Parishes: Whaddon with Nash

WHADDON with NASH

Wadone (xi cent.); Waddon, Whauddone, Whaddon (xii–xiii cent.).

Whaddon is a village and rural parish, its total area being 2,525 acres, of which, in 1905, 184 were arable land, 1,907 permanent grass, and 260 woods and plantations. (fn. 1) It is watered by several small streams and there is marshy ground in the north, which is the lowest part of the parish. The land rises gradually to its maximum height of 459 ft., which is about the centre, sinking again towards the south. The soil is Oxford Clay, with gravel and some sand. Whaddon village is built round the principal road, which runs through the parish from north to south. Whaddon Park and Whaddon Hall, the seat of Mr. W. Selby-Lowndes, lie to the east of this, as does the moated site of the ancient priory of Snelshall. A farm-house which stood here when Lipscomb wrote contained in it some arches of the cloister of the conventual church. (fn. 2) An important hoard of early British coins was discovered here, (fn. 3) and there are also traces of what was probably a Roman camp, 5 acres in extent. (fn. 4)

In the village are several 17th-century cottages with thatched roofs. The Lowndes Arms Inn and a farm-house on the north side of the church are of the same date.

In the later centuries the agricultural resources of the district were recognized and developed; sheepfarming was one of the chief occupations, and in the reign of Henry III Whaddon was one of the three manors on which the largest quantities of wool were sold. (fn. 5) At the present day farming is the chief occupation of the inhabitants.

The old manor-house of the Giffards and the Pigotts was altered by later owners, and afterwards known as Whaddon Hall. (fn. 6) In 1541 surveyors reported the house to be 'a fair old mansion place builded of stone and brick and covered with tile, wherein is a fair old large hall and a chapel with fair parlours, lodgings, butteries,' &c., all in good repair; a garden, gallery, dove-house, and stables are also enumerated. (fn. 7) Some years later it underwent great alterations at the hands of Arthur, fourteenth Lord Grey de Wilton, who, 'affecting the situation of Whaddon better than Waterhall, Bletchley,' pulled down the latter place and removed its materials to Whaddon Hall, to which he added a great hall, 50 ft. long, and an embattled porch, &c.; he also brought water by pipes into the quadrangle (fn. 8) and added the fields known as Old Lands and Old Lands Meadow to the property. (fn. 9) He is said to have been visited here by Queen Elizabeth, (fn. 10) and spent much of his time at Whaddon, where he died in 1593. (fn. 11) After the sale of 1698 part of Whaddon Hall became the property of Thomas Willis, and, in accordance with the agreement made with James Selby, much of it, including all Lord Grey's additions, had been pulled down when Willis died in 1699. (fn. 12) When Browne Willis came of age in 1704 he bought back Selby's share of the house and partly rebuilt it. (fn. 13) He was the well-known antiquary, author of many topographical works, and left his library to Oxford University. He lived here for fifty-six years, dying in 1760. (fn. 14) After his death the house was described as 'a very old building and greatly out of repair.'

The Rev. William Cole, who transcribed and annotated Willis's history of Cottesloe Hundred, describes the hall as being only 'a very inconsiderable part of the whole mansion … and a miserable gloomy place, though seated on an exceedingly beautiful knoll of an hill which commands all the adjacent county, though exceedingly dirty to get to it. In the garden is a most venerable oak, much cherished by Mr. Willis, who used to say that Spenser composed his Faery Queene under it.' (fn. 15)

After the property came to the Selby family, and eventually to the Lowndes in the latter part of the 18th century, the present Whaddon Hall was built. (fn. 16)

An Inclosure Act for the parish was passed in 1830. (fn. 17) Among the 16th-century field-names occur the following: Coddimore Close, the Bushey, Waterfurrowes, Ladymead, Woodendfield, Candlers, Overlands, &c.

Nash (Esse, Asshe, La Nasshe), a parish and village, formerly a hamlet included in Whaddon, was constituted a civil parish in 1896–9. (fn. 18) It consists of 1,247 acres. The land is lowest in the north, about 297 ft., and rises towards the south to a height of 400 ft. above the ordnance datum. The soil, like that of Whaddon, is stiff clay with beds of gravel.

