Manors and other estates
In 1066 STANTON, including land in South Leigh,
was held by Alnod, and in 1086 by Odo of
Bayeux: it was reckoned at 26 hides, (fn. 7) of which
one lay in Hanborough and was given to Oseney
abbey c. 1138. (fn. 8) Another 1 ½ hide in 'Pereio',
probably in South Leigh, and held under Odo
by Wadard, was apparently absorbed into the
main Stanton estate before the late 12th century. (fn. 9) Following Odo's forfeiture the estate was
held possibly by Ranulf Flambard, and in 1101
by Rualon d'Avranches, perhaps in custody. (fn. 10)
Before 1130 Henry I gave it to his second wife
Queen Adela, (fn. 11) who alienated it piecemeal,
mostly after 1135.
Before 1141 Adela gave to her kinswoman
Millicent, wife of Robert Marmion, land in
Stanton Harcourt and South Leigh worth £40,
four fifths of the value in 1086. When Robert
died c. 1144 the estate, later called STANTON
HARCOURT, passed to Millicent's second
husband Richard de Camville, on whose death
in 1176 it was seized by Henry II. (fn. 12) It was held
in custody by Richard Rufus until 1190, (fn. 13) when
Richard I restored it to Richard de Camville's
son Richard, who died on crusade in 1191; it
then passed to Robert de Harcourt of Bosworth
(Leics.), who had married the elder Richard de
Camville's daughter Isabel. (fn. 14) Thereafter, apart
from a brief period in the early 17th century,
Stanton Harcourt descended in the main line of
the English Harcourts, who made it their principal seat until the early 18th century.
The manor was held by knight service and by
serjeanty: Stanton Harcourt and South Leigh
meadows in the royal park at Woodstock were to
be cut and carried, and in winter underwood was
to be cut and forage strewn for the deer if snow
lay for three days. (fn. 15) In 1330 the manor was said
to be held in chief as of Woodstock manor. (fn. 16) In
1196 it was reckoned at 2/3 knight's fee, in 1235-6
at ½ knight's fee, and in 1279, probably in error,
at 1 1/3 knight's fee; (fn. 17) during the earlier 13th
century it was more usually reckoned at 1/3 fee,
and from the 1240s onwards at 1 knight's fee. (fn. 18)
Robert de Harcourt was succeeded in 1202 by
his son William; (fn. 19) William's son Sir Richard (d.
1258) succeeded before 1234, when his lands
were temporarily seized following confusion
with the Norman Harcourts. (fn. 20) Richard's son Sir
William (d. c. 1270) supported Simon de Montfort but recovered his lands under the Dictum of
Kenilworth; Sir William's son Sir Richard obtained possession c. 1277 and died in 1293, when
his relict Joan was assigned a third of the manor
in dower. (fn. 21)
Richard's son Sir John, of age by 1301, held
the manor in 1316; (fn. 22) on his death in 1330 it
passed to his son Sir William, who settled it on
himself and his wife Joan. (fn. 23) In 1341 the manor
was said to be held by William de Shareshull,
the lord chief justice, whose daughter Joan had
married William's eldest son Richard; (fn. 24) William
de Harcourt died siesed in 1349, however, (fn. 25) and
the manor passed on his relict Joan's death in
1369 to their son Sir Thomas (d. 1417). (fn. 26)
Thomas was the first Harcourt deeply involved
in Oxfordshire administration, serving as knight
of the shire in 1376 and as custodian of Oxford
castle; he possibly began the rebuilding of the
manor house, and his wife Maud was commemorated by an elaborate tomb in Stanton Harcourt church. (fn. 27)
He was succeeded by his eldest son Thomas
(d. 1420), (fn. 28) and Thomas by his son Sir Robert,
K.G., M.P. for Oxfordshire in 1450 and sheriff
in 1455. (fn. 29) Robert was described as late of Stanton Harcourt in 1438 and 1450, (fn. 30) but was probably responsible for major additions to the
manor house in the 1460s; (fn. 31) he was killed by the
Lancastrians in 1470. (fn. 32) In 1473 his widow Margaret recovered two thirds of Stanton Harcourt
and a third of the Harcourts' other Oxfordshire
manors as jointure under an arrangement of
1440, following a dispute with John Harcourt,
Sir Robert's son and heir; she was still living in
1484. (fn. 33)
In 1475 John Harcourt granted the manor to
trustees, and in 1483 was outlawed for his part
in Buckingham's rebellion; he died in 1484,
leaving the manor to his relict Ann. (fn. 34) Their son
Robert succeeded before 1495; in 1494 he was
made K.B., and served as sheriff of Oxfordshire
and Buckinghamshire. (fn. 35) He died before 1509,
leaving four daughters, and under the settlement
of 1440 Stanton Harcourt passed in turn with
his other land to Richard Harcourt (d. 1513) and
Sir Simon Harcourt (d. 1547), great-nephews of
Sir Robert (d. 1470). (fn. 36) Simon entertained the
king at Stanton Harcourt in 1534 and added the
gatehouse to the manor house. (fn. 37)
The manor passed to his son Sir John (d.
