BOXFORD with WESTBROOK
Boxore (x-xix cent.); Bovsore, Bochesorne (Dom.);
Boxhole (xii cent.); Boxforth (xvi cent.); Boxworth
(xvi-xix cent.); Boxford (xvii-xx cent.).
The parish of Boxford, sometimes known as Boxford-cum-Westbrook, lies on either side of the Lambourn valley, the village of Boxford being on the
east side of the river, while Westbrook lies opposite
to it on the west. The land rises from the lowest
point where the Lambourn leaves the parish at
290 ft. to 487 ft. above the ordnance datum at
Borough Hill Camp.
The parish contains 2,819 acres, of which 2,070
are arable, 448 acres permanent grass and 232
acres woods and plantations. (fn. 1) The chief crops are
wheat, barley and oats. The soil is principally chalk
and clay with a chalk subsoil, but there are beds of
clay and gravel on the hill-tops. The Lambourn
Valley railway, opened in 1898 and since then taken
over by the Great Western Railway Co., runs through
the parish and has a station in the village. The high
road from Newbury to Lambourn passes through the
parish just outside the village.
Knapp's Farm, Boxford
There are two tithings in the parish, Boxford and
Westbrook, the bounds of which can be ascertained
from the Commons Inclosure Award in the custody
of the parish council; these tithings contain several
small hamlets, Ownham in Westbrook, Hunt's Green
in Boxford, and Wickham Heath, which grew up after
the commons and waste were divided and allotted
in 1819. The population is entirely agricultural.
Besides the names already given, Coombesbury (Colmeresbere, xii cent.), Court Oak near Rowbury Hill,
Iremonger's Hill and Basing's Farm are place-names
which occur. The road from the village leading
towards the Roman road on the south-west is known
as High Street Lane. In Boxford there is an old
tree, standing out in the road, known as the Clerk's
Elm, and at the extreme northern point of the
parish, where it meets the parishes of Welford and
Leckhampstead, is a large stone standing by the roadside known as the Hangmanstone. There is a
Wesleyan chapel at Westbrook and a Primitive
Methodist chapel at Wickham Heath.
The church stands in the middle of the village,
which contains many thatched cottages of half-timber
and brick; some better class brick houses are of the 18th
century. Near the church is an old farm-house, once
the dwelling of Oliver Sanson, a Quaker, who lived
there in the 17th century. In one of the rooms
is a carved beam with guilloche ornament on the
soffit and ovolo moulded edges. The house itself
has been more or less altered externally and to some
extent enlarged. Sanson kept up a constant feud with
the rector with respect to tithes, which became more
acute when, in or before 1667, the church tower
collapsed and the debris fell into his garden.
Tradition in the parish has it that he refused to allow
the material to be removed, saying that, as God had
sent it to him, no man should take it away, but this
remark is not to be found in his book. The rector
laid information against him for non-attendance at
church and a distraint was levied upon his property.
Sanson was sent to Reading gaol for contumacy, and
in his book he relates the rector's painful death, which
he regarded as a judgement. (fn. 2)
Westbrook House, built on land redeemed from the
manor of Benham Valence early in the 18th century
and recently enlarged, is the property of Mr. Harold
J. E. Peake. Knapp's Farm, Westbrook, is also an
18th-century house, but has two oak doors of a much
earlier period, probably of the 16th century, which
doubtless belonged to a former building on the site;
the staircase is also of earlier date.
Borough Hill Camp (fn. 3) is situated at the eastern
extremity of the parish, and in the north-east is a
barrow, known as Rowbury mound. At Wyfield
Farm the foundations of what was described as a large
Roman villa were discovered and excavated in 1871.
Fragments of Roman pottery and coins have also
been found elsewhere in the parish. (fn. 4)
Before the second battle of Newbury a detachment
of the Parliamentary force passed through Boxford to
take up a position on Speen Hill. (fn. 5) On approaching
the ford over the Lambourn River they are said to
have had a slight skirmish with a Royalist outpost. (fn. 6)
During the Commonwealth some of the parishioners
removed the altar rails from the church and carried
them to Westbrook, where they were burnt by
Edward Poke, a schoolmaster, and his pupils. (fn. 7)
Manors
The chroniclers of the abbey of
Abingdon claimed that lands at Boxford
and elsewhere in Berkshire had been
granted to them by King Ceadwalla, and they cited
a charter of Kenwulf, dated 821, in which he confirmed these gifts. This charter in the form that
has come down to us is probably spurious, and if the
abbey actually received a grant of lands here at that
early date it must have lost them later. (fn. 8)
In 958 King Edred granted 10 mansac at
BOXFORD to his servant Wulfric, (fn. 9) which, though
forfeited shortly afterwards, were restored to him in
960. (fn. 10) These lands he conveyed to the abbey of
Abingdon. Again in 968 King Edgar granted 10
mansae to another servant Elfwin, who also handed
them on to the same abbey. (fn. 11) Thus at the date of
the Domesday Survey the whole manor had come
into the hands of the abbey, which held it as a
member of their adjoining manor of Welford.
