LASHAM
Esseham (xi cent.); Lessham (xii cent.); Lesseham, Lesham, Lasseham, Lassham, Lassam (xiv cent.).
Lasham is a small parish lying between that of
Herriard on the north and Shalden on the east,
while Bentworth forms its boundary line on the
south and west. The village is grouped round St.
Mary's Church in the centre of the parish on the
main road from Alton to Basingstoke, at a height of
560 ft. above the ordnance datum, and is served by
Bentworth and Lasham station on the Alton and
Basingstoke branch of the London and South Western Railway. The parish has an area of 1,797
acres, and produces in crops chiefly wheat, oats, and
turnips. The Agricultural Returns of 1905 give the
arable land as 741 acres, permanent grass as 630
acres, and woods and plantations as 311 acres. The
soil is clay, and the subsoil chalk. The following
list of place-names occurs in a 13th-century document: — La Dune, La Rude, Bineheie, Burkesete,
Wudehull, Hoke, Cokeshull, Hetesdun, Wicham, and
Stappelweie. (fn. 1)
Manor
LASHAM, which Hacon had held of
Edward the Confessor as an alod, formed
part of the possessions of the Crown in
1086, (fn. 2) and was then assessed at 2½ hides. At the
close of the 13th century Richard Fitz John was the
overlord of Lasham. (fn. 3) At his death in 1297 the fee
which John Dabernon was holding of him was assigned to his nephew Richard de Burgh, third Earl of
Ulster, son of his sister Aveline, (fn. 4) while the fee which
the Prior of Portsmouth was
holding fell to the share of
Robert de Clifford and Idonea
de Leyburn, who were respectively son-in-law and daughter
of his deceased sister Isabel. (fn. 5)
The former fee continued to
be held under the earldom of
Ulster until Edward Plantagenet, tenth Earl of Ulster and
fourth Duke of York, ascended
the throne in 1461 as Edward IV, when all his honours
were merged in the Crown. (fn. 6)
It was subsequently held of the Crown as of the castle
of Odiham. (fn. 7) In 1315 Idonea and her husband, John
de Crumbwell, obtained licence to have their halffee in Lasham settled upon them for the life of Idonea
with successive remainders after her death to Hugh
le Despenser the younger, Hugh le Despenser the
elder, and Edward son of Hugh le Despenser the
younger, and his heirs, (fn. 8) but seven years afterwards
Edward II, on account of the forfeiture of Roger de
Clifford, 'late a rebel,' granted all the knights' fees
which he had held jointly with Idonea to Robert de
Baldok, Archdeacon of Middlesex. (fn. 9) How long he
kept the overlordship of this fee is uncertain, but in
1478 Sir Roger Lewknor, who died seised of the
estate in Lasham formerly belonging to the Prior of
Portsmouth, was stated to have held it of the queen
as of her castle of Odiham. (fn. 10)
De Burgh, Earl of Ulster. Or a cross gules.
The first tenant who comes under notice is Roger
de Clere. He was holding in 1175, (fn. 11) and on his
marriage with Hawise de Gournay gave her Lasham in
dower. (fn. 12) The manor would ordinarily have reverted
to Ralph brother of Roger, on the death of Hawise,
since there were no children of the marriage, but
Hawise during life had granted it to Ingram Dabernon, (fn. 13) who had sub-enfeoffed his three brothers, Walter,
William, and Richard, his son being witness to the
grant. (fn. 14) Hence, when Hawise died there were conflicting claims to the manor (fn. 15) till a partition was made in
1207, one moiety being assigned to Walter Dabernon,
brother of Ingram, and the other moiety, including
the advowson, to Ralph de Clere. (fn. 16) Thenceforth the
history of the two moieties, or, as they afterwards
came to be called, ' manors,' runs side by side.
