Warminster
LESSER ESTATES.
From the 15th century a considerable estate which lay mainly on the Boreham side of Warminster was built up by the Gifford family. It derived first from John Osborne, reeve of the capital manor of Warminster in the early 15th century (Footnote 56) and a freeholder in 1434. (Footnote 57) His son John Osborne (Footnote 58) had a son Richard, whose widow died possessed of lands in Boreham in 1527. Richard's heir was Thomas Gifford, grandson of Elizabeth, sister of the younger John Osborne, who had married Edward, son of Walter Gifford of 'Rodhurst'. (Footnote 59) Later in the 16th century the Gifford family acquired a freehold estate in the parish which had belonged to a family named Cutting, which had held land in the 14th century. (Footnote 60) Thomas Cutting held 100 a. in 1402, (Footnote 61) and about 40 years later John Cutting died seised of it and John Newburgh claimed to be his heir. (Footnote 62) It descended to John's grandson, Roger Newburgh, who held it in 1493. (Footnote 63) In 1504
Henry Daccombe and Christian his wife, who was probably the daughter of Newburgh, conveyed it to Richard Elyot, sergeant-at-law. (Footnote 64) Elyot died in 1522; (Footnote 65) by 1536 Cutting's Farm was held by Robert Coker of Mappowder (Dors.). (Footnote 66) In 1567 Henry Coker sold it to Sir John Thynne, (Footnote 67) who in 1571 conveyed it with other lands to Thomas Gifford in exchange for land in Longbridge Deverill. (Footnote 68) It then consisted of a holding of about 60 a. called Cutting's Farm, and a smaller holding of 13 a. (Footnote 69)
Thomas Gifford was succeeded in turn by his son John and grandson and great-grandson, both called William; (Footnote 70) the younger William added to the estate two small holdings, parts of the manor of Boreham, which he bought from Richard Staples in 1626, (Footnote 71) and the manor of Cheyneys, bought of Ralph Hastings in 1647. (Footnote 72) William's son, Benjamin, bought the large manor farm of Boreham in 1663. (Footnote 73) The family estate descended to Benjamin's grandson, John Hoskins Gifford of Cucklington (Som.), who died without issue in 1744. Of his three sisters and coheirs only one had issue, and so the whole estate eventually passed to her son, William Buckler. (Footnote 74) At his death in 1790 he left the estate to be divided between his two daughters, and in 1801 a partition was agreed upon by which the Wiltshire estates were allotted to Mary, the younger daughter, wife of Francis Dugdale Astley of Everleigh. (Footnote 75) In 1810 Astley exchanged with Lord Bath outlying parts of the estate in Corsley and the western part of Warminster parish for about 300 a. in Boreham which had once been copyholds of the capital manor of Warminster. (Footnote 76) In 1821, however, Astley's trustees sold all of his estate in Boreham which lay north of the Wylye, to William Temple of Bishopstrow, who thus became owner of almost the whole of Boreham tithing on that side of the river. (Footnote 77) In succeeding years, he bought most of the small properties of other owners there. Chief of these was a farm called Chamberlayne's, which had been a copyhold of the manor of Boreham. It was sold by Richard Staples to William Bailey in 1641 and passed with his daughter to the Slade family of Warminster, in which it descended until the Revd. William Slade sold it to William Temple in 1823. (Footnote 78) The Temple family retained the Boreham estates until 1921, when they were sold. (Footnote 79)
