HEADLEY
Hallega (xi cent.); Hadlee and Hadlig (xiii cent.);
Hedleghe (xiv cent.); Hedley (xvii cent.).
Headley is a small parish on the top of the chalk
downs. The village is 2 miles north of Betchworth
station, and about three miles south-east of Letherhead. The parish measures about two miles from
north to south, under a mile and a half from east to
west, and contains 2,066 acres. The subsoil is that
of the chalk downs, which is on the surface in the
valleys and on the slopes of the hills, but in the higher
parts is crowned with brick earth and hill-sand deposits. The church, and the few houses which form
the centre of a scattered village, stand on the brow of
a steep slope some 600 ft. above the sea, at the head
of the valley up which the road from Juniper Hall in
the Mickleham valley runs to Walton-on-the-hill. The
church is a conspicuous landmark for many miles
round. Headley Heath is a large extent of still open
ground to the south of the parish, lying back from the
southern edge of the chalk range.
The parish is agricultural, and formerly fed large
numbers of sheep.
On Headley Heath, and scattered at other points
in the parish, are numerous neolithic implements and
flakes, and fragments of a coarse earthenware vessel
have been found near Toot Hill. (fn. 1) Less than a mile
south-west of the church, west or north-west of
Headley Heath, on the slopes of the valley up which
the road from Juniper Hall comes, excavations have
revealed the inclosing trench of a large inclosure. In
the loose soil overlying the undisturbed chalk Mr.
Gordon Home, of Epsom, found in 1907 fragments
of hand-made pottery, with bones of many different
animals, and one worked flint. At a higher level he
found the broken point of a bronze weapon. Near
the trench, but not in it, was some good glazed
pottery, and in another place several signs of fires,
burnt stones, and charcoal. A young plantation
unfortunately is on the spot. The names Toot Hill,
and Elderbury, and Nore Wood (a name often found
in close juxtaposition to old fortifications, for which
we may compare Nore under the banked hill at Hascombe) suggest an ancient settlement or settlements.
No Inclosure Act or Award is on record.
Headley Court is the seat of Mr. Walter Cunliffe,
Headley Park that of Mr. J. N. Mappin, and Headley Grove that of Miss Bridge.
There is an iron Congregational chapel; and there
is an institute and club in the village.
A school (Church of England) was built in 1868.
In 1725 there was a school of 20 gentlemen's sons
kept by Mr. Stubbs.
MANOR
Before the Conquest the Countess Goda
held HEADLEY in chief of King Edward, and at the time of the Domesday
Survey it was in the hands of Ralph de Felgeres. (fn. 2) By
the end of the 12th century it was held by Gilbert
de Tilers, who paid 40s. for it into the king's treasury in 1199. (fn. 3) His daughter Agnes, who married
Philip de Crois, (fn. 4) was one of his heirs. (fn. 5) Another
daughter Joan married Thomas Malesmains, who
held land in Headley in 1210, which had been
given to him with the daughter of Gilbert de
Tilers by the king's grant. (fn. 6) Hilary, one of Agnes's
daughters, succeeded to part of the manor, including
the capital messuage, and her husband James de
Banelingham did homage for it in 1233. (fn. 7) James was
an alien, and in 1246 the estate had escheated to the
king. (fn. 8)
In 1253 John d'Abernon was granted free warren
in his demesne lands at Headley, (fn. 9) and twenty-five
years later his son John was summoned to prove
his right to this privilege. (fn. 10) This, however, may not
refer to the manor, but to a half-carucate of land
there which Giles d'Abernon acquired in 1217–18
from Martin and Eva de
Covenham, possibly one of the
heiresses of Agnes de Tilers. (fn. 11)
The next mention of Headley
occurs amongst the possessions
of John de Plesey, who held
it for the service of a quarter
of a knight's fee. John died
in 1313–14, (fn. 12) leaving three
sons: Edmund his heir, Robert from whom were descended the owners of Headley at a later date, and John. (fn. 13)
At the death of Edmund, who was said to have
held in free socage owing no service to the king, (fn. 14)
two parts of the estate were assigned in dower to
his widow Maud. (fn. 15) He was succeeded by his son
Nicholas, at whose death in 1357 the property was
taken into the king's custody on account of the
minority of the heir, (fn. 16) John de Plesey, who died
shortly after. Nicholas his brother also died without
attaining his majority, and Headley then passed to
their sister Joan, (fn. 17) the wife of John Hameley. Hameley continued to hold the manor after her death for
service of a quarter of a knight's fee, until he himself
died in 1398–9. (fn. 18) As Joan's only son had died unmarried before his father, the property should then
have reverted to Peter de Plesey, Joan's uncle, and
Sir Nicholas's only brother. Peter, however, apparently never held the manor, for having no son to
succeed, he granted it to Joan's distant cousin, John
de Plesey, who being descended in a direct line from
Robert, Edmund's younger brother, was the next heir
after Peter. (fn. 19) From about this date the estate is referred to as 'three parts of the manor,' and it is possible that one quarter was settled upon Elizabeth,
Joan Hameley's daughter and only surviving child. (fn. 20)
De Plesey. Argent six rings gules.
