ROPLEY
Ropeleia (xii cent.), Roppele, and Roppeleghe
(xiv cent.), Ropeley (xv cent.).
Ropley is a large parish with an area of 4,684
acres, situated 4 miles east from New Alresford,
with a station 1½ miles from the village on the
Bentley, Alton, and Fareham branch of the London
and South-Western railway, which passes through it on
the north-west. Parallel to the railway runs the main
road from New Alresford to Alton, which enters the
parish at Ropley Dean, (fn. 1) close to Ropley Lodge, the
residence of Mr. Bowdon, where it is joined by the
main road from Petersfield. The village of Ropley
is built on a ridge between these two roads, rising
gradually from west to east, and approached by numerous narrow lanes running off north from the Petersfield road and east from the Alton road. Down
the ridge runs a narrow road, entering the parish at
the east and passing through the outlying hamlet of
Lyeway. At the upper end of the village it divides,
one branch going northwards to Gilbert Street, another
continuing westward and forming the village street.
The church stands in the north-east of the village, the
street forming the southern boundary of the churchyard, while further down the hill on the south are
the schools, the smithy, and the coffee and readingrooms, which were built in 1884 by Miss Hagen of
Ropley House for the use of the working men of the
parish. From the west end of the village the road
runs on to Ropley Dean, the vicarage and Ropley
House, with its well-grown beech trees, being on the
north, while to the south is Ropley Manor (formerly
Ropley Cottage), at present in the hands of Captain
Holroyd. There are several scattered hamlets in the
parish. Lyeway in the east; Gilbert Street, northeast of the village, on the road leading up to Kitfield
and the outlying farm of Kitwood, in the highest part
of the parish; North Street, with its little inn 'The
Shant,' and Ropley Soke, with a mission-room, both
lying on the main road from Alresford to Alton;
Charlwood and Monkwood, situated in the east and
the south of the parish respectively; and Four Marks,
with an inn called the 'Windmill,' on high ground
within about five minutes' walk from Medsted railway station. The last is partly in Ropley and partly
in Medsted.
The original schoolhouse is a whitewashed and
thatched cottage on the Petersfield road, near the
Anchor Inn, built in 1828 for the instruction of the
children of Bishop's Sutton and Ropley. The present schools were built in 1869 and enlarged in 1888.
An additional school was built in 1902 a little to the
east of Ropley Soke with funds raised by the vicar,
the Rev. W. H. Leak. There is a small Methodist
chapel near Malthouse Farm and Gilbert Street. (fn. 2)
The kennels of the Hampshire Hunt hounds are
situated in the parish, and near them are new stables,
which were erected in 1889.
There are no wide stretches of uninhabited country
in Ropley; everywhere are scattered farms and houses,
and the parish is intersected by a network of roads
leading to them. Many bungalows and villas have
already been built, and many more are being erected,
especially in the north and east, where the average
height above the sea level is about 550 ft. Ropley
is not on the whole well wooded at the present day,
the only wood of any size being old Down Wood
near Swelling Hill, but there are numerous little
copses and many scattered pine trees. A surveyor
gives the following description of Ropley in 1551:—
'Being a lyttell village a good myle from Sutton
church, the lorde of Sutton being chief lorde ther,
having sundry faier wodds lyeing four or five myles
together in sundry places sett moost with beache,
which woodds we came not in. (fn. 3) The following woods
are named in a perambulation of the parish made
about the same time: (fn. 4) —'Churlewood' containing 95
acres, 'East Byxtrydge' containing 148 acres, 'West
Byxtrydge' containing 112 acres, 'Oysterslade' containing 150 acres, 'Rudgehomes' containing 78 acres,
'Highomes' containing 88 acres, 'Redhyll' containing 114 acres, 'Holthele' containing 136 acres, and
'Hamerdene' containing 116 acres.
Previous to July, 1882, Ropley was annexed to
Bishop's Sutton for ecclesiastical purposes, but by an
Order in Council dated August, 1882, it became a
separate parish. It contains 2,277½ acres of arable
land, 1,505½ acres of permanent grass, and 282½ of
woods. (fn. 5) The soil is generally light, the subsoil chalk.
The chief crops are wheat, oats, and green crops.
