HAMPTON LUCY
Acreage: 3,160.
Population: 1911, 393; 1921, 367; 1931, 381.
The parish of Hampton Lucy lies on the left bank
of the Avon, which forms its south and east boundary.
The country has the undulating character common to
the neighbourhood, but in the main the land slopes
gently southward down to the flat meadows bordering
the river. The village lies in the bend of the river, and
the higher ground to the north of it terminates abruptly
in the precipitous Scar Bank overlooking the river and,
still farther north, shoots out the long easterly ridge of
Copdock Hill. The latter, at 271 ft. above Ordnance
datum, is the highest point in the parish, and the clump
of Scotch firs at its farther end is a landmark for some
miles round. The site of the depopulated village of
Hatton, now occupied by two farms, lies about a mile
to the west of Hampton Lucy village. The hamlet of
Ingon comprises the most westerly portion of the
parish, which here extends to the ridge dividing the
Avon valley from the Forest of Arden.
The main road from Warwick to Stratford crosses
the parish on the west, down Packsaddle Hill and
Rhine Hill. Branching off it on the east side there are,
or were, three by-roads. The first runs from the top
of Windmill Hill almost due south, near to Hatton
Rock Farm, whence it continues as a field track down
to the Avon at Alveston Ford. On the right, at the point
where it enters the fields is a hollow, known locally as
Sal's Grave from the tradition of a witch's burial. From
here a turn to the left leads to Hampton Lucy—no
doubt the road referred to in the 17th century as
Hatton Way. (fn. 1) The second turning from the main road
ran from the bottom of Windmill Hill up to the first
at Hatton Bank Farm, half a mile north of Hatton
Rock. Though now an almost obliterated field path, it
seems to have been a road in the early 18th century. (fn. 2)
The third, running from the top of Packsaddle Hill
into the first beyond Hatton Rock, is now the main road
from Stratford to Hampton Lucy, but it does not
appear as such before about 1820. (fn. 3) Northwards from
Hampton Lucy village runs the road to Hampton
Woods and Fulbrook. It is described as the way from
Fulbrook to Bishop's Hampton in 1461. (fn. 4) In 1575
it appears to be referred to as the Redde Waye (fn. 5) and a
field on the east side of it near the top of Copdock Hill
is still called Redway Ground. As it ran through the
open fields it was liable to be encroached upon by the
tenants of the adjoining lands. In 1631 the jurors of
the manor court were ordered 'to set great mere stones'
along the road so that these holdings 'may be perfectly
known and distinguished'. (fn. 6) And in the following year
two of the tenants concerned were ordered to 'make
a sufficient coachway leading through their closes towards Hampton Wood soe that a coach may sufficiently
passe that way without danger'. (fn. 7) In 1641 John
Dolittle was presented for 'ploughing upp part of the
way leading to Hampton Wood whereby the way
is streyhtned'. (fn. 8) At Sandbarn Farm, ¼ mile north of the
village, a fork to the left leads to the Warwick-Stratford
road at the top of Windmill Hill. The existence of this
road in the 16th century is indicated by references, in
1575, to land belonging to the farm as situated 'between
the two Highways'. (fn. 9) In the hollow beyond Copdock
Hill a lane leads off to the right from the Fulbrook
road to Grove Field Farm. There it forks, each branch
ending within a short distance at an ancient ford over
the Avon.
