Ellesborough

33. ELLESBOROUGH.

(O.S. 6 in. ^(a)xxxiii. S.E. ^(b)xxxvii. N.E. ^(c)xxxviii. N.W.)

Roman

^a(1). Dwelling House, in the 'King's field', near Nash Lee Farm, Terrick, about 1¹/8 mile N. of the church; the foundations of a roughly built dwelling, Roman coins, and rude potsherds were discovered in 1858. The site is marked on the O.S., but locally nothing of it is known. Plan by J.S. Stone, Records of Buckinghamshire, ii., p. 53 (1858).

Condition—No remains visible above ground.

Ecclesiastical

^a(2). Parish Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, stands on high ground, overlooking the Vale of Aylesbury, nearly ½ mile W. of Butler's Cross, and is built of flint, with stone dressings; the roofs are covered with slate. The Chancel, Nave, South Aisle, and South-West Tower were built in the 15th century, but between 1854 and 1871 the walls were almost entirely re-faced outside, the chancel, tower and S. aisle were partly re-built, the South Vestry and Organ Chamber added, and the building was generally restored.

Architectural Description—The Chancel (30 ft. by 18 ft.) is modern, except the two-centred chancel arch, which is of the 15th century and of two orders, the outer chamfered, the inner moulded; the jambs are of the same section as the arch, but are considerably restored and have modern bases; the moulded abaci are original, and continue as a string-course on both sides of the arch. The Nave (52 ft. by 21 ft.) has, in the N. wall, three windows, in 15th-century openings, each of three trefoiled lights and tracery in a two-centred head; the stonework is almost entirely restored, except the moulded rear arches; the 15th-century N. doorway, between the western windows, is blocked; the jambs and two-centred arch are of one moulded order. The S. arcade, also of the 15th century, is of four bays, with octagonal columns and semi-octagonal responds, having moulded capitals and chamfered bases; the arches are similar to the chancel arch, and have moulded labels with head-stops in the nave; further W., and opening into the tower, is another arch, apparently of the same date as the arcade, but of three moulded orders, the outer orders dying into the wall; the moulded label and head-stops are similar to those of the arcade; the moulded abacus of the respond is carried as a string-course round the pier supporting the N.E. angle of the tower; projecting from the string on the N. side is the carved head of a bishop, crudely re-cut. The W. doorway is modern, except the 15th-century rear arch, which has a moulded segmental head, dying into chamfered jambs; the W. window is of three lights and tracery in a two-centred head; the opening is of the 15th century, but almost all the stonework is modern. The South Aisle (9 ft. wide) has, at the E. end, a modern arch opening into the vestry. In the S. wall are two windows; the eastern is of three lights and tracery, entirely restored, except part of the continuously moulded 15th-century rear arch and jambs; the western window is modern; the S. doorway, between the windows, is modern, except the internal jambs and segmental rear arch, which are chamfered, and apparently of the 15th century, re-cut. The South-West Tower (10½ ft. by 10½ ft.) is almost entirely modern; the two-centred arch, opening into the S. aisle, is of the 15th century and of similar design to the arch opening into the nave, but is of two orders; the label, in the aisle, has head-stops. The rear arch of the W. window is also of the 15th century, re-set, and has a continuously moulded two-centred head and jambs. Built into the walls of the ringing chamber and supporting the floor above it are ten 15th-century corbels; eight, carved as angels with outstretched wings, holding shields, are probably the corbels of the former roof of the nave; the other two are large, and each has a moulded abacus, and the carved head of a woman in a 15th-century head-dress. The South Porch is modern.

