SHABBINGTON
Sobintone (xi, xiv cent.); Shobindon (xv, xvi
cent.).
The parish of Shabbington has an area of 1,637
acres, including 7 acres covered by water, (fn. 1) 305 acres
of arable land and 1,296 acres of permanent grass. (fn. 2)
The slope of the land varies between 237 ft. above
the ordnance datum in the north-east and 190 ft.
in the south of the parish, where it is divided from
Oxfordshire by the River Thame. The soil is loam
and clay, the subsoil clay, three-quarters of the area
being pasture. The chief crops raised are wheat and
beans. The west of the parish is marshy and in
parts liable to floods. The village is situated towards
the south of the parish and is very irregular. The
Thame flows past the south-east end of the village,
under a narrow bridge by the Old Fisherman Inn,
on the road to Thame. The church stands beyond
the inn to the north-west; the vicarage, a modern
building, stands to the north of the churchyard,
and the school to the north-west of the cross-roads.
There are two much altered early 17th-century timberframed cottages. A Wesleyan chapel was built in
1864. The old manor-house is supposed to have
stood in a field on the south of the churchyard, in
which foundations of buildings and encaustic tiles
have been dug up. (fn. 3) Manor Farm is about half a
mile south-west from the village, and other farms lie
to the north and west of it.
Manor
Before the Conquest the manor of
SHABBINGTON was held by Wigod
of Wallingford, (fn. 4) and by 1086 it had
descended to Miles Crispin. (fn. 5) The overlordship
remained in the honour of Wallingford, (fn. 6) and from
the middle of the 16th century in that of Ewelme. (fn. 7)
Shabbington Manor represents the two knights'
fees held by Alan de Valognes of the honour of
Wallingford in the early 13th century. (fn. 8) In 1210
his brother and heir Robert paid 100 marks and two
palfreys for livery of this land. (fn. 9) Thomas de Valognes
had succeeded before 1234. (fn. 10) His heir was his
daughter Joan wife of Robert de Grey, (fn. 11) who was
holding in 1284. (fn. 12) He died in 1295, (fn. 13) and in 1299
his widow alienated Shabbington Manor in free alms
to the Knights Hospitallers, of whom she afterwards
held it for life. (fn. 14) On her death in 1312 it reverted
to the Knights Hospitallers, (fn. 15) who held it (fn. 16) for
some years, but in 1326–9
Joan's grandson and heir John
de Grey (fn. 17) successfully disputed
their right (fn. 18) on the ground
that Thomas de Valognes had
given it to Robert and Joan
de Grey and their issue. (fn. 19)
John de Grey, later Lord
Grey of Rotherfield, (fn. 20) died in
1359 seised of the manor
jointly with his son and heir
John, (fn. 21) to whom the Knights
Hospitallers released all right
in 1360. (fn. 22) John died in 1375,
and his son and successor
Bartholomew (fn. 23) in the following year. (fn. 24) The other son Robert, fourth Lord Grey
of Rotherfield, died without male issue in 1388. (fn. 25) In
1401 his only daughter Joan married John Lord
Deyncourt, (fn. 26) and Shabbington Manor descended with
Wooburn Deyncourt (q.v.) until 1474, (fn. 27) when it
passed by a settlement made in 1466 (fn. 28) to William
Lovel, Lord Morley. (fn. 29) He released it in 1474,
subject to a fee-farm rent of 50 marks (£33 6s. 8d.),
to Richard Pigott and others, (fn. 30) who transferred it to
other feoffees, of whom the principal was Richard
Fowler, who died in 1477. (fn. 31) His son Richard, then
a minor, was knighted in 1501, (fn. 32) and in 1507
settled the manor (fn. 33) and sold it in 1515 to John,
later Sir John, Clerke, (fn. 34) the final transfer taking place
in 1518. (fn. 35) Sir John Clerke died about 1540 (fn. 36) and
his son and successor Nicholas (fn. 37) in 1551. (fn. 38) His
heir William, (fn. 39) afterwards Sir
William Clerke, inherited
Hitcham Manor on the death
of his mother in 1598, and
the descent of Shabbington
follows that of Hitcham (q.v.)
