HIPPENSCOMBE
Until c. 1240 Hippenscombe, consisting of a
deep east-west coomb and a northern tributary
coomb, lay in Savernake forest. From c. 1240
the north part lay in Savernake forest and the
south part in Chute forest, and from 1330 the
whole was a detached part of Chute forest. (fn. 15)
Hippenscombe was extra-parochial, its inhabitants relieved their own poor, and, possibly
under the Relief of the Poor in Extra-parochial
Places Act of 1857, it was deemed a civil
parish. It remained a civil parish until 1894, (fn. 16)
when it was added to Tidcombe and Fosbury
parish. (fn. 17)
Hippenscombe's boundary on the north and
south ran along the top of the steep sides of the
coombs. On the south it followed a ditch; on the
north, part of it was marked by the Iron-Age hill
fort in Fosbury. On the east the boundary
crosses the contours to exclude the lower end of
the coomb. All Hippenscombe's land lies on
chalk, and each coomb is now dry; the river
which cut the main coomb, the floor of which is
now called Hippenscombe bottom, deposited a
small amount of gravel. (fn. 18) Near the boundary on
the north the land reaches 260 m., on the south
boundary 245 m.; on the eastern boundary Hippenscombe bottom lies at c. 150 m. Grim's ditch,
which marks the boundary on the south, is
probably prehistoric, and prehistoric field systems have been identified on the high ground on
either side of Hippenscombe bottom. (fn. 19)
The population of Hippenscombe numbered
47 in 1801. For reasons that are obscure it had
fallen to 21 by 1811 and risen to 40 by 1821 and
to 58 by 1831. At 59 it reached its peak in 1841.
From 1871 to 1891 it fell from 57 to 35. (fn. 20)
Four sites of settlement are known, three of
them in Hippenscombe bottom. A lodge was
standing in the earlier 16th century. (fn. 21) A building
which in 1707 was called the lodge or dwelling
house of Hippenscombe farm probably stood on
its site. (fn. 22) The most likely site of both is that of
a farmstead called Hippenscombe at which a
notable house was standing in 1773. (fn. 23) In 1955
that house was said to be ruinous, (fn. 24) and it was
later demolished. In 1848 there were extensive
farm buildings around it and a pair of cottages
stood north of it. The cottages were apparently
derelict in 1923 and were demolished later; a
farm building of flint and apparently early 19thcentury was converted to cottages probably soon
after 1923 (fn. 25) and was a house in 1998. Two
bungalows and a house were built in the 20th
century, and in 1998 most of the farm buildings
were 20th-century.
Another possible site of the 16th-century lodge
and the early 18th-century house is that of buildings which stood south-west of Hippenscombe
farmstead in 1773. (fn. 26) A new farmstead was built
there, probably c. 1830, and in 1834 and until 1899
or later a terrace of six cottages there was called
the Great House. (fn. 27) The farmyard apparently went
out of use between 1879 and 1899 and was later
demolished; Great House was apparently ruinous
in 1923 (fn. 28) and was later demolished.
Blagden Farm, later called Blackdown Farm,
was built in Hippenscombe bottom west of
Great House between 1773 and 1817. (fn. 29) In 1849
it consisted of a house and a barn, (fn. 30) in 1929 of
a thatched house with walls of flint and brick
and several small farm buildings. (fn. 31) The farmstead was in ruins in 1957 (fn. 32) and was afterwards
demolished.
On the downland west of Hippenscombe bottom where several parishes met and several
tracks joined the Roman road, a place called
Scott Poor in 1773, (fn. 33) later Scot's Poor, a
thatched cottage with walls of flint and brick was
built in the 18th century and survived in 1998.
In 1822 it was an alehouse called the Bell, from
1827 the Blue Bell. (fn. 34) It was closed in 1914. (fn. 35)
ESTATES.