The following place-names occur in a court roll of
1628 (fn. 6) :—'Kittiert, Lyshard, and Houndlose.' 'Grete
Alberts and Threleggedcrosse' are found in the sixteenth
century, (fn. 7) and in a patent roll of 1403 are the following (fn. 8) :—'Alfedoun, Wandelesworth, Pollardeswode,
Hokereslane, Brechelond, Rykemannescroft, Pudelston,
Kyteswode, Merelond, Couperescroft, Amkyncroft,
Hokecroft, Sweolynge, Lytelreode, Gervaisdoun, La
Stubbyng, Inhome by Buxterigge, Le Guletter,
Le Colynge, Hamerden, and Solrugge.'
MANOR
A large portion of the parish of Ropley
and the vill of ROPLEY itself formed
part of the demesne lands of the manor
of Bishop's Sutton, and thus belonged to the bishop
of Winchester, as forming part of his liberty. (fn. 9) In a
survey taken in 1551 the lord of Bishop's Sutton was
said to be chief lord of the vill of Ropley, (fn. 10) and the
fact that Sutton-cum-Ropley (fn. 11) and Sutton Ropley (fn. 12) are
sometimes mentioned shows a very close connexion
between the two parishes. The descent of these
demesne lands necessarily followed that of the manor
of Bishop's Sutton (q. v.). The earliest evidence of
the manor of Ropley, which was held of the bishopric,
is between 1304 and 1316, when Henry, bishop of
Winchester, granted licence to William Gervays of
Ropley to hear service in a chapel in his manor of
Ropley. (fn. 13) In 1332 Robert le Botiller of Brown
Candover settled a messuage, 3 carucates of land,
20 acres of wood, and £10 rent in Bishop's Sutton
and Ropley on William Gervays and Christine his
wife, with remainder in fee-tail successively to their
sons, William, Roger, and John, and their daughter
Isabel. (fn. 14) William the son died without issue, and
the manor passed in accordance with the above settlement to his brother Roger. (fn. 15) In 1369 Andrew, son
of Roger Gervays, granted 2 messuages, 2 tofts,
4 carucates of land, 10 acres of meadow, 100 acres
of pasture, 100 acres of wood, and £10 rent in
Ropley, Bishop's Sutton, and other places to William
de Wykeham, bishop of Winchester, in return for an
annuity of £20. (fn. 16) The bishop in 1392 obtained
royal licence to alienate a part of these premises (fn. 17) in
frankalmoign to the warden and scholars of the
college called 'Seynte Marie College of Wynchestre,'
which he had lately founded. (fn. 18) Ten years later
licence was granted him to alienate the rest of the
premises (fn. 19) to Winchester College for an annual rent
of £3 18s. 9½d. and 1s. 6d. tithing pence. (fn. 20) In this
way the whole of the manor of Ropley came into
the hands of Winchester College, to whom it belongs
at the present day. (fn. 21) A court of the manor was held
there as late as 1706. (fn. 22)
In 1399 William de Wykeham let out at farm for
a hundred years to Winchester College for a fixed
money rent various tenements in Ropley, and this
lease was confirmed by the king in 1403. (fn. 23)
Divers free tenants also held lands in Ropley of
the bishop at various times. In 1332 Thomas de
Wandlesworth of Winchester granted a messuage,
2 virgates of land, and 60 acres of wood in Ropley to
William de Wandlesworth of Winchester and Agnes
his wife to hold for their lives of Thomas and his
heirs by the annual rent of a rose. (fn. 24) The same
Thomas in 1356 was seised of a messuage, 10s. rent,
80 acres of arable land, and 20 acres of wood in
Ropley within the liberty of the bishop of Winchester. (fn. 25) In 1361 a certain Thomas de Alresford
died seised of a messuage, a carucate of land and
rents in Ropley which he held of the bishop of
Winchester. (fn. 26)
SHETE FARM
SHETE FARM (La Syete, La Schyte, and La
Shete xiii cent.; Shete Ferme xvi cent.). Some time
between 1250 and 1260 Ralph son of William de
Wez granted to John Sanztere all his land of 'La
Syete' which he had in the manor of 'Sultone,
Roppele, La Syete, and Hedleghe' in exchange for
all the land which John had in the vill of Overton, 30 marks, 4 quarters of wheat, 4 quarters
of barley, 4 quarters of oats, 4 bacon pigs, and
2 robes for himself and his wife. (fn. 27) In 1266 John
granted this tenement to the prior and canons of
Selborne in frankalmoign to hold of the bishop of
Winchester by the annual payment of a mark and
suit at his court of Bishop's Sutton twice a year. (fn. 28)
This grant was confirmed by the bishop the same
year. (fn. 29) Towards the close of the thirteenth century,
the question was raised as to whether the prior and
convent were lawfully seised of this tenement. An
inquiry was held and it was ascertained that the prior
and his predecessors had been seised of it long before
the Statute of Mortmain 'with just title and not by
any fraud of parties or collusion.' A fine was accordingly levied whereby Richard de Wytheneye and
Alice his wife quitclaimed from themselves and the
heirs of Alice (fn. 30) a messuage and a carucate of land in
Ropley to the priory. (fn. 31) This tenement remained the
property of the priory till 1485, when it was transferred with the rest of its possessions to Magdalen
College, Oxford. In a perambulation of the parish
made in the reign of Edward VI the following is
given as the property of the college:—A capital
messuage called 'Shete Ferme,' a wood called Bromes
and crofts called Rodebeche, Homefield, Hatchgatefield, and Pokefield, lying to the north of Lyeway. (fn. 32)
There is still a Broom Copse near Lyeway, but the
farm itself seems to have disappeared, although Magdalen College still owns property in the parish.
