ROLLESTONE
Rollestone, 8 km. west of Amesbury, probably
appears in Domesday Book as Winterbourne and
the form Winterbourne Rollestone was occasionally
used in the 13th century and the early 14th. (fn. 1) In
1242–3 Rollestone was the name of both the parish
and the mesne tenant of the manor, (fn. 2) and the family
may have given its name to lands earlier associated
with Winterbourne Stoke, which bounds Rollestone
to the south and west. The long narrow parish
extended 4.5 km. north-east from the river Till,
broadening from 800 m. wide in the river valley to
1.6 km. on its eastern boundary with Durrington
and Figheldean. (fn. 3) The boundary of the ancient
parish bore little relation to the physical landscape
of the downs, but in the south-west it followed the
course or valley of the river and north of the village
turned north-east along a dry tributary valley. Two
detached portions of Shrewton on the banks of the
Till south of Rollestone were attributed to the parish
in 1812 but that seems to have been a cartographical
error. (fn. 4) In 1878 the parish measured 870 a. (359.5
ha.). (fn. 5) The south-west boundary was straightened
in 1885 when 4 a. of water-meadow were transferred
from Shrewton to Rollestone. (fn. 6) In 1934 Rollestone
was included with Maddington in the parish of
Shrewton. (fn. 7)
Only the Till valley and its dry tributary lie
below 91 m., and the highest point in the parish is
129 m. in the north-east corner at its junction with
Shrewton and Figheldean. Upper Chalk outcrops
over the whole parish, covered by gravel in the
valleys. (fn. 8) The downs have provided grazing for sheep
and cattle, and between that pasture and a strip of
meadow on the banks of the river lay the arable
lands of the parish. The only woodland was a small
clump of trees north of the Shrewton—Durrington
road. (fn. 9)
The main Salisbury—Devizes road, turnpiked in
the early 1760s, crossed the down parallel to and
inside the eastern boundary of the parish. When
firing ranges were established in the area of Larkhill
in Durrington in the early 20th century, the road
was closed north of the Bustard Hotel in Shrewton.
The Warminster—Amesbury road, which passes
close to the village of Rollestone, rising sharply out
of the valley near the church, became part of the
main route between Devizes and Salisbury. (fn. 10) The
Shrewton—Durrington road, which crosses the old
Salisbury—Devizes road on Rollestone down, remained open to the public. The tracks which in the
late 18th century led from the Warminster—Amesbury road south and south-east towards the
church and Winterbourne Stoke and north-east to
Middle Farm were still marked on maps in 1957, (fn. 11)
but there was little trace of them in 1978.
On the downland 30 barrows of different types
have been identified. There are two principal groups,
at the junction of the Shrewton—Durrington road
with the north-west boundary of the parish and
east of Middle Farm on the north-east boundary.
Other barrows are scattered between those groups. (fn. 12)
In 1428 there were fewer than ten householders
in the parish and the settlement was of much the
same size in 1901 when there were only eight
inhabited houses. (fn. 13) During the 19th century the
population grew from 34 in 1801 to 52 in 1861, but
by 1891 it had fallen to 28. The establishment of
an R.A.F. station on the down in the early 20th
century greatly increased the population. Between
1911 and 1921 the total rose from 41 to 152, including military personnel, and in 1931, the last year for
which separate figures for Rollestone are available,
it stood at 189. (fn. 14)
Neither the existence of the R.A.F. station nor
the diversion of the Salisbury—Devizes road affected
the size or location of the village. It is on the valley
gravel in the western corner of the parish, separated
from Shrewton by an unmade road leading from
the main road towards the river. The church and
the Old Rectory stand slightly apart from the rest
of the village, on higher ground to the south-east.
Most of the buildings lie beside the unmade road
south-west of Rollestone Manor, which stands at the
junction of that road with the main road. Since the
Second World War the village of Shrewton has
extended along the Warminster—Amesbury road to
the former boundary and in 1978 Rollestone, like
Elston, in Orcheston St. George, and Maddington,
both north of Shrewton, formed part of the larger
settlement. In the early 19th century there were
farm buildings on the down east and west of the
Salisbury—Devizes road. (fn. 15) By 1877 the buildings
west of the road had become known as Middle
Farm. (fn. 16) A single-storey farm-house was built in the
20th century. Rollestone Bake Farm, east of the road,
was first mentioned by name in 1899. (fn. 17) It was part of
the property purchased for the Army in 1902 and then
consisted of cottages and outbuildings. In 1978 a late19th-century barn and a stockyard were still used.
