ALBURY
Some nine miles to the east of Oxford lies the small
civil parish of Tiddington with Albury, which was
created in 1932 out of the two civil parishes of
Albury and Tiddington. These had formerly comprised the single ancient parish of Albury. In 1932
Albury covered 674 acres and Tiddington 422 acres. (fn. 1)
The only recorded change in the parish boundaries
was made in 1886 when Tiddington Meadow (35 a.)
was transferred to Waterstock. (fn. 2) The parish slopes
gently upwards from the River Thame and its
meadows, which lie at about 200 ft. above sea-level
and are liable to flooding, to about 340 ft. in the
south and south-west. The Thame as it flows westwards to Ickford Bridge forms part of the parish's
northern boundary; the eastern boundary, which
skirts Rycote pond, cuts across Rycote Park and then
runs south to meet the Thame road, (fn. 3) is the only
other one with any historical significance. (fn. 4)
The main road from Oxford to Thame traverses
the north of the parish; two roads branch off to
Albury and Tiddington, while a third, Sandy Lane,
connects the Thame road with the London road,
which crosses the southern tip of the parish. The
latter road accounts for the existence of the ancient
'Three Pigeons' and the modern Brimpton Grange
Hotel and Transport Café. The section of the Oxford
to High Wycombe railway line, which crosses the
parish, and Tiddington Station were built in the
1850's. (fn. 5)
The soil is clay with a gravel sub-soil, (fn. 6) and has in
the past been mainly used for pasture. The land is
well watered by the Thame and its tributary,
Tiddington Brook. Fishing in these waters is recorded in medieval times: in 1254 common rights
to the fishing were in dispute, (fn. 7) and in 1301 the
manorial rights were worth 12d. a year. (fn. 8) In the 17th
century there is evidence to show that leaseholders (fn. 9)
also had rights in the fishing besides the lord of the
manor. (fn. 10) There are several coppices, but the only
large wood is Fernhill Wood (50 a.). (fn. 11)
Albury village, (fn. 12) the site of the parish church, lies
about 220 ft. up. From the early Middle Ages it was
a smaller place than Tiddington, (fn. 13) and today consists
only of the church and rectory, Church Farm, and
Albury House. The large rectory, built in c. 1819, (fn. 14)
was untenanted in 1953, though its stables had been
converted into a house for a local schoolmaster.
Less than half a mile across the fields to the west
lies Albury's sometime hamlet of Tiddington. The
Fox Inn, which is partly modern and partly 16thcentury, some ancient cottages, one of which was
being demolished in 1953, a garage, and a few other
recent buildings lie on either side of the main road
to Thame, but the village mostly straggles along the
by-road, edged with old elm trees and orchards,
which runs to Tiddington House, on the hill-top
about 260 ft. up. It still has a number of picturesque
cottages built in the 16th, 17th, or 18th centuries.
The earliest are timber-framed, filled with lathe and
plaster or bricks, and are noticeable for the very
thick rubble walls, about 3 ft. high, which support
the timber frames and may be of an even earlier date.
They have thatched or tiled roofs and dormer windows with casements. Typical of these is the cottage
which was settled in 1688 by Thomas Tatham,
carpenter, on his son. (fn. 15) It was then described as a
three-roomed cottage, with one large room below
(now divided into two) and two above, and was
probably built in the 16th century. In the early 18th
century it was owned by the blacksmith who built
the adjoining cottage, now the village general shop. (fn. 16)
A rather more elaborate cottage of 16th-century
date faces Manor Farm; it is distinguished by its
half-hipped roof of thatch and its west gable with
a bay window which has wooden mullions and
transoms and a tiled gable.
The 19th century is characteristically represented
by neat red-brick houses with slate roofs, and by a
red-brick school dated 1873, and the 20th by
eighteen grey concrete council houses with steelframed windows and greenish tiled roofs.
Tiddington House, the principal house in the
village, is a two-storied Queen Anne house with
attics, approached from the village lane by steps
leading into a small formal garden. It is mostly built
of vitreous brick with red-brick dressings, has a front
of three bays with two steeply pedimented dormer
windows, and a hipped roof of tiles with wide eaves.
There have been later additions on the south and
north sides, and at the back there are remains of
the earlier 17th-century house once occupied by the
yeoman farmer William Wixon. (fn. 17) Farther down
the hill is Manor Farm. Part of the present house, the
wing built of rubble at the back, dates from the 17th
century, but the whole house must have superseded
an older building. It is now mainly a late-18thcentury chequered-brick building of two stories.
