HEDGERLEY
Huchelie, Huggele (xiii, xiv cent.); Hegeley,
Hogeley (xv cent.); Hedgley (xvi cent.).
Hedgerley is a well-wooded, hilly parish covering
some 1,097 acres, of which 260 are arable land,
460 permanent grass, 255 woods and plantations and
7 are covered with water. (fn. 1) The slope of the land
varies from 167 ft. above the ordnance datum in the
north-east of Hedgerley Park to 300 ft. in Bulstrode
Park. The soil is rich loam and gravel, the subsoil
chalk. The chief crops are oats, wheat and hay.
In the south-east of the parish are Hedgerley Park,
the property of Mrs. Hugh Norris and Colley Hill
Farm. The small village of Hedgerley lies in a
hollow west of the Park. With the exception of
Shell House, a red brick building of late 17th-century
date, containing many original features, including
some doors and the upper part of the staircase, the
houses and cottages are of no architectural interest.
At the Court Farm an agricultural training is given
to boys by the Church of England Society for Waifs
and Strays. In the village are the rectory-house, a
brick building erected in 1846, (fn. 2) and the school.
The houses on the west side of the village street are
in Hedgerley Dean, a hamlet of Farnham Royal. The
church stands on the brow of a hill to the east of the
village. Beyond it stretches Hedgerley Green, where
is Leith Grove, a late 16th or early 17th-century
timber-framed house, much restored. To the northeast of this is Bulstrode Park, the property of Sir
John F. Ramsden, bart., covering 400 acres, part of
which extend into Fulmer. It is well-wooded, containing some of the finest specimens of exotic trees
in England, and the gardens, which are very beautiful,
were originally laid out by Repton. (fn. 3) The house in
Bulstrode Park was erected by the Duke of Somerset
between 1855 and 1865 on the site of a house built
by the notorious Judge Jeffreys in 1686 (fn. 4) and enlarged
by William Bentinck, the first Earl of Portland. (fn. 5)
On a hill to the south-east of the house are ancient
earthworks. (fn. 6)
The following place-names occur in Hedgerley: la
Rushette (fn. 7) (xiv cent.) and Hugeley Stapull (fn. 8) (xv cent.).
MANORS
There is no mention of Hedgerley
in Domesday, but HEDGERLEY or
HUGELY MANOR, which appears later,
seems to have been included in the manor of Eton
(q.v.), to which the overlordship was attached in
1254. (fn. 9) In the 14th century the Moleyns, to whom
the overlordship had passed, (fn. 10) also owned Stoke Poges,
and henceforth Hedgerley is described as held of that
manor, (fn. 11) the last mention of the overlordship occurring in 1617. (fn. 12)
The earliest tenants of the manor appear to have
taken their name from the place. In 1205 Vielus
de Hugeley secured the right to land in Hedgerley. (fn. 13)
Some years later John son of Richard (de Hugeley)
held land there (fn. 14) and appears as plaintiff in a lawsuit
in 1254 against Richard son of Gilbert de Hugeley. (fn. 15)
This same Richard presented to Hedgerley Church in
1264. (fn. 16) In 1311 his son William held the advowson, (fn. 17)
the descent of which runs with this property, and in
1325 conveyed the reversion of his lands in Hedgerley
to Alexander de Saunderton, (fn. 18) to whom they had
passed by 1348. (fn. 19) Alexander
de Saunderton's widow married John Browne and was
still alive in 1386. (fn. 20)
The next mention of this
property is found in 1449,
when, described for the first
time as a manor, it was alienated by William Saunderton
together with John and Alice
Logge to Edmund Brudenell. (fn. 21)
He died in 1469. (fn. 22) His son
and heir Drew (fn. 23) was Sheriff
of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire in 1474 (fn. 24) and died
in 1490. (fn. 25) Edmund's son and
successor of Drew Brudenell
died in 1538, (fn. 26) and Hedgerley Manor then passed to his
daughter and heir Elizabeth
wife of Robert afterwards Sir
Robert Drury. (fn. 27) Their son
Robert succeeded his father in
1577. (fn. 28) In 1591 he sold
Hedgerley to his son Henry, (fn. 29)
who was knighted in 1603. (fn. 30)
Sir Henry Drury died in 1617, when William his son
and heir was aged twenty. (fn. 31) Ten years later he conveyed Hedgerley Manor to Christopher Stacy and
John Blacknall. (fn. 32) In 1641 William Drury, blind,
lame and destitute of estate, appealed to the House of
Lords for the reversion of an award under a mortgage
of this manor to Thomas Allanson. (fn. 33) It is next
found in the possession of Marmaduke Darrell, who
sold it in 1653 to William afterwards Sir William
Bowyer, bart., of Denham Court. (fn. 34) He in his turn
conveyed it in 1670 to Sir Roger Hill. (fn. 35) From
this date the descent of Hedgerley Manor corresponds with that of Denham (q.v.) until 1832. (fn. 36)
Thirty years later it belonged to Rice Richard
Clayton, (fn. 37) who died in 1879, (fn. 38) His son and successor Richard Nugent Clayton (fn. 39) sold it in 1881
to Mrs. Stevenson, widow of Captain Henry Stevenson. (fn. 40) Their daughter Mrs. Hugh Norris is the
present owner.
