SUNNINGWELL
Suniggawelle (x cent.); Soningewell (xi cent.).
The parish of Sunningwell covers 1,331 acres,
of which 415 are under cultivation, (fn. 1) the crops
raised being wheat, barley, beans and turnips. The
soil is clay, sand and limestone, on a subsoil of
Kimmeridge Clay and Corallian Beds. In the north
of the parish, where the ground, elsewhere low, rises
to a height of more than 400 ft. in Foxcombe Hill,
Brumcombe and Yatscombe, there is a good deal of
woodland. The name 'Pinnegrave' or 'Pinsgrove'
is constantly applied to a wood in this parish from
1248 onwards. (fn. 2)
Other woods and closes mentioned in the 16th and
17th centuries, and not now to be identified, are
Woodcroft (fn. 3) and Donynghurst. (fn. 4) 'Berrie closes, 'which
are mentioned in Elizabeth's reign, (fn. 5) appear again in the
Inclosure Act of 1723. (fn. 6) There were then five common
fields in Sunningwell: the Upper Field, the Lower
Field, Berrey Close Field, the Hill Field, and Westbrook Field, and three commons: Cowleys, the Heath,
and Yatscombe.
The small village of Sunningwell is in the centre
of the parish, and is connected with Abingdon,
which is about a mile to the south of it, by a lane
running into the road from Faringdon. On the
south side of the village street is the church of
St. Leonard. In the tower of this church was a room
known as 'Friar Bacon's Study,' (fn. 7) and it was commonly believed that Roger Bacon used to come there
to make observations during his residence in Oxford.
Hearne records that in 1714 he saw in the organ loft
various cooking implements which had belonged to
the church-house and were formerly used for parish
dinners. (fn. 8) There is now no trace of the churchhouse. Among the rectors of St. Leonard's was
Samuel Fell, Dean of Christ Church, who died at
Sunningwell in 1649 of shock caused by the news of
the execution of Charles I. (fn. 9) He was the father of
the more famous Dr. Fell, who seems to have been
born here. (fn. 10)
East of the village is an Elizabethan house
called Beaulieu Court Farm, mentioned by Hearne
in 1727. (fn. 11) It is three stories high and has a projecting
porch on the west of the same height. The house
was remodelled in the 18th century. The entrance
doorway has a four-centred head, and above it is a
segmental pediment with a coat of arms, but the
charges are obliterated. Another doorway of the same
date remains at the back, but the windows are all
modern.
In the 18th century a curious custom was observed
at Sunningwell on Shrove Tuesday. The children
of the village celebrated the approach of Lent by
chanting at each house this verse:—
'Beef and bacon's
Out of season,
I want a pan
To parch my peason,'
finishing the performance by throwing stones at the
doors. (fn. 12)
A lane from Beaulieu Court Farm runs north to
the hamlet of Bayworth, passing a quarry mentioned
in 1436–7. (fn. 13) Bayworth was the residence of the
Baskerville family in the 17th and 18th centuries,
but their mansion-house is no longer in existence.
The first Baskerville of Bayworth was an Elizabethan
general (fn. 14) who served with Drake and Hawkins.
He died in Picardy, where he was commanding her
Majesty's forces, shortly after he had purchased Bayworth, and probably never lived there. His son
Hannibal, who was born in Picardy, and had all the
captains under his father's command to be his godfathers, (fn. 15) did, however, reside at Bayworth, especially
in the latter part of his life. He was then, as described by Anthony à Wood, a melancholy, retired
man and a 'great cherisher of wandring Beggars.'He
built for his beggars a large barn, with a bell at his
back door to pull if they wanted anything, conduct
which several times brought him into trouble at the
Abingdon sessions. (fn. 16) The house is described by Wood
as 'private and lone in a romancy place.'He
mentions the chapel belonging to the mansion, which
was at that time furnished with velvet cushions
and carpets and an excellent organ. The 'painted
windows 'had been defaced by Abingdon soldiers in
the Great Rebellion. (fn. 17)
The next Baskerville was a whimsical antiquary,
whose volumes of notes and doggerel verse on the
various places he had visited are now for the most
part in the Bodleian Library. (fn. 18) Hearne states that
he 'mightily improved the estate.' (fn. 19) It was lost to
the family, however, in the time of his son, a young
man of great personal attractiveness, who by his
profligacy reduced it to an annuity of £80 a year
and died, according to Hearne, of a broken heart. (fn. 20)
The house, which in 1720–1, the date of his death,
was 'a brave old thing, full of all conveniences, 'had
in 1727 almost gone to ruin. (fn. 21)
In Bayworth is a small Baptist chapel in connexion
with New Road Chapel, Oxford.
