WOOLBEDING
The parish, with an area of 1,950 acres and a
population in 1931 of 288, is some 4 miles from north
to south, with an average breadth of ¾ mile. The
hamlet of Radford, at its northern end, was annexed
to Linch for ecclesiastical purposes in 1886. (fn. 1) The
main village lies at the junction of three lanes in a deep
bend of the River Rother, which with a tributary
stream forms the western boundary of the parish for
about 2 miles. The northern half of the parish is largely
common and woodland, and there is another large
block of woodland at its southern extremity. From the
church, which lies at about 100 ft., the ground rises
northwards, at first gradually and then very steeply, to
attain a maximum height of 678 ft. on Telegraph Hill
on its eastern boundary.
Woolbeding House, north of the church, is a large
stone house facing west, built about a middle courtyard
(now roofed over) and with a subsidiary wing at the
north-east. There is little visible evidence of age, but
apparently the original plan was H-shaped and dating
from the 16th century or possibly earlier. About 1700
the walls were largely refaced, windows altered, and
the wings lengthened eastwards. In the 19th century
the east range was built, or rebuilt, and the internal
courtyard was closed in and fitted with the main staircase. The interior is of 18th-century and later arrangement, and practically the only ancient detail that
survives is a Tudor stone fire-place on the first floor
which has a moulded four-centred arch and jambs with
moulded base-stops. The west front is recessed 5 ft.
in the middle, between the wings, and fitted with
Ionic columns to form a shallow portico. The windows
are 18th-century sashes and the masonry of uncoursed
ashlar, but one indication of the earlier house is the
moulded string-course at first-floor level in the face
of the south wing; this is moulded, whereas in the other
walls are only plain string-courses. The front has
18th-century plastered coving to the eaves. In the
north and south elevations the masonry is smaller and
earlier than that of the front, and the north side preserves
an original two-light mullioned window with doublehollow chamfered jambs and head and a moulded
dripstone. In the south front is a projecting chimney-stack of 17th-century red brick (this contains the Tudor
fire-place) and there is also a brick doorway with a
pediment and middle pedestal. In the attractive garden
is a fountain with a figure of Neptune, brought from
Cowdray.
A farm-house 2½ miles north of the church on the
east side of the road has a 17th-century central chimney-stack of rebated type, but the walls are of later masonry
with brick dressings and modern windows.
The bridge over the Rother, south of the church, is
of 15th- or 16th-century date but was restored in 1919
(dated). It has four three-centred arches each with
three chamfered ribs, and piers with cut-waters on both
faces, now reduced at the tops. The roadway is 11 ft.
wide between the restored parapets. The walls are of
coursed squared rubble.
MANOR
WOOLBEDING, which had been held
of Edward the Confessor by Fulcui, was not
included in Earl Roger's rape but was held
in 1086 of the king in chief by Odo of Winchester.
It was assessed at 6 hides and contained a church, a
mill, and 23 acres of meadow. (fn. 2) For a century the
descent of the manor is unknown, but it is then
found in the hands of a family who took their name
from the place. In 1192 Roger fitz Reinfrid had
the custody of the heir and lands of Ralph de Wolbedinge and gave it to his own daughter Bonenee. (fn. 3)
Seven years later Alan de Wolbedinge paid 30 marks to
have the custody and marriage of Ralph's heir, then in
ward to Bonenee daughter of Roger, (fn. 4) who had recently
lost her husband William de Beumes; (fn. 5) and in 1203
Alan de Wolbedinge paid 50s. to avoid serving abroad
'for his serjeanty'. (fn. 6) This is defined in 1210–12, when
Roger de Wolbedinge held a carucate of land in Woolbeding by the old-established serjeanty of 'being ensign
(gunfanarius) of Spicheforde', or 'of carrying the ensign
(gunfanum) into Hampshire to Sparkeford (in Compton
by Winchester)'. (fn. 7) Roger died shortly before 1219,
when the serjeanty was valued at 10 marks and defined
as 'carrying the infantry colours (vexillum peditum) in
the king's army'. (fn. 8) Roger's widow Cecily paid 40 marks
for the custody of his land and heir. (fn. 9) Ralph de Wolbedinge held the serjeanty in 1244, when he is recorded
to have sold 1 mark rent to Gilbert de Basevile and 24
acres of land to the Prioress of Easebourne. (fn. 10) This was
later described as three assarts containing 40 acres in
Woolbeding and la Niwode, for the acquisition of which
