IBSTONE
Hibestanes, Ebestan, Ybestane (xi cent.); Ykkerton
(xiii cent.); Ypston (xvi cent.).
Ibstone or Ipstone is a small parish, now lying
wholly in Buckinghamshire. A part of it, including
the church and village, (fn. 1) was transferred from Oxfordshire in 1895. (fn. 2) At the end of the 18th century the
county boundary is said to have passed through the
parlour of the manor-house. (fn. 3) The parish covers
1,120 acres, which include 618 acres of arable,
173 acres of permanent grass and 318 acres of woods
and plantations. (fn. 4) The usual slope of the land is
between 400 ft. and 500 ft. above ordnance datum,
rising to 705 ft. on Ibstone Common in the northwest and falling to 300 ft. in the south of the parish.
The soil on the higher parts is clay and chalk with
a subsoil of flint and gravel, and in some parts there
is sand. The chief crops raised are wheat, barley
and oats. The main road runs down the centre of the
parish. The village, which lies along the northern
part of this road and is scattered, contains a few
houses of the 16th and 17th centuries, and in Lower
Ibstone, in the extreme south of the parish, are
several more.
The church stands on a hill overlooking the
Hambleden valley about a mile to the south-west of
the village. In spite of its commanding situation it is
not easy to get a good view of Ibstone Church from
any distance, since it is small and almost surrounded
by trees. On the north side of the spacious churchyard is a notably fine yew tree many centuries old.
To the south-west of the church is the Manor Farm,
the property of Merton College, Oxford. It is an
early 17th-century house of brick and timber, two
stories in height, with tiled roofs. Much original
work survives, including two chimney stacks with
square shafts. Internally some late 17th-century
panelling remains. North of the church stretches
Churchfield Copse with Parsonage Wood beyond.
The Rectory House, substantially built in 1857 of
flint and red brick, stands on high ground to the
north-west of the village at some distance from the
church. Near the village on the south-east is Ibstone
House, the seat of Lord Summer (of the Court of
Appeal of House of Lords). It is a long, low stuccoed
building of two stories, built probably in the 18th
century, and stands more than 500 ft. above the sea.
In the garden, from which good views of the neighbourhood can be obtained, is
a notable collection of conifers. The old windmill on
Copstone Hill, called Copsham
Hill in 1633, (fn. 5) gives its name
to Mill Hanging Wood. There
is a Methodist chapel on Ibstone Common.
The following place-names
have been found: Hartmore,
a plot of land of 44 acres, and
a messuage called Plumbridges,
held by Augustine Belson of
Brill at his death in 1616, (fn. 6)
Surringes (fn. 7) (xvii cent.) and
Hell Corner Farm (xix cent.),
now Hill Corner Farm.
MANOR
In 1086 Ibstone formed
part of the king's
lands allotted to officials. (fn. 8) It
had become attached to the
honour of Wallingford before
1300, when on the death of
Edmund Earl of Cornwall
that honour reverted to
Edward I, and so became part
of the estates of the Crown. (fn. 9) Although no specific
reference to the connexion of Ibstone with the
honour of Wallingford has been found after 1316, (fn. 10)
it continued to be held of the king in chief, (fn. 11) with
the de Plessets or de Plecy family as intermediaries. (fn. 12)
IBSTONE MANOR
IBSTONE MANOR, before the Conquest, was
held by Tovi, a thegn of King Edward, who had the
option of selling it. (fn. 13) Hervey, the legate or interpreter, as Mr. Round suggests, (fn. 14) held it in 1086,
when it was assessed at 2 hides. (fn. 15) He also held land
in Ibstone assessed at 2 hides under Oxfordshire,
which did not render geld or any other service to the
king. (fn. 16) Henry III granted
the manor of Ibstone about
1270 to Walter Merton,
Bishop of Rochester, for the endowment of Merton College,
Oxford. (fn. 17) This included land
in Ibstone in both counties,
for in 1347 the college was
permitted to hold in free alms
half the manor of Ibstone in
Oxfordshire and half the
manor of Ibstone in Buckinghamshire. (fn. 18) Merton College
obtained a confirmation in
1633 (fn. 19) and holds the manor
at the present day.
Merton College, Oxford. Or three cheve-rons parted and counter-coloured azure and gules.
