EAST CLAYDON
Claindone (xi cent.); Estcleydone (xiii cent.).
This parish contains 2,395 acres, including 1,936
acres of permanent grass and 181 acres of arable land. (fn. 1)
The slope of the land above the ordnance datum
varies from 295 ft. in the east of the parish to 407 ft.
in the south-west, the soil being rich clay loam; the
subsoil clay and gravel. Wheat, beans, roots and oats
are grown, but the chief industry is dairy farming.
Pillow-lace was still made by women and children in
East Claydon in 1862. (fn. 2) Grandborough Road station
on the Metropolitan Extension railway and Winslow
Road station on the Metropolitan railway are within
the borders of this parish.
The village of East Claydon is situated on rising
ground towards the north-west of the parish. White
House Farm, the old manor-house, stands on a
moated site near the church to the north. The oldest
part dates probably from the end of Elizabeth's reign.
The house stands east and west, with a wing at right
angles at the south-west, in which is a good stone
bay window with moulded mullions and transoms.
The walls are in part of half-timber work and in
part of brick and stone. The south front has an overhanging story with a plastered cove and moulded
beams, and an added stone-faced porch of 17th
century date with a flat-arched entrance under a square
head, flanked by fluted pilasters. The inner doorway is of oak with a moulded frame, and retains its
old door. In one of the rooms is a stone arched
fireplace. To the north-west of the church is a
house of about the same date, to which a stone front
was added in 1675, the date being on a stone panel
over the south doorway, with the initials EVM and a
shield. A wing was added at the back of the house
in the 18th century. At the corner of the road leading to Botolph Claydon is a picturesque L-shaped house
of about 1600, timber framed, with later brick facing.
The upper story of the east gable end overhangs,
the projecting beams having curved brackets beneath.
The White House, East Claydon
Half a mile south-west of East Claydon is the
village of Botolph Claydon (Botteclaydon, xiii cent.;
Botteleclaydon, xiv cent.), with Botolph House, a
substantial brick and stone manor-house, the residence
of Mrs. Verney, at its east end. Botyl Well, commonly corrupted into St. Botolph's Well, is reached
by steps at its south-west end.
In this village are a number of small 17th-century
timber-framed houses, mostly
with red brick chimney-stacks,
the most interesting one being
at Bernwood Farm. It has
closely set upright timbers,
and is probably not later than
about 1600; a wing was
added in the 18th century.
Claydon Mill appears to have
stood in Botolph Claydon. (fn. 3)
Manors
In 1086 Miles
Crispin held 7
hides 3 virgates
of land in EAST CLAYDON
as one manor. (fn. 4) This land was
attached to the honour of
Wallingford, (fn. 5) and with it
transferred to the honour of
Ewelme. (fn. 6) The last reference
to this overlordship in East
Claydon occurs in 1572. (fn. 7)
Miles Crispin had subinfeudated his manor in Claydon (fn. 8) before 1086 to Geoffrey. (fn. 9)
This mesne overlordship had
passed before 1234 to Peter
de la Mare, (fn. 10) before 1302 to Robert de la Mare, (fn. 11)
and by 1312 to Robert's son and heir Peter. (fn. 12) In
1346 it was appurtenant to the manor of Aylesbury, (fn. 13)
and later in the century it was held by the Earl of
Warwick, the last reference to it occurring in 1375. (fn. 14)
Part of the Crispin manor in Claydon was split up
and descended with neighbouring manors; the
remainder corresponds to the land which passed in
the later 12th century in marriage with Maud de la
Mare. (fn. 15) In 1199 her second husband, Giles de
Pinkeny, surrendered his claim to hold it for life to
her son William de Englefield. (fn. 16) This land was
evidently the half-fee held in the middle 13th
century by Robert de Wimbervill, (fn. 17) since his kinsman,
Roger de Wimbervill, was exempted from this service
in 1248 by William de Englefield in exchange for a
yearly rent of 46s. 8d. (fn. 18) Part of this land must have
