Bampton and Weald: Local government

LOCAL GOVERNMENT.

MANOR COURTS. From 1248 William de Valence, as lord of the manor and hundred of Bampton, claimed return of writs, assize of bread and ale, gallows, pillory, and tumbrel, and pleas of withernam, franchises allegedly held earlier by the counts of Boulogne but challenged by Edward I in 1285. Seventeenth-century lords had waifs, strays, and felons' goods throughout most of the ancient parish. (fn. 1) Courts baron were nominally held every three weeks and views of frankpledge twice a year, in the 14th century and early 16th usually at Hock Day and Michaelmas, (fn. 2) but also at other times. (fn. 3) Following the division of Bampton Earls manor in 1660 courts baron and leet were held jointly by the lords of each moiety; the courts met in the later 17th century in April and in September or October, but by 1789 once a year only, (fn. 4) and though reportedly still held in 1842 they had lapsed by 1848. (fn. 5) A court house on the west side of the market place, apparently a first-storey chamber with rooms underneath and a garden behind which were let to tenants, was mentioned from 1609, (fn. 6) but in 1669 was in disrepair. (fn. 7) Possibly it was the 'parliament house' let to the parish in the 18th century, and in 1821 the building was held by trustees of the National school, (fn. 8) but it may have continued as a court house, and was perhaps the 'court-loft' mentioned as the site of courts leet in 1830. (fn. 9) Courts baron were said in 1842 to meet at the Talbot Inn, (fn. 10) and the court house was demolished in or before 1871 when the tenement was rebuilt. (fn. 11)

Tenants of the manor in Bampton, Weald, and Lew formed separate tithings. Business in the 16th and 17th centuries included enforcement of the assizes of bread and ale, suppression of nuisances, and agricultural affairs, notably scouring of watercourses, and copyholds were still granted in the later 17th century. Officers included a constable and tithingman for each tithing, a field warden for Bampton and another for Weald, two inspectors of carcasses, and in 1500 two aletasters; (fn. 12) the court appointed constables probably until 1842, though from the later 18th century they were increasingly answerable to the vestry. (fn. 13)

In 1270 the dean and chapter of Exeter secured the right to hold annual views of frankpledge for Bampton Deanery manor through William de Valence's bailiff for an annual payment of 3s., which in the 15th century came half from Bampton and Aston, and half from Chimney. (fn. 14) By the 15th century the cathedral's steward held the view, (fn. 15) though the payment to the Bampton court, charged from 1641 on lessees of Bampton Deanery manor, (fn. 16) continued in the 19th century. (fn. 17) In 1708 the duke of Shrewsbury challenged the lessees' right to royalty, allegedly intending to prevent them from holding courts at all; the lessees replied, apparently correctly, that besides holding courts leet and baron and appointing fishers and fowlers they had always taken waifs and strays and enjoyed similar rights within their manor. (fn. 18)

Courts in the 14th, 15th, and early 16th centuries met irregularly two or three times a year, usually in October, when the annual view was held, and in April or May. (fn. 19) From the 17th century they were held jointly by the lessees of each moiety, but appear to have met only sporadically, and views were held sometimes in April. (fn. 20) A court leet was recorded in 1762, but from 1781 courts baron only, which from 1785 dealt solely with copyholds. The last known court was in 1860, and in 1868 surviving copyholds were surrendered out of court. (fn. 21) In the 19th century the courts met usually at the New Inn and occasionally in Bampton Manor House off Broad Street, but earlier venues are unknown. (fn. 22)

By 1396 there were three tithings for tenants in Bampton, Aston, and Chimney, and villein yardlanders in all three townships were required in 1317 to act as reeve if so elected by the court. (fn. 23) From probably 1270 and still in the early 16th century the court elected an aletaster for Bampton, and from the 15th century to the late 18th a constable for Bampton, Aston, and Clanfield. (fn. 24) Presentations in the 15th century and early 16th included failure to scour ditches, disputes over common rights, and fouling of public ways, (fn. 25) and in 1498 and 1503 Stafford's inhabitants were presented for not maintaining a watercourse adjoining the lordship. (fn. 26) In 1588 all disputes involving less than 40s. were reserved for the court on pain of a 40s. fine. (fn. 27)

