SHERBORNE ST. JOHN.
Sireburne (xi cent.); Shireburna (xii cent.);
Schyreburne (xiii cent.); Shirebourne Decani, Shireburn St. John (xiv cent.).
Sherborne St. John is a large parish situated 2 miles
north from Basingstoke station and containing 3,972
acres, of which 1,710 acres are arable land, 916 acres
permanent grass and 499¾ acres woods and plantations. (fn. 1) A Roman road from Winchester to Silchester
cuts through the parish, and it is also intersected from
south to north by the main road from Basingstoke to
Reading. The old coach road, called also the Aldermaston and Basingstoke turnpike, joined the Bath
Road at Beenham (Berks.). The Bow Brook, or Little
Loddon, forms its northern boundary, separating the
parish from Bramley. The height above the
ordnance datum varies generally between 200 and
300 ft., although a height of 453 ft. is attained in the
extreme south near Park Prewett Farm. The
Wey Brook, known locally as the 'Sher,' rises in
the west of the parish and skirts the north of the
village, flowing thence in a northerly direction to
empty itself into Bow Brook at the north-eastern
extremity of the parish. The Vyne lies a short
distance north-east of the village. The park, which
is about 100 acres in extent, abounds with fine old
oak and other excellent timber, and contains a large
lake formed by the widening of Wey Brook. Beaurepaire House in the north (an ancient mansion surrounded by a moat) stands in a well-timbered park
of about 280 acres, which extends into Bramley
Parish. The soil is part chalk and part clay and
sand, and therefore there is an abundance of good
water from good springs. The chief crops raised are
wheat, barley and roots. The following place-names
are found in documents relating to the parish: —Holemore (fn. 2) (xiii cent.); Wachedene, Cufoldesaker,
Previtteschernaker, Brokaker, (fn. 3) Stokbriggeslond, (fn. 4)
Pepirlond, (fn. 5) La Machelebruchet, (fn. 6) La Frateresmed, (fn. 7)
Cokysplace, (fn. 8) Le Pynmour, Le Burchettes, (fn. 9) Le Eldelond, (fn. 10) La Berncrofte, Pollardescrofte, La Walsshcrofte (fn. 11) (xiv cent.); Anthmanys, Ostagyscrofte,
Ostagslane, Mulwelyssh, (fn. 12) Levotelane, Le Russhelese, (fn. 13)
Danyslond, Holmerslond, Cryps, (fn. 14) Joyes, Leches,
Hylhend (fn. 15) (xv cent.); Cowkesgrove, Wythege Wood,
Lyllyngdown Common (fn. 16) (xvi cent.).
Manors
The manor of SHERBORNE ST.
JOHN, which had been held before the
Conquest by Ulveva or Wulfgifu, belonged
to Hugh de Port in 1086. (fn. 17) It continued in the
possession of the Ports and their successors the St.
Johns, following precisely the same descent as Basing
(q.v.) until 1329, (fn. 18) when John de St. John lord of
Basing granted it for life to Edward de St. John. (fn. 19)
Edward de St. John died in 1348, and the king
committed the custody of the manor to Bartholomew
de Burghersh, (fn. 20) but the following year ordered him to
deliver it up to the sisters and co-heirs of Edmund
de St. John the grandson of John, who had died in
1347, (fn. 21) Margaret the wife of Sir John de St
Philibert and Isabel the wife of Sir Luke de
Poynings. (fn. 22) A final partition of the St. John lands
was made between the heiresses in 1355, Sherborne
St. John falling to the share of Margaret. (fn. 23) Margaret
died in 1 362, leaving as her heir an infant son John,
but the latter only survived his mother a month, (fn. 24)
and the manor of Sherborne St. John consequently
passed to Isabel de Poynings. (fn. 25) On the death of
Isabel in 1393, her son Sir Thomas de Poynings
succeeded to the manor. (fn. 26) He apparently settled it
in his lifetime upon his son Hugh, for he was not
seised of it at his death in 1428, (fn. 27) and 'Hugh de St.
John son and heir of Lord Thomas Poynings Lord de
St. John' presented to the church during the episcopacy of Henry Beaufort. (fn. 28) This Hugh predeceased
his father, leaving a widow Eleanor and three
daughters Joan, Constance and Alice. (fn. 29) On the
death of Eleanor, who held the manor in dower,
Sherborne St. John was apparently assigned to Alice,
who married first John Orell and secondly Sir
Thomas Kyngeston and died in 1439. (fn. 30) Her son
Thomas Kyngeston died seised of the manor in 1506,
leaving as his heir his grandson John, (fn. 31) who obtained
livery of his lands on coming of age in 1511. (fn. 32) John
died in 1514, leaving a widow Susan, to whpm onethird of the manor was assigned in dower. He was
succeeded by his brother Nicholas, (fn. 33) who died
without issue two years later. His heir was his sister
Mary the wife of Thomas Lisle, (fn. 34) who died seised of
two-thirds of the manor and the reversion of the
other third after the death of Susan Kyngeston in
1539. (fn. 35) Her only son Francis had died before her,
leaving no issue, and on the death of her husband
some three years later the property, which she had
inherited from her brothers and they in their turn
from their grandfather, was divided among the
descendants of her paternal aunts Margaret Gorfen
and Katherine Malory, viz. (1) William Gorfen son
and heir of Margaret Gorfen, (2) Margery wife of
John Cope, daughter of Katherine Malory, (3)
Katherine wife of Thomas Andrewes and Margaret
wife of Thomas Boughton, daughters of Dorothy
Malory, daughter of Katherine Malory. (fn. 36) Sherborne
St. John was assigned to Katherine and Thomas
Andrewes, (fn. 37) who sold it in 1550 to Thomas Lord
Sandys of the Vyne. Its further history is identical with
that of the Vyne, (fn. 38) which is traced in detail below.
Three mills worth 27s. 6d. belonged to the manor
at the time of the Domesday Survey. (fn. 39) One was
apparently included in William de St. John's grant of
the Beaurepaire estate to Bartholomew Pecche, and
is probably represented by the modern Beaurepaire
Mill. Henry de Port, the founder of the priory of
Monk Sherborne, granted to that house in his
foundation charter the mill of Sherborne by the fishpond. (fn. 40) This mill paid the prior and convent a
mark of silver a year and ground their corn free
of charge until the time of Adam de Port grandson
of Henry, who recovered it from the priory, granting
in exchange in free alms the tithes of all his mills in
Sherborne. He also agreed that if the tithes of the
mills did not produce a mark a year the deficit should
be made good from the rents of the mills, and moreover made the following promise: 'Et habebunt omnem
molituram domus suae quietam in praedictis molendinis, ita quod quandocunque servientes monachorum
venerint ad molendinum causa molendi, molendino
non molente, statim molent, et si quern molentem
invenierint, statim post ipsum molent, nisi bladum
domini fundi praesens affuerit quod debet praecedere.' (fn. 41) Two water-mills and a fishpond in Sherborne St. John are mentioned in the inquisition on
the death of John de St. John in 1302. (fn. 42) This fishpond was not included in the lease of the manor to
Edward de St. John in 1329, but continued in possession of John de St. John. It was assigned in dower
to his widow Alice, and on her death reverted to
Edmund de St. John, who died seised in 1347. (fn. 43) The
mill by the fishpond is still in existence; the site of
the other is probably marked by a mill-pool in Wey
Brook, a short distance north of the village.
William de St. John inclosed his park of Sherborne
which was within the bounds of Pamber Forest with
a dike and a hedge, and in 1245 his son Robert de
St. John, in return for a payment of 100 marks,
obtained licence to keep it so inclosed, as also a
promise from the king that it should be quit of
waste, regard, and view of foresters, verderers and
regarders. (fn. 44)
Edward I granted John de St. John permission to
inclose 100 acres of woodland and pasture in his
manor of Sherborne St. John within the bounds of
the forest of Pamber, and to make a park there without impediment from the king or his officers. (fn. 45) These
grants mark the formation of the parks of Prevet and
Morgaston which are mentioned as appurtenances of
the manor in 1302. (fn. 46) Like Sherborne fishpond,
these parks were not included in the grant of the
manor to Edward de St. John, but passed to Alice
de St. John in 1329 (fn. 47) and from her to Edmund de
St. John. (fn. 48) Their sites are marked at the present
day by Morgaston Wood, which is situated about half
a mile north of the village, and by the farm of Park
Prewett, in the extreme south of the parish.
