OVERBURY
Uferabyrig, Uferebreodun, Uferebiri (ix cent.);
Uverabreodun (x cent.); Ovreberie (xi cent.); Werebyri (xii cent.); Uverbyri (xiii cent.).
The parish of Overbury lies in the south of the
county. Habington in his survey describes it as
'seated at the foote of Breadon Hill in a beautiful
vale, and the extreeme southe of our shyre, in so
muche as three of her chappelles, being Tedington,
Aulston, and Washbourn, are severed from the continent of our shyre by the county of Gloucester.' (fn. 1)
The Carrant Brook, mentioned by this name in a
9th-century charter, (fn. 2) forms the southern boundary
of Overbury, separating it from Teddington. This
stream formerly supplied the power for paper, silk
and corn-mills.
The area of the parish, exclusive of Little Washbourne and Alstone, is 2,817 acres. (fn. 3) The village
lies at about 200 ft. above the ordnance datum. To
the north and west the land rises rapidly to Bredon
and Conderton Hills, the northern border of the
parish being at a height of 900 ft. above the ordnance
datum. The soil varies. The southern part of the
parish is on the Lower Lias and the northern on Inferior
Oolite, the chief crops being wheat, oats, barley and
roots. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in
agriculture. In the middle of the 19th century
some of the women were employed in glove-sewing. (fn. 4)
The village of Overbury lies on the Tewkesbury
and Evesham high road at the foot of Bredon Hill.
The church stands near the centre of the village, and
on its north side standing in its park is Overbury
Court, the seat of Sir Richard Biddulph Martin,
bart., J.P. The house is of the early 18th century
with modern additions. The cottages which compose the village have been for the most part rebuilt
with great taste and judgement by the present lord
of the manor. The post office, on the south side
of the Bredon road, is an old cottage added to and
enlarged in half-timber from the designs of the late Mr.
Norman Shaw. On the north side of the same road,
to the east of the church, is a pair of stone cottages,
with a four-centred entrance gateway upon which is
carved 'E.R. 1.R. 1639.' Upon the road which leads
northward up the side of Bredon Hill, parallel with
the eastern boundary of the grounds of Overbury
Court, are many houses and cottages, none, however,
architecturally of any importance.
At the hamlet of Conderton, to the eastward of
the village of Overbury, is Conderton Manor, an
H-shaped Carolean house of stone, two stories in
height, with an attic in the roof. Some early 18th-century panelling and a staircase of oak with twisted
balusters remain, but the house has been much
restored and modernized. It is now the residence
of Mrs. Franklin.
The hamlet of Teddington lies to the south of
Overbury on the southern side of the high road from
Tewkesbury to Stow-on-the-Wold. At the point
where this road crosses that from Evesham to Cheltenham and meets Crashmore Lane leading north to Overbury village stands an ancient guide-post of stone
called Teddington Hands, (fn. 5) bearing the inscription:
'Edmund Attwood, (fn. 6) of the Vine Tree,
At the first time erected me,
And freely he did this bestow
Strange travellers the way to show;
Ten generations passed and gone,
Repaired by Alice Attwood of Teddington,
August 10th 1876.'
The village is situated on a branch road from the
Evesham and Cheltenham road at about 100 ft. above
the ordnance datum, and the church stands on rising
ground to the south of the road along which the
cottages are grouped. To the south the land rises
abruptly to Oxenton Hill, which is just over the
southern boundary. The Tirle Brook flows through
the west of the hamlet.
Little Washbourne is a small village to the north
of the road from Tewkesbury to Stow-on-the-Wold,
to the east of Teddington. It is still a chapelry of
Overbury, but was transferred to Gloucestershire for
Parliamentary purposes in 1832, (fn. 7) and for all purposes in 1844. (fn. 8) The chapel of Little Washbourne
now stands in the orchard of a farm which with
one or two cottages comprises the entire hamlet.
The village of Alstone, which became part of
Gloucestershire at the same date, is south-west of
Little Washbourne. On the north side of Alstone
Church is a fine L-shaped half-timber farm-house of
the 15th century, and there are several stone-built
cottages of 17th-century date in the village.
On Conderton Hill to the north of the village of
Conderton is a small oval camp, near which Roman
remains have been found. Fragments of Roman
pottery and coins have been picked up in the
arable fields near Overbury and Conderton, and it
is probable that there was a villa here. (fn. 9)
An Inclosure Act for Overbury was passed in
1811, (fn. 10) and the award is dated 29 March 1815. (fn. 11)
Among the place-names are Butthay, Stanthall,
Berry Furlong, (fn. 12) Lower Meron (fn. 13) (xvii cent.).
MANORS
Ceolwulf II, King of Mercia, gave
OVERBURY in 875 to the monks of
Worcester, (fn. 14) who in 1086 held Overbury with Pendock, (fn. 15) where there were 6 hides that
paid geld. (fn. 16) The manor was confirmed to the prior
and convent in 1148 by Simon Bishop of Worcester. (fn. 17) In 1240 there was a curia with 3 carucates of
land. (fn. 18) The manor remained with the priory until
the Dissolution in 1540. (fn. 19) It was granted to the
Dean and Chapter of Worcester in 1542 (fn. 20) and confirmed to them in 1609. (fn. 21) The manor was sold in
1652 by the commissioners for the sale of church
lands to William Horton, Henry Smith and Anthony
Dickins, (fn. 22) the site and warren of the manor having
been sold in the previous year to Giles Parsons. (fn. 23)
At the Restoration it was recovered by the dean and
chapter, and confirmed to
them in 1692–3. (fn. 24) In 1859
the lands of the dean and
chapter were taken over by
the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, (fn. 25) now lords of the
manor. (fn. 26)
Parsons. Azure a cheveron ermine between three trefoils argent.
