HETHE
The ancient parish covered 1,102 acres of which
4 were a detached part lying in Hardwick and 196
were part of the intermixed lands (634 a.) shared
with Cottisford, which were also detached and lay
to the north of Cottisford. (fn. 1) In 1888 523 acres including Willaston hamlet were transferred to Hethe
from Mixbury parish, but Hethe lost the 4 detached
acres to Hardwick. (fn. 2) In 1932 all the intermixed lands
were given to Cottisford, (fn. 3) so that the present (1955)
area of the parish is 1,425 acres. (fn. 4) It lies about five
miles north of Bicester and just west of the Bicester—
Buckingham road, with which it is indirectly connected by two minor roads. In 1738 it was said that
the parish's 'greatest length is not above a tolerable
mile, the greatest breadth not half a mile, in some
parts not a quarter'. (fn. 5) Geologically it lies partly on
the Great Oolite and partly on the Cornbrash, both
covered except in the south-east by drift gravel. (fn. 6) A
small stream, which is crossed by a bridge in the
village, crosses the parish and joins a tributary of the
Ouse which forms its southern boundary. The
ground rises sharply from the bridge on the west
and less steeply on the east to a plateau a little under
400 feet above sea-level.
The position of the village, (fn. 7) somewhat on the
eastern side of the parish, is determined by the
stream which divides it into two distinct parts, and
a well, St. George's well, which very possibly gave
its name to the 13th-century family of ad Fontem, (fn. 8) and
was still noted in 1718. The name Hethe means
'uncultivated ground' (OE hæp) (fn. 9) and the earliest
settlement may have been on the eastern side of the
stream, where there are still a small number of
houses. When, however, the first church was erected
in the 12th century, (fn. 10) it was placed a good distance
back on the upland ridge, to the west of the stream.
The names of 13th-century inhabitants, (fn. 11) Henry
Ate Streme, Geoffrey Bywundedbrok, Roger Ate
Brugge, attest that there were houses by the stream
side and the bridge, although there was at least one
villager, Roger Ate Hulle, who was living by the
church. Gradually the church became linked up
with the original settlement by a chain of dwellings
which today (1955) form a continuous street almost
to the old bridge of two arches. (fn. 12) The returns for
the hearth tax of 1662 listed 25 houses, but few were
of any size. In 1665 only one house returned four
hearths and the rest only two or one. (fn. 13) In 1738 there
were said to be about 49 houses, occupied by small
farmers, day labourers, and craftsmen. (fn. 14) Eighteenthand early 19th-century building increased the number of houses to 67 in 1811 and 94 in 1851. In 1901
there were only 84 inhabited houses. (fn. 15) Since then rebuilding, particularly after the Second World War,
has brought the number of houses up to well over
a hundred. (fn. 16)
Most of the buildings are two-storied cottages,
built of rubble, with thatch or Welsh slate roofs.
The so-called Round House, the newer part of
which dates from 1752, is unusual, but the only
houses of any note are the Old Rectory and Hethe
House. The former is first mentioned in 1679 as
'one mansion house together with the yard, garden
and one pightle or little close thereunto annexed'. (fn. 17)
In 1813 the churchwardens reported that the house
was under repair. (fn. 18) It stands just west of the church
and is built of coursed rubble; it was burnt out in
1928 and restored and refitted internally. Hethe
House, the former dower house of Shelswell, also
built of rubble, with a Welsh slate roof, was built in
the 18th century. Part of its premises are today used
for village meetings. The fact that Hethe was owned
by the lords of Shelswell in the 18th century also
accounts for the fact that part of Shelswell Park and
Shelswell Plantation lies in the parish. Beyond the
Old Rectory stands the 'Whitmore Arms', named
after Thomas Whitmore, a member of a Shropshire
family, who resided at Hethe House from 1808 to
1811. Before that it was called the 'Maltster's Arms'. (fn. 19)
The chief 19th-century additions were the village
school, the stone-built Roman Catholic church,
with its presbytery and school, and the Methodist
chapel. (fn. 20)
The village is surrounded by a cluster of farms:
Nestleton (or Wesselden in c. 1575), (fn. 21) Mansfield,
and Hospital Farm. The last is named from the hide
of land in Hethe owned by St. Bartholomew's
Hospital since the 12th century. (fn. 22) It was described
in 1617 as a building measuring 40 by 18 feet. It
had a hall, 'a chamber therein', a buttery, and a
garret above, divided into three rooms and reached
by a pair of stairs. Its barn measured 40 by 20 feet
and its stable 60 by 12 feet. (fn. 23) Glebe Farm lies away
from the village near the western boundary, and
Willaston Farm, now on the eastern boundary,
marks the site of a lost hamlet which was once in
Mixbury parish. (fn. 24)
Perhaps the chief interest of the parish's history
has been its long connexion with St. Bartholomew's
Hospital in London, (fn. 25) and with a distinguished
medieval scholar, Master Adam de Senestan. (fn. 26)
Manor.
