HARDWICK
This small parish of 385 acres (fn. 1) was united with
Tusmore in 1932 to form the modern parish of
Hardwick-with-Tusmore. (fn. 2) The ancient parish lay in
the north-east corner of Oxfordshire, near the
Northants border, midway between the markettowns of Brackley and Bicester. A stream, crossed by
Hardwick ford, marks the southern boundary and
Stoke Bushes, its only other natural boundary,
separates Hardwick from Stoke Lyne on the southwest. This wood was named Stoke Spinney in 1797. (fn. 3)
The parish lies on the Great Oolite, here overlain by
fine flint gravel. (fn. 4) The ground falls from 381 feet in
the north to 337 feet in the south. Minor roads
connect Hardwick with Stoke Lyne and the Oxford—
Brackley road, and with Hethe and the Bicester—
Aynho road. A map of 1797 shows a well-defined
road to Cottisford, but today (1955) there is only a
bridle track. The nearest railway station is at Ardley,
three miles distant.
The name Hardwick (fn. 5) means in Old English a
sheep farm or perhaps a cattle farm, or dwellingplace for flocks and herds, and indicates that a settlement was made here because the drift gravel of the
uplands provides fine pasture. As its church was a
chapelry of Stoke Lyne in the mid-12th century it
is possible that it was the 'herdwick' of a Saxon
estate there. In the 13th century the village became
known as Hardwick Audley (fn. 6) after its manorial lord
and was so described as late as the 15th century. (fn. 7)
The village lies roughly in the centre of the parish.
The Manor Farm and the church stand on relatively
high ground, which falls away to a stream on the
west: this forms pools and a pond and makes the
whole ground marshy as far as the ford to the southwest. (fn. 8) The one-time school (dated 1873), now a
private house; a few semi-detached cottages built of
stone with brick trimmings, which are dated 1869
and 1870, and lie on both sides of the road to Hethe;
and two rather later semi-detached brick cottages
make up the rest of the village. These cottages
are due to the 2nd Earl of Effingham, who purchased Tusmore and Hardwick in 1857, and
pulled down the dilapidated old ones, built of local
stone. (fn. 9)
The village was probably one of the smallest in
Ploughley hundred in the 14th century and continued
to be so. (fn. 10) In 1327 it had seventeen taxpayers, in
1524 seven, (fn. 11) and in 1665 there was only one house
listed, besides the small Rectory and Richard Fermor's manor-house, for the hearth tax. (fn. 12) The Rectory
had evidently gone by 1682, (fn. 13) when there is a reference to its site. It had been described as 'ruinous' in
1679. (fn. 14)
The only building of note left in the parish is the
former manor-house, now the Manor Farm. The
house dates from the late 16th century and must
have been built between 1580 and 1643 when
Sir Richard Fermor was lord of the manor. (fn. 15) His
father Thomas Fermor had resided at Somerton
and leased the Hardwick house to a servant. (fn. 16)
The heads of the Fermor family never resided in
the new manor-house, but it is known that in
the reign of Charles II the house was the residence of the eldest son. The will of Richard Fermor
Esq. (proved 1684) mentions 'such goods as I brought
from thence [i.e. Hardwick] when I came to live at
Tusmore'. (fn. 17) Throughout the 18th century the house
was let by the Fermors. The Day family occupied
the farm until 1793, (fn. 18) Robert Day (d. 1712) and
later Days being buried in the chancel of the church.
They were succeeded by their relatives the Collingridges, who remained until 1812. (fn. 19) The house is
rectangular in plan, and has two stories with cellars
and attic dormers. The walls are of coursed rubble,
over 2 feet thick at the ground floor; the roof has been
retiled with asbestos tiling; the west gable was restored in 1946. The most interesting feature of the
interior is the staircase, which has no balusters
remaining, but a heavy moulded projecting handrail and massive fleur-de-lis shaped finials: there
are shallow oak treads, of which parts have been
renewed.