As part of Savernake forest and
later of Chute forest the land of Hippenscombe
parish belonged to the Crown in the Middle
Ages. (fn. 36)
In 1544 HIPPENSCOMBE, apparently c. 90
per cent of the parish, was granted to an agent
of Edward Seymour, earl of Hertford (fn. 37) (cr. duke
of Somerset 1547), on whose execution and
attainder in 1552 (fn. 38) it passed to the Crown. In
1553 it was assigned by Act to Somerset's son
Sir Edward (fn. 39) (cr. earl of Hertford 1559, d.
1621), (fn. 40) and from then to 1827 the estate descended in the Seymour, Bruce, Brudenell, and
Brudenell-Bruce families with Tottenham
Lodge and Tottenham House in Great Bedwyn. (fn. 41) In 1827 Charles Brudenell-Bruce,
marquess of Ailesbury, sold it to William Fulbrook (fn. 42) (d. by 1834), (fn. 43) who owned it until 1831
or later. (fn. 44) It was offered for sale by mortgagees (fn. 45)
and bought, probably from them in 1834, by
James Wheble (d. 1840). Wheble devised it to
his son E. J. Wheble (fn. 46) (d. by 1863), (fn. 47) who in
1848 owned it as an estate of 825 a. (fn. 48) In 1879 E.
J. Wheble's executors sold the estate to Edward
Bates (fn. 49) (from 1896 Sir Edward Bates, Bt., d.
1899), (fn. 50) whose representatives held it in 1903.
By 1907 the estate had been acquired by F. W.
Lillywhite, who held it until 1911 or later. (fn. 51) In
1922 it was offered for sale by mortgagees (fn. 52) and
may have been bought by A. W. Crawford. (fn. 53)
From the late 1920s to the mid 1930s it belonged
to members of the Stephens family, (fn. 54) from c.
1936 to 1949 to A. J. Hosier. (fn. 55) In 1955 it was
bought by John Cherrington, who in 1962 sold
it to his son Daniel Cherrington. (fn. 56) In 1998, as
Hippenscombe farm, it belonged to Mr. Anders
Bergengren. (fn. 57)
Part of Chute forest called BLAGDEN, c. 10
per cent of Hippenscombe parish, was granted
by the Crown in 1632 to Sir William Russell,
Bt., who in 1633 conveyed it to the lessee Sir
Edward Wardour. Also in 1633 Wardour sold it
to William Seymour, earl of Hertford. (fn. 58) From
1633 to c. 1929 Blagden descended in the Seymour, Bruce, Brudenell, and Brudenell-Bruce
families with Tottenham Lodge and Tottenham
House, until 1827 also with Hippenscombe. (fn. 59) In
1849 it consisted of Blagden (later Blackdown)
farm and the Blue Bell at Scot's Poor, a total of
89 a. (fn. 60) In 1929 it was offered for sale by George
Brudenell-Bruce, marquess of Ailesbury. (fn. 61)
Blackdown farm, c. 80 a., was sold by Lady
(Eleanor) Yarrow to Friend Sykes c. 1936, has
since been part of the Chantry estate based in
Chute parish, and in 1998 belonged to Mr.
Michael Sykes. (fn. 62)
The tithes of Savernake forest were taken by
Salisbury cathedral from the 12th century, as
those of Chute forest probably were, (fn. 63) and the
cathedral owned the tithes of the Hippenscombe
estate. (fn. 64) In 1848 those tithes were valued at £132
and commuted. (fn. 65)
For reasons which are obscure the tithes of
Blagden were not part of the cathedral's estate.
In 1848 they belonged to Charles, marquess of
Ailesbury, were valued at £12, and were commuted. (fn. 66)
ECONOMIC HISTORY.
Land at Hippenscombe had been inclosed by the Crown by 1343
and was thereafter managed as a park in which
deer were kept and grass was mown for hay. (fn. 67)
The park was presumably what later descended
as the Hippenscombe estate. (fn. 68) The estate was said
to contain 314 a. of woodland in 1544, 450 a. of
woodland and 250 a. of pasture in 1586, (fn. 69) and a
warren in the 1630s. Until 1633 it was kept in
hand (fn. 70) and presumably used for sport and as a
source of rabbits and timber.
