MANORS.
About 780 Ethelmund son of Ingeld
granted an estate, described as 30 hides at Over, to
Gloucester Abbey, and in 804 his son Ethelric
confirmed the estate to the secular clerks then at the
abbey. (fn. 41) The estate appears to have covered much
more than the small area at the east end of Churcham
parish that was later known as Over, and it is
possible that it actually included the whole area of
the later manors of Churcham and Highnam. The
abbey cartulary relates, however, that those manors
were granted to the abbey by a nobleman called
Wulfin le Rue soon after the arrival of the Benedictine monks at the abbey in 1022. Wulfin was said to
have killed six priests between Churcham and
Gloucester and, seeking absolution from the pope,
to have been required to find six priests to intercede
for him in perpetuity; he granted Churcham and
Highnam to Gloucester Abbey on condition that it
should provide monks to make the intercession. (fn. 42)
The two manors were evidently represented by the
five-hide estate of Ham and Morton and the sevenhide estate also called Ham which belonged to the
abbey in 1086. (fn. 43) In 1287 the Abbot of Gloucester
claimed free warren in Highnam and Churcham by
virtue of a charter of Henry II, (fn. 44) and he received
a grant of protection in the manors in 1322. (fn. 45) The
two manors were retained by the abbey until the
Dissolution.
The manor of CHURCHAM was among the
former Gloucester Abbey lands settled on the Dean
and Chapter of Gloucester cathedral in 1541, (fn. 46) and
it was retained by them until the 19th century. Soon
after obtaining it the dean and chapter leased
Churcham with three other manors to William
Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, and later granted a lease,
to run from the end of the earl's term, to Thomas
Kingswood, one of the prebendaries of the cathedral.
Kingswood apparently held Churcham for some
time before 1559 when he complained that his lease
of the manor, and another lease demising to him the
part of Birdwood which belonged to the manor, had
been stolen. (fn. 47) In 1569 the manor was leased for three
years to John Bellamy. (fn. 48) During much of the 17th
and 18th centuries the manor was leased in separate
moieties for terms of 21 years, although in practice
the leases were generally renewed after 4 to 10 years.
Until the 19th century the manor estate included
almost the whole of the Churcham division of the
parish, the only other estate of any size there being
the part of Birdwood belonging to the lords of
Highnam. (fn. 49)
John Brown, an alderman of Gloucester, who was
presumably the same man who had 5 servants at
Churcham in 1608, (fn. 50) was described as lord of the
manor at his death in 1639; his widow Sarah had a
lease of the whole manor soon after his death and
later granted her interest to John Harris of London. (fn. 51)
In 1649, however, John Harris apparently held only
a share of the manor from the parliamentary
commissioners; (fn. 52) his widow Hester was seeking a
renewal of his lease in 1660. (fn. 53) In 1661 the dean and
chapter leased a moiety of the manor to William
Harris, a London merchant, who retained it until
1669 or later. From 1681 that moiety was held by
Thomas Harris, who lived at Churcham, and in 1719
and 1726 the lease was renewed to successive vicars
of Churcham acting as trustees under Harris's will.
From 1733 the moiety was held by Ebenezer Harris
of Churcham (fn. 54) who died in 1741. (fn. 55) In 1742 it was
leased to Charles Barrow who held it until 1777; (fn. 56)
that moiety of the manor then reverted to the dean
and chapter who subsequently retained the manorial
rights over it in hand. (fn. 57)
The other moiety of the manor was apparently
held by Thomas Pury, alderman of Gloucester, in
1649, (fn. 58) and during the later 17th century it had a
variety of lessees, including three Londoners. From
1718 that moiety was held by George Stoughton who
made his home at Churcham. Eugenia Stoughton,
evidently George's widow, obtained a renewal of
the lease in 1746 (fn. 59) and from 1753 to 1766 or later
the moiety was held by Thomas Rous acting as
trustee for Eugenia, who had married Watson
Powell. (fn. 60) In 1773 the moiety was leased to James
Money and in 1786 and 1792 to William Money. (fn. 61)
By 1803 it had reverted to the dean and chapter (fn. 62)
who apparently retained the manorial rights over
the whole manor in hand until 1855 when it passed
to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. The commissioners sold over 500 a. of copyhold land before 1889
and had sold the remainder of the estate by 1920, (fn. 63)
and in 1970 there was no large landowner, most of
the farms belonging to the farmers.
