BISHOPSTONE
Bishopstone is 10 km. east of Swindon on
Wiltshire's border with that part of Oxfordshire
which was formerly part of Berkshire. (fn. 1) The
parish, 3,520 a. (1,424 ha.), was increased to
2,299 ha. (5,681 a.) in 1934 when its neighbour
Little Hinton was added to it. (fn. 2) It was long and
narrow, 7 km. by 2 km., one of several such
parishes running north-west and south-east
across the flat clay land of the Cole valley up the
chalk of the Marlborough and Berkshire Downs,
and, with roughly equal amounts of each kind of
land, it conformed to the type. The village is on a
narrow band of Upper Greensand which outcrops across the middle of the parish at the
bottom of the north facing scarp of the downs, at
c. 122 m. The escarpment is cut by two deep
coombs; south of it the land is higher with
Lammy Down over 244 m. and two summits
over 229 m., but the relief is gentler with a large
area of flat land at the eastern edge of the parish.
The chalk is covered by clay-with-flints on
Lammy Down. In the north part of the parish,
where the land falls northwards to 97 m. no more
than 1 in 150, Gault, Lower Greensand, and
small areas of Kimmeridge Clay outcrop. (fn. 3) The
distribution of arable, meadow, and pasture land
normal in such parishes was made at Bishopstone. Furthest from the village the northern
lowland and southern upland were permanent
pasture, and arable land lay across the centre of
the parish where, south of the village, only
Lammy Down and the coombs were not
ploughed. In historical times there has not been
more than a few acres of woodland in the parish.
A small circular wood, Bishopstone Folly, was
growing above the west coomb in the 18th
century. (fn. 4)
Bishopstone is in some aspects of its history
strikingly similar to its namesake near Salisbury. (fn. 5)
Not named in Domesday Book, both were outlying parts of episcopal and hundredal manors,
the northern Bishopstone of the bishop of Salisbury's manor of Ramsbury, with which it
marched only along a short downland boundary
at its south end. Neither is known to have been a
parish before the 13th century, and their names,
identical and of similar origin, do not appear
earlier. (fn. 6) Bishopstone near Ramsbury was so
called in 1208. (fn. 7)
The nicety of the rectangle formed by the
parish and the fact that the village is in its centre
suggest that compactness and symmetry were
sought after more than natural boundaries when
Bishopstone's lands were defined. Its western
boundary was related in pre-Conquest charters
of Little Hinton and Wanborough. To plot the
ancient boundary would be difficult if the modern
was not known, but plausible attempts have been
made to correlate the two. (fn. 8) Only by a headstream
of the Cole and by the bottom of a dry valley in
the northern part of that boundary was Bishopstone delimited by natural features.
Four possibly ancient roads crossed the parish
from east to west. The Ridge Way is at the top of
the scarp. Below and north of it the parallel
Icknield Way follows the contours and links the
villages on the Upper Greensand. At the north
end of the parish the Rogues Way followed the
parish boundary, and a Thieves Way crossed the
southern downs. (fn. 9) None was turnpiked. Neither
the Thieves Way nor the Rogues Way was
marked on a map of 1758, (fn. 10) and there was
nothing to be seen of them in 1980: the Ridge
Way has never been made up. The Icknield Way,
the road from Swindon to Wantage (Berks., later
Oxon.), was in places a field path in 1758. It was a
road in 1773 and has become the main line of
communication for the parish. In the 18th century a path branched from it west of the village
and led northwards to Shrivenham (Berks., later
Oxon.), and other paths led across the lowland
from near the church and from Golds Green.
The westernmost was established as a road at
inclosure in 1813, when a new road from Golds
Green was made to join it. The other two have
gone out of use. (fn. 11) None of the roads leading south
from the Swindon-Wantage road leaves the
parish, and in 1980 Russley Park on the downs
could be approached by road only from the
south.
