DOVERDALE
Doferdæl (ix cent.); Lunvredele (xi cent.);
Douredela (xii cent.); Doveresdale.
Doverdale is a small parish a few miles north-west
of Droitwich, and has an area of only 749 acres, of
which 304 are arable land, about 400 permanent grass
and 6 woods and plantations. (fn. 1) In 1901 the population was only 58, a slight increase on that of the
middle of the 19th century. Noake states that in
his time the parish consisted of only six houses and
one labourer's cottage, 'the only one ever known
there.' (fn. 2) The parish is watered by the Elmley or
Doverdale Brook, which forms the boundary between
Ombersley and Doverdale for some distance. The
chief road is that from Hampton Lovett, on a branch
of which to the south is the church of Doverdale.
The old Moat Farm, possibly the manor-house, was
burned down about 1850. The moat is now dry
and the house has never been rebuilt.
The land is undulating, and varies from a height
of 87 ft. above the ordnance datum on the banks of
the Doverdale Brook to about 150 ft. in the north of
the parish. The soil is clay and sandy loam, the
subsoil clay and sandstone rock, raising crops of
wheat, beans and barley. Agriculture is the only
industry. Flax and hemp were cultivated in Worcestershire towards the end of the 18th century.
Thomas Brooks of Doverdale claimed a bounty under
the Act of 1780 in 1782 and some of the following
years, and his claim was allowed at quarter sessions. (fn. 3)
MANOR
In the time of King Edward the
Confessor DOVERDALE was held by
Thurbern, a thegn of the king. It had
passed before 1086 to Urse D'Abitot, (fn. 4) from whom
the overlordship passed to the owners of Elmley
Castle. (fn. 5) The Savages of Elmley Castle claimed the
overlordship at the time when Nash wrote his
History of Worcestershire (c. 1780). (fn. 6)
The under-tenant mentioned in 1086 was a certain
William, (fn. 7) whose successors, lords of the manor in the
12th and 13th centuries, were called 'de Doverdale.'
In the reigns of John and Henry III, however,
Richard de Ombersley held the manor as mesne lord
under William de Beauchamp. (fn. 8)
In 1166 Walter de Doverdale held the manor by
the service of one knight's fee, (fn. 9) and early in the 13th
century William and Hugh Blund were in possession. (fn. 10)
In a dispute as to the advowson of the church of
Doverdale which arose in 1274 it was stated that the
vill of Doverdale (fn. 11) had been divided (apparently in
the time of Henry III) between two sisters, Aline and
Idonea. (fn. 12) Ralph de Doverdale, great-grandson of
Aline, who is probably to be identified with Ralph
de Doverdale, who was deputed to inspect certain
salt-pits at Droitwich in 1264, (fn. 13) died about 1274,
leaving a son William, a minor, whose custody was in
the hands of Richard de Ombersley. (fn. 14) William de
Doverdale, coroner for Worcestershire, died about
1303, (fn. 15) and is probably to be identified with William
de Sodington, who died at this time seised of the
manors of Sodington and Doverdale, leaving as his
heirs his nephew Richard, son of Reynold le Porter
and Marisca eldest sister of William, and his sisters
Eustacia wife of William de Doverdale and Joan wife
of Walter Blount. (fn. 16) Doverdale was held jointly by
these co-heirs about 1316, (fn. 17) but the Blounts (fn. 18) subsequently acquired the whole manor of Sodington,
Eastham passed to the Porters, and Doverdale was
apparently assigned to Eustacia and William de
Doverdale. Although William had two sons (fn. 19) the
manor became divided into moieties, passing to the
families of Braz or Brace and Lench. Possibly
Margery wife of Richard Brace of Droitwich, on
whom half the manor was settled in 1335, (fn. 20) was a
daughter of William de Doverdale, and Eustacia wife
of Thomas Lench of Droitwich, on whom the other
moiety was settled in 1371–2, may have been her
sister. (fn. 21)
In 1428 the half a fee which Richard Brace had
held belonged to his heir, (fn. 22) who was probably his son
John, escheator of Worcestershire in 1403–4 and
1408–9 and justice of the peace in 1428–9. (fn. 23) John
still held the manor in 1431, (fn. 24) but had probably
been succeeded before 1434 by a son John. (fn. 25) This
John was twice married. By his first wife he had a
son Richard, whose daughters Margaret and Elizabeth
married Robert Bromwich and John Ewnet respectively, and their representatives, William Bromwich,
grandson of Margaret, and Rowland Ewnet, son
of Elizabeth, claimed the manor at the beginning
of the 16th century. (fn. 26) It seems, however, to have
