LADBROKE (fn. 1)
Acreage: 1,975.
Population: 1911, 162; 1921, 169; 1931, 164.
The western boundary of the parish is formed by
the River Itchen, and the northern, for a short distance,
by a small stream that joins that river after flowing
through the grounds of Ladbroke Hall and then for a
little over a mile in a north-westerly direction. Ladbroke
Hall, with its well-timbered park and two large ponds,
lies to the south of the village, which is mostly grouped
round a road running north from Banbury to Southam
and a smaller road leading westwards to Harbury,
crossing the Itchen by Deppers (formerly Defford, or
'deep ford') bridge. The village spreads along both
sides of the main road with a group of houses at the
western end, of the 17th and 18th centuries, built both
of stone and half-timber, mostly with thatched roofs.
One on the west side of the road is part of a 16th-century building, with alternate courses of limestone
and sandstone similar to the masonry employed in the
construction of the church tower A few timberframed cottages remain among the 18th-and 19th-century houses built of red brick with tiled roofs which
make up the bulk of the village buildings. From the
village, which lies at a height of 300 ft., the ground
rises gently to the south and rather more rapidly to
the east, where heights of over 400 ft. are reached at
Lady Hill and Windmill Hill. Early in the 13th
century Henry son of William Boscher gave to the
monks of Combe Abbey land on Heidune for building
a new mill, and a little later John de Lodbroke gave
3 acres 'below the mill', this being evidently a windmill. (fn. 2)
Although a water-mill worth 3s. existed on Hugh de
Grentemaisnil's estate in 1086, (fn. 3) the only later references
to such a mill seem to be in about 1263 (fn. 4) and in 1316,
when William le Vynter of Coventry and Joan his wife
conveyed a mill and 2 carucates of land in Ladbroke
to John and Alice de Langeleye. (fn. 5)
Most of the parish appears to have been inclosed and
divided up by the end of the 16th century, as shown
by a detailed agreement about rights of pasture made
in 1603 between Sir Robert Dudley, who had just
bought the manor, and his freeholders. (fn. 6) The demesnes
at this time amounted to 33 yardlands, or rather over
1,000 acres, while the 18 freeholders had 13 yardlands,
of which Thomas Thornton had 5 (containing 200
acres) and a messuage, which was probably the
nucleus of the present Ladbroke Hall. Some 30 years
later Sir Robert Dudley was said to have put 16 houses
and 500 acres of arable in Ladbroke out of use, William
Burton another 60 acres, and Ralph Garrett 16 acres. (fn. 7)
In the south-east corner of the parish is a small
earthwork, of which the age and purpose are unknown,
though the most likely explanation is that it is a ditch
or moat surrounding a medieval dwelling. (fn. 8)
Manors
In 998 King Ethelred gave to the
ealdorman Leofwine (father of the famous
Leofric of Mercia) lands in Southam, Ladbroke, and Radbourn. (fn. 9) By 1086 Ladbroke had been
split up into a number of estates. Of these the Count
of Meulan held 2 hides, which William held of him; (fn. 10)
Hugh de Grentemaisnil held 3 virgates; (fn. 11) and Turchil
had four estates, the largest of which, 2 hides, 1 virgate,
was held of him by William; another 3 virgates, of which
the pre-conquest tenant was Hereward, were held of
Turchil by Gilbert, 1 virgate by a priest, and 1½ hides
in Ladbroke and Radbourn by Almar. (fn. 12) The count's
estate descended to the Earls of Leicester, of whom
Robert II married Pernell, heiress of Grentemaisnil.
One of their two daughters and eventual co-heirs
married Saier de Quincy, Earl of Winchester, whose
son Roger died in 1264 seised of the manor of
LADBROKE. (fn. 13) On the division of the Winchester
fees this passed to Earl Roger's daughter Margaret,
who had married William de Ferrers, Earl of Derby,
and the overlordship descended in the line of Ferrers
of Groby, (fn. 14) ranking as a quarter-fee in 1344 and as a
half-fee at the death of Edward Grey, Lord Ferrers
in right of his wife, in 1456, (fn. 15) the last occasion on
which the overlordship is mentioned.
