WOOLHAMPTON
Ollavintone (xi cent.); Wllamnton (xiii cent.);
Wolavyngton, Wolhampton (xiv cent.); Woulhampton (xvi cent.).
The parish of Woolhampton contains about
719 acres of land, of which 54 are arable, 483 under
permanent grass and 47 woods and plantations. (fn. 1) It
lies to the north-west of Aldermaston, between
Midgham and Beenham, and the River Enborne
forms part of its southern boundary. A large part of
the parish to the south of the village is marshland,
liable to floods, but to the north the ground rises
and the country is pleasantly wooded. The soil is
alluvium and London Clay, with a strip of the
Reading Beds close to the village. The common
lands were inclosed in July 1811. (fn. 2) Midgham station
on the Great Western railway is in Woolhampton.
The village of Woolhampton stands at the western
edge of the parish, on the road from Newbury to
Reading and close to the banks of the River Kennet.
It contains some old brick and timber houses.
Woolhampton House, the residence of Captain Count
Dudley Beaumont Gurowski, is a plain brick structure. There are a few other large houses, some of
them recently built. The church of St. Peter stands
on a hill to the north of the village, and next to
it are the schools. The vicarage appears to be a
modernized Elizabethan house. The Gill Campbell
Hall is used as a club for the working men of the
village; it was built in memory of the Rev. Gill
Campbell, formerly curate of this parish, by Miss
Blyth, who also gave the drinking fountain here to
commemorate the Diamond Jubilee.
Douai Abbey and College, formerly St. Mary's
College, was founded in 1833 as a Roman Catholic
school, but after the expulsion of the Benedictines
from Douai in 1903 by the French Government it
was taken over by that order, who there re-established their abbey and abbey school. The college
has since been rebuilt and greatly enlarged.
MANOR
The manor of WOOLHAMPTON
belonged to Godric the Sheriff in the
time of Edward the Confessor, (fn. 3) and in
1086 was in the possession of Henry Ferrers, (fn. 4) whose
descendants held it in demesne or overlordship until
1266. (fn. 5) When Robert Ferrers, sixth Earl of Derby,
forfeited his lands for rebellion in that year, the overlordship of Woolhampton seems to have been granted
with his other possessions to Edmund Earl of Lancaster, (fn. 6) whose grandson Henry Earl of Derby and
Duke of Lancaster died seised of it in 1361. (fn. 7) There
is apparently no further mention of the overlordship,
which must have passed to the Crown on the accession
of Henry Duke of Lancaster to the throne as
Henry IV.
The manor of Woolhampton was granted to the
Prior and brethren of the hospital of St. John of
Jerusalem before 1159 (fn. 8) by Robert Ferrers, second
Earl of Derby, whose gift was confirmed by King
John in his charter of 1199. (fn. 9) The Hospitallers
are described about the same time as holding a
moiety of Woolhampton of the gift of Geoffrey de
Hostreville. (fn. 10) Possibly the latter was co-tenant of the
Ferrers fee with the predecessor of Henry de Chequers
(see below). In 1227 the prior
of the Hospitallers, Robert de
Diva, agreed that the moiety
of Woolhampton held by
Henry de Chequers should do
suit of court at the hundred of
Reading, in return for which
the abbot, Adam of Lathbury,
quitclaimed to the prior all
his right to suit and service
from the other half together
with his right to fines and the
goods of fugitives. (fn. 11) The Knights Hospitallers remained in possession of the manor of Woolhampton
until the Dissolution. (fn. 12)
The Knights Hospitallers. Gules a cross argent.
In 1544 Henry VIII granted the lands of the
hospital in Shalford and elsewhere to William Wollascott, (fn. 13) who afterwards obtained from Queen Elizabeth licence to alienate them to Thomas Farmer
and Edmund Plowden. (fn. 14) This alienation, however,
appears to have been made only for the purpose of a
settlement, as William Wollascott the younger was in
possession of both Shalford and Woolhampton in
1613, (fn. 15) and the manors followed the descent of the
manor of Brimpton until 1906, (fn. 16) when Woolhampton
was bought from Mr. James Blyth, then lord of the
manor, by a syndicate. The property is now being
developed for building purposes.