The Parsons family held
the manor under lease from
the dean and chapter from
1641. (fn. 27) William Parsons,
the last survivor of the family,
died in 1714, leaving an only daughter Mary,
an infant, who married in 1735 William Bund.
William Parsons was the last life in the lease
from the dean and chapter, and at his death it was
not renewed. A new lease was then granted to John
Martin, a banker, who built at Overbury a house
which was burnt down in
1735. A few years afterwards
a second house, called Overbury Court, (fn. 28) was built, and
is now occupied by his descendant, Sir Richard Biddulph
Martin, who was created a
baronet in 1905. (fn. 29)
Martin of Overbury, baronet. Paly erminois and azure a chief engrailed gules with three martlets argent therein.
Free warren in the manor
of Overbury was granted to
the Prior of Worcester in
1256, (fn. 30) and confirmed by
Edward III in 1355 (fn. 31) and
by Richard II. (fn. 32) The warren
was sold by the Parliamentary
Commissioners to Giles Parsons in 1651. (fn. 33)
CONDERTON
(fn. 34) (Cantuaretun, ix cent.; Cantertun, xii cent.; Kanterton, Canterton, xiii cent.) was
granted in 875 with the manor of Overbury to the
church of Worcester by King Ceolwulf. (fn. 35) It was
confirmed to the monks in 1148 by Bishop Simon. (fn. 36)
In 1212 Ralph Prior of Worcester gave to Godfrey
son of Stephen de Canterton half a hide of land
which Stephen his father had held, for the rent of a
mark yearly at the four terms. (fn. 37) In 1220–1 Peter
son of Peter and Emma de Bellewe (Bella Aqua)
recovered half a hide of land here against Richard le
Scot and his wife Alice. (fn. 38) Peter son of Peter was in
possession in 1240, when he paid 16d. four times a
year to the prior for the estate. (fn. 39)
By an undated charter Walter de Bradewell gave
to William de Fescamp all his land in Conderton,
saving to the Prior of Worcester a rent of a mark at
the four terms and to Walter and his heirs a rent of
20s. 8d. (fn. 40) William de Fescamp was holding the
estate, half a hide, of the prior in 1240. (fn. 41) It was
possibly the rent reserved by Walter in the above-mentioned grant which was given by him to William
de Aqua, whose widow Margery gave it to the
almoner of the priory of Worcester. (fn. 42) By an undated
charter William Herun gave to the prior and convent
1¼ acres of land in Conderton in exchange for a place
called the Chapel Heye in Conderton. (fn. 43) The prior
obtained further grants of land in Conderton in
1322. (fn. 44)
Conderton was probably always part of the manor
of Overbury, and in 1652, when the latter was sold
by the Parliamentary Commissioners, it was called the
manor of Overbury and Conderton. (fn. 45)
In 780 Offa, King of Mercia, gave 5 'manses'
at TEDDINGTON (Teottingtun, viii cent.; Tidinctune, Tidantun, x cent.; Teodintun, Theotinctun, Teotintune, xi cent.; Tedinton, xiii cent.) to
the monastery of Bredon. (fn. 46) The possessions of the
monastery afterwards passed to the see of Worcester, (fn. 47)
but this manor was taken from the church by
Beorhtwulf, King of Mercia, about 831. Bishop
Eadberht (Heaberht) went to Tamworth and at Easter
840 proved his right to the manor before the king
and the assembled nobles, and the land was restored
to him. (fn. 48) It was confirmed to the monks in King
Edgar's famous charter of 964 granting the hundred
of Oswaldslow to the church of Worcester. (fn. 49) In
969 Oswald, Bishop of Worcester, granted land
there to one Osulf and to his two children, and after
them to his wife Eadleofu and her two brethren. (fn. 50) In
977 he leased three 'manses' at Teddington to one
Eadric for three lives, (fn. 51) and eight years later the
same Eadric received a further grant of 5 'manses'
for three lives. (fn. 52) In the time of Edward the Confessor one Toki, a rich and powerful minister of the
king, left by his will 3 hides in Teddington and
Alstone to Ealdred, Bishop of Worcester, but his son
Aki, (fn. 53) also a powerful servant of the king, claimed them
as his hereditary possession, and endeavoured to set
the will aside. Finally, with the consent of the
'great men,' Aki gave up the property, and in
return for 8 marks of gold confirmed the possession of
it to the bishop, who made it over to the monks. (fn. 54)
At the same time the bishop freed it from all services
to the episcopal vill of Bredon, to which it was said
to have belonged in ancient times, though no man
then living could remember it. (fn. 55) In 1086, however, these 3 hides were still held by the monks of
the bishop's manor of Bredon. (fn. 56)
In 1240 William de Godeshalve held a virgate in
this manor freely for the service of going bail in the
county of Gloucester for the prior's men of Teddington and Alstone wherever they should be attached.