The estate known up to the beginning of the 16th
century as the manor of SHERBORNE or SHERBORNE COUDRAY and subsequently as THE
VYNE formed part of the manor of Sherborne St.
John until the reign of Henry II, when John de Port
grandson of Hugh de Port granted it to William
Fitz Adam (fn. 49) to hold of him and his heirs as of the
manor of Sherborne St. John by the service of the
fifth part of a knight's fee. (fn. 50) William Fitz Adam,
who was the founder of the chantry chapel of The
Vyne, was still alive in 1202, (fn. 51) but how long he
subsequently held the manor is unknown. Less than
forty years afterwards it was in the possession of
Fulk de Coudray, who granted
it, together with the manor
of Padworth (co. Berks.), to
Maud de Herriard and
Nicholas her son for their
lives in exchange for the
manor of Herriard which
Maud granted to Fulk and
his heirs for ever. (fn. 52) Fulk
died seised of the manor circa
1251, leaving as his heir his
son Peter, aged fourteen. (fn. 53)
In the following year the king
granted Peter's wardship and marriage, in return for
a payment of 300 marks, to Ralph Fitz Nicholas, (fn. 54)
concerning whom the following presentment was
made in 1256:—'Ralph Fitz Nicholas withdrew the
suit at the hundred court of Basingstoke which he
was accustomed to make for the manor of Sherborne
which was formerly Fulk de Coudray's. This he did
four years ago.' (fn. 55) Peter de Coudray obtained licence
to inclose Cufald Wood in Sherborne within the
bounds of Pamber Forest in 1268, (fn. 56) and twelve years
later by the production of a charter of Richard I
proved his right to free chase for cats, hares and foxes
throughout the whole hundred of Basingstoke. (fn. 57) In
1281 he leased the manor for life to John de
Wyntershull and Amice his wife. (fn. 58) The lessees
within the short space of two years felled eighty oaks
in Sherborne Coudray Park, and in 1283, to pay for
the damage they had done, they were obliged to give
up their life interest in 100 shillingsworth of land in
Herriard and Southrope which they had of the gift
of Peter, and to enter into an agreement allowing
Peter and his heirs to take whatever timber from
the park they might require for building, as also
yearly one buck de pinguedine and one doe de fermeysina,
with pasture for twelve oxen and cows free of herbage
and twenty pigs free of pannage. (fn. 59) In 1292 John de
Wyntershull, his wife being dead, gave up his lease of
the manor to Peter de Coudray in return for an annuity
of £22 and permission to take yearly from the park one
buck de pinguedine and one doe de Jermeysina. (fn. 60) Peter
de Coudray before 1305 had been succeeded by his son
Thomas de Coudray, (fn. 61) who was afterwards knighted
and continued in possession (fn. 62) until his death in
1348. (fn. 63) His kinsman and heir Fulk de Coudray
leased the manor for eleven years to Robert de Burton,
and in 1355 granted the reversion after the expiration of that term to William de Fifhide, (fn. 64) who died in
1361. (fn. 65) His son and heir William obtained livery of
his lands in 1365 soon after coming of age, (fn. 66) and in
1371 leased the manor-house of Sherborne Coudray
to William Gregory of Basingstoke for certain considerations, including the payment of one rose at the
Feast of St. John the Baptist, reserving, however, 'the
park and the right of presentation to the chapel,'
while Gregory covenanted to keep in repair 'the hall
and the adjoining chambers and the grange and the
chapel at the house. (fn. 67) On his death in 1386 William
was succeeded by his cousin Joan the wife of Sir John
Sandys, (fn. 68) a knight of the shire for Hampshire and
governor of Winchester Castle. Joan married as her
second husband, Sir Thomas Skelton, (fn. 69) and was
followed by her son Sir Walter Sandys, who, not
foreseeing that Sherborne Coudray was about to
become the principal residence of his family, 'gave it
out' (says Leland) to his daughter Joan on her
marriage to William Brocas
of Beaurepaire about 1420. (fn. 70)
This latter Joan occupied
the manor-house during her
widowhood and was succeeded by her son Bernard
Brocas. (fn. 71) In 1474 by fine
between Bernard Brocas and
Philippa his wife, and Sir
William Sandys the grandson
of the Sir Walter who had
given it out in marriage, the
manor was settled upon
Bernard and Philippa, and the issue of Bernard, to
be held of William and his heirs for rent of a rose,
with remainder in default of such issue to William
and his heirs. (fn. 72) Bernard Brocas left no children, and
accordingly on his death in 1488 (fn. 73) the manor passed
to Sir William Sandys, who died seised in 1496. (fn. 74)
His son Sir William Sandys enjoyed the favour of
Henry VIII, who made him his Lord Chamberlain
and created him Lord Sandys of The Vyne on
27 April 1523. (fn. 75) He built the present house and
chapel of The Vyne in the early years of the 16th
century, (fn. 76) and it was here that he was visited several
times by Henry VIII, the first occasion being in
July 1510. (fn. 77) In August 1531 the king was again
at The Vyne, as appears from his household accounts
for that month, which contain the following entries:
'To one who brought a screen to The Vyne from
Pexhalles house 40s. To the keeper of Mr. Paulet's
and Lord Sandys parks 13s. 4d. To the servant
of the Lord Chamberlain for bringing a stag to the
Vine which the king had stricken before in Wolmer
Forest 10s.' (fn. 78) The king paid his next and last visit
in October of 1535, when he was accompanied by
Queen Anne Boleyn. (fn. 79) William Lord Sandys died
in 1542, after a long life spent in the service of
his country, and was succeeded by his son Thomas
Lord Sandys. (fn. 80) On the death of Thomas in 1560
The Vyne passed to his grandson William Lord
Sandys, (fn. 81) who held it no less than sixty-three years.