The Domesday Survey says that in the time of
Edward the Confessor the manor was held of the
abbey by a reeve of the abbot's, but afterwards by
Berner, (fn. 12) and the Abbey Chronicle gives the name of
Raimbald as the military tenant in the time of
William Rufus. (fn. 13) Raimbald held also Sunningwell,
and it may be that it was a descendant of his, Geoffrey
of Sunningwell, who held 2 hides here of the abbey
by military service a century later. (fn. 14) Between 1175
and 1190 only 1 hide 1 virgate and 1 cotsetland out of
the 10 was held by the abbey in demesne, and there
were twelve tenants, having holdings varying from
2 hides to 1 virgate, besides fifteen cottagers who
performed services and fifty more who paid rent;
twenty-six others occupied land outside the demesne
and paid rent, and some of them services in August
in addition. The customs regarding pannage and
common pasture were the same as for the tenants of
Welford. (fn. 15)
The 2 hides which were held by military service
continued in the same family, for at the time of the
Testa de Nevill Nicholas de Sunningwell was the
tenant, (fn. 16) though according to a later entry the
holding had passed into the hands of Robert de
Wyleby. (fn. 17) In 1392 the abbey added to its holding
by acquiring land here from Thomas Crook, parson
of Milton, (fn. 18) and it is mentioned as holding this
manor of the king by barony in 1401. (fn. 19) No further
mention is made of military tenants holding land
under the abbey in Boxford, but in 1517 Thomas
Hill was seised in demesne as of fee of one messuage
and 40 acres of arable land there, which he inclosed,
pulling down the house and rendering six people
homeless. (fn. 20)
At the dissolution of the abbey in 1538 Thomas
the abbot surrendered the manor of Boxford. (fn. 21)
The woods of the abbey in Boxford and Welford
were surveyed in 1538. (fn. 22)
In 1590 the manor was granted to Thomas Parry,
son of Sir Thomas Parry, who already held the manor
of Welford, and since that date it has descended
with the Welford estate (fn. 23) (q.v.).
Certain lands in Boxford were held in 1217
together with lands in Benham and Greenham by
Ralph Musard, lord of one of the manors of Winterbourne, (fn. 24) which adjoins Boxford on the east. (fn. 25) In
1374 Bartholomew Blaket of the county of Oxford
released to Aumary de St. Amand and others all right
in these lands, then called the manor of Winterbourne
Mayne, and in all lands which the said Aumary
held in Chieveley and Boxford. (fn. 26)
In 1450 John Bovedon of Boxford died seised
of ten messuages and 10 virgates of land, 40 acres of
meadow and 100 acres of pasture in Boxford, called
BOVEDON MANOR, and three messuages and
5 virgates of land in Greenham. The land in
Boxford was held of the abbey of Abingdon for
the service of one quarter of a knight's fee. John
Bovedon's heir was his son John, then aged twelve,
but no further reference to this reputed manor has
been found. (fn. 27)
The tithing of WESTBROOK in this parish is in
the hundred of Kintbury Eagle, having been at an
early date attached to the manor of Benham in that
hundred. Before the Conquest, under the name of
Bochsorne, a variant of Boxford, it was held in alod
of King Edward, but after 1066 it was granted to
Humphrey Vis de Lou with the adjoining manor of
Benham in the parish of Speen. One hide was held
of him by Aluric and 2 by Alman. (fn. 28) It continued
from that time a member of the manor of Benham
(q.v.), and their subsequent history is identical. (fn. 29)
When the manor of Benham became divided into
the two manors of Benham Valence and Benham
Lovell, Westbrook was also divided, though the
greater part of the land was added to the manor of
Benham Lovell. In 1349 it was said that there had
been six customary tenants in that part of the vill
which belonged to the manor of Benham Valence,
but they were all dead and their land uncultivated.