passed to Thomas de Valognes and formed part of the
13 virgates held by Robert de Grey in East Claydon
in 1284. (fn. 19) His widow Joan de Valognes was holding
the half-fee with a separate estate of 2 hides (see
below) in 1302. (fn. 20) These, with 4 virgates of land of
the honour of Peverel (see below) formed CLAYDON
or EAST CLAYDON MANOR, of which Joan's
grandson and heir John, Lord Grey of Rotherfield,
died seised in 1359. (fn. 21) Until 1477 it descended
with the manor of Shabbington, and afterwards with
the secondary overlordship there, until 1543, (fn. 22) when
it was sold by Henry Parker, Lord Morley, to Thomas
King. (fn. 23) Thomas Lee of Moreton died seised of
East Claydon Manor in 1572. (fn. 24) His son and heir
Thomas, (fn. 25) afterwards Sir Thomas Lee, kt., sold it in
1624 to William Abel. (fn. 26) His son William Abel (fn. 27)
succeeded before 1659, (fn. 28) and died while sheriff
for the county in 1661. (fn. 29) His daughter and heir
Mary married Edmund Verney, eldest son of Sir
Ralph Verney, the first baronet. (fn. 30) She survived her
husband and their children, and on her death in 1715 (fn. 31)
East Claydon Manor passed to a cousin, William
Abel. (fn. 32) In 1722 his children, Richard and Bridget
Abel, (fn. 33) surrendered their interests in it to Messrs.
Paltock & Snow, (fn. 34) and in 1728 it was purchased by
Ralph Viscount Fermanagh. (fn. 35) It has since passed with
Middle Claydon (q.v.), and Sir Harry Calvert Verney,
bart., is the present owner.
The Village, East Claydon
Botolph Claydon Village
Lee of Moreton. Azure two bars or with a bend checky or and gules over all.
Abel. Argent a saltire engrailed azure.
A manor of 7 hides in East Claydon, CLAYDON
or BOTOLPH CLAYDON MANOR, was held
before the Conquest by Suen, a man of Ansgar the
Staller. (fn. 36) In 1086 it was held by Geoffrey de Mandeville. (fn. 37) The overlordship in the earldom of Hereford
is traceable in the 13th century. (fn. 38) A mesne overlordship descended in the Fitz John (Fitz Geoffrey)
family, (fn. 39) and was appurtenant in 1346 to the manor
of Aylesbury (fn. 40) (q.v.).
Botolph Claydon had been subinfeudated to
Thomas de Valognes in the middle 13th century, (fn. 41)
and passed by the marriage of his daughter and heir
Joan to Robert de Grey. (fn. 42) It descended with East
Claydon Manor (q.v.), but its identity as a second
manor was not recognized in the confirmation of the
sale in 1624. A grant of free warren in East Claydon
and Botolph Claydon was made to John de Grey in
1330. (fn. 43)
In 1086 William Peverel held 3 hides 1 virgate of
land in [East] Claydon as a manor which had been
formerly held by Alwin, one of King Edward's
thegns. (fn. 44) The overlordship belonged to the honour
of Peverel and is traceable in East Claydon until the
end of the 14th century. (fn. 45)
William Peverel's manor in East Claydon was subinfeudated to Ralph in 1086. (fn. 46) In the middle 13th
century Ralph son of Ralph de Quarrendon held the
land by the serjeanty (fn. 47) of finding a horse, haversack
and pack-saddle for the king when on expedition to
Wales, and transferred it to Thomas de Argentein. (fn. 48)
Subinfeudation had already begun. Nine virgates
held at this time by Ralph de Quarrendon, (fn. 49) traceable
in part as descending in his family and that of the
Wades, (fn. 50) correspond to the land in East Claydon
alienated in 1345 to Studley Priory by John Frelond
and William atte Wood. (fn. 51) The priory lands here,
valued at 40s. yearly in 1535, (fn. 52) were granted in 1540
to John Croke, (fn. 53) who did not retain them. (fn. 54) They, together with a messuage called Pontifex, were purchased
from Arthur King by Simon Love, who died seised
in 1574 (see advowson). In the 17th century the
priory farm, evidently part of this estate, was under
the same ownership as East Claydon Manor. (fn. 55) The
remaining 4 virgates of land, part of which was held
by Richard de Argentein in the 13th century, (fn. 56) and
conveyed by him in 1250 to Thomas de Valognes, (fn. 57)
appear in 1359 as part of East Claydon Manor (q.v.).
