DORMSTON
Deormodesealdtune (x cent.); Dormestun (xi cent.);
Dormyston (xv cent.).
This small parish, which contains only 820 acres,
lies on the road
from Worcester to
Alcester, which runs
through it on the
south. On a road
branching north
from this is the small
and scattered village,
which consists of a
few old cottages
grouped round the
church. A short distance to the west is
Moat Farm, a small
but unusually complete example of a
black and white
house of the 17th
century. It is rectangular with a square
brick annexe at the
back and is three
stories high with a
tiled roof. The
principal front to the
south has three equal
gables, and the wall
is protected by projecting tiled eaves
between the stories. At each end is another gable,
that on the south bearing the initials I.C., for John
Callow, and the date 1663, which may, however, be
only the date of the plaster filling. At the back of
the house rises a central brick chimney stack. The
interior has a plain oak staircase and a small amount
of 17th-century panelling. The moat was square,
and is now dry except for a pond at the west angle.
It is crossed by a brick bridge on the east side, and to
the south of the house is a square black and white
dovecote, formerly gabled, but now with a pyramidal
tiled roof. To the south-east of the village stands
Bagend Farm, a late 16th-century building much
altered externally. It is rectangular, with two projecting wings at the back, and fronts towards the east.
This side of the house has been refronted and has lost
all its original features, but the two wings behind are
of half-timber with brick filling. The central portion
of the main building formed the hall, with a wooden
screen at the south end and a fireplace with an oak
overmantel having panels of Jacobean design at the
north end. The walls are panelled to the ceiling and
have a dentilled frieze continued across the screen,
which has two plain doors. The screen does not, as
usually, cover a passage-way, but behind it, on the west,
is the main staircase with short flights and no well;
the square newels have tall, handsome moulded vases,
square on plan, and the balusters are flat moulded
pilasters supporting a moulded rail. At the south
end of the house is the drawing room with panelled
walls and an enriched frieze. The fireplace is
flanked by pairs of Ionic columns, and the overmantel
has three pairs of coupled columns of the same order.
The kitchen at the north end of the main block has
a large fireplace 11 ft. wide, with a stone head. Two
rooms on the first floor are of interest, the Oak
Room, above the drawing room, being panelled to the
ceiling and finished with a frieze; the fireplace has
Ionic side pilasters and four Ionic columns supporting
balls to the overmantel. The room in the south
wing at this level also contains an old fireplace of
similar character with an enriched panel in the centre
of the overmantel, Ionic columns and a cleft pediment. The chimney stacks are of brick with diagonal
projections and shafts set oversailing at the top.
There are traces of a moat on the east and south
sides, and the outbuildings include two red brick
and timber dovecotes, one gabled and one having a
pyramidal roof.
Dormston Church from the South
The greater part of the parish is at a height of
about 200 ft., but falls slightly to the valley of the
Piddle Brook in the south. The soil is a stiff clay and
the subsoil Lower Lias. The chief crops grown are
wheat, beans and oats.
An Inclosure Act was passed in 1790, (fn. 1) the award
being dated 8 April 1791. (fn. 2)
MANOR
Five manses at DORMSTON were
included among the property confirmed
to St. Mary of Pershore by King Edgar's
charter. (fn. 3) This land was given with part of the manor
of Pershore to the abbey of Westminster by Edward
the Confessor, and Dormston was included in 1086
among the lands of St. Peter of Westminster. (fn. 4)
In the time of Edward the Confessor Dormston
was held under the abbey by Waland, who mowed
the meadows of his lord and did all the service he
was bid. In 1086 Waland had given place to
William Fitz Corbucion or Corbezon, who then held
5 hides of Westminster Abbey. (fn. 5) William Fitz
Corbucion, whose principal seat was at Studley in
Warwickshire, is said by Dugdale to have been succeeded by Robert. (fn. 6) He had been followed before
1166 by Peter de Studley or Corbucion, who was then
holding a knight's fee in Worcestershire (evidently
Dormston) of the Abbot of Westminster. (fn. 7) This
Peter granted Dormston Chapel in the reign of
Henry II to the monastery he had founded at
Studley in Warwickshire. (fn. 8) His son, also Peter, is
said by Dugdale to have parted with much of his
property, (fn. 9) and though William Corbucion was dealing
