PUTTENHAM
Puttanho, Puteham (xi cent.); Puttnam, Puttingham (xix cent.).
The little parish of Puttenham lies on the
Aylesbury plain. It is bordered on the west and
south by Buckinghamshire. The surface is quite
flat and unbroken except by rows of willows and
poplars which grow along the sides of the fields.
The village, which stands in the centre of the parish,
contains only the Manor Farm, the Grange Farm
belonging to Mr. J. G. Williams of Pendley, Potash
Farm and a few cottages, and none of the houses are
of very great age. The sites of the old manor and
grange are known, but the fabric of both has
entirely disappeared. The church, standing a little
apart from the houses and road, helps to testify to
the slow decrease in population which has taken
place for many years past. Depression in agriculture
has driven many inhabitants away, and the tendency
has been to repair or build dwellings only near the
high road. There is a small hamlet called Astrope
a little to the east of the village at the branching of
the road to Tring. The area of Puttenham parish
is only 769 acres, and in 1905 414 acres were
permanent grass, 119 acres were arable land, and
there was no woodland. The chief occupation of
the people is dairy-farming, and some oats and beans
are grown. The soil is sandy loam and the sub-soil
stiff blue clay.
The Grand Junction Canal cuts through the
southern edge of the parish. A little stream flows
through the north. The nearest station is Marston
Gate, on the Aylesbury branch of the London and
North Western Railway, and the nearest town is
Tring, which lies 4 miles to the south-east.
Church of our Lady, Puttenham, from South-East
Two mills are mentioned in Domesday in this
manor, (fn. 1) and again in conveyances of the manor
which took place in 1552 and 1560. (fn. 2) They may have
been situated on the small stream which rises at
Astrope and falls into Thistle Brook, a tributary of
the Thames.
Christopher Urswick, the diplomatist, was rector of
Puttenham from about 1482 to 1485. He undertook several journeys between England and Flanders
to negotiate a marriage between Henry, earl of Richmond, afterwards Henry VII, son of his patroness,
Margaret Beaufort, and Elizabeth of York. He
landed with Henry at Milford Haven in 1485, and
accompanied him to Shrewsbury and Bosworth. In
1487–8 he was sent on an important embassy to
Ferdinand and Isabella to negotiate the marriage
between Prince Arthur and Catherine of Arragon.
He became dean of Windsor in 1495, and under his
direction St. George's Chapel was rebuilt.
Thomas Fanshawe Middleton, first bishop of Calcutta, became rector of Puttenham in 1811. When
the diocese of Calcutta was formed in 1813 the
bishopric was offered to Middleton, and he remained
there till his death in 1822. He was buried in
Calcutta Cathedral.
MANOR
The manor of PUTTENHAM was
left by Edwin of Caddington to his
son Leofwin, (fn. 3) and it afterwards came
to Earl Lewin, brother of King Harold. (fn. 4) After the
Conquest it was given to Odo, bishop of Bayeux, of
whom it was held by Roger. (fn. 5) Odo forfeited his
lands about 1088 after the siege of Rochester, and
Puttenham seems to have been subsequently granted to
one of the earls of Leicester, for in 1210–12 it was
held as of the honour of Leicester (fn. 6) and continued to
be so held till about 1298. (fn. 7) In 1303 it was held of
the honour of Wallingford, which then belonged to
the king. (fn. 8) The over-lordship was probably granted
by Edward I to Sir Thomas Wale, for the manor was
held of him in 1304–5 for the service of one knight's
fee and a pair of gilt spurs yearly. (fn. 9) Later the overlordship came to Sir Thomas Spigurnel, who granted
it in 1340 to Nicholas de la Beche. (fn. 10) He in the
same year transferred it to Sir John de Molyns, the
service remaining the same as in 1304. (fn. 11) Sir John
forfeited his lands in 1353, and though many of his
estates were restored to his son William, (fn. 12) it is probable
that the over-lordship of Puttenham remained in the
crown, for in 1556 the manor was held of the king
and queen as of the manor of Tring for homage and
