A HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE 



John de Rotherfield entered into possession, 58 but as 

 there is no inquisition on his death there is nothing to 

 show how long he held the manor. William ' Ryther- 

 field,' presumably his son, died in possession of 

 Rotherfield in 1489, and on the inquisition then taken 

 it was said to be held of Edward Lord de Duddeley, as of 

 his manor of Alton Westbrook, 59 not, as before, in 

 chief. William's heir Elizabeth married Richard 

 Norton of East Tisted in 1495, and from that time 

 the manor was vested in the same descent as that of 

 East Tisted (q.v.). Thus in 1564 Anne Norton 

 pleaded that her husband John Norton had left her 

 the manor of Rotherfield as part of her dower. Within 

 the manor was ' a great wood M adjoining the park pale 

 of Rotherfield on the west side of the park containing 

 threescore and seven acres or thereabouts . . . which 

 hath been used time out of mind of man at the age 

 of sixteen years growth to be lopped and sold.' Anne 

 had therefore sent workmen to lop the trees, but her 

 son Richard had hindered them and brought them 

 before the King's Bench.' 61 



The church of ST. J4MES has a 

 CHURCH chancel with north and south chapels, a 

 nave with aisles, and a west tower, and 

 was entirely rebuilt in 1846, with the exception of 

 the lower part of the tower. The chancel arch of two 

 chamfered orders appears to be old work re-used, and 

 the south doorway of the tower is in part of the first 

 half of the fourteenth century. The chief interest of 

 the church at the present day centres in the monu- 

 ments of the Norton family. 



At the east end of the south aisle is the canopied 

 altar-tomb of Richard, ob. 1 5 56, and Elizabeth Norton, 

 erected before the death of either, about 1530. The 

 canopy is formed by a four-centred arch with a 

 panelled soffit, under a cornice on which are three 

 shields bearing respectively (i) the Norton coat, (2) 

 the same impaling Rotherfield, and (3) Rotherfield. 

 In the spandrels of the arch are shields with RN and 

 EN. On the upright back of the tomb beneath the 

 canopy are brasses representing the Resurrection of 

 Christ, with Richard Norton and eight sons kneeling 

 on the right hand, and Elizabeth and ten daughters 

 on the left. Over both groups are scrolls, one illegi- 

 ble, the other, on the left, having JHU XPE FILI DEI 

 MISERERE MEI. The base of the tomb is panelled and 

 bears three shields with the same coats as those on the 

 cornice, but set in early Renaissance ornament. An 

 inscription in black letter is painted on the cornice 

 and base of the tomb, as follows : 



Richardus Norton armiger et Elizabeth uxor ejiu filia et heres 

 Willl Retherfield ac cosanguinea ct una hcrcdu Will! dawty . . . 

 de f . . . ele qui quidem Ricus obiit ... die ... Anno dni 

 M CCCCC . . . et dicta Elizabeth obiit ... die ... Anno 

 dni M CCCCC . . . Qiu alaj Ppicief de' Amen. 



Above the tomb is a panel with the Norton coat 

 under a round arch with Renaissance detail, rather 

 later in style than that on the tomb itself. 



In front of the tomb lies an early fourteenth-century 

 coffin lid, having a cross with a sunk quatrefoiled head 

 in which is the bust of a woman holding a heart in 

 her hands, and at the foot is a trefoiled arch beneath 

 which appear the feet of the figure resting on a dog. 



Against the north wall of the north aisle is a tall 

 monument of the second half of the sixteenth century 



to John Norton, who died before 1564, and his 

 wife Anne (Puttenham), with a pediment carried by 

 two Ionic columns, resting on a panelled base. Be- 

 neath the pediment are two small figures of an armed 

 man and a lady kneeling on either side of a prayer 

 desk, with a strapwork panel behind them. On the 

 base of the tomb are three shields in wreaths and 

 strapwork borders, the first bearing the Norton coat, 

 impaling Puttenham. The second has Norton impal- 

 ing Rotherfield, and the third the Norton coat. The 

 third shield also occurs in the pediment, with helm 

 and mantling and the crest of a Saracen's head, and 

 again above the pediment, held by a small figure. 



At the east end of the north aisle is the recumbent 

 armed effigy, in white marble, of Sir John Norton, 

 1686, resting on a white marble base with a large 

 gadrooned cornice and a long inscription. Behind 

 the effigy is a black marble frame, and above it a 

 cornice on which is a shield with crest and supporters, 

 bearing the Norton arms impaling March. 



Two small brass plates are fixed in the north wall 

 of the tower in memory of two vicars, Richard 

 Burdon, 1615, and Thomas Ernes, 1663, the date on 

 the latter being given in a chronogram : 



DeCeMbrls 29' soLe non orto pie eXpIrabat. 



In the tower is a panel with the Royal Arms, dated 

 1 706. The woodwork in the church is modern, but 

 in the vestry is a seventeenth-century communion 

 table. On the pulpit are figures of the evangelists, 

 the work of a local carver and of modern date, but 

 curiously like seventeenth-century work. 



There are three bells, the treble by Ellis Knight, 

 inscribed : ' Let your hope be in the Lord. E. K. 

 1623 ' ; the second, ' Prayse ye the Lorde 1590,' and 

 the tenor, ' Honnor the King, 1635.' 



The plate consists of a silver cup, paten, and alms- 

 dish of 1702, the cup being inscribed D.N, and the 

 paten and alms-dish L N, for Lady Dorothy Norton, 

 widow of Sir John Norton, and Lucie, daughter of 

 Sir Richard Norton ; a chalice, paten, and flagon of 

 1898, and a pewter flagon dated 1702 and inscribed 

 ' Ye parish of East Tisted in ye County of Southamp- 

 ton.' 



The earliest parish register is a parchment book 

 beginning with the baptisms from 1561 to 1623. On 

 the first page dated 1538 is an account of the procla- 

 mation by which the keeping of parish registers was 

 made law. The next section gives the marriages 

 between 1538 and 1594, and then from 1604 to 1654. 

 After this come the baptisms between 1624 and 1679, 

 then the marriages from 1657 to 1678. These are 

 followed by the first entry of burials from 1 670 to 1 679, 

 with one or two marriages in 1678 and 1680. Then 

 the book ends with another entry of burials between 

 1562 and 1669. The second register, a parchment, 

 leather-bound book, gives the baptisms and marriages ; 

 the baptisms from 1680 to 1812, and the marriages 

 from 1688 to 1758. Inside the cover is a notice of 

 inductions to the rectory between 1680 and 1767. 

 The third is a register of briefs and burials between 

 1683 and 1812. The fourth register is a paper book 

 giving the marriages between 1761 and 1811. 



The overseers of the poor accounts start in 1 742. 

 They call up the most graphic picture possible of the 



1 Cloe. 2 Ric. II, m. 17. 



M Inq. p. m. 4 Hen. VII (Ser. 2), iv, 

 No. 26. 



34 



60 This is the modern Winchejter Wood. 



61 Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. 13 2, No. 17. 