Manors
SUNNINGWELL is said to have been
granted to Abingdon Abbey by Caedwalla, the grant being confirmed by
Kenulf in 821, but there are no genuine charters in
support of the statement. (fn. 22) In 1086 5 hides were
held of the abbot by Berner in Sunningwell and
Kennington, both being within the abbot's manor of
Barton. (fn. 23) Sugworth, Sunningwell and Kennington
are grouped together in the Domesday Survey, and
were worth £10. (fn. 24) An estate of 2 hides in Sunningwell descended with Kennington (q.v.) in the
Sunningwell family, and was bought by the abbey
with that manor in the middle of the 13th century. (fn. 25)
In the late 12th or early 13th century Walter and
Matilda are mentioned as holding half a hide in
Sunningwell. (fn. 26) It is uncertain whether this was
recovered by the abbey. The manor was kept by
the abbots in their own hands from 1256 till the
Dissolution. (fn. 27)
In 1538, by the surrender of the abbey and its
possessions, Sunningwell came into the hands of the
king. (fn. 28) He granted the manor seven years later to
Robert Browne, goldsmith, Christopher Edmondes
and William Wenlowe. (fn. 29) They had licence in 1546
to alienate Sunningwell and Bayworth to Sir John
Williams, afterwards Lord Williams, (fn. 30) who died in
possession of these manors in 1559. (fn. 31) He left them
to his wife Margery and her heirs male, with contingent remainder to Henry Norreys, the husband
of his daughter and co-heir Margery. (fn. 32) Both life
interest and reversion were purchased in 1583 by
Isabel, the other daughter and co-heir of Lord
Williams, and her second husband, Richard Huddleston. (fn. 33) Richard and Isabel (fn. 34) were dead in 1589,
when Edmund Huddleston, distant cousin and heir
of Richard, (fn. 35) claimed the manors against Elizabeth
and Margery Wenman. They were the daughters
of Isabel by her first marriage, and made no claim
except for the payment of their marriage portions. (fn. 36)
The manors had been mortgaged, however, to Richard
Martin, who entered on them
immediately after Richard's
Huddleston's death, and subsequently sold them to Sir
Thomas Baskerville. (fn. 37) In writing to his father-in-law in 1597
Sir Thomas mentions his purchase of lands in Sunningwell
and Bayworth. (fn. 38) Sir Thomas
died in the same year, leaving
a son Hannibal, aged two
months. (fn. 39) His widow Mary
married Sir James Scudamore
and received the issues of the manor under a settlement. (fn. 40) Hannibal Baskerville lived till 1668 and
left a son Thomas, who was lord of the manor in
1680. (fn. 41) He died in 1700, (fn. 42) and was succeeded by
a son Matthew Thomas. (fn. 43) The latter was the last of
his family to own Sunningwell. He left no legitimate issue, and when he died in 1720–1 had disposed of the estate to Sir John Stonehouse, who
allowed him an annuity of £80 so long as he lived. (fn. 44)
Baskerville of Bayworth. Argent a cheveron gules between three roundels azure.
After the death of the last Baskerville Sunningwell
followed the descent of the manor of Radley in the
Stonehouse and Bowyer families (fn. 45) till about 1884,
when Mr. Edgar John Disney of Ingatestone, Essex,
foreclosed a mortgage and became lord of the manor.
His son Mr. Edgar Norton Disney sold most of the
property in 1912. The manorial rights have
apparently lapsed. (fn. 46)
In 956 King Edwy granted BAYWORTH (Baegenweorthe, x cent.; Baiorôe, xi cent.; Baiwurde, xii
cent.; Beyworth, xiii cent.) to his minister Ælfric,
who is said to have given it to the abbey of Abingdon. (fn. 47) As the extent of the area specified in the grant
was 25 hides it is clear that more than the later manor
of Bayworth was included. In 1086 Bayworth accounted for 10 hides in the abbot's manor of Barton. (fn. 48)
It had been held before the Conquest by Ulvric, and
was then in the hands of Anskil and Gilbert.
