Parishes: Over Wallop

OVER WALLOP

Wallope (xi cent.); Wellop (xiii cent.); Uverwallop, Over Welhop, Upwellop (xiv cent.).

The parish of Over Wallop lies on the borders of Wiltshire and covers an area of 4,672 acres, including 2,889 acres of arable land, 299¼ acres of permanent grass and 61½ acres of woods and plantations. (fn. 1) The main London to Exeter line of the London and South Western Railway passes north-west of the parish, which is served by Grately Station. The ground slopes downwards from the south-west from Tower Hill (555 ft. above the ordnance datum) to the village in the south-east. The village lies along the banks oi the Wallop Brook and forms with Middle and Nether Wallop one long straggling village, which is crossed by the main road from Salisbury to Andover. Townshend Manor House, the residence of Mr. Carbery Evans, is north-west of the village. Near it are Pottery Drove and Pottery Field, commemorating one of the early lords of the manor, Matthew de Poteria.

The soil is chalk.

The common fields of Over Wallop were inclosed in 1787 by authority of a Private Act of the previous year. (fn. 2)

The following place-names occur:—Trencharde stapel in 'Over Wallop Prioress' (xiv cent.), (fn. 3) Bowerefeld (xvi cent.). (fn. 4)

Manors

The manor of OVER WALLOP afterwards called WALLOP MOYLES, was possibly the estate which had belonged to Earl Harold, and in 1086 was Crown property. (fn. 5) It belonged at the end of the 12th century to Matthew de Poteria, a Norman, (fn. 6) and apparently an absentee landlord who farmed it to Baldwin de Winsinton. (fn. 7) On the death of Matthew, c. 1204, the manor escheated to King John, (fn. 8) who granted the custody during his pleasure to James de Poteria. (fn. 9) The estate was held in chief by the service due from one knight's fee. (fn. 10)

The manor passed soon after to the family from which it took its distinguishing name, being granted in 1222 by Henry III to Nicholas de Moels, (fn. 11) who as seneschal of Gascony defeated the King of Navarre, (fn. 12) and subsequently became Constable of Dover Castle and Warden of the Cinque Ports. (fn. 13) Henry III visited Wallop in 1225, (fn. 14) and five years later granted Nicholas ten oaks in the New Forest for the support of his household. (fn. 15) Nicholas died before 1284, in which year his son and heir Roger was summoned to show his warrant for not attending the king's hundred court of Thorngate as part of the service due for the manor of Wallop Moyles. (fn. 16) Roger in the same year claimed the right to assize of bread and ale in Wallop. (fn. 17) He died in 1294–5, leaving a son and heir John, (fn. 18) who, having distinguished himself in the Scotch wars, was summoned to Parliament as a baron in 1299. (fn. 19) He died in 1310, (fn. 20) having settled the manor of Wallop Moyles seven years before on himself and his wife Maud. (fn. 21) His son and heir Nicholas, (fn. 22) also a distinguished soldier, (fn. 23) succeeded to the estate, but died in 1316, leaving a brother and heir Roger, (fn. 24) who died some months later (fn. 25) John brother and heir of Roger had livery of his lands in 1325 on attaining his majority, (fn. 26) and on his death in 1337 left two daughters and heirs, Muriel and Isabel. (fn. 27) The manor of Wallop Moyles fell to Muriel and her husband, Sir Thomas Courtenay, (fn. 28) who settled it in 1344 on themselves in tail male. (fn. 29) On the death of Sir Thomas in 1362 it passed to his son and heir Hugh, (fn. 30) who dying a minor in 1369 left as his heirs his sister Margaret and his nephew John Dynham son of his sister Muriel. (fn. 31) Over Wallop Moyles was assigned to John Dynham, (fn. 32) who was holding one knight's fee in Wallop formerly belonging to John Moels in 1428, (fn. 33) but died the same year. (fn. 34) His son and heir, Sir John Dynham, (fn. 35) died in 1457, leaving a son and heir John, (fn. 36) who dying before 1502 left as his heirs his two sisters, Elizabeth widow of Fulke Bourchier Lord Fitz Warine, and then wife of Sir Thomas Brandon, and Joan wife of John Zouche Lord Zouche, and his two nephews, Sir Edmund Carew of Mohuns Ottery, son of his sister Margaret, and Sir John Arundell of Lanherne (co. Cornw.), son of his sister Catherine. (fn. 37) The subsequent history of the four parts is for some time obscure. Lady Fitz Warine died in 1516 (fn. 38) and Sir John Arundell in 1545, each seised of a fourth part. (fn. 39) One-fourth came before long into the possession of Sir William Compton, from whom it passed to his son and heir Peter, (fn. 40) who died in 1544. (fn. 41) Peter's son and heir Henry, born after his death, sold this fourth part in 1571 to Sir Richard Rede, (fn. 42) late Lord Chancellor of Ireland and Master of Requests, (fn. 43) who subsequently acquired the whole of the manor of which he died seised in 15 76. (fn. 44) His son and heir Innocent sold Over Wallop Moyles in 1577 to his cousin Nicholas, (fn. 45) who in 1579, 'being very ill and intending to defraud the queen of the custody of his heirs and lands,' conveyed the manor to Henry Pyle of Wallop. (fn. 46) He died the next year, leaving two daughters and heirs, Eleanor and Margaret, aged nine and seven respectively. (fn. 47) The manor was subsequently purchased by the Wallop family, Robert Wallop of Farleigh Wallop (co. Hants) being seised of it on his attainder in 1661. (fn. 48) From this date it followed the descent of Farleigh Wallop in Bermondspit Hundred (q.v.), (fn. 49) the present owner being Isaac Newton Wallop fifth Earl of Portsmouth.

