TEFFONT MAGNA
FOR most of its history Teffont Magna, or Upper
Teffont, has been a chapelry of Dinton. (fn. 1) Ecclesiastially it remained dependent upon Dinton until 1922, (fn. 2)
but in the earlier 19th century it seems to have been
regarded as a parish for certain administrative
purposes. (fn. 3) In 1934 it was joined with Teffont
Evias to form the civil parish of Teffont. (fn. 4) The
ancient parish contained 1,734 a. (fn. 5) and extended
about 2½ miles from north to south, and a mile
from east to west. The Grovely Grim's Ditch
formed its northern boundary, and the southern
boundary ran along the present (1962) main road
between Dinton and Teffont Magna as far as the
Black Horse Inn. It then left the road and proceeded westward for about ½ a mile skirting Upper
Holt Copse before turning north and running up
to Grim's Ditch. (fn. 6)
Much the greater part of the ancient parish lay
on the chalk downs that rise between the valleys
of the Wylye and the Nadder. On top of the downs,
in the extreme north of the ancient parish, the land
reaches nearly 600 ft. It then falls gently southwards
to a height of about 300 ft. on the lower chalk, but
rises again to 450 ft. on the ridge of upper greensand that borders the chalk. At Springhead,
towards the foot of the downs, a stream emerges
from the chalk and forms a shallow valley through
the greensand ridge as it flows southwards through
the village to join the Nadder ½ mile beyond the
boundary of the ancient parish. (fn. 7) The sandy land
is well wooded on the Common, to the east of the
stream, and at Upper Holt Copse to the west.
Thickthorn Wood on the downs is the most westerly
offshoot of Grovely Wood and in 1567 covered
about 10 a. (fn. 8)
Neolithic and Bronze Age implements have been
found on the downs behind the village, and finds
indicating Roman occupation have been made at
Upper Holt Copse. (fn. 9) The land of the ancient parish,
being mostly chalk, was devoted mainly to sheepand corn-farming. (fn. 10) The parish boundary stopped
short of the River Nadder by about ½ mile, so
that Teffont Magna had but a small share of the
clay and loam soils of the valley, and consequently
could not exploit to the same extent the watermeadows which contributed so much to the farming
of its neighbour, Dinton. (fn. 11) Perhaps this dearth of
rich pasture land explains in some measure the
interdependence which existed between the farming of the two manors of Dinton and Teffont
Magna in the Middle Ages. In the 20th century this
lack of naturally rich pasture has been overcome
with the widespread use of fertilizers and mixed
farming on the chalkland has become possible.
It is impossible to estimate the population of
Teffont Magna before the 19th century. The
chapelry contributed 100s. to the 15th of 1334
when Dinton contributed only 6s. more, and in
1377 there were 75 poll-tax payers in Teffont and
156 in Dinton. (fn. 12) In 1543 there was only one inhabitant of sufficient substance to contribute to the
benevolence of that year while in Dinton there were
6, and in 1576 there were 12 taxpayers in Teffont
and 18 in Dinton. (fn. 13) When the Census figures begin
in 1801 the population of Teffont Magna was 199.
It rose to 292 in 1881 but thereafter dropped until
it reached 172 in 1931. In 1951 after Teffont Magna
had been joined with Teffont Evias, the population
of the parish of Teffont so formed was 297. (fn. 14)
The Roman road from the Mendip lead mines to
Old Salisbury passes through the extreme north
of the parish (fn. 15) and the green-way, called the Ox
Drove, of possibly greater antiquity, runs in roughly
the same direction just south of it. Until about
the mid-19th century the main road from Salisbury
to Hindon was that running along the top of the
sandy ridge, north of Dinton village, and entering
Teffont Magna almost opposite the church. (fn. 16) This
road was turnpiked in c. 1760. (fn. 17) From the south,
the village was approached either by the road running through the village of Teffont Evias, or by a
track which led from Dinton across Teffont Common. (fn. 18) At the beginning of the 19th century the
present (1962) main road between Dinton and
Teffont Magna skirting the Common was made. (fn. 19)
Figure 4:
Teffont Magna Parish, 1801
Based on a map of the manor made for Lord Pembroke by John Charlton
The village lies along the main road and along
the road which leads north from it towards the
downs. Several of the cottages are built on the bank
of the swift-flowing stream which borders the road
and have stone bridges spanning the stream to
the road. Many of them date from the 17th and
18th centuries and are built of local stone, and
some in 1963 retained their thatched roofs. Few of
the houses are larger than cottages. North-west
of the church the house called (in 1962) Buck's
Close was probably originally a small farm-house.