The other farm-houses are in outlying parts of the
parish: Sandy Lane Farm in the south and Albury
Farm in the east.
The 17th-century Mill House lies by the Tiddington Brook at the east end of the village, and is probably on the site of the water-mill mentioned in
1332. (fn. 18) The only records of the windmill are the
field names, Windmill Hill and Windmill Field, (fn. 19)
which were in common use in the 17th century.
In 1643 Prince Maurice with 2,000 horse went
through the parish on his way to Thame; Prince
Rupert's forces lay 'scambling about the contry
between Tame and Milton' in March of the same
year. (fn. 20) Later in the war parliamentary troops occupied this area. (fn. 21)
Manors.
Domesday Book records two separate
estates at Albury and Tiddington. ALBURY was
part of the lands of William FitzOsbern, Earl of
Hereford; (fn. 22) he died in 1071, and the property of his
son, who rebelled against the king in 1075, was
confiscated. (fn. 23) During the next 150 years the history
of Albury can only be guessed at. The manor was
probably granted to one of the Chesneys, a prominent Oxfordshire family. Robert de Chesney became
Bishop of Lincoln, and his brother William was a
noted supporter of Stephen. He was in supreme
command in Oxfordshire during the anarchy; it
may well have been he to whom Albury was granted.
He died between 1164 and 1170, (fn. 24) leaving his
estates to coheirs. His niece, Maud de Chesney, who
was one of these, married Henry FitzGerold before
1167, (fn. 25) and probably brought Albury into the
FitzGerold family. Their eldest son was Warin
FitzGerold; (fn. 26) and his daughter and heiress, Margaret, married Baldwin de Riviers, son of the Earl of
Devon. Her husband died young in 1216, but left
an heir, Baldwin de Riviers (d. 1245), who became
Earl of Devon; (fn. 27) Albury descended to him, and
continued during the 13th century to be held in
chief by the Earls of Devon. (fn. 28) With the death of
Isabel, Countess of Aumale and Devon, in 1293, the
lands of the Earldom of Devon were divided up. (fn. 29)
Albury, (fn. 30) with the other FitzGerold estates, went
to Warin de Lisle, a member of the Rougemont
branch of the family of de Lisle. He was a descendant of Alice, another granddaughter of Henry
FitzGerold, who married Robert de Lisle. (fn. 31)
Warin de Lisle died in 1296; his son Robert, a
minor at his father's death, became a Franciscan in
1342, and Albury passed to his son John, a prominent military commander. He was succeeded in
1355 by his son Robert de Lisle, (fn. 32) who in 1368 surrendered, for reasons unknown, 86 knight's fees to the
king. Albury was one of the manors surrendered; (fn. 33)
after 1368, therefore, there was no overlordship.
In 1086 Albury and masurae in Wallingford which
were attached to it (fn. 34) were held by Rainald son of
Croc, the Conqueror's huntsman. (fn. 35) By the end of
the 12th century the manor was held by the Foliots
of Chilton Foliat (Wilts.), (fn. 36) a family who were related by marriage to the Chesneys, the overlords of
Albury. William Foliot, mentioned in 1197, was the
earliest heard of at Albury. (fn. 37)
During the 13th century there was further
subinfeudation, and one branch of Foliots held of
another. The mesne tenants were Henry Foliot,
who was dead by 1233, and Samson, his son and
heir, a minor in 1235, and Sheriff of Oxfordshire in
1267, who lived until about 1280. (fn. 38) The undertenants were Roger Foliot, who in 1219 granted
Albury in dower to Isabel, probably his widowed
mother, and wife of Hugh de Whithull, (fn. 39) and who
was in possession by 1225; (fn. 40) Peter Foliot, perhaps
his son, who held it in 1242–3 and 1255; (fn. 41) Roger
Foliot, a minor in 1279; (fn. 42) and Peter Foliot, who sold
his rights in Albury in 1295 to John de London. (fn. 43)
By the end of the century the rights of the Foliots in
Albury had come to an end.
Henry de Teyes, of Chilton Foliat, whose connexion with Samson Foliot is not known, succeeded
him as mesne tenant in about 1280. (fn. 44) He died in
1307, and Albury must have passed to his son
Henry, beheaded in 1322 after the battle of Boroughbridge, (fn. 45) and then to Alice, the latter's sister and
heiress. Through her marriage with Warin de Lisle
of Kingston Lisle (Berks.), (fn. 46) this branch of the de
Lisle family became mesne tenants of the Rougemont branch, and their grandson, Warin de Lisle,
was holding Albury as mesne tenant in 1368. (fn. 47)
On his death in 1382 he left a daughter, Margaret,
who married Thomas, Lord Berkeley, (fn. 48) but the
family's rights over Albury lapsed about this time.