The house POTREY COURT (Potrey Court, xvi cent.; Pettry Court, xvii cent.) in Wallop Moyles, of which Henry Pyle, the grandson of John Pyle, died seised in 1617, (fn. 50) no doubt took its name from that of the Norman lord of the manor in the 12 th century, Matthew de Poteria.

The ruined water-mill, of which John Tidworth died seised in 1362, was held of Sir Thomas Courtenay, lord of Wallop Moyles, and probably stood on the site of one of the mills existing at the time of the Domesday Survey. (fn. 51)

The origin of the manor of OVER WALLOP, held for over five and a half centuries by the Wallop family, is obscure, but the hide of land held before the Conquest by Edric, and in 1086 by Boda of Hugh de Port, and the half-manor held before the Conquest by Godric, and in 1086 by Hugh de Port, (fn. 52) probably represent the fourth part of a knight's fee in Wallop held by Richard de Wallop of Herbert Fitz Peter, the lord of Wolverton, in the 13th century. (fn. 53) Wallop occurs in 14th-century lists of the St. John knights' fees, (fn. 54) but in 1362 the manor was said to be held of Edward de St. John as of his manor of Wolverton by the service of the fourth part of a knight's fee. (fn. 55) On the death of Richard de Wallop the estate in Wallop passed to his widow Euphemia, who in 1297–8 was stated to be holding the wood of Wallop which had been afforested by Henry II. (fn. 56) In 1335 it was in the hands of another Richard de Wallop, who in that year settled two messuages, lands and rents in Over Wallop upon himself for life, with successive remainders to Alice daughter of Roger Husee for life and to Thomas Wallop the son of Richard and his issue. (fn. 57)

Seven years later a further settlement of two messuages, lands and rents in Over and Nether Wallop and the advowson of the church of Over Wallop was made upon Richard for life with remainder to Thomas and Margaret his wife and their issue. (fn. 58) Richard de Wallop was still living in 1346, in which year he was stated to be holding the fourth part of a fee in Wallop, formerly belonging to Richard de Barton. (fn. 59) His son Thomas died seised of two messuages, 2 carucates of land and perquisites of court in Over and Nether Wallop, and the advowson of the church of Over Wallop in 1361, leaving as his heir his son John. (fn. 60)

The latter was living in 1428, when he was seventy-six years of age, and he probably died soon after. (fn. 61) John was followed by Thomas, from whom the manor passed to his son and heir John Wallop of Farleigh Wallop. (fn. 62) John's son and heir Richard died seised of the manor of Over Wallop in 1503, (fn. 63) and from this date it followed the descent of Farleigh Wallop in the hundred of Bermondspit (q.v.), (fn. 64) the present lord being Isaac Newton Wallop fifth Earl of Portsmouth.

