CHETWODE
Cetwuda (x cent.); Ceteode (xi cent.); Chettewuda
(xii cent.); Chetwod, Chetewode, Chetwode (xiiixiv cent.); Chytwood (xvi–xix cent.).
This parish covers 1,171 acres, of which 983 are
permanent grass and 138 arable land; there are
14 acres of woods and plantations. (fn. 1) The land falls
gradually from about 383 ft. above the ordnance
datum in the north to a little under 300 ft. in the
south, where the ground is liable to flood from a
tributary of the Ouse. The Great Central railway
crosses the parish.
There is no actual village, but several scattered
farms, among them Sunflower
Farm, a stone building dating
from the 17th century. On
the gable of a staircase wing
on the north side is the inscription 'T.B.C. 1662,
P.H.' Priory House, built
on the site of the small house
of Austin Canons established
here in 1245 by Ralph de
Norwich, (fn. 2) stands about the
centre of the parish. The
only traces of the old priory
are found in the church,
which superseded the parish
church in 1480, the fishponds and moats. In 1285
the priory buildings, except
the church which 'contained
the Host,' were burnt by
'certain malevolent persons,' (fn. 3) and the canons were
thereupon granted protection
whilst collecting alms for
their relief. (fn. 4) After the Dissolution the house built here
was for many generations the
home of the Risleys, but the present house dates only
from about 1833. (fn. 5)
In 1290 the prior and canons were granted an
annual three-day fair to be held at their priory on
the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Mary. (fn. 6)
Half a mile north-east of the church is the Manor
House, with the site of the old parish church and
graveyard near by. A long avenue of trees leads to
the road near which, and at a little distance from
the gates, is the site of the hermitage of St. Stephen
and St. Lawrence.
The house is a brick and stone building of two
stories with an attic, consisting of a T-shaped house of
about 1600 with substantial 18th-century and modern
additions on the east. The original part retains its
stone-mullioned windows, some of which are now
blocked, and two old chimney stacks, one with
diagonal shafts. The kitchen on the south-west has
a wide-arched fireplace, and there is a stone moulded
fireplace with a four-centred head in a passage on
the first floor. Over the kitchen is an oak panelled
room with moulded panels, carved frieze, and oak
fireplace and overmantel, all dating from the first
half of the 17th century. The fireplace is flanked
by columns of Doric type supporting a mantelpiece
enriched with conventional ornament and lions'
heads, and the overmantel consists of a large panel
with an heraldic achievement of Chetwode flanked by
Corinthian columns and surmounted by an entablature and cornice.
Chetwode Manor House
Willis states that in his time the mansion had been
neglected for many generations, as the principal
residence of the Chetwode family was at Oakley in
Staffordshire. (fn. 7)
The Chetwode family enjoyed considerable rights
and privileges in Chetwode, the most interesting of
which is that known as the Rhyne toll. Tradition
asserts that this toll originated in consequence of a
Chetwode having killed a huge and very ferocious
wild boar, which had long been the terror of the
inhabitants, at a date when this district was to a great
extent uncleared forest and on the outskirts of the
forest of Bernwood. A discovery which certainly
bears out this story was made about 1810. There
formerly stood in Barton Hartshorn less than a mile
from Chetwode manor-house a large mound surrounded by a ditch locally known as Boar's Pond.
The tenant of this property, on levelling the mound,
discovered the remains of a wild boar of enormous
size; some of the bones were well preserved, and were
taken possession of by the Chetwodes. (fn. 8) There appears
to be no documentary evidence concerning the toll
before the 16th century, but in 1577 a suit was
instituted between the widow of one of the Chetwodes and her son concerning their respective rights
in the manor and in the rhyne toll, and in the records
of the suit there occurs a very full and interesting
account of the toll. (fn. 9)
It was found that the common of the manor
consisted of 2,000 acres in Chetwode, Barton,
Tingewick, Gawcott, Preston, Hillesden, Prebend
End in Buckingham, and Lenborough, and that the
lord had, for three days yearly, between Michaelmas
and Martinmas, 'a drift of all cattle that should be
found in those three days within the said commons,
called the Rhyne, in the manner following: In the
begining of the said drift of the common or Rhyne,
first at their going forth they shall blow a welke-shell
or horn immediately after the sun rising at the mansion
house of the manor of Chetwode; and then in their
going about they shall blow their horn a second time
in the field between North Purcell and Barton
Hartshorn in the said county; and shall also blow
their horn a third time at a place near the town of
Finmere in the county of Oxfordshire; and they
shall blow the fourth time at a certain stone in the
market town of Buckingham and there give the poor
6d., and so going forward in this manner about the
said drift shall blow the horn at several bridges called
Thornborough bridge, King's bridge and Bridge Mill.