He was involved in the insurrection of the Earl
of Essex in the spring of 1601, for which he was
fined £5,000. (fn. 82) But after a temporary sojourn
in the Tower and a subsequent confinement near
Bath he was pardoned on payment of £1,000, (fn. 83) and
in September of the same year received the Duc de
Biron, then sent to England as ambassador of the
French king to meet Queen Elizabeth, who was then
staying with the Marquess of Winchester at Basing
House. (fn. 84) For four or five days the ambassador and
his suite, numbering nearly four hundred persons,
were sumptuously entertained at The Vyne, which
was provided with hangings and plate from the Tower
and Hampton Court, and with 'seven score beds and
furniture which the willing and obedient people
of Hampshire upon two days' warning had brought
thither to lend to the Queen.' (fn. 85) Elizabeth was
highly satisfied with the reception accorded her
visitors, and affirmed 'that she had done that in
Hampshire that none of her ancestors ever did, neither
that any prince of Christendom could do, that was,
she had in her Progress in her subjects' houses
entertained a royal ambassador and had royally
entertained him.' (fn. 86) William Lord Sandys on his
death in 1623 was succeeded by his son William
Lord Sandys, (fn. 87) who died without issue six years later. (fn. 88)
In 1636 Colonel Henry Sandys, son of Sir Edwin
Sandys of Latimer (co. Bucks.) by Elizabeth halfsister and heir of William Lord Sandys, was in
possession of The Vyne. (fn. 89) He was mortally wounded
at the battle of Cheriton, and on his death on 6 April
1644 the estate passed to his son William Lord
Sandys, (fn. 90) who sold it in 1653 to Chaloner Chute, one
of the most celebrated lawyers of the age. (fn. 91) He was
unanimously chosen Speaker of the House of
Commons upon the assembling of Parliament
under Richard Cromwell on 29 January 1659, but the
incessant fatigue of his office
proved so great a strain upon
his health that he was forced
to retire to Sutton Court, an
estate belonging to him at
Chiswick, where he died on
14 April 1659. (fn. 92) By his will
dated 3 June 1653 he devised
The Vyne and his other
lands in Hampshire to his son
Chaloner, who died in 1666
and was succeeded by his
son and namesake. (fn. 93) This
Chaloner Chute, third of
the name, died in 1685, and
The Vyne then passed to
his brother Edward, (fn. 94) who was high sheriff of
Hampshire in 1699 and died in 1722. (fn. 95) Anthony
Chute, Edward's son and heir, was elected M.P. for
Yarmouth (I.W.) in 1734 and twenty years later
died unmarried and intestate. His heir was his
brother John, who devoted himself to literature and
archaeological studies, and is well remembered as the
friend of Horace Walpole and the poet Gray. (fn. 96) He
died at The Vyne on 26 May 1776, and with him
the male line of this family came to an end. (fn. 97) The
estate then devolved in accordance with his will dated
4 November 1774 upon his cousin's son Thomas
Lobb of Pickenham (co. Norf.), who thereupon took
the name of Chute in addition to that of Lobb. (fn. 98)
Thomas Lobb Chute married Anne Rachael only
daughter of William Wiggett, mayor of Norwich, (fn. 99)
and owned The Vyne until 1790, when he died and
was buried at Pickenham. (fn. 100) His heir was his son
William John Chute, who in 1790 entered Parliament
as member for Hampshire and forthwith began
to keep a pack of foxhounds which he supported
at his own expense till his death in 1824. (fn. 101) He
bequeathed The Vyne to his brother Thomas Vere
Chute, who died unmarried in 1827, having by will
dated 23 July 1826 left the estate to William Lyde
Wiggett second son of James Wiggett, rector of
Crudwell (co. Wilts). (fn. 102) On succeeding to The
Vyne estate William Lyde Wiggett assumed the
name and arms of Chute, and lived at The Vyne from
the death of Elizabeth widow of William Chute in
1842 until his own death in 1879. (fn. 103) He greatly
improved the estate by inclosing the common fields
and making new roads, and the improvements which
he effected are described in the journals of the Royal
Agricultural Society of England. (fn. 104) His son Chaloner
William Chute died in 1892 and was succeeded by
the present owner, Mr. Charles Lennard Chute of
The Vyne. (fn. 104a)
Coudray. Sable ten billets or.
Sandys. Argent a ragged cross sable.
Chute of The Vyne. Gules three swords argent with their hilts or lying barwise, their points to the dexter.
The house, apart from its historical interest, is
one of the most attractive in Hampshire. Begun in
the early years of the 16th century by William Lord
Sandys, it occupies a characteristic site, chosen for
shelter and not for strength, with the ground rising
gently from it on all sides, and surrounded by lawns
and beautifully timbered gardens and fields. It
succeeds an older house, which according to Leland
was neither 'great nor sumptuous,' and nothing is
left of it but its probable site with foundations of
walls about 100 yds. south-east of the house. The
present house stands east and west and is about
220 ft. long with two wings running southwards,
and has its principal entrance in the middle of the
south side, but as first built is conjectured to have
had a large base court on the north, extending as
far as the long sheet of water, 250 ft. away from the
house, with its principal entrance from the north
through the court, the water being crossed by a bridge.
It is built of deep red brick with diamond patterns
in black brick, very irregularly set, and stone
quoins and window frames, the last originally
having contained stone tracery, which was removed,
with a few exceptions, in 1654 under the directions
of John Webb. The general disposition of the plan
is symmetrical, the south front having a central
projecting gable to which a modern porch has been
added, and small rectangular bays covering the
junctions of the wings with the main block. The
wings end with plain gables at the south, to which
canted bay windows of two stories have been added
in the 18th century. The north front has in like
manner a central portico, an addition by Webb, but
perhaps replacing a former porch, and at either end
rectangular towers three stories high, the rest of the
house being of two stories. Breaks in the masonry
of the tower at the east end of the north front
suggest that it was partly overlapped by the destroyed
east range of the base court, and that its north-west
angle projected into the court in the same way as the
small bays in the angles of the south front. If the
western tower was treated in the same way all
evidence of the junction of the west range of the
court with it has been removed, and it has been
conjectured that the west wing of the court stood
on the line of Webb's portico. An 18th-century
drawing of the house from the north-west, hanging in
the Strawberry Parlour, shows a corresponding rectangular tower at the south end of the south-west wing,
but there is no reason to suppose that this was ever
built, and the drawing probably represents a project
of John Chute which was never carried out.
Sherborne St. John, The Vyne: Entrance Front
At the east end of the house is a wing containing
the chapel, with a building attached to it on the
south, and there were formerly other buildings on
the north, i.e. the east range of the north court, as
may be seen from the evidence of the masonry, and
of a picture now at Mottisfont Abbey, said to represent Colonel Henry Sandys, ob. 1644.
The arrangement of the rooms in the time of the
first builder, William Lord Sandys, is fortunately
preserved to us in an inventory (fn. 105) of the contents of
the house taken February 1541–2, after Lord Sandys'
death. It seems clear, in spite of the comparatively
early date, that there was no great hall, with screens,
open timbered roof, and bay window, after the
mediaeval fashion still in common use at the time,
but that the principal room was the present diningroom, then the 'great dining chamber'; it was
doubtless entered as now from the west through a
vestibule, which probably opened to the base court
by a porch on the site of the existing 17th-century
portico. To the east of the dining chamber were
the 'hall place,' now the chapel parlour, occupying
the ground floor of the east tower, then 'my lady's
oratory or closet,' now the ante-chapel, and to the
east again, as now, the chapel with priest's room and
vestry on the south. The pantry and buttery adjoined the dining chamber on the south, and the
kitchen and offices were in the south-east wing, as now,
with the audit chamber at the south end of the wing.
On the opposite side of the vestibule to the dining
chamber was the 'new parlour,' now the drawingroom, opening to a small ante-room, the 'pallet
chamber,' on the west, and thence to the 'chamber (fn. 105a)
within the new parlour,' now the west drawingroom, occupying the ground floor of the north-west
tower. From this the long lower gallery opened
southwards as now, and the two small rooms between
it and the vestibule, then called the base chambers,
completed the ground-floor arrangements. The
parallel sets of rooms on either side of a thick central
wall are worthy of notice as an innovation in planning,
and though as usual till a much later date all were
passage rooms, each opening out of the next, the
whole plan is a very notable advance on the general
usage of the time. On the upper floor the room over
the dining chamber was the 'queen's lying chamber,'
and from it to the east opened the 'tower chamber'
and 'my lord's oratory or closet,' the latter being the
gallery at the west end of the chapel. The rooms
over the priest's chamber to the south of the chapel
were the 'chambers over the gate': the gate is shown
in the picture of Colonel Henry Sandys already referred to opening eastwards, but it is difficult to understand how the priest's chamber on the ground floor
was arranged in that case. Over the new parlour
was the great chamber, now the library, and in the
west tower the queen's great chamber, now the
tapestry room, with the oak gallery as now to the
south. Over the base chamber were the king's
chamber and the portcullis chamber, and over the
kitchen and offices other chambers, those in the
south-east wing being called the rose chambers. The
small projecting rooms in the angles of the south
front were called, like other small rooms, pallet
chambers. The names given to the rooms in the
base court show that they were used for the servants'
quarters, &c, and doubtless as lodgings for guests.
The schoolmaster's chamber, the armoury, and
two yeomen's chambers, each with twelve beds, are
mentioned.
The general plan of the house, apart from the
destruction of the base court, does not seem to have
been materially altered. The portico on the north
front, as already mentioned, was added in 1654, and
besides this the only additions are the tomb-chamber
at the south-east of the chapel, 1765, the bays at the
ends of the south wings, the offices and bedrooms on
the east of the south-east wing, and the porches on
the south front and the west side of the stone gallery.