Several small estates which were eventually added to the Longleat estate must also be mentioned. In the 14th century John de la Mere, probably a younger son of the family which held the manor of Boreham, held a small estate in Warminster. He died c. 1349 leaving three coheirs; two were his daughters, Cecily, wife of Henry Montfort, and Joan, wife of Richard Scammell, (Footnote 80) and the third was Thomas de Sindlesham, infant son of a third daughter. (Footnote 81) The whole estate apparently passed to the Montforts of Nunney, for in 1412 John Montfort held lands in Bishopstrow and Warminster worth 40s. (Footnote 82) By the late 15th century the Montfort property here and at Nunney and other places in Somerset was held by Simon Wiseman. He sold much of it, including Warminster, to Richard Mawdley, (Footnote 83) in whose family it remained until the 17th century. (Footnote 84) A survey of 1603 shows that the estate consisted of a virgate of land without a house on it; (Footnote 85) Roger Mawdley, who owned it then, left three daughters. (Footnote 86) After his death they joined with their husbands in conveying it to Sir Thomas Thynne. (Footnote 87)
A family called Laffull held land in Warminster in the 14th century. (Footnote 88) In 1459 Thomas Laffull sold property there to Richard Page, (Footnote 89) who in 1464 held a number of properties, including over 100 a. called 'Laffellisland alias Felthamps'. (Footnote 90) Page's son was probably Edmund Page of Warminster, whose grand-daughter Ann Page married Richard Brayfield and left a daughter Elizabeth, wife of James Heath of London, mercer. (Footnote 91) It was from Heath that Sir John Thynne bought part of the Page property, amounting to about 35 a., in 1568. (Footnote 92) The remainder passed in an unexplained way to the descendants of Gregory Morgan, who was the second husband of Edmund Page's wife Ann, (Footnote 93) and must have formed part of the estate sold by Peter Morgan to Walter, Lord Hungerford. (Footnote 94)
Another estate which eventually passed to the Thynne family once belonged to Roger Twynyho, and passed at his death in 1497 to his brother George. (Footnote 95) He died in 1525 leaving a son Edward, (Footnote 96) who in 1550 sold the property to William Stump of Malmesbury. (Footnote 97) Stump's son William sold it in 1580 to William Yerbury, a Trowbridge clothier, (Footnote 98) whose son Edward sold it in 1615 to Edward Scutt of Warminster. (Footnote 99) Scutt mortgaged the property to Sir Thomas Thynne in 1626 and released his right in the following year. It then consisted of six houses and a small amount of land, mainly near Portway. (Footnote 1)
The chief ecclesiastical estate in Warminster was that belonging to the Prebend of Warminster in Salisbury Cathedral. In about 1115 Henry I gave, or more probably confirmed, to the church of Salisbury two hides of land at Warminster which Walter, son of Edward of Salisbury, had held. (Footnote 2) By the early 13th century this land formed the endowment of the prebend; it was then valued at £5, (Footnote 3) but in 1226 was only worth 41s. (Footnote 4) In 1222 the prebend was declared exempt from archidiaconal jurisdiction. (Footnote 5) It was valued at £5 in 1291, (Footnote 6) and at £7 net in 1535. (Footnote 7) In 1550 the whole estate was let to Robert Whatley for 60 years at a rent of £7 6s. 8d. (Footnote 8) In 1635 it was let to Thomas Ludlow, (Footnote 9) a member of a younger branch of the Ludlows of Hill Deverill, and ancestor of a family that held the prebend for almost 200 years. (Footnote 10) In 1829 William Heald Ludlow sold his leasehold interest in parts of the estate to several persons, to whom new leases were made. (Footnote 11) In 1847 the freehold of the property was vested in the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in return for an annuity of £150 to the prebendary. (Footnote 12) Two years later they were authorized to sell parts of the estate. (Footnote 13) The prebendal manor house, called East End House, stood south of East Street on the site of Ridgeway.
