SELBORNE
Salesbourne (xi cent.). Saleburne, Salebourne
(xiii cent. et seq.).
The parish of Selborne, including the ecclesiastical
parish of Blackmoor, formed in 1867, and the hamlet
of Oakhanger, lies on the extreme north-east of the
county almost midway between the towns of Alton
and Petersfield. It covers about 7,915 acres, (fn. 1) of which
105 are land covered by water. (fn. 2) From west to east
the soils are of chalk, upper greensand, gault, and lower
greensand formation. The Selborne hops are grown
on the upper greensand and gault, chiefly in the west
and south-west of the parish, and also at Temple, on
the edge of the lower greensand, where the soil is a
wet, sandy loam 'remarkable for trees, but infamous for
roads.' These hop-fields and hop-kilns, or 'oasthouses,' are characteristic features of the parish. Selborne Hill, west of the village, is on the 'two incongruous soils' blue clay and sand, called locally 'black
malm,' which respectively mark gault and upper
greensand formation. Between the chalk and the clay
there is a layer of white stone very like chalk in appearance, but unlike it in properties, since it can endure
intense heat, and is therefore used for hearth-stones
and the lining of lime kilns. (fn. 3) The northern and
eastern parts of the parish are wholly on soil of lower
greensand, and beyond Temple the new formation is
marked by a distinctly different vegetation—a change
from hop-fields, beech trees and nut trees to furze,
pine trees and heather. Thence the unfertile redsand of the lower greensand continues on to Woolmer
Forest, mingling here and there with the blue shelly
clay which is also characteristic of this formation.
Altogether there are only 1,485¼ acres of arable land
in the parish as compared with 2,088½ acres of
pasture land and 2,646¼ acres of woodland. (fn. 4)
Selborne, the Main Street, looking North
The village of Selborne is on the west of the
parish on high ground of an average of 400 ft. above
the sea level, although the greater height of the
Hanger and Noar Hill gives the impression that the
village is in a secluded dell. As the road from Alton
branches towards Selborne these two thickly wooded,
long, sloping hills stand up in the distance the one
behind the other. Approaching nearer the hills
seem to grow higher as the road makes a sharp
descent. Then before any glimpse of the village can
be seen the road makes a sudden bend to the left, and
rising abruptly to the middle of the village becomes the main street. On the left is the 'Plestor,'
dating its name and existence back to 1271, when
Adam Gurdon granted it to the prior and convent
for a market-place. It is a green sloping oblong, one
end formed by the high road and the other by the
churchyard. In the centre stands a sycamore tree
encircled by an old wooden seat; up in the left-hand
corner is the little wicket-gate leading into the churchyard, and lower on the same side is the vicarage gate,
while along the right-hand side stands a row of deeproofed eighteenth-century cottages. At the end of
this row, facing the village street, is Plestor House, lately
repaired in the old style, and beyond it the quaint
butcher's shop with its row of gnarled lime trees. On
the other side of the street is 'The Wakes,' the once
unobtrusive house, now greatly modernized and extended by the present owner, Mr. Andrew Pears, J.P.,
where Gilbert White wrote his Natural History of
Selborne, in the little room about 5 ft. square leading
out of his bedroom. The back
of the house opens on an extensive lawn and well-wooded garden sloping up to the park and
the Hanger, which, though teeming with animal and bird life and
the drone of insects, has that
peculiar peacefulness that seems
to belong only to a beechwood.
This same peacefulness seems to
pervade the village street with
its quaint thatched and timbered
cottages nestling down at the foot
of the Hanger. But here and
there towards the upper or south
end of the street, where the road
rises and the Hanger becomes
lower, brick or tiled cottages,
and even suburban-like villas,
give a touch of unrestful modernity. Then on the
right-hand side stands a tiny Congregational chapel
built of the local white stone. Just below this a
turn to the right leads down to Well Head, where
a spring rises from under Noar Hill. This spring,
which has never been known to fail, was diverted
by public subscription in memory of Gilbert White,
in 1894, to form a water-supply for the village.
The overflow discharges from a conventional lion-head
fountain into an open trough, and then running
underground for a few yards reappears and runs north-eastward through a narrow and extremely picturesque
valley, with wooded slopes on either side, towards
Oakhanger, where it becomes known as the Oakhanger stream. It then passes through the hamlet
of Oakhanger, skirting the eastern side of Shortheath
Common towards Kingsley. Another stream rises in
the north-west of the parish and runs north-westwards, only appearing occasionally until it reaches
Hartley Mauditt.
Close by the Selborne Arms a path leads through
the Punfle, a triangular field let out in allotments, to
the foot of the Hanger. Here a path to the left
called 'the Bostal' leads up through the wood to
Selborne Hill and Common. As the path mounts
higher and higher glimpses of the village and church
are seen through the trees, and finally, at the point
where the Bostal merges into the high wood, a full
view of the village is seen through a cutting in the
trees in a triangular frame of foliage. Besides the
Bostal there is another pathway up the hill leading
straight up from the Punfle through a cutting in the
trees. This is the Zigzag, its name, so familiar to the
general reader through Gilbert White, suggesting its
formation. At the top of the Zigzag is a big round
boulder known as the 'Wishing Stone.' Here at the
top of the hill the wood changes its character and
becomes a stretch of wild undergrowth, untrodden
brambles, and avenues of tall bracken, with here and
there grassy glades and yellow patches of rock roses
in the early summer, or later in the season groups of
foxgloves and briar roses and trails of honeysuckle.
The pathways through the wood are many and
bewildering, but one well-trodden way leads in
almost a straight line through the wood to Selborne
Common and across the common to the parish of
Newton Valence, which lies south-east of Selborne.
On the other side of Selborne village a steep lane
called Hucker's Lane goes to Hucker's Cottages.
Opposite is a stile leading across a meadow to a sloping and wooded hill and grassy valley known as the
Short Lythe, and on again to a longer hill and
valley known as the Long Lythe.
Norton Farm is almost directly north of Selborne
on the right-hand side of the road from Alton at
a corner where the road branches to the right to
Faringdon. Further north-east of Norton are Lower
and Upper Wick Hill Farms and Priory Farm on the
site of Selborne Priory. Remains of the monastic
house have been found here, and several stone coffins
which have now been removed to Selborne church.
Further north and east of the parish is the hamlet
of Oakhanger, including Oakhanger Farm and Chapel
Farm. The houses of Oakhanger lie scattered for the
most part over the sandy and barren common, though
some are grouped along the road, which serves as a
kind of village street. There is a small chapel of ease
attached to Blackmoor church and a Congregational
chapel.
Directly east of Selborne and south of Oakhanger
are Sotherington Farm, backed by Fox Crag Meadow,
and Upper Temple Farm. The latter is on the site
of the manor of Temple Sotherington and commands
a very beautiful view over Blackmoor to Weaver's
Hill and Holywater Clump, (fn. 5) while beyond in the far
distance is Hindhead, and to the left Crooksbury
Hill. Temple Hanger and Plainbairn Copse are in
the foreground to the north and west, and farther
north are Shrub Copse and Ironpaddock Copse. To
the south on high ground almost parallel with
Temple is Bradshott Hall, owned by Lieut.-Colonel
Thurlow, on the site of the original Bradshott Farm,
dating at least in name back to the thirteenth century. (fn. 6)
The house is modern and without special interest,
except that it commands a splendid view. Looking
directly north-east, Bradshott park and woods are
in the immediate foreground, with Temple Hanger
on the left and Blackmoor on the right, while beyond is Kingsley, and beyond Kingsley in the blue
distance Farnham and the Surrey Hills.
Beyond Blackmoor, which lies due east of Temple,
and south-west of Oakhanger, the whole parish is one
long stretch of forest, since the three-fifths of Woolmer
Forest that are in Selborne cover a tract of land
about 7 miles in length by 2½ in breadth. There
are three large ponds on the edge of the forest—two
in Oakhanger, Oakhanger and Rookery, and one
called Bin's or Bean's Pond, which is frequented by
wild duck, teal, snipe, and other water fowl. Within
the forest are the three ponds of Woolmer, Hogmoor,
and Cranmer. The first is very shallow and generally
fordable, varying in winter and summer from a broad
sheet of water covering about 66 acres to a bed of
sand almost entirely dry.
MANOR
The manor of SELBORNE was the
ancient demesne of the crown, and,
according to the Domesday Survey,
Queen Edith held it in the time of Edward the
Confessor, and 'it never paid geld.' Then it was worth
12s. 6d., but by the time of the survey only 8s. 4d.
