Parishes: Broughton with Frenchmoor

BROUGHTON

Brestone (xi cent.); Bereweton, Berghton, Bereuton (xiii cent.); Burghton (xv cent.).

The parish of Broughton contains 3,458 acres of land, of which about 6 acres are land covered by water, 2,370 acres arable land, 1,050 acres permanent grass and 16 acres woodland. (fn. 1)

The village is in the south of the parish near Wallop Brook and the supposed site of the Roman station of Brigae. The church of St. Mary is in the south of the village near one of the numerous fords by which Wallop Brook may be crossed. Michael Reneger, the celebrated Elizabethan divine, was presented to this church by his kinsman Robert Reneger in 1552, but resigned the benefice during the reign of Mary. Matthew Nicholas, afterwards Dean of St. Paul's, held the living in 1629. About a mile west of the church a Roman villa is said to have been found. (fn. 2) Manor Farm and Roake Farm are respectively north and south of the village. Hyde Farm, south of which is Broughton Mill, is near Wallop Brook and the millpond. Broughton House, separated from the village by Wallop Brook, is the residence of Mr. William Steele Tomkins, great-great-nephew of Anne Steele, the author of many familiar hymns, who was born at Broughton in 1717 and died in 1778. (fn. 3) Her birthplace was afterwards the property of another greatgreat-nephew, the late Mr. Henry Mason Bompas, K.C. (fn. 4) (see infra).

The soil and subsoil are chalk, and the chief crops are wheat, barley and oats.

The common lands were inclosed under a Private Act of 1789. (fn. 5) A part of the parish, with a population of 45, was transferred to Bossington by Local Government Board Order dated 25 March 1883, (fn. 6) and under the provisions of the Divided Parishes Act a detached part has been added to Mottisfont.

Frenchmoor, extra-parochial, lies 4 miles southwest.

The following place-names occur:—Frenchemore Fulley, Fysshe Weres, Frenchemore Combes (fn. 7) (xvi cent.); Rocke Downe (fn. 8) (xvii cent.); Playstowes, Goosemoor, Blackmore, Merrygrove Coppice (xvi cent.). (fn. 9)

Manors

The manor of BROUGHTON belonged to the Crown at the time of the Domesday Survey, and had been held by Edward the Confessor in demesne. (fn. 10) It was given by King John to Payn de Maure, (fn. 11) and afterwards as an escheat of the Normans was granted first to William Percy, (fn. 12) and then to Fulk de Montgomery, (fn. 13) who gave it to John Maunsel, Treasurer of York and Keeper of the Seal. (fn. 14) In February 1246 John Maunsel obtained a grant of a weekly market on Monday at his manor of Broughton and of a yearly fair there on the eve and day of St. Mary Magdalene and the two days following. (fn. 15) A year later he received a grant of free warren. (fn. 16) He died in exile in 1265, and his lands were granted first to the Montforts and afterwards to the Perries. (fn. 17) In November 1267 Geoffrey Percy surrendered the manor to the king 'for the behoof of Robert Waleran.' (fn. 18) Robert died in 1272, (fn. 19) leaving as his heir his nephew Robert, who died c. 1292 and was succeeded by his brother John, on account of whose idiocy the king granted the custody of the manor to Ralph de Bokeland in 1293. (fn. 20) John Waleran died in 1309, when the estate passed to his kinsman, Alan Plukenet, who was seised of it in 1316. (fn. 21) Joan the sister and heir of Alan Plukenet and widow of Henry de Bohun in 1325 granted to the master and convent of God's House in Portsmouth the manor of Broughton, (fn. 22) in consideration whereof they agreed to admit a chaplain at the presentation of Joan and her heirs to say daily mass for her soul and for the souls of Robert de Harewedon, the late master, and William, the present one, and their parents and friends. (fn. 23) The foundation of this chantry was confirmed by John Stratford, Bishop of Winchester, in 1325, (fn. 24) and from that date until the Dissolution the manor of Broughton belonged to God's House in Portsmouth. (fn. 25)

