REMENHAM
Rameham (xi cent.); Rammeham, Ramenham
(xiii cent.); Ramendham (xiv cent.); Rammiham
(xv cent.); Remaham, Remnam (xvi cent.).
The parish of Remenham is situated in a bend of
the Thames on the slope of the chalk hills running
down to the river and immediately opposite to
Henley on the other side. It has an area of 1,573
acres, of which less than half is arable land. (fn. 1) The
soil is loam with a subsoil of gravel and chalk, but on
the higher parts of the parish there is an upper
stratum of clay. Near the church, in the northwest of the parish, also near Remenham Place and
elsewhere there are chalk and gravel-pits. The
principal crops are wheat, oats and barley. In the
neighbourhood of Remenham Hill the ground averages
300 ft. above the ordnance datum, rising to 375 ft.
near Park Place. From here it slopes sharply down
westwards to the river, where the average height is a
little over 100 ft.
The road from Henley runs eastward through the
centre of the parish. The nearest railway station is
Henley-on-Thames, 1½ miles distant, on the Great
Western railway. The two parishes are connected
by a bridge across the river built in 1786. A bridge
here is mentioned from the 13th century onwards;
it was destroyed in 1642 during the Civil War, and
after being partially restored was finally swept away
by a flood in 1774. (fn. 2) There is a ferry over the river
near the hamlet of Aston.
The parish was inclosed by an Act of Parliament
of 1799. (fn. 3)
The village of Remenham, consisting of little more
than the church, rectory, school, and Remenham Farm,
lies on the right bank of the river in the north-west
of the parish, while the scattered hamlet of Remenham
Hill is situated along the Henley road on its eastern
side. To the west of Remenham Farm is the site of
the former manor-house, part of the moat of which
still exists. The rectory, which was built about seventy
years ago, is very conspicuous from the river, and
forms a mark often mentioned in accounts of races
on the Henley course. Regatta Island, from which
the famous course extends to Henley Bridge, is included in Remenham parish. The Leander Club
have their house near the Remenham end of the
bridge. Aston is a hamlet opposite Remenham on
the other side of the bend of the Thames. AngloSaxon remains have been found here. (fn. 4)
Park Place, the seat of Mr. Wilson Noble, is a
handsome stone mansion, in a free style of French
renaissance, built by Mr. John Noble, who bought the
estate in 1870. It stands in a well-wooded park on
the site of an earlier house, and has a fine situation
on the high ground above the river.
Other houses in the neighbourhood are Wilminster
Park, the residence of Mr. Ernest Eveleigh; Woodlands, the residence of Colonel H. M. Vibart, R.E.;
and Bird Place, the residence of Mr. W. A. Simmons,
J.P., all situated near the river. Underwood, at
Remenham Hill, is the residence of Mrs. Ames.
MANOR
The manor of REMENHAM, which
was held in the reign of Edward the
Confessor by Queen Edith, was included
among the king's lands at the date of the Domesday
Survey. (fn. 5) The assessment had fallen from 12 hides
to 4 hides. There was a mill worth 20s. and 1,000
eels. The manor was apparently granted by the
Crown at an early date to one of the Earls of
Warwick, possibly to Henry de Newburgh, the first
earl, who received lands in Warwickshire from
William II about 1090. (fn. 6) It
is found held under the Earls
of Warwick by the family of
Montfort. (fn. 7) Thurstan de
Montfort was holding fees
of the old feoffment under
William de New burgh in
1166, (fn. 8) and about the same
date made payment at the
exchequer in regard of his
lands in Remenham. (fn. 9) The
next tenant of whom we have
record is Thurstan de Montfort, grandson, according to
Dugdale, of the first Thurstan, whose lands were in
the king's hands in 1216, including the advowson of
Remenham Church. (fn. 10) Peter son of Thurstan held
'one fee in Ramenham' under the Earl of Warwick. (fn. 11)
He was killed at the battle of Evesham in 1265, and
left three sons, Peter, William and Robert. (fn. 12) A settlement seems to have been made on the second son
