CHADDLEWORTH with WOOLLEY
Ceadelanuurthe (x cent.); Cedeledorde, Cedeneord
(xi cent.); Chedileswrth, Chedeleswrth (xii cent.);
Chedelworth (xii–xiii cent.); Chedlesworth, Cheddeworth (xiii cent.); Chadlyngworth, Chadworth
(xvi cent.).
The parish of Chaddleworth, which lies on the
southern slope of the Berkshire downs, contains 3,400
acres, of which rather more than half are arable,
while the remainder is almost equally divided between
permanent grass and woods and plantations. (fn. 1) The
soil is chalk, covered in places by clay with flints;
the chief crops are wheat, barley and oats. The
parish consists of two townships or tithings, Chaddleworth and Woolley. The village of Chaddleworth
lies round the church, upon the top of a hill, while
Woolley consists only of Woolley Park and Farm and
a few cottages. The highest point in the parish is at
Woolley House, which stands a little more than
600 ft. above the ordnance datum, while the lowest,
at the south-west corner of the parish, is 370 ft. No
railway runs through the parish, the nearest station
being at West Shefford, on the Lambourn Valley
branch of the Great Western railway. The high road
from Hungerford to Wantage forms a considerable
part of the western boundary of the parish, and for a
short distance lies within its borders. The population
is entirely agricultural. The common lands of
Chaddleworth were inclosed by Act of Parliament
in 1811. (fn. 2) Woolley Park is the seat of Mr. Philip
Musgrave Neeld Wroughton, Chaddleworth House
is the residence of Mr. F. N. Lloyd, and Oakash of
Mr. W. L. Lucas.
The site of Poughley Priory is in the extreme
south-east corner of the parish, 1½ miles to the south
of Chaddleworth village in a secluded spot surrounded
by woods, and is now partly occupied by a farm-house.
The only conspicuous fragment of the priory buildings
remaining is a portion of the western range now
incorporated with the farm-house, but the ground
plan of the church is said to have been examined.
No plan, however, appears to have been made, nor
any adequate record kept, and the site is now turfed
over. The east front of the farm-house consists of a
wall of flint and stone, nearly 4 ft. thick, in the
upper part of which is a blocked window of two
trefoiled lancet lights, and near it a carved sitting
figure, the latter probably an inserted fragment. The
window, however, indicates this portion of the conventual buildings to have been of 13th-century date.
Above the carved figure is a stone with the initials
M L R I and the date 1613, which may possibly
give the year of the building of the house. The
other window and the doorway are modern. The
house was enlarged on the west side in 1796, when
'a large heap of earth was removed and thrown into
pits, probably fish ponds, about the farm.' The lid
of a stone coffin inscribed 'Hieronimus Robertus
Prior Primus' was then found, 'in removing the
foundations of the chapel,' but was taken to East
Hendred. Many other architectural remains have
since been discovered, including a second coffin-lid
with the full-length figure of a priest, a piscina, a
carved corbel, a fragment of a clustered column and
some encaustic tiles. Twelve quarries of glass from
the priory are at Prior's Court, Chieveley. (fn. 3)
There are three round barrows at the south end of
Woolley Down, which have been rifled but not
scientifically explored; an earthenware pot containing
800 Roman coins is said to have been dug up near
Poughley, (fn. 4) though it seems probable that this statement refers to a similar discovery just beyond the
parish boundary in the parish of Welford (fn. 5) (q.v.).