Such were the ravages of the Black Death in this
part. (fn. 30)
About the year 1820 William first Earl of Craven,
lord of the manor of Benham Valence, seems to have
allowed most, if not all, of his
tenants to redeem their copyholds, (fn. 31) and at the time of
the inclosure of the commons
in 1819 the lord of this manor
held no land in the township.
It was then agreed that John
Archer Houblon, lord of the
manor of Benham Lovell,
should be entitled to all
manorial privileges in the
tithing of Westbrook, while
Lord Craven should possess
all those which existed in the
parish of Speen. (fn. 32)
Craven, Earl of Craven. Argent a fesse between six crosslets fitchy gules.
There were two mills at Boxford in the 12th
century, (fn. 33) but there is now only one, near the church
and adjoining the bridge over the river, which is still
used as a corn-mill. There was a mill at Westbrook
in 1086, (fn. 34) which in the 15th century was known as
Gosling's Mill, and was held by Robert Curteys as a
fulling-mill. (fn. 35) It is now represented by the cottages
beside the mill-stream below Westbrook Farm.
The fishing in the Lambourn River seems always
to have belonged to the lords of the different manors
in this parish, and when under the award of 1819
the Earl of Craven released such of his rights in the
manor of Benham Valence as were situated in the
parish of Boxford to John Archer Houblon, who was
lord of the two other manors, he reserved the rights
of fishing which had hitherto belonged to him.
Church
The church of ST. ANDREW consists of a chancel measuring internally
18 ft. 11 in. by 13 ft. 5 in., nave
36 ft. 2 in. by 18 ft. 9 in., north aisle 36 ft. 2 in. by
17 ft. 7 in., north-west vestry, south porch and west
tower 10 ft. 4 in. by 11 ft. 10 in.
The chancel and nave are a rebuilding of the
15th century, but there is evidence of a 13th-century
building in the south doorway and in the lancet
window south of the chancel. A tower was added
in the 15th century, but in 1667—from the record
left by Oliver Sanson, the Quaker, who lived next
the church—it fell. The present tower dates from
about twenty-five years later. The west gallery
was dated 1759 and the porch is of about the
same date. The north aisle was added in 1841,
when the present chancel arch was inserted. During
the recent restoration of the building the gallery was
removed.
The modern east window is of three lights under
a traceried head. In the south wall are a single
light with old jambs and a modern cinquefoiled head,
and a small modern piscina, and on the other side
modern credence recess. The chancel arch is modern.
In the north wall next the chancel arch is a wide
low arched recess (6 ft. 11 in. to the apex and 5 ft.
6 in. wide).
The first window in the south wall of the nave is
a single light with old jambs and a modern cinquefoiled head. The second and third windows are of
the 15th century, and are of two cinquefoiled lights
under square heads with labels. The south doorway
has a pointed head of a single hollow-chamfered order
and a moulded label with a mask stop on its west side
but only a square block on the east. The north arcade
of the nave is modern and is of three bays of similar
detail to the chancel arch. The aisle has an east and
two north windows, each of two cinquefoiled lights
under square heads. The east window is re-used work
of the 15th century, and the southern halves of the
heads having been shortened, the window has a lopsided appearance. A modern doorway at the end of the
north wall of the nave opens to the vestry, which has
windows in the north and west walls, and like the
porch, which has a modern pointed outer arch, is
built of brick; the aisle is of flint and brick, the
rest of the main structure being covered with cement
outside and plaster within. The tower is of flint
with red brick courses, and is of three stages, with
brick diagonal buttresses at the western angles. The
tower arch is semicircular and has square imposts and
a projecting keystone. The west window is of stone,
and is of three square-headed lights with a transom;
the second stage has a blocked rectangular light in its
north face and a similar light boarded up on the
south side. The bell-chamber has two round-headed
lights under a plain square brick label in each face
and the parapet is embattled.
The chancel roof had a plastered collar-beam
ceiling, lately removed, on which were painted imitation rafters; the portion over the sanctuary is curved.
The nave had a flat plaster ceiling, above which on
the east wall can be seen the remains of 15th-century
wall-painting, apparently parts of figures of angels,
and the former roof-line. Both roofs are tiled. The
aisle had also a plaster ceiling, now removed.