with land at Dormston in 1234–5, (fn. 10) and Peter
Corbucion impleaded Thomas de Dounton for the
ownership of the manor in 1320, (fn. 11) the fee had by
that date become annexed to the manor of Inkberrow, and may have been so annexed as early as 1230,
when Hamo de Gras, owner of the manor, was absent
beyond seas with the earl marshal, then owner of
Inkberrow Manor. (fn. 12) Dormston Manor was held of
the manor of Inkberrow until 1633. (fn. 13)
In 1086 2 hides in the manor of Dormston were
held under William Fitz Corbucion by Albert. (fn. 14)
In 1230 Hamo le Gras (Crassus) was in controversy
with Robert de Antioch as to half a knight's fee
there. (fn. 15) Four years later Hamo acquired land there
from William Corbucion. (fn. 16) Possibly Peter de Wateville, who confirmed the advowson of the church to
the priory of Studley in 1245–6, (fn. 17) was holding
the manor at that time. In 1271–2 the manor of
Dormston was held by Reginald de Imworth and
Maud his wife, apparently in right of Maud, and
they then granted it, with 1½ virgates in Inkberrow,
to John de Botteley, to hold of them at a rent of
10 marks yearly. (fn. 18) In 1283 the manor was held of
Maud, then a widow, by Thomas de Botteley, son
of John, and she granted the rent of 10 marks, paid
by him, to Philip de Nevill. (fn. 19) Thomas de Botteley
and his wife Alice granted the manor in 1316–17 to
Thomas de Dounton and Joan his wife at a rent of
38 marks, to be paid for the life of the grantees, (fn. 20)
and in 1320 Thomas de Dounton was impleaded
for the manor by Peter Corbucion. (fn. 21) The next
tenant was John de Sapy, an inquiry into his entry
upon the manor being made at the hundred court of
Pershore in 1320–1. (fn. 22) He lost all his lands for complicity in the rising against the Despensers in 1321,
in which year Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke,
entered into the manor, and caused the corn there
to be removed to his manor of Newbury in Inkberrow. (fn. 23) John de Sapy's lands were restored after
the fall of the Despensers, and
he was in possession in 1327 (fn. 24)
and 1332–3. (fn. 25) He may have
been followed by Sir Walter
Hewet, who was holding the
manor at some date before
1375. (fn. 26) In 1388 it was in
the hands of John Russell
of Strensham, who received
licence to crenellate his mansion-house at Dormston. (fn. 27)
The manor then followed the
descent of Strensham until
1659. (fn. 28) Its history is then
for a time obscure, but it seems
probable that it still remained in the possession of
the Russells and was sold after the death of the last
male representative of the family, Sir Francis Russell,
in 1705. It was held by William Lutwyche in
1743, (fn. 29) and in 1774–5 by Edward Timbrill and
Margaret his wife, apparently in her right. They
then conveyed it to John Keeling. (fn. 30) It remained in
the Keeling family until 1824, (fn. 31) when, after the
death of John Keeling, it passed, after a lawsuit, to
his nephew Richard Homer of Sedgley (co. Stafford)
and Pedmore Hall. He entailed it on his son
Charles Kemp Homer and his grandson Charles
Henry Homer. The latter's daughter Elizabeth
Anne, widow of Mr. Henry Milner, is the present
owner of the manor. (fn. 32)
Russell of Strensham. Argent a cheveron between three crosslets sable.
In 1240–1 Alfred Cusin granted to Nicholas, Prior
of Studley, parson of the church of Dormston, a
virgate of land to hold in free alms. (fn. 33) In 1291 the
prior was returned as holding a virgate of land worth
10s. yearly, and as receiving 2s. rents of assize. (fn. 34)
This land became annexed to the chapel of Dormston,
which also belonged to Studley Priory, and followed
the same descent as the advowson. It is described in
the 16th century as a mansion-house and barn called
'le Parsonage' with a croft called Gores. (fn. 35)
Richard de Hawkeslow acquired land in Dormston
and Inkberrow in 1328 of Robert de Ockley. (fn. 36) This
land apparently followed the same descent as the
Hawkeslows' estate in Inkberrow (q.v.) to the Middlemores, and some land at Dormston remained with
the Middlemore family until the beginning of the
18th century. (fn. 37) In 1635, however, William Middlemore had sold a cottage and land to Peter Warburton,
and lands in Dormston were conveyed by George
Middlemore of Hawkesley, brother and heir of
William Middlemore, late of Hawkesley, and John
Middlemore, son and heir of George, to Richard
Vernon of the Webb House. (fn. 38) By 1781 the Vernons
of Hanbury had become the principal landowners in
Dormston, their property being then in the hands of
Henry Cecil, (fn. 39) afterwards Earl of Exeter, (fn. 40) who held
them in right of his wife Emma, only daughter and
heir of Thomas Vernon of Hanbury. (fn. 41) By 1868 Mr.
