MID LAVANT
MANORS
There were two holdings in [MID]
LAVANT before and after the Conquest;
and these remained distinct through later
centuries. In the reign of Edward the Confessor the
manor of 9 hides was in the hands of Earl Godwin
and was held of him by another Godwin. One hide
here was held as another manor by Alwin of Earl
Godwin. In 1086 Ivo held Mid Lavant of Earl
Roger, and Wido held the 1 hide. There was a mill
worth 7s. (fn. 1)
The overlordship of the larger holding went with the
honor of Petworth. (fn. 2) In this it seems that Ivo was succeeded by Savaric fitz Cane, the ancestor of the Bohun
family, since the church was given by him to Lewes
Priory with those of Racton and Stoughton. (fn. 3) The
manor was among the lands of Frank de Bohun in
1190; (fn. 4) and between 1199 and 1212 was, with Racton
(q.v.) and other property, the subject of contention
between Engeler de Bohun and Ralph de Arderne and
his son Thomas. In 1213 Engeler de Bohun gave to
Thomas de Arderne ½ knight's fee, less 7 virgates, in
Mid Lavant. (fn. 5) It seems that Ralph de Arderne, the
presumed founder of Shulbred Priory, (fn. 6) gave his holding in Mid Lavant to that convent since they owed him
in 1239 the service of ½ fee, which he then transferred
to William de Percy. (fn. 7) In 1302 the Prior of Shulbred
was the tenant of the honor of Petworth for the ½-fee, (fn. 8)
the service belonged to Henry de Percy at his death in
1314. (fn. 9) Shulbred continued to hold this ½-fee (fn. 10) down
to the time of the Dissolution.
After the Dissolution the manor of Mid Lavant alias
RAWMERE
(fn. 11) was retained by the Crown until 1557,
when it was granted to John Wiseman to hold as 1/40; knight's
fee. (fn. 12) In 1581 John Wiseman (his son) and Margery
his wife conveyed it to Richard May, (fn. 13) who died possessed of it in 1588. (fn. 14) His son Richard, who succeeded, transferred the manor to Mary May (his
mother) in 1590. (fn. 15) Throughout the next century the
manor continued in the May family, (fn. 16) who also
acquired the rectory and advowson (q.v.). In 1631
John May, 4th son of the elder Richard, died in
possession of both. (fn. 17) His grandson John May in 1662 transferred
the property to Sir John Morley
and Katherine Morley, (fn. 18) evidently for a settlement on his marriage with Mary, his second wife,
sister and heir of John Morley
of Bromes. This (Sir) John May
died without issue in 1672,
when the manor passed to his
uncle John (d. 1677), and, after
the death of the latter's son Sir
Thomas May in 1718, to his cousin Thomas Brodnax,
who in 1726 took the name of May, and in 1738 that
of Knight. His son Thomas May Knight sold the
holding in 1777 to the Duke of Richmond, (fn. 19) in whose
family it has descended to the present day. At the time
of Dallaway (1815) it was held for life by Henrietta le
Clerk, married to Gen. John Dorrien, but was to pass
at her death to Lord George Lennox, second son of
the Duke of Richmond. (fn. 20)
May. Gules a fesse between eight billets or.
The hide held in 1086 by Wido seems to have come
into the king's hands and to have been granted out as a
serjeanty, which was held at the end of the 12th century by Ilbert, or Imbert, de Rakinton. He had a son
William who was living in 1207 (fn. 21) and was possibly
identical with William de Gundeville, who in 1219
held 1 hide in Mid Lavant (Lovinton), worth 20s.,
by serjeanty of rendering 4 white capons to the King
when he came into the neighbourhood. (fn. 22) In 1224
Isabel de la Potte proved her right to land in Mid
Lavant held by the render of 4 capons. (fn. 23) By 1248 this
estate had passed to Hugh de Standen, (fn. 24) or le Waleys, (fn. 25)
the hide being then valued at 30s. In 1250 it is called
the serjeanty of Imbert de Rakinton, the service is
stated as the render of 2 white capons, and it is said to
have been alienated entire (in toto) to Hugh le Waleys
and Agatha his wife, who were to hold it as 1/40 (or 1/60)
knight's fee at a rent of 13s. 4d. (fn. 26) Hugh was dead by
1255, (fn. 27) and Agatha died in 1265, when the estate,
called 4 virgates, passed to her son John le Waleys,
then aged 30 and more. (fn. 28) Its history then becomes involved. In 1275 the whole hide was said to be held by
Peter son of Thomas de Thadeham and his sister
Amy, (fn. 29) while in 1278 William de la Potte was said to
hold 3 virgates in Lavant in serjeantry by rent of
13s. 6d., (fn. 30) and in another place William de Thadeham
was said to hold 2 hides (sic) at Mid Lavant which used
to render 2 white capons and now paid 13s. 4d. (fn. 31) The
two entries clearly refer to the same property, and the
tenant must be William de St. George, who held la
Potte in Westhampnett (q.v.) and Todham (Thadeham) in Easebourne (q.v.). This William was son of
Thomas and Amy de St. George, and in 1279 he made
an agreement (fn. 32) with John de Waleys about land in Mid
Lavant which shows that 2 messuages and 40 acres (i.e.
