MARTYR WORTHY
Wurdia la Martre, Wordia, Worthi Martre (xiii
cent.).
The parish of Martyr Worthy cum Chilland covers
about 2,060 acres, rising from the low-lying ground
near the Itchen in the south, to the high ridge of
down land which stretches north of the Itchen valley.
Of the whole area 1,438 acres are arable land, 400½
are permanent grass, and 220½ are woodland. (fn. 1) The
north of the parish, through the north-west corner of
which runs the Roman road from Winchester to
Basingstoke, is one long stretch of down land and open
field, with here and there a tract of woodland, including Brentwood and Schroner Cottage Wood.
Budgitts Farm is on high ground, almost in the centre
of the south. Further south, running from east to
west, is the railway line of the Alton branch of the
London and South-Western Railway, on which is
Itchen Abbas station, about half a mile east of Martyr
Worthy village. South of and almost parallel with the
railway line runs the main road from Winchester to
Alresford, passing south of Worthy Park, the residence
of Captain Charles Fryer, M.P., as it enters the
parish from the west. The house of Worthy Park, a
fine mansion of white stone, standing in the midst of
well-wooded country, is in this parish, although
much of the estate stretches into Abbot's Worthy.
South of the main road, nearly a mile east of Worthy
Park, is the village of Martyr Worthy, on a branch road,
almost a lane, leading down to the Itchen. The
church of St. Swithun stands on the west, well sheltered
behind thick-growing trees. North-west of the church
are the schools and the old rectory, a square red-brick
house, from which a fine view can be obtained to the
south, across the Itchen valley, over the village of
Easton, away to the down land and the dark woodland of Avington Park. Four or five groups of
thatched and timbered cottages compose the village,
several being actually in the meadow land close to
the river, over the several tributaries of which narrow
bridges lead to Easton.
Half a mile up the river, east of the village, is
Chilland Mill, close by which are the offices of the
Itchen Trout Breeding Association. The little hamlet
of Chilland itself lies on the slope north of the mill,
and consists of a few cottages and several modern
houses, lying for the most part along the narrow road
which leads up from the mill to the main road. A
picturesque modern house, with grounds sloping down
to the river, stands west of the mill. Chilland House
is in the north-east, close to the main road from
Winchester to Alresford. The soil of the whole
parish is clay loam with a subsoil of chalk, and the
chief crops are wheat, barley, oats, and turnips.
The place-name 'Ashdoun,' not now traceable,
occurs in an Exchequer Deposition of 1716. (fn. 2)
MANORS
There are several entries
relating to land at WORTHY
in Anglo-Saxon charters, but
as there are five Worthies in Hampshire,
all situated within a few miles of one
another, identification is difficult. The
'land at Worthy' mentioned in the grant
made by King Egbert to the monastery
of St. Peter and St. Paul at Winchester
in 825 (fn. 3) is probably Martyr Worthy, for
among the boundaries mentioned are Igtun
(possibly Avington), Easton, and the high
road to Alresford; and of all the Worthies
Martyr Worthy lay nearest to these three
places. It is not mentioned in the Domesday Survey. It remained part of the
possessions of the prior and monks of
St. Swithun's, who in 1205, and again
in 1285, obtained a confirmation of their
ownership of land at Worthy. (fn. 4) In 1251
the prior dealt with the manor and
advowson, (fn. 5) and by a charter of 1284,
confirmed by Edward I in 1285, the bishop quitclaimed for himself and his successors all right in
the manor. (fn. 6) Martyr Worthy remained in the hands
of the prior and convent until the Dissolution, (fn. 7) after
which the manor was granted to the dean and
chapter of Winchester. (fn. 8)
The manor must have been sold by the dean and
chapter during the eighteenth century to the family of
Sheldon, probably to the William Sheldon who in
1728 owned part of the manor of Bereleigh, in East
Meon (q.v.). In 1773 his grandson Edward Sheldon
sold Martyr Worthy to Sir Chaloner Ogle, bart.,
whose successor, Sir Charles Ogle, bart., built a mansion here in 1820, which he sold five years later,
together with the manorial rights, to Mr. Samuel
Wall. The latter died before
1848, being followed by Mr.