Half a hide of the manor, with the church, had been
given by the king to Radfred the priest. (fn. 7) There is
no evidence to show when the lands in Selborne,
which afterwards became the manor of the prior and
convent of Selborne, were granted to the family of
de Lucy, but a patent of 1229 confirmed these lands
to Stephen de Lucy for his life for an annual rent of
£4 yearly. (fn. 8) In 1233 the land which Stephen de
Lucy had held was granted by royal charter to
Peter des Roches, bishop of Winchester, for the
foundation of Selborne Priory. (fn. 9) In February of 1234
the king granted freedom from tallage 'on the land
in the manor of Selborne which the king gave to
Peter bishop of Winchester' to the prior and monks
of Selborne. (fn. 10) In April of the same year he granted
them further extensive rights and privileges, freedom
from view of frankpledge and from any interference
of the sheriff, while their lands which lay within the
king's forest were to be free from view of regard. (fn. 11)
The manor of Selborne remained in the possession of
the prior and convent until the end of the fifteenth
century, when the financial state of the priory was
proved to be hopeless. Its possessions were then
annexed by Bishop Waynflete in 1484 to his new
foundation of Magdalen College, Oxford, (fn. 12) and belong
to the college at the present time.
Priory Farm of modern days is on a site to the
south of that of the priory buildings. The last
mention of these buildings is in a rent roll of 1463,
when, among the expenses of the convent, come
repairs of the priory house, including 4,000 tiles
for the roof of the 'frayter,' the stables, and the
'dey-house.' (fn. 13) At the time of the impropriation to
Magdalen the house was probably much out of repair,
and disuse brought prompt decay, since the college
seems to have made no use of any part of it except
the chantry chapel and two
rooms for the chantry priest,
who was to reside at the priory
and continue the masses for the
benefactors of the priory, (fn. 14) not
absenting himself for more than
two months in a year and then
finding a substitute. He was
to have a stipend of £8 and the
two chambers on the north side
of the chapel, with a kitchen
and a stable for three horses,
and the orchard. (fn. 15) In 1534
this office was granted to Nicholas Langrish or Langerige to hold
for forty years. (fn. 16) The said stipend was appointed for
his salary not only for service at the chapel but also
as superintendent of the woods and copses of Magdalen
College in the parish. (fn. 17)
Magdalen College, Oxford. Lozengy ermine and sable a chief sable with three garden lilies therein.
Meanwhile apparently the priory lands had been
leased at some time in the reign of Henry VII to
Henry Newlyn, (fn. 18) who built a farmhouse and two
barns on the south side of the priory, almost certainly
out of some of the materials from the ruined house.
A later lease for twenty years at an annual value of
£6, (fn. 19) made in 1526 to John Sharp, mentions this
house and barns and also a stable and a dovecote, which
may have been that of the prior and convent. (fn. 20)
The ravages of time, weather, and man have swept
away every trace of the original building except
one bit of wall hardly ten feet long, probably part
of an outhouse. Part of the south side of the
church was uncovered some years since, and a
careful excavation of the site would probably reveal
much of the original arrangements of the buildings.
A few pieces of thirteenth-century detail lie on
the site. (fn. 21)
Grange Farm at the corner of Gracious Street
stands on the original site of Selborne Grange. In
1535 the farm of 'one tenement called Selborne
Grange,' which had belonged to the Priory and Convent of Selborne, together with the rents from various
tenancies belonging to the same, was entered at
£15 4s. (fn. 22) The old grange existed until about the end
of the seventeenth century, when it was replaced by
the modern farm buildings. It was the manor-house
of the convent possessions in Selborne, and at the
present day the court-baron and court-leet are held
by Magdalen College twice yearly in the wheat barn
belonging to Grange Farm. A luncheon and dinner
are given at the farm, and the usual presentments
made as to trespass and surrender of estates are
recorded. (fn. 23)
The prior and convent had a corn-mill at the
priory to which they had the right of multure.
Repairs for this mill were entered in the rent-roll of
1463, (fn. 24) and in 1535 the farm of the mill was entered
at £1 3s. 4d. (fn. 25) The mill was in use during the
seventeenth century, and in 1640 was leased with the
other mills that had belonged to the prior and
convent to John Hook. (fn. 26) The ruins of the mill
house were standing within Gilbert White's memory,
and when he wrote, the pond, the dam, and
the miller's house also remained, (fn. 27) and at the present
day remains of the sluices and ponds are still to be
seen.
A mill also existed at Dorton, south of the priory,
before 1233, in which year James de Norton made a
grant of his water-course 'going down from his mill
of Durton to the wood of Wm. Mauduit,' to Peter
des Roches for the house of Austin Canons that
he was about to found. (fn. 28) He also granted them a
croft and several meadows, 'with power to make pools,
erect mills, and do as they please on condition that
the "refollum" of the water should not come from
four perches to the mill of Durthone.' (fn. 29)
Besides the right of multure the prior and
convent had all ordinary manorial rights, and rights
of 'thurset' and 'pillory' and the more exceptional
right of gallows. The gallows of the prior and
convent were undoubtedly on the still unploughed
field called Kite's Hill on the south side of the King's
Field. The hill which this field tops still goes by the
name of Galley Hill, and the road over it is called
Galley Hill Lane. The prior and convent had a
weekly market on Tuesdays at their manor by grant
of Henry III, (fn. 30) who also gave them a yearly fair for
three days on the vigil, the day, and the morrow of
the Assumption of the B. V. Mary (14, 15 and 16
August). (fn. 31)
Apart from the manor of the prior and convent,
Adam, the grandfather of the famous Adam Gurdon, (fn. 32)
held lands in Selborne in chief as early as 1206, (fn. 33)
but these are generally distinguished only as 'lands
in Selborne' and were probably merged in the
manor of East Tisted in the fourteenth century. (fn. 34)
After the death of Adam Gurdon the elder, before
12 August, 1231, his lands, while his heir was a minor,
were granted to Ralph Marshall under burden of
maintaining Ameria widow of Adam and her children.
Within two years they were granted in dower to
Ameria. (fn. 35) During her tenure she made several gifts
of privileges and lands within those she held in
Selborne to the prior and convent. In 1234 she
released to them right in haybote and housebote and
common in their wood at Selborne and 'in the
common pasture of Durtone, (fn. 36) saving to all her men
of Selborne common with all their animals in the
said pasture as in times past.' (fn. 37) Adam Gurdon her
son, who was of age and in possession of his lands by
1253, (fn. 38) also held lands in Selborne of the prior and
convent by grant of Thomas Makerel, made probably
soon after 1253 to Adam and Constance his wife, for
the annual rent of a pair of white gloves of the value
of 1d. (fn. 39) These lands were those comprised in
the manor of SELBORNE MAKEREL, afterwards
known as GURDON. (fn. 40) Walter son of Thomas
Makerel confirmed the same to Adam and Constance probably about 1260. (fn. 41) In April, 1262, Adam
de Gurdon granted to the prior and convent right of
housebote and haybote in 'the wood of Norchere,
saving to the said Adam and his wife Constance and
their heirs and to the men of Selborne whom they
have by the gift of Thomas Makerel that their pigs
shall be free from pannage in the said wood of Norchore so many as pertain to the tenement of la Forde
in Selborne.' (fn. 42) In return the prior and convent
granted that Adam and Constance should hold of
them all the land and tenement that they had in
Selborne by gift of Thomas Makerel. In the June
of the same year licence was given to Adam de
Gurdon to build a domestic chapel in their court of
Selborne 'quae fuit quondam Thomae Makerel.' (fn. 43)
The next mention of the manor of Selborne Makerel
comes in an inquisition ad quod damnum of 1307, when
Joan the daughter of Adam de Gurdon was licensed
to transfer the manor of East Tisted with 100 acres
and a rent in Selborne to James de Norton, and was
said to still hold the manor of Selborne Makerel, a
manor worth £10, for life, of the prior and convent
of Selborne. (fn. 44)
From this time the history of the manor apparently
ceases. Whether, as Gilbert White supposes, Joan
granted it to the Knights Templars, or whether after
her death it merged in the manor proper of Selborne, must remain uncertain. (See under Temple.)