John de Plesey died in 1406, and his son John
succeeded him. (fn. 21) This John left no children, and the
manor reverted in 1417 to his father's first cousin,
John Camel. (fn. 22) In 1438 Camel conveyed one-third
of the manor to William Wikes and John Aleyn, (fn. 23) and
a William Wikes died seised of the property in 1518,
his uncle, Richard Wikes, being his heir. (fn. 24) In 1526
Richard received licence to alienate the manor and
lands to Sir David Owen and others, (fn. 25) probably in
trust for Andrew Windsor, afterwards Lord Windsor,
who died seised of the manor of Headley, also called
Wikes Manor, in 1543–4. (fn. 26) The year before his
death he likewise became possessed of property in
Headley which had formerly belonged to the Abbot
of Westminster, who had claimed liberties there as
early as 1278–9, (fn. 27) Henry VIII granting him these
lands with all the other possessions of the dissolved
abbey in a forced exchange for the manor of Stanwell. (fn. 28) In this document this monastic land is said
to be one quarter of Headley Manor; (fn. 29) it may have
been so called from the fact that since John de Plesey
had inherited the estate in 1398–9 it had only consisted of three-quarters of the manor; the remaining
fourth seems to have been lost sight of, and when
Lord Windsor acquired the Westminster land it was
accounted for in this way. (fn. 30)
Lord Windsor was succeeded by his son William,
who in 1554 acquired Headley Farm from the trustees
of Nicholas Leigh, the heir of one Michael Leigh, (fn. 31)
who had held it ten years before. This farm had
previously been in the possession of John Wikes, (fn. 32) having
apparently been excepted from the sale of the manor
by Richard Wikes in 1526.
In 1560 Edward, Lord Windsor, leased the manor
to the family of Puttenham, (fn. 33) and seven years later he
sold it to John Vaughan and Anne his wife. (fn. 34) Anne
was the daughter of Sir Christopher Pickering, and had
been three times married: first to Francis Weston, (fn. 35)
who had been involved in the accusation against Anne
Boleyn; secondly to Sir Henry Knyvett; and thirdly
to John Vaughan. (fn. 36) By a curious chance Francis
Weston was descended from John Camel's daughter
Katherine, sometimes called Anne, who married
Edmund Weston. (fn. 37)
Anne Vaughan outlived her third husband, and
dying in 1582 she was succeeded by her son Henry
Weston. (fn. 38) His son Richard became lord of the manor
in 1592, (fn. 39) and he probably conveyed it to William
Stydolf, amongst whose lands it is mentioned on his
death in 1600–1. (fn. 40) In 1677 William's grandson
Sigismond settled the manor on himself and his wife
Margaret, daughter of Sir Francis Rolle, (fn. 41) and having
no issue he left it to her in fee. (fn. 42) She married
secondly Michael Hyde, (fn. 43) and thirdly Thomas Edwin,
who owned Headley after his wife's death in 1734. (fn. 44)
He died shortly afterwards, childless, and his nephew
Charles Edwin inherited the estate. Charles Edwin
died in 1756, leaving the remainder at the death
of his wife Lady Charlotte, daughter of the Duke
of Hamilton, to his nephew Charles Windham,
who took the name of Edwin, (fn. 45) and who in 1784 sold
the estate to Henry Boulton. (fn. 46) The mansion house
was sold by Boulton to Colonel Alexander Hume, who,
having married the daughter of William Evelyn of
St. Clare, Kent, took the name of Evelyn. (fn. 47) Colonel
Evelyn afterwards sold it to Robert Ladbroke, who,
having purchased the rest of the estate in 1804 from
Mr. Boulton, was lord of the manor in 1809. (fn. 48) Not
long after the manor, but not the manor-house, was
again sold, and passed into the hands of Richard
Howard of Ashtead. (fn. 49) He was the brother of Sir William Bagot the first Lord Bagot of Bagot's Bromley,
Staffordshire, who on his marriage with the heiress of
Ashtead had assumed the name of Howard. (fn. 50) His only
child and heir, Mary, married in 1807 the Hon.
