A HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE 





mouldings, and it is evident from the claw-tooling of 

 the inner order that it has been added in the thirteenth 

 century to an arch of a single order like those to the 

 east, but worked at the date of the addition with a 

 moulding corresponding with the new order. The 

 west bay is imitated from this, and with the west 

 respond is modern. The north aisle is lighted on the 

 east by a fourteenth-century window of two trefoiled 

 lights, and has in its north wall three lancets of thir- 

 teenth-century style, of which only the eastern one 

 and the west jamb of the next are ancient. The north 

 door comes between the second and third windows, 

 and has a pointed arch of two chamfered orders and a 

 round-headed rear arch ; it is probably thirteenth- 

 century work, and over it is built a modern wooden 

 porch. The west window of the aisle is modern, of 

 two trefoiled lights. All windows in the south aisle 

 are modern, but the south door is of thirteenth-cen- 

 tury date with two moulded orders and a label with 

 human heads for dripstones, which seem to be second- 

 hand. The west window of the nave is of two 

 trefoiled lights and fourteenth-century date, and over 

 it is a modern round window, cinquefoiled. 



The bell tower has a lower stage of masonry, but 

 above the roof is of timber, hung with weather-tiles 

 in the lower part, and finished with a shingled spire. 

 Externally the church is entirely plastered, except 

 over the brown sandstone quoins, and its roofs are 

 red-tiled. 



The chancel has an old timber roof with arched 

 braces, and the nave roof is in the main old, with 

 new tie beams. The north aisle also has an old 

 roof ; probably all are of the fifteenth century, but in 

 the aisle the plates, ties, and king posts are new. 



There are no old wood fittings in the church, the 

 altar rails of seventeenth -century date having been lost 

 in 1875; the north door, however, is of the fifteenth 

 century, with applied tracery on its outer face. 



The font at the west of the nave has a tapering 

 round bowl, becoming hexagonal, with six projecting 

 trefoiled arches on its sides, the capitals of which are 

 shown in profile only. It stands on six modern 

 dwarf columns and a central shaft, and is of early 

 fourteenth-century date. 



There are five bells, all of 1 745, by Robert Catlin. 

 The plate consists of a Communion cup and cover 

 paten of 1 568 ; a chalice, flagon, and paten of 1 876 ; 

 a seventeenth-century pewter dish, inscribed ' the 

 church bason of the parish of Steep,' and three 

 pewter plates and a flagon ; also a plated paten. 



The first book of the registers, copied in 1644 

 from an older book now lost, begins in 1610, the 

 second running from 1633 to 1673. There are no 

 baptisms from 1637 to 1651. The third book goes 

 from 1695 to 1774 (baptisms), 1754 (marriages), and 

 1780 (burials) ; while the fourth contains baptisms 

 1780-1802, and burials to 1812, and the fifth bap- 

 tisms 180312. The sixth and seventh are 

 marriage books, 1754-1812. 'ihere are church- 

 wardens' accounts from 1707 to 1735. 



Steep vicarage was from very early 

 ADVOWSQN times annexed to the vicarage of 

 East Meon. The advowson has con- 

 sequently followed that of East Meon (q.v.). The 



living is at the present day a vicarage, net yearly value 

 170, with residence (erected in 1882), in the gift 

 of the Lord Chancellor. 



In 1678 there was a dispute as to the tithes belong- 

 ing to the rectory of Steep, which Robert Mills and 

 John Restall then held on lease from Dorothy Sessions, 

 who held of the bishop of Winchester. The deposi- 

 tions of many of the inhabitants of the parish of 

 Steep were taken, and the general opinion was that 

 the tithes of wheat, barley, vetches, oats, rye, pease, 

 field-beans, wool, lambs, apples, and pears " belonged 

 to the proprietor or owner of the rectory of Steep, 

 and not to the vicar of the parish church of East 

 Meon, even though the parish church of Steep was a 

 member of the vicarage of East Meon. It was also 

 ascertained that owners and occupiers of land in the 

 tithings of Langrish and Froxfield in the parish of 

 East Meon paid tithes of apples and pears to the pro- 

 prietors, tenants, or farmers of the rectories of Lang- 

 rish and Froxfield, and not to the vicar of the parish 

 church of East Meon, and that this was done in the 

 whole hundred of East Meon, where parsonages were 

 distinct from vicarages. 21 



Three years later occurred a dispute between 

 Richard Downes, the vicar of East Meon and Steep, 

 and John Clements, the lord of the manor of Rother- 

 combe, as to whether the vicar of East Meon and 

 Steep ought to have the tithes of ' all coppice, wood- 

 rise, or tytheable wood ' cut down within the parishes 

 of East Meon and Steep. The parishioners, on oath, 

 with one accord, asserted that the tithes of copse- 

 wood were as due as any other tithes to the vicar of 

 East Meon. It seemed to be the general opinion, 

 however, that the parishioners had the right to com- 

 pound for their tithes of copse-wood, since, although 

 the former vicar had received tithe- wood in kind 

 from several persons of the parish of East Meon, he 

 had usually compounded with his parishioners for the 

 vicarage tithes in which the tithes of copse-wood were 

 included." 



In former times there was a great tithe-barn of two 

 bays immediately adjoining the west end of Steep 

 churchyard, but it was sold (presumably after the 

 Commutation Act), and was included in Mr. Went- 

 worth's sale of Ashford in 1842. The field adjoin- 

 ing the tithe-barn is known as Parson's field, but 

 there seems to be no trace of the date at which it was 

 alienated. A little house to the east of the church- 

 yard is marked on some old maps as ' the old vicarage.' 

 If so, it was alienated 150 years ago and made into 

 cottages, an.i has recently been reconverted into one 

 house. It was probably occupied by the parish 

 priest, the vicar being vicar of East Meon. The 

 present vicarage was built twenty-seven years ago 

 on land bought for that purpose at a cost of about 

 2,300." 



The Primitive Methodists have two chapels in 

 Steep. 



In 1843 the bishop of Winchester, 

 CHARITIES as lord of the manor, by statutory 

 grant (duly enrolled) granted to the 

 minister, churchwardens, and overseers of the chapelry 

 of Steep, 10 roods, part of the common, as a site for a 

 national school. On the inclosure in 1866 3 acres of 



u It is interesting to note that at this his back to receive and take all tithes of Ibid. Hil. 33 and 34 Chas. II, No. 



time 'the parsons' and proprietors' servant apples and pears.' II. 



went sometimes with a horse and a sack, a Exch. Dep. Mich. 30 Chas. II, 24 Ex inform, the Rev. H. Peto Belts, 



and sometimes with a sack or wallet at No. 8. M.A., vicar of Steep. 



80 