Manors
Certain lands here were held in the
10th century by Wulfric, who was
deprived of them for some offence, but
they were restored to him by King Edgar in 960. (fn. 6)
There were two manors in CHADDLEWORTH at
the time of the Domesday Survey, and of these the
most important had been held of Countess Gytha
and her son Gurth as two manors by two freemen. (fn. 7)
It passed afterwards to Oda of Winchester, who gave
it to Robert, the steward of Hugh de Port. At the
time of the Domesday Survey it was held by the
abbey of Winchester, but by what right the men of
the shire did not know. (fn. 8) It seems afterwards to have
passed with the majority of Oda's lands to Rogerd' lvry, (fn. 9)
and was included in the honour of St. Valery. (fn. 10)
It is probable that when Bernard de St. Valery
founded the abbey of Lieu Dieu in France (fn. 11) he granted
to the monks there his lands in Chaddleworth, for the
abbot of that monastery was holding land here in
1220–1. (fn. 12) Later in the 13th century Robert de
Chaddleworth held 5 hides here of the abbey for a
rent of 10 marks yearly, (fn. 13) and in 1247 John, the
abbot, with the convent of Lieu Dieu, sold all their
rent and right in Chaddleworth to the Abbot and
convent of Netley in Hampshire. (fn. 14)
The other manor of Chaddleworth, which was
assessed at 4 hides, had been held of King Edward
the Confessor by Edward, but
at the time of the Survey it
was in the hands of Robert
Doyley. (fn. 15) It was held in the
reign of Henry I by Ralph
Basset, Chief Justice of England, and he granted it to the
abbey of Abingdon with the
consent of all his sons. (fn. 16) These
lands were confirmed to the
abbey by Pope Eugenius III
in 1146. (fn. 17) Ralph was succeeded by his son Thurstan,
whose son Richard endeavoured to recover the lands in 1158. The abbey
appealed to the king, and Richard was compelled to
confirm the monks in their possession of the manor,
reserving only the right of obtaining wood from it for
his manor at Letcombe Bassett. (fn. 18) The abbey continued to receive a rent from this manor (fn. 19) until the
Dissolution, (fn. 20) but the manor itself was held of them
as early as 1182 by Robert de Chaddleworth. (fn. 21)
Abingdon Abbey. Argent a cross paly between four martlets sable.
In 1218–19 Henry de Bagnor and his wife sold
land in Chaddleworth to Emma de Rokele and others, (fn. 22)
and in 1236 to Alan de Farnham, (fn. 23) who had in 1224–5
sold an estate here to Richard and Robert de Chaddleworth. (fn. 24) In 1229–30 Robert de Chaddleworth and
others conveyed lands here to Richard, (fn. 25) but in 1230
Robert was still holding property at Chaddleworth (fn. 26)
of both the abbeys of Abingdon and Lieu Dieu. (fn. 27)
He is referred to in 1275–6, (fn. 28) but was dead before
1281, when Thomas de la Penne held the lands as
one manor in right of Mabel his wife, who may perhaps have been Robert's daughter, and sold them
with her consent to Queen Eleanor, (fn. 29) widow of King
Henry III. The queen, wishing to support the state
of Eleanor of Britanny, then a nun at Amesbury,
asked for permission in 1284 to grant this manor to
the prioress and nuns there. (fn. 30) The inquisition then
held states that part of the manor was held of the
Abbot of Netley, who held of the honour of St.
Valery, while the remainder was held of the abbey of
Abingdon. (fn. 31) The Earl of Cornwall, presumably as
lord of the honour of St. Valery, held view of frankpledge there once a year. (fn. 32) Licence to alienate the
manor was granted in 1284, (fn. 33) and in 1286 the
prioress and nuns obtained a grant of free warren. (fn. 34)
The Prioress of Amesbury purchased more lands
there in 1311–12 from Reynold le Frankeleyn, (fn. 35) and
was holding the manor in 1316, (fn. 36) and again in 1344
acquired more land from Geoffrey Wauncy. (fn. 37) In 1517
the nuns and their tenants had converted land here
into sheep runs. (fn. 38) At the Dissolution Chaddleworth
passed to the Crown. (fn. 39)
In 1542 the king granted the manor to William
Sharyngton, (fn. 40) groom of the privy chamber, who had
licence in June 1544 to sell it to Henry Brouncker
and John Pert. (fn. 41) Henry Brouncker was holding the
manor in 1568, when the
capital messuage was held of
him by William Hyde, (fn. 42) and
died at Erlestoke, co. Wilts.,
18 July 1569, when he was
succeeded by his son William. (fn. 43)
In 1577 William Brouncker
sold the manor to William
Nelson, (fn. 44) chief prothonotary of
the Court of Common Pleas. (fn. 45)
William died 13 August 1590
seised of this manor, which
passed under a settlement of
the previous month to his
widow Dorothy. (fn. 46) She afterwards married William Rankyn, and in 1597 granted
her interest in the manor with his consent to
Thomas son and heir of William Nelson, (fn. 47) who had
attained his full age a few months earlier and had
livery of the manor. (fn. 48) Thomas died in 1647, (fn. 49) when
he was succeeded by his son William, who placed the
manor in settlement in 1656. (fn. 50) He was twice married,
and died before 1682, when his eldest son Thomas
Nelson was dealing with the manor. (fn. 51) Thomas died
27 May 1692, leaving a son Thomas, (fn. 52) who was
holding the manor in 1704 (fn. 53) and 1740, (fn. 54) and died
6 April 1748, leaving a widow Isabel and two
daughters Mary and Elizabeth, (fn. 55) who were living
unmarried in 1759. (fn. 56) Mary subsequently married
Richard Walter, and their son Richard Walter, who
assumed the additional name of Nelson, was holding
the manor in 1806. (fn. 57) He seems to have died without issue, when the manor passed to his nephew
George Kerr, the son of his sister. George Kerr took
the name of Nelson, built the present Chaddleworth
House between 1809 and 1811, and died in 1821,
leaving two sons, both under age. The elder of these
seems to have died soon afterwards, for it was the
younger, George Kerr Nelson, who sold the manor in
1837 to Bartholomew Wroughton of Woolley Park, (fn. 58)
since which date the manor of Chaddleworth has
passed with that of Woolley (q.v.).
