LONG COMPTON
Acreage: 3,806.
Population: 1911, 547; 1921, 525; 1931, 491.
The parish, in the extreme south of the county, is
bounded on the east and south by Oxfordshire. On the
north projects a narrow limb of the parish, nearly 2
miles from south to north with an average width of
about ¾ mile, occupied by Weston Park, the site of
the depopulated hamlet of Weston-by-Cherington (see
below). The old seat of the Sheldon family was pulled
down and a new Weston House was built by Sir
George Philips about 1830 in the style of the Gothic
revival by the architect Edward Blore. (fn. 1) The park,
which covers about 900 acres and extends into Little
Wolford parish, is bounded on the north by the River
Stour, on which is Weston Mill, mentioned in 1535. (fn. 2)
In this district the ground lies mainly between 260 ft.
and 400 ft. but most of the parish is hilly, rising in the
south-west to 725 ft. Just over the southern border, in
Little Rollright, is the well-known prehistoric circle of
the Rollright Stones, (fn. 3) but the isolated monolith known
as 'the King Stone' is just in this parish and was
traditionally the meeting-place of the witches for which
Long Compton was notorious. (fn. 4) Annotation 721
The village stretches for nearly ¾ mile along the road
that runs north from Chipping Norton through the
centre of the parish. Near its northern end, just beyond
the church, the road is carried by Crow Bridge over the
Nethercote Brook, on which, ¼ mile west, Long Compton Mill stands, probably on the site of the mill mentioned in the Domesday Survey. (fn. 5) The road then turns
to the north-west towards Shipston-on-Stour, dividing
into two branches to encircle Harrow Hill.
The entrance to the churchyard, at its south-east
corner, is under a 17th-century cottage that forms a
quasi-lych-gate. The gabled east wall, towards the
road, is of stone rubble but the upper north and south
side walls have some timber-framing. The roof is
thatched. A former pathway through the churchyard,
farther west, was diverted some years ago.
The Vicarage on the east side of the road a little south
of the church may date from the 17th century (fn. 6) in
its north half; the south half is modern, all of stonework.
Next north of it on the other side of a side-road is a
thatched stone cottage of ancient appearance, probably
16th-century, and there are several others, mostly east
of the main road, of similar appearance. The older
buildings along the main road are of the usual stone-built
type with no distinctive architectural features and with
various roof coverings. Two bearing dates 1763 and
1766 are indicative of the ages of most of them. There
are many modern buildings of brick. A cul-de-sac
running east opposite the church has a stone house on
its south side inscribed N & M.G. 1703 but more or less
restored. It has an old malthouse and granary and
near by was a Quaker burial ground.
On the west side of the main road opposite the
vicarage is a modern drinking fountain, above which
has been preserved the base of the medieval village
cross. It is octagonal with lower ogee stops out to
square, and a chamfered plinth above two steps.
The common lands of the parish, to the extent of
2,300 acres, were inclosed by an Act of 1811. (fn. 7)
Manors
In 1086 Geoffrey de Mandeville held
[LONG] COMPTON. It was an important manor, being rated at 30 hides, and
had been held in the Confessor's reign by Asgar the
Staller. (fn. 8) Apparently Geoffrey's grandson Geoffrey,
1st Earl of Essex, enfeoffed Roger fitz Richard, husband
of his wife's sister, (fn. 9) as in 1170 William de Mandeville,
3rd Earl of Essex, granted the manor of Aynho
(Northants.) to the said Roger in exchange for Compton. (fn. 10) On the death of Earl William in 1189 the
Mandeville estates passed to the descendants of the
1st earl's sister Beatrice. (fn. 11) Her son William de Say
left two daughters, Beatrice and Maud; of whom
Beatrice married Geoffrey fitz Piers and was mother
of William de Mandeville, Earl of Essex, against whom
his aunt Maud de Say claimed half the manor of
Compton in 1218. (fn. 12) When Earl William died in 1227
without issue his estates passed to his sister Maud, who
was married first to Henry de Bohun, Earl of Hereford,
and subsequently to Roger Dantsey. (fn. 13) The overlordship appears to have passed to her descendants by her
first husband, as in 1405 the manor was held of the Earl
of Hereford; (fn. 14) but in 1229 Maud and Roger Dantsey
sold one moiety of the manor, including the manorhouse, to Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent, (fn. 15) and the
other moiety to William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke. (fn. 16)
Mandeville. Quarterly or and gules.
