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Victoria County History of Bucks 1927

The Victoria History of the Counties of England

A History of Buckinghamshire, Volume 4

Edited by William Page F.S.A
Published by St Catherine Press
1927

Pages 451 to 458 are devoted to Sherington. The following is a transcription of these pages.


Page 451

SHERINGTON

Serintone (xi cent.); Sirinton, Schirinton (xii cent.); Shyriton (xiii cent.); Shringtone, Scringtone, Sheryngton (xiv cent.); Shryngton (xiv-xv cent.).

This parish covers 1,805 acres, of which 605 are arable, 944 permanent grass and 45 woods and plantations. (Note 1) The soil is various, the subsoil limestone and clay, the principal crops grown being wheat, barley, beans and roots. The ground falls from about 300 ft. above the ordnance datum in the north to about 200 ft. in the west and south, where the River Ouse and Chicheley Brook form the boundary. The river is here crossed by Sherington Bridge, a structure of three large and two small arches (Note 1a) which carries the main road from Olney to Newport Pagnell. This road is joined about a quarter of a mile east of the river by the high road to Bedford.

The village of Sherington, which is large and straggling, lies along the road from Newport Pagnell to Olney, here called High Street. Gun Lane (which ends as Parson's Lane) and Perry Lane branch off to the east and south-east from the High Street, and with it almost encircle the village, the northern and higher end of which is called Church End, this name appearing early in the 16th century. (Note 2) Here the church of St. Laud the Martyr stands on elevated ground, with the rectory about 300 yds. to the south. The latter is a 17th-century stone house of two stories, built probably about 1607, the date inscribed upon a stone set in the south wall; additions and alterations have been made in modem times. Some original panelling still remains in the hall. Near it is the school. Yew Tree Farm, in the village, is a stone house of the late 16th century, with subsequent additions; a panel on the north front bears the date 1595. Further to the south is another stone house of about the same date, now called the Laurels. It retains some original fittings, including the staircase. At the south end of the village is the Manor House, now occupied by Mrs. Taylor. The present house, which was built probably in the 18th century, is surrounded by a moat. It is uncertain to which manor this house belonged, but as the Umneys, who owned Caves Manor, apparently resided here, (Note 3) it may have been the manor-house of that manor. The principal manor-house, which was occupied by the Linfords, Ardes, Lowes, Adams and Chesters, was situated north of the church, according to Browne Willis. (Note 4) Another manor-house in the parish, which is now known as the Mercers' Farm, is situated to the north of the Manor House.

There is a Methodist chapel north-west of Mercers' Farm and a Congregational chapel is


Notes:
1     Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
1a     Between 1320 and 1342 an indulgence was granted for the repair of the bridge (Linc. Epis. Reg. Memo. Burghersh, fol. 39). Richard Maryot, lord of the manor of Caves and other manors here, in 1490 bequeathed ‘to the making of the arches of the brigge of Shiryngton now not vawted with stone with a perpoynt wall upon the seid arches 6 marc if they will not be made with less silver’ (P.C.C. 11 Dogett).
2     In 1520 Humphrey Ardes, son by his second wife Katherine Hamnell (Visit. of Bucks. [Harl. Soc.]. 144) of Michael Ardes, lord of the principal manor, died seised of tenements in the Churche End of Sherington, and was succeeded by his year-old son Robert, at whose death the property descended to his sister Elizabeth, aged thirteen in 1530, when she was in possession (Exch. Inq. p.m. [Ser. 2.], file 25, no. 10).
3     Sheahan, Hist. and Topog. of Bucks. 601. The capital messuage of Caves Manor, however, was said in 1813 to be divided into two tenements (Recov. R. Trin. 53 Geo. Ill, m. 63).
4     Add. MS. 5839, p. 34.

Page 452

situated north-east of the Manor House and south of Crofts End.

In the west of the parish are parts of an abandoned railway.

About a quarter of a mile south of the village is a district called Chicheley Hill. The northeastern angle of the parish is occupied by Sherington Wood.

The parish was inclosed by Act of Parliament in 1796, (Note 5) the award being dated 4 July 1797. (Note 6)

Among place-names have been found: Wallecot Furlong, Godescote, Crosfurlong (undated deed) (Note 7) ; Longcroft Hale, (Note 8) Pirifurlong, Grenedig, Barndbeg (Note 9) (xiii cent.).

MANORS

In 1086 SHERINGTON was included among the lands of the Bishop of Coutances, and was assessed at 10 hides. Six hides of this manor had previously been held as one manor by Edwin son of Borret, 1 hide had been held as one manor by Alwin his man, and 3 hides as one manor by Osulf, a man of King Edward, the last two being able to assign and sell. (Note 10)

The Rectory, Sherington

This land owed the service of two knights, (Note 11) each of the three manors, later distinguishable in this parish as Sherington, Cockfield and Fitz Johns, being afterwards answerable for that proportion of the original estate which they represented. This arbitrary division of responsibility seems, however, to have resulted in some confusion, for, though one-third of the whole two fees went to form Fitz John's Manor (Note 12) the remaining two estates were still said to owe one fee each. (Note 13) The tenants of the more important of these, Sherington Manor, owed suit twice yearly at Northampton and at the hundred court, and paid 40d. for ward of La Ho (? Cainhoe Castle, Bedfordshire) and for ward of Northampton Castle. (Note 14) The other fee at that date (1276) was said to be held of the king in chief, but the Abbess of Fontevrault, by gift of the king's ancestors, took the 32s. due. (Note 15) In 1284 the service was unknown, while Sherington Manor was held by the service of two armoured horses in the king's army. (Note 16) The service for the two fees is duly recorded all through the 14th century, but in the 15th the Cockfield portion is returned as owing one-fortieth of a fee only (Note 17) and the chief manor one-third of a fee. (Note 18) An inquisition of 1637, stating that the principal manor was held of the king in chief, (Note 19) corrects a former one of that year whereby, the overlordship was ascribed to Newport Pagnell Manor. (Note 20)

