WOTTON UNDERWOOD
Ottone (xi cent.); Vittona, Wtton (xii cent.);
Wotton next Brehill (xiii cent.); Wotton juxta
Bernewode, Wotton subtus Bernewode (xiv cent.);
Wotton Underwood (xvi cent.).
This parish, called Underwood from its proximity
to Bernwood Forest, has always been well wooded. (fn. 1)
Of the 2,600 acres comprised within its borders, 360
are still covered with woods and plantations, 193 are
arable land, and 1,937 permanent grass. (fn. 2) The soil
is of clay on a subsoil of Kimmeridge Clay and Portland Beds. The average height is 300 ft. above the
ordnance datum. In the 16th century some lands
in this parish were inclosed by Edward Grenville, (fn. 3)
whose descendant and heir Richard Grenville in
1742 joined with other landowners here in the inclosure of 1,668 acres. (fn. 4)
The northern boundary is formed by Akeman
Street, from which runs Kingswood Lane in a southerly
direction skirting the park of Wotton House. The
only remaining parts of the house erected by Richard
Grenville in 1704 (fn. 5) are the detached wings containing
the kitchen and stables. The principal portion, which
was of brick with stone dressings and pilasters, was
burnt out in 1820, and was rebuilt, (fn. 6) the main features
of the old elevations being to a certain extent preserved. The kitchen and stable wings are pleasant
examples of the freer manner of the period; each is
of one story with a modillion cornice and a tiled
hipped roof containing an attic floor lighted by
dormer windows. The principal windows have wood
mullions and transoms with leaded casement lights,
and each roof is crowned by a clock and cupola.
The railings and gates of the forecourt are particularly good examples of early 18th-century wroughtironwork.
South-east of the house are the church, school, and
vicarage in the little village which contains a few
buildings of 17th-century date. In 1862 it was described as consisting of cottages, each with a plot of
garden ground, built by the Marquess of Buckingham
in the second decade of the 19th century. (fn. 7) Windmill
Hill, north-east of the large lake in the grounds of
Wotton House, is probably the site of the mill
which belonged to the manor in the 16th and
17th centuries. (fn. 8) In the south of the parish Grenvilles Wood, known by this name from the 17th
century, (fn. 9) adjoins Rushbeds Wood in Brill. Both
are skirted by the Oxford and Aylesbury tramroad, which has a station at the south-east end
of Wotton Underwood. Lawn Farm, which stands
near, probably preserves the name of Wotton
Lawnd, a common in 1580 (fn. 10) and untill its inclosure
in 1742, when it contained 500 acres. (fn. 11) The Kingswood branch of the Wotton tramway runs in a
northerly direction. Moat Farm, which stands east
of the village, is a 17th-century house considerably restored, with vestiges of a moat, (fn. 12) once, it is
said, part of the manor of Ham and owned by the
Mercers' Company. (fn. 13)
There are now stations on the Great Central railway and the Brill and Quainton Road branch of the
Metropolitan and Great Central railway.