rent, (fn. 13) and the tenure was the same in 1613. (fn. 14)
In 1210–12 Ralph de Puttenham, who may have
been a descendant of the Roger who held of Odo of
Bayeux at the time of Domesday, held this manor, (fn. 15)
and it was held by a Ralph de Puttenham, possibly a
son, in the middle of the thirteenth century. (fn. 16) It
afterwards seems to have come into the possession of
Hugh de Herdeburgh, (fn. 17) from whom it descended to his
son Roger. Roger left two daughters, Ela and Isabel,
who jointly held the manor in 1297–8. (fn. 18) From
them it appears to have returned to the family of
Puttenham, for in 1303 it was held by the lady of
Puttenham, (fn. 19) probably Alice wife of John de Puttenham, who in 1309 released two-thirds of the manor,
which she may have held in dower, to Roger de
Puttenham and Alina his wife. (fn. 20) The manor had in
1304–5 been granted to Roger, son of John de
Puttenham by Sir Thomas Wale, of whom the manor
was to be held for the service of one knight's fee, and
a pair of gilt spurs. (fn. 21) After the death of Roger,
Alina married Thomas de Hay who held the manor
in 1340 jointly with Alina for her lifetime, (fn. 22) and on
her death it came to her son Roger by her first
husband. It 1414 it was held by Robert Puttenham, (fn. 23)
and in the court rolls of the Duchy of Lancaster
of 1480 it was presented that Isabel Puttenham,
widow, owed suit, probably for this manor. (fn. 24) In
1534–5 livery of this manor was made to Robert son
of George Puttenham, whose mother Rose, relict
of George, held this manor as her jointure. (fn. 25)
Robert and his wife Anne in 1550 conveyed
the manor by fine to their second son Richard, (fn. 26)
and in 1552 he sold it to Richard Duncombe, for a
rent in malt, sheep, and lambs. If this rent fell into
arrear for more than one year it was agreed that
Richard Puttenham should re-enter the manor. (fn. 27)
Richard Duncombe died seised of the manor in
1556, (fn. 28) and it passed to his son John, but it would
seem that Richard in his life-time had left the rent
unpaid, and much litigation arose between John and
Richard Puttenham as to the title to the manor. (fn. 29)
Judgement was given for Richard, and in 1559 John
formally surrendered all his claim in the estate. (fn. 30)
Either this Richard Puttenham
or his elder brother George
was the author of a treatise
entitled The Arte of English
Poesie, published anonymously
in 1589. The author was the
first writer who attempted
philosophical criticism of literature, and his book was much
appreciated. Ben Jonson's
copy of the work is now in
the Grenville Library at the
British Museum.
Saunders. Party cheveronwise sable and argent three elephants' heads razed and countercoloured.
Richard sold the manor in
1560 to John Saunders of
Marston, (fn. 31) who died seised of it in 1613, (fn. 32) leaving
a son Thomas aged thirteen. In 1623 Thomas
conveyed the manor to John Benner and William
Rowland, probably for the purposes of some settlement. (fn. 33) John son of Thomas predeceased his father
in 1648, and his son Thomas Saunders of Beechwood
succeeded his grandfather. Chauncy states that
Thomas sold this manor in or
about 1690 to Francis Duncombe of Ivinghoe, co. Bucks. (fn. 34)
Francis died about 1728, leaving the manor to his nephew
John Duncombe, son of his
brother William, who was
succeeded by his daughter
Rebecca, wife of the Rev. Edward Lucy. Sarah Lucy their
daughter became heir to the
manor on the death of her
three brothers and sister. (fn. 35) She
married Thomas Meacher,
and died leaving Edward
Lucy Meacher her son and
heir, who in 1806 conveyed the manor for a settlement to William Elley. (fn. 36) Edward sold it in 1810
to John William Egerton, seventh earl of Bridgewater.
From him it passed to Earl Brownlow, who conveyed
the estate to Baron Lionel Nathan de Rothschild in
exchange for land in the parish of Northaw. (fn. 37) From
Baron Rothschild the manor descended to Lord
Rothschild the present owner. The old manorhouse has completely disappeared. It is said to have
stood in a field at the east of the church. There are
no courts held.