In 1227 Henry de Chequers had a holding in
Woolhampton, which had previously belonged to
Roger Panculf, (fn. 17) as under-tenant of Ferrers. His son
and heir Ralf de Chequers died seised of the estate before
1286, (fn. 18) leaving as co-heir his daughter Katherine the
wife of William Hawtrey (fn. 19) ; her share was settled in that
year upon William and Katherine and their children
with remainder to William's son and namesake. (fn. 20)
Thomas was the son and heir of this second William, (fn. 21)
but the estate appears to have passed to Ralf Chenduit,
son apparently of Agnes Chenduit, co-heir of Ralf de
Chequers. (fn. 22) The property seems to have afterwards
passed to Sir Thomas de Sibthorpe, (fn. 23) clerk, who granted
land described as a twentieth of a knight's fee and rents
in Woolhampton in 1341 to the Prior and brethren of
St. John in exchange for rents in Sibthorpe and the
advowson of the church there. (fn. 24) In the following
year, when the living of Sibthorpe fell vacant, the prior
tried to evade his share of the agreement, but Thomas
brought an action against him in the court of King's
Bench and recovered the presentation. (fn. 25) The tenements in Woolhampton granted by Sibthorpe were held
of the Earl of Derby by the service of one-twentieth of
a knight's fee, and were worth, together with a rent
which he also gave, 8 marks yearly. (fn. 26) It seems clear,
however, that what the Hospitallers came into possession of was the quarter of a fee which had belonged
to Ralf Chenduit, for the prior was said to be holding this in 1428. (fn. 27) It was amalgamated with the
other lands of the Hospitallers in Woolhampton.
A messuage and 2 virgates of land in Woolhampton
were held of the Prior of St. John of Jerusalem (fn. 28) in
1390 by Simon Godewyne, who in that year released
his right in them to William Fauconer. (fn. 29) In 1458
the property was settled on Margaret (Fauconer)
the wife of Robert Fitz Elis or Physeles, (fn. 30) who died
seised of the property in 1469, leaving as her heir her
granddaughter Sibyl the wife of George Ingilton. (fn. 31)
Sibyl was succeeded by Robert Ingilton, perhaps her
son, (fn. 32) who died in 1503, leaving a widow Anne and
a daughter and heir Joan. (fn. 33) The descent of his
holding in Woolhampton after this date is unknown.
There was another manor in Woolhampton, not
entered in Domesday Book, (fn. 34) which was held in the
13th century by William Revel of Robert Achard by
service of half a knight's fee. (fn. 35) It seems to have
passed to Ellis de St. Albans, rector of Wethersfield,
before 1331, in which year it was valued at £20. (fn. 36)
It was then said to be held of the Abbot of Reading, (fn. 37)
but this was perhaps a mistake, as the overlordship, if
this estate be the same, would have descended in the
Achards and Delamares, (fn. 38) the heirs of the last Robert
Achard of Aldermaston. The half fee of Ellis de
St. Albans was held in 1428 by John Delamare, (fn. 39)
who possibly belonged to a younger branch of the
Delamares of Aldermaston. (fn. 40) After this date its history
becomes obscure, but it possibly reverted to the elder
branch of Delamare at John's death, (fn. 41) and descending
to Sir Humphrey Forster became amalgamated with
his lands in Woolhampton.
A certain small holding in Woolhampton, which
seems to have formed part of the manor of Wasing, (fn. 42)
was granted between 1257 and 1262 by Walter atte
Northwelle to Giles Bishop of Salisbury, (fn. 43) and passed
before 1282 into the possession of the hospital of St.
Nicholas by Salisbury. (fn. 44) The hospital further obtained,
early in the 14th century, a grant of land called 'le
Fleyhelne' which John de Binfield, the son of
Walter, had granted to Richard de Herteland, chaplain, and Henry the son of Peter. (fn. 45) These lands
continued in the possession of the hospital until
the Dissolution, (fn. 46) and were granted in 1543 by
Henry VIII to Sir Humphrey Forster together
with Wasing Manor, (fn. 47) the descent of which (q.v.)
they have followed since that date. (fn. 48) The present
owner is Mr. William Arthur Mount of Wasing
Place.
