Manors and other estates
In 1086 CASSINGTON was held of Odo of Bayeux by
Wadard, who held two estates of 2 ½ hides each,
and by Ilbert de Lacy, who held 6 hides. (fn. 37) One
of Wadard's manors passed, with Cogges, to
Mannasser Arsic, who held it in 1103. (fn. 38) Robert
Arsic was overlord in 1212 and 1220, and in
1242 the manor was held of the Arsic fee. (fn. 39) In
1279 it was held of the Arsics' successor, Robert
de Grey, but there is no further record of the
overlordship and in 1320 the manor was held of
the king in chief. (fn. 40)
Before 1123 the Arsics had granted their
manor in CASSINGTON to the elder Geoffrey
de Clinton, who in turn enfeoffed his brother
William. (fn. 41) The mesne lordship thus created
passed from Geoffrey de Clinton to his son
Geoffrey and to the younger Geoffrey's son and
grandson, both called Henry de Clinton. (fn. 42) The
younger Henry died without issue in 1232-3,
and Cassington passed to his sister Agnes and
her husband Warin de Brakenham, who in 1242
conveyed it to William de Cauntelo of whom the
manor was held in 1256. (fn. 43) From William de
Cauntelo the mesne lordship seems to have
passed to his son George and then to George's
nephew and coheir John of Hastings, (fn. 44) but no
further record of it has been found.
William de Clinton was succeeded as demesne
tenant by his sons Ralph and Jordan (d. 1189)
and by Jordan's son William (d. c. 1197). (fn. 45) From
the younger William the manor passed to his
son, another William de Clinton (d. by 1238)
whose heir was Nicia de Clinton, wife of William of Paris. (fn. 46) Nicia seems to have given Cassington to her son, another William of Paris,
who held it in 1242-3 and who, before his death
in 1255, conveyed it to William Montagu. (fn. 47)
About 1269 William Montagu exchanged
Cassington with Philip Basset and his wife Ela
Longespee for their lives. Philip died in 1271,
and in 1279 Ela held Cassington. (fn. 48) On her death
in 1297 the manor reverted to William Montagu's son Simon, Lord Montagu, (fn. 49) from whom it
passed to his son William (d. 1319); William's
relict Elizabeth evidently retained the manor in
dower until her death in 1354, when it reverted
to William's grandson William (d. 1397), earl
of Salisbury. (fn. 50) The last William was succeeded by his nephew John Montagu, earl of
succeeded by his nephew John Montagu, earl of
Salisbury, on whose execution in 1400 Cassington escheated to the Crown and was granted to
John Cornwall for life. (fn. 51) In 1409 it was restored
to John Montagu's son Thomas, earl of Salisbury (d. 1428). (fn. 52) Thomas's heir was his daughter Alice, wife of Richard Neville, who had at
least an interest in Cassington in 1446, but in
1448 the manor was held by Thomas's widow
Alice Chaucer and her third husband William de
la Pole, duke of Suffolk, and in 1450 Alice
Chaucer made a settlement of it. (fn. 53) It presumably
passed to her son John de la Pole, duke of
Suffolk, for her grandson Edmund de la Pole,
earl of Suffolk, held Cassington at his forfeiture
in 1504. (fn. 54) The manor then passed, with the
dukedom and earldom of Suffolk, to Charles
Brandon (fn. 55) who sold it back to the Crown.
In 1557 the manor was sold to Edward Mylner and Nicholas Pynde who presumably sold it
to Richard Yate from whom it passed in 1561 to
Richard Gunter and in 1563 to John Warner. (fn. 56)
Warner died in 1565 and was succeeded by his
nephew Thomas Norwood who in 1574 sold the
manor, then called Moat farm, to his tenant
Vincent Coventry. (fn. 57) Coventry died in 1610,
having sold part of the property, and in the same
year his son and heir John mortgaged the manor
to Edmund Reynolds of Oxford who apparently
foreclosed on the mortgage in 1612. On his
death in 1630 Reynolds bequeathed his interest
in Cassington to his nephew William
Reynolds. (fn. 58) In 1633 a dispute over the ownership was settled when John Coventry granted
the manor to William Reynolds for the residue
of a term of 1,000 years created in 1610. (fn. 59) There
is no further reference to the Coventry interest
in the manor, and Reynolds presumably acquired the freehold, if Edmund Reynolds had
not already done so in 1610. William Reynolds
was succeeded before 1665 by his son Christopher whose son and heir Edmund sold most of
the estate, no longer described as a manor, to
John Greenway in 1700. Greenway, a member
of a long established Cassington family, died in
1742 and was succeeded by his son John who
died without issue in 1775 and was succeeded by
his nephews Randolph (d. 1785) and Henry
Greenway. Henry sold the estate in 1799 to
George Spencer, duke of Marlborough. (fn. 60) The
dukes of Marlborough, who had built up a large
estate in Cassington, were described as lords of
the manor throughout the 19th century and
were the largest landowners in the parish in
1982.