1565), to John's son Sir Simon (d. 1577), sheriff
of Oxfordshire, and to Simon's son Sir Walter
(d. c. 1614), (fn. 38) who inherited debts from his
father. In 1579 Walter leased Stanton Harcourt
to his uncle Robert Harcourt as security on
debts of £3,000; in 1595 his Oxfordshire lands
were temporarily seized for non-payment of
loans. (fn. 39) In 1602 he conveyed the manor to his
son Robert (d. 1630), the traveller and speculator, with whom in 1604 he sold the South Leigh
part of the estate. (fn. 40)
In 1611 Robert settled the manor house and
demesne on his wife Frances in jointure. (fn. 41) In
1612 he apparently sold the manor, with all
remainders and reversions, to Humphrey
Aylworth, rector of Tackley, presumably to
finance an expedition to Guiana, and in 1614
Aylworth sold the manor in fee simple to Francis Searle of Combe. (fn. 42) Searle died in 1619, and
in 1621 his relict Eleanor and son Francis sold
the manor to Edward Wakeman and Nicholas
Roberts, but in 1633 Robert Harcourt was
found to have died seised of the manor under the
settlement of 1611. (fn. 43) Roberts vindicated his
title, but in 1635 the right of Harcourt's son Sir
Simon was upheld in the court of wards, whose
officers, according to Roberts, were in league
with Harcourt. The dispute was eventually settled in the Harcourts' favour in the 1640s. (fn. 44)
In 1642 Sir Simon Harcourt, governor of
Dublin, was killed at the seige of Kilgobbin
castle (co. Dublin). (fn. 45) His relict Ann, seriously in
debt, in 1646 secured a jointure of £500 a year
from the manor. (fn. 46) She later married Sir William
Waller and in 1660 settled most of Stanton
Harcourt on her son Sir Philip Harcourt, who
held it in 1665. (fn. 47) Philip mortgaged the demesne
in 1672, and later settled the house and much of
the estate on his second wife Elizabeth; (fn. 48) he was
succeeded in the rest of the manor in 1688 by his
eldest son Simon, knighted in 1702 and created
Baron Harcourt in 1711 and Viscount Harcourt
in 1721. Simon revived the family's fortunes,
adding to the Stanton Harcourt estate in the
1690s, but did not succeed to his step-mother's
share of the manor until c. 1714, living mostly at
Cokethorpe. In 1710 he bought Nuneham
Courtenay, later the family's principal seat. (fn. 49)
He was succeeded in 1727 by his grandson
Simon (d. 1777), created Earl Harcourt in 1749.
From him Stanton Harcourt passed to George
Simon Harcourt, Earl Harcourt (d. 1809), and
to George's brother Field Marshall William
Harcourt, on whose death in 1830 the title
became extinct. The manor continued to descend with Nuneham, and in 1904 passed to
Lewis Harcourt (d. 1922), created Viscount
Harcourt in 1917. (fn. 50) In 1924 much of it was sold
under the viscount's will, and further small sales
were made later. (fn. 51) The remains of the estate,
including the manor house, passed to Sir William Edward Harcourt, Viscount Harcourt (d.
