ILMER
Imere (xi cent.); Ymmere, Ylemere, Hilmere,
Illmire (xiii–xiv cent.).
The parish of Ilmer, having an extent of a little
over 753 acres, lies low, to the north-west of the
Chiltern Hills. The land is lowest, under 200 ft.
above the ordnance datum, in the south, where two
streams cross the parish flowing in a north-westerly
direction. Towards the north and east the land rises,
especially in the latter district, in which the village is
situated and where a height of 282 ft. is reached.
The village itself is small and compact, the church
of St. Peter standing to the north-east. Near by is
the manor-house, now occupied as a farm.
A considerable part of the parish is pasture land;
in 1905, 172 acres were arable land, while 580 acres
were permanent grass. (fn. 1) It is interesting to note that
at an early date the parish was apparently ill-provided
with pasture. (fn. 2) Royal licence to inclose the woods of
Ilmer and La Sale and to make a park was granted to
John de Moleyns in 1336. (fn. 3)
On the arable land of the parish wheat, barley
and beans are the chief crops grown. In 1602 the
lord of the manor sued a tenant for refusing to render,
besides his money payment, an annual rent of two
bushels of 'sweet and clean and dry beans' at the
lord's house at Ascott. (fn. 4)
Fourteenth-century place-names in Ilmer include
Middlefurlong benorth, Middlefurlong undertown, (fn. 5)
and in the 15th century Shrobbes pasture, Brookfurlong,
Groveditch, and Kingslake are mentioned. (fn. 6)
Manor
Before the Conquest Godwin, a man of
Earl Leofwin, held in ILMER a manor
which he could sell; in 1086 it was of
the land of Odo of Bayeux, whose tenant Robert held
it as 4 hides. (fn. 7) In the 12th century it was in the
possession of the family of Rumenel (Romney), (fn. 8) who
also held, as a member of it, Aston Bernard or Aston
Mullins in Dinton. (fn. 9) Aston is not, however, invariably mentioned among the Fitz Bernards' lands
here, (fn. 10) and in 1371 it was found that the manor of
Aston was, and always had been, parcel of the manor
of Ilmer. (fn. 11) They were finally separated in the 16th
century, when George Earl of Huntingdon and his
son and heir Francis Lord Hastings sold Aston in
1537 to Michael Dormer and Ilmer in 1538–9 to
Sir Robert Dormer, kt. (fn. 12) Sir Robert held also the
manor of Wing, with which Ilmer then descended,
passing to the Earls of Carnarvon and Chesterfield,
and being held by the latter until the 19th century. (fn. 13)
At some period, probably about the middle of that
century, Ilmer was sold by the Stanhopes to Moreton
John Edwin Frewen, who was lord of the manor in
1862. (fn. 14) He and Mrs. Raper held the manor jointly
in 1869 and until some time after 1880, and he and
General Raper in 1887. General Raper's share
appears to have been Upper Farm, sold by the Raper
family in 1909 to Mr. A. Goodchild, the present
owner. The greater part of Ilmer, however, consisting of the Manor, Lower and Coldharbour Farms,
belonged to Mrs. Moreton Craigie, after whose death
a life interest was enjoyed by Miss Moreton. She
died in 1912, when the property passed to Mrs.
Carter, by whom it was immediately sold, the Manor
and Lower Farms being purchased by Mr. W. Hill
and Mr. A. A. Kingham, while Mr. A. Fisher bought
Coldharbour.
