TETSWORTH
Tetsworth was one of the ancient chapelries of
Thame and did not become an independent ecclesiastical parish until 1841. It was administratively
separate from Thame from an early date, however,
and covered 1,179 acres in 1932, when the civil parish
was enlarged to 2,618 acres by the addition of
Attington and part of Thame to the west. (fn. 1) The
ancient boundaries followed Haseley Brook in the
south, and the old boundary on the east used to run
from the Wheatfield road to Horsenden Hill, some
way to the west of the modern boundary. On the
north and east, where Tetsworth touched Attington
and Thame, the boundary line made numerous
right-angled turns indicating that it was drawn after
the layout of arable strips. (fn. 2)
The ancient chapelry lay in the Clay belt, (fn. 3) mainly
between the 200 and 300 ft. contours: it rose in the
centre to over 300 ft. and also at Horsenden Hill at
the north-east corner. Tetsworth common lay to the
north-west of the village. (fn. 4)
The main Oxford–High Wycombe–London road
runs diagonally across the parish; it became a turnpike in 1718. (fn. 5) The records reveal the importance of
the high road in the life of Tetsworth from early
times. The village is marked on a mid-14th-century
road map of England (fn. 6) and in 1447 a licence was
granted to found a hermitage at Tetsworth and a
chapel of St. John the Baptist for the purpose of
repairing the road. The hermit was to labour with
his hands for the maintenance of the highways between Stokenchurch and Wheatley Bridge, which
had long been a trouble for lack of repair. (fn. 7) At the
Reformation the hermit disappeared but he was
remembered as late as the 19th century by a field
called the Hermitage beside the Thame road. (fn. 8)
In the wills of medieval inhabitants of Tetsworth
and the neighbourhood bequests were constantly
made for the upkeep of the highways, (fn. 9) and postmedieval documents contain many references to
travellers on the Tetsworth road. As the village was
12 miles from Oxford it became a stage on the route
from London to Oxford for the postchaises and
carriers, and it was there that letters from the capital
for the great houses such as Rycote were left. (fn. 10)
Plot noted in 1677 that the ways were mended
with the local stone called 'maume'. It was so free of
sulphur that it slaked in winter like lime and Plot
thought the local farmers should much rather 'mend
their lands than highways' with it. He left a specimen with the son of the 'ingenious improver, Sir
Thomas Tipping', as a 'thing not unworthy of his
father's trial'. (fn. 11)
That the roads might be dangerous appears from
occasional records. A 16th-century Star Chamber
case records that an Oxford carrier, taking goods and
passengers to London, was attacked at Tetsworth
by four armed men. They wounded the eight
occupants of his conveyance and opened valuable
chests. (fn. 12) In 1681 Viscount Latimer wrote that he
had arrived safely at Oxford without encountering
highwaymen, having paid a visit to Roycote whilst his
coach 'baited' at Tetsworth. (fn. 13) Another case is recorded in 1762 of a highwayman robbing one of the
Oxford coaches near Tetsworth. (fn. 14)
The heyday of the road was after the making of
the turnpike in 1718 until the coming of the railways
in the 1840's, (fn. 15) when road traffic dwindled and one
of the principal hostelries, the 'Swan', was partly
converted into a post-office and the 'Royal Oak' was
pulled down. (fn. 16) Hearne records how the Mayor of
Oxford and others dined at Tetsworth in 1725 and
that Dr. Edmund Hailey of Greenwich, the Savilian
Professor of Geometry, designed to lie there on his
return journey after a visit to Oxford in 1727. (fn. 17) In
1835 Pigot's Commercial Directory records that three
London coaches went daily via Tetsworth and
Wheatley to Oxford. There were two vans and
wagons a week from London going by the same
route, besides much local traffic. (fn. 18)
The chief coaching inn was the 'Swan'. In the
17th century when it was the property of the Sedley
family and of Sir Charles Sedley, the dramatist, its
name was changed to the 'Sedley Arms'. (fn. 19) By 1719
the inn had reverted to its original name. (fn. 20)
The present building is of many dates, but the
late 17th-century and 18th-century facade of chequer
brick conceals a much older and rather smaller
building. The original house, probably built c. 1600,
consisted of a timber-framed L-shaped building of
two stories and attics, with three fine brick chimneystacks at the back. The range parallel with the road
probably contained the hall, with a screens passage
and kitchen or buttery to the east and a staircase and
parlour to the west. On the first floor is a post which
shows that the walls were formerly covered with
wall-paintings. About 1700 the whole building was
extensively remodelled and enlarged; an eastern
projecting wing was added, the existing ranges were
encased in brick, a row of rooms was added at the
back, and along the eastern side of the western range
was added a two-story gallery. The building now
consists of a main block of two stories and attics, and
of flanking wings projecting towards the road. It has
a first-floor string and the cornice of moulded wood
and plaster is deeply coved. The roof is hipped and
tiled. The south elevation of the centre block has
three hipped dormer windows. There are eight bays
with mullioned and transomed windows of which
the upper ones are original, but the ground floor ones
were, until recently, sash windows. The building has
many contemporary details such as its six-panelled
door in the centre block with a rectangular fanlight,
divided into four pointed arches, and its diamondshaped chimney stacks. There is much 16th- and
17th-century panelling inside.
Despite the importance of the London road, the
village as a whole does not border it. It is a hill
village, lying largely on two lanes that branch off to
the south-west of the main road and climb the steep
hill to the church at the summit. Davis's map of 1797
shows the 'Swan' and the Pettys' manor-house (fn. 21) as
the only buildings on the north-east side of the
London road, and even by 1839 this was still the
case. (fn. 22) Fields and the green common (7 a.) lay next to
the 'Swan'. Tetsworth was a fair-sized village in the
17th century with at least 43 householders (fn. 23) and
some timber-framed cottages of this period, many
of them thatched, still survive. 'Robertlyn', for example, has one story and an attic, is timber-framed
with brick and rubble fillings; and the roof is halfhipped and thatched. Other cottages of the same
period are built partly of flint and partly of brick.
The farmhouse opposite to the 'Red Lion' is a rubblestone house of 17th-century date with brick additions. The village has still some 18th-century houses
such as the house opposite the 'Swan', which has a
characteristic panelled door and a wreathed and enriched fan-light. The present 'King's Arms' is also
an 18th-century building, built on a terrace above
the level of the road. Rebuilding was sometimes the
result of fire as in 1736. (fn. 24) Nineteenth-century additions to the village included the church and the
Vicarage, built in 1846, (fn. 25) the red-brick and Gothic
school with a bell-turret, and the Congregational
chapel of red brick with stone facings (1890). (fn. 26) In
the 20th century a council housing-estate of 32
dwellings was built at Marsh End after the Second
World War, (fn. 27) and in 1952 a village hall was erected. (fn. 28)
At one time the most important house in Tetsworth was the manor-house, standing on the site of
Mount Hill Farm. (fn. 29) It was built early in the 16th
century by Maximilian Petty. It is said by Wood that
he pulled down the wool storage rooms attached to
the 15th-century house in Thame, which he had
bought from Geoffrey Dormer and where he had
lived for some time. He used the materials to build his
Tetsworth house. (fn. 30) Here the Pettys lived for several
generations. John Petty, grandson of Maximilian,
of Tetsworth and Stoke Talmage was granted arms
in 1570, and some at least of his ten children were
born at Tetsworth. (fn. 31) His son Charnell, 'an old puritan', lived at Tetsworth from 1614 to 1634, (fn. 32) and in
his will, proved 1661, willed that his wife Ellen
should enjoy the mansion house. (fn. 33) At this time it was
a fair-sized house rated at 13 hearths for the tax of
1665. (fn. 34) Plot shows it with four chimneys on his map
of 1677 as he does other houses of the gentry such as
Dormer's at Ascot, and Doyley's at Chislehampton. (fn. 35)
Christopher Petty sold the house in 1683 to his kinsman Christopher Wood, a relation of the antiquary
Anthony Wood. (fn. 36) Later in the century it was divided
into a baker's house and three others. (fn. 37) The present
house, Mount Hill farmhouse, stands on the crown
of the hill with its gable-end facing the highway and
its north front facing a lane, from which it is approached by a flight of twelve steps. The gable-end
has three stories and an attic; the north front has two
stories and an attic. A covering of stucco mostly
conceals the brick and stone of the old house, and a
19th-century porch and sash windows have been
added.
