RISBOROUGH HUNDRED 



HORSENDEN 



the P.C.C. on the 26 July, directed his executors to 

 invest 100 in the public funds, the income to be 

 applied in the distribution of bread. The trust fund 

 consists of 119 6s. 8</. consols, with the official 

 trustees, and the annual dividends, amounting to 

 z I9/. &/., were in 1906 applied, with the net in- 

 come of John Blanks' Charity mentioned above, in 

 the distribution of 639 loaves. 



Charity of Elizabeth Eustace. See under Princes 

 Risborough. The sum of \ y. it received yearly 



from the trustees, of which i is applied in the dis- 

 tribution of four sheets at $1. each, and Is. is re- 

 tained by each of the three local trustees in pursuance 

 of the directions in the deed. 



The Coal Charity, otherwise the Poor's Land, con- 

 sists of about 26 acres, including five cottages known 

 as the Colony Cottages, awarded to the poor in 

 1812 under the Bledlow Intlosure Act, producing 

 about 30 a year. In 1906 a distribution of 30 tons 

 of coal was made. 



HORSENDEN 



Honendene (xi cent.) 



The parish of Horsenden lies in the south-west 

 of the Vale of Aylcsbury. The land is well watered 

 by a small stream flowing north, that breaks into 

 many branches near the village. It forms a small lake 

 in the grounds of Horsenden House, and supplies 

 the water in the moat. From the village the stream 

 flows north to Longwick hamlet. The houses are 

 few and scattered, and there is a good deal of well- 

 grown timber in the parish. The subsoil ' is Upper 

 Greensand, and the surface loamy. The occupation 

 of the people is agricultural ; there are 220} acres of 

 arable land, 252$ permanent pasture, and 9 acres of 

 wood.' 



A cross road from the High Wycombe and Aylcs- 

 bury road runs north through Horsenden parish and 

 meets the Lower Icknield Way in the north of the 

 parish. 



The nearest station is at Princes Risborough, on 

 the Great Western and Great Central lines. 



Horsenden House is said to have been garrisoned 

 in the Civil War for King Charles by Sir John Den- 

 ham.' It was rebuilt in 1810, and shows nothing of 

 antiquity beyond the lines of the moat. 



Robert Braybrook was rector of the parish in the 

 1 4th century. He afterwards became Bishop of 

 London, and played an important part in the struggle 

 between Richard II and his barons. He supported 

 severe measures against the Lollards, but also attempted 

 to purify the precincts of St. Paul's Cathedral, de- 

 nouncing those who bought and sold or played games 

 there. He died in 1404..' 



In the time of King Edward the Con- 

 M4NOR fessor, the manor of HORSENDEN was 

 held by three socmen.* Two of these, hold- 

 ing 2 hides of land, were men of Earl Harold, and 

 the third, with 4 hides and 3 virgates, was a man of 

 IngolJ. All of them could sell their land. After 

 the Norman Conquest, however, this land was gran ted 

 to the Count of Mortain,' and formed part of the 

 honour of Mortain, but it does not seem to have 



followed the descent of the honour.* Horsenden 

 appears to have been granted to John de Montagu, 

 who held many of the Mortain lands. 8 He held the 

 manor as mesne-lord in 1210,' but joined the barons' 

 party against King John, and forfeited his lands in 

 1216.' A few years later this land was held of 

 Robert de Cogfeud," but the overlordship seems sub- 

 sequently to have lapsed. 



In 1086 the manor was held of the Count of 

 Mortain by a tenant named Ralph." He may 

 have been the ancestor of the family who took 

 their name from the place and held it in the 1 2th 

 century. In 1210 John de Horsenden " granted all 

 his land in the parish to Robert de Braybrook, the 

 head of the Braybrook family and sheriff of Bedford- 

 shire and Buckinghamshire during part of the reign of 

 John." Both he and his son and heir Henry are 

 mentioned among the evil counsellors of John at the 

 time of the Interdict ;" but Henry, after his father's 

 death, joined the barons' party, and was one of those 

 whom the pope excommunicated by name after his 

 reconciliation with the king." Henry's lands were 

 confiscated, and Horsenden was granted to Philip de 

 Pery, and later to Philip Giser ;" however, in 1217, 

 after the battle of Lincoln, Henry made his peace 

 with the young king," and his possessions were 

 regranted him. He held the manor in 1225, and 

 had a long law-suit with Alice, the widow of John de 

 Horsenden, over her dower," the question not being 

 settled till 1231." 



Henry was succeeded by his eldest son Wischard." 

 Walter the :on of Wischard left two daughters as 

 his heirs, and Alice the elder married Sir William 

 Latimer." He held the manor as mesne lord in 

 1284," and his descendant, William Latimer, is 

 mentioned in the same position in 1 360." 



The manor was held in demesne by a younger 

 branch of the Braybrook family. John de Braybrook," 

 the younger brother of Henry, held it after the death 

 of his father. Gerard his son held it in 1284-6, 

 and their descendants" held it uninterruptedly 



. Buckt. i, Geological Map. 

 ' Inf. from Bd. of Agric. (190;). 



Lviont, Mag. Brit, i, 581. 

 4 Did. fi'ai. Bag. vi, 243. 



Y.C.H. Bucki. i, 143*. 



Ibid. 



> Cf. Bledlow .nd y.C.H. Him. i, 

 165 -7. 



Tnu de Nrvill (Rec. Com.), 28, 36, 

 162, 201. 



' Feet of F. Buck*. 12 John. 



10 Rot. Lit. Ptt. (Rec. Com.), 196. 



11 Tnu dt Ntvill (Rrc. Com.), 14;. 



u V.C.H. Buck, i, 24 3 J. 

 " Pipe Roll, 12 John, m. id. j Feet of 

 F. Buckt. 12 John. 



14 P. R.O. Liu tf Sktriffi. 



14 Roger of Wendorer, Flora Hiit. iii, 



*37- 

 " Ibid. 

 " Rot. Lit. Claui. (Rec. Com.), i, 116, 



*4J- 



' Ibid. 321. 



" Curia Regii R. 92, m. 16. 



Feet of F. Buck*. 16 Hen. III. 



253 



u Dugdale, Baronage oj EngUj Colt 

 Inq. f.m. Hen. Ill, 781, 916. 



Ibid. 



Feud. Aidi, i, 8$. 



M Chan. Inq. p.m. 33 Edw. Ill (itt 

 not.), no. 31. 



u Chan. Mite. 49, file I, no. 1 9 ; 

 Tent dt Ntvill (Rec. Com.), 254. 



Ftud. Aidi, i, 85. 



"Ibid, i, 112; De Banco R. 15;, 

 m. 66 d. ; Chart R. 7 Edw. Ill, m. 7, 

 no. 33 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 33 Edw. Ill 

 (itt not.), no. 31. 