Bohun. Azure a bend argent between cotises and six lions or.
Hubert de Burgh in 1231 obtained a grant of a
market on Monday and a fair on the eve, day, and
morrow of SS. Peter and Paul at Compton. (fn. 17) When
he fell into disgrace Maud, Countess of Hereford,
obtained the escheat of the manor as being held of her, (fn. 18)
but it was later restored to Hubert and passed to his son
John de Burgh, who in 1249 acquired from Hubert's
widow, the Countess Margaret, the third of the manor
which she held in dower. (fn. 19) In 1274 John de Burgh
granted the reversion of the manor after his death to
King Edward, (fn. 20) who apparently visited Compton on
20–21 February 1276. (fn. 21) The manor was leased in
February 1281 to Eustace de Hacche at a rent of £41, (fn. 22)
but in May of that year it was granted for life to Sir
Hugh de Plessey. (fn. 23) King Edward in September 1299
included the manor of Great
Compton in the dower assigned
to Queen Margaret, (fn. 24) but in
November of the same year he
granted the manor of Long
Compton to Sir John de Mohun
and Ada his wife to hold by
service of a knight's fee, in
exchange for lands in Ireland. (fn. 25)
This John, Lord Mohun, settled
the manor on his son John on his
marriage with Christiane daughter of John, Lord Segrave. (fn. 26) The younger John predeceased his father, who died in 1330 and was succeeded by his grandson John, then aged 10. (fn. 27) This
John, who became a prominent soldier and one of the
foundation Knights of the Garter, in 1343 settled the
manor on himself and his wife Joan. (fn. 28) He died in 1375
and Joan in 1404. (fn. 29) They had no son, and of their
three daughters two died without issue, so that the
manor came to the son of the youngest daughter Joan,
Richard, Lord Strange, (fn. 30) who died in 1449, having
settled it on himself and his wife Elizabeth, who survived him. (fn. 31) Their granddaughter Joan, Baroness
Strange, married Sir George Stanley and on her death
in 1514 was found seised of what is, for once, correctly
called a moiety of the manor of Long Compton; (fn. 32) the
reversion was said to be to John Dyneley, (fn. 33) presumably
in trust for her son Thomas, Earl of Derby. It then
descended in the family of Stanley, until about 1600,
when it was sold by William, Earl of Derby, to
William, Earl of Northampton, (fn. 34) who already held the
other manor or moiety.
Mohun. Or a cross engrailed sable.
The moiety of the manor acquired in 1229 by
William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, passed to his
brother Richard. (fn. 35) It probably came into the hands of
Sir Robert (son of Ralph) fitzNicholas, who joined
Simon de Montfort against the king, as in 1265 he held
£30 of land in Great Compton; at which time John
de Burgh had £40 there. (fn. 36) His lands there were
bestowed on Walter de Langley, and in 1269 Sir
Robert, with Sir Ralph Pippard, agreed to pay Walter
200 marks for their redemption. (fn. 37) This was evidently
done, as when Robert fitzNicholas died in 1272 he
was seised of the manor of Great Compton, including
7 virgates of arable in demesne and 28 virgates in
villenage and a share in a water-mill. (fn. 38) His heir was
Ralph Pippard, his brother's son, (fn. 39) who in 1285
claimed to have view of frankpledge and other franchises
in Great Compton jointly with Hugh de Plessey, life
tenant of the other moiety (see above), but was found
to have used these privileges separately, (fn. 40) which points
to the two moieties being treated as independent
manors. Sir Ralph Pippard died in 1309 and the manor,
held of the king as 1 knight's fee, passed to his son
John. (fn. 41) He in 1310 sold the manor, retaining a life
tenancy, to Edmund le Boteler, (fn. 42) who died in 1321, (fn. 43)
when the manor passed to Edmund's son James Butler,
Earl of Ormond, who died in 1338 seised, jointly with
his wife Eleanor, (fn. 44) who survived him, of the manor of
COMPTON IN HENMARSH, (fn. 45) held of the Earl of
Hereford as ¾ knight's fee. (fn. 46) On the death of the
Countess Eleanor in 1363 she was said to have held
¾ of a moiety of the manor of Great Compton of the
king by service of ¾ of ½ knight's fee. (fn. 47) When her
grandson James, the 3rd earl, died in 1405 the estate
is called the manor of Long Compton and is said to be
held of the Earl of Hereford, (fn. 48) which title had by that
date been absorbed into the Crown. When James,