In the 12 th century (1166) William de Wallop was holding a knight's fee of Humphrey de Bohun of the old feoffment (i.e. created before 1135) as it had been held of the grandfather of Humphrey, and in the 13th century Gerald (Girard) de Wallop held what was evidently the same fee of the Earl of Hereford (Bohun). (fn. 65) The overlordship merged in the Crown with the rest of the Bohun fee in 1372–3 and the holding probably merged in the Wallop manor of Over Wallop.

The manor of OVER WALLOP BUCKLAND followed the same descent as the manor of Nether Wallop Buckland (q.v.) until 1541, when Thomas Earl of Rutland sold it to Sir William Warham, (fn. 66) who settled it in 1560 on himself and his wife Elizabeth for their lives, with remainder to his cousin and sole heir Anne, and her husband Francis Moires. (fn. 67) Sir William died before 1570, in which year Francis Moires and his wife Anne sold the reversion of the manor after the death of Lady Warham to Sir William Forster of Aldermaston (co. Berks.). (fn. 68) The manor remained in the Forster family (fn. 69) until 1608, when Sir William Forster sold it to Sir Henry Wallop, (fn. 70) since which time it has followed the descent of the main manor of Over Wallop (q.v.).

The land in Wallop, worth £37 a year, which Henry II granted to the nuns of Amesbury (co. Wilts.), was mainly in Nether Wallop, (fn. 71) but it also included part of Over Wallop. This estate was known as Over Wallop Prioress, (fn. 72) and the rents of assize here payable to the Prioress and convent of Amesbury were worth £11 7s. 8¼d. a year in the 16th century. (fn. 73) Of this sum £1 5s. 4¼d. came from a water-mill, which was held on lease by Thomas Hachard. (fn. 74)

Land in OVER WALLOP was held in 1232–3 by Thomas Mauduit of the heirs of William Briwere by the service of 2s. to a scutage. (fn. 75) This land passed before 1272 to John Waleran, who at this date conveyed it to Robert son of John Waleran, to hold of him for a pair of silver spurs or 3d. rent yearly at the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. (fn. 76) Robert subsequently enfeoffed Oliver de Ingham, who died seised in 1282, when the land was charged with the following rents in consequence of successive enfeoffments—18d. yearly for ever to Patrick de Chaworth, 12d. yearly to John de Farlington, descendants of William Briwere, £1 13s. 4d. yearly for ever to Thomas de Maydenhatch, and £15 yearly for life to Beatrice Mauduit. (fn. 77) John son and heir of Oliver (fn. 78) apparently granted the estate at a rent of 40s. to Robert Burbache, (fn. 79) who released all his right to it to Richard Tidworth and Juliane his wife. (fn. 80) This grant was confirmed by Oliver son of John Ingham in 1318, when he released them from payment of the yearly rent of 40s. (fn. 81) From this date the history of the holding is obscure, but it followed for a time the descent of Garlogs in Nether Wallop (fn. 82) (q.v.), descending from the Tidworth family to the Ingpens. (fn. 83)

A small property in OVER WALLOP, a so-called manor, was held of the manor of Wallop Moyles in the 15 th century by William Ludlow, who on his death in 1478 was followed by his son and heir John. (fn. 84) John died nine years later, leaving a son and heir John, (fn. 85) who held the property until his death in 1519. (fn. 86) His son and heir William, (fn. 87) at his death in 1533, left a son and heir George, (fn. 88) and from this date the property followed the same descent as the manor of Wyford in Tadley in the hundred of Overton (q.v.) until 1639, (fn. 89) when Henry Ludlow died, leaving a son and heir Edmund, aged thirty. (fn. 90) The subsequent history of the property is unknown.