There was evidently a manor-house on the site
of Churcham Court on the north-west side of the
churchyard by the early 13th century. (fn. 64) In 1526 the
site of the manor was granted on a long lease at a
rent which comprised one good horse and quotas
of wheat, oats, geese, capons, and pullets; the lessee
undertook to rebuild a kitchen on the site. (fn. 65) In 1649
the house there was of six bays and comprised a
kitchen, a little hall, lower parlour, pantry, two
cellars, a hall above stairs, an upper parlour and four
chambers with cocklofts above. (fn. 66) It was presumably
the house with seven hearths for which William
Harris was assessed in 1662. (fn. 67) In 1792 it was
described as a large brick and tiled mansion house
with five rooms on a floor. (fn. 68) The existence of
another smaller house nearby close to the west end
of the church presumably resulted from the division
of the manor into two moieties. The smaller house
was known as the Manor Farm in 1791 when it was
described as an old timber-built and tiled farmhouse; (fn. 69) it was rebuilt in the 19th century as a single
brick range of two stories.
Churcham Court is rectangular on plan, apart
from a small 19th-century wing at the north-east
corner, but the house owes its present shape to
alterations and additions at several periods. The
three-gabled north front is rough-cast and has a
central 19th-century porch; elsewhere the walls are
faced with brick of the 18th century and later. There
appear to be no remains of the medieval building,
the oldest surviving portion being a timber-framed
range of two stories and four bays on the south side,
dating from the 16th or early 17th century; a large
chimney, later enclosed within the house, stands
against its north wall. At the west end of that range
is a cross-wing with similar floor levels but without
visible timber-framing. The cross-wing was once
much longer, extending southwards almost to the
smaller house west of the church; the southern
projection was demolished between 1812 (fn. 70) and
1882. (fn. 71) The house was altered c. 1700 when a wide
oak staircase with twisted balusters was inserted in
the most westerly bay of the timber-framed range.
The vicar formerly had a right-of-way through the
bay and the front and rear doors of the house on his
way to and from the church, which he continued to
exercise on occasion until 1922 when the right was
extinguished; (fn. 72) it is possible that there was formerly
an open cross-passage in that position, enclosed
when the staircase was inserted. At the same time
the house appears to have been extended northwards,
the present entrance-hall having a wide archway of
c. 1700. The rooms in the north-east part of the
house have higher ceiling levels than those elsewhere
and it is likely that the whole of the frontage was
rebuilt still further north in the mid 19th century
when the north-east wing was also added.