Earl of Wiltshire and 5th Earl of Ormond, was
attainted in 1461 this moiety of the manor was forfeited, (fn. 49) and shortly afterwards it was granted to Sir
Walter Devereux, Lord Ferrers. (fn. 50) The attainder,
however, was reversed and the estates restored to the
earl's brothers Sir John (d. 1478) and Sir Thomas
Butler. (fn. 51) The latter died in 1515, leaving two daughters
coheirs, Anne wife of Sir James St. Leger and Margaret
wife of Sir William Boleyn, and Compton seems to have
been assigned to Margaret and sold by her and her
husband to Sir William Compton of Compton Wyniates, (fn. 52) as his son Peter died in 1544 seised of a moiety
of the manor of Long Compton 'late Bulleynes'. (fn. 53) It
descended to the Earl of Northampton, who about
1600 acquired the other moiety (see above), and the
two moieties continued in the same hands, though
distinguished as Long Compton Bulleynes and Stanleys, (fn. 54) with the manor of Compton Wyniates (q.v.),
until about 1820 when the Marquess of Northampton
sold it to Sir George Philips, bart., who died in 1847.
He left three daughters, of whom the eldest married
Adam, 2nd Earl of Camperdown, and inherited this
property.
Stanley. Argent a bend azure with three harts' heads or thereon.
Butler, Earl of Ormond. Or a chief indented azure.
The manor of WESTON-BY-CHERINGTON
seems to have been formed out of the Earl of Pembroke's moiety of Long Compton, as in 1279 John de
Weston was lord of Weston, where he had 2 carucates
of land in demesne and 8 virgates in villenage, and a
water-mill, held as 1/14 knight's fee of Ralph Pippard,
who held of the heirs of the Earl Marshal, and they of
the Earl of Hereford. (fn. 55) John de Weston in 1299 conveyed the manor to John de Broughton and Katherine
his wife, retaining a life tenancy. (fn. 56) John de Broughton
in 1301 had a grant of free warren in his demesnes
here. (fn. 57) It seems then to have come to John de Segrave,
who in the reign of Edward II settled it on his younger
son John. (fn. 58) This John de Segrave, of Folkestone, or
his son, apparently granted his own life interest in the
manor to Walter de Chiriton, with reversion to certain
persons whose interests William de Peyto subsequently
acquired. The younger John de Segrave died in 1349,
when his property passed to his uncle's son John, Lord
Segrave. (fn. 59) Walter de Chiriton's lands were seized for
his debts to the Crown, and the manor of Weston,
which he was falsely alleged to hold in fee simple, was
assigned, in spite of the protests of William de Peyto,
to Sir William de Windsor, husband of Edward III's
favourite Alice Perrers. (fn. 60) From him it was transferred
to his sister Christiane and her husband Sir William
de Murrers, in whose favour William de Chiriton son
of Walter renounced his right. (fn. 61) In 1390, however,
Thomas Mowbray, Earl Marshal and Nottingham and
later Duke of Norfolk, grandson of John, Lord Segrave,
sued Sir William and Christiane (fn. 62) and evidently recovered it, as he died in 1399 seised of the manor of
Weston, held of the Earl of Ormond, which he had
granted for life to Richard de Bourgh, (fn. 63) who survived
until about 1410. (fn. 64) In that year 2/3 of the manor were
assigned to the support of John Mowbray, Earl
Marshal, then in ward to the king; (fn. 65) the remaining ⅓
came to him on the death of his mother, Elizabeth,
Duchess of Norfolk, in 1425. (fn. 66) He or his son John,
Duke of Norfolk (d. 1461), apparently granted the
manor to Richard Waller, whose son Richard in 1461
conveyed his estate therein, subject to the life interest
of Eleanor, Duchess of Norfolk, to Sir William
Brandon and Elizabeth his wife and their daughter
Eleanor. (fn. 67) From them it came
into the hands of Henry Keble,
alderman of London (Lord
Mayor in 1510), who inclosed
all the arable, except 80 acres
attached to the manor-house,
amounting to about 300 acres,
destroying 7 houses and leaving
38 persons homeless and destitute. (fn. 68) His grandson and heir
George Keble sold the manor
in 1535 to William Sheldon, (fn. 69)
who in 1545 had licence to impark 300 acres here. (fn. 70) His son
Ralph Sheldon rebuilt the manor-house (fn. 71) and Weston
became the chief seat of the family for eight generations. (fn. 72) About 1820 Ralph Sheldon sold the manor
and estate to Sir George Philips, bart., (fn. 73) after which
the manor seems to have been absorbed into the main
manor of Long Compton.