1979), and were held in 1988 by his daughter,
the Hon. Mrs. Ann Gascoigne. (fn. 52)
Before 1176 a small undertenancy was created
in the manor, when Millicent and the elder
Richard de Camville granted lands there to
Leger Pipard to be held for 1/3 knight's fee; in
1190 the fee was held of the younger Richard de
Camville by Leger's son Robert, who transferred it to his brother Richard (d. after 1228). (fn. 53)
Richard's son Henry Pipard, of Lapworth
(Warws.), held lands of the Harcourts worth
100s. and died c. 1258 when the Stanton Harcourt fee passed to his daughter Cecily, who
married secondly Sir Henry de Harcourt, younger brother of Sir Richard Harcourt (d. 1258). (fn. 54)
Henry died before 1275, when half the fee was
held by his relict and half by his heir. (fn. 55) Following Cecily's death the mesne lordship seems to
have passed to her heirs by her first husband, Sir
Thomas de Bishopsdon, since in 1293 Henry de
Harcourt the younger, probably Henry and
Cecily's son, died seised of lands and rents in
Stanton Harcourt held of John de Bishopsdon;
the mesne lordship was not mentioned later. (fn. 56)
The younger Henry's relict Emme married
Richard Pipe, who held the fee in 1306 and
1327, and whose son John married Henry's
daughter Margaret. (fn. 57) John Pipard, who apparently held the fee in 1316 and was presumably a
junior member of the family, probably surrendered any rights c. 1320, when he quitclaimed
lands in Warwickshire to John Pipe and Margaret and to their son Richard. (fn. 58) Margaret died
after 1349, when the estate possibly passed to
her grandson Henry Pipe; the later history of the
fee is unknown, and the tenancy probably lapsed
in the later 14th century when the family sold its
Warwickshire lands. (fn. 59)
The medieval manor house stood west of the
church; it was taxed on 24 hearths in 1665, (fn. 60) and
in the early 18th century comprised an irregular
group of buildings around an inner courtyard,
with an outer courtyard to the north incorporating stables and a gatehouse. Another yard, with
barns and farm buildings, lay on the west. (fn. 61)
After 1688 it ceased to be the family's principal
seat, and in the mid 18th century was mostly
demolished, leaving the former north-east tower
and chapel, the kitchen with a range to the
south, and the gatehouse, extended in the 19th
and 20th centuries and reoccupied as the manor
house from 1948.
The main range, on the north side of the inner
court, included the great hall, which was probably open to the roof and had an arched bay
window on the north, said in the 18th century to
contain medieval stained glass. (fn. 62) At the hall's
west end was a cross passage with service rooms
beyond and a north porch; on the east the hall
adjoined the great parlour, which opened south
into the little parlour and had a room above. The
tower and chapel, beyond the parlour, were
added probably between 1460 and 1470 by the
mason William Orchard; (fn. 63) the chapel's surviving west wall was formerly the east wall of the
parlour, and retains an earlier angle buttress on
the north. The chapel, on the ground floor,
comprises a short, flat-roofed nave and stonevaulted chancel, with shields of arms of Sir
Robert Harcourt (d. 1470); over the chancel, the
tower rises another three stories. A room over
the nave included a window, later blocked,
overlooking the chancel, and was used as the
family pew. The chapel's north doorway may be
17th- or 18th-century. (fn. 64)
A long range, probably including bedrooms
and perhaps the servants' hall, (fn. 65) ran southwards
from the great parlour in the 17th century, and
other rooms and a great staircase abutted the
south side of the hall. At the west end of the hall
buildings running more than 200 ft. south from
the service rooms included the kitchen, a square
stone tower 40 ft. high surmounted by an octagonal timber lantern. It has been suggested that
the tower is the work of Sir Thomas Harcourt
(d. 1417), (fn. 66) but the lantern is late 15th- or early
16th-century, (fn. 67) and the tower itself is probably
of similar date. Smoke from three fireplaces was
dispersed through shutters under the eaves, (fn. 68)
which have been replaced with windows.
The two-storeyed range against the kitchen's
south side is probably late 16th-century, and
contained two principal rooms on the first floor;
in 1726 a free-standing gallery, since destroyed,
ran along the range's east side. (fn. 69) A timberframed east porch was later incorporated into
the south side of the inner court.