In the late 19th and early 20th century it was an
off-licence public house known as 'The Hole in
the Wall', and a part of it was used as a malt house. (fn. 20)
In 1962 it was a private house. Fitz House, the
largest house in Teffont Magna, to the west of
the village street, was a farm-house until the 1920's.
The house, with an adjoining barn on the north,
approximately covers three sides of a square. The
main house, of squared rubble with dressed quoins
and stone mullioned windows, is of late 16th- or
early 17th-century date. In 1700 a projecting wing
was added at the south end of the main house.
This, which bears a tablet inscribed 'R. Fitz 1700',
was originally built as a store house, according to
local tradition, for wool, (fn. 21) and it was not converted
for domestic use until the 20th century. (fn. 22) The
'Black Horse', an early 18th-century building with
stone mullioned windows, at the south end of the
village was also once a small farm-house. It became
an inn in the 19th century after the present main
road between Dinton and Teffont Magna was
made. (fn. 23) An inn of the same name stood on the
south side of the old turnpike road just as it left
the village for Dinton. This 17th-century house of
stone with thatched roof became a private dwelling
when this road ceased to be a main road. (fn. 24) Manor
Farm, the largest farm in Teffont Magna, lies to
the north of the village at the foot of the downs. The
farm-house is of early 19th-century date. The cottages beyond the farm at Springhead were built by
the Pembroke Estate in the mid-19th century. (fn. 25)
Apart from a few privately built bungalows, there
has been very little building in the village in the
20th century and in 1962 there were no council
houses. In c. 1896 water was piped from Springhead
and brought to the village by standpipes at intervals
all the way down the road. (fn. 26) Main water supply
came to the village in 1962. (fn. 27)
MANOR.
Two charters relating to land in 'Teffont'
are included in the 15th-century cartulary of Shaftesbury Abbey. (fn. 28) The earlier, dated 860, is a grant
by King Æthelbald of 14 cassati to Osmund, a
thegn. (fn. 29) The other is a grant by King Edgar of 5
cassati to his thegn Sigestan in 964. (fn. 30) It is not
known to precisely what area of land these two
charters relate, but they presumably represent
Shaftesbury's title to the manor of TEFFONT
MAGNA which it acquired some time before the
Conquest. Teffont Magna is not mentioned in the
Domesday Survey and is most probably included
under Dinton, also a Shaftesbury Abbey manor. (fn. 31)
It was treated as a part of Dinton throughout the
Middle Ages and after the Dissolution passed with
Dinton to William Herbert, later Earl of Pembroke
(d. 1570). (fn. 32) The manor continued to descend as
Dinton with the Pembroke title until 1919 when
it was sold to Lord Bledisloe (cr. Viscount Bledisloe
1935). (fn. 33) In 1950 Lord Bledisloe's son, the Hon.
Charles Hiley Bathurst, sold the estate to the Hon.
J. J. Astor who sold it the following year in lots. (fn. 34)
Until the mid-17th century the demesne lands
in Teffont Magna were considered part of the
Dinton manorial estate and were farmed with that
estate. (fn. 35) In 1650 the Teffont lands were leased
separately for the first time when the lessee was
John Rawlins. (fn. 36) In 1679 Richard Maddox was the
lessee, and he was followed by his sons, Nathaniel
and Samuel. (fn. 37) In 1705 the lease was assigned to
Joseph Mould who was succeeded in Teffont by
his sons, Joseph and John. (fn. 38) In 1781 the lease was
granted to Oliver Smith and he, or a son of the
same name, was still farming the lands in 1836. (fn. 39)
The farm had a number of lessees in the later 19th
century and until it was sold in 1919. (fn. 40) It was
then bought with the rest of Lord Pembroke's
lands in Teffont Magna by Lord Bledisloe, but
Lord Bledisloe sold the farm, called Manor Farm,
almost immediately to the tenant farmer. (fn. 41)
LESSER ESTATES.
Among the freeholders on
the combined manor of Dinton and Teffont in
1567 two were said specifically to hold their lands
in Upper Teffont. (fn. 42) They were Leonard Newe,
and Thomas South, who also had a freehold
estate in Dinton. (fn. 43) The South estate in Dinton
passed in the late 17th century, as has been shown
elsewhere, (fn. 44) to William Wyndham and the lands
in Teffont were included in the conveyance. In
1567 the Teffont lands comprised 2 virgates called
Westbyes and 4 called Sawcers. (fn. 45) The descent of
Leonard Newe's estate has not been traced. The
first mention found of the Fitz family in Teffont
Magna is in 1656 when Walter Fitz conveyed land
there to John Baverstock, a tailor. (fn. 46) In 1736 a
descendant, Walter Fitz, was the most substantial
freeholder in Upper Teffont. (fn. 47) By the beginning of
the 19th century the Fitz estate lay in a compact
block along the west side of the ancient parish, (fn. 48)
and in 1837 comprised 286 a. (fn. 49) Towards the middle
of the 19th century the estate was sold to William
Wyndham (fn. 50) and remained part of the Wyndham
estate in Teffont and Dinton until it was sold in c.