In 1546 Henry VIII granted the manor to Lord Chancellor Wriothesley (fn. 26) (cr. Earl of Southampton on 16 February 1546–7), who probably either leased or mortgaged it to Thomas Knight and Anne his wife. Thus in a conveyance of the manor in 1547 by Thomas Knight to William Garrard, citizen and alderman of London, it was expressly warranted against him and his heirs. (fn. 27) However, Robert Reneger definitely purchased Broughton Manor from the Earl of Southampton in 1548, (fn. 28) and ten years later settled it upon his son, John Reneger. (fn. 29) From the latter it passed to James Jefferies, who sold it in 1590 to Thomas Dowse. (fn. 30) Thomas Dowse died in 1602, leaving a son and heir Francis, upon whom he had already settled the greater part of the estate on his marriage with Elizabeth daughter and heir of Sir Hampden Paulet. (fn. 31) Francis Dowse was afterwards knighted and was still living in 1624, (fn. 32) when he and his elder son Hampden dealt with the manor by fine: they both died before 1651, in which year Thomas the younger son of Sir Francis was owner of the estate. (fn. 33)

Some time after this the manor passed to Sir John Evelyn of West Dean (co. Wilts.), who dying in 1685 left a legacy to the poor of Broughton, (fn. 34) while his estates (fn. 35) passed to his daughter Elizabeth widow of Robert eldest son of the Hon. William Pierrepont second son of Robert the first Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull. (fn. 36) Her sons Robert, William and Evelyn succeeded in turn to the earldom of Kingstonupon-Hull, (fn. 37) and the last-named was created Marquess of Dorchester on 23 December 1706 and Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull on 10 August 1715. (fn. 38) His grandson Evelyn, the second Duke of Kingston-uponHull, was in possession of Broughton Manor in 1733. (fn. 39) However, by 1749 the property had passed, like Norman Court (q.v.), with which it seems to have been connected, to Francis Whitehead, from whom it passed before 1767 to Robert Thistlethwayte. (fn. 40) In 1804 Thomas the son and heir of Robert Thistlethwayte was lord of the manor, (fn. 41) which subsequently followed the descent of West Tytherley (q.v.) and is now the property of Mr. Washington Singer.

There were three mills appurtenant to the manor of Broughton in 1086, (fn. 42) but the two existing in the 17th century were attached to the Oake estate (q.v. infra). In the 13th century there were a weekly market on Monday and a four days' fair yearly in July. Sir Thomas Gatehouse in his Survey of 1778 mentions a fair held on the first Monday in July, (fn. 43) and markets were among the appurtenances of the manor in 1733. (fn. 44)

It is possible that FRENCHMOOR (Freschemore, la Freyse More, Laffrenshemore, xiii cent.; Frenshemore, xiv cent.) was the wood mentioned in Domesday Book as belonging to the manor of Broughton: in 1086 this wood was in the hands of Bishop Walchelin, but his right to it had not been proved. (fn. 45)

In 1246 John Maunsel received licence 'to till the piece of land called Freschemore which is of the demesne of the manor of Broughton . . . . and the said John may inclose the land with a dike and low hedge, and dispose thereof at his will, and no justice minister or bailiff of the forest shall interfere therein.' (fn. 46)

William de Cardeville, lord of West Tytherley, and Matthew de Columbars, lord of East Tytherley, had rights of common of pasture over the land, which they quitclaimed in 1249 to John Maunsel in exchange for land in Broughton. (fn. 47) The Frenchmoor estate afterwards followed the same descent as the manor proper of Broughton (q.v.), and was usually regarded as an appurtenance to Broughton, though sometimes as a separate manor. (fn. 48)