The two-storeyed gatehouse was built c. 1540
by Sir Simon Harcourt, whose arms appear
beside the main arch; (fn. 70) it lay in line with the hall
porch and was flanked by lodges. A bowling
green lay between it and the hall in the earlier
18th century. (fn. 71)
In 1665 the manor grounds extended south
and east of the churchyard in a horseshoe shape;
a series of stews on the east, still surviving, had
an unusual system of sluices and ditches allowing each stew to be emptied without disturbing
the others. (fn. 72) The park, probably made c. 1495, (fn. 73)
lay east of the ponds.
After Sir Philip Harcourt's death in 1688 his
relict Elizabeth ceased to live there. (fn. 74) In 1718
the roof of the main buildings was much decayed and many of the windows were broken. (fn. 75)
Proposals c. 1720 for a new house to the south (fn. 76)
seem to have been abandoned, and by 1760 the
hall, east range, and much of the west range had
been demolished, some of the stone being reused at Nuneham Courtenay. (fn. 77) In 1807 the
chapel retained its painted ceiling, but the
stained glass had been mostly removed or
broken, and in 1818 the manor site was mostly
ruins with 'one or two respectable dwellings'
with large gardens and orchards, presumably
the former gatehouse and the range south of the
kitchen. (fn. 78) Both chapel and tower were used for
farm storage, and in 1871 the tower was a
brewhouse; the chapel was restored before
1876. (fn. 79)
The range south of the kitchen was leased to
tenant farmers from the early 18th century. (fn. 80) Its
southern end was demolished before 1760, leaving a stone pigeon house standing free; (fn. 81) it
remained a farmhouse in 1988.
The gatehouse, occupied first by a tenant
farmer and then by the vicar for parts of the 18th
and 19th century, was later used by the Harcourts as an occasional residence. (fn. 82) With the
stable block on the west it was incorporated into
a new house for Col. Edward William Harcourt
probably c. 1866: the carriageway was made into
an entrance hall, additional windows were put
into the north front, and a large extension was
built on the south. (fn. 83) Thereafter the house, renovated in 1905, was occupied by lessees until
1948, when Lord Harcourt, having sold Nuneham Courtenay, made it his residence. A picture
gallery was added on the east in 1953. (fn. 84)
The grounds, overgrown in 1948, were landscaped and embellished with sculptures and
other features from Nuneham Courtenay. Their
character was radically altered in 1977 with the
loss of the elms, a feature since the 18th century. (fn. 85)
About 1136 Queen Adela gave land formerly
held by Reynold the forester to Reading abbey. (fn. 86) The land, which escheated to the Crown
in 1156 and again in 1165, was perhaps later
held by the elder Richard de Camville and by
Richard Rufus, and probably formed part of 2
carucates in Stanton Harcourt and South Leigh
which Richard I gave c. 1194 to Henry de la
Wade, a royal falconer. (fn. 87) The manor, later
known as STANTON WYARD or STANTON HERLE, was held by serjeanty of guarding the king's falcons or carrying a gerfalcon; (fn. 88)
the lord and his tenants also owed the services in
the royal park at Woodstock by which the
Harcourt manor was held, and in the 15th and
16th centuries Stanton Wyard was said to be
held as of Woodstock manor. (fn. 89) In 1349 it was
reckoned at ¼ knight's fee. (fn. 90)
Henry de la Wade died before 1202, leaving
an infant son Henry, (fn. 91) in possession by 1228; he
died in 1287, when the estate passed to his son
John de la Wade (d. 1309). (fn. 92) In 1302 John
conveyed Stanton Wyard, presumably by sale,
to Roger Mortimer (d. 1326) of Chirk (Denb.). (fn. 93)
Following Mortimer's rebellion in 1321-2 the
manor was seized by the Crown, which held it in
1324; in 1327 Mortimer's nephew Roger Mortimer (d. 1330) of Wigmore (Herefs.) granted
the manor in fee simple to John Wyard of Kyre
Wyard (Worcs.). (fn. 94)
Figure 17:
Stanton Harcourt manor house
John was succeeded in 1349 by his son Sir
Robert, (fn. 95) who in 1353 leased the manor for three
years to Roger of Nottingham and his wife
Maud and in 1354 died leaving three infant
daughters, of whom only Elizabeth seems to
have survived: before 1365 she married Sir John
de Herle, and in 1395 they settled the manor on
themselves, their daughter Margaret, and Margaret's husband Thomas Vaughan. (fn. 96) John died
in or before 1396, and Elizabeth in 1397; a grant
of the manor to Gilbert Talbot in 1396 was