Nelson. Or a cross paty sable with a baston gules over all.
The hermitage of Elenfordesmer, in this parish,
was granted by Ralph de Chaddleworth before 1181
for a foundation of Augustinian canons, who built
there the house later known as POUGHLET
PRIORT. (fn. 59) The priory was dissolved in 1524 and
the site was granted to Wolsey's college at Oxford. (fn. 60)
After the fall of the cardinal it was taken into the
king's hands and given to the Abbot and convent of
Westminster in exchange for certain lands at Westminster now forming part of St. James's Park. (fn. 61) At
the Dissolution the site was transferred to the Dean
and Chapter of Westminster. (fn. 62) In 1649 it was sold
to Adam Jordan, who sold it to John Elwes, (fn. 63) but at
the Restoration it returned to the Dean and Chapter.
It was purchased about 1900 of the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners by the late Mr. Philip Wroughton.
The curious manorial custom by which an incontinent widow recovered her freebench is said to have
prevailed at Chaddleworth as at Enborne (fn. 64) (q.v.).
Oakash, a house in this parish, is called Ockendishe
in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. (fn. 65) In 1664 it was
owned by Gabriel Pile, third son of Sir Francis Pile
of Compton Beauchamp. (fn. 66) It has lately been restored by its present owner, Mr. W. L. Lucas.
The manor of WOOLLEY (Olvelei, xi cent.;
Olvelay, Wolvel, Wulay, Wolvelay, xii cent.; Wolvey, xiv cent.; Wolleighe, Wolley, xvi cent.) was
held by Earl Ralph of King Edward the Confessor,
but at the time of the Domesday Survey it was in
the hands of William Peverel, (fn. 67) who gave it to his
daughter Adeliza or Alice on her marriage with
Richard de Rivers. Between the years 1142 and
1155 Adeliza, with the consent of her sons and grandsons, gave the manor to the abbey of Montebourg. (fn. 68)
This grant was subsequently confirmed by William
Peverel, Adeliza's brother, (fn. 69) by her son Baldwin de
Rivers, first Earl of Exeter, (fn. 70) and by his son Richard. (fn. 71)
In 1171 the gift was confirmed by King Henry II, (fn. 72)
and about 1196 by William de Vernon Earl of
Devon, the second son and ultimate heir of Baldwin
the first earl. William, it would seem, had resumed
the manor and was then restoring it to the abbey. (fn. 73)
In 1204 the manor was taken into the king's hands
owing to the wars with France, (fn. 74) but it was restored
later, for the abbey was holding it in 1220–1, (fn. 75) and
Ralph de Woolley, who had purchased lands here
from Joan le Breton about the year 1240, (fn. 76) was at
the same time holding the manor at farm of the
abbey, (fn. 77) into which he entered as a brother a few years
later (fn. 78) ; he was, however, allowed to continue holding
the manor, with which we find him connected in
1256 (fn. 79) and 1265. (fn. 80)
The priory of Appuldurcombe in the Isle of Wight
was a cell of the abbey of Montebourg, (fn. 81) and though
in 1316 Wolley was held by the abbey (fn. 82) it was
described as the property of the priory of Appuldurcombe in 1324 when it was in the king's hands as
land belonging to an alien priory. (fn. 83) The manor
was confirmed to the abbey in 1330 (fn. 84) and 1333, (fn. 85)
but was finally seized when the priory of Appuldurcombe was dissolved by King Henry V in 1414,
when it was given with the rest of the priory lands
into the custedy of the Nuns Minoresses without
Aldgate. (fn. 86) The priory and lands were granted to the
Minoresses in perpetuity in 1443 and confirmed to
them in 1461. (fn. 87) They remained in possession till
1539, (fn. 88) when the convent was surrendered to the king
by Elizabeth Savage, the last abbess, and the manor
