A HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE 



bishop of Winchester for the manor of Twyford and 

 other lands were the rectory and parsonage of Michel- 

 dever. 88 They were already leased to Jane countess 

 of Southampton, and widow of Wriothesley, and in 

 1585 a fresh lease was made out in favour of Henry, 

 earl of Southampton, Wriothesley's grandson." His 

 father's executors bought the reversion of the lease in 

 l599, M since which date both the rectory and the 

 advowson of the vicarage have remained the property 

 of the successive lords of Micheldever manor. 



There was formerly a chantry chapel at West 

 Stratton, founded in honour of St. John the Baptist." 

 In the bishop's ordination of Micheldever vicarage in 

 1308, it was arranged that the vicar should cause 

 West Stratton chapel to be served by a chaplain, 92 but 

 in 1325 the advowson of the chapel belonged to 

 Richard de Stratton, who conveyed it to Stephen de 

 Stratton with the manor of West Stratton. 93 Some 

 years later, during the rule of Bishop Stratford 

 (1323-33), William Wayte, then lord of the manor, 

 presented to the chantry chapel of West Stratton," 

 and it was still in his gift between 1333 and 1345." 

 A few years later the bishop collated, 96 and in 1367 a 

 commission was issued for an inquiry concerning the 

 vacancy of the perpetual chantry of West Stratton in 

 Micheldever parish, and the right of patronage to it. 97 

 Thomas Wayte presented to the chapel or chantry 

 in 1402, and again in 1403. M There is now no 

 trace of a chapel at West Stratton. 



At Northbrook a Primitive Methodist chapel was 

 built in 1867, near the cross road leading to Weston 

 Farm. Another Methodist chapel lies due west of 

 the station. 



In 1 642 John Pink by will directed 

 CHARITIES his executors to provide for the pay- 

 ment of 4. a year for the poor. The 

 trust fund is now represented by 97 o/. \d. consols, 



with the official trustees, the dividends upon which, 

 amounting to 2 5*. 4</., are, together with I ;/. a 

 year received from the next-mentioned charity, applied 

 in the distribution of coal. In 1905, 2 tons I2cwt. 

 were given to twenty-eight recipients. 



The donors of the following charities are un- 

 known : An annuity of 1 5*. formerly paid by the 

 owner of a small farm, called Garrett's Bargain. In 

 1 894 the rent-charge was redeemed by the transfer to 

 the official trustees of ^30, z lo/. per cent, annui- 

 ties. An annual payment of 5*. formerly received in 

 respect of a charge on land in Upton Grey does not 

 appear to have been recently claimed. 



In 1823 Dame Susannah Boothby, by a codicil to 

 her will, proved in the P.C.C., bequeathed certain 

 moneys for the poor of this parish, and of Ashbourne, 

 Derbyshire. In the result of proceedings in Chancery 

 the sum of 464 \s. f)d. consols was assigned to this 

 parish. By a scheme made in 1871 under the En- 

 dowed Schools Acts, a sum of .268 \s. I \d. consols 

 was sold out to provide 250, which was expended 

 in the erection of school buildings. The dividends 

 upon the balance of the stock, which, with accumula- 

 tions, now amounts to ^365 I/. 6J. consols with the 

 official trustees, are applicable under the scheme in 

 procuring further education for some descrying boy or 

 girl in the schools by payment of tuition fees, ex- 

 hibitions, prizes or rewards. 



Southbrook House for aged and infirm persons. 

 The Charles Pain Memorial Fund. Miss Mary 

 Elizabeth Pain, by deed dated 29 September, 1906, 

 gave 300 India 3 per-cent. stock (with the official 

 trustees), dividends to be applied in sums of 2s. 6J. 

 cash, and 2/. 6J in coals on I January yearly to each 

 of the twelve inmates of this almshouse ; failing the 

 number of twelve almspersons, poor aged persons of 

 the parish to be selected. 



NORTHINGTON 



Northametone (x cent.) ; Norhampton and Nut- 

 hampton (xiii cent.); Nonehampton and Northampton 

 (xiv cent.); Northington and Norrington (xviii cent.). 



The parish of Northington, which was incorpora- 

 ted for ecclesiastical purposes with the neighbouring 

 parish of Swarraton in 1849, ^ as an area ^ 2 >4'4 

 acres, which are still distinct from Swarraton for civil 

 purposes. Yet locally, the two villages, separated 

 only by the narrow Candover stream, which forms 

 the eastern boundary line of Northington parish, seem 

 to be one ; Northington, with its commanding modern 

 church, its school and scattered cottages, lying on the 

 hill-side sloping down to the river from the west, 

 meeting the cottages and houses of Swarraton, among 

 which is the vicarage for both parishes, as they lie 

 along the opposite bank of the river on a lesser slope. 

 The high down called Northington Down, on the 

 slope of which Northington village lies, is now for 

 the most part inclosed in Lord Ashburton's estate, 

 Grange Park, which includes about 530 acres, covering 

 nearly the whole of the south-east portion of the 



parish, and extending into Swarraton. Cobbett, in 

 his Rural Rides, speaks of the inclosure and subsequent 

 planting with trees of a 'pretty little down called 

 Northington Down,' by Mr. Alexander Baring 

 (created Lord Ashburton in 1835), as a sort of out- 

 work to his park. ' But Mr. Baring,' he continues, 

 ' not reflecting that woods are not like funds, to be 

 made at a heat, has planted his trees too large, so that 

 they are covered with moss, are dying at the top, and 

 are literally growing downward instead of upward 

 ... so that the down ... is now a marred, ragged, 

 ugly-looking thing.' Cobbett may have been right 

 in his day, but the sight of the finely-wooded down 

 as the steep road descends into Northington Tillage 

 justifies Lord Ashburton rather than Cobbett. The 

 Grange, the house of the estate, lies almost in the 

 centre of the park, close to the river, which here 

 broadens out into a long narrow lake. The old 

 mansion, the nucleus of the present house, was a 

 seventeenth-century square brick building, the work 

 of Inigo Jones, without any external ornament, but 



88 Pat. 5 Edw. VI, pt. 6. 



89 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xiic (l), go (42) ; 

 Partic. for Leases, temp, Eliz. 1585, No. 

 5, Hants. 



90 Cal. ofS.P. Dam. 1598-1601, p. 271. 



91 Egerton MS. 2032, fol. 83. 

 M Harl. MS. 1761, No. 117. 

 98 Feet of F. Hants, 18 Edw. II, No. 

 o. 

 M Egerton MS. 2032, fol. 83. 



394 



95 Ibid. fol. 149. 



96 Ibid. 2033, fol. 38*. 



W Wykebam't Reg. (Hants Rec. Soc.), 

 ii, 8. 



98 Ibid, i, 237, 242. 



