HISTORY AND TOPOGRAPHY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE

COMPRISING A GENERAL SURVEY OF THE COUNTY,

PRECEDED BY AN EPITOME OF THE EARLY HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

 

By James Joseph Sheahan,

 

EDITOR OF HISTORIES OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, CAMBRIDGESHIRE, AND

OXFORDSHIRE; THE EAST AND THE NORTH RIDINGS

OF YORKSHIRE.

LONDON: LONGMAN, GREEN, LONGMAN, AND ROBERTS.

PONTEFRACT: WILLIAM EDWARD BOWNAS (LATE W. WHELLAN & CO).

MDCCCLXII

[1862]
 

LAVENDON PARISH.

The parish of Lavendon is situated in the extreme N.E. angle of the county, and is bounded on the north by Northamptonshire and on the east by Bedfordshire. Its area is 2,320 acres; population, 769; and rateable value, £3,642. The soil is clay and loam; the subsoil gravel and limestone.

The Village is large, and lies on low ground, 3 miles N.E. from Olney. It was formerly a market town; and a small Fair is still held here on the second Tuesday before Easter. Pillow lace is made here.

At the Domesday Survey Lauuendene was in several divisions, and belonged respectively to Geoffrey, Bishop of Coutance, the Earl of Morton, Walter Giffard, and the Countess Judith. It is presumed that the lands of the Bishop were, after his forfeiture, given to the Peyvres, or came to the Biduns, who had become, or soon afterwards became, possessed of a large estate here, and were the founders of Lavendon Abbey. Paul Peyvre, or Peover, in 1248, obtained from King Henry III a charter for a weekly Market every Tuesday, at his Manor of Lavendon. The ancient baronial family of Bedun are supposed to have had their seat at Lavendon Castle.

In 1269 (53 Henry III), John de Beauchamp was returned, by inquisition, to have died seised of the manor of Lavendon; and in 1274, Emma, wife of John de Peyvre, is returned to have died seised of the manors of Lavendon, Weston, &c. In 1334, Paulin Peyvre died possessed of the manors of Lavendon, Weston, Wavendon, &c. In 1390, the manors of Astwood-Bury, Lavendon, and Chilton, belonged to Thomas Peyvre, Esq., of Chilton, and Margery his wife. Their daughter and heiress, Margaret, married Sir Richard de St Maur, who died in 1408, leaving an only daughter, Alice, who married William, Lord Zouche, of Harringworth. Their son William, the sixth Lord Zouche, died seised of the manors of Lavendon, Astwood-Bury, and Weston Underwood, in 1468. In 1527, the Manor of Lavendon, called the Castle Manor, was sold by John, the eighth Lord Zouche, to John, Lord Mordaunt (Edmund Mordaunt died seised of an estate here in 1373); and about 1630 it passed, by purchase, from the Mordaunts to the Comptons. Hatton Compton, Esq., son of the Earl of Northampton, had it in 1700, and about that period it was sold to William Farrer, Esq. It continues in the family of this gentleman, W. F. Farrer, Esq., being the present owner.

There are no remains above ground of the Castle, but the farm residence belonging to the Castle Farm occupies its site. This house, which is now in the occupation of Mr. Frederick Billing, is surrounded by a deep moat; and foundations of great thickness have frequently been discovered on the spot. Here, too, are ancient earth-works. “It appears by an ancient institution to the Vicarage of Lavendon, now in the Registry of the Bishop of Lincoln,” write the Messrs. Lysons', “that the Castle was standing in the year 1232, since it is stated in the record of the institution, that the Abbot of Lavendon was bound to provide a chaplain, to officiate in the Chapel of St. Mary, in Lavendon Castle.” Willis states that he saw the ruins of the Castle, that it had been enclosed with a moat, and that a farm-house, in his time, stood on its site.

The Manor of Uphoe belongs also to the Farrer family. The Manor House is an ancient structure, with walls, in some parts, above four feet in thickness; and is situated on an eminence, from which a beautiful panoramic view is obtained. Much of the moat is still existing, and also a large fish-pond. The entrance door is ancient and of oak, with heavy ornamental hinges, and large headed projecting nails.

