RADNAGE
Radenach, Radenai, Radenhach (xii cent.); Radenache (xiii-xv cent.); Radenhag, Radnashe, Radnage
(xvi cent. onwards).
Radnage is a border parish of 1,368 acres, of which
903 are arable and 250 permanent grass. (fn. 1) The soil
is chalky with a subsoil of light loam and clay. The
crops produced are arable.
The parish is well wooded, containing 52 acres;
Ballards and Mead or Shaw are the principal woods.
The latter name recalls Richard Mead, who in 1654
obtained the reversion of Leighton Manor, to which
Radnage was attached. (fn. 2) Radnage, though itself in
parts more than 600 ft. above the ordnance datum,
is surrounded and sheltered by the heights of the
Chilterns. Langley remarks on the extreme salubrity
of the air and consequent longevity of the inhabitants,
and is corroborated by Sheahan. (fn. 3) The village, which
contains a few houses of the 16th and 17th centuries,
lies high in the north-west of the parish. The
church stands to the north of the village in a well-wooded churchyard with the rectory, a red brick
house, to the west of it. An old well here bears the
name of the Monks' Well. The houses collected in
the south of the village, amongst them a timber and
brick 17th-century cottage, are known as Town End,
a name of some antiquity. Bennett End comprises an
inn and a few houses, some of them of brick and timber
with tiled or thatched roofs of the 17th century, and
The City, the highest ground in the parish, where
are a mission chapel and schools and some 17thcentury brick and timber cottages. Radnage Common is south of The City and includes Pond Farm,
over 300 acres in extent, with a good house, and
Ashridge Farm, a 17th-century timber and brick
house, in the parlour of which is an open fireplace
with chimney corner seats. Andridge Common with
a farm of the same name is in the north-west. Just
below the common is the Grange Farm with a large
and ancient farm-house. Both these commons were
inclosed in 1860. Radnage House, the principal house
in the parish, belongs to Mr. Bennett and is at present
occupied by him.
The inhabitants of this parish are mainly engaged in
agriculture, but chair-making is also carried on. Until
recently lace-making by hand was a further industry.
There are two small Primitive Methodist chapels
in the parish.
MANOR
No mention has been found in Domesday of Radnage, which at that date appears,
according to a 13th-century document, to
have been royal demesne attached to the manor of
Brill. (fn. 4) Early in the 12th century Radnage was divided,
and the smaller part was granted by Henry I to Fontevrault Abbey and will be treated of later. The larger
portion, afterwards known as RADNAGE MANOR,
was retained by the Crown for some years longer and
was made the subject of temporary grants. Under
Henry II Walter son of Ernald is returned for £10
in Radnage (fn. 5) Between the years 1200 and 1207 the
name of Godfrey de Luvem appears as paying £40
in Radnage. (fn. 6) A few years later in 1215 King John
granted Radnage to the Knights Templars, (fn. 7) and at
various times during the next five years the sheriff
of the county is commanded to give them seisin. (fn. 8)
The Templars received a confirmation in 1227, (fn. 9) and
in 1275–6 claimed view of frankpledge here. (fn. 10) On
the suppression of the Templars at the beginning of
the 14th century the Hospitallers here, as elsewhere,
acquired their lands, for which they were assessed in
1316. (fn. 11) The rents derived from the manor about
this time were 10 marks. (fn. 12) One mention only of
this manor has been found in the cartulary of the
Hospitallers, and that is the election in 1522 of
Andrew and Edmund Windsor as stewards of the
manors of 'Radnache,' Temple Wycombe and
Marlow at a salary of 26s. 8d. (fn. 13) At the Dissolution
this manor fell to the Crown. (fn. 14) The manor was
heavily mortgaged by Charles I in the first year of
his reign to Edward Allen and other citizens of
London. (fn. 15) Langley, writing at the close of the
18th century, says that Charles II gave the quitrent to one of his mistresses, who afterwards sold it
to the family of Chase. (fn. 16) Stephen Chase certainly
owned rents issuing from the manor in 1758, (fn. 17) and
Frances Hearne Bettesworth, spinster, appears as
vouchee for the same interest in a recovery of 1808. (fn. 18)
The lordship of the manor, of which the lands are
all freehold, still remains vested in the Crown.
