Great Haseley (Including Little Haseley, Latchford, Rycote)

GREAT HASELEY

Great Haseley lies in the fertile south Oxfordshire vale c.8 km south-west of Thame and 13 km south-east of Oxford. (fn. 1) At over 3,000 a. its parish was the largest in Ewelme hundred, and in the Middle Ages contained separate settlements at Great and Little Haseley, Latchford, Great Rycote, and Little Rycote (Rycote Lane). Most seem to have had their own fields and were usually taxed separately, while Little Haseley, Latchford, and Great Rycote briefly acquired parochial chapels. Nevertheless by the 16th century Latchford and the Rycotes were inclosed and severely shrunken, with population concentrated thereafter chiefly at Great and Little Haseley. For most civil purposes the parish was administered as a whole, though in the 19th century Little Haseley, Latchford, and Rycote remained separate liberties or tithings with their own boundaries. (fn. 2)

The parish has always been predominantly agricultural, with the usual range of rural crafts, trades, and shops. By the late 20th century its desirable stone-built houses and the proximity of the M40 motorway (which cuts through the parish between Latchford and Rycote) were attracting wealthy incomers, however, altering its social character. The oldest and largest domestic buildings were the former manor houses, in particular the medieval Haseley Court (remodelled in the 18th century), and the 16th-century Rycote House, for which the surrounding Rycote park was created in the early 1540s. Great Haseley church is of notable size and quality for a small rural village, perhaps in part reflecting patronage by its high-status (but generally non-resident) medieval lords.

PARISH BOUNDARIES

The ancient parish (Fig. 62) incorporates four separate 11th-century estates, of which one (Little Haseley) was described in a charter of 1002. Their amalgamation into a single parish followed presumably from the foundation of Great Haseley church, which by the early 13th century seems to have established jurisdiction over all the later townships. (fn. 3)

The 19th-century boundaries (fn. 4) partly preserved those of the 11th-century estates, the parish's southern boundary with Chalgrove and Warpsgrove following Haseley brook as in 1002. (fn. 5) The brooks continuation north-eastwards formed the boundary with Pyrton hundred, (fn. 6) while the eastern boundary with Thame and Tetsworth (in Thame hundred) followed former open-field furlongs to Rycote Lane, before turning along a footpath or causeway bordering North Weston. The western boundary with Great Milton (also in Thame hundred) similarly ran through open fields and commons, (fn. 7) returning to Haseley brook via the unidentified Wicga's ditch (mentioned in 1002). (fn. 8) Probably more recent was the northern boundary between Rycote and Albury (in Bullingdon hundred), which followed an irregular and highly artificial course through Rycote park before joining stretches of Rycote Lane and the London road. Possibly that reflected adjustments when Rycote park was created, and in 1817 a perambulation was needed to clarify it. (fn. 9)

The 1002 charter implies that Great and Little Haseley were separated by open-field divisions and streams, (fn. 10) but by the 18th century the township boundary's north-eastern stretch followed a possible former path along the eastern edge of Haseley Court. (fn. 11) A stream separated Great Haseley from Latchford tithing, while Rycotes southern boundary followed the London road. (fn. 12)

In 1881 the ancient parish covered 3,255 a., (fn. 13) and in 1932 it gained 1,094 a. (including the shrunken settlement of North Weston) from Thame, bringing the total to 4,349 a. (1,760 ha.). (fn. 14) The boundaries remained essentially unchanged thereafter. (fn. 15)

LANDSCAPE

The parish lies on the edge of the Gault Clay vale, where it meets the older limestones and sands of the Portland beds. The latter provided a pale local limestone which was formerly much quarried. (fn. 16) The relief is undramatic, rising gently from 58 m. at Rofford (by Haseley brook) to 85 m. at Great Haseley, with its stone-built windmill just beyond. The ground rises further near Lobb Farm (99 m.) and Milton Common (103 m.), falling to 82 m. at Rycote and to 65 m. on the northern boundary, in the Thame valley (fn. 17)

The heavy clay soils were fertile but difficult to work, and streams and springs often made the ground wet and boggy (fn. 18) The 1002 charter mentioned streams, marsh, and an open-field headland on Little Haseley's margins, (fn. 19) while the Anglo-Saxon place name Latchford denotes a ford across a stream flowing through marshy land. (fn. 20) The woodland from which the parish was named was mostly cleared by the later Middle Ages, leaving a largely open landscape which, around the Haseleys, was dominated by large open fields until the 1820s. By contrast Latchford and Rycote were inclosed early as pasture, (fn. 21) and in the 18th century Rycote's parkland was refashioned by Capability Brown, superseding the earlier deer park and formal gardens. (fn. 22) Overhead power-cables between Great and Little Haseley villages stand out clearly in the flat open countryside.

COMMUNICATIONS

Great and Little Haseley and Latchford all lie along what, by the 18th century, were relatively minor west-east and north-south roads. (fn. 23) The parish was, however, well connected by important early routes. The Oxford-London road crosses its northern part just south of Rycote, and maybe of Roman origin: certainly it was in use by the mid 10th century. The intersecting Thame to Milton road (Rycote Lane) borders Rycote park, and was also important from the Middle Ages, defining stretches of parish boundary (fn. 24) Further south, a lost route called the 'broad army-path' in 1002 crossed Little Haseleys northern boundary, probably forming part of a documented salt way linking Droitwich (Worcs.) with the Chilterns, and continuing down Knightsbridge Lane. (fn. 25) Other early routes are indicated by fords mentioned in the 1002 charter. The road from Rofford (in Chalgrove) crossed Haseley brook at Roppanforda, while wearra ford lay on Little Haseleys western edge, near its intersection with Great and Little Milton parishes. (fn. 26)

In the 1630s the parish's roads were in poor repair, (fn. 27) but improvements followed. The London road was turnpiked in 1719 and the Thame road in 1770, (fn. 28) and at Great Haseleys inclosure in 1822 three roads linking Great and Little Haseley with the Thame turnpike were confirmed as 32-ft wide public highways, along with several private roads and footpaths. (fn. 29) All remained in use in the early 21st century, when a dense network of paths in the parish's southern part contrasted with their scarcity around the early-inclosed Rycote. (fn. 30) The M40 motorway was built roughly parallel to the London road in the early 1970s. (fn. 31)

Local carriers existed by the mid 18th century, (fn. 32) and in the mid 19th a short-lived service ran to Thame on Tuesdays (market day). (fn. 33) It was resumed from the 1890s to 1930s. (fn. 34) A service to Oxford, run in the 1850s by the publican and postmaster John Terry, was restarted in the 1880s, and from the mid 1920s operated three days a week. Services declined following competition from motorized buses (running daily from Great Milton), (fn. 35) and though the village suffered a reduction in bus services from the 1970s, (fn. 36) in 2012 there were still regular buses to Oxford and Thame.

Post was delivered through Wheatley by the mid 19th century, and later from Tetsworth, Wallingford, and Oxford. A sub-post office in Great Haseley village was run by John Terry in the 1840S-50S, (fn. 37) and by 1903 had become a money order office and savings bank, although the nearest telegraph office was at Great Milton. (fn. 38) The post office closed in the mid 1970s, when the Little Milton postmistress visited weekly (fn. 39)

SETTLEMENT AND POPULATION

Prehistoric to Anglo-Saxon Settlement

Occasional finds of flint tools suggest a Mesolithic and Neolithic presence, (fn. 40) while a group of pits identified near Latchford imply Bronze-Age settlement and agriculture. (fn. 41) A Bronze-Age axe head was found at Rycote, and ring-ditches (suggesting burials) and a cinerary urn near Great Haseley village. (fn. 42) From then on the parish was probably permanently settled: Iron-Age settlement is known at Rycote and just over the boundary, (fn. 43) and scatters of Roman pottery have also been found. (fn. 44)

Anglo-Saxon settlement is attested by sunken-featured buildings of 5th- to 8th-century date found at Rycote, together with pottery and associated features. (fn. 45) The hamlets place name ('cottage(s) where rye is grown) suggests a subsidiary settlement probably within the Benson royal estate, while the place name Haseley ('hazel wood') implies an area of managed woodland or wood pasture, and possibly embryonic settlement. (fn. 46) Several field names include Anglo-Saxon elements, (fn. 47) and by the mid 11th century (when the area had been carved into four separate estates) there was substantial settlement at Great Haseley, with smaller settlements at Little Haseley and Rycote. (fn. 48)

Population from 1086

In 1086 the parish contained at least 49 tenant households: 33 at Great Haseley, 12 at Little Haseley, and 4 at Rycote. (fn. 49) By 1279 the number had increased to 137, suggesting marked population growth particularly in the hamlets: Great Haseley then had at least 48 households, Little Haseley 24, Rycote 39, and Latchford (which may have been settled relatively recently) 26. (fn. 50) Total population probably exceeded 600, with further expansion in the early 14th century when the number of taxpayers at Rycote rose from 27 (in 1306) to 37. The other settlements saw similar increases. (fn. 51)

Thereafter outbreaks of plague led to population decline. Abandoned cottages were reported on Great Haseley manor in 1359, (fn. 52) and in the parish as a whole poll tax was paid in 1377 by only 239 inhabitants aged over 14. Nonetheless the various settlements remained sizeable, with 71 taxpayers at Great Haseley, 44 at Little Haseley, 34 at Latchford, and 90 at Rycote. (fn. 53) A fall to 196 taxpayers by 1381 may merely reflect evasion, (fn. 54) but by the 1520s there had been a considerable further drop at Latchford and Rycote, exacerbated probably by late medieval inclosure. In 1523 the two settlements had only 5 and 7 taxpayers respectively, with less pronounced contraction at Great Haseley (27 taxpayers) and Little Haseley (25). (fn. 55)

Thereafter baptisms generally outnumbered burials, probably reflecting renewed growth. (fn. 56) In 1662 hearth tax was assessed on 35 houses at Great Haseley and 20 at Little Haseley, while Latchford and Rycote had 10 and 8 houses respectively, implying no further depopulation despite the creation of Rycote park. (fn. 57) In 1676 there were an estimated 269 adults in the parish, (fn. 58) and in 1738 the curate reported 59 houses at Great Haseley, 28 at Little Haseley, 9 at Latchford, and 5 at Rycote. (fn. 59) By 1801 there were 115 houses and a population of 608. (fn. 60)

Growth in the following decades centred on Great Haseley village, where numbers peaked at 577 (in 107 houses) in 1841. Little Haseley's population was 127, with another 32 at Latchford, 22 at Lobb (in Latchford tithing), and 28 at Rycote, a total of 786. Separate figures for the hamlets were last given in 1871, when Great Haseley had 534 inhabitants, Little Haseley 145, Latchford and Lobb 32, and Rycote 34, totalling 745 in 161 households. Thereafter population fell to 486 (in 137 houses) by 1931, rising by 1981 to 575 in 209 houses. In 2011, 511 people occupied 216 houses. (fn. 61)

Medieval and Later Settlement

Settlement from the Middle Ages was predominantly nucleated, in contrast to the more dispersed patterns found on the Chiltern uplands. Great Haseley village may have been deliberately planned along a west-east road, which widens in the middle to create a probable market place; the church and adjacent manor house lie at its eastern end, and roadside cottages occupied regularly shaped plots extending westwards for c.700 m. to the edge of the open fields. (fn. 62) The date of any such replanning is unknown, but may have occurred on the lord's initiative in the 12th or 13th century, perhaps in connection with a market grant of 1228. (fn. 63) The villages western part (around Mill Lane) looks less planned, and perhaps grew up around an area of common pasture. (fn. 64) Around a dozen houses mapped in the 18th century were removed before 1822, including several south of the manor house; by then, however, infilling was under way, and a new row of labourers' cottages (built c.1793) had extended the village eastwards along Latchford Lane. (fn. 65) Further growth occurred in the 20th century, especially on the village's south-western edge. Several council houses were built there alongside speculative private development, although the layout remained relatively compact. (fn. 66) A surviving windmill just north of the village replaced a 14th-century predecessor, (fn. 67) but otherwise there were few isolated dwellings.

Little Haseley (a kilometre to the south) developed where the road to Standhill meets a minor lane to Little Milton. Small, compact, and somewhat haphazardly arranged around a large funnel-shaped green, in 1839 the village comprised three farmhouses, a possible tanners' yard, and c.20 workers' cottages, (fn. 68) while to the east the partly medieval mansion house at Haseley Court occupied its own grounds. (fn. 69) Earlier settlement appears to have been no more extensive, with little evidence for medieval or later shrinkage. (fn. 70) During the 20th century the pattern remained largely unchanged, (fn. 71) although a light industrial estate replaced the possible tannery (fn. 72)

Latchford village was severely shrunken by the early 16th century, (fn. 73) its depopulation probably resulting at least in part from late medieval inclosure. (fn. 74) By the 18th century it had contracted still further to just three farms, well-preserved earthworks along the roadside revealing its former extent. (fn. 75) Similar shrinkage at Great Rycote is reflected in the poor-quality earthworks which survived near Rycote House and chapel in the 20th century, while earthworks and spreads of 13th- to 15th-century pottery mark Little Rycotes site V2 mile to the south-west. (fn. 76)

Jointers, Lobb, and Rycotelane Farms were built in areas of old inclosure before the mid 18th century (fn. 77) while Peggs Farm pre-dated Great Haseleys inclosure in 1822. (fn. 78) Lobbersdown Farm on Rycote Lane dates from 1922. (fn. 79)

THE BUILT CHARACTER

The parish is distinguished by a significant number of good-quality stone-built houses of mostly 17th- and 18th-century date, reflecting widespread availability of building stone. (fn. 80) Several earlier examples nevertheless retain evidence of timber-framing (mostly in elm), which was probably common until c.1600. (fn. 81) Part-medieval buildings discussed below include the church and former rectory house, Haseley Court, and Rycote House and chapel, (fn. 82) while a surviving aisled stone barn at Church Farm (Fig. 69) was erected for the manorial demesne in 1313, originally comprising ten bays. Its eastern part was rebuilt c.1495–6 and some western bays were removed in 1811, when the surviving 14th-century trusses were reinforced with additional arcade posts. (fn. 83) The Crown House on Great Haseleys south-eastern edge includes fragments of a building of c.1450, substantially rebuilt c.1610 and subsequently used as an inn. Surviving roof timbers imply a medieval galleried structure of up to 13 bays, either unheated or with chimneys, although if so its function is unknown. (fn. 84)

Amongst smaller houses, Crucks in Great Haseley is a two-bayed cruck-framed cottage of c.1550, built initially with a hall, but apparently possessing a chimney from the outset. Its framing (like that of several other houses) was subsequently infilled with limestone rubble and brick, and its fireplace retains a bread oven. (fn. 85) Crucks survive also at John Hampden Cottage (Little Haseley). (fn. 86) Houses of similar or smaller size remained common in the 1660s, when almost three quarters across the parish were taxed on only one or two hearths. (fn. 87) An example is Walnut Tree Cottage on Great Haseleys western edge, in origin a single-cell cottage extended possibly by incorporation of an outshut. (fn. 88)

Thereafter most houses in the Haseleys seem to have been substantially rebuilt or remodelled. Most are small one- or two-storeyed cottages of limestone rubble, roofed in thatch or tile, and often featuring brick dressings. Fairly typical is No. 13 Little Haseley, its off-centre doorway (now enclosed within a 20th-century porch) flanked by irregularly spaced two- and three-light casements set in openings with brick quoins and arches. Large stone and brick chimney stacks project from both gable walls, to which weatherboarded outshuts have been added. (fn. 89) Many other houses have been similarly extended or improved, although several retain a generally unaltered appearance. (fn. 90)

