SPELTHORNE HUNDRED 



LALEHAM 



story, it is certain that the abbey of Westminster 

 when lord of the manor of Laleham held land on 

 the Surrey side of the river, and that in the time 

 of Edward I it held part of the meadow called 

 Mixtenham also, for in a dispute with the abbey 

 ofChertsey in 1278, Westminster agreed to re- 

 lease their right in this meadow in return for 

 4 acres of pasture contiguous with that which 

 they already held * In 1 3 70 they still held some 

 pasture in Mixtenham. 4 Laleham Burway appears 

 in a grant of the manor during the i8th century.' 

 At the beginning of the igth century it is de- 

 scribed as paying no tithes or taxes to either 

 Chertsey or Laleham parish. 7 It belonged to 

 owners of estates within the manor of Laleham, 

 and the pasture was divided into 300 parts called 

 ' farrens,' the tenants of which were entitled some 

 to the feed of a horse, others to the support of a 

 cow and a half. A horse-farren would let for 

 l \"js. 6J. a year, and pasture for one cow for 

 l 5/., and when sold a farren was worth about 

 40." This land was not inclosed under the Act 

 of 1 773 for inclosing the common fields of Lale- 

 ham Manor in Chertsey, 9 and was specially ex- 

 empted from the Act of 1808 for inclosing 

 Laleham and Middlesex. 10 It was finally inclosed 

 under an Act passed in 1813," when the Earl of 

 Lucan, lord of the manor of Laleham, acquired by 

 allotment and purchase about 70 acres. Before 

 its inclosure many cricket matches were played 

 here ' by ennobled and other cricketers.' " 



Laleham House, the seat of the Earl of Lucan, 

 stands to the south of the village in well-wooded 

 grounds of about 23 acres. It was built by Richard, 

 the second earl, who bought the manor in 1803. 

 Maria, Queen of Portugal, who spent her minority 

 in England, lived here from 1829. George, the 

 third earl (1800-88), served in Turkey and in 

 the Crimea, and attained the rank of field-marshal. 

 The charge of the heavy brigade at Balaclava was 

 made under his direction, and he was himself 

 wounded by a bullet in the leg. Lord Raglan 

 blamed him for the advance of the cavalry on that 

 occasion, and in consequence 

 he returned to England and 

 vindicated his conduct in 

 the House of Lords (19 

 March 1855)." He was 

 succeeded by the present 

 earl in 1888. 



Thomas Arnold lived 

 at Laleham from 1819 to 

 1828. He settled here 

 to take as private pupils 

 a small number of young 

 men preparing for the uni- 



BINGHAM, Earl of 

 Lucan. Azure a bend 

 between conies and tix 

 crosses formji or. 



versifies, and besides his own studies and those 

 of his pupils he spent his time in assisting in the 

 care of the parish." After his appointment to the 

 head-mastership of Rugby he still hoped to return 

 to Laleham after he should have retired from 

 public life. 15 His house, which stood at the end 

 of the village, was pulled down in i864. ls His 

 eldest and most distinguished son, Matthew Arnold, 

 was born here in 1822." After the family had 

 removed to Rugby, he returned to Laleham as 

 pupil of his maternal uncle, the Rev. John Buck- 

 land (i 830-6). 18 He lies buried in the church- 

 yard here, together with Thomas Arnold his 

 eldest son. 



Among the present residents are Mr. Adolphus 

 Govett, J.P., of High Elms, whose family has 

 long been connected with this parish, and Gen. 

 Sir Frederick Maunssll, R.E., K.C.B., who lives 

 at the Boreen. 



The inhabitants of Laleham are chiefly depen- 

 dent on agriculture, and the population returns of 

 the last forty years show a decrease of over twenty 

 per cent. The soil is light, and the subsoil 

 gravel. The chief crops are wheat, barley, oats, 

 turnips, and mangold-wurzel. There are 1,301 

 acres in the parish, of which 550^ acres are 

 arable, and 465 acres are laid down in permanent 

 grass. Woods and plantations cover 36 acres. 19 



The following names of pastures occur in 

 mediaeval times : Le Cottes, Watcroftes, Hot- 

 lowe, Henland, Charston, Chikenes, Middelwelle- 

 thorn, Tuccemede. Churchwynnes'and was origin- 

 ally held by a John Cherchwynn early in the 

 1 4th century. 10 



LALEHAM is mentioned as one 

 MANORS of the four appurtenances of Staines 

 in the charter of Edward the Con- 

 fessor granting and confirming lands to West- 

 minster Abbey." At the time of the Domesday- 

 Survey, the abbey still held Staines and four un- 

 named berewicks,* 2 and it is likely that Laleham 

 was one of the latter, as the abbey held a large 

 amount of land there in 1291," and about the 

 same time Laleham is described as one of those 

 members of Staines which had belonged to West- 

 minster from time immemorial.* 4 The abbey 

 continued to hold it until the Dissolution," when 

 the manor was ceded to the king, who caused it 

 to be annexed to the newly-formed honour of 

 Hampton Court. 86 Laleham remained in the 

 hands of the king throughout the i6th century. 

 The site of the manor had been leased by 

 Westminster Abbey in 1538 to John Williams for 

 seventy-six years, and in 1588 the site was leased 

 on the same terms to Thomas Kay," and in 1608 

 to Sir Thomas Lake/" 



4 Anct. D. B. 1853. 



I Doc. in custody of the D. and C. 

 of Westm. chest D. no. 27151. 



6 Recov. R. Mich. 10 Geo. II, rot. 



4*3- 



7 Manning, op. cit. in, 204. 

 Ibid. 



y.C.H. Surr. 

 " Ibid. 



II Brayley, Hitt. ofSmrr. ii, 171. 

 12 Ibid. 



u Diet. Nat. Biog. Suppl. i, 196. 



"Ibid, i, 113. 



ls Stanley, Life of Thomas Arnold, 35. 



16 Firth, Midd. 1 1 6. 



17 Diet. Nat. Biog. Suppl. i, 70. 

 Ibid. 



19 Inf. supplied by the Bd. of Agric. 



80 Doc. in custody of D. and C. of 

 Westm. chest D, no. 27113. 

 u Cott MS. Faust. A. iii. 



397 



24 



479- 

 "" 



tody 

 no. 

 326 



Dam. Bk. (Rec. Com.), i, 128. 

 Pope Nicb. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 13. 

 Plac. de Quo. tVarr. (Rec. Com.), 



Feud. Aids, ii, 372 ; Doc. in cus- 

 of D. and C. of Westm. chest D. 

 27105-71 ; Dugdale, Man. i, 

 ; Valor Etc!. (Rec. Com.), i, 410. 

 L. and P. Hen. VIII, xv, 498 (36) 

 Pat. 31 Elit. pt. x, m. 20. 

 Pat. 4 Jas. I, pt ir, m. 17. 



