ADSTOCK
Edestocha (xi cent.); Adestoca, Adestocha (xii
cent.); Adestok, Haddestok (xiii cent.).
Adstock covers 1,166 acres, of which 138 are arable,
898 permanent grass, and 15 woods and plantations. (fn. 1)
The soil is clay. The parish is watered by Padbury
Brook, which joins Claydon Brook, and forms the
southern and eastern boundaries. The slope of the
ground varies from over 370 ft. above the ordnance
datum in the centre of the parish to 285 ft. in the
south of the village. In the east of the parish are old
gravel-pits, and at the time of the inclosure in 1798
allotment was made for them. (fn. 2)
The village of Adstock stands off the high road
from Buckingham to Winslow in the south-west of
the parish, the few houses of which it consists being
grouped round the parish church of St. Cecilia.
Several half-timber cottages of the 17th century,
with roofs of tiles and thatch, still remain. A little
distance to the north-east of the church is a halftimber house formed out of several tenements, and
completely remodelled internally, which contains
much re-used old woodwork. On the east side of
the main road is an L-shaped 16th-century house
with heavy timber framing. The present Adstock
Manor in the south of the village was built in the
middle of the last century. A Wesleyan chapel was
erected here in 1889, a thatched barn having been
previously used as a chapel since 1834.
The parish has always been purely agricultural,
and is stated to be so in a 14th-century assessment
for taxation, when Benet Berner claimed allowance
on account of the failure of his bean and pea crops. (fn. 3)
During the time of the Great Plague in the 17th
century there is a tradition that, so greatly were
Buckingham and Winslow infected, a market was
held here for some time. (fn. 4)
Robert Sharrock (1630–84), 'accounted learned
in divinity, in the civil and common law, and very
knowing in vegetables,' was the son of the rector of
Adstock. (fn. 5) Luke Heslop, who wrote on inclosures
and their effect at the end of the 18th century, was
rector from 1778 to 1803. (fn. 6) Charles Neate (1806–79),
political economist, was born here. (fn. 7)
Adstock was inclosed in 1798, and the Award, with
map, is preserved at the Public Record Office. (fn. 8) From
it the following place-names have been abstracted:
Mile Bridge alias Addington Planks, Darrell's Gate,
Harrups Towns End, Fishers ford, Beggar Lane
Close, Bootem Close, Haskell field, Pilch Common.
Manors
Previous to the Survey ADSTOCK
MANOR was held by Gethe, (fn. 9) whose
husband Ralph, apparently Earl of Hereford under Edward the Confessor, was degraded
from his earldom by William I. (fn. 10) The manor
belonged to William Peverel in 1086, (fn. 11) and was held
in chief as of the honour of Peverel until 1518, (fn. 12) after
which date no reference has been found to the honour
in this manor. Adstock appears to have been the
chief manor of the honour in this county, for in
1289 Alice de Luton owed suit for her two manors,
to be paid 'at the king's court of the honour of
Peverel at Haddestok.' (fn. 13)
Ambrose was the tenant of Adstock Manor at
Domesday, (fn. 14) but after 1086 it was held by the lords
in demesne. William Peverel was succeeded by a
son or grandson of the same name, who took Stephen's
side in the Civil War. In 1153 (that is, before
ascending the throne) Henry of Anjou granted
Peverel's lands to Ranulph Earl of Chester, who died
the same year from poison administered, it is said, by
Peverel. (fn. 15) After his accession to the throne Henry
again confiscated the lands of William Peverel, who
