TEMPLE GRAFTON
Acreage: 2,050 (2,034 land, 16 water).
Population: 1911, 377; 1921, 314; 1931, 370.
The parish of Temple Grafton lies on the ridge
north of the Avon, which forms its southern and southeastern boundary. It includes the hamlets of Ardens
Grafton, of which the northern side of the street is in
Exhall parish, and Hillborough. In the 17th century
the hamlet of King's Broom, now in Bidford, also
formed part of the civil parish. (fn. 1) The land rises to an
altitude of over 300 ft. in the northern part of the parish
and slopes down to about 180 ft. by the river-bank at
Hillborough, 2 miles to the south. The village, with
the church, stands on the edge of the hill, commanding
views across the valley to Bredon Hill and the Cotswolds.
Next east of the churchyard is a small farm-house of
the 17th-century, of timber-framing with a thatched
roof; and farther east are three small thatched cottages,
one of stone, the others timber-framed, all of the same
century. Opposite the church is a farmstead with a
modern house and a 17th-century barn of timber with
red brick infilling and a tiled roof.
Temple Grafton Court is a modern building dating
from 1876. It replaces the ancient manor-house, destroyed in 1804, which was of two stories, the lower
of stone and the upper of timber, plastered; the gabled
central porch had pargetting with figures of Adam and
Eve. (fn. 2) A National School was erected in 1838 (the
original building is now a church hall) and there is a
village hall opened in 1934 and a Baptist Chapel built
in 1841.
The hamlet of Ardens Grafton, about ½ mile farther
west, has a street of houses mostly of local stone with
tiled roofs, but one house, 'Manor Cottage', setting
back from the road, on the south side, has timber-framed
walls and a thatched roof. Two other buildings retain
fragments of ancient framing.
Hillborough, even in 1730, consisted only of two
farm-houses. (fn. 3)
Hillborough Manor is of a modified L-shaped plan,
the shorter wing projecting to the south at the west end.
portions of the close studding of the original south and
west walls. In the latter, next to the southern doorway,
was a hatch with an ogee head, now blocked. The fireplace was originally 10 ft. wide, but it has been altered
for a modern smaller grate and a doorway cut through
the back of the remainder, to the south. The Elizabethan staircase, south of the kitchen, has some silhouette
balusters and heavy oak treads and risers. The parlour,
occupying the north-west angle of the house, has had
its floor raised to provide more height for the cellar
below it; it is lined with early-17th-century panelling.
The only features of note in the upper story are two
In the angle of the two main wings is a staircase block,
gabled on the east. All the external walls are of stone
except the middle part of the north front, where the
upper story is of close-set studding. This wall and the
rooms behind it—kitchen, &c.—are of the early 16th
century; the west wing and the stair-hall were built late
in the 16th century, and the north range was extended
to the east, or altered, in the 18th century or later. The
walls are of square lias stone, those of the west wing
being in alternate narrow and wide courses. The roofs
are tiled. The principal front is the west. The main
wall has two projecting chimney-stacks of stone with
brick shafts. The southern has two shafts faced with
curiously irregular V-shaped pilasters; the northern has
two old square shafts set diagonally, besides later shafts,
and immediately north of it is a shallow wing or bay,
projecting westwards 6¼ ft. The gable-head is of
modern brick. The lowest story has a four-light window with an old oak frame and mullions. There are
some old wood-framed windows in the main wall.
HILLBOROUGH TEMPLE GRAFTON Sketch plan
On the north front the tall western part, of the late
16th century, is of stone. There are three old windows,
half below ground-level, to the basement: these have
wood frames, and the gable-head has an original fivelight window with moulded oak frame and mullions.
The range east of this is of only two stories; part of it
retains the close-set framing to the upper story; the lower
story is of stone and has a modern window, to the kitchen,
and a wide doorway. East of this part the whole wall
has been rebuilt. There are no ancient features on the
south side of this range, or east side of the west wing,
but the south gable-head of the wing has an ancient
window of stone with chamfered mullions and a
moulded dripstone.
The kitchen has a ceiling with moulded cross-beams
and joists of the early 16th century, and it preserves
doorways, to the room over the parlour and chamber
next south of it; these are oak framed and have original
ogee arches.