At the beginning of the 13th century James de Broughton and Henry de Mar (sic) held half a knight's fee in Broughton of the old enfeoffment of Fulk de Montgomery. (fn. 49) Richard son of Simon de Broughton held land there in 1319, in which year he was engaged in the king's service, so that he could not appear in the suit brought against him by John son of Ralph de Bokeland concerning a messuage, two mills and 3 acres of meadow in Broughton. (fn. 50) Possibly this was the estate in Broughton of which Sir Thomas de Bokeland died seised in 1378–9. (fn. 51) It subsequently followed the descent of Nether Wallop Buckland (q.v.), (fn. 52) and after the marriage of Elizabeth daughter and heir of Sir Hampden Paulet probably became merged in the chief manor of Broughton.

A small estate in Broughton was held of the master of God's Home in the 15th century by Walter Pauncefoot, who died seised of it in 1486 (fn. 53); it subsequently followed the descent of the manor of Pauncefoot Hill in Romsey (q.v.) until the end of the 16th century. (fn. 54) It was settled by Richard Brent in 1564 on his only child Anne and her husband, Lord Thomas Paulet, grandson of the Marquess of Winchester, (fn. 55) whose daughter and heir Elizabeth married Richard Dowse, the brother of Thomas Dowse, lord of the manor of Broughton. (fn. 56)

In the early part of the 13th century half a virgate of land and rent in Broughton were given by Adam Cotele and Constance Cotele to Julian Hatel, (fn. 57) who granted them in 1227 to the priory of Mottisfont. (fn. 58) This estate was enlarged in 1301 (fn. 59) and 1302 (fn. 60) by further grants of land from John Filliol, John de Farlington and Robert Whytun (fn. 61) : it belonged to the priory until the Dissolution. In 1536 it was granted by Henry VIII with other priory lands 'in exchange for the manor of Chelsea' to William Lord Sandys, (fn. 62) and subsequently followed the descent of the manor of Mottisfont (q.v.). (fn. 63)

There was a small estate in Broughton which was held of the king in chief by the service of keeping the east bailey of Buckholt Forest, (fn. 64) and followed the same descent as that bailiwick (q.v.).

In 1325 Richard atte Oake died seised of 'three messuages, 2 carucates of arable land, 10 acres of meadow and 16s. rent in Broughton, of which one messuage and 2 carucates of land were held of the heirs of Adam de Greville and the remainder of William de Harewedon, lord of Broughton.' (fn. 65) It is possible that this first estate was the later manor of ROAKE or MICHELTON, and the second the later manor of OAKEor HOKE. The early history of these holdings is not known with certainty, but the fact that Roake was sometimes called Michelton seems to point to its identification with the estate in Michelton which Edmund was holding at the time of the Domesday Survey. (fn. 66) The second estate which Richard atte Oake was holding at the time of his death was burdened by a rent of 1d. to the heirs of Eleanor Cotele, (fn. 67) and it is, therefore, probable that it is identical with the half knight's fee which William de Lucy, Eleanor Cotele and Ascelina Cotele were holding of Fulk de Montgomery in the 13th century. (fn. 68) William de Lucy had married Maud Cotele, the third sister and co-heir of John Cotele, (fn. 69) who had held half a hide of land in Broughton which he quitclaimed to Nicholas the son of Richard in 1227. (fn. 70)

Richard atte Oake was perhaps the son of that Adam 'de Quercu' who had held lands in Broughton in 1298 (fn. 71) : he was in possession of his estate by 1316, for in the autumn of that year he granted a messuage, l½ carucates of land and 4 marks rent in Broughton and Michelton to Adam de Greville for life for the rent of a rose, with reversion to himself and his heirs. (fn. 72) Richard's heir was his son John, who was four years old at the time of his father's death. (fn. 73)