is not heard of after 1155. (fn. 16) Adstock Manor was
granted to William Avenel, as appears from a document of the time of Henry II preserved among the
Duke of Rutland's manuscripts, by which William
Avenel granted Addington to Richard Vernon and
Simon Basset, who had married his daughters. (fn. 17)
Adstock thus became divided into two portions, the
more important part, that which included the 'capital
mansion' with two orchards, falling to Richard
Vernon. (fn. 18) A few years later Richard and his wife
Avis, together with William their son and heir, are
found confirming to Azo son of Niel a virgate of
land in Adstock, formerly belonging to Aluwi. (fn. 19)
Richard Vernon was dead in 1195, when Simon Basset,
Avis' brother-in-law, gave 100 marks to acquire
Vernon's lands as the inheritance of his wife. (fn. 20) The
Vernons, however, made good their claim, and in
an undated charter of King John's reign William
Vernon granted Adstock to his half-brother Robert, (fn. 21)
though he, William, was acknowledged to hold half
a knight's fee here in 1229. (fn. 22) At this date William
Vernon also held Pitchcott (q.v.), with which Adstock
descended (fn. 23) to George Vernon, who died in 1566
leaving daughters and co-heirs, Margaret wife of John
Stanley and Dorothea wife of John Manners. (fn. 24) Two
years later Henry Vernon brought a suit against
Henry Vernon for the detention of the will of the
Henry Vernon who had died in 1515. (fn. 25) These two
Henrys must have represented a younger branch of
the family, the defendant being possibly, as plaintiff
states, heir male. (fn. 26) Adstock Manor went to Margaret
Stanley, and during the next twenty years various
settlements are found in her or her husband's name.
In 1568 they made a settlement on Edward Armstrong
and others, (fn. 27) in which settlement John Manners and
Dorothea his wife joined them. (fn. 28) In 1577 Margaret,
who was by this time a widow, appears to have received a quitclaim from Henry Vernon, probably the
defendant of the case quoted above. (fn. 29) She shortly
after married William Mather, (fn. 30) and in 1579, together
with him, settled the manor on Edward Stanley, her
son by her first husband. (fn. 31) Margaret Stanley died
in 1596, (fn. 32) and in accordance with the settlement
Adstock passed to Sir Edward Stanley, kt., of Tong
Castle in Shropshire, (fn. 33) and the same year he with
Lucy his wife made a settlement of the manor on
Sir Francis Fortescue of Salden and Grace (Manners)
his wife, (fn. 34) whose son John had married Frances
daughter and co-heir of Sir Edward Stanley. (fn. 35) Francis
and Grace Fortescue settled the manor in 1614, (fn. 36) and
he died seised in 1624, his son John surviving him. (fn. 37)
Previous to his death, according to Willis, he sold his
demesne to six of the principal tenants of Adstock in
fee, reserving to himself the titular manor. (fn. 38) Shortly
after his father's death John Fortescue sold it to
Thomas Egerton, then rector of Adstock, whose
grandson conveyed it c. 1675 to Sir Ralph Verney. (fn. 39)
Ralph Verney, Viscount Fermanagh, grandson of the
above Ralph, held at the time Willis was writing. (fn. 40)
Nothing further has been found about this manor,
which, as above shown, was titular only, save Lysons's
suggestion that it had amalgamated with the second
manor in Adstock. (fn. 41)
Avenel. Argent a fesse between six rings gules.
Vernon. Argent fretty sable.
Stanley. Argent a bend azure with three harts heads caboshed or thereon.
Fortescue. Argent a bend engrailed argent cotised or.
