BIRLINGHAM
Byrlingahamme (x cent.); Berlingeham (xi cent.);
Brailingeham, Burlingham (xii cent.).
Birlingham is a secluded village and parish about
10 miles from Worcester and 2 from Pershore. It
lies on the right bank of the Avon in a bend of the
river, and Bow Brook bounds it on the west. On
the south-east it is watered by Berwick Brook, a
tributary of the Avon. The road from Tewkesbury
to Pershore runs through the west of the parish, and
near Defford Bridge on the western boundary is joined
by the road from Upton upon Severn to Pershore.
The village is scattered, but contains several large
modern houses. The Court House, belonging to the
Porter family, was lately the residence of Major Lord
Charles Cavendish Bentinck, Master of the Croome
hounds. Near it is a picturesque quadrangular building of 17th-century black-and-white work, now
divided up into tenements. Birlingham House, the
residence of Mr. William Jardine Gresson, is a large
modern building. St. James's Church occupies the
centre of the village. To the south is the pound,
and south-east of the churchyard in the village street
are the parish stocks. The school (public elementary),
with master's house attached, built by the late
Miss Porter in 1855, was enlarged in 1895 and 1912.
The manor-house, the residence of Mr. Charles
Arnold Crane, is about half a mile south of the
church; near it are the almshouses. These are rent
free for eight of the most deserving among poor men
or women of the parish.
At the extreme south of Birlingham, where a branch
of the Berwick Brook flows into the Avon, is Nafford
water-mill (corn). The mill is on the opposite side
of the river, but the parish boundary here passes to
the south of the river to include Nafford. In the
south-west of the parish is a quay on the Avon.
The whole parish lies low, the ground, which
reaches its highest point, 123 ft., a short distance
above Defford Bridge in the north-west, being only
about 70 ft. high at the church, and falling as low as
40 ft. at its lowest point in the south; the land along
the river banks is liable to floods. It is extremely
fertile, with a subsoil of Lower Lias and a large
proportion of it is employed in fruit-growing. The
total area is 1,272 acres, of which 355 are arable
land, 742 permanent grass, and only 2 woods and
plantations. (fn. 1)
An Inclosure Act for the parish was passed in 1773. (fn. 2)
Among ancient place-names are included Haisshom
Meadow (deed undated) (fn. 3) ; Wulsiefurlong, Rufurlong,
1314 (fn. 4) ; Bollecroft, Boresfeld, Harleywod, 1501–2 (fn. 5) ;
Dean Orchard, Great and Little Asham Furlong, and
the Doles Meadow, 1813. (fn. 6)
The Court House, Birlingham
MANORS
BIRLINGHAM formed part of the
earliest endowments of Pershore Abbey
and was then for a time lost to it, ten
manses here being said to have been restored to the
abbey in 972 by King Edgar. (fn. 7) By 1086 Pershore
had again lost Birlingham, which, as a member of the
manor of Pershore, had been granted by King Edward
the Confessor to the abbey of Westminster. (fn. 8) The
abbot was then holding 3 hides and 1 virgate, of
which Urse held 2 hides and 1 virgate. (fn. 9) The
manor represented by the hide held in demesne by
the abbot was apparently subinfeudated in the 12th
century to the D'Abitots. The abbots continued as
overlords, (fn. 10) the manor being held of them at a fee
farm of £11, (fn. 11) until it returned into their hands in
1378. (fn. 12)
The Abbot of Westminster was perhaps still holding
the manor in demesne in 1186–90, when it was said to
be an appendage of his court at Pershore. (fn. 13) In 1199
William D'Abitot paid 20s. for assarts in Birlingham. (fn. 14)
In 1219–20 Geoffrey D'Abitot granted to William,
Abbot of Westminster, service claimed by the abbot
