Manors and other estates.
In 1086 Adam son of Hubert de Rys held 5 hides in
Bladon of Odo of Bayeux. (fn. 42) The manor,
which was held in chief after Odo's death in
1097 if not earlier, presumably followed the
descent of Adam's other lands in Wootton
hundred, escheating to the Crown on the death
of his brother Eudes the sewer in 1120. (fn. 43) Thereafter the manor formed part of the royal demesne, but in the later 12th century and the 13th
it was granted for life to royal servants. Walter
de Hauvill (d. 1219) held it of the gift of Richard
I by serjeanty of looking after the king's birds or
falcons, and he was succeeded by his nephew
Geoffrey de Hauvill. (fn. 44) After Geoffrey's death c.
1242 (fn. 45) Bladon was administered by bailiffs until
1265 when Henry III granted it to his clerk John
of London, already rector of the church, for
life. (fn. 46) John died in 1306, (fn. 47) and thereafter Bladon
was administered with Woodstock manor, with
which it descended, being granted to John
Churchill, duke of Marlborough, in 1705 and
held by his successor in 1985. (fn. 48)
The 13th-century bailiffs maintained
manorial buildings in Bladon, reroofing the hall
in 1244-5 and again in 1261-2, and the grange
and granary in 1246-7 and 1310-11. Twelve
oaks were used for the repair of the king's
houses at Bladon in 1266. (fn. 49) There are no later
references to the manorial buildings as such,
although the unlocated Bury Court close recorded in the 17th century may have marked
their site. (fn. 50)
Roger d'lvri held 21/2 hides in HENSINGTON in 1086, (fn. 51) and the overlordship of the
manor passed, with that of his other lands in
Oxfordshire, to the St. Valerys, Reynold of St.
Valery confirming his tenant's grant to the
Templars between 1150 and 1166. (fn. 52) The overlordship was not recorded thereafter.
William, who also held land in Rousham and
Steeple Barton, held Hensington of Roger in
1086, (fn. 53) but no connexion between him and later
holders of the manor has been traced. About
1140 Hensington was held by Stephen's supporter Turgis of Avranches, who granted land
there to the Templars, a grant which did not
take effect, presumably because of Turgis's
rebellion and death in 1145. (fn. 54) Between 1150 and
1166, however, Otes de Talente gave the manor
to the Templars. (fn. 55) Hensington passed in 1312,
with most of the Templars' lands, to the Hospitallers, who held it until it passed to the Crown
at the Dissolution. (fn. 56)
In 1544 the manor was sold to Sir Robert
Tyrwhitt and Thomas Kydall, speculators who
at once sold it to Jerome Westall of Woodstock.
Westall sold it in 1546 to Leonard Chamberlain
who sold it the following year to William Blandye. (fn. 57) Blandye kept the manor, leasing it to
Jerome Westall, until 1563 when he sold it to
Edmund Gibbons who sold it in 1577 to George
Whitton. (fn. 58) Whitton died in 1606, leaving Hensington to his illegitimate son John Whitton, who
sold it c. 1628 to Edward Shiere. (fn. 59) Shiere sold it
c 1650 to Edward, later Sir Edward Atkyns, a
justice of Common Pleas. (fn. 60) Sir Edward sold the
manor in 1661 to Lewis Napper or Napier
(d. 1674), who was succeeded by his son
Thomas (d. 1724), whose executors sold it in
1726 to Sir William Thompson (d. 1739). In
1753 the devisees under Sir William's will sold
the manor to the duke of Marlborough, whose
successor held the estate in 1985. (fn. 61)
The manor house of the Templars' fee was
held by a villein tenant in 1279. If it survived in
1512, it was not distinguished from other houses
on the manor. (fn. 62) After the Dissolution a new
manor house was built on the north side of
Banbury Road, roughly opposite the junction
with Shipton Road, and a small park, in existence by 1663, was made behind it. (fn. 63) George
Whitton seems to have lived in Hensington, but
the surviving house dates from the earlier 17th
century and is therefore likely to be the work
of John Whitton or Edward Shiere. Thomas
Napier and Sir William Thompson seem to have
leased the house to Charles Gorsuch and his
sons John (d. 1732) and George (d. 1750). (fn. 64) The
house was said c. 1728 to be very old and
decayed and in 1750 there were plans to rebuild
it, (fn. 65) but it was merely repaired and the interior
slightly remodelled. The house was further altered in the 19th century, the work then including relocating a chimney and reconstructing the
upper part of the staircase with old materials.