From the time of the Domesday Survey two holdings
can be traced in Bayworth. Gueres de Palence,
apparently the successor of Gilbert, who held 4 hides
here and in Sunningwell, also held 5 hides in Chilton
and 7 in Leverton and Sandford on Thames in Oxfordshire, (fn. 49) and his land in Bayworth followed the
descent of these manors into the possession of the
Sandford family. Robert de Sandford, who founded
the priory of Littlemore, was succeeded by his son
Jordan, (fn. 50) who had four knights' fees under the Abbot of
Abingdon in 1166. (fn. 51) Jordan had a son and heir
Thomas, (fn. 52) who had four sons, Richard, Warner, Hugh
and Thomas. (fn. 53) Richard, who succeeded his father
before 1217, appears as tenant of 4 hides in Bayworth
in a list of persons holding knights' fees of Abingdon
Abbey. (fn. 54) His brothers succeeded him in turn. The
last of them, Thomas, (fn. 55) granted tithes in Bayworth to
Littlemore Priory. (fn. 56) . His nephew and heir Adam de
Periton (fn. 57) was holding a fifth part of a knight's fee in
Bayworth and Sunningwell shortly after 1240. (fn. 58) Adam
had three daughters and co-heirs, (fn. 59) of whom Katherine
the wife of John Paynel inherited Bayworth. (fn. 60) In
1265 Henry de Bayworth accused John Paynel of
disseising him of certain rights of common in a close
called 'Byricroft' and another called 'Otecros.' (fn. 61)
Katherine's elder son John predeceased her, and her
second son Philip received seisin of her lands in
1296. (fn. 62) His son John (fn. 63) in 1324 enfeoffed his uncle
Hugh, parson of the church of Chilton, of the manor
of Bayworth, said to be held of the abbot for a quarter
of a knight's fee. (fn. 64) Hugh Paynel in 1329 had licence
to grant the manor of Bayworth to the Abbot of
Abingdon, (fn. 65) and it appears from the account given
of the manor that it was of considerable importance.
It owed 27s. 4d. castle guard a term at the castle of
Windsor, and the advowson of the church of Chilton
and 4 knights' fees belonged to it. (fn. 66) The profits were
to be devoted by the abbot to finding a chaplain to
celebrate divine service in the chapel of Bayworth for
the souls of Hugh and his ancestors. (fn. 67) The grant was
made, (fn. 68) and though the abbot brought an action
shortly afterwards against Hugh Paynel to cause him
to keep the agreement, (fn. 69) there is no doubt that the
abbey retained the manor till the Dissolution, (fn. 70) after
which it followed the descent of Sunningwell. (fn. 71) The
chantry, however, is not afterwards mentioned.
The Anskil who held the rest of Bayworth at the
Domesday Survey was Anskil de Seacourt, and the
lords of Seacourt retained an interest in Bayworth
down to 1392. Anskil held 5 hides here, (fn. 72) which he
forfeited with his manor of Seacourt. His wife Ansfrida,
however, recovered them as her dower, (fn. 73) and they
descended with Seacourt (fn. 74) (q.v.) until in 1313
Walter le Poer granted land in Bayworth, which
Richard de Shupene and Mariota his wife held for
their lives, to Richard de Polhampton. (fn. 75) Shortly afterwards this manor came into the hands of Alexander le
Parker of Radley, who already held land under the
owners of Seacourt. (fn. 76) The Parkers were so called because
they held the office or 'bailiwick' of keeping the park
at Radley.
Alexander le Parker was returned in 1316 as one
of the tenants of the vill. (fn. 77) His son Henry paid subsidy in 1327, (fn. 78) and in 1371 William de Radley, who
was then holding the office of parker, granted it with
the manor of Bayworth to Thomas Golafre and his
wife Margaret for the lifetime of the latter. (fn. 79) After
the death of Margaret, who was known as Margaret
Parker, lady of Radley, (fn. 80) and was probably the widow
of a Parker, the manor must have reverted, according
to the agreement, to the heirs of William de Radley.
