HUISH
About five miles south-east of Marlborough,
Huish lies below the southern scarp of the downs. (fn. 1)
The roughly square parish is crossed east-west by
the scarp. Its land rises above 850 ft. on Huish Hill,
sloping gently northwards to about 700 ft., and
more steeply southwards to about 500 ft. All the
geological strata associated with the scarp face
outcrop on its land: they are Upper Greensand, and
Lower, Middle, and Upper Chalk, overlain in the
north-east by Clay-with-flints and in the south by
a very small area of valley gravel. The northernmost
land of Huish, part of the dip slope of the downs,
can be used for tillage or pasture. The steep slopes of
Huish Hill have prevented ploughing, but the more
gently sloping land below it favours arable cultivation, and the southernmost part of the parish is
meadow land. The Clay-with-flints deposits in the
north-east of the parish can support dense woodland
and Huish was part of Savernake forest until 1330, (fn. 2)
but by the mid 16th century there were only 58 a.
of woodland in the parish, (fn. 3) and by the 19th century
Gopher wood, 22 a. on Draycot Hill, was all that
remained. (fn. 4)
The boundaries of Huish were described in 1573. (fn. 5)
Huish does not seem to have been affected by the
17th-century disputes over the title to and rights
over parts of the down (fn. 6) and the parish boundaries
of 1803 seem to have been identical with those of
1573. (fn. 7) North of Huish Hill they followed the courses
of three dry valleys at the heads of Hursley and
Clatford bottoms, but the southern boundaries
were not marked by geographical features or wellused roads. In 1803 they enclosed some 671 a. In
that year, when the common fields of Oare were
inclosed, the land in Oare belonging to the lords of
Huish was deemed part of Huish parish. It comprised several small plots of land in and around
Oare village, and the westernmost allotments of the
previously commonable land. (fn. 8) Huish thus increased
in area to 754 a. and its eastern boundary took its
modern line much closer to Oare village in the
south and east of the dry valley in the north. When
the village of Oare expanded in the 19th century,
part of it, including the school, was situated in the
parish of Huish. (fn. 9) The detached areas of Huish in
Oare became part of Wilcot parish in 1885 when
Huish was reduced to 738 a. (fn. 10)
The first settlement in the ancient parish was
probably on the upland where a number of archaeological discoveries has been made, and a number of
ancient earthworks has been found. (fn. 11) An upland
village or hamlet called Hillwork, possibly sited
near Draycot Hill, was mentioned in the 13th
century, (fn. 12) but it was not referred to afterwards and
probably disappeared. Later upland settlements
included the pair of cottages called Heath Cottages,
some cottages near Hill Barn, (fn. 13) and cottages on
Huish Hill. The Huish Hill hamlet, near the site of
a Romano-British settlement in Oare, (fn. 14) existed at
least by the late 18th century. (fn. 15) In 1840 it consisted
of ten cottages, five in Huish and five in Wilcot, (fn. 16)
and a chapel was built there later. (fn. 17) The hamlet
began to be abandoned in the 1920s, (fn. 18) and the last
cottage was demolished c. 1957. (fn. 19) Lowland settlement in Huish first took place around the spring
line. From the 12th to the early 14th century there
were dwellings there and the church and Huish
Farm were built on near-by sites. (fn. 20) The main part
of the village, however, was situated along the back
lane from Oare to Draycot Fitz Payne. At least
from the 18th century, but probably earlier, it was
the largest settlement of the parish. There were 66
residents of the village in 1864, almost exactly half
the number for the whole parish. (fn. 21)
Huish is isolated from the main routes of the area.