Larger houses are especially marked in Great Haseley village, where the three-storeyed Church Farm House was built probably in the early 18th century for St Georges Chapel, Windsor, or one of its lessees, possibly a prominent tenant farmer. (fn. 91) Double-pile with a symmetrical front, it features a central porch with Doric columns, flanked at ground and first floors by tripartite sashes. Rendered brick bands separate the storeys, and the second floor is lit by five small two-light casements. Sundial House has a two-storeyed symmetrical front conspicuous for its Baroque style, featuring giant pilasters and a moulded stone cornice beneath a plain parapet, while its main rooms retain some 18th-century features. (fn. 92)

In the 20th century the survival of so many 17th-and 18th-century houses lent the villages an 'old-world charm' that was much admired, (fn. 93) with most cottages remaining attached to Great Haseley manor until the 1950s. (fn. 94) Nevertheless new building after the Second World War introduced concrete, brick, and reconstituted stone, which some considered unsuitable partly because of how they were likely to weather. (fn. 95) From the 1960s the parish council generally approved housing developments conforming 'to the village character', raising the number of dwellings from 162 in 1951 to 210 in 2001. (fn. 96) Conservation areas were created in 1984. (fn. 97)

MANORS

In 1086 the parish's four manors were assessed at 30 hides and a yardland. The largest was the 16-hide Great Haseley manor, which was held by high-status secular lords (including members of the royal family) until 1478 when it was granted to St George's Chapel, Windsor. A separate lordship at Latchford was carved from the Great Haseley estate in the 13th century, remaining distinct until the Boulton family recombined the two in 1880. The smaller Little Haseley manor (9 hides in 1086) formed a separate estate by 1002, and in 1391 was bought by the Barentins of Chalgrove, who made it their principal seat. That too came into common ownership with Latchford and Great Haseley during the 19th century, and in 1910 the Boultons' combined estate in the parish exceeded 1,500 acres. (fn. 98)

The 4-hide Great Rycote manor belonged to local knightly families throughout the Middle Ages, and in 1539 was acquired by the prominent royal servant Sir John Williams. He created Rycote park, and was succeeded by the Norrises, barons of Rycote, and the Berties, earls of Abingdon. The tiny Little Rycote manor (1% hides in 1086) was merged with Great Rycote in 1540.

GREAT HASELEY MANOR

In 1066 Great Haseley was held by Edward the Confessor's wife Queen Edith (d. 1075), (fn. 99) presumably as part of the Benson royal estate. (fn. 100) Before 1086 it passed to the Norman baron Miles Crispin (d. 1107), becoming part of the honor of Wallingford; (fn. 101) Crispin apparently enfeoffed his steward Gilbert Pipard, and the manor remained in the Pipard family throughout the 12th and 13th centuries. (fn. 102) In 1300 it accounted for 2 of the 6 knights fees which Ralph Pipard, 1st Lord Pipard, held of the honor. (fn. 103)

In 1301 Ralph sold Great Haseley to Hugh Despenser the elder, (fn. 104) after whose execution in 1326 it was briefly assigned to Edward ll's wife Isabella. (fn. 105) In 1327 it was granted to Edward Ill's uncle Thomas of Brotherton, (fn. 106) but in 1332 returned to the king, who granted it to Thomas's nephew William de Bohun (d. 1360), later earl of Northampton. (fn. 107) William's son Humphrey (d. 1373) was succeeded by two young daughters, (fn. 108) of whom the eldest (Eleanor) married Edward Ill's son Thomas of Woodstock; he obtained possession in 1374, (fn. 109) and in 1380 the couple retained the manor in a partition of the Bohun estates. (fn. 110) Thomas died in 1397 after being charged with treason, but Eleanor held the manor until her death in 1399. (fn. 111) In 1400 it was assigned to her and Thomas's daughter Anne (d. 1438), (fn. 112) who married Edmund (d. 1403), earl of Stafford. (fn. 113)

In 1421 the Bohun estates were repartitioned, Great Haseley passing to Henry V as heir of Humphrey's younger daughter Mary, and becoming annexed to the duchy of Lancaster. (fn. 114) After Henry's death in 1422 it was assigned to his widow Catherine (d. 1437), and in 1444 to Margaret of Anjou. In 1467 Edward IV assigned it to his wife Elizabeth Woodville. (fn. 115)

Elizabeth surrendered Great Haseley to the king the following year, (fn. 116) but in 1478 (with his authorization) granted it to the dean and canons of St George's Chapel, Windsor. (fn. 117) They retained it until their estates were surrendered to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in 1867. (fn. 118) From the 17th century the manor was often leased to owners of neighbouring Latchford, (fn. 119) and in 1880 (when it covered c.600 a.) it was bought by the lessee M.P.W. Boulton (d. 1894) of Great Tew, (fn. 120) who also owned Latchford and Little Haseley. Boulton's son M.E. Boulton died unmarried in 1914 and left the combined manors to his cousin A.J. Muirhead (d. 1939), (fn. 121) whose sister sold the bulk of the estate (2,760 a.) to Major Godfrey Miller Mundy of Andover (Hants.) in 1949. (fn. 122) Thereafter the estate was broken up. (fn. 123)

Great Haseley Manor House

The present house's position next to the church suggests that it occupies a medieval site, the focus by the 13th century of a substantial demesne farm. The nearby 14th-century barn (Fig. 69, now attached to Church Farm) formed part of the manorial complex, and was repaired by the dean and canons of Windsor in the later Middle Ages. (fn. 124) The house itself (Fig. 66) was rebuilt on an H-plan in the late 17th century, (fn. 125) probably for one of the Lenthalls as tenants of the dean and canons; (fn. 126) a surviving strapwork staircase is slightly earlier, but could have been imported. The irregular 7-bay front is of coursed limestone rubble with ashlar dressings, its central doorway pedimented and flanked by pilasters, while the cornice above breaks into another open pediment. The attics were originally lit by three dormers to the central block and one in each of the wings, although the three survivals (which feature elaborate triangular pediments and finials) seem to be 19th-century insertions. (fn. 127) The west wing, remodelled in a more austere style in the 18th century, has a plain parapet and retains some high-quality marble fireplaces, while broadly contemporary work included remodelling of the main staircase and insertion of a new west service stair. Probably all of that work was for the tenant Thomas Blackall (d. 1786), (fn. 128) perhaps as part of an abortive remodelling of the whole facade. A two-storeyed extension on the west was added by the Boultons in the 1880S-90S but removed in the mid 20th century, (fn. 129) while a major restoration in the early 21st century partly reversed some more recent internal changes. (fn. 130) Former outbuildings include an 18th-century stable block in similar style to the house, while the grounds are enclosed by limestone rubble walls with ashlar piers and ball finials. (fn. 131)

LORDSHIP OF LATCHFORD

A sub-lordship in Latchford was held from Great Haseley manor by 1279, when it was reckoned at ⅓ knights fee and included demesne and numerous free tenancies. (fn. 132) The 16th-century antiquary John Leland claimed that it was created by one of the Pipard lords of Great Haseley, to endow a landless younger son who had been knighted after fighting the Scots; (fn. 133) if so the grantor may have been Henry Pipard, whose grandson Alexander held the fee from Roger Pipard (the intermediary lord) 'by ancient conquest' in 1279. (fn. 134) By 1397 the estate was reckoned at ½ knight's fee, and in 1496 (when described as a manor) at ¼ knights fee. (fn. 135) Probable later holders included Henry (fl. 1306), (fn. 136) William (fl. 1374–1403), (fn. 137) and Richard Pipard (fl. 1407–28), (fn. 138) whose heiress Jane married John Badby. (fn. 139)

The Badbys' daughter Katharine married William Lenthall (d. 1496) of Herefordshire, (fn. 140) who settled at Latchford (fn. 141) and was succeeded by his son Thomas (d. 1550), grandson William (d. 1587), and by that Williams grandson Edmund, who inherited while still a minor. (fn. 142) Edmund died in 1643 leaving a widow but no children, and the manor passed to his cousin Sir John Lenthall (d. 1669), formerly of Bletchingdon. (fn. 143) John (buried at Great Haseley) (fn. 144) was succeeded by his grandson William, who died without heirs in 1702 having mortgaged Latchford to Sir John Cutler (d. 1693). (fn. 145)

Under the mortgage arrangements Latchford passed to Cutlers son-in-law Charles Robartes (d. 1723), earl of Radnor, who in 1706 sold it to George Blackall (d. 1709). Blackall belonged to a local family which acquired extensive estates in the Haseley area, and at his death owned land in several counties. His son Thomas succeeded while still a minor and died in 1786, leaving his estate to trustees; (fn. 146) thereafter Latchford seems to have passed with the neighbouring Great Milton estate to John Blackall (d. 1790), his son John (d. 1803), and grandson John (d. 1829), who bought Little Haseley manor. Following the youngest Johns death the combined estates passed to his cousin Walter Long of Preshaw (Hants.), who in 1847 sold Latchford and several other local estates to M.P.W. Boulton (d. 1894) of Great Tew. (fn. 147) Boulton added Great Haseley manor in 1880, and thereafter the estates descended together. (fn. 148) Separate freeholds in Latchford totalled c.684 a. in 1910, when the main owners (Boulton excepted) were the earl of Macclesfield, Boulters Charity Trust, and Elizabeth Lewin. (fn. 149)

Manor House (Latchford House)

The chief house for the estate appears to have been Latchford House, which was built or rebuilt in the 16th century presumably for the Lenthalls. Probably this was the house in Latchford taxed on seven hearths in 1665, although if so it was then occupied by Thomas Harding, (fn. 150) perhaps because the Lenthalls had moved to Great Haseley (fn. 151)

The houses earliest (16th-century) part comprises a two-bay, partly timber-framed range with brick and plaster infill, which includes a cross-passage doorway with a four-centred wooden head and recessed spandrels, a small three-light oak-mullioned window, and, at the rear, remains of a jetty. The clasped-purlin roof has curved windbraces. An abutting two-storey range was added in the early 17th century, presumably replacing an earlier range; built of limestone rubble with ashlar quoins, it retains a small ovolo-moulded casement at the front. Both ranges share a large central stack, with three diagonal brick shafts built on the ridge of the connecting roof. Further one-storey ranges were added in the 18th and 19th centuries, when some of the windows were replaced with sashes. The interior retains a 17th-century Tudor-arched fireplace and some 17th-century panelling. (fn. 152)

LITTLE HASELEY MANOR

In 1002 Æthelred II gave his minister Godwin an estate roughly conterminous with Little Haseley township, (fn. 153) which until then belonged presumably to the Benson royal estate. (fn. 154) By 1086 it was held by William Is half brother Odo of Bayeux, (fn. 155) whose tenant Hervey has been identified as Hervey de Campeaux: (fn. 156) Hervey was also the tenant of Ilbert de Lacys manor of Skelbrooke near Pontefract (Yorks.), which helps explain Little Haseleys subsequent inclusion in the honor of Pontefract. (fn. 157) Overlordship remained in the Lacy family until 1311, when it passed through marriage to Thomas (d. 1322), earl of Lancaster. (fn. 158) In 1398 it belonged to the earl of March, and was last recorded on the 5th earls death in 1425. (fn. 159)

Tenancy of Little Haseley manor descended to Herveys Yorkshire successors, passing by marriage to Oliver of Skelbrooke in the mid 12th century (fn. 160) By 1205 all or part was held by Olivers daughter Olive and her husband William de Bruges, who were involved in litigation with neighbouring lords and tenants; (fn. 161) the manor remained in the Skelbrooke family, however, passing to William of Skelbrooke (fl. c.1220–44), (fn. 162) Oliver (fl. 1252–77), (fn. 163) William (fl. 1279–1311), (fn. 164) and possibly Alexander (fl. 1317–22). (fn. 165) John of Skelbrooke was lord by 1322–3, (fn. 166) and William of Skelbrooke in 1330. (fn. 167) Probably in the mid 1340s the manor was divided amongst three of John's descendants, Adam de Louches receiving half, while the rest went to John and Florence Paynter and John and Mariot Druval, who granted Adam a further share in 1348. (fn. 168) In 1349, however, the whole manor was bought by Sir Roger de Cotesford, (fn. 169) a future sheriff and knight of the shire who acquired other Oxfordshire estates, and who was succeeded by Sir Thomas de Cotesford in 1375. (fn. 170)

In 1391 Little Haseley was bought by the wealthy London goldsmith Drew Barentin and his brother Thomas, lord of neighbouring Chalgrove. After Drew died childless in 1415 the manor passed to the Chalgrove Barentins, who by the mid 15th century were making Little Haseley their principal seat. (fn. 171) John Barentins widow Elizabeth retained custody during the minority of their son John (d. 1485), who sold Chalgrove, and whose son William came of age in 1502. (fn. 172) He served as MP and died in 1549, to be succeeded first by his son Francis (d. 1559) (fn. 173) and later by Francis's sister Mary (d. 1581), the wife of Anthony Huddleston. (fn. 174)

The manor passed thereafter to the Huddlestons' son Richard and grandson Ferdinando, who was living at Haseley Court in 1665. (fn. 175) In 1681 the estate was mortgaged to Sir John Cutler, and in 1703 it was sold to Cutlers nephew Edmund Boulter (d. 1709), succeeded by his own nephew Edmund and, in 1737, by the younger Edmunds daughter Elizabeth, on her marriage to John Woolfe (d. 1764). (fn. 176) Following their son Charles's death in 1768 the manor was bought first by Andrew Foley (d. 1817), and c.1819 by John Blackall (d. 1829) of Latchford. (fn. 177) Thereafter it descended with Latchford and (later) Great Haseley. Haseley Court was separately sold in 1955 to the interior designer Nancy Lancaster (d. 1994), (fn. 178) who in 1971 sold it to the 18th Viscount Hereford. He sold it with 85 a. in 1981 to Desmond and Fiona Heyward, the owners in 2015. (fn. 179)

Manor House (Haseley Court)

Haseley Court, on the village's eastern edge, contains late 14th- and 15th-century fragments from the Barentins' house, and presumably occupies the site of earlier manorial buildings. (fn. 180) Later it was occupied at least occasionally by the Huddlestons, Boulters, Woolfes, Foleys, and Blackalls. (fn. 181) In the 16th century it was 'a right fair mansion place', (fn. 182) and following some abortive work by the Huddlestons a new main classical range was built by the Boulters c.1708–10 and extended by the Woolfes c.1754. (fn. 183) From 1847 the house was leased to the Scottish Muirhead family, who inherited the combined Haseley estates in 1914. (fn. 184)

Part of the medieval house survives in a stone-built, thick-walled and two-storeyed wing running north-eastwards, which possibly contained an upper hall. Visible features (some possibly in situ) include two large stepped buttresses, a two-centred arched doorway, and some high-quality 14th- and 15th-century windows, while stone walling beyond (now enclosing a garden) contains former window openings and another two-centred doorway. Some ostensibly medieval features may, however, reflect a gothic-style remodelling in the 18th century, when an embattled parapet was added with a decorative pediment and quatrefoils beneath. A converted 15th-century barn with slit windows and original buttresses survives a little way west of the house. (fn. 185)