by Alice, then prioress, the convent was pardoned in
1339. (fn. 11) Ralph died in 1265, leaving a widow Agnes, (fn. 12)
and a young grandson John, who was in ward to Simon
the Draper of Winchester, (fn. 13) his lands being in the
custody of Robert Mortimer. (fn. 14) John was evidently
still under age in 1275, when the manor was in the
hands of Simon (the Draper) of Winchester, (fn. 15) but
himself held it in 1278. (fn. 16) He probably died soon afterwards without heirs, and the manor came into the hands
of John de Arundel, who was holding it by serjeanty
in 1288. (fn. 17) In 1306 John son of John de Arundel
granted the manor to Ralph de Camois, (fn. 18) who had a
grant of free warren there in 1309. (fn. 19) He seems to have
transferred it to William Paynel, who held it at his death
in 1316, (fn. 20) when his brother and heir John Paynel sold
two-thirds of the manor and the reversion of the other
third, held by William's widow Eve, to Aymer de
Valence, Earl of Pembroke, and John de Hastings (his
heir). (fn. 21) Although Laurence de Hastings, Earl of
Pembroke, was confirmed in his right to the manor of
Woolbeding, which his father John had held, in 1346, (fn. 22)
the transfer does not seem to have been effective, as in
1338 Maud, daughter and heir of John Paynel, sold the
reversion of the manor of Woolbeding held by Eve,
widow of William Paynel and then wife of Edward
St. John, to Richard, Earl of Arundel. (fn. 23) Eve survived
until 1354, when it was recorded that she had held the
manor in dower, 'by service of coming before the king
with the infantry to the bridge of Shetebrugge and
from there carrying a standard to Wolwardebrugge'. (fn. 24)
The manor then passed to the Earl of Arundel and
descended to Henry, Earl of Arundel, who with his
daughter Jane and her husband Lord Lumley, in 1567
sold it to William Aylyng. (fn. 25) He died in 1583 and left
the manor of Woolbeding to his daughter Joan, wife
of Edmund Gray. (fn. 26) The tenure was then stated to be
'by service of carrying before the lord King a bow
without a string and a bolt without feathers whenever
the King comes in those parts, namely when he is going
to cross to Hampshire from the bridge called Wolversbridge near Midhurst to the bridge of Sheete in Hampshire'. (fn. 27) Margaret, granddaughter of Edmund Gray,
married Sir John Mill, bt. (fn. 28) and the manor descended
in this family until 1791, when the Rev. Sir Charles
Mill sold it to Lord Robert Spencer. (fn. 29) Lord Robert
died in 1831 and left the manor to Diana Juliana, wife
of the Hon. George Ponsonby, from whom it was
inherited in 1873 by her daughter Diana Harriet, wife
of Edward Granville George Howard, who became
Lord Laverton in 1874. (fn. 30) Lady Laverton died in 1893
and bequeathed the manor to Col. Henry Arthur
Lascelles, (fn. 31) who was succeeded in 1913 by his son
Edward Charles Ponsonby Lascelles, O.B.E.
CHURCH
The church of ALL SAINTS
(fn. 32) stands
south of the Manor House, the grounds
of which surround the churchyard on three
sides. It consists of chancel, south vestry, nave, west
tower, and porch to the south of the tower; it is built
of stone, the chancel and nave being plastered, and is
roofed with tile.
Parish Church of All Saints Woolbeding
Pilaster strips 7 in. by 2 in. on each side of the nave
make it clear that this is part of the church mentioned
in Domesday Book. (fn. 33) In the 18th century a chancel
was built, or repaired; (fn. 34) and in 1727 an agreement was
made with the parishioners by which Sir Richard Mill
undertook to take down the 'stipple' (evidently a
timber-framed belfry at the west end of the nave) and
build the tower at a cost of £74 2s.; (fn. 35) the stone bearing
the date 1728 now under the west window may record
this building, but is not in its original place. The
present chancel, vestry, and porch were built in 1870.
The former chancel (fn. 36) was approximately square, and
had in its east wall a three-light window with pointed
head and uncusped intersecting tracery. There was a
flat plaster ceiling with an ornamental cornice and a
circular rib in plaster. Before 1870 the chancel arch
was pointed, of two orders, the inner being carried on
corbels, in the Early English style but probably 19th-century work. (fn. 37) The present chancel has rather diminutive diagonal buttresses at each eastern corner; the
east window is of three lights with semi-Perpendicular
tracery. In the north wall area is a square-headed two-light window and a door; in the south a piscina and
sedilia and an arch opening into the vestry. The chancel
arch, of two orders, spanning the whole width of the
chancel, is probably coeval. The roof is ceiled with
oak boarding in mansard form.
