MANORS AND OTHER ESTATES.

In 1086 Stroud was evidently included in the earl of Chester's great manor of Bisley, but by the 13th century the three chief manors of the later Stroud parish, known as Over Lypiatt, Nether Lypiatt, and Paganhill, had emerged as separate fees. In 1303 the fees of Bisley manor held from the earl of Hereford by grant from the earls of Chester (fn. 61) included Paganhill, assessed as ½ knight's fee, and Over Lypiatt, assessed with Tunley in Bisley as one knight's fee, (fn. 62) and after the death of Humphrey de Bohun in 1373 the Stroud manors were specified as one fee at Over Lypiatt, one fee at Paganhill, and ½ fee at Nether Lypiatt. (fn. 63) At the partition of Humphrey's estates between his daughters Eleanor and Mary in 1384 the overlordship of the manors was assigned to Mary and her husband, Henry, earl of Derby, who became Henry IV, (fn. 64) but later the manors were always said to be held from Eleanor's heirs, the Staffords, as of their honor of Hereford. (fn. 65) In 1479 the lords of Over and Nether Lypiatt owed suit to the court of the honor (fn. 66) and in 1717 Henry, earl of Stafford, claimed Over and Nether Lypiatt and Paganhill as members of the honor. (fn. 67) An annual rent of 3s. was being paid by the lords of Over Lypiatt to the earls of Stafford for the manor in 1612 but payment was discontinued before 1724. (fn. 68)

The manor of OVER LYPIATT was apparently the fee at Lypiatt held by one Henry in 1220, (fn. 69) for by an undated charter of that period Humphrey de Bohun, earl of Hereford, confirmed Henry of Lypiatt's grant of 120 a. of his demesne land at Over Lypiatt and the lands and services of 8 tenants to Bartholomew Laban. (fn. 70) No later record of the ownership of the manor has been found before 1303 when it belonged to William Maunsell. (fn. 71) William Maunsell died c. 1324 and was succeeded by his son William, (fn. 72) although his wife Margaret claimed to hold some lands in dower in 1328. (fn. 73) The son or another William Maunsell held the manor in 1346. (fn. 74) In 1368 the manor was held jointly by Thomas Maunsell and John Clifford, (fn. 75) and Clifford, who was perhaps the same man who held the submanors of Ferris Court and Daneway, (fn. 76) was given as sole owner of the fee in 1374 and 1384. (fn. 77) In 1395, however, the manor belonged to Philip Maunsell, and in that year it was assigned in satisfaction for a debt of £500 to Richard Whittington, the celebrated mayor of London. (fn. 78) Whittington, who obtained a quitclaim of the manor from James, son of John Clifford, in 1406, (fn. 79) presumably held it until his death in 1423. (fn. 80) After his death Robert Whittington and his son Guy claimed that Richard had left the manor in trust for them but that Thomas Roos, the surviving trustee, refused to grant it to them. (fn. 81) By 1457 it had passed to Thomas Whittington, (fn. 82) apparently the same man who died seised of it in 1491. Thomas left the manor to his wife Margaret for her life with reversion to his grandson Robert Wye, (fn. 83) who had succeeded by 1505. (fn. 84) At his death in 1544 Robert left it for life to his wife Joan, who had surrendered it to Robert's son Thomas by 1558. (fn. 85) Thomas Wye died in 1581 leaving the manor for life to his wife Gillian with reversion to John Wye, the natural son of his brother. (fn. 86) Later the same year Gillian married John Throckmorton, (fn. 87) who bought out John Wye's right before 1595 (fn. 88) and in 1610 sold the manor to Thomas Stephens. (fn. 89)

Thomas Stephens, who was attorney-general to the Princes Henry and Charles, died in 1613, (fn. 90) and Over Lypiatt manor descended to his son Edward. Edward sold it in 1624 to his younger brother John (fn. 91) (d. 1679), and it passed to John's son Thomas (d. 1708) and to Thomas's son Thomas (fn. 92) (d. 1714). John and his son and grandson all represented the county in Parliament and the elder Thomas was high sheriff in 1693. (fn. 93) The younger Thomas's widow Anne held the estate in 1724 (fn. 94) and was later succeeded by her son John Stephens (d. 1778). John was succeeded by his nephew Thomas Baghot-De la Bere of Southam who sold the estate to Paul Wathen in 1800. (fn. 95)