Courts for Bampton Doilly manor were held by 1279, when they nominally met every three weeks; view of frankpledge was reserved to the Valences and their successors. (fn. 28) Courts were still held for the Goldsborough and possibly for the Meaux moiety in 1596, and lapsed presumably following the break-up of the manor in the early 17th century. (fn. 29) A constable and tithingman of Bampton Doilly were appointed at the hundred court in the 1670s and presumably earlier. (fn. 30)

Osney abbey's tenants in Weald attended the abbot's court at Black Bourton in the 14th century and still in the 16th. (fn. 31)

PARISH GOVERNMENT AND POOR RELIEF. Three wardens for Bampton church were recorded from the 16th century. In the 18th and probably earlier two were appointed by Bampton vestry, one, for Bampton, nominated by the vicar, the other, for Weald, Lew, and Lower Haddon, nominated by the parishioners. The third, for Aston, was presumably appointed separately by Aston's inhabitants. (fn. 32) Their income in the early 17th century may have included rent from parish lands and cottages then let on 21-year leases, (fn. 33) and in the 18th century they received rents from unspecified 'church lands', latterly through trustees; (fn. 34) at inclosure in 1821 they were awarded 10½ a. in Bampton, Weald, and Lew, including the 'poor house' on Weald Lane. (fn. 35) From 1768 to 1772 they refused to account to the vestry and were threatened with prosecution. (fn. 36) Following the division of the parish in 1857, the vestry appointed two churchwardens for Bampton Proper. (fn. 37) Sidesmen were recorded in the early 17th century. (fn. 38)

For poor-law and other civil purposes Bampton, Weald, and Lower Haddon were by the 18th century administered together through Bampton vestry. In the earlier 18th century the vestry seems to have met only sporadically, but by the late 18th and early 19th, as the burden of poor-law administration increased, there were up to 13 or 14 vestries a year, and spring and winter meetings remained frequent after 1834. (fn. 39) Meetings were usually in the vestry room in Bampton church, (fn. 40) judged small and damp in 1792 when it was to be enlarged and provided with a fireplace and better storage for muniments; (fn. 41) occasionally meetings were held in public houses or in the National school or vicarage house. (fn. 42) Though some meetings were poorly attended (fn. 43) minutes were often signed by 15 or more inhabitants including resident gentry and professionals, one or more of the vicars, and leading farmers, and actual attendance was sometimes higher: 55 inhabitants voted in a debate on poor-law administration in 1833. (fn. 44) From the later 18th century ad hoc committees were increasingly appointed to oversee poor relief, to audit accounts and administer charities, in 1832 to allocate clothing and tools for emigrants, and from the 1850s to supervise the town hall; (fn. 45) from 1820, under the Vestries Act of 1819, a select vestry with c. 14-20 members was elected annually to deal with poor relief, though open meetings continued. (fn. 46) Most meetings seem to have been amicable, though in 1715 an inflated doctor's bill prompted abusive exchanges, (fn. 47) and occasionally the vestry was drawn into disputes involving the vicars or their curates. In 1822 ten members dissociated themselves from the impending prosecution of a vicar. (fn. 48)