To turn first to the de Clere portion, which, as it
included the advowson, may be reckoned the more
important. Ralph de Clere was one of the barons
who opposed King John, and forfeited his land in
Lasham, which in 1215 was granted to Ellis de
Falaise. (fn. 17) He was restored to favour, however, by
Henry III, who in 1217 ordered Fulk de Breaute to
give him full seisin of all the lands he possessed when
he withdrew from allegiance to King John. (fn. 18) Ralph
was succeeded by Sir Roger, who sold the estate to
John de Gatesden before 1243. (fn. 19) This John de
Gatesden had a daughter Margaret who married
John de Camoys, and with her he gave in free marriage his moiety of the manor. (fn. 20) John de Camoys
alienated the property to Robert Walerand, and Robert
de Camoys, son and heir of John, confirmed him in
possession in 1267. (fn. 21) In the following year Robert,
Prior of God's House, Portsmouth, acquired the halfmanor of Lasham and the advowson of the church
from Robert Walerand in exchange for his lands in
Great and Little Kington (co. Dorset). (fn. 22) After
the death of Robert Walerand Ralph de Camoys
claimed the estate from the prior on the ground that
John de Camoys by his alienation had violated the
statute de donis conditionalibus, and in spite of the fact
that this statute was not passed till 1285, judgement
was given in his favour, and Alan de Plunkenet, the
heir of Robert Walerand, was obliged to compensate
the prior by a gift of land in his manor of Broughton. (fn. 23) Ralph de Camoys obtained a grant of free
warren in his demesne lands
of Lasham in 1318, (fn. 24) and
three years later the manor,
as his property had by this
time come to be called, was
settled upon him and Elizabeth his wife in fee tail. (fn. 25)
In 1336 John le Latymer
died seised of a messuage,
land, and rent in Lasham,
held by the service of half a
knight's fee. (fn. 26) His son and
heir John died seised of the
same property two years later,
and was succeeded by his brother Robert, (fn. 27) who
settled the manor of Lasham on William Fillol
and Mary his wife and the heirs of Mary in
1338. (fn. 28) The estate had reverted to the Camoys
family however before 1386, in which year Thomas
de Camoys was in possession. (fn. 29) His grandson
Hugh de Camoys died in 1427, leaving as his
heirs his sisters Margaret and Eleanor. (fn. 30) To the
latter, who married Sir Roger Lewknor, was assigned
the manor of Lasham. Sir Roger Lewknor was
seised of Lasham at his death in 1478, and was followed by his son Thomas Lewknor, (fn. 31) who in his turn
was succeeded by another Sir Roger Lewknor. The
latter in 1513 granted the manor to trustees for the
use of Sir John Dawtrey, who died in 1519, leaving
as his heir his son Francis. (fn. 32) In 1556 the estate was
purchased from Francis by John Pincke, (fn. 33) whose son
Henry (fn. 34) sold it to Richard Bartlett in 1601. (fn. 35) Andrew Blunden acquired it from him in 1607 (fn. 36) and
left it to his son Richard, who died seised in 1619. (fn. 37)
William Blunden the son and
heir of Richard dealt with
the manor by recovery in
1623. (fn. 38)
Camoys. Argent a chief gules with three roundels argent therein.
Dabernon. Azure a cheveron or.
The fortune of the other
moiety, which was assigned to
Walter Dabernon in 1207,
was similar in its frequent
changes of lords. In 1268
another Walter Dabernon settled the estate for life on
Simon de Montcuyt. (fn. 39) He was
succeeded by John Dabernon, (fn. 40)
who in 1314 granted a messuage and land in -Lasham
to Walter de Aberval to hold for his life, promising
in addition to provide him with two robes worth 40s.
every year as long as he lived. (fn. 41) In 1346 William
Dabernon is recorded as holding the fee which belonged
to John Dabernon. (fn. 42) How long the Dabernons continued to hold this property and how and when the
next holders, the Hamptons, acquired it is unknown.
