UPPER WINCHENDON
Uvere Wincedona (xii cent.); Upwynchendon
(xiii cent.); Over Winchendon (xiv cent.).
The area of this parish is 1,202 acres, of which
288 are arable land where wheat, barley, turnips,
beans and mangold are grown, and 835 permanent
grass. (fn. 1) The soil is of limestone and clay on a subsoil
of Kimmeridge Clay and Portland Beds. The land
stands generally 400 ft. above the ordnance datum,
falling in some parts to 300 ft.
The village, which is small, is built on high ground
with the church in a beautiful situation commanding
fine views. On the brow of a hill south-east of the
The Wilderness, Upper Winchendon, from the North
church stood the ancient mansion of the Goodwins, (fn. 2)
probably the messuage which John Goodwin allowed
to fall into such decay that it was uninhabitable in
1517, (fn. 3) and which a memorandum of Thomas Cromwell described fourteen years later as 'a manor-place
somewhat in ruins.' (fn. 4) After the Goodwins the
Whartons made it their home. (fn. 5) Here Philip Lord
Wharton, husband of Jane Goodwin, (fn. 6) had a collection
of Vandykes and Lelys said to be the finest in
England, (fn. 7) but scattered by the second Duke of Marlborough, who pulled down the greater part of the
house. (fn. 8) The fragment of the house which now survives, called the Wilderness, is a two-storied building
with attics dating from about 1650. A part of a
moulded arch now in an outhouse dates from the
16th century, and is probably a portion of an arched
fireplace. In the remaining spandrel is a leaf ornament and a shield of arms charged with a cheveron
with a cock between three roundels thereon and a chief
with a rose between two leopard's heads. The house
retains an original staircase and some open ceilings.
The Wilderness, Upper Winchendon, from The North
In the early years of the
16th century some arable
land in this parish was
turned into pasture by John
Goodwin, (fn. 9) and doubtless
formed part of the 'goodly
pasture containing by estimation 400 acres' which
Cromwell noted in 1531. (fn. 10)
A tract of arable land called
Cokestyle belonged to the
messuage during the tenancy
of John Goodwin, (fn. 11) and he
or his descendants must have
made the inclosures known
in the next century as the
New Close, Water Mead,
Bulls Water Mead, Stony
Down, (fn. 12) le Combe, le Nashe,
le Pitts Mead, le Nether
ground with Clott Mead, le
Moor Close, and Googesground. (fn. 13) Another inclosure
of the same date, Mainesground, (fn. 14) perhaps the modern
Mainshill, (fn. 15) recalls the connexion with Upper Winchendon of the family of Mayne in the neighbouring
parish of Dinton. (fn. 16) Three years before his death
in 1617, (fn. 17) Simon Mayne bought this with other
land from Sir Francis Goodwin, (fn. 18) and his widow
Coluberry (fn. 19) was engaged in a chancery suit against Sir
Francis touching this property in 1623. (fn. 20) There was
at this time a fishpond in Bulls Water Mead and
the fishing of which Sir Francis retained a moiety in
the sale to Simon (fn. 21) may have been here. The River
Thame, however, touches the parish of Upper Winchendon in the south and has been one of its boundaries since the 11th century. (fn. 22)
The house of Samuel Clarke of 'Winchingdon,'
licensed in 1672 for Presbyterian worship, must have
stood in Upper or Lower Winchendon. (fn. 23)
Manor
The manor of UPPER WINCHENDON belonged to the priory of St. Frideswide before the Norman Conquest and
was reckoned amongst the lands of the canons of
Oxford in 1086. (fn. 24) It was held by the same house of
the Crown in chief, (fn. 25) and in frankalmoign, (fn. 26) until its
suppression in 1524, (fn. 27) and afterwards of the Crown
in socage until 1645. (fn. 28)
Charters were granted by Henry I, John, and
Henry III, to the Prior and Convent of St. Frideswide confirming their possessions here. (fn. 29) In 1518 a
lease of manor, advowson and rectory for sixty years
was granted to John Goodwin and Parnel Nashe,
widow, (fn. 30) the former of whom had been the prior's
tenant-at-will for a considerable amount of land in
the parish for some years previously. (fn. 31) Upper Winchendon, which came to the Crown on the suppression of St. Frideswide, was granted to Cardinal Wolsey
in 1525 (fn. 32) and settled by him in the next year on the
college of his foundation at Oxford. (fn. 33) On Wolsey's
fall the manor was once more in the king's hands.
