HARDMEAD
Horelmede, Herulfmede, Herouldmede (xi cent.);
Harewemede, Haremede (xii cent.); Harlemede,
Harmede, Hardmed (xiii cent.).
The parish contains about 1,211 acres, of which 498
acres are arable, 702 permanent grass and 6 woods and
plantations. (fn. 1) The land gradually falls from about
340 ft. above the ordnance datum in the north of the
parish to about 255 ft. in the neighbourhood of
Chicheley Brook. The soil is Oxford Clay. The
village is on a by-road leading north from the high
road from Newport Pagnell to Bedford and, with the
rectory and schools, lies near the church. The moated
site of the old manor-house lies to the north of the
church. The house that stood there was for a long time
the residence of the Catesbys, who held the manor in the
15th, 16th and 17th centuries, and probably succeeded
a capital messuage mentioned in 1325. (fn. 2) In a settlement
of 1605 certain portions of the house were set apart for
the widow's jointure—namely, the great dining chamber and four rooms on the south and west of it on the
same floor and places and garrets above them as well
as the cellar and store-house below. (fn. 3) Browne Willis
states that by his time the biggest part of the manorhouse was pulled down and what was left made into
a tenant's house. It had 'never been a good one, being
Studd Work and lathed and plaistered under the
Roof which is tiled'; there was 'nothing antique in
it.' (fn. 4) Even this seems to have been pulled down about
the middle of the 19th century, but traces of fish-ponds
and a wall, besides the moat, were still to be seen
in Sheahan's time. (fn. 5) The present Manor Farm is a
17th-century house with very considerable alterations and additions made during the following century
and later.
The parsonage-house in the early part of the 17th
century was built of timber and plaster, and stood in
about an acre of land inclosed with a moat. Besides
the house there were two barns and a hay-house. At
the back, within the moat, was a garden plot with fruit
trees. There were besides about 15 acres of land
attached, ten forming a portion called Parsonage
Stocking, and two being in the 'Mill Field.' (fn. 6)
In the 18th century the parish was said to contain
'about 20 houses and 70 souls.' (fn. 7)
Manors
Oswi, a man of Alric, held and could
sell HARDMEAD MANOR before the
Conquest. (fn. 8) In 1086 it was held as a
manor of 4 hides by Walter son of Other. (fn. 9) The overlordship passed from Walter
to his descendants the Windsors, (fn. 10) of whom Hardmead
was held as parcel of their
manor of Stanwell in Middlesex
for one fee, suit every three
weeks, and a rent called wardsilver, said to be 6s. 8d. every
twenty-four weeks in 1428, (fn. 11)
and in 1486, (fn. 12) for ward of
Windsor Castle. In 1542
Andrew Lord Windsor exchanged Stanwell and his
lands in Hardmead with the
king, (fn. 13) and the services therefrom can be traced as
late as 1638. (fn. 14)
Windsor. Gules a saltire argent between twelve crosslets or.
Walter's tenant in 1086 was Ralf, (fn. 15) and in the
time of Henry III Sarra de Bending held the fee, (fn. 16)
which had passed by 1284–6 to William de Bending, (fn. 17)
who still held in 1302–3. (fn. 18) In 1315 William de
Bending or Bennyng granted about 50 acres of land
and 6s. rent to John de Olney, (fn. 19) who was returned
as lord of Hardmead in the next year, (fn. 20) and received
a grant of free warren in 1318. (fn. 21) He died in 1325, (fn. 22)
and his widow Maud, daughter of Nicholas de
Haversham, (fn. 23) afterwards held lands in Hardmead
in dower. (fn. 24) His son John de Olney, said to be
seventeen years old at the time of his father's death,
made a settlement of the manor in 1329. (fn. 25) In 1331,
however, the overlord, Richard de Windsor, brought
a suit against him for having entered the manor while
still a minor. (fn. 26) In 1346 Michael Mynot held the
fee formerly belonging to William de Bending. (fn. 27)
Probably he held as guardian or as the husband of John
de Olney's widow, since William de Olney, son of
John, (fn. 28) with Isabel his wife, held the manor in 1374. (fn. 29)
He died within three years. (fn. 30) In 1418 Thomas
Stutfield and Idonia his wife granted it to John Rose
or Roose, (fn. 31) who held in 1428. (fn. 32) Before 1452 the
tenant of the Windsors was apparently Thomas Rose. (fn. 33)
Hardmead was afterwards held by Richard Maryot,
who granted it before 1485 to his daughter and heir
John on her marriage with Humphrey Catesby of
Whiston, Northamptonshire. (fn. 34) Humphrey died in
1503, when he held about 200 acres of land in Hardmead. (fn. 35) His son and heir Anthony, who died in
