WIDLEY
Wydelig (xii-xiii cent.); Wydele (xiv cent.);
Widley (xvi cent.).
In 1881 Widley was a small parish about five
miles north of Portsmouth. It was about two miles
in breadth and a mile in length, and contained
1,109 acres of land. In 1894, however, it was
amalgamated with Wymering and formed into the
present parish of Cosham. (fn. 1)
Widley is now a small secluded hamlet to which
the most direct approach from Cosham and Wymering
is by a track down the northern slope of Portsdown,
at the back of the Alexandra Hospital. Its only
buildings, beyond a few cottages, are the little church
of St. Mary Magdalen and a farmhouse close to it on
the west, called the Mill Farm. A little to the north
of the church a tributary of the Wallington, which
rises in Purbrook Park, runs north-west towards Southwick, Purbrook Heath House and Broomfield House
lying to the north of its course.
The soil is loamy, the subsoil chalk; the chief
crops are wheat, oats, and barley. The common
lands in Widley were inclosed in 1811–12. (fn. 2)
MANOR
At the time of the Domesday Survey
Geoffrey held Cosham under Hugh de
Port; Bricsmar had held it from King
Edward as an alod; it was assessed at two hides. (fn. 3)
These two hides evidently became later the MANOR
OF WIDLEY, which was held in the fourteenth century of the St. Johns, the descendants of the Ports, and
was closely connected with Cosham and Wymering.
The earls of Albemarle held Widley in the thirteenth century as under-tenants; William de Fortibus,
earl of Albemarle, died seised of the manor in 1260, (fn. 4)
leaving five children, four of whom died young.
The youngest and only surviving child Avelina
married Edmund earl of Lancaster, (fn. 5) and on her
death without issue in 1274 the manor passed to
Isabel countess of Albemarle, widow of William de
Fortibus. (fn. 6) She died without children in 1293, and
the manor reverted to the St. Johns as overlords. (fn. 7)
The Scures family evidently succeeded the Albemarles in Widley, and in the reign of Henry III Lord
William de Clynton and Eva his wife, the daughter and
heir of Roger de Scures, gave five acres of land to the
chapel of Widley. (fn. 8)
Uvedale. Argent a cross moline gules.
John de Scures, probably the nephew of Eva de
Clynton née Scures, held Widley in 1316, (fn. 9) and was
probably the same John de Scures who was holding one
fourth of a knight's fee in the manor in 1346; (fn. 10) between
this date and 1428 Widley must have passed from John
de Scures to the Uvedale family. In 1428 and 1431
John Uvedale held the fourth part of one knight's fee
in Widley, which had formerly been held by John de
Scures, (fn. 11) and the family must have continued to hold
Widley; for Dorothy, widow of William Uvedale, greatgrandson of John Uvedale, died seised of the manor
in 1531, and from her it passed to Arthur her son
and heir. (fn. 12) Arthur Uvedale
was succeeded by his son
William, who died in 1569, (fn. 13)
and was followed by his son
William, who married Mary
daughter of Sir Richard Norton. (fn. 14) The Uvedales were
deprived of two-thirds of their
lands for recusancy in 1605,
and Widley was granted among
other manors to Henry Wriothesley. (fn. 15) By 1607, (fn. 16) however, they had recovered their
lands, and in 1616 Sir William Uvedale senior
died, and Widley passed to his son William. (fn. 17) This
William conveyed the manor to Sir Francis Neale and
Edward Woodward in 1618 evidently for the purpose
of a settlement. (fn. 18) After this date, however, there
seems to be no record of the manor of Widley until
the year 1766, when it was in the possession of John
Suffeild Brown and Roger Griffith and was conveyed
by them to William Woodrow. (fn. 19) The manor was
still in the hands of the Woodrow family and their
connexions by marriage, the Maidments, in 1823;
but after that date the manor was sold to Mr. Thistlethwayte, in whose family it remains at the
present day. (fn. 20)
A fair, for three days from 15th July, with a court
of pie powder, in the manor of Widley, was granted
to Richard Turner in 1715. (fn. 21) This fair was still
among the appurtenances of the manor in 1823, (fn. 22) but
in 1862 an order was issued that the fair called
Portsdown Fair, held under charter in the manor of
Widley, was to cease henceforward. (fn. 23) There was a
windmill in Widley in 1823, (fn. 24) but there is no trace of
it at the present day except in the name Mill Farm.
CHURCH
The church of ST. MARY MAGDALEN was entirely rebuilt in 1849, in an
imitation of twelfth-century style, and has
an apsidal chancel and a nave with north aisle and
south porch, and a bell-cot for one bell on the west
gable of the nave
Nothing of the old church has been preserved
except a small font with a slender bowl on which is
IS 1690. It is built into the north wall of the
chancel to serve as a credence, three faces of the
bowl being exposed, on one of which is the date
already noted, and on the others an acanthus leaf and
a crowned rose respectively.
The plate consists of a modern chalice and
paten.
For the registers see Wymering.
ADVOWSON
The earliest mention of a church
at Widley seems to be in the year
1291, when the rectory of Widley
was assessed at £4 6s. 8d. (fn. 25) ; by 1535 the value had
increased to £7 4s. (fn. 26) The advowson of Widley was
granted to the prior and convent of Southwick by
Matthew de Scures, and was held by them until the
time of the Dissolution. (fn. 27) From 1538 down to the
year 1817 it followed the descent of the manor of
Southwick (q.v.). From 1817 to 1847 the advowson
was held alternately by Thomas Thistlethwayte, the
lord of the manor, and Winchester College. (fn. 28) In
1847 the advowson was bought by F. J. Nugée, and
has remained in his family until the present day. (fn. 29)
Since the beginning of the nineteenth century the
living has been a consolidated benefice, consisting of
the rectory of Widley and the vicarage of Wymering;
joint net yearly value, £280. (fn. 30)
CHARITIES
In 1771 John Taylor, rector of
Widley and vicar of Wymering, by
deed gave £100 consols for the
benefit of the said two parishes, and declared that
out of the annual outcome £2 should be applied in
purchasing Bibles, Prayer Books, and other pious books,
to be distributed amongst the poor of the two parishes.
When that end had been fully answered, the £2
should be applied in instructing poor children of the
two parishes to read and write, and the residue of the
income towards repairing the almshouses at Wymering
founded by Honor Wayte. The income of the charity
has for some years, at the discretion of the trustees,
been applied for the benefit of the Cosham almshouses.
See parish of Wymering.