The lord of Oxenton (a manor in Gloucestershire
near Teddington) from ancient times received a cartload of hay yearly from the meadow of Teddington in
exchange for an undertaking to protect the manor in
time of war. (fn. 57)
In 1256 the prior obtained a grant of free warren
here, and this was confirmed in 1355. (fn. 58)
The subsequent history of this manor is the same
as that of others belonging to the priory. On the
dissolution of the house in 1540 (fn. 59) Teddington
passed to the Crown, and it was granted to the dean
and chapter in 1542. (fn. 60) This grant was confirmed
in 1609, (fn. 61) and the manor was sold by the Parliamentary Commissioners in 1650 to William Clarke and
James Stanford. (fn. 62) The farm-house of the manor was
sold in the same year to William Attwood (fn. 63) and
Conan Daubeney. (fn. 64) The manor was recovered by the
dean and chapter at the Restoration, confirmed to
them in 1692–3, (fn. 65) and was taken over by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in 1859. (fn. 66) The commissioners do not now own a manor at Teddington, the
ancient manor having perhaps become merged in that
of Overbury. (fn. 67)
ALSTONE (Aelfsigestun, x cent.; Alsestun,
Elfsiston, xiii cent.; Alston, xvii cent.) was granted
with Teddington in 969 by Bishop Oswald to
Oswulf, (fn. 68) and was given with it by Bishop Ealdred to
the priory of Worcester. (fn. 69) It evidently formed part
of the manor of Teddington, being assessed with it
in 1240 at 3 hides, (fn. 70) and sold in 1650 as the manor
of Teddington and Alstone. (fn. 71)
LITTLE WASHBOURNE (Wassanburna, viii and
ix cent.; Wasseburne, x cent.; Waseburne, xi cent.;
Wasseburne Militis, xiv cent.; Knyghtes Wasshebourne, xv cent.; Knyghtyswasshebourne, xvi cent.).
Offa, King of Mercia, gave 10 cassates of land at
Little Washbourne (which had on the east a ford
called Geolwaford and on the west a spring called
Gytingbroc) to the monks of Worcester in 780. (fn. 72)
This land, like Teddington, was afterwards taken
from the monks by King Beorhtwulf, but was recovered by them in 840. (fn. 73) In 977 Bishop Oswald
granted 3 'manses' there to a monk named Winsig
for three lives. (fn. 74)
In the reign of Edward the Confessor one Elmer
held 3 hides in Washbourne. He afterwards became
a monk, and the Bishop of Worcester took his lands, (fn. 75)
but in 1086 Urse the Sheriff held the estate, of the
manor of Bredon. (fn. 76) His interest passed with his
other possessions to the Beauchamps of Elmley, (fn. 77) and
followed the descent of Elmley Castle until the 15th
century, the manor of Washbourne being held of the
honour of Elmley in 1492. (fn. 78)
Under the lords of Elmley the manor was held in
the time of Henry II by William son of Sampson, (fn. 79)
and it afterwards passed to the Washbournes, whose
ancestor Sampson may have been. (fn. 80) The first member
of the family who is known to have held Little
Washbourne is Roger Washbourne, who is mentioned
as a juror in an inquisition of 1259, (fn. 81) and paid a
subsidy of 15s. at Washbourne about 1280. (fn. 82) He
was succeeded before 1299 by his son John Washbourne. (fn. 83) Roger Washbourne, son of John, to whom
his father granted the manor in 1315–16, (fn. 84) seems to
have taken part in the rebellion against the Despensers,
and forfeited his estate to the king, for in 1322 his
forfeited lands were restored to him. (fn. 85) Roger paid a
subsidy of 3s. at Washbourne in 1327, and Isabel
Washbourne, who paid a similar sum, was no doubt
his mother. (fn. 86)
Roger Washbourne afterwards became a coroner
for Worcestershire, and in 1347 the king commanded
that another coroner should
be elected in place of Roger,
who was 'so sick and broken
by age' that he could not
fulfil the duties of his office. (fn. 87)
His son John, who probably
succeeded soon after, died
without issue, and the manor
of Little Washbourne passed
to his uncle Peter, who in his
turn was succeeded by his son
John. (fn. 88) In 1368 John Washbourne was engaged in a suit
against Katherine, widow of
his cousin John, with regard
to this manor. (fn. 89) By his first
wife Joan John had a daughter Iseult, who married
firstly John Salwey, and secondly Thomas Harewell,
the last-named being returned as owner of this manor
in 1428. (fn. 90) In 1426–7, however, John Washbourne
had conveyed the manor of Knights Washbourne to
Norman Washbourne, (fn. 91) his son by his second wife
Margaret Poer, and Norman was returned as the
owner in 1431. (fn. 92) Humphrey Salwey son of Iseult
claimed this manor in right of his mother, and finally
in 1479, after much controversy between the two
families, it was agreed between John son of Norman
Washbourne and Humphrey Salwey that John should
have the manor of Little Washbourne, while Humphrey
should have Stanford. (fn. 93) The manor then followed
the same descent as Wichenford in the Washbourne
family (fn. 94) until 1712, when Wichenford was sold by
William Washbourne. The manor of Little Washbourne was retained by the Washbourne family.