1553, left Hardmead to a
younger son Francis. (fn. 36) At his
death four years later Francis
left his estate in Hardmead
to his wife Mary with reversion to his younger son
Anthony. (fn. 37) He appears to
have sold the manor, which
was held in 1580 by Thomas
Ardes, (fn. 38) and was purchased of
him before 1583 by Thomas
Catesby, (fn. 39) elder brother of
Anthony. (fn. 40) A settlement of
the manor was made in 1605
by Thomas on the marriage
of his son Francis Catesby with Susan Brocas. (fn. 41)
Thomas died in 1620, his widow Katherine afterwards holding a jointure in the manor. (fn. 42) Francis
died in 1636, leaving a son and heir Thomas, (fn. 43) who
made a settlement of the manor in the following year. (fn. 44)
This Thomas Catesby was sheriff of the county in
1659, (fn. 45) and 'by his great Profuseness in his Office and
Equipage ran this Estate (Hardmead) in Debt,' (fn. 46) so
that, although he continued to hold the manor for some
time longer, (fn. 47) he and his son Thomas were obliged to
join in selling it in 1679 to Sir John Maynard, kt. (fn. 48)
Sir John was already possessed of the manor of Clifton
Reynes, with which Hardmead descended until
1792, (fn. 49) when Alexander Small, then lord of both
manors, sold Hardmead, then called Hardmead Halfspenny, to Robert Earl of Kinnoull. (fn. 50) The earl was
succeeded in 1804 by his son Thomas, who sold the
manor to Robert Shedden. (fn. 51) He died in 1826, when
Hardmead passed to his son George Shedden. After his
death in 1855 the Buckinghamshire property appears
to have been divided into equal portions between his
sons William George, Roscow Cole, and Edward
Cole, rector of Clapton (Northants), (fn. 52) whose names
are given as landowners in 1873. (fn. 53) On the death
of the eldest son without issue in that year Roscow
Cole inherited his portion, which passed at his death
four years later to his son George Shedden, the present
lord of the manor, the interest
of the Rev. E. C. Shedden,
who died in 1876, being now
vested in his widow.
Catesby. Argent two leopards sable having golden crowns.
Shedden. Azure a cheveron between three griffons' heads razed argent with three crosslets fitchy gules on the cheveron and a chief argent charged with a scallop azure between two cinq foils gules.
A windmill is mentioned
among the appurtenances of
the manor in the 16th and
17th centuries. (fn. 54)
A second manor in HARDMEAD, consisting of 1 hide
all but half a virgate, was
held before the Conquest by
Godwin, a man of Ulf, in
1086 by Hervey of William
Fitz Ansculf. (fn. 55) William was
succeeded in his holding by
the Paynels, (fn. 56) founders of
Tickford Priory, and in 1187
a charter of Gervase Paynel,
grandson of Fulk the founder, confirmed to the
monks of Tickford the gift of a hide of land at
Hardmead. (fn. 57) The priory continued to hold this
land until the Dissolution, (fn. 58) and also received a grant
of free warren here in 1311. (fn. 59) After the Dissolution it shared the fate of Chicheley, with which
manor and that of Thickthorns, partly in Hardmead,
it was granted in 1545 to Anthony Cave. (fn. 60) Lands
here followed the descent of the Chicheley manors in
the 17th century, (fn. 61) but no record of them appears
after that time.
Perhaps the half virgate excepted from this hide
of land in 1086, and afterwards apparently restored
to it, was that which Godric, a man of Oswi, had
held before the Conquest, but which was held of
William Fitz Ansculf by Payn in 1086. (fn. 62)
Another hide in Hardmead, held as a manor before
the Conquest by three brothers, one a man of Tochi
and the other two men of Baldwin, was held in 1086
by Baldwin of William Fitz Ansculf. (fn. 63) Half a virgate
of this land belonged then, as it had in the time of
King Edward, to the church of St. Firmin of North
Crawley. (fn. 64)
Another holding in Hardmead in 1086 was that
of 1 hide and 1 virgate which Morcar held of the
Countess Judith. (fn. 65) This may be the land afterwards
held in Hardmead by the Butler family, since they
held a manor named after them in Clifton Reynes,
which was similarly among the possessions of the
Countess Judith in 1086. (fn. 66) William Butler and
Alice his wife held land here in 1275, (fn. 67) and in
1302–3 Isabel, widow of William Salet, recovered
seisin of half an acre in Hardmead against William
Butler and Eleanor. (fn. 68) There is mention of William
Butler in 1316, (fn. 69) and William son of William Butler
of Hardmead was accused of trespass in 1323. (fn. 70)
Francis Butler was pardoned for assenting to the
counterfeiting of coin in 1326, (fn. 71) but there is no
further record of their lands here.
