SHERRINGTON
Sherrington is in the Wylye valley 10 km.
south-east of Warminster; the long and narrow
parish is south of the river, and the village is on
the south bank. (fn. 1) The boundaries of an estate
defined in 968 became those of the parish, the
Wylye on the north, the Grovely Grim's ditch
on the south, a road along a coomb on the east,
and a barrow on part of the west. (fn. 2) To the north
changes to the main course of the Wylye, presumably to drive Sherrington mill and to water
meadows, (fn. 3) left some Sherrington land north of
it. The southernmost part of the eastern boundary, with Stockton, had been obscured by 1794
and was redefined between then and 1839. (fn. 4) A
detached 8 a. of meadow north of the Wylye,
from which tithes were paid to the rector of
Sherrington from c. 1783 or earlier, (fn. 5) were transferred to Codford St. Peter in 1884. (fn. 6) Since then
Sherrington parish has been 1,315 a. (532 ha.).
Sometimes in the 15th century it was called
Sherrington Mautravers, after the lords of the
manor. (fn. 7)
Chalk outcrops over the whole parish. To the
south on Great Ridge, the Wylye—Nadder
watershed, it is covered by clay-with-flints.
Flat land on the ridge near the boundary is at
213 m. The downland north of it, where Stony
Hill reaches 201 m., is broken by deep dry
valleys, but north of Park bottom the relief is
gentler except where the Cliff, 100 m. to 140 m.,
forms a barrier south of the village. North and
east of the Cliff the chalk is covered by a large
area of gravel, which also extends along the
eastern boundary in the coomb southwards as
far as the foot of Stony Hill. A narrow strip of
alluvium lies beside the Wylye, which leaves the
parish at c. 80 m. (fn. 8) Sheep-and-corn husbandry
typical of the Wylye valley was long practised in
Sherrington, with meadows on the alluvium,
open fields on the gravel and lower lying part of
the chalk, and rough pasture and woodland
beyond that. (fn. 9) At the south end of the parish
Sherrington's extensive woodland, Snailcreep
hanging and Sherrington wood, is part of the
Great Ridge woodland.
A Roman road thought to link Winchester and
Old Salisbury to the Mendips crossed the southernmost part of the parish east and west, (fn. 10) and
the Grovely ridge way, leading from Wilton
along the watershed, was on or near the same
course. (fn. 11) The old road on Sherrington's eastern
border (fn. 12) was never of much importance: it was
a local route to Hindon in the 18th and 19th
centuries (fn. 13) but across the ridge went out of
general use in the 20th. The minor Wilton—
Warminster road linking the villages on the right
bank of the Wylye between Great Wishford and
Bishopstrow crosses the parish: if it ever ran
through the village it had been diverted away
from it by 1773 when it had one course above
the Cliff and one, via Boyton village, below it. (fn. 14)
East of Sherrington the road was turnpiked
between Little Langford and Stockton in 1761
and linked by a new or improved crossing of the
Wylye to the main road on the left bank at
Codford St. Mary, (fn. 15) and from then the road
through Sherrington may have been of even less
importance. The upper road was never tarmacadamed and in the 20th century access to
Sherrington village was from the lower road.
Also of decreasing importance was the downland
Wilton—Warminster road which crossed Sherrington parish a little north of Park bottom: (fn. 16)
it may have been little used in the 19th century (fn. 17) but has survived as a track. In 1856 the
Salisbury-Warminster section of the G.W.R.
