HINDLIP
Hindehlep (x cent.); Hundeslep (xii cent.); Hindelupe (xiii cent.); Henlipp (xvi cent.).
The parish of Hindlip, containing about 1,380
acres, of which 481 are arable, 856 under permanent
grass and 42 woodland, (fn. 1) lies to the east of North
Claines; the Worcester and Birmingham Ship Canal
runs through the southern part of the parish, and the
nearest station is at Fernhill Heath, on the Great
Western railway, about a mile away. Hindlip Hall,
the seat of Lord Hindlip, stands about three-quarters
of a mile to the north of the canal on the site of the
old house; it is beautifully situated on rising ground
in a well-wooded park and has a fine view of the
Malvern and Abberley Hills and the surrounding
country. The house, which was entirely rebuilt
in the first half of the 19th century, is a square
building of brick with stone dressings; two wings,
connected with the main building by crescent-shaped
walls, were added in 1867. The church of St. James
is in the park and stands close to the house, but
the rectory is about three-quarters of a mile distant,
near the western border of the parish. A bronze
Roman coin was found in the grounds here in
1840. (fn. 2)
The village has been almost entirely rebuilt and
possesses no features of architectural interest with the
exception of Cummins Farm, a half-timber building
of the 16th century with a later brick casing. In
the room at the north end of the ground floor is a
fine plaster ceiling of the mid-17th century. It is
divided by beams and cross-beams into seven compartments. The beams are cased with plaster and
enriched with the egg and tongue. The central
compartment is occupied by a boldly modelled wreath.
Over the fireplace is a scroll pediment with swags of
fruit and flowers flanked by caryatid figures bearing
baskets of acanthus on their heads, which give apparent
support to the main beams. On the enriched plaster
frieze which partly surrounds the walls of the room are
small oval shields which may originally have borne
genuine coats of arms, but have since been painted with
random charges and tinctures. The newel staircase,
with its turned oak balusters, is of original 17th-century date. There is a hiding-place at the side of the
chimney stack on the east side of the house. In one
of the first floor bedrooms, on the wall of this hidingplace, which is of lath and plaster, is a plaster panel
with a lion rampant holding a sword and the date
1615. The chimney stack on the north side of the
house is surmounted by three diagonal shafts of brick.
At the north-east is a brick addition of the 18th
century.
Offerton Farm lies about 1½ miles south-east of
Hindlip, and about half a mile north of it on the road
which runs east through the parish to Oddingley are
the two farms of Smite. They were included in
Hindlip parish in 1880, (fn. 3) and previously formed a
portion of Warndon. Smite Hill was transferred to
Hindlip from Claines at the same date. (fn. 4)
The soil is strong clay and marl, the subsoil Keuper
Marl. The chief crops are wheat, barley and oats,
but much of the parish is woodland.
Among place-names which occur in local records
are: Wyboldeshale, (fn. 5) Scynardeshul, (fn. 6) Oldebury, (fn. 7) Bekleshill, Benhull and Swyllecroft, (fn. 8) found in the 13th
century; and Poche, Caylbours, and Jack's Close (fn. 9) in
the 16th century.
MANORS
The manor of HINDLIP belonged
before the Conquest to the see of Worcester, and Bishop Oswald granted a lease
of the land there for three lives to a woman named
Ælf hild in 966. (fn. 10) In the time of Edward the Confessor it was held by Edric, the steersman of the bishop's
ship. (fn. 11) He was present at the trial between the houses
of Worcester and Evesham, and as Edric de Hindlip
subsequently took part in the final settlement before
the Domesday Commissioners. (fn. 12) At the time of the
Survey Urse D'Abitot held 5 hides at Hindlip and
Offerton in the bishop's manor of Northwick, and
Godfrey held them of him. (fn. 13) Urse's interest passed
to his descendants, the Earls of Warwick, the manor
of Hindlip being held of their manor of Elmley
Castle, the descent of which was followed by the
overlordship until 1557, when it is last mentioned. (fn. 14)
William de Beauchamp was apparently holding
Hindlip in demesne in 1164–79, (fn. 15) but in 1197
Margaret 'of Hindlip' paid 5 marks to have the right
of half a kinght's fee there against John D'Abitot and
Maud his wife. (fn. 16) John D'Abitot, who subsequently
held Hindlip for a knight's fee, (fn. 17) probably died about
1230, when his son and heir Geoffrey is described as
lord of Hindlip. (fn. 18) Geoffrey was afterwards knighted. (fn. 19)
Both he and his son Alexander, who seems to have
succeeded him about 1250, (fn. 20) gave lands in Hindlip to
the hospital of St. Wulfstan, Worcester. (fn. 21)
Geoffrey D'Abitot, probably the son of Alexander,
was holding the manor in 1277 (fn. 22) ; he died before
1305, in which year the lord of Hindlip was another
Alexander D'Abitot, who then settled the estate on