The village stands a mile from the MarlboroughUpavon road at Oare, and because of its small area
and its isolation the parish has long been one of the
least populous of the hundred. An early-14thcentury taxation assessment was low, (fn. 22) there were
only 22 poll-tax payers in 1377, (fn. 23) and the parish
contained fewer than ten households in 1428. (fn. 24)
Taxation assessments of the 16th and 17th centuries
were also low, (fn. 25) and in 1801 the population of the
parish was only 82. It rose to 128 by 1831, remained
almost constant until 1901, but declined to 30 by
1971. (fn. 26)
In 1970 there were still one or two buildings on
the upland at Huish Hill but most of the village was
on the lowland. Among the buildings beside the
Oare-Draycot road are a pair of 17th-century
cottages with chalk-block walling, a range of six
cottages dating from the 17th to the 19th centuries
with chalk and some sarsen walling, two pairs of
18th- or early-19th-century cottages, and the Old
Rectory. The church and Huish Farm, built after
the previous farm-house was burned down in
1864, (fn. 27) stand some distance north of them. Oare
School and Cold Blow, a thatched house by Sir
Clough Williams-Ellis with a range of stable buildings
east of it, (fn. 28) stand in the east of the parish in Oare
village.
Manor.
Huish belonged to Richard Esturmy in
1086 but did not pass to his kinsmen. (fn. 29) Robert
Doygnel held it c. 1163, (fn. 30) and from at least 1198 to
1212 the manor of HUISH still belonged to a
Robert Doygnel, possibly the same man or perhaps
his son. (fn. 31) Geoffrey Doygnel (d. 1227–8) subsequently held it. (fn. 32) After his death Richard of Durnford had custody of the land because Geoffrey's son
Robert was a minor. (fn. 33) Robert entered c. 1239 (fn. 34)
and died c. 1247, (fn. 35) when his own heir was a minor.
Custody of the manor was granted to Silvester de
Everdon (d. 1254), bishop of Carlisle, (fn. 36) probably
a kinsman of Robert or his wife, (fn. 37) and it passed to
Walter de Rudham, a keeper of the bishopric's
temporalities. (fn. 38) Silvester Doygnel, presumably
Robert's son, held Huish from at least 1267 until
his death in 1293. (fn. 39) His son Peter entered in 1300
and held it until his death in 1345. (fn. 40)
Under a settlement of 1344 Huish was held by
Peter's widow Agnes until her death in 1349. (fn. 41)
Peter Blount, Peter Doygnel's grandson, was her
heir because his brother Thomas and his wife were
both dead. (fn. 42) After Peter Blount's death in 1361
while still a minor and without issue, the manor
passed to John son of Nicholas Cotteleye. (fn. 43) It was
subsequently in dispute. (fn. 44) Sir John de Roche and
Willelma his wife acquired it in 1381 from John
de Garton and his wife, (fn. 45) and their acquisition was
licensed by the king. (fn. 46) After Roche's death in 1400,
however, John, Lord Lovel, entered the manor (fn. 47)
and held it until his death in 1408. (fn. 48) His son John
was deprived of the manor in 1411 when the claims
of Roche's daughter Elizabeth and her husband
Walter Beauchamp were re-established. (fn. 49) The land
was restored to Lovel after he petitioned the king, (fn. 50)
but in 1412 Lovel granted it to Beauchamp and his
wife as part of a bargain involving Earlscourt in
Wanborough. (fn. 51) In 1413 Beauchamp sold it to Sir
William Esturmy. (fn. 52)
The manor was again disputed after Esturmy's
death in 1427. John Stafford, bishop of Bath, and
others claimed it as Esturmy's feoffees, (fn. 53) and their
occupation was licensed by the king. (fn. 54) John Bird
of Marlborough, however, apparently established a
superior claim, (fn. 55) presumably based on the conveyances which took place between Esturmy and
himself and others in 1418 and 1425. (fn. 56) He held the
manor from 1428 at the latest until his death c.
1445, (fn. 57) and his widow Isabel held it until her own
death in 1476. (fn. 58)
Before Isabel Bird's death, however, the title to
the manor was again disputed. John Michell (d.