Evidence of an early Iron-Age settlement has
been found near Russley Park and part of a
Roman tessellated pavement on the downs east
of Lammy Down. Other artefacts, barrows,
ditches, and a 50-a. field system also attest
prehistoric activity on the downs. (fn. 12) On the steep
north facing slope below the Ridge Way near the
western boundary of the parish is a broad flight
of well preserved strip lynchets which was
excavated in the 1950s. It was then suggested that
the lynchets had been made for cultivation. (fn. 13)
Bishopstone c.1758
Bishopstone grew up north of the Swindon–Wantage road where the two coombs converge. A
stream, called Westbrook in 1773, (fn. 14) rises in the
west coomb and flows northwards across the
lowland to the Cole: it is joined from the west by
another springing north of the Swindon–
Wantage road. Between the two the church,
manor house, and demesne farmstead of Bishopstone manor were built, and the mill was built
north of the road on the eastern stream with its
pond south of the road where it remains a
prominent feature. The village developed in an
arc around that nucleus. It was a community of
many small farmsteads, closely grouped, and
linked with the Swindon–Wantage road by a
network of lanes. (fn. 15) The copyholders held more
land on the east side of the parish than the west,
and their farmsteads were more numerous in the
east part of the village, especially beside the lane,
leading north to the lowland, which was called
High Street in 1758. The open space near the mill
in the centre of the village was then called Hocker
Bench. (fn. 16) The village was apparently wealthy in
the Middle Ages: the assessment for taxation in
1334 was above average and in 1377 the number
of poll-tax payers, 169, was very high. (fn. 17) Taxation
assessments in the 16th century were also high. (fn. 18)
Apparently in the 18th century the village spilled
over to the south side of the Swindon-Wantage
road. East of the mill pond a line of cottages was
then built on the waste in an arc in the west
coomb, and along a short path west of the pond a
few more cottages were built. (fn. 19) In the 19th
century several more cottages and houses were
built in those areas, and the school was also built
beside the mill pond. In the 20th century several
houses, including the present vicarage house and
in 1977 a village hall, (fn. 20) have also been erected
south of the road. As the number of farms in the
parish decreased the population fell by a third
between 1881 and 1901. (fn. 21) Not many farmhouses
and cottages in the northern and eastern parts of
the village were demolished, but the balance of
the village was then being shifted by the demolition of the old manor house and by the building
of two large red-brick houses, Forest House and
Eastbrook Farm, (fn. 22) and most new houses and
cottages beside the Swindon-Wantage road and
at the east end of the village. In 1801 the
population was 530. By 1851 it had risen to a peak
of 755 and by 1901 had declined to 404. It was
449 in 1911 and 371 in 1934 when figures for
Bishopstone alone are last available. (fn. 23) More than
half of the 569 inhabitants of the enlarged parish
lived in Bishopstone in 1971. (fn. 24)
In 1980 the older buildings were scattered
about the lanes north of the Swindon-Wantage
road and concentrated in the west coomb. The
predominant building materials before the 20th
century were chalk, often used with red-brick
quoins and window surrounds, and thatch.
Manor Farm beside the Swindon-Wantage road
at the west end of the village has a long 17thcentury range and a later wing to the east, and
there is another 17th-century farmhouse behind
it. Another 17th-century farmhouse survives
north-east of the church and there are some
15–20 cottages and small houses apparently of
17th- and 18th-century origin in High Street and
the parallel lane west of it. The True Heart in
High Street was open in the earlier 19th century
and rebuilt c. 1900: the Royal Oak in the lane west
of High Street was built in 1907 on the front of an
18th-century building. (fn. 25) South of the Swindon–
Wantage road some 18th-century cottages and a
variety of 19th-century houses and cottages survive. In the mid 20th century the balance of the
village has shifted back to its northern and
eastern parts, where there are few 19th-century
dwellings, with the building of various private
houses and some 30 council houses. There has
been little settlement in the parish outside the
village. Russley Park was built on the downs c.
1700 (fn. 26) and several houses stood there in 1980.
Starveall Farm, a pair of cottages and farm
buildings of chalk with brick dressings erected in
the early 19th century, and Ridgeway Farm,
buildings and a pair of cottages of the late 19th
century, are also on the downs, and two farmsteads have been built on the lowland in the 19th
and 20th centuries.
Manors and Other Estate.
It has
been plausibly suggested that in 1086 the bishop
of Salisbury's Ramsbury estate included Bishopstone, not itself named in Domesday Book, (fn. 27) and
early ownership by the bishops is implied by the
place name: (fn. 28) the earliest express record of an
episcopal estate there was in 1208. (fn. 29) In 1294 the
bishop was granted free warren in his demesne
lands. (fn. 30) The manor of BISHOPSTONE passed
with the see of Salisbury until the Civil War. In
1647 it was sold to John Oldfield and Matthew
Kendrick, apparently trustees or agents of the
lessee Gilbert Keate. (fn. 31) The manor was returned
to the see at the Restoration. (fn. 32) It passed in 1869 to
the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, later the
Church Commissioners, owners in 1980. (fn. 33)
In the early 16th century the bishops leased
their demesne lands to members of the Precy
family and in 1542 Bishop Salcot granted a lease
of them until 1605 to John Precy. (fn. 34) In 1548 the
bishop leased the whole manor, subject to the
Precys' interest, to John Knight for 99 years. (fn. 35)
Knight was possibly a trustee of the Precys.
Charles Precy held the manor from 1600 or earlier
until his death in 1626. (fn. 36) It passed to Thomas
Precy and Henry Shelley, possibly his executors.
In 1626–7 they sold the lease to Gilbert Keate (d.
1657–8) to whom new leases were granted in
1629 and 1636. (fn. 37) Gilbert was succeeded by his
son Jonathan (created a baronet in 1660) to whom
a new lease was granted in 1661. (fn. 38) Keate assigned
his lease in 1663–4 to Christopher Willoughby
(d. 1681) and it passed to Christopher's cousin
George Willoughby (knighted in 1686, d.