An estate of 5 yardlands in Hensington was
held in 1086 by Robert d'Oilly of the fee of
William FitzOsbern. (fn. 66) The overlordship followed the descent of Robert's Kidlington manor,
and was last recorded in the mid 14th century
when Hugh de Plessis held 1/6 of a knight's fee in
Hensington. (fn. 67)
By the late 12th century the estate was held of
Cal. Pat. 1547-8, 69.
the d'Oillys by the Wheatfield family, who also
held of them in Wheatfield. (fn. 68) In 1196 Henry of
Wheatfield granted 5 yardlands in Hensington
in dower to his sister-in-law Isabel, widow of
Robert of Wheatfield, and her second husband
Robert de Eversci. (fn. 69) The Wheatfield interest in
Hensington apparently passed to Henry of Alney, who was the ward of Isabel and Robert de
Eversci in 1196 and seems to have married a
member of the Wheatfield family. (fn. 70) In 1279 the
5 yardlands were held of Thomas Kynne, the
assign of Henry 'de Lanne', presumably a variant of de Alney. (fn. 71)
An undertenancy was created in the early 13th
century when Henry of Alney sold the 5 yardlands to William Silkbert, from whom they
passed before 1242 to William Langhals. (fn. 72) The
undertenant of 2 yardlands gave them to the
Templars c. 1220-30, and in 1279 the Templars
held 2 yardlands of William Langhals. (fn. 73) A third
yardland was given to the Templars or the
Hospitallers after 1279, for in 1512 the Hospitallers held a total of 13 1/2 yardlands in Hensington. (fn. 74) The descent of the remaining 2 yardlands
of the Wheatfield fee in the 14th century is
unknown, but before 1437 they were held by
Roger Mundy of London. The estate passed to
Robert Croxford whose son John held in 1454,
and descended with the Croxford land in Kidlington to Austin Gainsford, who sold it to
William Rede in 1517. (fn. 75) Rede seems to have
been acting for Roger Hamsterley, to whom he
at once conveyed the estate. Hamsterley gave it
to Merton College before his death in 1518. (fn. 76)
Merton increased its Hensington estate in
1616-17 when it bought from John Whitton the
freehold of 2 1/2 yardlands, in which the college
had already acquired a leasehold interest created
by Edmund Gibbons. (fn. 77) In 1629 Merton bought
from John Meads of New Woodstock an interest
in a further 2 yardlands, the freehold of which
was conveyed to the college by William Sellar in
1657. (fn. 78) Meads's grandfather, John Meads, had
bought the 2 yardlands c. 1577 from Edmund
Gibbon's brother Thomas. (fn. 79) Merton College
retained its Hensington estate until 1885 when it
was sold to the duke of Marlborough. (fn. 80)
In 1086 Ansger held 5 yardlands in Hensington of Odo of Bayeux. (fn. 81) Nothing further is
known of Ansger or his descendants, and no
overlord was recorded until 1279 when the
estate was said, perhaps in error, to be of the fee
of Robert d'Oilly. (fn. 82)
By the late 12th century the estate was held by
the Scorchebeef family of Shipton-on-Cherwell.
One hide (4 yardlands) was held in 1199 by
Denise Scorchebeef, and it descended with
Shipton to Simon son of Geoffrey Scorchebeef,
who soon after 1242-3 granted his interest in the
estate to Oseney abbey. (fn. 83) The abbey had acquired half the hide, presumably from an
undertenant, before 1242-3; the other half was
given or sold to the abbey between 1243 and
1279, most of it in 1257 by Eustace son of Ralph,
the remainder by Eustace son of Geoffrey. (fn. 84)
Oseney retained the estate until Dissolution,
when it passed to the Crown. The land was
among the endowments of the first Oxford
cathedral in 1542 but was not granted to the new
foundation, and in 1546 it was sold to Leonard
Chamberlain and John Blundell (fn. 85) and absorbed
into Hensington manor.
The fifth yardland of Ansger's estate passed to
Roger Scorchebeef, perhaps the husband of
Denise, who seems to have surrendered it to the
Crown. (fn. 86) It was held in the late 12th century or
the early 13th by John of Shipton, and then by
Ailric the parker of Woodstock, on whose death
without issue before 1242 it escheated to the
Crown. (fn. 87) In 1263 Henry III granted it to his
cook, Robert of St. James, who held it in 1279. (fn. 88)
The yardland presumably escheated to the
Crown which held it in 1512; in 1585 it was sold
to Theophilus Adams and Thomas Butler of
London, presumably speculators. They sold it
almost at once, for in 1587 Sir Francis Walsingham and Francis Mills of Westminster sold the
'king's yardland' in Hensington to George
Whitton. (fn. 89)
Thomas Croft, by will proved 1488, gave to
St. Margaret's chantry in Woodstock church
land in Hensington which was described in 1512
as 1/2 yardland freehold of the Hospitallers'
manor. It was sold to George Owen in 1549, but
has not been traced thereafter. (fn. 90)