was opened across the north-east corner of the
parish: the nearest station was Codford, closed
in 1955. (fn. 18)
A bowl barrow and a long barrow lie on
Sherrington's western boundary and either may
be the Maiden barrow mentioned in 968. There
are two bowl barrows on the Cliff and a third on
downland south of Park bottom. A Pagan-Saxon
long barrow east of the village is unusual because
it is on a lowland site near a river. To the south
Grim's ditch may be later than the Roman road
which it intersects, and on the downs between
Park bottom and Stony Hill there are prehistoric
field systems on the eastern and western boundaries, respectively 120 a. and 80 a. (fn. 19)
The parish has never been populous. It had
only 37 poll-tax payers in 1377 (fn. 20) and fewer than
10 households in 1428. (fn. 21) With 36 adult males it
was more populous in 1641–2 (fn. 22) and may have
had 72 inhabitants in 1676. (fn. 23) The population was
134 in 1801. It rose from 133 in 1811 to a peak
of 194 in 1841, remained steady until 1871, but
between then and 1911 fell from 186 to 97. It
remained below 100 except in 1921, when it was
122, (fn. 24) and 1961, when it was 104. In 1991 the
parish had 70 inhabitants. (fn. 25)
Sherringyon 1839
Typical of the Wylye valley, Sherrington village was founded on the gravel terrace near the
river. It was designated a conservation area in
1973. (fn. 26) Grouped in the north part were the
church, the rectory house, a Norman castle or
fortified house, the demesne farm buildings, and
the mill. In the south part most of the copyhold
farmsteads formed a street running north-east
and south-west. (fn. 27) A motte was raised, presumably in the late 11th century or the 12th by a
Giffard, (fn. 28) and in 1796 the circular moat around
it, connected to the Wylye, was still clearly
defined. (fn. 29) Evidence of a west bailey was found
c. 1972 (fn. 30) but no masonry of a keep or a house on
the motte is in situ, and how long a building on
it may have been used is obscure. An expanse of
water much wider than the moat still lay around
the motte on the east in 1992 but on the west
the moat was dry. The demesne farmstead stood
south-west of it in the 18th century (fn. 31) or earlier.
The farmhouse has a long main south front, of
ashlar and in 18th-century style, and may have
been largely rebuilt in the 19th century. (fn. 32) A
freehold farmstead stood east of the church: (fn. 33) its
farmhouse was replaced by a house in the mid
20th century. Where the road from the village
to the mill fords what is now the main course of
the Wylye a footbridge on circular stone piers
had been erected by 1796. (fn. 34)
A stream rising near the Boyton road may have
flowed along Sherrington street, which was very
wide at its north-east end. From that end a
deeply cut hollow way led south-eastwards
round the east end of the Cliff to Sherrington's
open fields and downs. In the later 19th century
the north-east end of the street and the northwest end of the hollow way were intentionally
flooded for growing watercress, and the hollow
way apparently went out of use. Several former
copyhold farmhouses and several cottages, a
total of eight buildings, survive in the street, all
from before 1839. One copyhold farmstead on
the south-east side and two beside the hollow
way were demolished between 1884 and 1899.
Most of the surviving buildings are thatched and
apparently 17th- or early 18th-century, and most
of the walling of the larger ones is of stone. A
house with chequered walling is dated 1724, a
pair of red-brick and thatch cottages 1756. In
the later 19th century a red-brick cottage was
built, almost surrounded by water, (fn. 35) presumably
when the street was flooded, and at the southwest end of the street a house was built in the
later 20th century.
Between the street and the church stand two
cottages, apparently one 17th-century and one
18th-, and a later 20th-century house. In the east
and south parts of the village two cottages were
built before 1796, possibly in the 18th century,
and one between 1796 and 1839, all perhaps on
the waste and all later enlarged; a cottage was
built in the mid 19th century (fn. 36) and a pair of
estate cottages in 1958. (fn. 37) East of the village on
the boundary with Stockton a small house and
a pair of cottages were built in the mid 19th
century, (fn. 38) and between them and the village a
pair of villas in a style of c. 1900 was built c.
1934. (fn. 39)
There may have been a lodge in the woods at
the south end of the parish in 1773, (fn. 40) perhaps
near where a forester's shelter stood in 1992.
Otherwise there has been no settlement in the
parish south of the village.
Manor.
Between 959 and 968 King Edgar
granted Sherrington, 10 hides, to Wulfthryth.