Manor.
Walter Giffard, Lord of Longueville, held
HARDWICK after the Conquest, but by 1086 he
had given it to Robert d'Oilly in an exchange of
lands. (fn. 20) Of the 7½ hides at which Hardwick was then
assessed, 2½ later became part of the manor of Tusmore. (fn. 21) The overlordship of Hardwick descended in
the D'Oilly family (fn. 22) until the death of Henry (II)
d'Oilly in 1232. It then passed to Thomas de Newburgh, Earl of Warwick, and subsequently followed
the same descent as the overlordship of Bucknell. (fn. 23)
Robert d'Oilly's tenant of Hardwick in 1086 was
Drew d'Aundeley, whose descendants the Fitzwyths
of Ardley held a mesne lordship of Hardwick in the
13th century. (fn. 24)
A certain Maud of Hardwick was tenant of the
manor before 1225, when she confirmed her gift of
a knight's fee there to William d'Aundeley, (fn. 25) who
appears to have belonged to a junior branch of the
D'Aundeleys of Tusmore. Maurice d'Aundeley of
Tusmore, and his successors Hugh and John, were
mesne lords between the tenants of Hardwick and
the Fitzwyths in 1272, 1285, and 1346 respectively. (fn. 26)
William d'Aundeley was still in possession in 1243, (fn. 27)
and was succeeded by Ralph d'Aundeley. In 1265,
after the battle of Evesham, although Ralph had
never supported Simon de Montfort, his manor of
Hardwick was seized and he himself was imprisoned
and held to ransom by James de Audley of Stratton
Audley. (fn. 28) By 1272, perhaps under compulsion,
Ralph had sold the manor to Alice de Beauchamp.
In that year it was taken into the king's hand on the
death of James de Audley on the assumption that it
had been one of his possessions. (fn. 29) Alice recovered
the manor and was the tenant in 1279. (fn. 30) While her
identity is not certain, Alice was probably a daughter
of Alice de Clinton of Aston Clinton (Bucks.) and
her second husband Robert de Beauchamp, and
sister of the John de Beauchamp who married James
de Audley's daughter Joan. (fn. 31) James de Audley
acquired Aston Clinton from the Beauchamps, and
on the other hand Alice de Beauchamp held Horseheath (Cambs.) of his gift. (fn. 32) Alice was still alive in
1282, (fn. 33) but by 1285 Hardwick manor had passed to
Anthony de Bek, Bishop of Durham, (fn. 34) whose friendly
relations with the Audleys are illustrated by his gift
to another James de Audley of the manor of Ashby
Magna (Leics.). (fn. 35)
After Anthony de Bek's death in 1310 Hardwick
evidently passed to the Audleys of Aston Clinton.
The 'Alice of Hoke' who held the manor in 1316 (fn. 36)
may be identified as Alice de Audley, whose possessions at her death in 1342 included the manor of
'Oke' in Aston Clinton. (fn. 37) This Alice was the widow
of a James who may have been an illegitimate son of
James de Audley (d. 1272). (fn. 38) She was succeeded at
Hardwick and Aston by her son William de Audley, (fn. 39)
who at his death in 1365 held Hardwick jointly with
his wife Joan. (fn. 40) The manor was taken into the king's
hands in error, but Joan recovered possession in
1366, (fn. 41) and held Hardwick until her death in 1382.
In 1383 the manor was placed in the custody of Sir
William de Drayton during the minority of Elizabeth,
daughter of William de Audley's brother Thomas. (fn. 42)
Elizabeth and her husband John Rose (d. 1410) held
the Audley lands in Aston Clinton, (fn. 43) but the descent
of Hardwick is unknown until 1428, when it appears
in the possession of the Arden family.
