SALFORD
Salford is a small parish of about 975 acres, of
which 451 are arable land and 469 permanent grass. (fn. 1)
The slope of the ground, which varies little, is from
west to east. The soil is gravel and loam, the subsoil gravel. The principal crops produced are wheat,
oats, barley, peas and beans. The parish is watered
by a tributary of the Ouzel, and has 28 acres of
woods and plantations, Salford Wood in the north
being of some extent.
The village of Salford is situated in the south-east
of the parish. Adjoining the church is the Manor
Farm, a pleasant building dating from the early
19th century. The cottages which compose the
village are for the most part half-timbered with
thatched roofs. Salford Mill, which marked the site
of a much older building, was recently destroyed by
fire, the house adjoining which is a half-timbered structure with thatched roof. Salford has a Wesleyan
chapel built in 1814.
The parish was inclosed by Act of Parliament in
1807–8. (fn. 2)
MANOR
In 1086 Hugh de Beauchamp held a
5-hide manor in Salford which included
a mill worth 9s. 4d. and woodland for
150 swine. His predecessor was Turchil, a thegn of
King Edward. (fn. 3) The overlordship of the manor was
attached to the barony of Bedford (q.v.) and was
held by John de Steyngreve in 1275 (fn. 4) and William
de Patishull in 1366. (fn. 5)
No tenant of Hugh is mentioned at Domesday,
but this manor was early held by a family who
assumed the name de Salford.
Nigel de Salford, the first of
whom mention has been
found, was a 12th-century
benefactor of Newnham
Priory. (fn. 6) His son, Hugh de
Salford, had succeeded his
father by 1199, in which year
Walter son of Gregory quitclaimed a virgate of land to
him in this parish. (fn. 7) His
name also appears in the
Newnham cartulary, as does
that of his son Nigel, who
held one fee of the barony
of Bedford c. 1240. (fn. 8) John de Salford, probably his
son, held in this parish between 1275 and 1303,
being succeeded at the latter date by his son Nigel
de Salford. (fn. 9) Hugh brother of Nigel acknowledged
in 1312 the latter's claim to Salford Manor, (fn. 10) which
was held in 1346 by Peter de Salford, who received
a grant of free warren here in 1353. (fn. 11) He was still
holding in 1366, (fn. 12) and is the last member of his
family of whom mention has been found in Salford.
In 1428 this manor is described as late belonging to
Ankareta, who was wife of Thomas Drakelowe, and
whom it has not been found possible to identify. (fn. 13)
At this date Oliver Groos and other trustees relinquished their rights to Thomas Widville and others. (fn. 14)
Ten years later All Souls
College, Oxford, was founded
and endowed by Archbishop
Chicheley, and this manor,
together with Weedon Pinkney, appears to have formed
part of the early endowment
of the college, to which it
belongs at the present day. (fn. 15)
Robert Hoveden, warden of
the college, brought an action
against Robert Johnson c.
1558 complaining that the
latter, acting as his steward,
had been entrusted with
certain rentals that he might
keep the courts of Salford Manor and now refused to
deliver them to their rightful owner. (fn. 16) All Souls
has been in the habit of leasing the manor-house
and lands, which were held by the Langfords and
Pedders in the 16th and 17th centuries. (fn. 17) In 1662
Thomas Hackett appears to have acquired the lease, (fn. 18)
which his family still retained in 1722 when the
trustees of Nicholas Hackett were negotiating a
transfer on behalf of his daughter and only child
Elizabeth Carew. (fn. 19) The manor-house is now used
as a farm in the occupation of Barnard Charnock
Sturges.
Salford. Argent a cheveron gules with three scallops or thereon.
All Souls College, Oxford. Or a cheveron between three cinqfoils gules.
CHURCH
The church of ST. MARY THE
VIRGIN has a chancel 24 ft. 6 in. by
14 ft. 2 in., the oldest details of which
belong to the 13th century. It has a modern north
vestry (1900). The nave, 47 ft. by 16 ft., and
the south aisle 7 ft. 10 in. wide, date from the
last quarter of the 13th century. There is a north
porch. On the west gable of the nave is a wooden
frame for three bells, quite modern, which succeeded
a low masonry tower apparently of the 18th century,
shown in Fisher's drawing of the church (1813) and
elsewhere. The building has been considerably
repaired in modern times, but much old work has
survived. The three-light east window of the chancel
with net tracery is of c. 1330, as is a low side window
at the north-west, a rather wide trefoiled light, and
the trefoiled piscina recess is of the same date, but
the oldest feature is the south-west door, which is
plain 13th-century work of earlier character than
anything else in the church, and suggesting a date in
the first half of the century for the building of the
chancel. The chancel arch, which is a good deal
repaired, is contemporary with the south arcade of
the nave, which is of four bays with quatrefoiled
piers, moulded capitals and arches of two chamfered
orders with labels, c. 1280. The capitals of the
responds are well preserved, but those of the three
piers are too small for the arches and the shafts,
and have probably been cut down to their present
shape by way of repair. The nave has two north
windows of c. 1300 repaired, one of two trefoiled
lights with a pierced spandrel, the other of three
uncusped lancets. The west window is of three uncusped lights, with three flattened circles in the head,
a good specimen of early tracery, though somewhat
repaired.
