SOTWELL
Stottanwille (x cent.); Sotwelle (xi cent.); Suttanwylle (xii cent.); Shottewell (xiii-xiv cent.);
Satwell (xv-xix cent.). (fn. 1)
This parish intervenes between the two portions
of the parish of Brightwell, its northern part being
an elevation of the Upper Greensand rising to
322 ft., and its southern part a level of sandy loam.
The area is 708 acres, of which 6 are covered
by water. There are 380 acres of arable and
187 acres of grass. (fn. 2) There are also considerable
orchards. The soil is good, the chief crops being
wheat, barley and beans. The occupations are
agriculture and fruit culture. Sand-pits are worked
at the eastern end of the parish. The bulk of the
parish lies to the north of the village, which has the
manor-house of Sotwell Farm at its western end and
the site of its second manor-house at its eastern end.
Midway between these is the church of St. James.
Southward from Sotwell Farm and the church the
remainder of the parish is a narrow strip with an
apex of about a furlong in width on the Moreton
Brook, giving a southern outlet independent of
Brightwell.
There are some ancient tracks which cross the
parish. (fn. 3) A new road through the western part of
the village on the line of a former foot-path was
made by the late Mr. Edward Fairthorne to supersede a watery lane called the 'Well Springs.'
Mr. Fairthorne also gave to the parish a large
recreation ground south of the village.
The moated house at Sotwell Farm, (fn. 4) of which the
back part is ancient, doubtless represents the manor-house of Sotwell St. John. Arthur, Prince of Wales,
is said by tradition to have stayed here when Robert
Court, his auditor, lived at Mackney (fn. 5) in Brightwell
(q.v.). The site of the mill mentioned from the
10th to the 13th century (fn. 6) is seen outside the moat
on the north.
The site of the second manor-house, called Stonor
Hayes or Stonhouses, is an orchard with remarkable
trenches. (fn. 7) Manor Farm, to the west of it, has a
house of some antiquity, which has long been
occupied by the owners of the united manors. The
Priory farm-house, the capital messuage of the estate
belonging to Wallingford Priory in Sotwell, of some
antiquity, is on the southern edge of the village.
There is no Nonconformist chapel, but one formerly
stood in 'Chapel Close.' (fn. 8) The children of the parish
attend Brightwell School.
Fragments of British pottery with bones of red
deer and other animals have been found near the
foot-path on the eastern boundary of the parish. (fn. 9) An
ancient cottage at the south-east corner of the
churchyard is known as the 'Old Rectory.' (fn. 10) An
old house further westward is notorious as having
been used by smugglers for concealing spirits. (fn. 11)
The Inclosure Award is dated 1842, under an Act
of 41 Geo. III, (fn. 12) and the tithe map 1838.
Field-names to be noted are 'Gore Furlong,'
'Slat Furlong,' 'Town Furlong,' 'Bustard Piece,'
where the last bustard is said to have been killed. (fn. 13)
'Coticroft' and 'The Evils' (fn. 14) are near the brook;
'Smellmoor' and 'Gaudicroft' are north of these.
'Kedging meadow' (partly in Brightwell) is on the
Thames; and near it are 'Pedmoor,' 'The Sideling' and 'The Butts.' 'Morelynch,' (fn. 15) 'Stonore
Elm,' 'le Courte Gate' (fn. 16) occur in the 16th century,
'Bishop field,' 'Mett lands,' 'Portfurlong' in the
17th century.
MANORS
In its earliest history SOTWELL is
identified with Brightwell (q.v.). King
Eadred is said to have granted to the
thegn Æthelgeard in 948 5 hides at 'Suttunwille,'
with 5 at Mackney, and both portions of this grant
appear to be included in 15 hides at 'Stottanwille,'
which, according to the Liber de Hyda, were granted
to him by Eadwy in 957 and bestowed by him
upon Hyde Abbey at Winchester; but the Mackney
portion passed with the other Brightwell lands to
the bishopric of Winchester. (fn. 17) In the Domesday
Survey Sotwell is reckoned as 10 hides, which were
held by the abbey of St. Peter, Winchester (Hyde),
in demesne in the time of Edward the Confessor,
and by Hugh de Port in fee of the abbey after the
Conquest, when the value had increased from £8 to
£12; also eight closes in Wallingford belonged to
it. (fn. 18) In 1347 it is described as 'held of the abbot
of Hyde with suit at the king's hundred of Morton.' (fn. 19)
The abbot's overlordship is last mentioned in 1416. (fn. 20)
The manor was still held of the hundred of Moreton
in 1494 and 1613. (fn. 21) In 1615 the tenure was not
known. (fn. 22) Hugh de Port's interest in the manor
apparently descended in the same way as West
Shefford (fn. 23) to Sir John St. John, who in 1277
granted it to Nutus Fulberti,
a merchant of Florence, and
Mary his wife, for their
lives. (fn. 24) Mary outlived Nutus,
and was holding the manor in
1309–10, when she was disturbed in possession by Roger
St. John. (fn. 25)
St. John. Argent a chief gules charged with two molets or.