William Arden held Hardwick in 1428, (fn. 44) and either
he or a successor of the same name entailed the
manor to his heirs male. In 1468, however, after the
death of John, son and successor of William Arden,
the entail was broken by John's son William, who
conveyed the manor to himself and a number of
feoffees to the use of himself and his heirs general. (fn. 45)
William left four daughters, but William Rede,
grandson and heir of Edmund Rede, (fn. 46) one of the
feoffees of 1468, held Hardwick and allowed John
Arden's widow Margery, and William's brother and
heir male Robert, to have possession. In 1492 after
a Chancery suit William Rede was ordered to
surrender the manor to William Arden's daughters,
Margery, wife of William Gygour, Juliana, wife
of William Pope, Eleanor and Elizabeth. (fn. 47) One
of the daughters seems to have died by 1496,
when Juliana and her husband (fn. 48) held a third of
Hardwick. (fn. 49)
In 1514 William Fermor of Somerton purchased
a third part of Hardwick from Thomas Colyer and
his wife Margery (fn. 50) —perhaps the Margery who had
previously married William Gygour—and in 1523
William Spencer, son of Robert Spencer and
Elizabeth Arden, released to Fermor his right to a
share of the manor. (fn. 51) The remaining third part
seems to have been held in 1511 by Edmund Bury,
who conveyed it to Edward Chamberlain, (fn. 52) but
William Fermor evidently acquired this share also
by 1548, when he made a settlement of the whole
manor. William was succeeded in 1552 (fn. 53) by his
nephew Thomas, who died in 1580. (fn. 54) When in 1606
Thomas's son Sir Richard Fermor acquired the
manor of Tusmore, the two estates of Hardwick and
Tusmore were united, and have since followed the
same descent. (fn. 55)
Lesser Estates.
A virgate of land in Hardwick
was given by Ralph d'Aundeley to Oseney Abbey,
which in turn granted it to the Hospitallers. (fn. 56) This
may have been either the virgate held in 1279 by
Robert le Newman of Gosford Hospital, (fn. 57) or land
then held by Richard Bartlett of Hogshaw Hospital
(Bucks.), which in 1279 was said to hold the advowson. (fn. 58) The later history of these small estates is not
known, but it was probably the former connexion of
the Hospitallers with Hardwick which led to the
erroneous statement in 1580 that Thomas Fermor
had held the manor of Thomas Pigott, (fn. 59) then lord
of the manor of Hogshaw. (fn. 60)
Economic History.
In the Domesday estate
of 7½ hides in Hardwick, part of which became
attached to Tusmore, (fn. 61) there was land for 6 ploughs.
But as the place was probably primarily a pastoral
settlement there were only 3½ plough-teams, one in
demesne and 2½ held by 5 villeins (villani), and 2
bordars. The value of the estate, £5, had not changed
since the Conquest. (fn. 62) In 1279 Alice de Beauchamp
held 2 carucates in demesne, and a water-mill worth
10s. a year. (fn. 63) Eight villeins held a virgate each, and
worked and were tallaged at the lady's will. Two free
tenants held the Gosford and Hogshaw properties, (fn. 64)
perhaps a virgate each, for rents of 3s. and 8s.