In 1633 the Hippenscombe estate was leased
as a farm, and the tenant undertook to destroy
the rabbits. In the 1640s, however, the rabbits
multiplied, and those killed in 1657 were worth
c. £130. The woodland was much damaged by
the rabbits, many trees were felled, and some
coppices were grubbed up for arable; in the late
17th century there was said to be little woodland
standing on the farm. In 1693 the farmer was
licensed to clear rabbits from and to plough 250
a., and authority was given for a 16-a. coppice
to be grubbed up; sheep-and-corn husbandry
was practised, and in 1695 a flock of 160 ewes
was kept. In 1702 the farmer was licensed to
clear rabbits from and to plough a further 220
a., and he covenanted to plough no more than
400 a. a year. In 1709 it was estimated that
Hippenscombe farm comprised 600 a. of arable,
15 a. of meadows, 40 a. of pastures, 15 a. of
wood, and 160 a., presumably steep downland,
considered more suitable for feeding sheep than
preserving rabbits. (fn. 71)
In 1834 Hippenscombe farm, 825 a., included
two farmsteads, 530 a. of arable, 34 a. of meadows, 21 a. of woodland, and, on the high ground
on the north and south, 226 a. of downland
pasture. (fn. 72) It remained a sheep-and-corn farm in
1867, when it had c. 600 a. of arable and
temporary grassland, c. 200 a. of permanent
pasture, a flock of c. 1,000 sheep, and a herd
of pigs. (fn. 73) By 1886 much of the arable had been
laid to grass and a herd of c. 100 cattle was kept
in addition to sheep and pigs. (fn. 74) In the early 20th
century the farm was used to rear game birds. (fn. 75)
In the 1930s it contained no arable, (fn. 76) from c.
1936 to 1949 was used to rear cattle, and in 1955
was largely unproductive. (fn. 77) In 1998 Hippenscombe farm was an arable, cattle, and poultry
farm.
In 1632 Blagden was described as waste
land. (fn. 78) In the late 18th century or early 19th a
farmstead was built on it, (fn. 79) and in 1849 the land
was an 85-a. farm, later called Blackdown farm,
which included 77 a. of arable and 7 a. of
woodland. (fn. 80) In 1929 Blackdown farm was apparently a dairy farm and included the farmstead,
2 a. of woodland, 21 a. of arable, and 51 a. of
pasture in Tidcombe and Fosbury parish, and 5
a. of rough pasture in Chute parish. (fn. 81) From c.
1936 and in 1998, when it was used to produce
seeds and for sheep rearing, that land was part
of a large farm based in Chute parish. (fn. 82)
Of the woodland which in 1834 stood on
Hippenscombe farm 17 a. stood as Cleves
copse. (fn. 83) Most of the 7 a. of woodland on Blackdown farm was cleared in the mid 19th century. (fn. 84)
In the 20th century part of Cleves copse was
cleared and trees were allowed to grow in several
other places, especially on the high ground on
the south; (fn. 85) in 1998 there was c. 35 a. of woodland.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
Hippenscombe
spent £13 on the relief of its poor in 1775-6, an
average of £5 in the three years ending at Easter
1785. In 1802-3 eight adults and nine children
were relieved regularly, three people occasionally;
£54 was spent and the poor rate, at 6d., was very
low. (fn. 86) Expenditure had risen to £73 by 1812-13
and fallen to £26 by 1814-15. (fn. 87) In the early
1830s no poor rate was levied. (fn. 88) By 1864 Hippenscombe had joined Hungerford poor-law
union. (fn. 89) As part of Tidcombe and Fosbury parish
it became part of Kennet district in 1974. (fn. 90)