BUDDLESGATE HUNDRED 



CRAWLEY 



shaped brackets and moulded ends to the beams, 

 dating back to the beginning of the seventeenth cen- 

 tury. 3 The other dozen or so houses of Hunton are 

 all thatched and covered with gay creepers, while the 

 quiet peacefulness of the village, hardly broken by the 

 drowsy hum of the water-mill on the Test, seems to 

 tone with the picturesqueness of the houses and give 

 the complete atmosphere of an old-world village. 

 The red-brick manor-house, rebuilt in the eigh- 

 teenth century on a site north-west of that of the 

 former manor-house, stands to the north of the village 

 on the right-hand side of the road. It is a pretty 

 specimen of the smaller type of country house, with 

 the usual accessories of moulded brickwork, good 

 panelling and chimneypieces,and a staircase with turned 

 balusters, while the garden in its entirety might 

 belong to the eighteenth century, with its grass lawns 

 and paths, cut yew-trees, and thatched mud wall. 

 One of the dove-houses of the manor originally stood 

 in the garden ; the other, which still exists, stands 

 among the farm buildings west of the house, and is 

 apparently of the fifteenth century. It is practically 

 square, measuring 21 ft. by 20 ft. outside, and built 

 of flint with sandstone quoins, the nests being formed 

 of chalk blocks. The original four-centred entrance 

 doorway, now blocked, is in the east wall, and in the 

 west wall, which has been refaced externally, is a 

 second doorway, also blocked, near the north-west 

 angle, leading originally into a building adjoining on 

 the west, but now destroyed. The present entrance 

 is by a hole broken through the south wall. The 

 roof is not ancient, and there are no remains of a 

 revolving ladder or other contrivance for reaching 

 the nests. These dove-houses are noted in the 

 various extents of the manor, together with the water 

 corn-mill on the Test, free fishery in the river, 

 300 acres of heath and gorse, and 20 acres of moor 

 as among the appurtenances. Parts of the moor and 

 downs were the common lands of the manor, and in 

 1733, when the common lands were inclosed, special 

 provision was made ' for the watering of the moor 

 called Hunton Moor three times in every week.' 

 The water for watering the same depended on a 

 weir standing in the parish of Stoke Charity. 4 



The soil of the whole of the parish of Crawley, includ- 

 ing the outlying district of Hunton, is loam with a sub- 

 soil of chalk. On this the chief crops are wheat and 

 oats, with a small crop of barley, but of late years, 

 here as elsewhere, much of the land has been laid 

 down for hay. 



The manor otCRdWLETvizs granted 

 MANORS to Frithstan bishop of Winchester by 

 King Edward in 909 as ' 20 mansae in 

 Crawanlea.' 5 The boundaries as given in the charter 

 are almost impossible to identify. They seem to start 

 from some point in the south-east, to go northwards, 

 probably along the Roman road (obnne norS to 

 lunden haerpaoe) to Wonston parish (to pinstanes 

 stapole), then west and south probably along the 



modern Drift road, thence along the border of a 

 forest, possibly Whiteberry Copse, on to the road 

 from Stockbridge to Winchester, along by the shambles 

 (to 8am scamelan), west along the valley and by the 

 wood to Somborne (? SJiinburnam), then north from 

 ' the heathens' burial-places ' (of tSone aefena byrigels) 

 back across hills and valleys to the starting-point. 



At the time of the Domesday Survey the bishop 

 held the manor in demesne. 6 It was then assessed at 

 6J hides, and of the manor a certain Hugh held 

 3 hides, 7 which Alwin Stilla had held of the bishop 

 in parage, 8 and ' could not betake himself anywhere.' 

 The bishop's demesne was worth 30, and what 

 Hugh held was worth j, while in 1291 the value 

 of the manor was given at 3 I. 9 



In the year 1274 the bishop complained against 

 the sheriff of Hampshire that, in lieu of the 500 marks 

 owed by the bishop to the crown from a group of his 

 manors of which Crawley was one, the sheriff had 

 seized cattle from the various manors and had driven 

 them to Winchester Castle, detaining them there for 

 two or three nights. At Crawley he had seized five 

 horses, twenty oxen, six cows, seventeen bullocks, and 

 350 sheep, and had detained them for two nights. 

 As a result of this complaint the sheriff was ordered 

 by writ to release the cattle on condition that the 

 bishop gave sufficient security for the payment of the 

 500 marks. 10 



The manor remained the property of the bishopric 

 until 1648, when it was included in the sale of the 

 episcopal possessions, being sold to John Pigeon." 

 It was restored to the bishop at the accession of 

 Charles II, and continued to be held by the bishops 

 of Winchester until 1 869, when the lands belonging 

 to the see were taken over by the Ecclesiastical Com- 

 missioners. 



The manor of HUNTON (Hundatone, x cent.) 

 was granted as eight mansae to Frithstan bishop of 

 Winchester in 909." The boundaries of the land 

 are given as starting from the river (fram tSaere ea) 

 close by Wonston (foran gean Sacs abbodes byrig), 13 

 then going north along the green way to Cranborne 

 (lang tSaes grenan weges to Crammaere). 14 The 

 landmarks of the northern boundaries are difficult to 

 identify, but they evidently reached to the wood in 

 the north and then swept down again towards Stoke 

 Charity (Sonne be slade to oaere byrig), then to a 

 ford over the Test, 15 and along by the river back 

 again to Wonston. 



The next reference we have to the manor is that 

 Margaret widow of John son of Matthew held it in 

 dower in 12867 f l ^ e inheritance of Matthew son 

 of John, to whom the reversion belonged. However, 

 in that year Matthew, with the consent of Margaret, 

 conveyed the reversion to the king and Queen Eleanor, 16 

 and in the same year received it back for life, with 

 reversion on his death to the king and queen. 17 

 Many other manors and lands in Devonshire and 

 Wiltshire and the manor of Warblington in Hamp- 



8 The date 1628 has been found on 

 gome woodwork here. 



4 Inclosure Award, 6 Gco. II. 



5 Birch, Cart, Sax, ii, 304. 

 y.C.H, Hants, i, 460. 



7 It seems just possible that these 3 

 hides may be Hunton (q.v.). 



8 Namely as senior thegn or king's man 

 of the manor ; cf. Pollock and Maitland, 

 Hist, of Engl, LaiVy ii, 264. 



' Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 215*. 



10 Coram Rege R. Mich. 2-4 Edw. I, 

 No. 14, m. I in dor so. 



11 Coll. Top. a Gen. i, 127. 

 la Birch, Carl. Sax. ii, 304. 



1J This must be Wonston, which be- 

 longed to the prior and convent of 

 St. Swithun. 



14 ' maere ' might quite well be inter- 

 changeable for ' bourne." 



409 



15 This was evidently over the part of the 

 Test near Stoke Charity, which i swampy 

 marsh-land at the present day covered with 

 osiers. 



16 Feet of F. Div. Cos. 1 5 Edw. I, 

 No. 51. 



17 Ca/.of Close, 1307-13^. 233. Both 

 fines were enrolled in 1309, the year of 

 Matthew's death. 



52 