Miles Crispin held 2 hides of land in Claydon in
1086, retaining as tenants two Englishmen formerly
Harning's men. (fn. 58) This land was held by Thomas
de Valognes in the middle 13th century, and afterwards formed part of East Claydon Manor (fn. 59) (q.v.).
Church
The church of ST. MARY THE
VIRGIN consists of a chancel 26 ft. by
14 ft. 6 in., with a modern north vestry,
a nave 47 ft. 6 in. by 22 ft., with a south chapel
18 ft. 6 in. by 9 ft. 6 in., and a modern north aisle
and south porch, and a west tower 11 ft. by 10 ft.
These measurements are all internal.
The earliest part of the church, which at the
beginning of the 13th century consisted of an aisleless
nave and chancel, is the western half of the south
wall of the nave. No details, however, of earlier
date than the 13th century are to be seen. The
south chapel was added to the nave about 1230, and
the chancel was rebuilt about 1350. Towards the
end of the 15th century, or a little later, the nave was
widened northwards, thus being thrown out of centre
with the chancel, while the tower, which is on the
same axis as the nave, seems to have been added at
the same time. The clearstory of the nave also
belongs to this time, but owing to the rebuilding of
the north wall when the modern north aisle was
added, only the south side now remains.
The chancel is ashlar-faced and has a modern east
window and two windows in the north wall, of which
the western is much-repaired 14th-century work of
two trefoiled lights with tracery, and the eastern a
modern copy of it, retaining only a few old stones in
its jambs to show that it represents an original window.
Between them is a 14th-century doorway with fourleaved flowers in the head and jambs, now opening
to the modern vestry, which overlaps the western
window. The two windows in the south wall of
the chancel are modern copies of the others. In the
north wall of the chancel is a modern recess, containing the 14th-century jambs of what was doubtless a
piscina, ornamented with rosettes and four-leaved
flowers. The weathering of a steep-pitched roof,
coeval with the chancel, shows on the east face of the
east gable of the nave, but the present chancel roof is
of low pitch, having a wagon-headed ceiling with egg
and tongue ornament of the 17th century on its ribs.
The chancel arch, which is of the date of the chancel,
is of two chamfered orders, the inner order springing
from corbels carried by grotesque winged figures.
The nave has a modern north arcade of three bays,
but in the wall to the west of it is a much-restored
lancet window, of which part is doubtless of 13th
century date, and the wall in which it is set, like the
south wall of the nave, may be older. In the modern
north aisle a late 15th-century doorway has been
reset near the east end of the north wall; it has a
four-centred head and tracery in the spandrels. At
the south-east angle of the nave the upper doorway
of the rood-stair remains, with part of the stair, opening from the south chapel; the shouldered head of the
doorway is not original. The south chapel opens to
the nave by a plain pointed 13th-century arch with
an indented label, and to the east of it is an opening from the chapel, of 15th-century date, made for
the double purpose of giving a view of the chancel
from the chapel and of lighting the nave altars; its
west jamb is splayed outwards to command a wider
view to the eastward. The chapel is lighted by five
lancet windows, two on the east, two on the south,
and one on the west, all with internal rebates for the
glazing frames. In the south wall is an original
piscina recess with a shouldered head. The south
doorway of the nave is plain 13th-century work of a
single order, and west of it is an uncusped two-light
window, nearly all modern. Of the nave clearstory only
the south side remains, with two square-headed windows of three cinquefoiled lights. The nave roof, of
contemporary date, is low pitched and of plain
character.
The tower is of three stages, ashlar-faced, with a
stair turret at the south-west; the tower arch is of
two chamfered orders, the inner order dying at the
springing. The west doorway has a four-centred
arch under a square head, and over it is a window of
three cinquefoiled lights. In the second stage there
is only one opening, a round-headed light in the
north wall, while in each face of the third stage are
two uncusped openings with square heads. There is
an embattled parapet and flat leaded roof.