Because of the early inclosure of Tetsworth field
some of the parish's farmhouses, Latchford House,
Goldpits, and Spencer's, for example, were not in
the village. (fn. 38) The only one that still has any historical
interest is Harlesford farmhouse and its outbuildings.
The 18th-century house is built of vitreous brick
with red dressings; and the outbuildings are partly
brick, partly weather-boarding, and the roofs are
covered with old tiles.
Tetsworth's position on the London road and in
one of the main battle areas of the Civil War meant
that troops were frequently passing through. In 1643
Hampden visited Major Gunter's cavalry which
were quartered in and about Tetsworth; (fn. 39) Prince
Rupert went through on his way to Chalgrove Field,
and parliamentary scouts often picked up news
there, particularly from travellers from London or
Oxford. It was reported in October 1643, for example, that some of the king's foot and horsemen
were quartered in the village; (fn. 40) in January 1644 that
the king and queen themselves were there, and that
the French ambassador had also passed the night
there, his coach having broken down. (fn. 41)
Of its inhabitants the Petty family achieved a local
position of some importance and one George Pettie
(1548–89) made his mark on literature as a minor
writer of romances. (fn. 42) Among churchmen Eliezer
Williams (1754–1820), historian and genealogist,
had a brief association with Tetsworth as curate, (fn. 43)
and J. W. Peers (vicar 1841–76) was responsible for
building the church, Vicarage, and school. (fn. 44)
Fees.
TETSWORTH does not appear by name in
the Domesday survey, but its lands were included in
the Bishop of Lincoln's Thame manor of 60 hides.
It is probable that it was represented mainly by the
10 hides held by a certain Robert, one of the bishop's
knights, (fn. 45) and that he is to be identified with the
Robert who held of the bishop in Banbury, Cropredy,
and Wickham. (fn. 46) He may very possibly have been the
father of Aucher Chevauchesul, who flourished at
Tetsworth in the first half of the 12th century, (fn. 47) and
the grandfather of Robert Chevauchesul. This last
was in possession of Tetsworth by c. 1146, (fn. 48) and
Tetsworth must have been included in the 3 fees he
was holding of the Bishop of Lincoln in 1166. (fn. 49) The
date of his death is uncertain, but he appears to have
been alive in 1201. (fn. 50) At that date he was holding only
1 out of his 3 Oxfordshire fees; the other 2 fees had
been for some time in the possession of his two sisters
Emma and Maud. (fn. 51) Maud had married Peter Talemasch, (fn. 52) possibly the son of Hugh Talemasch of
Stoke Talmage, (fn. 53) and himself lord of Stoke. (fn. 54) Peter,
however, had died by 1181, (fn. 55) and Maud must have
died before 1198, for it was their son Richard who
was then in possession of half the Tetsworth fee. (fn. 56)
In this year (1198–9) he and Robert Danvers, the
heir to a moiety of the Tetsworth and Epwell fees,
were engaged in an assize of mort d'ancestor over
two of their Oxfordshire fees, a suit which may have
had some connexion with Peter's debts to the Jews
recorded in the same year. (fn. 57) Richard married Avice
Taillard, a sister of Richard Taillard who frequently
witnesses charters with him, (fn. 58) and appears to have
died in or before 1205, when his son and heir Peter is
found in possession of a ½-fee at Finstock in Charlbury, a part of his father's property. (fn. 59) In 1209–12
Peter Talemasch and Robert Danvers were returned
as joint lords of Tetsworth; Talemasch was said to
hold a ¾-fee. (fn. 60) When a survey of the bishop's Thame
manors was made c. 1225 Peter Talemasch was still
holding. (fn. 61) Robert Danvers's share had descended to
him from William Danvers of Bourton and Chislehampton, who had acquired it by his marriage with
Emma Chevauchesul. (fn. 62) William Danvers was one of
Henry II's knights, and it has been plausibly suggested that he may have supported the king against
Becket, since he was omitted from Thame Abbey's
prayers for his family. (fn. 63) Robert the son of William
and Emma had succeeded by c. 1197, and his younger
brother Ralph was then holding part of Tetsworth of
him. (fn. 64) Robert was a man of some standing: he acted
as king's assessor in Oxfordshire in 1200. (fn. 65) He was
still holding the Tetsworth fee in 1209–12, (fn. 66) but on
the marriage of his eldest son Geoffrey before 1222
he gave 1½ fee, including his Tetsworth fee, as dowry
for Geoffrey's wife Sara. (fn. 67) Both Geoffrey and his
father were dead by the time of the Lincoln survey
(c. 1225), when William Danvers, Geoffrey's
brother and heir, was recorded as holder of the
Tetsworth fee. (fn. 68) From a final concord made in May
1225 it appears that Geoffrey died before 1225, for
by then Sara had already taken a second husband. (fn. 69)
William Danvers seems to have died before 1247. (fn. 70)
He was followed by his eldest son Robert, who in
1279 held the Tetsworth and Epwell fees including
the land once held by the Talemasches. (fn. 71) In 1305 it
was specifically stated that Robert Danvers was heir
to Peter Talemasch's fee. (fn. 72) A 14th-century record
shows that Robert's son Simon held both the Danvers and Talemasch fees and that each contained
property in both Tetsworth and Epwell. (fn. 73) Simon
had subinfeudated his Tetsworth land which was
mainly held by Thame Abbey. (fn. 74) In 1316 Simon
Danvers and the Abbot of Thame were returned as
joint lords of Tetsworth and in that year Simon was
summoned for military service as one of the lords of
Tetsworth, Epwell and Swalcliffe, Drayton, Stadhampton, and other lands. (fn. 75) Simon lived until at
least 1327 (fn. 76) but before his death he disposed of some
of his Tetsworth property. In 1321 he gave some 4½
virgates and a 2/3-fee there to Geoffrey de Stokes and
his wife Alice, who may have been Simon's daughter,
with remainder to their son Geoffrey. (fn. 77) In 1336
John de Wheatfield acquired the 2/3-fee from a
Geoffrey de Waterbeck, (fn. 78) perhaps the same man as
Geoffrey de Stokes. He died about 1345 (fn. 79) and in the
following year his son John was returned as holding
a ⅓-fee in Tetsworth. His assessment on only a ⅓-fee,
John son of Simon Danvers and the Prebendary of
Thame each holding another third, may represent
some internal arrangement concerning the fee. (fn. 80)
John de Wheatfield had died by 1361 and his heirs
were Joan and Elizabeth. (fn. 81) They succeeded to the
Tetsworth land, but in 1367 a Nicholas Tetsworth
obtained half the property from Reginald de Grey
and his wife Elizabeth and in 1374 he obtained the
other half from Hugh Streatley and his wife Joan. (fn. 82)
The descent of the property is not clear after this. In
1428 Walter Cotton, at that time lord of a Bletchingdon manor and of Exning (Suff.), held the Wheat
field and Danvers property in Tetsworth, but no
later reference to the Cotton tenure has been
found. (fn. 83) It is probable that the land was entirely
held by sub-tenants and became merged in other
manors. The prebendary's ⅓-fee likewise has not
been traced beyond 1428, but it appears to have
followed the descent of Thame prebend. (fn. 84)
Manors.
