SELBORNE HUNDRED 



HAWKLEY 



HAWKLEY 



Hauckle, Haveskle, Hauekleghe (xiii and xiv 

 cent.) 



The parish of Hawkley, covering an area of about 

 1,447 acres, lies on the slope of high ground stretching 

 north and south between Noar Hill and Westham 

 Hill. The houses of the village are very scattered, 

 but lie for the most part on the west of the parish, 

 near the church and vicarage. The main road 

 through the parish starts at Lower Green, where roads 

 from Newton Valence and Empshott meet, and 

 stretches uphill for about a quarter of a mile. 



About half-way up the hill is a small pond on the 

 left and the postman's hut. At the cross roads at 

 the top of the hill the branch to the right leads by a 

 small pond, some farm buildings and small cottages, to 

 the vicarage on the right and the church on the left. 

 This part of the village, which is called Upper Green, 

 includes the oldest group of cottages. 



The National school, which is now being pulled 

 down, stands at the churchyard gate. 



On a small cottage at Lower Green, which was 

 originally the mill house of Hawkley mill, is a tablet 

 put up by the late J. J. Maberly of Hawkley Hurst, 

 stating that this was the ancient mill of the bishops 

 of Winchester, was taken from them by Adam Gurdon, 

 given back by Edward I 1280," burnt down and re- 

 built in 1774,' and used as a cottage from 1882. In 

 1564 it was purchased by Thomas Stempe, warden of 

 Winchester College,* and belonged to the college from 

 that date. The stream at the back of the house, 

 which is part of the River Rother, originally drove the 

 overshot wheel of the mill. 



Hawkley Hurst, the seat of Mr. Neale Black, stands 

 on ground about 3006. high, looking out over a 

 wide expanse of woodland country. Further south- 

 east, below Lower Barn Copse, are Scotland's Farm 

 and Farewell Farm, and further west, almost south of 

 the village, are Combe Hanger and Cheesecombe 

 Farm. Hawkley Hanger, although locally without 

 the parish on the north-western border line, seems to 

 be generally looked on as part of Hawkley. Gilbert 

 White describes how in 1774 a great part of 'the 

 great woody Hanger at Hawkley was torn from its 

 place and fell down, leaving a high freestone cliff naked 

 and bare, and resembling the steep cliff of a chalk 

 pit.' From this cliff a splendid view of the range 

 of the South Downs and much of the Wealden 

 Valley can be obtained. The part of the Hanger 

 nearest the village is known locally as Furry Hill. 



The chief crops are ordinary cereals, and fields of 

 oats and barley and wheat are only occasionally inter- 

 cepted by hopfields. There are 389^ acres of arable 

 land in the parish, 460^ of pasture land, and 1 24 of 

 woodland. 4 



The manor otHAWKLEY, if it was ever 



MANOR a manor, seems to have no definite history 



until the thirteenth century. Probably it 



was originally part of the manor of Newton Valence, 



and passed with Newton among the lands of Robert 



de Pont de 1'Arche to William de Valence in 1 249.* It 

 was definitely mentioned in the grant made by William 

 de Pont de 1'Arche, brother and heir of Robert, to 

 William de Valence in 1252 as the hamlet of 

 ' Haveksle,' ' and in the royal grant confirmatory of the 

 former made in the same year as the manor of 

 ' Hauekel.' ' In answer to a writ of Quo Warranto, 

 brought against him in 1280, William de Valence 

 pleaded for his tenants of the manor of Hawkley, as 

 for his men of Newton Valence, that by the charter 

 of Henry III they were quit of suit at shire and 

 hundred court, and that no sheriff should enter the 

 manor for view of frankpledge. 8 Aymer de Valence, 

 the heir of William, died seised of ' one messuage and 

 2 carucates of land in Hawkley' in 1324, and these 

 passed as ' certain lands in Hawkley ' to Laurence de 

 Hastings, 10 son and heir of John de Hastings, and 

 grandson of the John de Hastings who had married 

 Isabel, sister and coheiress of Aymer de Valence (see 

 Newton Valence and Oakhanger). During the 

 minority of Laurence the so-called manor was in the 

 king's hands, and in 1331 he granted the custody of 

 ' certain lands and tenements with appurtenances in 

 Hawkley ' to the prior of Selborne and Richard de 

 Bromley during the royal pleasure. 11 Before 1334 the 

 custody had been granted to Hugh de St. John ' in 

 part satisfaction of certain debts which the king owed 

 him,' but in that year it was granted to the bishop of 

 Winchester." Henry de Eston, on his death in 1332," 

 held these lands in Hawkley, extended at one messu- 

 age, a dovecote, and 72 acres of land, with remainder 

 to his heirs. He held them ' of the heir of Aymer 

 de Valence as of the manor of Newton Valence in the 

 king's hands by reason of the minority of Laurence,' 

 and by service of the eighth part of a knight's fee, and 

 by doing suit at the court of the manor from three 

 weeks to three weeks and rendering 25*. 4</. yearly to 

 the manor. The same Henry held in his demesne as 

 of fee 'a virgate of land containing 30 acres of the 

 heir, as of the said manor by the service of icu. yearly 

 for all service.' " 



In 1339, when Laurence de Hastings was of age, 

 he obtained licence to enfeoff Thomas West of his 

 lands in Hawkley ls (see also Oakhanger and Newton 

 Valence). The latter died seised of the same in 

 1379, when Hawkley passed presumably to his heirs, 

 for although there is no mention of it in any of the 

 later inquisitions, it was undoubtedly included with 

 Newton Valence as owing suit to the latter. 



The church of ST. PETER and 

 CHURCH ST. PAUL, standing back from the road 

 at the westernmost part of the village, was 

 entirely rebuilt in 1861 on the site of the old church, 

 which was low-roofed and picturesque like that still 

 existing at Priors Dean close by. It consists of chan- 

 cel with north chapel and south vestry and organ 

 chamber, nave of three bays with aisles, and west 

 tower with gabled walls and a wooden spire. The 

 style is an adaptation of Romanesque, and the church 



1 See Gilbert White, Anrij. of Selborne, 

 Letter x. 



a There is another tablet on the cottage 

 W.R.M. 1774. 



8 Kirby, Annals of Win. Coll. 280. 



4 Statistics from the Board of Agri- 

 culture (1905). 



6 Cat. Chart. R. 1226-57, p. 339. 



6 Ibid. 402. 



" Rot. Chart. (Rec. Com.), 71. Un- 

 fortunately the membrane to which the 

 calendar refers is missing from the charter 

 roll itself, i.e. Chart. R. 36 Hen. Ill, m. i. 



8 Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.), 765. 



23 



9 Inq. p. m. 17 Edw. II, No. 75. 



10 Cal. Close, 1323-7, p. 360. 



11 Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), ii, 51. 



12 Cal. Close. 1333-7, p. 258. 



13 Inq. p. m. 6 Edw. III(ist Nos.),No.58. 



14 Cal. Close, 1330-3, p. 446. 



15 Cal. Pat. 1338-40, p. 395. 