The font is modern. The hexagonal oak pulpit,
with its sounding-board, is a good specimen of Jacobean work, and is dated 1618 with the initials VH,
RH, GN, IN. The altar rails are of the late 17th
century and have twisted balusters. Besides the
organ in use, a small disused organ stands in the
gallery.
In the tower lies the carved head of a 12th-century
pillar piscina, with one smooth side and three with
volutes. Here are also two oak chests; one has the
date in nail-heads, 1683, while the other is evidently
earlier.
In the chancel is a monument to James Anderton,
rector, who died in 1672, and at the west of the
aisle is a monument to John Rawlins, his wife and
two daughters, who died in 1719, 1727, 1702 and
1719 respectively.
There is a ring of five bells: the treble is by John
Stares, 1744; the second by Henry Knight, 1618;
the third bears the date 1601, and is inscribed 'God
be our gyd'; the fourth, 1639, is inscribed 'Love
God'; and the tenor is by W. Taylor of Oxford, 1846.
There is also a small bell dated 1640, inscribed
'Sam. Redclif Rectoris donum.'
The plate consists of a silver cup and cover paten
of 1786, a standing paten of 1836, also of silver, a
modern electro-plated flagon, a pewter bowl or saucer
with the mark of a crowned rose, a flagon, and a pewter
stand paten, given by one of the two James Andertons,
who were former rectors; on it are the arms, four
stirrups impaling a dolphin.
The registers before 1812 are in six books: (i) all
entries 1558 to 1664, partly a parchment copy of
1598; (ii) baptisms 1648 to 1755, marriages 1648
to 1750, burials 1648 to 1773; (iii) baptisms 1755
to 1798; (iv) baptisms 1799 to 1812; (v) marriages
1755 to 1813; (vi) burials 1773 to 1813.
Advowson
It seems probable that a church
was built here by the abbey of
Abingdon before the Conquest, but
the entry in the Domesday Survey on this point is
obscure. (fn. 36) From early times the ecclesiastical dues
both from Boxford and Westbrook seem to have
belonged to the abbey, but during the reign of
Henry I Walkelin Vis de Lou endeavoured to remove
those of Westbrook, probably to give them to the
church of Speen, in which parish most of his estates
were situated. The abbey resisted, and Walkelin
was compelled to agree that in future all such dues
should belong to Boxford Church. (fn. 37) About the same
time William de Watchfield agreed to give to the
abbey the tithe from all his property here, which was
2 hides, excepting the tithes from I acre which
adjoined the church. (fn. 38)
The abbey appears to have appropriated all, or at
any rate part, of the rectorial tithes, for in 1278 the
incumbent is referred to as a chaplain, (fn. 39) and in 1291
the church was valued at £4 13s. 4d., while the
pension of the Abbot of Abingdon there with his
portion of the tithes was worth £6. (fn. 40) A different
arrangement seems to have been made shortly afterwards, for in 1340 we find mention of a rector of
Boxford, (fn. 41) and again in 1369–70, when the pension
only is spoken of as belonging to the abbey. (fn. 42) Sir
Richard, the rector, is mentioned in 1376, (fn. 43) and in
1540 Alan Coke alias Bertyn, rector of the parish
churches of Bygrave and Boxford, received licence to
hold a third cure. (fn. 44) At the dissolution of the
monastery in 1538 the abbot resigned to the king all
his interest in Boxford, (fn. 45) which included the advowson and pension, which in 1541–2 was worth £6. (fn. 46)
In 1590 Queen Elizabeth granted the advowson of
the rectory in tail-male to Thomas son of Sir Thomas
Parry, kt. (fn. 47) He settled it the same year, (fn. 48) and died
seised of it in 1616, when it passed to his heirs
Thomas Knyvett and John Abrahall, (fn. 49) who sold it in
1618 to Sir Francis Jones, (fn. 50) who presented to the
living in that year. (fn. 51) He died in 1623 seised of the
church, vicarage and chapel of Boxford. (fn. 52) His son
Abraham Jones settled it in 1626, (fn. 53) and died seised
of it in 1629. (fn. 54) Though the advowson continued
to pass with the manor, the presentation must have
been sold sometimes, for John Anderton, son of the
rector who died in 1672, (fn. 55) presented in that year his
younger brother James. (fn. 56)
In 1713 William Archer, Eleanor his wife and
others sold the advowson to Benjamin Tassell and
three others. (fn. 57) This Benjamin was the head master
of Newbury Grammar School from 1692 to 1723, (fn. 58)
and it was possibly one of his trustees, Thomas
