RIMPTON
Rimpton in 1839
The parish, which probably takes its name
from its proximity to the boundary of a Saxon
estate based on Sherborne (Dors.), (fn. 1) lies 7 km.
north-east of Yeovil. It is irregular in shape
and measures 3 km. from north to south and
2 km. from east to west at its widest point. The
southern boundary mainly follows roads and,
with most of the eastern boundary, forms part
of the county boundary with Dorset. Rimpton
village lies near the centre of the parish and
the hamlet of Woodhouse, which was perhaps
established in the 12th century, to the north. (fn. 2)
Most of the parish is below the 50-m. (164ft.) contour. To the west the land falls very
gradually towards the 30-m. (98-ft.) contour;
in the south and north-east there is a gradual
rise, reaching 103 m. (338 ft.) on the southern
boundary and 130 m. (426 ft.) on Corton Ridge
in the north-east. (fn. 3) The parish covers 409 ha.
(1,010 a.). (fn. 4)
The parish lies largely on Pennard sands,
silts, and marls but the lower ground around the
village consists of sandy loam with limestone
gravel and the village itself lies on a narrow strip
of alluvium formed by the stream, (fn. 5) known as
Hay or Honey brook in the 10th century (fn. 6) and as
Mill stream in the 19th, which flows west into
the Yeo. (fn. 7)
Rimpton village lies at the junction of minor
north-south and east-west routes, the first
known as Milford Lane (fn. 8) or Mill Street and High
Street, the second as Middle Street leading into
Home Farm Lane to the west and Horses Lane, (fn. 9)
later Church Lane, to the east. A back lane links
High Street with Home Farm Lane. The village
is linked only indirectly with Sandford Orcas
(Dors.), Marston Magna, and Trent (Dors.), but
the principal route, following the south-western
boundary, leads south-east to Sherborne and less
directly to the medieval markets at Castle Cary,
Ilchester, and Yeovil. It was a 'herpath' in 938 (fn. 10)
and was probably known as the Porteway in
1534. (fn. 11) An east-west route north of the village
formed part of a 'herpath' linking Corton Denham and Marston Magna in the 950s. (fn. 12)
Most houses in the village are of stone and
some are thatched. Among the older buildings
are the Coign, dating from the 16th century, and
a number of 17th- and early 18th-century houses
including Crossland, Lower, Middle, and
Higher Farmhouses, Clarke's Cottage, and the
Nook. Rimpton House, at the western end of the
village, has 17th-century origins but was largely
rebuilt in the 19th. (fn. 13) There has been considerable infilling including local authority housing
in Middle Street and late 20th-century development and farm building conversion.
A victualler was recorded in 1753. (fn. 14) The
White Post inn on Rimpton Hill was in business
from 1859 (fn. 15) and remained open in 1994. In the
1780s a revel was held in the village in October. (fn. 16)
In 1641 there were 94 poll tax and subsidy
payers in the parish. (fn. 17) In 1801 the population
numbered 193; it reached 223 in 1841 and 298
in 1851. It fell gradually to 257 in 1891, fluctuated, largely downwards, to 192 in 1961 but rose
again; the resident population in 1981 was 238
and in 1991 was 252. (fn. 18)
MANOR
In 938 King Athelstan gave 5 mansae
at RIMPTON to Aethared and in the 950s King
Edred gave them to Brichtric Grim who added
a hide. In his will made before 980 Brichtric gave
the whole estate to the Old Minster at Winchester. (fn. 19) From the 11th century (fn. 20) it was held of the
king in chief by successive bishops of Winchester, (fn. 21) apart from 1551-8 and 1561-75 when it
was held by the Crown, (fn. 22) and during the Interregnum. (fn. 23) In 1649 John Payne, one of the
farmers of the manor, was described as lord (fn. 24)
and in 1652 it was held by Robert Lockyer and
others described as feoffees. (fn. 25) By 1661 it had
been returned to the bishop. (fn. 26) In 1822 the bishop
sold to Thomas Southwood (fn. 27) but appears to have
retained the capital messuage and mill until 1864
or later. (fn. 28) Southwood died in 1830 leaving his
estates to his servant Robert Mattock who in
1842 appears to have mortgaged them, probably
including Rimpton, to his steward William
Kinglake (d. 1852). Kinglake's sons Alexander
and John were joint lords in 1866. (fn. 29) The manor
was bought before 1872 by the chief tenant
Henry Genge Andrews (d. 1875), and he was
