BEDHAMPTON
Betametone (xi cent.); Bodehampton (xv cent.);
Bedhampton (xvi cent.).
The parish of Bedhampton is very long and narrow,
being about 1½ miles in breadth at the widest part and
6½ miles in length; its southern part extending down
Langstone Harbour nearly as far as the South Hayling
farm, and including the four islands, Baker's Island,
Long Island, and North and South Binness. A small
part of the town of Havant lies within its boundaries.
The London Brighton and South Coast Railway passes
through the village, which is about a mile west from
Havant Station and 6 miles north-east of Portsmouth.
A cluster of low houses near the church forms the
older part of the village, while a group of inns, shops,
and houses lying along both sides of the high road
from Portsmouth to Havant, and separated from the
church by a wide meadow called Bedbury Mead, marks
the modern outgrowth. Here are the schools which
were built in 1868, enlarged in 1873, and again in
1895, for about 180 children; and also a Primitive
Methodist chapel erected in 1875. From the
schools a footpath over Bedbury Mead leads south-west
to Lower Bedhampton, as the part near the church is
called. Opposite the church are the rectory, a large
white house, and Bedbury House, which is at present
unoccupied. Directly north-west of the church the
manor house stands on rising ground overlooking
Bedbury Mead. Other houses are The Elms, at the
corner of the road to the west of the church, occupied
by Mr. Lionel Fawkes, and The Towers, occupied by
Miss Meiklam, on the main road from Portsmouth to
Havant, west of the village.
There are numerous springs in the village, which
have become quite famous for their properties; St.
Chad's Well, near the manor house, being supposed to
possess the most health-giving virtues. A stream rising
near the post office runs parallel with the village street.
The hamlet of Belmont lies on high ground north of
the church, and is almost a continuation of the village.
Belmont Park, the seat of Mr. W. H. Snell, lies to
the north and covers an area of some 20 acres. The
north-west part of the parish of Bedhampton is thickly
wooded, once forming part of the Forest of Bere,
which in early times extended as far south as the range
of the Portsdown Hills.
The road which leads northward from Belmont to
Waterlooville goes through the heart of this beautifully
wooded country, Little Parkwood, Neville's Park, and
Beech Wood being the names of the largest stretches
of woodland. The area of the parish is about 2,401
acres of land, and 4 acres of land covered by water;
228 acres covered by tidal water and 1,166 acres of
foreshore. (fn. 1) The proportion of land in the parish is
542¾ acres of arable land, 1,125 acres of permanent
grass, and 413½ acres of woodland. (fn. 2) The soil is loam;
subsoil chalk; and varies in quality. The chief crops
are wheat, barley, and oats.
MANORS
Early in the ninth century King
Egbert granted the manor of Bedhampton
to the cathedral church of Winchester. (fn. 3)
By the reign of Edward the Confessor it had passed
to the abbey of Hyde, of whom it was held by a
certain Alsi. However, at the time of the Domesday
Survey Hugh de Port held it of the abbey as he held
so many other Hampshire manors. (fn. 4)
By 1086 the manor had decreased in value, probably
owing to the incursions of the Norsemen, who sailed
into Portsmouth Harbour and devastated the surrounding abbeys and lands. The St. Johns continued to hold
the manor from the abbey of Hyde, and eventually
obtained the over-lordship. (fn. 5)
Bedhampton was held by Herbert in 1167, the
son of Herbert the Chamberlain, ancestor of the
baronial Fitz Herberts, who held the manor until
the beginning of the fourteenth century. (fn. 6)
Herbert Fitz Peter, a descendant of the above,
held Bedhampton in 1236, and was forced in that
year to acknowledge the right of Walter abbot of
Hyde to exact scutage and relief from two knights'
fees there. (fn. 7) Reginald his brother died seised of the
manor in 1281, leaving a son John, a minor, and a
widow Joan, (fn. 8) who received dower in the manor in
1286. (fn. 9) Eight years later Bedhampton, which had
been taken into the king's hands by reason of default
made by Joan against the master of the Hospital of St.
John and St. Nicholas at Portsmouth, (fn. 10) was evidently
recovered by her, and in 1314 she died seised
of the manor which she held of the abbot of
Hyde. (fn. 11) Hugh le Despenser the elder held Bedhampton in 1316 (fn. 12) by enfeoffment from John son of
Reginald and Joan in 1305. (fn. 13) Upon his attainder
and forfeiture in 1326 the manor passed to Edmund
earl of Arundel, who held it for a short time before
his attainder at the end of the
year 1326. (fn. 14) In 1327 the
manor was granted to Edmund
of Woodstock earl of Kent, (fn. 15)
youngest son of Edward I.