After the forfeiture of the lands of the Bishop of Coutances in the reign of William Rufus, Sherington passed to the family of Carun,(Karon, Caroun), known also as Sherington. William de Carun, or de Sherington, son of Ralf de Carun or de Sherington, bestowed the church of Sherington on Tickford Priory before 1150. (Note 21) He paid 4 marks scutage in 1160-1, (Note 22) and was paying scutage from that date to 1171-2. (Note 23) He was succeeded, probably in 1188, by his son Richard de Carun, (Note 24) who owed 100 marks fine for land in Sherington in that year. (Note 25) Felicia, widow of William son of Ralf, who claimed a hide of land in Sherington in 1194, (Note 26) was probably the widow of William de Sherington. Richard must have been dead before 1201-2, when Robert Vipount gave the king 20 marks and a palfrey to have the wardship of the lands of Richard de Sherington, (Note 27) for which lands he paid £4 farm in 1202. (Note 28) Richard left a son Ralph, (Note 29) who was succeeded after 1210 (Note 30) so by his son John, who, as John de Carun, in 1232 claimed two separate properties of 10 acres of land and 2 acres of wood each against John son of Hawise and John de Coveleigh and his wife Scholastica, daughter of John de Carun's grandfather Richard (Note 31) Some arrangement was concluded in the following


Notes:
5     Priv. Act, 36 Geo. III, cap. 66.
6     Recov. R. D. Enr. Trin. 38 Geo. III, m.l03.
7     Add. MS. 5836, fol. 140.
8     Feet of F. case 16, file 44, no. 6.
9     Ibid. case 15, file 23, no. 7.
10     V.C.H. Bucks. i, 241.
11     Red Bk. of Exch. (Rolls Ser.), 536.
12     Chan. Inq. p.m. 6 Edw. II, no. 13; I Hen. V, no. 5.
13     Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 244.
14     Hund. R. (Rec. Com.) i, 41.
15     Ibid.
16     Feud. Aids, i, 82.
17     Chan. Inq. p.m. 20 Hen. VI, no. 23.
18     Ibid. 3 Hen. IV, no. 2.
19     Ibid. (Ser. 2), dxlvii, 176.
20     Ibid. dxliii, 19.
21     Round, Cal. Doc. of France, 444; Curia Regis R. 102, m. 17.
22     Pipe R. 7 Hen. II (Pipe R. Soc.), 12.
23     Ibid. 8 Hen. II, 42; 14 Hen. II, 11; 18 Hen. II, 51.
24     Wrottesley, Ped. from Plea R. 481; Maitland, Bracton's Note Bk. ii, 672-4
25     Pipe R. 34 Hen. II, m. 9 d.; 35 Hen. II, 2 Ric. I.
26     R. of the King's Court, 1194-5 (Pipe R. Soc.), 23.
27     Pipe R. 3 John, m. 22 d.; cf. Rot. de Oblatis et Fin. (Rec. Com.), 106.
28     Pipe R. 4 John, m. 2.
29     Maitland, loco cit.; Wrottesley, op. cit.481.
30     Red Bk. of Exch. (Rolls Ser.), 536.
31     Maitland, loco cit. This case gives the following pedigree:
                        Carun Pedigree

Page 453

year; (Note 32) and John de Carun was in possession in 1234-5. (Note 33) He was succeeded after 1237 (Note 34) by his son Ralph, who died without issue. (Note 35) Martin,
Carun coat of Arms brother and heir of Ralph, (Note 36) complained that in 1272 several persons, including Roger Fitz John of Hanslope, probably identical with the Roger Fitz John to whom Martin gave one-third of the manor, had carried off his corn at Sherington. (Note 37) He is returned as lord in 1276 (Note 38) and in 1384. (Note 39) A comparison between an extent of the manor taken in 1289 (Note 40) and another taken in 1295, after Martin's death, (Note 41) shows a decrease in the number of acres of land, &c., which may be due to the alienation of the third to Fitz John. Martin was succeeded by his son Roger, (Note 42) against whom complaint was brought in 1298 by David le Graunt that, after demising the manor to him for a term of years, Roger de Carun had entered with Simon Spigurnel, before the term was expired, had ejected Graunt's men and carried away corn and other goods. (Note 43) Roger de Carun died before June 1301 seised of the manor, and leaving a daughter Sibyl, then under two years, (Note 44) who, as the heir of Roger deCarun, was returned as holding Sherington in 1302. (Note 45) Three years later Reynold de Grey successfully claimed against her guardian, Richard Golde, one-third of six messuages, 2½ virgates ofland, 40 acres of wood, and 6s. 1½d. rent in Sherington as dower of her mother Joan. (Note 46) The custody of the person and lands of Sibyl had been first granted by the king to Edmund Earl of Cornwall, whose executors sold it to Richard Golde. He granted it to his brother Thomas Golde, by whom it was in turn granted to Roger de Pateshull (? Pattishall, Northamptonshire), parson of Bletsoe (co. Beds.). (Note 47) While in his custody Sibyl was in 1311 carried off by John de Burgh, who, with a crowd of armed supporters, broke the hearthstone and windows of the manor-house, and married her against the will of her guardian. (Note 48) Complaint of forcible entry was made in 1313 (Note 49); in the following year John de Burgh and Sibyl, then his wife, having proved her age, had seisin of her father's lands. (Note 50) Her husband had apparently acted with the king's consent, (Note 51) and Sibyl, being deaf and dumb, was unable to hear or to give evidence (Note 52); the case against John de Burgh was still unconcluded in 1315. (Note 53) In 1316 he was holding the manor, (Note 54) but before 1327 Sibyl was apparently married to Richard Linford, then described as Richard Linford of Sherington. (Note 55) He was returned as lord in 1346, (Note 56) and in 1348, with his wife Sibyl, settled the manor on themselves and their heirs; (Note 57) Richard Linford was succeeded by his son John, who in 1355 acquired a carucate of land in Sherington, (Note 58) and died in 1360, (Note 59) when the wardship of his lands and son and heir John was granted to Roger Grote (or Groton). (Note 60) During the minority of this John Linford a rent of 18 marks was paid out of the manor to Henry Sterky, who assigned this annuity first to John Fitz Richard of Olney and then to Sir Ralph Basset of Drayton. (Note 61) John Linford proved his age on 2 October 1372, (Note 62) and obtained seisin of his lands on 2 February 1373-4. (Note 63) In 1383 he acquired licence to settle the manor on himself and his wife Katherine in tail, with remainder to Roger Groton of Calverton in tail and final remainder to himself in fee simple, (Note 64) the settlement taking place in 1386. (Note 65) In the following year John Linford incurred a debt to John Hende, to whom the manor, of which an extent was taken at that time, was afterwards assigned in security. Linford re-entered the manor and ejected Hende, who thereupon sued him, obtaining a verdict in his favour. (Note 66) John Linford died seised of Sherington in 1401, when he was succeeded by his son, a third John Linford. (Note 67)