And also they shall blow their horn at the Pounde
Gate called the Lord's Pounde in Chetwode. The
lord of the manor has all the time been used, by
officers and servants, to drive away all foreign cattle
that shall be found within the said three days within
the parishes and fields aforesaid, to impound the same
in any pound in the said towns and to take for every
beast 2d. for the mouth and 1d. for a foot for every
one of them.' Further details follow concerning the
claiming of the cattle during the next three days; if
unclaimed at the end of that time they became the
property of the lord.
The nature of the toll has changed slightly since
that date. During the 19th century the custom has
been, after the blowing of horns at 9 a.m. on
30 October, to levy a tax of 2s. per score on all
cattle or swine driven through the said districts
between that time and midnight on 7 November.
The local farmers usually compound for immunity for
1s. per annum. The right of the lord to collect has
more than once been upheld legally against those
refusing to pay. The proceeds of the tax, amounting
earlier in the century to £20, greatly diminished after
the advent of the railway. It was rented at 25s. per
annum in 1863. (fn. 10) It appears to have lapsed for a
period about the year 1884, (fn. 11) but was afterwards
renewed. (fn. 12)
Place-names include la Breche and Hocroft (fn. 13) (xiii
cent.), Boysterwode (fn. 14) (xv-xvi cent.), and Damsells
Meade (fn. 15) (xvi cent.).
An Inclosure Act for this parish was passed in
1812. (fn. 16)
Manors
The first mention of land at CHETWODE occurs in a charter of 949, in
which it was stated that Ælfstan had
sold to Æthelflede 20 'manentes' at Chetwode and
Hillesden. (fn. 17) At the date of the charter the land
appears to have been held by Eadred, King of
Northumbria. (fn. 18) The boundaries of this land are
given; they began at the 'holy oak,' and stretched
towards Chieveley in Berkshire. (fn. 19)
Later Chetwode was held as a manor by Alnod
Chentisc, a thegn of Edward the Confessor, and in
1086 it was among the possessions of Odo of Bayeux. (fn. 20)
In the 13th century the overlordship belonged to the
Say family, (fn. 21) and was held by them as late as 1531, (fn. 22)
when the last mention of it occurs.
Robert de Thame was the bishop's tenant at the
time of the Survey. (fn. 23) In 1166–7 'Robert,' possibly
Robert de Chewod or Chetwode mentioned in 1199, (fn. 24)
rendered account of half a
mark for Chetwode. (fn. 25) This
was probably the father of
Robert de Chetwode, who
held the manor in 1224, in
which year, his son Robert
having predeceased him, he
settled half the manor on
Annora, the widow, as dower. (fn. 26)
He appears to have still held
in 1234–5 (fn. 27) ; between 1235
and 1247 Ralph de Chetwode
was lord. (fn. 28) Robert de Vitteney
held Chetwode in wardship in 1254–5, (fn. 29) and in
1284 Robert de Chetwode was lord. (fn. 30) John de
Chetwode, who was knight of the shire in 1298 and
1302, (fn. 31) had succeeded before 1302–3. (fn. 32) He married
Amice, and made a settlement of the manor in 1313. (fn. 33)
Apparently he married a second wife Jane, as John
de Chetwode, sen., and Jane his wife held the manor
in 1324. (fn. 34) He was succeeded by another John
before 1346. (fn. 35) Later in the reign of Edward III
Nicholas de Chetwode, son of John, was lord of the
manor. (fn. 36) He married Elizabeth de Lyons, and was
followed by his son John, (fn. 37) who was knight of the
shire in 1386 and 1395, (fn. 38) and by his grandson
Thomas, (fn. 39) the last-named being alive in the reign of
Henry VI. (fn. 40) His two daughters died without issue, (fn. 41)
and the manor passed to his sister Elizabeth, wife of
Thomas de Wahull or Wodhull, kt. (fn. 42) She died holding it in 1475 and was succeeded by her grandson
John, son of Thomas. (fn. 43) John was followed by a son
Fulk and grandson Nicholas. (fn. 44) At the death of the
latter in 1531 Chetwode became the property of his
son Anthony, (fn. 45) who married Ann Smith and died in
1542, leaving a daughter and heir, Agnes, aged only
seventeen days. (fn. 46) She married Richard Chetwode, a
distant relation, a younger son of the Chetwodes of
Oakley in Staffordshire, a younger branch of the
original family, (fn. 47) whose name thus became again
associated with the place.
