STANTON ST. QUINTIN

Stanton St. Quintin 1834

Stanton St. Quintin church is 7 km. NNW. of Chippenham, 8 km. SSW. of Malmesbury. (fn. 1) The parish is 5 km. from east to west, c. 1.75 km. from north to south, and measures 731 ha. (1,807 a.). From the earlier 13th century, and possibly from the later nth century or earlier, it has contained two markedly different villages, in 1223 called Stanton and Nether Stanton. (fn. 2) Stanton, the site of the church, manor house, and rectoryhouse, was later called Upper Stanton, and Nether Stanton, the site of the tenantry farmsteads and a nonconformist chapel, was called Lower Stanton. (fn. 3) In 1989 they were called, respectively, Stanton St. Quintin and Lower Stanton St. Quintin. The suffix St. Quintin, in use by 1283–4, (fn. 4) and the alternative suffix FitzHugh, in use in the early 16th century, (fn. 5) were the surnames of lords of the manor.

The parish boundary is marked in several places by short stretches of road, the southern part followed a stream in the west, and the northern part follows another stream at its west end: especially in the east, however, no prominent feature marks it otherwise, and the southern stream was obscured when the London and south Wales motorway was built along the southern boundary. The long northern and southern boundaries are both apparently ancient. The boundaries of several of Stanton St. Quintin's neighbours, Corston and Rodbourne, both in Malmesbury, an estate called Langley, and Grittleton, were described in early charters. (fn. 6) To the north Stanton's boundary continues a line which divides pairs of parishes further east; to the south a charter mentions the southern stream and the place later called Clanville. (fn. 7) To the west the boundary was apparently defined by an agreement of 1236. (fn. 8) In the early Middle Ages Knabwell was apparently a farmstead or hamlet between Stanton St. Quintin and Seagry. (fn. 9) It was probably deserted in the later Middle Ages, and some of its land, including Nabals farm, was almost certainly added to Draycot Cerne parish. (fn. 10) In the 16th century, however, Knabwell was sometimes said to have been in Stanton St. Quintin parish, (fn. 11) and it is therefore likely that some of its land, perhaps pasture little used in the 15th century, was also added to Stanton St. Quintin, thus extending the parish eastwards or south-eastwards. A field of 10 a., projecting eastwards from the north-east corner of the parish, was considered part of the parish in 1783, but it belonged to the owner of an estate in Seagry (fn. 12) and was in Seagry parish in 1840. (fn. 13) A minor adjustment of Stanton St. Quintin's boundary with Draycot Cerne was made in 1882. (fn. 14)

The parish contains roughly equal amounts of Cornbrash, clay of the Forest Marble, and Kellaways Clay, and is nearly flat. It is highest at 118 m. in the west, lowest at 77 m. north-east of Lower Stanton, and the two boundary streams cross the west part and meet south of Lower Stanton. The Cornbrash outcrops extensively in the centre and along the northern boundary west of the Malmesbury—Chippenham road: both villages stand on it, the open arable fields were on it, and the flat open land along the northern boundary was used for an airfield. The clay of the Forest Marble outcrops in the west, where the land has been used for both arable and pasture and some has long been woodland: the streams have cut through the Cornbrash to expose more of it, and in several places beside them limestone has been quarried from the 17th century or earlier. In the north-east and south-east the Kellaways Clay was used for common pastures. Kellaways Sand outcrops in the north-east corner. (fn. 15)

The Malmesbury—Chippenham road, called Kingway from c. 1100, turnpiked in 1756, and disturnpiked in 1874, (fn. 16) crosses the middle of the parish from north to south; a Draycot Cerne to Grittleton road, also turnpiked in 1756, disturnpiked in 1875, (fn. 17) crosses the parish from east to west. A road diverging from the MalmesburyChippenham road, passing east of Hullavington village, crossing the Draycot Cerne to Grittleton road in the west part of Stanton St. Quintin parish, and leading towards Castle Combe, (fn. 18) went out of use after a road further north, through Hullavington village, was turnpiked in 1820. (fn. 19) Pig Lane, an old road across the same part of the parish leading from Sherston towards Leigh Delamere, remains a road in Stanton St. Quintin parish but part of it further north has never been made up. (fn. 20) The lanes linking Upper Stanton to Lower Stanton and Kington St. Michael in 1989 followed the same courses as in 1719, as did Avil's Lane, so called in 1719, (fn. 21) but the lane from Lower Stanton to Seagry was straightened between 1834 and 1885. (fn. 22) The straight road running north-east from Clanville was presumably made in the mid 17th century when common pasture was inclosed. (fn. 23) The London and south Wales motorway was opened in 1971, (fn. 24) and most of the roundabout at its junction with the Malmesbury—Chippenham road is in the parish. A new section of the MalmesburyChippenham road south of Lower Stanton, avoiding a bend at Kennall bridge, so called in 1773, (fn. 25) was opened in 1989.

