's death, and was the wife of Hugh de Cokesey.81 The next sister Ida married William Trusselof Odiham, but she had predeceased her brother, and her purparty came to her daughter Margaret,63 the wife of Fulk de Pembrugge.84 In 1383 Fulk and Margaret granted their quarter of Weston Butlers to Walter de Cokesey the son and heir of Dionisia,85 so that her descendants became possessed of a half. An- other Walter de Cokesey died seised in 1 4O7,86 leaving Hugh his son and heir, aged three.87 The latter died, and the moiety of the manor passed to his sister Joice,89 whose husband was John Greville of Camden.89 Their son Sir John Greville died seised probably in 1467" and was succeeded by his son Thomas, who assumed the name of Cokesey. He seems to have died in 1 49 8-9,°* and was succeeded by his cousins Elizabeth and Mar- gery, the daughters of Thomas Huddington and the descendants of Cecily, a sister of Joice Cokesey. In 1500°* Elizabeth was the wife of Robert Russel, and Margery of Robert Winter, and they sold their moiety of Weston Butlers in that year to Sir Reginald Bray for £120." Elizabeth afterwards married as her second husband Sir Edward Stanley, and gave a further quitclaim to Sir Reginald Bray.94 The latter died in i 503, and his niece Margaret,95 who had married Wil- liam Sandys, Lord Sandys,96 inherited the greater part of his lands.97 A dispute arose between them and Edmund Bray, a nephew of Sir Reginald, as to the partition of Sir Reginald's lands, but in 15103 settle- ment was made through the mediation of the Arch- bishop of Canterbury and others, and the manor of Weston Turville was granted to Edmund.98 He seems to have sold it to Sir Peter Vavasour, Edmund Windsor, and John Ede in 1529," and ten years Liter Sir Andrew Windsor, Lord Windsor, was the lord of the manor,100 which was united by him to the manor of Weston Molyns. The third sister of Edward le Botiller, Alice, married Nicholas de Longville.101 She did not survive her brother, and her son Nicholas de Longville suc- ceeded in I376102 to a fourth part of the manor of Weston Butlers. A third Nicholas de Longville, her grandson, held this part of the manor in I4o6.103 Probably his share may be identified with the fourth part of the manor afterwards known as Whaplode's part. What Whaplode this was is unknown. A William Whaplode died presumably during the reign of Henry VI, since an inquisition on his lands was made in I448.1M The finding was, however, that he held no land in Buckinghamshire, and that neither the date of his death nor his heir could be ascertained. A man of the same name had been an escheator in the county in the reign of Henry V.105 Whaplode's part, however, came to Sir Edmund Hampden, the second son of Edmund Hampden 1M of Great Hamp- den, and a vigorous Lancastrian partisan. He was attainted on the accession of Edward IV,107 and his lands were forfeited. The king granted Whaplode's part for life to Richard and Thomas Croft in l^6^,m and in 1467-8 their lands were specially exempted from the Act of Resumption of that date.109 On the expiration of the grant this part of the manor seems to have remained in the hands of the Crown. Possibly it may be identified with a manor that Charles I held belonging to the Duchy of Lancaster. In 1650 it was taken into the hands of the commissioners for the sale of the honours, manor, and lands belonging to the king and queen.110 Ankaretta the fourth sister of Edward le Botiller married John Lestrange of Blakemere, and her great- granddaughter Elizabeth Lestrange obtained her fourth share of the manor of Weston Butlers on the death of Edward in I376,111 but being still a minor it was taken into the hands of the king.111 Consider- able confusion seems to have existed as to Elizabeth's true name, sometimes Joan 1IS and sometimes Elizabeth being given ; but the latter seems to be correct.11* 75 Chan. Inq. p.m. 25 Edw. I, no. De Banco R. 308, m. 348. 77 Feet of F. Bucks. Trin. 33 Edw. I. 7« Feud. Aids, i, 124. ~9 De Banco R. 461, m. 59. 80 Chan. Inq. p.m. 49 Edw. Ill (i»t nos.), no. 17. 