Laslett was principal landowner in Dormston, (fn. 42) and
as the advowson (q.v.) had about 1857 passed into
his hands from the Vernons, he probably also acquired
these lands from them. Mrs. Baker Carr, who succeeded Mr. Laslett, (fn. 43) held property here until the end
of the 19th century, but it has since been broken up.
Middlemore. Party cheveronwise argent and sable with two moorcocks in the chief in their proper colour.
Vernon of Hanbury. Or a fesse azure charged with three sheaves or and a crosslet fitchy gules in the chief.
CHURCH
The church of ST. NICHOLAS consists of a chancel 18¾ ft. by 15½ ft., nave
29½ ft. by 17 ft. with a south porch and
a timber west tower 9¼ ft. by 7¾ ft. All the measurements are internal.
None of the existing structure is of earlier date
than the 14th century, to which date may be assigned
the nave and the ancient parts of the north wall of
the chancel. The timber west tower was probably
added late in the 15th century, and a large buttress
supporting the south-east angle of the nave is of the
following century. The church has been extensively
restored in modern times and the chancel almost
entirely rebuilt.
The chancel has a two-light east window partly of
14th-century date, and a modern single-light window
in the south wall. The chancel arch and roof are
entirely modern. The nave has a square-headed
14th-century window in the north wall, much
restored and of two trefoiled lights; further west is a
blocked pointed doorway of one chamfered order
and of the same date. In the south wall is a 14thcentury window similar to that on the north, and a
second of two lights with a quatrefoil over in a pointed
head. Between them is a pointed south doorway
resembling the north doorway, and to the east of it is
a small niche, probably a former stoup, but now lacking its basin. In the west wall is a modern doorway
to the tower, and above it a single-light trefoiled
window of the 14th century. The open timber roof
is partly original, and has heavy tie-beams and queen
posts. The south porch is of timber with a pointed
arch formed of curved timbers in front and five plain
openings on each side. The sides are restored, but
the rest is of 15th-century date. The west tower is
two stages high and stands on a stone base. It is
finished externally in black and white half-timbering,
and is covered with a tiled gable running east and
west. The lower stage has a square opening in the
west wall, and the bell-chamber a similar opening
in three faces. In the tower are three bells; the
largest, of 15th-century date, is inscribed in Lombardic
characters, 'Sancta Maria, ora pro nobis'; the second,
'I. F. P. D. Jesus be our speed, 1631'; and the treble
'God save our King, 1640.'
Plan of Dormston Church
The font has a plain octagonal bowl, stem and base
of doubtful date. The nave walls are plastered and
bear traces of painted decoration; on the north side
were black letter inscriptions, now indecipherable.
The ancient wooden fittings include the 17th-century
communion rail, with turned balusters, a Jacobean
chair with carved back and six open benches in the
nave with simple shaped and moulded ends, probably
of the 16th century. In the first window on the
south is an old shield of Lovel, and in the second
window some fragments of old glass remain in the
head.
The plate includes a cup and cover paten of
1572.
The registers before 1812 are as follows: (i)
baptisms 1716 to 1812, marriages 1716 to 1754; (ii)
marriages 1754 to 1812. Burials are entered in the
registers of Inkberrow.
ADVOWSON
The advowson of the chapel of
Dormston was given by Peter
Corbucion to the priory of Studley, (fn. 44)
and in 1245–6 Peter de Wateville confirmed the
grant. (fn. 45) It was held by the priory until the Dissolution, (fn. 46) when a pension of 40s. yearly was paid
to the prior, the perpetual vicar of Dormston receiving £5 6s. 8d. as his stipend. (fn. 47) The chapel was
granted by the king to Humphrey Yardley, clerk, in
1539. (fn. 48) In 1544 the chapel and graveyard of
Dormston, the tithes belonging to the chapel, and
the mansion and barn called 'le Parsonage' were
granted to William and Francis Sheldon, (fn. 49) and in
1551–2 these grantees received licence to alienate the
estate to Henry and Richard Gardener. (fn. 50) After this
date the chapel descended with the manors of Hill
Court in Grafton Flyford and Park Hall in Hanbury (fn. 51)
(q.v.), falling to Peter Warburton and Alice his wife
at the partition of John Gardener's lands in 1617.
The estate remained in the family of Warburton,
who made the presentations, (fn. 52) until 1702, when the
chapel and lands in Dormston were sold by Peter
Warburton, then patron, to Thomas Vernon of Hanbury. (fn. 53) The advowson continued to be held with
Hanbury (q.v.) by the Vernons (fn. 54) until about 1857,
when it was sold by Thomas Bowater Vernon to
William Laslett. (fn. 55) The vicarage was united to the
rectory of Kington in 1874, (fn. 56) and its advowson has
since been held by the patron of that living.
There are apparently no endowed charities subsisting in this parish.