1695). (fn. 39) In 1692–3 Willoughby settled his leaseholds of the manor and prebend of Bishopstone
and new leases were granted to his trustees. (fn. 40)
They passed together to his son Christopher (d.
1715), to Christopher's son George (d. 1751), and
to George's son Henry. (fn. 41) In 1757 the lease of
Bishopstone manor was sold after proceedings in
Chancery to a trustee of the paymaster-general,
Henry Fox (created Baron Holland in 1763, d.
1774), (fn. 42) and was apparently settled on Fox's son
Stephen (d. 1774). (fn. 43) The lease passed with the
Holland title to Stephen's son Henry Richard
(from 1800 Henry Richard Vassall) Fox (d. 1840)
and grandson Henry Edward Fox (d. 1859), (fn. 44)
whose relict Mary sold it to the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners in 1862. (fn. 45)
In 1647 there was on the manor a ten-room
house, built of and roofed with stone, with
thatched outbuildings. (fn. 46) It stood south-west
of the church, between the church and the
Swindon-Wantage road, and was lived in by the
Willoughbys. (fn. 47) In 1757 it was settled for life on
Jane, relict of George Willoughby (d. 1751). (fn. 48)
From 1803 it was held by James Puzey (d. 1837)
who kept a school in it. (fn. 49) In 1840 the house was
said to be large, dilapidated, and only partly
occupied. Drawings of it made in 1845 show it to
have been in a mixture of styles. Wings were
taken down in 1852. In 1862 the house was taken
into the prebendal estate by the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners in exchange for land, and was
demolished. (fn. 50)
The manor of BISHOPSTONE PREBEND
was presumably taken from Bishopstone manor
by a bishop of Salisbury to endow the prebend of
Bishopstone, (fn. 51) and, consisting of tithes and
demesne and customary land, it belonged to the
prebendaries until the Civil War. In 1651 the
lands were sold to Gilbert Keate. (fn. 52) They presumably passed to Sir Jonathan Keate but at the
Restoration were given back to the prebendary. (fn. 53)
Land was allotted to replace the tithes in 1813. (fn. 54)
The last prebendary died in 1838. The income
from the manor was paid to Queen Anne's
Bounty until in 1840 the manor and the profits
from 1838 were vested in the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners. (fn. 55) The land was part of the
Church Commissioners' Bishopstone estate
in 1980. (fn. 56)
In 1538 and 1573 prebendaries leased their
manor to Thomas Davy. (fn. 57) In 1584 a new lease
was granted to a trustee of the Davy family,
members of which took the profits until at least
1620. (fn. 58) In 1633 John Barnstone, the prebendary,
leased the prebend to William Barnstone for lives
which possibly survived the Interregnum. (fn. 59) In
1672 the prebend was leased to Christopher
Willoughby, and new leases were granted to the
lessees of Bishopstone manor until in 1751 and
1755 they were granted to Jane, relict of George
Willoughby (d. 1751). (fn. 60) By 1780 Henry Richard
Fox, Lord Holland, had become lessee. (fn. 61) In 1784
the prebendal manor was leased to John Hepworth, rector of Grafham (Hunts., later
Cambs.), (fn. 62) and in 1813 a lease was held by the
executors of William Church of Upper Upham in
Aldbourne. (fn. 63) From 1820 to 1855 Richard Webb
(d. 1837) and his executors were lessees. (fn. 64)
There was a house on the manor in 1341 and
1631. (fn. 65) In 1758 the house stood north-west of the
church. (fn. 66) In 1862–3 the Ecclesiastical Commissioners built on the estate a new red-brick house,
Forest House, later Prebendal Farm, between
the site of the demolished Bishopstone manor
house and the Swindon-Wantage road. The
house north-west of the church was demolished
between 1884 and 1922. (fn. 67)
A sporting estate was established on Russley
down as part of Bishopstone manor, possibly by
the Willoughbys in the late 17th century or the
early 18th. In 1758 there was a house with a main
block of five bays and a symmetrical front of two
storeys with attics and a basement. It lay near the
centre of a partly hedged and partly paled park
of 119 a. in which avenues ran south, east,
and west. (fn. 68) The house was lived in by Henry
Willoughby and passed with the lease of Bishopstone manor to the Foxes. (fn. 69) Russely park was
sublet with sporting rights over the whole parish,
from 1771 to William Craven, Lord Craven (d.
