SALWARPE
Salewearpe, Salowarpa (ix cent.); Salewarpe (xi,
xiii and xiv cent.); Saltwarp (xiv cent.); Sulwarp
(xvi cent.).
Salwarpe is a small well-wooded parish covering
an area of 1,914 acres, (fn. 1) of which 20 acres are water,
nearly one-third is arable land, about two thirds permanent grass and 45 acres woodland. (fn. 2) The soil is
chiefly marl on a subsoil of marl and gravel, and
produces crops of wheat and barley, agriculture being
the chief industry. Salwarpe is well watered by the
River Salwarpe and its tributary the Hadley Brook,
the river itself forming part of the western boundary.
The road from Droitwich to Oddingley forms part
of the eastern and that from Ombersley to Droitwich
part of the northern boundary. The main road from
Worcester to Droitwich passes through the parish,
and a branch from it runs north-west to the village.
The land is undulating, rising gradually from the
banks of the Salwarpe on the west, where the
average height is about 100 ft. above the ordnance
datum, to the east, where it attains to a height of
256 ft.
The small village of Salwarpe, distant about 1½ miles
to the south-west of Droitwich, is picturesquely
situated on the slope of a valley through which runs
the River Salwarpe. To the north of the church,
and separated from the churchyard by the now disused branch of the Worcester and Birmingham Canal,
is Salwarpe Court, a fine half-timber house of the late
15th century, the ancient seat of the Talbots. The
interior has been completely modernized and stripped
of its original fittings. It is of two stories with a tiled
roof. The original hall was doubtless in the centre,
with the kitchen and offices on the east and the
private apartments on the west. The exterior of
this portion is in fine preservation. There is a deep
bay window at the south-west, surmounted by a gable
having a barge-board elaborately carved with a foliated
wave ornament. All the openings, which are now
blocked, have moulded mullions and transoms. The
interior of this portion is now occupied by store rooms.
Over the entrance doorway is a projecting bay supported by brackets, forming an entrance porch. The
doorway itself has moulded posts and a four-centred
head, and still retains its original door, a fine specimen
of the joinery of the period. Attached to a farm near
Salwarpe Court is a large timber barn, used as a
dwelling-house and of considerable age. The village
itself, though prettily situated, contains no features of
architectural interest. The canal runs through a
cutting in the side of the valley, which enhances
rather than detracts from the naturally picturesque
situation of the village, bordered as it is by trees which
have by now attained quite respectable proportions.
The road along which the few cottages are grouped
crosses the canal by a brick bridge, fast falling to
decay, and descends to the level of the river by a
winding slope, at the foot of which is a water-mill
still in active use. Until the middle of the 19th
century there were a whipping-post and stocks in the
village near the bridge. There is still a pound at
the cross roads. Richard Beauchamp thirteenth Earl of
Warwick was born at Salwarpe on 28 January 1381.
Under the will of Henry V he became guardian of
the young king, Henry VI, until he reached the age
of sixteen. Episodes in the life of Earl Richard are
illustrated in the Rous Roll in the Cottonian Collection at the British Museum. (fn. 3)
Salwarpe was inclosed under an Act of 1812–13, (fn. 4)
and the award is dated 30 January 1817. (fn. 5) Boycott
Farm was transferred from this parish to Hampton
Lovett in 1880, (fn. 6) and part of the parish was transferred
to St. Nicholas, Droitwich, and from St. Andrews,
Droitwich, at the same date. (fn. 7)
Among the place-names are Coppecote, (fn. 8) Ladywood,
formerly Levediwode, (fn. 9) Tilledon, Baggebruggestrete, (fn. 10)
Swines, (fn. 11) Middleton, (fn. 12) Hyllend, (fn. 13) Le Courte Close, (fn. 14)
Pulheye. (fn. 15) Of these Copcut, Ladywood, Middleton,
Hill End and Pulley still survive.