2½ virgates (fn. 33) ) were divided between Amy widow of
Thomas de Thadeham (his mother), Peter and John
sons of the said Thomas, and John de Wytham and
Amy his wife (elsewhere called daughter of Thomas de
St. George (fn. 34) ). William granted the first three portions, and the reversion of the other if John and Amy
died without issue, to John le Waleys. According to a
statement made in 1288 William de St. George had
held the 4 virgates of this serjeanty but they were at
that date held by John le Waleys. (fn. 35) However, when
John le Waleys died in 1305 he was holding only 2
virgates, for which he paid 8s. 10d. yearly. (fn. 36) His heir
was his kinsman William de St. George, who died in
1316 seised of 26 acres of arable and 2 customary
tenants, held of the king by rent of 9s. (fn. 37) His son
William did homage to the king for these 2 virgates in
1320, (fn. 38) and died in 1334 holding of the king 2/3 of 2/3 of 2
virgates by rent of 8s. 10d. for 1/60 knight's fee. (fn. 39) He left
a son William, who died without issue, and this estate
probably passed with his other property (fn. 40) to his brotherin-law William Tawke, who was dealing with land
in West and Mid Lavant in 1368, (fn. 41) but it cannot
be traced farther.
Part of the serjeanty had come into the hands of
Henry Husee of Harting, who died in 1332 seised of a
messuage and ½ virgate in Mid Lavant held of the
king by render of 4s. 5d. (fn. 42) His son Sir Henry in 1338
had licence to acquire another messuage and 1 virgate
from Master Robert le Cook, (fn. 43) but the transaction
probably fell through, for Robert died in 1350 seised
of a messuage and 16 acres of land, constituting ⅓ of
'the serjeanty of Lovente' and held by render of
4s. 5¼. (fn. 44) As Robert was a bastard and left no issue his
land escheated to the Crown, (fn. 45) in whose hands it
remained until 1520, when John (Young), Bishop of
Gallipoli, Prior of Shulbred, had a lease of it for 40
years at a rent of 8s. 10d., as well as of 'Iremonger tenement' in Mid Lavant. (fn. 46) After the Dissolution this estate
was probably amalgamated with the Shulbred manor
of Mid Lavant.
'Iremonger tenement', just mentioned, occurs in
1359 among lands escheated to the Crown, as 'Isemongeres tenement', containing 6 acres, formerly held
by Sarra de Oulham. (fn. 47) She must be the Sarra who
acquired land in Mid Lavant in 1320, as the widow of
John de Stoke, (fn. 48) and in 1338, as wife of Ralph atte
More, (fn. 49) and in 1346 with her husband Ralph settled
the manor of Oulham (in Oving) and lands in this and
other parishes on themselves and their son Thomas. (fn. 50)
CHURCH
The church of ST. NICHOLAS
(fn. 51) consists of chancel, nave with bell-cote, south
porch, and north aisle; it is built of flint
rubble with ashlar dressings, and is roofed with tile, but
the sides and spire of the bell-cote are shingled. The nave
is of the 12th century, the chancel was added or rebuilt
in the 13th, the north aisle and porch are modern. (fn. 52)
The chancel has modern diagonal buttresses at the
east; the east window, also modern, is of three
lancets with a common rear-arch. On the south side
are three lancet windows, probably all ancient but
much restored; the westernmost shows signs, on the
outside, of having been a low side window, the present
sill being the former transom. A piscina in the south
wall has an ancient segmental arched head and modern
jambs. On the outside of the north wall are one or
two scraps of ashlar in about the position where the east
quoin stones of an earlier short chancel might have
been; it is, however, improbable that they are more
than odd stones reused. The eastern of the two lancets
on this side is ancient, the western, and a small credence
shelf, modern. There is a triple chancel arch, carried on
pairs of marble shafts, in a 13th-century style, but
modern. The roof is also modern.