The village is grouped along two roads which lead south from the road running east to west from Whaddon to Thornton, and unite near the church of All Saints. The upper part is called Town's End, and the road continues south past the hill with the burial-ground and Baptist chapel, erected in 1798, and past the chalybeate spring, Bretch Well, to the lower portion of the village known as Wood End. Behind the church are the graveyard and school; the rectory stands across the road. The south part of the parish is laid out in allotments, watered by a stream, which forms the boundary of the parish on all sides except towards the west. Barracks Farm stands on the western outskirts of the village, and further west are Holywell and Langbridge Farms. Barshill Farm is on the north side of the road from Whaddon to Thornton.

MANORS

WHADDON was held as a manor before the Conquest by Edward Cilt, a thegn of the Confessor. At the time of the Survey Walter Giffard held it at 10 hides, 5 of which were in demesne, its value then, as previously, being £8. (fn. 19) The manor was attached to the honour of Giffard, (fn. 20) and so remained when the honour escheated to the Crown in 1164 at the death without issue of Walter Giffard, second Earl of Buckingham, son of the Domesday holder. (fn. 21) It seems to have been detached from the honour when the latter was divided in 1191 among the heirs of the Giffards, (fn. 22) being always afterwards held in chief. (fn. 23) Possibly some claim to the overlordship was made by William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, who received part of the Giffard lands in 1191, (fn. 24) as he afterwards confirmed to Longueville Priory lands in Whaddon which Walter Giffard had granted. (fn. 25) Possibly, too, this claim was at one time recognized, as the king granted him Whaddon in 1217, (fn. 26) and in 1279 the manor was held in chief and of the honour of Giffard, which then belonged to the Clares. (fn. 27) There is, however, no later trace of the manor being held of other than the king direct.

After the death of Walter Giffard in 1164 the king held the manor, granting it in fee before 1175 to Richard de Humetis, constable of Normandy. (fn. 28) Richard died in or before 1179, (fn. 29) and his son William de Humetis, who also held the office of constable, became lord of Whaddon, (fn. 30) but forfeited it to the Crown as a rebellious Norman. (fn. 31) It was given by the king to Peter de Stoke in or before 1205, (fn. 32) but this grant very shortly became void, and Anselm de Morvil received possession. (fn. 33) This grantee, however, either died or surrendered his grant before 1207, for in this year King John granted the manor to William Daubeney, Earl of Arundel, in recompense for his French lands lost by reason of the war. (fn. 34) His son William held the manor in 1221, (fn. 35) and was succeeded by his brother Hugh Daubeney, the eighth earl. (fn. 36) In 1240 Hugh was summoned to restore Whaddon to the Crown as an escheat of the Normans. He stated that he, his brother, and his father had all been given livery of the lands, but, though he quoted the terms of the grant made to his father in 1207, (fn. 37) Whaddon was surrendered to the king. (fn. 38) It was granted in fee in 1242 to John Fitz Geoffrey, (fn. 39) son of Geoffrey Fitz Piers, Earl of Essex, who was still holding in 1255–6. (fn. 40) His son John Fitz John (Fitz Geoffrey) died under age in 1258. (fn. 41) John Fitz John, son of the second John, and one of the barons in rebellion against Henry III, (fn. 42) died seised of the manor in 1276, his brother Richard being his heir. (fn. 43) Richard Fitz John, who was summoned to Parliament as a baron (Lord Fitz John) in 1295, (fn. 44) held Whaddon until his death (fn. 45) in 1297, when the manor was assigned in dower to his widow Emma, (fn. 46) afterwards wife of Robert de Montalt, (fn. 47) the reversion being to Richard de Burgh, Earl of Ulster, (fn. 48) son of Aveline, one of the sisters and co-heirs of Richard Fitz John. (fn. 49) The manor henceforward descended with that of Bierton and Hulcott (fn. 50) until 1616, when James I granted Whaddon in fee to Sir George Villiers, (fn. 51) who was created Lord Whaddon of Whaddon in the same year and Duke of Buckingham in 1623. (fn. 52) His son, the second Duke of Buckingham, as a Royalist, had his estates seized by Parliament during the Civil War. They were, however, restored in 1647, but owing to his renewed activity in the Royalist cause they were again sequestered in 1648. (fn. 53) In 1649 he contemplated compounding for them, but gave up the idea, not liking the 'base submission' required of him. (fn. 54) In 1651 the county committee of Buckingham was ordered not to let any part of Whaddon Manor for more than a year, nor to allow any timber to be felled, as Parliament intended to dispose of it. (fn. 55) It was held in 1654 by General Philip Skippon, (fn. 56) a soldier of great ability in the Parliamentary forces, who sat in the Commonwealth Parliaments; he apparently sold it in the next year to Francis Dodsworth and Nathaniel Stirrop. (fn. 57) The Duke of Buckingham, however, recovered his estates at the Restoration, and was in possession of Whaddon once more before the end of 1660. (fn. 58) Towards the end of his life, owing to his increasing debts, his property here was frequently mortgaged. (fn. 59) After his death a Bill was passed enabling his trustees to sell his estate, including the manor of Whaddon, for payment of his debts. (fn. 60) In 1698 the trustees sold to Thomas Willis and James Selby and the heirs of Selby the manor of Whaddon and Nash, with Giffards Manor, the chase, the park and the site of Snelshall Priory. (fn. 61) Of this property only part of Giffards Manor (q.v.) fell to the share of Willis. The rest, held by James Selby, afterwards barrister-at-law, descended to his son Thomas James Selby, (fn. 62) who died in 1772. By his will of 1768 he left his property, failing right and lawful heirs, for whom search was to be made by advertisement, to his friend William Lowndes, who was to take the name of Selby and to become his lawful heir. (fn. 63) The legatee, a great-grandson of the William Lowndes who was secretary to the Treasury in the reign of Anne, was appointed receiver of the estates in 1773, and his right to them was finally allowed ten years later, after the cases of various claimants had been considered. (fn. 64) His son William succeeded him in 1813, (fn. 65) and, like his father, took the name of Selby, afterwards resuming his family name of Lowndes by licence. (fn. 66) He was one of the knights of the shire for this county, and died in 1840, when the estates passed to his eldest son William Selby-Lowndes, (fn. 67) whose eldest son, also called William, succeeded in his turn in 1886, and is lord of the manor.