Wilton abbey acquired it, Edgar confirming the
abbey's title in 968, (fn. 41) but did not keep it. In 1066
it comprised two 5-hide estates, one held by
Algar, one by Smalo, and by 1084 Osbern
Giffard had acquired both. A burgess of Wilton
held his burgage of the estate in 1086. (fn. 42) SHERRINGTON manor was held in chief (fn. 43) for 1
knight's fee (fn. 44) and descended in the Giffard
family. (fn. 45) It probably had a fortified house, (fn. 46) and
it became the head of a small honor. (fn. 47)
From Osbern Giffard (d. by 1096) the manor
descended in the direct line to Ellis (d. by 1130),
Ellis (d. by 1162), Ellis (d. by 1190), (fn. 48) Sir Ellis
(d. 1248), (fn. 49) Sir John, from 1295 Lord Giffard
(d. 1299), (fn. 50) who in 1281 was granted free warren
in the demesne, (fn. 51) and John, Lord Giffard, who
was hanged as a contrariant in 1322. The manor
was granted in 1322 to Hugh le Despenser, (fn. 52) earl
of Winchester (executed 1326), (fn. 53) and resumed in
1327. (fn. 54) Although others put in their claims to
his lands, the heir of Lord Giffard, who died
without issue, was John Callaway, the great-great-grandson of Ellis Giffard (d. by 1190): (fn. 55)
Sherrington manor was among lands formerly
Giffard's which Edward III, to reward John
Mautravers, licensed Callaway to convey to
Mautravers, (fn. 56) and for £1,000 Callaway conveyed
them in May 1330. (fn. 57) In November 1330 Mautravers (Lord Mautravers from 1330) forfeited
his lands and went into exile. (fn. 58) In 1337 the king
granted Sherrington manor to Maurice
Berkeley, Mautravers's brother-in-law, who in
1339 settled it on himself for life with remainder
to Mautravers's son John. (fn. 59) On Berkeley's death
in 1347 the king disregarded the settlement and
took the land because Berkeley's heir was a
minor: the younger John Mautravers claimed it (fn. 60)
but it is not clear whether he, who died in 1349,
or his infant son Henry, who died in 1350, (fn. 61)
recovered it. In 1351 the forfeiture of Lord
Mautravers was reversed and Sherrington
manor was restored to him. (fn. 62) At his death in
1364 it passed to his wife Agnes, (fn. 63) and at her
death in 1375 to his granddaughter Eleanor
Mautravers, suo jure Baroness Mautravers (d.
1405), wife of John FitzAlan (from 1377 John
d'Arundel, Lord Arundel, d. 1379) and of
Reynold Cobham, Lord Cobham (d. 1403). (fn. 64)
Eleanor was succeeded by her grandson John
d'Arundel, (fn. 65) Lord Mautravers, from 1415 earl
of Arundel (d. 1421), whose relict Eleanor (d.
1455) married Sir Richard Poynings (d. c. 1430)
and Walter Hungerford, Lord Hungerford (d.
1449). (fn. 66) From that Eleanor the manor passed to
her son William FitzAlan or Mautravers, earl of
Arundel (fn. 67) (d. 1487), and it descended from
father to son with the Arundel title to Thomas
FitzAlan (d. 1524), William FitzAlan (d. 1544),
and Henry FitzAlan (d. 1580). (fn. 68)
In 1560–1 Lord Arundel sold Sherrington
manor to Richard Lambert, (fn. 69) and with the
neighbouring Boyton manor it descended in
the Lambert family. (fn. 70) Richard (d. 1567) was
succeeded by his son Edmund (fn. 71) (d. 1608),
whose relict Anne held Sherrington manor
until her death in 1619. (fn. 72) The manor passed
to her son Thomas Lambert (d. 1638), whose
relict Anne held it (fn. 73) until her death in 1649, (fn. 74)
to Thomas's grandson Thomas Lambert (d.