The vestry (1870) has a single two-light window to
the south.
On the north of the nave both original 11th-century
quoins are visible, on the south both are covered by
later work. In the north wall is a single window of two
lights, the heads being uncusped pointed arches with
no tracery or hood-mould; this window is shown in the
Sharpe drawing of about 1815, and, from the tooling,
seems to date from 1728. Doorways in this wall, one
at the east, and one at the west leading to a gallery,
existed before 1870, but have left no visible trace. In
the south wall are two windows of like design to, and
probably of even date with, the one in the north wall;
the interior jambs of the eastern of these are square, not
splayed. Between the windows are the inner jambs of a
doorway, probably 11th-century, having apparently the
remains of a window, now blocked, in the blocking;
the outside of this is covered by plaster. Before 1870
there was a small one-light window with pointed head
in the west wall north of the tower. The tower arch
is of two orders dying away into square jambs, and is
modern. There are four ancient tie-beams with braced
wall-pieces resting on corbels; the rest of the roof-framing is covered by a modern board ceiling in mansard
form. A modern screen between the chancel and the
nave includes in the former a few feet of what is
structurally the latter.
The tower, of 1728, has diagonal buttresses at both
western corners. In the west wall was, till 1870, a
window of two lights with uncusped semicircular heads
over a plain semicircular-headed west door; the window
was doubtless, the door probably, of 1728, though it
is possible that it was an 11th-century doorway re-used. (fn. 38)
In place of these there is now a two-light window with
Perpendicular tracery. Under this, on the outside,
besides the date-stone already mentioned, are stones
bearing the names or initials of eleven members of the
Mill family; the date-stone may have been removed
from the former chancel, the others are said to have
marked graves. In the north wall of the tower a modern
arch of two orders resting on square jambs leads to the
porch.
The next stage of the tower has two modern single-light windows with cinquefoiled heads opening into the
nave; the uppermost stage has a single-light roundheaded window (of 1728) on each of the north, west,
and south sides. The tower is finished with eight
diminutive pinnacles, somewhat reminiscent of the
finials of the wooden newel-posts of a staircase.
The porch (1870) has a two-light window in the
west wall and a doorway in the north.
On the south wall of the chancel is the former
reredos, evidently dating from 1728, having the Creed,
the Ten Commandments, and the Lord's Prayer
painted on one large wooden panel set in a narrow
carved frame. The altar rails, probably coeval, are of
mahogany and have slender turned balusters between
moulded top and bottom rails, each pier being formed
of a group of four similar balusters set close together.
The other fittings are modern.
The east window of the 18th-century chancel was
filled with stained glass brought at about the same time
from Mottisfont Priory by Sir Henry Mille, rector.
Part of this glass is now in the north window of the
chancel, and part in the western window in the south
wall of the nave. An angel flying among clouds, two
men in a Roman type of armour fighting one another,
and a hammer and pincers lying on the ground are in
the former; in the latter one panel shows men (without
nimbi) kneeling, in the background a standing figure
(the head missing) apparently making a discourse,
perhaps this represents the Disputation in the Temple;
another appears to be part of the Entombment; another
has a nimbed figure sleeping, perhaps part of a representation of the Agony in the Garden; another a woman
(probably nimbed) in blue kirtle and white mantle with
hands outspread, kneeling before a prayer-desk, while
behind an old man holds a book, the subject obviously
being the Magnificat. (fn. 39) On the floor of the tower is a
taper-sided gravestone with double-ended cross, of the
13th century, and on that of the porch are fragments
of the casements of brasses, one of the 15th century.
Of the three bells (fn. 40) one is medieval, of uncertain
origin, another is by Robert Tapsil, 1616, and the third
bears the date 1665.
The communion plate (fn. 41) includes a chalice of 1634,
a paten of c. 1700, and a silver tankard-shaped flagon,
given by Elizabeth, widow of Humphrey Otway,
rector, (fn. 42) in 1703.
The registers of burials begin in 1548, those of
marriages in 1556, and of baptisms in 1570.
ADVOWSON
The advowson has descended continuously with the manor. In 1291
the rectory was valued at £5, (fn. 43) and in
1535 at £7 0s. 9d. (fn. 44)