South-east of the house are timber-framed farm
buildings, and beyond them is an ancient circular
pigeon-house built of stone in rubble with many larger
courses of squared stones. It is about 24 ft. in diameter
externally and the walls are about a yard thick inclusive
of the stone nests inside. It has a conical roof, tiled, and
a lantern at the apex.
About ¼ mile to the south-west of Hillborough is
'West Hillborough', an early-17th-century building
of stone, largely rebuilt in modern red brick. The
plan is of a modified L-shape, the wing extending to
the north at the east end. The gabled end of the wing
has original stone windows with moulded mullions to
the ground and first floors and moulded oak bargeboards to the gable-head. The north side of the main
block also had mullioned windows, now blocked, and
a porch wing, which has since been widened in brickwork: the original doorway to the porch, now blocked,
is in its east side and has a four-centred arch in a square
head. The present entrance in the north front is
modern, but the inner doorway has an ancient moulded
oak frame and a battened door hung with ornamental
strap hinges. The east end-wall of the main block is of
rubble, but the north and west walls are of modern red
brick. It has a central chimney-stack of stone, containing a 7-ft. fire-place, with three square shafts set
diagonally, of thin bricks, above the tiled roof.
The L.M.S. railway from Stratford to Broom Junction and the main Stratford-Bidford-Evesham road
cross the parish from east to west. At Cranhill a road
branches northwards to Haselor, with another branch
westwards to Wixford, and is crossed in Temple Grafton village by a road from Red Hill on the Alcester
Stratford road, through Ardens Grafton to Exhall.
This latter, continued from Ardens Grafton southwestwards as what is now only a lane through Summer
Hill to Bidford, was once the principal road through
the village and is marked and mile-posted on 18thcentury maps of Warwickshire as an alternative main
road from Stratford to Bidford. (fn. 5) The manor of Hillborough had salt rights at Droitwich attached to it, (fn. 6) and
the field path along the river from Bidford to Hillborough may be the survival of a Salt Way. (fn. 7)
The soil is light clay and sand, with a subsoil of lower
lias limestone. There was formerly extensive quarrying
here, and stone and slates from Grafton were used at
Stratford early in the 15th century. (fn. 8) When the Birmingham-Stratford Canal was first projected in 1792
it was proposed to construct a branch ending at two
quarries belonging to Viscount Beauchamp on the
border of Binton parish. (fn. 9) Of the 29 householders
given in Kelly's Directory for 1854 no less than 10
were quarriers and stone masons. In the later 19th
century, however, the industry began to decline and
has now quite disappeared.
In 1517 the Inclosure Commissioners reported that
Sir William Gascoigne (lord of the manor of Oversley)
and Henry Smyth of Coventry had each consolidated
the land of two farms into one, leaving one of the farmhouses to decay. About 150 acres were thus ingrossed
and some 15 persons evicted. (fn. 10) A survey (fn. 11) in 1540 of
the Hospitaller and Westminster Abbey estates, then
leased to John Swift, shows that much of the land was
in the hands of freeholders. The common waste in
Ardens Grafton was 60 acres and in Temple Grafton
21 acres, besides 27 acres of Lammas Common held
by John Swift at Marston Hill, probably the later
Cow Common. Another survey, (fn. 12) made in 1740,
shows that there had been some inclosure and much
concentration of ownership in the hands of the lord of
the manor and a few freeholders. The open common
had fallen to 44 acres in Ardens and 7 acres in Temple
Grafton, and the Cow Common had recently been
partitioned, one-tenth to 'the poor' and the rest divided
between the four largest proprietors. The open arable
of Temple Grafton lay in four fields, named after the
points of the compass, and that of Ardens Grafton in
four 'quarters'—Town Furlong, Walkers Hill, Lower
Field, and Ash Furlong. Concentration continued, and
when the parish was finally inclosed under an Act of
Parliament (52 Geo. III, c. 37) in 1815 (fn. 13) nearly
90 per cent. of the allotment was made to four proprietors. About 850 acres of open fields and commons
were dealt with; half of this amount was assigned to
John Fullerton, lord of the manor, and 162 acres in lieu
of rectorial tithes to the heirs of Ferdinando Bullock.