At the time of the Conquest and for some
years afterwards HETHE was held by the thegn
Wulfward the White, who also held Finmere. By 1086,
however, when it was assessed at 8 hides, it was in
the possession of Geoffrey, Bishop of Coutances. (fn. 27)
On the death of Geoffrey in 1093 his estates passed
to his nephew Robert de Mowbray, Earl of Northumberland, who was deprived of his possessions
in 1095. Hethe may have been subsequently granted
either by William II to Robert FitzHamon
or by Henry I to his natural son Robert, Earl of
Gloucester (d. 1147), for in the 13th century the
manor was part of the honor of Gloucester. (fn. 28) From
Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester (d. 1314), the
overlordship of Hethe passed to his sister and coheiress Margaret and her second husband Hugh
Audley, later Earl of Gloucester. (fn. 29) Hugh died in
1347; his daughter and heiress Margaret married
Ralph Stafford, and the overlordship of Hethe then
followed the descent of the Earldom of Stafford and
Dukedom of Buckingham, (fn. 30) until the attainder and
forfeiture of Edward, Duke of Buckingham, in 1521,
when it reverted to the Crown. In 1576 the manor
was said to be held of Queen Elizabeth as of her
Duchy of Buckingham. (fn. 31)
In 1086 Geoffrey of Coutances's tenant of Hethe
was a certain Roger. (fn. 32) Early in the 12th century the
manor appears to have been the property of the wife
of Geoffrey de Clinton of Glympton, Henry I's
chamberlain. She gave the whole village as a
marriage portion to her daughter Lesceline, wife of
Norman de Verdun. (fn. 33) Norman, the son of Bertram
de Verdun the Domesday tenant of Farnham Royal
(Bucks.), (fn. 34) who probably came from Verdun in
Vessey (Manche), (fn. 35) died about the beginning of
Henry II's reign (fn. 36) and was survived by Lesceline,
who gave a hide of land in Hethe to St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London. (fn. 37) Norman de Verdun's son
and heir Bertram died on the Third Crusade in 1192
and was succeeded by his son Thomas, who confirmed Lesceline's gift to St. Bartholomew's. (fn. 38) On
Thomas's death in 1199 his estates passed to his
brother Nicholas, from whom Thomas's widow
Eustachia and her second husband Richard de
Camville claimed dower in 1200. (fn. 39) In 1204 Nicholas
conceded Hethe to Eustachia as part of her dower. (fn. 40)
Eustachia was dead by 1216, and the manor reverted
to Nicholas, (fn. 41) who was succeeded in 1231 by his
only daughter Rose, (fn. 42) widow of Theobald Butler
and foundress of Grace Dieu Abbey (Leics.). Rose
died in 1247, (fn. 43) and her son and heir John took
De Verdun as his surname. John was granted free
warren at Hethe in 1258 (fn. 44) and was succeeded in
1274 by his son Theobald, (fn. 45) who forfeited his
estates for treason in 1291, but recovered them for
a fine of 500 marks. (fn. 46) Theobald died in 1309 (fn. 47) and
his son Theobald in 1316. (fn. 48) During the minority of
the latter's heirs his lands were placed in the custody
of Roger Damory, who in 1317 married his widow,
Elizabeth, a sister and coheiress of Gilbert de Clare,
Earl of Gloucester (d. 1314). (fn. 49)
By his first wife, Maud Mortimer (d. 1312), the
younger Theobald de Verdun left three daughters,
Joan, Elizabeth and Margery, and in 1327 Hethe was
put in the keeping of Bartholomew Burghersh, husband of Elizabeth. (fn. 50) A partition of the Verdun
estates in 1328 awarded Hethe to Margery and her
husband William Blount, (fn. 51) but in 1331 a fourth
daughter Isabel, Theobald's posthumous child by
his second wife, came of age and claimed her portion
of the inheritance. By a new partition in 1332 Hethe
fell to Isabel and her husband Henry, Lord Ferrers
of Groby (d. 1343). (fn. 52) At Isabel's death in 1349, her
son William was still a minor, (fn. 53) but he was granted
Hethe with other manors for his maintenance. (fn. 54)
William died in 1371, (fn. 55) and his son and successor
Henry in 1388. A third part of Hethe was then held
in dower by Henry's widow Joan until her death in
1394. (fn. 56) Henry's son William came of age in that
year, and in 1442, three years before his death,
he settled Hethe upon his younger son Thomas,
and his heirs male. (fn. 57) Hethe then descended in the
family of Ferrers of Tamworth, (fn. 58) passing from
Thomas (d. 1459) (fn. 59) to his son Sir Thomas (d. 1498),
who was succeeded by his grandson Sir John (d.