Paul Wathen was later knighted and in 1812 he assumed the name of Baghott. (fn. 96) He traded at different times as banker, merchant, and clothier and became notorious for dubious business practices and financial incompetence, going bankrupt on the first of three occasions in 1821. (fn. 97) In 1819 the Lypiatt Park estate was put up for sale; it then comprised 1,926 a., including in Stroud parish the manor-house at Lypiatt Park, Fennell's farm, Slad farm at the Vatch, part of Ferris Court, and Toadsmoor woods, and in Bisley the manorial rights and Copsegrove, Stancombe, Catswood, Calfway, and Chantry farms. (fn. 98) In 1821 the court for Bisley manor was held in the name of William Vizard, described as mortgagee in possession, and in the following year it was held in the name of Thomas Groves, but by 1824 the estate had been acquired by William Lewis, (fn. 99) a Brimscombe clothier. In 1842 Lewis sold off much of the estate, including Fennell's farm with 210 a. to Henry Wyatt of Farmhill Park, and Lypiatt Park with 370 a. to Samuel Baker; he retained a considerable acreage including Toadsmoor woods and Stancombe and Chantry farms (fn. 1) but died the following year in financial difficulties. (fn. 2) Samuel Baker, who was the father of the African explorer of the same name, sold Lypiatt Park in 1847 to John Edward Dorington (fn. 3) (d. 1874), who was succeeded by his son, also John Edward Dorington. The younger J. E. Dorington was created a baronet in 1886 and his numerous activities in local affairs included the chairmanship of the Gloucestershire county council from 1888 to 1909. He died in 1911 and his widow held the Lypiatt Park estate until her death soon afterwards, when it was devised to Thomas Godman-Dorington, who was killed in action in 1914. The estate was sold to a syndicate which put it up for sale in 1919. (fn. 4) The Doringtons had much enlarged the estate, restoring to it most of the farms which had belonged to it in the early 19th century and adding other property, notably Middle Lypiatt in Stroud and the large farms at Througham and Througham Slad in Bisley. In 1919 it covered 3,316 a. in Stroud, Bisley, and Miserden, including 15 farms and many smallholdings and cottages. (fn. 5) It was broken up at the sale, Lypiatt Park being acquired by W. J. Gwyn and becoming the residence of his brother-in-law, Judge Hubert Woodcock. (fn. 6) In 1958 it was bought by Lynn Chadwick, a sculptor, (fn. 7) the owner in 1971.

Henry of Lypiatt's hall mentioned c. 1220 (fn. 8) and the court with house and gardens recorded on Over Lypiatt manor in 1324 (fn. 9) were presumably on the site of Lypiatt Park. Thomas Whittington was described as of Lypiatt at his death in 1491, (fn. 10) and his successors usually made Lypiatt their chief residence. In 1624 Lypiatt Park was described as a fair house of stone (fn. 11) and c. 1710 as a large ancient seat. (fn. 12) At the latter date it retained a basically medieval layout. The principal range, containing a 4-bay hall with service rooms beyond the screens-passage to the east and a 3-bay range of living quarters to the west, separated two courts, that on the north containing a gatehouse range and a chapel and that on the south domestic and farm buildings. To the west stood other buildings, including a granary and a dovehouse, and there was a terrace overlooking the valley to the east, and a formal garden on the south. (fn. 13)

The house remained basically unchanged at the beginning of the 19th century (fn. 14) but about 1809 extensive remodelling in baronial Gothic style was carried out by Sir Jeffrey Wyattville for Paul Wathen. The north wall of the hall west of the porch, which had contained two mullion windows and a tall bay window, was rebuilt with a single central bay-window, and an embattled three-storey tower was added, replacing the end bay of the west range; from the north-west corner of the new tower a cloister was built linking the house with the chapel, and other alterations, which included a Gothic garden entrance, were made at the east end. The gatehouse and many of the out-buildings behind the house were demolished. (fn. 15) In the late 1870s Thomas Henry Wyatt made further alterations for J. E. Dorington, adding a large Gothic wing on the south east. (fn. 16) The embattled two-storey porch which opened upon the screens-passage from the north was removed in the mid 20th century. (fn. 17) The house was redecorated and completely refurnished by Mr. Chadwick after 1958 and much of it was used to house his sculptures. (fn. 18)

Lypiatt Park form in the early 18th century

The chapel on the north side of the house was presumably that housing a chantry to which the lords of Over Lypiatt presented in 1368. (fn. 19) It comprises nave and chancel and is basically of the early 14th century, retaining a chancel arch of that date; the bellcot over the east end of the nave may also survive from that period. In the 15th century the chancel was rebuilt, and in the early 16th century the nave, which was in poor condition, was buttressed on the south and partly rebuilt on the north-west, and all the windows, except the east one, were replaced. There is no evidence that the chapel was ever more than a private chapel for the owners of the manor. It was used by the Stephenses for marriages in the 17th century (fn. 20) and was said to be kept in good repair c. 1710. (fn. 21) It was described as a private chapel for the family in 1750 but by then it was no longer used. (fn. 22) It was rededicated in 1945 and services were again held there for a few years while the Woodcocks remained at Lypiatt Park. (fn. 23) Of the original outbuildings at Lypiatt Park the granary, which is of the 14th century and retains a grain-chute in the form of an ox's head opening to the ground floor, (fn. 24) and the circular dovehouse survive. A castellated 19thcentury stable block stands south-west of the house. By 1624 the house had a water-supply carried from a spring by leaden pipes. (fn. 25) In the early 19th century there were three drives linking the house to the Stroud-Bisley road; the middle one apparently marked an ancient thoroughfare of some importance (fn. 26) but the southernmost became the main drive when a Gothic entrance lodge was built on it by Paul Wathen before 1820. (fn. 27)