A park at Woolhampton belonged in 1304 to John
Drokensford, afterwards Bishop of Bath and Wells. (fn. 49)
Possibly he held the estate which in 1331 was in the
hands of Ellis de St. Albans (see above).
CHURCH
The church of ST. PETER was rebuilt in 1857, the nave walls of the old
church being encased in the present
walls. It consists of a chancel, north vestry, nave,
and north and south transepts. There is a wood
and stone south porch and over the west gable is a
small wood bell-turret with a shingled spire.
The walls of the church are of flint with stone
dressings and the roofs are tiled. All the internal
fittings are modern, but a 12th-century font is said to
be buried under the floor.
There are three bells, the tenor being of preReformation date and having the marks of the
Workingham foundry; the second is inscribed in
black letter 'Gloria in excelsis Deo' with the initials
W.K. 1585, the founder being William Knight of
Reading; the third is by Thomas Mears & Son,
1805.
The plate comprises a silver cup, paten and flagon,
all made in 1813.
The registers previous to 1812 are as follows:
(i) baptisms, marriages and burials from 1626 to
1747; (ii) marriages from 1754 to 1800; (iii) baptisms from 1769 to 1812, with an inset from 1760 to
1790; (iv) marriages from 1801 to 1812.
There is a small Roman Catholic church dedicated
in honour of St. Mary, attached to Douai Abbey. A
Congregational chapel was built in 1768.
ADVOWSON
There was a church in Woolhampton in 1291, valued at £4 13s. 4d. (fn. 50)
The advowson belonged to the Prior
and brethren of St. John of Jerusalem, who retained
it until the Dissolution, (fn. 51) at which time the rectory
was said to be worth yearly £7 17s. 6d. (fn. 52) The
patronage was given by the Crown to William Wollascott, (fn. 53) and subsequently followed the descent of the
manor until 1906, (fn. 54) when it was in the possession of
Miss Blyth, who gave it before 1910 to the Church
Pastoral Aid Society. (fn. 55)
CHARITIES
Richard Jeyes's charity, founded by
will proved in the P.C.C. 5 February
1649, and indenture of feoffment
1 August 1659, consisted originally of a meadow
in Sulhamstead Abbots called Mead Lands, the rent
and profits being applicable in the proportion of twothirds to the poor of Woolhampton and one-third
for poor widows living in the almshouses of St. Mary
at Reading.
By the Award under the Inclosure Act of George III
certain allotments were made in respect of the trust
property. In 1848 the whole of the real estate was
taken by the Berkshire and Hampshire Railway
Company, and the trust funds belonging to this parish
are now represented by £1,707 5s. consols with the
official trustees, producing £42 13s. 4d. a year.
In 1811 Mrs. Hannah Cottingham, by will,
bequeathed a sum of £80 in trust, the dividends to
be applied at Christmas for the benefit of the poor.
The legacy is represented by £74 18s. 1d. consols
with the official trustees, producing £1 17s. 4d. a year.
The official trustees also hold £76 5s. 11d. consols
from the sale in 1871 of an old thatched cottage and
its site which had belonged to the church from time
immemorial.
In 1864 the Countess of Falmouth, by will proved
26 May, bequeathed the sum of £666 13s. 4d. Bank
or 3 per cent. annuities, the dividends to be given
to increase the salary of the schoolmistress of the
school then used as the parish school. The same
testatrix also bequeathed the sum of £500 like
annuities, the dividends to be applied for the benefit
of the deserving poor of the parish of Woolhampton,
to be selected by the rector on the anniversary of her
death, 1 May. The above sums are with the official
trustees, making a total of £1,166 13s. 4d. consols,
producing an income of £16 13s. 4d. for the purpose
of education and £12 10s. to be distributed among
the poor.
The Gill Campbell Memorial Hall was erected in
1896 on land given by Miss Charlotte Celina Blyth,
to be used for ever for the purposes of evangelistic and
religious meetings, and also for a club room and reading room for working men and for parish council
meetings. The donor also by the deed of grant
dated 21 August 1896 (enrolled) declared the trust
of a sum of £1,160 consols, which she had transferred into the names of the trustees by way of
endowment. The annual dividends amount to £29,
which is absorbed in the maintenance of the premises.