In 1390 it was the property of Thomas de Childrey
and his wife Elizabeth, apparently in her right. (fn. 81)
They conveyed it to feoffees, (fn. 82) who two years later
had licence to grant it to the Abbot of Abingdon
for the purpose of maintaining a monk to celebrate
divine service daily in the chapel of St. Mary in the
abbey church for the Abbot Peter, and to keep an
obit there after his death. (fn. 83) Half the manor was held
directly of the abbot for half a knight's fee, suit at the
hundred court, and castle ward at Windsor. The
other half, apparently the original holding of the
Parkers, was held for the same services of Henry
de Beaumont, lord of the manor of Seacourt. (fn. 84)
Thus after 1392 the whole of Bayworth was held
by the Abbots of Abingdon. The 'keeper' of Bayworth is mentioned several times in the abbey
accounts. (fn. 85) In 1545 it was granted as one manor
to Robert Browne, Christopher Edmondes and
William Wenlowe, (fn. 86) and from that date it has followed
the descent of the manor of Sunningwell. (fn. 87) In
1723 the two were considered a single manor. (fn. 88)
Church
The church of ST. LEONARD is a
cruciform building consisting of a chancel 26 ft. by 15 ft., nave 46 ft. 6 in. by
18 ft. 6 in., a north tower forming a transept 11 ft.
by 14 ft., south transept 11 ft. by 14 ft. 6 in. and a
west porch.
The walls of the nave may be as early as the 13th
century, and part of the chancel is probably of the
same date. It seems probable that the east end of
the chancel was rebuilt early in the 14th century,
and the north wall is certainly of two dates. The
north tower and south transept appear to have been
built late in the 15th century, when several windows
and an embattled parapet were added to the nave.
The west porch is said to have been built by Bishop
Jewell circa 1550–71 and the whole church was
restored in 1902.
The chancel has a three-light pointed east
window of late 13th or early 14th-century date.
The north wall is heavily covered with ivy and
contains a two-light square-headed window and a
modern piscina and credence table. In the south
wall are two two-light square-headed windows of
late 14th or early 15th-century date largely restored. The pointed chancel arch and the roof are
modern.
The nave is lighted by two three-light squareheaded windows of the 15th century on each side, and
between the pair on the south is a blocked double
lancet window of the 13th century. The west
window is of three lights with a four-centred head,
and below it is a doorway with a three-centred head,
both being of the 15th century. The roof is of low
pitch, with heavy tie-beams supporting two upright
posts, with curved braces, all of the 15th century and
resting on modern corbels.
The south transept, now used as a vestry, opens
from the nave by a four-centred arch with hollowchamfered jambs. It has a three-light square-headed
east window and a smaller window on the south wall,
both of the 15th century. There is also a modern
door in the east wall. In the west wall is a twolight square-headed window, apparently of the 16th
century. The transept is covered by an ancient lowpitch tie-beam roof.
The north tower is of four stages internally, but is
divided into two stages only outside by a moulded
string-course. It is finished with an embattled
parapet with crocketed pinnacles and grotesque
gargoyles at the angles, the latter also repeated in the
centres of each side. At the south-west angle is a
square projecting staircase turret rising above the
parapet and also embattled. The ground stage forms
the north transept and opens from the church by
a tower arch similar to that opening into the south
transept. In the east and north walls are threelight square-headed windows of the 15th century.
The second stage has a two-light window in the
north wall and a single-light window on the east
and west, all square-headed and of the 15th century. This stage is now fitted with a gallery. The
bell-chamber has a small two-light window in each
face.
The west porch, built during the latter part of the
16th century, is heptagonal on plan. In five of the
outer faces are single-light windows with square
cinquefoiled heads of Gothic form. The outer doorway in the north face has a key-stone and is surmounted by a classic cornice, and on each of the
external angles is a free Ionic column standing on
a panelled pedestal and supporting an entablature,
which is carried round the porch as a parapet. The
porch has a modern concrete roof, the weight of
which is having a serious effect on the stability of
the structure.
The communion table is apparently Elizabethan,
but the legs and top appear to be modern. The
hexagonal pulpit is Jacobean and has arched panels in
each face with simple carved panels above them.
The benches in the nave have each an old bench
end with a very handsome carved poppy head of the
15th or early 16th century; of these there are some
two dozen in all. The font has an octagonal stem
and a moulded octagonal bowl.