presumably for a term, since Thomas Vaughan
died seised of the manor in 1432. (fn. 97) He was
succeeded by his and Margaret's son William,
who seems to have retained the name Herle, and
died in 1437 leaving an infant son, John de Herle
(d. 1511). Thereafter the manor apparently
passed with Stoke Bliss (Worcs.) to John's son
George (d. 1512), to George's brother Thomas
de Herle (d. 1521), and to Thomas's son John
Herle of Stanton Wyard. (fn. 98)
John's relict Catherine and their son John
sold the manor c. 1584 to William Buttle of
Stanton Harcourt, the lessee of the rectory estate, allegedly for far less than its real value; the
younger John was then said to be heavily encumbered and had no other lands, and was in
prison by 1585 charged with involvement in a
plot to free Mary, queen of Scots. (fn. 99) He was dead
by 1590, when Buttle sued Catherine over his
rights in the manor; Catherine died before
1616. (fn. 1)
Buttle died before 1591, leaving a widow Alice
(d. 1622). (fn. 2) In 1616 Stanton Wyard was held by
their son William; (fn. 3) he died without issue in
1625, leaving as coheirs four sisters who married, respectively, William Crutchley, Thomas
Wenman, John Pridy, and William Boswell.
Boswell, an Oxford mercer and alderman who
already had an interest in the manor, was by
1626 lending money to the other portioners and
in 1633 received several terms of years in the
other portions. In 1634 John Pridy the younger
conveyed his portion to Thomas Wenman, who
in 1635 conveyed both his portions to Boswell in
fee. On Boswell's death in 1638 most of his
estate passed to his elder son William, a doctor
of law, who changed his name to Bosvile, and
who over the next few years acquired the fourth
portion from Crutchley's widow Elizabeth and
her son William. (fn. 4)
Bosvile died unmarried in 1678, when most of
his estate passed to his nephew Thomas Bosvile,
to whom the rest reverted c. 1687; (fn. 5) Thomas also
acquired from his brother William three farms
in Stanton Harcourt and Sutton which had
passed to their father Edward Boswell in 1638. (fn. 6)
From 1683 Thomas mortgaged the estate, (fn. 7) and
between 1691 and 1693 several farms were sold
to Simon Harcourt, later Viscount Harcourt. In
1693 Thomas settled the rest of the manor,
mostly in South Leigh, on himself, his wife
Elizabeth, and son Henry. (fn. 8) Thomas died after
1703, and the manor presumably passed to
Henry; from 1737 it was held by Hugh Bosvile
(d. 1782) of Llanelen (Mon.), probably Henry's
son, (fn. 9) who inherited serious debts, (fn. 10) and was
succeeded by his son John, a physician. On his
death in 1790 John left his Oxfordshire estates
in trust to be sold, and in 1791 Stanton Wyard
was bought with the manorial rights by John
Sibthorp, later the owner of South Leigh. (fn. 11) The
manorial rights had lapsed by 1875, when the
Stanton Wyard lands were sold as part of the
South Leigh estate. (fn. 12)
In 1327 John Wyard was licensed to crenellate
his manor house at Stanton Harcourt; (fn. 13) its site is
unknown, but by the late 17th century the
manor house was leased to Thomas Flexney and
was probably that later known as Flexney's
House, north-east of Blackditch. (fn. 14) The house, of
coursed limestone rubble with a gabled stone
slate roof, is of two storeys, and comprises an
early or mid 17th-century cross wing, remodelled in the 19th century, and an early 18thcentury range to the north-west; a stone bears
the date 1675 and the initials TF, probably for
another Thomas Flexney. (fn. 15)
Before 1144 Queen Adela granted land in
Stanton Harcourt to the Templars, who held
lands there in 1163. (fn. 16) The estate was probably
the escheat of 7 yardlands recorded 1165-73 and
the 8 yardlands in Sutton held before 1207 by
the Hospitallers, from which 1 yardland had
become detached. From 1165 the escheat was
farmed and in 1173 was given to Turold, the
king's watchman. (fn. 17)
In 1207 the 8 yardlands, later SUTTON
manor, were disputed between William de Harcourt and the Hospitallers, who sought to have an
agreement with Robert de Harcourt (d. 1202)
upheld. William recognized the Hospitallers'
right and agreed to provide a substitute for the
missing yardland; in return he was to hold the
estate for life paying 38s. 4d. a year. (fn. 18) In 1215 the
manor was held by John de Preaux, presumably
of William de Harcourt. (fn. 19) In 1224 William's son
Richard de Harcourt acknowledged the earlier
agreement, (fn. 20) and thereafter the manor was held
by the Hospitallers until the Dissolution.