81 Ibid. 82 ibid. 0» Ibid. 84 Plea R. (Chester), 105, m. 3 d. 84 Feet of F. Bucks. East. 6 Ric. II. a* Chan. Inq. p.m. 8 Hen. IV, file 57. "7 Ibid. 83 Harl. Soc. Publ. xjcii, 425. 8» Ibid. 90 Chan. Inq. p.m. 20 Edw. IV, no. 72 (file 556). 81 Herald and Geneal. vi, 656. In the pedigree of the family Thomas is given as Walter, but this is probably a mistake, since his heirs are the same as those of Sir Thomas Cokesey in the sale of the manor. w Feet of F. Bucks. East. 1 5 Hen. VII; De Banco R. East. 15 Hen. VII, m. 115; Hist. AfSS. Com. Rep. Various, ii, 298. »« Ibid. M Feet of F. Bucks. Trin. 17 Hen. VII ; De Banco R. Trin. 17 Hen. VII, m. 21 d. 94 Miscell. Gen. et Herald, (new ser.), i, 62. " Ibid. W Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 2 Hen. VIII. » Close, 2 Hen. VIII, no. 30. 99 Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 21 Hen. VIII. 100 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), Ixi, no. 25. 101 Ibid. 49 Edw. Ill (ist nos.), no. l°2 Ibid. ™> Coram Rege R. Mich. 8 Hen. IV, m. 106. 104 Chan. Inq. p.m. 26 Hen. VI, no. !«• 05 Par!. R. (Rec. Com.), iv, 319*. 106 Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Edw. IV, no. 43. W Ibid. 108 Cat. Pat. 1461-7, p. 473. "» Par!. R. (Rec. Com.), v, 589*. 110 P.R.O. Parl. Surv. Bucks. 1649- 56, no. 20. 111 Chan. Inq. p.m. 49 Edw. Ill (lit nos.), no. 17. 118 Abbre-u. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), ii, 337 u» Ibid. 368 . . 114 Chan. Inq. p.m. 49 Edw. Ill (ist nos.), no. 17; De Banco R. Hil. Edw. Ill, m. 59 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 22 Ric. II, no. 131 ; Fine R. 180, m. 21, I Ric. II, pt. 2 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 7 Ric. II, no. 60. AYLESBURY HUNDRED WKSTON TURVILLE TALBOT. Gulti a Urn and * borjtr en- grailed or. She married Thomas, Earl of Nottingham, but died in 1383 "* while still a minor, and her share of the manor of Weston Butlers came to her aunt Ankaretta, her father's sister."* Ankaretta was the wife of Sir Richard Talbot,1" and her property came to her descen- dants, the Earls of Shrews- bury.'" The last time this part of the manor can be identified is in the inquisition on the lands of John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, who died seised of it in 1460,"' leav- ing his son John, aged twelve, as his heir. George Talbot, the fourth carl, married Anne daughter of William, Lord Hayings,"0 and sister to Ed- mund Hastings the husband of Mary Hungerford, who held the manor of Weston Molyns, and the fourth part of Weston Butlers probably came into the hands of the Hastings and passed with their manor to Lord Windsor, who obtained both Weston Molyns and Weston Butlers. There is considerable obscurity in the descent of the third knight's fee in Weston Turville after its division among the sisters of William de Turville. Roger Croft paid scutage for it in I 234,'" but he does not seem to have held it in demesne, and twenty years later it seems to have passed to Henry Hubald,1" who held immediately of the honour of Leicester. He was succeeded by a family of the name of Charnclls ; in 1278 William de Turville in quit- claimed certain messuages and lands in Weston Tur- ville for himself and his heirs to Nicholas de Charnells and his heirs in return for 12} marks. Nicholas held the knight's fee in 1285.'" He was succeeded before 1296-7 by George de Charnells."* In Warwick- shire the name is also associated with the Turvillcs and Herdeberghs,"* so that it seemi possible that the Charnells claimed their fee from Isabel, the third sister of William de Turville. In 1316 John de Longville appears as a military tenant in Weston Turville,1" but possibly he was holding the land in wardship for one of the Charnells. At the close of the 1 4th century John Charnells and his wife Elizabeth held a manor in Weston Turville, which they sold to William Rede, clerk, and others, in I 396 for 200 marks.'" They were apparently the tenants in demesne, but this is the last time that the Charnells are mentioned, and the descent of their land is lost. The sub-manor of HIDE in Weston Turville was held as half a knight's fee of the manor of Weston Molyns.1" There is, however, some confusion as to the overlordship, since