In 1286 Richard Fitz John claimed view of frankpledge, gallows, and waifs and strays in Whaddon as rights which had been held by William de Humetis and succeeding lords. (fn. 68) He also had assize of bread and ale, 'schulsingstol,' and free warren therein, and all ordinary liberties save return of writs. (fn. 69) Of the free tenants of the manor, it was recorded in 1279 that Peter Dewneys held half a virgate for rent of one capon a year and making an iron plough for the lord; John Hamund held 1 virgate, in return for which he carried letters for the lord for one day at his own expense and for another at the lord's. (fn. 70) John Passelewe held land for which he held a leash of greyhounds at Winslow bridge when the lord of Whaddon went hunting, a like service being performed by another tenant also; the 'hermit of Coddemor' held half a virgate in free alms. (fn. 71) In 1333 an extent of the manor showed that there belonged to it also the services of twenty-two customary tenants, who had to plough thrice yearly, harrow for two days, sow (?) for one day, mow for two days, and reap and carry hay for five days, or pay the value of these services. There was, moreover, 40s. from 'a certain view at Hokeday,' 20s. yearly from pleas of court, an annual rent of 60 cocks, 3 capons, and 6 quarters of oats. (fn. 72) Some of these rents are again recorded in a survey of the manor made in 1551. (fn. 73) In the latter account an annual rent of 5s. 5d. for 'Heddsilver' in Whaddon and Nash is mentioned. (fn. 74)

Manor courts were held twice yearly, usually at Michaelmas and Easter, in the early 17th century. (fn. 75) Towards the end of the century they seem to have been held once only, when constables were chosen for Whaddon and Nash and a beadle for the latter place. (fn. 76)

The site of the manor is first mentioned in 1333. (fn. 77) In 1540 it was granted by the king, then holding Whaddon, to Elizabeth Pigott on a twenty-one year lease. (fn. 78) George Clifford afterwards obtained this lease and received an extension of twenty-one years. (fn. 79) Other leases in the 16th century were to George Tirrell, (fn. 80) Henry Best, (fn. 81) and Jane Sibella Lady Grey. (fn. 82) The lease to the last was renewed by Anne, queen of James I, in 1607. (fn. 83) In 1616 the site was granted with the manor to Sir George Villiers.