1473) successfully claimed the reversion after
Isabel's death against Isabel Seymour in 1472, (fn. 59)
and his title passed to his widow Alice (fl. 1494) and
daughters Isabel, wife of Thomas Beke, Christine,
wife of William FitzGeoffrey, and Elizabeth, later
Elizabeth Hall. (fn. 60) The manor passed to Michell's
heirs despite another attempt by Isabel Seymour
and her son Alexander to deprive them of it. (fn. 61)
Thomas Beke apparently held the whole of it from
1476 to his death in 1491 (fn. 62) when it passed to his son
Marmaduke (d. 1501). (fn. 63) Before Marmaduke's
death, however, two-thirds of the manor were
acquired by Elizabeth Hall (fn. 64) and the other third,
presumably the portion of Christine FitzGeoffrey
who died in 1478, (fn. 65) by John Seymour, grandson of
Isabel Seymour. (fn. 66) Although Marmaduke was said
to have died holding the manor, (fn. 67) by 1504 it was
divided between Elizabeth Hall and Sir John
Seymour. (fn. 68)
In 1505 Edward Dudley successfully impleaded
Elizabeth Hall for her land in Huish. (fn. 69) At least
after Elizabeth's death c. 1507 Dudley apparently
occupied the whole manor despite Sir John Seymour's attempts to disseise him. (fn. 70) Seymour entered
it again in 1509, however, (fn. 71) and lawsuits by Robert
Benger, claiming the title of Elizabeth Hall, and
Sir John Dudley, son of Edward Dudley, claiming
the title of Alice, widow of John Michell, failed to
remove him. (fn. 72) In those proceedings Seymour based
his claim on his descent from Roger Seymour who
married Maud, daughter of William Esturmy. (fn. 73)
The manor passed in 1536 to Sir John Seymour's
son Edward, created duke of Somerset in 1547, and
subsequently descended with the Somerset and
Hertford titles until the death in 1692 of Sarah,
duchess of Somerset. (fn. 74) By her will, dated 1686,
Huish was assigned to the trustees of the Froxfield
Hospital. (fn. 75) They held it until 1921 when H. H. Dew
bought it from them. (fn. 76) He sold it in the same year
to W. B. Strong (fn. 77) and it passed to Mr. J. B. Strong
who owned it in 1970.
Economic History.
Huish was reckoned a
hide and 1½ virgate in 1086. There was a plough and
4 serfs on the demesne, and 3 villeins and 4 coscez
shared 2 other ploughs. There were only 4 a. of
meadow land but there was woodland a league long
by 4 furlongs broad. In 1086 the township was
valued at 60s. having earlier been worth 30s. (fn. 78)
Even in the Middle Ages the manor of Huish
was not coincident with the land of the village.
It had holdings in Fyfield, Clench (Milton Lilbourne), and Oare (Wilcot). (fn. 79) About 1247 the
demesne was valued at 40s., assized rents at 33s.,
and meadow land at 6s. 8d. (fn. 80) Pasture rights on the
upland above Huish were disputed in the mid 13th
century. (fn. 81) All the pasture of Huish manor was used
in common and large numbers of sheep were kept. (fn. 82)
In 1363 Huish was said to include 240 a. of arable,
6 a. of meadow, several pasture for 18 oxen and 6
avers, and common pasture. (fn. 83) In the period when
the title to the manor was disputed the demesne was
probably leased.
In the mid 16th century the three customary
tenants of the manor in Huish paid rents totalling
£2 8s. a year. The farmer of the demesne paid £4
13s., some of which, however, was paid for land in
Oare. The land of Huish was thus worth about £6
a year in rents to the lord. It was arranged in four
bands running east-west across the parish. There
were 27 a. of several meadow land south of the
back lane from Oare to Draycot. North of that
lane lay two open fields, West field, 127 a., and
East field, 120 a. They were divided by the path
running across the downs from Huish to Marlborough along Hursley bottom. Further north
Huish Hill afforded pasture for a flock of 940 sheep,
and beyond that Cow down was used by a herd of
67 other animals. There were five farms on the land.