Manors
The manor of WOTTON, later
GRENVILLE'S MANOR, which Eddeva
wife of Ulward held before the Norman
Conquest with right to tell, was amongst the lands of
Walter Giffard in 1086, (fn. 14) and belonged to the honour
of Giffard. (fn. 15) The overlordship of the whole followed
the descent of Long Crendon (q.v.) until the death
of the elder William Marshal, of whom two knights'
fees in Wotton were held. (fn. 16) One of these descended
with Long Crendon (fn. 17) until 1275, when William
de Valence became overlord. (fn. 18) There appears
to have been some doubt as to the overlordship
rights, the tenants of the manor asserting it to
be within the liberty of William de Valence and
not in that of the Earl of Gloucester, whose bailiffs
restored to William de Scobingdon some cattle
wrongfully taken by Eustace de Grenville, tenant
of Wotton. (fn. 19) Eustace lost his case, but the overlordship rights of William de Valence did not suffer,
and this fee descended with the manor of Pollicott
Cressy in Ashendon (fn. 20) (q.v.), of which it was held
from 1346 to 1618. (fn. 21)
Though the tradition that a Grenville was lord of
Wotton before the close of the 11th century seems to
be without foundation, (fn. 22) it is likely that the connexion
of this family with the parish
began at an early date. Gerard
de Grenville, who held three
knights' fees of the honour of
Giffard in 1166, (fn. 23) died in or
before 1184, when 100 marks
were due from his nephew
for his lands in Buckinghamshire. (fn. 24) This nephew was
probably Eustace de Grenville, (fn. 25) who was succeeded by
Richard de Grenville mentioned in connexion with Wotton
in 1213 (fn. 26) and alive in 1236. (fn. 27)
His son Eustace de Grenville
was in possession (fn. 28) in 1255 and in 1284. (fn. 29) He
was succeeded in or before 1302 by his son Richard, (fn. 30)
who was returned as sole lord of the parish in 1316, (fn. 31)
and held in 1324. (fn. 32) In 1329 the manor was settled
on Richard for life with remainder to his son William,
and contingent remainders to a younger son Edmund
and daughters Margery, Nichola and Agnes. (fn. 33) Richard
de Grenville died before Michaelmas 1336, when his
widow Joan transferred her rights in Haddenham to
his son William. (fn. 34) In the spring of 1346 William
with his wife Margaret made a settlement of lands in
Haddenham. (fn. 35) He may have died shortly afterwards, as the names of John Sergeant, evidently a
trustee, and his tenants Agnes and Nichola de Grenville, William's sisters, are returned for the feudal
assessment of that year in Wotton and Haddenham. (fn. 36)
William de Grenville was certainly dead by 1351. (fn. 37)
Agnes de Grenville, whom he must have married after
the death of Margaret between 1346 and 1351, (fn. 38)
received in 1365 a quitclaim from William Freysel
and his wife Margery. (fn. 39) Sixteen years later it was settled
on Agnes by her son Thomas de Grenville. (fn. 40) Thomas,
who was living in 1400, (fn. 41) was succeeded by his son
Richard, (fn. 42) lord in 1419 and 1420, (fn. 43) whose widow
Christina was described as late of Wotton under
Bernwood in 1452, when she was in money difficulties. (fn. 44) From Eustace, their son and heir, (fn. 45)
one of the gentlemen of Buckinghamshire whose
names were returned by the Commissioners of
1433, (fn. 46) Wotton descended to his son and heir
Richard, (fn. 47) lord until 1518, when he was succeeded
by his son Edward. (fn. 48) Another Edward Grenville,
eldest son of the last, inherited Grenville's Manor,
first so-called, in 1536, (fn. 49) and was entrusted to the
guardianship of John Josselyne about two years later. (fn. 50)
In 1548 he was of age, and entered into possession. (fn. 51)
He and his wife Alice held together in 1582, (fn. 52) and
until his death in 1585. (fn. 53) As wife, or more probably,
widow of Walter Dennis (fn. 54) Alice was still seised in
1604 when Richard Grenville, her first husband's
brother and heir, was succeeded by his son of the
same name. (fn. 55) Fourteen years later the second
Richard died lord of Wotton Underwood, leaving by
his widow Frances another Richard, then aged six, (fn. 56) at
whose death in January 1665–6 the manor descended
to his son, also Richard Grenville. (fn. 57) He died in 1719,
leaving a son, another Richard, (fn. 58) who married Hester
Temple, (fn. 59) by whom his will was proved in March
1726–7. (fn. 60) Richard, their eldest son, (fn. 61) who was lord
of Wotton Underwood in 1733 (fn. 62) and 1742, (fn. 63)
became Earl Temple at his mother's death in 1752. (fn. 64)
She had succeeded to the estate of her brother
Richard, Viscount Cobham, at Stowe, which henceforth became the family's chief seat, and with which
Wotton descended until the death of the last Duke of
Buckingham and Chandos in 1889. (fn. 65) The title of
Earl Temple and the estate
at Wotton then passed to his
nephew William Stephen GoreLangton, whose son Algernon,
now Earl Temple, has been
lord of the manor of Wotton
Underwood since 1902. (fn. 66)
Grenville. Vert a cross argent with five roundels gules thereon.