for Geoffrey's holding in Birlingham and Defford. (fn. 15)
Geoffrey D'Abitot paid 6s. 8d. for this holding about
1280. (fn. 16) In 1314 Geoffrey D'Abitot was lord of
Birlingham and received a rent of 2s. for 6 acres of
arable land which George Tribel of Birlingham held
by grant from Geoffrey D'Abitot, grandfather of the
said Geoffrey. (fn. 17) Though land was said in 1329 to be
held of Geoffrey D'Abitot as of his manor of Birlingham, (fn. 18) the manor had probably passed before 1317
to John de Sapy, who had married Sybil, cousin of
Geoffrey. (fn. 19) In 1317 John received a grant of free
warren at Birlingham, (fn. 20) and on 4 May 1322 the
manor was in the king's hands on account of John's
forfeiture for rebellion, and a keeper of its stock and
wainage was appointed to make arrangements for the
king's advantage. (fn. 21) On 3 March 1323–4 it was granted
by Edward II to Hugh le Despencer the younger, (fn. 22)
to whom it was confirmed by John de Sapy and
Sybil his wife. (fn. 23) Hugh le Despencer was executed in 1326, (fn. 24) and
the manor again came
into the hands of the
king. (fn. 25) It was granted
in 1329 to the king's
leech, Master Pancius de Controne, in
fee simple, because
he had been anew
retained to stay with
the king for life. (fn. 26)
It was bought of the
leech by William de
Clinton, Earl of
Huntingdon, in
1340. (fn. 27) The earl
died seised of tenements in the vill
of Birlingham in
1354, (fn. 28) and his
widow Juliana held
the estate until her
death in 1367, her
successor being her
husband's nephew,
Sir John de Clinton. (fn. 29) The manor must, however,
have returned into the possession of John de Sapy
before 1331, when he was obliged by the Abbot of
Westminster to lower his mill pool at Birlingham,
which interfered with the abbot's estate at Pensham. (fn. 30)
John de Sapy, grandson and heir of the abovementioned John, (fn. 31) was distrained in 1376 at a
court of Binholme for a fine for acquiring the
manor. (fn. 32) On 5 April 1378 licence was granted to
Sir Richard Scrope, Walter Perham, Richard Rook
of Westminster, and Thomas Durdant to grant the
reversion of the manor after the death of Sir John de
Sapy, who held for life, to
the Abbot of Westminster. (fn. 33)
In 1389–90 the abbot was
called upon to give an
account of his tenancy of
the lands of John de Sapy,
late sheriff, in Birlingham. (fn. 34)
In 1463–4 the abbot granted
annuities out of his manor of
Birlingham to Phidias Josselyn
and William Taylor, aldermen, and Thomas Urswick,
recorder, of London, (fn. 35) and in
1465–6 to John Randolf and
others. (fn. 36) The manor remained
in the hands of successive
abbots until the Dissolution, (fn. 37) and was granted in
fee on 8 July 1541 to John Carleton of Waltonupon-Thames and Joyce his wife with a close called
Bullens and a wood called Roughhill, in exchange for
lands in Walton. (fn. 38) On 14 July 1551 John Carleton,
then of Brightwell Baldwin, co. Oxford, bequeathed
the manor to his wife Joyce with reversion to his son
Anthony, and on 4 November following he died. (fn. 39)
In 1562 Anthony Carleton sold the manor to Sir
Thomas Russell. (fn. 40) It then followed the descent of
Strensham (fn. 41) until 1695, when Sir Francis Russell sold
it to Thomas Lord Coventry of Allesborough. (fn. 42) Since
that date it has descended with Croome D'Abitot, (fn. 43)
and is now in the hands of the Earl of Coventry. (fn. 44)
When the manor was granted to John Carleton in
1541 a yearly rent of £20s. 3d. was reserved to the
Crown. (fn. 45) This rent was granted to Lord Hawley
and other trustees for the sale of fee-farm rents in
1670, (fn. 46) and was sold on 31 January 1672 to Sir John
Banks, William Bright of London and John Orton
of London, haberdasher. (fn. 47)
D'Abitot. Ermine a chief bendy or and azure.