in the ijth century the half fee seems to have been held directly of the honour of Leicester,13* and again in the reign of Henry VIII the manor of Hide was said to be parcel of the Duchy of Lancaster, and held of the king as of the manor of Weston Turville.'" Except in these two instances, however, the overlordship seems to have belonged to the manor of Weston Molyns and the half-fee is specially mentioned in the grant of that manor by Nicholas de Turville to Hugh de Turpleton.1J* In the early years of the 1 3th century Fulk de la Hide had several lawsuits with Robert de Turville about land in Weston Turville."* In one instance the land in question was said to contain two hides. John son of Fulk is also mentioned,1*4 and in the time of Roger de Croft and Simon de Turville, Roger de la Hide held this half-fee."* He also paid scutage for it in 1234.'** The manor of Hide afterwards passed to Robert Fitz Nigel, who was killed at the battle of Evcsham.1*7 Probably his widow Grace held it after his death, and she may have been the heiress of Roger de la Hide. In 1265-6 she obtained lands1*" from Alan son of Gervase of Aldermanbury by exchange, and in 1287 "* Robert Fitz Neel also bought land in Weston Turville from Roger le Sometur and his wife Alice. In 1302—3'** Hide is mentioned, but the tenant's name is not given ; in 1329, however, Robert Fitz Neel held the half fee,1" and died seised of messuages, lands, and of rents of free and customary tenants in Weston Turville, leaving his daughter Grace as his heir.'" These lands had been settled in 1317-18 on Grace, with remainder to her son, Robert de Nowers.14' In 1346 the holding of Grace de Nowers in Weston Turville is described as one hide of land held as a knight's fee of John de Molyns.'44 Grace died about i 349,'" and her lands passed to John son of John dc Nowers.'4* Her capital messuage at Weston Turville was then of no value,147 but her holding was released by the new tenant with other possessions as the manor of Weston Turville to King Edward III,14* Sir Ingelram Coucy, Earl of Bedford, and his wife Isabel, the daughter of the king.14' At this time it seems to have followed the same history as the manor of Fenels Grove in Great rumble,"0 and came into the possession of Sir Robert Whitingham. He, however, gave Hide to his brother, John Whitingham,1" who obtained a pardon from Edward IV in 1472 and retained the manor during the struggles of the Verneys to recover Sir Robert's lands. John died in 1485,'* Margaret Vcrney being his heiress,1" and in the same year Sir u* Chan. Inq. p.m. 7 Ric. II, no. 60. »• Ibid. "• Ibid, i Hen. V, no. 51 (file z;6). »" Ibid. 7 Hen. IV, no. 68 ; ibid. 8 Hen. V, no. 127 (add. not.) ; ibid. 9 Hen. V, no. 44 (file 289) ; ibid. 32 Hen. VI, no. 29. >'• Ibid. 38-9 Hen. VI, no. 58. 110 G.E.C. Comflett Peerage. 10 Teita de tt'rvill (Rec. Com.), 262. *" IlunJ. K. (Rec. Com.), i, 20. '« Feet of F. Bucks. M.'ch, 6 Edw. I. 144 Feud. Aidi, i, 86. m Chan. Inq. p.m. 15 Edw. I, no. l- Cal. Clou, 1313-18, p. 27. W Feud. Aidi, i, 112. l" Feet of V. Bucks. East. 19 Ric. II. '" Feud. Aidi, i, 98, 1 24 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xii, no. 36. » Teiu lie Nevill (Rec. Com.), 145*. ul Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), uv, no. 1 60. "» CrJ. Clue, 1327-301 P- $*+• •» Fine! (Rec. Com.), i, 245. «•» Roe. de Oklat. et Fin. (Rec. Com.), 389 ; Finn (Rec. Com.), i, 245-6. W* Teiu de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 245*- "• Ibid. 2524. "7 Cal. Cental. (Rnllt Ser.), i, 117. 1M Feet of F. Div. Co. Hit. 50 Hen. III. '" Ibid. Buck*. Trio. 15 Edw. I. '« Feud. Aidi, i, 9». 141 Cal. Clou, 1327-30, p. 524. 