The rectory of Churcham was also held by
Gloucester Abbey in the Middle Ages and granted
to the Dean and Chapter of Gloucester in 1541. (fn. 73) It
was leased to John Brown, the lessee of Churcham
manor, in 1634, (fn. 74) and to his widow Sarah in 1639. (fn. 75)
From 1661 until 1756 or later the rectorial tithes
arising from Churcham manor and from Bulley were
leased to the Harrises and the successors to their
moiety of Churcham manor, (fn. 76) with the exception of
the tithes of the demesne lands of the other moiety
which the lessees of that moiety held on lease. (fn. 77) At
inclosure in 1803 the lessee under the dean and
chapter was awarded 102 a. of land for the rectorial
tithes of Churcham manor. The rectorial tithes of
Highnam, Linton, and Over were leased by the dean
and chapter to the vicar of Churcham from 1663 and
later granted to him in fee. (fn. 78)
The manor of HIGHNAM, comprising the
hamlets of Highnam, Linton, and Over in the east
part of the parish, was granted by the Crown in 1542
to John Arnold, (fn. 79) who had held the site of the manor
on lease from Gloucester Abbey since 1516. (fn. 80) John
died in 1545 and the manor passed to his son
Nicholas Arnold, (fn. 81) who had been in the service of
Thomas Cromwell and later of the Crown and was
knighted before 1552. (fn. 82) In 1554 Sir Nicholas was
implicated in Wyatt's rebellion and imprisoned in
the Tower, but he was released and pardoned the
next year; (fn. 83) in 1556 he again suffered imprisonment
for plotting against the Crown. He was Sheriff of
Gloucestershire in 1558 and 1559 and later sat in
Parliament for both the county and Gloucester city;
in 1564-5 he was Lord Justice of Ireland. Sir
Nicholas also gained a reputation for efforts to
improve the breed of English horses. (fn. 84) He died in
April 1580 and was succeeded by his grand-daughter
Dorothy, who was married to Thomas Lucy, son of
Sir Thomas Lucy of Charlecote (Warws.). Dorothy
died in September 1580 but Thomas, who was
knighted in 1593, retained the manor until his death
in 1605 when he was succeeded by his daughter
Joyce, (fn. 85) the wife of Sir William Cooke. (fn. 86) Sir William,
who was M.P. for the county in 1614, died in 1618
and was succeeded by his son Robert, who was
knighted in 1621. In the Civil War Sir Robert
raised a regiment of foot for parliament and was
granted a colonel's commission; he sat for Tewkesbury in the Long Parliament. He died in 1643 and
the manor passed to his son William Cooke who at
first declared for the Crown but later supported
parliament. William was sheriff of the county in 1663
and Mayor of Gloucester in 1672 and he later
represented the city in Parliament for several years. (fn. 87)
He died c. 1700 and Highnam manor passed to his
son Edward (d. c. 1724), and to Edward's son Dennis. (fn. 88)
(d. 1747). (fn. 89) Dennis Cooke's coheirs were his sisters
Mary, who married Henry Guise, and Anne, who
married Roynon Jones of Nass, Lydney. Henry
Guise died in 1749 and Mary in 1750, and her moiety
of the manor passed to her son John Guise who
bought the other moiety from Anne's son William
Jones in 1769. (fn. 90) In the mid 18th century the manor
included all but c. 70 a. of Highnam, Linton, and
Over. (fn. 91)
John Guise, who became a baronet on the death
of his cousin Sir William Guise of Elmore in 1783,
held Highnam manor until his death in 1794 when
it passed to his son Sir Berkeley William Guise (fn. 92) (d.
1834). Sir Berkeley was succeeded by his brother Sir
John Wright Guise who sold the manor c. 1838 to
Thomas Gambler Parry. (fn. 93) Thomas Gambler Parry
became well known as a painter of frescoes and
collector of works of art and locally gained the
reputation of a philanthropist, founding a children's
hospital, orphanage, and college of science and art at
Gloucester, and providing a church and school for
his tenants at Highnam. (fn. 94) Thomas died in 1888 (fn. 95) and
his widow Ethelinda held the Highnam estate until
her death in 1896. It then passed to Thomas's son
by his first wife, Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, the
composer and director of the Royal College of Music,
who was made a baronet in 1902. (fn. 96) On Sir Hubert's
death in 1918 the estate passed to his half-brother
Ernest Gambler Parry (d. 1936). Ernest was
succeeded by his son Thomas Mark Gambler Parry
who conveyed the farms of the estate to his cousin
Mr. W. P. Cripps by deed of gift c. 1950, but retained the manor-house, Highnam Court, and the
grounds and woods belonging to it, until his death
in 1966 when they passed to his heir Mr. T. J.
