Parishes: Lockerley

LOCKERLEY

Lockerslei (xi cent.); Lokerle, Lockerleye, Clokerle (xiii cent.); Lokerle Boteler (xv cent.).

The parish of Lockerley, covering an area of 1,647 acres, of which about 6 acres are land covered by water, 880 acres arable land, 650 acres permanent grass and 110 acres woods and plantation, (fn. 1) lies in a valley tributary to the Test valley. The village is grouped round Butts Green in the north of the parish. To the east is a brick farm-house of early 18th-century date but no particular interest. North of the village and separated from it by the London and South Western Railway are the church and rectory. West of the church is Lockerley or Ford Mill apparently of late 17th-century date, now much modernized. North-west of Lockerley village is Lockerley Green, the two villages being practically joined by their straggling outskirts. East of Lockerley village between the Manor Farm and Canefield is a large earthwork. Painshill is in the south-west of the parish; Holbury, which lies north, is now partly included in the parish of East Tytherley. Holbury Mill is said to stand on the site of one of the mills mentioned in Domesday Book, and there are many references to it in records. (fn. 2) Roman coins and pottery have been found near Holbury Farm, and the remains of two ancient camps and a Roman villa are still to be seen in the neighbourhood. (fn. 3)

The subsoil is gravel, the soil chalk and clay; there are many chalk-pits in the district. The chief crops are wheat, barley, oats and turnips.

Butler's Wood was inclosed in July 1815, under the Act of 1811. (fn. 4)

Among place-names mentioned in local records are the following:—Pepercherchesfeld, (fn. 5) Cufaude (fn. 6) (xiii cent.); Temerdyng (fn. 7) (xv cent.); Okestreete, (fn. 8) Caynefeilds (fn. 9) (xvi cent.). Butler's Barn and Butler's Wood still commemorate the 14th-century lords of the manor.

Manors

The manor of LOCKERLEY, afterwards known as LOCKERLEY BOTELER or BUTLER, was held of the king at the time of the Domesday Survey by Ulvric, whose father had held it of King Edward as an alod. (fn. 10) Edward I granted it in 1293 to John Butler (le Boteler) at a rent of £6 11s. 9d. in part satisfaction of land to be given in exchange for the manor of Ringwood. (fn. 11) John Butler died about 1310, (fn. 12) in which year the whole manor of Lockerley was assigned in dower to his widow Joan by John his son and heir. (fn. 13) This John in 1348 vainly sought leave to settle the manor on himself and his wife Margery in tail (fn. 14) : he died in 1349, (fn. 15) and the long-desired licence for settlement was granted to his son and heir in 1375. (fn. 16) This son John married 'Katherine the Lady of Wymering,' and died in 1377 on Christmas Eve. (fn. 17) His sister Isabel, the wife of Geoffrey Roncle, was returned as his heir, (fn. 18) but when she and her husband sought to secure the manor Robert Cantel, John Conke and John Coly, trustees for John Butler, declared that they had been enfeoffed therein. (fn. 19) Isabel died in 1388, (fn. 20) and Richard Wayte, her son by her first husband, in the following year petitioned for livery of the lands in Loekerley, the profits of which had been taken since his uncle's death by William Upton. (fn. 21) Apparently this William Upton was a trustee for Katherine the widow of John Butler, who married secondly Sir John Dallingridge, (fn. 22) and survived until 1439. (fn. 23) The manor of Lockerley seems, however, to have been settled on her daughter and namesake, the wife of John Stevens, who died seised of it in 1410, leaving as her heir her nephew Richard, the son of her brother, Walter Dallingridge. (fn. 24) Richard Dallingridge died in January 1471, (fn. 25) and was succeeded by Sir Roger Lewkenor the son of his sister Philippa. (fn. 26) Sir Roger left the estate at his death in 1478 to his son Thomas. (fn. 27) The manor must, however, have reverted to the Crown shortly afterwards, for it was granted before 1493 to George Bainbridge, (fn. 28) who in 1496 received a grant of East Tytherley Manor, the descent of which (q.v.) has been followed from that date by the Butler estate in Lockerley. Captain F. J. Dalgety of Lockerley Hall, East Tytherley, is the owner at the present day.