In 1271 Adam de Gurdon granted a place in Selborne called 'La Pleystowe' (the modern Plestor) to
the prior and convent to hold there their market which
they had by the gift of King Henry and to build
houses and shops upon it, saving reasonable way for
him and his heirs to a tenement and some crofts at
the upper end of the Plestor near the churchyard. (fn. 45)
Further, he granted that the prior and convent should
peaceably hold the houses and curtilages which they
had erected on their land in Selborne in which Adam
had a right of common for himself and men, and
made it lawful henceforth for the prior and convent
or himself to build on their respective lands in Selborne
which touched on the king's highway. (fn. 46)
The manor of TEMPLE SOTHERINGTON
or SOUTHINGTON (Sudynton, Sydyngton, xiii cent.)
is more generally known in later days as the manor of
Temple, including the farm of Sotherington.
The Knights Templars had a preceptory at Sotherington and held the manor of Sotherington as early as
1240. (fn. 47) About 1250 Robert de Sanford, master of
the order in England, granted all the tenements,
lands, and meadows which the Templars had in Selborne by the gift of Almeric de Sacy (fn. 48) to the prior and
convent of Selborne for £200 'to buy other lands in
aid of the Holy Land.' About ten years later he
granted 10s. 'from the chamber at the Templars' house
of Sudington' to the prior and convent in lieu of 10s.
worth of annual rent in lands and rents promised to
the convent and to be settled on them as soon as
possible, with power of distraint in case of failure, to
be levied 'on the chattels found on the land which
was Roger de Cherlecote's in Bradesate (Bradshott),
which is in the hands of the Templars.' (fn. 49) About the
same date also the Templars granted the prior and
convent 'a sufficient way for
leading cars and carts and driving cattle along the road which
leads from Sotherington to
Blackmoor.' (fn. 50) In 1275 the
Master of the Templars was
said to have withdrawn the
suit owed to the hundred court
of Selborne for the manor of
Sotherington for the past thirty
years, though by what warrant
the jurors did not know. Also
he had encroached on the king's
land in the forest of Woolmer
to the injury of the king, and again they knew not by
what warrant. (fn. 51) One small farmhouse is the only
building that preserves the name of Sotherington at
the present day.
The Knights Templars. Argent a cross gules and a chief sable.
According to Gilbert White the lands which Adam
Gurdon held in Selborne by gift of Thomas Makerel
were the lands surrounding and including the modern
Temple Farm, while the Templars at a contemporary
date held Sotherington. Then by a supposed grant
by Joan, the heiress of Adam Gurdon the younger,
Temple, not then known by that name, was united
with Sotherington in the hands of the Templars. The
tradition that Adam Gurdon lived at Temple has
become firmly rooted, though as far as documentary
evidence goes there is nothing to prove that his lands
in Selborne were identical with Temple, and the few
years that the Templars could have held it between
the traditional grant after Adam's death in 1304 or
1305 and the suppression of their order in 1312
makes it seem unlikely that their name would have
clung to the manor for centuries after. Having identified Adam Gurdon's lands with Temple, however,
Gilbert White goes on to assume that the oratory
built by Adam Gurdon by licence of the prior and
convent 'in curia sua de Selburne' was at Temple.
However, a charter of 1240 granting to the Templars
six acres of land lying 'between their manor of Sudinton and the king's manor of Blakemore,' and found
to belong to 'Blakemere,' (fn. 52) would seem to imply that
Sotherington manor included the modern Temple,
since Temple lies locally between Sotherington Farm
and Blackmoor. Then when the manor in the fourteenth century began to be called the manor of Temple
Sotherington, the manor-house, the Templars' preceptory, was called Temple, while the manor farm
kept the old name of Sotherington. But this must
for the present remain conjecture.
In 1317 the manor, by this time at any rate including Temple, but still called the
manor of Sotherington, was in
the hands of the earl of Hereford, (fn. 53) but in the next year
Pope John issued a bull ordering the holders of the goods of
the Templars in England to
give them over to the Knights
Hospitallers of St. John of
Jerusalem, (fn. 54) and the manor
evidently passed to the Hospitallers. By 1408 Thomas
West was lord of the manor,
which was held of him, as of his
manor of Newton Valence, by the heirs of Nicholas
Berenger. (fn. 55) Probably the Hospitallers, according to
their general custom, had farmed out the manor to
Thomas West, since it was in their possession in the
sixteenth century, and was
granted by the king at the
dissolution to Sir Thomas Seymour of Sudeley. (fn. 56) Edward VI
leased the manor to Edmund
Clerk on the execution of Lord
Sudeley in 1549, and in 1554
granted it in fee to Sir Henry
Seymour, (fn. 57) brother of Sir Thomas, who died seised in 1578,
leaving a son and heir John. (fn. 58)
John Seymour conveyed the
manor by fine made in 1588
to Sir Richard Norton, (fn. 59) who four years afterwards
died leaving a son and heir Richard. (fn. 60) In 1599
Thomas West, as warden of Woolmer and Alice Holt
Forests, brought an action against Richard Norton concerning a pound in Blackmoor which was stated to be
a pound belonging to Woolmer Forest, not to the manor
of Temple. (fn. 61) A special commission was issued in
1600 concerning 'the bounds, limits and circuit of
the waste of soyle of the manor of Temple of which
Richard Norton is seised.' In the depositions made
on this occasion the bounds of the manor are said to
begin at Owton's Lane, and 'on the further side of
the right way leading to Farnham by a ditch and a
bank directly and eastwards towards Cranmere Pond,
then northward to a hill called Runneberry Hill,
and from thence crosse a highway northwards to
Henley corner, from thence to a stone lying by the
pond side called Oakhanger pond, and towards the
middle of the said pond and on the further side of
the same pond, to the which the bounds of the said
manor of Temple aforesaid doth extend.' (fn. 62) Like
East Tisted, Rotherfield, and Noar (q.v.), the manor
of Temple Sotherington passed through the Norton
family and was held by the last baron, Sir John
Norton, in 1672. (fn. 63) During the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries the manor passed through many
hands. In the nineteenth century it was held by
Sir A. K. Macdonald, bart., who sold it to the late
Lord Selborne, father of the present earl, in 1865.
The Knights Hospitaliers. Gules a Maltese cross argent.
Seymour. Gules a pair of wings or.
Since it belonged to the Templars the manor is
and always has been tithe free, 'for by virtue of their
order the lands of the Knights Templars were privileged by the pope with a discharge from tithes.' (fn. 64)
The manor house had been used as a farmhouse
'from time immemorial' when Gilbert White wrote.
All that then remained of the original house was the
chapel or oratory and the hall, 27 ft. long and 19
broad, formerly open to the sky. The 'massive thick
walls' of the chapel and the narrow windows made
it, as Gilbert White remarked, 'more like a dungeon
than a room fit for the reception of people of condition.' (fn. 65) He looked in vain for any trace of the lamb
and flag, the arms of the Templars, in the hall of the
farmhouse, and only found a fox with a goose on its
back in one corner 'so coarsely executed that it required some attention to make out the device.' (fn. 66) No
trace of this hall now remains, for the house has been
greatly modernized and rebuilt; only in the kitchen
apartments is there any trace of ancient workmanship.
There is also an old well 90 ft. deep which is supposed
to date back to the time when the Templars held the
manor.
NORTON.