1692), and to that Thomas's son Edmund (d.
s.p. 1734). (fn. 75) Edmund was succeeded by his
nephew Edmund Lambert (fn. 76) (d. 1751), he by
his son Edmund (d. 1802), and he by his son
Aylmer Bourke Lambert (d. s.p. 1842), (fn. 77) who
in 1839 owned the whole parish except the
glebe and c. 70 a. (fn. 78) From A. B. Lambert the
manor passed to Lucy Benett (d. 1845), the
daughter of his half-sister, and her husband
the Revd. Arthur Fane (d. 1872). The Fanes
were succeeded by their son E. D. V. Fane (d.
1900) and he by his son H. N. Fane. (fn. 79)
In 1874 E. D. V. Fane sold the south half of
the parish, 680 a., to Alfred Morrison (fn. 80) (d. 1897),
who added it to his Fonthill House estate then
based in Fonthill Gifford. As part of that estate
the land descended in the direct line to Hugh
Morrison (d. 1931) and John, Baron Margadale,
whose son the Hon. James Morrison owned c.
670 a. in 1992. (fn. 81) In 1935 H. N. Fane sold the
north half of the parish as part of the Boyton
estate to Sidney Herbert (fn. 82) (cr. baronet 1935, d.
1939). As part of that estate Sir Sidney devised
it to his cousin Sir George Herbert, Bt. (d. 1942),
for life and to his second cousin the Hon. David
Herbert, (fn. 83) who in 1946 sold it to the land company of Henry Pelham-Clinton-Hope, duke of
Newcastle. (fn. 84) The Newcastle estate sold it to
trustees of C. J. H. Wheatley in 1962, since when
the beneficiaries of the trust have been Mrs. E.
R. Wheatley-Hubbard and her son Mr. T. H.
Wheatley-Hubbard. (fn. 85)
Economic history.
Of Sherington's 10
hides 9 were in demesne in 1086. There was land
for 5 ploughteams: in demesne were 4 teams and
10 servi, and 4 villani had 1 team. There were
12 a. of meadow, 120 a. of pasture, and 80 a. of
wood. (fn. 86)
In the mid 13th century the demesne of Sherrington manor was still apparently much more
extensive than the customary lands and apparently was, or could be, cultivated largely by
customary labour. (fn. 87) Compared to those of 1086
figures for the holdings of the manor in 1299,
when a yardland was nominally 20 a. of arable,
suggest that by then the demesne had been
reduced by granting parts of it freely. The
demesne then included 380 a. of arable, 6 a. of
meadow, and woodland; 7 free tenants held
10½ yardlands (210 a.), possibly former demesne; 12 customary tenants held 6 yardlands
(120 a.); and there were 6 cottars. Of the customary tenants 6 were ½-yardlanders, each of
whom was required to work on the demesne on
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from Michaelmas to 1 August and six days a week from 1
August to Michaelmas: no work was done in
Christmas week or on feast days. The other 6
customary tenants also held ½ yardland each; 1
was described as a ½-yardlander, the other 5 as
keepers of houses or farms; each had to weed,
wash and shear sheep, and mow and carry hay,
but their autumn services had been commuted.
The cottars also had to weed and to wash and
shear sheep. Of the free tenants' holdings one,
2½ yardlands in 1299, (fn. 88) remained a freehold but
the others became copyholds of the manor. (fn. 89) The
demesne apparently remained in hand until 1347
or later, (fn. 90) but by 1328 the ½-yardlanders' labour
services had apparently been commuted. (fn. 91) In
1327 the demesne included 350 a. of arable, 12
a. of meadow, 100 a. of woodland, pasture worth
12d., pasture for sheep in common, a dovecot, a
fishpond, and fishing in the mill pond; in 1347
it included 360 a. of arable. (fn. 92) It had been leased
by the 16th century. (fn. 93)
Customary and demesne arable was almost
certainly intermingled in the open fields, which
covered c. 440 a. There may have been a threefield system in the 14th century, with two fields
on the lower land to the north and one large field
on the higher ground to the south, but in the
17th and 18th centuries there were four fields:
to judge from the rector's, the strips in them
averaged a little less than 1 a. Beside the Wylye
there were in East mead, West mead, and Mill
mead 20 a. of meadow, some, if not all, commonable: (fn. 94) meadows were watered by the later
17th century. (fn. 95) On the downs there were c. 415
a. of rough pasture. A reference to a tenantry
flock in 1609 suggests that there were separate
demesne and tenants' downs, and the rector's
stint of 60 sheep to a yardland, presumably the
same for the freeholder and copyholders, was
generous. Part of the downland, 41 a., was set
aside as a cow down, presumably between 1609
and 1671 when a sixth of the rector's sheep stint
was replaced by the right to feed cattle in
common, and cattle may also have been fed in
common in the Marsh, c. 5 a. near the Wylye.