In the west part of the parish is the site of a Roman villa. (fn. 26) Neither Upper Stanton nor Lower Stanton was populous until the 20th century: the total of 49 poll-tax payers in 1377 was low for a parish, (fn. 27) 16th-century taxation assessments were low, (fn. 28) and in the later 17th century John Aubrey said that the parish had only 23 houses. (fn. 29) The population was 193 in 1801. By 1821 it had risen to 285 and in 1851 reached a 19th-century peak of 346. A fall from 338 to 291 between 1861 and 1871 was attributed to emigration. With slight fluctuations the population had fallen to 236 by 1921, and it was 259 in 1931. (fn. 30) After R.A.F. Hullavington was opened the population rose sharply: in 1951 it was 1,184 of whom 1,016 were male. Fewer lived on the airfield later, and more houses were built in both villages in the parish. In 1971 there were 748 inhabitants, of whom 428 were male, and in 1981 933, of whom 585 were male. (fn. 31)

Upper Stanton is on the Draycot Cerne to Grittleton road, on the south side of which the church, standing in the 12th century, had a large manor house to the west and a large rectory house to the east. (fn. 32) In 1263 assizes were held in the village, (fn. 33) which in 1377 had 31 poll-tax payers. (fn. 34) In 1719 and 1783 only the manor house, the rectory house, and another house, all with farm buildings, and a few cottages and the church stood at Upper Stanton: (fn. 35) of the buildings of 1719 only the church survives. In 1834 the manor house, rectory house, and 13 cottages and houses were there: (fn. 36) of those only the rectory house and a house bearing a date stone of 1795 survive. A farmhouse replaced the manor house c. 1856. (fn. 37) About 1838 a pair of cottages, one of which was for use as a Sunday school, was built in 17th-century style on the north side of the road, (fn. 38) and later a schoolroom was built to adjoin it. East of it a pair of cottages was built in the later 19th century, a trio of three-storeyed cottages in 1873, and a pair of cottages in 1877. (fn. 39) West of the trio another pair of cottages was built in the early 20th century, (fn. 40) north-west of the school a trio of thatched cottages was built in 1925, and further north-west a house was built in vernacular style in 1930. (fn. 41) The village expanded after the Second World War. A short distance north of it 43 houses were built in Valetta Gardens in 1950–1 for R.A.F. Hullavington, (fn. 42) and houses were built between Valetta Gardens and the village in the 1980s. South of the Draycot Cerne to Grittleton road 12 bungalows were built in Court Gardens and Kington Lane in the 1970s, and there was infilling in the village in the 1980s.

Lower Stanton had only 18 poll-tax payers in 1377, (fn. 43) but in the earlier 17th century was apparently more populous than Upper Stanton, (fn. 44) and in 1841 was twice as populous. (fn. 45) In 1719 and 1783 c. 7 farmsteads and c. 10 cottages stood there. (fn. 46) Glebe Farm, apparently 17th-century, is the oldest house in the village. A new double-pile stone farmhouse was built in the north part of the village c. 1830. (fn. 47) Other houses standing in 1834 (fn. 48) and 1989 include on the north side of the street one apparently of the early 18th century, in the south-east two also apparently 18th-century, on the south side of the street a small farmhouse possibly of the early 19th century, and in Avil's Lane possibly a cottage bearing a datestone of the 1830s. A few cottages, including a pair of 1877 at the junction of the street and the Malmesbury—Chippenham road, (fn. 49) were built in the 19th century, but in 1989 most houses in the village were 20th-century. North of the village 5 houses were built in Blenheim Gardens for R.A.F. Hullavington in 1935–6 and a further 10 in 1950–1. (fn. 50) At the west end of the village 20 council houses were built in Newbourne Gardens in 1954, (fn. 51) and later there was infilling. At the east end extensive, mainly 19th-century, farm buildings were disused in 1989. A reading room on the south side of the street was open before 1920, reopened in 1953, (fn. 52) and later demolished.

At the east end of the parish a square moat encloses ½ a. If it is the site of a farmstead it, rather than Nabals Farm in Draycot Cerne, may be the site of Knabwell. The moat adjoins a field called the Hermitage in 1624 and later, (fn. 53) and the fine hermitage seen by John Aubrey inside a moat at Stanton St. Quintin in the later 17th century (fn. 54) was presumably a building or ruin within it. No evidence, however, of a building on the site has emerged from aerial photography or partial excavation. (fn. 55) Avil's farm in the north-east corner of the parish, so called c. 1700, (fn. 56) may be land formerly Knabwell's. The farmhouse is a later 17thcentury house altered in the early 19th century and extended in the later 20th. An 18th-century barn stands among extensive 20th-century farm buildings.

Apart from Avil's Farm, the only buildings outside the two villages in 1719 were three north of the Draycot Cerne to Grittleton road and west of the Malmesbury—Chippenham road. (fn. 57) In 1773 there were two or three houses beside the Malmesbury—Chippenham road and buildings at Clanville; (fn. 58) beside the road one of the houses, apparently 18th-century, survives. By 1834 there had been more settlement. The buildings of 1719 had been removed, but most of the cottages and houses built between 1773 and 1834 survive: they include a cottage at the west end of Stanton wood, a possibly late 18th-century pair of cottages and another cottage on the waste beside the Draycot Cerne to Grittleton road east of Upper Stanton, a turnpike cottage at the junction of that road and the Malmesbury—Chippenham road, and two of three pairs of cottages on the waste beside the main road near Lower Stanton. At the north-west corner of Stanton wood a barn was built, (fn. 59) and a pair of cottages was built there in 1902. (fn. 60) In the 20th century a few small farmsteads and other houses, including a new rectory house, were built outside the villages, and in 1938 a village hall was built between the villages near the rectory house. Beside the Malmesbury—Chippenham road a garage has been open since 1925, and a police station was built near R.A.F. Hullavington in 1941. (fn. 61)