William, who was holding the manor in 1308. (fn. 13)
William was succeeded by Robert, son of Sir Robert
de Montfort, who in 1310 conveyed the manor of
Remenham (then held for life by Henry de Malyns) to
Henry de Ernesfast. (fn. 14) This was possibly a quitclaim
in favour of Peter de Montfort, brother of John de
Montfort, head of the elder branch, the Montforts
of Beaudesert, for Peter de Montfort held the
manor in 1313, when he settled an annuity of £50
'issuing from his manor of Ramenham' upon John
his illegitimate son and Thomas de Ilmington, on
condition that they resided there or elsewhere
according to his wishes. (fn. 15) In 1349 Peter de Montfort settled the reversion of the manor on John for
life, with remainder to his own legitimate son Guy
de Montfort and his wife Margaret, daughter of
Thomas de Beauchamp Earl of Warwick, and contingent remainder to the Earl of Warwick. (fn. 16) Guy
died without issue before his father, and apparently
the manor was entailed by a later settlement on John
de Montfort, for William, son of his son Baldwin,
was holding Remenham in 1408, (fn. 17) and in 1425 was
defendant in a suit concerning the diversion of a
water-course in Remenham to the damage of a freehold in Hambleden (Bucks.). (fn. 18) In 1450 he conveyed the manor to his second son by his first
wife, Richard, rector of Ilmington (Warwick), (fn. 19) for
settlement on himself for life, with reversion to
Edmund, his only son by his second wife Joan de
Alderwiche, (fn. 20) to the disinheritance of Baldwin, his
eldest son and heir. (fn. 21) William died in 1452, his
eldest son Baldwin being his heir-at-law. (fn. 22) The
feoffees of William, by way of strengthening Edmund's
claim, enfeoffed Humphrey Duke of Buckingham of
the manor. (fn. 23) The reversion of his Warwickshire
lands, failing his own issue, Edmund settled on the
Duke of Buckingham and his heirs, whereupon the
duke seized both Bakdwin and his son Simon,
imprisoned the one in Coventry and the other in
Gloucester, (fn. 24) and by threats compelled them to
release the estates to Edmund. (fn. 25)
Montfort. Bendy of ten pieces or and azure.
After the attainder and death of the Duke of
Buckingham Baldwin made a final effort to regain
his estate and obtained the insertion of a clause in
the Act of Attainder safeguarding the rights of his
son Simon to this manor. (fn. 26) In 1471 he executed a
document setting forth the pressure which had been
brought to make him repudiate the entail of the
estates and declaring the validity of the entail made by
William on himself and his heirs. (fn. 27) Edmund, however, appears to have been holding the manor in
1479. (fn. 28) It is not clear what then happened to it.
Baldwin entered holy orders and died in 1493. (fn. 29)
Simon was attainted in 1496, and Coleshill, his
Warwickshire manor, was granted shortly afterwards
to Simon Digby, but it does not appear that any
grant was made of Remenham, although the manor
seems to have been in the king's hands in 1498–9. (fn. 30)
Possibly Simon de Montfort's widow Anne was the
Anne Preston who with her husband John released
the manor in 1503 to Richard Bishop of Winchester and other trustees for Sir Reynold Bray. (fn. 31)
A quitclaim was made to the same by William
Norreys, but how he acquired any interest is also not
clear. (fn. 32) Bray died without issue the same year. (fn. 33)
His niece and heir Margery married Sir William
Sandys, (fn. 34) and the manor was assigned to them at the
partition of his lands between Margery and her cousin
Edmund Bray in 1510. (fn. 35) Sir William Sandys, for
his military services, was created Lord Sandys de
Vyne in 1523. He was succeeded on his death
in 1542 (fn. 36) by his son Thomas, who made a settlement of the manor in 1550, (fn. 37)
and died circa 1560, (fn. 38) leaving
his grandson William as his
heir. The latter, who suffered
a recovery in 1599, (fn. 39) apparently conveyed the manor to
Miles Sandys, father of Edwin
Sandys, the husband of his
daughter Elizabeth, for Miles
Sandys died seised of it in
1601. (fn. 40) His heir was his
son Edwin, who was dealing