A small estate known as the manor of FERRIS COURT, based on a house south of Lypiatt Park, possibly represented the lands granted by Henry of Lypiatt to Bartholomew Laban. It was held from the manor of Bisley in 1355 (fn. 28) but in the 16th century from the manor of Over Lypiatt by knight service. (fn. 29) The estate was probably included in the lands in Over Lypiatt which Henry Clifford owned in 1338, (fn. 30) and Henry's tenants at Ferris Court owed suit at Bisley manor court in 1355. (fn. 31) The tenants of the estate presumably included Margery and Hugh Ferris who were assessed for tax at Over Lypiatt in 1327 (fn. 32) and William Ferris of Lypiatt who was mentioned in 1383. (fn. 33) John Clifford of Daneway owned the estate, then comprising a messuage and a yardland, at his death in 1397, (fn. 34) and it descended with Daneway manor until 1581. (fn. 35) In 1599 Richard Codrington and his wife Joyce conveyed Ferris Court to John Sewell, (fn. 36) whose family had apparently occupied it as tenants since at least 1578. (fn. 37) John Sewell settled the estate on the marriage of John Sewell the younger in 1622, and the latter was presumably John Sewell of Ferris Court who died in 1646. By a partition made the following year the estate became fragmented, (fn. 38) parts being owned in 1656 by Thomas Pettit, Richard Nash, and Ellis Smith. (fn. 39) In 1669 part of the house and lands, described as a third of the estate, were sold to Thomas Stephens, heir to Over Lypiatt, by Thomas Smith, Ferdinando Allen, and Richard Nash, and their wives, (fn. 40) and in 1721 John Nash sold his lands at Ferris Court to the Stephenses, reserving a house there which he left by his will dated 1727 to his nephew Nathaniel. (fn. 41) Another part of the estate was owned in 1724 by James Browne in right of his wife. (fn. 42) In the 1760s and 1770s members of the Sewell family once more lived at Ferris Court, but presumably only as tenants. (fn. 43) A house with lands called Nashe's Ground lying on the north-east side of the lane at Ferris Court belonged to Over Lypiatt manor in 1819, (fn. 44) and was among the lands retained by William Lewis in 1842; (fn. 45) the house with a farm of 57 a. and Toadsmoor woods was put up for sale in 1853. (fn. 46) Another house, on the south-west side of the lane, belonged to the Middle Lypiatt estate in 1842 (fn. 47) and descended with it to form part of the Lypiatt Park estate in 1919. (fn. 48) By 1926 it had been acquired by A. Cullimore (fn. 49) and in 1971 it belonged with the adjoining farm-land to Mr. M. C. Cullimore.

The house on the south-west side of the lane is evidently the original Ferris Court. It is a single long stone range dating from at least the 17th century and forms one side of a courtyard, the other sides being formed by a substantial stone barn, a two-storey building, probably a granary, and a small cowshed which has the remains of an arcade of cylindrical stone pillars. The barn is of late medieval date and retains shallow buttresses and roof with upper crucks; in the east corner are the remains of 17thcentury domestic windows. The house on the northeast side of the lane evidently resulted from the fragmentation of the estate and was itself named as Ferris Court in 1842 (fn. 50) but in 1971 it was called Home Farm. It comprises a small 17th-century range to which a larger wing in similar style was added on the south-east in the 19th century.