From the time of its removal from Oddington to Thame (fn. 85) the Cistercian Abbey of Thame
began to acquire land in Tetsworth through the gifts
of the pious, and particularly from the families of the
various holders of fees—Chevauchesul, Talemasch,
and Danvers. Its property was later known as
TETSWORTH manor. The abbey obtained a hide
from Robert Chevauchesul before 1146; (fn. 86) in 1197
Ralph Danvers, with the consent of his lord and
brother Robert Danvers, gave 2¼ virgates; (fn. 87) and in
1199 Alan, clerk of Tetsworth, and his wife Clarissa
gave 2 virgates. (fn. 88) About the same time Robert
Danvers, his brothers William and Roger, and their
cousin Richard Talemasch each gave a virgate. (fn. 89)
Their mother Emma Danvers had already given 2
acres. (fn. 90) The charters record in all the gift of 15½
virgates, (fn. 91) but from a survey made in about 1225 it
appears that Thame Abbey held 8¼ virgates of the
Danvers fee and 8¾ of the Talemasch fee, besides 3
virgates at farm and 12¼ acres in small parcels. (fn. 92) Its
total holding was thus over 20 virgates. In 1279 the
jurors declared that the abbot's holding was 9½
virgates held of Robert Danvers's fee by scutage and
suit of his court, and 8½ virgates held of Peter Talemasch's fee by scutage. (fn. 93) Talemasch was by now
dead, having given the abbey his Stoke Talmage
manor as well as part of his Tetsworth fee. (fn. 94) In 1316
the abbot was therefore returned as joint lord of
Tetsworth with Simon Danvers (fn. 95) and he held his
share as 1 knight's fee. (fn. 96) The estate, usually known
as the Grange, is first designated a manor in 1365,
when the abbot was granted free warren there, (fn. 97) and
was retained by the abbey until its dissolution in
1539. (fn. 98)
In 1542 Thame Abbey's manor along with Stoke
Talmage was granted by the Crown to Robert King,
the last Abbot of Thame and the first Bishop of
Oxford. (fn. 99) He proceeded to lease it in 1547 for 99
years at £20 2s. 10d. to Sir John (later Lord) Williams
of Thame. (fn. 100) The manor was afterwards lost to the
bishopric, and the lease to Lord Williams was
terminated. In 1558 and 1560 Tetsworth manor was
listed among the large sales of land to a number
of London citizens, (fn. 101) but it was in the hands of the
Crown again in 1589, when it was granted in fee
simple for £44 5s. to Christopher Petty and his son
Charnell, members of an old Tetsworth family. (fn. 102)
Christopher Petty was already in possession of an
estate in Tetsworth, which had been left to him by
his father John Petty. This John Petty had been
granted arms in 1570; had built up a large Oxfordshire estate; (fn. 103) and on his death in 1578 had divided
his Tetsworth lands between two younger sons,
George and Christopher. (fn. 104) In 1589 George Petty
died, leaving his share to Christopher. (fn. 105)
In 1602 the Pettys were given permission to sell
Tetsworth manor to Walter Jones of Chastleton, (fn. 106)
whose daughter Ellen married Ralph Holt of Stoke
Lyne. Since Thomas Holt, the son of Ralph and
Ellen, later married Charnell Petty's daughter
Susan, (fn. 107) it is probable that the manor was returned
to the Pettys in some kind of family settlement.
Christopher Petty died in 1614, and his son Charnell
succeeded. (fn. 108) On the latter's death in 1661 he left
Tetsworth in trust for his young grandson Christopher, the boy's father Christopher being already
dead. (fn. 109) Christopher Petty obtained possession in
1674; (fn. 110) he married Hester, the daughter of Robert
Parsons, a gentleman of Great Milton; but he was
a man of 'unthriftiness, folly, and extravagance', (fn. 111)
and had soon dissipated his estate. In 1680 and 1683
he sold a part of his land to Anthony Wood's
brother Christopher, and in 1683 he sold the manor
and other land, said to be worth £2,000, to Thomas
Phillips, a lawyer of Ickford (Bucks.). (fn. 112) Petty's absorbing interest was bell-ringing, and Hearne says
that he 'rang away … a good estate' and died 'very
reduced' at Thame, probably in 1739. (fn. 113)
Thomas Phillips died in 1705, having left most of
his property to his son-in-law Lenthall Trotman of
Bucknell, because his son Thomas had become a
Roman Catholic; the property was to revert to the
Phillips family in the event of the heir becoming a
member of the Church of England. (fn. 114) Trotman died
in 1710, (fn. 115) and in 1717 his two sons Samuel and
Thomas were returned as owners of Tetsworth
manor. (fn. 116) However, by 1733 Thomas Phillips appears
to have recovered possession, for in that year he
augmented with Tetsworth land the endowment of
a charity in Ickford, founded by his father. (fn. 117) Thomas
Phillips the younger died in 1742 leaving two sons, (fn. 118)
both Roman Catholics, and the younger one Henry
Phillips sold Tetsworth manor with land in Ickford
to the Earl of Abingdon in 1756. It then consisted of
only about 100 acres of land and a few quit-rents. (fn. 119)
The manor formed part of the Abingdon estates
until about 1810 and brought in an income of £120
odd. (fn. 120) It was apparently sold to the Revd. Samuel
Ryder Weston, a canon of St. Paul's, (fn. 121) who was in
possession of the manor-house and land in Tetsworth in 1810. (fn. 122) He died in 1821: his heirs were
Charlotte Weston, who was lady of the manor in the
1850's, and Frances (neé Weston), the wife of A. H.
Matthews (d. 1854), Vicar of Weston-on-the-Green,
who owned Manor farm (116 acres). (fn. 123) In 1859 the
property was in the hands of A. M. Matthews, the
Revd. A. Matthews and the Revd. H. S. Ryder
Matthews, nephews of Charlotte Weston. (fn. 124) In
about 1866 the manor and Manor farm were bought
by Joseph Cornish, a Tetsworth farmer, from the
Matthews family. (fn. 125)
During the reign of Edward III a John Windbush
built up an estate in Tetsworth of some 9 messuages and about 150 acres with appurtenances. (fn. 126) In
1471, when this estate was acquired from a Richard
Seymour and his wife Isabel by Richard Fowler,
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, it was called
WINDBUSH manor and consisted of 8 messuages
and 260 acres of land. (fn. 127) Fowler owned much other
Oxfordshire property, including the recently acquired Moreton manor in Thame, (fn. 128) and several
manors in Buckinghamshire. He died in 1477, (fn. 129) and
in 1504 Windbush was in the possession of his widow
Joan, sister of Sir Thomas Danvers of Waterstock. (fn. 130)
She died in 1505, (fn. 131) and Windbush was probably sold
by her son and heir Richard Fowler (d. 1528), who
was a spendthrift and certainly sold much of his
other property. (fn. 132)
By 1507 the manor seems to have been in the
hands of Thomas Bradbury, a London mercer and
alderman (d. 1510); (fn. 133) it is next recorded in 1540,
when George Baldry of Hadley (Suff.), the son of
Sir Thomas Baldry, another mercer and Mayor of
London, died in possession of both Tetsworth and
Moreton. (fn. 134) The custody of his infant heiress Elizabeth was granted to Sir Richard (later Lord) Rich,
Chancellor of the Court of Augmentations, (fn. 135) and in
about 1554 she married his son Robert, 2nd Lord
Rich, who died in 1581. (fn. 136) As her second husband
she married Robert Forth, and after her death in
1591 he held Tetsworth and Moreton for life. (fn. 137) They
were inherited not by her eldest son Robert, who
became Earl of Warwick, but by her second son, Sir
Edwin Rich, who in 1601 sold them to Henry Savile,
Warden of Merton College and Provost of Eton. (fn. 138)
At the end of the 16th century the Pettys of Tetsworth had an interest in Windbush and may have
been leasing it, (fn. 139) and in 1620 Savile seems to have
mortgaged it to Maximilian Petty, a Thame lawyer. (fn. 140)
After Savile's death in 1622 Windbush and Moreton
were held for life by his widow Margaret, and were
then inherited by their daughter Elizabeth, the wife
of Sir John Sedley, Bt. (d. 1638), of Aylesford
(Kent). (fn. 141) In 1656 the manors passed with the title to
their youngest son Sir Charles Sedley, (fn. 142) who in 1669
sold Windbush to James Perrot of North Leigh, a
member of an Old Oxfordshire family. (fn. 143) The property descended from the elder James Perrot (d. 1687)
to his son James (d. 1725) and to his grandson
Henry, who sold Windbush and Moreton in 1730
to Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough. (fn. 144) The property
brought in an annual revenue of about £450. (fn. 145) In
1762 it was settled on Lord Charles Spencer of
Wheatfield, a younger son of the 3rd Duke of Marlborough. (fn. 146) He died in 1820; his son John in 1831,
the same year in which his grandson Frederick
Charles, Rector of Wheatfield, died, leaving an infant
son. By this time the Spencer estates were so
burdened with annuities that in 1835 an Act was
passed to sell part of them in order to preserve the
Wheatfield estate. (fn. 147) Manorial rights had probably
long lapsed.
A part of the 37 hides which the Bishop of Lincoln
held in demesne in Thame in 1086 was in Tetsworth: (fn. 148) in 1279 eight tenants held 8¼ virgates from
the bishop direct (in capite), (fn. 149) and in 1535 his estate
in Tetsworth and Moreton was valued at £6 1s. 2d. (fn. 150)
In 1547 the bishop was licensed to grant his TETSWORTH manor, along with other manors, to Edward
Seymour, Duke of Somerset. (fn. 151) On his execution in
1552 Seymour's lands escheated to the Crown, and
Tetsworth and Thame came into the possession of
Lord Williams of Thame. (fn. 152) This Tetsworth manor
was inherited by his daughter Isabella and her
husband Sir Richard Wenman and followed the
descent of Thame Park until the second part of the
17th century, although some of the land was sold to
Charnell Petty in 1614. (fn. 153) The last time Tetsworth
was mentioned among the Wenman lands was in
1678. (fn. 154) The land was evidently sold, for in 1842 the
owner of Thame Park held no land in Tetsworth. (fn. 155)
Lesser Estates.
