WOODHURST
Wodehyrst, Wodehirst (xiii cent.).
Woodhurst lies to the north of St. Ives and covers
an area of 1,823 acres, over two-thirds of which is
arable land. The soil is clay and for the greater part
the land is above the 100 ft. contour.
The village is a typical woodland ring fence settlement. It lies round what is roughly an oblong formed
by two roads—Church Street on the north and South
Street on the south, joined at the ends; from the
middle of the ends, roads go to Bluntisham and Old
Hurst. Probably at one end or the other stood St.
John's Cross, of which mention is made in 1545. (fn. 1)
Around this oblong are the farm houses, shops and
cottages of the village. They are for the most part
modern, as the village was almost entirely destroyed by
a fire in 1834, but a few 17th-century cottages remain,
partially modernised. The parochial chapel of St.
John is in the middle on the north side of Church
Street and a lane called Church Lane runs southward
from it to South Street. The Manor House stands
at the north-east corner of the village. It is a large
brick house with tiled roofs partly built in the 17th
and partly in the 18th century. It contains some 18thcentury fittings including a staircase and panelling.
There is also an early 18th-century brick house on the
north side of South Street. A homestead moat northeast of the Manor House, called Spinney Moat, may
represent the site of the old Manor House.
MANOR
Woodhurst, like Oldhurst (q.v.), was one
of the Hurst hamlets belonging to the
manor of Slepe. It is possibly the land
of one of the three tenants Evrard, Ingelran and
Pleines who in 1086 had 4 hides of the Abbot of
Ramsey's 20 hides in Slepe. (fn. 2) Pleines de Slepe, with
his two sons William and Richard, between 1091 and
1112 granted Abbot Aldwin one hide and 28 acres, the
hide and 10 acres he had by inheritance, and the
remainder he obtained from Yvo. Pleines with his
wife Beatrix and his sons and daughters were to
be received in return into the fraternity by the abbey.
The property was to descend at his death to the heir
he should appoint. (fn. 3) This may perhaps have been the
hide in Woodhurst which in 1251 Berengar le Moyne
held, and had previously belonged to Hervey Tesarde. (fn. 4)
At that date it was held of Berengar by several freeholders. In 1267–85 Berengar le Moyne released to
the Abbot of Ramsey lands in Needingworth and
Holywell, the dowry of his mother Roysia, and lands
in Woodhurst. (fn. 5) In 1285, Emma, widow of Berengar
le Moyne, released to the abbot various manors
including the manor of Hurst. (fn. 6) This Moyne manor
thus went to the abbey.
The STOW MANOR in Woodhurst was granted by
Abbot Reynald of Ramsey (1114–30) as a hide of land
to Gilbert son of Guy, (fn. 7) who had in 1120–22 surrendered
all his lands except those in Stow (co. Camb.) and
Bluntisham to the Abbot. (fn. 8) We have reference to a
Guy son of Gilbert in 1134. (fn. 9) Guy's son was Stephen
de Stow, who was holding this hide at the end of the
12th century, and Richard, son of Stephen, inherited
the lands of his grandfather Guy in Hurst and Bluntisham in 1204. (fn. 10) In 1228 Agnes, widow of Roald or
Richard, son of Stephen de Stow, and wife of Joseph(?)
Kipping, held it in dower; William, son of Roald and
Agnes, being then under age. (fn. 11) William de Stow, it is
said, sold all his lands in Woodhurst, worth 60s. a year,
to Abbot Ranulf, who in 1247 assigned them to the
office of chamberlain of Ramsey Abbey. (fn. 12) Probably the
Stow family regained possession of their lands here, as
Baldwin de Stow of Woodhurst was a suitor at
Broughton Court in 1252 and owed service to the
abbot for his lands at Stow (co. Camb.) and Hurst or
Woodhurst in 1260. (fn. 13) In 1272 Henry de Aucher had
a grant of free warren over his lands in Bluntisham.
William de Stow held lands in Woodhurst in 1281 and
1289 (fn. 14) and Baldwin de Stow owed suit for lands in
Woodhurst in 1293–94. (fn. 15)
In 1304 Baldwin described as son of William de Stow
was holding the manor of Stow (co. Camb.) and the
manor of Hurst with land in Slepe and elsewhere. (fn. 16)
This latter manor was in 1356 conveyed by Gilbert
Warewyk, chaplain, and Nicholas of York, clerk, to the
Abbot of Ramsey, (fn. 17) and thus became merged in the
abbey possessions.