Chetwode of Chetwode. Quarterly argent and gules jour crosses formy countcrcohured.
A statute passed in 1558–9 for restoring to the
Crown its ancient ecclesiastical and spiritual jurisdiction has a proviso by which Richard and Agnes
Chetwode—who had appealed to Rome against
Cardinal Pole's decision that their marriage was
invalid—were allowed to abide by the decision of
the papal court, 'any lawe, costume, usage, canon,
to the contrary notwithstanding.' (fn. 48) After the death
of Richard his widow married Sir George Calveley;
at her death in 1576 her heir was her son Richard
Chetwode, a minor. (fn. 49) In 1613 the latter presented
a petition to the king claiming the ancient barony in
fee of Wahull, as sole lineal heir of the Wahull barons;
a full account of this claim and of similar ones made
later by his descendants is given in the history of
Odell in Bedfordshire. (fn. 50) Richard Chetwode's son
Richard married Ann Knightley, but died during the
lifetime of his father. (fn. 51) Valentine Chetwode, grandson and heir of the latter, held the manor in 1634–49. (fn. 52)
He did not die until 1685, but before this time the
manor appears to have been sold to the Chetwodes
of Oakley, descendants of the elder brother of Agnes
Wodhull's husband Richard Chetwode. (fn. 53) John
Chetwode of Oakley and Eleanor his wife held this
manor by 1666, (fn. 54) and were succeeded by their son
Philip, who married Hester Touchet. (fn. 55) John Chetwode, son of Philip and Hester, was created a baronet
in 1700. (fn. 56) He dealt with the manor by fine in
1728 (fn. 57) and died in 1733. (fn. 58) His descendants continued to hold Chetwode, (fn. 59) and the seventh baronet,
Sir Philip Walhouse Chetwode, is now lord of the
manor.
A mill worth 30d. was among the appurtenances
of the manor in 1086, (fn. 60) and is again mentioned in
1223. (fn. 61) No further record of it appears until the
16th century, when Robert Harris and James Bradshaw were successively millers of Chetwode. (fn. 62) The
latter achieved some notoriety in his time, being
implicated in an intended rising of the people in
Oxfordshire in 1596. (fn. 63) The plans were discovered,
and Bradshaw, as one of the ringleaders, was sent up
for examination—his hands pinioned, his legs bound
under his horse's belly, speech forbidden, and guarded
at night at the inns where they lodged. He, 'being
a miller and travelling the county,' had undertaken
to persuade others to join in the riot, the cause of
which appears to have been mainly the high price of
wheat, so that he 'wondered what poor men would
do,' and with his comrades, judging that 'it would
never be well till the gentlemen were knocked down,'
he had proposed attacking Lord Norreys' house and
securing the armour and two field pieces which stood
there. (fn. 64) The water-mill was still held by the lord
of the manor in 1641, and is mentioned as late as
1785. (fn. 65)
In 1226–7 Ralph de Norwich acquired the following parcels of land in Chetwode: 1 virgate from
William le Nenu, (fn. 66) 4½ virgates from Sibyl Gargate of
Caversfield, (fn. 67) and 2 virgates 2 acres from Robert de
Easington and Sibyl his wife, to be held for a pair of
gauntlets. (fn. 68) In 1231–2 he acquired, further, 1 virgate
from William son of Ralph to be held for a pair of
white gloves or 1d. (fn. 69) and 1 virgate from William
Perdun (?). (fn. 70) In 1235 he received a life exemption
from suit at the county and hundred courts, and from
sheriffs' aids and hidages due from his lands here. (fn. 71)
In 1241 Sibyl Gargate quitclaimed to him a further
4½ virgates. (fn. 72) In 1245 he received licence to found
the priory of Chetwode, (fn. 73) and in 1246 conveyed to
the prior 10 virgates of land in Chetwode and elsewhere, (fn. 74) which probably included the main part of
the above grants, and which became known later as
the MANOR OF CHETWODE PRIORY. Ralph
reserved to himself for life a capital messuage, paying
annually 2 lb. of wax, with reversion to the prior at