The manor had apparently
reverted to John's son John
St. John before 1316, (fn. 26) and in
1327 he granted it for twenty
years to Margaret widow of
William de Bereford. (fn. 27) The
reversion passed with West
Shefford until the death of Edmund St. John in
1347, when a third of Sotwell, part of which was
held in dower by Alice widow of John St. John, then
wife of Reynold Pavely, was granted to Elizabeth the
widow of Edmund St. John as dower, and the manor
was assigned to one of his sisters, Margaret wife of
John de St. Philibert, (fn. 28) who conveyed it in 1354 to
Edward St. John. (fn. 29) In 1364 Edward settled the
manor on himself and his wife Joan and their
issue, with remainder to Richard son of Richard
Fitz Alan Earl of Arundel and Surrey and his heirs
male. (fn. 30) Edward evidently died childless, and the
manor passed to Richard, who succeeded his father
as Earl of Arundel in 1376. (fn. 31) Richard was attainted
and executed in 1397, and Sotwell was granted
in that year to Thomas Percy Earl of Worcester. (fn. 32)
Richard had, however, granted it to his esquire,
Thomas Parker, for life, the grant being confirmed
by his son Earl Thomas, who must have had this
manor restored, as he held the reversion at his death
in 1415. (fn. 33) Thomas Parker held courts from 1424 to
1426, (fn. 34) but William Parker was holding the manor in
1428. (fn. 35) The manor of Sotwell, called 'St. John's
Manor,' soon afterwards passed into the possession of
Sir Thomas Poynings, Lord St. John, overlord of
Sotwell Stonor, and he, shortly before his death in
1428, granted it to trustees for his tenant Thomas
Stonor. (fn. 36) These trustees leased the manor in 1430
for ten years to John Pope. (fn. 37)
The two manors of Sotwell St. John and Sotwell
Stonor having thus become united descended with
Didcot (q.v.) to Sir William Stonor, who held them
at his death in 1494. (fn. 38) His daughter Anne brought
them by marriage to Sir Adrian Fortescue. (fn. 39) Sir Adrian
was beheaded in 1539 and the manor passed to his
daughter Margaret wife of Thomas Lord Wentworth. (fn. 40)
Her son Thomas Lord Wentworth conveyed it in 1562
to John Bolney and Ambrose Dormer. (fn. 41) Bolney seems
to have sold it to John Upperton, (fn. 42) and in 1581
Thomas Upperton enfeoffed Edmund Fettiplace, who
held it at his death in 1613. (fn. 43) Two years later
Sir Michael Moleyns of Mackney died seised of the
two manors, which passed to his son Sir Barentine
Moleyns, (fn. 44) and from him to his only son Michael. (fn. 45)
He conveyed them in 1655 to Sir John Smith, kt., (fn. 46)
of Crabbet, Sussex, who appears to have died in or
before 1682, when his son John Smith sold them to
Ralph Whistler of Sotwell. (fn. 47) Ralph Whistler died
in 1684, leaving a sole daughter and heir Joan. (fn. 48)
She married James Stonhouse, son of Sir George
Stonhouse of Radley, bart. (fn. 49) James died before
1713, (fn. 50) and in 1715 the manor was settled as
jointure on Carolina Bullock on her marriage with
James's son Richard. (fn. 51) In 1763 Richard's son James
sold the manor to James Hazel of Sotwell. (fn. 52) He
devised it in 1768 to his son William, who by his
will in 1827 gave it to his son James for life and
afterwards for sale. (fn. 53) It was then purchased by John
and Benjamin Hazel, brothers of the last-named
James, and was by them devised to John Hazel, the son
of their brother Robert Hazel of Harwell. (fn. 54) He
died in 1896, leaving his estate to his widow for life
and afterwards to be divided among their children,
and at the death of Mrs. Hazel in 1903 the larger
part of the estate was sold to various purchasers, the
Manor Farm and Stonor Hayes with the manorial
rights being reserved to Martha Emily the daughter
of the last John Hazel and wife of Mr. Richard
Bradfield Lay, who is the present lady of the
manor.
