WILLIAM R. PERKINS 
 LIBRARY 
 
 DUKE UNIVERSITY 
 
 IN MEMORY OF 
 
 LIZZIE TAYLOR WRENN 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2018 with funding from 
 Duke University Libraries 
 
 https://archive.org/details/buckinghamshirem01gibb 
 


 
 
 
 
THE 
 
 BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 
 
 MISCELLANY. 
 
THE 
 
 u 4 It i n 41 It a m a It 1 1 \ 
 
 A SERIES OF CONCISE AND INTERESTING ARTICLES ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE 
 
 Piston, attbr $rrljitolo0tr 
 
 COUNTY OP BUOITIN OHAM 7 
 
 COMPILED AND EDITED BY 
 
 ROBERT GIBBS, F.S.A., 
 
 Author of “Local Occurrences,” " Begicides of Bucks,” "History of Ayleslury,” “Worthies of 
 
 Buckinghamshire,” &c. 
 
 “ Whatever makes the past, the distant, or the future predominate over the present, advances ns in the 
 dignity of thinking beings.”—D b. Johnson. 
 
 AYLESBURY : 
 
 PRINTED BY R. GIBBS, “ BUCKS ADVERTISER & AYLESBURY NEWS” OFFICE. VTJ 
 
 •Jgb 
 
 MDCCCXCI. 
 

Price Is ; by post Is 2d. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 -% 
 
 SEPTEMBER, 1889. 
 
 THE 
 
 |fl i ,‘i cell a u n, 
 
 A SERIES OF CONCISE AND INTERESTING ARTICLES ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE 
 
 ipisforg, rati 
 
 OF THE 
 
 COUNTY OF BUOK.ING-HIAM, 
 
 , COMPILED AND EDITED BY 
 
 ROBERT GIBBS, F.S.A., 
 
 Author of *' Local Occurrences ,” “ Regicides of Bucks,” History of Aylesbury ,” “ Worthies of 
 
 Buckinghamshire, &c. 
 
 ♦ 
 
 jjOJMTEJMTJB OF p/^T. 1. 
 
 Derivation of Name of Buckingham ; Early Inhabitants ; Whaddon Chase Coins ; Early 
 Historical Eveuts ; Roman Occupation; Roman Roads; The Saxon Heptarchy ; 
 Ancient Church Architecture ; Arms and Armory ; Domesday Book ; The Bulstrode 
 Family ; Newport Pagnell Castle ; Biddlesden Abbey ; The Danes at Brill ; Ancient 
 Foundry at Lee ; The River Wye ; Roman Remains at Weston Turville ; Manors and 
 their Lords; History of Buckingham; Horton; Danish Camp at Cholesbury ; The 
 Manor of Waddesdon ; Little Missenden Church; The Desborough Hundred; 
 Antiquated Meeting Houses; The Thornborough Mounds; Chcnies Manor House; 
 Claydon House; The Hampdens and their Home; The Chilterns ; Ancient Aylesbury; 
 West Wycombe ; Siege of Greenland House ; St. Margarets’, Ivinghoe. 
 
 
 AYLESBURY : 
 
 PRIXTED^BY R. GIBBS, “ BUCKS ADVERTISER & AYLESBURY NEWS” OFFICE. 
 
 
 E[]' 
 
 -33 
 
 
 MDCCCLXXXIX. 
 

 
 
 
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 HE mind, always active and inquisitive, appears seldom to exert itself with 
 more pleasure than in retracing the memory of the past, and contemplating 
 those events which can never return. There is an involuntary attachment to 
 that which is irrecoverably snatched from us and removed beyond the reach of our hopes 
 and wishes. This attachment induces us to observe with respectful feelings the most 
 trifling vestiges of antiquity. In surveying the monuments of feudal splendour and 
 magnificence exhibited in the few remains of ancient castles now left to us, the very 
 genius of chivalry is presented to our imaginations. Amidst such remnants of former 
 dignity, the manly exercises of knighthood and ancient customs recur to the mind in 
 their full pomp, whilst every patriotic feeling beats at the remembrance of the generous 
 virtues which were nursed in those schools of honour and courtesy—the mansions of our 
 old nobility. The attachment to antiquity is so congenial with natural curiosity that 
 we seldom view, but with a kind of melancholy, any venerable memorials of former times. 
 In contemplating them we have a variety of sensations, which we find difficult to 
 discriminate—a mixture of pain and pleasure we are unable to explain. 
 
 The history of monasteries and other ancient religious houses has afforded researches 
 equal to the ardour of the most industrious antiquary. We cannot sufficiently admire 
 the indefatigable diligence and extensive learning exerted in collecting monastic 
 antiquities. Though the records of these institutions frequently exhibit instances of 
 indolence and culpable ill-management, yet we ought with gratitude to remember that 
 they prevented the surrounding ignorance of former generations from entirely extinguish¬ 
 ing the light of classical learning, and that to them is owing the preservation of the 
 most valuable of our ancient authors, whose various works constitute so interesting a part 
 in the history of learning. 
 
 No branch of the study of antiquities affords a more extensive field for disquisition 
 than that of churches. In addition to the solemnity which the sanctity of these 
 buildings connected with their antiquities inspires, the inquisitive mind will find ample 
 interest in the reflections suggested by the funereal monuments and histories which they 
 describe or recall to remembrance. It is to ancient churches we are mainly indebted for 
 the retention of almost every specimen of ecclesiastical architecture during it may be 
 said the whole of our existence as a nation. 
 
Ancient monuments record the transactions and conventions of states, preserve 
 memorials of private life, and specimens of domestic convenience ; some are retained in 
 sculpture, others in works of art, or the memory of actions, the consideration of which 
 carries us back to the remotest ages. A diligent examination of these relics must be of 
 great utility ; by it the progress of art may be ascertained, and comparisons of the 
 several periods and their various productions formed, conducive even to the ordinary 
 purposes as well as to the usages of modem life. 
 
 The study of antiquities exposes defects in history and makes ample provisions for 
 the researches of inquisitive curiosity. The diligence of the antiquary has brought to 
 the assistance of historians circumstances which before were unknown or neglected, and 
 has placed many important events in a more prominent and more deserving position. 
 Great and important are the advantages which have resulted from critical examinations 
 of ancient records. When historical enquiry is united with the accurate diligence of 
 antiquarian research, historians are enabled to separate falsehood from truth and 
 tradition from evidence. Much of the obscurity which overspreads the first periods of 
 every nation, has been happily cleared away by the diligence and sagacity of able 
 antiquaries, and what indeed may we not further expect from a period in which every 
 science is advancing to perfection, and in which history has attained a degree of 
 excellence hitherto unknown. By the assistance of the antiquary many misrepresenta¬ 
 tions have been corrected which had been disguised by the jealousy of the times or the 
 partiality of historians. Historians generally, owe peculiar obligation to antiquities ; 
 by the lessons from them deficiencies have been supplied, obscurities illustrated and 
 points in chronology and other matters often accurately ascertained. 
 
 In investigating the origin of the arts, the antiquary is led back to the first 
 dawnings of society, the earliest openings of civil life and the progressive rise of political 
 institutions. It is obvious therefore how wide a compass of human learning is subject 
 to his researches. From his multitudinous enquiries the advantages which he derives 
 are abundantly sufficient to recommend a study productive of the greatest utility. 
 
 A period has existed when the lovers of antiquities had to exert themselves 
 strenuously to preserve the noblest monuments of the grandeur, the opulence, and piety 
 of our ancestors from the rage of Vandalism. Let us hope those times have passed, and 
 that a better taste now prevails. We should on every occasion show our readiness to 
 preserve the ancient temples of our faith, and the works of genius with which they are 
 enriched, from violence and defilement; resolutely oppose the advocacy of any innovation 
 which would work prejudicially to the national monuments remaining to us; and reject 
 with uncompromising firmuess, blind and ill-considered propositions for changes which 
 would destroy the character of our ancient edifices. 
 
THE 
 
 Buckinghamshire flliscellang. 
 
 DERIVATION OF THE NAME—BUCKINGHAM. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 S AMDEN and other early historians derive the name of Buckingham from its large 
 production of beech timber—Bucken, usually spelt by the Saxons, Boccen or 
 Buccen—beech. Spelman, another antiquary of great repute, uses a like word— 
 Buccen, but gives it another derivation as signifying buck or deer. Whatever may be its 
 etymology, without doubt, the county takes its name from the town of Buckingham. In 
 the Chiltern district, and in some of the southern parts of the county, beech timber is 
 grown in large quantities ; no such feature, however, is remarkable in the northern part, 
 or in the vicinity of the town of Buckingham. Again, whilst the northern part of the 
 county was formerly probably fully stocked with buck and deer, no such animals are 
 known to have predominated in South Bucks. These facts somewhat shake confidence 
 in accepting the opinions of antiquaries as to their proper derivation of the name of the 
 county, however well informed they may have been on the subject. 
 
 On reference to the original in Doomsday book we find neither the name of Buck, 
 Boccen, or Buccen, but there the prefix stands—Boch—Bochinghamscire, whilst the 
 name of the town of Buckingham in that ancient document appears as Bochingeham. 
 
 There are upwards of 50 places in this country having the prefix of Buck ; it is 
 not at all improbable that they all derive their title from a like root; but few or none 
 of them abound either in beech timber or deer in such abundance as is ascribed to the 
 County of Bucks by Camden and Spelman. It may be that the prefix of Buck is derived 
 
2 
 
 * 
 
 
 from the nature of the tenure of land known as Bockland. This is a Saxon term (quasi 
 book-land), a possession or inheritance held by evidence in writing. Bockland signifies 
 deed land or charter land, and it commonly carried with it absolute property in the land ; 
 it was held by Thanes, a superior class amongst the Saxons. The title of Bockland is in 
 contra distinction to that of Folkland, or land of the common folk ; this was held by no 
 assurance in writing, but was distributed amongst the people at the pleasure of the Lord 
 of the Manor, and resumed at his discretion. It was a species of tenure neither strictly 
 feudal, Norman, nor Saxon, but composed of them all; the tenants thereof being termed 
 villeins, a class in a condition of downright servitude, and are said to have belonged to 
 the Lord of the soil, like his cattle and stock upon it. Camden’s and Spelman’s deri¬ 
 vations held their position for many years, and were adopted by most of the more recent 
 historians, but of late their version has been questioned. 
 
 The teutonic tribal names ending in ingas are in general of very obscure origin. It 
 is quite a mistake to suppose that they are all patronymics, derived from the name of 
 some real or supposed ancestor. There is evidence that many of them are derived from 
 the local names of the district in Germany from which the tribes emigrated, or from 
 words descriptive of the character of the regions in which they settled. It is possible 
 that the Buccingas, whose “home” was at Buckingham, may have takeD their name 
 from the buck as a tribal emblem. The common derivation of Buckingham, from beeches, 
 is philologically impossible. 
 
 A volume has recently been published at great expense, for private circulation only, 
 by a Mr. Henry Maudslay ; it is edited by Mr. IV. P. Ivatts (formerly of A}desbury). 
 In it is shown that the derivation of Buckingham is from a clan, and that Camden, 
 Spelman, and others who adopt the buck and the beech derivations are in error. This 
 work avers that in the history of the Norman Conquests, Yalentinian is said to have 
 conquered Fraomarius, King of the Bucinobantes, who dwelt on the left bank of the 
 Rhine, shortly after, his own territory being devastated by war, he invested Fraomarius 
 with tribunital power and sent him with his people to the east of Britain. Their 
 settlement was probably in Norfolk, where Bramerton, i.e. “ Framoerton,” appears 
 to have taken its name from their chief, and four places in Norfolk still retain 
 the name of Buckenham, that of the tribe. Dr. Gustave Glaser, in a visit to 
 the library of the monastery of St. Gallen, in Switzerland, found documents in 
 which hundreds of donations are recorded in the names of persons in places having 
 the prefix of Buck, as Bucken, Buckenhiem, Buckenburgh, Buckhorn, Buchs, 
 Bucham, Bucksee, &c. All these are still existing in that locality, and are stated 
 by various historians to have been the homes of the Buchinobates, situate on 
 the left banks of the Rhine. This agreement of evidence leads to the conclusion 
 that the Bucci must have been both a numerous, powerful, and well-established 
 clan. The contingent more or less numerous who landed in this country under 
 
3 
 
 Fraomarius, probably did so at the mouth of the River Yare ; here, a few miles 
 from Yarmouth, we meet with Buckenham, now known as Ferry-Buckenham, from 
 its ferry across the Yare ; near is Bramerton, formerly Framerton, also on the 
 Yare; these two were probably the first places of settlement of Fraomarius and his 
 tribe. Two towns or villages of Buckenham in Norfolk are those now known as Old and 
 New Buckingham ; these are on the River Waveney, a feeder of the Yare. There is 
 still another Buckenham, a small place further inland. This place in Dorn. Boc. is 
 named Buchenam, a nearer approach to the more modern title. It is probable that the 
 Norfolk Buccini eventually made their way further inland, and formed other settlements; 
 they may have reached as far as the River Ouse, and in due time become of sufficient 
 importance to give their name to their new place of abode, viz., Buohincham, or 
 Buckingham, which eventually became the name of this county. 
 
 EARLY INHABITANTS.*—THE CASSII. 
 
 Camden. 
 
 [ William Camden teas born in London in 1551, and educated at Christ's Hospital 
 and St. Paul's School, and aftenvards at Oxford, inhere he took his B.A. He was second 
 and subsequently first master of Westminster School, devoting his leisure hours to the study 
 of the antiquities of Britain. In 1582, he travelled through most of the counties of 
 England, that he might personally examine ancient remains. His work, “ Britannia," 
 published in 1586, brought him into great repute as an antiquary and a man of learning; 
 his proficiency in antiquarian lore procured him the honourable and lucrative office of 
 C/arencieux King at Arms. In addition to his great and well-known work “ The 
 Britannia," he published “ Annals of Queen Elizabeth," also a Greek Grammar, and 
 other learned works. He died in the year 1623.] 
 
 “ On the east of the Dobuni,f border the Cattieuchlani, whom Ptolemy, according 
 to different copies, calls Cattieuchlani, Cattidudani, Cathicludani ; and Dio, Cattuellani. 
 Which of these is the true name, I cannot easily determine ; yet I must beg leave to be 
 deliver’d of an abortive conjecture, which I long since conceived. I should thiuk then, 
 that these people were the ancient Cassii; that from them their prince Cassivellaunus, 
 or Cassibelinus, took his name; and that they again, from their prince Cassivellaunus, 
 were by the Grecians called Catuellani, Cathuellani, and Cattieuchlani. Now the Cassii, 
 
 * Although the cave-men may have had no habitations on the uplands of Buckinghamshire, they were 
 associated with this county. Traces of them have been discovered among the river deposits on the banks 
 of the Thames, and it is probable that the cave-men also encamped near the river, and therefore in the 
 most picturesque part of Bucks ; such were their habits, for besides discovering their remains amid caves 
 and rock shelters, traces of them have been found at Solutre, in the valley of Saone in France.— Pre * 
 Historic Man, J. Parker, F.S.A., Wycombe. 
 
 t The inhabitants of Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire. 
 
4 
 
 mentioned by Caesar among the British nations, did most certainly inhabit these parts ; 
 from whom a pretty large tract in this county still retains the name of Caishow. And 
 since Cassivellaunus governed here, as is evident from Caesar; and in his name that of 
 the Cassii doth manifestly appear; it seems very probable, that Cassivellaunus denotes 
 as much as the prince of the Cassii. If otherwise, why should Dio call this Cassivellaunus, 
 Suellan instead of Vellan; and Ninnius, the British writer, not Cassibellinus, but Belinus, 
 as if that were the proper name either of his person or dignity ? Nor ought it to seem 
 strange, that princes heretofore took their names from the people whom they governed ; 
 for thus the Catti in Germany had their Cattimarus ; the Teutones their Teutomarus 
 and Teutobochus ; the Daci their Decebalus ; the Goths their Gottiso. And why might 
 not our Cassii in like manner have their Cassibelinus ? Especially, when Belinus was a 
 common name in this island ; and some have thought, that the name of Cunobellinus, 
 king of the Iceni, imported no more than the Belinus of the Iceni. So that if 
 the Grecian writers did not from this Cassivellaunus extort the names Cattuellani, 
 Cattieuthlani, &c. I must, as to this matter, freely confess myself in the 
 dark. But whence these people had the name of Cassii, I have not discover’d ; 
 unless it was from their warlike valour. For Servius Honoratus informs us, 
 that the stoutest and most vigorous soldiers were by the ancient Gauls (who spoke 
 the same language with the Britains) called Gessi. "Whence Ninnius interprets 
 the British word Cethilou, the seed of warriors. Now, that the Cassi were renowned 
 for martial prowess is most certain ; for, before the arrival of Caesar, they had waged 
 continual war against their neighbours, and had reduced part of the Dobuni under their 
 subjection. And then, upon Caesar’s invasion, the Britains constituted the prince of this 
 country, commander in chief of the forces of the whole island. That had too, by this 
 time, extended their name and dominion to a considerable distance. For under the 
 general name of Cassii, or Cattieuchlani, were comprehended all those people who inhabit 
 three counties in their present division, viz., Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, and 
 Hertfordshire.” 
 
 According to Richard of Cirencester it may be gathered that only that part of 
 Buckinghamshire which borders on Bedfordshire was originally inhabited by the 
 Cassii, but that they afterwards seized upon the territories of the Dobuni, who inhabited 
 the other parts of Buckinghamshire, extending to the western frontier of the Cassii ; this 
 part of Buckinghamshire he supposes to have been originally possessed by the Ancalites, 
 but afterwards conquered by the Dobuni. 
 
 BRITISH COINS FOUND IN WHADDON CHASE. 
 
 In 1849, a farm tenant in Whaddon Chase, whilst engaged in ploughing a portion 
 of his land lately cleared of timber and underwood, and inclosed, discovered a hoard of 
 British gold coin. As a matter of course the news spread like an alarm of fire, and 
 
5 
 
 attracted many to the spot, who contrived amongst them to obtain altogether about 100 
 of these rare and valuable relics ; eventually, about 320 were handed over to Mr. Selby 
 Lowndes, the owner of the land and Lord of Whaddon Chase. The passing and 
 re-passing of the plough over the spot had dispersed the coins, showing that they must 
 have originally been placed under a very shallow covering of earth ; and it was not 
 possible to discover whether they had ever been inclosed in any earthen or other vessel. 
 Not a single example of an engraved coin was found amongst the whole of them. About 
 a fourth consisted of pieces of the well-known type, stamped on one side only with the 
 rude shape of a horse, the head grotesquely shaped and resembling the beak of a fowl. 
 The others had a well executed figure of a horse unbridled and at liberty ; and on the 
 reverse, a wreath dividing a field, one of the divisions being filled up by various unknown 
 objects, the other by a peculiar flower. Mr. Akerman, the learned numismatic, con¬ 
 jectured that these coins were of a later period than those of Cunobelin. He writes— 
 “ Any conjectures as to the accident which led to the deposit of these coins in such a 
 place; whether they were the produce of plunder, or the buried hoard of a British 
 chieftain, or the spoil of some Roman soldier located in the adjacent camp, are questions 
 which may amuse, but can elicit nothing of value to the antiquary.” 
 
 “ It is not easy to discover the meaning of the types of British coins of the 
 degenerate class, to which these pieces certainly belong. The progress of corruption of 
 design seems to us to have been sometimes influenced in a great measure by the skill, or 
 want of skill, of the engraver ; but we shall not err much in the conjecture, that these 
 coins are of a later period than those of Cunobelin, with the wheat-ear and rampant 
 horse. We hold in common with the numismatists of the Continent, that the rudest 
 coins of this class are the latest; and with this view, we do not hesitate to ascribe the 
 Whaddon Chase coins to the important period just previous to the annexation of Britain 
 as a Roman province, a period on which but little light is shed by Dion Cassius, and 
 the history of which, owing to the loss of a most important book of Tacitus, must be 
 investigated principally by means of the few numismatic monuments which have 
 descended to us .”—Records of Buckinghamshire. 
 
 The average weight of the coins was found to be just under 90 grains troy. Though 
 so truly adjusted, their fineness varied considerably, and they are not equal to our present 
 gold standard, being alloyed with silver. 
 
 Mr. Selby Lowndes, as Lord of the Manor, instituted a legal inquisition on the finding 
 of the coins, and a jury was empanelled. Jt was a renewal of an ancient procedure to 
 make so novel an inquiry. The jury found that Mr. Lowndes, as Lord of the ancient 
 Chase, was the rightful owner, and was entitled to the coins. Three specimens were 
 deposited in the Museum of the Bucks Archaeological Society. The invention of a 
 stamped currency is attributed to the Lydians, 800 b.c. Rome had a silver coinage 
 
6 
 
 270 B.C., also a brass currency ; about the same period iron coin was used in Sparta. 
 Julias Caesar obtained permission of the Senate to place his profile upon the coins 
 issued by him 45 b.c. We have here proof that coins were made in England prior 
 to the Roman invasion. Coins in copper and tin were made by the Saxons, a.d. 660 ; 
 the Normans also made a silver coin ; silver pence increased in the reign of John, and 
 gold coin was first used in England in 1087. 
 
 EARLY HISTORICAL EVENTS. 
 
 S. Lysons. 
 
 [Samuel Lysons was nephew of Daniel Lysons, 31.D., of Bath, author of “ Essays 
 on Fever.” Samuel Lysons, a well known and eminent antiquary and topographer, teas 
 horn in 1763, at Rodmorton, Gloucestershire; he studied at the 31iddle Temple, London, 
 and was called to the har ; was appointed Keeper of the Records in the Tower of London. 
 His works relate principally to the Roman antiquities in Britain; he was A. 31., F.R.S., 
 F.A., and L.S. The Rev. Daniel Lysons , F.R.S. and F.S.A., his brother, rector of 
 Rodmorton, was author of “ Environs of London,” published 1792-1811. The brothers, 
 in conjunction, edited “ 3Iagna Britannia,” in 1806-13. S. Lysons died in 1819]. 
 
 “ The early part of the history of this kingdom is involved in so much obscurity 
 that it is very difficult to ascertain the locality of its events. The neighbourhood of Kimble 
 is supposed to have been the scene of that action with the Romans, in which the two 
 sons of Cunobeline, or Cymbeline, were defeated by A ulus Plautius, and Togodumnus, 
 one of them, slain. The conjecture that the strong post on the side of theChiltem Hills, 
 called Kimble Castle, was Cymbeline’s palace, seems very plausible ; the ancient name 
 of Kimble, as it occurs in records, was Kynebel or Cunobel: in the Survey of Domesday 
 it is written, perhaps corruptly, Chenebella. Chersley, in this county, is supposed by 
 some writers to have been the site of a battle, which Cerdic and Cynric fought against 
 the Britons in 527 ; Bishop Gibson says that he should rather have sought for it in the 
 kingdom of the West-Saxons, if any place of the name could there be found, since the 
 same commanders obtained a victory over the Britons eight years before at Cerdicesford 
 (now Charford), in Hampshire. Mr. Wise supposes the great cross (called White-leaf 
 Cross) cut on the side of the chalk hills, near Risborough, to be the memorial of some 
 victory of the Saxons over the Danes ; and that the name of the neighbouring village of 
 Bledlow is derived from Blod-law, the bloody hill. Ickford, near Thame, is supposed by 
 some antiquaries to have been the place where the treaty was signed by King Edward 
 and the Danes in 907, but Bishop Gibson is more inclined to fix it in the new forest. 
 The first historical event connected with this county, which rests on better evidence than 
 conjecture, is that of King Edward the Elder building a fortress on each side of the 
 
Ouse at Buckingham, -where he stayed four weeks. Bromton places this event in 912, 
 the Saxon Chronicle in 918. Ralph Higden tells us that the Danes raised fortresses on 
 both sides of the Ouse, at Buckingham, in 913. In 921, or as Florence of Worcester 
 says, in 918, the Danes committed great depredations between Aylesbury and the forest 
 of Bernwood. It is said by Bromton in his Chronicle, that Colnbrook was burnt by the 
 Danes in 1006 ; no other author mentions the fact, and it seems evidently to have been a 
 mistake for Cholsey, in Berkshire, which was destroyed by the Danes at the same time 
 that they burnt Wallingford and Reading.” 
 
 TRACES OF ROMAN OCCUPATION. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 The Earliest and most authentic historian of the ancient state of Britain is its 
 first invader, Julius Caesar, but the information he gives is very limited. When he 
 landed, he states that he found the inhabitants divided into upwards of forty different 
 nations or tribes, each living in a state of lawless independence. Those occupying the 
 southern parts of the kingdom had made some progress iu agriculture, and were the 
 most civilized ; the rest maintained themselves by pasture, were clothed with skins of 
 beasts, and were constantly shifting their habitations, either in search of food or to 
 annoy or avoid their enemies. When Britain first became a province of Rome, 
 Buckinghamshire formed a part of Britannia superior ; in the subsequent division ot 
 the province, it was included in the district of Flavia Caesariensis. 
 
 The country then abounded in houses, which very much resembled those of Gaul, 
 and which are thus described by Strabo:—“They build their houses of wood, in the 
 form of a circle, with lofty tapering roofs. The forests of the Britons are their cities ; 
 for, when they have enclosed a very large circle with felled trees, they build within it 
 houses for themselves and their herds of cattle.” The towns and villages of the Britons, 
 if such they could be called, were, in Csesar’s time, collections of skin-covered huts, 
 hidden in thick woods with a ditch all round, and a wall of mud, or trunks of trees 
 placed one upon another for protection. Such was then the primitive style of domestic 
 architecture of this country, if their buildings can be said to have any pretentions 
 whatever to that art. Their defences were in character with their dwellings, but they 
 had only to defend themselves against opposing clans, who were in as primitive and 
 helpless a position as themselves. All were slaves of a barbarous worship, whose 
 authority extended over the chief affairs of life. 
 
 The conquest and colonization of Britain by the Romans is the beginning of our 
 real history. All before that event is obscure and fabulous. Milton, in his history of 
 
Errand, avow; that “of British affairs, from the first peopling of the island to the 
 coming of Julius Caesar, nothing certain, either by tradition, history, or ancient fame, 
 hath hitherto been left ns." The Romans fonnd this country so habitable that they 
 improved it: many of them permanently settled here, and several of their emperors 
 resided here for long periods. The Roman roads, the massive remains of fortifications, 
 
 encampments, the fragments of sculpture, tesselated pavement, their baths, weapons, 
 and numerous articles of domestic use. which are now continually discovered, show 
 plainly hew completely they adopted this country as their own, and became domesticated 
 here. The infinence of Agricola was great: he as early as the year a.b. 84 encouraged 
 the Britons to adopt the customs and garb of the Romans, many nnder his advice 
 departing from their own asceticism to familiarise themselves with the comforts and 
 elegances of Roman civilisation : he was recalled by the emperor Domitian, who envied 
 his renown. Under Agricolo the Roman power reached its utmost limit here ; it was 
 he who discovered Britain to be an island. 
 
 Xo reason has been assigned for the invasion of this island by the Romans, further 
 than the ordinary one of a desire to extend the boundaries of their empire. “ However 
 grievous the Roman yoke sat on Britains, yet it was attended by very beneficial conse¬ 
 quences. for it let in the blessed beams of our Saviour's doctrine upon them, the 
 brightness of whose empire chased away the barbarism wherewith their minds and 
 manners were overclouded, as it had done in all other places where the Gospel had any 
 infinence. The Romans, having transported colonies hither, and reduced the natural 
 inhabitants of the island to civil society by training them in liberal arts, and sending 
 them to Gaul to be instructed in the Roman laws, they were so reformed in manners 
 and behaviour by their laws and customs, that even in their diet and dress they 
 were not inferior to other provinces. Their noble honses also, and other elegant 
 pieces of architecture were so magnificent that we behold them at this day with 
 admiration: and the common sort of people currently report that these Roman 
 buildings were the works of giants."— 
 
 The occupation of Buckinghamshire by the Romans is everywhere evident : we 
 trace them in almost all parts of the county, not only by ancient roads which traverse 
 several parts of the shire, but by the various and continuous " finds ” which are so 
 frequently accidentally made—their remains of domestic architecture, their coins, their 
 household appendages, funereal vases, and burial remains. Proofs of their residences, 
 beyond doubt, have been discovered at Mentmore, Great Kimble, Ashendon, Little 
 Kimble, Snelshali, EHesborough, Terrick, Aston Clinton, Monks Risborongh, Princes 
 Risborongh, Weston Turville, Weston Underwood, Stone, Long Crendon, Tythrope, 
 Aylesbury. Dinton, Whaddon. Wing, Shenley, Tingewic-k, Winslow, Latimer, High 
 Wveombe, Bierton, Great Horwood, Thornborough, and Poxcott; indeed most places 
 in the county have given ample proofs of their presence. 
 
9 
 
 After the departure of the Romans this island became a prey to the Saxons. Pillage 
 by land and piracy by sea, were the chief pursuits of these invaders. We have, con¬ 
 sequently, to mourn over the loss of that literature which during four hundred previous 
 years of Roman and Imperial civilisation must have been as prolific as various. Not¬ 
 withstanding this interval, the influence of Roman institutions, of Roman thought, and 
 Roman language, survived and still remains. Rome did not die ; she yet lives, and we 
 feel her influence in our every day life. Although few writers give the precise object the 
 Romans had in invading this island, Ctesar justifies himself in so doing by stating that 
 “ he resolved to proceed into Britain because he discovered that in almost all the wars 
 with the Gauls, succours had been furnished to our enemy from that country.” This is 
 a somewhat feeble reason ; without doubt his object was further aggression, with a 
 desire to extend his conquests and the boundaries of his vast empire. 
 
 The richest treasures we have succeeded to from a long line of ancestors are our 
 antiquities. They carry us back to dim periods that have bequeathed to us no written 
 explanation of the origin and the uses of their indestructible monuments. Vast mounds, 
 gigantic temples, mystic towers belong to ages not of barbarism, but of civilisation 
 different from our own. These are succeeded by the remains of the great Roman 
 conquerors of the world, who bestowed upon Britain their refinements and their learning. 
 Our Anglo-Saxon Arts and Sciences have left indelible traces, in written descriptions and 
 pictorial representations snatched from the spoils of time ; and in some architectural 
 remains of early piety which have escaped the ravages of the Dane. Great connecting 
 links between the past and the present rise up in the glorious ecclesiastical edifices that 
 we are now at length learning to look upon with love and admiration—to preserve and 
 to restore. But there are also monuments scattered through the country, of the 
 antagonistic principles of brute force and military dominion. The feudal times have 
 left us their impressive memorials, in baronial castles and crumbling fortresses—in the 
 weapons and armour of their haughty chieftains. “Remnants of history which have 
 casually escaped the shipwreck of time” (so Bacon defines antiquities) are amongst the 
 best riches of the freight of knowledge—not merely curiosities, but of intrinsic value. 
 
 ROMAN ROADS. 
 
 Bishop of Cloyxe, 1813. 
 
 “ The Roman Stations in this county are little better ascertained than those in 
 Berkshire, but the roads are traced with more ease and certainty. 
 
 The Ikening-Street enters its eastern borders near Edlesborough, still preserving 
 its course on the edge of the Downs, leaves Pitstone close on its right, and Tring on its 
 left; then passing Drayton on the right, and crossing the high road from Aylesbury to 
 
10 
 
 London near the 38rd mile stone, leaves Halton to the right and proceeds to Wendover, 
 through which it passes; after which, leaving Ellesborough Church and Kimble-Magna 
 on the right, it runs through Asket, goes at the foot of Whiteleaf Cross, and keeps both 
 Monks Risborough and Princes Risborough on its right, making, in this part of its 
 course, a very remarkable bend, in order to keep on the high ground ; it then passes 
 through Culver ton, and, recovering its former line near Saunderton, which it leaves on 
 the right, enters Oxfordshire near Chinuor. In this county, as in that of Bedford, it 
 passes many camps and earthworks, of various sorts on the hills ; but, unlike the roads 
 which are known to be Roman, never bends towards them, or seems to have any connec¬ 
 tion with them. 
 
 The Watling-Street enters the county with the modern Irish road, at the 42nd 
 mile stone, and proceeds, perfectly straight, through Brickhill, Fenny Stratford, and 
 Stony Stratford, at which last town it crosses the Ouse into Northamptonshire ; all traces 
 of the Roman causeway are, of course, obliterated by the present turnpike road, but no 
 doubt seems to be entertained of its line, whatever difference of opinion there may be in 
 determining the site of the itinerary stations upon it. 
 
 The Akeman-Street, which formed a connection between the southern parts of 
 Wales and the more eastern counties of England, runs, as has been observed, in its 
 course through Bedfordshire, in an intermediate direction between the two British 
 trackways, the Ikeneld and the Rykneld. We remark how impossible it is for even a 
 careless observer not to notice its general bearing, on looking at those parts of it 
 which still remain perfect, near its eastern and western extremities. The names given 
 to our ancient roads, in maps, are but little regarded by well-informed topographers, as 
 the surveyors or engravers in many counties have affixed, without care or knowledge, the 
 peculiar titles of the British or Roman ways to any road which happened to approach 
 them ; thus, in the common maps, the name of the Akeman-Street has been given to a 
 vicinal way leading from Aylesbury into Oxfordshire, in a direction totally different to 
 the bearing of the Akeman-Street in any part of its course ; the name of Watling-Street 
 to the road leading from Duustable to Woburn, and the Roman road from Cricklade to 
 Spene, though it still continues visible and highly raised on the limits of Wilts and 
 Berks, is represented in all the maps as running far to the right by Albourn. 
 
 I could mention mistakes equally glaring in our modern surveys, and sometimes in 
 the writings of our most respectable antiquaries, as Leland, &c., who, through inadver¬ 
 tence, frequently give to a vicinal road, leading to a principal streetway, the name of that 
 streetway itself, although it may happen to be in a very different direction. With respect 
 to the real course of the Akeman-Street, in this county, while some adopt the conjecture 
 of Stukeley, that, in its way from Alcester, it passed not far from Winslow, and then by 
 Fenny Stratford ; there are others, whose opinion I prefer, who suppose it went to the 
 
11 
 
 north of this route, by Hide-lane, near Buckingham, Stony Stratford, Stanton, Newport, 
 and Bedford, to Sandy. 
 
 The road which is falsely named the Akeman-street in our present maps appears 
 to have come from Bicester, in a line with the modern turnpike, towards the Berry- 
 fields, near Aylesbury, and may have been part of a Roman road, leading from Alcester 
 to Yerulam or London. 
 
 Another road, proceeding from the camp at Alcester, went, on the very north¬ 
 westerly borders of this county, in a direct line through Bicester, and, leaving Stratton 
 Audley to the right, passed by Newton Priced and Finmore, in Oxfordshire, crossed 
 the road from London to Banbury, near the Gist mile stone, went through Water 
 Stratford, and seems to have run near Stowe in its way to Towcester. 
 
 It is also mentioned by some writers that traces of a Roman road, under the usual 
 name of the Portway, are found about Stone and Hartwell, to the west of Aylesbury ; if 
 we had any good reason for supposing, with Stukeley, that Thame was the Roman town 
 of Tamesis, we should not be surprised to find a road in such a direction ; but as 
 Stukeley’s idea is founded on nothing more than the resemblance of the name, and as 
 the bearing of the road itself is not described to us, it is impossible to speak of it with 
 any certainty.’-’ 
 
 THE SAXON HEPTARCHY. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 The Saxons were a fierce and warlike people of Gothic origin, inhabiting the 
 countries bordering on the Baltic, the Weser, the Eras, and the Rhine. They subjugated 
 the best parts of the country, and established several petty kingdoms, which have been 
 called by modern historians the Heptarchy, though the term is not strictly accurate. 
 
 Under this Heptarchy, Buckinghamshire was included in the kingdom of Mercia, 
 which began in a.d. 584. Previous to the formation of this kingdom the counties of 
 Bucks and Oxon were included in the third or Wessex kingdom, which was first formed 
 by Cerdic in a.d. 521 or more than half a century before that of Mercia. Mercia was 
 the largest, if not the most powerful, kingdom of the Heptarchy ; it comprehended all 
 the midland counties, and its frontiers extended to all those of the other six kingdoms. 
 The limits of the people of Mercia were not at first at all definite; this people pro¬ 
 gressively extended their territory towards the west at the expense of the Cambriaus, 
 and towards the south at the expense of the Saxons, with whom they did not feel 
 
12 
 
 united by community of origin, so closely as the Saxons were amongst themselves. 
 They were in fact an aggressive people, perpetually encroaching on their neighbours, 
 and extending their own territory by conquests and marauding expeditions. 
 
 The name Mercia has been derived, by Camden and others, from the word meare , a 
 limit ; for the other Kingdoms, it is said, bordered on it. Lingard thinks the people 
 were called Mercians, perhaps from the marshy district in which they first settled. Ttie 
 most probable explanation is by Macpherson, who observes that the Saxon name 
 Myrcnaric properly signifies the woodland kingdom, which agrees very closely with 
 Coitani, the Latiuised name of the old British inhabitants, signifying woodland-men 
 or foresters. 
 
 The kingdom of Mercia ended in 828, having continued 244 years. Its first 
 Christian king was Peada. The names of the princes of the Heptarchy are differently 
 written by historians. This period is in all respects the most obscure and contradictory 
 portion of British history. 
 
 Winslow, it is stated, was, in very early times, a royal town, Offa, the eleventh of 
 the Mercian kings, having had a palace there. His reign began a.d. 757 ; he is 
 especially mentioned as holding his court at Winslow, and he there planned the 
 foundation of a monastery, that, following the pious example of other sovereigns, he might 
 expiate his offences and obtain the favour of Heaven ; and deeply meditating on the 
 choice of a patron saint, for his intended establishment, and praying with great 
 devotion to the Almighty, who had often delivered him from his enemies, and the 
 machinations of his wife, besought that He would be pleased to vouchsafe to him some 
 special light and information to direct his choice in fulfilling his vow of founding a 
 monastery. The history proceeds to relate that a sudden light from Heaven shone with 
 peculiar brightness, and was believed by Offa to be a token of the favour of the Deity ; 
 thereupon the King immediately determined to grant the royal manor of Winslow, as 
 part of the endowment of his new foundation of an abbey, to the honour of the great 
 British proto-martyr, St. Alban. The Mercian kings also had a palace at Brill. 
 
 Buckinghamshire can claim other connections with the Mercians. Eadburgh and 
 her sister Eaditha, two holy virgins, the daughters of Frewald or Fredewall, a Mercian 
 Prince, are reported to have been born at Quarrendon, and their niece, St. Osyth, is the 
 heroine in the Aylesbury legend. St. Romald, or Rumbald, the Buckingham saint, was 
 the son of a daughter of Penda, the fourth King of Mercia, a.d. 625. Algar, Earl of 
 Mercia, held the Manor of Great Marlow, and the names of other Mercians are handed 
 down to us as holders of Buckinghamshire Manors. After the union of the Heptarchy, 
 Buckinghamshire became comprised within the district called Danelagh, or the Danish 
 district. 
 
 The name of Alfred, King of Wessex, surnamed the Great, stands pre-eminent 
 
13 
 
 in the series of the kings of the Saxon race. Scarcely any excellence can be named 
 which has not been ascribed to this illustrious prince. Subsequent research, however, shows 
 that he had more ascribed to him than justly appertains to his history. Still, glory 
 enough remains to Alfred in his triumph over the Danes, and in his police and judicial 
 improvements, to preserve him in his foremost place amongst English sovereigns. The 
 Anglo-Saxon state of society has been mostly overrated ; neither in its political nor civil 
 organization did it exhibit higher examples of social order than are usually to be found 
 in communities entering on the early stages of civilization. From the Anglo-Saxons we 
 derive the names of the most ancient officers amongst us, of the greater part of the 
 divisions of the kingdom, and of almost all our towns and villages. From them also 
 we derive our language ; of which the structure and a majority of the words are Saxon. 
 Even in our most classical writers, as Milton, Addison, and Johnson, the words of Saxon 
 derivation greatly predominate. 
 
 ANCIENT CHURCH ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 Rev. A. Baker. 
 
 “ It has been a matter of dispute among archmologists whether any remains at all of 
 Anglo-Saxon Church architecture were discoverable. The fact is now 7 generally admitted. 
 Certainly, in the earliest churches remaining in all parts of the Kingdom, of which the 
 date is not exactly known, there are sufficient marks of difference in structure and 
 materials, to distinguish them into two classes. The earlier specimens therefore have 
 been attributed to a period anterior to the Conquest. 
 
 In Buckinghamshire there are at least three Saxon churches,—Caversfield, Lavendon, 
 and Wing. The date of the Conquest is a.d. 1066. The churches assigned to this and 
 the subsequent century, are distinguishable by many marks from those of earlier date. 
 In Saxon architecture the doorway or arch seems to have pierced the wall, as a necessary 
 aperture, merely for use ; the doorway or arch being, as it were, the appendage,—the 
 flat wall running flush from it, the main feature. But in Norman architecture the arch 
 and doorway are introduced as ornaments, and were multiplied repeatedly, — the 
 intervening wall or pier contracting into the circular (or sometimes octangular) column. 
 The mouldings chiefly employed in this style are the chevron, or zig-zag, the billet, 
 the cable, the chain, the beaded, all of which appear on a doorway at Dinton Church. 
 
 Stewkley Church is celebrated as one of the choicest examples of pure Norman. 
 The cushion-like truncated capital to the fluted jamb-shaft of the Dinton door, is another 
 characteristic of Norman work. It is observable also in the pediment of the font in 
 
14 
 
 Aylesbury Church of the same date. Norman towers are generally low and stunted, 
 scarcely rising above the ridge of the nave and chancel roofs. Those in this county are 
 Stone, Ickford, and Bradwell, near Stony Stratford. The upper part of the tower was 
 sometimes arcaded, like that at Haddenham Church. 
 
 Early-English (or First-Pointed) arches, are distinguished by their acute angular 
 form,—the depth and sharpness of their mouldings, enriched with the tooth ornament, 
 
 _and by the deep recess of insular and often banded shafts, which form the jambs or 
 
 piers. The arches in the north transept and the west doorway of Aylesbury Church are 
 beautiful examples. The windows of this style are long narrow deeply-splayed lancet- 
 lights—at an early period, detached,—but later in the style, combined in groups of two, 
 three, five, and seven; a triplet with the middle light higher than the other two being a 
 very common form. The side windows in the chancel of Aylesbury Church are examples 
 of this, the Early-Pointed style. 
 
 There are not very good examples in Bucks of Middle-Pointed work. In Aylesbury 
 Church there is but one, and that a poor, window of this style, viz , at the east end of 
 the chapel formerly used for the Latin School. Some square-headed windows at Weston 
 Turville of the style, are good; also at St. Peter, Burnham, and St. Mary, Hitcham. 
 There is a good circular Decorated window at the east end of the south aisle in 
 Hardwick Church. There is a good Middle-Pointed window at Monks Risborough. 
 
 The east window of the chancel at Great Horwood may be considered, perhaps, an 
 example of Flamboyant. A feature in the Third-Pointed style is the square arrangement 
 at the head of doorways, producing what are called spandrels at the comers on either 
 side, filled either with geometrical or foliated mouldings, or often with an heraldic shield. 
 There is a fine example in the south-east doorway of Aylesbury Church.” 
 
 ARMS AND ARMORY. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 The arhs of the knights surnamed de Ailesbury were a cross argent in a field 
 azure. The Ailesburys were Lords of the town of Ailesbury in the reign of 
 Edward I., but the arms here described were those of their family, not the arms 
 of the town. Indeed, Aylesbury has no armorial bearings. The borough of Buckingham 
 has its swan, ducally gorged ; Wycombe the like bird with its reflected chain, but the 
 county town is better known by its far-famed Aylesbury duck ! 
 
 Nothing is more common than for a custom to be universal, when the origin of it 
 is either unknown, or involved in great obscurity. Thus there have been many disputes 
 
15 
 
 among the learned about the origin of arms. They are called arms, on account of their 
 having been borne principally on the buckler, banners, and other apparatus of war ; and 
 coats of arms, because anciently embroidered on their tabards or surcoats, &c. 
 
 Not to wander into mere conjectures, it is certain that from time immemorial there 
 have been certain symbolical marks in use among men to distinguish them in armies, and 
 to serve as ornaments for shields and ensigns ; but these marks were used arbitrarily as 
 devices, emblems, hieroglyphics, &c., and were not regular arms or armories like ours, 
 which are hereditary marks of the nobility of a house, regulated according to the rules 
 of heraldry, and authorized by princes. 
 
 Before the time of Marius, even the eagle was not the constant design of the Roman 
 army, but they bore in their standards a wolf, a leopard, or an eagle, indifferently, 
 according to the fancy of their generals. The same diversity has been observed with 
 regard to the French and English ; on which account authors are divided when they 
 speak of the ancient arms of those countries. In fact, it appears, from all the best 
 authors, that the names of families were not known before the year 1000 ; and that 
 ordinary the use of arms did not begin till the time of the first crusades of the Christians 
 in the East. But the truth is that it was much promoted by the ancient tournaments. 
 
 Henry the Fowler, who regulated the tournaments in Germany, was the first who 
 introduced these marks of honour, which appear to have been of an older standing in 
 Germany than in any other part of Europe. It was then that coats of arms were first 
 instituted, which were a kind of livery, composed of several bars, fillets, and colours ; 
 whence came the fess, bend, pale, chevron, and lozenge, which were some of the first 
 elements of armories. Those who had never been concerned in any tournaments had 
 no arms, though they were gentlemen. Such of the nobility and gentry as crossed the 
 sea in the expeditions to the Holy Land assumed also those tokens of honour to distin¬ 
 guish themselves. 
 
 For above two centuries after this, nothing is found upon ancient tombs but crosses, 
 with Gothic inscriptions and representations of the persons deceased. The tomb of Pope 
 Clement IV., who died in 1268, is the first whereon we find any arms. It may be the 
 fact that Clement IV. is the first pope whose arms appear, but in the Temple Church 
 arms are found on a tomb a century earlier. The first of the great seals of English 
 kings, with arms upon them, are those of Richard I. (1189 and 1195). The latter have 
 three lions, which have ever since been the arms of England. Originally none but 
 the nobility had the right of bearing arms, but King Charles V., having ennobled the 
 Parisians, by his charter in 1371, permitted them to bear arms ; and, from their 
 example, the eminent citizens of other places did the like. 
 
 Camden refers the origin of hereditary arms in England to the time of the 
 Norman kings. He says their use was not established till the reign of King Henry III.; 
 
16 
 
 and he instances in several of the most considerable families in England, in which, till 
 that time, the son always bore different arms from the father. About the same time it 
 became the custom in England for private gentlemen to bear arms ; borrowing them from 
 the lords of whom they held in fee, or to whom they were most devoted. 
 
 “ For each of the kingdoms of the Heptarchy (or Octarchy) armorial devices were 
 invented in the middle ages. To the kings of Mercia, or at least to the Christian kings, 
 were attributed the following arms :— Azure, a saltire argent. The saltire is well known 
 as St. Andrew’s Cross. There was, from an early period, a chapel of St. Andrew attached 
 to the Abbey of St. Alban’s ; and it is perhaps not an unlikely conjecture that from this 
 connection the saltire—a golden saltire in an azure field—became the ensign of St. 
 Alban’s Abbey. The founder of this great minster was Offa, King of Mercia ; and thus, 
 in all probability, the saltire became to be attributed, with a change of tincture, to him 
 and his race. The white swan with expanded wings, and ducally gorged and chained, 
 may be regarded as the symbol of this county. It is a badge or cognizance, which the 
 house of Stafford, formerly Dukes of Buckingham, inherited from remote antiquity. 
 Counties have properly no arms, and it is an error to regard the insignia of the borough of 
 Buckingham as belonging to the shire ; but to look upon the swan as the county emblem 
 is quite permissible.”—H. Gough, Esq. 
 
 The use of armorial bearings can be traced as hereditary in England as far back as 
 the reign of Stephen. Armorial bearings were first worn upon the surcoats and banners 
 of the Crusaders in 1100 to distinguish the leaders in battle ; they assumed a definite 
 character in the reign of Henry III., 1216 to 1272. During the Wars of the Roses 
 armorial bearings maintained their reputation. Shakespeare makes a riddle of bearing 
 arms ; in the churchyard scene in “ Hamlet” we have the following dialogue :— 
 
 The 1st Clown —There is no ancient gentlemen but gardeners, ditchers, and grave- 
 makers ; they hold up Adam’s profession. 
 
 2nd Clown —Was he a gentleman ? 
 
 1st Clown —He was the first that ever bore arms. 
 
 2nd Cloivn —Why, he had none. 
 
 1 Clown —What, art a heathen ? How dost thou understand the Scripture ? The 
 Scripture says Adam digged ; could he dig without arms ? 
 
 A GLIMPSE AT DOM. BOO. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 William of Normandy claimed, or professed to claim the Crown of England as 
 a gift from Edward the Confessor, consequently he considered his rival Harold a 
 usurper. William was crowned in December, 1066, but Doomsday Book was not 
 compiled for twenty years after. Dorn. Boc., or Doomsday Book, is the foundation of 
 
17 
 
 local histories, an authority of which all historians are glad to avail themselves. This 
 extraordinary manuscript (by some written Domesday Book) had been in existence four 
 centuries prior to the introduction of the art of printing into this country. 
 
 This great survey of England was compiled by order of William, and finished in a.d. 
 1086 ; it is in two volumes of 760 and 900 pages. A passage from the Anglo-Saxon 
 Chronicle, referring to its accuracy, states that “ there was not one single hide, nor yard 
 of land, nor even—it is a shame to tell—not an ox, nor a cow, nor a swine, was left, 
 that was not set down in the writ.” For the execution of the survey, com¬ 
 missioners called King’s Justiciaries, or Legati Regis were appointed to go into each 
 county and upon the oaths of the Sheriff, the lords of each manor, the presbyters of 
 every Church, the reeves of every hundred, the bailiffs and six villains of every village, 
 were to enquire into the name of the place, who held it in the time of King Edward, 
 who was the present possessor, how many hides in the manor, how many carucates in 
 demesne, how many homages, how many villains, how many cotarii, how many servi, what 
 freemen, how many tenants in soccage, what quantity of wood, how much meadow and 
 pasture, what mills and fish ponds, how much added or taken away, what the gross 
 value in King Edward’s time, what the present value, and how much each freeman or 
 soc-man had or has. All this was to be triply enumerated ; first as to the manner the 
 estate was held in the time of the Confessor ; then, as it was bestowed by King 
 William ; aud thirdly, as its value stood at the formation of the survey. The jurors 
 had moreover to state whether any advance could be made in the value. 
 
 To the general reader there is a difficulty in understanding the antiquated terms 
 made use of in Domesday, also in the ancient measures of land quoted. Sir H. Ellis 
 says, “a hide, a yard-land, a Knight’s fee, &c., contained no certain number of acres, 
 but varied in different places ; it has been described to be as much as was sufficient to 
 the cultivation of one plough, whence our term plough land.” The carucate, which is 
 also to be interpreted plough land, was as much arable as could be managed with one 
 plough, and the beasts belonging thereto, in a year ; having meadow, pasture, and houses 
 for the householders and cattle belonging to it ; and it appears that “ the hide was the 
 measure of land in the Confessor’s reign, the carucate that to which it was reduced by 
 the Conqueror’s new standard.” The hide is generally supposed to be equal to 120 acres, 
 and money estimated as at thirty times its present value. 
 
 According to this record the following were the principal landowners in the county 
 of Buckingham when the survey was made ; the Manors they held were awarded them 
 as the followers or the representative of followers of the Norman invader. Walter 
 Giffard, Earl of Buckingham, had 48 manors ; the Bishop of Baicux, 26 ; the Bishop of 
 Constance, 18 ; William Fitz-Ansculf, ancestor of the Paganells and Somerys, 16 ; Earl 
 Morton, 13 ; Milo Crispin, 12 ; Maigno Brito, founder of the barony of Wolverton, 10 ; 
 William Peverell, 8 ; Geoffrey de Mandeville, 7 ; Robert D'Oyley aud Roger de Iveri, 
 
18 
 
 each six manors; Hugh de Bolebec, and Judith, Countess of Northumberland, each five 
 manors ; Lewes Neweton, and 'Walter Fitz-Other, ancestor of the Windsors, each four 
 manors ; Hugh, earl of Chester, Robert de Todeni, Gozelm Brito, and Gilo, the brother 
 of Ansculf, each three manors: no other person appears to have possessed more than 
 two. The Survey describes very few manors in Buckinghamshire as belonging to the 
 church ; there was no religious house of any consequence at that time in the county. 
 The monasteries of Westminster, St. Albans, Barking, and St. Frideswide, in Oxford, 
 had among them seven manors. In process of time, many of the lay-manors became 
 annexed to various religious establishments of later foundation. Among the very few 
 estates which continued any length of time in the descendants of those families, who 
 possessed them at the time of the Norman Survey, may be mentioned Whitchurch, sold 
 by the Earl of Oxford (Hugh de Bolebec’s representative), in the reign of Queen 
 Elizabeth ; and Farnham, alienated in 1542. by the Earl of Shrewsbury, who was 
 descended from Bertram de Yerdon. Many of the manors, described in the Survey, 
 were either given to monasteries or alienated in other ways, long before the families of 
 the owners were extinct; many others, particularly those of the Bishops of Baieux and 
 Constance, reverted to the crown, were disposed of by various grants, and divided 
 amongst numerous families, whom, for want of records at that early period, it would be 
 impossible to trace. 
 
 THE BULSTRODE FAMILY. 
 
 Sir Bernard Burke. 
 
 [Sir John Bernard Burke, genealooist, and author of “ Burke's Peerage ,” “ The 
 Landed Gentry ,” “ Family Romance ,” “ Vicissitudes of Great Families ,” and other ivorks 
 of a similar character, was horn in London in 1815, and was educated for the bar. He 
 was appointed Ulster-King-at-Arms in 1853, and ivas knighted in 1854. Sir Bernard 
 is a great authority on all subjects connected with genealogy, heraldry, and antiquities .] 
 
 “ The first name of the Bulstrode family was Shobbington, and their chief seat 
 (which was what is now called Bulstrode Park) was in the family for several ages before 
 the arrival of the Normans. The Norman Conqueror, however, granted the estate to oue 
 of his nobles ; but the head of the Shobbingtous resolved rather to die upon the spot 
 than part with his possessions. In this resolution he armed his servants and tenants 
 whose number was very considerable ; upon which the Norman lord obtained of the 
 King 1,000 of his regular troops to enable him to take possession of the estate by force. 
 Whereupon Shobbington applied himself to his relations and friends to assist him, and 
 the two ancient families of the Hampdens and Penns took arms, together with their 
 
19 
 
 servants and tenants, and came to his relief. All the Shobbington party having 
 assembled, they cast up entrenchments, and the Norman with his forces encamped before 
 them. Now whether it were that the Saxons wanted horses or not, is uncertain; but the 
 story goes that having managed a number of bulls, they mounted them, and sallying out 
 in the night, surprised the Normans in their camp, killed many of them, and put the 
 rest to flight. The King having intelligence of this, and not thinking it safe for him 
 whilst his power was yet new and unsettled, to drive a daring and obstinate people to 
 despair, sent a herald to them to know what they would have, and promised Shobbington 
 a safe conduct if he would come to Court, which Shobbington accordingly did, riding 
 thither on a bull, accompanied with his seven sons. Being introduced into the Royal 
 presence the King asked him why he dared to resist when the rest of the kingdom had 
 submitted to his government ? Shobbington answered that he and his ancestors had 
 long enjoyed that estate ; and that if he would permit him to keep it, he would become 
 his subject and be faithful to him. The King thereupon granted him the free enjoyment 
 of his estate, upon which the family was from thence called Shobbington alias Bnlstrode. 
 But in process of time the first name was discontinued, and that of Bulstrode only has 
 remained to them. The earthworks in the park are said to be the remains of the 
 entrenchments thrown up by Shobbington.” 
 
 NEWPORT TAGNELL CASTLE. 
 
 Joseph Staines. 
 
 [ Mr. Joseph Staines was a resident and a long-standing inhabitant of Newport 
 Pagnetl; he held a respectable position in that town for mang years, teas an active and 
 intelligent man, and manager of the local Savings’ Bank. Some disarrangement in the 
 accounts of the bank brought him into trouble and disaster, and he lost his position as a 
 man of integrity. He wrote a history of Newport Pagnell, ichich is dated November, 
 1842.] 
 
 “ According to the custom of the age, Newport was fortified by a castle ; and, as 
 similar erections existed at Lavendon, Wolverton, and that part of Hanslope now called 
 “ Castle” Thorpe, this neighbourhood must have been one of the most formidable posi¬ 
 tions in the kingdom; nor does it appear to have been disturbed by insurrections. 
 
 It is likely that the Castle was erected soon after the Conquest; for William found 
 the fortresses which had been erected by the Romans and Saxons so few iu number, and 
 those in so decayed a state, that but little more than their ruins remained, and to guard 
 against invasion from enemies without, and tumult from foes within, he at once began 
 to erect castles all over the kingdom. The turbulent state of the country afterwards 
 
20 
 
 occasioned a rapid increase, for in the reign of Stephen they amounted to the number of 
 1115, averaging twenty-seven for each county. The site ot the Castle is still distinctly 
 visible at the point where the two rivers meet. The Lovatt is said to have formed a 
 moat to that part which faced the meadow, called even in the time of Edward IT. Castle 
 Meadow. The present state of the ground, probably much altered during the civil wars, 
 renders it impossible to decide whether it was a Castle for residence as well as defence ; 
 could we but arrive at this fact, we should at once have some clue to the time of its •erec¬ 
 tion, castles of residence being, according to Boswell, in no case of higher antiquity 
 than the reign of William I. 
 
 In process of time Castles became of less use as fortresses ; the more settled state of 
 the country, the abolition of the feudal system, and more particularly the discovery of 
 gunpowder, having occasioned a total change in the art of war, rendered these 
 places of strength of much less importance. These circumstances (together with 
 the fact of Roger de Somerie buildiug a Castle at Bordesley, which afterwards 
 became his principal seat) led to the neglect of the Castle at Newport; and though 
 it ultimately became a prey to the unsparing ravages of time, we do not know 
 upon what authority it has been stated that there were no ruins of it in existence 
 in Camden’s time. Camden, in his Magna Britannica, speaking of Newport Pagnell, 
 simply states that “ John de Somerie had his Castle here and from this expression it 
 would appear that topographers, following each other’s steps, have at once concluded that 
 not even its ruins were then iu existence ; they seemed to have overlooked a remark 
 which the father of antiquaries has made in the body of his work, that his design did 
 not permit of his adverting to every Castle which had come under his notice. 
 
 Leland also refers to the Castle in his manuscript collection, preserved in the Bod¬ 
 leian Library. 
 
 There can be little doubt but that the Castle was the residence of John de Somerie, 
 who married the last Paganell ; the Baron did not live long to enjoy his newly acquired 
 possession, which descended to his son Ralph, of whom it is said that he “ had seizin of 
 the Barony of Gervase Paganell.” Ralph died in the 11th of the reign of John, when his 
 son William became the Lord of the Manor of Newport, about which period the Castle 
 of Hanslope was destroyed.” 
 
 BIDDLESDEN ABBEY. 
 
 Ix the year 1147, Ernald de Bosco founded an abbey at Biddlesden for monks 
 of the Cistercian order. The founder endowed the establishment with his land in 
 
21 
 
 Biddlesden, in wood and in plain, besides an estate called Marieland, in the adjoining- 
 parish of Syresham ; and his successors and others augmented the endowment, so that 
 the possessions of the Abbey, lying partly in Northamptonshire and partly in Bucks, 
 comprised manors, lands, or houses in 21 parishes. In 1325, King Edward II. granted 
 the abbey the privilege of a weekly market on Mondays, and an annual fair for six days, 
 commencing upon the eve of St. Margaret’s Day. The Abbot, with the consent of the 
 convent, had previously advanced a loan of £100 to this monarch. 
 
 Having occupied an important position among the religious houses of Buckingham¬ 
 shire for centuries, St. Mary’s Abbey of Biddlesden was suppressed in 1540, its revenues 
 being then valued at £138 7s. 6d. per annum. To the monks were assigned pensions 
 for their lives. Richard Green, abbott, had £40 ; Thomas Todd, sub-prior, £6 ; and 
 eight others, £5 6s. 8d. each. The number of monks in the Abbey at its dissolu¬ 
 tion was eleven, whereof nine were priests. The following is the list of Abbots of 
 Biddlesden:—Richard, 1151; Alexander between 1157 and 1166; Richard, 1192; 
 William, who was deposed in 1198, and succeeded by Adam; Maurice, 1219; Henry, 
 1226, Stephen de Canterbury, died in 1228; Thomas, 1230; Gilfard, left Biddlesden 
 for Waverley Abbey in 1236; Walter, 1238; Henry Mallore, 1241 ; John de Sarum, 
 1301 ; Thomas de Buckingham, 1324 ; Roger de Gotham, 1326 ; Thomas, 1332 ; 
 Griffin, 1341 ; AVilliam de Louteburghe, 1346 ; Peter, 1397 ; Stephen, 1428 ; John, 
 1469 ; William, 1480 ; Richard Benet, 1495 ; and Richard Greene, from 1518 to the 
 surrender of the Abbey. 
 
 The Chartulary of Biddlesden, quoted by Dugdale, is among the Harleian MSS., 
 No. 4714, and is of considerable thickness, on 363 leaves of vellum. It is stated in the 
 Monasticon Anglicanum, that in the library at Stowe were preserved no fewer than 81 
 original documents of this Abbey, with seals appendant to most of them, commencing 
 from the reign of King John ; these are now dispersed. 
 
 After the Reformation the site of the Abbey was granted, together with the manor 
 of Biddlesden, to Sir Thomas Wrvothesley, but the estate soon afterwards passed, 
 by purchase, to the Peckhams, who resided at Denham. This family caused the Abbey 
 Church to be demolished, and the ring of five bells belonging to it, to be conveyed to 
 Denham, where they were subsequently re-cast into eight. Queen Elizabeth seized this 
 estate in satisfaction for debt due by the Peckhams to the Crown, and gave it to Arthur, 
 Lord Grey, on the attainder of whose son, in 1603, it reverted to the Crown, and was 
 granted in 1614 to Sir George Villiers, afterwards Duke of Buckingham. It then passed 
 by purchase to the Sayer family. Henry Sayer so totally demolished everything that 
 not the least remains appear, or even the site of any building whatsoever, where the 
 Abbey stood, or any of its offices. In digging about it, there were several stone coffins 
 found, one of which was perverted to profane uses, and several thousand of human bones 
 were removed, and thrown away, to level the ground. From this family, Biddlesden 
 
22 
 
 passed by purchase to Earl Verney, whose niece, Lady Fermanagh, sold it in 1791, to 
 George Morgan, Esq., of Abercothy, Co. Carmarthen, and his brother, Dr. Morgan, 
 Prebendary of Gloucester. 
 
 THE DANES DESTROY BRILL. 
 
 White Kennett. 
 
 [White Kennett, an English prelate, was bom at Dover, 1660. He teas educated at 
 Westminster School, and St. Edmund Hall, Oxford, where he published his “ Letter from 
 a Student , concerning the approaching Parliamenta political pamphlet , which highly 
 offended the Whig party. He also published at this time his “ Ballad ,” a political poem, 
 and, in 1681, appeared his translation of “Erasmus Morite Encomium. He was pre¬ 
 sented to the living of Ambrosden, near Bicester. In 1 < 18, he was promoted to the see of 
 Peterborough, which he enjoyed ten years. He was an able antiquary, and published 
 various ivories on theology, antiquities, and ecclesiastical history; besides which he edited 
 “A Collection of English Historians,” which bears his name. His “ History of Ambrosden 
 and Burcester, and other adjacent parts of the counties of Oxford and Bucks, although 
 mainly treating of Oxfordshire, contains a great deal of ancient historic matter relating to 
 Buckinghamshire. He died in London in the year 1728.] 
 
 “ Camden thinks it was in this year 914 that the Danes broke with fury into the 
 forest of Bernwood, and that then perhaps was ruin’d the City of Burgh, an ancient place 
 as Roman money there found does witness, which was afterwards a Royal village of 
 Edward the Confessor, tho it be now a small Country Town, and instead of Buri-hill is 
 by contraction call’d Brill. This Etymology of the place is indeed more natural than 
 what another writer would force upon it, as if Brill was a corruption of Burr-hill, from 
 the burrs there growing. But- I rather think the true denomination of this place, 
 formerly call’d Bruheham, Bruhel, Brehull, was from Bruel a thorny place, from Bruer a 
 thorn, whence a thicket or bushy place was call’d Bruere as the Abby of Bruer, Abbatia 
 de Biueria in the forest of Wliichwood ; and a wood in our old latin was call’d Brnillus, 
 as in a Charter of Henry the third to the Church of Chichester, the King grants Bruillos 
 nostros Cicestre, viz., bruillum qui vocatur bruillus regis, and bruillum qui vocatur 
 denemarsh. From which reason this town so situate in the forest of Bernwood, might 
 be properly call’d Bruill, and at last Brill. Mr. Camden seems not only mistaken in the 
 derivation of this place, but in his historical remark upon it, there being no authority 
 or tradition that this place was ever called Burgus, or ever sackt by the Danes. And 
 therefore Speed conjectures that this demolition by the Danes is to be meant of Tame. 
 But this opinion stands on no better grounds, and I should sooner think the Burgus or 
 Burg they report now to be destroy’d was far remote from the forest of Bernwood, and 
 could be no other than the old Medesliamsted, call’d Burgh and Burgus, now Peterborough, 
 once at least destroy’d by these Pagans.” 
 
23 
 
 THE YACHE, CHALFONT ST. GILES. 
 
 The Vache, at Chalfont St. Giles, is the residence of Mr. T. Newland Allen. The 
 mansion stands in a park containing splendid trees, and the scene is a very agree¬ 
 able one, but the place is most interesting to archaeologists from having been the resi¬ 
 dence of Fleetwood, the regicide. A portion of the house is of the fourteenth century 
 date (the rest is modern). Iu the ground is a monument, which Admiral Sir Hugh 
 Palliser, who resided here, erected as a memorial to Captain Cook, the famous explorer. 
 It consists of a pedestal, inscribed on which is a lengthy and effusive record of Cook's 
 merits and achievements, aud is surmounted by a globe. The monument is protected 
 from the weather by a square bi'ick building, as deficient of elegance as itself. The 
 structure stands on an eminence, and is surrounded by a ditch and also by a fence. A 
 splendid oak tree in the park is believed to be a thousand years old. Sir Hugh Palliser’s 
 residence at the Vache was chiefly subsequent to the Courtmartials upon himself and 
 Admiral Iveppel concerning their respective behaviour at the Battle of Ushaut. The 
 issue being damaging to Palliser’s reputation, he practically withdrew from the world, 
 spending the remainder of his life at the Vache in great privacy. He died in 1796, 
 consequent on a disorder occasioned by wounds he received on board the Sutherland in 
 1747. Although he incurred so much unpopularity in connection with the Ushant 
 affair—so much indeed that his house in Pall Mall was destroyed by the mob—he was 
 an officer of much distinction. On his station off Beachy Head, in 1746, he captured 
 four French privateers, though two of them were each greatly his superior in force, 
 and in 1759 he took part iu the successful expedition against Quebec and commanded 
 the body of seamen who landed aud took possession of the town. 
 
 ANCIENT IRON FOUNDRY AT LEE. 
 
 Captain Boughey Burgess. 
 
 “About a mile from the Bray’s Wood entrenchments, Lee, Missenden, to the north¬ 
 east, in a wood within the hamlet, or chapelry of St. Leonard’s, lies a most singular 
 mound of slag and ash, the remains of a large iron foundry. This mound, which is 
 overgrown with beech trees, is 112 yards in circumference, and about four feet in 
 depth at its centre. A cart road has been cut through it, and loads upon loads 
 of the fine wood ash carted away into the fields. Some of the masses of slag are 
 large, and contain much iron. In searching amongst these lumps, there was dis¬ 
 covered the charcoal with which the ore was smelted, and the sand of which the moulds 
 
24 
 
 were made, but in vain looked for fragments of pottery, a coin, or an implement, by 
 means of which one could come to any conclusion as to who the workers of the forges 
 were. There are no traces of buildings. Doubtless the chief object in having a foundry 
 in such a spot was the profusion of fuel on all sides ; but then where did the ore come 
 from ? Could they have collected the pyrites now found so sparingly in the fields and 
 smelted it. It is known that the Homans had many iron foundries in Britain, and as the 
 vale had at least one Roman, or rather perhaps Romano-British town, and as it is known 
 that some two or three Roman roads crossed it, and that an ancient British way passed 
 along at the foot of the hill within five miles of the spot, is it not likely that the ore was 
 brought from some distance to be smelted where wood was so plentiful ?” 
 
 THE RIYER WYE. 
 
 R. S. Downs, Wycombe, 
 
 “The name of this stream has been variously written Ouse, Wyke, Wick, Ise, and 
 Y ve, of which Wye appears to be the original name, Wick or Wyke being a corrupted 
 form of the word Wycombe as usually pronounced. John Wilcocks, of Chepping 
 Wycombe, desired by his will, dated July 5th, 1509, to be buried in the Church of All- 
 Hallondon-on-Wye, and Leland, writing temp. Henry VIIE (25 an reg.), says ‘Another 
 Use or Ise as of one principal arm risith abowt Westewikam owt of one of the Chilterue 
 Hills, and so comith to Wikam the Market Towne. The lesser arm is cawllid Higden- 
 brooke, and risith also in one of the Chilterne Hills, a mile above Wikam. Bothe these 
 stieames meate at the Weste Ende of Y ickam, and thens the hole botom with one water 
 goith to Hedsor, to Owburne, wher the B. of Lincolne hath a fayre Howse, and thens a 
 mile and more into the Tamise.’ Camden (temp. Jac. I.), speaking of this stream, thus 
 writes in 1610—‘High Wickham, or Wicumbe rather, which happily thereof took the 
 name, considering that the German Saxons term any winding river and sea, a wick, and 
 fombe, a valley ; and very many names of places we meate withall in England, named 
 in that respect.’ This opinion, however, seems erroneous, for in the first place the river 
 is not so tortuous in its course as to warrant the supposition that it acquired its name 
 from its windings. Then again, in the word Wycombe, as found in the oldest records, 
 the first syllable is invariably written wi, or wy, and not wick or wyk. It may also be 
 further remarked that the Anglo-Saxon wick or wyche to which is allied the older Norse 
 \ig or vik, refers not to winding inland stream, but to the estuaries of rivers, or arms 
 of the sea; and although we certainly do find many names of places named in that 
 respect, yet they are for the most part situated upon the mouths of rivers. There can 
 be but little doubt that the word is of Keltic, and not Saxon origin, and this opinion is 
 further strengthened by the fact that the river in Wales of the same name is thus 
 
25 
 
 designated from its source on the slopes of Plinlimmon—a remote district to which the 
 adventurous Saxons seem never to have penetrated. From the same root are derived 
 Ouse, Ise, Wish, Exe, Esk, &c. Some have explained the name of Wycombe as 
 signifying ‘ the holy town,’ but I think without sufficient reason." 
 
 ROMAN REMAINS AT WESTON TURVILLE. 
 
 One of the most interesting discoveries of Roman remains of late years was made 
 in 1855, in the Rectory Grounds at Weston Turville. A labourer excavating in the 
 garden, found, about 4-^ feet below the surface of the ground, a Roman vessel of coarse 
 yellowish pottery, which bore the traces of old fractures, and was further broken into 
 fragments by the discoverer. This vessel seems to have been used for the purpose ot 
 covering over a number of articles—being either an amphora or cinerary urn. The clay 
 in which it was found is cretaceous, very tenacious, and impervious to water. The articles 
 discovered beneath this vessel are in glass, red Samian ware, coarse light pottery, drab- 
 coloured ware, fibulm and bronze ornaments ; fragments of a bluish green circular 
 vessel of glass, to which pieces of bone were adhering ; also a green glass vessel 
 nearly perfect ; in this were found ashes. Another vessel, somewhat like the last named, 
 which contained some silver beads (one bead with a wire in it), ashes, and among them 
 part of a wooden pin ; patera, nearly entire, containing ashes and leaves, probably 
 the remains of garlands and wreaths used at the burial; small silver beads, an ornament 
 in shape like a glass bugle, a fibula or brooch in bronze, another bronze ornament, and 
 a white substance, afterwards proved by chemical analysis to be frankincense, which 
 emitted, when pressed, an aromatic scent; a patera nearly perfect ; a cup, apparently 
 belonging to paterae. In this were found ashes, a twisted wire, and a rivet head. 
 Several pieces of iron with rivets and short nails. These had fibres of wood adhering to 
 them, and one piece especially seems to show that they belonged to a wooden chest (as 
 some of the before-mentioned vessels appeared to have been fractured long ago, it has 
 been conjectured that they were put into a chest, and were broken by the pressure of the 
 earth when the wood yielded to decay); the segment of a plate in silvery bronze; 
 part of a pin with ornamented head of coloured bone or very hard wood ; part of a plain 
 bone pin ; a small piece of leather with sharp little nails in it—perhaps part of a sandal; 
 a dried fruit ; and many pieces of human bone calcined, &c., &c. The ornaments allord 
 evidence that the burial was that of a female. 
 
26 
 
 DATCHET. 
 
 W. Lowndes, Cheshah. 
 
 “ Datchet is in the Hundred of Burnham. It was towards Datchet that Falstaff 
 was being conveyed in the buckbasket, when he was thrown into a ditch. The spot 
 which tradition states as the place of his ducking is at the end of Sheet Street, Windsor, 
 which would be on the direct road from Windsor to Datchet. The Manor was conveyed 
 in 1335 by Edward III. to William de Montacute, and from him it passed to Sir John 
 Molyns. In 1558 it was leased to Sir Maurice Berkeley, and Charles I. conveyed it to 
 Sir C. Harbord and others, by whom it was conveyed to Sir William Wheeler. It then 
 passed into the family of Wase, and is now in the hands of the Duke of Buccleugh. The 
 advowson belongs to the Dean and Chapter of Windsor. A bridge across the Thames 
 was constructed here in the reign of Queen Anne, which fell down in 1795. Subse¬ 
 quently one, part of wood and part of iron, was erected at the expense of the counties 
 of Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. This latter bridge was pulled down in 1851. The 
 wooden portion belonged to Bucks, that of iron to Berks. In former times horse 
 races were held on Datchet Mead, and Charles II., who seems to have been partial 
 to the place, frequently attended them. The prize on those occasions was a bell. 
 Opposite to the foot of the old bridge there was formerly a footpath leading to Frogmore. 
 At the Windsor end of this path there used to be a leafless stump called Hearne’s Oak. 
 This was not the tree to which allusion is made in the “ Merry Wives of Windsor,’' 1 but 
 nevertheless for years it was called by that name. Hearne was a keeper in Windsor 
 Forest in the time of Queen Elizabeth. For some fault having been dismissed, he 
 committed suicide by hanging himself on a tree. His uuappeased spirit is still said to 
 walk beneath its shadow every night.” 
 
 MANORS AND THEIR LORDS. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 Manors were co-existent with the Saxon constitution. They were originally 
 derived from the Sovereign, who granted tracts of land to men of worth for them and 
 their heirs to dwell upon, empowering them to exercise jurisdiction, more or less in their 
 several precincts, in return for which they had to perform such services to the Sovereign 
 and pay such rents as the conditions of the several grants required. When William the 
 Norman had established himself in this country he seized the lands into his own hands, 
 
27 
 
 and gave them to his great Norman followers, in consideration of the services they had 
 rendered him in his English expedition, and for any further assistance he might require 
 of them. When the Norman Lords possessed their new territories by this benevolence, 
 they managed them by their servants, tenants, and husbandmen, there being at that 
 time but two classes of laymen—military and husbandmen. The Lords of Manors had 
 power to subdivide their lands or manors; first they assigned a place for their Manor 
 House, reserving the best part of the land for the maintenance of their families; 
 another portion they granted to the freemen to aid and assist them in war when required 
 by their Sovereign, and the remainder was disposed of to husbandmen, under agreement 
 to find corn and necessaries for the Lord’s household, till his lands, thrash his corn, and 
 do all his farm and other labour required. Land was also set aside to feed the cattle 
 of the people who performed servile works ; this was called “ The Common,” for there 
 they fed their cattle in common ; the name exists to the present day. 
 
 The capital tenants, or those who held direct from the King, were allowed to grant 
 fees to their dependents ; they might also give laws to them, constitute courts, and grant 
 other privileges which belonged to their fees ; this is the cause of the great difference 
 and variety of customs in respective manors. 
 
 The dependents on Lords of Manors were the Yillani, the Bordarii, the Servi, 
 and the Homines. Villains, or Villeins, were a kind of people under the Saxou 
 government in a condition of downright servitude, employed in the most servile works, 
 and are said to belong to the lords of the soil absolutely, together with their families. 
 They appear to have been those who held what was called folkland, from which they 
 were removable at the lord’s pleasure. These Villeins were either regardant, that is 
 annexed to the manor or land; or they were in gross, or at large, that is annexed to 
 the person of the lord and transferable by deed from one owner to another. The Bordarii, 
 Bordars, or Boors, are supposed to have possessed a dwelling superior to a mere 
 cottage, with some little land about it, or were cottagers on the borders of a manor ; 
 they were a distinct order from the Servi or Villeins, of a less abject condition, and being 
 allowed to cultivate some parcels of land, supplied a portion of provisions or yielded 
 services of personal labour to the lord as a compensation for such benefits. The Servi, 
 or servants, though not distinctly marked, and the difference between them and the 
 Bordars not precisely ascertained, seem also to have been at the absolute disposal of 
 and arbitrary will of their lords, performing work, and receiving wages and maintenance 
 at the pleasure of those to whom they belonged ; it may be inferred that these servants 
 were in some degree connected with the personal business of their chief, as the Villeins 
 were with the land. Homines were a class dependent upon the lords, with the 
 privilege of their persons and suits being tried in his courts only. The Lords held their 
 courts in the halls of their own houses within their manors, and in which courts they 
 were paramount. 
 
28 
 
 HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAM. 
 
 Bbowne Willis. 
 
 [Dr. Willis, LL.D., generally Tcnown as Browne Willis, teas born at Blandford, in 
 Dorsetshire, on the \lth of September, 1682; he was first educated at Beachampton, and 
 after passing through Westminster School, he entered Christ Church, Oxford, as a gentleman 
 commoner. Willis accumulated during the course of a long and tedious life nearly 100 
 volumes of closely written manuscripts, which were bequeathed by him to the University of 
 Oxford, and are now deposited in the Bodleian Library. His best known works are 
 “ Antiquities of Winchester “ Kotitia Parliamentarian 2 vols. 8 vo.; “A Survey of 
 the Cathedral of St. DaviiTs “ Surveys of the Cathedrals of Llandaff, St. Asaph, and 
 Bangor” “ Survey of some of the Cathedrals of England," 3 vols. ; a third volume of 
 “ Notitia Parliamentarian He also edited “ Ecton's Thesaurus." and in 1755 published 
 a “ History of Buckingham." Willis's attention seems mainly to have been devoted to 
 ecclesiastical antiquities; he ivas excessively liberal in his benefactions to decayed churches. 
 He was a felloiv of the Society of Antiquaries, on its revival in 1718 ; in 1740 the degree 
 of LL.D. was conferred on him by the University of Oxford. He died at his seat at 
 Whaddon Hall, on the 3rd of February, 1760, and was buried in Fenny Stratford Chapel .] 
 
 “That this town gave name to the county of the same denomination has been 
 universally agreed by all ancient writers ; neither has it been ever otherwise alleged by 
 any person in the least conversant in English History ; as a reason fit only to captivate 
 the imagination of an antiquary, that it should be divested, and altogether deprived of 
 the honours and advantages which other county towns of this kingdom enjoy, or continue 
 possessed of. 
 
 The town itself, no doubt, took its name from Buc, cervus, an hart or deer ; and 
 its vicinity to the forest and being included heretofore within the limits or bounds of the 
 same, seem to confirm and establish this derivation. But as to its being a Roman town, 
 and called by them Neomagus, I cannot agree with the publisher of the “ Book of 
 Records,” who places it as such in his alphabetical list of the Latin or Roman names of 
 places. But it was, notwithstanding, a town of great antiquity, for we read that about 
 the 44th year after our Blessed Saviour’s nativity, Aulus Plautius, the Roman general 
 under the Emperor Claudius, surprised the Britons on the banks of the Ouse at or near 
 Buckingham. And on the first spreading of Christianity in the Saxon times, it became 
 remarkable for the sepulture of St. Rumbald, son of a king, born at King’s Sutton, not 
 far from hence in Northamptonshire, November 1, 626, where he deceased within two 
 days, appointing his body to rest there the first year, the two next at Brackley, and at 
 Buckingham for ever after; where in the Church was a shrine erected for him, to which 
 great resort was made by pilgrims. He having been canonized and made a saint through 
 superstitious zeal, and many miracles being reported to have been wrought by him here, 
 occasioned several inns to be built for the reception of travellers, of which there is yet 
 standing a large one opposite to the west end of the Church. 
 
29 
 
 The next mention I meet with of this town is in the reign of King Alfred, on his 
 division of the kingdom, Anno 886, into shires, when he fixed on this place as the most 
 fitting to be the capital of this his new erected county. And here it was that his son, 
 King Edward the Elder took up his quarters in the year 913, who, as we are told, having 
 raised a great army, marched to Buccingahamme before the feast of St. Martin, and lay 
 a month there ; and caused two forts to be built and garrisoned on each side the River 
 Ouse, and thence advancing towards the Danes, struck such a terror into them, that they 
 were glad to make their peace We also find that Anno 941, the Danes made an excursion 
 to Buckingham, and committed great outrages ; and that Anno 1010 the Danes came 
 again into these parts, and after making great destruction marched hither as to a place 
 of strength.” 
 
 HORTON. 
 
 “ The rural scenes of this part of Buckinghamshire have a peculiar interest from 
 their association with the poetry of Milton. In the sequestered village of Horton, he 
 resided with his parents for some five years, and it is believed with good reason that he 
 wrote his “ Arcades,” “ Comus,” “ L’Allegro,” “II Penseroso,” and “ Lycidas” during 
 his residence there. It was in 1632 that Milton first went to Horton. The village lies 
 between that of Datchet and the town of Colnbrook ; it contains but few houses, but the 
 generality of these are occupied by the wealthier classes. The church of Horton is a 
 specimen of Early English architecture; it is covered with ivy and has a good Norman 
 doorway and it is in a fair state of preservation. An interesting spot in the church is 
 the slab in the floor which covers the grave of Sara Milton, Milton’s mother, who died on 
 the 3rd of April, 1637. The five years of study which Milton passed at Horton laid the 
 foundation of his well-arranged learning, and fed his youthful genius with the richest 
 and most select stores of poetry. Buckinghamshire iu after years was again to have the 
 poet as an inhabitant; but her “ hedgerow elms on hillocks green ” afforded him no 
 delight; he could no longer say— 
 
 Straight mine eye hath caught new pleasures, 
 
 Whilst the landscape round it measures. 
 
 He had at the period of his second visit been three years bereft of his sight.”— Jesse’s 
 “ Favourite Haunts.” 
 
 “ Milton’s residence at Horton was perhaps the happiest period of his life. His 
 imagination was in the spring-time of its freshness and beauty and at liberty to luxuriate 
 among the wealth and variety of natural phenomena. The scenery round Horton, its 
 
30 
 
 bowery woodlands, its broad levels, its glowing orchards, its rich meadows, and its 
 murmuring rivulets would— 
 
 Sweetly creep 
 
 Into the study of imagination, 
 
 And yield from day to day an exquisite delight. 
 
 His “Comus’-’ overflows with the imagery and the feeling of the old wooded scenery 
 of Buckinghamshire— 
 
 Comus— I know each lane and every alley green, 
 
 Dingle or bushy dell of this wild wood, 
 
 And every bosky bourne from side to aide, 
 
 My daily walks and ancient neighbourhood.” 
 
 W. Howitt. 
 
 ANCIENT CAMP AT CHOLESBURY. 
 
 G. Lipscomb, M.D. 
 
 [George Lipscomb, M.D., the historian of Buckinghamshire, ivas a native of 
 Quainton. His father, James Lipscomb, who in early life ivas a medical officer in the 
 Loyal Navy, ivas eldest son of Thomas Lipscomb, of Winchester, surgeon, by Mary 
 Bussell, sister of the Rev. James Fussell, rector of Hardwick. The Rev. Mr. Fusscll 
 died in 1760, bequeathing his estate in Hampshire to James Lipscomb, his nephew and 
 heir-at-law, and his personal property to his niece, Mary Lipscomb, who became the wife 
 of the Rev. Francis Gresley, LL.B., rector of Grendon Underwood. Thus the introduc¬ 
 tion of the Lipscomb family into Buckinghamshire. James Lipscomb married Mary 
 George, of Grendon, a member of an old and reputable family of that village; these were 
 the parents of Dr. Lipscomb, the historian; they resided at one period at Quainton, but 
 subsequently at Grendon. Lipscomb the historian for some years resided at Whitchurch, 
 but eventually he removed to London. So embarrassed became his affairs that it is said a 
 portion of his work was written within the precincts of the Queen's Bench, or tvhilst he 
 was under the jurisdiction of the “ Liberties of the Fleet Prison ” as a debtor. He died 
 in abject poverty and distress; the precise date of his death has not been ascertained. But 
 for the kindness of the late Mr. Gordon Gyll . of Wraysbury, who incidentally heard of 
 his death, Dr. Lipscomb would have found his last resting place in a pauper's grave. 
 The History of Bucks was not finished at the time of Dr. Lipscomb's decease, but as it 
 ivas in the hands of energetic publishers it was completed by them, and the later portions 
 of it compare with the earlier published parts.'] 
 
 “ On the northern verge of this Parish, on the border of Drayton Beauchamp, 
 is an ancient camp of an irregular oval form, occupying a portion of level ground on the 
 summit of that branch of the range of Chilteru Hills, which is common to the western 
 limits of Herts, and the eastern boundary of Bucks. The area includes about ten acres, 
 the Church and churchyard being included within the south-western angle of the 
 
31 
 
 entrenchment. The lines consist of a very deep trench and strong vallum or rampart of 
 earth, on the north, east, and part of the south sides, strengthened by a second line at 
 the north-eastern and north-western angles ; and also from the south-eastern part, in a 
 pai’allel line along that side, until it disappears near the churchyard: part of which 
 seems to occupy the inner bank, as the site of the minister’s house does likewise the 
 exterior rampart, which has evidently been levelled. On the east and west sides or ends 
 of the encampment the foss is single; in some places 30 feet in depth, but towards the 
 south-west it is nearly obliterated. 
 
 In those parts where the trench is double, the width is about equal to the depth, aud 
 the rampart between them, as well as the sides of the ditches and verge exteriorly, are 
 covered with trees and brush-wood, excepting only where a narrow approach to the area 
 has been left on the south and west. About the centre of the north side appears to 
 have been another opening, but long disused, so as to have become obscured by trees and 
 bushes ; and now, only to be conjectured one of the original entrances. The additions, 
 at the angles on the north-east and north-west, have converted the oval form of the 
 entrenchment into an oblong square ; but considerable alterations having been evidently 
 occasioned by the progress of cultivation, the vallum is less distinct at the south-eastern 
 and south-western corners, where the embankments have been reduced and nearly 
 levelled, and the trenches filled up ; the appearance on that side is therefore less regular ; 
 the trenches, however, remain of considerable depth on the southern face, and, perhaps 
 partly in compliance with the shape of the hill, form a curve in approaching the west, 
 so that at that end, the area included within them, is much narrower than the opposite 
 portion. On the north side, the contiguous ground is nearly on a level with the area 
 euclosed by the vallum ; but on the east and west, where the trench is single but of 
 great depth, it declines rapidly. On the south, where are two ditches, the ground 
 immediately contiguous is nearly on a level with the entrenchment, but soon gradually 
 declines. Along this part of the camp is the course of an ancient road. 
 
 In form, the whole more nearly resembles the Danish Camp at Bratton, than most 
 others ; and it agrees in many particulars with the most correct descriptions of the 
 military fortifications of that people. Originally it appears to have been a single vallum 
 round the top of an eminence, favouring the irregularity of the ground. One entrance, or 
 at most two entrances, are all that can be traced. Outworks, or an additional angular 
 vallum having a double trench, have been made at the north-west and north-east angles ; 
 near which the height of the neighbouring ground seemed to render such defence 
 necessary. If any such works were likewise added at the opposite angles, they are now 
 no longer to be traced ; the contiguous ground, on the north, remaining in tillage up to 
 the verge of the lines. Some suppose this to have been a British Town, afterwards 
 converted into a military work by the Danes, surrounded by woods, and occupying an 
 eminence ; but it seems more probably a Danish encampment.” 
 
32 
 
 THE MANOR OF WADDESDON AND ITS LORDS. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 The name of Courtenay appears in the Charter-list of Battle Abbey amongst the 
 Norman conquerors of England. Members of that family were subsequently created 
 Earls of Devon. Reginald de Courtenay died in 1194 ; he held the Manor of Waddesdon, 
 and it continued in the family for ten or eleven generations. It was held by Thomas, 
 the 5th Earl of Devon, who died in 145S. His was a most unfortunate family. He had 
 three sons ; Thomas, the eldest, and 6th Earl of Devon, was taken prisoner at the battle 
 of Towton Field in 1460 and beheaded ; Henry, the second son, was beheaded at 
 Salisbury; John, the youngest, was slain at Tewkesbury ; and Thomas, his grandson, was 
 attainted, and his estates forfeited to the Crown. Waddesdon was then held by another 
 branch of this family, it having passed to Edward Courtenay, who was restored to the 
 Earldom of Devon. His son William was attainted in 1539 and beheaded, when Wad¬ 
 desdon and other places, his property, escheated to the Crown. 
 
 In 1540 King Henry VIII. leased to Edward Lambourne the capital mansion 
 or site of the Manor of Waddesdon, also one close near Mill Hill, two closes called 
 Court Closes, one close called Court Close, one pasture called New Close, land called 
 Staple Hill, one close called Bush Leys, 30 acres in Blakedowne, Littledowne, and Seine 
 Piece, land called Ship Slade, meadows called Gibden Seche, Lobb’s Leys, and Bowen’s 
 Leys, pasture called Woddeston Park, Gilden’s Lease, and Pulpit Acre, part of the lands 
 of the late Henry Courtenay, of high treason attainted. In the same year the King 
 granted to John Goodwyn all the Manor of Waddesdon, with its rights, advowson, Ac. 
 
 The Goodwyns were an ancient and important Buckinghamshire family, of Wooburn 
 and Winehendon, residing at Wooburn, near Beaconsfield, at which place they had a 
 noble mansion. Jane, daughter of Arthur Goodwyn, married Philip, 4th Lord Wharton, 
 who in 1637 succeeded to the estates of the Goodwyns, at Wooburn and Winehendon, and 
 resided at Winehendon ; he died in 1695. His son Thomas, 5th Lord Wharton, suc¬ 
 ceeded, and a most extraordinary man he was. 
 
 From the Whartons the Manor passed to the trustees of the Duke of Marlborough’s 
 estate, and from the Marlborough trustees to Baron Ferdinand James de Rothschild by 
 purchase ; in addition to the paramount manor there are minor manors at Waddesdon, 
 which are church property. 
 
 LITTLE MISSENDEN CHURCH. 
 
 Little Missenden Church is an ancient structure, with an Early English chancel; 
 the lower part of the tower is also of the same style, the upper portion and turret per- 
 
33 
 
 pendicular. Of the original structure some handsome arches in the north aisle and a 
 portion of roof alone remain. In 1740 the south aisle was added and the old south wall 
 opened to make it correspond with the arches opposite. The old porch, which was moved 
 out when this was accomplished, was recently discovered, having been hidden with board¬ 
 ing ; it is now, with its quaint woodwork, an interesting object. The font is as old as the 
 Church, and is greatly admired. There are three fine stained glass windows, of which 
 the east window is the most meritorious. Two of the four bells are said to have been 
 given to the Church by King John. A very ancient key and set of communion plate are 
 carefully preserved. 
 
 THE HUNDRED OF DESBOROUGH. 
 
 Rev. T. Delafield. 
 
 [The Rev. Thomas I) el afield was curate of Fingest in 1746. His MSS. are in the 
 Bodleian Library at Oxford ; in one he gives many particulars relating to the history 
 of the Hundred of Desborough. This MS. is intituled “ An essay towards an account of 
 Fin g her si, in the County of Bucks, both with respect to the ancient and present state, 
 ivhether civil or ecclesiastical, by Thomas Delafield, curate there 1746; it was comprised 
 in 3 voIs. octavo, but the last vol. is notv missing.'] 
 
 “The Hundred takes its denomination from a depopulated and demolished place of 
 that name, in the parish of West Wycombe. It is situated about a mile fiom West 
 Wycombe to the east, and a small distance from the London road on the right hand. 
 The remains of it still apparent is a place on the hill, called Disborough Castle. It is 
 an oval double entrenchment with a high bank to the inside, and a graff outwaidlj of 
 a considerable depth. Before the western entrance is a half-moon with two apertures for 
 greater security, as there is also a proper outlet at the east end. In the innermost part 
 there seem to have been some material buildings of strength and account; many 
 foundations with broken tiles, bricks, mortar, and rubbish being now to be found. And 
 in the year 1743, the wood that grew on it being cut down, there was dug up an entire 
 stone window frame of the fashion (according to the information given me) of those in 
 ancient church buildings. Its round form and double fortifications would induce one to 
 think it a work of the Saxons. And its situation near the grand road to London might 
 design it as a check to the inroads and devastations of the Danes, who more than once 
 made their excursions this way. 
 
 From thence (perhaps) it might get the name of Danesborough, Densborough, now 
 shortened to Desborough, as being a fortress on a hill designed to put a stop to the 
 ravages of that barbarous people. For I can hardly allow myself to imagine that it got 
 its name from them as being their work. 
 
34 
 
 King Edward the elder about 915 lodged a considerable time at Buckingham, which 
 he fortified to prevent the incursions of the Danes. And might not this small fortress 
 be erected about the same time, and on the same consideration ? for we find that the 
 Danes took their route in 1009 through the Chi Item country to Oxford, which they 
 plundered and burnt; and we have other accounts of their ravaging these parts. 
 
 This very place might be designed as a folkmote, i.e., a place for the meeting of the 
 folk or people, to consult about their mutual defence in a more than ordinary danger, 
 upon the apprehension of the invasion of an enemy ; whose approach being discovered 
 from the watch mount in it, they gave the alarm to the next folkmote (in the nature of 
 beacons); which notice they gave to others, till the whole country was advised to be 
 upon their guard against the common enemy. It is observable that there are two con¬ 
 siderable hills at no great distance from this, to which on such occasions notice might be 
 given at once, viz., one above High Wycombe, and the other that on which West Wycombe 
 church is built. 
 
 It was from this original design, we may presume, that this place upon the setting 
 out of Hundreds was continued to be the place of the meeting of the people. And the 
 district over which its power did extend, was called the Hundred. This conjecture being 
 admitted, may it not have been called Desborough quasi Deys or Daysborough ; Daza- 
 burh, i.e., the place or borough of judgment ? Day or dey (saith Dr. Kennet) in the 
 Saxon tongne signifies the administration of justice. Even at this time (says Bishop 
 Nicholson) in the north of England a daysman signifies an umpire or judge, and is used 
 in that sense by the translators of our Bible, Job ix., 33—‘ Neither is there any daysman 
 betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both.’ They have placed as a various version 
 in the margin, ‘umpire,’ which is the text of the Geneva translation. 
 
 Now Deysborough in this sense (considering its high situation and fortified entrench¬ 
 ment) is well suited to the meeting of the Hundred, which was a court of judicature, 
 where one of the principal inhabitants called the alderman, and since hundredarius, or 
 chief constable, together with the barons or freeholders, were judges, and oftentimes con¬ 
 tracts and purchases were made by the testimony of the Hundred. 
 
 The way going below hath from great antiquity been part of the high road from 
 Middlesex into Oxfordshire, though it hath been of later times somewhat altered. For 
 (I conceive) the old way passed from West Wycombe by Chawley farm, where is a bank 
 visible for some part of it, so along Post-lane by Cross-lane pond, through the middle of 
 Ptadnage, and thence by Bennet-end came into that called Colliers-lane, and down the 
 hill into the Oxfordshire vale. 
 
 Finding one of the great masters of our English antiquities, Mr. Camden, calling 
 the surviving wife of Ina, king of the West Saxons, by the name of Desburga, I was for 
 some time pleased with the thought, that that lady might either give her name to, or 
 
35 
 
 receive it from this our place of Desborough, especially as she was a woman of martial 
 and adventurous spirit. But upon search it appears that the whole stream of our 
 historians call her Ethelburg, Edelburh (though doubtless Mr. Camden had sufficient 
 authority for calling her Desburga). 
 
 But after all that has been said, what if I should suppose this Desborough or Dis- 
 borough to have been a fortified place of residence of the ancient Britons ? Cmsar’s well 
 known and often quoted description of such places might countenance us in it. As will 
 also the account of this matter by Strabo—‘ Woods are their cities; for, having cut down 
 the trees, they enclose a great circle, and therein erect cots for themselves, and temporary 
 stalls for their cattle.’ The entrenchment here exactly answers these descriptions. 
 
 Now, to support this supposition, might it not be called Dwysborough from its double 
 entrenchment, dwy in the ancient British being duo or two ? Or else, perhaps, it might 
 have a religious relation from the British Diw or Dyw, Deus; or from Dis, the first 
 fabulous people of this island. So that Disborough in this sense will be a sacred forti¬ 
 fication.” 
 
 ANTIQUATED MEETING HOUSES. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 A few of the old-fashioned Nonconformist meeting-houses still exist in Bucking¬ 
 hamshire. There is the building at Waddesdon Hill, erected by a former Mr. Cox, of 
 Cranwell, with its antiquated horse-block, referring us to times when the roads were in 
 so bad a state that travelling by vehicles was an impossibility, and if the wife attended 
 her husband to a far distant place of worship like Waddesdon Hill, it was by mounting 
 behind him on a pillion. There are also the Baptist Chapel at Ford, erected in 1715, 
 and a few others. 
 
 These old religious houses must be interesting objects to Nonconformists of the present 
 day. Benjamin Keach’s Meeting-house is still standing at Winslow, and it is one of 
 the few remaining ancient Puritan places of worship in an original state. The isolated 
 situation of this building was probably not accidental, but selected for the personal 
 safety of those who worshipped there. We cannot, in the present state of religious 
 freedom, picture in our minds the dangers attendant on worshipping God in a conventicle 
 two centuries ago. The privacy of these more ancient meeting-houses served a good 
 purpose, for harmless Nonconformists were frequently hunted about as nuisances. It was 
 requisite for them to take every measure to conceal their intentions as to their meetings ; 
 they assembled in small numbers; often shifted from place to place; met late in the 
 
36 
 
 evenings or early in the mornings ; when their dwellings joined they made windows or 
 holes in the walls, that the preacher’s voice might be heard in two or three houses ; they 
 sometimes had private passages from one house to another, and trap doors for the escape of 
 the minister, who was obliged to dress in disguise, except when discharging his office. 
 In some country towns and villages the ministers were admitted through backyards and 
 gardens into the houses, to avoid the observation of neighbours and passers by ; for the 
 same reason they never sang praises in their devotions ; and the preacher was placed in 
 such an inward part of the house that his voice might not be heard in the public streets; 
 the doors were kept locked, and a sentinel placed near to give alarm. Notwithstanding 
 all these precautions, spies and false brethren crept in amongst them, their assemblies 
 were frequently interrupted, and money extorted from them by tines or compositions. 
 This state of atfairs explains why some of the old Nonconformist meeting-houses are 
 frequently met with in isolated and secluded situations. 
 
 THE THORNBOROUGH MOUNDS. 
 
 On the side of the road from Buckingham to Thornborongh are two large barrows 
 called Thomborough Mounds, which are about 25 feet in height. In 1839 one of these 
 barrows was opened under the direction of the then Duke of Buckingham ; it proved to 
 be the depository of the richest series of Romano-British remains hitherto explored. A 
 trench was first cut through the centre, which displayed the stratification, consisting of 
 alternate layers of clay and mould, until the workmen had cut down to the level of the 
 contiguous ground, where a large and long layer of rough lime-stone was disclosed, in 
 which were found many bronze ornaments, in excellent preservation ; among which was a 
 very curious and beautifully shaped lamp of bronze, totally different in pattern from any 
 which had before been discovered, and so perfect, that on being taken up with great 
 care the wick remained to be seen in the lamp. Besides these there were found two 
 large and elegant bronze jugs, a large dish, a bowl, and the hilt of a sword ; also an 
 ornament of the purest gold, with the figure of Cupid most elaborately and elegantly 
 chased upon it ; and a large glass vessel or urn, which contained ashes and fragments of 
 bones—no doubt the remains of some important person. These relics of antiquity were 
 placed amongst the collection of the Hon. Richard Neville. In a field near the barrows, 
 called Great Ground, are the remains of an entrenchment. In digging near it a few years 
 ago a large heap of dark ashes was discovered; and amongst the ashes a number of 
 ancient coins were found. Skulls and other human remains, and implements of war, 
 have also been dug up here. 
 
CHENIES MANOR HOUSE. 
 
 The Village of Chenies, formerly called Isenhampstead Cheney, to distinguish it 
 from Isenhampstead Latimer, stands on a ridge of the Chiltern Hills in the county of 
 Bucks. There is a curious diversity in the spelling of the name, as there is in the name 
 of the family from which it derives its name. At least seven different spellings in 
 the parish register since 1628, and six others are mentioned, besides thirteen variations 
 of the Cheyne family. This was entirely a matter of taste or chance. The Manor House, 
 and Mausoleum of the Bedford family, are the chief objects of interest. The present 
 Manor House apparently dates at the earliest from the reign of Henry VIII. Leland 
 seems to say that the present building was largely built out of the materials of an older 
 mansion standing there. “ The old house of Cheynes is so translated by my Lord 
 Russell, that hath his house in right of his wife, that little or nothing of it remayneth 
 untranslated, and a great deal of the house is even newly set up, and made of bricks and 
 • timber.” It is said to have been originally a royal palace, and to have been given by 
 Edward III. to Thomas Cheyne. Queen Elizabeth visited it in 1570. The beautiful 
 chimneys, with varied designs, form the chief feature of the present buildings. 
 
 CLAYDON HOUSE. 
 
 Lady Verney. 
 
 “ The House is spoken of as having been rebuilt in the reign of Henry VII., but 
 there had been an ‘ ancient seat ’ on the spot in the days of the De la Zouches and 
 Cantelupes, from whose descendants Sir Ralph Verney, Lord Mayor of London in 1465, 
 and M.P. for London in 1472, acquired the property. Sir Ralph was a strong Yorkist, 
 and was knighted by Edward IV. for his loyalty to the White Rose—the “party of 
 progress,” says Mr. Bruce. He received large grants of forfeited lands from the King, 
 ‘ considering the good and gratuitous service he had rendered him.’ 
 
 A pencil sketch exists, of uncertain date, representing one phase of the old building, 
 with gables in ‘corbel steps.’ Its lines were framed on the initial letter of the King’s 
 name, as was common in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; (-| during the reign 
 of the Henry’s; E during that of Edward and Elizabeth; while the fashion seems to 
 have lasted into the reign of James I. Although added to, altered, and almost trans¬ 
 mogrified, the form of the ancient Manor House may still be traced at the core of the 
 present building. The central narrow part which joins the two blocks, | = |, consisted, 
 until five-and-thirty years ago, of two rows of rooms, back to back, so that the ends of 
 
3S 
 
 the house could only be reached by passing through a whole suite ; passages were 
 unknown at that period of architecture ; none of the walls were at right angles, the floors 
 rose and fell again in the same room three or four inches in level—it was like walking 
 over a ridge in a ploughed field, and a ceiling varied in height as much as six inches in 
 a length of thirty feet. 
 
 In the centre of the house a great chimney with open corners belonged to the hall 
 kitchen, in which, when the house was repaired, a small chamber of concealment was 
 found, in which ten men could stand, a ‘ priest’s hole,’ as it is sometimes called, or a 
 ‘ conveyance,’ the secret of which had been so kept as to be altogether forgotten. Such 
 hiding places often existed known only to the owner of a house and his eldest son, and 
 handed down with solemn secrecy to the next generation. In this case it was ingeniously 
 masked by a blind passage in the middle story, and must have been entered by a trap 
 door in the muniment room above, at the top of the house, where, too, was a concealed 
 door into a small private stair, long ago destroyed, though some of the stone heads of 
 the steps could still be traced, which communicated directly with the cellars, so that if 
 pursued, a man might retire up the public stairs, and then escape down the secret stair, 
 finding his way out by a door less likely to be guarded than the other issues. It was a 
 curious illustration of the probable origin of half the ghost stories, de rigueur in old 
 houses, that this room, where all prying investigations must have been discouraged to the 
 utmost, was the haunted chamber of the place. The particular apparition most likely 
 varied with the period, but Sir Edmund Yerney, the Knight Marshall, as the most 
 marked man of the family, was the one whose appearance had survived up to the present 
 day ; he was supposed to be always looking for his hand, which had been severed from 
 his body at the battle of Edgehill, where, according to tradition, it had been found, 
 with a ring containing Charles I.’s picture upon it, still holding the King's standard, 
 though the body itself was lost. 
 
 The estate of Claydon comprised the chief part of the manors of the four Claydons 
 (with their three churches)—Middel, Est, with Botal (a Saxon word meaning wood), and 
 Stepul. There is a curious little deed, dated 1468, in the muniment room, concerning a 
 piece of ground 50 by 18, at Steeple Claydon, granted by the abbot of a convent (Ozeney), 
 which possessed property there, ‘ to the yconomos and parishioners of the vill.’ to ‘ build 
 a common house for the church and parishioners aforesaid,' at a yearly rent of 4d. To 
 the north of the thrashing floor of the rectory of the convent was evidently a sort of 
 little town hall, where public affairs could be discussed. 
 
 Claydon house had been let for one hundred years to the Giffards, of whom one, Sir 
 Roger, and Mary Yerney, his wife, rebuilt the chancel of Middle Claydon Church in 
 1517. In 1535 both house and church seem to have been still in bad repair, and Sir 
 George Giffard, who then held the lease, undertook to rebuild both, if seventy years 
 should be renewed for one hundred. Sir Ralph, the then owner, refused to ‘ do this for 
 
39 
 
 nothing,’ when Giffard offered him a ‘ hunting horse of the value of £30,' equal to £300 
 at least at this time. It was probably a remarkable horse. Sir Ralph, a young man of 
 twenty-three, was tempted by the bait, and agreed to the bargain; the church was 
 repaired and the house rebuilt; ‘ but the Yerneys paid dear for the hunter,’ as Lord 
 Fermanagh writes significantly in the following century. The next heir, Sir Edmuud, 
 was elected M.P. for the county of Bucks, and his brother, Sir Francis, for the town of 
 Buckingham, in 1553. That Borough had only begun to return members eight years 
 before, having refused the honour till then, in order to avoid being saddled with the cost 
 of elections, which then were paid for chiefly by the constituencies. Sir Francis was the 
 third member, and a Verney thus represented the Borough in its earliest Parliaments, 
 as another Verney was doing in 1885, 333 years after. 
 
 An inventory, taken in 1845, of Claydon and its contents, shows that the house 
 must have been a large one, for fifty-three rooms are mentioned, more than there are at 
 present. Probably, however, a great number of them were very small, as almost every 
 one has a chamber or closet within it, without any other issue—the gallery and the 
 inner chamber to it, my lady’s chamber and her closet, the little and the great frippery 
 where the clothes were kept. The disorganization of the country is shown by the 
 description of how, after the war, the goods were removed, to be safely laid up, 
 while the pictures were, many of them, rolled and sent to be warehoused in Holland. 
 There is a fine Vandyck of Lady Carnarvon, a great friend of Sir Edmund’s, and one 
 called a Velasquez, of his brother, Sir Francis Verney, which were probably thus treated. 
 Pictures of his brother, Edmund Verney, who had been fighting for the King in Ireland 
 under Lord Ormond, and was killed in cool blood, after the taking of Drogheda, of Sir 
 Harry Lee, his father’s friend, commemorated in ‘ Woodstock,’ a fine head by Cornelius 
 Jansen, hang in the pink parlour and breakfast-room. 
 
 The house had been inhabited by two successive Lord Fermanaghs, the second of 
 whom was created Earl Verney. He was a man of magnificent instincts, a great deal of 
 tastp and knowledge and boundless extravagance ; he bought up land, rebuilt the house, 
 collected books, rare editions, splendid furniture (one bedroom was furnished all with 
 silver), sent for a mantelpiece from Italy, with a lovely wreath of ten babies, the size of 
 life ; the carvings in his new rooms were beautiful in design and execution, the mouldings 
 in each different, the ceilings in wood, and inlaid work, wonderful in their variety and 
 excellence. He employed Adams, the best architect of the period, under whom the 
 decorations were executed by Italian workmen. He seems to have had a passion for 
 perfection in his works. The central hall has a staircase, each step inlaid like a 
 marquiterre table, and he tried three or four styles of pierced work for the balustrades 
 in different woods, which we all found used in the pig-sty and in the ox-house. At last 
 he fixed upon a lovely pattern in bronze, of scrolls, with wreaths of wheat, etc., ‘which 
 rustle as you pass,’ according to an old guide book. ‘ He was lavish and fond of show,’ 
 says Browne Willis, ‘ using the splendour of a gorgeous equipage with musicians con- 
 
40 
 
 stantly attendant on him, not only on state occasions, but on his journeys and visits. A 
 brace of tall negroes, with silver French horns, behind his coach and six, perpetually 
 making a noise, like Sir Henry Sidney’s Trompeters in the days of Elizabeth, blowing 
 very joyfully to behold and see.’ 
 
 He was succeeded by his niece Mary, who inherited the entailed part of the estate. 
 She pulled down the great central hall and the ball-room, 100 feet long, still leaving a 
 very large house. She left Claydon to her half-sister, at whose death the estate passed 
 to the Right Hon. Sir Harry Terney, Bart., the present owner. ’ 
 
 THE HAMPDENS AND THEIR HOME. 
 
 Lord Nugext. 
 
 [Lord Nugent was the youngest son of George, the first Marquis of Buckingham, and 
 in early life adopted the title of Lord George Grenville. His mother, the Marchioness of 
 Buckingham, was created Baroness Nugent, 1800, of the Kingdom of Ireland, with the 
 remainder to her second son. She died in March, 1812, and his Lordship took the title of 
 Nugent, which he held until his demise; it then became extinct. Lord Nugent was an 
 Oxford student, and there he completed a somewhat brilliant course of classical study, which 
 it seemed to be his pride in after life to cherish and cultivate and to use for the enlightenment 
 of the senate and the advance of popular intelligence. In addition to his “ Memorials of 
 John Hampden: his Party and his Times," published in two vols. in 1832, he issued a 
 small work, entitled “ A Discourse between one John Hampden and Oliver Cromwell." In 
 conjunction with Lady Nugent, he, in 1832, produced a very pleasing work in two volumes, 
 entitled “ Legends of the Library at Lilies " also a work in two volumes, entitled “ Lands 
 Classic and Sacred ,” 1845, and various political tracts. He died in 1851.] 
 
 “ The family of Hampden is one of the few which may be traced in an unbroken line 
 from the Saxon times. It received from Edward the Confessor the grant of the estate 
 and residence in Buckinghamshire from which the name is derived, and which are entered 
 in Doomsday Book as in the possession of Baldwyn de Hampden. Escaping from the 
 rapacity of the Xorman princes, and strengthened by rich and powerful alliances, it was 
 continued in direct male succession, increasing in influence and wealth. Mr. Noble and 
 Mr. Lysons state that a local tradition, supported by some quaint, popular verses, repre¬ 
 sents one of the Hampdens as having forfeited to the Crown the three valuable manors of 
 Tring, Wing, and lvinghoe, for a blow given to the Black Prince in a dispute at tennis. 
 
 Tring, Wing, and lvinghoe 
 
 From the Hampdens did go 
 
 For striking the Black Prince a blow. 
 
 But Mr. Lysons very properly throws a doubt over the whole story, believing it to have 
 arisen out of this triplet, expounded by some one who did not remember how common it 
 
41 
 
 is for bad rhymes to be made without any meaning at all. I can nowhere find any ground 
 for believing that any one of these manors belonged to the Hampdens. Their property, 
 however, was very large. They were not only rich aud flourishing in their own county, 
 but enjoyed considerable possessions in Essex, Berkshire, and Oxfordshire. In Bucking¬ 
 hamshire, they were Lords of Great and Little Hampden, Stoke Mandeville, Kimble, 
 Prestwood, Dunton, Hoggestone, and TTartwel), and had lands in many other parishes. 
 They appear to have been distinguished in chivalry ; they were often entrusted with civil 
 authority, and represented their native county in several parliaments. We find, in the 
 Rolls of Parliament, that some lands were escheated from the family, on account of their 
 adherence to the party of Henry VI., and that they were excepted from the general act of 
 restitution in the 1st Edward IV. Edward Hampden was one of the Esquires of the 
 Body, and Privy Counsellor to Henry VII. And, in the succeeding reign, we find ‘Sir 
 John Hampden of the Hill’ appointed, with others, to attend upon the English Queen 
 at the interview of the Sovereigns in the Champ du Drap d’Or. It is to his daughter, 
 Sybel Hampden, who was nurse to the Prince of Wales, afterwards Edward VI., and 
 ancestress to William Penn, of Pennsylvania, that the monument is raised in Hampton 
 Church, Middlesex, which records so many virtues and so much wisdom. During the 
 reign of Elizabeth, Griffith Hampden, having served as High Sheriff of the County of 
 Buckingham, represented it in the Parliament of 1585. By him the Queen was received 
 with great magnificence at his mansion at Hampden, which he had in part rebuilt, and 
 much enlarged. An extensive avenue was cut for her passage through the woods to the 
 house ; and a part of that opening is still to be seen on the brow of the Chilterns from 
 many miles round, and retains the name of ‘ The Queen’s Gap,’ in commemoration of 
 that visit.” 
 
 THE CHILTERNS. 
 
 Rev. Bryant Burgess. 
 
 [The Rev. Bryant Burgess was rector of Latimer, Chesham. Not only as an 
 archaeologist , hut also as an ornithologist and botanist he teas well known. He ivas for 
 some years one of the lion, secretaries of the Bucks Archccological Society, and was a frequent 
 and valuable contributor to the pages of the publication issued by that Society. He died at 
 Latimer in 1889.] 
 
 “ The same wild and woodland features which secured for the Chilterns the 
 unenviable notoriety of the Royal Stewardship, favoured also another purpose, for which 
 this line of country was distinguished. This was the amusement of hunting pursued by 
 the Royal Masters of the Chiltern Knights or Stewards. Here might the beasts of 
 chase be found in abundance, undisturbed by the cultivation of the land, unmolested 
 by the busy haunts of men, alike hateful and hostile to the wild boar and other like 
 animals ferai'■ naturce. 
 
42 
 
 That Edward the Third, and his chivalrous son, the Black Prince, frequented this 
 country, is well authenticated by the fact, that in the town of Princes Risborough the 
 Black Prince held a Castle and Demesne, the foundations of the Castle being at this day 
 visible near the church. 
 
 The occasional visits of Royal persons to the sequestered haunts of the Chilterns 
 appear also indicated by the significant names of many places among them. Thus we 
 have King’s Wood, near St. Leonard’s, with King’s Ash, and King’s Gate. King’s 
 Beech, also a venerable tree in the valley below Hampden House, may have witnessed 
 the time when the Monarch partook of his twelve o’clock dinner under its shade, literally 
 recubans sub tegmine fagi. 
 
 Of the Chiltern Hills as a natural feature of the country, those who know them may 
 well speak with pleasure ; for it is this district of varied scenery that adds a picturesque 
 quality to the generally monotonous county of Bucks. Taking their rise in Cambridge¬ 
 shire, and there known as the Gog-Magog Hills, this chain of heights runs through 
 Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, and entering this county by Ivinghoe, at a very fine 
 elevation, runs across in a south-west direction, and leaves it at Chinnor in Oxfordshire. 
 Through Oxfordshire, the Chilterns pursue their course with the same bearing, and in a 
 line but little broken or varied ; until after receiving the Thames from the Yale of 
 Oxford, at Goring and Streatly, they change at once their course, and running due west¬ 
 ward, form the line of the Berkshire Chilterns, on one of which, near Wantage, is incised 
 the gigantic and rude figure of a horse, well known round all that country. 
 
 But if Buckinghamshire falls in for but a narrow section of these conspicuous hills, 
 it receives its full share of their characteristic beauty or boldness. Viewed from the 
 Yale of Aylesbury or of Thame, the appearance of the hills is that of a high rampart of 
 table-land, of very uniform level, its front to the vale here green with downy turf, there 
 clothed with native and characteristic beechen wood. The escarpment of this high land 
 is very often broken into deep recesses, and penetrated by vallies in some cases, as at 
 Tring, Wendover, and Risborough, running through the chain eastward into the sloping 
 country within the range. Viewed in profile, the hills present a series of lofty slopes 
 and bold brows or headlands, some of very sharp descent, and turfed, others covered with 
 hanging woods, in which are found the box and juniper, as well as the ash, oak, and 
 beech. These eminences, attaining the height of 910 feet above the sea level, are all 
 distinguished by that roundness of outline which the Geologist recognizes as peculiar to 
 the chalk formation, of which the Chilterns form a distinguished example: although 
 within the range, at about four miles from the summit, runs a line of hard sandstone 
 boulders, claiming no kindred with the great masses in which they are embedded. It 
 may be observed further, that this platform of high land, showing invariably its steepest 
 face on the north-west limit, is penetrated by vallies running into it at intervals from the 
 plain which carried off its waters. It is at the opening of the vallies or among the 
 
43 
 
 declivities of the hills, that there are found those hanging woods and wild glades, which, 
 have gained for such spots as Velvet Lawn or Bledlow, their well deserved name for 
 picturesque beauty. Within the high rampart of the hills slopes gently down, for many 
 a mile to the south-eastwards, what may be termed the Chiltern country. It forms a 
 high but undulating tract of hill, vale, and wood, in which the upland Hamlets, with 
 ‘secure delight,’ have invited and might still invite the visits of a Milton and in which 
 quiet and picturesque farms, country towns and villages, seated generally by the brook 
 in the vale, a few pleasant with some noble mansions, may claim for the district a 
 character for cheerful rural beauty. Assuredly, from an acquaintance of some years with 
 this country, the writer can promise the lovers of good exercise, fine air, and pleasant 
 scenery, many an agreeable walk or ride over the open commons, or through the shady 
 lanes and fertile fields of this variegated hill country. Let the scenery of Marlow, 
 Missenden, Penn, and Wycombe attest that this is no undue partiality.”— Records of Buclcs. 
 
 AN ANCIENT DESCRIPTION OF AYLESBURY. 
 
 Lelaxd. 
 
 [ John Leland, who is deservedhj named “ the father of antiquaries ,” was horn in 
 London, about the end of the reign of Henry VII., and educated at St. Paul's, under 
 Lilly. He was of Christ College, Cambridge, from ivkich he removed to All Souls', 
 Oxford; he afterwards studied at Paris, and became the most accomplished ivriter of the 
 age. His zeal for antiquarian research was patronized by the King, and he was empoivered 
 in 1533, to peruse the records of all libraries and collections, private and public, in the 
 kingdom. Six years was thus laboriously employed in travelling through England and 
 Wales, and to make his income respectable he teas presented to the living of Popeling, 
 near Calais, and afterwards made, in 1542, Rector of Hasely, Oxfordshire, Canon of 
 Christ Church, and Prebendary of Sarum. In 1545, he had published four books as the 
 beginning of his labours, which he presented to the King, under the title of a new year's 
 gift. To complete his further works he retired to his house in London; but such is the 
 uncertainty of human hopes, after six years' study he ivas suddenly deprived of his reason, 
 probably in consequence oj his intense application; he never recovered, but died two years 
 after, —1552.] 
 
 “ If ever I passed into Alesbury, I rode over a little bridge of Stone called Woman’s 
 Bridge, under the which passed a Brooke down on the right Hand as I rode ; and from 
 this Bridge to the Towne is a Stone Cawsey. This is, as farre as I can gather, Tame 
 Water. The Towne selfe of Alesbury standeth on an Hill in respect of all the Ground 
 thereabout, a 3 Miles flatt North from Chiltern Ililles. The Towne is neatly well 
 builded with Tyrnbre, and in it is a celebrate Market. It standeth in the High-Waye 
 from Banbury to London and Buckingham to London. There is domus civica in the 
 
44 
 
 middle of the Market Place, a late re-edifyed by — Baldwin, chiefe Justice of the 
 Common-Pleas ; but the Kinge gave the Tymber of it. The Gaole for Buckinghamshire 
 is in this Towne. 
 
 There is but one Parech Church standing West-North-West in it ; but that is one 
 of the most ancientest in all those quarters, as it appeareth by the life of St. Osith. 
 Querendon, a mile and an halfe from Alesbury, also Burton and Alesburv (qij. Elles- 
 burrowe) in Chilterne, 3 miles of by South, with divers other Hamlets, were in Alesbury 
 Parish. It is sayd that a B. of Lincolne desired by a Pope to give the Personage of 
 Alesbury to a stranger, a kinsman of his, found the means to make it a Prebende, and 
 to impropriate it to Lincolne Church. At the which time also the Personage of Tame 
 was impropriate and made a Prebende in Lincolne. Soe that the care of both the 
 churches with a right bare Livinge be reject unto the Vicars. St. Osith, daughter to 
 Fredwald, was born in Querendon, in Alisbury Parish, and brought up with an Aunt of 
 hers at Ellesburrowe, in Chilterne Hilles, a 3 Miles from Alesbury by South, whereof the 
 E. of Salesbury were late Lordes, and now the Kinge by atteinture. St. Osith’s body 
 was translated for awhile for feare of Danes, from Chich, alias St. Osith, to Alesbury. 
 There was, as some saye, a Nunnery, or other House of Religion, whereas the Personage 
 now is, and record yet remaineth that this house should be of the Maturines, alias patres 
 ordinis S ta - Trinitatis, of like sect to the Fryers, of Tikhill and Hundestawe, 10 Miles 
 from London. 
 
 There was a house of Grey-Friars in the towne towards the South, founded about 
 the tyme of K. R. 2. The Lord of Ormund was in the tyme of man’s miude counted 
 chiefe L. of Alesbury, since Boliew by Partition of Land. There runneth a pretty 
 brooke, almost at the very End of the Towne, by South under a Wooden Bridge. It 
 runneth downe from East by West into Tame. I take the head of it to be towardes 
 Wendover, a through Fare, 3 miles of. Tame River selfe, as I there learned, riseth in 
 the Eastern Parts of all the Chilterne Hilles toward Dunstable, and the head of it is 
 about 7 miles from Stone Bridge, on Tame, betwixt Alesbury and Querendon.” 
 
 WEST WYCOMBE. 
 
 R. S. Downs, High Wycombe. 
 
 “West Wycombe was so called from its situation as regards High or Great 
 Wycombe. The name of this village appears to have been originally Haveringdon, or as 
 it is sometimes written, Hanningdon or Harringdon. The first of these names is still 
 preserved in the name of a farm near Bradenham, and was most probably derived from 
 
45 
 
 an old East Saxon family, who settled in this country about 530 a.d., viz., the 
 Haveringas, and don a hill. This manor is called in Domesday Book Hauechdene; but 
 the principal manor was called Wicube. In the valor of Pope Nicholas a.d. 1291, it is 
 called Haveringedune ; in Ecton’s “ Thesaurus” of 1742, Haveringdon, alias Haningdon, 
 alias West Wycombe ; and in an account of the exchange of lands in the rolls of Edward 
 I. and II. in 1291 and 1308, it is also called Haveringdon. In 2 Edward II. Edward 
 de Haveringdoun was M.P. for High Wycombe. The confusion in the names of this 
 village probably arose from the fact that one of the principal manors was held by Odo, 
 Bishop of Baieux, and the other by Walkelin, Bishop of Winchester, and the village was 
 sometimes spoken of under one name, and sometimes under the other, and occasionally 
 by both. Another cause of the confusion which we find in the accounts of topographical 
 writers upon the subject, was the circumstance of two manors in this parish, Toweridge 
 and Wicumbe, being in Domesday Book included in Desborough Hundred, whilst a 
 third, Haveringdon, was included in Risborough Hundred, now one of the Three 
 Hundreds of Aylesbury.” 
 
 THE SIEGE OF GREENLAND HOUSE, IIAMBLEDEN. 
 
 Bulstrode Wuitelock. 
 
 [ Bids Ir ode White lock, or Whitlock, sat in the Long Parliament as Member for Great 
 Marlow. In May, 1642, he teas appointed one of the Deputy Lieutenants of Bucks, and 
 in 1643 one of the Commissioners to treat about peace with the King, and he also sat as a lay 
 member in the Westminster Assembly of Divines. In 1659 he was appointed President of the 
 Council of State, and Keeper of the Great Seal, but at the Restoration he withdrew to the 
 country, and led the rest of his life in retirement. He ivrote “ Memorials of the English 
 A fairs, or Account of what passed during the Reign of Charles I. till the Restoration, Ac., 
 published 1682, and again edited 1732; “ Memorials of the English Affairs, from the time 
 of Brutus, Ac.” ; “ Monarchy asserted to be the best and most legal form of Government, 
 
 8 vo.} “ Speeches in Rushworth's Collection,” Ac. He died in 1676.] 
 
 Greenland House, Hambleden, was the jointure of Lady Periam, wife of Sir 
 
 Robert Doyley. After her decease the estate passed to John, brother of Sir Robert, and 
 descended to his son, Sir Cope Doyley. His eldest son and heir, John Doyley, resided 
 at Greenland at the commencement of the great Rebellion, and being firmly attached to 
 the Royal cause, had the misfortune to have his house converted into a garrison by the 
 Royalist party. After a six months’ siege it surrendered in July, 1644. The 
 following notes are from “ Whitelock’s Memorials” :— 
 
 “ May 1644. The Lord General was at Greenland House to view it, and his forces 
 quartered at Henley. By letters from the General (the Earl of Essex) dated at Henley 
 
46 
 
 he certifies the Parliament that he is upon a further advance towards the enemy; and 
 that he may have no hindrance, but to take his whole army with him, he desires a party 
 may be sent out of the city to block up Greenland House, a place very prejudicial to the 
 country thereabouts ; that he sent a party to view the works, but thought it unsafe to 
 adventure the taking of it by onset. Major-general Skippon riding about the works had 
 his horse shot under him. Another letter came the next day from the General, that he 
 was now marching from Reading to seek out the enemy, &c. He further puts the House 
 in mind that they would send out a party to reduce Greenland House. 
 
 June. The Lords sent to the Commons that a regiment of foot or more might be 
 sent to join with the forces then before Greenland House, and that they might batter it 
 from the other side the Thames. The Commons sent a Committee to London to treat 
 about the sending of more forces speedily for the reducing of Oxford and Greenland- 
 house, and the better securing those counties for Parliament. Those that were before 
 Greenland House thought not fit, upon the Kiug’s coming back to Oxford, to continue 
 any siege to Greenland House, till they might have the forces of Major-general Brown 
 to join with them. Greenland House was besieged by Major-general Brown, their 
 batteries planted on the further side of the river Thames, yet near the house, against 
 which they made many shot and much battered it; they sent to London for some 
 petards and two more pieces of battery. 
 
 July. The besiegers of Greenland House had almost beaten the house about the 
 ears of the garrison. A party from Oxford and Wallingford came to relieve Greenland 
 House, whereupon the Parliament forces, then but a few before it, drew off to Henley, 
 but the King’s forces brought their fellows little relief, only carried away 29 women and 
 some plunder, and so returned, and then the besiegers sat down again before it. A few 
 days after Major-general Brown, with his whole brigade, came and joined with the 
 forces before Greenland House, and continued the batteries, upon which Colonel 
 Hawkins, the Governor of Greenland, sent out for a treaty, and rendered the fort to 
 Major-general Brown upon these articles :— 
 
 * 1. That the house and fort of Greenland House, with all the ammunition, ordnance, 
 and provision therein, be delivered up to Major-general Brown in the same condition it 
 is now in. 2. That all officers shall quietly march forth of the said house with their 
 horses and swords, the common soldiers and cannoneers with their arms and colours, 
 viz., swords, pikes, and musquets. 3. That the said Major-general do afford them a 
 convoy of horse to Nettlebed, to return again within six hours, without any molestation 
 of the forces so conveyed. 4. That the said Major-general shall cause to be provided 
 for the said officers and soldiers two teams and carts to carry away their baggage and 
 such provision as is necessary for their journey to Wallingford, which carts and horses 
 are to be returned so soon as they come thither. 5. That all prisoners taken on either 
 side be forthwith discharged.’ 
 
47 
 
 They left in the house five pieces of ordnance, thirty barrels of powder, great store 
 of bullet and match, a good quantity of cheese, biscuit, fish, malt, flour, beer, oats, pease, 
 and great plenty of household stuff.” 
 
 IVINGHOE.—ST. MARGARET’S. 
 
 The Hamlet of St. Margaret’s, Ivinghoe, traces its name from a nunnery which 
 formerly existed there, but which now is almost or quite obliterated. A litho print, 
 dated 1819, shows it to have been an antiquated building, with no pretensions to archi¬ 
 tectural merit. This print represents a stone building (probably of Tatternoe), with 
 square-headed door frames and windows, all of stone; the windows are mullioned, and 
 have trefoil-headed lights. All the stone work is of a massive character, and the 
 building altogether of a very plain construction. Of the ten windows only one retains 
 anything of its original state, all the others being partly or wholly dammed up with lath 
 and plaster, or some such material. The east end of the building gives an appearance 
 as though at some time an additional building had been attached to it. A dwarf 
 chimney of brick work is shown in the front of the building, and the roof, which is 
 covered with shale or some such material, is surmounted by a weather vane at the east 
 end. Altogether the building is of an uninviting appearance. In 1804, according to 
 Lysons, the nunnery was almost entire; had been occupied as the Manor House, and at 
 that period some of the original coloured glass was still retained in the leaden lights of 
 the windows. There are now no visible remains of the building, but the site is marked 
 by vestiges of a moat and buried parts of the building surrounded by ancestral trees. 
 
 The hamlet of St. Margaret is situate between Great and Little Gaddesden, and is 
 now a place of very small population ; is about six miles S.E. of Ivinghoe ; it has been 
 denominated “ the Priory of Ivinghoe,” and “ Muresley Priory.” The accounts delivered 
 of it have been contradictory. Leland describes it as founded by Henry de Blois, Bishop 
 of Winchester, about 1160. “ Mergate was a Nunnery of late Tyme,” he says, “It 
 staudith on an Hil in a faire Woode hard by Watheling Strete, on the East side of it. 
 Humfrey Boucher, base Sunne of the late Lorde Berners, did much Coste in translating 
 of the Priorie into a Manor Place.-” Willis, too, in his “ Mitred Abbies,’’ gives Henry 
 de Blois as the founder of this nunnery. But Lipscomb gives (from the Monasticon) a 
 copy of a charter of confirmation, from a’Beckett, Archbishop of Canterbury, in which the 
 lands bestowed upon this house are stated to be the gift of William Gififard, Bishop of 
 Winchester (who died in 1129), in the reign of Henry I.; and Henry de Blois is therein 
 represented as confirming, instead of granting, to the convent those estates. Edward I., 
 in 1280, gave lands in Surrey to this convent, for his own soul and the souls of his 
 ancestors. 
 
48 
 
 The names of the Prioresses preserved are the following :—Isolda, who was elected 
 in 1250, and died in 1262 ; Cecilia; Matilda de Hocclive, elected in 1274, and died in 
 1296 ; Isolda de Beauchamp, elected 1296 ; Sibilla de Hamsted, who resigned in 1340 ; 
 Maude de Cheyney, 1341 ; Eleanor Crosse, died in 1467; Eleanor Symms, elected in 
 1467; Elizabeth Wyville, died in 1534; and Margaret Hardwick was the Prioress 
 when the house was dissolved in the reign of Henry VIII., when there were only five 
 nuns here, and the clear annual value of the Priory was £19 8s. 9d. 
 
 At a meeting of the Archaeological Institute, in May, 1856, the matrix of the seal of 
 the Prioress of the Benedictine Nunnery of Ivinglioe, or St. Margaret’s de Bosco, was 
 exhibited by Mr. Charles Wilcox, of Wareham. This matrix was found in a wall at 
 Worth Matravers, in the Isle of Purbeck, Dorset. It is circular in form, the device is 
 a crowned female bust, possibly representing St. Margaret ; the legend is “ Sigillum 
 priorisse: de : ivinghoe and the date late in the 14th century. An impression of the 
 common seal of the Nunnery is appended to the Harleian Chaiter, dated 1325. 
 
 The site of Ivinghoe Nunnery, with the manor or reputed manor of Muresley, was 
 granted in 1538 to Sir John Dauncey. In the commencement of the present century 
 this estate belonged to the family of Catherall, who had held it during several generations. 
 Mr. George Catherall sold it to Samuel Mercer, of Long Acre, London ; and Mrs. Sarah 
 Mercer, his widow, conveyed it in 1823, under the denomination of the Manor of 
 Mursley, and the Nunnery or Monastery, to the Earl of Bridgewater. It now belongs to 
 Lord Brownlow. 
 
 St Margaret’s was a priory of Benedictine nuns, and was founded in the twelfth 
 century. The arms were— Gules, a dragon, . . . pierced in the hack with a sword, 
 
 . . . in lus mouth a crucifix. This is mentioned by Browne Willis, as remaining in 
 
 his time in a window. It is evidently a symbol of the Virgin Martyr of Antioch, who is 
 commonly represented as piercing a dragon through the mouth with the sharp end of a 
 long cross. The sword here mentioned is probably the point of the cross. 
 
 Some have strange notions respecting these ancient religious houses. They aver 
 that they had underground communications with other places in the vicinity. St. 
 Margaret’s is said to have had a subterraneous passage connecting it with Ashridge ; this 
 is highly improbable if not impossible, as if such ever existed it would have been 
 discovered long ago. The idea arises from the fact that in destroying these old buildings 
 the materials below the surface of the soil are only taken out so long as their value 
 repays for the cost of the labour in their removal. Consequently cellars and under¬ 
 ground stores are at times left untouched ; these being built of stone and generally with 
 arched roofs, maintain an existence many years after the edifice which once covered 
 them has disappeared. These arches are looked upon as entrances to underground 
 passages. This is a misunderstanding ; they have only formed recesses in what was 
 once probably a wine or beer store and they penetrate no further than they can be seen. 
 
(ONLY FIFTEEN COPIES ON OFFER.) 
 
 In 1 Vol., Crozun 130 pages, price 10s. 6d., loards, 
 
 of §nc'kin^}Mx%Yut 
 
 AND 
 
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 BY 
 
 ROBERT GIBBS, F.S.A., 
 
 Author of “ Regicides of Bucks," “ Local Records" “ History of Aylesbury," etc. 
 
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 “ it deserves a place on the shelves of the local Reading Rooms of the County, in 
 the libraries of the country gentlemen and clergy, and will be found a welcome addition 
 to the literary gatherings of those local and general collectors who are at once 
 archaeologians and antiquaries.”— Bucks Herald, May 12th, 1888. 
 
 AYLESBURY, 1888. , 
 
 THE 
 
 §udutt0ljawslm'f fjjinnllano, 
 
 A Series of Concise and Inteiesting Articles Illustrative of the 
 
 j~fl£TORY, 'jf OPOQRy\PHY, AND J/\^CH^OLOQY 
 
 COUNTY OF BUCKINGHAM, 
 
 Compiled and Edited by ROBERT GIBBS, F.S.A., 
 
 Author of “Local Occurrences," “Regicides of Bucks," “History of Aylesbury," “ Worthies 
 
 of Buckinghamshire,” &c. 
 
 H UE “ BUCKINGHAMSHIRE MISCELLANY” will be mainly a topographical 
 work, will give descriptive accounts of the “Nooks and Corners” of the 
 County, together with Historic and Archaeological items connected with it. 
 It will be composed of concise and interesting readings from the works of those authors 
 who have treated on the ancient and modern History of Buckinghamshire—Camden, 
 Spelman, Dugdale, Leland, White Ivennett, Rev. Cox, Lysons, Denham, Drayton, Langley, 
 Lipscomb, and others. Extracts will also be quoted from local authors of a more recent 
 period : the names of the writers will be given, together with a brief biographical notice 
 relating to them. 
 
 The Work will be published in quarterly parts, price One Shilling (by post Is. 2d.). 
 Only a small excess of copies will be printed over those subscribed for. 
 
 -:o:- 
 
 1889. 
 
 HUNTING OFFICE, BOU11BON STREET, AYLESBURY. 
 

 QUARTERLY.—Price Is. ; by post Is- 2d. 
 
 PART II. 
 
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 DECEMBER, 1889. S, 
 
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 p i.<»cel! a n % . 
 
 A SERIES OF CONCISE AND INTERESTING ARTICLES ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE 
 
 Hfeteg, ®o$d$ra|rf>jj, mtir ^rr^ologg 
 
 OF THE 
 
 COUNTY OP BUOK.INGHAM, 
 
 COMPILED AND EDITED BY 
 
 ROBERT GIBBS, F.S.A., 
 
 Author of ‘'Local Occurrences,” “Regicides of Bucks ,” History of Aylesbury,” “Worthies of 
 
 Buckinghamshire,” &c. 
 
 jjOJMTEJNTp OF f 2. 
 
 Jordans in Chalfont ; The Danes in Buckinghamshire ; Dorton House ; Roman Remains at 
 Lee ; Bucks Early Landed Proprietors ; Burnham Abbey ; Roman Stations ; a me rs ham ; 
 Chesham Bois ; Chetwode Priory; MedmenhamClub ; Winslow Church ; Ihe ( laulons , 
 The Manor of Chequers; Hartwell House; Rowsham Chapel; Bequest to 1 nnces 
 Risborough; Doddershall House; The Founder of Medmenham Abbey ; Giem on 
 Underwood; Great Marlow; Cromwell and Aylesbury; Dinton Castle; Stowe House; 
 Burnham Hundred ; Boarstall Legend ; Saxon Work at Iver and Wing; Roman camp 
 at Ellesborough; Whaddon Hall; Buckingham Castle; Representative History ot 
 Bucks ; Little Marlow Nunnery ; County Hall, Aylesbury ; Bradwell Priory : Bucking¬ 
 ham in 17th Century; Maids Moreton Church; Little Brickhill; f lietden House, 
 Buckinghamshire in the Civil War ; Priory of Newton Longville ; Danish Remains a 
 Aylesbury ; Wotton House ; The Glastonbury Thorn ; Ancient Trackways. 
 
 =3 AYLESBURY : . .. •a* 
 
 PRINTED BY R. GIBBS, “ BUCKS ADVERTISER & AYLESBURY NEWS OFFICE. 
 
 J-LD ,,RI: 
 
 E=el]- 
 
 MDCCCLXXXIX. 
 
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 ■fla^ 
 

 
49 
 
 JORDANS, IN CHALFONT. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 The came of Jordan reminds us of the period of the Crusades, when pilgrims visited 
 the Holy Land and brought back with them water from the river Jordan for baptismal 
 purposes. It was thus the name of Jordan was introduced amongst us as a surname. 
 In early records it is commonly met with as a Christian name, such appellations as 
 Jordan d’Abingdon, or Jordau le Clerc being very familiar. The baptismal name soon 
 became surnominal, and “ Jordan” is still met with, to remind us of the peculiar and 
 interesting epoch of the Crusaders. 
 
 The settled connexion of “ Friends,” or Quakers, with Jordans in Chalfont, com¬ 
 menced in the year 1671, when it was sold by William Russell to Thomas Ellwood and 
 others for the use of the Friends. It is described in the conveyance as land only, and 
 was immediately appropriated as a Friend’s burial ground; the first notice of a 
 funeral taking place here being in the year the purchase was made. These 
 Friends’ burial grounds, apart from the usual places of interment, are by no means 
 rarities. 
 
 Another conveyance of the property, dated 1688, refers to the Meeting House, and 
 describes the land as consisting of four acres. From this deed it appears that the 
 Meeting House and premises were built by John Penington, Peter Prince, Henry Treadway, 
 William Grimsdale, Henry Pearce, Thomas Ellwood, Thomas Dell, and others at their 
 joint and common charge. The place was then called New Jordans. It may be 
 assumed that the Meeting House was built in the year 1687-8, and there are 
 notes of the first meeting held on “the 7th of eighth month, 1688.” Equally 
 authentic information respecting Jordan’s is derived from minute books as early 
 as 1669. The origin of the name of Jordans, as appertaining to this place, must 
 be conjectural ; it is considered to have been derived from the name of an early owner 
 or resident. 
 
 This burial ground of Jordan’s contains many graves, but few can now be identified. 
 In this place were deposited the remains of William Penn, Gulielma Penn, Maria Pemq 
 Springet Penn, Letitia Penn, and five of Penn’s children, who died young. Also, the 
 bodies of Isaac Peniugton, Thomas Ellwood, Mary Ellwood, Mary Frame, and Joseph 
 Rule. There is also a vault, wherein Samuel Vandervaal and his wife are interred. 
 These were all leading Friends. William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, was 
 connected with Jordan’s, both by pedigree and marriage, and, doubtless on that account, 
 was buried here. Thomas Ellwood was the friend of John Milton ; he introduced the 
 poet to Chalfont and obtained for him the residence there now known as “ Milton’s 
 Cottage.” 
 
 
 
50 
 
 THE DANES IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. 
 
 White Kennett. 
 
 “ In the next year after the desolation of this County (Oxon) by the Daues, 
 An. 915 or 918, King Edward rais’d a great army, and before the feast of St. Martin 
 marcht to Buckingham, where he lay one month, and caus’d two Forts to be built and 
 garison’d on each side the Ouse ; and then advancing towards the Danes, he struck such 
 a terrour into them, that Turketil their General, with the garrisons of Bedford and 
 Northampton, were glad to make their submission and their peace. In the year following, 
 the Danes falling back to their violation of all truces, and their constant trade of 
 plunder, King Edward with a new army from these parts, marcht to Bedford, besieg’d 
 and took it. After which he built the Town of Tocester for a barrier to hinder the Danes 
 incursion into this Country ; who were so sensible of this restraint to be put upon them> 
 that they came out in a great body from Northampton, and besieg’d the new 
 Town of Tocester ; but the garison recruited by the neighbouring Inhabitants, made a 
 stout defence, and by frequent sallies drove away the Pagan army ; who upon this 
 repulse broke into the adjoining parts of the County of Bucks, plunder’d the villages, 
 drove away the cattle, and kill’d many of the Inhabitants between the Towu of 
 Eilesberie now Ailsbury, and the forest of Bernwood. But they were soon pursued and 
 drove to their winter quarters by King Edward, who lay with his army at Passenham or 
 Passham in Northamptonshire while the new Town of Tocester was better secur’d by a 
 stone-wall; and within the compass of the same year, the Danes were so weakened and 
 disperst, that they chose to promise allegiance, and live in subjection to King Edward ; 
 who thereby settled the peace of these parts till his own death at Faringdou on the edge 
 of this County (Oxon), and the death of JElfweard his son at Oxford immediately after, 
 An. 924 or 925.” 
 
 DORTON HOUSE. 
 