There is evidence in 1182 that a two-field system of
cultivation was followed at Hampton, (fn. 10) and the names
of the common fields are given in 1299 as the Overfelde
and Netherfelde. (fn. 11) The common pasture appears from
later deeds to have lain to the south of the village, along
the river, and no doubt gives its name to Old Pasture
Farm. North of the village the wood called Hampton
Gorse, the gorse fields to the east of it, and the fields
called Edwards Heath and Big and Little Heath on the
south side of the Snitterfield road indicate the position
of the medieval heath and waste. Inclosure began early,
owing, as seems probable, to the development of sheep
farming. An assart at the Grove is mentioned in 1182. (fn. 12)
In about 1282 there were 400 sheep on the manor,
and in 1299 there was pasture for 540. (fn. 13) The village
of Hatton had been wholly depopulated and inclosed
by about 1480. (fn. 14) Nether Ingon Farm was consolidated by 1570, and a particular of the lands in Ingon
in that year shows no trace of the common field system. (fn. 15) In Hampton 5 holders of land were summoned
before the Inclosure Commissioners in 1517 and
charged with having pulled down houses, evicted the
tenants, and converted arable land to pasture. (fn. 16) As a
result of their activities, 6 houses and a cottage had
been destroyed and 195 acres had gone out of tillage;
24 persons are stated to have been evicted from 5 of the
holdings, and the total depopulation may be estimated
at about 36. (fn. 17) The inclosers included 2 ecclesiastics;
Simon Turneur and John Brogden, Prior of Thelsford
and Vicar of Newbold Pacey, who farmed the manor
from the Bishop of Worcester. (fn. 18) A considerable extent
of open fields, however, still remained. In a conveyance
of Sandbarn Farm in 1575 nearly all the land appears
to have been held in strips, (fn. 19) and in Charles I's time
the fact that the road to Fulbrook ran through uninclosed land gave rise to disputes that have already
been mentioned. But by 1685 Old Pasture, Hatton,
and Black Hill Farms seem to have been consolidated; (fn. 20)
50 years later the Heath had been inclosed and the
process was complete. (fn. 21) The fact that nearly all the
land belonged to the lord of the manor would render
a Parliamentary Act superfluous.
An early-19th-century writer remarks of Hampton
Lucy that 'A considerable degree of neatness marks the
appearance of the cottages and each is distinguished by
its particular number'. (fn. 22) Most of the cottages must
then have been newly built, and they give the place
rather the air of a model village, but there are several
older houses still remaining. The rectory, south-west
of the church, is a late-17th-century house of red brick
with stone plinth, string-courses, rusticated angledressings, and parapet with a moulded stone cornice
and balusters. The middle entrance in the north front
has a round pediment; the tall narrow windows of
brick have stone key-blocks and are fitted with (modern)
sash-frames. The roof is tiled. Several of the rooms
have fielded panelling and ornamental plaster ceilings,
and the staircase has original turned balusters.
The old rectory was the largest in the neighbourhood. It comprised, according to an Elizabethan terrier,
26 bays of building (fn. 23) and is assessed at 7 hearths in the
Hearth Tax returns of 1662–74.
'Avonside', formerly known as the Old Grammar
School, stands east of the church. It is of much the
same character as the rectory, but some windows at
the back have their original oak mullions and transoms. There is a good contemporary staircase with
turned balusters. This is presumably the 'newly
erected messuage' given by George Lucy as a residence
for the schoolmaster in 1710. The original schoolhouse
of 1636 stood partly in the churchyard and seems to
have been used as a schoolroom for some time after this
date. (fn. 24)
At the east end of the village an iron bridge of single
span crosses the river towards Charlecote. It was cast
at the Horseley Ironworks in Shropshire (fn. 25) in 1829 at
the expense of the Rev. John Lucy, then rector, who
also contributed largely to the rebuilding of the church (fn. 26)
and, in all probability, built many of the cottages. It
replaced 'a ford and wooden causeway for foot passengers', but that there had been an earlier bridge here
is evident from the statement in the inventory of church
goods, 1552, that the parishioners had lately sold a bell
for the maintenance of their bridge. (fn. 27)
Near the bridge is a 17th-century timber-framed
cottage (No. 6) with a thatched roof: the end gable
walls and the foundations are of later brick.
Four picturesque cottages, from 200 to 300 yards
north of the church on the east side of the Snitterfield
road, date from the 17th century. They have timberframed walls with brick infilling, on stone or brick
foundations, and thatched roofs. They are conjoined
in two pairs and each is divided into several tenements:
most of them have wide fire-places or remains of them,
some of stone: the southernmost has a projecting
chimney-stack of brick with stone angle-dressings and
a plain rectangular shaft of thin bricks. Other chimneyshafts have been rebuilt. Most of the ceilings are opentimbered. All are said to be condemned to early
destruction as being considered past repair.