In the 18th century the vestry nominated four surveyors of highways for Bampton and four for Weald, but only four seem to have been appointed in all, and following the General Highways Act of 1835 it was agreed to appoint one for each township. In the 1840s there was sometimes also a salaried assistant surveyor. (fn. 49) Inhabitants' obligations towards road repair, fixed periodically by the vestry, were then discharged partly in money and partly in carting duties. (fn. 50) Constables were appointed by the manor courts, but overseers and, later, farmers of the poor contributed to their charges from 1773, when three constables were noted, and on some earlier occasions. (fn. 51) In 1829 the vestry recommended 2 men to serve as constables for Bampton and Weald and another 6 to serve as tithingmen; in 1826 it ordered the constable of Weald to repair bridges in the meadows, and in 1833-4 it paid a tithingman's expenses. (fn. 52) Following the Parish Constables Act of 1842 it nominated usually 6 or 8 candidates to the magistrates. (fn. 53) Occasionally it addressed public order issues, in 1761 prosecuting a victualler for keeping a disorderly house, and in 1781 acting against those taking firewood from trees, hedges, and fences. (fn. 54) A salaried watchman was appointed in 1825 and again from 1827, when his duties included patrolling public houses, removing vagrants, preventing disorderly conduct around the church on Sundays, and reporting swearers and graffitors; a beadle, usually an old man acting as assistant, was also appointed and issued with a hat, coat, and staff. Despite later criticism of the watchman's efficiency the crime rate fell, and in 1835 and again in the 1840s two were appointed. (fn. 55) Minor officers included a sexton elected by the vestry, and a parish clerk appointed by the vicars, both offices tenable for life; from 1730 the sexton, until then responsible for collecting his allowance of 4d. per yardland, received a salary from the poor rate, but the parish clerk was still paid partly in Easter offerings and other dues in the 1840s. (fn. 56)

Bampton and Weald (with Lower Haddon) each had a collector or overseer in 1642, appointed by the vestry perhaps then and certainly by the 18th century. (fn. 57) In the 17th century and earlier 18th they were responsible for Yelford, which contributed to the poor rate until c. 1758 but thereafter was administered separately. (fn. 58) In 1765 they were allowed 10s. 6d. for collecting their taxes, and in 1824 tried unsuccessfully to claim the balance of their accounts as salary; a salaried overseer receiving 6 gns. a year from the rate was appointed in 1762 and 1772. (fn. 59) Expenditure on the poor in the earlier 18th century was usually between £100 and £150, and in the later 18th c. £200, reaching £277 in 1770-1. From the 1790s it rose sharply and by 1803 was £1,074 or over 20s. per head of population, significantly above the national and county average. (fn. 60) Capitation rose to over 25s. by 1813 and, despite a fall in the next two years, to over 35s. by 1819. By 1825 it had fallen to c. 17s. (total expenditure £1,309), and in 1829, at c. 15s., was just below the county average, perhaps partly a result of administrative reforms. (fn. 61) Poor rates, 'not to be depended on' in 1789 and 'enormously high' in 1818, (fn. 62) prompted frequent complaints, usually on the grounds that they were unfairly assessed: a distress was levied on refusers in 1769 and frequent reassessments were attempted, including in 1814 when an inclosure commissioner was employed for a fee of 100 gns. raised from the rate. Complaints persisted, and in 1817 and 1819 the vestry again resolved to prosecute defaulters, though successive committees were established to investigate legitimate grievances. (fn. 63) In 1837 the Poor Law Commissioners ordered a new assessment, and in the 1840s, with payments still in arrears, it was decided to rate all resident tradesmen and labourers whether or not they belonged to the parish, partly so that poor inhabitants might be excused. (fn. 64)

A rented workhouse existed by 1718, when it housed only 2 adults and 3 children. (fn. 65) In the 1740s there were about a dozen inmates and in 1769 c. 21; (fn. 66) in 1763 a man and his family were to accept relief of 2s. 6d. a week or enter the workhouse. (fn. 67) The keeper's allowance per inmate, between 1s. 2d. and 1s. 4d. a week during 1759, was supplemented by occasional payments for fuel, medical bills, and in 1756 because of the dearness of provisions; (fn. 68) an inventory of workhouse goods was made in 1753, to be checked every six months. (fn. 69) A proposal in 1768 to build a new workhouse on Rosemary Lane to house and employ 60 or more inmates, the cost to be met from the poor rate, subscription, and from the charitable bequest of Mary Dewe (d. 1764), was evidently abandoned, (fn. 70) though a new workhouse was built or acquired c. 1772 and had accommodation for 30 in 1776. (fn. 71) In 1837 it was described as a house with two cottages and a garden adjoining, and was presumably the 'poor house' (later Lime Tree Cottages) on Weald Lane owned by the churchwardens in 1821, and known locally as Workhouse Yard. (fn. 72) Its relationship to a sacking factory reportedly established with money from Dewe's charity c. 1795, but which failed soon after, is unclear. (fn. 73) In 1793 the keeper was not fulfilling his obligations, (fn. 74) and in 1796 there were only c. 10-14 inmates, though 45, including children, were mentioned in 1803 and 23 in 1813. (fn. 75) Presumably it was the 'poor house' where prayers were said regularly in 1831, but from 1827 it was no longer mentioned in contracts for managing the poor, and in 1834 it was to be put into a proper state to receive them. (fn. 76)