The overlordship of Turchil's estates came to the
Earls of Warwick. In 1207 Alice, widow of Earl
Waleran, recovered from his son Henry dower which
included the service of 1 knight's fee in Ladbroke held
by John de Lodbroke. (fn. 16) When John du Plessis, who
was Earl of Warwick in right of his wife, died in 1263
his son by a previous wife, Hugh, tried to occupy the
manor but was promptly ejected by the new earl,
William Mauduit, (fn. 17) who died seised of the fee in
1268. (fn. 18) The Lodbrokes therefore held of two overlords, and in a list of knight's fees of Thomas, Earl of
Warwick, drawn up about 1320 it is noted that 'John
de Lodbroke holds 1 fee; but he holds his chief
messuage and all his land of the fee of Winchester, and
all his tenants hold of the fee of Warwick.' (fn. 19)
The suggestion made by Dugdale (fn. 20) that the Domesday tenant William may have been the ancestor of the
eponymous family (fn. 21) who held the manor for some two
centuries is not correct. In the course of a dispute
between the earls of Winchester and Warwick in 1262
over the guardianship of John son and heir of Henry
de Lodbroke the jury stated that Robert le Bossu, Earl
of Leicester (died 1168), gave the half-fee to Henry's
ancestor Mauger, 'before he had any other land in
England'. (fn. 22) Mauger seems to have been succeeded
by his brother (fn. 23) William de Lodbroke, who was
holding a knight's fee of the Earl of Warwick in 1166, (fn. 24)
as did his grandson John in 1207 (fn. 25) and in 1235. (fn. 26)
By 1242 John had been succeeded by his son Henry,
who died between 1254 (fn. 27) and 1257, in which year his
widow is mentioned. (fn. 28) His son John was under age (fn. 29)
and between 1260 and 1262 the custody of his person
and of the messuage land and mill which he held in
Ladbroke was disputed, as already mentioned, between
the two earls who were his overlords. (fn. 30) Sir John de
Lodbroke seems to have lived until about 1310, (fn. 31) being
followed by his son Sir Henry, who held the manor
in 1316 (fn. 32) and 1329. (fn. 33) His son
Sir John de Lodbroke held the
quarter-fee of Henry, Lord
Ferrers, in 1344 (fn. 34) and released
his rights in the manor of Ladbroke to William Catesby in
1349. (fn. 35) The exact significance
of this is not clear, as in 1371
Thomas de Lodbroke, Sir John's
eldest son, was holding of Sir
William Ferrers certain tenements here and the advowson of
the church. (fn. 36) It seems probable that Sir John had made
a settlement of the manor in tail male on his son Thomas,
with contingent remainder to Sir William Catesby,
whose daughter Alice Thomas married. (fn. 37) When Sir
John died, a very old man, in 1385 his heir was his
daughter (by a second wife) Alice, then aged 30 and
wife of Lewis Cardigan alias Cook, (fn. 38) and she and her
husband disputed the manor with John son and heir of
William Catesby. It was ultimately awarded to the
latter, who was tenant of the Ferrers fee in 1387 and
1393. (fn. 39) His son William did homage for the manor
to the Earl of Warwick in 1404–5 and died about
three years later, being succeeded by his brother John. (fn. 40)
He in conjunction with his mother Emma had a grant
of free warren at Ladbroke in 1412. (fn. 41) His grandson
William was a strong supporter of Richard III and was
executed and attainted in 1485, and the manor of
Ladbroke was seized into the king's hands and granted
in 1488 to Sir John Risley in tail male. (fn. 42) In 1495,
however, the attainder was reversed and on the death
of Sir John Risley without male issue in 1512 the
manor, with its court leet, was restored to Catesby's
grandson William, (fn. 43) who died seised thereof in 1517,
his heir being his brother Richard, then aged 11. (fn. 44)
It descended to Robert Catesby, afterwards one of the
conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot, and he sold it in
1597 to Sir Robert Dudley, (fn. 45) who also bought a
considerable estate in Ladbroke from Sir John Spencer
of Althorp. (fn. 46) Dudley, angered at his failure to establish
his legitimacy and right to his father's title of Earl of
Leicester, left England in 1605 and refused to return.
His estates were taken into the hands of the Crown and
administered for his wife and children, whom he had
abandoned. In 1633 Lady Alice
Dudley and her four daughters
sold Ladbroke to William Palmer
of London. (fn. 47) He died in 1636
and his son William in 1642
exchanged Ladbroke with his
cousin Sir William Palmer for
the latter's estate of Hill in Old
Warden, Beds. (fn. 48) The latter Sir
William died in 1682 and his
eldest surviving son William
settled at Ladbroke, where he
died in 1720. (fn. 49) His great-grandson William in 1825 inherited
the Alfreton estate of his aunt
Ellen Morewood and took the name of PalmerMorewood. (fn. 50) On the death of his grandson Charles in
1910 the estate passed to his son Rowland Charles
Arthur Palmer-Morewood. (fn. 51)
Lodbroke. Azure a cheveron ermine.