Ardes coat of Arms

About 1429 either the same John or a successor of the same name conveyed the manor in fee simple to Walter Fitz Richard and other feoffees, (Note 68) and in 1450 it was settled by Walter Fitz Richard on John Ardes and his wife Isabel, (Note 69)the daughter and heir of John Linford. (Note 70) According to Browne Willis, the last John Linford was buried in the church with his wife Isabel, under a monument bearing the date 1468 (Note 71); but it is more probable that the tomb was erected to John Ardes, the husband of the Linford heiress Isabel, who may have taken the name of Linford. John Ardes was succeeded by his son Michael, lord in 1491. (Note 72) Michael Ardes was succeeded before 1527 (Note 73) by his son Anthony, (Note 74) from whom the manor passed before 1545 (Note 75) to his son Edward. (Note 75a) In 1570 Edward Ardes settled the manor on his wife Katherine, daughter of


Notes:
32     Feet of F. case 15, file 20, no. 1.
33     Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 258b, 259b.
34     Feet of F. case 15, file 23, no. 3, 7.
35     Assize R. 68, m. 18 d.
36     Ibid. Martin de Carun had two brothers, John, who held 10s. rent, and Simon, who held 2 virgates of land of the gift of their father John (Hund. R. [Rec. Com.], i, .41).
37     Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, .42. This Roger Fitz John of Hanslope owed Martin de Carun 60s. in 1285 (Cal. Close, 1279-88, p. 375).
38     Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 41.
39     Feud. Aids, i, 82.
40     Misc. Inq. file 48, no. 1.
41     Chan. Inq. p.m. 24 Edw. I, no. 14.
42     Cal. Inq. p. m. (Edw. I), iii, 191.
43     Cal. Pat. 1292-1301, p. 379.
44     Chan. Inq. p.m. 29 Edw. I. no. 43.
45     Feud. Aids, i, 104.
46     De Banco R. 155, m. 66 d.
47     Misc. Inq. file 73, no. 14.
48     Ibid.; Cal. Pat. 1313-17, p. 252.
49     Cal. Fine R. 1307-19, p. 161.
50     Cal. Close, 1313-18, p. 37.
51     Misc. Inq. file 73, no. 14.
52     Ibid.
53     Cal. Pat. 1313-17, p. 252.
54     Feud. Aids, i, 110.
55     De Banco R. East. 1 Edw. III, m. 81 d.
56     Feud. Aids, i, 130.
57     De Banco R. 356, m. 405; Feet of F. case 20, file 89, no. 18; Cal. Pat. 1348-50, p. 99. Sibyl's mother Joan was still holding in dower at this date.
58     Cal. Pat. 1354-8, p. 201.
59     Chan. Inq. p.m. 34 Edw. III (1st nos), no. 12. Certain rents were then paid to his brother Richard.
60     Cal. Pat. 1358-61, p. 365.
61     Cal. Close, 1360-4. p. 555.
62     Chan. Inq. p.m. 46 Edw. III (1st nos.), no. 90.
63     Cal. Close, 1374-7, p. 8.
64     Cal. Pat. 1381-5, p. 227.
65     Close, 9 Ric. II, m. 13.
66     Assize R. 1505, m. 2; Chan. Inq. p.m. 11 Ric. II, no. 64.
67     Chan. Inq. p.m. 3 Hen. IV, no. 2.
68     Cal. Pat. 1422-9, p. 532.
69     Ibid. 1446-52, p. 336.
70     Visit. of Bucks. (Harl. Soc.), 144.
71     Add. MS. 5839, p. 343. The monument no longer exists.
72     Cal. Inq. p.m. Hen. VII, i, 302.
73     Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xlvi, 57.
74     Visit. of Bucks. loc. cit.
75     L. and P. Hen. VIII, xx (2), g. 707 (52).
75a     Visit. of Bucks. loco cit.

Page 454

Thomas Lowe of Clifton Reynes, with remainder in tail-male to his sons Richard, Thomas, Israel, Francis, Edward, Andrew, Sherington, Philip and Humphrey respectively. (Note 76) Edward Ardes died in November of that year, (Note 77) and in 1571 his widow was holding the manor, (Note 78) which she and her second husband Raphael Pemberton conveyed in 1588 to her son Richard Ardes. (Note 79) In the following year Richard Ardes conveyed to Thomas Tyringham and Anthony his son, LINFORDS alias ARDES MANOR, with the exception of ten messuages, one dovecot and nearly three quarters of the land. (Note 80) The manor descended with Tyringham (q.v.) until sold in 1682 by Sir William Tyringham and others, apparently trustees for Elizabeth Tyringham and her husband John Backwell, to Roger Chapman, (Note 81) attorney of Newport. On his death in 1702 it passed to his eldest son Thomas Chapman, (Note 82) who was holding it in 1734, when, according to Browne Willis, though reputed the principal manor, the demesnes were worth only £50 per annum. (Note 83) It was purchased by Barnaby Backwell, who, by his will dated 24 December 1753, left the manor to the use of his wife Sarah for the education of his eldest son. (Note 84) It has since descended with Tyringham, (Note 85) the present owner being Mr. F. A. Konig of Tyringham.