Fittings—Brasses and Indents: In S. aisle— on S. wall, in recess, (1) to Thomas Hawtrey, 1544, and Sybell, his wife, date of death not filled in, inscription only; (2) of man in armour, and woman with pedimental head-dress, eleven sons and seven daughters, shield with the arms of Hawtrey, apparently palimpsest, and indent of another shield; on the same slab, (3) to Marye, wife of William Hawtrey, 1555, inscription only; slab not original. Chest: in vestry, of polished oak, with elaborate brass handles, clasps and locks, probably 17th-century. Glass: in E. window of vestry, fragments of canopy and foliated border, 15th-century: in S. window of vestry, fragments, including symbol of the Trinity, head of Christ with the crown of thorns, canopies, foliated diamond-shaped panes, etc., 14th and 15th-centuries, some pieces at the bottom apparently foreign, of different design and style to the others. Monuments and Floor-slabs. Monuments: In S. aisle—in recess in S. wall, (1) altar tomb of Bridget Croke [1638], recumbent figure in elaborate dress, white marble (see Plate, p. xxviii.); tomb and pediment with columns and entablature of the Composite order, soffit of entablature carved in small panels, cherubs' heads, etc., black and white marble, inscription at back, undated, arms, in colours, of Croke and Hawtrey, and Croke impaling Hawtrey, the last on a lozenge. In chancel— on S. wall, (2) black marble tablet to Robert Wallis, formerly rector and patron of the church, chaplain to the Duchess of Richmond, 1666. Floor-slabs: In S. aisle—(1) to Robert Croke, 1671, inscription and arms; (2) to Sir Robert Croke, son of Sir Henry Croke, 1680, inscription and arms; (3) to Susanna, wife of Sir Robert Croke and daughter of Sir Peter Vanlore of Tilehurst, 1685, inscription and arms; (4) to Robert Croke, date invisible, Latin inscription and arms, much defaced; (5) to Sir Henry Croke, 1659, inscription and arms. In chancel—on N. side, (6) to George, son of William Hakewil, 1629, inscription and arms. Niche: in N. wall of nave, W. of central window, with chamfered jambs and trefoiled ogee head, 15th-century. Piscina: in the chancel, with cinque-foiled pointed arch having carved foliated spandrels in square head, embattled cornice with carved flowers, octagonal fluted basin with flower in centre, shelf at back, and another on W. side, carved underneath, 15th-century, much restored. Plate: includes large cup and cover paten of 1669. Recess: W. of S. doorway, with sunk-chamfered jambs, probably 16th-century, much restored (see Brasses). Miscellanea: inside S. porch, over outer entrance, large corbel, carved with bearded human head, probably 15th-century, re-cut, and not in situ.

Condition—Good, much restored and re-built.

Secular

^{a, b}(3). Cymbeline's Mount (Mount and Bailey) is situated in Chequers Park (see (8) below) on a small spur about 530 ft. above O.D., ⅓ mile S.W. of the church.

The work is a good example of its class, and is especially interesting on account of the small size of the baileys, and the natural strength of its position.

The mount is circular, surrounded by a ditch, and has a small but strongly defended bailey on the S.E., and a still smaller and considerably weaker bailey on the N.E. There is no indication of an entrance.

Dimensions:—Mount about 22 ft. high, diameter, at summit, 42 ft., at base 130 ft., ditch from 1 to 1½ ft. deep. S.E. Bailey: Area, including defences, about ½ acre; ditch from 8 to 9½ ft. deep and from 37 to 45 ft. wide. N.E. Bailey: Area, about ⅓ acre, including defences; ditch from 2½ ft. to 6 ft. deep and 30 to 40 ft. wide.

Condition—Good, but slightly damaged by trees and rabbit holes.

Homestead Moats

^a(4). At Nash Lee.

^a(5). In the grounds of Terrick House.

^a(6). Apsley: house, barn and moat 1½ miles N.N.W. of the church. The House is of two storeys, built in the 16th and enlarged in the 17th and 19th centuries; it is timber-framed, the original wattle and daub filling being almost entirely replaced by 17th and 18th-century brick, now partly covered with modern rough-cast. The roofs are tiled. The plan was originally T-shaped, the head running N. and S., and the stem extending towards the W., with a small staircase wing in the N.W. angle: in the 17th century a small S.E. wing was added and additions were made on the N. side of the house in the 19th century. The S. front has a modern porch in the middle, and E. of it a small gable, in which the ends of the original purlins of the roof can be seen; at the back the two gables in the middle show timber-framing and have original windows; the western gable is much smaller than the other; the E. and W. ends of the house are also gabled. Two of the chimney stacks are square and of 17th-century brick; the western stack has a central rib on each face and two separate oversailing courses.

Interior:—On the ground floor the room W. of the porch has in the ceiling two large stop-moulded intersecting beams with smaller moulded intermediate joists; the beams are carried across the passages on the N. and E.; in the same room is a wide open fireplace, now partly blocked, and a 17th-century door of moulded battens. All the other rooms on the ground floor of the original house have moulded beams in the ceilings and the timber construction is visible in the walls; the room E. of the porch has a wide fireplace. On the first floor one room has an original door, and another room has a late 17th-century fireplace and overmantel with bolection moulding, and some detached early 17th-century panelling with bolection moulding of later 17th-century date added on the reverse side.

The Barn, S. of the house, is probably of the 16th century, and of one storey, framed with rough-hewn timbers; the original wattle and daub filling has been replaced by 17th and 18th-century brick, and modern weather boarding. The roof is tiled. The plan is L-shaped, with a covered way through the E. block; the W. block was considerably lengthened in the 19th century.

