ADDINGTON
Edintona, Eddintone (xi cent.).
Addington covers 1,303 acres, of which 147 acres
are arable and 1,008 acres permanent grass. (fn. 1) The
soil is mixed clay and gravel. Claydon Brook bounds
the parish on three sides. The slope of the land
varies from 346 ft. above the ordnance datum in the
south-east to 289 ft. in the north-west. The greater
part of the area is taken up by the Addington Manor
estate, which was inclosed during the ownership of
Dr. Busby in 1710. (fn. 2)
The village, consisting of a few houses and the parish
church of St. Mary, lies some little distance south of
the main road from Buckingham to Winslow, near
the entrance to the manor. West of the church is
the rectory, which was built in 1868 on the site of an
older house. The old manor-house, now known as
Addington House, a rectangular two-storied building of
brick and stone, standing to
the north of the church, is
part of a larger house, formerly
a story higher. It now faces
south and was reduced to its
present form in 1859, when
the walls were partly refaced,
a floor was added to the
middle part, which was originally of one story, and the
farm buildings at the north
end were converted into
domestic offices. The windows and stone quoins at the
south end of the eastern front
are original work of the 17th
century. There is a good
deal of original oak panelling
of that date in the older rooms.
To the north-west of the
house is a barn of the 16th
century, built of brick and
lighted by two tiers of narrow
loops splaying inwards. It is
about 60 ft. long in five bays,
and is placed with its greatest length from north to
south, the central bays on each side projecting from
the main block, and is entered by a doorway in the
gabled eastern projection. Opposite to the barn are
the stables dated 1642. Near the garden gates are
still to be seen the old village stocks. The present
Addington Manor was built in 1854–6 by the first
Lord Addington. It is designed in the French
château style; the fireplace in the hall and parts of
the main staircase were brought from the old manorhouse. A farm in the south-east of this parish is
known as Seven Gables. Addington has always been
small in size and population. On the occasion of a
general taxation in the middle of the 14th century
the inhabitants claimed a low assessment, because
they said 4 virgates of land were uncultivated, there
was very little live stock, and no traders there. (fn. 3)
Addington Manor House
A terrier of 1517 giving the 'Butments and Boundings of the Parsonage Lands' furnished the following
place-names, Attwell Hole, Harcot, Edwards Way,
Flexmore Path, Millfield, Windmill Furz, Hallwell
Close, Leetfurlong, Dunway and Wipas. (fn. 4)
In the south of the parish Gallows Gap is supposed
to mark the site of an ancient gallows, the privilege
of maintaining which was acquired by the lord of
Addington Manor in 1338. (fn. 5)
During the Civil War Addington was twice the
headquarters of Parliamentarian troops. On 15 January 1643–4 Captain Thomas Shelburne is found
addressing a letter to the Earl of Essex 'from my
quarters at Addington,' (fn. 6) while on 5 March of the
following year the same address is given by Jecamiah
Abercromby. (fn. 7)
The name of Robert Whitehall (1625–85), the
poetaster, is connected with Addington, where his
father was rector. (fn. 8) Luke Heslop was also rector here
from 1792 to 1804. (fn. 9)
Manors
The overlordship of ADDINGTON
MANOR was vested in the Bishop of
Bayeux at Domesday. (fn. 10) After his death
the manor is found held by the grand serjeanty of
acting as king's falconer. (fn. 11) No reference has been
found to this serjeanty later then 1432. (fn. 12)
Robert de Rumenel was tenant of this 6-hide manor
at Domesday, (fn. 13) and its subsequent descent until the
16th century in the families of Jarpenville, Fitz Bernard,
Blaket, Moleyns and Hastings, has already been
traced under Aston Mullins (fn. 14) (q.v.). In 1254–5
Thomas Fitz Bernard claimed to be free from suits at
both the hundred and county courts, and to have the
right of holding a view in Addington. (fn. 15) John de
Moleyns, who was lord of the manor in 1335,
obtained in that year a grant of free warren, (fn. 16) and
between that date and 1338 received grants and
confirmations of further privileges, namely, return of
writs, precepts and summonses within the manor,
infangenthef, outfangenthef, view of frankpledge, and
assize of bread and ale. (fn. 17)
Various members of the house of Moleyns appear
to have made life grants of the manor in the 14th
and 15th centuries, it being found in the family of
Barton for two generations between 1375 and 1432. (fn. 18)
Addington was finally separated from the Aston
Mullins estate in 1534, when George Hastings, Earl
of Huntingdon, sold the
manor to Richard Curzon, (fn. 19)
whose father, Walter Curzon, (fn. 20)
had already acquired Carbonels Manor in this parish.