been settled upon John Brace, son of John Brace
by his second wife, the settlement having probably
been made about 1434, when Sir Humphrey Stafford
of Grafton, father in-law of the younger John,
presented with other trustees to the church of
Doverdale. (fn. 27)
William Brace, who contributed six archers to the
muster of 1539, was probably grandson of the younger
John. (fn. 28) He died in 1543, (fn. 29)
and his grandson Francis
Brace (fn. 30) settled the manor in
1588 on his son Thomas on
his marriage with Frances
daughter of William Freer of
Oxford, with contingent remainders in default of heirs
male to Philip Brace, brother
of Francis. (fn. 31) Thomas Brace
died in his father's lifetime,
leaving no son, so that on the
death of Francis Brace in 1599
this moiety of the manor
passed to Philip. (fn. 32) John Brace
son of Philip held the manor in 1607, (fn. 33) and died in
1632. (fn. 34) His son Philip Brace compounded for his
estates in 1646 (fn. 35) and died in 1671. (fn. 36) His two
eldest sons having died without issue it passed to his
third son Philip, who also died without issue in
1674. (fn. 37) His heirs were his four sisters, Penelope
Brace, Mercy wife of Sir Simon Clarke of Salford
Priors, co. Warwick, Elizabeth wife of William Mills
of Mickleton and Welford, co. Gloucester, and
Eleanor wife of Francis Woolmer of Grafton, (fn. 38) who
all conveyed their shares of the manor in 1677 to
Thomas Tyrer, Gerard Dannet and Ralph Taylor, (fn. 39)
apparently for the use of Ralph Taylor, who was in
possession in 1684. (fn. 40) It was possibly this moiety of
the manor which was conveyed in 1772 by John
Hill, John Taylor and his wife Anne and others to
Wilson Aylesbury Roberts and Rowland Hill. (fn. 41)
Nash states that South Hall, the manor-house of the
Braces, was once held by a Mr. Clifton, (fn. 42) and that
in 1780 it was held by James Newnham. (fn. 43) Later it
was purchased by William Prattinton of Bewdley
from Mr. Amphlett, and belonged in 1816 to
P. Prattinton. (fn. 44) It was perhaps this part of the
manor which was subsequently purchased by Sir John
Somerset Pakington. (fn. 45) It then followed the same
descent as the other part of the manor. (fn. 46)
Brace. Sable a bend argent between two armed arms in their proper colours.
The other half of the manor had probably passed
from Thomas Lench and Eustacia to Henry Lench
before 1422–3. (fn. 47) He was still holding it in 1431, (fn. 48)
but it had passed before 1434 to John Lench. (fn. 49) On
the accession of Edward IV John Lench was attainted
and 'suffered dethe and losse all in the quarrell of
sayntly Kinge Henry the syxt,' being found strangled
in prison soon after he was condemned. (fn. 50) Doverdale
with other property was granted to Sir Walter Scull
and Frances his wife, (fn. 51) but on the accession of
Henry VII was restored to John Lench, son of the
above John. (fn. 52) He was succeeded by a son William,
who held the manor in 1541, (fn. 53) and a grandson Ralph,
who held it in 1603. (fn. 54) John Lench, who may have
been son of Ralph, was lord of the manor in 1655
and 1673, (fn. 55) and by 1676 had been succeeded by
George Lench. (fn. 56) He died in 1704, apparently leaving
a son George, (fn. 57) who dealt with a mill in the manor
in 1709. (fn. 58) This moiety of the manor passed to
Captain Burrish and was sold towards the end of the
18th century by his son George. (fn. 59) It was probably
this part of the manor which was sold in 1804 by
John Mackmillan to Sir John Pakington, bart. (fn. 60) Sir
John died without issue in 1830, and the manor
passed to his nephew John Somerset Russell, who
assumed the name Pakington and was created Lord
Hampton. (fn. 61) He subsequently acquired the rest of
the manor of Doverdale, (fn. 62) and from that time it followed the same descent as Hampton Lovett (q.v.),
and was sold in 1902 to Mr. Edward Partington
with the rest of the Westwood estate.
There was a mill worth 4s. at Doverdale in 1086. (fn. 63)
It is not mentioned again until 1670, when it was
conveyed by John Lench and his wife Sarah to Philip
Brace and Thomas Symonds. (fn. 64) It apparently remained annexed to the Lench moiety of the manor,
for George Lench was dealing with it in 1709, (fn. 65) and
it is mentioned in conveyances of the manor in 1772
and 1804. (fn. 66) There is at the present day a watermill on the Elmley Brook at Doverdale.
CHURCH
The little church of ST. MARY THE
VIRGIN consists of a chancel, nave and
modern south vestry, with a western
wood steeple.