followed by his son George (d. 1902). (fn. 30) George's
trustees put the land up for sale in 1924-5, but
lordship was not mentioned. (fn. 31)
A manor house was recorded throughout the
Middle Ages. It had an open hall, chamber, and
kitchen, and farm buildings included a dovecot. (fn. 32) The house was severely damaged in a
storm in 1292, (fn. 33) the kitchen was rebuilt in 1244,
1336, and 1365, (fn. 34) and the hall in 1374 at a cost
of c. £50. (fn. 35) Repairs were carried out regularly
until the end of the 15th century. (fn. 36) The house
was let from the 15th century to one of the
farmers of the manor who sometimes acted as
reeve. (fn. 37) During the 18th and 19th centuries it
was occupied as a farmhouse. (fn. 38) Rimpton Manor,
formerly called Court House or Court Farm, (fn. 39)
is of local stone with Hamstone dressings, and
was probably rebuilt in the early 16th century
and remodelled later in that century and in the
17th. It has an L-shaped plan with a 2-storeyed,
3- bayed south front with central gabled porch
and a cross wing at the west end. The house was
extended to the rear in the late 19th or the early
20th century. (fn. 40)
ECONOMIC HISTORY
By the mid 10th
century cultivation was probably concentrated
in the southern core of the estate, the boundary
clauses revealing a still well wooded landscape
in the north. (fn. 41) In the late 10th century the estate
was said to be stocked with cattle, men, and 'all
things'. (fn. 42) In 1086 the manor was assessed at 5
ploughlands; 2 hides and 1 virgate were in
demesne with 3 ploughteams worked by 2 servi;
the rest of the land was held by 8 villani and 7
bordars with another 3 ploughteams. There was
10 a. of meadow but no recorded pasture. Demesne livestock comprised one riding horse, 24
pigs, 20 cattle, and 60 sheep. The estate was
worth £7. (fn. 43)
In the 10th century there was woodland on
the western boundary including Eata's wood,
and along the eastern at Wethergrove. (fn. 44) In 1086
woodland 4 furlongs by 1 was recorded. (fn. 45) Woodhouse hamlet was probably the final woodland
clearance in the early Middle Ages. (fn. 46) Oakley,
recorded in 1258, lay on the edge of Marston
park in Marston Magna, but it had been cleared
by the early 15th century. (fn. 47) Crucks were cut at
Oakley in 1263 (fn. 48) and although most timber was
bought in, (fn. 49) 13 oaks were felled to build an
oxshed in 1348. (fn. 50) Underwood and thorns around
the parish were sold during the 14th century (fn. 51)
and 43 scrub oaks in 1438. (fn. 52) Loss of woodland
by the end of the Middle Ages increased the
value of such timber as remained. In 1541 a
tenant forfeited a holding for making waste on
five timber trees and the rector was presented
for not doing repairs when he had been granted
two timber trees worth 10s. (fn. 53) and for cutting ash
and elm in the churchyard in 1546. (fn. 54) In 1598 the
bishop's woodward sold the old timber and posts
of the pound. (fn. 55)
The demesne farm was taken into direct
management shortly before 1209. During the
12th century arable production may have fallen
as only 142 a. was sown and two ploughteams
were employed in 1209. (fn. 56) Thereafter, cultivation
rapidly expanded and by 1249 the demesne
arable had more than doubled in size with 332
a. sown and four ploughteams employed. (fn. 57)
Rough pasture, meadow, and marginal lands
were all converted to the plough as cultivation
was extended north into former woodland pasture. (fn. 58) By 1232 the two former open north and
south fields had been replaced by more widely
spaced furlongs and closes in which a threecourse rotation was practised. (fn. 59) Wheat and oats
dominated crop production, with smaller
amounts of rye, barley, dredge, beans, peas, and
vetch. Livestock included horses, cattle, sheep,
pigs, geese, and chickens and the manor also had
a dovecot, a fishpond, a warren, and beehives. (fn. 60)
The manor house garden produced vegetables
and fruit and was used for small-scale commercial production of flax and cider. (fn. 61)
Farming was geared to market production
rather than home consumption and tenants owed
carrying services to markets at Ilchester, Sherborne, Yeovil, and Castle Cary. Purchases of
goods reveal similar local sources of supply.
Demand kept arable production and manorial
income buoyant until the agricultural crisis of
the second and third decades of the 14th century.