Sapy. Gules three buckles or.
Coventry, Earl of Coventry. Sable a fesse ermine between three crescents or.
Birlingham House
The estate of 2 hides and 1 virgate which Urse
held in 1086, in succession to Alfric and Donning,
of the Abbot of Westminster, afterwards became a fee
held of the abbot's manor of Binholme in Pershore, (fn. 48)
and was said to be held of that manor as late as 1595. (fn. 49)
Urse's interest passed with his other estates to the
Beauchamps of Elmley Castle, the manor being held
of them until the 15th century. (fn. 50)
The Stocks, Birlingham
Woodward of Birlingham. Vert five oak leaves or set saltirewise.
In a survey of Pershore Hundred, which must have
been taken shortly after the Domesday Survey, the
land is returned as belonging to Robert. (fn. 51) This was
probably Robert Parler, owner of Nafford, with
which this estate at Birlingham seems to have passed.
Sir Thomas Baskerville, who had married the widow
of John Vampage of Nafford, was in 1553 sued by
Joyce Carleton, lady of the principal manor of
Birlingham, for a piece of ground or island called
Bullens in Birlingham, and another piece of land
called Crosehams in Birlingham or Eckington (fn. 52) ; and
Thomas Wynchcombe of Chalgrove, co. Oxford, the
second husband of Dorothy Vampage, was holding
the manor in 1558 (fn. 53) and 1564 (fn. 54) as the manor of
Birlingham with Great Comberton. This manor of
Birlingham was included
among the property of which
Sir Thomas Hanford and
Margaret Hugford his wife
were seised in right of Margaret on 19 June 1575. (fn. 55) On
18 November 1594 Margaret
died seised of 'the manor of
Birlingham, formerly parcel of
the possessions of John Vampage, and now in the hands
of divers sub-tenants.' (fn. 56) This
estate may have passed like
the Hanfords' part of Wollashull to the Harewells, the coheirs with the Hanfords of John Vampage, for
Thomas Harewell of Birlingham died in 1603, and
was buried at Birlingham. The next record of it is
in 1720, when it belonged to
Richard Salwey. (fn. 57) It finally
passed to Benjamin Booth of
London by his marriage with
Jane, only daughter of Richard
Salwey of Moor Park (co.
Salop). (fn. 58) In 1773 (fn. 59) Benjamin
Booth claimed to be lord of a
'certain tract of land within
the parish of Nafford,' and it
seems probable that by this
was meant this manor of Birlingham, confusion having
already arisen as to the geographical limits of Nafford,
for in 1775 Benjamin Booth
and Jane his wife conveyed
to William Woodward the
manor of Nafford, (fn. 60) by which
we should apparently understand Birlingham, Nafford remaining until a much later
date in the hands of the Hanfords, and the Woodwards
from about this date being
described as of the Manor
House, Birlingham. (fn. 61) William
Woodward, of the Manor House, died in 1787, and
was succeeded by his son William, who died in 1842,
and was followed in the family estates at Birlingham
by his second son Robert under an arrangement with
the latter's elder brother William. Mr. Robert Woodward sold the estate in 1912 in lots to various purchasers.
