NEWTON LONGVILLE or NEWNTON LONGUEVILLE
Neutone (xi cent.); Niwentona (xii cent.); Neweton
Lungevilers, Neuton Longeville (xiii cent.); Neuuentone Lungeville, Newynton Longevile (xiv cent.).
The parish has an area of 1,734 acres. Of these
373 are arable and 1,206 permanent grass. (fn. 1) The
soil is light clay and the subsoil clay. The ground
falls gradually from about 400ft. above the ordnance
datum in the south and west to about 300 ft. in the
north. The Oxford and Bletchley branch of the
London and North Western railway runs through it
from south-west to north-east.
The village, which is 2½ miles south-west of Bletchley
Junction station, lies at the crossing of the roads from
Buckingham to Leighton Buzzard and from Bletchley
to Stewkley. The part of the village north of the
former road is known as London End and that on
the south as Moor End. (fn. 2) To the west of Moor End
on a by-road connecting the road from Buckingham
with that to Stewley is the hamlet of Westbrook
End. It is a curious fact that the majority of the
houses and cottages in these three settlements date
from about 1575 to 1625, indicating probably a condition of prosperity at that time. The cottages are
of half-timber and usually thatched. The church
stands at the south-west angle of the crossing, and
immediately to the south is the Manor House, generally occupied by the lessee of New College, Oxford,
though the present lessee, Mr. Richard Selby-Lowndes,
now resides at Shenley Park. The present house,
which was built about 1550, or earlier, incorporates
part of the buildings of the alien priory at one time
existing here. It is of red brick with stone dressings
and a tiled roof, and originally consisted of a hall with
projecting wings, to which additions were made on
the eastern side. Above a reset 15th-century doorway is a moulded panel of the same date containing
a 17th-century shield with the arms of New College,
Oxford. Not far from the house is an early 16thcentury dovecote, now somewhat dilapidated. To the
south of the church is the rectory, a modern brick
building incorporating fragments of an earlier house.
On the eastern side of the Bletchley road, about
100 yards apart, are two farm-houses, one of the early
17th century, with a later wing at the back, while
the other house is of two distinct dates, the southern
portion belonging to the late 16th or early 17th
century and the northern to a somewhat earlier date.
The school was built in 1838 and rebuilt in 1902,
with accommodation for 100 children. A churchhouse is referred to in 1729. (fn. 3)
A little distance north of the church is the Baptist
chapel at London End and at about the same distance
to the south is the Methodist chapel at Moor End.
Browne Willis, writing in 1732, states that the
gallows, the right to which had been held by the
lords of the manor, still survived and was maintained
'for peculiarity sake.' (fn. 4) Some twelve years later the
village was said to consist of seventy-eight houses and
seven ale-houses. (fn. 5) The Rev. William Cole described
it in 1758 as 'a loose, disorderly, quarrelsome, litigious
and drunden Place and so noted in all the country' (fn. 6) ;
but Cole was embittered on account of his liability
to pay his predecessor's arrears of a pension due to
New College, Oxford, from Bletchley Church. (fn. 7)
An Inclosure Act was passed in 1836, the award
being dated 10 November 1841. (fn. 8)
Farm House, North-east of the Rectory, Newton Longville
Manor
Ten hides in Newton which had been
held in the time of Edward the Confessor by Alward Cilt were assessed in
1086 among the lands of Walter Giffard. (fn. 9) He
bestowed them before his death (in 1102) (fn. 10) on the
priory of St. Faith, Longueville, in Normandy, the
gift being confirmed by Henry I in 1106–9, (fn. 11) by the
donor's son, Walter second Earl of Buckingham,
circa 1150, by Henry II in 1155, and by William
Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, in 1200. (fn. 12) Soon after
the original grant the Norman priory built a cell in
Newton, known as Newton Longville Priory, which
enjoyed the manorial rights over this land afterwards
called NEWTON LONGVILLE MANOR. The
Prior of St. Faith, Longueville, held the manor in
free alms (fn. 13) of the honour of Giffard, (fn. 14) and it remained attached to that portion of the honour which
descended in the earldoms of Gloucester and Stafford. (fn. 15) After the dissolution of the priory as an alien
house, the interest of the holders of the honour of
Giffard became purely nominal, (fn. 16) and the grant of
1441 to New College, Oxford, was in free alms, the
rent of a red rose at Midsummer being reserved to
