Parishes: Clyffe Pypard

CLYFFE PYPARD

Clyffe Pypard lies about 7 miles south-west of Swindon and on the north adjoins the parish of Wootton Bassett. (fn. 1) In spite of its proximity to Swindon the parish in 1968 seemed remarkably remote and undeveloped and was without main drainage. The modern parish, which is roughly rectangular in shape, with an extension at the southeast corner, stretches about 3 miles from north to south and is roughly 2 miles broad. (fn. 2) As will be shown below, it is made up of a number of scattered hamlets. Until created a civil parish in 1884, Broad Town was one of these hamlets, lying along the eastern boundary of Clyffe Pypard. (fn. 3) This boundary, which divided Clyffe Pypard from Broad Hinton, was extremely irregular in its course, zig-zagging from side to side along Broad Town village street. (fn. 4) The manor of Broad Town, in fact, lay just to the east of the boundary, and so geographically was in Broad Hinton. For this reason, the lands of the two farms attached to the manor, namely Broad Town Farm, and Upper Ham Farm, although they lay on the Clyffe Pypard side of the boundary, were reckoned to be detached parts of Broad Hinton. In 1884 when the civil parish of Broad Town was created out of part of Clyffe Pypard and part of Broad Hinton, these anomalies were removed. (fn. 5) Before the creation of Broad Town Clyffe Pypard comprised 3,985 a. (fn. 6) Afterwards the area was 3,271 a. (fn. 7)

The most striking topographical feature of Clyffe Pypard is the north-west facing chalk escarpment, which stretches right across the parish, dividing the clay vale to the north from the Lower Chalk below the Marlborough Downs to the south. (fn. 8) It is this steep escarpment, or cliff, which has given the parish, and several other places in the neighbourhood, their names. A local rhyme runs:
White Cleeve, Pepper Cleeve, Cleeve, and Cleveancy, Lyneham and lousy Clack, Cris Mavord, and Dauntsey. (fn. 9)

The first three are all references to Clyffe Pypard: the fourth is a farmstead in Hilmarton. (fn. 10) On the Kimmeridge Clay to the north of the escarpment the land of the parish is flat and lies at levels of mostly around 350 ft. The Clay gives way towards the foot of the escarpment first to a belt of Gault, and then to the Greensand. Above, on the chalk downland, heights of over 700 ft. are reached. About two-thirds of the parish lies on the Clay and a third on the Chalk.

Many springs and streams rise from just above the foot of the escarpment. One of these, running northwestwards through the parish, joins with other small streams to form the Brinkworth Brook, a headwater of the Bristol Avon. Another, rising about ½ mile south-west of the parish church, supplied Wootton Bassett with water from the later 19th century until 1962. (fn. 11) In 1968 Clyffe Pypard Manor House and several nearby cottages still drew their water supply from a spring coming from the escarpment. (fn. 12) Much of the northern part of the parish was undoubtedly formerly undrained marsh. In 1334 there was a pasture at Broad Town called 'la lake', which was particularly valued as summer grazing. (fn. 13) In the 16th century a piece of ground, also at Broad Town, was described as lying 'beyond the water', (fn. 14) and one of two commons at Bushton was called the Marsh. (fn. 15) In 1968, although drained by deep ditches, the land was still fairly heavy and wet in places, and many willow trees flourished in the hedgerows.

The parish has always been well wooded. There were extensive stretches of woodland at the time of Domesday, (fn. 16) and the scattered pattern of settlement is no doubt partly due to the way in which clearance progressed. The two largest woods in the parish in 1968 were Cleeve (or Clyffe Pypard) Wood in the north and Stanmore Copse in the south. In 1762 Holloway Coppice stretched along 7½ a. of the cliffhanging above the village of Clyffe Pypard, and there were at least 4 willow-beds in the parish. (fn. 17) In the 19th century beech trees were planted along what was called the 'cock-walk' on the side of the hill. (fn. 18) The avenue, which they formed, still, in 1968, flanked the descent into the village from Broad Hinton.

Archaeological finds, such as arrowheads, coins, jewellery, and skeletons, are evidence of a period of early settlement, extending from Neolithic to Pagan-Saxon times. (fn. 19) At the foot of the escarpment, at Woodhill and Bupton, numerous mounds and earthworks are possibly of medieval date. (fn. 20) The ancient parish was made up of five tithings, each with its own centre of settlement. These were: Clyffe Pypard, Broad Town, Bushton, Thornhill, and Woodhill, which included Bupton. All, except Woodhill and Bupton, were still settlements in 1968. The nucleus of the village of Clyffe Pypard lies immediately beneath the steep, thickly-wooded slope of the escarpment and forms a small, rather picturesque group of buildings. Besides the parish church with manor-house and vicarage closely adjoining on either side, (fn. 21) there are a few thatched, timber-framed cottages, and the 'Goddard Arms'. This stands on the site of an earlier public house of the same name, burnt down in 1961. (fn. 22) The village school lies a little to the west and beyond this is a group of terraced council houses, built after the Second World War.

Broad Town, which is described below, also stands at the foot of the escarpment, about 1½ mile east of Clyffe Pypard, but cut off from direct communication with it by a protrusion of the cliff face. (fn. 23) The third settlement just below the hill was Woodhill, which included Bupton. Bupton, as is shown above, belonged probably from 1086 to the Bishop of Salisbury's hundred of Cannings. (fn. 24) In 1968 Woodhill consisted of one large farm (fn. 25) and the area known as Bupton of a newly-built farm house, close by the road to Calne, and another new farm on top of the hill. But there was undoubtedly once a larger settlement here, some traces of which remain above the ground, although some of the earthworks are thought to be only the boundaries of abandoned closes, drainage channels, and shallow surface quarrying. (fn. 26) A medieval settlement at Bupton may have declined during the late 16th and early 17th centuries, when the lords of the manor, the Quintins, were evidently in financial difficulty. (fn. 27) A farm at Lower Bupton, just below the cliff, was used during the Second World War to house German prisoners, (fn. 28) but nothing of this remained above ground in 1968. The buildings of Bupton Farm, a little to the southwest and higher up the cliff, had likewise entirely disappeared.

The two other settlements in the parish lie to the north, away from the escarpment. One of these, Bushton, belonged by the 16th century to the hundred of Elstub and Everley. (fn. 29) In 1968 it was the largest settlement in the parish, comprising three or four small farms, a number of cottages and a public house, all strung out along the road between Clyffe Pypard and Tockenham. The 18th-century manorhouse stands on the east side of the road. (fn. 30) In 1968 Clyffe Pypard post office and general store was at Bushton, so that the distance between Clyffe Pypard village and the only shop in the parish was nearly two miles. There is a small Methodist chapel at the north end of Bushton. A few council houses have been added to the hamlet since the Second World War. The tithing of Thornhill lies to the east of Bushton but after the creation of the civil parish of Broad Town in 1884 the greater part of Thornhill came within the new parish. (fn. 31)

The tithings were once linked by a network of tracks. Along the roads, which now connect the hamlets, there has been a certain amount of peripheral settlement. Small wayside cottages stand along the road to Calne, especially along that part of it known as the Barton, and along the road called Wood Street, which leads north from the village of Clyffe Pypard.

No main roads run through the parish. A minor road, which leads through Bushton and skirts the village of Clyffe Pypard, links the parish eventually with the main road from Wootton Bassett to Chippenham in the north and the main road from Swindon to Marlborough in the south. Besides this road, which climbs the escarpment beyond Clyffe Pypard village, another road up the hill was made a little to the west in 1862. (fn. 32) Numerous rough tracks also ascend the hill, leading to the chalk downland where, until finally inclosed in the 19th century, the open fields of Clyffe Pypard, Thornhill, and Broad Town lay. The only houses in the upland part of the parish are the two or three farms, presumably created during the 18th century when the inclosure of the open fields was in progress. Nonsuch Farm was formed out of open-field land in this way, as is shown below. (fn. 33) Nebo Farm, another downland farm, was obliterated during the Second World War when an airfield was made in this part of the parish. (fn. 34) Since the war, however, this land has again become farm land.

In 1334 the largest contribution from the parish to the fifteenth levied that year came from the tithing of Thornhill, which contributed 42s., Broad Town made the next highest contribution (40s.), followed by Clyffe Pypard, and Bushton (both 34s.), followed by Woodhill (22s.) (fn. 35) In 1377 there were 54 poll-tax payers in Clyffe Pypard, 44 in Broad Town, 42 in Thornhill, 40 in Bushton, and 21 in Woodhill. (fn. 36) A place called 'Boreton', in Cannings hundred, possibly identifiable as Bupton, had 30 taxpayers at this date. (fn. 37) To the Benevolence of 1545 there were 4 contributors in Bushton, 3 in Clyffe Pypard, and 2 in both Thornhill and Broad Town. (fn. 38) Bupton on this occasion was assessed under the hundred of Potterne and Cannings with Highway and Clevancy and its separate contribution cannot be calculated. (fn. 39) To the subsidy of 1576 Clyffe Pypard made a contribution of £5 17s. 8d. and Bushton of £5 os. 2d. (fn. 40) Bupton was again assessed with Highway and Clevancy. (fn. 41) The other tithings in the parish liable for taxation in 1576 were presumably included either under Clyffe Pypard or Bushton. In 1801 the population of the parish was 624. In 1841 it was 933. In 1851 it had dropped to 890 and although it rose to 910 in 1861 it dropped in the next two decades and was 777 in 1881. In 1891, after the creation of the civil parish of Broad Town, the population of Clyffe Pypard fell to 427. It continued to decline until 1911 when it was 342, but then began to rise and in 1951 was 519. In 1961, however, it had fallen to 481. (fn. 42)

Several members of the Goddard family, which has been connected with the parish as rectors and lords of the manor for over 400 years, have also played important parts in the affairs of the county. Horatio Nelson Goddard (1806–1900) was active as a J.P. in dealing with the agricultural riots in north Wiltshire in 1830, and in 1860 was High Sheriff. (fn. 43) Edward Hungerford Goddard (1854– 1947) was presented to the living by his uncle, Horatio Nelson Goddard, in 1883 and held it for 52 years. In 1890 he became honorary secretary of the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society and editor of its magazine. In 1909 he became the society's honorary librarian and held all three offices until 1942. Among his many writings on Wiltshire subjects his Wiltshire Bibliography, issued by the county council in 1929, deserves special mention. (fn. 44) Thomas Stephens (1549?–1619), Jesuit missionary and author, was the son of Thomas Stephens of Bushton. He is not known, however, to have had any influence in the parish. (fn. 45) Sir Edward Nicholas (1593–1669), secretary of state to Charles I and Charles II, was educated for four years in the house at Bushton of his uncle Richard Hunton. (fn. 46)

The civil parish of BROAD TOWN was created in 1884 out of parts of Clyffe Pypard and Broad Hinton. Until then Broad Town had been a tithing of Clyffe Pypard, although some of it was situated geographically in Broad Hinton. As explained above, (fn. 47) Broad Town manor in fact lay in the Broad Hinton part of the tithing, but its descent is traced below along with the descents of those manors actually situated within the parish of Clyffe Pypard. (fn. 48) The manors of Cotmarsh and Bincknoll, however, which were brought within the new parish of Broad Town in 1884, were not part of the former tithing of Broad Town and their histories are reserved for treatment with the parish of Broad Hinton, in which they originally lay.

The parish of Broad Town is roughly rectangular in shape and stretches about 2 miles from north to south and approximately the same distance from east to west. (fn. 49) Its area is 2,040 a. Almost the whole parish lies on the Kimmeridge Clay, although its southern boundary runs along the top of the northwest facing escarpment of the Lower Chalk Terrace, thus bringing within the parish the steep slope of the chalk escarpment and the belts of Gault and Greensand, which run beneath it. Below the escarpment the land lies at around 300 ft. Above it reaches over 600 ft. The only woodland in the parish is Binck- noll Wood, situated in the south-east corner on the slope of the escarpment. One of the streams, later forming the Brinkworth Brook, rises at the foot of the escarpment and flows through Broad Town village and northwards out of the parish.