The manors of Stow and Woodhurst must, however,
have been alienated from the abbey a little later, as in
1479 Anne Broughton died seised of them, held of
the abbot of Ramsey as of his barony of Broughton, (fn. 18)
leaving a son John Broughton, aged 17, her heir. The
manor passed like that of La Leghe in Colne (q.v.) to
William Paulet Lord St. John, who with Agnes his
wife conveyed lands probably forming the manor in
1576 to John Sotherton. (fn. 19) In 1583 John Sotherton,
with Mary his wife, sold the same property to John
Marten, who with Margaret his wife in 1593 conveyed
what was apparently a part of the same property to
Robert Syssun the younger. (fn. 20) In 1611 the
manor, lately the property of Ramsey Abbey, was
granted by the crown to 'the fishing grantees' George
and Thomas Whitmore, (fn. 21) owing probably to some
suspected defective title. It was held by the
Manning family in 1631, when Katherine Manning,
widow, Garshon Manning and Ellen his wife, and
Ralph Manning conveyed it to John Gulston, probably
for the purposes of a settlement. (fn. 22) In 1641 William
Manning and Prudence his wife and Garshon Manning conveyed it to Jonah James. (fn. 23) Thomas James,
of Buntingford in Hertfordshire, was given as lord by
Cotton c. 1670. (fn. 24)
In 1676 Frances Lumbrey, widow, Elizabeth
Trankmore, widow, Robert Browne and Alice his wife
and Elizabeth Hughes, widow, these ladies possibly
being coheirs of Thomas James, conveyed the manor
to Sir John King, kt., and John Cooke, (fn. 25) and in 1701
it was held by Robert Browne and Alice his wife, who
conveyed it to Walter Ridout and Walter Chapman,
with warranty against the heirs of Alice. (fn. 26) It was
still held by the Browne family in 1742 when Susan
Browne, spinster, conveyed it to John Browne. (fn. 27)
By 1796 the manor had passed to Sir Robert Burton,
who was holding it in 1801. (fn. 28) It later went to John
Carstairs of Stratford Green, Essex, whose daughter
and coheir Johanna married Sir John Henry Pelly,
bart., of Warnham Court, Horsham, who died in 1864
and was succeeded by Sir Henry Carstairs Pelly. On
the death of Sir Henry in 1877 it passed to his
daughters Annie Evelyn, who married Capt. Thomas
Rivers Bulkeley, and Constance Lilian, who married
David 27th Earl of Crawford. These ladies joined in
1918 in selling the manor. (fn. 29)
The manor of WIGAN (Weken, Wykyn, xiii cent.;
Wekyn, xvi cent.; Wiggen, xvii cent.) may have had
its origin in a hide in Hurst given by Abbot Bernard
of Ramsey (d. 1107) to the priory of St. Ives. (fn. 30) An
inquisition of 1251 shows that Hugh de Sulgrave,
formerly prior of St. Ives, had appropriated certain
lands to the 'manor of Wykyn' in Woodhurst. (fn. 31)
After the Dissolution, the farm, manor, and messuage
called Wigan in Woodhurst in the tenure of Leonard
Hetherington, lately belonging to the cell or priory of
St. Ives, and excepted from the grant of Woodhurst
to the Whitmores in 1611, (fn. 32) were in 1544 granted in
tail male to Thomas Audley of St. Ives and Elizabeth
his wife. (fn. 33) Their son Robert in 1560 received livery
of the priory of St. Ives and of lands in Woodhurst. (fn. 34)
The manor was in 1616 settled by Thomas Audley
(grandson of Thomas Audley the grantee) on his
brother Wheathill for life, and on Thomas and
Molyneux, sons of his brother Robert, for their lives,
at a rent of £11. (fn. 35) At the death of Thomas in 1633,
Wigan fell to Wheathill, who in 1645 begged to compound for delinquency. (fn. 36) From this date Wigan
seems to have passed with the Priory manor of St. Ives
(q.v.) to the sons of Robert Audley and their successors. (fn. 37)
The manor of PECKS PLACE probably had its
origin in the hide in Woodhurst which Simon son of
Adam held in demesne in 1251, and of which Richard
Ulf then held 2 virgates. (fn. 38) Simon was possibly a
member of the Slepe family of Hawkers. In 1279
William Ulf was holding a messuage and land in
Woodhurst of the prior of St. Ives, and 2 virgates of
free land at a rent of 2s. from Simon le Eyr, of Woodhurst. (fn. 39) The land of Ulf in Woodhurst which paid
yearly 100s. was bought for the abbey of Ramsey by
Abbot Simon de Eye (1316–42). (fn. 40) These lands may have
been those worth 100s. which John Peck was holding
in 1412. (fn. 41) Apparently in 1477 they were held by
William Peck of Woodhurst and John his son, who
then both made a grant of lands in Woodhurst,
Holywell, Needingworth, Slepe and St. Ives, lately
called 'Cok Halywells londs,' and before that 'Chambreleyns londs.' (fn. 42) This property was presumably the
manor or farm of Pecks Place in Woodhurst, the site
of which was leased with the tithes in 1535 by the
abbot of Ramsey for 60 years to Henry Sherman at a
rent of £12 (i.e., £4 for the rent and £8 for the tithes.) (fn. 43)
In 1595 a lease in reversion of the site of the manor of
Woodhurst called Pecks Place was similarly granted
to John West for 31 years. (fn. 44) Lands in Pecks Place in
Woodhurst were granted with the reversion of the site
of the manor of Oldhurst (q.v.) to John Pratt in 1578
and were held with the same by the Gascoignes in
1619. (fn. 45)
CHURCH
The Church of ST. JOHN THE
BAPTIST
(fn. 46) consists of a chancel
(22 ft. by 18 ft.), nave (39 ft. by 20 ft.),
south aisle (9¼ ft. wide) and modern south porch.
