BOARHUNT
Boorhunt, Burghunt (xiii cent.), Bourhunt Herberd (xv cent.), Burrant Harbard (xvi cent.), Boarhunt (xvi cent.).
Boarhunt is a small parish 3 miles north-east from
Fareham station and 8 miles north from Gosport.
The River Wallington flows westward through the
parish, dividing it into two parts, of which the
northern is larger than the southern. South Boarhunt
is a tiny secluded hamlet lying in the midst of fertile
country on the lower slopes of Portsdown, and consists of a few cottages, the little church of St. Nicholas
standing picturesquely on the edge of a disused chalkpit, overgrown with trees, and the old manor house,
now used as a farm. The principal road in the
parish is that running from Wickham to Southwick;
through beautiful wooded country. Boarhunt Mill,
with its back-ground of copses, stands at a little distance
to the west of the bridge by which the lane running
south from the Wickham road crosses the river, and
probably occupies the site of one of the two mills
mentioned in Domesday Book. (fn. 1) Near the southern
boundary of the parish, on the heights of Portsdown,
is a monument to Nelson erected about 1814— a
stone column about 120 ft. high supporting a bust—
while at the base are inscriptions recording the results
of the battle of Trafalgar. From the Portsdown
heights fine views can be obtained of the surrounding
country. To the north stretches the Forest of Bere,
while to the south there are spread open to the view
Portsmouth Harbour with its shipping, Portsmouth
Town, Fareham, Gosport, the Isle of Wight, and the
English Channel. The more populous part of the
parish is North Boarhunt, which lies north of the
river about a mile and a half from the church, and
consists of a straggling street running northwards to
the Forest of Bere. Nearly all the buildings lie on
the west side of the street, and opposite them are
allotments, for market gardening is the chief occupation of the inhabitants. In the village is a small
Wesleyan chapel, and an elementary school which was
built in 1873 for about fifty children and is supported
by Mr. Alexander Thistlethwayte, who owns most of
the land in the parish. To the north is the pound.
The West Walk extends as far as Wickham on the
west, while to the north and east as far as the eye can
reach stretches the Forest of Bere.
The soil of the parish is clay and loam, subsoil
chalk and clay; the area is 2,538 acres, of which
1,033 acres are arable land, 377½ permanent grass,
and 457 woodland. (fn. 2)
The following place-names occur in 1538: Crageland, Aishe Land, and Langislond; (fn. 3) and in 1775
Mitchell Land. (fn. 4)
MANORS
Boarhunt had at least three manors,
all of which can be traced in Domesday
with a fourth holding in addition.
These were subsequently known as Boarhunt, East
Boarhunt, and West Boarhunt. Domesday assigns
in addition to the monks of St. Swithun's, Winchester, a holding of half a hide.
The principal manor was WEST BOARHUNT,
which Earl Roger held at the time of the Domesday
Survey; three freemen had held it of King Edward
as an alod. A knight held one hide of this manor
where he had one plough. (fn. 5)
The over-lordship of Boarhunt passed from Earl
Roger to his son Robert de Belesme, earl of Shrewsbury and Arundel; (fn. 6) and after his forfeiture to the
earls of Arundel, for in 1273 one-third of the manor
of Boarhunt was held in dower by Maud de Verdun,
late the wife of John Fitz Alan, senior; and two
thirds were held by John de Mareschall as guardian
of the heirs of John Fitz Alan, junior. (fn. 7)
In the reign of Henry III Westburhunte (fn. 8) appears
among the fees of the earl of Arundel, being then
held of him by the prior of Southwick as half a fee
of the old feoffment; (fn. 9) it remained in the hands of
this priory until the Dissolution. (fn. 10) After the Dissolution the manor of West Boarhunt was granted to
Thomas Wriothesley, earl of Southampton, (fn. 11) in order
that he might alienate it to Ralph Henslowe. Thomas
Henslowe, Ralph's grandson, died seised of the manor
in 1617, leaving a son Thomas aged eleven. (fn. 12) After
this date, however, there seems to be no mention of
West Boarhunt until 1691, when Henry Lacy and
his wife Catherine were holding half the manor and
advowson, though whether by right of inheritance or
by purchase it seems impossible to discover, and conveyed them in that year to Richard Caryll, evidently
for the purpose of a settlement. (fn. 13)
Three years later Richard Caryll, Henry Lacy, and
Catherine sold the manor to Richard Norton for
£660; (fn. 14) and from this time it evidently follows the
descent of the manor of Boarhunt (q.v.).