Palmer. Argent two bars sable with three trefoils argent thereon and in chief a running greyhound sable collared or.
In addition to the knight's fee held of the Earls of
Warwick by the Lodbrokes there was a fraction of a fee
held of them in Ladbroke. This may be the 3 virgates
held of Turchil by Gilbert in 1086, as it first appears
as 3 virgates in Ladbroke held in 1226–8 by Henry
Boscher by serjeanty of keeping one of the king's
brachet hounds, and was then worth 15s. yearly. (fn. 52) In
1235 Henry Boscher was holding one-fifth fee of the
Earl of Warwick. (fn. 53) He must have died not long after
this date as his heirs are entered as holding a half-fee
in 1242, (fn. 54) one of those heirs being possibly Roger de
Sutham who held one-fifth fee here in 1268. (fn. 55) Henry
Boscher's daughter Maud, however, gave her share of
her father's lands in Ladbroke to the Hospital of
St. John outside the East Gate of Oxford, (fn. 56) to whom
one Warin de Greneburgh also gave land with a house
and croft here. (fn. 57) In a list of fees of the earl c. 1320 the
master of the hospital is said to hold a quarter fee of
the fee which Thomas de Arderne once held of the
earl 'and it is called Boscref'. (fn. 58) In 1350 Adam de
Lodbroke, master of the hospital of St. John, leased
the lands in this parish to William de Catesby at 40s. (fn. 59) —apparently much more than they were worth. (fn. 60)
The hospital and its possessions were subsequently
absorbed by Magdalen College.
The Cistercian abbey of Combe received a number
of small grants of land in Ladbroke, many of them from
Henry (son of William) Boscher. (fn. 61)
A manor of Ladbroke was granted, with that of
Fenny Compton (q.v.), by John son and heir of Ralph
Aylesbury to Alan Percy, clerk, in 1523. (fn. 62) But this
manor or grange had apparently already been given to
the Abbey of Combe by Margaret widow of Sir Robert
Bellingham (fn. 63) and daughter and heir of John Beaufitz,
who had bequeathed to her in 1489 his 'manor of
Ladbroke called Wynteners'. (fn. 64) In return for the gift
the monks were to receive her into the fraternity of
the Cistercian Order and to maintain one of their
number at the University of Oxford. Alan Percy, who
was chaplain to Cardinal Wolsey, brought a number
of suits in Chancery against Margery and Oliver and
Robert, successive Abbots of Combe, (fn. 65) but these do not
throw much light on the history of the manor and did
not enable him to get possession of it. In 1535 the
abbey's property in this parish was producing £4, (fn. 66)
and early in 1538 the abbot and convent let the grange
of Ladbroke with its demesnes to William Alybonde,
Alice his wife, and John his son for 60 years at a rent
of £4. (fn. 67) Shortly afterwards the abbey was suppressed
and in 1539 its estates were conveyed to the Duchess
of Richmond for her life. After her death the manor
or grange of Ladbroke was among the estates acquired
by Anthony Throckmorton in 1558, (fn. 68) and this was sold
by his son John to Sir Robert Dudley in 1598, (fn. 69) after
which it descended with the main manor.
Church
The church of ALL SAINTS stands
on the west side of the Coventry-Banbury
road, in the centre of a small churchyard
with three large yew trees on the south side and entered by a lych-gate erected in 1884. The 13th-century
church, which probably consisted of a chancel and
nave, was entirely rebuilt in the 14th-century with
north and south aisles and west tower. All that
remains of the earlier church is the lower portion of
the chancel. Late in the 15th century the nave and
chancel were raised and clearstory windows inserted.
It was restored and reroofed in 1876 by Sir Gilbert
Scott.
The east wall of the chancel is built of small limestone rubble, with brown sandstone dressings, and has
a plinth of two splays and low angle buttresses with
gabled heads. Above the sill level the wall has been
rendered with cement and the gable rebuilt with red
bricks faced with cement; a projecting splay shows the
line of the 16th-century roof. The window has three
pointed lights under a pointed arch of two splayed
orders dying out on splayed jambs, and a hoodmoulding with head stops. The south side has a central
buttress, probably added when the clearstory was built.