Only two roads run through the parish, both on an approximately north-south course. The larger is the secondary road between Wootton Bassett and Broad Hinton, which for nearly a mile forms the village street of Broad Town. At its southern end in 1773 it took a sharper easterly turn before climbing the hill than it does in 1968, and left the parish by the now disused Horn Lane. (fn. 50) The northern end of the same road was called Broad Town Lane at the earlier date and is still so-called. The smaller road runs on an almost parallel course roughly ½ mile to the west, turning eastwards at its southern end to join the secondary road in Broad Town village.

Little evidence of prehistoric settlement has been found, although an axe, thought to date from the Neolithic period or the Bronze Age, was found on Broad Town Hill. (fn. 51) A large earthwork, known as Bincknoll Castle, situated on a chalk promontory in the south-east corner of the parish, is thought to be of medieval date and was possibly once a motteand-bailey castle. (fn. 52) A white horse cut in the chalk above Little Town Farm dates from 1863. (fn. 53) Broad Town village is situated immediately below the hill. Most of its houses are small and undistinguished. A few are timber-framed and thatched but none appears to date from before the 17th century. Broad Town Farm and East Farm lie just to the west of the village street and Broad Town Manor Farm is situated on the east side. Christ Church, built in 1846, is towards the northern end of the street on the east side with the village school almost opposite. (fn. 54) The two Primitive Methodist chapels were also built at this end of the village. (fn. 55) Broad Town's more recent building, including a number of council houses, has been at this end of the village, particularly towards and at Broad Town Lane. The former Wesleyan Methodist chapel at the other end of the village has been converted into a private house and stands at the bottom of Chapel Lane. (fn. 56) Springfield House, almost the only house of any size or pretensions in Broad Town, stands about ¼ mile to the east of the village and dates from c. 1800. In 1773 a house called Caulsess stood on the site. (fn. 57)

Most of Thornhill, a former tithing of Clyffe Pypard, came within the civil parish of Broad Town after 1884, although Thornhill Manor Farm remains just within Clyffe Pypard. (fn. 58) Thornhill lies to the north-west of Broad Town village and in 1968 comprised a few humble dwellings lying along the minor road, known for part of its course as White Way, and leading eventually to the village. This region was in the earlier 20th century settled by a number of families of gipsy origin, who made encampments and later built more permanent shacks and bungalows by the roadside. (fn. 59)

The eastern half of the parish is remarkably unoccupied and is virtually inaccessible by road. Almost the only houses are those belonging to the farms of Little Town, Cotmarsh, and Bincknoll. Bincknoll Farm, an apparently 18th-century house, lies in an extremely isolated position in the southeast corner of the parish. By field paths it is only about 1½ mile from Broad Town village but by road the distance is some 4 miles.

In 1891 the population of the recently-formed civil parish of Broad Town was 483. Over the next 40 years there was little significant change, although the figures tended to drop slightly. In 1951 the number rose to 543 from 441 in 1931. In 1961 it was 503. (fn. 60)

Manors and Other Estates.

There are no fewer than 13 references to 'Clive' in the Domesday Survey of Wiltshire, but it has not been established precisely how many relate to estates situated in Clyffe Pypard. (fn. 61) T.R.E. an estate at 'Clive' was held by Alfric, Burgel, and Godeve. (fn. 62) After 1066 this may have been held by William FitzOsbern, Earl of Hereford, and may have passed to William's son Roger, Earl of Hereford, who forfeited his lands in 1074. Either William or Roger possibly enfeoffed Gilbert de Breteuil in the estate and it is probable that after Earl Roger's forfeiture Gilbert held in chief. (fn. 63) By 1086 Gilbert de Breteuil certainly held the estate, which may be identified with the later main manor of CLYFFE PYPARD, of the king. At the time of the Domesday Survey Ansfrid held 11 hides of the estate of Gilbert. (fn. 64)

At an unknown date the overlordship of the estate apparently passed to the Reviers family, whose founder, Richard, was a kinsman of William (Fitz Osbern), Earl of Hereford. (fn. 65) In 1242 Baldwin (de Reviers), Earl de Lisle (d. 1245), held the estate, reckoned at 1½ knight's fee, in chief. (fn. 66) No more is known of the Reviers overlordship, and it seems that it passed to either Walter Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, or to his successors.

In 1242 the estate was held of Baldwin, Lord de Lisle by Walter Marshal, Earl of Pembroke and Marshal of England (d. 1245). (fn. 67) Either he or his successors subsequently became overlords. Thereafter the estate at Clyffe apparently descended in the same way as that of Hampstead Marshall (Berks.), the chief manor of the Marshals of England. (fn. 68) The last mention of the overlordship occurs in 1428 when Clyffe Pypard was held by Queen Joan (d. 1437), consort of Henry IV. (fn. 69)

Matthew Columbers held the estate of the Earl de Lisle in 1242, and Richard Pipard held of Matthew Columbers at the same date. (fn. 70) Matthew Columbers died childless in c. 1272–3 and was succeeded by his brother Michael. (fn. 71) By c. 1285 Michael was dead and his widow, Joan, surrendered to her father, John de Cobham (d. 1300), all her rights in dower to her former husband's land. (fn. 72) At about the same date Matthew's widow, Maud, who had married Henry, eldest son of John de Cobham, conveyed to her father-in-law certain lands and rents which she held in dower within the manor of Clyffe Pypard. (fn. 73) In this way John de Cobham acquired the whole manor. Before his death in 1300 John de Cobham apparently conveyed Clyffe Pypard to Roger de Cobham, his third son. Roger was described as lord of Clyffe Pypard in 1297 (fn. 74) and had a grant of free warren there in 1304. (fn. 75) He must have died soon afterwards, however, and the manor reverted to his eldest brother Henry (cr. Lord Cobham 1335–6), second husband of Maud Columbers. (fn. 76) In 1306 Henry granted the manor, on terms that are not clear, to a younger son Thomas, who was founder of the Beluncle (Hoo, St. Werburgh, Kent) branch of the Cobham family. (fn. 77) The date of Thomas's death is unknown, but he was still living in 1343 when he presented to the church (see below). Henry, Lord Cobham died in 1339 and was followed by a son (d. 1355), and grandson (d. 1408), both called John. (fn. 78) John, Lord Cobham, the grandson, was impeached in 1397, at which date yet another John Cobham, who was styled 'esquire', possibly a son or grandson of Thomas was holding the manor. (fn. 79) The fee simple of the manor, however, was found to rest with John, Lord Cobham at the time of his impeachment and was claimed by the Crown. (fn. 80) The keepership of Clyffe Pypard was then granted by the king to Thomas Percy, Earl of Worcester, who was executed for treason in 1403. (fn. 81) John, Lord Cobham was pardoned in 1399, but he died in 1408 without surviving issue (fn. 82) and Clyffe Pypard continued to be held by the Beluncle branch of the family, the descendants of Thomas mentioned above. A John Cobham, possibly the same as the John Cobham of 1397 (see above), held it in 1428. (fn. 83) He had two sons, Thomas and Henry, (fn. 84) and presumably one of them succeeded his father at Clyffe Pypard. In 1510 William Cobham, whose relationship to Thomas and Henry is not known, held the manor (fn. 85) and in 1525 Edward Cobham, presumably his son, sold it to William Dauntsey. (fn. 86)

In 1530 William Dauntsey sold the manor to John Goddard of Aldbourne (d. 1542), who was succeeded by his son John Goddard the younger. (fn. 87) On his death in 1567 John the younger was succeeded by his son Thomas (d. 1610). Thomas Goddard's heir was his son Francis, upon whose death in 1652 Clyffe Pypard passed to his son Edward Goddard (d. 1684), who in turn was succeeded by his son and heir Francis (II) Goddard. On his death in 1724, Francis (II)'s son and heir Edward (II) Goddard was a minor and until 1742 his estate was supervised by George Goddard, Francis's bastard son, who lived at Clyffe Pypard. (fn. 88) Edward (II) Goddard died in 1791 and was succeeded by his son Edward (III) Goddard, upon whose death in 1839 the estate passed to his son and heir Horatio Nelson Goddard (d. 1900). He was succeeded by his daughter and heir Frances, the wife of William Wilson. On the death of Frances Wilson in 1940, Clyffe Pypard passed to her son and heir William Werden Wilson (d. 1950), who was in turn succeeded by his son Mr. Peter Werden Wilson, who held the manor in 1968.

After the sale of their Standen Hussey (Berks.) estate in 1719, (fn. 89) the Goddards apparently lived at Clyffe Pypard. The present (1968) manor house, a gabled building of brick, lies in a secluded position just to the north of the church. It was largely rebuilt by H. N. Goddard soon after he succeeded to the manor in 1839. During the rebuilding of the front in 1840 some timber framing of an earlier house was discovered. (fn. 90)

In 1086 Miles Crispin (d. 1107) held a 5-hide estate at 'Clive', which had been held T.R.E. by Harold. (fn. 91) This estate may be identified with the later manor of Broad Town. In a way that has been traced elsewhere the estate became part of the honor of Wallingford (Berks.) (fn. 92) and the overlordship followed the descent of that honor. (fn. 93) The last mention of the Wallingford overlordship occurs in 1385. (fn. 94)

Broad Town was held of Miles Crispin in 1086 by Humphrey. (fn. 95) In 1206 it was held of the honor of Wallingford by Alan Basset (d. 1232–3), who was also lord of the manor of Wootton Bassett. (fn. 96) For the next 120 years the manor of BROAD TOWN passed like Wootton Bassett in the Basset family and came in the same way to Hugh le Despenser, the elder. (fn. 97) On his death in 1326 Broad Town, like Wootton Bassett, was forfeit to the Crown. In 1330 Gilbert of Berwick was appointed keeper and the following year Edward III granted the manor to his kinsman Edward de Bohun (d. 1334). (fn. 98) After Bohun's death it was held in dower by his widow, Margaret (d. 1341), (fn. 99) but in 1337 the manor was regranted to Hugh (IV) Despenser (d.s.p. 1349), grandson of Hugh the elder (see above). (fn. 100) Before his death Hugh (IV) Despenser granted his brother Gilbert Despenser (d. c. 1382) a life interest in the manor. (fn. 101) On the death of Hugh (IV) without issue Broad Town passed to his nephew and heir Edward, Lord Despenser (d. 1375), son of his brother Edward. Edward, Lord Despenser was succeeded by his son Thomas, Lord Despenser (cr. Earl of Gloucester in 1397 and executed 1400). (fn. 102) Thomas, Lord Despenser, granted the manor to Thomas Percy, Earl of Worcester, in 1398, (fn. 103) but the estate was forfeit to the Crown after Worcester's execution in 1403. (fn. 104) At some date after this Broad Town was apparently granted to Edward, Duke of York (d. 1415), the father-in-law of Thomas, Lord Despenser (executed 1400). On his death the estate was again forfeit to the Crown and in 1415 was restored to Isabel, daughter and heir of Thomas, Lord Despenser, jointly with her husband, Richard Beauchamp, Lord Bergavenny (d. 1422). (fn. 105) Isabel married secondly Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick. Both Isabel and her second husband died in 1439. (fn. 106) Isabel's coheirs were George Nevill, Lord Bergavenny (d. 1492), her grandson by her first marriage, and Anne, suo jure Countess of Warwick (d. 1490), her daughter by her second marriage. (fn. 107) The Broad Town estate apparently formed part of the portion of Anne, Countess of Warwick, since in 1487 she conveyed it to Henry VII. (fn. 108) Thereafter it was leased out by the Crown (see below) until 1536 when it was granted to Edward Seymour, later Duke of Somerset (executed 1552). (fn. 109) Thenceforward the manor, like that of Thornhill, descended with the Somerset and Hertford titles until the death of Sarah, Duchess of Somerset in 1692. (fn. 110) By the duchess's will, dated 1686, the manor was devised to trustees for the purpose of creating a charity to provide apprenticeships for poor children born and living in Wiltshire. The estate was made up of four farms, Manor Farm, Ham Farm, Goldborough Farm, and Broad Town Farm. (fn. 111) In 1920 the trustees of the Broad Town Charity sold all 4 farms. (fn. 112)

Broad Town Manor Farm lies to the east of the village street and is a mid-19th-century red-brick house. Broad Town Farm, on the other side of the road, has a date stone on a chimney inscribed '1668 R S'. The house has been subsequently extended and in the mid 20th century was re-roofed.