A rabbit warren of 2 a. amid the open arable
above the Cliff, c. 15 a. of demesne pasture, and
c. 25 a. of home closes in the village were inclosed
lands. The warren may have replaced an earlier
one in Longdean bottom on the west boundary.
In the 18th century the demesne was reckoned
to be 9½ yardlands, the freehold 3, the glebe 2,
and 11 other holdings c. 11, but by 1794 the
farms were probably fewer and larger than those
figures suggest. (fn. 96)
More than half the parish was inclosed in 1796
under an agreement of 1794. The lord of the
manor was allotted a strip of arable and pasture
adjoining Boyton on the west in respect of four
copyholds which were in hand, and east of that
a similar strip for the demesne, Sherrington
farm. Those two strips were separate farms in
1839, respectively 195 a. and 318 a., each with
buildings in the village. In 1796 the freeholder
was allotted 60 a. immediately east of the village,
including 4 a. of East mead. The rector and six
copyholders were also allotted arable in severalty, 100 a. near the village, but three fields,
Low, Conyger, and Down, a total of c. 108 a.,
were left open. The inclosure award laid down
the rules for husbandry; in most cases the rector
and each copyholder had one parcel in each field,
and there were only 25 parcels in all. Those with
land in the open fields also shared a downland
sheep pasture, 145 a. including Stony Hill, for
a common flock of 380. Also not inclosed were
part of East mead, in which three copyholders
shared the hay and the aftermath, and the
Marsh, Cow down, and the c. 330 a. of woodland, in all of which a common herd of 46 cattle,
including 25 in respect of Sherrington farm and
the copyholds in the lord's hand, could feed. (fn. 97)
In 1839 the parish had 32 a. of meadow, 10 a.
of lowland pasture, 450 a. of arable, 356 a. of
upland pasture, and c. 330 a. of woodland. By
then all rights to feed cattle in the woodland had
been replaced by an allotment of 50 a. of woodland, and 25 a. of the inclosed downland had
been burnbaked; 277 a. of several woodland were
in the lord's hand in 1839 and leased in 1841.
Common husbandry was still practised but in
1839 four of the six copyholds were occupied by
the lessee of Sherrington farm and one by the
owner of the freehold farm. (fn. 98) Vestiges of it
continued until 1874–6 when the lord of the
manor bought out a copyholder, made exchanges
with the rector, and conveyed the feeding rights
over the south half of the parish to the new
owner of the land. (fn. 99)
From 1874 the 680 a. of woodland and downland south of Park bottom were part of the
Fonthill House estate, managed directly for the
owners and worked from outside the parish. (fn. 100)
By 1910 the woodland had been increased to 372
a., its approximate area in 1992 when some was
used for commercial forestry. The c. 300 a. of
downland remained pasture in the 1930s, but
were ploughed during or soon after the Second
World War. In 1991 cereals were grown on most
of it. (fn. 101)
In the north part of the parish in 1878 there
were three farms, Sherrington, later Manor, 234
a., Mill, 163 a., and the former freehold farm,
62 a.: in addition 117 a. were worked from
Boyton. (fn. 102) From the 1880s to the mid 20th
century sometimes there was one farm, sometimes there were two, and more land, 186 a. in
1910, was worked from Boyton. (fn. 103) By the 1930s
c. 100 a. had been converted from arable to
pasture. (fn. 104) After 1946 more land was worked
from Boyton parish but until the early 1970s
there remained a small farm based at Sherrington. Since then 508 a. of Sherrington have
been part of a large arable and dairy farm based
at Corton in Boyton: a new dairy was built near
Conyger in 1972, (fn. 105) and that was the only significant farm building in the parish in 1992.