By ancient custom the inhabitants of Whaddon and Nash had common of pasture from Michaelmas to Candlemas on as much of the demesne as lay within Whaddon and Nash fields respectively and was unsown with corn.

The land later known as the QUEEN'S PARK is first noticed as being distinct from the chase in 1279, when half a hide of the demesne lands of the lord of Whaddon was said to be park. (fn. 84) It always remained part of the demesne of the manor. In 1330 the herbage was worth 40s. annually. (fn. 85) In 1382 it was found that the late parker, Nicholas Knoll, who was also surveyor of Whaddon Chase, had been wont to receive 4d. a week and a bushel of corn, and 10s. or one robe a year, profits of all trees blown down in the park and the twigs. He also had a room and stabling and provender for one horse within the manor by reason of his office. (fn. 86) In 1400 Sir Baldwin Bereford, kt., was ordered to take, for the expenses of the household, as many bucks of the present season from the chase and park of Whaddon and other places, by assent of the keepers, as could be done without waste. (fn. 87) Various grants of the office of parker were made in the 14th and 15th centuries. (fn. 88) Apparently the custody of the park came, with that of the chase to the Giffard family, (fn. 89) as in 1541 Elizabeth Pigott claimed it as an hereditary right. (fn. 90) It became known as Queen's Park in the 16th century; grants of herbage there were usually made to the lessee of the site of the manor. (fn. 91) In 1608 the surveyors reported that the park contained about 1,903 trees and 126 deer. (fn. 92) It was included in the grant of the manor to Sir George Villiers, (fn. 93) and, in common with the other Villiers lands, suffered deterioration after the Civil War, being converted to pasture land and tillage in the reign of Charles II. (fn. 94)

In a survey of 1541 of Giffards Manor a pasture there was described as parcel of the LITTLE PARK; there was also wood ground, containing 20 acres, and 2 acres of waste ground, in the same park. (fn. 95) The 'close called Little Park' was included in the grant of this manor to Sir George Villiers in 1616. (fn. 96) As late as 1761 it is mentioned as being appurtenant to the same holding. (fn. 97)

A very full account of the CHASE of Whaddon, which was always held with the manor, has been given elsewhere. (fn. 98) In 1608 surveyors of the manor detailed the boundaries of the chase; they were as follows: 'Begin at the end of the town of Whaddon called Bantisend and so extend along by a ditch under the Strode and from thence along by a ditch under the close which was sometime Thomas Pigott's and now in the tenure of Jane Sibella Lady Grey compassing by the same dike under Iganger and the Prior's Oxleys and from there unto Shenley hachegate, from thence along by the same ancient dike under Goldenhill and Stocking and the Prior's Stocking and from thence forth unto the long lane end of Tattenhoe and so by the same dike unto Rinchworth (?) gate and from thence along an ancient watercourse without the new dike of the chase unto Crabtree gate and from thence along a ride ... by the Abbots mede until Pukpite and Newdiggedgate and Rowdensale and from thence forth unto the lane end of Little Horwood by the close sometime of Robert Pigott and now in tenure of Henry Finch and Anne his wife until Little Horwood Hatchgate and continue along an ancient dike by Witnames Grove until Sakefoote corner and until the lane end of Great Horwood, from thence by the same dike or ditch by Bradwell Stocking until the end of the town of Sincleburroughe (Singleborough), and from thence by the same dike until house end and ryde gate of Nash and from thence turning again by the same dike under Nash and the Berry close unto the park of Whaddon and from thence forth under the pale of the same park continue until the end of the town of Whaddon.'

The number of deer at that time was reckoned at about 480, while the trees in the chase numbered 6,600. (fn. 99)

The family of Giffard were settled in Whaddon in the 13th century. Geoffrey Giffard witnessed a charter concerning Snelshall at the beginning of that century. (fn. 100) In 1232 he conveyed a virgate of land in Nash to Emma daughter of Walter le Blund. (fn. 101)