The plain octagonal font is of the 15th century.
There are no other ancient fittings, but a small 17th
century communion table is preserved in the vestry.
In the chancel floor is the grave slab of William
Abel, 1661, lord of the manor and sheriff in the year
of his death. In the churchyard is a slab with the
indent of a cross-brass.
There is a ring of five bells, all by Abel Rudhall,
1752. The sanctus bell, dated 1657, is probably by
Anthony Chandler.
The plate includes a cup and cover of 1569.
The registers begin in 1584.
Advowson
The church of East Claydon,
valued at £6 13s. 4d. in 1291, (fn. 60) is
mentioned in 1312 (fn. 61) as appurtenant
to the land afterwards distinguished as Botolph
Claydon Manor (q.v.). It descended in the Greys, (fn. 62)
and was granted by John Lord Grey of Rotherfield (fn. 63)
in 1371 to Bisham Priory, with licence to appropriate
the church. (fn. 64) The Crown grant was ratified in
1409, (fn. 65) and a vicarage was ordained in 1421. (fn. 66) In
the next century the advowson, valued at £8 yearly
in 1535, (fn. 67) had passed with the rectory to the Knights
Hospitallers. (fn. 68) The advowson was granted in 1551
to Lord Clinton (fn. 69) and transferred to William King,
who presented in that year. (fn. 70) Later in the century
it was sold by Arthur King to Simon Love, who
died seised in 1574 during the minority of his son
and heir John. (fn. 71) Pardon for alienation to his
executors in trust was granted in 1579. (fn. 72) His widow
married John Morgan Wolfe, and they with John
Love, who attained his majority in 1587, (fn. 73) sold East
Claydon advowson in the same year to Robert
Hoveden (fn. 74) (or Hovenden). Robert Hoveden was
succeeded by his nephew Robert Hoveden in 1613. (fn. 75)
After 1680 (fn. 76) East Claydon advowson passed to two
daughters and co-heirs, (fn. 77) one of whom, Diana, married
Count Fieschi. (fn. 78) They conveyed it in 1726 to Ralph
Verney, (fn. 79) who retained it. (fn. 80) From 1752, when he
succeeded as Earl Verney, this advowson has descended with Middle Claydon (fn. 81) (q.v.), and the
present owner is Sir Harry Calvert Williams Verney,
bart.
In 1821 the vicarage of East Claydon was united
with that of Steeple Claydon to the rectory of Middle
Claydon, (fn. 82) and this union has continued in respect
of East Claydon.
The rectory of East Claydon was granted in 1549
to George Wright and Eustace Moon. (fn. 83) Sir Robert
Lane was seised of it in 1568, when he leased it to
William King for twenty-one years. (fn. 84) Six years later
he sold the reversion to Alexander Denton, (fn. 85) and
some of the tithes descended to his son Sir Thomas
Denton. (fn. 86) In 1666 the rectory is named as in the
possession of John Duncombe. (fn. 87)
William Spyrke, of Botolph Claydon, in his will
dated 10 January 1451, left two sheep for the lights
of St. Mary and the Holy Cross in the church of
East Claydon. (fn. 88) A light was maintained in 1548
from the rent (2d. yearly) of half an acre of land in
East Claydon. (fn. 89) This land was granted in 1586 to
John Walton and John Cresset. (fn. 90)
Charities
The following charities were consolidated by a scheme of the Charity
Commissioners of 17 January 1913,
namely: William Abel's charity, founded before
1721, consisting of a rent-charge of £4 Maurice
Griffiths' charity, will 1673, consisting of a rentcharge of £2 and the Town stock, being an annuity
of £1 12s. supposed to represent a gift of £34 by a
donor unknown. These annuities, amounting together
to £7 12s., are paid out of an estate at East Claydon
now in the possession of Sir Harry Verney, bart.,
and are applied in the distribution of money among
poor families, poor labourers, and a portion for the
benefit of the sick and needy. (See also under
Middle Claydon.)