The demesne farm, later called Huish farm,
included 140 a. in Huish and 61 a. in Oare; Parsonage farm had 30 a. in Huish and 2 a. in Oare; and
the three copyholds amounted to 117 a. The farmer
had rights to pasture 400 sheep, the rector 100,
and the copyholders 440. (fn. 84)
The arrangements for farming at Huish were
greatly altered in the 17th and 18th centuries. Cow
down was inclosed in the mid 17th century. (fn. 85)
Some of the allotments, called the Hill grounds,
were later converted to arable. (fn. 86) Between 1677 and
1705 part of the sheep-down, probably the northeastern part, was also inclosed, and sheep stints
were reduced by 30 per cent. (fn. 87) At the same time a
third arable field, Middle field, was created out of
the other two. (fn. 88) In 1785 there were still three lowland arable fields, then called West field, North
field, and Picked field, some 175 a. in all. There
were some 45 a. of inclosed lowland arable and about
50 a. of meadow land. Apart from Gopher wood,
then 19 a., the upland was divided almost equally
between Tenantry down, 196 a., and inclosed land,
mainly arable, 200 a. The farmer could feed 280
sheep on Tenantry down, the rector 70, and the
copyholders 294. (fn. 89) The number of farms in the
parish increased in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Stubnail farm, which included the woodland of
Huish, was created in the 17th century but was later
annexed to Huish farm. (fn. 90) All three copyholds were
also divided, but two of the six farms thus created
were part of Huish farm by 1785. (fn. 91)
Arrangements for cultivation in Huish took their
modern form between 1773, when the trustees of
Froxfield Hospital resolved not to renew copies
except for cottages, (fn. 92) and 1803, when the common
fields of Oare were inclosed. As a result of the trustees' decision all their land in Huish was by 1801
merged into Huish farm. (fn. 93) The trustees were also
able to extinguish the rights of others in the common
fields and pasture of Huish by exchanges with the
rector of Huish and John Pontin of Oare under the
Oare inclosure award of 1803. (fn. 94) The whole of Huish
was thereafter cultivated in severalty. In 1803
Edmonds's farm in Oare also became part of Huish.
In 1840 there were thus only two farms in the enlarged parish, Huish farm, 655 a. including some
20 a. of glebe leased by the tenant, George Young,
and Edmonds's farm, 83 a. There were 512 a. of
arable, 176 a. of pasture, 32 a. of meadow, and 22 a.
of woodland. (fn. 95)
The upland part of Edmonds's farm later became
part of Huish farm which, when it was sold in 1921,
comprised nearly all the modern parish of Huish.
There were 409 a. of arable, 130 a. of upland
pasture, 100 a. of lowland pasture and meadow,
and 21 a. of woodland. (fn. 96) In 1970 the farm was
largely devoted to arable cultivation and the rearing
of cattle for beef.
Local Government.
Although the lords of
Huish manor withdrew their men from the hundred
court and claimed assize of bread and ale in the 13th
century, no records of their courts have survived. (fn. 97)
Neither are there any records of later government
in the parish which in 1835 became part of Pewsey
poor-law union. (fn. 98)
Church.
There was a church at Huish by 1291. (fn. 99)
Since late-13th-century foundations exist near the
present building, (fn. 100) the church was probably built
shortly before that date. Silvester Doygnel held
the advowson at his death in 1293 (fn. 101) and it passed
with the lordship of the manor. (fn. 102) Doubt, therefore,
sometimes existed about who was entitled to present,
and the right was occasionally disputed. After the
death of Peter Blount while a minor in 1361 the
king presented, (fn. 103) and, although John Cotteleye had
the right of patronage, the bishop collated by lapse in
1362 (fn. 104) and again in 1392. (fn. 105) Presentations were subsequently made by the Lords Lovel and by Sir
William Esturmy, but in 1428 rival presentations
were made by Esturmy's feoffees and by John
Bird. (fn. 106) Nine presentations were made between 1428
and 1472 by Bird and his widow (fn. 107) and the patronage
thereafter passed to Thomas Beke. (fn. 108) In 1488,
however, the bishop collated, again possibly by
lapse. (fn. 109) The advowson subsequently passed with
the manor to the Seymour family, (fn. 110) and later to the
trustees of Froxfield Hospital.