Gore-Langton, Earl Temple. Quarterly table and or a bend argent.
A dovecote belonged to the
manor in 1618. (fn. 67)
The second knight's fee in
Wotton, held of the honour
of Crendon in the early 13th
century (see Wotton Manor),
corresponds to FIELDHAM,
HAM, HAM-CUM-WOTTON, or from the later
15th-century WOTTON MANOR. Before 1276 (fn. 68)
the overlordship was attached to the honour of
Gloucester, (fn. 69) and descended with Easington Manor
(see Chilton) to Edward Duke of Buckingham, who
held it in 1510. (fn. 70)
Robert de la Rokele (fn. 71) was holding this fee early in
the 13th century. (fn. 72) William de la Rokele, (fn. 73) who
was holding Ham Mill of the Templars in 1185,
probably held it before him. Robert de Tattershall
enfeoffed the heirs of William Cantelow, holders in
1255. (fn. 74) From the Cantelow heirs Fieldham descended
with Ellesborough Manor to William la Zouche, (fn. 75)
who was holding in 1299. (fn. 76) He granted Fieldham
before 1302 to one of his younger sons, John la
Zouche, (fn. 77) for life. (fn. 78) He was living in 1325, when
William la Zouche made a settlement of this manor
in remainder on another son William. (fn. 79) The latter
appears, however, to have died before his father, for
in 1346 John, a descendant of John la Zouche, the
former tenant for life, was holding Fieldham. (fn. 80) This
manor had reverted before 1370 (fn. 81) to William grandson and heir of William la Zouche, who died in
1352. (fn. 82) Except for certain settlements, (fn. 83) this manor
followed the descent of the manor of Ham in Waddesdon (q.v.) from this date.
The manorial court mentioned at the end of the
13th century (fn. 84) used to be held by the Mercers'
Company at Moat Farm. (fn. 85)
Two virgates of land in Ham, on which stood
a mill, were granted by Gerard de Grenville to the
Knights Templars, who were holding in mesne
in 1185 (fn. 86) and 1255 of the honour of Giffard. (fn. 87)
Their tenant at the earlier date was William de
la Rokele, at the later the heirs of William Cantelow,
then lords of Fieldham Manor (q.v.). Richard
de la Rokele was probably the Cantelows' subtenant in respect of this property. (fn. 88) At least
three representatives of his family had holdings in
Wotton in 1284, (fn. 89) but no later reference to the
mill has been found except that a pasture in Ham
called 'the mill' was leased in 1521 for twenty-one
years to Christopher Wren. (fn. 90)
An estate in Wotton, known from the 15th century
as BEREWELLS MANOR, was held of the manor
of Pollicott Cressy in Ashendon, (fn. 91) the last reference
to this overlordship occurring in 1548. (fn. 92) In 1518 it
was said to be attached to the Grenvilles' manor in
Wotton, which was similarly held of the Pollicott
fee, (fn. 93) and was probably an integral part of that manor
until 1308, when John de Grenville and Jane his
wife granted lands in Wotton to Richard son of
Humphrey de la Rokele and Basilia his wife and the
issue of Basilia, in default of which, remainder to
Richard son of the said Richard de la Rokele. (fn. 94) It
has not been found possible to trace the connexion
between the various members of this family, who held
until the 14th century. (fn. 95) In 1284 the heirs of
Humphrey de la Rokele, Peter and John de la
Rokele were returned as lords, but probably in connexion with Ham Manor. (fn. 96) Peter and John de la
Rokele four years later brought an action to recover
their common pasture in Wotton of which they had
been disseised. (fn. 97) Eustace de la Rokele is mentioned
in 1311, (fn. 98) and in 1328 his son Peter was sued for
debt on two different counts. (fn. 99) There is no further
trace of the Rokeles in Wotton, and the estate passed
to the Berewell family, from whom it acquired its
distinctive name. In 1358 Nicholas Berewell bought
