Sapperton: Manors and other estates

MANORS AND OTHER ESTATES.

Land held by Ulf before the Conquest was held by Robert de Todeni in 1086 (fn. 1) and was known later as the manor of SAPPERTON. The manor was held from the king in chief throughout the Middle Ages. (fn. 2) Robert de Todeni died in 1088 (fn. 3) and the estate later passed to his great-grandson William de Albini Brito (d. 1166). (fn. 4) By 1187 the estate had passed to Alard le Fleming (fn. 5) who died seised of it in or before 1220 while on crusade, (fn. 6) having been temporarily dispossessed in 1216, presumably for siding against King John. (fn. 7) Alard was succeeded by his son Henry who held Sapperton in 1236. (fn. 8) Henry was shortly afterwards succeeded by John le Fleming after whose death the estate passed to his brother Alard le Fleming (d. by 1263). (fn. 9) Emme le Fleming, presumably Alard's widow, (fn. 10) later married Henry of Leigh, (fn. 11) who held part of the fee c. 1285 and was soon afterwards described as lord of Sapperton. (fn. 12) Henry was probably dead by 1303 when Emme le Fleming was regarded as owner of the manor but evidently held only part as dower. (fn. 13) The remainder passed to Alard's heirs, his daughters Joan, wife of Henry Hussey, and Florence, wife of Walter de Lisle. (fn. 14) Joan died in 1278 or 1279 when her share of the manor passed to her son, Henry Hussey, although her husband was still alive. (fn. 15) Walter de Lisle was said to hold his wife's share of the manor in 1285 (fn. 16) but that moiety had passed to his son, William, before Walter's decease in 1309. (fn. 17)

The Hussey moiety, known as Daneway, (fn. 18) was held by Henry Hussey, Lord Hussey, Joan's son, at his death in 1332 when it passed to his son, also Henry. (fn. 19) The younger Henry died in 1349 (fn. 20) and the estate passed to his widow, Catherine, later wife of Andrew Peverel. Catherine died in 1375 (fn. 21) when the estate passed to her son, Henry Hussey (d. 1383), (fn. 22) who had been named as heir by a settlement made by his father in 1347. (fn. 23) Henry's widow, Ankaret, held the moiety until her death in 1389 when it passed to her son Henry (fn. 24) (d. 1409), who was succeeded by his son, also Henry. (fn. 25) The last named Henry mortgaged his estates in 1439 and 1440 to John Greville (fn. 26) (d. 1444), (fn. 27) who presumably bought the moiety outright, because in 1480 it was sold by Greville's granddaughter Margaret and her husband, Thomas Whittington, to Sir William Nottingham. (fn. 28)

The de Lisle moiety of the manor was in the possession of William de Lisle, son of Florence, in 1308 when the boundaries of the respective moieties of the park were drawn. (fn. 29) William died in 1345 when the moiety passed to his son Walter (fn. 30) (d. 1352) (fn. 31) who held the manor jointly with his wife Joan (d. 1375). After Joan's death the estate passed to her son, William de Lisle (fn. 32) (d. 1384), who was succeeded by his son Robert, (fn. 33) the owner in 1402. (fn. 34) Robert de Lisle presented to the living in 1452 and John de Lisle in 1454, (fn. 35) and John sold the moiety of the manor to Sir William Nottingham in 1463. (fn. 36)

The two moieties were thus united by Sir William Nottingham who also added some smaller holdings in the parish to the manorial estate. (fn. 37) Nottingham, a former M.P. for Gloucester and the county, was appointed Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer in 1480. (fn. 38) He died in 1483 having put his estate in trust for the benefit of his widow Elizabeth, (fn. 39) who married Richard Poole. Richard disputed the terms of the trust established by Nottingham (fn. 40) and bought the manor of Sapperton from the trustees in 1487. He died in 1517 when the manor passed to Leonard Poole (fn. 41) (d. 1538), Richard's son by an earlier marriage. (fn. 42) Giles Poole inherited the manor from his father in 1538 and was knighted in 1547, from which time he played a prominent part in local affairs, representing the county in the parliaments of 1554 and 1571 and occupying the office of high sheriff of Gloucestershire in 1565. Sir Giles died in 1589 (fn. 43) when the manor passed to his son Sir Henry (d. 1616) (fn. 44) who was twice high sheriff of the county and its representative at the parliament of 1592. After Henry's death the manor passed to his son, also Sir Henry, who was M.P. for Cirencester in three parliaments and high sheriff in 1632. The younger Sir Henry died in 1645 when his son Sir William Poole inherited the manor. Sir William was an ardent royalist who was possibly granted a baronetcy (fn. 45) and was certainly fined heavily for his sympathies before his death in 1651 when most of his land was mortgaged to Walter Walker and Gabriel Beck. (fn. 46) Sir William's son, Sir Henry, and his mortgagees sold part of the manor of Sapperton in 1661 to Sir Robert Atkyns. (fn. 47)