William Montagu obtained licence to crenellate his manor of Cassington in 1317. (fn. 61) The
house, which stood within a moat south-east of
the church, presumably decayed in the later
15th century when the lords of the manor no
longer used it as an occasional residence. The
site was in 1982 marked by a mound about 20
yards east of the surviving farmhouse, Reynolds
Farm, a coursed rubble building of two storeys
with attics. The main range, which runs north-south, has a three-room plan with a small projection on the west; it was probably built in the
early 17th century. The house was extended to
the north-west in the 18th century and to the
north-east in the early 20th century, at about
which time the roof of the old house was renewed. The cellars probably once extended further south (fn. 62) and there may have been a room
above them. The pigeon house west of the house
may be of the 17th century. The earthworks of
three fishponds survive in a field south of the
house. The house was retained by Edmund
Reynolds when he sold the rest of his Cassington estate in 1700. (fn. 63)
Wadard's second 2 ½ hide manor of CASSINGTON was held in 1235 of the honor of St.
Valery. (fn. 64) Richard, king of the Romans,
confirmed a grant of land in Cassington in 1270,
and the overlordship was recorded again in
1279, 1300, and 1325. (fn. 65) In 1414 and 1490 the
manor was said to be held of the honor of
Wallingford. (fn. 66)
The mesne lordship of the manor, later 1
knight's fee, passed to Walkelin Wadard, apparently Wadard's son, and to Walkelin's daughter
Helewise. It then passed to Helewise's son by
her first marriage, Walkelin Hareng, and his
coheirs, Stephen of Fritwell and John Brown, of
whom the manor was held in 1247. (fn. 67) In 1279 it
was held of Stephen's son Richard of Fritwell
and William Brown, (fn. 68) but there is no later
record of the mesne lordship.
In the late 12th century the demesne tenants
of half the fee were Helewise's daughter by her
second marriage, Avice Avenel, and her husband Richard de Vernon (d. 1195), who gave the
manor to William de Brai in marriage with their
daughter Isabel. (fn. 69) In 1247 the manor was held
by Robert and Cecily Bagot, but shortly afterwards their son William sold it to Peter Ashridge who gave it to Godstow abbey. (fn. 70) Richard
de Vernon, grandson of Richard and Avice,
confirmed the grant to Godstow c. 1255, but in
1279 the abbess held directly of Richard of
Fritwell and William Brown. (fn. 71) Thereafter the
descent followed that of Godstow's other Cassington manor (fn. 72) into which it was absorbed.
The other half of the St. Valery fee may have
been held in the late 12th century by Amisius of
Woodstock, whose son John sold land in Cassington to Philip Pady of Oxford before 1252. (fn. 73)
Philip was succeeded by John Pady whose son
Edmund held the ½ knight's fee in 1279. (fn. 74) Henry
Pady, presumably Edmund's heir, sold the estate c. 1284 to Michael Meldon who held ½ fee of
the earl of Cornwall in 1300. (fn. 75) In 1324 Michael
settled his Cassington property on his son William, who held it in 1350. (fn. 76) William died c. 1362
and was succeeded by Walter of Coxwell who in
1365 conveyed Cassington to Thomas Cheyne. (fn. 77)
The manor then seems to have descended to
Thomas's son Henry (d. 1397), to Henry's
nephew Roger Cheyne (d. 1414), and to Roger's
son John, who in 1444 sold it to John Elmes. (fn. 78)
From John Elmes the manor passed to his son
John (d. 1491), and then, with the manor of
Papley in Warmington (Northants.) (fn. 79) to the
younger John's son William (d. 1504), to William's son John (d. 1541), to John's son Edmund
(d. 1602), to Edmund's son Thomas (d. 1632),
to Thomas's son William (d. 1641), and to
William's son Arthur, who in 1661 conveyed it
to Henry Allnutt. (fn. 80) In 1692 Henry Allnutt conveyed the manor to his youngest son, another
Henry, who sold it in 1711 to John Churchill,
duke of Marlborough. (fn. 81)
The 6 hides in CASSINGTON held by Ilbert de Lacy in 1086 were later held of the honor
of Pontefract. (fn. 82) In 1235-6 the manor was held of
Ilbert's descendant John de Lacy earl of Lincoln, and in 1242 of John's son Edmund, earl of
Lincoln. (fn. 83) On the death of Henry de Lacy, earl
of Lincoln, in 1311, the knight's fee in Cassington passed to his daughter Alice and her husband Thomas, earl of Lancaster. (fn. 84) Thereafter
the overlordship of the fee descended with the
earldom, and later dukedom, of Lancaster. It
was last recorded in 1361 when Cassington was
among the lands assigned to Blanche, daughter
and coheir of Henry, duke of Lancaster, and her
husband John of Gaunt. (fn. 85)
William de Clinton held 1 knight's fee of the
honor of Pontefract, along with his estate of the
Arsic honor, in 1235-6, but three quarters of it
had been alienated by 1242-3 when William of
Paris held only ¼ fee. (fn. 86) That ¼ fee later descended with William's other Cassington
manor, into which it was absorbed, to the Montagus and their successors. A mesne tenancy
may have been created in the mid 13th century,
for in 1255 William of Paris was said to have
held of William Mauduit, (fn. 87) but there is no other
record of such a mesne tenancy.