Church

The church of ST. PETER consists of chancel 28 ft. 6 in. by 18 ft. 4 in., with south vestry and organ chamber, nave 51 ft. by 18 ft., with north and south aisles 7. ft. 10 in. and 9 ft. 6 in. wide respectively, west tower 10 ft. square, and south porch.

The chancel is entirely modern, but there is a good deal of old work in the nave, its history being unfortunately much obscured by modern repairs and alterations. The two west bays of the north arcade are of late 12th-century date, and point to the former existence of an early nave some 30 ft. long, to which a north aisle was added about 1180. A south aisle was added early in the 13th century and the nave apparently lengthened eastward, and a west tower was built at the beginning of the century, but modern alterations have destroyed any reliable evidence of the development of the church. In the 15th century a clearstory was added to the nave, and the tower has been rebuilt in modern times and the whole outer face of the church renewed.

The chancel is of good scale and proportion, and has three lancets at the east set high in the wall, and a pointed barrel roof of oak. In the north wall arc two lancets and in the south one. At the west is a light wrought-iron screen on a low stone base, with brass sockets for 28 candles and a gilt cross over the middle door; the wrought-iron pulpit adjoins it on the north-west. There is a piscina with a stone shelf above, 13th-century work re-used, and two modern sedilia. The chancel arch has foliate capitals with banded shafts.

The nave arcades are of four bays, the east bay on the north side being 13th-century work of the same character but of less height and span than that on the south. The second bay on the north is entirely modern, except for the abacus of its west respond, which belongs to the arch in the east bay. In both bays the arches are pointed, of two chamfered orders, but the two west bays have round orders with a chamfered label, square outer order, and modern inner order. The capitals have hollow flutes of late type, and the pillars and responds are round and halfround.

On the south side of the nave the arch of the first bay springs at the east from a square moulded abacus with a curious corbel below, like the bell of a small plain capital dying into the soffit of a chamfered bracket. The same feature occurs in the north arcade, and at the west the arch springs from a moulded string like that now in the second bay of the north arcade. The remaining three bays of the south arcade have pointed arches of two chamfered orders, the inner order being entirely modern, circular moulded capitals and bases, and circular columns, the responds being square. Towards the nave there is a double-chamfered label, the whole being much retooled and renewed.

The tower arch is pointed and has two chamfered orders and chamfered abaci of late Romanesque type; the arch has been repaired and is of doubtful date.

The nave clearstory has three square-headed 15th-century windows of two trefoiled lights on the south side and two on the north, and the nave roof is modern. The north aisle has in the east wall an early 14th-century window of three trefoiled lights, with intersecting mullions, formerly three openings with trefoiled heads; the exterior has a chamfered label and mask stops. In the north wall are three square-headed 15th-century windows of three cinquefoiled lights with a roll on the mullions, head and sill. Between the first and second windows is a shallow four-centred recess of 15th-century date, retaining traces of red colour, which must have contained an image or a group of sculpture.

There is a west door to the aisle with round head containing a few old stones; it has a flat chamfered label and restored abaci. It is of late 12th-century date, and was doubtless once on the north side of the aisle.

The south aisle has a 14th-century east window of two trefoiled lights and a quatrefoiled circle over, and three square-headed windows on the south, the first and third perhaps 14th-century work renewed, of three and two trefoiled lights; the second is like those in the north aisle, and the west window is a modern lancet. The south door is round-headed with an edge-roll, and looks like late 12th-century work re-used and patched.

There are no old fittings except two 17th-century benches at the west end of the south aisle, and a fine octagonal 15th-century font at the west end of the nave, with quatrefoiled panels on the bowl, one panel containing a shield apparently of the arms of Incent. On the chamfer below the bowl are two eagles, the other six faces having leaf patterns, and the stem has trefoiled panels.

The tower is modern, in three stages, with two lancet lights for the belfry on each face, and a gabled roof.

Of the bells the treble is by Mears & Stain bank, 1874; the second by R.Weils, 1776; the third is of 1636, with maker's initials I. D. and inscription, 'Praise the Lorde'; the fourth is inscribed, 'O be joyfull in the Lord ID 1631 T K'; and the fifth aadbeaclhi with maker's mark and cross.