The three-storeyed 18th-century range (presumably replacing earlier buildings) presents an imposing symmetrical facade, built of squared coursed limestone with ashlar dressings and a tiled roof. The four outermost bays (added in 1754) break slightly forward, while the three central bays are surmounted by a triangular pediment over the central doorway. The entrance hall, with its chequer-board flags, is dominated by a stone fireplace of c.1710 attributed to William Townesend of Oxford, with delicate Rococo details below a Baroque overmantel and broken pediment. (fn. 186) Originally the hall may have opened to the main staircase, since its present back wall appears to be an insertion. A parlour and dining-room lie to either side, while at the rear is a small room in Palladian style, lit by a Venetian window. The 1754 additions introduced decorative elements inspired by James Wyatt, William Kent, and (later) Robert Adam, while a gothicized north-west wing with a stepped gable and circular attic window was added either around the same time or over the following decades. (fn. 187) Further infill on the north-west dates probably from the early 19th century, copying the gothic fenestration. Extensive renovations by Nancy Lancaster in the 1950S-60S included trompe l'oeil decoration of the medieval ranges long upper room by John Fowler (of Colefax and Fowler), and removal of a 19th-century two-storeyed battlemented stair tower in the angle between the two main ranges. (fn. 188)

In the 1540s Leland reported 'marvellous fair walks' of topiary work (topiarii operis) and 'orchards and pools', (fn. 189) and in the 19th century a newly-planted topiary garden lay south of the house. Two small pavilion-like buildings to the north-west were added in the 18th century as a laundry and brewhouse, closing off part of the north-west courtyard. A third was added by Nancy Lancaster, (fn. 190) who also created new gardens. (fn. 191)

GREAT RYCOTE MANOR

In 1086 the Norman tenant-in-chief Hugh de Bolbec held 4 hides at Rycote along with numerous estates elsewhere. (fn. 192) In the 12th century the manor passed to Walchelin Visdelou, whose successor Humphrey Visdelou held it until c.1176; (fn. 193) thereafter the Crown retained it until c.1190, (fn. 194) when Prince John granted it to Hugh de Malaunay with Chalgrove. (fn. 195) By the later 13th century the manor was generally known as Great (or Magna) Rycote, distinguishing it from the smaller Little Rycote. (fn. 196)

In 1200 Hugh sold the estate as a knight's fee to Fulk of Rycote, probably Matilda Visdelou's husband. (fn. 197) He died before 1212, when Alexander son of Richard (probably Fulk's brother) held Rycote from the honor of Wallingford. (fn. 198) Their successor Fulk (II) of Rycote was mentioned in the 1220s and died by 1236, (fn. 199) to be followed during the mid 13th century by Fulk (III), probably his son. (fn. 200) Sir Fulk (IV) served as sheriff of Oxfordshire and Berkshire from 1262 to 1264, (fn. 201) and lived until the mid 1280s; (fn. 202) his successor, Sir Fulk (V), died in 1302, leaving as heir his 7-year old son Fulk (VI). Born in 1295, that Fulk was the last of the family to bear the traditional Christian name, and reached his majority in 1317. (fn. 203) On his death in 1361 he was succeeded by his son John of Rycote, still living in 1391. (fn. 204)

John's successor was probably Nicholas of Rycote, who outlived his daughter and heir Joan and made a lifetime grant of the manor to his son-in-law Nicholas Englefield (d. 1415). (fn. 205) Before 1428 the Englefields' daughter Sibyl married Richard Quatremain of North Weston, (fn. 206) who acquired extensive family estates through the deaths of his elder brothers, and served as sheriff and MP for Oxfordshire. Until his death in 1477 he held Rycote by right of his wife, (fn. 207) and on Sibyl's death in 1483 the manor passed to her kinsman Richard Fowler (d. 1502). (fn. 208) Like his predecessors Fowler lived at Rycote, where he was succeeded by his son Richard. (fn. 209)

According to Leland, the younger Richard Fowler sold reversion of the manor to Sir John Heron (d. 1522), treasurer of the royal chamber. Herons son and successor Giles married a daughter of Thomas More, (fn. 210) and in 1539 sold Rycote to the prominent royal servant and administrator Sir John Williams (d. 1559), master of the king's jewels. The purchase was confirmed in 1540 by a special clause in Herons subsequent act of attainder. (fn. 211) Williams was created Baron Williams of Thame in 1554 and died in 1559, leaving as coheirs two daughters by his first marriage. Rycote was apportioned to the younger daughter Margery (d. 1599), wife of the courtier and diplomat Henry Norris (d. 1601), who was created Baron Norris of Rycote in 1572. (fn. 212)

Henrys heir was his grandson Francis, created Viscount Thame and earl of Berkshire in 1621. Following a scandal he committed suicide at Rycote the following year, and was succeeded by his daughter Elizabeth, Baroness Norris. (fn. 213) She married Edward Wray, groom of the bedchamber to James I, and left a daughter, Bridget (d. 1657), who married (as her second husband) Montague Bertie (d. 1666), 2nd earl of Lindsey (fn. 214) Their son James (Lord Norris by right of his mother) was created earl of Abingdon in 1682 and died in 1699, leaving his title and estates to his son Montague (d. 1743). Thereafter Rycote descended with the earldom until the early 20th century, passing to Montagues nephew Willoughby Bertie (d. 1760) and through the direct male line to Willoughby (d. 1799), Montague (d. 1854), Montague (d. 1884), and Montague (d. 1928), the 7th earl. (fn. 215)

In 1911 the earl sold Rycote to Alfred St George Hamersley (d. 1929), a businessman and MP, and in 1935 the estate was bought by Cecil Michaelis (d. 1997) of South Africa, who became a successful artist. His family sold it in 2000 to Bernard Taylor, a merchant banker, who with his wife Sarah and son Henry much improved the house and adjacent land. (fn. 216)

Rycote House

Rycote's lords were mostly resident, and the site of the existing Rycote House has been continuously occupied since the Middle Ages. The medieval house was rebuilt in brick in the 16th century by either Sir John Heron or (more likely) Sir John Williams, but was gutted by fire in 1745. Though subsequently restored and remodelled it was largely demolished in 1807 to meet the 5th earl of Abingdon's debts, leaving detached stables and offices and a fragment of a corner turret with some attached walling. The present house occupies the remodelled stable and offices block. (fn. 217) The other chief remnant is the free-standing chapel south-east of the house, established by the Quatremains c.1449, and dominated externally by its battlemented four-stage tower. (fn. 218) The buildings quality suggests that the Quatremains' house was equally lavish, and 14th-century carved capitals and mouldings have been found on the site. (fn. 219)

The 16th-century house was illustrated c.1680 and 1707, (fn. 220) showing that it had a double courtyard plan with extensive outbuildings to the west. The main part lay within a (presumably medieval) moat, surrounded by formal gardens. The five-bay entrance front followed the emerging pattern of grand Tudor mansions, with its central twin-towered gatehouse and symmetrical arrangement of stepped gables, battlements, and polygonal corner turrets with cupolas. The whole (including the stable and offices block) was executed in brick with diaper patterning, offset with stone dressings, and in the 1660s it was assessed on 41 hearths, making it one of the largest houses in the county (fn. 221) Renovations were made in preparation for royal visits in the later 16th century, (fn. 222) and refitting of the chapel and a reset doorcase of c.1700 suggest internal 17th-century remodelling. Nevertheless the consistency of the overall design implies that the house remained fundamentally unaltered. Archaeology has revealed both Tudor and medieval foundations, including those of the bridge over the moat, the main entrance, and one of the turrets. (fn. 223)

Following the fire of 1745 (in which the 3rd earls 10-year-old heir died) the house was substantially remodelled: work was under way by 1747 and continued into the late 1760s, when the 4th earl spent over £5,000 'amending, improving, and furnishing' the mansion. (fn. 224) By c.1770 the main façade had been transformed and extended to seven bays, with a shaped pediment over the central doorway and sash windows replacing former casements. (fn. 225) Furnishings from 54 rooms were auctioned in 1779–80 to meet the earl's debts, and marble chimney pieces were sold in 1807 prior to demolition. (fn. 226)

During the 19th century the surviving buildings were occupied by tenant farmers. (fn. 227) The stable and offices block was converted to domestic use for Alfred St George Hamersley in 1911–12, to designs by George Jack, while H.S. Goodhart-Rendel oversaw further alterations in the late 1930s. A major remodelling for the Taylors was carried out by Nicholas Thompson, chairman of the conservation practice Donald Insall Associates, who created a new three-bay entrance front facing into a courtyard. The gardens and grounds were also restored, with Elizabeth Banks as advisor. (fn. 228)

The surrounding 200-a. deer park was created by Sir John Williams in the early 1540s, under a royal licence procured in 1539. (fn. 229) It was re-landscaped in the early 1770s following the house's rebuilding for the 4th earl, who spent over £2,400 employing Capability Brown to create a 13-a. ornamental lake (see frontispiece). (fn. 230)

LITTLE RYCOTE MANOR

In 1086 Geoffrey de Mandeville held a hide and a yardland at Rycote, occupied under him by a Norman tenant. (fn. 231) The overlordship passed presumably to Mandeville's heirs (earls of Essex from 1140), (fn. 232) but by the 1230s the manor was held of the earldom of Oxford, (fn. 233) and in 1279 it was reckoned at ½ knight's fee. (fn. 234)

Geoffrey's tenant in 1086 was Sewel of Oseville, whose family was associated with the Mandevilles elsewhere. A later Sewel of Oseville was mentioned in the mid 12th century, and a namesake c.1200, while another Sewel was a minor in 1220. (fn. 235) By 1242–3 the lord was probably Gilbert of Stanford, whose grandson Adam held the manor in 1279. (fn. 236) The later descent is obscure. In 1316 the lord was probably Hugh Spencer, and in 1346 John Spencer, (fn. 237) but by 1428 Little Rycote was held as a knight's fee by Richard Quatremain (d. 1477), the lord of Great Rycote, whose widow Sibyl (d. 1483) retained it until her death. (fn. 238) Land sometimes described as a manor passed with Albury from Agnes Brown (or Brome) to Robert Brown (d. 1485), who was succeeded by his son Christopher and grandson John. (fn. 239) In 1540, however, Sir John Williams secured the title to both Rycotes, and thereafter the two manors descended together. (fn. 240)

ECONOMIC HISTORY

From the Middle Ages to the late 20th century Great Haseley remained a largely agricultural parish. Arable farming was especially prominent around the villages of Great and Little Haseley, whose open fields remained uninclosed until the 1820s. Latchford and Rycote were inclosed for pasture in the late 15th or early 16th century, however, and there sheep grazing gradually gave way to stock-breeding and dairying. Wood management was relatively unimportant throughout, despite the creation of Rycote park in the 1540s. By the 19th century there were more than a dozen farms, and until the 20th century the villages supported the usual range of crafts and trades. A locally significant quarrying industry existed probably from the Middle Ages, and a small ironworks was established in the 1870s, while windmills existed from the 14th century.

THE AGRICULTURAL LANDSCAPE (FIG. 62)

Open fields probably covered much of the parish by 1086, when it contained 32 ploughlands. (fn. 241) A headland in Little Haseley was mentioned in 1002, (fn. 242) and marked indentations in the parish boundary probably preserve the outline of open-field furlongs. Nevertheless much of Great Rycote was apparently uncultivated in the 1080s, suggesting that the long-standing distinction between the Haseleys' largely arable landscape and a more pastoral one further north was already apparent. Open-field farming may have reached its greatest extent c.1300, when Rycote, too, supported a large arable demesne, and manorial tenants owed extensive harvest services. (fn. 243) Three Little Haseley fields were mentioned in 1279, and in 1360 there was a two-field system at Great Haseley (fn. 244)

Streams provided extensive meadow, (fn. 245) and the marshy ground from which Latchford was named may have been used as pasture before the emergence of a separate settlement there. (fn. 246) Possibly that was also the location of Great Haseleys 11th-century woodland, whose apparent clearance by the later Middle Ages left the parish largely unwooded. (fn. 247) Grants of free warren (allowing limited hunting of small game) were made to local lords in the 13th and 14th centuries, (fn. 248) but there were no medieval parks.

Latchford's and Rycotes late medieval inclosure and the creation of Rycote park marked a major change of land use, which persisted there until the resumption of large-scale arable farming in the late 20th century (fn. 249) Pasture in those areas was coarse and boggy, but was profitably grazed by sheep and later by dairy cattle. (fn. 250) More limited early inclosure took place at Great Haseley, especially along the streams, which had to be cut to prevent flooding. (fn. 251) Following parliamentary inclosure in 1820–2 the Haseleys' arable was sown on a four-course rotation, but in the 1830s the loamy soils were still considered mediocre, while the meadow and pasture were coarse and liable to waterlogging. (fn. 252)

Woodland remained scarce, confined to Rycote Park and the area around Milton Common and Haseley Court. Only 86 a. (under 3 per cent of the total) were reported in 1801, (fn. 253) and though Rycote Park provided underwood for sale it was 'not very thick or productive'. (fn. 254) Coverts for hunting and shooting (fn. 255) were planted piecemeal during the 19th and 20th centuries, but with little impact on the overall acreage. (fn. 256)

MEDIEVAL TENANT AND DEMESNE FARMING

In 1086 the large and profitable manor of Great Haseley contained land for 18 ploughteams, woodland 2 furlongs square, and 60 a. of meadow, and yielded £15 including tenants' rents. Little Haseley manor (with land for 9 ploughteams and 30 a. of meadow) yielded £6, but had only 8 ploughs in use. The combined Rycote manors had only 5 ploughteams and a recorded 5 a. of meadow, and were worth little: Little Rycote yielded 55., while Great Rycote (which had reportedly been worth £4 a year in 1066) yielded nothing, apparently because the land was uncultivated. Nevertheless the figures suggest extensive arable farming in the parish as a whole, contributing to the total valuation of £26 55. before the Norman Conquest and £21 55. in 1086. Both of the Haseley manors included sizeable demesne farms run partly by servi, and between them had 39 tenants comprising 23 villani and 16 bordars. Sewel of Osevilles tiny Little Rycote manor was farmed directly with one villanus. (fn. 257)

Intensive arable-based mixed farming continued on the demesnes in the 13th century. In 1279 Great Haseleys demesne totalled four hides (c.400 a.), and ten villeins owed ploughing, harrowing, weeding, reaping, carrying, and mowing services besides their cash rents. Similar services were performed by the cottars and free tenants, and by tenants of the parish's other manors. (fn. 258) Great Rycote's demesne arable (160 a.) was worth the fairly typical sum of 3d. an acre in 1302, when labour services other than reaping seem to have been commuted to cash rents. Pastoral farming is suggested by the tenant surnames Cowherd, Hogshaw, and Shepherd, (fn. 259) and horses, oxen, cows, and pigs (but apparently no sheep) were mentioned at Little Haseley in 1347–8. (fn. 260)

Large barns built on Great Haseleys demesne in the 13th and early 14th centuries suggest long-term investment. One built in 1244 incorporated six oaks from Brill (Bucks.), contributed by the king, (fn. 261) and a surviving barn built in 1313 originally measured 125 ft by 30 ft (38 m. by 9 m.). (fn. 262) Tenants were obliged to cart produce from the fields to the barns, and in some cases to market, (fn. 263) while in 1359 hired carters carried grain to Henley, from where it was shipped to London by boat. (fn. 264) A weekly market and annual fair were licensed at Great Haseley in 1228, but failed to prosper, probably reflecting competition from neighbouring Thame. (fn. 265)