Sandbarn Farm, ½ mile north of the village, is a
mid-17th-century house facing south. The front main
block has cemented walls, but two parallel gabled wings
at the back show square timber-framing. The chimneystacks have plain square shafts. The deeds of the
property go back to 1548, (fn. 28) when Thomas Denton of
Besselsleigh, Berkshire, released his right to lands in
Hampton to John Brogden. Brogden died in 1564, (fn. 29)
and it then passed to Alice Bradshaw (presumably his
daughter, and wife of Robert Bradshaw) for her life,
with reversion to Thomas Brogden, draper, of Stratford. In 1575 Thomas granted his reversion to Bradshaw and George Gecock (who had married Joan
Brogden). (fn. 30) The property then consisted of two
messuages and land in the common fields, held as of
freehold. Gecock sold his rights to Bradshaw in 1590,
when it was known as Brogden's Lands. Shortly afterwards Bradshaw made a second marriage, to Isabel
Carpenter of Bromsgrove, in whose favour he executed
a settlement. Isabel was still in occupation in 1624, but
the property then belonged to William Bradshaw
(probably her son), who had a son Robert. It subsequently came to Richard Pidgeon and in 1652 was
divided under the title of Bradshaw's Farm between
the husbands of his two daughters and coheiresses, John
Rogers, rector of Hampton Lucy, and Timothy Venner
of Ashorne. There were then two messuages, known
as the Old and the New House, the latter being
apparently the present building. Venner sold the Old
House to Rogers in 1657, and in 1718 it was stated to
have been long since demolished. In that year William
son of John Rogers sold the New House and lands
belonging to it to William Parker of Salford (q.v.),
whose grandson Robert sold the freehold to George
Lucy in 1781.
Hatton Bank Farm shows some 17th-century framing. Grove Field Farm, in the north-western extremity
of the parish, has a late-18th-century front of three
stories, but behind it are two brick gabled wings,
apparently of late-17th-century date. In a field near
the farm is a medieval gravestone which was discovered
about a century ago on the supposed site of the neighbouring chapel of Fulbrook (q.v.).
The Grammar School, founded in 1635, (fn. 31) has long
been closed and the endowments are now devoted
to the provision of scholarships for boys of the parish
to the Grammar School at Stratford. In 1905 the Lucy
Scholarships were controlled by Magdalen College,
Oxford, and the income of the Grammar School
foundation was devoted to the provision of exhibitions
of £5–£15 a year up to 6 years for boys of 11–14 years
of age whose parents resided in the four parishes of
Hampton Lucy, Charlecote, Wasperton, and Alveston. The Board of Governors included representatives of each of these parishes and of the Warwickshire
County Council and Stratford Rural District Council.
In 1933 the income of the foundation amounted to
£136 9s. 3d., out of which four scholarships of £15
and one of £9 were provided and a sum of £25 10s. a
year was devoted to the maintenance of the school
buildings. (fn. 32)
During the Napoleonic invasion scare a corps of
volunteers was raised in Hampton Lucy. It included
also men from Wellesbourne and Loxley, and the County
Treasurer's Accounts during 1805 (fn. 33) contain several
entries of payments for the maintenance of the force.
Manors
At the Synod of Brentford, 781, Offa,
King of Mercia, confirmed to Bishop
Hathered and the monks of Worcester 17
hides in HAMPTON which they claimed to hold of
Ethelbald his father. (fn. 34) Later in the same year Offa
freed these lands of all secular services. (fn. 35) From this
latter charter it appears that 12 of the hides were in
Hampton and the remainder in 'Faehhaleage' (fn. 36) and
that Hathered—since his appointment to the see early
in 781—had granted them to the king's kinswoman,
the Abbess Eanburga, to hold of the church for her lifetime. The bishops of Worcester continued lords of
the manor until 1549 and it thence became known
as BISHOPS HAMPTON, a name still in common
use as late as the 17th century. (fn. 37) The manor is
rated at 12 hides in Domesday, (fn. 38) and a survey of
1182 gives 12 hides, 3½ virgates. (fn. 39)
That the bishops had a house
here is evident from the mention
in 1182 of land that had formerly
been held by the service of providing nine lights to burn in
the various apartments whenever
the lord should be in the manor. (fn. 40)
It appears, too, that in the 14th
century the bishops occasionally
resided here. (fn. 41) In 1255 Bishop
Walter de Cantilupe obtained a
grant of free warren in his
demesne of Hampton, (fn. 42) a privilege which was confirmed to Bishop Giffard 30 years later. (fn. 43) In 1299 the
manor was valued at £41 15s. 9½d. (fn. 44)
See of Worcester. Argent ten roundels gules.