In 1924 the rectory was united with the perpetual
curacy of Oare, the patronage being shared by the
Froxfield trustees and the archdeacon of Wiltshire. (fn. 111)
The united benefice was held in plurality with the
vicarage of Wilcot from 1951 and united with it in
1962. The bishop of Salisbury was added to the
patrons of the new united benefice. (fn. 112) In 1972 that
benefice became part of Swanborough benefice
within which the parishes of Huish and Oare were
united to create a new parish called the parish of
Huish and Oare. (fn. 113)
Huish church was worth £4 6s. 8d. in 1291, a
very low comparative value. (fn. 114) Its net annual value
was still only £7 in 1535. (fn. 115) In 1812 it was worth
£200 a year, (fn. 116) and, with an average income of £178
net, was one of the poorer livings of the hundred
1829–31. (fn. 117) The rector also received about £5 10s.
a year from funds set up by Gabriel Thistlethwaite
in 1708 and by his will proved 1722. (fn. 118) Payments of
£2 10s. a year were still made in the 1960s. (fn. 119)
The rector received all the great and small tithes
of Huish as it was before 1803. (fn. 120) They were paid
in kind in 1672 (fn. 121) and were valued at £82 in 1785. (fn. 122)
In addition he received tithes from four estates in
Oare. He took the whole tithe from nearly all the
customary land of the lords of Huish in Oare
which became part of Huish in 1803, a third of the
great tithe arising from Reeves's farm, two-thirds
from Pontin's farm, and 6s. 8d. in lieu of tithes
from Benger's farm. (fn. 123) In 1839 the tithes arising from
land then in Oare were commuted for a rent-charge
of £15 16s. (fn. 124) Those arising from Huish as it was
then were commuted for a rent-charge of £192. (fn. 125)
The tithes from some land in Huish, previously
part of the customary land in Oare, belonged to John
Pontin of Oare and were commuted for a rentcharge of £1 15s. (fn. 126)
In the mid 16th century the rector's glebe consisted of some 10 a. of meadow land, 19 a. in the
fields of Huish, 2 a. in the fields of Oare, and feeding
for 100 sheep, 3 oxen, and 2 horses in the common
pastures of Huish. (fn. 127) An allotment of 6 a. was acquired
when Cow down was inclosed in the mid 17th
century. (fn. 128) The glebe was leased to the farmer of
Huish in the 18th century when there were 18 a. of
lowland arable and 9 a. of upland. (fn. 129) In 1803 the
rector gave up his land in the common fields and his
rights in the common pastures of Huish in exchange
for land south of the Oare-Draycot lane. (fn. 130) The
glebe, thus consolidated in the south of the parish,
amounted to some 25 a. in 1840. (fn. 131) Most of it was
leased (fn. 132) and yielded a rent of £35 in 1851. (fn. 133) The
former glebe-house, the Old Rectory, was built in
1812. (fn. 134) It is a two-storey, double-fronted, building
of brick with a mansard roof. The roof follows the
curves of the two shallow bows flanking the central
doorway which has a Doric porch.