One hide in Sotwell was held by an unnamed tenant
in 1086. (fn. 55) In 1156 the tithe of the demesne of
Matthew de Sotwell was confirmed to Wallingford
Priory, (fn. 56) and in 1246 John son of Matthew de
Sotwell purchased land here of Joan wife of William
de Leckyndon. (fn. 57) In 1253 he witnessed a charter
relating to Mackney. (fn. 58) The manor then appears to have
passed to the Mandeville family, (fn. 59) for in 1283 John
son of John de Mandeville sued his father's widow
Clementia wife of Simon de Montalt for her dower,
Sotwell eventually passing to her, (fn. 60) and in 1290 John
de Mandeville ceded to John St. John an estate in
'Scotewell' for which he received one red sparrowhawk, while he retained the other property there. (fn. 61)
It seems probable that this was the estate which
became in the 14th century the manor of SOTWELL
STONOR. This consisted of a messuage and a
carucate of land in Sotwell, with a second carucate
which is frequently described as in Sotwell, (fn. 62) but is
clearly identical with Slade End in Brightwell (q.v.).
In 1354 and in 1362 the whole was said to be held
of the Bishop of Winchester as of his manor of
Brightwell by service of 12s., (fn. 63) but in 1394 the
one portion was a knight's fee held of the manor
of Basing, and the other was held of the bishop. (fn. 64)
John de Stonor and his sons Henry and Edmund
acquired this estate in 1342 of Henry son of Robert
de Sotwell as two messuages and 2 carucates of land in
Sotwell and Brightwell. (fn. 65) In 1347 half a fee in
Sotwell was held of the manor of Sotwell by John de
Stonor, (fn. 66) who in 1358 granted a piece of land here
caHed 'Le Fyshpollondes' to John le Smyth and
Matilda his wife and their son John for their lives. (fn. 67)
John de Stonor died in 1361, (fn. 68) and this manor
descended with Didcot (fn. 69) (q.v.) until the two Sotwell
manors became united about 1429.
In 1156 the tithes of the land of Matthew de
Sotwell were confirmed to the priory of Wallingford, (fn. 70) and the temporalities of the chapel were
charged in 1291 with a sum of 4s. to the Prior of
Wallingford. (fn. 71) In 1392 the prior acquired land of
John Seward and John Wentwode. (fn. 72) A lease of the
estate was granted in 1508 to William Jener, (fn. 73) and
in 1516 to William Lyde or Luyde, whose widow
Joan held it in 1550. (fn. 74) The Sotwell estate was
included among the possessions of the priory at its
dissolution in 1528 (fn. 75) and in the grant to Wolsey the
same year. (fn. 76) After his attainder it was granted in
1532 to the Dean and Canons of St. George's,
Windsor, (fn. 77) but the grant appears to have been
withdrawn, for in 1554 it was granted to Thomas
Everarde together with the manor of Aston Tirrold (fn. 78)
(q.v.). In 1550 a messuage and tithes in Sotwell
were conveyed by Sir Humphrey Foster to his son
William, from whom at his death in 1574 they passed
to his son Humphrey. (fn. 79) The subsequent history of
the estate cannot be traced, but in 1842 William
and John Tayler held jointly the priory farm, which
they sold shortly afterwards to Mr. Edward Wells of
Slade End in Brightwell (q.v.). The Sotwell Hill
portion of the estate passed to his son Mr. Alfred
Dodd Wells, the present owner, and the other parts
were purchased by Mr. Edward Fairthorne, who
left them to his niece together with his estate at
Slade End in Brightwell (fn. 80) (q.v.).