 This Mansion is situate contiguous to the parish church of Dorton ; is erected on 
 a tableau flanked with plantations and groups of ornamental trees. A foundation of an 
 ancient building forms the base of the present one. The house was built by Sir John 
 Dormer, Knt., about the end of the sixteenth or the beginning of the seventeenth 
 century. It was extensively repaired and altered by Sir John Aubrey, Bart., in 1784, 
 who, with excessive bad taste, destroyed the original character of the exterior, and placed 
 a Roman Doric cornice and balustrade along the entrance front. Fortunately the 
 interior of the building was left untouched at this time, and it still retains its primitive 
 style. In that state it came into the possession of the late Charles Spencer Ricketts, Esq., 
 vho, in the further repairs which he found necessary to carry out, scrupulously preserved 
 
51 
 
 all that remained of its internal originality. The style of architecture in the erection of 
 Dorton House began to prevail in this country about the end of the sixteenth and the 
 beginning of the seventeenth century, which corresponds with the assumed date of the 
 building of this mansion. This style took its rise with the revival of architecture in 
 Italy, and is known in the history of Italian art as the Cinque Cento. From Italy it 
 was introduced into England, superseding the domestic Gothic; was adopted by Inigo 
 Jones in the palace of Whitehall, and became the prevailing character of building, until 
 the introduction of the more massy column, “ a single colossal order, spanning the whole 
 edifice.” Among the most celebrated mansions of this Cinque Cento style and period, 
 in addition to Dorton House, are Longleate, in Wiltshire ; Wollaton Hall, in Notting¬ 
 hamshire ; parts of Hatfield House, in Herts, and Audley End, in Essex. The archi¬ 
 tect of Dorton House is unknown, but a plan of the ground and first floor is dated 1596. 
 The examples of the Cinque Cento style are preserved at Dorton House in the screen 
 in the hall which is very elaborate ; the principal staircase, with its massive balustrades, 
 pinnacles, and carvings (this bears the date of 1626) ; the chimney piece in the room 
 known as Queen Elizabeth’s room, and the ceiling in the same room, which is in elegant 
 compartments, in which a full-faced view of the Queen occupies the centre, the corres¬ 
 ponding compartments being filled with the portraits of her principal ministers in profile. 
 A spacious apartment, reputed to have formerly been a domestic chapel, is floored with 
 pavements, some of which bear the arms of Dormer embossed on them, and others the 
 crest of the family of Blount, the ancestors of Dame Catherine Dormer. The once 
 popular long gallery, found in ancient houses, still retains its position at Dorton; it 
 exceeds 120 feet iu length, and is adorned with family portraits. At one end of this 
 gallery is an elegantly designed window in stained glass, with a representation of the 
 well-known legend of Nigel killing the wild boar in Bernewood Forest, also the 
 presentation of the boar’s head to the King, who is standing under an oak tree, with 
 his crown on his head, surrounded by attendants. In the same window the arms of 
 Aubrey, sixth baronet, quarterly with Hansel and Lewis, and of his two wives, Colebroke 
 and Carter, are displayed. 
 
 The north and west elevations of the mansion are described as being in the Domestic 
 Gothic style, having square-headed windows, divided by stone mullions aud transomes ; 
 the south front is gabled, and the chimney shafts are of octangular form, in clusters. 
 
 Dorton House is now occupied by Charles Aubrey Aubrey, Esq., the proprietor of 
 the Dorton estate. 
 
 ROMAN REMAINS AT LEE. 
 
 Captain B. Burgess. 
 
 “ In Bray’s Wood, through which passes the road from Lee to Chesham, are large 
 moated entrenchments, mostly overgrown with forest trees; in 1855, a corner of one of 
 
52 
 
 these large enclosures was laid bare and turned up by the plough. The camp consists of 
 a large parallelogram, 196 paces in length, by /6 in width, on one side of which the 
 ditch is perfect; on the N.E. side the form is lost. Within this, but not in its centre, is 
 a square moated enclosure of about 52 yards or paces ; and in the corner of this is 
 another moat, within which appears to have stood a comparatively modern building. 
 From the south corner of the large parallelogram, another irregular shaped enclosure, 
 surrounded with a slight ditch, projects, the south-east side of which is lost in a pond 
 now nearly dry and ploughed up, but exhibiting marks of having been of some 
 extent. The soil here is of a deep red colour, and of a strong clayey texture, shewing 
 signs of iron. All the ditches communicated with the pond and with each other. The 
 centre enclosure from its position, and the breadth and depth of its fosse, is supposed to 
 have been the stronghold of the camp ; whilst the other ditches enclosed the ancient 
 British village and cleared spot of the inhabitants. It might be assumed that the 
 camps on these hills and other places were fortified villages. In these Bray’s Wood 
 entrenchments were found several fragments of blue pottery, and the handle of a rude 
 Amphora (pronounced by competent authority to be Roman, or of the Roman period), 
 which would rather lead to the supposition that a small Anglo-Roman colouy might have 
 penetrated the woods, and established themselves there. This is the more probable, 
 from the fact of a large Anglo-Romau village, perhaps town, having been situated at 
 Little Kimble, as excavations at Chequers plainly show. Indeed Roman villas appear 
 to have studded the Yale of Aylesbury ,”—Records of Buckinghamshire. 
 
 EARLY LANDED PROPRIETORS IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. 
 
 S. Lysons. 
 
 “When the survey of Domesday was taken, the following were the principal land¬ 
 owners—Walter Giffard, Earl of Buckingham, had 41 manors ; the Bishop of Baieux, 
 26 ; the Bishop of Constance, 18 ; William Fitz-Ansculf, ancestor of the Paganells and 
 Somerys, 16 ; Earl Morton, 13 ; Milo Crispin, 12 ; Maigno Brito, founder of the barony 
 of Wolverton, 10 ; William Peverell, 8 ; Geffrey de Mandeville, 7 ; Robert D’Oyley and 
 Roger de Iveri, each 6 manors ; Hugh de Bolebec, and Judith, countess of Northum¬ 
 berland, each five manors ; Lewis Neweton, and Walter Fitz-Other, ancestor of the 
 Windsors, each four manors ; Hugh, Earl of Chester, Robert de Todeni, Gozelin Brito, 
 and Gilo, the brother of Ansculf, each three mauors ; no other person appears to have 
 possessed more than two. The Survey describes very few manors in Buckinghamshire 
 as belonging to the church ; there was no religious house of any consequence at that time 
 in the county. The Monasteries of Westminster, St. Albans, Barking, and St. Frideswide, 
 
53 
 
 in Oxford, had among them seven manors. In process of time, many of the lay-manors 
 became annexed to various religious establishments of later foundation. Among the 
 very few estates which continued any length of time in the descendants of those families, 
 who possessed them at the time of the Norman Survey, may be mentioned Whitchurch, 
 sold by the Earl of Oxford (Hugh de Bolebec's representative), in the reign of Queen 
 Elizabeth; and Farnham, alienated in 1542, by the Earl of Shrewsbury, who was 
 descended from Bertram de Verdon. Many of the manors, described in the Survey, 
 were either given to monasteries, or alienated in other ways, long before the families of 
 the owners were extinct; many others, particularly those of the Bishops of Baieux and 
 Constance, reverted to the Crown, were disposed of by various grants, and divided 
 amongst numerous families, whom, for want of records at that early period, it would be 
 impossible to trace.” 
 
 BURNHAM ABBEY. 
 
 Rev. F. Gl. Lee, D.D., F.S.A., Lambeth. 
 
 “ In the year 1265, when King Henry III. ruled and reigned in England, “ Ricardus 
 Rex Romanorum,” the King’s brother, began the erection of a nunnery in Burnham ol 
 the Order of St. Augustine. This Richard owned the adjacent Manors of Cippenham, 
 or Chippenham, as the word is written in the Valor Ecclesiasticus, Stoke and Bulstrode. 
 Anciently, i.e., at the Domesday Survey, the Manor of Burnham had belonged to Walter 
 FitzOther, reputed to have been ancestor of the noble family of the Windsors. East 
 Burnham, however, had been, prior to that date, a portion of the lands of the Abbey ot 
 St. Peter’s, Westminster. In King Edward the Confessor’s time, it had been jointly 
 holden by three Thanes. The Abbey’s foundation-charter is dated in the following year, 
 April, 1266, and by various sentiments and sentences distinctly asserts that its foundation 
 had been already made. Buckinghamshire at that time, and even down almost to the 
 present day, belonged to the Diocese of Lincoln, having previously formed a part of 
 the still more ancient see of Dorchester. 
 
 In the year 1338, King Edward III. bestowed the advowson of Burnham on Sir 
 John de Molins, who, by his marriage with the heiress of the owner of Stoke Poges, had 
 already obtained that adjacent manor. He was unquestionably a great benefactor to the 
 abbey, to which he gave his own Manor of Silverton, in the county of Northampton, and 
 some other donations of lands and tenements. The Manor of Burnham already belonged 
 to the abbey. Some member of the family of Molins gave the advowson of Burnham to 
 the abbess and convent. These presented to it, in the person of Sir William de Barton, 
 a.d. 1266, and so late as a.d. 1533, when Richard Scriven was, by the Bishop of Lincoln, 
 instituted on a similar presentation. 
 
54 
 
 Certain early deeds and cnpies of others relating to Burnham are preserved in the 
 Register-house of Lincoln Cathedral, and though no great amount of information can be 
 gathered from these, they provide the main facts relating to the original foundation of 
 the convent, giving several names and dates of pei’sons and places, though little more. 
 The abbey was founded by those who regarded the well-being of the living and the 
 benefit of the dead, as sentence after sentence of the deeds in question set forth ; and the 
 house and its inmates for nearly three hundred years were of great advantage to the 
 locality. This much is admitted even by those who officially took part in its final over¬ 
 throw. The chief person engaged, William Tvldesley, subsequently obtained a lease of 
 the site and mansion-house from the Crown, in return for his acknowledged services, and 
 at a very small cost. The house had apparently remained empty since the actual 
 surrender, and it appears by certain MS. letters and a subsequent report in the Record 
 Office, that many things belonging to the abbey had been either lost, purloined, or 
 destroyed. Anyhow, the King's travelling agents, in reply to some very definite 
 inquiries, complained that this was so. 
 
 The abbey was surrendered to the authorized visitors or agents of King Henry VIII. 
 on the 19th day of September, 1539. Five years previously the Abbess Gibson had 
 acknowledged that monarch’s spiritual supremacy. Two years afterwards, by Court 
 intrigue, she was put aside as not sufficiently pliable for the work in hand, and a certain 
 Alice Baldwin was appointed to govern in her stead. She was of a family of Aylesbury. 
 By deed and document drawn up in London this Abbess Baldwin and her nine nuns 
 surrendered in the fall of the year. The church and house at that time were reported to 
 be in good repair. Its management, as the visitors on inquiry admitted, had been wise 
 and thrifty. There were no debts ; the woods around it were flourishing. Of these the 
 trees upon eighty acres were of no less than twenty years' growth, while, on the other eighty 
 acres of woods, the timber was very old and valuable. As the record shows, there were 
 thirty-seven servants attached to the abbey, including two priests (with a chaplain's 
 lodgings outside the chief gateway), twenty-one “hinds” or farm labourers, and fourteen 
 women servants or lay-sisters. All, as the visitors allowed, were honest, well-behaved, 
 and contented ; and each of the professed religious nuns, without exception, being under 
 solemn vows, desired to go into some other religious house, and sought a pension from 
 the King. 
 
 The site, mansion-house, abbey, and lands were found to be of the annual value of 
 £51 2s. 4d. ; the bells and lead of the abbey church were valued at £40 16s. 8d.; the 
 movable goods in the house and on the premises at £45 17s. 9d.—sums equivalent to 
 about £1,400 a year of our present money. 
 
 There is considerable difficulty in making out the original plan of the abbey 
 buildings, owing to the various works of destruction which have from time to time taken 
 place. Most of the Abbey is utterly gone and destroyed—levelled to the ground ; though 
 a large portion of the old domestic buildings, including the hall or refectory, remain. 
 
55 
 
 Very soon after its suppression—which caused the deepest local dissatisfaction ; so much 
 so, indeed, that the impoverished and cast-off agricultural labourers are reported to have 
 threatened the new owner with personal violence—the abbey church was razed to the 
 ground by Paul VVeutworth. The bells, brass work, oaken fittings, latten inscriptions, 
 and figures in brass, together with the lead of the roof, had been already sold. All the 
 “ church stuff ” and plate of silver, silver parcell-gjlt, and white metal had been con¬ 
 fiscated, and the proceeds of these sales placed in the Augmentation Office. Tydesley, 
 as an obedient servant of Henry VIII., had arranged the completion of this work, and 
 had done it well. 
 
 The hall, the abbey church, the refectory, the cloisters, the infirmary, the church- 
 garth, the nuns’ burial-ground, the long chamber or dormitory, the buttery, the abbess’s 
 oratory, and the servants’ rooms are one and all found mentioned here and there in 
 various deeds, reports, and descriptions of the abbey. It is clear, therefore, that the 
 general building comprised at least these. The church and the hall, however, except 
 one wall containing a very broad and effective chimneypiece in carved freestone, seem to 
 be utterly gone : but the dormitory, oratory, or chapel, and certain domestic buildings, 
 much altered, remain. Some of the now crumbling mouldings—more especially those of 
 the three lancet windows on the eastern side and the First-Pointed doorways —are of a 
 most artistic and effective type. 
 
 The abbey buildings and lands have passed through many families, several of which 
 have long been utterly extinct. The site, as already mentioned, had been originally 
 bestowed— i.e., in 1544—upon William Tyldesley, whose childless widow married Mr. 
 Paul Wentworth, son of Sir Nicholas Wentworth, Knt. Then, for some good reason 
 or another, it appears the site and mansion reverted to the Crown. In 1574 Mr. Went¬ 
 worth secured a new lease for 21 years, which was subsequently renewed (Pat. Roll, 
 30th of Elizabeth, dated March, 1587). In the reign of Charles 1. it is found in the 
 possession of Sir Henry Fane, who sold his interest in it to Mrs. Anne Darrell, and then 
 to Mr. John Darrell, of Dinton, Bucks, who in turn disposed of it to one of Cromwell’s 
 connections, a certain Master Richard Lovelace, of Hurley, co. Berks. Lord Lovelace, 
 a kinsman of the latter, sold it to a member of the family of Villiers—Edward, Lord 
 Viscount Villiers—who obtained a new lease from the Crown on June 3rd, 1693. A 
 reference to an abstract of old deeds shows that it was from time to time leased 
 to Captain Humphrey Whitegrave, to Samuel Aldridge, to Mr. William Gould, to 
 Edmund Waller, esquire, and subsequently to a Mr. Driver. When demised to Mr. 
 Waller, such was without any special conditions. For about a century it remained in 
 the families of Villiers and Waller, until Lord Grenville (William Wyndham) secured it, 
 a.d. 1812. Twenty-eight years afterwards, when the last-given Crown lease expired, it 
 was put up to auction and sold by the Crown to a Mr. Pocock, who built the present 
 modern residential-house. Dying without heirs male, it was bequeathed to the 
 purchaser’s uiece, a Mrs. Wright. A Mr. Trumper resided here for several years. It 
 
56 
 
 is now (1888) inhabited by the celebrated antiquarian bookseller, Mr. James Toovey, of 
 Piccadilly.’’ 
 
 ROMAN STATIONS IN BUCKS. 
 
 Bishop of Cloyne. 
 
 “ The Roman stations in this county, from the few visible remains, appear almost 
 as difficult to fix as the roads ; but the distances, in the iters of Antonine and Richard, 
 correspond so exactly, that by following them we cannot err much from the ancient 
 sites ; at the distance of 12 miles from Yerulam was the station of Durocobrivm, or 
 Forum Diame, which we have before mentioned to be at Dunstable ; and 12 miles 
 farther we find Magiovintum, which will fall certainly within the limits of Buckingham¬ 
 shire; and if we attend to the distance on the road, precisely at Fenny Stratford ; then 
 proceeding 17 miles farther, we arrive at Towcester, in Northamptonshire, which must 
 have been Lactodorum. This interpretation makes the stations on the road between the 
 two certain points of Verulamium and Yennonae, agree perfectly with the positions 
 assigned them in the itinerary; and it receives very strong confirmation from the 
 remains of the Roman station still existing, near Fenny Stratford. The site of this 
 station is called the Auld fields, about a quarter of a mile from the present village, and 
 is on a small elevation, on the south side of the rivulet; it is the very position likely 
 to have been chosen by the Romans, and coins, and foundations of buildings, have been 
 dug up there in abundance ; Browne Willis had many of the former in his possession. 
 
 In treating of the western part of this county, Camden mentions a Roman town, 
 which he supposes to have been destroyed by the Danes, in 914, at a place called the 
 Burgh-Hill, and by contraction the Brill; and adds, that Roman coins were found there 
 in his time ; which, though doubted by Kennet in his Parochial Antiquities, is confirmed 
 by Gale’s MS. with the observation that such coins are called kimbrels, in the neigh¬ 
 bourhood ; and as this seems to infer, that these marks of a Roman town have been 
 found commonly, and in abundance, it requires some examination; the present 
 inhabitants, however, have no knowledge of any coins, or other marks of antiquity, 
 having been discovered in the parish ; and the mere existence of an ancient camp is by 
 no means sufficient to establish the hypothesis of Camden.” 
 
 ANCIENT DESCRIPTION OF AMERSHAM. 
 
 Leland. 
 
 “ Hagmondesham, alias Homersham, a right pretty market towne on Fryday, of 
 one street well built with tymber, standing in Buckinghamshire and Chilterne, 2J miles 
 
57 
 
 from Little Missenden. The Duke of Buckingham was chiefly lord of it, since the 
 Kynge, and now Lord Russell, by gift, who dwelleth at Cheineis, 3 miles of by E. The 
 Paroche Chirche standeth by N.E. towards the middle of the towne, and in a Chappell 
 on the north side of it, lyeth buried Edmunde Brudenell, father of Sir Robert Brudenell, 
 late Chiefe Justice of the Common Pleas, and Drew Brudenell, elder brother of the sayd 
 Sir Robert, and Helen, his wife, Da. to Broughton, who dwelt (there) at a Manour of 
 his of £40 per annum. There cometli a brooke almost from Missenden, and passeth 
 hard by Hamersham, leavinge it almost by full S. on the right ripe, and after running 
 down by the Yalleis of Chilterne Hilles towardes Colne Streame.” 
 
 CHESHAM BOIS. 
 
 Rev. C. H. Evelyn White, F.S.A., Vicar of Christ Church, Chesham. 
 
 “ Some time after the Norman Conquest, Cestreham or Chesham appears to have been 
 divided into three manors, of which Chesham Bois was one. The manor was held by the 
 family of De Bosco or De Bois in the reign of King John. If, as some were inclined to 
 argue, the place derived its additional name of Bois from De Bosco, it must be borne in 
 mind that he or his ancestors could only have gained their title from the place. The 
 Norman-French addition of Bois, signifying “ wood,” was made, as may be readily 
 understood, by reason of this part of Chesham standing for the most part in the 
 wooded portion, and to distinguish it from Chesham (Leicester and Woburn), or as it 
 is sometimes called Great Chesham, or Chesham town. ‘Bois’ was almost universally 
 pronounced in the neighbourhood ‘Boyce’ or ‘Boies,’ and was sometimes so written, 
 indeed such was the Anglo-Norman spelling. Although there were other theories, (vide 
 Bucks Records, vol. vi., pp. 182-3, Chesham Bois), I think the name of the place should 
 be connected with its surroundings. * * * * # In the year 1216 William de 
 Risemberghe (or Riseborough) was presented to the vicarage of the chapel of St. Leonard 
 of Chesham by William de Bosco. It was something more than a chapel of ease to 
 Chesham Leicester and Woburn, being a donative of peculiar and exempt jurisdiction, 
 endowed it would seem with tithes from the earliest time {vide Bucks Records, appendix 
 to my paper on Chesham Bois, p. 211), which entitled the incumbent to institution and 
 induction. * * * * * The incumbents were in several cases denominated 
 
 chaplains, although at other times rectors, and as a rectory the benefice was still 
 regarded, and to it, as such, clerks were presented. After the time of Henry AIL 
 the manor passed into the Cheney family by the marriage of Sir Thomas Cheney 
 with Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Sir John Chesham, who seems to have inherited 
 
58 
 
 in the female line from the family of De Bosco or Bois. From that time it 
 continued to be one of their chief seats until the death of William Cheney, Lord 
 Viscount Newhaven, without male issue, in 1728. Soon after this it became the 
 property of John, Earl Gower, and was sold by him in 1725 to the Duke of Bedford, in 
 whose house it still for most part remained. The Duke of Bedford, while as Lord of 
 the Manor retaining the great tithes, had parted with the right of presentation of a clerk 
 by the sale of the advowson, together with that of (Great) Chesham, to private trustees. 
 The mansion and its park, where the Cheney family resided in Chesham Bois, had long 
 since disappeared, or become merged. It occupied, in part, the site of what was known 
 as “ Bois Cottage,” and since as “ Bois House.” 
 
 CHETWODE PRIORY AND THE PRIORY CHURCH. 
 
 In 1244 Sir Ralph de Norwich founded a Priory atChetwode for Augustine Canons. 
 The old parish church of St. Martin having become dilapidated, the parishioners, in 1480, 
 with the consent of the Abbot and Convent of Notley, obtained the use of the Priory 
 Church, which has ever since been parochial. The conventual church was dedicated in 
 honour of St. Martin and St. Nicholas, and when the parochial services of St. Martin’s 
 were transferred to it, the Bishop of Lincoln bound the monks of Notley and their 
 successors for ever to observe the annual feast of St. Martin, the patron saint of the parish. 
 
 The Priors of Chetwode were Thomas de Hanworth, first Prior, appointed by the 
 founder in 1245. John, 1261. William de Dadyngton, 1270. Roger de Linham, or 
 Langham, 1304. William, or John de Warmyngton, 1317. Robert de Brackle, 1327. 
 William de Halton, 1337. Henry de Wykeham, 1349. John de Westbury, 1361. 
 Richard Langton, 1386. Thomas Rede, 1405. Richard Boreton died 1445. John 
 Huiuberston, 1445. The latter died in 1458, but no successor was appointed; the 
 monks being desirous to subordinate their convent as a Cell to Notley Abbey, on account 
 of the smallness of the revenues, which they urged were not sufficient for their support, 
 and it was annexed to Notley Abbey in 1460. The lands with which it was endowed 
 lay chiefly in Barton Hartshorn. William Risley, Esq., purchased the Conventual 
 Manor of King Henry VIII. The old Priory House has been demolished many years. 
 
 The Priory Church is described as a small building, with a tower at the west end, 
 containing two bells, one of which was brought from St. Martin’s, the old parish church. 
 In an ancient plan a cross and a well are shown on the north side of the church yard. 
 The Chancel was adorned with a very elegant window, having portraits of saints and 
 bishops ; one, St. Nicholas, and a figure of the Virgin Mary, very distinct, with the Arms 
 
59 
 
 of England at the time of the foundation of the priory. Several old slabs are presumed 
 to have been the lids of the coffins of Ecclesiastics or others buried here, some of which, 
 being opened, contained bodies wrapped in leather. There was an ancient slab, with the 
 marks of an effigy, which it is supposed was removed there after the Church was made 
 parochial. A new pavement of stone has been laid over the old damp floor of brick, and 
 other improvements been made in the interior of the edifice. In 1842 W. Bracebridge, 
 Esq., caused a large five-lancet Early English window to be erected in the Chancel. 
 
 A more modern description of the Church names it as dedicated to St. Mary and 
 St. Nicholas. The building has a Chancel, nave, and north transept ; tower at the north¬ 
 west angle. Chetvvode Priory being built against the south side of the nave, but little of 
 that part is visible: there are, however, two very good Early Decorated two-light 
 windows remaining, also a few other windows of the same style in different parts of the 
 Church. The Chancel is a fine specimen of Early English ; there is a very good triplet 
 on each side, and a fine five-light window at the east end ; on the south side is a rich 
 arcade, with shafts and foliated capitals, and the toothed ornaments in the hollow 
 moulding ; one compartment of this is used as an entrance from the Priory. The east 
 window has been filled with painted glass, not particularly good ; all that remained of 
 the ancient glass from this window was placed in the triplet on the south 6ide, and is a 
 very good specimen of about the same date as the windows. The font is modern. 
 
 THE HELL FIRE CLUB AT MEDMENHAM ABBEY. 
 
 The Hon. G. Berkeley. 
 
 The IIon. Grantley Berkeley, in his “ Anecdotes of the Upper Ten Thousand,” 
 remarks—“ The Hell Fire Club, of which Sir Francis Dashwood was a member, as well 
 as several others, including Lord Luttrell, and Henry Lord Santry, Colonels Clements, 
 Ponsonby, and St, George, was established, as it seemed, simply to outrage all the refined 
 usages of Society, as well as to manifest contempt for religion, and the attributes of 
 Divine Worship. It was this desire to defile all things that are usually held sacred that 
 led the Club to select the ruins of Medmenhara Abbey as a place for their coarse and 
 detestable debaucheries. There is a picture now in the possession of Sir C. C. Domvile 
 illustrative of the facts to which I allude. It was at the Abbey, so the tale is told, that 
 a large monkey well blacked by soot, and let down the chimney into the room where 
 they were carousing, put them all to flight.” Sheehan adds—“ These bon vivants for a 
 long time believed that the Fiend himself had appeared among them, and their meetings 
 were then (at a date previous to 1764) finally broken up. The Club is said to have 
 consisted of 13 members, among whom were the following:—Sir Francis Dashwood 
 (Lord le Despencer), Charles Churchill, John Wilkes, Bubb Doddingtou (afterwards 
 
GO 
 
 Lord Melcombe Regis), Robert Lloyd, Sir John Dashwood King, Bart., Henry Lovibond 
 Collins, Paul Whitehead, Sir William Stanhope, Dr. Benjamin Bates, and Francis 
 Duffield, the proprietor of Medmenham.” Almon’s Life of Wilkes mentions the names of 
 the Earl of Sandwich and Thomas Potter as members. They all slept in the Abbey in 
 cradles, and a fragment of Wilkes’ cradle was preserved there. Some of the pictures 
 from Medmenham representing the rites of the Club are preserved at The Thatched 
 House Tavern in London. 
 
 WINSLOW PARISH CHURCH. 
 
 A. Clear, Winslow. 
 
 “ Winslow Parish Church is a building full of interest, and although it has 
 suffered from the usual neglect of bygone times, it has received no irreparable injury, 
 while its structure is in unusually good repair, so far as its stability is concerned. The 
 Church consists of a nave of four bays, a large Chancel, a Western Tower, and North and 
 South aisles. There is a fine late Porch on the south side of the building, and the 
 Church was originally completed by a Sacristy to the north of the Chancel; this has now 
 disappeared, but its doorway remains. Generally speaking, the Church dates from the 
 end of the thirteenth century, or the beginning of the next. Indeed the whole is of this 
 period, with the following exceptions—the upper stage of the Tower, the south porch, 
 various windows, especially the east window, which were inserted in Perpendicular times, 
 the upper part of the Clerestory, the five windows of the aisles, and the roofs throughout. 
 The windows at the west end are all original, as are two others, one in the Chancel, and 
 one in the north aisle. One Clerestory window also remains on each side—these are 
 small cusped circles. Inside, the stonework is on the whole in a good state ; 
 unhappily none of the ancient fittings remain, nor any trace of them beyond the 
 marks of the old rood screen, and of the parcloses which once filled the nave arches 
 at its eastern end, parting off the chapels which were then at the ends of the two 
 aisles. The pulpit is Jacobtean and of very good design, and there are some curious 
 gates at the entrance to the Chancel. The old sacristy door, the piscina in the Chancel, 
 and another of somewhat unusual design in the south aisle, are now brought to 
 light, as well as an aumbrey also in the south aisle. 
 
 The tower, 64 feet high, contains six bells, and a small Sanctus bell. Lipscomb 
 states that these were cast from an older peal of five bells, by Keene, of Woodstock, in 
 June, 1G68, and gives the weight of the old bells as 7,500 lbs., and the new ones 6,800 
 lbs. ; only two bells now remain of the latter peal, viz., the fourth and fifth. The 
 Sanctus bell is the oldest, and bears this inscription, ‘ Robert At ton made me 1611,’ 
 
 ‘ W. Lovnes, W. Giles, T. Tomlin, — Gibbard—witch benefactors (gave) this Bel.’ 
 
01 
 
 (Cast at Buckingham). First, ‘ Edward Hall made me, 1730.’ (Cast at Drayton 
 Parslow.) Second, ‘Rev. W. W. McCreight, Vicar, 1846,’ ‘Samuel Graves Dudley, 
 Thomas Moorcroft, Churchwardens,’ ‘ C. & G. Mears, Founders, London.’ Third, 
 ‘ Thomas Smallbones, Iohn Godwyn, Charles Boiler, C. W. 1670,’ the third bell originally 
 cast by Keene in 1668, appears to have had only a short existence—having been re-cast 
 in 1670. Fourth, ‘ 1668.’ Fifth, ‘ 1668.’ (Dates only, no inscriptions). Sixth,‘John 
 Gibbs, John Dudley, Thomas Ingram, Churchwardens, 1777,’ ‘ Pack & Chapman, of 
 London, Fecit.’ ” [1888. Since this account was written the Church has been restored]. 
 
 THE CLAYDONS. 
 
 There are four places of this name in the N.W. of the county situated upon a 
 ridge of clay hills running east and west, and extending into Oxfordshire. Steeple 
 Claydon is so called from the spire of the church, S. Michael’s, which, being placed 
 upon an elevated spot, can be seen from a considerable distance round. Botolph Claydon, 
 sometimes called Bottle Claydon, is said to derive its name iu some way from S. 
 Botolph, but more probably from an old English word meaning a wood. There is 
 also a spring in the hamlet called “ S. Botolph’s well.” There may have been 
 some cell or other religious house here dedicated to his honour, and the names of 
 Muxwell (Monks-well) and Monkeomb farms seem to point to the former existence of 
 a monastery ; but there are no records of such an establishment, nor the remains of any 
 buildings that might have belonged to it. East Claydon and Middle Claydon are so 
 distinguished in reference to their position in regard to the other Claydons. 
 
 THE MANOR OF CHEQUERS. 
 
 Mr. Bertram F. Astley. 
 
 “ The Manor of Chequers, or Chakers, derived its name from one of its early 
 possessors, John de Scaccariis (of .the Exchequer), during whose time (iu the reign 
 of King John) the house was assigned as the place of deposit of treasure belonging 
 to the King’s Court, and from whose family it passed, by the marriages of its many 
 heiresses, into the possession successively of the families of Hawtrey, Croke, Thurbane, 
 Cutts, Revett, and Russell. On the death, in 1836, of Sir Robert Greenhill Russell, 
 Bart., the Russells of Chequers became extinct, and the estate passed by will to Sir 
 Robert Frankland, Bart., of Thirkleby Park, in Yorkshire, whose great-great-grandmother, 
 
62 
 
 Elizabeth Lady Frankland, was sister of John Russell, third son of Sir John Russell, 
 Bart., of Chippenham, by Frances, youngest daughter of Oliver Cromwell, who married, 
 in 1715, Joanna, daughter and heir of John Thurbane, of Chequers. Sir Robert Frank¬ 
 land assumed the surname of Russell on his succession, and devised the estate to his 
 widow, Louisa Ann, Lady Frankland Russell (third daughter of the Right Rev. Lord 
 George Murray, Bishop of St. David’s) (Atholl), at whose decease, in 1871, Chequers 
 passed into the possession of her fifth daughter, Rosalind Alicia, widow of Francis 
 L’Estrange Astley, third son of Sir Jacob Henry Astley, Bart., of Melton Constable, 
 Norfolk, and Seaton Delaval, Northumberland, and brother of Jacob, Lord Hastings. 
 By the will other mother, Mrs. Astley assumed the surnames of Franklaud Russell, in 
 addition to and before that of Astley. The present building probably stands upon the 
 same spot as the foundation of 1326, which, however, was not the first erection ; nothing 
 now remains of the original building, aud the present structure, which has been altered 
 and added to by the various possessors, appears to have been erected at the end of the 
 fifteenth century, aud to have consisted of a centre with two wings projecting south¬ 
 wards at right angles to it, and connected by a high wall, forming a court of honour. 
 The portions of this building now existing are the north and east fronts, which were, 
 however, altered or rather redecorated, by Sir William Hawtrey. Upon the Italianised 
 stone battlements above the bay window of the drawing-room are carved the crest of 
 Hawtrey—a griffin on a haw-tree ; the initials “A. H.” aud “ W. H.” with the date 1565, 
 and in the angles, chequered shields; over the centre of the library bay window is 
 carved a shield charged with an eagle, displayed with two heads, being the arms of Croke. 
 It appears from au old map of the estate and house, bearing date 1629, that the mansion 
 then consisted of two separate buildings, facing north and south, and running parallel to 
 each other, and that stables with other outbuildings were attached to the east corner of 
 the southern portion of the building. No west or east wings are shown in the map, the 
 draughtsman having curiously introduced a front elevation, which interferes somewhat 
 with a proper ground plan ; but it is almost certain that the east wing is of the same 
 date as the north front, evidence of which may be detected in the age of its wooden 
 beams, its doors and bricks. The west wing was altered, if not rebuilt, at the latter end 
 of the eighteenth century by Sir George Russell, who also considerably altered the south 
 front, shown in the map of 1629. The mansion, which was of Elizabethan architecture, 
 aud of red brick, was then covered* with stucco, aud the simple triangular shaped gables 
 were cut into battlements and decorated with pinnacles. A small wing, with a clock 
 tower, was added by Lady Franklaud Russell, at the south-west corner of the building. 
 In 1566, Lady Mary Grey, sister to the unfortunate Lady Jane Grey, was, after her 
 marriage with Thomas Keyes, committed by Queen Elizabeth to the custody of Sir 
 "William Hawtrey, and remained a prisoner at Chequers for a considerable time. Letters 
 written from Chequers by Lady Mary are preserved in the British Museum, and 
 interesting accounts of her incarceration are given by Miss Strickland in her ‘ Lives of 
 the Tudor Princesses’ (p. 257), and by Burgon in his ‘ Life of Sir Thomas Gresham.’ 
 
G3 
 
 The house contains a number of family and historical portraits, and an interesting 
 collection of Cromwellian relics, brought to Chequers, owing to the marriage of its 
 heiress, Miss Joanna Thnrbane, with John Russell, of Chippenham, the Protector’s 
 grandson. In the garden on the south side of the building is an ancient elm, twenty - 
 eight feet in circumference, said to have been planted by King Stephen, and about 300 
 jards north-west of the mansion is the ancient labyrinth or maze. The park, which 
 is five hundred and sixty acres in extent, lies principally to the west of the house, and is 
 celebrated for the great beauty of its scenery, and its wonderful box woods, which are 
 supposed to be the finest in England. At the foot of the western slope of Beacon Hill is 
 the famous Velvet Lawn, close to which is an ancient fortification, where it is said an 
 action was fought between the Romans and the two sons of Cymbelinus, in which one of 
 the sons was slain.” 
 
 HARTWELL HOUSE. 
 
 This Mansion stands on a gentle slope from the main road between Aylesbury 
 and Thame, and about two miles from the former town. The building, which is of white 
 freestone, has undergone many alterations and additions at various times, but still retains 
 a large portion of its old structure. It was erected on the site of a much more ancient 
 building, partly by Sir Thomas Lee, Knt., and partly by his son, Thomas Lee, Esq., at 
 the latter end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and the beginning of that of James I. 
 It is parallelogramatic in form. It has its four faces placed to the cardinal points of the 
 compass. There is much variety in these faces ; for, while the south and east fronts are 
 light, airy, and recent, the north side presents large windows with appropriate mullions 
 and transoms, and other peculiarities of the Elizabethan era ; and the western end, with 
 its roguish ashlar work, looks still older. Sir William Lee, the fourth Baronet (who 
 rebuilt the church), greatly enlarged the mansion. He fiuished the south and east fronts 
 in their present style, removed the heavy pargetted pedimental gables of the old northern 
 front, and brought the whole roof and parapet into harmony. The east and south 
 facades have each a columned portico, but the usual entrance is by a low porch on the 
 north, which is, as of old, furnished with two sediles. The older division of the house is 
 laid out in halls and offices on the ground floor, with the muniment room and a gallery 
 or museum above ; and the modernised portion contains the general apartments, the 
 library, study, and chapel below, with a range of bed-rooms over them, the whole being 
 surmounted with a story of attics. The principal apartment is the great hall, into which 
 the north porch conducts; this is 47 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 18 feet high. Its sides 
 are adorned with stucco cornices, dividing the walls into suitable panels. 
 
 Hartwell House was the residence of Louis XVIII., the dethroned monarch of 
 
64 
 
 France. He took up his residence here with his suite in 1807, In 1808 the Queen 
 arrived from Russia with an additional suite of seventy persons. These, as well as the 
 Kino-’s party, together with their numerous attendants, were all quartered on the 
 Hartwell premises, where they were occasionally visited by other French Princes and 
 emigrant nobles. The residents in the house and grounds generally amounted to one 
 hundred and forty, but sometimes exceeded two hundred. So numerous a party required 
 such extensive accommodation that the halls, galleries, and larger apartments were 
 ingeniously divided and subdivided into suites of rooms and closets, in some instances 
 to the great disorder and confusion of the Mansion. Every outhouse, and each of the 
 ornamental buildings in the park that could be rendered decent of shelter, were densely 
 occupied ; and it was curious to see how the second and third class stowed themselves 
 away in the attics of the house, converting one room into several by an adaptation of 
 light partitions. On the ledges of the bows of the roof they formed gardens which were 
 stocked with plants, shrubs, and flowers, in boxes; they moreover kept fowls and pigeons, 
 so that the superstructure was loaded with many extra tons of weight. All was well con¬ 
 ducted, and in the evenings there was much mirth, music, and dancing kept up at the 
 cottages around. 
 
 In effecting the transformations for their convenience the French paid no deference 
 to the feelings or the interests of the proprietor of the mansion. Small windows were 
 pierced through the walls, fixtures needlessly removed, and the ornamenal balustrades of 
 the parapet taken away where they interfered with their prospect or their gardening- 
 propensities. Their stay extended to seven years. Louis’s Queen died at Hartwell in 
 1810. 
 
 ROWSHAM CHAPEL. 
 
 In the reign of King Henry III, and probably much earlier, there was a Chapel at 
 Rowsham dedicated to St. Lawrence, which was ecclesiastically dependent on the mother 
 church at Wingrave. It appears to have been connected with a manor called Burbage, 
 which had a Manor-house bearing the same name near the centre of the hamlet. This 
 Manor-house, and the manors of Burbage and Theobalds (a corruption of the old 
 name of Fermbauds, Feraumbaulds, or Fermbraund), were in the hands of the 
 Pipards in the reign of King Edward I. ; and soon afterwards became the property of 
 Edward the Black Prince. 
 
 The Chapel has long since been destroyed, and the spot it occupied is not now 
 known with certainty; but tradition assigns a small croft, situated near the centre of 
 the hamlet, as the site on which it stood. The Rev. IV. H. Kelke, in his paper on 
 
“ Desecrated Churches,” says that he learnt from an old man living in Rowsham, that a 
 house which stood on this spot was pulled down about fifty years ago, and that in 
 digging up its foundations, and making a temporary sawpit, several sculptured shafts 
 and blocks of cut freestone were found, which were supposed to have belonged to the 
 windows and arches of the demolished chapel. A field adjoining the hamlet, which 
 still bears the name of the “ Church Field,” is thought to have belonged to this ancient 
 chapel. 
 
 BEQUEST TO PRINCES RISBOROUGH. 
 
 By the bequest of some former possessor of Princes Risborough the impropriator 
 formerly provided annually a fat bull to be killed, and a boar to be made into brawn, four 
 bushels of wheat and four bushels of malt to be made into bread and beer—the whole to 
 be distributed to the parishioners “ in large pieces, smoking hot from the copper, at five 
 o’clock in the morning, for breakfast on Christmas day.” This custom having become 
 an intolerable nuisance, the Lord of the Manor took the opinion of Justice Littledale, 
 who stated that “ he was not bound by the custom, there being no tye on the estate to 
 cover the expense.” The Charity Commissioners, in their report, observe, that whilst 
 this practice lasted it was productive of much intoxication and riot. “ The poor paraded 
 the town during the whole night preceding the distribution, with an incessant clamour, 
 effectually banishing all repose. On the following morning they marched in crowds to 
 Mr. Grubb’s house, and on the doors being opened they rushed to the feast prepared for 
 them with so little decorum and forbearance, that often, in their zeal for priority, they 
 inflicted wounds on one another with their knives. The whole of the remaining portion 
 of Christmas Day is also stated to have been spent by many of them in public-houses. 
 These assemblies often comprised many strangers from a distance, as well as parishioners.” 
 The originator of this bequest is presumed to have been a Joan Chibnal, one of a 
 family whose name appears in connexion with another Charity still existing at Princes 
 Risborough. 
 
 DODDERSHALL HOUSE. 
 
 Doddf.rshall House has been the seat of the Pigott family for many years. The 
 mansion still displays a part of the ancient building of the time of Henry ^ III., which 
 enclosed a quadrangle with the usual offices towards the north ; in the centre of the west 
 front was a bell turret and clock. The south front was built by Thomas Pigott, Esq., 
 in 1G89, and had two wings lower than the main building, and altogether extended to 
 
66 
 
 about 120 feet in length ; but the western wing was taken down about 1790, and other 
 considerable alterations made, which have left but little of the original style and 
 appearance remaiuing. A terrace-walk on the south was flanked at each end by a wall 
 covered with fruit trees, the parterre sloping from a bowling-green to the gates of the 
 park between small square fish-ponds, apparently a portion of an old moat, and 
 terminating in an avenue of elms. About 100 years ago many alterations were effected 
 in the place, and, excepting the north and east portions of the mansion, the whole was 
 then modernised. A low porch and a large stack of chimueys projecting between the 
 hall windows, have been permitted to remain. The deer-park was at the same time 
 converted into arable and meadow, and the keeper’s lodge demolished. 
 
 The house is now an interesting specimen of the Domestic Gothic style of mansion. 
 The entrance-hall is large, and rich in old oak carvings, the cornices being decorated 
 with monsters ; the library, too, is similarly ornamented ; and an apartment called the 
 “ Brown hall” is almost entirely oak, and has a capacious fire-place. The site of 
 Doddershall House is secluded, and it still retains its ancient and picturesque 
 appearance. The doorways are rude compared with modern architecture ; some of the 
 outer doors are studded and the windows mullioned. The chimney stacks are in 
 immense clumps ; the low ceilings, capacious fire-places, and multiplicity of carvings 
 bespeak the architecture of past ages. The house and its retired position are in 
 harmony. Its seclusion gives it a singular charm, and raises in the mind of the visitor 
 a feeling of interest in the history as well as in the preservation of the structure. 
 
 Doddershall in the reign of King John was in the possession of the ancient family 
 of the Craufords. The Craufords took the name of Doddershall, and held this property 
 till 1479, when it was conveyed to John le Knight and Robert Moore ; in 1503 it passed 
 by purchase to Thomas Pigott, serjeant-at-law, of Whaddon, and although some changes 
 have taken place from failure of issue it is still retained in the Pigott family. 
 
 THE FOUNDER OF MEDMENHAM ABBEY. 
 
 Dugdale. 
 
 [Sir William Dugdale, Knt., the eminent antiquary, ivas with Charles I. in several 
 engagements. After the ruin of the Royal cause, he settled in London, where he completed 
 his great ivorlc, the “ Jlonasticon Anglicanum ,” in 3 folio volumes. At the Restoration he 
 was made Norroy, and in 1677 Garter King-of-Arms, on ivhicli occasion he was knighted; 
 he died at Shustoke, Warwickshire, in 1686. He is somewhat confused in his work as to 
 the founder of Medmenham Abbey, who undoubtedly was Hugh de Bolebec the younger .] 
 
 “ Hugh de Bolebec, of Ricot, Oxon, was cousin of William, Duke of Normandy, 
 being son or descendant of Osborn de Bolebec by Aveline, sister of Gunnora, Duchess 
 Dowager of Normandy, great grandmother of William the Conqueror. He possessed 13 
 
G7 
 
 Lordships, ten being in this county, viz.:—Missenden, Agmondesham, Cheshara, Med- 
 menham, Broch, Catedane (Cheddington), Culverton, Linford, Hardmead, and Wavendou, 
 and had issue Hugh and Walter, who both succeeded to the barony ; with the last it 
 expired in an heir female who married Robert de Yere, afterwards Earl of Oxford. 
 Hugh de Bolebec the younger, having founded the Abbey of Woburn in Bedfordshire, 
 gave the manor of Medmenham to found a cell to it ; but this religious house not being 
 built until the barony came into the possession of Walter, the latter has erroneously been 
 deemed the founder. The Abbey was founded January 3rd, 1200, as appears by the 
 Charter of King John dated from Silverston, in Northamptonshire, where he was then 
 staying. The Charter runs thus:—‘ John, by the Grace of God, King of England, &c. 
 Know all men that we for the love of God have granted, and by this our present charter 
 have confirmed to the Monks of the Church of Woburn for the erection of an Abbey of 
 the Cistercian Order the Manor of Mendham with all things pertaining thereto, and the 
 liberties which they had of the gift of Hugh de Bolebec. Therefore we will, and firmly 
 command, that the aforesaid Monks shall have and shall hold the aforesaid Manor with 
 all thing's pertaining thereto, well and in peace, freely, and quietly, and honourably, in 
 the Church, and in the mill, and in the meadows to wit, both the pasture lands and all 
 things pertaining thereto, and all their liberties, as the Charter of the aforesaid Hugh 
 de Bolebec, which they have from him, reasonably testifies. Witness—the King by the 
 Bishop of St. Andrews, R. (Robert Bellamont) Earl of Leicester, William de Braiose, 
 and many others. Given by the hand of S. Archdeacon of Wells, at Silverston, the 3rd 
 day of January, in the second year of our reign’ ” (1200). 
 
 GREXDON UNDERWOOD. 
 
 There is at Grendon an ancient three-storied house, of brick and timber, which 
 was formerly the Ship Inn, in which it is said that Shakespeare passed at least one night 
 when journeying from Stratford-on-Avon to London. Aubrey, the antiquary, affirms, in 
 his “ Letters of Eminent Men,” that Shakespeare picked up some of the humour in his 
 “ Midsummer Night’s Dream ” from the constable of the place whilst passing a night at 
 Grendon. Another version of the story is, that Shakespeare was found asleep in the 
 porch of Grendon Underwood Church, by two parish constables, who used him roughly, 
 and whom he afterwards immortalised as Dogberry and Verges, in his play of “ Much Ado 
 About Nothing.” A room in the house, with an elliptical arched fire-place of stone, is 
 traditionally stated to be one which the poet used. As instances of the general faith in 
 this story which connects the name of Shakespeare with the Parish Church and the Ship 
 Inn of this place, it may be mentioned that in consequence of the tradition, the father of 
 
 
68 
 
 the late Lord Spencer caused a drawing of the Church to be taken for himself ; and the 
 old sign board of the inn is still in existence. 
 
 The old inn has not retained its original proportions ; only one end remains, 
 the other part was rebuilt and modernised about 40 years ago. The portion preserved 
 in its original state is a spacious apartment downstairs and a small bedroom above, 
 in which Shakespeare slept. The old sign was a three mast ship of the period, and 
 was well painted ; the swing-board well carved and ornamented with scroll work 
 and flowers. The porch of the church has been destroyed. Shakespeare was arrested 
 on a charge of attempting to break into the church. 
 
 GREAT MARLOW. 
 
 The Rev. Thomas Laxgley. 
 
 [The Rev. Thomas Langley, M.A., of Great Marlow, held the Curacy of Snelson, in 
 Derbyshire; a short time before his death lie icas presented to the Rectory of Whiston, 
 Northamptonshire; he was author of the “ History of the Hundred of Desborough and 
 Deanery of Wycombe,” published in 1797, a work of considerable local value and im¬ 
 portance, and one which for its accuracy in detail may be quoted as an authority. Langley 
 also wrote “ A Serious address to the Head and Heart of every Unbiassed Christian.” He 
 died in 1801, at the early age of 32 years, and was buried at the west end of the south 
 casle of Great Marlow Church, where many of his ancestors were interred ]. 
 
 “ It has been supposed, from the denomination of Chepping Marlow (which occurs 
 in ancient records), to have been a market town in the time of the Saxons ; but I find 
 no evidence to consider it as a borough till 1299, when it was summoned to send 
 members to Parliament by Edward I. This circumstance is a proof of its being a town 
 of some consequence at that period; and yet it appears that the expence incurred by 
 sending representatives was inconvenient to the inhabitants, for they discontinued 
 sending any after 1308; at least there are no returns existing after that date. This 
 privilege was restored to them, after an iutermittance of above 300 years, by Parliament 
 in 1022. There are some faint truces of a Corporation, which must have been by 
 prescription; for no charter was ever granted, as far as 1 can find, for this purpose. In 
 1342 the Mayor and burgesses presented to the chauntry here, and continued patrons 
 till 1394. 
 
 I find no mention of these officers after this time ; and it is singular that the writ 
 for the repair of the bridge, dated 27 Edward III., 1352, is directed ‘ probis homiuibus 
 villas de Merlawe; - ’ and the succeeding writs of the 7th of Richard II. and the 1st and 
 6th of Henry IY., are directed ‘ ballivis et probis hominibus.’ In neither of these do we 
 find the office of Mayor, though it occurs in the Lincoln register. In the 26th of Henry 
 
G9 
 
 VI. John Coll art and William Clerk -were bailiffs : and in the old church-book, 1592 
 
 > 
 
 the burgage rent is mentioned to be paid to the bailiffs of the town. In 1616 this rent 
 was paid to the lord’s bailiff, and the office of town bailiffs appears to have been dis¬ 
 continued. As there are no records of the town, I can add little to the ancient history, 
 except what may occur in the extracts from the church register and account book. 
 
 In the 18th of Edward II., 1324, the King granted to Hugh Spencer a fair at his 
 manor of Chepping Marlow. There are two held in the year: one on the 2nd of May, 
 now only for toys and trifling commodities ; and the other on the 29tli of October, for 
 horses, cattle, cheese, and other articles. The show of horses (chiefly for agricultural 
 uses) has been very considerable of late years. 
 
 The town consists of two principal streets in the form of a Roman T, and three 
 smaller ones. The High Street is spacious, on a very gradual descent, well paved, and 
 has several good houses in it. The whole place has been much improved of late years, 
 and, from its situation, is capable of becoming a very neat country town. There are 
 about 450 houses and families, and 2,300 inhabitants in the borough. 
 
 At the top of High Street stands the Market-house, a miserably heavy building of 
 timber, of very ancient date ; it is at present a disgrace to the town. There is a very 
 curious circumstance mentioned in the old church-book, as follows:—‘1603. Item, 
 Payd to Thomas Jourden towards the repayring of y e markett-howse, £6. 1620. Item, 
 
 Paid for stuffe and workmanshippe for and about the repairinge of the markett-howsse, 
 as by a bill of particulars thereof made, and hereunto annexed, plainlie may appeare, 
 £14 0s. 7d.’ 
 
 There appears to have been a bridge over the Thames from very remote antiquity, 
 probably built by the knights Templars of Bisham. Among the patent rolls of the 
 Tower are grants dated 27th Edw. III., 7th Richard II., and the 1st and 6th of Henry 
 IV., to allow the bailiffs to take tolls of all goods, wares, merchandize, and cattle passing 
 over or under the bridge, for the repair of it. In the two last, the prior of Bisham, John 
 Seemere, Nicholas Monkton, and John Blunt, were appointed to receive these tolls. 
 
 Part of the bridge was pulled up by Major-general Brown in 1642, when his army 
 lay here ; and in consequence Parliament issued a warrant to levy a county-rate for the 
 repair of it. The old bridge becoming very ruinous and unsafe, application was made to 
 the county in 1787 for rebuilding it; but the Magistrates, not thinking the evidence of 
 its being a county bridge conclusive (particularly as there was an estate of £20 per 
 annum belonging to it, vested in Bridgewardens appointed by the inhabitants), did not 
 accede to this request. A subscription was therefore proposed by the Marquis of 
 Buckingham, and £1,800 was raised in 1789, when a handsome wooden bridge was built. 
 [This was superseded by the present Suspension Bridge, erected 1829-31]. 
 

 70 
 
 OLIVER CROMWELL VISITS AYLESBURY. 
 
 Cromwell on his way from Worcester fight passed through Aylesbury, on which 
 occasion there were grand proceedings ; he travelled with all the pomp and display of a 
 conquering hero. Xear Aylesbury he was met by a deputation from the Parliament. 
 All the troops in the town and adjacent places were assembled, and a grand military 
 array was formed. The object of the deputation was to offer Cromwell the ardent 
 thanks of the Parliament, which had been voted in the House of Commons. Whitelock 
 tells us, that “ Cromwell received the deputation with all kindness and respect. After 
 ceremonies and congratulations had passed, he rode with them across the fields, where 
 Mr. Winwood, the member for Windsor, who was a-liawking, met them, and the Lord 
 General went a little out of the way a-hawking. They then came to Aylesbury, where 
 they had much discourse, especially my Lord St. John, the dark ship money lawyer, now 
 Chief Justice, as they supped together.” “ To me,” continues Whitelock, “ and to each 
 of the others, he gave a horse and two Scotch prisoners. The horse I kept for carrying 
 me ; the two Scots, unlucky gentlemen of that country, I handsomely sent home again 
 without any ransom whatever, and also gave them free passes to Scotland.” Xext day 
 Cromwell left Aylesbury, and proceeded on his journey towards London, driving before 
 him some four or five thousand prisoners like a flock of sheep. 
 
 DIXTOX CASTLE. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 A TRAVELLER passing along the high road adjoining Dinton Castle, and taking a 
 cursory view of this building might be under an impression that he had met with an 
 example of ancient architecture. Such is not the case. Dinton Castle is a ruin, but 
 not an ancient one and may be termed artificial. A little observation will discover 
 the contrast between this building and an ancient castle. Ancient castles were erected 
 for defence as well as occupation, and in their construction walls are met with of 12, 18, 
 and 20ft., in thickness, and which from the superiority of their workmanship are almost 
 impenetrable. The now remains of old castles owe their prolonged existence to the 
 formidable manner in which they were constructed, and the mode of concretion by which 
 their walls form one solid mass of stone work ; they are indestructible, excepting by the 
 assistance of the modern invention of dynamite or other powerful explosive not known 
 to the ancients. Dinton Castle, on the contrary, is built in a very loose manner, a soft 
 native material being employed ; its walls may be measured by inches as compared with 
 feet, in ancient buildings. But the greatest contrast between an ancient castle and this 
 
71 
 
 modern edifice is observable in the windows or apertures. In ancient castles light was 
 only obtainable by mere eyelets, lengthy openings of a width of a few inches only, so 
 formed that it was an impossibility for any person to obtain ingress into the building by 
 them, whilst at the same time the interior construction of these apertures was such that 
 a wide range could be obtained for the purpose of discharging arrows or shot at their 
 assailants. The construction of the openiugs once filled by windows at Dinton Castle 
 is exactly the reverse of this, the apertures being large and comparatively of a 
 modern type ; in fact, openings adapted for spacious drawing-room windows ol the most 
 modern fashion. 
 
 These contrasting features substantiate the purpose for which the building was 
 erected which was, not as a place of safety, but as a rural retreat ; indeed it was called 
 “Sir John’s Summer House,” it being built by Sir John Vanlmttem. The date of its 
 erection is stated to be 1769. The builder’s name was Toms ; he was a mason residing 
 at Dinton, and also had a place of business at Aylesbury. The building has been in the 
 state it now is for many years, but was formerly in a good and habitable condition, the 
 last occupants being an old couple of the name of Saunders, who resided in it as care¬ 
 takers ; they had in their younger days been servants at Dinton Hall, and were after - 
 w'ards dependant on that establishment. The site of the Castle is the highest point on 
 the Dinton Hall Estate, of which it still forms a part. 
 
 STOWE HOUSE. 
 
 The Late Duke of Buckingham. 
 
 [Richard Grenville, third and last Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, succeeded to 
 the title on the death of his father in 1861, and from that time until his death he ivas Lord 
 Lieutenant of Bucks. In 1875 he left England as Governor of Madras returning in 
 1880, when he resumed his duties as Chairman of the Quarter Sessions. In 1886, he teas 
 chosen as Chairman of the Committee of the House of Lords. The Duke was President of 
 the Bucks Archceological Society, and gave proof that, had opportunities been favourable he 
 would have distinguished himself as an antiquary. He died unexpectedly on the 2Gth of 
 March, 1889, anil was buried at Wotton.~\ 
 
 “ The Gardens of Stowe, as they were called, were the creation of Lord Cobham 
 in 1720-40, and long retained the general features then given. Their laying out was 
 mainly arranged by Lancelot Browne, who remained there for some twelve or fourteen 
 years in charge. They were completed by a person named Woodward, who lived to a 
 great age in Buckingham. Although minor changes had at times been made, according 
 to the changing ideas of the times, such as the conversion of straight alleys into 
 serpentine walks, and rounding off the formal angles of the various waters, and the 
 
72 
 
 formation of new belts of plantation—many of which changes had probably been no 
 improvement on the original design—at the present time the principal walks followed 
 the course originally traced out. The principal buildings also remained, although some 
 of the buildings in the grounds were removed at an early date, while others had suc¬ 
 cumbed to the effects of weather acting on faulty material. The Gothic temple built of 
 an iron sandstone was one of the earliest of the buildings erected. It contained in its 
 windows some curious fragments of old stained glass, brought by Lord Cobham, with 
 other relics, from the Low Countries, during the Marlborough campaign. The building 
 was originally dedicated “ Libertati Majorum.” Another very early feature of the place 
 —but, probably, from not being a building, not much noticed in the earlier records— 
 was the group of the Seven Saxon Deities, stone figures, carved by Rysbrack, placed in 
 a yew-tree grove in the gardens, when originally formed. The two pavilions on the 
 south side of the water, and also the temples of Venus and Bacchus, were originally 
 adorned with paintings of great artistic merit, according to the accounts left by others. 
 Some monuments had been subsequently added, to record different family events or royal 
 visits. The Queen’s Temple, described as the Lady’s Temple till the recovery of George 
 III. from his illness in 1789, contained, inserted in the floor, a small Roman pavement, 
 found in the excavation of a Roman villa at Foseott in 1840, and transferred for safety 
 to this place. In the grove of the Saxon deities there was also, in the centre, the floor of 
 a barrow opened at Thornborough some forty years ago. The house, in its present form, 
 and with its existing south facade, was completed by Lord Temple about 1760 to 1780. 
 The original house of the Temples, built somewhere, as far as could be ascertained, 
 about 1520, remained practically unchanged until early in the eighteenth century. It 
 was a centre block, with two detached wings, in a straight line, the centre building 
 having buttresses or piers, with rustic cones and a high-pitched roof. These three build¬ 
 ings formed the nucleus of the present house, and the greater part of the walls remain 
 enclosed in the present structure, notwithstanding all the various changes which had 
 been made in the external as well as the internal arrangements of the house. The first 
 step in the gradual development seemed to have been to unite the wings with the centre 
 by the structure now the State Gallery, and the corresponding building which contained 
 the library. The stairs of the south entrance, originally straight, were formed into two 
 flights, returning parallel with the building. The low screen walls, which, from the north 
 side, then surrounded the stable and farmyards on the east side, and the brewhouse, 
 laundry, and woodyard, on the west side, were raised on their original base, first into 
 walls with arched angles, and afterwards they were used as the basis of the existing 
 colonnades. The next step was one of considerable change. The two wings were raised 
 to nearly their present height, the plan being to raise them above the centre, and make 
 them the prominent feature. Before, however, that plan was completed it was modified ; 
 the wings were flattened at the tops, and the house was elevated by raising the old walls 
 so as to include the windows of the roof, and an open parapet was placed round on both 
 the north and south sides. 
 
73 
 
 The house remained so during Lord Cobham’s time, but some time afterwards, when 
 Lord Temple succeeded to the property, he conceived the idea of forming the grand 
 entrance hall, and throwing the steps into a large uniform flight with a large portico. 
 He seemed to have taken great interest and paid much attention to the work, for there 
 were still preserved sketches in his own hand, and emendations upon the architect’s 
 plans. He employed several architects to carry out his ideas, and apparently gave the 
 internal arrangements to one and the external to another. He completed between the 
 years 17G0-80 the present south facade to the house as it now stands. During the pro¬ 
 gress of the works he made one material alteration in the architect’s plans, namely, the 
 present portico was designed by him to be open at the two ends as well as from the house, 
 the front being simply built against the old wall of the house. There was a corres¬ 
 pondence which showed that the idea of this alteration struck him constantly. He wrote 
 to the architect to know whether there would be any material difficulty in taking down 
 the two remaining walls of the house and bringing it forward half the width of the 
 portico, lengthening the music-room, drawing-room, and portico-screen ; and with these 
 modifications he completed in 1780 the present suite of rooms and the south facade. 
 Gazing from those steps down the wide grass lawn, if they could imagine close-trimmed 
 formal yew hedges, some ten feet high, cut and trimmed quite flat, enclosing a square 
 pasture the width of those steps, and reaching as far as the wire fence, with a narrow 
 alley also bounded by the yew edges, reaching from the centre half-way down the preseut 
 lawn, they could realize the gardens of Stowe as they appeared in the past. Then they 
 might imagine archways pierced through the yew hedges, and in each opening a life-size 
 figure of a nymph, faun, or one of the many deities of the heathen mythology—a tall 
 obelisk draped with a veil of falling water streaming from its summit, occupying the 
 central line of the narrow yew hedged alley—and they would see in the mind’s eye the 
 Stowe gardens of the time of Lord Cobham’s youth. The yews so remained for about 
 half his life, but when his work became altered by the gradual growth of the trees he 
 began to see the necessity of cutting wider and wider the opening line. He threw it 
 back to within about twenty-five yards of the lime tree on the south side, and then, 
 about 1800, Lord Temple cut away the rest of the shrubs to what was called “the 
 church-elm.” 
 
 THE HUNDRED OF BURNHAM. 
 
 This is an oddly shaped division of the county, resembling in some degree the figure 
 eight, with the lower section much narrower than the other. The upper or northern 
 portion of the Hundred is bounded on the north and east by Hertfordshire ; on the west 
 
74 
 
 by the Hundred of Aylesbury ; and the lower section has the Hundred of Stoke on its 
 east side ; the Hundred of Desborough on a part of its west side—the remainder of that 
 side, together with the south end of the Hundred being divided from Berkshire by the 
 River Thames. Its area is about 51,000 acres. Its length from north to south is about 
 twenty miles ; at its narrowest part, a little on the south of Beaconsfield, it is less than 
 three miles in breadth ; and its broadest part extends about ten miles. Burnham is one 
 of the three Chiltern Hundreds. 
 
 THE BOARSTALL LEGEND OF NIGEL THE HUNTSMAN. 
 
 White Kennett (1695). 
 
 “ This pious King (Edward the Confessor) bore a more especial relation to these 
 parts, by his frequent residence at Brill in Com. Buck., where he had a Royal Palace, to 
 which he retir’d for the pleasures of hunting in his forest of Bernwood. It is to this 
 Prince, and to his diversion at this seat, that we must ascribe the traditional story of 
 the family of Nigel, and the Mannor of Borstail on the edge of the said Forest. Most 
 part of the tradition is confirm’d by good authority, and runs to this effect. The Forest 
 of Bernwood was much infested by a wild boar, which was at last slain by one Nigel 
 a Huntsman, who presented the Boar’s head to the King, and for a reward the King 
 gave to him one hyde of arable land call’d Derehyyde, and a wood call’d Hulewode, with 
 the custody of the forest of Bernwood, to hold to him and his heirs from the King, per 
 unum cornu quod est cliarta prcedictce Forestce, and by the service of paying ten shillings 
 yearly for the said land, and fourty shillings yearly for all profits of the Forest, excepting 
 the indictments of herbage and hunting, which were reserv’d to the King. Upon this 
 ground the said Nigel built a lodge or mansion-house call’d Borestall, in memory 
 of the slain boar. For proof of this in the Chartulary of Borstail (which is a trans¬ 
 cript of all evidences in the reign of Henry YL, relating to the estate of Rede, Esq., 
 then owner of Borstail, a large Folio in Yellam) there is a rude delineation of the site 
 of Borstail House and Mannor, and under it is the sculpture of a Man, presenting on his 
 knees to the King the head of a Boar on the top of a sword, and the King returning to 
 him a coat of arms, bearing Argent, a fesse gules, two Crescents, a horn verd : which 
 distinction of arms, tho it could not agree with the time of Nigel, yet it is most likely 
 he did receive from the King a horn, as a token and Charter of his office of Forester, 
 and his successors by the name of Fitz-Nigel did bear those arms. The same figure of 
 a Boar’s head presented to the King was carv’d on the head of an old bed-sted, lately 
 remaining in that strong and ancient house : and the said arms of Fitz-Nigel are now 
 seen in the windows, and in other parts : and what is of greatest authority, the original 
 
horn, tipfc at each end with Silver gilt, fitted with wreaths of leather to hang about the 
 neck, with an old brass ring that bears the rude impress of a horn, a plate of brass with 
 the sculpture of a horn, and several less plates of brass with Flower-de-luces, which 
 were the arms of Lisures, who intruded into this estate and office soon after the reign of 
 William the Conqueror, has been all along preserv’d under the name of Nigels horn by 
 the Lords of Borstall, and is now in the custody of Sir John Aubrey Baronet, who has 
 been pleas’d with great courtesie to communicate the notice of these things.” 
 
 SAXON WORK AT IYER AND WING. 
 
 Sir G. G. Scott, Knt. 
 
 [George Gilbert Scott, Knt., R.A., LL.D., was born at Gawcott, near Buckingham ; 
 was the fourth son of the Rev. Thomas Scott, incumbent of that hamlet, and grandson of 
 the Rev. Thomas Scott, of Aston Sandford, the Commentator. Sir G. G. Scott, as an 
 architect, rose to great eminence in his profession; his ivories in London and other 
 places testify to his merits. Amongst his secular ivories are the new Foreign Offices; 
 the Midland Terminus in the Euston Road, and the Prince Consort Memorial, all in 
 London; at the completion of the last-named ivorle he was benighted. He died in 1878.] 
 
 “ The Church of Iver is of the ordinary plan of a Parish Church, having nave 
 and aisles, chancel, and western tower, and its present aspect is that of a Church of the 
 fifteenth century. There are, however, remains of nearly every period of English 
 Architecture. There are two or three late decorated windows in the chancel; there are 
 early English or lancet windows both in the chancel and in the lower part of the tower, 
 and the tower and chancel arches, with the sedilia and piscina, are of that period. 
 There are Norman arches on the north side of the nave, and the west window of the 
 north aisle is in that style. And, finally, there are the remains in question of decidedly 
 earlier work, which I will briefly describe. These remains are limited to the walls now 
 occupied by the two arcades of the nave, and go to prove that before the Norman arcade 
 was made on the north side, and the much later one of the south side, the Church was 
 without aisles, and in a style not agreeing with what is usually found in buildings subse¬ 
 quent to the Norman Conquest. The proofs, however, are very scanty. They consist, 
 externally, of a quoin of brick, resembling Roman brick, forming the eastern termination of 
 the wall containing the Norman arcade. This, of itself, would prove nothing, but internal ly 
 we find in the middle of a wide pier, between two Norman arches, the jamb of a doorway, 
 which must have existed before the Norman arcade was made; and higher in the 
 wall we found a window which had been cut away to make room for that arcade. This 
 
76 
 
 would not of necessity prove more than that there were two ages of Norman work in the 
 Church, but there is a peculiarity in the appearance of the window which indicates its 
 belonging to a distinct style. I cannot describe it from memory, but I am sure that this 
 is the impression it would produce on the mind of any one accustomed to Norman work. 
 We know Norman windows of the earliest date, and know that they differ from those of 
 later date chiefly in rudeness and coarseness of workmanship and detail. This window, 
 however, differs less in this respect, but strikes one as belonging to another style, just in 
 the same way as we find in other Saxon work, such, for instance, as the doorway of the 
 Church at Barton-on-Humber, which not only is clearly not Norman, but seems to have 
 scarcely anything but the round arch in common with it. There are indications also on 
 the other side of a wall of earlier date having existed before the present arcade was 
 formed. I may mention that the earlier work also differs in material from the Norman 
 parts. 
 
 While on the subject of Saxon work, I may perhaps mention that, the Church at 
 Wing contains remains apparently of that date, though perhaps not so decidedly so as 
 to be capable of proof. The arcades are of the simplest character, being in fact only 
 semicircularly arched perforations in the walls, having plain masses of wall between them, 
 without capitals, but with a kind of impost on the sides facing the openings, formed by 
 courses of brick overhanging one another. The chancel arch is also semicircular, but 
 the arch is relieved by a projecting archivault—a feature I do not recollect seeing in any 
 Norman building, though very usual in work of supposed Saxon date. The chancel is 
 apsidal of an irregularly polygonal form, the eastern face being much the widest. 
 Iuternally it presents no early features, but externally it has narrow projecting pilasters 
 at each angle, which are continued in projecting archivaults on each side. These are all 
 plastered, and on examination I found the pilaster to be formed of rough stone of the 
 country, but the archivaults of tufa, a material common in works from the Roman period 
 to about the time of Henry I. These narrow pilasters and archivaults do not, however, 
 appear to me to accord at all with the Norman style. Beneath the chancel is a crypt, 
 now walled up. I had an opening made into it, and found it to be of a very singular 
 and most rude construction; it is so arranged as to divide the chancel into three widths, 
 like the choir and aisles of an apsidally finished cathedral. There were external arches 
 or windows in the alternate sides of the apse; and on following the aisles westward 
 I found them each to terminate in a doorway. There can be no doubt, as the floor of the 
 chancel is considerably raised above the nave, that there were, as was frequently with 
 very early crypts, two entrances descending by a few steps from the nave on each side of 
 the steps ascending to the chancel. The crypt is at present filled with earth to within 
 three or four feet of the top, but by excavations I have had made, I find it to have been 
 about eight feet in height. The whole of the material is the roughest stone, with here 
 and there a piece of tufa or brick, all of which have been plastered over .”—Letter to the 
 Rev. A. Baker (1850). 
 
77 
 
 ROMAN CAMP AT ELLESBOROUGH. 
 
 G. Lipscomb, M.D. 
 
 “ On the Chequers estate, on the brow of a hill at the north-west corner of Pulpit 
 Wood, commanding the Icknield Road, is a square Camp, apparently of Roman con¬ 
 struction, with deep ditches on the east and south. The formation of this military work 
 is popularly ascribed to Cunobeline (the Cymbeline of Shakespeare), and is commonly 
 called Ivimble Castle. Coins of Cunobeline have been found here. This hill rises 
 gradually from the verge of the Icknield-way, but afterwards more suddenly, by a steep 
 elevation, to a considei’able height, occupying the projecting point of an eminence between 
 two deep narrow recesses in the bosom of that great ridge of hills which bounds the Yale 
 of Aylesbury on the south. At the northern extremity of a parallelogram described by a 
 ditch now about seven feet in depth, and eighteen wide, is a cone or mount, about twenty 
 yards higher than the rest of the enclosure, circumscribed by a trench of equal dimensions, 
 about 140 paces in circumference ; the descent on the north side, towards the Icknield, 
 is very steep, being a mere ledge or shelf in the hill. Towards the south, the lines of 
 castrametation are carried out about thirty-five yards, and connected by a trausverse 
 ditch of about fifty-five yards. Towards the east of the mount, the works seem to have 
 been extended down the hill, but are there lost in contiguous grounds.” 
 
 WHADDON HALL. 
 
 Rev. Charles Lowndes, F.R.A.S. 
 
 “Whaddon Hall has been the seat of the families of Giffard, Pigott, Grey, and 
 Willis, as it is now of the Lowndes family. When Queen Elizabeth honoured Whaddon 
 with a visit in 15G8, she is said to have expressed herself greatly gratified with the 
 sports of the chase, in such a magnificent amphitheatre of wooded scenery. The old 
 mansion then contained the great hall, open to the roof, and fifty feet in length, with a 
 large chimney on the north side, two large windows and a battlement porch on the south 
 side, and three arched doors at the west end leading into pantries, cellars, &c., with 
 about six other rooms on the ground floor. After Mr. Serjeant Selby and Mr. Willis had 
 jointly purchased Whaddon, part of the old hall was demolished. Two parts in three 
 of the house falling to the share or purchase of James Selby, Thomas Willis agreed to 
 pull down his part; and had at the time, in the year 1699, accordingly torn up most of 
 the floors above stairs, and beat down the ceilings. The Hall remained in this condition 
 for some years, inhabited only by a dairyman, until Browne Willis, only son and heir to 
 
78 
 
 Thomas Willis, came of age in the year 1704, when he purchased of Mr. Serjeant Selby 
 the other part of the Hall and Hall Grounds, new ceiled and floored the remaining 
 chambers above stairs, and rebuilt the front. These improvements completed, Old 
 Whaddon Hall was an irregular pile, partaking somewhat of a Swiss character. The 
 front exhibited the three gables of a centre and two projecting wings, with a line of 
 embattlement in front finishing that part of the building which Willis built in front of 
 the triple-gabled edifice. The windows in this front were pointed and chiefly triplets ; 
 in the centre of each gable was a quatrefoil, and the apexes were crowned with crocheted 
 pinnacles. There was a square tower at the north-west angle of the pile of buildings 
 which enclosed a corner staircase of a mansion of great antiquity ; perhaps of the original 
 hall of the Giffards. Browne Willis gloried in having rebuilt the stables and part of the 
 office adjoining the kitchen with the materials of a dissenting chapel, which he bought 
 and pulled down at Fenny Stratford. On the south side of the garden there was a most 
 venerable oak tree, which was much cherished by Browne Willis, who used to say that 
 Spenser, who was Secretary to Lord Grey, composed his “ Fairy Queen” under it. The 
 large square site of the old mansion is distinctly marked by being raised above the 
 surrounding grounds.” 
 
 BUCKINGHAM CASTLE. 
 
 Browne Willis. 
 
 “ There never was a regular Gaol at Aylesbury, till the same was established 
 there by Act of Parliament made about the year 1730 (when the house which 
 had been for so many years hired and rented for that purpose, being purchased 
 and rebuilt by the county, was made a perpetual one) we may hence undoubtedly 
 conclude, that the Castle in this town was theantient place of commitment of malefactors 
 within this shire ; as hath been most elegantly argued and made appear by a very learned 
 Member of this Corporation, whose authority maybe further strengthened and confirmed 
 by instances of many castles now remaining in towns denominating counties, and 
 likewise in other shire towns, by being the present receptacles for prisoners and felons 
 within their respective shires. And though several of these Castles had been antiently 
 the King s Castles, yet when the Crown had given them up, and appropriated them to 
 the uses of the county, and they became the Prisonae Regis, and were delivered or turned 
 o\ er to the Sheriffs ; no future constables were appointed to have the custody of them ; 
 but they were altogether vested in the Sheriffs ; and an Act was made Anno 13 Richard 
 II., Io90, to sever them from the cities and towns wherein they stood and to join them 
 to their counties. 
 
 M hen this Castle was thus assigned and put into the Sheriffs hands I have not 
 
79 
 
 been able to discover, nor can I meet with the names of any of its Constables ; except 
 that I find one Elias de Camvill, so stiled about 1280, Tempore Edwardi I. Nor 
 do any of our Histories inform us when it was built; or how or when it was 
 suffered to go to ruin ; nor is there any notice of it in Doomsday Book. Where¬ 
 fore it may be presumed to have been erected by Walter Giffard, the first Earl of 
 Buckingham ; and to have been built on the Fortress raised by King Edward the Elder, 
 Anno 918, and made by the said Earl Walter the capital of his Barony within this 
 town. It being observed by the learned Mr. Madox, in his accurate Account of Land 
 Honours and Baronies, and Tenures in Capite, that Castles in towns were deemed the 
 head of Baronies; and that they were in their nature Baronial and Superior, and the 
 towns themselves Burgensic and Inferior, as he instances in Wallingford and Richmond 
 Castles, both which are now for the most part demolished and in private hands, as well 
 as this our Castle of Buckingham ; which, as I conceive, became quite neglected on the 
 attainder of the last Duke of Buckingham of the name of Stafford, Anno 1521, 13 
 Henry VIII., and that by degrees it became reduced to a farm-house.” 
 
 REPRESENTATIVE HISTORY OF BUCKS. 
 
 Oldfield (1816). 
 
 [ T. H. B. Oldfield was the author of a work entitled “ The Representative History of 
 Great Britain and Ireland, &c.” The tvork, which is in 6 vols., gives the political history 
 of all the counties, cities, and boroughs in the United Kingdom, and the state of their 
 representation prior to the passing of the Reform Act of 1832. The author states that 
 before the passing of that Act “Jour hundred and seventy-four out of the six hundred and 
 fifty-eight members ivho composed the House of Commons were returned by the nomination 
 or personal influence oj about two hundred Peers and opulent Commoners /”] 
 
 “ Buckinghamshire is rendered memorable in the political world by a contested 
 election which happened in the year 1604, in the reign of James I. The parties were 
 Goodwin and Fortescue. Goodwin was declared in the House of Commons duly elected. 
 The Lords desired a conference. The Commons having expressed their surprise, the 
 Lords ascribed this interference to the king ; the Commons, therefore, begged his 
 Majesty would be tender of their privileges. The King insisted upon their holding a 
 conference with the judges, if they would not with the Lords. The Commons declared 
 themselves ready to confer with the Lords on any proper subject where their privilege 
 was not concerned. 
 
 The reason that the King interested himself in this election was, that he thought his 
 advice not to elect any outlaw was despised, by the House declaring Goodwin duly elected. 
 The Commons, attended by the Speaker, waited on the King, and informed him tha - 
 
80 
 
 Goodwin’s election was duly carried on, and, consequently, Fortescue’s was void ; that 
 the outlawries against Goodwin were only for debt; that he had sat unquestioned in 
 several Parliaments since the outlawry; and that besides it was not strictly pleadable, 
 because of deficiences iu formality. The King insisted upon a conference between the 
 Commons and Judges, and that the result be reported by the House to his Privy Council. 
 The Commons proposed to make a law that no outlawed person heieafter sit in the 
 House, and to confer with the judges, not to reverse what they had done, but that they 
 might profit by the judges’ learning, and satisfy the King. Finding the King, however, 
 resolute, a committee was appointed, and the House ordered that the said committee 
 should ouly insist on the support and explication of the reasons already given, and not 
 proceed to any other argument or answer. Shameful flattery to the King, however, is 
 asserted by some to have degraded Sir Francis Bacon on this occasion ; and it was 
 observed that no such concession had been made by the Commons to any King since the 
 Conquest. It was disputed whether the House of Commons could properly be called a 
 Court of Record. The King proposed that neither Goodwin nor Fortescue should sit 
 in the house, and it was accordingly resolved that a new writ should be issued for Bucks. 
 Goodwin voluntarily resigned his claim in a letter to the Speaker. 
 
 May 23, 1685. A petition of Thomas Hacket, complaining of the undue election 
 and return of Thomas Wharton, Esq. No determination. 
 
 Another petition, March 12, 1727. The sitting member declared duly elected. 
 
 April 4, 1785. The Right Hon Ralph Earl Verney, of the kingdom of Ireland, 
 and certain freeholders in his interest, petitioned against the return of John Aubrey, 
 Esq., for this county, it having been obtained by illegal means. Mr. W. Grenville, who 
 was returned with Mr. Aubrey, was not made a party to the petition, his return being 
 unquestioned. The numbers on the poll were—For the Right Hon. William Wyndham 
 Grenville, 2.261 ; John Aubrey, Esq., 1,740 ; Right Honourable Earl Verney, 1,716. 
 
 After the petitions had been read, a dispute arose respecting the mode of proceeding, 
 i.e., whether by separate Hundreds, or through the whole county. The committee de¬ 
 termined the petitioner to go through the whole of this case. The trial was only carried 
 on for six days. On Monday, April 11, the petitioner’s counsel having made two 
 objections, the committee determined against them, and formally declined any further 
 proceeding against the sitting member. These objections were to the votes of a sub- 
 distributor of stamps, and a collector of the window tax. Mr. Aubrey was hereupon 
 declared duly elected. 
 
 In its political character the Marquis of Buckingham has the absolute nomination 
 of one member for this county. The other seat was contested in 1784. The principal 
 interest, next to the Marquis of Buckingham, is between the Earl of Chesterfield, Lord 
 George Cavendish, Lord Viscount Hampden, Sir John Aubrey, Sir John Dashwood King, 
 and Richard Lowndes, Esq.” 
 
81 
 
 THE NUNNERY OF LITTLE MARLOW. 
 
 Walter de Guay Birch, F.S.A. 
 
 “ The Beuedictine Nunnery of Little Marlow, originally styled ‘ De Fontibus de 
 Merlawe,’ and at a later period Minchin Marlow, presents to the antiquarian very few, 
 and to the archaeologist, it may be said, no traces of its former state of unambitious yet 
 flourishing retirement. It was situate close to the river Thames, in the parish of Little 
 Marlow, where the watercourse forms a bend to the north, upon a low-lying piece of 
 ground now comprised, as the map indicates, between Spade Oak Wharf, Coares Eud, and 
 Well End, which latter place seems to keep alive the remembrance of the ancient title of 
 the Nunnery 1 De Fontibus,’ but no remains of any conventual edifice are understood to 
 exist at the present day, to point out the exact locality of this quiet and peaceful 
 retreat of holy women from the troublous times in which they had the sole alternative of 
 living. 
 
 The conjectures of Leland, Tanner, Langley, and Dugdale, vary considerably in 
 their attempts to establish the actual date of the foundation of the house. Unfortunately 
 no register, chartulary, or account-book of the nunnery has as yet been found to throw 
 any light upon this period of its history. Like the generality of these establishments 
 in England, this one was governed according to the rules of the Benedictine Order. 
 This order was instituted by St. Benedict about the year 516, and was received 
 both abroad and in Britain with the greatest favour and attended with the most marked 
 success, more than four-fifths of the entire number of houses for the reception of monks 
 and nuns being regulated by the ordinances originally promulgated by the saint and 
 modified to suit national requirements. 
 
 This nunnery was dedicated, Hke many hundred others, to the Blessed Virgin Mary, 
 and as late as 1718 contained a painting of its patroness ; when the place was demolished, 
 this may have been removed to a place of safety, but has not yet been heard of, possibly 
 it may be discovered in some obscure corner not far from the seat of its former devotion. 
 Taking notice of the recorded events which bear upon the history of the nunnery in 
 order of chronology, I find that the antiquary Leland has stated, without any apparent 
 authority, that a certain Geoffrey, Lord Spencer, was the first founder, but the name of 
 this peer does not occur iu the text-books, and is probably an error of that writer ; at 
 any rate, it cannot be accepted without some corroboration. Among the earlier notices 
 of the nunnery is that contained in the register of Missenden Abbey, in this county, 
 
 comprising an agreement between a certain A-, prioress of Merlawe, and the Canons 
 
 of Missenden. This charter is stated to be of the time of King John. 
 
 In the ninth year of Henry III., a.d. 1224-25, permission was granted by the King 
 to the nuns to hold a fair at Ivingho, in this county ; and in the eleventh year of the 
 
82 
 
 same monarch this grant was confirmed, and ten acres of assart land in Hemelhamsted 
 added. In the fourteenth year of King Henry, a.d. 1229-30, a rent in Mareto, perhaps 
 an error for Marelo, or Marlow, was the subject of an entry in the Close Rolls in their 
 favour. In the year 1230, Agnes de Anvers, or Danvers, when patroness of the nunnery, 
 gave her assent to the election of Matilda de Anvers, in all probability a relative, as 
 prioress. The name of Cecilia de Turville occurs as prioress two years later, a.d. 1232, 
 and that of Admiranda in a.d. 1247. In 1537, the nunnery of Little Marlow was 
 dissolved, and, in combination with several other small monasteries, transferred, as far 
 as possessions went, by King Henry VIII., to the Abbey of Bisham or Bustlesham, in 
 Berkshire.”—Accords of Buckinghamshire. 
 
 THE COUNTY HALL AND GAOL AT AYLESBURY. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 The Bucks County Hall at Aylesbury, which formed the frontage to the old gaol, has 
 a bold facade of rubbed brick, with Portland stone dressings and rustic quoins. The 
 base is also of Portland ashlar, carried up to the springings of the arches of the entrance 
 and lower windows ; the parapet is of the same material. A massive pediment, supported 
 by carved blocks, has on the apex and lower angles ornamental terminals consistent with 
 the date of the erection. 
 
 The building originally had three entrances. The one at the eastern end, which 
 was used as a passage to the Gaol and House of Correction, is now closed, The central 
 doorway leads to the Magistrates’ Chamber and offices of the Clerk of the Peace, which 
 occupy the first floor, and the western, to the Courts of Justice, which are reached by a 
 spacious and open balustraded staircase. Over the central doorway is a badge illuminated 
 with the design of the Buckingham swan. The present entrances are approached 
 by broad flights of stone steps. At the base of the steps to the central entrance and at 
 the extremities of the building are stone pedestals, on which ornamental lamp irons are 
 fixed. There were originally four windows on the lower floor, but by the alteration in 
 the eastern entrance another is added. The entrances and lower windows are all arched 
 and stone-dressed, the central door and the windows being strongly guarded by substan¬ 
 tial iron work of a decorative character and of a style indicative of the purpose for 
 which the building was erected. The western door is of great strength. There are 
 seven windows in the upper floor, the central one being the loftiest; it is arched, and 
 ornamented with pilasters ; the other windows have square heads and pediments ; these 
 are all stone-dressed. To the central window a balcony was formerly appended, which was 
 
83 
 
 for many years used as the place for the public execution of criminals. The upper floor 
 is divided into two principal compartments known as the Outer and the Inner Courts. 
 Adjoining, and connected with each other, are the old grand jury room, justices’ retiring 
 rooms, various offices, and some other requisite apartments. The Courts are spacious 
 and lofty ; the internal fittings, which are of oak, are massive and bold ; the screen 
 dividing the two Courts is a very elegant specimen of joinery of the last century ; the 
 seats for the presiding justices, the open gallery fronts, counsels’ tables, jury boxes, 
 prisoners' dock, staircase, wainscoat, and panelings are all of the like solidity of con¬ 
 struction. 
 
 The design for the building is ascribed to Sir John Vanbrugh ; he was a dramatist 
 as well as an architect, and descended from a Flemish family resident in England; he 
 was born in 1672. As an architect he was selected to build Blenheim House, and that 
 structure, as well as Castle Howard, affords proof of his skill and genius. He obtained 
 the office of Clarencieux King of Arms, and in 1714 received the order of knighthood. 
 He was also appointed Comptroller of the Board of Works and Surveyor of Greenwich 
 Hospital. His principal further works were mansions at Eastbury, Dorsetshire ; King’s 
 Weston, Bristol; and Duncan Park, Yorkshire. He died in 1726. 
 
 It was originally intended that the County Hall should be built by the private 
 subscriptions of the gentry of the county ; indeed, its erection was commenced and to a 
 certain point carried out under such arrangement. A political feud, however, broke out, 
 which led to a general quarrel and disunion in the county, and the progress of the 
 building was thus arrested ; it remained in a semi-finished state for a very lengthened 
 period, indeed for some years. It was eventually abandoned as a private undertaking, 
 and a great loss was sustained by some of the promoters. Many of the materials and 
 fittings provided for the building became deteriorated or were destroyed, and wasted. 
 It was not completed for many years after the death of the architect. In this dilemma 
 a Bill was promoted in the year 1727 “ To enable the Justices of the Peace for the county 
 of Bucks to finish a Gaol and Session Boom for the use of the said county.’’ It was 
 passed with this preamble:— 
 
 “ Whereas, for want of a common Gaol in the county of Bucks, which is very large 
 and populous, a house in the town of Aylesbury, a market town, situate about the middle 
 of the said county, hath for many years passed been rented and used for such Gao], and 
 the same becoming insufficient for safe custody of the prisoners, it was unanimously 
 concluded and agreed by the Justices of the Peace for the said county at their General 
 Quarter Sessions (after divers presentments of such insufficiency by the grand juries at 
 such Sessions) to build in Aylesbury aforesaid a public Gaol for the said county, with a 
 Court Room or Shire Hall therein, for convenient and commodious holding the Assizes, 
 Sessions of the Peace, and other public meetings for transacting the public and common 
 business and affairs of the said county. And whereas considerable progress has been 
 made in such buildings, but, for the speedy completing and finishing of the same, further 
 powers are necessary to be given by law. 
 
84 
 
 “ May it therefore please Your Most Excellent Majesty that it may be enacted, by 
 and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons, in 
 this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, that it shall and 
 may be lawful to and for the Justices of the Peace for the said county of Bucks, at the 
 next General Quarter Sessions of the Peace to be holden for the said county after the 
 24th day of June, 1727, or at any subsequent Quarter Sessions, or the major part of 
 them present at such General or Quarter Sessions, to assess, levy, and raise a sura or 
 sums of money as are now due for and upon account of work and materials used in and 
 about the said* Gaol and Court Room, and as upon the examination of able and sufficient 
 workmen or otherwise, the said Justices shall find necessary for the completing and 
 finishing of the said Gaol and Court Room at Aylesbury aforesaid, such assessment or 
 assessments not to exceed in the whole the sum of three thousand five hundred 
 pounds, and to be made and laid in equal proportions, as near as may be, upon 
 the several Hundreds and Divisions of the said county, in the manner hereinafter 
 mentioned. 
 
 “ And be it enacted by the Authority aforesaid, that the said Justices of the Peace, 
 or the major part of them, shall have and execute for the purposes of this Act such aud 
 the like powers and authorities not otherwise altered by this Act as was given or enacted, 
 touching the assessing, collecting, levying or applying monies for building or repairing 
 Gaols, by an Act made in the 11th and 12th years of the reign of his late Majesty King 
 William III., entitled ‘An Act to enable Justices of the Peace to build and repair Gaols 
 in their respective counties,’ which Act, by another Act made in the sixth year of his 
 present Majesty’s reign, was made perpetual.” 
 
 The general Act for building or repairing gaols is then recited. The assessment of 
 the county for the building was not to exceed 4d. in the pound, rent, to be collected by 
 the constables, and after payment for the site and buildings, the overplus to be added to 
 the County Stock ; the borough town of Buckingham was specially exempted from the 
 rate. 
 
 Browne Willis is in error in his “ History of Buckingham,” where he asserts that no 
 gaol existed at Aylesbury prior to 1727 ; there are ample proofs to the contrary, and 
 without doubt Aylesbury contained a county prison at a very early period. In the fourth 
 year of Edward I. (1276) a report was made to the Exchequer of those who had received 
 gifts or gains for the exercise of their offices. It was found that Thomas de Bray, late 
 Sheriff of Bucks, had received from William de la More, of Hartwell, and Agatha, of the 
 same place, imprisoned in the prison of Eglesburie, 20s. for exercising his office at the 
 precept of the King. In the reign of Edward III., Aylesbury Gaol is again referred to ; 
 it was repaired in that reign, and such repairs were paid for out of the county funds. 
 Three points are thus disposed of—That it was a county prison ; that Aylesbury was 
 considered the county town ; that the gaol must have been in existence many years, or 
 it would not have needed extensive repairs. In 1553 reference is made to “a triangular 
 tenement called the old Gaol in Aylesbury, occupied by Richard Fryer this was 
 anterior to the date of the grant of the Charter of Incorporation, and the building 
 referred to may have been a town gaol or Bridewell. 
 
85 
 
 BRADWELL PRIORY. 
 
 Contiguous to the village of Brad well, Manfelin, Lord of the adjoining Manor of 
 Wolverton, founded a Priory for black monks, dedicated to St. Mary, about 1155. It 
 possessed rents and temporalities in various parishes, as well as the churches of 
 Wolverton, Padbury, &c. In 1526 the Priory was dissolved by Papal Bull, and with 
 other small monasteries, bestowed upon Cardinal Wolsey for the endowment of his 
 College at Oxford ; but on the Cardinal’s attainder the King took possession of the lands 
 of these suppressed monasteries ; and in 1531 granted the Bradwell Priory estate, &c., 
 to the Priory of Sliene, in Surrey, in exchange for the Manor of Lewisham, county Kent. 
 
 The Priors of Bradwell, whose names are inserted in the Monasticon, are: — 
 Kigellus, in 1189; Richard, about 1190; John, in 1220; Richard, 1234; Simon de 
 Cantia, 1236; John, 1254; Bartholomew, in 1274; Robert de Ramsey, 1280; John, 
 died in 1320 ; Robert Rollesham succeeded , Robert Folyot, 1329 ; Simon de Elenstow, 
 1331 ; William de Longhton, 1336 ; Johnde Wylline, 1349 ; John or William Harwood, 
 1409 ; John Welles, 1492 ; Thomas Wrighte, 1503 ; Robert Boston, 1504 ; and John 
 Ashby, the last Prior, was appointed in 1515. At its suppression the Priory was valued 
 at £53 11s. 2d. 
 
 As parcel of the possessions of the Priory of Shene, Bradwell was exchanged in 
 1542, with Arthur Longueville, Esq., of Wolverton, who settled the estate on Arthur, 
 his younger son. Bradwell Manor and Advowson was sold by the Longuevilles, about 
 1647, to John Lawrence, Esq. About the year 1660, this estate became the property ot 
 Joseph Alston, Esq., whose son of the same names, Lord of Bradwell, was created a 
 baronet. The second baronet was High Sheriff of Bucks in 1670 ; and Sir Joseph 
 Alston, the third baronet, filled the same office in 1702. The eldest son and heir ot the 
 latter sold this estate to Henry Owen, who transferred it to John Fuller, Esq. Phis 
 gentleman, denominated of Bradwell Abbey, was Sheriff of the county in 1722. About 
 1730, he transferred this manor to Sir Charles Gunter Nicoll, K.B., who died in 1733. 
 His two co-heiresses gave the estate to their relative, Lady Catherine Maynard; at 
 whose death, in 1744, one part or moiety thereof descended to her son and heir, Sir 
 William Maynard, the other to a Miss Gunter Nicoll, who in 1755 carried the same 
 in marriage to William, Earl of Dartmouth. The Abbey estate or farm passed to the 
 Mercers’ Company, of London, who purchased it from Lord Dartmouth. 
 
 The Priory building appears to have been remodelled, partly rebuilt, and converted 
 into a mansion, which subsequently degenerated to a farm house. Some of the rooms 
 are wainscotted, spacious and lofty. The house was formerly moated, and was approached 
 by an avenue of elm trees. A small chapel remains, apart from the present house, which 
 has been converted into a stable, and subsequently used as a carpenter’s workshop. It is 
 
86 
 
 about eighteen feet long and ten wide ; the walls are about four feet thick. At one end 
 is a good mullioned window of three lights, with a window similar in design on each 
 side ; the original pointed arch doorway on the south side is blocked up, and near it, 
 in the interior, is the arch of the holy water stoupe ; at the altar end is a large canopied 
 niche richly sculptured, which has been used as a manger for a horse ; the ceiling, which 
 is coved, as well as the walls, have been painted in distemper to represent clouds, 
 angels, &c. 
 
 BUCKINGHAM IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 Rev. H. Roundell (1864). 
 
 \The Rev. Henry Roundell, M.A., was lorn at Fringford Rectory, Oxon, in 1824. 
 He was assistant curate at Buckingham, and on the death of the Rev. T. Silvester, in 1853, 
 ivas instituted to the Vicarage of that parish. Archaeology in all its branches seemed to have 
 a special charm for him. He ivould spare no pains in investigating subjects connected with 
 it-, nor was he less generous in imparting his acquirements, than careful in procuring them. 
 His extensive and accurate knowledge of antiquities, his excellent judgment, his refined 
 taste, and the perspicuity of his style were calculated to raise the standard of the “Records 
 of Buckinghamshire ,” to which he ivas a frequent contributor, and which work was for a 
 considerable period mainly under his charge. lie ivas one of the Hon. Secretaries and 
 Treasurer of the Bucks Archaeological Society. He died at Walton Hall, near Bletchley, 
 in December, 1864.] 
 
 “More change has taken place in the Town of Buckingham during the last fifty 
 years, than in the hundred and fifty which preceded them. I do not forget the great 
 fire of 1725, which destroyed nearly half the town, but then, when the streets and houses 
 were rebuilt, by a singular perversity they were rebuilt after their former fashion, and 
 instead of springing from her ashes vigorous and young, a renovated Phoenix, Bucking¬ 
 ham after the fire rose up the counterpart of Buckingham before it. We are fortunate 
 enough to be able to ascertain with tolerable exactness the extent of the Town, 
 the names of its streets and bridges, and the position of the houses at the period 
 of the Civil Wars. In 1610, one John Speed published a series of maps of 
 several of the English Counties, and in one corner of that of Buckinghamshire, he 
 introduced a ground plan or map of Buckingham as the county town. This map 
 supplies the names of the principal streets of the town, as they existed at that date, 
 names of which the greater part have survived to our day. On these however I will not 
 linger, but only remark that the houses covered nearly as large an area as they do now. 
 Cottages had been built up the lane called Mount Pleasant, and along both sides of the 
 road to Gawcott, then known as ‘ Prebend End beyond the water,’ and upon the opposite 
 or north-east end of the town, to the further extremity of the Square and nearly down to 
 the Wharf. I need scarcely notice that the parish church, with its lofty wooden spire, 
 
87 
 
 was then standing in the old churchyard, where boundary stones still mark the position 
 of the walls. Opposite the Church, and pretty close to the spot on which Mr. Clayton’s 
 house is built, was an old hostelry, the Pilgrim’s Inn, dating back to the fourteenth 
 century, and erected for the accommodation of the pilgrims resorting to St. Rumbold’s 
 Shrine. 
 
 The Church Hill, then the Castle Hill, was an open mound with the foundations of 
 the ancient fortress visible on its broken surface, but without buildings upon either the 
 eastern or western slope towards the river. In the centre of the town, and upon a part 
 of the ground now occupied by the Shambles, stood the old Wool Hall, built in the palmy 
 days of yore, when the merchants of the staple came hither to buy, and with which 
 Queen Elizabeth had endowed the inmates of Christ’s Hospital. Beyond, in the open 
 space which intervened between the Wool Hall and the block of houses in one of which 
 Mr. Meehan now lives, was the Bull Ring, where the townsfolk and the villagers loved to 
 gather on feasts and holidays to enjoy their pastime, and I questiou not that they 
 respected more the Book of Sports than the edicts of the Long Parliament. And 
 here also the map shows the pillory to have been placed, though I fancy it was subse¬ 
 quently removed lower down in the town, nearly opposite the entrance to the Moreton 
 Road, then only known as Podd’s Lane. Beyond the block of houses, the boundary of 
 the Bull Ring to the north-east, a wide unbroken extent of open space dedicated to the 
 cow fair, stretched itself to the extreme point of North End, for the gaol had not at that 
 time raised its battlemented walls, nor ‘ The Buildings’ sprung up to receive the sufferers 
 from the fire. And, turning back towards the Brackley Road, all the ground on which 
 the National School stands and a great part of the adjoining garden was open to the 
 river side—a mere cottage occupied the present site of Mr. Tibbett’s house—and within 
 the space then unenclosed, a Market Cross, three hundred years of age, uplifted itself, a 
 monitor of honesty and truth to the dealers in the horse fair,—then possibly rich in 
 chiselled ornaments of unbroken carving, but now preserved to us only as a mutilated 
 relic of our former local History.” 
 
 MAIDS MORETON CHURCH. 
 
 The Builder (1881). 
 
 “ Buckinghamshire is by no means a rich county for the ecclesiologist, and it is 
 somewhat singular that in such a purely agricultural district the towns should be so 
 remarkably uninteresting, and the churches should have fared so badly. Yet, somehow 
 or other, the important towns in Buckinghamshire seem to have been deprived of their 
 ancient churches about a century or so back, and for what reason it is impossible to say. 
 
88 
 
 Buckingham has lost its ancient church, and in its place we find a strange building, 
 consisting of a Batty Langley tower and spire, a slice of a ‘ Georgian’ nave, and the 
 residue Revived Gothic. At Stony Stratford we find a solitary old tower and a Brum¬ 
 magem Gothic church, which we have been told is to be rebuilt. It is true Stewkley, 
 Eifiesden, StokeGoldington, Chetwode, Langley, Burnham, Eton College Chapel, and Olney 
 spires serve, to a certain extent, to prevent our saying that there are no churches worth 
 seeing in the county, and we will add to the list Maids Morton Church. This lemaikably 
 pretty little church is situated just one mile from the singularly uuinteresting town of 
 Buckingham. 
 
 Maids Morton Church is dedicated to St. Peter, and, although only a small building 
 consisting of a single nave and chancel, small sacristy or vestry, a west tower and two 
 porches, yet it exhibits many features which are not commonly to be met with in village 
 churches. Lysons gives the date of its erection at ‘ about the year 1450. We confess 
 we should be incliued to suggest a later date, judging from some of the detail. It is said 
 to have been erected by two maiden ladies, daughters of the last Lord Peyvre, and there 
 is much in the appearance of the building to favour this idea. No ordinary village 
 church would have been constructed with the care and skill bestowed upon Maids Morton. 
 The whole building, both within and without, is of ashlar, very neatly jointed, and laid 
 in quite regular courses. The roofs of the nave and chancel are of oak, excellently carved 
 and richly moulded. The porches, tower, and sacristy are vaulted in stone, with fan 
 tracery. There is a good rood-screen and a Norman font, ornamented with a kind of 
 decoration resembling the expauded leaves of the sun-flower. There is a little stained 
 glass, a Jacobean squire’s pew, and a Communion table ot Charles II. s period. The 
 most beautiful object, however, in the church, is the remarkable sedilia, with rich pro¬ 
 jecting canopies, and an old painting of the Last Supper extending across the back of 
 the niches. 
 
 There are, however, one or two features about this building to which we would call 
 special attention. They are, in the first place, the very original treatment of the belfry 
 story of the tower. Contrary to the usual practice in England, the splay of the wiudows 
 is externa], and the great mullion in the centre is nearly the depth of the wall. The 
 cusping of the enclosing arch is also rather uncommon. The second feature which 
 deserves attention is the very remarkable canopy over the western doorway, forming a 
 kind of hood or hanging porch. The vaultings of the two porches and the sacristy also 
 deserve special notice. They are remarkably elaborate examples of fan-tracery, and bear 
 a strong resemblance to the vaultiugs of the two porches and the sacristy also deserve 
 special notice. They are remarkably elaborate examples of fan tracery, and bear a 
 strong resemblance to the vaulting of the two chantry chapels on either side of the choir 
 of St. George’s, Windsor. It is somewhat remarkable to find such work in a village 
 church, and for this reason we are led to the conclusion that Maids Morton Church may 
 be looked upon rather as a ‘ votive’ church than as a parochial or village church.” 
 
80 
 
 “ The whole floor was originally composed of encaustic tiles, many of which remain. 
 The monuments are not interesting. The stone which covers the grave of the two sisters 
 who erected this beautiful building is situated in the middle of the nave ; it formerly bore 
 the brass effigies of two females, but these have disappeared. It is stated that, within the 
 memory of some now living in the village, every window of this most interesting church 
 was full of staiued glass, and the nave seated with carved oak benches ; very little old 
 glass, however, now remains, and the oak benches have given place to wretched deal pews !” 
 
 LITTLE BRICKHILL. 
 
 Little Brickhill, now a decayed village, was once a place of no little importance. 
 Here were held the Assizes and General Gaol Delivery for Bucks between 1433 and 1638, 
 it being mentioned as the first town in the County at which the Judges arrived in taking 
 the Norfolk Circuit, It is laid down as the Assize town in Saxton's map, published in 
 1574. The elections, as well as other county meetings, were also held here. The parish 
 register, written on vellum, commences a.d. 1559, and between the years 1561 and 1618 
 contains the names of 42 persons in the 57 years who “ suffered death and were buried,’’ 
 a cross in the margin indicating each case in which the law stepped in. The mode of 
 death is seldom mentioned, though, in a few cases, hanging is stated, and in one burning, 
 the victim in this instance being a woman, one Cecily Revis, who was burned in 1595 ; 
 the crime is not stated. There are two entries connected with the civil wars ; one the 
 burial of a woman, “ Agnes Potter, of Dunstable, wounded at the battle of Edge-hill,” 
 and the other that of a soldier of the King’s Army, who was slain by the Parliamentary 
 troops, August 27th, 1664. The church, dedicated to St. Magdalene, stands on the 
 brow of a hill, below which runs the Roman Watling Street. It has been repaired at 
 various times, once through the munificence of Browne Willis, and the last restoration it 
 underwent was in 1864, The churchyard was enlarged in 1870, and the new portion 
 consecrated in 1871. The reason for holding the assizes so frequently at Brickhill must 
 have been the then difficulty in travelling. It is probable that in the winter or in the 
 early months of the year, Aylesbury could not be reached in consequence of the bad state 
 of the roads. Little Brickhill, as already stated, is situate on the Watling Street, the 
 most conspicuous of the ancient Roman roads in Britain, and probably it was much easier 
 of access by Her Majesty’s Judges than the county town; again, it was also in a line to 
 other assize towns in the same circuit. Even so late as 1692, or a hundred years after 
 the above period, Judge Rokeby gave an account of the state of the roads on his journey 
 in going the Oxford Circuit, and this, too, was at the Summer Assizes, or the best season 
 of the year for travelling—“July 27th, 1692.—I began the Oxford Circuit this day, aud 
 
90 
 
 bated att Maidenhead, but ye waters were soe great upon ye road that att Colebrook they 
 came just into ve body of ye coach, and we were forced to boat twice at Maidenhead, 
 Once we boated ye coach, and at the second time we boated oui selves, and ye coach came 
 through ye water, and it came very deep into ye body of it. That night we lay at 
 Henley-on-Thames, where we were forced to boat the coach again. The Assizes weie 
 not regularly held at Little Brickhill. 
 
 CLIEFDEN HOUSE. 
 
 Mr. W. Lowndes, Chesham. 
 
 “Cliefden House was built by George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, the 
 favourite of Charles II. He spent large sums of money upon it, and those portions of 
 his work which still remain evince the taste he had in decorating it. Evelyn speaks of 
 Cliefden as ‘ the stupendous natural rock, wood, and prospect of the Duke of Bucking¬ 
 ham.’ Hither the Duke brought the Countess of Shrewsbury after his fatal duel with 
 her husband. Pepys, in his Diary, writes thus, Jan. 17th, 1667-8 :—‘Much discourse 
 of the duell yesterday, between the Duke of Buckingham, Holmes, and one Jenkins, on 
 one side, and my Lord of Shrewsbury, Sir John Talbot, and one Bernard Howard, on 
 the other side ; and all about my Lady Shrewsbury, who is at this time, and hath for a 
 great while been, a mistress to the Duke of Buckingham. And so her husband 
 challenged him, and they met yesterday in a close near Barne-Elmes, and there fought ; 
 and my Lord Shrewsbury is run through the body, from the right breast through the 
 shoulder ; and Sir John Talbot all along up one of his armes ; and Jenkins killed upon 
 the place, and the rest all in a little measure wounded. This would make the world 
 think that the King hath good counsellors about him, when the Duke of Buckingham, 
 the greatest of them, is a fellow of no more sobriety than to fight about a 
 mistress.’ Lady Shrewsbury was Anna Maria, daughter of Robert Brudenell Earl of 
 Cardigan; she is said to have held the Duke’s horse, in the disguise of a page, whilst he 
 was fighting with her husband. She married, secondly, George Rodney Bridges, son of 
 Thomas Bridges, of Keynsham, Somerset, and died April 20th, 1702. The property of 
 this Mr. Bridges subsequently, at his death without issue, devolved upon one who has 
 rendered the name of Rodney illustrious in the annals of English history. On March 
 16th, 1667, the Earl died of the wounds he had received iu the duel, but the Duke was 
 granted a pardon before he died, namely, on the 5th of February succeeding the day of 
 the fight. In 1681, fourteen years after this occurrence, the poet Dryden published his 
 “ Absalom and Ahithophel,” in which the well-known character of Zimri was drawn for % 
 the Duke of Buckingham. The Duke was so enraged at this, that he called upon the 
 
91 
 
 poet, and inflicted a severe castigation upon him ; at the same time, however, he 
 presented him with a large sum of money, telling him that he gave him the beating for 
 his impudence, but the gold for his wit. 
 
 Cliefden subsequently became the seat of George, Earl of Orkney, a celebrated 
 military commander under John, Duke of Marlborough ; and more recently of Frederick, 
 Prince of Wales, father of King George III. The place has been rendered classical by 
 Pope, who immortalized “ Cliefden’s Proud Alcove.” Here also, on August 1st, 1740, 
 was first played the national air of “ Rule Britannia/’ It was composed by the poet 
 Thomson, and set to music by Dr. Arne. In 1795, the house was burnt down through 
 the carelessness of a maidservant. In 1830 it was rebuilt by Sir G. Warrender, and was 
 again burnt down, but was rebuilt, in 1849, by its late owner, the Duke of Sutherland, 
 after a design by Barry. The estate belonging to Cliefden consists of about 436 acres, 
 situated in the three parishes of Taplow, Hitcham, and Hedsor ; the site of the house 
 and grounds, including the park, occupying about 136 acres. The view from the grounds 
 is magnificent, ‘ unequalled along the Thames, except that’from the North Terrace at 
 Windsor Castle. The woods around it abound with primeval yew trees. They hang 
 from the chalk cliffs, *' their twisted roots exposed to the air, and cling and cluster round 
 the winding walks and steep narrow staircases, which lead in every direction to the 
 heights above.’ The wild clematis also hangs from the trees, and in their shade the 
 atrossa, belladonna, and other rare plants, grow luxuriantly. In the cliffs there are 
 several small caves, once inhabited, it is said, by robbers, in one of which a worthless 
 tradition tells that the Princess Elizabeth took refuge from her sister Mary. Near the 
 waterside a spring rises in a rocky basin, and falls into the river, near which the Duke 
 of Buckingham built a picturesque cottage for the benefit of visitors .”—Records of 
 B uckingham shire. 
 
 BUCKINGHAMSHIRE IN THE CIVIL WAR. 
 
 S. Lysons. 
 
 “At the commencement of the Civil War, in the 17th century, Buckinghamshire 
 was one of the first counties that joined in an association for mutual defence, on the side 
 of the Parliament, who, in the early part of the war, had a garrison on a commanding 
 spot at Brill, on the borders of Oxfordshire. The celebrated Hampden made an unsuc¬ 
 cessful attack on this garrison in 1642. Among the terms for a cessation of hostilities, 
 as delivered to the King in March, 1643, it was proposed that the Royal forces should 
 * not advance nearer to Aylesbury than Brill, nor those of the Parliament nearer to Oxford 
 than Aylesbury. In the course of that year the proposals for accommodation having 
 
92 
 
 unhappily failed, Newport Pagnell was for a short time garrisoned by the King’s troops, 
 but was abandoned by Sir Lewis Dyv'e, on the approach of the Earl of Esses : it after¬ 
 wards proved a very useful garrison to the Parliament. Brill was abandoned by the 
 King in the spring of 1643 : about the same time Prince Rupert attacked the parlia¬ 
 mentary quarters at High Wycombe, with some success. The Earl of Essex quartered 
 his army for a considerable time about Aylesbury and Thame, in the summer of the same 
 year. In August there was a grand rendezvous of the Parliamentary army near 
 Aylesbury. In 1644, the King fixed his head-quarters for some time at Buckingham. 
 Boarstall House, a garrison of the King’s in this county, on the borders of Oxfordshire, 
 was evacuated in June, 1644, and immediately taken possession of by the Parliament, 
 who had found it a very troublesome neighbour to their garrison at Aylesbury: it was 
 retaken by Col. Gage, after the royalists had for a while repented their want of policy in 
 abandoning it. Greenland House, another garrison of the King’s in this county, being 
 situated on the banks of the Thames, near Henley, was surrendered to General Browne 
 in the month of July following, after sustaining a very severe siege. During the next 
 year (1645) the Buckinghamshire garrisons ou both sides remained as they were; 
 Skippon, and afterwards Fairfax, haviug attacked Boarstall House without success. The 
 parliamentary army marched from thence to Marsh Gibwen, Brickhill, and Buckingham. 
 In 1646, Boarstall House, the only remaining garrison of the King in this county, was 
 surrendered to the Parliament. In 1649, we find this county petitioning Parliament 
 to abolish tithes, manors, &c.’’ 
 
 THE PRIORY OF NEWTON LONGYILLE. 
 
 The founder of the priory of Cluniac Monks, of Longville, was Walter Giffard, 
 styled Earl of Buckingham; he gave it to the Abbey of St. Faith, at Longville, 
 Normandy, in the reign of Henry I., and endowed it with his Manor of Newington, or 
 Newton, which he made a cell to St. Faith ; he died in 1102 ; there is confusion in the 
 history of the Giffards at this period. There are no traces of the priory buildings now 
 remaining. It has been considered remarkable that there should have remained here 
 until late years the gallows for the execution of criminals. According to Cole, the cause 
 of the continuance of this feudal privilege was the duration of the jurisdiction of the 
 Abbey after the suppression of the alien or foreign monasteries. King Edward I. 
 removed the cognizance of the higher offences from the Courts Leet and Courts Baron, 
 and transferred the privilege to the Justices Itinerant at the general assizes for counties ; 
 and it not being in the power of this parish (as forming only a part of the foreign 
 jurisdiction of the Abbey at Longueville) to remove such rights, they were still exercised 
 
98 
 
 by the foreign Stewards of the manor, until the Dissolution in 1415. When the Manor 
 was given to New College, the privilege of trying and executing felons was allowed to 
 remain, we are told, in the same manner, as Great Brickhill, Addington, and other places, 
 which had belonged to the powerful family of Molyns ; who, in the reigns of the first 
 Edwards had had influence sufficient to obtain from the Crown, this then formidable dis¬ 
 tinction and pre-eminence. Bishop Tanner’s account of this Priory of Newton Longville 
 is very meagre. He states he could discover only the names of the following Priors 
 William, in 1246; John de Panneville, or Pagnell, in 1277 ; Richard, in 1297; and 
 William de Talley, in 1306. 
 
 DANISH REMAINS AT AYLESBURY. 
 
 Admiral Smyth. 
 
 [William Henry Smyth, Admiral, K.S.F., D.C.L., F.R.S., F.R.A.S., resided at St. 
 John s Lodge, Stone, Aylesbury, tvhere he died in 1865. His early years were spent at 
 sea; after an active life, he resided for some years at Bedford, removing thence to St. John s 
 Lodge. At Hartwell he built the observatory for John Lee, Esq., LL.D. He composed a 
 descriptive catalogue of the " Northumberland Collection ” of coins. Amongst his printed 
 works ivere a "Memoir on Sicily ;” on " Sardinia “ The Life of Captain Beaver, R.N.; 
 ''Hides Hartwelliana;” "Speculum Hartwellianum;” "History of the Royal Society 
 Club;” "Addenda to the Hides Hartwelliance ;” and the "Sailors’ Word Book; besides 
 other ivories and very many papers con tributed to the Royal, the Antiquaries ’, the Royal 
 Astronomical, and the Royal Geographical Societies. Lt is mainly to the suggestion of 
 Admiial Smyth we are indebted for the idea of the removal from Egypt of that extraordinary 
 piece of antiquity now erected on the Thames Embankment, — Cleopatra’s Needle. 
 
 “ In draining a field called Benhill, situate in the hamlet of Walton, between the 
 two roads to Tring and Wendover, and just beyond the Cemetery, the workmen dug 
 up a quantity of human and other bones, together with a corroded spear-head, and the 
 neck of a terra cotta vessel which has been painted black, and apparently of the form ot 
 one represented in Artis’s “ Durobrivse, Illustrated” (plate xlvii., fig. 1), which was found 
 at the Roman pottery-kiln, Normangate-field, Castor, in 1826 : and I was also shown the 
 fragment of what seemed to have been the handle of a coarse amphora, or perhaps ot one 
 of the mortuary urns called ossuaria. These remains were found at about three feet 
 deep, in a dark soil bearing an appearance as of burning having been practised a cir¬ 
 cumstance of no great weight in itself, since cremation and inhumation were cotempo- 
 raneously in use among the Pagan Anglo-Saxons ; although there was a difference in the 
 sepultures of the Romans quartered in Britain, and the Romanized population of the 
 island. Such was the ‘ find ;’ but the space was not disturbed beyond the furrows ncces- 
 
94 
 
 sary for drainage, so that the extent of eligible excavatable ground is still unknown. 
 Indeed, after wandering over the whole site, I am not prepared to recommend any 
 particular spot whereon to commence with the pick and the spade, except to continue 
 diggings as before. 
 
 In examining the ‘ find’ in detail, the human bones and teeth were found to be in 
 very fair condition, and indeed some of them perfectly sound ; and there were parts of 
 the antlers of two stags, an entire stag’s head, some boar’s tusks, and other intermingled 
 bones,—most of which were collected and submitted to my inspection by Mr. Field, of 
 Aylesbury. No coins, medals, implements, tesserae, or foundations were discovered in the 
 very limited extent which was opened ; but the spear-head above mentioned offers a clue 
 upon which we may reason pretty positively. Being nearly flat, and no less than eighteen 
 inches in length, it must be considered Danish ; that people using spear-blades even 
 longer, insomuch that they were more like swords on shafts than the usual spears. As it is 
 unlike the pilum of the Lower-Empire Romans, the angon of the Franks, the spiculum of 
 the Anglo-Saxons, or the javelin of the Teutonick races in general, it may be accepted as 
 an evidence of a fallen Dane ; and it is therefore indicative of a fact and a period.” 
 
 WOTTON HOUSE. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 The Wotton Estate has been in the possession of the Grenville family for many 
 generations. Sir Eustace Grenville, Knt., had a grant of Wotton as early as a.d. 1273, 
 or 600 years ago. This Sir Eustace gave, by charter, one-half of his Wotton property 
 to his son Richard, and the other half to his daughter Alice, on her marriage with 
 Humphrey de Rokele. In 1402, Thomas Grenville possessed Wotton, to which his son 
 Richard succeeded. The estate passed by heirship, through a long line, to the late 
 Richard Plantagenet-Campbell-Grenville, Earl Temple, who was born in 1823, and died 
 in 1889. The mansion now standing was built by Richard Grenville, Esq. ; it was 
 commenced in 1704, and was ten years completing. It is not a very inviting building, 
 having a red brick facade, which, however, is relieved by stone pilasters, cornices, 
 window and door frames. The present is not the original house ; the foundations of a 
 former building are near to it. A somewhat lofty flight of steps lead to the entrance of 
 the mansion ; there are wings on either side, one appropriated to the kitchen department, 
 the other to the stabling. Immediately in front of the mansion is an inclosure of high 
 iron palisades, with lofty and handsome iron gates. The situation is not by any means 
 imposing, the grounds surrounding being generally low and flat. Hearne in his diary 
 gives a correct description of the situation; he passed here in 1716, on his road from 
 
95 
 
 Oxford to visit Browne Willis, at Whaddon Hall. “Leaving Brill,” he says, “ I passed 
 through Wotton, where is a very fine house of the Grenvils, in which is a very curious 
 painting by one Thornhill, a good artist now living. This is the same Thornhill that hath 
 done the fine altar-piece in All Souls College Chapell, and the painting in the new chapell 
 at Queen’s College. This house at Wotton is badly situated, but is as well as could 
 be in such a place.” It was the saloon and staircase to which Hearne refers, which 
 were painted by Sir James Thornhill ; the drawing-room and other apartments were 
 also decorated by the beautiful carvings of Grinling Gibbons. All these, with the costly 
 furniture, pictures, and contents of the library were destroyed by an accidental fire in 
 1820. The mansion was at once re-built but somewhat abridged in its details, and by 
 no means improved in its general appearance. The situation of the mansion, although 
 isolated is in a very fertile district ; the gardens are varied by plantations, and the 
 verdure of the grounds are everywhere remarkable, there being abundance of foreign 
 trees of great growth and beauty. 
 
 The late proprietor of Wotton had seen a good deal of commercial life ; he was a 
 thorough business man. In his connection with the London and North-Western 
 Railway, he duly estimated the value of intercourse with the mercantile world, and he 
 therefore took care to annex his estate with the railway system of the country by means 
 of the Brill and Wotton Tramway, which connects Wotton with the Aylesbury and Buck¬ 
 ingham line at Quainton, thus relieving the estate from that isolated position to which it 
 had hitherto been so long subject. On the Grenvilles becoming associated with the Temple 
 family by marriage, they made Stowe House their principal residence, reserving Wotton 
 as the home for any junior representative of their family requiring a seat; it has thus 
 been occupied for many years. Wotton Church is still the burial place of the Grenvilles, 
 and has been for many generations, the late and last Duke of Buckingham and Chandos 
 having been interred there during the present year (1889). 
 
 QUAINTON.-THE GLASTONBURY THORN. 
 
 On Christmas Eve, 1753, about two thousand people of the village and neighbour¬ 
 hood met at midnight in the rector’s garden at Quainton with torches and lanterns, to 
 watch for the budding of the thorn, which is said to be a true and veritable descendant 
 of the famous Glastonbury Thorn. Now, the peculiarity of this thorn is, that it buds 
 on the 24th of December in each year, ready to be in full bloom on Christmas Day, and 
 to die off at night. The object of the meeting was to decide between “ Old Style and 
 New Style.” 
 
 Previous to 1753 a confusion of dates prevailed, consequent on the different methods 
 
96 
 
 of computing time. In order to correct this error, an alteration to the extent of eleven 
 days was necessary to be made. By the statute of the 24th of George II., it was enacted 
 that the natural day next following the 2nd of September should be reckoned the 14th 
 of September, and the several days succeeding the 14th of September should be reckoned 
 in numerical order, according to the order and succession of the days used in the present 
 calendar. 
 
 Hence we have Old May Day as well as May Day ; Old Michaelmas as well as New 
 Michaelmas ; and the like of other old and new days in the calendar. So great was the 
 ignorance of the people, that they were under the impression that Government, by alter¬ 
 ing the calendar, had taken some advantage of them, and a cry arose, “ Give us back our 
 eleven days.” 
 
 At Quainton, it is said that great superstition prevailed on the subject, and much 
 discontent. It was determined to settle the question, not by the provisions of an Act of 
 Parliament, but by an appeal to the laws of nature. Christmas Day, 1753 (new style), 
 was to be the day to prove whether the Act of 24th George II. did really alter the time 
 or not. It was therefore agreed that if the thorn in the rector’s garden showed signs of 
 budding on the 24tli of December (new style), at midnight, then, both by the laws of 
 man and laws higher, the next day would be the true Christmas Day. But the thorn 
 did not show any signs of budding. It was therefore resolved that the next day was not 
 the true and proper Christmas Day. It was not kept, either by the attendance of the 
 people at the services of the church or in the usual festivities. It is further stated that 
 so deep rooted was this aversion to the new Christmas Day, that on Old Christmas Day 
 Divine service was performed in this and the neighbouring churches, in order to appease 
 the people, who, on this the usually-appointed day, kept Christmas festivities as in the 
 “ good old times’’ of their fathers. 
 
 ANCIENT TRACKWAYS. 
 
 On the brow of Pitchcott Hill, southward, are faint traces of old trackways, perhaps 
 British, one of which seems to have been the road from the eastern parts of the county 
 towards Buckingham. It entered Pitchcott from Hardwick or Quarrendon, and passing 
 along the foot of the hill, through Carter’s Lane, between Denham and North Marston, 
 pointed towards Grandborough and East Claydon. Another road intersected the former, 
 passing eastward of Pitchcott Church from Oving, on the north, connecting a vicinal 
 track west of Aylesbury (sometimes called the Akeinan-street and Port-way), with the 
 roads in the northern part of the county. 
 
(ONLY NINE COPIES ON OFFER.) 
 
 In 1 Vo!., Crown 3io, 130 pages, price 20s. 6d., ioards, 
 
 Itotfmg flf 
 
 AND 
 
 iWat of 49-ote of that ©cunt)?, 
 
 BY 
 
 ROBERT GIBBS, F.S.A., 
 
 Author*of “Regicides of Bucks," “ Local Records ,” “ History of Ayleshury," etc. 
 
 -:o:- 
 
 “ It deserves a place on the shelves of the local Reading Rooms of the County, in 
 the libraries of the country gentlemen and clergy, and will be found a welcome addition 
 to the literary gatherings of those local and general collectors who are at once 
 archaeologians 'and antiquaries .”—Bucks Herald, May 12th, 1888. 
 
 AYLESBURY, 1888. 
 
 THE 
 
 A Series of Concise and Interesting Articles Illustrative of the 
 
 History, ^opoqr/\phy, and ^AqcH/EOLoqY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 COUNTY OF BUCKINGHAM, 
 
 Compiled and Edited by ROBERT GIBBS, F.S.A., 
 
 Author of “ Local Occurrences," “Regicides of Bucks," “History of Ayleshury," “ Worthies 
 
 of Buckinghamshire," dec. 
 
 ?HE “ BUCKINGHAMSHIRE MISCELLANY” will be mainly a topographical 
 work, will give descriptive accounts of the “ Nooks and Corners ” of the 
 County, together with Historic and Archaeological items connected with it. 
 It will’be'composed of concise and interesting readings from the works of those authors 
 who have treated on the ancient and modern History of Buckinghamshire—Camden, 
 Spelman, Dugdale, Leland, White Kennett, Rev. Cox,, Lysons, Denham, Drayton, Langley, 
 Lipscomb, and others. Extracts will also be quoted from local authors of a more recent 
 period : the nannes of the writers will be given, together with a brief biographical notice 
 relating to them. 
 
 The Work will be published in quarterly parts, price One Shilling (by post Is. 2d.). 
 Only a small excess of copies will be printed over those subscribed for. 
 
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 PRINTING OFFICE, BOURBON STREET, AYLESBURY. 
 
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 QUARTERLY.- Price Is. i by post Is 2d. 
 
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 A SERIES OF CONCISE AND INTERESTING ARTICLES ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE 
 
 Hjistorg, ®o|ogw|fl)g, anb- ^rdjitolocig 
 
 OF THE 
 
 COUNTY OF BUCKINGHAM, 
 
 COMPILED AND EDITED BY 
 
 ROBERT GIBBS, F.S.A., 
 
 Author of “ Locol Occurrences “ Regicides of Bucks ,” History of Aylesbury ,” “ Worthies of 
 
 Buckinghamshire ,” &c. 
 
 fojMTEJMTg OF pyM^T 3 
 
 Runnymede; Great Marlow; Roman Coins, Weston Underwood; Earthworks on the 
 Chilterns ; Chilton House ; Ancient Chapel at Wendover ; Rdvenstone Priory; Burnham 
 Beeches ; Primitive Churches ; The Redes of Boarstall ; Buckingham Churches ; Effigy 
 Waddesdon Church ; History of Winslow ; Ancient Stone Crosses ; Cromwell at Beacons- 
 field; Barton’s Chantry; Landowners in Bucks; First Earl of Buckingham ; Roman 
 Remains, Great Missenden ; Fossil Remains, Hardwick ; The Monks ot Medmenham ; 
 Chearslev ; Re-enforcement of Forest Laws ; Remonstrating with Charles I.; Fraternity, 
 Aylesbury ; Relics of the Great Civil War ; Camden Visits the Chilterns; Roman \ ilia, 
 Buckingham; Ankerwyke Nunnery; Notes on the Long Parliament; Ancient Market 
 House at Aylesbury ; Salden House; Eminent Divines ; Glass Painter ; Waddesdon Hill 
 Chapel ; Arrest of the Five Members ; Elections in Aylesbury Church Yard ; the Grenville 
 Library ; Milton at Chalfont; the Vale of Aylesbury ; Maids Moreton ; Boarstall lower ; 
 Bucks Justices in 164'd ; Legend of Spillicora ; Stony Stratford : Creslow ; Fenny Stratford ; 
 Buckingham Free School ; Lace Makers of North Bucks ; Lord of Olney ; Wooburn. 
 
 AYLESBURY : 
 
 PRINTED BY R. GIBBS, “ BUCKS ADVERTISER & AYLESBURY NEWS” OFFICE- 
 
 MDCCCXC. 
 
 -jab 
 
97 
 
 RUNNEMEDE. 
 
 Charles Knight. 
 
 [Charles Knight was horn at Windsor in the year 1791 ; he was son of Charles 
 Knight, who for many years conducted the business of a bookseller, printer, and newspaper 
 proprietor in that town, whom he succeeded. In Charles Knight's early days there was 
 positively no good, useful reading within the reach of the great crowd, who for the most part 
 spent their time in the taproom and the skittle-ground, or attending pugilistic encounters or 
 dog-fights. Nothing had been done to elevate the people, or draw the humbler class out of 
 the slough of ignorance, in which national neglect had landed them. Charles Knight had 
 not overlooked this state of things; he had an inveterate hatred for the cheap, low literature 
 with which this country was then flooded, and which degraded the people. He was certainly 
 amongst the first to introduce the universal penny into the publication of pure and wholesome 
 literature. Among other avocations he, in conjunction with his father, published a news¬ 
 paper at Aylesbury in 1824, the title of which was “ The Bucks Gazette and Windsor 
 and Eton Express.” Charles Knight died in the year 1873, and was buried in the 
 Bachelor's Acre, Windsor. Mr. Knight's son, Mr. Barry Knight (since deceased), erected 
 to his father's memory a handsome lych-gate at the entrance to the burial-ground. It has 
 an inscription recording the occasion of its erection. After Mr. Charles Knight's death 
 a testimonial fund was raised to perpetuate his memory; this was applied to the purchase 
 of a scholarship in the Stationers' School. A bust of the deceased was also presented to the 
 Town Council of Windsor, and is preserved in the Town Hall of that Corporation. 
 His publications are numerous; well known as instructive, valuable, and peculiarly 
 adapted for the improvement of the masses, for ivhom they were specially ivritten .] 
 
 “The political history of John may be read in the most durable of antiquities— 
 the Records of the kingdom. And the people may read the most remarkable of these 
 records whenever they please to look upon it. Magna Charta, the great charter of 
 England, entire as at the hour it was written, is preserved, not for reference on doubtful 
 questions of right, not to be proclaimed at market-crosses or to be read in churches, as 
 in the time of Edward I., but for the gratification of a just curiosity and an honest 
 national pride. The humblest in the land may look upon that document day by day, in 
 the British Museum, which more than six hundred years ago declared that 1 no freeman 
 shall be arrested or imprisoned, or dispossessed of his tenement, or outlawed, or exiled, 
 or in any manner proceeded against, unless by the legal judgment of his peers, or by the 
 law of the land.’ This is the foundation of the statute upon statute, and of what.is as 
 stringent as statute, the common law, through which for six hundred years we have been 
 struggling to breathe the breath of freedom,—and we have not struggled in vain. The 
 Great Charter is in Latin, written in a beautiful hand. 
 
 Runnemede,—or Runingmede, as the Charter has it,—was, according to Matthew 
 of Westminster, a place where treaties concerning the peace of the kingdom had been 
 often made. The name distinctly signifies a place of council. Ruene-med is an Anglo- 
 Saxon compound, meaning the Council-Meadow. Runnemede was our Marathon. Very 
 beautiful is that narrow slip of meadow on the edge of the Thames, with gentle hills 
 bounding it for a mile or so. It is a valley of fertility. Is this a fitting place to be the 
 
98 
 
 cradle of English freedom ? Ought we not, to make our associations harmonious, to 
 have something bolder and sterner than this quiet mead, and that still water, with its 
 island cottage ? Poetry tells us that ‘ rocky ramparts’ are 
 
 ‘ The rough abodes of want and liberty.’ —Gray. 
 
 But the liberty of England was nurtured in her prosperity. The Great Charter, which 
 says, ‘ No freeman, or merchant, or villain shall be unreasonably fined for a small offence, 
 —the first shall not be deprived of his tenement, the second of his merchandise, the third 
 of his implements of husbandry,’ exhibited a state far more advanced than that of the 
 * want of liberty’ of the poet, where the iron race of the mountain cliffs 
 
 1 Insult the plenty of the vales below.’ 
 
 Runnemede is a fitting place for the cradle of English liberty. Denham, who from his 
 Cooper’s Hill looked down upon the Thames, wandering past this mead to become ‘the 
 world’s exchange,’ somewhat tamely speaks of the plain at his feet: 
 
 * Here was that Charter seal’d, wherein the crown 
 All marks of arbitrary power lays down ; 
 
 Tyrant and slave, those names of hate and fear, 
 
 The happier style of king and subject bear ; 
 
 Happy when both to the same centre move, 
 
 When kings give liberty and subjects love.’ ” 
 
 GREAT MARLOW.—SHELLEY’S COTTAGE. 
 
 Mirror (1833). 
 
 “ In West Street, Great Marlow, stands the unostentatious cottage, which was the 
 last residence in England of Percy Bysshe Shelley. He settled here after his marriage 
 with the daughter of Mr. Godwin, and continued to reside at Great Marlow till he left 
 England for Italy, the bourne whence he never returned. At Marlow, Shelley is said to 
 have passed his days like a hermit. He rose early, walked and read before breakfast, 
 took that meal sparingly, wrote and studied the greater part of the morning, walked and 
 read again, dined on vegetables (for he took neither meat nor wine), conversed with his 
 friends, to whom his house was ever open, again walked out, and usually finished with 
 reading to his wife till ten o’clock. This was his daily existence. His book was 
 generally Plato or Homer, or one of the Greek tragedians, or the Bible—in which last 
 he took a great, though peculiar, and often admiring interest. Captain Medwin, who 
 knew Shelley from a child, tells us that at Marlow he led a quiet, retired, domestic life, 
 and has left behind him a character for benevolence and charity, that still endears 
 him to its inhabitants. ‘His charity, though liberal, was not weak. He inquired 
 
99 
 
 personally into the circumstances of the petitioners, visited the sick in their beds (for he 
 had gone the round of the hospitals on purpose to be able to practise on occasions), and 
 kept a regular list of industrious poor, whom he assisted with small sums to make up 
 their accounts.’ To these records of Shelley’s benevolence is added the testimony of 
 a correspondent. He writes from High Wycombe—‘ It was poor Shelley’s misfortune 
 to leave Marlow with considerable claims from his creditors. Shelley’s dependencies 
 were anything but tangible. Notwithstanding he was heir to several thousand pounds, 
 his unbounded charity left him at an early age in extreme destitution. He, however, sold 
 some reversionary property in fee, to his father, for an annuity of £1,000, which 
 provision enabled him to reside at Marlow.’ 
 
 Among Shelley’s literary labours at Marlow were the * Revolt of Islam;’ 
 
 ‘ Alastor, or the Spirit of Solitude ’ was also written there. Captain Medwin mentions 
 a pamphlet under the name of the ‘ Hermit of Marlow,’ written on the occasion of the 
 Princess Charlotte’s death, though the title was only a masque for politics; under the 
 lament of the Princess, he typified liberty, and rang her knell. While at Marlow, Shelley 
 likewise published ‘ A Proposal for putting Reform to the Vote throughout England,’ 
 for which purpose, as an earnest of his sincerity, he offered to contribute a hundred 
 pounds, which sum, though, owing to his liberal habits, he could very ill spare at the 
 time, he would have done his best to supply by economizing. The cottage at Marlow 
 has been but slightly altered since the poet’s residence there.” 
 
 ROMAN COINS AT WESTON UNDERWOOD. 
 
 In 1858, while some labourers were draining a field called White’s Close, in this 
 village, they dug up an earthen vessel containing a large number of coins of the Roman 
 Empire. Sir Robert Throckmorton, the Lord of the Manor, having heard of the “ find,” 
 claimed the coins as treasure-trove, and obtained possession ol 166 Imperial Denaiii, 
 four Legionary coins, one small brass coin of the Lower Empire, one of Augustus n.<. 
 42, and four of Mark Antony b.c. 30. Most of the Denarii were in a good state of 
 preservation, and they consisted of the following Emperors:—Nero, 1 ; Galba, 5; 
 Yitellius, 1 ; Vespasian, 17; Titus, 6 ; Domitian, 5 ; Trajan, 33; Hadrian, ..»•>, 
 Antoninus Pius, 24; Faustina, sen., 15; Marcus Aurelius, 16; Faustina, jun., .> ; 
 Commodus, 2. Many pieces of Roman pottery, and mens’ and horses' bones, were found 
 at the same time, together with a few pieces of the vessel in which the coins "cic dt - 
 posited ; but the latter were not sufficient to supply a description of its shape oi size. 
 
100 
 
 EARTHWORKS ON THE CHILTERN HILLS. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 By a journey of but a few minutes’ duration from the Aylesbury Station on the 
 Great Western Railway, the foot of the Chiltern Hills in reached. Every native of 
 Buckinghamshire must have frequently gazed with peculiar interest and delight upon 
 the Chilterns. They constitute the most prominent object of his county, and have been 
 familiar to him from earliest childhood ; and now, perchance, they remain the sole 
 unaltered mementoes of those bright and buoyant days. There is no spot more popular 
 amongst the residents of the Aylesbury district than that known as Velvet Lawn. Few 
 there are of the neighbourhood who have not spent some happy hours in that rural and 
 lovely retreat. The Velvet Lawn visitors of our day are of a far different class to those 
 who made a retreat of that place in remote ages. Time was, when overgrown as wood¬ 
 land, it was one of the most impenetrable fastnesses of the Ancient Britons ; there, under 
 cover of the immense forest and the shelter of the lofty hills, they evaded the pursuits of 
 their enemies. They have left numerous traces of their occupations and footsteps, 
 perhaps unobservable to the casual visitor ; but here the historian, the antiquary, and 
 the collector of rural tradition and legendary lore may pursue their respective recreations 
 with profit and delight—may increase their own literary treasures, and cast additional 
 light and interest on the annals of our country’s history ; for here may be wended miles 
 along the Ickeneild—that ancient road, first constructed by our aboriginal ancestors, 
 perhaps two thousand years ago. Here you may trace many an encampment of the 
 Roman invader, and explore the sepulchral barrows of our Saxon forefathers. There, 
 the rustic cottager will point out to you the deep fosse and lofty bank, made, as he will 
 tell you, by Oliver Cromwell, and then, with solemn air and terrified countenance, will 
 relate how, in the dusky mists of midnight, spectre armies of Cavaliers and Roundheads 
 are still seen fiercely contending with each other in deadly and interminable warfare. 
 Here, too, you may trace for some miles the course of Gryme’s Dyke, which, your rustic 
 guide will tell you, was all made in one terrible, tempestuous night by grizzly Gryme, 
 the wicked wizard ; and perhaps the learned antiquary would not be able to give you a 
 more truthful account of its origin, so completely hidden is it in remote antiquity. On 
 these hills may be traced vestiges of British and Roman settlements, and the chronicled 
 sites of Saxon and Danish battles. 
 
 There is no subject more interesting to the inquiring mind than that which relates 
 to the primitive inhabitants of our native land. The question is intricate and beset with 
 difficulties : for an inquiry into the aborigines of Britain would embrace a dissertation 
 on the early antiquities of the great family of man. The early history of this country is 
 yet unwritten. Hume says that “ the history of nations in their infancy is not worth 
 a recitalas if the commencement of the arts of civilized life, the dawn of national 
 intelligence, and the framing of the social system, were not subjects interesting to the 
 
 
101 
 
 mind when contemplating the subsequent greatness of a country and its advancement in 
 intellectual and political importance. 
 
 There are various sources available in an inquiry into the manners, habits, and 
 customs of our forefathers. There is, first, the evidence of tradition. This species of 
 evidence is in many cases unsound, and cannot be depended on, from the additions and 
 alterations which must necessarily occur in its transmission through the course of ages. 
 There is, next, the evidence of language, which has often been satisfactorily applied in 
 elucidating the earlier portions of the history of the human race, and in tracing the 
 connexion between the different aboriginal nations. There is another source which is of 
 importance in entering on the subject of the manners and habits of the ancient Briton ; 
 it is the evidence of contemporary authority. The great writers of Rome were more 
 anxious to record the achievements of their military leaders over the barbaric tribes, 
 than to furnish much information concerning their customs and mode of life. The 
 testimony of Caesar and Tacitus is still of great weight amongst inquirers, and furnishes 
 an outline of the general manners of the early tribes of Gaul and Britain. However 
 valuable each of these sources of evidence may be, the only satisfactory substitute for 
 historic document is to be found in the actual existing remains in our country ; and in 
 proportion as we find them rude in appearance, and devoid of all appearance of art, the 
 nearer will they conduct us to a primitive state of society—to the infancy of social man. 
 To these rude vestiges of former times, these silent memorials of men and days long 
 since forgotten ; to these rude efforts of our ancestors, which, before the light of civiliza¬ 
 tion and religion dawned upon them, recorded their simple emotions and aspirations, we 
 must have recourse in tracing out ancient manners and customs. 
 
 Amongst the many monuments of antiquity of our land none are more numerous 
 than the sepulchral mounds known as tumuli or barrows. They abound in the neigh¬ 
 bourhood of the Chiltern Hills, and may be found on Bledlow Down, at the foot of Lodge 
 Hill at Saunderton, and at Slough in the same parish ; there is also a barrow on White 
 Leaf Hill; in Hampden Park are large barrows; in fact, mounds, barrows, and 
 sepulchral emblems abound in these hills and their locality. 
 
 CHILTON HOUSE. 
 
 Chilton House was built by Sir John Croke, Knt., who died in 1G40; 
 its foundation was in the form of the Roman H, which would indicate an 
 earlier origin. In the centre of the front was an embattled porch, with an 
 ascent of several steps; over the door an inscription “ Jehovah! iurris mea." 
 The house contained a gallery, in the windows of which were the arms of the 
 
102 
 
 Crokes and their alliances. In the civil war in the reign of King Charles I. it was 
 intended to demolish this house to prevent its falling into the hands of the Parliamen¬ 
 tarians. On the 27th of January, 1644, Prince Rupert, in a letter addressed to Sir 
 William Campion, Governor of Boarstall, says, “Whereas I am credibly informed that 
 ye Rebels have a design to fix a Garrison in Chilton House, a place of strength, wch being 
 possessed by them may much annoy and incommode his Majesty’s Quarters. These are 
 therefore to authorise and require, immediately after sight hereof, in case you are not 
 able to putt a Garrison into ye said House, to demolish, raze, and render it in such 
 condition that it may not anye wayes be useful to the Enemye.” This was followed by 
 a counter order the next day, which directed that the “ outwalls and doors ” only should 
 be demolished, so that it could not be habitable. 
 
 The house remained in its old state until 1740, when it was pulled down by Judge 
 Carter, who erected a modern mansion on its site. This house was much improved by 
 Sir John Aubrey, Bart.; it contained several handsome apartments and many family 
 and other pictures. The present house still retains some traces of the old buildings in 
 the walls, chimneys, and some of the doorways. It is a square, lofty, and spacious 
 erection of red brick, with mullioned windows, and the principal entrance is approached 
 as originally, by a broad flight of stone steps. 
 
 ANCIENT CHAPEL AT WENDOVER. 
 
 An ancient chapel once existed at Wendover ; it stood on the road leading to Tring; 
 it was taken down to alford a site for an infant school. There are few notices on record 
 of this chapel. In 1557, Philip and Mary (King and Queen) granted to George London, 
 gent., the chapel of Wendover, with its appurtenances and messuages, tenements, &c., 
 in Wendover, belonging to the same, for 21 years at the annual rent of £5 8s. In 1561, 
 Queen Elizabeth granted to Robert Moulton, Esq., and others, the reversion of the said 
 chapel, with its appurtenances. 
 
 RAVENSTONE PRIORY. 
 
 Ravenstone Priory was of the Augustine order. Its founder was Peter de 
 Cliaceport, who having purchased the Manor of Ravenstone, and the mansion and 
 advowson of the Rectory, appertaining to it from Saher de Walhul, endowed the Priory 
 At ith his purchase. The Priory was dedicated in honour of the Blessed Virgin. It was 
 
103 
 
 with its property given to Cardinal Wolsey in 1524, when the community consisted of a 
 prior and only four canons, who were translated to other monasteries. The conventual 
 church is said to have been then pulled down, and the present parochial edifice built out 
 of its materials. There are no remains of the conventual buildings. The site of the 
 monastery, a short distance west of the church, is occupied by a farmhouse ; and near to 
 it are indications of buildings in the very uneven ground. On the descent from the hill 
 on which the church stands is a large orchard, moated round, in which was formerly a 
 fish-pond, and a well of clear water, covered with an ancient wrought stone, through the 
 cavity of which, the stream proceeding from it runs into a small brook. The stone is 
 evidently part of a niche, which is placed in an inverted position, probably the only 
 existing vestige of the Priory, which appears from this specimen to have been built in 
 the florid style of English architecture. The measurement of the stone is 4ft. 3in. by 
 lft. 8in., and it seems to have formed the heads of three niches, one of which is almost 
 entire. 
 
 Priors. —William de Divisis, 1254; Adam de Wimundele or Wymunasle, resigned 
 1274 ; Ralph, elected 1274 ; Godwin died 1309 ; Roger de Clere, 1309 ; Walter Aubell, 
 1323 ; Robert de Yerdele, died 1348 ; Gilbert de Molesworth, 1348 ; John Serdele, or 
 Yerdele, 1396 ; John Raundes, 1396 ; John Stanney, 1418 ; Ralph Newport, alias 
 Belasyse, 1443 ; Thomas Orlymbere, 1457 ; Thomas Wolvercote, resigned 1463 ; John 
 Holte, resigned 1471 ; Eustachius Bernard, elected 1471 ; Ralph Blase, 1492 ; William 
 
 Wyttesley, 1504; Henry-, 1521. Richard Cocks was the last prior. The possessions 
 
 of the Priory at the time of its suppression appear to have consisted of the Manors of 
 Ravenstone and Stoke Goldington, with the advowson and patronage of the church or 
 rectory of Ravenstone, with all tithes, &c.; also of a water-mill in Ravenstone, and 30 
 messuages, 40 acres of arable land, 300 of pasture, 100 of meadow, 100 acres of wood, 
 and £10 in rents at Ravenstone, Weston, Peddington, and Stoke Goldington. The 
 annual value of the whole is stated to be £66 13s. 4d. 
 
