TIMSBURY
Timbreberie (xi cent.); Tymberbury (xiii and
xiv cent.); Tymmysbury (xvi cent.).
The small parish of Timsbury covers an area of
1,434 acres, of which 18 acres are land covered by
water. The ground slopes gradually from the northeast down to the River Test, which forms the
western boundary of the parish. Near the river is
Timsbury Manor House, the property of Colonel
T. E. Vickers, C.B., V.D., a modern building with a
red brick gabled front.
North-west of the manor-house is the village with
the parish church of St. Andrew. The soil is loam
and clay with a subsoil of gravel, and the chief crops
are wheat, barley and oats. There are 685¾ acres of
arable land, 475¼ acres of permanent grass and 64
acres of woods and plantations in the parish. (fn. 1) The
common fields of Timsbury were inclosed by authority
of a Private Act of 1796. (fn. 2)
The following place-names occur: Fisflete (fn. 3) (xiii
cent.); Catescroft alias Catesmede, Lowmede, Hilmede, Somersmede, Androsmede, Kymbridge, Aldermoresmede alias Aldrigemore alias Cobmershmede,
Stretemede, Estwatermede (fn. 4) (xvi cent.).
Manors
In 1086 the manor of TIMSBURY
was held of the king in chief by the
nunnery of St. Mary of Winchester,
to whom it had belonged 'from time immemorial.' (fn. 5)
It continued to form part of the possessions of the
nunnery until its dissolution in 1539, (fn. 6) when
it fell into the hands of the king, who in 1543
granted it to Thomas Knight. (fn. 7) Thomas by will
dated 1 January 1547 left the manor for the
upbringing of his son and heir John and died seised
a year later. (fn. 8) Thomas Earl of Southampton, the
maternal uncle of John Knight, (fn. 9) seems to have acted
as his guardian, for he is spoken of as 'lord of the
manor of Timsbury' in an undated Chancery proceeding of the reign of Elizabeth. (fn. 10) John, however,
died, while still under age, in 1560 and was succeeded
by his paternal uncle, William Knight, (fn. 11) who at his
death in 1573 was followed by his son and heir
Richard. (fn. 12) Ursula, the widow of Richard, (fn. 13) married
as her second husband John Southwell, and held
courts at Timsbury in conjunction with John, Matthew
and Andrew Knight, (fn. 14) probably her sons by her first
husband. On her death Timsbury passed to John
Knight, (fn. 15) who sold it in 1608 to William Waller of
Stoke Charity (q.v.). (fn. 16) Timsbury, which was settled
the same year on Susan daughter of William Waller
and her husband, Sir Richard Tichborne, (fn. 17) in feetail, passed to them on his death in 1616. The
manor remained in the Tichborne family until it
was apparently sold before his death in 1743 by Sir
Henry Joseph Tichborne, bart. (fn. 18) It came subsequently into the possession of
John Dutton Lord Sherborne, (fn. 19) from whom it passed
to his third son, Ralph Heneage Dutton. (fn. 20) At the death
of the latter without male
issue in 1892 Timsbury passed
to his nephew, Mr. Henry
John Dutton, son of his elder
brother, John Thomas Dutton,
the present lord of the manor. (fn. 21)
Dutton, Lord Sherborne. Argent quartered with gules fretty or with the difference of a crescent.
The nunnery of St. Mary,
Winchester, held a mill worth
12s. 6d. in their manor of
Timsbury in 1086. (fn. 22) In 1540
a water-mill, weir and fishery were among the appurtenances of the manor, and they subsequently
followed its descent. (fn. 23) A mill exists in Timsbury at
the present day.