Much of the downland in the north-east part of
the parish has been used by the Army or Air Force
since the early 20th century. In 1926 there were
firing ranges near the boundary with Figheldean, (fn. 18)
and the area east of the old Salisbury-Devizes road
and north of the Shrewton-Durrington road has
since been used by the Royal School of Artillery at
Larkhill. The Royal Flying Corps took possession
of over 50 a. west of the old Salisbury—Devizes road
opposite Rollestone Bake Farm under an emergency land hiring agreement in 1916. The station
established there, No. 1 Balloon School, provided
instruction in the use of kite balloons for the British
Expeditionary Force. (fn. 19) The R.A.F. School of Balloon Training, as it was called in 1920, was the
only one in England between 1926 and 1935 and
was run in co-operation with the Royal Artillery and
the Royal Navy. (fn. 20) Known in 1929 as Larkhill Kite
Balloon Station and in 1932 as the R.A.F. Balloon
Centre, it was renamed No. 2 Balloon Training
Unit in 1936 when balloon stations were established
elsewhere. In 1939 it was replaced by the R.A.F.
Anti-Gas School which remained at Rollestone until
1945. There was then a landing ground, approximately 1.3 km. by 400 m., south-east of the track
from the village to Middle Farm. The staff was
reduced to a care and maintenance party in 1945
and the R.A.F. withdrew from the camp in 1946. (fn. 21)
In 1978 Rollestone Camp was used by the Salisbury
Plain (Training) Camp Staff. (fn. 22)
Manor and other Estate.
In 1066 and
1086 Cudulf held lands then said to be in Winterbourne which have been identified as those of the
later manor of ROLLESTONE. (fn. 23) Roger de Quency,
earl of Winchester (d. 1264), had an estate in
Rollestone in 1242–3. (fn. 24) In 1275 it was held by his
three daughters and coheirs and when the inheritance
was divided in 1277 was allotted to Elizabeth or
Isabel, wife of Alexander Comyn, earl of Buchan. (fn. 25)
Rollestone was not afterwards named among the
Buchan estates and in 1344 the manor was held by
Humphrey de Bohun, earl of Hereford and Essex
(d. 1361). (fn. 26) It is not clear how the earl acquired the
manor: it may have passed with Netheravon manor
in the portion of Margaret or Margery de Ferrers,
countess of Derby, daughter of Roger de Quency. (fn. 27)
Although not expressly mentioned among the
Hereford estates acquired by Henry, earl of Derby,
in 1384 or at the repartitioning of the Bohun inheritance in 1421, (fn. 28) the manor was, like Netheravon,
held by the king as part of the duchy of Lancaster
in 1428. (fn. 29)
The first of several intermediate tenants in 1242–3
was Ernis de Neville (d. 1257), who was succeeded by
his son Gilbert (d. 1294), and grandson John Neville
(d. 1334). (fn. 30) John's son Gilbert held of the earl of
Hereford in 1344, the last occasion on which the
family is known to have held land in Rollestone. (fn. 31)
The tenant of the manor in demesne in 1242–3
was Nicholas of Rollestone. (fn. 32) By 1275 his son William
had inherited, (fn. 33) and in 1294 Joan and Christine,
daughters of Walter of Rollestone, conveyed lands
in Rollestone to a trustee. (fn. 34) A holding in Rollestone
was confirmed by Nicholas Lambard in 1325 to
another Nicholas of Rollestone and Catherine his
wife. (fn. 35) Their son Henry, rector of Orcheston St.