Fisheries are named as belonging to the manor in
the grant by John St. John in 1277. (fn. 81) The 'fishpool lands' having been granted away from the
manor of Sotwell Stonor in 1358, (fn. 82) no further
mention of them is found for a long period, but their
history is traceable. Fisheries in the Thames were
held with the manor of Rush and land in Clapcot (fn. 83)
and Sotwell called the 'cyte' by John James of
Wallingford in right of Christine his wife at his death
in 1396, passing to their son Robert. (fn. 84) A fishery in
the Thames, described as in Clapcot and Brightwell
and other places, was held with the manors of
Clapcot and Rush Court, (fn. 85) and messuages in Sotwell
and Brightwell by the Dynham family from 1547 to
1571, (fn. 86) and conveyed by Thomas Bromley to Michael
Moleyns in 1576. (fn. 87) Free fishery in the Thames
was among the rights conveyed with the manor of
Sotwell by Sir Barentine Moleyns in 1616 and 1627. (fn. 88)
It belonged in 1687 to Sir Edmund Fettiplace, (fn. 89)
and passed in 1770 from Richard Boycott to William
Blackstone. (fn. 90) His grandson William Seymour Blackstone sold it about the middle of the 19th century to
Thomas Powell, of whom it was purchased in 1880
by Mr. Howard Wells of Sotwell, who again sold it
in 1903 to Mrs. Frances Haggie of Shillingford
Court (Oxon.), with whom it remains. (fn. 91) .
CHURCH
The church of ST. JAMES, almost
entirely rebuilt in 1884 on the old
foundations, consists of a chancel and
nave, and a timber bellcote surmounting the west
gable of the nave.
In the exterior of the north wall of the chancel
the head of a small 12th-century window from the
former church has been built in. In the south wall
is placed the head of a window of similar date,
carved with a peculiar form of trellis pattern. In
the north wall of the nave is an original 15th-century window of two cinquefoiled lights within a
square head. Next to the westward are two windows,
each of a single cinquefoiled light, the western of
which is also of original 15th-century date. Between
these two windows a portion of a 13th-century
respond capital has been built into the inside face of
the wall. On the exterior, portions of the original
13th-century north doorway have been incorporated
into the new wall, and also the head and jambs of a
12th-century round-arched window. The head of
the doorway is shouldered; the lintel and jambs are
old, but the shoulders of the head are modern.
The high-pitched roof of the nave of the former
building, apparently of early 14th-century date, has
been preserved. The trusses have moulded tie-beams
and collars supported by curved braces.
The two bells are in an inaccessible bellcote, but
are said to be modern.
The communion plate consists of a cup with the
date mark of 1780, a paten with the mark of 1831
and two modern glass flagons.
The registers before 1812 are as follows: (i) baptisms 1684 to 1722, burials 1693 to 1722, baptisms
and burials promiscuously 1723 to 1754, marriages
1693 to 1726; (ii) baptisms 1684 to 1812, burials
1693 to 1812, marriages 1693 to 1754; (iii) marriages 1756 to 1812.
ADVOWSON
The 'chapel of Sottewell' is first
named in 1158 as a dependency of
the church of St. Lucian in Wallingford, (fn. 92) which belonged to the priory of St. Frideswide
in Oxford. (fn. 93) The chapelry continued to be annexed
to St. Leonard's in Wallingford (fn. 94) after the disappearance of St. Lucian's in the 14th century. In 1868
it was separated from St. Leonard's and united to
Brightwell (q.v.).
CHARITIES
In 1712 John Leaver, by his will
proved in the Court of the Archdeacon of Berkshire at Oxford, gave
10s. yearly for the benefit of the poor. The rent-charge is paid out of Baker's Farm, Sotwell, by
Mr. A. D. Wells, the present owner, and applied in
aid of the Brightwell and Sotwell Coal Club.
The Clerk's Land is now represented by £168 3s.
consols with the official trustees arising from the sales
in 1879 of a rood of land in Brightwell allotted in
1813, and of 2 roods in Sotwell Field allotted in
1842 for the benefit of the parish clerk. The dividends, amounting to £4 4s. a year, are paid to a
woman who acts as caretaker of the church and who
rings the bell.
For the Fairthorne Scholarships, the Stewart
Village Club, and the recreation ground, being the
charitable gifts of Mr. Edward Fairthorne, see under
the parish of Brightwell.
By deeds, 1907 and 1908 (enrolled), Miss Augusta
Fairthorne settled a building and site and adjoining
land as a dwelling-house for the minister of the
Mission Hall, now known as the Brightwell Free
Church. The expenses of maintenance are defrayed
out of the funds of the Regions Beyond Missionary
Union, including the income of certain securities
transferred by Miss Fairthorne.