The porch is of wood on low masonry walls,
and was largely repaired in 1633, as appears by a
date on one rafter, but a good deal of the construction
is older, and a beam now resting on the roof timbers
is of peculiar interest, having a line of dog-tooth
ornament cut on its lower edge, and a rose, a star
and a heart-shaped leaf panel. It seems to be of 13thcentury date, and may be a relic of an original porch
contemporary with the church.
In the north aisle is a mutilated 14th-century
canopied tomb with a cross-legged effigy in mail,
with a surcoat, c. 1310–20; on the base of the tomb
are shields charged with a cheveron.
There is a coffin-lid in the sill of the north-east
window of the nave, which is of early 14th-century
date, and has on it a cross and the inscription '[Vous
ke pa]sses par ici prie pur la alme Jon Polein ke Deus
eit [merci].'
In a modern recess in the north wall of the chancel
is the top of a 15th-century tomb, probably meant to
lie as a floor slab; on it are a cross and sword with a
shield bearing a cheveron on which are three escallops.
The slab is about 10 in. thick and has a moulded
edge, beneath which are carved similar shields and
flowers alternately, and the heraldry is repeated at
one end. There can be little doubt that it is a
memorial of a Salford. At the west end of the nave
is a similar slab, having on it a sword to which is
hung a shield charged with a saltire engrailed. In
the aisle floor are brasses of John Peddar, 1505, and
his wife Alys, and their children, six sons and four
daughters; the inscription belonging to the figures
is now in the vestry. There are several inscriptions
to the Woodward family, the earliest being to Robert
Woodward, 1629, and Mary Woodward, 1638.
There are some pews of the 15th century, and the
nave roof is of the same date.
The three bells are (1) by James Keene, 1626, and
bearing his initials and marks, (2) by Christopher
Graye, 1661, and (3) by Roger Landon, c. 1450,
inscribed 'Ave Maria.'
The plate consists of a flagon of 1802, the gift of
Elizabeth Hervey, a chalice of 1638 with a cover
paten, and a salver of 1763, on three feet with an
openwork border, given in 1771.
The registers are as follows: (i) 15–8 to 1661;
(2) 1653 to 1704; (3) 1749 to 1787; and (4)
marriages 1755 to 1782.
ADVOWSON
Salford Church was granted to
Newnham Priory by Nigel de Salford
in the 12th century, (fn. 20) and was confirmed to the prior by various members of the family,
and by the Crown in 1317. (fn. 21) In 1291 it was valued at
£4 6s. 8d., (fn. 22) and at the Dissolution at £7 16s. 3d. (fn. 23)
The advowson, with which was included the rectory,
was retained by the Crown till 1587, when it was
granted to Edward Downing, a well-known fishing
grantee. (fn. 24) From him it passed shortly after to Robert
Barber alias Grigg, who together with his brother
Thomas sold the advowson to John Langford,
c. 1597. (fn. 25) The latter presented in 1605, (fn. 26) and died
seised twenty years later, when his son Robert was
his heir. (fn. 27) Christian Langford, the widow of Robert,
presented in 1642 and 1646, and Robert Langford,
a member of the same family, in 1661. (fn. 28) In 1664 it
had passed to Thomas Hackett and Elizabeth his
wife, who transferred it at that date to Thomas
Sickling. (fn. 29) By 1690 the advowson had passed to
Sir Villiers Chernock, bart., (fn. 30) and henceforward
followed the same descent as Holcot (q.v.), with
which it was united in 1750. (fn. 31) The right of presentation at the present day is vested in Mrs. Chernock Smith.
CHARITIES
Charities of Elizabeth Hervey and
others (see under parish of Holcot).
The town land consists of 3 acres
or thereabouts awarded on an inclosure in 1807 in
lieu of dispersed lands in the open fields immemorially
under the management of the minister and churchwardens. The charity is regulated by a scheme of
the Charity Commissioners of 14 July 1868, the
income of which, amounting to £14 a year or thereabouts, is applicable mainly for educational purposes
in connexion with the school. (fn. 32)
An annuity of £5 is received from the Bursar of
New College, Oxford, charged by the will of
Dr. Woodward, dated 4 June 1675, on a farm at
Brightwell, Herts., for binding out of poor children
apprentices, born in the parish of Salford, male or
female.