The heir of John de London, successor to the
other branch of the Foliots as lord of the manor, was
John Despenser, but his relationship with the famous
Hugh Despenser the elder has not been established. (fn. 49)
John Despenser held the manor in the 1320's, (fn. 50) and
his widow did so in 1349 and 1361. (fn. 51) By 1368 the
property may have been split up, for in that year
their son John held 2 fees in Oxfordshire including
'Albury by Ickford bridge'. (fn. 52) While in 1393 it was
said that Gilbert Wace and John Salveyn had
granted the manor of Albury to John Baldington and
Alice his wife before 1376, (fn. 53) in 1380 John's brother (fn. 54)
Nicholas Despenser apparently conveyed the manor
to Salveyn. (fn. 55) Possibly Salveyn and Wace were
intermediaries in the conveyance of Nicholas's
rights to John and Alice. She may have been
Nicholas's daughter and the manor may have been
her dowry, for she continued to hold it after John's
death. She died in 1393. Her son Sir William was
then a minor and a royal ward. (fn. 56) He died in 1419, (fn. 57)
after settling the property on his wife Joan; later
their son Thomas succeeded and died in 1437,
leaving three daughters as coheirs. (fn. 58) Through one
of these, Agnes, wife of William Brome (or Broun),
it came into the Brome family, originally from
Warwickshire. (fn. 59) Their main residence was at
Holton. (fn. 60) William Brome died in 1461; his widow,
the true owner of the property, held it with her
second husband, Geoffrey Gate; (fn. 61) on her death it
descended to her son Robert Brome, who died in
1485. (fn. 62) He was succeeded by his son Christopher,
who died in 1509, (fn. 63) and by his grandson John
Brome, a minor at the time of his father's death, (fn. 64)
who in 1545 sold Albury to Sir John Williams of
Rycote in Great Haseley, later Baron Williams of
Thame. (fn. 65)
Lord Williams of Thame died in 1559. (fn. 66) None of
his sons survived him, and his younger daughter
Margaret, to whom Albury descended, married
Henry Norreys, who was created Baron Norreys in
1572. (fn. 67) Through the Norreys family the property
descended to James Bertie, who was created Earl of
Abingdon in 1682. (fn. 68) In 1911 the Abingdon estates
were broken up and Albury and Great Haseley were
sold; (fn. 69) there is now no known lord.
At least from the 16th century the lords of the
manor were almost certainly non-resident. Christopher Brome (d. 1509) is known to have farmed
Albury, (fn. 70) and from the middle of the 16th century
the Bromes lived at Holton. The Williamses and
Norreyses and their successors lived at Rycote until
it was destroyed by fire in 1745.
TIDDINGTON was held by Sawold, a royal
official, in 1086, having been held freely by Alwi in
the Confessor's time. (fn. 71) No further trace of the
tenancy in chief has been found until 1208, when, in
a case concerning it begun in the king's court
between Ralph de Bray and William Fitzellis, it was
successfully claimed by Henry d'Oilly. (fn. 72) Tiddington
must therefore have been part of the great d'Oilly
estates, then comprising 32¼ knight's fees in Oxfordshire. (fn. 73) In 1232 Henry d'Oilly died, and his honor
went to his nephew, Thomas de Newburgh, Earl of
Warwick, (fn. 74) but Tiddington had been separated
from it by 1242–3, for Peter son of Herbert then
held it in chief, (fn. 75) and Reynold son of Peter held it in
1279. (fn. 76) This family also held land in Waterperry, (fn. 77)
but it is not mentioned again in connexion with
Tiddington. Probably the overlordship lapsed; in
1428 a jury stated that the overlord was not known. (fn. 78)
Domesday Book records no under-tenant at
Tiddington. In the late 12th century the manor was
almost certainly part of the lands of Emma, daughter
of Fulk de Bray, whose husband, William Fitzellis,
had entered Newburgh Priory in about 1180. (fn. 79)
Their son William Fitzellis was at law about the
property with Ralph de Bray in 1208, (fn. 80) and in 1227
Richard de Bray gave up any claim to it. (fn. 81) The
genealogy of the Fitzellis family, who also obtained
Waterperry from Emma de Bray, is rather confused. (fn. 82) William (II) Fitzellis died in 1227, and in
1242–3 his widow, Rose de la Rokele, was the lady
of Tiddington. They had at least two sons, William
(III) Fitzellis and Ellis. (fn. 83)
In 1279 Roger Fitzellis was holding Tiddington; (fn. 84)
he may have been either a younger son of William
(III) Fitzellis, or the son of the younger brother
Ellis. The latter is more likely, for William Fitzellis
is known to have granted Tiddington to his brother
Ellis in fee at a quit rent. (fn. 85) This grant was probably
made in the second half of the 13th century, but
before 1279. Roger Fitzellis had a son William, also