The remaining three quarters of the Pontefract fee was held in 1242-3 by William son of
Peter. (fn. 88) whose family can be traced in Cassington
from the later 12th century and may have held a
manor under the Clintons. Richard of Cassington was recorded in 1170 and 1172; (fn. 89) his son
William married Gillian Rampan, a descendant
and perhaps heir of William Rampan who was
associated with Geoffrey de Clinton in the mid
12th century. (fn. 90) By 1204 William son of Richard
had been succeeded by his son Peter, (fn. 91) presumably the father of the William who held in
1242-3. In 1279 William son of Peter held the
land, presumably ¾ fee, of the honor of Pontefract. (fn. 92) William died before 1295 and was succeeded by his son William who may have been
the William Rampan who held the ¾ fee in
1311. (fn. 93) Soon afterwards the manor, reduced to ¼
fee by grants to Godstow abbey, seems to have
been granted to Michael Meldon, holder of part
of the St. Valery manor, of whom both the
abbess of Godstow and William son of Peter
held before 1316. (fn. 94) Michael Meldon and his
successors retained part of the Pontefract fee: in
1361 Michael's son William held ¼ fee and in
1428 Thomas Cheyne held ½ fee which had been
William Meldon's. (fn. 95)
During the 13th century Godstow abbey built
up an estate which amounted to ½ fee of the
Pontefract manor and ½ fee of the St. Valery
manor. (fn. 96) The abbey retained the estate, later
described as a manor, until the Dissolution. (fn. 97)
when it passed to the Crown. In 1544 it was sold
or mortgaged to 19 men, apparently London
merchants, among them Richard Allen, perhaps
the man of that name who in 1559 conveyed the
Godstow manor of CASSINGTON to his sons
Thomas and Richard. (fn. 98) They sold it in 1562 to
Richard Gunter, owner of the former Montagu
manor. In 1563 Gunter conveyed both manors
to John Warner from whom they passed to
Thomas Norwood. (fn. 99) Norwood sold the Godstow manor in 1573 to a Cassington yeoman,
Richard Greenway, who divided it among his
four sons, John, Robert, Richard, and Thomas. (fn. 1)
One quarter of the manor descended in the
Greenway family to Francis Greenway (d.
1717), who was succeeded by his cousin John
Greenway, owner of the former Montagu
manor, (fn. 2) with which that quarter of the Godstow
manor descended thereafter. Another quarter
remained in the Greenway family until 1691,
then passed through various hands until it was
bought in 1781 by Richard Tawney of Oxford.
The executors of Tawney's great great nephew,
another Richard Tawney, sold it in 1867 to
Christ Church, Oxford. (fn. 3) The remaining two
quarters were split up in the 17th century; most
of the land seems to have been bought by the
dukes of Marlborough in the 18th and 19th
centuries.
The Godstow manor house was apparently at
the southern edge of the village on the site now
occupied by Thames Mead Farm. It may have
been the house leased to William Meldon in
1350 which then comprised a hall with two
cellars, a kitchen, a dovecot, two granges, a
chamber with a loft above for the mower, and a
stable. (fn. 4) The house, which then contained six
bays of building, (fn. 5) was divided in 1604 between
Robert and Richard Greenway. The surviving
house has a datestone of 1607 on one wing. The
main building, which is partly timber-framed
and partly stone, is a long range which was
apparently once a single house but is now divided into two. The southern part contains a
panelled room of c. 1700.
In 1086 Roger, presumably Roger d'Ivri, held
Worton of the fee of William FitzOsbern, and
Robert, presumably Robert d'Oilly, held of
him. (fn. 6) The township seems in fact to have
been divided between Roger d'Ivri and Robert
d'Oilly, who both held in chief after the forfeiture of William FitzOsbern's son Roger in 1075.