of Woolley passed to the Crown. (fn. 89)
The abbess leased the manor in 1501 to Richard
Deacons for sixty years, (fn. 90) and Richard sold this lease
in 1503 to Robert Tate. (fn. 91) This Robert may, perhaps,
be the Sir Robert Tate, mercer, who was Mayor of
London in 1488. (fn. 92) He died before 1528, when his
heir, Richard Tate, usher of the king's chamber, used
Richard Eden, clerk, for deeds relating to this manor,
which Eden also claimed. (fn. 93) The dispute was settled
6 February that year in favour of Richard Tate, (fn. 94) and
the lease was confirmed to him by the abbess in
1529. (fn. 95) On 24 July 1537 the abbess sold the reversion, after the expiration of Tate's lease, to George
Gyfford, (fn. 96) but two years later had to surrender the
manor to the king. (fn. 97)
Richard Tate leased the manor to John Blandy of
Chaddleworth for twenty years and in 1540 sold the
reversion of this lease to Thomas Smith (fn. 98) ; on 9 September 1540 the received from the king a grant of
this manor in exchange for jewels to the value of
£220. (fn. 99) In 1543 Richard purchased the reversion of
the lease that had been granted to George Gyfford, (fn. 100)
and in 1549 bought the chapel of Woolley with its
tithes, (fn. 101) which he leased with the manor in 1550 for
sixty years to John Blandy. (fn. 102) In 1552 a marriage
was contemplated between Bartholomew Tate and
Eleanor daughter of Richard Pauncefoot, Richard
Tate's great-niece, and the manor was settled upon
them. This marriage seems not to have taken place,
perhaps owing to the death of Eleanor, for a few
months later Richard made a settlement in favour of
his nephew Richard Pauncefoot, Bartholomew Tate
being a party to the transaction. (fn. 103) Richard Tate
was knighted in 1553, and died 27 March 1554,
when this manor passed under the settlement of 1552
to his nephew. (fn. 104)
Richard Pauncefoot of Hasfield, Gloucestershire,
was a son of John Pauncefoot by Bridget, one of the
sisters of Sir Richard Tate. He died 20 December
1558 seised of the reversion of this manor, apparently
after the death of Margaret Byllyngton, widow. (fn. 105)
John Pauncefoot, his son and heir, had livery of the
manor 8 January 1559. (fn. 106) and leased it 20 April to his
mother Dorothy for nine years. (fn. 107) He sold the manor
in 1560 to his sister Margaret and John Read her
husband with remainder to his other sisters. (fn. 108)
John Read and Margaret were holding the manor
in 1561, (fn. 109) but sold it 20 August 1566 to Thomas
Tipping and his son Bartholomew. (fn. 110) Bartholomew
married Martha daughter of Robert Doyley of Merton,
co. Oxon., and they placed this manor in settlement
in 1610. (fn. 111) In 1617 he leased certain lands here for
nineteen years to his elder son Thomas, (fn. 112) and died
24 February 1632, when he was succeeded by Thomas,
who had livery of the manor 27 January 1634. (fn. 113)
Thomas married Catherine daughter of Henry
Sambourne of Moulsford and died in 1655. His
only daughter Catherine, wife of William Dewy,
quitclaimed her interest in this manor in 1662 to her
cousin John, son of her father's brother Bartholomew
Tipping. (fn. 114)
John Tipping held the manor from 1662 till his
death, which occurred early in the following century, (fn. 115)
when the property passed to
his elder son Bartholomew, (fn. 116)
who was succeeded in 1718
by his son Bartholomew. This
Bartholomew married Mary
daughter of Mr. Alnut of
Ibstone, Berks., and was hold
ing the manor in 1729 (fn. 117) ; he
died 11 May 1737, when he
was succeeded by his eldest
son Bartholomew, who married Anne daughter of Philip
Henshaw of Bussocks Court,
in the parish of Chieveley.
