Cherington: Manor and other estates

MANOR AND OTHER ESTATES.

An estate of 2 hides at Cherington was held by Haminc before the Conquest. (fn. 1) It was held later by Robert Doyley, lord of Wallingford, (fn. 2) who in 1074 endowed his foundation of St. George's chapel in Oxford castle with two-thirds of his demesne tithes at Cherington. (fn. 3) Robert's son-in-law Miles Crispin (d. 1107) (fn. 4) held the estate in 1086 when his tenant was Goiffred. (fn. 5) The manor of CHERINGTON continued to be held from the honor of Wallingford, (fn. 6) which after 1540 formed part of the honor of Ewelme. (fn. 7) The manor, assessed in 1285 at 1 knight's fee but later as ½, (fn. 8) passed, apparently with Marsh Baldon (Oxon.) and other lands in the honor, to the de la Mare family. (fn. 9) It was held in 1201 by Robert de la Mare. (fn. 10) His grandson Robert was lord of Cherington in 1251 (fn. 11) and received a grant of timber to repair buildings there in 1264. (fn. 12) At his death in 1272 the manor passed to his son Peter (fn. 13) who was succeeded in 1291 by his son Robert, a minor. (fn. 14) After Robert's death c. 1308 (fn. 15) the manor was assigned in dower to his widow Lucy, (fn. 16) although in 1313 she was said to hold the manor in custody during the minority of Robert's son and heir Peter. (fn. 17) Peter (d. 1349) had presumably come of age by 1316 when he was described as lord of Cherington (fn. 18) and in 1318 he had a grant of free warren in his demesne lands there. (fn. 19) Nevertheless Lucy apparently retained rights in the manor, for her husband John of Ansley was assessed for tax at Cherington in 1327 (fn. 20) and was said to be lord of the manor about the same time. (fn. 21) The manor was later held by Peter's son Robert (d. 1382) jointly with his wife Maud (fn. 22) who was succeeded in 1405 by her daughter William de la Mare, the widow of John Roach of Bromham (Wilts.). (fn. 23)

By the division of William's property between coheirs after her death in 1410 Cherington passed to her daughter Elizabeth, who married Walter Beauchamp. (fn. 24) Walter was succeeded in 1429 by his son William Beauchamp, (fn. 25) Lord St. Amand. (fn. 26) After William's death in 1457 his widow Elizabeth, who later married Roger Tocotes, (fn. 27) held the manor. (fn. 28) Roger was attainted in 1484 (fn. 29) and the manor was granted by the Crown to Thomas Everingham, (fn. 30) but Elizabeth had recovered it by her death in 1491 when she was succeeded by her son Richard. (fn. 31) Richard died in 1508 leaving as his heir John Baynton, a great-grandson of Joan, the other coheir of William de la Mare. (fn. 32) John was succeeded in 1516 by his son Sir Edward after whose death c. 1545 (fn. 33) the manor passed to Isabel, (fn. 34) his second wife, who later married Sir James Stumpe. (fn. 35) She was succeeded in 1573 by her son Henry Baynton of Edington (Wilts.). (fn. 36) Henry sold the manor in 1583 to Thomas Wroughton (fn. 37) (d. 1597), under whose will (fn. 38) it was sold in 1602 to Thomas Stephens, (fn. 39) who was succeeded at his death in 1613 by his third son Nathaniel. At Nathaniel's death c. 1643 the manor passed to his son Edward, (fn. 40) lawyer and pamphleteer, who died in 1706. (fn. 41) Edward's son Edward sold the manor in 1724 to John Neale of Allesley (Warws.), (fn. 42) who also acquired lands in the parish which had passed to Thomas Stephens, another son of the elder Edward; Thomas granted them to a kinsman Thomas Stephens of Lypiatt (d. 1714) whose son John sold them to Neale in 1727. (fn. 43) At Neale's death in 1746 the manor passed to his son-in-law Sir John Turner, Bt., of Warham (Norf.). (fn. 44) Turner sold it in 1766 to Samuel Smith who was succeeded in 1789 by his son Samuel, at whose death in 1793 it passed to his widow Mary, who married Robert Brettingham of London. In 1804 the manor was purchased from Mary and her son Thomas Smith by John George of Aston. (fn. 45)