An estate at Lypiatt owned by one Richard in 1220 probably comprised Nether Lypiatt tithing. (fn. 51) Richard may have been Richard de Veim who in 1225 was impleaded over property in Bisley and Stroud by Hugh Mortimer, Bartholomew Laban, and Bartholomew's wife Muriel. (fn. 52) An earlier Richard de Veim was one of the vavasours on Bisley manor c. 1135. (fn. 53) In 1346 ½ knight's fee at Nether Lypiatt was held jointly by John de Reom, who had succeeded William de Reom, and the prior of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem. (fn. 54) John de Reom's estate, later known as the manor of NETHER LYPIATT, was held in 1374 and 1384 by Roger Reom, (fn. 55) who may have been succeeded by Thomas atte Reom who in 1387 did fealty to Bisley manor for land formerly held by Roger. (fn. 56) In 1479 William Freame, whose name was evidently a variation of Reom, held Nether Lypiatt manor. (fn. 57) In 1517 the manor was held by the same or a later William Freame, and it was retained by his widow Catherine who married Richard Walsh; on Catherine's death in 1539 it passed to her son Thomas Freame, (fn. 58) probably the same man who made his will in 1572 and was succeeded by his son William. (fn. 59) William was succeeded by his son Robert, who died in 1599 holding the manor and over 400 a. of land in Nether Lypiatt and Thrupp, and the manor passed to Robert's son Thomas (fn. 60) (d. 1659) and Thomas's son Thomas (d. 1664). (fn. 61) The younger Thomas's heirs were his three daughters, Sarah who married Henry Windowe, Anne who married Thomas Chamberlayne of Wanborough (Wilts.), and Elizabeth who married Thomas Clutterbuck of Brown's Hill, Bisley; the daughters made a partition of the manor in 1689 although Thomas's widow Anne (d. 1694) still occupied the manor-house and had a life-interest in part of the estate. (fn. 62) Catherine, daughter and heir of Thomas and Anne Chamberlayne, married Charles Coxe (fn. 63) and she apparently also inherited her aunt Sarah's part of the estate; (fn. 64) the descent of the Clutterbucks' share is traced below.

Charles Coxe, who was in possession of part of the manor by 1709, (fn. 65) was a judge on a Welsh circuit and M.P. for Cirencester and for Gloucester. He died in 1728 (fn. 66) and was succeeded by his son John, also an M.P. for Cirencester, who died in 1783. (fn. 67) From John Nether Lypiatt manor passed to his son Charles Coxe of Bath (fl.1792) (fn. 68) and to Charles's son Charles Westley Coxe of Kemble (d. 1806). The younger Charles's heir was his daughter Elizabeth Anne, who married Robert Gordon (d. 1864), (fn. 69) and she owned the house called Nether Lypiatt Manor and 257 a. in 1842. (fn. 70) Anna, daughter of Robert and Elizabeth, gave the manor c. 1880 to Philip Sheppard. In 1914 the estate, which had come into the possession of mortgagees, was sold to Arthur Stanton who sold it soon afterwards to Corbett Woodall; Woodall sold it in 1923 to Gordon Woodhouse, the owner c. 1937. (fn. 71) It later passed to Maj. J. N. W. Gwynne who sold it in 1955 to Frederick Nettlefold, who put the house with an estate of c. 362 a. up for sale in 1966. (fn. 72) In 1971 Nether Lypiatt Manor was owned by Maj. L. H. W. Barrington.

A house at Nether Lypiatt, presumably on the site of Nether Lypiatt Manor, was occupied by the Freames from 1509 (fn. 73) and probably much earlier. At the partition of the manor in 1689 the manor-house was allotted to the Chamberlaynes, (fn. 74) and a new house was built by Judge Coxe shortly before 1710. (fn. 75) It is a tall rectangular house of ashlar comprising a basement storey, two upper storeys, and dormered attics. On the entrance front on the west the original mullioned and transomed windows have been replaced by sashes and that front has a doorway with segmental pediment and fluted Ionic columns approached by a flight of steps. At three corners of the house are low single-storey wings, that on the north-west added in 1931. Restoration and modernization of the house were carried out by the architect P. R. Morley Horder c. 1923, the work including the replacement of the dormer windows which had been removed in 1844. (fn. 76) The interior retains the original staircase and a number of panelled rooms. The forecourt has contemporary wrought-iron railings and gates, which complete a notable formal composition. (fn. 77)

The portion of Thomas Freame's Nether Lypiatt manor that passed to Elizabeth Clutterbuck included 163 a. lying in the Thrupp area based on the house later called THRUPP HOUSE. (fn. 78) Elizabeth, widowed in 1683, died in 1701 (fn. 79) and was succeeded by her son Freame Clutterbuck. (fn. 80) Freame died in 1725 leaving the estate in trust for his nephew James Clutterbuck, who had come of age and succeeded by 1739. On James's death in 1780 (fn. 81) the estate passed to his nephew William Clutterbuck, who at his death in 1786 left it to trustees to hold during the minority of his nephew William Clutterbuck Chambers. (fn. 82) The trustees held the estate in 1802, (fn. 83) Chambers evidently succeeding soon afterwards, (fn. 84) and in 1842 he owned Thrupp House and 179 a. (fn. 85) On his death in 1850 he devised the estate to his brother Francis, (fn. 86) who died in the same year. Francis's widow Mary (d. 1878) (fn. 87) was evidently the Mrs. Chambers who was living at Thrupp House in 1856 and 1870. By 1885 the house was occupied by another William Clutterbuck Chambers (fn. 88) (d. 1933), (fn. 89) and in 1939 it was the home of the Misses Chambers. (fn. 90) There was a fairly large house on the site of Thrupp House by the end of the 17th century; (fn. 91) it was rebuilt in stone in Tudor style in the later 19th century, and in the mid 20th was converted into flats.