Lowe coat of Arms

The land excepted from the sale of Linford's Manor in 1589 appears to have passed to Reynes Lowe, who with John Coles, sen., and John Coles, jun., was holding a manor of LINFORD or LINFORDS in Sherington in 1611. (Note 86) From Reynes Lowe it passed before 1634 (Note 87) to a kinsman Thomas Lowe of Sherington, (Note 88) who was dealing with it in 1650. (Note 89) In 1660, with his wife Anne, Thomas Lowe conveyed it to John Adams, (Note 90) the husband of his daughter Anne. (Note 91) It remained in the Adams family, by whom it was conveyed in 1725 to Sir John Chester, bart., of Chicheley (Note 92) (q.v.), with which manor it was still held late in the 19th century. (Note 93)

According to Browne Willis the manor-house did not pass with the manorial rights to the Tyringhams, but descended with this property. (Note 94)

A property known from the 13th century as a manor of Sherington, and from the 15th as a manor of CAVES or SHERINGTON, was held of the principal manor by fealty and rent of 1d. (Note 95) It appears to have originated in the amalgamation of numerous small estates in Sherington acquired by John de Cave from whose family it took its distinctive name. In 1253 William le Curt and his- wife Amphyllis granted him a messuage and 11 acres in Sherington. (Note 96) In the year before he had received a grant of 6½ acres from William Vintner of Stratford and his wife Emma, (Note 97) who in 1255 granted to him a messuage, with the reversion of all the lands in Sherington which Sarah, wife of William le Franceys, and Olive, wife of Ranulph le Franceys, held in dower of the inheritance of Emma, and all other lands belonging to Emma in Sherington, John de Cave paying 60 marks for this grant. (Note 98) In 1257 John le Blake and his wife Felise (apparently one of four co-heirs of a branch of the Sherington family) granted to John de Cave half a messuage, 20 acres of land, and one quarter of a moiety of three mills in Sherington, which they held in right of Felise, together with the reversion of all lands Felise might inherit in Sherington, and one-fourth of all the lands which Beatrice widow of William de Sherington held in dower of her inheritance there, John paying 20 marks for this grant. (Note 99) John de Cave acquired more land from Simon son of Gervase and his wife Agatha in 1260, (Note 100) and in 1261 from Jane daughter of Richard de Newenton, a messuage, one-eighth of a mill, and all Jane's pasture between the Ouse and the arable lands. (Note 1) He was probably dead before 1275, when Geoffrey Kaldsweyn and Lucy his wife, and Eustace le Carpenter and Hawise his wife, granted two parts of a messuage and 18 acres of land in Sherington to Robert de Cave. (Note 2) All this property, now first called a manor, was demised by Robert de Cave for ten years to William de Cave. The latter assigned his term to John de Thorntoft, whose executors in 1291 complained that in spite of this demise, Robert, with his sons John and Nicholas, among others, had entered the manor and ejected them. (Note 3) It was probably the son John here mentioned who in 1318 granted a messuage, land, and rent in Sherington to Richard de Cave, with remainder to Thomas, Robert, and Roger, brothers of Richard, and to his own right heirs. (Note 4) Richard, who appears to have been John's eldest son, was appointed sheriff on 30 May 1319, (Note 5) and in 1322 obtained the restoration of his lands in Sherington which had been forfeited on information that he was in the company of rebels against the Crown at Kingston, though in matter of fact he had been with the Bishop of Ely in the Isle of Ely for its protection. At the same time Roger de Cave, probably his brother, who had been arrested as a rebel, was delivered by the sheriff. (Note 6) There is mention of Richard Cave of Buckinghamshire two years later (Note 7) and of John Cave in 1363, (Note 8) 1364, (Note 9) 1378 and 1381, (Note 9a) and the manor probably remained for some time in the Cave family, since,


Notes:
76     Pat 1069; Recov. R. Trin. 12. Eliz. m. 560; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxvii 114.
77     Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxvii, 114.
78     Memo. R. (Exch. L.T.R.), Trin. 13 Eliz. m. 4
79     Feet of F. Bucks. Hil. 30 Eliz.; Pat. 30 Eliz. pt. viii.
80     Pat 31 Eliz. pt. vi.
81     Feet of F. Bucks. Trin. 34 Chas. 11.
82     D P.C.C. 24 Degg.
83     Add. MS. 5839, p. 343.
84     P.C.C. 265 Pinfold.
85     See also Priv. Act, 36 Geo. III, cap. 66; Lysons, Mag. Brit. i (3). 629; Sheahan, op. cit. 600.
86     Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 9 Jas. I.
87     A rent of two couples of capons and a couple of hens was paid in 1639 for a cottage in Church End in Sherington to Thomas Lowe and Anne his wife, and Thomas Lowe (his son) and Parthenia his wife (Add. Chart. 24051).
88     Visit. of Bucks. (Harl. Soc.), 87.
89     Recov. R. Mich. 1650, m. 9.
90     Feet of F. Bucks. Trin. 12 Chat. I.
91     Visit. of Bucks. loc. cit.
92     Feet of F. Bucks. East. and Trin. 11 Geo. I.
93     Add. MS. 5839, p. 343 ; Priv. Act, 36 Geo. III, cap. 66; Lysons, op. cit. i (3), 630; Lipscomb, Hist. and Antiq. of Bucks. iv, 334; Sheahan, op. cit. 601.
94     Add. MS. 5839, p. 344.
95     Cal. Inq. p.m. Hen. VII, i, 302.
96     Feet of F. case 16, file 32, no. 6.
97     Ibid. no. 10.
98     Ibid. file 33, no. 25.
99     Ibid. file 34, no. 2.
100     Ibid. file 36, no. 9.
1     Ibid. no. 8.
2     Ibid. file 44, no. 6.
3     Cal. Pat. 1281-92, p. 411.
4     Feet of F. case 18, file 70, no. 14.
5     Cal. Fine R. 1307-19, p. 398.
6     Cal. Close, 1318-23, P.451.
7     Cal. Fine R. 1319-27, p. 235.
8     Cal. Close, 1360-4, pp. 548, 555.
9     Ibid. 1364-8, p. 54.
9a     Ibid. 1377-81, pp. 117, 505.