A further entry in the Domesday Survey records
that Alric son of Godin held a manor assessed at
2½ hides in 1086, and then held by Hugh of Walter
Giffard. (fn. 72) This Hugh may have been Hugh de
Bolebec, the most important of Walter's tenants in
this county; he also held half a virgate in Hardmead
as his own land which Ulgrim, a man of Earl Lewin,
had held before the Conquest. (fn. 73)
There is no certain evidence of the descent of this
manor, for it does not appear among the lands of
the honour of Giffard unless William Marshal, Earl
of Pembroke, is meant by the William Marshal,
custodian of Gilbert son and heir of Hugh le Heyr,
whose widow Avice in 1223 claimed one-third of
12 acres in Hardmead as dower against John le
Enfant. (fn. 74) Or it may perhaps be traced in the half
virgate in 'Harewemede' which Robert son of
Anketill exchanged with John son of Hugh in 1194, (fn. 75)
or in the fee in 'Harewemede' for which William
de Willen paid scutage in 1234–5. (fn. 76)
Church
The church of ST. MARY consists of
a chancel measuring internally 32 ft. by
14 ft. 6 in., nave 35 ft. by 16 ft. 6 in.,
north aisle 8 ft. wide, south aisle 8 ft. 6 in. wide,
west tower 10 ft. by 9 ft. 6 in. and a south porch 8 ft.
square.
Evidence of the existence of a church here in
the 12th century is given by the fragments of a font
of that date now fixed in the wall on either side
of the south doorway, but no other detail of that
period survives. The west tower was added to this
church about the middle of the 13th century, and
some thirty years later a south aisle was built, the
arcade opening to which still remains. The north
aisle was added early in the 14th century, and towards
the middle of the same century the chancel was
rebuilt. About 1400 new windows were inserted in
the north wall of the north aisle, and a few years later
the south aisle was remodelled and the south porch
added. Late in the 15th century the clearstory was
added to the nave. The east wall of the chancel has
been rebuilt, probably during the 19th century, and
in 1861 the church was restored. The walling generally is of rubble, and the roofs, with the exception of
that of the chancel, which is tiled, are leaded.
The east window of the chancel has modern threelight tracery, but some original 14th-century stones
seem to have been used in the rear-arch. There are
two windows in each side wall; the eastern windows
have been almost entirely renewed, but those at the
west end are substantially original. Each is of two
trefoiled lights with leaf-tracery in a two-centred head,
the design of the tracery being very similar to that
of the south aisle windows at Haversham Church. In
the west jamb of the north-west window is a small
rectangular blocked opening, measuring about 14 in.
by 2½ in., probably that of a squint from the outside; no trace of the external opening, however, is
now visible. Between the two windows in the
south wall is a restored 14th-century doorway with a
shouldered rear-arch and a two-centred external head
inclosed by an original moulded label with headstops, one a mitred head and the other that of a man
in a liripipe hood. At the east end of the south wall
is a modern piscina recess with a trefoiled ogee head,
perhaps a copy of an original piscina, and in a corresponding position in the opposite wall is a modern
credence table. The 14th-century chancel arch is
two-centred and of two chamfered orders dying into
the side walls.
The early 14th-century north arcade of the nave
is of two bays with two-centred arches of two chamfered orders, supported by a central pier of quatrefoil
plan, and responds repeating the half plan of the pier.
The capitals and bases of the pier and responds are
moulded, and the arches have labels on both faces, those
on the north face having a head-stop at their intersection over the pier. The south arcade is of the
same number of bays and has similar arches supported
by a pier and responds of the same form, but the
mouldings of the capitals and bases are of late 13thcentury section. The arches have labels with maskstops on both faces. Above the east respond is the
upper doorway of the rood stairs, which are carried
up in the thickness of the wall and were entered
from a similar doorway at the north-east corner of the
south aisle. The late 15th-century clearstory windows,
three on either side, are each of two trefoiled lights
under a four-centred head.