respectively. The total extent of the arable land was
then perhaps 18 virgates. In 1272 the annual value of
Hardwick had been £7, (fn. 65) and it changed little in the
14th century: £6 13s. 4d. in 1349 and in 1355. (fn. 66) In
1316 the village was combined with Ardley and
Tusmore for purposes of taxation, but in 1327, when
it was taxed independently, seventeen contributors
paid £2 0s. 8d., and the parish was among the poorest
in Ploughley hundred. (fn. 67) Its contribution to the 15th
was raised in 1334 to £2 9s. 10d., (fn. 68) and in 1347 the
men of Hardwick petitioned the king, pleading that
there were only nine poor tenants in the village and
that the new assessment was far too heavy for them
to bear. They asked that the village might be reassessed, and that they might receive a rebate on the
15th granted in 1344. If they received no redress,
they would be forced to leave their holdings and to
abandon the village. (fn. 69) The petition evidently failed,
for Hardwick's assessment remained unchanged. (fn. 70)
Although the village was less severely ravaged by
the Black Death than the neighbouring village of
Tusmore it suffered sufficiently badly to be allowed
an abatement of 3s. in 1354 out of its total tax of
49s. 10d., a comparatively high relief for the
hundred. (fn. 71) In 1377 its adult population was only
37, (fn. 72) and by 1428 there were fewer than ten resident
householders in the village. (fn. 73) Sixteenth-century subsidy lists reflect the consolidation of estates in the
hands of the Fermor family: there were seven
contributors in 1524, two of them men of considerable means. (fn. 74)
Inclosure probably started early in Hardwick. In
1515 a tenant of William Fermor and Richard Samwell was alleged to have allowed the decay of a
messuage, and to have converted 40 acres of arable
to pasture. (fn. 75) By 1520, however, the house had been
rebuilt. (fn. 76) Sheep were evidently being kept, for in
1533 William Mortimer of Hardwick made several
bequests in sheep (fn. 77) and in 1606 Sir Richard Fermor
exercised his right to graze 400 sheep from Hardwick
on lands in Cottisford. (fn. 78) In 1573 Thomas Fermor
unsuccessfully tried to induce Eton College to
divide 300 acres of arable, 10 acres of meadow, 100
acres of heath, and 30 acres of moor in Hardwick and
Cottisford, which he said they held jointly with him,
so that they might be inclosed. (fn. 79) Nevertheless there
had been some inclosure by 1601, when Rye Close,
New Close, and others are mentioned. (fn. 80)
From two 17th-century glebe terriers and two
19th-century maps something of the topography of
Hardwick before inclosure had gone very far can be
reconstructed. (fn. 81) There were still three open fields in
1601: (fn. 82) Heath Field in the north-east of the parish,
bounded by Hardwick Heath; Tinker's Field in the
north-west, and Mill Field in the south-west. Posey
meadow lay on the southern boundary, and east of
the stream flowing south from the fishponds was
Stoney Holms pasture. In the arable fields were
'powles' or strips of mowing ground, 18 feet wide in
one instance. Woodland lay along the boundary with
Tusmore, (fn. 83) while the Heath occupied the extreme
north-east of the parish. There was a cow pasture
called Bayard's Green—evidently part of the large
stretch of waste ground of that name which extended
into several neighbouring parishes. (fn. 84) Between 1601
and 1682 closes were taken out of Mill Field and
Heath Field (fn. 85) and by about 1717 the latter appears
to have been entirely inclosed. (fn. 86) The inclosure of
Mill Field and Tinker's Field seems to have been
completed early in the 18th century, for in 1784
the parish was described as inclosed 'from time
immemorial'. (fn. 87)
In the 18th century the Fermors kept only the
woods and a few closes in hand: the manor farm and
the greater part of the parish was let to the Day
family, and at the beginning of the century there was
one other very small farm. (fn. 88) In 1857 Manor farm
occupied some 430 acres out of the 452 acres of the
Hardwick estate, and there was still only one farm in
the parish in 1939. (fn. 89) The later inclosures in the
parish remained arable land in the 19th century: in
1849 there were 253 acres of arable to 96 acres of
meadow and pasture in the lands covered by the
tithe award. (fn. 90) The land was particularly suitable for
wheat, barley, and turnips (fn. 91) —Hardwick lies just
within that part of Oxfordshire noted for its barley
and for its sheep. By 1939, however, there only
remained a little over 80 acres of arable, and in the
north-east of the parish land formerly cultivated had
gone back to the heath from which it had been won. (fn. 92)
Hardwick has always been one of the least populous places in the hundred. The Compton Census
(1676) recorded 23 adults. In the 18th century incumbents reported that there were 2 houses and 3
cottages in 1738; 6 cottages and the farm-house in
1759, and 11 houses in 1771. (fn. 93) There was the usual
increase in population in the early 19th century and
by 1821, the peak year, there were 17 houses and 98
inhabitants, an increase of 37 over the figure for
1801. Thereafter numbers declined, and by 1901
there were only 11 inhabited houses for 46 people.