In 983 land in Clyffe Pypard was granted in quick succession by Ethelred to two thegns, Aethelwine and Aethelmaer. (fn. 113) This land is almost certainly to be identified with the estate later known as BUSHTON, since the inclusion of the above grants in the Codex Wintoniensis leads to the presumption that it was subsequently given to the cathedral priory of Winchester. (fn. 114) In 1086 Bushton was one of the Wiltshire estates of the Bishop of Winchester, which had been allotted for the support of the monks of the cathedral priory. (fn. 115) It was subsequently assigned to the anniversarian of that house and remained among the priory's possessions until the Dissolution. (fn. 116)

In 1541 Bushton was granted to Thomas, Lord Seymour of Sudeley, brother of the Protector Somerset and uncle of Edward VI. (fn. 117) After his attainder and execution for treason in 1549 it reverted to the Crown and was eventually sold in 1553 to William Richmond alias Webb. (fn. 118) Bushton was settled on William's second son Edmund, who succeeded to it in 1580. (fn. 119) Edmund Richmond alias Webb sold it in 1591 to Richard Hunton, the son of William Hunton, of East Knoyle. (fn. 120) In 1622 it was settled upon Richard's son William on the occasion of William's marriage to Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Jaye, alderman of the city of London. (fn. 121) Owing to serious financial difficulties William Hunton appears to have mortgaged it to his brotherin-law Henry Cusse in 1625. (fn. 122) Its subsequent descent is somewhat obscure but in 1638 it was conveyed by Cusse and his wife to Hugh Audley, presumably a trustee. (fn. 123) By c. 1650 Bushton had passed to Francis Wroughton, who still held it in 1657. (fn. 124)

Some time in the 1730s or early 1740s Ralph Broome of Cowage (then a detached part of Compton Bassett) acquired Bushton and settled there. (fn. 125) By his will, dated 1767, he divided his Bushton property amongst his sons, Richard and Francis. (fn. 126) Bushton manor then apparently descended, like Woodhill, to Christopher Edmund Broome (d. 1886), grandson of Francis Broome but was sold soon afterwards and has subsequently had many owners. (fn. 127)

Francis Goddard, lord of the main manor of Clyffe Pypard (d. 1652), apparently acquired part of the Bushton estate some time in the earlier 17th century, (fn. 128) possibly from William Hunton (see above). This small estate, said to be a part of the manor of Bushton, had passed to the Holles family by 1669, when it was settled on the marriage of Francis Holles (later Lord Holles) and Anne Pile. (fn. 129) Francis, Lord Holles died heavily in debt in 1692, and since his son and heir Denzil died before his father's will was proved, his estates were settled in 1697–8 on a cousin, John Pelham, Duke of Newcastle (d. 1711), for payment of his debts. (fn. 130) John, Duke of Newcastle devised the estate at Bushton and other Holles properties to his nephew Thomas Pelham (d. 1768) in 1707. (fn. 131) Thomas Pelham, who assumed the additional surname of Holles, was created Duke of Newcastle in 1715, (fn. 132) and in 1743 he sold the estate, then known as Bushton Farm and reckoned at 80 a., to John Walker of Lyneham. (fn. 133) The farm then descended with the manor of Lyneham until the 19th century. (fn. 134) In c. 1854 the Revd. George Ashe Goddard (d.s.p. 1873), acquired Bushton Farm. (fn. 135) Its subsequent descent is obscure but the farm may have been acquired by Christopher Edmund Broome (d. 1886), and at a later date passed to the Buxtons of Tockenham. (fn. 136)

According to the tithe award Sir John Jacob Buxton (d. 1842), lord of the manor of Tockenham, had in some way before his death acquired an estate of some 345 a. at Bushton. (fn. 137) In 1864 what was apparently the same estate was held by his son Sir Robert Jacob Buxton (d. 1888). (fn. 138) It was presumably this estate, together with Bushton Farm, which was sold in 1913. That year land including Bushton Farm, Smith's Farm, Holly House Farm, and Bellecroft Cottages was sold in lots. (fn. 139) Bushton Farm, Smith's Farm, and Bellecroft were acquired by the county council as smallholdings and in 1968 these still belonged to the county council. (fn. 140)

In the 14th century the manor seems to have been leased by the Anniversarian of St. Swithun's Priory (see above) for terms including one of 12 years. (fn. 141) The priory granted a lease of Bushton to Richard Stephens (d. 1551), Thomas his son, and Richard his grandson in 1533. Richard and Thomas Stephens still farmed at Bushton in 1549. (fn. 142)

The manor-house at Bushton was built by Ralph Broome and has a date-stone on the facade inscribed 1747. (fn. 143) It is a square brick house with stone quoins and moulded architraves. It has a steep pitched roof covered with stone slates. The south front of 5 bays has a central doorway with a semicircular hood on brackets, surmounted by a roundheaded window.

In 1086 3 hides, which formed part of the Bishop of Salisbury's estate at Bishop's Cannings, were held by Quintin. (fn. 144) These 3 hides probably represent the origin of the estate, which eventually became known as the manor of GREAT BUPTON. Bupton continued to be regarded as part of the manor of Bishop's Cannings, and thus held of the Bishop of Salisbury, until the bishop lost Bishop's Cannings in the 17th century. (fn. 145) It also formed part of the bishop's hundred of Cannings. (fn. 146) By 1166 an unidentified estate, reckoned at 2 knights' fees, was held of the bishop by John de Mellepeis. (fn. 147) In 1242–3 John's heir is known to have held land in Clyffe Pypard of the bishop, although the holding was then reckoned to be only 1 knight's fee. (fn. 148) It seems safe to assume, therefore, that the Mellepeis holding was Bupton, although there is no later connexion between the family and the manor.

In 1242–3 the Mellepeis estate in Clyffe Pypard seems to have been held by two men, possibly father and son, both called William Quintin. (fn. 149) In 1255 it was held by William Quintin and William Bubbe, who together owed castle guard service at Devizes castle for the knight's fee they held jointly in Clyffe Pypard. (fn. 150) Some time after this the estate seems to have been split into two distinct parts. One part, which may be identified with the estate known in the 20th century as Lower Bupton, continued to descend in the Quintin family, although the descent is for many years obscure. In 1387 Alice Grandon granted certain lands, which she held in Bupton and Woodhill, to her son Thomas Quintin. (fn. 151) In 1418 John Clyne, presumably a trustee, conveyed to Thomas Quintin certain lands in Bupton, Woodhill, and Corton. (fn. 152) Thomas Quintin conveyed the estate to his son Thomas (II) in 1438. (fn. 153) By 1497 the estate had passed to John Quintin, possibly the son or grandson of Thomas (II). In this year John Quintin conveyed it to his son Walter. (fn. 154) From Walter the estate passed to John (II) Quintin, whose heir was his son John (III). Both Johns died at unknown dates and the land passed to John (III) Quintin's son Michael, who died seised of an estate at Bupton in 1576. (fn. 155) Michael Quintin was succeeded by his son Henry, who in 1600 conveyed an estate described as the manor of Bupton to Gabriel Pile (see below). (fn. 156)

The second estate at Bupton probably originated in that part of the Mellepeis estate held in 1242–3 by William Bubbe (see above). In 1387 Thomas Fraine and Isabel his wife were seised of an estate known as the manor of Bupton. (fn. 157) After the death of Thomas and Isabel Bupton passed to their daughter Alice, wife of Thomas Horne. (fn. 158) Alice Horne was succeeded by her son William Horne (d. 1488), who in turn was succeeded by his son Thomas (d. 1527). (fn. 159) On Thomas's death without issue Bupton was divided among 3 coheirs. These were his sister Elizabeth, wife of Richard Pile, Margaret, possibly a sister or niece, the wife of Robert Edge, and another Elizabeth, again perhaps a sister or niece, the wife of Robert Duckett. (fn. 160)

In 1527 Margaret and Robert Edge conveyed their third to Ambrose and William Dauntsey. (fn. 161) In 1531 William Dauntsey reconveyed it to John Goddard. (fn. 162) This third then passed with the main manor of Clyffe Pypard until 1601, when John's grandson Thomas Goddard conveyed it to Gabriel Pile. (fn. 163) Elizabeth and Richard Pile were succeeded in their third by their son William, who was at an unknown date succeeded by his son Thomas (d. 1561). (fn. 164) Thomas Pile acquired the Duckett third in 1550, held at that date by Owen Duckett, presumably the son of Elizabeth and Robert Duckett. (fn. 165) Thomas Pile was succeeded by his son and heir Gabriel, who in 1601 acquired the Edge third (see above). In this way the estate was reunited.

In 1600 Gabriel Pile acquired the other manor of Bupton (Lower Bupton) from Henry Quintin (see above), and this estate, together with that formerly held by the Horne family, became known in the 17th century as the manor of Great Bupton. (fn. 166) Gabriel Pile (d. 1626) was succeeded by his son and heir Francis (d. 1648), whose coheirs were his three daughters, Anne, wife of Francis, Lord Holles, Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Strickland, and Jane, wife of Edward Richards. (fn. 167) The manor of Great Bupton seems to have passed to Elizabeth Pile and her husband Thomas Strickland, who in c. 1665 conveyed it to Thomas Benet (d. 1670). (fn. 168) Thomas Benet was succeeded by his son Thomas (II), described as of Salthrop (in Wroughton). (fn. 169) A Thomas Bennet, presumably either Thomas (II) or his son, conveyed the manor to Edward Northey in 1743, presumably in trust. (fn. 170) By 1787 the manor had passed to George St. John, Lord Bolingbroke (d. 1824). (fn. 171) By 1844 Great Bupton had passed to Sir Richard Simeon, who in 1860 sold it to Richard Stratton of Broad Hinton, a well-known cattle breeder. (fn. 172) Stratton's trustees administered the estate in 1903 and by 1927 it was owned by Victor Carr. (fn. 173) A brief description of the sites of Bupton and Lower Bupton farms is given above. (fn. 174)

T.R.E. Stremi held an estate at Thornhill. In 1086 the land had passed to William FitzAnsculf, who also held a nearby estate reckoned at 2 hides, one of which was attached to Gilbert de Breteuil's manor of Clyffe Pypard and the other to Edward of Salisbury's estate at 'Stoche' (the later manor of Bradenstoke). (fn. 175)

It seems probable that the estate held in 1086 by William FitzAnsculf passed in some way to Edward of Salisbury, and he apparently settled it on his daughter Maud and her husband Humphrey (II) de Bohun. The Bohuns and their descendants, the Bohun earls of Hereford and Essex, (fn. 176) remained overlords of THORNHILL. The last mention of the overlordship occurs in 1373 when Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford and Essex (d. 1373), was overlord of the estate, then reckoned at ½ knight's fee. (fn. 177)

In the early 12th century Maud de Bohun and her son Humphrey (III) de Bohun endowed their newlyfounded Cluniac house at Monkton Farleigh with lands including the Thornhill estate. In 1131 Innocent II confirmed the gift of Thornhill and other lands. (fn. 178) The Thornhill estate continued to be held by the Prior and convent of Monkton Farleigh until the dissolution of the house in 1536. (fn. 179)

In 1536 the manor of Thornhill was granted to Edward Seymour, later Duke of Somerset (executed 1552). (fn. 180) Thenceforth until 1692 it descended like that of Broad Town. (fn. 181) In 1686 Sarah, Duchess of Somerset (d. 1692), devised Thornhill to Brasenose College, Oxford, in order to increase the number of scholarships she had already founded there. The Thornhill scholars were to be elected in turn from Manchester, Marlborough, and Hereford schools. (fn. 182) Thornhill, which comprised four farms, (fn. 183) was still held by Brasenose in 1968.