MANORS
According to a Saxon charter, dated
817, (fn. 16)
SALWARPE was granted by
Coenwulf, King of the Mercians, to
Deneberht, Bishop of Worcester, and his church. (fn. 17)
The boundaries given in this charter show that at that
time Salwarpe extended as far north as Doverdale,
and that then, as now, it adjoined Ombersley, and
that the River Salwarpe, from which the village
derived its name, formed one of the boundaries.
Eight acres at Colford and a fourth part of the wood
and pasture land at Witton (Wictune) belonged to
the estate. (fn. 18) The manor appears to have been taken
from the church, probably by an ancestor of Earl
Leofric and his brother Godwin, for Leofric held part
of Salwarpe and Godwin held the principal manor
there. Godwin on his death-bed was persuaded by
Saint Wulfstan, then Dean of Worcester, to restore it
to the priory. (fn. 19) Ethelwine, Godwin's son, evidently
the Aelwinus cilt mentioned in the Domesday Survey
as a former lord of Salwarpe,
repudiated his father's will
and retained the manor, but
according to Heming, the
Worcester chronicler, did not
hold it for long, 'losing his
lands with his life' soon after
Godwin's death. (fn. 20)
Salwarpe Court: South-west Front
Salwarpe was not, however,
restored to the priory, but
granted to Roger de Montgomery Earl of Shrewsbury,
who was overlord in 1086. (fn. 21)
On his death in 1094 his
English titles and estates,
according to the Norman
custom, passed to his second
son Hugh, who was killed
four years later while fighting
in Anglesey. (fn. 22) His eldest
brother Robert of Bellesme
succeeded him, but in 1102
forfeited all his estates in
England for rebellion against
Henry I. (fn. 23) The overlordship
from this time remained with
the Crown, and is last mentioned in 1571. (fn. 24) In 1406
and 1440 the manor was said
to be held of the Prior of
Coventry. (fn. 25)
At the time of the Domesday Survey Urse D'Abitot,
who probably lived at Droitwich, (fn. 26) was the under-tenant
at Salwarpe, (fn. 27) and had a park
there. From him the manor
passed to the Beauchamps and
followed the same descent as
Elmley Castle (fn. 28) (q.v.), passing
into the hands of Henry VII
in 1487.
Salwarpe was settled on
Katherine of Aragon when
she married Prince Arthur, and she continued to hold
it until her death. (fn. 29)
The manor was granted in 1545 to Hugh Davie
and George Wall, (fn. 30) who sold it in 1546 to John
Talbot, (fn. 31) a grandson of the
second Earl of Shrewsbury. (fn. 32)
John settled it in 1547 on
his second wife Elizabeth,
daughter of Walter Wrottesley,
and their heirs. (fn. 33) She survived him, and on her death
in 1559 Salwarpe passed to
Gilbert Talbot, her son and
heir. (fn. 34) He, however, died
without issue in 1567 and
was succeeded by his younger
brother John, (fn. 35) who in 1574
married Olive third daughter
of Sir Henry Sharington of
Lacock, co. Wiltshire, and settled the manor on
her. (fn. 36) After her husband's death in 1582 Olive
married Sir Robert Stapleton, kt., and they appear to
have conveyed her interest in Salwarpe to her eldest son
Sharington. (fn. 37) His son and heir Sharington, a zealous
Royalist, was taken prisoner in 1644 and confined in
Warwick Castle. He afterwards compounded for the
sum of £2,011. (fn. 38)
Talbot. Gules a lion and an engrailed border or.
