LEE
Legh, xiv cent.
Lee (or The Lee) is a small parish, lying on the
northern slopes of the Chiltern Hills. It contains
502 acres (fn. 1) of land, which are divided into arable
and permanent pasture lands in nearly equal proportions. There are about 14. acres of old woodlands
and about 16 acres of more recent plantings. (fn. 2) The
land lies mainly between 600 ft. and 700 ft. above
the Ordnance datum, the highest point rising to
730 ft. (fn. 3) The subsoil is chalk. (fn. 4) The parish is very
secluded, no highway or railway passing through it.
Several winding by-roads are the chief thoroughfares; one, starting out from the high road between
Wendover and Amersham, forms the northern parish
boundary from King's Ash to the hamlet of Lee
Gate; King's Lane, in which are some remains of the
ancient earthwork known as Grim's Dike, also bounds
the parish on the west and south. The village of
Lee lies on another by-road, on three sides of a
village green, on which is a large glacier-borne sandstone rock dug up in the neighbourhood, and erected
on a pedestal by the present lord of the manor. The
village contains a small number of picturesque houses,
farms, and cottages. The nearest stations are Wendover and Great Missenden, on the Metropolitan Extension Railway, which are 4 and 3 miles away
respectively. The official postal address for the village
is The-Lee. The population is mainly employed in
agriculture. Straw-plaiting was formerly a considerable industry and is still carried on to a limited
extent. The manor house, which was restored and
enlarged in 1901, is the residence of the lord of the
manor, Mr. Arthur Lasenby Liberty.
Manor
The manor of LEE is not mentioned
in Domesday Book, but from later evidence
it seems probable that it was granted by
the Conqueror to Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, and followed the same descent as Weston Turville, (fn. 5) being
held of the honour of Leicester, and later of the
Duchy of Lancaster. (fn. 6) In the 12th century it was
held by Ralph de Halton, (fn. 7) but it is not clear whether
he held it directly from the Earl of Leicester, or from
the Turvilles as measne lords. He was succeeded by
Geoffrey de Turville, clerk, (fn. 8) the brother of William
de Turville, who was lord of Weston Turville (fn. 9) at the
close of the 12th century. Geoffrey granted Lee to
Missenden Abbey in frankalmoign, (fn. 10) and his grant
was confirmed by William de Turville (fn. 11) and Robert,
Earl of Leicester. Unfortunately the charters, though
they appear in the index of the Missenden Cartulary,
are missing in the text, but there are several papal
confirmations (fn. 12) of the grant. In 1535 (fn. 13) Lee and
Brondes were enumerated amongst the temporalities
of the monastery, and were valued at 110s. a year.
Brondes was presumably a freehold farm in the
neighbourhood of Lee. A reference in the Monasticon
records that Ralph Marshall, admitted Abbot of
Missenden on 10 July 1356, was convicted of counterfeiting and clipping the king's coin, namely, groats
and sterling, at his manor called 'Legh,' near Missenden. (fn. 14) After the dissolution of Missenden Abbey
the manor of Lee (fn. 15) remained in the possession of the
Crown till Edward VI granted it in 1547 (fn. 16) to Lord
Russell. Francis Russell, Earl of Bedford, succeeded
him, and was probably holding it in 1583, (fn. 17) when he
mortgaged certain land in Lee. How long he retained
the manor does not appear, but it is not mentioned in
the inquisitions taken on his lands at his death, and
at the death of his son. (fn. 18) Its subsequent history is
very obscure, but it seems
probable that it passed into
the hands of the Plaistowe
family during the 17th century. William Plaistowe obtained a lease of the tithes in
Lee in 1635 (fn. 19) for ninetynine years. In 1641 (fn. 20) his
land there was assessed at 50s.
annual value, but it is not
certain that he also held the
manor. His family, however,
was obviously established in
Lee at this time, though on
another supposition the Plaistowes only obtained the
manor after the Civil War, during which many of
the Russell estates were sequestered.
Plaistowe. Gules a lion argent between two bends or.