The Black Death appears to have had little immediate impact on Haseleys farming practices. An agreement of 1350 (concerning Little Haseley manor) granted an annual allowance of crops and stock, including wheat, maslin, malt, oats, hay, cows, and pigs, (fn. 266) while at Great Haseley a reeve was employed in 1360 to manage 200 a. of demesne arable (worth 4d. an acre when sown), pasture for 12 oxen and 200 sheep, and 16 a. of meadow worth is. an acre. (fn. 267) Receipts of over £107 in 1359 included c.£34 from sale of wheat in London, while other grain was sold in Henley, Dorchester, and Watlington. Tenants' labour services were still being exacted, while crops and stock were transported between the lord's various manors. (fn. 268)

During the 15th century the parish's taxable wealth was maintained or even increased, (fn. 269) based partly on continuation of the Haseleys' open-field farming. Great Haseley's demesne farm was leased in 1485–6 for £18 65. 8d. a year, although the dean and canons of Windsor continued to maintain the great barn and other buildings, and the manor court regulated the open fields as earlier. (fn. 270) On the wetter lands around Latchford and Rycote, however, the area under grass was extended. Latchford's demesne was leased following William Lenthall's death in 1496, possibly to Nicholas Beale, and the same year the tenant inclosed 60 a. of arable and converted it to pasture. (fn. 271) Thomas Lenthall followed suit, and by the mid 16th century both Latchford and Rycote were wholly inclosed. (fn. 272)

FARMS AND FARMING 1500-1800

The new inclosures of Latchford and Rycote brought a greater emphasis on sheep grazing, despite continuation of open-field mixed farming: c.1540 the parish's 'champion countryside remained 'somewhat plentiful of corn', but 'most was laid to pasture'. (fn. 273) Latchford's lord William Lenthall (d. 1587) leased grazing grounds to sheep farmers from outside the parish, John Bowyer of Tetsworth and Jeremy Howster of Watlington each pasturing 300 ewes in the manor by the early 1580s. (fn. 274) Local farmers also benefited, however, Thomas Beale (d. 1581) of Latchford bequeathing several sheep including 40 'of the best' to his wife. (fn. 275) Plough beasts and dairy cattle were also grazed, (fn. 276) and though Latchford's inclosure created some friction it was more peacefully resolved than at Rycote, where Lord Williams's activities contributed to major uprisings. (fn. 277)

By contrast the Haseleys' traditional open-field agriculture continued, with horses, cattle, and sheep grazed on the fallow (fn. 278) Fairly typically Thomas Good (d. 1581), a prosperous Great Haseley yeoman, (fn. 279) left 18 a. of land sown with wheat and rye, 6 a. sown with pulses, and 6 quarters of barley. Equipment included a plough, cart, and dung-cart, while livestock included horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs. (fn. 280) The much larger demesne farm was leased to the Bowldry family and later to William Lechlade of Haddenham (Bucks.), still at £18 6s. 8d. annually, and usually for 30 years. Lessees were obliged to provide the lord's steward with food and lodging on his twice yearly visits, when he presumably held manor court sessions. (fn. 281) Similar farming continued throughout the 17th century, Thomas Smith (d. 1619) leaving barley, wheat, and hay worth £116 (more than half the value of his inventory), and owing wages to his day labourers and a debt to a Chalgrove plough-maker. (fn. 282) Thomas Adams (d. 1631) of Little Haseley left both crops and 60 sheep, folded presumably on the fallows, while John Gresham (d. 1662) evidently specialized in arable, sowing c.8o a. with wheat, barley, rye, oats, beans, peas, and vetches. (fn. 283) Even Latchford and Rycote saw some arable cultivation, John Plater (d. 1699), probably of Rycotelane Farm, leaving ploughs, carts, and crops as well as 130 sheep. Probably he practised ley farming (alternate cropping and pasture). (fn. 284)

Great Haseley and Latchford manors were brought together by William Lenthall (d. 1702), who in 1662 took a 21-year lease of Great Haseley for £44 165. 8d. a year. (fn. 285) The manor's real value, however, was substantially greater: in 1663 the demesne farm alone was leased for £135 and various closes for £240, while copyholders' rents totalled £100 excluding entry fines. (fn. 286) Lenthall's successor Charles Robartes commissioned a major survey of the estate in 1701, the resulting map confirming the long-established contrasts between the townships. Great Haseley village lay surrounded by its four large fields (Church, Grove, Round and Windersey and Windmill), while smaller arable or pasture closes extended eastwards into Latchford. The latter's names (Ewes Ground, Rams Closes, and Tegg Hill) reflect the continued primacy of sheep grazing on that part of the estate. (fn. 287)

By the 18th century the Great Haseley demesne lay consolidated and inclosed south-east of the village, covering c.365 a. and divided into three farms and a few smaller pieces. Around 18 copyholders held open-field land (with a yardland reckoned at c.20 a.), while 48 cottagers enjoyed common rights but had little or no land. (fn. 288) Tenancies were typically for three lives, the tenants receiving timber for repairs and enjoying specified grazing rights. (fn. 289) Similar conditions prevailed at Little Haseley, where in 1703 the lord reorganized the land into two farms and several smaller parcels, which were leased for 7-year terms. (fn. 290) By the 1780s the township had three main leasehold farms, though with little continuity of occupation from the earlier period. (fn. 291) Rycotes farms may have still been held for lives, since the families of two mid 18th-century tenants remained in possession in the early 19th century, while a bailiff managed the Rycote Park demesne, buying cattle and selling wood. (fn. 292)

Tenant farmers continued to prosper, John Greening (d. 1730), possibly of Church Farm House in Great Haseley, leaving horses, cattle, sheep, and crops worth £213. (fn. 293) Matthew Hall of Little Haseley owned harrows and a seed drill in 1742, ploughing one parcel of land four times and another twice, and growing wheat, barley, and beans, as well as keeping a small dairy herd and producing milk and cheese. (fn. 294) Dairying remained more prominent at Latchford, where a later member of the family worked as a dairyman, (fn. 295) while Latchford's and Rycote's meadows produced valuable hay stocks which were sometimes sold at auction.. (fn. 296)

FARMS AND FARMING SINCE 1800

Great Haseleys fields were inclosed in 1822 under a private Act of 1820, promoted by the dean and canons of Windsor and their lessee. (fn. 297) Around 495 a. were allotted, including 276 a. to John Blackall of Latchford as freeholder and copyholder. The rector received 87 a., and five landholders a total of 123 a., while nine smallholders each received 2 a. or less. (fn. 298) Two new inclosed farms were created, focused on farmhouses in the village: the largest (161 a.) belonged to Blackall and lay to the south-east, while the rectors Glebe farm (91 a.) covered part of Windmill field. (fn. 299) Most of Church or Spartam field remained unfenced in 1839, and was notoriously boggy (fn. 300) Little Haseleys fields were never formally inclosed, a tithe commissioner observing in 1838 that the township remained partly open. Presumably its open-field holdings were consolidated piecemeal, and few fences were shown on 19th-century maps. (fn. 301)

In 1839 the Haseleys remained over two thirds arable, compared with 85 per cent under grass at Latchford and Rycote. (fn. 302) Little Haseleys Court farm (269 a.) and Stones farm (455 a.) were leased, though the townships woodland (3 5 a.) was kept in hand by the owner Walter Long. At Great Haseley the three post-inclosure farms were run alongside the earlier Peggs farm (158 a.) and Church farm (101 a.), the last of which was occupied with Latchford farm (99 a.) by Edward Franklin for £272 105. a year. (fn. 303) Latchfords other leasehold farms were Lobb (296 a.), Charity (161 a.), Latchford House (124 a.), and Jointers (91 a.), while Rycotelane farm totalled 206 a. held of the earl of Abingdon. The earl additionally leased out pasture closes extending into Albury and Thame, but kept in hand Rycotes 95 a. of woodland. (fn. 304) Farm sizes changed little during the 19th century, and turnover of tenants was generally slow, with families such as the Atkinsons and Shrimptons at Great Haseley and the Lewins at Charity farm continuing from the 1830s to the 20th century (fn. 305)

Such stability through a time of agricultural depression was apparently achieved by renewed conversion of arable to pasture, which in the Thame region was largely driven by the London market. (fn. 306) In 1870, when the parish contained ten farms over 100 a. and a similar number of smallholdings, around two fifths of its farmland remained under crop, growing mostly wheat, barley, oats, beans, and fodder crops. (fn. 307) By 1900 the figure was under a third, and cattle numbers had increased from 567 to 828; a corresponding fall in sheep numbers (from 3,139 to 1,529) probably partly reflected their reduced importance for manuring the arable. (fn. 308) By 1911 the earl of Abingdon's Rycote estate was entirely pasture, his two dairy farms yielding annual rents totalling £790. Even so that was considerably less than the rents paid a century before. (fn. 309)

Similar patterns continued in the 1920S-30S, when most farms were still leased from the parish's large landowners. Three exceeded 300 a. in 1930, and three others were 100–300 a., complemented by over a dozen smallholdings and by extensive allotments in Great Haseley village. A total of 56 farm workers were still employed, several of them occupying tied cottages, and land use was little changed, with c.30 per cent of farmland sown with wheat, barley, oats, and fodder crops, and pasture given over to dairying and grazing. (fn. 310) Nevertheless the historic differences between the parish's various parts continued, Great Haseley's Church farm remaining over two fifths arable in 1941, compared with only a fifth at Lobb and Rycotelane farms. Cattle rearing and dairying were widespread, but only the larger arable farms carried sheep, most others concentrating on pigs and poultry. Farming standards generally were high. (fn. 311)

Dairying continued in the 1960s, with Friesian and Ayrshire herds kept at Great Haseley and milk exported daily in churns. (fn. 312) A total of 1,194 cattle were grazed on the parish's 1,880 a. of grassland in 1960, the remaining 700 a. sown with wheat, barley, oats, and kale. Poultry numbered 12,850, but sheep and pig numbers were low, (fn. 313) and widespread mechanization had reduced the workforce, on one farm from 9–10 men a generation earlier to only three men and a boy. (fn. 314) Even so Little Haseley's 625-a. Court farm retained 13 tied cottages in 1964. (fn. 315) During the 1970S-80S the acreage under wheat and barley increased significantly while cattle numbers fell: in 1988 only one dairy and one cattle-rearing farm remained. Four others were mostly arable, (fn. 316) and at Rycote a cereal, oilseed rape, and linseed rotation was practised in 2000.19 The fall in animal numbers probably contributed to dereliction of some farm buildings, (fn. 317) although at Rycote the Taylors re-introduced a herd of pedigree Aberdeen Angus cattle and a flock of Castle Milk Moorit sheep in the early 21st century (fn. 318)

TRADES, CRAFTS, AND RETAILING

Occupational surnames suggest a relatively wide range of medieval trades, including those of butcher, carter, chapman, skinner, souter (or shoemaker), and possibly potter, alongside the more common carpenters, smiths, and tailors. (fn. 319) Brewing was also widespread by the 13th century, perhaps reflecting the proximity of the Oxford-London road. (fn. 320) A fishery was mentioned in 1302, (fn. 321) and William Smith held a forge in the late 15th century (fn. 322)

Sixteenth-century tradesmen included a tailor, shoemaker, and currier, (fn. 323) and in the 17th century some of the Gresham family were colliers or charcoal-makers. (fn. 324) The Hurst family were blacksmiths from the 17th century to the 20th. (fn. 325) Several of the parish's inns and beerhouses are documented from the early 18th century, (fn. 326) while an ironmonger and a clockmaker became established a few decades later. (fn. 327) Even so most inhabitants were still employed in agriculture, and looked probably to Thame for a wider range of shops and services. (fn. 328)

In 1811 c.17 families in Great Haseley village (about a fifth of the total) were employed chiefly in trade or craft, rising to 20 families (around a sixth) in 1831. (fn. 329) Amongst them were blacksmiths, carpenters, cordwainers, grocers, masons, publicans, and wheelwrights, while a baker, butcher, dressmaker, machine-maker, tailor, and turner were mentioned in 1841. A grocer and a plumber lived at Little Haseley, and a cheesemonger at Lobb. (fn. 330) By 1861 a little over a tenth of Great Haseley's inhabitants were tradespeople, including three publicans who worked additionally as a mason, tailor, and plumber. Others combining occupations included a grocer employed as an iron and brass moulder. (fn. 331) An ironworks, established by 1871 on the Great Milton boundary, (fn. 332) belonged from the mid 1870s to John Gibbons, who in 1889 bought an acre of glebe to enlarge the site. (fn. 333) In the 1890s the works were bought by Thomas Jarmain, who specialized in producing agricultural tools and formed a limited company in 1908. (fn. 334)

Around 1900 Great Haseley still supported three pubs, a post office, and a grocers, butchers, bakers, and blacksmith's, (fn. 335) but thereafter increasing motor transport probably undermined local demand. A motor repair garage was opened in the village before the Second World War. (fn. 336) Three shops (including a grocers, bakers, and post office) remained in 1965, when the Plough was the only surviving pub. A butchers van delivered meat daily, and local farms supplied eggs. Traditional craftsmen included a thatcher and a farrier, and the smithy continued, while the ironworks was undergoing transformation into a light industrial estate. (fn. 337) The shops closed over the following decade, while the Plough was bought by the villagers in 2012. (fn. 338) Great Haseley's industrial estate provided some local employment, and in 2012 accommodated a lawnmower manufacturer; another part of the site and a smaller industrial estate in Little Haseley were then vacant, however. (fn. 339)

QUARRYING

Freestone was quarried from the area's Portland beds from Anglo-Saxon times, as indicated by the local place name Standhill (Old English stan gedelf meaning 'stone quarry'). (fn. 340) Stone masons were mentioned from the 17th century, (fn. 341) presumably digging stone pits mentioned in Great Haseley's open fields, (fn. 342) on the village's northern edge, and between Peggs Farm and Standhill. Other quarries lay near the Great Milton boundary (fn. 343)

By the 18th century the Coopers were particularly prominent: John Cooper supplied paving stone to All Souls College in Oxford in the 1730s, while Ferdinando Cooper (d. 1764) amassed a considerable fortune before dying from smallpox. (fn. 344) Three of the five masons living at Great Haseley in 1841 were from the same family, and included the lessee of the glebe's quarry and stone yard. (fn. 345) In 1871 the master mason William Cooper employed three masons and a stone sawyer, and the family remained in business in the early 20th century (fn. 346) By 1928 the quarry nearest the village was disused, although the Coopers continued as stone masons until the Second World War. (fn. 347)

MILLING

A horse-mill at Little Haseley (mentioned in 1432) was probably short-lived, (fn. 348) but windmills at Great Haseley and Rycote proved longer lasting. Rycote's was 'broken-down (debile) in 1302, when it was worth 5s. a year, (fn. 349) but a family surnamed Millward was taxed at Little Rycote in 1377–81, and in 1433 William Long (presumably a miller) was fined for taking excessive tolls. (fn. 350) That or another mill at Rycote continued in 1507, but its location is unknown, and possibly it was removed when Rycote House was rebuilt a few decades later. (fn. 351)

Great Haseleys windmill lacked millstones in 1360, but was still worth 3s. 4d. a year and in 1433 was run by Robert Millward. (fn. 352) Probably it stood in Windmill field on the site of the present mill, though its history may not have been continuous. In the 16th century it paid tithes, (fn. 353) but in the 18th century only the millhouse was mentioned, (fn. 354) and the mill was not marked on contemporary maps. (fn. 355) The present stone-built tower mill dates probably from the early 19th century, (fn. 356) and in 1839 was run by its owner-occupier John Billings. (fn. 357) Subsequent millers may have included lessees, though Gabriel Billings ran it directly in 1871, employing a man and a boy. (fn. 358) From the mid 1880s it was leased first to William Cross and later to Robert Warner, before closing c.1910. (fn. 359)