Page 455

when it next appears in 1491, it was designated Cave's Manor. Richard Maryot died seised of it on 18 July of that year, leaving a daughter and heir Joan, wife of Humphrey Catesby. (Note 10) The manor appears to have been held by Katherine, widow of Richard Maryot, still alive in 1526, (Note 11) since 15 acres of pasture was all that Humphrey Catesby held in Sherington at his death in 1503 (Note 12) and Katherine was sued for detaining the deeds of the manor of Sherington by Margaret Horsington. She claimed as daughter and eventual heir of Hugh Horsington, after the death of his son John and of the latter's son Randolph without issue. (Note 13) For more than a century all trace of this manor is lost, but in 1627 it was conveyed by Sir Francis Clarke to Sir Richard Norton, bart., and others, (Note 14) probably trustees for William Norton, who was living at Sherington in 1634. (Note 15) His widow Anne, daughter of Sir John Brett, joined with their son Brett Norton and his wife Sarah in a conveyance of the manor in 1655. (Note 16) In 1689 it had passed to Owen Norton, (Note 17) who was holding it in 1697 with Robert Norton and his wife Sarah. (Note 18) It appears to have passed by marriage from the Nortons to the Pargiters, and again by marriage, circa 1710, from the Pargiters to the Smiths, being in the hands of John Smith of Passenham (co. Northampton) in 1736, according to Browne Willis, whose account of Sherington, however, is very confused and by no means reliable. (Note 19) At the passing of the Inclosure Act for the parish in 1796 it was held by Dryden Smith, (Note 20) son of Dryden Smith, shipwright of Wapping. (Note 21) He was succeeded by his son James, who in 1813 barred the entail on the manor (Note 22) as a preliminary to its conveyance to Dr. Cheyne, (Note 23) whose trustees in 1857 sold it to Alfred Umney. (Note 24) Mrs. Umney held the manorial rights for about thirty years, but before 1895 they had passed to George Alfred U. Nelson, whose trustees have held since 1907.

The manor of FITZJOHNS or SHERINGTON had its origin as abovesaid in a grant for life made by Martin de Carun to Roger Fitz John of Sherington of one-third of his manor, this third being quitclaimed for ever to Roger Fitz John in 1297-8 by Martin's son and successor Roger de Carun. (Note 25) Roger Fitz John, the grantee, died before June 1313, when his son Robert was his heir. (Note 26) Robert held in 1316, (Note 27) and in 1351 there is reference to John son and heir of the late Robert Fitz John of Sherington. (Note 27a) John FitzJohn of Sherington in 1369 claimed a toft, 30 acres of land, and 2 acres of meadow, as heir of his grandfather Roger, and great-grandfather Roger Fitz John, against Emma, daughter of Thomas Fitz John, and three other ladies (? apparently co-heirs with her of Roger Fitz John, John's great-grandfather) and their husbands. (Note 28) John Fitz John, or a successor of the same name, died seised of the manor on 31 March 1413. (Note 29) His son John, who then succeeded, appeared in pleas of debt in 1415 (Note 30) and 1416. (Note 31) In 1436 John Fitz John granted half of a messuage, many acres of land, a rent of 6s. 5d. (in all apparently a moiety of this manor) to John Chamberlain and Margaret his wife for life (Note 32); and in 1440 granted the reversion of this moiety together with the other half to Nicholas Wymbyssh, clerk, and others, (Note 33) apparently feoffees. In 1491 the manor, then for the first time called Fitz Johns, was held by Richard Maryot with his other property in Sherington, (Note 34) but after this date its history becomes obscure for more than a century. In 1599, the site of the manor of Fitz Johns was held by William Mountgomery and his wife Margaret, (Note 35) who two years later conveyed this manor, then called Sherington, to their son Sherington Mountgomery. (Note 36) This was possibly the property which in 1613 Sir Anthony Chester, bart., held in Sherington, (Note 37) and which was called the manor of Sherington in 1638, when he obtained leave for his son Henry to levy a fine with him for the purpose of making a twenty-one years' lease. (Note 38) The messuages in Sherington held by Sir Anthony Chester, bart., and his son John in 1687 (Note 39) may represent this estate, which may later have merged into the Chesters’ manor of Linford in this parish.

One fee, or half of the original estate in Sherington, was obtained in the 13th century by the Cockfield family, by whose name this manor was later distinguished. Though the Caruns do not appear to have subinfeudated this fee, which was held by the Cockfields of the king in chief, yet they evidently had some interest, since it reverted in the 14th century to their successors the Linfords, of whom tenements in the manor were afterwards held. (Note 40) Robert de Cockfield (Cocfeud, Kockefeud) was in possession c. 1235. (Note 41) He was probably identical with the Robert de Cockfield who in 1223 granted a messuage and 5 acres in Sherington to Simon son of Adam in exchange for another messuage and a virgate quitclaimed to himself and to Denis de Cockfield and William de Sherington by Simon. (Note 42) Early in 1240-1 Robert de Cockfield and William de Sherington owed arrears of rent for the mill-pond to Robert le Blund and, his wife Mabel, who renounced their claim to the arrears and all future rent. (Note 43) Robert de Cockfield, still alive in 1260, (Note 44) appears to have been succeeded before 1276 by John de Cockfield, (Note 45) probably his son, who by