In 903, according to the Golden
Charter of Edward the Elder to the abbey of Newminster near Winchester, three hides at Norton next
Selborne were granted to the new foundation by the
king. (fn. 67) The genuineness of this charter may well be
doubted, since there is no mention of Norton in the
manors of the abbey enumerated in the Liber de
Hyda, (fn. 68) and since the Domesday Survey makes no
reference to the fact that Hyde Abbey held any part
of Norton. According to Domesday Norton was
comprised of two manors both of royal demesne, both
consisting of two hides. Two hides with land for
one plough in demesne, and two villeins and three
bordars with 7½ acres of meadow were held of the
king as one manor by Earl Godwin as an alod. At
the time of the survey this manor was held by Hugh
de Port and held of him by Robert. (fn. 69) Although there
is no mention of Hyde Abbey as overlord of Hugh de
Port in 1275, his descendant John de St. John held
half a knight's fee in Norton of the abbot of Hyde,
who held the same in chief of the king. (fn. 70) This half
knight's fee was undoubtedly the manor which Hugh
de Port had held, for like the rest of the manors included in Hugh's extensive fief in Hampshire the
manor of Norton remained in the hands of his heirs,
and passed with the failure of his heirs male in the
fourteenth century to the family of Poynings, by the
marriage of Isabel, the only surviving child of Hugh
de St. John, (fn. 71) to Luke de Poynings. The heirs male
of the Poynings failed on the death of Hugh in 1426,
and the manor of Norton passed to the Paulet family
by the marriage of Constance, coheiress of Hugh de
Poynings, with John Paulet. The latter died in 1437,
but there is no inquisition on his lands in Hampshire. (fn. 72)
Constance survived him until 1443, but evidently
Norton was no part of her dower, as it is not again
given in the inquisition taken at her death. (fn. 73) In 1460
John Paulet, son and heir of the former, no doubt to
secure his tithe enfeoffed John Hilton, Edwin Brocas,
and John Pole in the manor of Norton, then valued
at 10 marks, who restored the same to John Paulet
and Eleanor his wife jointly and their heirs and
assigns. (fn. 74) John Paulet died in 1492 seised of the
manor, leaving Eleanor his widow and John Paulet
his son and heir. (fn. 75) In this inquisition the manor is
said to be held of the bishop of Winchester, by what
service the jurors do not know. The same overlord
is given in the inquisition taken on Eleanor's death in
1507, (fn. 76) but on the death of John Paulet the younger
in 1525 the manor is said to be held of Hyde Abbey. (fn. 77)
However, between this year and 1540 the abbey lost
all claim to the overlordship of the manor, for there
is no trace of it in the list of the abbey possessions
among the Ministers' Accounts for that year. (fn. 78) In
1471 William Paulet the first marquis of Winchester,
son and heir of the John Paulet who died in 1525,
sold the manor or farm of Norton to James Rythe and
his wife Isabel. (fn. 79) In January, 1572, James Rythe settled
the manor on Nicholas Tichborne and Marlion Rythe
to be held by the said James and Isabel for term of life,
and after their decease by George Rythe of Liss, who
had married Isabel's daughter Elizabeth, and his heirs
male. (fn. 80) James Rythe died in December of the same
year, leaving his wife Isabel in possession of the manor
of Norton. (fn. 81) In May, 1607, George Rythe, to whom
the manor had reverted on the death of Isabel, died
seised of the same, leaving a son and heir George. (fn. 82)
In the same year Marlion Rythe and Nicholas Tichborne secured their right in the manor by fine and
recovery dealing with the same. (fn. 83) Five years later
George Rythe conveyed the manor by fine to Nicholas
Steward, (fn. 84) who died seised of the same in 1633 leaving his grandson Nicholas his heir. (fn. 85) This Nicholas
Steward, or Stuart, threw in his fortunes with the
king during the Civil War, was fined £1,400 as a
Royalist in 1647, (fn. 86) and was rewarded for his loyalty
by being created baronet in 1660. (fn. 87) He died in 1710,
and was succeeded in his estates by his grandson and
heir, Sir Simeon Stuart, who held Norton until his
death in 1761. (fn. 88) Thus in a perambulation of the
parish of Selborne made in 1741, the bounds are said
to 'take in Sir Simeon Stuart's land, rented by Edward
Harrison, including the meadow called the Hose or
Stocking, to pass thence on to Norton Farm, formerly
rented by Farmer Matthews, lately by John Daborne,
but now by Edward Wake, (fn. 89) as far as the gate that
goes out of the Barrs into the stony lane.' A visit
was to be paid to Norton Farm by the beaters of the
bounds 'according to ancient usage.' (fn. 90) Sir Simeon
was succeeded by his son and heir Sir Simeon Stuart,
who died in 1779, leaving a son and heir, Sir Simeon,
who died in 1816. The latter
was succeeded by his son and
heir, Sir Simeon Henry Stuart,
who died at Haywards Heath
in Sussex in 1868, leaving a son
and heir, Sir Simeon Henry
Stuart, who died in 1891 leaving a son and heir, the present
baronet. (fn. 91)
Stuart of Hartley Mauditt. Or a fesse checkered argent and azure and a scutcheon argent with a lion gules and a ragged bend or over all.
The second manor of Norton consisting also of 2 hides
was held of Edward the Confessor as one manor by Elwin. (fn. 92)
At the time of the survey it
was held by Ralph de Mortimer, (fn. 93) whose descendant, Roger
de Mortimer, held half a knight's
fee in Norton of the king in chief in 1275, while
Walter de Raddene held the same of Roger. (fn. 94) In
1284 William de Brayboef died seised of half a
knight's fee in Norton, which James de Norton
held of him by the gift of Robert de Tisted, (fn. 95)
rendering for the same 20s. for scutage and paying suit to William de Brayboef's court at Crambourne. (fn. 96) Hugh de Brayboef, son and heir of William,
succeeded to his father's right in Norton, and in
1316 James de Norton was still holding the manor
of him. (fn. 97) Thomas de Norton, son of James by his
wife Elizabeth, (fn. 98) having in 1331 proved his right to
the whole manor against a claim of dower made by his
stepmother Margaret and her second husband Edmund
de Kendal, (fn. 99) died seised of the same in 1346, held of
Joan the widow of Hugh de Brayboef. (fn. 100) Margaret
widow of Thomas had dower in the manor providing
that she did not marry again without royal licence. Her
dower was extended as part of the manor of Norton,
namely a chamber at the east end of the hall with the
adjacent kitchen, a third of the farmhouse, a third of
the dovecote, one house called La S—w House, the
house of the Westgate, and one third part of all the
other houses, a court between the hall and Westgate
with free entry and exit to a certain chapel, a small
room attached to the chapel, a garden with free entry
and exit at all gates, another plot of land, the third of
a field called Brethfeld, and many other fields and
pastures. (fn. 101) Ralph de Norton, son and heir of Thomas,
was a minor on his father's death, (fn. 102) and hence the wardship of Thomas de Norton's lands was given to Peter
de Brewes and the prior of Selborne. (fn. 103)
In 1368, on the marriage of Ralph de Norton with
Margaret, the manor of Norton was settled on them
with reversion, if they died without heirs, to Sir Bernard Brocas and his wife in fee, and if the latter should
die, to the right heirs of Sir Bernard and his wife in
fee. (fn. 104) In 1379 Bernard Brocas remitted the whole
right in the manor to Ralph de Norton and Margaret. (fn. 105)
In 1428 William Harlyngdon held the fourth part of
one knight's fee in Norton which Peter de Brewes had
held in custody in 1346, and the prior of Selborne
held the twentieth part in fee alms, and 'they did not
answer because it was divided between them.' (fn. 106) This
unsatisfactory descent does not grow clearer in later
centuries, but the probability seems to be that the
second manor passed out of existence in the sixteenth
century, when manorial rights were less clearly defined,
and was merged in the other manor of Norton.
The ecclesiastical parish of Blackmoor (Blakemere,
Blakemore, xiii cent. et seq.) was formed in 1865 by
the late Lord Selborne, when he bought the estate
from a lawyer named Blackmoor. (fn. 107) The modern village is on the northern and western part of the sandy
ridges which inclose the basin of Woolmer Forest.
Hogmoor, Whitehill, and Walldown rise to the north-east, and to the south-east across the forest is Hollywater or Holywater Clump. Blackmoor House, a
modern house built by the late Lord Selborne, stands
on the site of Blackmoor Farmhouse on the right-hand
side of the road as it enters the village from Temple.
A comparatively short drive from this side leads up to
the house, but the grounds extend to the Petersfield
Road, from which side there is another and a longer
drive. The houses of the village are mostly modern,
but opposite the lodge gates of Blackmoor House are
two quaint half-timbered and thatched cottages certainly belonging to the seventeenth century.
MANOR
BLACKMOOR
BLACKMOOR was part of the ancient
demesne of the crown as pertaining to
the royal forest of Woolmer. Henry III,
in 1240, granted six acres of land which pertained
to his manor of 'Blackmore' to the Knights Templars, giving them permission to inclose the same
with a dike and hedge so that the deer could not go
in and out. (fn. 108) During the thirteenth century Roger
de Cherlecote made a grant to the prior and convent
of Selborne of land in Bradesate (Bradshott) which he
had 'by the gift of Laurence de Heyes of the tenure
of Blakemere.' (fn. 109) Hence it would seem that Laurence
de Heyes or Heighes held Blackmoor probably in
custody for the king, and that the manor included
Bradshott. However, except frequent mention of
Blackmoor in thirteenth and
fourteenth century grants, (fn. 110)
there seems to be nothing
about the manor in ordinary
sources of information.
Heighes. Sable a cheveron argent between three boars' heads or.