 BURNHAM BEECHES. 
 
 The singularly wild and beautifully romantic spot known as Burnham Beeches in 
 this locality, has been described as “ an unequalled fragment of forest scenery.” A 
 thousand artists have commemorated the place. The beeches are very peculiar, and are 
 all pollarded. The poet Gray, when staying at the neighbouring village of Stoke Poges, 
 often resorted to these sweet shades. In a letter to Horace Walpole, in 1737, he thus 
 describes the spot—“ I have at a distance of half a mile, through a green lane, a forest 
 
104 
 
 (the vulgar call it a common), all my own, at least as good as so, for I spy no human 
 thing in it but myself. It is a little chaos of mountains aud precipices : mountains it is 
 true that do not ascend much above the clouds, nor are the declivities quite so amazing 
 as Dover Cliffs; but just such hills as people who love their necks as well as I may 
 venture to climb, and crags that give the eye as much pleasure as if they were more 
 dangerous. Both hill and vale are covered with most venerable beeches and other reverend 
 vegetables, that, like most other ancient people, are always dreaming out their old stories 
 to the winds— 
 
 ‘ And as they bow their hoary tops relate, 
 
 In murm'ring sounds, the dark decrees of fate J 
 While visions, as poetic eyes avow, 
 
 Cling to each leaf and swarm on every bough.’ 
 
 “ It is impossible to wander amidst these venerable beeches without being struck 
 with the varied notes and objects which now aud then disturb the solemn silence of the 
 wood. Sometimes the wild shriek of the green woodpecker is heard, and then his rapid 
 taps against the bark of some decayed branch. The jay vociferates loudly if his haunts 
 are disturbed, and the blackbird utters his note of alarm, which is well understood by 
 the inhabitants of the wood, and causes the rabbits to listen and scud to their boles, and 
 the pheasants to conceal themselves in a neighbouring bush. Charming, however, as 
 this wood is in the summer, its autumnal beauties are equally so. The brown leaves of 
 the beeches contrast agreeably with the hollies and junipers, aud although— 
 
 ‘ Through the ruins of the autumnal wood 
 Sighs the sad gale, or the loud wintry wind 
 Blows hollow, o’er the bleak and blasted heath— 
 
 The mind rests complacently on the scene around.’”— Jesse. 
 
 PRIMITIVE CHURCHES. 
 
 There was a time when there was not a stone-church in all the land, but the 
 custom was to build them all of wood ; and therefore when Bishop Ninyas built a church 
 of stone, it was such a rarity and unusual thing among the Britaius, that they called the 
 place Candida Casa, Whitern, or Whitchurch, upon it. Finan, the second Bishop of 
 Lindesfarne, or Holy Island, since called the Bishopric of Durham, built a church in the 
 island fit for a Cathedral See, which yet was not of stone, but only timber sawed, and 
 covered with reed ; and so it continued till Eadbert the seventh Bishop, took away the 
 reed, and covered it all over, both roof and sides, with sheets of lead. 
 
105 
 
 THE REDES, DYNHAMS, AND AUBREYS, OF BOARSTALL. 
 
 Ivennett White. 
 
 “ William, son and heir of Edward Rede and .Agnes his wife, left son and heir 
 Leonard Rede, Esq., who, by Anne his wife, had Catherine, sole daughter and heir, 
 married to Thomas Dynham, gent., on whom the Boarstall estate, her inheritance, was 
 settled by fine in 1st Edward VI., who dying on February 16th, 1562, 4th Elizabeth, left 
 son and heir John Dynham, Esq., who deceased May the 29th, 1602, 44th Elizabeth, and 
 by Catherine his wife, left son and heir John Dynham under age, then married to 
 Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Dormer, which Sir John Dynham, Knt., died on the 
 16th February, 1634, 10th Charles I., and by Dame Penelope, his second wife, daughter of 
 Sir Richard Wcnman (a lady of great fidelity and courage), he left three daughters and 
 co-heirs, Mary, Alice, and Margaret, of which Mary the eldest was then the wife of 
 Laurence Bauistre, Esq., son and heir apparent of Sir Robert Banistre, Knt., by whom 
 she had Margaret, sole daughter and heir, married to William Lewis, Esq., of the \ r an in 
 County Glamorgan, 24th Charles L, a.d. 1648, who by the said Margaret had issue 
 Edward, who died unmarried in September, 1672, and two daughters, of which Mary, the 
 eldest, was first married to William Jephson, Esq., who died on Trinity Sunday, a.d. 1691; 
 after which she took to her second husband, the Hon. Sir John Aubrey, Bart., of Llan- 
 trithid, in County Glamorgan, son of Sir John Aubrey, Knt. and Bart, son of Sir Thomas 
 Aubrey, Knight, son of William Aubrey, Doctor of Law, a person of great character 
 and esteem in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. The first lady of the said Sir John Aubrey, 
 Bart., married March 1st, 1678, was Margaret, daughter of Sir John Lowther, of 
 Lowther Hall, in County Westmoreland, by whom he has issue one son and heir apparent, 
 John Aubrey, Esq., born June 20th, 1680, a young gentleman of hopeful parts and 
 virtues, upon whom the Manor of Boarstall is settled by fine; an estate which it will be 
 much the greater honour to enjoy, because without alienation or forfeiture it has past 
 down from the Conquest to the present time by several heirs female, from the family of 
 Nigel to that of Aubrey, in which may it long continue.-” 
 
 THE BUCKINGHAM CHURCHES. 
 
 Rev. F. G. Kiddle (1884). 
 
 “ The old Parish Church of Buckingham stood in the old churchyard, the entire 
 length of the building being 163 feet, and consisted of chancel, nave, and side aisles, 
 with two large transepts and a square tower, supporting a spire of wood covered with 
 lead. If the engravings extant of this church are correctly drawn, the date ot tower, 
 
106 
 
 spire, and nave may be attributed to the thirteenth century. The chancel was built by 
 John Ruding, Archdeacon of Lincoln, upon his appointment to the Prebend of 
 Buckingham, in 1471, of which date also we have preserved to us a ISIS. Latin Bible, 
 presented to the church by him, and which, through the liberality of Mrs. Roundell, has 
 once again come into our possession. On February 7th, 1699, the tall wooden spire was 
 blown down in a gale of wind, but no material damage was done to the rest of the 
 building. In 1753 the tower was raised in height about 21ft. ; but the increased weight 
 of masonry proved too great for the old piers which supported it, and on March 26th, 
 1776, the fall of the tower took place only a few minutes after the ringers had left it. 
 The only articles now preserved to us of this church are the brass chaudelier given by 
 Browne Willis, 1705, the vestry chest, the Communion plate, bearing date 1639, and the 
 Parish Registers, commencing 1561. At the request of the town, Earl Verney gave 
 a site on Castle Hill for a new church, and upon the payment of £1,000, raised upon 
 the security of the poor-rates and the assignment of the old materials of the former 
 church, Earl Temple undertook to build the present edifice, the first stone whereof was 
 laid November 25th, 1777, and the building consecrated by the Bishop of Lincoln 
 December 6th, 1781 ; but from the present appearance of the church we should with 
 difficulty picture to ourselves the building of which I am speaking. My immediate 
 predecessor, the Rev. W. F. Norris, now Rector of Witney, says when he succeeded to the 
 vicarage in 1862 he found the church much out of repair. There were sixteen large 
 cracks in the walls, indicating the faulty construction of the windows and scamped 
 foundations, and that the church was altogether in so dilapidated a condition as to be 
 unfit for its purpose. Sir G. Scott designed a method of support by buttresses and a 
 general remodelling of the exterior and interior, and after a period of twenty years the 
 work has just been concluded, at a cost of about £10,000, exclusive of the vestry and 
 organ chamber, the gift of the Right Hon. J. G. Hubbard, M.P., and of the handsome 
 chancel, which was the gift of the present Duke of Buckingham, and built at a cost of 
 over £2,300, the foundation of which was laid by the lamented Duchess of Buckingham, 
 July, 1865.” 
 
 EFFIGY IN WADDESDON CHURCH. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 It is probable that the monument now in the south aisle of Waddesdon Church 
 was placed in its present position for the sake of convenience; indeed it is recorded 
 that prior to this situation it was for many years covered up by the floor of one of the 
 old pews. Again, it is raised on a kind of altar-tomb some three feet in height, and an 
 extremely plain piece of workmanship this altar is ; it could have formed no part of the 
 
107 
 
 original tomb, or greater labour would have been bestowed on it, and its elevation would 
 have shown the coats of arms and blazons of the deceased’s family in carefully carved 
 panels and other embellishments, by the assistance of which no doubt would have existed 
 as to whom the effigy represents, without which it cannot now be decided. This 
 memorial is supposed by those who have interested themselves in the history of the 
 parish to be a figure of one of the Courtenays, and very properly so ; but no record of 
 the burial of any of that family to accord with the date inscribed on the figure is found. 
 Hugh de Courtenay died in 1291, and was buried at Cowick, near Exeter ; Sir Hugh de 
 Courtenay, first Earl of Devonshire, died in 1340; his wife was buried at Cowick, as 
 was also his father, and as Sir Hugh died in the same year as his wife, the probability is 
 that he was buried at the same place ; Hugh, second Earl, was buried at Exeter ; 
 Edward, third Earl, died in 1419, and was buried at Ford Abbey; Hugh, fourth Earl, 
 died in 1422. The date inscribed on the figure is doubtful, and certainly was not the 
 work of the sculptor. Again, the armour of the figure hardly corresponds with the date. 
 An effigy carved in 1330 would exhibit a portion at least of ring armour or chain mail. 
 The appearance of the effigy would better accord with the earliest period of the fifteenth 
 century. Its being erected to the memory of the Courtenays is merely conjectural; 
 there is no proof of any of them being interred at Waddesdon. Still it may represent 
 one of that family, as the figure of a warrior is a fit emblem of their fighting proclivities. 
 
 HISTORY OF WINSLOW. 
 
 A. Clear, Winslow. 
 
 “ The name of Winslow, or as it is variously spelt, Wiueslai, Winneslawe, Wyuse- 
 iowe, Winslaw, is doubtless derived from the Anglo-Saxon, the latter part of the word 
 hloew, hlaw, signifying a memorial heap, barrow, small hill, or tract of ground gently 
 rising. It enters into the composition of a large number of English local names; in this 
 County we find Creslow, Bledlow, Taplow, Marlow. 
 
 The name has sometimes been derived from Winneshlaw—the mound of battle, or 
 Windeshlaw a bleak windy hill, but it is more probably derived from Wini, a personal 
 name not uncommon among the Anglo-Saxons, and would thus signify the ‘ hill-dwelling 
 of Wini’ and so perpetuate the name of either the first Saxon settlers upon the spot, or 
 of an early possessor, possibly one of the Royal family of Mercia, who had a palace here 
 probably previous to the time of Offa. From certain inequalities of the ground, and other 
 circumstances, we may fairly conjecture that this ‘ Palace’ was situate as the name would 
 imply, on ‘ the small hill, or tract of ground gently rising’ at the top of Sheep Street 
 called Dene Hill, being the highest spot in the Manor, looking over the valley, with the 
 brook geutly pursuing its way at the foot of the hill. 
 
108 
 
 Winslow, or Wynselowe, as it is termed in ancient records, is undoubtedly a place 
 of great antiquity, and was a town of some importance at a very early period, for Offa, 
 who was King of Mercia from the year 755 up to 796, had his palace here—and long 
 previous to that time the Romans were located in the immediate neighbourhood ; their 
 coins have been found in our fields and they possessed at least two strong military 
 stations in the vicinity, viz.—one at Great Horwood, at a spot now called * Castle Field,’ 
 the other at ‘ Narbury,’ in Little Horwood Parish ; the latter has been described as a 
 very perfect specimen of a Roman Camp, enclosing an area of five acres, the vallum and 
 fosse appearing to have undergone no material alteration since the time when the position 
 was abandoned. Near these Stations many relics and coins have at different times been 
 found, including a large hoard discovered in 1849, of very ancient British Gold coins, 
 belonging to the time just previous to the annexation of Britain as a Roman Province.” 
 
 ANCIENT STONE CROSSES. 
 
 Rev. W. Hastings Kelke. 
 
 [ The Rev. William H. Kellee was born at Stony Stanton, in Leicestershire, in 1803, 
 and was educated at the Old Grammar School of Ashby-de-la-Zouch; he subsequently 
 entered Jesus College, Cambridge. In Kay, 1831, he was ordained deacon, and in 1833, 
 priest. In 1840 he became incumbent of Drayton Beauchamp, ivhere he remained for 20 
 years, when he retired to “ The Limes,” Little Missenden. Mr. Kelke ivas a ripe and 
 accomplished scholar, and an indefatigable archaeologist; simple and unaffected in his piety, 
 specially charitable in his judgment on others, and esteemed by all who knew him. He took 
 an active part in founding the Bucks Archer,ologiral Society; was appointed honorary 
 secretary to it, and promoted the objects for which the Society was established with zeal 
 and cordiality, and with that strict accuracy and earnest painstaking which were the 
 remarkable characteristics of his life. He wrote “ Notices of Sepulchral Monuments ,” 
 “ Churchyard Manual,” and several other Archceological works; and he ivas author of 
 various papers in “ Chambers' Book of Days.” We are indebted to him for a fund of 
 local history and for other archceological publications. He died suddenly at “ The Limes,” 
 Little Missenden, in April, 1865, at the age of 62 years .] 
 
 “ Buckinghamshire possesses the remains of crosses in the churchyards of Hilles- 
 den, Wing, Boarstall, Linslade, Stone, Bledlow, Mursley, and Dinton. That of Hillesden 
 is in the best state of preservation, and appears to have been a handsome structure. It 
 consists of a shaft, on a graduated basement of three heights. The lowest is one foot 
 four inches high ; the second, only ten inches, probably meant for a kneeling step ; and 
 the third, which is one foot nine iuches high, is splayed and ornamented. The shaft, 
 which is octagon, and seven feet seven inches high, has been surmounted by an ornamented 
 head, now much mutilated. This cross derives additional interest from standing near the 
 large grave or pit in which the Royalists were buried, who fell at the siege of Hillesden 
 House, on the 3rd of March, 1643. 
 
109 
 
 At Boarstall the steps alone of the cross remain ; but Delafield says, that in his 
 remembrance the cross was almost entire, so that its present deplorable condition is not 
 owing to the Iconoclasts of the Reformation or the civil wars. Dinton and Mursley 
 have only the steps remaining. 
 
 Wayside crosses, which were among the earliest stone crosses erected in England, 
 were in use as early as, if not earlier than, the Roman period. Whatever was done 
 before the town cross was considered as especially binding and sacred. 
 
 Market and village crosses appear originally to have been very plain and simple. 
 Afterwards they were ornamented ; then elaborately constructed, resembling the Eleanor 
 crosses ; finally after the decay of architecture they became mere Market Houses, more 
 or less ugly, but still bearing the name of market cross, as many hideous market houses 
 do to the present day. Stone pillars, bearing the figure of the cross, appear to have 
 been occasionally in use among unconverted Romans, but in such cases it is generally 
 apparent from the devices on them, or from other indications, that they were of Pagan 
 execution. 
 
 Churchyard crosses were probably the earliest stationary crosses used in Britain, 
 for the first Christian Missionaries usually erected a cross to mark aud consecrate the 
 places where they assembled their flocks for prayer and instruction. These places were 
 commonly surrounded by a bank and ditch, or other fence, and thus they became open- 
 air sanctuaries, many of which probably remained in the same state till the Norman 
 Conquest, or to a later period. Churches were often built within these enclosures, which 
 thus became churchyards, and the cross became what we call a churchyard cross, though 
 both existed before the church. As the old crosses decayed, many being of wood, others 
 were erected, for churchyards still continued to be held sacred, and whenever new churches 
 were built, their yards or surrounding enclosures were consecrated and stone crosses 
 erected in them. These crosses usually consisted of a stone pillar, surmounted by a 
 cross, and fixed in a basement of three or more steps. In size and elaboration they varied 
 considerably. Some were not more than three feet high, others towered far above the 
 church ; some were quite plain, others were richly ornamented, the shaft being covered 
 with interlaced work, and the head formed of an ornamental cross, or of niches containing 
 images, and projecting so as to have the appearance of a cross. But churchyard crosses 
 were never built, like many others, large enough to contain rooms. The object of these 
 crosses was to inspire reverence for churchyards, as appropriated to the sepulture of 
 departed Christians. They were also designed to excite a devout and reverential spirit 
 in persons about to enter the church, so that it became the practice with many to kneel 
 before the cross, and offer there a short prayer, preparatory to joining in the service of 
 the sanctuary. It is stated that occasionally the priest, standing on the step of the cross, 
 addressed his parishioners on the shortness and uncertainty of human life, pointing to 
 the graves before him to make his exhortation the more impressive. Sometimes two or 
 
110 
 
 more crosses are found in the same churchyard, the additional ones being either to 
 provide more kneeling room, or being special memorials to eminent persons, or perhaps 
 dedicated to particular saints.” 
 
 CROMWELL AT BBACONSFIELD, 
 
 Rev. G-. Gillifan (1857). 
 
 “ Waller, returning from the Continent, found his mother still alive at Beaconsfield, 
 where Cromwell sometimes visited her ; and when she talked in favour of the royal cause, 
 would throw napkins at her, and say that he would not dispute with his aunt, although 
 afterwards her spirit of political intrigue compelled him to make her a prisoner in her 
 own house. Waller took up his residence near her at Hall Barns, a house of his own 
 erection, and on the walls of which he hung up a picture of Saccharissa, whence he hoped, 
 it may be, to draw consolation for the past, and inspiration for the future. Here Crom¬ 
 well, who probably despised Waller in his heart, as often men of action despise men of 
 mere literary ability, especially when that ability is not transcendent, but whose cue it 
 was to conciliate all men according to their respective positions and capabilities, paid 
 great attention to his kinsman. Waller found Cromwell well acquainted with the ancient 
 historians, and they conversed a good deal on such topics. It is said, that when Waller 
 jeered him on his using the peculiar phraseology of the Puritans in his conversation with 
 them, the Protector answered, ‘Cousin Waller, I must talk to these men in their own 
 way an anecdote which is sometimes quoted as if it proved that Cromwell had no 
 religion; whereas it only proved that he had at heart no cant. It was not as if he had 
 privately avowed infidelity to his kinsman. Cromwell found cant prevalent on his stage, 
 just as any great actor of that century found rant on his, and, like the actor, he used it 
 occasionally as a means of gaining his own lofty ends, and as a foil to his own genuine 
 earnestness and power.” 
 
 BUCKINGHAM—BARTON’S CHANTRY. 
 
 Browne Willis. 
 
 “ Here is a Chauntry called Barton’s Chauntry, in the said town, worth per annum 
 clare, £6. Sir Miles Ellis, Clerk, Incumbent, aged 60 years, and hath yearly out of 
 Gabriel Fowler’s lands there, per annum £6, and hath no other living but this, and is 
 decrepit and lame. 
 
Ill 
 
 In the Augmentation-office there is also this other return out of the Chantry Rolls, 
 under the title of the parish of St. Peter and St. Paul, in the Borough Town of 
 Buckingham. The Brotherhood of the Trinity and Our Lady, within the town of 
 Buckingham, founded to the good intent to find two Priests, one of them to sing Mass 
 for the good estate of King Henry VI., and Queen Margaret, and for their Souls ; and 
 for the Souls of the Brothers and Sisters of the said Fraternity ; and the other doth help 
 to minister Sacraments and Sacramentals in the said Parish. 
 
 The Brotherhood, or Guild, is founded in the said town of Buckingham, where there 
 is 700 housling people, and the said Priests do help the Vicar to minister Sacraments and 
 Sacramentals. 
 
 The said Fraternity, or Brotherhood, is of the yearly value of £21 7s. 3d., whereof 
 is paid in rents resolute to divers Bailiffs, 13s. 4d. to the King’s Majesty for Tenths 12s., 
 and so remaineth to the Wardens of the said Brotherhood for the customary payments 
 yearly, viz., for two Priests wages £12, for the Clerks of the Parish Church there 20s., 
 to four Wardens and their Clerks 33s. 4d., for the keeping of divers Obits 25s., for Alms 
 to the Poor 13s. 4d., for Reparations 70s. 3d., in the whole £20 11s. Id. 
 
 There appertaineth to the said Fraternity neither goods, chattels, ornaments, or 
 jewels, as appeareth by the certificate of the said Wardens. 
 
 There hath been no dissolution purchase, or obtaining any part or parcel of the said 
 possessions sithe the 4th February, in the 27th year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord 
 King Henry VIII’s Majesty, saving that there was wont to he given to the said 
 Fraternity £4 or £5 yearly for the brotherhoods belonging to the same, and now there 
 will be no such sums obtained. 
 
 Barton’s Chantry, founded to the intent to find a Priest to sing Mass for the Souls 
 of John Barton the elder ; and also to find six poor men and women to pray for the said 
 John, his Soul. Every one of the said to have 4d. the week, and to keep an Obit there, 
 three tapers of six pound of wax, also to find a torch, wine, and wax yearly. 
 
 The said Fraternity is founded within the said Parish Church, and the number of 
 housling people is before declared. 
 
 The revenue of the said Chantry, which were given to one William Fowler, and to 
 the heirs of his body lawfully begotten, to the intent aforementioned, is worth yearly 
 (with the remainder thereof to the said heirs) £26 7s. Id. whereof paid yearly to the 
 Bailiff of Bucks 29s. to the King’s Majesty for Tenths 13s. 4d., and so remaineth to the 
 aforesaid heirs for the accustomable payments of the same yearly Obit there kept 10s. 
 for torch, wine, and wax at the altar, there spent 7s. in the whole, with 12s. 9d. with the 
 remainder thereof to the said heirs use, £24 18s. Id. The ornaments appertaining to 
 this Chantry be worth, as doth more plainly appear by the inventory thereof made, 10s. 
 
112 
 
 And there is a Chalice Silver and gilt, pertaining to the said Chantry, weighing, as 
 appeareth by the said inventory, 15 ounces ; all which remain in the hands of Sir Miles 
 Ellis, now Incumbent there.” 
 
 LANDOWNERS IN BUCKS (subsequent to the Norman Survey). 
 
 S. Lysons (1819). 
 
 “ Among the earliest proprietors of land to be found on record, subsequent to the 
 Norman survey, are the Hampdens, of whom the present Lord Hampden is the 
 representative in the female line ; the Blossomvilles and Girunds, whose families soon 
 became extinct; the Passelews, who possessed their estates about 150 years ; the family 
 of Poges, whose landed property passed by female heirs to the families of Molins, Hun- 
 gerford, and Hastings ; the Tyringhams, whose estates are now enjoyed by their 
 representative, Mr. Praed ; and the Chetwodes, the Lovetts, and the Dayrells, still 
 continuing in the male line, and still in possession of the estates of their ancestors. The 
 Penns may perhaps be referred to the same period; their estates are now possessed by 
 Lord Curzon, as representative in the female line of the elder branch. Mr. Penn, of 
 Stoke, who has considerable estates in this county, acquired by purchase, is of a younger 
 branch of the same family. 
 
 It may be collected from ancient deeds, still in existence, that the Grenvilles held 
 large landed property in Buckinghamshire, about the commencement of the twelfth 
 century, under the Giffards, Earls of Buckingham, with which family they became 
 connected by marriage. The only manors which have descended from this early period 
 to their present lineal representative, are Wotton, the ancient seat of the family, 
 Ashendon, and Ham. Grenville’s Manor in Haddenham, was sold by this family, in the 
 reign of Queen Elizabeth ; Policote, a manor which was in the family at an early period, 
 has been re-purchased ; from time to time, other estates have been acquired by various 
 purchases, to a great extent, and it is presumed that the Marquis of Buckingham may 
 now be considered as the greatest landholder in the county. 
 
 Between the commencement of the fourteenth century and the Reformation, the 
 principal families who became possessed of considerable property in this county, were 
 the W hittinghams, whose estates passed by a female heir to the Yerneys, and are now 
 for the most part the property of Lady Fermanagh ; the Bartons, and Fowlers, most of 
 whose estates passed afterwards to the Ingletons and Tyrrells, of whom Mr. Sheppard, 
 of Thornton, is now the representative ; the Eyres of Burnham, lately extinct, represented 
 in the female line by Mr. Sayer ; the family of Reynes, long ago extinct; the Beauchamps, 
 
113 
 
 and Cobhams; the Cheynes, whose family continued to possess most of their estates in 
 this county, till the death of Lord Newhaven, in 1728 ; the Bulstrodes and Brudenells; 
 the Lees of Quarendon, whose large estates have been lately sold by their representative 
 Lord Dillon ; and the Purefoys, who became extinct in the male line in 1762, and are 
 now represented by the Rev. G. H. Purefoy Jervoise. The Lees of Moreton and Hartwell 
 became possessed of those, and other estates, which are still in the family, about the 
 close of the fifteenth century; about the same time, the Pigotts, still of Dodershall, 
 became possessed of estates in Buckinghamshire, as did also the Pakingtons, who have 
 lately sold their property in this county, where they have long ceased to have a 
 residence.” 
 
 THE FIRST EARL OF BUCKINGHAM. 
 
 Camden. 
 
 “ The first Earl of Buckingham (as far as I can yet find) was Walter, sirnamed 
 Giffard, son of Osbern de Bolebec, a famous man among the Normans, whom, in a charter 
 of Henry I. we find among the witnesses by the name of Earl of Buckingham. He was 
 succeeded in this honour by a son of the same name, who in the book of Abingdon 
 Monastery is styled Earl Walter the younger, and is said to have died in the year 1164. 
 In the reign of Henry II. the famous Richard Strang-bow Earl of Pembroke (descended 
 from the sister and heir of Walter Giffard the second) did, in some public instruments, 
 make use of the same title. But it afterwards lay vacant for a long time, till it was 
 conferred by Richard II, in the year 1377, on his uncle Thomas, of Woodstock. Of his 
 daughter, married to Edmund Earl of Stafford, was born Humphrey, Earl of Stafford, 
 created Duke of Buckingham by Henry VI., for whom fighting valiantly he was slain at 
 the battle of Northampton. To whom succeeded Henry his grandchild by his son 
 Humphrey ; which Henry was the chief means of bringing that tyrant, Richard III., to 
 the crown, and presently after endeavoured to depose him, because he would not restore 
 to him the estate of the Bohuns, to which he was lawful heir. Being intercepted, he lost 
 his head, and found too late that tyrants commonly pull down those scaffolds by which 
 they ascended to their throne. His son Edward being restored to all, by the favour of 
 Henry VII., through the wicked practices of Cardinal Wolsey, lost the favour of Henry 
 VIII., and was at last beheaded for treason, for that, among other things, he had con¬ 
 sulted a wizard about the succession to the crown. He died much lamented by all good 
 men. When the Emperor Charles V. heard of his death, he is reported to have said, 
 that a butcher’s dog had run down the finest buck in England : alluding to Cardinal 
 Wolsey’s being the son of a butcher. From that time the splendor of this family so 
 decayed that his posterity enjoyed only the bare title of Earls of Stafford.” 
 
114 
 
 ROMAN REMAINS AT GREAT MISSENDEN. 
 
 Dr. Lipscomb. 
 
 “ On the verge of the lofty eminence east of Great Missenden is a small square 
 entrenchment, supposed to have been a Roman summer camp, but nothing is certainly 
 known on this subject excepting that some fragments of pottery have been occasionally 
 dug up, which seemed to strengthen the conjecture. On the highest point of the ridge, 
 about one mile S.E., still called Castle Hill, is a square vallum and single rampart, 
 having its apparent approach on the east side, the area and bank covered with a thick 
 grove of beech trees. The respective sides are opposed nearly to the cardinal points of 
 the compass ; the ditch, in some places, from twelve to twenty feet in depth, and formed 
 with exact regularity. Neither history, tradition, nor the discovery of any ancient relics, 
 afford the least assistance in attempting to assign to it a probable origin. Five or six 
 furlongs from Castle Hill, nearer to the village, are also many inequalities, conjectured to 
 have been tumuli. There is a vague account of bricks or tiles, supposed to be Roman, and 
 a portion of a shield or breast-plate, having been found in digging near this spot; and 
 it is certain that an ancient vicinal way may be traced from Hertfordshire, crossing the 
 hills between Tring and Chesham, which must have intersected this valley in a line 
 towards Desborough and Wycombe; and the commanding elevation of the hill above 
 Missenden, might very probably have rendered it, at an early period, desirable as a 
 military station.” 
 
 HARDWICK—FOSSIL REMAINS. 
 
 The Vale of Aylesbury about Hardwick, is a valley of denudation of Kimmeridge 
 clay, the broken crusts of the Portland and Purbeck oolite strata still resting on all the 
 supervening hills around. These have been swept away by most violent oceanic torrents, 
 exhibiting signs of great perturbation, as all the inclusive fossils, innumerable vertebrae, 
 their humeral and femoral paddle bones, astragoli, and teeth, are scattered in infinite 
 disorder (as the fabled bones of Orpheus, though discerpti membra poetae), but never rest 
 in situ, or sequence, or undisturbed. The aptyche, and other rare fossils occur, and the 
 clay is impregnated with ammonites, bivalves, and innumerable molluses. The plough¬ 
 men and drainers frequently discover beautiful fossils, principally of scattered vertebrae. 
 Several years since, in lowering a turnpike road through a hillock of Kimmeridge clay in 
 the Rectory glebe of Hardwick, some immense fossil bones of the gigantic Plesiosaurus 
 were found (one single femoral bone weighing 60lbs.), together with several of its teeth ; 
 
115 
 
 and other rare and beautiful fossils. Dr. Buckland requested the late rector, the Rev. C. 
 Erie, to forward these fossils to Oxford, and Mr. Erie did so, and presented them to Sir 
 H. De la Beetle and Professor E. Forbes, for the Museum of Practical Geology, in Jermyn 
 Street, London, and received the official thanks of the Board of Woods and Forests. 
 
 THE MONKS OF MEDMENHAM. 
 
 The Monks of Medmenham were of the Cistercian Order, so called from Cisteaux, 
 in the Bishopric of Chalons, in France. They were called Grey Monks from their dress, 
 which consisted of a white cassock, with a narrow scapulary, over which a black gown 
 was worn when they went abroad, and they were noted for the strictness of their rules. 
 The Rev. C. Lowndes, in a paper contributed in 1871 to “The Records of Buckingham¬ 
 shire,” says :—“ The chronicle of Stanley, a Cistercian Abbey in Wiltshire, in the 
 Bodleian Library, Oxford, and dated 1204, states that the first attempt to colonize 
 Medmenham was a failure, and the Monks returned to Woburn the same year, when the 
 abbot of that place was in consequence deposed. Two very old lists of Cistercian 
 houses, and the annals of Park Louth, another abbey of the same order, concur in dating 
 the second, and in this case successful colonization of Medmenham, in a.d. 1212.” The 
 account of the Abbots is very imperfect, being a cell to Woburn, and subordinate to 
 their government. Roger occurs 1256. Peter September 11, 1295. John de 
 Medmenham, 1308, occurs in a deed in Maddox’s Formulare, p. 638. The Abbot of 
 Sees being amerced to the King in a suit against the Prior of Mendham, the Prior by 
 this deed undertakes to acquit the Abbot of his amerciament. Galfrid, Oct. 7, 1318, 
 whose name appears in a charter of Edward II. Henry, 1416. Richard, 1521. John 
 Talbot, 1536, last Abbot; when the Abbey was annexed to Bisham. There was then 
 only one monk, whose name was Guy Strenshill. In the time of Henry VIII., the 
 Commissioners returned that this monastery was “ of the Order of St. Bernard ; the 
 clear value £20 6s. 2d.; monks there, 2, and both desyren to go to houses of religion ; 
 servants, none; bells worth £2 6s. 8d.; the house wholly in ruin ; the value of the 
 moveable goods, £1 3s. 8d.: woods, none ; debts, none.” The revenue of this house 
 was chiefly derivable from the manor and rectory of Medmenham, and certain lands in 
 Little Marlow, Turville, Fletemarston, and Blackgrove. 
 
 CHEARSLEY. 
 
 Mr. R. S. Downs, High Wycombe. 
 
 “ Chearsley, also written Cerdicesleah, Cerdicesleage, Cercelai, Chardesley, 
 Chardslie, Chersey, &c. The latter part of this word is derived from an Anglo-Saxon 
 
116 
 
 root signifying open, unenclosed grass land, and it enters into the composition of several 
 other local names in this county, such as Downley, Akeley, Ashley, Bletchley, Fawley, 
 and many others. The first part of the name appears to perpetuate the memory of 
 Cerdic, the founder of the kingdom of Wessex, who according to the Anglo-Saxon 
 Chronicle, in conjunction with his son Ivinric, gained a victory over the Britons, at a 
 placed called Cerdicesleah in the year 527. Speed observes that the memory of Cerdic, 
 who subdued this part of the country, and included it in Mercia, is partly continued in 
 Chearsley, where ‘ in a sharpe and bloody battle he was victor over the Britaines.’ Un¬ 
 fortunately for Speed, Cerdic was the founder of Wessex, and not of Mercia, which had 
 no existence as a separate and independent kingdom till nearly a century after this date. 
 Bishop Gibson, in his Glossary to the Saxon Chronicle, says that he ‘ should rather have 
 sought for the site of this action in the kingdom of the West Saxons, if any place of the 
 name could there be found ; since the same commanders (Cerdic and his son Kynric) 
 obtained a victory over the Britons eight years before at Cerdiceford, now Charford, in 
 Hampshire.’ There had been a battle at this place still earlier, in a.d. 508, when Natan- 
 leod, the British king, was slain. The reason assigned by Bishop Gibson rather makes 
 against than for his suggestion. If the part of the country about Hampshire had already 
 been conquered, it is only reasonable to expect that the Saxons would push their conquests 
 further inland, which would give Chearsley a preference over a town in the neighbour¬ 
 hood of Cerdic’s former victories. There is another fallacy underlying the learned 
 historian’s remarks. He takes for granted that Bucks was within the kingdom of 
 Mercia, which, as I have already pointed out, had not yet been established. That 
 kingdom was consolidated by Benda in 626, who extended its territories southward to 
 the Thames, and included this county with the rest of the Midland district in his newly 
 formed kingdom. But that both Bucks and Oxon were at first part of Wessex is evident 
 from the fact that we find Kinric of Wessex at Banbury in 556 ; Cuthwolf at Bedford, 
 Lenborough, Aylesbury, Benson, and Eynsham, in 571 ; Kynegils and Cuichelm at 
 Bampton in 614, and Dorchester is mentioned as being the principal residence of the West 
 Saxon monarchs still later, and three of them, who reigned in succession, were baptised there 
 by S. Birinus—Kynegils in 635, Cuichelm in 636, and Cuthred in 639. It appears then 
 that there is ample evidence to show that this part of the country, north of the Thames, 
 was at first included within the territories of the West Saxons, and in proving this we 
 remove the chief objection that has been raised agaiust Chearsley being the locality 
 referred to in the Saxon Chronicle. Besides this there is no other local name in the 
 district that so closely agrees with the older form as Chearsley does. The remains of 
 earthworks in the neighbourhood clearly indicate that this place was one of importance 
 in British times. The site of the Church is within an old entrenchment, and so is that 
 of Chilton, where there is also another ancient camp, on a farm which derives its name 
 from it. It seems from these various considerations that we have just grounds for 
 concluding that Chearsley is the place referred to in the Saxon Chronicle. I think, too, 
 we may feel a little proud of the fact that we have enshrined in the name of a village of 
 
117 
 
 this county the memory of the sturdy founder of the most powerful and vigorous of the 
 Saxon kingdoms, who so firmly established his sway here that a descendant of his, our 
 present Most Gracious Queen, now sits upon the throne of the Engel-lond, of which we 
 may say Cerdic was more than any other Saxon chieftain the founder.” 
 
 BUCKS.—RE-ENFORCEMENT OF THE ANCIENT FOREST LAWS. 
 
 The Verney Papers. 
 
 “In 1636, as though to irritate country gentlemen as well as their tenants, many an 
 obsolete prerogative allowed by the ancient forest laws was, after centuries of desuetude, 
 re-enforced. Thus we have a warrant from the Earl of Northampton, dated this year, 
 enjoining all Justices of the Peace to assist ‘William Roads, of Middle Claidon, and 
 Ralph Hill, of Wendover, in the county of Buckingham, servants to sir Edmund Verney, 
 knight marshall of his majestys howshold, my deputies and assignees, for the space of 
 six whole and entire yeares next ensuing the date hereof, to take and seize to his 
 majestys use, and in his majestys name, within all places within the said county of Buck¬ 
 ingham, as well within franchises and libertyes, as without, such and so many greyhounds, 
 both dogs and bitches, in whose custody soever they be, as the said AVilliam Roads and Ralph 
 Hill shall think meete and convenient for his majesty’s disport and recreation, in such 
 and as ample manner and forme as I, the said earle of Northampton, may or might have 
 done if this deputaoion or assignement had never been made. And, likewise, I the said 
 earle of Northampton doe hereby authorize and depute the said William Roads and Ralph 
 Hill to seize and take away all such greyhounds, beagles, or whippets as may anywise be 
 offensive to his majesty’s game and disport, as fully and amply as I myselfe, by vertue 
 of the said authority from his majesty, may doe ; I, the said earle of Northampton, 
 ratifying and allowing whatsoever the said William Roads and Ralph Hill shall lawfully, 
 by vertue of the said lettres patent, and this my deputacion or assignement doe and 
 execute.’ ” 
 
 MILDLY REMONSTRATING WITH KING CHARLES I. 
 
 In 1642, a mild remonstrance was addressed from Aylesbury by the Grand Jury of 
 the county of Buckingham to the King in the following terms:—“May it please your 
 Majestie,—Your very dutifull loyale subjects, we the inhabitants of this county of Bucks, 
 
118 
 
 taking into consideration, with great thankfullness, the royal expressions in the latter 
 part of your Majestie's Letter directed to the Judge of Assize, wherein we are graciously 
 invited to make our addresses to your most sacred person concerning our several 
 grievances, which though manie yet none at this time leave so great an impression in the 
 hearts of us your subjects as your Majesties absence from your Parliament, and the feare 
 of a civil warr, occasioned through the raising of an army under the title of a guard ; a 
 sight terrible to your people, and not conducible to that amiable accommodation so much 
 desired. ’Wherefore we humbly implore your gracious Majestie to secure the fears of 
 your people by dismissing the army of your most sacred Majestie to your Parliament, 
 who, no doubt, will most religiously perform all that they have undertaken in a late 
 petition presented unto your Majestie; and we do protest, before the Almighty God, it 
 is not only the desire of our eyes to see you, but the true resolution of our hearts to 
 serve and defend you as we are bound by our duty and allegiance. 
 
 It. Grenville, Edmund West, Peter Dormer, Richard Serjant, 
 
 R. Pigott, Edward Grenville, Richard Bernard, S. Mayne, 
 
 Thos. Tyrrill, Thomas Stafford, A. Dayrell, Henry Allen.” 
 
 Wm. Borlase, 
 
 THE FRATERNITY OF THE TOWN OF AYLESBURY. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 This brotherhood is sometimes called a chantry, and was founded in the reign of 
 Henry VI., by John Singleton, and John Baldwyn, inhabitants of Ailesburi, under a 
 license dated 10th December, 3rd Henry VI., and being dissolved on the abolition of 
 chantries in 1545, their estates passed to the Crown. The lands of the chantry at 
 Ailesburi were returned as being of the clear annual value of £23 14s. 9d. William Bell 
 and Robert Ellys, clerks, incumbents, who received stipends of £6 13s. 4d. each per 
 annum, but had no other living. The site of the building is pointed out in a subsequent 
 grant in 1549, but, as in the case of the Trinitarians, it cannot now be identified. The 
 whole of the consideration money paid was £823 6s. 9d. for a messuage or tenement called 
 the Brother-house in Ailesburi, next the Churchyard, parcel of the possessions of the late 
 guild or fraternity of Ailesburi, also a cottage there adjoining; a meadow called Castle 
 Mead, with its appurtenances, in the occupation of Robert Woodleff, parcel of the same 
 guild, to hold of the King by fealty only, in free soccage, not in capite, by Edward 
 Warner and John Gosnold, their heirs and assigns for ever, as of the Honour of Eye, in 
 the county of Suffolk. The King also granted in the same year for a valuable considera¬ 
 tion to Sylvester Tavener, his heirs and assigns, one close with its appurtenances in the 
 occupation of the heirs of Christopher Hall, in the end of the town of Ailesburi, parcel 
 of the lands of the Fraternity of Ailesburi, to hold in free soccage, not in capite, with 
 
119 
 
 other land in Bierton of the same Fraternity. The King also granted to Thomas Reeve 
 and George Wotton, of London, gent., a messuage or tenement in Walton, in the occu¬ 
 pation of Agnes Swift, late belonging to the Fraternity of Ailesburi, to hold the same in 
 capite. And likewise to John Wright and Thomas Holmes, of London, gent., lands, 
 meadows, pastures, and hereditaments, in the occupation of Hugh Harris, in Ailesburi, 
 part of the possession of the same brotherhood, being parcel of the Hundred of Ailesburi; 
 as also lands in Rowesham, in Wingrave, in the occupation of Sir Anthony Lee, Ivnt., 
 late belonging to the Fraternity, and formerly to the Chantry of St. John in Ailesburi, 
 and in the occupation of Richard Foyes. 
 
 The term chantry is applied alike to endowments or benefices, to provide for the 
 chanting of masses, and to the chapels in which the chanting took place. These 
 endowments were commonly made in the form of testamentary bequests, the object being 
 to insure the erection of a chapel near, or over the spot where the testator was buried, 
 and to remunerate the priests for saying masses in it for the benefit of his soul or the 
 souls of others named in his will. Many such chantry chapels are still to be seen in 
 parish churches, but they were more common in abbeys and monastic establishments, in 
 which it was considered a privilege to be buried, and where some such offering to the 
 brotherhood was in a measure the price of the sepulture. These chapels, which have 
 generally the tomb of the founder in the middle of them, are separated from the aisles 
 or nave of the church by open screen work, a circumstance which has often lead to their 
 being called chancels. Sometimes, again, they are separate erections, projecting from the 
 church externally ; but in cathedrals and the larger churches they are generally con¬ 
 structed within the church, often between the piers. The term does not necessarily 
 infer a distinct building, or indeed any building in conjunction with the endowment. 
 Mention is made of forty seven chantries belonging to St. Paul’s Cathedral, London. 
 Many chantries were lavishly enriched with sculpture and tracery of all descriptions, 
 and some of them were adorned with gilding and painting. Chantries had their origin 
 in England during the thirteenth century. There were many in England before the 
 dissolution ; anyone might build and endow a chantry without the leave of the bishop ; 
 but in later times none could be built without the King’s licence. In the last year of 
 his reign, King Henry VIII. seized on many chantries, and converted their revenues to 
 his own use, and five years later Edward VI., his son, laid his hands on the remainder. 
 They were altogether abolished in the year 1545. 
 
 RELICS OF THE GREAT CIVIL WAR. 
 
 Lord Nugent. 
 
 “ Relics of the Civil War struggle have been discovered in recent times. In the 
 year 1818, on digging for gravel in a meadow adjoining the stream at Holman’s Bridge, 
 

 120 
 
 Aylesbury—the meadow on the right hand of the high road on the town side of the water 
 
 _there was discovered a large quantity of human bones, buried together, and in such a 
 
 condition as to show that they were the remains of men who had fallen in battle, and 
 that the battle was not of very early date. That the remains found were the consequence 
 of a battle at the period assumed, there is no reason to doubt. The bones were collected 
 and deposited in a tomb in the churchyard of Hardwick, and the following inscrip¬ 
 tion was engraved on the tablet:— 1 Within are deposited the bones of 247 persons which 
 were discovered a.d. 1818, buried in a field adjoining to Holman’s Bridge, near 
 Aylesbury. From the history and appearances of the place where they were found, they 
 were considered to be the bones of those officers and men who perished in an engagement 
 fought a.d. 1642, between the troops of K. Charles I., under the command of Prince 
 Rupert, and the garrison who held Aylesbury for the Parliament. Enemies from their 
 attachment to opposite leaders and to opposite Standards, in the sanguinary conflicts of 
 that Civil War, they were together victims to its fury. United in one common slaughter, 
 they were buried in one common grave, close to the spot where they had lately stood in 
 arms against each other. After the lapse of more than a century and a half their bones 
 were collected, and deposited still in consecrated ground. May the memory of brave 
 men be respected, and may our country never again be compelled to take part in a 
 conflict such as that which this tablet records.’ As to the oblivion into which the 
 incidents of the battle of Aylesbury have fallen, it is not difficult to afford an explanation. 
 After the restoration all documents in the hands of individuals relative to the Parlia¬ 
 mentary cause would be concealed ; and among the inhabitants of a town, such as 
 Aylesbury, which had taken part in the contest against a triumphant antagonist, 
 probably no pains would be taken to preserve a memorial. Doubts have been raised by 
 some as to the remains discovered being those of warriors, inasmuch as no weapons were 
 found ; accoutrements were not wanting, and as to arms, they were carefully collected 
 after the battle, as all through the war, on the side of Parliamentarians at least, there 
 was a dearth of the ordinary implements of war, and arms of the most grotesque fashion 
 were again brought into service ; the long bow, the brown bill, and the cross-bow 
 resumed their places among the equipments of the men at arms.” 
 
 CAMDEN VISITS THE CHILTERN DISTRICT. 
 
 W. Camdex. 
 
 “ From Antehill to Dunestable a 10 miles or more. First I passed partely by woddy 
 ground and enclosures, but after moste part by champaine grounde, and aboute a 2 miles 
 
 from Dunestable by Est Stoke thorough a fair uplandisch Toune caullid-and thens 
 
 to Mergate al by Chaumpaine, but for the moste parte fertile of corne, a 6 miles. Mergate 
 was a nunnery of late time, it standeth on an Hil in a fair Woode harde by Watheling 
 
121 
 
 Streate on the Est side of it. Humfrey Boucher, base sunne to the late Lord Berners, 
 did much coste in translating of the Priorie into a Manor place but he left it nothing 
 ended. There is a litle souch of the Priorie a long thorough fare on Watheling Streate 
 rneatly well buildid for low housing. About the middle of this Town T passed half a 
 mile by hilly grounde as in the beginning of Chilterne, and ther I saw in a praty wood 
 side S. Leonardes on the lifte hand, scart half a mile of towards North Waste. When of 
 late tyme was a Priorie of Nunnes, Master Page the knight hath it now in Exchange 
 for Lands of his in Sutherley about the quarters of Hampton Courte Master Page hath 
 translatid the house, and now much lyith there. So forthe by Chiltern Hillesand Woddes 
 
 a 4 miles and a half to- where the Lorde of Darby hath a praty Manor Place of 
 
 Tyrnbee. And er I cam to this village I rode over a litle brooke that cummith not very 
 
 far of on the-of Chilterne Hilles and renneth near to Langley where-- were 
 
 dwelling. Thens by Chilterne Hills and barren, woody, and feme ground for the moste 
 parte, the soile waxing chalky and flinty, as at Chiltern ys, a 3 miles to Barkhamstede. 
 Wher is an old large Castelle in a Boote of an hille stonding sum what low, and environed 
 with a mote, to the which, as I coulde perceyve, part of the water of the Byver there hard 
 by dothe resorte. I markid divers Towers in the Middle Ware of the Castle, and the 
 Dungeon Hill. But to my sighte it is much in Ruine. The House of Bonehomes, 
 caullid Asseheruge, of the Foundation of Edmunde, Erie of Cornwall, and owner of 
 Berckhamstede Castle, is about a mile of, and there the king lodgid. After that I had 
 
 veuyid the Castle, I passed over the Ryver- her is a bridge of wood. This Ryver 
 
 cummith by Northe Weste from Penley, a place yn Chiltern a 2 miles of, and so running 
 by the Est ende of Barkhamstede Towne goith down a 12 miles southwarde to the more 
 water about the quarters of Rickmannesworth. Berkhamstede is one of the best market 
 Townes in Hertfordeshire, and hath a large streat metely well buildid from the Northe 
 to the South; and another, but sumwhat lesser, from the West to the Est, where the 
 Ryver renneth. The Church is in yn the middle of the Town. In the bottom of the Ryver 
 of eche side be very faire medowes. Thens I passid by hilly, woddv, and much barren 
 ground to Cheneys a 5 miles of. And er I cam very nere Cheneys I passid over a little 
 Brooke, and even in the valley by Cherneys over another, and they resorte to the water 
 about Rickemansworth. The olde house of the Cheyness is so translated by my Lorde 
 Russel, that hath that house on the Righte of his Wife, that litle or nothing ot it yn a 
 manner remaynith ontranslated: and a great deale of the house is even newly set up, 
 made of Brike and Timber : and faire logginges be new erectid in the gardein. The 
 house is within diverse places richely paintid with antique Works of White and Blak- 
 And there be about the house 2 Parkes as I remembre. The Maner Place standeth at 
 the West end of the Paroche Chirche. In the Paroche Chirehe, on the North side of 
 it, as in a Chepelle, be 2 Tumbres of the Chaynes Lordes of the Manor ther, aud the 
 smaul village bering their name.”— Itinerary, Yol. I., fob 121-122. 
 
122 
 
 ROMAN VILLA NEAR BUCKINGHAM. 
 
 Two miles from Buckingham, on the road to Stony Stratford, were discovered, 
 about 50 years ago, the remains of a Roman dwelling—a “ Villa,” or country residence, 
 probably of some governor of the province of Flavia Cmsariensis, which comprehended 
 within its division the county of Buckingham, afterwards, under the Saxons, a part of 
 Mercia. From Stony Stratford, on the great Roman road (the Watling Street), there 
 branched off one of the vicinal ways, or cross l’oads, towards Buckingham, then, no 
 doubt, a Roman station, since it is known to have been the scene of wars between that 
 powerful people and the Aborigines of the Island. 
 
 There is no standard for the value to be attached to, or for the interest to be felt, 
 in contemplating works of antiquity. It is not enough to say that “ splendid ” remains 
 are to be seen in other parts of the island, or, that because an individual has walked over 
 the resuscitated streets of Pompeii, therefore a Roman ruin of a less magnificent 
 character is to be disregarded. The pleasure derived from such scenes is that which 
 carries the mind back to the time of a great people, now extinct—the examining the 
 works of hands which have long since passed into dust, and the pacing of apartments 
 tenanted by unknown families, who have left no vestige of their rank, but the places 
 where they ate, drank, slept, and bathed. It is such considerations as these which render 
 any object of antiquity, however mean in character, worthy of examination. It is a 
 habit with the honest but unlearned portion of the public, to associate with all that is 
 ancient the abbeys and monasteries of the country, all of which Henry VIII. enjoys the 
 reputation of having ruined. The name of Cromwell is equally famous for the destruc¬ 
 tion of castles and decapitating statues. Thus in the neighbourhood of this Roman 
 villa, you will be told, that “ it might have been an abbey or a monastery, for there were 
 baths, and all that.” Baths in a monastery ! Such indulgences were not always among 
 the luxuries of the monastic times. The Romans “ did ” as “ they do at Rome.” 
 Whatever country they conquered or settled, their fashions and customs were carried 
 thither. No Roman house of any note was without its baths, and there having already 
 been discovered several in the villa in question, proves sufficiently that it had been 
 the habitation of no mean nor obscure individual. It is because the floors of the 
 apartments and the foundations of the building are all that remain, that we are more 
 particularly attracted to the baths. The uses of other rooms can only be conjectured 
 from their relative positions, their size, and the quality of material and workmanship of 
 the tesselated pavement. The usual suite of baths was the frigidarium (or cold), the 
 tepidarium (or warm), and the sudatoria (sweating or vapour) baths ; the apodytorium 
 was the undressing-room. All these were found at the Buckingham Villa. 
 
 The general plan of the baths at Pompeii are thus described by Sir William Gell: — 
 “ The furnace was round, and had, in the lower part of it, two pipes which transmitted 
 
123 
 
 hot air under the pavements and between the walls of the vapour baths, which were 
 built hollow for that purpose. Close to the furnace, at a distance of four inches, a 
 round vacant place remains, in which was placed the copper (caldarium) for boiling 
 water, near which, with the same interval between them, was situated the copper for 
 warm water (tepidarium), and at the distance of two feet from this was the receptacle 
 for cold water (frigidarium), which was square. A constant communication was main¬ 
 tained between these vessels, so that as fast as hot water was drawn off from the 
 caldarium, the void was supplied from the tepidarium, which being already considerably 
 heated, did but slightly reduce the temperature of the hotter boiler. The tepidarium in 
 its turn was supplied from a tank, and that from an aqueduct, so that the heat which was 
 not taken up by the first boiler, passed on to the second, and instead of being wasted, 
 did its office in preparing the contents of the second for the higher temperature which it 
 was to obtain in the first. It is but lately this principle has been introduced into 
 modern furnaces, but its use in reducing the consumption of fuel is well known.” 
 
 The floors of the rooms in the discovered Roman villa were covered with iessctrcc, 
 or mosaic pavement, formed out of two materials—red clay and a greyish stone. The 
 former is generally placed round the apartment in a border of about two feet wide, whilst 
 the latter occupies the centre. The effect produced is that of a carpet. These mosaics 
 are in general square, and vary in diameter from an inch to two inches ; the latter size 
 indicating apartments of inferior grade, probably those of the domestics. One room of 
 a superior order measured eighteen feet square. The fessarce were embedded in mortar, 
 but of a loose kind ; and, indeed, the workmanship throughout the entire building was 
 found to be of a rough character. The upper surfaces of the floors were worn smooth— 
 a sure indication that they were trodden for many years by their anonymous inhabitants. 
 
 THE NUNNERY OF ANKERWYKE. 
 
 Walter De Gray Birch, F.R.S.L. 
 
 “ Ankerwtke is in the parish of Wyrardisbury and diocese of Lincoln, not far from 
 Staines, on the banks of the Thames. The foundation of the nunnery here is placed so 
 far back as the time of Henry II., the middle period, that is, of the twelfth century, and a 
 very fertile age in monastic dissemination in England. Some writers, however, consider 
 that the founder, Sir Gilbert de Montfitchet, Knt., and his son, Sir Richard Montfitchet, 
 flourished in the early years of that century; and this is borne out by the mention of 
 Hugh, Abbot of Chertsey, as a benefactor of this nunnery, a name which occurs in the 
 list of abbots of that abbey in a.d. 1107. The nuns, who occupied this small and 
 
124 
 
 unpretending establishment, were under the rule of St Benedict, and their house was 
 dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene. The Monastic-on Angiicanum contains a list of the 
 prioresses from Browne Willis’s Mitred Alleys, the Rev. William Cole’s manuscripts in 
 the British Museum, and other original sources. The last of these prioresses, Dame 
 Magdalene Downes, had a pension of 100 shillings granted her at the dissolution. 
 Dugdale’s Monasticon gives an interesting Charter of King Henry III., a.d. 1257, con¬ 
 firming the donations of the benefactors to the nunnery. The nuns appear to have held 
 Datchet, of which they were unjustly, as they alleged in a petition to King Edward III., 
 disseised by the powerful baron, Sire Hugh le Dispenser le pere. There were but five 
 inmates in the Cloisters when the dissolution took place, and the site was granted to 
 Andrew, Lord Windsor. Sir Thomas Smith, in the reign of Edward VI., obtained 
 Ankerwyke by exchange. He resided on the site, and it was afterwards for many years 
 the seat of the Salter family, from whom it was purchased by the Lee family, from whom 
 it descended to John Simon Harcourt, who held it in or about 1823. The hall of the 
 mansion was built on the original site of the conventual building by Lord Windsor 
 or Sir Thomas Smith. By a curious deed, Lecia, the Prioress of Ankerwuc, 
 declares the substance of a final concord entered into by the convent with William, son 
 of Hely of Tackley, in the Court of Common Pleas, whereby the said William grants 
 to the convent three virgates of lands in Tackley, for a service set forth in the deed of 
 conveyance made in the above Court on the Saturday after St. Lawrence’s Day [10th 
 August], in the fifth year of King Richard I. [a.d. 1194], with a clause that, if the 
 heirs of Richard Le Engleis deprive the Convent of the land, the Convent is not to claim 
 redress from the said William or his heirs.”— Records of Buckinghamshire. 
 
 NOTES ON THE LONG PARLIAMENT. 
 
 (1640-53.) 
 
 J. Bruce, F.S.A. 
 
 It is to Sir Ralph Yerney, the member for Aylesbury, we are indebted for a record 
 of the proceedings of the memorable Long Parliament, in the notes taken by him and 
 known as “ The Yerney Papers.” The feeling of the House was against allowing anyone 
 to take notes of what took place, and the memoranda taken by Sir Ralph appear to have 
 been made clandestinely. “The Yerney Papers ” were some years ago published in a 
 volume by the Camden Society, being edited by John Bruce, Esq., F.S.A., who in the 
 introduction to his work remarks—" The resuscitation of such records as ‘ The Verney 
 Papers,’ goes to show how short-lived are all impressions, whatever care or toil may have 
 been spent in producing them, which are not consistent with fact, and that a truth 
 differs from a falsehood as much in the duration of its existence as in its very nature. 
 
125 
 
 History has its period of restitution. Truth, like nature, will reappear, however forcibly 
 expelled, and when the time for its reappearance draws nigh, some heralds of its approach, 
 some fragments and relics of the actual monuments of the past, will present themselves, 
 and from them, broken and mutilated though they be, will be deduced immutable laws 
 which it is not possible for error to withstand.” The original notes appear to have 
 been written upon sheets, or parts of sheets, of foolscap paper, so folded as to be placed 
 conveniently on the knee, and carried in the pocket. They are full of abrupt terminations, 
 as if the writer occasionally gave up the task of following a rapid speaker who had got 
 beyond him, and began his note afresh. When they relate to resolutions of the House, 
 they often contain erasures, alterations, and other marks of the haste with which the 
 notes are jotted down, and of changes which took place in the subject matter during its 
 progress towards completion. On several important occasions, and especially in the 
 instance of the debate on the protestation, the confusion and irregularity of the notes 
 give evidence to the excitement of the House ; and when the public discord rose higher, 
 the notes became more brief and less personal, and the speeches less frequently assigned 
 to their speakers, either from greater difficulty in reporting or from an increased feeling 
 of the danger of the times and the possible use which might be made of notes of violent 
 remarks. On several of the sheets there are marks evidently made by the writer’s pencil 
 having been forced upwards suddenly, as if by someone in a full house pressing hastily 
 against his elbow whilst he was in the act of taking his notes. No writer’s name nor 
 anything which indicates the writer appears in the MSS., but they have long formed 
 part of a very large collection of family papers preserved at Claydon House. 
 
 THE ANCIENT MARKET HOUSE AT AYLESBURY.. 
 
 J. Gibbs (1842). 
 
 In the year 1842 the late Mr. John Gibbs, of Aylesbury, wrote a series of articles 
 on the history of that town, which were published in the Aylesbury News of that date ; 
 they related more to its social and domestic state than to its general history, 
 and his remarks were confined to events within his own recollection, dating from about 
 the year 1800. These articles were certainly original, very quaintly written, and con¬ 
 tained matter not to be met with elsewhere. He described the ancient Market House, 
 of which no other account is extant:—“ Up to the beginning of the present century a 
 considerable portion of the Market Place was occupied by a large, rambling, uncouth¬ 
 looking building, known as the Market House. It was very ancient, and in a dilapidated 
 state. It was built partly of brick, but had a large proportion of timber in its construc¬ 
 tion, There was an upper floor, reached by a flight of stairs, inclosed in a projecting 
 
126 
 
 lobby on the north-east side of the building. This upper room was lighted by three 
 windows on one side and four on the other ; the lobby was boarded, and had four pinnacles 
 on the top, intended for ornaments. It was in this lobby the Town Clock was erected; 
 it was a very old-fashioned time-keeper ; it jutted out away from the building by a kind 
 of bracket, and was what was called an arm-clock, from its being thus held out ; it could 
 be seen for a long distance. The upper part of the building was supported by a number 
 of massive oaken pillars of a very rude formation ; the under part was entirely open, 
 and had at some time been enlarged by the erection of a lean-to round it. This lower 
 part was, on market days, occupied principally by butchers and dealers in food, vegetables, 
 and other necessaries; at other times it was the rendezvous for idlers and gossippers, 
 and was generally in a most untidy, if not a filthy condition. The building had a 
 common pitched roof, with gables at each end, and the whole was covered with plain tiles. 
 On the south-west side there was a large stone, covering a recess which was known as the 
 badger hole and was used for the purpose of public badger-baiting. The upper room 
 extended throughout the length of the building, a portion of it being used as a corn 
 store. On fair days, and on other such occasions, this room was the usual accommodation 
 for conjurors, fortune tellers, and showmen. On the evenings of the Aylesbury race-days 
 it was the place where the public cock-fighting took place, on which occasion it was 
 much crowded, and a charge was made for the admission of those who were not connected 
 with the races. The old building was pulled down about the year 1808, but the actual 
 year of its demolition is uncertain.” 
 
 SALDEN HOUSE, MURSLEY. 
 
 Rev. T. Horn. 
 
 “ The existence of an ancient Manor House at Salden, before that built by Sir John 
 Fortescue, was reported to Cole by Air. Lord of Drayton, who told him that * Lewin de 
 Newenham had a mansion there, and that this tradition was further confirmed by what 
 happened at the pulling down of the latter house, when there was found an old chimney- 
 piece behind the wainscoat in one of the parlours, with an ancient date upon it.’ But 
 that which has conferred ou this parish more celebrity than anything else, was the 
 residence of the Fortescues there for a century and a half. Sir John Fortescue, having 
 become possessed of Salden, a hamlet in this parish, a.d. 1580, built there a most 
 magnificent seat. It was built round a court or square. The width of the principal 
 front was 175 feet, with a balustrade at the top ; and nine large windows on a range, 
 gave it the appearance of a palace. The second front, with an equal row of windows, in 
 the middle story of which was the gallery of 148 feet, and which probably faced the 
 
127 
 
 garden, was little inferior to the former. The building was of excellent masonry in the 
 brick and stone work. About £33,000 were expended on it ; in itself a large sum, but 
 remarkably so for the time, although some of the rooms were not finished, and not¬ 
 withstanding the carriage of the materials and the timber were found by Sir John. In 
 Salden House were a great many coats-of-arms in the various windows, all of which were 
 bought by the celebrated antiquary, Browne Willis, for a trifle, and some of them 
 were presented to Judge Fortescue, a descendant of the family. Two coats-of-arms, 
 taken from this house, were put up by Browne Willis in the east window of Fenny 
 Stratford Chapel, and two were, in 1760, in the parlour of Old Whaddon Hall. ‘ There 
 was also in the dining-room or gallery chamber of Salden House, an alabaster or marble 
 chimney-piece, justly admired for its curious workmanship, which was sold for about £5 
 to the Lord Fermanagh, and is put up in his house at Middle Claydon.’ (Cole’s MSS.) 
 The mansion at Salden, on the property becoming divided, was pulled down ; part of 
 it in 1738, and the remainder in 1743.”— Records of Buckinghamshire. 
 
 EMINENT DIVINES CONNECTED WITH BUCKS. 
 
 Rev. T. Cox (1720). 
 
 [ The Rev. Thomas Cox was the author of a work entitled “ Magna Britannia, &c.; 
 it is dated 1720, and printed in London. Like Lysons' work, this has been manipulated 
 by the booksellers, and some copies of entire vols. are cut up into parts, each part containing 
 the history of a county. Thus the “ History of Buckinghamshire ” has a title page more 
 modern than the book, and it commences with folio 202. It is a small quarto; gives concise 
 descriptions of the principal places in the county; the baronetcies; men of note; the 
 ecclesiastical history; list of charity schools; the incumbents ; eminent divines; and a 
 map of the county .] 
 
 “ Eminent Divines born or inhabiting this County :—Dr. John Young, Bishop ot 
 Gallipolis, in Thrace. Dr. William How, Bishop of Oreuse, in Spain, born near Chipping 
 Wycomb. Dr. Robert Aldridge, born at Burnham, first schoolmaster, then Provost of 
 Eaton College, where he was educated, and last of all made Bishop of Carlisle, a.d. 153 1 ; 
 he held a correspondence by letter with Erasmus, who commends his eloquence. Dr. 
 John Harley, Bishop of Hereford, in the reign of Edward VI. ; he was deposed from his 
 See by Queen Mary for being married, and died soon after. Dr. William Alley, Bishop 
 of Exeter, a.d. 1560, third of Elizabeth, born at Chipping Wycomb ; he wrote several 
 English books. Dr. Richard Cox, first schoolmaster of Eaton, then tutor to King Edward 
 VI., was at length made Bishop of Ely, a.d. 1559, second of Elizabeth ; he was born at 
 Whaddon. Dr. Thomas Bicklcy, born at Stow, made Bishop of Chichester in 1585. Di. 
 Richard Montague, bishop of the same diocese in King Charles I.’s reign, born at Doruey. 
 
128 
 
 Dr. John King, Bishop of London, born at Wornall; as was also Dr. Henry King, his 
 son, Bishop of Chichester, in King Charles I.’s Reign. Dr. Walter Haddon, Embassador 
 to divers Princes in Queen Elizabeth’s days, born at Eaton. Dr. James Fleetwood, 
 Bishop of Worcester in King Charles II.’s time, born at Chalfont St. Peters. Dr. Law. 
 Humphrey, Dean of Worcester in King James I.’s reign, born at Newport Pagnell. Mr. 
 Francis Bunny, the author of several little tracts, born at Chalfont St. Giles. Mr. John 
 Randal, an eminent divine in King James I.’s days, born at Missenden. Dr. John 
 Gregory, that famous scholar, the miracle of his age for critical learning and languages, 
 was born at Amersham ; he was a Prebendary at Salisbury, but was ejected out of all his 
 preferments by the Long Parliament, and having lived a while poorly, died, and was buried 
 in Christ Church, Oxford. Mr. Wm. Sharp, his cotemporary; he was a native of Bleachley. 
 Dr. Collins, Master of King’s College, Cambridge, was born at Eaton ; Dr. Rog. Goad, 
 the famous mathematician. Mr. William Ouglitred, the learned physiciau, born at Eaton. 
 Dr. George Bates, who served both Oliver and King Charles II. as Physician in Ordinary. 
 Edmund Waller, Esq., the English Tibullus, born at Beaconsfield, where his ancestors 
 had a seat; whence he was called Waller of Beaconsfield. Dr. Robert Chaloner, Canon 
 of Windsor in Queen Elizabeth’s reign, was rector of Amersham, where he built a free 
 school, and gave £20 per annum to Christ Church, Oxford, for three exhibitions for so 
 many scholars of it. Dr. Charles Croke, son of Sir John Croke, of Chilton, in this 
 county, was also Rector of Amersham in the reign of King Charles I. Dr. Richard Bret, 
 one of the Translators of the Bible, the greatest linguist of his time, was Rector of 
 Quainton, and lies buried in the chancel there. Dr. John Piers, Archbishop of York, 
 was Rector of Quarendon. Dr. Robert Sibthorp was Rector of Water Stratford ; he was 
 charged by the Parliament to have been the cause of the rupture between King Charles 
 I. and them, by preaching up the Royal Prerogative to be above the law, &c. Mr. 
 Grocyn, who is said to be Erasmus’s tutor, was Rector of Newnton-Longueville. Dr. 
 Twisse, an eminent divine in King Charles I.’s reign, was Rector of Newbury.” 
 
 A GLASS PAINTER AT WYCOMBE IN 1750. 
 
 Granger. 
 
 “ John Rowell, who was by profession a plumber, practised glass painting at High 
 Y ycombe, in the county of Bucks, and afterwards at Reading, in Berkshire. He was 
 employed by the late Duke of Richmond at Goodwood, and executed many pieces for Dr. 
 Maddox, late Bishop of Worcester ; particularly a history of Christ praying in the 
 Garden, after a design of Dr. John Wall, of Worcester. He painted a set of windows 
 for Dr. Scawen Kenrick, in the church of Hambledon, in Buckinghamshire. He did the 
 Nativity of Christ and the Roman Charity in two large windows; the former was 
 
129 
 
 purchased of his widow by Mr. Chute, of the Vine, in Hampshire ; the latter by the late 
 Lord Viscount Fane. The colours in some of his paintings stand very well ; in others 
 they have been observed greatly to fail. He discovered the beautiful red which is so 
 conspicuous in our old windows; but this secret is supposed to have died with him, in 
 the year 1756.” 
 
 WADDESDON HILL CHAPEL. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 Mr, Francis Cox, of Bitchendon, erected, at his own expense, the Meeting House 
 on the summit of Waddesdon Hill. This place of worship was opened on the 8th of 
 August, 1792. There was no stated minister until May, 1795, when Mr. Henry Paice 
 was ordained pastor. Hitherto members had undergone baptism by immersion at various 
 other places; the first ordeal of baptism which took place at Waddesdon Hill was on the 
 19th of July, 1795, on which occasion seven who had been candidates for Church 
 fellowship were immersed and admitted members. In 1798 there were 65 members. 
 Waddesdon Hill appears to have been the parent of several other Baptist Churches in 
 the neighbourhood. In 1799 a disposition was evinced on the part of the residents at 
 Aylesbury who were attendants and members, to withdraw and establish a church of 
 their own at Aylesbury : in November, 1800, such withdrawal took place, when six 
 members, with Mr. Paice, who had been the pastor at Waddesdon Hill, formed a distinct 
 church at Aylesbury. In 1801, Mr. Davies was appointed as successor to Mr. Paice at 
 Waddesdon Hill. In 1802, there was a further withdrawal, when the Long Crendon 
 portion established a place of worship at their own village. In March, 1803, Mr. Francis 
 Cox died, and by his will endowed the Meeting House with a legacy of £1,000 ; he also 
 left £100, the interest of which was to be distributed yearly to the poor of the church. 
 In 1807, the church comprised 70 members. On the 29th March, 1809, Mr. Williams 
 succeeded Mr. Davies in the pastorate. In the year 1810 there were no less than 136 
 members on the church book ; they resided at Long Crendon, Cranwell, Aylesbury, 
 Bierton, Monks Risborough, Upton, Warmstone, Waddesdon, Winchendon, Haddenham, 
 Winslow, Oving, Dinton, Cuddington, Bitchendon, Thame, Fleet Marston, Quainton, 
 Swanbourne, Wood Ham, Lower Winchendon, Littleworth, Westcott, and at several 
 other more distant places. In 1811, Mr. Henry Hitchcock fitted up a room as a place 
 of worship in Waddesdon village, when evening and other services were held there 
 alternately with Waddesdon and Warmstone. In 1816, seventeen members residing at 
 Quainton requested their dismissal from the parent church at Waddesdon Hill, in order 
 to form a church in the village of Quainton, which request was granted, and a church 
 was there formed in September of that year. In 1828, Mr. Williams resigned his office 
 
130 
 
 of pastor, in consequence of infirmity. He died in August of the same year, and was 
 buried in the Hill chapel. On the 20th of November following Mr. Philip Butcher was 
 ordained pastor ; in 1829, 138 members were registered on the church book. In 1830, a 
 Sunday-school in connection with the cause was opened at the house of Cornelius Andrews, 
 at Upper Winchendon. In 1832, an application was made for a further dismissal of 
 members, in order to found a Baptist Church at Westcott ; it was at first declined. A 
 church was, however, subsequently formed there, also a Sunday-school. In 1832, the 
 subject of appointing new trustees to the church property was discussed, and a committee 
 appointed for the purpose. In 1833 the Sunday-school, which had been in existence at 
 VTaddesdon village for some few years, was re-modelled. 
 
 THE ATTEMPTED ARREST OF THE FIVE MEMBERS. 
 
 John Forster. 
 
 On their return to the House, “ Hampden was the first to break the silence which 
 the five Members had observed since they resumed their seats. He thanked the 
 Committee for his friends and himself, craving their good counsel as to a matter it 
 behoved him to lay before them. ‘ Divers thousands were coming out of Buckingham¬ 
 shire with a petition. The petition was to declare their readiness to live and die with 
 the Parliament, and in defence of the rights of the House of Commons. He had to 
 state that they came in a peaceable manner, and that he thought it his duty to acquaint 
 Committee therewith.’ Upon this, however, the Royalist members present appear to 
 have offered a resistance harder than any by which the Resolutions were met. Very 
 many, D'Ewes informs us, spoke to what Mr. Hampden had said ; and several would 
 have had the men coming out of Buckinghamshire sent unto to have returned thither. 
 But this of course was overruled. ‘ The greater sense of the Committee,’ says D’Ewes, 
 
 * being to let them alone, because we did not know fully the intent of their coming.’ It 
 was afterwards said by Clarendon that only Mr. Hampden fully knew that; that the levy¬ 
 ing of war in England dated from the day when those thousands out of Buckinghamshire 
 were invited to tender their petition ; and that whatsoever afterwards was done, was but 
 the superstructure upon the foundations which that day were laid. The remark is at 
 least rendered more intelligible by the picture D’Ewes has given us of Hampden on the 
 eventful day. In the very moment of the passing of resolutions claiming rights of the 
 executive for the Commons’ House alone, to rise and direct attention to * thousands’ of 
 his constituents who had ridden up from their county to show readiness, if need were, to 
 die for that house, displayed at least the collected and determined spirit of the member 
 for Buckinghamshire.” 
 
131 
 
 PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS IN AYLESBURY CHURCHYARD. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 Even as late as at the commencement of the present century, it was usual to hold 
 the Borough elections in the Churchyard. The candidates, their nominators and 
 seconders, one after another mounted an old tomb (now removed) to address the con¬ 
 stituents. When no contest followed, the proceedings ended here ; but in the case of a 
 poll, an adjournment was made to the County Hall, where the subsequent proceedings 
 were held. The nominations at the contested election of 1802 were made on this old 
 tomb ; this was the last occasion, as after the addition of the Hundreds in 1804, the 
 election being no longer a town matter only, all the proceedings were transferred to the 
 County Hall. A thought arises as to why the elections took place on that particular spot. 
 Considering that it was in the part of the Churchyard where the cross at one time stood, 
 it may be assumed that the Churchyard cross was the usual and ancient place of meeting 
 for transacting town business, and notwithstanding the cross had disappeared, either 
 through age or ill-treatment, old associations led to the continuance of the custom for 
 the inhabitants to assemble there, as in the days of their forefathers. 
 
 THE GRENVILLE LIBRARY. 
 
 H. R. Foster. 
 
 The Right Hon. Thomas Grenville was elder son of George Grenville, of Stowe, 
 First Lord of the Treasury in 1763. Thomas Grenville was born in 1755 ; was M.P. 
 for Bucks 1780, 1796, and 1812. Literature found in him a willing and devoted votary, 
 and the statesman that might have been, abandoned worldly honours for the wiser, the 
 more virtuous, and the happier course. Still he filled many public and important offices 
 in the State with success. He never married ; he was a great collector of books. 
 
 “ His Library, one of the most valuable ever formed by a private individual, was 
 once intended to be deposited at Stowe. This intention was, however, subsequently 
 changed, and, within a few months of his death, Mr. Grenville, by a codicil to his will, 
 gave it to the British Museum. Mr. Grenville’s Library was the result of a continued 
 and unwearied pursuit of nearly fifty years, guided by a very extensive knowledge of 
 ancient and modern literature, and by a familiar acquaintance with rare and curious 
 books. The entire Library consists of upwards of 20,000 volumes, among which are 
 many of the earliest and most curious specimens of topography; first and best editions 
 of the Classics; the scarcest Spanish and Italian Poems and Romances ; many books 
 printed on vellum of extreme beauty ; a range of English, and more especially Irish, 
 
132 
 
 History—perhaps unrivalled ; and an assemblage of early Voyages and Travels, from the 
 original editions of Marco Polo and Contarini, Columbus and Vesputius, to the collections 
 of De Bry, Halsius, Hakluyt, and Purchas, forming such a complete chain of uninterrupted 
 information on the subject as no other library can furnish. In no branch of this collection 
 is anything superfluous to be found ; while there is a sufficiency of information upon all. 
 With the exception of George the Fourth's gift of the King's Library, this is the most 
 magnificent donation ever made to the British Museum, having cost the late owner about 
 £50,000. It is perhaps not improbable that Mr. Grenville, with that wisdom and 
 sagacity for which he was so eminently distinguished, foresaw the ruin impending over 
 Stowe, and was, therefore, induced to alter his original determination 
 
 The sunset of life gives us mystical lore, 
 
 And coming events cast their shadows before. 
 
 A most excellent Catalogue Raisonne of the Library has been compiled and published by 
 Messrs. Payne and Foss, under the title of ‘ Bibliotheca Grenvilliaua, or Biliographical 
 Notices of Rare and Curious Books, forming part of the Library of the Right Hon. 
 Thomas Grenville. 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1842.’ Mr. Grenville died in December, 
 1846, at the age of ninety-one, at his house in Hamilton Place, after a very short 
 illness.” 
 
 MILTON AT CHALFONT. 
 
 W. Howitt (1858). 
 
 “ There is an episode in the later life of Milton which we are made acquainted 
 with by Thomas Elwood, the Quaker, and which has something very pleasing and 
 picturesque about it. It is that of his abode at Chalfout St. Giles, in Buckinghamshire. 
 Elwood, who was the son of a country justice of peace, was one amongst the first 
 converts to Quakerism, and has left us a most curious and amusing autobiography. In 
 this he tells us that, while Milton lived in Jewin Street, he was introduced to him as a 
 reader, the recompence to Elwood being that of deriving the advantage of a better 
 knowledge of the classics, and of the foreign pronunciation of Latin. A great regard 
 sprung up between Milton and his reader, who was a man not only of great integrity of 
 mind, but of a quaint humour and a poetical taste. On the breaking out of the plague 
 in London, Milton, who was then living in Bunhill Fields, wrote to Elwood, who had 
 found an asylum in the house of an affluent Quaker at Chalfont, to procure him a lodging 
 there. He did so; but before Milton could take possession of his country retreat, 
 Elwood, with numbers of other Quakers, was hurried olf to Aylesbury Gaol. The 
 persecution of that sect subsiding for awhile, Elwood, on his liberation, paid Milton a 
 visit, and received the MS. of ‘ Paradise Lost’ to take home and read. With this Elwood 
 had the sense to be greatly delighted, and, in returning it, said, ‘ Thou has said a great 
 
133 
 
 deal upon Paradise Lost ; what hast thou to say upon Paradise Found ?’ Milton was 
 silent a moment, as pondering on what he had heard, and then began to converse on 
 other subjects. When, however, Elwood visited him afterwards in London, Milton showed 
 him the ‘ Paradise Regained,’ saying ‘ This is owing to you, for yon put it into my head 
 by the question you put to me at Chalfont ; which before I had not thought of.’ ” 
 
 THE YALE OF AYLESBURY. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 The fame of the Yale of Aylesbury as an agricultural district is far and widely 
 spread. Its exceeding fertility is ascribed to the preponderance of Ivimmeridge clay as 
 its subsoil. This clay is largely developed at Ivimmeridge, in Dorsetshire, and thus its 
 name. It is essentially a marine deposit, and contains ammonites and belamites, which 
 belong to the class of mollusca-cephalopoda, represented by the nautilus and cuttle fish 
 in our present seas, and others of the oyster family, besides remains of large reptiles, as 
 the plesiosaurus. This deposit varies from 100 to 200 feet in depth, and must have 
 occupied ages in formation. In the neighbourhood of Hartwell this clay is covered by 
 coarse limestone beds, showing that some great change took place after its deposition. 
 This limestone predominates in the district west of Aylesbury. The Vale has evidently 
 been denuded and scooped out by the action of water; the lithological peculiarities are 
 therefore seen in a very detached and irregular manner. Gault crops up near the surface 
 at several places in the Yale. Gault, or golt, is a provincial term now applied to the 
 formation, wherever apparent ; it contains much lime, effervescing strongly with acids, 
 and is, indeed, on this account sometimes spoken of as marl or calcareous clay. When 
 decomposed it forms a strong and fertile soil. Gault is mostly excavated for brick¬ 
 making, but of late years many deposits have been disturbed for the search after fossils, 
 known as coprolites. Coprolites, which are found at Dinton, Stone, Ford, Towersey, 
 and other places, and of which tons have been raised, are sent to the manufacturers of 
 artificial manures. It is now more than fifty years since scientific men first directed 
 special attention to coprolites, Dr. Bucklaud being amongst the earliest to investigate 
 their properties with care and precision. From their form and chemical composition it 
 is evident that these bodies were simply fossil excreta; they arc hence called coprolites. 
 
 The Chiltern Hills form the southern boundary of the Yale of Aylesbury. The 
 ranges of hills belonging to the cretaceous formation radiate from Salisbury Plain ; the 
 Chilterns run N.E. through Oxon and Herts, and are continued by the Gog Magog 
 Hills and East Anglian Heights, which terminate at Hunstanton Cliff in Norfolk. 
 Chalk, sand, clay, and gravel, all of which abound in the Vale, have been deposited 
 in water as sediment. Water was the agent mainly concerned in their formation. 
 
134 
 
 Chalk abounds in animal remains, every particle of it being the result of life. A 
 profound ocean existed over all those regions now covered with chalk. The substratum 
 of the Vale is shown to be of a most fertile composition, and here is the great secret of 
 its far-famed productiveness. 
 
 The Vale is watered by four brooks or rivulets, which unite on the north-west and 
 western verge of the parish of Aylesbury. For these rivulets is claimed by some the 
 honour of being the original sources of the River Thames. The spring rises in the most 
 northern point near Littlecote, in Stewkley, one stream runs southward of the pastures 
 near Cottesloe, and between Cublington and Creslow to Hardwick, where, returning 
 towards the west, it is joined by a rivulet from Whitchurch, and by other streamlets 
 from the Quainton Hills, and then, bending southward, falls in with Twisle Brook at 
 Quarrendon, which brings a copious supply from springs arising on the eastern verge of 
 the county ; it then, taking a westerly course near Wingrave and Broughton, passes 
 Aylesbury on its south side, and at the western extremity of that parish, uniting with the 
 stream first-mentioned, passes through the south-western part of the Vale, and receives 
 a tributary stream from the south-east, which is derived from springs arising in the 
 Chiltern Hills, near Wendover ; the two streams severally passing, one through Weston 
 Turville and Broughton, running close to Aylesbury on the east and south, and the other 
 through Stoke Mandeville, until it meets with the former one, at length flowing into the 
 main stream before reaching Haydon Mill, west of Aylesbury and north of Stone. 
 Thence pursuing its course near Nether Winchendon and Cuddington, it is again joined 
 by streamlets from Over Winchendon and Dorton, which, uniting, acquire the name of 
 Chearsley Brook near Notley. It then runs near Thame, and is joined by the Kingsey 
 Brook, principally derived from the hills near Kimble, where, passing westwardly near 
 Tythrope, it is augmented by another rivulet from the Chiltern Hills, passing between 
 Saunderton and Risborough. Here it begins to be called the Thame ; at Worminghall, 
 it makes an acute flexure to the south, and enters the county of Oxford, which it crosses, 
 and on the confines of Berkshire, after a course of 39 miles, it joins the Thames near 
 Dorchester. 
 
 The extent of the Vale of Aylesbury is not well defined. Historians differ as to its 
 dimensions. Leland, in his “ Itinerary,” describes it as “ going one waye to the forest 
 (Bernwood) beyond Tame markett; it goeth otherwayes to Buckingham, to Stonye 
 Stratford, to Newport Painell, and along from Aylesbury by the rootes of the Chilterne 
 Hilles, almost to Dunstable.” This is a most extraordinary stretch of its area. Mr. 
 Clare Read, on the contrary, gives it a very limited range, and includes only Aylesbury, 
 Hartwell, Stone, Winchendon, Waddesdon, Pitchcott, Dunton, Wing, Aston Abbotts, 
 Bierton, and Broughton, admitting no places south of Aylesbury. The general idea of 
 the extent of the Vale is all that tract of land bordered on the south by the Chilterns 
 and on the north by the Whitchurch, Pitchcott, Quainton, and Winchendon Hills. 
 
135 
 
 MAIDS MO RETON. 
 
 The Parish Register of Maids Moreton records the injury done to the church in 
 1(542 by Colonel Purefoy’s soldiers then quartered at Buckingham. With the exception 
 of the first paragraph, the following entries are signed “ Matthew Bate, Rector”:— 
 
 “ Mr. George Bate, the Reverend and Religious Rector of this town of Moreton and of 
 Leckhamstead, nearly heart-broken with the insolences of the rebells against the Church 
 and King, dyed the 11th, and was buried March 14th, 1642, in the middle of the body 
 of the chancel.” 
 
 “A.D. 1642.—This year the worst of Parliaments wickedly rebelling against the best of 
 Princes, King Charles I., the kingdome suffered a long while under most sad afflictions, 
 especially churches, whilst they pretended reformation, were everywhere robbed and ruined 
 by the rebells. In this Church of Moreton, the windows were broken, a costly desk in the 
 form of a spread eagle, gilt, on which we used to lay Bp. Jewell’s works, domed to perish 
 as an abominable idoll ; the Crosse (which with its fall had like to have broke out the 
 brains of him who did it), cut off the steeple by ye souldiers att the command of one 
 called Colonell Purefoy (then quartered at Buckingham), of Warwickshire. We 
 conveight away what we could and among other things the Register was hid, and for 
 that cause is not absolutely perfect for divers yeares tho’ I have used my best diligence 
 to record as many particulars as I could come by.” 
 
 “A.D. 1653.—Now came in force a goodly Act made by the Usurper Cromwell’s 
 little Parliament of ye Parliament of St s - as they called itt, that is, of all manner of 
 dissembling hypocrites and filthy hereticks, who ordered not the baptism but ye birth of 
 children to be recorded in ye parish registers, thereby insinuating that children ought 
 not to be baptized, and encouraging people to withhold their infauts from the sacred 
 ordinance. But there were never any that I know of, of that mind in Moreton. And 
 though the baptism of some be not expressed heere, yet these are to certify all whom it 
 may concern and that on the ivord of a Priest , that there is no person heereinafter men¬ 
 tioned by ye then register of ye parish but was duly and orderly baptized.” 
 
 “ By the Act before-mentioned in ye yeare 1653, marriages were not to be performed 
 by ye Minister but ye Justices of Peace, yet none in this parish were bedded before they 
 were solemnly wedded in ye Church and that according to ye order of ye Church of 
 England.” 
 
 “A.D. 1660.—This yeare by ye wonderful goodnesse of God, IIis Sacred Majesty 
 King Charles II. was peaceably Restored to his martyrd Father’s throne the powerfull 
 armyes of his enemies being amazed spectators of and in some sort unwilling assistants 
 to his return after twelve years exile, and from this time ancient order begun to be 
 observed. Laus Deo.” 
 
136 
 
 BOARSTALL TOWER. 
 
 Brayley (1834). 
 
 “ Boarstall Tower is a good specimen of the castellated architecture of the time 
 of Edward II. Its form is square, with embattled turrets at each angle ; the entrance 
 to the tower is over a bridge of two arches, which supplies the place of the ancient 
 drawbridge destroyed by order of Parliament, when the tower and house were dismantled, 
 in the year 1644. The gateway is secured by massive doors, strengthened with studs 
 and plates of iron. Each of the northern turrets contains three apartments, which are 
 light and lofty ; the southern turrets contain spiral staircases, with stone steps leading 
 to the upper apartments ; the space over the gateway includes two large rooms, but the 
 principal apartment is on the second story, and occupies the whole space between the 
 turrets. Modern improvement has somewhat decreased its dimensions, by cutting off the 
 recesses formed by the bay windows at each end and over the gateway, but it is still a 
 noble room ; the bay window last mentioned still retains part of the stained glass it was 
 formerly decorated with, particularly an escutcheon of the De Lazures and the De 
 Handloos. The roof is nearly flat, and forms a beautiful terrace ; it was formerly 
 covered with lead, which has since been replaced by copper, thinly leaded, to preserve it 
 from corrosion. The south front, as seen from the pleasure ground, is peculiarly light 
 and pleasing. Since the demolition of the old mansion by the late Sir John Aubrey, one 
 side of the moat has been filled up, but the other three sides still remain. A neat 
 parochial chapel was erected in 1819, on the ancient site, by the late Sir John Aubrey; 
 the chancel is lit by a handsome window, and contains an elegant monument in dove- 
 coloured and white marble, to the memory of the two wives of Sir John ; and another, a 
 very chaste specimen, in the Perpendicular Gothic style, has been erected to the memory 
 of Sir John Aubrey himself, who is buried in the vault beneath the chancel.” 
 
 JUSTICES OF THE PEACE IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, 1646. 
 
 Langley. 
 
 “ At the Court for Sheriffs and Justices of the Peace, 17th February, 1646 : 
 Ordered that on Friday, the 26 of Feb. this Court do receive such informations and 
 pleas as shall then be exhibited to shew cause why Sir John Parsons should not be put 
 into the commission of the peace for the county of Bucks. Ordered that Sir Thomas 
 Hampson be respited, to be taken into consideration at the same time. 
 
 Friday, Feb. 26—Ordered that it be reported to the House that Sir John Parsons, 
 
137 
 
 Sir Thomas Sanders, Sir Richard Napier, Sir Peter Temple, Mr. John Clarke, Mr. 
 William Wheeler, Mr. John Lane, Mr. Roger Nichols, Dr. Francis Rouse be added to the 
 commission. 
 
 Names of Justices of Peace in Buckinghamshire, 6 Martii, 1646—Henricus comes 
 Kent, Robertus comes Warwic, Edwardus comes Manchester, Phil, dominus Wharton, 
 Thomas Trevor miles unus baron sccii, Petrus Phesant miles uuus justic de banco, Will. 
 Drake baronettus, Ric. Pigott miles, Will. Andrews miles, Ric. Ingolsby miles, Greg. 
 Norton baronettus, Heneage Proby baronettus, Oliver St. John, Joh. Wilde, Samuel 
 Browne, Edmund Prideaux, Tobias Tyrrel, Bulstrode Whitlock, Ric. Winwood, Joh. 
 Dormer, Js. Pennington, Will Hackwell, Thomas Lane, Geo. Fleetwood, Ed. West, 
 Thomas Challoner, Cornelius Holland, Franciscus Drake, Thomas Bulstrode, Joh. 
 Doyley, Thomas Tirrell, Ric. Greenvile, Symon Mayne, Ric. Ingolsby, Ric. Serjeant, 
 Franc. Martin, Hen. Beke, Thomas Scott, Anton. Ratcliffe, Ric. Barringer, Thomas 
 Waller, Joh. Eccleston, Will. Burlase, Edwd. Greenvile, Christ. Eggleton, Will. Thede. 
 
 Friday, 26th Feb., 1646, at the committee for Sheriffs and justices,—Sir John 
 Parsons, Sir Thomas Sanders, Sir Richard Napier, Sir Peter Temple, John Clerke, 
 Franciscus Rouse, Will. Wheeler, John Lane, Roger Nichols, added to the Commission 
 of the Peace for the county of Buckingham. A warrant from both speakers to the 
 clerke of the crown for mending the commission accordingly. The new commission has 
 likewise the names of William Lcnthall, Sir Thomas Ilampson, Francis Williamson, and 
 John Eccleston, and omits Sir Thomas Trevor.” 
 
 BRILL.—THE LEGEND OF SPILLICORA. 
 
 White Kennett. 
 
 “ The village of Brill was the King’s demesne, and now (1040) soon after it 
 was let out in Soccage, for the reserved rent of one hundred Capons yearly for the Kings 
 table. Among those Manners which the Kings held in demesne, they had Mansions or 
 Palaces in the largest and best scituate of them, where they often resided, having con¬ 
 stant provisions brought in by their feudatory tenants ; by such change of stations they 
 made a sort of constant progress thro their whole Kingdom, kept up the better 
 acquaintance with their people, and provided for the more easie administration of justice, 
 which then attended the Kings Court and Person. These places which had Royal seats 
 had the honour to be call’d Yillm Regiae, which title was given to Brill; and while 
 
138 
 
 King Edward the Confessor did here divert himself, there hapned an accident, which was 
 turned into one of the miracles of that religious Prince. The story is distinctly told by 
 Will. Malms. One Wulwin surnam’d Spillicora (it should be de Spillicote), son of 
 Wulmar de Nutegarshale (it should be Lutegarshall, now Ludgershall) cutting down 
 fuell in the wood Bruelle (now Brill) after hard labouring fell into a sleep, and by a 
 settlement of blood in his eyes lost his sight for seventeen years, and then upon the 
 strength of a dream he went round to eighty-seven Churches to beg relief from the 
 respective Saints, and at last came blind to the King’s Court at Windsor, and was cur’d 
 by a touch of the Kings hand ; after which he was keeper of the Kings Palace at 
 Windsor for several years after the death of his Royal healer. Ailred Abbot of Rievaulx 
 recounts this among the other miracles of Edward the Confessor, and varies but little in 
 the circumstances of it: he represents the occasion to have been a Royal Palace then 
 built at Bruheham (by which name Brill is sometimes call’d) and many country labourers 
 being sent out by the chief workmen to fell timber in the adjoining woods, lying down 
 to sleep in the heat of the day, one of them call’d Wulfwin rose up blind, and being long 
 after cur’d by the hand of King Edward was made keeper of his palace nigh St. Peters 
 Church.” 
 
 STONY STRATFORD. 
 
 The old Roman way called Watling Street passed through Stony Stratford, and it 
 is probable that the Ouse was crossed here on large stones—hence the Stoney Street-ford. 
 The road through this county in a direct line from Dunstable in Bedfordshire to Towces- 
 ter and Daventry in Northamptonshire, passing through Stony Stratford, is identical with 
 this ancient Roman military highway. Camden is of opinion that the Lactodoro or 
 Lactodorum of the Romans was at this town, because its derivation, in the ancient 
 British language, agrees with the present name, both signifying “ a river forded by means 
 of stones.” Dr. Stukeley supposes that station to have been at Old Stratford, on the 
 Northamptonshire side of the river ; and Dr. Salmon, at Calverton, an eminence close by, 
 near the ford to Passenham, where the army of Edward the Elder was stationed whilst he 
 fortified Towcester. But several authorities place the Roman Lactodorum at Towcester. 
 If, however, Stony Stratford has not been a Roman Station or town, it would appear 
 that there must have been a considerable Roman Camp or other settlement, for 
 numerous remains of that people have been found here. Cole mentions that he added to 
 his collection above 100 Roman coins, besides other ancient objects discovered here. 
 A Roman Road is conjectured to have extended from Stony Stratford to Water Stratford. 
 
139 
 
 Stony Stratford is not mentioned in Domesday Book. The town being in two parishes, 
 Calverton and Wolverton is included in these manors. It was one of the places in which 
 stately monumental crosses were erected by King Edward I., to mark the spot at which 
 the corpse of his Queen (Eleanor) rested, in 1290, on the way from Harby, county 
 Nottingham (where she died) to Westminster Abbey, the place of her interment. The 
 cross stood at the western end of the town, and was demolished in 1G46. 
 
 CRESLOW MANOR HOUSE. 
 
 The original parts of Creslow Manor House, including the crypt and tower, are 
 said to be of the time of Edward III. Some alterations were made in the fifteenth 
 century, of which a doorway remains ; other changes, such as the plastering of ceilings, 
 took place in the time of Charles I. The tower is built of stone, with walls six feet 
 thick. What is now a coach-house was the old parish church, desecrated, it is said, by 
 Cornelius Holland, one of the Regicides, who is charged also with the desecration of 
 several other churches. The Manor, with which the advowson of the Rectory passed, 
 was, in the reign of Henry I., given to the Knights’ Templars, and after the dissolution 
 of that order it became a demesne of the Crown, and the pastimes were used for feeding 
 cattle for the royal household. For this purpose they were committed for a term of 
 years to the custody of a steward or keeper, who, in addition to a stated payment, had 
 the produce of certain fields belonging to the estate. In 1635 the pastures were 
 granted to Cornelius Holland, whom Browne Willis calls a “ miscreant upstart” ("though 
 Lipscomb takes a less unfavourable view of him). By the terms of his original 
 appointment Holland was bound to keep the house, the buildings, and the fences 
 on the estate in good repair, but after allowing the house to fall into dilapidation he 
 received from Parliament a grant of upwards of £700—equal to more than £2,000 
 of present money—for “ reparations.’’ In 1642 he had become a member of the 
 House of Commons and been appointed one of the Commissioners for the Public 
 Revenue. According to Cole he dismantled and desecrated the church at Hogshaw 
 and destroyed the chancels of Addington, East Claydon, and Granborough. On 
 the restoration of Charles II. he was attainted of high treason, and Creslow again 
 became royal property. In 1671 the King granted it to Sir Thomas Clifford, Kut., 
 for the terra of sixty years, and two years afterwards the same King conferred 
 the estate, in fee, on Thomas Lord Clifford and his heirs male, in whose descendants 
 it has continued to the present time, on the fee-farm rent of £10, paid yearly 
 to certain Crown lands in the parish of Chilton. It appears that the desecrated 
 church once possessed a chancel and tower, but they have disappeared. The present 
 
140 
 
 building, which apparently constituted the original nave, is 44ft. long and 24ft. wide, 
 and is built of hewn stone. The south wall, which contains the entrance to the coach¬ 
 house, has been sadly mutilated. The north wall remains in a tolerable state of 
 preservation, and presents some features of interest. The doorway is assigned to the 
 beginning of the transition period between the Norman and Early English styles. The 
 present windows, which have evidently superseded others of an earlier date, belong to the 
 Decorated style. All around the church the ground has been used for sepulture. A 
 stone coffin, which is said to have been taken from the floor of the church, is now used, 
 turned upside down, as a paving stone, near the west door of the mansion. The great 
 number of interments which have taken place around the church are attributable to the 
 fabric having been in the possession of the Hospitallers, one of the privileges of whom, 
 as a reward for their services at the siege of Ascalon, was the exemption of their 
 churches from any sentence of excommunication, which must have rendered burial in 
 their precincts invaluable to the people at an age when the rites of the Church were 
 considered necessary to salvation. 
 
 The dungeon, so called, is a gloomy structure, entered by a flight of stone steps. It 
 is a plain, rectangular building, 18ft. long, eight and a half wide, and six in height. 
 The roof, which is formed of large, massive stones, is slightly vaulted. There is no 
 window or external opening. The crypt is in the vicinity of the dungeon, and is 
 excavated in the solid limestone rock. It is entered by a flight of stone steps, and has 
 but one small external opening to admit light and air. It is about 12ft. square, and is 
 now used as a cellar. The roof, which is a good specimen of light Gothic vaulting, is 
 supported by arches springing from four short columns, groined at their intersections 
 and ornamented with carved flowers and bosses. In a chamber over the crypt is a good 
 pointed doorway, with hood moulding following the form of an arch, and resting on two 
 well sculptured human heads. The tower bears a turret, and is 43ft. high. It is not 
 embattled, but coped with plain chamferred moulding, and ornamented with a cornice of 
 carved heads and flowers. A long, upper room of the house, now used as the nursery, 
 is stated to have been originally a banquet hall. The spacious oak staircase is an 
 important feature of the house. 
 
 FENNY STRATFORD. 
 
 There was a Chantry and Guild at Fenny Stratford, founded in 1494. The fraternity 
 or guild was dedicated in honour of St. Margaret and St. Catherine, and were bound to 
 pray for the good estate of the King, &c., and of Roger Hebbes, John Hebbes, and others, 
 the founders. The guild held certain property and were obliged to find two priests “ to 
 
141 
 
 minister sacraments and sacramentals, there being 220 houseling people (communicants) 
 in the said hamlet, distant from the parish church of Bletchley one mile.” Fenny 
 Stratford had been a chapelry before the chapel was endowed by the foundation of the 
 chantry in it ; for in 1460 “ Yeny Stratford Capella” was returned in the Roll of Peter- 
 pence, collected in the Archdeaconry of Bucks. At the dissolution of the chantries in 
 1553, the two priests or chantry chaplains were styled Incumbents ; and in some records 
 they are denominated Curates of Fenny Stratford. Each priest had a stipend of £6 
 a-year ; they were both learned men and able to preach the word of God. They denomi¬ 
 nated themselves curates of Fenny Stratford. In 1553 their lands and tenements were 
 made over to Edward Cooper and Valentine Fayrweather, names which frequently appear 
 at this period as dabblers in ecclesiastical properties. 
 
 BUCKINGHAM FREE SCHOOL. 
 
 Browne Willis. 
 
 “ Of the foundation of the school in this town I could never learn any exact account. 
 What I have been able to collect is, that Dame Isabel Denton (as she is called in the 
 return, made into the Exchequer, of Colleges and Chantries at their Dissolution, Anno. 
 1547) gave by her Will about the year 1540, four marks yearly to a priest to teach 
 children in this town, in augmentation of his living for twenty years ; of which eight 
 years were then said to have been expired, Anno. 2nd Edward YI. Which Prince, in 
 order to found the said school, as I have been informed, gave a stipend of £10 8s. Ofd. 
 per annum, payable out of the Exchequer, on taking away the lands of St. Thomas 
 Aeon’s College in London, which lay near this place : and so the Chantry Chapel of St. 
 John the Baptist in this borough (called also St. Thomas Becket’s Chapel) having been 
 obtained from the proprietors thereof, became converted into a school, and hath continued 
 one ever since : and the master’s house adjoining unto it having been burnt down about 
 the year 1685, was rebuilt Anno 1696, in a very handsome manner, by Alexander Denton, 
 Esq., father to the Honourable Mr. Justice Denton. 
 
 The school-room, which was originally a Chantry Chapel (and founded by Matthew 
 Stratton, Archdeacon of Buckingham, who died 1268, in Henry III.’s time), being fallen 
 to decay, was rebuilt in Edward IY.’s time, by Archdeacon John Ruding, then Prebendary 
 of Buckingham ; and dedicated to St. John the Baptist, and Thomas of Aeon alias Becket. 
 Over the Altar (as in a drawing in my collections) on the boards of the cieling, was 
 depicted an Holy Lamb bleeding, and on each side two Angels, or Monks, with cups to 
 catch the blood; underneath the Lamb was St. John the Baptist’s head in a charger, and 
 
142 
 
 Ruding’s motto, ‘ All may God amende,’ which was remaining ’till 1688, when it was 
 destroyed, as a relict of popery, by the school boys. The rest of the work was decorated 
 with crescents and escallops, as were the panes of the windows, and the back of the 
 master’s seat, being Ruding’s arms, as in Buckingham Chancel windows. The last 
 Priest of this Chapel, while it was used pro divinis celebrandis in Edward YI.’s time, was 
 Thomas Hawkins. It was endowed with a small house joining to the Cross Keys Inn, 
 and a tenement and two acres of pasture, at the North-East end of the town. The whole 
 revenues were given in at the Dissolution Anno. 1547, at £3 9s. per annum.” 
 
 THE LACE-HAKERS OF NORTH BUCKS. 
 
 Charles Knight (1865). 
 
 “ Straw-plait industry has an authenticated date for its origin—the reign of George 
 I. Lace-making, we all know, is as old as the time of Shakespeare, and probably a good 
 deal older. In 1782, Cowper described the lace-maker— 
 
 Yon cottager, who weaves at her own door, 
 
 Pillow and bobbins all her little store, 
 
 Content, though mean, and cheerful, if not gay, 
 
 Shuffling her threads about the live-long day, 
 
 Just earns a scanty pittance, and at night 
 Lies down secure, her heart and pocket light. 
 
 Then, as now, the lace-maker just earned a scanty pittance. The poet drew a picture 
 with which he was perfectly familiar, for he lived iu the heart of the Buckinghamshire 
 lace-making district for many years. In his summer rambles from Olney to Weston, he 
 might see many a cottager weaving at her own door, and in his winter morning walk 
 might bestow a kind word upon the aged dame still fumbling at her bobbins over a 
 scanty fire. Wherever the Ouse flowed through the well-watered land from Huntingdon 
 to Buckingham, by Bedford and by Newport, there was the lace-maker. She dwelt also 
 in every hamlet that dotted the fertile country between the Nen and the Welland. 
 There she still dwells, earning even a scantier pittance than of old ; but she has not died 
 out. The surplus female labour of the peasant’s household still adds a trifle tc his 
 scanty means, even in the commoner work of the pillow and bobbin. If there be an 
 occasional lace-maker who, in ‘ shuffling her threads about the live-long day,’ is 
 unusually skilful, she may probably earn her own food and raiment. The lace-machine 
 absolutely forbids any rivalry of hand-labour as to cheapness; but it has not shut out a 
 competition in excellence. In these districts the great lace marts are Bedford and 
 Northampton.” 
 
143 
 
 THE EARLIEST LORD OF OLNEY. 
 
 Thomas Wright, Olney (1886). 
 
 “ The earliest mentioned lord of Olney was Borgret, or Borret, the Saxon, a notable 
 Thane of the time of Edward the Confessor, in whose veins coursed the blood of a dozen 
 Mercian kings, and by whom this spot may first have been called ‘ The Courts for it is 
 likely enough that, with his royal master, he exhibited a predilection for foreign names as 
 well as foreign personages. His manor was said to contain sixteen hides of land, of which 
 one sokeman, his vassal, held one virgate,—a hide, or plough-land, or carueate of land 
 being about a hundred acres, and a virgate perhaps the eighth part of a hide. After the 
 victory at Hastings Bishop Gregory of Constance came in for the manor—a prelate who 
 was admirably fitted for the age in which he moved ; who had been in the thickest of the 
 fight at Hastings ; and who even after the battle, and when he had got possession of 
 some of the fattest lands in England, assisted in quelling several of the insurrections of 
 William’s disaffected subjects—a prelate whose mace was more persuasive than his tongue, 
 and who would crack with ease on the field of battle the self-same skulls that he had 
 failed to penetrate with his pulpit eloquence. Geoffrey held numerous manors, 
 no fewer, in fact, than seventeen in Buckinghamshire alone ; but at the death 
 of the Conqueror, when the brothers Robert and Rufus were contending for the English 
 crown, he committed the fatal error of attaching himself to the losing party, and was, in 
 consequence, deprived by Rufus of all his English possessions.” 
 
 WOOBURN. 
 
 Mr. W. Lowndes, Chesham. 
 
 “ The Manor of Wooburn at the time of the Norman Survey was the property of 
 Earl Harold. The Conqueror seized it, and bestowed it upon a relative, Remigius, 
 Bishop of Lincoln ; and Walter Deyncourt, a relation of the Bishop, held it under him ; 
 and it continued iu the possession of his family until the year 1422. By marriage with 
 Alice, the sole heiress of the estate, it devolved upon William, Lord Lovel, who died 3o 
 Henry YI. At her decease, she having survived her son, Sir John Lovel, the property 
 devolved upon her grandson, Sir Francis Lovel (9th Baron), who being a favourite ot 
 Richard III., was made by that monarch, Chamberlain of the Household, Constable ot 
 the Castle of Wallingford, and Chief Butler of England. On January 4, 1483, he was 
 created Viscount Lovel. Viscount Lovel subsequently fought under Richard’s banner at 
 
144 
 
 the battle of Bosworth, and was fortunate enough to escape with his life ; he escaped into 
 Flanders. Thence invading England, his Lordship is said to have fallen at the battle of 
 Stoke, in 1487. Lord Bacon, however, says of him—‘ Of the Lord Lovel there went a 
 report that he fled, and swam over the Trent on horseback, but he could not recover the 
 farther side, by reason of the steepness of the bank, and so was drowned in the river. 
 Another report leaves him not there, but that he lived long after in a cave or vault.’ 
 Tradition states that he escaped to his seat at Minster Lovel, in Oxfordshire, and 
 secreted himself there, where he was sustained in a vault by the devotion of a female 
 servant. This servant died suddenly without betraying the secret, when his Lordship 
 was starved to death with a dog that was the associate of his captivity. On the occasion 
 of rebuilding a chimney at Minster Lovel, in 1708, ‘ a large vault was discovered under¬ 
 ground, in which was the entire skeleton of a man, as having been sitting at a table, with 
 a book, paper, pen, &c. ; and in another part of the room lay a cap, all much mouldered 
 and decayed,’ which the family and others judged to be this Lord Lovel. * A melancholy 
 period to the life and fortune of one of the greatest and most active noblemen of the 
 era wherein he lived.’ 
 
 Dugdale says that William, second son of William, Lord Lovel, had livery of 
 Deyncourt, and that his wife died seised of it. Henry VIII., by patent, granted the 
 Manor of Wooburn Deyncourt to William Compton, ancestor to the Earls of Northampton. 
 He died in 1530 ; his son, Peter, was a minor at the time of his death, whose wardship, 
 during his minority, was committed first to Cardinal Wolsey, and afterwards to George, 
 Earl of Shrewsbury, who married him, before he was nineteen, to his daughter. Lady Ann 
 Talbot. Peter Compton, however, died a minor, January 30, 1544, leaving a son Henry, 
 who was summoned to Parliament 14 Elizabeth, 1572. He died 1589, leaving William 
 his son and heir, who in 1G18, was created Earl of Northampton. By the marriage of 
 Anne, daughter of Sir William Spencer, with Sir John Goodwin, the manors of Wooburn 
 Deyncourt and Bishop’s Wooburn became united in the possession of the Goodwins. Jane, 
 the only daughter and heiress of Arthur Goodwin (grandson of Sir John), married Philip, 
 Lord Wharton, September 7th, 1G37, who, on the death of Arthur Goodwin, succeeded to 
 his estates. He attached himself to the Parliamentarians, and was Lord Lieutenant of 
 the county. Being strongly attached to the party of William Prince of Orange, he had 
 the honour of entertaining that monarch at his seat, Wooburn. At his death (1695), the 
 property devolved upon his third son, Thomas, who in 1706 was created Earl Wharton. 
 On January 1st, 1715, he was created Marquis of Wharton, and dying on April 12th 
 following, was succeeded in his estates and honours by his son Philip. Philip, after 
 leading a life disgraceful to a man and dishonourable to a Briton, died in misery and 
 obscurity in the small monastery of St. Bernard, near Taragona, in Spain, a.d. 1731. 
 At his death the estate was sold to J. Morse, Esq., from whom it devolved upon 
 Peregrine Bertie, Esq. From the family of Bertie it was purchased by Mrs. R. Dupre, 
 in the possession of whose descendants it now continues .”—Records of Buckinghamshire. 
 
(ONLY EIGHT COPIES ON OFFER.) 
 
 In 1 Vol., Crown Vo, ItSO pages, price. 10s. 6d., boards, 
 
 Itatjms of iHckingjramsjnro 
 
 AND 
 
 jwtit of $.ote of that ©ctmtg, 
 
 BY 
 
 ROBERT GIBBS, E.S.A., 
 
 Author of “ Regicides of Bucks," “ Local Records " “ History of Aylesbury," etc . 
 
 -:o:- 
 
 “It deserves a place on the shelves of the local Reading Rooms of the Connty, in 
 the libraries of the country gentlemen and clergy, and will be found a welcome addition 
 to the literary gatherings of those local and general collectors who 'are at once 
 archseologians and antiquaries .”—Bucks Herald, May 12th, 1888. 
 
 AYLESBURY, 1888. 
 
 THE 
 
 A Series of Concise and Interesting Articles Illustrative of the 
 
 History, J’opoqraphy, and )\qcHyEOLOQY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 COUNTY OF BUCKINGHAM, 
 
 Compiled and Edited by ROBERT GIBBS, F.S.A., 
 
 Author of “Local Occurrences," “Regicides of Rucks," “History of Aylesbury" “Worthies 
 
 of Buckinghamshire," &c. 
 
 HE “ BUCKINGHAMSHIRE MISCELLANY” will be mainly a topographical 
 tail work, will give descriptive accounts of the “ Nooks and Corners ” of the 
 County, together with Historic and Archaeological items connected with it. 
 It will be composed of concise and interesting readings from the works of those authors 
 who have treated on the ancient and modern History of Buckinghamshire—Camden, 
 Spelman, Dngdale, Leland, Kennett White, Rev. Cox, Lysons, Denham, Drayton, Langley, 
 Lipscomb, and others. Extracts will also be quoted from local authors of a more recent 
 period : the names of the writers will be given, together with a brief biographical notice 
 
 relating to them. 
 
 The Work will be published in quarterly parts, price One Shilling (by post Is. 2d.). 
 Only a small excess of copies will be printed over those subscribed for. 
 
 -:o:- 
 
 1889. 
 
 PRINTING OFFICE, BOURBON STREET, AYLESBURY. 
 
THE 
 
 §5 iu( Iti tt jj fta ro 8 Iti p 
 pTspllang, 
 
 A SERIES OE CONCISE AND INTERESTING ARTICLES ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE 
 
 l&forg, ®00U0ra|r!)g, attir ^rrlneolocjg 
 
 OF THE 
 
 COUNTY OP BTJOIKL INGHAM, 
 
 COMPILED AND ' EDITED BY 
 
 ROBERT GIBBS, F.S.A., 
 
 Author of “ Local Occurrences,” “ Regicides of BucJcs,” History of Aylesbury,” “ Worthies of 
 
 Buckinghamshire,” &c. 
 
 j^OJMTE^Tp OF p/F(T 4. 
 
 Buckingham Cross; Aylesbury in 16th Century; Antiquities at Waddesdon ; the 
 Bledlow Cross ; Great Penn’s Mead; Historic Associations; Antiquities at Mentmore ; 
 Ancient Roads ; Lavendon Abbey ; Buckinghamshire in Parliament; Lutfield Priory ; 
 Palimpsest Brasses; Ancient Divisions of Buckinghamshire; Dinton Hall; Riching’s 
 Park ; Buckinghamshire Churches ; Heart Bequests ; Rye House Plot; Stoke 
 Mandeville ; Upper Winchendon Mansion ; Sepulchral Mouuments ; the Stowe Sale ; 
 Ellesborough ; Ashridge House ; Miracles; Cemetery at Stone; Ship Money; Qaarrendcn 
 Chapel ; Whaddon Chase ; Highways ; Rochester’s Escape; Cemetery at Long Crendon ; 
 Effigies, Clifton Reynes ; Snelshall Priory; Hampden Family; Lavendon Castle; 
 Hogshavv Priory ; Olney Old Church ; Norman Towers. 
 
 AYLESBURY : c 
 
 PRINTED BY R. GIBBS, “ BUCKS ADVERTISER & AYLESBURY NEWS” OFFICE. r 
 
 ”- ^ 
 
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 MDCCCXC. 
 
145 
 
 BUCKINGHAM CROSS. 
 
 Late Rev. H. Roundell. 
 
 “ This Cross anciently stood in the Horse Fair, upon an open space of ground 
 nearly opposite the mansion built by William and Mary Lambert, in which King Charles 
 I. was entertained in June, 1644, now the property and residence of H. Hearn, Esq. 
 The steps and part of the shaft of the Cross are stated to have continued in their original 
 position till the end of the last century, and to have been then removed into the garden 
 of a public-house adjoining, called The Dun Cow, and converted into a pedestal for a 
 sun-dial. In 1844, the Cross was taken by the late Mr. Loveridge to Preston Bissett, 
 four miles from Buckingham, and his son subsequently conveyed it to Lillingstone Lovell, 
 near Whittlebury. Upon leaving Lillingstone to reside in a distant part of the country, 
 Mr. Loveridge presented this Cross to the Rev. W. Perkins, of Twyford, by whose 
 liberality this interesting fragment of antiquity has been restored to Buckingham. It 
 was brought back in March, 1858, was then temporarily placed in the Vicarage garden, 
 and has now, it is hoped, reached its final destination. As the piece of ground on which 
 it was originally built has been long enclosed, and the exact site lost on which it stood, 
 the Cross is now placed in a conspicuous position in the Churchyard, some years since 
 closed to interments by Order in Council, and marks the spot which was once the 
 Western entrance to the Church, demolished after the fall of the spire, in the year 1777. 
 The base of the Cross in its present condition, measures two feet seven inches square by 
 ten inches high, and the shaft is two feet six inches by ten inches in diameter. The 
 corners are chamfered, and the mouldings ornamented with four-leaved flower pattern 
 indicate the fourteenth century, the period of Decorated Architecture, as the date of its 
 construction.” 
 
 AYLESBURY IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 Camden. 
 
 “Not far from the River Tame, which watereth the south part of the Vale, 
 stands on a rising ground a very fair market-town, large and pretty populous, sur¬ 
 rounded with a great number of pleasant meadows and pastures, and now call’d Ailsbury; 
 whence the whole Vale is commonly term’d the Vale of Ailsbury. The Saxons call’d 
 it Aeglepbupge, when Cutwolph the Saxon took it by force in the year 572. As for its 
 old British name, that through the injury of time is quite lost. This town was heretofore 
 chiefly famous for St. iEdith, a native of it, who when she had prevail’d with her father 
 Frewald to give her this for her portion, presently upon perswasion of some Religious 
 
146 
 
 persons, left the world and her husband, and taking on her the habit of a Nun, grew so 
 celebrated for her sanctity, that in that fruitful age of Saints she is reported to have 
 done several miracles, together with her sister Edburg, from whom Edburton, a little 
 village among the hills, takes its name. In the time of the Conqueror this was a 
 Manour-royal, and several yard-lands were here given by the King, upon the condition 
 that the holders of them should find Litter (i.e. straw) for the King’s bed whenever he 
 should come thither. In the reign of Edward I. certain Knights surnam’d de Ailsbury, 
 who bore for arms a Cross argent in a field azure, are reported (but how truly I know 
 not) to have been Lords of this place. Yet so much is certain, that these Knights were 
 eminent in those times; and that by marriage with an heiress of the Cahaignes 
 (formerly Lords of Middleton Cahaignes), they came to a plentiful estate, which fell 
 afterwards by marriage to the Chaworths or Cadurcis, and Staffords. The greatest 
 repute it now hath is for Cattel. It owes much to the munificence of Lord Chief Justice 
 Baldwin, who not only adorn’d it with several publick edifices, but rais’d an excellent 
 Causey for about three miles, where the road is deep and troublesome. All round about 
 are fed a vast number of well-fleec’d sheep, to the great profit and advantage of their 
 owners; especially at Querendon, a Lordship belonging to the very eminent Sir Henry 
 Lee, Knight of the Garter ; Eythorp, once to the Dinhams, now to the Dormers, 
 Knights; and Winchindon, to the Godwins, Knights, &c.” 
 
 ANTIQUITIES AT WADDESDON. 
 
 In Whitechurch Close, Westcott, Waddesdon, are the remains of the moated site 
 of an ancient mansion, and a large circular fish-pond. And in a field known as Farm 
 Close, are traces of another moat. In a field called “ The Bury” is a moat which, when 
 perfect, encompassed a square of about half an acre, and contiguous to the site are traces 
 of a fish-pond. Near the farm-house of Colwick, in a field called Kitchen Close, is a 
 moated site enclosing a square piece of ground containing about half an acre ; and in 
 Road Close, in the same locality, is a moated inclosure, smaller in size, and circular in 
 form. In the farm-yard of Philosophy Farm, a little southward from Waddesdon 
 Church, was an old stone building long used as a stable, which was pulled down in 1860, 
 and amongst the stones were noticed several sculptured lumps (apparently part of a 
 window) and the capitals of pillars, in Early English. About fifty yards distant from 
 the farm-house is a square piece of ground, about three- quarters of an acre, which is 
 encompassed by a deep moat. Some years ago a barbed spear-head was found on this 
 farm, in the ribs of the skeleton of a horse, and it is supposed to be of the date of King 
 Edward III. 
 
147 
 
 THE BLED LOW CROSS. 
 
 Mr. John Clarke, Haddenham (1863). 
 
 “This Cross is situated above the Wainhill Hamlet, on the Cliiltern range of 
 hills, on an estate belonging to Eton College ; the farm was in my father’s occupation as 
 tenant and lessee for 40 years from 1802. The Cross itself was so completely overgrown 
 at that time, that I have heard him say he had held the farm for some years before he 
 knew one existed, and merely discovered it by accidentally walking over it. I have, 
 however, been told by some of the old men in Bledlow, that the shepherds while tending 
 their flocks many years since, were in the habit of clearing it out for amusement, but if 
 so, it was evidently very imperfectly done. Having always possessed something of a 
 taste for antiquities, I about 25 years since started a subscription among the parishioners 
 and had the Cross properly scoured, and once since I believe I had it done on my own 
 account. For some years the steward of the College has liberally contributed to the 
 scouring when necessary, and about three years since the burser gave me directions to 
 have it well done. At that part of the hill the soil is thick, and the chalk consequently at 
 a considerable depth from the surface ; this of course diminishes the effect of the figure, 
 except it be viewed in a direct line with the nave ; it also lies at rather too low an angle 
 to be well brought into view from the plain below, being too much in the plane of the 
 eye. Its dimensions are—The nave 74ft. by 17ft. ; the arms or transepts each 35ft. by 
 13ft. 6in.” 
 
 GREAT PENNS MEAD, HIGH WYCOMBE. 
 
 Mr. John Parker. 
 
 {The. late Mr. John Parker, of High Wycombe, was an antiquary of great local 
 reputation. His chief ivork was his “Early History and Antiquities of Wycombe," 
 published in 1878. He was a solicitor, having been admitted to the profession at the 
 Michaelmas term, 1823. He filled many important offices with great efficiency. Though a 
 decided and consistent Nonconformist of the old school, he reckoned among his friends many 
 of the clergy of the Established Church. He was a liberal supporter of public movements 
 for the good of Wycombe, his native town, and died there, greatly respected, at the close of 
 the year lti80, in the 80 tli year of his age.~\ 
 
 “Wycombe is a town of great antiquity; it formed part of the territory of the 
 Cassii, and was occupied by a tribe called by Ptolemy the ‘ Catyeuchlani,’ and by others 
 ‘ Catuvillani.’ Brewer, in his learned introduction to the ‘ Beauties of England and 
 
148 
 
 Wales,' mentions Wycombe as having been a Roman Station or camp ; but it is not 
 enumerated in the list of stations given in the Itinerary of Richard of Cirencester. It 
 is situated about eight miles distant from the Ikening or Icknield Street, or Road of the 
 Iceni, which was first constructed by the aborigines, and improved by the Romans. 
 This road skirts the Chiltern Hills and runs by Wendover, Ellesborough, Little and 
 Great Kimble, the Risboroughs, and Bledlow. Wycombe is situated on the very ancient 
 road forming a short cut between the Thames at Hedsor and the Icknield Way, and this 
 accounts for the presence of the Roman remains, which will now be described. 
 
 In the year 1724, in a mead called Great Penns Mead, a Roman tesselated pavement 
 was discovered, of which the following record is contained in the third volume of the 
 ‘Journals of the Wycombe Municipal Charity Trustees ’ ‘ Burgus de Chepping 
 
 Wycombe in Com. Bucks, Primo die Julii Anno Dni 1724°. Memorand: That then 
 was found in a Mead called great Penns Mead, belonging to the Right Honourable the 
 Earle of Shelburne, about a quarter of a mile from the said Burrough, an old Roman 
 Pavement set in curious figures, as circles, squares, diamond squares, eight squares, 
 hearts, and many other curious figures, with a Beast in the center, in a circle, like a dog 
 standing sideways by a tree, all set with stones in red, black, yellow, and white, about a 
 quarter of an inch square ; the whole pavement was about ffourteen foot square; the 
 ffine work in the middle was ten ffoot long, and eight ffoot broad, the rest was filled up 
 with Roman brick about an inch and a halfe square.’ 
 
 In the year 1862 Great Penns Mead was identified by means of a lease granted 
 in the reign of Henry YIII. of the Lady Mead, which is described as being situate at 
 the east end of the Rye, and abutting south upon the meadow called Penn Mead. The 
 late Lord Carington kindly granted permission, and provided labourers, to explore the 
 meadow with a view of discovering the pavement thus recorded, when the remains of a 
 Roman villa were uncovered, consisting of the foundations of a portico, the floors of 
 several apartments, and an atrium or hall, consisting of a square flanked by two oblongs, 
 the whole being enclosed by bands of double and single guilloche. The oblong com¬ 
 partments contain a series of sea monsters with twisted tails. The square is again 
 resolved into a smaller central square (the design of which is lost), with four still smaller 
 squares at the angles, which are occupied by female busts, representing the Horae, or 
 goddesses of the seasons. The one that remains perfect appears to represent Spring. 
 All the mosaics are executed with very fine tesserulae of black, blue, red, yellow, and 
 white, on a solid basis of flints and rubble. Another compartment also contained mosaic 
 pavement with a margin of common red tesserae. This pavement is totally destroyed, 
 but the tesserulae found, many of which were no larger than peas, show it to have been 
 of singularly fine and minute workmanship. The pavement on the right of this 
 was also destroyed, showing the hypocaust. Three of the pilae remained perfect on 
 the floor. 
 
 The site of the pavement discovered in 1724, was at the entrance to the villa, and no 
 
149 
 
 doubt was the well known Cave Canem, recorded as having been found ; the whole was 
 destroyed, but most of the tesserulre found on the spot were of the finest and most minute 
 character. The entire central building lay only from twelve to eighteen inches below the 
 surface. Leaving the central building, we proceed through the court of the villa to the 
 eastern fortification walls. At the north end, near the brook which runs close by, are 
 the foundations of inner and outer walls ; in the latter are the remains of two turrets, 
 eighteen feet apart; between these was an entrance to the villa, traces of which still 
 remain in the wall. The turrets project five feet from the wall, and are paved with 
 common red tesserae, each having a seat of the same pavement. Southward from these 
 turrets are the most remarkable remains brought to light, composing a distinct set of 
 apartments of much larger dimensions than those in the central building. The largest 
 apartment had a hypocaust, and the ruins of the pilee were found mixed with pieces of 
 guilloche pavement of superior workmanship, and rubbed to a fine surface. Nearly 
 adjoining the larger apartment, at a depth of about four feet, was found what without 
 doubt was the bath, having pavement composed of white tesserae, each about half an inch 
 square, the margin and other parts being laid in red. The sides were plastered, and 
 decorated in fresco ; a part of a fish resembling a roach was painted on one of them, with 
 the colours in a good state of preservation. The bath projects from the wall to cor¬ 
 respond with the turret. The following relics were found, i.e., an arrow-head, two bone 
 hair-pins, and a statera or miniature steelyard in bronze, similarly engraved to one found 
 at Cirencester, and which is considered one of the most rare and valuable of Roman 
 remains. Many broken pieces of pottery were also found, but without any potter’s mark. 
 It is remarkable that none of the remains lately discovered appear to have been known 
 to the antiquaries of 1724." 
 
 BUCKS.—HISTORIC ASSOCIATIONS. 
 
 Rev. C. Lowndes, M.A. 0878). 
 
 “Many are the historic associations connected with our inland county, which has 
 been successively inhabited by Briton and Roman, Saxon and Dane. The traveller by 
 railway through the peaceful and fertile Yale of Aylesbury, gliding along at the foot of 
 the Chiltern Hills, will observe the prominent White Leaf Cross, and meditate on the 
 associations connected with it ; he will notice the long range of beech woods on the 
 hills, which were formerly infested with bands of freebooters, and will call to mind the 
 acceptance of the Royal Appointment of the Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds by a 
 member of the Lower House of Parliament for the protection of the country, but which 
 is now a sinecure ; he will think of the British trackway called the Icknield Way ; the 
 
150 
 
 great territorial boundary of Grimsdyke running from the hills in Oxfordshire across the 
 Chilterns, on to Berkhampstead Common, in the adjoining county of Hertfordshire ; the 
 numerous barrows or sepulchral tumuli ; the sites of camps and fortifications, as Kimble 
 Castle, the reputed residence of the British King Cunobeline, or Cymbeline ; and the 
 monuments of the long period of the Middle Ages, as the religious house of the Monks 
 of Risborough, and the castle of the chivalrous Black Prince at Princes Risborough, 
 erected probably for the purpose of hunting on the Chilterns. Or as he passes along the 
 tracks of the Roman roads, which run across the county from Tring to Bicester, and 
 from Dunstable to Daventry, he will call to mind what Britain was formerly, and 
 endeavour to realise the scenes and men the neighbourhood witnessed since that distant 
 day. For instance, out of that long list, the British Chief-Cunobeline, whose coins were 
 founds in hundreds in Whaddon Chase in the year 1849, some of which can be seen in 
 the County Museum ; the Roman Emperor Claudius, with his legionary cohorts and 
 elephants tramping along to the astonishment of the inhabitants, taking possession of 
 the country ; the great heroine Queen Boadicea and her Iceni sweeping down with dire 
 revenge, for fearful wrongs, the Roman Colonies and all who opposed her ; the great 
 struggles which existed both at and before the Norman Conquest ; and the conflicts 
 which raged between King and Parliament, Cavalier and Roundhead.” 
 
 MENTMORE.—DISCOVERY OF ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Mr. F. Ouvry, F.S.A. 
 
 Mr. Frederic Ouvry, F.S.A., in a letter to the Secretary of the Society of 
 Antiquaries, gives an account of some “ Saxon and other Remains discovered at and near 
 Mentmore.” The letter is dated March, 1854. Mr. Ouvry states that having been 
 informed by his brother, the Rev. J. N. Ouvry-North, then Vicar of Mentmore, that 
 some skeletons had been discovered in a gravel pit in the centre of the village, visited 
 the place, but could not learn that anything had been found with the skeletons. He 
 heard, however, that several interments had also been discovered immediately to the 
 south of and almost opposite the church. “ A spear-head was found, about 18 inches 
 in length ; a bronze article was also found, which appeared to have formed part of a 
 clasp ; and also a coin of Constans or Constantius. Near the spot where the spear-head 
 was found, Mr. Ouvry discovered an interment about two feet from the surface, and by 
 the side of a skeleton he found a short spear-head and a knife, and some fragments of 
 bronze, probably part of the fastenings of the belt. In August, 1853, seven skeletons 
 were discovered near Baron Rothschild’s kennels, about 100 yards from the site of the 
 former interments ; but nothing was found with them. In the month following there 
 were three more skeletons found on the same spot, with one of which fragments, ap- 
 
151 
 
 parently of a shield, were found on the breast, but no spear-head or knife. Another 
 skeleton was found near the church, with a knife but no spear. All the skeletons were 
 lying nearly east and west—the heads to the west; in many cases the bones were much 
 decomposed, the ground being a heavy clay. In many places where the ground 
 was opened, signs of cremation appeared, but no urns were found. Bones of 
 animals were of frequent occurrence. Several Roman coins besides the one already 
 mentioned have been turned up. Two pieces of armour (one of which was a cup-shaped 
 fibula), a spur of the twelfth century, a coin of Alexander III. of Scotland, and the 
 head of a bird-bolt, and an iron instrument, which it is conjectured may have been 
 used for jousting on foot to prevent the wearer from slipping, were also discovered.” 
 
 THE WATLING STREET. ICKNIELD WAY, AND AKEMAN STREET. 
 [Being a more detailed account of Ancient Roads.J 
 
 The Yen. E. Bickersteth, D.D., Dean of Lichfield. 
 
 “ There are three or four Roman roads in Buckinghamshire, which are indicated 
 with tolerable clearness ; but with regard to the cross-roads or bye-ways which intersected 
 the island very little is certainly known. The two which can be best traced are the 
 Watling Street and the Icknield Way. The Saxon form of the word Watling is 
 “ Guethelinga.” It is supposed to derive its name from the “ Guethelinga” or Wietlinga, 
 the sons of Waetla, a Saxon chief. 
 
 Watlington, Wallingford, Wellingborough, Wellington, and other places, derive their 
 names from hence. This great and famous road runs from the south-east coast of 
 England, from Richborough (Dover) in Kent to London ; and from thence, right across 
 the island to Deva(Chester), and so on to Segontium (Caer Seiont), near Carnarvon (one 
 of the most important Roman towns in Wales), and thence into Anglesea, perhaps to 
 Holyhead, following for all practical purposes the course of the London and North- 
 Western Railway. It enters Buckinghamshire between Fenny Stratford and Dunstable, 
 not far from Leighton Buzzard, and leaves it a little north-west of Stony Stratford, where 
 it crosses the Ouse. The places Fenny Stratford and Stony Stratford, take their names 
 from the road on which they stand, the “ strat,” “ streat,” or “ street,” being derived 
 from the Latin “ strata viathat is, a “ spread” or “ paved way and the word “ ford'' 
 indicating that the road there crosses a stream, as the Ousel at Fenny Stratford, and the 
 Ouse at Stony Stratford. The Romans took great pains in the construction of their 
 roads. They began with making a deep excavation, the material thrown out forming a 
 mound on either side, on which they erected a parapet. The excavation was then filled 
 
152 
 
 up with layers of different materials, of which concrete was one. Above these 
 layers they placed the hardest stones that they could procure, and these were laid 
 in cement. 
 
 The elevated parapet was useful for those who travelled on foot. Temples and monu¬ 
 ments adorned these ways ; and the distances were marked on columns of stone. 
 Sometimes the Romans formed double roads, like our double lines of railway, one for 
 those going one way, and one for those, going the other. In these cases, the two roads 
 were separated by a parapet paved with bricks, for the convenience of foot passengers. 
 The road from Rome to Ostia, called “ Via Portuensis,” was so formed. In the Roman 
 Itinerary of Antoninus is marked a place or station called “ Magioventum” or “ Magio- 
 veniurn,” which can be shown by the distances to have been close to Fenny Stratford, a 
 little south of it, at a place now called “ Old Fields.” Many Roman and other coins have 
 been found at this spot on either side of the road ; and this confirms the general tradition 
 and belief that there was here at one time an important Roman station. Watling Street 
 will at once arrest the attention of the traveller by its straightness. 
 
 The “Icknield Way,” was originally a British road. It derives its name from the 
 Iceni, a Celtic tribe, who inhabited the eastern parts of the island, which now com¬ 
 prehend Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, and portions of other counties. The 
 Icknield Way, corrupted into “ Hacknell” or “Acknell” Way, was the way of the 
 Iceni, and was afterwards utilized by the Romans, and converted by them into one of 
 their highways. For this reason it lacks the characteristic straightness of an original 
 Roman Road. It does not run in a straight line like the Watling Street, but winds 
 about, so as to keep, wherever possible, upon the higher ground, as may be seen in 
 Buckinghamshire, where it runs along upon the shoulders of the Chiltern Hills by 
 Ivinghoe (near which it enters the county), Pitstone, Wendover, Ellesborough, Little and 
 Great Kimble, the Risborougbs, and Bledlow. It finally leaves the county near Cbinnor. 
 In its course from the east it strikes the Watling Street at Dunstable (Durocobrivte), 
 near which are the remains of both a Roman camp and a British stronghold. We thus 
 see the courses of the Watling Street and the Icknield Way. As the Watling Street 
 seems to have been the great highway of communication across the island from the 
 south-east to Deva (Chester), and so on westward into Anglesea; so the Icknield Way 
 seems to have been intended to connect the corn fields and grazing lands of the east, 
 with the mining districts of the south-west. It runs from the east coast right across the 
 country south-west, until it touches the mines in the far west of England. And so it 
 seems to have been the means of communication between the corn and cattle of the east, 
 and the mineral health of the south-west. It is to be noticed that at Streatley, in 
 Berkshire, it divides into two branches, both of which, however, appear to lead ultimately 
 into Devonshire and Cornwall. Beyond these two great trackways, which cross one 
 another near Dunstable, not long before they enter this county, our knowledge of the 
 ancient Roman roads is limited and uncertain. 
 
153 
 
 The “ Akeman Street” entered this county near Tring, and passed through Aston 
 Clinton and Aylesbury to Bicester. But about the course of this road authorities 
 differ. It was, perhaps, a more northerly branch of the Icknield Way. It is said to 
 have derived its name from its being the road along which Akeman (aching men) passed, 
 for the benefit of the waters of Bath (Aquae Solis). At all events, one of the Saxon names 
 of Bath was Akemannes-ceaster, or the city of invalids. Another road, which has some 
 claim to notice, is called the Foss-way (via fossata), so called apparently because it was 
 never completed; that is to say, the excavation was made, but the road was not finished. 
 This road is believed to have run northwards to Lincoln from Cornwall. In mentioning 
 this road, I may say that there is some reason for supposing that there was a cross or 
 branch road from Stony Stratford to Water Stratford, both in this county. A line drawn 
 between these two places would pass through Foscote, the ‘cot’ or village of the ‘via 
 fossata perhaps an unfinished cross-road. The Ermyn Street, a corruption of ‘ Eormen,’ 
 one of the chief Anglo-Saxon divinities, was supposed to run from St. David’s to 
 Southampton. Some good authorities, however, are of opinion that this road ran north¬ 
 wards from Pevensey, through London and the great Yorkshire towns to the south-east 
 of Scotland. 
 
 In this notice of the Roman roads, I ought not to omit to treat of the true 
 position of the Roman station called Lactorodum or Lactodorum. Camden takes some 
 pains to show that its site is Stony Stratford ; ‘ lacto,’ according to him being the 
 Latiuized form of ‘ leach,’ an old British word signifying a heap of stones ; and ‘ rodum,’ 
 being also the Latin form of ‘ ryd,’ a ford. But unfortunately for him. the word as given 
 in the old Itineraries, which apparently he had not consulted, is not Lactorodum, but 
 Lactodorum, which at once disposes of his ingenious but somewhat fanciful theory. I 
 believe that the more trustworthy evidence of the distances would remove the site of 
 Lactodorum into Northamptonshire, probably near to Towcester. I will only repeat 
 that considerable doubt rests upon the courses and the termini of other Roman roads, 
 such as the Ryknield Street, the Portman Way, &c.; and T will not, therefore, hazard 
 any conjectures concerning them. It is enough for us that two well recognized Roman 
 highways pass through our county, the one of interest as an original Roman road, and 
 the other no less interesting as an adopted British highway—the origin of which reaches 
 far back into the remotest history of the island .”—Buckinghamshire Records. 
 
 LAYENDON ABBEY, NEWPORT PAGNELL. 
 
 Lavendon Abbey, a house of Premonstratensian Canons was founded in the reign 
 of King Henry II., by John de Biduu, a Baron, who endowed it with lands in Lavendon, 
 &c. The charter of foundation is preserved in the Monasticon. The monastery was 
 
154 
 
 dedicated in honour of St. John Baptist, and the seal of the Abbey exhibited a repre¬ 
 sentation 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. 3^d., 
 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 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 Abbey 
 Manor consists of the lauds in this parish which belonged to Lavendon Abbey. 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. Wm. Newton, of Northamptonshire, 
 who about 1616, 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 suc¬ 
 cessor 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. 
 
 BUCKINGHAMSHIRE IN PARLIAMENT. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 In 1879 the House of Commons ordered to be printed, the returns of the names of 
 every member elected to serve in each Parliament from so remote a time as they could 
 be obtained up to the year 1876. As these returns comprise a period of 663 years, it 
 may well be supposed that they could not be obtained in a complete state—they are not. 
 It would be almost an impossibility to produce vouchers of upwards of 650 years old. 
 Time has destroyed many of these old documents ; others having been badly stored, are 
 rotten and illegible; a considerable number are mislaid and lost, never to be recovered. 
 Of the Parliament of 1213 no details now exist, nor of the following six Parliaments up 
 to and including that of 1283. In the Parliament of 1290, thirty-seven counties return 
 knights, some two and some three. One writ is made to serve for both the counties of 
 
155 
 
 Bucks and Bedford and the names of the four knights are entered on the back of the 
 writ, without specifying which counties they represented, but without doubt the two 
 returned for Bucks were Willielmus de Turvyll and John de Patishull. In the 26th of 
 Edward I. (1298) the Sheriff of Bucks makes this return to the writ :—“ Nulli sunt 
 Cives, nec Burgenses in comitatu praedicto, nec civifas, nec Burgus, propter quod cives nec 
 Burgenses coram vobis venire facere non 'possum." (There are no Citizens nor Burgesses 
 in the county aforesaid, nor city nor borough, for which cause I cannot make citizens 
 or burgesses to come before you). 
 
 In the Parliament of 1300-1, in addition to the knights of the shire of Bucks, 
 representatives are also sent from the boroughs of Agmoudeshara, Marlow, Wendover, and 
 Wycombe, but with the exception of Wycombe these boroughs disappear in the next 
 Parliament. Marlow re-appears in 1304-5, Agmondesham in 1306, and Wendover 1307 
 and 1309. No return is made from Wycombe in 1311, but two members are again 
 returned in 1312 and 1313. In these years the Sheriff returns— “Nulla sunt civitates, in 
 comitatu Bucks, nec etiam Burgipraefer in villa de Wycomb .” (There are no cities in the 
 county of Buckingham, nor even boroughs, except within the town of Wycombe.) After 
 several Parliaments, the records of which are missing, Wycombe again returns in 1318. 
 Parliaments at this period were very frequent, occasionally two or three in one year. For 
 some time subsequently only the knights of the shire for Bucks are met with ; occasion¬ 
 ally Wycombe is represented but irregularly until 1334, when its representatives were 
 more constant in their attendance. From 1482-3 to 1514, including ten Parliaments, few 
 returns are found, or are ever likely to be. From another source it is, however, found 
 that in 1491-2 Bucks sent Sir John Yerney, Kut, and John Hampden, Esq. ; Wycombe 
 Richard Barnard and William Caro (Carew) as representatives. In 1529 the returns 
 are made up from State papers, and Buckingham Borough is for the first time met with. 
 In this return Bucks and Northamptonshire are so confused that the members for 
 either county cannot be distinguished. Willis claims an earlier appearance for 
 Buckingham, and refers to two precepts in the reign of Edward III., but they were 
 only to require the attendance of certain persons to assist the King’s Council in 
 matters relative to commerce. The first of these was, in 11th Edward III., directed 
 to the bailiff of the town of Bokyngham, requiring three or four de probalis et discrelis 
 hominibus dicta.i villa}. Another precept or summons was issued in 1354, addressed to 
 the Majori et Ballisis de Bokyngham, but the inhabitants found meaus to evade the 
 execution of it, and sent no one to the Council to represent them. 
 
 In 1545 there appears as Knights for Bucks, Sir Francis Bryan, Kut., and Sir 
 Francis Russell, Kut. For Buckingham the Burgesses were John Jastbyn, Esq., and 
 Ralph Gifford, gent. For Wycombe, Robert Chalfonte and Roland Brasebrigge were 
 returned. In 1547-52 Sir Thomas Windsor is returned as Knight for the County, vice 
 Sir Anthony Lee, deceased. This return does not appear in the official list. 
 
 In 1554, Aylesbury Borough is added ; Bucks thus sending Aylesbury, Buckingham, 
 
156 
 
 and Wycombe, in addition to the knights of the shire. The returns to the Parliament of 
 1614 are extremely deficient, none being found for mauy places ; indeed, they are almost 
 useless. With the exception of some three or four by-elections, the whole of these 
 returns are missing. Browne Willis, in compiling his “ Notitia Parliamentary,” prefaced 
 his list of this Parliament thus—“ There being no office of record whatsoever of any entry 
 of the members of this Parliament, what is here drawn up is from the best information 
 
 that can possibly be procured, after many years endeavour.and it is to be 
 
 hoped, will be allowed and accepted till an exact list can be made, if ever proper 
 materials for such should be found.” Fortunately this want has been supplied, and an 
 important link in our Parliamentary annals has been made good by a discovery in the 
 Ivimbolton MSS. of a complete list of the House of Commons in this Parliament. By 
 the courtesy of the Duke of Man Chester this manuscript, which has hitherto escaped 
 notice, has been made public, and it upsets altogether the speculative list of Willis. 
 The transcript appears in the “ Palatine Note Book” of June, 1883, in a paper by 
 W. D. Pink, of Leigh, Lancashire, and by its assistance a great hiatus is made good in 
 our Parliamentary history. From this MS. it will be found that in 1614 Bucks 
 County returned Francis Goodwyn and William Borlase ; Buckingham Thomas Denton 
 and Radulphos Winwood. Wycombe Henry Nevill and another William Borlase ; 
 Aylesbury John Dormer and Samuel Backhouse. 
 
 In the Parliament of 1625 the Boroughs of Amersham, Marlow, and Wendover are 
 added, thus giving Bucks a Parliamentary force of fourteen members. The return of 
 1650 is again deficient. The Bucks Boroughs are given, but the names of the Knights 
 for the Shire are omitted, the list being marked “ return torn;’’ the names missing are 
 John Hampden and Arthur Goodwyn, two of the most conspicuous members in the 
 House. The returns to the Parliament of 1656 are very imperfect, and are described 
 as “ given by Browne Willis, and for the most part taken from lists printed in those 
 times.” No returns for Bucks appear at this date, but the following list of repre¬ 
 sentatives is obtained elsewhere. For Bucks County Sir Bulstrode Whitelock, Knt., 
 Sir Richard Pigott, Knt., Richard Grenville, Esq., Richard Ingoldsby, Esq., and Richard 
 Hampden, Esq; for Aylesbury, Thomas Scott, Esq.; Buckingham, Francis Ingoldsby, 
 Esq. ; and Wycombe, Tobias Bridges, Major-General. 
 