Brudenell. Argent a cheveron gules between three hats azure turned up with ermine.
Drury. Argent a chief vert charged with a tau cross between two pierced molets or.
Bulstrode Park, Hedgerley
Another manor in Hedgerley was that of
BULSTRODE, TEMPLE BULSTRODE or BULSTRODE PARK. (fn. 41) It is not included in the inventory
of the Templars' estates in 1185, (fn. 42) and the earliest
mention of their preceptory there occurs in 1276. (fn. 43)
Eight years later their master claimed view of frankpledge and waif as of right immemorial. (fn. 44)
After the suppression of the Templars in 1308 (fn. 45)
Bulstrode Manor was granted to the Knights Hospitallers, who transferred it to Hugh le Despencer in
1324. (fn. 46) It again came into the possession of the
Crown on the forfeiture of his estates, (fn. 47) and in 1327
Walter Turk farmed the manor, (fn. 48) the rent being paid
towards the maintenance of Eleanor, the widow of
Hugh le Despencer. (fn. 49) Bulstrode was granted two
years later to Burnham Abbey at a rent of £15. (fn. 50) In
1337 it was in arrears with the rent (fn. 51) and the
same year was empowered to alienate the manor to
William Montagu Earl of Salisbury, (fn. 52) who assigned it
to Bisham Priory, Berkshire. (fn. 53) Bulstrode remained
in the possession of this priory until its surrender in
1536. (fn. 54) Bisham was granted a new foundation charter
as an abbey in the following year, and this manor
formed part of the endowment. (fn. 55) In 1538 its possessions were again resigned, (fn. 56) and Temple Bulstrode
was granted to Robert Drury, (fn. 57) and follows the same
descent as Hedgerley Manor (q.v.) until 1617. On
the death of Sir Henry Drury in that year it passed
to his widow Susan Drury, in accordance with the
terms of her marriage settlement. (fn. 58) She was still
living in 1635, when the reversion was stated to
pass after her death to Marmaduke son and heir
of Sir Sampson Darrell, then
fourteen years old. (fn. 59) In his
petition to the House of Lords
in 1641 William Drury (Hedgerley Manor, q.v.) complained
that under a mortgage of
Temple Bulstrode Manor to
Sir Sampson Darrell it had
been unjustly awarded to his
heir Marmaduke. The latter
alienated the manor in 1670
to the trustees for Sir William
Bowyer, bart., (fn. 60) who later in
the year sold it to Sir Roger
Hill. (fn. 61) He conveyed Temple Bulstrode in 1686 to
Judge Jeffreys, then Lord Jeffreys of Wern, (fn. 62) who died
three years later, when his estates passed to his son
John. (fn. 63) He died without male issue in 1702, (fn. 64) and
Temple Bulstrode became the property of Charles
Dive, (fn. 65) husband of Mary daughter of Judge Jeffreys. (fn. 66)
Dive sold it in 1706 to William Bentinck, first Earl
of Portland, (fn. 67) who lived at Bulstrode Park and was
visited there by William III. (fn. 68) After William's death
Bentinck retired into private life and spent his time
in improving his Bulstrode estate, where he died in
1709. (fn. 69) Bulstrode Park remained the chief seat
of the Portland family for over a century. (fn. 70) The
third Duke of Portland, the Prime Minister, died
in 1809, and in 1810 his son, the fourth duke,
sold the Bulstrode estate to the Duke of Somerset, by whom the old house was pulled down. He
was succeeded in 1855 by his eldest son, (fn. 71) on
whose death in 1885 Bulstrode passed to his
daughter, Lady Helen Guendolen, (fn. 72) mother of Sir
John F. Ramsden, bart., of Bulstrode Park, the
present owner.
