32 On the History of Chippenham. 
pension to Ivy-church monastery. The name itself seems to indicate 
that it must have been what is called “the Ivy-house, and the 
islands in the Ivy,” close to Chippenham bridge. The origin of 
the name of that property has long been a puzzle, for which this 
pension to Jvy-church may perhaps suggest a satisfactory expla- 
nation. ; 
In the year 1392, the Husees sold Rowdon to Sir John Erleigh, 
of Beckington in Somerset. His only daughter Margaret Erleigh, 
married Sir Walter Sandes, Kt. ; and in the year 1434, Sir Walter 
Sandes and Margaret his wife sold Rowdon to Walter Lord 
Hungerford, who, ten years before, had purchased Sheldon and 
the Manor and Hundred of Chippenham. Some of the Hungerford 
family resided at Rowdon House. In January, 1469, Sir Thomas 
Hungerford, Kt., (a young man, eldest son and heir of the baron 
of the day, and great-grandson of the purchaser,) was beheaded at 
Salisbury for an attempt to restore King Henry VI. He is de- 
scribed in the indictment as “of Rowdon.” During the civil wars 
of Charles I., it was the property of Sir Edward Hungerford, the 
Parliamentary Officer; and after the battle of Roundway Down, 
the Parliament troops occupied it as a garrison. It was immediately 
surrounded by the Royalists. Col. Stephens governor of Beverstone 
Castle (near Tetbury) for the Parliament, came to its relief with a 
body of horse, and forced his way in: but instead of forcing his 
way out again as fast as he could, he being tired with his gallop from 
Tetbury stayed to eat and drink, giving the Royalists outside the 
house time to rally and send for more help. So the Parliamentary 
gentlemen being cooped up were obliged to capitulate. The 
Royalists then dismantled the house, which was at that time a 
large one, with a quadrangle inside, and a moat round it. Sir 
Edward Hungerford the owner died in 1648, and a few years 
afterwards it passed to a relative, the spendthrift Sir Edward. 
The story is that he lost this estate by gambling, and that ata 
bowling match he staked the property, calling out as he threw his 
last chance, “ Here goes Rowdon.” Whether this story is true or 
not, Rowdon certainly went; but the legal way in which it disap- 
peared from his rent-roll was this:—Sir Edward mortgaged it for 