The name Temple Grafton is a curious misnomer
which first occurs in 1535; for though the Hospitallers
held land here, there seems to have been no connexion
with the Templars. During the Middle Ages Temple
and Ardens Grafton were usually distinguished as Over
Grafton, Grafton Superior, Church Grafton, or Grafton Major and Nether Grafton, Grafton Inferior or
Grafton Minor respectively. A reference to 'Temple
Grafton alias Ardens Grafton' occurs in 1650. (fn. 14)
Manors
GRAFTON was alleged to have been
granted to Evesham Abbey by Ceolred
King of Mercia in 710. (fn. 15) But it is also said
to have been given by Edward the Confessor in 1055,
and is included among the 36 manors acquired by
Abbot Ethelwig (1055–77); (fn. 16)
the 8th-century charter is probably a forgery made about this
time to strengthen the title. Of
these 36 manors, 28, including
Grafton, were seized by Odo,
Bishop of Bayeux, quasi lupus
rapax, after Ethelwig's death. (fn. 17)
Domesday records that before the
Conquest Mervin, Scotin, Toti,
and Tosti held it freely. It was
assessed in 1086 at 5 hides, held
by Gilbert of Osbern FitzRichard, (fn. 18) to whom Odo had given
it. (fn. 19) Evesham seems to have regained part of the
manor after Osbern's death, for Abbot Maurice (1122–30), without leave of his chapter, granted 1 hide here
in fee farm to Ralph Boteler of Oversley, (fn. 20) to whose son
Robert Abbot Adam (1160–91) gave it in fee. (fn. 21) Grafton
is in fact included among the townships in which the
abbot claimed privileges in the reign of Edward I. (fn. 22) In
1208 there is mention of a holding of the fee of William
de Beauchamp, (fn. 23) whose grandson married Isabel sister
and heir of William Mauduit, Earl of Warwick, and
was the ancestor of the Beauchamp earls. The overlordship, however, already belonged to the Earl of Warwick
in 1243 (fn. 24) and so continued at least until the 15th century, the manor being held of him by the service of half
a knight's fee in 1243 and 1268, (fn. 25) of a whole fee in
1316, (fn. 26) and of a quarter of a fee in 1428. (fn. 27)
Evesham Abbey. Azure a chain with its padlock set cheveronwise between three mitres argent.
The Graftons were the principal landholders during
the later 12th century. Robert de Grafton paid 10
marks to the sheriff for default in 1179–80. (fn. 28) Ralph
son of William de Grafton died in 1204, when his sister
and heir Margaret released all her land in Grafton,
except for a hide which she held of the Abbot of Evesham, to Henry de Bereford, (fn. 29) who received the wardship of William and Felice her son and daughter and in
return undertook to maintain her during life. (fn. 30) Henry's
right was challenged by Ralph Boteler, who, probably
acting as lord of the manor, paid a fine to have the lands
until the title should be legally determined between him
and Henry de Bereford. (fn. 31) In 1208 Margaret was still
holding half a hide of Ralph in Grafton (fn. 32) which, with
a hide of the fee of William de Beauchamp, she passed
to William de Arderne. (fn. 33) At some time before 1221
Henry de Bereford gave the whole fee to William de
Arderne, (fn. 34) but probably retained the mesne lordship,
as in 1240 he acknowledged the right of Hugh de
Arderne to hold of him 3 hides in Grafton by render
of a pair of spurs, or one penny, in lieu of the service
of half a knight's fee. (fn. 35) When Henry died his property
passed to his nephew Henry de Nafford, who was holding the manor of the Earl of Warwick for half a fee in
1243, (fn. 36) as was William de Arderne in 1268. (fn. 37)
The first mention of the Knights Hospitallers here
occurs in 1189, when they received a grant of land from
Henry de Grafton. (fn. 38) In 1275–6 they were holding 2
carucates—formerly belonging to Ralph and Bernard
de Grafton—which were declared to have evaded taxation for forty years past. (fn. 39) In 1316 they held the manor
for a knight's fee of Guy de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick. By 1338 they had a Preceptory here, which was
united with that of Balsall, (fn. 40) and they continued lords
of the manor until the suppression of their Order in
1540.
Knights Hospitallers. Gules a cross argent.
Sheldon. Sable a fesse between three sheldrakes argent.