In the later 19th century 3 a. of watercress beds
were made by controlling the water from springs
feeding the Wylye. The larger part of the beds
covers what was the wide village street. In 1895
the cress was said to have great pungency. (fn. 106) It
was grown at Sherrington until 1974–5. (fn. 107)
Mill.
There was a mill at Sherrington in
1086, (fn. 108) and from the mid 13th century (fn. 109) to the
20th a corn mill, north of the village on the
Wylye, was part of Sherrington manor. (fn. 110) In the
later 15th century or early 16th new leats or
weirs were made. (fn. 111) Milling continued until the
early 20th century. (fn. 112) The mill and mill house,
partly of stone rubble and partly of brick, were
rebuilt in the early 19th century when existing
walling was re-used. They became derelict and
in the later 20th century were restored for
residence. (fn. 113)
Local government.
In the Middle Ages
the lord of Sherrington manor had the right to
hold an honor court at Sherrington every three
weeks. (fn. 114) There is evidence of a manor court
being held from the 13th century to the 19th:
two courts were held in 1328–9. (fn. 115) The enrolled
records of the court do not survive.
There are overseers' accounts for 1678–1796.
The earliest payments recorded were of the
income from Gregory's charity, but from 1688
parish rates were also levied to relieve the poor.
In 1694 a total of £9 7s. was spent. In 1697–8
£22 was spent, more on rent, fuel, clothing,
shoes, and coffins than on doles. In the 18th
century the overseers also paid for the heads of
polecats, hedgehogs, moles, jackdaws, and sparrows, for apprenticing, and for repairs to roads
and bridges. The parish apparently appointed
no surveyor of highways. Most of what the
overseers spent, however, was on poor relief,
increasingly as regular doles. Of £12 spent in
1722–3 monthly doles cost £3 15s., rents £3 18s.
Expenditure increased from the 1760s. It was
£16 in 1762–3, £48 in 1772–3 when £36 was
given in doles and payments were made for rent,
clothing, and medical services, £76 in 1782–3,
and £163 in 1795–6 when £91 was spent on
weekly pay, £49 on extraordinary items, and £14
on doctoring. (fn. 116) In 1802–3 more than a third of
the inhabitants received relief. (fn. 117) From £314 in
1812–13, when 19 adults were relieved regularly
and 6 occasionally, (fn. 118) expenditure declined to
averages of £140 a year 1816–20, £108 a year
1825–9, and £147 a year 1830–4. (fn. 119) The parish
joined Warminster poor-law union in 1835, (fn. 120)
and became part of West Wiltshire district in
1974. (fn. 121)
Church.
A priest of Sherrington mentioned
1130 x 1135 (fn. 122) may have served a church there,
and there was a chaplain at Sherrington in
1249; (fn. 123) the church was first referred to directly
in 1252 when it was served by a rector. (fn. 124) The
rectory was united with Boyton rectory in
1909. (fn. 125) With the benefices of Codford St. Peter
with St. Mary and of Upton Lovell the united
benefice became part of Ashton Gifford benefice
in 1979. (fn. 126)
The advowson of Sherrington descended with
the manor, and from 1874 with the north half of
the parish. (fn. 127) The king presented in 1252 when
John Giffard was a minor, (fn. 128) in 1300 when John's
son John was a minor, (fn. 129) and in 1329 after the
resumption of 1327. (fn. 130) From 1909 the lord of the
manor was entitled to present alternately, (fn. 131) and
in 1950 the advowson of the united benefice was
transferred to the Salisbury diocesan patronage
board. (fn. 132)
The church, valued at £6 13s. 4d. in 1291, (fn. 133)
£11 in 1535, (fn. 134) £100 in 1650, (fn. 135) and £238 c.