his death, the whole to be held by the priors of Ralph
and his heirs. (fn. 75) In the same year Sibyl Gargate quitclaimed 4 virgates, saving to herself for life the capital
messuage, for which she gave the prior 4 lb. of wax
annually. (fn. 76) In 1254–5 the priory lands in Chetwode
amounted to 2 hides and half a virgate (fn. 77) ; in 1284
the prior was found to hold the site and 8½ virgates of
Robert de Chetwode. (fn. 78) In 1540, after the dissolution of
Nutley Abbey, to which the priory and its possessions
had been annexed, (fn. 79) the site of the priory was granted
as a manor to William Risley and his wife Alice in
fee. (fn. 80) He died in 1552, leaving as heir his son
William, (fn. 81) who died in 1603, his son Paul succeeding
to the manor. (fn. 82) Paul married Dorothy Temple and
died seised in 1626, his eldest son and heir being
William. (fn. 83) William, however, did not succeed to
the property. His father, by deeds of 1623 and
1626, had provided out of the estate for his younger
children, Anne, Dorothy, Mary, Elizabeth, Crescens,
Paul and Peter, and had granted an annuity to
William. The remainder was held by trustees to the
use of his son Thomas in tail, (fn. 84) and Thomas afterwards held the manor. (fn. 85) He was sheriff of the county
in 1666 (fn. 86) and died in 1671, his son and heir being
John, who married Cristiana. (fn. 87) John's only child,
a daughter, died young, and as his cousin and heir
Henry, son of his uncle Paul, mentioned in the settlements of 1623 and 1626, was alien born, as were
Henry's two sons, John Risley
at his death in 1682 left
Chetwode to trustees until
the heirs were naturalized,
when Henry was to hold for
life and his sons in tail-male. (fn. 88)
Paul son of Henry Risley (fn. 89)
was in possession by 1696 (fn. 90)
and still held in 1735, (fn. 91) but
had been succeeded four years
later (fn. 92) by his sister's son
Risley Brewer, who took the
surname of Risley. (fn. 93) He made
a settlement of the manor in
1741, (fn. 94) was sheriff of the county in 1744, (fn. 95) and died
in 1755, (fn. 96) when letters of administration were granted
to his widow Anne, since his father Thomas Brewer,
whom he had made his sole executor and universal
legatee by a will of 1739, had predeceased him. (fn. 97) In
1767 the manor was held by William Jesson and
Hannah his wife and William Wither. (fn. 98) William
Jesson was the grandson of the granddaughter and
heir of the Anne Risley mentioned in the deeds of
1623 and 1626, (fn. 99) and apparently by this date the
heir of the Risley family. His daughters and heirs
were Hannah Freeman, wife of William Pearson, and
Elizabeth Pudsey, wife of Thomas Grosbeck Lynch. (fn. 100)
Ann Jesson, spinster, probably a third daughter, quitclaimed a moiety of the manor to the former couple
in 1788, (fn. 101) and later in the same year both co-heirs
and their husbands quitclaimed a moiety to Abraham
Bracebridge, husband of Mary Holte, niece of
William Jesson. (fn. 102) William
Jesson Pearson, son of William
and Hannah, (fn. 103) held a fourth
part in 1805 (fn. 104) and 1808, (fn. 105)
and Henry Gratian Lynch
was seised of a like portion in
1816. (fn. 106) Before 1829, however, the whole manor had
become the property of Walter
Henry Bracebridge and Mary
Holte Bracebridge his wife, (fn. 107)
nephew and daughter respectively of Abraham Bracebridge. (fn. 108) They had held a
part at least of the manor in
1812. (fn. 109) The priory estate was held by the Bracebridge family as late as 1883, (fn. 110) after which it passed
to its present possessor, Major G. F. Green.
Risley. Argent a fesse azure between three crescents gules.
Bracebridge. Vairy argent and sable a fesse gules.
Church
The church of ST. MARY AND
ST. NICHOLAS consists of chancel and
nave in one rectangular building, measuring internally 57 ft. 6 in. by 24 ft., north chapel
21 ft. by 16 ft. and north-west tower 8 ft. 6 in.
by 8 ft.; it is built of stone rubble and roofed with
slate.