The buildings stand on the larger of two islands surrounded by the Moat, which is from 50 to 60 ft. wide; the islands are connected by a wooden bridge.

Condition—Of house, fairly good, poor in some parts; of barn, poor; of moat, fairly good.

^a(7). Grove Farm, house and moat, about ¾ mile N. of the church. The House is of two storeys, built of brick late in the 17th century, and subsequently restored and altered; the roofs are tiled. The plan is of half-H shape. On the S. front are four pilasters of rubbed brick, now flush with the walls, but with a projecting moulded string-course above them.

The Moat, E. of the house, is pear-shaped.

Condition—Of house, good; of moat, denuded at the S. end.

^b(8). Chequers Court, standing in a large park, about ¾ mile S.S.E. of the church, is of two storeys with an attic and cellars. The walls are of brick with stone dressings, and the roofs are covered with tiles and lead. The house is reputed to be a mediæval structure much altered or re-built in 1565, but beyond certain peculiarities of plan no traces remain of any work of a date earlier than the second half of the 16th century, and even the 16th-century plan has been much obscured. A drawing on a plan of the estate, dated 1629, possibly indicates that the house then consisted of three ranges built about a courtyard, of which the fourth or S. side was enclosed by a wall with a gatehouse in the middle. The N. and E. ranges retain their 16th-century character; the W. range was partly re-built in the 18th century; there is now a complete S. range, which retains little original work. In the 19th century a hall was constructed in the courtyard. In the 20th century a kitchen wing was added, projecting towards the W., the whole building was skilfully restored, copies of old fireplaces and ceilings were inserted, and a great quantity of 16th and 17th-century panelling, old fireplaces, overmantels, other fittings and furniture were brought from elsewhere.

The house is a fine example of a 16th-century building.

The main entrance is on the E. where there is a modern porch, opening into a small hall (the Stone Hall), with the main staircase on the W., and giving access under the staircase to the Great Hall, formed out of part of the court; on the S. of the Stone Hall is the Little Parlour and on the N. the Cromwell Room, which is L-shaped and occupies the N. half of the E. range and a small wing projecting towards the E.; in the angle of the wing with the E. range is a small winding staircase carried up to the attic floor. The N. range, W. of the Cromwell Room, contains a number of small chambers, and a garden vestibule approached by a corridor on the inner side of the range. The S. range, W. of the Little Parlour, contains the White Parlour, the Study, and the Dining Room, which is at the W. end and was formerly a kitchen and scullery. The W. range contains the present kitchens and offices. The Hall is carried up two storeys, and is lighted by a lantern and by a window on the W. side; on the S. side is an oak screen with a gallery over it. On the first floor an Ante-room corresponds with the Stone Hall and the Great Parlour with the Cromwell Room. The N. range contains the Long Gallery, and in the S. and W. ranges are bed rooms. The attic floor is divided into bed rooms, etc.; the wing projecting from the E. front has, on that floor, a chamber known as the Prison Room; it is reputed to be that in which Lady Mary Grey was imprisoned in 1565–7, and opens into the staircase communicating with the Cromwell Room.

The walls throughout are of red brick with a stone-capped plinth and stone string-courses on the N. and S. elevations; the brick parapet is plain with stone copings, apparently modern, and the gables are treated in a similar way, but their original form is uncertain; the doorways and windows are of stone; the bay windows and the N.W. and N.E. angles have stone quoins. The windows of the ground and first floors have double transoms; those of the attic single transoms, and all are mullioned. The old chimney stacks are of two designs: one with octagonal shafts, the other with square shafts set diagonally, and both have plain brick caps.

The E. Elevation is somewhat irregular; the projecting wing at the N. end is gabled, and in the angle of this wing with the main front is a large chimney stack, widened at the first floor level and carried on moulded brick corbels; the small staircase wing is also gabled. The main front has two plain gables, and under the southern gable is a modern porch of two storeys; the entrance doorway is also modern; the windows are considerably restored, but have square labels, which in many cases are much weathered. In the plinth of the S. wall of the projecting wing are three plain brick niches with four-centred heads. N. of the porch is an old rainwater head, possibly original, moved to its present position from another part of the house and restored.

The S. Elevation has been considerably altered at various dates, and the windows are all modern. The stone capping of the plinth is only carried along the E. half of the wall, but is continued in moulded brick.