The lord of the manor enjoyed the same rights
and privileges in Ilmer as in Aston. (fn. 15)
The capital messuage of the manor is mentioned
in 1238, when the sheriff was ordered to assign either
it or the one in Aston to Ralph Fitz Bernard's widow
Joan. (fn. 16) It is again referred to in 1306. (fn. 17)
A mill was included among the appurtenances of
the manor in 1086. (fn. 18) In 1306 there was a windmill, out of repair. (fn. 19) In 1328 the water-mill was
also found to be broken down and valueless, (fn. 20) but it
was repaired in 1342–3. (fn. 21) Later inquisitions, however, include no mention of either mill. There are
interesting surveys of the manor taken in the 14th
and 15th centuries, with particulars concerning the
economic conditions of the time. (fn. 22)
The office of marshal and keeper of the king's
hawks and other birds was held in the 12th century
by the Rumenel family, lords of Ilmer, who seem
at first to have held the marshalship as their personal
right and not as appurtenant to their manor, for in
1204 the king, at the petition of Aubrey de Rumenel,
widow of William de Jarpenville, who had with
Aubrey 'all her inheritance and the marshalship of our
birds,' granted the office to Thomas Fitz Bernard
and his wife, the heir of the Jarpenvilles, and to their
heirs for ever. (fn. 23) Afterwards, however, the office came
to be actually the serjeanty by which the manor was
held, (fn. 24) as was also the case with the Rumenels' manor
of 'Effeton' in Kent. (fn. 25) In 1338 Sir John de Moleyns,
who acquired Ilmer about twenty years after it left
the Fitz Bernard family, petitioned the king for a
grant of the office with the fees and wages, asserting
that it was parcel of the manor, although neither he
nor his immediate predecessors in the manor, including
Ralph Fitz Bernard, had been seised thereof for some
time. It having been found that William Fitz
Bernard had held Ilmer by this serjeanty, it was
granted to Sir John, 'because the manor is said to
have been held by such service and in consideration
of his long service to him (the king) and as well of
his great charges and grave perils therein both beyond
the seas and within.' (fn. 26)
In 1610 Sir Robert Dormer received a confirmation of the serjeanty. (fn. 27) A claim was made for the
same office in respect of the manor of Aston. (fn. 28)
Charles Earl of Carnarvon, as seised of the manor
of Ilmer, claimed to be marshal of the king's hawks
in England at the coronation of James II in 1685,
but the claim was not allowed, 'because not respecting
the coronation,' but the earl was 'left to take his
course at law if he thought fit.' (fn. 29)
It is stated in 1306 that the marshal might if he
wished send another to fill the office. (fn. 30) He held the
post at the king's expense. (fn. 31) By a later account the
marshal was found to have the 'superior custody of
the king's falcons and other hawks from the game of
the river, and the office of surveyor of all the services
of the custody or mewing of the falcons, goshawks and
other hawks, due to the king by any persons and of
rivers preserved'; he had also full power of punishing
delinquents in rivers preserved so far as such punishments belonged to the king by right. (fn. 32) The marshal also
claimed the right of nominating his under-officers. (fn. 33)
The alienations of parts of this serjeanty in the
13th century have been referred to under Aston. (fn. 34)
One portion, a messuage and 34 acres, was held by
three tenants of the Abbot of Missenden. (fn. 35) In the
reign of Henry III the abbot, with the consent of
the tenants, agreed to pay a yearly rent of 7s. 6d. to
the Crown in lieu of the serjeanty due for that
portion. (fn. 36) In 1585–6 these lands were granted by
the Crown to John Walton and John Cresset. (fn. 37)
Church
The church of ST. PETER consists
of a chancel measuring internally 17 ft.
by 14 ft., nave 39 ft. 6 in. by 16 ft.,
north porch and west bellcote; it is built of stone
rubble and roofed with tiles.
The earliest part of the building is the nave,
which dates from the 12th century. The chancel
seems to have been rebuilt in the 14th century,
when a small transept, destroyed in 1662, (fn. 38) was
added on the south side of the nave. In the 16th
century the timber bellcote at the west end of the
nave was built, and in 1890 the whole fabric was
restored and the porch added.
The chancel, which is divided from the nave by
an oak screen on a low stone wall, has two singlelight windows in each lateral wall and a two-light
window with modern tracery in the east wall. The
north-west window is a 14th-century trefoiled light,
but on its inner jambs are two late 15th-century
sculptured groups, one representing the Holy Trinity
with angels, and the other St. Christopher. The
south-east window, which has a trefoiled head and
traceried external spandrels, is probably of about
1380; the other windows have been considerably
restored. In the south wall is a 14th-century trefoiled piscina.