In 1242 Robert Giffard was granted custody of the manor of Whaddon, then in the Crown. (fn. 102) In 1278–9 Robert Giffard held of the lord of the manor 1½ virgates of land there, probably the origin of the later GIFFARDS MANOR, by serjeanty of keeping the lord's wood, by paying him 3d. yearly, by finding him two men at harvest time and ploughing three times a year; among the privileges of the tenant were housebote and haybote in the wood, while his cattle might go in pasture with the lord's cattle except in the park and unmown meadows. (fn. 103) The keeping of the chase was an office hereditary in this family, (fn. 104) and afterwards descended with this manor. (fn. 105) In 1318 John Giffard was keeper of Whaddon Chase, (fn. 106) and 'John Giffard of Whaddon' was Sheriff of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire in 1417. (fn. 107) This is probably the John Giffard referred to in 1445 as having been seised in fee of the 'manor of Whaddon called Cyffard's manor.' (fn. 108) His eldest son Thomas had died without male heirs and he 'loved better John his younger son than he did the children of Thomas'; on John therefore, and on his issue, the manor had been settled. (fn. 109) This John's daughter and heir Margaret married Robert Pigott, (fn. 110) to whom the heirs of Thomas Giffard quitclaimed their right in 1489. (fn. 111) Thomas Pigott, son of Robert, afterwards held the manor, (fn. 112) dying seised of it in February 1519–20, having left it in dower to his wife Elizabeth with reversion to William Pigott, his son by his first wife Agnes. (fn. 113) A quarrel as to their respective rights immediately arose, (fn. 114) and in 1543 Elizabeth Pigott sold the manor to the king in return for an annuity of £37 19s. (fn. 115) Later in the same year the king granted a lease of it to Sir Francis Bryan, (fn. 116) Edward Ashfield being made bailiff three years later. (fn. 117) The original transaction between the Crown and Elizabeth Pigott must have been afterwards reversed, as in 1566 her trustees, she being dead, were called upon by the Crown to pay arrears from 1549 to 1552, amounting to £103 19s., from the manor of Giffard. (fn. 118) The trustees denied liability, as the arrears were posterior to Elizabeth's death in 1548 and her step-son William had taken the profits until 1552, when he, with his son and heir Leonard Pigott, had conveyed Giffards to William Lord Grey de Wilton and Mary his wife in fee. (fn. 119)

Lord Grey died seised of it in 1562, (fn. 120) and his son Arthur (fn. 121) in 1593. (fn. 122) His son Thomas fifteenth Lord Grey de Wilton was attainted in 1603. Giffards, becoming thus forfeit to the Crown, was leased to George Fleetwood and others in 1609 (fn. 123) and afterwards, in 1615, to Jane Sibella Lady Grey, widow of Arthur Lord Grey, for sixty years. This lease was afterwards extended to her heirs. (fn. 124)

In 1616, after the death of Thomas Lord Grey, his manor of Giffards was granted in fee to Sir George Villiers, (fn. 125) who obtained Whaddon Manor in the same year. The lease made to Lady Grey and her heirs was surrendered to Villiers in 1616 by Sir Rowland Egerton, bart., and Bridget his wife, (fn. 126) daughter and eventual heir of Arthur Lord Grey and Jane Sibella. The property then descended with the other Villiers estates in Whaddon, in spite of a claim made in 1651 on the moiety of the manor by Philip Lord Wharton and Jane his wife, in her right as great-granddaughter and co-heir of Arthur Lord Grey. (fn. 127) It was included in the sale of the Duke of Buckingham's lands to Selby and Thomas Willis in 1698. (fn. 128) The major part of it was later allotted to Browne Willis, (fn. 129) and remained his property until his death in 1760. In 1761 an Act was passed (owing to the minority of John Willis, his grandson and heir) to enable it to be sold to Thomas James Selby, (fn. 130) and it has since that time been held by the lord of Whaddon Manor. At the time of the sale to Selby the yearly value of the house and its lands was only £110. The price offered by Selby, £3,840, was said to 'greatly exceed the value of the inheritance.' (fn. 131)