The manor of BOARHUNT was held by Hugh
de Port in 1086; at the time of the Survey he
held one hide in Boarhunt and Tezelin held it
of him; Lefsi and Merman had held it of King
Edward as an alod. In the time of King Edward
the Confessor, as well as in 1086, it paid geld for
one hide. There was enough demesne land for one
plough and a mill worth 5s.; the whole manor
being worth 20s. (fn. 15) In the reign of Henry III it
was held of his heir Robert de St. John as 'Borhunte' by Herbert de Boarhunt, who owed him the
service of two knights' fees. (fn. 16) These were held by
Thomas de Boarhunt at his death in 1262. (fn. 17)
The family which took the name of Boarhunt
were holding lands in the parish early in the thirteenth century, (fn. 18) and by the beginning of the fourteenth century were in possession of the manor, which on
the murder of Sir Herbert
Boarhunt in 1312 was divided
between his two sons Richard
and Henry. One part, known
as the manor of Boarhunt, the
manor proper, remained with
Richard the elder, and the
other part, subsequently known
as Boarhunt Herbelyn (q.v.),
passed to Henry the younger. (fn. 19)
Sir Richard de Boarhunt settled the manor on his son
Thomas for the term of his own life in 1305, (fn. 20)
and in 1314 on him jointly with Margaret his wife
in fee. (fn. 21) Thomas held the manor in 1316, (fn. 22) and
died seised of it in 1339. (fn. 23)
Boarhunt. Argent a fesse between six martlets gules.
His widow, Margaret, married William Danvers as
her second husband, (fn. 24) and held the manor until her
death, which took place before 1359, when the
manor passed to her son John de Boarhunt and his
wife Mary des Roches. (fn. 25)
John died seised of it in 1359, leaving an only
son John, aged fourteen, (fn. 26) who probably died soon
afterwards, since in 1363 the reversion of the manor
after the death of Mary, widow of John, now wife
of Bernard de Brocas, is said to have belonged to
John son of Herbert de Boarhunt, a cousin of her
former husband, and to have been made over by
him to Valentine atte Mede of Bramdean. (fn. 27) Bernard
Brocas and Mary conveyed their estate in Boarhunt to William of Wykeham, then archdeacon of
Lincoln, in 1365 (fn. 28) ; and two years later Valentine
atte Mede also granted to William of Wykeham,
bishop of Winchester, all his right in the manor of
Boarhunt, now sometimes known as Boarhunt
Herberd. (fn. 29)
Finally in 1369 the king confirmed the manor of
Boarhunt Herberd to William of Wykeham, together
with all the lands which had belonged to John de
Boarhunt, in order that he might give them to the
prior and convent of Southwick. (fn. 30)
The manor remained in the hands of the prior and
convent until the Dissolution,
when it was granted in 1543
to Thomas Wriothesley, earl
of Southampton. (fn. 31) In the
next year licence was granted
to the earl to alienate the
manor to John White of
Southwick, (fn. 32) and from this
time onwards the manorial
descent follows that of Southwick (q.v.).
William of Wykeham. Argent two cheverons sable between three roses gules.
There were two mills in
Boarhunt at the time of the
Domesday Survey, one worth
42d. and one for the use of
the hall; there were also two salt-pans which were
valued at 22s. 4d. (fn. 33)
In 1365 there was a mill among the appurtenances
of the manor, which Bernard Brocas and his wife
Mary conveyed to William of Wykeham. (fn. 34)
A grant of free warren in his demesne lands of
Boarhunt was made to Richard de Boarhunt in 1358, (fn. 35)
also the right of holding a market every week on
Saturday and a fair every year to last three days,
namely, the eve, day, and morrow of St. Thomas the
Apostle. (fn. 36) There are no traces of these remaining at
the present day.