1512). (fn. 60) Sir John's grandson John Ferrers, son of
Sir Humphrey Ferrers, held Hethe at his death in
1576. (fn. 61) In 1578 Humphrey may have mortgaged the
manor to William Colmore, (fn. 62) and in 1595 there was
a similar transaction by fine between Ferrers and
John Chamberlayne and Rowland Lytton of Knebworth (Herts.). (fn. 63) This time the manor permanently
left Ferrers' possession, and by 1606 had been acquired by Sir Rowland's brother-in-law, Sir Anthony Cope of Hanwell (d. 1615). (fn. 64) Sir Anthony's
son, Sir William, held Hethe at his death in 1637, (fn. 65)
but it is uncertain how long the Copes retained the
manor, which by 1652 was in the hands of a London
family, the Blakes, (fn. 66) who do not appear to have
resided on their estate. (fn. 67) William Blake was lord of
the manor in 1682, and in 1692 a Daniel Blake
conveyed it to Joseph Biscoe, a London apothecary. (fn. 68)
About 1719 Biscoe conveyed Hethe to Samuel
Trotman of Bucknell, (fn. 69) from whom it appears to
have passed to his brother Edward and to have subsequently followed the descent of Shelswell. (fn. 70) The
present (1956) lord of the manor is John Francis
Dewar-Harrison, Esq., of Willaston. (fn. 71)
Lesser Estate.
At some date after 1167 (fn. 72) Lesceline de Clinton granted in frankalmoign to St. Bartholomew's Hospital, Smithfield, a hide of land in
Hethe. Her mother had bought it from a certain
Baldric, who held by free tenure, and had given it
to Lesceline as her marriage portion. (fn. 73) Thomas de
Verdun (d. 1199), Lesceline's grandson, confirmed
the grant to the hospital, reserving the homestead, as
in the original grant, to the donor's use. (fn. 74) Henry
III's charter of 1254 confirming the possession of
its property to the hospital (fn. 75) does not mention Hethe
or any other estates, but in 1279 it was recorded that
a freeman, William de la Hyde, (fn. 76) held the St. Bartholomew's hide for 20s. and payment of scutage.
The Master of the Hospital held of Theobald de
Verdun in free alms. A few of the 14th-century leases
made by the hospital have been preserved: in 1366,
for instance, the master leased William 'atte Hide's'
land to Rewley Abbey for 50 years at a rent of 20s. a
year. (fn. 77) In 1397 John Baker 'of Oxfordshire' obtained
a lease, (fn. 78) and later acquired other land in Hethe
belonging to the Skynners. (fn. 79) Finally in 1439 John
Derye became lessee at a rent of 10s. a year. (fn. 80)
St. Bartholomew's Hospital was dissolved in 1537
and all its property, including Hethe, seized by the
Crown. In January 1547 the king returned all these
lands to the hospital, which had been refounded. (fn. 81)
It is probable that the tenancy of the hospital's property in Hethe was undisturbed by the Dissolution.
Andrew Smith had obtained a lease of 31 years in
1520, (fn. 82) and he heads the subsidy list of 1525 for
which he was one of the two sub-collectors. (fn. 83) His
relations probably succeeded him: in 1551 Thomas
Smythe was the tenant, and in 1561 Alice Smythe. (fn. 84)
Alice was followed in 1563 by Henry Sprawson of
Hethe, who remained the tenant until 1583. (fn. 85) Since
1439 the annual rent named was 10s., but there is no
evidence for the size of the fine paid on entry.
In 1583 when Richard Rivers, servant to Sir John
Rivers, took on the lease, the rent was raised to 40s.,
without a fine. (fn. 86) Rivers's successor, Oliver Pangbourne, yeoman, paid 40s. annual rent and a fine of
£10 in 1603; in 1604 Robert Goodson, a husbandman, became the tenant, but two years later the
lease was taken over by Sir Anthony Cope, (fn. 87) who
about this time also acquired the manor. Goodson
may have remained as Cope's tenant, however, for
he was occupying the farm in 1617. (fn. 88) Cope died
in 1615 before the expiry of his lease and his son,
Sir William Cope, succeeded to it. (fn. 89)
In 1631 John Beaumond, husbandman, became
the tenant, and paid an increased fine of £30. (fn. 90) Later
tenants are listed by Blomfield. After 1720 the lords
of the manor, first the Trotmans, then the Harrisons,
were tenants. Before inclosure the estate consisted
of about 59 acres. In 1648 the rent was raised to £4
and continued at this sum until the inclosure in
1773. Entry fines varied from £20 in 1648 to £60 in
1665, £105 in 1732 and £160 in 1754. After inclosure fines were abolished, but the rent was raised
to £14 in 1773, £28 in the 1790's, £92 in 1810 as
a result of the Napoleonic War, and £70 in 1831. In
1842 Richard Jones became tenant and was followed
by William Bonner in 1872 and David Dagley in
1884. They paid rents of £100 in 1842, £70 in 1852,
£90 in 1862, £110 in 1872, and £75 in 1884. (fn. 91)
Economic History.
In 1086 there was land
for 8 ploughs, although there were only 3 at work.
Two were in demesne with one serf, and the other
belonged to 8 villeins (villani) and 5 bordars. (fn. 92) There
were 20 acres of pasture and the value of the estate
was £8, as it had been in 1066.