Bentinck, Duke of Portland. Azure a millrind cross argent.
Seymour, Duke of Somerset. Gules a pair of wings or.
Ramsden, baronet. Argent a cheveron between three fleurs de lis sable with three rams' heads argent on the cheveron.
During the reign of Elizabeth a survey was taken
of Hedgerley and Temple Bulstrode Manors. They
included four farms, one called Pound Farm, covering
among them two-thirds of the estate. The names
of the tenants, the extent of their holdings, the rent
paid and in some instances the date of the lease are
specified in the survey. The yearly value of some
700 acres of land and 30 acres of wood was estimated
at £385 16s. 2d. (fn. 73)
The priory of Little Marlow owned some land in
Hedgerley at the Dissolution, (fn. 74) the reversion of a
temporary lease of which was granted in 1537 to
Bisham Abbey. (fn. 75) Three years later a fresh grant was
made to John Titley and Elizabeth Restwold. (fn. 76) In
1573 it belonged to John Borlase. (fn. 77)
CHURCH
The church of ST. MARY consists of
a chancel, nave, south porch, and western
tower. It is built of rubble in the
styles of the 13th and 14th centuries.
In 1767 the church was found to be in need of
repair and a rate was levied for its restoration. (fn. 78)
This church, however, was pulled down in 1852 and
the present one built to the north of it on the east
side of the village, some fittings from the former
church being preserved. In the chancel, on the
south side, is a brass with figures of Robert Fulmer,
1498, and Joan his wife, and of two sons and two
daughters. The inscription, however, does not fit
the indent and the woman's dress may be of a
slightly earlier date. On the north side, there is a
brass with figures of Margaret wife of Edward Bulstrode, 1540, and of her ten sons and three daughters;
the inscription is a palimpsest and has on the reverse
an inscription to Thomas Totyngton, Abbot of Bury
St. Edmunds, 1312. Above the figures is the indent
of a shield, two pieces of which, also palimpsest, are
now in the rectory. The obverse shows a quartered
shield of Bulstrode impaling a bend with three cinqfoils
thereon; on the reverse is part of a representation of
the Resurrection.
The font has a 12th-century circular bowl with a
15th-century stem and base. Upon the bowl have
been carved, probably in the 15th century, eight
small designs, including shields, heads (one of a bishop)
and roses. There is a 17th-century cover of wood.
There is a 17th-century painting on canvas of the
Ten Commandments, with illustrations and biblical
explanations, in the vestry, given to the church at the
end of the 18th century. In a frame on the south
wall of the chancel there is a piece of red velvet, said to
be part of a cloak given by Charles I for an altar frontal.
There is a ring of four bells: the treble and
second dated 1908 by Mears & Stainbank; the third
by T. Mears, 1808; the tenor recast in 1908 from a
bell dated 1681. The old treble by Bryan Eldridge,
1640, inscribed 'Gloria Deo in Excelsis,' is still preserved.
The plate includes a small paten of 1634 and a
cup of 1700.
The registers begin in 1539.
ADVOWSON
The descent of the advowson of
Hedgerley Church (fn. 79) corresponds to
that of the manor (fn. 80) (q.v.) until
1842, when it was purchased from Benjamin Way
by Mr. Lewis, and sold in the following year to
Edward Baylis. (fn. 81) He owned it until 1888, (fn. 82) when
it passed into the possession of Miss A. Baylis. (fn. 83) It
was purchased in 1900 by Mrs. Stevenson, (fn. 84) and is
now held by Mrs. Hugh Norris, owner of Hedgerley
Manor (q.v.).
At the dissolution of the chantries land and rent
from Barden's Gyll in Hedgerley, valued at 3s. 4d.,
formed the endowment of an obit in the church. (fn. 85)
CHARITY
The Slade charity, founded by
declaration of trust 24 March 1873,
consists of £500 consols held by the
official trustees, producing £12 10s. yearly, which is
applied on St. Thomas's Day for the benefit of
deserving and necessitous poor.