After the Dissolution the site of the priory of Snelshall (fn. 132) was leased to Thomas Lenthorp, (fn. 133) and in 1539 the reversion of this twenty-one year lease was given to Francis Pigott. (fn. 134) Pigott, however, surrendered his grant in 1541, (fn. 135) and the site was given in the same year to Richard Brome. (fn. 136) In 1548 Sir Thomas Palmer received a grant of it, (fn. 137) but he was afterwards attainted, and in 1554 Thomas English, groom of the queen's larder, having secured the title to the remainder of Lenthorp's lease, received a confirmatory grant. (fn. 138) The reversion of the site was granted in fee to Sir Edmund Ashfield later in the same year. (fn. 139) In 1571 he settled the 'manor or site of the late dissolved priory of Snelshall' on his wife for life with reversion to the family of his daughter Cecily, who had married John Fortescue. (fn. 140) Robert son of John and Cecily inherited at his grandfather's death in 1578. (fn. 141) Sir Francis Fortescue, brother and heir of Robert, (fn. 142) joined with other members of the family in 1621 in conveying the site of Snelshall to Sir George Villiers, (fn. 143) then lord of Whaddon, with which property it has since been held.

The manorial history of NASH is entirely bound up with that of Whaddon; it never existed as a separate manor. The earliest mention of it, in 1166–7, records the payment of 1 mark to the exchequer from 'Waddone and Esse,' (fn. 144) and, though occasional deeds concerning land in Nash are found, (fn. 145) the main part was held with Whaddon (q.v.). Richard Fitz John held 'Whaddon and the hamlet of Nash' in 1284–6. (fn. 146) Later the lords of Whaddon held the 'manor of Whaddon with Nash,' (fn. 147) sometimes of 'Whaddon Nash.' (fn. 148) Headboroughs for Nash were always chosen at the manorial courts of Whaddon. (fn. 149) Mr. William Selby-Lowndes of Whaddon is lord of the manor.

CHURCH

The church of ST. MARY consists of a chancel 18 ft. 6 in. by 15 ft., north chapel 26 ft. by 16 ft., nave 47 ft. 6 in. by 16 ft., north aisle 8 ft. wide, south aisle 8 ft. 6 in. wide, west tower 12 ft. square, and north and south porches. All measurements are internal.

The building dates apparently from the early part of the 12th century, when it consisted of a chancel and nave. The church of this date was enlarged at the end of the century by throwing out a north aisle, and a few years later by the addition of the south aisle, the small bay at the east end of the north arcade being probably inserted at the same time. During the first half of the 14th century a general reconstruction took place; the chancel and aisles were probably rebuilt and the arches of the arcades apparently reerected with the old material in their present form, the labels appearing to have formerly belonged to semicircular arches. Shortly afterwards the west tower and the north chapel, incorporating the east end of the north aisle, were built. The two porches and the clearstory are probably of early 16th-century date. There were restorations in 1889 and 1891, and repairs to the tower in 1902 and to the nave in 1906.

In 1854 some wall paintings were discovered on the walls of the chancel which have since been obliterated. The principal painting was that of the murder of Beckett, while on the splays of a window on the south side of the chancel were the figures of St. Edmund and a bishop. (fn. 150)

The walls are of rubble with ashlar dressings.

The chancel is lighted from the east by a window of three lights with flowing tracery in a pointed head. At the east end of the north wall is a rectangular aumbry, with a modern head and doors, and towards the west is the pointed arch to the chapel, its inner order springing from moulded corbels supported by carved heads. The south wall is pierced by a squareheaded window of three trefoiled lights and by a restored low-side window with a trefoiled ogee head and transom. At the east end of this wall is a piscina with a trefoiled head, of late 13th-century date, reset, and beneath the sill of the eastern window is a double sedile, probably of the 14th century, divided by a shaped stone arm-rest. Between the windows is a doorway with a trefoiled ogee head. The chancel arch is pointed, the outer order is continuous, and the inner springs from semi-octagonal responds with moulded capitals and bases. All the details, with the exception of the piscina, are of the 14th century.

The north or Lady chapel is also of this period. It is lighted by two pointed windows with tracery in the east and north walls, having respectively three and two lights. At the east end of the north wall is a 14th-century recess with a segmental head, and towards the east end of the south wall of the chapel is a piscina with a cinquefoiled pointed head. The pointed arch to the north aisle is of two chamfered orders, the inner springing on the north side from a corbel similar to those of the arch opening to the chancel, and on the south dying into the wall.