Before 1665 William Plaistowe had been succeeded
by Thomas Plaistowe, who may probably be identified
with the Thomas Plaistowe of the Lee, whose monument is in Lee Church. (fn. 21) He died in 1715 at the
age of eighty-seven. In a monument in Little Kimble
Church he is called Thomas Plaistowe of Amersham, (fn. 22)
and this suggests that he was the first of the family to
own the manor, and that their chief estate had previously been at Amersham. At Lee he was succeeded
by his youngest son William, who married Dorothy
the daughter of Richard Plaistowe of Small Deane. (fn. 23)
He in turn was succeeded by his son Thomas, persumably the Thomas Plaistowe who died in 1785, (fn. 24)
leaving an only daughter and heiress Elizabeth. (fn. 25)
She is said to have advertised (fn. 26) for a husband, and by
this means married an Irishman named Henry Deering. Mrs. Deering died in 1812, (fn. 27) and her husband
held the manor for many years after her death, (fn. 28)
Before 1862, however, it reverted to the family of
Plaistowe, and in that year John Plaistowe was lord
of the manor. (fn. 29) In 1900 Mr. Lasenby Liberty
bought the manor from John Plaistowe, and is the
present owner of the estate.
The Abbot of Missenden obtained a grant of free
warren in his demesne lands at Lee from Edward I
in 1287–8, (fn. 30) which grant was confirmed by Henry VI. (fn. 31)
The abbot held a view of frankpledge for his tenants
at Lee, paying 2s. a year to the Duchy of Lancaster. (fn. 32)
The supposition that Ralph de Halton held Lee of
the Turvilles as mesne lords receives corroboration
from the fact that he apparently did not hold the
whole of Lee. Hence some land remained with the
Turvilles, and was not included in Geoffrey de Turville's grant to Missenden Abbey. After the division
of the manor of Weston Turville between the three
heiresses (fn. 33) of the second William de Turville, the fee
that passed to Hugh de Herdebergh included land
not only in Weston, but also in Little Broughton,
Bedgrove, and Lee, (fn. 34) which all formed one township
in 1285. This land in Lee presumably belonged to
the manor of Weston Butlers, and afterwards to the
united manor of Weston Turville. (fn. 35)
Churches
The church of ST. JOHN THE
BAPTIST was built in 1868, on a
site 100 yds. or so east of the old
church, and consists of a nave, chancel, south porch,
and north organ chamber. It is constructed of brick
in 13th-century style. At the east end of the south
wall are a well-designed piscina and sedile of the
middle of the 13th century, which were removed
from the old church, and reset in their present
position. Both have shafted jambs and a scroll
label with buckle drips. The head of the piscina is
moulded with a roll and a filleted bowtel, and has an
inner cinquefoiled head, and there is a shelf, while
the drain is old but mutilated. The head of the
sedile has a plain hollow-chamfered arch, and in both
cases the engaged shafts have circular moulded capitals
and bases. There are also a number of wall monuments removed from the old church, one to Elizabeth
(Welch) the wife of Thomas Plaistowe, died 1762, of
grey and white marble in Adams style, and another,
an excellent though somewhat florid piece of work, is
in white marble with a rococo cartouche and cupids'
heads, to Thomas Plaistowe, died 1715. All the
fittings of the church are modern, including the font,
which is octagonal.
There is one bell in a small stone bell-cot or gable,
at the west end of the church. This bell was
removed from the old church, and is of considerable
antiquarian interest, only four others by the same
founder being known. It is inscribed 'Michael de
Wymbis me fecit.' It is not certain when Michael
de Wymbis lived, but the style of his bells suggests a
date of about 1290. (fn. 36)
The church plate consists of a flagon, chalice, and
two patens, all the gift of Mrs. Elizabeth Deering in
1811, and hall-marked for the previous year.
The first book of the registers contains burials
between 1679 and 1802, baptisms between 1679 and
1797, and marriages between 1700 and 1799. After
this there is a gap, the baptisms being continued in a
second book with entries between 1804 and 1812,
while the other entries are only continued from 1812.
An extensive rectangular earthwork probably marks
the boundary of the old monastic grounds, and there
are traces of fishponds on the north.
The OLD CHURCH, now used as a Sunday school
room, is built in chalk, and consists of a nave and chancel in one range and a south porch; it is lit on the
north by three lancets of 13th-century date, and on
the south by two, while the east window is a late 13thcentury one reset with shafted jambs and inserted
tracery. There are two doors to the south, a small
one near the eastern end, and one at the western end
of 15th-century date with a four-centred head, on the
rear-arch of which are some traces of colour decoration.
The south porch is of early 19th-century construction.