111 Chan. Inq. p.m. 5 Edw. Ill (lit 369 noi. ), no. 75. Hit OTerlord wat said to be William Botiller of Wrm, but tliit may have been a mistake in the inquisi- tion, since his daughter held lands of John de Molyns, and not of the Botillers. >« Feet of F. Bucks. Mil. 1 1 Edw. II ; Cal. Pat. I 348-50, p. 413. >« Feud. Aid,, i, 124. "• Chan. Inq. p.m. 23 Edw. Ill (pt. i), no. 81 ; Cal. Pat. I 348 50, p. 41 }. '*• Chan. Inq. p.m. 23 Edw. Ill (pt. i) no. 85. »«•• Ibid. "• Cal. And. D., A. 387. '« Ibid. >*» Cf. Great Kimble. "' Cal. Pat. 1461-7, p. 121. "• Cal. Ina. Hen. AY/ I, 45. "•Ibid. 47 A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE COLET. zahlt a chtv- eron between three hinds tripping argent 'with three ring: table on the che-ueron. John Verney and Margaret petitioned Henry VII for the recovery of her lands, including Weston Turville.15' The manor, however, had been sold by John Whitingham in 1483-4 to Sir Henry Colet,165 citizen and alderman of Lon- don, and the Verneys do not seem to have obtained it. In 1485 the manor was said to be held of the Verneys,166 but at the death of Sir Henry Colet in 1 505'" it was held of the king. It passed to John Colet, Dean of St. Paul's, son and heir of Sir Henry,158 and was given by him to St. Paul's School.1" The trus- tees of the school lands, the Mercers' Company of London, have held Hide I6° ever since, and they hold a court leet at the Manor Farm, the last having been held about twelve years ago.160a The name of BEDGRAVE can now only be traced in the name of a farm in Weston Turville. In the time of Edward the Confessor, however, it was held as a manor by Suen,161 a man of Alwin Varas, who could sell his land. After the Norman Conquest it was granted with Weston Turville to the Bishop of Bayeux,16* and his sub-tenant Roger held it at the time of the Domesday Survey. It was then assessed at two hides of land.1" It does not seem to have followed the same descent as the rest of Roger's lands. In 121 1 16< Ralph Malet paid half a mark for the en- rolment of a release by Roger de Paschedale of all the land which the latter held of Ralph's fee in Bed- grave. This land may probably be identified with the half-fee held by the heirs of William Malet of the honour of Leicester in the 1 3th century.164 The descent of Bedgrave cannot be traced further, and it probably was united with one of the other manors in Weston Turville. Early in the igth century Bed- grave Manor Farm was the property of John Newman of Wendover.169 In 1827 it was sold by him to John Hulbert of Stokes Hill, near Portsmouth, and in 1862 it belonged to Mr. G. A. Hulbert.167 In 1086 there were said to be four mills in Weston Turville worth 33^. 4^.168 At the end of the 1 4th century Walter de Gayton and his wife Amice 16> held four and a half carucates of land, a mill, and ^4 rent in Broughton and Bedgrave, which were let at ferm to Michael of Northampton in 1276. Another mill is mentioned in 1346-7 17° in Weston Turville. The church of ST. MART consists CHURCH of a chancel 306. by 1 8 ft. loin, with a north vestry, a nave 62 ft. by 20 ft. 6 in., north and south aisles 9 ft. 2 in. and 9 ft. 6 in. wide respectively, a western tower 1 1 ft. 6 in. wide, and north and south porches. That there was a church here in the I2th century is to be assumed, and the present font and part of an octagonal shaft built into the south wall of the chancel are of that date, but the chancel arch and the three eastern bays of the south arcade are the oldest part of the existing building, dating from the middle of the I3th century. The chancel was probably narrower than at present, and seems to have been rebuilt of its present width about 1340-50, the chancel arch being widened at the same time. About the same date a north aisle of five bays was added, and the south aisle rebuilt and length- ened westward by two bays to make it the same length as the north aisle. In the i jth century a west tower was built, pro- jecting but slightly beyond the west wall of the nave, and filling up the west bay of the arcades, within which it stands. The reason for this appears to be that the western limit of the churchyard was, as now, too close to the west end of the building to allow of the building of a tower wholly outside the nave in the usual fashion ; a procession path within the boundaries of the churchyard would not then have been practicable, except by making an arched way through the tower from north to south, as has been done else- where in a good many instances. In this case the expedient of building the tower partly within the nave seems to have been considered