Part of the estate of the Prebend of Warminster alias Luxfield in Wells Cathedral lay in Warminster, but its history is described in the account of the parish of Corsley. (Footnote 14)
Several religious houses held estates in Warminster. That of the Priory of Longleat was probably the land granted to it by Robert le Bore in 1324. (Footnote 15) It was included in the grant of the site of Longleat to Edward, Earl of Hertford, in 1541, and was sold by him to Sir John Thynne in the same year. (Footnote 16)
The house of Maiden Bradley also held property in Warminster, but its history is described above with that of the larger estate at Whitbourne in Corsley. (Footnote 17)
The manor of Cheyneys, which was held of the Prior of St. John of Wilton, has been mentioned above. (Footnote 18) Other property held of the hospital included seven houses which formed part of the estate of Philip Morgan at his death in 1473 for a chief rent of 2s. 6d. (Footnote 19) Land re-granted to the restored order of St. John of Jerusalem in 1558 included property of very small value in Warminster which had belonged to Ansty Preceptory. (Footnote 20)
Robert Mauduit, the first of the family to hold the capital manor, endowed his younger son Robert with a tenement which Gilbert the knight of Warminster had held, to hold by the service of ? knight's fee. (Footnote 21) Thomas Mauduit added certain pasture rights to the gift. (Footnote 22) It was perhaps this same tenement which was held by another Robert Mauduit by the rent of 1d. in 1300 (Footnote 23) and granted to him by Peter Scudamore, lord of Upton, in 1328. (Footnote 24) In 1331 Scudamore obtained licence to use the land, still held at the same rent, to endow a chantry in Upton Scudamore church. (Footnote 25) In 1334 and 1349 it was described as a place called the Dryehey, 39½ a. of arable land, 2½ a. meadow, pasture for certain stock and rents of £1. (Footnote 26) In 1442 the property of the chantry of Upton was used to endow the Hungerford chantry and hospital at Heytesbury. (Footnote 27) When the hospital let its Warminster property in 1586 it included the 39½ a. of arable land and some 12 a. of meadow and pasture; (Footnote 28) in addition a chief rent of 4s. was received from William Middlecott. (Footnote 29) The estate continued to be let as a whole until the late 18th century. (Footnote 30) By the early 19th century it was much reduced in size, amounting only to some 12a., and half of this had been sold by 1903. (Footnote 31)
At the Dissolution of chantries the property given for the support of St. Laurence's chapel consisted of a house and about 30 a. of land, let at a rent of 40s. (Footnote 32) It was let to William Deacon in 1590. (Footnote 33) In 1606 it was granted in fee farm at the same rent to Thomas Emerson and William Benett. (Footnote 34) It probably soon passed to the Thynne family, by whom it was certainly held in the later 17th century. (Footnote 35) The Crown rent was redeemed c. 1788. (Footnote 36)
Footnotes
56 Longleat MSS. 9062, 9421.
57 Ibid. 9063.
58 Tropenell Cart. ed. Davies, i. 59.
59 C 142/46/109; Wilts. Visitation Pedigrees (Harl. Soc. cv-vi), 64, where Elizabeth is given as the immediate heir of John Osborne.
60 Longleat MSS. Parcel XXVII, Custumal of free tenants c. 1360.
61 C.P. 25(1)/256/58/3.
62 C 1/14/31.
63 W.N. & Q. vi. 282; for this family, see Hutchins, Hist. Dors. i. 366.
64 C.P. 25(2)/257/66/41; Roger Newburgh left an only dau. and heir Christian, whose only recorded marriage was to John, Lord Marney.
65 D.N.B.
66 Longleat MSS. Thynne Papers, Bk. 63, p. 41, and Parcel XXI, Rental c. 1540.
67 W.N. & Q. v. 357.
68 Longleat MS. 8283; C.P. 25(2)/239/14 Eliz. I Hil.
69 Longleat MS. 11260.
70 Wilts. Visitation Pedigrees (Harl. Soc. cv–vi), 64–65; the pedigree printed by Hoare, Mod. Wilts. Warminster, 76 is wrong in omitting one of the Williams entirely.