That portion of the Adstock estate which passed to
Elizabeth daughter of William Avenel on her
marriage with Simon Basset (fn. 42) is sometimes known as
HAUSTED or ADSTOCK MANOR. Like Adstock,
it continued to be attached to the honour of Peverel,
last mention of which in this manor is found in
1626. (fn. 43)
Simon Basset died in or about the year 1205, when
his widow Elizabeth paid a fine to the Crown. (fn. 44) In
1238 Robert Basset acknowledged the right of William
Basset to one-fourth of a
knight's fee and the rent of
3d. and 1 lb. of cummin in
Adstock, which William had
received from 'Elizabeth
Avenel,' grandmother of
Robert Basset. (fn. 45) About the
same date William Basset is
described in the Testa as
holding half a fee of Robert
here. (fn. 46) In 1245 a settlement
on William Basset of onefourth of the 'manor' is found, with reversion to
Elizabeth daughter and heir of Reynold Basset. (fn. 47) In
1249 William Basset died holding half a knight's
fee in Adstock, a count with a close, a messuage,
1 carucate of land, 5½ acres of meadow, rents of freemen, customary rents and works and aids, worth in
all £7 7s. 8½d. here. (fn. 48) It would therefore appear
that the whole property had come into his ownership. His heir was his nephew Robert, son of John
Basset, (fn. 49) who in 1252 obtained a grant of free
warren in his demesne lands of Adstock, (fn. 50) but in
1280 the manor appears as the property of Robert
Bardolf and Lora his wife, who then made a settlement by fine with their overlord, by which the third
of Adstock, then held in dower by Regina wife of
John la Chambre, was to revert to the Bardolfs,
instead of to Roger Bozun. (fn. 51) Four years later Robert
Bardolf was assessed for half a fee in Adstock, and
mention is there found of an extraordinary number
of intermediary lords, for he is said to hold of Roger
Bozun, who held of Richard son of John, who held
of Agnes Gryke, who held of Peter Basset, who held
of Robert father of Peter, who held of the king in
chief as of the honour of Peverel. (fn. 52) In 1305
Robert Bardolf died seised of Adstock Manor, his
heir being Avis, then aged thirty years. (fn. 53) From her
it passed to John de Hausted, who held in 1316. (fn. 54)
He was made Seneschal of Gascony in 1327, and
from 1332 until his death was summoned to Parliament as a baron. (fn. 55) In 1335 he made a settlement of
Adstock on his son John de Hausted and his heirs,
with reversion to himself. (fn. 56) John de Hausted, jun.,
appears to have predeceased his father, on whose
death in 1336 the heir to Adstock was declared to
be his son William de Hausted, then aged thirty. (fn. 57)
In 1337 Fina, widow of John de Hausted, received a
messuage, 120 acres of land, 4 of meadow, a plot of
pasture, £8 11s. 2½d. rent and a windmill in Adstock
as dower. (fn. 58) William de Hausted died without issue
before 1346, and his lands passed to his sister Elizabeth. (fn. 59) Joan de Den, who may possibly be her
daughter, held this fee in 1346. (fn. 60) In 1393 John
Cope and Elizabeth his wife held Adstock Manor
(here called Hausted for the first time), (fn. 61) and it seems
likely that it had passed to the Cope family by marriage, for Adstock certainly follows the same descent
as Denshanger (Northants), which John Cope held
by the courtesy of England in 1397. (fn. 62) At this latter
date he bought all rights in the reversion of Denshanger, (fn. 63) a third of which came to him on the death
of Amy widow of William Hausted in 1400, (fn. 64) and,
though no record has been found, a similar transaction appears to have taken place with regard to
Adstock, which is now found in the Cope family for
several generations. John Cope died in 1417 and
was succeeded by his son John Cope, (fn. 65) whose widow
Joan Cope held the manor till her death in 1434. (fn. 66)
Stephen Cope, her son, next became lord of the
manor, which on his death in 1445 passed to his son
John Cope, (fn. 67) mentioned in connexion with Adstock
in 1489. (fn. 68)
Basset. Barry wavy argent and azure.