Sir Christopher Willoughby, bart., was lessee of
Ibstone in 1797 (fn. 20) and his son Sir Henry Willoughby,
bart., (fn. 21) in 1862. (fn. 22)
The Manor Farm, Ibstone
The Ibstone House estate probably represents the
property owned in Ibstone by Henry afterwards
Sir Henry Allnutt (fn. 23) in 1650. (fn. 24) Elizabeth, one of
the daughters of his eldest son George, married James
Clarke, and he sold part of the estate about 1722 to
Daniel Baker, who purchased it for his brother-inlaw, Mr. Faure. (fn. 25) Another daughter married Bartholomew Tipping of Woolley Park, Berkshire, and
she apparently inherited Ibstone House. It passed,
with Cadmore End in Fingest (q.v.), to Mary Ann
Musgrave, niece of Bartholomew Tipping (ob. 1798),
who had married the Rev. Philip Wroughton. Their
son Philip Wroughton of Woolley Park sold the
estate in 1860 to Sir Thomas Harte Franks, K.C.B., (fn. 26)
at whose death in 1862 it went to his widow. Lady
Franks gave it to her eldest son by a former marriage,
Samuel Richard Brewis, who died in 1897. His
widow sold the estate about 1908 to Mr. Francis
Wright, from whom it was purchased about three years
later by the present owner, Lord Sumner.
CHURCH
The church of ST. NICHOLAS consists of a chancel measuring internally
19 ft. 6 in. by 14 ft. 6 in., nave 29 ft. 6 in.
by 18 ft. 6 in., south porch and a west bell-turret.
Ibstone Church: The Chancel Arch
The nave dates from the early 12th century and
retains detail of this period in the chancel arch, the
north and south doorways and the west window.
In the succeeding century the chancel was rebuilt.
Beyond the insertion of larger windows in the 14th
and 15th centuries little appears to have been done
to the fabric till the restoration undertaken in 1870,
when the chancel roof was reconstructed and diagonal
buttresses were added to the eastern angles. The
framing of the bell-turret is probably of the same
date as the nave roof, which bears the date 1774 on
one of the tie-beams, and the porch is a modern
reconstruction.
The chancel is lighted from the east by a triplet
of 13th-century lancets, with moulded rear arches
springing from shafts with moulded capitals and bases
attached to the internal jambs. At the south-east is
a square-headed 14th-century window of two trefoiled
ogee lights. To the west of this is a small blocked
doorway with a pointed head and at the south-west
a small square-headed light, both probably of the
14th century. The chancel arch is semicircular and
of one plain order. The jambs and abaci are not of
the original work and suggest that the arch has been
raised. A carved head has been built into the soffit
of the arch at the apex.
In the north wall of the nave is a square-headed
window of two lights with four-centred heads, apparently a 16th-century insertion. The only
other opening in this wall is the 12thcentury north doorway, now blocked
and concealed externally by the heating
chamber. The head of the doorway is
formed by a straight lintel contained
within an external round arch, the
tympanum being ornamented by small
lozenge-shaped stones. In the south wall
is a late 14th-century square-headed
window of two trefoiled lights with a
small foliated piercing between their
heads. The work is coarse and has
most probably been recut. In the wall
above it is set a carved head. The south
doorway has a straight lintel enriched
with the billet and a plain round arch
flush with the tympanum, which is filled
with lozenge-shaped stones. Internally
the head and jambs are plain; the external jambs with their chamfered abaci
are either modern or reworked. At the
west end of the south wall is a small
pointed light with external jambs and
head of brick. The opening may be an
old one, but of what period it is impossible to say, the internal splays being
covered with plaster. The west window
is a small round-headed light of original
12th-century date, but the head and
jambs have been retooled. The 18thcentury roof of the nave is supported by
plain king-post trusses and is covered
externally with lead. The walls of
the chancel are plastered; those of the
nave are of flint, roughly plastered, the
south wall being covered with roughcast.
The tub font is probably 12th-century work, though recut.
The four-sided oak pulpit, which is of the early 15th
century, has two traceried panels on each face, separated
by small pinnacled buttresses. The panels have ogee
heads with crockets, and the whole work is of an elaborate type. The base, stairs and cornice are modern
renewals. A staple in the pulpit, to which a Bible
was probably chained, retained the end of the chain
within living memory.
The oak communion table is of the 17th century.
There are two bells, both undated, but probably
of the 18th century.
The plate includes a cup, with the date letter much
worn, but apparently of 1619.
The registers begin in 1665.
In the south-east corner of the churchyard is a
stone coffin, now broken.
ADVOWSON
The advowson of the church of
Ibstone has always been appendant
to the manor (fn. 27) (q.v.), with which it
is held at the present day by Merton College. The
church is stated in 1341 to have been taxed £2 in
1291. (fn. 28) Its value in 1535 was £10. (fn. 29) The rectory
has been held with Fingest since 1841, having previously been joined to that of Cuxham, Oxfordshire, (fn. 30) which also belongs to Merton College. (fn. 31) The
presentations are made alternately by the college and
the Bishop of Oxford. (fn. 32) The tithes of Ibstone had
been commuted by 1862 for £170. (fn. 33) The glebe
lands are worth £44 5s. yearly. (fn. 34)
CHARITY
Ibstone has a share in the charities
of Henry Allnutt and John and
Robert Baker, known as the Goring
Heath charity. The Ibstone Church of England
elementary school is held by the trustees, who pay
premiums for apprenticeship and provide outfits of
clothing.