Thornhill Manor Farm is a T-shaped house built of chalk-stone faced with brick. The oldest part of the house forms the trunk of the T and may originate from 1596, the date on a plaque discovered in an outbuilding and set in the wall of the house in the 20th century. (fn. 184) The plaque, which appears to be inscribed 'Comes de Hertford 1596', was placed in a stable wall in 1724, (fn. 185) the date when the house was probably being restored and the tall cross-wing was built on to the south-east end. The house is known to have been in need of repair in 1696 when it was reckoned that £200 would have to be spent on it before any tenant would take it. (fn. 186) The new crosswing may have replaced the solar of the earlier house and a small sketch of this house as it was in 1706 supports the suggestion. (fn. 187) The new wing has a south-east elevation of five bays with mullioned and transomed windows and a coved cornice. Within are some contemporary panelled rooms and a central staircase. Accounts for the building works of 1723–4 survive. (fn. 188) The architect was a Mr. Townsend. (fn. 189) Wood in various forms came from Wootton Bassett, Tockenham, and Cricklade, and paving stone from Swindon. The older house may have been faced with brick at this date to match the new building, although no references to brick in large quantities have been noticed among the accounts. Among the windows made were 13 casements for the new wing, then called the 'best end of the house'. A parlour and hall were panelled, as were two rooms above. (fn. 190) These may possibly have been the parlour and hall said in 1726 to be reserved for holding the manorial courts. (fn. 191) A new garden, enclosed by a ditch, was made in 1724 and many trees were planted. (fn. 192)

In 1086 an estate at Woodhill, which T.R.E. was held by Eddulf, formed part of the estates of the Bishop of Bayeux and was held of the bishop by his tenant Odo. (fn. 193) Part, at least, of the estate eventually passed to William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke (d. 1231), since in 1233 his widow Eleanor was granted dower rights in an estate at Woodhill, which at that date was in the hands of a royal keeper, Michael son of Nicholas. (fn. 194) The overlordship of the Marshals is last mentioned in 1242–3 when Walter Marshal, Earl of Pembroke (d. 1245), was lord. (fn. 195)

By the early 13th century Woodhill was held of the Earl of Pembroke by a number of tenants. By 1233 Richard Suard held land there of the earl, (fn. 196) and in 1242–3 John St. Quintin held a fifth of a knight's fee in Woodhill of the same overlord. (fn. 197) The bulk of the estate, however, appears to have been held by the Escorcheville family. Richard Escorcheville (fl. 1204), of Hintlesham (Suff.), apparently held the lands, but at an unknown date forfeited them to the king. (fn. 198) In 1248 the king granted the manor of WOODHILL to Theobald de Engleschevill. (fn. 199) He enfeoffed his son William in the estate in 1250 (fn. 200) but evidently retained rights in the manor. On Theobald's death Woodhill apparently escheated to the Crown, but in 1262 the manor was restored to his son William. (fn. 201) William de Engleschevill was dead by 1269 when his widow Alice had dower rights in the estate. At this date Matthew Besil, evidently a kinsman of William de Engleschevill, died seised and was succeeded by his son John. (fn. 202) John, who died some time after 1280, was succeeded by his son Edward (d. 1304), who was in turn succeeded by his son Peter (d. 1327). (fn. 203) The estate was then held in turn by Peter's son Matthew (II) (d. 1361), (fn. 204) and grandson Peter (II), who in 1381 conveyed the estate to William Wroughton and his son William. (fn. 205)

The elder William Wroughton died in 1392, and was succeeded by his son William. (fn. 206) William (II) Wroughton died in 1408 and in 1409 the manor was delivered to his widow Margaret. (fn. 207) It eventually passed to William (II)'s son John (d. 1496). (fn. 208) Woodhill was then held successively by John's son Christopher (d. 1515), (fn. 209) grandson William (III) (d. 1558), (fn. 210) and great-grandson Thomas (d. 1597). (fn. 211) On the death of Thomas Woodhill presumably passed to his son Giles, who in c. 1640 sold his Broad Hinton estate. (fn. 212) It may have been at this date that he sold Woodhill.

In 1656 Woodhill Park, as the estate was then called, was held by Hugh Audley, presumably a trustee who had acquired it from the Wroughtons. (fn. 213) Woodhill eventually passed to Ralph Broome the elder (d. 1768), who by his will of 1767 devised it to his son Francis (d. 1795). (fn. 214) Francis apparently settled the land on his son Richard Pinniger Broome (d. 1836). (fn. 215) He was succeeded by his nephew Christopher Edmund Broome (d. 1886), who in turn was succeeded by his son Edmund Broome, Vicar of Hurst (Berks.), who held the estate in 1903. (fn. 216) By 1923 the Broomes had sold Woodhill to their tenant, Ernest Pritchard, (fn. 217) who lived there until his death in 1963. (fn. 218)

The house of Woodhill Park consists of two ranges built back to back, the older and lower being an 18th-century house of red brick. The later and higher range, which faces south-east, was designed and built by Richard Pace of Lechlade (Glos.) in 1804 (fn. 219) when Christopher Broome acquired the estate (see above). It has a mansard roof and is of red brick with stone dressings. It has a central classical porch with flanking Venetian windows. At eaves level there is a central gable containing a semi-circular window and a shaped parapet has vases at either end.

The descent of a number of smaller estates in Clyffe Pypard can be partially traced. T.R.E. an estate, which paid geld for 8 hides, was held by Edwin. By 1086 the same lands were held by Humphrey Lisle. (fn. 220) Subsequently the lands passed to the Dunstanvilles on the marriage of Adeliza, daughter of Humphrey Lisle, to Reynold de Dunstanville, lord of the barony of Castle Combe. (fn. 221) The estate at Clyffe was thenceforth held under the barony of Castle Combe and descended with it until at least the 15th century. The last mention of the overlordship occurs in 1454. (fn. 222)

In 1086 Humphrey Lisle's tenant was Robert. (fn. 223) By 1242–3 Ralph Lovel held a knight's fee at Clyffe of Walter de Dunstanville (d. 1269). (fn. 224) The estate apparently remained in the Lovel family and in 1330 was held by the heirs of Ralph Lovel. (fn. 225) The subsequent descent is obscure but it seems that the estate was acquired at some date by the Cobhams. In 1454 the heirs of Agnes, Lady Cobham, second wife of Lord Cobham (d. 1355), held an estate at Clyffe of the barony of Castle Combe. (fn. 226) The land evidently remained in the Cobham family and eventually passed to their successors the Brookes, descending with the barony of Cobham of Kent, (fn. 227) and was held in 1547 by George Brooke, Lord Cobham (d. 1558). (fn. 228) The descent has not been traced further and it must be presumed that the lands merged with others in the parish.

As well as the main manor of Clyffe Pypard Gilbert de Breteuil also held Stanmore in the southeast of the parish. (fn. 229) His tenant in 1086 was Ansfrid. Before the Conquest Stanmore had been held by Bruning, who paid geld for 2½ hides. Hamon of Beckhampton held it along with Beckhampton (in Avebury) of Matthew Columbers in 1242–3. (fn. 230) Like the manor of Clyffe Stanmore seems to have passed to a younger branch of the Cobhams. In 1323 Thomas Cobham acquired a small estate which had been in the possession of John of Stanmore. (fn. 231) Whether this little estate became part of the larger one which passed from the Cobhams to the Goddards is not clear, but it seems likely.

The lands of the Barnard family at Broad Town were among the more important of the lesser estates. The estate may have originated in the additional hide at Broad Town held in 1086 by Miles Crispin. (fn. 232) By 1242–3 the overlordship of the estate was held by William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke (d. 1245). (fn. 233) Thenceforth the overlordship descended like that of the main manor of Clyffe Pypard (see above), and is last expressly mentioned in 1428. (fn. 234)

During the later 12th century Robert Barnard held an estate at Broad Town. (fn. 235) By 1201 he had been succeeded in the lands by his son Hugh, who granted ½ hide at Broad Town to Alan Basset (d. 1232–3), who held the main estate there. (fn. 236) Michael Barnard, perhaps Hugh's son, held land at Broad Town reckoned at ½ knight's fee of the Earl Marshal in 1242–3. (fn. 237) The estate remained in the Barnard family. At some date before his death in 1348 John Barnard the elder seems to have enfeoffed his son John in the estate. The younger John subsequently regranted his father and mother, Agnes (d. 1349), a life estate in the lands. (fn. 238) By 1366 Robert (II) Barnard held ½ knight's fee in Broad Town of the Earl Marshal. (fn. 239) By 1428 the lands had passed, presumably by marriage, to William Horne (d. 1488), who in that year held lands formerly of John Barnard at Broad Town in right of his wife. (fn. 240) The lands then descended like the Horne estate at Bupton and eventually passed to their successors, the Pile family. (fn. 241) The last mention of the manor of 'Barnards', as it was then known, occurs in 1561 when Thomas Pile died seised of it. (fn. 242)

The Paryses, like the Barnards, were another family that for long held lands in Broad Town under the overlordship of the earls of Pembroke. (fn. 243) In 1225 Grace, the wife of Thomas de Parys, claimed dower against Richard de Parys for lands at Littleton in Broad Town. (fn. 244) William de Parys held part of a fee 'in the marsh' (i.e. Cotmarsh) of the Earl Marshal in 1242–3, (fn. 245) and the estate was held by Thomas, a descendant, in 1306. (fn. 246) William Parys had lands in Broad Town and Cotmarsh in 1428. (fn. 247) John Parys of Cotmarsh was listed among the freeholders of Kingsbridge hundred in 1607–8, (fn. 248) but no subsequent reference to the family or their lands can be traced.

Besides the manor of Broad Town Hugh Despenser the elder (executed 1326) also had a small estate, which lay partly in Bupton and partly in the neighbouring parish of Berwick Bassett. This was forfeited with the rest of Despenser's estates at the time of his attainder. Later, in 1344, the lands were leased to the king's yeoman, William de Beauvoir, for 10 years. (fn. 249) William de Beauvoir died in 1346 and William of Farleigh became lessee in his place; (fn. 250) in the following year he was made a grant for life. (fn. 251) In 1371 the estate was granted to Stanley Abbey in return for prayers for Queen Philippa's soul. (fn. 252) The estate was held by the abbey until its dissolution in 1536. (fn. 253)

In 1617 Richard Hunton and his son William conveyed a small estate at Upper Woodhill to Thomas Baskerville. (fn. 254) The land remained in the Baskerville family and in 1652 Francis Baskerville, possibly either the son or grandson of Thomas, conveyed Upper Woodhill to John Northover, who in 1659 enfeoffed John Foyle. (fn. 255) By his will of 1671 John Foyle left his land called Woodhill Farm to his daughter Joan Foyle. (fn. 256) By 1732 the land had passed to Edward Foyle, a kinsman and presumably the heir of Joan Foyle, and in this year Edward conveyed land at Upper Woodhill to Ferdinando Gorges, who died in 1737 and devised his land at Woodhill to his kinsman John Beresford. (fn. 257) By 1755 Upper Woodhill had passed to John's brother Richard Beresford, who in 1755 conveyed the land to Ralph Broome (d. 1768), (fn. 258) whose family acquired Woodhill Park later in the 18th century (see above).

Economic History.