The middle part of the main block was altered in
1765 when the existing staircase was set up by John
Chute, and many minor alterations to fireplaces, &c.,
have naturally taken place, but a great deal of 16th-century work is happily preserved. As regards the
windows, those lighting the cellars on the south front
have preserved their tracery of two four-centred
lights, but nearly all the rest are now plain rectangular
openings fitted with sashes. The loss of their tracery
is recorded in the accounts preserved of John Webb's
alterations in 1654, thus:—
'For taking down the old windows and setting up
the new, cut into square heads, £0 16s. 0d. each.'
The sections of the stone frames, though differing
in various parts of the building, are still all of Gothic
character, and are in part original work and in part
probably 17th-century copies. The sashes, or rather
their predecessors, are usually attributed to the date
of Webb's alterations, but so early a date is unlikely;
it is more probable that wooden frames with casements were the immediate successors of the stone
mullions.
The chapel contains the best and most important
of the original fittings, having beautiful canopied seats
on north and south, returned on the west. The
fronts are panelled, with tracery in the heads and
standards with elaborate poppy-heads, while the traceried panelling at the back of the seats is in two
tiers, and has moulded and buttressed styles. The
middle rail has a band of quatrefoils, and at the
springing of the canopy is a line of cresting. On the
cornice of the canopy is a band of openwork foliage
into which the initials of William Sandys, his badge
of a rose and sun, his arms, and the Tudor rose
and portcullis, &c., are worked. The rose and pomegranate are repeated in the foliage, and at intervals
are pairs of boys, giving a touch of Italian feeling to what is otherwise entirely Gothic. The
details of the poppy heads and the admirable lock
plate with the initials w. s. on the vestry door show
the same influence. It seems probable that the
canopy was originally returned against the wall at the
east ends of the stalls on both sides, and that its present
square ends are due to 18th-century alterations, the
panelling east of the stalls being of that date. The
ceiling of the chapel is of four-centred form, with a
geometrical pattern of wooden ribs and a plastered
background, and the chapel is lighted by three threelight windows with cinquefoiled heads and transoms
set in three faces of the eastern apse. These windows
contain their original glass, and have in the lower
lights kneeling figures of Henry VIII and his patron
St. Henry of Bavaria (east window), the Princess
Margaret and her patroness St. Margaret (south
window), and Katherine of Aragon with her patroness
St. Katherine (north window). In the upper lights
of the south window is our Lord bearing His cross
and meeting St. Veronica, in those of the east
window the Crucifixion, and in those of the north
window the Resurrection; while in the heads of
the lights are the arms of Henry VII and his
queen and the Tudor rose. The glass, which can
be dated by the coat of arms above Princess
Margaret, certainly designed before her marriage
in 1503, suggests a date in the first decade of the
16th century for the building of the chapel. In the
floor of the chapel are a large number of glazed tiles,
with ornament or figures in blue, white, yellow, &c.,
after the fashion of Italian work of the 15th and 16th
centuries. The many mistakes in the lettering of the
inscriptions which occur on them point to the fact
that they are Flemish copies of Italian originals,
though some may be Italian, and are probably of
mid-16th-century date. Externally the chapel has
been a good deal repaired and two blank traceried
windows inserted in its north wall, on which a
range of buildings formerly abutted; but the embattled parapet is in the main old and has on
it an interesting set of carvings with the royal arms
and the arms and badges of Lord Sandys, Bray, &c.
The roof is covered with red tiles, but the gable stops
short of the apse and has a pretty carved bargeboard
and a tall leaded finial. The south side of the chapel
is entirely masked by buildings, that at the north-east
being the tomb chapel of Chaloner Chute, added in
1765, with a room over, and containing a raised
tomb with a recumbent effigy in white marble, by
Banks; the coloured glass in the windows was made
in 1770 by John Rowell of Wycombe.
Sherborne St. John, The Vyne: Garden Front
Any detailed account of the other rooms and their
contents would be out of place, and reference must be
made to Mr. Chaloner Chute's Histoty of The Vyne,
published in 1888. In the ante-chapel are part of a
well-carved stone figure of early 16th-century date
and a number of pieces of painted glass from the Holy
Ghost Chapel at Basingstoke, together with some
heraldic glass with the arms of St. John, Paulet,
Brocas, Sandys, Bray, &c. Its ceiling is 16th-century
work with geometrical patterns in wood, painted blue
and gold.
The chapel parlour adjoining has linen-pattern
panelling and a 16th-century fireplace with Purbeck
marble head and jambs, and over it a carved oak
mantelpiece dated 1691. The dining-room, opening
from the parlour, is also panelled in oak, with gilt
bosses on the panels, from which it took its former
name of the Starred parlour.
The drawing-room and west drawing-room are
hung with crimson and white damask, brought from
Italy about 1760, and from the latter opens southward the stone gallery, 82 ft. long, which now contains
some portrait busts bought in Italy in 1753, a number
of Roman tomb inscriptions, and a plaster medallion
of the Emperor Probus, after the fashion of the
terra-cotta medallions at Hampton Court. The
stone flooring was formerly the floor of the entrance hall or vestibule. Two small rooms on the
south front are known, one as the print room, its walls
having been covered with prints about 1815, and the
other as the Strawberry parlour, Horace Walpole's
favourite room. From it an original doorway with a
four-centred head once opened to the entrance lobby
in the angle of the south court. The outer doorway
of this lobby and of that in the corresponding angle
of the court are perhaps part of John Webb's work,
c. 1654, though the Wiggett crest in the pediment of
the western lobby must be of much later date. The
main staircase, which was built by John Chute about
1765, apparently from his own designs, (fn. 106) goes far to
justify Horace Walpole's statement that he was an
'exquisite architect of the purest taste.' Its scale is
rather too small, but the design is exceedingly happy,
the screen of Corinthian columns at the stairhead
giving a most dignified effect, while the coffered ceilings contrast pleasantly with the simple panelled walls.
As on the ground floor, the principal first-floor rooms
are those facing north and west. Sixteenth-century
geometrical ceilings remain in the tapestry room at
the north-west, the library and the bedrooms—formerly a single room—over the dining-room. The
library has a fine chimney-piece with the Chute
arms, doubtless part of Webb's work, and in the
tapestry room is a chimney-piece of early 17th-century date, formerly in the chapel parlour. It
bears a shield with the arms of Chute and eight other
coats, which must be of rather later date than the rest
of the work. The tapestry in the room is worked
with imaginary Oriental scenes and is excellent work
of early 18th-century date. The long gallery is only
second in interest to the chapel, and is panelled
throughout with linen-pattern panels in four tiers, a
large proportion being original work. They are
ornamented with a most interesting series of arms,
badges, &c., which would seem to fix the date of their
making between 1522 and 1529. Beside the royal
arms and badges of Henry VIII and Queen Katherine
of Aragon, there are those of Sandys, Bray, Brocas de
Vere, Essex, Foster, Hungerford, Paulet, Power, and
Manners, and also of Cardinal Wolsey, Fox Bishop of
Winchester, Tunstall Bishop of London, and Warham
Archbishop of Canterbury. Tunstall became Bishop
of London in 1522, and was translated to Durham in
1530, and Wolsey's arms are not likely to have been
set up after his disgrace in 1529. Over the fireplace
is a carving of St. George and the Dragon, doubtless
in reference to the Order of the Garter, of which
Lord Sandys was a knight, and over the doorway at
the south-east of the gallery the quartered shield
of France and England supported by winged boys, in
which the Italian influence is clearly shown.
The house is rich in pictures, china and furniture,
which cannot be adequately dealt with here.
The picturesque stables to the east of the house are
of considerable interest, but the most notable of the
outbuildings is the round brick garden-house with its
domed tiled roof and four projecting porches, built
by Webb and now used as a pigeon-house. Close to
it is a very fine oak, still in vigorous growth, measuring 23 ft. round the trunk. It is said that Mr.