There are three windows to the clearstory, each of
three pointed cinquefoil lights, set in deep splays with
flat heads. Below there is a similar window to the east,
and to the west a modern window of three trefoil lights
with a label. On the west side of the buttress there is a
narrow doorway with an ogee head under a stopchamfered segmental arch. The wall west of the
buttress has been refaced, omitting the plinth. The
north side has three clearstory windows corresponding
with those on the south, with an offset at sill level
formed by the original wall-head. The wall between
these windows has been rendered with cement. Below,
on either side of the buttress, there are twin lancet
windows of one splay and a rectangular low-side
window underneath the most westerly light.
The south aisle has been extensively refaced with a
mixture of roughly coursed limestone interspersed with
squared blocks of brown sandstone and has a plinth of
two splays and a buttress at each end. The south wall
is lighted by a window of three ogee-headed trefoil
lights of two splayed orders, with cusped spandrels, a
flat head and label-moulding to the east, and by a
similar one of two lights, to the west. Between these
windows is the porch, which has been almost entirely
rebuilt, the front of ashlar, the sides of coursed rubble,
with modern stone seats on either side. The entrance
has a pointed arch with continuous mouldings and a
hood-mould with return ends. In the apex of the gable
there is an incised stone sundial dated 1611, with a
carved head corbel built in immediately below, and
inside the porch large 14th-century carved head corbels
have been built into the wall, two on each side. (fn. 69a) The
doorway, which is modern except for the two lower
courses of the jambs, has a pointed arch of one continuous splay. The east wall has been partly refaced
and the plinth omitted; it has a modern two-light
window with a flat head and a label with return ends.
The west side has a window of three trefoil lights with
a hollow-splayed four-centred arch. The lean-to roof
is covered with lead and the clearstory has three
windows of two trefoil lights set in deep splays with
flat heads. The north aisle and clearstory are similar,
but without a porch and the doorway is blocked. The
west wall has been refaced and the plinth omitted.
On the east wall there are traces of the line of the
original steep-pitched chancel roof.
The tower is built of alternate bands of white limestone and brown sandstone with a plinth of three
splays; it is not divided by string-courses, but has a
weathered offset at the sill level of the belfry window.
There are buttresses to the angles, those on the west
being diagonal. They rise in five weathered stages, the
lower stages having trefoiled gablets with grotesque
head-stops, and terminate in pinnacles at each corner
of an embattled parapet. The tower is crowned with a
tall, slender, octagonal spire having a floriated finial
and weather-cock. At the base and midway there are
canopied spire lights of two trefoil lights with pointed
arches, quatrefoil piercings, crockets to the gables,
with head-stops, and terminating in poppy heads. On
the west side, in the lower stage, is a window of two
trefoil lights and tracery with a pointed arch of two
orders, the inner a splay and the outer a shallow wavemoulding, and finished with a hood-mould and headstops. The belfry windows are of a similar type. In
the string-course at the base of the parapet there are
two gargoyles on each face. On the south side there
are two loop-lights to the tower staircase, and a rectangular light to the ringing-chamber, with a clock dial
above.
The chancel (32 ft. 3 in. by 18 ft.) has a modern
tiled floor with two steps to the altar, plastered walls,
and a modern low-pitched roof with moulded tiebeams, purlins, and wall-plates of early-16th-century
date. The east window has splayed reveals with a
segmental-pointed rear-arch. On the south the clearstory windows have splayed reveals with flat heads,
and, below, the eastern window is similar. The
modern window to the west is inserted in an earlier
recess with a stop-chamfered segmental arch. Between
these windows the narrow doorway has a plain ogee
head. At the east end there are sedilia with three seats,
having moulded cinquefoil ogee heads with crockets,
poppy-head finials and head-stops over the moulded
mullions dividing the seats; it is entirely a modern
restoration except for the two mullions. In the centre
there is a wall monument of white marble with coloured
marble pilasters supporting an interrupted pediment,
with a coat of arms to William Palmer, lord of the
manor, died 1720, and his wife Mary, died 1729. In
the east clearstory window there are three panels of
late-15th-century stained glass representing St. Cuthbert
with the head of St. Oswald, St. Chad, and St. Giles
with his hind. All the remaining glass is modern. On
the north the clearstory corresponds with the south.