Six estates recorded in Domesday can be identified with certainty as lying in Clyffe Pypard. Two were at Clyffe, and the others at Bushton, Thornhill, Woodhill, and Broad Town. (fn. 259) The largest was Gilbert de Breteuil's of about 16 hides at Clyffe. Here on the entire estate, the larger part of which was held under Gilbert by Ansfrid, there was land for 7 ploughs, 66 a. of meadow, 87 a. of pasture, and 18 a. of woodland. The estate supported 26 servile tenants. Gilbert's part was worth 35s. and Ansfrid's £6. (fn. 260) The other estate at Clyffe was that of 8 hides, belonging to Humphrey Lisle. Here there was land for 4 ploughs, and 20 a. each of meadow and pasture. There were 13 servile tenants and also 3 burgesses in Cricklade, who were in some way attached to this manor, which was worth £4. (fn. 261) At Bushton there was the 10-hide estate belonging to the Bishop of Winchester. There was land for 5 ploughs, 30 a. of meadow, and woodland 2 furlongs long by one furlong broad. It had 13 servile tenants. Its value had increased from £3 T.R.E. to £6 in 1086. (fn. 262) A 7½-hide estate at Thornhill, belonging to William FitzAnsculf, had land for 5 ploughs, 11 a. of meadow, pasture 2 furlongs by 2 furlongs, and 10 a. of woodland. There were 15 tenants here and the estate was worth £5. (fn. 263) At Woodhill the Bishop of Bayeux's 6-hide estate had land for 3 ploughs, 12 a. of meadow, pasture 1 furlong by 1 furlong, and woodland 1 furlong by 3 a. There were 11 servile tenants and the estate was worth £4. (fn. 264) At Broad Town there was land for 2 ploughs on Miles Crispin's 5-hide estate, 20 a. of meadow, and 12 a. of pasture. It had been worth 30s. T.R.E. but in 1086 was worth 50s. (fn. 265) Taking these 6 estates together, therefore, there was in Clyffe Pypard in 1086 land for 26 ploughs, 148 a. of meadow, over 100 a. of pasture, and some 28 a. of woodland. But these 6 estates certainly do not represent the entire parish. At least some of the other estates, all called Clive in the Domesday Survey, must have been situated in the parish, later called Clyffe Pypard, although they cannot now be identified with a specific part of it. (fn. 266)

Early in the 13th century Bushton manor was valued at £8. Assized rents produced £2 0s. 2d. and there were 16 oxen on the demesne. (fn. 267) Thornhill, at the same date, was valued at £5 with assized rents worth £3. Here there were 3 cows and 16 oxen. (fn. 268) In 1282 Clyffe manor was valued at £11 4s. 11¾d. (fn. 269) The manor of Broad Town was extended in 1271 (fn. 270) and in 1334. (fn. 271) In 1271 it was valued at £8 19s. 11d. and in 1334 at £8 14s. 6d. At the earlier date there were said to be 154 a. of arable, 12 a. of meadow, together with pasture for 12 oxen and 150 sheep. Arable was valued at 5d. an acre and meadow at 1s., while grazing per head of stock was 6d. for an ox and ½d. for a sheep. Assized rents were valued at £2 14s. In 1334 120 a. of arable were worth 6d. an acre when sown, but otherwise nothing because they lay in common. There were 6 a. of meadow worth 2s. 6d. an acre and another 6 a. worth only 2s. an acre. A pasture called 'la lake' was valued at 9s. during the spring and summer months and at 3s. 4d. during the winter. There was a sheep pasture worth 6s. 8d. There were two free tenants paying rents, and one virgater who held a virgate for which he paid rent and either performed certain mowing and reaping services or made payments in lieu. There were 10 customary tenants, who held ½ virgate each and also paid rent and owed the same services as the virgater. There were 10 cottars who paid rent in lieu of all services. On the same manor in 1341 a money value was given to all customary works. Assized rents at the same date were reckoned to be £3 a year. (fn. 272)

The manor of Bushton, which in 1086 was allotted to St. Swithun's Priory, Winchester, for the support of the monks, (fn. 273) was by the end of the 14th century assigned to the anniversarian of that house. (fn. 274) The profits of Bushton were apparently the anniversarian's only source of income and in the 1390s these profits consisted of the rent of the farm, the proceeds of two views of frankpledge, and the pannage of pigs. (fn. 275) The manor was at this time held on a 12year lease at an annual rent of £16. Total annual profits in 1394–6 were about £17. Out of these, the anniversarian, who was also styled keeper (custodis) of Bushton, had to meet all the expenses of his office. While these were mainly concerned with the celebration of the anniversaries of founders and benefactors of St. Swithun's, they also included certain administrative costs, such as visits by the anniversarian and his servants to Bushton. In 1395 the anniversarian seems to have spent 10 weeks there. (fn. 276) In 1534–5 total income was about £18, made up in much the same way as in the later 14th century, but including an annual payment of 12d. called Monken Eve. (fn. 277)

In 1549 when Bushton was in the keeping of Sir John Thynne, receiver for crown estates, the manor was surveyed. (fn. 278) Profits were still worth £18. The site of the manor was let to Richard Stephens, who had right of common for 200 sheep. There were 5 copyholders and 7 customary tenants, but no freeholders. There were 2 commons called the Hurst and the Marsh, totalling 60 a. The arable lay in an East and a West Field, which later evidence shows lay at the top of the cliff, usually described as being 'above the hill'. Monken Eve was still payable.

In 1542 when both Thornhill and Broad Town manors formed part of the Seymour estates, the demesne farms of both were leased to John Garrard. (fn. 279) For Thornhill Garrard paid a fine of £26 16s. and undertook to provide Seymour's steward and other officers with food, lodging, and fodder when they came to hold the manor courts and inspect the farm. At Broad Town in the later 16th century there were 161 a. of demesne leased to Garrard. In the open fields above the hill there were 34 a. of arable in the West Field and 17 a. in the East Field. But most of the land lay below the hill, where some inclosure of both pasture and arable had taken place. (fn. 280) A two-acre piece of pasture had recently been inclosed at Kedmeade, and another ten-acre piece next to Lake Hedge. Sixteen acres of arable called 'Craskine' had also been inclosed, and another 7 a. near Calcroft corner. (fn. 281)

A survey of Broad Town and Thornhill made in 1587 and revised in 1601 shows that at Broad Town, in addition to the leaseholder of the manor farm, there were 7 customary tenants with holdings ranging from 17 half-acres to 138 a. (fn. 282) There were 2 freeholders, one with 30 a., the other, who was the lord of the neighbouring manor of Clyffe Pypard, with 22 a. Meadowland had been inclosed at Ham Marsh, in the north of Thornhill tithing, in Woodmeade, Homemeade, and the Overclose. Pasture had been inclosed in Thornhill Marsh, and Cotmarsh (which lay to the east), and in Redhill, which had inclosed arable as well. Arable had also been inclosed in Whitelands. In all some 109 a. of inclosure are mentioned in the survey of 1587.

Acreage inclosed at Thornhill at this date was almost three times as much, namely 282 a. Meadow had been inclosed at Galworth and 'Brandier' and in the fields next to Thickthorn and above Thornhill. Inclosed pasture lay in Cotmarsh and Thornhill Marsh. Arable had been inclosed at Gableworth, Lynehill, Whiteland, and Cleyfield. Other inclosed land lay in 'le Mores', above Deacons Mills, next to 'Gouldeborowe', and in separate fields sub montem, that is at the base of the slopes of the escarpment. There were also 6 a. of inclosed land in Elstub furlong, possibly an instance of inclosure already having been made in the common fields above the hill. The only tenant at will had recently erected a dwelling on the manorial waste. Roger Garrard held the manor farm on long lease; this comprised 198 a., 61 of which lay inclosed just below the hill. Sheep stint at Thornhill was 2 to the acre. It was the same in the open fields of Broad Town, while in the pasture grounds on the hillside it was 2 sheep to the yardland, or one per half-yardland. The custom of both Thornhill and Broad Town manors forbade the leasing of tenements for more than a year and a day without permission of the court leet. Customary lands were let for 1, 2, or 3 lives, according to the agreement made between tenant and lord. Heriots were the best beast for a yardland, 3s. 4d. for half a yardland, and 20d. for a quarter of a yardland or a cottage. Receipts from Thornhill amounted to £13 2s. 4d. in 1588, and included £5 3s. 3d. customary rents and £6 for the leasehold of the manor farm. Those from Broad Town totalled £10 13s. 9d., and included £6 15s. 10d. in customary rents and £3 9s. 2d. for leaseholds.

During the 16th and 17th centuries some of the principal landowners in the parish met with financial difficulties. The Quintins of Bupton, who were more highly assessed than many other local families to the subsidy of 1576, (fn. 283) had by 1617 been forced to part with all their lands. (fn. 284) It is not unlikely that their ruin played some part in the decay and depopulation of Bupton. (fn. 285) Moreover, evidence suggests that the financial difficulties of the Huntons of Bushton, most acute in the third and fourth decades of the 17th century, forced not only them, but also their neighbours, the Wroughtons, of Broad Hinton, who stood bondsmen for them, to sell off their lands. (fn. 286) Financial distress entailed the spoliation and decay of the family property at Bushton and Woodhill. The plight of William Hunton, which led eventually to a debtor's gaol, is described in his correspondence with his cousin Sir Edward Nicholas. (fn. 287) Timber was felled to pay debts in 1632, (fn. 288) and two years later it was proposed to sell a sheep-house and some additional timber on the hill above Bushton. (fn. 289) Throughout the years of indebtedness and legal wrangle the Hunton estate declined through neglect and mismanagement. (fn. 290) The financial difficulties of the Goddards were less severe, although they occurred at the close of the 17th century. During the lifetime of Francis Goddard (d. 1724) the family's Berkshire estates were sold off and the Clyffe Pypard property mortgaged and continually re-mortgaged. (fn. 291) At least until the mid 1730s a receiver of rents, appointed by one of the mortgagees, had surveillance of the Clyffe Pypard estate. (fn. 292)

Clyffe Pypard manor was surveyed in 1684. (fn. 293) There were 6 leasehold and 7 copyhold tenants. The principal farm of the estate comprised 172 a., much of which lay in small strips in the furlongs of the open fields. It was held by John Pyke, whose family had been tenants since 1634. Other leaseholds were small. They included 24 a. of pasture called 'Rosyers' and a 5-acre coppice near Cleeve Wood. Four copyholders occupied yardlands, or parts of yardlands, and one held a watermill. Fines for the leaseholds ranged from £3 to £43 and for the copyholds from £2 to £100. In 1699 the annual value of the leaseholds was £443 and the copyholds £61 10s. (fn. 294)

Little information survives about the other estates in the 17th century. The size of Bupton Farm can be estimated from the fact that in 1601 a third share, owned by Thomas Goddard, amounted to 112 a. (fn. 295) The annual value of the whole estate was reckoned by its owner, Gabriel Pile, to be £200 in 1634. (fn. 296) At the end of the century trustees appointed to administer the Duchess of Somerset's Broad Town Charity were responsible for an estate of about 575 a., divided into 4 farms (Manor Farm, Broad Town Farm, Goldborough, and Ham Farms), ranging in size from 33 a. to 250 a. (fn. 297) Significant innovations took place in the management of this estate, the most notable being the ending of leases for lives. This was replaced by a lease of 21 years, and the farms let at rack-rents. (fn. 298)

No mention is made of inclosure on Clyffe Pypard manor before the beginning of the 17th century, but on the evidence of what had taken place on the manors of Thornhill and Broad Town (see above) the movement was probably already well under way. A lease of Warrens, on Clyffe Pypard manor, in 1603 included a close of pasture 'late divided and severed from part of the common ground of the manor'. (fn. 299) This inclosed pasture was to compensate for the loss of rights of common pasture for feeding 6 beasts. Another lease of 1634 included a parcel of meadow recently taken out of a pasture ground called Layfield. (fn. 300) The manor's open-field arable on the chalk uplands was in process of being inclosed as the century drew on: a late-17thcentury particular mentions that Clyffe Farm included 12 a. of arable inclosed in Clyffe field. (fn. 301) In 1711 a tenant farmer surrendered to Francis Goddard 55 a. of common-field arable above the hill, and received £40 as compensation. (fn. 302) The taking of land in hand appears to have been another step towards the inclosure of the chalk upland. It was a piecemeal operation which took time to complete, but in the 1730s and 1740s the process was well on the way. In 1733 Nonsuch Farm was leased for 7 years. (fn. 303) Nonsuch was a new farm created out of the lands owned by the Goddards above the hill, and presumably included the 55 a. surrendered to Francis Goddard twenty years before (see above). In 1742 the lands of this farm apparently lay in two compact blocks, (fn. 304) and the following year its new buildings had been completed and 500 chains of hedge set. (fn. 305)

As shown above, a considerable amount of land had been inclosed at Thornhill by 1588, and it must be presumed that the process continued steadily during the 17th century. In 1706, some twenty years after the manor had been given to Brasenose College, Oxford, the total of all inclosure was 616 a. while 113 a. still lay dispersed in the common fields of the manor. (fn. 306) There were three fields, situated on the chalk uplands, named the Little or East Field, the Middle Field, and the West Field. All three were divided into furlongs (5 in the Little or East Field, 7 in the Middle Field, and 10 in the West Field) and within the furlongs tenants had small scattered pieces, known as ridges, mostly ranging from ¼ a. to 1 a. (fn. 307) By an Inclosure Act of 1822 the open fields of Thornhill and Broad Town were inclosed. (fn. 308) These were divided into eight parcels. The trustees of the Broad Town Charity were allotted 104 a., Brasenose College 132 a., and Edward Goddard 30 a., 16 of which he received as tithe-owner, while the remainder he bought from the other allottees.