The Manor of Snelson was sold by the Mordaunts to the Comptons, from whom it passed by purchase to the Chesters, of Chicheley. The present owner is Charles Montague Chester, Esq. This estate is not found separately mentioned as a manor in ancient deeds. Willis and Cole state that the lands of Snelson were taken out of the other property here of the Mordaunts. The Manor House, now a modernised farm house, stands nearly 1½ mile from the village, on the banks of the Ouse.

The Abbey, or Grange Manor, consists of the lands in this parish which belonged to Lavendon Abbey, and is now the property of Benjamin Sculthorpe Brookes, Esq, whose seat is the Grange. King Henry VIII granted the Abbey Manor to Sir Edmund Peckham. Queen Elizabeth granted these lands, together with the site of the monastery, to Sir Rowland Heywood, who was thirty years an Alderman of London, and twice Lord Mayor. About 1610, this manor was purchased from his heir representative, by Mr. William Newton, of Northamptonshire, who, about 1610, transferred it to Robert Eccleston. The son or grandson of the latter is said to have again sold the estate to Mr. Thomas Newton, father of Dr. Richard Newton, Principal of Hertford College. Dr. Newton died in 1753, and his daughter and heiress carried the Grange property in marriage to Knightly Adams, Esq. His son and successor was the Rev. Simon Adams. The late lord of the Grange, the Rev. Richard Newton Adams, D.D., sold the estate in 1851, to Mr. Brookes, its present owner.

Robert Eccleston, Esq., erected the house in 1626, out of the old materials of Lavendon Abbey: a stone in the building bears his initials. The house was thoroughly restored by its present owner in 1857. It is situated on an eminence, and is built of stone, in the Domestic Gothic style, with gables. A sun-dial above the principal entrance bears the date “1626,” and the inscription “Pereunt et imputantur.” The water of the ancient moat is remarkably clear, and is used for household purposes by Mr. Brookes's family. The views from the house are delightful. A plot of ground, a short space distant, is called Fair Field, where doubtless fairs were held in former times.

The Park Farm, now in the occupation of Mr. Charles Spencer, is but a little distance from the Castle Farm. The farm residence is ancient, but void of anything of an architectural character. Near to it are traces of a moat, which once, perhaps, surrounded a mansion, to which the “park” was attached. But of this nothing is known.

The parish of Lavendon was inclosed in 1802, when allotments were made to Farrer Grove Spurgeon Farrer, Esq., as Lord of the Manors of Uphoe, Snelson, and the Castle; and to the Rev. Simon Adams, as Lord of the Manor of Lavendon Grange. At the same time an allotment was assigned to the Vicar, in lieu of the vicarial, and a portion of the great tithes to which he was entitled; and allotments were awarded also to the Earl of Dartmouth, Mr. Farrer, and Mr. Chester, in lieu of their several portions of tithes, which had formerly been appropriated to the Abbey.

LAVENDON ABBEY.—This house of Premonstratensian Canons was founded in the reign of King Henry II., by John de Bidun, a Baron, who endowed it with lands in Lavendon, &c. The charter of foundation is preserved in the Monasticon. The monastery was dedicated in honour of St. John Baptist, and the seal of the Abbey exhibited a representation of the Baptism of Our Saviour by the Baptist. Amongst the early benefactors of the Abbey was Ranulph, Earl of Chester. King Henry III confirmed the charter, benefactions, and privileges of the house. At the Dissolution, in the time of King Henry VIII., the convent possessed lands, rents, &c, in various parishes, valued at £91 8s. 3½d and in clear receipts to £79 13s. 8d. When the Abbey was suppressed, the community consisted of 11 canons, whereof 9 were priests, and 2 novices. The whole was then in a decayed state. No vestige of the conventual buildings remain. The before-mentioned Grange, or Manor House of the Abbey Manor, situated about half a mile from the parish church, occupies their site. The following names of the Abbots only have been preserved :—Augustin, in 1236 ; Jordan, in 1254 and 1271; John de Lathbury, elected in 1312; Robert Helmeden, occurs in 1478 and 1488; and William Curlew, who governed until 1500.

The Living is a Rectory, with that of Cold Brayfield annexed, valued in the King's Books at £6, and now worth about £270. The church belonged to the Abbey of Lavendon until that establishment was suppressed. The patronage was purchased of the Earl of Gainsborough by the present Rector, the Rev. William Tomkins.