The manor of TEMPLE GRAFTON thereupon
passed to the Crown and by an Act of 32 Henry VIII
was included in the jointure of Queen Katherine Parr. (fn. 41)
In 1545, however, it was granted with other estates to
William Sheldon and John Draper (alias Mercer) of
Temple Grafton (fn. 42) and was allotted to Draper two years
later. In 1548 Draper settled the manor on his son
Robert, reserving a moiety to his wife Margery for her
life, and he died in 1556. (fn. 43) Margery Draper died in
1558 and Robert in 1563, (fn. 44) leaving a son and heir
William, who received the manor on coming of age in
1583. (fn. 45) William Draper married Margaret daughter
of Anthony Sheldon of Broadway and, having no issue,
settled the manor on Brace (or Blaze) Sheldon, his
brother-in-law. From him it passed to his son and
grandson, both also named Brace. (fn. 46) Brace II, who was
found seised of the manor in 1626, was a recusant, and
in 1633 two parts of his lands here forfeited to the
Crown were granted to his kinsman, William Sheldon,
on a lease for forty-one years. (fn. 47) Brace III was holding
the manor in 1654 (fn. 48) and died c. 1669, (fn. 49) leaving his
daughter Anne as his heir. His younger brother Ralph,
who appears as lord of the manor in 1674 (fn. 50) and 1675, (fn. 51)
may have been acting as guardian during Anne's
minority. Anne married Edward Burdett of Gray's
Inn, who died in 1722. (fn. 52) She then granted the manor
to the Rev. Thomas Allen and John Cresser (fn. 53) in trust
for her son Robert, who, however, died at the age of
16 in the following year. Anne Burdett was still lady
of the manor in 1730, (fn. 54) but James Kendall of Conduit
Street, London, was holding it in 1731, (fn. 55) and it passed
on his death to his widow, who died at Stratford in
1769. (fn. 56) In that year it came into the hands of the
Rev. John Fullerton, rector of West Horsley, Surrey,
and afterwards of the College, Old Stratford. (fn. 57) In 1852
his son John Fullerton conveyed it to Isaac Hodgson,
from whose son it was purchased in 1867 by James
William Carlile, (fn. 58) who built the church, the schools,
the vicarage, Temple Grafton Court, and many of the
cottages in the village. Mr. Carlile, who died in 1892,
gave the manor to his daughter Alice, wife of Dominick
Samuel Gregg. When Mrs. Gregg died in 1919 her
daughter Mrs. Whiteman succeeded to it. In 1921 the
estate was broken up, Temple Grafton Court being
purchased by Thomas Lonsdale, whose widow is the
present owner, and most of the farms by the tenants. (fn. 59)
Between 1226 and 1287 there are references to a
tenement in Grafton held of the honor of Richard's
Castle, and therefore presumably part of the Domesday
holding of Osbern Fitz-Richard. In 1226 John Esturmy
granted a carucate of land to William son of Robert de
Grafton to hold by the service of a quarter of a knight's
fee. (fn. 60) This is doubtless the fifth of a fee held in 1236
of the fee of Stuteville, (fn. 61) for William de Stuteville was
then lord of the honor, as third husband of Margaret
de Say; and in 1243 William de Grafton's quarter-fee
was held of John de Sturmy, who held of William de
Curly, who held of Richard's Castle. (fn. 62) In 1287 the
hamlet of Nether Grafton was held for a quarter of a
fee by John de Sturmy of Robert de Mortimer (fn. 63) grandson of Robert second husband of Margaret de Say. (fn. 64)
Robert's son and heir Hugh left no male issue and the
overlordship probably passed to the Earl of Warwick.
Part of the tenement of Ralph Boteler appears to
have descended with the manor of Oversley (q.v.)
