Parishes: Farlington

FARLINGTON

Ferlingeton (xi cent.); Farlington (xviii cent.)

Farlington is a parish running northwards from Langstone Harbour with a nearly uniform width of about a mile and a quarter, its extreme length being a little over four miles. The parish included in 1831 the villages of Purbrook, Portsdown, Stakes Hill or Frendstaple, and part of Waterlooville called 'Wait Lane End' on the north side of Portsdown Hill, and the hamlet of Drayton, a mile west on the south.

In the south of the parish is the low-lying expanse of Farlington Marshes, from which the ground rises gradually to the foot of the range of Portsdown, beyond which to the north is the well-wooded country of Purbrook, Stakes Hill, and Waterloo, which once formed part of the Forest of Bere. The parish is crossed about midway by a road which runs along the downs between the villages of Portsdown and Bedhampton at a height of 300 ft. above the sea-level. Parallel to it at the base of Portsdown runs the main road from Portsmouth to Havant, along which lie the hamlets of Drayton and Farlington, the former at the western extremity of the parish and the latter about half a mile to the east.

The church and rectory, with Farlington House, the residence of Mr. Robert Edgcumbe Hellyer, and one or two houses to the south of the road, make up the whole of Farlington village.

To the south of the road between Drayton and Farlington are the Borough of Portsmouth Waterworks, while to the north on the slopes of Portsdown are large reservoirs belonging to the waterworks company. These are used in conjunction with Havant for supplying the forts on Portsdown and the towns of Portsmouth, Portsea, and Southsea. There is a race - course south of the waterworks between Drayton and Farlington Marshes, and meetings are held there under the National Hunt Rules. There is a station near it which is a junction for the London and South-Western and the London Brighton and South Coast railways. Fort Purbrook and Farlington Redoubt are situated in this parish on Portsdown.

The hamlet of Drayton is now gradually developing into a residential locality. To the north of the road immediately past the New Inn is the Drayton building estate, on which new villas are rising steadily. South of the road is Drayton Manor, the residence of Lieut.-Col. Alfred Robert William Thistlethwayte, approached from the main road by Drayton Lane.

The village of Purbrook in the north-west of the parish lies on the London and Portsmouth road, and is surrounded by small copses and woods which once formed part of the Forest of Bere. Along the main street of the village, which is composed of a few houses and inns, among them the 'White Hart,' the 'Leopard,' and the 'Woodman,' runs the Cosham and Horndean light railway. The church of St. John the Baptist, built in the last century, stands opposite the junction of Chalky Road with the High Street. On one side of it are the schools, and on the other the Primitive Methodist Chapel erected in 1875. Purbrook Heath House, the residence of Mr. Thomas William Harvey, stands to the west of the village on the borders of the parish of Cosham. Purbrook Park, the property of Mr. William Deverell, and the residence of Major Henry Gundry, is about eighty acres in extent, and through it runs the stream which gives the village its name. The Portsmouth and South Hants Industrial School, a rather gloomy-looking building, stands to the south of Stakes on the Stakes Hill road. To the east of Purbrook is Morelands, the residence of General Sir John William Collman Williams, K.C.B., J.P., and near it a lane leads to Crookhorn farm, probably the remains of the small manor of Creuquer in Farlington.

The village of Portsdown, also in this parish, lies on the main road from London to Portsmouth, one and a half miles north by east from Cosham Station and four miles north by east from Portsmouth. On the northern slope of Portsdown to the east of the road is Christ Church, built in 1874, and opposite to it is Portsdown Lodge, at present unoccupied. To the south on the summit of Portsdown are the George Inn and the Bellevue Tea Gardens.

Stakes Hill or Frendstaple, as it was formerly called, once the site of a small manor, is now a hamlet in the northern part of the parish, about a mile southeast of Waterlooville, and is surrounded by woods known as Stakes Hill Coppice. Stakes Hill Lodge, with 400 acres of well-wooded land attached, is the residence of Mr. John Henville Hulbert, while Oaklands, a fine house half a mile to the south, is at present unoccupied.

Waterlooville, a modern settlement, as its name implies, lies on the London and Portsmouth road about three miles north of Cosham, traversed by the Cosham and Horndean light railway, and provided with numerous inns, including one with the appropriate name of the 'Heroes of Waterloo.' The church of St. George, built in the early part of the nineteenth century, stands to the north of the road to Barn Green on the borders of the parishes of Cosham and Farlington, and in the main street is the Baptist Chapel, erected in 1884–5.