himself and his wife Maud with reversion to his heirs. (fn. 23)
Maud survived her husband and was in possession of
the manor in 1346, (fn. 24) but by 1351 she had been succeeded by her son Robert, who in that year released
his right in Hindlip to Thomas Beauchamp Earl of
Warwick, apparently, however, retaining a life interest
in the estate. (fn. 25) The earl obtained a grant of free
warren in the manor in 1352, (fn. 26) and in 1370 his son
and successor Thomas granted the reversion after
Robert's death to trustees. (fn. 27) In a settlement of the
earl's lands in the following year Hindlip Manor is
not mentioned, and it may have passed before that
time to William Walsh of Hindlip, who in 1412
granted all his lands except one meadow in the manor
of Hindlip to William son of Thomas Solley. (fn. 28) The
heir of Maud D' Abitot was said to be holding Hindlip
in 1428, (fn. 29) but—Solley was in possession in 1431. (fn. 30)
Possibly this was Thomas Solley, son of the above-mentioned William, who is said by Habington to have
died in 1479, leaving as his heir a son of the same
name. (fn. 31) This Thomas married a daughter of Thomas
Coningsby. (fn. 32) He seems to have been succeeded about
1538 (fn. 33) by a third Thomas Solley, who died in 1557,
leaving Hindlip to his cousin Humphrey, the son of
John Coningsby of North Mimms (fn. 34) (Herts.), upon
whom be had settled it ten years earlier. (fn. 35) This
settlement was disputed by Edward Hanbury, the son
of Thomas Solley's sister Joan, who 'entered into the
manor' after his uncle's death, whereupon Humphrey
'came armed with a company and drove him away.' (fn. 36)
The dispute was, however, settled by fine in 1562, (fn. 37)
and in the following year Humphery sold the estate to
John Habington, treasurer of
Queen Elizabeth's household. (fn. 38)
John Habington died in 1582,
leaving as his heir his son
Edward, (fn. 39) who was hanged for
his share in Babington's Plot
in 1586. (fn. 40) Edward was succeeded by his brother Thomas
Habington or Abington,
another of the conspirators,
who on account of his youth
and because he was Queen
Elizabeth's godson was pardoned. (fn. 41) Thomas Habington
married Mary daughter of Edward Lord Morley
and granddaughter of Lord Monteagle, and she is
said to have written the famous letter betraying the
Gunpowder Plot. (fn. 42) In his time Hindlip House was
fitted up by Nicholas Owen as a refuge for Roman
Catholic priests, (fn. 43) and after the discovery of the
Gunpowder Plot it was carefully searched by Sir
Henry Bromley of Holt for Garnet and Oldcorne,
who were at last found in it. (fn. 44) Thomas Habington,
who was away from home at the time, was subsequently arrested for concealing traitors, but he was
released at Monteagle's intercession. (fn. 45) His pardon
was conditional on his not leaving the county, and
this enforced residence led him to write his Survey
of Worcestershire.
Habington. Argent a bend gules with three eagles or thereon.
Thomas Habington died in 1647; his wife Mary
survived him, and suffered great losses under the
Commonwealth. (fn. 46) Hindlip House was plundered
after the battle of Worcester in 1651, (fn. 47) and she lost
her money, plate and jewels; while in 1652 she
complained that the rent for which she had received
back her estate after its sequestration had been raised
so high that she could not pay it and maintain her
family. (fn. 48) She continued to petition the commissioners
at intervals until 1655, complaining that a new lease
had been made of the manor, from which she had
been ejected without being allowed to reap the
harvest she had sown. In July 1655 she obtained an
order reinstating her in the manor-house and garden
Her son, William Habington the poet, is said to
have taken the republican side (fn. 49) ; he died in 1654.
and was succeeded by his son
Thomas. (fn. 50) Thomas Habington died childless, leaving his
estate to his cousin Sir William Compton of Hartbury
(Gloucs.), who was the son of
Mary sister of William Habington. (fn. 51) Sir William Compton,
created a baronet in 1686, was
succeeded by his son of the
same name, who died in 1731,
leaving as his heir his son,
a third William. (fn. 52) This Sir
William, the fourth baronet,
died in 1758, (fn. 53) and his son
and heir of the same name in
1760 (fn. 54) ; the manor then passed
to Sir Walter Abington Compton, a younger son of
the fourth baronet. He died childless in 1773, (fn. 55) and
his sisters, Catherine the wife of Edward Bearcroft,
and Jane the wife of John Berkeley, were his heirs. (fn. 56)
Catherine died childless before 1779, (fn. 57) but Jane left
two daughters, Catherine and Jane, who were in
joint possession of the manor
in 1809. (fn. 58) Catherine married
Robert Canning; she predeceased her sister, who died
seised of the manor in 1853, (fn. 59)
leaving it to her husband
Thomas Anthony, third Viscount Southwell, on whose
death in 1860 it was bought
by Mr. Henry Allsopp, afterwards Lord Hindlip. His
grandson, the present Lord
Hindlip, is now the owner of
the manor.