In the seventeenth century
the family of Heighes held the
manor of Blackmoor, together
with those of South Heigh
and Flood in Binsted. John
de Heighes, who held 1 messuage and 12 acres in Binsted
in 1268, (fn. 111) was the ancestor
of this family, and was apparently either father or son of Laurence de Heighes, and
probably held Blackmoor, although there is nothing
to prove this. A later member of the family, Simon
de Heighes, died seised of 1 messuage in Heyes in
1362, leaving a son and heir, Simon. (fn. 112) In 1399
Richard Heighes, who possibly was a son of the
younger Simon, was holding the same. (fn. 113) Henry
Heighes died seised of the same and of the manor of
Flood in 1595, while in 1600 a certain Edmund
Heighes paid rent for the same. (fn. 114) Nicholas Heighes,
who held these two manors as well as that of Blackmoor in 1610, was evidently a descendant of Edmund; hence it seems just possible, although definite
proof is wanting, that Blackmoor remained in the
custody of the Heighes family from the time of
Laurence de Heighes until the seventeenth century.
Sir Nicholas settled Blackmoor with his other manors
on his wife Martha in 1610, but being in debt, with
the consent of his wife conveyed the manor of Flood
to Richard Locke and Henry Wheeler in 1610 in
trust for his debts. In 1620, after the death of Sir
Nicholas and of Richard Locke, Martha, widow of Sir
Nicholas, brought an action against Henry Wheeler,
who had not only seized the manor of Flood, but had
abused his trust and seized the residue of her estates
for his own use. (fn. 115)
During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the
manor evidently changed hands many times, until it
was sold to the late Lord Selborne, father of the
present earl, in 1865.
OAKHANGER
OAKHANGER (Acangre, x and xi cent.; Hohangra, xii cent.; Ochangra, Okhangre, Achangre, Hachangre, Halkangre, xii cent.).—The first mention of
the land which became the manor of Oakhanger is in
a charter of the early part of the tenth century, giving
the boundaries of lands granted by Edward of Wessex
to Frithstan, bishop of Winchester. (fn. 116) In the reign of
Edward the Confessor Oakhanger was assessed at one
hide, and one virgate valued at 40s. was of royal
demesne and held of the king
by a certain Alwi. (fn. 117) At the
time of the Domesday Survey
Edwin held it by purchase of
the king and Richard held it
of Edwin. (fn. 118) Who this Edwin
was is not clear, but during
the twelfth century the manor
was evidently held by a family
that took the surname of Oakhanger. Thus William de
Oakhanger was in possession in
1167, (fn. 119) and in the reign of
Henry III, according to the
Testa de Nevill, a certain Gilbert de Oakhanger, probably
the son of William, held the
manor of the king 'per veneriam.' (fn. 120) In 1250
James de Oakhanger, presumably the son of Gilbert, was lord of the manor, (fn. 121) and in 1279 his son
William (fn. 122) was given licence to enfeoff Thomas
Paynel of his manor of Oakhanger. (fn. 123) Thomas Paynel
died in 1313 seised of the same, (fn. 124) and from him
it passed to his son William, who died without issue
in 1317, leaving his brother John (fn. 125) as his heir.
John Paynel died in 1319, leaving his daughter Maud,
the wife of Nicholas de Upton, heir to two parts of
the manor, while Eva, the wife of Edward St. John,
and late the wife of his brother William Paynel, held
the third part in dower. (fn. 126) John Bernard and Ralph
de Bocking, as trustees for Maud and Nicholas de
Upton, received licence in 1320 to grant two parts of
the manor to Aymer de Valence and John de Hastings
and the heirs of the said John, and also to grant the
reversion of the remaining third part then held in
dower by Eva de St. John. (fn. 127) John de Hastings died
in 1325 seised of the two parts
of the manor, leaving his son
Laurence as heir. (fn. 128) Fourteen
years later Laurence de Hastings
obtained licence to enfeoff Thomas West of the two parts of
the manor, to hold the same in
chief with knights' fees, advowson of churches, and all liberties
pertaining. (fn. 129) Eva de St. John
died in 1354 seised of the third
part of the manor, which, instead of reverting to the heirs
of John de Hastings, went to
her kinsman and heir, Roger son of John de Shelvestrode. (fn. 130) Evidently Roger, if he ever entered into
possession of the third part of Oakhanger, granted
or sold it in 1355 to the Thomas West who
already held the other two parts, since in 1355
Thomas paid 5 marks to the king for licence to
acquire the third part. (fn. 131) Thomas West died in 1386
seised of the whole manor entailed by fine made in
Hilary term 1381–2 on himself and his wife Alice
and their heirs male. (fn. 132) In December of 1386 Alice,
his widow, received pardon for having together with
her husband alienated the manor for the purpose of
entailment above referred to. (fn. 133) She died seised of the
manor in August, 1395, leaving Thomas West her
son and heir, (fn. 134) who died seised of the same in April,
1406, leaving a son and heir Thomas. (fn. 135) The latter
died in September, 1416, leaving as heir his brother
Reginald, who was created Lord De La Warr in 1426
as heir of his uncle Thomas. (fn. 136) In 1429 Reginald
Lord De La Warr leased the site of his manor of
Oakhanger for a term of twenty years at an annual
rent of 100s. to the prior and convent of Selborne, (fn. 137)
and in 1453 his son and heir, Richard Lord De La
Warr, who succeeded his father in 1450, (fn. 138) made a
similar lease for nine years at an annual rent of
113s. 4d. (fn. 139) Perhaps the most interesting point about
these leases is that they give the boundaries of the
whole site of the manor, viz., between the water of
Tonford up to the chapel of Oakhanger, thence to
'le Courthacche,' thence by the close of the tenants
of Oakhanger to the lane called 'Honnelane,' by the
said lane to the west end of Wrikesgrove and the
water of Tonford, thence between the close of Will
Cook and 'le Broke' to 'la Redhacche,' thence by
the close of the prior to the watercourse of Tonford.
Besides the site of the manor the lord of Oakhanger
also leased to the prior all common in the forest of
Woolmer belonging to the manor, the fishery in
the pool of Oakhanger, and the hares, rents, and
services belonging to the manor. (fn. 140) In 1476
Richard Lord De La Warr died seised of the manor
of Oakhanger, leaving a son and heir Thomas, (fn. 141) who
died in 1525 leaving a son and heir, also Thomas. (fn. 142)
The latter died without issue in 1554 seised of 'tenements in Oakhanger, late parcel of the manor of
Oakhanger.' (fn. 143) Lady Jane Dudley, duchess of Northumberland, the daughter of his sister Eleanor, was
his heir to these lands, which are described in the
inquisition on her death in 1555 as 'one acre in
Oakhanger held in chief for the hundredth part of a
knight's fee.' (fn. 144) Similarly in a Chancery proceeding of
the same date in which the will of Thomas Lord De
La Warr is quoted, one acre in Oakhanger, parcel of
the manor of Oakhanger, 'certainly divided and known
from the rest of the said manor by evidences which is
holden of the Queen's highness in chief,' is said to
have descended to Lady Jane, duchess of Northumberland, to go to her children at her death. (fn. 145) This
mysterious acre disappears as suddenly as it appeared.
On her death, in 1554, it was settled on trustees (fn. 146)
and evidently descended to Ambrose Dudley, but
reverted probably to the crown with the rest of his
property on his death without heirs in 1589. At
any rate it evidently again became parcel of the manor
and passed as part of the same to John Pescod of
Newton Valence some time before 1558. In what
year John Pescod acquired the rest of the manor it
is difficult to say. It may have been that when
Thomas Lord De La Warr was suffering under the
royal displeasure in 1538 for his adherence to the old
religion, and had to pay for his release from the
Tower by the surrender of Halnaker (Sussex), he
also surrendered the manor of Oakhanger all but the
acre which was held as before described. This is
borne out by a letter which he wrote to Cromwell in
November, 1539, saying that if the lands in Hampshire which the king had promised him in exchange
for Halnaker were worth more than the latter he
would 'gladly part with other
lands lying commodiously for
His Grace.' (fn. 147) Possibly the
grant was then made to John
Pescod, who died seised of the
manor in 1558, leaving his son
Richard as his heir. (fn. 148) In
1564 Richard Pescod brought
an action in Chancery against
Richard Springham, citizen
and mercer of London, who,
knowing that Pescod was in
debt and in great need of money,
was 'greatly desirous to take
lease' of the Oakhanger Ponds, promising to lend him
£100 or £75 or more for a reasonable time, and a
yearly rent of forty carps from the pond. The lease
had therefore been made for forty years, but when
one year of the time had elapsed the lessee refused to
make the promised loan, or pay the yearly rent unless
the plaintiff would mortgage to him the manor of
Oakhanger and other premises as security for the repayment of the £100. Thereupon after Springham
had promised that even if the said orator should break
day with him by the space of one month or two or
three he would not take any advantage of the mortgage, 'the said orator conceaved and had such trust
and confidence in the said Richard' that he bargained
and sold the manor on condition that if he should pay
the £100 within the time agreed the bargain and sale
should be void. Yet when he could not well pay the
sum on the day fixed the defendant, in spite of his
former promises not to take immediate advantage of
the mortgage, 'being of covetous mind and intending
subtily to get the manor and pond of Oakhanger,'
tried to expel the plaintiff and seize the manor for
debt. Defendant stated that he had acted according
to the agreement, and when the plaintiff could not
pay he offered him a further sum to make up the
value of the manor, but Pescod 'obstinately and willfully refused to accept the offer.' (fn. 149) However the
judgement eventually went for the plaintiff, who in
1568, evidently compelled by his debts and poverty,
mortgaged the manor to a certain William Smith and
others. (fn. 150) In August, 1571, Richard Pescod died leaving the manor to his son and heir Thomas, (fn. 151) who
in June, 1578, granted the whole to his brother,
John Pescod of Roxwell. (fn. 152) In 1587 John Pescod
died seised of the manor, leaving his brother Nicholas
as heir. (fn. 153) Nicholas Pescod had a son Nicholas baptized in Selborne church in 1594. (fn. 154) From the Pescods the manor passed to William Bishop of South
Warnborough, who died at Swallowfield (Berks) in
1660, leaving the manor of Oakhanger with his freeholds in Swallowfield to his wife Flower (or Flora),
daughter of William Backhouse, lord of Swallowfield.