Early in the reign of King John William Briwere
the elder granted all the land he held in Timsbury and
Compton, with the exception of the large fish-pond
and the meadow of Fisflete, to the Prior and convent
of Mottisfont. (fn. 24) Their men were to be quit of forest
pleas, hambling of dogs and suit at the hundred court
of King's Somborne. (fn. 25) In the reign of Henry III
Walter de Langford claimed from the prior and
convent 1 hide of their land in Timsbury and
Compton on the ground that it belonged by right to
the serjeanty of West Tytherley which he held of
the king in chief, but in 1227 he was induced to
surrender all claim to it in return for a payment of
10 marks of silver. (fn. 26) The manor was valued in 1291
at £5 13s. 4d. (fn. 27) The prior and convent subsequently
acquired additional property in the parish, (fn. 28) and in
1345, at the request of Henry of Lancaster, they
were confirmed in their right to the assize of bread
and ale in Timsbury which they had of the gift of
William Briwere the elder. (fn. 29) At the dissolution of
the priory in 1536 Henry VIII granted the manor
to William Lord Sandys, (fn. 30) who died in 1542, leaving
a son and heir Thomas. (fn. 31) Thomas held the manor
until his death in 1560, (fn. 32) when he was followed
by his grandson, William Lord Sandys. (fn. 33) William
apparently conveyed Timsbury to his uncle, Sir
Walter Sandys, (fn. 34) who died seised in 1610, leaving
a son and heir Sir William. (fn. 35) Sir William died
without issue in 1628, when the manor reverted to
the elder branch of the family, (fn. 36) passing to William
Lord Sandys, son of the last mentioned William Lord
Sandys. Thence the manor followed the descent
of Longstock Harrington (q.v.) (fn. 37) until the close of
the 17th century, when it was in the possession
of Henry Lord Sandys. (fn. 38) It passed soon after to the
family of Godfrey of Romsey. Thus Walter Godfrey
senior and Walter Godfrey junior were in possession
of a fishery in Timsbury in 1695, (fn. 39) and forty years
later Charles Godfrey dealt with the manor and
fishery of Timsbury by recovery. (fn. 40) John Godfrey
was the owner in 1742, (fn. 41) while Charles Godfrey
was in possession in 1758. (fn. 42) The manor passed
subsequently to Mathew Bowen, (fn. 43) whose daughters
and co-heirs, Louisa wife of Thomas Threlkeld and
Anne, conveyed it to John Buller in 1771. (fn. 44) In
1781 the manor came into possession of William
Chamberlayne, from whom it has descended by
inheritance to the present owner, Mr. Tankerville
Chamberlayne, of Cranbury Park, Winchester. (fn. 45)
A free fishery in the River Test was among the
appurtenances of the manor belonging to the priory
of Mottisfont. (fn. 46)
Church
The church of ST. ANDREW consists of a chancel 15 ft. 11 in. by 12 ft.,
a nave 43 ft. 9 in. by 17 ft. 6 in., and a
south porch, the western bay of the nave being boarded
off to form a store room and a vestry. There is
nothing in the church of an earlier date than the 13th
century, and it is probable that the nave belongs to
that time, while the chancel seems to have been rebuilt in the 15th century. Considerable repairs,
apparently of early 18th-century date, leave the earlier
history of the nave somewhat doubtful, all the windows
having been altered.
The east window of the chancel is of three cinquefoiled lights with a pair of wide cinquefoiled lights
over, in a two-centred head. The splay is widely
hollowed, and jambs and rear arch are continuously
moulded. Externally the window is of two chamfered
orders with a label. To the west of the chancel, on
either side, are two single cinquefoiled lights with
four-centred rear arches and splays moulded in the
same way as the east window. Externally the labels
are square-headed, and all three windows belong to
the first half of the 15th century. They contain a
few fragments of white and gold 15th-century glass.
At the south-east of the chancel, and contemporary
with the windows, is a piscina with a moulded head
of two orders, the outer square and the inner twocentred and cinquefoiled. It has a stone shelf and a
half-octagonal projecting basin on a half-octagonal
pillar with a moulded base. The chancel arch is a
modern insertion and is of two moulded orders with
corbels as yet uncarved at the springing line.