The manor of BOARHUNT HERBELYN (Burrant Harbelyn, xiv cent.) evidently takes its name in
the reign of Henry III from Herbelin who held it
by serjeanty. (fn. 37) Earlier in the reign it was held by
William de Boarhunt as one carucate, elsewhere described as worth 40s. a year, by the serjeanty of serving
in Portchester Castle, with a 'habergellum' in time
of war for twenty (or forty) days. (fn. 38) At this date the
manor of Boarhunt Herbelyn passed to Henry de
Boarhunt, who held it until his death in 1320, when
it passed to his son Gilbert. (fn. 39) Thomas son and heir
of Gilbert died unmarried, but before his death he
granted his estate to Richard Danvers, who resettled
it on himself and his brother William, who had
married Margaret de Boarhunt; Thomas (fn. 40) cousin of
William Danvers died in 1361 and Richard in 1362. (fn. 41)
On the death of William, Richard made over this
estate to trustees in order that they might convey it
to the prior and convent of Southwick. (fn. 42)
The manor remained with the prior and convent
until the Dissolution, when it was granted in 1543
to Thomas Wriothesley, earl of Southampton. (fn. 43)
From this time the descent of this manor follows that
of Boarhunt Herberd (q.v.).
The manor of EAST BOARHUNT is identical, in
Mr. Round's opinion, with one of the two unnamed
holdings of William Mauduit in Portsdown Hundred,
recorded in Domesday Book. For in the reign of
Henry III it was held of his descendant and namesake
as 'Estburhunt' by Robert de Bello Alneto, and is
there entered as half a hide of land. (fn. 44) In 1262 it was
found to be held of William Mauduit by William de
Bello Alneto as half a knight's fee. The same tenant
was holding a quarter of a fee of Thomas de Boarhunt, the St. John's tenant in the manor of Boarhunt (fn. 45)
The tithing of HIPLEY (Huppeley, Hippeleye,
Ipley, xiv and xvi cent.) lies to the north-west of the
parish of Boarhunt. The earliest mention seems to
be in the year 1248, when Basil de Hipley granted
half a carucate of land in Hipley to Robert le
Burgeys after an assize of mort d'ancestor. (fn. 46)
Philip de Benstede and his wife Imania granted
the fourth part of half a carucate of land, 25 acres
of meadow and 6s. 11d. rent in Hipley, to the prior
and convent of Southwick in 1270. (fn. 47)
From this time the prior and convent were gradually acquiring lands in Hipley, from Geoffrey de
Wanstede in 1335, (fn. 48) from John, son of Robert le
Porter, and William Rushmere in 1336, (fn. 49) from Hugh
Beneyt in 1343. (fn. 50)
After the dissolution in 1537 the lands in Hipley
belonging to the prior and convent were granted to
John White of Southwick, (fn. 51) and as there is no further
separate record of Hipley, the lands evidently followed
the descent of the manor of Southwick (q.v.).
CHURCH
The church of ST. NICHOLAS has a
chancel 15 ft. 3 in. east to west by
14 ft. 9 in., and a nave 41 ft. by 19 ft.,
with a bell-turret on the west gable. It is a very
valuable specimen of a small pre-Conquest building,
preserving its main dimensions unchanged. The
walls are 2 ft. 6 in. thick, built of flint rubble, originally covered with a thick coat of yellow plastering, of
which a certain amount remains intact, and the angles
have Binstead stone dressings of excellent quality,
preserving in places short diagonal tool-marks. The
stones are not set after the common pre-Conquest
fashion of long and short work, and though in some
cases of good size are not remarkable in any way.
All internal angles, whether salient or re-entering,
are built with ashlar quoins.
The only original window is on the north side of
the chancel, and is a round-headed light 2 ft. wide at
the outer opening, and double splayed, the pierced
midwall slab having an opening 1 ft. 10 in. high,
surrounded by a double line of cable-moulding. The
head and jambs within and without are of good
fine-jointed ashlar work, the sills being of plastered
rubble. Internally this window is blocked by a
sixteenth-century monument.
The east and south windows of the chancel are
inserted thirteenth-century lancets, and at the west
end of the south wall is a plain segmental-headed
doorway, now blocked.
On either side of the east window are image
brackets, that on the north side being the larger,
while that on the south has a carved human head
beneath it. Close to the latter is a small piscina
with a groove for a shelf and a projecting bowl, and
near it in the south wall, in the jamb of the south
window, is a second recess which has been fitted with
a shelf.