In 1279 there were 2 carucates in demesne with
adjacent meadow and pasture. There were 26 or 27
villein virgaters (servi), each of whom paid 9s. rent
and owed work and tallage at will. (fn. 93) There were also
two cottars, each holding a cotland for 12d. rent a
year and work at will. The only two free tenants
were William de la Hyde, who held of the Master
of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, (fn. 94) and the Prior of
Kenilworth, who held 1 virgate. (fn. 95) This may not
have been a complete return of all the landholders in
the parish, for in 1316 29 people were assessed for
taxation. By that time Hethe, which paid £2 18s. 6d.,
was one of the more prosperous parishes in the
hundred. (fn. 96) Its assessment for taxation after 1334
was still well above the average. (fn. 97)
In 1274 the manor was estimated to be worth £24
a year in all, (fn. 98) but extents made in 1327 and 1331
gave totals of £19 1s. and £18 13s. 3½d. respectively. (fn. 99)
Early 14th-century estimates of the demesne lands
varied from 80 to 140 acres of arable and 3 to 12
acres of meadow, besides pasture. Arable was worth
4d. an acre, and meadow 3s. an acre in 1331 compared with 2d. and 1s. in 1309. The capital messuage
with its dovecote and garden was worth 10s. in 1331. (fn. 100)
In 1327 there were still 27 villeins, each holding a messuage and a virgate and paying a total of £12 13s.
rent, and £1 2s. 6d. for labour services, evidently
commuted since 1279. Seven cottagers paid 7s. 4d.
rent and 5s. 10d. for works, and two free tenants
owed only suit of court and the labour of eight men
for one day at corn harvest, commuted for 8d. The
principal works of the villeins had been reaping
corn, and of the cottagers weeding and reaping corn,
and lifting and tedding hay. (fn. 101)
The increase in population which had taken place
since 1279 was sharply checked by the Black Death.
In September 1349 it was reported that of 27 villeins
21 were dead and their lands lying untilled. (fn. 102) In 1371
the manor was said to be worth only £8 a year. The
dower assigned to Margaret, widow of William de
Ferrers, in that year included £2 0s. 8d. in rents
from four free tenants paying from 4s. 10d. to 16s.
6d. each, and £2 5s. 8d. from three villeins. (fn. 103) There
is no evidence of how many tenants there were whose
rents were not assigned to Margaret, but it may be
deduced that free tenants had replaced some of the
dead villeins, that the number of tenants was lower
than before 1349, and that holdings were probably
larger. The value of the manor remained £8 a year
into the first half of the 15th century, (fn. 104) but was only
£5 in 1459. (fn. 105) In the 16th century it rose again to
£9 10s. in 1513 and was over £10 by 1576. (fn. 106) The
capital messuage is mentioned in 1349, but not in
1371, when only a toft is recorded, (fn. 107) and it is probable
that the manor-house was abandoned by the lord
after the death of Isabel Ferrers in 1349. In the
16th century the manor was held by lessees of the
Ferrers family, (fn. 108) and in 1524 with thirteen people
assessed for taxation Hethe was one of the villages
with the lowest number of contributors, and the
third smallest in taxable value in Ploughley
hundred. (fn. 109)
In the 13th century the parish had two fields, the
'Home Field' and 'the field on the north of Hethe
and Cottisford'. The last appears to be an early
reference to the 'intermixed lands' shared by the
two villages—an arrangement which one would
expect to have originated at an early date. (fn. 110)
In the 14th century Hethe evidently still had two
open fields, for in 1349 it was said that half the
demesne arable was worth 3d. an acre when sown,
while the other half which lay fallow was used as
common pasture and was worth nothing to the lord. (fn. 111)
About the beginning of the 17th century there were
three fields called Berry Field, 'the second field',
and 'the third field', of which the last appears to
have been much larger than the others. (fn. 112) A change
seems to have been made before the survey made of
the St. Bartholomew's Hospital estate in 1617,
which shows that there were then four fields, 'the
field on the west parte of the house', Hardwick Field
(north-west of the village), Brede Field, (fn. 113) and 'Nast
feilde'. The hospital had 10, 20, 9, and 9 acres of
arable in the four fields, besides 11 acres of pasture
and ¼ acre of meadow. (fn. 114) A terrier of 1679 shows that
Brede Field comprised most of the first or Berry
Field of the earlier terrier, that Hardwick Field
represented the 'second field', and that the 'third
field' had been divided into Nasthill Field and Leete
Field, the latter being no doubt the field 'on the west
part' of the hospital's farm-house. Part of the first
field had retained the name Berry Field, so that
there were five fields mentioned in 1679: Berry
Field may, however, have been comparatively
small. (fn. 115)
Part of the arable lands were detached and intermixed with Cottisford land lying to the north of
Cottisford. In 1606 Sir Henry Savile complained
that Sir Anthony Cope's Hethe tenants had encroached on land which formerly belonged to his
Cottisford tenants—Hethe men had recently been
going 'when and where they will in Cotsforde field
to mark ground at their pleasure'. They had also
taken advantage of this intermingling of land to
pasture their sheep in Cottisford field 'contrary to