In 1653 Sharington settled the manor on his eldest
son John with reversion to the latter's only son
Sharington, (fn. 39) who died without issue in 1685. (fn. 40) John
Talbot settled the manor in 1677 upon his second
wife Barbara, daughter of Sir Henry Slingsby, kt., (fn. 41)
and mortgaged it in 1705 for £6,000. By his will,
dated 31 August 1712, he directed that the manor
should be sold for the payment of his debts. (fn. 42) It was
purchased by his grandson John, son of Sir John
Ivory, kt., and Anne his wife, who had taken the
name of Talbot on succeeding to the manor of Lacock,
co. Wiltshire. (fn. 43) In 1738 he settled Salwarpe on his
son John Talbot, (fn. 44) who appears to have sold it to
Philip Gresley, for he in 1822 settled it on Robert
Archibald Douglas, son of General Archibald Douglas
of Witham, co. Essex. (fn. 45) Philip Gresley died in 1825,
leaving all his property to this Robert on condition
that he would take the name of Gresley, and on the
latter's death without issue in 1885 (fn. 46) Salwarpe passed
to his nephew William Willoughby Douglas, rector
of Salwarpe, whose son Archibald Douglas now
holds it. (fn. 47)
A hide of land at Salwarpe was given by Earl
Leofric to the monastery of Coventry which he
founded about 1043. (fn. 48) This hide was held in 1086
by Urse under the church of Coventry, but he had
put it into his park. (fn. 49) The prior from that time probably lost possession, though some tradition of his
overlordship survived until the 15th century, when
the manor of Salwarpe is twice said to have been
held of the Prior of Coventry. (fn. 50) In the reign of
Stephen this hide in Salwarpe was held by William
de Beauchamp 'of the fief of the bishop of Chester,' (fn. 51)
and it probably became merged in the capital manor
of Salwarpe, as it is not again mentioned separately.
A park in Salwarpe is mentioned in the Domesday Survey as belonging to Urse D'Abitot, (fn. 52) and
followed the descent of the manor until the 16th
century. (fn. 53) The last mention of it appears to be in
1559, when Elizabeth widow of John Talbot died
seised of it. (fn. 54) Probably it was disparked when the
family residence was removed from Salwarpe to
Lacock, co. Wiltshire, (fn. 55) brought to the Talbots by
the marriage of John son of the above John with
Olive daughter and co-heir of Henry Sharington.
Urse D'Abitot had a mill in Salwarpe in 1086, (fn. 56)
and it passed with the manor to the Beauchamps and
Talbots. (fn. 57) Another mill in Salwarpe was granted by
Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester, to the Prior and
monks of Worcester, (fn. 58) and confirmed to them by
William the Conqueror, with special injunctions to
Urse D'Abitot to permit them to hold it quietly and
honourably. (fn. 59) This mill was not included among
the possessions of the priory at the Dissolution. In
1322 two mills in Salwarpe were settled on Nicholas
de Piry and Agnes his wife with reversion to Walter
their son and his issue. (fn. 60) William Piry died seised
of a mill at Salwarpe in 1402. (fn. 61)
Sir John Lyttelton of Frankley died in 1590 holding a windmill at Salwarpe. (fn. 62) His son Gilbert seems
to have built two water-mills there, which he called
Sowleys or New Mills. (fn. 63) They were forfeited by
his son John on his attainder, but restored to Muriel
widow of John in 1603. (fn. 64)
At the present day there are two water-mills at
Salwarpe, one in the village and the other called
New Mill on the borders of Ombersley.