Early in the 13th century
Peter Talemasch granted the Templars, in one of
whose churchyards he desired to be buried, (fn. 156) in free
alms a hide (or 4 virgates) of his Tetsworth land, and
added a charter of warranty. (fn. 157) One of the virgates
belonged to his widowed mother Avice, and by 1210
she had successfully sued the Templars for it. (fn. 158)
Consequently they sued Peter for the virgate, (fn. 159) and
in 1211 he agreed to let them have 31 acres in Stoke
Talmage in its place during his mother's life. (fn. 160) Later
he added another 5 acres in Stoke. (fn. 161) On Avice's
death the virgate returned to the Templars, who
before this litigation had already leased their Tetsworth hide to William Coco and his heirs for 2s. a
year and 6s. 8d. relief on the death of a tenant. (fn. 162)
This hide formed part of the Sandford Preceptory's estate, and like its other property passed in the
14th century from the Templars to the Hospitallers. (fn. 163)
In 1513 it was being rented from the Hospitallers at
2s. a year by the Fraternity of the Holy Cross in
Abingdon. (fn. 164) After the dissolution of the Hospitallers
in about 1540 and of the guild in 1547, the land probably came into the possession of the Pettys of Tetsworth. (fn. 165) A house that had belonged to the Abingdon
guild was held by John Petty of Stoke Talmage on
his death in 1589. (fn. 166) He also held a house which had
belonged to the chantry founded in Rycote chapel by
Richard Fowler and Richard Quatremain. (fn. 167)
In the course of two centuries the Cozens family,
yeomen of Thame and Tetsworth, (fn. 168) acquired an
estate in Tetsworth. Thomas Cozens (d. 1744), who
seems for a time before 1731 to have lived at Dormer
Leys in Attington, (fn. 169) purchased in 1729 a messuage
and two closes, called Harlots Ford and Ford Close. (fn. 170)
His son Thomas (d. 1789), who made further purchases, was known by 1772 as 'of Harlesford'. (fn. 171)
Succeeding generations continued to buy up land in
Tetsworth, one of the largest purchases being made
in 1838 by another Thomas Cozens (d. 1857), who
paid about £5,000 for land from the Spencers,
which included Peesleys Ground and Bandage
Way. (fn. 172) In 1870 his successor, his nephew John
Cozens (d. 1879), bought two farms, the Royal Oak
Inn, and the manor-house. (fn. 173) By 1894 and 1904 when
Cozens's executors tried to sell the estate the family
owned 478 acres. (fn. 174) By the 1920's Edward Walker
was the chief landowner and by the 1930's the former
Cozens estates had been divided up. (fn. 175)
Economic and Social History.
The
early economic history of Tetsworth is obscure, but
there can be little doubt that the township, which
from an early date was part of the endowment first
of the bishopric of Dorchester and then of Lincoln,
was a valuable asset. (fn. 176) The London road, bisecting
the village and its lands and providing easy communications, and the Thame valley with its rich
pastures, had a decisive effect on the development of
the place.
The fragmentary evidence for the medieval system
of husbandry makes it certain at least that open
fields were the basis: there are 12th- and 13thcentury references to acres and fractions of acres distributed in furlongs, to meadow (i.e. Estmede) in
Tetsworth field, and to pasture for oxen and horses
'in the fields (intra campos) of the town', and in the
Talemasch demesne land. (fn. 177) Nevertheless, its economy had little resemblance to the typical open-field
manor of the Midlands. From the account given in
the Hundred Rolls of 1279 Tetsworth, compared
with many other Oxfordshire villages, is outstanding
for the number of its small free tenants and for the
comparatively few villein virgate or ½-virgate
holders, burdened with labour services. Most of the
land was held by the Bishop of Lincoln's knights
and subinfeudated, or by the Abbot of Thame, but
the bishop kept in demesne about 100 acres.
On Robert Danvers's fee there were said to be 4
virgates in demesne and only 2 customary tenants,
one holding a ½-virgate and rendering 5s. for rent and
service, and 1 cottar paying 12d. rent. In addition to
his customars Robert Danvers had 5 free tenants, of
whom the chief, the Abbot of Thame, held 9½
virgates by military tenure. Walter de Dunsden held
1¾ virgate by scutage, suit, and a nominal rent, and
had 4 customary tenants holding the land of him for
rent and service; Thomas de Worthe held 6 acres
for 1d. rent, suit, and scutage. Richard Danvers,
another member of the family, had 2 free tenants and
5 cottars, apparently freemen, holding of him: he is
not said to hold himself of Robert. One free tenant
held a ½-virgate for 3s. 6d., suit, and scutage; another,
Henry Danvers, held a messuage and 6 acres of
Richard for 12d. and scutage. The cottars paid a total
rent of 7s. In addition to this land Richard Danvers
held 1 virgate of the bishop for 1d., suit, and scutage.
Most of the abbey's land (i.e. 9½ virgates held of
the Danvers fee and 8½ of the Talemasch fee) (fn. 178) must
have been held in demesne, for its recorded tenants
mostly held only a few acres: 9 cottars with a cot and
3 acres each paid a total rent of 48s. 2d.; 12 cottars
each with a messuage paid 17s. 4d. There were a
number of small free tenants; 3½-virgaters paid rents
of 5s. to 8s. 6d.; 5 others with a few acres each mostly
held for small money rents; 1 virgater paid a rent of
10s. and another 7s. rent and scutage; finally, there
was Roger Danvers, who held a small property for
11s. 2d. and suit.
A third holding of 3½ virgates was held by Edmund
de Burton of the Bishop of Lincoln for suit, scutage,
and a rent of 3s. to the Templars. Edmund had 2
tenants, one holding a ½-virgate for 6d., suit, and
scutage, the other holding a croft and 1 acre for
3s. 4d. and scutage. Seven other tenants of the bishop
held a virgate or less of land for various money rents
ranging from 1d. to 8d., usually combined with suit
to the hundred, or with suit and scutage. Of these
Richard Danvers and William son of Robert were
the only virgate holders. The last paid 8s. rent, a pair
of gloves and owed suit. He had 3 cottar tenants. (fn. 179)
A late 13th- or early 14th-century account of how
Thame abbey's land was burdened with scutage
shows that there were still the same three main
holdings beside the bishop's demesne, which is
naturally not included: that of the Danvers family,
that of Edmund de Burton, who held 4 virgates of
the former Talemasch fee, and that of the Abbot of
Thame, who held part of both the Danvers and Talemasch fees. Since 1279 some of the smaller holdings
had been minutely subdivided: the virgate, for example, held by the 'heirs of Gunne' was divided
between eight tenants, and another virgate held by
'the heirs of Franceys' was divided between nine
tenants. (fn. 180) A terrier of 1378 of the lands of John Wynbush gives the same picture of Tetsworth's muchdivided land. Wynbush had gradually built up a
small 'manor' of about 6 virgates and a number of
tofts, crofts, 'placea', and messuages from thirteen
or so different owners. (fn. 181)
From the 14th-century tax lists it appears that
Tetsworth was a comparatively large village and
prosperous. There were 27 contributors in 1327, of
whom half paid 2s. and over, and at the reassessment of 1344 the village's total tax was increased
from £2 16s. 10d. for the 20th to £3 19s. 3d. for the
fifteenth. (fn. 182) The Black Death appears to have inflicted a damaging blow, for in 1354 the village was
allowed a tax abatement of 30s., a very high figure
compared with those of neighbouring villages. (fn. 183)
Only the market-towns of Watlington and Thame
received higher abatements. The incident reported
on the patent rolls of 1349 may perhaps be regarded
as one of the consequences of the disaster suffered by
the village. Roger le Longe of Tetsworth, one of the
Oxfordshire coroners, was assaulted by certain of
the villagers at his close in Tetsworth, had his goods
carried away, and was hindered in the performance
of his duty. (fn. 184) The second half of the century appears
to have seen recovery, for 110 persons paid the poll
tax of 1377. (fn. 185)
The abbey farmed out its grange in the 15th
century (fn. 186) and in the early 16th century. When the
abbey was dissolved in 1539 it was receiving
£6 13s. 4d. for the grange, and £3 8s. 6d. for rents of
assize compared with the £19 14s. 9d. it had received
in 1478. (fn. 187) It is likely that, as at Sydenham, the abbey