In the east wall of the nave, high up on either side of the chancel arch, is a restored rectangular window, possibly of 16th-century date. The north arcade is of four bays, the easternmost being narrower than the others, and the south arcade is of three bays; both have pointed arches with chamfered orders springing from circular columns with moulded bases and abaci. The details, however, of the capitals of the two western columns on the north side, which have birds and stiff-leaved foliage, date from about 1190, while the eastern column on this side is a few years later; the capitals of the two columns on the south side, the first of which is fluted and the other has stiff-leaved foliage, are of a little later date. The clearstory has one window in the north and two in the south wall, all of 16th-century date, but restored, and each of three lights in a square head.

The north aisle is lighted by two windows, each of two lights with tracery in a pointed head, both being much restored work of the 14th century. The north doorway, of the same period, is pointed and continuously chamfered. To the east of it is a 14th-century stoup with a trefoiled head; its bowl has been cut away. The west end of this aisle is partitioned off to form a vestry and contains two oak chests, the larger of early 17th-century date, and the smaller dated 1698.

The south aisle is lighted from the south by two square-headed windows of 14th-century date, now restored, each of three lights with tracery, and from the east by a pointed window of the same period having three lights with tracery and containing some fragments of original glass, including the figures of angels and two heads. The south doorway and stoup are similar to those of the north aisle, but the former has been restored. In the north wall east of the arcade the 15th-century stair to the former roodloft still remains, with an opening in each side of the wall.

The tower is of three stages with an embattled parapet. It has diagonal buttresses and a stair-turret in the south-east angle. The pointed tower arch is of 14th-century date and of three orders, the innermost springing from semi-octagonal responds with moulded bases and capitals. In the west wall is a 14th-century pointed doorway, and above it is a pointed window of three lights with blocked tracery. In the west wall of the second stage is a 14th-century niche with a trefoiled head, and in the north and south walls are square-headed windows, that on the north being partially blocked by the dial for the clock presented to the church in 1673. The top stage has in each wall an entirely restored pointed window. The stair is lighted by rectangular loops, the lowest of which is trefoiled.

The north and south porches have their original entrance arches with pointed heads and jambs continuously chamfered, and in the west wall of the south porch is a pointed window.

The roof of the chancel is modern; that of the north chapel is of 14th-century date, high-pitched and of two bays with cambered tie-beams, curved struts to the collars and curved wind-braces. The flat-pitched roofs of the nave and aisles retain a good many of their original timbers.

On the south wall of the south aisle is a brass of a small kneeling figure of a woman, with an inscription cut in the stone, to Margaret wife of Thomas Myssenden (d. 1612), and a strip of brass on which is incised a skeleton. A brass on the west respond of the south arcade of the nave records that the clock was presented in 1673 by Amy wife of John Emerton and daughter of John Allen, vicar of the parish, and that the monument was made in 1673 by Anthony Chandler, bell-founder.

On the north side of the north chapel is an elaborate tomb of Purbeck marble with a brass inscription to Thomas Pigott, serjeant-at-law (d. 1519), and Agnes and Elizabeth his wives. The base has traceried panels, three of which formerly contained brass shields. The top slab is moulded, and at the outer angles are slender shafts carved with interlacing bands, and having moulded capitals and bases supporting a canopy with a carved frieze and cresting, and a panelled soffit. On the wall at the back are brasses with kneeling figures of Thomas Pigott, his two wives, two sons and three daughters of the first wife, and three sons and two daughters of the second. Between the figures of Pigott and the first wife is the indent of a crucifix, and above two shields with the indent of a third. The first shield is charged with the arms of Pigott quartering Forster, and the second with these arms impaling a saltire engrailed and a chief with two molets therein, for Elizabeth Ewerby, the second wife. At the west end of the same wall there is a tomb with a plain base and canopy supported by fluted columns. The inscription is much decayed, but the tomb is supposed to be that of Arthur Lord Grey de Wilton (d. 1593), and of Jane Sibella his wife (d. 1615). Above the tomb is a funeral helm with a crest.

The font, which stands beneath the western arch of the south arcade of the nave, is of 13th-century date, and has a tapering round bowl standing on a group of four columns, between which is dog-tooth ornament. Above the font, on the east soffit of the arch, is a wooden bracket, with a pulley, formerly used for raising the cover. It is probably of the 15th or 16th century, and is rudely carved with the head of an animal.

The communion table and rails are of 17th-century date; the former has been restored. On the west respond of the south arcade of the nave are two wooden alms-shovels carved with the initials R.P. and the date 1643.