Bartholomew died 11 July
1757 and his widow 2 January
1775. They were succeeded by their son Bartholomew, (fn. 118) who died unmarried 13 December 1798.
Tipping of Woolley. Or a bend engrailed vere charged with three pheons or.
Bartholomew Tipping's only sister Catherine had
married John Chardin Musgrave, D.D., Provost of
Oriel College, Oxford. She died 27 February 1795,
leaving an only daughter Mary
Ann, who became heir to her
uncle. Mary Ann Musgrave
married the Rev. Philip
Wroughton, (fn. 119) and they rebuilt the house in 1799,
employing as architect Sir
Jeffrey Wyatville. (fn. 120) The
Rev. Philip Wroughton died
6 January 1812, leaving two
sons Bartholomew and Philip,
the former of whom inherited
this manor. Bartholomew
Wroughton died childless in
1858 and the manor passed
to his brother Philip. Philip Wroughton died
28 December 1862, leaving by his second wife
Blanche daughter and co-heir of John Norris of
Hughenden Manor, co. Bucks., a son Philip who
succeeded to the manor. This Philip Wroughton
was M.P. for Berkshire 1876–85 and for the
Abingdon Division 1885 to 1895. He married,
4 February 1875, Evelyn daughter of Sir John Neeld
of Grittleton, Wilts., and died 7 June 1910, when
the manor passed to his only surviving son Philip
Musgrave Neeld Wroughton, the present owner. (fn. 121)
Wroughton of Woolley. Argent a cheveron gules between three boars' heads proper.
Church
The church of ST. ANDREW consists
of chancel, nave, south porch and west
tower. There is also a vestry on the
north side of the chancel and two large square pews
built out from the nave on the north side.
The building has been very much altered from
time to time, but appears to be substantially of late
12th-century date, to which period the present nave
and lower part of the tower belong. The nave,
however, represents both the chancel and nave of the
original church, to which a new chancel was added in
1851. The old church is described in 1849 (fn. 122) as
having been much altered and the nave modernized,
and in 1881 a restoration of the entire building
carried the modernization a step further, a west
gallery being then removed. The Blandy pew was
erected towards the east end of the north wall of the
old nave in 1706, and the Wroughton pew adjoining
it to the west in 1810. Both are under separate
gabled roofs. The upper stage of the tower may
have been rebuilt in the 15th century, a stone
below the parapet bearing the date 1637 probably
indicating only a restoration or renovation in that
year. The porch is modern.
Being covered with rough-cast outside and internally with plaster, the old walls offer very little architectural evidence as to their age, but they appear to
be of flint rubble. The south doorway is of the usual
Norman type and rather earlier than other detail
remaining in the old chancel and tower, but a local
tradition to the effect that the doorway was brought
from Poughley Priory, though apparently never corroborated, makes it difficult to argue an earlier date
than c. 1195 for the fabric as a whole. The modern
chancel, which measures internally 22 ft. by 16 ft. 6 in.,
is built of blue brick with stone dressings and has a
high-pitched roof covered with blue tiles, the ridge of
which is considerably higher than that of the nave.
The east window is of four lights in the style of the
14th century and there is a three-light window on
the south side.
The old chancel, now the eastern part of the nave,
was 25 ft. in length and the nave 32 ft., giving an
internal length to the present nave of 57 ft. The old
chancel arch, if one existed, has disappeared, the
former division being now only marked by a thinning
of the walls in the eastern portion, which gives a
width of 19 ft. to the former chancel as against
17 ft. 6 in. to the nave. The construction of the
roofs differs inside, but externally the whole of the
former nave and chancel is under a single red-tiled
eaved roof. The modern chancel arch is in the
style of the 13th century. No ancient ritual arrangements remain in the old chancel, but in the north
wall are two lancet windows, both a good deal
restored, but substantially original work of c. 1195–1200. The window on the south side is modern,
and the modern boarded roof retains two old principals, the remainder to the west being entirely new.
In the south wall is an old priest's doorway with
chamfered segmental head, to the west of which in
the old nave is a modern three-light window. The
south doorway has a semicircular arch of two orders
below a quirked and chamfered hood mould, the face
of the chamfer being carved with a wavy moulding
set between large beads or pellets and terminating in
carved heads. The outer order has a rich double
cheveron moulding along either face, and the inner a
plain cheveron forming a lozenge pattern in the angle.
