STONE HUNDRED 



These liberties existed in the time of Henry II, and 

 practically resulted in the exclusion of the sheriff and 

 his officers from the manor." 



In 1280, however, Alice de Luton obtained the 

 privilege of freedom from suit to the honour court 

 for her life for her men whether free or bondsmen. 1 ' 

 She also was quit both of attendance from the view of 

 frankpledge at the same court and of the payment of 

 St. a year for her own view " ; she obtained leave to 

 hold the assize of ale in her own court and to receive 

 the fines for trespasses against it. M 



In Domesday Book several pieces of land are 

 mentioned as belonging to Hartwell, 5 * which were 

 apparently at some later date severed from the parish. 

 The manor held by the Hertwell and Luton families 

 apparently included the whole of the later parish of 

 Hartwell. In 1254 the fee contained 6i hides, so 

 that it had varied but little from the assessment in 

 1086, at 6 hides 3 virgates. 56 



Besides this land belonging to the honour of 

 Pcverel, the Bishop of Bayeux held 4 hides in Hart- 

 well, three of which Helto held of him, while the 

 fourth was in the hands of Robert." 



In the time of King Edward the 3 hides were held 

 by three sokmen.* 8 One, a man of Archbishop 

 Stigand, held half a hide ; the second, a man of Earl 

 Leofwine, had 2 hides ; and the third, a man of 

 Avelin, held half a hide. Avelin, a thegn of King 

 Edward, himself held the hide given to Robert after 

 the Conquest." This land presumably passed with 

 the rest of the Bishop of Bayeux's land to the 

 Munchesney family and belonged to their barony of 

 Swanscombe. In 1 302-3 Hugh de Vere, who had 

 married Dionysia, the heiress of the Munchesneys, 

 held half a knight's fee in Hartwell.* Aymer de 

 Valence inherited the honour of Swanscombe, and in 



1 346 his widow held this half fee." This land may 

 perhaps be identified with the manor of West Orchard 

 in the township of Hartwell in the parish of Stone." 

 Walter de Vernon also held half a hide of land in 

 Hartwell of the king in chief in 1086. He had suc- 

 ceeded Turgot, a thegn of King Edward.* 1 Another 



2 hides were held in chief by William the chamber- 

 lain, and Robert held them as his sub-tenant. Pre- 

 viously Wlmar, a priest of King Edward, had held 

 this land." 



The church of THE ASSUMPTION 

 CHURCH OF OUR LADY is a curious structure, 

 begun in 1753 and finished in 1755, 

 the chapter-house of York Minster having been taken 

 as the source of its design, though the details are 

 founded on ijth-century work. It consists of an 

 octagonal nave with a small eastern sanctuary with a 

 tower above it, balanced by a similar tower set against 

 the west side of the octagon. 



The east window is a very poor thing of five lights, 

 and there are three-light windows with 15th-century 

 tracery in the north-west, south-east, north-east, and 

 south-west faces, with shafted jambs and crocketcd 

 and finialled labels, all executed in plaster. There 

 are north and south doors, and the building is further 



HARTWELL 



lighted by quatrefoiled openings over both doors 

 and windows. The principal entrance is from 

 the west, the lowest stage of the tower forming a 

 porch. Over the inner door, and opening into 

 the body of the church, is a small gallery serving as 

 a private pew to the Lee family, who built the 

 church. 



The ceiling is of plaster in the form of elaborate 

 fan vaulting springing from the internal angles. There 

 are no fittings in the church of any interest. 



Beneath the church is a vault, and over the north 

 and south doors are two boards bearing painted 

 inscriptions commemorating those whose remains 

 were placed there at the building of the church, 

 having been removed from the old structure, and 

 many whose bodies have been placed there since. 

 The earliest names recorded are those of Sir Alexander 

 Hampden, buried in 1617, and Dame Elizabeth 

 Hampden his widow, buried in 1675. Amongst 

 others also recorded are Sir Richard Ingoldsby of 

 Waldridge, Buckinghamshire, buried 1685, and his 

 wife Dame Elizabeth Ingoldsby, who was also the 

 widow of Thomas Lee of Hartwell. Sir Thomas 

 Lee, bait., son of Sir Thomas Lee of Dinton, 1 690, and 

 many more of the same family, notably Sir William 

 Lee, kt., Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench, died 

 1754, who contributed 1,000 towards the cost of the 

 church. 



The tower contains three bells, the treble by 

 Richard Chandler, 1691, the second by Warner, 

 1906, and the tenor is inscribed R. S., Esq., 1715.*** 



The first book of the registers contains baptisms and 

 burials from 1550 to 1741 and marriages from 1553 

 to 1743. This book also contains the burials in 

 woollen from 1678 and also an interesting list of the 

 inhabitants of the parish in 1730. The second book 

 contains baptisms and burials from 1742 to 1812, and 

 there is a MS. marriage book containing entries from 

 1754 to 1812. 



The church of the Assumption of 

 JDfOIfSON the Virgin Mary," in the parish of 

 Hartwell, is a rectory, the chapel of 

 Little Hampden being appendant to it until 1892. 

 The separation took place by Order in Council, 

 dated 28 June 1892, and by a second Order, dated 

 1 8 August in the same year, the rectory of Hartwell 

 and the vicarage of Stone were united. 66 The advow- 

 son has apparently always been held by the lords of 

 the manor. The Lutons in the 1 4th century made 

 a settlement of the manor and advowson," and from 

 them it passed successively f o the Hampdens** and 

 the Lees. 6 * Some time before the Reformation an 

 acre of land was given in Hartwell to provide a light ;. 

 it was worth %d. a year in the 1 6th century. 70 



Louis XVIII, King of France, 

 CHARITIES who resided at Hartwell House for 

 several years during the French Wars, 

 forwarded to Sir George Lee, bart., too to be applied 

 for the benefit of the poor of the parishes of Hartwell 

 and Stone. The gift is represented by 1 17 consols, 

 with the official trustees. The dividends amounting 



" Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 31. 



Cat. Pat. 1*71-81, p. + 18. 



"Ibid. 



" Ibid. 



" y.C.H. Bucla. i, 234*. 



Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 3 I. 



7 V.C.H. Bucla. i, 2 34*. 



"Ibid. 



Ibid. 



fW. Aidi, i, 97. 

 " Ibi). 112. 

 ' See Stone. 

 " V.C.H. Bucki. i, 265*. 

 Ibid. 266*. 



See Cocka, Cb. Bill, of Bub, 

 4J7- 



297 



" De Banco R. Chart. Enr. Trio. 15 

 Hen. VIII, m. I d. 



" From inform, aupplied bjr Rev. J. 

 L. Challia, vicar of Stone. 



Feet of F. Buck*. Mich. 19 Edw. II. 



n Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), clvi, no. 3.. 



P.R.O. Intl. Bki. 1662, 1802. 



7* Chant. Cert. Buck*. 5, no. i. 



38 