In the east wall of the north aisle is an early 14thcentury window of two trefoiled lights with quatrefoil
tracery in a two-centred head. The tracery is of
somewhat unusual design, and the heads of the lights
are semicircular. The two windows in the north
wall are insertions of about 1400. The eastern
window, which has been considerably restored, is of
two trefoiled lights with a vertical-sided quatrefoil
in a two-centred head; the western is of the same
number of trefoiled lights and has a two-centred
head with quatrefoil tracery, but the window is
much smaller and the lights have ogee heads. The
north doorway seems to have been inserted about
1420. It has a two-centred external head continuously moulded with the jambs, and was blocked
when the church was restored. To the east of the
doorway is a plain pointed stoup recess. The windows
of the south aisle, which have escaped renewal, are of
the early 15th century. The east window has a
four-centred head and is of three cinquefoiled lights,
the central light rising into the apex of the opening,
while the side lights are acutely pointed. The southeast window is of two cinquefoiled lights with a
vertical-sided quatrefoil in a two-centred head. The
south doorway is similar in date and design to the
north doorway. The south-west window is modern.
At the south-east is a 14th-century piscina with a
trefoiled ogee head and a basin of sexfoiled form, the
projecting portion of which has been cut away.
The west tower is of two receding stages with an
embattled parapet. A slight set-off above the windows
of the bell-chamber shows that the tower was slightly
heightened when the embattled parapet was added in
the 15th century. The tower arch is two-centred
and of two chamfered orders, the outer order being
continuous, while the inner order rests upon modern
corbels. The west window of the ground stage is
modern, but some original 14th-century stones survive
in the inner jambs. Above the head of this window
is a small original light with a label and external
rebate. The windows of the second or bell-chamber
stage afford interesting examples of plate tracery.
Each is of two trefoil-headed lights with a foiled
piercing under a containing two-centred label brought
down nearly to the level of the springing of the heads
of the lights. In the case of the windows on the
north and south the lights are divided by a shaft with
a moulded capital, that of the north window having
also a moulded base, but the other windows have
only a broad mullion. The early 15th-century south
porch has a continuously moulded outer entrance and
is lighted from each side wall by a window of two
trefoiled lights with quatrefoil tracery in a twocentred head; at the southern angles of the porch
are diagonal buttresses.
The roofs of the chancel and nave are modern, as
is also that of the south aisle, though some old timbers
have been re-used. The roof of the north aisle is of
original late 15th-century date; it is of the lean-to
type and is supported by principals alternately straight
and cambered, having carved bosses at their intersections with the purlin. The westernmost boss bears
a shield charged with a voided cross between what
appear to be four engrailed saltires; another boss has
the crown of thorns.
The octagonal font is of the early 15th century.
At the east end of the south aisle is preserved an
early 17th-century communion table. Some original
14th-century glass remains in the tracery of the
north-east window of the chancel, and the south-west
window of the south aisle contains pieces of 15thcentury glass. Nine late 15th-century seats with
buttressed uprights and moulded top rails, and three
desk-fronts of the same date, are preserved in the nave
and north aisle. In the tower is a fine oak bier
bearing the following inscription: ROBERD HEARN AND
FRANCES PVRNNY CHVRCH WARNS T C 1670 W S W C.
At the south-east corner of the north aisle is a brass
with figure and inscription commemorating Francis
Catesby (d. 1556). The inscription is as follows: 'Of
your charyte pray for the soule of Francys | Catesby
of hardmeede Gent' the yongest sonne of Antony
Catesbye of whyston Esquyer decessyde; | whyche
francys decessyd the xxj day of August in | the yere
of oure lord God a M'ccccclvj On | whose soule and
all Christen god have mercy amē.' At the east end
of the north wall of the same aisle is an elaborate
mural monument of stone and marble, erected in
memory of a later Francis Catesby (d. 1636). The
design is peculiar and consists of a recess built up of
piles of books and containing a small recumbent
effigy of Francis Catesby, with kneeling figures of a
son and two daughters. The whole is flanked by
Corinthian columns supporting a curved broken pediment in which is a shield of arms. Upon a tablet
below the recess is inscribed: 'Epitaphium in
memoriam Francisci | Catesby armigeri qui decessit
die 3° Novembris an° Domini 1636.' A copy of
laudatory Latin verse follows. On the west wall of
the north aisle is a marble tablet commemorating
Elizabeth daughter of Thomas Catesby and wife of
Sir Thomas Hanbury, kt. (d. 1665); her father
Thomas Catesby (d. 1679); Thomas son of the same
Thomas Catesby (d. 1681), and, lastly, Elizabeth,
'Relick' of the elder Thomas Catesby (d. 1699).