Fulk Greville Upton, who also took the name of
Howard on his marriage. (fn. 51) Mary Howard survived
her husband a great many years, dying at the age of
ninety-two in 1877. (fn. 52) Headley then became the
property of Colonel Charles Bagot, one of the sons of
her first cousin, also Charles Bagot. (fn. 53) After his death
in 1881 the manor was purchased by the Hon. Henry
Dudley Ryder, who succeeded his brother as fourth
Earl of Harrowby on 26 March 1900. He died on
11 November following, and his widow the Dowager
Countess of Harrowby is the present lady of the manor.
A fair held at Headley on 24 August is mentioned
by Symmes. (fn. 54)
The manor-house, where Mr. Ladbroke resided
after the manor was sold, is now the property of Mr.
Walter Cunliffe. It has been turned into a farmhouse.
When Mr. Cunliffe bought it the strong-room with
arrangements for securing the prisoners' hands was
still existing.
CHURCH
The church of ST. MARY THE
VIRGIN consists of a chancel 31 ft.
by 15 ft. 9 in. with a small north vestry,
a nave 59 ft. 6 in. by 25 ft. 6 in. with a south porch,
and a west tower 13 ft. square inside.
The present building was erected in 1855, excepting the tower, which was added a few years later.
The nave is in 13th-century style. The tower, the
ground story of which serves as a porch, is capped by
a shingled wooden spire changing from square to
octagonal above the eaves. The former church had
a low square tower at its west end, and is said to have
been much dilapidated before it was pulled down. All
that is left of it is set up in the churchyard over the
grave of the late rector, the Rev. Ferdinand Faithful,
who died in 1871, in the form of a small rectangular
ivy-covered building with a 15th-century arch at the
west, and in it are preserved a few details, such as the
tracery of a two-light window with trefoiled heads,
and the bowl of an 18th-century font. The present
font is modern.
In the vestry are preserved two painted wooden
mural tablets, one to Elizabeth Leate, daughter of
Mr. Nicholas Leate, Turkey merchant, 'a worthy and
eminent citizen of London,' and aunt of a former
rector, Richard Wyld; she died in 1680. The other
is to Margaret daughter of William and Mary Warren
of London, who died in 1675. There are several
18th-century monuments retained and reset in the
tower.
In the tower is a mediaeval bell used for striking
the hour only. It is inscribed 'Sancta Katrina ora
pro nobis,' and bears the 'cross and ring' shield of
Richard Hille of London, c. 1430. There is also a
set of eight cup-shaped gongs, put up in 1876.
The communion plate consists of a cup of 1752, a
standing paten of 1706, a flagon of 1854, and a
small cover paten without hall marks.
The registers date from 1663.
ADVOWSON
The right of presentation to the
church of Headley belonged from the
beginning of the 14th century to the
abbey of Westminster, (fn. 55) until its dissolution in 1539–
40. (fn. 56) In 1350, during a vacancy in the abbacy,
Nicholas de Plesey tried to establish a claim to the
advowson, declaring that his great-grandfather Robert
had given the benefice to a certain Bartholomew de
Plesey, and that the advowson had passed with the
manor to Robert's son John, and from John to
Edmund, Nicholas's father. It was proved, however,
that the last incumbent was there by the gift of the
abbot, and the temporalities being for the moment in
the king's hands, that the king ought to present. (fn. 57)
Nicholas, however, seems to have tried to assert his right
in spite of this judgement, for the next entry in the
index to the episcopal registers of Winchester shows that
Nicholas actually did present to Headley, (fn. 58) while certain officers were in this same year to arrest anyone
who attempted to uphold the claims of de Plesey
against the court's decision. (fn. 59) Immediately after the
Dissolution the advowson was granted to Thomas
Thirlby, Bishop of Westminster, (fn. 60) who seems to have
ceded his right, as Henry VIII granted it in the same
year, with the rest of the estates of the abbey of Westminster, to Andrew, Lord Windsor; (fn. 61) and from this
date, excepting a lease of the right to the Bishop
of London in 1550 and 1553, (fn. 62) the living has
always been in the gift of the lords of the manor, (fn. 63)
until the death of Colonel Bagot in 1881, after
which the advowson passed into the possession
of Mr. H. Thompson. (fn. 64) The present patron is
Mr. H. St. John O. Thompson.
Headley Church was rated at £5 in the 13th century, (fn. 65) and in 1428 it was taxed for the same amount,
paying a subsidy to the king of 6s. 8d. (fn. 66) Under
Henry VIII the total value was said to be £8 7s. 6d. (fn. 67)
CHARITIES
Smith's Charity is distributed as in
other Surrey parishes.
There is also a small rent-charge of
£4 12s. 2d. on the manorial estates, it is supposed in
compensation for a right of cutting brushwood on
certain waste, given in bread and coals.