In 1951 the population was forty-one. (fn. 94)
Church.
A grant was made of Hardwick tithes in
the late 11th century (see below), but as Hardwick
was a chapelry of Stoke Lyne in the mid-12th
century, the grant is not certain evidence for the
existence of a church other than that of Stoke Lyne.
Hardwick chapel is first mentioned in the mid-12th
century, when it was granted with Stoke Lyne by
Walter Giffard to Notley Abbey. (fn. 95) This grant does
not seem to have taken effect, and by 1249 or 1250
when the lord of the manor, William d'Aundeley,
presented, Hardwick was a separate church. (fn. 96) Two
years later the advowson was in the hands of the
Knights Hospitallers, although no record of any
grant has been found. (fn. 97) The Prior of St. John's,
Clerkenwell, the English head of the order, presented
throughout the Middle Ages, (fn. 98) with one exception
in 1482, when the bishop collated by lapse. An
attempt by a clerk in 1344 to get possession of the
living with a fraudulent royal presentation had been
unsuccessful. (fn. 99) After the suppression of the Hospitallers in 1540, Henry VIII in 1545 sold the advowson
to John Pope of London, (fn. 100) with whom the lord of the
manor, William Fermor, was associated. (fn. 101) The latter
had in fact already presented in 1532 by reason of
a grant from the Hospitallers. The advowson then
descended with the manor, the Fermors presenting
until the mid-19th century. (fn. 102) Since 1841 the living
has been held with Tusmore, and in 1932 the two
parishes were united. Since 1867 Hardwick and
Tusmore have been held with Cottisford. (fn. 103) The
patron in 1955 was the Hon. R. H. Vivian Smith, son
of Lord Bicester.
In 1254, when the rectory was valued at 10s., it
was the poorest in the deanery. (fn. 104) In 1291 it was
valued at 33s. 4d. and in 1535 at £5. (fn. 105) Until the late
17th century the rector continued to get his income
from tithes and glebe, (fn. 106) but by 1706 these had been
commuted for an annual sum of £20, to be paid by
the lord of the manor; the net value of the living was
only about £15. (fn. 107) In 1784 a new arrangement was
made by which the £20 was increased to £27 9s.,
estimated as the equivalent of 3s. in the pound on
the rent of the land. The rector was in addition
promised the sinecure of the living at Tusmore. (fn. 108) In
1780 the value of the living was further augmented
with £200 from Queen Anne's Bounty, (fn. 109) and in 1849
the tithes were again commuted for £101 10s. (fn. 110)
The glebe in the 17th century consisted of a yardland in the common fields, (fn. 111) but efforts made in the
1780's to locate it were unavailing, the two 17thcentury terriers 'very much contradicting each
other'. (fn. 112) The rector's claims to glebe were extinguished by the agreement of 1784. (fn. 113) He also had
glebe, three 'lands' in Hardwick Field in Hethe,
which was commuted at the Hethe inclosure in
1772. (fn. 114)
Robert d'Oilly gave two-thirds of his demesne
tithes in Hardwick to the church of St. George in
Oxford castle, (fn. 115) and these in 1149 were transferred
with St. George's to Oseney Abbey. (fn. 116) In 1291 and
1428 they were valued at 6s. 8d., but by the 16th
century at 3s. 4d. (fn. 117) In 1502 the abbot successfully
sued the rector, Thomas Wright, for twelve years'
arrears of this sum. (fn. 118) In 1542 this pension was
granted to Christ Church. (fn. 119)
Hardwick was always too poor a living to support
properly a resident priest, and the very large number,
nearly 40, of medieval rectors implies that the living
was very difficult to fill. However, services were
said to be held regularly in the late 16th century, (fn. 120)
although the parish was so poor that it could not
provide a bible in the church. The rector himself
promised to give one. (fn. 121) At this time there was a
Rectory House, and rectors were living there as late
as 1665, though by 1679 it was a ruin. (fn. 122)
By the 18th century weekly services were no longer