She married her second cousin, William Backhouse,
two years later, and settled the manor on herself and
her husband in that year. (fn. 155) In December, 1663,
they mortgaged certain premises in Oakhanger, including a close called 'Chapple House,' to a certain
George Ashton. Sir William Backhouse died in
1669, and in October, 1670, Flower was married a
third time to Henry Hyde Viscount Cornbury, who
became Lord Clarendon by his father's death in 1674.
By 1685 the earl was in financial difficulties, and
judgement was given against him to William Tallman
for a debt of £800. (fn. 156) In July, 1694, Tallman, whose
debt had evidently not been paid, assigned his judgement to Mr. Edward Wilcox of St. Martin's in the
Fields, to whom in August, 1694, the earl and countess
bargained and sold the manor subject to redemption
on payment of £1,493 10s. (fn. 157) Edward Wilcox,
by will dated 1724, left the manor in trust for his
only daughter and heir Margaret, who in 1731, as
Margaret Jeffries, bargained and sold the same to
John Conduit. (fn. 158) By will of John Conduit, dated
1736, Oakhanger was settled on his only daughter
and heir Catherine, who married Lord Viscount
Lymington. By Act of Parliament of 1748–9 for
selling the settled estates of Catherine Lady Lymington, Oakhanger was sold to Henry Bilson Legge. In
1750 Henry Bilson Legge married Mary, created
Baroness Stawell in her own right in 1760. Their
son, Henry Bilson Legge, Lord Stawell, married Mary
daughter of Viscount Curzon, and died without heirs
male in 1820. Their only daughter Mary married
the Hon. John Dutton, only son and heir of James
Lord Sherborne, from whom the manor of Oakhanger
has passed by inheritance to Henry John Dutton, the
present owner. (fn. 159)
Palmer, Earl of Selborne. Argent two bars sable with three trefoils argent thereon and a running greyhound sable in the chief having a golden collar.
West, Lord De La Warr. Argent a fesse dancetty sable.
Pescod. Sable ermined argent a chief or with three griffons sable therein.
The modern Oakhanger Farm on the right-hand
side of the road leading from Selborne through Honey
Lane to Oakhanger is probably on the site of the
manor house of Oakhanger. On the opposite side of
the road is Chapel Farm, marking, it is supposed, the
site of the chapel of Oakhanger. This chapel, according to Gilbert White, was identical with the chapel
of St. Mary of Waddon, or Whaddon, from which the
vicar of Selborne received a moiety of all oblations. (fn. 160)
Repairs to the chapel of St. Mary of Waddon, which
had evidently been burnt down shortly before, were
entered in the rent roll of the prior and convent in
1463. Here there is mention of a house for travellers
attached to the chapel, which was evidently much
repaired and reroofed in that year. There is also
another entry, difficult to understand, of carriage paid
for the conveyance of the image of the Blessed Mary
of Waddon from Winchester to the chapel. (fn. 161) Besides
this image three silver rings and one pyx belonged to
the chapel. (fn. 162) There are no remains of the building
existing, nor were there in Gilbert White's time. He
tells, though, of a large hollow stone which, according
to tradition, was the Waddon chapel baptismal font.
Although Gilbert White so emphatically identifies
this chapel of Waddon with that of Oakhanger, it is
important to note that in the account of the endowment of the vicarage of Selborne in 1352, oblations
from Waddon and oblations from Oakhanger chapel
are given separately. (fn. 163)
CHURCHES
The church of OUR LADY at
SELBORNE stands to the north of
the village, at the north-east angle of
the Plestor, and at the head of the narrow wooded valley
through which runs the Oakhanger brook, the ground
falling from it on all sides. On the left-hand side of
the path leading to the church porch, and sheltering
the church from view, is the famous yew tree. In
Gilbert White's time it measured 23 ft. in girth and
has increased since then by about four inches. Under
the yew is a grave without any headstone, which
tradition says is that of the village trumpeter.
Tradition again explains his office, how he was the
man who gathered the 'Selborne mob' during what
seems to have been a period of famine or strike in the
village in the early nineteenth century, and how he
led them to an attack on the poor-house, where they
broke in the doors and made a bonfire of the furniture. Then, as they marched on to the neighbouring
village of Headley, soldiers who had been summoned
from Winchester surrounded them and took them
prisoners to Winchester, where many were tried and
transported. The trumpeter, however, had escaped
and was in hiding for some time on Selborne Hill,
only coming down into the village at midnight.
During one of these descents he was captured and
taken to Winchester, but was pardoned, and returning
to Selborne died some years after and was buried
under the yew tree. The original churchyard was of
small extent, but has been twice enlarged on the
south side. The limestone rock lies near the surface
of the ground, and on two occasions, in digging a
grave in the new part of the churchyard, a large
passage or chamber in the rock has been broken into,
but not examined.
The church has a chancel 27 ft. 6 in. by 16 ft.;
north vestry, north transept, nave 53 ft. by 18 ft.,
with a north aisle 6 ft. 7 in. wide, and large south
aisle 17 ft. 2 in. wide, of the full length of the nave;
south porch, and west tower about 11 ft. square. All
measurements are internal.
The arcades of the nave are the oldest part of the
building, dating from 1170 to 1180, and the north
aisle, though rebuilt, probably retains its twelfth-century
width. The width of the chancel is irregular,
15 ft. 10 in. at the chancel arch and 16 ft. 4 in. at
the altar rails, and it is probable that part of the
masonry of the walls is as old as the nave arcades,
though no feature earlier than the thirteenth century
is now to be seen. About 1220 the south aisle of
the nave was replaced by a large south aisle or chapel,
with entrances on south and west, and towards the
end of the century a north transept was added. It is
set out without reference to the nave arcade, and its
internal dimensions are approximately a square of
19 ft. 6 in. At what date the west tower was
added to the church is doubtful, owing to the many
alterations it has suffered. The external masonry is
covered with plaster, and the tower arch appears to
be not older than the fifteenth century, but it is
possible that part of the walling may be some centuries
earlier. The west end of the south aisle was refaced
in 1730, and the tower repaired and cemented in
1781. Practically the whole of the church has been
refaced at various times in the last century with rubble
of local white limestone and ironstone set at all angles
with a most unpleasing effect. The chancel was
'restored' about 1840, the nave and north transept
in 1877, the south aisle and tower in 1883, a new
east window made in the chancel in 1887, and
further work done in the chancel in 1889. The
chancel has three modern lancets in the east wall, and
in the north wall towards the east end an original
lancet of c. 1220, and further west a second lancet
which has been cut down to serve as a doorway to a
modern vestry. In the south wall are two windows,
each of two cinquefoiled lights, the stonework of that
towards the east being modern, while in the other the
head of one light and half that of the other are old,
and belong to the end of the fourteenth century.
Between the windows is a priest's door, the outer arch
being of modern stonework, but the rear arch
apparently of the thirteenth century. At the east
end of the wall is a trefoiled thirteenth-century
piscina. Over the altar is a painting of the Adoration
of the Magi, with, on the north side, St. Andrew, and
on the south St. George, and portraits of the donors
behind each saint. It was given to the church in
1793 by Benjamin White, and is good Flemish work
of c. 1500, attributed, but wrongly, to Mabuse.