The owner of the estate in 1356 was John Ingpen, who in that year granted a carucate and a half of land in Broughton to John Southover and Diamanda his wife and the heirs of their bodies, with reversion in case of the failure of such heirs to John Ingpen and his heirs. (fn. 74) Apparently Diamanda died childless, for in 1362 John Southover was holding the estate only 'until the heir of John Ingpen shall come of age.' (fn. 75) The heir of John Ingpen was his son of the same name who died in 1375, leaving his son Robert as his heir. (fn. 76) Robert Ingpen was succeeded before 1390 by Henry, who sold the property in that year to John Harryes of Whitchurch, (fn. 77) a member of the family which was still in possession in 1498, when another John Harryes and Isabel his wife dealt with the manors of Oake and Hoke. (fn. 78)

Edward the heir and apparently the son of this John Harryes dealt with the manor of Roake in 1572, (fn. 79) and again in 1575, (fn. 80) and died seised of both manors in 1585, leaving as his heir his son George, aged forty. (fn. 81) George Harryes settled the manor of Oake on his son Francis and Anne Reyve, subsequently wife of Francis, and their heirs in tail male, and the manor of Roake on himself and his wife Ursula for life with remainder to Francis and his heirs in tail male. (fn. 82) Francis was afterwards knighted by James I and died in 1615, leaving Francis his son and heir, (fn. 83) who sold the site of the manor in 1628 to Simon Clifford. (fn. 84)

This property belonged to Richard Godfrey in 1675. (fn. 85) His eldest daughter and co-heir Elizabeth married William Steele, Chancellor of Ireland, and brought her portion of the estate to that family. (fn. 86) In 1758 an arrangement was made by which the other descendants of Richard Godfrey, namely, John, George and Walter Godfrey, Edward Hayles and Susanna Clerke, quitclaimed their respective shares in the property to William Steele, grandson of the Chancellor. (fn. 87) After this date the manor of Oake became merged in the estate of Roake. The 'house and manor place of Oake with Godfrey's Farm' are now the property of Mr. William Steele Tomkins, the owner of Roake (see below), who, however, pulled down the house some years ago.

Roake had remained with the Harryes family until the middle of the 17th century, when it was sold to John Webbe by Francis Harryes. (fn. 88) John Webbe was a recusant, and probably on this account his estate was forfeited and was then bought by John Sevior of Winchester. (fn. 89) In 1653 it was stated that John Webbe had been out of possession for recusancy for ten years. (fn. 90) He, however, recovered the estate after the Restoration, (fn. 91) and his descendants continued to be the owners at least as late as 1767, (fn. 92) in which year Thomas Webbe and Arthur Benjamin Lane dealt with the property, (fn. 93) which had been mortgaged to the latter in 1753. (fn. 94) The estate came into the possession of the Steeles in 1758, and in 1791 Anne Steele, daughter of William Steele, was the lady of the manor. (fn. 95) Anne Steele married Joseph Tomkins, and the property was divided between her children, William Steele Tomkins and his sisters. The eldest sister married Serjeant Charles Carpenter Bompas, (fn. 96) and their son, the late Mr. Henry Mason Bompas, K.C., succeeded to a part of the estate in Broughton, including Anne Steele's birthplace, (fn. 97) a house commonly called 'Grandfathers.' Mr. William Steele Tomkins, his first cousin, is the owner of Broughton House at the present day, but the manorial rights are no longer exercised. (fn. 98)

One of the mills in the parish of Broughton at the time of the Domesday Survey had been given in exchange for some land in the time of Edward the Confessor, but the reeve had received the land and retained both it and the mill in 1086. (fn. 99) This mill and the land belonging to it, now represented by Hyde Farm, were granted in 1336 by John de Romsey and Maud his wife to John de Winterbourne and his wife Alice, (fn. 100) who sold them in 1345 to John de Whitchurch. (fn. 101) This John de Whitchurch was perhaps the ancestor of John Harryes of Whitchurch who bought the manor of Oake in 1390, for after this date the mill became an appurtenance of that manor. (fn. 102) In 1606 a water-mill and land in Hyde and a fishery were held by George Harryes, (fn. 103) and the site of this mill is probably marked at the present day by Broughton Mill. In 1637 Francis Harryes was the owner of two water-mills in Hyde and Broughton, (fn. 104) which subsequently followed the same descent as the manor of Oake. (fn. 105)