In 1702 the Goddard estate in Clyffe Pypard totalled 753 a., and included 13 properties between 2 a. and 195 a. in size. (fn. 309) Lands called the Farm and the Demesne together totalled 310 a. There were 21 a. of woodland. In the time of Edward Goddard (d. 1839) there were nearly 200 a. in hand, threequarters being recently inclosed arable above the hill. (fn. 310) The remainder of his lands were let at rackrents for £490, which together with revenue from other sources, gave him an income of £870 in 1799, not including the profits of his own farming. (fn. 311) Outgoings took over £540, including £293 in interest to sundry creditors. The Goddard farming venture suffered a setback in 1779 when buildings and ricks of corn were burned down at Nonsuch. (fn. 312) Farming, however, continued to be one of the principal interests and chief sources of income to the family until the death of Horatio Nelson Goddard in 1900. This member of the family farmed over 500 a. and also held the beneficial lease of the Brasenose estate at Thornhill. (fn. 313)

The Brasenose estate was made up of four farms: Thornhill Manor Farm, and South, North, and East Farms. In 1734 the Manor Farm comprised 265 a. with 35 a. of arable above the hill; South Farm had 117 a. with 41 a. of arable above the hill; North Farm 112 a. with no arable above the hill; East Farm had 118 a. with 36 a. of arable above the hill. (fn. 314) East Farm was valued at some £117 in 1734, South Farm and North Farm at £110 and £90 respectively in 1736. (fn. 315) In c. 1752 Manor Farm was valued at some £152 with half of all its arable land lying above the hill. (fn. 316)

Dairy farming was established as the chief enterprise in the farming of the clay lowlands of the parish at least by the early 18th century. In 1734 at Rebbel Farm (145 a.) there was a herd of 20 cows and heifers producing 20 score of cheeses. (fn. 317) At Thornhill Farm (301 a.), in 1752, it was reckoned that 19 cows ought to produce 2 tons of cheese. (fn. 318) At Bushton Farm (298 a.), valued in 1781 at £235 a year, there was in 1795 a dairy of 37 cows and heifers, which by August of that year had produced 37 cwt. of cheese. (fn. 319) Both Rebbel and Bushton Farms carried flocks of sheep: at Rebbel there were 46 sheep and lambs, and at Bushton 187. (fn. 320) When Richard Stratton bought Woodhill Park in 1861, he used the traditional sheep grounds on the slopes of the escarpment for running the young stock of his pedigree Shorthorn herd, although he was scorned for this by the local farmers. (fn. 321) In 1966 at Woodhill and Bupton young stock and store cattle continued to graze the steeper slopes, but throughout the parish sheep numbers were few. Dairying was the mainstay of most farmers. The distinction between upland arable and lowland grazing was still apparent, although crops of corn and potatoes were to be seen among the lower pasturelands.

Since the 19th century most of the larger estates have been divided up or have lost some of their land. The Broad Town farms were sold off in 1920. (fn. 322) Bushton Farm, with one or two other small farms, was bought by the county council in 1913 and converted into small holdings. (fn. 323) Part of the Goddard estate was sold off in 1901 and in the 1940s Parsonage Farm and Wood Street Farm, belonging to the same estate, were sold. The three remaining farms, namely Home Farm, Rosyiers, and Nonsuch were in the 1960s all let to one tenant. (fn. 324) All the Brasenose College lands were likewise farmed by one tenant. (fn. 325) Some owner-occupied farms, namely Woodhill Park, Lower Bupton, and the former airfield were large, but for the most part the farms of Clyffe Pypard in the 1960s were small, specializing in dairy farming.

Two of the six estates mentioned above had mills at the time of the Domesday Survey: (fn. 326) those of Gilbert de Breteuil and William FitzAnsculf. (fn. 327) Each was worth 5s. Two other estates which may have been situated in Clyffe Pypard also had mills worth 5s. at that time. (fn. 328) On Sir Philip Basset's manor of Broad Town in 1271 a water mill was worth 13s. 4d. (fn. 329) In the 14th century there was a windmill at Woodhill, which by the middle of the 17th century had fallen into decay. (fn. 330) A water mill at Thornhill was held by Thomas atte Mulle in 1440, and the mill site was held by John Bundeysden, who paid £3 for it. (fn. 331) In 1586 Thornhill mill was held by Thomas Lane, who paid 4s. (fn. 332) A deed of 1616 mentions a water mill belonging to Francis Goddard's estate. (fn. 333) Later evidence reveals that this mill was situated at Broad Town, and may have been the property which Thomas Goddard held in 1586 as a freeholder of the manor of Broad Town. (fn. 334) In 1684 Spackman's 'liveing', a copyhold of Clyffe manor, included a water mill. (fn. 335) A copyhold, including a mill, called Watson's Mill, millhouse, and meadow, situated at Broad Town was conveyed in 1709 by Francis Goddard to Thomas Garlick of Thornhill for a peppercorn rent. (fn. 336) By 1734 this mill was known as Broad Town Mill and a lease of it that year included the toll and custom due for grinding corn in the tithing of Thornhill. (fn. 337) Some time in the 19th century the mill was converted into a brewery. In 1885 it was owned by Samuel Hart and was in the hands of his executors in 1903. It was closed soon after this. (fn. 338)

Local Government.

A few court rolls and papers survive for the manors of Thornhill, Broad Town, and Clyffe Pypard. For Thornhill there is a broken series of rolls of the view of frankpledge held there, apparently twice-yearly, between 1427 and 1452. (fn. 339) There is also a court roll of 1493 for the same manor in which certain tenants of Marston Farm, which formed part of the manor, are shown to be liable for annual contributions to the larder of the lord of the manor. (fn. 340) There are also a few 18th-century court rolls for this manor among the records of Brasenose College, Oxford. (fn. 341) For the manor of Broad Town there is a court book for 1587–1614, showing the court meeting once a year and concerning itself chiefly with the condition of roads and ditches on the manor. (fn. 342) So far as is known the earliest records to survive for the capital manor of Clyffe Pypard are a court book of 1727–1808 and some accompanying papers. (fn. 343) By this date the court was held at irregular intervals, often only once in two years. Presentments of minor agrarian offences continued to be made and the ending of lives in copyhold tenancies were recorded.

The surviving parish records begin in the mid 17th century and contain a detailed picture of parish government from that date. (fn. 344) Their contents can only be summarized here. By the 17th century the large and widely scattered parish was divided for administrative purposes into the four tithings of Clyffe Pypard, Bushton with Bupton and Woodhill, Thornhill, and Broad Town. (fn. 345) Rates were levied on these four tithings separately. Responsibility for providing the parish's two churchwardens apparently fell in the earlier 18th century upon certain farms. In 1720, for example, one churchwarden was said to be elected for Bushton Farm, the other for Broad Town Farm. (fn. 346) Only after the middle of the 18th century was one churchwarden said to be elected for the vicar and the other for the parish. (fn. 347) A considerable number of churchwardens' accounts survive, beginning in the mid 17th century. (fn. 348) The office of overseer of the poor seems likewise in the earlier 18th century to have been attached to certain farms in the parish. In 1720 one overseer was elected for Thornhill Farm, the other for Broad Town Farm. (fn. 349) In 1825 a salaried general overseer was appointed for seven years at the annual wage of £21 to be paid from the parish poor rates together with £2 from each of the two unpaid overseers. (fn. 350) Two years later the contributions from the overseers were discontinued and the salaried overseer's wage raised to £27, all to come from the poor rates. (fn. 351) A number of overseers' accounts survive, showing the same poor families to have continued year after year in the direst need of assistance. (fn. 352)

There was evidently a church house in which the poor were housed in the earlier 17th century. (fn. 353) In 1662 this was in a ruinous condition and in 1673 the overseers received £5 towards building a new one. (fn. 354) In 1699 over £18 was spent on building a church house and in 1709 the remainder of the 'Church House money' was used to erect three more dwellings for the poor. (fn. 355)

Waymen were appointed at least as early as 1666. Four were appointed that year for the tithings mentioned above. (fn. 356) They were nominated by the churchwardens and elected by the vestry and after 1718 were given the title of supervisor of the highways. (fn. 357) In the course of the 19th century many of the tracks and lanes connecting the scattered farmsteads, and previously maintained by the farmers concerned, were transferred to the care of the supervisors. (fn. 358) A supervising waywarden for the whole parish was appointed in 1866. (fn. 359) In 1842 eight parish constables were appointed. (fn. 360)

The first minutes of vestry meetings begin in 1820. (fn. 361) At this date the vestry met in the belfry of the parish church and seems to have comprised the more substantial ratepayers. Throughout the earlier 19th century, besides meeting to elect the parish officers, the vestry was much concerned with the state of employment and the level of agricultural wages. Attempts were made to deal with unemployment among the agricultural labourers by a system of billeting subsidized from the poor rates. In the summer of 1821 the vestry fixed the wage of mowers at 10s. a week, that of other labourers at 8s. and those of women at 3s. In 1827 the ordinary labourers' wages were fixed by the vestry at 7s. weekly. At the same time the billeting system was ended and the vestry decided that farmers should employ a certain number of men allotted to them. In 1842 a fund was raised to assist parishioners wishing to emigrate and the vestry appointed a committee to manage it. A salaried vestry clerk was appointed in 1846.

After the creation of the consolidated chapelry of Christ Church, Broad Town, in 1844 Clyffe Pypard and Broad Town were divided into five tithings, namely Clyffe Pypard, Bushton, Thornhill (St. Peter's district), Thornhill (Christ Church district), and Broad Town (Christ Church district). (fn. 362) These last two tithings were formed into the civil parish of Broad Town in 1884 and after 1893 Clyffe Pypard and Broad Town were governed by separate parish councils. (fn. 363)

Churches.

The church of Clyffe Pypard is first mentioned in 1273 in terms which imply that it was then well established. (fn. 364) In 1400 Lacock Abbey was granted licence to appropriate it, (fn. 365) since when the living has been a vicarage. As will be shown below, there was probably a chapel at Woodhill in 1340 and another at an unknown date at Bushton. Apart from these two chapels, which were clearly very small and about which very little is known, the large and scattered parish was served by a single church until 1846 when the consolidated chapelry of Broad Town was created and Christ Church, Broad Town, was built. In 1954 the benefices of Clyffe Pypard and Tockenham were joined to be held in plurality. (fn. 366)

The advowson of the rectory seems to have belonged to the lords of the capital manor by 1273, for in that year Matthew Columbers and his wife Maud successfully defended their right to the next presentation against Robert Pipard, their immediate overlord. (fn. 367) It is not known when a vicarage was ordained but vicars were presented by the rectors in 1304, 1328, and 1334 (fn. 368) and it seems likely that the vicarage was always presentative. In 1333 Thomas Cobham, who had a grant of the manor from his father, presented John de Hoby as rector but the next year the king presented to the vicarage and Hoby did not present as rector until 1342. (fn. 369) In the mean time, in 1340, the advowson had been disputed between Thomas Cobham and his elder brother John. (fn. 370) Thomas, however, retained it and in 1342 pledged it to William of Derby as security for a debt of £100. (fn. 371) In 1343 Thomas again presented a rector, (fn. 372) but in 1381 the advowson of the rectory seems to have been leased out, for in 1381 William Wroughton, who in that year acquired the manor of Woodhill, (fn. 373) presented twice. (fn. 374) After John, Lord Cobham's impeachment in 1397, the advowson was not restored to the Cobhams but shortly afterwards passed to John of Maidenhead, Canon of Salisbury and later Dean of Chichester, who in 1399 granted the reversion of it after his death to Lacock Abbey. (fn. 375) Licence for Lacock to appropriate the church was granted in 1399 and received papal confirmation in 1400. (fn. 376) Thereupon the presentation of rectors ceased and the abbesses of Lacock presented to the vicarage. (fn. 377)

From 1421 until the Dissolution vicars were presented by the Abbess of Lacock except in 1435 when John Herring presented. (fn. 378) After the dissolution of Lacock the advowson was acquired in 1540 by John Goddard who had purchased the manor of Clyffe Pypard in 1530. (fn. 379) In 1541 John was licensed to grant the advowson to his eldest son Thomas. (fn. 380) The first presentation to the vicarage by the Goddards, however, does not appear to have been before 1660. (fn. 381) In 1544 Thomas Tymmes, a kinsman of the last Abbess of Lacock, presented; in 1562 Thomas Halknight, notary public; in 1582 the queen; in 1614 Richard Hunton of Bushton; in 1620 the king. (fn. 382) In 1660 Edward Goddard, lord of the manor, presented (fn. 383) and from this date the advowson followed the same descent as the manor of Clyffe Pypard.