The chancel arch is a modern copy of the nave
arcades, but the masonry of the responds is old,
and in the north respond is a small niche or
recess.
The nave is of four bays with pointed arches of
one square order and scalloped capitals with circular
shafts and bases, the latter having spurs in the north
arcade, but not in the south.
The north transept has a large three-light north
window with modern tracery, the head and jambs
with engaged shafts dating from c. 1275. There is
no window in the east wall, but four conical stone
brackets, one at a higher level than the other three,
point to the former position of two altars against the
wall, and in the south wall is a piscina with
geometrical tracery and a gabled head contemporary
with the transept. The north aisle of the nave is
entirely modern, but probably on the old lines.
The south aisle is nearly as wide as the nave, and a
fine though much restored building. It is gabled at
east and west, and has an east window of three lancets
under a containing arch. In the south wall is a wide
three-light window, an insertion of c. 1500 to give
more light on the altar in the aisle; its stonework is
mostly modern. West of it are the built-up jambs of
a second wide window, with a modern lancet set in
the blocking, and beyond this a second modern lancet
just east of the south doorway, which has a good
moulded outer arch with jamb shafts.
Near the west end of the wall is an original lancet,
and in the west wall an original window with two
lancet lights under a segmental head. At the north
end of the wall is a doorway of the same date, but,
like the window, its external stonework is modern.
The south porch is probably of the seventeenth
century. The west wall of the aisle is faced in the
small ironstone rubble with regular ashlar quoins, and
has had a buttress, now destroyed, at its south end.
In the gable is the date 1730 and initials G. W.
for Gilbert White, grandfather of the naturalist. On
the north side of the east window of the aisle is a fine
niche, c. 1320, with an ogee head and a band of four-leaved flowers on the projecting sill. Near the south-east angle is a trefoiled piscina, and a roll-string goes
round the aisle below the window sills, returned
downward to pass underneath the piscina, but
breaking up over the heads of the south and west
doorways.
The tower opens to the nave by a pointed arch of
two continuous chamfered orders, which may be
fifteenth-century work. The quoins of the internal
western angles of the tower look more like thirteenth-century work, and the jambs of the west doorway
seem ancient, but its square head and the two-light
square-headed window over it date from the repairs of
1781. The tower is covered with cement externally,
including its parapet, and the belfry windows are
single lights trefoiled, except that on the north, which
has a plain round head. Within the tower is a solid
timber framework resting on a set-back above the first
stage and carrying the bell frame. It is strongly
braced together and looks as if it had been intended
to stand alone.
The roofs of the church are modern, except that of
the chancel, which has coupled collars with arched
braces below; it has been plastered at one time, and
the roughness of its timbers suggests that this was the
original arrangement. In the south aisle the plate
on the north side is old, carried on wooden corbels
and strutted. There are a few old bench ends at the
west of the nave, and one on each side of the south
porch, with trefoiled arched panels of late fifteenth-century date. The south door of the nave is
probably contemporary with the doorway, and is
made of 1 in. oak planks set upright with rounded
battens nailed horizontally to the back of the door.
The original wrought-iron strap-hinges remain, and
are beautiful specimens of their date. A few traces
of wall-painting exist at the north-east of the south
aisle, and the south doorway and north window of
the north transept have traces of red paint.
At the east end of the south aisle are collected a
number of glazed tiles with single patterns of griffins,
lions, double-headed eagles, lis, &c., and several of finer
work, with a quatrefoil inclosing a shield bearing a
double-headed eagle between two birds. The quatrefoil is set in a lozenge and the corners of the tiles
filled with palmettes. The tiles belong to the
fifteenth or perhaps the end of the fourteenth
century. The font stands at the west end of the
south aisle and is plain, with a cup-shaped bowl on a
thick round stem. Two stone coffins and several
coffin lids of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries
are placed in the south aisle. On two specimens
there are rings on the stem of the cross carved on the
lid just below the head. A few pieces of twelfth-century masonry, with zigzag, earlier than any work
now standing in the church, are also preserved here.
The plate consists of a silver cup and cover paten
of 1638, quite plain.
There are five bells; the treble of 1735, given
by Mary daughter of Sir Simeon Stuart, bears the Stuart
arms in a lozenge on the waist, and is inscribed:—
Clara puella dedit dixitque michi esto Maria
Illius et laudes nomen ad astra sono.
The second, formerly of 1735, was recast by
Mears & Stainbank in 1904. The fourth and tenor
are also of 1735, all the bells of this date being cast by
Samuel Knight, and the third is by Thomas Janaway,
1783.
There are no monuments of interest in the church
except the mural tablet to Gilbert White, the
naturalist, who died here in 1793.
The earliest parish register is a book with no cover,
half paper and half parchment. It begins with the
baptisms from 1562 to 1600. From 1578 the
register seems to be copied from smaller books by
Vicar White, since the previous handwriting ends in
December, 1577, and the next 'Here I begin' is in
his handwriting, with the heading 'Anno Dno'
instead of 'Anno Dni.' The next section gives the
burials from 1556 to 1594, with the same change in
the writing in 1577. The writing changes in 1594,
and then there is a gap filled up by a small register,
roughly bound up with the big, covering the dates
1588–1631 for baptisms, marriages, and burials.
There is also another small register bound up in part
of this giving baptisms from 1577 to 1587, marriages
from 1572 to 1586, and deaths from 1572 to
1587. Here the paper half of the book ends and
the parchment begins, giving baptisms from 1632 to
1678, and burials from 1632 to 1641. The last few
pages, written the wrong way of the book, give the
marriages from 1632 to 1633, burials from 1654 to
1678, and three or four entries of marriage in 1637
and 1639. This is all the record that exists until
after the period of the Civil War. The second book
is of paper and leather bound, and contains a list of
incumbents from 1673 to 1681 made by Vicar
Gilbert White, who was inducted at the latter date,
and the register of baptisms from 1679 to 1718.
Under the year 1695 a mention is made of 'ye act of
Parliament passed for granting to His Majesty certain
rates and dues upon marriages, births, and burials and
upon Batchelors and Widdowers for the term of
five years, commencing from 1 May, 1695.' A stray
entry under the year 1688 states that a certificate
was given by the vicar for Mrs. Susanna Green
on 8 October and for Stephen Green on 11 November, 'to be touched for the King's evil.' The third
book, of paper and leather bound, registers the burials
from 1718 to 1783 and the baptisms from 1719 to
1783.
Opposite the entries for 1728 comes a memorandum
that Rebecca White, widow of vicar Gilbert White,
granted the granary of the vicarage, a movable possession, built by her husband, to the vicar and his
successors for ever. In 1730 it was certified that she
had expended the £40 left by her husband for
the repair of the church in building two large
buttresses towards the east wall, 'being the parts of
the church most decaying and dangerous.' Opposite
the entries for 1766 is a note that the gallery at the
west end of the church was built in that year at a
cost of £31 4s., of which £10 was given by the will
of Dr. Bristow and the rest raised by public subscription.
The next register of burials begins in 1784 and
ends in 1812, and that of baptisms in 1783, ending
also in 1812. There is a gap in the register of
marriages between 1717 and 1754, those after that
date being entered in two books dating from 1754
to 1798 and from 1798 to 1812.
The churchwardens' accounts begin in 1687.
In 1720 an entry was made that no churchwarden
was henceforth to give anything to travellers upon the
parish account; if he did so he must refund it out of
his own pocket. A quarrel which had evidently been
brewing came to a head in 1832 over a question of
church repair. The parish had refused to elect their
churchwarden at Easter, and when a vestry meeting
was called in November, 1832, to consider the repair
of the church roof, which was in a very bad state,
'they refused to agree to any suggestion or adopt any
plan until accounts were settled.' After several
attempts at peace the vicar referred the question to
the chancellor of the diocese, to whom the vicar's
churchwarden, Henry Earle, wrote:— 'It would give
me the greatest pleasure to be on friendly terms with
the rest of the farmers. I have striven hard, much
harder than you have any notion, to be so. But all
to no purpose—the more friendly I am the worse
they behave to Mr. Cobbold.' Unfortunately the
result of the dispute is not given, but probably the
case was referred to the ecclesiastical court and the
parishioners forced to yield.