Fenton. (fn. 97)
The Abbots of Gloucester had a house at Highnam in the Middle Ages and almost all of the later
lords of the manor have used Highnam Court as
their chief residence. John Wygmore, Abbot of
Gloucester from 1328 to 1337, (fn. 98) was said to have
built a great grange at Highnam and completed the
building of the abbot's chamber next to the great
hall, with a small hall and a chapel. (fn. 99) A mansion was
included in the lease to John Arnold in 1516,
although the abbey reserved the use of part of it in
time of plague at Gloucester. (fn. 1) In 1607 the house,
which was built of lathes and squared stonework,
included a hall, parlour, great chamber, and two
porches. (fn. 2) The house is said to have been badly
damaged in the battle at Highnam in 1643 and it was
later rebuilt by William Cooke, reputedly before the
end of the Interregnum; (fn. 3) Cooke was assessed on 18
hearths in 1772. (fn. 4) Because of its advanced style for
the Interregnum period the design of the new
building was inevitably connected with the name of
Inigo Jones by writers in the 18th century and later,
but no evidence has been found for the attribution
or for the more plausible theory that one of his
pupils named Carter was the architect. (fn. 5) If built
before 1660, however, Highnam Court is to be
added to the small but important group of country
houses which formed a link between the work of
Inigo Jones and the generally accepted style of the
later 17th century. In that connexion the plan of
Highnam Court, a compact rectangle two rooms
deep from back to front, is especially significant.
Thomas Baskerville, writing in the 1680s, noted that
the new house had been built 'quadrangular, after
the new fashion'. (fn. 6)
The surviving 17th-century house, which has been
little altered externally, is of two stories and attics
having a slight projection at each end of the south
front. It is built of red brick with stone quoins and
dressings and has a hipped roof, dormer windows,
and enriched brackets to the deeply overhanging
eaves. The window openings, which would originally
have been fitted with mullioned and transomed
casements, were later replaced by sashes; they have
stone architraves, those on the first floor being
surmounted by separate cornices, while the cornices
above the lower windows form part of a moulded
string-course which is continuous round the
building. The former entrance front facing south is
of nine bays including the two flanking projections.
The central doorway has a scrolled pediment
incorporating a cartouche, the supporting pilasters
carrying festoons of drapery and fruit, carved in
bold relief. Above the doorway is a shell-headed
niche said to have originally contained the statue of
Hercules which in 1970 occupied an alcove in a wall
east of the house. (fn. 7) The only 17th-century feature
which has survived internally is an oak staircase with
heavy turned balusters and acorn-capped newels.
The interior of the house was completely refitted
in the later 18th century. The decorative plasterwork
in the principal rooms is in two distinct styles, the
elaborate rococo of the mid 18th century and the
more restrained 'Adam' style which followed it. The
best rococo examples are the drawing-room ceiling
and the wall-panels in the music room, the latter
containing groups of musical instruments finely
modelled in high relief. John Guise was employing
two plasterers at the house in 1770, (fn. 8) but on stylistic
grounds it seems likely that the rococo work was
executed at a slightly earlier period. (fn. 9) The grand
stone staircase, with its wrought-iron balustrade, and
the Venetian window above it, were inserted in
1772-3. (fn. 10) Also at that period the music room and
best drawing room were re-floored and new paving
was supplied for the kitchen and offices, (fn. 11) the latter
probably situated in the north-west wing which was
in existence c. 1755 and may have survived from the
earlier house. (fn. 12) Considerable alterations to the outbuildings and grounds were carried out by Sir
Berkeley William Guise in the first twenty years of
the 19th century. (fn. 13) In 1808 he built a new stable
block to the north-east of the house; (fn. 14) standing
round three sides of a courtyard, it is of two stories
with rough-cast walls and an embattled stone parapet
and has ground-floor windows set in arched recesses
and first-floor windows with semicircular heads. In
1970 the stable block and part of the grounds were
occupied by a firm of landscape gardeners.
In the mid 19th century Highnam Court was
considerably altered and extended by Thomas
Gambler Parry. Work carried out c. 1840 moved the
principal entrance from the south to the north side,
the 17th-century hall becoming a library. A large
Ionic portico surmounted by a pediment was built
at the north-east corner of the house giving access to
a new entrance hall, the insertion of the latter
involving the destruction of part of the north wall of
the music room and its 18th-century ornamentation.
A single-storied addition along the north side contained a corridor linking the entrance hall and the
office wing on the north-west, and a high wall was
built to screen off the garden east of the house and
give the portico an apparently central position.