with the manor together with
William Lord Sandys in
1607. (fn. 41) The latter suffered a recovery in 1608, (fn. 42)
and apparently a settlement was made on his son
William Sandys, for in 1612–13 he conveyed the
manor to Sir Richard Lovelace, (fn. 43) afterwards Lord
Lovelace of Hurley. The manor followed the descent
of Hurley (q.v.) until the death of John Lord Lovelace in 1693. (fn. 44) He died heavily in debt, and in
1695 Sir Henry Johnson, executor of Lord Lovelace,
and Martha his wife, daughter of Lord Lovelace and
administratrix of Anne and Katherine Lovelace her
sisters, were paying off debts due on account of the
manor to Sir William Whitlock and others, apparently
mortgagees. (fn. 45) The heirs of Lord Lovelace eventually
parted with the manor, which in 1723 was held by
Bulstrode Whitlock of Phyllis Court, Oxon. (fn. 46) He by
indentures of 1723 and 1724 conveyed Remenham
Farm and the park or ground called Remenham Park,
then held by Anne Whitlock, widow, as part of her
jointure, and the manor of Remenham to Gislingham
Cooper. (fn. 47) Lysons's statement that the manor was
acquired by Lord Archibald Hamilton is unsupported
by evidence. It seems more likely that it descended
from Gislingham Cooper to Dr. Cooper, who according to Lysons sold it about 1760 to the uncle of
Strickland Freeman of Fawley Court (Bucks.), lord
of the manor in 1813. (fn. 48) His heir was William
Peere Williams, Admiral of the Fleet (grandson of
Mary Freeman, sister of John Cooke Freeman of
Fawley Court), who took the name of Freeman on
inheriting Fawley Court. He died in 1832. His
grandson and heir William Peere Williams Freeman
dealt with the manor in 1833 (fn. 49) and sold it to
Dudley Coutts Majoribanks, afterwards created a
baronet. Sir Dudley Coutts Majoribanks sold it in
1871 to the Right Hon. William Henry Smith,
who in 1891 was succeeded by his son Viscount
Hambleden of Greenlands, Hambleden. (fn. 50)
Sandys. Argent a ragged cross sable.
STROWDES or VYNE'S PLACE
STROWDES or VYNE'S PLACE, now called
PARK PLACE, possibly derived its first name from
a family of Strode, of whom Richard de la Strode
owned land in Remenham in 1257. (fn. 51) John de la
Strode, called of Dunsden, bought land in Aston in
1294 and 1305, (fn. 52) and Thomas de la Strode, called of
Remenham, granted land in Hurley to the priory in
the reign of Edward I. (fn. 53) The property probably
took its second name from Thomas Vyne, for whom a
messuage and 9 virgates of land in Remenham were
held in trust at time of his death in 1479, when
they descended to his son and heir Ralph. (fn. 54) In 1591
Thomas Marriott died seised of the capital messuage
or farm called Strowdes and Vyne's Place and all the
lands there late in the tenure of Stephen Vyne. (fn. 55)
John, his son, who succeeded, made a settlement of
the property upon the marriage of his son William
with Anne Faldo in 1628, (fn. 56) and three years later
William Marriott leased it for ninety-nine years
to William Faldo. (fn. 57) The latter and the owners
conveyed it in 1632 to Robert Salter of Cookham, (fn. 58)
who apparently parted with it shortly afterwards, for
in 1642 Robert Draper died seised of the messuage
called Pecks Place or Strowdes. (fn. 59) Thomas, his son
and heir, was aged sixteen. The use of the former
name suggests that the property had formerly been
held by William Peck, who was living at Remenham
in the reign of Henry VI. (fn. 60) Roger Draper held the
estate in 1676, when it was called Perkes Place alias
Strowdes. (fn. 61)
From a deed now in the Reading Liberary, dated
18 and 19 September 1719, it appears that Lord
Archibald Hamilton, son of William third Duke of
Hamilton, purchased certain lands called Park's Place
alias Strowdes from Mrs. Elizabeth Baker. (fn. 62) He built
the house on the site of the present house called
Park Place. (fn. 63) About 1738 Lord Archibald sold the
estate to Frederick, Prince of Wales, father of
George III, (fn. 64) who occupied it during his estrangement from his father King George II. (fn. 65) In 1752 it
was purchased by General (afterwards Field-Marshal)
the Hon. Henry Seymour Conway, (fn. 66) who started