The building subsequently fell into decay: in 1967 the cost of repairs was estimated at £2,000–£3,000, and in 1969 thieves stripped copper from its roof. (fn. 360) By 1975 most of the sails had gone, though the owner undertook some essential repairs and an open day was held for villagers. (fn. 361) A complete restoration (including installation of new machinery) was carried out in 2009–14, overseen by a trust established in 2005. (fn. 362)

SOCIAL HISTORY

SOCIAL CHARACTER AND THE LIFE OF THE COMMUNITY

The Middle Ages

The parish's four townships formed distinct agricultural communities throughout the medieval period, displaying increasing social differences. The growth of subsidiary settlements at Latchford and Rycote between the late 11th and late 13th centuries shifted the parish's demographic balance, leaving Great Haseley still as the largest settlement, though with only a third of recorded households in 1279 compared with two thirds in 1086. Rycote's recorded population increased almost tenfold over the same period, while Latchford (possibly uncolonized in 1086) briefly overtook Little Haseley. The changes were reflected in contrasting social structures. Free tenants were most marked at Latchford, presumably reflecting its late emergence as a separate lordship, while the Haseleys and Great Rycote were largely characterized by villeins and cottars, successors to the Domesday villani and bordarii. Even there, however, numerous free tenancies were created after 1086, with 25 households of free tenants recorded in Great Haseley in 1279 alongside its 10 villein and 13 cottar households. Throughout the parish there was a complex pattern of subletting and subinfeudation. At Latchford the freeholders William le Bel (or Beale) and Roger Franklin both had subtenants, while at Little Haseley more people held from intermediate lords such as Peter FitzOliver or St Bartholomew's hospital (in Cowley) than from the chief lord, William of Skelbrooke. (fn. 363) The FitzOlivers themselves were descended from Oliver of Haseley, (fn. 364) whose unusual forename suggests a close and possibly family connection with the Skelbrookes. (fn. 365)

By the early 14th century Great Rycote was apparently the parish's most prosperous settlement, its inhabitants contributing twice the median amount of tax of the other four villages. (fn. 366) The reasons are not obvious, though widespread availability of pasture as well as open-field arable may have played a role. (fn. 367) The hamlets wealthiest taxpayers included members of the Foot and Menley families, apparently villein yardlanders, while the freeholding Peads and Tailors paid considerably less. Elsewhere in the parish families such as the Beales of Latchford, the Bixthorps of Little Rycote, and the Tyrels of Great Haseley remained prominent both in 1279 and 1327, although turnover of tenants over all appears to have been quite high. A few people held land from more than one lord, but for the most part the parish's manors and villages remained distinct. (fn. 368)

By the 13th century resident lords were probably a significant presence at Little Haseley, Latchford, and Great Rycote, while at Great Haseley the Pipards (with a cadet branch based in Latchford) farmed the demesne farm intensively, partly using tenant labour services. (fn. 369) Rycote's lords took their name from the place, (fn. 370) and were among several Oxfordshire knightly families subsisting on the revenues of a single manor, supplemented by the profits of administrative offices such as sheriff or coroner. The family employed a steward and clerk to manage their lands, successfully imposing heavier burdens on their unfree tenants. A proof of age relating to the birth of Fulk (VI) of Rycote in 1295 illustrates the social networks cultivated by such families, including intermarriage with the neighbouring Despensers of Ewelme and the Skelbrookes of Little Haseley. (fn. 371) Their fortunes were sometimes fragile, however, and in 1277 Oliver of Skelbrooke was in debt to an Oxford Jew. (fn. 372)

Occasionally the lords' conflicting interests led to violence. In 1322 (during the conflict between Edward II and his barons) the Skelbrookes' Little Haseley manor was temporarily forfeited on the orders of Hugh Despenser the elder, (fn. 373) perhaps provoking an attack on Great Haseley (then in Despenser's possession) by a gang which included one of the Skelbrooke family. (fn. 374) During a later dispute over Little Haseley in 1347–8 the Skelbrookes and Latchfords were joined by men from neighbouring parishes, who destroyed property, assaulted servants, and drove off livestock belonging to Adam de Louches. (fn. 375) Other inhabitants were occasionally implicated in violent or criminal activity. (fn. 376)

The Black Death led to a number of properties lying vacant or changing hands, (fn. 377) but all of the parish's settlements remained initially quite sizeable, and several established families were still resident in 1377–81. (fn. 378) Some remained in the 15th century, although regular reports of stray livestock and failure to maintain ditches (fn. 379) were characteristic of a period in which fewer tenants were available to manage holdings. At Great Haseley several tenants-at-will held abandoned house sites or combined formerly separate holdings, (fn. 380) while Latchford saw large-scale inclosure and conversion to pasture following William Lenthall's death in 1496. Similar changes occurred at Rycote. (fn. 381)

The aristocratic lifestyles of the parish's major landowners nevertheless continued into the later Middle Ages. At Little Haseley, the Barentins of Chalgrove adopted Haseley Court as their principal seat during the 15th century, and by the 1440s Elizabeth Barentin was living there in considerable comfort, her possessions including valuable gold and silver plate and jewellery, some of it decorated with religious images. (fn. 382) At Rycote Richard and Sybil Quatremain lived in similar style, building a lavish chantry chapel c.1449 and presumably occupying an equally lavish house. (fn. 383) Both families provided sheriffs and knights of the shire, maintaining close (if not always harmonious) associations with comparable local families such as the Stonors of Stonor Park. (fn. 384)

1500–1800

The presence of wealthy and influential landowners remained a key feature beyond the Middle Ages, notably at Rycote but also at Little Haseley and Latchford. (fn. 385) Great Haseley lacked a resident lord, though in the 1660s and again from 1708 the manor house was leased to the Lenthalls and Blackalls of Latchford, who effectively combined both manors. (fn. 386) Such families' local attachments were reflected in elaborate memorials in the parish church. Sir William Barentin (d. 1549) of Haseley Court, a former JP, sheriff, and MP, had his tilting helmet suspended above his tomb chest in the chancel, (fn. 387) while in the 18th century the Blackalls added a north-east chapel housing family monuments and a family vault. (fn. 388)

Rycote was dominated in the 16th century by prominent royal courtiers, notably the Herons, Sir John Williams (d. 1559), and Williams's son-in-law Henry Norris, whose descendants became earls of Abingdon. (fn. 389) The lavish rebuilding of Rycote House (fn. 390) not only symbolized Williams's success but provided a power-base within easy reach of London, Windsor, and the new royal centre at Ewelme, and from the 1540s to 1620s the house saw visits from successive monarchs, (fn. 391) proving equally popular with the courtiers and hangers-on who hawked and hunted there. (fn. 392) In 1543 Williams was taxed on lands worth the exceptional sum of 700 marks (£466 13s. 4d.), substantially more than William Barentin's £200 or Thomas Lenthalls £80. (fn. 393) His activities created local tensions, causing his park to be attacked during the Oxfordshire rising of 1549, when rebels killed his deer and sheep, broke into the house, and drank 'their fill of wine, ale, and beer'. Williams was probably targeted partly for his role in implementing religious changes across the county, (fn. 394) although the involvement (and execution) of Thomas Bowldry, lessee of Great Haseley's demesne farm, points to additional resentments perhaps associated with inclosure. (fn. 395) Occasional lesser disturbances at Rycote may have reflected more petty animosities, (fn. 396) while Henry Norris, another prominent incloser, became the target of a further threatened uprising following the harvest failure of 1596. (fn. 397)

The Thomas Bowldry executed in 1549 was a prosperous yeoman taxed in 1543 on goods worth £16, (fn. 398) comparable with many others in the parish throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. Many had close social and family ties: Bowldry himself witnessed the will of the well-connected Nicholas Green (d. 1530), William Lenthall's 'gossip' and executor, (fn. 399) and presumably fraternized with Great Haseley and Latchford farmers such as the Goods, Wiggins, and Beales, many of whom intermarried. (fn. 400) Similar families a little later included the Horsemans (lessees of Haseley's tithes), the Burnhams and Adamses of Little Haseley, (fn. 401) and the Little Haseley yeoman Thomas Smith (d. 1619), who occupied a house with at least ten furnished rooms and left goods worth £229. (fn. 402) A number of such families remained in the parish for several generations, (fn. 403) and many were involved in parish or manorial administration. (fn. 404) As in any close society, relations were not always harmonious. Petty tithe disputes were reported in the 1580s, (fn. 405) and in 1638 a tailor claimed to have been imprisoned in the parish church by the wealthy grazier Luke Taylor (d. 1647) until they resolved a dispute. (fn. 406) On another occasion Taylor gave evidence against a couple charged with adultery. (fn. 407)

Labourers and servants are less well recorded, but were sometimes remembered in wills. (fn. 408) The Little Haseley labourer Thomas Marshall (d. 1628) occupied a cottage apparently comprising only a hall and chamber, and left goods (including livestock) worth under £11, placing him among the parish's least wealthy testators. (fn. 409) Nevertheless he was not unique, since in 1662 almost three quarters of houses were taxed on only one or two hearths, with just nine assessed on four hearths or more. (fn. 410) Charities to support the poor were established by clergy, landowners, and farmers throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, one of the most generous by Luke Taylor. (fn. 411)

During the Civil War 500 of Prince Ruperts men entered the Haseleys and Miltons in March 1643, en route to the Parliamentary stronghold at Henley, and in June Royalist cavalry were stationed at Rycote. (fn. 412) Attendant disease seems to have increased parish mortality. (fn. 413) In 1644 grain was seized for the Royalist garrison at Oxford, and in 1645 the Wrays (owners of Rycote) were fined for their allegiance to the king. (fn. 414) The parish's landowners nevertheless retained their estates intact, and following the monarchy's Restoration the lords of Rycote in particular resumed their former lifestyle, including hunting and hawking, and entertaining those with power and influence. (fn. 415) An invitation to William III in 1695 was declined, however. (fn. 416)

The 18th century saw no major social developments in the parish despite changes of landownership. (fn. 417) The open-field villages of Great and Little Haseley remained larger and more socially diverse than the small inclosed hamlets of Latchford and Rycote, (fn. 418) and by the early 18th century Great Haseley had at least one inn (possibly the later Crown), which in 1706 possessed a set of nine-pins. (fn. 419) Possibly it was the site of some of the disputes and disorderly behaviour reported at the quarter sessions, (fn. 420) while in 1764 two executors met at the Crown to settle a local will. (fn. 421) The parish's larger farmers continued to prosper, but poverty remained widespread: in 1729 tenants at Great Haseley included c.48 cottagers with little or no land, of whom some probably lived close to subsistence. (fn. 422) Even modest cottages built on the waste attracted substantial rents and entry fines, and in 1718 Great Haseley was judged a 'cut-throat manor'. (fn. 423) Copyholders admitted for three lives enjoyed some longer-term security and received timber for repairs, although some buildings still fell derelict. (fn. 424)

Genteel lifestyles were maintained at the grand country seats of Haseley Court and Rycote House, (fn. 425) while at Great Haseley the Blackalls (as lessees) may have been responsible for clearing cottages in front of the manor house, which they partially remodelled. (fn. 426) The most socially elevated of the resident landowners were the Bertie earls of Abingdon at Rycote: the 4th earl (d. 1799) was prominent as an opponent of Lord North in the 1770S–80S, and as an amateur musician and composer had connections with Haydn and J.C. Bach. (fn. 427) He stayed regularly at Rycote House (rebuilt by his father after the fire of 1745), where he employed a gamekeeper and kennelled a pack of hounds. (fn. 428) Poaching was regularly reported, and the earl's pheasants were targeted in 1787, (fn. 429) while wood was stolen from the estate of Thomas Blackall (d. 1786). (fn. 430) The latter was sheriff during the contentious Oxfordshire election of 1754, when the parish voted narrowly for the Whig or New Interest candidates. (fn. 431)

Since 1800

Great Haseley's inclosure in the 1820s probably increased local poverty by removing cottagers' common grazing rights. (fn. 432) The village's copyholders were given allotments in a particularly boggy field that was in poor condition and badly farmed, and in 1826 tenants of 46 smallholdings complained that as timber was no longer provided they could not maintain their houses. (fn. 433) Overcrowding was marked, with 120 families in 1831 squeezed into 99 dwellings, (fn. 434) and perhaps unsurprisingly cases of theft and violence by labourers and craftsmen (mostly from Great and Little Haseley) continued to come before the quarter sessions. (fn. 435) Farm workers comprised the bulk of the population until the end of the century, and in the 1870s a branch of the Agricultural Labourers' Union was formed, which in 1891 was claimed to have helped increase wages 'without a man asking. Evidently there was some dispute c.1873, however, when the Haseley branch made a week's claim for lock-out pay. (fn. 436) Around two thirds of inhabitants were still native to the parish in 1861, with another fifth born elsewhere in the county. Those from further afield included domestic servants and more specialist workers such as dairymaids and sawyers. (fn. 437)

Great Haseley's social life focused probably on its public houses, of which there were five in 1841: the Black Prince, Crown, George, Plough, and Straggler. (fn. 438) The Crown, Plough, and Six Bells remained in the late 19th century, while at Little Haseley the village grocer opened a beerhouse called the Sportsman's Retreat. (fn. 439) The Plough hosted the Heart and Hand benefit society, established in 1858 and superseded in 1893 by the Great Haseley Friendly Society; (fn. 440) that met at the newly opened Village Institute, built at the rector's cost in 1891 as a recreation and reading room. (fn. 441) Other late 19th-century activities included a cottage garden association, cricket, and football, while education classes and other groups (including a Temperance society) were organized by both clergy and Nonconformists. (fn. 442) From the 1860s Great Haseley village also had a resident police constable, who by 1901 occupied a purpose-built police station. (fn. 443)

Rycote House was demolished in 1807, to be replaced from the early 20th century by a much smaller dwelling in the former stable and offices block. (fn. 444) Haseley Court was mostly leased, principally to the Muirheads, who later inherited the house and estate from their Boulton relatives. (fn. 445) In 1851 the Scottish biographer LP. Muirhead (1813–98) lived there with his family and nine servants, none of them born locally. (fn. 446) Other gentry included Hugh Hamersley of Pyrton, resident at Great Haseley in the 1840s when his son Alfred (who later owned Rycote manor) was baptized in the church. (fn. 447)

Fifteen parishioners killed in the First World War were commemorated on a monument erected near the church. Thereafter the parish's social character changed gradually as wealthier inhabitants moved into its larger houses during the 1920S–30S, (fn. 448) one of them (Francis Walker) proposing in 1928 to improve Great Haseley's appearance by buying a disused stone quarry which had become an 'unsightly' rubbish dump. (fn. 449) Increasingly Great Haseley village became a focus for the surrounding area: its school expanded into the Village Institute c.1930, while a replacement village hall (housed in the converted street-side glebe barn) (fn. 450) provided a reading room, billiards, and other games, at a charge of 1d. a night. (fn. 451) During the Second World War Rycote House was commandeered as Oxford children's hospital, (fn. 452) and following A.J. Muirhead's death in 1939 Haseley Court was occupied by the army, whose bombing practice caused damage to the estate. (fn. 453) From 1955 Haseley Court was occupied by the interior designer Nancy Lancaster, who besides restoring the house and gardens became active on the parish council, and held tea parties for the elderly. (fn. 454)