71 W.R.O. 132, Staples to Gifford, 1626.
72 See p. 100.
73 W.R.O. 132, Staples to Gifford, 1663.
74 Ibid. Wills of J. H. Gifford, 1744, and of Dorothy Newman, 1752.
75 Ibid. Partition, Astley and Lethbridge, 1801.
76 Ibid. Exchange, Bath and Astley, 1810.
77 Ibid. Exchange, Astley to Temple, 1821.
78 W.R.O. Deeds of property bought from Slade; see also W.R.O. 212B, Wa. 5, 8–9.
79 W.R.O. 132, Sale Temple to Bazley, 1921; W.A.S. Libr. Devizes, Sale Cat. For the Temples, see p. 7.
80 Halstead, Succint Genealogies, 144; the authenticity of the doc. printed by Halstead is borne out by Cal. Fine R. 1347–56, 184.
81 Longleat MS. 9009.
82 Feud. Aids, vi. 511.
83 Cal. Close, 1476–85, 274 and 1485–1500, 222.
84 Longleat MSS. 16th cent. Rentals, passim. For the Mawdley family see Visitation of Somerset, 1623 (Harl. Soc. xi), 73.
85 Longleat MS. 7344.
86 C 142/762/155; Hist. MSS. Com. Egmont, i. 85n.
87 C 142/765/47.
88 B.M. Add. Ch. 40046.
89 C.P. 25(1)/257/64/48.
90 Tropenell Cart. ed. Davies, ii. 66–7.
91 Longleat MSS. 9413–4.
92 Ibid. 9428.
93 Ibid. 9413–4.
94 See p. 99.
95 Cal. Inq. p.m. Hen. VII, ii. pp. 212–3.
96 C 142/44/13; C 1/1304/7.
97 Longleat MS. 9350; W.N. & Q. viii. 392–5, 483.
98 Longleat MS. 9319.
99 Ibid. 9323.
1 Ibid. 9334, 9342.
2 Reg. St. Osmund (Rolls Ser.), i. 202; Complete Peerage, xi. 374, note f.
3 Interdict Documents (P.R.S. n.s. xxxiv), 20.
4 Reg. St. Osmund (Rolls Ser.), ii. 73.
5 Ibid. i. 338.
6 Tax. Eccl. (Rec. Com.), 182.
7 Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), ii. 77.
8 Ch. Com. 136777, f. 202; C 3/79/29.
9 C 54/3494 no. 39.
10 See pedigree, W.A.M. xxvi, opp. p. 172.
11 Ch. Com. 3608–13; W.R.O. 442, Abstr. of Title to Prebend, c. 1849.
12 Lond. Gaz. 1847, p. 45.
13 Ibid. 1849, p. 2223.
14 See p. 21.
15 Hoare, Mod. Wilts. Heytesbury, 56, and Addenda, 22; S.C. 6/Hen. VIII/3144 m. 48.
16 L. & P. Hen. VIII, xvi, pp. 381, 463.
17 See p. 16.
18 See p. 100.
19 C 140/525/48.
20 Cal. Pat. 1557–8, 317.
21 W.R.O. 490 Hungerford Cart. f. 113.
22 Ibid. f. 112v.
23 Wilts. Inq. p.m. 1242–1326 (Index Libr.), 249–53.
24 W.R.O. 490 Hungerford Cart. f. 115.
25 Wilts. Inq. p.m. 1327–77 (Index Libr.), 74; Cal. Pat. 1330–34, 185; see above, p. 87.
26 W.R.O. 490 Hungerford Cart. ff. 115v., 118v.
27 See p. 87.
28 W.R.O. 251, Lease Hosp. to Alford.
29 W.A.M. xliv. 258.
30 W.R.O. 251 various leases; ibid. 212A (Everett section), Lease to Clavey, 1765.
31 W.R.O. 251, Surveys of the Estate; Endowed Char. Wilts. (1908), p. 202.
32 E 301/58 no. 131.
33 Longleat MS. 9386.
34 E 308/4/35 no. 12.
35 Longleat MS. 10652.
36 Ibid. Estate Office, Survey 1743, p. 56.
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