used its Tetsworth grange mainly as a sheepfarm. (fn. 188)
Some 12th-century evidence suggests that it may
not have been difficult for it to inclose its land at an
early date. When Robert Chevauchesul granted a
hide of land to Thame it seems to have been largely
consolidated: it lay in 3 furlongs only and was
marked out by stones. (fn. 189)
The 16th century as elsewhere was a period of
change at Tetsworth. The yeoman family of Petty
eventually acquired Thame Abbey's property in
Stoke Talmage and in Tetsworth and much of
the rest of the village's land. (fn. 190) Three Pettys appear
on the subsidy list of 1542 and between them paid
on £62 of the village's total assessment. (fn. 191) With their
relations by marriage the Woods of Oxford and the
Caves of Great Milton, (fn. 192) the family continued to
hold the predominant position in the parish during
the first half of the 17th century. Although some of
the Petty property was sold on the death of Maximilian Petty of Thame in 1639 to pay his debts two
members of the family were still being assessed on
substantial holdings for the tax of 1641. (fn. 193) This predominance of the Pettys and the fact that Thame
Abbey's holding may have been long largely inclosed
would account for the early inclosure of the open
fields. The exact date has not been found, but it took
place just before 1631, for a sale in that year of a
24-acre close to a Pyrton yeoman included 'common
of pasture for 1½ yardland in the late common fields
of Tetsworth, if the land sold was subject to common rights'. (fn. 194) There appears to have been protracted opposition, for in 1654 reference is made to
the recompense to be made if the buyer of property
from Edmund Petty is hindered in his possession 'by
reason of the inclosure of Tetsworth being not yet
legally settled'. (fn. 195) The commons were not inclosed:
deeds of the 18th and 19th centuries make frequent
reference to common rights on the Common Marshes
and Common Green. (fn. 196) In 1838 the tithe award recorded about 52 acres of common, and common
pasture for beasts was still being leased in the 20th
century. (fn. 197)
The evidence of the leases points to the predominance of pasture, and so of sheepfarmers, although
there are occasional references to arable closes. (fn. 198)
The large closes on Maximilian Petty's farm, for
instance, were all used as pasture in 1639. They were
in all probability ancient inclosures made by the
monks: Bandage Way and Scholars Bridge Close
(80 a.), Latchford Hole (10 a.), and Harlots Ford and
Ford Close (34 a.) all lay along the banks of Haseley
Brook and were close to the abbey's Stoke Grange
in Stoke Talmage. (fn. 199) Further evidence of sheepfarming comes from a deed of 1631 which gives the stint
for 1½ yardlands as 3 beasts and 60 sheep, and from
a lease of 1697 of a large pasture ground (60 a.),
which mentions an adjoining sheep-house. (fn. 200)
The sale of fleeces was doubtless the chief
economic incentive for the conversion to pasture,
but the proximity of a market-town at Thame and of
Oxford meant a continuous demand for mutton. It
may be significant that Thomas Wood, the father of
the antiquary, who had acquired land in Tetsworth
early in the 17th century, was also landlord of the
flourishing 'Fleur de Lys' in Oxford, (fn. 201) and that a later
purchaser of the Woods' farm at Tetsworth was
Henry Jemott, a victualler of Thame. (fn. 202) A combination of the victualling or butcher's business with
sheep-farming was not uncommon at this period.
Inclosure and the London road, which brought
trade to the inns, account for the growth of a prosperous middle class. In 1662 the owner of 'The
King's Arms' was assessed on 13 hearths and widow
Woodbridge on 10 hearths; the 1665 list contains the
names of 4 men with houses of 6 to 8 hearths apiece
and of 7 with 3 or 4 hearths. (fn. 203) It is of interest that
these were new men and that the substantial Elizabethan families—the Pettys, Bowyers, Clacks, Watkyns, Wets, and Grenings—had gone. The Elizabethans, indeed, were themselves new men: two of
the leading contributors to the subsidy of 1542, John
Adkyns and Ralph Ferme, had disappeared by 1577. (fn. 204)
Little is known about the number of inhabitants
before the official census returns of the 19th century.
For the hearth tax of 1662 there were 43 names
listed, (fn. 205) and in 1676 there were 122 adults returned
for the Compton Census. The original Census returns for this parish have survived: there were stated
to be about 42 families of about 119 persons that are
of age (i.e. 16 years probably) who conformed, besides three dissenters. (fn. 206)
In the 18th century the land continued to be
divided into a number of small farms. (fn. 207) In 1786, besides the chief property owners, Lord Charles
Spencer, John Young, and a Mr. Haydon, there
were fifteen smallholders, but they cannot have held
much more than their cottages, for they each paid
less than 5s. tax. (fn. 208) There was a marked tendency for
the number of holdings to increase in the early 19th
century, partly perhaps because of the rising population and also because of the type of intensive farming
practised. In 1786 there had been 39 holdings; there
were 49 in 1816 and 1832. (fn. 209)
In 1809 Arthur Young commented on the excellent deep loam and noted that they ploughed with
four horses at Tetsworth and did an acre a day. (fn. 210)
The land was still mainly given over to pasture:
Davis's map of 1797 shows the parish divided into
hedged fields of which only two were used as arable,
and in 1838 there were 1,111 acres of meadow as
against 56 of arable. (fn. 211) A lease of Manor House farm
(117, a.), of which only a few acres were arable, in
1809 to James Lindars, innholder, is of interest in
the provision that no rape seed, cob seed, mustard
seed, hemp, flax or madder, should be sown or
planted. (fn. 212)
During the first part of the 19th century sheep on
the Tetsworth farms, as elsewhere in the area, began
to give way to cattle, and butter- and cheese-making
increased in importance. The tendency, noticeable
at the end of the century in many neighbouring
parishes, for these last two industries to be replaced
by milk-production seems not to have affected Tetsworth. Both small and large farmers there found it
more profitable to continue to make butter and rear
bullocks and heifers. (fn. 213) All the farmers were described in 1851 as graziers, (fn. 214) and in the early 20th
century Goldpits farm (70 a.) was still all pasture,
Harlesford farm (156 a.) was described as having
'rich dairy and grazing land second to none in the
country', and the rest of the Cozens estate was also
mainly pasture; (fn. 215) the Berties' Latchford Hole farm
(52 a.) was let out for grazing. (fn. 216) Grazing has continued to predominate, except during the First and
Second World Wars.
The tendency for farms to increase in size was
evident in this parish as elsewhere in the region. In
1838 there had been eight small and medium-sized
farms, ranging from 52 acres to 145 acres. (fn. 217) By 1904
Harlesford farm (145 a.) and Goldpits farm (69 a.)
were being farmed together, and Manor farm or
Mounthill (293 a.) included two other smaller
farms. (fn. 218) By 1939 there were four farms each with
over 150 acres and two with under that amount. (fn. 219)
Tetsworth's population reached its maximum in
the third quarter of the 19th century, but has declined since. In 1931 there were 297 inhabitants and
only 94 houses as against 501 persons and 112 houses
in 1851. (fn. 220)
Although agriculture has always been the staple
occupation, Tetsworth's position on the London
road encouraged the growth of other occupations.
Two men called Chapman were tenants in 1279 and
another of that trade was recorded in 1403. (fn. 221)
Fifteenth-century records also mention a barber,
maltman, miller, and a tailor, and a number of petty
tradesmen occur in 17th- 18th- and early 19thcentury records. (fn. 222) Noteworthy among them are two
masons and a watchmaker, Joseph Kingston, recorded in 1786, and John Bentley of Tetsworth,
post-chaise driver, mentioned in 1815. (fn. 223) That Tetsworth was rather different from the neighbouring
rural villages is revealed by the conviction in 1819 of
as many as six shopkeepers for using false weights. (fn. 224)
The Census return of 1851 emphasizes still more the
trading character of the place. There were 5 butchers
and grocers and a baker, 7 milliners, dressmakers,
and drapers, a tailor, a hairdresser and a shoemaker.