 In the Parliament of 1658-9 no return appears in the official list for Bucks 
 County, but other sources give Bucks as having returned Richard Grenville, Esq., and 
 William Bowyer, Esq. In this case the members for the Boroughs are duly recorded. 
 
 In the Parliament of 1660 these returns are made. Only the one referring to the 
 County appears in the official list, the boroughs being obtained from another source :— 
 Bucks, Thomas Tyrrill, Esq., William Bowyer, Esq., and William Tyrringham, vice 
 Tyrrell, Justice of the Common Pleas; Aylesbury, Richard Ingoldsby, Esq., and Thomas 
 Lee, Esq. ; Amersham, Charles Cheyne, Esq., and Thomas Proby, Esq.; Buckingham, 
 Sir Richard Temple, Bart., and John Dormer, Esq.; Marlow, Peregrine Hoby, Esq., 
 
157 
 
 and William Borlace, Esq. ; Wendover, Richard Hampden, Esq., and John BaldwjD, 
 Esq.; Wycombe. Edward Petty, Esq., Recorder, and Richard Browne, Esq. Thomas 
 Scott was also returned, but his election was declared void, he being a Regicide. 
 
 In the Pensionary Parliament (1661) there were many changes in the Bucks 
 constituencies, no fewer than fourteen elections during that Parliament taking place. 
 No further changes occur in the representative system of Bucks until 1833; in the 
 Parliament of that year Amersham and Wendover disappear, but an additional 
 knight is given to the county constituency. In the Parliaments of 1868 and 1874 
 the Boroughs of Buckingham, Wycombe, and Marlow send but one member each, 
 Aylesbury being the only place retaining its two members. Here the returns cease. 
 In the Parliament of 1886, Bucks returns but three representatives for the whole 
 county ; thus its representative force is reduced by the loss of eleven members out of its 
 former fourteen.—These notes only profess to amend some of the most glaring omissions 
 in the official list published in 1879. 
 
 LUFFIELD PRIORY. 
 
 Part of the buildings of Luffield Priory stood in the parish of Lillingstone Dayreli- 
 The site of the Priory grounds is now an extra-parochial district of 510 acres. Part 
 of this land belonged to Buckinghamshire until October, 1844, when it was severed from 
 it, and was incorporated with Northamptonshire, under the Act 7 and 8 Viet., c 61. 
 The monastery was founded here, in a secluded spot within the Forest of Whittleburv, 
 near the junction of the counties of Buckingham and Northampton, in the reign of King 
 Henry I., for Benedictine Monks, by Henry Bossu, Earl of Leicester. The conventual 
 buildings and offices were principally in the parish of Lillingstone Dayreli, and the 
 Church stood in Silverstone, Northamptonshire. In consequence of the poverty of the 
 establishment, it was suppressed in the reign of King Henry VII. (1494), and its revenues 
 were given, first to the Collegiate Church of St. George at Windsor, and afterwards to 
 the Chapel of King Henry VII. in Westminster Abbey—to which it continued a Cell till 
 the general dissolution of monasteries in the next reign. There are no remains of the 
 Priory. 
 
 PALIMPSEST BRASSES.—ANCIENT BEQUEST TO AYLESBURY CHURCH. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 Palimpsest or ancient double-faced memorial brasses are at times met with. The 
 late Admiral Smyth, of Stone, was of opinion that the word “ Palimpsest” originally 
 described a kind of parchment from which whatever was written thereon might be erased 
 
158 
 
 so as to admit of its being written on anew. Transferring such incident from parchment 
 to brass we have the designation palimpsest brasses, or those brasses whereon the 
 sepulchral memorials of individuals in one generation have been displaced or altered 
 in order to make way for those belonging to another. Of this kind a specimen found 
 in the Chancel of Hedgerley Church, in this county, is a notable example. In this case 
 the first surface had been elaborately engraven in memory of an Abbot, one Thomas 
 Totyngton, who died in 1312 ; the brass was reversed, and on its other side was richly 
 incised an inscription to record the person and children of Dame Margaret Bulstrode, 
 who died in 1540, there being a difference in the dates on either side of the brass of 228 
 years, during the greater part of which period the brass had probably done duty for its 
 first-named owner. Admiral Smyth, in referring to a two faced monumental tablet in 
 Stone Church, describes it as altogether different in style and intention from palimpsest, 
 since the inscriptions vary but little in age, and not at all in execution. The upper 
 surface is inscribed to Thomas Gourney and his wife in the year 1520, whilst the under 
 one is to the memory of Christopher Tharpe, and dated 1514. During the six elapsed 
 years it is more reasonable to suppose that the tablet, from some unexplained cause, 
 remained in the workman’s shop and had not been used, than that it was so soon torn 
 from the tombstone for which it was originally prepared. 
 
 “ A curious specimen of a double-faced brass has been found in the Church of Shipton- 
 under-Wychwood, Oxon. On the organ of that church being eularged, it was necessary 
 to place the pedal pipes against the east wall of the Chancel aisle, in which wall was 
 fixed the only brass existing in the church. As the brass would, by the alteration, have 
 been permanently concealed from view, it was thought best to remove it in order to affix 
 it as near as possible to its old position, and where it might be seen. In its removal it 
 was found to be very weak in places, and to have been fastened to an oak frame by way 
 of support. The cause of the weakness was obvious enough when the back of it was 
 exposed to view, as on that part was found another inscription very deeply cut. 
 
 The inscription on the more modern side of the brass is to the memory of Elizabeth, 
 daughter and heir of Thomas Thame, “some time the wife of Edmund Horne, Esq.” 
 She died in the year 1548. The material does not appear to have been of sufficient size 
 for the purpose required, and another piece of brass is soldered to it at one end, to make 
 room for a coat of arms and an ill-executed effigy of a lady It is this additional piece 
 that has a prior inscription on the reverse side. The soldering has caused the mutilation 
 of several of the words of the original inscription, nor does its date appear. The usual 
 abbreviations then so plentifully used make it difficult to transcribe every word, but in 
 substance this inscription reads as follows :—“To all true, faithful, and Christian people, 
 which shall see, hear, behold, or read this writing—John Hone and Alys His Wife, send 
 greeting in our Lord everlasting. Be it known in our university that we have given, 
 granted, and confirmed by charter and seison of delivery to the wardens or masters of 
 the guild or brotherhood, otherwise called the fraternity of the glorious Virgin, Saint 
 
159 
 
 Mary, our Lady of Aylesbury, a messe with the appurtenances lying in the persouys (Fee) 
 in Aylesbury, in manner, form, and condition here following, that is to say, that if the said 
 masters themselves, or by their attorneys, whatsoever they be, in the prebendal Church 
 of this blessed Mary, our Lady of Aylesbury, after the manner and usage of the Church 
 of Salisbury solemnly to be kept, sing for the souls of the said John and Alys his wife, 
 dyrges yearly the xxm day of April, in time to come and always to endure, and on the 
 morrow the masses in likewise, then they to enjoy the said messe, with this also that they 
 give unto the Vicarage of the said Church yearly for the time being vm. s., and dis¬ 
 tribute to other priests and clerks singing the masses v. s. yearly, at the place and days 
 aforesaid, and moreover if the said masters or their attorneys which for the time shall be 
 to supervise or oversee the premises, take for their labours v. s., that then the aforesaid 
 messe with the appurtenances wholly remain to the said masters and their successors for 
 evermore, and if default be made in the premises or in any of them at any day, or the 
 morrow after any of these days, or of any of the morrowes aforesaid in which, as it is 
 premised, it ought to be doue and kept, that then the aforesaid John and Alys, my wife 
 aforesaid, will and grant that the wardens or the masters of the said parish church, which 
 for the time shall be take into their hands all the aforesaid messe and its appurtenances, 
 and that they receive eison in the same to find the dyrges and masses in manner and 
 form within written, and they and their successors in the office of the said church do 
 continue the same in time evermore to endure .”—Chipping Norton Deanerg Magazine, 
 contributed by the Rev. H. Barter, of Shipton. 
 
 “ Messe” may be read as an abbreviation of messuage or house. There appears to be 
 a word obliterated after “ personys.” ‘“Lying in the personys” should read “lying in 
 the Personys Fee this will make it more readable, “ Parsons’ Fee” being well known 
 as adjoining Aylesbury Church-yard, and at one time formed part of it. “ John Hone” 
 also should read “John Horne,” the name which appears on the other side of the brass. 
 A “ dyrge” was a funeral service, intended to express sorrow, grief, and mourning. 
 Anciently a groat was usually paid to a Chantry Priest for singing a dyrge. Chantries 
 were abolished in England in 1545. Nothing is now known of the “ messe” given to the 
 vicarage of Aylesbury Church, and the income, if any, arising from it, probably passed 
 with other revenues when Chantries were abolished. 
 
 ANCIENT DIVISIONS OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. 
 
 D. Lysons (1819). 
 
 “When the survey of Domesday was taken, this county was divided into eighteen 
 hundreds : there are now only eight, which compose separate districts. The modern 
 hundred of Buckingham includes the ancient hundreds of Rouelai, Stodfald and Lamua. 
 The three ancient hundreds of Bonestou, Sigelai, and Molestou, are now called Duustow, 
 
160 
 
 Segloe, and Mulso. George Wrighte, Esq., of Gayhurst, was keeper of these hundreds 
 under the Crown, but they are not considered as separate districts, being comprised 
 within the general name of Newport hundred. The hundreds of Elesberie, Stanes, and 
 Riseberge now comprise one district, called the Three Hundreds of Aylesbury. The 
 ancient hundreds of Coteslau, Mureslai, and Erlai are included in the Hundred of 
 Cotslow. The hundreds of Essedene, Votesdone, and Tichessele are comprised in the 
 modern Hundred of Asheudon, excepting that Adstock, formerly in Yotesdone, is now 
 in the Hundred of Buckingham, and Iloggeston and Crestlow in that of Cotslow. The 
 hundreds of Dustenburgh and Stoches are now called Desborough and Stoke. The 
 Hundred of Burnham preserves its ancient name and extent, excepting that Farnham 
 and Eton, which were formerly comprised in it, are now in the Hundred of Stoke. 
 Desborough, Stoke, and Burnham are the three Chiltern Hundreds, the custody of 
 which is well known to be a nominal office, accepted by any member of Parliament who 
 wishes to vacate his seat.” 
 
 DINTON HALL. 
 
 Rev. F. G. Lee, D.D., F.S.A. 
 
 “ Donyxgton, Dynton, Donitoue, Danintone—for such are some of the old modes 
 of spelling the name of this place in ancient deeds and documents—lies between Thame 
 and Aylesbury. The Manor of Daniton (as it is termed), and also that of Waderuge 
 (now Wallridge) were at the period of the Norman survey possessed by William the 
 Conqueror’s brother, the Lord Odo, Bishop of Baieux. They had previously belonged to 
 one Aveline, a noble or knight mentioned as living in the reign of King Edward the 
 Confessor. At the survey in question, Helto, a native Saxon, appears to have been 
 the tenant of these manors, which, with other considerable possessions, contained a mill, 
 valued at four shillings ; and also seemed to have comprised the reputed manors of West 
 Dynton or West Lyngton and Forde, names still in use down to the present time; 
 though the local manorial rights and customs—real or supposed—are in abeyance, or 
 lost. ‘ Dun’ or ‘Doning’ is said by those who have studied the subject to mean a hill or 
 circular slope, fortified by inclosed stakes or hurdle fences ; ‘Tun,’ or ‘ ton,’ a settlement 
 of several families, a village or town. In 1858, on a slight eminence north of the 
 church, the late Mr. J. Akerman, Secretary of the Society of Antiquaries, found buried 
 several skeletons and undoubted Anglo-Saxon remains, including a glass vessel and bronze 
 spear-head. 
 
 Dinton Hall stands on the immediate south side of the Parish Church, surrounded 
 by high brick walls to the west and north, and with a remarkably open and beautiful 
 
1G1 
 
 view of the Chiltern Hills, stretching from Wendover to Stokenchurch to the south. 
 The gardens and wilderness adjoining the Hall are notable as containing a remarkably 
 fine collection of choice and out-of-the-way shrubs and flowers, making it a place of great 
 interest to the botanist. Beyond this, again, are fish-ponds in low-lying meads, and 
 much picturesque timber here and there. The view from this southern aspect of the 
 Hall looks out over the two Ivymbles, Hampden, and Chequers’ Court in the distance, 
 with the lovely scenery of the adjacent Velvet Lawn, one of the most beautiful spots in 
 the whole of Buckinghamshire, and towards the long range of the Chiltern Hills. 
 
 The house itself, which has been very much altered from time to time, is of consider¬ 
 able antiquity. Possibly parts of it, the underground western cellars, may have belonged 
 to a Norman mansion. Colonel Goodall, its present owner, believes that a rectangular 
 stone construction of a singular and not very definite character—the use of which, too, 
 is not very apparent—may be of the time of Edward the Confessor. I myself having 
 inspected it, am unable and unwilling to express any opinion on the point. The late 
 Mr. Street, R.A., judging from fragments of stone mouldings, believed that the northern 
 part of the house—that over which its nine gables now stand—was, in part, of as early 
 a date as the year 1475. The main portion of the mansion was no doubt erected on old 
 foundations in the reign of King Henry VII., and this seems to have been again altered 
 tempore James I., some of the older fittings being evidently of that period. In the 
 eighteenth century the old windows of the southern front with stone mullions picturesquely 
 cusped were removed, and plain, narrow sash windows inserted and painted white, 
 which effectively destroyed the finest features of this portion of the building, containing 
 the Hall itself. Other portions were pulled down or seriously disfigured. The current 
 taste of the middle of the last century unfortunately was not conducive to the preserva¬ 
 tion of old English houses of a Tudor or Jacobean character. Some years ago, however, 
 the whole of the mansion was thoroughly restored, with general good taste and with due 
 regard to what remained of its antiquarian aud archaeological characteristics. 
 
 Simon Mayne, whose father appears to have purchased the Manor from the Buck¬ 
 inghamshire race of Verney, resided here in the latter years of Queen Elizabeth’s time, 
 and in the earlier period of James I.’s reign, but died 13th July, 1017. His eldest son, 
 born in 1612, bearing the same name, succeeded him in the estate. The former is said 
 to have suffered much from the forced loans of Elizabeth’s later years, and to have thus 
 become somewhat impoverished; so that when the heir, a minor, succeeded his father, 
 his patrimony was found to be burdened with heavy mortgages and other charges. 
 During the Civil War, the second Simon Mayne was most active on the Parliamentary 
 side of the strife. Being M.P. for Aylesbury, he was appointed one of King Charles I.’s 
 judges, and subsequently affixed both signature and seal to the vellum warrant of 
 execution. During the Commonwealth, he continued to be one of the ‘Parliamentary 
 committee-men’ for Bucks ; but, at the Restoration was brought to trial with other of 
 the chief regicides, found guilty, and had sentence of death duly passed upon him. In 
 
162 
 
 the Pardon of Charles II., Mayne was exempted by name, and died in the Tower of 
 London (where since his sentence he had been confined), in April, 1661, aged 49. He 
 was buried in Dinton Church. 
 
 The manor and mansion were purchased from another Simon Mayne, a poverty- 
 stricken son of the Regicide, in the year 1727, by John Vanhattem, whose ancestor, 
 Leibert Yanhattem, of Holland, had been a naval officer in the fleet of Admiral de Ruyter, 
 and came over from that country with William, the husband of Princess Mary Stuart. 
 This John, who died in 1747, left an only son and heir, and two daughters. The son in 
 question served as High Sheriff of Bucks in 1760, and was knighted by George III. in 
 1761. He died in 1787, and a daughter married the Rev. William Goodall, of Berk- 
 hampstead, brother of a courtly and celebrated Provost of Eton, who came out of the 
 county of Norfolk. Their eldest surviving son, the Rev. James Joseph Goodall, M.A , 
 Pembroke College, Oxon, was the father of the present possessor, Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Goodall, who married a niece of the late Dr. Lee, Q.C., of Hartwell Park, and grand¬ 
 daughter of Sir Percival Hart-Dyke, of Kent, Bart. 
 
 The mansion-house, 154ft. in length, is extremely picturesque, and its interior at 
 once stately and comfortable, the old architects having ever studied the comfort of those 
 who employed them, and having given thought to their plans. Its collection of choice 
 china and various curiosities, including a sword of Oliver Cromwell, a shoe of John Bigg 
 (the other being in the Bodleian Library), antique furniture, tapestry, carvings in wood, 
 stained glass, fossils, embroidery, are of considerable interest. An ‘ Album,’ first com¬ 
 menced by the Rev. William Goodall, grandfather of the present Lord of the Manor, is 
 full of subjects of interest, local records, drawings, and autographs. The old hiding- 
 place, near the chief eastern block of chimneys, opened when the house was restored, 
 has been closed up. It was no doubt built as a place of personal security, and was 
 entered by a trap-door, through the movable steps of a staircase. The chief rooms, 
 including greater and lesser hall, dining room, chief drawing-room, library, morning 
 room, and others are of good proportions, and contain everywhere several objects of art 
 and interest.” 
 
 RICHINGS PARK, IYER. 
 
 Ricbings Park once belonged to the family of Britton ; they disposed of it to Sir 
 Peter Apsley, Knt., whose granddaughter carried it in marriage to Sir B. Bathurst. 
 His son, who was created Lord Bathurst in 1711, collected hither amongst his visitors, 
 most of the literary characters of his day. He alienated the estate in 1739 to the Earl of 
 Hertford, afterwards Duke of Somerset, who named the mansion “Percy Lodge.” The 
 
163 
 
 Duke died here in 1750. His Duchess, whilst Lady Hertford, was the “ Eusebia,” of 
 Dr. Vi atts, and the ‘ Gleora ot Mrs. Rowe ; Shenstone flattered her in his poem on 
 rural elegance, and Thomson dedicated to her his poem of “ Spring.” Pope dedicated 
 his “ Epistle on the Use and Abuse of Riches,” to her husband. The Dowager Duchess 
 was in the habit of assembling all the poets and wits of the day at Richings, and in an 
 interesting volume of letters (many of them addressed to the Countess of Pomfret in 
 1741) the Duchess gives glowing descriptions of the spot. Her greenhouse (at the upper 
 end of the lake) she says, stood on the site of a Chapel dedicated to Sir Leonard ; and 
 she mentions an old covered bench inscribed with “ verses by some of the distinguished 
 visitors of Lord Bathurst, Addison, Pope, Prior, Congreve, Gay, &c.” She describes the 
 house as “old, but convenient;” the “paddock” in which it stands, 1| mile in 
 circumference “ laid out in the manner of a French park, interspersed with woods and 
 lawns ;” a “canal in it 1,200 yards long and proportionately broad and the “Abbey 
 Walk, composed of prodigiously high beech trees that form an arch through the whole 
 length, exactly resembling a cloister.” The estate passed to her daughter, the Countess 
 of Northumberland, whose husband (the Duke) conveyed it to Sir John Coghi 11, whose 
 widow (Countess Dowager of Charleville) sold it in 1786 to the Right Hon. John 
 Sullivan, M.P, for Old Sarum. The old house was afterwards accidentally burnt down, 
 when Mr. Sullivan built the mansion, in a more elevated part of the park. It sub¬ 
 sequently became the residence of C. Meeking, Esq. 
 
 BUCKINGHAMSHIRE CHURCHES. 
 
 “ It is rather difficult to decide as to the position Buckinghamshire should occupy 
 with regard to its ecclesiastical architecture ; it has usually been considered an un¬ 
 interesting county, this it certainly is not, neither can it lay claim to the possession of 
 any great number of fine churches ; in the lower part of the county, the churches are 
 generally very inferior both as to size and merit, many of them have suffered much from 
 neglect, and others still more from injudicious and tasteless alterations. It must not be 
 imagined from this apparently sweeping condemnation that there are no churches of 
 value in this part of the county ; there are some few of great interest, and which will 
 well repay a most attentive examination ; perhaps the best (without regard to classifica¬ 
 tion) are North Marston, Priors Risborough, Chilton, and Hillesden ; the former is a 
 mixed church, the best portion being the rich Perpendicular chancel with its vestries; 
 the tower of Priors Risborough is very good as to the general design, and has also much 
 good detail about it. Chilton is a very fair specimen of a mixed church, and Hillesden 
 a fine specimen of Perpendicular. There are other churches with some good points 
 
164 
 
 about them, but it seems only necessary to call attention to those named above. In the 
 northern part of the county the churches generally are of a superior class, and have a 
 great variety of very valuable detail. The external appearance of the churches is usually 
 rather plain, there is much rough walling, and but little very delicate detail; this most 
 probably arises from a scarcity of good building stone, especially in the lower part of the 
 county. 
 
 With the exception of Stewkley, which is well known as the rival of Iffley among 
 the richest Norman churches in England, there are but few good specimens of Norman 
 work remaining, none of any great importance ; perhaps the best are at Hanslope, Wing, 
 and Leckhampstead ; the chancel of Shenley Mansell is a very good specimen of transition 
 from Norman to Early English. 
 
 A better account can be given of Early English works, for although there are but 
 few churches entirely of that style, there is much good detail scattered about; perhaps 
 the finest specimen remaining is the chancel of Chetwode Church, and after that 
 Lillingstone Dayrell, Cold Brayfield, the towers of Haddenham and Aylesbury, and parts 
 of Leckhampstead ; many of the churches have good windows, doorways, and other 
 portions of this style ; indeed but few of them are without some specimen. The upper 
 part of the county is very rich in Decorated work ; Clifton Reynes, Emberton, Olney, 
 and Great Horwood, are all excellent specimens of the style ; in the lower part, Chesham 
 Bois and the south aisle of North Marston are the best examples ; besides these there is 
 a great amount of excellent detail to be found, especially in windows ; some are early in 
 the style, others more advanced, and have rich flowing tracery of peculiar and elegant 
 design. 
 
 There are but few fine specimens of Perpendicular churches remaining ; the best are 
 Maids Morton and Hillesden, portions of North Crawley, and the chancel of North 
 Marston ; the tower of Maids Morton is particularly deserving of notice, as having 
 features not to be found elsewhere ; the chapel of Eton College should also be included 
 in this list, it has some very good portions. The list of mixed churches is large, as it 
 will be seen by the above classification that very few are entirely of one style ; perhaps 
 the best are Aylesbury, Sherrington, Hanslope, Wing, Wingrave, Cuddington, and Great 
 Missenden. 
 
 Spires are a peculiarly rare feature in this county : there are only two deserving of 
 especial notice, those at Olney and Hanslope ; the first a fine specimen of late Decorated 
 work, the latter equally good Perpendicular ; besides these there are very few churches 
 with smaller spires, but not of sufficient merit to warrant any particular notice of them. 
 Towers are numerous and good ; the earlier ones are at Haddenham, Aylesbury, Stone, 
 Priors Risborough, Chilton, Lillingstone Dayrell, Leckhampstead, Ickford, and some 
 others of less merit, these are Early English. Decorated towers are neither very 
 common nor good, perhaps the best are Preston Bissett, Radclive, Thornborough, Milton 
 
165 
 
 Keynes, Astwood, and Emberton. As usual the Perpeudicular towers constitute by far 
 the larger number, many of them are very good ; Maids Morton has been already 
 mentioned ; the other good specimens are at Hillesden, Wing, Cuddington, Chearsley, 
 Winslow, Bow Brickhill, Sherrington, Chicheley, Bletchley, &e. Ancient bell-cots of 
 stone are even more rare than spires ; there is no doubt but several of the churches once 
 had them on the west gable, and in some other situations; in most cases they have been 
 destroyed, and their place supplied by unsightly wooden boxes. 
 
 The only vestries requiring notice are those at Aylesbury and North Marston, which 
 are fine specimens of Perpendicular work. A considerable number of fonts are still 
 remaining, some of them very good ; those at Turville, Priors Risborough, Stone, 
 Hawridge, Stoke Goldington, and Castlethorpe, are Norman. The Early English fonts 
 are at Slapton, Cuddington, Cholesbury, and Weston Underwood. The best Decorated 
 font is at Drayton Parslow ; there are others at Chilton, North Marston, and Astwood. 
 Ditton and Wing have good Perpendicular specimens. There are several very excellent 
 sedilia still remaining ; those at Lillingtone Dayrell, Leckliampstead, and Lee, are the 
 best specimens of Early English. Those at Ilmer, Saunderton, Preston Bissett, Lath- 
 bury, and Milton Keynes, are Decorated, and that at North Marston is very good 
 Perpendicular. Wherever there are good Sedilia, equally good Piscinas are generally to 
 be met with, and as usual, they are more numerous than the former. At Towersev the 
 piscina is Norman, those at Radnage, Lee, Lillingstone Dayrell, and Leckliampstead, are 
 Early English. The best Decorated piscina in the county is at North Marston (in the 
 south aisle) ; and there are others at Clifton Reynes, Aston Abbotts, Great Horwood, 
 Padbury, Grendon Uuderwood, Westbury, aud Milton Keynes ; there is a fine Perpeu¬ 
 dicular piscina at North Marston. 
 
 There are considerable remains of carved woodwork in the county, much of it of 
 great merit, although not comparable to that which may be seen in other parts of 
 England. The best wood roofs are at North Marston, North Crawley, Newton Longville, 
 Haddenham, and Wavendon. The rood-screen at North Crawley is very fine, and derives 
 additional interest from the figures at the base. There are others at Cuddington, Bow 
 Brickhill, Stoke Hammond, aud Ilmer. There is a good parclose-screen at Wing. The 
 only good wood pulpit remaining is at Bow Brickhill. The stalls at North Marston 
 and Chilton are the best remaining, they have fine poppy heads and rich panelling. Some 
 of the open seats are good, the best are at Priors Risborough, Princes Risborough, 
 Weston Turville, and Lee. Very few good tombs are now remaining, the best are those 
 at Clifton Reynes, which have good effigies and rich canopies. Brasses are unusually 
 numerous, but of no great interest. There is but very little good painted glass to be 
 met with, the best is iu the chancel at Chetwode, which appears to be of the thirteenth 
 century ; it has been removed from the east window and placed in one on the south side. 
 —Ecclesiastical Topography of Great Britain (J. II. Parker, Oxford, 1849). 
 
166 
 
 HEART BEQUESTS. 
 
 W. and R. Chambers. 
 
 [The wor/es 'published by William and Robert Chambers, of Edinburgh, have been 
 directed to the elevation of the people. In 1832 they commenced the “ Edinburgh Journal 
 a periodical which has largely helped to exalt the intellectual tastes of the readers, both in 
 England and Scotland. Robert, amongst other ivories, wrote “ Traditions of Edinburgh,” 
 “A History of the Rebellion of 1745-6,” “ Popular Rhymes of Scotland,” “A Life of 
 Burns.” Each brother has made unwearied efforts to shed the placid beams of light and 
 agreeable literature throughout the length and breadth of the land. Their “ Book of Days ” 
 is a most entertaining work, and at the same time contains a vast amount of solid and 
 useful information. It appears to have given especial attention to Buckinghamshire, as 
 many subjects connected with that county are to be found in its pages. It is from that work 
 the following article is taken. Dr. William Chambers, LL.D., died in 1883.] 
 
 “ Some curious notions and practices respecting the human heart came into vogue 
 about the time of the first Crusade, and were by many believed to have originated among 
 those who died in that expedition. As the supposed seat of the affections, the heart was 
 magnified into undue importance, and, after the death of a beloved or distinguished 
 person, became the object of more solicitude than all the rest of his body. Thus the 
 heart was considered the most valuable of all legacies, and it became the habit of a 
 person to bequeath it to his dearest friend, or to his most favourite church, abbey, or 
 locality, as a token of his supreme regard. And when no such bequest was made, the 
 friends or admirers of deceased persons would cause their hearts to be carefully embalmed, 
 and then, enclosing them in some costly casket, would preserve them as precious treasures, 
 or entomb them with special honour. This remarkable practice, which has been con¬ 
 tinued more or less down to the present century, was most prevalent during the medieval 
 ages—numerous instances of which are still on record, and many of them are curious 
 and interesting. 
 
 Sir Robert Peckham, who died abroad, caused his heart to be sent into England, and 
 buried iu his family vault at Denham. He died in 1569, but his heart appears to have 
 remained for many years unburied, as we gather from the following entry in the parish- 
 register of burials—‘ Edmundus Peckham, Esq r ., sonne of Sir George Peckham, July 18, 
 1586. On the same day was the liarte of S r Robert Peckham, knight, buried in the 
 vault under the chappell.’ The heart is enclosed in a leaden case thus inscribed : ‘ J. H. 
 S. Robertus Peckham Eques Auratus Anglus Cor suum Dulciss. patrie major, Monu- 
 mentis commendari. Obiit 1 Septembris m.d.xix.’ 
 
 Edward Lord Windsor, of Bradenham, who died at Spa, January 24, 1574, 
 bequeathed his body to be buried in the ‘ cathedral church of the noble city of Liege, 
 with a convenient tomb to his memory, but his heart to be enclosed in lead, and sent into 
 England, there to be buried in the chapel at Bradenham, under his father’s tomb, in 
 
167 
 
 token of a true Englishman.’ The case containing this heart, which has on it a long 
 inscription, is still in the vault at Bradenham, and was seen in 1848, when Isaac d’lsraeli 
 was buried in the same vault. 
 
 It may be just noticed in passing, as another proof of the undue importance 
 attributed to the heart, that formerly the executioner of a traitor was required to remove 
 the body from the gallows before life was extinct, and plucking out the heart, to hold it 
 up in his hands, and exclaim aloud, ‘ Here is the heart of a traitor !’ It was currently 
 reported, says Anthony Wood, that when the executioner held up the heart of Sir 
 Everurd Digby, of Gayhurst, and said, * Here is the heart of a traitor!’ Sir Everard 
 made answer and said, * Thou liest!’ This story, which rests solely ou A. Wood’s 
 authority, is generally discredited, though Lord Bacou affirms there are instances of 
 persons saying two or three words in similar cases. 
 
 Sometimes hearts are represented as bleeding, or sprinkled with drops of blood, which 
 was probably to symbolise extreme penitence, or special devotedness to a religious life. 
 An example occurs on a brass in the church of Lillingstone Dayrell. The heart is 
 inscribed with the letters J. H. C., and is held in two hands cut off at the wrists, which 
 are clothed in richly-worked ruffles. This heart commemorates the interment of John 
 Merston, rector, who died in 1446. A heart is sometimes placed on the breast, or held 
 in the hands of an effigy representing the person commemorated. The latter case is 
 probably in allusion to Lamentations iii., 41. In such instances, sepulchral hearts are 
 to be regarded as merely emblematic, or, being the chief organ of life, as representatives 
 of the whole body. But in many instances they mark the burial of hearts alone. Thus, 
 in Chichester Cathedral is a slab of Purbeck marble, on which is chiseled a trefoil 
 enclosing hands holding a heart, and surrounded by this inscription, ‘ Ici Gist Le Coeur 
 Maude De.’ The rest of the inscription has been obliterated.” 
 
 THE RYE HOUSE PLOT. 
 
 Upon the discovery of the Rye House Plot (1683) addresses were sent to the King 
 not only from the Grand Jury of Bucks, but also from the inhabitants of Aylesbury, the 
 principal inhabitants of the ancient Borough and Parish of Wendover, the Corporations 
 of Wycombe and Buckingham, and the inhabitants of Great Marlow. All these addresses 
 were couched in like terms, that from Aylesbury being the most servile in expression :— 
 “ To the King’s most Excellent Majesty.—The humble address of your Majesty s dutiful 
 and loyal subjects the inhabitants of the Borough of Aylesbury, in the County of Bucks. 
 Dear Sovereign,—It was easie to foresee a rebellion hatching under the wings of the 
 
168 
 
 Popish plot by the constant seditious practices of Dissenting parties and other ill men ; 
 and, doubtless, ere this time the cockatrice had come to perfection had not your Majesty’s 
 vigilant care and wise conduct given frequent interruptions. But so inhumane and 
 hellish a conspiracy lately discovered sure never entered into the hearts of men till these 
 devils in flesh pitched upon it (we tremble and with the utmost detestation recount it) 
 to assassinate your sacred Majesty, your dear and only brother the illustrious Duke of 
 York, to raise a horrible rebellion in a moment to fill your kingdoms with blood and 
 confusion. Oh ! the dismal consequeuces of that day had the enormous villany pre¬ 
 vailed ! But God, who by many signal instances hath manifested His special care for 
 His anointed, hath, by His never-to-be-forgotten providence, miraculously delivered your 
 Sacred Majesty and Royal brother, and, in your persons, all your good subjects (whose 
 lives were and are bound up in yours) from the hell-plotted machinations of bloodthirsty 
 and deceitful men. Wherefore, with joyful hearts we adore and magnifie God for this 
 His wonderful mercy, and we pray unto Him to continue His wonted protection to your 
 Majesty, your illustrious brother, and your kingdom, and to strengthen your Majesty’s 
 hands to destroy the roots and seeds of this infernal plot (which we humbly conceive to 
 have been first planted and sowed in seditious conventions by what higher influence soever 
 since watered and cultivated), that the wickedness of the wicked may come to an end, 
 to the more firm establishment of your Majesty’s crown and dignity, and to the unity 
 and peace of the church and kingdom. And here we humbly crave leave to renew our 
 solemn engagement of our lives and all that is dear unto us to defend your Majesty’s 
 sacred person, your heirs, and successors, and your excellent government, both in Church 
 and State, as by law established; and with most loyal hearts we do assure your Majesty 
 that no factious insinuations of causeless fears and jealousies, by pretended patriots or 
 others, under what pretence soever, shall move us from these fixed and sincere resolutions 
 of your Majesty’s most obedient and loyal subjects.” 
 
 STOKE MANDEVILLE OLD CHURCH. 
 
 The old Church of St. Mary, Stoke Maudeville, stands in a secluded spot nearly 
 half a mile from the village, and consists of a nave with clerestory, one aisle, a porch, a 
 chancel, and a west tower, which contains five bells. The roofs of the nave and aisle 
 are covered with lead, those of the chancel and porch tiled. The chancel has some Early 
 English remains-one window and a piscina being in that style ; the other parts of the 
 church are of the Decorated period ; except some Perpendicular windows which have 
 been inserted in various places. The lower part of the tower is Perpendicular, the upper 
 part is built of red brick, and is embattled. The three pointed arches dividing the nave 
 
 i* 
 
1G9 
 
 and aisle are good; the chancel arch is semi-circular, and on each side of it is a 
 hagioscope (an opening on one side and sometimes on both sides of a chancel arch, 
 arranged obliquely, and converging towards the altar, in order to enable the worshippers 
 in the aisles of a church to witness the elevation of the host during the Christian 
 sacrifice). The roofs of the church are open, and the ancient font is decorated with 
 trcfoiled arches ; but nearly everything is covered with thick coatings of lime-wash. A 
 few of the old oaken seats with carved ends remain. The old oak pulpit was removed 
 to the church of Little Kimble, and some years ago supplanted by one of deal of the 
 meanest description. The appearance of the church indicates that the original tower 
 and north aisle were demolished by violence. 
 
 There is an ancient monument to three children of the Brudenel family, once the 
 proprietors of Stoke. It has been removed from the south angle of the nave to the south 
 side of the chancel arch. Lipscomb, who mentions this monument, could never have 
 seen it, nor could his informant have been a man of taste, or an antiquary, as he gives a 
 very careless description of it. It is a very excellent altar tomb of the Elizabethan age. 
 The principal figure, which is in a recumbent position, represents Dorothy, a half 
 grown up daughter; the two infants described by Lipscomb as being in swaddling clothes 
 are in their chrisoms in lieu of shrouds, representing that they were very young at their 
 decease, it being customary to inter infants in the chrisom cloths, the garments in which 
 they had been baptised, if they died within a month of their baptism. Lipscomb may 
 well describe the inscription as doggrel, inasmuch as he omits one line of it altogether ; 
 it is written in the usual style of the times. Without doubt, before it had been damaged 
 by age and other incidental disadvantages, the memorial was very handsome. In the 
 floor of the church are memorial stones to the Jackson family, embossed with their arms 
 —Three suns, impaling a cross, in the first quarter a fleur-de-lis. On the south side of 
 the communion table is a large slab from which brasses have been removed ; they appear 
 to have been a large shield, two figures, and a plate ; a brass, probably from this slab, 
 was discovered built up in one of the hagioscopes. Over the pew in the north aisle, 
 occupied by the Webb family, was a small framed hatchment, exhibiting the arms of 
 Ligo Webb, and his wife, who lie buried there. Arms : Yert. a chev. Erin. bet. 
 three talbots, or, Crest: A wolf’s head erased Arg. Motto : Homme proposes mais Dieu 
 disposes. 
 
 In the churchyard are memorials to the family of Ligo, Ligo Webb, Gurney of 
 Whitethorn, Whitchurch of the Yew Tree Farm, Fleet of Stoke, and Gibbs of Aylesbury. 
 The old Church is not now used for public worship, a new one having been built in a 
 central part of the village. There are many moats and ditches nearly enclosing the site 
 of the churchyard, but no particulars of their history are preserved. The ground in the 
 immediate vicinity is still very undulating, and distinct traces of a moat and fish-ponds 
 are remaining. There is little doubt that either a large mansion, or a religious house, 
 
170 
 
 and other houses, existed here in early times. In the field contiguous to the church, 
 foundations of buildings have been discovered, also human skulls and other human 
 remains have been found. 
 
 UPPER WINCHENDON MANSION. 
 
 The old mansion of the Goodwyns, and afterwards of the Whartons, of Upper 
 Winchendon, is supposed to have stood on an eminence south-east of the Church. It 
 must have been a lovely spot, overlooking a large portion of the prettiest part of the Yale 
 of Aylesbury, and commanding an extensive view of the Chiltern Hills. The Whartons 
 continued the occupation of the Mansion as long as they possessed the estate, indeed 
 Thomas, Marquis of Wharton, enlarged and improved it. It was he who spent so lavish 
 a sum on the stables, which were very handsomely decorated with carved pillars to every 
 standing, and gilt mouldings to the ceilings ; they were large and magnificently designed, 
 anl stood for many years after the Mansion had been pulled down. The splendour of 
 the stabling is explained by the fact that the Marquis was a great patron of the turf; he 
 usually resided at Winchendon during the Parliamentary recess, where he amused him¬ 
 self with building, gardening, and the sports of the field. He had a capital stud of race¬ 
 horses, said to have been the best in the kingdom, and his greyhounds were acknowledged 
 to be the fleetest in England. Quainton Flat was at that time a popular racing ground. 
 Amongst his racers, one named Careless was peculiarly famed, never having been beaten ; 
 at length, as no one would run a horse against him, Lord Wharton proposed to match 
 him against two horses, half the course to be contested by one, and the other half by 
 another. In this unequal contest, which was decided at Newmarket, Careless beat both 
 his competitors but in a second race was beaten. When the horse was fourteen years 
 old the large sum (in those days) of £700 was offered for him and refused. W T harton’s 
 Gelding was another famous horse, which, in 1678, won a plate of 1,000 pistoles, given 
 by the King of France, to induce the nobility and gentry of England to send some of 
 their racers into France. Philip Wharton, the successor of the Marquis, was also an 
 ardent patron of racing, and his celebrity was perpetuated by a remarkable fleet breed of 
 roan horses, the progeny of a winning horse belonging to him. 
 
 The gardens and parterre attached to the Mansion were esteemed superior to any 
 in the county, and the collection of orange trees was celebrated. Neither plan nor des¬ 
 cription of the place has been preserved to afford a specimen of the style of Dutch 
 gardening, of which Lord Wharton was one of the most eminent patrons both at 
 Winchendon and Wooburn. The rectilinear walks and divisions of the garden south of 
 the mansion may still be traced, flanked on the east by a wood called “ The Wilderness.” 
 
171 
 
 It was the second Duke of Marlborough who demolished the mansion ; this was in 1758. 
 He sold all the materials of the building, with the pallisadoes, statues in and about the 
 gardens, the lead pipes lying to the water-house, except part of the mansion south of 
 the great kitchen and west of the green-house, and except the stables, cow-house, and 
 other buildings thereto adjoining, which were to be left entire, to Mr. John Russell, of 
 Aylesbury, to which town many of the fittings were removed. Several of the old 
 residences at Aylesbury still contain relics from the mansion, but they cannot now be 
 identified. The price Mr. Russell paid for the materials was £1,400. The north 
 western angle of the inferior offices of the house then left standing were converted into a 
 farm house, and were subsequently occupied by permission of George, Duke of Marl¬ 
 borough, during many years, by a family of the name of Vassal’, a domestic servant of his 
 Grace, who held the office of steward. It was subsequently occupied by others of the 
 same class or by tenants. In the Wilderness, on the eastern verge of the gardens 
 Thomas, Marquis of Wharton, erected a small turreted brick building, for the residence 
 of a favourite lady. There is a fine view from this spot overlooking a vast expanse of 
 the country on the east. 
 
 SEPULCHRAL MONUMENTS. 
 
 Rev. W. H. Kelke (1865). 
 
 “ All sepulchral monuments are invested with interest; yet few persons regard them 
 with any real attention. The sculptor, the antiquarian and the historian know and 
 appreciate their importance. They are replete with interest for all persons of taste and 
 reflection. Their effigies impart a more correct and vivid idea than the most elaborate 
 description can convey, of the various costumes and general appearance of ecclesiastics 
 and military characters, of civilians, ladies, and children, in successive generations. 
 They constitute a connecting medium between the present and the past. They present 
 to us feudal lords and ladies of by-gone days ; they make us the companions of great and 
 renowned characters ; they introduce us into various grades of society, and make us 
 contemporary with every past generation. These memorials are especially valuable as 
 contemporaneous records ; they not only strengthen and confirm parish registers, but 
 frequently furnish additional information. And what is still more important, they carry 
 back their evidence for centuries before parish registers commence. National events 
 have been confirmed or illustrated, parochial interests adjusted, charitable bequests 
 secured from spoliation or rescued from total ruin, dormant titles resumed, and lost 
 property recovered by their aid. Who then can say that he is not personally interested 
 in the preservation and the study of sepulchral monuments ? All classes of the 
 
172 
 
 community are directly interested in them, may study them with advantage, and should 
 do what in them lies to secure them from injury, and promote their better preservation. 
 
 Handle with reverence each crumbling stone, 
 
 Respect the very lichen o’er it grown ; 
 
 And bid each ancient monument to stand, 
 
 Supported e’en as with a filial hand.” 
 
 THE STOWE SALE (1848). 
 
 “The collection of objects of art and virtu at Stowe was considered to have been 
 one of the most magnificent and extensive ever found in this country. In Majolica or 
 Raffaelle ware, and in Dresden and Oriental China, it was peculiarly rich ; whilst of 
 wrought silver, including many specimens of the cinque cento age (from the designs of 
 Benvenuto, Cellini, Fiamingo, aud others), it contained a larger proportion than is found 
 in any private, or perhaps Royal, residence in the kingdom. Some notion of the 
 estimation in which many of the antique articles in wrought silver were held, may be 
 inferred from the competition which was excited for the possession of them, and the 
 enormous prices which many of the specimens realised. Large, however, as these prices 
 appear to have been, such was the extraordinary artistical beauty of many of the articles, 
 both in design and execution, that if they had been disposed of by Messrs. Christie and 
 Manson, in London, in the height of the season, they would in all probability have 
 produced still more exorbitant sums. Fine specimens from the designs of Benvenuto, 
 Cellini, and Fiamingo are, indeed, so extremely rare, as to warrant much higher prices 
 than they have ever yet brought in this country. The collection of pictures was, on the 
 whole, of less important character than might have been expected. It included some 
 chef d'centres of the old masters ; but most of these realized comparatively inadequate 
 prices. Among the portraits were some fine specimens of Holbein, Yandyck, Zucchero, 
 
 Lely, Sir Joshua Reynolds, &c. ; but those of a high quality as works of art formed a 
 small minority of the whole. The marbles and bronzes, although several of them were 
 antique, and some from well known chisels, brought, on the average, nothing approaching 
 their value.”— H. R. Forster's Catalogue. J 
 
 The mansion was opened for private view on Thursday, the 3rd of August, 1848, 
 when entrance was obtained by the purchase of catalogues, priced at 15s. each, one copy 
 giving admission to four persons. Notwithstanding this restriction, the mansion was 
 visited during the succeeding ten days by many thousand persons, including a great * 
 number of the nobility and gentry. The sale commenced on the 15th of August. The 
 company were conducted to the State dining-room, where the sale commenced at noon. 
 
173 
 
 The charge of the auction was entrusted to Messrs. Christie and Manson ; and it is due 
 to the auctioneers to state that during the whole of the period over which it extended, 
 the utmost order and regularity prevailed. As was anticipated, the sale was attended by 
 a vast concourse of intending purchasers. The catalogue of the first day’s sale not 
 containing any very special objects, the aristocracy who afterwards patronised the auction 
 were not present. Space will only permit of making extracts, but of a few items of the 
 most remarkable lots offered. Lot 274, on the third day, a jewel once among the Crown 
 jewels of Portugal, made £106 Is., which sum was considered much below its value. 
 On the sixth day the magnificent hall lantern, rich in heraldic designs of the Bucking¬ 
 ham family, was sold for £33 12s. ; its cost to the Duke was £400. On this day was 
 also sold Lot 697, “ The Marine Venus,” an antique piece of sculpture, the purchaser 
 being Her Majesty the Queen, £163 16s. Lot 733, in the same day’s sale, “The very 
 celebrated Laocoon,” a magnificent bronze by Carboneaux was sold to the Duke of 
 Hamilton for £567 ; also a bust of Prior by Roubiliac which made £136 10s. On the 
 ninth day of sale the State bedstead made for the Prince and Princess of Wales, on their 
 visit to Stowe, in 1737, was sold for £90 6s. On the same day a beautiful cabinet of 
 the finest old German work made £246 15s. Several intervening days were taken up in 
 disposing of the plate and wines, which with some few exceptions, appear to have 
 realised ordinary prices. One embossed ewer and dish, weighing Slozs. 15dwts., realised 
 57s. per ounce=£232 19s. 9d.; a pair of stands for flowers also made 57s.=£342 8s. 6d. 
 —they were exquisite works of art, and made more than double what the Duke gave for 
 them. On the nineteenth day of the sale, Lot 631 was catalogued, but was withdrawn. 
 It consisted of a magnificent centrepiece in silver, weighing 2,206ozs. ; it was the 
 testimonial given by the agriculturists to the Duke of Buckingham for his personal 
 exertions, when Marquis of Chandos, to stay the current of “ Free Trade,” and uphold 
 “ Native Industry.” This lot was valued at £772 3s. 9d., and was purchased at that 
 sum by Mr. Henry Smith, of Buckingham, on behalf of the subscribers. On the 
 twentieth day’s sale three silver centrepieces were sold ; Lot 766 illustrated the last 
 meeting of Balfour and Bothwell, and the death of the latter as described in “ Old 
 Mortality this made £327 8s. 6d. Another centrepiece displaying the death of 
 Colonel Gardiner made £248 3s. 8d., and a third representing the death of Sir Bevil 
 Grenvilie, at the battle of Lansdown Hill, was sold for £828 18s. Id. On the twenty- 
 first day of the sale a set of four pictures, entitled “ The Progress of Virtue and Vice, 
 by J. Hamilton Mortimer, of Aylesbury, were purchased for Lord Nugent at £27 6s., 
 which appeared to be a very inadequate price; they were painted for Dr. Bates, of Little 
 Missenden. The twenty-second day’s catalogue included Lot 280, “ A lock of hair of 
 Queen Mary, taken from the corpse at St. Mary’s Church, Bury, in 1784 it made 
 £7 10s. ; and the white silk sash of the Pretender, taken from his baggage, at Cullodeu 
 in 1745, made £42 ; the following lot was the celebrated miniature portrait of Charles II.; 
 it was withdrawn, having been privately valued to Mr. Gore Langton at £105. On the 
 twenty-third day some very important pictures were offered. Lot 3S2, the well-known 
 
174 
 
 Chandos portrait of Shakspeare was disposed of, after a keen competition, to the Earl 
 of Ellesmere, for £372 15s. ; the following lot, the “Wreckers off Calais,” made 
 £430 10s. On the twenty-fourth day the highest prices for pictures were realized. 
 Lot 435, a Bergomaster, by Rembrandt, made £850 10s.; “ The Finding of Moses” 
 was sold for £1,050 to Mr. Farrar, who also purchased the previous lot. Lot 437, 
 “ Philip Baptizing the Eunuch,” a gallery picture by Cuyp, was disposed of to Mr. T. B. 
 Browne for £1,543 10s. “ The Unmerciful Servant,” a large picture by Rembrandt, 
 
 was purchased by Mr. S. M. Manson at £2,300. The total amount realized by the 
 forty days’ sale amounted to £75,562 4s. 6d. In the year, 1848, the prospects of the 
 country were by no means cheering; everything was remarkably dull; it was indeed a 
 period of general low prices ; a cursory view of the sums made for the respective lots 
 would lead to the impression that the sale was anything but satisfactory in its results. 
 
 ELLESBOROUGH.—ROMAN REMAINS. 
 
 The late Mr. Stephen Stone, F.S.A., a local antiquary and naturalist, was a younger 
 son of Mr. Job Stone, of Wotton Underwood ; for some years he resided with his brother 
 at Terrick, Ellesborough, but in the latter part of his life at the secluded hamlet of 
 Brighthampton, near Standlake, Oxon, in which neighbourhood he carried on his 
 researches as an antiquary and naturalist with great ardour. The extent of his researches 
 and the accuracy of his observations are evident in his numerous communications to the 
 “Naturalist,” “Zoologist,” “ Athenmum,” “Field,” &c., and various scientific societies. 
 Mr. Stone gave particular attention to the habits of wasps and creatures which are, as 
 parasites or otherwise, connected with them, and on these subjects made several interesting 
 physiological discoveries. Mr. Stone gives the following account of a discovery of Roman 
 remains in the neighbourhood of his then residence. “ In 1858, the foundations 
 of a Roman building were discovered whilst ploughing in a field known as King’s 
 Field, at Terrick, on the north-side of the high-road leading from Stoke Mandeville to 
 Chequers Court, and on the north-side of, and near to Terrick turnpike-gate. This 
 foundation, which spread over and enclosed an area of about 1,600 sqnare feet, was 
 composed of flint ; the outer and interior walls altogether were about 290 feet long, and 
 H feet wide generally, in some places a little more. About a third part of the foundation 
 was of pure flint, without there being the slightest trace of any mortar, cement, or even 
 earth of any description used in its construction ; and it is considered doubtful whether 
 any building had been placed upon them. If there had it must have been of a very 
 light nature, as the flints seem to have been thrown loosely in, and came out with very 
 little labour. In the remainder of the foundation the flints had been laid in more 
 
175 
 
 carefully, and had been pressed very closely together, as if some heavy building had been 
 placed upon them. In one part of the building, mixed up with the soil, was found a 
 quantity of mortar faced with cement or stucco, and coloured a bright red ; and at oue 
 of the corners was a refuse hole or cesspool tilled with ashes, apparently of wood, wood 
 charcoal, and a very black mould. There were also found in this hole, bones of different 
 
 animals in considerable numbers—those especially of the horse, cow, sheep, and swine_ 
 
 the hony parts of some sheeps’ horns, a boar’s tusk, oyster shells, a few pieces of Roman 
 tiles, and some pieces of Roman pottery, including the greater portions of two urns. No 
 particle of metal was found, with the exception of two small bronze coins.” 
 
 ASHRIDGE HOUSE (The Ancient Edifice). 
 
 John Wolstenholme Cobb, M.A. 
 
 “ The founder of Ashridge was Edmond Earl of Cornwall, son of the King of the 
 Romans, and nephew of King Henry III. Edmond spent much of his time abroad, and 
 during one of his travels procured a most valuable relic ; this was no less than a particle, 
 as it is called, as being less than a drop, of our Saviour’s blood. He met with this 
 precious treasure in Saxony, and succeeded in obtaining it, notwithstanding many 
 difficulties which he had to encounter. He brought it home to Berkhampstead 
 and founded a college in its honour at Ashridge, or as it was then called Aescrugge, a 
 name derived either from the ashes which grew on the adjacent ridge, or from its situa¬ 
 tion on the eastern ridge of the Chiltern Hills. To guard this sacred relic, and to pray 
 for the soul of his father, Edmond introduced a new religious order into England 
 called the Bon Homines, an order under the rule of St. Augustine, and supposed 
 by Mosheim to have been a remnant of the Paulicians. They wore a grey or 
 ashy-coloured dress. The foundation at Ashridge consisted of a rector and nineteen 
 brethren, thirteen of whom were obliged to be in holy orders. The charter of the 
 foundation of Ashridge was confirmed by the King (Edward I.) at Langley, on the 
 17th April, in the 14th year of his reign. Soon after the foundation of the college, it 
 was distinguished by a Parliament which was holden in it in the presence of the King. 
 The founder died at Ashridge on the 1st of October, in the year 1300. His bowels were 
 immediately buried, but his heart and flesh were more solemnly interred on the 12th 
 January, in the presence of Edmond, Earl of Kent, the King’s son, several of the bishops, 
 and many others. After this, his bones were carried to the Abbey of Hailes, which his 
 father had founded, and were there honoured with a magnificent funeral. The sepulture 
 of his heart at Ashridge was with the heart of Thomas de Cantelupe, Bishop of Hereford, 
 which, according to a MS. in the Bodleian Library, had been removed from Hereford 
 
176 
 
 Cathedral to Ashridge by the Pope’s particular appointment, and placed with the particle 
 of the Saviour’s blood in a golden tabernacle with the respect it deserved. The next 
 great benefactor to Ashridge was the Black Prince. So great indeed was the munificence 
 of this illustrious hero that he has not unfrequeutly been styled a founder ; indeed, such 
 seems to have been his own desire. 
 
 After the dissolution, Ashridge unquestionably became the residence of royalty. To 
 whatever tenant it may have been assigned during the remainder of King Henry’s days, 
 we find that it was bestowed on the Princess Elizabeth by her brother King Edward, and 
 we know that she resided here in the reign of Queen Mary. It is from Ashridge that 
 she writes to her brother in 1551, when the sweating sickness was raging ; and she was 
 residing there after Queen Mary’s accession, when Wyatt’s rebellion broke out. On a 
 groundless suspicion that she was connected with it, commissioners were instantly 
 dispatched to Ashridge with orders to remove her immediately to London. When they 
 arrived it was ten o’clock at night. The Princess was ill and in bed. The commissioners, 
 declaring that they would take her whether alive or dead, rushed unceremoniously into 
 her bedroom and bade her be ready without fail by nine o’clock in the morning. She 
 was accordingly hurried off, weak and feeble as she was, and on her arrival in town was 
 committed a close prisoner to the Tower. It was by water that she was conveyed to her 
 prison, and it was on landing, with one foot on the stairs, that she uttered those ever 
 memorable words, “ Here landeth as true a subject, being a prisoner, as ever landed at 
 these stairs, and before Thee, 0 God, I speak it, having none other friend but Thee 
 alone.” 
 
 After Elizabeth’s accession to the throne, she granted Ashridge to one of her 
 gentlemen pensioners, William George ; afterwards, in the 17th year of her reign, to 
 John Dudley ; and finally, in 1580, to Lady Cheney. From Lady Cheney, Ashridge 
 passed through the hands of Ralph Marshal and Randolph Crew, the last of whom, by 
 an indenture dated 21st October, in the second year of James I., made it over to Sir 
 Thomas Egerton, Lord Ellesmere, who had been Lord Keeper to Queen Elizabeth, and 
 was now Lord High Chancellor to the King. He was succeeded by his son John, Lord 
 President of Wales. The Lord President was the first Earl of Bridgewater, and it was 
 before him in Ludlow Castle that Milton’s ‘ Comus ’ was originally presented. The Lord 
 President’s son, the second earl, was the next possessor of Ashridge. During the civil 
 war this accomplished nobleman embraced the cause of the King, and therefore we are 
 not surprised to find that in 1643 his mansion was plundered by the Parliamentarian 
 soldiers, and all the plate carried off. He himself was several times in danger ; fortu¬ 
 nately he survived until the Restoration, when his great abilities were particularly 
 noticed by the sovereign. He was a distinguished patron of the arts and sciences, and 
 the friend of all the learned men of his time, and he it was who especially encouraged 
 the learned Pole in his celebrated work ‘ Synopsis Criticorum.’ 
 
177 
 
 On the death of the second Earl, he was succeeded by his son John, the third Earl; 
 lie again by his son Scroop, the fourth Earl and first Duke, from whose daughter, Lady 
 Louisa Egerton, is descended the present Lord Ellesmere. The two elder brothers of 
 this Scroop were burnt in the great fire at Bridgewater House, Barbican, April, 1687. 
 The Duke was succeeded by his son John, who died unmarried, aged twenty. His 
 successor was his brother Francis, the third Duke, aud the illustrious ‘father of 
 inland navigation.’ It was in memory of this nobleman that the Ashridge column was 
 erected. It was by him that the old college was pulled down. To give some idea of 
 what the building was before its demolition, I may perhaps be allowed to quote the words 
 of its accomplished historian, the late Archdeacon Todd. He tells us that the front of 
 the mansion or college was inclosed within a court, to which the entrance was through a 
 handsome gateway, formerly the porter’s lodge; but large enough to contain several good 
 apartments, in which the late Duke of Bridgewater resided. Being entered into the 
 court, the principal front presented itself to view, and along the middle part ran the 
 seven high gothic windows of the hall. The account of this noble room, as preserved by 
 Browne Willis, corresponds nearly with its last appearance, some of the painted glass 
 only being then wanting; but the beautifully fretted roof, as well as the gallery over the 
 screens, escaped the notice of that famous antiquary. He says, ‘ The Refectory or 
 Convent-hall, which seems to answer to one area or side of the cloisters, is very high and 
 lofty. ’Tis in length forty-four feet, and in breadth twenty-two, and is a very well 
 proportioned room.’ The next object of delightful curiosity which here presented itself 
 was the cloisters. They formed a quadrangle, the length of them, according to Browne 
 Willis, being forty-one feet, and the breadth ten and a half. On the walls were beauti¬ 
 fully painted in water colours, forty compartments representing scenes from the sacred 
 narrative. The conventual church, according to Mr. Gough’s statement, stood in what 
 was the garden ranging with the cloisters. ‘What sort of fabrick it was,’ says Browne 
 Willis,’in a letter to Scroop, Duke of Bridgewater, ‘it is not easy to guess, tho’ I 
 presume it was two-thirds longer than the Cloysters, which iu religious houses generally 
 made a third part of the church. By a legacy of 100'* of Cardinal Beaufort, Bishop of 
 Winchester, A° 1447, I judge the cloyster and good part of the house now standing were 
 built temp. Hen. VI., within less than a hundred years before the Reformation, and 
 being a good building occasioned its being preserved.’ 
 
 So much for the old college, which was pulled down by the Duke—‘ the father 
 of inland navigation.' It was his intention to build a new mansion on a magnificent 
 scale, and in furtherance of this design he had accumulated many materials. He did 
 not however live to accomplish his designs, but died on the 8th March, 1803, three years 
 after the demolition of the college. As he died unmarried, the property came to his 
 cousin John William, son of the Bishop of Durham, who was Earl, and not Duke, since 
 the dukedom descended only in the direct line. The new Earl zealously carried into 
 effect the intentions of his predecessor, and was the builder of the present mansion. It 
 
178 
 
 may be well to remark, in the words of Todd, that it is built nearly upon the site of the 
 ancient house, belonging to which no room retaining a roof remained when the Earl of 
 Bridgewater came into possession of the estate. There were indeed remaining two 
 lodges ; one the entrance gateway to the house, the other to the stable yard ; and the 
 engine-honse, which covered a well 275 feet deep. Of the ancient offices nothing useful 
 was left except the conventual barn, a stable, and a cellar.” 
 
 HIGH WYCOMBE.—MIRACLES. 
 
 “ William of Malmesbury, in his Life and Miracles of St. Wulstan, who was the 
 last of the Saxon Bishops, and presided over the Diocese of Worcester, and who died 
 in 1095, records two miracles which the Bishop is said to have performed at a town called 
 Wicumbe, the identity of which place is established by its then being situated in the 
 Diocese of Lincoln, and on the high road from Worcester and Oxford to London. The 
 account of these miracles is obviously taken from the work of Coleman, who was chaplain 
 and biographer of the saint, as we find in the Harleian MS., No. 322—‘ As St. Wulstan 
 was journeying to the court at London, he lodged at a town called Wicumbe, in an old 
 house, whose ruinous appearance threatened a speedy fall. And in the morning, when 
 he was about to recommence the journey, the building began to crack, and the rafters 
 and beams to give way downwards. All the servants jumped out of doors in a fright, so 
 panic-struck as to forget altogether that their master was alone within ; but once safely 
 out of doors, they remembered him, and shouted loudly to him to come out before the 
 whole building fell down together ; but none was brave enough to go in and rescue him. 
 But he, fortified with the buckler of faith, stood calm and immovable ; and by virtue of 
 his sanctity, the impending destruction was suspended, until the horses and baggage 
 were safely got out and loaded ready for departure. Then the holy man went forth from 
 the building, and immediately the whole house was violently shaken, and fell with a 
 terrible crash, walls and roof, into a chaotic heap of ruins.’ 
 
 Here Coleman records the second miracle which the Bishop wrought in the same 
 town (Wycombe), though six years after that just described—‘ Spording, of abundant 
 fortune, and a well-known admirer of the saint, had built a church there at his own costs, 
 which he resolved should be consecrated by no other than Wulstan, but that could not be 
 done without the permission of the Bishop of the Diocese ; so he obtained license to that 
 effect from Bishop Remigius of Lincoln. On the appointed day, the Bishop came and 
 consecrated the church, taking especial pains in preaching to the people, and confirmation 
 of children. After which he goes to Spording’s house to dine. Now the wife of Spording 
 had a maidservant who was afflicted with a grievous disease ; her head was horribly 
 
179 
 
 swollen, and her tongue was enlarged to the size of an ox’s, and protruded from her 
 mouth. She took no food, except a little meat already masticated for her, or drink 
 poured down her throat with a spoon. The matron feared to enter into conversation 
 with the Bishop, but told the circumstance to Coleman, who acquainted the Bishop with 
 the case. The Bishop had a piece of gold, which had been pierced with the head of the 
 Holy Lance ; this he took and dipped in the water which he had previously blessed in the 
 consecration of the church, and gave it the girl to drink. This healing draught was 
 speedily followed by a complete cure, as the matron and other witnesses declared on oatli 
 to Coleman some days afterwards.’ ”—Early History of Wycombe , by Mr. John Parker. 
 
 ANCIENT CEMETERY AT STONE. 
 
 Mr. J. Y. Akerman, F.S.A. (1851). 
 
 “The limits of the cemetery at Stone cannot now be ascertained; but there is good 
 reason for believing that the southern portion is now included in the garden of the 
 Vicarage, while the works of the sand pit on the north side of the road, near the wind¬ 
 mill, from time to time bring to light other relics both of the Roman and the Teutonic 
 character. A skeleton was discovered with the usual spear head, knife and umbo of 
 shield, and about the same time two very perfect urns, containing bones, were dug out, 
 at a spot where the remains of a large fire evidenced that the Pagan rite of cremation 
 had been performed. There was also laid bare a pit, 27 feet deep, in which, 15 feet from 
 the surface, an urn was discovered. We have thus proof that in this spot two distinct races 
 of people have been interred. On the age of those of Teutonic character we may presume 
 to speculate, guided by the historical and monumental data we possess ; but on those of 
 earlier times we cannot offer even a conjecture, and our perplexity is increased by the 
 discovery of other interments about a furlong from the spot on the left hand side of the 
 road, in a ploughed field, part of the Vicarage Glebe, lately appropriated as the site of 
 the Bucks County Lunatic Asylum. Here while digging the foundations for the 
 Asylum, the workmen discovered what they supposed to be an old well, abandoned and 
 filled up. No relics of any description wdiatcver had, up to this time, been discovered on 
 the spot; but suspecting the character of this supposed well, I proceeded at once to have 
 it explored. In a short time we discovered evidence that it had been used for sepulchral 
 purposes. At the depth of 8 feet the workmen came to a stratum of hard blue stone, a 
 foot in thickness, through which a circular hole had been made. Immediately beneath a 
 chamber was found. In this portion of the pit were discovered many fragments of 
 cinerary urns formed of dark slate-coloured clay, some of which contained human bones, 
 the bones of some large animal, and portions of burnt oak and beech. Through the 
 
180 
 
 centre of tins chamber, the perpendicular shaft was continued eleven feet to another 
 and thicker stratum of rock. Beneath this again a second chamber was discovered 
 and cleared out. The contents were similar, but with the addition of the skull, teeth, 
 and one horn of an ox, a portion of skin tanned and preserved by the action of the 
 sulphurous acid of the blue clay below, and wood burnt, uuburut, and partially consumed, 
 twelve urns of various forms and sizes, two bronze rings, apparently formed for armillse, 
 of the rudest construction, 2f inches in diameter, and a bucket with iron hoops, and 
 cleets for the handle, but which handle could not be found.” 
 
 SHIP MONEY. 
 
 Lord Nugext. 
 
 “The question of ship money excited unusual interest in Buckinghamshire. In 
 January, 1635 - 6 , new Sheriffs having been appointed, a writ was issued, directed “To 
 Sir Peter Temple, Baronet, late High Sheriff, and Heneage Proby, Esq., now appointed 
 High Sheriff for the county of Bucks,” directing the one to deliver, and the other to 
 receive, the original warrant, as well as all accomps and returns concerning the levy of 
 the former year. This return was accordingly made by the assessors of the different 
 parishes ; amongst those whose payment had been delayed were the assessors of Great 
 Kimble, near which village the principal property of John Hampden was situated. The 
 return contained the names of those parishioners of Kimble who refused to pay ship 
 money, together with the sum assessed upon each. At the head of the list stands the 
 name of John Hampden, and the constables and assessors also had the courage to include 
 their own in the list of objectors. Sir Peter Temple was summoned to answer for default 
 during his year of office, and he being unable from ill-health to give his personal 
 attendance on the appointed day, the jealousy and rage of the Court were so bitter that 
 he was kept for a considerable time in custody of a messenger, a prisoner in his own 
 house at Stowe. Such was the relentless vigour with which the Government proceeded 
 against its own helpless and unoffending officer! 
 
 The King was resolved to press the claim of ship money, and to fortify his right to 
 do so the opinion of the twelve judges was sought on the legality of the demand. In 
 February, 1636-7, such opinion was obtained ; a majority of the judges were in favour 
 of his Majesty’s right to levy the tax. Directions were then issued to take proceedings 
 against Hampden, as one of the principal opposers of the tax, and a leader of the defaulters 
 A writ was forthwith issued from the Court of Exchequer, calling on him to show cause 
 why the demand made upon him by the Sheriff should not be satisfied. The case selected 
 
181 
 
 for trial was an assessment of twenty shillings in respect of land at Prestwood, in the 
 parish of Stoke Mandeville.” 
 
 In the year 1863, an obelisk was erected on this land, showing it to be the 
 identical plot over which the contest between the King and John Hampden was so 
 fiercely fought. The obelisk bears this inscription, written by the late judge, Sir W. 
 Erie:— 
 
 For these lands in Stoke Mandeville, 
 
 JOHN HAMPDEN 
 
 Was assessed in Twenty Shillings 
 Ship Money, 
 
 Levied by command of the King, 
 
 Without authority of Law, 
 
 The 4th of August, 1635. 
 
 By resisting the claim of the King, 
 
 In legal strife, 
 
 He upheld the rights of the people, 
 
 Under the Law, 
 
 And became entitled 
 To grateful remembrance. 
 
 His work on earth ended 
 After the conflict in Chalgrove Field, 
 
 The 18th of June, 1643, 
 
 And he rests in Great Hampden Church. 
 
 W. E. 1863. 
 
 RUINS OF QUARRENDON CHAPEL. 
 
 The Yen. E. Bickersteth, D.D. 
 
 “The portion of the chancel arch remaining of Quarrendon Chapel, is evidently 
 very early, possibly of the twelfth century, certainly not later than the beginning of the 
 thirteenth. This is no doubt a portion of that building which was standing when the 
 vicarage of Bierton was constituted. The greater part of the remaining portion of the 
 ruins is late Decorated; so that if we had no other evidence to guide us, we should refer 
 it to about the end of the fourteenth century. In 1377, nearly a hundred years after 
 the ordaining of the Vicarage of Bierton, John Farnham and others agreed to provide a 
 daily service in this church, and they then probably improved the character of the 
 edifice. According to Browne Willis, the church was much injured by the great storm 
 and flood in the sixteenth century, and Sir Henry Lee doubtless then repaired the 
 building. It is not known when this church ceased to be used for public worship. In 
 the ‘Magna Britannia,’ published in 1720, it is described as a ‘disused chapel.’ But it 
 appears from the Bierton Register Books, that it was used for occasional services long 
 after this date. A marriage was solemnized here as late as December 22, 1746 ; and 
 burials have taken place occasionally till within the last 50 years, in the churchyard 
 adjoining, the boundaries of which have now disappeared. A writer in the Gentleman's 
 
182 
 
 Magazine, for July, 1817, under the signature of ‘ Viator,’ describes the church as in a 
 dilapidated condition, the elegant but mutilated monuments of the ancient proprietors of 
 the contiguous estate, being allowed to moulder into dust without any attempt to preserve 
 them. Part of the roof and walls had fallen down ; not a pane of glass remained in the 
 windows ; the pews, &c., had been taken away, and the floor dug up ; and cattle and 
 implements of husbandry were partially sheltered in the sacred precincts. There were 
 then remaining in the chancel, part of three principal monuments or altar-tombs of the 
 Elizabethan period : one on the north side—a splendid sarcophagus with the recumbent 
 effigy of a Knight of the Garter, with his mantle and collar over a coat of mail, of 
 alabaster, painted and gilt in a most superb style : the gold was fresh and some of the 
 colours were unfaded. This was the monument of the great Sir Henry Lee, K.G., who 
 died in 1610. The second was the monument of Sir Anthony Lee (the father of Sir 
 Henry Lee) and Margaret his wife, daughter of Sir Thomas Wiat; and the third was a 
 smaller one to Anna Vavasour, Sir Henry Lee’s ‘ Dulcinea.’ Browne Willis mentions a 
 large monumental slab of marble, which remained in his time in the body of the church, 
 and it is supposed that this marked the place of interment of John Farnham, the great 
 benefactor of this church in the 14th century, but not the founder .”—Records of Bucks. 
 
 WHADDON CHASE. 
 
 Whaddox Chase was the only one in Buckinghamshire in which the Norman 
 Conquerors, and no doubt their predecessors the Saxons, as well as their successors, 
 indulged in the pleasure of hunting. Walter Giffard gave the tithes of his wood at 
 Whaddon to his Priory at Longueville ; and this fact has been considered good evidence 
 of the existence of Whaddon Chase, at least as early as the time of King William II. 
 This chase, which contained 2,200 acres of coppices, interspersed with oak, ash, and other 
 timber, was the principal woodland in the northern part of this county. It was con¬ 
 sidered sufficient to maintain 1,000 head of deer ; but the proprietor had power to stock 
 it with as many more as he pleased. Several of the neighbouring villages claimed and 
 exercised the right of common in the chase. In 1794, the Reporters of the Agricultural 
 state of Bucks complained that the young timber was much destroyed by the deer and 
 the commoners’ cattle. The family of Tyrrell, of Thornton, claimed the Lieutenancy or 
 Government of the Chase, with the office of Woodward there, and certain fees and per¬ 
 quisites : as also the lodge called Marwood Lodge, and the yard thereunto belonging; 
 and that Henry Edlin claimed Shackloe Lodge, with the yard and warren adjacent. The 
 Chase was inclosed in 1840. The Norman Kings had an inordinate passion for the 
 chase. Cruel regulations were made respecting carrying arms in the forests of England. 
 
183 
 
 William the Conqueror ordered that whosoever should kill a stag, or a hind, should have 
 his eyes picked out, and he made statutes to secure even hares from all danger. These 
 laws, rigorously enforced against the Saxons, greatly increased their misery, for many of 
 them had no means of subsistence but the chase. The poor murmured, but William took 
 no notice of their ill will, and they were fain to obey under the pain of death. 
 
 FORMER STATE OF THE HIGHWAYS IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 Notwithstanding the early periods in which bequests were made for the improve¬ 
 ment of the roads and highways, they remained in a miserable state for some generations 
 after. It was not until the present century was well advanced that a thorough reformation 
 of them was commenced. A gentleman, who has been dead but a few years, in giving 
 an account of a journey from Leighton to Aylesbury, states that the ruts in the road 
 were so deep that wheels were useless ; the post chaise in which he travelled being 
 dragged along at a snail’s pace after the manner of a sledge. Another traveller says that 
 in 1812, having a load of grocery to take from Aylesbury to Princes Risborough, he, at 
 Askett, had to leave one-half behind, and make a second journey for the remainder, 
 notwithstanding that he had the assistance of two good and able horses. The road 
 between Aylesbury and Bicester was in the winter under water for half-a-mile together ; 
 an aged man, not long deceased, related that in his early days the road between Waddes- 
 don and Bicester could not even be traced, and travellers took the route which appeared 
 to them to be the most promising. Mr. A. Clear, in his “ Annals of Grandborough,” 
 refers to a trial at the Assizes in Buckingham in 1787, in which the inhabitants of 
 Grandborough were indicted for a nuisance. It was alleged “ That a certain part of the 
 King’s highway, called Bowden Lane, between Grandborough and Winslow, was in a 
 ruinous, mirey, deep, broken condition, and in great decay, so that the liege subjects of 
 the King, through the same, could not go, return, or pass, without great danger to their 
 lives and loss of their goods.” The Court held that it was the bounden duty of the parish 
 officers of Grandborough to put the said road in repair. Mr. Priestly, in his survey of 
 Buckinghamshire, dated 1813, states that “the roads of this county are extremely bad, 
 having ruts so deep, that when the wheels of a chaise fall into them, it is with the 
 greatest danger that an attempt can be made to draw them out; nay, instances may be 
 produced where, if such an attempt is made, the horse and chaise must inevitably fall 
 into bogs. In riding from Risborough to Bledlow, my horse fell into a bog up to his 
 chest. In the road from Turweston to Biddlesden, I twice lost myself by such roads : 
 the distance is not three miles ; and yet though I left Turweston by eleven o’clock, I 
 was unable to reach Biddlesden before three. The difficulty in finding the way from 
 Fenny Stratford to Whaddon was such that, without a guide, I could not have surmounted 
 
184 
 
 it. From Winslow to Wing it was no less ; and had it not been now and then for a 
 colony of gipsies, I might have been obliged, in more instances than one, to have taken 
 refuge in a milking-house for a night’s lodging.” In the year 1815 Mr. McAdam 
 undertook the improvement of the public roads generally ; he had the satisfaction of 
 seeing his system of “macadamising” commonly adopted. Government made him a 
 grant of £2,000, and also repaid him a large outlay he had made in perfecting his plan ; 
 he attained the reputation of one of the most honourable and disinterested of men ; he 
 died in 1836. 
 
 When a mode for extending turnpike roads from the metropolis to distant parts of 
 the country was in agitation, the counties in the neighbourhood of London petitioned 
 Parliament against it, alleging that the remoter counties would be able, from the 
 comparative cheapness of labour in them, to sell their produce in London at a lower rate 
 than they could do, and that their rents would be reduced and cultivation ruined by the 
 measure. Luckily this interested opposition proved ineffectual. Paley, in his “ Moral 
 Philosophy,” confutes this argument—“ In the neighbourhood of populous and trading 
 towns the husbandmen are busy and skilful, the peasantry laborious, the land is managed 
 to the best advantage and double the quantity of produce raised from it. Wherever a 
 thriving factory finds means to establish itself a new vegetation springs up around it. I 
 believe it is true that agriculture never arrives at any considerable, much less at its 
 highest degree of perfection, when it is not connected with trade ; that is, when the 
 demand for produce is not increased by the consumption of trading cities.” 
 
 THE EARL OF ROCHESTER’S ESCAPE FROM AYLESBURY. 
 
 Lord Clarendon'. 
 
 [ Edward Hyde, Lord Clarendon , Lord High Chancellor of England, was an ardent 
 Royalist , and attached himself during the Civil War, to the cause of Charles. In his 
 judicial functions his conduct was above reproach, yet he became unpopular , and had to 
 resign his official situations; he retired to France. His “ History of the Rebellion" is held 
 in high estimation, and will transmit his name to a distant posterity. His daughter 
 married the Duke of York, and his two granddaughters, Anne and Mary, both ascended 
 the English Throne. The following account of Earl Rochester's escape from Aylesbury is 
 from his “History of the RebellionHe died in 1674.] 
 
 “When he return’d from the North (1655), he lodged at Aylesbury ; and having 
 been observ’d to ride out of the way in a large ground not far from the Town, of which 
 he seem’d to take some Survey, and had ask’d many questions of a Country Fellow who 
 was there (that ground in truth belonging to his own Wife) the next Justice of 
 Peace had notice of it; who being a Man devoted to the Government, and all that 
 
185 
 
 Country very ill affected always to the King, and the News of Salisbury, and the 
 Proclamation thereupon, having put all Men upon their Guard, came himself to the Inn 
 where the Earl was ; and being inform’d, that there were only two Gentlemen above at 
 Supper (for Sir Nicholas Armorer was likewise with the Earl, and had accompanied him 
 in that journey) he went into the Stable ; and upon view of the Horses found they were 
 the same which had been observ’d in the Ground. The Justice commanded the keeper 
 of the Inn, one Gilvy, who, besides that he was a Person notoriously affected to the 
 Government, was likewise an Officer, ‘That he should not suffer those Horses, nor the 
 Persons to whom they belonged, to go out of the House, till he, the said Justice, came 
 thither in the Morning ; when he would examine the Gentlemen, who they wei’e, and 
 from whence they came.’ The Earl was quickly advertised of all that passed below, and 
 enough apprehensive of what must follow in the Morning. Whereupon he presently sent 
 for the Master of the House, and no Body being present but his Companion, he told him, 
 ‘ He would put his Life into his hands ; which he might destroy or preserve: That he 
 could get nothing by the one, but by the other he should have profit, and the good Will 
 of many Friends, who might be able to do him good.’ Then he told him who he was ; 
 and as an earnest of more benefit that he might receive hereafter, he gave him thirty or 
 forty Jacobus’s, and a fair Gold Chain, which was more worth to be sold than one 
 hundred pounds. Whether the Man was moved by the reward which he might have 
 possessed without deserving it, or by wisdom and foresight, for he was a Man of very 
 good Understanding, and might consider the Changes which follow’d after, and in which 
 this Service prov’d of advantage to him, he did resolve to permit and contrive their 
 Escapes: and though he thought fit to be accountable to the Justice for their Horses, 
 yet he caused two other as good for their purpose, of his own, to be made ready by a 
 trusty Servant in another Stable ; who, about Midnight, Conducted them into London- 
 wav ; which put them in Safety. The Inn-keeper was visited in the Morning by the 
 Justice ; whom, he carried into the Stable, where the Horses still stood, he having still 
 kept the Key in his own Pocket, not making any doubt of the Persons whilst he kept 
 their Horses ; but the Inn-keeper confessed they were Escaped out of his House in the 
 Night, how or whither he could not imagine. The Justice threaten’d loud ; but the 
 Inn-keeper was of that unquestionable Fidelity, and gave such daily demonstration of 
 his Affection to the Common-wealth, that Cromwell more suspected the connivance of the 
 Justice (who ought not to have deferr’d the examination of the Persons till the Morning) 
 than the Integrity of a Man so well known, as the Inn-keeper was. The Earl remain’d 
 in London whilst the inquiry was warm and importunate, and afterwards easily procured 
 a passage for Flanders ; and so return’d to Cologne.” 
 
 [The Earl of Rochester was a devoted adherent to Charles II. ; he made a journey 
 into the north of England, in the hope of rallying a party to espouse the cause of the 
 King. He was disappointed, meeting with but ill success and discomfiture, and was 
 
186 
 
 making his way back to London stealthily, in fact in disguise, and travelling by bye- 
 roads and out-of-the-way places. Tradition points to the Old White Hart as the Inn 
 alluded to.] 
 
 ANCIENT CEMETERY AT LONG CRENDON. 
 
 In 1824, on making a new road in this village an ancient cemetery was casually 
 opened. Some relics of Roman pottery, great quantities of ashes, scoriae and semi- 
 vitrified masses, vast numbers of fragments of urns and other vessels, bones of large 
 quadrupeds, and of birds, as well as many skeletons, were found—thus affording proofs 
 of various modes of burial at different periods in the same spot. The only metallic 
 substances found amongst these deposits were small portions of two battle-axes or heads 
 of spears, entirely corroded, and seven finger or ear-rings of brass. Among the 
 fragments of pottery were eight paterm of beautiful red Samian ware, a small incense pot 
 and a lamp of the same ware, which was quite perfect. 
 
 WOODEN EFFIGIES AT CLIFTON REYNES. 
 
 Rev. W. H. Kelke. 
 
 “ Clifton Reynes is a small secluded village about a mile from Olney, but on the 
 opposite bank of the Ouse. The church consists of a chancel with a north aisle ; a nave 
 with north and south aisles ; and a low, massive, embattled tower at the west end. The 
 chancel aisle, which is separated from the chancel by two Decorated arches, appears to 
 have been built as a sepulchral chapel. The earliest existing monument in it is placed 
 in the north wall within a canopied recess, with good foliated tracery of the Decorated 
 period. It consists of two recumbent effigies, male and female, carved in oak, and 
 placed on a modern slab supported by Grecian brackets. The monument has neither 
 date, inscription, nor armorial bearings. Lipscomb assigns it to Sir Thomas de Reynes, 
 who married Joan, daughter of Baron Seton, of Scotland, and died a.d. 1380. He says 
 elsewhere, however, that he married the daughter of Sir Thomas Seyton, of Seyton, co. 
 Northampton, and died in 1389. 
 
 A manuscript history of Clifton, written in 1821 by the Rev. Edward Cooke, rector 
 of Haversham, and left by him to the Rector of Clifton for the time being, states that 
 these effigies ‘ are of considerable antiquity, and were probably designed for some of the 
 
187 
 
 Borard family, or for that Thomas Eeynes and his wife, who succeeded them in the 
 estate,’ and died about a.d. 1310. Lipscomb’s conjecture s undoubtedly erroneous ; for 
 the monument evidently belongs to a far earlier period than a.d. 1380, and even earlier, 
 I doubt not, than a.d. 1310. The entire absence of plate armour, except genouilleres, 
 the sleeveless surcoat, the unornamented sword-belt, resembling a plain strap, fastened 
 by a common buckle, instead of the richly-chased ornament of the fourteenth century, 
 unless we suppose that the ornaments were here indicated by colour, which has been 
 effaced ; the absence, also, of the dagger, and the cross-legged attitude, are sufficient 
 characteristics for assigning the male effigy to the thirteenth century. The peculiarities 
 of the lady's costume equally belong to the same century. Consequently, viewing these 
 effigies in connection with the history of the Manor, I am inclined to assign them to 
 Simon de Borard and Margaret his wife, daughter of Sir Asceline Sydenham, of Titch- 
 merch, by whom he became possessed of part of that manor. This Simon de Borard died 
 shortly before 1267, which agrees with the apparent date of the monument. The Church 
 of Clifton, which had been founded by one of his ancestors, who, however, was only a 
 sub-feudary Lord of the Manor, probably was a small edifice. But after the attainder 
 of his superior lord, Simon de Borard became Lord of the Manor immediately under the 
 King, and having increased his possessions by marriage, he is very likely to have rebuilt 
 his Parish Church, of which he was patron ; and his wife, who was an heiress, probably 
 joined him in this good work. This conjecture is strengthened by the appearance of the 
 present church, the greater part of which belongs to about the period of their death. 
 Here, then, is a reason for their being specially commemorated in it. Nor can these 
 effigies with any degree of probability be assigned to later members of the Borard family. 
 For, of the three sons left by this Simon and Margaret, Richard, who first succeeded his 
 father, died unmarried ; Asceline, who next inherited the property, was a priest ; and 
 Robert, the last of the male line, died without issue, soon after 1296, and probably 
 unmarried, for no record appears of his wife. 
 
 We now proceed to the altar-tomb standing under the lower arch between the 
 chancel and its aisle. Each side of the tomb is ornamented with five shields of arms 
 surrounded with tracery, and over every shield, and within the tracery, is the figure of a 
 rose. Roses are also figured on the spaces between the shields, and a border of roses 
 placed at short intervals surrounds each side of the tomb. Upon the tomb are two 
 recumbent effigies, male and female, carved in oak, much resembling those last described, 
 but evidently, from their execution and some points of difference, belonging to a some¬ 
 what later period. The knight, who has neither beard nor moustachio, wears a bascinet 
 with camail, or possibly, the hood of mail; his hauberk reaches nearly to his knees; his 
 surcoat marked with squares, perhaps intended for chequy, the bearing of Reynes; he 
 has knee-pieces, but no appearance of armour beneath them on the legs, nor on the arms, 
 which have been coloured red; no spurs or straps remain : no bosses appear at the 
 shoulders or elbows ; the toes are pointed, but there is no appearance of sollercts. His 
 
188 
 
 head rests on two cushions ; his right hand is in the attitude of sheathing the sword, 
 which is entirely broken away, and there is no appearance of the swordbelt; with his 
 left arm he holds a shield, semi-cylindrical and of the heater shape, but devoid of 
 armorial device. His right leg is crossed over the left, and his feet rest on a dog. The 
 lady wears a veil over the head, with a fillet encircling the temples, and another passing 
 from the forehead over the crown. The veil, passing under the fillet, falls on each side the 
 face down to the shoulders. A wimple, or gorget, covers the neck and chin almost up to 
 the under lip. The dress, low about the neck, falls in folds to the feet, which are 
 remarkably small; the gown, or super-tunic is sleeveless ; there is no girdle. The hands 
 are in the attitnde of prayer, and the arms, or sleeves of the under dress, have been 
 coloured red. The head rests on a double cushion, and the feet on a dog. The 
 dimensions are as follows:—Length of the effigies, 6 feet 1 inch ; length of the tomb, 
 6 feet 5 inches. 
 
 There is neither date nor inscription on this monument, but the armorial bearings 
 may assist us in determining whom it was intended to commemorate, if indeed the 
 effigies and the tomb originally belonged to each other. Lipscomb assigns it to Sir 
 Thomas Reynes and his wife, Cecilia, daughter of Sir Roger Tyringham, probably because 
 the arms of Tyringham appear on the tomb. But this Sir Thomas Reynes was living in 
 the latter half of the fourteenth century, and according to Lipscomb in 1366, which is 
 too late for the apparent date of the effigies. Moreover, the arms of Tyringham appear 
 on the tomb impaling those of Reynes, that is, Tyringham on the dexter and Reynes on 
 the sinister side, which, according to the present rules of heraldry, would make the 
 husband a Tyringham and the wife a Reynes. Consequently, this coat could not have 
 been introduced in allusion to Sir Thomas Reynes’ marriage with Cecilia Tyringham, but 
 may be the arms of a married lady of the Reynes family (according to the heraldic usage 
 of that time), who was a near relation of the deceased. As Tyringhams and Reynes had 
 lived near each other for several generations, they had probably intermarried before the 
 alliance here mentioned. Moreover, this Sir Thomas and his wife are commemorated by 
 a brass with their effigies and respective arms properly impaled. These considerations 
 are sufficient to show that the heraldic bearings on the tomb afford no conclusive 
 evidence for assigning it to Thomas Reynes and Cecilia Tyringham.” 
 
 SNELSHALL PRIORY, WHADDON. 
 
 SxELSHAiiL Priory was a small house for Benedictine monks, situate in the parish 
 of Whaddon, on the border of Whaddon Chase, and was founded by one Ralph Martel 
 in the reign of Henry III., about 1218. In 1227 the Prior received a grant to hold a 
 weekly market on Thursdays at Snelskall, and in 1230 the Prior received the privilege of 
 
189 
 
 holding a weekly market at Mursley on Thursday. This market was subsequently 
 changed to Wednesday by a grant given in 1243, which also empowered the prior to hold 
 a fair on the Festival of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin. At the dissolution the 
 endowment of the priory was estimated at the annual sum of £24, and the buildings 
 were partly in ruins. There were but three monks then remaining in the establishment. 
 According to a terrier of lands, &c., which had belonged to Snelshall, drawn up in 1547, 
 there were besides the buildings comprising the priory and the site thereof, six acres of 
 woodland near the priory, a meadow containing sixteen acres, another meadow of similar 
 size, a common, twelve acres, and pasture for three hundred sheep, a pasture called 
 Codimere in Whaddon, thirty-four acres of land at Loughton, and pieces of land in 
 Shenley, Beachampton, Simpson, and Mursley. In 1539 King Henry VIII. granted all 
 this property to Francis Pigott, Esq. The present church at Tattenhoe was re-built 
 about 1540 out of the materials of Snelshall Priory, and a portion of the buildings were 
 converted into a farmhouse, which was pulled down some years ago. The site of the 
 priory is now included in Whaddon Park. 
 
 THE REVERSES OF THE HAMPDEN FAMILY. 
 
 Forty years after the death of John Hampden the patriot, sad reverses fell upon 
 his successors. John Hampden, generally known as “ the younger,” to distinguish him 
 from his grandfather, the patriot, was, in 1683, one of the conspirators implicated in the 
 plot (or some think the pretended one) known as the “ Rye House Plot,” the object being 
 to secure the succession of the Duke of Monmouth to the throne in preference to the 
 Duke of York, afterwards James II. Hampden very narrowly escaped the fate of Lord 
 William Russell and Algernon Sydney. He was tried before Judge Jeffreys, not charged 
 with high treason, but with high misdemeanour ; he was found guilty and sentenced, was 
 kept in prison a considerable time, fined £40,000, and eventually liberated. He had not 
 long regained his liberty, when he was again in trouble. In 1685 he joined the Duke 
 of Monmouth. Once more he had to face a jury on a capital charge; to save his life he 
 pleaded guilty, and mercy was again extended to him. He had previously represented 
 Bucks county, also Wendover, in Parliament; in 1688 he was again returned 
 for Wendover. As one who had suffered so much under the Stuarts, he cordially joined 
 in measures to secure the accession of William III. to the throne. Hampden’s consti¬ 
 tution and spirits suffered considerable injury and depression from his humiliation in 
 accepting life from King James, under the sad circumstances in which he had been 
 placed ; a melancholy despondency ensued, which terminated in suicide in 1696. 
 
 Trouble also overcame his son and successor, Richard Hampden, M.P. for the county 
 of Bucks, and subsequently for Wendover. He was appointed Treasurer of his Majesty’s 
 
190 
 
 Navy, and held that office until 1720, when a deficiency was discovered in his accounts, 
 amounting to £73,706, said to have been occasioned by an unfortunate speculation in 
 the South Sea scheme. His estates became liable to sequestration, and his Manors in 
 Little Hampden, Great Kimble, Wendover, Dunton, Little Kimble, Kimble Wick, 
 Ellesborough, Stone, Bishopstone, Stoke Mandeville, Great Missenden, and Stewkley, 
 with other detached properties, were confiscated and disposed of by public or private 
 contract, under an Act of Parliament, to pay his deficiencies. This was an arrangement 
 made so as to secure the ancient Manor of Great Hampden, with its Mansion and 
 appurtenances, and certain lands contiguous thereto, to the family and their successors. 
 Hampden did not long survive this loss of the greater part of his estate ; he died in 
 1728, leaving a widow who, as a second husband, married a Peter Bradbury, a dissenting 
 minister. In default of issue the reserved estates passed to Hampden’s half-brother, 
 another John Hampden, he, who died in 1754, unmarried, leaving his property to the 
 Hon. Bobert Trevor, and in default of issue to the Hobarts, Earls of Buckinghamshire. 
 Robert Trevor, in pursuance of Hampden’s will, took the name and arms of Hampden. 
 Thus terminated, as is supposed, the male descendants of the patriot, whose family can 
 be traced in lineal descent through more than twenty generations; this last John 
 Hampden being, as his monumental inscription records, the twenty-fourth hereditary 
 Lord of Great Hampden. 
 
 LAVENDON CASTLE, NEWPORT PAGNELL. 
 
 There are no remains above ground of Lavendon Castle, but the residence attached 
 to the Castle Farm occupies its site. This farm house is surrounded by a deep moat; 
 and foundations of great thickness have frequently been discovered near 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, 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 in his time a farm house stood on its site. 
 
 HOGSHAW PRIORY. 
 
 Hogshaw Priory was termed a “Hospital of the Knights of St. John of 
 Jerusalem,” and was situate in the extra parochial district of Hogshaw, at a spot near 
 the highway leading from Quainton to Botolph Claydon. It was founded about 1180, 
 and continued in existence as a centre of learning and charity in that retired place for 
 
191 
 
 about 400 years. After the dissolution, King Henry VIII., in 1544, granted the 
 buildings and estate to Matilda Lane, widow of Sir Ralph Lane, Knt. The church stood 
 near the priory, but when the latter building was dismantled and the inmates dispersed, 
 there was no priest provided to officiate in the church, and but few parishioners left to 
 worship there ; so divine service was but seldom performed in it. It seems to have met 
 with very rough usage at the time of the Civil War, and after standing in ruins for a 
 century it was pulled down about 1730, and the materials used to build an ox-house for 
 the tenant, which now marks the site where the church once stood. 
 
 OLNEY OLD CHURCn. 
 
 Thomas Wright, Olney (1886). 
 
 “ Of the ancient church of Olney nothing is known ; the building itself disappeared 
 long ago, though its site probably continued to be used as a burying ground until the 
 Reformation, and the only name preserved that appears to have had any connection with 
 it is that of the spring in the Home close called ‘ Christen Well.’ Probably, like most 
 other Saxon churches, it was mean in appearance, and consisted of very little besides four 
 thick walls : probably, too, it was dedicated with rejoicings out of all proportion to the 
 magnitude of the building; and we have not the least doubt that, according to the 
 inevitable custom of our ancestors, the incipient services were followed by substantial 
 feasts and ales of extra strength. 
 
 About the year 1325, this old church having fallen out of repair, it was resolved by 
 the inhabitants of Olney not only that a new church should be erected, but also that it 
 should occupy a different site ; and the one eventually decided upon was the field near 
 the river, still called the Lordship Close. The foundations were laid accordingly; but 
 imagine the surprise of the builders one morning on finding them not in the close where 
 they had been placed, but in the adjacent field. In spite, however, of their astonishment 
 and fright, the workmen eventually summoned up sufficient courage to convey them back 
 to their original position ; and this accomplished, and night having drawn nigh, laid 
 their foolish heads to sleep again. But in the morning the strange sight again met 
 their eyes; not so much as a stone chip remained in the close, while in the adjoining 
 field their work was spread out with amazing skill and precision. Who had done it 'i 
 Certainly no human being 1 Angel or devil ? Some of the builders, comparing the 
 traditional activity of the latter with the pertinacity evinced by the midnight toiler, were 
 inclined to ascribe the deed to Satanic agency, and in consequence strongly objected to 
 have anything more to do with the work. It would be unpleasant, to say the least of it, 
 to have so disreputable a fellow labourer. Again, it was not sufficiently clear what end 
 was to be obtained by conveying stones from one field to another by day when they 
 would be supernaturally removed by night; whilst were they to build on the site 
 preferred by the spirit, would they not be acting in accordance with the will of the Evil 
 
192 
 
 One, and thereby be consigning themselves to his keeping for ever ? Happily, however, 
 the more numerous party perceived, as did the priests, that this occurrence could be none 
 other than a message from heaven, and, therefore, proposed to build the church on the 
 ground thus miraculously indicated. Happily, too, the other workmen, unable to refute 
 the arguments of the majority, honestly acknowledged the weakness of their own theory, 
 and once more resumed their chisels and hammers ; so working together with one heart, 
 in due time the present church and steeple of Olney were completed. 
 
 Similar traditions have attached themselves to at least two other churches in 
 this county, those of West Wycombe and Quainton, and also to several churches of 
 Northamptonshire. At West Wycombe the edifice was originally iutended to stand at 
 the foot of a hill, ‘ but as fast as a portion of the building was erected it was removed 
 during the night by some invisible agency, which deposited the materials at the top of 
 the hill. The nearest priest came with bell, book, and candle, and began an exorcism, 
 when a weird unearthly voice promised to abstain from further annoyance if the church 
 should be erected upon the spot to which the materials had been removed. This being 
 done, the work proceeded without further interruption.' The people of Olney and 
 Wycombe do not appear to have carried the stones back more than three or four times 
 at the outside, but those at Stowe, or Stowe-Nine-Churches, as it is frequently called, a 
 village near Northampton, had the pertinacity to replace them as many as nine times 
 before they desisted and acquiesced in the desire of the night-fiend or goblin. From 
 this occurrence the adjunct ‘ nine churches ’ is said to have been obtained. To the 
 people of Stowe, moreover, an idea occurred that does not appear to have struck those at 
 Olney ; they set a man to watch at night, but they might have saved themselves the 
 trouble, for his report was so vague and unsatisfactory that they could make neither head 
 nor tail of it.” 
 
 [It is said that Wendover Church, which is about a quarter of a mile from the town, 
 was commenced in an adjoining field, nearer the houses, but the materials were all carried 
 away during the night by witches, and deposited where the church now stands. The field 
 where it was intended to be erected is still called “Witchall Meadow.”] 
 
 NORMAN TOWERS. 
 
 Nobman Towers are generally low and stunted, scarcely rising above the ridge of 
 the nave and chancel roofs. They were generally, perhaps, surmounted by a gabled 
 pyramidal roof, of which however few examples remain—at least in this county. They 
 are represented at Stone and Ickford, also at Bradwell. The upper part of the tower 
 was sometimes arcaded like Haddenham Church, and was generally provided with a stair¬ 
 case, often carried up with a turret projecting at one of the angles—in this respect 
 differing from the Saxon. 
 

(ONLY FIVE COPIES ON OFFER.) 
 
 In 1 Vol., Grown U-to, 130 pages, price 10s. 63,., boards, 
 
 AND 
 
 jjfien of Jiote of that ©cuntj), 
 
 BY 
 
 ROBERT GIBBS, F.S.A., 
 
 Author of “ Begicides of Bucks,” “Local Records,” “History of Aylesbury,” etc. 
 
 -:o:- 
 
 “ it deserves a place on the shelves of the local Reading Rooms of the County, in 
 the libraries of the country gentlemen and clergy, and will be found a welcome addition 
 to the literary gatherings of those local and general collectors who are at once 
 archaeologians and antiquaries .”—Bucks Herald, May 12th, 1888. 
 
 AYLESBURY, 1888. 
 
 0f 
 
 THE 
 
 lurkingljHmdjirf ipsidlattg, 
 
 A Series of Concise and Interesting Articles Illustrative of the 
 
 History, JopoqRAPHY, and ^qcH/EOLOQY 
 
 OP THE 
 
 COUNTY OF BUCKINGHAM, 
 
 Compiled and Edited by ROBERT GIBBS, F.S.A., 
 
 Author of “Local Occurrences,” “Regicides of Bucks,” “History of Aylesbury,” “Worthies 
 
 of Buckinghamshire,” &c. 
 
 B HE “ BUCKINGHAMSHIRE MISCELLANY” will be mainly a topographical 
 work, will give descriptive accounts of the “ Nooks and Corners ” of the 
 County, together with Historic and Archaeological items connected with it. 
 It will be composed of concise and interesting readings from the works of those authors 
 who have treated on the ancient and modern History of Buckinghamshire—Camden, 
 Spelman, Dugdale, Leland, Ivennett White, Rev. Cox, Lysons, Denham, Drayton, Langley, 
 Lipscomb, and others. Extracts will also be quoted from local authors of a more recent 
 period : the names of the writers will be given, together with a brief biographical notice 
 relating to them. 
 
 The Work will be published in quarterly parts, price One Shilling (by post Is. 2d.). 
 Only a small excess of copies will be printed over those subscribed for. 
 
 1890. 
 
 PRINTING OFFICE, BOURBON STREET, AYLESBURY. 
 
QUARTERLY-Price Is. j by post Is. 2d. 
 
 PART V. 
 
 SEPTEMBER, 1890 
 
 THE 
 
 § it 4 It i tv 0 It *t tit;; It i it e 
 
 1 i 5i cell a n y, 
 
 A SERIES OF CONCISE AND INTERESTING ARTICLES ILLUSTRATIVE OF TIIE 
 
 iistorji, ®0£00Wjjj)2, anir 
 
 COUNTY OF BUCK.INQHAM, 
 
 COMPILED AND EDITED BY 
 
 ROBERT GIBBS, F.S.A., 
 
 Author of “ Local Occurrences," “ Regicides of Bucks,” “ History of Aylesbury," “Worthies of 
 
 Buckinghamshire," &c. 
 
 jjOJSTEJMTp OF : PAFI T 5 - 
 
 Names of Places; Extinct Hospitals; Venality of Wendover ; Roman Stations; Privy 
 Seal Loans ; Election, 1685 ; Hospital, High Wycombe ; Twiu Churches, Saundertou ; 
 Latimers; Boreton House ; Eton College; The Lilies ; Sanctus Bells: St, 
 Rumbold; Waller’s Tomb; Stoke Poges ; Waddesdon ; Hampden; Chenies Church; 
 Desborough Castle; Chalfont Grange; Aylesbury Church; Gregories; Notley Abbey; 
 Buckinghamshire Churches ; Littlecote ; Widmere; Wharton’s Bibles; Great Missenden ; 
 North Marston; Soldiers’ Mount; Effigy; Milton’s Cottage; Wycombe Hospitals; 
 Harleyford; Bolebec ; Whitchurch; Bierton ; Kimble Castle; Churches and Manors; 
 Aylesbury ; Ashendon ; Burke’s Estate; The Grove; Medmenham ; Ecclesiastical 
 Architecture ; Dagual; Chenies ; Tickford Priory ; Political History ot Bucks ; 
 Newport Hundred. 
 
 Z3 
 
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 AYLESBURY 
 
 p-, n PRINTED BY R. GIBBS, “ BUCKS ADVERTISER & AYLESBURY NEWS” OFFICE, p 
 
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 MDCCCXC. 
 

 
 - -m 
 
193 
 
 COMPOUND NAMES OF PLACES IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Mr. R. S. Downs. 
 
 “ The Anglo-Saxon or Danish names of existing towns or villages were in the main 
 left undisturbed by the. Norman Conquest. The Normans are represented in the topo¬ 
 graphical nomenclature of this county, not as name-givers, but as recipients of manors 
 already in possession of a proper designation. It is thus that we meet with so many 
 instances in which the name of the Norman owners, or that of their successors, has been 
 coupled with the old unchanged Saxon name. This was quite unnecessary except in cases 
 where there were more than one place of the same name. The compound names thus 
 formed in this county are Aston Abbots, Aston Clinton, Aston Bernard or Molins in 
 Dinton, Aston Sandford, Preston Bissett, Chesham Bois, Clifton Reynes, Drayton Beau¬ 
 champ, Drayton Parslow, Lillingstone Dayrell, Lillingstone Lovell, Maids Moreton, 
 Milton Keynes, Princes Risborough, Monks Risborough, Newport Pagnell, Newton 
 Blossomville, Newton Longville, Stoke Goldington, Stoke Hammond, Stoke Mandeville, 
 Stoke Poges, Weston Turville, Marsh Gibbon, Iselhampstead Chenies, Iselhampstead 
 Latimer. In the case of the last two names the local part has been quite superseded by 
 the personal, and they are now known as simply Chenies and Latimer. Some compound 
 names have originated from a new member having been attached to the old name, generally 
 of some hamlet which has grown up in a remote part of the parish, or from the union 
 of two adjacent manors, as Upton-cum-Chalvey, IIogshaw-cum-Fulbrook, Okeney-cum- 
 Petsoe, Radclive-cum-Chackmore, Tyringham-cum-Filgrave, Mursley-cum-Salden.” 
 
 AYLESBURY.—EXTINCT HOSPITALS. 
 
 “ Testimonies state that the hospitals of St. Leonard and St. John at Aillesbur, with 
 their possessions one and all, were founded by Robert Hale, Robert atte Hyde, William 
 Fitz-Robert, and John Paltok, of Aillesbur, by the sanction and confirmation of King 
 Henry I. and King Henry II., with lands and tenements, under statutes of the reigns of 
 the same kings, as appears by an inquisition taken in 1360, ‘ to sustain infirm lepers 
 and other destitute persons of Aylesbury above-named ; and that the above-named men 
 of Aillesbur, and their heirs, by the assent and confirmation of the aforesaid kings, ought 
 to choose and present fit masters at their discretion, for the care of the above-named 
 hospitals, and all the works of the above-named charity to be done. Which same 
 hospitals for eleven years have not been sustained ; yea, they are neglected and plundered, 
 and the above-named works of charity are entirely annulled, and their possessions are in 
 the hands and converted to the use of laymen. And which above-named lands and 
 
194 
 
 tenements of the above-named hospital of St. John conceded, are worth yearly, from all 
 resources, 33s. 4d. and the above-named lands and tenements of the above-named hospital 
 of St. Leonard conceded, are worth yearly, from all sources, 20s.’ ” 
 
 “Testimonies state that the hospital of St. John, of Ailesburi, was founded by 
 Robert Hale, William Fitz-Robert, William atte Hyde, John Paltok, and other 
 inhabitants of the town of Ailesburi, and this long before time of memory, with one 
 messuage, 21 acres of land, four acres of meadow, of about the true worth of 34s. a year. 
 And it was not founded by the lord the king, nor by his ancestors. And it is said that 
 the same hospital was founded to sustain the infirm and indigent of that town. At 
 an inquisition held in 1361, the juries returned that the hospital of St. Leonard at 
 Ailesburi was founded from one messuage, 14 acres of land, and two acres of meadow in 
 the said town and in Hartwell, by Sampson Fitz-William, Reg. Wanney, William Fitz- 
 Alday, and others of the aforesaid town of Ailesburi, to sustain the lepers and destitute 
 of the said town. And it is stated that it was not founded by the lord, the king, nor 
 his ancestors; and the said hospital is worth yearly 20s. And it is said the Lady 
 Eleanor, Countess Ormond, governor of the said town, presented to the said hospital 
 John d’Adyngrave, John Synkere, and another. And it said that 16 acres of meadow in 
 Stoke and Weston are appointed to the said hospital of St. John, and three acres of land 
 and two acres of meadow in Hartwell are appointed to the hospital of St. Leonard, the 
 same being given at the first foundation, and not after the publication of the statute 
 declaring lands and tenements placed in mortmain.” 
 
 THE VENALITY OF WENDOVER WHEN A PARLIAMENTARY BOROUGH. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 A CURIOUS old printed sermon has been brought to light, referring to the corruption 
 and venality ofWendover in former times. This sermon was delivered on the 5th of 
 May, 1709, in the Parish Church of Wendover, by the Rev. George Ollyffe, M.A., Vicar 
 of Great Kimble, before “ The Society for the Reformation of Manners.” The same 
 reverend gentleman was author of other sermons on like subjects, which were also 
 printed ; he died in 1752. His sermon in Wendover Church was preached expressly to 
 the Wendover people—indeed its introduction is addressed “ To the inhabitants of the 
 Burrough of Wendover”—“ It being the earnest Desire of my Reverend Brethren of the 
 Society, to see a greater Success attending their hearty Labours for a Reformation ; and 
 it being a very great Grief unto them to think, how deplorable an hindrance hereof does 
 arise from the Excesses and Abuses in the several Burroughs of the Nation at Election 
 Times ; what swarms of Offenders there are then found, which are too numerous for any 
 
 
195 
 
 to execute the Laws upon ; what disregard of their Pastors Instruction, their vicious 
 Habit then contracted do cause ; how great a Baulk is given to any aftercare for the 
 reclaiming them ; and what an unhappy plague and scandal such Seasons prove to the 
 Nation; and there being a particular Concern and Affection amongst them for your 
 Good, where they have fixt the Place of the Meeting of their Society ; these are therefore, 
 in their Name, and thro’ their Desire, to remind any amongst you, that are apt to give 
 way to what is so prejudicial, of the Sin and Folly thereof. What can any such think 
 will become of those, that are wilfully guilty of the Vices which then abound ? Do they 
 count Drunkenness a light Sin ; toping Days and Nights no Offence ? And is the dismal 
 swearing and Ranting that is then apparent, a small Crime ? How do they believe the 
 Threatnings of Almighty God against these Things ? Can they disarm God of his Power, 
 or deprive him of his Justice ? as that tho’ he hath said how severely he will be reveng’d 
 on such as are guilty hereof, yet that he cannot or will not punish. And how can they 
 think of another World, whilst they hanker after such Libertine-Times, and industriously 
 contrive for them, and sell their Souls for a Debauch ? If wasting Gentlemen’s Estates 
 
 be nothing, yet is not the Eternal destroying themselves of some Account ?-And we 
 
 would also appeal unto those that are fond of the return of such Days, upon the Account 
 of their present Interest, whether it be not a certain and experienc’d Truth, that of those 
 several Thousand Pounds which have been spent these last twenty or Thirty Years, 
 there are many Pence the more in their Pockets at long run for it. How is most that is 
 given immediately consum’d ? And where there has been by some few any thing sav’d, 
 how little sign does there remain thereof? and tho there have been some few present 
 Gains, how does all dwindle away, by that long and idle haunt, that generally follows 
 from the Time their Extravagancies do commence ? If these Things therefore were duly 
 and seriously weigh’d, may it not be justly hop’d of the chiefest and best part of you on 
 both sides, that you would be highly glad and careful to discountenance, and according 
 to your Power to prevent, what may have any ill Effects ; whatsoever cold Thanks the 
 obstinately Inconsiderate and loose Persons may think fit to return; And this would be 
 a very great rejoicing and encouragement to my Brethren of the Society, and particularly 
 unto Your Friend and Servant, George Ollyffe.” 
 
 Wendover was a very ancient borough ; it sent members to Parliament as early as 
 the reign of Edward I., but in the reign of Edward II., it ceased doing so, probably 
 from the cost of its representatives, who at that period were entitled to payment for 
 their services. It did not send again for upwards of 400 years. In 1G21 and 1624, in 
 conjunction with Amersham and Marlow, Wendover petitioned for a resumption of its 
 ancient right of representation ; it was conceded, as were also those of Amersham and 
 Marlow, which had intermitted sending members. The first members returned for 
 Wendover after its resumption as a Parliamentary borough were John Hampden, the 
 patriot, and Richard Hampden. This curious note is appended to the name of John 
 Hampden, “ who beareth the charge,” which may be understood that he would make no 
 
196 
 
 claim on his constituents for his services. Wendover subsequently became one of the 
 most corrupt and venal boroughs in the kingdom ; it was what was termed a proprietary 
 borough—the property of one individual; there were several such boroughs before the 
 passing of the Reform Act of 1832. The first Lord Carrington held three boroughs, of 
 which Wendover was one ; the Marquis of Buckingham held three, by means of which 
 these owners each held the votes of six members of the House of Commons entirely in 
 their own hands. The Duke of Norfolk could return 11 members ; Lord Lonsdale, 9. 
 
 In 1672 there was a bye-election at Wendover caused by the death of Mr. Robert 
 Crook, who had been returned at the general election of 1661. On this occasion the 
 candidates were Alderman Edward Backwell, and Thomas Wharton, a well-kuown 
 politician of the period. Backwell was returned, but on the petition of William Friend, 
 Francis Wallis, and Benjamin Delafield, of Wendover, and the defeated candidate 
 Thomas Wharton, the House decided that Backwell was by nefarious acts unduly elected, 
 consequently Wharton was seated. There were general elections in 1701 and 1702. In 
 1702, Richard Hampden and Sir Roger Hill were returned as members for Wendover, 
 the defeated candidate being Richard Crawley ; he, however, lodged a petition and 
 obtained the seat, Sir Roger Hill being unseated on the charge of corruption, bribery, 
 treating, and indirect practices. Sir Roger was, notwithstanding, returned in the following 
 Parliament of 1707, probably under similar management as in 1702. It was this 
 venal and corrupt state of political affairs at Wendover that evoked the sermon of the 
 Rev. George Oliyfife in the parish church there. His wise counsels had no good effect, 
 on the electors of Wendover, but were as transient as “ water poured on a duck’s back.” 
 In 1710, at a general election, Sir Roger Hill was again to the fore in connection with 
 Mr. Henry Grey. Once more was Sir Roger petitioned against: on this occasion by 
 Richard Crawley and Edward Sayers, on the grounds of bribery and undue practices. 
 Probably some arrangement was made, as no determination was come to by the House of 
 Commons on this petition. Sir Roger was again returned in 1714 and 1715. Eventually 
 the Borough passed into the hands Of Earl Verney. It was at this time customary for 
 those tenants, being voters, to occupy their houses at nominal rentals on condition of their 
 supporting such candidates for Parliament as their landlord should nominate. In 1768 
 there was a coup de main. A Mr. Robert Atkins, a lace dealer, a predecessor of the 
 Dixons’, of Wendover, undertook to carry the election against his Lordship’s interest; 
 he conducted his measures with such secrecy that no opposition was expected. At the 
 last moment, to the astonishment of Earl Yerney, Sir Robert Darling, a former Sheriff 
 of London, was proposed and immediately returned by a considerable majority. This 
 disobedience to his Lordship was punished by the refractory voters being immediately 
 evicted from their houses, and they were obliged to seek refuge in huts, hovels, 
 barns, and tents, or wherever they could. This circumstance is stated to have been the 
 origin of “ Cazzlety” (Casualty), a well-known suburb of Wendover. Contrition on the 
 part of the voters soon followed, and with some exceptions these independent men were 
 
197 
 
 allowed to repossess their former dwellings. They did not, however, forget this treatment, 
 but took the first opportunity to retaliate. It soon presented itself. In 1784, Lord 
 Verney’s affairs had become disorganized, and it was well known he could not long 
 retain his interest in Wendover ; the electors consequently secretly put up their suffrages 
 to the highest bidder. An individual undertook to find two candidates opposed to his 
 Lordship and return them. A secret party of electors congregated a mile out of the 
 town for a conference. A stranger here met them in a post chaise ; he was asked where 
 he came from. He replied “ From the Moon.” They then asked “ What was the news 
 from the Moon.” He answered that he had brought down from the moon £G,000, to be 
 distributed amongst them upon certain conditions. “ Hand over,” was the demand ; he 
 did so, and the influence of the purse of the man from the moon secured the election 
 against his Lordship’s nominees. The Parliamentary return of this election gives John 
 Ord and Robert Burton as representatives for Wendover. 
 
 The borough was afterwards purchased by Mr. J. B. Church, against whom a feeble 
 opposition was made by two gentlemen in the interest of the Marquis of Buckingham, 
 but as they had no lunar influence to serve them, success did not attend their attempt. 
 On leaving this country for America, Mr. Church sold Weudover to the first Lord 
 Carrington. The borough maintained its proprietary character to the last. In 1830, 
 the then Marquis of Chandos made an attempt to oust the Carrington influence, but 
 without success. A contest took place between the nominees of Lord Carrington, Mr. S. 
 Smith, who polled 84, and Mr. A. Smith 83, as against the Marquis’s nominees, Mr. 
 W. Burgh, who polled 35, and Mr. J. Camac, who polled 32. There were probably about 
 119 voters at this period, and it took two days to register those few votes. 
 
 Wendover was disfranchised by the Reform Act of 1832. The borough had its 
 redeeming qualities. It should be stated that it furnished the House of Commons with 
 some of its most brilliant members, amongst others, John Hampden, the patriot; Sir 
 Richard Steele, the essayist and dramatic writer; Edmund Burke, the celebrated 
 statesman, of Beaconsfield; and George Canning, who was several times Secretary of 
 State for Foreign Affairs, and Premier in 1827. 
 
 FENNY STRATFORD.—ROM AN STATIONS. 
 
 Dr. Lipscomb. 
 
 “ Shenley lies near Fenny Stratford ; it is on the west side of the Chester road, 
 which is identical with the Roman military way called Watling Street. There is some 
 reason to conjecture that the Romans had a station in this place and in several other 
 places along the line of this great road. Rather extensive earthworks are manifest in a 
 
198 
 
 field called Toothill, at bo great distance from the line of this old road, which from their 
 construction and quadrangular form, appear to have been Roman work. Three sides of 
 an encampment are yet perfect, and, from the width and depth of the ditch, and height 
 of the embankment, was apparently a post of considerable strength. The other side 
 was probably levelled for the convenience of the old Manor House, which stood within 
 the encampment, the last remains of which were pulled down in 1774. Adjoining to the 
 earthworks is a small wooded eminence, entirely moated round and surrounded by water. 
 In a direct line with this is another moated situation, at the end of Shenley Wood, 
 occupied as a farm house, and before planting the wood, was visible from the mount; 
 this again was visible from another similar situation, at Tattenhoe; and also in a line 
 with the latter, adjoining the hedge that bounds Bletchley field, is another small moated 
 site. All these were obviously in communication with each other ; and perhaps stations 
 capable of mutual support and places from which the surrounding country could be 
 watched; in all probability they communicated with another at or near Bletchley, and 
 with the Roman Station at Fenny Stratford, and by which all that part of the Watling 
 Street might have been defended from attack.” 
 
 PRIVY-SEAL LOANS. 
 
 “The Tudor sovereigns may be said to have been expert in exercising arbitrary 
 power without violation of the forms of law. They evaded the intention of the law and 
 broke it in the spirit, while they kept for the most part to the letter. One instance of 
 this method is seen in the practice which they followed of borrowing what were termed 
 ‘ Privy-seal Loans,’ a practice worthy of note as illustrating their policy, and showing the 
 extent to which the fortunes of private persons were at the mercy of those sovereigns. 
 When a man was known to have amassed a considerable sum of ready money, the 
 ministers would send to a magistrate of the district in which he lived a paper sealed 
 with the Royal Privy-seal, signifying the sovereign’s desire to become the moneyed man’s 
 debtor to whatever amount might be specified in the particular instance. No security 
 beyond the good faith of the sovereign was given for the payment of the debt, and in 
 case of his death before the payment was made, the liquidation of the debt was left to 
 the honour of his successor.”— Rev. J. R. Pretyman. 
 
 Privy Seals were issued in Bucks in 1604 to no less than 157 of the leading gentry 
 of the county ; they varied in sums from £200 to £20. In 1626, another levy of a more 
 searching character was made, the collections being divided into Huudreds. The follow¬ 
 ing levy on the gentry of the Aylesbury Hundred will give an idea of the extent of these 
 forced loans throughout not only this county but the country generally:—Sir Richard 
 
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 Moore, of Bledlow, Knt., £20 ; Sir Thomas Lee, of Moreton, Knt., £20; Sir William 
 Fleetwood, Knt., £20 ; John Hampden, of Hampden, £13 6s. 8d. The following were 
 called upon to produce £10 each:—Richard Babbham, of Weston, gent.; Thomas 
 Moore, of Aylsburv; Richard Pawly, of Halton, gent. ; Robert Dormer, of Peterly ; 
 Richard Seriant; Thomas Randoll, of Cuddington, gent.; Alexander Jennings, yeoman ; 
 Joan Chuknoll, of Princes Risborow, vidua; Thomas Hoare, of Aylsbury, yeoman; 
 Thomas Lee, of Hartwell; The Lady Hoddesdon, of Dynton, vidua ; Christofer 
 Hampden, of Wendover ; Henry Syred, of Monks Risborowe; John Knight, of Great 
 Missenden, yeoman; Lionel Randoll, of Kimble magna, gent. ; Thomas Rosse, of 
 Bierton, gent. ; Nicolas House, ib. gent. ; Mistris Joice Fountaine, of Huckett, vidua ; 
 William Hill, of Weston, gent.; Christopher Eggleton, of the Grove, gent. Richard 
 Babbham’s seal was reduced to £5, as was Richard Pawly’s, of Halton. The seal 
 directed to Sir Thomas Lee, of Moreton, was abated to £10, and thas to John Hampden, 
 of Hampden, to £10. 
 
 BUCKS COUNTY ELECTION, 1685. 
 
 Lord Macaulay. 
 
 [Thomas Babington, Lord Macaulay , was a celebrated English historian, orator, 
 essayist, and poet-, he was son of Zachary Macaulay, F.R.S., a zealous co-operator with 
 Mr. Wilberforce and other philanthropists . Lord Macaulmj s principal work is his 
 “ History of England from the Accession of James //.” Besides this history, essays, and 
 other u'or/cs, he wrote a collection of beautiful ballads, including the “ Lays of Ancient 
 Rome.” He died in 1859, and teas interred in Westminster Abbey.'] 
 
 “The Whig candidate was Thomas Wharton, eldest son of Philip Lord Wharton, 
 of Upper Winchendon ; he was a man distinguished alike by dexterity and by audacity, 
 and destined to play a conspicuous, though not always a respectable, part, in the politics 
 of several reigns. He had been one of those members of the House of Commons who 
 had carried up the Exclusion Bill to the bar of the Lords. The Court was therefore 
 bent on throwing him out by fair or foul means. The Lord Chief Justice Jeffreys 
 himself visited Buckinghamshire for the purpose of assisting a gentleman named 
 Hackett, who stood on the high Tory interest. A stratagem was devised, which it was 
 thought could not fail of success. It was announced that the polling would take place 
 at Aylesbury, and Wharton, whose skill in all the arts of electioneering was unrivalled, 
 made his arrangements on that supposition. At a moment’s warning the Sheriff 
 adjourned the poll to Newport Pagnell. Wharton and his friends hurried thither, and 
 found that Hackett, who was in the secret, had secured every inn and lodging. The 
 
200 
 
 Whig freeholders were compelled to tie their horses to the hedges, and to sleep under the 
 open sky in the meadows which surround the little town. It was with the greatest 
 difficulty that refreshments could be procured at such short notice for so large a number 
 of men and beasts, though Wharton, who was utterly regardless of money when his 
 ambition and party spirit were roused, disbursed fifteen hundred pounds in one day, an 
 immense outlay in those times. The unjust proceedings of the Sheriff, however, had an 
 effect exactly opposite to that which they were expected to produce, and so roused the 
 indignation and stirred up the courage of the stout-hearted yeomen of Bucks, the sons 
 of the constituents of John Hampden, that not only was Wharton at the head of the poll, 
 but he was able to spare his second votes to his friend (Lord John Brackley), a man of 
 moderate opinions, and to throw out the Chief Justice’s candidate.” 
 
 THE HOSPITAL OF S. JOHN THE BAPTIST, AT HIGH WYCOMBE. 
 
 Mr. John Parker, F.S.A. 
 
 “ The situation of the Hospital of St. John the Baptist at High Wycombe, was in 
 Easton Town or Estynton, a separate hamlet, which was afterwards connected with the 
 town of Wycombe, and formed a ward of the borough, called Easton ward, which was 
 bounded by the river, from which it is now separated by Easton Street. The Rye Mead 
 then stretched along the opposite side of the river, and was thus locally, as it is to this 
 day by title with the Hospital, as an appurtenant of the foundation. An exchange of 
 lands, in the last century, between the then Lord Shelburne and the Corporation of 
 Wycombe, altered the boundaries of this ancient mead. 
 
 The origin of the Hospital has been popularly supposed to have belonged to the 
 Templars, and afterwards to the Hospitalers, in consequence, it may be supposed, of the 
 dedication of the Hospital to St. John the Baptist. But there is some plausibility for 
 the supposition, as it is well known that the Templars had considerable property in the 
 Hundred of Desborough. They had a manor at Wycombe, still known as Temple Manor, 
 and Temple End and Temple Farm are familiar names in the locality. On the dissolution 
 of the Templars and the confiscation of their lands, the Hospitalers, for the most part, 
 succeeded to their properties, hence the presumed connection of this Hospital with these 
 orders, which were accustomed to have, as is well known, houses for brethren and sisters. 
 This Hospital was, no doubt, originally founded by the Sokemen, who occupied the slopes 
 of the valley, first, probably, for pilgrims and travellers, and afterwards for those of the 
 community who were in destitution or sickness. Subsequently the foundation consisted 
 of a master (in holy orders), and brethren and sisters, appointed by the burgesses on the 
 
201 
 
 ground of poverty and sickness, and they took vows of chastity and obedience ; and there 
 is very good ground for concluding that they were under the rule of St. Austin. The 
 building consisted of a hall and chapel, or refectory ; the hall is supposed to have been 
 erected in 1175 ; was about 62 feet in length and 16 feet wide between the pillars. The 
 aisles were six feet wide. It stood north and south, and in this is proved its peculiar 
 value and interest as a relic of the past, inasmuch as it was amongst the very few remains 
 of Norman architecture in this country devoted to secular purposes. On each side of 
 the hall were three pillars, alternately round and octagonal, supporting four plain semi¬ 
 circular arches, 13 feet in diameter. The capitals of the pillars are ornamented with 
 foliage and shells, and on one of them a dragon is sculptured. Four transitional 
 Norman pillars are preserved. 
 
 In the history of this Hospital from its earliest days, everything points to one 
 conclusion, namely, that it was essentially a public institution. After the incorporation of 
 the borough, dating back, it is believed, to the reign of Henry I., the mayor and 
 burgesses became the patrons of the foundation. To this day one of its principal estates 
 is known as the Town Farm. Its connection with the Rye Mead, the ancient place of 
 public resort of the townfolk, is also another proof of the position it occupied. Benefac¬ 
 tions have from time to time been made by the wealthier burgesses of Wycombe to the 
 Hospital, and several original deeds containing grants of lands still exists. The records 
 furnish a scanty list of the masters, commencing with Robert X., 1265, and ending with 
 Christopher Chalfont, who was the last master, and resigned in 1553. After the 
 dissolution, the Hospital, in the second year of Edward YI. reign, passed into private 
 hands ; but in the fourth year of Elizabeth’s reign, the mayor and burgesses asserted their 
 ancient rights as patrons, and in order to make it a royal foundation, they granted the 
 Hospital and all its lands to the Queen. Three days afterwards the Queen made a 
 regrant to the mayor and burgesses and their successors for ever, for the purposes of 
 establishing a Grammar School and Almshouses. The Governors of the Wycombe 
 Grammar School and Almshouse foundation now administer this important charity ; 
 the Rye Mead is still used by the burgesses for the depasturing of cattle, and for purposes 
 of recreation, and is highly valued by the inhabitants of an increasing town.” 
 
 THE TWIN CHURCHES OF SAUNDERTON. 
 
 In the parish of Saunderton were formerly two manors (distinguished by the names 
 of St. Mary and St. Nicholas) and two benefices and churches, which were consolidated 
 about 1450. The Conqueror gave one of the manors of Santesdone to Bishop Odo, and 
 the other to Milo Crispin. In the time of Richard I. the family of Saunderton had the 
 
202 
 
 Manor of St. Mary, and it continued with them until about 1452, when it passed to John 
 de Brecknock. The Manor of Saunderton St. Nicholas belonged to the Dayrells at an 
 early period. John de Brecknock purchased it, and thus the two manors and advowsons 
 became united under one proprietor. Sir John Lyneham purchased these manors in 
 1474, and his widow sold them to Bishop Morton, afterwards Primate, Lord Chancellor, 
 and a Cardinal. At his death his heir sold this estate to the Donne family. In 
 1592, Saunderton was conveyed to Sir R. Dormer, and its present owner is Lord Dormer. 
 
 After the Dissolution, King Henry YIII. granted certain lands here, late belonging 
 to the Abbey of Thame, to the newly erected Cathedral of Oxford. These lands appear 
 to be the Saunderton Grange farm, consisting of 220 acres, which extend into the parishes 
 of Horsenden and Kingsey. The house is in that part of the parish called Saunderton 
 Lee. There is an ancient barrow on the Grange Farm, and another on Slough Farm. 
 Several years ago a large barrow was levelled on the former farm. 
 
 The Church of St. Nicholas is conjectured to have stood westward of the present 
 church, at a place which was called Great Saunderton. The land on the south side of the 
 church looks like the site of a mansion. In a garden a little eastward a stone coffin and 
 some human remains have been dug up. Lipscomb says that the Manor House is 
 presumed to have stood on Lodge Hill. 
 
 LATIMERS.—THE CAVENDISH FAMILY. 
 
 B. Burgess, M.A. 
 
 “Ix 1615 William Sandis sold the Manor of Latimers to William, Lord Cavendish, 
 of Hardwick, in the county of Derby (created in 1618 Earl of Devonshire), together 
 with those of Chesham Higham, Chesham Bury, and Chesham Leicester, or Great Ches- 
 ham. It was thus described :—‘ Iselhampstead Latymers, in Com. Bucks et Hertford. 
 A fayer howse builded with brick, with orchardes, gardens, fish ponds, dove houses, a 
 river runuinge thorowe the grounds, with barnes, stables, &c. A warren of conyes. . . . 
 The Church or Chappell standdes at the court gate.’ 
 
 The family of Cavendish came from Normandy with William the Conqueror. Their 
 original name was Gernon. In Domesday it is stated that Robert Gernon held Wyrardis- 
 bury in Stoke Hundred. Roger de Gernon, who died in 1334, adopted the name of de 
 Cavendish from the Manor of Cavendish in Sufiolk. Sir John Cavendish, son of the 
 first Earl by his second wife, who would have succeeded him in the possession of Latimer, 
 died when scarcely eleven years of age, having already been made a Knight of the Bath. 
 He was buried under a large monument in the south transept of Chesham Church. His 
 remarkable talents are described in its epitaph. 
 
203 
 
 On the 3rd June, 1G47, King Charles was removed by Cornet Joyce from Holdenby 
 House and first lodged at Hinchenbrook ; then to Childersley four miles from Cambridge, 
 to Newmarket, Royston ; June 26 to Hatfield ; July 1 to Windsor, Caversham, Maiden¬ 
 head ; July 20 to Wobourne, now (writes Sir Thomas Herbert) a large and fair house of 
 Lord Russell, Earl of Bedford ; then to Latimer, in Bucks, a little but neat house of 
 the Lord Cavendish, Earl of Devonshire. From thence his Majesty rode by Chenies and 
 Rickmansworth to Moore Park, a place of much pleasure, not above two miles from 
 Watford ; having dined there, to Stoke, eight miles from Moore Park ; August 14th, to 
 Oatlands, and then to Hampton Court, from whence he escaped about the middle of 
 November. 
 
 King Charles II. was also a visitor at Latimers. It is said that he slept in the 
 room which is now the drawing-room. A bed is still shown as that which the King 
 used. The Manor of Iselhampsted Latimers came in 1707 into the hands of Lord James 
 Cavendish (third son of the first Duke of Devonshire), who married the daughter of 
 Elihu Yale, Esq., Governor of Fort St. George, in the East Indies. Lord James was 
 buried at Latimers in 1751. His son William Cavendish died in the same year, and his 
 daughter Elizabeth married Richard sou of Edward Chandler, Bishop of Durham, who 
 assumed the name and arms of Cavendish, They resided at Latimers, and their names 
 appear on the Court Rolls in 1769 and 1776. They had no children. 
 
 The manor of Latimers had descended in 1784 to Lord George Augustus Henry 
 Cavendish, third son of the fourth Duke of Devonshire, who lived partly here, and 
 partly at his seat, Holker, in Lancashire. He was raised to the Peerage in 1831 by the 
 title of Earl of Burlington. He married in 1782 Lady Betty Compton, the beautiful 
 daughter of Charles, seventh Earl of Northampton ; her portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds 
 is in his best style, and adorns the Hall at Latimers. Their fourth son, the Honourable 
 Charles Compton Cavendish, succeeded to the Latimers estate at his father’s death in 
 1834. He married in 1814 Lady Catherine Susan, daughter of the ninth Marquis of 
 Huntly, and in 1858 was created Baron Chesham. He added to the mansion and greatly 
 improved it; Mr. Burtoiq and subsequently Mr. Blore, being the architects employed. 
 At his sole cost he rebuilt the chapel from a design of Mr. Blore’s. Lord Chesham died 
 at his house in Grosvenor Square in 1863, and was buried at Latimers. His widow 
 survived him three years. He was succeeded by his son, the Honourable William George 
 Cavendish, Member of Parliament, as his father had been before him, for the County of 
 Bucks. He married Henrietta Frances, daughter of the Right Plonourable William 
 Saunders Sebright Lascelles, son of the second Earl of Harewood. 
 
 The second Lord Chesham died at Latimers in 1882, and Lady Chesham in 1884 ; 
 they were buried in the churchyard there. The title and estates passed to their son, 
 Charles Compton William, third Baron Chesham, married to the second daughter of the 
 Duke of Westminster, K.G.” 
 
204 
 
 THE PLUNDER OF BORETON HOUSE, 
 
 Rev. H. Roundell. 
 
 “ Sir Richard Minshul, of Boreton House, near Buckingham, was among the 
 earliest to espouse the Royal cause. He had been much at Court, had been knighted 
 by the King at Theobalds, and felt a hearty personal attachment to his Sovereign. 
 About the middle of August, 1G42, he raised and equipped ten mounted well-armed 
 troopers, and set out to join the King’s army in the north, leaving Lady Minshul and 
 the servants in charge of his house at Boreton, to which he had previously conveyed the 
 contents of his other two houses, one in London, the other in Essex. News of his 
 departure to the King rapidly reached the Parliament Committee then sitting at 
 Aylesbury, and upon debate they determined to punish him severely for what they 
 termed his Malignancy, and to exhibit the power of the Parliament in the neighbourhood 
 of Buckingham, in such a way as to discourage all further sympathy for the King in 
 that part of the county. Accordingly on Thursday, the 18th August, three days after 
 Minshul had gone, Lord Brook arrived from Aylesbury before Boreton House with a 
 considerable force and several pieces of ordnance. The house and outbuildings, with the 
 exception of the dove-cote and part of the garden wall, have long disappeared, but an 
 old print shows the house to have been a strongly built stone edifice, in the shape of the 
 letter "[*> of three stories high, with large windows, and by no means capable of defence. 
 On the appearance of Lord Brook’s army Lady Minshul at once surrendered. A full 
 account of this affair may be found in a small volume entitled ‘ Mereurius Rusticus, or 
 The Countries Complaint,’ written by Dr. Bruno Ryve, and published in 1685. It 
 relates that the whole house was thoroughly ransacked and plundered, every thing of 
 value taken away, the heavier furniture, and even the windows, doors, partitions 
 demolished, the floors of the building broken up, the iron and lead carried off, and great 
 indignities inflicted on Lady Minshul and the servants.” 
 
 ETON COLLEGE. 
 
 Mr. W. Lowndes, Cheshaai. 
 
 “ Eton College owes its foundation to the munificence of the last of our Lancastrian 
 sovereigns, Henry YI. The date of the foundation is 1441, and the principal design of 
 Henry in the establishment of it, appears to have been the education of scholars in 
 grammar, who, being properly graduated in academical degrees, might be qualified for 
 Holy Orders, and thus added to the list of the clergy. Fuller remarks:—‘It was high 
 time some school should be founded, considering how low grammar learning then ran in 
 the land.’ 
 
205 
 
 By the charter it was provided that the College should be called ‘ the College of the 
 Blessed Marie of Etone, beside Wyndesore and by the same instrument it was provided 
 that the College should be ‘ edified of the most substantial and best abyding stuife of 
 stone, ledd, glass, and iron ;’ and that the walls of the said College, the outer walls, and 
 the walls of the ‘ Garden about the Precincte be made of hard stone of Kent.’ The 
 original endowment was for seven sad priests, four lay clerks, six choristers, twenty-five 
 poor grammar scholars, and twenty-five poor men, whose duty it was to pray for the King. 
 The present establishment is a provost, vice-provost, fifteen fellows, a head master, a 
 lower master, assistants, seventy scholars, seven lay clerks, and ten choristers, besides the 
 inferior officers, and servants for the domestic offices of the collegians. There are two 
 sets of scholars—those on the foundation termed Collegers, and those not on the founda¬ 
 tion termed Oppidans ; the present number of both being about a thousand. The 
 building was commenced in 1442, and in the following year, 1443, in order to furnish the 
 scholars with every facility for completing their education, Henry incorporated two small 
 hostles, or colleges, at Cambridge, and from this incorporation arose King’s College. The 
 statutes of the College are very similar to those of Winchester ; the one set being 
 transcribed without any material alterations from the other. In 1449 the present arms 
 were granted to the new foundation. 
 
 Henry seems to have taken a great deal of interest in its success. It is said that he 
 frequently spoke to the scholars, whom he met, about being docile and gentle, and that 
 he frequently gave them presents of money, in order to secure their good will. The 
 reign of his successor, Edward IV., brought, however, trouble to the College, for not only 
 was its building checked, but a Bull was issued by Pope Pius II., for suppressing it, and 
 merging it with the College of St. George, at Windsor. Edward also took from the 
 College the lands of Deerhurst, which Henry had conferred upon it, and gave them to 
 the College of Fotheringav, in Northamptonshire. They were, however, subsequently 
 restored by Henry VIII. During the latter years of his reign, the College was threatened 
 with dissolution by Act of Parliament; but the death of the Prince averted its destruc¬ 
 tion. It was specially excepted in the Act for the Dissolution of Colleges and Chantries, 
 in the reign of Edward VI., and since his time the College has enjoyed uninterrupted 
 freedom and prosperity.” 
 
 EFFIGY IN ASHENDON CHURCH. 
 
 In the north wall of the chancel of Ashendon Church, under a second pointed arch, 
 rudely ornamented with foliage, is an effigy in stone of a crusader in chain mail. The legs 
 are crossed, the left hand holding the scabbard of a large sword slung in a broad belt, while 
 
206 
 
 the right hand grasps the hilt, as in the act of drawing it. On the left arm is a large 
 pointed shield. The figure appears to be of the 13th or early in the 14th century, and 
 has been supposed by some to represent Sir John Bucktot, of Pollicott, who gave 
 the Manor of Little Pollicott to Lincoln College. The armour sufficiently refutes the 
 assertion, even if that benefactor had not been an ecclesiastic. Others have assigned 
 the effigy to some of the Cressy family, who were lords of the manor here. The Messrs. 
 Lysons consider it to represent one of the Stafford family, who were anciently lords of 
 Great Pollicott; this conjecture is opposed by the circumstance of the Staffords not 
 having acquired Pollicott until long after the period to which the style of the armour of 
 the effigy must be referred. It has been imagined to have some relation to John de 
 Adyngrave, who (according to "Willis) between 1320 and 1340 was licensed to found a 
 chantry in his Manor of Ashendon ; but it happens that no other account is discovered 
 which establishes the fact of his connection with this church or manor. The head of the 
 statue having been broken, has been replaced on a new neck lengthened into hideous 
 disproportion. 
 
 THE LILIES, WEEDON. 
 
 Lord and Lady Nugent. 
 
 “If you would place yourself just midway between the three seas which form the 
 boundaries of southern England, you shall find yourself on a small knoll, covered with 
 antique elm, walnut, and sycamore trees, which rises out of a vale famous in all time for 
 the natural fertility of its soil and the moral virtues of its people. On this knoll, 
 fitly called by our ancestors ‘ the Heart of South Britain,’ stood distant about half a mile 
 from each other, two monasteries, known by the flowery appellatives of Lilies and Roses; 
 not unaptly setting forth a promise of all that can recommend itself as fair and sweet 
 unto the gentler senses. These edifices have, for many centuries, been no more ; but> 
 on the site of the first mentioned of the two standeth a small mansion, of Tudor 
 architecture, bearing still its ancient name. Of the monastery, little memorial, beyond 
 the name, remains : save only that under a small enclosed space, erewhile its cemetery, 
 now a wilderness of flowers, the bones of the monks repose. Two lines of artificial slope 
 to the westward mark the boundaries of the pleasaunce, where they took their recreation, 
 and cultivated their lentils and fruits ; and a range of thickly-walled cellar still retains 
 the same destination and office as when it furnished to those holy men their more 
 generous materials of refection. 
 
 "What more shall be said of the mansion, or of the domain, full seventy statute acres, 
 which surrounds it ?—of the herds and flocks content to thrive in silence on the richness 
 
207 
 
 of its fields, and thrive they do in wondrous measure of prosperity ? Nothing. Nor 
 much of that more gamesome troop of idling steeds, though pleasant to their master's 
 eye, who, on its green expanse, frisk and gambol out a sportive colthood, or graze and 
 hobble through a tranquil old age, with the active and laborious honours of a public life 
 past, but not forgotten. Little shall be said of that smooth and narrow pool, scarce 
 visible among the rising shrubs which belt in and shroud the grounds from the incurious 
 wayfarer; or of such carp and tench as, having ’scaped the treacherous toils of the 
 nightly plunderer, gasp and tumble on its surface, delighting to display their golden pride 
 in the mid-day sun, before the gaze of lawful possession. Nor shall the casual reader be 
 led carelessly and wearily to note the many sweet memorials of private friendship, 
 records of the living and the dead, which, standing forth from amid the lightsome glades 
 and leafy shadows around, make the place sacred to many a strong affection. Romantic 
 the scenery without is not, and for spacious halls and gorgeous canopies the eye may 
 search in vain within. But for the warm cheer of the little oak library,—for the quaint 
 carvings, the tracery of other times, which abound therein,—for the awful note of the 
 blood-hound, baying upon his midnight chain,—and the pleasing melancholy of the 
 hooting owl from his hereditary chamber in the roof,—and for the tunefulness of the 
 cooing wood-quests, and the morning rooks which bustle and caw, and of the high winds 
 that pipe and roar, daily and nightly, through the boughs,—and for the deep glossy 
 verdure of the pastures stretching forth to the brave distant hills which fence the vale,— 
 to those, who in such things take delight, Lilies hath still its charms.”* 
 
 SANCTUS BELLS. 
 
 “ The Sanctus Bell was rung at the Sanctus at the Mass. The practice of so 
 ringing a bell arose in the Middle Ages. Within the church a little handbell (campanella) 
 was to be rung for the edification of the congregation ; whilst (at least in the parish 
 churches) another and a larger bell (campana) was to sound at the same time for the use 
 of the parishioners who were prevented from being present in the body. No doubt, in 
 many churches, one bell, audible both within and without the church, served for both 
 purposes ; but very generally, at least frequently, both were made use of. For hanging 
 it so that it might be heard outside, as well as within the church, a little bellcote often 
 may yet be found built on the peak of the gable, between the chancel and the nave. 
 
 * This origin of the name of Lilies must te read as legendary. Another authority states that the 
 name originally was La Lee’s (Lilies), the property once being owned by the Quarrendon Lee family, who 
 held other estates in the neighbourhood. The Tudor house, formerly the residence of Lord and Lady 
 Nugent, has entirely disappeared, and a modern mansion erected on the site by Mr. II. Cazenove, the 
 present owner and occupier, 
 
208 
 
 * On hearing the sacring’s-bell first tinkle, those in church who were not already on their 
 knees, knelt down, and with upraised hands, worshipped their Maker in the holy housel 
 lifted on high before them’ (Cullum). The sanctus bell remains in many churches ; 
 amongst others, St. Mary’s, Thame.”—F. G. Lee, D.D., F.S.A. 
 
 In the returns of the state of the Buckinghamshire Churches in 1638, no reference 
 is made to the church bells, but in an account of Sanctus bells, dated about the same 
 time, these bells were still to be found in the following churches in Bucks :—Adstock, 
 Amersham, Asliendon, Aylesbury, Barton Hartshorn, Beacliampton, Beaconsfield, 
 Bledlow, Boarstall, The Brickhills, Brill, Broughton, Burnham, Bierton, Oaverfield, The 
 Chalfonts, Chicheley, Denham, Dinton, Dorton, Drayton Parslow, Drayton Beauchamp, 
 East Claydon, Fulmer, Haddenham, Hardwick, Hartwell, Hillesden, Hitchendon, 
 Hogstone, Iver, Ivinghoe, Kingsey, Lough ton, Marlow magna, Marsh, Marsworth, 
 Maidsmorton, Mentmore, Milton Keynes, Missenden parva, Mursley, Newton Longville, 
 North Marston, Oakley, Padbury, Leckhampstead, Penn, Piglesthorn, Pitchcot, 
 Quainton, Risborough parva, Shenley, Slapton, Soulbury, Stoke Hammond, Swanbourne, 
 Taplow, Thornborough, Turville, Upper Winchendon, Walton, Water Stratford, 
 Wendover, West Wycombe, Whaddon, Whitchurch, Wing, Wingrave, Wotton, and 
 Wycombe. It will be noticed that some of the principal churches in the county do not 
 appear in this list. It may be assumed that those omitted may have been peculiars, and 
 thus not subject to official inspection. 
 
 ST. RUMBOLD.—BUCKINGHAM. 
 
 Me. A. Clear. 
 