William John Chute refused £100 for this tree from
the Admiralty buyers in the days of wooden ships. (fn. 106a)
Early in the reign of Henry III, William de St.
John granted to Bartholomew Pecche the lordship of
CROCKEREL HULLE, which up to this time had
formed part of his manor of Sherborne St. John, (fn. 107)
and some years later Robert de St. John, son and
successor of William, granted Bartholomew an additional 11 acres of land with appurtenances in Sherborne St. John. (fn. 107a) This manor, which was subsequently known as CLOTELY (fn. 108) and afterwards
as BEAUREPAIRE (Beaureper, xiii cent.; Beurepeir,
Berupery, xiv cent.; Baureper, Baroper, Burraper,
xvi cent.; Bewrepper, Bewroper, xvii cent.), continued
to be held of the St. Johns and their successors as of
their manor of Sherborne St. John until the 16th
century, when the overlordship fell into abeyance. (fn. 109)
Bartholomew Pecche, who was alive in 1249, (fn. 110) had
been succeeded before 1264 by Herbert Pecche, (fn. 111)
who died seised of a hide of
land called Beaurepaire in
Sherborne St. John in 1272,
leaving as his heir his son
Bartholomew. (fn. 112) Bartholomew claimed to have free
warren throughout the whole
hundred of Basingstoke in
1275, (fn. 113) and died about seven
years later, leaving as his heir
his infant son and namesake. (fn. 114) The latter, before
1318, (fn. 115) had been succeeded
by his son Sir John Pecche,
who is constantly before us as 'lord of Beaurepaire,' (fn. 116)
and amongst other ways as obtaining an estate in
Peperlond which afterwards became part of the
Brocas property. (fn. 117) It was this Sir John who heavily
mortgaged Beaurepaire, (fn. 118) and died in 1350, leaving
as his heir his son John, (fn. 119) who sold the estate to
Bernard Brocas for 100 silver
marks in 1353. (fn. 120) Two years
later Bernard settled the
manor upon his nephew Sir
Bernard Brocas, master of the
royal buckhounds, (fn. 121) whose
descendants continued to hold
it for over five centuries. Sir
Bernard received a grant of
free warren in the demesne
lands of his manor of Beaurepaire in 1363, (fn. 122) and four
years later obtained a final
quitclaim of the manor from
Agnes the wife of Edward Popham, (fn. 123) who was
probably the representative of the Pecche family. In
1369 Edward III gave him permission to inclose
Beaurepaire Park (fn. 124) —a privilege which was followed
by a charter of 1388 granting him licence to enlarge
it by adding 100 acres of land and wood in Bramley.
Sherborne St. John and Monk Sherborne, notwithstanding that 64 acres were within the metes of
Pamber Forest. (fn. 125) Sir Bernard died in 1395 and
was followed by his son Sir Bernard, who was attainted
for treason in 1400. (fn. 126) By means of settlements in
trust much of his property, including Beaurepaire,
escaped forfeiture and passed to his son William
Brocas, who in 1428 was stated to be holding of Lord
de St. John as of his manor of Sherborne St. John
half a knight's fee in Beaurepaire and Sherborne,
formerly belonging to John Pecche. (fn. 127) William died
in 1456 and was succeeded by his son William, (fn. 128) who
died in 1484, his heir being his son John. (fn. 129) William
Brocas the son of John died seised of Beaurepaire in
1506, leaving two daughters Anne and Edith, (fn. 130) the
latter of whom became sole heir to the Brocas estates
on the death of her sister Anne without issue in
1514. (fn. 131) Edith died in 1517 (fn. 132) and Beaurepaire
then passed to her husband Ralph Pexall, who died
some twenty years later. (fn. 133)
Sir Richard Pexall, son of
Edith and Ralph, succeeded
to the property and married
(1) Lady Eleanor Paulet (fn. 134)
and (2) Eleanor Cotgrave (fn. 135) —the cause of those family
dissensions and complications
which lasted for half a century. By his first wife he
had four daughters—Anne,
who married Bernard Brocas
of Horton (co. Bucks.) and
had a son Pexall Brocas;
Margery, who married (1)
Oliver Beckett and (2) Francis
Cotton; Elizabeth, who
became the wife of John
Jobson; and Barbara, who became the wife of
Anthony Brydges; his second wife brought him no
children. (fn. 136) Sir Richard died in 1571, having by
will signed only a day before his death left all his
estates to his wife Dame Eleanor for thirteen years—until his grandson Pexall Brocas came of age, and
all his estates in Wiltshire and the majority of his
estates in Hampshire to her for life should she
remain unmarried. To his three younger daughters
he bequeathed legacies of £500 apiece, while to
Pexall Brocas he granted the reversion of Eleanor's
estate in tail-male. (fn. 137) Tenants in chivalry, however,
were not allowed to aliene more than two-thirds of
their lands from their legal heirs, and consequently
Sir Richard's will became void for a third part which
descended among his four daughters and co-heirs (fn. 138)
John and Elizabeth Jobson soon afterwards sold their
twelfth to Dame Eleanor and her second husband Sir
John Savage, (fn. 139) who had settled at Beaurepaire and
destined it for his second son Edward. (fn. 140) Bernard
and Anne Brocas retaliated by purchasing the Brydges
twelfth, thus placing at their command one-sixth of
the estate. (fn. 141) On the coming of age of Pexall Brocas
in 1584, Dame Eleanor, though then only legally
entitled to the twelfth of the Brocas estates which she
and her husband had purchased from the Jobsons, did
not move from Beaurepaire, (fn. 142) and there seems to
have been some arrangement whereby she gave up all
right to Steventon (q.v.) in return for a life-interest
in Beaurepaire. Thus in 1602, when Pexall sued
Dame Eleanor in the Court of Requests to recompense
him for wastes in the park of Beaurepaire committed
not only by her, but also by Sir John Savage, Edward
Savage and her third husband Sir Robert Remington,
it seems to have been acknowledged by all the parties
concerned that her life-interest in Beaurepaire was a
good estate by the common law. (fn. 143) After the death
of Sir Robert Remington in 1610, Dame Eleanor
married as her fourth husband Sir George Douglasse. (fn. 144)
It was not until her death in 1617–18 that the
Savages finally quitted Beaurepaire, and Thomas Brocas
the only son of Sir Pexall (fn. 145) moved thither from
Steventon. (fn. 146) Sir Pexall died seised of ten-twelfths
of Beaurepaire in 1630, (fn. 147) and three years later
Thomas Brocas bought up the outstanding portions of
the estate—the Jobson twelfth which Edward Savage
had sold between 1608 and 1618 and the Beckett
twelfth. (fn. 148)
Pecche. Azure a lion with a forked tail ermine crowned or.
Brocas. Sable a leopard rampant or.
Pexall. Argent a flowered cross engrailed sable between four birds azure having beaks and legs gules and collars argent with a scallop argent on the cross.
In 1638 Thomas settled Beaurepaire upon his
eldest son Robert Brocas on his marriage with Jane
Bodley daughter of Sir John Bodley of Streatham (co.