Knights Templars. Argent a cross gules and a chief sable.
Knights Hospitallers. Gules a cross argent.
The nuns of Fontevrault Abbey appear to have received a grant of £4 rent in Radnage at the same time
as they received from Henry I the more important
property in Leighton, Bedfordshire, to which this property was attached. (fn. 19) The first mention of the nuns
holding in Radnage is found on the early Pipe Rolls
of Henry II. (fn. 20) In 1164 he confirmed to them the
grant of £4 from the manor of Radnage, which
grant is also mentioned in the charter of Richard I
of 1189 to the nuns. (fn. 21) In 1200 a further confirmation was received by the abbey. (fn. 22) Shortly
previous to this last date a cell of Fontevrault, known
as La Grove or Grovebury, had been founded at
Leighton itself, (fn. 23) and in 1228 the prior there claimed
customary services from Ralph de Radenache and
others. (fn. 24) View of frankpledge was claimed here in
1254 and again in 1275 on behalf of Fontevrault,
though on what warrant was not known. (fn. 25) In 1285
the view for Radnage was held at Leighton. (fn. 26) In
1344 during the war with France the Abbess of
Fontevrault obtained a confirmation of her lands here
and elsewhere. (fn. 27) On the dissolution of the alien
priories in England, Radnage, which now begins to
be called a manor, was granted to Sir John Philip in
1413, (fn. 28) by whom it was settled on himself and his
wife Alice daughter of Thomas Chaucer, son of the
poet, and their issue. (fn. 29) Sir John Philip died childless in 1415, (fn. 30) and his widow Alice married William
de la Pole Duke of Suffolk. (fn. 31)
In 1444 she and her second
husband granted the reversion
of Radnage to Eton College
with the consent of William
brother and heir of her first
husband John Philip. (fn. 32) Between this date and 1472 it
passed, together with Grovebury, through a series of temporary alienations. It was then
finally confirmed to Alice and
her heirs by a grant from the
Crown, (fn. 33) and on her death in
1475 descended to her son
John Duke of Suffolk. (fn. 34) In 1480 he, together with
his wife Elizabeth sister of Edward IV, received
licence to grant it to the Dean and canons of Windsor, (fn. 35) who retained it till the 19th century. As with
Leighton it was the custom of the dean and canons
to let this property on long leases, and during the
17th and 18th centuries it was held thus by several
generations of the family of Leigh of Stoneleigh,
Warwickshire. (fn. 36) During the last century it passed
to Colonel Fane, (fn. 37) whose representative, Major John
Augustus Fane of Wormsley in Stokenchurch, is at
the present day one of the principal landowners in
this parish.
De la Pole. Azure a fesse between three leopards' heads or.
Dean and Canons of Windsor. Argent a cross gules.
Leigh of Stoneleigh. Gules a cross engrailed argent with a lozenge argent in the quarter.
A view of frankpledge was
attached to the manor held
by the Knights Hospitallers
in Radnage, and Court Rolls
of the time of Edward VI are
still in existence. At a court
held here in 1549 the tenants
of the manor claimed right of
common in 'Croull Wodd.'
At the same court the village
constable was elected, and
William Wheler was fined 2s.
because 'two swarme beis
came into the demesne' of
the lord. (fn. 38)
East of Radnage. Sable a cheveron between three horses' heads razed argent.
The family of Este or East of Radnage is returned
in the herald's visitation of the 16th century. (fn. 39) They
appear to have held land in Radnage about this
date. (fn. 40)
CHURCH
The church of ST. MARY THE
VIRGIN consists of a chancel measuring
internally 21 ft. by 15 ft., central tower
9 ft. 6 in. square, nave 43 ft. by 16 ft., and a south
porch.
The building, which is of unusual plan, the central
tower being narrower than either the chancel or nave,
dates from the opening years of the 13th century, at
which time the nave was considerably shorter than at
present. The nave was lengthened and reroofed in
the 15th century, when the height of the walls was
raised and the south porch added. During the 16th
century the walls of the chancel were raised and a
new roof added; the tower was restored in the 17th
century and there has been a recent restoration. The
materials are flint rubble with limestone dressings, and
the roofs are covered with lead.
