A HISTORY OF SURREY 



of John and Jane, conveyed two-thirds to Denzil, 

 Lord Holies, 1 " from whom it passed as Peper Harow 

 (q.v.). This portion included the grange itself. 



Chesterton Fox, son of Henry Fox and Mary, was 

 possessed of the other third in i68o, 1M and in 1705 

 it was sold by Mary Horish and Anne Fox, daughters 

 of Chesterton Fox, to Edmund Stillwell of Thursley. 11 * 

 His descendants sold to Viscount Midleton c. 1822. 



The remains of the Grange are now included in 

 Peper Harow Park. They consist of only part of 

 a cottage, the rest having been pulled down in 1775 

 when the present mansion-house at Peper Harow was 

 approaching completion. The fifth Viscount Midle- 

 ton employed Mr. Pugin to build an imitation 1 3th- 

 century farm here. The land of Oxenford is counted 

 now in Witley parish. It was apparently, when in 

 the hands of Waverley, extra-parochial, and is tithe- 

 free. In 1802 and 1803 the inhabitants successfully 

 resisted an inclusion for rateable purposes in Witley. 1 " 



MOUSEH1LL (Mushulle, xiv cent. ; Moussulle, 

 xv cent.) is a hamlet of Milford. The family of 

 Court were the chief landowners there in the 1 4th 

 century. In 1335-6 Cecily widow of Richard le 

 Court leased land at Mousehill to Thomas atte 

 Dene and Robert son of John le Court. 116 Robert 

 Court is said to have held court baron for the manor 

 of Mousehill early in the reign of Henry V. 117 



Robert Court conveyed all his lands in Witley to 

 his son Thomas Court in 14.26. Thomas is said to 

 have had a daughter Julia who married John Hedger. 

 His granddaughter Marion married Richard Shudd. 119 

 From the Courts the estate became known as Court 

 Thorn in Mousehill. 130 In 1 548 the manor of 

 Court was held by Richard Shudd, 131 son of Richard 

 and Marion, who was succeeded by John Shudd. 

 He conveyed in 1 6 1 1 to his son Richard. In 1614 

 Richard bequeathed Court Thorn in Mousehill to his 

 brother Thomas, together with Court Hall in Mouse- 

 hill, which he had purchased from John Fludder, 1 " 

 subject to the condition that Thomas granted his 

 right in other property to a third brother John. This 

 arrangement was carried out in l6l5, 1S3 John Stillwell 

 (vide infra) being an executor. Thomas Shudd 

 entered upon his bequest in 1614. He died in 

 1 649 134 holding Court Hall and Mousehill, and his 

 son Thomas was in possession of them c. 1618, and 

 died in 1699."* They passed, through the marriage 

 of his sister Joan to John Stillwell of Lower House 

 in Thursley, to the Stillwell family. 136 



The ' manor of Court Thorn or Mousehill ' 

 remained in the possession of John Stillwell's descend- 

 ants till about 1822, when it was purchased by 

 Viscount Midleton." 7 A court baron existed as late 

 as 1701. 



RAKE in Milford is an Elizabethan house near the 



watercourse which runs from Witley to Milford. 

 The owner of the estate had a mill near his house, the 

 whole being described c. 1548 as a tenement and 

 26 acres of land and a fulling-mill." 8 Robert Mellersh, 

 who was then the owner, was succeeded by his widow 

 Joan, after whom their son John held Rake. 139 He 

 was involved in a suit with the tenant of Witley. 