William Washbourne died about 1726, (fn. 95) but seems
to have given the manor before this time to his son
Ernle, who was dealing with it in 1717. (fn. 96) Ernle
died without issue in 1743, (fn. 97) and left this property
to his three sisters, Susannah, Hester Soame and Ann
Sheppard, in equal shares for their lives, with remainder
to their children. In the event of the three sisters
leaving no issue, Richard Washbourne, son of Goodwin Washbourne of St. Ann's Lane, Westminster, was
to inherit, with remainder to his heirs male. Failing
such heirs the property was to go to John Robinson
the younger, son of John Robinson the elder of
Cransley and his heirs. (fn. 98) Six months after Ernle's
death the three sisters leased the manor of Little
Washbourne to Timothy Shury for eighteen years at
a rent of £225. (fn. 99) The three sisters left no children,
Hester, the last of the three, dying in 1782, and the
estate presumably passed under Ernle's will to the
Robinsons. (fn. 100) It belonged in 1791–2 to Richard
Hill, (fn. 101) and it was sold by him or his son at the
beginning of the 19th century to Samuel Gist Gist, (fn. 102)
who was holding it in 1823. (fn. 103) He died in 1845,
and was succeeded by a son Samuel, (fn. 104) who was owner
of the manor in 1897. The manor of Washbourne
has since this date been sold to Mrs. Eyres Monsell of
Dumbleton.
Washbourne. Argent a fesse between six martlets gules with three cinqfoils argent on the fesse.
In 1240 there were four mills at Overbury belonging to the manor and one which belonged to the
church. (fn. 105) In 1291 three mills at Overbury were
valued at £1 4s. (fn. 106) A water corn-mill was included
in the sale of the site of the manor in 1651. (fn. 107) At
the end of the 18th century there was a paper-mill
on the Carrant Brook, and also a corn-mill and malthouse. (fn. 108) The paper-mill had disappeared before
1868, as had a silk-mill which once flourished at
Overbury. There were then two grist-mills on the
Carrant Brook. (fn. 109) The only mill in the parish at the
present day is Overbury Mill, a corn-mill on the
eastern boundary of Overbury Park.
CHURCHES
The church of ST. FAITH consists of a chancel 24 ft. by 16½ ft.,
nave 56½ ft. long and tapering from
16¾ ft. at the west to 15¾ ft. at the east, with a
central tower 12 ft. wide by 13½ ft. from east to west,
north aisle to the nave 10 ft. wide, south aisle 9¾ ft.
wide and a modern south porch. All the dimensions
given are internal.
The earliest part of the building is the nave, with
its two arcades and clearstory, which dates from the
latter part of the 12th century, but the variation in
the width probably indicates the pre-existence of an
aisleless building. A tower also appears to have been
built on the site of the present one at the same time,
and doubtless there was a sacrarium to the east of it.
The latter was rebuilt in the 13th century, when it
was widened and lengthened, but from an entry in
the Worcester Episcopal Registers (fn. 110) it does not appear
to have been consecrated before the year 1315. The
west wall of the nave was also rebuilt, probably at
the same time.
About 1330–40 the narrow 12th-century aisles
were widened to their present size, the original
south doorway being brought out with the wall and
rebuilt. The clearstory had to be abandoned as a
source of light, and was inclosed below the new aisle
roofs. Nothing important was subsequently done to
the structure until the latter half of the 15th century,
when the central tower was entirely rebuilt. The
capitals of the former 12th-century half-round responds
were reversed and reset in the bases of the present
arches, and the angle shafts in the chancel were turned
slightly to fit the skew walls joining the chancel to the
tower. The large east window was inserted at much
the same time.
A gallery stood at the east end of the nave in the
early part of the last century, and was removed to the
west end in 1835, but in 1850 it had entirely disappeared. The church has been restored during
the past century, chiefly in 1879–80. The porch is
presumably of this date.
The east window is of four main and eight sublights with 'Perpendicular' tracery above under a
four-centred main arch. The mullions are continued
down below the sill to form a series of blind panels
with quatrefoils over. The plinth outside has a
moulded top member with two splays below. At the
corners are 13th-century shallow clasping buttresses,
and a shallow buttress divides each side wall into two
bays. Two large and apparently modern buttresses
have been added to each side wall. The jambs and
arches of the two 13th-century lancets in either wall
are richly moulded. Each jamb has detached round
shafts both within and without and another engaged
shaft flush with the inner face of the wall. All three
have carved foliated capitals and moulded bases. The
external labels mitre with a moulded string-course of
the same section which runs along the wall at the
springing level. A similar string-course is carried
along the wall a few feet higher. The groined
stone vault of the chancel is in two bays and springs
from vaulting shafts attached to the wall. The
angle shafts are single and filleted, but the intermediate shafts form clusters of three. All have
moulded bases and carved foliated capitals. The
faces of the window ledges are moulded and continued along as a string-course, which is carried up
vertically by the side of the vaulting shaft and around
the arch of the vault to form the wall rib. The
vaulting ribs are moulded, and at the junction of the
diagonals are carved bosses, both with female heads.
The chancel walls are rubble-faced inside, outside
they are cemented. The two-centred archways east
and west of the tower are of two chamfered orders
with plain bases and moulded capitals of late 15th-century form.
