LONG SUTTON
Sudtune (xi cent.), Launge Sutton (xii cent.), Sheep
Sutton (xviii cent.).
Long Sutton is a small village and parish lying
south-east of Crondall, 6 miles south from Winchfield
Station on the main line of the London and South
Western Railway. The parish covers an area of 2,290
acres, including 1,540 acres of arable land, 469¾ acres
of permanent grass, and 264½ acres of woods and
plantations. (fn. 1) The part known as Long Sutton Manor
extends to the north along the entire length of the
parish, and it is presumed that the shape and extent
of this division led to the distinctive appellation of
Long Sutton. (fn. 2) The southern portion consists of Sutton
Warblington to the west, and Well Manor to the east.
The village lies north of Sutton Warblington, and is
set along a narrow road running east and west, the
principal building being Manor Farm, a fine farm-house
of red brick, a little to the west of the church, with a
large pond skirted by the road. East of the church is
Parsonage Farm, another good red-brick gabled house
of the 17th century, and opposite the church on the
south side of the road is the modern school. In the
churchyard are three fine yews, at the north, southwest, and south-east.
In Long Sutton the ground is higher than in the
neighbouring parts of Crondall Hundred, rising around
Well to over 520 ft. above the ordnance datum.
Numerous old chalk pits exist throughout the parish,
and a number of ancient copse inclosures are to be
found. The soil is stiff clay and loam, the subsoil clay
and chalk. The crops are corn in rotation and roots;
hops are also cultivated.
Long Sutton House is the residence of Mr. John
Arthur Keith Falconer, and Warblington Hall of
Mrs. Falconer. Well Manor is occupied by Mr.
John M. Bush.
In 1592 a dispute seems to have arisen with regard
to the boundaries of Long Sutton Manor, held by the
Dean and chapter of Winchester, and those of Odiham.
In the document relating to this, mention occurs of a
down called 'Prior's Downe,' containing about 70 acres,
bounded by a ditch called 'White Diche,' thence to a
certain Holme lately cut down, 'where the parishioners of Longsutton weare wonte to heare a gospell
in there yearlye perambulation.' (fn. 3)
The following places in Long Sutton are mentioned
in the Crondall Customary of 1567:—'Lymmer
Feald,' 'Butter Croft,' 'Manven's Meade,' a meadow
called 'Materfast,' seven crofts called 'Nutcrofts,' a
messuage called 'Mablyns,' a wood called 'Le Sole,'
2 virgates of land called 'Widowe's Garden,'and a
meadow called ' Dymperk.' (fn. 4) The following places are
mentioned in Sutton Warblington:—'Le Haylie
Close,' ' Le Mylle wey,' and fields called' Le Crowchfeald,' ' Ley Down,' 'Le Come Downe,' and ' Stephen's Wood.' (fn. 5)
In 1249, when a division was made between the
lands of William de Syneguy, lord of the manor of
Sutton Warblington, and Hugh de Wengham, lord of
Well, it was arranged that' Whatsoever is towards the
east from the wood of Henham to Great Knulle,
and from Great Knulle to La Splette, and from La
Splette to the assart of the parson of Crondall, and
thus to La Heythorne, shall remain to Hugh and his
heirs for ever. And whatsoever is by the same
division towards the west shall remain to William and
his heirs for ever.' (fn. 6) The wood of Henham is probably to be identified with Highnam Copse of the
present day. In 979 King Ethelred granted 5 hides
of land at Sutton to Ethelwold, Bishop of Winchester,
for the use of the old minster, this grant being the
first he made after his coronation. In this charter
this land is stated to have been given to King Edgar,
Ethelred's father, by Ethelbriht the steward, and to
have been formerly subject to the lordship of Crondall. (fn. 6a)
Manors
At the time of the Domesday Survey
LONG SUTTON was a sub-manor of
Crondall, assessed at 7 hides, held by
Turstin. Justin and Lefsi had held the estate previously of the bishop in parage. It was then worth
£7. (fn. 7) Long Sutton continued to be held by the Prior
and convent of St. Swithun until the Dissolution, (fn. 8) and
was granted by the king in free alms to the Dean and
chapter of Winchester in 1541. (fn. 9) This grant was
confirmed by James I in 1604, and from that period
the history of the manor of Long Sutton is identical
with that of Crondall (q.v.).