After the deposition of Edward II the earl of Kent was
soon engaged with the earl
of Lancaster against Isabel
and Mortimer, who therefore
plotted to inveigle him into an
attempt to release Edward II
by inventing stories that he
was still imprisoned abroad
or at Corfe Castle. The
earl at once began to take measures for his release,
and was thereupon arrested for treason on 13 March,
1329; and having been hastily and unjustly condemned, he was beheaded outside the walls of
Winchester on 19 March. (fn. 16) Upon his forfeiture
Bedhampton was granted for life to John Maltravers,
steward of the household, in consideration of his
agreement to stay always with the king. (fn. 17) However,
the attainder of the earl of Kent was reversed in
favour of his son Edmund in 1330. (fn. 18) In 1346
Margaret countess of Kent, widow of Edmund of
Woodstock, held one-and-a-half fees in Bedhampton
by right of wardship, since her son Edmund had died
in 1333 and his brother and heir John was a minor. (fn. 19)
Edmund of Woodstock, Earl of Kent. The arms of England with a silver border.
In 1352 John died without issue seised of Bedhampton manor, which therefore passed to his sister
Joan, the Fair Maid of Kent, wife of Thomas lord
Holland, who became earl of Kent in right of his
wife. (fn. 20) The manor remained with the Hollands as
earls of Kent until the extinction of the male line of
that house, when it descended through Margaret,
one of the co-heirs of the last earl, to her son John
Beaufort first duke of Somerset, (fn. 21) whose daughter
Margaret became the countess of Richmond and
mother of Henry VII; and it was hence merged in
the crown on her death in 1509. (fn. 22)
Henry VIII leased the manor in 1522 to Stephen
Copes for a term of 21 years. (fn. 23) Before this term
had expired the king again granted it in 1537 to
William Fitz William earl of Southampton, (fn. 24) on
whose death without issue in 1542 the estate again
reverted to the crown. (fn. 25)
Edward VI on his accession granted the manor to
Richard Cotton 'in consideration of long and faithful
service'; and it remained
with the Cotton family for a
considerable period. (fn. 26) On the
death of Richard Cotton in
1556 (fn. 27) his lands passed to
his son George, who died in
1609 and was succeeded by
his son Richard. (fn. 28) Richard
conveyed Bedhampton manor
to the king in 1610 by fine, (fn. 29)
probably for assurance of title,
as it was re-granted to him
in the same year, (fn. 30) and he
died possessed of it in 1635,
Richard his grandson, son of his son George, being
his heir. (fn. 31)
Cotton. Azure a cheveron between three hanks of cotton argent.
The manor was still in the hands of the Cottons
in 1714, and was sold by them to Adam Cardonnell,
who gave it to his daughter Mary on her marriage
with the Rt. Hon. William Talbot. (fn. 32)
Mr. Legge, afterwards Lord Stawell, purchased
Bedhampton from Lord Talbot in 1778, and was in
possession of it in 1790. (fn. 33) Lord Stawell left Bedhampton to his daughter and heir, Mary Legge,
who was married to Lord Sherborne as her second
husband. By his will Lord Sherborne left the
manor to his third son, Ralph Dutton, from whom it
passed to his grandson, Henry Dutton, in whose hands
it remains at the present day. (fn. 34)
The old manor house, pulled down in 1881, was
an L-shaped building of red brick and timber framing, which for some time before its destruction had
fallen into disrepair, and was divided into six tenements. It was a picturesque building of two stories,
the upper overhanging, and the roof was thatched,
but contained nothing of architectural interest, and
was probably only a fragment of a more important
building. A view of it drawn by Mr. M. Snape in
1876 is published in the Proceedings of the Hants
Field Club, ii, 253.
At the time of the Domesday Survey there were
two mills in Bedhampton parish, and also two salt
pans worth 37s. 8d. (fn. 35) The mills are mentioned as a
water-mill and a fulling-mill in 1338, (fn. 36) and again in
1352. (fn. 37) In 1537, (fn. 38) and again in 1547, two mills
'built under one roof' (fn. 39) are mentioned among the
appurtenances of the manor.
CHURCH
The church of ST. THOMAS consists
of chancel 28 ft. by 18 ft. 6 in. (18 ft. at
the west end), with north vestry, and
nave 46 ft. by 19 ft. 3 in., with north aisle and south
porch.
The chancel arch, c. 1140, is the oldest piece of
architectural detail remaining, and the south and
west walls of the nave may be in part of the same
date. The chancel, the south wall of which is in
line with that of the nave, seems to have been rebuilt
in the thirteenth century, and probably lengthened
about 1360–70, the south wall being set outside the
line of the former south wall. The line of the north
wall, however, has probably not been altered, and
the wall may contain older masonry in its western
portion. The north arcade and aisle were added to
the nave in 1878, and the chancel was repaired and
the north vestry added in 1869. The old walls are
of flint and freestone rubble with ashlar quoins, and
in the upper part of the wall at the south-west of
the nave a piece of twelfth-century zigzag ornament
is used up.