By the 1330s only three ploughteams were employed and the sown acreage fell to under 200 a.
for the first time for a century. A steady decline
continued until only 148 a. was sown in 1403.
Although some of the land was abandoned, most
seems to have reverted to woodland pasture and
meadow for, as arable production faltered, so
pastoral farming revived. (fn. 62) After 1350 the manor
profitably diversified into the sale of young cattle
for slaughter and the use of woodland pasture
for fattening old and diseased sheep from the
bishop's flocks elsewhere. (fn. 63) Direct management
of the manor farm ceased in 1405 when the
demesne was leased for £20 to two tenants, one
a former reeve, for a period of twelve years, the
lease including 16 oxen, 2 horses, 10 qr. wheat,
16 qr. oats, 6 hay ricks, and miscellaneous farm
and house equipment. (fn. 64)
In the earlier 13th century the main tenant
holdings comprised 7 virgates, 9 half-virgates,
and 10 ferlings and were known as bondland
tenancies. The tenants paid assized rents, owed
heavy day-work labour services or service as
full-time estate labourers, and were located
within the nucleated village except for three
holdings at Woodhouse. (fn. 65) There were few additions to the rent-roll during the Middle Ages,
probably because of the expansion of the lord's
demesne. Six cottages and a croft had appeared
by c. 1250 and two further small plots of land
were created in 1330 and 1335. Between 1330
and 1402 a further 17 plots of demesne land
ranging from 1 a. to 14 a. were leased annually
and when the whole demesne was leased in 1405
a further 10 parcels of land containing 33 a. were
set aside as separate new holdings. Most of those
new units were held for rent only and were
described as overland tenancies. (fn. 66) Although labour services were still owed in the 15th century
they were sold rather than exacted and by the
mid 15th century the lease of the demesne farm
had passed to a group of tenants. (fn. 67)
Inheritance was by Borough English and the
widow's dower extended to the whole bondland
holding which she could take with her upon
remarriage. (fn. 68) As a result, from the early 13th
century to as late as the mid 15th most of
Rimpton's main customary holdings were transferred upon widows' remarriages. (fn. 69) That tenants
brought extra workers to the harvest and had
their own servants suggests that the long-term
integrity of holdings created an underclass of
sub-tenants and labourers on the larger holdings. (fn. 70) A largely hidden population probably
provided most of the new tenants who filled all
the vacant holdings after the Black Death, but
the longer-term impact of repeated epidemics
undermined local demographic resilience. By
1400 many holdings had ceased to be family
farms and were engrossed into larger units comprising several bondland holdings and additional
acres of overland. While larger bondland holdings generally continued to be transferred by
customary rules, there developed a regular land
market in ferlings, cottages, and parcels of the
demesne. (fn. 71)
In the early 13th century the tenants made
large payments for herbage in the wooded glades
around Woodhouse. The demesne arable expansion probably caused a shortage of grazing and
fines for trespass on the lord's pasture were
frequent. (fn. 72) Pannage payments were not similarly
affected, perhaps because the tenants' pigs were
similar to the demesne 'field pigs' recorded in
the 1260s. (fn. 73) In 1232 there were north and south
fields, divided into furlongs. The common fields
remained open in 1529 (fn. 74) and a west field was
recorded in 1593, (fn. 75) but by 1534 inclosure had
begun and was largely completed by 1638. (fn. 76)
Apart from annual variations in receipts for
pannage and entry fines, the manorial rents and
farms remained fixed at nominal sums from the
late 15th to the early 19th centuries. (fn. 77) The
demesne was divided between 8 tenants from
1441 (fn. 78) and by the early 16th century until the
19th between 16 tenants. (fn. 79) The shares were held
with existing copyholds and although the same
rent was due for each share they were of unequal
size, between c. 18 a. and 30 a. (fn. 80) During the 16th
and 17th centuries there were about 25 copyhold
tenants, divided between virgaters or yardlanders (30 a.), half-virgaters, farthing holders (10
a.), holders of 5 a., and cottagers. Each tenant
paid a hearth penny for his house, a fixed sum
in lieu of works, and other payments in proportion to the size of holding. (fn. 81) As well as copyholds
and shares of the demesne, most tenants also
held small acreages of overland, not attached to
any tenement. (fn. 82) In the 1530s few tenants held
more than one holding but from the late 16th
century local gentry served as reeve and took
large numbers of tenancies to sublet. (fn. 83)
The tolls taken at the mill in the period 1246
to 1306 included wheat, mancorn, (fn. 84) malt, and
gruel. (fn. 85) Heriots commonly provided horses,
oxen, and cows, but also younger cattle, pigs,
sheep and, on occasion, small amounts of grain
and cash. An annual maintenance agreement
upon the transfer of a farthing in 1292 gave the
retiring tenant a stipend of 5 qr. wheat, 1 qr.