In the south wall of the tower is a small doorway
with moulded jambs and pointed arch. Above it,
and also on the opposite side, are windows of three
lights under traceried two-centred heads. These
lights the space below the modern groined stone vault
which spans the lowest story of the tower. The
room above the vault is lighted by single square-headed lights in the north and south walls below the
moulded string-course which marks
the first of the three
stages of the tower.
In this string are
carved square flowers
at intervals. In the
second stage is a
similar small light to
the west. The third
stage or bell-chamber
has a square window
in each wall of four
lights entirely filled
with small and elaborate tracery in stone.
At the angles are
diagonal buttresses.
Grotesque winged
gargoyles project at
the four corners of
the moulded parapet
string, and lower down on the south-western buttress
is a curious carved reptile. The parapet is embattled
with a moulded returned coping, and at the angles
are slender square pinnacles with crocketed finials.
The tower is of rubble, ashlar-faced outside.
The nave arcades each consist of four bays; both
are of the 12th century, but differ slightly in detail,
and one (probably the south) was evidently finished
before the other was begun. Both have circular
columns and half-round responds. The moulded
bases on the north side have a very decided 'watertable,' and the scalloped capitals are square with
a grooved and chamfered abacus. The capitals on the
south side are also scalloped, but in this case the
vertical face of the capital is very deep and the flutes
are almost horizontal. The arches on both sides are
semicircular and of two square orders.
Above each column and over the eastern respond
are the small semicircular-headed lights to the former
clearstory; their jambs and head are splayed all
round inside and rebated and chamfered towards the
aisle; the easternmost, on the north side, is partly
obscured by the angle wall of the later rood stair
turret, in which is a square-headed doorway. In the
west wall of the nave are three lancet windows with
plain pointed heads. The outside stonework is all new.
Inside the shafts between the lights are detached, and
are square in plan, with chamfered edges and a filleted
roll on the face, the latter having a moulded base and
capital. These rolls or shafts are repeated on the
jambs.
The 14th-century east window of the north aisle
is of three lights with a traceried head. To the
south of it is the doorway to the rood-loft stair set on
the skew. Another doorway is inserted in the angle
buttress of the tower outside. The two north windows of the aisle are of similar detail and date to the
east window, and between them is the north doorway
with a two-centred drop arch. The modern west
window is of two lights in 14th-century style.
The three-light east window of the south aisle has
all been renewed except the jambs. The two
southern windows are similar, and in each case the
inner stones of the tracery and the mullions are
modern. The round-headed south doorway is the
original late 12th-century entrance reset in the 14th
century; the jambs are of three orders, the two outer
each having a keeled shaft in the angle. The shafts
and edge rolls have carved capitals, most of which
have been partly or wholly renewed. The west
window resembles that in the other aisle, and with
the south porch is entirely modern. The buttresses
of the aisles have been renewed with the exception
of the eastern buttress of the north aisle. The north
wall of this aisle is of rubble or rough ashlar in small
square stones and the east end of the south aisle is
also in small ashlar. The roof of the nave is gabled,
and has a plastered ceiling below, cut up into panels by
wood ribs. The aisle roofs are flat and of modern date.
Plan of Overbury Church
The font is large, and has a bowl which appears to
date from the 11th century on a 14th-century stem
and base. On the curved sides of the bowl are
carved two figures, one holding two croziers and the
other a small model of a building; there are also a
flower scroll ornament, partly repaired, and a cross
and dove wholly modern. The stem is octagonal
with ball flowers on the faces and the base has a
moulded octagonal sub-base.
The tub-shaped pulpit is octagonal and rests on a
stone base. Parts of the woodwork date from the 15th
century, and the panels have traceried heads with
carved spandrels and small roses at the cusp points.
The cornice is carved with a running vine pattern,
with inverted cresting below. The nave seats are
also made up with much fine late 15th-century
woodwork.
There are six bells: the treble, by Robert Hendlet
of Gloucester (c. 1450), is inscribed 'Sancte Egidi
ora pro nobis'; the second, which is probably of
late 16th-century date, has an alphabet; the third
and fourth are by Roger Purdue and dated 1641, the
former is inscribed 'Come when I call to serve God
all,' the latter 'Halleliah'; the fifth is by Abraham
Rudhall, 1719; the tenor was added in 1903 and
bears the following chronogram: 'CaMpana sanCtae
f I De I Ceter I s Consonare parata.'
Overbury Church from the South-west
The communion plate includes a silver cup and a
cover paten, the latter bearing the date 1571. There
are also two patens and a flagon of 1876.
The registers before 1812 are as follows: (i) includes entries 1563 to 1681, with a single baptism
entered in 1557; (ii) marriages 1686 to 1755,
baptisms and burials 1683 to 1794; (iii) baptisms
and burials 1795 to 1812, and (iv) marriages 1755
to 1812.
The church of ST. NICHOLAS, Teddington,
consists of a chancel measuring internally 19¾ ft. by
14 ft., nave 36¾ ft. by 19½ ft., west tower 10 ft. by
8 ft. and a south porch 9 ft. 7 in. by 8 ft.