1830, (fn. 136) was well endowed. The rector was entitled to all tithes from the whole parish. (fn. 137) In 1839
they were valued at £259 and commuted. (fn. 138) The
glebe consisted of the rectory house, another
house, ½ a. of pasture, 27½ a. of arable in the
open fields, and feeding for 120 sheep. The
second house was later two cottages, feeding for
cattle replaced some of that for sheep, (fn. 139) and in
1796 the arable was replaced by allotments
totalling 20 a. (fn. 140) In 1874 the rector exchanged
his right to feed cattle and sheep on the downland for 7 a. of lowland arable. (fn. 141) The two
cottages were demolished between 1884 and
1899, (fn. 142) the rectory house was sold in 1931, (fn. 143) 29
a. of glebe were sold in 1947, (fn. 144) and the remaining
glebe, ½ a., was sold in 1971. (fn. 145) The rectory house
was built of ashlar with a principal south-west
front of six bays in the early 17th century,
probably for Henry Gregory. (fn. 146) Each end room
of the main range, which had a symmetrical
ground-floor plan, has ceilings divided into nine
compartments by beams with plain chamfers. In
1827 the service rooms to the rear of the southeast part of the house were replaced by a
red-brick range containing a principal room on
each floor and an entrance hall and staircase. (fn. 147)
In 1935 a single-storeyed service building in the
angle between the 17th- and the 19th-century
ranges was replaced by a two-storeyed kitchen
wing. (fn. 148)
In the Middle Ages 1½ a. in Sherrington was
given for a lamp in the church. (fn. 149) Hugh de la
Penne, rector from 1252, was a clerk of the
queen's chapel; (fn. 150) Geoffrey de Beuseval, an acolyte when presented in 1311 and a priest from
1312, was French. (fn. 151) Lionel Hollyman, rector
until 1609, was rector of Boyton 1600–9. His
successor at Sherrington, and husband of his
relict, was Henry Gregory, his curate in 1608. (fn. 152)
Gregory's successor Robert Dyer, rector from
1634, (fn. 153) signed the Concurrent Testimony in
1648: (fn. 154) in 1650 he preached twice every Sunday. (fn. 155) His successor William Hobbes, rector
1657–70, was also rector of Boyton, (fn. 156) and Edmund Sly, 1670–7, was also rector of Upton
Lovell and employed a curate to serve Sherrington. (fn. 157) Thomas Lambert, rector 1677–94,
was also rector of Boyton and archdeacon of
Salisbury and formerly a domestic chaplain of
Charles II; Thomas Lambert, 1695–1717, and
Robert Sawyer, 1717–26, were also rectors of
Boyton. (fn. 158) Curates often served Sherrington in
the period 1677–1726, but later rectors were
apparently resident and only occasionally assisted by a curate. (fn. 159) An exception was Richard
Scrope, rector 1772–8, who was also rector of
Aston Tirrold (Berks., later Oxon.). (fn. 160) In 1783
the rector held two services every Sunday and
some weekday services, administered the sacrament at the great festivals to some seven
communicants, and catechized in Lent: some
parishioners explained that they did not attend
services because they had children and insufficient clothes. (fn. 161) On Census Sunday in 1851
morning service was attended by 68, afternoon
or evening service by 109. (fn. 162) In 1864 the rector
still held two services on Sundays, then with
congregations which he said averaged 100 in the
morning and 150 in the evening; he held services
on saints' days, on Wednesdays and Fridays in
Lent, and on Monday and Tuesday after Lent,
all with congregations of 30–40; and he celebrated communion eight times with c. 35
communicants. (fn. 163) From 1909 the rector of Boyton with Sherrington lived at Boyton. (fn. 164)
The church of ST. COSMAS AND ST.