The soil varies a good deal; there is a mixture of clay, sand, and loam along the southern part of the downs; the subsoil is flint and chalk. The area of the parish is 2,389 acres of land, 10 acres of water, 56 of tidal water, and 535 of foreshore. Of the land 878½ acres are arable, 1,205¼ acres permanent grass, and 206¾ acres woodland. (fn. 1) In Waterloo there are 32 acres of arable land, 125½ acres of permanent grass, and 206¾ acres of woodland. The soil around Waterloo is clay, with a clay subsoil.

MANORS

FARLINGTON seems originally to have been a royal manor, lands in which were leased out by the king to various tenants. On his death in 1312 John de Berewyk is said to have held the manor of Robert le Ewer, (fn. 2) who was probably the tenant-in-chief.

William de Curci was holding land in Farlington in 1187 (fn. 3); and in 1200 a suit concerning the presentation to the church was in progress between Robert de Curci and Roger de Scures, the latter claiming that Robert, uncle of Robert de Curci, had given one moiety of Farlington to his father William, and the other to his uncle Roger, sons of Walter de Scures, and that he, Roger, ought therefore to have the whole manor, as heir of his father and uncle. (fn. 4) Unfortunately it seems impossible to find the termination to this suit.

In 1248 Roger de Merlay granted one and a half carucates of land and 7s. rent in Farlington to William son of Alan Stake and his wife Ellen, for which and for another tenement (fn. 5) William rendered yearly a pair of gilt spurs or 6d. at the feast of St. Michael. (fn. 6)

Roger de Merlay also gave £20 worth of land in Farlington as a dower to his daughter Alice or Agnes on her marriage with Nicholas son of Thomas de Gimises in 1250, (fn. 7) and by 1286 she was evidently in possession of the manorial lands, which she sought to regain from the king's hands for her default against Hugh de Turbevill. (fn. 8) Agnes evidently gained her suit, and the lands passed from her to her son John, who alienated them to John de Berewyk in 1290. (fn. 9) John de Berewyk died seised of the manor in 1312. His heir was Roger Husee, his great-nephew; but Roger de Upton, servant of John de Berewyk, claimed to possess a charter granting the manor to him and his wife and their son John, and since Roger Husee made no claim after his uncle's death, he took possession of the manor, which he held in 1316. (fn. 10) John son of Roger de Upton succeeded his father, and conveyed the manor to Hugh le Despenser in 1320. (fn. 11)

After the death of Hugh le Despenser in 1327, and the forfeiture of his lands, the king granted the manor of Farlington, worth £20 a year, (fn. 12) to Alice late wife of Edmund earl of Arundel, for the support of herself and her children until other provision was made for her. (fn. 13) Alice only held the manor for a short time, for by 1330 it had come into the king's hands, and was granted to John Montgomerie and his wife Rose for life. (fn. 14) On the death of John Montgomerie in 1347, (fn. 15) the manor passed, in the next year, to the prior and convent of Southwick (fn. 16) in accordance with a grant made to them in 1346 in consideration of the losses which they had sustained through the invasion of the king's enemies. (fn. 17) The manor remained in the possession of the prior and convent until the Dissolution, (fn. 18) when it was granted, in 1540, to William Pound of Beaumonds, (fn. 19) whose father William, son of Sir John Pound and Elizabeth Holt, had held lands in Farlington of the prior and convent of Southwick, and had left the same to his younger son on his death in 1525. (fn. 20) William died seised of the manor in 1558, and was succeeded by his son Thomas, then aged twenty. (fn. 21)

In 1663 the Pounds were still holding the manor, for in that year Henry Pound conveyed it to John Wolfe, (fn. 22) and again in 1684 to Nathaniel Hunt, (fn. 23) evidently as settlements. Henry Pound must have sold the manor about 1684 to Thomas Smith, and it remained in his family until 1769, when it was sold by the trustees to Peter Taylor. (fn. 24) In 1815 the manor was sold by the trustees of the Taylor's estates to Lord Keith by a private Act of Parliament. (fn. 25) Lord Keith sold the estate to Mr. John Walker in 1818, from whose trustees it was purchased by Mr. John Deverell in 1857. (fn. 26) At Mr. John Deverell's death in 1880 the manor passed to his son, Mr. William Deverell, the present owner. (fn. 27) At the time of the Dissolution 10s. was returned for the farm of a fishing in the manor of Farlington. (fn. 28)

In 1316 Thomas de Sandford and John Beaumond were holding lands in Drayton in Farlington (fn. 29); and the lands of the latter may possibly have been the tithing of BEAUMONDS (Bemonds, Bermonds) reputed a manor in the sixteenth century.