The earliest detail of the building is the plain
semicircular chancel arch, which seems to indicate an
11th-century origin. The presence of moulded archstones of the early 12th century in the facing of the
wall on either side of it shows that a drastic repair
has taken place at some subsequent period, perhaps at
the time the present west tower was built, the ground
stage of which is constructed of re-used 13th-century
stones. The four-centred doorway leading to the
vice gives the 15th century as the date of this reconstruction. The source from which these stones were
brought is uncertain. The elaborate nature of the
tower arch and the west window shows that it must
have been a building of considerable importance.
The north-east window of the nave and the north
porch are of the middle of the 13th
century. The east window of the
chancel dates from the latter half of
the 14th century. New windows were
inserted in the south wall of the nave
and in both side walls of the chancel
in the 16th or early 17th century.
The east window of the chancel is of
three trefoiled ogee lights with tracery
of a transitional type within a two-centred head. The two north windows
are each of two plain square-headed
lights, and between them is a small
doorway with an elliptical head and
moulded external jambs. In the south
wall are two similar windows, the sill
of the easternmost having been lowered
to serve as a credence table. These
features are all of the 16th century.
The chancel arch, which probably
dates from the late 11th century, is
semicircular and perfectly plain with
unmoulded imposts and plain responds.
Built into the wall on either side of it
are several fragments of early 12th-century moulded arch-stones and a
piece of a moulded impost. Externally
there are two small buttresses of one
offset on either side of the east window
and below the level of its sill, while at
the angles of the wall are buttresses of
two offsets. The walls are faced with
irregularly coursed rubble.
The mid - 13th-century north-east
window of the nave is a single lancet
light with a trefoiled head and plain
wide internal splays. The rear arch is
formed by wood lintels. Below the
sill is a plain oblong recess in the face of the wall.
The north doorway appears to be of the late 12th
century. The external head is two-centred and is
roll-moulded continuously with the jambs. There is
a label with a head-stop on the east and a mask-stop
on the west, both partaking more of the Norman
than the Early English character. The rear arch is
semicircular. In the south wall are two 16th-century
windows with square heads and external labels. The
eastern of these is of three elliptical-headed lights
and the western of two similar lights. Internally the
wall sets off with a chamfer about 3 ft. above the
floor level. Between these is a blocked doorway of
the same date as that in the wall opposite with a two-centred external head and label and a segmental two-centred rear arch. Externally a string-course runs
along the western half of the north wall and is twice
lifted as if to meet the sills of two windows. There
are, however, no traces in the wall above of any
openings. The plinth is here swept back to the face
above by a deep double chamfer. On the south wall
are three buttresses of two offsets, probably of the
13th century.
The tower appears to have been built in the late
15th century. Many 13th-century details are used
up in the ground stage, including the west window
and the tower arch and the lower stages of the
buttresses. The responds of the tower arch are
formed of cylindrical piers with attached circular
shafts at the cardinal points, and are built clumsily
into the angles made by the west wall of the nave
with the side walls of the tower, exposing two only
of the attached shafts on either side. Their capitals,
which are finely moulded, show them to be of the
middle of the 13th century. The bases are gone
and they stand on rude square blocks of stone.
The arch itself fits the improvised responds very
ill. It is of the same
date and of two elaborately moulded orders.
The west window,
which is also of the
same period, is a particularly fine example
of early bar tracery.
It is of two cinquefoiled lights surmounted by a multifoiled circle within a
two-centred head.
Both jambs and mullions are shafted internally and externally
and the tracery is
richly moulded. At
the south-east of the
ground stage is a vice
leading to the ringing
stage, entered by a
doorway with a fourcentred head. This is
contained within a
stone-roofed westward extension of the nave, with a
diagonal buttress of two offsets at the western angle.
There is a similar feature on the north, by which the
nave is made to clasp the tower on both sides. The
tower is divided externally into three receding stages
by moulded string-courses, and there are diagonal
buttresses of three offsets at the western angles. The
whole is crowned by a cornice with gargoyles at the
four corners surmounted by an embattled parapet.
The bell-chamber is lighted by two-light windows
with two-centred heads containing tracery of a very
poor and debased type. The walls are faced with
ashlar work.
The north porch, as stated above, is of mid-13th-century date. The outer entrance has a two-centred
head and is chamfered continuously with the jambs.
The roofs of both chancel and nave are of the
trussed-rafter type and probably date from the 14th
century. The nave roof has been considerably
repaired by the insertion of ties at various later
dates.
The base and stem of the font belong to the 14th
century, but the bowl is modern. The pews, though
much restored, are all of the late 15th century. The
top-rails are elaborately moulded, but they are otherwise quite plain, with the exception of two ends,
which have linen-pattern panels. The altar rails and
the priest's stall in the chancel are Jacobean. On
the front of the desk is carved 'Quench not ye spirit,
Despise not prophecyŇ'; on the seat, 'pray continually.' The pulpit, which has been cut down and
set on a stone base, was made in 1655. The date,
with the names of the churchwardens, Michael Tyller
and William Awoode (sic), is carved on the panels
which form the back. The desk-cloth with its goldtasselled fringe has worked upon it C.W./E.A. 1717.
On the plaster of the south wall, occupying the
whole of the space between the two windows and
above the head of the blocked doorway, are painted
the royal arms of William and Mary within a crude
architectural frame. On the north wall are the Lord's
Prayer and the General Confession inscribed in
black letter, the work of the early 17th century.
