PORTSDOWN HUNDRED 



BEDHAMPTON 



steward of the household, in consideration of his 

 agreement to stay always with the king. 17 However, 

 the attainder of the earl of Kent was reversed in 

 favour of his son Edmund in 1330." In 1346 

 Margaret countess of Kent, widow of Edmund of 

 Woodstock, held one-and-a-half fees in Bedhampton 

 by right of wardship, since her son Edmund had died 

 in 1333 and his brother and heir John was a minor." 



In 1352 John died without issue seised of Bed- 

 hampton manor, which therefore passed to his sister 

 Joan, the Fair Maid of Kent, wife of Thomas lord 

 Holland, who became earl of Kent in right of his 

 wife." The manor remained with the Hollands as 

 earls of Kent until the extinction of the male line of 

 that house, when it descended through Margaret, 

 one of the co-heirs of the last earl, to her son John 

 Beaufort first duke of Somerset," whose daughter 

 Margaret became the countess of Richmond and 

 mother of Henry VII ; and it was hence merged in 

 the crown on her death in 1509." 



Henry VIII leased the manor in 1522 to Stephen 

 Copes for a term of 21 years.* 3 Before this term 

 had expired the king again granted it in 1537 to 

 William Fitz William earl of Southampton," on 

 whose death without issue in 1542 the estate again 

 reverted to the crown." 



Edward VI on his accession granted the manor to 

 Richard Cotton ' in consideration of long and faithful 

 service ' ; and it remained 

 with the Cotton family for a 

 considerable period." On the 

 death of Richard Cotton in 

 1556" his lands passed to 

 his son George, who died in 

 1609 and was succeeded by 

 his son Richard. 18 Richard 

 conveyed Bedhampton manor 

 to the king in 1610 by fine," 

 probably for assurance of title, 

 as it was re-granted to him 

 in the same year, 10 and he 

 died possessed of it in 1635, 

 Richard his grandson, son of his son George, being 

 his heir." 



The manor was still in the hands of the Cottons 

 in 1714, and was sold by them to Adam Cardonnell, 

 who gave it to his daughter Mary on her marriage 

 with the Rt. Hon. William Talbot." 



Mr. Legge, afterwards Lord Stawell, purchased 

 Bedhampton from Lord Talbot in 1778, and was in 

 possession of it in 1 790." Lord Stawell left Bed- 

 hampton to his daughter and heir, Mary Legge, 

 who was married to Lord Sherborne as her second 

 husband. By his will Lord Sherborne left the 

 manor to his third son, Ralph Button, from whom it 

 passed to his grandson, Henry Button, in whose hands 

 it remains at the present day. 34 



The old manor house, pulled down in 1 88 1, was 

 an |_- s h a P e d building of red brick and timber fram- 



COTTON. jizurt a 

 cheveron between thru 

 kankt of cotton argent. 



ing, which for some time before its destruction had 

 fallen into disrepair, and was divided into six tene- 

 ments. It was a picturesque building of two stories, 

 the upper overhanging, and the roof was thatched, 

 but contained nothing of architectural interest, and 

 was probably only a fragment of a more important 

 building. A view of it drawn by Mr. M. Snape in 

 1876 is published in the Proceedings of the Hants 

 field Club, ii, 253. 



At the time of the Bomesday Survey there were 

 two mills in Bedhampton parish, and also two salt 

 pans worth 37^. 8d. a The mills are mentioned as a 

 water-mill and a fulling-mill in I338, 36 and again in 

 1352." In I537, 58 and again in 1547, two mills 

 'built under one roof' 39 are mentioned among the 

 appurtenances of the manor. 



The church of ST*. THOMAS consists 



CHURCH of chancel 28 ft. by 1 8 ft. 6 in. (i 8 ft. at 



the west end), with north vestry, and 



nave 466. by 1 9 ft. 3 in., with north aisle and south 



porch. 



The chancel arch, c. 1140, is the oldest piece of 

 architectural detail remaining, and the south and 

 west walls of the nave may be in part of the same 

 date. The chancel, the south wall of which is in 

 line with that of the nave, seems to have been rebuilt 

 in the thirteenth century, and probably lengthened 

 about 1360-70, the south wall being set outside the 

 line of the former south wall. The line of the north 

 wall, however, has probably not been altered, and 

 the wall may contain older masonry in its western 

 portion. The north arcade and aisle were added to 

 the nave in 1878, and the chancel was repaired and 

 the north vestry added in 1869. The old walls are 

 of flint and freestone rubble with ashlar quoins, and 

 in the upper part of the wall at the south-west of 

 the nave a piece of twelfth-century zigzag ornament 

 is used up. 



The chancel has an east window of three trefoiled 

 lights, with two quatrefoils in the head, c. 1370, and 

 north and south windows of the same date, with 

 square heads, two-light trefoiled tracery, and seg- 

 mental rear-arches. In the south-east angle is a 

 contemporary cinquefoiled piscina, with a stone shelf. 

 The western part of the north wall is taken up by 

 the organ, opposite to which in the south wall is a 

 square-headed window of two shouldered lights, prob- 

 ably of thirteenth-century date, and in the south-west 

 angle a square-headed low side window 1 6 in. 

 wide at the glass line by 3 ft. high, splayed internally 

 with a segmental head, its sill being 2 ft. from the 

 present floor, which is slightly above the old level. 

 In the north vestry a trefoiled fourteenth-century 

 light is re-used. 



The chancel arch is semicircular, of one order and 

 1 1 ft. wide, having a roll and lozenge pattern on the 

 western side, a label with a double line of hatched 

 ornament, and small angle shafts with scalloped capi- 

 tals and moulded bases with spurs. The abacus has a 



"7- 



' Pat. 4 Edw. Ill, pt. i, m. 25. 



* *rV/. A'ar. 5/0. xvi, 412. 



* Feud. Aids, ii, 335. 



' Inq. p.m. 26 Edw. Ill, No. 54. 



i Ibid. 22 Hen. VI, No. 19. 



' Ibid. 2 Hen. VIII (Ser. 2), No. 



' Pat. 14 Hen. VIII, pt. 2, m. 28. 

 1 Ibid. 29 Hen. VIII, pt. i, m. 21. 

 ' Diet. Nat. Biog. xiv, 230-2. 



and 



Pat. I Edw. VI, pt. 4, m. 36. 



27 Esch. Inq. p.m. 3 & 4 Phil. nu 

 Mary, file 997, No. I. 



23 Chan. Inq. p.m. 8 Jas. I, vol. 318, 

 No. 1 68. 



28 Feet of F. Hants, Hil. 8 Jas. I. 



80 Pat. 8 Jas. I, pt. 51, m. 32. 



81 Chan. Inq. p.m. ii Chas. I, vol. 477, 

 No. 158. 



"Add. MS. 33282, fol. 216. Lord 



'43 



and Lady Talbot sold the park of Bed- 

 hampton to a Mr. Moody in 1774, 

 (ibid.) 



88 Ibid. fol. 217. 



84 Information supplied by Mr. Duttoa. 



" Y.C.H. Hand, 1,471. 



84 Inq. p.m. 4 Edw. Ill, No. 38. 



W Ibid. 26 Edw. Ill, No. 54.' 



88 Pat. 29 Hen. VIII, pt. I, m. 21. 



" Inq. p.m. i Edw. VI, pt. 4, m. 36. 