CHURCH
The church of ST. PETER, ROPLEY consists of chancel 21 ft. by
14 ft. 3 in. with north and south chapels,
and nave 44 ft. by 19 ft. with north aisle, south-east
tower, and south porch. The oldest parts of the building belong approximately to the middle of the twelfth
century, the church of that date having had an aisleless
nave and chancel with a transept chapel at the southeast of the nave, and probably another like it at the
north-east. The plan was very like that of Colemore
church, but on a larger scale. The only architectural
detail of this date is the small west doorway of the tower,
but parts of the south and west walls of the nave and
tower and of the east wall of the chancel are original
work. The walling is of flint rubble with dressings
of chalk and a brown sandstone. A south chapel was
added to the chancel in the latter part of the thirteenth
century, and probably about the same time (or perhaps somewhat earlier) the north transept chapel was
lengthened westward, and made to open to the nave
by an arcade of two bays with a round central column.
It is not clear at what date the existing wooden southeast tower was built within the south-east transept
chapel, but this may have been a fourteenth-century
alteration. In the early part of the nineteenth century a north chapel was added to the chancel, and in
1896 the north transept chapel was lengthened westward and became a north aisle of equal length with
the nave, its east and west walls being pulled down
and a new north arcade of four bays built, the old
arcade of two bays being destroyed. At the same
time the west wall of the nave was heightened in
gable form, having previously ended with a level top,
the west end of the nave roof being hipped.
The chancel has an east window of three cinquefoiled lights with fifteenth-century tracery under a fourcentred head, the jambs being perhaps older and cut
back to suit the inserted tracery. On the north and
south of the chancel are arcades of two bays with
pointed arches of two chamfered orders and an octagonal central pillar with moulded capital and base,
the arches dying into the walls without responds at
east and west. The south arcade is of late thirteenth-century date, while the north is a modern copy of it.
The twelfth-century chancel had quoins in its internal
angles, as may still be seen in the east wall where the
south wall has been cut away for the arcades.
The south chapel has a three-light east window with
net tracery, the stonework being modern, and in the
south wall a single trefoiled light, below which are
a small piscina and a locker. West of the south
window is a round-headed doorway, in modern stonework, and to the north of the east window are traces
of two small thirteenth-century lights, one above the
other. Under the east window are remains of two
stone brackets for the images over the altar which once
stood here.
The chancel arch is modern, and with the north
arcade of four bays dates from 1896, and all the
windows of the north chapel and aisle are likewise
modern. On the south side of the nave is a pointed
arch opening to a vestry under the south-east tower,
and west of it a square-headed sixteenth-century window of two trefoiled lights. The south doorway of
the nave is of the fifteenth century, with a four-centred
arch under a square hood-mould with carved foliage
in the spandrels. It doubtless replaces the original
south doorway, and opposite it on the north side of
the nave, before the building of the aisle, was a blocked
north doorway. The west window of the nave is of
three lights with modern tracery, but the jambs are
old. The south porch is of timber and plaster, and
in its north-east corner is an octagonal corbel for a
holy-water stone.
The tower is a good specimen of timber framing,
covered with weather-tiling in the upper part where
it rises above the masonry and roof, and finished with
a low-pitched pointed roof. Its lower stories are
lighted by modern windows on the south, one above
the other, but with a common round-headed reararch, the masonry of which seems to be old. The
west doorway, near the south-west angle, has a plain
round head and a chamfered string at the springing.