until 1660, (fn. 40) when it was
retained by Sir John Clerke,
bart. Shabbington then became the principal seat of the
Clerke family, and descended
with the baronetcy until
1716, (fn. 41) when Sir John Clerke,
great-grandson of the lastmentioned Sir John, sold it to
Francis Heywood. (fn. 42) He was
succeeded in 1739 (fn. 43) by his son
Francis, whose heir in 1747
was his brother William. (fn. 44) On
his death in 1762 his sisters,
Mary wife of John Wright, (fn. 45) and Elizabeth Fonnereau, widow, and their nephew John Crewe, purchaser of Bolesworth Castle, Cheshire, in 1763, (fn. 46)
became joint owners. (fn. 47) By a settlement in 1788
Shabbington Manor became the sole property of
John Crewe, (fn. 48) and on the death of his widow Elizabeth it passed to their son-in-law George, fourth
Viscount Falmouth. (fn. 49) After his death in 1808 (fn. 50) the
Shabbington estates were sold in lots. (fn. 51) The manor
with some 446 acres was purchased in 1815 by
William Beasley, and sold in 1827 to Edward
Blount. (fn. 52) In 1830 he settled the manor on his son
Walter Aston, (fn. 53) who succeeded his father in the
middle of the 19th century. (fn. 54) His nephew, Sir Walter
de Sodington Blount, bart., (fn. 55) is the present owner.
Grey of Rotherfield. Barry argent and azure with the difference of a baston gules.
Clerke, baronet. Argent a bend gules between three roundels sable with three swans argent on the bend and a sinister quarter charged with a demi-ram argent and in the chief two flcursde-lis or and over all a baston or.
A grant of view of frankpledge in Shabbington was
made to the Knights Hospitallers in 1299. (fn. 56) When
they lost the manor the right appears to have been
resumed by the honour of Wallingford, whose officers
held the courts for Shabbington and other vills in
the 15th century at Ickford (fn. 57) and in the 16th century
at Shabbington. (fn. 58) This right with court leet was
granted to Sir William Clerke in 1619 (fn. 59) and included
in the later transfers of the manors, a court leet being
held by Mr. Edward Blount in October 1828. (fn. 60) A
grant of free warren in Shabbington was made to
John de Grey in 1330. (fn. 61) There are various references to the water-mill (fn. 62) valued at 10s. yearly in
1086 (fn. 63) ; the site only is named
in 1683. (fn. 64) It is noted in the
Domesday Survey that 100
eels came from the fishery at
Shabbington, (fn. 65) and fishing
rights in the Thame have
descended with the manor. (fn. 66)
Blount, baronet. Barry wavy or and sable.
An estate in Shabbington
was conveyed in 1731 by
Dame Katherine, widow of
Sir William Clerke, her son
Sir William and her daughters
Elizabeth and Mary to Sarah
Duchess of Marlborough. (fn. 67) It
descended with the dukedom until the early 19th
century, when it was sold by George SpencerChurchill, the fourth duke, to William Rowland. (fn. 68)
It has since remained in his family, (fn. 69) the Rev. W. C.
Rowland being the present owner.
The property known as Shabbington Wood, which
was transferred from Shabbington to Oakley for civil
purposes in 1886, (fn. 70) was owned at his death in 1822
by John Atkins-Wright, a descendant in the female
line of the Wrights, part owners of the manor in 1763. (fn. 71)
It was shortly afterwards purchased by Mr. Joseph
Henley, of Waterperry House, Oxfordshire, (fn. 72) and his
son, the Rt. Hon. Joseph Warner Henley, owned it
in 1862. (fn. 73) It is now held in trust for Commander
J. Henley, R.N.
Church
The church of ST. MARY MAGDALENE consists of a chancel measuring internally 21 ft. by 16 ft. 6 in.,
nave 43 ft. by 22 ft. 6 in., north porch and a west
tower 11 ft. 6 in. by 10 ft. 6 in.
The walls of the nave and chancel, which are of
rubble incorporating herring-bone work, are partly
of late 11th-century date, but no contemporary detail
survives, new windows and doorways having been
inserted in the 14th century, when the chancel arch
was rebuilt, while the west tower was added in the
succeeding century. The north porch is a modern
addition. The church was restored in 1882.
The chancel is lighted from the east by a threelight window with cusped intersecting tracery, and
from the north by a two-light window with flowing
tracery, to the west of which is a small square-headed
low-side window with a modern shutter. The two
windows on the south are each of two lights, the
eastern window having flowing tracery, while the
western has a plain spandrel in the head. Except
the low-side window, all have pointed heads and date
from about the middle of the 14th century. On the
south, in the usual position, is a 15th-century piscina
with a cinquefoiled head and stone shelf, and in the
east wall is some badly formed arcading of uncertain
date. The pointed chancel arch, which is of two
continuous orders, is of the same date as the windows.
The nave has been so much restored that the
details, though incorporating fragments of the old
work, which are of 14th-century character, are practically modern. There are north and south pointed
doorways, each between two windows of two lights.