all right'. (fn. 116) In the 18th century, however, Hethe
people had right of common in a piece of land in
Cottisford called 'Conigree' (60 a.) belonging to
Eton College, perhaps the site of the post-inclosure
Coneygre farm in Cottisford. (fn. 117)
In the late 16th century there was a large warren
attached to some property called the Flats (360 a.),
which adjoined Cottisford and belonged to Hethe
manor. In a lease of 1594 Hethe tenants were
allowed to 'hunt and hay' in their corn fields and to
kill rabbits on the 'near' (probably the south) side
of the brook in order to protect their corn, while
the tenant of the warren undertook not to allow the
rabbits to multiply to the excessive damage of the
corn field, and to kill those that bred near the corn
fields. (fn. 118) By the time of inclosure in the 18th century
the warren had been divided. It was reported in 1682
that more than 40 years before Sir William Cope had
taken 80 acres 'from the town of Heath' and turned
it into a warren, on which he allowed the hospital's
tenant to keep 80 sheep. (fn. 119) At the time of parliamentary inclosure in 1773 Hethe Warren, belonging
to Fiennes Trotman, still consisted of 80 acres, and
there was another piece of inclosed heath, nearly
equal in size (75 a.), belonging to William Fermor
and called Courtfield or Cottisfield, on which the
landholders of Hethe had rights of common
(extinguished at inclosure) and the poor had the
right to cut fuel. (fn. 120) There was, however, comparatively little inclosure before the act of 1772, when
there remained about 804 acres (39¼ yardlands) of
open field and pasture. The preparation of the inclosure award was complicated by the rectors of
Cottisford and Hardwick as well as the rector of
Hethe having glebe lands and tithes in the parish.
Under the award made in 1773 the largest allotment,
262 acres, went to Fiennes Trotman, the lord of the
manor. The Rector of Hethe received 172 acres in all,
but surrendered 4 acres which were sold for £80
towards the cost of his fences. St. Bartholomew's
received 45 acres of which 3 acres were in lieu of its
sheep commons on the Warren. The rectors of
Cottisford and Hardwick got 3 and 5 acres; and of
the ten other allotments there were three over 60
acres and three less than 5 acres. (fn. 121)
In 1760 the highest assessments for land tax had
been of a Mr. Harden's land (£8) and the rector's
(£5 16s.). Of 23 other occupiers of land nine were
assessed at over £1. Thomas Trotman's assessment
was only £1 16s., but in 1786 the then lord of the
manor, Gilbert Harrison, was assessed at £8 15s.,
second only to the former Harden estate (£10). (fn. 122)
In the county election of 1754 seventeen freeholders
of Hethe, eleven of them resident, had voted. (fn. 123) In
1796 out of 20 occupiers assessed at under £1
seventeen owned their land. At that time the
Harrison estate was by far the largest, assessed at
£15 10s., and there were six estates assessed at
between £1 10s. and £6. In the early 19th century
the Harrison estate continued to grow, and the
number of small owner-occupiers slowly decreased,
falling to fourteen in the 1820's and to nine in 1832. (fn. 124)
In 1939 Kelly listed five farms of which only one was
over 150 acres. In 1956 there were seven farms and
out of 1,142 acres of agricultural land 558 acres were
grassland and 584 arable. (fn. 125)
Agriculture has always been the predominant
occupation of the villagers. In 1738 it was reported
that there were a few farmers and smallholders, 'the
rest day labourers, and some handicrafts'. (fn. 126) In
the 1630's there was a smith's forge belonging to
the Webb family; (fn. 127) there was still one in the late 19th
century. (fn. 128) In the late 16th century there was a mill
belonging to the manor, but no later record of a mill
has been found. (fn. 129) The early 19th-century parish
registers record an innkeeper, a schoolmaster, a post
boy, and the usual village craftsmen. (fn. 130) One female
straw-hat-maker appears in 1852. (fn. 131) Throughout the
century there were a number of small shopkeepers, (fn. 132)
but by 1935 there were only four. (fn. 133) The parish
registers show that many surnames which occur
regularly during the 18th century persist well into
the 19th century; others which appear in the 19th
century were still found in the village in 1955. But
some, such as Mansfield, Heydon, Laurence, and
Dagley, have been known in the parish for more
than two centuries.
The population must have been comparatively
large in the late 17th century if the figure of 203
adults recorded in the Compton Census of 1676 is
accurate. The hearth tax returns of 1662 and 1665
show that the village was in comparison with the
rest of the hundred so outstandingly poor that it
seems as if it may have suffered from some recent
disaster. The constables returned 21 persons in
1662 as 'poor people of whom no distress may
be had'. Twenty-five others paid the tax, but of
fifteen householders listed in 1665, six were exempted
on grounds of poverty. There were less than 50
houses in 1738 and at the first official census in
1801 the population was 262. Numbers increased,
and a peak figure of 442 was reached in 1861. A
steady decline then set in and by 1901 there were 311
inhabitants. The population in 1921 was 283, but
after the Second World War it increased and in 1954
was estimated to be 338. (fn. 134)
Church.