the Crown. (fn. 17) This rent was paid to Charles Earl of
Tankerville and Camilla his wife in 1731. (fn. 18)
The confirmatory charter of Henry I had given
the Prior of Longueville (Normandy) and his men
quittance of all tolls and all dues on goods for their
own use, (fn. 19) and on the strength of this the prior in
1286 claimed soc, sac, toll and theam, infangenthef,
and flemensfremth, and all liberties and customs
thereto belonging. (fn. 20) View of frankpledge, which was
not claimed in 1254–5, (fn. 21) he asserted in 1286 to have
belonged to the manor from
time immemorial, as had waif,
estray and quittance of suit of
court and hundred. (fn. 22) The
prior was not, however, considered to have made good
his claim, and the liberties
were taken into the king's
hand. (fn. 23)
The Norman house seems
to have kept in close touch
with its English cell, for
though the prior of the latter
is returned as lord of Newton
Longville in 1254–5 (fn. 24) and in
1316, (fn. 25) it was the head of the
French priory who appeared
in a plea of trespass here
against John de Preston and
Geoffrey de Hardmead in
1328. (fn. 26) The English house
was repeatedly in the king's
hands on account of wars with
France in the 14th and 15th
centuries, when various grants were made by the
Crown out of the issues. In 1350 a pension of
£23 6s. 8d. was granted to Guy de Brian for his
good service, especially in the last conflict between
the king and his French adversaries at Calais, in
carrying the standard against those enemies, and
boldly maintaining it erect. (fn. 27) Other grants were
made to Richard de la Vache in 1356, (fn. 28) and to the
abbey of Nutley in 1357, (fn. 29) but in 1378 Guy de Brian
renounced his pension in return for a grant elsewhere. (fn. 30)
In 1377 a lease of the manor for ten years, during
the war with France, was made to Joan widow of
Sir Nicholas Tamworth, and on her marriage with Sir
Gilbert Talbot a fresh grant was made to the latter to
hold from the end of the said term. (fn. 31) On 30 July
1390 Sir Gilbert Talbot and
his wife Joan obtained another
grant with licence to acquire
the manor from the Prior and
convent of Longueville during
the war, and after the war to
hold it from them for their
lives at a rose rent. Sir Gilbert
and his wife or the heirs of
Sir Gilbert should he and his
wife die during the war, were
to pay £80 yearly to the
Exchequer, and to maintain
two monks of the Cluniac
order if they could be found,
otherwise two religious or
two secular chaplains in the manor or priory of
Newton Longville to celebrate divine service there,
paying to each of them 10 marks a year with fuel
and lodging, and to the king all tenths, &c. (fn. 32) By a
later grant of 1411 the number of monks was reduced to
one, to be sent from the
Norman priory. (fn. 33) Sir Gilbert
Talbot died on 6 February
1398–9 seised of the manor,
leaving an only child Richard,
aged forty-seven weeks, his
son by Margaret, widow of
Constantone de Clifton. (fn. 34)
During the next forty years
grants and leases of varying
tenure were made of Newton
Longville Manor to Sir Ralph
Rocheford. (fn. 35) After his death
in 1440 the king in 1441
bestowed it on the Warden
and fellows of New College,
Oxford. (fn. 36) This grant was confirmed in the same year and
in February 1443–4 the college was successful in
proving its title; (fn. 37) the manor was excluded from the
Act of Resumption of 1455. (fn. 38) Edward IV on 24 July
1461 confirmed the manor to the warden and fellows
of the college, (fn. 39) by whom it has ever since been held.
New College, Oxford. Argent two cheverons sable between three roses gules.
In his grant of Newton to Longueville Priory Walter
Giffard especially exempted all the fee of Odo there. (fn. 40)
The overlordship of this part is identical with that of
Newton Longville Manor, and is last mentioned in
1460. (fn. 41) A similar exemption had been made by
Walter Giffard as regards Durands Fee in the parish
of Great Horwood (q.v.), and both these portions,
the distinction between which was not maintained,
were afterwards held by one and the same tenant in
the 13th century. This was Bernard de Horwood, (fn. 42)
and he was succeeded by the Bradwell family, whose
descent has been traced under Great Horwood. The
last representatives were the heirs of Hugh de Bradwell, living in 1460. (fn. 43)
Church
The church of ST. FAITH consists of
a chancel 26 ft. 6 in. by 14 ft., north
chapel 25 ft. by 11 ft. 6 in., nave
34 ft. by 16 ft. 6 in., north and south aisles 10 ft.
wide, west tower 10 ft. by 9 ft. 6 in. and north and
south porches. All measurements are internal.