Agricultural needs were well served by 4 wheelwrights, 2 blacksmiths and their journeymen, a
saddler, a harnessmaker, and a joiner. A lettercarrier and a mail contractor, turnpike gate-keeper,
four publications (one of them a cordwainer and another
a butcher), the Swan hotel keeper, who was also the
postmaster, and another inn-keeper, once again testified to the importance of the London road in the life
of the village, although it was by this time of
negligible importance compared with the days before
the railway era. (fn. 225)
The history of the innkeepers can be traced back
to 1482, when two were indicted for selling victuals
at an excessive price. (fn. 226) In 1485 there is a record of
another, a Thomas Preston, who was in a sufficiently
large way of business to owe money to a London
goldsmith. (fn. 227) In 1502 the constable, who was also an
innkeeper, paid a fine with another man for licence
to brew and bake in their inns. (fn. 228) Two inns, the
'Crown' and the 'Swan', were owned by Thame
Abbey (fn. 229) and in the 1530's their tenants were paying
substantial rents of £6 and £4 13s. 4d. Both these
hostelries probably came into the hands of the Petty
family at the end of the 16th century. A third inn,
the 'George', was in existence in 1555–6, when John
Bowyer was tenant of both the 'George' and the
'Swan'. (fn. 230) Yet another, the 'Catherine Wheel', is recorded in 1644 when it was a private house; it was
'new built' in 1683; (fn. 231) the 'Starr' occurs in 1648 as
the property of Edmund Petty; (fn. 232) 'The King's Arms'
in 1651, (fn. 233) a 'George' inn, later 'The King's Arms',
was again recorded in 1813 (fn. 234) and the 'Royal Oak'
appears in 1792. (fn. 235) In 1784 Lord Torrington said
that there were 'two goodish' inns, especially the
'Swan', and a third for 'minor travellers'. (fn. 236) By 1838
there were at least four—the 'Red Lion', the
'King's Arms', the 'Swan', and the 'Crown'. (fn. 237)
From the earliest times the affairs of the township
were conducted in the hundred court of Thame.
Ordinances about the clearance of ditches, particularly those near the king's highway, i.e. the London
road, were made there and the view was held. (fn. 238) No
record of separate courts for the Tetsworth manors
has survived, but there is a little evidence for parish
government in the 19th century. The township had
its own churchwardens, overseers and waywardens,
and after 1841 when Tetsworth became a parish they
conducted their business through the vestry. Tetsworth owned a sawpit, two Highway Closes (c. 4 a.),
and a Poorhouse. Rents from the closes were used to
repair the footways, although in 1836 the Visitor said
in court at the visitation of Thame that these rents
should properly be used for the churchways only
and should be appropriated by the churchwardens.
The closes were let for £11 10s. a year in 1855 and
£15 10s. in 1875. There were also four or more
parish cottages, presumably let to the poorer parishioners, but in 1852 it was resolved that they should
be pulled down. It was decided at the same time to
use the house on Nap Hill as a pest house. (fn. 239)
Many in Tetsworth suffered from unemployment
and poverty in the early years of the 19th century.
Between 5 per cent. and 7 per cent. of the population
was receiving relief at any one time between 1813
and 1834. Unemployment was most acute in the
winter months and large sums were laid out on the
roundsmen system at those times, e.g. £31 in December alone in 1833. Other relief included the paying of paupers' rents, distributing coal, and giving
allowances to soldiers' wives. There was a smallpox
outbreak in 1814 when the overseers paid 1s. for
moving people, another 1s. for burying their clothes,
and £2. 2s. to the Radcliffe Infirmary for the admission of emergency cases. Expenditure was high for
a civil parish of this size, and rose in the 1830's, e.g.
£606 was paid out in 1816 and £722 in 1833. (fn. 240) Even
as late as 1851 26 persons were receiving poor relief. (fn. 241)
Church.
Since 1841 Tetsworth has been a vicarage
in Aston deanery, but like Sydenham and Towersey
(Bucks.) it was formerly a chapelry of the prebendal church of Thame, and was, therefore, in the
peculiar jurisdiction of Thame. (fn. 242) Architectural evidence shows that the church was in existence by the
11th or early 12th century, but its early history is not
known. It may not have always been a chapel of
Thame, but may once have had an independent
ecclesiastical position, for in the late 12th century its
priest was called 'presbyter' or 'persona'. (fn. 243) Its relationship to the church of Thame is first defined in
the mid-13th century (see below). In 1841 Richard
Slater, who had bought the advowson of Thame,
made its chapelries into separate vicarages and vested
their advowsons in trustees known as the Peache
Trustees. (fn. 244)
The revenue of the three chapelries of Thame was
divided according to the ordination of Thame vicarage, made in the time of Bishop Grosseteste (1235–
53), between the Prebendary of Thame, the Vicar of
Thame, and the chaplains of the three churches or
chapels. (fn. 245)
The holder of the prebend, who was also a landowner in Tetsworth, (fn. 246) collected the great tithes and
the tithes of wool and hay; the Vicar of Thame was
entitled to the rest of the tithes; and the three chaplains each received what was the smallest part of the
church income and property, the revenue from his
altar and from the house and land belonging to his
church. The prebendary was responsible for the upkeep of the chancel; the vicar had the duty of nominating the chaplain and could remove him with the
consent of the prebendary; he also had to provide all
the books and ornaments needed in the chapel; the
chaplain was expected to meet ordinary and extraordinary payments, except for certain contributions
'decreed of old in the chapter of Lincoln' or to be
decreed in the future, which were to be paid by the
prebendary.
After the dissolution of the prebend in 1547, the
great tithes belonged to the lay rector, and in 1842
his Tetsworth tithes were commuted for a rent
charge of £210, and in 1848 his Attington tithes were
commuted for £18 10s. (fn. 247) The Vicar of Thame continued to collect the small tithes, which were commuted in 1842 for a rent charge of £115, but he became responsible for either serving Tetsworth church
himself or for paying a curate (fn. 248) as the chaplain's endowment had practically disappeared: the altar
offerings virtually ceased after the Reformation and
there is no mention of glebe in Tetsworth except for
20 tithe-free acres which belonged to the Rector of
Wheatfield. (fn. 249)
When, in 1841, the living was separated from that
of Thame, it was endowed with the vicarial rent
charge of £115, which was increased in 1848 by a
similar charge of £6 10s. from the small tithes of
Attington. (fn. 250) Between 1842 and 1844 the living was
also augmented by £600 from Queen Anne's Bounty,
£650 from the vicar, J. W. Peers, and £260 from
other benefactors. (fn. 251)
The history of the peculiar of Thame is not well
documented and little is known of medieval church
life. The names of some priests who lived in Tetsworth in the late 12th century are recorded. From
about 1180 for some 20 years there was William the
priest, who had a house in the village; (fn. 252) in about
1200 the parson of Tetsworth was named Roger. (fn. 253)
One of these may have been married, for a few years
later the 'son of the priest' was holding a virgate. (fn. 254)
Also living in the parish in the late 12th century was
another clerk named Alan, whose wife Clarissa was
the niece of Robert Chevauchesul, lord of the manor.
They were wealthy enough to give 2 virgates of land
to Thame Abbey. (fn. 255)
The ordination of Thame vicarage makes it clear
that in the Middle Ages Tetsworth had its own
chaplain, who was supposed to have a clerk to live
with him in his house and help him serve the
church. (fn. 256) The names of a few of these chaplains are
known, but nothing more.