Adstock Manor is next heard of in 1511, when
it was settled by Benedict Lee and Isabel his wife
on John Clark and other trustees. (fn. 69) Isabel was
possibly an heir of the Copes, and certainly seems to
have had some special connexion with Adstock, for
Benedict Lee, who survived his wife and married
again, directs in his will, dated 21 February and
proved 17 April 1545, that a yearly obit shall be
made in Adstock Church for the soul of his wife
Isabel. (fn. 70) In 1568 Robert son of Benedict Lee made
a settlement of the manor on Valentine and George
Pigott. (fn. 71) Three years later further settlements took
place, which resulted in the final alienation, through
Anthony Jackson, of the manor to Thomas Smythe. (fn. 72)
Christopher Smythe, whose relationship to Thomas
has not been traced, held Adstock in 1576. (fn. 73) He
settled it on Thomas Smythe in 1583, (fn. 74) and he with
his wife Ellen alienated it to Robert Tomlyns in
1586. (fn. 75) Robert Tomlyns held the manor at his
death in 1622, when it passed to William Tomlyns,
his son and heir. (fn. 76) Other members of this family
subsequently held Adstock. Richard Tomlyns held
a court baron for the manor here in 1647, (fn. 77) and in
1676 Jonathan and Samuel Tomlyns finally sold it
to William Greaves. (fn. 78) His daughter married a member of a family called Whitehale, (fn. 79) and the manor
continued to remain with the Whitehales, of whom
Charles Whitehale and Hester his wife combined with
Matthew Shelswell and others in a settlement of
Adstock in 1707. (fn. 80) This family were still holding
in 1735, (fn. 81) but by the end of the century had been
displaced by the Turneys, of whom John ClarkTurney held in Lysons' day. (fn. 82) In 1798 John ClarkTurney and Elizabeth Goodman, widow, are returned
as joint lords of the manor. (fn. 83) In the middle of the
19th century James Hawley was lord of the manor, (fn. 84)
which at the present day belongs to Mr. Charles
Matthew Prior.
Church
The church of ST. CECILIA THE
VIRGIN consists of a chancel measuring
internally 25 ft. 6 in. by 15 ft., nave
38 ft. 6 in. by 21 ft. 6 in., south porch 6 ft. 6 in.
square, and a west tower 10 ft. by 9 ft.
The nave walls, up to the sills of the windows,
belong to a 12th-century church, the chancel of
which was rebuilt about 1330, when the north porch
was added. The upper part of the nave walls was
taken down and erected anew late in the 15th century, the date of the addition of the tower. The
building was restored throughout in 1875. The
walls of the body of the church are of rubble, but the
tower is faced with ashlar.
The chancel is lighted from the east by a window
of three trefoiled lights with tracery in a pointed head,
and from each side wall by two pointed two-light
windows of the same type. The westernmost window
on each side is transomed to form a low-side window,
the lower portion retaining the staple of the shutters
with which it was fitted. All these windows are of
14th-century date, though much restored. Between
the two north windows is a contemporary doorway
with a pointed head, now blocked, and in the south
wall is an original piscina niche with a trefoiled head.
The chancel arch is pointed and of three chamfered
orders recessed only on the nave side, the innermost
order springing from modern corbels. The chancel
roof retains a truss bearing the date 1597.
The four windows lighting the nave, two in each
side wall, are each of three transomed cinquefoiled
lights with a pointed and traceried head, and are
contemporary with the late 15th-century rebuilding.
Between them are the north and south doorways, both
of which, though partly reset, are substantially of the
12th century. The former is now blocked; it has
a round-arched external order, the head enriched with
foliated ornament in beaded semicircles, and inclosed
by a label with 15th-century head-stops. The jambs
are chamfered and the imposts are ornamented with
the indented moulding. The head of the doorway
itself has been brought to an ogee form by cutting
out part of the tympanum which originally filled the
head of the external order. The south doorway has
12th-century shafted jambs with curiously sculptured
abaci and capitals to the jamb shafts, but the pointed
head is of the 15th century. The jambs of both
doorways have several incised crosses. The roof of
the nave, which is dated 1599, is an interesting
example of late 16th-century work. The trusses
have pierced pendants and tracery in the spandrels
of the wall brackets.
The outer doorway of the south porch has a pointed
head of two orders moulded continuously with the
jambs; the window in the east wall is modern.
The tower is crowned by an embattled parapet and
is of two stages with a vice at the south-west and
diagonal buttresses at the western angles. The west
window of the ground stage is of two cinquefoiled
lights with a pointed and traceried head, and the
tower arch is of three pointed orders. The bellchamber is lighted by louvred two-light windows,
that in the south wall being apparently a re-used
window of c. 1400. The other windows have square
heads and are of the same date as the tower.