Surr.), (fn. 149) and it remained in Robert's possession until
his death in 1643. (fn. 150) His widow Jane, by whom he
had three children, Bernard, Robert and Jane, subsequently married John Thorner, and lived with him
for many years at Beaurepaire on her jointure. (fn. 151)
Bernard the eldest son of the new generation died
suddenly of smallpox on 18 December 1660, shortly
after coming of age, and his brother Robert having
died when an infant, his sister Jane now became the
sole heir-in-law to her brother, father and grandfather, as well as heir-general under the will of Sir
Pexall Brocas her great-grandfather. She married
soon afterwards Sir William Gardiner. (fn. 152) On the
death of Thomas Brocas the grandfather in 1663 a
claimant to the Beaurepaire estate appeared in the
person of Jane's cousin Thomas Brocas son of her
father's younger brother Thomas. (fn. 153) He was supported by his trustee Edmund Brockett, who inter
preted his trust to mean that the Brocas estates should
come to the young Thomas as male heir of the junior
branch, and this when the grandfather died was no
doubt his desire. (fn. 154) In 1664 this Thomas appears in
the neighbourhood of Beaurepaire, and there is an
amusing letter extant from Sir William Gardiner to
John Thorner complaining of his father-in-law and
guardian Richard Johnson, 'who is already receiving
rents at Beaurepaire, and who on the strength of his
guardianship sets up a handsome carriage with two
fine black horses.' (fn. 155) Finally in 1678 a compromise
was effected. (fn. 156) Thomas Brocas consented to give
£1,550 for the relinquishment of the Gardiner claims
on the freehold estates of Beaurepaire, Cranes,
Bramley, Stratfieldsaye, Stratfield Mortimer, Pamber,
Basingstoke, Monk Sherborne, Sherborne Coudray,
Sherborne St. John and Basing, while he himself relinquished his claim on the Roche Court estates. The
copyhold estates settled originally on Jane Thorner on
her first marriage with Robert Brocas in Sherborne
St. John, Pamber and Bramley remained with the
Gardiners. In order to effect this arrangement Sir
William lent Thomas Brocas £1,000 on a mortgage
of Beaurepaire. (fn. 157) On the death of Thomas in 1715
he was succeeded by his son Thomas, who died in
1750, leaving as his heir his son Bernard. (fn. 158) On the
death of Bernard in 1777 Beaurepaire passed to his
natural son Bernard Austin, who assumed by signmanual the name of Brocas in 1794 and died in
1809. (fn. 159) He was followed by his son Bernard, who
died in 1839 and was succeeded by his son of the
same name. (fn. 160) On the death of the latter in 1861 (fn. 161) it
passed to his widow Jane, who in 1873 sold the
reversion after her death to Mr. Julius Alington.
From the latter Beaurepaire passed by purchase in
1883 to Messrs. Henry S. Welch-Thornton and
Alfred Bidwell Welch-Thornton respectively father
and uncle of the present owner, Mr. Henry WelchThornton, J.P. (fn. 162)
Beaurepaire was twice at least visited by royalty.
Thus in August of 1531 there is the following entry
in the Privy Purse Expenses: 'Item the v. daye paid
to the keeper of Baroper Park in rewarde 6s. 8d.
Item the vi. day paid to a servant of Pexall in rewarde
at Baroper Park 20s.' (fn. 163) Again, in the Bramley
parish register is an entry recording payment made
to the bell-ringers for ringing the church bells on the
occasion of Queen Elizabeth's visit to 'Burraper.'
She was then on her way from The Vyne (q.v.), where
she had been magnificently entertained. (fn. 164)
Although one of the chief mansions of the Brocas
family, Beaurepaire House as it existed in the early
17th century was little more than an ordinary manorhouse and for the next two generations was used as a
dower-house. It suffered much damage during
the Civil War, was often deserted during the
18th century, and was finally destroyed and rebuilt
about 1777. (fn. 164a) This modern house is built within
the ancient moat and stands in a park of 280 acres.
It presents no features of special architectural
interest.
Between Christmas 1357 and Michaelmas 1358
Sir Bernard Brocas spent the following sums on repairing Beaurepaire Mill—2s. 6d. for making a new
mill-wheel from the lord's timber, and 1s. 1d. for
mending the 'juke' of the mill. (fn. 165) This mill probably
occupied the site of the mill which in a plan of the
Beaurepaire estate of 1613 is marked in the same
place as it is now—on the eastern boundary of the
park a little to the west of Bramley Church. (fn. 166)
The messuage called CRANES PLACE and the
lands belonging to it in Sherborne St. John were
owned in the middle of the 14th century by
Elizabeth Everard of Sherborne St. John and
descended from her to her daughter Margaret wife
of Thomas Munde, citizen and gold merchant of
London, who in 1397 quitclaimed them by the
description of a messuage, 80 acres of land and 2
acres of meadow in Sherborne St. John to Oliver
Brocas half-brother (fn. 167) of the first Sir Bernard Brocas
of Beaurepaire. (fn. 168) Sir Bernard Brocas the second
granted a grove called 'Le Pynmour' to his uncle in
1398, (fn. 169) and his gift was confirmed by his son and
successor William in 1404. (fn. 170) Oliver remained at
Cranes Place to the end of his life, acquiring
additional property in the neighbourhood, and died
circa 1437, leaving as his heir his daughter Joan wife
of Lawrence Stonard, (fn. 171) to whom William Brocas in
1444 quitclaimed a rent of 13s. 4d. from a messuage
in Sherborne St. John held of him by William
Hanyton. (fn. 172) In 1471 Lawrence and Joan Stonard
gave up their right to Cranes Place to John Brocas
son of William Brocas the younger in return for £100
in cash and an annuity of £6, (fn. 173) and he was seised of
it in 1476, in which year he granted the lease of the
messuage called 'Cranys' with its appurtenances to
Robert Denys at a rent of £3 13s. 4d. (fn. 174) John
Brocas succeeded to Beaurepaire in 1484, and from
that date Cranes Place, or, as it was afterwards called,
the manor of Cranes, formed part of the Beaurepaire
estate until as late at least as the end of the 17th
century. (fn. 175) Cranes Farm, which is at present owned
by Mr. Charles Lennard Chute of The Vyne, (fn. 176) is
situated to the west of St. Andrew's Church, a little to
the south of Weybrook. Some way to the north on
the east of the road to Reading is Cranes Copse,
and near it is Pollards End Copse mentioned as
'Pollardyscroft' in a 15th-century deed. (fn. 177)
Church
The church of ST. ANDREW has a
chancel 30 ft. 6 in. by 23 ft. 5 in., nave
of equal width by 49 ft. 6 in., north
chapel 14 ft. I in. by 10 ft. 10 in., north aisle
14 ft. 4 in. wide, south porch and a west tower
10 ft. 10 in. square, all internal measurements.
A church seems to have been built here about the
year 1150, and probably had a nave of the present
size with a small chancel; the south doorway is the
only detail which remains of this date. The chancel
was rebuilt in the middle of the 14th century, the
east wall of the nave being taken down and the
chancel made equal in width with the nave; where
the present three-light south window is inserted there
is said to be the threshold of a doorway, proving the
window to be a later insertion. The Brocas chapel
was built to the north of the chancel in the 16th
century, and the south porch of the nave in 1533.
The tower was added in the 14th century, but was
almost wholly rebuilt in 1837 at the expense of
Mrs. Chute, wife of W. J. Chute, and the spire added.
The north aisle is an addition of 1854; the chancel
roof was restored in 1866, and in 1884 a thorough
restoration was undertaken: new seats were put in the
chancel, floor levels altered, the plaster stripped from
the nave ceiling and other work done, including the
insertion of the arch between the north aisle and
Brocas chapel.
The chancel has an east window of three cinquefoiled lights under a traceried head of 15th-century
character, the jambs and arch, which are of two
hollow chamfers and have a moulded label, are old;
the mullions and tracery are modern. The northeast window is one of two trefoiled ogee-headed
lights with half-quatrefoils over in a square head,
which has a moulded label; it is of mid-14th-century
date. The south-east window is similar, and the
second window on the south has three trefoiled ogeeheaded lights with quatrefoiled net tracery in a twocentred head with a moulded label; it dates from
about 1340; about 20 in. of the window above the
sill have been filled in with masonry.
The north or Brocas chapel has an east window of
three feathered trefoiled lights with roll cusp-points
under a four-centred arch with moulded label; the
stops to the labels are shields on which are the letters
R and P respectively, the initials of Ralph Pexall,
whose tomb lies under the archway between the nave
and chancel. This arch has moulded jambs and a
flat pointed head with cinquefoiled panels on the
soffit and jambs. The arch is set under a square
moulded cornice with ornamental cresting. In the
spandrels are shields with the initials r p and r e
respectively for Ralph and Edith Pexall. The tomb
is described lower down.