Mary, perhaps disposed of the holding as he did the
family's possessions at Eastcott in Urchfont in 1363. (fn. 36)
In 1369 the manor was granted by John Littlecote
to Henry Fleming and his wife Joan for the term of
her life with reversion to Michael Skilling and Alice
his wife and their heirs. (fn. 37) It descended with the
manor of Shoddesden in Kimpton (Hants) to the
Skillings' grandson John Skilling, (fn. 38) whose daughter
Elizabeth, wife of John Wynnard, conveyed it to
John Wydeslade and William Estecote in 1465. (fn. 39)
The estate was later forfeited, for a reason that is
not known, and in 1483 or 1484 a royal grant of the
manor, said to have been held by Thomas Milbourne, was made to John Cawmfield. (fn. 40) In 1508 it
was settled on a relative of Elizabeth Wynnard,
John Skilling (d. 1526) of Draycot Fitz Payne in
Wilcot. (fn. 41) John was succeeded by his son Walter,
then a minor. (fn. 42) At his marriage in 1556 the manor
was settled on Walter's son William. (fn. 43) In 1566 the
Skillings sold it to Giles Estcourt, recorder of
Salisbury and M.P. for the city between 1563 and
1587. (fn. 44)
Estcourt (d. 1587) was succeeded by his son Sir
Edward (d. 1608) and grandson Sir Giles Estcourt
(created a baronet in 1627, d. 1668). The manor
passed in turn to each of Sir Giles's surviving
children, none of whom left issue: to Giles (d. 1675),
William (d. 1684), Amy (d. 1696) wife of Alexander
Haddon, and Anne (d. 1704). (fn. 45) Anne devised
Rollestone to a cousin, Edmund Estcourt, with
remainder to Walter Estcourt of Shipton Moyne
(Glos.), also her cousin and perhaps Edmund's elder
brother. (fn. 46) Although Edmund lived until 1717 the
manor was immediately on Anne's death occupied
by Walter, either as tenant or in his own right. (fn. 47)
On Walter's death in 1726 Rollestone passed with
Shipton Moyne to his cousins Thomas Estcourt
(d. 1746) and Edmund Estcourt (d. 1758) in turn.
Edmund devised his entire estate to a kinsman,
another Thomas Estcourt, (fn. 48) who sold the manor in
1791 to Nathaniel Dance, later Sir Nathaniel
Holland (d. 1811), the portrait-painter and foundation member of the Royal Academy. (fn. 49) By the will of
Nathaniel's widow Harriett (d. 1825) it passed to
her nephew Robert Brudenell, earl of Cardigan. (fn. 50)
In 1827 Lord Cardigan sold the manor, which
then included nearly the whole parish, to the Revd.
Samuel Heathcote. (fn. 51) In 1847 it passed to Heathcote's
son William in trust for William's children. At
William's death in 1882 it was divided between his
son Samuel and four daughters or their heirs. (fn. 52)
Samuel occupied the manor until his death in 1886,
holding a fifth in his own right, a fifth by a conveyance of 1883 from his sister Catherine, and a
third of a fifth by another conveyance of that year
from George William Heathcote, son of his sister
Eliza. (fn. 53) He held the rest of the estate on lease from
George William's siblings, from his sister Maria
Wyndham, and from the children of his sister Sophia
Walsh. (fn. 54) After Samuel's death mismanagement of
the estate led to a suit in Chancery to secure the
portions of Sophia's children Henry and Sophia
Walsh. (fn. 55) The court ordered the sale of the manor in
1902. The Secretary of State for War purchased
265 a. of downland east of the Salisbury—Devizes
road, (fn. 56) and the remainder was sold to T. W. Pratt. (fn. 57)
In 1931 and 1932 the Air Ministry bought a further
57 a. of downland from Pratt. (fn. 58) The Ministry of
Defence still held 130 ha. (321 a.) in 1978. What
remained of the manor was acquired in 1932 by
G. R. Smith. After Smith's death in 1972 Middle
farm was sold and the rest of the estate, c. 300 a.,
passed to his widow Mrs. Janetta R. Smith. Middle
farm was sold again in 1978. (fn. 59)
Rollestone Manor was built in the later 18th
century. The 16th-century structural timbers and
panelling which have been re-used in the house may
have been taken from its predecessor which appears
to have been completely demolished. The new house
was of stone and flint but was given a new entrance
front of red brick early in the 19th century. It was
extended westwards in 1839. (fn. 60) The farm buildings
are of the 19th century and include a timber-framed
barn and a weatherboarded granary.
Services from tenants in Rollestone belonged to
the manor of Norton Bavant granted as part of the
estate of Roger Bavant to the prioress of Dartford
(Kent) in 1362. (fn. 61) At the Dissolution 2 virgates in
Rollestone and Maddington passed from the priory
to the Crown. (fn. 62) The later descent of the holding has
not been traced.
Economic History.