On the north of the nave are two single lights; the
eastern has a segmental head and an uneven splay,
designed to light the pulpit, while the second has a
pointed two-centred head. The stonework of the
outer jambs looks like re-used 13th-century work, and
has external rebates for frames. The heads are doubtless of late date, perhaps 18 th century. On the southeast is a window like that opposite to it, but below it is
a part of the splay and the sill of a narrower light,
plastered over, but perhaps of 13th-century date.
The south door is chamfered, with a three-centred
arch, and is probably a part of the 18th-century
repairs, made up of old material; the same may be
said of the small west door.
The porch is an open timber one and incorporates
a good deal of 15th or 16th-century material, all of
which is plain except the barge-boards, which are
cusped.
Over the west end of the nave is a small bell-cot of
weather-boarded timber with a tiled roof.
The font is of 15 th or 16th-century date, and
is quite plain with an octagonal bowl and stem.
It stands near the south door and is covered with
scratchings of initials and 17th and 18th-century
dates.
Across the opening of the chancel arch is an early
16th-century screen with solid lower panels and open
upper ones with trefoiled heads, three on each side of
a segmental-headed doorway with traceried spandrels.
There is also a 17th-century pulpit and clerk's desk
with arched and carved panels, and the inscription,
wo is unto me if i preach not ye gospel, i Cor ix 16,
and in the vestry is a small cupboard inscribed,
'Books given by || M Timo || thy good || acker
minister || of this P || 1713.' The seating includes a
number of old and very plain benches, only one
bench end remaining perfect, with two circular
finials. The type is an early one, but the work is so
plain that any conjecture as to their date is of little
value. The roof of the chancel is modern and of the
open timber type, but that of the nave is plain and
old and is coved with a plaster ceiling and rough tiebeams with strutted king-posts.
The bell-cot contains two bells by T. Mears of
Whitechapel, 1823.
The plate consists of a silver chalice, unmarked,
and two silver patens, one unmarked but of early
18th century, the other of 1718.
There are three books of registers, the first containing mixed entries from 1564 to 1746, with a gap
between 1664 and 1670, the second mixed entries
from 1750 to 1790, the third marriages from 1760
to 1825.
Advowson
The church of Timsbury was a
prebend of the conventual church of
Romsey, (fn. 47) and with the tithes from
Imber (co. Wilts.) and one-third of the tithes from
Romsey was known as the portion of St. Laurence
of Timsbury. (fn. 48) The prebendary, who resided at
Romsey, usually appointed a vicar to serve Timsbury.
The advowson of the prebend belonged to the
Abbess and convent of Romsey, who presented until
the Dissolution. (fn. 49) In 1546 Henry VIII granted
the prebend and advowson to John Mason, (fn. 50) who
soon afterwards leased the tithes to Sir Richard
Lyster. (fn. 51)
In 1595 Queen Elizabeth granted the prebend of
Timsbury, parcel of the lands of John Mason, to
George Dowse and his sons Paulet and John for their
lives at a rent of £19 6s. 8d. (fn. 52) Richard Cowdall
and Henry Skynner obtained a grant of the prebend
from James I in 1607–8, (fn. 53) and John More died
seised of it in 1620. (fn. 54) Henry Beck was in possession
of the rectory and tithes of Timsbury in 1686, (fn. 55) and
Thomas Dummer in 1766. (fn. 56) From the latter they
descended with North Baddesley to Mr. Tankerville
Chamberlayne, (fn. 57) who is at the present day lay rector
and owner of the tithes in Timsbury. John Fleming,
lord of North Stoneham, dealt with the advowson of
the vicarage by recovery in 1770. (fn. 58) The living
is at the present day in the gift of his descendant
Mr. John Edward Arthur Willis-Fleming (fn. 59) and
Mr. Tankerville Chamberlayne alternately.
There is a Wesleyan chapel at Timsbury.
Charities
This parish was formerly in possession of £7 10s. arising from the gifts of
Gregory and Alice Foster, 1635–6,
and others. The principal sum has been lost. The
school founded by deed, 1847, has no endowment.