The manor of MORE HALLwas held of the
Abbot of Westminster's manor of Birlingham. (fn. 62) It
seems to have come into the Clopton family by the
marriage of William Clopton with the sister of John
'Delamorehall.' (fn. 63) William's son, John Clopton, was
the father of Sir William Clopton, who married the
second daughter and co-heir of Alexander de Besford, (fn. 64)
and died seised of 10 marks rent in Birlingham, Defford
and elsewhere in 1419. (fn. 65) His son Thomas seems
to have died under age, and his eldest daughter and
co-heir Joan married Sir John Burgh of Shropshire. (fn. 66)
Sir John died in 1471 seised of the manor of More
Hall. (fn. 67) His wife's heirs were John Newport, son of
her daughter Elizabeth, Thomas Leghton, son of her
daughter Ankaretta, and her daughters Isabel wife
of Sir John Lingen and Elizabeth wife of Thomas
Mitton. (fn. 68) This must have been the manor of
Birlingham which Richard Mitton of Shrewsbury
sold to John Carleton of Walton-upon-Thames on
1 July 1544–5, the pasture called Sheriffes Heye in
the tenure of Sir John Russell being excepted from
the sale. (fn. 69)
At the date of the Domesday Survey the manor of
NAFFORDwas included in the lands of the abbey
of Westminster as 'a small piece of land called
Nadford' which neither paid geld nor owed service
at the hundred court. (fn. 70) The overlordship of this
estate remained with the abbot and convent and
their successors, the dean and chapter, as late as
1617–18, (fn. 71) when it was said to be held of the latter
as of their manor of Binholme in Pershore.
In 1086 Gilbert Fitz Turold held Nafford of the
abbey, and Robert Parler held of Gilbert. (fn. 72) No
reference to an under-tenant in Nafford then occurs
for more than a century. Walter de Nafford was
holding the manor and advowson in 1220–1, (fn. 73) and
may have been identical with Walter son of William
son of Ellis de Nafford who made a grant (undated)
to Pershore Abbey of land in Besford, (fn. 74) which John
his son confirmed to Abbot Roger (1234–50). (fn. 75) In
1229–30 Walter son of Vivian, owner of the manor
of Besford, gave land in Besford to Sybil widow of
Walter de Nafford. (fn. 76) William de Nafford presented
to the church of Nafford in 1290, (fn. 77) and was then
probably holding the manor. In 1338 and 1341
Robert Harley and Margaret his wife and Edmund
Cornwall and his wife Elizabeth, who seem to have
held some rights of overlordship in the manor, (fn. 78) sued
Henry de Muryvale and Richard de Longdon for land
at Birlingham, Henry and Richard possibly being
tenants of the manor at that time. (fn. 79) Sir Roger
Golafre appears to have been lord of Nafford in 1361,
when he presented to the church. (fn. 80) William Golafre
presented in 1400 and his feoffees in 1411. (fn. 81)
From this date until the beginning of the 16th
century the manor followed the same descent as
Ryall in Ripple. (fn. 82) Robert Vampage and Eleanor his
wife sold it in 1506–7 to John Arderne, (fn. 83) who leased
it to Robert for life at a rent of 20s. (fn. 84) Robert
Vampage died in 1516, (fn. 85) when it reverted to John
Arderne, who died seised of it in 1525, his son
Thomas succeeding. (fn. 86) The manor must have been
purchased of this Thomas by John Vampage, son of
Robert mentioned above, (fn. 87) for John and his wife
Anne were dealing with it in 1540, (fn. 88) and it subsequently followed the descent of Wollashull in
Eckington (fn. 89) (q.v.).
The manor still exists, (fn. 90) though the name survives only in the mill which anciently formed part of
it. It is looked upon as part of Eckington. (fn. 91)
A mill in Birlingham was granted by John de
Birlingham and Joan his wife to Alexander de Besford
and Joan his wife in 1341–2. (fn. 92)
Two-thirds of two water-mills, formerly parcel of
the manor of Nafford, were held by Sir Thomas
Hanford, and the remaining third by the said Sir
Thomas and Margaret his wife in right of Margaret,
in 1575 (fn. 93) and 1595. (fn. 94) These mills were granted to
Sir John Russell by them for an annual rent from
the mills and from the manor of Strensham on
7 December 1583. (fn. 95) This rent was the subject of a
lawsuit between the Russells and Hanfords in 1622. (fn. 96)
Nafford Mills were advertised for sale by the assignee
of William Disston, a bankrupt, in 1814. (fn. 97)
There was a fishery at Birlingham in 1086. (fn. 98) In
1501–2 Edward Harewell paid 2s. for the farm of the
several fishery of the lord of the principal manor
of Birlingham in 'Hymmylbrooke' extending from
Brokemyll to Avonmouth. (fn. 99) In 1695 a fish pool
called Sharpoole in Birlingham was sold with the
manor by Sir Francis Russell to Thomas Lord
Coventry. (fn. 100) A several fishery in the Avon was held
with the second manor of Birlingham in the 16th and
17th centuries. (fn. 101)
CHURCH
The church of ST. JAMESconsists
of a chancel with north vestry and organ
chamber, aisled nave, and a western
tower measuring internally 12½ ft. by 11½ ft.