The jamb shafts of the north-east window are old,
and some 12th-century stones have been used in the
relieving arch of the south doorway. To the east of
the north-east window the east jamb of the doorway
to the rood-stairs can be traced. The roof is of the
15th century, and has trusses of the queen-post type
with moulded wall plates; the narrower eastern bay,
which was over the rood-loft, is ceiled with boards
below the level of the western bays, and is treated
with greater elaboration. The modern north porch
has a pointed entrance arch and open sides. Reset
in its west wall is an early 14th-century coffin-lid
with a marginal inscription in Norman French, now
nearly indecipherable, but apparently commemorating
one Isobel de Swell.
The tower, which is covered with ivy, so that
much of its detail is hidden, is of the 15th century,
apparently without external divisions, and is crowned
by an embattled parapet. It has a stair-turret at
the south-west angle, and has been strengthened by
massive western buttresses at some time subsequent to
the date of its erection. In the ground stage is a
pointed west window of three lights with a traceried
head, and beneath it a pointed doorway of two continuous orders. The tower arch is pointed and has
plain jambs, into which its two orders die. The
intermediate stage has small square-headed windows,
and on the north side is a clock dial. The bellchamber is lighted by square-headed windows of two
plain lights, and the stair-turret has small quatrefoil
lights. In each side wall of the tower is a shallow
square-headed niche with a projecting sill.
The font is probably mediaeval, but has been so
scraped that it is impossible to date it with certainty.
The bowl is plain and octagonal, and stands upon a
tapering stem. The pulpit bears the date 1626, and
is hexagonal in plan with moulded panels. A tablet
on the west wall of the chancel commemorating
Sir William Clerke, bart., who died in 1678, is the
only monument of interest, but there are 18th
century slabs to members of the Spencer and Burnard
families.
There is a ring of six bells, the treble by Mears &
Stainbank, London, 1881, and the others by Abraham
Rudhall of Gloucester, 1718. There is also a small
bell bearing the date 1794, probably by Thomas
Mears. (fn. 74)
The plate includes a cup and cover-paten of 1683
and a flagon of 1758.
The registers begin in 1715.
Advowson
A vicarage was ordained in Shabbington in 1221, the advowson and
the rectory then belonging to Wallingford Priory, (fn. 75) by whom it was retained (fn. 76) until its
dissolution in 1525. (fn. 77) Both advowson and rectory,
with a hide of land in Shabbington, were granted
by the Crown in 1528 to Cardinal Wolsey, (fn. 78) the
advowson only in 1532 to trustees for St. George's
Chapel, Windsor, (fn. 79) and both in 1541 to Sir John
Williams. (fn. 80) He at once transferred the property to
William Burt, the tenant, reserving the advowson. (fn. 81)
This was afterwards acquired by the Burts or the
Tippings. Agnes Burt, niece and eventual heir of
William Burt, married William Tipping, and their
son Thomas inherited the Shabbington property. (fn. 82)
He appears to have given it with the advowson to
his second son Bartholomew, (fn. 83) who made a settlement
of both in 1610 (fn. 84) and a later detailed settlement in
1620, (fn. 85) cited in the inquisition after his death in
1632. (fn. 86) His sons Thomas and John Tipping (fn. 87) appear
to have given up their interests in favour of their
nephew Bartholomew (fn. 88) in 1646, (fn. 89) and he also acquired
his father's claim in 1654. (fn. 90) His elder brother John (fn. 91)
owned the advowson in 1688. (fn. 92) His widow, or the
widow of his son Bartholomew, Prudence Tipping,
presented to Shabbington in 1728 and 1736, (fn. 93) but
the advowson had descended to John's grandson or
great-grandson Bartholomew Tipping (fn. 94) before 1768. (fn. 95)
His son Bartholomew succeeded in 1775, (fn. 96) presented
to Shabbington in 1777 and 1782, (fn. 97) and died unmarried in 1798. (fn. 98) His heir was his niece Mary
Anne, (fn. 99) wife of the Rev. Philip Wroughton. (fn. 100) She
survived her husband many years and died in 1841. (fn. 101)
The advowson of Shabbington remained in her family, (fn. 102)
but was purchased about 1882 by the Rev. A. F. Q.
Bros, who has been vicar of Shabbington from 1892,
and is the present owner.
Charity
William Burnard, by his will proved
in the P.C.C. 13 August 1828, bequeathed £100 consols, the interest
to be applied in the distribution of woollen clothes
on 24 December yearly. The stock is held by the
official trustees, the annual dividends of £2 10s.
being duly applied.