The roofs and fittings of the church are entirely
modern, but in the vestry is a seventeenth-century
communion table, and the font, at the west end of
the north aisle, is of the fifteenth century, with a
plain octagonal bowl and short panelled stem, and on
the chamfer at the base of the bowl plain shields
alternating with paterae of foliage.
There are five bells, the ring having been recast
from four old bells into five by Samuel Knight in
1701. The tenor bears the inscription:
John Gilberd did contrive
To cast from four this peale of fife.
John Gilberd was evidently the foreman in charge of
the work. The fourth bell was recast by Robert
Catlin in 1749, and the third is now cracked. The
bell frame was made new at the general recasting, and
is inscribed IG TO 1701.
The plate consists of a silver communion cup and
cover paten of 1592, two flagons of 1714, and a paten
of 1715.
The registers are complete from 1538, the first
book running to 1675, the second to 1704, and the
third to 1783, with marriages to 1753 only. The
fourth contains the marriages 1755–1804, the fifth and
sixth respectively the baptisms and burials, 1783–1812,
and the seventh the marriages 1804–37.
ADVOWSON
During the reign of Henry III
there appears to have been some dispute in connexion with the chapel of
Ropley. (fn. 33) In 1241 the sheriff of Southampton was
ordered to remove the lay force by which the men of
the prior of Merton were being obstructed, so that
they might have free entry to the chapel. The sheriff
was further commanded to attach Master Aubrey, the
official of the archdeacon of Winchester, to answer for
his action in collating and instituting to the chapel
contrary to the claim of the king, in whose hands the
right of presentation had devolved by reason of the
voidance of the see of Winchester.
The chapel seems soon afterwards to have been annexed to the parish church of Bishop's Sutton, and
from this time the descent of the advowson was identical with that of Bishop's Sutton till 1882, when by
an Order in Council of August, 1882, Ropley became
a separate civil parish. Since that date the advowson
has been in private hands, the living, which is a
vicarage of the net yearly value of £160, being at
present in the gift of the Rev. E. J. Woodhouse.
The rectory, tithe-barn, and tithes of Ropley belonged to Merton Abbey until its dissolution, and
were farmed out by the abbot for varying terms of
years. John Pynke, who was the farmer early in the
reign of Henry VIII, was succeeded by Robert Bulbecke, who gave up his right to William Wygmore. (fn. 34)
On the dissolution of the abbey Henry VIII granted
a lease of twenty-one years to William Wygmore, who
sold his right to William Marten. Queen Elizabeth
granted to the latter a lease of twenty-one years in
return for £48 to hold by the annual payment of
£12. (fn. 35) At the expiration of that term the queen
leased the rectory, tithes, and tithe-barn to Humphrey
Aplegarth for the term of the lives of the said Humphrey, Helen his wife, and their son William by the
annual payment of £12, and on the deaths of Humphrey, Helen, and William, 20s. in name of a heriot. (fn. 36)
They were to keep the chancel of the parish church
of Ropley in good repair, but were to be allowed to
take timber for that purpose, also 'housebote,'
'hedgebote,' 'firebote,' 'ploughbote,' and 'cartebote' from the premises thus let to them. (fn. 37) In
1606 William Aplegarth granted the reversion of the
tithe-barn and rectory after the death of his mother,
Helen, to Thomas Albery and Oliver Drawater, (fn. 38) but
he still seems to have been holding them in 1629. (fn. 39)
Sir Berkeley Lucy dealt with the grange and rectory
by indenture in 1693, (fn. 40) and was the impropriator in
1706. (fn. 41) The tithe-barn is still standing.
CHARITIES
In 1875 Henry Joyce Mulcock by
will left £500 to be invested and the
income applied in the distribution of
meat and other gifts to the poor at Christmas and otherwise for the benefit of the poor, the charity to be called
'The Ropley Trust Fund.' The legacy is invested
in £528 15s. consols, held by the official trustees of
charitable funds, who also hold a sum of £51 11s. 11d.
like stock, under the title of 'Charity for Poor,' arising
from investment of the proceeds of the sale of cottages
built on waste land granted by the lord of the manor
in 1849, the dividends upon which are under a scheme
of 31 January, 1890, applicable in augmentation of
Henry Joyce Mulcock's Charity. (fn. 42)
In 1890 Mrs. Rosa Anna Onslow, by will proved
this date, gave to the rector and churchwardens £300
to be invested in government securities and the income
applied for the benefit of the parish in such way as
they and their successors should consider most expedient. The legacy, less duty, was invested in the
purchase of £273 1s. 6d. consols with the official
trustees. (fn. 43)