Sheldon. Sable a fesse between three sheldrakes argent.
The nuns of Studley Priory in Oxfordshire received
a grant of an estate in Long Compton in about 1250
from Godfrey de Craucumbe, who had bought it from
the Earl of Hereford. (fn. 74) This seems to have been semimanorial; (fn. 75) it yielded £7 2s. 6d. in 1535, (fn. 76) and was
included, as the manor of Long Compton, in the grant
of the estates of the priory to John Croke in 1540. (fn. 77) He
at once sold the manor to Richard Ingram, (fn. 78) who
settled it in 1551 on his wife Anne (Lyngen) and died
in 1562 holding the manor of Long Compton of the
queen and leaving a son Anthony. (fn. 79) In 1599 Anthony
Ingram and Dorothy his wife conveyed this manor
with Little Wolford to Thomas and Edmund Williamson, (fn. 80) probably for settlement on the marriage of his
son John Ingram with Cecily daughter of Robert
Williamson. (fn. 81)
Another Oxfordshire house, Wroxton Priory, held
in 1276 a plough-land in this parish bought from
Geoffrey de Langley, who held it of Gilbert, Earl
Marshal, and he of the Earl of Hereford, after the
battle of Evesham (1265). (fn. 82) This estate, which was
worth £1 6s. 8d. in 1535, (fn. 83) was granted in 1537 to
Thomas Pope. (fn. 84)
William de Compton, priest, gave to the Hospital of
St. John outside the East Gate of Oxford 2 carucates
here which he had acquired of William de Mandeville. (fn. 85)
In 1262 Brother Henry, Master of the said Hospital,
granted 3 messuages and 2 virgates in Compton to
John de Compton to hold by render of ½d. yearly. (fn. 86)
Church
The parish church of SS. PETER
AND PAUL is a large edifice, about
three-quarters of the length of Brailes
Church, and consists of a long chancel, with a small
south chantry-chapel now the vestry, nave, north aisle,
south porch, and west tower.
The building dates from the 13th century, the nave
being probably early and the west tower later in the
same century. Very early in the 14th century the north
aisle was added and new windows like those of the aisle
were inserted in the south nave-wall. It is quite likely
that the chancel was rebuilt and enlarged about the same
time, but most of its history in stone has been lost in
modern restorations. The south porch is probably of
the late 14th century. The clearstory was raised in the
first half of the 15th century and a new roof provided.
The carved corbels are interesting. Later in the 15th
century the tower was heightened by another stage and
the tiny chantry or sacristy south of the chancel was
built.
There have been several modern restorations, the
greatest being in 1862–3, when the chancel was very
drastically restored, the western gallery removed, and
the roofs repaired or reconstructed. Another reparation
was done in 1900 and the tower was repaired in 1930.
The chancel (about 42 ft. by 20½ ft.) has an east
window of three trefoiled lights and tracery in a twocentred head, of 14th-century design but all modern.
In the south wall are three windows and in the north
wall two, similar in design but of two lights. These are
also of modern restoration except the middle south
window, which is covered by the small chantry and
has a plain doorway below it opening into the chantry.