There are six bells and a sanctus, of which the treble, fourth, fifth, and tenor are by Anthony Chandler, 1671, the second by Richard Chandler, 1713, the third by Emerton of Wootton, 1780, and the sanctus by George Chandler, 1682.

The communion plate includes a large paten of 1683, the gift of William Emerton, a silver gilt cup and cover paten, and a plated flagon, probably of early 18th-century date.

The registers previous to 1812 are as follows: (i) baptisms, marriages and burials from 1584 to 1643; (iii) baptisms, marriages and burials from 1672 to 1733; (iv) burials in woollen from 1678 to 1734; (v) baptisms and burials from 1733 to 1785 and marriages from 1733 to 1741 and from 1744 to 1753; (vi) marriages from 1754 to 1791; (vii) baptisms and burials from 1785 to 1813; (viii) marriages from 1791 to 1812. (fn. 151)

The church of ALL SAINTS, Nash, the foundation stone of which was laid in 1857, is a small stone building, consisting of chancel, nave, north porch, and bell-turret, erected from designs of the late G. E. Street. The living is in the gift of Major H. W. Harris, being annexed to Thornton rectory.

ADVOWSON

Walter Giffard, first Earl of Buckingham, who died in 1102, granted the church of Whaddon to the priory of St. Faith at Longueville in Normandy; his son confirmed this grant, as did subsequent lords of Whaddon. (fn. 152) The English cell at Newton Longville retained the church, presentation being made by the Crown during the French wars. (fn. 153) In 1441 the priory of Newton Longville was granted with its possessions to New College, Oxford, (fn. 154) and presentation to Whaddon Church was made by this college (fn. 155) until it passed, in 1877–8, to Mr. W. Selby-Lowndes, (fn. 156) the lord of the manor, who is now the patron. A vicarage was ordained before 1349. (fn. 157) The benefice in 1291 (fn. 158) and again in 1435 (fn. 159) was valued at £10.

CHARITIES

William Elmer, by his will dated in 1648, and proved at Westminster 3 May 1653 before the four judges appointed under the Commonwealth, devised (inter alia) a piece of land for the poor of Whaddon, the rent to be distributed in bread or money on Rogation Monday. The endowment now consists of 1 acre allotted on the inclosure of the parish in 1831 in exchange for land originally devised. A sum of £1 5s. is distributed yearly by the Parish Council in bread in respect of this charity.

Two poor men and two poor women of this parish are also entitled to participate in the charity of the same testator in the parish of Beachampton for sixteen poor men and women (see under Beachampton).

The Poor's Stock or Land now consists of 4 acres or thereabouts, in Marsh and Middle Field, allotted on the inclosure in exchange for land supposed to have been purchased with £78, known as the Poor's Stock. The net rents, amounting to £8 a year, are distributed in money to about fifty poor.

Thomas Coare by his will, date unknown, directed that a sufficient sum should be invested to provide £10 a year towards the support of a school for educating twenty poor boys. The legacy is represented by £353 14s. 1d. consols, with the official trustees, producing £8 16s. 4d. a year.

In 1790 Thomas Coare also erected six tenements on land supposed to have been purchased by subscriptions, to be used as almshouses. They were never endowed, and were used as parish houses.

In 1802 John Howes by will gave an annuity of 20s. to the poor, payable out of 15 acres of land in Whaddon, and distributed on St. Thomas's Day.

Hamlet of Nash.

The following charities are regulated by a scheme of the Charity Commissioners of 18 August 1908, namely:—

The charity of William Elmer, founded by will 1648, consisting of 3 r. 26 p., allotted when the parish was inclosed in 1831, in exchange for land devised.

The Poor's Stock or Land consisting of 2 a. 1 r. 11 p. awarded in 1831 in exchange for certain land purchased with the Poor Stock, amounting to £35.

The Constable's Land containing 2 r.

The several pieces of land are let out in allotments, producing £4 12s. 6d. a year. The scheme directs that the income derived from the Constable's Land shall be paid to the constable of Nash, and the income of the other charities, applied in clothes, fuel, tools or medical aid, and in temporary relief in money.

One poor woman of the hamlet is entitled to participate in the charity of William Elmer for sixteen poor men and women. (See under Beachampton.)