The church of Hethe was in existence
during the lifetime of Norman de Verdun (d.
c. 1154), if not earlier, and was given by his widow
Lesceline to the priory (afterwards abbey) of
Augustinian canons at Kenilworth, which had been
founded by her father, Geoffrey de Clinton, in 1122. (fn. 135)
This grant was confirmed by Lesceline's son Bertram de Verdun. (fn. 136) In 1206 Eustachia de Camville,
who held Hethe manor in dower, and her second
husband, Richard de Camville, tried unsuccessfully
to recover the advowson, but had to admit it belonged
to Kenilworth, (fn. 137) which presented throughout the
Middle Ages. The abbey was dissolved in 1538, when
the advowson came in to the hands of Henry VIII.
It has remained in the possession of the Crown ever
since, but since the living was valued at under £20
in the King's Book, the Lord Chancellor had the
right of presentation. (fn. 138) In 1924 the living was united
to that of Fringford, also in the gift of the Lord
Chancellor. (fn. 139)
The value of the church was £4 in 1254 and
£6 13s. 4d. in 1291, while in 1535 its net value was
£7 9s. 4½d. (fn. 140) When it was valued in 1716 it was
worth £54. (fn. 141) When the parish was inclosed in 1773
the rector was awarded £120 for the tithes of Hethe
Warren and about 172 acres of land, of which 121
acres were for the tithes, 4½ acres for the tithes
on ancient inclosures, 25 acres for the tithes on
William Fermor's land in Hethe and his 12 yardlands in Cottisford and an acre of glebe in Cottisford, and 22 acres for the rector's Hethe glebe. (fn. 142) At
the same time the rector was freed from the obliga
tion of keeping a bull and a boar for the use of the
inhabitants. (fn. 143) From that time the income of the
living came from the land awarded at the inclosure,
which was called Glebe farm. When it was surveyed
in 1857 it was valued at £175. (fn. 144)
In the 14th century the glebe was valued at
6s. 8d.; (fn. 145) in the earliest terrier of 1601 it consisted of
about 30 strips of land, scattered over the three open
fields; in a later terrier of 1679, when there were four
fields, the number of strips had slightly risen, and
the rector had land in Cottisford. (fn. 146) At the time of
the inclosure the glebe was reckoned as a yardland. (fn. 147)
There was a close connexion between Hethe,
Cottisford, and Hardwick. The Rector of Hethe had
two 'lands' or an acre of glebe in Cottisford, and
there were twelve yardlands in Cottisford, belonging
to William Fermor, which paid tithes to Hethe. (fn. 148) The
Rector of Cottisford had two acres of glebe in Hethe,
and was entitled to receive tithes from about eighteen
'lands' in Hethe, (fn. 149) the land of Eton College. There
were also eight 'lands' in Hardwick which paid
tithes to Cottisford, (fn. 150) while the Rector of Hardwick
had three 'lands' of glebe in the field 'that joins to
Hethe field', which may be the Hardwick Field in
Hethe. (fn. 151) The confusion which might arise is illustrated by a dispute of about 1600 between Robert
Petty of Tetsworth, who was farming the Hethe
tithes, and the Rector of Cottisford. (fn. 152) At the inclosure some of these anomalies were straightened
out, but the Rector of Hardwick later had trouble
over his Hethe glebe. (fn. 153)
There was a priest at Hethe in the first half of the
12th century. His name is not known, but he had a
son named Ralph who lived in the parish. Later in
the century William the clerk of Hethe also had a son,
who with his father witnessed a charter of Lesceline
de Clinton. (fn. 154) The most distinguished medieval
rector was Master Adam de Senestan (1233–68), who
was probably studying in Paris when he was presented to Hethe. (fn. 155) Said to be a good theologian and
a man of great knowledge and abstinence, he was
a benefactor of Oseney Abbey, to which he left his
books and where he was buried. (fn. 156) No other medieval
rector held the living for such a long period; indeed
in the 15th century changes were very frequent. It
is worth noting that Master John Sharp (1484–92)
was a regular canon and possibly from Kenilworth
Abbey. (fn. 157)
Of the post-Reformation clergy, mention must be
made of Richard Evans (1646–99). Although he is
said to have had royalist sympathies, he seems to
have remained undisturbed throughout the Commonwealth period, for Anthony Wood saw him in
Hethe in 1659. (fn. 158) His long incumbency of 52 years
was distinguished for his constant residence. (fn. 159) The
next five rectors followed Evans's good example,
but with the appointment in 1732 of James Edgecumbe, Rector of Exeter College, Oxford, from
1737 to 1750, a considerable period of non-residence
opened. Fortunately for Hethe, however, John
Warren, Edgecumbe's predecessor (1725–32), continued to reside in Hethe for another twenty years
as curate to the absent rectors. (fn. 160) He was allowed the
use of the parsonage house and received £20 a year
salary. Warren was followed by a succession of
curates-in-charge, but in 1769, with the institution
of George Lamb, who remained rector until his
death in 1801, Hethe again enjoyed a resident
rector. (fn. 161) The rectors from 1801 to 1850 were again
non-resident, with curates-in-charge: the curate in
1820 received £100. (fn. 162) After that until 1927, when
the living was united to that of Fringford, residence
once more prevailed.