Duncombe. Party cheveronwise engrailed gules and argent three talbots' heads razed and countercoloured.
CHURCH
The church of OUR LADY has a
chancel 13 ft. 8 in. wide by 23 ft. 8 in.
long, internal measurement, nave 14 ft.
4 in. by 28 ft. 11 in., with north and south aisles and
modern south porch, and west tower 12 ft. east to
west by 11 ft. 3 in. north to south.
No features now existing appear to be older than
the fourteenth century, though the small nave with
its proportion of two squares suggests an earlier aisleless building, the chancel of which was superseded by
that now existing.
The chancel is faced with flint work, and has
cemented buttresses and a red tiled roof, and shows
few signs of age.
The east window is modern, of three lights, and in
the south wall is a fifteenth-century piscina, while
opposite to it in the north wall is a recess with a trefoiled head, which seems to be a re-used fragment.
The nave arcades, of three bays, belong to the
earlier part of the fourteenth century, though, as so
often happens, their details are not alike. The north
arcade has arches of two orders with wave-mouldings, (fn. 38)
while those of the south arcade have plain chamfers.
Both have octagonal shafts with moulded capitals and
bases, but the details of the north arcade are better
than those in the south, (fn. 39) and the pillars on the south
are taller than those on the north. The chancel arch
is of much the same date as the arcades, and has two
chamfered orders with half-octagonal responds.
The clearstory, of late fifteenth-century date, has
square-headed windows of two uncusped four-centred
lights in the two east bays, but no window in the
west bay. The east windows of both aisles are of
like character with the clearstory, and in the north
wall of the north aisle are two late fifteenth-century
windows, the first of three cinquefoiled lights under a
segmental head, and the second of two lights with a
pierced spandrel under a four-centred head. In the
south aisle are likewise two windows, the first corresponding to that in the north aisle, and of like design,
while the second is like the east window of the aisle.
Between the two south windows is a plain late
fifteenth-century doorway, with a four-centred arch
under a square head, in which is hung a door as old,
or possibly older, than the doorway, but with moulded
beads of the seventeenth century nailed on its outer
side. The aisle walls are built of unsquared blocks of
stone with flints set in the wide joints between, and
both aisles and nave have low-pitched lead roofs.
The west tower, a very picturesque specimen of
chequered flint and stone masonry, is of the fifteenth
century, and has a projecting vice at the south-east
angle, and four belfry windows of two trefoiled lights
with a quatrefoil in the head. It is finished with
modern battlements, and in the ground story has a
west window of three cinquefoiled lights of late
fifteenth-century style, and below it a west doorway
of the same date, but clumsily made up with Roman
cement.
The chancel roof is modern, but the nave roof is
the best thing in the church, with heavy moulded
ridge, purlins, principals, intermediates, and tie-beams,
having large carved bosses at the intersections of the
timbers, and large standing figures below the tie-beams.
The western figure on the north side is St. Philip,
and the eastern perhaps our Lady and Child, while
the other two are bearded figures which have lost any
distinctive emblem. On the south side the east and
west figures are mitred, the former wearing mass vestments, the latter holding a round object in the left hand.
The second figure from the east with a wallet over
the right shoulder, may be St. James, but the third
has no distinguishing mark. All stand on the foreparts of large birds, projecting from the wall with
heads outstretched. At the ends of the intermediates
are half figures holding blank shields, and wearing
diadems; they may have had wings originally.
The central bosses in the east and second bays
bear shields of arms, on the former three annulets
on a bend engrailed quartered with a cheveron between
three hunting horns impaling a bend, and on the latter
an uncertain coat, two cheverons between three roses.
Elsewhere on the bosses occur shields bearing a rose,
a hind's head couped, and a rebus of a ton on which
is hut. The other carvings are foliage patterns.