West of the Malmesbury—Chippenham road 168 a. were acquired for Hullavington airfield in 1935, and a further 45 a. were added later. (fn. 62) Most of the airfield buildings are in Stanton St. Quintin; the runways are mainly in St. Paul Malmesbury Without parish. The main buildings, of stone and including a three-storeyed officers' mess in neoGeorgian style and Greystones, a large house in similar style, were erected in 1936. R.A.F. Hullavington was opened in 1937. It was used mainly to train pilots and store aircraft. In the Second World War it was occasionally attacked, and in 1940 camouflaged. New buildings were erected in 1942 and 1956. The storing of aircraft ceased in 1959: flying and navigation training continued until 1965, since when the airfield has had various uses. (fn. 63)

Manor and other Estates.

Beorhtric held Stanton St. Quintin in 1066: (fn. 64) then and until 1719 or later the estate included 6 a. in Christian Malford. (fn. 65) Because the overlordship of Stanton St. Quintin manor was later part of the honor of Gloucester it is likely that Beorhtric was the son of Alfgar, that at Beorhtric's death soon after 1066 William I gave the estate to Queen Maud (d. 1083), and that William II gave it to Robert FitzHamon. Robert's daughter Mabel married Robert, earl of Gloucester (d. 1147), whose heir was his son William, earl of Gloucester (d. 1183). About 1210 the overlordship of Stanton St. Quintin was part of the honor of Gloucester, then the inheritance of William's daughter Isabel, the divorced wife of King John and later wife of Geoffrey de Mandeville, earl of Gloucester. (fn. 66) The overlordship and, from the mid 13th century, the view of frankpledge held for Stanton St. Quintin (fn. 67) descended with the earldom of Gloucester until the death of Hugh de Audley, earl of Gloucester, in 1347. (fn. 68) The overlordship and view descended to Hugh's daughter Margaret, wife of Robert de Stafford, Lord Stafford (fn. 69) (cr. earl of Stafford 1351, d. 1372), and with the earldom to her son Hugh (d. 1386) and grandsons Thomas (d. 1392), William (d. 1395), and Edmund (d. 1403). (fn. 70) They descended to Edmund's son Humphrey, earl of Stafford, from 1444 duke of Buckingham (d. 1460), presumably to Henry, duke of Buckingham (d. 1483), and to Edward, duke of Buckingham (d. 1521), on whose attainder they passed to the Crown. The overlordship was not mentioned after 1428. (fn. 71) In 1585 the view was granted to Anthony Collins and James Maylard, possibly agents of Sir James Croft, (fn. 72) but the right to hold it was apparently not exercised and its later descent has not been traced.

In 1086 Osbern Giffard held the estate which was later STANTON ST. QUIXTIN manor, (fn. 73) but by c. 1090 Richard de St. Quintin, a knight of Robert FitzHamon, may have been enfeoffed with it. (fn. 74) A successor of Richard was Herbert de St. Quintin (d. by 1154). Herbert had a son Richard (fl. 1166) and that Richard a son Herbert (d. by 1223), who held Stanton manor c. 1210. (fn. 75) That Herbert was succeeded in turn by his sons Herbert, John, who held the manor in 1236 and 1242–3, (fn. 76) and Anselm, whose successive heirs were his sons William and Hugh. The manor passed to William de St. Quintin (d. by 1268), (fn. 77) a fourth son of Herbert (fl. 1210), who may have been the William who held it in 1263. (fn. 78) It descended to his son Herbert (d. 1302), who in 1286 was granted free warren in his demesne lands of Stanton St. Quintin, to Herbert's grandson Herbert de St. Quintin (fn. 79) (d. 1338 or 1339), and to the younger Herbert's son Herbert (d. 1347). That last Herbert's heirs were his daughters Elizabeth (d. s.p.), wife of Sir John Marmion, and Lora, wife of Sir Robert Grey. The manor was held by his relict Margery, wife of Sir Roger Husee, until her death in 1361. (fn. 80) In the 1380s the manor belonged to Sir John de St. Quintin: (fn. 81) his relationship to Herbert de St. Quintin (d. 1347) is obscure, but it is likely that he was Sir John Marmion. (fn. 82) Although in 1401–2 John de St. Quintin was said to hold the manor, (fn. 83) by 1397 it had apparently passed to the Greys' daughter Elizabeth and her husband Henry FitzHugh, Lord FitzHugh: (fn. 84) Henry held it in 1412. (fn. 85)