Both orders spring from enriched imposts, below
which the cheveron is carried down the outer jambs
to the ground. The inner jambs are badly weathered
and mutilated, but have been enriched with a semicircular studded ornament. There are no shafts. The
imposts of the inner order are mutilated and cut
away on the inner face, but those to the outer order
have a series of scallopings immediately above the
jambs and are continued along the wall on either side
with an egg ornament. The width of the opening is
3 ft. 6 in. and in the eastern reveal inside is a roundheaded stoup, above which are cut three small votive
crosses. Above the doorway within the porch is a
15th-century canopied niche, the lower part of which
has been cut away.
At the west end of the north wall of the nave is
a mutilated square-headed window, apparently of
16th-century date, now of two lights, the easternmost
having been blocked or removed when the Wroughton
pew was erected.
The tower is of two unequal stages divided by a
string-course, and measures internally 12 ft. by 7 ft.
6 in., the greater length being from north to south.
It is without buttresses and has a projecting oblong
vice in the north-east corner weathering back below
the upper stage. The plinth is of flint-rubble, above
which the walls are entirely covered with rough-cast;
the west window is an old pointed opening under
a round-billeted hood mould, now divided into two
lights by a modern mullion. The lower stage is
blank on the north and south, except for a later singlelight opening near the top on the south side, and
the string has carved heads at the angles and in the
middle of each side. The total height of the tower is
33 ft., the lower stage being about two-thirds of the
whole, and the belfry is lighted on the north, south,
and west sides by square-headed windows of two
trefoiled lights without hood moulds, and on the east
by a single-light cinquefoiled sanctus bell opening.
The tower terminates in a straight parapet above a
string-course and has a flat leaded roof. The dated
stone already mentioned on the west side bears also
the initials M.B., A.M. The ogee tower arch is
of two chamfered orders springing from older jambs,
probably an insertion when the upper stage was added.
The jambs are of c. 1195. A carved head remains
at the line of springing on the south side, but one on
the north side has been cut away.
The font consists of a plain circular stone basin,
apparently of 12th-century date, on a modern stone
base, and is lined with lead. There is also a small
18th-century pillar font with fluted shaft.
A fragment of a carved 15th-century piscina, found
at Poughley Priory in 1896, is preserved in the
church.
The pulpit is hexagonal in plan and is a modern
adaptation of an 18th-century 'three-decker' which
stood to the east of the two pew 'chapels' on the north
side of the nave. The sides have inlaid star panels.
The 'Blandy pew,' which belongs to the owners
of Oakash, is 11 ft. 6 in. deep by 11 ft. wide and
opens to the nave by a semicircular arch. The floor
is 2 ft. above that of the nave, towards which it has
a rail with turned balusters. The north wall is of
2½–in. brickwork, with a blocked elliptical window
in the gable, and there is a curved plaster ceiling.
The east wall is of flint rubble, in which a modern
door has been inserted. The 'Wroughton pew,'
which was built against its west wall, measures internally 11 ft. 3 in. by 11 ft. 6 in., and has a large
square-headed opening to the nave with Tuscan
pilasters and entablature and balustrade at floor level.
The walls are panelled to a height of 4 ft. 9 in., and
there is a modern window on the west side. The
opening was originally much smaller and there was a
glass window over the steps from the nave which
could be opened and shut. Externally the walls are
rough-casted. These two 'pews,' which are in the
nature of rooms raised well above the floor level of
the church, occupy nearly the whole of the north wall
of the old nave and somewhat mar the architectural
beauty of the building.
On the north wall of the old chancel are two large
black marble tablets, each with the figure of a woman
kneeling, to Mary wife of Thomas Nelson (d. 1618)
and Dorothy wife of William Nelson (d. 1619), both
of whom had seven children, who are represented in
each case behind their mother. (fn. 123) There are several
tablets to the Tipping, Musgrave, Nelson, Wroughton,
Blandy and Humfrey families. (fn. 124) Over the chancel
arch are the royal arms and a tablet of benefactions
dated 1815, originally on the front of the west gallery,
and on the south wall of the nave the Lord's Prayer
and Commandments on two large boards, 'put up by
order and at the cost and charge of Isabella Nelson,
Lady of the Mannor' in 1757.