From the 1770s to the early 19th century the poor were usually farmed, at first for between £150 and £200 a year depending on the duties contracted, but by 1806 for £650. (fn. 77) Salaried assistant overseers were appointed instead in 1812, 1817, and sometimes during the 1820s, but in other years farming continued for £1,400 or more. (fn. 78) From 1819 the vestry briefly operated the provisions of Gilbert's Act: the workhouse was refitted for the impotent poor, and a treasurer, visitor, and salaried guardian and governor were appointed. (fn. 79) Debate over management of the poor continued, and in 1829 it was finally decided to appoint an assistant overseer with a fixed salary. (fn. 80)

Regular out relief was received in the earlier 18th century usually by fewer than 20 people including children, though in 1769 fortnightly payments were being made to c. 23 adults (including 12 widows) and c. 6 children. (fn. 81) In 1720-1 the overseers provided four dozen poor badges, which the vestry ruled in 1780 should be worn as required by law. (fn. 82) By 1803 there were 64 adults and nearly 150 children under 14 on regular out relief (c. 20 per cent of the population), and 10 years later over 80 people probably excluding children; (fn. 83) a complex bread scale, dividing paupers into five classes whose varying allowances were related to bread prices, was introduced in 1821. (fn. 84) Relief frequently included clothing, given sometimes to young people entering service or being apprenticed: (fn. 85) between 1673 and 1845 the parish helped to apprentice nearly 100 children to masters inside and outside the parish, some paid for from charitable funds, though not all premiums were met in full and occasionally clothing only was provided. (fn. 86) In 1760 the vestry ruled that poor children should be bound out to farmers and others obliged by law to take them in such order as should be 'most equitable'. (fn. 87) Other regular payments included paupers' rents and funeral expenses, often with provision of ale. (fn. 88) Occasionally relief was given to destitute parishioners living elsewhere (including London), (fn. 89) and in 1826 the vestry authorized a loan to a resident Bampton man so that he could continue his dead father's business. (fn. 90)

Wool cards were occasionally provided in the 18th century, and in the 1730s and later some of those receiving extraordinary payments of 6d. or 1s. may have been roundsmen. (fn. 91) In 1803 those on out relief earned £25, with £15 spent on materials. (fn. 92) In 1741 the vestry agreed that nonsettled labourers should not be employed during winter months, and by 1815, when a similar agreement was made, (fn. 93) employment of labourers was an acute and recurring problem. Various labour-rate schemes between the late 1810s and early 1830s aimed to ensure that ratepayers employed their share in proportion to their assessments, the amount paid out in wages being deducted from their rate; W. H. Chamberlin's Cropredy plan, which allowed for a free labour market, was briefly adopted in 1820, (fn. 94) but more usually ratepayers seem to have been allotted particular labourers. (fn. 95) Standard adult wages in 1818 were fixed at between 6d. and 2s. a day depending on the size of the labourer's family. (fn. 96) The schemes failed repeatedly after some inhabitants refused to employ their quota, and though ratepayers (including tradesmen) who accepted the system were encouraged to employ the remainder, in 1822 there were 80 labourers for whom the overseers could find no work. (fn. 97) In 1818 the surveyors were to employ some old and infirm; from 1826 relief was refused to labourers keeping pigs, dogs, donkeys, or poultry, which was said to breed dishonesty and discourage employment; from 1827 only the able-bodied and 'young lads' were found farm work, others being employed gravel-digging or on the roads; (fn. 98) and in 1833 the vestry proposed halving the number of labourers sent to smaller ratepayers, and distributing them among the remainder. (fn. 99) Public kitchens, where monthly accounts of parish payments to labourers were to be posted and which were presumably supported from rates, were mentioned in 1818, (fn. 100) and emigration was encouraged. (fn. 101)