All measurements are internal. The walls are of
rubble with stone dressings and the roofs are covered
with lead and tiles. The modern chancel is of brick.
The Domesday Survey (1086) indicates two
churches in St. Ives, one being probably the chapel of
Woodhurst, but the oldest parts of the present
building are the nave, built late in the 12th century.
and the south arcade in the mid-13th century. The
aisle was rebuilt late in the 14th century, the timber
bell-turret is probably of the early 17th century, and
the chancel and south porch are modern. The church
was restored in 1871.
The modern brick chancel has a three-light east
window, two single lights in the north wall and one in
the south, and a plain south door. The arch is largely
modern, but some of its stones are ancient, and it rests
on re-used 13th-century corbels. The altar table
has turned legs and shaped rails of the early 18th
century.
The north wall of the late 12th-century nave has
an early 14th-century two-light and a 12th-century
doorway. It has been raised, probably in modern
times, and the upper part has two modern three-light
windows. The south arcade, of mid-13th-century
date, is of four bays, with pointed arches on round
columns; the eastern respond is a moulded corbel
with mask-stop. The clearstory above has two modern
three-light windows. The west wall has a 15thcentury three-light, and northward of it are traces of
wall painting of a skeleton outlined in red. Externally
this wall shows signs of the raising to form the
clearstory. The roof is modern but has a few old
timbers. At the western end is an early 17th-century
timber bell-cot carried partly on the west wall and
partly on a timber post supporting a cross-beam; the
framing is covered with oak shingles and it has a low
pyramidal tiled roof.
The late 14th-century south aisle has a two-light
east window, three two-light windows and a doorway
in the south wall, and a modern single-light in the
west wall. In the sill of the easternmost window of
the south wall is a late 14th-century piscina with
octofoil basin (fn. 47) and between this window and the next
is a plain locker.
The font has a 13th-century octagonal bowl resting
upon a tapered stem which is either modern or
reworked.
There are four early 16th century shaped bench-ends
in the nave, and some of the seats are made up of early
17th-century panelling, one bearing the date 1631.
On the floor of the nave is a slab to William son of
John Cox, late 17th century.
There is one bell, inscribed: Hee that will be meri
let him be meri in the Lord, 1624. This bell is by
W. Haulsey. There are pits for three, the two others
were sold to Messrs. Taylor in 1889; their inscriptions
are given by Owen, (fn. 48) as: W. Govve, I. Christmas,
Chvrchwardens, 1621 [by Haulsey] and Iohn Christmvs, William Bvll, C. Newman made me, 1695.
The registers are as follows: (i) Baptisms, marriages and burials, 11 March 1680 to 27 March 1739;
(ii) ditto, 27 March 1739 to 15 Nov. 1812, the marriages ending 11 Oct. 1753; (iii) the official marriage
book, 9 Oct. 1755 to 10 Nov. 1812.
The plate consists of a silver cup, paten and
standing paten, hall-marked for 1763–4.
ADVOWSON
Woodhurst, being like Oldhurst
(q.v.) a chapelry of Slepe, its advowson
shares the history of the advowson
of the vicarage of which it is a member.
The rectory was valued at £4 at the Dissolution
when it was leased to Ralph Clay. (fn. 49) It was held with
the manor by the Mannings in 1631, (fn. 50) but was conveyed to John Halsted, clerk, by Garshon and William
Manning in 1640, (fn. 51) William Manning again making
a conveyance of tithes to John and Thomas Gulston in
the following year. (fn. 52) John Halsted, clerk, was holding
the rectory with 3 acres in Woodhurst in 1663. (fn. 53)
The rectory continued to be held with the manor. (fn. 54)
Tithes from Pecks Place (q.v.) were leased with that
manor at a rent of £8 in 1535 to Henry Sherman, (fn. 55)
and in 1595 to John West, these tithes being granted
in 1611 to Francis Morrice and others, (fn. 56) and excepted
from the grant of the manor of Woodhurst to the
Whitmores in 1611. Thomas Audley paid 39s. for
a year's rent of the tithes of the manor of Woodhurst
in 1645. (fn. 57) This may have been a payment made by
him for tithes of Wigan manor.
At the inclosure of Somersham Heath in 1796 an
allotment of land in lieu of tithes was made to the
lord of the manor as impropriator of the rectory, and
an annual payment was directed to be made to the
vicar of Woodhurst in lieu of vicarial tithes from other
lands of the impropriators assigned for the purpose. (fn. 58)
In 1278 Nicholas Franceys held in Woodhurst a
messuage of ½ rood and 3 acres of land to find a lamp
before the rood in Woodhurst church. (fn. 59)
CHARITY
Town Lands. It is unknown how
this land was originally settled or
acquired. It contains about 5 acres of
grass land known as Claypits Field and is let year by
year. In the year 1924 the land was let for £13 10s.
The rent is distributed by the Parish Council in coal
to about 40 recipients.