1791), who owned the neighbouring Ashdown
Park in Ashbury (Berks., later Oxon.). It was
held until his death in 1825 by Lord Craven's son
William, Lord Craven, who from c. 1803 further
sublet it. (fn. 70) In 1826 Lord Holland sublet the
Russley estate to Thomas Hedges of Highworth
and in 1864 the sublessee was J. Challoner
Smith. (fn. 71) In 1870 the Ecclesiastical Commissioners sold the estate to Thomas Challoner
Smith, and in 1899 it seems to have belonged to
Henry Challoner Smith. (fn. 72) About then the old
house was demolished and a new one built on its
site. The estate belonged to racehorse trainers. In
1907 W. T. Robinson of Foxhill in Wanborough
sold it to W. Hall Walker who sold it in 1916 to
the Secretary of State for War as agent for the
Board of Agriculture. (fn. 73) A large farm and stable
complex was erected south-east of the house,
initially for use as a stud farm. (fn. 74) In 1931 the War
Department sold it to Thomas Oakley. (fn. 75)
Economic History.
From the 13th century or earlier Bishopstone was divided between
the bishop of Salisbury's and the prebendary's
manors, (fn. 76) and from the later Middle Ages two
areas of cultivation, Eastbrook and Westbrook,
were distinguished. (fn. 77) Each manor included land
in each area of cultivation. There are references
to Eastbrook and Westbrook in 1425, and in the
early 17th century the words were used freely to
locate holdings. (fn. 78) The division may have originated in the position of farmsteads on either side
of the stream rising in the west coomb. The
pastures at each end of the parish were outside
them and by the later 18th century the origins of,
and the line between, the Eastbrook and Westbrook divisions had become obscure. (fn. 79)
Although the number and extent of the arable
fields in the Middle Ages is not clear, the
existence of a biennially sown south field in 1425
suggests a simple two-field system. (fn. 80) A much
more fragmented arrangement in the mid 17th
century is evident but the practice of leaving half
fallow again suggests a two-field origin. (fn. 81) The
bishop's manor was larger than the prebendary's
and in 1291 three times as valuable. (fn. 82) The
bishop's demesne farm was apparently in hand in
the 13th century and was not leased until after
1438. (fn. 83) The manor was independent of the
bishop's manor of Ramsbury, but exchanges
of stock and produce were made among the
demesnes of Bishopstone, Ramsbury, and Baydon. (fn. 84) The fact that in 1286 it was recorded that
43 oxen customarily passed from bishop to bishop
indicates much arable cultivation at some time. (fn. 85)
There were 201 a., 603 selions, of demesne land
sown in 1425; 82 a. of meadow land were mown;
and at Michaelmas there were flocks of 379
wethers and 311 ewes. (fn. 86) In 1438 there were 171 a.
sown and 652 sheep kept. (fn. 87) The customary works
owed by the tenants may have been sufficient to
cultivate the demesne, but by the earlier 15th
century they had been commuted and the
demesne was largely cultivated by wage labour.
In 1425 the customary holdings, for which rents
totalled £17 5s., seem to have been small and
numerous: they included 35 of 1 yardland and 19
of ½ yardland. (fn. 88) In 1508 the rent for the demesne
lands was £18; in 1535 customary rents were
£22. (fn. 89) A demesne warren was referred to in
1542. (fn. 90) The most valuable part of the prebendary's manor was presumably the tithes of grain,
hay, and sheep which in the Middle Ages were
due from the whole parish. (fn. 91) In 1341 the demesne
land included an arable carucate, meadow land,
and several pasture for 100 sheep and 14 cattle. (fn. 92)
Rents amounting to £1 12s. were paid by the
customary tenants, of whom there were eight
holding a total of 8 yardlands in 1405. The
prebendal estate was then held by lease. (fn. 93) It was
valued at £19 9s. in 1535. (fn. 94) There were 41 a. of
demesne in 1631. (fn. 95)
About 1647–9 there were c. 50 farmsteads with
small areas of pasture in the village and 1,750 a. of
arable land in the centre of the parish. North of
that all the meadows and pasture on the lowland
seem to have been used in common for part, if not
all, of the year. South of it most of the upland
pastures, including Russley, 250 a., for cattle,
were likewise common. The demesne farm of
Bishopstone manor, 750–800 a., was in the west
half of the parish. The copyholders of the manor
held 70 yardlands, 1,450 a., of which more than
50 were in Eastbrook. There were 42 tenants and
only one holding clearly over 100 a.: nine holdings exceeded 50 a. Each yardland had feeding
rights for 30 sheep, 2 horses, and 3 beasts. The
copyholds included 125 a. of 'lanes', pastures of
some 1–10 a. scattered among the arable furlongs.
Lammy Down, 42 a. north of the Ridge Way, was
later a several part of the episcopal demesne.
The prebendal tithes were worth £140 in 1649.