The modern north arcade of the nave is of three
bays in the style of the 14th century. A doorway
in the north wall of the chapel has an old stone
four-centred head on moulded wood jambs. In
the south wall of the nave are two windows, both
probably late 14th or 15th-century insertions; each
is of two trefoiled round-arched lights under a square
head with a moulded label, the mullion, sill and a
few stones in the jambs being modern. The south
doorway (in the middle of the wall) is of 12th-century date, it has jambs and round arch of two
orders, the outer one chamfered; the label, which is
much mutilated, is also chamfered. On the centre
stone of the arch is cut a large sundial. Two stones
are set in the south wall, one east of the door being
part of a holy water stone, the other having a pointed
arch on a curved face and looking like part of a font.
The north aisle has a modern pointed arch opening
eastward into the Brocas chapel, and its three north
windows were in the former nave wall, the first and
third being like those on the south wall, and the
middle one is of late 15th-century date; it has two
cinquefoiled lights under a square head with a label;
the jambs and mullions are moulded; the inner
jambs and four-centred rear arch are also moulded
with a double ogee; the west window of the aisle is
a modern one of two lights and tracery.
A small pointed arch now rebated for a door frame
opens into the tower from the nave; it has two orders
on both faces, a hollow and a wave mould. The
tower has a modern plastered west doorway, over it
is the date of the 'restoration,' 1834. The west
window is also modern (probably brick plastered) of
two lights under a four-centred head. No horizontal
string divides the tower into stages externally. The
lower part of the tower is of the original flint and
stone with diagonal buttresses; the upper two stories
are modern, the angle diagonal buttresses being of
brick plastered. The bell-chamber windows are all
modern of two lights under four-centred heads; the
parapet is a thin pierced one; at the corners are
plain pinnacles, and the octagonal wooden spire is
covered with copper.
The south porch, of red brick and stone, is lighted
by a single square-headed window in either side wall;
the entrance doorway has moulded jambs and a fourcentred arch under a square head with a label; in
the spandrels are shields with the initial I with
Renaissance detail. Over the doorway is a stone
panel with the inscription 'of your cherete pray
for the Sowles of Jamys Spyre and Jane his wyf
which caused this porche to be mad at ther cost
the yere of our Lo[r]d 1533.' Inside over the inner
doorway is another inscription as follows:—' Of your
cherete pray for the soul of Jamys Spier departed in
the yere of our Lord a mdxxxiiii on hos soul Jesu
have marsi.' Over it is a small niche which formerly
contained an image; below are the two kneeling
headless figures of the donors. The details are of
classic style.
The south wall has evidently been raised some
3 ft, the upper part being a little thinner; the
evidence for this continues to the east of the three-light
south window of the chancel, and beyond this point
the walling is of a different character with freestone
blocks in it.
The roof of the chancel is of modern panelling,
but that of the nave is old, with arched braces to the
rafters: the eastern half bay is panelled and ceiled in
wood, with an embattled wall plate, and is an
example of a ceiling over the rood.
The font at the south-west of the nave is a 12th-century one of Purbeck marble; the bowl is square
with sloping sides, which are panelled with shallow
round-headed flutes; the stem is round and is flanked
by four angle shafts with very rough capitals
and bases. Its cover is pyramidal and in part probably of early 16th-century date, with a modern
finial. The pulpit is inscribed 'mad by henri
sly 1634 w.m.. l.b.'; it is hexagonal in plan,
with round-headed lower panels and rectangular
upper panels, one of which contains the inscription
and the others carved foliage designs. It has a
contemporary back and tester, but is much repaired,
and the base is a modern one of stone. The altar
table and rails are of 17th-century date, and in the
north aisle stands a three-sided wooden lectern to
which are chained three volumes of Foxe's Book
of Martyrs, which were presented to the church
by William Jackman, vicar between 1653 and 1689.
The monument or altar tomb between the chancel
and Brocas chapel occupies about one half of the
archway; on it are the recumbent effigies of Ralph
and Edith Pexall, evidently by the same hand as
those in Thruxton Church, with the same use of
Renaissance detail in the armour. Both effigies hold
hearts in their upraised hands, and the man's head
rests on a shield of the Pexall arms; at his feet are
his gauntlets. The lady wears a kennel head dress
and hair net; a pleated chemise over which is a
double chain; her bodice is cut low; her undersleeves are pleated and over them are loose
oversleeves; from her sash hangs a purse, and she
has a long underskirt covering the feet and a short
kirtle over, round her right wrist is wound a pair of
beads. The altar tomb has a moulded cornice and
base; on the north side are three panels, the first
containing a shield bearing Pexall; the middle had an
inscription now obliterated; the third has a lozenge
bearing Brocas quartering Roche, the details being of
Renaissance type. At the west end are two panels, in
the first of which are the arms of Pexall impaling
Brocas quartering Roche. The inscription on both
sides of the tomb reads:—'Conditur hoc tumulo
Radulphus noie Pexsal armiger et simul hic co[n]jugis
ossa jacent Edithe heredis nuper ac pulcherrima proles
Guillelmi armigeri Brocas Beaurepaire.' A shield in
the arch of the canopy has the Pexall arms. Below
the cornice are two shields, one with Brocas quartering
Roche and the other Pexall impaling the last shield.
On the floor and walls of the chapel are several
slabs with brasses. The oldest is set in the south
wall and has the half figures of a man and his wife
c. 1350; he wears a tight coat or tunic buttoned
down the front and at the wrists; she has a tightfitting dress also buttoned down the front and with
tight buttoned sleeves; she has long hair. The inscription reads:—'Raulin Brocas et Margarete sa soure
gisount ici. Deu pour sa grace de lour almes eyt m[er]ci
Ame[n].'
On a floor slab is a figure of a man kneeling at a
desk; he is in full plate armour and a shirt of mail
and has a sword. Over him is the emblem of the
Trinity and at the corners four shields, each bearing
Brocas quartering Roche; the latter have been all
obliterated, evidently purposely. The inscription
runs:—'Orate p[ro] a[nim]a Joh[an]is Brocas Armig'i qu[on]d[am] filii et
heredis Willi Brocas armig'i qui q'd[a]m Willms decessit
London xxii die Aprilis Anno Regni Reg' Rici tercii
p'mo et sepult' est in Eccl[es]ia hospitalis Sci Barthi in
Smythfeld in Capella b[ea]te Marie et p[re]dict' Joh[an]s obiit
Scd° die Maii a° D'ni. m°cccc° lxxxxii° a° Regni Regis
Henrici VII septimo quorum a[nim]abus ppicietur De'
Amen.'
A slab has a mutilated brass of a man between
two wives; he is in armour and his head rests on
his helmet, of which the crest has been lost, his feet
rest on a lion; below one wife are the figures of
three sons and two daughters and under the other
five sons and a daughter. On the north wall is a small
brass kneeling figure of a man in armour; he is bareheaded and kneels before a desk on which is a book,
his helmet and gauntlets lie in front of him. From
his mouth issues a scroll with the inscription 'O
Blessyd Trinite.' Over him are two shields, one
with Brocas quartering Roche, the other blank; below
is the following inscription:—'Pray for ye soule of
Will[el]m Brocas of Beaurepaire, Esquyer buryed in this
chapell which decessed the vii day of July ye xxi yere
of ye reigne of Kyng Henry the VII havyng as his
heires two doughters Anne & Edith which Anne
was maryed and dyed wt. out yssue & ye said Edith
toke to husbond Rauff Pexsall Esquyer whiche Rauff
and Edith had yssue two sonnes John Pexsall decessed
and Richard Pexsall yete levyng soole heire to ye seid
Edith whiche Rauff caused ys remembraunce to be
made at his coste whose soulle Jhu prdo.'
On a floor slab is the brass figure of a man in armour
wearing a surcoat which is charged with the quartered
arms of Brocas and Roche quartering Sandys. He
kneels before a large cross of which the indent only
remains. In front of him is a shield with the above
arms and surmounted by a mantled helmet crested
with a Moor's head.