Sir Robert Atkyns bought the remaining part of the manor in 1667 and Sapperton became his chief residence. (fn. 48) Sir Robert was recorder of Bristol from 1661 to 1682 and a promotor of the Revolution of 1688; after the Revolution he was appointed Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer and also was granted a warrant to perform the offices of Lord Chancellor and Lord Keeper which were in commission at that time. (fn. 49) Atkyns died in 1710 and was succeeded by his son Sir Robert Atkyns (d. 1711). The younger Sir Robert was the author of the earliest printed history of Gloucestershire, published in 1712, and sat in several parliaments for Cirencester or the county. He devised the manor of Sapperton to the Revd. the Hon. Henry Brydges who had married Sir Robert's niece Annabella. (fn. 50) The manor was sold in 1730 by Annabella and her son Robert to Allen, Baron Bathurst of Battlesden (Suss.), (fn. 51) created Earl Bathurst in 1772. The first Earl Bathurst died in 1775 when the manor passed to his son Henry (d. 1794), Lord Chancellor from 1771 to 1778. The manor descended with the Bathurst peerage to Henry, son of the 2nd earl, who was Lord President of the Council 1828-30. Henry died in 1834 when the manor passed successively to his sons, Henry George (d. 1866) and William Lennox (d. 1878). William was a bachelor and the estates and titles passed to his nephew Allen Alexander Bathurst (d. 1892), who was succeeded by his son Seymour Henry (d. 1943). Seymour's grandson, Henry Allen John, 8th Earl Bathurst, succeeded and owned the manor in 1971. (fn. 52)

A house was recorded on the demesne at Sapperton in 1262 or 1263 (fn. 53) and on the Hussey moiety of the manor in 1332. (fn. 54) In the early 18th century a large Cotswold-style manor-house, probably built in the earlier part of the previous century, stood north-east of the church. The three-storeyed north-west front of the house had six gables, three of which were shaped, and before it lay a terraced garden with a summer-house and a number of pillars and gates with ball finials. The smaller north wing presumably held the servants' quarters, and the eastern approach to the house had a battlemented entrance. (fn. 55) In 1672 the house was assessed at 30 hearths. (fn. 56) It was pulled down in the mid 18th century (fn. 57) when some of the wood panelling was transferred to the church and other material used to build Alfred's Hall in Cirencester Park. (fn. 58) In 1971 traces of the garden terrace of the manor-house were still visible to the north of the church.

An estate at Frampton, later called the manor of FRAMPTON MANSELL, was held by Robert de Todeni in 1086 and descended with the manor of Sapperton until at least 1211. (fn. 59) The manor had apparently been alienated from Sapperton by 1263 (fn. 60) and had perhaps passed to the Maunsell family on the marriage of the younger Alard le Fleming to Emme Maunsell. John Maunsell, possibly her brother, (fn. 61) held a ¼ fee at Frampton in 1285 (fn. 62) and was succeeded by William Maunsell, who was in possession of the estate, together with Over Lypiatt, in 1303. (fn. 63) The manor was not listed among his possessions at his death c. 1324, (fn. 64) having been conveyed to his son William in 1306. (fn. 65) William Maunsell held the fee in 1346. (fn. 66) Some time later the manor passed from the Maunsells to their kinsmen, the Whittingtons of Pauntley, possibly by descent (fn. 67) or perhaps by purchase from trustees. Robert Whittington held the manor in 1406. (fn. 68) After 1423 it probably descended once more with the manor of Over Lypiatt, (fn. 69) but no later record of the lordship has been found before 1580 when Thomas Wye and Gillian his wife held courts for Frampton Mansell manor. (fn. 70) It subsequently remained in the same ownership as Over Lypiatt (fn. 71) but was retained by Edward Stephens until 1641 when he sold it to John Driver of Aston, in Avening. (fn. 72) John died in 1681 when the estate passed to his son John (fn. 73) (d. 1687), (fn. 74) who devised it to his brother Nathaniel, of Bristol, provided that Nathaniel paid certain sums to John's widow and daughter. (fn. 75) Nathaniel sold off most of the estate in several parcels in 1688 and parted with the manor-house a few years later, (fn. 76) but the manorial rights continued to descend with his Aston Farm estate, (fn. 77) and were retained by the Estcourt family in the early 19th century. (fn. 78)