 Thomas Jones, concerning the damage caused to the 

 demesne lands of Witley by the overflow of water 

 from the pond at Rake, and a right of way claimed 

 by Mellersh through the lands of Witley Manor. 140 

 In 1592 he sold a messuage and mill in Witley to 

 Henry Bell. There seems no doubt that this sale 

 referred to Rake, 1 * 1 for Henry Bell was possessed of 

 ' Rake farm ' at his death.'" It passed to his nephew 

 Antony Smith, who settled it upon his great-nephew 

 Antony Smith Meale ; it descended to thelatter's grand- 

 daughter Anne, the wife (1748) of Thomas Woods of 

 Godalming, whose grandson Thomas Woods sold the 

 house and mill in 1836 to Thomas Durrant. He 

 died in 1879 ; the property was sold to the trustees 

 of the Busbridge estate, and the late owner was the 

 Hon. Violet Monckton, but it has been sold again 

 recently to Archdeacon Potter. 1 " 



Rake House, built by Henry Bell in 1602, is one of 

 the best examples of the half-timber manor-house 

 remaining in Surrey. 144 Its timber framework, filled 

 with bricks laid herring-bone fashion, the many 

 original windows, and a large and finely proportioned 

 chimney-stack rising from the ground on the west 

 side are noteworthy features. The plan is important, 

 as typical of the smaller gentleman's house of the 

 beginning of the 1 7th century. It is L shaped, with 

 the staircase carried up in a gabled excrescence built in 

 the inner angle of the |_ (a feature occurring in a 

 house of similar plan at Shottermill). The hall or 

 kitchen occupies roughly the middle of the long stroke 

 of the L, having the great open fireplace at one end and 

 a screen along one side. Two kitchen offices filled the 

 top of the L, and two parlours, separated by a large 

 chimney-block, the short stroke. The annexe con- 

 taining the staircase served also as an entrance porch, 

 and there was a second doorway opposite to it in the 

 rear of the hall. The parlour filling the outer angle 

 of the L is approached by a third outer door, which 

 opens into the lobby formed by the thickness of the 

 chimney between the two parlours ; and in the other 

 parlour is an oak mantelpiece, very delicately carved 

 with arabesque and foliage patterns, caryatides, and 

 arches, bearing the date 1602 and the initials H. B. 



ROAKEot ROKEL4ND was held in 1548 by 

 Walter son of John Roke, 145 who was doubtless a 

 descendant of Richard atte Roke, one of the tenants 

 who protested against the exactions of Mundina Danos 

 in I389. 146 Walter's granddaughters, Alice Clarke 



1M Feet of F. Surr. Trin. 28 Chas. II. 



la8 Recov. R. Trin. 31 Chas. II, rot 

 56. 



144 Close, 4 Anne, pt. ii, no. 9. 



115 Manning and Bray, Hiit. of Surr. 

 47- 



12 Add. Chart. (B.M.), 27741. 



1J ~ Manning and Bray, ii, 46, quoting 

 from the court rolls. 



1113 Add. Chart. (B.M.), 27748. 

 39 From an old pedigree communicated. 



130 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclii, 

 123. 



131 Misc. Bks. (Land. Rev.), vol. 190, 

 fol. 132. 



ua Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclii, 

 213. 



138 Feet of F. Surr. Trin. 1 3 Jas. I. 



184 Witley Ct. R. 5 Apr. 1649. 



*** Deeds communicated by Mr. Woods. 



188 Feet of F. Surr. Trin. 30 Chas. II. 



ls; Bray ley, Hut, of Surr. iv, 312. 

 James Stillwell conveyed them to John 

 Stillwell in 1785 ; Feet of F. Surr. Trin. 

 25 Geo. III. 



188 Misc. Bks. (Exch. L.T.R.), 168, fol. 

 79 et seq. 



"" Misc. Bks. (Land Rev.), vol. 190, 

 fol. 132. 



140 For a full account of the proceedings 



66 



see Mr. Giuseppi, ' Rake in Witley,' Surr, 

 Arch. Coll., xviii, 11-60. 



1" Ibid. 



14a Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), vol. dxxvi, 



54- 



148 Surr. Arch. Coll. xviii, 56, &c. ; 

 and private information. 



144 Surr. Arch. Coll. xviii, 61. 



145 Misc. Bks. (Land Rev.), vol. 190, 

 fol. 129 (Surv. of Witley Manor.) 



148 Coram Rege R. Hil. 1 2 Ric. II, m. 

 17. In 1327 a Thomas of Roke and his 

 wife Joan appeared at Godalming Hundred 

 Court, Joan being executrix of Henry 

 Lanewey ; Add. R. 26892. 