The north aisle roof is modern, but the south aisle
has a simple late fifteenth-century roof with moulded
timbers, and some pierced cresting and a flowing vine
pattern, perhaps from a rood screen, has been fixed to
its wall plate. In the nave are several massive benches
with moulded rails, and on the north side of the
chancel is another; from the roughness of the work
it is hard to say whether they are of the seventeenth
century or older. The hexagonal pulpit is of early
seventeenth-century date, with upper and lower panels
carved, the former with fishlike and scaly monsters,
the latter with lozenge patterns. The cornice and
base are modern.
The font, at the west end of the nave, has a plain
circular bowl stem and base, but has lost its old surface and any definite marks of its age. It has a flat
cover with a turned seventeenth-century finial.
In the chancel are a few fifteenth-century floor
tiles, and in the north aisle a few pieces of old glass, a
part of a heraldic quarry with a ship in sail, and a
chief bearing a leopard between two roses, of seventeenth-century date.
Over the chancel arch are the royal arms of
George III.
In the tower are three bells, the treble by Chandler
of Drayton Parslow, 1714; the second blank, and the
tenor also by Chandler, 1656. The cannons of the
second bell are broken, and it lies useless in the frame.
The plate consists of a cup of 1569, with a band
of strap-work and a raised moulding near the lip of
the bowl, and a cover paten without marks, but
engraved with similar strap-work. There are also a
modern paten and flagon, plated. The maker's mark
on the cup is a lis in a shield, for which see the list
in Cripps's Old English Plate, under 1562.
The registers begin in 1678, the first book containing baptisms and burials to 1759, and marriages to
1754. The second, an affidavit book for burials in
woollen, runs from 1684 to 1723, and the third,
1681–1812, is a copy of book 1 with continuations.
Book 4 contains marriages from 1754 to 1809.
ADVOWSON
The church of Puttenham was held
by the priors and canons of Canons
Ashby (fn. 40) until 1309, when they
granted it to the bishop of Lincoln. (fn. 41) Cussans suggests that the church was probably built by the family
of la Zouche, who were liberal benefactors to the
priory of Ashby, and bestowed by them upon the
priory. (fn. 42) The bishops of Lincoln at some time previous to 1550 must have sold the advowson to the
lord of the manor, for it was held with the manor at
that date, (fn. 43) and from that time it follows the descent
of the manor (q.v.) until 1628, when Thomas
Saunders conveyed the advowson to Arthur Wilmot. (fn. 44)
Arthur died without issue, and was succeeded by his
nephew, Charles Wilmot, first Viscount Wilmot of
Athlone. (fn. 45) From him the advowson seems to have
passed during his life-time to his son Henry, who
was holding it in 1637. (fn. 46) The Wilmots may
have held the advowson only under a lease, for it
seems to have returned to Thomas Saunders, who
conveyed it in 1663 to Robert Sadler and Edward
Sadler, (fn. 47) probably for a settlement upon his wife. In
the same year the bishop of Lincoln presented to the
rectory, (fn. 48) and the advowson remained with the bishops
till 1852, when the patronage was transferred to the
bishop of Peterborough. (fn. 49) In 1874 it was exchanged
with the crown, (fn. 50) in which it has since been vested.
Rent from a croft called Taunts in Puttenham,
containing an acre, was given for finding a lamp. In
1548–9 this land was held by Thomas Graunge. (fn. 51)
There are no places of worship for Nonconformists,
who do not seem ever to have obtained a footing in
this parish.
CHARITIES
This parish had been in possession
from time immemorial, under the title
of Church Head Land, of land at
Astrope, with cottages thereon, also of a piece of garden
ground with a cottage thereon adjoining the graveyard
of the parish church, and of an allotment in Astrope
containing 1a. or. 23p. The first-mentioned land
was sold in 1890 for £70, and the remaining pieces
of land in 1898 were sold for £100.
The net proceeds were invested in the purchase of
£161 19s. 5d. consols, with the official trustees, and
the annual dividends amounting to £4 9s. are applied
under a scheme of 2 August, 1889, by the vicar and
churchwardens for the maintenance of the fabric and
services of the parish church.