The demesne of the prebendal manor measured
33 a. and the ten prebendal copyholders held 8
yardlands in Eastbrook and 1 yardland in Westbrook with feeding rights similar to those of the
episcopal copyholders. (fn. 96)
Common husbandry in Bishopstone was in
general altered little in the 18th century although
it was constantly being refined and amended in
detail. (fn. 97) Before 1758, however, 120 a. of Russley
down was inclosed and made into a sporting
estate. (fn. 98) The remaining downs were divided
between Farm down, 400 a., and Town down,
240 a. for the episcopal and prebendal copyholders. Bishopstone common, 350 a., at the
north-east corner of the parish was only for
the episcopal copyholders. The meadows and
pastures at the north-west corner, 200 a., were
apparently a several part of the demesne farm of
Bishopstone manor, Bishopstone farm. Between
the upland and lowland pasture the arable land
was in 1758 in 163 furlongs, characteristically
divided into ½-a. strips, totalling some 2,000 a.
The Bishopstone farm arable land, 430 a., was in
complete furlongs in Westbrook but apparently
commonable. The farm, with buildings west of
the manor house in the village, had been sublet by
the Willoughbys until taken in hand, and badly
managed, by Henry Willoughby after 1751.
There were 40 other farmsteads in the village and
only a downland barn outside it. The prebend
was sublet for £145 a year and at least some of the
tithes further sublet to the occupiers of the land. (fn. 99)
In 1784, when the parish measured 3,520 a.,
there were 1,725 a. of arable land, over 700 a. of
meadow and lowland pasture, and over 800 a. of
upland pasture and down. Of the arable land 441
a. were sown with wheat, 254 a. with barley, 125
a. with oats, 344 a. with peas, beans, and vetches,
and 49 a. with clover and ryegrass; 512 a. were
fallow. Bishopstone farm measured 955 a.,
Russley park 120 a., the prebendal demesne 42 a.,
and the vicar's glebe 16 a. The 69½ copyhold
yardlands of Bishopstone manor amounted to
1,401 a., the 9 of the prebendal manor 145 a.
There were 600 a. in Bishopstone common and
Town down. The 78½ copyhold yardlands were
held by a total of 45 tenants and there were no
more than 22 occupiers of the land, some of them,
including William Phillips who occupied over
330 a., holding entirely as undertenants. There
were several farms over 100 a., the majority were
30–100 a., and a few were under 30 a. (fn. 100)
It seems likely that in the 18th century
the number of farms fell and that their sizes
increased, (fn. 101) but the amount of subletting makes
that impossible to prove. In the 19th century,
however, the concentration of the land into a few
large farms can be clearly seen. The commonable
lands, all the arable land and Town down and
Bishopstone common, were inclosed and allotted
in 1813 under an Act. At the same time all the
prebendal and vicarial tithes were exchanged for
land and there were various exchanges of land. (fn. 102)
Bishopstone (later Manor) farm remained a long
narrow strip on the west side of the parish, 840 a.
in 1840. (fn. 103) From 1813 to 1901 members of the
Dore family occupied it. (fn. 104) In 1840 it had additional
buildings on the lowland and in 1864 more on
Farm down. (fn. 105) The prebendary was allotted 640 a.
in narrow strips north and south of the village
immediately east of Bishopstone farm. Prebendal
farm was worked from the prebendal manor
house and buildings beside the Ridge Way until
1862–3 when new buildings were erected on the
site of Bishopstone manor house. (fn. 106) The vicar's
glebe was worked as a farm, 133 a., in the late
19th century and early 20th. (fn. 107) The eastern side of
the parish was occupied by 17 inclosed copyhold
farms over 20 a., including one over 200 a. and
four over 100 a., and by 33 smallholdings, but the
number of separately worked farms is uncertain. (fn. 108)
In 1864 over 1,000 a. of the 1,600 a. of copyhold
land was in four holdings. Between 1865 and
1880 the Ecclesiastical Commissioners took in
hand most of the copyholds and by 1883 had
merged much of them into Eastbrook farm, 981
a., with a newly erected house and enlarged farm
buildings at the east end of the village. Over 200
a. of Bishopstone common were leased to a
farmer in another parish and some 233 a. remained
copyhold. (fn. 109) In the 19th century and early 20th
Starveall and Ridgeway were smaller upland
farms, (fn. 110) but since the Second World War there
have been only three principal farms in the
parish, Manor, Prebendal, and Eastbrook, of
which Manor and Prebendal have sometimes
been held together. (fn. 111) In 1980, when the farming
in the parish was mixed, they measured respectively 836 a., 961 a., and 1,338 a. (fn. 112) Watercress
was cultivated in beds north and south of Bishopstone mill from 1878 or earlier until the 1930s or
later. (fn. 113) There have been occasional references to
clothworking in Bishopstone and in 1927 hemp
was said to be produced commercially. (fn. 114)
Russley park was enlarged to 245 a. in 1882
when its owner acquired the southernmost part
of Town down. (fn. 115) In 1895 its owner was training
racehorses on Bishopstone downs by arrangement with the farmers, and stables were established at Russley. In 1904 gallops on the downs
for a maximum of 80 horses were leased to the
owners of the stables at Foxhill. The gallops
continued to be used from Foxhill until c. 1950.