In 1549 the bishop conveyed the manor, as part of
an exchange of lands, to John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland. (fn. 45) By another exchange in the following
year it passed to the king, (fn. 46) who, however, granted it
again to Dudley, by yet a third exchange, a few months
later. (fn. 47) On Dudley's attainder and execution it
escheated to the Crown, and in 1555 John Swifte
obtained a lease of it for 61 years at an annual rent
of £33 15s. 3½d. (fn. 48) On 12 June 1557 Queen Mary
granted this rent and the reversion of the manor to
Thomas Lucy of Charlecote, to hold as 1/20 of a knight's
fee. (fn. 49) The manor has since descended, with Charlecote (q.v.), in the Lucy family, and thus acquired its
modern name of HAMPTON LUCY. Sir Henry
Fairfax-Lucy of Charlecote was lord of the manor at
the time of his death in 1944.
The descent of the manor of HATTON follows that
of the main manor throughout. In 1182 there were
3½ hides in Hatton held by 8 tenants, and ½ hide held
of the manor of Hampton by Laurence son of Wido. (fn. 50)
There were 16 tenants in Hatton in 1299, (fn. 51) and 17
persons were assessed to the lay subsidy of 1332. (fn. 52)
But the village, as already mentioned, was depopulated
for inclosure during the 15th century.
In 1182 Walter de Turre held a hide in the
Grove; (fn. 53) and a knight's fee in Ingon and the Grove
was held by Nicholas de Warwick in 1299. (fn. 54) Lands
in 'a field called Grove Field' in the tenure of William
Lucy are specifically mentioned in the grant of the
manor to Thomas Lucy in 1557. (fn. 55) The property gives
its name to the present Grove Field Farm. In the early
18th century there was a second farm here called
Cobank, Cobdyke, or Copduck Farm. (fn. 56) It was
farmed together with Grove Field in 1732 (fn. 57) and must
soon afterwards have been absorbed into it.
At some time between 704 and 709 Aedilheard and
Aedilweard of the Hwiccas granted to Cudsuida 5 hides
in INGON for a consideration of 600s. (fn. 58) Ingon is not
mentioned in Domesday, being probably included, as
Dugdale suggests, in Stratford. (fn. 59) But in 1182 Thomas
de St. John was holding 5 hides here as of the manor of
Hampton, (fn. 60) and the overlordship remained with the
Bishop of Worcester at least until the 14th century. (fn. 61)
It must have been before the end of the 12th century
that the bishop granted the manor to one of the family
of de Croome, (fn. 62) for in 1200 Adam de Croome granted
5 hides in Ingon to Thomas de Croome to hold of him
in exchange for lands in Earls Croome, Worcestershire. (fn. 63) Another Adam de Croome occurs in the time
of Bishop Walter de Cantilupe (1236–66) and had a
son Simon. (fn. 64) The latter is no doubt the Simon lord of
Ingon who occurs in Edward I's reign (fn. 65) and may also
perhaps be identified with the Sir Simon de Croome
who in 1329 sold the manor to Robert de Stratford,
then vicar of Stratford, (fn. 66) and afterwards Bishop of
Chichester. It was then held by William Harewell for
the life of Joan his wife, both of whom did fealty to
Robert. In 1330 Robert bought out their interest (fn. 67) and
in the following year conveyed the manor to his brother
John, Bishop of Winchester. (fn. 68) John thereupon granted
it to his newly founded Chantry in Stratford Church, (fn. 69)
which afterwards became a college of priests. In 1337
he added to the endowment a messuage and 2 carucates
of land in Ingon, (fn. 70) and in 1348 Adam de Stevynton of
Stratford granted a further 4 acres of land which he
held of the Bishop of Worcester. (fn. 71) In 1535 the lands
and tenements of the college in Ingon were valued at
£16 6s. 8d. (fn. 72) The manor remained in the possession of
the college until the Dissolution of 1546, when it fell to
the Crown. In 1548 it was granted to Richard Palladye
and Francis Foxhall, citizen and mercer of London, (fn. 73)