the cultivation of lavender in Remenham and established a distillery there. (fn. 67) The house, which he had
much improved, became the rendezvous of many distinguished people, among whom were Horace Walpole,
David Hume, the poet Gray, and Mrs. Damer the
sculptress, who carved the keystones of Henley
Bridge. (fn. 68) The grounds were laid out by Conway
according to the taste of the period. At the upper end
of the Happy Valley in the park was placed a Grecian
ruin built of stones brought from Reading Abbey,
and stones frome the same place were used to build
and stones from the same place were used to build
the bridge over the valley which carried the road
from Henley to Wargrave. On a hill beyond the
pleasure grounds was a Druidic temple presented to
Conway by the inhabitants of Jersey (where it was
found near St. Helier in 1785), when he was
governor of that island. (fn. 69) After Conway's death in
1795 the house was sold by his widow, Lady Aylesbury, to James first Lord Malmesbury, who was visited
there by Pitt, Canning, and many others. (fn. 70) In 1816 it
was purchased by Mr. H.P. Spurling, who exchanged
it in 1824 with his cousin, Mr. E. Fuller-Maitland,
of Shinfield Park, for Norbury Park, co. Surrey. Maitland died in 1858. His son Mr. William FullerMaitland of Stansted Hall, Essex, sold it in 1867 to
Mr. Charles Easton of Whiteknights, who pulled down
the library and altered the house. He also built the
house called Temple Combe. The estate passed in
1870 to Mr. J. Noble, (fn. 71) who built the present house.
His son Mr. Wilson Noble is now the owner.
In 1602 William and Dorothy Becke held a fullingmill and three corn-mills in Remenham. (fn. 72)
CHURCH
The church of ST. NICHOLAS consists of an apsidal chancel measuring
internally about 17 ft. 9 in. by 14 ft.
4 in., a nave 33 ft. 11 in. by 19 ft. 2 in., a west tower
11 ft. 6 in. by 8 ft. 11 in., a modern choir and priest's
vestries on the north side of the chancel, an organ
chamber on the south, and a modern south aisle and
porch.
The date of the structure is uncertain, the restorations of the 19th century having removed all distinctive detail. The easternmost window in the north
wall of the nave, which is the only one which has
escaped almost untouched by the 'restorers,' dates
from about 1320, but from the plan of the nave
and chancel and the position of the windows of the
apse it is more likely that the building itself was
erected in the preceding, or even the 12th, century,
though the present tower was not built until late in
the 15th century. In 1870 the drastic restoration
took place which has completely modernized the
building, and to this date belongs the south aisle.
The sacristry and vestry were added in 1892, and
the organ was removed to its present position a year
or two afterwards, the chamber it now occupies having
formerly been the family pew of the Noble family.
The walls of the church are faced with flint with
stone dressings and on the inside are plastered with
a hard cement.
In the wall of the apse, lighting the chancel, are
three trefoiled lights, having widely splayed inner
jambs and two-centered segmental rear arches with
hollow-chamfered angles. The central light is entirely modern, and takes the place of a larger window,
but, though all the stonework of the other two is
modern, the opening are possibly of the 13th century. Between the central and the southern window
is a piscina, and in a corresponding position in the
wall opposite is an aumbry. These were discovered
during the restoration, and were then restored with
chalk taken from other parts of the building, with
the result that the aumbry might now be taken for
modern work. The piscina has a pointed head, and
angle shafts to the jambs with moulded capitals and
bases; the basin is circular, but has been entirely
renewed. That the unusual position is not due to a
removal is proved by the fact that the drain is still
connected. Pointed arches, with their inner orders
carried on corbels, open into the vestry and organ
chamber respectively. The modern chancel arch is
treated in a similar manner.