Church

The church of ST. MARY THE VIRGIN consists of chancel, nave, north and south aisles, west tower, north vestry and north and south porches. The earliest building for which evidence exists was an aisleless 12th-century church, with a nave of the same width as at present, but only extending as far west as the existing aisles, and probably without a west tower. Some of the quoins of its south-east angle are yet to be seen. Towards the end of the 12th century the north wall was pierced by the present arcade and the aisle added, and soon afterwards the south arcade and aisle were built. About 1220 the nave was lengthened westwards and the present west door built. In the 15th century a west tower was built, the 13th-century west door being re-used in it, and a clearstory was added to the nave.

Early in the 17th century the nave and north aisle were much damaged by a fire, of which traces are still visible in the north arcade and tower. The chancel, which runs slightly northwards, seems to have been practically rebuilt in the 17th century, and again partially in 1886: the western pair of clearstory windows are of the former date.

The chancel has been improved by the insertion of new east and north windows, while the two south windows, each of two wide square-headed lights, are for the most part of 17th-century date. On the north a door leads to the modern vestry, which has an external door and a three-light east window. On the south side is an interesting 15th-century pillar piscina. The bowl is octagonal with roses on the sides, and below are three grotesque figures, one a devil catching a man in a noose. The stem has trefoiled panels and a moulded base and was originally attached to the wall. The chancel arch is modern, in 13th-century style, and replaces a plain timber partition. The north arcade of the nave consists of three bays, with pointed arches of two chamfered orders, round columns and half-round responds. The arches are in chalk, and with the capitals are badly splintered by fire; the latter are of late 12th-century type with small flutes or scallops, except that of the east respond, which is moulded and of later style. The columns are very low and the arches disproportionately high and of considerable span. The south arcade is very like the north, but the arches are in larger stones, and the plain round capitals and piers seem to be late rebuildings of the old work, but the bases look like 12th-century work. The nave extends west beyond the arcades, this part being now filled with an organ and vestries. In the north and south walls are 13th-century lancets with chamfered rear arches. The northern lancet appears to be in position, but the other has been reset. A modern moulded doorway leads to the tower, the blocked eastern arch of which is now buried in the wall. In the nave clearstory only the three east windows on the north side are old, the corresponding windows on the south are modern copies of them, while the west windows on either side are of 18th-century character, with uncusped round heads. The rear arches of the windows and door in the north aisle are old, but the tracery and outer order of the door are modern, as is the north porch. The corbels of a 15th-century roof, no doubt burnt in the fire, remain in the walls. All the windows of the south aisle are likewise modern, except that in the west wall, of two lights and 15th-century date. There is an image bracket to the south of the east window, and in the south wall a trefoiled chamfered recess with modern sill and no drain. The south door has a plain rounded head of uncertain date and over it is an 18th-century brick porch. In the wall near the western respond is set a 13th-century trefoiled recess with continuous roll moulding; it has a small hole in the head, but it seems doubtful whether this is an ancient arrangement. The tower is of three stages, the lower part flint with diagonal buttresses, the upper of modern brickwork, plastered, replacing a wooden belfry stage. The west door has three moulded orders, the outer having a line of dog-tooth ornament between two beaded rolls, and the two outer orders have shafts with moulded capitals, but without bases. On either side of the door a 15th-century cinquefoiled niche has been inserted, and above the door is a single trefoiled light. There is a south external door in the tower, which has lately been reopened. The tower has been a good deal patched with brickwork within, and its south door shows marks of fire. Behind the present altar is a richly carved early 17th-century altar table with baluster legs, and in the nave are a number of wellpreserved panelled pews; one is inscribed W. B. 1638 and another H. B. with the same date. The font is modern, with an elaborate bowl on grey marble shafts.