1920 to Lord Bledisloe. (fn. 51) It was sold with the rest
of Lord Bledisloe's property in Teffont Magna
in 1950. (fn. 52)
ECONOMIC HISTORY.
Teffont Magna is not
mentioned in the Domesday Survey but was
almost certainly included under the survey of
Dinton. (fn. 53) It was indeed farmed by Shaftesbury
Abbey as part of Dinton throughout the Middle
Ages. No separate medieval surveys for Teffont
Magna exist and its tenants are included in the
mid-12th-century survey for Dinton contained
in the early-15th-century Shaftesbury Abbey
cartulary. (fn. 54) This shows some tenants with lands
on both manors. The interdependence of the two
estates is further emphasized by the fact that there
was no mill at Teffont Magna and corn from there
had to be ground by one of the Dinton mills. (fn. 55)
Teffont Magna is not named among the lands of
Shaftesbury Abbey in the Valor Ecclesiasticus and
was again, no doubt, included under Dinton. (fn. 56)
It was surveyed with Dinton in 1567, shortly after
both estates had passed to Lord Pembroke, and
from this survey some information may be had
about the agricultural organization of Teffont
Magna as a separate unit. (fn. 57) At this date there was
no separate demesne farm there. Teffont Magna
had, however, its own three open arable fields and
in these lay some 80 a. of Dinton's demesne arable.
The Dinton demesne farm also had a small amount
of meadow in Teffont and grazing for 300 sheep on
Teffont Down. Of the seven freeholders, whose
holdings are precisely located in this survey, two
appear to have had lands in Teffont Magna and
two in both Dinton and Teffont. The survey
rarely locates the holdings of the customary
tenants on the two estates, but, in the few cases
where these are stated to be in Teffont Magna,
they comprised a few small closes of meadow, an
allotment of strips in the three common arable
fields, and certain grazing rights for sheep and
other beasts on the downs.
A survey of 1631 provides more information since
the tenants of Upper Teffont are separately
listed. (fn. 58) There was still no demesne farm, and the
demesne farm of Dinton had 66 a. in Teffont's
common fields, about 9 a. of meadow in the chapelry,
and certain rights to fuel from Teffont Common.
As in 1567, Dinton's demesne arable at Teffont
was distributed among the open fields and was not,
as it was by then in Dinton, consolidated into a
single field. Inclosure was, however, proceeding,
and was specifically given as the reason for the
decline in the number of sheep that could be grazed
upon the downs. Fifteen customary tenants are
named at Upper Teffont, all holding by copy of
court roll. Most, by this date, had small closes of
arable, as well as their closes of meadow and their
uninclosed strips in the common fields. Nearly all
had, besides their grazing rights on the downs,
an acre or so in Thickthorn Wood.
In 1650, for the first time, the demesne lands in
Teffont Magna were leased as a separate estate. (fn. 59)
They comprised a small close of arable in which
stood a barn, a coppice, another small close, and
66 a. of arable in the common fields, namely 22 a.
in West Field, 28 a. in Middle Field, and 16 a. in
East Field. There was also grazing on the downs
for 270 sheep and an allotment out of Teffont
Common for fuel. There was a dwelling house
attached to the estate. (fn. 60) Henceforward the Teffont
demesne lands formed a separate estate which later
was enlarged and became known as Manor Farm.
A map of 1801 shows the open fields still in
being, although the three-field system had been
slightly modified by a certain amount of subdivision. (fn. 61) The manor farm at about this time had
47 a. of inclosed arable and just over 100 a. of
arable distributed between the three fields. Walter
Fitz, the largest freeholder, had 32 a. of inclosed
arable and 124 a. said to be in the common fields,
but they had been largely consolidated in one field
along the western boundary of the parish. (fn. 62) Consolidation of the rest of the lands was achieved by
the joint Inclosure Award for Dinton and Teffont
Magna in 1837. At this time Lord Pembroke's
manor estate comprised 823 a. and his leasehold
estate 282 a. William Wyndham had a freehold
estate in Teffont Magna of 228 a., and other
freehold estates there, including that of Walter
Fitz, amounted to 309 a. (fn. 63)
In the 20th century the productivity of the chalk
lands of Teffont Magna has been at least doubled
by the use of artificial fertilizers. (fn. 64) The lack of
much of the more inherently fertile lands along the
river has thus been largely overcome. In 1956
there were two farms within the area of the ancient
parish. Manor Farm, with over 1,000 a., had dairy
and beef cattle, pigs, sheep, and a large number of
chickens, and turkeys. Fitz Farm was also a mixed
farm. (fn. 65) Agriculture has always been virtually the
only employment available within Teffont Magna.