The Church (St. Mary) is an ancient structure, consisting of chancel, nave, north and south aisle, north and south porches, and west embattled tower. The latter appendage, which is supposed by some to be of Saxon date, and is 66 feet high, exhibits layers of what is termed herring-bone masonry; and has plain round-headed loops, widely splayed inwards. It contains a clock and five bells. The nave and aisles are embattled, and covered with lead; the chancel is tiled. The porches retain their stone sediles; there is a chamber over the south porch, the ceiling of which is brought down so low as to block the top of the arch of the inner doorway. This doorway and that on the north side are Early English, and the porches are Perpendicular; the tower arch is of simple Norman character; and the three arches on each side of the nave are all of Transition Norman work. These arches are acute and plain, and rest on round piers and square imposts; those on the north side are less lofty than the others; the caps of the southern arches have heads beneath the abaci; the caps on the north side are plain; and the chancel arch is plain. At the east end of the south aisle are a tall recessed trefoiled niche, and a small trefoiled piscina, shewing that spot to be the site of a chantry altar. There is also a piscina in the north aisle, in a pier. The clerestory of the nave is lighted by six two-light windows, and the wooden roofs are open. The font is octagonal, with panelled tracery and flowers on the sides of the basin. The east window of the chancel, and the eastern window on the south side are Perpendicular; under the latter are three plain seats (sedilia); and on the same side is a cinquefoiled piscina, and a priests’ door. The chancel on the north side has two slender lancet windows widely splayed inwards.

A thorough restoration of this fine old church was effected in 1859, chiefly through the efforts of the present Rector. The interior was then almost entirely renewed; the high pews were removed, and neat open seats placed in their stead; the whole church was newly floored, and the chancel was paved with Minton’s encaustic tiles, and handsomely fitted up with new oak stalls, prayer-desk, and rails. Two of the columns on the north side, which had given way, were supplied with new foundations, and all the windows had new stone jambs. A very handsome three-light painted window was presented for the east end of the church, by Mr. Churchwarden Brookes, of the Grange; and a stained lancet window, 4 feet 10 inches high, and 15 inches wide, on the south side of the chancel, was given by Mr. Churchwarden Coles. The three-light window represents the subject of the Crucifixion, upon a Grisaille back-ground; and the upper parts contain angels, and sacred monograms. The glass used is chiefly that which has resulted from the careful analysis of the old window. The motto is “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world;” and there is a brass plate under the window inscribed, “Presented by B. S. Brookes, Esq., in commemoration of the Restoration of the Church, 1859.” The window presented by Mr. Coles represents Christ blessing little children, the picture being introduced under a canopy. This is also executed in the same kind of glass. The motto is “Of such is the Kingdom of Heaven;” and the inscription at the bottom shows the window to be dedicated as a memorial of three of Mr. Coles’s children. The designs for the restoration were from the pencil of Mr. W. Butterfield, architect, London.

The plaster and stucco being removed from the outer and inner walls of the church, has brought to light some curious specimens of Saxon architecture.

The church was reopened for Divine Service on Friday, 4th of November, 1859, on which occasion the sermon was preached in the morning, by the Lord Bishop of Oxford; and in the afternoon by the Ven. Archdeacon of Buckingham.

There are memorials of former Rectors, and of members of the families of Newton (including the Rev. Richard Newton, DD., Principal of Hertford College, and Canon of Christ Church, Oxon), Adams, Clifton, Mather, Gent, and Barton. In the church-yard, at the east end of the church are several leaden coffins which have been dug up; and at the Rectory is the lid of a stone coffin, with a floriated cross sculptured thereon. The latter coffin probably contained the remains of one of the Abbots of Lavendon.

According to the Registers, the plague raged here with great violence, in 1665; the number of burials in that year being 66, whilst in 1664 no burial took place, and the average of the seven preceding years was only ten.

The Rectory House, a good stone building, was erected in 1839 by the present Rector. It is in a pleasant situation on the south side of the church, in tastefully laid out grounds. The School is a neat and commodious building erected in 1853.

The rents of about nine acres of “Church Lands” are applied to the repairs of the church. This is the benefaction of some person or persons at present unknown.

NB The above text includes a few minor edits to improve presentation - NBS 13 Feb 2010