Alterations were also made at that time to the office
wing but much of the new work there was swept
away in 1855 when the wing was again remodelled
and extended to the west. Other mid-19th-century
alterations included the enlargement of the central
dormers on the east, west, and south fronts by the
addition of small pediments and rusticated stone
surrounds, the enlargement of one of the windows
on the west into a new doorway surmounted by the
Parry and Newcastle arms, and the addition, c. 1843,
of a balustraded terrace on the south side. (fn. 15) The
architect employed c. 1840 and in 1855 was Lewis
Vulliamy. (fn. 16) who was known for his ability to design
in different styles; he used red brick and stone for
his extensions and it is not always easy to distinguish
his work from the 17th-century original. Further
alterations were carried out in 1869 to the designs
of John Brandon, the most notable being the
insertion of a billiard-room against the wall to the
east of the portico. (fn. 17) Highnam Court became the
repository of the valuable art collection built up by
Thomas Gambier Parry, which included several
early Italian paintings as well as objects in ivory,
majolica, enamel, and glass; the collection was
bequeathed by T. M. Gambier Parry at his death
in 1966 to London University to be housed at the
Courtauld Institute. (fn. 18)
The brook flowing west and south of Highnam
Court has been utilized to form fishponds and
decorative lakes in its grounds. In 1607 there was a
series of three large ponds in the west part of the
grounds, Shoell Pool in the north, Hourse Pool in the
centre, and Orchard Pool at the south. To the south
of the house there was a group of seven smaller
'stews' or fishponds, regular in shape and presumably created by the abbots of Gloucester. To the
east, lying in the fork of the Ross and Newent roads
was the large lake covering 11 a. known as the Great
Pool. (fn. 19) In the early 18th century the Great Pool was
stocked with a variety of fish and wildfowl, (fn. 20) and
swans were later kept. (fn. 21) Shoell Pool and Horse Pool
(by then called Dog Kennel Pool) were stocked with
flounders in 1772. (fn. 22) Deer were kept in a paddock
north of the house c. 1708. (fn. 23) In the mid 18th century
there was a formal garden south-west of the house, (fn. 24)
and work on a new garden and a hot-house was in
progress in 1772. (fn. 25) The appearance of the grounds
was altered considerably in the early 19th century:
the chapel by the south-east corner of the house was
demolished in 1807, (fn. 26) the fishponds south of the
house were replaced by a single long lake, evidently
the 'canal' which was under construction there in
1809 and 1810, (fn. 27) and the Great Pool was drained in
the winter of 1817-18. (fn. 28) The two southern ponds of
the three on the west were drained in the 1840s for
the construction of a rock-garden, part of extensive
new gardens laid out there by James Pulham for
Thomas Gambier Parry. (fn. 29) Another feature of the
grounds is the numerous conifers of different
varieties planted by Gambier Parry. (fn. 30)
The abbots of Gloucester had another house on
Highnam manor; it stood north of Over and was
known as THE VINEYARD from the abbey's
vineyard nearby. Abbot Walter Frouncester (1381-
1412) (fn. 31) added a stone house to buildings already on
the site, (fn. 32) and the Vineyard was described as a
goodly house c. 1540. (fn. 33) In 1541 the Crown granted
the house and 16 a. of land to John Wakeman for the
use of him and his successors as bishops of Gloucester, (fn. 34) and the grant was confirmed to Bishop Hooper
in 1552; (fn. 35) the bishop was using it as a residence in
1575 and in 1640. (fn. 36) In 1672 William Montague, who
in 1678 was described as the bishop's tenant of the
Vineyard, was assessed for tax on 7 hearths at Over,
and the bishop himself on 4 hearths. (fn. 37) The house
had apparently been demolished by c. 1755 when the
site was known as the Mount; 42 a. of land lying
round about belonged then to the bishop. (fn. 38) In the
late 18th and early 19th centuries the land was
leased by the bishop to the lords of Highnam
manor. (fn. 39) The site of the house, north-west of Over
Hospital, was still clearly visible in 1970, a large
rectangular area surrounded by a steep-sided moat.