The chancel has a triplet of original lancets in the
east wall. In the south wall are two 14th-century
windows each of two cinquefoiled lights with tracery
under a pointed head and in the north wall are two
similar windows, but the lower part of the eastern
window has been built up. In the south wall is a
13th-century piscina with a shouldered head, the bowl
of which has gone and one of the jambs has been cut
away, and on the east wall is a stone bracket, intended,
perhaps, to support a reredos. The central tower
has an original two-centred arch to the chancel,
with plain square edges broken at the springing by
moulded abaci, and a similar arch opening into the
nave. The jambs of both arches show pin holes for
screens, and the base and impost mouldings have been
cut for their fixing. There is a blocked lancet window
on the north and another on the south placed high
in the wall; below the latter is an original roundheaded doorway with a window in it, both of which
are blocked. On each side of the belfry is a plain
pointed window partly blocked, that on the north
being of brick.
The nave is lighted by two windows in the south
wall, one near the east end of the north wall, and
one in the west wall; all 14th-century windows of
two lights and similar to those in the chancel. The
extent of the lengthening disclosed during a recent
restoration appears to be about a third of the present
length. The south doorway, between the windows,
is of original date and has a plain two-centred arch
with a roll label and chamfered jambs and abaci;
the blocked north doorway opposite is also original,
but quite plain. The nave has a fine late 15th-century roof with moulded trusses, ridges and purlins.
The tie-beams are embattled and supported on curved
brackets with traceried spandrels, and the triangular
spaces above the tie-beams are also filled with tracery.
The chancel has a low-pitched roof of the 16th century, the moulded trusses of which are supported on
curved brackets. The porch, which retains its original
moulded roof, is entered by a 15th-century fourcentred arch and has an original trefoiled light in
each of the east and west walls. The font is probably
of the 17th century; it is now covered with plaster
and paint and has a cover with a strap hinge. The
hexagonal panelled pulpit, supported on a turned
shaft, dates from the late 17th century. On the
north and east walls of the nave and on the walls
and window jambs of the tower are traces of early
painting.
On the north wall of the chancel there is a brass to
William Syer, rector, who died in 1605, and on the
south wall of the nave is a brass to William Este,
1534, Sybil his wife, and their four daughters and
eight sons. At the east end of the nave, partly below
some pews, there is a slab with indent for a brass.
In the chancel is a floor slab to Ann daughter of
Thomas Colby, who died in 1640.
Plan of Radnage Church
There are four bells; the treble by Lester & Pack
of London, 1763, the second, 1634, and tenor, 1637,
by Ellis Knight, and the third, 1729, by Richard
Phelps.
The communion plate includes a cup and cover
paten of 1577.
The registers (fn. 41) begin in 1574.
ADVOWSON
The church of Radnage appears to
have been granted with the manor to
the Knights Templars, whose master
presented in 1231. (fn. 42) Like the manor it subsequently
passed to the Hospitallers and at the Dissolution
became Crown property, and has so remained, (fn. 43) the
right of presentation being exercised by the Lord
Chancellor.
In 1291 the church was assessed at £6 13s. 4d. (fn. 44)
and in the 16th century the rectory was valued at
£8 0s. 0¾d. The annual pensions
then included one of 13s. 4d. to the
master of the Knights Hospitallers. (fn. 45)
CHARITIES
The Poor's Land,
which was the subject
of an inquisition of
charitable uses held in 1632, is regulated by a scheme of the Charity
Commissioners of 16 November 1869.
The trust estate consists of 25 acres or
thereabouts in Radnage and 5 acres
in Kingsey and three cottages with
gardens of the annual rental value of
£44. By an order of the Charity
Commissioners 1904 one-third of the
net income is made applicable for educational purposes as the Poor's Land Educational Foundation
and is applied towards the maintenance of the parish
school. The remainder of the income is applied
equally between the parish church and the poor in
clothing and coal.