Medical expenses were paid frequently throughout the 18th century and early 19th, sometimes for parishioners in hospitals or lunatic asylums in London and elsewhere. (fn. 102) In 1793 the overseers were to procure seawater for a patient on a doctor's recommendation. (fn. 103) In 1812 a local apothecary contracted to attend the poor, and from the 1820s contracts with local doctors were common, usually at £40 a year excluding midwifery and more serious cases. (fn. 104) The vacant school house was used during an epidemic of 'contagious fever' in 1769, and provision for smallpox victims was recorded throughout the 18th century; (fn. 105) in 1824 all those potentially chargeable to the parish were vaccinated. (fn. 106)

After 1834 Bampton formed part of Witney union. (fn. 107) The workhouse, at first a district workhouse for surrounding parishes, was sold in 1840 following several applications, and the proceeds were used to offset Bampton's contribution towards the union workhouse. (fn. 108) In the early 20th century a vicar asserted that poor relief in the parish remained utterly inadequate and established a Charity Committee to provide employment, set up soup kitchens, and lobby the Poor Law Guardians. Those abusing the system were blacklisted, though some inhabitants were claimed to be 'actually suffering from starvation'. (fn. 109)

The vestry continued after 1834 to nominate constables and assistant overseers, to appoint surveyors or waywardens, and to deal with rating, removals, and public health; by 1847 it appointed an assessor and collector of taxes and, presumably, the town criers mentioned then and still in 1899. In 1859 the surveyor was to serve notices on those fouling public streets, and in 1884 street cleaning was put out to tender. (fn. 110) By c. 1835 and again from 1867 the vestry operated some provisions of the Lighting and Watching Act of 1833, appointing a board of inspectors which in the 1840s met monthly in the town hall and to whom the watchmen and beadle were answerable; the Act's lighting provisions were briefly adopted in 1840, and in the early 1890s there was a lighting committee. (fn. 111) Vestry meetings continued in 1894 when Bampton became part of Witney rural district, and residual civil functions passed to a parish council, which in 1989 managed street lighting, the cemetery and playing fields, and allotments. In 1974 the parish became part of West Oxfordshire district. (fn. 112)

PUBLIC SERVICES. Street lighting with mineral spirit was introduced by the vestry in 1840, when 12 lamps were planned. The scheme, repeatedly curtailed or suspended because of the cost, was revived c. 1887 still using petroleum spirit, and continued until the early 20th century; (fn. 113) a private attempt in the 1860s to introduce gas lighting failed. (fn. 114) The Bampton, Aston, and District Gas and Water Co., later part of the Mid-Oxfordshire Gas and Water Co., established a gas works south of Aston road c. 1907. Water was supplied from a 125-foot bore-hole and a 40-foot water tower near the gas works. (fn. 115) Witney R.D.C. took over the water supply before 1939, and electricity, supplied by the Wessex Electric Co., was introduced c. 1934; street lighting was by gas from c. 1907 and electricity by 1939. (fn. 116) There was a sewage works on Buckland Road by the mid 1960s. (fn. 117)

The churchwardens paid for repair of a parish fire engine in 1813, (fn. 118) and in 1850 the vestry recommended procuring a new one and erecting three public pumps. The engine was again replaced c. 1880, and a motorised one was acquired c. 1929. (fn. 119) By 1877 it was housed under the arcaded town hall in a lockable engine house, and in 1891 it was managed by trustees; (fn. 120) church bells sounded the alarm until c. 1886 when a new bell, 'hardly more powerful than [a] dinner bell', was erected at the town hall. (fn. 121) By the late 1940s, when responsibility had passed to the county, the garage was too small for a standard engine, (fn. 122) and a new fire station was built c. 1971 on New Road. (fn. 123)

A police constable living in a private house was stationed in Bampton by 1861. A police station with a staff of two was mentioned from the 1890s, and in 1928 a new station was built on the northern edge of the town. (fn. 124)