Before c. 1127 Robert d'Oilly or his successor
gave land in WORTON, later ½ knight's fee, to
the church of St. George in the Castle, Oxford.
It passed, with that church's other endowments,
to Oseney abbey in 1149. (fn. 7) At the Dissolution it
passed to the first Oxford cathedral and then, in
1546, to Christ Church which held it, with other
Cassington property, until it was sold in two
parts in 1952 and 1954, by which time manorial
rights had long since lapsed. (fn. 8)
The other ½ fee in WORTON descended with
the rest of Roger d'Ivri's lands to the honor of
St. Valery, and was held in the early 13th
century by Robert, count of Dreux, and from
1237 by Richard, king of the Romans, and his
son, Edmund earl of Cornwall. The overlordship was last recorded in 1324. (fn. 9)
In 1237 the tenants of the manor were Philip
Miller, perhaps the Oxford burgess of that
name, and Philip Ridi, who held of the gift of
William Fremcurt. (fn. 10) By 1279 it had passed to
John de Eu, a prominent Oxford burgess, from
whom it seems to have passed to Henry Pady,
holder of half the St. Valery fee in Cassington,
and so, with Henry's Cassington manor, to
Michael Meldon who held ½ fee in Worton in
1300. (fn. 11) In 1324 Michael Meldon settled his
Worton land on his son Michael. (fn. 12) In 1346,
however, the manor was held by another John
de Eu. (fn. 13) The next known lord was Thomas
Stratford who conveyed it before 1428 to John
Barton. It then passed, under the terms of John
Barton's will, to his son John, and then c. 1450,
to William Fowler of Buckingham. (fn. 14) By 1457 it
had been acquired by the younger John Elmes. (fn. 15)
and thereafter it descended with the Elmes
manor of Cassington.
The rectory estate, comprising a house, c. 3 a.
of arable and 1 yard of meadow, and most of the
great tithes, (fn. 16) was held by Eynsham abbey. Two
thirds of the tithe of the Arsic manor of Cassington, however, was granted to Cogges priory by
Mannasser Arsic c. 1103, and Oseney abbey
received the tithes of 1 hide of demesne in
Worton until c. 1172. Agreements were later
reached with both houses whereby Eynsham
received the tithe in return for payments of 10s.
to Cogges and 2s. to Oseney. (fn. 17) Both payments
had been lost by 1535. (fn. 18)
After the Dissolution the rectory land and
tithes passed to Christ Church, which leased the
property to a succession of tenants, many of
them non-resident, who included Michael
Townsend of Cassington (1544), Sir Thomas
Spencer of Yarnton and his widow Jane
(1683-1711), and Gilbert Mabbott, his son, and
grandson (1739-1834), (fn. 19) until 1877 when the
college started to farm the estate directly. The
great tithes were commuted at inclosure in 1801
for 248 a. (fn. 20) which was absorbed into the college's other Worton property. When Worton
Rectory farm was sold in 1954 it comprised
366 a. (fn. 21)
The medieval rectory house was presumably
in Cassington village. In 1539 it was a messuage
called Bedwyns on which a tithe barn had been
built, near the vicarage house, and it continued
to be so described in Christ Church leases. (fn. 22) In
1795 the rectory house was described as a hand-
some building of rough cast stone with sash
windows and a stone slate roof; the outbuildings
included a brewhouse, stables, the tithe barn,
and a dovecot, but there is no evidence where it
was; (fn. 23) it may already, like the later Rectory
Farm, have been in Worton.
Burleigh wood and the adjoining Burleigh
meadow were said to have escheated to Henry II
on the felony of William the chamberlain. (fn. 24) In
1267 Henry III granted the wood, and presum-
ably the meadow, to Godstow abbey, but in
1274 and 1279 both were held by the farmer of
Bladon, who claimed that they belonged to that
manor. (fn. 25) Godstow recovered the estate in 1306
and 1310, (fn. 26) and retained it until the Dissolution
when it passed to the Crown. In 1553 Burleigh
mead, and presumably also the wood, was
granted to George Owen of Godstow. (fn. 27) In 1609
both wood and meadow were held by Sir Wil-
liam Spencer of Yarnton, (fn. 28) and they descended
with Yarnton manor, being divided at the end of
the 17th century between Sir Robert Dashwood,
who held two thirds, and Benjamin Swete who
held one third. (fn. 29) Swete's third passed through a
number of hands and was sold in 1771 to George
Spencer, duke of Marlborough; the duke acquired the remainder of the wood by exchange
with Sir Henry Dashwood at inclosure in
1801. (fn. 30)