In 1410 Thomas Milward, the rector, was licensed
to go as a pilgrim to Rome. (fn. 135) Under a codicil of the
will of Sarah, duchess of Somerset, the rector of
Huish was also chaplain of Froxfield Hospital. (fn. 136)
Charles Mayo, presented 1775, lived in Beechingstoke where he was rector, but nevertheless held
a weekly service at Huish in 1783 and celebrated
Holy Communion four times a year for some ten
communicants. (fn. 137) In 1812 there were said to be only
three communicants. (fn. 138) The church was subsequently
served by a resident rector who in 1851 held services
for average congregations of more than 30 in the
morning and 50 in the afternoon. (fn. 139) He administered
the Sacrament to four communicants in 1864 but
complained that many of his parishioners found it
more convenient to attend the Methodist chapel on
Huish Hill or the new church at Oare. (fn. 140)
The church of ST. NICHOLAS is of stone in
Early English style and has chancel, nave, south
porch, and north vestry. A church was probably
built on approximately the same site in the late
13th century, and excavations have revealed the
south-east buttresses of that church and the foundations of a chapel built to the north of the chancel.
Some 14th- or 15th-century tiles were found at the
same time. (fn. 141) The church was in bad repair in 1672. (fn. 142)
In 1688 the spire was taken down and a frame for
the bells erected at the west end of the church. (fn. 143)
The need to rebuild was acknowledged in 1751. (fn. 144)
The church was said to be in danger of collapse in
1784 and the following year a new church was
built. (fn. 145) The 18th-century church consisted of a
nave, a small chancel, and a south porch. It was
shorter than the earlier church. (fn. 146) By the 1870s the
church was again in need of repair and it was
extensively restored in 1879 when the vestry was
added. (fn. 147) The nave has an arch-braced roof and the
chancel has a barrel-vaulted roof with an embossed
ceiling and ball-flower ornaments in the wall. The
church was reroofed in the 1960s. (fn. 148)
The chapel built to the north of the chancel in
the late 13th century was refurbished in the 15th
century, possibly by Isabel Bird, but the purpose of
its original foundation and the date of its demolition
or collapse are unknown. (fn. 149)
Only 4½ oz. of plate were left in the parish in 1553
when 1 oz. was taken for the king. There was no
silver in the church at all by 1891 when vessels of
pewter and plated-metal were used. (fn. 150) In 1553
Huish had two bells. By the 19th century there was
only a single bell cast at Warminster in 1668 and
recast in 1883. (fn. 151) In 1785 a miniature font, still in the
church, replaced an earlier one. (fn. 152) It was itself
replaced in 1879. The registers date from 1603. (fn. 153)
No burials were recorded before 1703 and no
marriages before 1684 or between 1754 and 1784.
The registers are otherwise complete. (fn. 154)
Nonconformity.
No dissenters lived in
Huish in 1676 (fn. 155) and there is no evidence of nonconformity in the parish before 1863 when a Primitive
Methodist chapel on Huish Hill was first registered. (fn. 156)
It was probably used by residents of Oare as well as
of Huish but had room for only 50 people. It was
abandoned when the hamlet on Huish Hill was
deserted in the 1920s, (fn. 157) and demolished c. 1940. (fn. 158)
Education.
There were no day-schools in
Huish until c. 1843 when a schoolroom was erected.
In 1859 an elderly woman taught about ten children
in it. (fn. 159) By 1904 the children of Huish were probably
sent to school at Oare. (fn. 160) The schoolroom remained,
however, and was still in use in 1970 as the parish
reading room. The new school built at Oare in 1914
was situated in the parish of Huish. It served both
parishes (fn. 161) but only one or two children of Huish
attended it in 1970.
Charities for the Poor.
Children from
Huish were among the 'manor boys' preferred as
beneficiaries of the Broad Town apprenticing
charity set up by the duchess of Somerset under her
will proved 1704. (fn. 162) Charles Mayo (d. 1829), rector
of Huish, left £100 to buy clothing for old people
and bibles and prayer books for children. In the
early 20th century the annual income of £2 10s. was
usually accumulated for three years and then spent
on blankets, (fn. 163) but in 1964 £14 16s. was spent on
prayer books for the young. (fn. 164) People of Huish also
benefited from the E. H. Rogers Sick Poor Fund
set up under his will proved 1910 to help the needy
of Huish and Oare. (fn. 165)