In the mid-15th century a hermitage and a chapel
dedicated to St. John the Baptist were built in Tetsworth, but they were independent of the parish
priest. When the guild of St. Christopher in Thame
was founded in 1447, the wardens were allowed to
found this hermitage and build a chapel for the
hermit. The latter was permitted to acquire lands to
the value of £2 a year; he was to pray for the king
and queen and for the members of the guild, and to
keep the high road in repair. (fn. 257)
By the 16th century, and probably before, Tetsworth had its own churchwardens. They are recorded in the accounts of the wardens of Thame in
1532 as paying 1s. 6d. for Peter's Pence. (fn. 258) Judging
from the 17th-century churchwardens' presentments in the peculiar court, the parish was well conducted at this period. They usually reported that
there were no recusants or any who refused communion, and that the fabric was in good order. On
one occasion they said there was no service book and
asked for a month's grace in which to get the book. (fn. 259)
After the Reformation Tetsworth continued to
have its own curate, but as the living was so poor he
probably also held another living. (fn. 260) The list of
curates, however, is incomplete and little is known of
the history of the church at this period. The churchwardens' presentments from the 1670's state that the
minister, wearing his 'priestly habit', performed the
full church service on Sundays and holy days. (fn. 261)
After 1686, when the last 17th-century curate of
Tetsworth died, (fn. 262) the church was usually served
either by the Vicar of Thame or his curate, and in
the second half of the 18th century the vicar complained that he had to serve both Thame and its
chapels either by himself or with the help of one
other minister. (fn. 263) Little record of 18th-century
services has been found, but in the middle of the
century Tetsworth was known as the only church in
the district which had no more than one service on
Sundays. (fn. 264) Earlier when Samuel Thornbury (1722–
51), who was also Rector of Stoke Talmage, lived in
Tetsworth, things may have been better. His letter
to the bishop in 1745 asking for a gift of tracts to be
distributed among his parishioners is evidence of his
interest. (fn. 265)
A revival of church life took place at the beginning
of the 19th century when Henry Campbell, a man
with an 'independent fortune', became curate. (fn. 266) He
said that when he came to the parish in 1804 he
found the people very 'discordant among themselves, very profligate, and very ignorant'. Sundays
were spent mostly in 'low profligacy' and sport,
especially cricket, which he had succeeded in stopping, at least during church services. Among the few
who went to church he found 'an old grudge' about
seats in the gallery, which the churchwarden had
settled. To rid himself of the choir, as he disapproved
of its four members, he introduced singing through
out the congregation. The parishioners had then
asked for a selection of psalms and hymns, and he
had obtained the one in use in Leicester church. One
of his special aims was to start a Sunday school so
as to draw the children, who spent Sundays 'in all
kinds of idleness and vice', into the church. The
churchwardens and several others approved of this
plan, but it was opposed by others who declared that
they would never give a shilling for 'the instruction
of the poor'.
Partly by these measures Campbell aroused resentment in the parish, and a complaint made to the
bishop stated specifically that he was not using the
proper form in the church services and more generally that his services were drawing dissenters away
from their own meeting and that there must be some
reason for this. Campbell admitted to having two or
three times inadvertently omitted a minor part of the
service; and he later admitted that he had broken the
Act of Uniformity by omitting 'the church service'
(no doubt evensong) and had instead gathered the
children in the chancel on Sunday evening, catechizing them, explaining parts of the Bible to them, and
concluding with two or three collects from the communion service. To justify his conduct, which he
agreed was wrong, he wrote that he was trying to
draw dissenters back to the church, that some who
had gone to the chapel 'from not having something
to do' now went to church. Far from being Calvinistic, he said he tried to follow the writings of William
Jones of Nayland and Charles Daubeny, two theological writers of repute with High-Church leanings. (fn. 267)
The whole story is not known nor is the end of it.
At one point the bishop demanded Campbell's immediate dismissal by the Vicar of Thame; he may
have later relented, but Campbell did not remain
long in Tetsworth (his name does not appear in the
parish register) and the parish was returned to the
care of Timothy Lee, the Vicar of Thame.
In 1841, when Tetsworth became a separate living,
it again had its own vicar. The first was J. W. Peers
(1841–76), a member of the Chislehampton family, (fn. 268)
who took the place in the village of a lord of the
manor. He took an active part in parochial administration, taking the chair at vestry meetings, and
either beginning or following the practice of naming
one churchwarden while the parish named the
other. (fn. 269) In 1846 he built a 'handsome and commodious' Vicarage, (fn. 270) rebuilt the church (see below),
and built the school. (fn. 271) He held frequent services,
with two sermons on Sundays and more than twelve
communions a year, but the number of communicants, sixteen or seventeen, remained small. (fn. 272) Towards the end of the century, however, numbers
both of communicants and of the congregation increased. (fn. 273)
By 1911 the ecclesiastical parish had been enlarged by the addition of Attington, whose inhabitants had long been accustomed to attend Tetsworth
church, (fn. 274) and the living became formally known as
Tetsworth with Attington. (fn. 275)
The status of Attington, which was a part of the
parish of Thame in the Middle Ages, was somewhat
uncertain in the post-Reformation period. Its few
inhabitants probably attended Tetsworth church (fn. 276)
and so 18th-century documents sometimes refer to
the parish 'called Tetsworth and Attington', and
even to the 'parish of Attington'. (fn. 277) In the 19th
century Attington was considered extra-parochial. (fn. 278)
No evidence has been found that it ever had any
churchwardens (fn. 279) and it does not appear to have paid
either tithes (fn. 280) or church rates. (fn. 281) It may have been
exempted in the Middle Ages as it mostly belonged
to Thame Abbey.
The present church of ST. GILES, which was
entirely rebuilt in 1855, is a stone building consisting
of chancel, nave, south aisle with tower and spire
rising over the south porch, and north vestry. The
smaller medieval church which it replaced is stated
to have contained some long-and-short work of
Anglo-Saxon date in the north-west corner, (fn. 282) but
the main structure dated from the early 12th century.
It consisted of a single nave and chancel, separated
by a Romanesque arch, plain and very narrow. (fn. 283)
The round arch of the south doorway had an
elaborate inner moulding. (fn. 284) Its tympanum was
carved with the figures of a bishop, in pontificals
with a crozier in his left hand and giving a benediction with his right hand, and of a priest holding in
his left hand an open book and pointing with his
right hand to the pascal lamb and banner within a
nimbus. (fn. 285) The north doorway, destroyed in 1855, was
of the same age and character, but simpler in design. (fn. 286)
There was also a window of the same period in the
north wall of the chancel, (fn. 287) and a Romanesque piscina
which were destroyed at the same time. (fn. 288)
The chancel was rebuilt in the 13th century. The
three-light east window and the three single lancets
in the south wall shown in early 19th-century drawings were of the period. The steeply pitched roof of
the chancel was raised to a higher level than that of
the nave. (fn. 289)
In the 15th century windows were inserted in the
nave, two in the south wall, (fn. 290) and perhaps the same
number in the north wall. G. E. Street described
their architecture in 1851 as more elaborate than
those proposed for the new church. (fn. 291) The south
porch made of oak was also of this period; (fn. 292) the
square wooden belfry of the dove-cot type, which
was in existence in the 19th century was of uncertain
date. (fn. 293) Almost no record has survived of work done
to the fabric after the Reformation until the 19thcentury rebuilding. It is recorded that the chancel
windows were out of repair in 1681. (fn. 294) Between 1708
and 1713 church rates of more than normal amount
were raised and repairs were presumably carried out.
The church appears to have been in good condition
when Rawlinson visited it in 1718: his only comment
on the building was that it was 'very ordinary'. (fn. 295)
Church of St. Giles before the rebuilding in 1846.
During the incumbency of John W. Peers plans
for a new church were considered. The diocesan
architect, G. E. Street, reported in 1851 that portions of the fabric of the old church were 'of very
considerable merit, and in good preservation' and
that the chancel was 'very perfect'. He thought it
'very inadvisable' to allow their destruction. (fn. 296)
In spite of attempts by the bishop to save the
church it was decided to rebuild on the same site.
The architect was John Billing of Reading; the cost
was £2,250. (fn. 297) The building was consecrated by
Bishop Wilberforce in 1855. (fn. 298)
The design of the new church was in the Early
English style; it has been little altered since and remains a characteristic example of Victorian church
building. It figures in the background of a contemporary oil painting of the Revd. J. W. Peers and
his family. (fn. 299) All the interior fittings were replaced at
the restoration, including the pulpit installed in
1626, and the old pews with doors. (fn. 300) The Commandments, the Creed, and Lord's Prayer were painted
on the east wall of the chancel. An organ was installed in 1877 and a new heating system in 1922;
choir desks were presented by S. A. Fane in 1924;
and electric light was installed in 1936. (fn. 301)
During the restoration many medieval and later
memorial inscriptions and all the heraldic glass were
destroyed. The glass included the arms of Adrian de
Bardis, Prebendary of Thame, in the chancel, and
the arms of Peppard of Lachford (Great Haseley)
and of Doyley in other windows. Drawings of these
were made by F. G. Lee and also of a fragment of an
early medieval monumental slab with a floriated
cross. (fn. 302) The early 16th-century brass effigies of John
Gryning, his wife Alys, and their three children were
once in the nave. (fn. 303) Another ancient brass in the
chancel had gone by the early 19th century. (fn. 304) There
were also memorials to Francis Fosset, senior (d.
1705), and to his wife Mary (d. 1702); to two infants
(d. 1708) of Christopher Newell, clerk, and his wife
Ann; and to Ann (d. 1773), daughter of Richard
Hobday. (fn. 305)
In 1958 there were several memorials to the Cozens
family: (1) Thomas (d. 1789) and his wife Esther (d.