through the Ferrers and Neville families to Sir William
Gascoigne, who in 1537 conveyed it to Thomas Cromwell, afterwards Earl of Essex. (fn. 65) After Cromwell's
execution it passed to the Crown and in 1541, with
other of his estates in this neighbourhood, was granted
to Sir George Throckmorton. (fn. 66)
GRAFTON MINOR occurs in a grant to Evesham
Abbey by Ufa, Sheriff of Warwickshire, dated 973. (fn. 67)
As it is included among Ethelwig's acquisitions ('Alia
Graftun') (fn. 68) it may in the meantime have been lost by
the monastery, and with Grafton it was seized by the
Bishop of Bayeux. It is most probably to be identified
with the 3 hides and 1 virgate in 'Graston' which
Domesday records among the possessions of William
Fitz-Corbucion; Leuric and Eileua held it of him and
before the Conquest they had held it freely. (fn. 69) In 1208
Margaret de Grafton passed 3 hides held of the fee of
Peter de Studley (or Corbizon) to William de Arderne. (fn. 70) Another William died in 1276 leaving lands
in Grafton, amounting to about 3 hides, of which the
tenure is not specified, and a fifth of a knight's fee held
by Alan de Grafton. (fn. 71) The custody of his brother and
heir Richard, an idiot, fell to the Crown and the estate
was granted to his widow Agatha to hold in dower. (fn. 72)
Richard died in 1279, (fn. 73) and Sir John Wolf, or 'le Low',
and Amice his wife (perhaps Richard's sister) remitted
their rights in Richard's property
to Edward I, (fn. 74) who in 1292
granted it as a manor, together
with Knowle and other estates that
had formerly belonged to William
de Arderne, to Westminster Abbey,
to provide obits for the soul of
Queen Eleanor. (fn. 75) The abbey's
right was challenged in 1332 by
Margery widow of Philip le
Wolf, (fn. 76) but Westminster remained in possession until the
Dissolution. In 1428 it was held as half a knight's
fee, (fn. 77) but it is not mentioned in the valuation of 1535
and by that time was probably reckoned as a part of the
manor of Knowle. The descent of the property, distinguished after 1540 as ARDENS GRAFTON, since
the Reformation has followed that of Temple Grafton.
Westminster Abbey. Gules two crossed keys or.
A messuage called Allen's land, with about 1,000
acres of land, wood, and heath, is mentioned in 1553
as in the possession of Roger Swift. (fn. 78) The family of
Swift had then been settled in the parish for more than
two centuries. A William Swift occurs in Grafton in
1327 (fn. 79) and witnesses a grant of land in Church Grafton
by John Alleyn to Walter Alleyn in 1334: (fn. 80) John
and William Swyft served as collectors of subsidies
in Warwickshire in 1434 and 1440 respectively: (fn. 81) in
1545 John Swyfte was holding lands called Ardens in
Temple and Ardens Grafton as the former tenant of
the Hospitallers and of Westminster Abbey. (fn. 82) Roger
Swift's daughter and heir Frances married Edward
Kempson of Ardens Grafton. Their son George conveyed the property to his cousin William Kempson in
1623–4. (fn. 83) William's lands were sequestered for recusancy, but his daughter Elizabeth, having been brought
up by a Protestant, seems to have recovered full possession. (fn. 84) She married George Ferrers of Solihull, (fn. 85) and
in 1676 conveyed the estate to Reason Mellish in trust
for George Willoughby, whose sons Francis and Robert
sold it to Anthony Charles of Great Alne and Ralph
Wagstaffe of Temple Grafton, the possessors of it in
1730. (fn. 86) In 1870 the estate was purchased by James
William Carlile, then lord of the manor. (fn. 87)
HILLBOROUGH belonged in pre-Conquest times
to Evesham Abbey and is included in the spurious grant
of Ceolred of Mercia in 710. (fn. 88) It was certainly acquired
by Abbot Ethelwig, (fn. 89) and was afterwards lost to the
Bishop of Bayeux. In the Confessor's time Ernui and
Lodric held it freely and in 1086 Ernui's portion, of
1½ hides, was held by Urse d'Abitot of the king, and
3½ hides in Binton and Hillborough, formerly belonging to Lodric, were held by Hugh of Osbern FitzRichard, the lord of Richard's Castle. (fn. 90) The latter is
perhaps identical with the half-knight's fee in Binton
and Hillborough which John Hubaud held of John de
Hastings in 1313. (fn. 91)
Although the rights of Evesham are ignored in the
Domesday Survey, Hillborough was one of the estates
for which the abbot successfully sued 'before the five
shires at Gildeneberg' and which the Conqueror restored to him. (fn. 92) Abbot Robert of Jumièges (1104–22)
granted it to William de Sevecourt, (fn. 93) from whom it
apparently passed to Robert Strecke. (fn. 94) But by the
middle of the 12th century Peter de Studley (or Corbizon) and Henry de Montfort, his son-in-law, (fn. 95) seem to
have been the chief landholders here. (fn. 96) Henry disposed
of his interest to Peter, (fn. 97) and William Corbizon was
in 1212 holding a quarter and a tenth of a knight's fee
in Hillborough of the honor of Richard's Castle. (fn. 98) In
1235 the manor was held of the honor for half a fee, (fn. 99)
perhaps by the Cantelupes who similarly held Ipsley.