The manor-house and the home farm, known as FRAMPTON FARM, were sold in 1694 by Nathaniel Driver to Walter Ridler of Chalford who by will dated 1699 devised them to his nephew, Nathaniel Ridler. Nathaniel's brother Robert (fn. 79) succeeded but was dead by 1711 when his sisters partitioned his estates, Frampton farm going to Hannah who married John Wade. Hannah and John were dead by 1746, (fn. 80) and in 1778 their son John Wade of Pudhill, Woodchester, sold Frampton farm to Charles Coxe, the younger, of Cirencester (d. 1783). William Thompson, Coxe's surviving trustee, and his mortgagees sold the estate to Thomas Dean of Frenchay, near Bristol, in 1788 when the estate comprised 161 a. Dean sold the estate in 1797 to Richard Vaughan of Bristol who settled it on his son Richard. The younger Richard sold the estate in 1806 to George Wathen of Painswick who conveyed it to Benjamin Hayward of West Lavington (Wilts.) the following year. (fn. 81) Hayward sold it in 1825 to Peter Playne of Box (fn. 82) (d. 1851) (fn. 83) and, with other parts of the manor, it formed part of the 490-a. estate based on the Downs that Peter's son Henry owned at his death in 1886. (fn. 84) The estate passed to Henry's son Edward Henry (d. 1891) and then to the latter's sister Elizabeth Anne Playne (d. 1907), who was succeeded by her cousin, Mary Pauline Playne (d. 1910). (fn. 85) The Downs estate was bought, probably before 1914, by C. E. Clark whose daughter Miss F. Clark was in possession in 1971. (fn. 86)

A part of the manor estate, which continued to be called the manor of Frampton Mansell and comprised a house called Turnebull's and c. 100 a., was sold by Nathaniel Driver to Thomas Jayne in 1688. (fn. 87) Jayne was perhaps already in possession of a smaller estate, acquired by William Jayne in 1626 from Jeremy Jefferies of Westwood. (fn. 88) The portion of the manor was owned by the same or another Thomas in 1746, (fn. 89) and it passed to his sons, Thomas and Henry (d. c. 1765), in succession. Henry's son Thomas Tyndall Jayne, who was later ordained, was in possession of the reputed manor in 1778 when it comprised over 300 a., and he sold it to William Yarnton Mills of Lambeth (Surr.) in 1786. Mills sold the estate to Henry, Earl Bathurst, in 1812 (fn. 90) and it descended with Sapperton manor.

Another part of Driver's estate was bought in 1688 by William Gegg, a member of a family which had long been tenants on Frampton Mansell manor. The estate passed to Henry Gegg (d. by 1764), to Henry's son William, and before 1775 to William's son Henry. Henry sold the estate in 1779 to John Yarnton of London. Yarnton devised it by will dated 1803 in trust for John Mills who entered the estate on coming of age in 1821. John died in 1832 when the estate passed to his four sisters Anne Sarah, Catherine, Mary, and Elizabeth who married Thomas Freston of Daglingworth; the sisters conveyed it in 1836 to their father John Mills of Miserden. (fn. 91) Mills died in 1862, when the major part of the estate was purchased by Henry Playne and absorbed in his Downs estate. (fn. 92)

A capital messuage in Frampton with c. 200 a. which Walter Bliss held at his death in 1563 had evidently been severed from the ancient manor, for Walter's son and heir, Thomas, (fn. 93) was recorded as joint lord of Frampton Mansell with John Throckmorton in 1581 (fn. 94) and in 1608. (fn. 95) Thomas Bliss was succeeded by his son Giles (fl. 1627), (fn. 96) and at the death of the same or another Giles the estate passed to his four daughters. In 1685 Thomas Rawlins, son of one of the daughters, bought out the other heirs, and Rawlins's estate had passed to his son, the Revd. Thomas Rawlins of Painswick, by 1735. In 1741 the Revd. Thomas conveyed the estate to his sister Mary Yarnton who conveyed it to her son Thomas the following year. Thomas Yarnton (d. 1748) was succeeded by his brother William who bought other land in the parish from the Cooke and Hancox families in 1773. William Yarnton died in 1794 when he devised the estate to his brother John for life with remainder to the heirs of his sister Mary, the wife of William Tuckwell. John died in 1803 when the estate passed to William Tuckwell, Mary's grandson, who sold the estate in 1814 to Benjamin Hayward, (fn. 97) and it passed into the Downs estate in 1825. (fn. 98)