In 1738 (fn. 163) two services were held every Sunday,
and the rector complained that there were 'very few
holidays which will produce a congregation'. Holy
Communion was celebrated four times a year for
about twenty communicants. Lent catechizing was
'tolerably well' attended by the children. The few
people (other than the handful of dissenters) who
did not attend church were thought to absent themselves from 'poorness of dress and laziness'. In 1771 (fn. 164)
there was only one Sunday service; as the living was
so small, Lamb said that he must serve two parishes,
and for long he acted as curate of Cottisford. Holy
Communion was still celebrated four times a year,
with twenty to thirty communicants each time: in
1808 (fn. 165) the number had fallen to fifteen. By 1820 (fn. 166)
matters had somewhat improved: two services were
held every Sunday and the number of communicants
had more than doubled. By 1854 (fn. 167) there was a
monthly celebration.
The small church of ST. EDMUND AND ST.
GEORGE comprises a nave, north and south aisles,
chancel, a western open belfry of wood surmounted
by a spire, and a south porch. The church is in
origin a 12th-century structure. Of this Romanesque
church there survive the west wall of the nave and
the south wall of the chancel, with a window and
priest's doorway. The original chancel probably
terminated in an apse, but early in the 13th century
this was replaced by the existing square east end,
with pilaster buttresses. A south aisle was added in
the 14th century, and a new window with Decorated
tracery was inserted in the east wall of the chancel.
In 1859 this window was removed to the newly
erected north aisle. The clerestory is an addition of
the 15th century.
In 1634 the churchwardens reported the church
to be in bad condition, but there is no record of
structural repairs. (fn. 168) When Rawlinson visited the
church in 1718 he noted the names of John Dagley
and Alexander Peny (i.e. Petty), churchwardens, and
the date 1708 painted on the west wall: this inscription (no longer in existence) suggests that the church
was repaired then, since Rawlinson found it in good
condition. (fn. 169) In 1757 the churchwardens reported
that substantial repairs were contemplated. (fn. 170) But by
1810 the fabric was reported to be in 'a ruinous and
dilapidated' condition and over £300 were spent on
it. (fn. 171) Shortly afterwards a licence was obtained to
reseat the church with pews for the richer families
and open seats for the poor. (fn. 172) A drawing by J.
Buckler shows the church as it was at this date, with
a square bellcote surmounted by a raised roof with
stone ball finial and vane. (fn. 173)
Hethe
In 1833 the church was again under repair, (fn. 174) yet
in 1854 Bishop Wilberforce could say that the church
was 'in most miserable order' and 'utterly too small
for the population'. (fn. 175) In 1859 the Revd. Frederick
Salter undertook a thorough restoration. (fn. 176) At a cost
of £800, and to the plans of G. E. Street, a new roof
was placed over the nave and chancel; a north aisle
(said in 1848 by the rural dean to be needed for the
poor) was added; new windows were put in; the
whole church was reseated and new furniture provided. Salter made a further bequest (1881) of a
painted glass window for the east end. (fn. 177)
The plain font was perhaps part of an earlier
church. Rawlinson noted a fragment of armorial
glass, which has now disappeared. (fn. 178) At one time the
church owned a statue of one of its patron saints, for
in 1659 Wood noted that the 'effigies of St. George
killing the dragon cut in stone' had been found in
the churchyard. (fn. 179)
Inscriptions to Richard Evans, rector (d. 1698/9),
and members of the Petty family (c. 1700) (fn. 180) are now
illegible. There are inscriptions to members of
the Lamb family (18th cent.) and to John Westcar
(d. 1784), George Lamb, rector (d. 1801), Richard
Dutton (d. 1802), Henry Westcar of Southwark
(d. 1805), William Mansfield of Bainton (d. 1846),
Frederick Salter, rector (d. 1881), and four benefactors: (fn. 181) John Mansfield (d. 1869), Thomas Mansfield (d. 1874), Mary Waddington (d. 1876), and
George Mansfield (d. 1946).
The church goods inventoried in 1552, including
a chalice, were of little value. (fn. 182) The present plate
includes an early 17th-century chalice, inscribed
'… Heath … 1716', and another silver chalice and
paten, both 18th century, but given to the church
in the 19th century. (fn. 183) At the Reformation there were
two bells as well as two handbells and a 'sakeringe
bell'. Today there is only one bell of 1886. A former
bell, dated 1755, hangs in the school. (fn. 184) The registers
date from 1678. Rawlinson noted that the earlier
ones had been lost. (fn. 185) The Vestry Book begins in 1738
and the Churchwardens' Accounts in 1803.
Roman Catholicism.