In the 1960s the parish still lacked mains drainage and (in some cases) mains water and electricity. Nevertheless farm workers were increasingly replaced by commuters and weekenders, including a London newspaper critic and a stockbroker, (fn. 455) and by the early 1970s the rector was becoming alarmed at the lack of affordable housing, which threatened 'to transform this lovely place into an enclave for the rich and retired, with a minor and shifting element of agricultural workers or technicians living here for a while in tied cottages'. (fn. 456) Shops and services were closing, and in 1977 a local newspaper alleged that the parish's community life was 'endangered', (fn. 457) drawing an affronted response from the parish council. Nevertheless the village hall remained a popular venue for a wide range of activities, and in 2015 a variety of sports and social clubs continued, many of them publicized on a lively parish website. The purchase of the Plough for the village in 2012 (at a cost of over £400,000) also reflected a strong community spirit. (fn. 458) Proposals to build a new town of 6,000 houses between Milton Common and Tetsworth (to be called Stone Bassett) were defeated in 1988. (fn. 459)

EDUCATION

Great Haseley

A priest taught parishioners' children from c.1522 to c.1550, paid for by rents in Witney bequeathed by Haseley's rector Thomas Harrop (d. 1522). The school closed after the Witney clothier Leonard Yate withheld the rents. (fn. 460) Much more long-lasting was a school for poor children founded in 1688 using a bequest from the grazier Luke Taylor (d. 1647). (fn. 461) John Harding may have taught there in 1695, and the local antiquary and clergyman Thomas Delafield in 1717. (fn. 462) It remained free to the parish's poor in 1738, when the master's salary was £10. (fn. 463) The old school building was pulled down in the early 19th century and replaced by a new one at Back Way, built on land bought in 1811; (fn. 464) by then the master taught c.30 children, and in 1818 he had an adjacent house and received £25 a year. (fn. 465) Pupil numbers more than doubled by 1835, when 58 boys and 20 girls attended. The boys were taught free, but girls were required to pay (fn. 466)

An adjacent girls' school was built in 1843 by the curate (and later rector) William Birkett. (fn. 467) In 1854 each school was attended by up to 60 children, who were admitted from the age of five. (fn. 468) In the early 1860s Birkett's daughters established a nearby infants' school, which taught 57 children by 1866 and so eased the pressure on the other schools. All three were supported partly by school pence and subscriptions, though mainly from Taylor's charity. (fn. 469) By 1871 the schools were linked to the National Society (fn. 470) and were run by the long-serving Joseph Bower, whose wife later took on the girls' school. (fn. 471) The latter was 'efficiently taught and disciplined' in 1881, though attendances were often reduced by sickness and the need for farm labour. (fn. 472)

In 1893–4 the boys' and girls' schools were formally combined with accommodation for 111 children, although average attendance was only 59. Income came from Taylor's endowment, voluntary contributions, and government grants. (fn. 473) By 1902 a new brick and tiled building on the same site accommodated c.8o children, with up to 48 infants occupying part of the old premises; (fn. 474) the old 1860s infant school was sold in 1906. (fn. 475) Bower's long tenure as headmaster ended in 1910, when the school received a mixed inspection report. Similar judgements continued until the appointment in 1928 of a headmaster 'full of zeal and energy', who initiated improvements. (fn. 476)

Around 1930 the school was enlarged to take in older children from neighbouring villages including Little Milton, Stadhampton, and Tiddington. Average attendance rose from 79 in 1931 to 123 in 1932, peaking at 144 in 1934. Six full-time staff and a part-time practical instructor were employed in 1935, teaching children aged from 4 to 14, who received a midday meal in the school canteen. (fn. 477) Further new building followed the 1944 Education Act, though the headmaster considered the facilities inadequate. (fn. 478)

In 1957 the older children were transferred to secondary modern schools at Wheatley and Watlington, Great Haseley school becoming a primary with c.70 pupils. Buildings were modernized in 1960–1 when there were three full-time teachers, (fn. 479) and following increases in pupil numbers a school swimming pool was opened in 1971. Support was provided by the Friends of Haseley School, but in the 1980s pupil numbers fell steadily with the population, and by 1993 only ten children remained. The school closed the following year, its pupils transferred to Great Milton school. A private nursery school occupied the school buildings in 2012. (fn. 480)

An Anglican Sunday school continued in Great Haseley throughout the 19th century, (fn. 481) though a contemporary Congregationalist Sunday school suffered from local opposition. (fn. 482) The rector held a winter evening school 'with varying success' from the 1860s, and later organized bible classes and lectures. (fn. 483) A private preparatory school in Great Haseley manor house accommodated 16 boarders in 1891, and continued ten years later. (fn. 484)

Other Village Schools

Thomas Blackall endowed a school in Little Haseley in 1756, providing a rent-free cottage for a master or mistress who was to teach six children to read. (fn. 485) In the early 19th century it was supported by Mrs Foley of Haseley Court, and had four pupils in 1818. (fn. 486) Its income was inadequate, however, and by 1835 it had closed. (fn. 487) An infant school at Little Haseley was mentioned in 1854, and in 1866 taught 26 children, falling to 18 by 1869–72. (fn. 488) No later reference has been found, although Blackall's endowment continued to generate funds. (fn. 489)

A schoolmaster at Latchford was mentioned in 1679 but not later. (fn. 490) Children from Rycote presumably attended schools in neighbouring parishes, including Tiddington. (fn. 491)

CHARITIES AND POOR RELIEF

At Christmas 1359 a pauper received 5s.-worth of clothes from the lord's alms at Great Haseley. (fn. 492) No endowed charities are known before the 16th century, however, when the rector Thomas Harrop (d. 1522) arranged for 105. a year to be given to each parishioner who had a plough. (fn. 493) The land so charged was later bought by William Lenthall (d. 1587), whose heirs were to give four 'freeze coats' annually to the poor. (fn. 494) By the early 19th century the land belonged to John Blackall of Haseley Court, and was charged with payment of 335. 4d. a year and the price of four greatcoats; five years' worth of payments were distributed in 1816 in the form of 20 coats and 600 quartern loaves. (fn. 495) The charity continued in 1921, but was not mentioned later. (fn. 496) Another 26s. 8d. a year was distributed with it in the early 19th century from land belonging to John Fane of Wormsley (Bucks.), but the payment's origin was unknown. (fn. 497)

The grazier Luke Taylor (d. 1647) left the residue of his estate to the parish's poor. Around £3,000 was invested in land in Burcot, Drayton St Leonard, and Rofford, (fn. 498) yielding £128 in 1738, which provided weekly allowances for the poor and apprenticeships for children. (fn. 499) The trustees administered it with £100-worth of land left by George Blackall (d. 1709) of Latchford, (fn. 500) the two together producing over £300 a year by the early 19th century. Of that around two thirds was distributed to the poor in cash and kind, (fn. 501) excluding payments to Great Haseley school. (fn. 502) In the 20th century the joint charity was divided into an educational foundation and a charity for the poor. (fn. 503)

One-off bequests included 4d. given to the poor man's box by the yeoman John Beale (d. 1549), while in 1550 Thomas Lenthall made a more substantial gift of bread, drink, and 4d. each to the parish poor on the day of his burial, plus £5 charged on land left to his son. (fn. 504) Similar small bequests continued into the early 17th century, (fn. 505) but thereafter largely ceased. (fn. 506) Income from three plots of 'church land' in Great Haseley, Latchford, and Standhill was received from the 17th century by the churchwardens, (fn. 507) who received a ¼-a. allotment for the Great Haseley property at inclosure. (fn. 508) The Latchford rent lapsed after the land was given to a local farmer during the Second World War. (fn. 509) The parish was additionally entitled to nominate a poor man to live in an Oxford almshouse founded by Edmund Boulter of Haseley Court in 1736. (fn. 510)

Despite such endowments, by the 18th century the bulk of the parish's poor-relief costs came from parish rates. In 1776 annual spending on the poor for the parish as a whole was £168, rising to £173 by 1783–5. (fn. 511) Following a common pattern it increased to £292 by 1803, when 42 people (including 15 children) received regular out-relief, and 25 occasional relief, in all just over a tenth of the population. Fourteen of the recipients lived at Little Haseley, which accounted for 35 per cent of the parish's expenditure. Costs more than trebled to £972 in 1813, falling to £697 in 1815 when c.17 per cent of the population received relief (70 permanently and 36 occasionally). (fn. 512) Post-war slump increased agricultural distress, raising expenditure to almost £1,466 in 1818 (c.47S. per head of population), and costs remained high throughout the 1820s, averaging over £1,329 a year. Expenditure peaked at £1,503 in 1828 (c.40S. a head), falling to £954 (25s. a head) in 1832, (fn. 513) and the following year the vestry farmed the maintenance of its poor to John Terry for £1,000. (fn. 514)

In 1834 the parish became part of the new Thame Poor Law Union, which in 1844 sold six cottages in Great Haseley used formerly as pauper accommodation. (fn. 515) The churchwardens and overseers continued to collect poor rates, which in 1849 were levied at 15. in the pound, raising over £235 from c.60 householders. Another 57 inhabitants were exempted on grounds of poverty. (fn. 516) The parish's charities continued in the 20th century, when they were merged to create the Great Haseley Relief in Need Charity. In 2011, the trustees spent £804 from an income of £2,874. (fn. 517)

RELIGIOUS HISTORY

Great Haseley was a large and well-endowed parish, which for part of the medieval period had outlying chapels at Little Haseley, Latchford, and Rycote. The living (a rectory) regularly attracted prominent careerists, day-to-day pastoral care devolving primarily on hired chaplains or curates, and from 1708 to 1840 the rectory was formally annexed to the deanery of Windsor, successive deans becoming rectors of Great Haseley ex officio. Catholic recusancy continued for some decades after the Reformation, particularly amongst local landholding families, and on a smaller scale persisted considerably later. Protestant Nonconformity surfaced briefly in the 17th century and was revived in the 19th, when a Congregationalist chapel was built in Great Haseley village. From 1965 the benefice was held with neighbouring parishes, and in 1988 it was incorporated into a benefice based at Great Milton. The medieval chapel at Rycote survived throughout, but from the 16th century and probably earlier was exclusively a private chapel with no parochial functions.

CHURCH ORIGINS, PAROCHIAL ORGANIZATION, AND CHAPELS

The parish's absorption of Little Haseley, Latchford, and Rycote suggests that Great Haseley church was founded relatively early, probably by the 11th or 12th century. By the early 13th it was fully independent and in the patronage of the lord of the manor, whose predecessors were probably responsible for its foundation. (fn. 518) Reference to a 'dean of Haseley' in the 1230s–40s may indicate that it once formed the centre of a rural deanery, (fn. 519) although by 1254 it was included in the rural deanery of Cuddesdon. (fn. 520) A vicarage was briefly ordained c.1217 when the rector was in minor orders, but in 1244 it was reconsolidated, (fn. 521) and the benefice remained a rectory, which from 1708 to 1840 was annexed to the deanery of St Georges Chapel, Windsor, to augment the dean's income. The parish was served during that period by stipendiary curates. (fn. 522) The church was dedicated by the 16th century to St Peter and St Paul, (fn. 523) and later to St Peter alone. (fn. 524)

Outlying chapels existed by c.1217, (fn. 525) though their status and whereabouts are unclear. A chapel belonging to the lord of Little Haseley was mentioned in 1279, when the rector held 40 a. of land there in return for providing a chaplain to hold services three days a week. (fn. 526) Possibly that was a private chapel which had taken on parochial functions, but no later references have been found and the chapel had probably disappeared by 1452, when Drew Barentin received permission for a portable altar. (fn. 527) At Latchford, a chapel dedicated to the Virgin was built or rebuilt c.1293–1300 by Henry fitz Nigel (rector 1274–1305), who gave Thame abbey 38 a. of land there in return for supplying a monk or chaplain to perform daily masses in perpetuity. In 1348 the masses were said to be for the benefit of the souls of the earl of Cornwall and Hugh Despenser; the same year, however, the 'community' of Latchford complained to parliament that the abbot had allowed the chapel to fall down and had concealed the charters, (fn. 528) suggesting that it, too, had fulfilled a wider parochial role.

At Rycote, a possibly private chapel with baptismal rights existed by 1295, when the lord's son Fulk (VI) of Rycote was baptized there. (fn. 529) Whether it continued in use is unclear, and c.1449 it was succeeded by a free-standing chapel next to Rycote House, built on a lavish scale by Richard Quatremain (d. 1477) and his wife Sybil. (fn. 530) That, too, seems to have intermittently combined private, chantry, and parochial functions. A chantry there for the benefit of the Quatremains and of the king and queen was endowed with an Oxfordshire and a Cambridgeshire manor in 1473, (fn. 531) and chantry priests were mentioned periodically until the Reformation. (fn. 532) In 1469, however, the chapel was said to be annexed to Great Haseley church, (fn. 533) and the Quatremains' remaining tenants possibly attended mass there alongside the lord's household. After the Reformation the chantry endowments were acquired by Sir John Williams, who in 1550 undertook to provide a chaplain to perform services and administer the sacraments to Rycote's inhabitants, with Williams and his successors paying a £6 stipend. (fn. 534) Whether the arrangement came into force is unknown, and by the 17th century the building was a private chapel of the lords of Rycote, of whom several were buried there. (fn. 535) The dedication to St Michael was established by 1473. (fn. 536)

The boundaries of the ecclesiastical parish remained unchanged until 1943, when Upper and Lower Standhill were transferred from Pyrton parish under an earlier order. (fn. 537) In 1964 the benefice was united with Albury, Tiddington, and Waterstock, but was separated in 1988 and joined with Great and Little Milton. (fn. 538)

Advowson

The advowson belonged to Great Haseley manor by 1222 and probably from the church's foundation. (fn. 539) In 1360 the Black Prince presented whilst holding the manor in wardship, (fn. 540) and in 1400 (when the advowson was held by Anne, countess of Stafford) it was valued at £40 a year. (fn. 541)

In 1478 the advowson was given with the manor to the dean and canons of St George's Chapel, Windsor, (fn. 542) who presented most subsequent rectors. Sometimes they granted the patronage to laymen for a single turn, (fn. 543) and the Crown occasionally intervened: Henry VIII presented in 1542 following the previous incumbent's attainder, while in 1660 Charles II unsuccessfully attempted to present a loyalist exiled during the Interregnum. (fn. 544) Charles and his successors also supported the proposal to annex the rectory to the deanery of Windsor. (fn. 545) In 2015 the dean and canons remained joint patron of the united benefice. (fn. 546)

Glebe and Tithes

Great Haseley was a well endowed and wealthy church. In 1279 the glebe included a hide of land in Great Haseley, perhaps given at the church's foundation; more recent gifts included the 40 a. in Little Haseley, and a house in the same township which funded a 'lamp light' in the parish church. The rector also held a yardland in Rycote, 2 a. in Great Haseley as a subtenant, and 6 a. in Latchford given by one of the Pipards and by another landholder, all or most of the land apparently held as church endowments rather than in a private capacity. (fn. 547) The vicarage in force c.1217–44 was also relatively well endowed, comprising altarage and small tithes, 30 a. of Roger Pipards demesne, and grain tithes from cottars and from specified pieces of land. (fn. 548)