beans, ½ qr. mixtill, and two linen garments as
well as residence in the principal chamber. (fn. 86) In
1638 tithes were payable on grain, hemp, flax,
hay, lambs, calves, pigs, milk, and apples. (fn. 87) In
1801 the land was largely under grass. There was
c. 60 a. of arable, mainly under wheat but also
barley, oats, peas, beans, and potatoes. (fn. 88)
In the 1820s the manor was still divided into
customary yardlands and farthing lands with
nominal acreages; they were said to be as valuable as freeholds and most tenants had at least
two holdings. (fn. 89) The old measures of land appear
to have been dropped between 1830 and 1848. (fn. 90)
In 1836 there were said to be fine orchards (fn. 91) and
from c. 1840 until the 1930s the Marden family
were noted for their cider. (fn. 92) In 1840 there were
109 a. of arable, 39 a. of orchard, and 723 a. of
grass. There was no common land. Of the 20
largest holdings nine were under 25 a., two
between 25 a. and 50 a., seven between 50 a. and
100 a., and only two over 100 a. (fn. 93) Some amalgamation of holdings had taken place by 1851 when
there were four farms of over 100 a. and nine
employed 47 labourers. (fn. 94) In 1861 Henry Genge
Andrews farmed 600 a. and employed about 36
labourers; the Mardens had two farms totalling
nearly 200 a. and there was one smallholding. (fn. 95)
In 1868 George Genge Andrews farmed about
half the parish and was president of the Somerset
Chamber of Agriculture. (fn. 96) By 1881 the Andrews'
holding had been replaced by three large farms,
making a total of five in the parish, and with
three smallholdings employed c. 30 labourers. (fn. 97)
The Western Counties Creamery was begun in
1889 at Home farm before moving to Marston
Magna in the 1890s. (fn. 98) In 1905 there were 89 a.
of arable and 966 a. of grass. (fn. 99) During the 20th
century farms specialized in dairying and pig
fattening. (fn. 1)
Court fines show that brewing was a widespread activity in the Middle Ages, whilst
surnames indicate that some villagers worked as
smiths, carpenters, millers, and tailors. (fn. 2) Stone
was quarried in 1397, probably in the field
known as Grittesputtefurlong on Rimpton Hill, (fn. 3)
which gave its name to Great Pit Lane. (fn. 4) In 1836
it was said that dowlais and sailcloth had formerly been manufactured in the parish and that
there was some gloving and candlewick making. (fn. 5)
In 1841 two glovers were recorded and in 1871
four. (fn. 6) A shop was in business in 1841 and a
timber merchant in 1891 when three men were
employed on the railway. (fn. 7) In 1947 there were
neither industries nor services (fn. 8) but the village
shop remained open in 1994.
Mill
There was a watermill by 1208. The
manor sometimes employed a miller but preferred to farm out the mill. (fn. 9) The mill appears to
have been largely rebuilt in 1470 and the house
in 1472. (fn. 10) A weir was made in 1494. (fn. 11) The mill
was usually let with the manor house in the 16th
and 17th centuries. (fn. 12) It was rebuilt in the later
18th century and in 1838 had three storeys with
two pairs of stones. It was often short of water
in the summer. (fn. 13) It went out of use in the early
1900s. (fn. 14)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Two manor courts
with tourns or leets were normally held annually
from the early 13th century until the 18th.