the better solution. At the same time, or soon afterwards, a clearstory was added to the nave, the chancel roof was height- ened, the north aisle of the nave rebuilt, and the north vestry (or chapel) added. The lines of the 14th-century roofs of nave and chancel are still to be seen on the wall over the chancel arch. The chancel has a modern east window of three lights with flowing tracery of 14th-century design, and in the north wall a two-light window of similar character, but old. To the west of it is a large arch, widened in modern times to hold the organ, leading into the north chapel or vestry, now also used as an organ chamber. It has a square-headed 1 5th-century east window of two cinquefoiled lights with upright cusped openings over, and a north door which is modern. There are three two-light windows in the south wall of the chancel, with modern tracery, but old jambs and rear arches of the same date as the north window ; the middle of the three has flowing tracery, and the others have quatrefoiled circles in the head. At the south-east is a very pretty 13th-century piscina, with two drains and two pointed arches with a pierced quatrefoiled circle in the head and engaged shafts in the jambs. Into the same wall are built several architectural fragments, the voussoirs of a 1 3th-century arch with dogtooth ornament, two small armed figures of 1 3th-century date, perhaps part of a destroyed Easter sepulchre, and the 12th-cen- tury shaft already referred to. The chancel arch is of rather clumsy shape of two hollow-chamfered orders, with responds of three engaged shafts having rather coarsely-moulded capitals. The nave has a north arcade of five bays, the piers being of four half-round shafts attached to a central square, and the arches of two wave-moulded orders with labels and drips in the form of human heads ; the capitals and bases are semicircular and moulded. 1M Par!. R. (Rec. Com.), vi, 317. »« Cat. Inq. Hen. Vll, no. in. «« Ibid. '•' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xix, no. 36. "« Ibid. 159 Ibid, xxv, no. 160 ; xl, no. 6. 160 Lysons, Magna Brit, i, 66 1 j Lips- comb, Hist, of Bucks, ii, 4.97. 1601 From information kindly given by Mr. John Munger. "i Y.C.H. Bucks, i, iJS«. "» Ibid. «» Ibid. 184 Pipe R. I 3 John, m. I d. JM Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 245*. 169 Lipscomb, Hist, of Bucks, ii, 497. 37° 167 Sheahan, Hist, and Tofog. of Bucks. 497- "» V.C.H. Bucks, i, 234*. 169 Cal. Pat. 1272-81, pp. 153, 178; Feet of F. Bucks. East. 15 Edw. I ; ibid. Trin. 17 Edw. I. J'° De Banco R. 345, m. 136 d. X U X U z o b. z u w > AYLESBURY HUNDRED WESTON TURVILLF. The south arcade has two bays of the same description at the west, the three eastern bays being of two chamfered orders with a scroll label, and octagonal moulded capitals on round columns. The third bay is irregular, the western half of its arch being narrower than the eastern, and belonging to the date of the western bays, but copying the older detail. There is also a difference in span between the ijth and 14th-century bays, the former averaging 12 ft., the latter loft. 6 in. The clearstory has four windows a side, each of two cinquefoilcd lights under a square head ; they are spaced evenly between the tower and the east wall of the nave, and do not range with the arcades. The north aisle opens to the north chapel by an arch of two chamfered orders, and at its south-east angle is the opening for the rood stair. In the north wall are four two-light 15th-century windows, cin- quefoiled, with square heads and spandrels ornamented with trefoiled cusping in low relief on both faces. Between the second and third windows it the north doorway, a two-centred arch with continuous mould- ings of mid 14th-century section, under a ijth-century wooden porch whose outer four-centred archway is partly built up on the west side. The west window of the aisle is c. 1350, with flowing tracery and good moulded details, of two trefoiled lights. The south aisle has an east window of excellent 14th-century design, of two trefoiled lights with leaf tracery in the head, and a moulded rear arch and jambs with