Some of the walling of the nave appears to date
from the end of the 12th century, and the small round
arch to the blocked north doorway is evidently of that
date. Beyond this there are no distinctive features
left of any age. The nave windows have old stonework,
perhaps of the 14th or 15th century, but have been
much altered. The chancel was rebuilt about the
middle of the last century, and the church has
undergone several restorations.
The chancel arch and chancel are modern, with a
traceried east window of three lights. The first
windows in the north and south walls of the nave have
each three plain rectangular lights with a pointed
segmental rear arch, and near the west end on either
side is a plain rectangular single light; between the
two north windows is a blocked doorway, the head of
which is semicircular, with a filleted angle roll.
The entrance is by a doorway in the west wall, with
a round window over, both modern. The bellturret is of modern woodwork and is supported on
heavy wood posts in the nave and capped by a foursided spire covered with lead.
The font is modern. The nave walls are panelled
all round with 17th-century woodwork; the panelling
along the north wall and about half the south has a
fluted top rail, and the rest is carved with semicircular
interlacing arches filled with foliage.
In the north-west window of the nave is an ancient
stained glass figure of our Lady surrounded by scrolls
inscribed 'Emanuel.'
There are three bells; the treble inscribed 'God
be our speed 1660 I M' (John Martin of Worcester); the second, dated 1615 and bearing the
initials of the churchwardens and the founder,
Godwin Baker, with his mark the cross keys; the
tenor inscribed 'Sancte Thome, ora pro nobis,' preceded by a flowered saltire.
The plate consists of an Elizabethan cup with hall
mark of 1571, the stem of which has at some time
been broken, and a large paten, 1868.
The only copy of the old registers preserved is the
one containing marriages from 1756 to 1812. Some
17th-century entries will be found among the bishop's
transcripts.
ADVOWSON
There were a church and priest at
Doverdale at the time of the Domesday Survey. (fn. 67) The advowson was
apparently held with the manor until in the reign of
Henry III William de Doverdale, on succeeding to
the estates of his grandmother Aline, gave the advowson to his cousin John, son of Idonea, (fn. 68) because John
offered such opposition to his succession. (fn. 69) In 1274
the advowson belonged to William de Doverdale,
evidently a descendant of John, but it was claimed by
Simon de Ombersley, to whom certain lands in the
manor had been demised during the minority of the
heir of Ralph de Doverdale by the overlord, Richard
de Ombersley. William was able to make good his
right to the advowson. (fn. 70) He presented to the church
in 1275, (fn. 71) and may possibly be identified with William
called le Wyte of Doverdale, who presented in 1294. (fn. 72)
William son of Ralph de Doverdale, who married
Eustacia, one of the daughters and co-heirs of William
de Sodington, was probably a descendant of William
le Wyte, and by his marriage the advowson and the
manor once more became united. The advowson
seems to have become annexed to the moiety of the
manor held by the Braces, (fn. 73) and descended with it
until nearly the end of the 17th century. It was
included with the manor in a conveyance of 1677, (fn. 74)
but seems to have been sold shortly after. John Price
presented for one turn in 1688, and Thomas Egginton
presented in 1704 and 1716. (fn. 75) He conveyed the
advowson in 1722 to Thomas Brett. (fn. 76) Peter Cassey
and Mercy his wife and others presented in 1744 and
William Griffin in 1750 and 1762. (fn. 77) It had passed
from him before 1765 to Robert Harrison, (fn. 78) who conveyed the advowson and rectory in 1770 to Richard
Harrison. (fn. 79) This conveyance may have been made
with a view to the purchase of the advowson by Hugh
Laurents, for he presented to the church in 1771
and 1788, (fn. 80) and conveyed the advowson in 1789 to
Richard Fuller. (fn. 81) The Rev. P. Laurents was said to
be patron in 1808, (fn. 82) though George Thomas presented to the church in 1807, (fn. 83) and was patron in
1829. (fn. 84) The advowson had passed before 1849 to
the Oldham family, (fn. 85) one of whom, Mrs. Curtler,
was patron in 1868. (fn. 86) About ten years later the
advowson was purchased of the representatives of the
Oldhams by Mrs. C. P. Mottram, the present patron.
In the 15th century the rector of Doverdale paid
2s. yearly to the church of Hartlebury. (fn. 87)
CHARITIES
In 1892 the Rev. James Oldham,
by his will proved at Worcester
17 March, left £300, the interest
to be applied towards the repair of the fabric of the
church and of the fences and gates of the churchyard.
The legacy was invested in £278 14s. 11d. consols
with the official trustees, producing £6 19s. 4d. yearly.