Under the easternmost window is a piscina and sedile
of modern masonry. West of the westernmost window
is a trefoiled recess, inside which was presumably a
late-13th-century low-side window: the splays and
head have a keeled edge-roll. The masonry appears to
be ancient but retooled. There is no trace of it externally. A modern vestry, north of the east half of the
chancel, was planned but never completed. Its doorway remains in the chancel wall, now blocked. The
walls are of small grey cream and yellow rubble with
some larger stones: the south-east angle has ancient
quoins of Hornton stone. The roof, covered with stone
tiles, is modern. The pointed chancel arch resembles
the north arcade in its details but is of modern stonework.
The 15th-century chantry or sacristy south of the
chancel is only 8½ ft. long by 6 ft. inside. It is entered
only from the chancel and is lighted by an east window
of two trefoiled lights and vertical tracery in a twocentred head and two south windows, each of two trefoiled ogee-headed lights and tracery in a square head.
The walls are of grey ashlar and have a moulded plinth
and a south embattled parapet. This side is divided
into two bays by three buttresses with moulded offsets.
The east and west walls are high-pitched half-gables
and the sloping roof is of stone slabs. On the south-east
buttress is scratched a half-round sundial, with the
stump of the iron gnomon.
The nave (about 62½ ft. by 24 ft.) has a north
arcade of c. 1300 of four 15½-ft. bays with octagonal
pillars and semi-octagonal responds. They have
moulded capitals and bases on chamfered square subbases. The easternmost pillar is modern, the original
having been damaged for a former gallery called the
Camperdown pew. The pointed arches are of two
chamfered orders that die on single splays rising above
the capitals (tas-de-charge). The stone is a hard coarsegrained material and the courses and voussoirs are large.
Plan of Long Compton Church
In the south wall are three tall and narrow windows
of c. 1300, each of two cinquefoiled pointed lights and
a quatrefoil in a two-centred head of one chamfered
order with an external hood-mould. The rear-arch is
chamfered on two edges. The south doorway is of the
early 13th century or a later reconstruction re-using
earlier material. The jambs are of two chamfered
orders, the inner continued in a trefoiled head: the
outer is brought to a square arris by a trefoiled stop
below a chamfered abacus; the outer order of the semicircular head has a large edge-roll and outer hollow.
On the top stone of the west jamb is a scratched sundial
antedating the porch. The tall clearstory has five
windows on each side, each of two trefoiled ogeeheaded lights and vertical tracery in a square head with
an external label that has diamond-shaped volute stops.
The lower masonry of the south wall is of irregular
rubble of large and small stones and with greyish-cream
dressings. At the west angle is the only buttress of old
ashlar, probably added to resist the thrust of the tower
archway. The clearstory sets back a little above a
double weather-course and is also of irregular rubble
with grey stone dressings. The ashlar parapet is
embattled, with returned copings to the merlons, and
of later repair. Above the low-pitched east gable is a
restored bell-cote with open sides with ogee heads,
hood-moulds, and crocketed pinnacles: over all is a tall
pyramidal pinnacle with a foliated finial.
The low-pitched roof is of the first half of the 15th
century but reconstructed with the old material. It is
of five bays with moulded cambered tie-beams, moulded
braces, and wall-posts with hammer-heads. The trusses
are carried on semi-octagonal moulded capitals with
concave sides and carved corbels, 12 in all. Of these 5
are angels and 2 are conventional foliage. The second
from the east on the north side is a mitred bishop's head
with a horseshoe, pincers, and smith's hammer, probably St. Eloy, perhaps the patron saint of the donor,
who may be represented by the opposite figure of a
man wearing a large scalloped chaperon (head-dress)
of c. 1440. A lady in a large horned head-dress is next
west of the bishop and opposite her a man with another
form of chaperon. The westernmost south figure is that
of a priest with a chalice and book. The roof is covered
with lead.