 “ St. Rumbold is reported to have only lived for three days. There is no doubt 
 that his memory was held in great sanctity, for many churches were dedicated to him— 
 amongst others that of King’s Sutton in Northamptonshire, which village claims the 
 honour of being his birthplace, and one of his places of burial. His body found two 
 places of interment previous to finding a final l’esting-place at Buckingham, where in 
 long after years a magnificent shrine was erected in the old church at the sole cost of 
 Richard Fowler, Chancellor to Edward IV., in 1477, who, dying before its completion, 
 left orders in his will that a handsome and curiously wrought coffin or chest should be 
 prepared for the body of the saint at his expense. This was done, and it remained in 
 existence over a century and a half. The fame of Rumbold being firmly established as 
 a saint, advantage was taken of it to dedicate several springs and wells in the neighbour¬ 
 hood to him. One of these was at Astrop, in the parish of King’s Sutton, three others 
 
209 
 
 at Brackley, and several at Buckingham, of which the principal one was situate at 
 Prebend End, near to the present railway arch. To this spring the lame and blind 
 resorted in large numbers, relying upon the healing qualities said to exist in the waters. 
 A declaration of famous miracles was announced, and such was the faith and veneration 
 of the people of those days that thousands of pilgrims annually flocked to it. To such 
 an extent did this custom proceed that Sutton, Bishop of Lincoln, in 1280, censured it as 
 superstitious, and by an injunction endeavoured to prohibit it, but its fame long outlive 1 
 the worthy Bishop. In John Speed’s map of Buckingham, dated 1610, the position of 
 the well is shown, as is also St. Rumbold’s Lane; Well Street is likewise mentioned, 
 which unmistakably shows that the well was looked upon as a very important feature in 
 the town. Yet, however famous might be the well which bore St. Rumbold’s name, still 
 greater honour was paid to his shrine ; for to accommodate the numbers that visited it, 
 a large inn was built at the west end of the church, and was known as the ‘ Pilgrim’s 
 Inn.’ This building was standing in the latter part of the last century. Not only did 
 pious devotees make a pilgrimage to the spot, but also many made the visit rather 
 in the nature of penance than of sanctity, for some of the pervert Lollards who 
 reluctantly preferred abjuration to that of being burnt at the stake, were sent from 
 Amersham and Chesham to do penance at this shrine.” 
 
 WALLER’S TOMB, BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 Sir Edmund Burke. 
 
 The tomb in Beaconsfield Churchyard to the memory of Edmund Waller, the poet, 
 was erected in 1700 by the executors of his son, and was some quarter of a century ago 
 renovated. Sir Edmund Burke, in his “Vicissitudes,” thus writes of Waller and his 
 tomb:—“An earlier sojourn of genius in Beaconsfield has left a memory there, not so 
 venerable, it is true, as that of Edmund Burke, yet most pleasant to dwell upon—a 
 memory which, with strange tenacity, attaches to the place far more closely, and with far 
 more visible marks than even the memory of Burke. The genius we allude to was 
 Edmund Waller, the first lyric poet of his time, and the worthy precursor of Robert 
 Burns, and Tom Moore, and the other great lyrists that were to succeed. Beaconsfield 
 was the favourite and constant residence of Waller, and it is, in death, his last earthly 
 resting-place. Edmund Waller’s stately tomb in -Beaconsfield Churchyard tells us, in 
 most graceful Latinity, that he was * of the poets of his time easily the Prince; that 
 when an octogenarian he did not abdicate the laurel he had won in his youth ; and that 
 his country’s language owes to him the possible belief that, if the muses should cease to 
 speak Greek and Latin, they would love to talk in English.’ Waller may claim rank 
 
210 
 
 among onr greatest poets, and he had the rare faculty of never varying in his talent, and 
 of writing just as ably at all periods of his life, whether in youth, manhood, or age. 
 Waller’s tomb was the work of filial affection, having been raised at the cost of his son’s 
 estate. The poet deserves this memorial who could, when in his extreme old age and 
 close upon his death, write such lines as these :— 
 
 The seas are quiet when the winds give o'er ; 
 
 So, calm are we, when passions are no more ; 
 
 For then we know how vain it was to boast 
 Of fleeting things, so certain to be lost. 
 
 Clouds of affection from our younger eyes 
 Conceal that emptiness which age descries ; 
 
 The soul’s dark cottage, batter’d and decay’d, 
 
 Lets in new light through chinks that time has made ; 
 
 Stronger by weakness, wiser men become, 
 
 As they draw near to their eternal home ; 
 
 Leaving the old, both worlds at once they view, 
 
 That stand upon the threshold of the new.” 
 
 STOKE POGES. 
 
 The old Manor House of Stoke Poges was commenced by George Hastings, the 
 first Earl of Huntingdon, who died in 1554. The house was invested with considerable 
 interest from its association with inmates remarkable in their generation, if not of 
 historic fame. Gray has preserved considerable interest in it by his description of 
 it in his poem, “ A Long Story,” in which he tells us it contained— 
 
 Rich windows that exclude the light 
 
 And passages that lead to nothing. 
 
 On the death of the third Earl of Huntingdon, Sir E. Coke purchased the Manor of Stoke, 
 and resided there ; he married for his second wife Lady Hatton, widow of Sir Wm. Hatton, 
 nephew and heir of the “ Lord Keeper.” This lady was sufficiently conspicuous to stamp 
 the name of Hatton on the traditions of Stoke ; although remarried to Sir Edward Coke, 
 whom she made a turbulent wife, she retained the surname of her former husband. On Sir 
 Edward’s death in 1634, she took possession of Stoke Manor House, and resided there 
 till her death in 1644. Awing of the old house remains, the other part having been 
 pulled down in 1789. The present modern mansion is in the Italian style, from a design 
 by James Wyatt, and comprises a large square centre with four wings ; the north front 
 is ornamented with a colonade of ten Doric columns, and approached by a flight of steps 
 leading to an oval marble hall; the south front has a colonade of twelve fluted columns, 
 above which rises a projecting portico of four Ionic columns, sustaining an ornamental 
 pediment. The interior is extremely fine in construction and design, and there are many 
 beautiful pictures, fine statues, &c., contained in it. The park comprises about 300 
 
211 
 
 acres, is well wooded, stocked with deer, and contains a handsome sheet of water. The 
 pleasure-grounds have been tastefully laid out, and are adorned with urns, busts, &c. 
 About 300 yards from the north front of the mansion is a handsome fluted column, 60 
 feet high, surmounted by a colossal statue of Sir Edward Coke, by Rossi ; this was 
 erected in 1800 by Mr. Penn. In a garden adjoining to Stoke Churchyard, John 
 Penn erected a handsome cenotaph to the memory of the poet Thomas Gray, who was a 
 constant visitor at Stoke. In Stoke Churchyard Thomas Gray was buried in 1771 ; 
 strangers who visit the place return disappointed at not finding a record to the memory 
 of the poet, in the church. 
 
 WADDESDON—ORIGIN OF THE NAME. 
 
 Great changes take place in the course of time both in the orthography and the 
 pronunciation of names and places. Waddesdon has undergone changes from Yotesdou 
 to Wodesdon, Wadesdon, to its present name Waddesdon. The affix remains all through 
 —Don, an elevation, high ground, a hill; thus we have Ashendon, Grendon, Beachen- 
 don, Winehendon, Weedon, Claydon, and the like, all of which are situate on elevated 
 spots. The name Yotesdon appears in Domesday and is consequently given in many 
 ancient documents. One author quotes the derivation of “Wode” from the Saxon 
 word Wode; thus, Wodesdon, the wood on the hill. Again, “Wode” may refer to 
 Woden, the great Saxon deity, of whom we read in the Teutonic Mythology, and from 
 whom we derive the name of Wodens-day or Wednesday. Passing over Woden we come 
 to “ Wade” or “ Wadesdon.” There is a very small and shallow stream which passes 
 through the village, crossing the road by a culvert near the British School, and, passing 
 into the water, it reappears somewhere by the steam mill. Its course has been so altered 
 as now scarcely to be traced. This stream has been referred to as giving the name to 
 the village. It has been suggested that in early days the people of Waddesdon had to 
 wade through this shallow water, and thus arose the supposed connection with the 
 name. This derivation cannot be entertained. Now take the prefix of “ Waddes. ' 
 Woden before referred to had several sons ; the eldest was Thor, from whom we obtain 
 the name of Thors-day or Thursday. Another son was Waddy, who was a great 
 warrior. Many names of places are derived from the Saxons, and several are to be met 
 with beginning with “ Wad” or Wadd.” From some cause which cannot now be traced, 
 the name of Waddy has been associated with a neighbouring hill. Thus we have 
 Waddy’s-hill, or, in the nomenclature of the present day, Waddes-don. It may be that 
 the name of the village is derived from Waddy, the Saxon Warrior, son of Woden, but it 
 is impossible to speak with certainty in many cases of derivation. 
 
212 
 
 THE LAST HOURS OF JOHN HAMPDEN. 
 
 This letter, describing the last hours of the Patriot Hampden was addressed by 
 Arthur Goodwin to his daughter the Lady Wharton, of Upper Winchendon :—“ Deere 
 Jenny,—I am now heere at Hampden in doinge the last duty for the deceased owner of 
 it, of whome every honest man hath a share in the losse, and therefore will likewise in 
 the sorrowe. In the loss of such a friend, to my owne particular, I have no cause of 
 discontent, butt rather to bless God that he hath nott, accordinge to my deserts, bereft me 
 of you, and all the comforts deerest to me. All his thoughts and endeavours of his life 
 were zealously in for this cause of God’s, wch he continued in, all his sickness even to his 
 death ; for all 1 can heere the last words he spake was to me, though he lived six or 7 
 hours after I came away, as in a sleepe ; truly Jenny (and I know you may easily be 
 persuaded to it) he was a gallant man, an honest man, an able man ; and take all, I 
 know nott to any man livinge second. God now in mercy hath rewarded him. My Lord 
 writ to me about another adventure for Ireland wh wil be to a far greater advantage and 
 benefit to the adventurer. Truly I am nott covetuous of the purchase, butt if there is a 
 probability of soe much niony eominge in as may putt hopes for the goinge through in 
 the worke, I shall willingly put to my helpinge hand, and lay downe auothere £100 ; 
 butt I believe I shall find none of the adventurers formerly with me as things stand now, 
 on my minde. I have writt to London for a black suite. I pray lett me begg of you a 
 broad blacke Ribbon to hange about my standard ; my faithful service to my Lady, my 
 Lord Sir Rowland, Sir Thomas, my wife, and the young ladyes. I would we could all 
 lay it to hart, that God takes away the best amongst us. I pray the Lord to bless you. 
 Y r ever, deere Jenny, most affectionate father, Ar. Goodwin. Hampden, June 26 , 
 1643. Col. Goodwin to Lady Wharton.” 
 
 CHENIES CHURCH. 
 
 In Chenies Church are some brasses, with inscriptions, which are in fair preserva¬ 
 tion. The font is a fine specimen of early Norman work, and there are two worked 
 corbels now in the chancel which evidently belonged to a church of the same period as 
 the font. The names of Rectors are recorded from the year 1232, when John de 
 Chednuit was presented by Alexander de Chednuit, who is mentioned as Lord of the 
 place. There are several effigies and inscriptions in the church. One reads: — 
 “ Pray for the soule of Sir Nich’as Smytlie, late Person of latemars, whiche decssed the 
 vij day of September the yere of our lord m’v’xvij. o’ whose soule ihu haue rn’ey.” An 
 
213 
 
 effigy of a lady with a long veil“ Spes mea in d . . . in deo est Leff rectoris 
 Ao. dni m’cccc’ . . us. Amen.” A figure of a female with flowing hair “ . . . 
 daughter of Mayster John Broughton, Esquyer, which Elizabeth dep’tyd the secu’de day 
 of July yn the yere of our lord god m’v’ and xxiiij. on whoss soule Jhu’ have mercy, 
 amen.” Figure of a priest:—“ Hie jacet dn’s Newlandi Ricardus quod’m Rector isti’ 
 ecclie, qui obiit xvij. die Februarii Ao, dni. millio cccclxxxxiiij. cujus anime propiciet’ 
 Des. ame’.” A brass with female figure holding a heart, from which issue two scrolls : 
 “ Hie jacet Dna. Anna Phelip vidua quonda uxor Dauid Phelip, militis domina de Thorno 
 in Com. Northampton et Isenh’mstede Cheyne in Com Buk., que obiit prirno die Augusti 
 Anno Dni m’ccccc decimo enjus anime p’piciet deus. ame’.’’ Figure of a man in a 
 gown between two females :—“ Hie jacet Jobes Waliston quond’m faber istius ville’ qui 
 obiit vj. die. . . cccclxix X Isabella et Johanna uxores ejus quos amimabus p’pie.” 
 
 Effigies, male and female, under a canopy :—Ilic jacet dna Agnes Cheyne quon’m uxor 
 dni. Johis Cheyne, militis q’ obiit. . . die . . A’, dni m’ . . . Et Edmund 
 
 Molynux Armiger, secund’ marit, p’dicte dne q’ obiit xxjo die Jauuar’ An dni 
 m’eccc’lxxxiiij. q’aiabs p’peiet. 
 
 DESBOROUGII CASTLE. 
 
 Mr. R. S. Downs. 
 
 “ The ancient entrenchment vulgarly called ‘ The Roundabout,’ but more properly 
 Desborough Castle, is situated on a hill some little distance to the left of the main road 
 between High Wycombe and West Wycombe, whence its outline can easily be traced. 
 
 Commencing investigations at the eastern end of Gallows Lane, which runs imme¬ 
 diately below Desborough Camp, we have the outer defence. The slope of the hill is 
 cut away to the depth of fifty feet, so as to render the ascent in that part almost 
 perpendicular. It may have been quite perpendicular when first constructed, but the 
 processes of agriculture, the washing down of the surface mould by rain, the crumbling 
 caused by frosts, have, during the lapse of centuries, modified the original perpendicularity 
 of the bank, and reduced it to a steep incline. Still there is quite sufficient remaining 
 to give us a pretty accurate idea of its former character. From the appearance of the 
 ground in the adjacent corner of Desborough Field, there is every indication of this 
 outer work having at one time extended further in that direction than it does at present. 
 
 At some distance from the summit of the outer bank runs parallel with it what is 
 apparently a remnant of one of the outer defences of the camp, and formed a terrace 
 upon which men might be stationed to prevent an attack on the flank of the entrench¬ 
 ment. It was strengthened by an embankment in the front and rear, and at intervals 
 
214 
 
 had advanced posts for observation. As might naturally be expected, the banks and 
 escarpments have been much modified and changed since their first construction ; in 
 some places they have become quite obliterated. What remains, however, is amply 
 sufficient to enable the student of antiquity to recall the probable extent and direction 
 of the several parts of these interesting remains. The outer bank has a general height 
 of four or five feet, which is increased in some places to fifteen feet. The inner bank 
 in its highest portion has an elevation of seven feet, but is far from being perfect. A 
 distance of sixty feet from thence will bring us to the edge of the camp proper, which 
 consists of a double entrenchment, with a deep fosse on the outside, the inner slope of 
 the ditch being raised so as to forma high bank towards the interior. The bank appears 
 to have been considerably lowered in some places, and in others almost levelled ; but if 
 we take its original height to have been uniformly as it remains at the south-east corner, 
 it must have been a position of great strength and importance at the time when it was 
 constructed, or adapted for defence, if we consider the rude weapons of warfare 
 then in use. 
 
 Of the once famous Desborough Castle nothing now remains but the name. When 
 this earthwork was constructed, by whom, for what purpose, or whence it acquired its 
 present designation, all are alike shrouded in obscurity, and are each a matter of con¬ 
 jecture. It has been supposed to be of British origin, and to have had some relation to 
 the religious ceremonies of the early Celtic tribes, or to have been formed by them for 
 defensive purposes. It has also been attributed to the Saxons, and upon the ordnance 
 maps it is marked as a Danish camp. It is well known that the Saxons almost invariably 
 fixed upon the locality of British strongholds as sites for their towns, and, since 
 Desborough was the head of the Saxon Hundred, it must, at that early period, have 
 been a place of note, which again points to the probability that the spot, which the 
 English settlers in this part of the country adopted as their head quarters, had held a 
 position of importance in the district previous to their arrival. All these considerations 
 seem to point strongly to a British origin of the village of Desborough, if not of the 
 camp also. Desborough Field is, no doubt, the site of a British and Saxon village, and 
 perhaps of a Roman settlement, for coins of the Empire and other Roman remains have 
 been found in it. The formation of this earthwork has also been attributed to the 
 Danes, and though we may be loth to run counter to popular conceit, its position and 
 form suggest that it was intended by its constructors for defensive purposes, and this 
 considerably weakens, if it does not destroy, the probability of its being the work of the 
 Danes, who were mostly acting on the aggressive. If it possesses any association 
 with them at all, it is from its having been constructed by the English agaiust the 
 ravages of those fierce depredators. The remains of masonry which have at various 
 times been discovered within the camp plainly point to the former existence of a 
 building. 
 
 The field in which this entrenchment is situated is called Ald-Hollands, a term 
 
215 
 
 which refers to the ancient hollows or ditches on the high ground. The word Des- 
 borough is written in Domesday Book ‘ Dustenberg ’ and ‘ Dusteberge,’ and in the 
 Charter of 21 King Henry III. (1237) to Wycombe borough, and also in its confirmation 
 by Edward I. in 1285, we find the name of ‘ Ric. de Dusteberg,’ as one of the twenty- 
 six burgesses of Wycombe who ratified that document on behalf of themselves and their 
 fellow-townsmen. In 25 Henry III. (1241), the name of “ Andrewe Dusteleberwe ” 
 occurs in an account of lands at Little Missenden. These references indicate that 
 Desborough was occupied as late as the thirteenth century, although even at that period 
 the population was gradually drifting eastwards towards Wycombe, leaving the older site 
 vacant. It is rather a significant fact that the modern development of the town is 
 gradually approaching the ancient ground, and once more covering it with buildings, and 
 that one of the streets should have been dedicated by the name of ‘ Desborough,’ so that 
 now the newly-built cottage may occupy the exact site of an aboriginal hut. 
 
 The hill has a romantic history. Here we gaze upon an entrenchment which 
 probably dates from the earliest dawn of our history. Here the startled aborigines in 
 all probability sought shelter and defence when the valley beneath glittered with the 
 spears of the invading Romans. Here, too, when superior military science prevailed, as 
 it always does ultimately, over mere valour, the victorious Roman placed his cohorts to 
 command the surrounding country. Beacon fires blazed here when the English first 
 penetrated this beautiful valley, and afterwards their scouts doubtless watched here for 
 the coming of the scourge of the land—the dreaded Raven of the Dane. Considering 
 the interesting character of these remains, and the many historical associations with 
 which they are interwoven, it is somewhat singular that no full account respecting them 
 has hitherto been given in any of the local or county histories dealing with this district.” 
 
 CHALFONT GRANGE. 
 
 Maeia Webb. 
 
 “ More than two hundred years have passed away since Isaac Penington, eldest sou 
 to Alderman Penington, of London, brought his family to reside at the Grange, in the 
 parish of St. Peter’s, Chalfont. Of the original old building in which they dwelt only 
 a small portion is now standing; on its site a modern villa has been erected, and that 
 part of the ancient house still in existence does not present itself to view in front. The 
 Grange was a happy home in those by-gone times. It was an abode where meutal 
 refinement, literary taste, and evidences of an abiding sense of God's presence pervaded 
 the resident family. The Peningtons settled there in the year 1658—the same year in 
 which Oliver Cromwell died. 
 
216 
 
 The rustic beauty of the Chalfont vallies must have made that quiet neighbourhood 
 delightful to them, when contrasted with the social unrest and persecuting intolerance of 
 which they had recently seen so much in the metropolis. The Grange was the family 
 mansion which belonged to the paternal estate that Isaac Penington inherited from his 
 ancestors. His father, Alderman Penington, had given up to his eldest son the property 
 in question, on his marriage with Lady Springett. The few years that had elapsed 
 from that event to their settlement at the Chalfont Grange, had been chiefly spent in 
 London and its vicinity, where the highest circles were open to them.’’ 
 
 AYLESBURY CHURCH USED AS A POWDER MAGAZINE. 
 
 During the French wars, the stock of gunpowder required for the Buckinghamshire 
 local regiments was stored for safety in the innermost parts of Aylesbury Church. 
 The following is a copy of a warrant to remove the stock of powder to some other place 
 of safety :—“ On his Majesty’s Service. Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, 10th March, 1806. 
 Sir,—I have received your letter of the 6th instant, representing that the ammunition 
 deposited in the Infirmary belonging to the prison has been removed into the church at 
 Aylesbury, until a proper place can be obtained, and which was done in consequence of a 
 dangerous fever having broken out among the prisoners, and the infirmary was required 
 by the Magistrates for the accommodation of such as are infected, and requesting to 
 receive instructions thereon. In reply thereto I am to desire that you will look out for 
 a proper place where the ammunition can be deposited, the rent of which, with any 
 information you may have to olFer thereon, you will communicate to me for the appro¬ 
 bation of Lieut.-General Farrington, commanding the field train of artillery in Great 
 Britain, but that you are not to engage a storehouse until the sanction of the general is 
 obtained. I am, sir, your most obedient humble servant, Thos. Gibson - , Commissary. 
 Mr. William Cross, Conductory of Ordnance Stores, Aylesbury.” 
 
 GREGORIES, BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 Gregories, or Butler’s Court, is an estate of 600 acres, about a mile from 
 Beaconsfield, on the road to Amersham. It is girted with a belt of trees, and the 
 entrance is by a small half-ruined gateway, leading up to a now turf-grown carriage-way. 
 Tins place was inhabited by Edward Waller, Esq., in 1686. The mansion, which was 
 
217 
 
 destroyed by fire in 1813, is said to have been built by the Gregory family. Gregories 
 subsequently acquired very great celebrity as the country seat of that eminent statesman 
 and brilliant orator, Edmund Burke, who purchased the estate of the Wallers for 
 £22,000, and changed its name to Butler’s Court. This great man not only made 
 Gregories the frequent resort of the most eminent literary and political characters of the 
 age, but by the activity of his genius, and the comprehensiveness ot his great mind— 
 which embraced everything, both useful and profound—he so improved the place, that in 
 a few years it was worth three times the money he paid for it. The diversified com¬ 
 bination of woods, hills, valleys, and beautiful enclosures, by which the residence of 
 Burke assumed a resemblance of Chilton, Wotton, Cliefden, and the splendid colonades 
 which gave it, at a little distance, the dignity of a Royal residence in miniature, by its 
 similitude to Queen Charlotte’s Palace, called Buckingham House, in St. James’s Park, 
 together with the magic name of Burke, rendered Gregories an object of very general 
 curiosity. After the death of Burke this place was the residence of his widow, and the 
 subsequent possessor of the estate was Mr. Du Pre, who purchased it. The shrubberies 
 still bear the name of “ Burke’s Grove.” 
 
 NOTLEY ABBEY. 
 
 Rev. F. G. Lee, D.D., F.S.A. 
 
 Notley Abbey, lying in the valley of the River Thame, about two miles north¬ 
 east of the Oxfordshire town of that name, was founded by Walter Giffard, Earl of 
 Buckingham, and Ermengarde, his lady, about the year 11G1. The abbey church, a 
 magnificent Second Pointed building, was subsequently dedicated to God in honour of 
 the Blessed Virgin and St. John the Baptist. The abbey, in the earliest Latin instruments, 
 was originally called ‘ Sancta Maria de Parco,’ Crendon Park, in which it stands, being 
 referred to in Domesday Boob. The ville itself was designated Kottley, Nutley, Nottes- 
 leigh, Noteley, Nuttslegh, and Noctele in old deeds. Anthony a Wood asserts that it 
 was so called from the abundance of nutwoods existing in that part of the parish of 
 Crendon. Here a band of Augustinian Canons, by this foundation, formed a home about 
 the middle of the twelfth century. Their rule was severe; they wore coarse woollen 
 garments, no linen, abstained altogether from meat, and save during their public 
 devotions, observed the strictest silence. The abbey was founded by the Giffards (‘ in 
 perpetual alms,’ as the phrase stands), in order that the souls of Henry II. and Queen 
 Eleanor of Guinne, together with those of the founders and. all their kinsfolk, might be 
 prayed for perpetually. 
 
 King Henry II. himself approved of the foundation, and at once became a considerable 
 
218 
 
 benefactor. He gave to the community the Chapel of Our Lady annexed to the church 
 of Caversham, Berks, Bottisham Church in Cambridgeshire, land in Wittenham, and 
 Crendon Grange; while in the reign of Richard I., Hugh of Radnage, in Bucks, confirmed 
 a gift of land at Hillesdon in the same county. King John subsequently freed the 
 tenants of Notley Abbey from various tolls, and gave them certain substantial and 
 valuable rights in Bernewood Forest. Jocelyn de Balliol, Bishop of Sarum, was also a 
 benefactor. His charter is dated 5th of the Ides of January, in the first year of his 
 episcopate. Lands, tithes, and other gifts were steadily added by some of the noblest 
 and most distinguished persons of the locality— e.g., Walter of Chearsley gave lands at 
 Nether Winchendon; while in 1225 Pope Honorius confirmed the previous donations of 
 the churches of Caversham, Risborough, and Chilton. Gilbert, Earl of Pembroke, gave 
 tithes of his mill and fishery at Caversham ; William, Earl of Pembroke, bestowed lands 
 in Crendon upon the Abbey of Notley. Constance, daughter of Hugh de Bolebeck, gave 
 a croft in Hillesdon, Bucks, formerly held by Thorold. Other donations consisted of 
 land in Denton, Bucks ; Ashendon adjoining ; Swell, in Gloucestershire, and elsewhere. 
 The family of de Grenville were large and munificent benefactors. A list, and partial 
 abstracts of the deeds, amounting to nearly two hundred gifts to this renowned abbey, 
 still exist. The abbot bore the pastoral staff by right of gift from King John, and wore 
 the mitre by right of grant by Innocent III. Between the abbey’s foundation, in 1161, 
 and its suppression in September of the year 1534, thirty-one abbots, beginning with 
 Osbert, nominated by the founder, and ending with Richard Ridge, respectively governed 
 the community. The last named received an annuity of £100 a year (equivalent to 
 £1,000 a year at the present time) until his death in 1583. In his will, dated in 1557, 
 he directed his remains to be buried in the chancel of his native village, Cholsey, Berks. 
 
 The value of the abbey possessions (calculated by the money rate of to-day) 
 amounted to about £5,000 a year, of which King Henry VIII. took possession. In 1542, 
 three years after the Dissolution, the King granted to John Williams and Roger Lee, 
 both of Thame, the very ancient water mill of Notley, on the River Thame, and 250 
 acres of land in Crendon Park. But these soon changed hands again. It was the 
 obvious policy of the spoilers to break up, divide and resell the monastic properties, for 
 the more numerous were the persons interested in holding the lands, the less chance 
 there appeared of the poor rising up—as in Lincolnshire and Cornwall—to defend their 
 assumed rights. 
 
 Sir William Paget obtained a part of the lands, as did persons resident in London, 
 scriveners it appears, called William Tipper and Dawe. Sir Anthony Bacon, 
 Sir John Williams, and the Duke of Somerset also shared in the other spoils. Subse¬ 
 quently Sir John Williams, created Lord Williams of Thame, dying at Ludlow Castle, 
 19th October, 1559, the abbey buildings and lands which had been conveyed to him 
 passed to Margaret, his youngest daughter and co-heiress, who married Sir Henry Norris, 
 of Wytham, near Oxford. It eventually passed to the Wrays, of Glentworth—some of 
 
219 
 
 whom lived at Thame and Rycott—through Elizabeth Vere, daughter of the 17th Earl of 
 Oxford, and then to Montagu Bertie, Earl of Lindsey. It was sold by the Duke of 
 Ancaster, 9th Earl of Lindsey, in 1791, to Mr. Henry Reynolds, ancestor of the present 
 owner. 
 
 The family of Lenton inhabited the abbey for some years during Elizabeth’s and 
 James I. reign, after which members of the Bertie family, its subsequent owners for 
 several generations, resided there. 
 
 At the period of the Norman survey Crendendone or Crendou, with Crendou Park, 
 were held by Walter, son of Osborn de Bollabec, surnamed GifFard. This Walter was a 
 relation of William the Conqueror, being descended from Aveline, sister of Guinuora, 
 Dowager Duchess of Normandy, and consequently great grandmother of the Conqueror. 
 Walter GifFard was Earl of Lougueville, and shared largely in the lands of the conquered 
 and dispossessed Saxons. He owned no less than 107 manors in England, including 
 Crendon, Chilton, Policott, Easington, Ashendon, Winchendon, and Newton. His Castle 
 was at Crendon, near the church, overlooking a magnificent range of country. 
 
 Impressions of three seals belonging to Notley Abbey exist in the Record Office. 
 The oldest, visica piscis in shape, has a representation of the Blessed Virgin seated on a 
 throne holding the Holy Child. On each side are representations of the sun and moon, 
 the legend standing thus : + Sigillum Sanctae Marie, de Nutle. The second, circular in 
 shape, contains figures of the Blessed Virgin, St. John the Baptist, and St. Hugh of 
 Lincoln, under canopies, with shields of arms of France and England quarterly, GifFard 
 and Bohun. The third, with the Blessed Virgin and Child standing under a Second 
 Pointed canopy, is of the same shape as the first. Iutlie impression, however, the legend 
 is imperfect and defaced, though the word “ Nutle” remains. So great has been the 
 destruction wrought in what remains of Walter GifFard’s foundation, that it is ex¬ 
 ceedingly difficult to identify the position of the various parts of the old abbey. The 
 site of the great church, however,—146ft. long by 70ft. wide across the transepts—can 
 be traced. It was cruciform in form, with a nave of five bays, transepts, a deep 
 choir, rectangular at the east end, and some chapels or sacristies, probably added at a 
 later period, both on the north and south sides of the choir. The refectory, 88ft. by 
 24ft. on the south side of a large quadrangle, about 30 yards square, had a magnificent 
 carved roof of walnut and oak, which the Berties removed to Chesterton, Oxon, circa 1689. 
 Close to the refectory were the kitchen, buttery, and cellars. The chapter-house was 
 34ft. by 20ft., the base of the tower of the church was 22ft. square, though its broad and 
 solid foundations were considerably wider. When the church and its monuments were 
 destroyed, the bells which hung in the tower were removed to the church tower of 
 Crendon. There is an ancient broad and stately staircase of solid oak in the mansion, 
 parts of which are possibly as early as the original foundation of the monastery. 
 Some curious encaustic tiles have been discovered. These were found near a plank 
 
220 
 
 bridge over the river Thame, where the river-bank had been evidently mended with 
 carved debris from the abbey church. 
 
 A sketch made in the early part of the present century faithfully represented the 
 mansion house as it existed at that period. Since then it has been altered, not only by 
 constructional rearrangements, but by destruction and the removal of dilapidated build¬ 
 ings. In some of the solidly-built outhouses to the immediate south of the mansion, 
 which are now used for farm purposes, the painted roofs are of singular beauty and 
 interest, the rafters showing signs of having been adorned with rich colour and gilding. 
 There is an ancient black-oak bedstead, of the Elizabethan era, preserved in the servants' 
 sleeping apartments ; while on every part of the premises, which appear to have covered 
 nearly five acres, abundant tokens, in broken mullions, carved mouldings, and rich 
 carvings, exemplify the stateliness and grandeur of theoriginal monastic buildings. Most 
 of these were pulled down when Edward, Duke of Somerset, was their owner, under 
 Edward the Sixth. Much internal woodwork appears to have been put up, however, 
 just prior to the Dissolution— ie., circa 1530. For the initials R. R. (for Richard Ridge, 
 the last abbot) remain carved in oak, conjoined with a knot, with the figure of a pastoral 
 staff. Also the inscription :— Time beum , et recede a malo. Ric. Ridge. — Principium 
 sapientiae est timor D'ni. In the MSS. of the celebrated antiquary, Browne Willis, of 
 Whaddon, there are records of many examples of stained glass which existed in his day ; 
 but none of these now remain. 
 
 Anciently there remained a broken lavatory of Purbeck marble, containing seven 
 washing-places and a separate drain for the used water. It stood on an Early English 
 pillar at one end, and a solid sink of marble at the other. The position of the abbey is 
 very retired. It lies in a valley—a part of the well-known Yale of Aylesbury ; very near 
 however, to the county of Oxford—beautiful in itself and well watered, and is well worth 
 a visit from any archaeologist or antiquarian. From the high road from Thame to 
 Aylesbury, along the crest of a series of hills, it can be easily distinguished ; and even 
 now, notwithstanding all the destruction wrought, is a picturesque memorial of a once 
 distinguished religious house. 
 
 FORMER STATE OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE CHURCHES. 
 
 In the 16th and 17th centuries the churches in this county were in a most 
 deplorable state of ruin and desolation. Amongst the State papers, domestic of Charles I., 
 valuable MSS. in the original rough drafts exist, referring to the state of the Bucking¬ 
 hamshire churches. These papers appear to be detailed reports, the result of a visitation 
 
221 
 
 made in 1637 (13th Charles I.) by or under the direction of Williams, Bishop of 
 Lincoln, in which diocese the greater part of the county of Buckingham was included. 
 In this return no reference is made to the churches in the principal towns of Bucking¬ 
 hamshire. This is an omission to be regretted ; it is to be hoped they were in better 
 condition and a less neglected state than the churches in the villages. The churches of 
 Aylesbury, Buckingham, Winslow, High Wycombe, Great Missenden, Wendover, and 
 several others are not referred to. The return published in 1637 shows that no 
 improvement had taken place in the condition of the sacred edifices in the intervening 
 half-century from the date of the former survey ; no effort made to avert their threatened 
 destruction ; in fact, no care whatever appears to have been taken of them. The survey 
 made in 1637 was searching. More than one hundred churches iu this county, over 
 which the Bishop had jurisdiction, appear to have been visited and their state reported 
 on in detail. The return shows general dilapidations, such as “ Windows dammed up,” 
 “ Fences naught,” “ Walls in decay,” “ Seats broken,” “ Windows stopped up quite,” 
 “ Wants paving,” “ Chancel looks black with moisture,” “There’s never a door to the 
 church,” “ No reading desk,” “ Seats too high,” “ Lead stolen,” “ Windows stopped with 
 straw,” “ Hogs come through the fences,” &c., &e. Many of the reports refer to 
 innovations in the interiors by the erection of elevated seats and immense pews with 
 covers ; large tombs built in the chancels and aisles without regard to the convenience 
 of the congregations are also noted. The returns generally refer more to the state of the 
 fittings of the interiors than to the buildings themselves, of which comparatively little 
 complaint is made, save as to the state of the windows, which in almost every case are 
 reported as being in an advanced state of decay, and it is evident from the returns that 
 the churches generally were totally unfit in which to perform divine worship. 
 
 LITTLECOTE HOUSE, STEWIvLEY. 
 
 Littlecote House, the mansion of the Sheppards, was pulled down about 1801, 
 and some of the out-offices were converted into a farm residence, subsequently and for 
 many years in the occupation of Mr. Thomas Woodman. The house stands high and 
 pleasant; and extensive garden walls, the stabling, coachhouses, &c., the fish ponds, and 
 some ornamental trees in the adjacent meadow, are still remaining. Here was formerly 
 a Chapel of Ease, dedicated in honour of St. Giles. When it was founded is not ascer¬ 
 tained, but the date is probably 1266, for in that year Hugh de Uunster provided for it 
 altar cloths, chalice, missal, &c., and delivered it to the custody of the Abbot of Biddles- 
 den. In the same year, the said Hugh, and Alice, his wife, appointed the Chaplain to 
 
222 
 
 pray for the souls of themselves and others ; and assigned him for his maintenance, a 
 messuage and outbuildings adjoining the chapel, three acres of arable land in Littlecote, 
 together with a pension of five marks yearly, chargeable on lands in Preston Capes, 
 Co. Northampton, then belonging to Biddlesden Abbey .—Harleian MSS. From this it 
 would appear that Hugh de Dunster either founded and endowed Littlecote Chapel in 
 1266, or he founded a chantry in it in that year. In 1339, the advowson of the chapel 
 of the vill of Lidcot, was included in a fine of lands passed between Sir J. de Molyns and 
 others ; and the advowson of the chapel is mentioned in a fine, in 1363, of lands here, 
 between Thomas Missenden and others. From the fact of the advowson of the chapel 
 being mentioned in those fines, it seems pretty clear that the chapel belonged to the 
 hamlet and was a regular chapel of ease, though, no doubt, its chief endowment arose 
 from the chantry connected with it. It was suppressed in the reign of Edward VI., and 
 the chapel, and some land called “ Chapel Land,” granted to Edward Cooper and 
 Valentine Fayreweather. No remains of the building exist, but the site is fixed by 
 tradition on a spot where now grow three fir trees. There is no mention of a burying 
 ground in connection with this chapel. 
 
 WIDMERE CHAPEL, MARLOW. 
 
 Widhere Chapel, or a good portion of it, still remains ; it has been converted into 
 habitable rooms and occupied as a farm-house. There is a very curious ancient crypt, 
 consisting of two aisles now used as a cellar ; it is about 38 feet by 18 feet; the centre 
 pillars are round, and have octagonal capitals and bases ; the ceiling is not groined, but 
 arched with rough pieces of chalk. The chapel has three Gothic windows, and two 
 lancet-shaped ones, which are blocked up, as is also the east window. A small outhouse, 
 with Gothic window and door, appears at some time to have formed a part of the old 
 building. 
 
 LORD WHARTON’S BIBLES. 
 
 Late Mr. J. Parker. 
 
 His Lordship, by instructions dated the 24th April, 1693, directed That 1050 
 Bibles with the singing Psalms bound up therewith, and the like number of Catechisms, 
 should be yearly provided, and that there should be a printed paper posted inside the 
 
223 
 
 Bibles to this effect—‘ These reading psalms in the English translation in the Bible are to 
 be learnt without Book, by the child to whom this book is presented, namely, the 1st, 
 15th, 25th, 37th, 101st, 113th, and 145th.’ The reward to be given to such Children 
 who can read, of poor people, of good report, in the Cities, Towns, and places, therein 
 named, in Yorkshire, Westmoreland, Cumberland, and Buckinghamshire, in the latter 
 County (namely), in Winslow 10, Aylesbury 20, Wendover 10, Amersham 10, Chesham 
 10, Chipping Wycombe 10, Great Marlow 10, Beaconsfield 10, Wooburn 10, Winchenden 
 and Waddesdon 10 ; and that on the day of the delivery of the Bibles there should be 
 sermons preached, for which 10s. is allowed at such places as are therein named, the 
 purport, design, and scope of every such sermon to be, to discover and prove to the 
 people the truth, usefulness, sufficiency, and excellency of the Holy Scriptures, and the 
 people’s right to have them fully in their own language ; and also their duty to read, 
 study, and search the Scriptures, and take them for their only unerring rule of faith, 
 worship, and manners. 
 
 These Bibles, with the Assembly’s Catechism, were originally uniformly given to 
 Children on the above conditions. About the year 1805 the Pastors of the Dissenting 
 Churches were deprived of the disposition of the Charity, and the same was placed in 
 the hands of the Clergy of the Church of England. 
 
 GREAT MISSENDEN. 
 
 Leland. 
 
 “ From Wendover to Great Missenden in Chilterne is three miles. It is a praty 
 thorough-fare, but no market-town. There is a praty Chappell of brick in the south 
 part of it, and a little by south without the town was a Priory of Black Cannons. It 
 standeth at the very bottome of a hill, and hath a goodly ground about divers pretty 
 hilles well wooded towards the east and south. It was founded by — Doyley.” 
 
 NORTH MARSTON.—HOLY WELL. 
 
 “The Holy Well, which bore Sir John Shorne’s name, and was supposed to have 
 derived its medicinal qualities from his prayers and benediction, is situated about one 
 hundred and fifty yards from the Church. It is still known by the villagers as Sir John 
 Shorne’s Well, but is commonly called ‘ The Town Well.’ It consists of a cistern five 
 feet four inches square, and six feet nine inches deep. This is walled round with stone, 
 and has a flight of four stone steps descending into the water. From the size and 
 
224 
 
 construction of the cistern, it was probably occasionally used as a bath, but the sick were 
 doubtless chiefly benefitted by drinking the water. The present building, which is 
 entered at the north end, runs too closely round the verge of the cistern to allow of its 
 being used for bathing. The water, which is supplied by a copious spring, near a foot¬ 
 path leading to Oving, was described in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1820, as slightly 
 chalybeate, and containing a large portion of calcareous earth. But even since that date, 
 its medicinal properties have varied. Formerly they must have been very powerful; for 
 its supposed miraculous cures attracted such numbers of invalids to it, that houses had to 
 be built for their accommodation. Browne Willis said that ‘ many aged persons then 
 living remembered a post in a qninqueviam on Oving Hill (about a mile east of the well) 
 which had hands pointing to the several roads, one of them directing to Sir John 
 Shorne’s Well.’ 
 
 The Chancel of North Mareton Church is said to have been built by the offerings at 
 the Shrine of Master John Shorne ; it is an exceedingly fine specimen of the Perpendicular 
 style. Some old people of Marston can remember a niche outside the Chancel, over the 
 east window, which contained two figures, apparently talking together. One of these 
 figures is said to have been Shorne, and the other the devil with forked tail and cloven 
 feet; but they were commonly called the devil and John Foster. They fell down 
 many years ago, and for some time lay in the church-yard, but all traces of them are now 
 lost. It is remarkable that Sir John Shorne, although so popular for centuries, should 
 not have been canonised; nor is he to be found in any biography or catalogue of 
 Mediaeval Saints. Yet he was honoured with all the usual characteristics of one. Why 
 then was the omission ? The legend related of him is that he conjured the Devil 
 into a boot. We indeed cannot hear it without a smile, mingled, however, 
 with pain. For painful it is to think, that in the palmy days of ‘ merrie England ’ 
 the credulity that could credit so gross an imposture as Shorne’s miracle was almost 
 universal ; and still more painful is the reflection that the imposture was practised by 
 those whose duty it was to enlighten the ignorant. We may be thankful that we live in 
 an age when both the Civil and Ecclesiastical authorities are using every effort to save 
 the credulous and ignorant from becoming profitable dupes to the deceptions of designing 
 impostors .”—Records of Buckinghamshire. 
 
 SOLDIER’S MOUNT, PRINCES RISBOROUGH. 
 
 Several Roman coins have at times been found here; those of Constantine the 
 Younger, a.d. 337 ; of Constantine the Great, a.d. 325 ; Claudius Gothicus, a.d. 268, 
 and others. The place in which these coins were found is a hill overlooking the town of 
 Princes Risborough, and near to the well-known Cross on White Leaf Hill. How far the 
 
225 
 
 cross, which is of Roman form, may be connected with Roman remains, and the 
 Constantine coins in its neighbourhood, may be a fair subject for conjecture. The hill 
 on which these and other Roman relics have been found, is called the Soldiers’ Mount, 
 and furnishes an instance that local traditions have generally some basis of fact to rest 
 upon ; for the site in question is too bleak and inconvenient, and remote from water, to 
 be the site of a residence, and is indicated, by its commanding position, as the site of 
 an outpost, or summer camp of a Roman detachment. The coins themselves are of a 
 military type, and might be the property of soldiers of the Roman Empire, occupying 
 that post of observation, who had probably taken part in the victories described on the 
 coins. It is also situated near the ancient Icknell "Way. There have been found here 
 various other coins, and a portion of a Roman Bulla of glass, also a bronze clasp and pin 
 of bone. Lower down in the valley have been discovered the remains of Roman 
 habitation, in a spot where a supply of water for the bath, a more genial air, and 
 sheltered aspect gave the promise of a home of greater luxury and comfort than the 
 adjoining heights. 
 
 STONE EFFIGY AT IVINGHOE. 
 
 In a recess in the north wall of the chancel of Ivinghoe Church is an ancient stone 
 effigy, habited in the vestments of a priest, viz., the chasuble, stole, maniple, alb, &c. 
 The statue, together with the cushions and slab on which it rests, are wrought out of 
 one stone. Tradition has assigned this monument to no less a personage than Henry of 
 Blois, brother of King Stephen, and Bishop of Winchester; Browne Willis, in his 
 “ Mitred Abbeys” corroborates it ; but he afterwards made some discovery which changed 
 his opinion, for in his manuscript account of Ivinghoe he assigns it to Peter de Chaceport, 
 Rector of Ivinghoe between 1241 and 1254—the reputed founder of this church. The 
 effigy, though doubtless of an early date, is too elaborately and perfectly worked out to 
 belong to the twelfth century ; it is moreover habited in the robes, not of a bishop, but 
 of an ordinary priest; and the nephew of King Henry I., brother to King Stephen, and 
 Legate to the Pope, was a personage far too important to have been buried in a country 
 church. Besides this remarkable prelate was buried in his own Cathedral at Winchester. 
 
 The monument very probably represents Peter de Chaceport, who was, as before stated, 
 Rector of the parish. This ecclesiastic was Keeper of the King’s Wardrobe, Archdeacon 
 of Wells, and Lord of the Manor of Ravenstone, where he founded a Priory. Being a 
 wealthy and good man it is very likely that he devoted a portion of his wealth to the 
 improvement of his church, the nave and chancel of which correspond with the apparent 
 
226 
 
 date of the monument. It is therefore no improbable conjecture that these portions of 
 the church were built by him, either in his lifetime, or under the directions of the 
 “ noble will” which a contemporary historian remarks he made. This too would account 
 for the situation of the monument. 
 
 MILTON'S COTTAGE AT CHALFONT. 
 
 Rev. C. H. Evelyn White, F.S.A. 
 
 “This cottage is the only known residence that now exists inhabited formerly by 
 Milton. Howitt, in his ‘ Homes and Haunts of the British Poets,’ says ‘ no one, perhaps, 
 ever inhabited more houses, yet scarcely one remains.’ All have in turn disappeared. 
 It cannot be said that the cottage is in itself a very pleasing object, but it seems not 
 unlikely that it is less so now than at the time when Milton inhabited it. It is of the 
 old framed timber kind and built of red brick, such as may be seen frequently here and 
 m different parts of the country. Its cross-timbered construction marks its age as 
 belonging to the early part of the 17th or latter part of the 16th century. What is now 
 termed its primitive simplicity is, if I am not mistaken, comparatively recently acquired. 
 Ellwood speaks of it as ‘ a pretty box,’ and there is no reason to doubt his words, whereas 
 it is now, as a building, entirely devoid of interest, and has, without and within, the air 
 of a cottager’s domicile. I have only been able to see one engraving of the old house as 
 it existed in former days, it is that given in Howitt’s ‘ Homes and Haunts of the British 
 poets,’ which was published a few years since. It certainly presents in this vignette a 
 very different appearance to that we now witness, at least so far as its exterior is 
 concerned. The room in which Milton is said to have written his great poem of 
 ‘ Paradise Regained’ and possibly gave the finishing touches to ‘ Paradise Lost,’ is on the 
 right hand, as the building is entered. It has a low ceiling, with rafters formed of 
 strong beams of oak, and, not being over well lighted, has a somewhat depressing effect 
 upon the visitor. 
 
 No relics connected with the cottage as far as I know remain, but the idea of placing 
 here objects connected with the poet is an extremely happy one. A little antique 
 furniture of the period would again lend a charm to this cottage home of the poet, and 
 serve to bring the scenes of his life here prominently forward, and give honour to one of 
 whose residence among them Chalfont has reason to be proud. We do well to honour 
 the memory of the author of that magnificent poem ‘ Paradise Regained,’ written for the 
 most part in the little dwelling we have referred to. In the whole range of English 
 literature no more splendid or sublime imagery is to be found than that which occurs in 
 Milton’s poetical works. Whether as regards the lofty conception of his ideas or the 
 grandeur of the language employed, no other writer can touch Milton.” 
 
227 
 
 WYCOMBE HOSPITALS AND OTHER CHARITABLE FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 T. Tanner (1735). 
 
 [Thomas Tanner received his education at Queen's College, Oxford; in 169G he teas 
 elected a Fellow of All Souls, and in 1732 consecrated Bishop of St. Asaph. He wrote 
 “ Not ilia Monaslica, or An Account of all the Religious Houses in England and I Vales 
 this was his principal work, although he was author of several others; he died in 1735. 
 The following is from the “ Notitia."~\ 
 
 “ An hospital for lepers was founded here before the 13th of Henry III., and 
 dedicated to St. Margaret and St. Giles. Here was also an hospital for a master, 
 brethren, and sisters, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, before the 20th of Henry III. 
 (1235). It was in the patronage of the mayor and burgesses of the town, 1344. And 
 though after the dissolution, Queen Mary gave it to Sir Robert Throgmorton, Queen 
 Elizabeth in the 4th year of her reign re-granted it to the corporation. One of the hospitals 
 at Wycombe was valued, 26th Henry VIII. at £8 6s. lOd. in the whole, and £7 15s. 3d. 
 clear—but not for black monks, as Speed mentions. There might be one hospital here 
 dedicated to St. Giles, and another to St. Margaret; but they seem rather to be one. 
 For, 5th of Henry V., the King gave the custody of St. Giles’ hospital juxta 
 Wycombe to Thomas Giles. The next year he grants the custody of both to 
 Henry Swain, as vacant by the resignation of Thomas Giles; but the gift of the 
 mastership is said to have been afterwards in the collegiate church of Windsor. 
 The lands of the hospital granted to the corporation by Queen Elizabeth are 
 applied to the grammar school and a hospital for poor people. The master of the 
 grammar school is appointed by the corporation, and has a house, garden, and orchard 
 of two acres, with a salary of £30 per annum. On the 27th of September, 1790, Mrs. 
 Mary Bowden died, and left £1,000 to be invested in the funds for the purpose of paying 
 £30 per annum in addition to the master of the grammar school, and the remainder to 
 be paid among the poor women inhabiting the hospital. The charter of Queen Elizabeth 
 provides for four poor persons ; but from the increase of rents, four more widows have 
 been added to the first number. They receive 2s. per week, paid by the hospital 
 chamberlain.” 
 
 HARLEYFORD. 
 
 Thomas Langley, M.A. (1795). 
 
 “ The old manor-house of Harleyford was a very large and spacious edifice, similar 
 to Hurley House, which stands on the opposite bank of the Thames ; there is no evidence 
 
228 
 
 to show when, or by whom, it was built. The circumstance related respecting the 
 chapel, proves its existence at that time; and this chapel was used till the whole was 
 pulled down in 1755, when a handsome regular mansion was erected on the same spot by 
 Mr. Clayton, from a design of Sir Robert Taylor’s. The style of the building is pleasing, 
 and, though not large, contains some excellent rooms; of these, the library is of very 
 fine proportions, and the recesses for the books elegantly disposed. The situation of 
 Harlevford is extremely beautiful, commanding a fine reach of the river, and screened 
 from the north by a rich grove, where the beech and fir blend their contrasted colours. 
 The lawn, of the sweetest verdure, and ornamented with venerable chesnuts and other 
 forest trees, forms the appropriate scenery of this admired residence. The walks are 
 extensive, and open to many varied and interesting views. Of these the terrace attracts 
 particular notice. The few seats, grotto, and buildings being well situated, and not 
 crowded, have their full effect; but the temple of Friendship claims attention, not more 
 from the beauty of its architecture, or its lovely situation, than from its being a tribute 
 of respect and regard from Dr. Thomas, Bishop of Rochester, to this family. Harley - 
 ford seems formerly to have been considered a manor independent of Marlow, as appears 
 by an inquisition taken 18th Edward IV., when the jurors declared, that Agatha, wife of 
 James Cawood, died seised of the manor of Harleyford in Marlow, which she had granted 
 the preceding year to Henry Burton, prior of Bustleham, and others, in trust, to preserve 
 the contingent reminders ; and in the 22nd of Edward IV., they accordingly conveyed 
 it to her granddaughter, Alicia Lovel. In 1288 a fine passed of lands in Marlow Magna, 
 belonging to Geoffrey de Harleyford. Probably Robert Haughford, member for Wycombe 
 15th of Edward III., took his name from this manor. It afterwards became consolidated 
 in the manor of Marlow.” 
 
 BOLEBEC CASTLE, WHITCHURCH. 
 
 Late Rev. J. Marsh. 
 
 “ Hugh de Bolebec succeeded his cousin in the Manor of Whitchurch. He is 
 traditionally said to have been the founder of Bolebec Castle, but though the name 
 implies one of the family to have been so, there is great doubt as to his being the 
 person, as he is also said to have been the founder of Woburn Abbey, which certainly 
 was not built in his lifetime. From a MS. in the Ashmolean collection, he is said to 
 have been an attesting witness to the charter of endowment of Notley Abbey, built by 
 his cousin, Walter Giifard de Bolebec, and his countess. He left and was succeeded by 
 two sons, Hugh and Walter. The former built the castle of Whitchurch, the site of 
 which is plainly discernible on the left hand of the main road from Aylesbury to Buck- 
 
229 
 
 ingham. In the middle of the village the street makes a flexion from west to south, and 
 forms a communication out of the course of the modern line with the neighbouring 
 parishes of Oving and Pitchcott, the beginning of which is near a spot called the Market 
 Hill, close to Weir Lane, an entrance to Bolebec Castle, and in which was formerly an 
 old drawbridge, remembered to have been remaining in the time of aged persons living in 
 the last century, and although no vestiges whatever of walls now remain as in Camden’s 
 time, a high rampart or bank of earth, with the remains of four or five barrows or tumuli 
 on it, part of the site of the Castle, close to the village, are objects of great curiosity, and 
 are visible at a considerable distance.” 
 
 BIERTON.—ANCIENT INTERMENTS. 
 
 In the year 1841 the remains of eight human beings and two horses were discovered 
 at Bierton, when the explorers came upon signs of Anglo-Saxon or Roman interments. 
 This discovery is thus described by Mr. C. Lamborn, late of Bierton :—“The first signs 
 of an interment was five feet from the surface. In the centre was a circular hole in the 
 chalk, one foot six inches in depth, and about the same in diameter. This had a metal 
 vessel fitted to it, apparently of bronze, with a broad rim two inches wide spreading 
 outwards all round. It dropped to pieces in lifting out. In the radius of three feet 
 from the centre were placed a number of jars of various sizes ; nearly all the jars were 
 broken. At a distance of ten feet from the circle another large jar, somewhat in the 
 form of a common wash-basin, was found, and every effort was made to take it out 
 entire, but, though much thicker than the others, it dropped to pieces. Three other 
 holes were also found in the chalk ; one in the form of a square, about twelve inches ; 
 the other two somewhat longer than wide, containing ashes.” In digging for gravel in 
 the Old Orchard Piece, implements of war, coins, human bones, &c., have been discovered 
 from time to time. In or about 1830, three halberts, a breastplate, and bones of horses 
 and men were found here. On the skeleton of one man was part of his clothing, con¬ 
 taining two large buttons, gilt beneath, and hollow, as if filled up with a horny sub¬ 
 stance. In 1861, as excavations were being made in the Old Orchard Piece, additional 
 antiquarian discoveries were made. At a depth of five feet below the surface numerous 
 bones of a horse were found, the teeth very perfect, and along with them a superiorly 
 finished rowel spur. A few feet from these some bones of a man who had lost his arm 
 were found. Close to the human bones were the remains of another horse, and further 
 on were two coins—one of William III., bearing date 1701 ; the other a small cross 
 about the size of a farthing, bearing on one side a bust and the words “ George Rules,” 
 on the reverse the word “Britannia,” with the customary emblematical figure for 
 
230 
 
 Britannia, painted by Lely. The bones of a second human being were next met with, 
 and then another coin much worn, exhibiting a bust apparently of James I. A few days 
 afterwards other skeletons were found, making altogether eight in number. The 
 discovery of the relics in the Orchard Piece may be accounted for as followsBierton 
 was a loyal village at the time Aylesbury was held by a Parliamentary garrison (the 
 Vicar, Mr. Pyrd, and the chief family in the palish, the Bosses, being staunch supporters 
 of the King), and after the battle or skirmish near Aylesbury, some of the wounded 
 Parliamentarians, making their way towards Bierton, died of their wounds near the 
 village, or falling into the hands of Charles’ troopers, were killed, and buried in the 
 pightle.” 
 
 KIMBLE CASTLE. 
 
 Rev. W. J. Burgess, M.A. 
 
 “ Arriving at the interesting country around Velvet Lawn, and examining the 
 features of its picturesque hills, we observe a Mound of massive size, situated on a 
 spur of the Chilterns, yet commanding very finely the surrounding country. The name 
 of this conspicuous work is Kimble Castle. The tradition concerning it, is, that it was 
 the Hold of Cunobeline, or Cymbeline, a British King, aud that an action was fought 
 in this neighbourhood between the sons of the British Chieftain and the Roman General, 
 Aulus Plautius, in which one of the British Princes named Togodumnus, was slain. 
 The facts that the ancient name of Kimble is Cynebel, or Cunobel—that there are 
 funeral Barrows near the spot—and that history attests that such an action was fought 
 in this vicinity—appear to give much weight to a tradition which certainly invests 
 Kimble Castle, or as it is sometimes called, Belinus Castle, with no common interest. 
 An inspection of the spot will not disappoint either the lover of nature or 
 the student of the ancient history of our country. We have, too, in the parish of 
 Princes Risborough, vestiges of camp and barrow, from both which coins, urns, and other 
 relics, have been taken. The Malt, or Mort Hills, are traditionally burial places ; whilst 
 Horsenden, or Horsa’s dwelling, and the Cross of Whiteleaf, point rather to Saxon than 
 to Celtic times. 
 
 That the Roman legions ever penetrated the surrounding hills is more than even an 
 antiquary can conjecture ; though the Hamlet of Speen may possibly derive its name, 
 as Speen in Berkshire is supposed to do, from the Roman Spin®. It is still a thorny 
 nook in the woods. Nor is it unlikely that the Icknield way, pursuing its persevering 
 course to the westward, along the lower eminence of the Chilterns, would be overlooked 
 by so good a judge of roads as the Roman Conqueror. For the Icknield was, I presume, 
 an ancient British trackway from east to west, and may have been so called from the 
 Iceni, from whose territory it takes its rise .”—Records of Buckinghamshire. 
 
231 
 
 CHURCHES AND MANORS. 
 
 Rev. W. H. Kelke. 
 
 “ Our old churches, except some few in cities and large towns, were in reality 
 founded for manors, and not for parishes. The lord of a manor, by his own voluntary 
 act, built and endowed a church, generally near to his own residence, for the use of his 
 household and of those living on his adjacent estates. Thus we often find churches 
 standing at a distance from the village, but near the site of an ancient manor-house, as 
 at Wendover, Weston Turville, Stoke Mandeville, Drayton Beauchamp, &e. Where 
 there were two or more manors in a parish or district belonging to different lords, it was 
 usual for them to join in founding a church for their respective households and 
 dependents ; but occasionally, where from some private feud or other cause, they could 
 not amicably unite in the work, yet, being zealous Churchmen, and desirous to provide 
 their respective dependents with the means of religious worship, each of these lords 
 founded a separate church for the residents on his own manor ; as at Saunderton, where 
 each church stood on a separate manor, and at Reepham, where all three churches stood 
 in one churchyard, we are yet expressly informed that they severally belonged to the 
 three lordships of Reepham, Hackford, and Whitwell, in the same parish. But the 
 natural evils of such a practice soon became apparent. Originating, as it generally did, 
 in strife and jealousy between the founders, it soon engendered similar feelings between 
 the incumbents and between their respective flocks, so that neither party could carry out 
 effectually any plans for the general good of the parish. Such advowsons were there¬ 
 fore usually soon consolidated and placed under the charge of one incumbent, who, 
 using only the best church, or that most convenient for his parishioners, the other fell 
 into decay, as was the case with Saunderton. We cannot regret the union of two such 
 rivals, nor wonder that a disused church could not weather the storms of church- 
 destroying periods, but our feelings are shocked at Christian cemeteries being converted 
 into gardens.” 
 
 AYLESBURY IN THE CIVIL WARS. 
 
 “ The Perfect Diurnal of the Passages in Parliament from Monday, the 9th of 
 January, till Monday, the 16th, 1643,” states that—“From Ailesbury in Buckingham¬ 
 shire it is informed that the Towne is very strongly fortified, and that there is six pieces 
 of Ordnance and a strong garrison of men; Coin. Bulstrode, his Regiment, and some 
 other forces being there ; that the King’s forces continue still at Brill, near to Aylesbury, 
 
232 
 
 but dared not march any further this way in the Country for that more of the Parliaments 
 forces are quartered at Weldover (Wendover), Missenden, Wickham, and other townes 
 thereabouts, which carry themselves very orderly, doe noe harme where they come, and 
 paying very justly for the things they have.” On the other hand great complaints were 
 made of the ravages caused by the King’s party, which produced the following letter 
 “ from Ailesbury, directed to Colonell Hampden, Colonell Goodwyn, and read in both 
 Houses of Parliament, May 18th, 1643 ” :—“ We cannot but acquaint you, that you may 
 make it knowne to the House of Commons, if you please, in what miserable condition 
 this country is at this time, the King hath sent into these parts about 12 or 1400 of his 
 Forces, commanded as wee are informed by the Earle of Cleaveland, who is accompanied 
 with the Lord Shandose, the Lord Crawford, Sir John Byron, and others of Note, who 
 according to the knowne Law of the Land, pillage and plunder all the Towns where they 
 come, they murder our neighbors that make but any defence to preserve their goods, one 
 woman (among the rest) bigge with child, who could make no great resistance ; they cut 
 in peeces what household goods they cannot carry away ; they swepe cleane divers of our 
 pastures, leaving no Cattell behind them, and that no cruelty might be left unexercised 
 by them, they have this day fired a Country Village called Swanbourne, in 7 places of the 
 Towne, for no other reason but because they were not willing to be plundered of all they 
 had, and guarded the fire so carefully with al their forces divided into severall parts, that 
 no neighbors durst adventure to come to quench it, all the while it burned our Forces in 
 this Garrison consisting only of Foot, saving one troope of Horse, we were not able to 
 encounter with the Enemy, nor relieve our neighbors thus despoyled, but yet to interrupt 
 that, which to them is a sport, we drew out some Forces in their sight as far as with 
 safety we could, whereby they have not acted this day all the mischief they intended to 
 execute before night, but what they have undone to-day, wee expect they will, ere they 
 leave us, make up, for they are now so strong that they quarter at Buckingham and 
 where they please, in those parts without resistance. We wish the Parliaments Army 
 were so accomodated, that this Country (which hath hitherto bin, and yet is most ready 
 to serve and obey the Orders of the Houses) might not be destroyed and made utterly 
 unable to contribute unto it, before we can be relieved by it, but relying upon God’s 
 providence, and the best means which may be afforded to preserve us. Wee rest, your 
 very loving Friends to serve you, John Wittewrong, Tho. Ttrrill. Ailesbury, 16 
 May, 1643.” 
 
 ASHENDON. 
 
 The parish is conjectured to have derived its name, Ashendon Escedune, or Essedone, 
 from the nature of the wood (ash) with which the district abounded ^ being on the border 
 
233 
 
 of the Forest of Bernwood, mentioned by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Florence of 
 Worcester, and other early writers), and from don, a high place, which is characteristic 
 of its situation. Ashendon appears to have been of some importance in Saxon 
 times. Bishop Kennet, in his Parochial Antiquities on the authority of Henry 
 of Huntingdon, and others, states that here was made the agreement between 
 Kenwalch, King of the West Saxons, and his brother's son, Cuthred, by which 
 the latter was to hold for his principality, all that part of the kingdom which lay 
 northward from the River Thames. Kenwalch having offended his brother-in-law, 
 Penda, King of Mercia, was by that monarch driven from his dominions ; and seeking 
 an asylum with the King of the East Angles, was, during his three years’ exile, converted 
 to Christianity, and having been baptised in the year 648, was restored to his kingdom. 
 
 BURKE’S ESTATE, BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 “It is very clear from the authentic biographies of Burke, that he entered upon 
 literary and political life in London with little or no endowment beyond that which 
 nature and a good education had given him. He wrote for his bread for several years, 
 as many able but penniless Irishmen have since done and continue to do. At length, 
 when several years past thirty, merging into a political career as private secretary, first 
 to Single-speech Hamilton, and afterwards to the Marquis of Rockingham, he enters 
 Parliament for a small English burgh, and soon after—all at once, in 1767—he pur¬ 
 chases an estate worth £23,000 ! In a large elegant house, furnished with all the 
 adjuncts of a luxurious establishment, surrounded by 600 acres of his own land, driving 
 a carriage and four, Burke henceforth appeared as a man of liberal and independent 
 fortune. When surly but pure-hearted Samuel Johnson was shown by him over all the 
 splendours of Beaconsfield, he said: Non equidem invideo—miror mag is— u I do not 
 envy, I am only astonished and then added, still more significantly : “ I wish you all 
 the success which can be wished—by an honest man.” There was an unpleasant mystery 
 here, which it was reserved for modern times to penetrate. 
 
 One theory on the subject, set forth so lately as 1853, by an ingenious though 
 anonymous writer, was that Burke was mainly indebted for the ability to purchase his 
 estate to successful speculations in Indian stock. In Macknight’s able work, “The Life 
 and Times of Edward Burke,” published in 1858, an account of the transaction is given 
 in tolerably explicit terms, but without leaving the character of Burke in the position 
 which his admirers might wish. “ In 1767,” says the writer, “ when Lord Rockingham 
 refused to return again to office, and Burke, though in very straitened circumstances, 
 
234 
 
 adhered faithfully to his noble leader, it then occurred to the marquis that it was 
 incumbent on him to do something for the fortune of his devoted friend. He advanced 
 £10,000 to Burke, on a bond that it was understood would never be reclaimed. With 
 those £10,000, £5,000 raised on mortgage from a Dr. Saunders in Spring Gardens, and 
 other £8,000, doubtless obtained from the successful speculations of William and Richard 
 Burke (his brothers) in Indian stock, Burke purchased the estate of Gregories. After 
 the reverses of his relatives in the year 17G9, all the money they had advanced to him 
 was required. Lord Rockingham again came forward. From that time through many 
 years of opposition, as Burke’s fortune, so far from increasing, actually diminished under 
 his unvarying generosity and the requirements of his position, this noble friend was his 
 constant and unfailing resource. The loss of the agency for New York (by which 
 Burke had £1,000 a year for a short time) the marquis endeavoured to compensate by 
 frequent loans. At the time of Lord Rockingham’s death (1782), he may, on different 
 occasions extending over fourteen years, have perhaps advanced on bonds, which though 
 never formally required, Burke insisted on giving, the sum of about thirty thousand 
 pounds. It appears, in short, that this brilliant statesman and orator maintained his 
 high historical place for thirty years, wholly through pecuniary means drawn by him 
 from a generous friend. The splendid mansion, the vineries and statuary, the four-horsed 
 carriage, even the kind-hearted patronage to such men of genius as Barry and Crabbe, 
 were all supported in away that implies the entire sacrifice of Burke’s independence. It 
 is very sad to think of in one whom there was so much reason to admire ; but it only 
 adds another and heretofore undetected example to those we have, illustrating a fact in 
 our political system, that it is no sphere for clever adventurers, independence in personal 
 circumstances being the indispensable pre-requisite of political independence.”— Chambers' 
 Boole of Days. 
 
 TI1E GROVE, CHESHAM. 
 
 The Grove, Chesham, was au ancient manor which for many generations belonged 
 to the Cheynes, who had a moated seat here. Part of the great hall was remaining in 
 1750 ; and it is said that there was a chapel adjoining the house. There is an old barn 
 on the spot, which is traditionally called a chapel, but there is nothing ecclesiastical iu 
 its architecture, and it appears to have consisted of two stories. It appears to have been 
 the refectory of a religious house, with small buildings, probably dormitories, attached 
 to it; there have been four such transepts, but only one remains, which is of two stories. 
 Mr. Burgess states that the building stands east and west, and that there has been a 
 burial ground to the south of it, and he concludes his remarks by observing “ the chapel 
 
235 
 
 may have been pulled down, having stood to the south of the present buildings.” The 
 Rev. Mr. Kelke, in his paper on desecrated churches, says that the chapel was intended 
 chiefly, if not exclusively, for the mansion, and was granted on account of its distance 
 from the parish church, and that it must have been a consecrated place from its having 
 been used for sepulchral purposes. 
 
 THE MANOR AND ABBEY OF MEDMENHAM. 
 
 Rev. C. Lowndes, F.R.A.S. 
 
 “ Medmenham Abbey, with its physical advantages of water, wood, and rich lands 
 and pastures, though uninteresting as a ruin, is beautifully situated on the northern bank 
 of the River Thames. Soon after the Conquest the Manor of Medmenham was given to 
 Hugh de Bolebec, one of the Norman barons who came over with William the Conqueror. 
 In the Domesday Survey (translated from the original Latin) we learn—‘That Med¬ 
 menham was in Dustenberg (or Desborough) Hundred. Hugh de Bolebec held this 
 manor, taxed at x hides. There were x carucates ; in the demesne, four hides ; and there 
 were 2 carucates, and x villeins with 8 bordars, having 8 carucates. There were 4 
 servants, a fishery for 1000 eels ; pasture for all the plough teams ; wood for 40 hogs ; 
 worth 100 shillings; in the reign of the Confessor, £8. Welstan, a thane of that 
 monarch, held the same, and could sell it.’ ‘ Hugh de Bolbec also held Brock in 
 Medmenham at a hyde. There was 1 plough-land ; a plough with a villein ; and 2 
 copyholders. It was valued at x shillings. Odo, a tenant of Brictric, held the same, and 
 could sell it.’ 
 
 Hugh de Bolebec had issue two sons, Hugh and Walter. The elder son Hugh 
 founded the Abbey of Wooburne in Bedfordshire in May, a.d. 1145, and gave the Manor 
 of Medmenham to found a cell to it. But this cell was not built until after Walter the 
 younger son, on the death of his brother, had succeeded to the Barony. Hugh de 
 Bolebec, and not Walter, as has been asserted, was the true founder of Medmenham, or 
 Mednam, Abbey. A charter of King John, in the second year of his reign, January 3, 
 1201, confirmed the gift; and in 1204 some of the Cistercian monks of Wooburn came 
 and settled here. The Chronicle of Stanley, a Cistercian Abbey in Wiltshire, states that 
 the attempt to colonize Medmenham was a failure, and the monks returned to W'oburne 
 the same year, when the abbot of that place was in consequence deposed. Two very old 
 lists of Cistercian houses, and the annals of Park Louth, another abbey of the same 
 order, concur in dating the second, and in this case successful, colonization of Medmenham 
 in a.d. 1212. These monks were called Cistercian, from Cisteaux, in the bishopric of 
 
236 
 
 Chalons in France. They were remarkable for the strictness of their rules. Cardinal de 
 Vitri says : ‘ They neither wore skins nor shirts, nor ever eat flesh, except in sickness ; 
 and abstained from fish, eggs, milk, and cheese ; they lay upon straw beds in tunics and 
 cowls ; they rose at midnight to prayers ; they spent the day in labour, reading, and 
 prayer ; and in all their exercises observed a continual silence. They wore a white 
 cassock with a narrow scapulary, and over that a black gown when they went abroad, but 
 when they went to church, a white one.’ 
 
 The Abbey of Medmenham was dedicated to the Virgin Mary ; and its seal was ‘ the 
 effigies of the Blessed Virgin crowned, sitting on a splendid throne, in her bosom the 
 Divine Infant/ The only impression remaining is that of John 1308, which is a neat 
 oval seal, with the inscription at the edge ‘ S. Fris. Johis. Mendham ’ (Sigillum Fratris 
 Johannis Mendham). In the beginning of the sixteenth century it was annexed to the 
 Abbey of Bristleham, or Bisham, on the opposite side of the river in the county of Berks. 
 On the suppression of the monasteries in the time of Henry VIII., the Commissioners 
 returned that this ‘ monastery was of the order of St. Bernard (who became a Cistercian 
 monk a.d. 1114), the clear value £20 6s. 2d: monks there two ; and both desyreu to go 
 to houses of religion ; servants none; bells, &c., &c., worth £2 6s. 8d. ; the house 
 wholly in ruin ; the value of the moveable goods £1 3s. 8d. ; woods none ; debts none.’ 
 The appearance of the abbey at the present day bears out this description which is given 
 of it in the last century. The alterations and additions have been so many and great, 
 that there is really nothing left to interest the architect or the antiquary.”— Records of 
 Buckinghamshire. 
 
 BUCKS—ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 Ecclesiastical Architecture may be divided into the following styles, with 
 examples from the churches in Buckinghamshire : — 
 
 Saxon, or Anglo-Saxon.— Period, a.d. 600 to a.d. 1050. Tower of Caversfield 
 Church. Portions of Saxon work are said to remain in the churches of Iver and Wing, 
 and perhaps in the lower part of the tower of Lavendon. 
 
 Norman. —1050 to 1170. Stewkley built possibly circa 1160. Many doorways of 
 this style exist, e.g., Water Stratford, Leckhamstead, and the Old Latin School at 
 Buckingham. 
 
 Semi-Norman, or Transition.— Ill0 to 1210. The font and arches of the aisle of 
 Whaddon Church. 
 
 Earlg English. —1210 to 1300. Aylesbury Church is a fine specimen of this style, 
 though with much alterations of the Perpendicular period. Other examples are the 
 church of Bierton, chancel of Chetwode, and Iladdenham tower. 
 
237 
 
 Decorated .— 1300 to 1400. Chancel of Whaddon Church, circa 1300-10. Clifton 
 Reynes, Great Horwood, Emberton, Olney, the south aisle of North Marston Church, and 
 portions of Weston Turville. There are several good Decorated windows in High 
 Wycombe Church. 
 
 Florid, or Perpendicular— 1400 to 1540. Maids Morton, rebuilt circa 1420, and 
 Hillesden, rebuilt circa 1497, are admirable examples of this style ; and the chancel of 
 North Marston is a beautiful example of the Perpendicular. The chancel of Bucking¬ 
 ham Church, built by Archdeacon Ruding in 1470, but now destroyed, was one of the 
 finest examples of the same style in the county. 
 
 DAGNAL CHAPEL, IVINGHOE. 
 
 Tiie chantry connected with Dagnal Chapel was suppressed about 1549 ; its yearly 
 income was £3 18s. 8^d. There was also some land, and a residence for the priest 
 belonging to the foundation. The Chapel of All Saints, Dagnal, seems to have ceased to 
 be used as a place of worship about the time of the suppression of the chantry. In 
 1550 the fabric of the chapel “ with the stone walls, bells, lead, and waste land belonging 
 thereto, were granted to Thomas Reeves and others. There are no remaius of Dagnal 
 Chapel existing, and its site is not known with certainty, although its vicinity is indicated 
 by places still bearing the names of “ Chapel Dale,” Chapel Lane,” Chapel Wick,” and 
 “ Chapel Dell.” 
 
 THE MAUSOLEUM AT CHENIES. 
 
 The Mausoleum was built, as is recorded on a stone at the exterior of the east end, 
 in Anno Dili. 1556 :—“ Thys chappel ys built by Anne Countesse of Bedforde, wife to 
 John Erie of Bedforde according to ye last will of the sayd Erie.” The most remarkable 
 tombs are those at the east end-three gorgeous altar tombs of finely worked alabaster, 
 set with stones. They are—(1.) John, first Earl of Bedford, born Jan. 11, 1506. When 
 Philip, Archduke of Austria, and his wife Joanna, daughter of Feidinand and Isabella 
 of Spain, were driven into Weymouth by stress of weather, Mr. John Russell acted as 
 interpreter. Philip, when he afterwards visited Windsor, recommended Mr. John 
 Russell to the King, Henry VIII. He attended Henry VIII. in the Field of the Cloth 
 
238 
 
 of Gold. Afterwards (1522), in fighting in France, at the siege of Morlaix, he lost an 
 eye by an arrow. (In the figure the right eye appears with the lid hanging over.) He 
 was knighted for his bravery, and at the birth of Prince Edward was created Baron. It 
 was at his house in the Strand that the celebrated Conference on the Eucharist was held. 
 For putting down the Cornish rebellion in 1549 he was created Earl of Bedford by 
 Edward VI. He assisted at the marriage of Queen Mary. He died in 1555. There is 
 also a monument to his wife, Lady Anne, as Froude says she was named, not Lady 
 Elizabeth, as on the tomb. She died in the reign of Queen Mary, and in her will says 
 she bequeathed her soul “ to God, trusting only by the death and passion of His dear Son 
 Jesus Christ, to be saved.” (2.) Francis, 2nd Earl of Bedford. He was a staunch 
 friend of the Reformation, and died in 1585. (3.) Anne, Countess of Warwick, daughter 
 of the 2nd Earl (Francis). The next in age is a monument in the centre of the chapel of 
 black marble to Lady Francis Bouchier (niece of Anne). In the south side, 
 against the wall, is an alabaster monument to Lord Russell, of Thornhaugh, 
 4th Earl, who died 1641. On the north side—Lady Francis Chandos, died 1623, 
 grandmother to the 5th Earl. At the west end is a large monument to William, 
 5th Earl and 1st Duke. He sided with the Parliament against the impeachment 
 of Lord Ivimbolton and five members of the Commons by Charles. He helped 
 in the Restoration of Charles II. In 1683, Lord William Russell, his son, was 
 tried for treason in connection with the Rye House Plot, and condemned. After the 
 Revolution the 5th Earl was created Duke. He died 1700. The female figure by his 
 side may be his countess, but more probably Lady Rachel Russell, whose coffin is in the 
 vault, and who died 1723. She was the wife of Lord William Russell, and acted as his 
 Secretary when he was denied help at his trial by Judge Jeffreys. On the south side— 
 Wriothesley, 2nd Duke of Bedford, sou of Lord William (monument by Chambers). 
 He died 1711. The latest addition is a tomb in black marble to Lord John Russell. 
 It has an inscription—“John Russell, first Earl Russell. Born ISth August, 1792: 
 died 28th May, 1878. Buried at Cheneys. Twice Prime Minister of England.” 
 There are also two ancient recumbent figures, one of a man in armour and the other of a 
 lady. These were formerly in arches in the north wall, and they are supposed to belong 
 to the Cheyne family. They are not connected with each other, one being of consider¬ 
 ably later date than the other. 
 
 TICKFORD PRIORY. 
 
 This Priory was destroyed by fire in the 14th century, together with all its deeds 
 and charters, which were totally lost. Edward II., in 1312, granted the Priory a 
 charter of confirmation. This charter granted to the Prior the privilege of setting up 
 
239 
 
 in the town of Tykeford, in his soil there a Pillory and a Tumberell, to punish and 
 chastise transgressors there. Four years after the charter of confirmation the King 
 granted permission to John de Somery and others “ to give and assign divers property to 
 his beloved in Christ, the Prior and Convent of Tickford next Newport Pannel.” The 
 monastery of Tickford was seized as an “ Alien Priory” by King Edward III. during the 
 wars with France ; but it was restored by King Henry IV., and made subject to the 
 Priory of the Holy Trinity, in York, which had been founded by the eldest Paganell; so 
 that though it continued a “ Cell ” it was no longer an “ Alien ” Priory—alien priories 
 having been entirely abolished. The original Priory was founded in the reign of William 
 Rufus, or in the following reign, by Fulk Paganell, Lord of the Manor of Newport, often 
 called the Priory of Newport. The house was for Clunaic monks or Black canons, and 
 was made subordinate, or a “Cell” to the great Abbey of St. Martin, at Tours in 
 Normandy. The founder endowed it with lands in this parish, the parish church, and 
 the churches and manors of Bradwell, Willen and Chicheley, the mill and some land at 
 Caldecote, the church of Astwood, and some property in Northamptonshire. 
 
 POLITICAL HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Raymond M. Lluellyn (1886). 
 
 [Mr. Raymond Lluellyn teas an active politician closely connected with the Conservative 
 cause in Buckinghamshire. In 1886 he was contesting the South Islington Division 
 on behalf of the Unionists at Islington. The meeting was most noisy and dis¬ 
 orderly, and towards the finish the platform was besieged and the leaders of the meeting 
 assaulted. At this meeting Mr. Lluellyn contracted a chill, which, from his heated and excited 
 condition, coupled with his riding home outside his carriage, 'predisposed him to an illness 
 which terminated in his death on the 2Gth of June , 1886. Mis principal ivorlc was 
 “ Occasional Contributions to the ‘ Globe,' ” published, for private circulation only, by 
 Mrs. Lluellyn the year after his death. 
 
 “We find Amersham, or Agmondesham, as it was then styled, Wendover, and 
 Chipping Wycombe, sending representatives to the House of Commons in the reign of 
 Edward I. In the first year of the next reign, the name of Great, or Chipping, Marlow 
 was added to the list of the Buckinghamshire boroughs, all the towns returning two 
 members. But they all lost their electoral privileges in the following year, and did not 
 regain the franchise till it was restored by petition to Parliament on the 4th of May, 
 1624, having been without the right to elect members for the period of more than 300 
 years. The right seems to have fallen into abeyance as much from the indolence or 
 disinclination of the citizens or burgesses, as from any caprice on the part of the sovereign 
 or his advisers. It is true that the Sheriffs in those days often omitted boroughs whose 
 subserviency to the Crown was at all doubtful. But, as the sending representatives was 
 
240 
 
 attended, not only with trouble, but also with considerable expense, the members being 
 paid their charges to and from Westminster, or wherever the Parliament was held, and 
 an allowance during the Session, many of the boroughs shirked what was to them a heavy 
 burden, and even solicited of the Sheriffs the favour to be omitted when the writs were 
 issued. Annexed to the old writs was not uncommonly to be found the following notice : 
 
 ‘ And there are not any other cities or boroughs within the county from which any 
 citizens or burgesses can be sent to the said Parliament on account of their decay and 
 poverty.’ It is probable that it was on the ground of expense that Amersham, Marlow, 
 and Wendover found it inconvenient to return representatives to Parliament, and remained 
 voluntarily disfranchised until such time as their improved circumstances make them 
 equal to, as well as anxious for, the Parliamentary burden. Waller, the poet, and 
 Algernon Sidney, the patriot, were among the members that Amersham returned ; and 
 Wendover was represented at different times by John Hampden, who lived hard by, 
 and Edmund Burke. But the roll of the representatives of Great Marlow contains few 
 eminent names. Anciently, members were chosen only out of the residents of the 
 borough, and it was enacted in the first year of Henry V. that all burgesses returned to 
 Parliament should be actually resident in, and freemen of, the boroughs they represented. 
 This for a long time excluded eminent strangers, aud made boroughs dependent upon 
 local talent. Bulstrode Whitelock, one of the Lords Commissioners of the Great Seal, 
 was member for Marlow in 16G0. In George I.’s reign Lord Shelburne represented it. 
 Since the beginning of this century one of the popular family of Williams of Temple 
 House has always furnished one of the representatives. At the last general election 
 General Owen Williams polled 505 votes as against 354 votes polled by Mr. J. 0. Griffits, 
 Q.C. Formerly the borough was conterminus with the parish of Great Marlow. But in 
 1831, Little Marlow, Medmenham, and Bisham, on the other side of the river, were 
 thrown in with it.” 
 
 NEWPORT HUNDRED. 
 
 The Hundred of Newport, at the northern extremity of the county, is bounded on 
 the west and north by Northamptonshire, on the east by Bedfordshire, and on the south 
 by the Hundred of Cottesloe. It includes three ancient Hundreds, denominated 
 Bonestou, Moulesho, and Sigelai. Area, 75,770 acres. The “Three Hundreds of 
 Newport” were, by patent, in the twelfth of King Charles I. (1637), granted Sir Francis 
 Fortescue, and his sons, for their lives ; and the same were granted by King Charles II. 
 to Queen Katherine, in dower—the profits being valued at £25. They were subsequently 
 granted in reversion to the Duke of Leeds. The Hundred contains the market towns of 
 Newport Pagnell, Olney, Stony Stratford, and Fenny Stratford. 
 

 
 
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 AYLESBURY, 1888. 
 
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 A Series of Concise and Inteiesting Articles Illustrative of the 
 
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 Buckinghamshire,” &c. 
 
 foj'tTEJ'JT? OF fAF\T 6. 
 
 Eton Old Customs ; Liscombe House; Hartwell; Burning of Milton’s Books ; St. 
 Werburgh ; Fawley Court ; Death and Burial of John Hampden; Relic of Antiquity ; 
 Little Horwood ; Coat and Conduct Money ; Bletchley Chapel ; Missenden Abbey ; 
 Gryme’s Dyke; Portway ; Wooburn House; Denham ; Grey Friars ; St. Leonards ; The 
 River Thames; Royal Provisions; Drayton Beauchamp ; Royal Hunt; College 
 Wycombe ; Parish Stocks ; Louis XVIII. ; Hogston ; Bletchley ; Whiteleaf; Suppres¬ 
 sion of Monasteries; Dropmore ; Hundreds of Aylesbury ; Ashridge ; Guildhall 
 Wycombe ; Linslade ; Electoral Corruption ; Heraldry of Bucks; Brill; Royal Charters; 
 Geology of Mid Bucks ; Chetwode Rhyne Toll; Eton College ; Ashby v. White. 
 
 =) 
 
 3 
 
 AYLESBURY ; 
 
 PRINTED BY R. GIBBS, “ BUCKS ADVERTISER & AYLESBURY NEWS” OFFICE 
 
 MDCCCXC. 
 

 
 
 
241 
 
 ETON OLD CUSTOMS. 
 
 Mr. W. Lowndes, Chesham. 
 
 “ An old Eton custom, now abolished, was that of hunting the ram. For an 
 account of this we are indebted to ‘ Huggett’s Collections,’ now in the British Museum :— 
 ‘ It was an ancient custom for the butcher of the College to give on the election Saturday 
 a ram to be hunted by the scholars ; but, by reason (as 1 have heard) of the ram’s 
 crossing the Thames, and running through Windsor Market-place with the scholars after 
 it, where some mischief was done, as also by long courses in that hot season, the health 
 of 6ome of the scholars being thereby thought endangered, about thirty years ago the 
 ram was ham-strung and, after the speech, was with large clubs knocked on the head in 
 the stable-yard. But this carrying a show of barbarity in it, the custom was entirely 
 left off in the election of 1747 ; but the ram as usual is served up in pasties at the high 
 table.’ (Anno 1760.) 
 
 Browne Willis derives this custom from what took place in the Manor of East 
 Wrotham, Norfolk, which belongs to the College, where the Lord of the Manor 
 after the harvest gave half an acre of barley and a ram to the tenants. If the tenants 
 caught the ram, it became their property ; if they failed, the ram reverted to the Lord 
 again. This seems to be a reasonable explanation of the custom, for in the Gentleman's 
 Magazine, August, 1731, p. 351, we find the following:—‘Monday, August 2, was the 
 election at Eton College, where the scholars, according to custom, hunted a ram, by 
 which the Provost and Fellows hold a manor.’ 
 
 Another old custom formerly connected with Eton, but now abolished, was the 
 procession made every third year on Whit Tuesday to a tumulus near the Bath road, 
 which has acquired the name of Salt Hill. This procession was called the Montem, and 
 the chief object of it was to collect money for salt, as the phrase was, from all who were 
 present, and from passengers along the road. On that day persons of fame and station 
 (many of them old Etonians), witnessed the procession ; and Royalty frequently was 
 present on that occasion. I quote from Brand’s Popular Antiquities (vol. i. 434 ; 
 Bohn’s Ed.), the following account of it taken from one of the ‘Public Advertisers’ in 
 1778, and which is supposed to be the oldest printed account of the ceremony : —‘ On 
 Tuesday, being Whit Tuesday, the gentlemen of Eton School went, as usual, in military 
 procession to Salt-hill. This custom of walking to the hill returns every second year 
 (since every third year), and generally collects together a great deal of company of all 
 ranks. The King and Queen, in their phaeton, met the procession on Arbor-hill, in 
 Slough-road. When they halted, the flag was flourished by the ensign. The boys went, 
 according to custom, round the mill, etc. The parson and clerk were then called, and 
 

 242 
 
 there these temporary ecclesiastics went through the usual Latin service, which was not 
 interrupted, though delayed for some time by the laughter that was excited by the 
 antiquated appearance of the clerk, who had dressed himself according to the ton of 1745. 
 and acted his part with as minute a consistency as he had dressed the character. The 
 procession began at half-past twelve from Eton. The collection was an extraordinary 
 good one, as their majesties each of them gave fifty guineas. By six o’clock the boys 
 had put off the finery of the day, and appeared at absence in their common dress.’ 
 
 It is said that the salt-bearers filled the mouth of any countryman—when he had 
 given them a trifle—with salt, if he asks for anything in return. This curious custom 
 had, no doubt, its origin in the election of Boy Bishops, but into the details of which we 
 cannot enter now. It was abolished in 1847, on the representation of the Master of 
 the College to her Majesty and the Government, that its celebration was attended with 
 certain inconveniences. The salt collected on these occasions was to pay the first boy his 
 expenses at King’s College, Cambridge, or other college .”—Records of Buckinghamshire. 
 
 LISCOMBE HOUSE. 
 
 Liscombe House has been the seat of the Lovett family for between five and six 
 centuries. It stands in a delightful situation, on rising ground, in a park of about 200 
 acres, abounding with fine oaks, and diversified by a pleasing variety of surface, extremely 
 rich in vegetation. The mansion is very large and quadrangular, and encloses a spacious 
 court of irregular buildings. One side of this court is occupied by a chapel, long now 
 disused. Robert Lovett, Esq., lord of Liscombe, founded a chantry in the “ Church of 
 Liscombe,” in 1301, as appears by the extract from Bishop de Alderby’s Register, in the 
 archives of Lincoln :—“Robto’ Lovet D’no de Liscombe Epus concessit here Cantuarium 
 in Ecclesiom de Liscombe.” The chapel alluded to, which, from its style of architecture, 
 appears to have been erected about the middle or latter end of the 14th century, probably 
 occupies the site of the older edifice in which Robert Lovet founded the chantry ; for 
 from the above extract from the Bishop of Lincoln’s Register, it would appear that there 
 was a“ Church ” inexistence at Liscombe in 1301. The house is of much later date 
 than the chapel, no part of it appearing to be older than the reign of Queen Elizabeth. 
 The windows have been modernised. The principal front, which is of great length, and 
 has two entrances, is castellated, and has a pediment in the centre supported by two 
 turrets, and a low tower at each end. The chief apartments are of fine proportions and 
 very handsome. 
 
 
243 
 
 HARTWELL. 
 
 Hartwell is conjectured by some to have derived its name from the Saxon Herde, 
 a shepherd, or a flock ; and Wella, a spring of water—a well or spring for flocks to drink 
 at; whilst others are of opinion that the name comes from Hart and Well. On some of 
 the old documents in the muniment room of Hartwell House is a rebus-seal of the hart 
 drinking at a well. The old church of Hartwell, which had apparently been erected 
 about the time of Richard III., is stated to have been a very ordinary building, con¬ 
 sisting of a body and north aisle and chancel, with a small building on the south side, 
 in which were the seats of the family of Lee. A wooden turret contained one bell. 
 William Hampden, by his will, dated 7th January, 1520, ordered his body to be buried in 
 the chancel of Hartwell, before the middle of the high altar, so that the priest might stand 
 at his feet at the saying of mass. In the detached burial ground are the remains of 
 some of those French exiles who terminated their lives in the service of Louis XVIII., 
 King of France, during the abode of that monarch at Hartwell. 
 
 BURNING OF MILTON’S BOOKS BY THE HANGMAN. 
 
 Milton’s connection with Buckinghamshire renders all matters relating to him 
 interesting to Buckinghamshire readers. He was all his life a Liberal, in the best sense 
 of the word, resisting with his powerful pen the encroachments of unwarrantable power, 
 whether political or ecclesiastical. When the restoration of Charles II. became imminent, 
 Milton’s position was perilous. Amongst other books, his “ Iconoclastes” and his 
 “ Defensio pro Populo Anglicano” contained sentiments which Charles and his Court 
 could not be expected to tolerate. In 1G60, just before Charles’s return, Milton added 
 another to his many works against monarchy, in a letter addressed to General Monk, 
 under the title of “ The Ready and Easy Way to Establish a Free Commonwealth” ; and 
 he also combated the reasonings of one Dr. Matthew Griffith, in “ Brief Notes upon a 
 Late Sermon, titled The Fear of God and the King.” All would not do, however ; the 
 people were wearied of the Commonwealth, and welcomed Charles home again. Milton 
 felt that he could not safely appear in public at this crisis. He quitted his home in 
 Petty France, and sought an asylum with a friend in Bartholomew Close. Many writers 
 have said that his friends got up a mock funeral for him, to keep him well out of sight; 
 and that when this fact came to the ears of Charles, the “ Merry Monarch” laughed 
 heartily, and “ applauded his policy in escaping the punishment of death by a seasonable 
 show of dying.” Whether this were or were not the case, no very diligent search appears 
 to have been made for him. “There were among the Royalists,” says Mr. Keightley, 
 “ men of humanity who could feel compassion for him, who was deprived of Nature’s 
 
244 
 
 prime blessing (Milton had then been quite blind about seven years), and men of taste 
 who were capable of admiration for exalted genius.” But, although Milton escaped, his 
 books did not. On the 16th of June, 1660, the House of Commons passed a resolution, 
 that his majesty should be “ humbly moved to call in Milton’s two books (the ‘ Icono- 
 clastes’ and the ‘ Defensio’), and that of John Goodwin (‘ The Obstructors of Justice’), 
 written in justification of the murder of the late king, and ordered them to be burned 
 by the common hangman ; and that the attorney-general do proceed against them by 
 indictment or otherwise.” On the 27th of August following, as many copies of the three 
 offending books as could be met with, were publicly burned, in conformity with this 
 resolution. During the intervening ten weeks a proclamation appeared, in which it was 
 stated that “ the said John Milton and John Goodwin are so fled, or so obscure them¬ 
 selves, that no endeavours used for their apprehension can take effect, whereby they may 
 be brought to legal tryal, and deservedly receive condign punishment for their treasons 
 and offences.” As has just been said, however, there is reason to believe that the search 
 was purposely allowed to slacken ; and within three days after the burning of the books, 
 an act of indemnity relieved the poet from any further necessity for concealment. 
 
 ST. WERBURGH, BRILL. 
 
 An ancient Hermitage in Bernwood Forest, called St. Werburgh’s Cell, was granted 
 by King Henry III., in 1252, to the Prior and Convent of Chetwode, upon condition of 
 finding two chaplains, one to perform Divine Service in the Hermitage, and the other at 
 the King’s Chapel at Brill. This grant was made in consequence of a dispute between 
 the King and the convent of St. Frideswide, in Oxford, relative to the advowsons of Brill 
 and Oakley. In 1258 the Prior paid fifty marks for a renewal of the grant of the chapel, 
 the assart belonging to it, and the right of appointing a chaplain. The Prior and 
 Convent afterwards procured a confirmation of their grant, and were allowed to fence 
 with a wall one carucate of land within the manor of Brill, and twenty acres with a 
 hedge and ditch. At the suppression of the monastery in 1469, this estate was granted 
 to Notley Abbey ; and at the general Dissolution in the reign of King Henry VIII. it 
 was valued at £12 8s. per annum. The site of St. Werburgh’s Cell is situated on the 
 north side of Muswell Hill, and west from the village of Brill. This house is partly in 
 Oxfordshire. Near it foundations have been discovered, and human bones dug up. 
 
 FAWLEY COURT. 
 
 In November, 1642, the old Manor House of Fawley was occupied by about 1,000 
 of the King’s troops, under the command of Sir John Byron—the place being the seat of 
 
245 
 
 Sir Bulstrode Whitelocke, then a Royalist—and these soldiers, in opposition to the 
 commands of their officers, plundered every part of the premises, and destroyed the 
 valuable furniture, the fine library, and even the family deeds and the old Court Rolls of 
 the Manor. This wanton devastation rendered the house entirely unfit for future 
 occupation ; Sir Bulstrode removed to another seat of his in Wiltshire, and the Fawley 
 mansion fell into ruin. The modern Fawley Court is a handsome and spacious mansion, 
 was erected in 1684, from a design by Sir Christopher Wren, on an elevated site over¬ 
 looking the Thames, about a mile from Henley, and is surrounded by a park of 250 acres, 
 well planted, and terminated by undulating hills, in part clothed with beech. The house 
 has four fronts, and contains several elegant apartments. The hall, which is entered by 
 an Ionic portico, is 40 feet long and 20 feet wide, and opens into a saloon of equal size 
 and correspondent height. A singularly picturesque island, in the Thames, upon which 
 is a Grecian Temple, forms part of the Fawley Court demesne. 
 
 DEATH AND BURIAL OF JOHN HAMPDEN. 
 
 Lord Nugent. 
 
 “ With his head bending down and his hands resting on the horse’s neck, he rode 
 off Chalgrove field ; first in the direction of his father-in-law’s house at Pyrton; but, 
 Rupert’s cavalry covering the plain, he had to turn round and gallop across the grounds 
 of Hazely towards Thame. He paused at a brook which divides the parishes, and then, 
 with a great effort, clapping his spurs to his steed, cleared the leap. Fainting with pain 
 on reaching Thame, his wounds were dressed at the house of one Ezekiel Browne. The 
 injury he had received precluded all hope of recovery, and he prepared to die, and now 
 devoted what time remained to those spiritual exercises which strenghten and comfort 
 the departing soul. Dr. Giles, the rector of Chinnor, and Dr. Spurstow, the Independent 
 chaplain of his regiment, attended on his death-bed. Worn with pain, aud labouring 
 for breath, he prayed— 4 0 Lord God of Hosts, great is Thy mercy, just and holy are 
 Thy dealings unto us sinful men. Save me, 0 Lord, if it be Thy good will, from the 
 jaws of death ; pardon my manifold transgressions. 0 Lord, save my bleeding country. 
 Have these realms in Thy special keeping. Confound and level in the dust those who 
 would rob the people of their liberty aud lawful prerogative. Let the king see his 
 error, and turn the hearts of his wicked counsellors from the malice and wickedness of 
 their designs. Lord Jesus, receive my soul. 0 Lord, save my country. 0 Lord, be 
 merciful to-.’ Nature was spent, and the spirit fled. 
 
 Hampden Church, the place of Hampden’s burial, is a plain but picturesque little 
 church, situated on a hill in the Chiltern district, near the mansion where the great 
 Parliamentary statesman and soldier lived. The chalk hills, covered with beechwood 
 
246 
 
 hereabouts, present noble and exhilarating views, and it was up the lanes which wind about 
 the region that Hampden’s soldiers brought his corpse to rest by the grave of his fathers. 
 There are few scenes in English history more touching than this procession of Puritan 
 soldiers, with arms reversed, heads uncovered, and drums and ensigns muffled, marching 
 to the portal of the church, chanting as they marched :—‘ For a thousand years in Thv 
 sight are but as yesterday when it is passed, and as a watch in the night. Thou earnest 
 them away as with a flood ; they are as a sleep; in the morning they are like grass 
 which groweth up ; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth. The days of our 
 years are threescore years and ten ; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, 
 yet is their strength labour and sorrow ; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away’ (Psalm xc., 
 4-6, 10). The funeral over, they sang on their way home this joyful strain:—‘For 
 Thou art the God of my strength : why dost Thou cast me off ? why go I mourning 
 because of the oppression of the enemy ? Why art thou cast down, 0 my soul ? and 
 why art thou disquieted within me ? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise Him, who 
 is the health of my countenance and my God’ (Psalm xliii., 2, 5).” 
 
 WENDOTER.—A RELIC OF ANTIQUITY. 
 
 In 1848, on a farm at Wendover Dean, known as “ Dutchlands,” a very handsome 
 gold armilla, or armlet, weighing 4oz. 12dwts., was dug up. It is of four threads, 
 composed of two rounded bars of considerable thickness, with two twisted wires wound 
 spirally between them ; and is very skilfully wreathed together, and welded into oue 
 point at the extremities^ The ground on which this precious and interesting relic was 
 discovered, had been woodland immemorially, until the winter of 1845, when it was 
 grubbed up ; and this relic had, no doubt, lain at the root of one of the old stubs, a tree 
 before the Conquest. 'Whether this Torc-armilla is of British or Saxon workmanship, 
 antiquaries have not decided, but the style of the work is unique ; and that such a relic 
 should not be lost, it was presented to the British Museum. 
 
 THE CHURCH OF LITTLE HORWOOD (1889). 
 
 Little Horwood Church lies north-east of that of Winslow, to which, like Grand- 
 borough and Aston, it appears to have been early attached, with a chapel of ease, belong¬ 
 ing to St. Alban’s Abbey. It is often mentioned in the “ Manor Roll of Winslow” (dated in 
 the reign of Edward III., 1327-1377) as Horlewood. In the accounts of Thomas de la 
 Ware, 30th Abbot of St. Albans, who died in 1396, the vicarage of Horlewood, “ formerly 
 a chapel of Winslow/’ is mentioned as paying a tax of three marcs to the Abbey funds. 
 
247 
 
 The registers date from 1568. The church consists of a chancel in good Decorated style : 
 Perpendicular nave and tower, and south aisle, originally Decorated, but having the 
 south and east walls rebuilt in 1638. There is a south porch of late brick. The pillars 
 of the nave, of Totternhoe stone, are said to be of late Norman type, after a continental 
 design, which we may perhaps connect with the more characteristic work in the 
 neighbouring churches of YVhaddon and Newton Longville. A rough niche and 
 bracket, the remains of a chapel, may be seen at the east end of the aisle, probably of 
 Decorated workmanship. During the recent restoration several curious frescoes were 
 found superimposed on the north wall of the nave, and traces of the common deep red 
 colouring are to be seen in many parts of the church. In 1787 a gallery was erected at 
 the west end of the church “ by subscription, for the use of the Sunday School,” only 
 two years after the first Sunday School was established at Gloucester. This was removed 
 at the restoration, and under it was found a copper coin of the Regency, dated 1789. A 
 thorough restoration of the fabric has been carried out this year. Two windows were 
 found in the chancel and one at the west end of the aisle; the latter rather Early 
 Decorated, of the interlaced type; of the former, one on the south side, of good 
 Decorated, has supplied the model for the other two side windows of the chancel, and the 
 motif of the new east window ; the other, on the north side, is probably a “Rector’s 
 window” of Tudor age. The cap of a quatrefoiled font base was found imbedded in one 
 of the late buttresses, and gives the necessary detail for a new one. The pulpit is of 
 a Jacobean oak, carved in low relief and somewhat damaged by misuse. The communion 
 plate, consisting of two large chalices, flagon, paton, and salver, was presented in 1797 
 by the vicar, the Rev. S. Langston : there is also a small chalice of much older date, and 
 a cover dated 1570. A brass bearing the ten commandments, with appropriate texts and 
 verses, and the date 1641, formerly stood above the communion table, and now is fixed 
 upon the east wall of the nave. 
 
 BUCKS.—COAT AND CONDUCT MONEY. 
 
 The Verney Tapers. 
 
 “ The arbitrary proceedings of Charles I. were exceedingly unpopular. The raising 
 a revenue without the consent of Parliament, so often declared illegal, was more and 
 more actively pursued, and upon the same principle new imposts were laid. Coat and 
 conduct monies for the Militia were still levied upon the Counties, and the names of all 
 who resisted payment were reported to the Council Board. Heavy fines were inflicted 
 on such persons as, being possessed of £40 a year, had declined to submit themselves to 
 
248 
 
 the honour of Knighthood, and payment was enforced by Exchequer process. As early 
 as 1625, the first year of the reign of Charles, a letter was written to Yilliers, Duke of 
 Buckingham, then in the height of his power, upon the subject of coat and conduct 
 money, and other grievances, from the Deputy-Lieutenants of Bucks, ending thus:— 
 ‘ Lastly, we may not omitt, beinge as we conceiue in dutie bound, to present to your 
 Grace the humble petitione of our countrymen wherewith we are importuned at our 
 meetings for subsidies and other payments, that they are vnpaid for the coate-and-con- 
 duct monie which they haue twice laid out this yeare, amountinge vnto £437, besides 
 which they haue bene charged with multiplicitie of payments in the leauing and rnayne- 
 tayninge of soldiers, for whose charges the countie hath not receiued full satisfactione 
 from the councell of warr, and that, in some places, for these two yeares past, in some 
 more, they haue received no monie from his majesties officers for theire compositione, 
 wheate and for wood, which, fallinge out in these times of affliction and dearth, wherein 
 by reason of the sicknesse most parts of this sheire haue been very much charged aboue 
 former times, is the more pressinge and greeuious vnto them. And so we submit our 
 best endeauors and dutifull seruice to be euer ready. At your graces command. Alles- 
 burie, 18 October, 1625.’ 
 
 Coat and conduct money was imposed in the following manner :—Each hundred 
 provided its levy of men in proportion to its size and the total number required ; one 
 shilling was paid to every man on impressment; the “ coats” of the men cost fourteen 
 shillings each ; one shilling per man was paid to a constable or other person as ‘ conductor’ 
 to the place of rendezvous or embarkation, and there was also a payment for ‘ conduct,’ 
 or expenses on the way. The total sum was assessed on the hundred separately and the 
 amount, as we have seen, was got back by the county from ‘the council of war,’ as it 
 could—most frequently not at all.’ ” 
 
 BLETCHLEY OLD CHAPEL. 
 
 The old Chapel of Ease to Bletchley, which consisted of two or three aisles and an 
 embattled tower, and was dedicated in honour of St. Margaret, having been demolished 
 during the civil wars, the town was long without a place of worship in connexion with 
 the established church. At length Browne Willis, Lord of the Manor and patron of the 
 Rectory of Bletchley, resolved to rebuild and endow the ancient edifice, and for that 
 laudable purpose he raised subscriptions, and persevered until he achieved the proposed 
 end. Having purchased the site of the old chapel he laid the foundation stone of the 
 new one in 1724, on St. Martin’s Day ; and the edifice was consecrated by the Bishop of 
 Lincoln, and dedicated to St. Martin on the 27th May, 1730. 
 
249 
 
 MISSENDEN ABBEY. 
 
 Mr. J. Parker, F.S.A. 
 
 “ Dugdale’s * Monasticon ’ published in 1827, refers to three documents, each of 
 which spoke of the foundation of this Abbey. The first was a Foundation Charter from 
 the Register of this Monastery in the British Museum, dated 1133. Commencing in the 
 name of the sacred Trinity, it went on :—‘ Be it known to all the faithful that I, William 
 of Missenden, grant to Daniel the Abbot and his successors and the brethren living 
 under the rule in the same town,’ and then proceeded to describe the lands, fields, and 
 woods contained in the grant, mentioning that at that time the Abbot was building the 
 Church of Missenden. An inquisition taken before John Parker, of Elneggs, in the 51st 
 Edward III. (1331), on the oath of John at Broke, William Broghton, Johan Ramkyn, 
 William Caldecote, Robert Moreton, John Bere, William Wydmore, John Allenaske, and 
 John Selby (names some of them familiar to them at the present day) declared that the 
 Abbey was not a royal foundation, but of the foundation of William of Missenden, 
 formerly Lord of Missenden, that he held the Manor of Missenden from the Earl of 
 Gloucester by military service, and that the Abbey was founded by him in 1293. 
 Another inquisition stated that it was found in the book of JohnToftez, Prior of the 
 Monastery of the Blessed Virgin of Missenden, in the County of Buckingham, that 
 William Missenden, Knight, was first founder of the said Abbey, and founded it in the 
 year of our Lord, 1336, ‘and,’ said the document, ‘he lies in the chapter house of the 
 same Abbey, under a marble stone, with three crosses sculptured above.’ On the 
 authority of Lysons, an ancient Court book of the Manor stated that it was founded by 
 the D’Oyleys and augmented by the Missendens, pursuant to a vow made on escaping 
 from shipwreck. Lysons says, ‘ It is probable therefore that the benefactions of Sir 
 W’illiam de Missenden in 1293 were of such importance, and the former income of the 
 convent so small, that it was looked upon as a second foundation, and that he was, even 
 in his own time, called and deemed the founder.’ We are told (Lipscomb) that at the 
 first this was an Abbey of Black Canons, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and built 
 within the Manor of Missenden on part of the possessions of the Earls of Gloucester. 
 Many of the family of the Missendens, the great benefactors of this House, were buried 
 in the Church and Chapter-house of the Abbey. The other charters relating to this 
 Abbey were interesting, and as (except in the pages of Dugdale, in the Latin) they did 
 not appear to have seen the light, they might be deemed to be worth transcribing or 
 partially reproducing. The charter of William Feynes, granting lands in the town of 
 Wendover to the Abbey, was peculiarly interesting, as it disclosed the social conditions of 
 the period and how serfdom prevailed at the date of the grant; the operative words of 
 the charter were as follows :—‘ I* William of Feynes, have given, and granted, and pre¬ 
 sented my charter I have confirmed to God, to the Church of St. Mary of Missenden, and 
 to the Canons there serving God, in free and perpetual charity, all the land which 
 
250 
 
 Wimundus held of me in the town of Wendover, and Wimundus himself, and all his 
 retinue of followers and offspring, and all the right which I have in the aforesaid land 
 and Wimundus, with all his retinue and belongings, to have and to hold freely and 
 quietly, well, peaceably, and honourably.’ Other charters related to the grant and 
 confirmation to the Abbey of the Hermitage of Musewell, in the parish of Pedyngton, in 
 the county of Oxford. 
 
 A record is in existence of the names of some of the Abbots of Missenden, com¬ 
 mencing with Daniel, who was appointed by William of Missenden in 1133. Lipscomb 
 introduces some names which do not appear in the edition of the ‘Monasticon’ of 1827. 
 But the black sheep as a rule unfortunately are not allowed to escape unnoticed. It 
 seems from the ‘ Monasticon’ that Ralph Mareschall, admitted on the 10th June, 1356, 
 was the Abbot alluded to in the Patent 35 Edward III., p. 2, who ‘by treachery and 
 feloniously counterfeited and clipped the King’s money, viz , groats and shillings, in his 
 manor which was called Legh (the Lee), near Missenden, in 30th and 31st years of the 
 reign of the King, and he was sentenced to death, and to be drawn and hanged, but he 
 was afterwards pardoned by the King. Ruding, upon Lord Coke’s assertion, represents 
 the Abbot as having been executed for coining.’ After the name of Richard Mear, whose 
 appointment was confirmed in 1398, we have a hiatus till we come to the appointment of 
 Robert Risburgh in 1466, a name discovered and introduced into the 1827 edition of 
 the ‘Monasticon,’ as well as that of his successor Henry (1490 and 1504). The 
 names then follow on successively till we come to the name of the last Abbot, John 
 Otewell, of Westwick, who surrendered the Abbey to the King’s Visitors in 1539. The 
 value of the revenues of the Monastery in the 26th Henry VIII. was £285 15s. 9d., with 
 deductions £24 Is. 2fd., leaving a clear annual value of £261 14s. 6jd. Otewell, the 
 last Abbot, had a pension of £50 assigned to him at the Dissolution, and it is inferred 
 that he probably embraced the views of the Reformers, as he did not remain in a state of 
 celibacy.” 
 
 GRYME’S DYKE. 
 
 Dr. Lipscomb. 
 
 “ Gryme’s Dyke, called in the ordinary dialect of these parts Grim’s Ditch, is (as 
 its name imports) a trench, or ravine, cut to a considerable depth, and having the soil, 
 which has been dug out of it, laid up as a bank on the verge of it, thus forming a 
 rampart of earth, which has induced the conjecture of its being the remains of a vicinal 
 way. It is a work of such magnitude as to deserve a particular description ; although 
 at this time reduced by cultivation, which, in many parts, has filled up the trench and 
 destroyed the vallum, so that it is not to be traced without great difficulty. The name 
 is undoubtedly British, and signifies something more than the great ditch, or dyke; 
 
251 
 
 which, as it at once establishes its remote antiquity, opposes the notions which have been 
 entertained by some, who have assigned to it a different origin. 
 
 Gryme’s Dyke, having crossed that portion of the range of the Chiltern Hills which 
 forms the western verge of Hertfordshire, and having entered the eastern side of Bucks, 
 near Aston Clinton, running westward through cultivated fields and a small wood to 
 Bucket Lane, and over St. Leonard’s Common, towards the Ikeneild Way, near Wendover, 
 on the south-west of the modern turnpike road, is very plainly seen in a wood ; where it 
 passes a farm-house called Conscience Field (some time in the occupation of Mr. Pratt) 
 bending towards the south and east; it then makes a flexure in a plantation of fern and 
 fir-trees, and crosses a ploughed field, where it may be traced, but considerably lowered 
 and diminished, so that in some places it is scarcely above the surface. It is still to be 
 seen above the road leading from Wendover to Lee Common, and in a hedge-row on the 
 south. 
 
 In Clutterbuck’s ‘ History of Hertfordshire,’ in a note to the account of ancient 
 British roads, as it relates to ‘ this county of Bucks,’ it is there traced from ‘ a farm 
 belonging to Mr. Harding, over Oakgrove Farm, through a long track of woodland ’ to 
 ‘ St. Leonard’s Common ; and passing through Baldwin’s and Collard’s Woods, to King’s 
 Ash Hedge-row Coppice, in King’s Lane, and Rushmore Wood, in King’s Wood Lane> 
 to Ive’s Farm in Missenden, where it crosses the Wendover valley and the turnpike road, 
 and is then lost for two miles, till discovered again north of Hampden, passing west- 
 south-west through Barnegrove to Rudland End, by the side of High Wood on Risborough 
 hillock, and over Lacey Green into a wood of three thousand acres near Bradenham.’ 
 Clutterbuck had ‘ little doubt of this bank and ditch being made by the Celts, against 
 the invasion of the Belgse, probably after their taking of Verulam and it had obtained 
 its present appellation at a very early period ; for, amongst the records of Ashridge 
 Monastery, it occurs in a charter of Edmund Earl of Cornwall, in the reign of Henry 
 III. in the description of a certain way which is said to pass ‘ ad quoddam fossatum 
 quod dicitur Grimes-dich.’ 
 
 Mr. Roderick thought that the line of Grime’s Dike could not have been the 
 boundary of the Mercian kingdom, because its course must have left Berkhampstead (a 
 favourite residence of their kings) on the south; and crossing also southward of 
 Wendover, could not have connected itself with the trench near Hedgerley. The same 
 learned and ingenious observer notices the popular notion, that it was supposed, by the 
 common people, to extend from sea to sea ; and that a similar name is given to a ditch 
 or dike, of considerable length, on Harrow Weald, in Middlesex, as well as others in the 
 North of England; but admits that it has much more appearance of a rude military 
 work, or the division of a district, than the character of a Roman road. The course of 
 Grime’s Ditch is clearly to be traced from Yerulam, at intervals, to the southern part of 
 Buckinghamshire, perhaps to the northern bank of the Thames, towards Cookham, in 
 Berkshire, or a little more westward.” 
 
252 
 
 ASHENDON HUNDRED. 
 
 The three ancient hundreds, in Domesday Book denominated Essedene, Yotesdone, 
 and Tichesele, were united in the present hundred of Ashendon popularly so called, but 
 technically, The Three Hundreds of Ashendon. “ The orthography of those names in 
 the subsequent changes through which they passed, has been so various” says Dr. 
 Lipscomb, “ that they are not without difficulty identified with the modern appellations 
 of Ashendon, Waddesdon, and Ixhill, the places whence they were originally derived.” 
 The modern hundred of Ashendon is bounded on the S.W. and W. by Oxfordshire : on 
 the N. by the hundred of Buckingham ; and on the E. and S. by Cottesloe and Aylesbury 
 hundreds. It embraces an area of 66,670 acres. 
 
 WRAYSBURY. 
 
 G. W. J. Gyll, F.R.S. 
 
 [Gordon Willoughby James Gyll, F.R.S., was grandson of William Gyll, of Wrays- 
 bury. He ranks amongst the local historians of Bucks by his publication of a quarto 
 volume, entitled “ History of the Parishes of Wraysbury, Ankerwyke Priory, and Magna 
 Charta Island, with the History of Horton, and the Town of Colnbrook” (1842). This 
 volume opens up a history of that part of the county, of the details of which little had 
 'previously been known. Mr. Gyll was also author of a “ Tractate on Language ,” and 
 compiled an unique collection of pedigrees and lists of Sheriffs; these important and valuable 
 MSS. are in Mr. Gyll’s handwriting. It ivas by the kindly interposition of Mr. Gyll that 
 the body of Dr. Lipscomb escaped interment in a pauper's grave ; he incidentally heard of 
 the doctor's death, and, taking the funeral in hand, saved the remains of the county historian 
 from so ignominious an end by arranging a respectful burial.'] 
 
 “ The name of Wraysbury is not mentioned in any Roman itinerary, but it appears 
 that the direct road from Calley or Calleva, near Reading, ran to Bath from London, and 
 that Pontes was either at or near Wraysbury, on the peninsula formed between the Colne 
 river and the Thames, some twenty miles from the centre of London, where the Bath 
 and Salisbury roads united at Runimede, at the west end of Egham. But Camden was 
 of opinion that the Pontes of Antoninus’ itinerary was at Colnbrook. 
 
 In Domesday Book is recorded to whom the lands in this village belonged, and that 
 they were the property of Edward Confessor, with the manor, but were let to a Thane or 
 Baron (a title abolished at the Conquest) and the worth computed at £22 annual value. 
 It may have been estimated at a high rate, for in his reign a sore famine oppressed the 
 land, wheat rising to 60 pennies, or 15s. a quarter, equal to £7 10s. of our money, 
 exceeding the dearth of Queen Elizabeth’s reign, when a quarter of wheat sold for £4. 
 
253 
 
 It, says the book, answered for 25 ploughs. There are 5 hides in the demesne, 
 besides 2 ploughs and 32 villains, with 18 bordars and 15 ploughs, and 18 ploughs may 
 yet be made. Later we find Robert Gernon, a relative of William the Conqueror, holding 
 the manor in capite, and the worth estimated at £20, which would, at 11 to one, be 
 about £220 ; but this during the middle ages averaged only 8 to 1, taking grain for the 
 standard. It consisted of 25 carucates of land (carruca, plough), or as much land as 
 one team could plough in the year. In the demesne 5 hides—12 carucates made 1 hide 
 —and this hide was the measure of land temp. Edward Confessor, and the carucate was 
 that to which it was reduced temp. William I. There were also 7 servants and 2 mills 
 of 40s. rent, and 5 carucates of pasture and hay for the use of the cattle, which belonged 
 to the manor house (ad animalia curiae), and pannage enough to feed 500 swine, 4 
 fisheries and weirs, worth £1 7s. 4d.” 
 
 THE SIEGE OF HILLESDEN HOUSE, 1643. 
 
 Rev. H. Roundell. 
 
 “ The Royalists at Hillesden had not been idle. They had summoned the country 
 people to come in and keep garrison under a penalty of 30s. each. They had manu¬ 
 factured a wooden cannon from a stout piece of elm, strongly bound together with iron. 
 They obtained from Oxford five small pieces of ordnance with match and ammunition, 
 which they placed in the Church. They employed nearly a thousand men to cast up a 
 mound of earth in the centre of the works, on which this artillery was to be planted, and 
 to hasten on the completion of the trenches. In another month Hillesden would have 
 been impregnable to any sudden attack. So well, however, had Sir Samuel Luke executed 
 his plans that the first intelligence of his approach only reached the garrison at six 
 o’clock in the evening of the 3rd, and before nine the next morning the Parliamentary 
 army had surrounded Hillesden, and was so posted as to cut off all chance of retreat from 
 the besieged. Colonel Smith was invited to send out a flag of truce with proposals for 
 a capitulation, but his messenger finding that he could obtain no terms short of an 
 unconditional surrender as prisoners of war, soon returned, and Colonel Smith disposed 
 his men to defend the works, encouraging them to fight to the last. But his numbers 
 were insufficient to hold the extended line of entrenchment, the ditch being in some 
 places not more than knee deep, against the overwhelming strength of the assailants, 
 and on the first attack the enemy obtained a footing, and poured forward in such 
 numbers, that the defenders were forced to retire, some within the Church, and others 
 to the house. A second assault was instantly made and the Church speedily taken, when 
 Colonel Smith seeing the hopelessness of any further defence, and moved by the entreaties 
 
254 
 
 of his men, surrendered upon promise of quarter—all the prisoners, and among them 
 Sir Alexander Denton and his brother, were marched on foot to Padbury, where they 
 passed the night in great discomfort. The next day they were taken to Newport Pagnell, 
 and remained there till ransomed or exchanged. 
 
 THE PORT-WAY (1847). 
 
 An ancient British road, called The Port-way, may be traced in the vicinity of 
 Stone, pointing a little westward, and running towards Haddenham and Thame. It is 
 now little more than a field-way through the pastures and meadows ; but, in a lane south 
 of Hartwell and the modern road from Aylesbury to Thame, is more distinctly marked. 
 By the ancient inhabitants, it was called Port-lane, but more commonly Ford-lane, and 
 leading to that hamlet and to Cold-Aston. In this part of its course, it is about 
 one mile from Stone, more than two miles from Aylesbury, and three from Kimble. The 
 Port-way crosses the Thame turnpike-road, on the verge and at the corner (south-west) 
 of the estate of the Lees, at Hartwell, passing over a rough arch or bridge (which forms 
 a communication between different portions of the pleasure grounds of Hartwell House), 
 and is continued across the pastures and fields north-eastwardly to Cold Harbour, a 
 watery situation about half a mile from Aylesbury ; but, on account of the nature of the 
 ground, not to be approached but by going through Hartwell, which greatly increases 
 that distance. 
 
 WOOBURN HOUSE. 
 
 Wooburn House occupies the site of the ancient palace of the Bishops of Lincoln. 
 Bishop Smith, one of the founders of Brazenose College, died here in 1513 ; as did his 
 successor, Bishop Atwater, in 1520. Bishop Longland, confessor to King Henry VIII., 
 who was a native of Henley, frequently resided at Wooburn, where he died iu 1547. 
 The old palace was pulled down in 1750, except one of the wings which was afterwards 
 much enlarged and improved. Adjacent to the mansion was a cruciform Chapel, in the 
 windows of which were many armorial bearings. Langley mentions a small room 
 adjoining the chapel, for the confinement of heretics, and in which, he says, Thomas Chase, 
 of Amersham, was strangled in 1506, being then a prisoner there on a charge of heresy. 
 Bishop Smith, whose character has been so severely handled on account of this and other 
 cruelties exercised in his diocese, has been duly defended by the learned Dr. Churton 
 
255 
 
 of Brazenose College. Fuller, in his “Church History,” seems inclined to believe that 
 these cruelties were not perpetrated by the directions or with the knowledge of that 
 prelate, being very inconsistent with his general character. It was reported that Chase 
 had hanged himself, and he was therefore buried as a felo de se in North End Wood, near 
 the place called the Cross Road, between Wooburn and Little Marlow. The old palace 
 was surrounded with a moat, the greater part of which remains; near it was the Bowling 
 Green, and a Wilderness of considerable extent. The Duke of Wharton is reported to 
 have spent upwards of £100,000 upon improvements of the house and gardens. The 
 gardens appear to have been a continuation of terraces, of which scarcely a vestige 
 remains. The valuable collection of pictures and portraits which belonged to the 
 Whartons was purchased by Sir Robert Walpole, and transferred to the collection of 
 the Emperor of Russia at St. Petersburgh. The old stalls in the stables are massive, 
 and exhibit some carvings. The grounds have a park-like aspect; they are situated in 
 the vale of the Bourne or Wye, which stream flows through the garden and meadows. 
 There is some fine timber. One of the trees is a remarkable specimen of the “ Platanus 
 Occidentals,” or oriental pine, 18 feet in girth. Facing the high road there was formerly 
 a row of forty stately Lombardy poplars, which were planted in 1777. There are also 
 some pieces of ornamental water in the grounds. 
 
 DENHAM. 
 
 Denham is bounded on the east by the Colne, which divides it from Middlesex. 
 It extends southward to the town of Uxbridge, which is entered from it by a stone 
 bridge of seven small arches, across the Colne and the low grounds. The Village is 
 seated in a beautiful valley miles N. by W. from Uxbridge, and 7 miles E. by S. from 
 Beaconsfield. 
 
 Ulstan, a thane, or Saxon noble, gave the principal estate here to the Abbey of St. 
 Peter at Westminster, in the reign of its founder King Edward the Confessor; and the 
 manor formed part of the possessions of Westminster Abbey until the Dissolution, when 
 it was granted to the Peckhams. An estate here was the property of the Durdant family 
 from 1259 to 1414 ; after which it belonged to St. Thomas’s Hospital, Southwark. After 
 the death of Sir G. Peckham, in 1586, the manor was seized for a debt to the Crown ; 
 and in 1595 Queen Elizabeth demised it to William Bowyer, Esq., afterwards Knighted. 
 In 1670 Sir Roger Hill purchased the manor and the advowson of the church, and they 
 afterwards came by female descent to the family of Way—the present owners. The 
 Bowyers family continued to reside at Denham Court until about 1846, when the house 
 and demesne were sold. 
 
256 
 
 Denham Place was built by Sir Roger Hill, on the site of the old Manor-house of the 
 Peckhams ; it is a large red brick building with stone dressings, having north and 
 south fronts. It contains a Chapel, fitted up in the style that prevailed in the reign of 
 Elizabeth. The house was the residence of Lucien and Joseph Buonaparte in 1836 ; and 
 was frequently visited by Captain Cooke, the circumnavigator, and Sir Humphrey Davy. 
 
 THE GREY FRIARS MONASTERY, AYLESBURY. 
 
 The establishment of Grey Friars’ mendicants, or begging friars, by Francis of 
 Assisi, under Innocent III., occurred in the early part of the 13th century, and they 
 soon became the predominant religious society of the age, meeting as they did by their 
 fervid zeal and Christianity, their learning, discipline, and ascetic habits, a sorely felt 
 want of the age. The contrast of their severe virtues, their energy, and their voluntary 
 poverty, with the luxurious indolence of the monks of the period, attracted the multitude 
 to them, and naturally greatly annoyed the abbots and monks of the older orders. They 
 became so numerous that the Papal authorities soon felt the necessity of reducing them 
 by suppressing the least useful ; and the Council of Lyons, in 1272, reduced them to the 
 four orders of Dominicans, Carmelites, Hermits of St. Augustine, and Franciscans or 
 Greyfriars. These orders soon attained immense influence. Their chief source of 
 revenue was from the sale of indulgences, the license for which had been granted the 
 mendicant order as an indemnification for their sacrifice of other and more established 
 revenues ; and thus in process of time they became possessed of very large revenues, 
 which they held in common, under the supremacy of the Pope, Dissensions constantly 
 arose in the order, and the various parties came often into violent collision, ultimately 
 separating into the two bodies of the Conventual Brethren and the Brethren of the 
 Observance. 
 
 The Grey Friars Monastery at Aylesbury stood on the South-Western part of the 
 town, still known as the Friarage. It was founded by James Botelier, the 3rd Earl of 
 Ormonde, in 1386 ; he was Lord of Aylesbury at that time, and was Lord Justice of 
 Ireland in 1392 and 1403 ; he died at Gowrie Castle, September 7th, 1405. No 
 registers or records of any kind relating to the Grey Friars at Aylesbury are known to 
 exist. In the Parliament which met in February, 1536, Henry YI11. gave directions for 
 the suppression of the lesser monasteries, those which possessed revenues below £200 
 a year ; Aylesbury was included in this measure. Dr. John London was one of the 
 most active commissioners in the destruction of monasteries in this district. His report 
 as to the Aylesbury Monastery is very concise ; he says he found the friars poor and in 
 
257 
 
 debt, their ornaments very coarse, and but little household stuff in possession ; he left 
 the house whole, and only defaced the church connected with the building, which was 
 well covered with lead and had a good roof. The house is stated to have been a large 
 building once inhabited by sixty monks, but only seven or eight at the time of its 
 destruction. The Chapel was richly decorated from the gifts which were from time to 
 time bequeathed to it; like all the houses of the Friars it was dedicated to the Blessed 
 Virgin Mary ; it was utterly destroyed. Its demolition was the precursor of further evil 
 days, as the destruction of the whole buildings eventually followed. The precise situation 
 of the church is unknown; the spot where it stood cannot now be pointed out. 
 
 There is direct testimony of interments having taken place in the church of the 
 monastery. Earl Ormonde, the founder, was buried there, as was Sir Robert Luton, of 
 Hartwell, and Sir Thomas Singleton, also of Hartwell. The deed of surrender of the 
 monastery is dated the 1st of October, in the 30th year of the reign of Henry VIII., and 
 runs as follows :—“ Forasmooclie as wee, the Wardens and Freers of the house of Saynte 
 Frauncis of Ailsburie, commonly called the Grey Freers in Ailesburie, in the couutie of 
 Buckingham, do profoundly consider, that the perfection in Christian livinge dothe notte 
 conciste in dome ceremonies, waring of a grie coote, disgesinge ourself after strange 
 fashions, dekynge and beckynge, in gurdynge ourselves with a gurdle, full of knotts, and 
 other like papistical ceremonies, wherein wee have been most principally practiced and 
 misled in times paste ; but the verie true waye to please Godd, and to live a true 
 Christian man, withoute all ypocrisie and fained dissimulation in sincerely declared unto 
 us by our Master Christe, his evangelists and apostolls, being mynded hereafter to followe 
 the same, conforming ourselfe unto the will and pleasure of our Supreme Hedde under 
 Godde in ertlie, the Kynges Majestie, and nott to follow henceforth the supersticious 
 tradicions of one forincicall potentat or poore; with mutual assent and consent do submit 
 ourselves unto the mercie of our saide Soverayne Lorde and with like mutual assent and 
 consent do surrendre and yelde up into the hands of the same, all our seide howse of Saint 
 Frauncis, in Ailesburie, with all lands, tenements, &c., and moost humbly beseeching his 
 moost noble grace to dispose of us, and of the same as best shall stoud with his moost 
 gracious pleasure ; and further freely to graunte unto every one of us his licence, under 
 wrytinge and scealle, to chaunge our abytts into secular fassion, and to receive such 
 manner of livinge as other secular prists coomonly be preferred into. And we all faith¬ 
 fully shall praye unto Almightie Godde long to preserve his moost noble grace wytli 
 increase of moche felicitie and honor; and in witness of all and singular the premises, 
 wee the said warden and convent of Grey Freers in Ailesburie, to these presents have 
 putte our convent sceall the first day of October, in the thirtyth yere of the rayne of our 
 most gracious Soverayne Lord, King Henry the Eighthe.—Per me Henricum Martyn, 
 Gardianum ; per me Gulielmum May, Vice Gardiauum ; and five others.” 
 
 From the obsequiousness observable in this surrender, and the apparent submissive 
 conduct of the guardians, amounting to abject servility, it would be supposed they were 
 
258 
 
 anxious to be relieved of their charge of the monastery. Such was not so ; the document 
 does not represent their feelings ; the terms and words of the surrender, without doubt, 
 being ready prepared, and their signatures procured under pressure from Dr. London, or 
 some other arbitrary commissioner. Three years previously, several contumacious friars 
 of the Charterhouse, London, and twenty-five other persons, had been executed for their 
 opposition to the King’s measures ; this example of tyranny had its effect on other friars 
 
 ST. LEONARD’S CHAPEL. 
 
 The District Church of St. Leonard, Aston Clinton, is an ancient, plain, but neat 
 edifice, like an eyrie, built on an obscure point of one of the Chiltern Hills, 3£ miles from 
 Aston Clinton Church, 3g- miles from Wendover Church, and 5 miles from Buckland 
 Church. The Chapel, as it continues to be called, is supposed to have been originally 
 built on the site of an ancient Hermitage or Cell belonging to the Abbey of Missenden. 
 It is probable that it was orignially a Chantry Chapel supplied by the monks of 
 Missenden. In the list of Chaplains or Ministers, the first mentioned is “ Thomas, 
 Chantry Priest,” who died in 1273. In an ancient document, the building is designated 
 the chapel of St. Leonard, of Blakemore. In the year 1491, Thomas Askwith held the 
 “ Free Chapel of St. Leonard ” for life, it being then valued at 40s. For several years 
 after the dissolution of religious houses, it seems to have been disregarded. In 1587, 
 Queen Elizabeth granted the decayed Free Chapel of St. Leonard, a tenement called 
 Chapel Farm, and all lands thereunto belonging, in Aston Clinton and Wendover, to 
 William Tipper and Robert Dawe, Esqs. After the civil war, when only the bare 
 walls were remaining, it was rebuilt and endowed by Christopher Wood, Esq., a 
 zealous loyalist. 
 
 THE RIVER THAMES. 
 
 The Thames forms the whole line of boundary of Buckinghamshire towards 
 Berkshire on the south, but all the western side of the county, towards Oxfordshire, is 
 bordered by hedgerows, ditches, or stone walls, except for a few miles where the Thame, 
 from the vicinity of Notley Abbey to the extreme south-western point of the parish of 
 Worminghall, is the division of the counties ; as well as the short course of the Ouse, 
 near its source in Northamptonshire, running first from north to south, and then by an 
 
259 
 
 acute flexure from south towards the east to the point of junction in the parish of 
 Westbury, between Bucks, Oxon, and Northamptonshire. Lipscomb claims the origin 
 of the Thames to be unquestionably within the county of Buckingham, but it is difficult 
 to say to which of its several sources belongs the honour of being esteemed the first and 
 principal. 
 
 Tamesis, whence the name Thames is derived, is said to have originated in the 
 British word Tavuys, signifying a gentle stream, which certainly well describes the 
 placid character of the Thames ; but, on the same authority, it is asserted that the name 
 Thames was anciently applied to this river “ long before it had wandered so low as 
 Dorchester,” which rather opposes than supports the hypothesis, inasmuch as the western 
 portion of this river does not exactly accord with the signification of the word as above 
 stated ; besides that, every one of the principal branches or rivers collected to form its 
 current has its own particular appellation, and retains it until the Isis has swallowed up 
 all the rest, when it at length meets the Thame, and drops its ancient name for that of 
 Thames. Hence Tame and Isis are fancifully supposed to be Tamesis ; and hence too, 
 the poetical effusions upon the marriage of these streams :— 
 
 Ye daughters of the hills, 
 
 Come down from every side, 
 
 And due attendance give, 
 
 Upon the lovely bride. 
 
 A beauty yet like her’s : 
 
 Where have you ever seen ? 
 
 So absolute a nymph, 
 
 In all things for a Queen ? 
 
 And for the princely groom, 
 
 Whoever yet could name 
 
 A flood, so fit for Isis as the Tame ?—Poly Olbion. 
 
 Yet, after all, the Thame is a very insignificant stream in comparison with the Isis, 
 and far less copious than many of her tributaries, the Churne, the Colne, and even the 
 Lech in Gloucestershire, the Windrush and Cher well in Oxfordshire, and the Ock in 
 Berkshire. But if the derivation of the name be correct, there will be no necessity for 
 referring to the ancient British language ; as the word Tame, in our own tongue, derived 
 from the Saxon, is sufficiently expressive of a placid quiet current, without the pedantry 
 of farther research. Notwithstanding the usage which has obtained of writing the River 
 Tame, perhaps to distinguish its name from that of the town, there is no good authority 
 for it; and in the Commission of Sewers and proceedings thereupon, it is constantly 
 Thame, which appears the correct orthography. 
 
 It is not at all surprising that there should have been many claims set up for the 
 honour of producing the noblest and most celebrated river in England. Thus, besides 
 Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, the county of Hertford demands, by the voice of its 
 historians, to be regarded as the parent of this noble stream. The Editor of Magna 
 Britannia speaks of “ the Thames, the most famous river of England,” as rising “ at 
 three heads, at Tring, Penley, and Bulburn,” Hertfordshire, and then leaving the Shire. 
 
260 
 
 Brit. vol. ii. p. 1016.] Clutterbuck, the learned and able historian of Hertford¬ 
 shire, says that, “ Bulbourne-head and Dandel’s head” are “ the two sources of the river 
 Thame.” [History of Herts, vol. i. p. xi.] ; and in another place, that “The Thame 
 springs from several heads, in the parish of Tring, and, leaving this county in the 
 adjoining parish of Puttenham, flows by Aylesbury to Thame in Oxfordshire, to which 
 town it gives name, and crossing the road from Tetsworth to Oxford, empties itself into 
 the Thames at Dorchester.” Mr. Salmon contends, upon the authority of Camden, that 
 the Thames is formed by the confluence of this river with the Isis. But the name of 
 Isis, supposed, with great probability, to be the poetical appellation given to it by the 
 Oxford writers, is confined to that part of it which runs in the neighbourhood of that 
 classical city ; whilst, through the whole of its course of more than fifty miles from its 
 source in Wiltshire to Oxford, it is known only by the name of the Thames ; and in the 
 Charters of the Monasteries of Malmsbury and Evesham, and the old Deeds of Cricklade, 
 it is mentioned by the name of Temis. [Clutterbuck’s Herts, vol. i, p. 7.] 
 
 AGREEMENT TO SUPPLY ROYAL PROVISIONS, 4th APRIL, 1593. 
 
 Verney Papers. 
 
 “ Articles of agreement and composition had and made the 4th of Aprill anno 
 regime Elizabeths xxxvto betweene the right honourable the lords of her majesties most 
 honourable privie councell beinge authorized by commission for that purpose on the 
 behalfe of her majestie, and sir Robert Dormer knight, Thomas Tasborough, and Thomas 
 Piggott the younger, esquires, on the other part, beinge authorised to compound and 
 conclude for the deliuery of certaine provisions towards the expences of her majesties 
 house out of the county of Buckingham, as hereafter followeth : viz.— 
 
 First, that 1. fatt oxen, every oxe weighinge vj cli weight, shall be deliuered at 
 the court gate the xxtb of May at iiijii apeice. 
 
 Item, that vc fatt muttons, every fatt mutton weighinge xlvlq shall be deliuered at 
 the court gate, the x th of May ccl, and the xxth of Jan. ccl, at vj 8 viijd apeice, and to 
 be weighed before the kell kidneyes and fees be taken away. 
 
 Item, that iiijc good and fatt lambs shall be deliuered at the court gate the last of 
 June, at xijd a piece. 
 
 Item, that 1. good and fatt veales of the age of vj. weekes and upwards shall be 
 deliuered at the court gate the 20 t h of Aprill, at iij 8 iiijd a peice. 
 
 Item, that xdd ; geese at iiij 8 d d , xxdd. capons at iiij 8 d d , xxdd. henns at ij 8 dd., 
 
261 
 
 xxdd. pulletts at xviijd dd., and c<H. chikins at xijd dL, shall be deliuered at London 
 upon xl. dayes warneinge giuen to the compounders or to any two justices of the peace 
 of the said county, viz., the geese to be deliuered between Michaelmas and Tweluetide, 
 the capons to be deliuered betweene Midsummer and Christmas, the henns betweene 
 Christmas and Shrouetide, the pullets between Midsummer and Michaelmas ; the chikins 
 to be deliuered betwene the first of June and Michaelmas, and the county to haue all 
 allowance from her majestie for carryage of the said poultry, xvjs viijL 
 
 Item, that ready money shall be paid for the said oxen, muttons, lambes, veales, and 
 poultry immediately vpon the receipt of the same.” 
 
 DRAYTON BEAUCHAMP. 
 
 Rev. W. H. Kelke. 
 
 “ Drayton Beauchamp, although so small a parish in point of population, is more 
 than seven miles in length, and at its northern extremity is a small hamlet, which 
 anciently was called Helpsthorpe, but by vulgar parlance it has been corrupted into 
 Elstrop. This hamlet formerly possessed a Manor-house and a Chapel-of-Ease, both ot 
 which have long since disappeared. Of the Chapel but little can now be ascertained. 
 Neither the name of the founder nor the date of the foundation is known. Still sufficient 
 evidence can be adduced to prove that a Chapel once existed here. The first indication 
 of it which I have met with is the following :—‘ Ralph de Helpesthorpe was presented 
 to the Vicarage (of Drayton) by Milo Parson, of Draiton, with the consent of William de 
 Bellocampo (Beauchamp), and was admitted 1223.’ As it was customary at this period, 
 and long afterwards, to surname Priests by their Incumbencies, Ralph de Helpesthorpe 
 was most probably the Incumbent of the Chapelry at Helpesthorpe. The following 
 notice is decisive :—‘ Anno 12, Richard II. (1388), John Melton Persona de Drayton 
 habuit Decimasde Drayton Ecclesia cum Capella de Helpesthorpe eidem annexa.’ This 
 is the last record of the Chapel known, and probably soon after this date it became 
 disused, as no further notice is taken of it among the presentations to the Rectory of 
 Drayton. 
 
 Among Browne Willis’s miscellaneous notes on Drayton Beauchamp occurs the 
 following observation:—‘At Helpesthorpe, in this parish, was a Chapel-of-Ease to 
 Drayton, which was dedicated to the Holy Trinity. The site is called the Chapel Yard, 
 and here are closes called Great and Little Trinity Fields and St. John’s Field.’ 
 
 In the Survey Map of Drayton Beauchamp, which was made in 1839, no such names 
 
262 
 
 occur at Helpesthorpe, nor can I find that any fields there are now known by such names. 
 There is, however, a traditionary belief in the existence of a Chapel, and occasionally 
 sculptured stones, supposed to have formed parts of its windows or doors, have been dug 
 up, but no human remains that I have heard of. It is, indeed, probable that it was not 
 a burial place, as its former inhabitants have generally been buried at Drayton.” 
 
 ROYAL ORDER TO PROHIBIT PEOPLE FROM JOINING- THE ROYAL 
 
 HUNT (5th AUGUST, 1619). 
 
 “ James R.—Forasmuch as wee haue oftentimes since our first coming into England 
 expressed our highe displeasure and offence at the bolde and barbarous insolency of 
 multitudes of vulgar people, who, pressing vpon vs in our sportes as wee are hunting, 
 doe ride over our dogges, brake their backes, spoile our game, runne over and destroy the 
 corn, and not without other great annoyance and sometymes perill both of our owne 
 person and to our dearest sonne the prince, by their heedlesse riding and galloping ; that 
 notwithstanding they still presume soe much vpon our clemency and patience as 
 wheresoeuer wee come wee are continually molested in the like sorte, to our soe greate 
 discontentment as no privat person would endure it. Although wee doe professe vnto 
 all the world that no prince can take more comfort in the dutifull affection of his subiects 
 than wee doe when they come out of that respect to see vs, and for that purpose are well 
 contented to give them free liberty soe to doe at such time as wee take coach or horse 
 going abroade or as wee are returned to our lodging-house ; yet, if any shall be soe 
 audatious, as, besides this liberty, to take any other vnto himselfe, and without our 
 consent to follow vs when wee goe to hunt, or to take our other recreations ; our will 
 and pleasure is that our knight-marshall shall presently apprehend him or them, 
 wliosoeuer they be, and shall cause them safely and immediately to be conveyed to the 
 next gaol as contemners of our royall commandement, there to remayne during our 
 pleasure. Nevertheles if there be any nobleman or gentleman of quality, besides those 
 that be our servants, who shall desire to attend our person, or ourdeare sonne the prince, 
 at these times of our disports and recreations, whome wee intend not absolutely to include 
 within this restraynt, our pleasure is, that beforehand they acquaynt vs, or some of our 
 principall servants about vs, with such their desire, and thereupon first obteyne our 
 leaue. And hereof wee straightly charge our knight marshall to take notice, and all 
 other our officers whome it may concerne, and to publish this our royall pleasure and 
 commandment in all places of our removes this progresse, and ells-where as there shall 
 be occasion. Given at the castle of Belvoir the vth day of August, in the seaventeenth 
 yeare of our raigne, of Great Britaine, France, and Ireland.” 
 
263 
 
 ROYAL MILITARY COLLEGE AT WYCOMBE. 
 
 Mr. John Parker, Sen. (1878). 
 
 “ The Royal Military College was established in Wycombe in 1799, under the 
 patronage of His Royal Highness the Duke of York. The Antelope Inn, which occupied 
 the space between the Red Lion Hotel and the house belonging to Thomas Marshall, 
 Esq., was converted into College premises. The Institution, founded on the plan of the 
 Military Academy at Woolwich, embraced a complete system of military education for 
 officers desirous of qualifying themselves to serve on the general staff. Lieut.-Colonel 
 John Gaspard Le Marchant, of the 2nd Dragoon Guards, was appointed Lieutenant 
 Governor and Superintendent General of the College, who, from his extensive knowledge 
 of military tactics, was eminently qualified for the appointment; he composed a code of 
 instructions for the sword exercise, which was approved by the Duke of York, and forms 
 a permanent part of the regulations of the army. This led to his turning his attention 
 to the swords worn by the cavalry ; and the pattern he selected was adopted by the army. 
 In 1796 he published, by His Majesty's command, a work on the cavalry exercise, which 
 has since gone through five large impressions. Soon after he prepared a work on 
 military education, which was submitted to, and highly approved by, the Duke of York ; 
 and this led to many interviews with His Royal Highness, resulting in the establishment 
 of this College, and also one at Great Marlow for the junior department. In 1811 
 Colonel Le Marchant was promoted to the rank of Major General; by a regulation in 
 the Army this promotion rendered the holding of the office of Lieutenant Governor 
 incompatible; he therefore vacated the appointment, to enter upon the more arduous 
 duties of commanding a brigade of cavalry, then about to embark for service in the 
 Peninsula, where he distinguished himself as a gallant officer, and on several occasions 
 received the public approbation of Lord Wellington.” 
 