Richard Curzon died in 1549,
and by his will left to his
widow Agnes 'twoo and
twentie score of my Shepe
goyng or pasturyng in and
uppon my londes, tenements
and hereditaments in Addyngton.' (fn. 21) His eldest son, Vincent Curzon, (fn. 22) succeeded to
the Addington estate, which
he settled by fine in 1575. (fn. 23) He died in 1585, when
he was succeeded by his son, Francis Curzon, (fn. 24) who
held till his death in 1610. (fn. 25) His widow Anne
appears to have been heavily fined as a recusant, for
in the year following his death the manor was granted
by the Crown for a term of forty-one years to Sir
John Dormer and John Symonds at the nomination
of Walter Toderick, to whom her recusancy had been
granted. (fn. 26) Apparently some composition was arrived
at, for in 1628 her son, Sir John Curzon, kt., was in
possession of the manor, which he then alienated to
Robert Busby. (fn. 27) Robert Busby made a settlement of
the manor in 1639, (fn. 28) and died and was buried at
Addington in 1652. (fn. 29) He was succeeded by his son
and heir, John Busby, who was knighted in 1661 (fn. 30)
and died in 1700, leaving his eldest son Thomas as
his executor. (fn. 31) Thomas Busby, LL.D., who made a
settlement of the manor in 1701, (fn. 32) was both rector
and a chief sable charged with three molets or
and patron of the church, and held the living till his
death in 1725, (fn. 33) when his daughters Jane and Anne
succeeded to the paternal
estate. (fn. 34) They suffered a recovery of Addington in 1734, (fn. 35)
and three years later Anne
became the wife of Sir Charles
Kemeys Tynte, bart. (fn. 36) He
died in 1785, (fn. 37) and his
widow's name is found as
plaintiff in settlements of the
manor in the following year (fn. 38)
and in 1787. (fn. 39) Lady Tynte
died without issue in 1798, (fn. 40)
and her sister Jane, who never
married, did not long survive
her. (fn. 41) Under the terms of
their wills Addington then
passed to Vere Poulett, second
son of the third Earl Poulett, (fn. 42) who held it in 1801. (fn. 43)
Together with his son John Poulett he settled the
estate in 1809, (fn. 44) while the
latter held it in 1830. (fn. 45) It
shortly after passed to John
Gellibrand Hubbard, a London merchant, who, when
raised to the peerage in 1887,
took the title of Baron Addington of Addington. (fn. 46) He
died two years later, and was
succeeded by his son, Egerton
Hubbard, who died in 1915.
His son John Gellibrand is the
present lord of the manor. (fn. 47)
Curzon. Argent a bend sable with three popinjays or thereon.
Bushy. Or three arrows sable with their heads and feathers argent and a chief sable charged with three molets or.
Hubbard, Lord Addington. Vert a cheveron engrailed and couple closed between three eagles' heads razed argent each having flowered collars gules.
A second overlordship in
Addington at the Domesday
Survey was that of Miles
Crispin, whose tenants had
half a hide here worth 10s., (fn. 48)
and known later as ADDINGTON or CARBONELS
Manor. This half-hide became attached later to
the honour of Quarrendon, and is so described from
the 13th to the 16th century. (fn. 49) Lewi, a man of
Edwi, was tenant of this manor during the Confessor's reign, and was succeeded by Eddulf, who held
at the time of the Survey. He was followed some
time in the 12th century by a family of the name of
Carbonel, the earliest member of whom mention has
been found being Richard Carbonel, whose widow
Maud in 1198 claimed dower of her brother-in-law
'Hamudum' Carbonel from 5 virgates in Addington. (fn. 50)
In the middle of the 13th century Peter Carbonel
was said to hold 4 hides in this parish. (fn. 51) The Fitz
Johns at this time represented
the honour of Quarrendon in
Addington, (fn. 52) and in 1265,
after Evesham, 16 virgates in
Addington, which Sir John
Fitz John held as guardian of
John Carbonel, were seized
by the Earl of Gloucester,
Sir John Fitz John being a
rebel. (fn. 53) The land was almost
immediately recovered by John
Carbonel, (fn. 54) who held half a
knight's fee here in 1284–6. (fn. 55)
Robert le Wolf, possibly acting
as guardian for a Carbonel
during his minority, is returned for one-fourth of a
fee in 1302–3. (fn. 56) The next owner was Peter Carbonel, who died seised in 1328, when an inquisition
states that he held the site of
a certain 'manor' and 75
acres of land, 10 acres of
meadow and rents in Addington by suit at Quarrendon. (fn. 57)
He also held 3 virgates in the
same place by service of a
sore sparrow-hawk, or of 3s.
yearly, to the Earl Marshal. (fn. 58)
He was also seised of Burston
Manor in Aston Abbots, with
which Carbonels descended, (fn. 59)
like it dividing into moieties
on the death of John Kentwood in 1487. All trace of
the Swafield half is lost, but
the Fettiplace purparty passed
with their part of Burston to
William Fettiplace, (fn. 60) who in
1526 alienated 'half of the
manor of Carbonel' (here
so-called for the first time) to
Walter Curzon. (fn. 61) He died in
1527, and his son Richard
Curzon (fn. 62) seven years later
acquired Addington Manor
in which this manor is
henceforward absorbed. It
appears under its own name in a document of 1575, (fn. 63)
and in 1628 the whole estate is called Addington
alias Carbonels Manor, (fn. 64) but no later mention has
been found.
Carbonel. Gules a cross argent with a border engrailed or.