The chancel and nave, which formed the quire of
the priory church founded here in the 13th century,
date probably from about 1250, (fn. 111) and the north
chapel was added during the first half of the 14th
century. The priory was dissolved in 1460, and
while the quire and north chapel were preserved as
the parish church, the nave and other conventual
buildings have since disappeared. A rough sketch
plan of the buildings, made during the reign of
Elizabeth and preserved in the Bodleian library at
Oxford, (fn. 112) shows a transeptal church with the cloister
and conventual buildings on the south and a churchyard on the north, a nave about the same length and
width as the quire, and a tower at the north-west of
the nave. After the Dissolution a wall was built
across the west end of the original quire and the
present tower was added at a later period. The
church was very considerably restored and partly
rebuilt early in the 19th century, and has since been
further restored.
Practically the whole of the east wall is occupied by a
graceful group of five tall lancets of the original date of
the quire, (fn. 113) with internal jamb shafts having moulded
capitals and bases, edge rolls with foliated capitals,
and richly moulded rear arches; the lancets increase
in height to the centre, and as the capitals are all on
the same level the central arches are stilted. In each
of the north and south walls, near the east end, is a
triplet of similar lancets, the shaft capitals of which
are enriched with foliage and grotesques. Below the
southern group is an arcade of four richly moulded
arches of the same period. The eastern recess probably contained the piscina, while the other three
formed the sedilia; the divisions and responds are
formed of grouped shafts with moulded bases and
foliated capitals, and, like the arches, are enriched
with dog-tooth ornament. The third arch from the
east, which is wider than the others, has been
repaired, and the back has been opened out
to form a doorway. At the west end of the
south wall, in that part of the old quire now
used as the nave, are two windows of about
1300, placed close together and high in the
wall, each of two lights with tracery under a
pointed head; in the north wall opposite is a
two-light window of about the same period,
the traceried head of which has been replaced
by a modern lintel. Between the latter and
the north-east lancets are a 14th-century
pointed arch to the chapel and a 13th-century
pointed recess, the former being of two
orders, the outer continuous and the inner
springing from crowned head corbels. At
the back of the recess there is some contemporary painting. The tower arch at the north
end of the west wall springs from 17thcentury moulded corbels, and is coated with
plaster; south of it are a two-light window
of about 1300, with interlacing tracery, which
has been reset in the wall, and another two-light
window, which is probably modern. In the southeast window is some fine mediaeval glass, removed
here from the east window and restored. The central
lancet is filled with 13th-century grisaille, including
two vesicae, one a beautiful panel of St. John Baptist
on a blue background, holding an Agnus Dei, and
the other inclosing the figure of an archbishop in
mass vestments; at the foot of the light is a shield of
England. The upper part of the eastern lancet is
filled with 13th-century grisaille, including a green
and red cross, and in the lower part is a 14th-century
figure of a saint in an architectural setting; the west
light is similarly divided, the upper including a circular
panel representing the Crucifixion and the lower three
14th-century figures—the Blessed Virgin, St. Peter,
and a bishop, the latter being at the foot of the light with
the fragmentary inscription 'Amicus dei Nicholaus.'
The north chapel has an original two-light traceried
window in the west wall, but the east window, of two
square-headed lights, is modern. Both the east wall
and the north wall, which is pierced by a modern doorway, have been rebuilt.
The low tower is of two stages, coated with roughcast, and is surmounted by a pyramidal tiled roof.
The ground stage has a modern west doorway and a
late two-light window above with a square head.
The bell-chamber is lighted by square-headed windows similare to that on the ground stage.
On the north wall of the chancel is a mural monument, flanked by weeping figures and surmounted by
an urn, to Mary daughter of Paul Risley, who died in
1668, and on the chancel floor are a 15th-century
marble slab with matrices for brasses, and three 17thcentury slabs to members of the Risley family. Below
a door, in the wood floor near the organ and at the
original floor level, is a stone slab of about 1350 with
an incised foliated cross and the following marginal
inscription, now somewhat indistinct: 'Sir Jon
Giffard gist icey De sa alme Dieu pur pyte ait
mercy.'
A table in the north chapel, part of another in the
tower, and an oak chest in the chapel, all probably
date from the 17th century, while some panelling of
the same period has been re-used in the chapel.
Plan of Chetwode Church
There are two bells. One inscribed in Lombardic
characters, 'me tibi xe dabat i chetwode quern
peramabat,' probably dates from about 1350, and the
other is a small bell with no inscription, but apparently
of 18th-century date.
The plate consists of a modern chalice and paten
and a modern flagon and bread-box.
The registers begin in 1756.