Notes:
10     Cal. Inq. p.m. Hen. VII, i, 302. That part of the inscription on his tomb dealing with his daughter's marriage runs thus: 'Cujus quidem Ricardi filiam et heredem desponavit Humfridus Catesby armiger' (Add. MS. 5839, p. 347). His will, made in 1490, speaks of his wife Katherine, her mother Dame Elizabeth Tate, and John Tate his brother-in-law (P.C.C. 11 Dogett).
11     L. and P. Hen. VIII, iv, p. 986.
12     Exch. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), file 5, no. 16.
13     Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 526, no. 47.
14     Feet of F. Bucks. Trin. 3 Chas. I.
15     Visit. of Bucks. (Harl. Soc.), 96.
16     Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 1655.
17     Ibid. Trin. 1 Will. and Mary.
18     Ibid. Hil. 9 Will. III.
19     Add. MS. 5839. p. 344
20     Priv. Act, 36 Geo. Ill, cap. 66.
21     Com. Pleas Recov. R. Trio. 53 Geo. III, m. 63.
22     Ibid. See also m. 403; Feet of F. Bucks. East. 54 Geo. III. Of the Smiths Lysons wrote, c. 1813, that they had held for nearly a century (op. cit. i [3], 630).
23     Sheahan, op. cit. 601.
24     Ibid.
25     Cal. Inq. p.m. (Edw. II), v, 207.
26     Ibid.
27     Feud. Aids, i, 110.
27a     Add. Chart. 59280.
28     De Banco R. 435, m. 387d.
29     Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 Hen. V, no. 5.
30     Cal. Pat. 1422-9, p. 250.
31     Ibid. 312.
32     Cal. Pat. 1429-36, p. 595.
33     Ibid. 1436-41, p. 367.
34     Cal. Inq. p.m. Hen. VII, i, 302.
35     Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 42 Eliz.
36     Ibid. Mich. 44 Eliz.; Visit. of Bucks. (Harl. Soc.), 183.
37     Pat. 21 Jas. I, pt. xviii, no. 3.
38     Cal. S. P. Dom. 1638-9, p. 148.
39     Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 3 Jas. II.
40     Chan. Inq. p.m. 19 Ric. II, no. 29.
41     Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 244
42     Feet of F. case 14, file 14, no. 5. An Adam de Cockfield was holding land in Sherington in 1237 (ibid. case 15, file 23, no. 7).
43     Feet of F. case 15, file 25, no. 31.
44     Cur. Reg. R. 169, m. 68.
45     Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 41,

Page 456

1284 had subinfeudated this estate to Adam de Cockfield. (Note 46) It was probably the same Adam and his wife Lucy whose confirmation of the gift of 2 virgates of land in Sherington by Robert de Tinchelray and Aveline his wife to the Abbess and nuns of St. Mary (Delapre Abbey), Northampton, was inspected and confirmed in 1328. (Note 47) No later member of the Cockfield family is recorded as tenant, and this fee reverted to the Linfords, who had succeeded the Caruns in the principal manor. It must be this manor which in 1374 was bestowed by John Linford on Henry Lord Grey de Wilton, for although it was then said to be held of the king in chief for 3s. yearly at Northampton Castle and 5s. hidage to the king, a service associated with the principal manor of Linfords, and although it was expressly stated that John Linford had nothing except this manor, (Note 48) yet the Linfords continued to hold the principal manor, and the Greys certainly afterwards owned the manor once held by the Cockfields. In 1380 Henry Lord Grey de Wilton made a settlement on himself and his wife Elizabeth of Sherington Manor, (Note 49) a third of which, at his death in 1396, was said to be held for life by Joan Basset in dower, of the gift of her husband Ralf Basset. (Note 50) The Greys of Wilton also held Water Eaton Manor in Bletchley, but after the death of Richard Grey in 1442 (Note 51) the two manors appear to have diverged, the renunciation of claim by Margaret, Richard's widow, in 1448 (Note 52) evidently not" taking effect, since property in Sherington, amongst which were closes called Jurdens and Heynes, was included among Margaret's dower at her death in 1452. (Note 53) It had passed to Edward Grey of Bletchley by 1491, when it was called COCKFIELD MANOR (Note 54) and at his death in 1504 came to his cousin and heir, Edmund Lord Grey de Wilton. (Note 55) It was possibly this property which was acquired by Dean Colet and given to the Mercers' Company in trust for the endowment of St. Paul's School in 1510, (Note 56) and in which the company claimed manorial rights in 1796. (Note 57) It is still held by the company, being known as the Mercers' Farm.

The Bassets of Drayton held lands in Sherington as part of their manor of Olney, and in 1326 (Note 58) and 1331 (Note 59) Ralph Basset of Drayton complained that his free warren, etc., in Sherington had been broken into by Richard Linford and others. These lands descended with the manor of Warrington in Olney. The Bassets about 1359 obtained Newton Blossomville Manor (q.v.), with which this property, described as 50 acres of land, 8 acres of meadow, and 10s. rent, (Note 60) descended through the Earls of Stafford and Dukes of Buckingham, and with which it was granted to Walter Devereux, Lord Ferrers, in 1524. (Note 61)

A property mainly in Sherington, but extending into the neighbouring parish of Lathbury and comprising four messuages, 100 acres of land, 20 acres of meadow, 10 acres of pasture, 6 acres of wood called le Hoo, 15s. assize rent, (Note 62) was known in the 17th century as LE HOO MANOR. (Note 63) A Margery Del Hoo is mentioned in connexion with Lathbury in 1278, (Note 64) and about that date Joan Dakeney, lord of the principal Lathbury Manor, claimed warren and a new park at le Hoo. (Note 65) The Tyringhams held rights over this estate in 1405 (Note 66) and probably earlier, for Sir Roger Tyringham and Simon his brother were among those who broke Ralph Basset's closes in 1331. (Note 67) It descended with their manor of Tyringham (q.v.), with which it was held in 1614 by Sir Antony Tyringham. (Note 68)

Two virgates in Sherington were granted to Tickford Priory with the church, to which one of them belonged, (Note 69) and at the dissolution of the priory were bestowed in 1526 on Cardinal Wolsey for the college founded by him in Oxford. (Note 70)

A mill worth 26s. was held with the manor in 1086. (Note 71) The mill pond passed into the possession of Robert de Cocklield and William de Sherington early in 1240-1, (Note 72) and the former had evidently a right to the mills in Sherington in 1260. (Note 73)

An extent of the principal manor of 1301 included two-thirds of a fishery in the Ouse. (Note 74) The remaining third was evidently granted to the Fitz Johns with their third of the manor of Sherington, as the moiety of a third of a fishery in the water of Sherington was held with a moiety of Fitz Johns Manor in 1436. (Note 75) Free fishing in the Ouse and waters of Sherington was attached to the principal manor in the 18th and 19th centuries. (Note 76)

Free fishery in the Ouse was held with the manor of Caves in 1813. (Note 77)

A several fishery in the Ouse was granted with Cockfield Manor to Henry Lord Grey de Wilton by John Linford in 1374. (Note 78)

CHURCH

The church of ST. LAUD consists of a chancel measuring internally 30 ft 10 in. in length with a mean width of 16 ft., north vestry, central tower 11 ft. 4 in. by 11 ft., nave 54 ft. 6 in. by 18ft. 4 in., north and south aisles each 10 ft. wide, and south porch. It is built of large rubble; the roof of the chancel is covered with tiles and those of the remainder of the church with lead.