The manor of SUTTON WARBLINGTON is
represented by the land in Long Sutton which
William de St. Martin inherited in 1224. William
was succeeded by his son Hugh de St. Martin, who
died without issue in 1243. (fn. 10) Thereupon his lands
escheated to the king, who granted them in 1248 to
William de Syneguy. (fn. 11) In 1284 William de Syneguy,
probably a son of the last-named, was holding one fee
in Long Sutton, (fn. 12) but by 1316 (fn. 13) it had passed to
Elizabeth widow of Geoffrey de Wengham, who was
most probably his daughter and heir. In 1335
Thomas de Warblington was in possession of lands
in Long Sutton formerly belonging to Joan de Wengham. (fn. 14) It was from him that the manor derived its
name, although his tenure cannot have been long, for
in the following year he granted all his lands and
tenements in Long Sutton to Nicholas de Hanyton. (fn. 14a)
By 1346 Sutton Warblington was held by the Prior
of St. Swithun, Winchester, (fn. 15) and its subsequent descent
seems to have been identical with that of Long
Sutton (fn. 15a) (q.v.), the Ecclesiastical Commissioners being
the present lords of the manor. Mr. John A. K. Falconer, who purchased Long Sutton House and Warblington Hall in 1899, now owns about 950 acres of
land in the parish, of which 397½ acres are enfranchised copyhold of the manor of Sutton Warblington. (fn. 16) It appears that very little land of the manor
now remains unenfranchised. On the Warblington
estate there still exists a very old house called 'The
Court,' where it is believed the courts of the manor
were held. (fn. 17)
The manor of WELL (La Welle, Welles, xiii
cent.) is represented by the 2 hides of land in Long
Sutton which Richer the Archdeacon of Winchester
held of the manor of Long Sutton at the beginning of
the 12th century. After his death the estate was
seized by the monks of Waverley, but Henry II, c. 1163,
ordered Henry de Blois, Bishop of Winchester, to do
full justice to the Prior and convent of St. Swithun,
who were then laying claim to the property. The
manor (fn. 17a) was held in 1243 by Hugh de Wengham, (fn. 18)
and had most probably been inherited by him from
his father, Hugh de Wengham, who was dealing with
land in the parish as early as 1228. (fn. 19) In 1249 a
division was made and the boundaries set out between
the lands of William de Syneguy, the owner of the
neighbouring manor of Sutton Warblington, and
those of Hugh de Wengham, (fn. 20) and in the following
year Hugh guaranteed that his estates in Well and
Steventon should on his death descend to his son
Geoffrey, promising to provide for him, his wife
Egelina, and his children in the meantime. (fn. 21)
Geoffrey's daughter and heir Alice married Richard
de Byflete, (fn. 22) and thus brought the manor into the possession of a family who held it for nearly two centuries.
Alice Byflete evidently survived her husband, for
she is mentioned as holding lands in Well in 1335. (fn. 23)
She was succeeded by her son, Thomas Byflete, who
held one knight's fee in Well formerly belonging to
the Archdeacon of Winchester in 1346, (fn. 24) and who left
a son Thomas to succeed him. (fn. 25) The latter, dying in
1408, was followed by his son Thomas, (fn. 26) who died
without issue. His heir was his brother Robert, who
died in the reign of Richard III, and was succeeded by
his son Thomas. (fn. 27) Thomas died seised of the manor
in 1500 and was succeeded by his brother and heir
John Byflete. (fn. 28) It is uncertain at what date Well
passed out of the Byflete family, but in 1669 (fn. 29) it was
held by George Vernon, who in that year conveyed it
by fine to Thomas Vernon. (fn. 30) In 1787 it was dealt
with by fine between William Wootton and William
Kay, and George Newland and Jane his wife. (fn. 31)
Two years later the manor seems to have become
divided, for in 1789 Richard Potenger is mentioned
as holding a moiety. (fn. 32) From this date no reliable
records have been found of the manor until about
1885, when it was acquired through purchase by
Mr. Charles James Maxwell Lefroy, who sold it in
1904 to Mr. W. N. Butler of Crondall. (fn. 33)
Church
The church of ALL SAINTS consists
of a chancel 22 ft. 9 in. by 20 ft. 5 in.;
a nave of the same width and 48 ft. 5 in.
long; a south chapel 27 ft. 5 in. by 13 ft. 5 in.; a
south porch, and a wooden bell-turret set about midway
over the nave. The nave and chancel, in one range
without any structural division, the chancel arch being
entirely modern, are of early 13th-century date, and
the south chapel was added towards the end of the
same century. The bell-turret is doubtless mediaeval,
but difficult to date, and the south porch is modern.
The chancel is coated with rough-cast outside over
the quoins and window dressings, which are of hard
chalk, and the nave is similarly covered with plaster;
the roofs are red tiled and the turret boarded, with a
short leaded spirelet. The interior of the church is
very well proportioned and spacious, and would be
made more effective if the mean flimsy chancel arch
were removed and a screen substituted.