John George already occupied the manor as lessee; (fn. 46) the previous lessee, from 1764, was his father-in-law Peter Leversage of Lypiatt (fn. 47) whose farm comprised 817 a. in 1791. (fn. 48) John George had also bought some glebe land from the rector in 1800. (fn. 49) His lands, to which he added Coxe's farm by purchase in 1816, (fn. 50) passed at his death in 1827 (fn. 51) to his son William, (fn. 52) later successively curate and rector of Cherington. (fn. 53) William, who also inherited Westrip farm (fn. 54) and Hazleton farm (fn. 55) from his uncle William George in 1832, retained the manor until his death in 1871, when it passed to Elizabeth Mary, the widow of his son John Leversage George (d. 1864). She was succeeded in 1878 by her two surviving daughters Constance and Gertrude, (fn. 56) wards in Chancery, (fn. 57) who held the estate jointly well into the 20th century. (fn. 58) In 1934 it was purchased from Gertrude, the survivor, (fn. 59) by Edward Smedley Tarlton. (fn. 60) After his death in 1954 (fn. 61) his property was divided between his three children and the manor passed to the younger son, Mr. G. G. Tarlton, who held it in 1973. (fn. 62)

The manor-house, recorded in 1292, (fn. 63) stood near the church and was occupied by the Stephens family in the 17th century; (fn. 64) in 1672 it was assessed at 6 hearths. (fn. 65) About 1740 it was replaced by Cherington Park, built for John Neale (fn. 66) and greatly enlarged in the 19th century by the addition of three service ranges around a courtyard. (fn. 67) Most of the service court was demolished c. 1955 when there was also some remodelling of the interior. West of the house is a group of out-buildings, mainly stabling and coach-houses. The earliest appears to be of c. 1700. Another range is of the earlier 18th century and the largest block is of the earlier 19th century.

An estate later called WESTRIP FARM was formed from land in Cherington and Westrip acquired in 1681 from George Bridges and Maurice Harding by John Taylor (fn. 68) (d. 1712). (fn. 69) John was succeeded by his son William, (fn. 70) who already owned an estate of about 200 a. in Cherington. That estate had been held in the early 17th century by William Merry, a clothier, (fn. 71) who sold it in 1623 to William Bailey (d. 1626), whose son William (fn. 72) sold it before 1663 to John Driver of Aston, the father of Nathaniel from whom William Taylor purchased it in 1688. (fn. 73) At William's death in 1729 the Westrip estate passed to his widow Mary (d. 1732) and then to his nephew John Taylor (fl. 1756). (fn. 74) The estate, which in the 18th century comprised 420 a., (fn. 75) afterwards passed to John's sisters Anna (d. 1796) and Mary, the wife of John Vaughan, in joint ownership. They were succeeded by Mary's son John Taylor Vaughan, (fn. 76) who sold the estate in 1805 to William George of Rodmarton. (fn. 77) After 1832 when William was succeeded by his nephew William George (fn. 78) the estate, which included land in Avening, (fn. 79) descended with the manor until 1954, when the farm, which in 1973 comprised 480 a., passed to Mr. E. M. M. Tarlton, the elder son of E. S. Tarlton. (fn. 80) The earliest surviving part of the house is the 16th-century west wing, which was extended to the east in the 17th century; the new range was extensively remodelled in the earlier 19th century and part was again refitted at the end of the century.

