A HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE 



FARINGDON 



Faredone, Ferendon (xii cent.) ; Farndon (xiv 

 cent.). 



Faringdon parish covers about 2,358 acres which 

 lie north of Newton Valence and north-west of Sel- 

 borne. The village, divided into Upper and Lower 

 Street, lies in the south of the parish near Newton 

 Valence. From Selborne the Upper Street can be 

 reached by Hall Lane. This narrow lane as it enters 

 the parish rises steadily until below Plash Lane, a 

 branch to the right, it slopes downhill and branches 

 rather suddenly to the right into the village. A 

 house lying back on the right is Deanyers, the resi- 

 dence of Mr. E. B. Kennedy, and along the road on 

 the opposite side is Hall Farm. On the right and left 

 again are picturesque cottages, those on the left lying 

 back behind gay cottage gardens, those on the right 

 fronting on the village street. Just before it reaches 

 the village school the road bends sharply to the left 

 and sends off a branch to the right which leads cir- 

 cuitously to the church, behind which is Manor 

 Farm, and round by quaint thatched cottages and 

 farm buildings along a shady lane past the rectory, 

 uphill to meet the main road of the village again 

 about a quarter of a mile from where it started. At 

 the corner where the roads meet is West Cross 

 House, an uninteresting-looking building with a slate 

 roof, which tradition says was the manor house of the 

 Pophams, and from which a bridle-way is said to have 

 led to Popham. From here the road continues for 

 about half a mile until it intersects the highway from 

 Alton to Gosport. At the corner is the blacksmith's 

 shop, and scattered along the high road on the right- 

 hand side are the houses of the Lower Street. Street 

 House Farm, Annett's Farm, and Ivy Farm lie along 

 the high road towards Newton Valence. 



To the north-west of the village is a group of 

 well-wooded copses which make the county round 

 this westerly part of Faringdon more beautiful 

 though less fertile than that in the eastern part of the 

 parish, where cornfield after cornfield and an oc- 

 casional hopfield form the main features of the 

 scenery. Of the whole parish 990! acres are arable 

 land, 823! are pasture, and 257 woodland and plan- 

 tation. 1 The soil is clay with a subsoil of chalk and 

 gravel. With the exception of a few small ponds in 

 the north-east and a pond near the rectory there is no 

 water in the whole parish. 



The manor of FARINGDON or 

 MANOR FARINGDON EPISCOPI was held of 

 King Edward the Confessor by Godwin 

 the priest.' It was then assessed at I o hides and was 

 worth 15. In 1086 Osbern bishop of Exeter held 

 the manor of the king as part of the honour pertain- 

 ing to the church of Bosham in Sussex, and it was 

 then assessed at 5 hides, and was worth 2 1 .* 



The church of Bosham itself belonged to the 



bishops of Exeter, who were visitors and patrons of the 

 college of secular canons founded there by William 

 Warelwast, Osbern's successor in the bishopric. 4 

 Henry III in 1243 confirmed the manor of Faringdon 

 with all tithes, fees, services, liberties, and free cus- 

 toms thereto belonging to the bishop of Exeter and 

 his heirs. 4 Thirty-two years afterwards in a hundred- 

 roll return the manor was said to have been of ancient 

 demesne, and to have been alienated by Henry II * to 

 the bishop of Exeter, who by virtue of the same 

 charter withdrew his suit for Faringdon from the hun- 

 dred court of Selborne, and claimed view of frank- 

 pledge and assize of bread and ale in his manor. 7 In 

 1291 the manor of Faringdon was returned among the 

 lands^of the bishop of Exeter, and was then valued at 

 io. a In 1546 the bishop made an exchange with 

 the king of the manor of Faringdon for the manors 

 of Pinhoe and Dramford in Devonshire, 9 and in the 

 same year Henry VIII granted the same to Thomas 

 Wriothesley. 10 The latter was created earl of South- 

 ampton in 1546," and held the manor until his 

 death m 1550, when it passed to his son Henry 

 Wriothesley, earl of Southampton, who died seised 

 of the same in 1582." In 1596 his widow Mary 

 and his son and heir Henry, earl of Southampton, 

 conveyed the manor by fine and recovery to Robert 

 Cage, 13 who died seised of it in 1624, leaving a son 

 and heir William," who was holding as late as 1663." 

 William Cage died in 1677 and was succeeded by 

 his grandson William who died before 1689. His 

 son William was married in the same year, and 

 made his will in 1735. Lewis Cage, grandson of 

 the last William, sold the manor, without advowson, 

 in April, 1758, to Thomas Knight of Chawton, 1 ' 

 from whom it has passed 

 by inheritance to Montagu 

 G. Knight of Chawton, the 

 present lord of the manor 



095)- 



A survey of the manor taken 

 * n '595 gi^s its extent as 

 ' the site of the manor with 

 a pidgeon house, three barnes 

 for corne, twoe barnes for hey 

 and one gatehouse three sta- 

 bles a carthouse one orchard 

 one back side and one garden 

 all which conteine iiii acres.' 

 The demesne lands were said 

 to contain 367 acres of land, 

 23 of wood and 85 ' of cops 

 and wood.' The ' farmer ' 

 of the manor had ' common 



KNIGHT OF CHAWTON. 

 Pert a bend indented or 

 ivith a cinquefoil argent 

 in the foot and a canton 

 gulet (for KNIGHT) ; 

 quartered with Or a 

 che-veron gules between 

 three lions' pa-ws raxed 

 table (for AUSTEN). 



for hogges ' only in Faringdon Wood and the other 

 tenants common for both 'hogges and sheepe.' 

 Hewes Hill, a common wherein all the tenants 



1 Statistics from the Board of Agricul- 

 ture (1905). 



2 On thi Godwin see Mr. Round's 

 notes in Suss. Arch. Coll. xliv, 142-3. 



8 y.C.H. Hants, i, 4.69*. 



* The prebendaries were founded in the 

 choir of the parish church, which was 

 exempt from the ordinary jurisdiction of 

 the bishop of Chichester and his archdea- 

 con. Dugdale, Man. vi, 1469. 



I Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57, 276. 



6 This is hardly possible in the light of 

 the Domesday statement. 



7 Rot. Hund. (Rec. Com.), ii, 224. 



8 Pofe Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 214*. 



9 Pat. 27 Hen. VIII, pt. 2. Deeds 

 of Purchase and Exchange, Box E, No. 

 33- 



10 Pat. 37 Hen. VIII, pt. I. 



II See Diet. Nat. Biog. 



20 



M Inq. p.m. 24 Eliz. pt. i (Ser. 2), vol. 

 196, No. 46. 



" Feet of F. Hants, East. 38 Eliz. m. 

 15- 



" W. and L. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), bdle. 41, 

 No. 46. 



15 Lay Subs. R. Hants, 1 5 Chas. I, bdle 

 247, No. 26. 



16 Information from Mr. Montagu G. 

 Knight of Chawton. 