William de Cantelupe in 1254 died seised of certain
rents in Hillborough as part of his manor of Aston
Cantlow. (fn. 100) The overlordship, like that of Ipsley,
descended with the manor of Aston Cantlow at least
down to the reign of Elizabeth. (fn. 101) It was held as two
half-fees in 1313 (fn. 102) and as a fee, together with Ipsley,
in 1346–7. (fn. 103) In 1349 it is again separately accounted
for as half a fee, (fn. 104) but Hillborough and Ipsley together
were held by the service only of a quarter of a fee in
1428. (fn. 105)
The family of Hubaud, whose principal seat was at
Ipsley, is descended from that Hugh who appears in
Domesday as the under-tenant of
Osbern Fitz-Richard. Dugdale
says that Henry Hubaut recovered
'all that he could lay claim to' in
Hillborough from Peter Corbizon (fn. 106) probably about the end of
the 12th century. Hillborough remained joined with Ipsley (q.v.)
in the family (later called Huband)
until 1729, when it was sold to
Bowater Vernon of Hanbury
Hall, Worcestershire. His son
Thomas Vernon succeeded in
1735 and died in 1770, leaving
it to his daughter Emma, who married John Phillips.
On her death in 1818 the estate descended to Thomas
Sprawley Vernon and in 1854 was sold to Henry
Beacroft of Droitwich. (fn. 107)
Hubaud. Sable three fleurs de lis coming out of leopards' heads argent.
A grant of the manor in 1745 includes court leet and
court baron, (fn. 108) but there is no evidence that these franchises were ever exercised here.
In 1313 a half-fee in Hillborough was held of John
de Hastings by Simon de Hildebury. (fn. 109) He may be
connected with Simon de Belne who in 1249 received
a grant of a virgate of land here from Robert and
Prudence Throckmorton. (fn. 110) The family of Belne was
settled at Bidford early in the 14th century and a Robert
de Belne occurs in Hillborough in 1332. (fn. 111) There is no
further mention of them here, and the holding must
have been merged in the Hubaud manor.
Besides Evesham, which was still possessed of rents
in Hillborough at the Dissolution, (fn. 112) Bordesley Abbey
held land here from the time of its foundation in 1140.
Peter Corbizon in that year granted 10 acres of land
called Westcroft (fn. 113) and in 1297 the monks acquired
from Millicent, widow of Hugh le Fremon, a twenty
years' lease of a meadow called Fremoneshomme, lying
between Westcroft and the Avon. (fn. 114) That they had also
a fish-pond here appears from an undated grant by
Robert le Fremon allowing them to pass over his land
whenever they wished to repair it. (fn. 115) They held the
rights of fishing in the Avon and free passage through
the floodgates (but not the fishing in the floodgates) by
a grant from Henry de Montfort. (fn. 116) After the Dissolution these fishing rights were acquired by John Draper,
though John Hubaud made a claim to them. (fn. 117) Draper
left them to his son Richard, from whom they descended
at least until 1640, with the advowson of Grafton.
They are, however, included with the manor in a deed
of 1745. (fn. 118) In 1603 there is mention of a second fishery,
which then belonged, with the other, to Leonard
Kempson. (fn. 119)
There was a mill in Hillborough, worth 12d. in 1086,
but there is no other reference to it until 1571 when it
was in the possession of John Hubaud. (fn. 120) He had also
a windmill, which is perhaps the same as that marked
to the south of Ardens Grafton village on Sheriff's map
of 1796. (fn. 121)
Church
The parish church of ST. ANDREW
was entirely rebuilt in 1875 and consists of
a chancel with a north organ chamber and
vestry, nave, north aisle, and a south-west tower serving
as a porch. It is built of lias stone with sandstone
dressings, and has tiled roofs.