Lower Manor Farm, by the railway viaduct, which was called Manor House in the late 19th century, (fn. 99) and the Manor, on the west side of the main village of Frampton, apparently represent the chief houses of the Driver and Bliss estates, but, since both became merged in the Downs estate, it is not possible to distinguish them. The original house at Lower Manor Farm possibly dates from the 16th century and forms a wing to the present house; it is a small rubble two-storey range with a large gable in which there is a dovecot. The house was greatly enlarged in the later 17th century by the addition of a north-east front of five bays and a short east wing. The additions are in classical style with a heavily moulded cornice and mullioned and transomed windows, which lost their leaded lights in the 1950s. (fn. 100) Among the out-buildings is a small 18th-century barn which was possibly once used as a cottage. The Manor dates from the 17th century and is a two-storey, L-shaped building, to which a porch was later added. The house was heavily restored during the 20th century and in the early part of the century served as the village post office. (fn. 101)

The manor of HAILEY in the south-east part of the parish was possibly held by William of Hailey who was recorded in 1327. (fn. 102) No record of the early history of the manor has been found before 1517 when it was held by Richard Poole, lord of Sapperton, (fn. 103) having possibly been connected with the Hussey moiety of Sapperton. (fn. 104) The manor descended with Sapperton until 1667 when it was bought by Walter Walker, the mortgagee of the Poole estates. (fn. 105) In 1677 the manor was bought by Sir Robert Atkyns, the younger, from Sir George Walker. (fn. 106) The manor was later sold to John Coxe, rector of Rodmarton, who conveyed it to his brother Charles Coxe of Nether Lypiatt (d. 1728). Charles devised the estate to his grandson, also Charles Coxe (fl. 1793), (fn. 107) whose aunt Catherine (d. 1792), later the wife of Thomas Shellard, rector of Rendcomb, (fn. 108) also seems to have held a share in the estate, which amounted to c. 200 a. (fn. 109) Charles Coxe, who presumably had acquired Catherine's share at her death, was succeeded by his son Charles Westley Coxe, and the manor passed with estates in Rodmarton until 1910 when Lord Biddulph sold it to Earl Bathurst. (fn. 110) The estate was centred on a two-storey 18th-century farm-house to which a wing was added at the eastern end in the 19th century.

In 1241 William the franklin of Frampton granted a ½ hide of land to Cirencester Abbey. (fn. 111) At the dissolution of the abbey in 1539 its land at Frampton Mansell comprised a yardland (fn. 112) which descended with the manor of Througham to Walter Compton, (fn. 113) who conveyed it in 1550 to Walter Bliss (fn. 114) (d. 1563). (fn. 115) The estate, comprising a messuage described as a barn and 32 a. of land, was conveyed by Walter's son, Thomas Bliss, to John Cooke of Oakridge in 1571. (fn. 116) Margaret, the wife of Hugh Cooke, died seised of the estate in 1624 when her son William was heir. (fn. 117) A William Cooke was letting lands in Frampton Mansell in 1654 (fn. 118) and William Cooke of Bisley (d. 1701 or 1702) left his estate to his sisters Margery and Edith for life and the reversion to his cousin John Cooke. In 1722 John's estate was a messuage and 31 a. In 1773 William Cooke of Avenis, the son of John, sold the estate to William Yarnton, (fn. 119) and it descended with the other estates owned by Yarnton to form part of the Downs estate. (fn. 120) The house called the Grange near Whitehall bridge, recorded in 1828 and destroyed later in the century, probably during the building of the railway, (fn. 121) was possibly the chief house of the estate.

A pasture called Hargrove and an acre of land called Gloveacre, held by services which included a pair of gloves, belonged to Caen Abbey, which had a confirmatory grant from Henry le Fleming in 1225. (fn. 122)