known as William de Corston, (fn. 86) from his property
at Corston (Wilts.), who is recorded as lord of
Tiddington in 1316 (fn. 87) and died in 1318. His daughter
and heiress Elizabeth married Sir John Russell of
Bradenstoke (Wilts.) and in 1377 their daughter
Joan, who inherited Tiddington, (fn. 88) married Thomas
Quatremain, a member of the important Oxfordshire family, whose chief seat was Rycote. Thomas
Quatremain died in 1398. (fn. 89) He was succeeded by
his three sons: John (d. 1403), Guy (d. 1414), (fn. 90)
and Richard, (fn. 91) the most prominent member of the
family, who played an important part in the 15thcentury history of Oxfordshire. He had commercial interests in London and was a Yorkist
supporter. On his death in 1477 his property was
divided between the descendants of his two sisters. (fn. 92)
Tiddington went to his great-nephew, Thomas
Danvers, who was already lord of the neighbouring
manor of Waterstock. (fn. 93) His father was John
Danvers, the husband of Joan Bruly, daughter of
Richard Quatremain's sister Maud and John Bruly
of Waterstock. (fn. 94)
Thomas Danvers died in 1502, (fn. 95) after apparently
settling Tiddington on his wife Sybil for her life.
She died in 1511, (fn. 96) and the Danvers property was
then divided among Thomas Danvers's three greatnieces. One of these, Elizabeth, who married Thomas
Cave of Stanford (Northants.), must have inherited
Tiddington, as her husband was licensed to take
possession of her lands in 1522. (fn. 97) Edward Cave, a
younger son of Thomas, inherited Tiddington and
Waterstock, where he settled. (fn. 98) He was dead by
1566, when his widow Elizabeth is found dealing
with the manor of Tiddington. (fn. 99) In 1580 another
Edward Cave, probably their son, was in possession. (fn. 100) The manor then seems to have passed, perhaps
tortiously, to the Hall family, for twelve years later
his nephew William Cave of Stanford (presumably
Sir William) brought a case before the Privy
Council alleging that Anne Rowles and John Hall
'pretended title' to Tiddington manor through a conveyance obtained by 'indirect means' from his
uncle, Edward Cave. (fn. 101) Nevertheless the Halls remained in possession and in 1606 conveyed the
manor to Robert Waller, (fn. 102) the father of Edmund
Waller the poet. He died in 1616, (fn. 103) when Edmund
was but ten. The poet's connexion with Tiddington
may have been no more than a financial one. So far
as is known he never lived there, and, indeed, after
his plot to secure London for Charles I (probably
conceived when he treated with him at Oxford in
1643), he was banished and fined £10,000. (fn. 104) His
mother Anne, who looked after his Beaconsfield
(Bucks.) property during his exile, and to whom he
granted Tiddington manor in 1646, (fn. 105) sold part of
the land there in the same year. (fn. 106) She probably sold
the remainder later to meet her son's fine.
After this, trace of the descent is lost until the
19th century. In 1824 the manor was held by John
Blackhall, the lord of Great and Little Milton
manors, (fn. 107) and in 1853 by Pembroke College. (fn. 108)
Manorial rights have now lapsed.
Economic and Social History.
There
is no record of Roman or Saxon remains in the
parish, but the names Albury and Tiddington are
both of Old English origin and indicate settlement
at an early date, probably in the 6th century.
'Aldeberie' means the old burgor fortified place,
'Titendene', the 'hill of Tytta'. (fn. 109) In the 17th century
it was sometimes known as 'Tithingtown'. (fn. 110)
At the time of Domesday Book the parish was
sparsely populated; there were then 9 peasants at
Albury and 1 bordar at Tiddington. (fn. 111) By 1279 there
were in addition to the lords of the manors, 12
tenants at Albury and 13 at Tiddington. (fn. 112) From this
time Tiddington was probably the more populous
village, but by 1428 the total population had apparently so much declined that there were not 10 householders in the parish. (fn. 113) By 1524, there were at least
9 households in Tiddington alone. (fn. 114) During the
16th and 17th centuries there may have been some
increase for in 1676 the Compton Census recorded
50 conformists over sixteen. (fn. 115)
By the end of the 18th century, the population
had further increased. In 1793 the rector stated that
there were 40 houses, (fn. 116) and in 1801 Albury had 54
inhabitants and Tiddington 123. During the 19th
century the population of the whole parish remained
fairly stable, but Tiddington developed and Albury
declined. Tiddington had its largest population, 207,
in 1841; by 1911 it was 156. In 1851 the population
of Albury was 60, in 1911 only 27. (fn. 117) The population
of the parish in 1951 was 300.