A free fishery, mentioned first in 1315, was sold
with the manor to Hugh Davie and George Wall
in 1545 (fn. 65) and held by Philip Gresley and Ann
his wife, lord and lady of the manor, in 1822. (fn. 66)
Thomas Solley died in 1557 seised of a free fishery
in Salwarpe which passed to his kinsman Edward
Hanbury (fn. 67) and in 1559 Gregory Price conveyed a
free fishery there to Gilbert Lyttelton. (fn. 68)
When the manor of Salwarpe was granted to the
Bishop of Worcester in 817 the gift included 'below
the greatest pit, four salt vat stalls and eight pits for
brine, five on the east half, and three on the west half,
and at the middle pit eight vat stalls and the brine
thereto, that men may be well accommodated, and
unseparated the brine.' (fn. 69) Five salt-pans at Droitwich belonged to the manor of Salwarpe at the
time of the Domesday Survey, (fn. 70) and six were annexed to the hide which Urse held of the Prior of
Coventry. (fn. 71) These vats afterwards became known
as the Sheriffs' seals (Shref vessels or Shrefhales),
and the further history of them is given under Droitwich (q.v.). They remained attached to the manor
of Salwarpe probably as late as 1712, eleven salt-vats
being mentioned in Sir John Talbot's will. (fn. 72)
OAKLEY
OAKLEY, situated in the east of the parish and
now only a farm-house, was the site of a reputed
manor which probably at first belonged to a family
of the same name. Richard son of William de
Oakley recovered two parts of a carucate of land at
Salwarpe in 1274–5, (fn. 73) and William de Quercu, who
paid a subsidy of 4s. at Salwarpe in 1280, (fn. 74) may
have been an owner of this estate. Avis de Oakley
occurs in 1299–1300, (fn. 75) and John de Oakley paid a
subsidy of 3s. at Salwarpe in 1327, (fn. 76) and was lord of
Oakley in 1346. (fn. 77) From that time until the beginning of the 16th century there seems to be no record
of their successors. In 1524–5 William Trimmell
was holding lands worth £10 in Salwarpe, (fn. 78) and
this probably refers to Oakley, which the Trimmells
are known to have held. John Trympley, lord of
Oakley in 1535, (fn. 79) is probably to be identified with
John Trimmell, who was a resident at Salwarpe in
1539. (fn. 80) Richard Trimmell, son of the latter, was
holding Oakley in 1555, when it appears as a manor
for the first time. (fn. 81) Thomas son of Richard (fn. 82) left it
to his only daughter Mary, who married John Talbot,
a younger son of John Talbot of Salwarpe, (fn. 83) from
whom it passed to John, their son, and to his son
also called John. The latter was succeeded by an
only daughter Olive, (fn. 84) but she died unmarried in
1681, (fn. 85) her heirs being her aunts Elizabeth and
Katherine and her cousin Elizabeth daughter of
Mary, another aunt, by her second husband Sir John
Tyas, kt. (fn. 86) Elizabeth and Katherine died unmarried,
and the whole of the property passed to their niece
Elizabeth, who married Simon Barker. (fn. 87) She seems
to have been succeeded by a son Talbot Barker, who
died in 1719, leaving his property in Worcestershire
to his right heirs on his mother's side. (fn. 88) These
must have been the descendants of Olive, Mary,
Anne and Elizabeth, the daughters of John Talbot
and Mary Trimmell, (fn. 89) and, since Pelham Maitland
and Dorothea his wife were holding it in her right in
1760, (fn. 90) she was probably their only descendant. In
1770 the manor of Oakley with the manor-house and
lands, let at a rent of £205 5s., then the property of
Mary widow of George Burrish, were advertised as
being for sale. (fn. 91) They have since passed through
several hands and now are for the larger part the
property of Mr. T. C. Quarrell.
In 1086 William Goizenboded held a hide of
land at Celvestune, and William held it of him. As
in the manor of Guiting in Gloucestershire, William
had succeeded Richard the Youth (juvenis), the
tenant before the Conquest. (fn. 92) In the time of
Stephen this hide was held by William de Beauchamp
'of the fee of Robert Fitz Archembald.' (fn. 93) This
Celvestune (Chalvestona) has been identified as
CHAUSON in Salwarpe, but it does not occur later
as a manor, and probably became absorbed in the
manor of Salwarpe. (fn. 94) A place called Challesdon
mentioned in a 15th-century survey of Salwarpe (fn. 95) is
perhaps to be identified with it.
A house at Chauson of the late 16th or early
17th century is supposed to have been the residence
of the Richardsons. Burke mentions a family of
Richardson of 'Chawston' whose arms were recorded in the time of Charles I, giving a father, son
and grandson named Stephen. (fn. 96) The Richardsons,
who appear to have been citizens of Worcester, (fn. 97)
were numbered among the gentry of the shire in
1660, (fn. 98) and perhaps built Chauson as a country residence. There is a monument in St. Helen's Church,
Worcester, to Stephen Richardson of Chauson, Procurator-General of the Consistory Court of Worcester
and chapter clerk, who died in 1665.