being then valued at £17 1s. 8d. (fn. 74) But in the following
year another grant of it was made to Thomas Hawkins
alias Fisher (fn. 75) of the Priory Warwick, who sold it in
1553 to William Clopton. (fn. 76) Releases to Clopton of
claims in the manor were made by William Porter of
Aston Sub-Edge in 1568 (fn. 77) and Edward Hawkins, the
son of Thomas Hawkins above-mentioned in 1580. (fn. 78)
The Cloptons were still holding Ingon in 1663, when
the manor apparently consisted only of 3 closes, altogether 120 acres in extent. (fn. 79) But they afterwards sold
it to the Cokeseys, who, before 1730, divided the
property, selling the Upper Farm to one Farrein and
the Lower Farm to Thomas Woolmer. (fn. 80) The Lower
Farm afterwards came to John Cap, maltster, and to
John Azlewood, whose son Richard was holding it in
1790. (fn. 81)
The Red Book of Worcester contains two unusually
full surveys of the manor of Hampton with Hatton, the
first taken about 1182 and the second in 1299. There
is also a more fragmentary survey which may be dated
c. 1282. (fn. 82) In 1182 the customary tenants of both
places owed three days work in a week, throughout the
year, besides ploughing and harrowing on a fourth.
Every tenant was obliged to perform three bedrips—and a fourth if required—with all his household except
his wife and his shepherd—an early indication of the
importance of sheep-farming here. In 1299 more than
two-thirds of the rent was still due in services or their
monetary equivalents.
The bishop had a PARK in Hampton, the pasturage
of which was worth 20s. a year in 1299. It was then
stated that the underwood was worth nothing, because
there was barely enough wood to fence the park. (fn. 83)
Commissions to inquire into trespasses in the park were
issued in 1299 (fn. 84) and 1339. (fn. 85) The park was conveyed,
with the manor, to the Duke of Northumberland in
1549. (fn. 86) As it is then described as one of the Bishop of
Worcester's woods it was probably more or less identical
with Hampton Woods (fn. 87) which were included in Fulbrook Park when the latter was remade and extended
by Sir Thomas Lucy early in the 17th century. (fn. 88)
There was a mill in Hampton in 1086, valued at
6s. 8d. (fn. 89) It was worth 20s. in 1182, (fn. 90) when the miller
is included among the customary tenants of the manor. (fn. 91)
In 1299 it was let at farm to Geoffrey de Fineburgh at
a rent of 36s. (fn. 92) The 4 mills which are mentioned in a
conveyance of the manor in 1678 (fn. 93) probably include
two or three mill-wheels under one roof and also the
mill at Fulbrook. The present mill, which is still in
use, is situated just above the bridge.
In 1299 the manor included a fishery, worth 18s.
yearly. (fn. 94) In 1667 the fishery was said to extend 'from
a stone in the Ham to Hatton's stile in the parish of
Hampton Lucy' and was then held by William
Combe. (fn. 95) 'Hampton fishery' was let at £3 in 1732. (fn. 96)
Church
The parish church of ST. PETER
dates from 1826 and is interesting as being
one of the earliest and best examples of
the work of the 19th-century 'Gothic revivalists'. It
was designed by T. Rickman and consists of a chancel,
nave with a clearstory, north and south aisles, north
porch, and west tower. In 1858 the east end was
remodelled by Sir Gilbert Scott, who provided the
chancel with an apsidal end: he also refurnished the
church.
The medieval church, which stood 'not exactly on
the same site' as the present building, (fn. 97) was completely
demolished in 1826. A drawing made a few years
before its destruction (fn. 98) shows that it consisted of a
chancel, nave with clearstory and south porch, south
chapel, and western tower. The chapel appears to have
been of 13th-century date, and the visible details of the
rest of the church belong to the 14th and 15th centuries.
The tower is finished off with a plain parapet and the
roofs are leaded and low-pitched.