 PARISH STOCKS. 
 
 Or all modes of punishment, stocks may be classed amongst the most ancient. Job, 
 in entreating to know God’s purpose in afflicting him, exclaims “ Thou puttest my feet also 
 in the stocks.” In the Acts of the Apostles, we read that the gaoler, when he had Paul 
 and Silas in prison, in order to keep them safely, “ thrust them into the inner prison, 
 and made their feet fast in the stocks.” The punishment was common in Greece 
 thousands of years ago. Stocks were, towards the last years of their use, mostly employed 
 as a mode of punishment for the suppression of drunkenness. In James II.’s reign a 
 
264 
 
 drunkard was fined 5s. for the first offence, to be levied on his goods ; if he had no goods 
 he was confined in the stocks for six hours, during which time he was subject to the 
 jeers and taunts of an assembled crowd. Stocks were usually so constructed as to 
 serve both for stocks and whipping post. The post which supported the stocks on one 
 side, being made sufficiently high, was furnished near the top with iron clasps to fasten 
 round the wrists of the offender, and hold him securely during the administration of his 
 punishment. Stocks usually had four orifices, so that two men could be stocked at the 
 same time. In some of the old representations of stocks, men were secured by one leg 
 only, and then one pair of stocks would hold in safety four prisoners. 
 
 Stocks were used at the discretion of the parish constables, without the intervention 
 of a justice of the peace or any other authority. Beggars, or, as they were usually 
 termed, vagabonds, were stocked. At Aylesford, in Kent, in the sixteenth century, 13 
 men and women, stout and valiant vagabonds, were stocked and whipped severely. At 
 Thame also some “ proper stoute abbey men took their stocking and whipping verie ill.” 
 This assumed power of the village Dogberry often led to public squabbles. In 1825 a 
 man at Waddesdon was needlessly interfered with on a doubtful charge of drunkenness, 
 and consigned to the stocks ; he, however, managed to floor both the constables in their 
 attempt to confine him, and they had to obtain further assistance before they could 
 succeed in securing him. In 1839 another man was stocked at Waddesdon ; he feigned 
 illness, and was released ; he immediately took to his heels and gave the constables the 
 slip. This was the last time the stocks were used in that village. In June, 1844, a 
 man was stocked for two hours at Quainton for drunkenness, and in 1845 a drunkard 
 was so punished at Amersham, and in 1846 two men were stocked at Reading. The 
 stocks generally stood in the most conspicuous part of the town or village. At Little 
 Kimble they were erected close to the entrance to the Churchyard: they were taken 
 down a few years ago. I have heard of two men being stocked at Dinton many years 
 ago by Watkins the constable. They were not Dinton men. Another man was placed 
 in Dinton stocks a few years ago for drunkenness, but it ought to be stated that the 
 delinquent was not a parishioner ; the stocks here are still standing. Stocks are, 
 or were lately to be seen at Thornborough, Leckhampstead, and other villages in 
 Buckinghamshire ; at West Wycombe there is a relic of the old village stocks still in 
 existence, affixed to one of the uprights which support the ancient building known as 
 “ The Loft,” at the entrance to Church Lane. At Aylesbury there were two pairs of 
 stocks ; not that the excessive drunkenness of the town required both of them, but, being 
 two manors, the lord of each manor had to provide stocks. One pair stood close to the 
 west side of the Market House ; this pair was in the chief manor. There was another 
 pair in the Buckingham Road, near the field then known as Bull Close, which part of 
 the town is in the Manor of the Rectory ; this pair was mostly patronised in later years. 
 Stocks are now seldom used, and it is more than forty years since this punishment was 
 resorted to in Aylesbury. On one of the latest occasions two drunkards were stocked at 
 
265 
 
 the same time. There was, however, one case of a drunkard being subsequently stocked. 
 Stocks were standing in London in 1826. A man was punished for drunkenness by 
 being exhibited in the stocks at Andover in 1863; another at Newbury as late as the 
 year 1872. After four hours the latter was released, and, picking up the stool on which 
 he had been seated, took refuge in a beerhouse. As a mode of punishment the use of 
 stocks may be said to be obsolete .—History of Aylesbury. 
 
 LOUIS XVIII. AT HARTWELL. 
 
 Admiral Smytii. 
 
 “During the King’s residence at Hartwell, it is reported that he received an allowance 
 of £20,000 a year from the British Government; but a Buckinghamshire gentleman, 
 who occasionally visited the royal exiles, states that the sum was divided, namely 
 £14,000 for his Majesty, and £6,000 for the Due d’Angouleme. In either case it was 
 a liberal supply ; and the tenantry of the neighbourhood were greatly benefited by the 
 increased consumption of beef, mutton, poultry, butter, cream, milk, fruit, vegetables, 
 and other specimens of the fat of the Vale of Aylesbury. Several of the old farmers 
 have regretted to me their loss of this source of profit. 
 
 Here King Louis led so retired a life that little was known of him beyond the 
 limits of the Mansion. Whenever he met aDy person in the grounds, he always returned 
 their salute by taking off his hat, and he would often hold a light conversation in 
 tolerably good English; and to one gentleman he pointed out, with much pleasantry, 
 that each side of the great doorway of Hartwell House bore fleur-de-lis in old carving, 
 as if in anticipation of his coming. The style in which he lived was unostentatious, 
 and very suitable to the rank he assumed of Count. His Majesty, family, and suite, 
 about 25 in number, generally dined together in the large dining-room, and once in 
 about three weeks the inhabitants of the adjacent parts were allowed to walk round the 
 table during the repast, entering at one door and retiring by another, in conformity 
 with the custom of the old French Court. 
 
 On his journeys to and from the metropolis Louis had been in the habit of changing 
 horses at the King’s Arms Inn, at Berkhampstead, the landlord of which had several 
 daughters, with the eldest of whom, a very sensible young woman, he was fond of 
 chatting, and became highly pleased with her sprightly freedom of manner. On the 
 triumphal journey to London, she flew out to congratulate him on his restoration, an 
 attention which he received with great pleasure, and good humourcdly invited her to 
 visit him at Paris, whither she went a little before Sir George Lee’s ill-timed call, and 
 was provided with an apartment in the Tuileries. At her first interview with Louis, 
 
266 
 
 she took the liberty of asking whether ‘ his Majesty did not feel himself more comfortable 
 in the retirement of Hartwell than amidst the toilsome parade of the Parisian Court ?’ 
 According to what Sir George heard the reply of the King is stated to have been— 
 ‘ Madam, I have always felt it my duty to make myself comfortable in every situation 
 to which I am called.’ On this occasion Louis treated his fair guest with great respect, 
 but scandal and envy suggested to some Mrs. Grundy, that the monarch’s attentions 
 were dictated by a warmer motive than civility or friendship inspired. On the lady’s 
 return from France, when the calumnious report reached her ear, she addressed a letter 
 to the Hertford Newspaper, asseverating its falsity, and she pleasantly observed that the 
 only King’s Arms she was ever in were the King’s Arms at Berkhampstead. 
 
 After the culmination of Napoleon’s star, the prospects of the Bourbons revived; 
 and upon the entry of the allied armies into France they became brilliant. It was soon 
 seen that the tide had turned ; and he who had for years remained almost unnoticed, the 
 Sage of Hartwell, was now mobbed by visitors and pestered with addresses. His calm 
 prudence, however, still prevailed, and he made his various arrangements and preparations 
 for getting under weigh, as coolly as if only about to shift his berth into another county. 
 But all the lookers-on, both English and French, were excited to fever-heat the while. 
 At length the Allies entered Paris, the Cossacks bivouacked in the Champs Elysees, 
 Napoleon was black-balled, and Louis became ‘ Le Desire!’ On his consequent 
 triumphant departure from Hartwell (April 20th, 1814), in passing the Town Hall of 
 Aylesbury, he was greeted with the sight of the white flag waving on its summit; and a 
 large concourse of people from all the adjacent parts made the air resound with hearty 
 cheers. Many gentlemen of the local yeomanry cavalry escorted him along the London 
 road to Stanmore, where he was met on the steps of the Abercorn Arms Hotel by the 
 Prince Regent of England, and they shook hands most cheerfully.” 
 
 HOGSTON. 
 
 On the north side of the chancel of Hogston Church, beneath a low pointed 
 arch, is a tomb projecting from the wall, in which is laid the effigy of a man in a long 
 robe. The Messrs. Lysons state that this is the tomb of the founder of the church, 
 William de Bermingham, who died Lord of Hogston Manor in 1342, and that the statue 
 holds in its hands the model of a church. When the floor of the chancel was removed 
 some years ago in order to its reparation, the bones of five or six persons were 
 discovered immediately beneath this ancient monument. The features of the face of the 
 
267 
 
 figure have been worn away ; and at the feet, which are very small, is a quadruped 
 (couchant), not easily ascertained, minus the head. 
 
 The Manor House, now a farm dwelling, near the Churchyard on its south side, is 
 an ancient, quaint, picturesque, and interesting building, of red brick, in the Domestic 
 Gothic style, with much ornamentation on the walls, high gables, and chimney shafts. 
 Formerly there were corresponding entrances to the hall, on the north and south sides, 
 by large arched doorways, enriched with ornamental brick work ; but these have been 
 modernised, and the entrance hall is now used as a dairy. Some of the stucco bosses, 
 with which this apartment was formerly embellished, still remain. The helmets, swords, 
 &c., which hung upon the walls have of late years disappeared, but the late Mr. John 
 Morris retained three of the old swords—one of which is of great length, and has an iron 
 handle. Mr. Morris had the wainscotting of one of the principal rooms in the house 
 scraped of the profusion of paint with which it was laden, and restored to its primitive 
 state. The manor-farm has been in the possession of the Morris family for upwards of a 
 century. 
 
 BLETCHLEY. 
 
 S. Lysons. 
 
 “ Blechley, or Bletchley, in the hundred and deanery of Newport, lies about a mile 
 and a half to the south-west of Fenny Stratford. Walter Giffard, Earl of Buckingham, 
 possessed by grant from William Rufus the whole landed property of this parish, which 
 was inherited by Richard de Clare, Earl of Hertford, who married his grandaughter 
 Roesia. Helena, daughter of the Earl of Hertford, brought it in marriage to John de 
 Grey, whose great grandson, Reginald, in a.d. 1307 bequeathed the manor of Over or 
 Church Bletchley, with those of Water Eatou and Water Hall, both in this parish, to his 
 eldest son, John Lord Grey, of Wilton, and the manor of West or Old Bletchley, to his 
 younger son Roger, who became Lord Grey, of Ruthin. The manor of Water Eaton 
 was held by the service of keeping a falcon, for flight, for the king’s use ; and for the 
 charges of keeping it, the lord was entitled, on the day that he carried it to court, to 
 a horse with its equipage, the king’s table, with the trestle and table cloth, all the 
 vessels with which the king was served on that day, and a cask of wine, as soon as the 
 king had tasted it. The manor of Water Hall was held by the service of finding 
 a man on a horse without a saddle, a bow without a string, and an arrow without 
 a head. The descendants of Lord Grey, of Wilton, continued to possess these 
 manors, and that of Church Bletchley, above 400 years, until the attainder of 
 Thomas Lord Grey, in 1603. King James granted them, in 1606, to George 
 Villiers, afterwards Duke of Buckingham. In Oliver Cromwell’s time they were 
 sold, as confiscated lands, to Sir Philip Skippon. George Yilliers, the younger, 
 
268 
 
 Duke of Buckingham, recovered them at the restoration, and, in 1674, sold them to Dr. 
 Thomas Willis, a very eminent physician, grandfather of Mr. Browne Willis, the 
 celebrated antiquary. The other manor (West Bletchley) was purchased of Henry Grey, 
 Earl of Kent, by Catherine, Duchess Dowager of Buckingham, whose son, the second 
 duke, having sold it to Dr. Willis, all the manors became again united. The Lords 
 Grey, of Wilton, had in ancient times a seat at Water Eaton, and another at Water Hall, 
 both long ago destroyed. Browne Willis, in 1711, built a house for his own residence 
 at Water Hall, which was pulled down by Mr. Harrison. Browne Willis’s grandson, the 
 late John Willis Fleming, Esq., sold the manors of Bletchley, Water Eaton, and Fenny 
 Stratford (which is also in this parish) to the Rev. Philip Barton, of Great Brickhill, 
 and they then passed to Ph. Duncombe Pauncefort, Esq.” 
 
 WHITELEAF. 
 
 Rev. A. Baker. 
 
 “ Whiteleaf or Whiteclift Cross is the title given to the gigantic figure of a Latin 
 Cross incised on the steep chalky side of one of the Chiltern Hills, in the parish of 
 Monks Risborough, about seven miles south of Aylesbury. Whiteleaf, according to the 
 traditional orthography, is the name of a little hamlet at the foot of the hill, and 
 probably expresses the correct pronunciation of the Saxon title, whether the conjecture 
 be allowed or not, that it is derived from Wiglife, the grandson of Woden, and father of 
 Hengist and Horsa ; with which latter heroes the monument is popularly associated. 
 Whiteclift appears to be merely an ingenious modern gloss, suggested by the colour of 
 the soil and precipitous character of the ground on which the cross is cut; it is adopted, 
 however, to the Inclosure Act (9 George IV.) and the Commissioners Award, by which 
 this ‘ ancient memorial or land-mark’ (so styled) is declared to be public property, and 
 a parcel of allotment is reserved to the Lord of the Manor, as compensation for his 
 enforced expense of its perpetual maintenance in repair. 
 
 The shaft of the Cross springs from a triangular-shaped base, which reaches to the 
 foot of the hill, at an oblique angle, formed by the natural slope of the surface. But, 
 viewed from a distance, it appears to rise perpendicularly and stand out in relief, on a 
 plain superficies: though this effect depends probably, in some measure, on the state of 
 the atmosphere through which it is seen. 
 
 The gigantic stature of the figure, and its singularly conspicuous elevation, over¬ 
 looking the Vale of Aylesbury into Oxfordshire, render it one of the most striking and 
 magnificent monuments of antiquity in the county of Buckingham. Wise supposes it 
 may be seen from the White Horse Hill in Berkshire, at the distance of nearly thirty 
 miles; it is certainly visible from Shotover and Headington Hills, near Oxford, about 
 fifteen miles across the open country. 
 
269 
 
 The Cross is situated in the midst of a locality not only distinguished for its 
 romantic wildness and beauty of surrounding landscape, but full of exceedingly interesting 
 Archaeological remains and associations. A few yards only below runs the Roman or 
 British Icknield (or, as the poor people in the neighbourhood call it, the Hackney) Road, 
 with numerous camps and stations occurring at intervals along its line. The parish of 
 Monks Risborough takes its name from the Monks of S. Augustine, of Canterbury, to 
 whom it was attached as a cell, and has remained, until the recent abolition of Peculiars, 
 subject to the jurisdiction of that See. The adjoining parishes of the two Kimbles, 
 Magna and Parva, scarcely require the authentication of tradition to the origin of then- 
 title from the British King Cunobeline or Cymbeline, who is said to have held his Court 
 here; and Princes Risborough, on the other side, is historically associated with the 
 Black Prince, whose palace (or castle) is still pointed out on the outskirts of the little 
 town. The names of several other places in the neighbourhood are plainly of Saxon 
 derivation; and some few appear etymologically indebted to the Piets and Danes.” 
 
 SUPPRESSION OF MONASTERIES. 
 
 Cotton MSS. 
 
 Dr. London thus writes to Sir Richard Rich :—“ Right Worshipfull, in my most 
 hartie maner I have me commendyd unto you, I have pullyd down the image of our lady 
 at Caversham, with all trynkettes abowt the same, as schrowdes, candels, images of 
 wexe, crowches, and brochys, and have thorowly defacyd that chapell in exchuyng of any 
 farther resortt, ffor even at my being ther com in nott so few as a dosyn with images of 
 wexe. The image ys thorowly platyd over with sylver. I have putt her in a chest fast 
 lockyd and nayled, and by the next bardge that comythe uppe it schall be browt to my 
 lorde, with her cootes, cappe, and here, with dyvers relykes, as the blessyd knyfe that 
 kylled seynt Edward, the dagger that kyllyd kinge Henry, schethe and all ; and I myssed 
 no thing here butt oonly a peece of the holy halter Judas wasse hangyd withall. Here 
 song a chanon of Notley, wiche hadde conveyd home to hys master as great a relik as any 
 of thees befor I com ; butt I wyll have kym, and schall send yt to my lorde. And thys 
 wek folowing I will send uppe Mr. Johan Schorn, and so as many as I fynde. I have 
 occasion for my colledg besynes to go by Aylisbery and Bedford thys next wek, and as 1 
 suppose by Northampton. In all thees places be howsys of ffryers. If it be my lordes 
 pleasur I will dispache them quyckly, ffor seying they wold fayne be abrode yt wer pytie 
 to stay them. And in dyvers of thees howsys moche ydolytrie have ben usyd, and the 
 people sore abusyd. I besek yow remembre Mr Knytes mater I have movyd yow in ; 
 and if by your gudnes it be browt to passe, I know well you will herafter moche rejoyse 
 
270 
 
 you dydd ytt. My servant schall be with yow thys wek to bringe uppe the Fryers 
 surrendre, with the relykes of Caversham, and schall also bring you a tokyn in parchement 
 undre the covent seale from the abbott and covent here. He desyrethe oonly your favour, 
 and no other thinge; and I know so moche that my lord schall fynde hym as con¬ 
 formable a man as any in thys realme, as more at lardg I will tell you at the begynnyng 
 of the terme, by the grace of Godd, who with increase of moche worschippe longe preserve 
 yow. At Heading, xvij Q Septembris, 1538. Your most bounden oratour, Johan 
 London.” 
 
 DROPMORE. 
 
 “ Dhophore is five miles from Maidenhead ; it was up to late years the beautiful 
 and extensive seat and estate of Anne, Dowager Lady Grenville, only daughter of the 
 first Lord Camelford, and widow of Baron Grenville, whose title is extinct. It is now 
 occupied by Lady Fortescue. Nearly the whole of this fine park, which, including the 
 gardens and pleasure grounds extends to GOO acres, was a wild common, when Lord 
 Grenville purchased it iu 1792. It is situated partly in the parishes of Burnham and 
 Hi tch am. In 1794, Lord Grenville planted the first tree here, a Cedar of Lebanon, 
 which stands opposite the mansion, and is a large and beautiful plant. This was but the 
 prelude to the planting of the Pinetum for which these grounds are now so justly 
 celebrated. Indeed the collection of pines is perhaps unequalled. In every part of the 
 grounds, whether in the open space or more thickly planted clumps, one or other of this 
 newly introduced tribe of plants may be observed looking as luxuriant and beautiful as 
 though they were still enjoying their natural bed of earth, and warmed by a topical sun. 
 On the north-west side of the park and mansion is a noble avenue of Cedar of Lebanon 
 with a green carriage drive between, extending half a mile. These were plauted in 
 1800. The drives and walks within the park extend over several miles, ramifying into 
 innumerable branches and junctions. Tbe mansion was commenced in 1794 by Lord 
 Grenville, when he was Prime Minister. It is a stuccoed edifice forming a parallelogram, 
 having at its eastern and western ends a cupola covered with copper. From the south 
 front a fine view of a picturesque and beautifully wooded country for upwards of 30 miles 
 is obtained, embracing Windsor Castle, Richmond Hill, aud the Grand Stands both of Ascot 
 and Epsom. The pleasure gardens are upwards of 20 acres in extent, and are graced with 
 marble statuary, vases, fountains, aviaries, &c. On the north-west side of the mansion is a 
 walk in the Italian style of gardening, protected on its north side by a most remarkable laurel 
 hedge, having in its front parterres of the choicest aud most beautiful varieties of flowers. 
 About the centre is a handsome white marble fountain, adorned by marble statuary, and 
 
271 
 
 the walk on each side is lined with large terra cotta vases, holding plants. At the 
 extreme east end is a beautiful Temple built of Bath stone, supported and enriched by 
 columns and twisted pillars in variegated marble, brought from Italy.— Sheahan, 1802/’ 
 
 THE HUNDREDS OF AYLESBURY. 
 
 Hundreds are parts or divisions of a county, said to have been so called because 
 each Hundred found 100 keepers of the King’s peace, or 100 able men for his wars, but 
 more probably from their containing 100 families. Hundreds originated amongst the 
 Teutonic Tribes and were formed for the better preservation of the peace. Some 
 authorities contend that the Hundred was territorial, and that it was so termed as it 
 contained a hundred hides of land, each hide consisting of a hundred acres ; it is, 
 however, generally agreed that the hide of land was of uncertain extent, varying accord¬ 
 ing to the custom of the district in which it was situated ; in some being estimated at 
 120, others at 100, and in some parts even as few as 60 acres. Hundreds, it must be 
 remembered, were formed by the union of ten Tythings, the smaller jurisdictions having 
 existed first, the larger ones being formed from them ; ten men and their families were 
 cast into a society, all of them being bound to the King for the peaceable and good 
 behaviour of each other. It was ordered that every inhabitant or Englishman born 
 should be settled in some Hundred or Tything, and if accused of any transgression he 
 should forthwith bring one out of the same Hundred or Tything to be bound for his 
 appearance to answer the law. Ten of these Tythings, being associated, would at stated 
 times assemble to arrange matters of local management; these meetings were called 
 Hundred Courts. Kennett tells us that Hundreds and Tythings kept their names long 
 after they bore any relation to the number of people or villages they formerly repre¬ 
 sented. The jurisdiction of the ancient Hundred Courts now devolves upon the courts 
 of law of more modern formation. The area of the constituency of the Borough of 
 Aylesbury as enlarged by the Act of 1804 and subsequent Acts included the Aylesbury 
 Hundreds formed by the union of three ancient Hundreds, of Elesberie, Risberge, and 
 Stane. They still retain formally the appellation of the Three Hundreds of Aylesbury. 
 
 ASHRIDGE HOUSE (the Modern Edifice). 
 
 I)r. Lipscomb. 
 
 “The new mansion, erected under the immediate direction of John William, sixth 
 Earl of Bridgewater, from a design of Wyatt, occupies the site of the Conventual 
 buildings; and has its principal fronts to the north, the south, and the cast. The first 
 
272 
 
 extends from the eastern angle to the western point, more than one thousand feet in 
 length ; consisting of a varied and irregular line of towers and battlements, arched door¬ 
 ways, mullioned windows, corbels, and machicolations, with a massive turreted centre, 
 fine gothic porch, and a beautifully proportioned and graduated spire, surmounting the 
 chapel. From the north front of the house are fine vistas, towards the north and north¬ 
 east end, cut through large plantations of forest trees. The principal entrance is by a 
 richly decorated Gothic porch, with octagonal towers, foliated spandrils, and open 
 battlements. Above the porch is a finely ornamented window, twenty-one feet high, of 
 stained glass exteriorly, and plate glass within. Above the window, carved in stone, are 
 the armorial bearings of Egerton impaling Haynes. The hall is decorated with a line of 
 armorial bearings, springing from those of King Henry VII. in the central compartment 
 on the east side. On the corbels which support the roof are the arms of Thomas, first 
 Lord Ellesmere, and his descendants. On a brass plate near the door is an inscription, 
 stating that the foundation was laid by Catherine Anne, Countess of Bridgewater, 25th 
 October, 1808 (ihe anniversary of the accession of King George III.) and the mansion 
 inhabited 11th October, 1814. The grand staircase, which is 38 feet square, consists of 
 double flights of magnificent stone steps, with a railing or balustrade of iron, ascending 
 to a gallery on the east side, by three low pointed arches ; the walls on the south-west 
 and north being decorated with niches, corbels, canopies and statues. The light is 
 admitted by twelve windows with pointed arches ; immediately beneath which is a 
 gallery, with an iron balustrade. The ceiling is richly adorned ; and in the centre is a 
 wind-dial, ninety-five feet above the floor. In the several niches are statues of the 
 following personages connected with the ancient College of Bonhommes:—Seuchia, wife 
 of Richard, King of the Romans, and mother of the founder; Richard, King of the 
 Romans ; and the Earl of Cornwall, the founder. Besides the statues, there are some 
 very fine portraits. 
 
 In the hall, at the foot of the staircase, are carved frames of oak, supporting tables 
 of alabaster and marble, some of the latter having been gravestones of the Monks, or 
 persons buried in the College. The ante-room communicates with the principal 
 apartments by folding doors of oak. The drawing-room is 50 feet by 30, with a bow 
 window, 19 feet by 7. In this apartment is a looking-glass, from the manufactory near 
 Prescott, in Lancashire, 123 inches by 71^. The library is fitted up with book-cases of 
 ebony, inlaid with brass ; as is also the chimney-piece of black marble. This apartment, 
 which is lighted by five windows, opens to an arcade (with a richly groined roof) whence, 
 under five gothic arches, is a descent by a flight of steps to a parterre of flowers. The 
 billiard-room and an ante-room adjacent to the library communicate with the eastern 
 wing in a diagonal direction to the north-east; and in this wing are the family apart¬ 
 ments ; opening at the extremity to a greenhouse and orangery, 130 feet long by 30 
 wide, with a glass roof, supported by iron tracery, dividing the building in the form of 
 the nave and aisles of a church, and terminating in an open arcade, and an octagon tower 
 
273 
 
 50 feet in height. The terrace in the east front is ornamented with a statue of Queen 
 Elizabeth, by Westmacott. The dining-room is of the same dimensions as the drawing 
 room before described ; and, by a plate glass window at the western end, opens into a 
 conservatory 107 feet long, 20 feet wide at each end, and 30 feet in the centre, with an 
 open worked roof of oak, and ornamented with vases of Malta stone and china jars ; and, 
 in the centre, with a magnificent copy of the Portland vase, in bronze, supported by four 
 termini. From this conservatory a door opens into the south side of the ante-chapel, 
 to which there is another approach by a corridor, formed by a line of arches. The west 
 doors are finely carved, in the ornamental Gothic style, and formerly belonged to the old 
 college. Entering under an arch beneath the organ, the interior of the chapel displays 
 an assemblage of elaborate carvings and ornaments, considered the finest work of that 
 celebrated architect, James Wyatt.” 
 
 THE OLD GUILDHALL, WYCOMBE. 
 
 Mr. J. Parker, Seh. 
 
 “ The old Guildhall claims our attention as an important municipal building; 
 it was erected in 1004, and stood on ‘ twenty-two large posts, or pillars, of heavy 
 oak.’ After serving the public purposes of the town many years, it was ultimately 
 burnt down. Amongst the old records we find some scattered notices of a 
 former Guildhall or Guildhalls are preserved ; the earliest is in 1380, when a gallery 
 (solarium) at the end of the Guildhall was granted to John Deye, at an annual rent of 
 3s. 4d., a stipulation being made ‘ that the bailiffs should be at liberty to open and shut 
 the door of the prison of the town, if required.’ Among the ‘ rents belonging to the 
 Chamber,’ temp. Philip and Mary, is an entry as follows :—‘ Of Kowland Lyttleboy for 
 his house under the geld hall, xs. iiid-’ There were also shops under the Guildhall of 
 1604. In addition to the old Guildhall, ‘ were places or rooms called Clapper Court and 
 Dungeon, of or belonging to the Counter or Geale thereunto adjoyneing.’ ” 
 
 LINSLADE. 
 
 The Old Church of Linslade (St. Mary) now disused, except for funerals, consists of 
 a west tower, nave, porch, and chancel ; and is situated close to the railway, about a mile 
 from New Linslade, and a short distance from the entrance to the railway tunnel in this 
 
274 
 
 parish. The tower has a stair-tnrret, and is embattled ; the nave is leaded and the 
 chancel tiled. Some of the windows are Decorated, the rest Perpendicular. The nave is 
 lighted by four windows of two lights each ; the chancel also by four—that in the east 
 end being of three lights. In the latter window is some stained glass representing a full- 
 length portrait of a King, a bust of a Queen, a Saint holding a chalice, representations 
 of Faith, Hope, and Charity ; with a dove in the centre square and the sacred monogram, 
 I.H.S. In a window on the south side is a full-length figure in amber, underneath which 
 are the words “ Cardinal Wolsey.” The window of the nave likewise contains fragmeuts 
 of stained glass, exhibiting the arms, crest, and motto of the Corbet family, many of 
 whom are buried in this church. On the south side of the chancel is the piscina. The 
 chancel arch is plain and semicircular. The ceiling is of wainscot, in compartments ; 
 there is a gallery at the west end, erected in 1S20 ; the pews are of deal, and plain ; the 
 pulpit is plain, but draped with crimson velvet bearing the name of Corbet, and the date 
 of 1689 ; and the font is circular. There are brass plates in some of the slabs, but the 
 inscriptions are mostly defaced. In the church-yard, on the south-side, is the base of an 
 ancient stone cross. The tower contains five bells, three of which are ancient, and thus 
 inscribed: — !. Jobes Dies hanc Campanam fecit. 2. See Gabriel ora pro nobis. 3. 
 Ecce Gabrielis sonat h®c Campana fidelis. Oue of the two modern bells bears the name, 
 Andrew Corbet, Esq. The chancel of the church must be kept in repair as a chapel for 
 the adjoining burying ground. 
 
 ELECTORAL CORRUPTION AT AYLESBURY. 
 
 Tije corruption of the Aylesbury constituency attained an unenviable notoriety at 
 the election of Mr. Bent, a West Indiau merchant, in 1802, who seems to have been a 
 stranger to Aylesbury, but to have possessed the requisite qualification of a long purse. 
 So open was bribery that the town crier was often engaged to announce that Mr. So and 
 So’s benevolences would be distributed at such a time and such a place ; the free and 
 independent electors would then flock in crowds to receive money from every party. 
 It was no unusual circumstance for a “potwaller” to make £15 or £20 of his vote, not 
 hesitating for a moment to levy “ black mail” on all candidates, many or few. It took 
 two days to poll 453 votes at the election of 1802, when Mr. Bent was retunied with Mr. 
 Dupre, the latter heading the poll. But no sooner was the poll declared than a petition 
 was lodged against the return of Mr. Bent, “ which created such alarm amongst his party, 
 that several of the leaders made themselves scarce for a long time, fearing to be served 
 with a Speaker’s warrant.” The evidence before the Committee of the House of Com¬ 
 mons must have been far from edifying, judging from the following specimen :—“ John 
 Wilson, the whitesmith, so prevaricated that he was committed to Newgate for contempt, 
 
275 
 
 and re-examined next day, when his recollection was found to be much improved. Neale 
 the banker stated that actions against him arising out of this election were pending, 
 amounting to £47,000, and he should not criminate himself. John Toms told the Com¬ 
 mittee that he thought that out of the 450 voters 400 took money, and the other 50 gave 
 it away. All the witnesses gave a similar description of the proceedings at the distri¬ 
 bution at the inns. Two bowls stood on a table in a large room, one containing guineas 
 and the other punch ; the presiding representatives of a candidate referred to a list of 
 names, and if such list showed that the applicant had been free from parish relief for a 
 year he was entitled to vote. Three guineas were then given to him and a glass of 
 punch.” This state of corruption was too flagrant eveu for those times, and the report 
 of the Election Committee resulted in the Act of Parliament in 1804, which included in 
 the constituency, the Three Hundreds of Aylesbury. 
 
 FAMILIES AND HERALDRY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE * 
 
 Rev. F. G. Lee, D.D. 
 
 In times gone by, some study of Heraldry formed part of the ordinary education of 
 every gentleman. Such a study was found to be of great use both in history, archaeology, 
 and antiquities. Only the shallow and prejudiced would discountenance its acquirement; 
 for heraldry will be found to impress on the mind much, without which, a record of the 
 past in England, both as regards families and individuals, w T ould be either misdescribed, 
 passed by, or forgotten. 
 
 In the following list the author has mainly set forth what he himself has found, 
 either in carvings of stone and wood, stained glass, wall paintings, woodcuts, illuminations, 
 or pen-and-ink outlines, technically known as “ trickings,” during his occasional 
 wanderings, researches, and investigations of more than forty years. 
 
 William Harvey's visitation of this county took place in 15G6, and records of the 
 same are found in the College of Arms, Philipot MSS., Nos. Ap, 5 p, and 49 p. 
 
 In the British Museum, Harleian MSS,, Nos. 5,181, 3,968, 1,429, 5,867, Cooke's 
 Visitation, by Richard Lee, of Thame, in 1574, his deputy, is preserved in its original 
 form in the College of Arms, MS. F. 1 ; G. 3 ; E.D.N. No. 11. 
 
 That of 1634, by St. George and Burrough, with Philipot and Ryley, is in the 
 College of Arms, Philipot MSS., 49^, and in the following Harleian MS., 1,533, 1,102, 
 1,151, 1,193, 1,234, 1,136, 1,391. 
 
 * In certain cases, illegitimate descendants of old families have assumed their names and arms without 
 warrant—and without the necessary signs of illegitimacy—steps which have caused mistakes, frequent 
 errors, and confusion in historical statements. It should be added here that several of the arms in the 
 list, as now used by Buckinghamshire races are not on record at the Herald’s College in connection with 
 their families 5 though their right to use them may be perfectly good and true, and capable of beiDg prortd. 
 

 276 
 
 There are also copies of this latter in the Library of Queen’s College, Oxford, MS. 
 No. 125, and in Caius College Library, Cambridge, MS. 534 (a most beautiful example 
 of skilful work and accurate drawing). 
 
 There is likewise, or was, in the Library of Hartwell House, a transcript of Francis 
 Thynne, “Notes made in Oxon and Bucks” during the latter part of the sixteenth 
 century. In these, he puts on record the death of William Harvey, who died at the 
 Red Lion Hotel, at Thame, during a formal visitation held in that town, and was buried 
 in its churchyard. 
 
 In the Bodleian library are several volumes of MS. Buckinghamshire Collections, 
 made by the Author, which contain a considerable number of Bucks armorial bearings 
 either “ tricked” or in colours. 
 
 He does not profess that the list which follows is complete, but he has sincerely 
 endeavoured to make it scrupulously accurate. The older coats, as will be noticed, are 
 of great simplicity ; the modern are often crowded and confused. Many ancient and 
 historical races have died out in the course of three centuries, so that some armorial 
 bearings have been lost in actual use, while heiresses have carried to more recent families 
 the right to quarter, and so to preserve and perpetuate the signa of ancient houses—a 
 distinct help to the student of history. 
 
 Buckinghamshire Armorial Bearings. 
 
 Albini.— Gules, a lion rampant or. 
 
 Alta Ripa.—A z. five fusils in fesse, a bendlet gules. 
 
 Andrews (Lathbury).— Az. on a bend cotised sable, three mullets of the field. 
 
 Annesley (Newport Paganell, Thame, and Maple-Durham).—Paly of six ar. and az., 
 a bend gules. 
 
 Ashfield (Bucks).—Ar. a trefoil slipped sable between three mullets gules. 
 
 Beauchamp (Bucks).—Vair, a label of three points within a bordure gules. 
 
 Beice (Haddenham).—Gules two bars crenelle sable on a chief az., three annulets ar. 
 Barnard (AYincheudon).—Az. a bear rampant sable, muzzled or. 
 
 Butler (Osmond Family, Aylesbury).— Or, a chief indented az. 
 
 Baldwin (Aylesbury).—Ar. six oak leaves in pairs, two in chief and one in base, vert 
 stalks, sable, points downwards. 
 
 Bledlow (Bledlow). — Per chevron sable and ar., two greyhounds in full course 
 counterchanged. 
 
 Burlacy, or Borlace (Marlow).—Ermine on a bend sable, two hands and arms issuing 
 out of the clouds, proper rending a horseshoe. 
 
 Belson (Brill).—Gules on a chevron engrailed between three greyhounds’ heads erased 
 ar., collared or, three harts ; and [another coat] Sable, a chevron between three 
 greyhounds’ heads erased ermine. 
 
277 
 
 Boddington. — Sa. on a chief ar, semee of crosses crosslet fitche gules, a demi-lion 
 issuant of the last. 
 
 Bulstrode (Upton-cum-Chalvey).—Sable, a stag’s head cabossed ar., attired or, between 
 the attires a cross patee fitchee of the third through the nostrils or, arrow of the 
 last feathered of the second. 
 
 Busbie (Addington) —Or, three arrows sable, headed and barbed ar., on a chief of the 
 second as many mullets of the field. 
 
 Brett (Quaintonj.—Or, three gules az. 
 
 Blacknall (Winge).—Per bend or and az., an eagle displayed counterchanged. 
 
 Brightwell (Chearsley).—Ar. on a cross sable, five lozenges or. 
 
 Butler (Chopping Wycombe).—Gules, three covered cups or. 
 
 Blanks (Bledlow).—Per fesse sable and erm., a pale counterchanged, three demi-lions 
 rampant or. 
 
 Barker (Aylesbury).—Or on a fesse indented az., three fleur-de-lys of the field. 
 
 Bates (Beaconsfield).—Sable, a fesse between three hands ar. 
 
 Barry (Stanton Barry).—Az , two lions passant or. 
 
 Betham (Crendon and Lower Wiucheudon).—Erm., a chevron between three boars’ 
 heads passant sable, armed or. 
 
 Barton (Thornborough).—Ar., a chief erm. on a canton gules, an owl of the field. 
 
 Brudenell (Amersham and Stoke Mandeville).—Az., a chevron between three chapeaus, 
 az. turned up enn. 
 
 Croke (Chilton).—Gules, a fesse between six martlets or. 
 
 Chetwode (Chetwode).—Ar., a cross formee gules. 
 
 Chibnall (Astwoode).—Az., two lions passant-guardant or, between as many flaunches erm. 
 
 Crispe (Haddenham).—Erm., a fesse chequey ar. and sable. 
 
 Cave (Chicheley).—Azure, fretty argent. 
 
 Chester (Chicheley).—Per pale ar. and sable, a chevron engrailed between three rams’ 
 heads erased, horned or, all counterchanged within a bordure engrailed gules 
 bezantee. 
 
 Clayton (Harleyford).—Ar., a cross sable between four pellets. 
 
 Chivnale (Astwood).—Ar., three crosses crosslet gules. 
 
 Cheney (Bucks).—Ar., a fesse gules in chief, three martlets of the second. 
 
 Cheney (Drayton).—Chequey or and az., a bend gules, fretty erm. 
 
 Cheyne (Chesham Bois).—Chequey or and az., a fesse gules, fretty ar. 
 
 Cheyne (Drayton Beauchamp).—Chequey or and az. a fesse sable, fretty ar. 
 
 Cokefield (Bucks).—Az., a cross between four fetterlocks or. 
 
 Conway (Bucks).—Sa. on a bend cotised ar., a rose between two annulets gules. 
 
 Cotes (Bucks).—Per pale gules andaz., two dolphins hauriant erect counterchanged, on 
 a chief gules, a covered cup between as many dovecotes of the first. 
 
 Crosse (Bledlow).—Quarterly gules and or, a cross fitchee in the first quarter ar. 
 
 Clerke (Quarrendon and Thame).—Ar. on a bend gules between three pellets, as many 
 swans proper. For augmentation a canton-sinister az. thereon, a demi-ram 
 mounting of the first armed or, between two fleur-de-leys of the last, over all a dexter 
 baton of the second. 
 
278 
 
 Clifford (Creslow).—Chequey or and az., a fesse gules. 
 
 Catesby (Tyringham and Hardmead).—Ar., two lions passant sable, crowned or. 
 
 Chetwoode.—Q uarterly ar. and gules, a cross formee counterchanged. 
 
 Cleaver (Aylesbury).—Sable, two bars or, between three towers ar. 
 
 Drake (Shardeloes).—Ar., a wyvern, wings displayed and tailed uowed gules. 
 
 Deyncourt (Wooburn).—Az., a fesse dancetee between ten billets, four and six, or. 
 
 Devenish (Buckingham).—Ar., a chevron between three escallops sable. 
 
 Dormer (Chilton, Lee Grange, and Wing).—Az., ten billets, four, three, two, and one 
 or., on a chief of the second a demi-lion rampant, issuant sa. 
 
 Dayrell (Lillingstone Dayrell).—Az., a lion rampant or crowned ar. 
 
 De Clare (Bucks).—Or, three chevrons gules. 
 
 Disraeli (Hughenden).—Per saltire gules and ar., a castle triple-towered in chief of the 
 last, two lions rampant in a fesse sable, and an eagle displayed in base or. 
 
 Duncombe (Little Brickhill and Ivinghoe).—Per chevron engrailed gules and ar., three 
 talbots’ heads erased, counterchanged. 
 
 Dupre (Beaconsfield).—Az., a chevron between two mullets in chief and a lion passant 
 in base ar., from the centre chief a pile issuant of the second. 
 
 Dauncey (Little Horwood).—Per pale ar. and or, a fesse between three lions’ heads 
 erased gules. 
 
 De Bardis (Towersey and Thame).—Or, five fusils conjoined in bend gules, a border 
 compony ar. and sable. 
 
 Dashwood, Bart. (West Wycombe).—Ar., on a fesse between two double cotises gules, 
 three griffins’ heads erased or. 
 
 Dynham (Boarstall).—Gules, four fusils in fesse and a border erm. 
 
 Duckett (Aylesbury).—Sable, a saltire or. 
 
 Doyley (Turville and Marlow).—Or, two bends az. 
 
 Dell (Aylesbury).—Ar., a lion rampant sa., debruised by a saltire gules. 
 
 Denton (Hillesdon).—Ar., two bars gules, in chief three cinquefoils sable. 
 
 Ellys (Aylesbury).—Argent, a chevron vert between three mullets (or stars of five 
 points) gules. 
 
 Eyre (Burnham).—Azure, a chevron between three ears of corn ar., slipped. 
 
 East (Radnage, Towersey, and Risborough).—Sa., a chevron between three horses’ heads 
 erased. 
 
 Egglestone (Wootton Underwood and Chearsley),—Ar., three gules wavy sable. 
 
 Fremantle (Cottesloe).—Vert three bars ermine, surmounted by a lion rampant gules, 
 murally crowned or, in chief two plates. 
 
 Fleetwoode (Missenden).—Per pale nebulee az. and or, six martlets counterchanged. 
 
 FitzGerald (Shalston).—Ar., a saltire gules. 
 
 Fortescue (Salden).—Azure, a bend engrailed ar., cotised or. 
 
 Fell (Aylesbury).—Or, three lozenges conjoined in fesse azure. 
 
 Francklin (Haddenham).—Ar., on a bend az., three dolphins embowed proper. 
 
 Frankland (Checquers Court).—Gules, a dolphin between two annulets in pale or, on 
 a chief of the second a martlet sa., between two saltires couped of the first. 
 
 Grenville (Wotton).—Vert, on a cross ar., five torteaux. 
 
279 
 
 Godwin, or Goodwyn (Winchendon) —Per pale or and gules, a lion rampant between 
 three fleur-de-lys counterchanged. 
 
 Goodall (Dinton!.—Gules, an eagle displayed ar., armed or, on a canton of the second 
 a chaplet gramine vert. 
 
 Grace (Princes Risborough).—Gules, a lion rampant per fesse azure and or. 
 
 Greenaway (Leckhampstead).—Gu., a fesse or, in chief three griffins heads erased of 
 the second, within a bordure gobernated ar. and az. 
 
 Gosnold (Beaconsfield).—Per pale crenelly or and vert 
 Gifford (Twyford).—Gules, three lions passant in pale argent. 
 
 Hibbert (Chalfont).—Erm. on a bend sable, three crescents argent. 
 
 Herbert (Kingsey).—Per pale azure and gules, three lions rampant argent. 
 
 Hedges (Haddenham and Thame).—Azure, three swans’ heads erased argent. 
 
 Haviland (Beaconsfield).—Ar., three towers triple-towered sa., portcullised gules. 
 Hawtrey (Checquers).—Ar., three lions rampant in bend between four cotises sable. 
 Hatton (Brickhill).—Azure, a chevron between three garbs or. 
 
 Hampden (Hampden).—Ar., a saltire gules between four eagles, displayed azure. 
 
 Heath (Crendon).—Argent, on a chevron sable, a pair of compasses or, between three 
 towers proper. 
 
 Ingleton (Thornton).—Ar., a chevron between three crescents sable, flammant gules. 
 Ingoldsby (Dinton).—Ermine, a saltire engrailed sable. 
 
 King (Aylesbury).—Sa., on a bend between two bendlets argent, three escalops proper. 
 Kingeston (Shalstone and Wendover).—Sa., a lion rampant or. 
 
 Langston (Caversfield).—Gules, a chevron ermine between three hinds or. 
 
 Lee (Quarrendon and Beaconsfield).—Argent, a fesse between three crescents sable. 
 
 Lee (Birdsthorne).—Argent on a fesse azure, three pansy flowers proper, between three 
 unicorn’s heads erased sa. 
 
 Lee (Saunderton and Hartwell).—Az., two bars or, abend chequey of the last, or and gules. 
 Lee (La Lees).—Argent, a fesse between three leopard’s faces sable. 
 
 Lovett (Liscombe).—Sa., three wolves heads or ; and [another coat] ar., three wolves 
 passant in pale sable. 
 
 Lake (Buckland).—Quarterly or and az., four crescents counterchanged. 
 
 Lenton. —Azure, a bend ermine between two dolphins embowed and bendways. 
 
 Lowndes (Chesham).—Ar., fretty azure, the interlacings each charged with a bezant on 
 a canton gules, a leopard’s head erased at the neck or. 
 
 Malyn (Great Linford).—Erm., a fesse paly of six or and gules. 
 
 Mayne (Creslow and Dinton).—Ermine, on a bend sa., three dexter hands couped ar. 
 Morin (Hardwicke).—Ar., a chevron sable between three fleur-de-lys gules. 
 
 Newmarch (Penn).—Gules, five lozenges conjoined in fesse or. 
 
 Payne (Haversham).—Ar., three trefoils slipped sa. 
 
 Poger. —Gu., masculy ar. 
 
 Poore. —Ar., three bars nebulee sa., over all a bend or. 
 
 Pakington (Aylesbury).—Per chevron sa. and ar, in chief three martlets or, in base as 
 many garbs gu. 
 
280 
 
 Porter. —Gules, three church bells or 
 
 Puttenham (Peun).—Sa., crusilly fitchee ar., a stork of the last beaked and legged gu. 
 Pyjime (Cheppins WycombeV—Gules, on a fesse between three owls, as many crosses 
 patonce sa., a bordure of the second. 
 
 Pigott (Bucks).—Sable, three pickaxes, argent, two and one. 
 
 Pigott (Doddershall).—Az., a chevron between three martlets or, on a chief ermine, three 
 fusils sable.—(See also Pigott, of Bucks). 
 
 Powell. —Sa., three roses slipped vert. 
 
 Powell (Shabbington, Bucks, Thame, Oxon, and Hinton Court, Hereford).—Ar., a 
 chevron between three roses gu., seeded or, barbed vert. 
 
 Pratt (Whitchurch).—Ar., on a chevron sable, between three pellets as many mascles or. 
 Price (Westbury).—Ar., three Cornish choughs sa., beaked and legged gules. 
 
 Prickett (Aylesbury).—Vaire or and gules. 
 
 Prunes (Westbury).—Or, a lion rampant az. 
 
 Prunes (Westbury).—Or, a lion rampant az., on a chief of the second three ostrich 
 feathers ar. 
 
 Purefoy (Shalstone).—Gules, three pairs of hands addorsed ar. 
 
 Pewtrell. —Ar., a fess between three roses gules. 
 
 Peckham (Denham).—Sa., a chevron ar., between three cross-crosslets or. 
 
 Pym (Brill).—Sa., on a fesse between three owls or. 
 
 Quartermayne (Kymble and Hogshaw).—Gules, a fess between four dexter hands 
 couped and erect or. 
 
 Quinton ^Bledlow).— Or, three chevrons gnles. 
 
 Randolph (Lower Winchendon).—Gules, on a cross or, or three horseshoes sa. 
 
 Raney. —Gules, two wings in pale ar., each charged with three bars germelles sa. 
 Ravenscroft (Notley).—Ar., a chevron between three ravens’ heads erased. 
 
 Ranes, or Rans (Amersham).—Gyronny of twelve or and sable. 
 
 Read. —Gu., a saltire between four wheatsheaves or. 
 
 Rerenger (Wooburn).—Or, a cross vert, over all a bendlet gules. 
 
 Risebey. —Ar., a fesse azure between three crescents gu. 
 
 Robarts (Lillingstone).—Sa., three crossbows ar. 
 
 Rolls (Aylesbury and Bicester, Oxon).—Or, on a fesse dancettee between three billets 
 azure, each charged with a lion rampant of the first, as many bezants. 
 
 Rose (Waddesdon and Dadbrooke). — Az., a chervon ermine between three water bougets 
 ar. 
 
 Rose, Bart. (Rayners, Penn).—Az., a chevron invected erminois between three water 
 bougets in chief, and one in base ar. 
 
 Restwolde (Winslow).—Per saltire ar. and gules. 
 
 Reynes (Clifton Reynes).—Chequey or and gules, a canton ermine. 
 
 Risley (Chetwode).—Ar., a fesse az., between three crescents gules. 
 
 Restwolde. —Gyronny of four, ermine and gules. 
 
 Rice.— Ar., on a chevron eDgrailed, between three reindeers’ heads erased gules, as many 
 cinquefoils ermine. 
 
281 
 
 Ricketts (Dorton House, Chilton). — Ar., on a chevron engrailed between three 
 quartrefoils gules, an escallop of the field between two scymitars chevronwise 
 proper. 
 
 Rickford (Aylesbury).—Sa., a fesse dancettee or, in chief two eagles displayed proper. 
 
 Ruthall (Woolverton).—Az., a cross engrailed between four martlets or. 
 
 Rutt. —Gu., two lions rampant ar. 
 
 Ruxton (Beaconsfield).—Ar., a crescent between three bulls’ heads erased sa., armed 
 or. 
 
 Rytson (Aylesbury).—Sa., three lucies ar., a chief or. 
 
 Saunders (Fleet Marston).—Ar., a lion rampant az., on a bordure of the second six 
 fleur-de-lys or. 
 
 Simpson (Buckingham).—Vert on a fesse or, between three crescents in chief and a 
 leopard passant-guardant in base, lour ermine spots sable. 
 
 Smith, Baron Carrington (Wycombe).—Or, a chevron cotised between two demi-griffins 
 couped respecting each other in chief, and a like griffin in base sable. 
 
 Smy t th (Buckingham).—Azure, a saltire ar. between four martlets or. 
 
 Smythe (Bucks).—Sa., a bend between seven billets ar., four and three. 
 
 Spileer (Kingsey).—Sa., a cross voided between four mullets pierced or. 
 
 Stamps (Crendon).—Sa., a fesse between three horses passant ar. 
 
 Staveley (Twyford).—Ar., on a chevron az., between three lozenges sable, as many 
 bucks’ heads cabossed or. 
 
 Staverton. —Ar., a chevron sable, between three water bougets vert. 
 
 Sumner (Cuddington).—Vert., a bend indented or. 
 
 St. John (Thornton).—Ar., on a chief gules two mullets or. 
 
 Sherient (Buckingham).—Azure, a chevron or, a label gules. 
 
 Shobington (Shabbington).—Ar., a chevron gules between three squirrels sejant sa., 
 each cracking a nut. 
 
 Simons (Towersey and Thame).—Per fesse sa. and or, three trefoils slipped counter- 
 . changed. 
 
 Scott (Aylesbury).—Ar., on a fesse sa., three boars’ heads couped or. 
 
 Scroope (Towersey).— Az., a bend or. 
 
 Sheppard (Thornton).—Az., on a chevron or, three fleur-de-lys ar., as many martlets of 
 six points sa. 
 
 Symons. —Per fesse, sable and or, a pale counterchanged three trefoils slipped or. 
 
 Stephen (Princes Risborough).—Ar. on a chevron between two crescents in chief and a 
 dexter hand couped at the wrist in base gules, two mullets of the first. 
 
 Syleur (Buckingham).—Gules, a fesse embattled between three lions passant-guardant 
 ar. 
 
 Tasborough (Hawridge).—Ar , a chevron sable between three palmers’ staves proper, 
 with scrips attached of the second. 
 
 Temple (Stowe).— Or, an eagle displayed sa. 
 
 Temple (Bucks).—Sa., a chevron erm. between three martlets ar. 
 
 Temple (Stowe and Stantonbury).—Ar., two bars sable, each charged with three martlets 
 or. 
 
282 
 
 Treyhorn (Bucks).—Per saltire or and sa. in chief, three trefoils slipped vert, two and 
 one, in base one and two of the last. 
 
 Towers (Towerseye).—Argent, a chevron sa. between three towers proper. 
 
 Turney (Bucks). —Ar., a chevron between three bulls passant. 
 
 Tyrixgham (Tyringham).—Azure, a saltire engrailed ar. 
 
 Terry (Aylesbury).—Ar., a cross between four martlets gules. 
 
 Theed (Wingrave).—Ar., on a fesse gules between three anchors sable, as many eagles’ 
 heads erased or. 
 
 Theed (Stoke Mandeville).—Paly of six or and gules. 
 
 Thornborough (Thornborough).—Ar., a fret gules, a chief of the second. 
 
 Thorxbull (Bucks).—Ar., a chevron gules between three birds sable, beaked and 
 
 legged or. 
 
 Thwaites (Chepping "Wycombe).—Ar., a cross sa. fretty or, in the first quarter a fleur- 
 de-lys gules. 
 
 Tixdal (Aylesbury).—Ar., a fesse dancettee gu., in chief a fleur-de-lys az., between two 
 crescents of the second, and in base a crescent of the last between two fleur-de-lys 
 of the third. 
 
 Tipping (Shabbington).—Or, on a bend engrailed vert three pheons of the field. 
 
 Tyrrell (Thornton).—Ar., two chevrons azure, in bordure engrailed gules. 
 
 Throckmorton (Weston Underwood).—Gules, on a chevron argent, three bars sable. 
 
 Uvedall (Great Linford).—Ar., a cross moline gules. 
 
 Vere. —Quarterly gu. and or, in the first quarter a mullet argent. 
 
 Verney (Middle Claydon). —Az., on a cross argent, five mullets pierced gules. 
 
 Vertue (Bucks) —Ar., three bars vert; and [another coat] Or, three bars vert. 
 
 Vaucey (Bucks).—Sable, three gloves in pale ar. 
 
 Varney.—A r, on a cross engrailed ar., five martlets of the first. 
 
 Yanhattem (Dinton).—Or, two olive branches in saltire vert. 
 
 Wase (Wycombe).—Ar., two bars gules on a canton, the last a mullet of six points of 
 the first. 
 
 Watts (Hauslope).—Az,, three arrows or, feathered and headed ar., on a chief of the 
 second, three Moor’s heads, couped and sidefaced sable. 
 
 Westcote, alias Lyttelton (Waddesdon). — Argent, a chevron between three escallops. 
 
 Waller (Beacousfield).—Sa., three walnut leaves or, between two bendlets ar. 
 
 Walpole (Grendon).—Or, on a fesse between two chevrons sa, three cross crosslets of 
 first. 
 
 Wariiam (Dinton).—Gules, a fesse or between in chief a goat’s head erased, ar., horned 
 of the second, and in base three escallops, two and one of the last. 
 
 Warren (Little Marlow).—Chequey or and az. on a canton gules, a lion rampant 
 argent. 
 
 Washington (Bucks).—Ar., two bars gules in chief, three mullets of the second. 
 
 Wenman (Twyford).—Sa. on a fesse ar., between three anchors or, as many lions heads 
 erased gules. 
 
283 
 
 Whittewrong (Stanton Barry).—Bendy of six ar. and gules, on a chief sable a bar 
 indented or. 
 
 Willis, Browne (Whaddon).—Ar., a fesse between three lions rampant on a bordure 
 of the last, eight bezants. 
 
 Woodbridge (Haddenham).—Argent, on a bend gules, three chaplets of roses proper. 
 
 [The Author of the above paper has had the pleasure of specially preparing and 
 offering it for insertion in Mr. Gibbs’ publication, as a small acknowledgment of the 
 services to archaeology and antiquities, both literary and practical, which have long been 
 rendered to the county by the Compiler and Editor of the “ Buckinghamshire 
 Miscellany.”] 
 
 THE MANOR OF BRILL. 
 
 White Kennett. 
 
 “ In 1203 the King gave to Walter Borstard who serv’d in his Chappel, the Mannor 
 of Bruhull (now Brill) paying yearly the old service, with addition of fourty shillings a 
 year, and the duty of keeping the Kings houses at Brill; by this form of donation. This 
 tenure was in soccage, not in Knights service ; for this reason, because this Manor was 
 an ancient demesn of the Kings of England, and at the general survey was found to have 
 been in the hands of Edward the Confessor, from whom no tenant held by military 
 service. Brunhell was the Mannor of King Edward. Then twenty hides were taxt. The 
 land was always twenty five earucates. In demesn are three. There are twenty villanes 
 with thirteen borderers, they have sixteen earucates, and there may be yet five more. 
 There is one mill of ten shillings rent, a meadow of twenty earucates. Wood for two 
 hundred hogs. In the whole it pays yearly thirty eight pounds of white silver (i.e., the 
 pure metal before it is coin’d or stampt) and for the forest twelve pounds burnt and 
 weigh’d, (i.e., melted down). In the time of King Edward it paid eighteen pounds iu 
 number, (i.e., in ready money).” 
 
 NOTES OF ROYAL CHARTERS RELATING TO BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. 
 
 “ William I. —For the Cathedral of Lincoln—Transfer of the seat of the bishopric 
 of Dorchester to the city of Lincoln. Grant of (inter alia) four churches, viz. 
 Bedford, Leston, Buckingham, and Aylesbury, which the predecessors of Bishop Rcmigius 
 
284 
 
 had held from the King’s grant. "Witnessed by Lanfranc, the Archbishop, and E., the 
 Sheriff. Recited in Charter Roll, 3 Edw. III., No. 51 ; Charter Roll, 2 Rich. II., No. 
 5 ; Patent Roll, 2 Edw. IV., p. 4, m. 14 ; Confirmation Roll, 7 and 8 Henry VIII., p. 2, 
 No. 2. For the same—Another charter. Witnessed by (inter alias) H. de Bochingham. 
 Recited in the Rolls above mentioned. 
 
 William II.—For the same—Confirmation of all previous gifts, viz. {inter alia), 
 Hclesberia church, with lands and tithes—viz., Stochas, Waltona, Buchelant: Buchiuge- 
 ham, with lands and tithes ; and a carucate of land in Gauecota. Subscribed by King 
 William and many others. Recited in Charter Roll, 9 Edw. I., No. 51, and the Rolls 
 above mentioned.”— Twenty-ninth Report of the Deputy Keeper of Public Records, 
 extracted by H. G. 
 
 GEOLOGY OF MID BUCKS. 
 
 Professor Morris. 
 
 “ Supposing we make a journey from Brackley by Winslow towards Aylesbury, 
 and further towards Amersham and the chalk downs, at the Brackley end we have what 
 are called the lower oolite rocks ; between that and Winslow, in the Claydon district, or 
 middle oolite, of which the Oxford clay is the representative ; towards Aylesbury, a third 
 class, a still newer group, i.e., the Kimmeridge clay, Portland rock, and sand. Proceed¬ 
 ing southwards, you trace the Purbeck beds, and overlying this a faint indication of that 
 rock which in the south of England separates the great oolitic strata from the chalk 
 beds—the Wealden. For there is evidence that at some distant time the Wealden 
 formation extended over a large portion of this area. Overlying this again, as we pass 
 to the chalk hills, we come to the commencement of the great chalk group, the lower 
 portion without flints, the upper with flints, and over that, in some parts, we have traces 
 of a group represented by certain hard sands, of which the Hampden stone is an example. 
 These belong to what are known as the lower tertiary strata. Lastly, we have, in the 
 valley, a gravel, equivalent to what is found in low situations in this country, along the 
 range of existing rivers, and these are probably the latest accumulation with which we 
 are conversant in this immediate neighbourhood. The best localities for examining the 
 geology of the district are the pits around Hartwell and Stone. The Kimmeridge clay 
 and the base of the overlying Portland beds are well seen in the claypit on the ascent to 
 Hartwell, and the various conditions of the Portland and Purbeck strata in the stone-pit 
 near the Bugle and in those on the Bishopstone-road, while the white sand and associated 
 beds are clearly exposed in the pits on the road from Hartwell to Stone.” 
 
285 
 
 THE CHETWODE RHYNE TOLL. 
 
 The existence of this toll may be traced to remote antiquity. Nothing is known 
 of its origin except from local tradition. The parish of Chetwode, as its name implies, 
 was formerly thoroughly wooded ; indeed it formed part of an ancient forest called 
 Rookwoode, which is supposed to have been conterminous with the present Liberty of 
 Chetwode. At a very early period, says the tradition, this forest was infested with an 
 enormous wild boar, which became the terror of the surrounding country. The Lord 
 of Chetwode determined to rid the neighbourhood of this pest; he succeeded, and in 
 consideration of his valiant act, had granted to him and his heirs for ever, the full right 
 and power to levy every year this Rhyne Toll. The reputed jaw bone of this famous 
 wild boar was exhibited at a collection of antiquities at Tingewick in 1887. It will be 
 seen from the following communication that the Rhyne Toll was discontinued in 1875, 
 as in the last few years it resulted in a loss, the sum collected not being adequate 
 to the cost of the collection : — 
 
 “Auction and Estate Agency Offices, Buckingham, 19th February, 1875. 
 
 Sir George,—Mr. Meadows having informed us that you had decided not to revive 
 the collection of the Rhyne Toll, but that you would accept the shells we had obtained 
 on the death of the old collector of the toll, we have packed them in a box just as we 
 received them, and are very pleased to present them to you to be preserved among the 
 relics of Chetwode. At the same time it may be interesting to you to have an account 
 of the ancient right, related to us in 1846 (when we received the Chetwode rents) by 
 the same old collector (William Giles) who at that time rented the Rhyne (or Rhine) 
 toll at £6 per annum. The Rhyne Toll commenced at 12 p.m. on 29th October 
 (morning of 30th), and ended at 12 p.m. on 7th November every year, and extended over 
 nine townships, viz., Prebend End, Gawcott, Lenborough, Bourton, Preston-cum-Cowley, 
 Hillesden, Tingewick, Barton, and Chetwode. The payment was due on all cattle that 
 travelled on the drift in any part of, or through, the above townships (even from one field 
 to another if on the drift, but the farmers within the Rhyne usually compounded by 
 payment of a small sum, say Is. per annum for their own stock). The sum demandable 
 was, on all beasts 6d. per head, sheep 5d. per head, pigs 5d. head. The sums were, 
 however, subsequently only demanded in some one instance every year to preserve the 
 right; and the charge taken in every other instance, 2s. per score, whether sheep, 
 beasts, or pigs. The plan of levying the Rhyne was this—Boys were employed all over 
 the Rhyne district, and on finding the beasts, &c., on the drift they blew a horn (or 
 conch shell, which they slung over their shoulders), and then counting the number, 
 demand the payment. Giles related an instance in which a farmer and dealer refused to 
 pay the Rhyne on some sheep passing through Gawcott, on which was demanded 15s. 
 
286 
 
 (about 2s. per score), and that on his refusal Giles went to the then Steward of the 
 Clietwode Court, who proceeded against the farmer, who had to pay the full demand aud 
 costs. The first thing each year Giles did was to get the boys together on Church Hill, 
 Buckingham (the church was formerly in Prebend End), and at Finmere End, Tingewick, 
 and give them gingerbread and ale. He then blew one of the shells, and cried, ‘ This is 
 Sir John Chetwode’s Rbyne Toll and then blew the shell again, and began the Rhyne. 
 The object of this, he said, was that the boys remembered the Rhyne Toll, and it was 
 regularly kept up. We just mention that Browne Willis, the historian of ‘ Buckingham 
 and its Hundreds,’ states that the Lord of the Manor of Chetwode claims suit and service 
 of the townships enumerated, buc he says nothing about the Rhyne Toll, which is, 
 however, traditionally held to have originated in a grant to one of your ancestors for 
 slaying a wild boar, which had ravaged the townships and destroyed their children. We 
 forward the box to day by the L. and N.W. Railway, and beg to remain, 
 
 Sir George, 
 
 Faithfully your obedient servants, 
 
 Harrison and Son. 
 
 Sir Geo. Chetwode, Bart.” 
 
 A toll of a similar character to the Rhyne Toll formerly existed in some other 
 districts. This was called “ The Thorough,” or “ Through” Toll, which certain town¬ 
 ships, corporations, or parishes had the power of exacting from the owners of all cattle 
 passing across their boundaries. The toll was not charged for traversing the King’s 
 highway, but only the bye-roads, parish roads, and drift roads ; also over bridges 
 crossing fords, &c. The Thorough Toll is now obsolete. 
 
 ETON COLLEGE CHAPEL. 
 
 Eton College Chapel is dedicated to SS. Mary and Nicholas. It resembles in 
 general outline that of King’s College, Cambridge, and is supposed to stand on the site 
 of the old parish church, which, on the foundation of the college, being enlarged and 
 adapted to the requirements of the collegiate body, the chancel was almost entirely 
 rebuilt; but the building as it now exists constitutes only the choir of the church pro¬ 
 jected by Henry VI., and was completed by Waynflete, Bishop of Winchester, in 1476. 
 It is 175 feet in length, 90 feet high, and 40 feet wide, and consists of ante-chapel, chapel 
 and north porch, with a small vestry adjoining, the whole constituting a fine specimen of 
 Perpendicular work ; there are turrets at the angles with curious added cupolas aud the 
 
287 
 
 building is surrounded by a pierced parapet with pinnacles ; it was considerably altered 
 in 1759 ; in 17G9 the ante-chapel was repaired and the whole interior was restored in 
 1847-9. In the course of the work, the walls of the five western bays on both sides 
 were found to be covered with paintings, executed between 1479 and 1487, and intended 
 to exemplify the gracious protection afforded by the Blessed Virgin, the patroness of the 
 college, to her votaries in all ages and countries ; the upper portion of these, declared by 
 the late G. E. Street, Esq., R.A., to be the finest yet discovered in England, was almost 
 wholly destroyed and the remainder is now hidden behind the stalls. The church has 
 since undergone further restoration. All the windows are stained, the great east window 
 being presented by the boys in 1847 at a cost of £2,000, two others in the ante-chapel 
 are memorials to the Etonians who fell in the Crimean War, and a series of 14 memorial 
 windows has been contributed by the Rev. J. Wilder, who also caused the reredos and the 
 whole east end to be tastefully decorated ; the two easternmost windows on either side 
 the choir were contributed by the Assistant Masters and Mr. W. A. Carter. Another 
 fine window has been given by Dr. and Mrs. Balston ; aud Provost Lupton’s chapel has 
 undergone careful repair. At the west end of the chapel a memorial screen of Caen 
 stone, designed by the late G. E. Street, Esq., R.A., richly carved with coats of arms and 
 adorned with memorial brasses to those officers who were killed during the Afghan and 
 South African campaigns, was unveiled on Commemoration Day (June 5, 1882), by 
 H.R.H. the Prince of Wales. The colours of the 14th Buckinghamshire (Prince of 
 Wales’ own) regiment were deposited here in 1877. In the ante-chapel is a marble 
 statue of King Henry VI. by Bacon and a beautiful monument to Provost Goodall, by 
 Weekes, that of Provost Sir Thomas Murray is in the chapel ; there is also a black marble 
 slab with singular inscription to Sir Henry Wotton, ambassador to Venice and Provost of 
 Eton (1639) and memorials to Sir Henry Savile, Provost and Warden of Merton College, 
 Oxford (1622), and John Hales, divine and critic (1656) ; a cenotaph has recently been 
 erected, under which is a marble recumbent figure of Provost Hawkey, who died in 1862. 
 The ante-chapel and other parts of the building contain a large number of brasses of the 
 fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries, including those of Dr. Thomas Barker, 
 provost, 1489, Henry Bost, provost, 1503, Roger Luptou, provost, 1536, and Richard, 
 Lord Grey, 1521. 
 
 AYLESBURY—THE CASE OF ASHBY v. WHITE. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 The franchise of the borough of Aylesbury in the time of William III. was in the 
 hands of the Commonalty, consisting of householders and “ potwallers,” a term used for 
 
288 
 
 persons who lodged in a portion of a house, and boiled their own “ pot.” There were at 
 this time no lists of voters to guide the returning officers in taking the poll. All they had 
 to take note of was, that the person tendering his vote had not received parochial relief 
 during the year prior to the election, and that he had also been in occupation during the 
 required term. The only document with w'hich the officers were supplied was the 
 overseer’s pauper pay list. 
 
 This loose mode of ascertaining the qualification of the voters led to the inevitable 
 result of disputed claims. The rejection of the vote of Matthew Ashby for Sir Thomas 
 Lee and Mr. Simon Mayne, at the election which took place in the twelfth year of 
 "William III.’s reign, rises to the importance of an historical incident. Ashby was backed 
 up by Lord Wharton against the returning officers ; the case is known as that of Ashby 
 v. White ; it passed from the Bucks Assizes to the Court of King’s Bench, thence to the 
 House of Lords, by writ of Error, where judgment was given for Ashby. Next the 
 House of Commons was interfering, resolving that that House alone had jurisdiction to 
 determine the rights of the electors and elected ; this occasioned a difference with the 
 House of Lords, the Lords considering that the course taken by the Commons was 
 assuming a power to control the law of the land. At the commencement of Queen Anne’s 
 reign the case was resumed, and, emboldened by the success of Ashby, five more electors 
 of Aylesbury commenced actions of a similar character, for the purpose of confronting 
 the Commons. Their temerity was rewarded by warrants being issued for their com¬ 
 mittal to Newgate ; then there was another Writ of Error, and a petition to the House 
 of Lords ; next an address of the Commons to the Queen; then conferences between the 
 Lords and Commons, with no amicable results. At last the conferences broke off very 
 abruptly, and as the Commons had addressed her Majesty not to grant a Writ of Error, 
 the Lords drew up an address and statement of the case, and requested her Majesty to 
 give effectual orders for the immediate issuing of Writs of Error, in which address her 
 Majesty answered, “ My Lords, I should have granted the Writs of Error in this address ; 
 but finding an absolute necessity of immediately putting an end to this Session, I am 
 sensible there could have been no further proceedings in that matter.” There is no 
 doubt but that the Aylesbury case broke up the Parliament. The defendants were 
 liberated; no Writ of Error was granted, and Lords and Commons and the Aylesbury 
 electors seem to have been at length satisfied. Bishop Burnet, in the “ Memoirs of His 
 Own Time,” refers to this remarkable case, in which he severely criticises the conduct 
 of the returning officers. Burnet’s allusion to the case fully justifies the prominence 
 given to it in parliamentary history. 
 
(ONLY THREE COPIES ON OFFER.) 
 
 In 1 Vol., Crown U-to, b-30 pages, price 10s. 6d., doards, 
 
 ®0rtjms of §iuftitt0|Hm§|in 
 
 AND 
 
 jKifit of #ote of that Count)?, 
 
 BY 
 
 ROBERT GIBBS, F.S.A., 
 
 Author of “Regicides of Rucks,” “Local Records,” “History of Aylesbury,” etc. 
 
 -:o:- 
 
 “ It deserves a place on the shelves of the local Reading Rooms of the County, in 
 the libraries of the country gentlemen and clergy, and will be found a welcome addition 
 to the literary gatherings of those local and general collectors who are at once 
 archmologians and antiquaries .”—Bucks Herald , May 12th, 1888. 
 
 AYLESBURY, 1888. 
 
 THE 
 
 ur!iiit0^Ems|irf iJigrtllang, 
 
 A Series of Concise and Interesting Articles Illnstrative of the 
 
 History, Jopoqraphy, and ^qcHA;oLoqY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 COUNTY OF BUCKINGHAM, 
 
 Compiled and Edited by ROBERT GIBBS, F.S.A., 
 
 Author of “ Local Occurrences,” “ Regicides of Bucks,” “ History of Aylesbury,” “ Worthies 
 
 of Buckinghamshire,” &c. 
 
 HE “ BUCKINGHAMSHIRE MISCELLANY” will be mainly a topographical 
 work, will give descriptive accounts of the “ Nooks and Comers ” of the 
 County, together with Historic and Archaeological items connected with it. 
 It will be composed of concise and interesting readings from the works of those authors 
 who have treated on the ancient and modern History of Buckinghamshire—Camden, 
 Spelman, Dugdale, Leland, Kennett White, Rev. Cox, Lysons, Denham, Drayton, Langley, 
 Lipscomb, and others. Extracts will also be quoted from local authors of a more recent 
 period : the names of the writers will be given, together with a brief biographical notice 
 relating to them. 
 
 The Work will be published in quarterly parts, price One Shilling (by post Is. 2d.). 
 Only a small excess of copies will be printed over those subscribed for. 
 
 -:o:- 
 
 1890. 
 
 PRINTING OFFICE, BOURBON STREET, AYLESBURY. 
 
.1 
 
 QUARTERLY- Price Is. j by post Is. 2d. 
 
 A SERIES OF CONCISE AND INTERESTING ARTICLES ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE 
 
 Piste}|, ®0|O'pt|'|i|, anil Srrfuotocig 
 
 OF THE 
 
 COUNTY OF UBTTOIYINrCYTTTYNI, 
 
 COMPILED AND EDITED BY 
 
 ROBERT GIBBS, F.S.A., 
 
 Author of "Local Occurrences,” “ Begicidcs of Bucks," "History of Aylesbury,” "Worthies of 
 
 Buckinghamshire,” &c. 
 
 f0JMTEJMT£ OF 7. 
 
 St. Mary’s, Aylesbury; Aucieut Nonconformist Chapel ; Slough ; Siege of Boarstall; 
 Edlesborough ; Stewbley Church ; Hedsor ; North Crawley; Eythrope House ; Whaddon 
 Chase Claimants; Epitaphs; West Wycombe House ; Buckinghamshire Premiers; Great 
 Horwood ; Chesham Churches; Exhumation of Hampden: Hall Barns; Great Mis- 
 seuden Church ; Weston Underwood ; Gayhurst House ; Wycombe an Assize Town ; 
 Dorney Court; Newport. Pagnell ; Cowper’s House, Olney; Long Crendon Church; 
 Ascot House, Wing ; Aylesbury ; Hanslope ; Effigies, Hughenden. 
 
 in 
 
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 AYLESBURY : 
 
 printed by r. gibbs, « bucks advertiser & aylesbury news” office. 
 
 MDCCCXCI. 
 

 I 
 
 t 
 
 6 
 
 ft 
 
 
289 
 
 ST. MARY'S CHURCH, AYLESBURY. 
 
 “The origin of the ‘ Church of our Blessed Lady of Aylesbury,’ as it is termed iu 
 the Registers of Lincoln, is lost in obscurity. Originally belonging to the diocese of 
 Dorchester, in Oxfordshire, it became a portion of that of Lincoln, when the former was 
 transferred to the north, under Bishop Remigius (a.d. 1067—1092). At this time 
 it was probably constituted a prebendal church, having five daughter chapelries: St. 
 James’s, Bierton; St. Peter’s, Quarrendon, Ellesborough, Stoke Mandeville, and Buck- 
 land. Its name and dignity are still retained by an inscription on one of the stalls in 
 Lincoln Minster. 
 
 In all probability a sacred edifice of some kind was erected on the hill of Aylesbury 
 during the rule of St. Birinus, Bishop of Dorchester, or one of his earliest successors. 
 For there exists a very ancient and possibly Early Saxon crypt under what is now known 
 as the “ Lady-chapel” of Aylesbury Church; while fragments of stone, with Saxon or 
 Early Byzantine carvings, were found in the foundations of the piers of the tower when 
 its pillars were reconstructed and rearranged ; while the existing font (remarkable 
 amongst the many such stone instrumenta ecclesiastica of Buckinghamshire), is of very 
 considerable antiquity, though much later than the crypt. Several traditions assert that 
 St. Osvth, who was born of noble parentage at Quarrendon, less than two miles from 
 Aylesbury, was originally buried at the latter place, though subsequently her remains 
 (or, at all events, part of the same) are reported to have been translated to a church at 
 St. Osyth’s, in Essex. 
 
 The present church of Aylesbury—formerly of prebendal rank—was originally of the 
 First-Pointed style, and probably cruciform in plan, when that church was first erected. 
 The more ancient Saxon church, no doubt, had its chancel over a crypt on the site of the 
 present Lady-chapel, and any Norman additions were originally made to that building 
 and grouped round it. But when the First-Pointed church was planned and erected, 
 both nave and chancel were placed a little northwards of the more ancient sanctuary, 
 that sanctuary being henceforth styled “ The Chapel of our Lady,” and the Saxon crypt 
 subsequently was probably used only as a charnel-house, for several cartloads of human 
 bones—and nothing but bones—were removed during Sir Gilbert Scott’s restoration, and 
 buried in the churchyard around. As much as 5ft. or 6ft. of earth surrounded some 
 portious of the foundations and walls of the First-Pointed edifice, the confined church¬ 
 yard being unusually overcrowded. 
 
 This First-Pointed building—which, in later styles, has been substantially altered 
 and added to—was, I am inclined to hold, built between the years 1180 and 1235— i.e., 
 when Walter of Coutances, Hugh of Grenoble, William de Blois, and Hugh Vi dies, in 
 their turn and in succession, sat in the seat of Bishop Remigius. Under each of these 
 
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 prelates of Lincoln, church building flourished remarkably, and it is clear that Aylesbury 
 was blessed and benefited by their influence. The proportions of Aylesbury Church, 
 with its central tower and spirelet (for it evidently possessed the latter, if not a formal 
 spire), were symmetrical and pleasant. The lancet windows of the chancel, with triplets 
 of lancets at the east end and the north and south ends of the transepts, would have given 
 simplicity and solemnity to the whole structure. The chapels to the north, and later 
 insertions of windows, clerestory, and considerable reconstructions of both transepts in 
 the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries, were additions made with such architectural cost, 
 and generally with such sound feeling, that, one and all, they detracted not from the 
 symmetry of the well-proportioned old building. 
 
 At present the chancel towards its western part has aisles, with the vestry on the 
 north and a living-chamber over it for the custodian and watcher of the church. Here 
 above is an ancient fireplace, and an equally ancient window ; below, the vestry may 
 have been used for the treasury of the church, for the walls are thick and the windows 
 small. Here likewise is a remarkable oaken vestry press, with a swinging vestry horse 
 for copes, chasubles, and dalmaticks. The old door, with its iron floriation and ancient 
 lock and bolt, is of special interest. There is another vestry to the south. The ancient 
 screens which divided oft the chancel and transepts from the nave are, alas ! destroyed ; 
 the modern squat construction at the choir entrance being poor, paltry, and quite 
 unworthy of its position. Of the rood-loft not a trace remains, though some of the old 
 choir-stalls with their carved misereres are still in existence. There is an aumbrey on 
 the north side of the chancel sanctuary, an Easter sepulchre, and a piscina. 
 
 There is a fine five-light Second Pointed window in the north wall of the north 
 transept, well worthy of special notice ; and many of the windows in the chapels and 
 aisles on that side of the church are of the same general type. An Early English piscina 
 on a bracket in the east wall of the same transept is also curious and effective, if not 
 unique. The adjacent piscina is likewise good. Above this transept, as is evident on 
 inspection, there was anciently a chamber of Third Pointed construction—either a 
 treasury, sacristy, or record-room. It was entered from the stone staircase at the north¬ 
 east corner of the tower; from which also the rood-loft was entered by an existing 
 doorway below. 
 
 In the Lady Chapel—at the cost of the present Dean of Lichfield, whose zeal, good 
 taste, and munificence were constantly apparent when he was Yicar of Aylesbury—Mr. 
 Scott restored the Second Pointed sedilia with the adjacent piscina. The old sacristy to 
 the north was left very much as it was found. The rash and harum-scarum removal of 
 monuments and tablets, however, was quite uncalled for and uujustifiable ; for they had 
 been liberally paid for by handsome fees to former vicars, and they helped to furnish the 
 walls, which, at present scraped and clean, are as bare as it was possible to make them. 
 Now, Eicjacet too often records that which is not true. Few churches have been more 
 
291 
 
 disfigured than that of Aylesbury. The Tudor changes were sweeping and notable. 
 Every altar in the church, and these, including those in the western chantries and the 
 Lady-chapel, numbered altogether thirteen, were hewn down and destroyed in the second 
 year of Queen Elizabeth, though some had been already removed under Edward VT. A 
 handsome rood-screen of oak (with rood, Mary and John) was then destroyed, and a 
 stone shrine, or cluster of tabernacles, filled with statues, in the north transept was 
 removed. Two altars against the eastern wall of the south transept, with “ their retables 
 and garnyshings” were also taken down, though the predella or platform of one of these 
 remained perfect until quite recent times. 
 
 There were certainly altars in honour of Our Lady and St. Osyth (the high altar) of 
 Our Lady, in the Lady Chapel of St. Osyth and of St. Hugh in the south transept, of 
 St. John in the chantrey of Singleton and Baldwin, of St. Michael and St. Peter in the 
 north transept, of St. Crispin, St. Nicholas, and St. Christopher in other parts of the 
 church. The piscinae of most of these remain, and have been restored. There was also 
 an altar, of the ornaments of which the Aylesbury family of Ellys were the appointed 
 custodians. Its name, however, is not on record. The font is large—nearly 3ft in 
 diameter—and of good, First Pointed work of a very Early date. It has a band of 
 archaic foliage round its top with a fluted ornament below, and then a chevron-like 
 moulding towards the base, which is rectangular. Its height is 3ft. 5in. Other fonts of 
 the same general type are found in several parts of the county. In the belfry there are 
 eight bells, well and efficiently hung: but only one of these is of any antiquity—the Sanctus 
 bell, recast in 1G12. Seven of the peal were recast by Pack and Chapman, of London, 
 in 1773, and the tenor bell was recast by Mears, of Whitechapel, in 1850. Each one has 
 a piece of rhyming jargon running round it, utterly different from the old inscriptions, 
 generally so terse and appropriate. 
 
 In the north transept there remains the effigy in marble of a knight, under a Second- 
 Pointed canopy. But it is not known whom it represents. It is said to have been 
 brought from the site of the old Grey Friars’ Church, long since razed to the ground. 
 Two stone coffins remain with good floriated crosses running down their whole length. 
 Rumour has it, however, that one of these is a restoration. 
 
 In the north transept is a handsome Tudor tomb of marble and alabaster to the 
 Lady of Sir Henry Lee, K.G., of Quarrendon, with elaborate armorial adornment. 
 Alabaster statues of herself, her grown-up daughter, and two chrisom-children remain. 
 She was one of the daughters of William, first Lord Paget of Beaudesert, a faithful 
 servant of Mary Tudor, and a very upright man. Lady Lee died in 1584. This tomb 
 has been twice removed, and the iron railings formerly protecting it have been destroyed. 
 
 What remained of interest in the sacred edifice after the vast Tudor changes was 
 destroyed during the time of the Rebellion. Aylesbury and its adjacent parts—as a local 
 historian has abundantly shown—were simply devastated during the Civil War. The 
 
292 
 
 church itself was made ruinous, all the stained glass had been smashed, and every 
 memorial brass removed. The font for a while was hidden, to preserve it. The external 
 effect of the church—though, perhaps, somewhat too squat for its admirable position—is, 
 on the whole, good. The tower, with its battlemented cresting and small lead-covered 
 spirelet surrounded by eight pinnacles above, is exceedingly graceful; while the whole 
 Early English chancel, with its severe buttresses and lancet windows and solid roof, is, 
 on the whole, very good. The transepts are exceedingly dignified and of excellent pro¬ 
 portions. The clerestory of the nave is somewhat wanting in architectural character ; 
 but the west end of the nave, having a good reproduction of the original chief entrance, 
 is admirable, as is also the south porch. Outside there is an entire absence of empty 
 niches containing nothing—a feature far too common in modern restorations. Here the 
 statuary is at once artistic and effective. The sacred building looks well and picturesque 
 from every point of view, and is now in excellent structural condition—a real credit to 
 those who contributed to its complete restoration, and to the town. It rivals the Church 
 of Chipping Wycombe both in size, character, and general dignity. It is, however, as 
 no one can deny, badly wanting in memorials and objects of antiquarian and archaeological 
 interest swept away in 1513 and 1610.” —Condensed from a paper in th.Q Building News, 
 1889, by Dr. Lee, of Lambeth. 
 
 ANCIENT NONCONFORMIST CHAPEL. 
 
 “ In a sketch of the history of Wooburn, the origin of Core’s End Chapel should not 
 be omitted. Much may be traced to the labours of the eminent Nonconformist ministers 
 who were entertained at the Duke of Wharton’s mansion; but the following was a main 
 ingredient. Mr. Thomas Grove was born at Core’s End, Wooburn, where his parents 
 had considerable property. He was a pious man, and having been brought up in the 
 Established Church, he was desirous of becoming one of its ministers. With this view 
 he entered, as gentleman commoner, at St. Edmund Hall, Oxford. He there found 
 several like-minded with himself. They united in private religious duties, for mutual 
 edification. This was reported to the heads of houses (these were dark times, but let us 
 confess it, and be thankful for brighter days) and six of them were found guilty of 
 praying, reading, and expounding the scriptures. In the judgment it was stated, 
 “ Thomas Grove hath by his own confession preached to a mixed multitude in a barn, 
 and offered up extempore prayer.” To this Mr. Grove demurred, saying this was not 
 even charged on his trial, and he denied it; however, he was put down guilty, and 
 expelled with the others. Mr. Grove returned to his patrimonial estate, Core’s End, and 
 commenced preaching the Gospel in his own house. On this proving too small, he fitted 
 
293 
 
 up a barn for the purpose; he gathered a following of 300 ; and the barn was twice 
 enlarged before the building of the present chapel. Mr. T. English, a most estimable 
 man, and of a very catholic spirit, followed him. One of his congregation, Mr. William 
 Davis, built Loudwater Episcopal Chapel, and Mr. Revel and others purchased and 
 enlarged a house as the residence of the Core’s End minister .”—Records of Bucks. 
 
 SLOUGH. 
 
 The modern town of Slough lies chiefly in the Parish of Upton, but partly in the 
 Parish of Stoke Poges. The word Slough is a corruption from the word Slow, which 
 was the name of the open land in that part of the Parish called in old documents the 
 “ Slow Field,” as distinguished from the Upton Field and Chalvey Field. Houses were 
 naturally built first in that part of the parish, because it lay on the great road from 
 London to Bath, where the road branched to Eton and Windsor. Hotels and posting- 
 houses, where the coaches stopped, existed both at Slough and Salt Hill, celebrated as the 
 scene of the Eton Montem. Private houses sprang up, as people were attracted to the spot 
 by the singular healthiness of the soil and climate, and this is said to have caused the 
 building of Sussex Place, and subsequently of Upton Park. Eton College, as is well 
 known, long successfully opposed a railway station being opened at Slough, but from the 
 time when that was obtained, an impetus was given to building, and the name Slough, 
 chosen by the Railway Company and the Post Office, has overshadowed and obscured the 
 older name of Upton. In former days mulberry trees were cultivated by Messrs. Carvell 
 and Manning at Finefield on the Salt Hill road, as well as in the field to the north of the 
 Parish Churchyard, and they had an establishment for breeding silk worms for the 
 manufacture of silk in a large building. The cultivation of mulberry trees for the 
 production of silk was encouraged in this couutry by King James, who issued a circular 
 for the purpose, recommending the English to imitate the French, who had been success¬ 
 ful in their culture. The King himself set the example, walling in 4 acres of the Green 
 Park, and establishing a mulberry garden. The result, however, has proved that the 
 English climate is not favourable to this industry. 
 
 Of the buildings in the parish, one of the largest is that of the British Orphan 
 Asylum, which stands near the railway station. It was originally Dotesio’s hotel, but in 
 1863, Mr. Mackenzie, of Fawley Court, purchased it, and gave it to this valuable 
 institution, which had been at Clapham Rise since 1834. The children, numbering 
 about 220, are destitute orphans of both sexes of those once in prosperity, in every part 
 of the British Empire .—Parish of Upton-cum-Chalvey, by Rev. P. W. Pmrps, M.A. 
 
294 
 
 THE SIEGE OF BOARSTALL HOUSE. 
 
 This old mansion, memorable as the object of frequent contests in the civil wars, 
 was finally surrendered to the Parliament on the 10th of June, 1648. Willis called it 
 “a noble seat,’’ and Hearne described it as “ an old house moated round, and every way 
 fit for a strong garrison, with a tower at the north end much like a small castle.” The 
 mansion, with its exterior fortifications, formed a post of strength and importance. Its 
 importance, however, consisted not so much in its strength as its situation ; it stood at 
 the western verge of Buckinghamshire, two miles from Brill, and about half-way between 
 Oxford and Aylesbury. Aylesbury was a powerful garrison belonging to the Parliament, 
 and Oxford was the King’s chief and strongest hold, and his usual place of residence 
 during the Civil Wars. While Boarstall, therefore, remained a royal garrison, it was 
 able to harass and plunder the enemy at Aylesbury, and to prevent their making sudden 
 and unexpected incursions on Oxford and its neighbourhood. 
 
 At an early period in the Civil Wars, Boarstall House, then belonging to Lady 
 Dynham, widow of Sir John Dynham, was taken possession of by the Royalists, and 
 converted into a garrison ; but in 1644, when it was decided to concentrate the King’s 
 forces, Boarstall, among other of the smaller garrisons, was abandoned. No sooner was 
 this done than the impolicy of the measure became apparent. Parliamentary troops from 
 Aylesbury took possession of it, and by harassing the garrison at Oxford, and by seizing 
 provisions on the way there, soon convinced the Royalists that Boarstall was a military 
 position of importance. It was therefore determined to attempt its recovery, and 
 Colonel Gage undertook the enterprise. With a chosen party of infantry, a troop of 
 horse, and three pieces of cannon, he reached Boarstall before daybreak. After a slight 
 resistance he gained possession of the church and outbuildings, from whence he battered 
 the house with cannon, and soon forced the garrison to crave a parley. The result was 
 that the house was at once surrendered, with its ammunition and provisions for man and 
 horse ; the garrison being allowed to depart only with their arms and horses. Lady 
 Dynham, being secretly on the side of the Parliament, withdrew in disguise. 
 
 The house was again garrisoned for the King, under the command of Sir William 
 Campion, who was directed to make it as strong and secure as possible. For this purpose 
 he was ordered “ to pull down the church and other adjacent buildings,” and “ to cut- 
 down the trees for the making of pallisadoes, and other necessaries for use and 
 defence.” Sir William Campion certainly did not pull down the church, though 
 he probably demolished part of its tower. The house, as fortified by Campion, 
 was thus described by one of the King’s officers : “ There’s a pallisado, or rather a 
 stockado, without (outside) the graffe; a deep graffe and wide, full of water ; a 
 pallisado above the false bray : another six or seven feet above that, near the top of the 
 curtain.” The Parliamentarian garrison at Aylesbury suffering seriously from that at 
 
295 
 
 Boarstall, several attempts were made to recover it, but without success. It was attacked 
 by Sir William Walley in 1644; by General Skippon in May, 1645; and by Fairfax 
 himself soon afterwards. All were repulsed with considerable loss. 
 
 In such desultory warfare did the years 1644 and 1645 pass in Buckinghamshire, 
 while the issue of the great quarrel between King and Commons was pending. Happy 
 for England that it has to look back upwards of two centuries for such experiences, 
 while, sad to say, in other countries equally civilized, it has been seen that they may still 
 befall! There was more than terror and excitement among the Bucks peasantry. 
 Labourers were forcibly impressed into the garrisons ; farmers’ horses and carts were 
 required for service without remuneration ; their crops, cattle, and provender carried 
 off; gentlemen’s houses were plundered of their plate, money, and provisions ; hedges 
 were torn up, trees cut down, and the country almost turned into a wilderness. A 
 contemporary publication, referring to Boarstall in 1644, says :—“ The garrison is 
 amongst the pastures in the fat of that fertile country, which, though heretofore 
 esteemed the garden of England, is now much wasted by being burthened with finding 
 provision for two armies.” Both parties were addicted to plunder, which is the inevitable 
 consequence of civil war, and wanton cruelty is sure to follow in its train. 
 
 In 1646, Sir William Fairfax again attacked Boarstall House, and though its 
 valiant little garrison for some time resolutely resisted, it wisely decided, on accouut of 
 the King’s failing resources, to surrender on terms which were honourable to both 
 parties. The deed of surrender was signed on the 6th of June, 1646, but did not take 
 effect till the 10th. On Wednesday, June 10th, says A. Wood, “the garrison of 
 Boarstall was surrendered for the use of the Parliament.” 
 
 The country having become more settled, Lady Dynham repaired her house and the 
 church ; but the tower of the latter, which had been demolished, was not restored. 
 Towards the close of the seventeenth century, Sir John Aubrey, Bart., by his marriage 
 with Mary Lewis, the representative of Sir John Dynham, became possessed of Boarstall; 
 and it continued to be the property and residence of his descendants till it was pulled 
 down by Sir John Aubrey about the year 1783. 
 
 EDLESBOROUGII. 
 
 Edlesborougii parish comprises the hamlets of Dagnall, Hudnall, Northall, and part 
 of Horton. It is five miles from Ivinghoe. The present church of St. Mary, originally 
 belonging to the monastery of Bonhommes at Ashridge, founded in 1283, is a noble 
 edifice of the Perpendicular period, situated upon elevated ground, and consists of chancel, 
 
296 
 
 clerestoried nave, aisles, north porch, and a massive western tower about 70 feet high, 
 containing a clock and 6 bells; the spire was destroyed by lightning Friday, March 21, 
 1828, when the whole interior work of the. tower, and all the bells but one, became a 
 complete wreck ; the chancel is well fitted with desks and stalls, some of the latter having 
 carved misereres, and it contains a trefoil-headed piscina, and a plain recessed sedile ; the 
 nave communicates with the aisles by arcades of four arches on either side, springing 
 from octagonal pillars ; the rood screen exhibits some good tracery. 
 
 STEWKLEY CHURCH. 
 
 The church of St. Michael, Stewkley, is one of the most complete specimens of 
 Norman architecture extant, dating from the close of the eleventh century. Messrs. 
 Lysons considered it a Saxon building, but Rickman described it as Norman. It is 
 certain that in 1170 it was given by Geoffrey de Clinton to the Priory of Kenilworth. 
 The ground plan forms a parallelogram of four scpiares, of which two belong to the nave, 
 one to the chancel, and one to the tower, each being about 21 feet long, the nave 21 feet 
 6 inches, and the tower and chancel 18 feet wide ; the church is therefore on a frequent 
 Norman plan consisting of chancel and nave with a short square tower between them, 
 containing 5 bells : the chancel has a window on either side, splayed toward the interior 
 and adorned with zigzag mouldings: the east window is, on the exterior, a triplet of 
 arches, with similar mouldings and slender shafts, the centre opening alone being pierced ; 
 on the north side of the chancel is a plain oblong recess, perhaps an Easter sepulchre, or 
 an aumbry: in the south wall is a plain piscina, below which is a stone seat running all 
 along the south side, the Eastern end being elevated and the western end terminating in 
 a massive elbow rest : the roof is groined: the tower, rising almost from the centre of 
 the building, is supported on massive semicircular arches, springing from piers nearly 
 four feet in thickness, with rounded columns at the angles ; the west front of these arches 
 is very richly carved ; the tower is about 57 feet in height and the exterior of the belfry 
 story is surrounded by an arcading of interlacing arches with zigzag mouldings, on short 
 columns, with plain caps: the nave has two windows on each side, similar to those in the 
 chancel, and under all the windows there runs externally a string course of zigzag 
 moulding ; the west front is a curious and interesting example of Norman work and 
 exhibits an arcade of three arches, the centre arch forming the entrance, being recessed 
 with three rows of zigzag moulding ; above there is a single window like the others ; 
 the font is plain and cylindrical, splaying out considerably towards the top ; tire north 
 door of the nave, hitherto blocked up, is ornamented with double chevron moulding, on 
 single shafts with carved caps ; the south door has similar moulding, with shafts in pairs 
 and richly carved caps ; the roofs seem to have been lowered in 1684 ; in 1844 the 
 
297 
 
 chancel was repaired and the stone vaulting removed and renewed with brick ; some 
 interior re-arrangement took place in 1860 , and in 1862 a complete restoration was 
 carried out, under the direction of the late G. E. Street, R.A., when the roofs were 
 raised to their original pitch, the stucco removed from the walls and the western entrance 
 cleared of plaster ; new buttresses were also supplied to the chancel wall; the church 
 has also been re-seated with open benches aud stalls placed in the choir, a massive stone 
 pulpit, new lectern and communion table introduced, and a reredos of alabaster and 
 marble erected, the east window being at the same time filled with stained glass; during 
 the progress of the works, a rude carving in alabaster, representing the Virgin and 
 Child, with attendant angels, was found buried in the step of a doorway ; some ancient 
 tiles were also met with, and a coffin slab bearing a floriated cross.— Kelly, 1883 . 
 
 HEDSOR. 
 
 In 1764 the Hedsor Estate was purchased by William Irby, Lord Boston, and it 
 still remains in that family. The old Mansion on the estate was built by Lord Boston’s 
 predecessors in 1584, but a modern house was erected by Frederick, Lord Boston, in 
 1778. This house has also been pulled down and another erected on the same spot. 
 The grounds attached to the house are beautifully disposed of by nature and are 
 improved with great taste. There are few scenes more splendid than from the brow of 
 the hill on which the house stands. The scenery of the Vale through which the Thames 
 here passes is highly picturesque, the two counties of Berks and Bucks mutually giving 
 and receiving beauties from each other, the landscape necessarily includes both. From 
 Fawley to Hedsor the river, taking a few bold sweeps, flows in a majestic stream, except 
 where it is occasionally broken into cascades and islands by the intervention of mills 
 and locks. 
 
 The delicate foliage of the beech which crowns the varying amphitheatre, and 
 sometimes feathers the banks, or hangs over them in cliffs, the verdure of the meadows, 
 and the pleasing tints which the hand of cultivation throws over the vale, are the 
 natural beauties of the country. These are enriched by the ornamented grounds and 
 elegant mansions of the neighbouring gentry, the venerable towers of churches, the 
 mouldering ruins of an abbey, as of Medmenham, or of one still inhabited, whose history 
 is not destroyed by injudicious alterations, such as Bisham. Beautiful as these scenes 
 are, there are few of them calculated for the pencil. The rugged rock impending over 
 the cataract, and bearing on its brow some fragment of a fortress ; the ivied ruins of 
 an abbey, “ bosomed high in tufted trees,” and reflected in the lake, demand the attention 
 of Claude and Poussin : but these lovelier views in nature are too soft, perhaps too faint. 
 
298 
 
 for imitation ; certainly few of them are sufficiently a whole. Bisham church and abbey, 
 backed by woods and reflected in the stream, may be considered almost the only excep¬ 
 tion to the remark. Many other scenes, particularly Medmenham Abbey, want a back 
 ground. In viewing these, the mind is too much engaged to feel the deficiency : in the 
 picture, experience proves it otherwise. It is on this account that so few drawings of 
 this part of the Thames have been executed with success. 
 
 NORTH CRAWLEY. 
 
 North Crawley is a village on an eminence 3 miles east from Newport Pagnell 
 and 6 from Olney. The church of St. Firmin, first bishop of Amiens (supposed to be the 
 only one in England so named), is a very ancient stone edifice, and consists of chancel, 
 clerestoried nave, aisles, porch, and an embattled western tower with a small spire, and 
 containing a clock and 5 bells ; the whole external appearance of the nave is Perpen¬ 
 dicular : the chancel is Early Decorated, with an east window of three lights and 
 geometrical tracery, on the south side is a small piscina and near it a fine doorway with 
 shafts and mouldings ; the roofs of both nave and chancel are open-timbered and of the 
 Perpendicular period with moulded ribs and bosses ; the piers and arches of the nave 
 arcades are Early Decorated, some of the former being octagonal and others clustered. 
 The chancel is said to have been built by Peter de Guildford, rector, who died in 1321 : 
 on the outside wall, under the east window, is this inscription :— 
 
 “ Petrus cancellum tibi dat Firmine novellum 
 
 Ut cum lauderis Deo, Petri memoreris.” 
 
 A finely carved oak screen remains in a very perfect state and is a rich specimen of open 
 screen work of the Decorated period ; the whole screen is divided into sixteen compart¬ 
 ments, and in the panels at the base are painted as many figures, well drawn and in 
 excellent condition, representing royal and ecclesiastical personages. 
 
 EYTHROPE HOUSE AND ITS CHAPELS. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 The Eythorpe or Eythrope Estate was successively vested in the Dynham, the 
 Dormer, and the Stanhope families. In the reign of Henry YI., Sir John Denham, or 
 Dynham, obtained Eythrope by his marriage with Joane, daughter of Sir Richard de 
 
299 
 
 Arcubns; he also held Cranwell. Sir John was a knight, and engaged in the wars in 
 France ; he died about 1457, leaving a son John as his heir, who was also knighted, and 
 who became a zealous partisan on the side of the House of York. He was one of the 
 King’s Privy Council; dying without leaving male issue, his sisters, and their repre¬ 
 sentatives became his heirs. A Sir Roger Denham now appears ; he died in 1490. 
 
 In 1535 Eythrope was in the hands of Robert Dormer, Esq., it having descended 
 to him through his grandmother. There is here a chasm in the family pedigree, and 
 the descent is not very clear. William Dormer, son of Robert, secured Eythrope to 
 Dame Dorothy, his wife. She subsequently married Sir William Pelham, an eminent 
 statesman and military commander. He was chosen Justiciary of Ireland and held several 
 high appointments, amongst others, that of Field Marshall. Queen Elizabeth made him 
 Master of the Ordnance and a Privy Counsellor. He distinguished himself during the 
 wars in the Netherlands, and died at Flushing in 1587. Eythrope was his country seat. 
 He left his wife Dorothy all his goods and chattels at Eythrope and elsewhere in Ducks. 
 She continued to reside at Eythrope, and died there in 1613, but was buried at Wing 
 near her first husband, William Dormer ; she made many additions to Eythrope Man¬ 
 sion about 1610, and is reported to have built the west front. Her name is perpetuated 
 at Wing by the almshouses which she built there and endowed. Eythrope now devolved 
 upon Robert Dormer, the eldest son of Dame Dorothy: he had been knighted in 1591, 
 was a baronet in 1615, and in the same year made Baron Dormer, of Wing. At his 
 death, Eythrope descended to his grandson Robert, second Lord Dormer, who was 
 created Viscount Ascot and Earl of Carnarvon. The Earl was killed in the first battle 
 of Newbury, on the 20th September, 1643, fighting on the part of the King. He did 
 not fall in actual conflict, but, according to Clarendon, having charged and routed a body 
 of the enemy’s horse, and coming carelessly back, passing some scattered troopers, he 
 was by one of them, who knew him, cowardly run through the body with a sword, of which 
 injury he died within an hour. Ilis corpse was conveyed in the first instance, under 
 guard, to Oxford, and interred in the Chapel of Jesus College. From that place it was, 
 after a while, transferred to Eythrope Chapel; eventually, but not until seven years 
 after his death, it was finally deposited in Wing Church, the burial place of the Dormer 
 family. The parish register of Wing contains an entry of his burial there, with others 
 of his relatives :— 
 
 (From the Parish Register of Wing.) 
 
 “ Buryalles An’o Dom. 1643. 
 
 “ The Right Honnorable ladie Agnes Dormor Countis of Carnarucne. June 2. 
 
 “ Buryed 1650. 
 
 “ The Lady Dormer. July 3. 
 
 “ Robert Lord Dormer, Earle of Carnarvon. August 3.” 
 
 There is no note or comment in the register to either of the above entries. The 
 
300 
 
 interments of Lady Dormer and the Earl taking place at dates so near to each other it is 
 probable that the burial of the wife instigated the removal of the remains of the 
 husband from Eythrope to Wing. Without an explanation, it would be difficult to trace 
 the burial place of the unfortunate Earl, it being a very extraordinary circumstance for 
 an interment to be registered seven years after death. 
 
 Eythrope was inherited by his son Charles, second Earl of Carnarvon, whose patrimony 
 had been considerably diminished by the effects of the Civil War. At his death in 1709 
 the estate passed by the marriage of Elizabeth, his eldest daughter, to the family of 
 Stanhope, she becoming the third wife of Philip Stanhope, second Earl of Chesterfield. 
 Sir William Stanhope, their grandson, resided at Eythrope ; he expended large sums in 
 the improvement and decorations of the mansion and grounds, he lived in great splendour, 
 was distinguished by his wit, humour, and literary talent; he was one of the so called 
 “ Monks of La Trappe,” who assembled at Medmenham Abbey. 
 
 Sir William was, in the year 1727, returned as one of the members for the 
 Borough of Aylesbury, but at the same time was elected as a knight of the shire of 
 Bucks: he accepted the latter honour ; he was intimately connected with local politics, 
 and was a moving power in Ajlesbury elections of the period, and he held one seat for 
 that borough in his hands, by his popularity. Some of the items in his expenses in 
 canvassing the Borough of Aylesbury strangely contrast with the mode of conducting 
 elections in the present day. His only daughter married Welbore Ellis, Esq., M.P. for 
 Aylesbury, who was subsequently created Lord Mendip. Sir William Stanhope died in 
 1772, and leaving no male issue the estate reverted to his elder brother Philip, fourth 
 Earl of Chesterfield, a very remarkable man who held high offices in the Royal household. 
 He was author of “Chesterfield’s Letters” and other works ; he was so highly esteemed 
 by the Duchess of Marlborough that she left him £20,000. Eythrope then passed to 
 Philip, fifth Earl of Chesterfield, who was Lord Lieutenant of Bucks in 1782 ; he died 
 in 1815. It was this Earl who demolished the mansion in 1810. He has the credit of 
 fitting-up a superbly finished chapel ; if so, it could not have been long in existence 
 when the house was destroyed. The catalogue of the sale of the materials of the house 
 included 30 lots of fittings in the chapel, one lot being described as “ The altar piece 
 consisting of enriched pediment entablature, two columns, pedestals, table, and plinths.” 
 Eythrope House was not in its later years so extensive a building as some suppose, 
 whatever it may have been formerly. It stood on the north side of the stream known 
 as the Eythrope river, near which a piece of water is formed, ornamental to the grounds. 
 
 The proprietors of Eythrope were generally residential. Sir Robert Dormer resided 
 there in the reign of Edward VI. His sou, Sir William Dormer, added to the House a 
 spacious apartment, a kind of Chapel. Previously, Dame Dorothy Pelham had built a 
 suite of rooms to which the date of 1610 remained attached until the demolition of the 
 
301 
 
 house. The alterations made by Sir William Stanhope completed the west front in a 
 plain and substantial manner, but -with little taste. He also erected several large build¬ 
 ings in the pleasure grounds and plantations, resembling the ruins of amphitheatres, 
 castles, &c. There was a gallery of 138 feet long, attached to the Mansion, and the 
 general size of the apartments was commodious, without pretentions to architectural 
 elegance. Numerous portraits and paintings were collected in this gallery, a portion of 
 which at the demolition of the house was disposed of by auction ; some of them from their 
 rarity deserved a better fate. A few were preserved and removed to another residence 
 at Bretby, in Derbyshire, but the most valuable of the family portraits are still preserved 
 with great care at Grove Park, Warwick, the seat of Lord Dormer. Of those, mainly 
 from Eythrope, are portraits of George, loth Earl of Shrewsbury, A.n. 1719—1787. 
 Elizabeth, daughter of 7th Baron Dormer ; Sir Michael Dormer, Lord Mayor of London, 
 a.d. 1510 ; The Duchess of Feria; Sir Cecil Bishopp and his sister Mary, wife of John 
 7th Lord Dormer, 1739 ; Robert, 2nd Lord Dormer, and Sophia, his wife, daughter of the 
 Earl of Pembroke. This Robert was the Earl who was slain at Newbury ; John, 7th Lord 
 Dormer ; Sir Cecil Bishopp, Bart; Sir Robert Dormer, 1st Baron, created a baronet in 
 1G15 ; Charles, 8th Lord Dormer, born 1725 ; Jane Dormer, 2nd daughter of Sir William 
 Dormer; Sir Fleetwood Dormer, 1673; Judge Dormer, brother to Fleetwood, and 
 several portraits of others allied to the family by marriage. Some of the pictures from 
 this gallery are supposed to be those now in the Assembly Room at the George Hotel, 
 Aylesbury, but there is no proof of such being the fact. In addition to the portraits at 
 Grove Park, there are many interesting relics of Eythrope House, amongst others a very 
 scarce picture of the Mansion, old oak mantel pieces, and some ancient oak carvings. 
 These were collected by the late Lord Nugent, in and about Aylesbury, by purchase, for 
 the old Lady Dormer. There were also several oil paintings restored to her from Thame, 
 Eythrope, Peterley, Saunderton, and other places. 
 
 An armory -was attached to Eythrope House ; it was built by Sir William Dormer ; 
 was not an imposing structure, as it had a wooden sloping roof, ornamented with red and 
 white roses ; at the base of the rafters were angels bearing shields, with arms of the 
 family of Dormer and their alliances ; it was hung round with specimens of ancient 
 armour and weapons in great variety. 
 
 The sale of the materials of the Mansion commenced on Wednesday, the 15th of 
 August, 1810, and was continued the two following days; the auctioneer was a Mr. 
 Herrnon, of Conduit Street, London; the catalogue comprised 451 lots, and consisted 
 wholly of building materials, including the chimney pieces. The catalogue contained 
 nothing referring to pictures, statuary, or any moveable effects whatever. Amongst the 
 principal purchasers at the sale was Mr. Scrope Bernard, of Lower Winchendon, after¬ 
 wards Sir Scrope Bernard Morland. He purchased the great hall and its appurtenances 
 with the intention of re-erecting it in a Mansion he was intending to build at Little 
 
302 
 
 Kimble ; his intentions were, however, not carried out, the Mansion was not built, and 
 the materials once more passed under the manipulations of the auctioneer. The little 
 spire, covered with lead, which for some years surmounted the western end of Little 
 Kimble Church, was a relic of Eythrope Chapel, it being purchased at the same sale and 
 presented by Sir Scrope to that Church ; it was intended to contain a clock. 
 Sir Scrope was then Lord of the Manor of Little Kimble and patron of the living. The 
 white stone facing in the elevation of the late White Hart Hotel at Aylesbury was from 
 Eythrope, as was also the portico at the entrance. The materials of the original building 
 of the old Bucks Infirmary were mostly from Eythrope, and there are relics of the old 
 mansion in many private houses in Aylesbury, but they cannot now be identified. 
 
 Eythrope chantry chapel was founded by Roger Dynharn, who by will, dated in 1490, 
 bequeathed his body “ to be buried in Waddesdon Church, until his chantry chapel at 
 Eythrope should be built after which, his remains were to be translated thither, and a 
 chantry founded. The old chapel was 42ft. long and 15ft. wide, wainscotted with oak ; 
 the area within the rails was paved with black and white Warwickshire stone in lozenges. 
 Willis describes the founder’s tomb in this chapel as an old grey marble monument with 
 brass plates and effigy of a man under a canopy supported by pillars, with four shields 
 of arms, charged with a fess lozengy, in chief a crescent, and the like impaling five 
 roundels. Over the three arches of the canopy : — 
 
 “ Mercy Christ Grace.” 
 
 And round the verge of the slab : — 
 
 "ilSnt* figure sequens obitum monstysebitet annum 1490 t£>ct. mense migr^at ab o^e 
 ■die xxiv. vos modo (flccligenas Rogers salve ut intqet. . . 
 
 (peorgius er t at genituq miles dictusquc Johannes. Istius et fqatetjf nomine quadeteo sed 
 iOominus ^hesaurjarjus Angli’ stetit ejus 
 
 ijjhiateti hie insignis oi;bis honot]e poijtens. Hancque $eva vir ( ura qapuit mot|s hune 
 gene^osum $ic nature suum jus petit hie mise^um/’J 
 
 The College of Fotheringhay, Co. Northampton, had been endowed with lands on 
 condition of finding a priest to officiate in this chantry chapel. The chapel, wdiich was 
 about four miles from Waddesdon Parish Church, by the desire of his lady, was fitted up 
 by Sir William Stanhope, who caused Divine Service to be performed in it regularly for 
 about ten years ; yet, at length, in 1738, he destroyed the building ; and Willis adds, that 
 “ Sir William most wickedly, sacreligiously, and impiously demolished the chapel, and 
 made use of the stones to build a bridge over the Thame brook near his mansion.” 
 Moreover, he adds that the tombstone of the founder was basely taken up, and his grave 
 opened in expectation of finding treasure, and that Sir William Stanhope sold the lead 
 for £100. This is too incredible for belief, but Willis was easily imposed upon. The 
 
 Qy. Est. 
 
 t Qy. Pater. 
 
 J Willis’ MS., Bodleian Library, Oxon. 
 
303 
 
 lead referred to was probably from the roof of the old decayed chapel, which had been left 
 in a dilapidated state from the time of the rebuilding of the house by. Dame Dorothy 
 Pelham, circ 1610, until its completion by Sir William Stanhope. 
 
 A curious circumstance happened in August, 1887, which refutes the base charges 
 made against Sir William Stanhope of desecrating the grave of Sir Roger Denham. On 
 disturbing the earth near the supposed site of the old chapel a large memorial slab was 
 accidentally discovered, which pointed out the spot as the grave of Sir Roger. This slab 
 is a massive one, measuring over 7ft. by 4ft., and is of considerable thickness. Many of 
 these old slabs were 5, 6, and 7 inches thick, but subsequently they were made much 
 thinner. The edges of this slab are neither beveled, chamfered, nor dressed; to all 
 appearance it was intended for, and did for many years form a part of the floor of 
 the chapel ; and was imbedded flush with the pavement of it. Without doubt this is the 
 identical stone which Willis imperfectly describes as an old grey monument, as on its 
 surface are all the incisions and details described by him, together with the inscription 
 round the verge. The stone is much affected by age, and also by the damp position 
 which it occupied, being buried four or five feet deep, in a damp subsoil and without auy 
 protection. The upper part of the stone is considerably shelled away ; as these slabs are 
 generally of Purbeck marble, or some other kindred stone, they are very liable to shell 
 off. The first line at the head of the inscription, “ Mercy Christ Grace,” has dis¬ 
 appeared, as have also portions of the first line of the inscription. The pitch, cement, 
 or whatever substance it was by which the brasses were fixed in the matrix, has been 
 entirely destroyed by dampness. The old method of fixing the brass work is unknown, 
 and is supposed to differ entirely from the modern method. In several places in this 
 slab the brass is dislocated and severed from the matrix; the figure in the centre is 
 much mutilated, as is also the principal finial, and some of the brass work is in loose 
 fragments. 
 
 Under this stone was found a leaden coffiu which, without doubt, contained the 
 remains of the founder of the chantry chapel. These were carefully treated, and under 
 the direction of Miss de Rothschild, removed to Waddesdon Churchyard, and there 
 reinterred. A stone is inserted in the wall of the porch of Waddesdon Church, inscribed— 
 
 SIR ROGER DENHAM, KT. 
 
 Died 1490. 
 
 Found at Eythrope 
 Aug. 24th, 1887. 
 
 Reinterred by 
 ALICE DE ROTHSCHILD. 
 
 Thus for the second time Sir Roger, after an interval of four hundred years, found 
 a resting place in Waddesdon Churchyard, and which it is to be hoped will be his final 
 
 one. 
 
 The mansion, after passing through many vicissitudes, was dismantled and with its 
 
304 
 
 appurtenances eventually rased to the ground. As there was no other residential 
 building remaining on the estate excepting farm homesteads, the park and the former 
 pleasure grounds relapsed into their primitive state, and were let as pastures. The 
 representatives of the ancient families, then feeling but little interest in the home of 
 their ancestors, disposed of it. In 1834 the Right Hon. George, Earl of Chesterfield, 
 conveyed the estate to William Bernard Harcourt, Esq., of St. Leonards’, Clewer, 
 Berks. It passed to his daughters, and was eventually purchased by Miss A. de 
 Rothschild in the year 1875. 
 
 Since the estate has been in the hands of the present owner, extensive improvements 
 have been made. A handsome pavilion has been erected, the grounds laid out with exquisite 
 taste ; great numbers of shrubs, ornamental and other trees planted, new roads formed, old 
 buildings removed and new ones built. Elegant lodges have also been placed at the 
 entrances to the park and the property generally rescued from the desolate condition it 
 exhibited subsequent to the demolition of the mansion. 
 
 THE WHADDON CHASE CLAIMANTS. 
 
 Rev. C. Lowndes, F.R.A.S. 
 
 “ Mr. Sergeant Selby was succeeded in his Whaddon estates by his son, Thomas 
 James Selby, who purchased of the representatives of Browne Willis the Hall and 
 grounds, and the pastures called Old Lands and Old Lauds Meadows, and thus again 
 united the Manor of Whaddon and the whole estate. Thomas James Selby died a 
 bachelor in 1772 ; but in the year 1768, desirous that the estates, which had been 
 purchased and enjoyed by his family, should descend to some person of the name and 
 blood of Selby, devised them with all his Manors, Whaddon Hall, Whaddon Chase, and 
 Whaddon Park to his “ right and lawful heir,” for the better finding of whom, he 
 directed advertisements to be published immediately after his decease in some of the 
 public papers ; but should it so happen that no heir-at-law was found, he then consti¬ 
 tuted and appointed William Lowndes, of Winslow, his “lawful heir,” on condition that 
 he took the name of Selby. In consequence of this remarkable bequest, advertisements 
 were published according to the directions, and numerous claimants from all parts of the 
 country appeared, but none of their claims were established. In 1773 the Court of 
 Chancery appointed Mr. William Lowndes receiver of the estates, while the claims of 
 the several parties were considered ; and in 1783 made a decree in which it was declared 
 
305 
 
 that the estates should be considered as belonging to him, that he should be put into 
 actual possession of the property, and that the rents which had, up to that period, been 
 paid into the bank, should be handed back to Mr. W. Lowndes, who had then assumed 
 the name of Selby. Consequently in the spring of 1783 Mr. W. Lowndes Selby took 
 possession of Whaddon Hall, and was on that occasion accompanied by a procession of 
 bis friends and dependants, together with a band of music. In Trinity Term, in the 
 following year, 1784, he levied a fine with proclamation, and I'etained possession. 
 Actions of ejectment were, however, brought against him by parties claiming the property, 
 but they were all uniformly decided in his favour.” 
 
 EPITAPHS. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 Sorrow for the dead is a sacred feeling, a part of our nature. It induces mourners 
 to mark the burial places of their departed friends by some memorial indicative of the 
 love or esteem in which they were held while living. Epitaphs of ancient dates are 
 found to be short, and usually faithful, prayerful, humble, monitory. In the more 
 modern examples, under the impulse of strong affection, we are apt to speak of the dead, 
 if we speak of them at all, as if in their lives they had been altogether faultless, and our 
 memory loves to dwell on those good qualities which made them dear to us. The first 
 requisite in an epitaph is, that it should speak in a tone to sink into the heart. 
 
 Metropolitan cemeteries are crowded in an unseemly manner by a perfect forest of erect 
 slabs towering ambitiously one above another, diversified by a few would-be Egyptian 
 obelisks, broken columns, cinerary urns, and other very inappropriate devices. Country 
 churchyards are mostly filled with hideous memorials covered with a profusion of gold 
 letters and flourishes, or else with the ordinary white stones abounding in such absurd or 
 repulsive devices as to provoke some to laughter, and Christian men to sadness, when 
 they look upon such an exhibition of folly, ignorance, and vanity. 
 
 In many cases special circumstances relating to or peculiarities of the departed are 
 referred to on their tombs, perpetuating what otherwise the next generation must have 
 forgotten. There was an example of this style of epitaph for some years to be seen in 
 Thame Church, on the monument erected to Robert Crews, who died in 1731. At the 
 end of the inscription was painted : — 
 
 “ In the morning when sober, in the evening when_mellow, 
 
 You scarce ever met such a jolly good fellow.” 
 
306 
 
 This was obliterated at the special direction of Dr. Samuel Wilberforce, some time 
 Bishop of Oxford. On the stone of Richard Shrimpton, in High Wycombe Churchyard, 
 dated 1727, is inscribed:— 
 
 “For being just unto a friend 
 His enemies hastened his end.” 
 
 An 18th century stone in St. Alban’s Abbey records the death of Thomas Shepherd, who 
 died 15th February, 1766, at the age of 30. It has this inscription, which is not very 
 complimentary to his widow : — 
 
 “ Great was my grief, I could not rest; 
 
 God called me hence—He thought it best; 
 
 Unhappy marriage was my fate, 
 
 I did repent when twas too late.” 
 
 In the Churchyard of Upton, Slough, an epitaph on a female denounces her husband :— 
 
 “ Weep not for me, my children dear, 
 
 Nor yet for my past sorrows fear ; 
 
 While here on earth I did remain, 
 
 My marriage life was grief and pain.” 
 
 In the same Churchyard is this singular inscription : — 
 
 “ Here lies the body of Sarah Bramstone, of Eton, Spinster, a person who dared to be just 
 in the reign of George the Second. 
 
 Obijt Jany. ye 30th, 1765, aged 77.” 
 
 The most objectionable class of epitaphs is that where the mourners usurp the functions 
 
 of the poet, and of course the veriest doggrel is the result. Several specimens of this 
 
 class might some years ago have been seen in Cuddington Church ; happily a better taste 
 
 has led to their removal altogether. In these tablets the poet and the sculptor appeared 
 
 to vie with each other in the exhibition of their profound ignorance :— 
 
 “ Here lieth the body of Mary, late wife of Richard Baker, who departed this life June 10th, 
 1708, aetatis suae 32. 
 
 I two three Chil-dren late 
 Gave birth, 
 
 And with the fourth lies here 
 Wrapt up in earth. 
 
 Here lies buried by each other, 
 
 Three of the Chil-dren 
 And the Mother.” 
 
 On another:— 
 
 “Here lieth the body of Richard Baker, Senr., who departed this life August ye 24th, Anno 
 1727, aetatis suae 59. 
 
 O Lord, how sudden was my change, 
 
 One Jesus Christ I will rely. 
 
 Lord grant two mortals all thy grace 
 Thy holy name to Glori6e. 
 
 Another shows some improvements :— 
 
 “Here lieth the body of Margaret Fitch, who departed this life December ye 6th, 1790, 
 aged 100 years. 
 
 Farewell to the world, the shop of toil and pain, 
 
 With my Redeemer now I hope to reign. 
 
 Welcome, sweet Death, the entrance into bliss, 
 
 A place of Rest, O what a change was this !” 
 
 
307 
 
 Another: — 
 
 “ Here lieth the body of Thomas Gibbs, who departed this life April ye 18th, 1720, and of 
 his age 56. 
 
 Behold and see all yon that do pass by, 
 
 You are alive, and so was I ; 
 
 Death is certain, as you see, 
 
 For suddenly it came to me.” 
 
 Another : — 
 
 “Here lieth the body of Mary, the wife of Thomas Gibbs. She departed this life Oct. 1st, 
 Anno Dom. 1721, aged 68 years. 
 
 Farewell to you, my children two 
 I loved so dear; 
 
 I am com to Rest, 
 
 Yon have no cause to fear. 
 
 My Race was run, 
 
 I coold no Longer stay, 
 
 Because my Dear Redeemer 
 Called me away.” 
 
 On another : — 
 
 “Underneath, in a Vault, lie the Remains of John, son of Thomas and Elizabeth Plater, 
 who died 22nd Feby., 1817, aged 7 years and 11 months. 
 
 I left this World in youthful years 
 My tender parents and my friends in tears. 
 
 Beware of dangers wheir you don’t see 
 Them, for suddenly it happened to me.” 
 
 In the neighbouring churchyard of Haddenham there mightat one time have been seen 
 three attempts to render the old sing-song inscription, “Afflictions sore, &c.” In the 
 first instance the engraver informed the reader that “ Physicians teas in vain.” On a 
 second stone it is found that “Physicians ivltere in vain.” Probably some critic called 
 the engraver’s attention to his errors, and he succeeded in announcing in his third 
 attempt that “ Physicians ivere in vain.” 
 
 The last century was a period in which these incongruous epitaphs multiplied 
 greatly ; they are now commonly to be met with in many country churchyards, a great 
 majority of them bearing the date of the 18th century. Recently erected memorials 
 show great advance in the march of education. Generally, mourners are now content 
 with a simple inscription, merely showing the age and date of death of the deceased ; 
 occasionally a concise scriptural quotation is added; they begin to realize the fact that: — 
 
 “Praises on tombs are trifles vainly spent; 
 
 A man’s good name is his best monument.” 
 
 WEST WYCOMBE HOUSE. 
 
 West Wycombe House was formerly the property of the Dormer family ; they 
 resided there previous to their removal to Eythrope, and to Ascot, Wing. The ancient 
 house stood near the village, and was a brick building. The Dormers being royalists, 
 
308 
 
 their estates were sadly affected by the civil wars, and West Wycombe was sold in 
 1670, by Charles Dormer, second Earl of Carnarvon, to Thomas Lewis, Alderman of 
 London, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Francis Dashwood, a Turkish merchant, 
 thus the estate passed into the Dashwood family. The present Mansion was built by 
 Sir Francis Dashwood, but much enlarged and embellished with a profusion of ornaments 
 by his son, Lord le Despencer. It is beautifully situated on a gentle ascent, commanding 
 a fine view of the surrounding grounds and the whole valley. The west front has an 
 Ionic portico of six noble columns, with an appropriate pediment. In the centre of the 
 south frout is a colonnade, 112 feet in length, with a loggia over it. The eastern portico 
 is of the Doric order, the tympanum of the pediment being adorned with figures, the 
 principal of which is Britannia surrounded with warlike trophies. The Mansion contains 
 several very fine apartments. The Great Hall measures 52£ feet by 22, and its roof is 
 supported by four elegant columns, crusted in imitation of marble. The Grand Staircase 
 is richly decorated. Indeed the house is superbly decorated throughout, and contains 
 statuary, pictures, and articles of virtu in very great abundance. 
 
 “ The gardens of West Wycombe were designed by Lord le Despenser, and finished 
 with a similar profusion of ornament to that which pervades the house. Temples, 
 statues, and vases, by turns attracted and wearied the attention ; but still the grand 
 outlines of the grounds were such as at all times, and under every disadvantage, whether 
 of superfluous decoration or unmerited neglect, claimed and received general admira¬ 
 tion. The character of the place is beauty ; there is nothing grand or sublime, but the 
 whole scene is cheerful and animated. The water, whether divided into several streams, 
 expanded into a clear pellucid lake, or meandering in a gentle river through the lawn, is 
 the leading feature of the laudscape. The lake is indeed a fine memorial of Lord le 
 Despenser’s taste and judgment, and will more than counterbalance his lordship’s 
 fondness for trifling decoration, which formerly appeared in every direction. Its boun¬ 
 daries are easy and natural, the surface at every breeze becomes a shattered mirror, and 
 receives the tremulous impressions of the sky, from whence the effect of light and shade 
 is so exquisitely thrown over the whole. The islands are happily situated, nor are they 
 planted with firs, which are at hand a heavy lump, at a distance a murky spot, but 
 with forest trees, which are attaining age and beauty. The removal of some of these 
 on one of the islands has given a more extended view, and perhaps improved the scene, 
 but certainly has taken away from the beauty of the island. The park, though not 
 extensive, partakes of all the beauty of the gardens, with the addition of an enlarged 
 prospect of the vale and the surrounding hills. The town and church of High Wycombe 
 are seen in several directions to great advantage. The church and mausoleum of West 
 Wycombe are rather to be considered as part of the garden scenery. The river winds 
 through the whole extent; and though the wood has not yet acquired the venerable 
 appearance of a more ancient deer-park, yet it is making considerable advances, is rich 
 in foliage, and happily clumped. This domain might be much extended, and would in 
 consequence embrace a greater variety of sylvan scenery.”—T. Langley (1797). 
 
309 
 
 BUCKINGHAMSHIRE PREMIERS. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 Until after the Restoration, 1G60, there was no Cabinet in the modern sense. The 
 Sovereign was aided by Privy Councillors, varying in numbers, the men and offices being 
 frequently exchanged. The separation of the Cabinet from the Privy Council became 
 greater during the reign of William III., and the control of the chief, now termed the 
 “ Premier,” began in the reign of Anne. Macaulay says—“ The era of ministries may 
 most properly be reckoned from the day of the meeting of the Parliament after the 
 general election of 1698.” Buckinghamshire has contributed five Premiers or Prime 
 Ministers to assist in governing the State. 
 
 Earl Stanhope. —In 1717, James (afterwards Earl) Stanhope undertook the office 
 of Premier. He was of the Eythropefamily, was a Colonel in the Foot Guards in 1694; 
 was M.P. for Newport, Isle of Wight, 1700; Brigadier-General, 1704; Envoy Extra¬ 
 ordinary and Major-General, 1706; Secretary of State, 1714; First Lord of the 
 Treasury, 1717, and Chancellor of the Exchequer ; created Viscount Mahon and Baron 
 Stanhope; Principal Secretary of State, 1718, and made Earl Stanhope; was a Lord’s 
 Justice, 1719 and 1720. In April, 1717, there appears to have been a thorough dis¬ 
 ruption in the Cabinet. The King dismissed Lord Townsend as Lord-Lieutenant of 
 Ireland, whereupon Mr. Walpole as Premier, Mr. Metheun, Secretary of State, Mr. 
 Pulteney, Secretary at War, and the Duke of Devonshire, President of the Council, with 
 others, resigned. This change is ascribed to the intrigues of Lord Sunderland and 
 Stanhope, then Secretary. Stanhope succeeded Walpole, both as First Lord of the 
 Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer, but was displaced in the following year by 
 the Earl of Sunderland. Earl Stanhope died in 1720. 
 
 Mr. George Grenville.— In April, 1763, Lord Bute suddenly resigned office as 
 First Lord of the Treasury, and withdrew into private life. Mr. George Grenville 
 succeeded, but no change of measures attended Lord Bute’s resignation. George 
 Grenville, of Wotton, w y as younger brother of Richard Grenville, Earl Temple, and 
 father of Lord Grenville. He entered Parliament as Member for Buckinghamshire, and 
 was distinguished for his eloquence. He successively filled the situations of Treasurer 
 of the Navy, First Lord of the Admiralty, and First Lord of the Treasury. In 1763 he 
 prosecuted Wilkes, of Aylesbury, for publishing No. 45 of the North Briton, and in March, 
 1764, introduced his celebrated financial resolution, “That towards defraying the expenses 
 of protecting and securing the colonies, it may be proper to charge certain stamp-duties in 
 the colonies.” He was thus the originator of the American War. In 1765, he became 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer, succeeding Lord Bute, but he resigned the same year to 
 the Marquis of Rockingham. His character was drawn by Burke in his speech, in the 
 
310 
 
 House of Commons, on American taxation (1774)—“Undoubtedly Mr. Grenville was a 
 first-rate figure in this country; with a masculine understanding, and a stout aud 
 resolute heart, he had an application undissipated aud unwaried. He took public 
 business not as a duty he was to fulfil, but as a pleasure he was to enjoy ; and he seemed 
 to have no delight out of this house, except in such things as in some way related to the 
 business that was done within it. If he was ambitious, I will say this for him, his 
 ambition was of a noble and generous strain. It was to raise himself, not by the low, 
 pimpling politics of a Court, but to win his way to power through the knowledge of its 
 constitution and a perfect practice in all its business.” He died in 1770, and was buried 
 at Wotton. 
 
 Earl of Shelburne.— William Petty, Earl of Shelburne, was born in 1737, and 
 entered the army when very young: he distinguished himself at the battles of Minden 
 and Kampen. On the accession of George III., in 1760, he was appointed Aide-de-Camp, 
 and subsequently reached to the position of Major-General. In 1761. he became Earl of 
 Shelburne. He at first supported Lord Bute, uuder whom he held office, but became in 
 time attached to the Earl of Chatham, of whom he was an ardent admirer and unswerving 
 supporter. Earl Shelburne was called upon to form an administration in 1782, and 
 announced that he would adhere to all those constitutional ideas which for seven years 
 he had imbibed from his political leader, the late Earl of Chatham. His ministry only 
 extended over seven months. The Earl retired from office iu 1783, resigning the leader¬ 
 ship of his party to William Pitt. After he was created Marquis of Lansdowne, in 1784, 
 he took but little share in public business. He resided at Loakes, High Wycombe; 
 he died in 1805, and was buried in the North Chancel Aisle of High Wycombe Church. 
 The Earl’s Wycombe property was disposed of in 1798 to the first Lord Carrington. 
 Lord Camden rated Lord Shelburne's oratorical powers above those of any peer of his 
 time, Lord Chatham alone excepted. Lord Thurlow eulogised the correctness and 
 minuteness of his information, aud even Walpole does not deny him a high place amongst 
 the debaters of his time. 
 
 Lord Grenville. —The Right Hon. William Wyndham Grenville, better known 
 as Lord Grenville, was third son of George Grenville, Chancellor of the Exchequer ; 
 he was born iu 1759. On completing his studies at Oxford, he entered one of the Inns 
 of Court, with the intention of studying for the bar ; but forming an early acquaintance 
 with Mr. Pitt caused him to abandon all thought of the law, and seek distinction in the 
 Senate. He began his Parliamentary career as a representative of Buckinghamshire, 
 filled the Speaker’s chair six months, and then succeeded Lord Sidney as Secretary for 
 the Home Department. In 1790, he was raised to the peerage, and in the following 
 year made Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. The revolutionary principles of that 
 period were making rapid progress, and it appeared to Lord Grenville that a war with 
 France was inevitable. Acting on this opinion, he refused to admit the visits of the 
 
 
311 
 
 Ambassadors from the French Directory, which being contrary to the opinion of Mr. 
 Pitt, his lordship resigned, and was succeeded in his office by Lord Dundas. Lord 
 Grenville took an active part in promoting the union with Ireland, and joined with Mr. 
 Pitt in favourable intimations to the Roman Catholics, but when afterwards ministers 
 found that there were strong reasons why these intimations could not be fulfilled, they 
 resigned. Lord Grenville then took part with the opposition, and adhered to that party 
 till the death of Mr. Pitt in 1806. In the Cabinet which followed that event, he was 
 made First Lord of the Treasury, which office he held but for a short period ; and he 
 lost his popularity by filling, at the same time, the office of Auditor. On the dissolution 
 of the Ministry, his Lordship principally confined his senatorial exertions to the cause of 
 Roman Catholic emancipation, for which he was always a steady and consistent advocate. 
 He was distinguished for his general literary attainments, as well as for his political 
 knowledge, and he held the office of Chancellor of the University of Oxford, in which 
 office he was succeeded by the Duke of Wellington. He resided at Dropmore Lod°-e 
 where he died in 1834. 
 
 Earl of Beaconsfield.— Mr. Disraeli took office for the first time in 1852, under 
 the first administration of Lord Derby, in which he held the post of Chancellor of the 
 Exchequer. His tenure of office was brief and did not greatly add to his reputation as a 
 Statesman. In 1866 he again held the like appointment under the same chief. When 
 Mr. Gladstone resigned, consequent on so many Liberals taking refuge in what Mr. 
 Bright, in one of his happiest hits, named the •* Cave of Adullam,” the Conservatives 
 once more came into power, and Mr. Disraeli entered for the third time upon a lease of 
 office. A general election followed soon after the passing of the “ three-cornered 
 constituency Act,” when the Conservatives again met with a severe defeat. Mr. Disraeli 
 fought well and gallantly. He sustained the drooping spirits of his party through many 
 signal reverses, and led them once more to victory. In 1873 he was elected Lord Rector 
 of the University of Glasgow, a tribute alike to his eminence in political life and his 
 distinction as an author. On the 24th of January, 1874, Mr. Gladstone issued his 
 celebrated manifesto to the electors of Greenwich, announcing a dissolution of Parliament. 
 Mr. Disraeli quickly accepted the challenge, and issued an address to his constituents, 
 the electors of the Coirnty of Buckingham. At this election Mr. Gladstone was dis¬ 
 astrously defeated, and resigned, and Mr. Disraeli was called upon to form a Govern¬ 
 ment, in which he became Premier. In 1876, he was called to the Upper House as 
 Earl of Beaconsfield, and on the 22nd of August of that year he bid farewell to his 
 Buckinghamshire constituents. At the general election of 1880 the Tories were once 
 more defeated, when Earl Beaconsfield and his colleagues resigned office. In acknow¬ 
 ledgment of his services to the State, Her Majesty now conferred on the Earl, the Order 
 of the Garter. The circumstances of the Earl of Beaconsfield’s death are well known. He 
 died at his residence, Curzon Street, London, on the morning of Easter Tuesday, April 
 19th, 1881. His last words were “ I am overwhelmed.” He was buried at Hughenden. 
 
312 
 
 GREAT HORWOOD.—BRIEFS. 
 
 In ancient Churchwardens’ accounts many entries are recorded of money collected by 
 briefs ; generally they are very small sums. Churchwardens were by statute authorised 
 to make collections upon briefs or letters of request. These were letters issuing out of 
 the Court of Chancery to make collections to re-build churches, restore losses by fire, 
 and other calamities. They were read in churches in Divine Service, and the sums 
 collected were endorsed on the briefs in words at length, and signed by the Minister and 
 Churchwardens, after which they were delivered, with the money collected, to the persons 
 undertaking them within a given time, under a penalty of £20. A register had to be 
 kept by the Churchwardens of all monies so collected. The undertakers in two months 
 after the receipts of the monies had to give up their accounts before a Master in Chancery, 
 appointed by the Lord Chancellor. The following is a copy of “ Letter of Request” on 
 the occasion of a sad fire at Great Horwood : — 
 
 “ To the Benevolent and Humane, 
 
 “ It is humbly represented,—That on Monday, the 28th day of May, 1781, a very 
 Sudden and most Dreadful Fire broke out in the Village of Great Horwood in the County 
 of Bucks, which spread with uncommon fury, and in less than two Hours burnt to the 
 Ground, Sixteen Farm Houses, Four Malt Houses, and forty Cottages or Tenements, 
 together with almost the whole of the Furniture, Wearing Apparel, Books of Accounts, 
 and Effects of every kind belonging to the Inhabitants. Also all the Barns, Stables, and 
 outhouses with the Grain, Implements of Husbandry and everything contained therein, 
 together with ricks of Hay, Hogs and other animals, That the said poor Sufferers (whose 
 Loss upon the most moderate Computation, when all Insurances are deducted, amounts 
 to the Sum of Seven Thousand Four Hundred and Forty-four Pounds) are reduced to 
 the utmost Distress ; and the Greater part of them must have even perished for Want 
 of the Necessaries of Life if those had not been humanely supplied by the neighbouring 
 Gentlemen and persons of every rank. 
 
 “ It is with the utmost concern also that most of the Inhabitants find the Great 
 Losses they have already sustained to be still hourly increased through the want of all 
 those Offices which are necessary in their several occupations, and without which the 
 daily produce at their Farms in particular cannot be turned to advantage; and that they 
 must therefore be utterly ruined, unless speedy and bountiful assistance is alforded them 
 in this their Great Calamity.” 
 
313 
 
 CHESHAM CHURCHES. 
 
 Late Rev. C. Lowndes, F.R.A.S. 
 
 “ That there were formerly two Churches in Chesham does not admit of a question 
 —one the present Church, and the other Chesham Woburn, which was situate at the 
 back of the Infant School, where the foundations have been discovered ; for Edward IV., 
 in the sixth year of his reign, granted to Edward Braymill a garden and one rood of 
 land in West-dean field, lying and being in Chesham Leicester and Woburn, for the 
 maintenance of lights in the Churches of Chesham Leicester and Chesham Woburn. 
 There are also undoubted evidences of the existence of two vicarage houses—one situated 
 in a garden adjoining the Infant School and near the Church of Chesham Woburn ; and 
 the other to the north of the town, about one mile distant, and situated between the 
 roads leading to Bellingdon and Chesham Vale. The Duke of Bedford being patron of 
 both vicarages, pulled them down and built the present vicarage house.” 
 
 EXHUMATION OF THE BODY OF JOHN HAMPDEN. 
 
 In Great Hampden Church, June 19th, 1828. 
 
 Late Mr. W. J. Bernhard Smith. 
 
 “ After the inscriptions on several coffins had been examined, one was found about 
 four feet from the surface, on the right-hand (south ?) side of the communion table, on 
 which no letters were legible, and as the plate was not much decayed, it seemed 
 probable that there never had been any inscription. It was immediately determined that 
 this should be opened. It was cut open, and the lead rolled back ; the body was laid in 
 a wooden shell, and upon removing the sawdust, was found to be enveloped in very 
 numerous folds of cerecloth, which would, perhaps, account for its remarkable preserva¬ 
 tion ; the flesh was white and firm, but with no other odour than that of the surrounding 
 earth. The features were much compressed by the weight of the bandages ; the eyes 
 were covered with a white film : the beard had been shaven, but there appeared a growth 
 of about a sixteenth of an inch. The hair was long and flowing, as represented in the 
 portraits of Hampden ; it had been collected and tied with a black riband at the back 
 of the head. In colour it corresponds with the description given by Mrs. Grote. I cut 
 off a lock, which is still in my possession. As there was no surgeon present Lord Nugent 
 descended into the grave, and endeavoured to ascertain whether there was auy wound 
 upon or near the left shoulder, but it being found impossible thus to make a satisfactory 
 
314 
 
 examination, the coffin was raised and set upon tressels in the middle of the chanceh 
 The body was placed in a sitting posture, with a shovel to support the head. The 
 shoulders and arms were then carefully inspected, and the result proved that Lord 
 Nugent’s ‘ foregone conclusion’—that Hampden’s death was occasioned by a gunshot 
 wound in the shoulder—was at once dissipated. There did not appear any discolouration 
 or the slightest injury to the shoulders or arras ; but in order to be perfectly satisfied, 
 Lord Nugent himself, with a small pocket-knife, borrowed from me at the instant, made 
 several incisions in the parts adjacent to the shoulder joint, without finding any fracture 
 or displacement of the bones. Lord Nugent was evidently disappointed ; he did not care 
 to establish the fact that Hampden’s death was occasioned in any other manner than by 
 a shot from the King’s troops. My own opinion rather leaned to the tradition related by 
 Sir Robert Pye (Hampden’s son-in-law), that his right hand was shattered by the burst¬ 
 ing of his pistol, and that death probably ensued from lockjaw, arising out of extensive 
 injury to the nervous system. When I took up the right hand it was contained in a sort 
 of funeral glove, like a pocket. On raising it I found it was entirely detached from the 
 arm ; the bones of the wrist and of the hand were much displaced, and had been evidently 
 splintered by some violent concussion ; only the ends of the fingers were held together by 
 the ligaments. The two bones of the forearm, for about three inches above the wrist, 
 were without flesh or skin, but there were no marks of amputation ; both the bones 
 perfect. The left hand was iu a similar glove, but it was firmly attached to the arm, and 
 remained so when the glove was drawn away. There were slight portions of the flesh 
 upon the hand ; the bones were complete, and still held in their places by the ligaments 
 which supported them. This remarkable difference in the condition of the hands 
 sufficiently proves the truth of Sir Robert Pye’s relation of the cause of Hampden’s 
 death ."—Letter to Dr. F. G. Lee, Lambeth. 
 
 HALL BARNS, BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 Jesse (1847). 
 
 “ Hall Barns is a square brick house, ornamented with pilasters, and stone 
 dressings to the windows, and surrounded with the scenery of a park, diversified with 
 undulated ground and plantations. The gardens retain much of their original character, 
 consisting of broad terrace walks of gravel or grass, sheltered by lofty screens of laurel 
 and yew. A small lake, in the formal shape of the time, is seen at the bottom, with a 
 banqueting house at the upper end of it, surrounded by an extensive lawn, and adorned 
 with temples and summer-houses. At the extremity of the walk, we entered a wood of 
 beeches and laurels, and hollies, in which the ground is varied, and the walks conducted 
 with taste, so as to shew with advantage both the immediate and more distant views. From 
 
315 
 
 two ofthese points, long vistas are seen leading in different directions, amongst which the 
 most striking is one, in which several avenues of lofty beech, fringed with fine laurel 
 hedges, meet in the central point, where is an open temple, supported by Corinthian pillars, 
 dedicated to Venus. The whole grove is surrounded with a broad grass terrace, com¬ 
 manding views into the park and the surrounding scenery. The design is pleasing and 
 elegant, formed after the taste of those times which admitted a more regular and 
 systematic plan than would be approved of in the present day. In short it was one of 
 those scenes decorated by the hand of taste in which we might suppose Milton’s Comus, 
 or the Faithful Shepherdess to have been acted, as the Aminta and Pastor Fido were, in 
 the more genial and luxuriant gardens of Italy. 
 