CHURCH
The church of ST. MICHAEL consists of a chancel 28 ft. 6 in. by 16 ft. 9 in.,
north vestry, nave averaging 54 ft. by
15 ft. 11 in., north aisle 10 ft. 11 in. wide, south aisle
9 ft. 11 in. wide, west tower 11 ft. 11 in. square, and
south porch. These measurements are all internal.
The earliest part of the present church is the nave
arcade, dating from the 12th century. The north
aisle is mid-14th-century work, and the south of a
few years later.
Traces of flying buttresses on the walls of both
aisles, and carried across to the western piers, seem to
point to the existence of a tower earlier than the
present aisles, whose eastern arch, at some date after
1350, was in danger of spreading. The north and
south walls of this tower being within the church
would have formed bays similar to those of the arcade,
but not in line with them.
In the middle of the 15th century a new tower
was built immediately to the west of the older one,
but not connected with it and not in line with the
nave and previous tower. The older tower was then
removed and the new one connected with the west
ends of the aisle walls, and finally the north and south
arches of the old tower were replaced by a continuation of the nave arcade built outside them. In order
to keep these new bays of approximately equal width
the responds were necessarily of unequal projection,
and part of the last pier on the south side was cut
away.
The present chancel was built in 1848. The east
window is of three lights, with a two-light window in
the south wall and one of one light on the north.
Under a recess on the north side is a fine late 14th-century effigy of a priest in mass vestments holding 2
chalice.
The chancel arch is modern. The nave has an
arcade of four bays on each side. The first three are
similar, having obtuse pointed arches, of two square
orders on the inner and one on the outer sides; the
piers are circular with plain bell capitals. West of
these there is a break, with a large square peir on
the north and a smaller pier similar to it on the
south.
The north aisle dates from the 14th century. The
east and west windows, with the first two in the north
wall, are of two lights with leaf tracery. The north
door has a segmental head, and west of it is a wide
single-light window. In the lower part of the north
wall are four recesses with four-centred arches. Above
the second is a cruciform cutting in the masonry,
which probably contained an early stone rood.
There is a small trefoiled recess, perhaps for a
piscina, at the eastern end of this wall.
The eastern bay of the aisle is fitted with a wood
screen, mostly modern, but with pieces of 15th-century work re-used. The massive tower arch, of
one pointed order, has panelled jambs, and the 15th-century west window is of four lights.
The south aisle dates from about 1370, and has an
east window of two lights with a quatrefoiled head,
three similar windows on the south and one in the
west wall; the first window on the south is modern
on the inside. At the east end, shut off by wroughtiron rails, is a black and white marble altar tomb with
an inscription to Olive Talbot, 1681, and her mother
Elizabeth, widow of John Talbot of Oakley, in the
parish of Salwarpe, 1689. In the south-east corner
is a trefoiled piscina. The first bay of the aisle has
a good 15th-century parclose screen, extensively repaired and patched. To the east of the south door,
which is much restored, are three low recesses in the
wall, similar to those in the north aisle. The west
tower has an embattled parapet and angle buttresses.
The tower arch is of a single two-centred order with
panelled jambs. The west window of the ground
stage is of four cinquefoiled lights with a traceried
head. The vice is at the south-west. The bellchamber has windows of two trefoiled lights, and the
ringing chamber single square-headed lights.
At the west end of the aisle are some old tiles
having crancs, hawks, a shield with three boars'
heads, another of a fesse with three molets, and
other devices. The south porch, roofs and font are
modern.
On the south wall of the chancel is an alabaster
monument to Thomas Talbot, 1613, with kneeling
figures at a desk and children below. In the tower
is a board, dated 1661, recording the benefactions of
Thomas Trimmell, 1641.
There are two wooden chests, one dated 1697 and
one earlier and longer with three locks.