The tower contains a ring of three bells, the oldest
of which was cast by Oliver Cor of Aldbourne in
1725, the third is by Robert Wells of Aldbourne,
1788, and the treble by John Warner & Sons of
London, 1865. A little bell which hangs in the
sanctus bell opening is dated 1635. (fn. 125)
The plate consists of a cup and cover paten of 1585,
with the usual floral band around the bowl, a cup of
1717 inscribed, 'In honorem Dei B. Wroughton de
Woolley Arm. in Fest. Pentecost A.D., 1844,' (fn. 126) a
salver paten of 1790, and an ordinary paten of 1788,
both with the same inscription. There are also a
pewter flagon and a small plated paten.
The registers before 1812 are as follows:
(i) baptisms, marriages and burials 1538 to 1651;
(ii) all entries from 1653 to 1675; (iii) mixed
entries from 1678 to 1689, marriages separate from
1684 to 1714, baptisms from 1689 to 1733, and
burials from 1689 to 1732; (iv) marriages to 1756
and baptisms and burials to 1797; (v) baptisms and
burials from 1798 to 1812; (vi) marriages from
1756 to 1812.
On the south side of the building is the base and
lower part of the shaft of a churchyard cross on two
square steps. The shaft is octagonal in section and
remains to a height of 28 in. The churchyard also
contains a mediaeval grave cover with cross, very much
weathered, and two 'fair raised arched monuments' (fn. 127)
or tombs of late 16th or early 17th-century date to
members of the Blandy family.
Advowson
The earliest mention of a church
at Chaddleworth occurs towards the
end of the 12th century, when Ralph
de Chaddleworth granted it to the newly-established
priory of Poughley. (fn. 128) At the Dissolution the priory
still held the advowson, which followed the descent
of the priory lands in the parish, (fn. 129) and now belongs
to the Dean and Canons of Westminster.
In 1291 and 1340 the church was valued at £5. (fn. 130)
A chapel was erected at Woolley at an early date,
for it formed part of the original endowment of
Poughley given by Ralph de Chaddleworth in the
12th century. (fn. 131) At the dissolution of the priory this
came into the hands of the king, who granted it
in 1549 to Richard Hall and others, (fn. 132) who sold it
in that year to Richard Tate, (fn. 133) owner of the manor.
In 1549 it was returned as a free chapel founded by
Richard Tate for a priest to say mass at certain times
in the year. There was then no incumbent, and
the Tates took the profits for their own use. (fn. 134) Richard
Tate leased it in 1550 to John Blandy the younger, (fn. 135)
and the chapel with the tithes attached to it have
since gone with the manor. The chapel was pulled
down before 1759, (fn. 136) and the site is still known.
Charities
The school, founded and endowed
in 1719 by will of William Saunders,
now consists of a school and master's
house erected upon a site conveyed by deed 14 June
1823, endowed with 50 acres in Lambourn known
as Foxbury Farm and with 35 acres in Brightwalton,
producing with the rent of the master's house about
£95 a year. The official trustees also hold a sum of
£133 10s. 5d. consols arising from accumulations of
income, producing £3 6s. 8d. yearly.
Susannah Wynne, by her will 1710, gave £10 a
year for the benefit of a schoolmaster, issuing out of
the Marridge Hill estate at Ramsbury. (fn. 137)
In 1871 Ruth Coventry, by her will proved at
Oxford 29 December, bequeathed £50, the income
to be applied for the instruction of two poor children
to be called 'The Coventry Scholars.' The legacy,
less duty, is represented by £48 10s. consols with the
official trustees, producing £1 4s. yearly.
The fuel allotment containing 12 acres was acquired
in 1813 under an inclosure award for the benefit of
the poor in lieu of their right in cutting furze or
turf from the commons. The land is let at £11 a
year, and is subject to a rectorial tithe rent-charge of
£2 7s. a year. The net income is applied in the
distribution of coal.
The poor are also entitled to a yearly sum of
£1 6s. 8d. received out of land in the parish of
Lambourn, comprised in a deed of 1 January 1650.
The annuity is also applied in the distribution of coal.
By the award above mentioned an allotment of
2 rods situated in Buckham Field was made to the
surveyors of the highways for furnishing gravel, &c.,
for the repairs of the roads of the parish.