On the floor of the sanctuary are slabs commemorating the members of the Fell family, including
Margaret wife of Dr. Fell, Dean of Christ Church
(1653), Thomas (1632), Elizabeth (1634), Martha
Fell (1637) and Thomas Washbourne (1644), all
on one slab incised at the angles with portraits of
the deceased. Another slab is to S[amuel] F[ell]
(1649) and bears a shield of the arms of Fell,
Argent two bars sable charged with three crosses paty
fitchy or. On the north wall of the chancel is a
plain marble tablet to Mary daughter of Sir Thomas
Throgmorton and wife (1) of Sir Thomas Baskerville
and (2) of Sir James Scudamore (1632); also to her
son Hannibal Baskerville (1668) with a shield of his
arms. Below is an early copy of the epitaph of Sir
Thomas Baskerville (1597) formerly in old St. Paul's
Cathedral.
There are five bells; the treble dated 1653, the
second, third, fourth and tenor by C. & G. Incers ?
1857. There is also a ting-tang by J. Wheeler, but
undated.
The plate includes a cup dated 1660, and a flagon
of similar date was sold a few years ago.
There are no registers before 1812.
Advowson
The church of Sunningwell is
first mentioned in 1246, when the
rector made an agreement with the
priory of Littlemore concerning tithes. (fn. 89) The advowson appears to have belonged till the Dissolution to
Abingdon, (fn. 90) but the church was never appropriated
to the abbey.
The advowson passed with the manor to the Crown
in 1538, and in 1546 was granted to Anthony Butler
in fee. (fn. 91) He must have sold it to the lord of the
manor, for in 1583 the reversion of it was sold by
Henry Norreys with the reversion of the manor to
Richard Huddleston. (fn. 92) During the next century,
first the Crown and then the bishop of the diocese
held the patronage. (fn. 93) There is nothing to explain in
what way they came into possession of it, and in
1705 it reappears in the hands of the lord of the
manor, (fn. 94) Thomas Baskerville. Since that date it has
followed continuously the descent of the manor. (fn. 95)
The chapel of All Saints at Bayworth is mentioned
in 1329, when Hugh Paynel devoted his manor of
Bayworth to the maintenance of a chaplain there. (fn. 96)
It is not mentioned in the Valor of 1535, but was in
existence as a domestic chapel in the middle of the
17th century. (fn. 97) It must have fallen into decay with
the manor-house after the death of the last Baskerville
in 1720–1. (fn. 98)
The tithes of this chapel, according to Leland,
belonged to the church of St. Nicholas at Abingdon. (fn. 99)
In 1712 the rector of St. Nicholas brought a successful action against the rector of Sunningwell, who was
withholding these tithes. (fn. 100)
In 1548 there was a yearly sum of 8s. belonging
to the church of Sunningwell for an obit, the repair
of the church, and charity to the poor. Another sum
of 8d. was for the celebration of an obit. (fn. 101)
Charities
The poor's land and Bisley's
charity are regulated by a scheme
of the Charity Commissioners dated
28 February 1893.
The Poor's Land charity, comprised in deeds of
1436 and 1510, consists of 13 acres of land at Sunningwell, let for £20 yearly, a house and bake-house
in Broad Street, Abingdon, let for £16 yearly, and
£950 7s. 9d. India 3 per cent. stock with the official
trustees, producing £28 10s. yearly, arising from the
sale in 1860 of a house and other premises in Broad
Street, and in 1903 of a piece of land containing
1 a. 2 r. 29 p. called the Poor's Close. There is
also a school-house and teacher's house with garden,
forming the endowment of the Poor's Land Educational Foundation.
Bisley's charity, founded by Richard Bisley, by
will dated 1617, consists of an annuity of £1, issuing
out of part of the site of the Roebuck Hotel, Oxford.
The gross income from these charities amounts to
£65 10s. yearly, and is applied in accordance with
the scheme, as follows: in subscriptions of £2 2s. each
to the Radcliffe Infirmary at Oxford and the cottage
hospital at Abingdon; in bonuses to subscribers to the
parish coal and clothing club; in the distribution of
coal to the poor; and in sums of £1 or 10s. distributed
at Christmas to about twenty widows and aged and
infirm persons.
The Clerk's Land.—The church terrier of 30
August 1783 contains the following entry: 'The
clerk of the parish is appointed by the rector, and has
by custom a tenement with a garden and a close to
live on, besides his parochial dues.' The land contains 1 a. 2 r. 30 p. The premises are now let by the
rector, producing £10 14s. yearly, which is applied
for church expenses.