Because they prevented inclosure and thus
anything but inconvenient sheep grazing they
were then abandoned in order to improve the
farms. (fn. 116)
Mills. There was a mill at Bishopstone in the
mid 13th century, apparently four in the mid
14th, and two on the demesne of Bishopstone
manor in the early 15th. (fn. 117) A mill remained part of
that manor. (fn. 118) The mill buildings near the centre
of the village were said in 1788 to house two water
grist mills. (fn. 119) The mill was rebuilt by the lessee
Peter Knight in 1818. (fn. 120) In 1864 it was said to
house three pairs of stones and in 1886 was a flour
mill. (fn. 121) Milling was apparently stopped between
1903 and 1907. (fn. 122)
Local Government.
The bishops of
Salisbury's right to exercise royal jurisdiction in
Bishopstone came from their rights in Ramsbury
hundred, (fn. 123) and it is not clear whether separate
views of frankpledge were held for Bishopstone
in the Middle Ages. The right to hold courts was
leased with Bishopstone manor from 1548 and it
was later made clear that public jurisdiction was
over the whole parish. (fn. 124) In the 17th century the
lessees held an annual view of frankpledge but,
especially from the 1620s, it dealt with little more
than the election of constables and tithingmen.
The court baron of Bishopstone manor was held
in autumn on the day of the view, and additional
courts were sometimes held. Much copyhold and
agrarian business was done: overseers of the
commons, 'leazelookers', and other officers were
appointed. (fn. 125) Since common husbandry and
copyhold tenure lasted long at Bishopstone those
matters remained the main business of the courts
in the 18th century. (fn. 126) The court baron of the
prebendal manor was held occasionally in the late
17th century and the 18th. The proceedings of
fifteen courts held between 1663 and 1753 were
separately recorded and those of others were
recorded with those of Bishopstone manor
courts. The courts dealt only with copyhold
business. (fn. 127) In the mid 18th century the lessee of
the two manors merged the courts, but they were
again separate in the late 18th century. Both were
held for copyhold business and little else in the
19th century. (fn. 128)
Annual expenditure on the poor was £153 in
1775–6 and £240 in 1802–3 when 14 adults were
relieved regularly and 55 occasionally. (fn. 129) The
parish, which had no workhouse, spent an average
of £520 a year on the poor 1833–5, a figure not
abnormal for the size of parish. Bishopstone
joined Highworth and Swindon poor-law union
in 1835. (fn. 130) In the early 19th century there were
two surveyors of highways who, for their purposes, divided the parish into east and west
tithings. (fn. 131)
Church.
Bishopstone church was standing in
the 12th century. (fn. 132) By analogy with Bishopstone
in Downton hundred it may first have been
served from Ramsbury, but was later a parish
church. (fn. 133) The church's revenues were assigned
to endow a prebend in Salisbury cathedral,
possibly before 1226 and certainly before 1291. (fn. 134)
The parish became a prebendal peculiar: prebendaries held visitation courts and administered the
ecclesiastical affairs of the parish until the death
of the last prebendary in 1838. (fn. 135) A vicarage had
been ordained by 1305. (fn. 136) The parish was transferred to Gloucester and Bristol diocese in 1837
and has been in Bristol diocese since 1897. (fn. 137) In
1946 the benefices and ecclesiastical parishes of
Little Hinton and Bishopstone were united. (fn. 138)
The advowson of the vicarage belonged to the
prebendary. (fn. 139) For reasons that are not clear the
bishop of Winchester presented in 1348 and the
queen in 1582. In 1667 Christopher Willoughby
presented by grant of a turn. (fn. 140) In 1840 the
advowson was transferred by Act to the bishop of
Gloucester and Bristol and in 1897 to the bishop
of Bristol, the patron in 1980. (fn. 141)
The vicar's income in 1535 included an annuity
of 4 marks from the prebendary, said to have
been long paid. (fn. 142) The living was valued at only
£20 c. 1620 when the prebendary's lessee was
accused of failing to pay the annuity. (fn. 143) The
poverty of the living led to an augmentation of
tithes by John Barnstone, prebendary 1601–43,
but in 1649 the vicarage was still said to be worth
no more than £30. (fn. 144) A state augmentation of £15
13s. 4d. was given and taken away before 1655. (fn. 145)
After the Restoration Barnstone's augmentation
was continued and Henry Kinnimond, prebendary 1660–78, gave a further £12 a year from the
prebend. (fn. 146) In 1716 Thomas Coker, prebendary
1696–1741, increased the pensions from the
prebend to the vicars by £15 6s. 8d. to £30, (fn. 147) and
that sum was paid until the lease of the prebend
was surrendered to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in 1855. (fn. 148) The vicar's annual income of
£208 in the period 1829–31 was nevertheless still
below average. (fn. 149)
The vicar had all lesser tithes in 1405. (fn. 150) Barnstone assigned to the vicars tithes of corn, hay,
wool, and lambs from the 9 copyhold yardlands
of the prebendal manor. (fn. 151) In the 1780s the vicar
was also said to have the tithes of Bishopstone
common. (fn. 152) In 1631 the vicar's glebe was a
yardland of 21 a. without common feeding rights
on Town down. (fn. 153) In 1813 the vicar was allotted
136 a. to replace his tithes and glebe. (fn. 154) In the
1880s and 1890s the vicar tried unsuccessfully to
sell the land to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners
and in 1904 was himself forced to buy the
buildings necessary for it to be worked as a farm.