a small property in Wotton from William Freysel
and his wife Margery, (fn. 100) and John Berewell bought a
considerable amount of land in this parish from
Sir William Wakelyn and his wife Gille twenty-eight
years later. (fn. 101) This may be the John, son of Richard
Berewell, whose son and heir William acquired additional lands in Wotton of the fee of Easington,
otherwise Gloucester fee, by his marriage with Joan
daughter of Thomas Langport. (fn. 102) In 1463 Annis or
Agnes, daughter of William and Joan, and her
husband Ralph Ingoldsby, sued Edmund Rede and
other of her father's trustees in Chancery for the
recovery of the manor of Berewells. It was urged in
the defence that William had granted half Berewells
by nuncupatory will to his second wife, another
Joan, and the other half to his son Thomas, who was
to inherit the whole on Joan's death. (fn. 103) The issue of
the suit has not been recorded. In course of time
Berewells seems to have come into the possession of
Edmund Hall, who towards the close of the 15th
century acquired land in Wotton of Harry Harper
alias Tyes. (fn. 104) In 1509 Isabel widow of Edmund and
sister of William Temple, was seised of a manor in
Wotton (fn. 105) which from its later history must be identified with Berewells. This was settled by William
on Isabel at her marriage with Walter Wilcocks, (fn. 106) and
two years later Walter and Isabel sold it to Robert
Dormer. (fn. 107) In 1515 Robert granted it to Richard
Grenville in exchange for an Oxfordshire manor, (fn. 108)
and it is probable that after 1548, when the last
mention of Berewells in public records occurs, (fn. 109) it was
absorbed once more in Grenville's Manor. (fn. 110)
Church
The church of ALL SAINTS consists
of a chancel measuring internally 28 ft.
by 16 ft., north vestry, nave 41 ft. 6 in.
by 21 ft., south aisle and west tower; it is built of
stone rubble and roofed with lead.
The chancel was probably built about 1320, but
the whole fabric has been so much restored and
enlarged that precise dates cannot be assigned to
either chancel or nave. The south aisle, founded
originally for a chantry in 1343 by William Grenville, was rebuilt in 1710 and became a mortuary
chapel for the Grenville family. It was extensively
repaired in 1800 by George Marquess of Buckingham, and again practically rebuilt in 1867 by the
last Duke of Buckingham and Chandos. The tower
dates from about 1800, and the vestry is modern.
The chancel has in each side wall a 14th-century
trefoiled light considerably restored. Modern arches
open to the north vestry and the east end of the
aisle or chapel. In the east wall is a modern threelight window with an original 14th-century reararch. In the south wall is a modern piscina recess
with a medieval sexfoil bowl. The pointed chancel
arch, though much restored, probably dates from the
14th century.
The nave is lighted by three 15th-century windows
on the north and a modern window at the southwest, all of two lights with traceried heads. In the
north wall is also a 15th-century doorway with a fourcentred head. A modern doorway to the tower on
the west preserves a 12th-century lintel, enriched
with diaper ornament, perhaps a relic of an earlier
church on this site. On the south an arcade of
three pointed arches, dating from 1867, opens to
the mortuary chapel. It is designed in the early
14th-century manner and has clustered pillars and
responds with moulded capitals and bases, the two
western bays being filled with unglazed tracery
supported by slender shafts.
The tower, which is of two stages, is lighted by wide
pointed windows with wood frames and is surmounted
by an embattled parapet and lead spire. On the
parapet is the inscription 'Thomas A Beckett hujusce
ecclesiae presbyter MDCCC.'