In 1084 Cudulf's demesne lands were assessed at 5½ hides and ½ virgate. (fn. 63)
In 1086 his whole estate of 6 hides was worth £3 and
included land for 3 ploughs, 4 a. of meadow, and
½league of pasture. There were 2 ploughs on the
demesne and 1 held by 5 serfs, 1 villein, and 2
bordars. (fn. 64)
In the late 16th century Giles Estcourt and his
tenants claimed rights to common grazing for their
cattle on Net down and certain meadows in Shrewton. (fn. 65) The size of the tenants' holdings is not known,
but they were presumably small since in the early
18th century the demesne was the one substantial
farm in the parish. (fn. 66) In 1827 the few cottagers in the
village and other tenants from Shrewton and Maddington held only 12 a. between them. (fn. 67) Because of
the accumulation of land into a single farm, no
inclosure award was necessary to end common
cultivation in the greater part of the parish.
Throughout the 18th century and in the early
19th Rollestone farm was worked by tenants,
although rarely by the same family for more than
a generation. (fn. 68) No lease has been found of a date
later than 1833 and by 1882 the Heathcotes occupied
the farm themselves. (fn. 69) In 1838 it measured 820 a.
including 458 a. of arable and 362 a. of pasture and
watered meadow. Most of the pasture was on the
down east of the Salisbury-Devizes road, except for
a few strips of glebe near the north-west boundary
and 4 a. beside Rollestone Manor. (fn. 70) The area of
arable may have been increased later by burnbaking the down pasture, as the name of Rollestone
Bake Farm implies. (fn. 71) In 1894 Rollestone Bake and
Middle Farms were additional farmsteads from
which Rollestone farm was worked. (fn. 72) In 1902 both
had barns and cottages and there were also stables
at Middle Farm. (fn. 73) Shortly before the Royal Flying
Corps took possession of the site of Rollestone Camp
in 1916 the area had been inclosed for wintering
cattle. (fn. 74) In 1978 Middle farm consisted of 190 a. of
downland. Rollestone Manor farm was worked by
a tenant from the yards adjacent to the manorhouse. (fn. 75)
Local Government.
No record has been
found of a private view of frankpledge for Rollestone
or of the manor court. There is similarly no evidence
of parish government before Rollestone joined
Amesbury poor-law union in 1835. (fn. 76)
Church.
A church at Rollestone, mentioned in
1291, (fn. 77) was apparently built in the earlier 13th
century. The prior of the order of St. John of
Jerusalem in England presented to the rectory at
least from 1302 until the advowson passed to the
Crown at the Dissolution. (fn. 78) The only known
exception was in 1471 when the bishop collated by
lapse. (fn. 79) In 1923 the rectory was united with the
adjacent living to form the benefice of Shrewton
with Maddington and Rollestone. The right of
presentation at every third turn was retained by the
Crown, (fn. 80) and in 1958 the Crown became sole patron
after an exchange with the bishop of Salisbury. (fn. 81)
The three parishes were united in 1970, (fn. 82) and in
1972 the name of the living was changed to
Shrewton. (fn. 83)
The rectory had an annual value of £4 6s. 8d. in
1291, one of only two livings in the deanery of
Wylye with revenues of less than £5. (fn. 84) The assessments of £7 18s. in 1535 and £40 in 1650 were still
low by comparison with other benefices of the
deanery and hundred. (fn. 85) By the 19th century, however, the rector's income was relatively good, in
view of the size of the parish. Between 1829 and
1831 he received an average of £150 a year. (fn. 86) Most
of that came from tithes, which were due to the
rector from the whole parish. (fn. 87) Payment in kind had
ceased by the early 19th century and in 1839 a
yearly rent-charge was substituted for the tithes,
then valued at £170. (fn. 88) In 1341 the 6 a. of glebe were
worth 6s. 8d. a year. (fn. 89) In 1838 the glebe, c. 5 a.,
included arable and pasture scattered about the
western part of the parish. (fn. 90) A rectory-house was
built in the late 17th century and probably replaced
in the 18th. In 1835 and 1864 the house was described as unfit for residence. (fn. 91) From 1877 to 1922
it was probably occupied by the rector but since
1923 the incumbent of the united benefice has lived
at Shrewton. (fn. 92) The small 18th-century rectory-house
of flint and stone was sold in 1944 and later extended
to the north. (fn. 93)
Few rectors resided at Rollestone. In 1303
Andrew of Tothale, rector 1301–14, was licensed to
study at Oxford for 2 years. (fn. 94) There is evidence that
the living was farmed and a curate employed in the
mid and late 16th century. In 1556 a proprietor, a
term which presumably indicated a lessee of the
rectory estate, was ordered with the parishioners to