In 1544 Henry VIII granted the manor to his
chaplain John Warner, from whom it passed in
1552 to William Torleis or Butcher and his wife
Elizabeth, in 1569 to William Buttle, and in
1581 to Exeter College, Oxford, which in 1591
sold it to William Crutchley and his wife Elizabeth. (fn. 21) The manor presumably passed to the
Bosviles with the Crutchleys' Stanton Wyard
lands, and descended with Stanton Wyard until
the 18th century, being similarly reduced by
sales during the 1690s; Sutton manor farm,
Hamstall farm, and Friars wood were retained
as jointure for Thomas Bosvile's wife Elizabeth. (fn. 22) In 1790 the residue of the estate and the
manorial rights were sold with Stanton Wyard
to John Sibthorp. (fn. 23)
In 1796 Sibthorp left lands in Sutton manor,
later known as University farm, to Oxford university, to finance publication of his book Flora
Graeca and to establish a professorship of rural
economy; the farm was sold during the 20th
century. (fn. 24) Friars wood and Armstalls farm were
absorbed into the Sibthorps' South Leigh estate, with which they were sold in 1875. (fn. 25)
There may have been an estate office or manor
house at Sutton by 1327, when Thomas le Frere
contributed 8s. to the lay subsidy. (fn. 26) From the
17th century or earlier the manor house was
leased to tenant farmers, (fn. 27) and was presumably
the house given by Sibthorp to Oxford university: it was rebuilt in the 19th century.
Before 1137 Queen Adela granted 1 hide at
Hamstall to Eynsham abbey, which already held
half the hide for 4s. a year. (fn. 28) Following inquiries
into alienated royal demesne the land was seized
by the Crown, and in 1165 and 1166 rendered
13s. a year; from 1167 to 1176 it rendered 9s.,
perhaps because the half hide formerly held by
the abbey had been returned to it to be held free
of rent, and the abbey continued to hold land in
Hamstall probably until the Dissolution. (fn. 29) By
the 17th century Hamstall was attached to Sutton manor, with which it subsequently descended. (fn. 30) The other half hide was held in
custody with Stanton manor by Richard Rufus
from 1171 to c. 1189, when it seems to have been
incorporated into the escheat granted to Henry
de la Wade. (fn. 31)
In or before 1130 Queen Adela gave to William of Harfleur an estate of 2 ½ hides, described
as one tenth of the Domesday estate. (fn. 32) It may
have been held by Roger of Sandford in 1162;
Reading abbey apparently acquired Adela's
charter and therefore perhaps the estate, presumably lost with its other Stanton Harcourt
lands during the later 12th century. (fn. 33)
In the early 13th century a small freehold of
the Underwall (Submuro) family of Eynsham
included land in Sutton and South Leigh. In
1228 Richard Underwall's relict Isabel claimed
a third of ½ yardland in Sutton and a third of 4s.