John Hampton was holding in 1428, (fn. 43) and his grandson Thomas on his death in
1483 (fn. 44) bequeathed the manor
to his granddaughter Katharine
Whitehead for life, with remainder to his daughters Elizabeth wife of Richard Wallop,
Joan the wife of John Waller,
and Julia the wife of William
Froste. (fn. 45) Both Elizabeth and
Julia died without children,
and thus the Hampton estates
passed into the possession of
the Waller family. (fn. 46) In 1551
Richard Waller, grandson and heir of John Waller,
died seised of the manor. (fn. 47) His widow Margery,
who subsequently married Thomas Southe, held the
manor for the term of her life. (fn. 48) In 1576 William
Waller son of Richard and
Margery sold the manor to
Sir William Kingswell, (fn. 49) who
died seised in 1613 (fn. 50) —but
the latter had to carry on a
lawsuit before securing undisturbed possession. (fn. 51) His son
Edward probably purchased
the other original moiety from
William Blunden, and in 1630
sold the whole estate of
Lasham and the advowson to
Sir Edmund Plowden. (fn. 52) James
Plowden, grandson of Sir Edmund, sold to Anthony Guidott in 1705, (fn. 53) and in
1772 William Woodroffe Guidott (fn. 54) was the owner. (fn. 55)
It was subsequently acquired by the family of Jervoise, (fn. 56)
and Mr. Francis Henry Tristram Jervoise of Herriard
is the present lord of the manor.
Plowden. Azure a fesse dancetty or with its two points ending in fleurs de lis.
Jervoise of Herriard. Sable a cheveron between three eaglet close argent.
Church
The church of ST. MARY is a
small building built in 1866, in the
13th-century style and consisting of a
chancel with a north vestry and organ chamber, and
a nave with a wooden tower over the west end, and a
south porch also constructed of wood. The walls are
of flint with stone dressings, pierced by plain lancet
windows. The roofs are of open-timber construction
covered with tiles, and the tower is shingled. It contains only one bell, which bears the name of its donor,
and the date 1786.
At the west end of the nave floor is a slab to
Thomas Plowden, second son of Edmund Plowden,
who died in 1698, with a shield of his arms.
The churchyard is small, surrounded by wooden
palings, and is entered from the road by a modern
lych-gate.
The plate consists of a silver chalice paten, and
flagon of 1867; a plated chalice, two brass almsdishes, a pewter flagon, and two pewter alms plates.
There are six books of registers, the first containing
baptisms, marriages, and burials from 1560 to 1661,
and the second book contains the same from 1663 to
1790, the third contains burials from 1678 to 1732,
the fourth marriages from 1755 to 1824, the fifth
baptisms from 1785 to 1812 and the sixth has burials
from 1791 to 1812.
Advowson
When the manor of Lasham was
divided in 1207, the advowson fell
to the share of Ralph de Gere, (fn. 57) and
followed the descent of his estate, (fn. 58) passing with it to
Edmund Plowden. (fn. 59) The living is now a rectory of
the present annual value of £250 with 80 acres of
glebe, in the gift of the lord of the manor, Mr. F. H. T.
Jervoise.
In 1565 Thomas Southe and Marjory his wife
asserted that the advowson belonged to their moiety,
but apparently had no grounds for this assertion. (fn. 60)
Charities
In 1865, the Rev. Francis Ellis
Jervoise by his will, proved 11 August,
left £100 for the deserving poor.
The Rev. James Pinnock, at a date not stated, also
left £100 for the poor; and a further sum of £100
was left by a Mrs. Roe (as supposed) for the benefit of
the cottagers.
The several legacies—less duty—were deposited in
the Post Office Savings Bank for some years, and are
now represented by three sums of £92 7s. 7d.
India 3 per cent. stock, producing together an income
of £8 6s. a year.
The Parliamentary Returns of 1786 mention that in
1706 Thomas Plowden and John Page granted by
deed two annuities of £2 and 10s., for the poor.
The Charity Commissioners' Report of 1824, however,
states that as no allotment was made for the benefit
of the poor on the inclosure, it was supposed that
these two annuities were granted in lieu of their
rights.