EASTROP
Estrope (xi cent.); Estropa (xii cent.); Estrop
Brayboef (xiii cent.); Esthrop, Esttroup (xiv cent.);
Estroppe (xv cent.); Estrip (xviii cent.).
Eastrop is a small parish adjoining Basingstoke on
the east, and may be considered to form a suburb of
that town. The urban portion was annexed to the
borough in 1892 and the rural portion in 1894 to
the parish of Basing. Part of its southern boundary is
formed by the main road from Basingstoke to Staines,
and it is intersected from west to east by the River
Loddon and the Basingstoke Canal. To the south
of Eastrop Bridge at the end of Goat Lane stands St.
Mary's Church, and a short distance to the east of the
church is Eastrop Farm. The soil is loam, the subsoil chalk, and the chiet crops are roots, sainfoin,
wheat, barley and oats.
Among place-names in the parish mentioned in
early records are the following:—Hackwood Field,
Holy Ghost Field, and Whitditch (xvi cent.). (fn. 1)
Manor
The manor of EASTROP which Carle
had held of Edward the Confessor belonged to Alvred de Merleberge in 1086,
being held of him by Hugh. (fn. 2) Humphrey de Bohun
Earl of Hereford and Essex was returned as the overlord in 1275. (fn. 3) Again, his descendant Humphrey de
Bohun Earl of Hereford and Essex, as guardian of
the lands and heir of the lord of the manor, presented
to the church during the episcopacy of William
Edendon (1346–66), (fn. 4) and the manor continued to
be held by the Earls of Hereford and Essex until early in
the 16th century. (fn. 5) Hugh,
the tenant of Eastrop at the
time of the Domesday Survey, was probably the ancestor
of the Brayboefs who held
the manor under the Earls of
Hereford and Essex until the
middle of the 14th century.
In 1167 Eastrop was in the
possession of another Hugh (fn. 6) —probably identical with the
Hugh de Brayboef who
witnessed a charter of John de Port to the priory of
Monk Sherborne. (fn. 7) He was succeeded by Henry de
Brayboef, who as lord of Eastrop granted a messuage
and virgate of land in Eastrop to Richard son of
Robert in 1202 to hold of
him by the service of the
twentieth part of a knight's
fee. (fn. 8) In 1238 another Henry
de Brayboef (fn. 9) granted a virgate of land in Eastrop to
Walter de Merton of Basingstoke, (fn. 10) and he was followed
by William de Brayboef,
who in 1275 was stated to
be holding half a knight's fee
in Eastrop of the Earl of
Hereford. (fn. 11) In 1280 this
same William was summoned to show by what right
he claimed to have free chase for cats, hares and
foxes in the hundred of Basingstoke. (fn. 12) William
asserted that Richard I had granted the privilege to
his ancestors, and the knights of the shire chosen as
jurors confirmed his statement. (fn. 13) He died in 1283,
leaving as his heir his son Hugh, (fn. 14) who in 1333
granted a rent of £100 from the manor and advowson
to his grandson Hugh son of William de Brayboef. (fn. 15)
It is doubtful whether this latter Hugh ever succeeded
to the manor, for in 1346 he was dead and 'Oliver
le Boun' (sic) was holding 'nomine custodie' half a
fee in Eastrop. (fn. 16) His heir was his daughter Joan,
who apparently married (1) Sir John de Podenhale (fn. 17)
and (2) Sir Hugh de Camois. (fn. 18) Sir Hugh obtained
a grant of free warren in his demesne lands of Eastrop
in 1367, (fn. 19) and died leaving as his heir his daughter
Elizabeth, (fn. 20) who as Elizabeth Hamelyn was returned
in 1428 as holding half a fee in Eastrop formerly
belonging to Hugh de Brayboef. (fn. 21) Elizabeth left as
her heir her daughter Egidia, who married (1) Robert
Ashley and (2) Sir Thomas Thame. (fn. 22) In 1472
Egidia released the manor to Maurice Berkeley for
the use of John Whitehead and Katherine his wife, (fn. 23)
and died four years later. (fn. 24) On the death of John
Whitehead in 1486 the manor of Eastrop valued at
5 marks passed to his widow
Katherine, (fn. 25) who died the
following year. Her heir was
her son Maurice Whitehead, (fn. 26)
who died in 1496–7, leaving
as his heir his son John, aged
nine. (fn. 27) John apparently died
while still a minor, and was
succeeded by George Whitehead—probably his brother (fn. 28) —who died seised of the
manor of Eastrop in 1520,
his heir being his infant son
John. (fn. 29) John left no issue,
and his property passed to his brother Augustine,
who died in 1557, leaving as his heir his son
Richard. (fn. 30) In 1561 Richard, in return for a