label. On either side are moulded image brackets, and at the south-east a trefoiled piscina recess with a shelf and drain, of the date of the window. In the south wall are four square-headed two-light 14th-century windows of the same section and detail as the east window, but of unusual design, with cin- quefoiled or feathered trefoiled heads and leaf tracery. The south doorway is between the second and third windows and is blocked up, the porch being also blocked and used as a coal-hole. The west window of the aisle is almost exactly like that of the north aisle, the tracery being modern. Externally the windows of the south aisle are a good deal made up in Roman cement, which destroys their effect to some extent, but in any case they are very remarkable specimens of 14th-century tracery, of bold and original design. The tower is of three stages, embattled, with a half- octagonal stair projecting on the north face, and has square-headed belfry windows of two cinquefoiled lights, a wide cinquefoiled light on the west in the second stage, and in the ground stage a three-light west window over a four-centred doorway with con- tinuous mouldings and plain spandrels under a square head. The east arch is very tall, with an engaged shaft to the inner order and a wide splayed face on either side with continuous outer mouldings ; in the north and south walls are four-centred chamfered arches opening to the aisles. The west bay of the south aisle is screened off as a vestry. The roofs of nave and chancel are fine specimens of ijth-century detail, but the design of the former is inferior to the other. This has collars and arched braces, and a wide moulded wall plate, above which is a band of pierced cresting on which is set a line of modern shields with painted heraldry. The nave roof is of four bays, with tie-beams and collars with arched braces, the spandrel* being filled with tracery WESTON TURVILLI CHURCH FROM THI SOUTH-EAST 37' A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE below the tie-beams only, so that the upper members of the roof are rather empty, all the ornament being concentrated on the lower parts. The plates, as in the chancel, have open tracery with shields above them, but in this case the shields are blank. In the west bay on the north pairs of small shields take the place of the single shields elsewhere. Both aisles have lean-to roofs, that of the south aisle being modern, while the other retains some of its 15th- century timbers. The wooden fittings of the church are all modern, except for the traceried head of a screen at the west end of the first bay of the south aisle ; it is of ijth- century date, with a row of quatrefoiled circles over cinquefoiled heads. The pulpit also is old, of lyth- century date, with pretty low-relief bands of carving on the styles and rails, and there are two old chairs within the altar rails. Just to the west of the screen head in the south aisle is a panel of oak with an inscription in incised letters filled in with black composition : ' Faith not exercised so one waxeth sicke. Ano domini 1578.' The font stands in the third bay of the south arcade, and is a good example of the local late 12th- century type, with a large cup-shaped bowl, fluted below, and having a band of foliate ornament above, with a base like an inverted scalloped capital. In this instance there is only a single scallop on each face, filled in with foliate ornament. In the east window of the chancel is a half figure of our Lady and Child in white and gold 15th-century glass, and in the south-west window a shield of England with a label of France ; the field is uncoloured. In the south aisle the tracery of the east and south-east windows is filled for the most part with original glazing, in conventional patterns of green, brown, and yellow. In the south-east window also is a quarry in one of the main lights, on which is the inscription, cut on the outer face : Altissmo gloriosiss1"0 Optmo Max"10 Laus et honor et prostracio H.W. 1655. On the north wall of the chancel is the brass figure of a man, c. 1 600, with a shield having a cheveron between three crescents. There