In the north wall of the nave are three two-light
windows. The easternmost, though restored, is of
early 14th-century date, and of two trefoiled ogee
lights with flowing tracery under a pointed head.
The other two windows, which are modern, are
designed in the same style. The south arcade is of
three bays with pointed arches carried on circular
pillars. The south aisle is lighted by coupled trefoiled
lights, and at the west end of the south wall is the
principal doorway.
The tower, which is of the late 15th century, is
divided externally into two stages by a deep stringcourse and has an embattled parapet. At the angles
are embattled octagonal buttresses of diapered stone
and flint-work. The tower arch is modern, and in
the west wall, the lower stage of which has been
thickened on the outside, is a modern three-light
window. The bell-chamber is lighted from the north,
south, and west by single trefoiled lights, one in each
wall; they appear to be modern.
The font and pulpit are modern, as are also the roofs.
In a slate slab on the north wall of the tower is
set a brass inscription to Thomas Maryet (Marriott),
who died 22 December 1591, with the figure of a
man in armour; the head is broken off. Over the
figure is his barry shield with a molet for difference,
while on the helm is his crest of a talbot. Set in a
slab on the opposite wall of the tower is a brass
inscribed in elegiacs to John Newman, 'hujus ecclesiae
quondam pastor,' who died 29 June 1622, aged
seventy. Above is his brass effigy in robes and gown.
There is a ring of three bells; the treble bears
no inscription, but is probably of the same date as
the other two, which are by Mears of London, 1803.
The plate consists of a silver chalice of 1871,
two silver patens, one of 1872, the other of 1873,
and a flagon.
The registers previous to 1812 are as follows:
(i) baptisms and burials 1697 to 1776, marriages 1697
to 1756 (there are ten entries for the year 1763);
(ii) baptisms and burials 1777 to 1789; (iii) baptisms
and burials 1789 to 1812; (iv) marriages 1754 to
1813.
ADVOWSON
The advowson of Remenham (fn. 73) is
found in 1216 in the king's hands,
with the lands of Thurstan de Montfort. (fn. 74) It followed the descent of the manor until
1678. (fn. 75) In 1684 Edward Smith presented to the
church. (fn. 76) In 1689 it was void by simony, and the
Crown presented. (fn. 77) Before 1709 the gift of the
living had been purchased by Jesus College, Oxford, (fn. 78)
with whom it has since remained. (fn. 79)
CHARITIES
In 1777, as appeared from the Parliamentary returns of 1786, Sambroke
Freeman and freeholders by deed
gave to the poor £2 a year, which is received from
Mr. Wilson Noble, the present owner of Park Place.
In 1802 the Rev. John Tickel, by will proved at
London 8 September, bequeathed for the poor £100,
subject to the life interest of his wife, who died in 1815.
The legacy, with accumulations, is now represented
by £160 consols.
In 1829 Miss Elizabeth Batting by her will
bequeathed £200, the interest to be distributed in
bread; the legacy, less duty, was invested in £180
consols. The income of these charities, amounting
together to £10 10s. a year, is applied in a weekly
allowance of bread for five widows and the residue
in the distribution of tickets for meat, coals and
groceries to about twenty poor persons.
In 1895 Julia Stapleton by her will, proved at
London 15 February, left £100 for the benefit of
the poor; the legacy was invested in £91 os. 2d.
India 3 per cent. stock, producing £2 14s. 4d. yearly,
which is applied in weekly payments to two aged
widows.
The Church Land charity now consists of £ 155
2s. 10d. consols, arising from the sale in 1878 of
3 r. 1p. allotted under the Remenham Inclosure
Act, the annual dividends of which, amounting to
£3 17s. 8d., are, under a scheme of the Charity
Commissioners, carried to the general church account.
The several sums of stock are held by the official
trustees.