The estate in Nether Lypiatt owned by the Knights Hospitaller in 1346 (fn. 92) was retained by them, as an appendage of the preceptory of Quenington, until the Dissolution. (fn. 93) In 1545 the Crown granted the estate, which like the Freames' estate was known as the manor of NETHER LYPIATT, to John Pope, (fn. 94) who in the same year granted a moiety to Richard Fowler and a moiety to William Sewell. (fn. 95) In 1558 Richard Fowler granted his moiety to his son Henry (fn. 96) (d. 1565), who was succeeded by his brother William. (fn. 97) In 1592 William Fowler granted the estate to his nephew Richard Stephens of Eastington (fn. 98) (d. 1599), and in 1600 the Crown granted the estate to Thomas Stephens to hold during the minority of Richard's son Nathaniel. (fn. 99) In 1593, however, Richard had made a lease of the estate for 1,000 years to Daniel Fowler of Stonehouse who granted his right in 1602 to William Freame of Nether Lypiatt and William Fowler of Berkeley. (fn. 1) The other moiety of the manor, granted to William Sewell in 1545, was settled in 1575 by William Sewell, Richard Hancox of Daneway, and William Winchcombe on Thomas Hancox, who died in 1580 when his heir was his son Samuel, a minor. (fn. 2) In 1591 a lease of that moiety for 1,000 years was made by John Winchcombe (alias Whiting) and his brother Henry to Daniel Fowler. (fn. 3) The exact intention of the two 1,000-year leases is obscured by lack of evidence of the later ownership of the manor. The only later direct mention of the Hospitallers' manor found was in 1689 when a reversionary right after the terms of the two leases was claimed by the Freames, lords of the other manor of Nether Lypiatt, and partitioned among the three heiresses of Thomas Freame. (fn. 4)

About 1775 the Hospitallers' manor was believed to be represented by the estate, usually known as MIDDLE LYPIATT, which was owned by Peter Leversage. (fn. 5) On Peter's death after 1803 it passed to his son Peter, and by 1826 belonged to his grandson, also Peter Leversage, (fn. 6) who owned 347 a. based on Middle Lypiatt House in 1842. (fn. 7) Peter sold the estate in 1845 to Henry Wyatt of Farmhill Park, whose three daughters owned it c. 1870. (fn. 8) Later it was purchased by Sir John Dorington, and at the sale of the Lypiatt Park estate in 1919 Middle Lypiatt House and 249 a. were bought by E. S. Vines of Standish. (fn. 9) In 1961 the house and a small acreage were bought by Mr. M. Y. N. Graham, the owner in 1971. (fn. 10)

In 1541 and 1558 a messuage called Freame House was held freely from the Hospitallers' manor by Thomas Freame. (fn. 11) If Thomas was the same man as the owner of the other Nether Lypiatt manor, it is possible that the house was the Freames' chief house at Nether Lypiatt Manor, its tenure from the Hospitallers resulting from the derivation of the two manors from a single estate. It may, however, have been at Middle Lypiatt House, later the chief house of the Leversages' estate. Middle Lypiatt House is a late-16th- or early-17th-century gabled house comprising a central hall and entrance range, a kitchen wing to the north, and a parlour to the south. The main doorway on the east front was later moved southwards and given a gabled porch. The parlour was panelled early in the 18th century and at about the same time the kitchen wing was extended to the north and east.

In 1374 Tewkesbury Abbey, as well as Roger Reom and the Hospitallers, was holding a portion of the fee of Nether Lypiatt, (fn. 12) and the abbey's estate was again recorded in 1479. (fn. 13) It was presumably represented by unspecified possessions of the abbey described as at Bisley at the Dissolution (fn. 14) but it has not been found recorded later.