From Henry, Lord FitzHugh (d. 1425), and Elizabeth (d. 1427) Stanton St. Quintin manor descended in the direct male line with the FitzHugh title to William (d. 1452), Henry (d. 1472), Richard (d. 1487), and George (d. s.p. 1513): Henry's relict Lady Alice FitzHugh may have held it until her death after 1503 and apparently before 1507. On George's death the manor passed to Richard's sister Alice Fiennes, and on her death, in 1516 or earlier, (fn. 86) to her son Thomas Fiennes, Lord Dacre (d. 1533). It descended to Lord Dacre's grandson and heir Thomas Fiennes, Lord Dacre (d. 1541), and to that Thomas's brother Gregory, Lord Dacre (d. 1594). (fn. 87) In 1572 Lord Dacre sold it to John Lennard (fn. 88) (d. 1591) who c. 1590 settled it on his son Sampson, the husband of Lord Dacre's sister Margaret, from 1594 suo jure Baroness Dacre, and on Sampson's and Margaret's son Henry. (fn. 89) In 1603 the Lennards sold it to Edward Read, who in 1619 settled it on himself and his daughter Elizabeth and her husband William Huntley. (fn. 90)

Read, then of Corsham, and the Huntleys sold Stanton St. Quintin manor to Edward, later Sir Edward, Hungerford (d. 1648) of Corsham and his wife Margaret in 1624. (fn. 91) Margaret (d. 1673) devised the manor to Sir Edward's grandnephew Edward Hungerford (d. s.p. 1681) from whom it passed to Sir Edward's brother Sir Giles (d. 1685). It was held by Sir Giles's relict Margaret until her death in 1711 when it passed to Robert Sutton, Baron Lexinton, the husband of her daughter Margaret (d. 1703), with remainder to Robert's and Margaret's daughter Bridget, wife of John Manners, marquess of Granby, from 1711 duke of Rutland. By Act of 1717 it was conveyed to trustees for sale. (fn. 92)

In 1718 the trustees sold the manor to Sir Edward des Bouverie, Bt. (fn. 93) (d. 1736) whose heir was his brother Sir Jacob, from 1747 Viscount Folkestone (d. 1761). It passed to Jacob's son William, Viscount Folkestone (cr. earl of Radnor 1765, d. 1776), and from father to son with the Radnor title to Jacob (d. 1828), William (d. 1869), Jacob (d. 1889), William (d. 1900), and Jacob (d. 1930). (fn. 94) In 1909 Lord Radnor sold most of the manor to Meredith Meredith-Brown (d. 1920), whose wife was the daughter of a rector of Stanton St. Quintin and related to Lord Radnor by marriage, (fn. 95) and c. 1920 it was broken up.

The manor house, in which the arms of Marmion were depicted, (fn. 96) was a large building with two main east—west ranges. In it were windows of the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries, and attached to its south-east corner was an embattled twostoreyed tower with first-floor oriel windows on two sides. (fn. 97) The tower was taken down in the early 19th century, (fn. 98) the remainder of the house in 1856. (fn. 99) A large stone farmhouse was built on its site, presumably in 1856–7. North of the house are a circular 18th-century dovecot and, among modern farm buildings, an early 19th-century barn.

In 1920 Manor farm, c. 335 a., was bought by B. H. A. Hankey (d. 1948), and it belonged to his relict Maud Hankey (d. 1972). (fn. 100) In 1971 the farm, 288 a., was sold by order of the Court of Protection (fn. 101) to R. A. Deeley: in 1983 Deeley sold it to his son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. L. W. H. Plummer, the owners in 1989. (fn. 102) The farmhouse was sold separately in 1972 (fn. 103) and in 1989 was a hotel. Wood Barn farm, 128 a., was bought in 1920 by Frank Hughes. (fn. 104) It was sold in 1947 by George Hughes to Wilfred Bishop (d. 1968), whose two sons, as Bishop Bros., added 70 a. in Hullavington to it in 1969 and owned the farm, 200 a., in 1989. (fn. 105) Lower Stanton farm, including c. no a. in the parish but mostly in Corston, was bought in 1919 or 1920 by S. H. Jones (d. 1947) and passed to his relict Amelia Jones (d. 1974). The land in Stanton St. Quintin descended to the Joneses' son R. D. Jones (d. 1986) whose son Mr. A. Jones owned it in 1989. (fn. 106) In 1920 F. J. Huntley bought 168 a. in the north-west part of the parish as part of Bell farm based in Corston. It was bought from Huntley by the state for Hullavington airfield in 1935. (fn. 107) Smaller farms, Cook's, Leaze, and Greenhill, descended separately after c. 1920, (fn. 108) and in 1989 Leaze belonged to Mr. L. W. H. Plummer. (fn. 109) Stanton wood, 145 a., was devised by Meredith-Brown to Lady Diana Somerset, and in 1989 was owned by the Beaufort hunt. (fn. 110)

Apart from the glebe and 24 a. owned by the lord of Draycot Cerne manor, Stanton St. Quintin manor included nearly the whole parish in 1624. (fn. 111) Much was added to the glebe at inclosure in 1783 when 10 a. at the east end of the parish were part of the Seagry House estate. (fn. 112) After an exchange with the owner of the Draycot estate in 1791 (fn. 113) Jacob, earl of Radnor, owned all but the glebe and 5 a., part of the Draycot estate. (fn. 114) In 1902 Jacob, earl of Radnor, sold Aril's farm, 236 a., to Henry Wellesley, Earl Cowley, (fn. 115) owner of the Draycot estate, who in 1904 bought 64 a. of glebe at Clanville. (fn. 116) In 1920 all the Draycot estate's land in Stanton St. Quintin was offered for sale. (fn. 117) Avil's farm was bought by John Smith, who sold it to A. Nuttall in the 1950s. In 1965 Nuttall sold it to N. C. Petrie, whose partner Mr. R. P. Voelcker owned it in 1989. (fn. 118) Glebe farm, c. 230 a., was bought in 1919 by Edward West (d. 1942), who was succeeded by a son and a daughter. (fn. 119) In the 1960s the farm, c. 205 a., was bought from J. West by Mr. W. E. Hayward, the owner in 1989. (fn. 120)