Two factors which helped to shape the history of
the parish were the dissimilar development of the
two manors and the early inclosure. Albury was the
larger manor; in 1086 it was assessed at 3 hides.
There was land for three ploughs and there were
actually three ploughs, one of which was in demesne. (fn. 118) In 1279 the demesne lands were 5½ virgates, (fn. 119) or at most 165 acres. In 1301 the manor is
described as containing a capital messuage with
garden and dovecote worth 6s. a year, 120 acres of
arable land valued at 4d. an acre, 9 acres of meadow
worth 2s. 8d. an acre, and one separate pasture
worth 10s. a year. Pleas and perquisites were worth
10d. (fn. 120)
In 1485 the manor was valued at £6; (fn. 121) in the early
16th century at £18 6s. 8d. (fn. 122) It is probable that the
lord of the manor continued to hold all the land in
Albury; certainly in the 18th and 19th centuries the
Earls of Abingdon were the only landowners. (fn. 123)
When the Abingdon estate was broken up in 1911,
it comprised two large farms (Church and Walter's
farms) of about 200 acres each, two small ones of
about 50 acres each, Fern Hill Wood, and part of
Rycote Park. (fn. 124)
In 1086 Tiddington was assessed at 2 hides and
3 virgates; there were 2 ploughs, both in demesne,
and it was worth 40s. instead of 30s. T.R.E. (fn. 125) By
1279 the demesne had decreased, as there were only
3½ virgates (fn. 126) or enough land for 1 plough team. In
1616 the manor was said to consist of 10 messuages,
10 tofts, 480 acres of land, and the fishing rights; (fn. 127)
thus all the land in Tiddington was then part of
the manor. There was considerable change in the
1640's, when the lands belonging to the manor
were divided into a number of medium-sized freeholds and sold to various tenants. At the end of the
18th century there were nine farms, including the
one held by the rector. The largest (c. 60 a.), belonged to Pembroke College; the four smallest were
probably of about 15 acres each. There were also
several cottagers. (fn. 128) The same pattern of land-holding existed in the 19th century; while the Earl of
Abingdon owned almost all the land in Albury,
there were many small landowners in Tiddington. (fn. 129)
In the 20th century there have again been considerable changes and farms have been amalgamated.
Inclosure probably started in the 15th century
and was completed in the 17th; at all events there
was no parliamentary inclosure. The 16th-century
Domesday of Inclosures refers to 200 acres of
pasture in Albury held by John Andelet; (fn. 130) in 1645
William Wixon purchased 37 acres in Westfield,
fenced off with 'a hedge and a ditch,' and 3 acres of
pasture where a messuage had once stood. (fn. 131) The
Pembroke College deeds also record inclosure in the
17th century. (fn. 132) A 7-acre close in Westfield, described
in 1674 as 'now divided and severed with a quicksett
hedge and ditch from the rest of the said ground',
had been inclosed before 1649 during the lifetime
of John Cooper, a tenant of the manor. In fact by
the last quarter of the century all the Cooper and
Wixon property consisted of closes. Indeed, in 1685
a terrier of the rectory states that the whole parish
'has been time out of mind enclosed'. (fn. 133) The fact of
early inclosure is supported by the 18th-century
accounts of the Earl of Abingdon's estates, which
refer also to Albury as inclosed, (fn. 134) and by Arthur
Young's report. (fn. 135)
The two small farming communities were mainly
composed of unfree tenants in the medieval period.