Advowson
The church of Chetwode is mentioned in 1223, at which date the
advowson was held by Robert de
Chetwode. (fn. 114) The dedication to St. Martin is mentioned in an institution of 1234–5. (fn. 115) It remained
appurtenant to the manor (fn. 116) until the end of the
14th century. The Prior and convent of Chetwode
obtained licence in 1349 to acquire the church in
mortmain and to appropriate it (fn. 117) ; the appropriation, however, did not take place until 1389–91,
when a further licence from the Crown (fn. 118) and from
the bishop (fn. 119) was obtained; a conveyance of the
advowson from John de Chetwode to the prior was
made in the latter year. (fn. 120) It was surrendered with
the priory to Nutley Abbey in 1460. (fn. 121) In 1480,
owing to the state of decay into which St. Martin's
Church had fallen, an agreement was made between
the Abbot of Nutley and the parishioners by which
the priory church was finally given to the inhabitants
of Chetwode for parochial use, save fourteen times
a year, when service was to be held in the old parish
church. (fn. 122) Since that time the priory church has
been regarded as the parish church, and the advowson
has descended with the priory estate, being at present
held by Major G. F. Green and annexed to the living
of Barton Hartshorn.
By the agreement of 1480 (fn. 123) the bishop decreed
that the old church of St. Martin was to be regarded
as a chapel depending on the sometime conventual,
now parochial, church as long as the said chapel
should be kept in repair by the parishioners. The
Abbot of Nutley, however, was at liberty to remove
to the parish church, for which he was responsible,
the font of St. Martin's, with timber, lead, &c., for
repairs, 'leaving enough to inclose the east end of the
said chapel.' Neither party was to cut down trees
in the old churchyard; the lord of the manor was to
keep it in repair and have profits of grass there,
while he and all the parishioners were to have right
of way through the abbot's 'Church-breche close'
and Town-breche, by which dwellers in the manor
of Chetwode had been wont to come to the priory.
These arrangements led to disputes after the Dissolution. About the middle of the 16th century,
after the Risleys had obtained the possessions of
Nutley Abbey in Chetwode, the inhabitants of the
parish lodged a series of complaints against the
family. (fn. 124) It was alleged that the Risleys had entered
the old church and had 'rased and plucked down all
the stones, timber, iron, glass, lead and bells and all
trees in the churchyard and taken it to their own
use.' On a recent occasion, moreover, they had come
upon the complainants, who were sitting listening to
divine service in the parish or priory church and had
driven them out so that 'now they durst not come to
the said cell or priory as their parish church, but go
to other towns instead.' They also complained that
William Risley had made a well-house in the said
cell and had 'appointed well-winders there to wind
his well to the nuisance of your said orators during
divine service.' He had also built a lime-house in
the church and had put his cattle in the churchyard,
making it very dirty. Risley, in his defence, denied
the riot and said that it was the parishioners themselves who had desecrated St. Martin's by removing
materials, but that, in any case, he had a right to it
since, by the deed of 1480, St. Martin's, a much
smaller building than the priory church, had become
a chapel at the disposal of the abbot, and thus was
now his property. He also claimed that the bigger
church was, similarly, his private property, and as a
result of this or a later quarrel appears to have taken
part of the south cross aisle or transept into his house. (fn. 125)
It was at this time probably that the nave and transepts
were destroyed.
The north cross-aisle or transept belonged in
Willis's time to the Chetwode family. (fn. 126) In 1480 the
abbot guaranteed to the lord of Chetwode that the
abbot and his successors should cause mass to be said
daily for the souls of the Chetwodes in the parish
church, in place of the canon whom the family
claimed to have continually 'found singing in the
said Priory of Chetwode.' (fn. 127) This right may have
originated when the Chetwode hermitage or chapel
fell into disuse. There is, however, no other connexion between it and the priory. (fn. 128)
The hermitage of St. Stephen and St. Lawrence
was founded by Robert de Chetwode in the 12th or
early 13th century, (fn. 129) and presentation was made by
the lords of Chetwode until 1359. (fn. 130) In the register
of Bishop Grosteste (1235–52), when presentation was
made to the 'hermitage and chapel,' it was stated that
the said hermitage had afterwards been properly dedicated and was now only called a hermitage by the
laity on account of its solitude, and not because a
hermit had ever lived there; but the chaplain
serving there was wont to wear secular dress and live
there with his family, having 24 acres of land to
sow. (fn. 131) After the presentation of 1359 there is no
further mention of the foundation.
There do not appear to be any endowed charities
subsisting in this parish.