Margaret, Lady Hungerford (d. 1673), gave£60 a vear from Stanton St. Quintin manor to a school and almshouse at Corsham. (fn. 121) From 1920 the £60 was a charge on Lower Stanton farm. (fn. 122)

Economic History.

In 1086 Osbern Giffard had at Stanton St. Quintin 9 demesne hides with 7 servi and only 2 ploughteams; 9 villani and 3 coscets had 6 teams; and there were 6 a. of meadow, pasture said to be 1 league square, and woodland 1 league by 3 furlongs. (fn. 123) Those figures are compatible with later evidence of a large area of uncultivated demesne to the west and a separate village of small tenant farms with a large common pasture to the east. By 1236 land in the west had been imparked, (fn. 124) and most of Stanton park, 240 a. immediately west of the manor house, (fn. 125) may never have been agricultural land. The remainder of the parish was used for sheep-and-corn husbandry in common.

There were three open fields in the 14th century, and the demesne arable was in them. About 1303 the demesne was said to include 150 a. of arable and 15 a. of meadow: a free tenant, possibly the rector, held 4 yardlands, 11 customary tenants each held 2 yardlands, 9 customary tenants each held 1 yardland, and there were 6 cottars. It is likely that the customary farmsteads were then, as they were later, at Lower Stanton. In 1361 the demesne was said to include 320 a. of arable, 30 a. of meadow, and rights to feed 200 sheep: there were then 9 free tenants, 18 yardlanders, 3 ½-yardlanders, and 2 cottars. (fn. 126) It is likely that the demesne was leased from c. 1400. (fn. 127) In the 16th and 17th centuries members of the Power family were lessees, (fn. 128) and in the later 17th century Aubrey said that they had been lessees for three centuries. (fn. 129)

In the early 17th century much of the demesne was probably several, but it still included rights to pasture in common. About 1615 the lessees of the demesne were among 14 who, with the rector, agreed to limit the use of Cowsley, a common pasture of 119 a. in the south-east corner of the parish, to feeding for a total of 91 cattle in summer, 240 sheep in winter, and nothing in spring and autumn. In 1624, however, nearly all the demesne, c. 550 a., was several, and an agreement by the parishioners to exchange lands in 1619 may have been part of a long process of separating the demesne, later called Stanton or Manor farm, from the other land in the parish. Such a process implied inclosure of both arable and pasture, and field names suggest that a West field in the north-west corner of the parish and a cattle pasture in the north-east corner were inclosed, mainly as part of the demesne. (fn. 130) Also before 1624 open field called Lent field and Puxey, adjoining that pasture to the west, was inclosed, divided among the other farms, and apparently converted to pasture. (fn. 131) In 1624 the demesne, including c. 300 a. of grassland and c. 240 a. of arable of which only 9 a. were in the open fields, was worked from two farmsteads at Upper Stanton: it also included 4 a. in a common meadow in Christian Malford. Between 5 and 10 farms were based in Lower Stanton, where c. 8 farmhouses stood: the glebe included a farmstead there in 1678 but may not have in 1624. Those farms, none of which was apparently much more than 100 a., had arable in West field, c. 290 a., and East field, c. 145 a., common pasture in Cowsley and Anfield, 86 a., and c. 250 a. of closes, most of which were pasture. (fn. 132) In the 17th century two sheep for each acre held could usually be fed on the open fields. (fn. 133)

Anfield was apparently inclosed soon after 1624 (fn. 134) and Cowsley and a small part of the open field were inclosed between 1633 and 1678. (fn. 135) In 1719 the south-west corner of the parish was woodland, the other three corners were mainly pasture, and the centre was mainly arable. The 336 a. of open field were in Lower field, around and south-east of Lower Stanton, and Upper field, extending along the northern parish boundary west of Lower Stanton. The demesne grassland in the north-east was then a separate farm, Avil's, and possibly had been from when the farmhouse was built in the later 17th century. Stanton farm, 421 a. in c. 40 closes, included 76 a. of meadow, 176 a. of pasture, and 149 a. of arable; a farm of 94 a., later called Malthouse farm, was also based at Upper Stanton. Of the five main farms based at Lower Stanton the largest was 210 a., the smallest 62 a. (fn. 136) Apart from a copyhold of 6 yardlands most land was held by lease for lives. (fn. 137)