On the north wall of the chancel is a repainted stone
shield of arms of the 17th century with the six quarterings of the Woodchurch-Clarke family, impaling the
quarterly coat of De la Hay, Winterbourne, Sheldon,
and Ruding. In the organ chamber is a 17th-century
oak chest with panelled sides, a carved top-rail, and a
panelled lid. Another chest is of the 18th or early 19th
century.
The early registers exist only in a very incomplete
transcript beginning in 1612.
Advowson
There was a church at Grafton in
1086. Both the rectory and the advowson were acquired by the Hospitallers,
their earliest recorded presentation being in 1277. (fn. 122)
There is no mention of the church in 1291, but in 1338
it was valued at £8, (fn. 123) and three years later at £6 13s. 4d.,
of which the glebe accounted for £2 13s. 4d. (fn. 124) In 1585
it is included in the general return for the Preceptory
of Balsall. (fn. 125)
After the Dissolution the rectory and advowson came
with the manor to John Draper and passed from him
to his son Richard, who in 1567 was holding them of
the Crown for a quarter of a knight's fee. (fn. 126) On
Richard's death they were divided between his two
sisters Agnes (or Anne) wife of William Kempson and
Isabel wife of Richard Gennens. Isabel and her husband conveyed her moiety to Henry Huggeford in
1575. (fn. 127) Anne's descended to her son Leonard, who
died in 1603, holding the whole rectory and advowson
for a quarter-fee. (fn. 128) George Kempson, son of Leonard,
presented in 1633, (fn. 129) and in 1640 he sold both rectory
and advowson to Sir Simon Clarke. (fn. 130) After 1633 there
was no institution until 1849, the church being served
for two centuries either by licensed curates or neighbouring incumbents. Nor until 1870 was there a resident vicar. Meanwhile the rectory and advowson
passed to Mark Parker, who had married Sir Simon
Clarke's daughter Elizabeth and whose grandson Mark
Parker was patron in 1730. (fn. 131) Ferdinando Bullock is
mentioned as patron in 1786 (fn. 132) and Francis Ferdinando
Bullock presented in 1849. (fn. 133) The latter sold the
patronage to James William Carlile about 1875 and it
descended with the manor until 1921, when it came
into the hands of its present owners, the Diocesan
Trustees.
In 1712 the great tithes were owned by Anne Burdett,
the lady of the manor, (fn. 134) but by 1730 had once more
become united with the advowson in the possession of
Mark Parker. (fn. 135) The tithes of Hillborough were separately conveyed in 1623 (fn. 136) and 1650. (fn. 137)
In 1586 the vicarage was worth £20 a year. The
vicar, John Frith, was then described as 'an old priest
and unsound in religion' whose 'chief trade' was 'to
cure hawks that are hurt or diseased'. (fn. 138) By the early
18th century it had become customary for the officiating
minister to receive the small tithes as his stipend. (fn. 139) The
living was united with that of Binton by an Order in
Council of 18 Dec. 1931. (fn. 140)
A chapel in Temple Grafton, formerly belonging to
the Hospitallers, was included in the grant of 1545 to
William Sheldon and John Draper and was granted by
the latter to his son Richard in 1551. (fn. 141) It passed thence
to the Kempson family and is last mentioned as being
lately in the possession of Leonard Kempson in 1604. (fn. 142)
There was a chapel of St. Mary Magdalen in Hillborough, which was pulled down by John Hubaud,
who was accused of having carried away the bells,
timber, and ornaments and of converting the profits to
his own use. (fn. 143)
Charities
Thomas King, by will dated 1877
bequeathed £180 to the vicar and
churchwardens, the interest to be divided among the poor of the parish. The legacy produces £4 14s. 4d. in dividends, which are distributed
to aged poor people in coal.
Walker's Charity. A rentcharge of 12s., understood
to have been given by a person named Walker for the
poor not receiving parish relief, is now paid out of land
in Temple Grafton and distributed to aged poor.
Poor's Land. The endowment of this charity, the
origin of which is unknown, consists of 3 acres of land
at Temple Grafton known as Poor's Land, let in allotments at a yearly rent of £1. A scheme of the Charity
Commissioners appoints four trustees to administer the
charity for the benefit of the poor.