The present building incorporates much of the
material of a late 12th-century church, consisting of
a chancel and aisled nave, which was almost entirely
rebuilt in the course of the 14th century. About
1320 a new chancel was erected, the details of the
former chancel arch being largely re-used, and a
chapel was added on the north side. Some fifty years
later the nave and aisles were reconstructed, the
materials of the original arcades being made use of in
the new work, as in the case of the chancel arch.
About 1441 the church was granted to New College,
Oxford, and shortly after this date a new series of
alterations was entered upon. The present west
tower was added, the nave walls were raised to form
a clearstory, north and south porches were erected,
and the chancel and chapel were altered by the
insertion of new windows. The church was restored
in 1881, and the west gallery was then removed.
The Smithy, Newton Longville
The east window of the chancel is of the late 15th
century; it is of four lights with tracery under a
four-centred head, and the moulded rear arch springs
from re-used 14th-century corbels. At the east end
of the south wall is a three-light window of about the
same date, the head of which is now square, but was
originally four-centred. At the opposite end of the
wall is a square-headed three-light window of the
same period, and between them is a small splayed and
moulded mid-16th-century doorway with a fourcentred head and carved spandrels. The chancel
communicates with the north chapel by a 14th-century
pointed arch of two chamfered orders with semioctagonal responds having a moulded capital on the
east side and a re-used angel corbel on the west. A
vertical joint now partially covered by plaster near the
chancel arch suggests that part of the original thick
east wall of the nave was left by the 14th-century rebuilders. To the east of the arch to the chapel is a
large locker low down on the floor level with ancient
doors and lining of oak, probably of the 15th century.
The semicircular attached shafts of the responds of the
chancel arch have evidently been re-used from the
late 12th-century arch. The northern capital is
carved with foliage and grotesque animals, while the
southern capital has stiff-leaf foliage. Two carved
corbels of the same date have also been reset. The
arch itself, which is pointed, has an outer order
moulded on the west side and chamfered on the east,
at the springing level of the arch on the chancel face
of the responds, and an inner hollow-chamfered order
with carved leaves and dog-tooth ornament.
The sanctuary within the communion rails is lined
with a high modern dado of oak panelling cut away
to expose two piscinae under the sill of the south-east
window. The larger piscina has a shallow projecting
basin in a modern recess, which is flanked by three
crocketed pinnacles, two on the west and one on the
east side, probably reset from destroyed sedilia of the
14th century. The smaller piscina has moulded
jambs and tracery of about the same date, and the
basin is hidden by a modern oak shelf. The lowpitched chancel roof is of the late 15th century. The
tie-beams are moulded and have carved bosses, one
displaying the arms of the see of Winchester; under
the wall brackets are corbels, two of which at the east
end, representing human figures, are ancient, but the
others are modern.
Plan Of Newton Longville Church
The north chapel, now used as a vestry, is lighted
from the east by a late 15th-century window of three
lights under a four-centred head. The eastern of
the two windows in the north wall is of similar date
and design, while the western window, which is also of
the 15th century, is of the same number of lights, but
has tracery in a pointed head. A 14th-century
corbel has been reset as one of the stops of the label
of the east window. The oak panelled screen surmounted by small balusters at the west end of the
chapel is of early 17th-century date. Six brackets
are fixed in the wall of the chapel in various positions,
one moulded, the others with heads, none probably in
their original places. The roof, which is continuous
with that of the north aisle, is of late 15th-century
date. On the outside of the east wall is a figure in
stone of a woman in early 14th-century dress standing
on a moulded and carved corbel, which is supposed to
represent St. Faith, the patron saint of the church.
On the face of the north buttress are two 15th-century
traceried panels not in their original position.
The nave arcades are each of two bays with pointed
arches supported by circular columns and responds.
They were rebuilt in the 14th century with the
material of the late 12th-century arcades. On the north
side the arches are of two chamfered orders with
labels having indented edges and nail-head ornament
at the lower ends and head stops. The capital of the
pier has a square abacus and is carved with birds,
beasts and foliage, and the base is moulded. The
arches of the south arcade are moulded on the nave
side and have chamfered labels
with head-stops. The capital is
carved with leaf ornament and the
base is moulded. There are three
15th-century clearstory windows
on each side, the westernmost of
one light and the others of two
lights, all much restored. At the
north-east of the nave is the roodloft staircase, now blocked; opposite to it on the south side is a
small 14th-century opening about
3 ft. from the floor with a segmental pointed head and chamfered
jambs, and apparently intended for
a monument. It now contains the
head of a knight carved in stone
with a coif of banded mail of the
late 13th or early 14th century,
which was brought here from a
house in the village. The opening
has a modern label towards the
nave. The low-pitched nave roof
is of the 15th century; five of the
stone corbels which have grotesque
heads apparently belong to earlier work, but the
others are modern. The east bay retains a considerable amount of its original painted decoration.