The west tower dates from the 15th century, but
the rest of the church was largely rebuilt in 1784,
when it consisted of a chancel and nave. An engraving of this building, preserved in the vestry, shows a
square-headed window on the south of the chancel
and two pointed windows and one square-headed south
of the nave, all apparently of the 18th century. The
church was again entirely rebuilt in 1871–2 with
money left by the Rev. Robert Eyres Landor, former
patron and rector, the present south nave aisle representing the earlier structure.
The style is late 13th-century Gothic, and the
chancel has a traceried three-light east window, a
wagon roof and an oak reredos. The nave is of four
bays and has an open timber roof. The aisles, of
which the southern is considerably the wider, are
lighted by windows of three and two lights. The
15th-century west tower is three stages high with
diagonal buttresses at the western angles and an embattled parapet. The stair turret on the north side is
carried above it and finished with a modern octagonal
capping and spirelet. The ground stage opens into the
church by an arch of two chamfered orders with chamfered jambs and plain imposts. In the west wall is a
pointed and traceried 15th-century window of three
lights. The second stage is not floored, and has a
single-light square-headed window, and the third
stage is lighted by square-headed two-light windows.
It contains five bells, the first inscribed, 'Francis
Bahrhlew, Samuel Palmer churchwardens William
Bagley made mee 1692'; the second, 'When you
me ring i'll sweetly sing, A.R. 1748'; the third,
'Henry Bagley made me 1685'; the fourth, 'George
Lunne and John Cubberley Churchwardens 1685';
the fifth, 'Fear God and hounour the King 1685.'
The font is modern, as are the two stone lecterns,
one representing an angel with a book and the other
an eagle on a pile of rocks. Fixed on the west
respond of the south nave arcade is a rectangular brass
plate with kneeling figures of Thomas Harewell of
Birlingham (d. 1603), Margaret (Harman) his wife
and Mary their daughter. Painted on the surface
are three coats of arms, the first Harewell impaling
Argent on a cross sable five birds argent for Harman;
the second is quarterly of twelve, being the fully
quartered coat of Harewell, but much defaced; the
third is Harewell impaling Sheldon.
In the churchyard on the south side is a modern
stone cross. The lych-gate incorporates the reconstructed chancel arch of the old church. It is of
12th-cenury date with two orders on the external
face, the outer having two rows of cheveron ornament
and side shafts with cushion capitals. The inner face
is entirely modern, and much of the work on the
outer face is restoration.
The plate consists of a silver chalice, the bowl of
which is dated 1631, the stem having been added
since, a paten of 1742, an almsdish of 1667, and a
chalice, paten, and flagon of 1869.
The registers before 1812 are as follows: (i) baptisms and burials 1566 to 1633, marriages 1566 to
1636; (ii) baptisms and burials 1638 to 1782,
marriages 1633 to 1753; (iii) baptisms and burials
1783 to 1797; (iv) baptisms 1753 to 1812, burials
1756 to 1812; (v) marriages 1754 to 1812.