There seems to be no separate record, however, of the property until the year 1511, when Elizabeth Pound died seised of part of the manor of Beaumonds in 1511, being succeeded by her son and heir William, then aged thirty-seven. (fn. 30) From this date the descent of Beaumonds follows that of the manor of Farlington (q.v.).

Until the beginning of the fourteenth century the descent of the manor of CREUQUER (Creuker xiv cent.) is the same as that of the manor of Farlington (q.v.). Upon the death of John de Berewyk in 1312, and the failure of Roger Husee to claim his inheritance, (fn. 31) the manor returned to John de Gimises, and being forfeited for his felony (fn. 32) was granted in 1217 to Hugh le Despenser for life, (fn. 33) and after this date it again followed the descent of the manor of Farlington (q.v.).

The earliest mention of DRAYTON (Dreton xiv cent.) in Farlington seems to be in the year 1250, when Henry III gave a moiety of the land there to Roger de Merlay (fn. 34); and between 1250 and 1271 he seems to have given the remaining lands to Richard de Sandford. (fn. 35) Roger de Merlay apparently gave his share in the lands which only amounted to four acres to Ralph atte Brigge from whom they passed to Henry Wade by fine. (fn. 36)

Richard de Sandford died seised of twelve acres of land in Drayton in 1289 of the gift of the king, and the lands passed to his son and heir Thomas. (fn. 37) Henry Wade (fn. 38) granted his share in Drayton also to Thomas de Sandford in 1303 by fine (fn. 39); so that Thomas became possessed of the whole estate. Thomas de Sandford still held Drayton in 1316 (fn. 40); and died seised of lands and rent there in 1327. (fn. 41)

Licence was granted to Richard de Sandford, son of Thomas, in 1327 to enfeoff Laurence de Pageham of two messuages, lands, and rent in Drayton; and in the same year Richard died in possession of lands in Drayton. (fn. 42) Laurence de Pageham held the eighth part of a knight's fee in Drayton in 1346, (fn. 43) and died in 1361 seised of Drayton, for the first time described as a manor, which he held by the service of finding a man in time of war to guard the east gate of the castle of Portchester for fifteen days. Drayton passed to his grandson and heir John, then aged only six months. (fn. 44) John Pageham died in possession in 1389 and was succeeded by his son John who was only two years old. (fn. 45) This John died in 1399 a minor in the king's wardship; his heir was his brother William who was twenty-one in 1411. (fn. 46)

William Pageham held Drayton at the time of his death in 1322, when he left a son Philip aged six, (fn. 47) who died seised of the manor held of the king in 1442. His heir was Geoffrey Borrard his cousin, son of Parnel daughter of Laurence Pageham. (fn. 48)

Between 1442 and 1476 Geoffrey Borrard or his heirs must have conveyed the manor of Drayton to the Pounds, for Thomas Pound died seised of it in 1476, leaving a son and heir John, aged thirty. (fn. 49) Drayton was still in the hands of the Pounds in 1542, for in that year Anthony Pound the grandson of John Pound (fn. 50) conveyed it to William Wayte. (fn. 51) Anthony evidently gave the manor to his daughter Honora on her marriage with Henry earl of Sussex (fn. 52); and in 1593 Henry Radcliffe died seised of the manor, which he held jointly with his wife, leaving a son Robert, aged twenty. (fn. 53) Robert earl of Sussex conveyed it to Richard Garth in 1592, in whose family it remained for about forty years. (fn. 54) Robert Garth, Richard's son, died seised of it in 1613, his brother George being his heir. (fn. 55) Richard, probably the son of George Garth, was in possession of Drayton in 1629 (fn. 56); and died seised of the manor leaving a son George by his wife Dorothy; and by his wife Beatrice, who survived him, two sons, Thomas and William. (fn. 57) The later descent of Drayton seems to be the same as that of the manor of Farlington (q.v.).