Compton, baronet. Argent a fesse wavy and a chief gules with a helm between two lions' heads razed or in the chief.
Allsopp, Lord Hindlip. Sable three pheons set cheveronwise or between three doves rising argent each holding an car of wheat or.
A windmill was among the
appurtenances of the manor
in 1601, (fn. 60) and there was a
water corn-mill in 1809 (fn. 61) ; both these have perished,
and there is now no mill in the parish. A free
fishery is first mentioned in 1775. (fn. 62)
Hindlip Church from the west
In the saxon period OFFERTON (Alhfretune,
Alcrinton, xi cent.; Alcreton, xiii cent.; Alfreton,
xvi cent.; Auferton, xvii cent.), now a farm in Hindlip, seems to have formed part of the Hindlip estate. (fn. 63)
It was held of Urse D'Abitot by Godfrey at the time
of the Domesday Survey, (fn. 64) and was afterwards in the
tenure of Henry, the younger son of John D'Abitot, (fn. 65)
and others, who granted it between 1232 and 1250
to the hospital of St. Wulfstan in Worcester. (fn. 66) It
remained in the possession of the hospital till the
Dissolution, (fn. 67) when it was granted to Richard Morrison, (fn. 68) who sold it in 1544 to Thomas Solley. (fn. 69) It
has since that date followed the descent of the
manor of Hindlip, (fn. 70) though John Habington's right
to it was at first disputed by John Brooke, who
declared that it had been granted to his grandfather,
Edmund Brooke, by the brethren of St. Wulfstan's
Hospital in 1530. (fn. 71)
CHURCH
The church of ST. JAMES THE
GREAT consists of a chancel with a
south chapel, north vestry and organ
chamber, a nave, south aisle and a western tower.
The original church appears to have consisted of
chancel, nave and tower, but was almost entirely
rebuilt in 1864, when a south transept was added.
In 1887 the church was further enlarged, the chancel
lengthened eastward, the transept pulled down and
the present aisle, chapel and vestry added. The
church was also re-roofed and the tower considerably
restored, so that little
of the original fabric
remains.
The modern east
window is of three
lights, with tracery
of 14th-century detail, and there are
two modern singl-elight windows in the
north and south
walls. West of these
are modern arcades,
each of two bays,
opening to the organ
chamber on the
north and the chapel
on the south. There
is no chancel arch,
but the chancel is
divided from the
nave by an elaborate
brass grille. The
nave is three bays
long and is lit on the
north by two windows, a single light
of 15th-century date
and a modern two-light window. On the south is the modern south
arcade, which is designed in the style of the 14th
century. The south chapel has two modern windows
of 15th-century type, one in the east wall and one
in the south, and is separated from the south aisle by
a small moulded archway. The south aisle is lit by
two-light modern windows, two on the south and
one at the west end, with an original 15th-century
single light between the two former.
The tower is in part old, but is not, apparently,
earlier than the 15th century and has been much
restored. It is of three stages, with diagonal buttresses
and an embattled parapet, with angle pinnacles. The
belfry lights are square-headed, and the west window
is of four lights, with late 15th-century tracery over.
The west door, which is the main entrance to the
church, is modern. The three-centred tower arch is
of three chamfered orders, the inner having an
octagonal moulded capital. The font at the west end
of the south aisle is modern. Fixed to the walls of
the tower, in the lowest stage, are a number of 15th-century glazed tiles of the usual Worcestershire type.
There are eight modern bells.
The plate consists of two modern cups and patens.
The registers before 1812 are as follows: (i) a
copy of the Bishops' Transcripts at the Diocesan
Registry, the original being missing, it contains mixed
entries from 1612 to 1737; (ii) mixed entries from
1736 to 1812.
ADVOWSON
Hindlip was a chapelry belonging
to the church of St. Helen,
Worcester, at the end of the 11th
century, (fn. 72) but it had become a rectory before 1269. (fn. 73)
The advowson seems to have followed the same
descent as the manor until 1294, (fn. 74) when the Countess
of Warwick was the patron. (fn. 75) It remained in the
possession of the Earls of Warwick until about 1344, (fn. 76)
but Thomas Robins alias Thomas of Salwarpe (see
Salwarpe Chantry) presented in 1349 and 1356, (fn. 77)
and in 1357 he and his brother William obtained
licence to grant the advowson to three chaplains to
celebrate daily in the church of Hindlip. (fn. 78) The
grant was probably never made, for Richard Hussingtree, lord of Martin Hussingtree, presented in 1375, (fn. 79)
and the advowson followed the descent of Martin
Hussingtree until the beginning of the 16th century. (fn. 80)
Gilbert Talbot of Salwarpe presented to the church
in 1539, (fn. 81) but the right of presentation was bought
before 1547 by Thomas Solley. (fn. 82) It has since that
date followed the descent of the manor of Hindlip. (fn. 83)
There are apparently no endowed charities subsisting for the benefit of this parish.