The living was valued in 1254 at 20 marks (£13 6s. 8d.), more than twice the average for Cuddesdon deanery. (fn. 549) Late 13th- and early 14th-century valuations put it at £22 excluding a 33s. 4d. pension to Bec abbey, (fn. 550) and a similar valuation was returned in 1428, rising to £30 in 1526. (fn. 551) The pension derived from an 11th-century gift of tithes to the abbey by Miles Crispin, which in 1422 were granted to St George's Chapel, Windsor, following Bec's expropriation as an alien house. (fn. 552) In the early 16th century the dean and canons leased those tithes to the local Gadbury family for £3 6s. 8d. a year, (fn. 553) and the abbey's former portion was still separately accounted for in the 17th and 18th centuries. (fn. 554)

By the early 19th century the rectory was worth c.£780 a year from glebe and tithes, from which the curate received a salary of £60 (increased soon afterwards to £150). (fn. 555) In 1805 the glebe included c.63 a. in Great Haseley's open fields, scattered holdings in Little Haseley, and a 22-a. close called the Hermitage (sold in 1808) in Rycote. (fn. 556) At Great Haseley's inclosure in 1822 the rector received c.87 a. in lieu of uninclosed glebe land, (fn. 557) the resulting Glebe farm (91 a.) lying mostly north-west of Great Haseley village. From 1830 it was let with a farmhouse on the village street. (fn. 558) The tithes were commuted for a rent charge of £800 in 1839, (fn. 559) and in 1860 the rector's gross income was c.£950. (fn. 560)

Small portions of glebe were sold in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, (fn. 561) but the rector retained Glebe farm until its sale to the lessee (Harry Smith) before 1962. (fn. 562) Around 1950 the glebe was valued at £80, and the rector's net income was £433. (fn. 563)

Rectory House

Until its sale in the 1920s the rectory house occupied 2 a. in the centre of Great Haseley village, some distance west of the church. (fn. 564) The house has 14th- or 15th-century origins, but was substantially remodelled in 1846 when the 15th-century hall was converted into a kitchen. Re-used materials include a two-light 14th-century window with tracery and transom (reset in the east front), a 15th-century three-light window with cinquefoil heads and a deep casement moulding and label, and in the hall two 15th-century square-headed windows of two cinquefoil lights. (fn. 565)

Improvements by the rector John Harding (1597-1610) included wainscoting the parlour, roofing stone stairs to the great chamber, and installing new glass, although his successor still considered the house dilapidated. (fn. 566) In 1662–5 it was the largest in the village, taxed on 13 hearths, (fn. 567) and in the early 18th century (when a carpenter and mason undertook repairs) the rector considered it overly large and inconvenient. Extensive remedial work was planned in 1816, (fn. 568) but in 1846 the architect George Gilbert Scott found the house to be uncomfortable and in very bad repair. He consequently proposed dismantling it entirely apart from the hall, re-using the materials to build a six-bedroomed house with outbuildings. The cost was met by a £1,400 mortgage taken out by the rector William Birkett. (fn. 569) Later rectors made minor improvements, but the house was sold in 1924. (fn. 570) Thereafter until 1988 Haseleys rectors occupied Rose Cottage, a small 18th-century house extended by Percy Bown (rector 1923–45), (fn. 571) and improved by his successors. (fn. 572)

The former three-bay medieval hall and adjacent cross-passage survive on the north of Scott's house, abutted on the west by a taller north-south cross wing. (fn. 573) His south-facing 19th-century block (containing the principal rooms) runs parallel to the hall, to which it is linked by a central block with a double-ridge roof. The whole is built of coursed limestone rubble with ashlar dressings, and has a tiled roof with crenellated stone stacks. The hall retains its 15th-century roof, incorporating arch-braced collar trusses and two rows of butt-purlins with arched windbraces; its eastern gable end has been rebuilt, and contains a 19th-century fireplace and modern two-light windows with cinquefoil heads. The eastern entrance front includes an arcade of two segmental pointed arches, with a probably 14th-century window set in a gabled half dormer above. The south-facing garden front features a crenellated ground-floor bay and transomed windows with cinquefoil lights, while inside, one room has stop-chamfered pine beams forming a coffered ceiling supported on timber brackets. Birkett's arms appear on a date plaque over the main entrance, and the cross wing's north gable has a bell under a tiled canopy.

PASTORAL CARE AND RELIGIOUS LIFE

The Middle Ages

Around 30 incumbents are known before the Reformation, beginning with one Robert c.1217. (fn. 574) The Pipards' 13th-century presentees were mostly in minor orders, suggesting young men still in education - the reason, presumably, for the temporary appointment of a vicar c.1217–44. (fn. 575) At least one of the rectors (William de Pochleya) attended university, (fn. 576) and two served for more than 30 years. William, dean of Haseley (mentioned c.1232–41) was possibly another incumbent, and (unusually for clergy in this period) had a daughter. In 1241 he was wounded in a night-time raid on his house. (fn. 577)

Henry FitzNigel (rector 1274–1305), the Pipards' last presentee, endowed the chapel at Latchford, (fn. 578) but had a troubled relationship with the powerful new lord Hugh Despenser and with the lord of Little Haseley William of Skelbrooke, whom he accused of damaging his corn and causing his imprisonment on suspicion of murder. (fn. 579) His successors were Despenser's chaplain William de Hanlo (rector 1305–18), who was a pluralist, and another Despenser nominee, Robert de Hanlo, (fn. 580) who in 1322 received permission to enter into John de Hanlo's service for three years. (fn. 581)

Most later 14th- and 15th-century rectors were high-flying administrators or academics who probably spent little time in the parish, reflecting the high status of the church's patrons. Those presented by the de Bohuns included Thomas de Maldon (rector 1338–40), a recent graduate who exchanged the living with Richard atte Lee (1340–2); the latter was in the earl of Northampton's service, and was permitted to lease the benefice. (fn. 582) Master John de Sancey (rector 1355–60) was a former canon and prebendary of Exeter cathedral who possibly travelled to Rome, (fn. 583) and several of his late 14th-century successors were probably also non-resident. Robert de Walsham (instituted 1360) was a pluralist in the service of the Black Prince, (fn. 584) while John Prophet (rector 1386) was a royal clerk, (fn. 585) and Master Raymond Pelegrin (1386–?97) had permission to study at university. (fn. 586) In their absence, the parish was served presumably by unbeneficed chaplains. During the 15th century several Oxford academics held Great Haseley in plurality with university offices and other benefices, amongst them Nicholas Newton (rector ?1438–59) and John Parys (1459–69), who were principals of academic halls. (fn. 587) Some rectors seem nonetheless to have had local connections. Raymond Pelegrin's goods and oxen were mentioned in the 1380S–90S, (fn. 588) and his successor John of Haseley (rector 1397–1412) was presumably a local man, albeit a pluralist who may have spent time at university (fn. 589) Thomas Butler (rector 1472–94) was, unusually, buried in the church, where he is commemorated with a fine brass. (fn. 590)

Presentations by the dean and canons of St George's Chapel, Windsor, followed earlier patterns: John Morgan (rector 1494–6) vacated Great Haseley on his promotion to the bishopric of St David's, while Nicholas Beaumont (1497–1504) held a living in London, and subsequently received an £8 annual pension from his successor Thomas Harrop (rector 1504–22). (fn. 591) Roger Lupton (rector 1522–5) was a provost of Eton who later received a £30 annual pension, (fn. 592) while Richard Pates (1525–42) employed a curate and a stipendiary priest to serve the parish. (fn. 593) Under Harrop (who resided) the churchwardens nevertheless reported numerous abuses: grazing of animals in the churchyard, failure to keep the holy oil and font under lock and key or to collect parishioners' dues, refusal to visit the sick or to meet funerals beyond the churchyard gate, and on one occasion refusal to bury a parishioner's son. The church and rectory house were allegedly also in disrepair. (fn. 594) Despite such complaints Harrop founded a chantry and school, and left 3s. 4d. to maintain the bells. (fn. 595)

Support from local laity is suggested by endowments for the outlying chapels and for the parish church, which was extended and embellished throughout the Middle Ages. (fn. 596) Land for a light there was given by the FitzOlivers of Little Haseley before 1279, (fn. 597) and William Lenthall (d. 1496) of Latchford left money to maintain the bells, and livestock to support the rood and Trinity lights and lights to St Catherine and St Christopher. (fn. 598) The Trinity light was probably in the south aisle, where Lenthall and several of his descendants were buried. (fn. 599) Among lesser inhabitants Nicholas Green (d. 1530) requested burial by the pulpit, while in 1545 another parishioner left small amounts of barley to the church and rood light. (fn. 600) At Rycote, the Quatremains' chantries in the newly built chapel continued until the Reformation, served by at least two chantry priests in the early 16th century, and by three in 1535; of those, two received stipends of £6 13s. 4d. a year, and one £8 5s. (fn. 601) The Lenthalls may have established an additional private chapel at Latchford, where they reportedly employed a monk as private chaplain in the early 16th century, (fn. 602) while at Haseley Court Lady Anne Barentin kept newly gilded religious images in her closet c.1520. (fn. 603)

The Reformation to 1800

Richard Pates (rector 1525–42) was an opponent of Henry VIII's religious policies, and suffered attainder and exile. Following his expulsion the king presented his chaplain, the antiquary John Leland (rector 1542– 52), (fn. 604) whose duties were performed by curates. Local wills suggest some lingering Catholic sympathies, (fn. 605) and opposition to religious change was a factor in the Oxfordshire rising of 1549, which targeted Sir John Williams of Rycote as one of the kings commissioners for confiscation of church goods. The prominent Haseley farmer Thomas Bowldry played a leading role, though not necessarily for religious reasons. (fn. 606) Despite the uprising Haseley's church furnishings were removed in 1552–3 (fn. 607) and its lights and local chantries were suppressed, (fn. 608) and from 1558 Great Haseleys rectors all subscribed to the Elizabethan settlement. (fn. 609) Thereafter most parishioners seem to have conformed, (fn. 610) and made occasional bequests to the parish church. (fn. 611)

Catholicism persisted longer among some landholding families, notably the Lenthalls of Latchford and the Huddlestons of Haseley Court, who reportedly maintained a Catholic chapel. (fn. 612) William Lenthall (d. 1587) chose to be buried in the parish church, but by his will left money from former chantry lands (which he had purchased from the Crown) to pay for the 'de profundis' psalm to be recited by the parish poor, kneeling before his grave. (fn. 613) Yeoman recusant families included the Horsemans of Great Haseley and the News and Youngs, (fn. 614) while seven recusants were named in the early 17th century. (fn. 615) Williams himself played an ambiguous role, actively participating in the Reformation, yet collaborating with the Marian regime in the burning of Protestants. (fn. 616)

As the richest of the livings belonging to the dean and canons of Windsor, Great Haseley continued to attract careerists. The former curate John Appleton (rector 1560–73) and his successor Vincent Tuke (1573–93) were both pluralists, (fn. 617) and several others were fellows of Oxford colleges, amongst them the astrologer John Robins (rector 1556–8), the professor of Hebrew John Harding (1597–1610), and Christopher Wren (1638–42), father of the architect. (fn. 618) Christopher Potter (rector 1642–6), provost of Queens College, acquired the benefice by an exchange with Wren, having earlier failed to succeed his father-in-law Charles Sonnibanck (rector 1610–38). (fn. 619) Sonnibanck himself lived mostly at Haseley and was buried in the church, (fn. 620) but most of the others were probably non-resident: before Harding's institution the rectory house had been leased for at least 40 years, and though Harding lived there occasionally and improved the building, he employed a curate. (fn. 621) During Sonnibancks incumbency holy communion was celebrated at Michaelmas, followed later by evening prayers, (fn. 622) and the religious tone over all was probably orthodox: new bells installed under Wren included one inscribed 'honour the king', while Christopher Potter was an Arminian and a follower of Laud. (fn. 623) By contrast Potters successor Edward Corbet (rector 1646–58) was a Presbyterian (fn. 624) who seems also to have resided, and was subsequently buried at Haseley, his funeral attended by fellows of Merton College. (fn. 625)

The Restoration saw a rapid succession of rectors, Corbet's successor Anthony Stephens being replaced by George Morley (who was almost immediately appointed bishop of Worcester), and by Peter Wentworth (1660–1) and Bruno Ryves (1661–77). Ryves was a royal chaplain and dean of Windsor, whose appointment to Great Haseley was deliberately intended to augment the dean's living. (fn. 626) Though non-resident, he donated several pieces of silver church plate. (fn. 627) John Durel (rector 1677–83) was followed by another dean of Windsor, Francis Turner (1683–4), who became bishop of Ely and was succeeded at Haseley by the dean of Guernsey, John Saumares (rector 1684–5 and 1688–97). Saumares' incumbency was marred by disputes with Gregory Hascard, who had been a rival candidate in 1683, and who after succeeding Turner as dean of Windsor made several attempts to remove Saumares before finally acquiring the benefice on the latter's death. (fn. 628) Few of these men were resident, and as earlier the rectory house was leased and services taken by curates. (fn. 629)

In 1708 the benefice was formally annexed to the deanery of Windsor by Act of Parliament. Residence was not required, although the dean was to appoint a curate with an annual stipend of £60. (fn. 630) Ten deans held the rectory until its separation in 1840, most of them eminent men; the longest-serving included John Robinson (rector 1709–29), Peniston Booth (1729–65), Frederick Keppel (1765–77), bishop of Exeter, and John Harley (1778–88), bishop of Hereford. (fn. 631) Several curates also served for ten years or more, notably Thomas Vincent (appointed 1709), (fn. 632) Robert Chernock (1724–34), (fn. 633) and Christopher Marshall (1757–1800). (fn. 634) The arrangement seems not to have had an especially detrimental effect: in 1738 the curate reported that communion was celebrated six times a year and that there were two Sunday services, one of them with a sermon, while prayers were said on feast days. (fn. 635) The pattern remained broadly unchanged in the late 18th century, save that the Palm Sunday communion was dropped. The number of communicants increased from c.40 in 1759 to 90 in 1793, and despite a sizeable minority of non-attenders the congregation was generally maintained. (fn. 636) Outlying hamlets nevertheless suffered from lack of provision: no services were held at Rycote chapel despite its 2-mile distance from the parish church, (fn. 637) owners of Rycote House using it primarily for family and household burials. (fn. 638)

Small-scale Roman Catholicism continued intermittently. Five Roman Catholics were reported in 1676, (fn. 639) but Protestant families succeeded the Lenthalls and Huddlestons at Latchford and Little Haseley, (fn. 640) and no papists were mentioned in 1706 or 1738. (fn. 641) In 1759 Lady Abingdon and her daughters (at Rycote House) were Catholics, (fn. 642) and during the mid 18th century the Catholic Woolfes lived at Haseley Court with their resident priest Mr Brown, several servants being named as recusants in 1767. (fn. 643) By 1771, however, Haseley Court was again occupied by an Anglican family, (fn. 644) and over the following decades the number of Catholics gradually declined, falling to just two by 1801. (fn. 645) Protestant Nonconformity was equally small-scale. In 1672 an Independent meeting place was licensed at George Gooding's house in Latchford, to which a preacher travelled from Watlington. (fn. 646) In 1738, however, the curate reported only two Anabaptists 'in low circumstances'. (fn. 647)

Since 1800

Curates continued to serve the parish until the benefice's separation from the deanery of Windsor in 1846. Their insecurity as stipendiary rather than perpetual curates was brought to the bishop's attention in 1803–4, apparently without formal resolution: (fn. 648) the rector (Charles Manners-Sutton) seems to have objected to the bishop's interference especially over the curates salary, which was still fixed at £60 under the 1708 Act. (fn. 649) The stipend was finally raised to £150 c.1814. (fn. 650)