Teddington Church from the South
There are two bells, inscribed as follows: (1)
'Christus est Via, Veritas, Vita 1605,' (2) 'God Save
King James 1609.'
The plate consists of a silver cup and cover paten
of 1571, a modern paten and flagon and a pewter
almsdish.
The registers previously to 1812 are in one volume
containing mixed entries from 1560 to 1793.
The church of ST. MARGARET, Alstone, consists of a chancel measuring internally 15¼ ft. by
15 ft., nave 29¼ ft. by 17 ft., a north aisle 30¼ ft.
by 8½ ft., a south porch 8¼ ft. by 7¼ ft. and a modern
timber belfry over the east end of the nave.
The responds of the chancel arch and the south
doorway of the nave date from the middle of the 12th
century. No other details of this period remain in
position. A rebuilding appears to have taken place
in the 13th century, when the chancel and nave were
rebuilt, a new two-centred arch being fitted to the
existing responds of the chancel arch, the south doorway of the nave being retained in its original position.
The south wall of the nave appears to have been
again rebuilt at some later period, and the north
aisle with the arcade of the nave probably dates from
the latter half of the 16th century. The south porch
was added in 1621.
The east window of the chancel is of two trefoiled
lights and dates from the middle of the 13th century.
The north-east window has modern tracery of the
same character, but the jambs appear to be original.
In the south wall is a window of three square-headed
lights, probably of the early 17th century. At the
south-east is a 12th-century projecting piscina basin,
reset in the wall. A supporting shaft has evidently
disappeared. The chancel arch is of two orders
towards the west. The responds alone date from
the 12th century. The jambs of the outer order are
shafted and the shafts have enriched scalloped capitals,
cabled neckings and moulded bases. Their abaci,
which are enriched with the star ornament, are
continued round the responds. The southern shaft,
with its capital and abacus, is a modern restoration.
The arch itself is of the 13th century; it is two-centred, and the orders are moulded with deep
chamfers. The wall on either side is pierced by large
square-headed squints. Externally there are buttresses of two offsets at the eastern angles. A deep
chamfered plinth, surmounted by a small roll moulding, runs round the walls and is interrupted by the
buttresses, which have independent plinths of slighter
projection. The walling is of ashlar work in deep
courses. The east gable has a chamfered coping and
is crowned at the apex by a stone cross, probably
of original 13th-century date.
Teddington Church, West Window
The 16th-century north arcade of the nave is of
three bays, with two-centred arches of two orders and
octagonal columns and responds. The mouldings are
of a simple and nondescript type. The easternmost
window of the south wall has three four-centred lights
within a square head and appears to be contemporary
in date with the north arcade
and aisle. The south doorway has a semicircular head,
and is of two orders externally,
the outer order having shafted
jambs. The details are very
similar to those of the chancel
arch, with which it is evidently
contemporary. The opening
itself is square-headed, the
arch being filled with a plain
tympanum. This has been
cracked at the head, and the
stones generally bear evident
marks of having been reset.
The westernmost window is
of two plain lights with
modern mullions. It is probable that the whole of this
wall was rebuilt at the time
the north aisle was added,
various fragments of window
mullions and other moulded
stones being worked into the
internal facing. In the west
wall is a single trefoiled light
of the 13th century with an
external chamfered label. The
thrust of the nave arcade is
taken on the east by a buttress
of two offsets set with its south
side against the north wall of
the chancel. The west wall
is crowned by a modern half-timber gable and is flanked
by buttresses of two offsets.
There is a buttress of a single
offset at the south-west.
The north aisle is lighted
by square-headed windows of
two four-centred lights in the
east, north, and west walls.
There are angle buttresses of two offsets at the east
and west and one in the centre of the north wall.
The whole aisle has the appearance of having been
put together of fragments.
The south porch has stone seats on either side,
and the outer doorway has a four-centred head.
Above the arch is carved the date 1621. The
open timber roofs are tiled. The stone font is
octagonal, simply moulded, and of original 13th-century date. In the south-west window of the
nave are some fragments of 15th-century stained
glass. The 16th-century pulpit has linen-pattern
panels. Some of the bench-ends appear to be of
the same date.
On the north wall of the north aisle is a monument with a long inscription in verse to the wife of
'T. D.' (Darke ?), who died in 1662. Among the
other monuments is one to Elizabeth daughter of
'Mr. Smith, Minister of this Parish,' who died in
1682, and to Humphry Smith, evidently the 'Mr.
Smith' of the preceding inscription, who died in
1729. There is also a fragment of an inscription in
verse, from which the name has gone, to a child of
nine, who died in 1696.
There is one bell, inscribed: 'Jn° New Churchwarden, 1790.'
The plate includes a cup with a floral band but
without date and probably Elizabethan. There is
also a plated paten as well as a silver flagon of 1880,
the gift of Miss Levett of Cheltenham.
The registers previous to 1812 are as follows:
(i) baptisms, burials and marriages 1546 to 1734;
(ii) baptisms, burials and marriages 1782 to 1804.
The chapel of ST. MARY THE VIRGIN at
Little Washbourne consists of a chancel 13 ft.
by 18 ft., a nave 28½ ft.
by 18½ ft., and a timber
bell-turret over the west
end of the chancel.