Though it was reckoned for some years amongst the
possessions of Cardinal's College, (fn. 34) later the college
of Henry VIII in Oxford, (fn. 35) it does not appear that it
was actually reappropriated to that foundation, and in
1531 Cromwell was evidently appraising it for sale. (fn. 36)
The next year John Williams (fn. 37) received a grant of
the rent of £27 reserved by the prior on the lease of
1518 and of the reversion of the property included
in that lease, (fn. 38) and another rent from the manor of
Upper Winchendon and certain churches in the
neighbourhood was bestowed on the Bishop of Lincoln
a few weeks later. (fn. 39) Sir John Williams must have
surrendered his rights here in or before 1546 when
John Goodwin, the tenant of 1518, was granted the
reversion of all that he held by lease in Upper Winchendon with the rent reserved. (fn. 40) He bought land
here of Sir Edward Saunders in 1557 (fn. 41) and was lord
of the manor at his death in the following year. (fn. 42)
By his son and heir, Sir John Goodwin, (fn. 43) who
was sheriff in 1587, (fn. 44) it was settled about 1574 on
the marriage of his son and heir of the same name
with Anne, daughter of Sir
Richard Baker. (fn. 45) The younger
John died before his father, (fn. 46)
and Upper Winchendon descended in or before 1597
to Sir John's younger son
Francis. (fn. 47) A dispute which
arose in that year with Elizabeth Goodwin, widow of Sir
John, already re-married to
Thomas Stukeley, (fn. 48) concerning the inheritance of Francis
in Upper Winchendon and
other parishes, seems to have
been settled in 1600, Thomas
and Elizabeth then relinquishing Elizabeth's claim on the manor to Francis, (fn. 49) who
mortgaged it later in the same year. (fn. 50) Sir Francis
Goodwin was knight of the shire in 1586 and 1597, (fn. 51)
but though elected in 1604 the chancellor stated
that he was an outlaw at the time and thereby
disabled. (fn. 52) The House of Commons reversed the
chancellor's decision, and although at the king's
suggestion a new writ was issued, the result was really
a victory for the Commons. (fn. 53) In 1614, 1621, 1625
and 1626 he was returned without opposition, (fn. 54) and
was sheriff for the county in 1623. (fn. 55)
Goodwin. Party or and gules a lion between three fleurs de lis all countercoloured.
Sir Francis Goodwin settled the manor of Upper
Winchendon on the marriage of his son and heir,
Arthur, with Jane, daughter of Sir Richard Wenman,
afterwards Viscount Wenman, in 1618, (fn. 56) and obtained
five years later a grant from the king of the whole of
his inheritance in this parish. (fn. 57) Arthur Goodwin,
who succeeded his father in 1634, (fn. 58) had been member
for Chipping Wycombe in 1621 and 1624, for Aylesbury in 1626, (fn. 59) and was returned as knight of the
shire to the Long Parliament of 1640. (fn. 60) He died in
1643 leaving an only daughter and heir Jane, then
wife of Philip Lord Wharton. (fn. 61) Lord Wharton, like
his father-in-law a strong Puritan, and a commander
in the Parliamentarian army, (fn. 62) and afterwards a
member of Cromwell's House of Lords, (fn. 63) held Upper
Winchendon (fn. 64) till his death in 1695–6, when he was
succeeded by his third but eldest surviving son
Thomas, (fn. 65) who had represented the county in Parliament many times since 1679. (fn. 66)
From Thomas Wharton,
created a marquess in February 1714–15, (fn. 67) the manor
passed a few weeks later to
his son, the brilliant and
eccentric Philip Wharton,
created Duke of Wharton in
January 1717–18. (fn. 68) He held
Upper Winchendon with his
wife Martha when he attained
his majority in 1719, (fn. 69) and
mortgaged it to his creditors
the same year. (fn. 70) Four years
later, the greater part of his
inheritance having been squandered, (fn. 71) a decree in
Chancery ordered the sale of the manor of Upper
Winchendon to the Duchess
of Marlborough and other
trustees of the late Duke of
Marlborough, into whose possession it passed shortly afterwards. (fn. 72) Winchendon then
descended with the title to
John Winston, seventh Duke
of Marlborough, who alienated it in 1874 to Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild. (fn. 73) His
sister Miss Alice de Rothschild
succeeded him in 1898, (fn. 74) and
is now lady of the manor.
Wharton. Sable a sleeve argent and a border or charged with eight pairs of lions' legs razed gules and crossed saltirewise.
Churchill, Duke of Marlborough. Sable a lion argent and a quarter of St. George.
View of frankpledge belonged to the Prior of St.
Frideswide in 1255 and remained appurtenant to
the manor until the 17th century. (fn. 75) In 1286 tumbrel and gallows were also appurtenances. (fn. 76) There
was a dovecote near the capital messuage in 1645. (fn. 77)
Church
The church of ST. MARY MAGDALENE consists of a chancel measuring
internally 24 ft. by 14 ft. 6 in., nave 41 ft.
by 16 ft. 6 in., north aisle 8 ft. 6 in. wide, west tower
11 ft. by 9 ft. and south porch; it is built of stone
and roofed with tiles.