1806) and Thomas (d. 1834); (2) Robert (d. 1797);
(3) John (d. 1879) and his wife Charlotte (1860) and
their daughter (d. 1903); (4) Ellen (d. 1915), widow of
John Cozens, and Mary Cozens (d. 1920). There were
also tablets to J. W. Peers (vicar 1841–76) erected by
the parishioners; to W. J. R. Latham, killed in
France in 1918; and a stained glass window at the
east end to A. E. Hutt (d. 1923), who was people's
warden for 33 years. It was designed by Lawrence
Willis of London. (fn. 306)
In 1552 the church was poorly furnished with
only a chalice and a surplice. (fn. 307) In 1958 it had a
pewter paten, flagon, and alms-plate, dating from
the 18th century, and a silver chalice of 1842. (fn. 308)
In 1552 there were only three bells, but in 1718
there were five small bells all 'not above 160 lb.
weight' according to Rawlinson. (fn. 309) Later in the
century there were said to be six bells, as there were
in 1853. (fn. 310) In 1958 there was still a ring of six, which
had been recast in 1936 by Mears and Stainbank in
their Whitechapel foundry. Three of these had been
cast in 1695 by Richard Keene, a fourth in 1702 and
the tenor, though 'broken' in 1683, does not appear
to have been recast until 1787 and then largely
through the generosity of William Hobday. The
treble was provided in 1853. (fn. 311)
The registers date from 1604 for baptisms, 1625
for marriages, and 1653 for burials. The churchwardens' accounts begin in 1833.
Nonconformity.
The churchwardens' presentments throughout the 17th century state that
there were no Popish recusants in the parish and no
evidence for any Roman Catholicism has been found
later. (fn. 312)
The Compton Census of 1676 recorded three nonconformists, (fn. 313) but otherwise there is no record of
Protestant dissent before the 19th century. By 1804
it was apparently flourishing. In that year the house
of Robert Caterer was licensed as a dissenting
meeting-house. (fn. 314) This may be the 'Methodist chapel'
referred to in correspondence of 1804 between the
bishop and Henry Campbell, who was serving as
curate and who claimed to have drawn many dissenters back from the chapel to the church. He considered the chapel to be at a very low ebb and likely
soon to be lower. The Methodist preacher is said to
have found Campbell's attention to children and young
people 'the most formidable opposition'. (fn. 315) Campbell,
however, did not long remain in Tetsworth, and on
his departure dissent may have again increased.
In 1818 the private school kept by Isaac Caterer
was licensed as a meeting-house, (fn. 316) in 1823 a chapel
was built, and in 1824 a Sunday school started. (fn. 317) A
deed of sale (fn. 318) of the newly erected chapel shows that
the Caterer family had played a leading part: Mrs.
Mary Caterer and Mr. Robert Caterer and others
sold it in 1825 to William Wiffen, the minister at
Thame, (fn. 319) and others. In 1828 Robert Caterer left
Tetsworth with his family to become minister of
Rotherfield Peppard.
In 1842 Tetsworth came under the care of the
Oxfordshire and West Berkshire Congregational
Association, but five years later, when a Baptist
pastor was appointed, the association withdrew its
annual grant. (fn. 320) In 1851 the chapel, described as
Independent, had about 30 in its congregation. (fn. 321)
The Wesleyans, who in 1835 had registered a private
house as a meeting-place and still had a separate
meeting in 1842, (fn. 322) may by now have joined the chapel,
for in 1854 the vicar described it as 'mongrel', since
it had a Baptist pastor and a Wesleyan and Independent congregation. (fn. 323) Two more Wesleyan ministers were appointed and in consequence Tetsworth
was not readmitted until 1864 to the local Congregational Association. This Association became in 1868
the Berks., South Oxon., and South Bucks. Congregational Association (later Union). Between 1877 and
1886 the church was without a minister, but the appointment of Thomas Scott in 1886 led to the building of the present chapel, next to the old one, in 1890
at a cost of £850. (fn. 324) The old chapel continued to be
used as a Sunday school. (fn. 325) In 1892 the average
Sunday congregation was 97, and there were 90
children in the Sunday school. The chapel organized
a Young Peoples' Guild, a Band of Hope, a Temperance Society, a Mothers' Meeting and a Coat and
Clothing Club. In the early years of the 20th century
the chapel was again without a pastor and became
a preaching station of Mansfield College, Oxford.
Later it was served first by the minister of Benson
and then by that of Thame. (fn. 326) In 1958 it had only
four members. (fn. 327)
Mrs. Harriette Tawse, of Child's Hill, London,
by will proved 1905, left two cottages for the maintenance of the chapel fabric or the general purposes
of the congregation. The cottages were sold and the
proceeds invested in £100 stock. The income, c. £4,
does not seem to have been paid after 1925. Thomas
Deverill, by will proved 1922, left, subject to his
wife's life interest, £200 stock, the income on which
was to be applied to the maintenance of the chapel
services. The money became payable in 1939. (fn. 328)
Schools.
There is no record of any school at
Tetsworth before the 19th century. Two private
day-schools existed in 1815, of which one was kept
by Isaac Caterer, who later became the Congregational minister. (fn. 329) The dissenters had also established
a Sunday school in 1812, and in 1818 there were
about 30 children attending it. (fn. 330) Only one day school
was returned in 1818, (fn. 331) but more schools were established in the next decade, a girls' school in 1827 and
a mixed infants' school in 1829. The two last had 6
and 28 pupils respectively in 1833. (fn. 332) In that year
there were also two other day schools which together
took 30 boys and 8 girls. All these schools were supported by parents. (fn. 333) There is no later record of them,
and in 1847 a new school with accommodation for 90
pupils was built in the centre of the village at the cost
of J. W. Peers and other contributors. Each child
paid 2d. a week and the teacher's salary was raised by
subscription. (fn. 334) It was a Church of England school
and later became affiliated to the National Society.
There were 81 pupils in 1854, 25 less than the
number attending the Sunday school. (fn. 335) By 1871
attendance at the National school was only 51
children. (fn. 336) The reduction in numbers must have
been at least partly caused by the existence in 1871 of
another school, about which nothing is known as it
omitted to make a return (fn. 337) after its transference in
1879 to the new School Board for Tetsworth and
Attington which had been set up in 1877. (fn. 338) Attington
children in the 19th century appear always to have
attended schools in neighbouring parishes, and when
the board school for the School Board District of
Tetsworth and Attington was opened in 1881 children from both villages attended. The average
number of pupils was 74 in 1889 and 69 in 1903–4. (fn. 339)
The school was reorganized in 1938 as one of the
Thame schools for children up to eleven years, and
senior children were sent by bus to Thame. In 1955
they were attending the John Hampden School there
and Thame Secondary Modern school. Tetsworth
school had 30 pupils in 1943 and 68 in 1954, when it
was known as Tetsworth County Primary school,
and was attended also by children from Stoke Talmage and Wheatfield. (fn. 340)
Charity.
Miss Mary Elizabeth Cozens, of
Brighton, by will proved 1920, left to the patrons of
Tetsworth church £2,000, duty free, to be applied in
augmentation of the benefice, subject to the requirement, so far as the law allowed, that the sepulchral
monuments of the Cozens family in church and
churchyard should be maintained by the patrons or
incumbent. The residue of her estate she left in trust,
as 'the Cozens Bequest', the income to be paid once
yearly or oftener to needy women of Tetsworth or
adjacent parishes, not being Roman Catholics. By
Scheme made in 1924 the neighbouring parishes
were defined as Thame, Great Haseley, Stoke Talmage, Wheatfield, Adwell (with S. Weston), Lewknor, Aston Rowant, and the benefits defined as cash
payments, by loan or otherwise, in cases of sickness
or special distress; weekly allowances of between
1s. 6d. and 5s. for those unable to support themselves;
and pensions. The capital then held in stock was
£5,557. Besides this the sum of £555 was owing on
security of mortgages, and there were expectancies on
the death of a person then living. (fn. 341) In fact, the capital
was not fully paid over until 1953 when £405 was
added to the original stock. (fn. 342) In 1955 and 1956 the
annual income was £395 and was distributed in
weekly pensions of 6s. or 10s. a head, in Christmas
gifts amounting to £9 in the first year and £10 10s. in
the second, and in a special grant of £5 5s. in 1956. (fn. 343)