The bells are six in number, the first four dating
from 1684, the other two by Mears, 1846.
The plate consists of a cup and cover paten of the
1571 type, unmarked and apparently reworked; a
flagon engraved with the Talbot arms impaling a
cheveron between three wolves' heads razed, presented
by Elizabeth Talbot; a restoration paten, a silver dish
of 1820 and a silver-gilt chalice and paten presented
in memory of the Rev. W. W. Douglas.
The registers before 1812 are as follows: (i) baptisms and burials 1666 to 1783, marriages 1666 to
1754; (ii) baptisms and burials 1783 to 1812; (iii)
marriages 1754 to 1811.
ADVOWSON
The advowson of Salwarpe belonged to the lords of the manor
until about 1774, (fn. 99) when John
Talbot sold it to Sir Herbert Perrott Pakington, (fn. 100)
whose son Sir John Pakington sold it to Thomas
Farley. The latter presented to the living in 1807,
and in the same year sold the advowson to Admiral
Rainier, who left it to his brother Dr. Rainier, from
whom it was purchased by the Rev. Volvant Vashion,
the rector as well as patron in 1826. (fn. 101) Mr. Vashion
or his successor seems to have sold it to the Rev.
Henry Douglas, (fn. 102) whose son the Rev. William
Willoughby Douglas (fn. 103) inherited the manor of Salwarpe from his uncle in 1885, and left it with the
advowson to his son Archibald Douglas, the present
owner. (fn. 104)
In 1347 William de Salwarpe, clerk, and Thomas
his brother obtained licence to grant certain land in
Salwarpe to two chaplains to celebrate divine service
daily in the parish church of St. Michael. (fn. 105) This
grant was not made, and in 1356 William and
Thomas on surrender of their Letters Patent obtained licence to grant the premises to the nuns of
Westwood, who were to provide the two chaplains. (fn. 106)
Subsequently the lands were seized by the king, on
the plea that they had been alienated without licence,
and granted in 1397 to John Bras and Geoffrey
Mugge. (fn. 107) In 1368, however, certain salt-pits with
which William brother and heir of Thomas Salwarpe
had enfeoffed Thomas Earl of Warwick were given
by the latter to the support of a chantry in Salwarpe
dedicated to the Virgin Mary, to be served by one
chaplain, who was to be nominated by the parishioners
of Salwarpe but presented by the earl and his heirs. (fn. 108)
Presentations were made to this chantry by the king
after the attainder of the Earl of Warwick. (fn. 109) After
the Dissolution the property belonging to this chantry
was granted by Edward VI to Henry Tanner and
Thomas Bocher. (fn. 110) 'The late chantry' is mentioned
again in 1575, when Edward Corbett and Eleanor
his wife and George Wylde her son conveyed it to
Thomas Wylde. (fn. 111)
By his will, dated 1268, William de Beauchamp
left a manse and garden adjoining the court of
the rector to maintain a lamp in the church of
Salwarpe, in honour of God Almighty, His Blessed
Mother, and St. Katherine and St. Margaret the
Virgins. (fn. 112)
CHARITIES
Charity of Talbot Barker. See
under Droitwich St. Andrew—The
annual sum of £20 is applied for
educational purposes in this parish, and an annual sum
of £5 is applied for the benefit of the poor.
In 1698 Mrs. Catherine Talbot, by her will, gave
to the poor of this parish the yearly sum of £4,
which is paid by the proprietors of the Oakley estate.
See under Droitwich St. Andrew.
It was stated on the church table, dated in 1757,
that Margery Parker, by her will, gave 30s. a year to
the poor to be raised out of land in the parish of
Oddingley, and distributed at Christmas, Easter and
Whitsuntide.
Other charitable gifts mentioned on the same table
have been long lost, and appear to be irrecoverable.
Church Lands.
—Upon the inclosure in 1813 of
the commonable and waste lands in this parish
about 8 a. were exchanged for some ancient property
called Church Lands, the rents of which are carried
to the churchwardens' accounts.