The north aisle is lighted from the north by a
15th-century window of three lights with tracery
under a pointed head and from the west by a threelight 14th-century window with plain tracery. To
the east of the north window is a small locker with
rebated jambs. The north doorway is of the 13th
century and was evidently reset when the aisle was
altered. The doorway to the rood-loft staircase at
the south-east of the aisle is rebated and has a fourcentred head, and to the east of it is a small trefoiled
piscina with a square basin of 13th-century date reset.
The south aisle is lighted from the east by a 15thcentury window of four lights, and from the south
and west by 15th-century windows of three lights
with tracery under pointed heads. The pointed south
doorway is of the same date. On the east wall is a
chamfered bracket, and in the south wall is a 14thcentury piscina with a trefoiled head and a fluted
circular basin; near it is a small 15th-century locker
with its original oak door. The roof is of 16thcentury date.
The 15th-century west tower is of two stages with
a plinth and diagonal buttresses. The tower arch is
pointed and of two hollow-chamfered orders, both of
which die into the side walls of the tower. The west
window of two lights, the west door with a fourcentred head, and the stair turret doorway, having a
four-centred head, are all original. The bell-chamber
is lighted by four two-light pointed windows faced
with cement.
The north and south porches are both of the 15th
century, and have outer doorways with square jambs
and chamfered heads.
The font has a tapering circular bowl, which is
probably of the 12th century but has been much reworked, and has modern carving upon it; the octagonal
base also appears to be old. The oak cover is a good
piece of early 17th-century work. It is eight-sided
and of pyramidal form, the panels being carved with
lions and unicorns, while the counterpoise is carved
as a dove with outspread wings. In the north chapel
are preserved two chests. The smaller one is of the
early 17th century, and the styles and panels are
elaborately carved; the other chest dates from the end
of the same century and has moulded panels. Incorporated in a modern reading desk in the chancel are
two pieces of 14th-century oak tracery, probably
from the rood screen. In the north chapel are an
oak bench or form and a coffin-stool with carved rails,
both dating from the 17th century. A modern brass
on the north wall commemorates William Grocyn,
rector, the first teacher of Greek at Oxford.
There are eight bells, partly recast from an old
ring of five at the expense of Gilbert Flesher of Towcester by W. & J. Taylor of Oxford, 1824. The
treble and second were given in 1907 by the Rev.
C. Leslie Norris, the rector; the fifth is the original
second by John Briant of Hertford, 1800, and the
tenor is dated 1826.
The communion plate includes a large flagon of
1638 and a large cup and standing paten of 1685, all
given by Margaret Alden in the latter year, with a silk
covering with 'M. A. 1685' embroidered upon it,
and a small cover paten of the late 16th century.
The registers before 1812 are as follows: (i) mixed
entries 1560 to 1719; (ii) baptisms and burials 1719
to 1802; (iii) baptisms and burials 1803 to 1812;
(iv) marriages 1719 to 1753; (v) marriages 1754 to
1813.
Advowson
The church was given with the
manor by Walter Giffard to Longueville Priory. (fn. 44) In 1291 it was taxed
at £5 6s. 8d. and paid a pension to the Prior of
Longueville of £1 6s. 8d. (fn. 45) In 1535 it paid the same
pension to New College, Oxford. (fn. 46)
The patronage of the living, a rectory, has always
been held with the manor, and is in the gift of New
College, Oxford.
In the course of a dispute as to tithes between the
rector and several parishioners in 1729 it was stated
that the parsonage had been under sequestration in
1726. About 40 acres of land in the parish were
said to be tithe free. Depositions as to common of
pasture and custom of tithing and of payment mention
the pasturing of old milch cows in Whaddon Chase. (fn. 47)
Notable rectors whom the parish owes to its connexion with New College include the Greek scholar
Grocyn (rector 1446), commemorated by a tablet
recently erected in the church; and Henry Cole,
Dean of St. Paul's (rector 1552), who preached at
the execution of Cranmer. (fn. 48)
Charity
In connexion with the charity of
Alden Fuller (fn. 49) a sum of £1 3s. 4d. was
received in 1911 from the vicar of
Bradwell and distributed among ten poor widows.