On the south side of the nave is a blocked 12thcentury doorway with a round head springing from
chamfered abaci, and near the east end is a blocked
14th-century arch of two orders which opened to the
transept mentioned above; a late 18th-century window
of two lights has been inserted in the blocking. In
the north wall are a square-headed two-light window
of about 1500 and a 13th-century pointed doorway
with moulded abaci. The west wall, which is much
thicker than the lateral walls, is pierced by a trefoiled
light, which appears to have been reset in the 16th
century. The nave has a 16th-century collar-beam
roof with a plastered ceiling. The bellcote, which is
supported by moulded posts at the west end of the
nave, is weather-boarded, and is surmounted by an
oak shingled spire.
The font is of mediaeval date, but the sides of its
plain octagonal bowl have been recut; the oak cover
is of the 17th century. The chancel screen, of ten
traceried bays on either side of a central doorway
with a four-centred head, dates from about 1500.
There are three bells: the treble inscribed 'Henri
Knight made mee ano 1618'; the second 'Gloria in
excelcuc (sic) deo 1586,' by William Knight; and
the tenor 'Sancta Margareta Ora Pro Nobis. W. H,'
probably by William Hasylwood of Reading, c. 1500.
The communion plate includes a chalice and cover
paten of 1569.
The registers begin in 1660.
Advowson
The church of Ilmer was granted
to the priory of Studley in Oxfordshire about 1203 by Aubrey daughter
of David de Rumenel. (fn. 39) The vicarage, which was
ordained before 1235, was in the gift of the prioress. (fn. 40)
Ralph Fitz Bernard, grandson of the original benefactor, claimed the advowson and part of the land
against the prioress in 1229, (fn. 41) but as he could not
prove his right was obliged to quitclaim all interest
to her and her successors. (fn. 42) In 1535 the annual
value of the benefice was £7 exclusive of an annual
pension of 6s. 8d. paid by the vicar to the prioress. (fn. 43)
After the dissolution of Studley the rectory and
advowson of Ilmer were granted to John Croke, (fn. 44)
who received licence later in the same year— 1540—to alienate to Sir Robert Dormer and others. (fn. 45)
Sir Robert also held the manor (q.v.), with which the
rectory and advowson were held (fn. 46) until 1858, when
the Rev. W. E. Partridge bought the advowson from
the Earl of Chesterfield. (fn. 47) Before this date the
incumbents had not infrequently held other livings
simultaneously with Ilmer. Thus the vicar at the
time of the Commonwealth was also rector of Aston
Sandford; Cornish, presented in 1700, was curate of
Princes Risborough and Kingsey, while a later vicar was
also rector of Radnage. (fn. 48) The Rev. W. E. Partridge
at the time of the sale above mentioned was not only
the incumbent at Ilmer, but also rector of Horsenden,
and these two livings were united by an Order in
Council in 1865, the patronage passing, at the death
of the Rev. W. E. Partridge in 1886, to his
daughter and heir Mrs. Leonard Jaques, (fn. 49) with whom
it still remains.
In 1349 Sir Richard Gladwin, the vicar, resigned
the living; the lord of the manor then granted him
for life a plot of the garden of the manor measuring
100 ft. by 50 ft., with permission to root up trees, to
'bring it into culture and otherwise to do his pleasure
therein,' with a further gift of 7½ acres of arable land
to be held for a yearly render of a rose at Midsummer,
so that he should have the lord and his wife in
memory both in masses and orisons. (fn. 50)
Charities
The Church Close, containing 1 a.
1 r. 20 p., was given, on a date not
stated, by Earl Stanhope for the repair
of the church. The land is let in allotments, producing £3 12s. 6d. yearly, which is applied towards
the general church expenses.
Mrs. Sarah Maria Clotilda Raper by her will, proved
at London 25 May 1881, bequeathed one-nineteenth
part of her residuary personal estate for the benefit of
the poor. The legacy is represented by £617 17s. 3d.
consols with the official trustees. The annual dividends, amounting to £15 8s. 8d., are applied mainly
in the distribution of coal and other articles in kind.