The N. Elevation has been little altered, and is more symmetrical than the E. elevation; two large bay windows of two storeys divide it into three bays, and there are five plain gables, one over each bay window, one between them, and one near each end of the wall; the windows are without labels, but string-courses are carried over the heads of the windows of the lower storeys; the bay windows have parapets with battlements which have rounded tops; on these appear, carved in relief, the following: an eagle displayed with a scutcheon on its breast, a checkered shield and a lion's head razed above a haw-tree, the initials W.H. and A.H. and the date 1565; the attic windows are in the gables, and have traces of small pediments. The doorway opening into the vestibule in the N. range is original, and of two moulded orders; the inner order has a four-centred head, with foliated spandrels, the outer order is square, and has a label. The W. Elevation has been much altered.

Interior:—In the Stone Hall is an original doorway of stone, of two moulded orders, the inner four-centred; the initials W.H. (for William Hawtrey) appear in the spandrels; the doorway of the staircase, in the W. wall, is also original, and has a heavy moulded frame of wood, with a square head. The Staircase, also original, is enclosed and quite plain; it is in three flights to the first floor, and has openings to the Stone Hall and to the arcade of the modern Hall, set with heavy, round, moulded balusters; on the second half-landing is a mullioned and transomed window of two lights similar to the external windows; it now opens into the hall, but opened originally into the courtyard. The Cromwell Room is lined with panelling of c. 1600, brought from elsewhere, and has two fireplaces, restored, or copies of original work. In the bay window of the N. front is some original glass with the arms of the Hawtreys and their alliances. The Little Parlour and Study contain some old panelling made up to fit the rooms. The Dining Room is lined with fine oak panelling, having arabesque pilasters and an inlaid frieze of c. 1600, and was brought from elsewhere. The Great Parlour is lined with panelling also of c. 1600, but of more elaborate design, and has a fireplace and overmantel of about the same date, all brought from a house in Ipswich. The Long Gallery has, in the ceiling, a number of painted carved oak bosses of the first half of the 16th century; their origin is unknown. In the W. range, in a corridor next to the courtyard, is a large overhanging bay window of the 16th century; it is of wood, mullioned and transomed, and was removed from the same house in Ipswich as the panelling of the Great Parlour. At the top of the staircase, on the attic floor, is an original doorway with a heavy oak frame, similar to that in the Stone Hall; the door is also original. In the Prison Room is an original fireplace with a four-centred, moulded head, and on the W. wall is a painted inscription of the 16th century. The house contains a number of contemporary portraits of Oliver Cromwell and his family, a remarkable life mask of the Protector, and two of his swords, which were brought to the house in the 18th century.

Condition—Very good, much altered and restored.

^a(9). Cottage, now three tenements, about 60 yards S.W. of the church, is of two storeys, built in the 17th century, but almost entirely re-faced with modern brick; a little original timber-framing is visible at the S. end. The roof is thatched. Some of the ceilings have old beams.

Condition—Fairly good, much altered and restored.

^c(10). Buckmore End Farm, nearly 1½ miles S.E. of the church, is a timber-framed building of two storeys and of late 17th-century date, almost entirely re-faced with 18th-century brick. The large central chimney stack is original, and under it is a wide, open fireplace, partly filled in. One room has old ceiling-beams.

Condition—Fairly good.

^c(11). House, now two tenements, at the S. end of Coombe, ⁵/8 mile S.E. of the church, is of two storeys; the walls are of timber, brick and flint; the roofs are thatched. It was built probably in the 16th century, but has been much restored and altered. The plan is now L-shaped, with the wings extending towards the E. and S.; it extended originally further towards the N.; at the end of the S. wing is a modern addition. The E. wing retains, on the W. front and at the back, the original timber-framing; the filling is of 18th-century and modern brick, on the N. side the lower storey is almost entirely of modern flint and brick; the upper storey has original timber-framing with brick filling of the 17th century and various later dates. The S. wing has been re-faced with 18th-century flint and brick. In the E. wing are original ceiling-beams and joists and a large open fire place, partly blocked; in the upper storey the wide floor-boards are of old oak. The S. wing has old ceiling-beams and an original door of battens, with strap-hinges.

Condition—Fairly good.

Chalkshire

^a(12). Malthouse Farm, about 100 yards N.E. of the church, is of two storeys; the walls are of late 17th-century brick with some brick of an earlier date; a little timber-framing is visible in the E. wall, and in the N. wall is the date 1672 in blue bricks. The roof is tiled.

Condition—Fairly good, much altered and restored.

^a(13). Cottage, now two tenements, on the E. side of the road, about 70 yards S. of (12), is of two storeys, built of brick and timber in the 17th century; the roof is tiled. One room has a wide, open fireplace, partly filled in, and an open timber ceiling.

Condition—Fairly good.

Unclassified

^b(14). Mound on Beacon Hill, ⅓ mile S. of the church, 24 feet in diameter and 3 ft. high, probably a tumulus, but has been used also for a beacon.

Condition—Poor.