Cowslad, who in 1719 presented the living (fn. 59) to
Anthony Tassell, Benjamin's son. During the same
year, 1721, his parishioners petitioned the Bishop of
Salisbury to reprimand him for withholding the sum
of £1 6s. 8d. which was to be paid in lieu of the
church ales, formerly celebrated on Easter Day, and
for failing to preach more than one sermon on a
Sunday, and for having discontinued the services on
Wednesdays and Fridays. (fn. 60) Anthony died intestate
in 1751, and his widow Elizabeth presented to the
living. (fn. 61) She continued to live at the rectory, and
with her son enjoyed the profits from the glebe
lands and tithes, while she kept a 'travelling rector'
to do the duty. This rector was a Mr. G. Watts,
who had been formerly preacher at Lincoln's Inn,
and then spent his time 'galloping from one country
church to another.' (fn. 62) On Anthony Tassell's death
the advowson had descended to his only son Anthony,
who was baptized 11 September 1733, (fn. 63) and was
therefore an infant at the time of his father's death
in 1751. This would account for the fact that his
mother presented to the living that year, but would
not explain why the Crown presented in 1772, (fn. 64)
when Anthony must have been thirty-nine years of
age. There is a tradition in the village that about
this time a dispute arose between the two daughters
of the elder Anthony, both of whom had married
clergymen, each claiming that her husband should
have the living, and that it was finally decided that
each should present in turn. If this dispute had led
to a law-suit the patronage of the Crown might be
accounted for, but the evidence discovered so far does
not support this view. It is true that in 1772 the
Crown presented to the living the Rev. Joseph Wells,
who is described as rector of the parish of Letcombe
Bassett, who had married in 1764 Lucy daughter of
the Rev. Anthony Tassell, (fn. 65) but in the deed of 1806,
to which reference has already been made, no allusion
is made to any dispute.
Anthony Tassell died intestate in 1776, and was
buried at Boxford 8 January that year, (fn. 66) when the
advowson passed to his sister Lucy. In 1805 her
husband, being in ill-health, resigned the living, and
jointly they presented the Rev. John Wells, their
nephew. Joseph Wells died soon after his retirement,
and in 1806 his widow Lucy, by the deed already
cited, granted the advowson to her nephew the Rev.
John Wells. At his death in 1842 it passed to his
son the Rev. George Wells, who left it at his death in
1872 to his son the Rev. George Francis Wells.
In 1892 he exchanged livings with the Rev. Charles
Nattali Edgington, who purchased the advowson
of Boxford the following year, and is the present
patron. (fn. 67)
The pension formerly belonging to the abbey of
Abingdon seems to have come into the hands of
William Rankyn and Dorothy his wife, who sold it in
1597 to Thomas Nelson, gent. (fn. 68) This Thomas
Nelson held the manor of Chaddleworth, and the
pension seems to have passed with that manor to its
present possessor, Mr. Philip M. N. Wroughton.
There was anciently a custom here for the
parishioners to drink beer and eat bread and cheese in
the church after Evening Prayer on Easter Day, but
this custom was abolished by Laud in 1638, and
it was then decreed that the incumbent and his
successors should instead dispense each year 13s. 4d.
towards the repair of the church and 13s. 4d. to the
poor of the parish. There was a further custom for
the incumbent to pay 2s. per annum for straw for
the use of the church. (fn. 69)
Charities
The benefactions for the use of
the poor, which were mentioned in
an inscription on the gallery of the
church, comprise the charities of:
1. Elizabeth Wayte, by will, annuity of 6s. 8d.
charged on land in Ray Mead, Hampstead Marshall,
now paid by the Earl of Craven.
2. Richard Willoughby, will 1610, annuity of
20s. on an estate at Ownham in this parish, now the
property of Mr. William Heath.
3. Unknown donor, or the rector's Easter payment, annuity of 13s. 4d.
4. Gifts of Gregory Iremonger, £27, Richard
Whare, £30, and Richard Shepherd, £20, for two
poor widows. These sums were made up to £100
consols by a former rector, which in 1864 were
transferred to the official trustees.
The income of the charities, amounting to £4 10s.,
after payment of 6s. to each of two widows, is
usually applied in payments to a clothing club.