The building dates
from the middle of the
12th century, but seems
to have been largely rebuilt at later periods.
The earlier work is of
rubble masonry, but the
north wall of the nave
and the greater part of
the south wall are faced
with ashlar. The present
windows are modern enlargements of the older
openings and probably
date from the late 18th
century. The building
is now in a very bad state
of repair. The walls have
been pushed very much
out of the perpendicular
by the thrust of the
roof-trusses, to counteract which massive buttresses
have recently been erected. The outward movement
seems, however, to have ceased, as the buttresses
themselves have commenced to fall away from the
walls.
The east window of the chancel is a large pointed
light without tracery, and there are no windows in
the side walls. The timber bell-turret is supported
by uprights rising from the floor. The chancel arch
is semicircular and of a single plain order with jamb
shafts on the nave side, having scalloped capitals and
chamfered abaci. The walls are of rubble masonry,
and a small blocked semicircular-headed light, with a
rebate for a shutter, is visible externally in the north
wall. The east gable is crowned by a 14th-century
cross.
There are no windows in the north wall of the
nave. In the south wall is a modern doorway, and
to the east of it a window of the same character as
the chancel window. There is a similar window in
the west wall. The north wall and the greater part
of the south wall appear to be later rebuildings,
perhaps of the 15th century. They are faced with
ashlar work, in deep courses. The west wall, which
is of rubble, still remains much in its original condition; there are pilaster buttresses at the north
and south and one in the centre, the upper part of
which has been cut away for the sill of the window.
A plain cross with arms of round section crowns the
gable.
The roof of the chancel has trusses with tie-beams and collars strutted by arched braces. The
roof of the nave seems to have undergone many
repairs at various periods. The collars of the
trusses are stiffened by straight struts, and there
are cambered tie-beams. Externally the roofs are
stone-slated. The pulpit and pews are extremely
good examples of late 18th-century joinery. The
altar table, which has a marble top with a narrow
edge of wood, is a fine piece of furniture of the
same date.
Little Washbourne Chapel from the South-west
The original bell, which is seriously cracked, is
still preserved in the building. It is inscribed in
black letters: 'made 1584.' The present bell was
cast in 1892.
The plate includes an Elizabethan cup without
hall mark or date and a pewter plate or paten.
The registers are kept with Alstone.
ADVOWSON
In 1086 the Prior and convent
of Worcester had on their manor of
Overbury a priest who had half a
hide of land. (fn. 111)
In 1194 the Bishop of Worcester granted the
prior an annual rent of 2 marks in his church of
Overbury and half a mark in his chapel of Berrow
(Berga) for a special feast on the Feast of the Transfiguration, and for doles to the poor. (fn. 112) In 1291
the church of Overbury with its chapels (fn. 113) was valued
at £16, and the prior received £3 6s. 8d. a year for
the great tithes. (fn. 114) In 1315 Bishop Maidstone consecrated the high altar in the church of Overbury. (fn. 115)
The advowson of Overbury belonged to the Prior
and convent of Worcester, and remained in their
possession until the Dissolution, when it passed to the
Crown. (fn. 116) In 1330 the prior and convent obtained
licence to appropriate the church of Overbury with
its chapels, (fn. 117) but the appropriation does not seem to
have taken place immediately, for in 1344 the Letters
Patent granting the licence were exemplified, (fn. 118) and
in 1346 Queen Philippa petitioned the pope that
the appropriation might be made for the payment of
the debts of the priory, and for the support of two
monks at the University of Oxford. (fn. 119) The appropriation was made in the same year, (fn. 120) and the vicarage
was ordained in 1368. (fn. 121) The advowson was granted
to the Dean and Chapter of Worcester in 1542 (fn. 122)
and has since remained in their possession. (fn. 123)
In 1240 there were chapels at Alstone, Teddington
and Little Washbourne (fn. 124) attached to the church of
Overbury. (fn. 125) The chapel of Alstone is not mentioned
in 1330 in the licence to appropriate the church of
Overbury, though the other two are then said to be
chapels of Overbury, (fn. 126) but in 1535 the chapels of
Alstone and Teddington were said to be chantry
chapels. (fn. 127) The three chapels are still annexed to the
church of Overbury.
In 1868 Noake records a chapel in Overbury used
by Baptists and Independents. (fn. 128) At the present day
there is a Baptist chapel, which was opened in
1861.
CHARITIES
Elizabeth Wood, who died in
1824, by her will bequeathed £200
bank stock, the dividends to be applied,
subject to keeping in repair certain vaults, in the
distribution of clothes for labouring poor who support
their families without parish relief.
The stock was sold out and the proceeds thereof,
with accumulations of income, were invested in
£444 6s. 3d. consols, which is now held by the
official trustees, producing £11 2s. yearly. In 1908
the income was distributed in clothing to twenty-six
recipients.
Church Lands.
—The parish is in possession of
about 5 acres, acquired on the inclosure in 1811, in
exchange for land intermixed with other lands in
the common fields. The land is let at £12 10s. a
year, which is carried to the churchwardens' accounts
and applied in cleaning, lighting and heating the
church.
Mrs. Agg, as stated on the church table, gave £10,
the annual interest to be laid out in bread to be distributed to poor widows. The principal sum, with
other sums, appears to have been applied towards
defraying the expenses of building the poor-house.