BAGLEY WOOD
Bacganleah (x cent.); Baggalea (xii cent.).
The tract of land called Bagley Wood, which was
extra-parochial in 1831, was in 1900 made part of
the parish of Radley, to which it seems to have
belonged in the 14th century. (fn. 1) It consists of 390
acres of woodland on a sloping hill-side. There has
never been a church there, nor, so far as can be
ascertained, any dwelling-houses. In the 13th century
men were frequently assaulted and sometimes killed
in Bagley Wood. (fn. 2) The rioters of Abingdon in 1327
carried off the prior of the abbey into the wood and
threatened him with the loss of his head unless he
would do their bidding. (fn. 3)
At the present day Bagley Wood is a pleasant place
with an abundance of wild flowers. It was once
much frequented by the people of Oxford and the
neighbouring villages; but as it became the resort of
gipsies and bad characters St. John's College was
compelled by the justices of Berkshire to inclose it.
Negotiations for the extinction of common rights in
the wood began in 1843, and the college finally decided in 1847 to inclose the wood under the provisions
of the General Inclosure Act of 1841; an Act of
Parliament was obtained in 1848. (fn. 4)
Manor
BAGLEY WOOD was never called a
manor till the early 19th century, and
had no real claim to be so called. From
before the Conquest to the Dissolution it was the
possession of the abbots of Abingdon, but their title
seems to have been less definite than in the case of
their other lands. They held it from the king in
'free custody,' and his rights in it, though never
apparently exercised, are always implicit in the various
grants made to the abbots.
Bagley is first mentioned in Eadred's charter of 955 (fn. 5)
as one of the boundaries of the 20 hides of land supposed to have been granted to the abbey by Caedwalla.
It is not clear whether or not the wood was included
in the grant. In the time of William the Conqueror
the abbot's right was well established, and he resisted
with his own hand all encroachments on the part of
others. The king's reeve of the manor of Sutton on
two occasions tried to carry off underwood from Bagley.
The abbot drove him from the place, causing him the
second time to wade through the river of Ock because
he was too terrified to use the bridge. (fn. 6) Henry I freed
the woods of Bagley and Cumnor from the interference of his foresters, and granted the abbot 'perpetual
custody.' He was to have all roebucks, but was not
to take deer without the king's permission. At the
same time the king undertook not to grant to anyone
else the right of hunting there. (fn. 7) This charter was
confirmed by Henry II (fn. 8) and Richard I. (fn. 9)
In 1387 there is an instance of a grant made by
the Crown of the office of woodward. (fn. 10) It was
revoked, however, in the next year, for the abbot was
able to show that he and his predecessors from time
immemorial had appointed their own officers without
the king's interference. (fn. 11)
At the time of the Dissolution Bagley Wood was
regarded as absolutely the property of the abbey. (fn. 12)
Edward VI on 18 December 1552 granted 200 acres
of it to Lord Clinton and Henry Herdson. (fn. 13) On the
following day Lord Clinton conveyed his interest to
Herdson, (fn. 14) who on 25 March 1553 sold half of
Bagley Common to Sir John Mason of St. Paul's
Churchyard. On 31 October 1557 Sir John Mason
sold his part of the wood to the president and scholars
of St. John's College, Oxford, Sir Thomas White,
alderman of London, founder of the college, paying
him £270. The other half seems to have come to
Anthony Wickes alias Mason of Kew, who in 1584
sold it to John Reade and others, trustees for the
president and scholars of St. John's College. In
1610 the college acquired a further parcel of waste
land called the Westwood and West Bagley, part of
Bagley Wood in Radley, situate between the highway
leading from Abingdon on the east and Sunningwell
Heath on the west, 'now or late' in the tenure of
Francis Lord Norreys. Disputes having arisen with
Lord Norreys as to the rights over this land, he surrendered all his claim to the college in 1619 for the
sum of £600. (fn. 15) St. John's College is the present
owner of Bagley Wood.