Charles Ballard (curate 1800–32) was also vicar of Chalgrove, and served under several non-resident rectors, (fn. 651) maintaining two Sunday services but reducing communion to four times a year. In 1805 c.100 inhabitants received communion at Christmas, and half that number at other times. Ballard was perturbed at persistent absenteeism, which he variously ascribed to idleness and indifference, vice, and pursuit of worldly concerns, (fn. 652) and perhaps in response he began to preach twice on Sundays. (fn. 653) His difficulties were compounded by the reappearance of Protestant Nonconformity: a house was licensed for worship in 1814, and meetings in houses continued until a Congregationalist chapel was built in 1839. (fn. 654) Four Roman Catholics were also mentioned in 1814. (fn. 655)

Ballard's successor as curate was William Birkett (d. 1875), who became rector in 1846 following the separation of benefice and deanery and the death of the previous incumbent. (fn. 656) Judged 'clever' by the bishop, (fn. 657) Birkett oversaw rebuilding of the rectory house and introduced monthly communion; otherwise services remained unchanged, and in 1854 the congregation numbered c.300 ('much as usual' according to Birkett). Attendance varied according to the weather and farming season, and c.35–60 inhabitants received communion. Although resident, Birkett employed an assistant curate who catechized the children in school; a later curate was dismissed, followed in 1865 by the more successful appointment of Frederic Smith. (fn. 658)

Despite such improvements, c.1846 the bishop considered Protestant Dissent to be 'rife' in Great Haseley. (fn. 659) Up to 55 people attended the Congregationalist chapel in 1851, its adherents including several of the larger farmers. Nevertheless Birkett claimed in 1854 that the number of chapelgoers was very small, and the chapel seems to have periodically struggled in the face of strong Anglican opposition. (fn. 660) In 1878 Birkett's successor thought that only 30 inhabitants would call themselves Dissenters, although many others attended both church and chapel. In 1889 chapelgoers averaged around 70, and in 1893 an eight-day mission from Wheatley was said to have bolstered Haseley's 'fluctuating cause'. A more serious problem for the rector was continuing apathy, with around a third of the population failing to attend any religious worship. (fn. 661)

Henry Ellison (rector 1875–94) increased the number of services, and made new efforts to attract parishioners (especially the young) to bible classes, lectures, and other forms of instruction. A Temperance society was established, and the curate hosted a mothers' meeting. Many of those groups continued in the mid 1890s, and although Ellison complained that church attendances were adversely affected by pubs opening late on Saturdays and all day on Sunday, the congregation gradually increased. Introduction of fortnightly and then weekly communion services similarly raised the number of communicants to 160 in 1890, while a monthly offertory contributed to church repairs. (fn. 662)

William Edwards (rector 1894–1922) maintained the pattern of services and classes and reported increased attendance, besides raising considerable funds to restore the parish church. (fn. 663) From 1913 he served as Cuddesdon's rural dean. (fn. 664) Percy Bown (rector 1923–45) made further improvements to the church, (fn. 665) and in 1930 arranged for the fitting up of a village hall in the former glebe barn, which was sold to the parish council in 1973. (fn. 666) From 1965 Kenneth Thompson (rector 1962-75) also served the parishes of Albury, Tiddington, and Waterstock, reporting news from across the benefice in a regular newsletter, while Christopher Abbot (1988–93) was the first to serve Haseley from the rectory at Great Milton. (fn. 667) In 2012 Victor Story (instituted 1999) held services at Great Haseley three Sundays a month. (fn. 668) The Congregationalist chapel continued in the late 1940s, (fn. 669) but was later closed; in 2012 it was disused and in disrepair.

CHURCH ARCHITECTURE

Parish Church

For a small rural village Great Haseley has a relatively large and impressive church, reflecting in part its high-status patrons, the size of its medieval endowment, and possibly its early origins. (fn. 670) The earliest fabric dates from c.1200, when the Pipards held the manor, but there are hints of an earlier structure: the nave, in particular, is exceptionally long, prompting suggestions that its easternmost bay may have once formed the chancel of a smaller 11th- or 12th-century church. The present building was substantially complete by 1500, and comprises a four-bay aisled nave with south porch, a taller three-bay chancel, and a Perpendicular west tower. Most building took place between the 13th and 15th centuries, and stone effigies of two 13th-century knights and a 13th-century slab with a foliated cross may commemorate some of the benefactors. A north-east chapel in Perpendicular style was added c.1709. (fn. 671) The building as a whole is of coursed limestone rubble with ashlar dressings and numerous buttresses; the steep chancel roof is tiled, while the shallower roofs of the nave and aisles have been reroofed in copper. (fn. 672)

The nave's three westernmost bays were built c.1200, and were aisled from the start: the arcades reflect the transition from Norman to Early English, featuring large square abaci, embryonic stiff-leaf capitals, and more advanced roll mouldings on pointed arches. A fine doorway reset in the west tower is of similar date, with a pointed arch, three orders of roll-moulding, and a band of dogtooth. The Early-English chancel arch may be slightly later and has two orders of roll-moulding, rising from corbels carved with cinque-foiled leaves. The high-quality Decorated chancel (Fig. 71) was built in the late 13th century, possibly by the unknown benefactor whose elaborate tomb recess survives in the south wall. The recess is unusually ornamented, its arch cusped and sub-cusped to form a series of trefoils. Adjacent are three sedilia and a piscina, the whole lavishly carved with crocketed gables, finials, and pinnacles. The chancel's north and south walls each have three two-light windows with geometrical tracery, including trefoils and a quatrefoil in the head; above them is a continuous hood and a frieze of ballflower and quatrefoils. The magnificent east window, of five lights, has spherical triangles enclosed in a circle in the head.

The chancel is visible through squints in the north and south aisles. The largely Decorated south aisle is of inferior workmanship to the chancel, but includes a piscina with an ogee head under a crocketed arch with side pinnacles on head corbels. A reredos once stood beneath its three-light east window, and an image niche survives with a crocketed canopy. Further west, a row of three tomb recesses with cinquefoiled arches is probably of early 14th-century date. From the late 15th century the aisle was adopted as a mortuary chapel by the Lenthalls, and appears to have been dedicated to the Holy Trinity. (fn. 673)

Relatively little work was carried out during the 14th century, save for a remodelling of the nave's eastern bay perhaps in connection with the rood loft: a rood screen (though probably not the loft) remained in the mid 18th century. (fn. 674) A sizeable collection of 14th-century tiles (now reset in the west walls) suggests that the church was also re-floored. Substantial rebuilding followed during the 15th century, when the church acquired its surviving west tower and clerestory. The former is of three stages with a crenellated parapet and diagonal buttresses, and has two-light traceried belfry openings set above a heavily recessed three-light west window; in 1553 it housed four bells. (fn. 675) The square-headed clerestory windows and low plain porch are of similar date, together with the nave's 15th-century oak roof with carved braces to the tie beams. A chapel at the north aisles east end was added in the late 15th century, perhaps by the lords of Rycote, with whom it was later associated; (fn. 676) the elaborate tomb chest of William Barentin (d. 1549) was moved there from the chancel only in the 19th century, probably during restoration work in the 1840s. (fn. 677) A separate chapel north of the chancel, in Perpendicular style, was added by the Blackalls c.1709 to accommodate a family vault. (fn. 678) An accomplished Baroque monument there by John Piddington of Oxford (fn. 679) commemorates George Blackall (d. 1709) of Latchford, whose bewigged bust is set under a broken segmental pediment with an heraldic cartouche.

The church was in disrepair in 1520 when the chancel walls needed cleaning, (fn. 680) and in 1758 the archdeacon ordered removal of ivy and minor repairs, including plastering and whitewashing the interior. (fn. 681) Further repairs were undertaken in 1801, but by 1837 the building was afflicted by damp, and in 1841 the interior was refurbished, the changes including removal of a western gallery and of a flat plaster ceiling in the chancel, which obscured the east window. The architect was J.M. Derick. (fn. 682) Minor improvements in the later 19th century (fn. 683) were followed by a complete overhaul of the chancel in 1897, when the roof was retiled and guttered, new drainage and heating systems were installed, and a new floor, choir stalls, and altar fittings were provided, paid for largely by donations. Floor and choir stalls were designed by Thomas Garner. (fn. 684) Stained glass was added piecemeal from the 1850s, including work by John Hardman & Co. (in the chancel), Charles Gibbs, and Burlison & Grylls. (fn. 685)

Early 20th-century fundraising and benefactions paid for further improvements including restoration of the south aisle, additional memorial windows, rehanging of the bells, refurnishing of the altar, and extension of the churchyard, together with provision of electric lighting and heating. (fn. 686) A lightning strike in 1963 necessitated repairs to the east end, while theft of lead from the aisle roof led to reroofing in copper in 1978. (fn. 687) The sale for £80,000 in 1996 of William Barentin's 16th-century tilting helmet, formerly mounted over his tomb (Fig. 71), provided funds for further repairs. (fn. 688)

Rycote Chapel

The chapel of St Michael was built by the Quatremains of Rycote c.1449, (fn. 689) and remains structurally unaltered. (fn. 690) The nave, chancel, and west tower are of coursed and squared limestone rubble, with ashlar dressings from the Taynton quarries. The nave and chancel form a continuous structure of five bays each separated by pinnacled buttresses, which rise above the tiled roof; in the side walls are five windows of two arched cusped lights under sharply pointed heads. The five-light east window has panel tracery, and is flanked by buttresses surmounted by chained beasts. The south and west doorways are relatively plain, while the four-centred north door (facing Rycote House) is more elaborate, with quatrefoils in the spandrels, and a hood with blank shields - an indication, perhaps, that the building was conceived primarily as a private chapel. (fn. 691) The battlemented west tower is of three stages, and has a three-light triangular-headed window above the doorway, surmounted by a canopied niche. The two-light belfry openings also have triangular heads.

The sumptuous interior dates mostly from the 17th century, when the chapel was owned by the Norrises and Berties; the only 15th-century survivals are the wooden seating in the nave and chancel, the base and cover of the font, and the base of the rood screen. The west gallery was erected c.1610, its balustraded front carved on Ionic columns, while two elaborate canopied pews flanking the entrance to the chancel are of broadly similar date. That on the north, traditionally said to have been used by the Norris family, has roundarched arcading with Tuscan balusters, and an upper musicians' gallery screened with two tiers of delicate pierced filigree panels; access to the gallery is by the former rood-loft stair. The south pew, reportedly set up for a visit by Charles I in 1625, is equally exotic, and has an ogee dome with crocketed ribs. The canopied pulpit is also early 17th-century, while a reset fragment of Flemish painted glass may date from the 1580S-90S. Depicting the theme of 'marriage for gain, it may originally have belonged in the house rather than the chapel. (fn. 692)

The chancel was refurbished for the Bertie earls of Abingdon in the 1680s, when the marble floor was laid. The Baroque reredos (dated 1682) has a large segmental pediment enclosing carvings of fruit and flowers in the style of Grinling Gibbons, and the altar rails have twisted balusters. The waggon roof was painted with stars, a fragment of which has been restored. Surviving monuments commemorate members of the Bertie family and later owners of Rycote manor.

The demolition of the 16th-century house in 1807 left the chapel largely unused, necessitating periodic remedial repairs. (fn. 693) From 1911 it belonged to owners of the remodelled Rycote House, its maintenance from 1952 falling to the Ministry of Works (later English Heritage). In 2005 responsibility was restored to Bernard Taylor, who undertook extensive restorations and replaced the organ. (fn. 694)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

MANOR COURTS AND OFFICERS

In the 13th century separate manor courts were held at Great Haseley, Little Haseley, and Little Rycote, with Latchford's tenants attending the Great Haseley court. (fn. 695) A manor court at Great Rycote may have been held by the Rycote family, but was not mentioned in 1279 or 1302; (fn. 696) reference to Ellis the hayward (le Messer) of Rycote in 1241 nevertheless suggests that Rycote may have had its own manorial officers. (fn. 697)

In 1359–60 William de Bohun's officers held sessions of the Great Haseley court in November, April, and September, raising £3 1s. 1d. in fines. (fn. 698) The dean and canons of Windsor or their lessees continued to hold courts baron there until the mid 19th century, dealing with such matters as tenants' building repairs, open-field regulation, and property transfers. (fn. 699) How long the other manor courts continued is unclear, but constables of Great Haseley, Little Haseley, Latchford, Great Rycote, and Little Rycote were named in 1377 and c.1480, and constables of Great Haseley and Little Haseley in the 16th century. (fn. 700)

Tenants of Little Haseley and Little Rycote owed additional suit to the hundred court at Ewelme, and by the 15th century were represented by separate tithingmen at the annual view of frankpledge there. (fn. 701) By contrast Great Haseley, Latchford, and Great Rycote belonged to the honor of Wallingford and owed suit to the honors courts, where in the late 13th century their tithingmen paid cert money and fines for minor misdemeanours. (fn. 702) By the 15th century a view of frank-pledge for the honor was held at Great Haseley, still attended by the tithingmen of Great Haseley, Latchford, and Great Rycote: typical business included breaches of the assize of ale, failure to clear ditches, and cases of assault. (fn. 703) By the 16th century the Great Haseley view exercised responsibility over the whole parish except for Little Rycote, which continued to be represented at Ewelme until the 18th century. Thereafter it, too, was included in the Haseley view, which continued until the mid 19th century. (fn. 704)

PARISH GOVERNMENT AND OFFICERS

For parochial purposes the parish's various settlements seem to have generally been administered together. Two churchwardens were named in the mid 16th century, (fn. 705) to whom William Lenthall (d. 1587) left £2 for church repairs, and in 1594 the churchwardens gave evidence in a bastardy case. (fn. 706) Churchwardens' accounts survive for a few years in the mid 17th century, when they paid for church repairs, relieved people in poverty and distress, and provided beer for the bell-ringers on 5 November. A more complete series survives for the period 1773– 1916. (fn. 707) By the 19th century the churchwardens were elected at annual vestry meetings by the rector and parishioners, (fn. 708) and at inclosure in 1822 they received a small allotment which was let to a local farmer; in 1849 they collected over £235 from ratepayers across the parish, which contributed to road repair. (fn. 709) Overseers of the poor were mentioned from the mid 17th century, acting probably for the whole parish, (fn. 710) although Little Haseley may have raised its own poor rates in the early 19th century when it twice returned separate expenditure figures. (fn. 711) Waywardens for Great and Little Haseley were mentioned in 1868, (fn. 712) and in 1805 there was a parish clerk, whose payment of c.£7 a year was regarded by the curate as inadequate. (fn. 713)

In 1834 Great Haseley became part of Thame Poor Law Union, and in 1894 of the new Thame Rural District. (fn. 714) A parish council was probably formed at the same time and continued in 2012, when seven parish councillors and a clerk were responsible for the village hall, playing fields, and allotments, and advised on planning and transport. (fn. 715) The vestry was replaced in 1920 by a parochial church council, which continued to organize church events and maintain the fabric. (fn. 716)

When the benefice merged with Great Milton in 1988 a joint PCC was created, though Great Haseley retained its two churchwardens. (fn. 717) From 1932 to 1974 the parish was included in Bullingdon Rural District, and thereafter formed part of the large South Oxfordshire District. (fn. 718)