are five bells, the treble by Chandler, 1700, the second blank, the third a London bell by John Danyell, c. 1460, inscribed ' Sit Nomen Domini Bene- dictum,' the fourth by Joseph Carter, 1590, and the tenor by the same founder, 1608. The plate consists of a cup and cover paten of 1638, a flagon of 1694, given in 1697 by John Tipping, and two standing patens of 1608, given in that year by another man of the same name. The first book of the registers contains the baptisms from 1538, the marriages from 1573, and the burials from 1676 to 1720; the second contains baptisms and burials from 1721 to 1781, and marriages 1721-54; the third is the printed marriage register 1754-1812, and the fourth the baptirms and burials 1781-1812. The advowson of the church of JDrOWSON Weston Turville was held by William de Turville at the close of the nth century. In 1 206 '" he granted it to Geoffrey Fitz Piers, Earl of Essex, with the manor for thirteen years. On the subdivision of the lands and property of the younger William de Turville the advowson does not seem to have been divided, but probably was assigned to Cecilia and her husband Roger Croft. It came in consequence to the heiresses of Roger de Heder- bergh,171 and passed to his daughter Ella and fron. her to the Botillers. After the death of Edward Botiller the advowson was held by his four sisters or their heirs,173 each co-parcenor presenting every fourth time.17* The whole advowson passed to the Windsors and the Hills in the i6th and I7th centuries.174 In 1660 the Crown presented,176 and in 1678 John Tipping.'" The year before, however, William Hill and his wife Mary owned the advowson,178 and the Hills probably had recently recovered it. It was settled by William Hill in that year on his son William, who, however, sold it in 1691 to All Souls College, Oxford.179 The warden and fellows pre- sented in I722,180 and are still the patrons of the liv- ing, which is a rectory. The lords of Weston Molyns Manor also claimed the advowson of the church of Weston Turville,161 but it does not seem probable that they ever presented to the benefice. There is a Baptist chapel at Weston Turville, which waj built in 1855. In 1604 William Findall, as ap- CH4R1T1ES peared from a tablet in the parish church of Aylesbury, gave £6 I p. \d. to be paid on Mid-Lent Sunday out of Summer Leys in Weston Turville, out of which 6/. %d. was to be given to the poor of Weston, the remainder being applicable in Aylesbury. Widow Turpin's Charity is endowed with loa. I r. 34 p. in this parish, now let at ^22 a year, which is distributed in bread. The Pennant Trust.— In 1837 the Rev. Thomas Pennant, a former rector, by deed dated 20 January (enrolled), conveyed unto the then rector two cottages near the rectory upon trust that the net rents and profits should be applied in November and December in the distribution of articles of useful clothing to any number not exceeding six in any one year of the poorest inhabitants of the parish, constant attendants at divine service in the parish church. The cottages are let at £8 a year, the net income is usually divided equally among six poor people. 171 Cart. Antiv P.R.O., Z. 38. i~8 Cf. manor of Weston Butlers ; Feet of F. Bucks. Trin. 33 Edw. I. 17* Chan. Inq. p.m. 49 Edw. HI (ist no«.), no. 17 ; Abbrtv. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), ii, 350. *>* Coram Rege R. 582, m. 106 ; De Banco R. 461, m. 59 ; Hitt. MSS. Com. Rep. Various, ii, 298 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Edw. IV, no. 43 ; ibid. 38 & 39 Hen. VI, no. 58. >'' Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 21 Hen. VIII ; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccxxxiii, no. 46. «• P.R.O. Inst. Bk3. W7 Ibid. 178 Feet Of p. Buck*. Mich. 28 Chas. II. 179 C. T. Martin, Cat. of tht Archives of All Soul, Coll. J8I) P.R.O. Inst. Bks. 181 Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 14 Edw. Ill ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 43 Edw. Ill, ]>t. 2 (ist nos.), no. 15. 372 DA 670 B9V6 v.2 The Victoria history of the county of Buckingham //& £* For nsf in Ihc \.-. 0.'. For tnw in the Ubrai< ONLY