Certain lands in LOCKERLEY and HOLBURY were included at the time of the Domesday Survey in the manor of East Tytherley (fn. 29) (q.v.), which continued to extend into Lockerley parish even after the 'members of Lockerley and Holbury' had been separated from the main manor by royal grant. (fn. 30)

In 1346 the part of Holbury comprised in East Tytherley Manor, which was then held by Queen Philippa, was assessed at one-third of a knight's fee, (fn. 31) and in 1428 Lewis John, to whom the custody of the manor had been granted during the minority of the heirs of Sir Francis Court, (fn. 32) was returned as holding the fourth part of a fee there. (fn. 33) In 1433 Joan, 'late Duchess of York,' died seised of a third part of a knight's fee in Holbury of the inheritance of Matthew de Columbars though she does not seem to have held the manor of East Tytherley. (fn. 34) Land in Holbury and Lockerley was, however, certainly included in East Tytherley in 1476, (fn. 35) and subsequently followed the descent of that manor.

A small manor of LOCKERLEY was held at the time of the Domesday Survey by Alwi, who had previously held it as an alod of King Edward. (fn. 36) It afterwards seems to have come into the hands of Thomas de Columbars, lord of East Tytherley, who claimed the advowson of the chapel in 1196, (fn. 37) and is stated to have held 1 hide of land in Lockerley in the reign of Henry III. (fn. 38) His descendant, Matthew de Columbars, who succeeded before 1241, (fn. 39) enlarged the estate by purchasing other small holdings in the neighbourhood, (fn. 40) and about 1271 he received a grant of a weekly market on Wednesday at his manor of Lockerley, and of a yearly fair there on the eve, day and morrow of St. John the Baptist. (fn. 41) The manor followed the same descent as East Tytherley (q.v.), of which it was usually regarded as a member, until the beginning of the 14th century, when it was included in the grant to John de Vienna and Ellen his wife. (fn. 42) It afterwards followed the descent of East Dean (q.v.).

The manor of HOLBURY may perhaps be identified as the estate in Tytherley which was held of Gislebert de Breteville by Papald in 1086, and had previously been held by Chening as an alod of King Edward. (fn. 43) It subsequently belonged to the Columbars (fn. 44) and followed the descent of East Tytherley Manor (q.v.) until about the year 1300, when it was granted by Edward I to John de Vienna and Ellen his wife for their lives (fn. 45) : the reversion was granted in 1316 to their son John, (fn. 46) and the manor of Holbury afterwards followed the descent of East Dean (q.v.).

The Prior and convent of St. Denis, Southampton, in the 13th century acquired an estate in Lockerley which was afterwards called the manor of LOCKERLEY. Robert de Anniler and Hilary his wife granted them the land of Dean and Lockerley which Alured de Monte held of them, and this gift was confirmed by Richard de Rivers, lord of East Dean. (fn. 47) Thomas de Columbars, lord of East Tytherley, granted them his half of Basset's Mill (fn. 48) and his part of Sygar's Moor and the 'land of Tristre,' (fn. 49) and shortly afterwards Walter Basset sold the priory his half of Basset's Mill, his moor by the mill-pond, the island before the mill, and land in Lockerley. (fn. 50) Lavinia the widow of Sygar and his daughters Edith and Maud sold to the priory the tenement which they held in Lockerley. (fn. 51) The prior and convent also obtained grants of land in Lockerley from Robert Basset, the grandson of Walter Basset, (fn. 52) Matthew de Columbars, the son and successor of Gilbert de Columbars, (fn. 53) Thomas de Stratfield, (fn. 54) William Smark, (fn. 55) and Geoffrey de Porton, one of the lords of West Tytherley. (fn. 56)

The manor was granted by Henry VIII to Francis Dawtrey in 1538, (fn. 57) and fifty years later was sold by George Thorpe, his nephew and heir, (fn. 58) to Richard Zouche. (fn. 59) In 1626 Thomas Jeay, clerk, died seised of the manor of Lockerley which he bequeathed to his fourth son Stephen. (fn. 60) The further history of this estate has not been traced. It is now represented by Lockerley Water Farm and lands in Lockerley and East Dean which Mr. Tankerville Chamberlayne of Cranbury Park exchanged with Mr. Frederick Gonnerman Dalgety of Lockerley Hall for property in Otterbourne (fn. 61) (in Buddlesgate Hundred). It has since formed part of the Tytherley estate.