An estate centred on COXE'S FARM was built up in the 18th century by members of the Coxe family, who were presumably descendants of John Coxe who lived in the parish in 1672. (fn. 81) The small estate of Thomas Coxe, who held land in the parish in 1690 (fn. 82) and was granted land by Edward Stephens in 1697, (fn. 83) passed at his death in 1711 to his son Thomas Coxe (fn. 84) (d. 1758). Thomas's son and heir John (d. 1767) was succeeded by his son Samuel (fn. 85) who by will dated 1786 devised his property to his children, (fn. 86) Edward and Sarah. The estate, which in 1791 comprised c. 166 a., (fn. 87) was sold in 1816 by Sarah's husband William Hayward to John George. (fn. 88) It then descended with the manor until 1954 when the farm, comprising 354 a., passed to Mrs. H. Arden, the daughter of E. S. Tarlton. (fn. 89) The farmhouse standing at the east end of the village dates from the 17th century. A new front was added in the 18th century, possibly by John Coxe. (fn. 90)

The Hazleton estate based in the neighbouring parish of Rodmarton (fn. 91) was held with Cherington manor by Robert Doyley in 1074 (fn. 92) but by 1086 it had passed into separate ownership. (fn. 93) Nevertheless a considerable acreage in Cherington parish remained attached to Hazleton farm, (fn. 94) which passed once more to the lord of Cherington manor in 1832. (fn. 95)

The estate of TRULL FARM in the south-east of the parish was created from former open-field and common land allotted in 1730 to Matthew Ducie Moreton, Lord Ducie, for his Hazleton estate. (fn. 96) The farm, which in the late 18th and early 19th centuries was known as Down farm, (fn. 97) was said in 1791 to comprise 240 a., (fn. 98) and, with the addition of lands in Culkerton allotted to Lord Ducie at the inclosure there, the acreage was increased to c. 507 by 1794. (fn. 99) Robert Kilmister, of a Culkerton family which had leased the farm since 1740, purchased it from Thomas Reynolds Moreton, Lord Ducie, in 1822, (fn. 100) adding it to Wickfield, an adjacent holding of c. 66 a. that he had bought in 1805 on the sale of the Westrip estate. (fn. 101) Robert was succeeded in 1838 by his son Richard Kilmister of Cherington, after whose death in 1858 (fn. 102) the estate was sold to William Kilmister (fn. 103) (d. 1884). (fn. 104) The estate passed to William's widow (fn. 105) and was sold in 1888 to Alfred Parr of Leintwardine (Herefs.). (fn. 106) In the 1890s it was owned by W. R. Hedges. (fn. 107) After passing through a succession of owners in the earlier 20th century (fn. 108) the estate came into the possession of the Mitchell family in 1948 (fn. 109) and at the death of Alexander Black Mitchell in 1972 was devised to the children of his son Ian N. Mitchell. (fn. 110) A house for the new estate was being built in 1730 on a tenement called the Breach. (fn. 111) Parts of that building may be incorporated in the service wing of Trull House, the main southeast range of which is dated 1843 and is symmetrically gabled and in the Tudor style. There are later extensions on the east.

Land in Cherington which descended with Roger d'Ivry's estates in Hazleton and Tetbury (fn. 112) was held in the late 12th century by Thomas de St. Valery, in whose court property in the parish was conveyed to Kingswood Abbey. (fn. 113) The land was evidently acquired with Tetbury by William de Breuse (d. 1211), (fn. 114) who granted part of his land to his daughter Eleanor (fn. 115) who, after the death of her husband Hugh Mortimer in 1227, (fn. 116) endowed Godstow Abbey (Oxon.) with property in Cherington and Westrip. (fn. 117) The endowment was presumably the yardland and rent of 24s. 8d. which the Crown claimed as escheat at the death of Eleanor's nephew William de Breuse in 1230 but acknowledged in 1234 as belonging to the abbey. (fn. 118) The land was held by the nuns with property in Charlton until the Dissolution. (fn. 119) The Mortimers of Wigmore continued to hold land in Cherington, through the marriage of Maud (d. 1301), the daughter of the younger William de Breuse, to Roger Mortimer (d. 1282); (fn. 120) in 1381 it was recorded that Edmund Mortimer had held 3s. rent of assize in Cherington belonging to his manor of Bisley. (fn. 121) The land was administered with Charlton manor in the mid 16th century (fn. 122) but it has not been traced later.

Land in Cherington held by Malmesbury Abbey with land in Hazleton had passed by the Dissolution to Kingswood Abbey which paid a rent to Malmesbury. (fn. 123) Kingswood Abbey also apparently bought a tenement granted to Biddlesden Abbey (Bucks.) by Walter of Brackley. (fn. 124)