 Amid these elegant and cultivated scenes, Waller lived in the enjoyment of a 
 handsome fortune, and with sufficient leisure to devote his thoughts and time to the art 
 from which, in the oblivion of his political struggles, he has obtained immortality. The 
 beautiful grove near his house, the creation of his own taste, was the peculiar scene of 
 his daily wanderings. Here, in a more shady and sequestered dell, is shewn the poet’s 
 favourite rock-built seat. Here he had the power, according to the fancy-feeling of the 
 moment, or the season of the year, of varying his walks in sun or shade ; and we can, 
 without difficulty, picture in our minds the imagery he represents when referring to 
 Penshurst and adapting the lines to Beaconsfield he says— 
 
 While in the park I sing, the listening deer 
 Attend tny passion, and forget to fear ; 
 
 When to the beeches I report my flame, 
 
 They bow their heads as if they felt the same. 
 
 The style and character of these groves partake of that artificial taste which 
 delighted in formal avenues, and regular vistas, decorated with temples, adorned with 
 statues, and bounded by fences of perennial verdure, yet they possess a beauty of their 
 own, and please by the skilfulness of the composition, and the agreeable harmony of the 
 different parts.” 
 
 GREAT MISSENDEN CHURCH. 
 
 Rev. Evelyn White, F.S.A. 
 
 “ The parish church of Great Missenden was erected some time during the 12th 
 century. It is a cruciform building, consisting of chancel, nave, with clerestory, north 
 and south aisles, with transepts, and north and south porches. The tower is of three 
 stages, and contains six bells. The bells are said to have been brought from the Con¬ 
 ventual church, and the tower to have been enlarged for their reception. Five bells 
 were so brought, the tenor bell being of so great a size as to necessitate its being re-cast. 
 
316 
 
 Out of this bell the treble was formed. The tenor bell is supposed to have been brought 
 from Normandy, and to be the largest bell iu the county. Originally it bore the inscrip¬ 
 tion, * Dulcis instar malis campana vocor gabrielis,’ and weighed 50 cwt. It is now 
 reduced. The peal is remarkably good. The east window, of five lights, filled 
 with stained glass, was placed by Mrs. Carrington to the memory of her late 
 husband, Mr. George Carrington, Lord of the Manor. The same lady had also inserted 
 a stained glass window on the South side of the chancel to the memory of her father and 
 mother. In the chancel was buried the noted Mrs. Cellier, the Popish midwife, who was 
 of the Dormer family. She is known for the prominent part she played in connection 
 with the pretended‘Meal-Tub plot,’in the year 1679. It was in Mrs. Cellier’s house 
 that the scheme of Dangerfield against James, Duke of York, was contrived. The 
 object of the plot was to cut off those who opposed the succession of James II. Mr. 
 Edmund Brudenell, clerk to the Parliament in the reign of Edward III., Attorney to 
 King Richard II., and coroner of England, gave by will, dated 1452, to the church of 
 Missenden his silk banner with the star upon it. The earliest register book is missing, 
 but Browne Willis made extracts from it relating to the more prominent families as the 
 Fleetwoods, Boys, Cheynes, Dormers, Chalmer, Brudenell, and others.” 
 
 WESTON UNDERWOOD HALL. 
 
 T. Wright. 
 
 “Weston Hall, the ancient mansion of the Throckmortons, which stood on the 
 left side of the road leading from Olney to Weston, just outside the village, was entirely 
 demolished in 1827 ; and of its near appurtenances none are now standing except the 
 iron gates with four stone piers, and a portion of the stabling and granary crowned by a 
 cupola. It consisted of a quadrangle enclosing a court, or as the villagers used to call 
 it,‘the jail-yard;’ and drawings are in existence of each of its fronts. The north, 
 principal, or Queen Anne front faced the park, and was built by Sir Robert Throck¬ 
 morton about 1710. Projecting northwards and at right angles to it were the stables, 
 the one on the west side, which occupied the site of the present Roman Catholic chapel, 
 being for the coach-horses, the one on the other side for the hunters. The rest of the 
 exterior was partly in the Queen Anne style and partly Elizabethan, the most irregular 
 portion being the west front, which had a porch, and was a perfect medley of chimneys, 
 gabled projections, and windows, the last dotted about in the oddest manner imaginable. 
 From the general appearance of the interior it was judged that the house must have 
 been commenced about the end of the fifteenth century ; at the time of its demolition 
 the southern portion was in ruins and had not been inhabited for two hundred years. 
 Coats-of-arms which adorned some of the windows bore the date 1572, and over the 
 door of one of the parlours were several ancient escutcheons of arms. 
 
317 
 
 In taking the house down, several interesting discoveries were made. In one place 
 was a concealed door, which when bolted withiuside could not be distinguished from the 
 wainscot. Three of the garrets on the west side of the house had in days of persecution 
 been thrown together to form a chapel ; and in another garret next to the chapel was 
 found a trap-door opening into a small secret room below, the situation of which was 
 concealed from the outside by a large stack of chimneys. It contained a box sufficiently 
 long for a person to lie in at ease ; in which were two mattresses, a rough hewn ladder 
 long enough to reach the trap-door, a candlestick, a crust of bread, some chicken bones, 
 and a priest’s breviary. Doubtless these hiding-places often had occupants in the 
 troublous days of Elizabeth and James I., during which the Throckmortons suffered so 
 much on account of their religion ; but although it was a matter of history that hiding- 
 places of some sort existed in the house they had not been known even to the family of 
 late years. The library, the family portraits, and the coats-of-arms on painted glass 
 with which the windows were adorned, were removed to Coughton, the principal residence 
 of the family ; the black marble and white flags which formed part of the pavement of 
 the entrance-hall are now in the floor of the Roman Catholic chapel.” 
 
 GAYHURST HOUSE. 
 
 Gayhurst House is a large and venerable-looking stone mansion of the Elizabethan 
 period, though it has lately been much altered, with a view to adapt it more conveniently 
 to modern usages and comforts. The erection of the house commenced in 1597. It 
 stands delightfully in an extensive park, within view of the road from Newport Pagnell 
 through the county. The most interesting incident in connection with the place lies in 
 the fact of Everard Digby having at one time lived there. He was remarkable for the 
 6hare he had in the Gunpowder Plot. He is said to have been one of the handsomest 
 men of his time, and by mental accomplishments one of the finest gentlemen in England. 
 He possessed Gayhurst by marriage. He was educated, Dr. Lipscomb says, under the 
 tuition of some Romish priests, who gave him those impressions which hurried him on 
 to his fate. He received from King James theorder of Knighthood, but was drawn to 
 be privy to the Gunpowder Plot; and though not a principal actor in it, yet he offered 
 £1,500 towards defraying the expenses of it; entertained Guy Fawkes, who was to have 
 executed it, at Gayhurst; and was taken in open rebellion, with other Papists, after the 
 plot had failed, and was hung, drawn, and quartered on the 30th of January, 1606. 
 The attic at the top of the house is associated with Digby and the conspirators. 
 It was supposed to have been used as an oratory, and to have had a secret staircase. 
 The leading members of the conspiracy, and the priests who are said to have abetted 
 it, were frequent guests at Gayhurst. Gayhurst was some years ago one of the seats 
 of the Right Hon. Lord Carrington. 
 
318 
 
 LICENSE FOR HOLDING PUBLIC WORSHIP. 
 
 The small building in Baker’s Lane (Cambridge Street), Aylesbury, s a fair 
 example of an ancient Nonconformist place of worship, plain and unpretending as 
 possible. Standing recessed from public view at the extremity of a small patch of 
 ground, it would be scarcely noticed by a casual passer-by. Four bare walls and a tiled 
 roof constitute the main building ; it has an adjoining vestry room, and these are all its 
 possessions; they are indeed simple, and have no claim whatever to architectural 
 embellishment; probably when erected its cost was a matter of much concern to 
 its promoters. The following is a copy of the original license granted for holding public 
 worship in this then new place of worship :— 
 
 “ Buckinghamshire to wit.—Michaelmas Session, One Thousand Seven Hundred and 
 Thirty-three. 
 
 “Be it remembered—That the newly erected Brick Building on part of a piece or 
 parcel of ground Called Welche’s Mount, situate in Aylesbury, in the said County, was 
 Certified to this Court this present Session to be a Public Meeting house for religious 
 Worshipp according to the forme of the Statute made in the first year of the reigne of 
 their late Majesty’s King William and Queen Mary, intituled an Act for Exempting his 
 Majesty’s Protestant Subjects dissenting from the Church of England from the penalties 
 of Certain Lawes. 
 
 “ By the Court, 
 
 “Will. IIaytox, 
 
 “ Clerk of the Peace for the County of Buckingham.*’ 
 
 WYCOMBE AN ASSIZE TOWN. 
 
 Late Mr. J. Parker. 
 
 “ The * Pleas de quo warranto Bucks, Rot. 1, Edw. I., 1286,” afford us an amusing 
 story of a proceeding by ejectment. Gilbert de Thornton, King’s Attorney at the 
 assizes at Wycombe in this year, claimed against the Abbot of Missenden, a messuage in 
 Wycombe, as the King’s escheat, as the property of a Norman born, Nicholas le Vinetur, 
 who died seized of it. The abbot came in person and declared that Nicholas passed the 
 house to him, by a fine, and held it afterwards of him for life only, but that now it ought 
 to revert to him as the right of the Church of Missenden. To this Gilbert replied, that 
 
319 
 
 this was not the case, but that all the abbot’s right consisted of actions of intrusion 
 after the death of Nicholas. And that he should prove that the said Nicholas continued 
 his possession by himself, his wife, and his servants, and never changed his estate. And 
 so issue was joined. 
 
 Then the sheriff was enjoined to form a jury of twelve men residing near the Town 
 of Wycombe, and twelve men of the town itself, none of whom were connected with the 
 Abbot, to try the cause; but hereupon came the Mayor and bailiffs of Wycombe, and 
 declared that they had such liberty in their town of Wycombe, that all enquiries of 
 assize and law concerning houses and property in Wycombe, ought to be made before 
 burgesses of the town and not by foreigners (non residents); and they demanded that 
 this liberty should be in no respect infringed. They also declared that the Abbot had 
 calumniated and injured the commonalty of the town in other respects. Now this was 
 clearly the worst thing they could have done, and prevented their obtaining their demand. 
 Ultimately the jury was formed of seven burgesses and five foreigners ; * thus saving,’ 
 6ays the Record, ‘ to the said burgesses, their liberty aforesaid.’’ 
 
 DORNEY COURT. 
 
 Dorney Court, near Eton, is the seat of the Palmer family. By whom the house 
 was built is not known. The east front has a magnificent appearance. The mansion 
 consisted of two large quadrangles. One was bounded by a row of stabling, and within 
 the wall were several angular recesses. The other quadrangle contained a small garden 
 with a fountain in the centre. On the east side was a tower. The greater portion of 
 the house has long since disappeared ; and in that part which now remains is a large 
 hall with an antique Gothic roof, and having a gallery at the end, once supported by 
 pillars, in which the musicians used to sit when they played to the family at dinner. In 
 this hall was an immense chimney-piece, over which was a colossal bust of John of 
 Ghaunt, from whom a portion of the family trace their descent ; and two large antique 
 windows of stained glass. These were removed some years ago, when the hall was 
 modernised. 
 
 As an evidence of the former splendour of this mansion, it may be mentioned that 
 coats of arms with inscriptions below them (unfortunately too far gone to be restored), 
 were discovered when the house was undergoing repair ; many antique stone chimney- 
 pieces are still in existence, concealed by the brick-work of the present chimneys. There 
 is still to be seen a very curious antique oaken door, ou the north side, which appears 
 
320 
 
 to have formed part of the ancient fabric. The front is bold and handsome, the centre 
 finishing with a pediment. The west side exhibits four successive gables. The grounds 
 are well wooded. 
 
 NEWPORT PAGNELL. 
 
 The adjunct of Pagnell is derived from the family name of Paganel, the ancient 
 possessors of the manor, whose castle here was a place of great strength. The church of 
 SS. Paul and Peter is a noble stone building in the Early English and later styles, con¬ 
 sisting of chancel, nave, aisles, north and south porches and a western embattled tower, 
 with pinnacles of Perpendicular date, containing eight bells ; the north porch, dating 
 from the reign of Edward I. is the oldest part of the building, and over it is a priest’s 
 room ; the chantry chapel at the east end of the south aisle is of the same date ; the 
 south porch has a fine Early English arcade, and there is an arcade in the south aisle, 
 and in the chancel, piscina and sedilia : the nave is of six bays ; the first pillar of the 
 arcades, with a square capital and different form of corbel, distinctly marks the original 
 position of the rood loft; there are ten stained windows, seven being in the chancel, two 
 in the south aisle. 
 
 Newport Pagnell played an important part in the unhappy war between the King and 
 his Parliament in the 17th century. Charles, in 1643, held his court at Oxford, and 
 during that year Bedford was taken by Prince Rupert. Sir Lewis Dives, of Bromham 
 Hall, being at the head of the King’s interest there, the Parliament ordered Sir Samuel 
 Luke to apprehend him, but the attempt was unsuccessful. Sir Samuel was wounded. 
 Sir Lewis escaped by swimming the Ouse, near Bromham, and Sir Luke’s soldiers 
 plundered Bromham Hall. The King then issued orders to Sir Lewis Dives, Sir John 
 Digby of Gayhurst, and Colonel Urrey, to take Olney, and afterwards to seize upon 
 Newport Pagnell, where it was proposed to establish a garrison of 1,500 men. Sir Lewis 
 possessed himself of Newport on the 6th October, and immediately commenced to fortify 
 the place with defensive works. He threw up the embankment iu Bury Field and Marsh 
 End, and surrounded that part of the town then called Back Lane, with a stone wall ; 
 compelling the inhabitants to work at the fortifications. His design was to environ 
 the town upon those sides that were undefended by the river, with a ditch and a high 
 embankment, afterwards to be surmounted by artillery so placed as to command the 
 bridges over the Ouse and the roads leading to the town. The adverse party, in des¬ 
 cribing the works, stated that having seized the town, the “ cavaliers” compelled “ the 
 inhabitants thereabouts to come in and entrench it ; and they are drawing the water 
 about it the better to strengthen and fortifie it, their drift being to intercept all cattell 
 and other provisions that shall come out of the adjoining counties to London.” 
 
321 
 
 THE EFFIGY IN AYLESBURY CHURCH. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 The effigy in St. Mary’s Church, Aylesbury, has been generally accepted as repre¬ 
 senting James Boteleir, 3rd Earl of Ormonde, the founder of the Aylesbury Monastery. 
 Historians who have not troubled to make a minute examination of it, have come to that 
 conclusion, but such is erroneous. The figure is of white alabaster ; the workmanship 
 of an elaborate character, and what little is left discernible of the sculptor’s work, shows 
 him to have been an adept in his art. Without doubt its first depository was the church 
 of the Blessed Mary attached to the Grey Friars Monastery, which once stood in the 
 Friarage, Aylesbury. There is no evidence as to the period when the effigy was first 
 deposited in the Parish Church. It has been very harshly treated ; the whole surface 
 from head to foot has suffered much from abrasion, and in many places is worn as 
 smooth as glass ; every feature is destroyed. A minute examination of the armorial 
 bearings on the figure shows fragments of the manes and ears of some animal ; these 
 may be taken as having been attached to lions’ or leopards’ faces ; portions of a right 
 ear and mane can be deciphered on the dexter chief; on the sinister, portions of a left 
 ear and mane are visible. Assuming a like face at the base, together with the dancettee, 
 and we have the ancient arms of the Lee family. Robert, third son of Benedict Lee, 
 was buried at Aylesbury at the period when the Conventual Church was standing. 
 Browne Willis regarded the effigy as representing this Robert Lee, who died in the reign 
 of Henry VII. (1485—1509). 
 
 OLNEY.—COWPER THE POET. 
 
 W. Howitt (1795—1879). 
 
 “The house occupied by Cowper stands near the eastern corner of the Market 
 Place, Olney, overtopping all the rest. There are other quiet, cottage-like houses 
 stretching away right and left, the tall elm tree, the pump, the old octagon stone, lock-up 
 house. The house which was Cowper’s, makes an imposing appearance in a picture, and 
 in reality is a building of considerable size ; but must always have been internally an 
 ill-finished house. He, himself, and his friends compared it to a prison. It had no 
 charms whatever of location. Opposite to it came crowding up some common dwellings, 
 behind lay the garden, on a dead flat, and therefore with no attractions but such as art 
 and a poet’s imagination gave it. It was, for some years after he quitted it, inhabited 
 by a surgeon. He had, in his turn, long left it ; and it now was divided into three 
 tenements. One was a little grocer’s shop, the other part in front was an infant school, 
 
322 
 
 and the back part a workshop of some kind. The house was altogether dingy and 
 desolate, and bore no marks of having at any time been finished in a superior style. In 
 the garden, about the centre, stands Cowper’s summer-house. It is a little square 
 tenement (as Cowper describes it himself, in one of his letters), not much bigger than a 
 sedan-chair. It is of timber, framed and plastered, and the roof of old red tiles. It has 
 a wooden door on the side next to his own house, and a glass one, serving as window, 
 exactly opposite, and looking across the next orchard to the parsonage. There is a bench 
 on each side, and the ceiling is so low that a man of moderate stature cannot stand 
 upright in it. Except in hot weather, it must have been a regular wiud-trap. It is, of 
 course, written all over with verses, aud inscribed with names. Around it stand ever¬ 
 greens, and in the garden remain various old fruit trees, which were there in Cowper’s 
 time, and some of them, no doubt, planted by him.” 
 
 LONG CREXDON CHURCH. 
 
 The church of Long Crendon stands on a natural eminence to the extreme east of 
 the village, and is so placed that its striking tower may be seen for miles round. Near 
 it originally stood the ancient Castle of the Giffards, of which, however, not a trace now 
 remains. The situation is one of singular natural beauty, overlooking what was 
 anciently known as Crendon Park ; while at the north-eastern part of the village still 
 stands Staple Hall, a building erected by the family of Dormer, a flourishing race of 
 woolstaplers from West Wycombe aud Thame, now represented by Baron Dormer. 
 
 Crendon Church—erected mainly of freestone from Headington, near Oxford, and 
 from Taynton, in Gloucestershire—was no doubt originally built in the first-pointed 
 style. The chancel is mainly of this architectural character still, and so is the eastern 
 wall of the north transept, the whole of which was originally lighted by single lancet 
 windows. The pillars of the nave, likewise, with one exception, are of the same first- 
 pointed style. In plan they are quartrefoil-shaped, with good bases and bold capitals, 
 though the mouldings of all have been greatly mutilated, and the floor of the nave 
 raised considerably beyond its original height, so that the bases are only imperfectly 
 seen. 
 
 The church consists of chancel, nave, north and south transepts, north and south 
 aisles, with three porches—one to the west, one to the north, and one to the south. A 
 bold and effective central embattled tower rises from the intersection of nave and 
 
323 
 
 transepts, which tower is internally entered by a door in the western side of the north 
 transept, through a newel stone staircase in a turret, the crown of which rises some 
 feet above the tower itself. 
 
 In the chancel there are two narrow, deep, splayed lancelet windows on the north 
 side, aud three lancet windows of similar type to the south. The whole of the stone 
 mullions of the east window are destroyed. There is a large pew on the north side 
 made from the lower panels of the old oak chancel screen. A singular stone bracket, 
 with a tau-shaped cross on its front, remains at the angle of the splay of the easternmost 
 lancet window. There is also a low stone sedile on the north side, close to the chancel 
 rails. Two stone brackets for images likewise remain, one on each side of the east 
 window. From the tower floor there is a step downwards leading to the chancel. 
 
 The costly monument to Sir John Dormer, a very handsome erection of its kind 
 and type, is effective and suitable. It has recumbent figures of Sir John and his lady, 
 and is decorated with renaissance ornaments, perhaps a little highly-coloured, but quite 
 in accordance with the not too over-pure taste of the seventeenth century. It has a 
 boldly-executed shield of arms up above, under a helmet, the arms of Dormer, with three 
 other quarterings, impaling those of Giffard of Chillington. The inscription stands 
 thus :—“ Here lyeth buried Sir Iohn Dormer of Dorton Knight, one of the Lordes of 
 the Manor of Crendon and Dame lane his wife one of the davghters of Iohn Gyifard of 
 Chillington in the covntye of Stafford esqvier, which Sir Ihon Dormer had yssve by the 
 sayd lane fower son’es, Robert, Iohn, Gyffard and William, and two davghters Elizabeth 
 and Dorothy, besydes three son’es and fower davghters which died in their infancye. 
 Elizabeth maryed Ihon Dynham of Borstall Esqvyer. The sayd lane dyed the nynth 
 Daye of September 1605 and ye said Sir Ihon died the 11th of March, 1626/’ 
 
 The font, of second-pointed style, is of freestone six-sided, having heads of saints in 
 well-recessed quartrefoils round the bowl, and on the base, sitting lions, conventionally 
 represented, with large vine leaves. The pillar, between base and bowl, appears to have 
 been removed—probably during the great Rebellion, when the church more than once 
 was turned into a stable for the cavalry of the Earl of Essex. The font, no doubt, 
 retains its ancient position, and as regards its upper part is in excellent order. A 
 modern oak cover, in the Jacobean style, protects its bowl from dust. 
 
 The bells of Notley Abbey, five in number—one with the inscription, “ In multis 
 annis resonat campana Ioannis ”—are traditionally said to have been brought to 
 Crendon, circa 1540, and hung in the Church Tower soon after the Abbey’s dissolution. 
 The tenor bell weighed forty hundredweight. Three more bells were added in the year 
 1632, so that there was then provided a peal of eight. About 140 years afterwards, i.e., 
 in 1768, the whole were recast by Lester and Pack, of London. These eight bells have 
 doggrel inscriptions in small Roman capitals upon them—a stroug and notable contrast 
 to the reverent and religious sentences of the ages of faith. 
 
324 
 
 ASCOT HOUSE, WING. 
 
 Ascot House was a large buildiDg erected by the Dormer family on their 
 acquiring the demesnes of the Priory of Wing. There was here, in the latter part of the 
 twelfth century, a cell of Benedictine monks, attached to the Abbey of St. Nicholas of 
 Angiers, afterwards granted by Henry V. to the Priory of St. Mary de la Pre, near St. 
 Albans. 
 
 In the reign of Charles I., the Earl of Carnarvon added a noble apartment to the 
 old house on the plan of Inigo Jones, but it was never entirely finished. After 1720, it 
 was suffered to go to ruin, with the rest of the building, through the neglect of Sir 
 William Stanhope, then its possessor, who, about the year 1727, cut down the timber, 
 and disparked the demesne. Amongst the depredations committed in this county during 
 the Civil War, that of ransacking the Earl of Carnarvon’s house at Wing, was one of 
 great atrocity. The mansion was searched 29th November, 1642, under the order of the 
 Parliamentary Committee of Safety, when private and other documents were dispersed 
 and wilfully destroyed or taken away, and some of the inmates of the house roughly 
 treated. Depredations of this character were not at all unusual at this period. The 
 country houses of the nobility and gentry, often curious examples of ancient magnificence, 
 or splendid proofs of more recent taste, were unceremoniously converted into fortresses ; 
 and, in that capacity, were subject to every form of destruction incident to 
 a state of war — to plunder, defacement, burning, demolition. Buckinghamshire 
 mansions and their occupants suffered severely. Greenland House, Hambleden, was 
 converted into a garrison in 1644 by the Royalist party, much to the loss of Sir John 
 Doyley. Fawley Court in the same neighbourhood was plundered in 1642 ; valuable 
 furniture, even family deeds and old Court rolls, were wantonly destroyed, and the house 
 rendered entirely unfit for occupation. The mansion of the Pakingtons, at Aylesbury, 
 suffered greatly. In 1644, Chilton House was ordered to be demolished, but the order 
 was rescinded, still it was so much injured that it could not afterwards be made 
 habitable. Boarstall was garrisoned successively both by Royalist and Parliamentary 
 forces. Boreton House, near Buckingham, was besieged in 1642, by Lord Brooke and 
 an armed force from Aylesbury. The whole habitation was thoroughly ransacked and 
 plundered, and everything of value taken away. Great indignities were also inflicted on 
 Lady Minshull, who had charge of the house in her husband’s absence. In 1643, 
 Hillesden House suffered a like treatment, as did other mansions in the county. 
 
 When the Princess Elizabeth was removed from Woodstock, in order to her being 
 brought to Court, she slept one night on her journey at Ascot House. This was in 
 1554, when she was a prisoner, and soon after her sister’s accession to the throne. The 
 title of Earl of Carnarvon and Viscount Ascot, became extinct on the death of 
 Charles, second Earl of Carnarvon, who left no male issue. The Manor of Wing inter 
 
325 
 
 alia passed in marriage with his eldest daughter to Philip, Earl of Chesterfield. This 
 last Earl of Carnarvon kept up great hospitality at Ascot House, and had a fine bowling 
 green, which was constantly open for the amusement of the neighbouring gentry ; some 
 traces of the fish ponds and moat, and of the bowling green still remain. 
 
 ■ There is a memorial connected with Ascot House, in the church at Wing. On the 
 floor of the south aisle is a square brass plate, having engraved the figure of a man 
 kneeling with his hands uplifted and his face raised heavenward. Beside the figure is a 
 hat and a key. On a brass plate beneath are the following lines :— 
 
 Honest old Thomas Cotes that sometime was 
 Porter at Ascott Hall hath now alas 
 Left his key, lodge, f.yre, friends, and all to have 
 A roome in Heaven, this is that good man’s grave. 
 Header, prepare for thine, for none can tell, 
 
 But that you, too, may meet to-night. Farewell. 
 
 This record of the porter at Ascot seems to show that the mansion had all its lordly 
 appurtenances in full order in the middle of the seventeenth century. An old mill was 
 standing in the neighbourhood not long since which was stated to have been built at the 
 cost of Lord Dormer. The Ascot Estate is now the property of Lord Wantage. 
 
 AYLESBURY IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 Browne Willis (1682—1760). 
 
 “ The church of Ailesbury is one of the most ancient in all these parts, and the 
 parish thereto belonging, of the greatest extent in the whole county, it including Ellis- 
 borough-parish in the Chilterne, as also Bierton, Buckland, Stoke-Mandeville, and 
 Quarendon ; all which places were formerly only chapels of ease to it, neither was the 
 rnanour of the town less considerable: for, at the time of the Norman survey, Aylesbury 
 lordship, which was then the Demesne Land of the Crown, was rated at £56, which lord- 
 ship the Conqueror (tho’ he bestow’d the church, with its appendants, viz., Bierton, &c., 
 on the cathedral of Lincoln, to which it is at this day prebendal) still reserv’d to himself, 
 as his immediate successors also did ; for it was not alienated ’till the fifth of King 
 John, who bestow’d in on Geffrey Fitz-Piers, Earl of Essex ; yet nevertheless appointed 
 the said Geflfry to pay a quit-rent out of it of £60 per annum to the Crown, which was 
 continu'd ’till Queen Elizabeth’s time (who releas’d the same by granting the said rent 
 to Sir Thos. Barrington, and his heirs). Tho’ this town had often chang’d its owners 
 
326 
 
 passing, upon failure of issue-male of this Geffry’s family, to Joan wife of Theobald de 
 Botiler, who, Anno. 25, Edward I. (upon the decease of Richard Fitz Geffry and Emma 
 his relict, to whom this manour was assign’d for dower) in his wife’s right, who was the 
 said Richard’s fourth sister and co-heir, had the town of Ailesbury assign’d him (inter 
 alia) for her purparty ; and the descendants of the said Theobald, afterwards created 
 Earls of Wilts and Ormcnd, long enjoy’d the same : Tho, during the reigns of Edward 
 IV., and Richard III., this family being attainted for adhering to the house of Lancaster, 
 the said princes granted (inter alia) this town, parcel of the possessions of James Butler, 
 Earl of Wilts, to Henry Bouchier, Earl of Essex ; but the scene being chang’d in the 
 next reign, and the attainder revers’d by Henry VII., they soon were re-instated, and 
 held this manour in quiet occupation, till on the decease of Thomas Earl of Wilts and 
 Ormond, without issue-male, this manour (as the title of Earl of Wilts did) came to 
 Thomas, son of Sir Richard Bullen, Knight, and Margaret his wife, daughter and co-heir 
 to Thomas Botiler, Earl of Wilts and Ormond aforesaid : which said Thomas Bullen, Earl 
 of Wilts, father of Anne, one of King Henry VIII.’s Queens, sold the same to Sir John 
 Baldwin, Knight, Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas ; which Sir John departing 
 this life, Anno 37 Henry VI1L, Thomas Packington and John Borlase, who marry’d (as 
 I remember) his daughters, were then found to be his cousins and next heirs, and 
 accordingly had partition of his lands; upon sharing of which, this Manour of Ailesbury 
 was allotted to the said Thomas Packington.” 
 
 HANSLOPE. 
 
 Hanslope is 6ij miles north-west from Newport Pagnell. The church of St. James 
 the Great is an ancient edifice of the Norman and Early English periods, consisting of 
 chancel, with south aisle, nave, with clerestory lighted by six windows on either side, of 
 two lights each, aisles, porches, and a lofty battlemented western tower, with panelled 
 and crocketed pinnacles at the angles, and containing five fine bells; the spire, built 
 a.d. 1409 reaching, together with the tower, a height of 200 feet, was struck by lightning 
 June 23rd, 1804, and subsequently rebuilt at a cost of £1,000, the total height now 
 being 186 feet ; flying buttresses, pierced with quatrefoils, support the spire, which has 
 two tiers of windows and richly crocketed ribs ; in the chancel are considerable remains 
 of Norman work : a fine doorway in the north wall, with zigzag and other ornaments ; 
 the nave is separated from the aisles by arcades of four arches; the chancel arch is plain 
 Norman, but rises from fine piers with good capitals ; only two Early English windows 
 now remain, and part of the church, including the tower, is Perpendicular. In 1663, 
 
327 
 
 Hanslope was granted in fee to Sir Thomas Tyrrell, one of the Justices of the Common 
 Pleas ; his son having obtained an Act of Parliament to vest this manor in the hands of 
 tiustees for the payment of debts, it was sold about 1707 to George Pierrepont, who was 
 created Lord Pierrepont of Hanslope in 1714 ; on his death without issue, this estate 
 devolved to the Duke of Kingston and was purchased of the late Duke’s heirs by the 
 guardians of Edward Watts, Esq. Hanslope Park is about 70 acres in extent. 
 
 EFFIGIES IN HUGHENDEN CHURCH. 
 
 Rev. W. H. Kelke. 
 
 Hughenden Church contains some of the most remarkable monuments in the 
 county, The principal monument in one group stands near the centre of the chapel, and 
 consists of a cross-legged effigy resting on an oblong slab, which is placed on a modern 
 altar tomb. The warrior wears a hauberk, or shirt of mail, with hood, and chausses, or 
 leg-armour, also of chain-mail. Thus he is covered, with the exception of his face, from 
 head to foot in chain armour. Over this he wears a surcoat, or supertunic, which reaches 
 just below his knees, and, as usual, falls partly open in front. With his right hand he 
 grasps the hilt of a drawn anelace or dagger, and with his left hand holds the scabbard 
 of a very large and long sword that reaches down to his feet. The scabbard, which is 
 ornamented from top to bottom with heraldic shields at short intervals, is suspended by 
 a plain belt hanging obliquely from his right hip. His shield, which rests on his left 
 arm, is large, semi-cylindrical, and of the heatershape, and emblazoned with a lion 
 rampant, with a double tail, and with a child in its mouth. His surcoat is also 
 ornamented with an armorial shield bearing cheeky in chief, and under this a griffin with 
 a child in its paw, and not in its mouth, as stated by Lysons. His head rests on a 
 cushion, with an heraldic shield at each end. His feet, which are furnished with the 
 prick spurs strapped over the ancle, rest on a bolster-shaped stone with a crescent at 
 each end, and another in the middle between his feet. The effigy, from head to foot, 
 measures 6 ft. 5 inches long, and represents a large and powerful person, with a high 
 forehead, fine and regular features, and a countenance indicating firmness, dignity, and 
 resignation. It is formed of freestone, is beautifully and elaborately sculptured, and, if 
 it has not been re-cut and repaired, is in a perfect state of preservation, and as fine a 
 specimen of its kind as any in the kingdom. From the costume, and heraldic devices, it 
 doubtless belongs to the thirteenth century, and, if of English workmanship, shows that 
 our country, even at that early period, possessed sculptors who, in many respects, have 
 never since been excelled. It has been supposed to commemorate Richard, the fifth son 
 of Simon de Montfort. 
 
328 
 
 The next monument in the group is that of an oblong slab. On this slab is cut in 
 profile and in basso relievo, the rude figure of a man in armour holding up a mace in his 
 right hand. On his left arm he bears a shield emblazoned with cheque in chief ; under¬ 
 neath a griffin with a child in its paw ; over all, a bend. The sides of the slab, which is 
 about six inches thick, are ornamented with six heraldic shields of the same description 
 as those on the knight’s scabbard. Langley calls this rude and extraordinary figure a 
 knight in a close round helmet. But the costume appears to be that of a man-at-arms, 
 and the mace, which was introduced by the Crusaders, was carried by a sergeant-at-arms, 
 and never, I believe, by a knight. 
 
 In the north splay of a window stands a coffin-shaped slab, bearing another extra¬ 
 ordinary figure, rudely cut in low relief. This consists of a warrior bearing in his right 
 hand a drawn sword, and in his left a cross. On each side of his head, which is shown 
 in full face, are two heraldic shields. His head appears to be protected by a hood of 
 mail ; and a necklace, apparently of large round beads, surrounds his neck. Two hearts 
 are figured on his breast, and in front lie bears a large flat shield, apparently emblazoned 
 with a lion and griffin, with the child as before described, but they are almost obliterated. 
 Another sword, piercing the head of a man or lion, stands upright in front of his right 
 leg. 
 
 Another oblong slab is reared up against the wall on the north side of the east 
 window. On this slab the figures are cut in low relief, leaving a rim or border round the 
 verge of the slab of equal height with the figures, which consist of the effigy of a warrior, 
 with his body in full face and his legs in profile ; two heraldic shields with a crescent 
 between them over his head ; a drawn sword in his right hand; on his left arm a large, 
 flat heater-shaped shield, covering his chest and a great part of his body. The shield 
 appears to bear quarterly; 1st and 4th a lion rampant, and bendy, 2nd and 3rd ; with 
 an escutcheon of pretence, but the devices are almost obliterated. The warrior’s feet 
 rest on an animal like a fox courant. 
 
 On the sill of the east window lies the effigy of a knight in the plate armour of the 
 fourteenth century. It has, however, some peculiarities. It has neither sword, dagger, 
 nor shield. The hands hold a heart over the chest. The griffin with the child in its 
 paw; and the lion with the child issuing from its mouth, are very plainly figured on the 
 skirt of the surcoat. They appear also under the knight, cut in the upper and lower 
 part of the slab on which he rests, with some other devices which cannot now be 
 deciphered. The head rests on a tilting helmet and the feet on a lion. This effigy has 
 been rather roughly treated. 
 
 There is one more monument to be noticed. This is the effigy of a person emaciated 
 to a skeleton. The shroud covers the head and falls open on each side, discovering the 
 body. In the chest is an opening with a diminutive human figure issuing from it, 
 
329 
 
 designed to denote the departure of the soul. Around this opening are five gashes, in 
 the form of crosses, indicating the five wounds of our Saviour. This repulsive style of 
 memorial was not very uncommon in the 14th and 15th centuries. This monument lies 
 under an arch of earlier date, between the chancel and the chapel, and partly built up so 
 as to form a kind of altar tomb. [Since this article was written the church has been 
 restored ; the effigies have been carefully preserved, but some of them do not now occupy 
 the position indicated by Mr. Kelke.] 
 
 GREAT MARLOW OLD CHURCH. 
 
 “ The church which is built in form of a cross, and Consists of a Body & two Isles 
 which are leaded & a Cross Isle from North to South which is Tiled & North & South 
 Chancel which are likewise Tiled. At the West End is a square Embattell’d Tower (in 
 which hang five small modern Bells) supporting a low Wooden Spire ribbed with Lead, 
 at the Top a Weathercock. Length of the Church &c 96 foot. Bredth 39 foot. 
 Length of the Cross Isle from North to South 72 foot .”—Browne Willis (1760). 
 
 In the Visitation of Churches in 1637 the state of the fabric is thus reported :— 
 “The Battlemts- of the South Isle in decay. 2 little windowes in the crosse south He 
 dambd up the great window at the end of the sd He in decay in the stone worke & an 
 ovell window over that dambd up. All the weeds &c. All the butterices in decay & 
 likewise the foundacon in some pts bothe of Church & Chan. The battlemts. of the 
 north lie & the porche in the stone worke. The Railes at the west end in decay.” 
 
 O L N E Y. 
 
 There are no recognised traces of the British period in Olney or its neighbourhood; 
 but there appears to have been a Roman station a little northward of the town. A field 
 called Ash Furlong, which lies between the Lavendon and Warrington roads, is literally 
 full of Roman potteryware, and here coins also have been found in considerable 
 quantities. The coins extend at least from the reign of Nerva to that of Constantine, the 
 earlier ones being mostly of silver, the latter ones of brass. A few years ago a small 
 bronze figure of Mercury, belonging to the class of penales, or household gods, was 
 discovered hereabouts. The derivation of the name of this town and parish is involved 
 in obscurity. In Domesday Book it is written Olnei ; Leland designates it “ Olney, 
 alias Alneyand in Camden’s “ Britannia” (1610), the word is written Oulney. 
 
330 
 
 Olney Church, dedicated to SS. Peter and Paul, is almost entirely of the Decorated 
 style of architecture, and was erected between 1325 and 1350. There is, however, in 
 the north wall of the chancel an arched recess which is supposed to have been over the 
 tomb of an unknown founder. The aisles are embattled, and the cornice to the chancel 
 is rich in grotesque gargoyles, masks, and flowers. The two westernmost wiudows of 
 the chancel, which are brought lower down than the others, are called Leper Windows 
 or Lyclmoscopes, because by means of them persons afflicted with leprosy could see the 
 elevation of the host without entering the church ; but, according to some, this 
 peculiarity in the windows of churches has reference to the piercing of our Saviour’s 
 heart at the time of His crucifixion ; hence they are also called Yulne windows. The 
 porch, above which is a small room with a fireplace, is of modern date, 1807, but occupies 
 the site and incorporates the remains of a former porch, erected, from the date on a 
 square stone in front of the present one, in 1G86. It is a somewhat unusual circumstance 
 for a porch to be on the north side. The tower has a fine west doorway, two light 
 windows, and octagonal pinnacles at the angles. The chancel, instead of being in a 
 direct line with the nave, inclines considerably to the north, “a peculiarity mystically 
 referring to our Lord’s bowing down His head on the cross.” 
 
 ANCIENT STAINED GLASS. 
 
 S. Lysons (1819). 
 
 “ Some of the most ancient and most elegant specimens of stained glass to be fouud 
 in this kingdom, remain in the chancel of Chetwode Church ; from the style of the 
 ornaments with which they are enriched, from the dresses of the figures, and the form of 
 the letters, in an inscription under that of St. Nicholas, to whom the church was 
 dedicated, and also from the style of the royal arms, there remains little room for doubt 
 of this glass being coeval with the first erection of the church, on the foundation of the 
 priory, to which it belonged about the year 1244; and that it was one of the earliest 
 works of that kind produced in England ; since the windows, till after the introduction 
 of the earliest Gothic architecture, were too small to have admitted of any diminution of 
 light. The first and the fourth lights of this window, from the north-side of the chancel, 
 are nearly entire: in the former are three figures, in oval compartments; two of them 
 representing saints, and the third a king, probably intended for the reigning monarch, 
 Hen. III.: in the latter are figures of two Bishops, and St. Edmund with his symbols, 
 a bow and quiver of arrows : the other parts of these lights are filled up with tracery of 
 foliage, &c., on plain glass, in an infinitely more elegant style, if not so brilliant as that 
 which came into use when the church windows were enlarged in succeeding ages, and 
 entirely filled with coloured glass. In the church of Chesham-Bois are some small 
 
331 
 
 winaows, in the style of the 14th century, filled with stained glass, consisting of tracery 
 of foliage, and coats of arms. In Hitcliam church there are considerable remains of 
 stained glass, chiefly in the windows of the chancel, in each of which is the figure of an 
 angel, standing on a wheel; the upper compartments of the east window of the chancel, 
 which is large and elegant, are nearly entire : from the style of the windows, with which 
 the glass appears to be coeval, and the form of the letters in several inscriptions, it 
 seems probable that it was executed about the middle of the fourteenth century. 
 
 The east window of the north aisle of Hillesden church is nearly filled with small 
 compartments of stained glass, containing representations of different scenes, taken 
 from the Legend of St. Nicholas, to whom the church was dedicated, with inscriptions 
 under each, pointing out the subject as ‘ Mortuus ad vitam reditprecibus Nicholia, dc.’ 
 
 In Drayton-Beauchamp church there are eight figures of the apostles, in stained 
 glass, of a large size.” 
 
 MONKS RISBOROUGII. 
 
 The place derives the prefix to its name from the monks of Christ Church, in 
 Canterbury, to whom the estate was given by Escwyn, Bishop of Dorchester, about the 
 year 993. That monastery had been founded by King Ethelbert, on his conversion to 
 Christianity by St. Augustine, in the 6th century. It has been said that there was a 
 Cell of Benedictine monks at Risborough, subject to the Canterbury monastery ; but of 
 this no evidence has been found. 
 
 At the period of the Domesday Survey, Riseberge belonged to Lanfranc, 
 Archbishop of Canterbury, and is included among the lands and manors which the 
 Conqueror, “ for the honour of God, and the good of his own soul, generously and freely 
 restored to the monks.” It had been held at the time of the Conquest by Algar Stake, 
 Constable of England, and Standard Bearer of Christ Church, Canterbury. The office 
 of Standard-bearer of the church, rendered this family guardians of that emblem of 
 their faith ; and the display of such a standard as White Leaf Cross near the station of 
 their abode, was quite in accordance with the usage of those times. The cross being the 
 armorial bearing or standard of the Church and Priory, and its appropriate ensign, might 
 have been originally designed as a memorial of the property acquired here by that 
 monastery, and not a trophy of victory either of the Danes or the Saxons. The church 
 of St. Dunstan is a noble structure of flint and stone in the Early English and Perpen¬ 
 dicular styles, and consists of chancel, nave with clerestory, lighted by eight six-light 
 windows, aisles separated from the nave by arcades of four bays, with a small transept 
 striking out of the north aisle, southern porch and tower containing 5 bells ; the church 
 is seated with oaken benches for 332 persons; a portion of the ancient rood-screen 
 
332 
 
 remains under the chancel arch. In the porch is a portion of the old stoop and in the 
 north aisle the remnant of a canopied recess, evidently of fifteen century work, richly 
 carved, and a portion of the rood loft still remains ; the font is a splendid specimen of 
 Transition Norman. In 1864 the church was reopened after a complete restoration. 
 
 BUCKINGHAMSHIRE GENTRY, 1433. 
 
 The Names of the Gentry of this County returned by the Commissioners in the 
 twelfth year of King Henry VI., 1433 : — 
 
 William Bishop of Lincoln. 
 
 Reginald de Grey de Ruthyan, Chivaler, 
 Thomas Sakeville Miles, ( 
 
 William Wapload, ) 
 
 Knights for the Shire, 
 
 Commissioners to take the Oaths. 
 
 Reginaldi Lucy, Chiv. 
 
 Walteri Lucy, Chiv. 
 
 Iohan. Cheyne, Chiv. 
 
 Tho. Chetewode, Chiv. 
 
 Iohan. Cheyne, Arm. 
 
 Iohan. Hampden de Hampden, Ar. 
 Andres Sperling 
 Thomas Rokes, Ar. 
 
 Iohan. Langeston, Ar. 
 
 Iohan. Iwardby, Ar. 
 
 David Breknook, Ar. 
 
 Thoms Stokes, Ar. 
 
 Ichn Hampden de Kimbell 
 Walteri Fitz Richard, Armigeri 
 Iohan. Stretlee, Ar. 
 
 Tho. Shyngelton, Ar. 
 
 Thoms Cheyne, Ar. 
 
 Iohan. Stokes, Ar. 
 
 Thoms Gifford, Ar. 
 
 Iohan. Gifford de Whaddon 
 Senioris, Ar. 
 
 Thoms Boteler, Ar. 
 
 Robert Puttenham, Ar. 
 
 Roberti Olney de Weston, Ar. 
 Iohan. Tyringharo, Ar. 
 
 Iohan. Brekenoek, Ar. 
 
 Thoms Rufford, Ar. 
 
 Iohan. Dayrell, Ar, 
 
 Nicolai Clopton 
 
 Edmundi Brudenell 
 
 Iohan. Sewell 
 
 Iohan. Watkins 
 
 Willillmi Brook de Chesham 
 
 Bernardi Sanderdon 
 
 Thoms More 
 
 Will. Fouler 
 
 Iohannis Arches 
 
 Iohan. Skydmore 
 
 Iohan. Kimbell 
 
 Will Joyntour 
 
 Rogeri More 
 
 Iohan. Horewode 
 
 Iohan. Baldewin 
 
 Thoms Atte Welle 
 
 Will. Chapman de Aylesbury 
 
 Tho. Tumour 
 
 Iohan. Knight de Hampslape 
 Will. Watford 
 Thoms Oliver 
 Will Colingryg de Toursey 
 Thoms Malins 
 Will. Parker de Eton 
 Will Burton persone, ecclesis de 
 Crowle 
 
 Iohan. Clerke de Olney 
 
 Rich. Hawtreve 
 
 Iohan. Giffard de Hardmede 
 
 Iohan. Tapelo de Hampslape 
 
 Thoms Knight de eadem 
 
 Iohan. Giffard deWhaddon junioris 
 
 Iohan. Sapcote de Olney 
 
 Rich. Arnecok 
 
 Will. Edy 
 
 Nicb. Brackwell 
 
 Will. Sambroke 
 
 Iohan. Edy junioris 
 
 Thoms Edy 
 
 Iohan. Purchas 
 
 Will. Berewell 
 
 Ade Ashinden 
 
 David Wbitchirche 
 
 Iohan. Sweft 
 
 Will. Britwell de Cherdesle 
 
 Iohan. Verney 
 
 Eustachii Grenville 
 
 Iohan. Fitzlohn 
 
 Will. Gerebray 
 
 Tho. Maudeleyn 
 
 Iohan. Vesy 
 
 Tho. Wodewarde 
 
 Rich. Enershawe 
 
 Iohan. Hare wold de Weston 
 
 Hen. Loveden 
 
 Iohan. Thorp 
 
 Iohan. Parker de Fenny Stratford 
 
 Nicholai Baker de Crowle 
 
 Nich. Hobbesson 
 
 Tho. Malette 
 
 Iohan. Kerye 
 
 Tho. Tappe 
 
 Rich. Hoo de Snenston 
 Iohan. Manchestre 
 
 Iohan. Phelip 
 Hen. Hunkes 
 Rich. Miches 
 Will. Meridale 
 Tho. Edward 
 Iohan. Vaux 
 Will. Dun 
 Hen. Toursey 
 Hen. Dicon 
 Will. Winslowe 
 Iohan. Bilindon 
 Hen. Porter 
 Tho. Turgens 
 Rofcer. Delafeld 
 Math. Colett 
 
 Iohan. Hampden de Wycombe 
 
 Iohan. Wellesburn 
 
 Tho. Merston 
 
 Will. Attegate 
 
 Tho. Mery 
 
 Rich. Milly 
 
 Will. Wodeward 
 
 Tho. Pusey 
 
 Roberti Broun de Becknesfeld 
 
 Iohan. Iourdeley 
 
 Tho. Houghton 
 
 Rich. Yaplode 
 
 Iohan. Gold de Aylesbury 
 
 Will. Clarke de eadem 
 
 Will. Clarke de Culverdon 
 
 Thoms Kene de Horsendon 
 
 Will. Symeon 
 
 Will. Fether 
 
 Iohan. Carodous 
 
 Will. Combe de Aylesbury 
 
 Will. Gill 
 
 Rich. Lamburn 
 
 Will. Hide 
 
 Tho. Bristowe 
 
 Nich. Baron 
 
 Will. Cook de Hertwell 
 
 Iohan. Glover de Kimbell 
 
 Iohan. Balke de Aylesbury 
 
 Iohan. Lucy, and 
 
 Rich. Lucy. 
 
333 
 
 DANESFIELD. 
 
 Danesfield House, Marlow, is pleasantly situate on an eminence commanding 
 extensive views; contiguous is the Danish encampment which gave its name to the 
 mansion ; within its precincts is a domestic Roman Catholic Church, dedicated to St. 
 Charles Borromeo, to which the public are admitted ; this edifice was the last work of 
 the celebrated architect Augustus Welby Pugin and is a very worthy reproduction of the 
 style of the thirteenth century ; the altar is extremely beautiful, the carved stone reredos 
 representing scenes from the life of St. Charles ; beneath the altar is a shrine, and 
 exposed to view are the relics of Sc. Constantia and in the reliquary is the so-called 
 incorrupt hand of St. James the Apostle, which, previous to the Reformation, is said to 
 have been venerated at Reading Abbey. The vestments, which are numerous and very 
 handsome, are of the old English Gothic shape, embroidered in silk by the Hon. Mrs. 
 Scott-Murray. A cloister, decorated with representations of the fourteen “ Stations of 
 the Cross,” composed of mother of pearl and brought from the Holy Land, connects the 
 chapel with the mansion. 
 
 CHALFONT ST. GILES’ CHURCH. 
 
 Rev. P. W. Phipps, M.A. 
 
 “ Chalfont Church is dedicated to St. Giles, and comprises various periods of 
 architecture, from Norman and Early English to Perpendicular. It stands on the south 
 side, on very low ground, close to the River Misbourn. The walls, which are of great 
 thickness, are of flint, stone, and square blocks of chalk. The roof is covered with lead. 
 It was restored in 1861 by Mr. Street. On entering the church it is perceived that the 
 chancel leads towards the south intentionally, and this is said to represent the falling of 
 the head of our Lord upon His shoulders, when he died upon the Cross. There is an old 
 alms-box, and stoupfor holy water ; and an inlet hole in the wall shows where a beam 
 was placed to bar the western door. Here, also, are six of the old church benches, with 
 poppy heads. The font is believed to be Saxon. The south aisle is considered the most 
 ancient ; and the walls retain much of the original fresco painting, representing the 
 Crucifixion, Herodias presenting the head of John the Baptist, and the Blessed ^ irgin 
 stooping to release a soul from purgatory. There were other figures and mottoes, but 
 unhappily it was found impossible to preserve them. At the east end of the south wall 
 is a piscina, a chantry chapel having existed there, and a fresco represents the presentation 
 of a deed, with a seal attached to it, by the founder lady, to the ^ irgin Mary. On 
 
lowering' the tomb of the Gardiners of the Grove, which is still preserved here, the marks 
 of an ancient altar were discovered. The brasses of the Gardiners are worthy of exami¬ 
 nation. In the south aisle were discovered a stone coffin, and two stone coffin lids with 
 large crosses engraved upon them. These are now laid under a knight templar’s arch 
 which was discovered in the south wall, and the head of a knight with his helmet was 
 found at the same time. Over the arch into the chancel were discovered in 1863 the 
 Ten Commandments in Old English. On scraping them away some very curious ancient 
 tracery appeared. There are two large hagioscopes, or squints, one on each side of the 
 chancel arch, and near the southern one was discovered a staircase leading up into a rood 
 loft, but it was walled up again for the security of the arch when the present organ 
 chamber was built in 1884. The windows were broken at the time of the Revolution, 
 and cannon balls had been found in the chamber. Against the northern wall of the 
 sanctuary stands the altar tomb of the Fleetwoods, of the Vache.” 
 
 TINGEWICK.—REMAINS OF A ROMAN VILLAGE. 
 
 Browxe Willis derives the name Tingewick “from Tede, Gramen, and Vicus, 
 village, quasi a town of pasture,” and this derivation, part Saxon, part Roman, may 
 suggest the idea of a Roman village reoccupied or rebuilt by the Saxons. The present 
 village of Tingewick is to the south, or south-west, and upwards of a quarter of a mile 
 distant from the field “ Stollidge.” Discoveries lead to the inference that after the 
 destruction of the Roman village, no later buildings took their place upon the same spot. 
 Had a Saxon or any other village in after times occupied this site, some traces of theirs 
 must have been left behind. But all the antiquities hitherto found, are exclusively 
 Romano-British, and can only be assigned to the period of the Roman occupation of 
 Britain. The first discovery of these remains was, as frequently happens in such 
 instances, the result of accident. A ploughman of Mr. Greaves, while at his work in 
 the autumn of 1860, found the plough strike on some hard substance. On throwing 
 out a few shovelsful of earth, the foundations of a strongly built stoue wall were exposed, 
 enclosing a recess lined with mortar baked hard to a light red colour, and furnished with 
 a drain through the outer wall. When this was communicated to Mr. Greaves, he at 
 once prosecuted further investigation. Under his superintendence more earth was 
 excavated, and the line of wall followed, disclosing the foundations of a detached oblong 
 building, divided into two apartments. From the complete demolition that has taken 
 place, the precise purposes to which the building was applied cannot be ascertained with 
 undoubted accuracy. The number of flue tiles excavated from this spot within and 
 without the walls lead to the conjecture that it had been a hypocanst or vapour bath, and 
 the absence of the piers is accounted for on the supposition of the frequent disturbance 
 of the ground by former occupiers. 
 
335 
 
 the surrender of biddlesden abbey. 
 
 After the passing of the Act for the Dissolution of the Lesser Monasteries, the 
 Abbot of Biddlesden, by payment of a sum of money to the King’s Privy Purse, ob¬ 
 tained a Licence for the continuance of his Abbey. With the consent of his Monks, he 
 then leased out the Abbey lands upon easy terms to various tenants. 
 
 These leases, so disadvantageous to the Abbey, were evidently granted by the Monks 
 in the vain hope of securing to their successors by a present sacrifice the fee-simple in 
 their lands. And in the general scramble that was then commencing for the property 
 of Religious Houses, other influences were brought to bear upon the Biddlesden Monks, 
 not always with success, as the following answer of the Abbot to a request of Thomas 
 Cromwell will show :— 
 
 “ The Abbott and Convent of Biddlesden about letting of some of their lands at 
 
 Evershawe. 
 
 “ Most mete and humble submission premised ; It may like yo re Honor to bee 
 advertized that wee have received yo re lettre datid the xxim daye of Aprill for the pre¬ 
 ferment of yo re frende Master Edgare, wherein yo re Honor willeth us to make the same 
 a sufficient lese under oure convent seyle for ii closes with their appurtenances in 
 Evershaw for the terme of XL yeres, forsotnuch as wee in like manner received yo re former 
 lettre datid the xvm daye of Marche, and for the same purpose to the preferment of 
 Edward Wilkynsonne, at which tyme and to whom I declared that one of the saide closes 
 were already graunted, and the other wee cannot conveniently lett without decay of our 
 poore house, yett neverthelesse at the contemplacion of that yo re fyrst lettre we graunted 
 unto the said Edward a Lease of certain closes, called Helmden Stokkyng, wherewith lice 
 was well contentid and pleysed. Wherefore wee lowlye beseech yo re Honor to considre 
 and accept these premises. And we shall be gladde according to our bounden dutie to 
 praye for yo re Honor long to contynue From Bitlesden the mi day of Maye. 
 
 “ To the Kings Most Honourable Chauncelor, and his cspeciall good Lorde, the 
 Lorde of Pryvy Seale,” 
 
 “ Be this 
 
 “ Bv yo re pore bedesmen ( .1 „ 
 
 T’ Abbott and Convent J 
 
 But neither the King’s royal word, nor the temporary alienation of their estates by 
 these leases, availed to preserve Biddlesden. Upon the 26th of September, 1540, this 
 Abbey and all its possessions were surrendered to the Commissioners. 
 
336 
 
 HUGHENDEN HOUSE. 
 
 Mr. R. S. Downs. 
 
 “Although the present house has a modernised appearance, increased by its being 
 uniformly whitened on all sides, yet the forms of its architecture suggest that some 
 portions of the edifice are much older than others. It is a square building with two 
 square wings, aud stands on a gentle eminence commanding an excellent view towards 
 Wycombe. On either side of the mansion the lawns are very tastefully laid out and 
 planted, and it is here that the peacocks of which Lord Beaconsfield was so fond strut 
 and scream. The lawns are planted with choice flowers, exotic shrubs, and a great 
 variety of the pinus tribe. The entrance to the private grounds is by the “ Golden 
 Gate.” Here may be seen some specimens of the Cedars of Lebanon, produced from seed 
 brought by Lord Beaconsfield from Palestine. On the northern side of the house is a 
 tree planted by the Prince of Wales during his two days’ visit, and on the south lawn are 
 two fir trees planted respectively by the Queen and Princess Beatrice on the occasion of 
 Her Majesty's visit to Hughenden in December, 1877. From, the north front a path 
 leads past the east wing to the terraced side of the house, through an arch cut in a 
 screen of yew trees. The entrance hall has a groined ceiling, and communicates with the 
 library and the drawing room. In the dining room, which is a fine spacious apartment, 
 there is a very curious arch formed by the intermixture of the pointed and horizontal 
 styles. This arch is a reproduction of one, unique in its character, at Magdalen Hall, 
 Oxford—to which foundation a former proprietor of Hughenden, the elder John Norris, 
 was a benefactor. The drawing room contains a half-length portrait of Her Majesty, 
 which she presented to Lord Beaconsfield on his seventieth birthday, and in a panel of 
 the chimney-piece a portrait of the Viscountess Beaconsfield surmounted by her coronet. 
 But the library is the room upon which the great interest of the house is centred. It is 
 a large gaily decorated apartment opening upon a delightful lawn, and contains an 
 extensive library of historical and classical works. It was here that Earl Beaconsfield 
 passed the greater portion of his time after the completion of his morning’s work in the 
 study, which is situated in the upper part of the house. The walls are adorned with 
 two drawings in Indian ink by the wife of one of the Professors, illustrating the late 
 Earl’s reception at Glasgow University, of which he was installed Lord Rector in 1873. 
 The hall and staircase are thickly studded with portraits of the friends and colleagues of 
 the late statesman, including the late and present Lord Derby, the Marquis of Salisbury, 
 Earl Cairns, Sir Stafford Northcote, Lord Rowton, &c. The present house was probably 
 erected by the Dormers, and much enlarged by the elder John Norris about a century 
 ago ; but without destroying its chief Tudor characteristics.” 
 
(ONLY THREE COPIES ON OFFER.) 
 
 In j 1 761., Grown kio, hSO pages, price 10s. 6d., ioards, 
 
 Wiaxfyu* nf ittikingjamsjir* 
 
 AND 
 
 jwtn of |lote of tt>at ©c«nt)>, 
 
 BY 
 
 ROBERT GIBBS, F.S.A., 
 
 Author of “ Regicides of Bucks,” “ Local Records,” “History of Ayleslury,” etc. 
 
 -:o:- 
 
 “It deserves a place on the shelves of the local Reading Rooms of the County, in 
 the libraries of the country gentlemen and clergy, and will be found a welcome addition 
 to the literary gatherings of those local and general collectors who are at once 
 archaeologians and antiquaries .”—Bucks Herald, May 12th, 1888. 
 
 AYLESBURY, 1888. 
 
 THE 
 
 Miking Jams Jin iJindlog, 
 
 A Series of Concise and Intel esting Articles Illustrative of the 
 
 History, ^opopraphy, and ^Afjch/eoloqy 
 
 OF THE 
 
 COUNTY OF BUCKINGHAM, 
 
 Compiled and Edited by ROBERT GIBBS, F.S.A., 
 
 Author of “Local Occurrences,” “Regicides of Bucks,” “History of Ayleslury,” “ Worthies 
 
 of Buckinghamshire,” &c. 
 
 “ BUCKINGHAMSHIRE MISCELLANY” will be mainly a topographical 
 wor b, will give descriptive accounts of the “ Nooks and Corners ” of the 
 stsKia County, together with Historic and Archaeological items connected with it. 
 It will be composed of concise and interesting readings from the works of those authors 
 who have treated on the ancient and modern History of Buckinghamshire—Camden, 
 Spelman, Dugdale, Leland, Kennett White, Rev. Cox, Lysons, Denham, Drayton, Langley, 
 Lipscomb, and others. Extracts will also be quoted from local authors of a more recent 
 period : the names of the writers will be given, together with a brief biographical notice 
 relating to them. 
 
 The Work will be published in quarterly parts, price One Shilling (by post Is. 2d.). 
 Only a small excess of copies will be printed over those subscribed for. 
 

 A SERIES OF CONCISE AND INTERESTING ARTICLES ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE 
 
 fiktorg, ®opp>ijl)]r, anir ^w^eologg 
 
 OF THE 
 
 COUNTY OF BUOKINOHAM, 
 
 COMPILED AND EDITED BY 
 
 ROBERT GIBBS, F.S.A., 
 
 Author of “Local Occurrences,” “ Begicides of Bucks,” “History of Ayleslury,” “Worthies of 
 
 Buckinghamshire,” &c. 
 
 fo^TEJ'lTp OF 8. 
 
 Great Marlow Neighbourhood ; Battle of Aylesbury ; Atnersham; Pahuisest Brasses ; 
 West Wycombe Church; Stephening ; Waddesdon ; Dormer Monuments, Wing; Hun- 
 dridge ; Haddenham Church; Shardeloes ; Tyringham; Princes Risborough ; Place 
 House ; Wendover ; Lavendon ; Bulstrode ; Swanbourne ; Royal Palaces ; Ancient 
 Rights; Chicheley Hall; Bradenham; Civil War Notes; Langley; Great Marlow 
 Church; Lower Winchendon; Wycombe Mausoleum; Sculptured Monuments; Inde¬ 
 pendents, Newport Pagnell; North Marston Church ; Relics; Great Horwood ; Billettiug 
 Soldiers ; Lillingstone Dayrell ; Mursley Church ; Tumulus, Taplow ; Newport Pagnell; 
 ■Whitchurch ; Nonconformity at Aylesbury ; Gayhurst ; Chesham Church; Catholic 
 Church, Great Marlow ; Aston Abbotts ; Ancient Domestic Architecture ; AVeston 
 Turville ; Quainton ; Butting, Chalfont St. Giles; Little Marlow ; Preston Bissett; Fish 
 Days; Hillesden Church; Ravenstone; How Monasteries were Dissolved; Hardwick- 
 with-AVeedon ; Stoke Hundred ; Wavendon ; Suppression of Lay Preacher; Emigrant 
 School, Penn; Buckingham Hundred ; Grandborough; Regicides of Bucks ; Public 
 Education ; Lenborough ; Sacking of AA r endover. 
 

 
 
 ■# 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
337 
 
 THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF GREAT MARLOW. 
 
 The Croft, standing west of the town, is ancient, and in the entrance hall are 
 many trophies of war ; the arms of King Henry VIII. bearing date 1535, were visible 
 on a painted window here. Remnantz, a little to the west of the town, is a noble pile 
 of buildings; the clock and bell tower are very ancient, as is also a remarkable yew hedge 
 in a well-wooded park south of the house ; this house was formerly occupied as the Royal 
 Military College, established at Marlow in 1799 and removed to Sandhurst in 1811. 
 Seymour Court is one mile north of the town, situated on an eminence, and lias beeu 
 enlarged ; this is said to have been the birthplace of Lady Jane Seymour, one of the 
 queens to Henry VIII. Highfields, beautifully situated on an eminence commanding 
 extensive views of the Thames, Bisham Abbey, and fine woodland scenery, is surrounded 
 by extensive and well laid-out pleasure grounds, planted with shrubs and evergreens. 
 Spinfield is situated on a commanding height, having views of Bisham Abbey on the 
 south-west and Cookham on the south-east; the style is Italian, and the north or 
 principal entrance hall is tesselated ; the south entrance overlooks a well laid-out lawn ; 
 the garden contains a fine conservatory and greenhouse well filled with choice exotics. 
 Court Garden is shrouded in elms and evergreens; and Thames Bank is pleasantly 
 situated on the banks of the Thames; the house has a south aspect, the drawing-room, 
 library, and ante-room facing the river ; the part of the river which lies immediately 
 above and below this is considered the most beautiful portion, and the abundance of 
 sport afforded has always rendered it a favourite resort to all the lovers of augling, while 
 the salubrity of the air, combined with numerous local advantages, has made it the 
 resort of the highest classes of society. 
 
 THE BATTLE OF AYLESBURY (Nov. 1st, 1642). 
 
 Lord Nugent. 
 
 “The small garrison of new raised Militia at Aylesbury had been moved to some 
 quarter which was more closely threatened, and the town, and the rich pastures which 
 surround it, were left unprotected. Thither Prince Rupert marched with a force of some 
 thousands of horse and foot, and, after some days past in securing for the King’s use 
 much of the produce of the Vale and despoiling and laying waste much more than he 
 secured, entered and possessed himself of the town. Here, after one more day of free 
 quarter in Aylesbury, during which the inhabitants were made to suffer all sorts of 
 outrages from the soldiers, he received intelligence of the approach of a brigade of the 
 
338 
 
 Parliament’s troops from Stony Stratford. Rupert, probably afraid of attempting a 
 defence within the walls of a place, however well adapted by its situation for defence, 
 where the townsmen were all his enemies, and having in his front a country over which 
 his cavalry could act with great advantage, left there but a troop of horse and two 
 companies of foot, and marched out with all the rest of his force to meet the advancing 
 enemy. But he had not gone further than the brook, about half a mile to the northward 
 of the town, where there was then no passage but a bad ford, swollen by the rains, 
 when he found himself checked by Balfore’s horse and foot, in column, on the opposite 
 bank. After the first volley or two, Rupert charged across the ford, and, breaking 
 through Balfore’s two first lines of infantry, plunged into the centre of his horse, who 
 were flanked on the right by Charles Pym’s troop. And here a sharp conflict began. 
 Sir Lewis Dives came up with the Prince’s reserve, and Captain Blanchard with 
 Balfore’s ; the musketry of the foot, the carbines and petronels of the cavalry, swords, 
 and poleaxes, all doing the work of death, and the soldiers of all arms mixed and 
 fighting in one close and furious throng. It lasted thus but a few minutes. The King’s 
 troops were driven back across the stream, and Rupert rallied on the other side, only to 
 lose more men from the fire, and to receive a charge in return, which drove him back 
 in confusion towards the town. In vain did the troops hurry down to his support. 
 The townsmen rushed forth upon his rear, with whatever arms haste and fury could 
 supply to them, and Rupert began his retreat towards Thame, before the mingled troops 
 and populace, who, however, after slaughtering the hindmost for above a mile, did not 
 venture further to pursue among the enclosures, a force still superior to their own. In 
 this action some hundreds of Rupert’s men fell, and of the Parliamentarians above 
 ninety.” 
 
 AMERSHAM. 
 
 Late Rev. W. H. Kelke (1863). 
 
 “ Amersham contains many old houses ; indeed, if whitewash and a few modern 
 additions and alterations were removed, the town would not, perhaps, very greatly differ 
 from its condition when Leland visited it. The most striking and picturesque old house 
 in the town is Little Shardeloes. It has evidently been a place of importance, and not 
 improbably the Manor-house of Amersham. It is apparently a building of different 
 dates—in its present state nearly square, with numerous gables. The back seems to be 
 the oldest part. In one of the rooms is a curious old lock, having a coronet, and the 
 initials E. A. wrought on it. On the north wall of the garden is the date 1688, with the 
 letters C, H. Probably this shows the time when the wall was built, and the house, 
 perhaps, repaired or altered. 
 
339 
 
 The house, now occupied by Mr. Beeson, from its position, would very well answer 
 to the description of the house of Adam de la Stokke, given to Missenden Priory, or that 
 belonging to Ralf de Wedune, both of which stood in the market-place fin foroj. It 
 contains an old fire-place, and the square-headed windows have large stone mullions. 
 Bury Farm is a very old house, but so modernized that there remain few or noreliques of 
 its ancient character, except an outer doorway, having a depressed arch. Corresponding 
 to this, in the front of the older portion of the building, was a massive door, studded 
 with nails, but now removed. 
 
 The Almshouses were built by Sir "William Drake, Bart., in 1617, and consist of a 
 brick building on the south side of the street, with stone window casings and doorways, 
 standing round three sides of a court ; over the front door on a stone tablet are the 
 founder’s arms ; in chief two mullets, in base a wyverne, his tail noioed, in a canton the 
 Ulster badge ; crest, an arm, conpee at the elbow, supporting an axe.” 
 
 THE PALIMSEST BRASSES AND FONT IN STONE CHURCH. 
 
 Rev. J. L. Challis. 
 
 “ There are brasses on two stone slabs in the nave of Stone Church. On one are 
 the effigies of a male and a female ; the head was gone from the male effigy, apparently 
 before it was placed on the present slab, and the effigy is clothed in a shroud, with this 
 inscription underneath (filling in the abbreviations) :—‘Orate pro animabus William 
 Gurney quondam de Bishopston et Agnetis Uxoris ejus qui quidern Williamus 
 obiit. xxix. die Maii Anno Domini mccccxxv. et praedicta Agnes obiit. Anno Domini 
 MCCCCXX. Quorum Animabus Miseretur Deus. Amen.’ On the other slab are the 
 effigies of a male and a female, with the figures of six male children (not five, as stated 
 in‘Lipscomb’), and three female, not kneeling. The inscription below is as follows : — 
 ‘ Here lyeth Thomas Gorney and Agnes his wyf which Thomas dyed the viii. day of 
 May, Ao. Dili, mvxx, on whose soulo Jhu have m’ey.’ This plate is double-faced, or 
 engraved on the upper surface, but the last line of this inscription has been cut through. 
 The whole inscription has been given by the late Admiral Smyth, the last line restored 
 by conjecture from the bits of letters remaining—‘ Of your charity pray for the soul of 
 Christopher Thorpe which deceased the 28th day of September, the year of our Lord 
 mvxiiii. On whose soul have mercy’ (modernized). The brass of the effigies is also 
 engraved on the other side. 
 
 Concerning the font, I take the following from Mr. Lowndes’ lecture :—The Norman 
 font was placed in the Church when it was repaired in 1S45. An account of it has been 
 
S40 
 
 given in an article published in the Builder of July 25th, 1846, under the title of ‘ The 
 "Wanderings of a Church Font.’ It appears that this font was formerly in the Parish 
 Church of Hampstead Norris, in Berkshire, and at the time of its removal to Stone was 
 well remembered by many of the older inhabitants. Nearly one hundred years since, the 
 family of Matthews, then resident in the parish, originally members of the society of 
 Friends, having conformed to the Church of England, presented on the occasion a new 
 font, which bears an inscription with date 17G7. The original font was consequently 
 removed to the Rectory garden, where it remained until J. G-. Akerman, Esq., F.R.S., 
 Secretary of the Society of Antiquarians, who married into the Rector’s family, had it 
 conveyed to Kensington, and placed in his garden ; thence it was removed to a villa about 
 six miles from London, on the road to Croydon ; and it was here that it was traced by 
 Mr. Wm. Hewitt, jun., of Reading, who kindly furnished this information of its 
 progresses to the architect employed in the restoration of Stone Church. Mr. Akerman 
 offered it to the Rev. J. B. Reade, and, on the approval of the architect, it was accepted. 
 When it arrived it was covered with composition and whitewash. The pedestal is modern, 
 cut in imitation of the old work on the font. The font was placed in its present position, 
 on a new stone platform, at Christmas (1888).” 
 
 WEST WYCOMBE CHURCH. 
 
 On the 25th of October, 1761, the six musical bells of West Wycombe chimed their 
 first merry peal, to announce the completion of the tower, which forms part of one of the 
 most extraordinary churches in the kingdom. The old church was entirely demolished, 
 with the exception of a portion of the tower and chancel, which were again united by the 
 new nave, and made to suit its peculiar and original design. The only door into it is 
 through the tower at the west end ; and such is the effect of its general appearance, that 
 if a stranger were brought into it blindfolded through the grave-yard, he could scarcely 
 believe himself in a place of Christian worship. It is a large, oblong room, sixty feet in 
 length, and forty in width ; the ceiling is fiat, and painted in mosaic pattern, with a 
 festooned border on the side-walls, where they join the ceiling. The windows, which 
 are large and numerous, are the common sashes of the period, each with a window-seat, 
 that opens, so as to form a cupboard ; the floor is paved with black and white marble 
 in lozenges ; the seats are mere movable benches ; the pulpit and reading-desk, which 
 stand respectively on each side of the entrance to the chancel, are mahogany arm chairs, 
 with a bookstand in front. Each stands on a low chest of drawers, and when required for 
 divine service, the drawers are pulled out to form steps for the minister to enter. The 
 clerk’s desk is somewhat similar, but stands at a distance down the nave. The font, 
 
341 
 
 placed in the centre, is of marble; it is about the size, and has the appearance of a 
 small wash-hand basin ; four doves are placed round the verge of the font, and it rests 
 on a slender pillar, round which a serpent is entwined, as if pursuing the doves. The 
 chancel, which is very small, can scarcely be seen from the nave, for the entrance is so 
 blocked up on both sides by the manorial-pews, or rather galleries, that the passage 
 between is exceedingly uarrow. When entered, it has a rich and gorgeous appearance. 
 The ceiling is brilliantly painted with a representation of the Last Supper ; the windows 
 are filled with stained glass; the altar-rails are of massive oak, elaborately carved ; the 
 communion-table jnlaid with mosaic-work ; and the floor paved with fine polished marble. 
 Yet the whole has a secular appearance. The tower, which has large unsightly windows, 
 is surmounted by a low spire, on which is placed a large hollow ball forming a room, 
 with a seat round it that will hold twelve persons. But as it is entered by a ladder 
 outside the spire, few persons have the nerve to make themselves acquainted with its 
 interior. On the north wall, outside the church, which is dedicated to St. Lawrence, 
 there is a representation of him suffering martyrdom on a gridiron, with this inscription 
 —“ Though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.” 
 And on the south side, there is a sun-dial with this text—“ Keep thy tongue from evil 
 speaking, lying, and slandering.” The church was built by Sir Francis Dashwood about 
 the time he became Lord le Despencer.— Chambers' Booh of Days. 
 
 STEPHEXIXGL 
 
 An ancient custom existed in the parish of Drayton Beauchamp, called Stephening, 
 a brief notice of which may not only be amusing, but may elicit some evidence as to its 
 origin, which at present is totally unknown in the neighbourhood. On St. Stephen’s 
 Day all the inhabitants used to pay a visit to the Rectory, and there assert their right to 
 partake of as much bread and cheese and ale as they chose at the Rector’s expense. On 
 one of these occasions, as tradition states, the then Rector, being a penurious old 
 bachelor, determined to put a stop, if possible, to this rather expensive visit from his 
 parishioners. Accordingly, when St. Stephen’s Day arrived, he ordered his housekeeper 
 not to open the window-shutters or unlock the doors of his house, and to be perfectly 
 6ilent and motionless whenever any person was heard approaching. At the usual time, 
 the parishioners began to cluster about the house. They knocked first at one door, then 
 at the other, then tried to open them, aud on finding them fastened, called aloud for 
 admittance. No voice replied ; no movement was heard within. “ Surely the Rector 
 and his housekeeper must be both dead !” exclaimed several voices at once, and a general 
 awe pervaded the whole group. Eyes were then applied to the key-holes, and to every 
 
342 
 
 crevice in the window-shutters, when the Rector was seen beckoning to his old terrified 
 housekeeper to be still and silent. A simultaneous shout convinced him that his design 
 was understood. Still he consoled himself with the hope that his larder and cellar were 
 secure, as the house could not be entered. But his hope was speedily dissipated. 
 Ladders were reared against the roof, tiles hastily thrown off, half a dozen sturdy young 
 men entered, rushed dowu the stairs, and threw open both the outer doors. In a trice a 
 hundred or two unwelcome visitors rushed into the house, and began unceremoniously to 
 help themselves to such fare as the larder and cellar afforded ; for no special stores 
 having been provided for the occasion, there was not, of course, half enough bread and 
 cheese for such a multitude. To the Rector and his housekeeper that festival was 
 converted into the most rigid Fast-day they had ever observed. 
 
 After this signal triumph, the parishioners of Drayton regularly exercised their 
 “ privilege of Stephening” till the incumbency of the Rev. Basil Woodd, who was pre¬ 
 sented to the living A.D., 1808. 
 
 Finding that the custom gave rise to much rioting and drunkenness he discontinued 
 it, and distributed instead an annual sum of money in proportion to the number of 
 claimants. But as the population of the parish very greatly increased, and not consider¬ 
 ing himself bound to continue the practice, he was induced about a.d. 1827 to withhold 
 his annual payments. For some time after, however, the people used to go to the 
 Rectory for the Stephening-money, but were always refused. 
 
 In the year 1834, the Commissioners “ appointed to inquire concerning Charities,” 
 made an investigation into this custom, and several of the inhabitants of Drayton gave 
 evidence on the occasion ; but nothing was elicited to show its origin or duration, nor 
 was any evidence produced to prove that the Rector was legally bound to comply with 
 such a demand. This custom was also observed at Great Horwood. 
 
 WADDESDON. 
 
 The church of St. Michael, Waddesdon, is an ancient building, consisting of 
 chancel, clerestoried nave, aisles, south porch and an embattled western tower containing 
 six bells and a clock ; the earliest portion of the structure, comprising one or two piers 
 of the nave and the minor doorway, is Norman ; the tower, south porch, and piers and 
 arches of the nave are generally good plain Early English, and some parts of 
 the chancel are Decorated; the clerestory is entirely Perpendicular, and windows 
 of that date have been inserted in other parts of the church ; there are three piscinae, 
 
343 
 
 one in each aisle and one in the nave ; the font is Decorated, octagonal in shape and 
 panelled; in the chancel are some brasses to Robert Pygott and his wife ; there is also 
 the figure of a knight in armour, lying upon a raised table tomb at the eastern end of 
 the south aisle, a monument to Guy Carleton, a veteran soldier, ob. June 1, 1608, and 
 brasses to Hugh Bristow, rector of the first portion, elected thereto in 1548, and to 
 Richard Huntingdon, a priest, date uncertain ; affixed to the walls is a brass in memory 
 of William Turner, who left £3,625 to the poor of the parish. The chancel was restored 
 in 1877, the rest of the fabric, excepting the tower, having been previously restored. 
 
 THE DORMER MONUMENTS AT WING. 
 
 Mr. William Brailsford. 
 
 “ Scattered over nearly every part of the county of Bucks are the tombs of the Dormer 
 family. This noble house, it is to be presumed, had its origin in Oxfordshire, inasmuch 
 as we find from records at Thame, in that county, as far back as 1529, from memorial 
 tablets, and from lauds called after their names, very early recognition of their 
 importance. 
 
 On entering Wing Church the attention is at once directed to a large altar or 
 table tomb situate at the east end of the north aisle. The tomb is formed of 
 Italian marble. Eight Corinthian pillars support a slab or cornice, which covers the 
 tomb, on which there is no effigy. The fore part is decorated with a ram’s head filleted 
 for sacrifice, while festoons of flowers join on to other rams’ heads at each angle. Over 
 against the wall and under the cornice are four small shields of arms, and inscriptions in 
 brass to Sir Robert Dormer and other members of his family. A small helmet and some 
 armorial bearings are placed on the apex of the monument. At the base is sculptured 
 Anno Dni 1552. As Sir Robert Dormer died in that year, there is presumptive evidence 
 that this noble pile was erected as a lasting tribute to his memory. The tomb is unique 
 and is certain to have the fullest appreciation at the hands of every lover of art who 
 makes a pilgrimage to view it. It is certainly one of the most, if not the most, remark¬ 
 able monument in the county of Bucks. In the chancel, separated from the nave by a 
 screen, are two fine monuments opposite each other. That by the north wall is dedicated 
 to Sir William Dormer, Knight of the Bath, M.P. for the county of Bucks, in the sixth 
 year of Henry YIII. He was Lord of the Manor of Wing, and in the third year of Philip 
 and Mary he had licence to retain thirty men besides his menial servants, those so retained 
 wearing only his livery and attending on special occasions. Sir William was twice 
 manied, first to Mary, daughter of Sir Philip Sidney, and secondly to Dorothy, daughter 
 of Anthony Catesby, Esq. The latter lady married again and became the wife of Sir 
 
344 
 
 William Temple, the eminent statesman and military commander. She survived him 
 and lived to a very great age, dying in 1613, and was buried near her first husband. 
 She founded a hospital or almshouse for eight poor men and women. It had this 
 inscription on a stone slab—‘ Dormer’s Hospital of the foundation of Dame Dorothy 
 Pelham, sometime wife to Sir "William Dormer, Knight, Lord of the Manor of Wing, 1562.’ 
 His full-length marble effigy clad in complete armour lies on a mattrass of free stone, the 
 head uncovered, the hands uplifted and joined palm to palm. On a slab underneath is 
 written—‘ Finished Anno 1590, the 20 October.’ About a foot lower is the effigy of 
 the Lady Dorothy, who is dressed in a close habit with quilted ruffles, coif, large ruff, 
 hood and bands of gold about the head. A fine pediment, frieze and cornice having five 
 shields of arms, surmounts the two effigies. This pediment is supported by two lofty 
 and elegant pillars of Sicilian marble. At the foot of the tomb are the figures of one son 
 and three daughters, and at one of the angles three chrysom children are sculptured. 
 
 On the wall immediately opposite is the third of the Dormer memorials. This was 
 erected in memory of Robert, grandson of the first Sir Robert. This gentleman was 
 knighted in 1591, created a baronet in 1615, and elevated to the peerege as Baron Dormer 
 in the same year. In right of his possession of the Manor of llmer, Lord Dormer was 
 Master Falconer to the King. He married the Hon. Elizabeth Browne, daughter of 
 Anthony Viscount Montague. The monument is of similar design to that of Sir William ; 
 the figures, however, are smaller, and instead of lying prostrate are kneeling. The male 
 statue is clad in armour with stiff collar of great size. There is a sword-belt, but 
 neither sword nor spurs. The lady is on the same elevation, and is dressed in a close 
 gown with long sleeves. Both kneel before a separate desk or small altar. At the base 
 are the effigies of three sons and three daughters, and all these, as in the monument 
 opposite, follow each other in the apparent succession of their birth, iustead of the boys 
 being with boys only, and the girls with girls, as is the custom generally on brasses and 
 other memorial records. The tomb is partly gilt, and is composed of various marbles, 
 and has a very noble arch, which is decorated with roses and lilies, and supported by two 
 pillars of black marble with Corinthian capitals of white marble. Shields of arms are to 
 be seen on the wall. These three magnificent examples of the sculptor’s art, of them¬ 
 selves form a motive for an inspection of’ the church at Wing.”— Antiquary. 
 
 HUNDRIDGE. 
 
 Rev. W. H. Kelke (1850). 
 
 “ Hundridge is a Manor or Hamlet of Chesham, about two miles distant from the 
 parish Church. Lysons says there was a Chapel of Ease there, but Lipscomb does not 
 notice it, nor have I been able to find any authentic record of its foundation or early 
 
345 
 
 history. By the kindness of Mr. Burgess, and Mr. Aylward the Vicar of Chesham, I am 
 enabled to give the following account of its present state. The outer walls of the Chapel, 
 which stands East and West, still remain, and some of the windows retain the original 
 mullions and jambs. The East window is perfect, and contains three lights of the 
 Perpendicular period. In the south wall are two lancet windows, and one in the north 
 wall. The Chapel is built of flint, dressed with Tottenhoe stone, and measures externally 
 forty-four feet by twenty. Chimnies have been built on the south side, and the nortli 
 wall has been refaced with brick, and two door ways have lately been broken in. The 
 greater part of the building is used as a brewhouse, but the west end is converted into a 
 dwelling, being partitioned from the rest. There is a garden on the south side in which 
 human remains have been found, but not by the present occupiers of the dwelling. In 
 this garden there are two fine yew trees, which are probably one or two centuries old, and 
 were doubtless planted when this ground was held sacred as a spot consecrated to 
 Christian sepulture. No entries, however, have been found in the Chesham Registers 
 of interments having taken place at Hundridge. Such interments, if they occurred 
 since Registers were in use, were probably entered in a Register for the Chapel, which is 
 now lost.” [It is now used simply as an outhouse.] 
 
 HADDENHAM CHURCH. 
 
 “ There was anciently a chapel and cell belonging to the Monks of Rochester 
 standing to the north of the church, adjoining the present vicarage ; the spot is still 
 called Chapel Field; but no trace of either now exist. The church itself, dedicated to 
 God in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary, consists of nave, chancel, north and south 
 aisles, with a north porch, a lady chapel to the north of the chancel, with northern door, 
 and a modern lean-to vestry to the south of the chancel, with a fine tower to the west 
 end. Over the north porch is a parvise. There is a door to the west side of the tower, 
 and another in the south aisle. The church is exceedingly well proportioned, lacking 
 only, for greater etfect, a clerestory—possibly taken down for safety’s sake. The hood 
 moulding on the eastern side of the tower still distinctly shows the remarkable pitch of 
 the first-pointed roof of the nave. 
 
 The original building was evidently of Early English character, for both the tower 
 and all the chancel windows are of this style, as are also the pillars of the nave. The 
 arches are of a later style. It was no doubt erected about a.d. 1215, being the eighth 
 year of the reign of the young monarch, King Henry III. The upper part of the tower 
 —its Early English arcading, in which, on all sides, out of five equal arcades, the second 
 
346 
 
 and the fourth form windows—is singularly beautiful and effective. The east window is 
 of three narrow lights, deeply recessed, with detached internal pillars ; while the four 
 small and narrow lancets of the chancel, two on either side, evidence by their peculiar 
 stonework in the splays their considerable antiquity. There are two uniform arched stone 
 aumbries or recesses, one on either side of the Communion Table, in the east wall of the 
 chancel. These, when the church was last repaired, were found to contain a collection 
 of bones—said, by those who discovered them, to have been the bones of extinct animals, 
 and were buried in the churchyard. It is, however, more than probable that they were 
 relics, hidden during the Tudor age. 
 
 A plain cusped second-pointed Piscina, with circular drain, remains in the south 
 wall of the sanctuary. There are no traces of any sedilia ; and a small stone bracket of 
 Early English work on the north side of the chancel appears to have been removed since 
 1866. The Lady Chapel was originally a first-pointed structure, as is evident by 
 the Easter sepulchre on its south side. Behind the westernmost pillar of this aisle 
 stands the font, evidently in its old position. It is in freestone, of the very earliest first- 
 pointed work, with Romanesque features. On a broad band round the top is sculptured 
 a dragon partaking of fruit, represented upon an archaically-curved branch. Beneath 
 are a band of reversed perpendicular flutings, three bold mouldings below, and then a 
 pentagonal base. It stands on a square stone platform, and is protected by a modern 
 flat oak cover. It is in good order. The Lady Chapel was evidently re-constructed 
 circa 1465. It is in the third-pointed style of architecture, and of excellent proportions.” 
 —From a paper by the Rev. F. G. Lee, D.D., F.S.A. 
 
 SHARDELOES, AMERSHAM. 
 
 W. H. Hastings Kelke, B.A. 
 
 “ The earliest distinct reference to Shardeloes seems to be in the reign of Edward 
 III., who granted to William de Latymer a messuage and lands, called Shardeloes, 
 formerly belonging to Simon de Bereford, then attainted and imprisoned in the Tower, 
 as an adherent of Queen Isabel and Mortimer. In the reign of Henry VI., Shardeloes 
 was held by Henry Brudenell, Lord of Raans. It was afterwards the property of the 
 Tothills, and by the marriage of Joane, eldest daughter and co-heiress of William Tothill, 
 and one of the extraordinary number of thirty-three children, it passed to Francis Drake, 
 of Esher, whose grandson, Sir William Drake, Baronet, acquired by purchase the Manor 
 of Amersham, thus uniting it to Shardeloes. He was the founder of the .Amersham 
 Almshouses, and has been by Lipscomb strangely confounded with his nephew and heir, 
 Sir William Drake, Knight (not Baronet). This latter, says, Browne Willis, ‘built a 
 
347 
 
 very neat Town Hall, or Market House, which is the handsomest in the county, the 
 building being of brick, standing on arched pillars, and embellished with freestone at the 
 corners, with a lanthorn and clock at top.’ The old mansion of Shardeloes stood nearly 
 on the site of the present one, but a little nearer the summit of the hill. Here William 
 Tothill received Queen Elizabeth, who is said to have afterwards presented to him the 
 portraits of herself and her Chancellor, Sir Christopher Hatton, still remaining here. 
 The gardens attached to it, formed out of a morass by Sir William Drake, nephew of the 
 baronet, are highly praised by the authors of Magna Britannia, as the chief object of 
 interest to Amersham.” 
 
 TYRINGHAM. 
 
 Tyringham is about two miles from Newport Pagnell. Tyringham House is a 
 handsome stone structure with massive pillars supporting pediment in front and an open 
 balustrade at the top ; among the objects of interest preserved here is an autograph 
 letter of King Charles I. written from the Isle of Wight, April 10, 1648, to William 
 Tirringliam, Esq., requesting a remittance of £500 ; the park, of about 100 acres, is 
 studded with forest trees, and slopes to the River Ouse, over which is a modern stone 
 bridge. 
 
 PRINCES RISBOROUGH. 
 
 Princes Risborough was one of the seven Manors in this county retained by the 
 Conqueror. It is thus described in Domesday :—“ Riseberg was the village of Earl 
 Harold. It always answered for thirty hides. There is land to twenty-four ploughs. 
 Twenty hides are in the demesne, and there are four ploughs there. Thirty villanes with 
 twelve bordars have there twenty ploughs. There are three bondmen ; and two mills of 
 fourteen shillings and eightpence. Meadow for seven ploughs. Pannage for a thousand 
 hogs. In the whole it pays annually forty-seven pounds of white money, save sixteen- 
 pence. In King Edward's time it paid ten pounds by tale. To this manor belongs and 
 belonged a certain burgess of Oxford, he pays two shillings. Moreover a falter of 
 Wicg ( ) renders a seam (or horse load) of salt fsammos salis). And in the same 
 
 manor there was and is a certain sokeman holding three virgates which he might sell ; 
 but yet he pays service to the Sheriff.” 
 
 An encampment, which was considered to be that of the Emperor Severus, may (but 
 
348 
 
 ■with great difficulty) still be traced ; on the -west side of the churchyard are several 
 trenches and banks, called The Mount, enclosed with a moat, which is supposed to be 
 the site of a palace of Edward the Black Prince but by Mr. Wise called the Camp of 
 the Saxons. King Henry III. gave the lordship of Risborough to Richard, Earl of 
 Cornwall, his eldest brother, and it was held by Edmund Earl of Cornwall until his death, 
 which took place about the year 1300, when it again reverted to the Crown and was 
 settled in dower ou Queen Margaret; there is an iron chest in the possession of the 
 rector with several very interesting documents, amongst which is the charter of the 
 town and a mutilated copy of letters, bearing date June 12th, 1597, under the great 
 Seal of England, with the titles of the charters of Princes Risborough. Pulpit Wood 
 appears to have been the site of an ancient encampment, and flakes of flint occur in 
 numbers ; they were probably used as knives ; rounded tools, called scrapers, which 
 would be useful in cleansing skins, have been found here too ; a rude flint arrow-head 
 was found by Mr. John Evans in 18G6, on the surface of a field between Edlesborough 
 and Tring, at the foot of the chalk hills. 
 
 The Church of Princes Risborough, which is dedicated to St. Mary, stands in the 
 North-Western part of the towm ; it has six bells, recast out of the former peal, and is 
 surmounted by an octagon spire of stone 100 feet high, with a ball and vane. The old 
 spire fell down in 1803, and considerably damaged the fabric and destroyed the bells. 
 Brook House was for many years possessed by the family of Penton, of Hampshire. 
 Queen Elizabeth, in one of her royal progresses, visited Mr. Penton here, but it was not 
 the house now standing. Brook House is now occupied by George Stratton, Esq., a 
 representative of an old Risborough family. Brass and copper coins or tokens have 
 been found in the neighbourhood, but they were mostly of a comparative modern date. 
 Peter Lely, the famous painter, once held property here, and thus his connection with 
 Buckinghamshire. 
 
 PLACE HOUSE, HORTON. 
 
 Place House was formerly the residence of the family of Brerewood, who, at 
 considerable expense, improved the house and gardens. It was originally built about 
 the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth, as may be judged from its style of architecture, 
 and was adjacent to the south side of the tower of the Church. In the gardens, as altered 
 by the Brerewoods, were canals, separated by a bank from the Colne, withopeuings made 
 from that river for their supply of water. With the earth from these canals, a mount 
 about eighteen feet high was formed, near the boundary of the garden, and at its basis 
 was placed a leaden canister, containing coins, together with the names of persons 
 
349 
 
 present at the ceremony of laying its foundation. An arch was thrown over the principal 
 canal, on which was erected a pavilion elegantly furnished, and containing a library. 
 The walls of the garden were built with bricks of the unusual dimensions of 15 inches by 
 7|, made from clay dug on the spot. The house having been occupied by the Brore- 
 wooas and their successors, the Scawens ; afterwards, by Cook, Hickford, and Mayhew; 
 was taken down circ. 1785. 
 
 WENDOVER. 
 
 Wendover was one of the manors retained by the Conqueror. It is thus described 
 in Domesday Book :—“ Wendovre always answered for twenty-four hides; there is 
 land to twenty-six ploughs. There are three in the demesne. Twenty-six villeins with 
 six bordars have seventeen ploughs, and six may yet be made. There are two mills of 
 ten shillings. Meadow for three ploughs, and twenty shillings for the remainder. 
 Pannage for two thousand hogs. For all payments it renders annually thirty-eight 
 pounds burnt and weighed. In King Edward’s time it paid twenty-five pounds by tale. 
 In this manor two sokemen hold one hide and a half; itdaid not there in King Edward’s 
 time.” 
 
 Leland speaks of it as "a pretty through-fayre towne, havinge 2 streets well 
 builded with tymbre. There is a causey made almost through to passe betwixt Alesbury 
 and it, els the way in wett tyme as in a lowe stifle ciaye were tedious and ill to passe. 
 The townlett selfe, of Wendover, standeth partly upon the North-East Cliffes of Chelterne 
 Hilles. The residewe and N.W. part standeth in the rootes of the Hilles. Looke as the 
 countrye of the Yale of Alesbury, for the most parts is cleane barren of wood, and is 
 champaine ; so is all the Chilterne well wooded, and full of enclosures.” It was one of 
 the smallest boroughs in extent, and least in population of those which had the privilege 
 of sending representatives to Parliament before the date of the Reform Act (2 William 
 IY.) In 1832, the borough contained only 264 houses, and 1,387 inhabitants. The 
 right of election was vested in all the housekeepers residing within the limits of the 
 borough, and not receiving alms. 
 
 The church of St. Mary is a building of stone, chiefly in the Decorated style, and 
 consists of chancel, clerestoried nave, aisles, and a low western embattled tower con¬ 
 taining 6 bells; the chancel, restored in 1839, retains a piscina ; the nave has arcades 
 of five arches on either side, springing from clustered pillars with moulded bases and 
 foliaged caps ; the south aisle has a plain trefoil piscina and the south doorway good 
 Decorated mouldings and ornament ; there are some remains of a stoup ; in the south 
 aisle is a curious mural brass to W. Bradshaw, gent, 1537, and his wife, nine children and 
 
350 
 
 twenty-three grand-ehildren ; the church was beautifully restored in 1869 at the cost of 
 £5,000, under the superintendence of Gr. E. Street, Esq., R.A., and re-opened June 1 in 
 that year ; the materials used in the restoration being flint facings, with dressings of 
 Bath stone ; there are three stained windows in the chancel ; a beautiful reredos has 
 been added and an alabaster and marble pulpit, erected by the parishioners in memory of 
 the Rev. C. F. Champneys, M.A., late vicar. 
 
 LAVENDON. 
 
 Lavendon is three miles north-east from Olney. The Church of St. Mary is a 
 structure of high antiquity, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, north porch, and a tower 
 reputed to be of Saxon origin, containing five bells ; the east window and the easternmost 
 on the south side of the chancel are Perpendicular ; under the latter are three plain 
 seats, and on the same side is a Perpendicular piscina ; the chancel arch is plain ; the 
 south arcade of the nave consists of three acute but plain arches springing from round 
 piers with square imposts ; the arches iu the northern arcade are similar, but less lofty, 
 and all of Transition Norman character ; in the south aisle is a recessed niche and a 
 piscina: the south doorway is Early English, with a Perpendicular porch and parvise 
 over it; the font is octagonal, with panelled tracery and flowers on the sides of the basin. 
 
 BULSTRODE. 
 
 Dr. Lipscomb (1847). 
 
 “ Bulstrode is situate on the south side of the high road to Oxford, between 
 Uxbridge and Beaconsfield. It was originally the seat of the ancient family of the 
 Bulstrodes, and afterwards became the property and residence of Lord Chancellor 
 Jeffreys, who, before he had attained that elevated situation, on being made a Baronet in 
 1681, was described as ‘ of Bulstrode, in the County of Buckingham.’ Charles Dyve, 
 Esq., son-in-law to Lord Jeffreys, sold the mansion to the Earl of Portland about the 
 latter end of the reign of King William III., who, after that King’s death, retired to this 
 place, where he died in 1709. The son of this nobleman, who was created Duke of 
 Portland in 1716, disposed of it to the Duke of Somerset. 
 
 Bulstrode House was built by Judge Jeffreys in 1686, as appears by that date, 
 
351 
 
 formed by bricks of a different colour from the rest of the building; but some parts are 
 evidently the remains of an older mansion. The Duke of Portland, as well as its 
 subsequent noble possessor, effected very extensive alterations and improvements in it, 
 and have rendered it a truly splendid residence. 
 
 The Park is very extensive, containing about eight hundred acres, is well wooded, 
 and stocked with a great number of deer. It is diversified with bold swells, almost 
 rising into hills, gentle slopes and sweeping valleys crossing and intersecting the grounds 
 in every direction. Indeed, this delightful spot contains not a single level acre; and is 
 profusely scattered over by numerous plantations, disposed in the purest taste. To the 
 west of the mansion is a fine grove of old trees, interspersed with walks, leading to the 
 flower gardens and shrubbery, and which command many extensive and interesting views, 
 where the Forest of Windsor and its noble Castle, with the Surrey Hills melting into the 
 horizon, constitute some beautiful distant scenery. On a hill south-east of the House, 
 there is a very large circular entrenchment, enclosing an area of twenty-one acres, with 
 some large old oaks growing on its banks. In fact, the Park displays all the charms that 
 can be produced by diversified surface, commanding situation, and sylvan grandeur.” 
 
 SWANBOURNE. 
 
 The Conqueror retained the manor of Swanbourne in his own hands, together with 
 six others in Bucks. It is described in Domesday thus“ Sweneborne (Swan- 
 bourn) was a village of Earl Harold’s. It answered for four hides and a half. There is 
 land to four ploughs. Three hides and three virgates are in the demesne, and there is 
 one plough there, and another may be made. Three villanes have there one plough and 
 a half, and as many may yet be made. There is one bondman, and meadow for five 
 ploughs. In the whole it pays annually thirty shillings of white money. In King 
 Edward’s time thirty shillings by tale.” 
 
 The church of St. Swithin, Swanbourne, is an ancient fabric consisting of chancel, 
 clerestoried nave, north aisle, south porch, and a western tour containing six bells ; the 
 chancel is Early English and has good lancet windows : the rest of the church, with the 
 exception of the lower part of the tower, which is also Early English, may be regarded as 
 rather Late Perpendicular ; the church contained a series of ancient fresco paintings, with 
 accompanying inscriptions in Latin and English, and the interior generally seems to 
 have been much coloured, especially in the north aisle; near the south door might be 
 traced a much mutilated picture of the Crucifixion ; there are some monuments of the 
 Adams family and a memorial to Mr. Josias Askew, who died in 1750 at the age of 94. 
 The church was restored and repaired in 18G4 by G. Wilkinson, Esq., architect. 
 
352 
 
 ROYAL PALACES IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. 
 
 S. Lysons. 
 
 “At the time of the Norman Survey, there were only seven Buckinghamshire 
 manors in the Crown ; yet it appears there were at that time two Royal Palaces in 
 this county. At Brill (which is mentioned in the Survey as a Crown manor, by the 
 name of Brunliulle), was a Palace, which is said to have belonged to the Mercian kings ; 
 tradition assigns the same origin to Cippenham in Burnham. It is certain that they 
 were both the occasional residence of our Monarchs of the Norman line, so late as the 
 reign of Henry III. Cheynies, anciently called Iselhampstead and Isenhampstead, was a 
 Royal Palace, in the reign of King Edward I. Risborough, mentioned in the Norman 
 Survey as one of the Crown Manors, is said to have been the Palace of the Black Prince : 
 the vestiges of a Castle are clearly to be seen in a field adjoining the church. Ashridge 
 was for a while, after the dissolution of monasteries, a royal palace, and was occasionally 
 inhabited by Queen Elizabeth.” 
 
 DEPRIVATIONS OF ANCIENT RIGHTS. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 There is no doubt that in early times the inhabitants of Aylesbury enjoyed 
 the common rights of pasturage for their cattle on the Haydon Hill Estate, subject to 
 certain conditions. They were, as they allege, deprived of such rights by the domination 
 of the Pakington family. That these rights existed, is apparent from entries in the 
 Court Rolls of the Manor of Aylesbury at a very early period. From these entries it is 
 proved that the management of the pasturage of Haydon Hill was vested in the Court of 
 the Lord of the Manor. At a Court held in 1499, amongst other presentations were 
 the following :—“ Also that we woll that no man shall put his myres in the infyldes of 
 Haydon upon the payne of every m(are of) iiijd. totiens quotiens, that yt be taken by 
 the bayly or hys depute.” “ Also we wold that no man shall put hys hogges in the 
 fyldes but he ryng them by the fest of All (Saints) next cumming upon the payn of 
 every hogg so taken in the fyldes on-rynggyd by the fest afore seyd. . . . And they 
 
 shall not be on-rynggyd till they be put before the herd. Also we wold and order that 
 no manner of persons, botchers, nor no other from this tyme furth put no catell within 
 the infeldes that ys to say between Howmannys Brygg and Spetyll Brygg in time off. 
 . . . Cumming but after the Rate afore tyme rated up on the payne of every person 
 
 doyng the contrary to forfet to the Lord vs.” 
 
 In the Civil Wars of the 17th century the town of Aylesbury was not only a strong- 
 
353 
 
 hold of the Parliamentarians, but the inhabitants were firm adherents to that party. Sir 
 John Pakington was then Lord of the Manor, and a resident; he was a rigid Royalist, and 
 in the commotions of the times his mansion at Aylesbury was demolished, and injury 
 done to his property to the amount of, as he stated, £20,000. Sir John charged the 
 inhabitants of Aylesbury with this demolition of his mansion and other damage to his 
 property, which they denied, but on the contrary they presented a petition to the House 
 of Commons, charging the Pakingtons with depriving them of their ancient rights. The 
 following is a copy of their petition :— 
 
 “ To the Right Honourable the Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses of the Commons, in 
 
 Parliament assembled, 
 
 “ Humbly Sheweth,—That your petitioners, being generally poor, received a great 
 reliefe by enjoying a Right of Common for severall Cattell, at a certain low Rate, in a 
 pasture ground called Haydon Hill, within the Parish of Aylesbury, given to them by 
 the Crowne, & now in the possession of Sir John Pakington, and sequestered as his 
 Lands ; and Sir Thomas Pakington, the Ancestor of the said Sir John Pakington, first 
 found a way to get away their Customary Book, and then used cunning devises to 
 inffringe their Customes, and taking offence at their procuring of a Charter of Incorpora¬ 
 tion, being a man of great power, denied them their right of Common. And the Sonne 
 following the Father’s Stepps oppresseth them in the like kind, and to weary them out 
 in suits, preferred a long Bill in Chancery, where the Right of Common was improper to 
 be tryed, and by reason they being poor, were compelled to disest from their Right of 
 Common, and durst not make use of their Charter of Incorporation. 
 
 “Wherefore your Petitioners humbly pray, That in regard, the p'mises are 
 sequestered as the Land of Sir John Pakington, and at the disposing of this Honble. 
 House, and your petitioners having suffered great Losses by quartering of Soldiers & 
 pulling down their houses, digging up their Orchards and fences to make away for the 
 fortification, to the vallew of near £5,000. That this honble. House will be pleased 
 to settle upon them the benefit of Common they formerly enjoyd as a marke of their 
 favour, And will order they may make such use of their Charter of Incorporation as may be 
 most for the good of the said Towne, And to the intent their libertyes may be secured 
 from him, That the Royalty of the Town held of the Crown may be assigned to them, 
 in such manner as your honble. House shall think fitt. 
 
 “ And your Petitioners shall ever acknowledge their obligation to the honourable 
 House, and pray, &c.” 
 
 This petition was signed by eighty-seven inhabitants, including all grades in the 
 town, male and female. There is no record of the result, but time has proved that their 
 claim of the right of common was never restored to the town. 
 
354 
 
 CHICHELEY HALL. 
 
 Chicheley Hall, near Newport Pagnell, is a mansion in the Italian style, erected 
 about the year 1715, by Sir John Chester, is of i’ed brick faced with white stone, and 
 situated in extensive grounds. Among the treasures preserved here are the seals of 
 Cardinal Wolsey and Archbishop Laud, and MS. believed to be the original composition 
 of Charles I., a Hebrew MS. of the book of Esther, early editions of Ben Johnson and 
 Hooker, and a curious collection of old tracts including the “ Natural History of the 
 Hanover Bat.” One of the rooms of the mansion is w'ainscotted with oak panelling of 
 a date antecedent to the rest of the house, and over the fireplace is a beam with the 
 inscription “ Cave m Deum offendas, cave ne proximum ladas, cave ne tua negligentia 
 famiUum cleseras, 1550this wainscot and beam no doubt formed part of a house known 
 to have been built by Anthony Cave, some of the foundations of which may still be 
 traced. 
 
 BRADENHAM. 
 
 Bradenham Manor House, the ancient seat of the noble family of Windsor, is now 
 the seat of the Rev. John Graves. It is a large handsome mansion though it has been 
 reduced in size. The western facade, though plain, is imposing, and the principal 
 entrance is approached by a lofty flight of stone steps, with a blood-hound couchant on 
 each side, the supporters of the De la Warr family—the younger daughter of Sir E. Pye 
 having married the Hon. C. West, eldest son of Lord de la Warr. The entrance-hall is 
 60 feet long and paved with marble, and leads to a broad massy oak staircase, with a 
 pointed ceiling. The rooms throughout are lofty and finely proportioned. The house is 
 well situated on rising ground, near raised terraces on green sward, overshadowed by 
 spreading yew trees. The gardens lie to the north, aud beyond them among the other 
 woods, is one upwards of 200 acres in extent called the Park Wood. It is as the 
 residence for long years of the elder Disraeli that this seat has become celebrated. 
 “ That most entertaining and searching writer,” as Lord Byron designated him. 
 
 CIVIL WAR NOTES. 
 
 In June, 1643, Wycombe was plundered by the King’s troops. The Earl of Essex 
 was with his army at Wycombe, on the 17th of August that year, on his march to 
 Gloucester; the next day he advanced to Aylesbury, where he continued two days. 
 
355 
 
 Newport Pagnell was regained by the Earl of Essex from the Royal party, having been 
 abandoned without any defence, the latter end of October, 1643, when it was immediately 
 garrisoned by the Parliament ; Colonel Aldridge was at that time governor of the 
 Parliamentary garrison at Aylesbury. A diurnal of November 6, gives an account of an 
 ineffectual attempt to prevail on the governor to betray his trust. Hillesden-house was 
 taken by Cromwell, the beginning of March, 1644, by assault ; Sir Alexander Denton, 
 the owner, his brother, and several other officers being made prisoners, with nearly two 
 hundred soldiers, after which he quartered his forces in and about Buckingham. On the 
 21st of March an order was sent from the Commons to Sir Samuel Luke, the governor, 
 for strengthening the fortifications at Newport Pagnell. Aylesbury continued to be a 
 Parliamentary garrison in the beginning of 1645. The latter end of August, 1645, there 
 was an action at Goldicgton in this county between some of the King’s troops, and 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Corken, at the head of some Parliamentary cavalry, in which the 
 former were defeated, the major, who commanded, killed, and several officers and 
 privates made prisoners. 
 
 LANGLEY. 
 
 Jessie (1847). 
 
 “ The village of Langley, or Langley Marys, is very much scattered, and contains 
 some good residences. Langley Park has some fine and interesting trees, and some 
 beautiful cedars. There is a temple commanding a view of Windsor Castle, built by 
 Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, who also made a green drive to the castle at the time of 
 her favouritism with Queen Anne. The great Duke of Marlborough purchased the 
 property from Lord Masliam. It passed to Mr. Harvey. The house is a square 
 stone building, and the rooms are remarkably well arranged. It contains some good and 
 interesting pictures, some of them of the battles of the Duke of Marlborough. It was 
 formerly the residence of the ancient family of Kedermister. On each side of the 
 churchyard there are some venerable-looking almshouses, with solid stone mullions to the 
 windows. The parsonage stands between them, and is very primitive in its external 
 appearance. 
 
 GREAT MARLOW CHURCH. 
 
 The present Church of Great Marlow was opened in 1835 : it succeeded to the 
 name of “ All Saints” from its predecessor ; there was no second consecration, the new 
 church being erected on the site of the old one. It is a noble structure in the 
 
356 
 
 Perpendicular style of architecture, with lofty tower and crocheted spire ; the chancel 
 was added in 1876, and contains a handsome reredos and fine stained windows. In 
 1882 the galleries were removed. In 1889 the improvements were made in the roof, 
 and the unsightly deal pews were removed. The older monuments in the former church 
 were destroyed, the oldest now remaining is the Willoughby monument. There are only 
 two monuments left of the seventeenth century, viz., that of Sir Myles Hobart, Kt., 
 showing a representation in relief of the manner of his death on July 4, 1632—a 
 coach with four horses running down Holborn Hill, the coachman gone, and the off hind 
 wheel of the coach broken ; and another of William Horsepool, who died in 1642. 
 
 LOWER WINCHENDON. 
 
 There was at one time three mansions or houses of a superior class in Lower 
 Winchendon ; the Priory, Goodwins, and the mansion belonging to the Knollys family. 
 In 1264 Lower Winchendon Manor was in the possession of the Abbot and Convent of 
 Notley, but the rights of the Convent were disputed by members of a family of the name 
 of Wake. On the surrender of Notley Abbey, in 1541, the Manor became vested in the 
 Crown, and amongst other marks of Royal favour it was bestowed on Lord Russell, 
 created Duke of Bedford. It was afterwards, for a valuable consideration, conveyed to 
 William Goodwyn, citizen of London. Petronilla Goodwyn, a descendant, married 
 Thomas Tyringham, Esq., of a very ancient family seated in Bucks ; she carried 
 Winchendon to her husband as her portion in marriage. At the decease of a Francis 
 Tyringham, who died in 1727, and his son Francis dying unmarried, the property passed 
 to his daughter Mary, who bequeathed it to her cousin, Jane Beresford, wife of William 
 Beresford, and she outliving both her husband and son, left Winchendon estate to her 
 cousin-german, Sir Francis Bernard, Bart., thus its acquisition by the Bernard family. 
 Lipscomb describes the priory “ to have been partly rebuilt by Sir John Dauncey, a 
 judge in the reign of Henry VIII. ; he entirely erected the hall and other apartments, 
 which were improved about 1600 by the Tyringhams and their successors. The house, 
 which encloses a small court, has an irregular appearance, and was long in a decayed or 
 neglected state; some of the windows have been partly modernised, but they still retain 
 the old stone mullions; the situation being very low the house is damp and gloomy.” 
 Lipscomb also gives a very long list of pictures in his time in the principal apartments, 
 also various coats of arms in stained glass in the windows, with divers accompanying 
 ornaments and well executed figures ; in one of the windows is a cypher T.A.B. (Thos. 
 A. Beckett) and the date of 1449. 
 
 The mansion of the Goodwyns has long disappeared, but its supposed site is pointed 
 
357 
 
 out. The residence of the Knollys, on the west side of the church, is a prominent 
 building in the village. After the death of the last Lady Knollys this estate passed to 
 the Longmires, then to the family of Martyns. In 1858 the house was occupied by Mr. 
 Thomas Dover ; it is now the property of Mr. John Hughes Cox, who resides there. It 
 is not supposed to be of the extent it originally was, but is still a good specimen of the 
 style of domestic dwellings of the 16th century, but from its present substantial condition 
 it must have been erected at a somewhat later period. 
 
 About that date, ornamental carpentery had reached a high degree of excellence in 
 buildings, and there are many examples of ancient timber houses yet remaining. These 
 structures possess a rude and distinctive character ; the massive proportions of the beams 
 and timber take up much room that could otherwise be profitably occupied. The 
 intermixture of wood, brick, and stone, or wood and plaster, in the exterior of houses, 
 was for a very considerable period the common style of building, and might be said to 
 flourish during the latter end of the 15th and a greater part of the 16th century: many 
 of these structures possess great durability. Masses of chimneys then formed a 
 distinctive feature in the edifice, and were often elaborately constructed and ornamented. 
 Overhanging roofs, walls of plaster with lofty gables, bay windows, with each story 
 projecting over the other, are so many characteristics of a mixed style, where the rude 
 designs of the ancient timber houses became progressively intermingled with the massive 
 architecture of a subsequent period, and the external use of timber in the walls continued 
 to prevail for a very long time. 
 
 The Church of Lower Winchendon is dedicated to St. Nicholas, and consists of a 
 nave with a plain parapet and leaded roof, a chancel with a tiled roof, an embattled tower 
 with a demi-octagon turret on its south side, and a south gable-roofed porch. The tower 
 contains five bells and a small bell. The general style of the building is Decorated. 
 The west doorway of the tower is very good, and the arch is enriched with the four¬ 
 leaved flower. Some good Perpendicular windows have been inserted in various places. 
 Near the south entrance are the remains of the old stoupe. Some of the old oak benches 
 remain ; the font is plain and octagonal, and the chancel arch is pointed. There are 
 several monuments to the family of Tyringham, and memorials of the family of Rose. 
 There is no Parsonage House. 
 
 WEST WYCOMBE MAUSOLEUM. 
 
 Near the east end of West Wycombe Church is an open mausoleum, built by 
 Francis, Lord le Despencer, from funds bequeathed by George Bubb Doddington, Lord 
 Melcombe. The building, which is spacious and lofty, is hexagonal in form, and 
 
358 
 
 composed of flints with a frieze and cornice supported by twelve Tuscan columns. It 
 has no roof. On the top of the walls, at the angles, are large vases or urns. Over the 
 entrance is this inscription, “ To George Doddington, Baron of Melcombe Regis and 
 within, on the cornice are the words “To John, Earl of Westmoreland, Baron le 
 Despencer and Burghersh.” In the centre of the Mausoleum is a large marble urn 
 under a flat canopy, supported by four stone pillars. This is a cenotaph to perpetuate 
 the memory of Sarah, Baroness le Despencer, who died in 1769. In the walls of this 
 singular edifice are recesses and niches for the reception of urns and busts, some of which 
 are unoccupied. In the recess facing the entrance is an elegant monument, of statuary 
 marble, inscribed to the memory of “ Francis, Baron le Despencer, who was Treasurer 
 of the Chambers, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Master of the Wardrobe, and Joint 
 Postmaster-General,” who died in 1781, aged 73. 
 
 SCULPTURED MONUMENTS. 
 
 Rev. W. H. Kelke. 
 
 “ Towards the close of Queen Elizabeth’s reign, a list of the monuments in several 
 Buckinghamshire Churches was taken, from which it appears that many, which are 
 there minutely described, are now no where to be found. Others, which are specified by 
 Browne Willis as existing at the beginning of the last century, have now entirely 
 disappeared. Others described in Collin’s Peerage, and in similar works, and in parish 
 records, no longer exist ; and these must have been destroyed or removed since the civil 
 wars. Occasionally we meet with fragments of these ancient monuments. A short time 
 since I saw a stone coffin used as a step at the door of a dwelling-house, and the 
 fragment of a sepulchral slab at the door of a barn ; I was shown some marble ornaments 
 in a drawing-room, made from a sepulchral monument that had been demolished within 
 the last fifty years. Part of the effigy of a mail clad knight, once of historic renown, 
 may still, I believe, be seen as the pedestal of a sun dial. In repairing a chancel wall 
 a few years ago, the fragments of an elaborately sculptured monument were discovered, 
 which had been used about a century and a half ago as building stones. Other 
 monuments from churches in this county have been used, within the recollection of living 
 persons, in repairing the public roads. Perhaps, after all, the worst and most 
 inconsistent, I had almost said unnatural, kind of destruction to which sepulchral 
 monuments have been subjected, is that of destroying one to substitute another in its 
 place ; and instances could be specified where two or three ancient memorials have been 
 destroyed to make room for one huge classic pile of the last century. In spite of all 
 this havoc, a few ancient sculptured monuments have escaped.” 
 
359 
 
 PENN CHURCH. 
 
 The monuments in Penn Church are numerous of the Curzon and Penn families. 
 Amongst them the following are the most elegant. A fine marble structure by Chantrey, 
 having a pedestal with a basso-relievo of the head of an aged man, supporting an urn, 
 before which are two weeping females. This is inscribed to Assheton, Viscount Curzon, 
 son of Sir N. Curzon, who died in 1820. Two chaste and beautiful monuments, also 
 from the chisel of Chantrey, erected by Earl Howe—one to the memory of his lordship’s 
 mother, who died in 1835 ; and the other to the Countess Howe, his wife, who died in 
 1836. A mural monument by Bacon to the Hon. Penn Assheton Curzon, who died in 
 1797. Another with a profile in relief to Mrs. Elenor Curzon, who died in 1754. 
 Within the communion-rails are the brass effigies of a man in armour and a lady in a 
 long robe and close head-dress. The inscription is to William Penn, Esq. (who died in 
 1638) and Martha his wife. Another brass contains the figures of a male and a female, 
 having below them six figures of men, in cloaks. The latter is inscribed to John Penn, 
 Esq. (who died in 1597) and his wife. There are likewise in the floor the effigies in 
 brass of “ John Pen of Pen Esquire” (who died in 1641) and Sarah his wife, and their 
 ten children, the male figures in armour. A brass in the south aisle, amongst the 
 tombs of the Penn family, exhibits a lady in a shroud and long flowing hair. Another 
 brass is inscribed to “ Lady Susan Drurey, wife of Sir Henry Drurey, Knt., and mother 
 of Mrs. Sarah Pen, wife of John Pen of this parish, Esqr.” This lady died in 1640. 
 Here too is a tablet, ornamented with a bas-relief—an altar of incense, and a female 
 recliuing near it—inscribed to General Haviland (who died in 1784) and two other 
 members of his family. In the church is a memorial of Elizabeth, Viscountess 
 Fermanagh. Also one to the Baker family ; and a tablet to Thomas Carter, Esq. (who 
 died in 1782) and his two daughters; the inscription on the latter terminates with 
 “ Requiescat in pacem.” 
 
 THE INDEPENDENTS AT NEWPORT PAGNELL. 
 
 ■Rev. T. P. Bull ( 1811 ). 
 
 “The Independent Meeting at Newport Pagnell was established in 1660 as a 
 congregation of Baptists, by the Rev. John Gibbs, on his being ejected from the vicarage 
 of that parish. This John Gibbs, who was held in great esteem among those of his 
 own persuasion, held a public disputation in or about the year 1647 in Newport church, 
 ‘before a great assembly of ministers and other persons,’ on the subject of infant baptism, 
 
360 
 
 with Richard Carpenter, a singularly versatile religionist of that day, who published an 
 account of it written in a very quaint style. John Hunt who became pastor of this 
 meeting in 1709, published some devotional and controversial works. About the year 
 1738, upon the meeting house, which stood on some ground belonging to a person then a 
 bankrupt, being seized by his creditors, the celebrated Dr. Doddridge generously pur¬ 
 chased it of them, and conveyed it to trustees, taking his chance of being reimbursed 
 by a subscription. Humphrey Gainsborough, who became pastor in 1743, was brother of 
 the celebrated painter, a man of a very mechanical genius, and author of several inventions 
 since introduced into general use. The Rev. David Fordyce, who was minister of this 
 congregation between 1747 and 1749, was brother of the celebrated Dr. James Fordyce, 
 and himself well known as author of Dialogues on the Art of Preaching ; on Education ; 
 and a Treatise on Moral Philosophy. James Belsham, who became pastor, in 1749, 
 published some Latin poems of considerable merit, and was father of William Belsham, 
 Esq., who has published the History of George III., &c., and of the Rev. Mr. Belsham, 
 minister of Mr. Lindsay’s Chapel.” 
 
 NORTH MARSTOX CHURCH. 
 
 W. Cayeler (1849). 
 
 “ The Church of St. Mary’s, North Marston, is one of the finest churches in the 
 neighbourhood; it consists of a chancel, nave with clerestory, aisles, and south porch, a 
 tower at the west end, with a vestry on the north side, the latter having a room over it. 
 The original style of this church seems to have been Early English, or at least it was 
 commenced when that style prevailed, as some Early English piers and arches are still 
 remaining on the north side; on the south side they are Decorated, and rather curious 
 in form. The whole of the south aisle is Decorated, there is a rich piscina in the south 
 wall, a very good three-light window with a niche on each side at the east end, and a 
 squint, all profusely ornamented with the four-leaved flower; the south doorway is plain, 
 but has very good mouldings ; the tower is also in the same style, but is much defaced, 
 and has some Perpendicular additions. The chancel is a remarkably fine specimen of 
 Perpendicular, the whole of the details of an excellent character. The exterior is rich 
 in buttresses, pinnacles, windows and battlements. The interior has fine sedilia and 
 piscina in the south wall, and rich niches on each side of the east window, the whole 
 much mutilated ; there are also some fine oak stalls with rich panelling and poppy heads ; 
 the door on the north side leading to the vestry is a rich piece of panelling, and the 
 vestry itself is a fine room, having a good water-drain on the south side, a window on 
 the east, and a fire-place on the north : a staircase leads from this room to that above, 
 
361 
 
 which has also a fire-place, and a staircase leading to the roof, both these rooms have 
 good panelled ceilings; the roofs of both nave and chancel are of oak supported on stone 
 corbels. The font is Decorated, the bowl supported by angels springing from the shaft.” 
 The reredos and stained east window were erected by her Majesty the Queen in memory 
 of John Camden Neild, who left her Majesty his property ; the chancel was also restored 
 by her Majesty. 
 
 ROMAN RELICS AT GREAT HORWOOD. 
 
 Rev. C. Lowndes. 
 
 “ A find of a very interesting character was made in the autumn of 1872, in a field 
 between Great Horwood and Winslow. The ploughshare struck the bottom of a small 
 metal vase or pot, and tore it open. It contained some spoons, a fibula or brooch, a pin 
 and a ring, all of silver, and of Roman type. It was reported that there were five spoons. 
 The peculiarity of the spoons is that the bowls are oval, and drop about a quarter of an 
 inch below the long taper shanks, which were originally straight, but which evidently 
 had been rudely bent in order that they might be put into the metal pot. In the bowl 
 of one of the spoons is an inscription, veneria vivas, and it seems as if this spoon had 
 been given to a lady of the name of Veneria, as a birthday or wedding present. The 
 long taper shanks of the spoons were used for drawing snails, etc., out of their shells. 
 This custom is alluded to by Martial (Martialis Epigramma, lib. % xiv. ep. 121) an old 
 Roman author, b.c. : 
 
 ‘ Sum cochleis habilis, sed nec minus util is ovis. 
 
 Numquid scis potuis cur cochleare vocer ?’ 
 
 Pliny in his Natural History, xxviii., c. 2, records the singular practice of either 
 perforating the egg-shell, after its contents have been eaten, with the end of the spoon, 
 or breaking off the bowl of the spoon ; ‘ Hue pertinet ovorum ut exsorbuerit quisque 
 calices cochlearumque protinus frangi aut eosdem cochlearibus perforari.’ Sir Thomas 
 Browne, in his Vulgar Errors, 1669, Book V., c. xxi., s. 4, quotes this passage from 
 Pliny, and calls the custom of ‘ breaking the egg-shell after the meat is out, a super¬ 
 stitious relict,’ and says that ‘the intent was to prevent witchcraft.’” 
 
 BILLETING SOLDIERS IN PRIVATE HOUSES (1627). 
 
 Verney Papers. 
 
 “ The billeting of soldiers was another enormous grievance of those days. The 
 soldiers were allowed to treat the people as if they were living in free quarters iu a town 
 
362 
 
 lately captured. Property and even female honour was at their mercy. ‘ They have 
 rent from us the light of our eyes,’ exclaimed the then patriot Wentworth, when detailing 
 the offences of the Government, ‘ enforced companies of guests worse than the ordinances 
 of France, vitiated our wives and daughters before our faces !’ The unpopularity of this 
 illegal practice, which was frequently resorted to by the Court vindictively, as a 
 punishment for opposition upon other points, may be inferred from the following return 
 of a constable whose business it was to levy, upon part of the county, a proportionate part 
 of the expenses of a billet ; the undertaking to pay 3s. 6d. per week per man being, like 
 all the other pecuniary engagements of the Government, very difficult and uncertain 
 in enforcement. It will be seen that, with one partial exception, the parishes enumerated 
 in this list unanimously refused to pay the quota assessed upon them :— 
 
 Return for the Three Hundreds of Ashindon of Parishes which refused to pay the 
 
 charge for billeting soldiers. 
 
 A retorne of those parishes that doe refuse to paye for the biliting of soldiers in my 
 diuision with in the three hundreds of Ashindon. 
 
 li. s. d. 
 
 Chersly. Mr. Thomas Britwell, John Winter, with the rest ... 1 13 
 
 Brill. George Carter, Mr. John Pirn, Mr. William Pirn, Mr. 
 
 John Caswell, with the rest. 2 4 
 
 Ilmor. Thomas Lyeborn, Edmon Brooks, with the rest. 1 6 
 
 Lurgesall. The whole parish. 1 18 
 
 Borstall. The whole parish . 1 13 
 
 Chilton cum Eastoundon. Sir John Crok with some others hath 
 paid 14s. 6d., and those whose names dooth heer folio 
 refuseth to pay. Henry Bowden, constable of Eastundon, 
 maketh not his retourne for 7s. 3d., Edward Tredwell 2s., 
 
 Robert Takal 3d., Wido Sanders 18d., Symon Chilton 2s., 
 
 Henry Bowden 6d., Wido Norkut Gd., Wido Anut 6d. 0 14 
 
 3 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 3 
 
 G 
 
 6 
 
 Some is in retornes 
 
 . 9 9 6 
 
 Per me, Edward Bulstrod.” 
 
 LILLINGSTONE DAYRELL. 
 
 The ancient family of Dayrell, written Darell, Deirel, de Hayrel, are supposed to 
 have been established here even in early Saxon times. An ancient Manor House was 
 taken down in 17G7 ; it appears to have been castellated ; a smaller house was built on 
 
303 
 
 its site in 1792. From the reign of Richard T. or King John, the Dayrells, seated at 
 and possessing Lillingstone, may be traced to within the last few years ; they are 
 numerously represented by monuments in the church. The church dedicated to St- 
 Nicholas is built on the usual plan ; it once had a north aisle. It has been a fine Early 
 English building, but has sustained much injury. It was thoroughly restored in 1868, 
 when the north aisle was reinstated and other requisite additions made to the edifice at 
 the sole expense of A. J. Robarts, Esq. 
 
 MURSLEY CHURCH. 
 
 The family vault of the Fortescues is beneath the chancel of Mursley Church. On 
 the north side, projecting from the wall, is the altar-tomb of Bethersden marble, of Cecilia, 
 first wife of Sir John Fortescue, who died in 1570. There is on this tomb the effigy of 
 a lady, in rich brocade, but many of the brasses are gone. Above the tomb, of some 
 years later date, are two tablets of black marble, under arches of alabaster, with an 
 inscription to the memory of Sir John Fortescue, Privy Councillor to Queen Elizabeth, 
 and Chancellor of the Exchequer, &c., to King James I., who died in 1607. Under the 
 arches are two figures kneeling, habited as a Knight and his lady, cut in alabaster, 
 painted and gilt. On a shield at the top of the monument are the arms of Fortescue. 
 On the south side is a mural monument to Sir Francis Fortescue, consisting of an altar- 
 tomb, with pilasters upon it, bounding a recess, in which, kneeling at a desk, with books 
 open before them, are represented, opposite to each other, a male in armour, bare-headed, 
 and a female in a long black robe, with a large quilted ruff. In a compartment in front 
 are the effigies of six sons and four daughters kneeling—two of the sons bearing skulls 
 in their hands, to signify that they had died previously to their parents. On a black 
 tablet above the principal figures is a long inscription. Slabs in the floor are inscribed 
 to other members of the family. The Church of St. Mary the Virgin, is in the 
 Decorated or Second-pointed style, and has an embattled western tower, of much older 
 date. The building was restored in 1867. In the churcli-yard is part of the stem of 
 an ancient cross. 
 
 TUMULUS AT TAPLOW. 
 
 There is a well-known tumulus at Taplow. This was opened in 1883, under the 
 energetic superintendence of Mr. Rutland, of “ The Gables,” when the find proved to be 
 
364 
 
 most prolific. The objects discovered are now in the British Museum. The authorities 
 there believe the remains to be of early Saxon times. From the quantity of bronze 
 armour, it would point to an early date, when that metal was more commonly used for 
 defensive purposes than iron. The Anglo-Saxon was more of an iron-using man, and his 
 armour of metal plates and rings sewed on a leathern or woollen fabric resembled in 
 character that of the Norman soldiers of William. Certainly he must have belonged to 
 that great northern Teutonic race of which the Danes, the Saxons, the Angles, and the 
 Normans themselves were all off-shoots. The Rev. B. Burgess remarks that so complete 
 an example of the method of interment of these early chieftains of Britain has, probably, 
 never been found elsewhere in the southern counties of England. 
 
 NEWPORT PAGNELL. 
 
 TVeeyer, in his “ Funeral Monuments,” tells us that in the north aisle of Newport 
 Pagnell Church, in 1G19, was found the body of a man “ whole and perfect” lying north 
 and south—“ all the concavous parts of his body, and the hollowness of every bone, as 
 well ribs as other” being filled up with solid lead—the skull, with the lead in it, weighing 
 301b. Goz. He says that some of the bones were preserved in a chest in the church, and 
 shewn to strangers, and that he, himself, saw them. Cole, the antiquary, states that in 
 1776 the head was preserved in the library of St. John’s College, Cambridge. It is not 
 known whether any fragments of this relic are now in existence. Skeletons charged 
 with lead have been found at Axminster, Devonshire ; Gravesend, Kent ; and Bradwell 
 Ash, Suffolk. It has been supposed that the hollow of the bones became filled with 
 lead from the melting of the leaden coffins, occasioned either from lightning, or some 
 subterraneous vapour generating in the vault; or, as was the case in Gravesend, where 
 the coffins became so when the church, being consumed by fire, the melted lead ran into 
 all parts amongst the ruins, and entered many of the graves and vaults. While digging 
 for the foundation of a house northward of the church, there was found a skeleton laid 
 in the trunk of a tree, which seemed to have been hewn hollow for that purpose. Several 
 other skeletons having been dug up toward the north, it has been conjectured that the 
 churchyard must once have extended in that direction. The discovery of these skeletons 
 has suggested the idea that the parish church was in existence on this immediate spot, 
 prior to the erection of the conventual church in the time of King William II. ; some 
 have supposed that interments took place within the fortifications of the castle, and that 
 the leaded skeleton was the corpse of some feudal chief. 
 
3G5 
 
 WHITCHURCH. 
 
 The Parish Church of this village is dedicated to St. John the Evangelist. It 
 has chance], nave, clerestory, and south porch, and a tower at the west end. This church 
 has been a fine specimen of Early English architecture, but is now much altered ; there 
 is a good doorway of that style in the tower, having clustered shafts with foliated capitals 
 and good arch mouldings. Above is the outline of a rich Decorated window, with 
 niches on the splay of the jamb ; the tracery has been destroyed, and a Perpendicular 
 window inserted. Some of the piers to the nave are Early English, others Decorated, 
 but all good as to detail. There are some good Decorated windows in the aisles. The 
 chancel is Early Decorated, with two very good windows on the sides. The east window 
 has either been badly restored, or else is entirely modern. There are good Decorated 
 sedilia and piscina in the south wall of the chancel; the clerestory is Perpendicular. 
 The most conspicuous monument is to the memory of “John Westcar, Esq., late of 
 Creslow, who died on the 24th of April, 1833, aged 84 years,” and also to his wife. The 
 inscription below is— 
 
 Unblemished let me live, or die unknown ; 
 
 Oh ! grant an honest fame, or grant me none. 
 
 The gentleman derived his fame from his successful rearing of cattle on the celebrated 
 Creslow Pastures ; a carving in relief, in marble, represents him attired in a costume not 
 unlike the Roman toga, standing in front of a massive ox, while three sheep are depicted 
 in a corner of the tablet. 
 
 NONCONFORMITY AT AYLESBURY. 
 
 D. Lysons. 
 
 “The Nonconformists were proceeded against in the county of Buckingham, with 
 remarkable severity in the reign of Charles II. After having filled the common gaol, 
 the magistrates hired two large houses at Aylesbury for the purpose of prisons. After 
 three months’ imprisonment the Nonconformists were tried upon a statute of Queen 
 Elizabeth, which made it felony if, after an imprisonment of that length, they did not 
 conform ; and several were in consequence condemned; but through the interference of 
 Mr. Kyfiin, an eminent dissenting divine, who represented the circumstances of the case 
 to Lord Chancellor Clarendon, they were all reprieved, and eventually received the King’s 
 pardon.” 
 
366 
 
 GAYHURST CHURCHES. 
 
 The ancient church of Gayhurst, within whose walls were buried the Nowerses, 
 Nevills, Mulsoes, and Digbys, was described just before its demolition as “ very old, 
 uncomely, and ruinous.” In 1712 all the inscriptions and coats-of-arms were gone ; but 
 there were several brasses in the pavement, and two or three old broken gravestones 
 lay near the chancel, one of which was so much dilapidated that at the time the church 
 was taken down, only the last word was legible. It was to John de Nowers, who lived 
 at the time of Edward III., and the inscription, which was in French, formerly ran : — 
 
 Jo : de : Nowers : gist : ici : 
 
 Diev : de : s’alme : eit : merci : Amen. 
 
 The present church, for the buildiug of which George Wrighte (who had pulled down 
 the old one) obtained a faculty in 1724, was opened for worship in 1728. It is in the 
 Grecian style, with a square tower at the west end, surmounted by a cupola and four 
 urns, one at each angle ; and is historically interesting as being in all probability the 
 last of the works of Sir Christopher Wren. The architecture of Wrighte’s Church 
 everywhere expresses the Protestant feeling of Queen Anne’s reign. 
 
 CHESHAM CHURCH. 
 
 The Church of St, Mary, Chesham, is a cruciform building chiefly in the 
 Decorated and Perpendicular styles, consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave, aisles, 
 south porch with parvise, transepts, and a central embattled tower with rectangular 
 spire, and containing a clock and six fine-toned bells recast in 1812, and a sanctus 
 bell. The earliest existing portion is the chancel, excepting, perhaps, a portion of 
 the north transept, in which is half a Norman window ; in the chancel is a piscina, 
 and in the porch a st'oup. The ceiling of the porch is groined, and it has a priest’s room 
 or parvise over, which is approached from the interior by a turret stair. Local tradition 
 states that in this room Harding, the martyr, was confined previous to his immolation at 
 the stake. The south transept was formerly the burial place of the Cavendishes of 
 Latimer, and contains a monument to Sir John Cavendish, 1618, and an altar tomb with 
 a lofty pyramidal structure above to Mary, wife of Sir Francis Whichcote, Bart., 1728 ; 
 on the north side of the chancel is a monument, with effigy in the act of preaching, to 
 Richard Woodcock, a former vicar, 1623 ; and one to Richard Bowie, 1626; in the 
 chancel are memorials to Nicholas Skottowe, 1798, by Bacon, and several inscribed 
 
367 
 
 stones to members of the Lowndes family. The entire building has been restored by 
 subscription ; the chancel being renovated at the cost of the late Duke of Bedford, who 
 likewise gave £500 towards the remainder of the restoration ; the work was executed 
 from the designs of the late Sir G-. G. Scott, R.A.; and the church was reopened by the 
 Lord Bishop of Oxford in 1869. The external walls were partly refaced, and in doing 
 this many fragments of worked stone, proving the Norman character of the building, 
 were met with; the area of the north aisle was enlarged, and the nave roof cased in the 
 Perpendicular style ; those of the south aisle and transept restored and a new roof of the 
 original pitch placed on the chancel ; the new font, in the Early English style, was the 
 gift of William Lowndes, Esq., of the Bury, and the lectern that of the Misses Suthery. 
 The stained east window was presented by the late Duke of Bedford, the north window 
 of the sacrarium by the Misses Nash and one on the south side by Mrs. Lowndes ; in 
 the north aisle is a memorial window to Mrs. Morton and Miss Aylward, and in the south 
 clerestory another to Richard Clare and Mary his wife, erected by their son the late Mr. 
 John Clare, of Ashley Green ; and more recently a window, subscribed for by his friends, 
 has been placed on the north side of the chancel, to the memory of the Rev. A. F. 
 Aylward, twenty-five years vicar of Chesham. During the restoration several ancient 
 fresco paintings were discovered on the north and south walls and the north-west pier 
 of the tower, one of these being a colossal figure of St. Christopher; some fragments 
 of the arms of the Earls of Bedford remain in the clerestory windows. 
 
 ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH AT GREAT MARLOW. 
 
 The Roman Catholic Church (St. Peter’s) at Great Marlow, is a Gothic edifice, 
 erected and endowed by C. R. Scott Murray, Esq., of Danesfield, and was one of the 
 last works of the late Mr. A. W. Pugin. It was opened in 1846, and stands at the south 
 end of the town, in St. Peter’s Street. The walls are of flint, with Bath stone dressings ; 
 and at the western end is an elegant spire of stone, 100 feet in height. The component 
 parts of the church are a nave, north aisle, chancel and north aisle or “ Ladye Chapel.” 
 The west window is filled with coloured glass, and the two other windows of the nave 
 with stained glass, representing St. Charles of Boromeo, St. Francis Assisi, St. Thomas 
 of Canterbury, &c. Two windows in the north aisle depict St. Edward (King), St. 
 Winifride, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, and St. Cecilia. In the window of the Lady 
 Chapel is a picture of the Annunciation. Above this chapel is the organ chamber. The 
 pulpit and font are of Caen stone, and the light and elegant rood-screen is also of stone. 
 In the central compartment of the east window is a figure of St. Peter, and in the two 
 
368 
 
 other lights are angels bearing scrolls with inscriptions. A three-light window on the 
 north side contains the emblems of the priest, deacon, and sub-deacon. The stained 
 glass is by Hardman. The reredos is of sculptured stone, with figures of the Evangelists. 
 The sedilia and piscina are in their usual position ; the stalls are of oak, and the 
 benches are open. Close to the church is a Convent of Sisters of Charity of St. Paul the 
 Apostle, who conduct a School The latter building is from a design by the son of the 
 late celebrated Welby Pugin. 
 
 ASTON ABBOTS. 
 
 Aston Abbots House, or as it is generally known, “ The Abbey,” was, previously 
 to the dissolution of monasteries, occupied by the Abbot of St. Alban’s. It is now the 
 residence of Edward Hart, Esq., C.C. Sir J. C. Ross, one of the Arctic Explorers, and 
 nephew of Captain Ross, died here in 1862. The church of St. James is a small stone 
 structure, chiefly of the Decorated period, consisting of chancel, nave, south porch, and 
 a western tower with square turret, containing five bells. There is a good Decorated 
 piscina in the south wall of the chancel, in good preservation. The stained east window 
 is a memorial to Sir J. C. and Lady Ross, who were buried in the churchyard, the former 
 in 1862 and the latter in 1857. The church was restored and partly rebuilt in 1865-6, 
 under the superintendence of the late G. E. Street, Esq., R.A. 
 
 ANCIENT DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 Domestic timber buildings of the 15th century are still occasionally met with. 
 The old English mauor houses, the houses of the gentry generally, as well as those of 
 the better class of the yeomanry of that period, were very simple in their plan, and often 
 exhibited a singular uniformity of design. It is not surprising to find so many of the 
 old domestic buildings constructed for the most part of wood. Timber was then very 
 plentiful in this country, and our ancestors adapted to their use the materials which were 
 readiest at hand. These fifteenth century houses have a large proportion of timber in 
 their construction, both internally aud externally. First, there are stout wooden plates 
 laid horizontally two or three feet above the ground line on under pinnings or grumpings 
 of stone or brickwork; very large upright storey-posts are placed upon the sills at the 
 
369 
 
 angles, and at intervals of from seven to ten feet apart, and in the older houses much 
 closer; these posts support horizontal heads of timber, into which, as well as into the 
 plates, the uprights are framed, tenoned, and secured with wooden pegs. The intervening 
 spaces are again divided by smaller timbers ; these minor timbers being placed vertically 
 and horizontally. In the lower parts of the building the spaces are generally filled with 
 plain or 4-inch herring-bone brickwork, or stone rubble work ; in the upper stories the 
 panels consist of lath or sticks twisted like wicker-work and plastered over with clay or 
 loom, well mixed ; in Buckinghamshire this style is known as “ wattle and dab so 
 long as it is kept dry this work is very durable. The principal features in these old 
 erections are the oversailing upper stories, the carved angle-posts, the protruding gabled 
 roofs with their ornamental barge-boards which are frequently moulded and cut with 
 tracery, or carved in foliage, with all the skill that the middle-age workman could bestow 
 on them. By the barge boards a charming effect is added to the exterior of the house. 
 The usual coverings are tile or shingle. When surmounted by a clustered chimney shaft, 
 executed in red brickwork, in which truly marvellous workmanship is frequently 
 exhibited, houses of this period cannot fail to excite the attention and admiration of the 
 architect and the archseologian. 
 
 WESTON TURVILLE. 
 
 In the Civil Wars of the seventeenth century, the Manor of Weston Turville being 
 amongst the forfeited lauds disposed of by the Parliamentary Commissioners, was 
 conveyed to William Travis, or Travers, of London, gent., and subsequently it passed 
 by purchase to the family of Tompkins. Weston Manor House is now occupied by 
 James Sharp, Esq.. Bedgrave or Bedgrove Manor, in Weston, was purchased in 1827 
 of Mr. John Newman, of Wendover, by John Halbert, Esq., of Stokes Hill, near 
 Portsmouth. The Manor House of Bedgrove was at one time tenanted by Mr. William 
 Hayward, surgeon, Aylesbury. It is now, with the farm attached, and has been for 
 many years occupied by Thomas Morris, Esq. The Manor of Broughton Hollands partly 
 extends into the parish of Weston Turville. 
 
 The Parish Church of St. Mary is an ancient structure, consisting of chancel, nave, 
 vestry, and a western tower. There is a double piscina of Early English date. Within 
 recesses, in the south wall, are portions of the earlier church and some sculptured figures 
 discovered during the restoration of 1860 ; these comprise part of a moulding with dog¬ 
 tooth ornament, a portion of a Norman shaft, carved with a quilted pattern, and two 
 curious effigies with swords and long shields, carved in relief ou blocks of stone. I he 
 chancel is Decorated, as is also the nave which is of five bays, with clustered columns 
 
370 
 
 and moulded arches supporting a clerestory, lighted by four windows on either side. The 
 south aisle exhibits in its windows some elegant examples of Flamboyant tracery ; two 
 of these are segmental headed and have interior hood mouldings, and the east 
 window and two others retain some ancient foliated glass. The font is a fine specimen 
 of Norman work and consists of a fluted basin with elaborate scroll ornament round the 
 edge, resting on a square-cushioned base, similarly carved, with chevron and cable 
 moulding ; the tower occupies the whole of the westernmost bay of the nave, the arches 
 of which are connected by smaller and perfectly plain arches cut through the tower 
 walls ; towards the east a lofty narrow arch opens from the nave to the lower stage of the 
 tower, which has a good Perpendicular window of three lights ; in the south wall of the 
 tower, within the church, is a recessed arched ledge. 
 
 QUAINTON. 
 