In 1279, of the 12 tenants in villeinage at Albury
each held half a virgate or about 10 acres; each had
to find a man to work every other day for the lord
of the manor from midsummer to Michaelmas. After
hay-making each had a right to fixed quantities of
meat, bread, corn, cheese, and salt. At Tiddington
8 tenants in villeinage held 8½ virgates between
them and paid money rents of a mark. There was
one free tenant with 1 virgate for which he paid a
mark a year; 4 cottars paid small money rents and
worked 8 days in the fields in the autumn. (fn. 136)
With no resident lord of the manor in postmedieval times, there was no one of great wealth in
the parish. For example, in 1524, (fn. 137) 3 people in
Tiddington were taxed on £8 worth of goods each;
7 were 'in service', 2 'in wages'. As in later years
many of the inhabitants were probably dependants
of the great house at Rycote. In 1665 the rector, who
paid tax on 4 hearths, may have been the richest
inhabitant; 3 other inhabitants of Albury had 2 or
1 hearth each, and in Tiddington out of 7 households listed, only 2 had 3 hearths. (fn. 138) At the election
of 1754, the only 40s. freeholder in Albury was the
rector; in Tiddington there were 9 40s. freeholders,
7 of them resident in the parish. (fn. 139)
The break-up of the manorial demesne, the rise
and fall of some of the yeomen and farmers who
lived in the parish and its neighbourhood, and their
connexion with the towns, may be illustrated from
deeds held by Pembroke College. (fn. 140)
In 1646 Anne Waller, lady of the manor, sold to
her tenant William Wixon, yeoman, (fn. 141) the house in
which he lived (now Tiddington House), 37 acres in
Westfield, and 3 acres of pasture; to Richard Wixon,
yeoman, another of her tenants, she sold his dwellinghouse and four closes: Niether Close, two closes in
the Breach, and 'new ground' of 28 acres (44 a. in
all). To a third tenant, John Cooper, she sold his
farm-house (now Manor Farm) and 33 acres of land
in Netherfield alias Westfield. William Wixon was
obliged to mortgage his property for £150 to the
Provost of Oriel in 1661; Richard Wixon sold his
property in 1653 to his son-in-law, Simon Broadwater, an Oxford cook, who left it in trust for his
heir Simon. In 1697 Simon Broadwater, probably
the above-mentioned heir, and now described as a
gentleman of New Woodstock, sold the property.
John Cooper left most of his land (three closes of
c. 10 a. each) to his son John, who proved a failure.
He sold one close to John Ives, a shepherd of Great
Milton and his creditor; he leased the house and the
other two closes to Anne Tipping of Worminghall
(Bucks.); and died owing £66 to the rector and
smaller sums to various tradesmen.
Ultimately most of the Cooper and Wixon lands
came into the hands of Paul Welles, who farmed
land in Chilworth. He bought up young John
Cooper's leases and lands, and his widow later
secured the close which had belonged to Cooper's
uncle Thomas. Welles also bought a newly erected
house and a 3-acre close, once belonging to Anne
Wixon, widow; and 2 messuages, 2 closes (Farme
Heys and Webbs close), and 2 closes in the Breach,
formerly owned by the widow of William Wixon,
a cooper of Oxford; finally in 1699 he bought
Richard Wixon's old farm from Simon Broadwater.
Welles was thus able to consolidate the former
Wixon and Cooper lands, but his family, like theirs,
had financial difficulties. Ann Welles, his widow,
to whom the Chilworth and Tiddington property
was left, was compelled to mortgage it in 1714 to her
brother William Eldridge of Great Milton. She also
borrowed money so that in 1744 her son Paul inherited a debt of £1,636. In 1752 Pembroke College
bought the whole estate, (fn. 142) undertaking to pay off all
the Welles's debts. The college held it until 1920,
when it was sold to the tenant, Mrs. Brownsill, for
£3,000.
In this way most of the original Cooper and Wixon
property became the college's Tiddington farm
(c. 63 a.). The land lay in two parts: Westfield, to
the west of the village with the Oxford-Thame road
running along its northern boundary, and other
closes along the Tiddington-Ickford road. In 1846
the farm consisted of some 'useful land, chiefly
meadow, which is pretty good, though of a sandy
surface upon a stone brash or gravel, very liable to
burn in a dry summer'. The arable land was much
inferior, being 'subject to springs' and in need of
draining, and not as clean as could be wished. The
rent was then £115 16s. 9d.; it had risen from £85
in 1752 to £135 in 1810, and by 1836 fallen to £108.