There is one bell dated 1826. The old church, how
ever, had 6 bells in 1750. (fn. 99) Three of the bells were
recast at Woodstock—presumably by Richard Keene—in 1671–3 at a cost of £104 14s. 7d., of which nearly
half was contributed by the rector, John Rogers. (fn. 100)
The register of baptisms begins in 1553 and of
marriages and burials in 1556. The earliest volume
contains the entry 'md. the note of those yt. were bapt.
1646 was torne by the souldiers'. The registers and
other parish records are now deposited at the Shire Hall,
Warwick. (fn. 101)
The only ancient feature preserved is two squares,
each of four inlaid 4½ in. tiles, probably of the 14th
century, in the south aisle. One is a set forming a
complete quatrefoil and foliage pattern. The other has
three shields of arms; two are charged checky white and
red and have oak leaf and acorn designs above them;
another has a lion and is flanked by monsters. The
fourth tile has a quatrefoil of pointed lobes, one has a
running hound, chasing a hare on the opposite lobe,
and the other two have human-faced monsters.
Also in the south-aisle floor is a small brass inscription
to Richard Popham, gentleman and steward to the
Lucys, died 1730, aged 45.
A leaden seal of Pope Innocent VI was found in a
grave in the new churchyard in 1934 and is now
preserved at the west end of the church. It has been
suggested that it was perhaps attached to the licence
issued in 1356 authorizing the rector, Simon de Gaynesburgh, to exchange livings with Thomas Mershton.
Advowson
There was a priest at Hampton in
1086, (fn. 102) and the advowson has descended with the manor down to the
present day. The Rev. William Lucy, who was both
rector and patron 1721–4, was said to have directed
that the living should 'be always enjoyed by one of his
own name', (fn. 103) and his wishes appear to have been
followed in most of the presentations during the
succeeding century.
In 1291 the church was valued at £26 13s. 4d., out
of which a pension of £1 was payable in tithes to the
Prior of Coventry. (fn. 104) According to the 1341 returns
£10 13s. 4d. represented the value of the glebe. (fn. 105) The
valuation in 1535 was £51 6s. 8d., including a pension
of £4 to the vicar of Wasperton. (fn. 106) In 1182 the church
holding in the open fields was said to be allotted annually,
consisting of one carucate in one year and two the next. (fn. 107)
In the early 17th century it comprised 5 yardlands,
besides sundry closes. (fn. 108) Thus the incumbent must have
been, even in medieval times, one of the most considerable persons in the parish.
The rector of Hampton Lucy had formerly a peculiar
jurisdiction which included, besides his own, the
neighbouring parishes of Charlecote, Alveston, and
Wasperton (of the two latter of which he held the
advowson). The Peculiar is first mentioned in 1593
and was abolished in 1858. (fn. 109) The parish registers
contain a record of the appointment as Public Notaries
of the Peculiar of Anthony Nicholls of Lichfield in the
late 17th or early 18th century and of Charles Hinckes
of Worcester, after an interval, in 1724. Several of
the early-18th-century burial entries are accompanied
by notes relating to the estate of the deceased.
Charities
The Rev. John Lucy the younger by
will proved 24 Nov. 1874 bequeathed
to the rector £500, the interest to be
applied to five of the most deserving parishioners.
George Hammond by will dated 3 Feb. 1755 gave to
the rector and churchwardens £400, the income thereof to be divided amongst eight poor men or women
communicants of the Church of England.
Alice Hammond, widow of George Hammond, by
will dated 23 Jan. 1778 gave to the rector and churchwardens the interest of £100 to be given to the poor of
the parish.
The above-mentioned charities are administered together, and the income, amounting to £27 5s. 7d. per
annum, is applied for the benefit of the poor of the
parish.
Charities of Dr. W. Lucy and the Rev. J. Lucy. The
Rev. William Lucy, D.D., by will dated 28 Jan. 1723
gave to the poor of Hampton Lucy a rent-charge of £5
to be paid out of the Manor of Charlecote and distributed
by his heirs or trustees every Christmas. The Rev. John
Lucy by will dated 21 July 1821 gave to the trustees
of Dr. Lucy's Charity a further annuity or rent-charge
of £5. The two rent-charges of £5 now issuing out of
the Charlecote Estate are administered by Sir Henry
Fairfax-Lucy.