The History of Ufton Court, of the Parish of Ufton in the County of B Erks, And
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CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 924 088 940 139 In compliance with current copyright law, Cornell University Library produced this replacement volume on paper that meets the ANSI Standard Z39.48-1992 to replace the irreparably deteriorated original. 2000 ^- vjl^l.'il, '"'>> p Qfotttell UniuerHity Sitbrary 3tl)aca, 5Jtm ^ork BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF HENRY W. SAGE 1891 oi < u b < O r. H P 1^ ,. H O : The History of Ufton Court, of the Parish of Ufton, in the County of Berks, and of the Perkins Family: compiled from Ancient Records BY A. MARY SHARP. Kassemblons les fails pour avoir des idees." BUFFON. LONDON ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PATERNOSTER ROW. READING: MISS LANGLEY. | NEWBURY: J. W. BLACKET. 1892. /V, gaiir'f •# '<,% %!CCK Preface. There is a feeling experiencedprobably by most people in connection with an old hotise, more es- pecially should that aid house chance to be ones home, namely, a curiosity about its past—a wish to know as much as can be learnt about those who have inhabited it in past generations, whether they lived sadly or happily in the midst of these scenes now familiar to ourselves, what they looked like & what were their occupa- tions, their interests & their characters ; all these are questions to which we wouldfain seek a fuller answer than can be found in the histories of the country at large. It seems very sad that mens & women's lives should pass away from their homes almost as do those of the dumb cattle, forgotten & unrecorded exceptfor a line in the parish register, & a half-obliterated & seldom read inscription on the church floor. For if the good that a man does is not always interred with his bones, yet, alas ! it often happens that he himself is not at all remembered in connection with it— so, at least, was the case at Ufton. A certain Lady Marvyn, who lived three hundred years ago, left an endowmentfor a charitable bequest to be distributedyearly viii Preface. among the poor people of the parish, whzch ts still duly received every Mid-Lent on a Friday afternoon ; Cf yet when inquiry was made concerning her, no one in the place kneiuivho she was, or cared anything whatever about her. It was because it seemed to the iVT-iter wrong that such things should be, that this book ivas begun. Like all other such tasks, the field of inquiry grew wider, (sf the interest o-reater as the zuork went on ; & as deeds, grants, zvills & other old parchment records each told its bit of the story, there came to light something, if not all., of what one ivould like to know about those ivho lived in former days at Ufton, & also, in addition, a great deal more of the history of the place as connected ivith our luider national interests, than could ever have been expected to exist. It may be objected that after all the history of one small parish of not much more than tzvo thousand acres cannot be of very general interest, & that the lives & fortunes of one family of English squires, in no way distinguished above their neighbours by talent, wealth or influence, can be scarcely ivortk chronicling. Yet surely the very fact that this is a tale so like many others ivhich could be ivritten, but are not, gives it a representative character. As the family at Ufton Court lived, so did, for the most part, our ancestors throughout the country. As the Ufton lands passed from the possession of the Saxon Thane to that of t fie Norman Baron, then to the ivealthy Abbey in the neighbourhood, & finally to the English country gentle- man, so it happened in other places also. Thus the story of one small parish is a key to that of the County. It IS to be hoped that this much more extended task Preface. ix viay before long be efficiently itndertaken, foj' a new & thorough Cou7ity history of Berkshire is very much needed. So many more sources of original information are now at the dis- posal of the student than in the days ivhen Lysons compiled his ''Magna Britannica" that it is not sjirprising if many of the statements made in his short notices of the various parishes have been proved inaccurate. The first task of a county historian ivill be to refute & correct many errors & misstatements which have been, till now repeated & reprinted through a whole library of local histories. With regard to the following pages, a word of explanation seems needed on one point : that of the spelling of proper names & places. Anyone at all familiar with ancient records IS aware how various is the orthography ; even on the same page the name of the same place or person is sometimes to be found in different passages, differently spelt ; how, then, is one to know which spelling to adopt ? In actually quoting the words of a contemporary I'ecord, I have tried to adhere to the spelling