There are also records of the Earl of Abingdon's
lands at Albury, showing the type of land and farming problems there in the 18th century. (fn. 143) The earl
had four principal tenants farming between 100 and
200 acres each. In 1720 one of these was Thomas
Kent, whose farm included Little and Upper
Albury and was described as 'for the most part. . .
a rich deep sand, most fitt for La Lucerne, the which
would yielde great crops for some years'. The
Albury meadow lands were generally inclined to be
wet and coarse, but parts of Windmill Ground and
Brimstone were of better quality, the latter 'either
a woodcock soyl or very springey'. The verdict on
the whole estate was that 'this manor consists wholly
of inclosure and much the greatest part of the land
very good, the chief improvement(s) there are to
keep the meadows as dry as possible and uplands
from overplowing, and when laid to grass to be
allways clean and in good heart, for then those lands
will allways gather strength'. When Arthur Young
visited Albury nearly a century later, he described
the land as grassland 'under dairies'. (fn. 144) In 1830 the
Earl of Abingdon's bailiff described Albury farm,
let to Mr. Hester, as 'a very compact excellent little
farm with a good proportion of mowing land to it'. (fn. 145)
Most of the lands of Draycot farm lie in Albury
parish, although its buildings are in Ickford
(Bucks.). (fn. 146) In 1838 the farm had the highest rental
and largest acreage in Albury. (fn. 147)
Church.
The advowson of Albury belonged
until recently to the lords of the manor. The Foliots
presented in the 13th century and the Despensers
in the 14th. The advowson passed to the Diocesan
Board of Patronage in 1938.
Early in the 13th century there seems to have
been a vicarage as well as a rectory, for between
1209 and 1219 Robert de Whithulle was presented
to the rectory, and Robert the Chaplain was vicar. (fn. 148)
But soon after the living appears as a rectory and so
continued. About the middle of the 13th century
Ellis, son of William Fitzellis, granted all the tithes
on his demesne at Tiddington to Studley Priory,
with the proviso that if a chaplain were thought
necessary in his chapel at Tiddington the nuns
should not be responsible for payments to him. This
charter was confirmed by the Bishop of Lincoln. (fn. 149)
These tithes were probably commuted for a pension,
for in 1535 the Prioress of Studley was receiving
6s. 8d. a year from the Rector of Albury. (fn. 150)
In the Middle Ages the living was a poor one. In
1254 it was valued at 3 marks; (fn. 151) it was presumably
too poor to be included in the Taxatio of 1291, and
in the 14th century it was valued at£3 6s. 8d. (fn. 152) By
1526 the rector was receiving £6 13s. 4d. in all, from
which he paid a curate £4, (fn. 153) and in 1535 the net
value was £9 2s. 8d. (fn. 154) By the early 19th century the
value of the living had risen to £300, (fn. 155) and in 1953
its net value was £548. (fn. 156) . In 1839 and 1847 the
tithes of Tiddington and Albury were respectively
commuted for £162 and £175 a year. (fn. 157) The tithe
award of Albury was slightly altered in 1865 to
allow for the 10 acres sold to the railway. (fn. 158)
In addition to the tithes, there was a small rectory
estate of two closes (23 a.) north of Fern Hill Wood;
in 1685 it was believed that these two closes had
been awarded to the rector in lieu of glebe when the
parish was inclosed. (fn. 159) He certainly had glebe land
in the 14th century which was valued at 33s. 4d. (fn. 160)
John Bowles, rector 1474–1517, seems to have
lived at Albury, for his brass was in the old church. (fn. 161)
After his death the rectory was let to a layman (fn. 162) but
in 1526 William Brome, scholaris, and probably a
relative of the lord of the manor, was rector. (fn. 163)
One well-known 17th-century incumbent was
Samuel Kem (1604–70), a graduate of Magdalen
College and chaplain to Edward Wray, who presented him to Albury. Kem took the side of Parliament in the Civil War, and became chaplain to the
Earl of Essex. Leaving his various livings in the care
of curates, he both fought and preached for the
parliamentary cause, and gained the reputation of
a saint in the pulpit and a devil out of it. (fn. 164) By 1651
he had returned to Albury, and at the Restoration
took the necessary oaths to Charles II, 'all to keep',
so it was said, 'his living of Albury and the trade of
eating and drinking'. (fn. 165) In 1665 his rectory house
was the largest in the village. (fn. 166) He died in 1670 and
is buried at Albury. (fn. 167) Among Kem's guests at the
rectory was the alchemist and poet Thomas Vaughan,
who died there in 1666. (fn. 168)
During the 18th and 19th centuries, Albury was
frequently held in conjunction with the living of
Wytham (Berks.), of which the Earls of Abingdon
were also patrons. (fn. 169) Their patronage of Albury,
though used in the interest of the family on three
occasions and of dependants or other connexions
at other times, seems to have been also to the
advantage of the parish. (fn. 170) For example, Kem's
immediate successor, William Moor (buried in
Rycote chapel), (fn. 171) and afterwards William Tilley
(1712–40), were both domestic chaplains to the
earls. The latter had been a fellow of Corpus Christi
College and a well-known preacher in Oxford.