The south porch (about 14 ft. north to south by
12 ft.), probably of the 14th century, has a pointed
entrance of two continuous chamfered orders. The
head may be of 17th-century repair. In it is a pair of
oak doors, each leaf ribbed to form five long panels
divided by a middle rail. On the west leaf is the date
1620 in lead numerals. It has a massive oak lock. In
the side walls are blocked small windows forming
recesses inside. The interior has stone benches. The
walls are of small unsquared rubble work roughly
coursed and without angle-dressings except in the upper
parts. The south gable-head is steeply pitched and is
coped. The east kneeler has an ancient scratched massdial and near the apex is a 17th- or 18th-century sundial. The roof is modern and covered with stone tiles.
The north aisle (about 11 ft. wide) has a modern
east window of two cinquefoiled pointed lights and
a foiled spandrel in a two-centred head. The three
north windows resemble those in the south nave-wall.
The north doorway has jambs and a segmental head
(which is of only one stone) of one order with a 13thcentury large edge-roll. The head has been altered:
above the segmental lintel is the filling in of a former
round arch. The walls are of coursed rubble with
light-tinted dressings. The lean-to roof is modern.
The west tower (about 12 ft. north to south by 13 ft.)
is of three stages, the middle stage embracing two
stories, and the top stage being subdivided into two by
a string-course below the bell-chamber windows. The
walls are of small irregular rubble and have widesplayed plinths. At the west angles are 15th-century
diagonal buttresses of ashlar with narrower and higher
moulded plinths. At the east angles are original shallow
square buttresses, their sides flush with the east wall;
their lower halves are broader and deeper than the
upper, but as the original plinth is carried round them
they are evidently part of the 13th-century work: there
is also a later buttress on the north side against the aisle
wall. An inscription on the south side, aw 1930, marks
the date of the restoration of the tower, when the walls
were found to be very loosely grouted with mud, &c.,
and even some human bones. The walls are now reinforced with iron bolts and straps. At the south-west
angle is a stair-vice entered by a modern south doorway
and with the blocked original doorway in the same wall
inside the tower. It is lighted by west loops and is
carried up the top stage as a shallow projection. The
top stage has many larger stones in the walling and
ashlar quoins. The parapet is embattled with returned
copings to the merlons, which are pierced by cross
loops such as might have been used by archers in the
15th-century civil wars. Above the angles are octagonal
pinnacles with tall crocketed finials. In the stringcourses are two north and two south carved gargoyles.
The pointed archway to the nave is of three chamfered orders, the outer two dying on the responds, that
are of one order, and the innermost carried on corbelcapitals of semi-octagonal plan carved on the underside
with stiff-leaved foliage and rosette soffits and having
plain chamfered abaci. The southern is 13th-century,
the northern a modern copy.
In the west wall is a 13th-century lancet with a plain
hood-mould and below it a blocked modern doorway
with a round head. The lower story of the second stage
has west and south lancets with relieving arches. The
upper story has the former bell-chamber windows, of
two chamfered orders, the inner with two pointed lights
and a solid spandrel in the segmental-pointed outer
order, which is of square section and has a plain hoodmould. The mullion is treated as an octagonal shaft
with a moulded capital and base. Most of the lights are
blocked and there appear to have been transoms. The
15th-century bell-chamber has windows, each of two
trefoiled ogee-headed lights and foiled piercings in a
square head with a hood-mould, and a transom below
which the lights have depressed trefoiled heads.
The font and other furniture are modern.
In the porch is set an ancient recumbent effigy of a
woman, now very badly worn. The features have been
obliterated, but there are traces of the reticulated sidehair coiffure and flat cap of the early 15th century on
the head, which rests on a cushion. The dress appears
to have been a close-fitting bodice and loose-flowing
skirt. The hands were in prayer on the breast and the
feet rested on a dog. It is of reddish sandstone. Above
the figure are remains of a canopy.
There are six bells. The treble and second are of 1652,
the third, fifth, and tenor by Henry Bagley 1731, and
the fourth by Taylors 1823. There is also an undated
sanctus bell. (fn. 87)
The communion plate includes an Elizabethan cup
of the usual pattern of 1571, with floral band ornament,
a paten given in 1742, and a tankard-shaped flagon. (fn. 88)
The registers begin in 1670.