A church existed here in the 12th century, (Note 79) but the earliest parts of the present building, consisting principally of the north arcade and the lower stage of the tower, date from about 1250, when the church appears to have consisted of a chancel, central tower,


Notes:
46     Feud. Aids, i, 82.
47     Dugdale, Mon. v, 212. At the same date was likewise inspected and confirmed the confirmation by Robert de Cockfield of the gift of 3s. rent by his grandmother Lucy de Cockfield to the abbey.
48     Inq. a.q.d. file 384, no. 19.
49     Cal. Pat. 1377-81, p. 426.
50     Chan. Inq. p.m. 19 Ric. II, no. 29. Joan Basset died in 1402, holding this third of the manor (ibid. 4 Hen. IV, no. 38).
51     Ibid. 20 Hen. VI, no. 23.
52     Feet of F. case 293, file 71, no. 335.
53     Chan. Inq. p.m. 30 Hen. VI, no. 12.
54     Cal. Inq. p.m. Hen. VII, i, 302.
55     Exch. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), file 5, no. 11.
56     Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxv, 160.
57     Priv. Act, 36 Geo. III, cap. 66.
58     Cal. Pat. 1324-7, p. 292.
59     Ibid. 1330-4, pp. 205-6.
60     Chan. Inq. p.m. 2 Ric. II, no. 46.
61     L. and P. Hen. VIII, iv, g. 137 (I).
62     Chan. Inq. p.m. 2 Ric. III, no. 34; (Ser. 2), ccxlvi, 108.
63     Ibid. cccxlix, 164
64     Hund R. (Rec. Com.), ii, 347.
65     Ibid. i, 38, 45.
66     De Banco R. 578, m. 362 d.
67     Cal. Pat. 1330-4, p. 205.
68     Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2). cccxlix, 164.
69     Abbrev. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 33. A grant of this land was made by the prior in 1254 (Feet of F. case 16, file 33. no. 13).
70     L. and P. Hen. VIII, iv, 1913, 2217
71     V.C.H. Bucks. i, 241.
72     Feet of F. case 15, file 25, no. 31.
73     Cur. Reg. R. 169, m. 68.
74     Chan. Inq. p.m. 29 Edw. I, no. 43.
75     Cal. Pat. 1429-36, p. 595,
76     Recov. R. Hil. 15 Geo. III, m. 392; Mich. 4 Geo. IV, m. 122.
77     Ibid. Trin. 53 Geo. III, m. 403; Feet of F. Bucks. East. 54 Geo. III.
78     Inq. a.q.d. file 384, no. 19.
79     Round, Cal. Doc. of France, 444.


Facing Page 456:
Sherington Church from the South-East
SHERINGTON CHURCH FROM THE SOUTH-EAST



Page 457

nave and narrow north aisle. Both the chancel and north aisle were rebuilt early in the 14th century, and it is probable that the completion of the tower was contemplated at the same time, (Note 80) but little beyond the insertion of the turret stairway was completed at this time. About 1350 the south aisle and the two-storied porch were added, and the nave was widened towards the north, its west wall being rebuilt. The bell-chamber and buttresses were added to the tower late in the 15th century, when the nave c1earstory was also added or remodelled, new tracery was inserted in the large west window, and the nave and aisles were re-roofed. In 1870 the whole fabric was restored and a modern vestry has been added.

The chancel widens out towards the east, and was probably begun at that end before the original structure was removed. The head and jambs of the pointed east window, enriched internally with a continuous edge-roll, are of the 14th century, but the tracery is modern: On the south are two three-light windows with vertical tracery, both of which were inserted in

Plan of Sherington Church
PLAN OF SHERINGTON CHURCH

the late 15th century, and a moulded doorway of the 14th century with a segmental head, while a small low-side window of one trefoiled light pierces the tower buttress at the south-west. There is now no piscina, but on the south are three sedilia of the 15th century, all under one head with chamfered mullions and, unpierced vertical tracery. A large recess has been formed at the north-west for the organ, and there is a modern aumbry at the north-east.

The tower is of three stages, with diagonal buttresses extending to the foot of the bell-chamber, and is surmounted by an embattled parapet and slender spirelet. The ground stage opens to the chancel and nave by pointed arches of about 1250, each of three chamfered orders supported by large responds of trefoil plan with moulded capitals and bases. When the bell-chamber was added in the 15th century it was evidently found desirable to reinforce the north and south walls of the tower, in order that the structure should be more accurately square; this was done from the inside. At the south-west is a pointed doorway to the turret stairway, and above it is a four-centred doorway, now blocked, which led to the rood 10ft. There is no external division between the two lower stages, and they are quite plain except that the second stage has a small pointed window on the south. The bell-chamber is lighted from all sides by twin windows, each of two cinquefoiled lights under a four-centred head; the contrast with the plain walls below is greatly enhanced by the projection of the bell-chamber on all sides on four-centred arches which spring from the upper parts of the buttresses, and, except where interrupted by the stair turret, span the walls between them.

The nave has arcades of four bays with pointed arches on either side. The north arcade, which is supported by circular columns with moulded capitals and bases, dates from about 1250, but it appears to have been reconstructed about 1 ft. further to the north in the mid-14th century, when the south arcade was built. The west respond is formed by a semi-column, but the east respond is of the same plan as those of the tower arches. The south arcade is supported by octagonal piers and responds with moulded capitals and bases. There is a large pointed window of five cinquefoiled lights on the west, with jambs and head of the 14th century, but the tracery is of the late 15th century; the nave is further lighted by a clearstory with four windows on either side, each of three uncusped lights under a four-centred head.