Once a supporter of Sacheverell, he later printed
one of his own sermons preached at Albury favouring the Hanoverian succession to the throne.
Hearne attacked him bitterly for this and for his
remarks about high churchmen, 'that he used
formerly to caress so much'. (fn. 172) He lived at Albury
for 25 years, in the 'faire parsonage house', (fn. 173)
and evidently proved a good parish priest. He
administered communion seven times a year, an
unusual frequency, and had as many as 30 communicants. (fn. 174) He tried to reduce absenteeism by
presenting offenders in the bishop's court, but without effect. Another resident rector was Christopher
Robinson, D.D., who had thirteen children at
Albury and died in 1802, at the age of 83. (fn. 175) In his
day communion was still well attended and the
parishioners 'attentive to their religious duties'. (fn. 176)
He was followed shortly afterwards by the Hon.
Frederick Bertie, brother of the Earl of Abingdon,
who, though he was a magistrate and held three
other livings, declared he was always at Albury. (fn. 177)
He found the old rectory in a 'very dilapidated
state' and an unfit residence for the rector. He built
a new house in the Gothic style about 1819; the
specifications of John Ackerman say that it was to
be built largely from the materials of the old house
and was to cost £684. (fn. 178) He was also responsible for
replacing the old church with a modern building
(see below). Nevertheless, although congregations
were rising elsewhere, Albury's for some unexplained reason had fallen from 80 earlier in the
century to 40 or 50 by 1866. (fn. 179) The village was
certainly decreasing in size but Tiddington was
growing. In 1824 the latter had complained that its
path to church was 'often wet in winter and very out
of repair', but the churchwardens had undertaken
to improve it. (fn. 180) Perhaps Tiddington people preferred to go to Rycote chapel.
The old church at Albury, dedicated to
ST. HELEN, was demolished in 1828; (fn. 181) it comprised a small nave and chancel with a gabled roof,
with three crosses. There was a square belfry with
a pyramidal roof over the chancel arch. It had two
Romanesque doorways, and a 14th-century east
window. (fn. 182) The present Romanesque font with
zigzag ornament is the only relic of the building.
The existing church was built in the Perpendicular
style by Thomas Rickman in 1830, at the Earl of
Abingdon's expense. (fn. 183) It comprises a nave, chancel,
gallery, and bell-cote. A vestry was added in 1892
and a rood screen in 1917. (fn. 184) The interior is fitted
with oak benches. In 1953 it was lit with oil lamps
and candles. (fn. 185)
The Edwardian inventory of 1552 shows that the
church was poorly furnished with one little chalice
and silver paten, one vestment of 'whit chamlet',
and one of 'black sey'. The church was allowed to
keep its chalice; (fn. 186) the present chalice, of which the
bowl was renewed in 1665, is Elizabethan. The
modern plate also includes a silver paten cover
(1682), given by the rector William Moor, a handsome silver flagon (1631), and a beautiful silver
two-handled porringer (1674). (fn. 187)
In 1552 the church had two bells; of the two
present bells, one dates from 1686 and is the work
of Richard Green, while the other is 18th-century
and probably cast at the Aldbourne foundry. (fn. 188)
The registers survive from 1653, some being combined registers for the parishes of Albury, Holton,
and Waterperry. They contain many entries about
the Earl of Abingdon's family.
Nonconformity.
There is no record of any
dissent except for two Anabaptist families living in
the parish in 1823, (fn. 189) and in 1822 (fn. 190) the house of
William Tipping was licensed as a dissenting
meeting-house.
Schools.
Lady Mary Bertie was said in 1786 to
have left £100 by will 'of 1737' for a school. The
money had later been converted to a rent charge of
£10. (fn. 191) Until 1870 the income was used to subsidize
what appears to have been a succession of private
schools, sometimes held in Albury and sometimes in
Tiddington. (fn. 192) There was a master earlier in the
century and a 'dame' later. No girls were mentioned
among the pupils until 1846, though in 1819 there
were private pupils as well as twelve boys supported
out of the charity. Fees were apparently charged
intermittently. A National school was founded in
1870 and its new building, comprising one room for
44 children, was opened in 1874. Fees were 1d.–2d.
a week, and a night school was held. (fn. 193) Since 1874
the school has had a certificated mistress and has
received state aid. (fn. 194) Attendance averaged about 30
until the senior pupils were transferred to Haseley
in 1926. The school is now called Tiddington with
Albury Church of England Primary School. (fn. 195)
Charities.
No ancient charities are recorded.
A sum of £16 annually is now used to help pay for
technical training for a boy and girl. (fn. 196)