The earliest detail which can be dated with
certainty is the mid-12th-century south doorway of
the nave, but the plain north arcade suggests the addition of an aisle at an earlier period to an already existing nave. At the end of the 12th century the chancel
was reconstructed, and in the middle of the 14th
century the north aisle was apparently rebuilt and the
south porch erected. The west tower was added about
1420. In modern times the church has been completely restored.
The chancel is light by three original lancets in
each of the lateral walls and two in the east wall, all
having round-headed rear arches. On the south are a
blocked priest's doorway, a pointed sedile, and a roundheaded piscina, while below the south-west lancet are
the remains of a low-side window; at the north-west
corner is a squint connecting the chancel with the
north aisle. There is a bracket on the east wall, and
another on the south wall, indented for a beam; they
are both probably original and retain traces of colour.
The chancel arch, which is of late 12th-century date,
though restored, is of a single order springing from
plain responds with moulded abaci; over the arch is
hung a funeral helm and crest.
The north arcade is of three bays, each having a
round arch of one plain order springing from square
jambs; in the absence of detail, the whole being covered
with plaster, it is impossible to assign an exact date
to this arcade. The mid-12th-century south doorway
has a round head of two moulded orders springing from
jamb shafts enriched with twisted and lozenge ornament and having scalloped capitals; a cross potent has
been scratched on the east jamb. The holy-water stoup
is placed on the nave wall inside. East of the doorway
are two square-headed windows of about 1480, each
of three cinquefoiled lights, and at the east end of
the wall is a pointed recess, probably of original late
12th-century date, containing a small round-headed
light. The upper doorway to the rood loft remains
at the north-east of the nave. On the west is the
pointed tower arch, which dates from about 1420,
and is of three orders dying into plain responds.
The north aisle is lighted by two traceried windows
in the north wall, each of two lights, a similar window
on the west, and one of three lights on the east, all
dating from the 14th century, though the east window
appears to have been reset. The continuously-moulded
north doorway is of the same period. The south
porch, which is of timber on a stone base, has been
very much restored.
The 15th-century tower is of two stages, and is surmounted by an embattled parapet, and supported by
diagonal buttresses on the west. At the south-east is a
stair turret which changes from a square to an octagonal
plan at the commencement of the upper stage of the
tower, and is crowned by a pyramidal stone roof. The
continuously-moulded west doorway and two-light
traceried window above are of the original date of the
tower, as are also the windows of the bell-chamber,
which are each of two trefoiled lights with tracery
under a pointed head.
The font has a plain round bowl, dating probably
from the 12th century, on a modern stem, and an
early 17th-century cover constructed from a pulpit
canopy. On the floor of the chancel is a brass figure
of a priest in the habit of an Austin canon, and below
is the inscription 'Syr John Stodeley and hys mother
Emmot lyyn under thys marbyll stone have mynde
of us forget us nat we pray to you frendys everychone
that our soulis in blys may be say a pater noster wyth
an ave huic ecclesie perpetuus prefuit iste vicarius a
deo sit benedictus amen. anno domini xv°05.' At
the north-east of the chancel is a mural monument
with three beautifully drawn brass shields of Goodwin,
Goodwin impaling Blondesden, and Goodwin and
Blondesden impaling Bladlow; below is a verse commemorating John Goodwin, who died 11 May 1558,
and Katherine his wife. They had eighteen children.
There are three 17th-century floor slabs in the aisle.
The pulpit, which has traceried panels and an embattled cornice, dates from the 14th century, and is
cut from a single block of wood. Below the chance
arch is a 15th-century traceried screen, and there are
some 16th-century benches incorporated in the seating of the nave. The communion table and rails
date from the 17th century, and in the north aisle
there is a plain chest which probably dates from the
13th century.
The tower contains a ring of three bells, all inscribed 'Richard Chandler made me 1675,' and a
small bell dated 1827.
The plate consists of a chalice and paten of
1689.
The registers begin in 1606.
Advowson
The church, which belonged to
the priory of St. Frideswide in the
12th century (fn. 78) and probably from
its foundation, (fn. 79) followed the descent of the manor (fn. 80)
(q.v.), but was not alienated to Baron Ferdinand de
Rothschild, the present Duke of Marlborough being
now patron. (fn. 81) The vicarage was ordained by Bishop
Hugh of Wells, and consisted of all the altar offerings,
of the tithes of sheaves from half a hide which Robert
son of Gervase held, and tithes of sheaves and hay
from half a virgate which Walter Tresboen held
together with a suitable house. (fn. 82)
Charity
This parish participates in the distribution of Bibles and religious books
from Lord Wharton's general charity.