The chancel has had a flat ceiling, perhaps representing the original arrangement, but is now covered
with a canted plastered ceiling. The chancel arch,
6 ft. 8 in. wide, is semicircular, of a single plain order,
with a square-edged rib-mould, and a deep moulded
abacus chamfered below, and setting out to take the
rib, which was originally continued down the jambs,
though now cut back. The masonry here, as in the
external quoins, shows no tendency to 'long and
short' work.
The west face of the wall on either side of the
chancel arch is occupied by segmental-headed recesses
20 in. deep, the side walls of the nave being also cut
back at the east end and carried on half arches; the
object being to make convenient room for the nave
altars. The northern recess is lighted on the north
by a small lancet, but the southern recess has lost its
south half-arch by the insertion of a square-headed
two-light sixteenth-century window. The recesses
are of thirteenth-century date, as shown by
the moulded strings at the west of the lateral
recesses, and the corbel which is set beneath
the abacus of the rib-mould on the north jamb
of the chancel arch is of the same date. Below
the south window is a small piscina.
The present nave was originally divided into
a nave and a western chamber by a wall 2 ft.
6 in. thick, which crossed it at right angles
26 ft. from the chancel arch. In it was probably an archway, and the western chamber may
have been of two floors, but nothing beyond
the bonding of the cross wall now remains.
The original north and south doorways of
the nave, of which traces only remain, were
further to the east than those which now exist.
These are blocked with masonry, but show pointed
archways of thirteenth-century date, their eastern
jambs just overlapping the western limits of the doorways they replace. The cross-wall was probably in
existence when they were built, or they would have
been set further to the west. At the same time lancet
windows were inserted in the north and south walls of
the western chamber at a height which tells against
any division into two floors at the time. Both lancets
are widely splayed, with sloping sills, and in the west
wall is a third lancet in modern stonework with a
modern west doorway below it. The west wall with
its buttresses and bell-cot above is all modern or refaced.
The nave has a canted plaster ceiling with dealcased tie-beams, and the fittings of the church are of
plain deal, with a west gallery. In the chancel are
considerable remains of wall paintings, with indistinct subjects under a trefoiled arcade and painted
drapery below.
The font, at the south-west of the nave, has a
plain round tapering bowl without a shaft or any
detail to suggest its approximate date.
Against the north wall of the chancel is set a monument dated 1577, with no inscription except the initials
C P, R H, and K P of the persons commemorated.
The upper part has three panels surmounted by a
flat cornice on which are three pediments, one of
rounded form between two which are angular; on
these stand three headless figures, apparently Charity
between Faith and Hope. Under the soffit of the
cornice are angels holding shields inscribed with I H S,
and the panels below are divided from each other by
Corinthian columns carrying an architrave, on which
over the columns is the date 1577, one figure over
each column, and over the panels the initials already
noted. In the panels are shields, as follows:—Under
C P, the arms of Pound, Argent a fesse gules between
two dragons' heads and a cross formy fitchy sable
with three molets argent on the fesse; under R H,
the arms of Henslow, Argent a cross gules with five
lions' heads erased or on the cross; and under K P,
the arms of Poole, Party or and sable a saltire engrailed
counterchanged. The central shield is that of Ralph
Henslow, who married a sister of John White, the
grantee of Southwick Priory.
In the bell-cot is one modern bell.
The plate comprises a silver communion cup of
Elizabethan type, c. 1570, with a wide engraved band
on the bowl, a standing paten of 1691, and a plated
flagon and almsdish.
Boarhunt Church
The earliest book of registers contains baptisms
from 1578 to 1628, and burials from 1588, and the
next contains all entries from 1653 to 1805. The
remaining entries to 1812 are in three small books.
ADVOWSON
At the time of the Domesday
Survey there was a church in
Boarhunt, (fn. 52) which probably became
at a later date the parish church of West Boarhunt
as it was called. The church and the advowson of
the rectory of West Boarhunt evidently passed into
the hands of the prior and convent of Southwick
between 1262 and 1316, together with the manor
of West Boarhunt (q.v.), and remained in their
possession until the time of the Dissolution. (fn. 53) The
value of the rectory was given in 1291 as £7 6s. 8d.,
tithes 14s. 8d. (fn. 54) After the Dissolution the advowson
followed the descent of the manor (q.v.). The living
is now consolidated with that of Southwick, and is in
the gift of Mr. Alexander Thistlethwayte, who is
lord of the manor.