On the north wall of the chancel is a large marble
tablet commemorating Robert Shedden, who sailed
in his yacht Nancy Dawson to search for Sir John
Franklin. He died on board his yacht in 1849, on
the Pacific, and was buried in the Protestant burial
ground at Mazatlan. A second tablet commemorates his father, William Shedden, who died in 1820.
There are three bells. The treble is inscribed in
black letter, 'Vox Augustini Sonet In Aure Dei.' It
was probably cast in the first half of the 15th century
by Robert Crowch. It is now broken in two and is
placed on the floor of the intermediate stage. The
second, an early 16th-century bell, is inscribed in
black letter, 'Sancta maria ora p[ro] nobis.' The tenor
is inscribed in Lombardic capitals, 'Vocor Johannes.'
It was cast probably in the 14th century by William
Rufford. (fn. 77)
The plate consists of a silver cup of 1692, a paten
of 1658, and a flagon of 1834.
The registers begin in 1556.
Advowson
The church of Hardmead was in
possession of the priory of Merton
in Surrey at an early date, Gilbert,
a sub-deacon, being presented by the prior in 1223. (fn. 78)
The church was valued at £5 6s. 8d. in 1291 and
paid a pension of £1 to the prior and also £1 6s. 8d.
to the Prior of Tickford. (fn. 79) In a fine between the
Prior of Merton and G., rector of Hardmead, the
latter acknowledged his obligation to pay the pension
of £1 at Easter. (fn. 80) In after years William de Bending laid claim to the advowson and obliged the
prior to establish his right in the law courts in
1316. (fn. 81) In 1358 the king presented to the church,
owing to 'the temporalities of Merton Priory being
lately in his hands.' (fn. 82) Some protest was evidently
made, as in 1359 the same incumbent was again
presented by the Crown, (fn. 83) and in 1360 an order was
made for the arrest of all persons prosecuting appeals
against the decision of the judges whereby the king
lately recovered the said presentation against the
prior and John Tybotes, chaplain. (fn. 84) Possibly this
quarrel is responsible for the subsequent confusion in
the descent of the advowson. According to Browne
Willis the Priors of Merton continued to present
until the Dissolution. (fn. 85) At that time, or as late as
1535, they certainly still received their pension from
the rector, (fn. 86) but in the accounts of their possessions
at this date there is no mention of this church.
Moreover, in 1374, William de Olney levied a fine
of both manor and advowson, (fn. 87) while, after the
Dissolution, the church was stated to have been a
possession of the late monastery of Lavendon, (fn. 88) and
was granted as such in 1543 to Thomas Lawe in
fee. (fn. 89) He alienated it in 1545 to Edward Ardes of
Sherington, (fn. 90) who died in 1570, having settled the
advowson on his second son Thomas. (fn. 91) Thomas Ardes
sold it about 1595 to John Smythe and Thomas
Tyllyard or Tyllyer, agents for Mardoch Bownell,
clerk, who arranged to pay the purchase money by
instalments and gave up his living at Hanwell. (fn. 92) In
1598 Bownell brought an action against the agents, (fn. 93)
stating that he had been deceived as to the age of
the then incumbent and the value of the living, and,
further, that he had been obliged to make a new
purchase from Thomas Ardes's son and heir John.
Smythe replied that Bownell had gone to Hardmead,
had conferred with the incumbent and satisfied
himself about his age and had viewed the parsonagehouse and glebe lands, becoming, thereupon, very
anxious to purchase. But he seems never to have
actually held the living, and shortly afterwards, in
1604, Thomas Catesby, lord of the manor, presented
to the church. (fn. 94) The advowson then passed with
the manor until 1877–8, (fn. 95) when it was conveyed to
the Rev. R. Hawthorn. His executors sold it to
Mr. C. E. Lamplugh, in whose representatives it is
now vested.
Charities
Town Land.—It is stated in the
Parliamentary Returns of 1786 that
an unknown donor gave land, then
producing £2 a year, to the poor. The land in
question was inclosed, and in lieu thereof an annual
sum of £2 is now received from the Hardmead estate.
This sum is distributed in coal to about ten recipients.
The parish schools were founded by deed poll,
13 December 1861. A cottage belonging to the
schools is let for £4, which is applied towards the
school expenses.