There is also a west door, a late insertion with a round
head, and traces of a consecration cross on the masonry
below. On the west and north interior wall are
some indistinct traces of colour decoration and, preserved on shelves, a number of fragments of late 13thcentury date, capitals, portions of mouldings, &c., but
the dismantled state of the building makes it impossible
to assign these to their places. The font, which was
removed when the new church was built, forty years
ago, has recently been re-erected in its original
position. It is old but of uncertain date. The
stained glass in the east window, the gift of the present
lord of the manor, contains in the centre light the
figure of John Hampden, supported in the two side
lights by Oliver Cromwell and Miles Hobart. At
the top of the centre light, and occupying its original
position in the window, is a very interesting and
well-preserved fragment of 13th-century glass.
Advowson
The chapel of Lee was originally
appendant to the church of Weston
Turville, (fn. 37) and seems to have been
served by the rector of that parish. Ralph de Halton,
when he held Lee, (fn. 38) made an agreement with regard
to the chapel, by which he was to pay 5s. a year at the
altar of Weston Turville on St. Thomas' Day in commutation for all tithes due from his land at Lee.
Geoffrey de Turville (fn. 39) confirmed this agreement. He
appears to have granted the chapel as well as his
manor to the abbey of Missenden, (fn. 40) and various disputes arose as to the payments due from it to the rector of Weston Turville. It was finally agreed however
that the abbot and canons were to pay 6s. a year to
the mother church, and were to hold the chapel in
peace. (fn. 41) The chapel was served by the canons, and
the rectory was impropriated. In 1535 (fn. 42) the benefice
was described as the rectory of Lee and Brownes and
was let at farm, the tenant in 1540 being Thomas
Adam. (fn. 43) Lord Russell obtained a grant of the rectory
as well as the manor of Lee in 1547 (fn. 44) and no endowment seems to have been left for the chapel. No
vicarage appears to have been ordained, (fn. 45) and though
there were churchwardens in 1537, (fn. 46) two years earlier,
when it was in the hands of the abbot, (fn. 47) it was still
called the chapel of Lee. It is not certain whether
Lee had become a separate parish at this time, but
the extraordinary position of the chapel was apparent
as early as 1537. In that year two churchwardens,
Richard Westwood and Thomas Newynt(on), appear
to have gone round the neighbouring parishes (fn. 48) asking
charity for their church. A curious story has been
preserved that on going to the house of Francis
Fonge of Little Missenden for this purpose, Alice his
wife asked them to come in to drink. In the house
Westwood saw a book of the gospels in English lying
open in the window. He read the opened pages and
shortly afterwards accused his hostess, who was thereupon indicted for heresy. (fn. 49) The result unfortunately
is not forthcoming. The efforts of the churchwardens
to raise money probably enabled them to tide over
the difficulty caused by the dissolution of the monastery, and the chapel may very likely have been continuously served by the ex-canon, John Slythurst, to
whom an extra pension of £8 a year was granted in
1539 to serve the cure at Lee; (fn. 50) if he refused, the
pension was reduced to £5 6s. 8d. How long this
arrangement went on does not appear, but probably
the lords of the manor were forced to make some
reasonable provision for a curate at Lee Chapel. A
vicarage is spoken of in the grant of the manor and
rectory to Lord Russell, (fn. 51) and possibly some assignment of land had already taken place. The lords of
the manor were the patrons and presented to the
chapel as a donative. (fn. 52) The living at the present
day is a vicarage, the advowson belonging to Mr.
Lasenby Liberty.
Charities
The Charity of Nicholas Almond,
founded by deed 1629, see under
Wendover. The poor of this parish
receive 10s. a year from this charity.
In 1880 Miss Harriet Day by will proved at London 4 June, left to the vicar and churchwardens
£4,000 stock, now represented by £4,045 1s. 9d.
Corporation of Croydon 3 per cent. stock, producing
yearly £121 7s., to be applied 8s. weekly to each of
five poor women, not under the age of sixty years, who
should have dwelt for ten years within a radius of 2
miles of Lee parish church and be communicants there;
£2 to vicar for making weekly payments aforesaid;
residue to said women in coal at midsummer. The
widows receive 8s. a week according to the terms of
the will.
In 1881 Abraham Watson by will, proved at London
9 May, left to the vicar and churchwardens £200 now
represented by £200 consols, dividends to be applied
in food and coals at Christmas amongst the poor.
The sums of stock are held by the official trustees.