At the upper corners are two shields, the first
quarterly as on the surcoat, the other the same coat
impaling quarterly one and four a cheveron between
three cinquefoils, two and three obliterated. Below is
a skeleton in its shroud. The inscription around the
slab is:—
'Pondere marm[oreo tenebroso subtus in] antro
Bernard' Brokas jacet armig' arma reliques
Human multu fuerat reddut decoratu
Mores dapsilitas illu amplecteda q[uis] honestas
[Occubuit Maii terna . . . . denaque luce
Anno] sed D'ni centenis multiplicatis
Bis septenario septenarius duodeno
Quatuor hiis addo numeru tibi p[ro]ficie[n]do.' (fn. 178)
This slab was replaced in 1886 at the restoration of
the church; only half of the stone could be found and
the rest was finished with cement; a portion was also
found in which is the indent of a figure to match the
skeleton at the other end of the stone.
Other slabs are to Mary Wingfield, daughter of
Thomas Brocas, died 1705; Thomas Brocas and his
wife Mary, died 1715 and 1708 respectively; Ann
daughter of Thomas Brocas, died 1711; Mary
daughter of Philip Catelyn, formerly wife of Thomas
Brocas, died 1693.
On the east wall is a fine alabaster monument with
the bust of a man in a wreath of Renaissance design;
the inscription is to Richard Attkins of Tuffely in the
county of Gloucester, died 1635. On the south
wall of the nave is a large classic monument to George
Beverley son of Sir George Beverley of the house and
family of the Beverleys in Cheshire, died 1643; also
of Margaret his wife, died 1660. Also slabs to
John Fielding, died 1607, Ezekiel Lyon, a former
vicar, died 1730. Isabella daughter of Francis and
Anne Martelli, died 1762.
There is also the brass inscription like those in
Monk Sherborne, Pamber Priory, &c., recording John
Sympson's legacy of £15 yearly for charities of six
parishes—published 1674.
On the north wall of the Brocas chapel are some
pretty fragments of 16th-century ornaments of stone,
chiefly running rose patterns. In its east window are
some remains of the 16th and 17th-century glass;
the central subject is the derision of our Lord by the
Roman soldiers, that to the north is Ezekiel and the
Angel and the third Dagon before the Ark; the
other fragments are jumbled together. There are bits
of a black letter inscription, a figure of St. Laurence
dated 1638, the word 'Beth,' the Pexall arms,
&c.
There are five bells: the treble was by Joseph Carter,
1602; the second by the same founder, 1587; the third
has the inscription 'Ave Maria' in crowned Lombardic capitals; the fourth by Joseph Carter, 1587,
and the tenor by Henry Knight, 1618.
The plate consists of a silver chalice and paten
cover of 1669, a silver paten of 1806 given by
W. L. Wiggett Chute in 1846, a silver flagon of
1708 given in that year by Mrs. Mary Brocas,
and a brass alms dish given by G. H. Wiggett in
1886.
The registers date from 1652, the first book containing baptisms from 1663 to 1741, marriages 1653
to 1738, and burials 1652 to 1741 (the burials
between 1706 and 1736 are lost). The second book
has baptisms 1741 to 1807, marriages 1741 to 1752,
and burials 1741 to 1807; the third contains marriages from 1754 to 1807, the fourth continues them
to 1812, and the fifth has baptisms and burials 1807
to 1812. A curious feature is the large number of
marriages made by the then minister between 1735
and 1750 of persons having no connexion whatever
with the parish.
Advowson
At the time of the Domesday
Survey a church with half a hide
belonged to the manor. (fn. 179) The lords
of the manor presented the rectors, (fn. 180) who at an early
date were called decani or 'deans of Sherborne.' (fn. 181)
Hence the alternative name of the parish—Sherborne Decani. (fn. 182) Vicars to serve the cure were
appointed by the rectors, (fn. 183) and in 1535 the rectory
was assessed at £9 7s. 11½d. and the vicarage at
£7. (fn. 184) In the 17th century an agreement was made
between Mr. Ravenscroft, vicar of Sherborne St.
John, and William Lord Sandys, the rector, whereby
£40 was to be paid quarterly in lieu of small tithes
to the vicar, and the rector was to receive all tithes
except those from the vicarage-house and churchyard. (fn. 185) The living continued to be a sinecure rectory
in the gift of the lords of the manor until 7 June
1844, (fn. 186) when the vicarage was consolidated with it
into a rectory. (fn. 187) It is now of the annual value of
£325 and is in the gift of Mr. C. L. Chute.
Towards the end of the 12th century Robert the
dean or parson of the church of St. Andrew, Sherborne, in return for a grant of 40 acres to the parish
church, granted licence to William Fitz Adam, lord of
Sherborne Coudray, to build a chapel on his demesne
to serve for the use of himself, his wife and his household. The chaplain was to eat at William's table, but
was to be appointed and paid by the dean, and
William and his wife moreover agreed to worship and
receive the communion at the parish church on
Christmas Day, Easter Sunday, the Feast of the
Purification of the Virgin Mary, Whit Sunday and St.
Andrew's Day, and to pay all tithes, oblations and
yearly offerings as before to the dean. (fn. 188) This deed
was confirmed in 1202 by Godfrey de Lucy, Bishop
of Winchester, and by Herbert who had succeeded
Robert as dean or parson. (fn. 189) Sir Thomas de Coudray
re-endowed the Chantry Chapel by a deed of 2 February 1337–8, granting to the chaplain and his successors 24 square perches and a rent of 13s. 4d. from
land held of him by Richard atte Ostre in Sherborne
St. John and a rent of 6 marks issuing from lands in
Herriard and Ellisfield held by the Prioress of Hartley
Wintney, (fn. 190) to have and to hold as long as they should
perform divine service in the chapel 'on behalf of his
good estate while he should live and of his soul when
he should depart this life, and on behalf of Adam
Orlton, Bishop of Winchester, and his father Sir Peter
de Coudray and his mother the Lady Agnes and his
wife Juliana and William Attehurst.' (fn. 191) Sir Thomas
gave to the chapel a missal, a gradual, a responsebook, a lesson-book, an antiphonal, a Psalter, two
cruets, a pair of vestments, a napkin or towel and two
brass candlesticks, and at the same time it was provided that the duty of replacing the ornaments and
finding bread and wine and lights should devolve on
the chaplain, but that Sir Thomas and his heirs should
repair the nave, chancel and altar when necessary. It
was furthermore agreed that the patronage should
belong first to Sir Thomas and his heirs as lords of the
manor, secondly to the Prior of St. Swithun's, Winchester, and thirdly to the Bishop of Winchester,
that Sir Thomas Coudray and his heirs would attend
the parish church at the greater festivals, and that
the rector of Sherborne St. John should continue
his annual payment of a mark to the chaplain. (fn. 192) The
chapel was licensed by William Waynflete, Bishop of
Winchester, in 1449 for the marriage of any of the
children of William Brocas after the banns had been
duly proclaimed in the proper places. (fn. 193) The lords of
the manor continued to present the chaplains until
the reign of Edward VI, (fn. 194) when the chapel was disendowed by the sale of its lands, which were then of
the annual value of £5 6s. 8d. (fn. 195)
The school was opened in 1850 and rebuilt in
1895 with accommodation for 181 children.
Charities
In 1674 Thomas Sympson by his
will gave a sum of £2 10s. yearly for
ever to be paid out of his land in
Monk Sherborne and Baughurst for the benefit of the
poor.
In 1774 John Chute by his will gave a sum of
£300—now represented by £366 13s. 4d. consols
with 'The Official Trustees of Charitable Funds,' the
income (£9 3s. 4d.) to be bestowed for the benefit of
the poor.
There are certain lands in the parish called donation
lands, consisting of about 10 acres; two-thirds of the
income derived from them, being £5 per annum, is
paid to the churchwardens for distribution amongst
the poor.
The church estate is now represented by a sum of
£95 2s. 5d. India 3 per cent, stock with the official
trustees. The income (£2 17s. per annum) is applied
towards the expenses of the church.