Another small manor in Lockerley was held by Hugh de Port at the time of the Domesday Survey, and had previously been held of King Edward as an alod by Sterre. (fn. 62) The St. Johns, the descendants of Hugh de Port, subsequently enfeoffed the Engleys family of the estate, which probably merged in the manor of Sherfield English. (fn. 63) It is, however, possible that this holding may be identified with the farm and lands now known as GAMBLEDOWN , on the borders of Lockerley and Sherfield English, which were sold as a separate estate by Edward Sheldon at the end of the 18th century to the Hintons. (fn. 64) The property belonged to this family for about a century, but was then sold by Mr. William Hinton Harvey to Mr. Frederick Gonnerman Dalgety, and thus became united to the Tytherley estate. (fn. 65)

PAINSHILL (Paynshill, xv cent.; Paynes Hill, xvi cent.) was probably held between 1333 and 1345 by John Payne, who obtained from Bishop Orlton licence to hear divine service in the oratory of his house in Lockerley on account of his ill-health. (fn. 66) Robert Payne was apparently the tenant of the estate before 1493 (fn. 67) : he was succeeded by Roger, probably his son, who, however, only farmed it for the owner, Sir Edward Berkeley. (fn. 68) It subsequently came into the possession of the priory of Christchurch Twyneham, (fn. 69) and was granted after the Dissolution to Sir Thomas Wriothesley, afterwards Earl of Southampton. (fn. 70) Wriothesley seems to have sold it to Sir Richard Lister, who died seised of it in 1558, leaving as his heir his grandson and namesake. (fn. 71) After this date the history of the property becomes obscure. It is represented now by Painshill Farm.

Church

The church of ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST consists of a chancel, nave, north and south transepts and south-west tower, the lower stage of which serves as a porch and is surmounted by a stone spire. The church is designed in 15th-century style. The fittings, font, seating, &c, are all modern. In the ground stage of the tower are preserved two old bells, the treble of which is probably of the 17th century. The second is dated 1676. In the same place are fixed a few 18th-century monuments from the old church, amongst others one to Mathew Barlow, 'Doctor of Physick,' 1701, who married Grace (Bust), widow of Nicholas Hobbard. Another is to Walter Thomas, 1719, and Amy his wife, 1716; with the arms: on a cross engrailed, five scallops. There is also a small carved stone achievement: a cheveron engrailed between three crosslets fitchy impaling a half-obliterated coat bearing a bend.

In the belfry is a ring of six modern bells.

In the churchyard is preserved the old tub-shaped font without any detail from which a date can be assigned to it, and also one of the old windows, a small round-headed light with an external rebate and wide internal splay of 12th-century date.

The plate consists of a silver chalice of 1659 given by Anna Bust, widow, in that year, a silver paten of 1694 inscribed 'Sary Barlow, 1702,' and a silver almsdish of 1782 given under the will of Edward Jones, rector, who died 1772.

The first book of the registers contains all entries from 1583 to 1680. The entries of the first years have elaborate initials in black and white. The second book contains all entries from 1681 to 1800, except marriages, which run to 1754, and are continued in a separate book from 1754 to 1812. A fourth book contains baptisms and burials from 1801 to 1812.

In the churchyard is a fine yew north of the present church, near the site of the former building.

Advowson

At the time of the Domesday Survey Lockerley was a chapelry annexed to the church of Mottisfont. (fn. 72) The advowson was claimed in 1196 by Thomas de Columbars, but the case was decided against him, (fn. 73) and Lockerley remained annexed to Mottisfont until December 1884, when it was separated, together with East Dean, by an Order in Council, and constituted a separate parish and benefice named 'the Perpetual Curacy of Lockerley and East Dean.' (fn. 74) The living is now a rectory, with the chapelry of East Dean annexed, in the gift of Captain F. J. Dalgety. (fn. 75)

There are a Baptist chapel, with a burial-ground attached, founded in 1750, and a branch chapel on the green, built in 1879.

Charities

This parish is entitled to benefit from the school at East Tytherley founded by Mrs. Sarah Rolle.