Lands in Thrupp were held from the earl of March, lord of Bisley, by Thomas of Rodborough, lord of Rodborough manor, at his death in 1367. (fn. 15) That estate, which in 1400 comprised 8 messuages, a plough-land of hill land, 2 water-mills, 5 a. of meadow, 3 a. of wood, and 30s. rent, held by the service of helping to hold the manor court of Bisley, (fn. 16) descended with Rodborough manor until its division among Thomas Whittington's daughters in 1546. (fn. 17) Elizabeth, one of the daughters, married Sir Giles Poole of Sapperton (d. 1589), and part of the estate was probably represented by the 2 houses and 72 a. of land which their son Sir Henry Poole conveyed to Robert Freame of Nether Lypiatt before 1599 (fn. 18) and which presumably later formed part of the Clutterbucks' Thrupp House estate. (fn. 19) In 1602, however, the lands conveyed to Freame were said to be held from the earls of Stafford, whereas the overlordship of the earls of March would have passed to the Crown. (fn. 20)

The manor of PAGANHILL in the detached western part of the parish was divided among at least two owners by 1268, (fn. 21) and in 1303 there were 7 owners holding Paganhill as ½ fee from the earl of Hereford. (fn. 22) The manor remained in 7 parts in 1374, (fn. 23) and it has not been found possible to trace the descent of the various parts in detail. In 1268 Henry of Dean and Agatha his wife were dealing with 2 messuages and 13 yardlands in Paganhill, (fn. 24) and Henry held a moiety of the manor in right of Agatha at his death c. 1292 when his heir was his son William. (fn. 25) In 1303 Henry's portion of the manor was held by Rose of Dean and her sister Margaret. Other parts of the manor were then held by Nicholas Seymour (de Seymour), Henry Farmer (le Fermer), Richard the clerk, Maud Walsh (la Walsche), and Richard Dabitot. (fn. 26) Nicholas Seymour's portion is traced below. Henry Farmer's portion was held by the same or another Henry in 1346 (fn. 27) and by John Farmer in 1374, (fn. 28) and Henry son of John Farmer of Paganhill was mentioned in 1408. (fn. 29) Richard the clerk's portion was held by the same or another Richard in 1346 (fn. 30) and by Richard 'Clerkesson' in 1374. (fn. 31) Maud Walsh was apparently succeeded by John Walsh of Paganhill, who was recorded from 1316. (fn. 32) In 1319 John together with Richard the clerk of Paganhill was among those whom the earl of Pembroke accused of hunting illegally in his park at Painswick. (fn. 33) In 1321 John's lands in Paganhill were taken into the king's hands because he was suspected of playing a part in John Giffard's rebellion but they were returned to him the following year. (fn. 34) Richard Dabitot's estate may have been represented by the messuage, 1½ a. of meadow, and ½ yardland which Benet of Dudbridge settled on himself and his wife Nichole in 1305; (fn. 35) Richard and Walter of Dudbridge in 1346, (fn. 36) and John Dudbridge in 1374 (fn. 37) were among later owners of portions of the manor. In 1346 the portioners of the manor also included John of Monmouth and John of the Field, whose estates are traced below, and Walter Smith, (fn. 38) who was succeeded before 1374 by Thomas Smith. (fn. 39)

The portion of the manor held by Nicholas Seymour in 1303 had passed by 1346 to Roger Seymour and by 1374 to John Seymour. (fn. 40) It can apparently be identified with an estate owned by the Moretons and Fowlers in the 16th century, which included a farm called Seymour's. William Moreton, son of Robert Moreton, held the estate, described as the manor of Paganhill, at his death in 1522 when he was still a minor in the guardianship of Christopher Sydenham. William's heirs were his sisters Dorothy and Elizabeth, (fn. 41) and in 1538 Elizabeth and her husband Sir George West conveyed the estate to Richard Fowler, (fn. 42) a Stonehouse clothier. Richard died in 1560 leaving half of his lands at Paganhill to his wife Margery and half, including Seymour's farm, to his son William who in 1593 settled a considerable estate at Paganhill on himself and his wife Alice and, after their deaths, in equal shares on his sons Daniel and Henry. William died in 1599, (fn. 43) and in 1613 Daniel and Henry sold Seymour's Farm and lands to Richard Wintle. (fn. 44)

John of Monmouth who held a portion of Paganhill manor in 1346 was presumably the same man who with his wife Emme and son Richard acquired other lands at Paganhill in 1363. (fn. 45) Richard Monmouth witnessed a Paganhill deed in 1439, (fn. 46) and John Monmouth was acquiring lands there in the 1470s. (fn. 47) By 1494 the Monmouths' estate, described as the manor of Paganhill, had passed to William Pawne and Anne his wife, (fn. 48) and their son William held it in 1532. (fn. 49) William Pawne of High Ongar (Essex), son of William Pawne, held it in 1571. (fn. 50) In 1574 he conveyed a large estate at Paganhill to ten people who were probably all purchasers of different parts, for they included Giles Gardner (fn. 51) who bought Ruscombe farm from William in the same year. (fn. 52) Richard Davies, another of the parties to the conveyance, was dealing with an estate called the manor of Paganhill in 1585. (fn. 53)