held: Rawlinson noted that divine service was read
once a month 'if there be any auditors'. (fn. 123) During the
early part of the century the rector paid curates a
crown a Sunday to hold these monthly services. (fn. 124)
George Sheppard (1739–84), for instance, who held
the living 'for a young gentleman now at Oxford',
vainly besought neighbouring incumbents to take the
duty for this sum. (fn. 125) A Mr. Fletcher, whom he finally
secured, proved not to be in priest's orders, and was
forbidden by the bishop to officiate further. (fn. 126) The
bishop had already in 1739 written a 'sharp letter' to
Sheppard, urging him to hold weekly services. (fn. 127)
Although Sheppard promised to do so, a service
once a fortnight seems to have been the usual practice
until the early 19th century. (fn. 128) This unusual situation was due to the fact that the patron and most of
the parishioners were Roman Catholics; (fn. 129) for many
years even the churchwardens (there was only one at
a time) belonged to the Roman Catholic families of
Day and Collingridge. (fn. 130) In 1746 it was said that
seldom could more than three or four church members, and never more than six, be assembled; (fn. 131) and
in the early 19th century there were seven. These
were said never to have expressed dissatisfaction
with the services. (fn. 132) By the mid-19th century regular
services were being held for a small congregation: in
1854 about twenty was the average number. (fn. 133)
The church of ST. MARY comprises a chancel,
nave, and south aisle, with a south porch and western
bell-turret. A late 12th- or early 13th-century doorway forms the main (south) entrance to the church
and an ancient stoup, discovered built into some
masonry, has been placed inside it. The chancel is
14th century with three original windows including
a three-light east window and a low side window.
There is a priest's door and piscina. The nave, also
originally 14th century, is now mainly 15th century,
with a fine west window. (fn. 134) The South aisle and its
arcade, the porch and bell-turret are 19th century.
When Rawlinson visited the church in about 1718
he noted it as a 'small chapel going to decay'. (fn. 135) In
1757 some minor repairs to the fabric were ordered; (fn. 136)
in 1812 it was declared to be 'out of repair'; (fn. 137) in 1847
the rural dean reported the state of the church as
'moderately decent'. (fn. 138) In 1877 the 2nd Earl of
Effingham (fn. 139) undertook at his sole charge a thorough
restoration and also the enlargement of the church
in accordance with the plans of Sir George Gilbert
Scott. The work was carried out on the death of
Sir George by his son G. G. Scott between 1878 and
1879 at a cost of £2,000. The completed building
was a notable example of mid-Victorian restoration.
The chancel walls were scarcely touched, but the
nave was largely rebuilt: as far as possible the timbers
of the old roof were preserved and the west window,
the greater part of which had been blocked up, was
restored to its original size. (fn. 140) The south aisle, porch,
and bell-turret were added. A new altar, font (from
Fringford church), pulpit, and lectern were provided: the woodwork is good. An organ was added
in 1900.
There are two panels of medieval glass (Christ in
majesty and the Crucifixion) in the west window,
and there is ancient glass in the three top lights of
the east window. (fn. 141)
There are inscriptions to Capt. Francis Hereman
(d. 1687); Ralph Hatton (d. 1694/5) and Mary his
wife (d. 1717); Ann, wife of Nicholas Saers of
London (d. 1721); Samuel Tooley (d. 1721/2); and
three to members of the Freeman family: Ursula
(d. 1726/7), her son Basil (d. 1722), and his wife
Winifred (d. 1751). There is a brass to Henry
Howard, 2nd Earl of Effingham (d. 1889), and a
brass and memorial window to Eliza, Countess of
Effingham (d. 1894). Inscriptions to Ann, wife of
William Lyne (d. 1622/3), John Pennington (d.