The chancel retains its original windows, tall
narrow lancets widely splayed within, and externally
chamfered and rebated for a wooden frame. There
are two of these in the east wall, and above and
between them a circular window of the same date.
There is one lancet in the north wall, and another
opposite to it in the south, and at the south-east is a
piscina with a moulded ogee head of 14th-century
date. The chancel arch is two-centred, and has
plain moulded abaci at the spring; it is only 12 in.
thick, and altogether out of keeping with the large
and simple detail of the 13th-century work.
At the east end of the north wall of the nave is
another of the original lancet lights, identical in every
respect with those in the chancel, and west of it is a
modern single trefoiled light of late 18th-century
detail, and abreast of the bell-turret a window of
c. 1340, of two trefoiled lights with a quatrefoil in
flowing tracery over. The sill of this window appears
to have been raised, making the proportions rather
too short. West of this the head of a blocked doorway, perhaps of 15th-century date, shows through the
external plaster, but there are no signs of an opening
inside the nave. At the south-east of the nave is
the arch opening to the south chapel, which was no
doubt the Lady chapel; it is two-centred and of two
stop-chamfered orders, the responds having half-round
shafts with roll-moulded bases and moulded bell
capitals of slightly varied section. The south door of
the nave is perhaps of 14th-century date, with a twocentred head, continuously moulded with two hollow
chamfers. The west window is modern, and is a copy
of the 14th-century window on the north side, except
that the internal reveal has a heavy continuous roll, a
few of the stones of which seem to be old.
The chapel has an east window of three chamfered
and rebated lancets grouped in a chamfered external
reveal, with a common internal splay and two-centred
rear arch. At the south-east is a piscina of late
13th-century date, with a trefoiled head moulded
with a heavy filleted bowtel. Above this is a 14th-century niche elaborately moulded and with an ogee
trefoiled head. It has an undercut and finialled label.
In the south wall are two single trefoiled lights of
original late 13th-century date. Like the east lancets
these windows are chamfered and rebated externally,
and are late examples of the use of a wooden glazing
frame. The south porch is a plain wood-and-plaster
structure, and of no archaeological interest.
The chancel roof is ceiled in plaster divided by
moulded ribs, which seem to be modern, and the nave
has a flat plaster ceiling. The chapel roof is of low
pitch and plastered.
The bell-turret is made of heavy timber framing of
plain character, very massive and doubtless ancient;
it may be 15th-century work. Four large posts
stand on the nave floor against the walls, and above is
an elaborate system of trussing to the principals.
The font is circular with a plain bowl cut down
and scraped, and a heavy circular stem. It is perhaps
of 12th-century date. The fittings are modern.
There are three bells. The treble is inscribed,
'hal mari ful of gras'; the Second, 'ibe leve in
god the father'; the third, 'our fathar wich art
in heven.' All the inscriptions are in Gothic capitals
and all three bells bear the initials of William Knight,
a Reading founder of c. 1520.
The plate consists of a chalice of 1570, a paten
and flagon of 1869, and a pewter plate and flagon.
Book i of the registers contains baptisms, marriages,
and burials, 1561 to 1655; book ii the same, 1655
to 1721; book iii, burials, 1680 to 1753; book iv,
baptisms, 1721 to 1812, burials 1733 to 1812, and
marriages, 1733 to 1788; book v, marriages, 1754 to
1812.
Advowson
A chapel probably existed at Long
Sutton at an early date and was
served from Crondall Church. The
exact date at which a perpetual curate was appointed
by the hospital of St. Cross, Winchester, is uncertain,
but in 1828 the hospital leased the advowson for the
lives of Francis Arnold of Hambledon, James Harris
of Winchester, and Jane Cole of Odiham, widow. In
1875 these persons, together with the Master and
brethren of St. Cross, made application that the
advowson should be transferred to the Bishop of Winchester. (fn. 34) This application was approved, and the
Bishops of Winchester have held the advowson since
that date. The living is a vicarage of the net yearly
value of £219.
Charities
There is a small Nonconformist chapel in the village.
The yearly sum of £1 6s. 8d.,
formerly paid by the owners of certain
houses in Alton for the poor of Long
Sutton, has for long ceased to be paid for want of
evidence to identify the premises liable thereto. (fn. 35)
In 1737 Stephen Terry, by deed dated 14 June
(enrolled), charged a copyhold farm in Sutton Warblington with an annuity of £4 for the teaching of
eight poor scholars to read, say their prayers and
catechism, and for buying them Bibles and religious
books.
The incumbent receives, under an order of the
Charity Commissioners of 19 April 1887, one fourth
part of a tithe rent-charge of £360—subject to
variations—on lands in this parish.