Thereafter courts appear to have been held once
a year. The last recorded court was in 1850. (fn. 15)
Court rolls or presentments survive for the
manor for 1494-7, (fn. 16) for various years between
1508 and 1639, (fn. 17) for the periods 1647-1702 and
1706-21, and for most years between 1724 and
1849. (fn. 18) Apart from tenancy changes, the court
in the 15th century was concerned with tenants'
pleas, nuisances, sales of meat at excessive
prices, and breaches of the assize of ale. (fn. 19) The
16th-century courts were concerned with repairing the highways and the tenants were required
to repair the roads with stone in 1518, 1534,
1543, and 1575. (fn. 20) In the 17th and 18th centuries
nuisances and living off the manor were presented. (fn. 21) In 1566 the tenant of the capital
messuage had to provide accommodation for the
steward and his entourage twice a year. (fn. 22) The
reeve and tithingman were elected at the manor
court from the 15th century to the 18th. (fn. 23)
Until the 1590s or later all tenants had to
pay 100s. to each bishop of Winchester in his
first year and needed permission to marry or
to live off the manor. The bishop was required
to provide a meal for the tenants at Christmas
but by the mid 13th century that became a
customary expense of 4s. recorded until the
1490s. (fn. 24) Most tenants paid either churchscot
or Peter's Pence, and all paid tuth or tithing
money to the manor court. (fn. 25) In 1257-8 a man
was fined for concealing the discovery of six
gold rings. (fn. 26)
The pound was repaired in 1376 and rebuilt
in 1504. (fn. 27) During the 18th and 19th centuries it
was regularly presented for being out of repair. (fn. 28)
By 1900 it was in the hands of the churchwardens who rented it out until 1939 or later. (fn. 29) It
lay south of the manor house adjoining the
present Pound House.
The churchwardens acted as overseers and
kept joint accounts 1746-9. (fn. 30) The church house
may have been used as a parish poorhouse in the
mid 18th century (fn. 31) but in 1798 charity money
was laid out on building a new poorhouse adjoining the rectory garden. It remained in use in
1840. (fn. 32)
In 1836 the parish became part of Sherborne
poor-law union, in 1896 of Yeovil poor-law
union and rural district, and in 1974 of Yeovil,
later South Somerset, district. (fn. 33)
CHURCH
There was a church at Rimpton by
1291 (fn. 34) but tenants had paid churchscot from
1215 or earlier. (fn. 35) The living remained a sole
rectory until 1932 when it was united with
Marston Magna. (fn. 36) From 1980 the united
benefice was also held with Queen Camel, West
Camel, and Corton Denham, but from 1987 with
Chilton Cantelo, Ashington, and Mudford. (fn. 37)
The advowson was held by the bishops of
Winchester, apart from the period between 1561
and 1575 when it was held by the Crown or by
Sir Francis Knollys as lessee. (fn. 38) In 1852 it was
transferred to the bishop of London, (fn. 39) patron at
every third turn after 1987. (fn. 40)
In 1291 the church was valued at £12 (fn. 41) and
in 1535 at £9 19s. 9½d. net. (fn. 42) It was reputed to
be worth £80 c. 1670 (fn. 43) and in 1742 the gross
income was £107. (fn. 44) In 1829-31 the average
income of the rectory was £298 gross. (fn. 45) In 1535
the tithes were valued at £8 10s. and in 1840
were commuted for a rent charge of £221. (fn. 46) In
1535 glebe was worth £2 (fn. 47) and in 1638 there was
48 a., mainly in closes. (fn. 48) In 1743 the rector
claimed to have 56 a. which was let out, apart
from 15 a. of poor land. (fn. 49) In 1840 the glebe
measured 48 a. (fn. 50)
In 1638 there was a rectory house with bakehouse, kitchen, and various outbuildings. (fn. 51) The
house was probably rebuilt in the 18th century
and was fit in the early 19th (fn. 52) but in 1867 it was
extensively altered and enlarged, and was further
enlarged in 1876. (fn. 53) The house was sold after the
benefice was united with Marston Magna in
1932. (fn. 54) The Old Rectory is a 2-storeyed house
with a 3-bayed front and attic dormers.