The rectory was granted with the advowson in 1540 to John Goddard (d. 1542), and like the advowson was conveyed by John to his son Thomas. (fn. 384) Thomas then apparently leased it to his younger brother Anthony, who lived at Clyffe Pypard and died in 1606. (fn. 385) Anthony's widow married secondly Launcelot Humber, who claimed the rectory in her right and continued to do so after her death. (fn. 386) This led to a long legal tussle in which Humber was eventually defeated and in 1648 the rectory was restored to Francis Goddard (d. 1652), lord of the manor. (fn. 387) Thenceforth the rectory descended with the manor, although in the later 17th and in the 18th centuries it was frequently leased out. (fn. 388)

The church was valued for taxation in 1291 and 1341 at £10. (fn. 389) In 1291 the Prioress of Amesbury had a portion of £2 from the church. (fn. 390) This portion is not heard of again, but from the end of the 12th century Amesbury had the tithes of Woodhill (see below). When the rectory was appropriated to Lacock in 1399 its revenues were assigned to the clothing of the nuns. An annual payment of 6s. 8d. was also to be made to the poor and pensions were assigned to the Bishop of Salisbury, the cathedral chapter, and the Archdeacon of Wiltshire. (fn. 391) In 1535 the rectory was let for £10, the sum at which it was valued in 1291 and 1341 (see above). Expenditure on clothing for the nuns was £8 and the pensions were still being paid to the bishop, chapter, and archdeacon. (fn. 392)

The great tithes due from various parts of the parish were from time to time assigned to certain religious houses. Those at Thornhill were confirmed to the Prior of Monkton Farleigh by Henry I some time between 1129 and 1133. (fn. 393) The tithes of Woodhill were granted to Amesbury Priory in c. 1199 and an annual standing charge of 5s. upon them probably maintained a chantry chapel at Woodhill in the 13th and 14th centuries (see below). At an unknown date the tithes of Broad Town were assigned for the maintenance of a chantry in Wallingford (Berks.). (fn. 394) It is possible that the tithes of Bushton were appropriated by St. Swithun's Priory, Winchester. The rectors, therefore, received tithe from only a fairly small area of the parish. In 1341 a ninth of the corn, wool, and lambs due to the church was reckoned at £7 13s. a year and the tithe of hay at 17s. 4d. (fn. 395)

After the Dissolution, as a result of these early grants, the great tithes continued to be dispersed among a number of owners besides the Goddards, the lay rectors. The stages by which they eventually came into the hands of the Goddards have not been fully traced. Amesbury's tithes at Woodhill passed in 1544 to John Barwicke and in 1562 to John Ayliffe. (fn. 396) These were still held by the Ayliffe family in 1718–19. (fn. 397) In 1596 a third of the tithes of Broad Town was settled on Susan, daughter of Edward Garrard of Trowbridge, on her marriage with John Hodnett of Devizes. (fn. 398) In 1688 another third was purchased by John Atkyns of Sutton Benger from John Carpenter of Clyffe Pypard and two years later Atkyns sold his tithes to William Grinfield of Marlborough. (fn. 399) These were acquired by Edward Goddard in 1772. (fn. 400) Before 1724, however, the Goddards, as lay rectors, had acquired the great tithes from Bushton, Woodhill, and Bupton, worth £81 13s. 6d. a year, and from Broad Town, Thornhill, and Clyffe Pypard, worth £28 1s. annually. (fn. 401) In 1844, when the tithe award was made, the only impropriator of tithe besides the lay rector, Horatio Nelson Goddard, was the Earl of Clarendon. He was awarded a rent charge of 18s. for the tithes of 17 a. in Cleeve Wood and Goddard a rent charge of £435 for all other rectorial tithes. (fn. 402) In 1901 the rent charge was acquired from H. N. Goddard by Thomas Arkell for £5, 250. (fn. 403)

In 1341 the church had a messuage and a virgate of land worth 6s. 8d. (fn. 404) By the late 16th century the rectory estate, known as Parsonage Farm, which lay in the north of the parish, was being farmed with the rest of the Goddard lands. It then included 27 a. of meadow, 52 a. of pasture, and 22 a. of woodland. (fn. 405) Another survey, possibly of a little later date, gives the size of the Parsonage Farm as 200 a. (fn. 406) The farm was sold by the Goddards in the 1940s. (fn. 407)

No evidence has been found of the provisions made to support a vicar after Lacock appropriated the church in 1399. But these had presumably been made at a much earlier date since vicars were serving the church at least as early as 1304. In 1341 they were entitled to certain small tithes (see below). In 1535 the vicar reckoned the value of his vicarage to be £8 14s. 4d. (fn. 408) In 1831 the average net income of the benefice over the past three years was £279. (fn. 409)

The small tithes due to the vicar in 1341 were worth 3s. a year. (fn. 410) In 1671, besides the usual vicarial tithes, the incumbent also received the tithe of hay from certain land in the eastern and northern parts of the parish. (fn. 411) He was still entitled to this in 1783. (fn. 412) In 1799 the vicarial tithes were estimated at £174 18s. (fn. 413) In 1844 these, together with the tithe of hay mentioned above, were commuted for a rent charge of £590. (fn. 414)

Very little land was attached to the vicarage. When John of Maidenhead gave the advowson to Lacock in 1399 he included ½ a. of land in Clyffe Pypard. (fn. 415) This may have provided additional land for the site of the vicarage, for attached to it in 1671 were a little court, gardens, and orchard, measuring ½ a. in all. (fn. 416) After Edward Goddard, lay rector and lord of the manor, presented himself to the living in the later 18th century, the vicarage house was not required as a residence for many years (see below) and fell into disrepair. In c. 1839 the house, which stood immediately south of the church, was pulled down and another one built on an adjoining site by George Ashe Goddard (vicar 1839–63). A few cottages were removed to make way for its garden and stable yard. (fn. 417) In c. 1956 part of the vicarage was pulled down to make a smaller more convenient house. (fn. 418)

Of the early rectors and vicars connected with Clyffe Pypard church, John Campden, rector in 1381, played some part with William of Wykeham in the founding of his colleges at Winchester and Oxford. (fn. 419) Nicholas Kempston (vicar 1439–41) was an Oxford scholar, who at one time rented a 'schola astronomie' in the city, and was the owner of books and manuscripts, some of which he bequeathed to Eton College. (fn. 420) In the 17th century there were a number of incumbents with unorthodox views. Philip Hunton, later ejected from Westbury, served Clyffe Pypard for a time. (fn. 421) Daniel Reyner, Fellow of New College, Oxford, was vicar from 1657 until ejected in 1659. (fn. 422) He was followed by another dissenter, Henry Blake, vicar in 1662. (fn. 423)

In 1745 Edward Goddard, as rector, presented to the living, but it is alleged that he was so dissatisfied with the incumbent's performance, that he took holy orders and in 1780 presented himself to the benefice. (fn. 424) There followed a period of more than 150 years during which the cure was held by members of the Goddard family. Edward Goddard was succeeded in 1791 by his son Edward, who was also curate of Winterbourne Bassett, and likewise presented himself to Clyffe Pypard. George Ashe Goddard, a younger son, was the next vicar. He was followed by Charles Bradford, son of his sister, Annica. The last member of the family to serve the cure was Edward Hungerford Goddard (vicar 1883– 1935). (fn. 425)

On Census Sunday in 1851 it was estimated that 110 attended church. (fn. 426) In 1864 there were morning and evening services on Sundays. Services were also held on two weekdays when from 10 to 15 people attended. Holy Communion was celebrated about every sixth or eighth Sunday. The average number of communicants was about 30. (fn. 427) In 1932 average attendance at morning service was said to be 32, and at evening service 28. The average number of communicants at the early morning service was 7, and at 11 o'clock, 5. (fn. 428)

The church of ST. PETER stands in a sheltered position at the foot of the steep thickly-wooded slope of the escarpment. It was much restored in the 19th century but before then most of the fabric dated from the late 15th century. The tower is embattled with a stair-turret rising above the battlements. The lofty nave has a waggon roof with arch-braced tie beams and the piers of the five-bay arcade are octagonal. Both piers and arches were once painted to represent marble, but the marbling on the piers was painted over during the 19th-century restorations. (fn. 429) Until the time of Edward Goddard (vicar 1791–1839) there was a rood loft approached by a stair in the north jamb of the chancel arch. (fn. 430) The north and south upper doorways to the loft remain and the two openings are occupied by kneeling figures, made of hard chalk, sometimes said to be taken from one of the Goddard tombs in the church. (fn. 431)

The late-15th-century chancel screen is extended so that the eastern ends of both the north and south aisles are enclosed. At this end of the south aisle there are several memorials to the Broomes of Bushton and Woodhill. (fn. 432) A few fragments of 15th-century glass have survived and in the later 19th century some pieces of foreign glass, probably Flemish, were given by J. E. Nightingale and inserted in the windows of the north aisle. (fn. 433) The pulpit is dated 1629 and has a sounding board and an attached pierced-iron book-rest. The font, a copy of one at Over (Cambs.), was carved in 1840 by Canon Francis Goddard. (fn. 434) In a tomb recess in the wall of the north aisle is a stone effigy of the later 14th century, possibly of a member of the Cobham family. (fn. 435) In the north aisle, behind the organ, a brass of about the same date may be to a member of the Quintin family. (fn. 436) At the west end of the south aisle there is an outstanding memorial by John Deval, the younger, to Thomas Spackman (d. 1786), a native and benefactor of the parish. (fn. 437) The display of tools on the monument commemorates Spackman's trade as a carpenter.

The chancel, reported to be in need of repair in 1662, (fn. 438) was rebuilt in 1860 in a largely Early English style and at a cost to the rector, H. N. Goddard, of nearly £700. (fn. 439) In 1874 the rest of the church was restored by William Butterfield. (fn. 440) The railings enclosing the churchyard on the west were erected in memory of Lola Pevsner (d. 1963).

In 1553 there were 3 bells. These were subsequently replaced by a peal of 6, the oldest being cast in 1604. The bells were repaired in 1880. (fn. 441) Edward VI's commissioners took 3½ oz. silver for the king, leaving a chalice of 14 oz. (fn. 442) In 1966 the plate included a chalice and paten, dated 1682, and given by William Stamp (vicar 1662–83), and a paten cover, dated 1576. (fn. 443) The registers begin in 1576 and are complete. (fn. 444)

In 1341 the annual standing charge of 5s. upon the tithes of Woodhill was said to be applied by the Prioress of Amesbury to the maintenance of a chantry there, (fn. 445) and it seems likely that there was a chapel at Woodhill between 1268 and 1361, when references to the charge occur. (fn. 446) A ninth of the great tithes of Woodhill were reckoned to be worth 14s. in 1341 and of the small tithes 11s. (fn. 447) A lease of 1533 mentions a former chapel at Bushton and lists a number of goods belonging to it. (fn. 448) These included a pair of vestments, a missal, a chalice with silver ornamentation, and 2 stoles. Nothing more is known of the chapel.