 “ Entering Quainton at the lower end of the square or market-place, a stranger 
 can hardly fail to be struck with the primitive appearance of the place, and with that 
 striking, but in these days uncommon, object, its venerable stone cross. And every 
 native of the village who, in his childhood, has perhaps gambolled on its steps, and to 
 whom through life it has continued an object of interest may have often desired to know 
 something of its origin and for what purpose it was placed there. Quainton Cross is 
 generally considered to be a market cross. Market crosses, as they are commonly called, 
 owe their origin to the Emperor Constantine. ‘ For as soon as ever he had vanquished the 
 tyrant, Maxentius,’ says an old writer, ‘ he returned to Rome, and first of all, he gave his 
 thanks to the Author of victory ; then afterwards he set up His cross in the market¬ 
 place, to the end it might remain a testimony of the power of God ; that whosoever did 
 behold the same might by and by conceive of whose religion this Emperor was, and in 
 whose name he overcame his foes . . . that by this outward means he might draw 
 
 them by a little and little to think better of Christ, and so to serve Him.’ From this 
 we gather that crosses originally were not erected in market-places to confer any 
 sanction or importance on the market, but that they might be the more conspicuous 
 objects and seen by the greater number of persons. And for the same purpose almost 
 every town and village in England had a cross erected in the market-place, on the 
 green, or in some other place of common resort. In course of time these crosses, 
 whether in towns or villages, became associated with other purposes. Proclamations 
 were read at them, public and parochial business was transacted, and many private 
 engagements effected. For the object of the cross here was to remind persons of their 
 Christian duties towards one another—that here, where the temptation to defraud and 
 deceit most prevailed, they must remember Him who has said, ‘ Whatsoever ye would 
 that men should do unto you, do ye also unto them.’ Thus, whatever was done 
 
371 
 
 before the town cross, was considered as especially binding and sacred. During the 
 Commonwealth, market crosses were used for a novel purpose. In the year 1653 an Act 
 was passed enjoining marriages to be effected before Justices of the Peace, and by virtue 
 of this Act the banns of matrimony were often published, and some marriages celebrated, 
 at market crosses. We may conclude that, to prevent these marriages from any 
 semblance of a religious character, the crosses were previously deprived of the Christian 
 symbol.”— Rev. W. H. Kel/ce. 
 
 The Church of St. Mary, Quainton, is a large and handsome structure in mixed 
 styles, consisting of south porch, vestry, chancel, aisles, and a western tower with turret; 
 the chancel, which is large, contains several marble monuments and tombs of great beauty 
 and antiquity, amongst which is one to the learned orientalist, Richard Brett, one of 
 the translators of the Bible, who was rector here from 1595 until his death, 1637 ; there 
 is also a very magnificent tomb to Robert Dormer, Esq., one of the Justices of the Court 
 of Common Pleas, oh. 1726, with the effigy of the judge in his robes, while two other 
 figures, life-size, are respectfully at the head and feet, one standing and the other 
 kneeling, both expressing grief. There are also brasses in excellent preservation, to John 
 Spence, rector, 1485; and a remarkable female half figure, which bears the name or 
 Johane Plessi, 1360 ; in the vestry is a very finely executed table tomb of white marble 
 to Richard Winwood, Esq., 1689, with a recumbent effigy in complete armour except the 
 head, on the wall hangs his helmet surmounted by the crest, behind him rests his lady 
 in an attitude of grief, and on the sides stand his four children; on the base of the tomb 
 is sculptured the figure of a human skeleton with a hour-glass ; another monument of 
 heavy design commemorates Sir Richard Pigott, 1685. 
 
 The Church was restored in 1877, under the care of W. White, Esq., F.S.A., as 
 architect. At the time of this restoration most if not all the monuments were displaced, 
 and, it is to be regretted, were not reinstated, so that the above description of their 
 positions is not to be relied on; little care appears to have been taken to preserve them. 
 Richard Brett’s memorial is now placed in the south aisle ; Robert Dormer’s monument 
 is relegated to the bellringers’ chamber in the tower; Richard Winwood’s tomb now 
 stands in the south aisle, but the effigies of the four children are wanting, and are 
 supposed to be those now stowed away in the out-offices of the Rectory. The brasses 
 removed at the restoration from the pavement in various parts of the church are now 
 inserted in the wall of the chancel and within the altar rails; these include one which 
 was carelessly left about in the Rectory years ago, but has fortunately been restored by 
 the present Rector. One of the brasses is that of Johane Plash (or Plessi), a half-length 
 portrait of a female ; another to the memory of Elizabeth Chester, dated 1593 ; a third 
 to Richard Inwardby, 1510; one representing a priest, bearing the name of Spence, 
 1485. Another brass to a priest named Lewys is dated 1422 ; and a sixth to Margery 
 Verney, late wife of Sir Rauff Yeruey, and daughter of John Inwardby, Esq. Dr. 
 Lipscomb, the county historian, was a native of Quainton. 
 
372 
 
 BUTTYNG. 
 
 The office of “ Bnttyng” relates to the famous “ Church Ales,” or “ Scot Ales” of 
 the middle ages. “ The Church Ale” was one of the numerous expedients adopted prior 
 to the Reformation, for raising money. Wealthy parishioners, or indeed parishioners of 
 any degree, contributed malt to the church as a free offering, in addition to their tithes 
 in kind. This malt was duly brewed by the Church authorities, and on a stated festival, 
 when the “ ale was fairly old,” the parishioners used to repair to the churchyard, or some 
 other convenient place, and celebrate the wake, or feast of the Dedication of the Church. 
 These festivals, however piously intended, grew by degrees into great excesses of eating 
 and drinking and other irregularities; and which, by the way, were at the first in some 
 sort indulged to the English by Gregory the Great, at the feast of the Dedication in lieu 
 of their sacrifices while they were heathens, viz., that they might set up booths round 
 the church, and there feast and entertain themselves; a custom which was evidently 
 borrowed from the Jewish ritual. See Nehemiah viii., 16 and 17. Each person paid, 
 according to his means, some small snm for the privilege of joining the festival. The 
 buttyng (or tunning) of the ale was a duty of some importance, and it was natural 
 enough to lay it, as in the case of Wycombe, upon the Vicar, though the profits on the ale 
 or carousal went to the Rectory, i,e., to the Abbess and Nuns of Godstowe. The amount 
 paid by each guest, called his “scot,” or “shot,” became a regular phrase, and hence 
 the name of “scot” or “shot ale.” The holding of these festivals was prohibited by 
 Canon 88 ; but they were in some measure revived for a time by the “ Book of Sports.” 
 
 CHALFONT ST. GILES. 
 
 Eey. P. W. Phipps, M.A. 
 
 “What a rich store of interest our parish possesses in the monuments of its little 
 church, and how manifold and diverse the historical events to which they refer us ! The 
 old monastic work, with its rights and responsibilities, rises before us, and then the 
 priest of the parish before the Reformation. The de la Vaches, the courtly favourites of 
 the Edwards, tell us of their gifts from their Royal masters, and from Queen Isabel, and 
 the Princess of Wales, the fair Maid of Kent; while the hapless Lady Jane Grey, 
 Queen Elizabeth, and the founder of the Charter House, are introduced to us by the 
 Gardyners. Then come the Fleetwoods, and Oliver Cromwell and the regicides, and 
 these in their turn give place to the Claytons, the persecutors of the Quakers and of the 
 friends of Milton, as he takes refuge in our village, completing his “ Paradise Lost” 
 
373 
 
 and commencing his “Paradise Regained,” in one of our cottages, over which the 
 Fleetwood arms may still be seen. Not in our churchyard, but in the near burying 
 ground of Jordans in our parish, we are reminded by our Parish Register, where these 
 same Quakers lie, Penn and Penington, and Ellwood, with their families, in picturesque 
 and appropriate seclusion—the ideal of the peace they sought. Then suddenly we are 
 hurried to the scenes of the great Marlborough’s victories, Blenheim and Ramillies, in 
 the person of his chaplain, Bishop Hare ; and onwards as suddenly to the political 
 contests of the days of Burke and Fox and Sheridan, with the forensic powers of Erskine 
 sending us Sir H. Palliser to live and die at Chalfont, till we end, strangely, with Captain 
 Cook and Queen Emma of the Sandwich Isles. Short and imperfect as such a statement 
 must necessarily be, it helps us to realise what a library of history is condensed in the 
 records of our parish church, and enforces the lesson of the need there is to preserve and 
 prize such memorials of the past .”—Records of Buckinghamshire. 
 
 LITTLE MARLOW. 
 
 The Church of St. John the Baptist, Little Marlow, is a plain edifice, consisting 
 of chancel, nave, aisles, and a western tower containing six bells ; it was originally 
 erected in 1190, but of the earlier building the Early English tower and chancel only 
 remain ; the nave and aisles, re-built in 1430, were reseated with open benches, an organ 
 placed in the south aisle, and the church carefully restored in 18G6 ; a gallery and high 
 square pews removed, the timber roof of the chancel opened, and two very elegant Early 
 English windows in the chancel restored ; the east window was also filled with stained 
 glass and there are now three other stained windows ; there are many marble tablets to 
 the Nugent, Chase, and Warren families. 
 
 PRESTON BISSETT. 
 
 Thomas, Lord Ross being attainted, Edward IY. gave the estate of Preston Bissett 
 to Richard Fowler, who died possessed of it in 1477, and was succeeded in it by his 
 brother. In 1487, Lord Ross being restored to his estates by Henry VII., these lands 
 again reverted to him. The estate passed to Sir Robert Manners, whose son was father of 
 Thomas, Earl of Rutland. In 1631 it was sold to John Cater, Esq. Alice, his daughter, 
 being married to Robert Gibbs, he in 1699 conveyed it to Sir Edmund Denton, Bart. 
 Subsequently it passed to the Cokes, Earls of Leicester, and it eventually formed a 
 portion of the estate of Richard, Duke of Buckingham and Chandos. r I he church of St. 
 
374 
 
 John the Baptist is an object of considerable interest to the archaeologist, from the purity 
 of its style and the unique beauty of its windows, the tracery in each of which exhibits 
 a different design ; it is supposed to have been built about 1340, and is all of one date ; 
 it consists of chancel, clerestoried nave, aisles, and a western tower containing two bells. 
 All the details are of uniformly good Decorated work, the east window of three lights 
 presenting features of a very excellent Flamboyant character, and all the remaining 
 windows being graceful examples of the same style ; the east windows of the aisles in 
 particular exhibiting finely elaborated tracing ; on the south side of the chancel there 
 are double canopied sedilia with crocketed pinnacles and there are also three piscinae, 
 one in the chancel and one in each aisle ; the clerestory windows, three on either side, are 
 somewhat unique, consisting of circular feathered lights within square panels ; the tower 
 is low and terminates in a plain parapet ; on the west gable of the nave is a bell-cot of 
 stone. 
 
 LICENSES TO EAT MEAT ON FISH DAYS. 
 
 The laws relating to fish and flesh days were an incongruous mixture of morals and 
 expediency. In some reigns these laws were sumptuary, enacted merely for the purpose 
 of increasing the consumption of fish to the emolument of fishermen ; in other reigns 
 fast days were strictly of a religious character. In the reign of Edward VI., a custom 
 prevailed of observing Saturday as a fast day ; and in Elizabeth’s time an Act was passed 
 to add Wednesday to that custom, for the increase, not of piety, but of fishermen ; both 
 these days were abandoned, and Friday only left as a weekly fast to be observed in the 
 Church of England. These laws were relaxed according to circumstances. Exceptions 
 made were in favour of those who were of great age or debility, and weak, sick, or 
 notably hurt. In the fifth year of Elizabeth a fine of £3 was levied on all eating flesh 
 on fish days. Of this fine, one-third went to the Crown, to the informer another third, 
 and the remaining to the poor of the parish where the offence was committed. 
 
 Licences, however, might be procured from the Crown for eating certain kinds of 
 flesh, excepting beef, at all times of the year, and veal from Michaelmas to May, - on the 
 payment of 26s. 8d. to the poor man’s box of the parish of their residence by any 
 lord of Parliament, or his wife ; 13s. 4d. by a knight or a knight’s wife ; and 6s. 8d. by 
 any person of an inferior degree. Power was given to the clergyman of the parish 
 where one lay sick, or the parish next adjoining, to grant licences in case of sickness, 
 which, however, were in no instance to endure more than eight days without being 
 registered in the church book, with the knowledge of one of the churchwardens, a process 
 costing 4d. ; they expired with the sickness. 
 
 From the parish register of Hartwell the following is extracted :—“ Whereas, by 
 
375 
 
 reason of notorious sickness, and infirmity of body, Mr. Thomas Carter, vicar of Dinton, 
 in the county of Bucks, and Mrs. Jane Carter, his wife, with two of their children, 
 William and Jane, may not use a fish diet without great prejudice to their health, I, 
 therefore, William Braig, Curatt of Stone, in the said county of Bucks, do grant unto the 
 said Mr. Thomas Carter, his wife, and their two children, William and Jane, license to 
 eat flesh this Lent season, during the continuance of their sickness and weakness, for the 
 better recovery of their health, according to the purport and true meaning of the 
 Statutes in that case provided. In witness whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name, 
 this second day of March, Anno Dorn. 1635.— William Braig. —This license was 
 registered March 13th, by Win. Braig. X John Mortimer’s marke.” 
 
 “ There is at Steeple Claydon in the possession of Sir Harry Verney, Bart., an 
 Archiepiscopal licence, dated 9th February, 1580.81, and confirmed by letters patent 
 under the great seal by which Sir Edmuud Verney was allowed to eat flesh on days 
 forbidden, with a good conscience, for the term of his life, on the ground that eating of 
 fish was injurious to his health by reason of the great weakness of his stomach. His 
 wife, and any three persons whom he chose to select were allowed to be co-partakers in 
 this indulgence.”—From the Verney Papers, printed by the Camden Society, page 85. 
 It appears to have been necessary to Sir Edmund’s “ weak stomach,” that his friends 
 should eat meat as well as himself. 
 
 The original license to Richard Cartwright, authorising him to eat flesh on fish 
 days, is in existence, he stating that fish was injurious to his bodily health ; he not ouly 
 obtains a license to eat flesh on prohibited days for himself, but also for Mary, his wife, 
 and any others whom he might select and invite to his table, but such is to be enjoyed 
 “ soberly, frugally, as well as cautiously and secretly, rather than openly, for the avoiding 
 of public scandal.” For this indulgence he had to pay 6s. 8d. to the poor of St. Dunstan 
 in the West, London, that being the parish in which he then resided. The Beaconsfield 
 register of 1632 contains the entry of licenses to eat flesh on fast days to seven persons 
 in that parish; they were issued by John Andrews, D,D., the vicar. Other cases might 
 be quoted. 
 
 IIILLESDEN CHURCH. 
 
 The Church of All Saints, Hillesden, rebuilt in 1493, and in great part restored in 
 1875 by the late Sir G. Gilbert Scott, R.A., who presented the fine ceiling of the porch 
 and its four pinnacles, is a very fine specimen of the Perpendicular style, built both 
 within and without of wrought ashlar, and is one of those rare churches which bear 
 evident tokens of having been designed and erected under some special and superior 
 
376 
 
 influence, carried out in every part with such extreme care, as to excite the greater 
 admiration the more closely it is examined, its greatest charm lying in its beautiful 
 grouping and in the faultless elegance of its detail ; it consists of chancel with chantry 
 chapel on the north side, nave, aisles, north porch and a western embattled tower 
 containing 6 bells ; the whole building is surmounted by an embattled parapet, and at 
 the north-east angle of the chapel is an octagonal turret, with a panelled and embattled 
 parapet, from the angles of which rise crocketed pinnacles, and within these rises an cpen 
 lantern, formed by crocketed ogee ribs, springing from each pinnacle, meeting in the 
 centre and terminating in a finial; within is a staircase leading to a room above. The 
 windows have already been described (p. 330). The earliest portion of the church is 
 the tower, which is much less rich than other parts ; the nave has good piers and arches, 
 and a clerestory lighted by a series of pierced panels extending across the whole length 
 of the nave, the roof of which is panelled ; the south porch has a canopied niche over the 
 outer doorway ; there is a fine alabaster tomb with full-length effigies of Thomas Denton 
 and his wife, 1560. There are several other monuments. 
 
 RAVENSTOXE CHURCH. 
 
 In Ravenstone Church is an altar-tomb covered with a very large slab of jet, on 
 which lies the effigy in white marble of Lord Chancellor Finch in his robes of office. 
 Above is a canopy or pavilion, supported by joint Corinthian pillars of black marble with 
 white bases and capitals ; the drapery dependent from the frieze being drawn back to 
 display the statue. At the end of the tomb is a shield of arms, and behind the shield 
 the paraphernalia of the Great Seal, its bag and mace in saltire, finely cut in white 
 marble. The monument is further ornamented with shields of arms, and on the 
 respective basements of the columns which support the canopy is an Earl’s coronet, 
 surmounting branches of myrtle and palm. On one side of this splendid monument is a 
 very long inscription in Latin, and on the other side an inscription in English. This 
 nobleman died in 1682, aged 61 years, and was buried here. Many members of the same 
 family have been interred in the vault beneath this chapel. 
 
 HOW MONASTERIES WERE DISSOLVED. 
 
 Rev. J. R. Pretyman. 
 
 “ Everything was done to rake up scandals and charges against them ; accusations 
 were welcomed from hostile and discreditable parties ; many of the monks themselves 
 were intimidated or persuaded into accusing themselves or their brethren or their 
 superiors of crimes or misdemeanors ; and promises, as well as threats, were unsparingly 
 
377 
 
 held out to induce the convents to surrender their monasteries into the king’s hands. If 
 the abbots or priors held out, the plan pursued, in some cases, was to displace them, and 
 force the convents, by intimidation, to elect superiors who would consent to make the 
 surrender. In at least thiee cases the resisting abbots were actually got out of the wav 
 by hanging them on charges trumped up against them for the occasion. The three to 
 whom I refer were the Abbots of Glastonbury, of Reading, and of Colchester. The case 
 of Richard Whiting, the last Abbot of Glastonbury, was a peculiarly cruel one ; and the 
 injustice of his fate has been of late years confirmed by the discovery of Cromwell’s own 
 memorandum-book, containing the following significant entry‘ Item, to take order 
 for the trial and execution of the Abbot of Glaston !’ These and other abbots felt that 
 they had no right to give up foundations which they had sworn to maiutain, and which 
 had been devoted to religious and charitable purposes ; and they knew that the law was 
 on their side, as their property had been secured by various Acts of Parliament and 
 royal charters, while no Act of Parliament had been passed to compel the surrender. It 
 may be asked, why was it thought necessary to obtain their consent to their own undoing, to 
 extort from them the signature of deeds, by which they should give up their possessions ? 
 It should be observed, first, that the tyranny of the Tudors was almost always exercised 
 under the forms of law ; and in the next place, in order to sell the properties of these 
 abbeys in a legal manner, and to furnish what the lawyers term a title to these properties 
 it would be necessary to show that they had been surrendered in a kind of legal form to 
 the king, else it would be feared that these properties could not be sold, or, if sold, not 
 sold for anything like their value. And lastly, if the apparent assent of these abbots and 
 others could be induced, the transactions would have a fairer appearance in the eyes of 
 the world, which would not always know, or care to enquire, in what manner this assent 
 was obtained. Thus went on the suppression of the greater monasteries. Those heads 
 of them who refused to surrender by deed being either turned out, or put to death on 
 charges invented for the occasion ; for it was one of the iniquities of that age that the 
 Crown could always obtain a verdict against persons whom it wished to destroy.” 
 
 IIARDWICK-WITII-WEEDON. 
 
 William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester, held Russell’s Manor in Hardwick, 
 and the Church, in 1386. He also obtained from King Edward III. a grant of the 
 Manor of Weedon-juxta-Aylesbury, to himself and his heirs. The Bishop made a 
 settlement, upon his foundation of New College, Oxford, of his moiety of Hardwick 
 Manor and advowson, as part of the original endowment. It was not till 1639 that the 
 wardens and fellows of New College purchased of the family of Lee their mediety, ■ r 
 alternate right of the presentation to the church of Hardwick. 
 
378 
 
 There is nothing special in the architecture of Hardwick Church. The tower, 
 some windows, the arches and piers are of the Decorated style. It has a clerestory ; 
 some of the windows are Perpendicular. In 1849, Sir S. Glynne described the chancel 
 arch as round and small, and having on each side a hagioscope, being openings arranged 
 obliquely and converging towards the altar, in order to enable worshippers in the side 
 aisles of the church to witness the elevation of the Host during the Christian Sacrifice. 
 The church contains several memorials ; one to the memory of Sir Robert Lee, who died 
 in 1616 ; he had eight son and six daughters, his eldest son being Sir Henry Lee, Kt., 
 the first baronet of Quarrendon. Sir Robert and Lady Lee, with their children kneeling, 
 are represented on the tomb. 
 
 On the south side of the Church, in the Church-yard, is a mural tablet, recording 
 that at that spot are interred the remains of about 250 persons who fell in the battle of 
 Aylesbury in 1643 ; they were discovered adjoining the river near Aylesbury, and 
 removed and re-interred here by Lord Nugent in the year 1818. Hardwick Church 
 was thoroughly restored in 1872-3, under the superintendence of the late G. E. Street, 
 Esq., R.A. In the restoration of the church a secret apartment was discovered in the 
 tower, in which were found two drinking cups. One of these is in the possession of the 
 Rev. W. H. W. Bigg-Wither, the Rector. H. Cazenove, Esq., of the Lilies, holds the 
 other. 
 
 The Lee family once held considerable estates in Hardwick, Weedon, and the 
 neighbourhood. Lady Elizabeth Pope, who had formerly been the wife of Sir Francis 
 Henry Lee, held both Quarrendon and Weedon. She subsequently married Robert, Earl 
 of Lindsey. The mansion of her ancestors having been demolished, she made Weedon 
 her chief residence, and here as Countess of Lindsey, kept up a generous hospitality, 
 and was highly esteemed by the whole neighbourhood. She had two sons, the elder, 
 Edward Henry Lee, the fifth baronet, who, in 1675, was created Viscount Quarrendon 
 and Earl of Litchfield, and Francis Henry Lee, of Trinity College, Oxford, and the 
 Temple, the younger, reputed to be ancestor of the Lees, of Thame. The Lady Charlotte, 
 eldest surviving daughter of George Henry Lee, the second Earl, eventually his sole heir, 
 married Henry, eleventh Viscount Dillon In 1801 his son, Charles Dillon Lee, conveyed 
 the Manor of Hardwick-cum-Weedon to the Marquis of Buckingham, who repaired the 
 Manor Place, and it was then occupied by Edward Nugent, Esq. It was subsequently 
 occupied by the Right Hon. Lord Nugent, M.P. for Aylesbury, who was followed by Dr. 
 Connell (see Lilies p. 206). It is now the property of H. Cazenove, Esq, who 
 has built a mansion on the old site of Lilies, and resides there. Weedou Lodge 
 is beautifully situate on an eminence commanding charming views over the Vale 
 of Aylesbury. In the early part of the present century it belonged to John Tirel Morin, 
 Esq., who resided there. A turret clock, erected on the stabling of the lodge, is known 
 as “ Morin’s Clock,” the bell of which is celebrated as possessing a fine tone, and its 
 
379 
 
 melodious note is to be heard at a very long distance. The clock bears the name of 
 d. AA . Field, Aylesbury, and is dated A.D. 1796 ; its usefulness and correctness are still 
 unimpaired ; it is the time-keeper for the neighbourhood. At Mr. Morin’s decease, in 
 1807, the pioperty was sold to Mr. Nanson, and subsequently conveyed to Mr. Lucas, of 
 London ; it is now the properLy of New College, Oxford, and is occupied by Charles 
 Paine, Esq. 
 
 STOKE HUNDRED. 
 
 The Hundred of Stoke is one of the smallest portions of the county. It is the 
 most southern division, having Burnham Hundred on the north and part of the west; 
 Middlesex on the east and its extreme portion on the south, abutting upon Staines, in 
 Surrey. Together with a small portion of the Burnham Hundred and the Desborough 
 Hundred, it formed that division of the county denominated the Chiltern Hundreds, 
 possessing remarkable privileges and distinctions. 
 
 WAVENDON. 
 
 The Wavendon Estate was acquired by the family of Hoare, by purchase from 
 Lord Charles Fitzroy in 1798, when the mansion was partly rebuilt and considerably 
 improved. The Church of St. Mary, Wavendon, was entirely restored, under the 
 direction of W. Butterfield, Esq., architect, 1848-9, at a cost of over £4,000; it 
 consists of chancel, nave with aisles and clerestory, south porch and a western tower 
 containing five bells ; the chancel, which is Early Decorated, has a fine stained east 
 window of four lights, a double piscina of curious design, and triple sedilia ; on the 
 north side is an arcade of four semicircular arches, enclosing as many stone stalls recessed 
 in the wall : separating the nave and chancel is a low stone screen, with central gates of 
 brass ; the piers and arches of the nave are also fine specimens of Early Decorated work, 
 while the clerestory, the whole of the roofs and the upper part of the tower are 
 Perpendicular; the nave is very lofty, and the aisles were formerly side chapels and 
 still retain their piscinae. In Benevuti is a curious explanation of the use of the piscina 
 in Roman Catholic Churches. “ Yf to fore consecration a flye or loppe or other 
 venymouse beest were found in the chalyce it ought to be cast into the piscene, and the 
 chalyce washen : and yf after consecration were found poyson or venymous beste in the 
 chalyce it ought to be taken wysely and wasshen and to brenne the best and the asshcs 
 and the wasschyng of the beeste to be put in the pyscine,” which, therefore, he remarks. 
 
380 
 
 should be near the officiating priest. The font, of Tottenhoe stone, is of considerable 
 size and has a cover of carved oak ; the pulpit is of similar material : there are two 
 memorial windows and monuments to the Hoare family, including a mural brass in the 
 north aisle to Henry Arthur Iloare, Esq., of Wavendon House, erected by his widow ; 
 the church contains also some memorials of the family of Saunders, of Battlesden, 
 among which are two brasses of Richard Saunders, Esq., 1639, and his four wives, 
 Elizabeth (Charge) ob. 1596, Frances (Fitzhugh), Beatrice (Aunesley), and Francis 
 (Stanton) 1567. Hogstye End, in this parish, is where the Quakers formed one of their 
 earliest congregations ; their register book dates from 1665. 
 
 SUPPRESSION OF A LAY PREACHER. 
 
 William Earbury, a Schoolmaster of Bovingdon, was called upon to audibly read 
 and openly subscribe to the following acknowledgment, which he did in the church of 
 Hemel Hempstead, on the 20th April, 1703 :—“ Whereas, I, William Earbury, being a 
 rneer Lay man in communion of the Church of England, did presume to teach or preach 
 before a public Congregation in ye chaple of St. Leonard belonging to the Mother Ch. 
 of Aston Clinton in the County of Bucks, contrary to the Canons of the Church and the 
 Lawes of this Realm to the great offence and scandal of the Regular Clergy and all true 
 Members of the Church of England, I doe therefore make this hearty acknowledgment 
 of my said offence before my Ordinary, the Rev. the Archdeacon of Huntingdon and the 
 Rev. his Official, and in the presence of the Clergy here assembled. Then I do hereby 
 solemnly beg God and them to forgive me, and do further sincerely promise never to 
 offend in like kind again, but to behave myself regularly and conformably as becomes 
 a true member of the Church of England as by Law established. In witness whereof I 
 have hereunto set my hand this one and twentieth day of April, Anno Domini 1703.” 
 
 THE FRENCH EMIGRANTS’ SCHOOL AT PENN. 
 
 In the early part of 1796, Edmund Burke found active occupation in founding a 
 school for the destitute children of emigrants who had perished by the guillotine or the 
 sword of the French Revolution. With a view of being under Burke’s immediate 
 superintendence, the house of the late General Haviland, at Penn, was selected for the 
 school, and through the representation of Burke, Mr. Pitt gave his assent to a grant of 
 £600 per annum for its support. The school was opened in April, 1796, and Burke for 
 
381 
 
 the remainder of his life watched over the institution with the solicitude, not merely of 
 a friend, but of a father ; it was dissolved in 1820. Prior, in a note in his “ Life of 
 Burke,” gives this description of Penn : — 
 
 “ Penn, to which Mr. Burke frequently resorted as the friend of General Haviland, 
 and latterly as patron of the emigrant school, lies about three miles north-west of 
 Beaconsfield. Many of the residents are distinguished for patriarchal longevity ; not a 
 few attaining a century of years. The family of Grove trace an uninterrupted descent 
 from the Conquest as proprietors of the same estate. Mr. Edmund Grove died in June, 
 1823, at the advanced age of ninety-four; and being well-known in this part of the 
 country as a fair representative of the ancient English yeoman, may be worth noticing. 
 When young, he had been the play-fellow of the late Viscount Curzon and of John 
 Baker Holroyd who died Earl of Sheffield, and was known to most of the surrounding 
 nobility and gentry by the name of Yeoman Grove—a name now disused for the appellation 
 of Esquire, but formerly applied to those wdio farmed their own estate. Yeoman Grove 
 was likewise known to George III., who permitted him an unusual freedom. Whenever 
 they met in the street at Windsor, which was not unfrequently on market-days, he would 
 grasp the royal hand with fervour, and in a way peculiarly his own, inquire, ‘ How does 
 your Majesty do ?—How is the Queen?—How are all the children?’ which commonly 
 occasioned the Royal Personage a hearty good-humoured laugh.” 
 
 BUCKINGHAM HUNDRED. 
 
 This Hundred comprises the three ancient Hundreds of Stodfald, Lamua, and 
 Rovelia; having Northamptonshire on the north and on a small portion of the east ; 
 the Hundred of Cottesloe on the remainder of the East; Ashendon on the South, and 
 Oxfordshire on the west, as its boundaries. 
 
 GRANDBOROUGII. 
 
 The Church of Grandborough, dedicated to St. John Baptist, consists of a square 
 tower, nave, and chancel. The latter having been rebuilt at the expense of John de la 
 Moote, Abbot of St. Alban’s between 139G and 1401, was destroyed in the Civil Wars of 
 Cromwell, and, according to some accounts, by Cornelius Holland, of whom Cole 
 says that, “from a scullion in the royal kitchen he rose up to be clerk of it: afterwards 
 had a place in the Green Cloth ; and from picking the King’s purse, and a sop in the 
 dripping-pan, the Devil entered into him, and prompted him to betray and condemn his 
 
382 
 
 master: and having murdered the possessor, cast the heir out of the vineyard. Judas 
 was but the type of him, Cornelius the original! The rogue, reeking in royal blood, 
 enriched with plunder, was invested with a good share of that authority which he fought 
 against, and wrested from his master, friend, and sovereign. Granborough, infamous 
 for his birth, ought to have some mark of his power and zeal.” And the writer then 
 proceeds to ascribe to him the destruction of the chancels of Winslow, Addington, and 
 East Claydon, as well as this. The porch on the north side of the Church has been 
 taken down; the entrance on the south is by a plain doorway. At the west end of 
 the tower is another door, and above it a mullioned window with two cinquefoil-headed 
 lights and a quarterfoil in the point of the arch between them. In the upper story of 
 the tower are four square-headed windows: on each side of the nave, three, with trefoil¬ 
 headed lights ; and in the chancel one window on each side, with mullions. At the east 
 end is a high pointed arch, with a mullioned window of three cinquefoil-headed lights 
 and trefoils above them. On the north-side of the chancel is a narrow door under a 
 pointed arch ; the roof of the chancel being much higher than that of the nave. In the 
 south wall of the chancel is a niche for a piscina under a trefoil arch. The ancient 
 font is preserved, but a new one was provided at the restoration of the Church in 1880. 
 The old Communion Table has been replaced by a new one. The register commencing 
 in 1538 has been partly mutilated, otherwise it is in fair preservation; although it confirms 
 the account given by Cole of numerous entries of the name of Holland, no mention is 
 made of Cornelius. 
 
 Cole was enveloped in prejudices and took no care to conceal them ; he has 
 frequently libelled Cornelius Holland by recording statements respecting him which 
 were absolutely untrue. It is needless to add that several parts of Grandborough Church 
 are much older than the time of Holland. 
 
 THE REGICIDES OF BUCKS. 
 
 The Restoration brought with it a sad day of retribution to those who had been 
 concerned in the trial and execution of Charles I. Doubtless, Charles II., long before 
 he regained his throne, meditated revenge on the murderers of his father, and had resolved 
 on the destruction of the surviving regicides. Twelve years passed between the King’s 
 death and the Restoration. In the meantime many of those who had taken part in the 
 trial and execution had died, and others had left the country for safety. Ko sooner was 
 Charles firmly seated on the throne, than preparations were made for the trials of the 
 regicides. Those who were dead, even, did not escape his vengeance, and as regarded 
 
383 
 
 them he allowed his feelings to overcome his judgment, by ordering the mouldering 
 remains of some to be dragged from their graves and publicly exposed on the gallows. 
 The names of the deceased regicides were included in the Act of Attainder, in con¬ 
 sequence of which their estates were forfeited and their families rendered destitute and 
 helpless. Those who survived, foresaw the fate which awaited them, and they made gcod 
 their escape to distant parts. Even if they succeeded in so doing, it was but to lead a 
 life of misery, uncertainty, and degradation in constant dread of being surprised aud 
 taken into custody by the King’s emissaries, as the most diligent search was instituted 
 to bring them to trial and punishment, no matter to what part of the world 
 they had absconded. Regicidal feelings must have held great sway in Bucking¬ 
 hamshire. Amongst those who took part in the King’s trial, or were otherwise concerned 
 in his death, the names of more than thirty will be found who were, either directly or 
 indirectly, connected with Bucks or Buckinghamshire families, aud it is doubtful even if 
 in that large number the list has been exhausted. 
 
 THE STATE OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ELIZABETH’S REIGN. 
 
 “ The very low state of public education in general towards the middle of Elizabeth’s 
 reign may be collected from a provision in Archbishop Parker’s foundation of three 
 scholarships at Cambridge in 1567. These are to be supplied by the most considerable 
 schools in Kent and Norfolk, and are to be ‘‘ the best and aptest schollers, well instructed 
 in the grammar, and (if it may be) such as can make a verse.” It was essential, there¬ 
 fore, that something was done, and done promptly, to remedy the evil. So the authorities 
 stirred up persons of influence in various parts of England—specially those who had 
 favoured the innovating policy—to provide means and machinery for educating the 
 young. Sir Nicholas Bacon, in consequence, secured two specific charters founding a 
 grammar school at St. Alban’s. At Aylesbury, Sir Henry Lee, K.G., founded a grammar 
 school, to which a subsequent benefactor, more than a century afterwards, added a 
 munificent donation. At Thame, in Oxfordshire, in 1559, Lord Williams of Thame 
 established an admirable school, where for generations the sons of the nobility and 
 gentry living near received a good education. At Bromeyard in Herefordshire, another 
 efficient and welcomed school was set up. In the county of Kent, Sir Roger Man wood, 
 by the Queen’s special authority, instituted a grammar school at Sandwich. Others at 
 Maidstone, at Cranbrook in 1574, aud at Faversham in 1576, were likewise established. 
 At Reading the Corporation resuscitated an old school connected with the Abbey, at the 
 Queen’s special request; and having undertaken to pay the master’s salary, received in 
 return from Her Highness a charter, bearing date 23rd of September, 1560, and a grant 
 of certain lands which then produced about £41 per annum. At Wycombe, in the year 
 
384 
 
 1561, the Queen granted the buildings and site of the Hospital of St. John the Baptist 
 in that town for “ the maintenance of one pedagogue or master for the good instruction 
 of children or youth,” and gave to it certain lands in Penn, Hughendon, and Great 
 Marlow .”—The Church under Queen Elizabeth , by the Rev. F. G. Lee, D D. (Yol. ii., 
 pp. 109—111.) 
 
 LENBOROUGH. 
 
 Lysons. 
 
 “ Lenborough House, in 1445, became a seat of the Ingoldsbys, an ancient Lincoln¬ 
 shire family. John Ingoldsby of this place was made one of the Barons of the 
 Exchequer in 1463. Sir Richard Ingoldsby, about the year 1617, inclosed the park at 
 Lenborough ; his son, Sir Richard, married Oliver Cromwell’s auut, by whom he had 
 a numerous family, all born at Lenborough-house. Francis, the eldest son, represented 
 the town of Buckingham in Parliament, during the protectorate of his cousins, Oliver 
 and Richard. After the restoration he was well received at Court, and his name inserted 
 in the list of intended knights of the royal oak. His estate, which was then valued at 
 £1,000 per annum, he soon dissipated, disparked the ground which his grandfather had 
 inclosed, sold Lenborough House to Mr. Robinson, his steward, and died a pensioner in 
 the Charter House.” 
 
 THE SACKING OF WENDOVER (1643). 
 
 N. W Arlington. 
 
 “On the 23rd of March, 1643, the Earl of Carnarvon and Prince Rupert, with 
 other great ones, marched to Wendover, and plundered all the towns thereabout of 
 all their goods and household stuff; they have taken and driven away all their horses, 
 beasts, and sheep; they have not spared those who are accounted their own friends, they 
 have spoiled and torn in pieces the insides of divers fair houses, and besides the corn 
 they spent upon their horses they spoiled very much upon the ground, and threw it about 
 the fields, and what goods they could not carry away they cut in pieces, and threw about 
 the fields and highways as they went. They have cut in pieces their horse harnesses, 
 and things belonging] to the plough. They swear horrid oaths that we shall have no 
 harvest this year. How miserably did they use some families, in some were a wife with 
 seven children, in others more, that had neither meat, drink, bedding, nor anything left 
 in their houses, but bare walls ; persons of good esteem and ability the day before, but 
 by these inhuman crew robbed of all, and left to the charitable relief of others.” 
 

 
 
 
 
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 -:o:-— 
 
 “It deserves a place on the shelves of the local Reading Rooms of the County, in 
 the libraries of the country gentlemen and clergy, and will be found a welcome addition 
 to the literary gatherings of those local and geueral collectors who are at once 
 archasologians and antiquaries.”— Bucks Herald, May 12th, 1888. 
 
 AYLESBURY, 1888. 
 
 Shortly ivill be Published, in 1 Vol., Crown Mo, 430 pages, price 10s. 6 d., in neat boards, 
 
 THE 
 
 §ttfkin0l}ums|irf HisfUIaitg, 
 
 A Series of Concise and Interesting Articles Illustrative of the 
 
 History, Topoqraphy, and ^^ch/eoloqy 
 
 OF THE 
 
 COUNTY OF BUCKINGHAM, 
 
 Compiled and Edited by ROBERT GIBBS, F.S.A., 
 
 Author of “ Local Occurrences,” “ Regicides of Bucks,” “ History of Aylesbury,” “ Worthies 
 
 of Buckinghamshire,” &c. 
 
 HE “BUCKINGHAMSHIRE MISCELLANY” is mainly a topographical 
 work, giving descriptive accounts of the “ Nooks and Corners ” of the 
 County, together with Historic and Archaeological items connected with it. 
 It is composed of concise and interesting readings from the works of those authors 
 who have treated on the ancient and modern History of Buckinghamshire—Camden, 
 Spelman, Dugdale, Leland, Kennett White, Rev. Cox, Lysons, Denham, Drayton, Langley, 
 Lipscomb, and others. Extracts are also quoted from local authors of a more recent 
 period : the names of the writers will be given, together with a brief biographical notice 
 relating to them. 
 
 -:o:- 
 
 1891. 
 
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 A SERIES OF CONCISE AND INTERESTING ARTICLES ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE 
 
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 OF THE 
 
 COUNTY OP BUOK.ING-HIAM, 
 
 COMPILED AND EDITED BY 
 
 ROBERT GIBBS, F.S.A., 
 
 Author of “Local Occurrences,” “ Begicides of Bucks,” “History of Aylesbury,'’ 
 
 Buckinghamshire,” &.C. 
 
 Worthies of 
 
 pOJMTEJ^T^ OF py\F(T 9. 
 
 Title pages; Introduction; Little Marlow Nunnery; Drayton Beauchamp ; Araersham ; 
 Coins at Hartwell; Knight of Shire dismissed ; Queen Elizabeth at Quarrendon ; 
 Newport Pagnell in Civil War ; Dorton Spa ; Chilton : Old Bailill’s and Mayors ; Alien 
 Priories; Lee Grange ; Lathbury; Local Option; Cottesloe Hundred ; Keach’s Meeting 
 House; Quakerism at Wycombe; Old Yeoman Family; Peterley House; Anns of 
 Buckingham ; Early Printers ; Lady Chapel and Crypt, Aylesbury ; Ludgershall ; Old 
 Poor Law; Haversham ; Tyringham House; Aston Clinton ; Swanbourue; Ickford ; 
 Bledlow ; Sculptured Monuments ; Garrison at Aylesbury ; Progress of the Reformation ; 
 the Church Porch ; Fossils at Hartwell ; The Vache ; Paul Whitehead’s Heart ; Berne- 
 wood Forest; the Chimney Tax; Stantonbury; Quainton Hills; Buckinghamshire 
 Etymology ; Index. 
 
 AYLESBURY 
 
*&<.' *•»*• • •».. - •>f"v ‘ . -V '- k i »•. *> '■ •/** £ .‘ .v >•.; -V ; • r;y‘•>* *'* 
 
LITTLE MARLOW NUNNERY. 
 
 Cotton, M.S. 
 
 Copy of the original letter from the Prioress to Thomas Cromwell offering to 
 surrender :—“ To the Ryght onurabyll and hyr most specyall good mayster, mayster 
 secretary vnto the Kynges most nobyll grace.—After all dew commendacyons had vnto 
 yowre good maystershyp with my most vinble thankes for the greate cost mayd on me 
 and my pore madyn at my last beynge with yowre maystershyp, furthermore plesyth yt 
 yow to vnderstonde that yowre vysytors hath bene here of late who hath discharged iij of 
 my systers, the one is dame Katheryn the other ij is the yonge women that were last 
 professyd whyche yt not a lyttyll to my discomforte, nevertheless I must be content with 
 the Kynges pleasure, but now as towchynge my nowne parte I most vmbly beseche 
 yow to be so specyall good mayster vnto me yowre poore bedewoman as to geve me 
 yowre beste advertysment and counseyle what waye shalbe best for me to take seynge 
 there shalbe none left here but myselfe and thys pore madyn, and yf yt wyll please yowre 
 goodnes to take thys pore howse Into yowre owne hondes other for yowre selfe or for my 
 nowne m[ayster] yowre soune, I woyld be glad with all my hart to geve yt Into yowre 
 maystershypes hondes with that ye wyll commaunde me to do therin: Trustynge and 
 nothynge dowptynge In yowre goodness that ye wyll so provyd for vs that we shall have 
 syche onest lyvynge that we shall not be dreven be necessyte nether to begge nor to fall 
 to no other vnconvenyence, and thus I offer my selfe and all myue vnto yowre most hygh 
 and prudent wysdorn, as unto him that ys my onely Refuge and comfort In thys world, 
 besechynge god of hys goodnes to put In yow hys holy sprete that ye maye do all thynges 
 to his lawde and glory,—By yowre owne assured bedewoman, Margaret Vernon.” 
 On the resignation of Margaret Vernon, in 1534, the nunnery was annexed to Bisham 
 Abbey. 
 
 DRAYTON BEAUCHAMP. 
 
 The Church of St. Mary, Drayton Beauchamp, has a chancel, nave with aisles, and 
 a plain square embattled tower at the west end of the nave. It appears to be of two 
 styles, Decorated and late Perpendicular. To the former may be assigned the nave, 
 arches, and the chancel arch; to the latter, the chancel, the clerestory of the nave, the 
 aisles and tower. The chancel windows are plain ; it has on the south side two sedilia 
 and a piscina, trefoiled and cinquefoiled, on the north side is a small trefoiled low side 
 window. The chancel arch is moulded Decorated. The nave arches, four in number, 
 have two round pillars, the remainder octagonal, all with moulded caps, of the same form 
 
386 
 
 as the piers. There are remains of a panelled reredos at the east end of the sonth aisle. 
 The font is Norman, round, with a series of narrow round-headed arches panelled on it. 
 The church contains many old seats. The east window has some Perpendicular glass 
 representing figures of the apostles. There are some very massive monuments in the 
 church, particularly those to the Cheyne family and the last Lord Newhaven (1738); 
 several of the figures on these monuments are of a life size. There is a brass to William 
 Cheyne, dated 1375, and in the chancel is a stone with a large brass to the memory of 
 Thomas Cheyne, who had the Manor of Drayton conferred on him in 1368. Richard 
 Hooker (the Judicious Hooker), D.D., author of “ Ecclesiastical Polity,” was rector here 
 in 1584 ; and the carved oak pulpit was erected to his memory. An oaken reredos is 
 erected in the chancel, commemorative of the Rev. Henry Harper Crewe, vicar, who died 
 in 1884. 
 
 AMERSHAM CHURCH. 
 
 The Church of St. Mary, Amersham, is described in 1849, by Mr. Caveler, architect, 
 as consisting of chancel, nave, clerestory, and aisles, transepts, and porch on south side. 
 There is, he says, “ nothing now remaining in this church earlier than Perpendiculai’, 
 excepting it may be some of the pillars of the nave, which have the appearance of late 
 Decorated ; the church has been much modernized, and there is but little good work 
 left; perhaps the best thing is the gi-oining in the south porch, which has some rich 
 bosses at the intersection of the ribs.” Since 1849 the church has undergone various 
 improvements. Amersham Church is remarkable for containing an unusual number of 
 memorials. On the north side of the chancel is a monument, with demi-effigy, placed in 
 a niche, to Sir William Drake, Bart., and on the south side, also in a recess, between 
 pillars of the Doric ox-der, a cenotaph of black and gold, above which are medallion 
 portraits of Montagu Drake, Esq., 1698, and Jane, his wife, daughter of Sir John 
 Garrai’d, Bart., of Lamer, Herts, 1724 ; there are also in the chancel other memorials to 
 the family of Drake, including a mural monument, by Bacon, to Thomas Drake 
 Tyrwhitt-Drake, Esq., of Shardeloes, M.P. for Amersham 1810 ; a monument to William 
 Drake, Esq., 1796 ; and in the vesti’y a mural tablet to Dr. Thomas Di’ake, rector of 
 Amersham, 1775, and Elizabeth, his wife, 1765 ; the mortuary chapel of the Drake 
 family, on the north side of the chancel, is about 50 feet long by 25 wide, and has on the 
 north side a magnificent tomb, by P. Scheemakers, consisting of a sarcophagus of black 
 marble, gilt, with figures in white marble, beneath an elliptic arch, supported on pilasters, 
 to Montague Garrard Drake, Esq., 1728. There are also several mural tablets to the 
 memory of members of the Drake family dated in the present century. In the chancel 
 is an altar tomb, with fluted pillars supporting a pediment, beneath which are kneeling 
 
387 
 
 figures of a lady and gentleman, and below an inscription to Elizabeth, widow of William 
 Bent, Esq., of Corby, Leicester, 1730, and to George Bent, her son, 1714; near which 
 is a mural tablet with an account of her bequests to the town by will, dated 25th June, 
 1728 ; in the north cross aisle is a mural tablet to James Rumsey, M.D., 1824. and 
 various memorials to the family of Eeles, 1727-1815 ; in the south aisle are inscribed 
 stones or mural monuments to Edward Cliilde, 1676 ; Philip Ayres, Esq., 1712, and the 
 Rev. John Drake, LL.D., 50 years rector of Amersham ; and in the vestry a mural 
 tablet to the Rev. Benjamin Robertshaw, rector of Amersham, 1728-43 ; in the south 
 cross aisle are brasses, with effigies, to John de la Penne, 1537, and Elizabeth, his wife, 
 1521 ; and to Henry Brudenell, Esq., 1430, and Alianora, his wife ; in the north aisle 
 is a brass effigy and inscription to Thomas Carbonell, Esq., 1439, and Elizabeth, his 
 wife, 1400 ; there is also a mutilated brass of an ecclesiastic ; the brasses of Drugo 
 Brudenell, 1479, and his wife, Ellen, 1469, are lost. 
 
 FIND OF COINS AT HARTWELL. 
 
 Admiral W. H. Smyth. 
 
 “ During the unnatural struggles called the Civil Wars, the vicinity of Hartwell was 
 alternately contested; and the occasional squattings of Cavaliers or Roundheads appear 
 to have been equally dreaded by the peace-loving residents. This prompted many of 
 the prudent to bury their funds till times should ameliorate ; but, in sharing the 
 vicissitudes of the contending parties, some were cut off, or died, without revealing the 
 place of concealment. In the month of October, 1835, it happened that Dr. Lee was 
 occupied in having trenches dug out for planting some trees between the church and the 
 mansion of Hartwell. In the execution of this intention the workmen suddenly struck 
 upon a hoard of silver coins. They proved to consist of about 2,400 crowns, half- 
 crowns, shillings, and sixpences of Edward VI., Philip and Mary, Elizabeth, James I., 
 and Charles I. The coins of Charles formed the largest portion of the whole, and in 
 fabric are the last of our hammered money : the obverses mostly bear the equestrian 
 statue of the king clad in the half-armour so often represented in works of art about 
 that time. The reverses are stamped with the royal arms surmounted by a crown, and 
 the current value of each coin is duly marked in Roman numerals. This division also 
 contained every variety of the symbols perhaps of the mintage of that hapless sovereign’s 
 reign—as a cross, human eye, portcullis, fleur-de-lys, plume of feathers, pear, rose, sun, 
 anchor, helmet, martlet, harp, heart, castle, head, triangle in a circle, tun, bugle-horn, 
 bell, sceptre, book, star, lion, and some others very uncertain. About the same time, 
 but forming no part of the hoard before us, a gold ‘ angel’ of Charles was picked up, 
 which, having been used as a touch-piece for the King’s evil, was bored through for 
 wearing round the neck.” 
 
388 
 
 A KNIGHT OF THE SHIRE FOR BUCKS DISMISSED THE HOUSE. 
 
 Sir Christopher Pigott, of Doddershall, was knighted by James I., and 
 subsequently elected one of the members for Bucks in the room of Sir F. Goodwin, 
 after the disputed election in 1603. In a debate in the House of Commons in 1606 on 
 the subject of the Union with Scotland, Sir Christopher addressed the House in a very 
 excited manner, expressing his horror at a union between a rich and fertile country like 
 England and a land like Scotland—poor, barren, and disgraced by nature ; between rich, 
 frank, and honest men, and a proud, beggarly, and traitorous race. “ Let us not,” said 
 he, “join murderers, thieves, and roguish Scots with the well-deserving. They have 
 not suffered above two Kings to die in their beds these two hundred years.-” The House 
 was much amazed at this speech. Three days after the words were spoken a message 
 from the King was delivered to the House of Commons, his Majesty having been greatly 
 aggravated by Pigott’s speech. The member attempted an explanation, but the House 
 disregarding his appeal, he was ordered to kneel by the King’s Serjeant, Sir Edward 
 Philips, then Speaker (and brother-in-law to Sir Christopher). He was dismissed the 
 House and imprisoned in the Tower, and a new writ was ordered for the election of a 
 Knight of the Shire for Bucks in his place. After ten days’ imprisonment, Sir 
 Christopher, complaining of ill-health occasioned by his confinement, was released; it is 
 presumed he never again had a seat in Parliament. He died in 1613, and was buried at 
 Hogshaw. 
 
 QUEEN ELIZABETH AT QUARRENDON. 
 
 In the third volume of “ Queen Elizabeth’s Progresses,” it is stated that Sir Henry 
 Lee, Knt., was honoured by his Royal mistress’s presence at Quarrendon. At a tourna¬ 
 ment held there on the 17th of November, 1559, the first anniversary of the accession of 
 Queen Elizabeth to the throne, Sir Henry made a vow of chivalry, that he would annually, 
 on the return of that day, present himself in the tilt-yard, in honour of the Queen, to 
 maintain her beauty, worth, and dignity against all comers, unless prevented by age, 
 infirmity, or other accident. The Queen having graciously accepted Sir Henry as her 
 knight and champion, the nobility and gentry of the Court, incited by the example, 
 formed themselves into a Society of Knights Tilters, which, yearly assembling in arms, 
 held a great tourney at Quarrendon on each successive 17th of November. In 1590, Sir 
 Henry, feeling himself overtaken by age, resigned his assumed office of Queen’s knight, 
 having previously received her Majesty’s permission to appoint the Earl of Cumberland 
 
389 
 
 as his successor. The resignation was conducted with all due ceremony. The Queen 
 being seated in the gallery, with Viscount Turenne, the French Ambassador, the Knights 
 Tilters rode slowly into the tilt-yard, to the sound of music. Then, as if by a spring out 
 of the earth, appeared a pavilion of white silk, representing the sacred temple of Vesta. 
 In this temple stood au altar, covered with a cloth of gold, on which burned wax candles. 
 Certain princely presents were also on the altar, which were handed to the Queen by 
 three young ladies, in the characters of Vestals. The choir then sang verses as Sir 
 Henry’s farewell to the court. Sir Henry took off his armour, placing it at the foot of 
 a crowned pillar bearing the initials E.R. ; then, kneeling, he presented the Earl of 
 Cumberland to the Queen, beseeching that she would accept that nobleman for her 
 Knight. Her Majesty consenting, Sir Henry armed the Earl and mounted him on 
 horseback ; he then arrayed himself in a peaceful garb of black velvet, covering his head 
 with a common buttoned cap, of the country fashion. The detailed accounts of the cost 
 of these Quarrendon tournaments still exist amongst the family documents at Ditchley. 
 
 NEWPORT PAGNELL CIVIL WAR LEVY, 1644. 
 
 Joseph Staines. 
 
 The following is a copy of a warrant issued by Sir Samuel Luke for pillaging the 
 Royalists in the neighbourhood of Newport Pagnell; it affords a striking proof of the 
 arbitrary mode of proceeding; and while it throws some light on Luke’s official 
 transactions, affords much valuable information respecting Newport and its vicinity : — 
 “ ‘ By virtue of a warrant from the Committee for sequestration of estates of delinquents 
 and papists, to me directed, these are to will and require you to present warning to all 
 tenants, bailifs, and officers of all delinquents and papists within your parish, particularly 
 hereafter named, to bring in all their rents to the Committee of Newport at the 
 Sarazen’s head, upon the 25th day of this instant, April, by nine of the clock of the 
 morning, to be paid for the use of the King and the kingdome ; requiring you to warn 
 two or three able men in your parish to appear before the said Committee at the place 
 and time appointed, to do such further service as they shall be required unto. And 
 yourselves, there as you and they will answer it at your peril ; dated the 17th day of 
 April, 1G44. All rents due to any Bishops, Deans, Chapters, and Prebends, or any 
 rents due to any College or Hall in Oxford or Cambridge.’ Though the list of 
 delinquents and papists as printed in the diurnals, is extremely incorrect, there is, with 
 one or two exceptions, but little difficulty in adding thereto, the residence of the parties. 
 The Earl of Northampton, Castle Ashby: Sir Robert Throckmorteu, Weston Under¬ 
 wood ; Sir John Digby, and the Ladie Digby, Gayhurst ; Sir John Tyringham, 
 Tyriugham ; Sir Thomas Dayrell, Lillingstone Dayrell: the Lady Farmar, Easton 
 
390 
 
 Neston ; Spencer Lucy, Esq., Haversham ; Thomas Longfield, Esq. [query Longueville, 
 of Bradwell] ; Mr. James Digby, Ur. Nevill, Dr. Giles, king’s physician, Dr. Dillon of 
 Shenley, Mr. Coates, Mr. Roger Hacket, North Crawley, Mr. John Crome [query Crane 
 of Loughton] ; Mr. Stiles, Edward Bolsworth [query Leighton Buzzard] ; to this list of 
 royalists in the neighbourhood we may add the names of Sir Anthony Chester, of 
 Chicheley; Sir Kenelm Digby, of Gayhurst ; Napier, of Great Linford ; Foster, 
 Slingsby, Hillersden, Lane, and Willoughby.” 
 
 DORTON SPA. 
 
 Dorton Spa is so named from its being connected with a chalybeate spring issuing 
 from the Brill hills, in Dorton parish. For a short period it gained some celebrity ; 
 baths, reception-rooms, and other accommodations for visitors were erected, and Dorton 
 Spa was to become a very fashionable resort. A pump-room and baths were built from 
 the design of the Tower of the Winds at Athens, with decorations from the Temple of 
 Jupiter Stator, at Rome, and twelve acres of land contiguous, laid out for the use of the 
 visitors of the spring ; confident hopes being entertained that Dorton would soon rival 
 other much frequented watering places, and that “ many a line of villas would 
 speedily grace the spot.” A depot or agency office was likewise opened in London for 
 the sale of the water, a chemical analysis of its contents printed, and several extraordi¬ 
 nary cases published to recommend the Dorton Spa as eminently efficacious in nervous 
 diseases in general, hysteria, indigestion, cachexy, chlorosis, bilious affections, hoemorrhage, 
 worms, profuse perspirations from debility, rheumatism, intermittent fevers, ague, St. 
 Vitus’s dance, dropsy, besides externally in cutaneous diseases, herpes, tinea-capitis, 
 scorbutic and scrofulous diseases, inveterate ulcers, lumbar abscess, and even in those 
 opprobria medicorum, cancer, leprosy, and total bliuduess. A grand fete was held at the 
 Spa in 1837; other efforts were made to bring the establishment before the public, but 
 its isolated situation made it impossible for it to obtain popularity ; the sanguine ex¬ 
 pectations of the promoters were not realized. The Spa was a failure. 
 
 CHILTON. 
 
 At the east end of the nave, on the south side of the entrance into the chancel of 
 Chilton Church, was a handsome stone pulpit, with an ascent of several steps. Part of 
 another flight terminating abruptly, was supposed by Delafield to have belonged to a 
 desk and a pulpit. Others conjecture it part of an elevated seat for the Abbot of Notley, 
 
391 
 
 or of a desk from which the legends of the Saints were read : but it was more probably 
 the ascent to the rood loft. They have been, like many architectural ornaments of 
 chui’ches in this county, sacrificed to tasteless innovation ; and blocked up with masonry ; 
 the modern pulpit being removed from the north side of the nave and placed against the 
 wall in which the fine old stone one is enclosed : a gothic niche, which held the hour¬ 
 glass, close to the old pulpit, was also destroyed; the iron frame only remaining in 1829. 
 The alms-box, or truncus, another relic of “ the oulden times,’’ was likewise taken away 
 when the open seats were replaced by modern pews. Kennet says that this was often the 
 depository of contributions in aid of the ecclesiastics of small vicarages, and made no 
 inconsiderable portion of their emoluments. “ Vicarius habebit oblationes quascunque 
 ad truncos, tarn in dicta ecclesia et quam alibi infra parochiam ipsius ecclesiae factas.” 
 However, in later times it was chiefly destined for the poor ; all persons being prohibited 
 by Statute from making “ open or common dole,” or “ giving any money in alms, but 
 to the common boxes and gatherings in every parish, on pain of forfeiting ten times as 
 much.” 
 
 RINGING OUT THE OLD BAILIFFS AND MAYORS. 
 
 William Hone (1827). 
 
 [Hone was a political pamphleteer and compiler of worlcs on popular antiquities; he 
 was a bookseller, and the appointed auctioneer in that trade. He was one of that class of 
 persons who possess a vast amount of knowledge, but had not the common sense to obtain 
 a living for his family. He was no man of business, and he failed several times. Amongst 
 his various publications he brought out some bold and political tracts, which subjected him 
 to a three days' trial in the Court of King's Bench; he was, however, acquitted, and his 
 sympathisers collected a large subscription for him. Some of his ivorks will preserve his 
 name, especially his “Everyday Book" (2 vols.), his “ table Book," and his “ Tear 
 Book." He died in 1842.] 
 
 “ The town of Buckingham was alive. The bells rung merrily, and the sunshine gave 
 lustre to the surrounding country, beautified by light and shade. The main street was 
 presently lined with townspeople and villagers. My inquiries as to the cause of this 
 ‘ busy hum of men’ were soon satisfied by the cry that, 1 They’re ringing the old bailifl 
 out!’ As the musicians (not of the opera band, nor of the Hanover Rooms) came nearer 
 with the accumulating procession, I with difficulty learned the theme of their endeavours 
 to be Weber’s ‘ Hark ! follow !’ I never heard any thing surpass this murder of melody. 
 Had Weber been present, he would not have regretted he had given the MS. oi Der 
 Freischiitz, to discharge a trifling debt, which I am informed was really the ctise. Such 
 discord, however, worked no ‘ incantation’ here. All faces smiled, all hearts appeared 
 
392 
 
 glad. The cavalcade moved in pairs. First two small children in white with garlands; 
 then, behind them, two, a size larger ; then others, increasing in growth and tallness, 
 till six wreathed maidens and their swains moved onwards, dancing and shaking their 
 curly locks in sportive glee around the Maypole, decorated in the habiliments of nature’s 
 sweetest and choicest spring flowers and boughs. Dolls of various dresses were placed in 
 the midst, as though they looked out of bowers for the arrival of kindred playfellows. 
 Then came his worship, the bailiff, a Sir John Falstaff-like sort of person, swelling with 
 pleasurable consequence ; the shining mace borne on the shoulder intimated his dignity. 
 What a happy day of honour, of triumph, and greatness to him ! Then followed the 
 leading men of the town, the burgesses, in their corporate robes and nosegays. Their 
 friends paraded aside in their Sunday clothes, like 1 ladies of olden days ’ and ‘ squires of 
 high degree.’ Favours and flags played on the fresh air, inviting rural enjoyment. 
 Many rosy-faced damsels in their ‘best bibs and tuckers’ illustrated the time by 
 appearing at the windows ; infants were held up to behold, and the aged crept 
 to the doors, to take a glimpse of what they might not live to see repeated. 
 As the procession arrived at the churchyard gate, soldiers were arranged in line, 
 preparing to meet and unite in the gaiety of the day. It is thus pleasant to 
 view the military and civil powers, peacefully ornamenting the general harmony 
 of the season. The subordinates and illustrators of this annual custom, opened a 
 passage at the church door, and the bailiff led the way into his seat. The bells rested 
 their metal tongues, and the music ceased awhile. People of all descriptions, in all 
 directions, hurried to their respective pews, with accommodating civility to strangers. 
 The curate opened his book and his duties, the clerk unsheathed his spectacles, confined 
 his nostrils, and the service was reverently performed, with a suitable discourse and 
 decent melody. After this was ended, the bailiff and his friends returned in like order 
 as they came, perambulating the precincts of the town. Then the glory of all true 
 Britons was manifested by the clatter of knives and forks, at the favourite depot for 
 provisions, and genuine hilarity closed the ‘ ringing out of the old bailiff,' aud the ringing 
 in of the new one.” 
 
 A similar custom was observed at Wycombe up to the passing of the Municipal 
 Corporation Act, related in the late Mr. Parker’s history of that borough. “ Accord¬ 
 ing to ancient custom, which was continued up to the passing of the Municipal 
 Corporation Act, the outgoing Mayor was ‘ tolled out,’ by tolling of the great bell on the 
 morning of the Mayor’s election. After which the Corporation proceeded in state to St. 
 Mary’s Chapel, and in subsequent years to the Parish Church, when a sermon was 
 preached suitable to the occasion, for which 6s. 8d. per annum was left by Air. 
 Wainwright, to the Vicar of the parish. On the Corporation returning from the chapel 
 or church they proceeded to the Guildhall, the pathway being strewed with flowers, 
 preceded by a drummer, who drummed the old Mayor out. The burgesses elected the 
 Mayor in open common hall, and at the close of the election, the Corporation went in 
 
393 
 
 procession round the Market Hall, when the new Mayor was drummed into office, 
 accompanied by a merry peal of bells from the Parish Church, After partaking of a 
 luncheon, the Mayor and Council attended at the Bar Iron Warehouse, in White Hart 
 Street, when each member of the Council was weighed, and his weight duly recorded. 
 Such was the order of proceedings during the past generations, but how far back the 
 practice thus described originated, it would be difficult to determine ; however we may 
 assume that it was of remote antiquity. We may here mention that from a very early 
 period the Members of Parliament for the borough were, on their election, carried on 
 men’s shoulders round the Market Hall ; this practice was in later years superseded by 
 the more graceful form of chairing the representatives round the borough in elegant 
 chairs, tastefully decorated with their respective colours.” 
 
 ALIEN PRIORIES. 
 
 The Cluniac Monks were one of the varieties of the Benedictine order ; they had 
 Alien Priories at Newton Longville and Tickford. Alien Priories were cells of foreign 
 monasteries in England, the monks being appointed by the head of the religious house 
 abroad. Some were conventual: chose their own priors, and enjoyed revenues settled 
 by their founders or benefactors, paying an obvention to the foreign house in token of 
 dependence. Others were entirely under the control of the foreign heads, who received 
 the whole revenue, and gave to these cells as they thought proper. Their estates were 
 often seized by the Crown to defray the expenses of foreign wars; and when peace was 
 made those revenues were usually restored. King Edward I. seized upon the Alien 
 Priories in 1285, on the breaking out of the French war; as did also Edward II.; and 
 although his son, Edward III. restored those lands, he afterwards, in 1337, confiscated 
 all their estates, and demised them for twenty-three years : but peace being restored in 
 1361, the King regranted that which he had taken away. Richard II. sequestered their 
 lands, and permitted foreign monasteries to alienate them for the use or endowment ol 
 religious houses in England. Henry IY. restored all the conventual priories, reserving 
 to the Crown in time of war the payments accustomed to be remitted to foreign abbeys : 
 at length, in the beginning of the reign of Henry Y. they were wholly dissolved by an 
 Act of Parliament, their estates given to other establishments, the College ol Eton and 
 King’s College, Cambridge, being chiefly endowed out of their lands ; but some were 
 bestowed on private persons, and most of those which remained vested in the C rowu in 
 1440 were given to Archbishop Chicheley for the foundation of his colleges. 
 
394 
 
 LEE-GRANGE, QUAINTON. 
 
 The Grange House, Lee, Quainton, was the residence of the Abbots of Thame ; 
 it was afterwards occupied by the Dormer family, and was demolished by John Dormer, 
 Esq., in 1740, and no plan or representation of the building has been discovered. 
 When it was taken down, a large sum of money in gold (supposed to have been secreted 
 in a cavity in one of the beams in the time of the civil war) was found by a carpenter, 
 and cunningly kept from the knowledge of the rest of the workmen, but at length, from 
 time to time was displayed, and acknowledged by the fortunate finder to have been part 
 of the treasure. He died many years afterwards in affluent circumstances, but could 
 never be prevailed upon to mention the sum which had thus fallen into his hands, 
 although he acknowledged that it had laid the foundation for his subsequent acquisition 
 of wealth. On the site of the old mansion, Mr. Calcraft, soon after he came into 
 possession of the estate, erected a neat modern house, which was occupied by his steward. 
 The garden-walls, a very large granary, barn, and dove-house (the latter said to have 
 been formerly a chapel) were left of the original buildings : and a paddock called the 
 warren, in which are some few evergreen oaks, and other indications of decorative 
 planting still remaining, contained a range of fish-ponds, coeval with the time of the 
 Abbots of Thame, of about three acres in extent (one of them an octagon, since drained) 
 and also along the ridge of a hill, nearly contiguous, towards the north-east, is a screen 
 or avenue of trees, which appears to have been planted in a direct line from the front of 
 the old house, and is a very pleasing object in perspective from the Yale of Aylesbury, 
 on which it borders. It has been conjectured that Richardson, when he wrote one of 
 his early novels (Clarissa Harlow), had the scenery of this place and the neighbourhood 
 in his mind, or perhaps view, and some of his acquaintances and connections certainly 
 resided in the vicinity, which may give some colour to that notion. 
 
 LATHBURY. 
 
 F. C. M. B. 
 
 “Lathbuhy Church is dedicated to All Saints; this ancient edifice was built about 
 the year of grace 1120. As may be inferred from its present form, it consisted then of 
 a Norman tower, nave, and chancel, of which the only portion still existing without 
 change is the tower. To that also subsequently were added the battlements. At the 
 time when the Norman round arch was passing into the Pointed (called the Transition 
 Period, about 1190), a south aisle was built with two arches of a rude character. One 
 Clerestory window of the original wall is still visible near the eastern arch. Later 
 still, when the Early English style had been introduced, about 1240, the north aisle was 
 
395 
 
 thrown out, and the present chancel built in the place of the old Norman one. At this 
 time, in order to keep the due proportions of the whole building, it clearly became 
 necessary to take down the original north wall, and to widen the nave ; of this there is 
 a proof in the position of the old Norman arch of the tower, which is considerably to 
 the southward of the centre of the present nave. On both walls of the nave are the 
 remains of frescoes of the 14th century, representing Burial in the Winding Sheet, as 
 was customary at that time ; Penance, Extreme Unction, and other subjects not so 
 clearly made out. Over the chancel arch can be traced similar work, and here the main 
 subject is the Last Judgment. In other parts of the church the remains of fresco work 
 of an elegant Arabesque pattern can still be seen, and several ancient Consecration 
 Crosses are also visible. The complete re-seating and restoration of the Church was 
 carried out in 1869 from the plans of, and under the immediate supervision of E. J. 
 Tarver, Esq., architect. In the south aisle are the steps leading to the original rood 
 loft, which are in excellent preservation, although unfortunately it was found necessary, 
 for the security of the pillar in which they are placed, to fill up a portion of the arch 
 over them ; the nearly perfect remains of an old piscina, and a recess under the window, 
 probably the reredos of a side altar. Some remarkable carving of an oriental character, 
 believed to date from the time of the Crusaders, is to be seen on the Norman pillar in the 
 south aisle. In the square embattled tower hang four bells, all modern, except the first, 
 which bears this inscription—“ Vox Augustini Sonat in aure Dei.” The font, carved 
 by Mr. Earp, together with the pavement of encaustic tiles in the baptistry, is from the 
 designs of E. J. Tarver, Esq., and was the gift of the late Mrs. Bull. 
 
 LOCAL OPTION IN THE LAST CENTURY. 
 
 More than a hundred years ago the inhabitants of Aylesbury took upon themselves 
 to protest against any additional houses being licensed in the town for the sale of beer 
 and spirituous liquors. Probably none of the signatories were total abstainers, as 
 teetotalism was not at that time popular—very likely unknown. Still they were out¬ 
 spoken on the subject of an additional public-house, which they denounce as “ fraught 
 with the most evil consequences.” Seventy-five inhabitants of the town signed the 
 protest, and it is believed their appeal to the justices was effectual : — 
 
 *• To the Most Nolle the Marquis of Buckingham, the Worshipful Henry Tomkins, 
 Esq., and others, His Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the County of Bucks. 
 
 The humble petition of several of the inhabitants of the parish of Aylesbury, in the 
 county aforesaid, whose names are hereto subscribed in behalf of themselves and otlier.-, 
 sheweth that your petitioners have with astonishment and regret, been informed that an 
 
396 
 
 application has been made to your Worships, by some person, or persons, for a licence to 
 be granted to Wm. Clark, patten maker of the town aforesaid, for the sale of beer and 
 spirituous liquors, in the house now occupied by him, which y petitioners conceive to 
 be, and with all humility beg leave to represent it to your Worships, as a measure fraught 
 with the most evil consequences to the parish aforesaid, of a dangerous tendency to the 
 community in general, and in direct opposition to the gracious purposes and pious 
 intentions expressed in His Majesty’s late Proclamation for the Suppression of Vice and 
 Immorality. Your petitioners, therefore, most earnestly intreat that a licence may not 
 be granted to the said Wm. Clark or any other person for the purpose aforesaid, and 
 your petitioners, as in duty bound will ever pray, &c., &c. Aylesbury, September 6th, 
 1787.” 
 
 COTTESLOE HUNDRED. 
 
 Cottesloe, Cotteslow, or Cotsloe Hundred, comprises the three old Hundreds of 
 Coteslai, Mureslai, and Elai. Its shape is most irregular, and its boundaries are formed 
 by the Hundred of Newport, and parts of Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire on the north 
 and east; the Hundred of Aylesbury and part of Herts on the south ; and the Hundreds 
 of Ashendon and Buckingham on the west. 
 
 REACH’S MEETING HOUSE, WINSLOW. 
 
 A. Clear. 
 
 Amongst the ancient meeting houses of Buckinghamshire, that of Winslow is 
 deserving notice. Erected about the year 1650, a period when it was a crime to be a 
 Dissenter, it is situate in a most obscure position, at a spot long known as ‘ Pillars Ditch,’ 
 and until a recent period was entirely hidden by surrounding buildings, so that a 
 stranger would have a difficulty in discovering its situation. This meeting-house is a 
 quaint little brick and tiled building, with two or three original lattice windows remain¬ 
 ing, and a porch on the north side, bearing the initials ‘Wm. G.’ and the date, ‘ 1695,’ 
 when that part of the building was erected. Time has dealt very gently with the old 
 building, so that it probably still remains in nearly its original state. There is a small 
 burial ground adjoining, which shows evident proof of containing the dust of many 
 generations of former worshippers, while the interior of the chapel is neatly paved with 
 
397 
 
 memorial stones to those friends of the cause, who, as one of the inscriptions quaintly 
 puts it, have ‘ passed into the eternal world,’ among the earliest being those of ‘ Sarah 
 Gyles, relict of William Gyles, daughter of Benjamin Morley, Gent. Deceased Sept, 
 ye 6th, 1726, aged 71 years.’ ‘ Martha, the relict of Thomas Burch, and daughter of 
 Samuel Norman. Died August 29th, 1731, aged 36 years.’ In 1696, William Gyles, 
 the elder, and Daniel Gyles, his son, who were the owners of the meeting-house, 
 surrendered the same to charitable uses, and vested it in the names of certain trustees 
 for the use of the Baptist denomination. It is generally known as ‘ Reach’s,’ from 
 Benjamin Reach, a native of Stoke Hammond, who was chosen pastor of the meeting in 
 1660, in which year he came to live at Winslow, and married Jane Grove, a member of 
 his congregation. He was a powerful preacher, and in after years proved himself a 
 voluminous writer, and a poet of no mean order, his principal works being ‘ A Rey to 
 open Scripture Metaphors,’ and ‘An Exposition of all the Parables,’ which have passed 
 through many editions. It is not our purpose to narrate the persecutions he endured 
 for conscience sake ; his imprisonment and sufferings in the pillory, both at Aylesbury 
 and Winslow, where his books were burnt in the Market Place by the common hangman. 
 Being constantly harassed by the civil powers, who charged him ‘ with having at divers 
 times, in contempt of his Maj’tie’s good Lawes, preached or teached at a Conventicle, 
 under color or pretence of exercise of Religion, in other manner than according to the 
 Liturgie of the Ch. of England,’ he left Winslow in 1668, and went to London, wdiere 
 he became pastor of a small Baptist congregation in Tooley Street, Southwark, which 
 cause was subsequently removed to Goat’s Yard, Horsleydown, and after sundry other 
 migrations, is now settled in the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Southwark, under the pastoral 
 care of the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon. 
 
 QUAEERISM AT WYCOMBE. 
 
 Late Mr. J. Parker. 
 
 “ The municipal authorities of Wycombe determined on the suppression of the 
 Quakers, and in the early records of the Corporation we find the following entries:— 
 ‘ Memorand: that the eight day of January 1664 being Sabbath day, Samuel Trone, 
 Jeremiah Steevens, Nicholas Noy, John Littleboy, John Cock, George Ball, and Joseph 
 Steevens, all of this Burrough, Labourers, and beinge p’fessed and knowne Quakers, 
 having this day assembled themselves together with divers women at the house of John 
 Raunce in this Burrough, under p’tence of religious worshipp, contrary to a late Act 
 of Parliam 4 , and beinge brought before us, beinge two of IIis Mat* 9 Justices of the 
 Peace for the Burrough aforesayd, have acknowledged and confessed the same, and 
 thereuppon the sayd sev’all p’sons were this psent day by warrant under o r hands and 
 
398 
 
 seales committed to the house of correction (which was a loathsome dungeon in Frog- 
 more Ward in this Burrough) there to remayne for the terme of three months according 
 to the seyd late Act of Parliam 1 it being the first tyme that they or either of them have 
 been convicted of the same offence. Henry Elliott Mayer, Robert Whittone.’ These 
 suffering people do not appear to have been deterred from holding their meetings by an 
 enforcement of the law, as on June 11th, 1665, four of them, viz., Trone, Cock, Littleboy, 
 and Jeremiah Steevens, ‘ it beinge Sabbath day, and in the tyme of Divine service,’ were 
 found ‘ with sevall other p’sons at an unlawfull assembly at the same house, and were 
 again committed to the house of correction for six months.’ The severity thus exercised 
 on the Quakers is alluded to in Dr. Lluelyn’s doggrel poem, ‘ Wickham Wakened.’ ” 
 
 AN OLD BUCKINGHAMSHIRE YEOMAN FAMILY. 
 
 F. H. Knight. 
 
 The histories of great families have long received attention, but it has remained 
 for the present generation to witness the production, in any considerable number, of 
 accounts of those of Yeoman degree—those who in the old days were classed next to the 
 lower nobility, and who ‘ were famous for military valour and hardness.’ Some such 
 families, it is well known, continued to be represented in the same place for very long 
 periods, and possibly in this respect they enjoyed a pre-eminence over others of higher 
 rank. Within the present century, however, numerous obvious causes have led to many 
 cases of total dispersion, and it is thought that the following instance may not be without 
 interest :—For upward of four centuries—fifteenth to the eighteenth—a family named 
 ‘ Howlett ’ was located in or near to Long Crendon. In spelling the name the scribes 
 have run the gamut, ten variations appearing, from brief ‘ Hulot ’ to ‘ Hoghelot.’ 
 Lands were owned by them at Easington and Longwick, as well as at Crendon. In the 
 latter parish ‘ Stonie Rent,’ ‘ Thamewaie,’ ‘ Thomson’s Hole,’ and ‘ Shardwell,’ occur in 
 descriptions of property in their possession, while two of the adjoining proprietors were 
 Mr. Stone and Mr. Anat. Before the Reformation, one in his will duly ‘gave his soul to 
 God and to ower Blessed Ladye Saynct Mary and to all the holy companie of Heaven/ not 
 forgetting bequests to ‘ The High Altar,’ ‘ The Rood Loft,’ ‘ The Bells,’ &e. More than 
 a century later another is in intimate acquaintance with Thomas Phillips, of Ickford, and 
 the Phillips being a Roman Catholic family, possibly the Howletts remained attached to 
 the old faith ; but in 1772 one appears to be an active Nonconformist, for he is asked to 
 ‘ take a (religious) meeting at Winchendon next Sunday,’ and in a succeeding generation 
 another, after studying theology with Scott, the Commentator, was a Dissenting minister. 
 By marriage, the Howletts were connected with the Smiths of Nashlee, a family long 
 
399 
 
 established there, the Hills of Wendover, and Burnhams of Crendon. During 1 the 
 Great Rebellion one was married by a justice of the peace, and in the following 
 generation an astrological chart (extant in the family) was prepared upon the marriage 
 of another. As might be expected, prominent in these yeomen’s wills are such 
 references as ‘ croppsof corn and grass,’ ‘ all his corn in the barn and without,’ ‘ all manner 
 of ymplements.’ In 1544 a ‘black garrle {i.e. striped or spotted) cow’ is specially 
 bequeathed. Later ‘ my best great chest and mault mill.’ On another occasion, ‘ the 
 towe and yarne that is spun’ constitutes a bequest. There is also an instance of ‘ cutting 
 off’ with the proverbial shilling. In the early part of the last century a branch of this 
 family occupied the farm and house at Scotchgrove Hill (Scotchgrove Hill House), 
 continuing for three generations. While there, a most destructive fire occurred, at the 
 extinguishing of which French officers, prisoners of war, assisted. No member of the 
 family now remains at the places named, but several of the departed rest in a vault 
 in Crendon Churchyard, where so many of their forefathers sleep. 
 
 PETERLEY HOUSE. 
 
 Peterley House was one of the old seats of the Dormer family; it is in that 
 part of the parish of Great Missenden, adjoining Hampden. After having gradually 
 been permitted to fall into decay, it was at length entirely taken down and destroyed, and 
 all the remaining relics of its ancient possessors, many old portraits, carvings, &c. } 
 dispersed, and a plain house built on the site. This house was for a few years inhabited 
 by a Mr. Noel, formerly a solicitor in Essex Street, London ; at his death all the 
 remaining hope of tracing the later history of the old mansion with any degree ot 
 accuracy was lost. 
 
 ARMS OF BUCKINGHAM. 
 
 Browne Willis. 
 
 “In the Visitation Book, in the Heralds Office in London, is this Entry made by 
 William Harvey, Clarencieux King of Arms: Under the Delineation of the Coat of 
 Arms of the Town of Buckingham, being a Swan :—‘ These are the ancient Arms 
 appertaining and belonging to the Town and Borough of Buckingham, and Parish of 
 the same: And at this my present Visitation was Thomas More, Bailiff; Taul 
 
400 
 
 Dayrell, Esq., Steward, John Lambert, John Gates, John Appowell, Hugh Boughton, 
 William Illing, and Richard Milling, Burgesses and late Bailiffs of the said Town and 
 Borough ; John Hokeley, Town Clerk, and William White, Under Bailiff: Which Arms 
 I have ratified and confirmed, and have also registered and recorded the same in this my 
 Visitation, now made within the County of Buckingham, 1565.' The Arms belonging 
 to this antient Corporation, as they are Blazoned in the Heralds Office, are ‘ Per Pale 
 Gules and Sable, a Swan chained, gorged with a Ducal Coronet, his Wings expanded.’ 
 When this Coat was first assigned them, or made use of, I have not been able to 
 discover : If I may be allowed to conjecture, I should judge that they took it from the 
 Staffords, their antient Lords, whose Badge or Cognizance was a Swan. Drayton, in his 
 most excellent Poem of the Battle of Agincourt, fought Anno. 1415, alludes to their 
 assuming it from that family in these verses ; — 
 
 1 The mustred Men for Buckingham are gone, 
 
 Under the Swan, the Arms of that old Town.’ ” 
 
 EARLY BUCKINGHAMSHIRE NEWSPAPER PRINTERS. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 For many years, a Buckinghamshire printer had the credit of producing the earliest 
 English newspaper known ; this was Christopher Barker, son of Robert Barker, of 
 Southley, or Southlee, near Datchet. “ After enquiring (says Mr. Chalmers, in his 
 ‘ Life of Rudiman ’) in various countries for the origin of newspapers, I had the satis¬ 
 faction to find what I sought for in England; it may gratify our national pride to be 
 told that mankind are indebted to Queen Elizabeth and the prudence of Burleigh for 
 the first newspaper ; the epoch of the Spanish Armada is also the epoch of a genuine 
 newspaper; in the British Museum are copies of the English Mercurie, which by 
 authority was imprinted at London, by Christopher Barker, Her Highness’s printer, 
 1588.” These Mercuries were carefully stored in the Museum as great rarities ; 
 unfortunately for the foresight of the Buckinghamshire printer, they were in 1839 
 pronounced beyond doubt to be base fabrications, and the imprint of Christopher Barker, 
 a forgery. They were of course discarded from that time as early newspapers. The 
 Barkers were from an ancient family, being descended from Christopher Barker, Knt., 
 King of Arms. Christopher Barker, the printer, had a shop known as the Tyger’s Head, 
 in Paternoster Row, London ; also one in St. Paul’s Churchyard, at the sign of the 
 Grasshopper. Queen Elizabeth granted to him and his son Robert a patent appointing 
 them as her printers, which patent expresses it to have been granted in consideration of 
 the father’s great improvement in the art of printing. The patent was afterwards 
 ratified to their successors and trustees by James I. The Barker family had their 
 
401 
 
 reverses, as it is on record that Robert Barker, Esq., was committed a prisoner to the 
 custody of the Marshall of the King’s Bench in 1G35, and died there a prisoner in 1645. 
 In Datchet Church is a monument to Christopher, from which it appears that he died 
 on the 22nd November, 1599, at the age of 70 years. 
 
 Amongst the early printers of newspapers was John Dunton ; he was born in 1659. 
 His father was of Little Missenden, of which parish two John Duntons had been 
 ministers. The father, having lost his wife, removed to Ireland, leaving the boy to 
 board with some persons at Dungrove, near Chesham ; he grew up almost as an orphan; 
 was put to school in the neighbourhood, where he learnt but little, but spent his time in 
 rambling amongst the Chiltern Hills. The father being presented to the living of Aston 
 Clinton, married again, and being settled, had his son home, with the intention of 
 educating him for the ministry, but he would have none of it, and the father in despair 
 apprenticed him to a London bookseller, from whom the boy soon ran away ; eventually 
 he served his time, and soon afterwards went into business on his own account as a 
 bookseller. His peculiarities procured for him the name of a “ lunatic” amongst his 
 contemporaries, and Isaac Disraeli describes him as “ a cracked brain bookseller, who 
 boasted he had a thousand projects, fancied he had methodised six hundred, and was 
 ruined by the fifty he executed. The news sheet he published was the Athenian Mercury, 
 the first number appearing on the 17th of March, 1690. With all his versatility, Dunton 
 kept on this penny tract, which was of a single leaf for six years, when he transformed 
 it into quarterly volumes. Eventually he became involved in pecuniary difficulties, and 
 the last we hear of him is from the Fleet, from whence he issued “ Dying Groans from 
 the Fleet Prison.” His work which survives him is his “ Life and Errors,” published 
 in 1705, and is described by Charles Knight as being “ vilely printed upon the most 
 wretched paperit was reprinted by J. B. Nichols in 1817. Dunton died 1733. 
 
 THE LADY CHAPEL AND CRYPT IN AYLESBURY CHURCH. 
 
 Dr. Bickersteth. 
 
 “ The Lady Chapel attached to Aylesbury Church is a beautiful work of the 
 fourteenth century. In excavating for the new buttresses and plinth foundations of this 
 building, the workmen encountered some old arches of a very rude type, which led to 
 further excavations within the Chapel ; and thus the remains of an ancient cr^pt have 
 been revealed, possibly of Saxon date. In later times this crypt seems to have been 
 used as a charnel house, the arches serving as openings for this purpose fiom without. 
 
 At the east end of this subterraneous chamber, immediately under the east wall of the 
 
 Lady Chapel, and, in fact, forming its foundations, are two of these old arches, one of 
 
402 
 
 which is partly filled up with masonry. There are also two more arches of the same 
 character, one on the north side, and the other on the south, this last being immediately 
 underneath the piscina and sedilia of the Lady Chapel, which have likewise been revealed 
 in the course of the operations. The old stone steps leading down into the crypt have 
 also been found at the west end of the Lady Chapel. These will, of course, be preserved, 
 and all the stone work be carefully restored. This chamber was evidently the crypt of 
 a much older building ; and as the traditions of the place inform us that Aylesbury 
 possessed a church in very early times, it is not impossible that this may have been the 
 very site of the Saxon building where St. Osyth is said to have been buried in the ninth 
 century.” 
 
 LUDGERSHALL. 
 
 In the year 1368 John Wickliffe exchanged the living of Fillingham, in Lincoln¬ 
 shire, for that of Ludgershall. It was a poor exchange, but possessed peculiar advantages 
 to him, as it was only about 12 miles from Oxford. The church of St. Mary is an 
 ancient structure, erected in the early portion of the fourteenth century, principally in 
 the Early English and Decorated styles, and consists of chancel, nave and aisles, with a 
 square embattled tower at the west end in which are 5 bells ; the inner arch of the south 
 porch is deeply recessed and has a shield at each corner ; at the entrance of the south 
 aisle is an ancient Norman font. Over the porch of the church is a parvise or priests’ 
 chamber. In this apartment it is presumed Wickliffe wrote his great work, “ De 
 Dominio Civili.” 
 
 THE OLD POOR LAW. 
 
 “ The accounts of the overseers of the parish of Whitchurch during the existence of 
 the old Poor Law, show the miserable state of paupers and ratepayers under that system. 
 The management must have been wretched indeed. The poor were supplied with 
 clothing, bedding, and necessaries of the meanest description, sometimes given, at other 
 times only lent. At a vestry meeting held in 1822, Will. Foster was allowed to have a 
 blanket, as was another pauper named Thame ; these articles it seems were kept in stock 
 by the parish officers, as Sarah Thame was to have a blanket ‘ if there is one in the 
 chest.’ Shoes, stockings, shifts, petticoats, breeches, &c., were also distributed. Mary 
 Battams was to go to the poor houses ‘ and not to be interrupted ;’ probably the poor 
 
403 
 
 creature was imbecile. Old Dame Griffin was to have a cloak ; Elizabeth Batson a 
 smock, stays, and a pair of stockings ; Elizabeth Guess was given a shift, but a sheet was 
 only to be lent her. Billy Battams was to have a truss but ‘ 6d. a week was to be 
 stopped till it was paid for.’ Bet Guess was allowed a bottle of * Godfreys,’ and Eliza 
 Shuffle a bottle of wine, and the overseers were to give Richard Thame a bit of meat 
 ‘ now and then.’ Straw was distributed for stuffing their bed cases ; several applicants 
 were allowed a truss of straw each, but a notice was given in May, 1825, that this luxury 
 * was not allowed any more from this time.’ In 1830, coin was scarce, and the overseers 
 relieved the poor, not in money but in wheat. At this time the rates amounted to 17s. 
 in the pound, and were expected to reach 20s. A farm of 270 acres at North Marston 
 paid £160 for rates in one year, and at Oving 13 acres of land paid their full annual 
 value in rates. In 1833, 42 farms were unoccupied in the neighbourhood of Aylesbury. 
 After the formation of the Aylesbury Poor Law Union the cost of poor relief was reduced 
 in the Union from £25,221 to £13,234, being an annual saving of £11,987 .”—History of 
 Whitchurch, by J. Hollmvay. 
 
 HAYERSHAM. 
 
 Browne Willis, who visited Haversham Church in 1739, says—“ Here are no 
 ancient coats of arms, or painted glass, except y* in y e north window of y e chancel is 
 one Coat, viz* Arg* a Lion ramp* sable, in an orbe of Billets sable, being y e arms of 
 Plaunche: put up no doubt by y e last Heiress of ye Family, viz* Elizabeth, Lady 
 Clinton, Daughter and Heir of Will, de la Plaunche, who departing this life aged 
 above 80, anno 1422, willed to be buried here ; having, as I presume, contributed 
 towards building the Chancell, and provided herself a Tomb in her life time, in this place ; 
 and y* y e monument under y e said North Window, containing y e effigies of an aged 
 woman in alabaster lying in full proportions under an arch, with two Angels at her head, 
 belongs to her, I make no questions, from y e fashion of y e Tomb ; tho’ there is no 
 tradition to whom it belonged otherwise than y* it was said to have been in memory of 
 a Lady of this Town, and on y* ace* was repaired, as I have been told, in the year 1665, 
 by Dorothy, wife of Maurice Thompson, on his purchasing this Mannour.” 
 
 The church of St. Mary, Haversham, is an edifice of stone, consisting of chancel, 
 clerestoried nave, aisles, south porch and a western embattled tower, containing 4 bells ; 
 the tower, porch, piers and arches of nave, and one or two windows, are Early English, 
 some windows are Decorated, and the clerestory and remaining parts of the church 
 Perpendicular: there are seven handsome stained windows: during the restoration in 
 1857 a highly decorated Norman arch, a piscina in the chancel and one in the lady 
 chapel were discovered ; attached to the pulpit was an old and curious iron frame, 
 originally used as a holder of the hour glass. 
 
404 
 
 OLD TYRINGHAM HOUSE. 
 
 The ancient mansion of the Tyringhams at Tyringham was a noble building, of 
 considerable extent and very elegant construction ; having been the residence of that 
 influential family during several centuries. In August, 1646, an ordinance was made by 
 the House of Commons, for granting a pardon to William Tyringham, Esq., for his 
 delinquency, and for the sequestration of his estate. In 1685, on the death of Sir 
 William Tyringham, the estate passed to John Backwell, Esq., who had married his only 
 daughter. The mansion became tenanted by various occupiers, amongst others by Hum¬ 
 phrey Minchin, Esq., M.P. for Oakhampton and Bossiney, who resided there in 1760 ; he 
 was Clerk to the Ordnance in Lord North’s administration and Serjeant-at-Mace of the 
 House of Commons in Ireland. His residence at Tyringham was marked by habits of 
 such generous and attractive hospitality as maintained the reputation of Tyringham 
 House in all its pristine honour. By marriage the estate passed to William Praed, Esq. 
 The old mansion was taken down in 1792, and the present large and handsome edifice 
 erected in its stead. 
 
 ASTON CLINTON. 
 
 King Edward I. granted the Manor of Aston Clinton to the Montacutes, ancestors 
 of the Earls of Salisbury, from whom it descended to their representative, the 
 unfortunate Margaret, Countess of Salisbury, beheaded by Henry VIII. in 1541. In 
 Queen Mary’s reign it passed to the Hastings, Barringtons, Gerards, and Lakes. General 
 Gerard Lake, in consideration of his eminent services in India and elsewhere, was 
 elevated to the peerage ; Delhi and Laswaree supplying the title of Baron and Viscount, 
 with which Aston Clinton had the honour of being associated, to give dignity to one of 
 the most gallant officers whose names have been recorded in the history of Great 
 Britain. The full title of the General was, Baron Lake, of Delhi, Laswaree, and Aston 
 Clinton. The name of this illustrious man is almost forgotten at Aston Clinton, and 
 his ancient seat has disappeared ; it became in so decayed a condition that the General 
 eventually removed to Turrett house, Drayton, in the immediate vicinity; but the 
 second Viscount occasionally resided at the old house at Aston Clinton. This house 
 was demolished more than fifty years ago, and was succeeded by a very commodious 
 residence, which was for some years occupied by Mr. Thomas Sands Chapman, a banker 
 at Aylesbury. This building was amalgamated in the present mansion built by the late 
 Sir Anthony Rothschild, Bart., and it is now the property and residence of Lady 
 Rothschild. 
 
 The Church of St. Michael is a stone building consisting of chancel, nave, and 
 
405 
 
 aisles, with a square tower and 0 bells ; it was restored in 1867. There are some marble 
 tablets to the memory of the Minshall family, who were formerly connected with this 
 parish. In the north aisle is a marble tablet to Gerard, Yiscount Lake, and family, 
 whose remains are buried in a vault beneath the chancel. St. Leonard’s is an ancient 
 chapelry and was formed in 1860 into an ecclesiastical parish from part of the civil parish 
 of Aston Clinton. Here is an ancient chapel, which has been restored and decorated ; 
 it was formerly a chantry chapel to the Abbey of Missenden ; there are handsome tablets 
 to the Wood family. 
 
 SWANBOURNE IN THE CIVIL WAR. 
 
 “When in the month of March, 1643, proposals for peace were entertained, it was 
 agreed that each army should maintain the positions they severally occupied. The 
 King’s quarters were at Brill, and he undertook that his troops should not advance into 
 Buckinghamshire beyond that place ; nor should those of the Parliament move beyond 
 their garrison at Aylesbury. But the negociations of the spring of 1643, like the many 
 others commenced during the war with insincerity on both sides, proved fruitless, and 
 being broken off, the war recommenced. Prince Rupert made an attack on Aylesbury, 
 and was repulsed with loss, and, perhaps to compensate the defeat sustained on that 
 occasion, some of the King’s Generals collected a force of about four hundred men from 
 Bicester and villages of that part of Oxfordshire, and suddenly appeared before 
 Winslow, capturing about forty horses and a considerable store of provisions, being 
 guided by one Jackson, a resident in the town. From Winslow the Royalist army went 
 on to Swanbourne, and met there a picket guard of forty Musqueteers of the Aylesbury 
 garrison. These troops made a vigorous defence for upwards of an hour, during which 
 time part of the village was burnt down, and then retreated to the Church, but finally 
 yielded themselves prisoners. This inroad of the Royal forces created great alarm 
 through the county, especially at Aylesbury.”— Rev. H. Roundell. 
 
 ICKFORD. 
 
 Me. J. H. Parker, Oxford (1849;. 
 
 “ The Church of St. Nicholas, Ickford, is a pretty little building of mixed styles, 
 consisting of chancel, nave with aisles, and west tower. The chancel is Early English, 
 with lancet windows on the side, the east window is Decorated, of three lights with 
 flowing tracery, the two western windows of the chancel are Perpendicular, with transoms 
 
406 
 
 and low side openings under them. There is a small Early English doorway on the 
 south side, the east window on this side is square-headed of two lights, and a curious 
 specimen of the transition from Decorated to Perpendicular; there are good Early 
 English strings, both inside and outside of the walls, there is a plain Early English 
 piscina, with the projecting basin perfect, and there are two plain brackets in the east 
 wall; the chancel arch is Early English, with shafts of early character. The nave has 
 three Early English arches on each side, with capitals and bases partaking of Norman 
 character, the hoodmoulds have very good terminations ; the south aisle has a Norman 
 window, with an Early English niche close to it, and a good Early English doorway with 
 banded shafts ; the porch is also Early English, but mutilated ; the north aisle also has 
 a Norman window, and a very pretty Early English one, with a trefoil inner arch under 
 a square head and rose, in the spandrels ; also a Decorated window, square-headed, of 
 three lights, with fine mouldings. The font is plain, round on a solid base, probably 
 Early English. The tower is very good Early English, with a saddle-back roof, the gable 
 on the east and west front of the tower is particularly good, with a lancet window below, 
 and two trefoil-headed windows in the belfry ; on the east side the belfry window is of 
 two lights, with a quartrefoil in the head, the tower-arch is good Early English, with 
 slender shafts having elegant capitals.” 
 
 BLEDLOW. 
 
 In 1849, the Church of the Holy Trinity, Bledlow, was described by the Rev. H. 
 Addington, as “ of the Decorated style, having a square tower with a plain parapet, a 
 nave with two aisles, a south porch, and chancel; the windows mullioned.” The 
 principal entry is by the south porch, in which is a very deep but plain round 
 stoup; there is a remarkable piscina in the south aisle and a niche in the north 
 aisle. A lofty arch divides the nave and the chancel, and over the Communion 
 table is a painting of Christ taken down from the Cross, with the two Mary’s and 
 disciples weeping. The font is Norman, resembling that in Aylesbury Church. In the 
 churchyard is the base of a cross. The church has been partly restored since this 
 account was written. 
 
 In 1801, Samuel Whitbread, Esq., M.P. for Bedford, conveyed all his estate at 
 Bledlow to the Right Hon. Robert Lord Carrington, at whose decease, in 1838, it 
 descended with other estates to the second Baron, and thence to Lord Carrington, its 
 present proprietor. Bledlow House, on the south side of the village, is a large, plain 
 building, presumed to have been built by James Blancks, Esq., who died in 1664, but 
 modernised and considerably improved by the first Lord Carrington. It was subsequently 
 the residence of Benjamin Blackden, Esq., and afterwards occupied as a farm homestead. 
 It is now, with the lands attached, in the occupation of Mr. Edward Wooster. 
 
407 
 
 SCULPTURED MONUMENTS. 
 
 Rev. W. H. Kelke. 
 
 “Some emblematic ornaments, it is true, refer to foolish legends; but, for the 
 most part, they represent Scripture scenes, or symbolize Scriptural expressions. A 
 dragon at the feet of an Ecclesiastic, and a lion at the feet of a warrior, were to symbolize 
 verse 13th of Psalm xci. The hands, in the attitude of prayer, holding a heart over the 
 breast, doubtless, refers to Lamentations iii., 41. The representation of Angels carrying 
 the deceased’s soul to Heaven was doubtless suggested by the parable of Lazarus. The 
 Evangelistic emblems point the mind to the four Gospels, and to the books of Ezekiel 
 and the Apocalypse, from whence the emblems are derived. The sacred Cross, which, as 
 the symbol of Christianity, has sealed the Martyr’s tomb, and adorned the House of God 
 from the Apostolic age, is generally found, in one form or another, on all these ancient 
 monuments. And are not such adornments more appropriate to the Christian’s tomb ; 
 are they not more elevating to the mind of the beholder; and more likely to kindle holy 
 and heavenly aspirations, than hideous figures of human bones and skulls, or fabulous 
 emblems from heathen Mythology ? Fictions from Paganism are a disgrace to Christian 
 monuments ; human relics may remind us of death and decay; but the ancient emblems 
 we have noticed point the soul to Heaven and immortality. How forcibly, then, do they 
 condemn that classic taste which is scarcely yet exploded.” 
 
 THE GARRISON AT AYLESBURY. 
 
 List of gentlemen who formed the Committee of Lieutenancy, &c., at Aylesbury 
 in 1G42 :—“For the better mannaginge of the affaires of the County of Buckw, the 
 more effectuall execution of the orders and ordinances of Parliamt, and the better payinge 
 of Soldyirs belonginge to the Garrison at Aylesbury, bee it ordained by the Lords and 
 Comons in Parliamt assembled, that Sir Peeter Temple, of Stowe, Baronett, Sir Richard 
 Ingoldsby, Sir Ralph Verney, Sir Alexander Denton, Sir William Andrewes, Sir Thomas 
 Sanders, Sir Richard Pigott, Knights, Sir John Lawrence, Baronett, Sir Heneage Proby, 
 Knight, Sir William Drake, Baronett, The Gouernor of Aylesbury for ye time beinge, 
 Thomas Tyrrill, Boulstrod Whitlocke, Richard Winwood, Thomas Fountaine, Edmuude 
 West, Richard Grenvill, Thomas Tyringham, of Netherwinchenden, Thomas Bulstroode, 
 Thomas Archdall, Thomas Lane, Henry Beale, Richard Seriant, Raines Low, Edm. 
 Waller of Gregory, Esquires, Xrofer Egleton, Anthonie Carpenter, Peeter Dormer, 
 Thomas Theed, of Leborne, John Deuerell ye younger, of Swanbourne, Russill, Gent., 
 John Lane, Gent., shalbee, and are hereby appoynted to bee committees of the Countie 
 of Bucks ; and they or any flue of them shall dispose the affaires of that countie, and 
 
408 
 
 shall put in execution all and euery the ordinances and commands of either or both 
 houses of Parliamt. And to that purpose the said comittee shall soe diuide themselues 
 that flue of them at the least may be continually resident at Aylesbury during the space 
 of three weekes, and then other fine to come in theire places, et sic alternis vicibus ; and 
 whoesoeuer shall neglect or refuse after notice hereof giuen to be psent and execute theire 
 authority hereby giuen when his turn cometh, shallbee taken for a delinquent, and his 
 estate sequestered.” 
 
 THE PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Rev. J. R. Pretymah. 
 
 “ The progress of the Reformation was attended with many and sad excesses : 
 monks and nuns turned out of house and home, pensioned indeed, but (except in the 
 case of superiors, who were treated more leniently) pensioned with a miserable pittance, 
 their dwelling-places, beautiful as many of them were, laid low, that all hope of return 
 might be cut off; their cells surrendered to the bats and owls ; their chapels made a 
 portion for foxes, the mosaic pavement torn up, the painted windows dashed in pieces, 
 the bells gambled for, or sold into Russia and other countries ; all and utterly dismantled, 
 save where happening to be parish churches also, as was the case at Tewkesbury, Saint 
 Albans, and Malvern and elsewhere, they were rescued, whole or in part, from Henry’s 
 harpies, by the petitions or pecuniary contributions of the pious inhabitants ; libraries, 
 of which most monasteries contained one, treated by their new possessors with barbaric 
 contempt, some books reserved for their jakes, some to scour their candlesticks, some to 
 rub their boots, some sold to the grocers and soap-boilers, and some sent over sea to 
 bookbinders, not in small numbers, but at times whole ships full, to the wondering of 
 foreign nations. These were some of the coarser features of those times ; howbeit there 
 were many besides. ‘ For the churches of parishes were now often treated with gross 
 irreverence, horses and mules were led through them, they were plundered of their plate 
 by churchwardens and other powerful parishioners, who might argue that, if they spared, 
 others would spoil.’ ” 
 
 THE CHURCH PORCH. 
 
 The porch was anciently a necessary member of every church. The porch at 
 Milton, in Kent, is mentioned A.D. 682. It was devoted to several ecclesiastical rites. 
 King Edward I. was married in the church porch. In a Rubric printed in 1515, 
 “ secundum usum Sarum,’’ instructions are given for the performance of this ceremony 
 
409 
 
 by which it appears to have been usual to celebrate it in the porch. “ Slatuantur ante 
 ostium Ecclesics, sive in faciem Ecclesiae corain Deo, et sacerdote et populo.” In the 
 churching of women, “ post partum,” the priest was to go to the door of the church, 
 where the woman kneeling received the benediction. The 23rd Psalm was sung ; she 
 was then led into the church, and the service concluded before the altar. The porch was 
 also used for baptism. “ Stans igitur in ecclesiae limine sacerdos interrogat catechizan- 
 dum, stantem ad fores ecclesiaeand the person to be baptized was not admitted until 
 after certain questions and ceremonies, which accounts for the custom of placing the font 
 near the entrance of the church. The inquiries being satisfied, and prayers offered, the 
 person was admitted into the congregation : “ Ducat eum in ecclesiam, dicendo, Ingredere 
 in sanctam ecclesiam Dei et accipias benedictionem coelestem a Domino Jesu Christo.” 
 The porch has been considered a necessary protection against the inclemency of the 
 weather ; but the practice of baptizing being anciently by three immersions, the effect 
 of cold does not seem to have been much regarded ; and there was probably some other 
 reason for using the porch, and perhaps the mystical allusion to an admittance by 
 baptism within the church itself, and being afterwards conducted under the rood or cross 
 to the altar was deemed symbolical of the progress of a Christian. The porch was also a 
 place of sanctuary, of which history presents many remarkable instances. It was always 
 left open ; and the profanation of it would have been thought so heinous a sacrilege, 
 that the veneration entertained for the sacred precincts preserved the porch from 
 improper intrusion or injury, being in the early ages wholly appropriated to the purposes 
 of religion, charity, and mercy. 
 
 FOSSIL REMAINS AT HARTWELL. 
 
 Admiral Smyth. 
 
 “ A Little to the east of Hartwell House, and just across the Aylesbury road, is a 
 spacious brick-field called Wallbridge Piece, worked by Mr. Locke. Beneath banks ot 
 ‘ pendle’ it exhibits the surface of an unfathomed stratum of Kirameridge-clay, replete 
 with fossil remains of extinct animals. In August, 1854, the bones of a pretty large 
 ichthyosaurus were found embedded in the south side of the field, and in the following 
 month, part of another Saurian reptile, considerably larger than the former, was exhumed 
 from the northern side. The bones of both these creatures were so friable that only 
 portions of them could be removed, and that with difficulty. Among them were also the 
 femur and vertebrte of a monstrous plesiosaurus. In reference to the ichthyosauiu>, oi 
 fish-lizard, Dr. Mantell characterized it as a ‘ marvellous Pre-Adamite example of the 
 
410 
 
 extinct tribe of Lacertian reptiles, with the muzzle and general aspect of a porpoise, the 
 head of a lizard, the teeth of a crocodile, the vertebrae of a fish, the sternum or breast¬ 
 bone of an ornithorhyncus, and the fins of a whale. The enormous size of the eyeballs 
 was one of the peculiarities of this genus. The cavities in which they were lodged in 
 one of the species measured not less than fifteen inches in diameter. A ring of bony 
 plates surrounded the socket, which seemed to protrude more or less beyond the globe of 
 the eye, and vary the convexity of the cornea, so as to adapt the organ for near or distant 
 vision. This, combined with the great power of the fins or propellers, must have con¬ 
 ferred on that reptile great promptitude in perceiving and seizing its prey.’ In April, 
 1860, Professor Owen, being on a visit to Dr. Lee, scrutinized some Enalio-sauria from 
 the Kimmeridge-clay in the same adjacent brickfield, and found certain of them to 
 possess all the characters of the Plesiosaurus, excepting that the articular surface (of 
 the vertebrae), instead of being uniformly concave, was flat for one-third of its diameter, 
 and suddenly excavated at the mid-third : this modification indicates a species new to 
 me.” 
 
 THE YACHE, CHALFONT ST. GILES. 
 
 Rev. P. W. Phipps, M.A. 
 
 “In 1771 the Yache was sold by the Hares to Admiral Sir Hugh Palliser, Bart., 
 whose monument stands against the north wall of the chancel of the church. The 
 inscription is as follows :—‘ Near this place are deposited the remains of Sir Hugh 
 Palliser, Bart., of the Yache, in this parish, who formerly represented the Boroughs of 
 Scarborough and Huntingdon in Parliament, was Comptroller of the Navy, one of the 
 Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, Lieut.-General of Marines, Commander-in-Chief 
 of His Majesty’s Ships at Newfoundland, Governor of that Island, and died the 19th 
 March, 1796, Admiral of the White Squadron, an Elder Brother of the Trinity House, 
 Governor of Scarborough Castle, and of the Royal Hospital for Seamen at Greenwich, 
 aged 74 years.’ This Admiral Palliser is notorious for his quarrel with Admiral Keppel, 
 who, in consequence of Palliser’s accusation as to his conduct in the attack on the 
 French fleet off Ushant, was tried by court martial in 1779. The question was 
 embittered by party feeling, as Keppel was in the Opposition, and it was thought that 
 the Government were endeavouring to crush him. Keppel was defended by Erskine, 
 and Burke, Fox, and Sheridan attended the trial, together with many illustrious persons. 
 Admiral Palliser’s charges were declared to be malicious and ill-founded, and Keppel was 
 honourably acquitted; on which the mob, who sympathized with Keppel, tore down the 
 
411 
 
 Admiralty gates, gutted Sir H. Palliser’s house in Pall Mall, and burnt the contents in 
 St. James’ Square. Admiral Sir H. Palliser lived subsequently in some retirement at 
 the Vache, where he erected a monument to Captain Cook, the celebrated navigator, of 
 whom he was the earliest patron and friend. This monument was visited, in 1865. by 
 Queen Emma of the Sandwich Islands. Sir H. Palliser left a charity for the education 
 and clothing of poor children in this parish, which still bears his name. Admiral Sir 
 H. Palliser left the Vache to his natural son, George, who, in 1825, sold it to Thomas 
 Allen, Esq., of Newlands, who removed to the Manor House at the Vache, and died in 
 1829, when he was succeeded by his only son, Thomas Ncwland Allen, Esq., the present 
 owner.”— Records of Buckinghamshire. 
 
 PAUL WHITEHEAD’S HEART. 
 
 In West Wycombe Mausoleum is a marble urn which once contained the heart of 
 Paul Whitehead, a satirical writer, and Secretary to the Medmenham Club. “ Paul the 
 aged,” who was “ born a Whitehead, and baptized a Paul,’-’bequeathed his heart to his 
 noble patron and friend, Lord le Despencer, and it was deposited in this Mausoleum with 
 much ceremonial of a serio-comic character, with the accompaniment of an incantation 
 set to music by Dr. Arnold, in 1775. The procession was thus formed :—An officer, 
 nine grenadiers two deep, two German flutes, two choristers in surplices, two German 
 flutes, 11 singing men in surplices, a band of two French horns, two bassoons, six 
 fifes, and four muffled drums, the bier bearing the urn containing the heart supported 
 by soldiers, Lord le Despencer as chief mourner in uniform as Colonel of the Bucks 
 Militia, Major Skottowe and eight other Militia officers, two fifes and two drums, 
 and 20 soldiers with firelocks reversed. The Dead March in Saul was played the whole 
 of the way. Dr. Arnold, Mr. Atterbury and another walking on the side of the 
 procession with scrolls of paper in their hands beating time. The bell tolled, and great 
 guns were discharged every 3^ minutes. The precipitous hill was covered with people. 
 Having arrived at the Mausoleum the procession marched round it for an hour, 
 performing funeral glees, and then the urn was placed on a marble pedestal in one of the 
 niches. The ceremony was concluded by the soldiers firing three vollies, and marching 
 off to a merry tune with the drums and fifes. Next morning (17th August, 1775) a new 
 oratorio, called Goliath, composed by Mr. Atterbury, was performed in the church. The 
 heart, which was inclosed in lead, was constantly taken out to be shewn to visitors, but 
 in 1839 it was stolen—it is supposed by a visitor. 
 
412 
 
 BERNEWODE FOREST. 
 
 Bernewode was a Royal forest. These forests, maintained chiefly as places of 
 sport for our Kings, were subject to peculiar regulations. In the earlier periods, the 
 laws concerning them were not so much designed for the preservation of timber, as 
 for the protection of deer, and the regulation of the rights of common enjoyed 
 by the inhabitants within the regard or purlieus of the forest. Those rights 
 were exercised under limitations perfectly consistent with the purposes for which 
 the forests were maintained. The cattle of the commoners were only entitled to 
 that surplus herbage which was more than the deer required. They were excluded 
 during the fawning month in summer, and from 22nd November to 4th May ; no greater 
 number was allowed upon any estate than could be maintained levant and couchant 
 thereon, throughout the year ; no sheep or goats were admitted at anytime ; no stallions 
 after a certain age; swine only during the time of pannage (fifteen days before, to forty 
 days after Michaelmas day) the commoners being allowed dead wood, bearing no green 
 hue, for their fuel; and the laws were extremely severe against offenders who trespassed 
 in the forest. The rights of common seem to have been in the nature of a compensation 
 for the injury done by the deer to private estates within the forests ; for whenever any 
 estate was disafforested, and became no longer subject to the range and haunt of the 
 deer, it was by law deprived of the privilege of common in that part which belonged to 
 the Crown. 
 
 THE CHIMNEY TAX. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 In many of the old parish accounts reference is made to the chimney or hearth 
 tax, usually termed “Chimney money.” In the Aylesbury overseers’ accounts in the 
 year 1676, a charge is made “for making the first rate and taking off the chimney 
 money, £00 01s. 06d.” Chimney money was first imposed under Parliamentary authority 
 by 14 Charles II., c 10, and was charged on every hearth in each house paying to church 
 and poor. By a subsequent statute certain persons were empowered, once every year, to 
 view the inside of every house. By the statute of 1 William and Mary, c 10, hearth- 
 money was admitted to be “ not only a great oppression to the poorer sort, but also a 
 badge of slavery upon the whole people.” This tax was also known as the chimney-tax ; 
 it was most unpopular, and called forth the loudest murmurs. Even amongst direct 
 
413 
 
 imposts it was most odious, for it could be levied only by means of domiciliary visits, 
 and of such visits the English have always been impatient to a degree which the people 
 of other countries can but faintly conceive. The poorer householders were frequently 
 unable to pay their hearth-money to the day. When this happened their furniture was 
 distrained without mercy ; for the tax was farmed, that is, contracted for by a speculator, 
 and a farmer of taxes was of all creditors proverbially the most rapacious. The 
 collectors were loudly accused of performing their unpopular duty with harshness and 
 insolence. Tt was said that, as soon as they appeared at the threshold of a cottage, the 
 children began to wail, and the old women to hide their earthenware ; nay, the single 
 bed of a family had sometines to be carried away and sold. The hearth-tax seems to 
 have united all the worst evils which can be imputed to any tax. It was unequal, and 
 unequal in a most pernicious.way: for it pressed hardly on the poor and lightly on the 
 rich. A peasant whose property was not worth £20 had to pay several shillings, whilst 
 the mansion of the opulent nobleman was seldom assessed at more than two guineas. 
 William III. was so importuned by the common people to relieve them from the 
 intolerable burden of the tax, and so much moved by what he heard of the grievances of 
 it, that at one of the earliest sittings of the Privy Council he introduced the subject, and 
 by his personal interference the tax was abolished. 
 
 STANTONBURY. 
 
 Lysons. 
 
 “ Stantonbury is about four miles north-east of Stony Stratford. The manor was 
 anciently in the family of Barry, from whom it passed by a female heir to that of 
 Boveton. At a later period it belonged to the family of Yaux; aud, having been vested 
 in the crown by the attainder of Sir William Yaux, was granted, in 1467, to Richard 
 Fowler, Esq., and his heirs male. In 1667, it was purchased of Sir John Temple by 
 Sir John Wittewronge, who had been created a baronet in 1662. Sir John Wittewronge 
 built a capital mansion at this place (of which there are now no remains) for the 
 residence of his son. It continued to be a seat of the Wittewronges till 1727, when the 
 estate was sold to Sarah Duchess of Marlborough. Sir John Wittewronge, the last of 
 the family who possessed this estate, was outlawed for the murder of Mr. Griffith, a 
 surgeon, and at length died in the Fleet prison of wounds received in an affray with a 
 fellow prisoner. This opulent family having fallen to decay, Sir William Wittewronge, 
 who succeeded to the title on the death of his unhappy brother in 1743, and was the 
 last baronet, was appointed governor of the poor knights of Windsor. In the Parish 
 Church, which exhibits some remains of Saxon architecture, are some memorials of 
 the families of Temple, Tyrrell, and Wittewronge.” 
 
414 
 
 QUAINTON HILLS. 
 
 From Quainton Hills, ten copious springs severally descending, join some the Ouse, 
 towards the north, and others in the contrary direction, the Thame and Thames towards 
 the south. The quality of the water was formerly remarked as tending to the production 
 of glandular indurations, to which the inhabitants of mountainous districts are said to 
 be peculiarly liable. Numerous instances certainly occurred here, within the last century, 
 which seemed to support that hypothesis ; but modern improvements in conducting the 
 water from the springs into open cisterns or tanks, in the village, and other circum¬ 
 stances connected with the mode of living in later times, have happily been assistant in 
 considerably diminishing, though perhaps they may not have entirely eradicated, such 
 diseases, even in those who are chiefly confined to sedentary employments, and are under 
 the necessity of maintaining themselves by making lace, the local employment and 
 manufacture of many of the poorer female inhabitants of this and the neighbouring 
 villages. 
 
 The beautiful, varied, and extensive prospect from the summit of these hills, over 
 the greater part of seventeen counties, and in a western direction, only bounded by the 
 weakness of vision (the horizon being blended with the clouds and lost in dim obscurity, 
 certainly among or beyond the mountains of Wales), has been conjectured to give rise to 
 the ancient name of the place, Chentone, whilst some have supposed that the appellation 
 originated in the same word, signifying oak trees, which are imagined to have been 
 formerly abundant here, the great forest which overspread the neighbouring counties 
 south-eastward, having included Buckinghamshire within its boundaries, whilst there 
 are not a few who smile at these antiquarian fancies, and think that they can correct 
 them by suggesting that the old family of Cheyne imparted their name to this place. 
 
 BUCKINGHAMSHIRE ETYMOLOGY. 
 
 Mr. E. J. Payne. 
 
 “ The general prevalence of the Anglo-Saxon element in the names of parishes, 
 manors, farms, woods, and fields in Buckinghamshire leaves no doubt that the settle¬ 
 ment of the Teuton in this part of the kingdom is the basis of its nomenclature. 
 The names of the important rivers are our principal mementoes of the Celtic people. 
 The Ouse and Thame represent two important elements of the pure Celtic family of 
 
415 
 
 river names. The former is repeated in the Ouse or Ise, the stream in the Chesham valley, 
 and in a tributary Ousel, which it receives at Newport. The Thame reappears in the 
 south boundary of the county as the Thames, where it more fully justifies its usual 
 explanation—broad or spreading water. Dor or Dare, the pure Celtic word for water, 
 appears in an exceptional way at Dorton. Wye, a very common Celtic word, meaning 
 stream, occurs in Wycombe. The original form of the nameChiltern is Celyddon (white 
 hills); this name was Latinised as Caledon, and reappears in the name Chalfont, 
 originally Caledonii Fontes, or ‘ Chiltern Springs,’ no doubt first applied to it by the 
 Roman colonists of the neighbouring valley of the Colne. Colne is Flumen Coloniae, 
 from the Colonia of Yerulam at its headwaters. Other Celtic names are Wendover, 
 originally Gwaen Dyffryn (marsh under the hill) ; Brill (bryn, a hill ; the word hill was 
 added afterwards, and then the name became Bryn-hill), and Mentmore, a pure British 
 name meaning simply ‘ great stone,’ from some rude stone monument which once existed 
 there, and Frieth (frydd), in Hambleden; Gayhurst (Gatehurst or Gothurst) and 
 Chetwode appear to be identical in meaning, the first syllable in each being the Celtic 
 word Coed (a wood); Penn, often considered to be the Celtic pen, a hill, is really 
 a much later term meaning an enclosure. The three Stratfords are so called from 
 their being on Roman roads or streets; Chesham (Chester-ham) was a permanent 
 Roman camp ; from the word Castellum being sometimes used instead of Castra, the 
 town nearly came to be called Castlesham (Caestleshamma). Linslade means a low 
 mound or rising ground in a flat place. Hilda, or Halda, an inferior Saxon goddess, 
 was worshipped at Hillesdon (Hildesdon), as Woden was at Waddesdon. Another 
 unquestionably Roman name is Newport. It may be noted that Tring and Dunstable, 
 both close to the Bucks border, also have Roman names ; Tring being triangulum (the 
 three-cornered camp or colonia), and Dunstable, ‘Diana’s Staple’ or Market (Dianae 
 Forum), from a temple of the moon, in front of which the market was held. 
 
 Passing over for a moment the Saxon, we will remark on the paucity of names the 
 Danish invaders have left us. A few howes and thorpes are to be traced, but these may 
 be of Saxon origin ; so also may Thinghurst (Fingest), Valley of the Thing, or council; 
 Waddesdon (Wodensdon), where Woden was worshipped ; and Thurfield (Turville), 
 named from the god Thor. The Anglo-Saxons, however, have left us memorials of the 
 contest. Most of the names which indicate slaughter are memorials of encounters 
 between them ; Deadmau Dean (Hughendou) Battle Hills (Little Brickhill), and 
 Bloodybalk (Calverton), explain their own meaning. The Saxon word Camp (modern 
 German Kampf, a battle) is found applied to places at Chilton, Dorton, and Chetwode. 
 Redditch, at Farnham Royal, is said to have flowed in Danish blood. Three colonies 
 of Danes seem to have established themselves among us, which the Saxons respectively 
 called Daneham (Denham), Haddenham (Heathenham), and Witchington (Winchen- 
 don), Witching being Anglo-Saxon for heathen. Coleshill, a hamlet oi Amersham, 
 originally formed part of the Danes’ Hundred in Hertfordshire. 
 
416 
 
 Scarcely any Norman names have taken root; the Yache, however, is applied to 
 places at Aston Clinton and Chalfont St. Giles, and a street in Wycombe was called la 
 creche (the manger). One of the three hundreds of Asheudon is called, in Domesday 
 Book, La Mue (the hunting lodge). Comiug to the Anglo-Saxon names, we may remark 
 on the frequency with which some of the names recur in parts of Germany and France. 
 The province of Holstein contains several villages bearing the very Buckinghamshire 
 names which we find most puzzling—Boarstall, Moulshoe, &c. 
 
 The common elements in use maybe divided as follows:—About a dozen signify 
 habitation as a village, and conveying the idea of enclosure or protection—Stock, worth, 
 ton, wick, bury, stead, stow, ham, cott, hatch, penn, and thorp. To these may be added 
 fold, now obsolete in the solitary instance in which it was once used, Stowfold (Stowe) ; 
 and bottle, a building, in Bottle Claydon, which has no connexion with St. Botolph. 
 Seven express situation on a hill—don, ridge, hill, low, rise, howe, link. Two express 
 situation in a vale—dean, combe. Five are applied to woody spots—hurst, holt, shaw 
 wood, grove, to which may be added hanger and frith. Four to places situated in open 
 country—ley, slade, mead, moor; and about half-a-dozen more to situations near water 
 —eye, brook, mere, burn, holm, water. We rarely meet these in uncompounded forms ; 
 the various places named Stoke, Stowe, Penn, Lee, and Slough are all that occur to me. 
 
 We find a large class of names compounded with words indicating situation with 
 respect to earlier or parent settlements. Aston, Ascott, and Astwood (East) ; several 
 Westons, Westcott, Westbury ; North is usually expressed as a prefix; and we have 
 South-cote, South-thorpe (contracted to Sedrup), and Sutton (Iver). Milton (Keynes) 
 is Middleton; Medmenbara (pure Saxon) is the middle village, halfway between Marlow 
 and Hambleden ; Upton (near Slough), Upton (Dinton), and Uphowe (Lavendon) mean 
 Upper Town. Boveney is the Upper Island. Hulcott, Pitchcott, and Clifton, all mean 
 village on the hill; Wootton, by the wood ; Eton or Eyton, by the water. The twoMarstons, 
 the Moretons, Mursley, Marsworth, Marsh Gibbon, Marlow, all iudicate the marshy country 
 in which they stand ; Claydon, clay soil ; Fawley, Fallow-ley, &c. Large portions of 
 Buckinghamshire are distinguished by names indicating marshy soil. Stone, originally 
 Stanes, was so called because the high road passing through the village was once paved. 
 Some of the worst places on the high roads are called Slough, as Slough Farm, Chesham ; 
 Slough, Saunderton ; Common Slough, Marlow; Slough, Upton, which has become a 
 flourishing town, since the days when Bardolph was immersed in it (Merry Wives of 
 Windsor, Act iv., sc. 5). So we have Mussenden or Missenden, a marshy place or slough 
 on the high road from Aylesbury to London. Fleet Marston is so called from the stream 
 which crosses it. Several localities are called Marsh. Thorney occurs twice, as applied 
 to low land near rivers—Thorney-island, Iver, and in the corrupted form of Dorney. 
 Some of the dirtiest roads appear to have been ironically called Featherbed-lane. 
 Frogmoor, from the prevalence of frogs, has become one of the commonest names ; 
 Langley is long plain ; Longwick, long village ; Grendon and Grandborough, from the 
 
417 
 
 green trees ; Whitchurch, from its white steeple ; Buckland (bocland), freehold land held 
 by book or charter. 
 
 Quarrendon was once a warren ; Iyer was a part of the Chiltern forest where the 
 sportsman might be sure of finding the wild boar (eofor, the original name was Eoforhara); 
 the neighbouring village of Fulmer was once Fugilmere or Fowlmere, and was so called 
 from the sport it afforded to the fowler ; Horwood is Hartwood (heortwode), but Hart¬ 
 well is properly Herd-well, where herds of cattle were watered ; Foxcott explains itself. 
 Kimble is Cyne-bml, the King’s funeral pile ; Bledlow, the leafy hill or hill of trees (the 
 explanation “ bloody-hill” is unsupported by the ancient forms in which the name 
 occurs) ; Risborough is the town under the “ rise” or slope of the Chiltern forest; in the 
 Anglo-Saxon charters it is called “ Hrisanbeorgan on Chiltern’s eaves.” Saundcrton 
 was Saunder’s (Alexander’s) town; Hughenden, properly Hugenden or Hitchenden, is 
 pure Saxon for the “ little valley,” in contrast with the broad valley of Wycombe ; 
 similarly Hitcham is the “little village” in contrast with Burnham, and Hedgerley, 
 properly Hugeley, is the “little village” in contrast with Beaconsfield ; Loudwater is 
 properly Lodewater, from the stream being here dammed up for the construction of 
 mills ; Wooburn is Woodburn (Wuduburnan) ; Hambleden is Hammelanden, or valley 
 of sheep ; Bradenham is the broad valley ; Beaconsfield, the elevated place where beacon 
 fires were lighted ; Radnage is Roding-hatch, or village in the clearing (in the Chiltern 
 forest). One of the most striking names in Desborough, spelt in Domesday Book 
 Dustenburg. The original form is undoubtedly Dom-stan-beorgan, the burg of the 
 “ Doom-stone ” or great stone of judgment, at which the court of the hundred was 
 assembled. Hampden is the village in the Valley (the middle letter is intrusive); 
 Hanslope is Ham-slope, and Slapton has the same meaning. 
 
 Some parishes are named from the trees they produce. Akeley, Ackhampstead, 
 Oakley from the oak; Ashendon, Ashley Green, Chesham, and Ashridge (Park, 
 Pitstone), from the Ash ; Nutley and Hazel-moor from the nut or hazel; Booker, a 
 hamlet in West Wycombe, is named after the beech tree. A few villages are named 
 from the birds which frequented them—Crawley, once celebrated for crows ; Swan- 
 bourne from the Swan ; Owlswick from the owl; Ravenstone and Ravensmere from the 
 raven. Ilmer is Eelmere. 
 
 Many names are compounded with those of proprietors. Aylesbury is certainly 
 iEgil’s beorgan : but whether iEgil is the mythical personage whom German antiquaries 
 identify with the Sun, or merely a landed proprietor named after him, is doubtful. The 
 West Saxons were still pagans when they conquered the Vale of Aylesbury, and it would 
 be natural for them to set up a temple to the Sun, the deity chiefly worshipped l>y 
 cultivators of the soil, in its principal town, even if such a temple did not exist 
 there already, which is quite possible. We readily see that Saunderton, Emhciton, 
 Adstock (Adda’s-stoke), contain the names of ancient families, but without ancient 
 
418 
 
 authorities we should be unable to explain Amersham as Hagmundsham, Chearsley 
 as Cerdicks’ Ley, Eddlesborough as Eadwulfs-burg, Hardmead as Harewulf’s-mead, 
 Woolston as Wulse’s-ton, Wraysbury as Wyrurd’s-bury, Cholesbury as Chelwald’s- 
 bury, or Shalstone as Celda’s-ton. Similarly in the large class which contain the termi¬ 
 nation ing—Addington and Addingrave from the descendants of Adda ; Cheddington 
 from those of Chad or Ceadda Bellingdon, Buckingham, Shabbington, Cublington, 
 Lillingstone, Hollingdon, Ivinghoe, and Chippingham, retain their original form ; 
 instead ofWittington we have Witting, contracted into Wing, and instead of Wittingrave, 
 Wingrave ; from the descendants of OfFa or Ulf we have Oflington (Oving) ; Ibstone is 
 Ebba’s-ton. 
 
 The curious name of Cold Harbour is applied to several places in this county, in 
 the parishes of Hughenden, Great Marlow, Amersham, Wendover, Iver, Dorney, Hart¬ 
 well, Ilmire, Brill, Tattenhoe, Mursley, Hanslope, and Wavendon, and to no less than 
 19 in the counties adjoining, usually near some old road ; meaning simply such sorry 
 lodging as travellers were often fain to be content with. 
 
 Nor are we without trace of the old faith in fairies. One of the principal Bucking¬ 
 hamshire fairies, Hobb, may be identified with Oberon himself—Hobb's Lane, Wycombe ; 
 Hobb's Mill, Missenden ; Hobb’s Scrub, Hughenden. Mab, or Mob, occurs at Mob Well, 
 Great Missenden ; Mop End, Little Missenden ; and Mop’s Farm at Chalfont St. Peter_ 
 Among whimsical names we find Little London applied to petty hamlets near Wycombe, 
 Brill, and Wendover. A secluded farm at Little Marlow is called Hard-to-find ; out- 
 of-the-way places at Latimer’s and Stoke Poges are called Hockley-in-the-hole ; and at. 
 Wendover, World's End. 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 209 for “ E. Burke ” read f< Sir J. B. Burke. ”■ 
 
 216 for “ Edward” read “Edmund.” 
 
 229 for “Cross” read “Coin.” 
 
 267 for “ Morris” read “ Blick.” 
 
 367 for “ St. Charles of Boromeo ” read “ St. Charles Borromeo.” 
 
gfntfo:. 
 
 A. 
 
 Alien Priories, 393 
 Amersham, 56, 338 ; Church, 386 
 Ancient Crosses, 108 
 
 - Domestic Architecture, 368 
 
 Antiquated Meeting Houses, 35 
 Ankerwyke, 123 
 Ancient Stained Glass, 330 
 Arms and Armoury, 14 
 Arrest of the Five Members, 130 
 Ascot House, Wing, 324 
 Ashetidon, 205, 232, 252 
 Ashridge House, 175, 271 
 Aston Abbots, 368 
 
 Aston Clinton, 404 ; St. Leonard’s, 258 
 Aylesbury—Ancient, 43 ; Fraternity of, 118 ; Ancient 
 Market House, 125 ; In Sixteenth Century, 145 ; 
 In Eighteenth Century, 325 ; Bequest to, 157 t 
 Corruption at, 274 ; Nonconformity at, 365; 
 Extinct Hospitals, 193 ; Monastery, 256 ; Danish 
 Remains, 93 ; Elections in Churchyard, 131 ; 
 Gunpowder kept in the Church, 216 ; In the 
 Civil Wars, 231 ; Hundreds of, 271 ; Battle of, 
 337 ; Garrison at, 407; Ashby v. White, 287 ; 
 St. Mary’s Church, 289 ; Effigy there, 321 ; Lady 
 Chapel and Crypt, 401 
 
 B. 
 
 Bernewoode Forest, 412 
 Biddlesden, 20, 335 
 
 Boarstall, Legend, 74 ; Tower, 136, 294 
 
 Bolbec Castle, 228 
 
 Bledlow, 406 j Cross, 147 
 
 Bierton, 229 
 
 Bradwell Priory, 85 
 
 Brill, 22; St. Werburgh, 244 ; Manor of, 283 
 Boreton House, 204 
 Billeting Soldiers, 361 
 Bradenham, 354 
 
 Bucks—Derivation of Name, 1 ; Early Inhabitants, 
 3 ; Historical Events, 6 ; Landed Proprietors, 52, 
 112; Eminent Divines, 127; County Hall, 82; 
 In Civil War, 91 ; Historic Associations, 149 ; 
 In Parliament, 154 ; Representative History, 79; 
 Divisions of, 159 ; Churches, 163,220 ; Elections 
 (1685), 199 ; Political History, 239; Families 
 and Heraldry, 275 ; Premiers, 309 ; Gentry, 332; 
 Charters, 283 ; Knight of, dismissed the House, 
 388 ; Old Yeoman Family, 398 ; Buckingham¬ 
 shire Etymology, 414 
 
 Buckingham—History of, 28 ; Churches, 105 ; In 
 Seventeenth Century, 86 ; St. Rutnbold, 208 ; 
 Barton’s Charity, 110 ; 1st Earl of, 113 ; Castle, 
 78 ; Free School, 141 ; Roman A ilia, 122 ; Cross 
 145 ; Hundred of, 381 ; Old Bailiffs, 391 ; Arms 
 of, 399 
 
 Bulstrode, 350 ; Family of, 18 
 
 Burnham Abbey, 53; Beeches, 103; Hundred of, , i 
 Bletchley, 248, 267 
 Buttyng, 372 
 Burke's Estate, 233 
 
420 
 
 C. 
 
 E. 
 
 Cassii, The, 3 
 
 Chalfont St. Giles, 215, 333, 372 
 Chearsley, 115 
 Chenies, 37, 212 
 Chenies Mausoleum, 237 
 Chesham, 313, 366 ; Bois, 57 
 Chequers, 61 
 
 Chetwode Priory, 58; Rhyne Toll, 285 
 
 Chicheley Hall, 354 
 
 Chilterns, The, 41, 100, 120 
 
 Chilton, 101, 390 
 
 Chimney Tax, 412 
 
 Choleshury Camp, 30 
 
 Church Architecture, 13 
 
 Churches and Manors, 231 
 
 Church Porch, 408 
 
 Churches, Former State of, 220 
 
 Civil War Relics, 119; Notes, 354 
 
 Claydon House, 37 
 
 Claydons, The, 61 
 
 Cliefden House, 90 
 
 Clifton Reynes, 186 
 
 Coat and Conduit Money, 247 
 
 Compound Names, 193 
 
 Cores End, 292 
 
 Cottesloe Hundred, 396 
 
 Creslow, 139 
 
 D. 
 
 Dagnal Chapel, 237 
 Danes, The, 50 
 Danesfield, 333 
 Datchet, 26 
 Denham, 255 
 
 Deprivations of Rights, 352 
 Desborough Hundred, 33; Castle, 213 
 Dinton Castle, 70 ; the Hall, 160 
 Doddershall House, 65 
 Domesday Book, 16 
 Dorney Court, 319 
 Dorton House, 50 ; Spa, 390 
 Dropmore, 270 
 
 Drayton Beauchamp, 261; Church, 385. 
 
 Early Printers, 400 
 Ecclesiastical Architecture, 236 
 Edlesborough, 295 
 Ellesborough, 77, 174 
 Epitaphs, 305 
 Eton, 204, 241, 286 
 Eythrope, 298 
 
 F. 
 
 Fawley Court, 244 
 Fenny Stratford, 140, 197 
 Forest Laws, 117 
 
 G. 
 
 Grand borough, 381 
 Greenland House, 45 
 Grendon Underwood, 67 
 
 Great Marlow, 68, 98 ; Old Church, 329 ; Neighbour¬ 
 hood of, 337; New Church, 355 ; Catholic 
 Church, 367 
 
 Glass Painter, Wycombe, 128 
 Grenville Library, 131 
 Gregories, Beaconsfield, 216 
 Grove, The, Chesbam, 234 
 
 Great Missenden, 223; Abbey, 249; Church, 315 ; 
 
 Remains at, 114 
 Grymsdyke, 250 
 Geology of Mid Bucks, 284 
 Great Horwood (Briefs), 312 ; Relics at, 361 
 Gayhurst House, 317 ; Churches of, 366 
 
 H. 
 
 Haddenham, 345 
 Hall Barns, 314 
 
 Hampdens, The, 40, 189, 212; John, Death and 
 Burial of, 245; Exhumation of, 313 
 Hanslope, 326 
 
 Hardwick and Weedon, 377, 114 
 Harleyford, 227 
 
 Hartwell, 243, 63, 387 ; Fossils at, 409 
 Haversham, 403 
 Heart Bequests, 166 
 
421 
 
 Hedsor, 297 
 Hell Fire Club, 59 
 Heptarchy, The, 11 
 Highways, 183 
 
 High Wycombe—Hospitals, 200, 227 j An Assize 
 Town, 318 5 Miracles at, 178 } Military College, 
 263; Penn’s Mead, 147 } Old Town Hall, 273 j 
 Outgoing Mayors, 391 
 Hillesden, 253, 375 
 Hogshaw, 190 
 Hogston, 266 
 Horton, 29, 348 
 Hughenden, 336, 327 
 Hundridge, 344 
 
 I, J, K. 
 
 Ickford, 405 
 
 Ivinghoe, 47 ; Effigy at, 225 
 Iver, Saxon Work at, 75 
 Jordans, 49 
 Justices (1646), 136 
 Keach’s Meeting House, 396 
 Kimble, 230 
 
 L. 
 
 Lathbury, 394 
 
 Lee Grange, Quainton, 324 
 
 Lee, Foundry at, 23 5 "Remains at, 51 
 
 Legend of Spillicora, 137 
 
 Lace Makers of North Bucks, 142 
 
 Lavendon, 350; Abbey, 153 ; Castle, 190 
 
 Luffield Priory, 157 
 
 Long Crendon Church, 322 ; Ancient Cemetery, 186 
 
 Latimers, 202 
 
 Lilies, Weedon, 206 
 
 Littlecote, 221 
 
 Liseombe House, 242 
 
 Louis XVIII. at Hartwell, 265 
 
 Linslade, 273 
 
 Local Option, 395 
 
 Lower Winchendon, 356 
 
 Lillingstone Dayrell, 362 
 
 Little Marlow, 81, 373 ; Nunnery, 385 
 
 Licenses on Fish Days, 374 
 
 Lenborough, 384 
 
 Little Horwood Church, 246 
 Little Brickhill, 89 
 Little Missenden, 32 
 Langley, 355 
 Ludgershall, 402 
 
 M. 
 
 Maids Moreton, 87; Register, 135 
 Manors, 26 
 
 Medmenham, 66, 115, 235 
 Mentmore, 150 
 
 Milton at Chalfont, 132, 226 ; Books Burnt, 243 
 Monasteries, how Dissolved, 376 
 Monks Risborough, 331 
 Mursley Church, 363 
 
 N. 
 
 Newport Pagnell, 19, 320, 364; Hundred of 240) 
 Independents at, 359 j Civil War, 389 
 Newton Longville Priory, 92 
 Norman Towers, 192 
 North Crawley, 298 
 North Marston, 223 ; Church of, 360 
 Notley Abbey, 217 
 
 O. 
 
 Old Poor Law, 402 
 
 Oliver Cromwell at Aylesbury, 70; at Beaconsfield, 110 
 Olney, 329 ; Lord of, 143; Old Church, 191 j 
 Cowper’s House, 321 
 
 P. 
 
 Palimsest Brasses, 157 
 Parliament, The Long, 124 
 Parish Stocks, 263 
 
 Penn Church, 359 ; Emigrant School, 380 
 Peterley House, 399 
 Portway, 254 
 Preston Bissott, 373 
 Princes Risborough, 65, 224, 347 
 I Primitive Churches, 104 
 Privy Seal Loans, 198 
 
422 
 
 Public Worship, License for, 318 
 
 -Education, State of, 383 
 
 Progress of the Reformation, 408 
 
 Q. 
 
 Quainton, 370 ; Glastonbury Thorn, 95 ; Hills, 414 
 
 Quakerism at Wycombe, 397 
 
 Quarrendon Chapel, 181 $ Queen Elizabeth at, 388 
 
 R. 
 
 Ravenstone Priory, 102 , Church at, 376 
 Redes, Denhams, and Aubreys, 105 
 Remonstrance with King Charles I., 117 
 Regicides of Bucks, 382 
 Richings Park, 162 
 
 Rochester’s Escape from Aylesbury, 184 
 Romans, Traces of, 7 j Roads, 9 ; Stations, 56 
 Rowsham Chapel, 64 
 
 Royal Provisions, 260 j Hunt, 262 ; Palaces, 352 
 Runnemede, 97 
 Rye House Plot, 167 
 
 S. 
 
 Salden House, 126 
 Sanctus Bells, 207 
 Saunderton, 201 
 
 Sepulchral Monuments, 171, 358, 407 
 
 Shardeloes, 346 
 
 Ship Money, 180 
 
 Slough, 293 
 
 Snelshall, 188 
 
 Stantonbury, 413 
 
 Stephening, 341 
 
 Stewkley, 296 
 
 Stoke Hundred, 279 
 
 Stoke Poges, 210 
 
 Stoke Mandeville, 163 
 
 Stone, 179, 254, 339 
 
 Stony Stratford, 138 
 
 Stoke Poges, 210 
 
 Stowe, 71 ; Sale at, 172 
 Suppression of Monasteries, 269 
 
 -Lay Preacher, 380 
 
 Swanbourne, 351, 405 
 
 T. 
 
 Taplow Tumulus, 363 
 Thames, The River, 258 
 Thornborough Mounds, 36 
 Tickford Priory, 238 
 Tingewick, 334 
 Trackways, Ancient, 96 
 Tyringham, 347 ; House, 404 
 
 U, V. 
 
 Upper Winchendon, 170 
 Vache, The, 23, 410 
 Vale of Aylesbury, 133 
 
 W. 
 
 Waddesdon, 32, 106, 146, 211, 342 ; Hill Chapel, 129 
 Waller's Tomb, 209 
 Watling Street, 151 
 Wavendon, 379 
 
 Wendover, 102, 246, 194, 349, 384 
 
 West Wycombe, 44, 307, 340, 357 
 
 Weston Turville, 25, 369 
 
 Weston Underwood, 99, 316 
 
 Whaddon, 4, 182, 304 ; Hall, 77 
 
 Wharton’s Bibles, 222 
 
 Whitchurch, 365 
 
 Whiteleaf, 268 
 
 Whitehead, Paul, 411 
 
 Widmere, 222 
 
 Wing, 75, 343 
 
 Winslow, 60, 107 
 
 Wooburn, 143, 254 
 
 Wotton, 94 
 
 Wraysbury, 252 
 
 Wye, The River, 24 
 
(ONLY TWO COPIES ON OFFER.) 
 
 In 1 Vol., Crown Lpto, h$0 pages, price 10s. 6d., boards, 
 
 nf §itduit 0 |a:msjrir,e 
 
 AND 
 
 ifictr of flute of tfcat Count#, 
 
 BY 
 
 ROBERT GIBBS, F.S.A.., 
 
 Author of “ Regicides of Buds,” “ Local Becords,” “History of Aylesbury,” etc. 
 
 -:o:- 
 
 “It deserves a place on the shelves of the local Reading Rooms of the County, in 
 the libraries of the country gentlemen and clergy, and will be found a welcome addition 
 to the literary gatherings of those local and general collectors who are at once 
 archaeologians and antiquaries .”—Bucks Herald , May 12th, 1888. 
 
 AYLESBURY, 1888. 
 
 Shortly will he Published, in 1 Vol., Crown 4 to, 430 pages, price 10s. Gd., in neat hoards, 
 
 THE 
 
 irtlungljamdjiff ipsrfllattg, 
 
 A Series of Concise and Interesting Articles Illustrative of the 
 
 History, ^opoqraphy, and ^ch/eoloqy 
 
 OF THE 
 
 COUNTY OF BUCKINGHAM, 
 
 Compiled and Edited by ROBERT GIBBS, F.S.A., 
 
 Author of “ Local Occurrences,” “Regicides of Bucks,” “ History of Aylesbury,” “ Worthies 
 
 of Buckinghamshire,” &c. 
 
 “BUCKINGHAMSHIRE MISCELLANY” is mainly a topographical 
 work, giving descriptive accounts of the “ Nooks and Corners ” of the 
 County, together with Historic and Archmological items connected with it. 
 It is composed of concise and interesting readings from the works of those authors 
 who have treated on the ancient and modern History of Buckinghamshire—Camden, 
 Spelman, Dugdale, Leland, Kennett White, Rev. Cox, Lysons, Denham, Drayton, Langley, 
 Lipscomb, and others. Extracts are also quoted from local authors of a more recent 
 period : the names of the writers will be given, together with a brief biographical notice 
 relating to them. 
 
 -—:o:- 
 
 1S91. 
 
 FEINTING OFFICE, B O U 11U O N STREET, AYLESBURY.