replace furnishings in the church, and in 1584 the
lack of quarterly sermons was blamed on Giles
Estcourt, lord of the manor and probably also a
lessee. (fn. 95) In 1644 James White, who held a second
parish and a prebend at Salisbury, was sequestered
from the rectory. (fn. 96) He was replaced by George
Hadfield, a presbyterian, who was said to have
preached twice every Sunday at Rollestone. (fn. 97) In
1674 the minister was described as very careful in
the performance of his duties, (fn. 98) but pluralism and
non-residence again became usual until the late 19th
century. Only two absentee rectors are known to
have employed curates. White did so in 1639, and
in 1864, when the rector was vicar of Andover and
a Fellow of Winchester College, his curate was also
non-resident. (fn. 99)
From the later 18th century Holy Communion
was celebrated four times a year, a practice which
continued into the 20th century. (fn. 100) In 1783 attendance at the Sunday service, held alternately in the
morning and the afternoon, was unreliable and
the children failed to attend for catechism. (fn. 101) In 1851
the congregation was said to be three times the
population of the parish. (fn. 102) A more cautious estimate
of 1864 suggested that average attendance was
between 40 and 150, depending on the weather and
the presence of worshippers from other parishes. (fn. 103)
The church of ST. ANDREW, whose dedication
cannot be traced before the mid 19th century, (fn. 104) is
faced with flint and stone and has a chancel and nave
with south porch. Reset lancet windows in the
chancel indicate that it was built in the earlier 13th
century and the small nave may be of the same date.
The font is also early-13th-century. Later windows
in the nave are to the west, probably 14th-century,
to the north, 15th-century, and to the south, early16th-century. The nave was reroofed in the 16th
century and of the 17th-century fittings the communion table and font cover remain. In 1845 the
chancel and chancel arch were apparently rebuilt,
much of the nave refaced, and the porch added. (fn. 105)
There is one bell of c. 1860. (fn. 106) In 1553 2 oz. of
plate were confiscated for the king's use. (fn. 107) A chalice
and cover of 1576 were still held by the church in
1978, but nothing was then known of a paten of 1694
which was said in 1891 to belong to the parish. (fn. 108)
The registers begin in 1654 but do not cover the
years 1714–1812. (fn. 109)
Nonconformity.
In 1669 a considerable
number of dissenters met at Rollestone under the
leadership of John Read of Porton, in Idmiston,
one of several Baptist teachers in the area. (fn. 110) Nothing
more is known of that conventicle and there was no
further report of nonconformity in the parish.
Education.
There is no evidence of a school in
the parish. Children from Rollestone attended
schools in Shrewton and Maddington in 1858 and
in Shrewton in 1870. (fn. 111) In 1978 the children still
attended Shrewton school. (fn. 112)
Charity for the Poor.
By will proved 1704
Anne Estcourt gave an annual rent-charge of £30
from property in Long Newnton (now Glos.),
Rollestone, and Shrewton to apprentice six poor
boys from those parishes each year. In 1827 the
purchasers of Rollestone manor were exempted
from payment of the rent-charge which continued
to be borne by the Estcourt estate. The donor left
no instruction for the management of the charity and
the provisions were not given effect until 1711. In
that year the Commissioners for Charitable Uses
decreed that the rent-charge and the arrears should
be divided equally between the three parishes, an
arrangement very favourable to the small population
of Rollestone. The trustees appointed for each parish
were to buy land with the arrears. No purchase was
made by the Rollestone trustees and in 1791 the
rent-charge of £10 was said to be insufficient for
two apprenticeships a year. (fn. 113) The charity was
rarely used in the early 19th century. After 1833
the accumulated surplus was reinvested to provide
one apprenticeship each year. There was a scarcity
of candidates from Rollestone and by 1900 most of
those who benefited came from Shrewton, although
there is no evidence that the restriction to Rollestone
was formally abolished. In 1871 the trustees contributed, £200 towards the enlargement of Shrewton
school but permission for a further donation of £50
was refused by the Charity Commissioners in 1904. (fn. 114)
The apprenticing charities of Shrewton and Rollestone were combined by a Scheme of 1910. Money
not spent on apprenticeships was thereafter used
to help boys attending Dauntsey's agricultural
school. A further Scheme of 1919 allowed contributions to any form of training for poor children of the
two parishes. In 1963 the yearly income of the
combined charities was £80. (fn. 115)