On the south chancel wall is a mural tablet to Margaret wife of Christopher Hearst of 1647; another on the north wall is to Thomas Dowse and his wife Blanch Covert of 1602, put up by their son, Sir Edmond Dowse, 1625.

The tower contains five bells. The treble was cast by R. Wells of Aldbourne. The second is inscribed, 'pt, it, ct, cast me in 1618,' with an eagle displayed as a stop. The third, of early 18th-century date, is inscribed: 'William Tozier cast this bell, a third to be know full well.' The fifth was cast by Lester & Pack in 1763.

The plate consists of a silver chalice and paten of 1731, a fine pewter flagon of c. 1700, a pewter bowl and a pewter almsplate.

The registers are as follows:—(1) all entries 1639 to 1704; (2) 1704 to 1753 for marriages and 1770 for baptisms and burials; (3) 1754 to 1769 marriages only; (4) 1770 to 1812 for baptisms and burials; (5) 1770 to 1812 marriages only.

Advowson

The living of Broughton at the time of the Domesday Survey was a chapelry annexed to Mottisfont and forming part of the property of Thomas Archbishop of York, (fn. 106) but it subsequently became a rectory, the advowson of which was 'parcel of the prebend of Newthorpe and Wilton . . . and attached to the dignity and office of the treasurer of York Cathedral.' (fn. 107) On the abolition of the office of treasurer in 1547 it was granted with the advowson of Mottisfont to Edward Duke of Somerset, (fn. 108) but it subsequently came into the possession of Robert Reneger, who was seised of it at the time of his death. (fn. 109) From his son John it passed to James Jefferies, who sold it in 1576 to Thomas Dowse the younger, son and heir-apparent of Thomas Dowse the elder. (fn. 110) He died without issue in his father's lifetime, (fn. 111) and after this date the advowson has generally belonged to the lord of the manor. (fn. 112) Mr. W. H. Baring was the patron in 1907.

There are Baptist and Wesleyan chapels and a meeting-house for Plymouth Brethren. A licence 'to use the house of Henry Abbott as an Anabaptist meeting-house' was granted in 1672. (fn. 113)

Charities

The school founded by Thomas Dowse by deed dated 24 April 1601, and further endowed by will of Dr. Croft, 1747, is endowed with the following sums of stock held by the official trustees, arising mainly from sales of real estate, namely, £114 2s. 2d. consols, £946 19s. 4d. India 3½ per Cents, and £306 18s. 1d. India 3 per Cents., also with land and cottages producing together an annual gross income of about £99.

This parish is entitled, under the gift of Henry Smith, to the portion of the rents of an estate at Longstock in this county, amounting to £20 a year or thereabouts, applicable in the distribution of clothing, &c.

The poor also receive £4 a year out of the manor of West Dean, devised by Sir John Evelyn by a codicil to his will, bearing date 13 May 1676; also the dividends of £200 consols left by Mrs. Cook, and of £105 consols known as the Poor's Money (held by the official trustees). Also an annuity of £2 given by John Mersh, and an annuity of £1 out of Russell's Coppice in the parish of East Tytherley. The income amounting to £14 2s. 4d. was in 1906 distributed among 30 poor persons in sums of 5s. to 14s. each.

The church land consists of 1 acre let at £2 a year, which is carried to the churchwardens' accounts.

The Baptist chapel and trust property for the use of this parish, Nether Wallop and Over Wallop is endowed with £1,046 18s. 6d. consols, arising from the gifts of Mr. Browning and others, £451 2s. 7d. consols, the gifts of Henry and William Steele, £43 6s. 5d. consols, the gifts of Thomas Major King and Elizabeth Russell, and £170 consols bequeathed by will of Miss J. Tomkins, proved 1893.

The sums of stock are held by the official trustees, producing an income of £42 15s. a year.