According to Willis the ancient manor-house is said
to have been built by the family of Windsor, whom
he mentions as tenants under the Earls of Huntingdon. (fn. 65) In support of this statement may be quoted
an entry in the baptismal registers of Edward son of
Walter and Margaret Windsor, who was baptized
here in 1559. (fn. 66) This carries their tenancy on to the
time of the Curzons, and certainly Anne Windsor,
widow, held the manor for life, while it was in the
possession of Francis Curzon, the third of his family
to hold. (fn. 67)
Church
The church of the ASSUMPTION
OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN consists
of a chancel 22 ft. by 14 ft., with
vestry, a nave 33 ft. by 16 ft., with north and south
aisles and south porch, and a western tower 12 ft.
by 9 ft., with a vice at its south-western angle. All
the measurements are internal.
A 12th-century capital and shaft now preserved
in the vestry suggests that there was a church here at
that date probably consisting of a chancel and nave
only. In the 14th century the aisles were thrown
out and the tower built. About 1490 the tower
was restored. In 1858 the chancel and aisles with
the porch were rebuilt and the vestry added. The
walls are of rubble, and the nave roof is of lead, while
that of the chancel is tiled.
The modern chancel is lighted by pointed windows
with traceried heads, designed in the style of the
14th century. The pointed chancel arch is of the
14th century, having two orders springing from semioctagonal responds with moulded capitals and bases.
Addington Church from the South
The nave has on either side a 14th-century arcade
of three pointed arches; each arch is of a single
order springing from octagonal piers without capitals.
The circular clearstory windows have modern tracery,
but the openings may be of original 14th-century
date. The aisles have modern windows in the 14thcentury style. Both these windows and those of the
chancel contain Flemish glass of the 16th and early
17th centuries, illustrating various subjects from the
Bible.
The tower, which is overlapped by the aisles, is of
three stages, and is crowned by an embattled parapet.
The ground stage opens into the church by pointed
arches of the original date of the tower on the east,
north and south. The west window, a 15th-century
insertion, is of two cinquefoiled lights under a fourcentred head. Beneath it is a moulded doorway of
similar date. The bell-chamber is lighted by twolight windows.
The furniture is all modern. In the south aisle
are monuments to Elizabeth Busby (d. 1651) and to
Sir John Busby (d. 1700), the latter with a portraitbust. There are many other later tablets to the Busby
family. In the vestry are preserved a fragment of a
mediaeval altar slab and the 12th-century capital and
shaft above-mentioned, which are now used as a pillar
piscina. The communion table has a miniature altar
slab of slate inserted in it; this was discovered during
the rebuilding of 1858, walled up in the church. At
the same time six books were found bearing dates of
publication between 1519 and 1571, and initialled
with the name of Thomas Andrewes, who was rector
from 1559 to 1587; also eighty-seven pieces of
window glass and a piece of metal, possibly part of a
sacring bell.
There is a ring of three bells: the treble, recast
by Warner of London in 1870; the second by
Anthony Chandler, dated 1656; the tenor by Robert
Atton, with the date 1626. There is also a small
bell uninscribed, which is perhaps the sanctus mentioned in the visitation of 1553.
The plate consists of a silver-gilt chalice with
cover paten of 1858; also a credence paten of silvergilt, and glass cruets with silver-gilt mounting of the
same date, and a silver-gilt spoon of 1857.
The registers begin in 1558.
Advowson
The church of Addington was
granted to the Prior of St. John of
Jerusalem by the lord of the manor
before 1220, (fn. 68) in which year Ralph and Robert Fitz
Bernard renounced their claim in favour of the
hospital, whose prior continued to present down to
the Dissolution. The church paid a pension of 40s.
yearly to the Hospitallers at their preceptory of
Hogshaw in the same county. (fn. 69) In 1535 the rectory
was worth £12. (fn. 70) The Crown did not for long
retain the advowson, but granted it in 1543 to
Richard Andrews and Nicholas Temple, (fn. 71) the former
of whom in the following year alienated it to Richard
Curzon, (fn. 72) lord of Addington Manor. Its descent
henceforward follows that of the manor, (fn. 73) the present
patron being Lord Addington. (fn. 74)
In 1726 a private Act was passed for exchanging
tithes and glebe lands of the rectory of Addington for
other lands in Addington, settling the latter on the
rector and his successors. (fn. 75)
At the dissolution of the chantries half an acre in
Addington, situated on St. Agnes' Hill, (fn. 76) was devoted
to keeping a light within the parish church. (fn. 77)
Charties
Anne Tynte, by her will proved
in the P.C.C. 12 April 1798, bequeathed £200, the interest to be
applied in teaching poor children to read, and for
apprenticing; and Jane Busby, by her will proved
in the P.C.C. 8 August 1800, bequeathed £200 for
the poor. The two legacies, with accumulations,
are now represented by £720 consols with the official
trustees, producing £18 a year, which in 1909–10
were applied in the payment of £1 to a convalescent
home, £7 in the distribution of money, and the
balance for educational purposes.
Church Property.—The churchwardens received
£1 yearly from an estate in the parish, which was
carried to their account.