The Ecclesiastical Commissioners bought those
buildings as an endowment for the vicarage in
1917, but in 1920 bought the whole glebe. (fn. 155)
There was a glebe house in 1582. (fn. 156) A new house
with four rooms on each floor was built a little
north of the churchyard in 1721. (fn. 157) Part of it was
rebuilt in 1873. (fn. 158) In 1880 the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners gave to the vicar by exchange land
between the vicarage house and the churchyard,
and on the enlarged site a new vicarage house was
built. (fn. 159) That house was sold in 1969 when the
vicar moved to a house built c. 1947 on the south
side of the Swindon-Wantage road near the east
end of the village. (fn. 160)
As might be expected from the poverty of the
living there were few notable vicars. John Wilson,
vicar from 1626, was deprived before 1650. (fn. 161) The
living was held by a succession of ministers
1649–59 until Wilson (d. c. 1667) was restored in
1660. (fn. 162) In 1737 Thomas Coker was prebendary, a
younger Thomas Coker was vicar, and Henry
Coker was curate. (fn. 163) In 1783 Nowes Lloyd was incumbent of both Little Hinton and Bishopstone:
his assistant curate lived at Bishopstone and held
services alternately in the two parishes. (fn. 164)
Whittington Landon, dean of Exeter, became
vicar in 1817, prebendary in 1822. He presented
his son J. W. R. Landon to succeed him as vicar
in 1825, and the son remained non-resident vicar
until his death in 1880. (fn. 165) On Census Sunday in
1851 there were congregations of 90 at the
morning and 130 at the afternoon services, above
average for Bishopstone but small for a parish as
populous. (fn. 166) In 1680 Christopher Willoughby
gave £2 a year to the vicars for preaching two
sermons and 10s. a year for keeping a register for
his other charities. In 1896 the sermon charity
was separated from the other Willoughby
charities. (fn. 167) It was still being paid in 1980. (fn. 168)
The church of ST. MARY, so called by
1405, (fn. 169) is of coursed sarsen and has a chancel, an
aisled nave with incorporated north porch, and a
west tower. A fragment of an 11th- or 12thcentury string course set high on the west wall of
the chancel is probably in situ: other remains of
the 12th-century church are the reset north doorway of the chancel, (fn. 170) carved fragments above the
south doorway of the nave, and the font. (fn. 171) The
outer arch of the porch is of the later 12th century
and was apparently reset when the porch was
built in the early 14th century. The east window
of the south aisle and some of its painted glass are
also of the 14th century. The tower was built in
the 15th century, by which time the church seems
to have reached its full extent. The arcades and
most of the outer walls of the aisles and chancel
were rebuilt in the late 15th century or the early
16th. The church was restored in 1882, when the
west gallery was removed, under the direction of
Ewan Christian, and again restored in 1891 after
a serious fire in the tower. (fn. 172) In 1680 Christopher
Willoughby gave £1 a year for bell ringing. (fn. 173) By
will proved 1796 Thomas Goddard gave £300 in
trust for ringing and preserving the bells, or
for beautifying or repairing the church. In the
19th century the charity provided substantial
sums to maintain and improve the church
fabric. By 1867–9, however, £466 had been
accumulated. The income of £14, from which
the ringers received £2, was spent. (fn. 174) In 1980 at
least part of the income was still used for bell
ringing. (fn. 175)
The church had a chalice and paten in 1405. (fn. 176)
A chalice of 6 oz. was left for the parish in 1553
when 2 oz. of silver were taken for the king. It was
replaced by a chalice dated 1627, a flagon hallmarked 1634 given in 1719, a paten hallmarked
1719, and an almsbowl hallmarked 1761. (fn. 177) In
1553 there were three bells and a sanctus bell. (fn. 178)
There was a peal of eight in 1794. (fn. 179) The oldest
was said to be dated 1602. (fn. 180) In 1891 the bells,
including three of 1796 cast by Robert and James
Wells of Aldbourne and given under his will by
Thomas Goddard, were destroyed by fire. A new
peal of eight was cast in that year by Mears &
Stainbank, the tenor from the fragments of the
old bells. (fn. 181)
The registers date from 1573: entries for the
period 1573–93 are transcripts, those for 1594–
1602 are missing. (fn. 182)
Nonconformity.