The window to the east has wide-splayed jambs with
a segmental-pointed arch embracing the two lancet
windows, below is a badly mutilated recess 3 ft. wide
with a moulded pointed arch and traces of a carved
gable flanked by pinnacles, which may be an Easter
Sepulchre. The window to the west is similar to the
one to the east, but the recess is carried down to include
the low-side window. The organ is placed between
these two windows.
The nave (46 ft. 4 in. by 15 ft. 2 in.) has a modern
tiled floor and open trussed rafter roof, and the walls are
plastered. The clearstory windows on the south have
splayed jambs with modern flat-shouldered rear-arches,
and on the north splayed jambs with square heads.
Both arcades are of three bays with pointed arches of
two splayed orders supported on octagonal pillars with
moulded capitals and bases of one splay. The responds
repeat the orders of the arches with similar moulded
capitals. The chancel arch follows the arcade in detail,
but the springing is at a slightly higher level. The
tower arch has widely splayed jambs with a pointed
arch of four splayed orders on the nave side, the inner
going down to the floor and the remainder dying out
on the splayed jambs; the tower side has three splayed
orders dying out on the tower walls. Above this arch
is the line of the earlier roof. The pulpit, placed on the
north side of the chancel arch, is a modern octagonal
one with traceried panels on a stone base. Opposite
the south door there is an early-17th-century wooden
chest, bound with iron straps with two locks, a centre
hasp, and two additional hasps fitted later.
The south aisle (43 ft. 7 in. by 9 ft. 2 in.) has a tiled
floor, plastered walls, and a modern lean-to roof. The
15th-century windows are inserted in 14th-century
recesses with widely splayed jambs and chamfered
segmental rear-arches. The west window, which is a
late-15th-century insertion, has a four-centred reararch. In the south wall there is a modern tomb recess
with a chamfered segmental arch, built to accommodate
an effigy of a priest in vestments, with his hands clasped
in prayer, which was found under the floor of the
chancel during the 1876 restoration; it is reputed to
be John de Pavely, rector of Ladbroke (1298–1303)
but is probably later. The font, placed near the south
door, is modern.
The north aisle has similar window recesses, floors,
and roof as the south aisle. The blocked north door
has a chamfered segmental rear-arch.
The tower (11 ft. 6 in. by 8 ft. 11 in.) is paved with
memorial slabs, one a large slate slab to Edward Rayney,
with a coat of arms, who died 1699. In the north wall
there is an aumbry with an ogee head and two 18th-century mural tablets. The window has a deep, square
recess with a head consisting of a series of four plain
pointed arches. The south-west angle is splayed for the
circular tower staircase and has a narrow door with an
ogee head. A modern traceried screen has been placed
across the tower arch to form a vestry.
The five bells were recast by J. Taylor & Co. 1873. (fn. 70)
The registers begin in 1559.
Advowson
In 1086 there was 'a priest' among
the tenants on Hugh de Grentemaisnil's estate, (fn. 71) and 'a priest', possibly identical, held 1 virgate under Turchil. (fn. 72) The
advowson of the rectory, which was valued at £10
in 1291 (fn. 73) and at £13 10s. in 1535, (fn. 74) remained
attached to the manor until about 1925, when Capt.
A. H. Wheeler was patron, but shortly after this
date the advowson was conveyed to the Bishop of
Coventry. (fn. 75)
Charity
The Town Lands Charity was founded
by deed of feoffment dated 5 August 18
Elizabeth and is now regulated by a
scheme of the Charity Commissioners dated 3 September 1901. The scheme provides that the income
of the charity shall be divided into the Ecclesiastical
Branch and the Non-ecclesiastical Branch, under the
administration of two separate bodies of trustees. The
scheme appoints the rector and churchwardens for the
time being of the parish of Ladbroke to be the trustees
of the Ecclesiastical Branch, and provides that the
trustees of the Non-ecclesiastical Branch shall, when
complete, consist of three representative trustees and
one co-optative trustee. The scheme further provides
that the two bodies of trustees acting together shall be
the Estate Trustees for the management of the estates
and property of the charity, and that subject to certain
payments the yearly income of the charity shall be
divided equally between the two branches by the
Estates Trustees. The endowment of the charity
consists of 16 a. 11 r. of land at Ladbroke, producing
an annual income of £24.