The descent of FRENDSTAPLE or STAKES follows that of Farlington manor down to the year 1480, but after that date it passed into the hands of the Gunters. William Gunter, brother and heir of John Gunter of Rakton, Sussex, released his rights in Frendstaple to Thomas Lovell and others in 1480, probably for a settlement, (fn. 58) for we find Arthur Gunter holding Frendstaple in 1575. (fn. 59) George Gunter and Mary Lady Gunter his wife were in possession of it in 1624 (fn. 60); and from them it passed to their son Arthur who died seised in 1637. (fn. 61) Arthur was succeeded by his sister Mary Drewry his heir, who died two years later; her heirs were her cousins Thomas Bickley, Constance Brigham, and Elizabeth Lewes. (fn. 62)

After this date no further mention of Frendstaple or Stakes has been found until 1820, when Stakes Farm was purchased by Mr. William Taylor for £5,020; and the hamlet of Stakes Hill by Mr. John Hulbert for £1,200. (fn. 63) Stakes Hill is now a hamlet in the parish of Farlington about a mile south-east of Waterloo, and is still owned by the Hulbert family, Mr. J. H. Hulbert of Stakes Hill Lodge being the present owner.

CHURCHES

The church of ST. ANDREW, FARLINGTON, consists of chancel with north vestry, and nave with north aisle and west bell-cot. It is almost entirely modern, the chancel having been rebuilt by Street in 1872, and the nave in 1875. The lower part of the west wall of the nave retains some old masonry, the jambs of the west window, a single lancet, being probably of thirteenth-century date, with a dwarf buttress below its sill.

The chancel is a good example of Street's work, of thirteenth-century style, with a stone-ribbed vault and elaborate details and fittings. In the north vestry is an old piscina, a seventeenth-century altar table, and a small fourteenth-century coffin lid, with a cross flory having a ring on the stem. It probably covered the burial of a heart or some other part of a body rather than that of a child.

The font, at the west of the nave, has an old octagonal base, of the fourteenth or fifteenth century.

There is a brass plate in memory of Anthony Pound, 1547, bearing the arms of Pound; or on a fesse gules three molets argent; in chief two boars' heads and in base a cross paty fitchy sable. There are two bells by Thomas Bartlett of Portsmouth, 1767.

The plate consists of a silver-gilt and jewelled chalice, paten, and flagon of 1853.

The first book of the registers, of parchment, contains baptisms and burials 1538–1656, and marriages to 1647, and the second has baptisms and marriages from 1654, burials from 1656 to 1718, and entries on paper beginning in 1721 of marriages to 1750 and burials to 1792. The third book is the printed marriage register, 1754–1812, and the fourth begins with copies of the entries of baptisms from 1766 to 1792, the originals having been damaged by damp, and combines the baptisms and burials to 1812. The tithe map of 1839 is preserved at the rectory.

The church of ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST, PURBROOK, is of flint with stone dressings in the Decorated style, consisting of chancel, nave, south aisle, vestry, south porch, and western tower. The register dates from 1858.

The church of ST. GEORGE, WATERLOOVILLE, is of brick, faced with rough-cast, consisting of apsidal chancel, nave, aisle, and small embattled western tower containing one bell. The register dates from 1836.

ADVOWSON

The earliest mention of a church at Farlington seems to be in the year 1200, when there was a suit between Robert de Curci and Roger de Scures concerning the presentation to the church of St. Andrew at Farlington. (fn. 64) In 1231 the church was served by a chaplain of Philip de Albini and was in need of repairs. (fn. 65)

The rectory of Farlington was valued in 1291 at £13 6s. 8d., (fn. 66) and in 1535 it was worth £10 4s. (fn. 67).

The advowson follows the descent of the manor until the end of the eighteenth century. (fn. 68). From 1789 until 1803 Charles Williams was the holder, (fn. 69) and in 1817 Mr. C. W. Taylor presented. (fn. 70) About 1837 the advowson was bought from the trustees of the Taylor estates by Mr. E. T. Richards, in whose family it has remained until the present day. (fn. 71) The living is a rectory, net yearly value £300, with residence and four acres of glebe.

The advowson of Purbrook church in this parish is a vicarage in the gift of the rector of Farlington.

The advowson of the church of St. George at Waterlooville is a vicarage in the hands of the bishop of Winchester.