In 1846 the consolidated chapelry of Broad Town was formed out of parts of Clyffe Pypard and the neighbouring parish of Broad Hinton. (fn. 449) Its creation arose from the need to serve more adequately the inhabitants of the hamlet of Broad Town, most of whom lived more than a mile from any church. The desire to check the strong growth of nonconformity there was undoubtedly another reason. (fn. 450) The first curate was presented by the Bishop of Salisbury in 1846. Thereafter the vicars of Broad Hinton and Clyffe Pypard presented alternately. (fn. 451) The perpetual curate, whose living in 1864 was worth £124, received £30 from the benefice of Clyffe Pypard and £10 from that of Broad Hinton; the remainder was provided by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and the Bounty Board. (fn. 452) A vicarage house was built in c. 1860. (fn. 453) Since 1951 the benefice has been combined with that of Wootton Bassett. (fn. 454)

CHRIST CHURCH, Broad Town, was built in 1846 to the design of W. Hinton Campbell, on a site provided by H. N. Goddard. Much of the cost was met by the Marchioness of Ailesbury, who also provided the church near Tottenham House (Savernake). (fn. 455) It is in an Early English style. It has one bell in a western bellcote. Besides a 19thcentury chalice, there is a paten, dated 1782. (fn. 456)

Nonconformity.

In 1674 Frances, wife of John Church, was presented as a papist. (fn. 457) She may have been the recusant in the parish returned in Bishop Compton's census of 1676. (fn. 458) In 1782 a house, probably that belonging to Abel Greenaway, was licensed for Baptist teaching. (fn. 459) In the earlier 19th century 3 houses at Clyffe and 3 at Bushton were licensed as dissenters' meeting places. (fn. 460)

It was at Broad Town that nonconformity was most active during the 19th century, owing in large measure, no doubt, to the distance at which the hamlet lay from the parish church. (fn. 461) The strength of nonconformity there was indeed the main reason given for the creation of the new ecclesiastical district of Broad Town in 1844. A society of Primitive Methodists was formed in the hamlet as part of the Brinkworth Mission in 1824 and a chapel built in 1827. (fn. 462) By 1835 the Broad Town society had 78 members and more than 100 children attended the Sunday school, at which 39 teachers taught. (fn. 463) In 1840–1, as the result of renewed missionary activity, it was claimed that 'the greatest drunkards and Sabbath breakers were brought in' and 40 members were added to the society. (fn. 464) By this date the original chapel building was inadequate and a new chapel was built in 1842. (fn. 465) Twenty years later the incumbent of Broad Town regarded the obstacle which Primitive Methodism presented to his cure as insurmountable, and complained that the 'systematic combination' of dissenters against him had arisen from their 'long possession of the district'. He reckoned that there were some 400 nonconformists in the area, and that, among his own congregation, half attended both chapel and church. (fn. 466) A third chapel was built towards the northern end of the street in 1866 and the second (1842) chapel, which stood nearly opposite, was thenceforth used as a Sunday school. (fn. 467) In the first years of the 20th century both buildings were renovated. (fn. 468) By 1953 the chapel of 1866 was closed and in 1968 stood derelict beside its overgrown graveyard. (fn. 469) The chapel of 1842 was in 1968 in use as a garage.

By the middle of the 19th century Primitive Methodism had spread to Thornhill, although nothing is known of its progress there. (fn. 470) From Thornhill its influence spread to Bushton, where the first meetings were held in some cottages along the road called the Barton, and a society was formed in 1843. (fn. 471) In 1856–7 a cottage was bought and converted into a chapel. A new red brick chapel was built at the north end of the hamlet in 1874 and was enlarged in 1894 (fn. 472). This was still being used in 1968.

In 1784 the Vicar of Clyffe Pypard reported that Wesleyan Methodists were active in the area and named 7 of their leaders. (fn. 473) A Wesleyan Methodist chapel was built at Broad Town in 1868. (fn. 474) It was closed in c. 1938 and has subsequently been converted into a dwelling house. (fn. 475)

Education.

Probably as a result of the scattered nature of settlement in the parish a number of small schools flourished there at various times in the earlier 19th century. Besides the free school (see below) there was a 'petty school' in Clyffe Pypard in 1808. (fn. 476) In 1819 some 50 children attended a Sunday school supported by the vicar, while an unspecified number attended two Sunday schools in the parish supported by Primitive Methodists. (fn. 477) Another school, at which 25 children were educated at their parents' expense, was begun in 1825. (fn. 478) In 1859 a small dame school, where 10 children were 'kept out of mischief', was held at Bushton. (fn. 479)

The first successful attempt to provide adequate education for the poor children of the parish was made by Thomas Spackman, who, by his will dated 1782, endowed a free school. This was to be held in a house he had provided for the purpose at Thornhill. The endowment amounted to £30 yearly, which was used principally to support a master, who was employed to teach reading, writing, and arithmetic to poor children. (fn. 480) In 1819 between 60 and 70 children attended. (fn. 481) This number had decreased to some 40 to 50 pupils in 1859. (fn. 482) After elementary schools had been built at Broad Town and Clyffe Pypard (see below), it was felt that the house at Thornhill was no longer needed and it was sold in 1875. (fn. 483) The funds of the charity (known from 1904 as Spackman's Educational Foundation), were, after 1873, administered by a newly-constituted board of 8 governors. The fund, which had an income of £26 in 1905, was thenceforth distributed as money prizes to pupils at the Clyffe Pypard and Broad Town schools. Money from the fund was also used to maintain lending libraries in the schools and, occasionally, to buy scientific equipment. (fn. 484)

In 1850 a schoolroom, with a teacher's house attached, was built by the Vicar of Clyffe Pypard, and was aided by grants from the National Society and the Diocesan Board. There were 60 pupils taught by a mistress in 1859 and children from most nonconformist families were reported to attend. (fn. 485) In 1906 average attendance was 47, (fn. 486) and in 1938 there were 51 pupils. (fn. 487) In 1968 there were 40 children in the Clyffe Pypard Primary School. (fn. 488)

By 1819 a school, probably begun by the Primitive Methodists active in Broad Town, had some 20 pupils. (fn. 489) The school seems to have been closed by 1858, when the only means of education open to children in Broad Town was a dame school of 'very bad character', where 20 children were taught. The following year a new school was built on land given by the trustees of the Broad Town Charity. (fn. 490) About 81 children attended in 1908, and in 1938 the number was 89. (fn. 491) Broad Town Primary school had 69 children in 1968. (fn. 492)

Charities.

Among the numerous benefactions of Sarah, Duchess of Somerset (d. 1692), was that later known as the Broad Town Trust. By her will, proved in 1704, the duchess devised to trustees her manor of Broad Town to provide funds for apprenticing boys, born in Wiltshire and, at the time of their application to the charity, resident there. (fn. 493) She also stipulated that part of the rent of Broad Town Farm should be used each year to apprentice 8 boys born on her Wiltshire manors of Broad Town, Thornhill, Froxfield, Wootton Rivers, and Huish. Another estate at Cotmarsh (in Broad Hinton), was devised to enable a further 4 boys from the same manors to be apprenticed.

The sole surviving original trustee of this charity, Sir Samuel Grimston (d. 1700), died without having made any disposition of the trust lands. Subsequently, in 1711, the number of trustees was fixed at 17, with a proviso that once numbers had fallen to 9, the surviving trustees were to elect others. Trustees were generally notable Wiltshire landowners, and in 1903 included the Marquess of Lansdowne and the Earl of Cardigan.

In 1834 the charity lands comprised Manor Farm, Broad Town Farm, Ham, and Goldborough Farms (all in the tithing of Broad Town), which totalled some 577 a. and were worth £597 yearly. The Broad Town and Cotmarsh lands had become intermixed by this date. The charity was then reported to be applied in strict conformity with the duchess's will, except that if insufficient boys from the manors mentioned above (who came to be known as 'manor boys') came forward, the deficiency was supplied from the county at large. The steward of the trustees reported that he frequently had to prevent encroachments upon the manors by parents, who hoped thereby to make their sons eligible for apprenticeships. Manor boys generally chose their own masters subject to the approval of the steward of the trustees. In 1811 the apprenticeship premium was raised from £10 to £15 for both manor and county boys, who must be at least 13 and not more than 17 years of age. During 1714–1833 582 manor boys and 1,717 county boys were apprenticed.

In 1849 it was reaffirmed that preference in the allotment of apprenticeships was to be given to not more than 12 manor boys, who were henceforth to receive a premium of £20 each. The remaining funds were to be used to apprentice county boys at the same premium. In 1906–7 one manor boy and 5 county boys were apprenticed and it was observed that this ratio was indicative of the tendency for the number of applications from manor boys to decrease. The apprenticeship system was then said to work satisfactorily and the trades most frequently chosen by the boys were those of engineer, builder, carpenter, and printer. At this date the acreage of the charity lands was 547 a. and the total gross income of the charity amounted to £644.

In 1920 the charity lands were sold and over £20,000 invested. The apprenticeship premiums payable were, from 1920 onwards, increased at the discretion of the Charity Commissioners. In 1923 the Commissioners approved a special arrangement whereby 20 apprenticeship premiums of not more than £100 were to be payable over a period of 5 years. The charity was further regulated by a scheme of 1947, which extended charity funds to assist boys under 21 years, who had lived in Wiltshire for at least 5 years, to buy outfits or tools or to meet travelling expenses. (fn. 494) In the 1960s the bulk of the charity funds, which at this time amounted to over £2,000 yearly, were applied to enable boys, most of whom were then drawn from the county at large, to buy tools. In 1961 86 boys, including 6 receiving some kind of further education, who were given grants towards maintenance and books, benefited from the charity, by then known as the Broad Town Trust. (fn. 495)

There were two Spackman charities in Clyffe Pypard. Funds for the earlier charity, which was created by the will of Thomas Spackman, dated 1675, were derived from a rent-charge of 21s. on 6 a. of meadow. (fn. 496) These funds went to purchase bread which was distributed at the discretion of the Vicar of Clyffe Pypard to the poor. No more is known of this small charity.

The later Spackman charity was endowed with £1,000 bequeathed by the will of another Thomas Spackman, dated 1782. (fn. 497) Spackman had been born locally and had been a carpenter before becoming a wealthy Londoner. His monument in Clyffe Pypard church was maintained out of charity funds. (fn. 498) Otherwise part of the fund was used to establish and maintain a school, an endowment later called the Spackman Educational Foundation, (fn. 499) and another part was used to provide bread for distribution to poor each Sunday after church. By 1904 the distribution of bread had lapsed and at this date the income from £360, which formed the endowment of Spackman's Non-Educational Charity, was given as a subscription to a parish coal club available for residents in Clyffe Pypard and in that part of Broad Town formerly situated in the parish of Clyffe Pypard. In 1961 Thomas (II) Spackman's tomb was repaired, and in 1964 donations of £5 were made to the Broad Town and Clyffe Pypard coal clubs.

By his will proved in 1876 Jacob Pinniger Broome left £100 to be distributed to the poor, in an unspecified manner, by his executor, Christopher Broome. (fn. 500) In 1887 the Charity Commissioners established a Scheme whereby the income of the charity was thenceforth to be distributed in subscriptions or donations in aid of the funds of any provident club or society in Clyffe Pypard for the supply of blankets, bedding, or clothing.

Elizabeth Malpass by her will proved in 1884, settled in trust £100, the income on which was to provide bread, coal, blankets, or clothing for deserving poor parishioners. (fn. 501) In 1885 the Charity Commissioners ordered that the income should be applied in subscriptions to any provident club within the parish for the supply of blankets, coals, bedding, and other necessaries. In 1905 the incomes of the Broome and Malpass charities were paid to the Clyffe Pypard bedding club. In 1955 and subsequent years an annual £1 payment of unexplained origin was made to the Malpass Charity from Brasenose College, Oxford. In 1962 the Malpass Charity had an income of £3 10s., while in 1965 Broome's Charity had an income of £9. In 1963 and 1964 the proceeds of both were used to buy groceries to distribute to the poor and aged.

The civil parish of Broad Town (cr. 1884) received funds from a charity established in 1627 by Henry Smith (d. 1628) for the benefit of the poor of the parish of Broad Hinton and certain other places. (fn. 502) In 1884 the newly-created civil parish was allotted three-elevenths from the £11 18s. then received from the Smith charity by the parish of Broad Hinton. Inhabitants living in that part of Broad Town formerly situated in Clyffe Pypard were also eligible to benefit. The share received by Broad Town was used in 1905 to increase bonuses paid to subscribers to the coal and clothing clubs of the parish. The parish of Broad Town still shared in the £17 10s. allotted to Broad Hinton from the charity in 1962 and in 1960–1 £7 14s. was disbursed in vouchers of varying amounts to enable certain poor people in Broad Town to buy coal.