The eastern part of the north aisle is lighted by two four-centred windows which were inserted about 1500, one of these, of three lights, being on the east and the other, of two lights, on the north. At the south end of the east wall is a 13th-century piscina, with a trefoiled head and round bowl, now partially covered by the north wall of the nave. The north doorway has a pointed head and elaborate continuous mouldings, but only the east jamb and part of the arch are original. Near the west end of the north wall is an original pointed window of two trefoiled lights with flowing tracery.

The south aisle is lighted by three large windows on the south and one on the east. The east window, with the exception of the label, has been entirely renewed externally, and modern tracery has been inserted in the south-east window, but the adjacent window on the west, with its fine flowing tracery,


Notes:
80     Indulgences were granted c. 1305 for the fabric of the church and belfry (Linc. Epis. Reg. Memo. Dalderby, fol. 90 d.).

Page 458

dates entirely from about 1350; the pointed south doorway, enriched with continuous mouldings, is also of the same period. To the east of the doorway is a low plain recess with a depressed head, and to the west of it is a pointed doorway to the parvise stairway. The south-west window, which has uncusped lights and restored geometrical tracery, dates from the 13th century, and was probably reset here from the nave wall when the aisle was built. At the south-east is a trefoiled piscina of the 14th century with a broken quatrefoil bowl, and on the face of the east respond of the arcade is a trefoiled image niche.

The ground stage of the porch is carried by a stone quadripartite vault with chamfered ribs, and has wall arcades on the east and west, each consisting of three trefoiled arches with traceried spandrels, that on the west being modern; at the north-east is a plain stoup, the bowl of which has been broken away. The entrance archway has been extensively repaired. The parvise has small pointed windows and a straight parapet.

The nave has a low-pitched moulded roof of about 1500, with shields at the feet of the intermediate rafters. The aisles have lean-to roofs of the same period, that of the north aisle having figures at the feet of the principals, one holding a scroll and the others shields.

The font, which dates from the late 14th century, is octagonal and has a panelled bowl and stem, and a moulded base. On each side of the bowl is a defaced figure of a saint under an ogee crocketed label. The figures of St. Paul, St. Andrew and St. Catherine can be easily recognized. On one of the stalls is a leather bound book of Common Prayer ‘Printed by the Assigns of John Bill Deceased and by Henry Hills and Thomas Newcomb, Printers to the Kings most excellent Majesty. 1683’; on it is written ‘Thomas his Book 1686’.

The tower contains a ring of five bells; the second, inscribed ‘Gabrel’ but not dated, the fourth and the tenor, both dated 1591, were all cast at Bedford by one of the Watts family; (Note 80a) the fourth and tenor are inscribed with the letters of the alphabet, the former in Gothic smalls and the latter in Gothic capitals. The treble is by Pack & Chapman of London, 1773, and the third by Henry Bagley, 1672. The communion plate consists of a chalice and cover paten of 1733, dated 1735; a flagon of 1769; a spoon of 1806; and a chalice and standing paten, both of 1843.

The registers begin in 1695.

ADVOWSON

The advowson was held by the Caruns or Sheringtons with the principal manor until granted by William de Sherington to Tickford Priory at some date before 1150. (Note 81) An attempt made in 1229 by John de Carun, William's great-grandson, to recover possession of the advowson, in spite of the confirmation of his father Ralph, was unsuccessful, (Note 82) and it remained in the possession of the priory (Note 83) until granted by it in 1293 to the Bishop of Lincoln. (Note 84) It remained the property of the bishops (Note 85) till 1852, when it was transferred to the Bishop of Oxford. (Note 85a)

The church was taxed at £13 6s. 8d. in 1291, (Note 86) and at £20 10s.8d. in 1535. (Note 87)

A rent of 8d., issuing from land in Sherington held by Gervase de Carun, was devoted by his brother Richard (temp. Richard I) to the maintenance of a lamp before the altar in the church. (Note 87a) At the dissolution of the chantries it was found that land worth 6d. yearly was given for an obit, and other land, worth 11d. yearly, for a lamp. (Note 88)

CHARITIES

Edward Fuller, by his will, 1705, devised £5 yearly, to be applied on 27 March as follows: 20s. to the minister for a sermon, 10s. to be expended on the minister and churchwardens, 5s. to the parish clerk, and £3 5s. to be distributed in half-crowns to twenty-six poor. The rent-charge is paid as to £2 10s. out of the Latimer estate belonging to Lord Chesham, £1 5s. out of Gregory's Field, and £1 5s. out of Umney's Close, both in Sherington.

Stonepits Land.- There is a piece of land in the parish containing 2 a. 2 r. 31 p., let at £8 10s. 6d. yearly, which is applied by the Parish Council in lighting the village with street lamps.

Unknown donor's charity or Midsummer Holm consists of a yearly rent-charge of £2 issuing out of Waypost Close, now belonging to Mr. George Fleet, which is applied in aid of church expenses.

Alfred Umney's charity, founded by will proved at London 25 November 1863, consists of £371 14s. 4d. India 3½ per cent. stock with the official trustees, the dividends of which, amounting to £13 yearly, are applicable in aid of the religious and moral instruction of poor children of the parish.


Notes:
80a     A. H. Cocks, Ch. Bells of Bucks. 564.
81     Round, Cal. Doc. of France, 444.
82     Cur. Reg. R. 102, m. 17.
83     R. of Hugh of Wells. (Cant. and York Soc.), ii, 77.
84     Linc. Epis. Reg. Inst. Sutton, fol. 114 d.; Cal. Pat. 1313-17, p. 284.
85     L. and P. Hen. VIII, ix, 117, 349, 453-4, 471, 569; Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
85a     Lond. Gaz,. 4 June 1852, p. 1578.
86     Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 34.
87     Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv, 243.
87a     Maitland, op. cit. ii, 674.
88     Chant. Cert. 5, no. 31.
 

Lipscomb's History of Bucks 1831 - Back to Village Events


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