The first notice of
recusants at Hethe appears to be in the Compton
Census of 1676, when ten Roman Catholics were
returned. (fn. 186) In 1682 the rector reported that there
were nine or ten Catholics, four of whom were excommunicated: they were all labouring people who
were or had been employed by the Fermors of Tusmore. (fn. 187) Throughout the 18th century there was a
small Catholic population. In a return of 1706 six
were listed, including two carpenters and two poor
widows. (fn. 188) In 1738 there were five, one man and four
women, and a handful of children. (fn. 189) In three cases,
as might be expected, there was a connexion with
the Fermor estate. A Roman Catholic priest sometimes visited this small flock.
Late 18th and early 19th-century visitation returns
report between two and eight Catholics, who first
went to services in the Fermor chapel at Tusmore,
and later to Hardwick. (fn. 190) The closing of the chapel at
Hardwick in 1830 (fn. 191) produced a difficult situation for
the Roman Catholic population of the neighbourhood, said to number 350. Mass was said in different
houses, until the priest from Hardwick, Alfred
McGuire, bought a piece of land and built the
present chapel (see below), opened in 1832. (fn. 192) It has
been served by secular priests, and the congregation
in 1948 numbered about sixty. In the 1950's it was
serving the R.A.F. station at Bicester. (fn. 193)
The church of the HOLY TRINITY is a small
stone building in the Gothic style. It cost £800.
Some of its lancet windows have stained glass in
memory of the Collingridge family. (fn. 194) A visitor in
1838 considered it of 'tolerable Gothic, though
much too wide for its length', and suggested that the
'horrible' altar should be replaced by one designed
by Pugin. (fn. 195) The registers date from 1832. (fn. 196)
Protestant Nonconformity.
The
visitation return of 1738 reported four Presbyterians
(two shoemakers and their wives). (fn. 197) In 1794 the
house of a shoemaker named Heydon was licensed
for worship. (fn. 198) The members, who also attended
church, called themselves Arminian or Wesleyan
Methodists and had various teachers. (fn. 199) Two other
houses were licensed in 1810 and 1816, (fn. 200) of which the
second was described by the rector as a small hovel.
An occasional teacher came over from Brackley. (fn. 201) Another licence was issued in 1829, (fn. 202) and by 1854 a
Wesleyan Methodist chapel had been built. (fn. 203) In the
1860's and 1870's there were between 30 and 40
Wesleyans. (fn. 204) In 1876 the present chapel was built; (fn. 205)
in 1955 it had eight members. (fn. 206)
Schools.
In 1808 20 children were being taught
in two dame schools. (fn. 207) These had closed by 1815 (fn. 208)
and in 1819 the only education was provided by a
Sunday school, which was attended by children from
Cottisford as well as Hethe. (fn. 209) By 1833, however,
there were two day schools, one with an average
attendance of 26 boys, and the other with 9 boys and
31 girls. (fn. 210) In 1854 a dame school was preparing
children for the National school. (fn. 211)
A National school, projected in 1815, (fn. 212) was eventually built in 1852 (fn. 213) and enlarged in 1874, (fn. 214) as the
average attendance had risen from 40 in 1854 (fn. 215) to 50
in 1871. (fn. 216) There was only one teacher in the 19th
century. (fn. 217) The average attendance was 58 in 1906 (fn. 218)
and 29 in 1937. This Church of England school was
reorganized in 1924, when senior pupils were sent to
Fringford, and in 1948 was again reorganized as an
infants' school. Juniors aged eight and over were then
transferred to Fringford. The school was controlled
in 1951, and was temporarily closed in 1952. In 1954
there were 19 pupils. (fn. 219)
Land for St. Philip's Roman Catholic school was
purchased in 1831, and a building was then begun. (fn. 220)
It was not completed until 1870, when the school
opened (fn. 221) with accommodation for 50 children. It had
an average attendance of 8 in 1889, (fn. 222) and 29 in 1906. (fn. 223)
By 1920 it appears to have taken infants only, (fn. 224) and
it was closed in 1924. (fn. 225)
Charities.
By his will proved in 1664 John
Hart left £10 to the parish of Hethe, (fn. 226) but like his
other benefactions it does not appear to have been
paid. In the 19th century the parish officers of
Hethe received £4 a year charged on a farm of the
Fermors in Hardwick, said to be in lieu of a right
to cut fuel on part of Hardwick Heath. (fn. 227) The payment dated from the inclosure of Hethe in 1773,
when the right of the poor to cut furze on a heath
of William Fermor's called Courtfield or Cottisfield
(75 acres) was extinguished. (fn. 228) The £4 was distributed to the poor each year about Christmas either
in fuel or in money. (fn. 229) In 1954 it was still being used
to provide fuel.
In 1869 John Mansfield of Fringford bequeathed
£100 in stock, the interest, then £3 4s. 4d., to be
distributed annually to six of the eldest and deserving poor of Hethe. (fn. 230) Thomas Mansfield left £150 in
1874, providing for distributions to eight poor
people, and in 1876 Mary Waddington, formerly
housekeeper at Shelswell, left £532 6s., the interest
to be divided among 30 of the poor each January. (fn. 231)