The font is of the 15th century and is octagonal
with panelled sides to the bowl. The altar table is
of about 1600. Three traceried heads worked into
the panels of the pulpit appear to be remains of
screenwork. The plain south door bears the date
'17XX2' (1722) scratched upon it, though the workmanship looks earlier. Inserted in the gable over
the outer entrance of the porch is a sundial with the
date 1581 and the initials T.E.
There is a mural monument dated 1720 to the
third of three Thomas Egertons, who were rectors of
the parish, and another to Alexander Burrell, rector,
who died in 1771.
There are two bells and a sanctus. The first, inscribed in Gothic small with crowned capital initials,
'Sancta Anna Ora Pro Nobis,' is by John Sturdy, (fn. 85)
the second is inscribed 'Richard Chandler made me
1676,' and the sanctus, probably by Mears, bears the
date 1826. (fn. 86) On the frame is cut the date 1618
with the name IOHN IEFS.
The plate includes a cup and cover paten of 1569,
a pewter paten and flagon, and a modern plated
almsdish.
The registers begin in 1538.
Advowson
The church of Adstock, together
with a carucate of land, formed part
of the grant of William Avenel
to the Abbot and convent of St. Mary de Pre,
Leicester. (fn. 87) In 1221 Robert Vernon, clerk, under
age, was presented by the convent and admitted by
dispensation of the bishop, who ordered a perpetual
vicarage of 5 marks to be instituted and a fixed pension reserved to the abbey. (fn. 88) If the vicar so appointed
died within seven years, and while Robert was studying at the schools, he (Robert) was to appoint another,
but if later Robert might take the whole church. (fn. 89)
Six years later the abbot and convent presented
Robert de Eddeshoure, (fn. 90) who was accordingly instituted, but subsequent presentation are to rectors.
In 1282 the Bardolfs unsuccessfully tried to wrest the
presentation from the abbot. (fn. 91) Adstock was taxed at
£6 13s. 4d. in 1291. (fn. 92) In 1423 Thomas Thowe,
rector of Adstock and of 'noble birth,' received a
dispensation to hold another living in conjunction
with this one, the value of the two not to exceed 30
marks. (fn. 93) This dispensation was renewed in 1427. (fn. 94)
He was the last rector presented by the abbey, which
seems to have come to some arrangement with the
lords of the manor, by which the latter resumed
the right of presentation. (fn. 95) At the Dissolution the
rectory was said to be worth £18 6s. 8d. (fn. 96) In 1609
Sir Francis Fortescue, lord of the manor, conveyed
the advowson to Peter Fige for a turn. (fn. 97) The lord of
the manor retained the right of presentation until about
the year 1635, when Sir John Fortescue alienated the
advowson to Robert Sharrock, rector of Drayton Parslow, (fn. 98) from whom a turn was purchased in 1671 by
Thomas Egerton, then lord of the titular manor. (fn. 99)
In 1707 Robert, grandson of the above Robert Sharrock, bequeathed the advowson to the Bishop of
Lincoln and his successors, (fn. 100) by whom the right of
presentation was exercised till the 19th century. (fn. 101)
By the middle of the last century it had passed to
the Hart family, (fn. 102) of whom Edward Hart owns the
advowson at the present day.
At the inclosure of the parish the rector received
300 acres allotted in lieu of tithes. (fn. 103)
In 1456 licence was granted to one priest to serve
the neighbouring churches of Adstock and Addington,
the issues of which were said to be sufficient for only
one chaplain, who was to say mass daily in each. (fn. 104)
Charities
The church lands, containing
4a. 2r. 4p., were allotted to the
churchwardens by the Inclosure Award
of 13 August 1798 in lieu of several dispersed parcels
of land in the open fields. The land is let at £7 a
year, which is applied towards general church expenses.
The Emily Bayne's charity of 1911 yields annually
from consols £7 13s. 4d., which is distributed in
coals on St. Thomas's Day to the aged and deserving
poor.