ADVOWSON
There was a priest at Nafford in
1086, (fn. 102) and the church at Nafford
was in the 13th century the parish
church, that at Birlingham being a chapel dependent
on it. (fn. 103) This is still the case, though Nafford Church
(St. James) was in ruins when Habington wrote, (fn. 104) and
the exact site has long been a matter of conjecture
only.
The advowson was claimed in 1220–1 by Walter
de Nafford, (fn. 105) and it followed the descent of Nafford
Manor (fn. 106) until 1686, when Compton Hanford presented. (fn. 107) After this date the Institution Books show
a succession of different owners, Steeple Martin presenting in 1693, Margaret Lane, widow, in 1745, (fn. 108)
and (after the advowson had been advertised for sale
on 20 April 1775 (fn. 109) ) Peter Cocks in 1776, another
presentation being made later in the same year by John
Astley. John Astley's executors sold the advowson
in 1783–4 (fn. 110) to the Rev. Thomas Bradstock, whose
daughter Margaretta Penelope married Alexander
Luders. (fn. 111) In 1829 Alexander Luders and his wife
sold the advowson to Robert Eyres Landor, (fn. 112) of
whom it is recorded that he was never absent from
his parish for a Sunday until his death in 1869, at
which date the advowson was in his hands. (fn. 113) It then
passed to the Rev. R. Rashleigh Duke, in whose
representatives it is now vested.
The dead of Birlingham and Nafford were in
mediaeval times brought to Pershore for burial. (fn. 114)
CHARITIES
The church table mentions that
'many ages since' a tenement was
given to the parish and divided into
two almshouses. In or about 1815 Thomas Chinnell
Porter substituted eight new almshouses built upon
his own land in exchange for the site of the old house.
In 1877 Miss Anne Porter, by her will proved
27 March of that year, bequeathed £500, the income
to be applied in keeping in repair the almshouses
which had been rebuilt by her father, Thomas
Chinnell Porter (apparently the son of the aforesaid
Thomas Chinnell Porter). The legacy was invested
in £520 3s. 2d. consols, producing £13 a year.
The church table further mentioned that 6½ acres
of land and two cow pastures were in the possession
of the parish, the origin and precise trusts of which
were unknown. Under the inclosure in 1774 about
4 acres were allotted in respect of these properties, now
known as the Church Meadow and let at £6 10s. a year,
which is applied towards the repairs of the church.
Edmund Pace, as stated on the same table, gave
6s. for six poor persons every Christmas. This is paid
out of a field formerly belonging to Mr. Robert
Woodward and duly applied.
In 1837 Martha Porter, by her will proved 22 June
in that year, bequeathed £333 6s. 8d. consols, the
dividends to be applied in the maintenance of the
Sunday school and in the repair of the church clock.
£300 consols was in 1907 apportioned to the educational foundation and £33 6s. 8d. consols, producing
16s. 8d. yearly, for the repair and winding of the
clock. The former has by accumulations been augmented to £342 12s. 10d. consols, and the annual
dividends, amounting to £8 11s. 4d., are applied
towards the management of the Sunday school.
The same testator also bequeathed £333 6s. 8d.
consols for the benefit of the poor. The trust fund with
accumulations is represented by £375 19s. 4d. consols,
producing £9 8s. yearly, which is distributed in coal.
The several sums of stock above mentioned are
held by the official trustees.
In 1879 Thomas Woodward, by his will proved
at Worcester, bequeathed £100, the interest to be
distributed at Christmas among the poor. The legacy
is represented by £97 Highland Railway 4 per cent.
stock, producing £3 17s. 6d. yearly.
In 1884 Mary Woodward, in memory of her late
husband Robert Woodward, by deed, settled a sum
of £375 London and North Western Railway 4 per
cent. stock, the dividends, amounting to £15 yearly,
to be applied in the promotion of thrift, education
and temperance among the poor. The operation of
the charity has for some time been suspended and
the income accumulated.
The sums of stock are held in the names of the
administering trustees.