From 1323 several rectors were given licence
to be absent for study or to serve the bishop of
Winchester. (fn. 55) About 1530 there was a stipendiary priest (fn. 56) but Thomas Master, rector 1529-55,
appears to have been resident in 1546 and 1554. (fn. 57)
Robert Bennett was accused in 1612 of having
leased his benefice, insulted the parish officers,
and allowed the chancel windows to fall into
disrepair. (fn. 58) His successor William Todd was
accused in 1635 of refusing the sacrament to
parishioners who could not recite the creed or
commandments. (fn. 59) Later rectors were probably
non-resident and Thomas Bateson in 1742 deplored the unhealthy state of the parish and
described his parishioners as 'proud, drunken
people'. (fn. 60) There were 8-12 communicants in the
1780s (fn. 61) and until c. 1802 only one Sunday
service. (fn. 62) Richard Burney, rector 1802-36 and
nephew of the writer Fanny Burney, was at first
resident but left the parish to a resident curate
in 1815 because of the 'pernicious quality of the
waters of Rimpton'. (fn. 63) There were three celebrations of communion in 1840 and two Sunday
services when the minister was at home. (fn. 64) By
1873 communion was celebrated 12 times a
year. (fn. 65) In the mid 20th century there were two
Sunday services and c. 30 Easter communicants. (fn. 66)
In 1506-7 the churchwardens rented a plot of
land probably near the manor house and churchyard and built a dwelling for a parochial
chaplain. About 1530 the house became a church
house, (fn. 67) and continued to be rented for the
purpose in 1635. (fn. 68) It was later used as a poorhouse but by 1825 was let. (fn. 69)
The church of ST. MARY is built of local
stone and comprises chancel, nave with north
transept and vestry, south chapel, and porch,
and west tower. The chancel appears to have
been built in the late 13th century and the north
doorway of the nave and the tower are of the late
13th or early 14th century. The south chapel was
added in the 15th century at which time the nave
was refenestrated. In the early 17th century the
church was in poor condition: the unpaved
chancel floor was said to be too wet in winter for
the parishioners to kneel. (fn. 70) The chancel was
partly rebuilt between 1770 and 1783 but retained its screen c. 1785. (fn. 71) A gallery was built in
1785 (fn. 72) and in 1827 the church was 'repaired and
beautified'. (fn. 73) In 1875 the church was 'one of the
few blots' remaining in the deanery and restoration was planned under Henry Hall. A north
transept with vestry was built and a new window
inserted in the west end in place of a doorway.
The west gallery was removed and the porch
rebuilt. (fn. 74)
Among the fittings are a 15th-century font
with a 17th-century cover, an early 17th-century
pulpit, and 16th-century bench ends from Corton Denham church.
The oldest of three bells is dated 1657 by
Robert Austen. (fn. 75) The plate includes a cup and
cover of 1637. (fn. 76) The registers date from 1537
but are fragmentary until the 1720s. (fn. 77)
NONCONFORMITY
Three recusants were
recorded c. 1600 (fn. 78) and others in 1606 and 1629. (fn. 79)
There was a Quaker family in the parish in the
late 17th century (fn. 80) and two dissenters c. 1788. (fn. 81)
Wesleyans met there in 1829 and again from
1853, (fn. 82) and there may have been a chapel in
1861. (fn. 83) A chapel was built at the southern end
of High Street in 1891, (fn. 84) and was used until
1950. It was later converted to a garage. (fn. 85) A
Primitive Methodist cause had six members in
1849 and was last recorded in 1860. (fn. 86)
EDUCATION
In 1818 there was a day school
with 45 pupils and a Sunday school for 32 poor
children supported by the rector and the
S.P.C.K. (fn. 87) Both were open in 1833 but each had
fewer than 20 pupils. (fn. 88) In 1843-4 a church day
school was built (fn. 89) which had 26 pupils in 1846.
Some children attended on Sundays. (fn. 90) By 1902
there were 44 children on the books and there
was a small endowment. (fn. 91) Average attendance fell
from 38 in 1915 to 15 in 1925 and from 1926 the
school took juniors only. (fn. 92) Although a number of
evacuees attended in the 1940s (fn. 93) average attendance was c. 16 until 1951 when the school
closed and pupils transferred to Queen Camel. (fn. 94)
In 1846 there were two dame schools teaching
22 children. (fn. 95) A private school was open in 1871
and the rector, Montagu Hawtrey (1841-87),
took boarders for classical studies. (fn. 96)
CHARITIES FOR THE POOR
Before 1619
Humphrey Wootton gave £3 6s. 8d. to provide
a stock for the poor but in that year the overseers
refused to pay the interest. (fn. 97) The charity appears
to have been lost by the 19th century and
probably much earlier. Five small gifts made
between 1640 and 1702 and totalling £25 were
lent out at interest which until 1781 was distributed to the poor at Christmas. By 1798 the
capital had been invested in building a poorhouse. (fn. 98) In 1859 Silas Feaver gave £95 15s. to
the poor. (fn. 99) The income of £4 was distributed
annually in cash in 1889 but by 1931 the
income had fallen and was distributed only
every two years. (fn. 1) The charity appears to have
been lost. (fn. 2)