DAMIAN, saints invoked in it long before
1341, (fn. 165) was so called in 1352. (fn. 166) From the 18th
century to the 20th it was sometimes called St.
Michael's. (fn. 167) It is built of ashlar, has a chancel
and a nave with south porch and west bellcot,
and was rebuilt, apparently completely, in
1624. (fn. 168) Until then the church, which had three
bells in 1553, (fn. 169) may have had a tower, but the
plan of the new church may match that of part
of the old one, and the early 14th-century style
of the tracery of many of the windows in the new
church may reflect the appearance of the old.
The present bellcot is of the later 19th century.
The church has a, 13th-century font, and fragments of 14th-century stained glass reset in the
chancel windows. Most fittings, including the
pulpit, the communion table and rail, and the
benches are contemporary with the rebuilding.
Painted wall texts dated 1630 were restored in
1939. (fn. 170)
In 1553 the church kept a chalice of 9 oz., and
2 oz. of plate were taken for the king. The chalice
may be that, fitted with a new bowl in 1844,
belonging to the church in 1992, when the
church also had a paten of the later 17th century,
a flagon given in 1694, an almsdish given in 1873,
a chalice and a paten given in 1928, and other
items of 20th-century plate. (fn. 171) From 1624 the
church has had a single bell. That in the bellcot
in 1992 is probably 14th-century and was presumably one of the three in 1553. (fn. 172) It was
repaired in 1793. (fn. 173) Registers of baptisms begin
in 1677, of burials in 1678, and of marriages in
1705. Those of burials are lacking for 1703–7, of
marriages 1713–34. (fn. 174)
Nonconformity.
In 1836 a cottage near
the church was certified for meetings, (fn. 175) but there
is no other evidence of dissent in the parish.
Education.
A Sunday school was started at
the rectory house in 1832, (fn. 176) and in 1833 was
united to the National society. (fn. 177) Later the rector
converted a barn near the rectory house for a
day school, at which 7 boys and 11 girls were
taught in 1846–7 and 20–30 children in 1858. (fn. 178)
In 1864 boys left at 8, girls at 11. (fn. 179) The school
was a National school, (fn. 180) had an average attendance of 17 in 1882, and was closed in 1883. (fn. 181)
Charities for the poor.
Henry Gregory, rector 1609–34, gave the interest from £30
to the poor: in the 1680s and 1690s small sums
of money were given biennially, in 1686 £3 5s.
among 13. In the later 17th century Thomas
Lambert (rector 1677–94) gave a further £20 and
in the early 18th Edmund Lambert (presumably
he who d. 1734 or he who d. 1751) and Anne
Lambert each a further £10; (fn. 182) in 1760 the parish
had an endowment of £67 for the poor. In the
earlier 19th century and earlier 20th the income
from the charity, called the Poor's money, was
used to buy bread which was given away at
Christmas: 35 families shared 117 loaves, tea,
and money in 1901. (fn. 183) In the 1930s bread, sugar,
and tea were given each year to c. 25 recipients;
in 1946 loaves were delivered to all the cottages
in Sherrington. (fn. 184) In 1992 the assets of the
charity were transferred to Edmund Lambert's
charity. (fn. 185)
By will proved 1878 Edmund Lambert gave
£100 for food and fuel for the poor, aged, and
sick at Christmas. In the 20th century coal was
given, in 1901–2 to the value of £5. In 1946 a
free delivery of 1 cwt. was made to all the
cottages in Sherrington. (fn. 186) The income was being
allowed to accumulate in the 1990s. (fn. 187)
Sir Sidney Herbert, Bt. (d. 1939), gave by will
£500 for the poor of Boyton and Sherrington. (fn. 188)
From the income, each year two old people in
Sherrington were each given £1 in the 1940s. (fn. 189)
No inhabitant of Sherrington received a gift in
the early 1990s. (fn. 190)