The chancel has an east window of three trefoiled
lights, with two quatrefoils in the head, c. 1370, and
north and south windows of the same date, with
square heads, two-light trefoiled tracery, and segmental rear-arches. In the south-east angle is a
contemporary cinquefoiled piscina, with a stone shelf.
The western part of the north wall is taken up by
the organ, opposite to which in the south wall is a
square-headed window of two shouldered lights, probably of thirteenth-century date, and in the south-west
angle a square-headed low side window 16 in.
wide at the glass line by 3 ft. high, splayed internally
with a segmental head, its sill being 2 ft. from the
present floor, which is slightly above the old level.
In the north vestry a trefoiled fourteenth-century
light is re-used.
The chancel arch is semicircular, of one order and
11 ft. wide, having a roll and lozenge pattern on the
western side, a label with a double line of hatched
ornament, and small angle shafts with scalloped capitals and moulded bases with spurs. The abacus has a
hollow chamfer below, and is continued as a string
on the west face, and on the east face of the south
respond are parts of a string of different section,
perhaps not in situ.
The nave has a modern north arcade of three bays
and a north aisle, the west window of which is a late
fourteenth-century two-light window re-used, with
trefoiled lights and tracery. In the south wall of the
nave is a similar window, and to the east of it two
single-light windows one over the other. The
upper, which has a square head, has been inserted to
light the rood-loft, and the lower, which is pointed,
with a segmental rear-arch, lighted the south nave
altar. There are no other traces of this altar, but
the remains of a fifteenth-century niche on the north
of the chancel arch mark the site of the corresponding north altar of the nave.
The south doorway of the nave has a plain late
fourteenth-century arch with continuous mouldings,
and to the west of it is a contemporary window of
two trefoiled lights with a trefoiled opening in the
head. In the wall above its west jamb is a stone
corbel, which may have carried a beam supporting a
western gallery.
The west window is of early fourteenth-century
style, with three acute cinquefoiled lights; the tracery
looks like old work re-used. On the west gable is a
modern bell-turret containing one bell by Clement
Tosier, 1688, but its corbelled base on the east face
of the wall seems to be ancient.
The roofs are red tiled, the timbers of the chancel
roof being modern, while those of the nave are old,
with plain tie-beams and trussed rafters. Otherwise
all woodwork is modern, but within the chancel rails
are a seventeenth-century chair and bench. The
font, near the south door, is modern, with a square
bowl and a central and four angle pillars of twelfth-century style, the angle pillars being of yellow marble.
The first book of the registers contains all entries
from 1690 to 1813. There is a book of parish
accounts, 1692–1783. The plate consists of a silver
almsdish, paten, chalice and flagon.
ADVOWSON
In 1086 there was a church in
Bedhampton. (fn. 40) At the time of Pope
Nicholas's taxation (about 1291) the
rectory of Bedhampton was assessed at £10 16s. 8d.;
and the tithes at £1 1s. 8d. (fn. 41) In the reign of Henry
VIII the rectory was valued at £10 14s. 10d. (fn. 42)
The advowson followed the descent of the manor
until the year 1634, when it was granted by Richard
Cotton, the holder of the manor, to Thomas Greene
for a turn. (fn. 43) The crown held it for a turn in 1660,
and in 1688 William Heycroft so held it; but in 1713
it was again in the hands of the Cotton family, who
were still holding the manor. It continued to follow
the descent of the manor till 1801, when the duke of
Beaufort held it; and in 1817 the marquis of Downshire. (fn. 44) The Rev. C. B. Henville bought the advowson for his own use in 1818 and remained the
incumbent until 1836. (fn. 45) Andrew Reid held the
advowson from 1836 until 1844, when it was bought
by St. John Alder for his own use. (fn. 46) From 1866
until 1888 both the living and the advowson were
held by Rev. E. Daubeny. The Andersons held the
advowson from 1888 until 1897, when it passed into
the hands of Mrs. Poyntz-Sanderson, who holds it at
the present time. (fn. 47) The living is a rectory of the
net yearly value of £285 with residence and 26 acres
of glebe.
CHARITIES
In 1875 Henry Snook by deed
gave £500 consols, dividends to be
applied as to £10 for encouraging
further education of girls, the remainder for clothing to
boys or girls as prizes. The stock is in the name of
the Bedhampton School Board, for the benefit of
whose schools the dividends are applied.