A parishioner was presented in 1624 for failing to receive Holy Communion. (fn. 183) It is likely that several houses in
Bishopstone were licensed for nonconformist
worship in the early 19th century, (fn. 184) and in 1829
there was a congregation of Independents in the
parish. (fn. 185) A chapel for Primitive Methodists was
opened in the south-east part of the village in
1833. (fn. 186) It was said to hold a congregation of 130
and to be full at the evening service on Census
Sunday in 1851. (fn. 187) It was replaced by a chapel at
the south end of High Street in 1886. (fn. 188) That
chapel was closed c. 1970. (fn. 189)
Education.
By will dated 1703 Thomas
Goddard of Lockeridge in Overton gave some
of his books to the school at Bishopstone. (fn. 190) By
deed of 1778 Thomas Coker gave 5 a. at Purton,
subject to a rent charge of 30s. for Little Hinton
school, and £200 for a school for poor children at
Bishopstone, and by will proved 1796 Thomas
Goddard gave £600 for a similar purpose. (fn. 191)
From c. 1803 to c. 1840 the school was held in the
manor house, which was leased to the schoolmaster. (fn. 192) In 1818, when there was another boarding and day school, the charity school was open to
all poor children of the parish and attended by
nearly 40. (fn. 193) Attendance had risen to 83 by 1833
when there were 65 charity pupils. (fn. 194) The school
was then held by the master and an assistant.
Coker's charity kept eighteen children there and
Goddard's provided £4 10s. for books and
£23 10s. for the master. (fn. 195) It had been resolved in
1821 not to distinguish Coker's and Goddard's
pupils (fn. 196) and in 1834 they were being taught
together; the remaining pupils were taught at the
opposite end of the large schoolroom. (fn. 197) In 1849
the school was in a two-room cottage, but in 1850
a new National school was completed on a site
beside the mill pond. (fn. 198) Attendance in 1859 was c.
70, (fn. 199) and the school was enlarged in 1872. (fn. 200)
Numbers fell steadily from 83 in 1908 to 51 in
1938 although from 1920 the older children of
Little Hinton were sent to Bishopstone. (fn. 201) In 1980
there were 31 children on roll. (fn. 202)
By an invalid will dated 1867 Christopher
Edmonds intended to give £100 to the school.
After his death his family gave the money to the
Sunday school. (fn. 203) In 1872 the school received £50
from Coker's and Goddard's charities and in
1960 £52 from all three charities. (fn. 204) Income was
still received in 1980. (fn. 205)
Charities for the Poor.
By will proved
1658 Gilbert Keate gave £600 to the Grocers
Company of London for life pensions of £4 a year
to four old people of Bishopstone. (fn. 206) Pensioners
were chosen in 1665 but, because much of the
company's property was destroyed in the Great
Fire of London, payments were not made until c.
1680. In 1706 the company compounded for the
arrears for the period 1665–80 in £150, £100 of
which was invested and used for extraordinary
relief in cash or kind. (fn. 207) In 1903 there were
only women pensioners. (fn. 208) In 1680 Christopher
Willoughby gave the great tithes of Clench in
Milton Lilbourne for various charitable purposes, including two life pensions of £3 10s. a
year to poor parishioners of Bishopstone and four
similar pensions from the residue of the charity's
income. (fn. 209) The pensions of £3 10s. were paid to
women; the four variable, and usually more
valuable, pensions were paid to men. Payments
were suspended 1814–21 because of a dispute
among the trustees. In 1900 the men's pensions
were each of £7 2s. (fn. 210) By will dated 1819 Stephen
Goddard gave the income from £200 as a life
pension to a poor widow or widower. (fn. 211) In the
19th century successive pensioners received c. £5
a year. (fn. 212)
A copyhold stone quarry in Bourton (Berks.,
later Oxon.) was held for the poor of Bishopstone
before 1658, presumably to provide stone for
building in Bishopstone. Stone was sold to the
G.W.R. c. 1840 for £213 which was invested.
The quarry was later leased to inhabitants of
Bourton, c. 1903 for £5 14s. a year. (fn. 213) At inclosure
in 1813 the poor of Bishopstone were allotted 1 a.
for clothing or fuel to replace their right to cut
furze on lands then inclosed. The land, called the
Forty Gardens, was let as allotments, some of
which were built on. In 1903 there were seven
cottages on the land and rents yielded £8 10s.
The Bourton quarry and Forty Gardens charities
were then used to buy coal for some 60 people. (fn. 214)
The five Bishopstone eleemosynary charities
were united by a Scheme in 1931. The incomes
from Keate's, Willoughby's, and Goddard's were
used to form a pension fund. In 1960 pensions of
4s. a week were paid to each of five parishioners.
The incomes from the Bourton quarry and Forty
Gardens charities were used for the general
benefit of the poor. Percy James Stone (d. 1972)
gave by will £5,835 to the united charities. (fn. 215) In
1980 pensions were still given. (fn. 216)