The mortuary chapel contains several monuments
to members of the Grenville family. At the east end is
a marble slab with the brass figures of Edward
'Greneveile' (d. 1585), and of Alice his wife, daughter
of William Haselwood, the figure of a chrisom child, an
incised marginal inscription, and matrices for three
shields. On the south wall are tablets to Richard
Grenville (d. 1665–6) and Eleanor daughter of Richard
Grenville (d. 1688); on the north wall are two
stone shields of Grenville. In a modern recess in
the west wall is a 16th-century recumbent effigy of a
lady in ruff and veil, with a modern and obviously erroneous inscription commemorating Agnes de Wightham, wife of William de Grenville, who died in 1386.
On the same wall are two kneeling figures, a man in
plate armour and lady in full skirt and ruff, also of the
16th century. There are also monuments to Richard,
last Duke of Buckingham and Chandos (d. 1889),
Anna Eliza, Duchess of Buckingham and Chandos
(d. 1836), and Caroline, Duchess of Buckingham and
Chandos (d. 1874), besides several tablets and slabs to
other members of the Grenville family. In the tower
is a plain oak chest.
The tower contains a ring of six bells: the treble
and tenor are by Thomas Mears of London, 1800; the
third, fourth and fifth by Edward Hemins, of Bicester,
1728; and the second, recast by Hemins in 1728,
bears the additional inscription, 'Alicia Dennis vidua
dedit me huic parochiae. 1615.' There is also a
small bell, with no inscription.
The communion plate includes a chalice and cover
paten of 1589.
The registers begin in 1599.
Advowson
The church, a peculiar of Canterbury, (fn. 111) belonged to the priory
of St. Gregory, Canterbury. (fn. 112) It
is said to have formed part of the endowment
of Bentley Priory, a cell of that house, and to
have reverted, on the suppression of the smaller
religious houses in the early years of Henry VIII, to
St. Gregory, (fn. 113) whose prior was seised in 1535 of lands
and rent in Wotton (fn. 114) which had belonged to the
Prior of Bentley in 1291. (fn. 115) After the Dissolution
the possessions of the priory of St. Gregory were
granted in an exchange to the see of Canterbury, (fn. 116) to
which the advowson of Wotton Underwood belonged (fn. 117)
until the archbishop granted it to the Marquess of
Buckingham in 1805, (fn. 118) from which date it has followed the descent of the manor (q.v.). The rectory
descended with the advowson until 1742, when
Richard Grenville acquired it in exchange for
Muswells Farm in Brill and Boarstall. (fn. 119)
Tithes granted before 1102 by Walter Giffard to
the abbey of St. Faith in Longueville and enjoyed by
its cell, the alien priory of Newton Longville, (fn. 120) came
in 1441, with other possessions of that house, to New
College, Oxford. (fn. 121) These, under the name of Longville's Portion, were the subject of a dispute between
the archbishop's lessee and the warden and scholars in
1673. (fn. 122) In 1742 Richard Grenville acquired the
Longville tithes from New College, in exchange for an
annuity of £5 from his lands in Brill called Little
London. (fn. 123)
Charities
John Hart, by his will proved in
the P.C.C. 15 May 1665, demised
(inter alia) an annual rent-charge of
£3 issuing out of Easington Manor, Oxfordshire, for
apprenticing a poor boy. The annuity, less land tax,
has from time to time been accumulated by reason of
there being no applicants for apprenticing. By a
scheme of the Charity Commissioners of 28 January
1913 it was provided that, in so far as the trustees
cannot apply the income in apprenticing, it may be
applied in the assistance of poor boys or girls in
outfits and advancement in life.
Richard Smith, by his will proved in the Archdeacon's Court at Oxford 15 April 1725, bequeathed
£5, the income to be distributed in bread. The
principal sum is in the hands of the parish, in respect
of which 5s. is distributed among ten of the most
needy persons.