Davies's estate may have been that, comprising a capital messuage and 47 a., owned by William Warner, clothier, at his death c. 1632. William was succeeded by his son Thomas who died at Paganhill in 1640, assigning the profits of the estate to his wife Sarah during the minority of his son William; (fn. 54) William Warner was living at Paganhill in 1659. (fn. 55) Thomas Warner, son of Thomas Warner, was described as lord of Paganhill manor c. 1710 and was said to have a good house and estate; (fn. 56) he died in 1736 leaving the manor to his nephew Henry Wyatt. (fn. 57) On Wyatt's death in 1784 the manor was bought by Richard Cooke of Lodgemore who was later succeeded by his son Richard. (fn. 58) In 1842 Richard Cooke owned an estate of 330 a. which included Farmhill House, Ruscombe farm, and Stokenhill farm. (fn. 59) His daughter Elizabeth married Joseph Cripps of Cirencester who was said to be the chief landowner in Paganhill in 1856. (fn. 60) The estate is said to have later passed to Anne, the granddaughter of the younger Richard Cooke; she married J. W. Hallewell of Stratford Park, (fn. 61) who was accounted the principal landowner in the Paganhill area between 1870 and 1889. Between 1897 and 1939, however, trustees for the Cripps family were said to be the principal landowners. (fn. 62) Farmhill House, which stands on the east side of the road from Paganhill to Whiteshill, is perhaps on the site of the chief house occupied by the Warners in the 17th century which had 8 hearths in 1672. (fn. 63) It was occupied from before 1879 by George Holloway (d. 1892) (fn. 64) and remained the home of his widow until 1906 or later. (fn. 65) It is basically a small house of c. 1700 to which large additions in matching style were made on the east and west in the 19th century. In 1971 it was a school for backward children.

Soon after 1784 Richard Cooke built a new house, (fn. 66) later called FARMHILL PARK, on the opposite side of the road to Farmhill House. (fn. 67) With 60 a. it was sold by the Cookes in 1833 to Henry Wyatt (fn. 68) (d. 1847), and, Henry's widow Priscilla exchanging her life-interest for an annuity, it passed to his daughters Caroline, Elizabeth, and Frances who married George Edwards. The three daughters retained it c. 1870. (fn. 69) In 1870 and until his death in 1892 the house was occupied by Josiah Greathead Strachan, (fn. 70) and a later occupant, as tenant, was C. P. Allen, M.P. for the Stroud division from 1900 to 1918. (fn. 71) The main block of Farmhill Park was a rectangular stone building of three storeys with fairly ornate classical details. A low office wing adjoined the rear of the house. (fn. 72) The house was demolished in the early 1930s (fn. 73) and the site developed. An archway at the entrance to the drive, erected by Henry Wyatt in 1834 to mark the abolition of slavery in the British colonies, (fn. 74) survives together with the lodge further south.

The portion of Paganhill manor held by John of the Field in 1346 was evidently that based on the house called FIELD PLACE which remained in the Field family for another four centuries. William in the Field, a burgess of Gloucester, granted lands at Ruscombe to John of Monmouth in 1363, (fn. 75) and in 1374 part of Paganhill manor was held by John in the Field. (fn. 76) John Field of Paganhill was mentioned in 1443, (fn. 77) Thomas Field of Paganhill died in 1510, (fn. 78) and Giles Field had an estate there, called the manor of Paganhill, c. 1556. (fn. 79) Anthony Field of Paganhill and his son and heir Richard were mentioned in 1611, (fn. 80) and Richard Field was mentioned in 1637 and 1653 (fn. 81) and was presumably the same man who died before 1684 leaving land to his widow Elizabeth. (fn. 82) Another Richard Field died in 1693 described as of Field Place. (fn. 83) About 1710 the Field Place estate was owned by Thomas Field (fn. 84) and by 1728 by Edward Field (d. 1736). (fn. 85) The estate passed to another Thomas Field, and the descendants of his nephew, John Delafeld Phelps of Dursley, owned the estate c. 1775. (fn. 86) By 1803 Field Place was occupied by James Tyers who was said to have bought the estate (fn. 87) but in 1835 it was owned by another John Delafeld Phelps, (fn. 88) who had 87 a. adjoining it in 1842. (fn. 89) Soon afterwards Field Place was bought by Charles Stanton, of a successful family of clothiers, and on his death in 1863, when he was living at the neighbouring house called Upfield, Charles was succeeded by his son Charles Holbrow Stanton. (fn. 90) Charles, the son, was living at Field Place in 1897 and was succeeded before 1919 by Arthur William Stanton (d. 1944). (fn. 91)

Field Place, which evidently occupies a site of great antiquity, was presumably the mansion house of Giles Field mentioned c. 1556. (fn. 92) In 1672 a Mr. Field was assessed for tax on 9 hearths. (fn. 93) The plan of the house, a central range and cross-wings, appears to be dictated by a late-16th- or early-17th-century origin but shortly before 1803 James Tyers rebuilt much of the original structure, (fn. 94) giving the south front an overall Gothic appearance and adding to it a central semi-octagonal porch. (fn. 95) In the 19th century offices, incorporating some re-used early features, were added on the south-west. In 1971 the house was occupied as three separate dwellings.