Apart from the woodland the parish was equally divided between arable and grassland in 1783 when by Act the arable was inclosed, the rector was allotted land to replace tithes, and many exchanges of land were made. Stanton, Malthouse, and Avil's farms were little affected, but Glebe farm was greatly increased and the other five or six farms based at Lower Stanton, of which the largest was 96 a., were reduced to a total of c. 400 a. (fn. 138) The number of farms in the parish was reduced to four between 1783 and 1834: Stanton farm, c. 584 a., was based at Upper Stanton, Lower Stanton farm, 325 a., and Glebe farm, c. 300 a., were based at Lower Stanton, and Avil's farm was c. 205 a. Apart from Avil's, which was mainly grassland, the farms were mixed. (fn. 139)

In the later 19th century and earlier 20th land was increasingly laid to grass: there were 621 a. of arable in 1887, 444 a. in 1927. In the early 20th century sheep farming declined and dairy farming and the number of farms increased. (fn. 140) About 1920 the buildings at Clanville became those of a farm of 34 a. in several parishes, (fn. 141) Cook's, based at Lower Stanton, and Leaze, Wood Barn, and Greenhill, all with buildings near Upper Stanton, became new farms, (fn. 142) and Lower Stanton farm, 422 a. in 1910 when it included 146 a. in Corston, (fn. 143) lost 168 a. west of the Malmesbury—Chippenham road to Bell farm, based in Corston. That 168 a., formerly Upper field, was pasture in 1936 when it was taken for the airfield. (fn. 144) Less than 200 a. in the parish was arable in 1937. (fn. 145) Manor farm was increased by c. 100 a., formerly woodland, between 1834 and 1885: (fn. 146) it was 613 a. in 1910, (fn. 147) later lost land to the smaller farms and the airfield, and from 1937 was c. 300 a. (fn. 148) Between 1939 and 1943 417 a. of grassland in the parish were ploughed. (fn. 149) Apart from the airfield the parish had more arable than grassland in 1989, most of the grassland being in the east. Manor, 288 a., was an arable and dairy farm, with which Leaze farm, c. 90 a., was worked; (fn. 150) Wood Barn farm, 200 a., was mainly arable; (fn. 151) Avil's, 294 a. including 56 a. in the new Seagry parish, was a corn and sheep farm on which there were also poultry houses for egg production; (fn. 152) and two or three smaller farms were based in the parish. By 1989 most of the many farm buildings in Lower Stanton had gone out of use: Lower Stanton farm was mainly arable, and Glebe, c. 205 a., was an arable and stock farm worked mainly from Seagry. (fn. 153)

In 1834 five fields in the parish, 14 a., were used as 65 garden allotments. (fn. 154) They were replaced by 50 a. given for allotments by c. G. Cotes, rector 1826–67, who was a keen farmer and also gave his parishioners seeds and implements: 25 a. west of Clanville were worked as allotments until the Second World War. (fn. 155)

Stanton park was said by Aubrey to have a wall high enough to prevent the escape of deer. (fn. 156) It was woodland in the early 17th century (fn. 157) and presumably long before. Apart from c. 100 a. at the east end grubbed up between 1834 and 1885 it remains so, and in the later 20th century was held on lease by the Forestry Commission. In 1989 oak, ash, Norway spruce, and Douglas fir were growing on its 145 a. (fn. 158) The parish has long contained little other woodland.

In 1361 the lord of Stanton St. Quintin manor owned a windmill which is likely to have been in the parish, (fn. 159) but the site is unknown. Apart from those deployed at R.A.F. Hullavington, no trade unconnected with agriculture has become prominent in the parish.

Local Government.

About 1258 Richard de Clare, earl of Gloucester, withdrew the men of Stanton St. Quintin from the Startley hundred tourn, and apparently required them to attend a tourn held for the honor of Gloucester. Under the authority of Richard's relict Maud, countess of Gloucester, and of his son Gilbert, earl of Gloucester, William de St. Quintin (d. by 1268) and his son Herbert continued to withdraw their men from the Startley tourn, by 1268 gallows had been erected at Stanton St. Quintin, and c. 1275 the assize of bread and of ale was being separately enforced. About 1268 the abbot of Malmesbury, who held Startley hundred at fee farm, demanded that the gallows should be removed and that Herbert's men should attend the hundred, and c. 1276 the sheriff apparently made an unsuccessful attempt to include Stanton St. Quintin in his tourn. The overlord continued to hold a view of frankpledge for Stanton St. Quintin, but the 16s. paid by the men of Stanton at Startley hundred before they were withdrawn, half to the king and half to the abbot of Malmesbury, was from c. 1276 again paid, (fn. 160) and Stanton St. Quintin was again attending the tourn for Malmesbury hundred in 1439. (fn. 161) The only records to survive of the overlord's views are for 1460–1 when the king held them after the death of Humphrey, duke of Buckingham. Two views were held in 1460: at each the tithingman paid cert, and in one presented that animals had strayed and a tapster had sold ale from an unsealed measure. (fn. 162) Cert from a yearly view was still accounted for in the early 16th century (fn. 163) but there is no evidence that a court was convened. The gallows was replaced by a gibbet, on which a murderer was hung in 1764, standing on open arable land west of Lower Stanton. (fn. 164)

The lord of Stanton St. Quintin manor occasionally held courts in the earlier 16th century. (fn. 165) Eight courts baron were held between 1628 and 1640, and in the periods 1681–1700 and 1712–48 a court was held in most years. They were presumably not more frequent because most tenants were lessees. In addition to the copyhold business, orders were made to promote good common husbandry, in the late 17th century sheep tellers were sometimes appointed, and in the earlier 18th century orders were made to clear watercourses and ditches and to repair a bridge and the stocks. (fn. 166)