G. A. E. Wall, who was still
holding in 1875. Between
this latter date and 1880 the
manor passed to Capt. C. G.
Fryer, the present owner.
Ogle. Argent a fesse between three crescents gules.
There seem to be only two
separate references to the tithing of CHILLAND, which
was usually included in Martyr Worthy. (fn. 9) In 1763 William
Dale and his wife Elizabeth
conveyed the so-called manor
of Chilland to Philippa Venables, (fn. 10) and in 1789
Elizabeth Gale (possibly Dale), widow, sold it to John
Doswell. (fn. 11)
CHURCH
The church of ST. SWITHUN has an
apsidal chancel of twelfth-century style
built in 1865, a nave 46 ft. by 17 ft.
6 in., and a wooden bell-turret at the west. The nave
dates from c. 1140–50, its north and south doorways
being original work. The north doorway is somewhat more richly treated than the south, and though
not now the principal entrance, may at one time have
been so. It is roundheaded, of two orders with jambshafts, the outer order having a line of horizontal
zigzag with a label of billet ornament, while the inner
is plain, and the capitals are carved with simple
foliage. The south doorway has a label with hatched
ornament, a moulded outer order, and a plain inner
order; on its east jamb is cut a large cross, perhaps
a consecration cross. East of this doorway is an
original window retaining its semicircular rear arch,
but with a cinquefoiled light of fifteenth-century style,
of modern stonework, in place of its former opening.
On the north side of the nave is a window corresponding to this, but entirely modern, the twelfthcentury rear arch and the fifteenth-century light being
alike copied in the new work. Towards the east end
of the nave are two-light fifteenth-century windows
on north and south, with renewed tracery, and there
is another two-light window in the west wall, with a
cinquefoil in the head. At the south-east of the nave
is a piscina with a groove for a shelf.
Martyr Worthy Church
Over the east end of the nave the roof is of lower
pitch than elsewhere, with plain heavy timbers in two
bays with carved bosses at the intersections and a
moulded wall-plate of fifteenth-century style. This
appears to be an example of a ceiling over the rood.
The bell-turret dates from 1871, and contains
three bells, the treble an early sixteenth-century bell
with Roger Landon's marks, inscribed 'Sancte Luce
or.'; the second of 1632, inscribed in black-letter
smalls, 'In God is my hope'; and the tenor, with
the same inscription in Gothic capitals, of 1681
(probably for 1631), both by the founder 1 H., possibly
for John Higden.
The font, near the south door, is modern, with an
octagonal bowl on a panelled stem, and there are no
ancient fittings in the church.
The plate consists of a silver chalice and paten of
1851, and a modern plated cup, paten, and flagon.
The first book of the registers, on paper, runs from
1539 to 1624 (baptisms 1542–89, marriages 1550–
84, burials 1539–80 and 1597–1624); the second
from 1633 to 1807, the marriages not after 1753;
the third is the printed marriage register 1754–1812,
and the fourth contains baptisms and burials 1808–12.
ADVOWSON
The earliest mention of a church
at Martyr Worthy is in the year
1251, when John la Martre conveyed the advowson of the church to the prior and
convent of St. Swithun. (fn. 12) In 1535 the church was
assessed at £16. (fn. 13)
The advowson of the church followed the descent
of the manor until the Dissolution, since which time
it has been in the hands of the bishop of Winchester. (fn. 14)
The living is a rectory.
Paul Clapham, vicar of Martyr Worthy, in 1639
was charged with defrauding the parishioners by compounding with excommunicated persons. Other
accusations were brought against him, one being 'that
he thought it lawful for a man to have as many wives
as his estate would keep.' (fn. 15)
CHARITIES
In 1589 Alderman Pranell, by his
will (confirmed by deed 1592 by
Agnes Pranell his widow), charged
his great messuage and houses in Hart Street, city of
London, with an annual payment of £6 13s. 4d. for
the maintenance of a schoolmaster to teach ten poor
children born in the parish until the age of sixteen
years. The rent-charge is applied in connexion with
the National School of the parish. (fn. 16)