money payment, was released from attendance at
the Basingstoke hundred units for a year, (fn. 31) and
twenty-four years later at the view of frankpledge
held at Basingstoke on 13 November 1585 he
was ordered to make a gate leading into the field
called Northdoune, and to refrain from making
chase and rechase with his sheep out of the demesne
of Basingstoke into the demesne of Eastrop, feeding
them in fields called Hackwood Field and Holy Ghost
Field, and placing them at night in Whitditch parcel
of his manor of Eastrop. (fn. 32) On his death in 1593
Eastrop passed to his son Henry Whitehead, (fn. 33) who on
his death in 1629 was followed by his son Richard. (fn. 34)
Richard presented a rector in 1662, (fn. 35) and the follow
ing entry under 1686 in the Basingstoke records,
'Received of Mr. Whitehead lord of the manor of
Eastrop for a heriot for his father's death, being
agreed on by the mayor and company for a standing
heriot upon an alienation £5,' (fn. 36) shows the manor
still in the possession of the Whiteheads. Within
the next ten years, however, it had passed by sale into
the Searle family, William Searle, merchant, presenting to the church in 1696. (fn. 37) He was succeeded by
Gilbert Searle, who presented a rector in 1699, (fn. 38) and
eighteen years later paid a sum of 3s. for 'Estrop late
Whitehead's.' (fn. 39) Peter Searle, son and heir of Gilbert,
who was a minor under the guardianship of his mother
in 1732, (fn. 40) presented a rector in 1747, (fn. 41) and another
Peter Searle appears as patron in 1784 (fn. 42) and again
in 1805. (fn. 43)
Bohun. Azure a bend argent cotised or between six lioncels or.
Brayboef. Ermine a bend indented—.
Whitehead. Azure a fesse between three fieurs de lis or.
From this date all manorial rights in Eastrop apparently ceased, but Lord Bolton at the present time
owns nearly all the parish. (fn. 44)
The modern Eastrop Mill marks the site of the
mill appurtenant to the manor in 1086. (fn. 45) At the
beginning of the reign of George II there was a
dispute between Jacob Greene, lessee of the mill
under Peter Searle, the lord of the manor, and the
mayor and corporation of Basingstoke, the former
alleging that the stream which worked the mill had
been diverted by the mayor and corporation 'so that
he could grind but very little corn, but was obliged
to hire to have the greatest part of the corn ground
at other mills, which was a great charge and very
prejudicial to him and contrary to the covenants of
the lease.' (fn. 46) The case was tried at the Lent Assizes
held at Winchester in 1735, when a verdict was
obtained by the defendants. (fn. 47)
Church
The church of ST. MARY THE
VIRGIN is a small modern building
consisting of a chancel, north organ
chamber, vestry, nave and south porch. Beyond
two 17th-century gravestones and a later one there
is nothing of any age in the building. It is proposed to build a larger church in the near future for
the growing needs of the parish.
The chancel is built of brick with stone dressings;
it has an east window with wood frame and tracery,
and a round-headed window on either side, of which
that on the north looks into the vestry. It is divided
from both organ chamber and nave by pointed archways.
The nave walls are faced with rough ashlar; there
are two two-light windows on either side and one to
the west of three lights. Over the west wall is a
wooden bell-turret covered by a pyramidal tiled roof.
The plate consists of a plated chalice dated 1821,
two plated patens and a plated flagon.
Apparently the only old register is that containing
marriages from 1754 to 1812.
Advowson
The advowson of the church, or,
as it was called in early times, the
chapel of Eastrop, (fn. 48) followed the
descent of the manor until the early 19th century,
when it was held by the Searle family. (fn. 49) From
1879 it was in the gift of the Rev. B. J. Shields,
who himself was rector 1879–97. It is now in the
gift of his trustees.
At the beginning of the 14th century there was a
dispute between the Prior of Selborne and the rector
of the church concerning the tithes coming from 73
acres of land within the limits of the parish. (fn. 50)
There was also a chapel called Eastrop Chapel
which was reckoned in the parish of Basingstoke.
This chapel was disendowed in 1536 and the building granted to John Lesse, who transformed it into a
mill. (fn. 51)