Expenditure on the poor was £51 in 1775–6. It increased from c. £75 a year in the early 1780s to £365 in 1802–3 when 24 adults and 68 children in a population of c. 200 were relieved continuously. (fn. 167) Between 1809 and 1836 the two overseers gave most relief as doles, but also paid rent and for shoes, clothing, fuel, and midwifery: in 1811 c. 27 adults were relieved, 23 in 1827, 14 in 1835. (fn. 168) Between 1820 and 1835, when the parish joined Chippenham poor-law union, expenditure averaging c. £212. was a little low for a parish with c. 300 inhabitants. (fn. 169) From 1769 the overseers were lessees of a cottage (fn. 170) and in 1834 held a pair of cottages in Lower Stanton. (fn. 171) The accounts of the two surveyors of highways survive from 1769 to 1836. (fn. 172) In 1974 the parish became part of North Wiltshire district. (fn. 173)

Church.

Stanton St. Quintin church was standing in the 12th century. (fn. 174) In 1312 the bishop collated a vicar to serve the church with the rector. (fn. 175) There is no evidence of a vicar before 1312 when a vicarage was ordained; (fn. 176) no record of the terms of the ordination survives. In 1341 the rector had a carucate of glebe and all tithes from the whole parish, (fn. 177) but how they were divided between him and the vicar is obscure. On a petition from the rector, who claimed that the church's income had declined and was then too small for two incumbents, the vicarage was consolidated with the rectory in 1434. (fn. 178) In 1967 the rectory was joined to the united benefice of Grittleton with Leigh Delamere, and in 1976 the vicarages of Hullavington and Norton were added. (fn. 179)

The right to present rectors descended with the lordship of Stanton St. Quintin manor. After 1312 rectors presented the vicars. In the 16th century and earlier 17th, although they had the advowson, the lords of the manor did not present the rectors. In 1507 the king presented because George, Lord FitzHugh, was a minor; by grants of a turn Sir Henry Long presented in 1555 and John Danvers (possibly Sir John Danvers, d. 1594) and Robert Franklin presented in 1574; the king presented by lapse in 1609; presumably by grant of a turn James Charnbury and his son James presented in 1639. From 1677 to 1911 the lords again presented. (fn. 180) In 1913 Jacob, earl of Radnor, conveyed the advowson to Meredith Meredith-Brown, and in 1921 Meredith-Brown's trustees transferred it to the bishop of Bristol who shared the patronage of the united benefice after 1967. (fn. 181)

Valuations at £8 in 1291, (fn. 182) £10 6s. in 1535, (fn. 183) £100 in 1650, (fn. 184) and £312 c. 1830 (fn. 185) show the rectory to have been of slightly above average wealth and well endowed for a small parish. At inclosure in 1783 nearly all the tithes were exchanged for 256 a.: the rest were commuted for a rent charge of 8s. 9d. (fn. 186) The glebe measured 118 a. in 1624, (fn. 187) 135 a. in 1678, (fn. 188) and c. 150 a. in the early 18th century. (fn. 189) From 1783 the rector had a farmstead at Lower Stanton, acquired by exchange in 1783, and 409 a.: further exchanges, agreed in 1783, reduced the glebe to 358 a. after 1804. (fn. 190) The rector sold 64 a. in 1904. (fn. 191) In 1910 the rest included a farm of 232 a. and 50 a. of allotments. (fn. 192) The farm was sold in 1919, (fn. 193) and in 1989 the diocesan board of finance owned 25 a. (fn. 194)

In the early 16th century the glebe house was called the Vicarage. (fn. 195) It was a substantial stone house in which were coats of arms carved in stone. (fn. 196) It was replaced by a new double-pile house, of two storeys and attics with a south entrance front, built by the rector instituted in 1780. An east wing was built soon after 1826, and in 1868 the south front was rebuilt and the west, with a new porch, was made the entrance front. The house was altered in 1871–2 to designs by Ewan Christian: the south front was again rebuilt, with two gables to replace three attic dormers, a north service wing was built, and the porch was moved to the north front. Panelling from the pulpit and reading desk of Purton church and a stone fireplace from Surrendell manor house in Hullavington were re-used in it. The house was sold in 1924, enlarged in 1926 when a west wing was built, (fn. 197) and later converted to five dwellings. (fn. 198) A new stone rectory house in vernacular style was built in 1928 beside the road between Upper Stanton and Lower Stanton. (fn. 199) That house was sold in 1975 and replaced by a new house built in Stanton St. Quintin village c. 1978. (fn. 200)