Licence was granted to Adam de Gurdon and
Constance his wife in 1262 to 'build an oratory in
their court of Selborne which had formerly belonged
to Thomas Makerel.' They were to attend the
mother church on all solemn feast days, and the prior
and convent of Selborne reserved to themselves right
to suspend service in the oratory if is interfered with
any of their privileges. They also stipulated that
no heir of the said Adam should lay legal claim of
this licence. And if in time to come a dispute
should arise between the prior and convent and
the vicar of Selborne concerning the licence, Adam
and Constance were bound to defend the prior and
convent. (fn. 164)
A chapel existed at BLACKMOOR as early as 1254,
when the vicarage of Selborne was endowed with all
small tithes and obventions belonging to the mother
church and to the chapels of Oakhanger and Blackmoor. (fn. 165) The 'ecclesia de Seleburne cum capella' of
the taxation return of 1291 evidently included the
chapel of Blackmoor, (fn. 166) while in the agreement made
between the prior and convent and the vicar of
Selborne concerning the vicarial portion in 1352, the
prior and convent are stated to be 'the impropriators
of the parish church of Seleborne with the chapels of
Oakhanger and Blakemere.' (fn. 167) Thus an estimate of
the revenues and debts of the prior and convent
made in 1462 includes repairs to the chancel of
Blackmoor church in the expenditure of the priory. (fn. 168)
Synodals from the chapel of Blackmoor were acknowledged by the dean of Alton in 1489 at 7½ pence, (fn. 169)
and were grouped with those of Oakhanger, Selborne,
and East Worldham in the Valor of 1535. (fn. 170) The
modern church is at the north end of the village street
just where the road bends to the left towards Oakhanger. A lych gate opens the way to the churchyard and to the church, with its square white stone
tower roofed with red tiles built and dedicated in
honour of St. Matthew by the late Lord Selborne and
consecrated in Whitsun week, 18 May, 1869. On the
north side of the church on the first pillar of the
chancel is a white marble monument to Lord Selborne
and his wife erected by the people of Blackmoor 'in
gratitude for all the good that under God has come
to this parish through their devotion to their Saviour
and their love to their fellow men.'
ADVOWSON
A church existed at Selborne
at the time of Domesday, and it
was held by Radfred the priest,
to whom the king had given one yardland of the
manor as endowment. (fn. 171) The advowson belonged to
the abbey of Mont St. Michel at least as early as
1156, when it was confirmed to them by Pope Adrian IV.
Godfrey de Lucy, bishop of Winchester, confirmed the
church to the monks of St. Michel in 1194, as they
had held it in the times of his predecessors in consideration of their labours and perils of the sea. (fn. 172) In
1197 Godfrey de Lucy, bishop of Winchester, granted
the church, 'with the assent and at the wish of Abbot
Jordan and the convent,' to Philip de Lucy, saving the
annual pension of three marks to the abbey. (fn. 173) In 1233
the abbot and convent of Mont St. Michel granted
the advowson of Selborne with whatever benefit they
had received from the same to Peter des Roches, (fn. 174)
who in the next year granted the same to the prior
and convent of Selborne. (fn. 175) In 1291, in the Taxation
of Pope Nicholas, the church of Selborne 'cum
capella' is mentioned. (fn. 176) Probably this is an error
for 'cum capellis,' since both the chapels of Oakhanger and Blackmoor were in existence in 1254,
when the small tithes from the same were appropriated
to the vicar of Selborne. (fn. 177) In 1353 the prior and
convent, as the proprietors of the parish church of
Selborne with the chapels of Oakhanger and Blackmoor, made a compact with Adam Sinclair (Seynclar),
the perpetual vicar of the church, for the increase of his
insufficient stipend. On account of 'the present
pestilence and the scarcity of the times' he was to
receive various rents and tithes in money and kind,
and of wool and of all mills in Selborne except those of
the convent, and of all hay except the hay of the
court (De Cur) of Gordon, Norton, and Oakhanger,
and of the demesne lands of the convent 'originally
assigned for the foundation of the conventual church.' (fn. 178)
Later in the same year a further agreement was made.
The vicar was to have in addition to other tithes one
cartload of hay from the tithe hay of Norton and
'one cartload of straw at the courtyard of Gordon,'
all tithes within Oakhanger and Blackmoor excepting
corn and hay, the moiety of all oblations hereafter or
newly arising in the parish beyond those at the
church or the chapels of Oakhanger and Blackmoor,
and a portion of the accustomed small tithes from
the churches or chapels of Hartley and Empshott.
From this time the vicar was bound to find a chaplain
to celebrate in the chapels of Oakhanger and
Blackmoor. (fn. 179)
In the fifteenth century the advowson of Selborne
church passed in 1484, among the other possessions
of Selborne priory, to Magdalen College, Oxford. (fn. 180)
Thus the rectory is entered as appropriated to the
college in the Valor Ecclesiasticus of 1535. (fn. 181) The
chapel of Selborne is also mentioned as appropriated
to Magdalen, but is bracketed with the vicarage
of East Worldham. (fn. 182) Magdalen has held the church
to the present day and endowed it in the eighteenth century with the great tithes of both Selborne
and Oakhanger. (fn. 183)
CHARITIES
(i) Richard Byfield, vicar of Selborne, by will, 1679, bequeathed
£80 for the purchase of an annuity
towards apprenticing poor children to good trades.
The trust fund (with accumulations) is represented
by £138 6s. 8d. consols held by the official trustees
of charitable funds. By scheme, 1882, it is provided
that in the absence of poor children eligible to be
selected for apprenticeship the trustees may apply income in grants of clothing to children on going out
to service, or in payments not exceeding £1 to
deserving poor children to encourage the continuance
of their attendance at school. (fn. 184)
(ii) Rev. Gilbert White, vicar, by will, 1719, gave
£100 to be laid out in land, rent to be employed in
teaching poor children to read and write, and say
their prayers and catechism, and to sew and knit. In
1735 two closes called Collyer's in Hawkley were purchased and settled upon the trusts of the will. This
property was exchanged in 1870 for 16a. 3r. 22p. in
Selborne, producing £18 a year. (fn. 185)
(iii) The first earl of Selborne by will, 1895, bequeathed £56 7s. 3d. Bank of Ireland Stock (held by
the official trustees) dividends for keeping the church
of St. Matthew, Blackmoor, in proper repair and maintaining divine service therein. (fn. 186)
(iv) A site and buildings was by deed, 1885, settled
in trust for a reading room at Oakhanger, and vested
in the official trustee of charity lands. (fn. 187)
WOOLMER FOREST
WOOLMER FOREST (Ulmere, Wolvemare, xiii
cent.).
The history of the wardenship of Woolmer Forest
is identical with that of Alice Holt in Binsted, following the descent of the manor of East Worldham
(q.v.). (fn. 188)
Various notices throughout the Close and Patent
Rolls show how carefully the kings guarded their
rights in the forest, as in 1278 when Edward I
ordered Adam Gurdon to take all indicted of trespass
in the forest and cause them to be kept safely until
otherwise ordered. (fn. 189) In 1286 Edward ordered Adam
Gurdon to cause the prior and convent of Selborne to
have from Woolmer Forest six good oaks fit for timber
with all their strippings 'in recompense for the under-wood and heather which the king caused to be taken
from the priory for the expenses of his household
when he was last there.' (fn. 190) A sharp winter probably
brought the command of December, 1285, that the
keepers of certain of the king's dogs in Woolmer
Forest should have six oak stumps from the forest for
fuel for the dogs aforesaid. (fn. 191) A similar command was
given in 1315 for six leafless oaks to be delivered
to the keeper of the king's horses at Odiham for
fire for the king's horses. (fn. 192) In April, 1378, John
Blake was appointed clerk of the works at the
'manor of Wolmer' with power to punish refractory
workmen, and with 18d. daily wages. (fn. 193) William de
Hannay, king's clerk, was in the same month appointed
controller of the purveyances, purchases, and expenditure for the wages of workmen and carriage upon the
works to be executed by the said John Blake on the
manor of Woolmer. (fn. 194) The earliest mention of a lodge
in the forest, probably the Waldron Lodge described
by Gilbert White, is in 1386, when oaks to the value
of 10 marks were to be felled, and the proceeds
delivered 'for the repair of a lodge of the king within
the said forest.' (fn. 195)
Until the eighteenth century, when deer-stealing
had brought in its train such crime and atrocities
that the 'Black Act' of 1722 had to be passed,
Woolmer Forest was well stocked with the red deer
whose disappearance Gilbert White so honestly
bewailed. (fn. 196)
The forest was inclosed by the award of 10 July,
1857. (fn. 197)