Advowson
There was a priest, indicating a
church, here in 1086; (fn. 89) and a monastic legend of a miracle performed in
the church of Compton by St. Augustine, (fn. 90) though of
no historical value, does suggest that the site had
traditionally been occupied by a church from early
times. The church was given by Geoffrey de Mandeville in about 1140 to his foundation of Walden Abbey
in Essex. (fn. 91) The earlier Geoffrey, the Domesday tenant,
when he founded the Priory of Hurley (Berks.) in
about 1086 had bestowed on that house one bond
tenant with 8 acres of land and also certain proportions
of various tithes in all the manors which he then held
in demesne, (fn. 92) including by implication Long Compton.
In 1285 Reymund de Reading as rector made an agreement with the convent of Hurley concerning tithes
here; (fn. 93) and in 1291, when the abbey of Walden received £8 yearly from the benefice, the church was
valued at £15 6s. 8d. including 'a portion (payable) to
the Prior of Hurley and the chapel of Pleshy (de
Placeto) which have been combined (consolidantur)'. (fn. 94)
In 1316 the abbey of Walden had licence to appropriate the rectory. (fn. 95) The rectorial manor was valued
in 1535 at £8, with a fee of 6s. 8d. to the bailiff. (fn. 96) In
the same return are two entries concerning the parish
church of Long Compton: in the first it is said that the
Abbot and Convent of Walden 'receive all issues and
profits both of rectory and vicarage' and no value is
therefore given; (fn. 97) but in the other the perpetual vicar
is named and the vicarage endowment of glebe, tithes,
and so forth is put at £12 15s. 6d. (fn. 98) In 1538 the
rectory, manor, and advowson of Compton were surrendered with the other estates of the abbey to King
Henry VIII, (fn. 99) and were at once made over to Sir
Thomas Audley, Lord Chancellor, (fn. 100) who exchanged
them for other lands with the Abbot of Colchester. (fn. 101)
On the forfeiture of the latter abbey they fell to Thomas
Cromwell and on his attainder came to the Crown, by
whom they were granted in 1547 to Eton College. (fn. 102)
The college retained both rectory and advowson until
1907, when the advowson was conveyed to the Bishop
of Worcester, from whom it passed in 1918 to the
Bishop of Coventry, (fn. 103) who now holds the patronage.
Charities
Richard Badger's Charity. The
share of this charity applicable for the
parish of Long Compton consists of 1/42
part of the income of the charity, amounting to
£17 16s. 9d. annually, and is applied by the rector and
churchwardens towards keeping the parish church in
proper repair and maintaining divine service. A similar
amount representing the poor's share is also received
and applied for the benefit of deserving poor residents.
Mary Brain's Charity. The Rev. Robert Brain by
will proved 28 August 1847, bequeathed to the vicar
the sum of £45, the income to be applied for the benefit
of poor widows on Christmas Day. The dividends,
amounting to £1 3s. annually, are so applied.
Richard Fowler by will left £20 to the poor of the
parish in 1712. The £20 was invested and is now
represented by £20 9s. 3d. 2½ per cent. Consols, the
income from which is applied for the benefit of the poor.
George Hirons by will proved 25 February 1942
gave £500 to pay the income thereof to the Parochial
Church Council for the maintenance of the church and
churchyard at Long Compton so long as the graves of
his father and mother are kept in good order and repair.
Rawlings's Charity. According to an inscription on
a monumental tablet in the church at Long Compton
John Rawlings, who died in 1778, left to the poor of
the parish £20, the interest to be given to them in bread
on 14 April yearly. The endowment now consists of
£20 9s. 3d. 2½ per cent. Consols and the income is
applied for the benefit of the poor of the parish.
The Rev. Francis Ellis Jervoise by will proved
11 August 1865 gave £200 to be applied at the discretion of the vicar for the time being amongst the most
deserving poor of the parish at Christmas. The charity
is now regulated by a Scheme of the Charity Commissioners dated 19 February 1907 which appoints a
body of trustees to administer the charity and provides
for the yearly income to be applied in making payments
under various heads for the poor of the parish generally.
The endowment produces an annual income of
£5 6s. 4d.