In 1300 the rector, Matthew of Ham, was licensed to visit Rome. (fn. 201) Only William of Stanton, vicar 1331–42, rector from 1342, (fn. 202) held both benefices. In 1410 the rector, Nicholas Sterre, was found not guilty of being absent from the church and of adultery, and accused of frequenting taverns. (fn. 203) His was one of five short incumbencies, ended by exchanges of benefice, between 1397 and 1414. (fn. 204) Thomas Bromhall, rector 1440–79, (fn. 205) was a canon of Wells (Som.) and held other livings: (fn. 206) Stanton St. Quintin was apparently served by a curate. (fn. 207) From the 16th century to the 20th, however, most rectors seem to have lived in the parish and to have served the church themselves, usually without the assistance of a curate. (fn. 208) William Charnbury, rector from 1639, (fn. 209) was sequestrated in 1646, and between then and 1660 there were four ministers: Charnbury was restored in 1660 (fn. 210) and remained rector until 1677. (fn. 211) Francis Powell, rector 1732–59, was in 1735 ordered to live in the parish. (fn. 212) In 1783 the rector, Samuel Smith, was also rector of Hardenhuish. He lived at Stanton St. Quintin where he held a service every Sunday and celebrated communion thrice a year: there were only some eight communicants. (fn. 213) In 1851–2 the congregation averaged only c. 60. (fn. 214) F. J. Buckley of New Hall, Bodenham, a grandson and neighbour of his patron William, earl of Radnor (d. 1869), promised in 1867, when he was presented, that he would resign the rectory if Jacob, earl of Radnor (d. 1889), wished to present his son Bertrand Pleydell-Bouverie. (fn. 215) Pleydell-Bouverie, who had an assistant curate 1872–4, was rector 1870–80, and Buckley, a canon of Bristol from 1887, again from 1880 to 1905. (fn. 216) On most Sundays in the 1930s three services were held, and in the 1940s often a fourth. (fn. 217) In 1719 or earlier the church held 2 a. in the open fields, (fn. 218) replaced by an allotment of 2 a. in 1783. (fn. 219) The land was let as allotments from which the income, £3 1s. in 1905, £2.50 in 1972, was used for church repairs. (fn. 220)

The church of ST. GILES, so called in 1763, (fn. 221) is of limestone rubble and ashlar and consists of a chancel, a central tower with north vestry, and a nave with south aisle and porch. The lower stages of the tower and most of the nave are 12th-century. The aisle was added c. 1200 and the small vestry was probably built about then as a chapel. The porch doorway, with 12th-century arch and capitals, may have been reset. In the 13th century the chancel may have been rebuilt, and in the 15th century a new west window and two north windows were inserted in the nave. (fn. 222) The chancel is said to have been shortened by 6 ft. in the late 18th century or early 19th, (fn. 223) and in 1827–8 the nave was lengthened and its west gallery replaced by a new one. In 1851 the aisle and porch were rebuilt, battlements were added to the tower, and the west window of the nave and pews installed in 1739 were replaced. The gallery was removed, presumably then. In 1888–9 the chancel was rebuilt to designs of C. E. Ponting. (fn. 224) On the outside west wall of the nave is a 12th-century carving. The pulpit was carved in stone by Bertrand Pleydell-Bouverie c. 1876 and placed in the church in 1893. (fn. 225)

In 1553 a chalice of 10 oz. was left and the king's commissioners took 2½ oz. of plate. The silver of a chalice of 1577 was used in making a new one given in 1738 when two offertory plates, a paten, and a flagon were also given: that plate was held by the parish in 1989. An almsdish and a wafer box were given in 1951. (fn. 226) There were two bells in 1553: (fn. 227) they were possibly the two cracked bells which in 1876 were replaced by a new bell cast by Mears & Stainbank. (fn. 228) The registers begin in 1679 and are complete. (fn. 229)

Nonconformity.

Quakers lived at Stanton St. Quintin in the later 17th century, (fn. 230) and eight nonconformists were there in 1676. (fn. 231) A Quaker burial ground, possibly in use as early as 1658, (fn. 232) was at Lower Stanton: none is known to have been buried there after 1800, (fn. 233) and the burial ground was a garden in 1989. A meeting house for Independents was certified in 1833. A meeting house certified in 1843 (fn. 234) was presumably for the Primitive Methodists who formed a congregation of 95 at an evening service in a private house on Census Sunday in 1851. (fn. 235) A chapel at Lower Stanton south of the Seagry road was built for Primitive Methodists in 1873: (fn. 236) it was replaced in 1905 by a new stone chapel north of the road. (fn. 237) Services were held in the chapel in 1989.

Education.

Only six or seven children attended a dame school in 1818: an earlier attempt to hold a school for children of the poor failed. (fn. 238) In 1833 a school, possibly held in the rectory house, was attended by 25–30. (fn. 239) A building erected for a Sunday school c. 1838 may also have been used for the day school which in 1846–7 incorporated a teacher's house and was attended by 41. (fn. 240) A new school was built c. 1848. (fn. 241) Only 32 attended on Census day in 1871. (fn. 242) The average attendance was 35 in 1902, (fn. 243) 60 in 1908–9, 42 in 1918–19, and 26 in 1937–8. (fn. 244) Extensions to the building were erected in 1954. (fn. 245) In 1988 there were 75 on roll. (fn. 246)

Charity for the Poor.

From, presumably, 1673 to, apparently, the early 20th century qualified paupers of Stanton St. Quintin were to be preferred at vacancies in the Hungerford almshouse at Corsham, (fn. 247) but how many from Stanton St. Quintin became almspeople is obscure. No other charity for the poor of Stanton St. Quintin is known.

Footnotes