CHURCH.
The church of Teffont Magna was a
chapel-of-ease of Dinton until 1922 and its history
until then has been recorded with that of the church
of Dinton. (fn. 66) No endowments were specifically
allotted to Teffont Magna and the chapel was always
served either by the Vicar of Dinton or by his curate.
In c. 1870 a house was built in Teffont Magna so that
the curate could live there. (fn. 67) In 1922 the chapel
of Teffont Magna was detached from the church
of Dinton and annexed as a chapelry to the church
of Teffont Evias. (fn. 68) The chapel was then served by
the Rector of Teffont Evias and the advowson of
the church of Teffont Evias was shared by M.W.
and G.F. Keatinge and the patrons of the church
of Dinton. (fn. 69) In 1957 the advowson of Teffont
Evias was transferred to the Bishop of Salisbury,
already by then patron of the church of Dinton. (fn. 70)
Since 1952 the church of Teffont Evias with the
chapelry of Teffont Magna and the church of
Dinton have been held in plurality. (fn. 71)
The church of Teffont Magna has no known
dedication. It is a small rectangular building of
local stone. It is mainly late 13th century in date,
but fragments of a Saxon cross-shaft found reused in the walls suggest the possibility of an
earlier church on or near the same site. The south
porch was added in the 14th century and the
jambs of the south doorway have representations
of medieval ships scratched upon them, an unusual subject for an inland church. (fn. 72) The nave
and chancel are structurally undivided but between
them is a screen, probably of early 16th-century
date. There is a 13th-century circular font bowl
and on the south side of the chancel there was, in
1963, a 17th-century communion table. The church
was restored in 1955. There is an Elizabethan
cup with hall marks for 1571 belonging to the
chapelry and a paten of pre-Reformation date. (fn. 73)
One of the two bells was removed from the bell-cote
in the west wall in 1930 and placed within the
church. This is a narrow-waisted bell with no
mark but thought to date from the late 13th
century. (fn. 74) The present No. 1 bell was given to the
church in 1947 and No. 2 bell, dated 1764, was
recast at the same time. (fn. 75) Record of births, deaths,
and marriages was kept in the registers of Dinton
until 1852 when separate registers for the chapelry
were begun. No ground was consecrated for
burials until 1925. (fn. 76)
At the time of Dinton and Teffont Inclosure
Award two small pieces of land lying ¾ mile north
of the church were allotted to the chapel-wardens. (fn. 77)
These were called Bell Halves and Bar Acre and
the rent from them, which was 30s. in 1925, (fn. 78) was
used for the general expenses of the church. In
1959 authority was given for the land to be
sold. (fn. 79)
NONCONFORMITY.
In 1783 there were said
to be no dissenters in the chapelry. (fn. 80) About 30 years
later two houses in the village were licensed as nonconformist meeting places (fn. 81) and in c. 1820 a
Primitive Methodist chapel was built. (fn. 82) In the
later 19th century the Vicar of Dinton attributed
the decline in the congregation from Teffont Magna
to the successful activities of the nonconformists
in the chapelry. (fn. 83) In 1905, however, the Primitive
Methodist chapel ceased to be used and was
closed. (fn. 84) It was subsequently converted into a
private dwelling house.
SCHOOL.
In the early 19th century children
from Teffont Magna attended the school in Dinton. (fn. 85) By 1859 there was a school in the village
conducted by a dame in a roadside cottage and
attended by about 40 children. (fn. 86) The National
Society was giving support to a village school by
1871. (fn. 87) Some time before 1881 this school received
a building grant from the Treasury. (fn. 88) In 1893 average attendance was 52. (fn. 89) The school was closed in
1936 and the children have since attended schools
in Dinton or Wilton. (fn. 90) In 1962 the former school
building was used for village meetings and social
activities.
CHARITIES.
By his will proved in 1836 John
Lush gave £50 to provide blankets every year for
the two oldest poor in the chapelry. In 1906 the
income from the investment was 25s. and 6 blankets were distributed. (fn. 91) In the 1950s the income
of this charity was the same and was allowed to
accumulate until a reasonably large sum was in
hand. (fn. 92)
Edward Harris by his will proved in 1876 left
£100 to provide coal at Christmas time for the poor
of Teffont Magna. Subsequently the income on this
was used as a donation to the parish coal club. (fn. 93)
In 1952 it was spent on coal for 10 persons. (fn. 94) A
scheme was drawn up in 1928 for the administration of this charity with that of John Lush (see
above). By this the incumbent and two representatives of the parish council became trustees. (fn. 95)