An estate called RUSCOMBE FARM formed part of the Pawnes' manor of Paganhill in 1532 when it was leased to Richard Gardner (d. 1548), and William Pawne sold the estate in 1574 to Giles Gardner, apparently Richard's son. (fn. 96) In 1585 Giles Gardner settled the estate on himself, his wife Jane, and his sons, (fn. 97) the eldest of whom, William, was probably the William Gardner who held the estate in 1626 and settled it on his son Giles in 1628. Giles had succeeded to the estate, which comprised c. 100 a., by 1648, and by 1655 it had passed to his son Giles, a clothier, who retained it in 1677. (fn. 98) Giles Gardner of Ruscombe Farm, clothier, made his will in 1701 (fn. 99) and he or another Giles died c. 1713 leaving a widow Elizabeth. Elizabeth later married Thomas Stratton and in 1735 they conveyed the estate, subject to an annuity for Elizabeth, to Henry Cooke of Paganhill and Noah Chandler of Randwick. (fn. 1) It apparently descended from Henry to Richard Cooke who acquired the Warners' manor of Paganhill, for Ruscombe farm was among the younger Richard Cooke's possessions in 1842. (fn. 2) Ruscombe Farm is a 16th- or 17th-century house comprising a main block and cross-wing.

A family which took its name from the ford on the Stroud-Paganhill road was recorded from 1307 when Gilbert of Stratford held land in Paganhill tithing and Henry of Stratford attested a deed concerning lands there. (fn. 3) An estate, which was later based on STRATFORD PARK on the north side of the road, belonged to Edward Stratford at his death in 1607 when it comprised a messuage, Stratford Mill, and c. 70 a. of land. (fn. 4) It may have once formed part of the Pawnes' manor of Paganhill, for Edward Stratford was among the parties to the conveyance by William Pawne in 1574. (fn. 5) Edward was succeeded by his grandson John (d. c. 1650), and John's son Edward (fn. 6) sold the Stratford estate in 1653 to Nathaniel Gardner, mercer of Stroud. Nathaniel died in 1671, and in 1688 the estate was held by Giles Gardner who settled it on his son Giles. Giles the son held it in 1759 and died c. 1765 when it passed to his sister Sarah Gardner (fn. 7) (d. 1778), who devised it to a relation, James Winchcombe of Bownhams, Rodborough. On his death c. 1780 James devised the estate to his nephew Nathaniel Winchcombe (fn. 8) (later Clifford) who sold the house, then called Stratford House, and lands to Robert Brittain in 1802. Brittain sold the estate in 1805 to Sir Samuel Wathen of Woodchester, who sold it in 1819 to Joseph Watts, (fn. 9) a brewer. Watts was succeeded on his death in 1855 by his grandson Joseph Watts Hallewell (fn. 10) who died in 1891, when the estate, including the house, by then known as Stratford Park, in a park of 76 a., and Callowell Farm with 70 a., was put up for sale. (fn. 11) Stratford Park was bought in 1936 by the Stroud U.D.C. and the grounds became a public park; (fn. 12) the house was occupied from 1960 by the Community of the Glorious Ascension, Anglican monks who followed secular vocations. (fn. 13)

Stratford Park incorporates part of a 17th-century house on which there is a stone with the date 1674 and the initials of Giles Gardner. In the late 18th century the house was enlarged to a double-pile plan with the entrance front on the south and the most ornate front, which has a pediment, a first-floor venetian window, and pilasters to the ground floor, on the east. As a result of the rebuilding Stratford Park was described as a modern house in 1802. (fn. 14) In the grounds there is an early-19th-century ornamental bridge of cast iron. It is possible that the house owned by Edward Stratford in 1607 was not on the site of Stratford Park but at Stratford Abbey which stood on the south side of the road near Stratford Mill. (fn. 15) Stratford Abbey belonged in the mid 19th century to the owner of the mill, John Biddell, (fn. 16) and from 1870 until 1939 or later it housed a private school for girls. (fn. 17) It was demolished in 1961. It was apparently a 17th-century building remodelled in Tudor style in the 19th century; (fn. 18) it bore the intitials of Giles Gardner and the date 1699. (fn. 19)

Footnotes