The nave has modern buttresses at the south-east
corner and in the middle of the west side; on the south
one small round-headed window, with concentric splay,
survives from the original fenestration, but the stonework of this has been retooled, or renewed, in the 19th
century. Three other windows, the first a double lancet under a common rear-arch, the second of the same
design, and the third a single lancet, are all modern, as
is the plain unmoulded doorway. In the east wall, north
of the chancel arch, is a small niche with pointed arch
head perhaps of the 15th century. The north arcade
is of three bays, with circular piers and square responds,
modern work in the style of the 13th century. The
west wall has two single lancets, also modern. The roof
is ceiled in plaster in coved form, two tie-beams only
being visible; the western of these carries the bell-cote,
which is surmounted by a small spire.
The north aisle (entirely modern) has a two-light
window at the east and a single lancet at the west. The
south porch has small windows east and west and is also
modern.
The pulpit is of oak, of semi-octagonal form, with
panels carved with 17th-century strapwork ornament.
The font and other fittings are modern.
In the middle of the 19th century wall paintings
(no longer visible) were discovered apparently of two
different dates. That which is supposed to have been
the earliest represented the burial of some saint or
distinguished personage, whose corpse, tied in a shroud
nearly in the form of a fish, was lying in the foreground,
and behind was a bishop, or other dignified ecclesiastic.' (fn. 53)
Church of St Nicholas Lavant
There was formerly in the church a monument, with
recumbent figure by Bushnell, to Dame Mary May,
who died in 1681, but had prepared her monument
previously. This is now buried under the floor of the
church. (fn. 54)
There is one bell, of 1803. (fn. 55)
The communion plate includes a plain silver cup
with the hall marks for 1655; and a paten, on a foot,
given by Thomas May in 1686. (fn. 56)
The registers begin in 1567.
ADVOWSON
There is a large ancient yew tree north of the church.
Savaric fitz Cane gave the church
of Mid Lavant to Lewes Priory in the
early 12th century, and the church
was among those confirmed to the priory in the charter
of Bishop Ralph dated 1121. (fn. 57) The charter of Ralf de
Arderne confirming the gift later in the century refers
to land and tithes as well as the church. (fn. 58) There is
evidence that the prior and convent presented to the
living c. 1201, in a letter of Bishop Seffrid II of
Chichester. (fn. 59)
Lewes Priory retained the advowson until the middle
of the 14th century. The advowson of the church was
acquired by Edward St. John, who alienated it to
Shulbred Priory in 1354. (fn. 60) However, his claim to it
was doubtful and, having failed to find any charter or
other evidence of Edward's acquisition from Lewes
Priory, the Prior of Shulbred reacquired it direct from
Prior Hugh and his convent in 1368, subject to the
payment of a yearly pension of 20s. due from the church
from time immemorial. (fn. 61) The canons of Shulbred had
acted without obtaining the king's licence; that licence
was granted in 1385 at a charge of £10 paid into the
hanaper. The church was at this time worth 100s.
yearly. (fn. 62) In 1359 Bishop Robert de Stratford had
given leave for the Prior and Convent of Shulbred to
appropriate the benefice, (fn. 63) but it was not until 1405,
when the rector William Mayn resigned, that it was
finally appropriated, with the reservation of certain
pensions to the Bishop, Dean, and Archdeacon of
Chichester. (fn. 64) No vicarage was ordained, and the living
must have been a donative, probably usually served by
one of the canons.
At the Dissolution the advowson and the rectory
were granted to Sir William Fitzwilliam, along with
the vicarage and chapel of Linchmere, also late of
Shulbred Priory. (fn. 65) The holding of Fitzwilliam reverted to the Crown and the rectory was given in 1545
to John May of Chichester, by a grant of the Court of
Augmentations. (fn. 66) From now until 1620 it changed
hands rapidly; it passed in 1573 from Thomas Wiseman to William Devenish; in 1578–9 from him to
Thomas Turgeys; in 1586 from Thomas Turgeys to
William Cobden. He disposed of it in 1606 to John
Standen, (fn. 67) but retained a rent of £10 until 1623, when
this passed to Thomas May. (fn. 68) From John Standen the
rectory and tenements came to William Smith in 1611–12, and from William Smith in 1620 to John May, (fn. 69)
who thus united the manor and the rectory, dying
possessed of both in 1631. (fn. 70) From this time the rectory
has passed with the manor. Henrietta Dorrien presented to the living in 1834 and 1835 while she was
enjoying her life interest in the property, (fn. 71) and the
living is to-day in the gift of the Duke of Richmond. (fn. 72)