therein given ; and if, in the text of this history also, the orthography is sometimes varied, I must crave the indulgence of the reader. In collecting information for this book, I have been much indebted to the kindness of Mr. Maxivell Lyte, the Deputy- Keeper of the Record Office, also to the zeal & good nattire of many other friends who have not grudged time or trouble in supplying to me various odds & ends of facts which have all contributed to fill in the outline of the story. Chiefly I must b X Preface. thank Mr. Ma7tsfield Parkyns, not only for the materials which he has so liberally contrihded out of his abundant store ofgenea- logical & antiquarian knowledge, but also for his help in interpreting these materials, without which, I may fairly say, thefollowiiig history could 7iot have been tvritten at all. I have also to thank Miss Alice Fowler for two of the principal illustrations, & Mr. C. Buckler for so kindly allowzng me to reproduce many of his father s early drawings of Ufton Court. To Mr. Henry Hill I am indebtedfor the architectural ground-plans of the house. A. Mary Sharp. Ufton Court, 1892. —— The Contents of this Book. PAGE Preface vii CHAPTER I. Of Domesday Book.—Measurement of land—Villeins— Bordars^Serfs —Free sub-tenants—Knight's fee —Socage— No right of alienation —Complaint in Saxon chronicle—The two paragraphs — Ghilo's estate—Estate of William FitzAnsculf—The two parishes—^Ufton Richard or Nervet—Ufton Robert—Pole Manor - - - i CHAPTER n. Of Uflon Richard or Nervet. — The family of Pinchegni — Richard Neyrvut—Grants to Reading Abbey—John Neyrvut sells the manor to the abbey — Contested possession — Henry de Pinkney sur- renders his lordship to Edward I. —Tythe granted to Edward I. - 7 Of Reading Abbey. —Founded by Henry I. —Rights and privileges Suppression of monastery — Abbot Hugh executed — Building granted to Sir Francis KnoUys—The Book of Charters—The manor of Ufton Richard granted to Sir John Williams—Created Lord Williams of Thame—Daughter married Sir Henry Norreys - - 10 Of the Norreys Fainily. —Sir Henry Norreys executed by Henry VHI. Mortgage of Berks estates—Sir John Norreys—Monument in West- minster Abbey — Sir Edward Norreys buried at Englefield Disputed succession—Frances Norreys—Created Earl of Berkshire —Death—Descendants—Earl of Abingdon—Sale of Manor of Ufton Nervet to Francis Perkins in 1709 - - - - 16 CHAPTER HI. Of Ufton Robert. —Tenants in capite—William FitzAnsculf—Fulke Paganel — Ralph — Gervase—Marriage of heiress to John de Somery—John de Sutton—Estate seized by Hugh Despencer Bradfield Manor sold to Nicholas de la Beche—Langford family —Ufton Robert transferred to Tidmarsh Manor—Thomas Engle- b 2 — —A xii Contents. field—Sir Francis Englefield—Estate forfeited—Transaction of the gold ring—Death—Sir Peter Vanlore—Monument in Tilehurst Church—Extinction of feudal claims - - - - 23 Of the Sub-tenants of Ufton Robert. — Ralf de Offinton —Grant to Reading Abbey—William de Offinton — Robert de Offinton —William de Uffinton —Patron of the living—License to hear Divine service in his own house - - - - - - - 27 Of the Pagnels of Ufton Robert. —Richard Pagnel—Pagnel's Manor in Borwardescote—License to enclose a park—Thomas Pagnel Agreement with the Abbot of Reading—Lawsuit concerning John Pagnel—Dame Constance Pagnel - - - - - 3° CHAPTER IV. Of the Family of Parkyns.-—Peter Morley, alias Perkins, servus to Lord Despencer—Spelling of the name—Mention of Parkyns in the manor rolls of Madresfield—Despencer estates—Hugh Despencer John Parkyns, (139S) —Thomas Despencer, Earl of Gloucester William Parkyns, (141 1) —Patron of Ufton Robert Ballious to Humfry Plantagenet, Duke of Gloucester—Accounts of Corpora- tion of Reading—Agreement between John and Elizabeth Collee and William and Margaret Parkyns —Ecclesiastical union of the two parishes—Thomas Parkyns, (1451)—Agreement between Earl of Warwick and John Montague and Thomas Parkyns with Bernard Brocas—Inq. P. M. of Thomas Parkyns—Ancestor of Nottingham- shire family—Visitation of county of Worcester—Thomas Parkyns of Mattisfield—John Parkyns, (1478)—Margaret Collee —Thomas Parkyns, (15 18) —His various estates—Peter Cowdray— Sir George Foster—Richard Parkyns, (1524) —Assault of Sir Humfrey Forster Richard Parkyns' will —His settlement of Ufton Robert on Francis Parkyns—The sepulchre—His monument—The coats of arms— display of pedigree—Fate of the monument—William Parkyns' will —Margaret, Countess of Salisbury—Cardinal Pole — Death of William Parkyns—Fever in 1558 - - - - 35 CHAPTER V. Of Pole Manor.—Elizabeth, Lady Marvyn —Sir John Marvyn's will — Pole Manor a sub-division of Ufton Robert—Sir Thomas Ipre, (1396) Lord Lovel, (1408) — Francis, Lord Lovel, (1483) — Created viscount —Conspiracies— Battle of Stoke— Discovery of skeleton at Minster Lovel—Pole Manor granted to Richard Weston—Sold to Lady Marvyn, (1568) —Complicated tenure—Locality of Pole Manor Will of Lady Marvyn - - .