1680), and Pascha Bat (d. 1672) are no longer visible, (fn. 142)
nor are those to the 18th-century Roman Catholic
Days, (fn. 143) though there are floor slabs to other Roman
Catholic families.
In 1552 the church possessed a small silver chalice
and paten. (fn. 144) In 1955 it had some fine plate, given by
the earls of Effingham in the late 19th and 20th
centuries: a beautiful Elizabethan silver chalice
(1562) and paten cover; a silver tankard flagon
(1704), from a London church; a large early 18thcentury paten; and a tray and two cruets, the latter
apparently of Spanish workmanship. (fn. 145)
There were in 1552 two bells and a sanctus bell,
the last provided by a bequest from William Baker
(1533). In 1955 one bell hung in the turret: probably
originally an early 14th-century bell, it was recast in
1873. (fn. 146)
The registers begin in 1760, and there are incomplete transcripts from 1739.
Nonconformity.
Hardwick is an interesting
example of an out-of-the-way village in which
propitious circumstances permitted a small Roman
Catholic community to flourish throughout much
of the post-Reformation period. The lords of the
manor, the Roman Catholic family of Fermor,
settled at Tusmore since the first half of the 17th
century, naturally favoured tenants of their own
faith. In the late 16th and early 17th centuries few
recusants, besides the Smiths, a family of husbandmen, were recorded, (fn. 147) but members of four families
were noted in 1706; (fn. 148) and by the 1760's there were
over 30 Roman Catholics, more than half the population. (fn. 149) The proportion remained high: in 1796 the
'greatest part' of the inhabitants were Roman
Catholics; (fn. 150) in 1802 there were 53 out of 61; (fn. 151) in
1823 78 out of 98. (fn. 152) The proportion later declined,
and in 1854 under half the population was said to be
Roman Catholic. (fn. 153)
In the 18th century the Hardwick community
probably attended the Fermors' chapel at Tusmore,
but in 1768, while Tusmore House was being
rebuilt, the local centre for worship became 'Farmer
Day's', i.e. Hardwick Manor Farm. (fn. 154) From this
time at least until 1790, there seems to have been a
resident priest there, as the Days, and after them
the Collingridges, the tenants of the farm, were wellknown Catholic families. (fn. 155) In 1772 a large group of
people was confirmed at Hardwick. (fn. 156)
When William Fermor left Tusmore in 1810, the
chapel in Hardwick Manor Farm, a long attic running the length of the house, fitted with furnishings
from Tusmore, was the Roman Catholic centre for
the neighbourhood. (fn. 157) From 1810 until his death in
1830 the Revd. Samuel Corbishley was in charge of
the mission; he ran a school and began to keep careful
registers. His death was a blow to the local community and led to the building of the church at
Hethe, (fn. 158) for although Fermor had died in 1828, it
was understood that his non-Catholic heirs would
not disturb the chapel at Hardwick during Corbishley's lifetime. (fn. 159)
The church and graveyard of the parish church
were used by the Roman Catholics of Somerton and
Tusmore as their burying-ground: (fn. 160) they have many
gravestones there, on some of which there is undisguisedly Roman Catholic phraseology.
There is no record of Protestant dissent. (fn. 161)
School.
A free school which taught children to
read in 1818 had disappeared by 1833. (fn. 162) The mistress of a school mentioned in 1854 was paid by the
Hon. P. Barrington of Tusmore Park. (fn. 163) In 1870 the
Earl of Effingham financed the building of a new
school, and continued to maintain it. (fn. 164) It had 24
pupils in 1887, but never appears to have been
recognized as a public elementary school. (fn. 165) It closed
at some date between 1895 and 1903 and the children
were sent to the schools at Hethe and Cottisford. (fn. 166)
Charities.
None known.