The plate consists of a silver chalice undated, another of 1855 and a paten and flagon of the same date, all three presented by Arthur Jenner; there is also a plated flagon.

The registers are as follows:—(1) baptisms 1684 to 1718, burials 1538 to 1725 and marriages 1540 to 1703. This is a transcript made in 1720; there are gaps in the burials between 1625 and 1664 and 1705 and 1713. It also contains briefs from 1717 to 1720; (2) a rough collection of notes in much disorder, with gaps, contains all three entries from 1730 to 1743; (3) baptisms and burials 1730 to 1812, marriages 1730 to 1753; (4) marriages 1754 to 1812.

Advowson

It is probable that the chapel in Wallop to which 8 acres of tithe belonged at the time of the Domesday Survey was in Over Wallop. (fn. 91) Over Wallop was, however, a separate parish in 1291, (fn. 92) although as late as the end of the 14th century a pension of 30s. was paid to the Treasurer of York Cathedral, the patron of Nether Wallop. (fn. 93) The advowson was in the possession of Richard de Wallop in 1342, (fn. 94) and has continued with his descendants. (fn. 95) The living at the present day is a rectory worth £490 a year with three acres of glebe and residence. The tithes of the manor of Over Wallop Moyles, afterwards commuted for a fixed pension of 30s., belonged to the Abbess of Wherwell. (fn. 96)

There is a Baptist chapel in that portion of Middle Wallop which is in this parish. It was built in 1848 and seats 180.

Charities

In 1707 Edward Pyle, by his will, bearing date 6 June, gave to the poor for ever the yearly sum of 40s. to be made into coats or waistcoats. The annuity is paid by the Earl of Portsmouth.

A further annuity of £5, supposed to have been derived from a donor of the name of Pyle, locally known as the Freemantle Charity, was in 1899 redeemed by the transfer to the official trustees of £200 2½ per cent. Debenture Stock of the Midland Railway Co.

Sir Richard Rede's gift (see under Nether Wallop), the sum of £1 13s. 8d. received, after deduction for land tax, is distributed in money among six poor persons.

The Rev. Henry Wake, by will, proved in 1852, bequeathed a sum of money now represented by £908 7s. 4d. West Australian 3 per cent. Inscribed Stock, the dividends, amounting to £27 5s. to be distributed among six men and six women of sixty years of age and upwards at Christmas in each year.

William Hollins, by will, proved in 1865, bequeathed a sum now represented by £204 New South Wales 3 per cent, stock, the dividends, amounting to £6 2s. 6d., to be applied in the distribution of great coats and blankets.

In 1870 John Brownjohn, by a codicil to his will, dated 16 December, bequeathed £298 1s. 7d. India 3 per cent, stock upon trust that out of the annual income £2 should be paid in sums of 2s. 6d. to each of sixteen of the oldest poor on St. Thomas's Day, and the remainder, £6 18s. 8d., distributed in calico to poor families.

Miss Sarah Brownjohn, by will, proved in 1886, left £98 9s. 9d. like stock, the dividends, amounting to £2 19s., to be distributed under the title of the 'Elizabethan Charity' among eight of the oldest people of the parish on 1 January in each year.

Miss Emma Brownjohn, by will, proved in 1891, left £94 4s. 9d. like stock, the dividends, amounting to £2 16s. 4d., to be given to sick and distressed poor in the month of September yearly.

Miss Emily Brownjohn, by will, proved in 1892, left £102 11s. 3d. like stock, the dividends, amounting to £3 1s. 4d., to be distributed in blankets, coats, &c, on 1 November.

Charles Percival Titt, by will, proved in 1881, bequeathed a sum now represented by £271 19s. 8d. Gold Coast Government 3 per cent. stock, the dividends, amounting to £8 3s. 2d., to be applied in the distribution of great coats, blankets and coals

The several sums of stock are held by the official trustee. The income of the several charities is applied by the rector and churchwardens in accordance with their respective trusts.

The Baptist Chapel and Trust Property, see above under Broughton.