rent in Sutton or Pinkhill as dower; she later
granted all her dower lands to her son William,
who mortgaged the estate to local Jews. In 1258
Eynsham abbey redeemed the land in return for
a 40-year grant from William, who sold all his
land to the abbey before 1268. The lands in
Sutton presumably became merged with the
abbey's Hamstall estate. (fn. 34)
The rectory estate, comprising a house, tithes,
and c. 108 a. of glebe in Stanton Harcourt and
South Leigh, was appropriated in 1506 to Reading abbey, which in 1509 leased it for 38 years to
John Camby, registrar of the archdeaconry of
Oxford, who granted it to his wife Isabel. At the
Dissolution the reversion passed to the Crown,
which in 1542 granted the estate at farm to
Edward Fettiplace for 40 years from the expiry of
Camby's lease. (fn. 35) By 1558 the lease was held by
John Penny, and by 1567 by William Butcher;
before 1570 it was acquired by William Buttle. (fn. 36)
In 1551 the rectory was included in Edward
VI's exchange of lands with John Ponet, bishop
of Winchester, (fn. 37) but Queen Mary rescinded the
grant. (fn. 38) In 1558 Cardinal Pole consolidated part
of the rectory estate with the vicarage; (fn. 39) the rest
of the estate, variously described as a third or
two thirds (fn. 40) and comprising great tithes, the
house, 8 a. of inclosure, and Parson's wood, was
granted to All Souls College, Oxford. (fn. 41) Follow
ing Elizabeth's accession the part of the rectory
consolidated with the vicarage reverted to the
Crown, and in 1570 was leased to William
Buttle, who also obtained a lease of the All Souls
portion. (fn. 42)
In 1584 it was decided that the grant to
Bishop Ponet had never been legally revoked,
and Bishop Cooper reconveyed the whole estate
to the queen, (fn. 43) who leased it to William Buttle. (fn. 44)
After much effort All Souls re-established its
title, (fn. 45) and in 1589 Elizabeth granted the remaining part to the bishop of Oxford, (fn. 46) who
retained it until 1856 when it was vested in the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners; by the 1960s the
bishop's land was divided between Hoveringham Gravel Co., Lord Harcourt, and others. (fn. 47)
The Buttles' lease was sold c. 1615 to William
Boswell, later lord of Stanton Wyard, whose
family remained lessees of the bishop's portion
until the late 18th century; (fn. 48) the tithes and glebe
were occasionally sublet separately. (fn. 49) By the late
18th century a modus of 2d. a cow for milk tithes
and 1s. for calves had been established. (fn. 50) In 1790
the estate was leased to Andrew Walsh of Oxford who sublet it soon after; (fn. 51) in 1815 Andrew's
relict Martha sold the lease of the glebe in South
Leigh and the tithes there to Humphrey Sibthorp, the owner of South Leigh manor, and the
tithes were commuted for a rent charge. (fn. 52) In
1834 Martha left the rest of the estate to her
sons, the eldest son Percival apparently holding
the lease in 1848. (fn. 53)
The All Souls estate was leased with the house
to relatives of Robert Hovenden, the warden, in
the early 17th century; (fn. 54) Parson's wood was
leased separately from c. 1624. (fn. 55) Later lessees
included Robert Huntington (d. 1685), (fn. 56) William Gibbons, M.D. (d. 1728), and Sir Edward
Ernle of Abingdon; (fn. 57) from 1785 to 1938 the
Arnatt family were lessees. (fn. 58) The college reserved the right, not known to have been exercised, to occupy four rooms during outbreaks of
plague. (fn. 59) In the later 20th century much of the
estate, including the house, was sold. (fn. 60)
Parsonage House, a stone-built classical house
with a hipped roof of Stonesfield slate, stands
north-west of the church on the site of the
earlier rectory house; (fn. 61) it was built probably for
Robert Huntington soon after 1669. (fn. 62) The symmetrical plan incorporates a front of seven bays
and sides of five bays, all with central doorways;
a small walled forecourt has a central gateway. A
small service wing was added soon after the
house was built. The hall and staircase, three
bays wide, run the full depth of the house; on
the east are two panelled parlours, one of which
retains its original marbled and grained decoration. The kitchen has original racks and
benches. Paintings in the hall have been attributed to James de Witt. (fn. 63)
A stone dovecot, south-east of the main building, was apparently built before the late 16th
century; the stables, later destroyed, are said to
have been built in 1792. (fn. 64) In the 16th century
the grounds contained six or seven long rectangular fishponds, of which there remain a canal,
adapted soon after the present house was built,
leading from the east front, and moats on the
north and east. (fn. 65)
The house was little altered until 1939-40
when it was carefully restored. Dormer windows
were added to the south and west sides c. 1980