A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 



The second part of Stone, known later as ST. 

 CLERES M4NOR, reckoned at 7 hides in the 

 Domesday Survey, was held in the time of King 

 Edward the Confessor as a manor by two brothers, 

 one a man of Ulf and the other a man of Eddeva, 

 and they could assign or sell the land as they 

 pleased." This land, however, was given at the Con- 

 quest to Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, and was held from 

 him by Helto, probably the steward of the bishop, 

 from whom he also held Swanscombe in Kent." 

 When Odo was deprived of his lands they passed to 

 the Munchesney family, and the overlordship of this 

 part of Stone follows the same descent as the manor 

 of Dinton (q.v.). 33 The land in Stone, however, does 

 not appear amongst the knights' fees held by Aymer 

 de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, at the time of his 

 death. 34 A certain William Cluppe, however, had 

 held lands in Stone of the earl." 



In the reign of Henry I this manor was probably held 

 under the Munchesneys by William de St. Clere (or 

 Sengler), who granted land in Southcote (q.v.) in Stone 

 parish to Oseney Abbey.* 6 Before 1 187 John de St. 

 Clere appears to have held land in Stone," and a little 

 later he was said to hold one knight's fee as mesne 

 lord of the honour of Swanscombe.* 8 The heir of 

 John de St. Clere had succeeded him in 12846," 

 and in 1302-3 Ralph de St. Clere of Kent held 

 the overlordship of the fee. 40 John de St. Clere, 

 however, had enfeofFed various sub-tenants to the pre- 

 judice of his son Hugh. The greater part of this 

 land 41 he granted to Simon de St. Clere, whose son 

 Gilbert held it in 1219." During the I3th century 

 William de St. Clere held in demesne 6 hides and half 

 a virgate of land as three-quarters of a knight's fee. 43 

 He was succeeded by his son or grandson Robert de St. 

 Clere, 44 who made a settlement of his land in Stone on 

 Limself and his wife Joan for life with remainder to 

 his four sons and to John Golye and Joan his wife, 

 and finally to the right heirs of Robert. 45 Robert 

 died before 1 346, when Joan de St. Clere held his 

 land in Stone. 48 On the death of Joan, the four sons 

 of Robert probably held the land in turn, but 

 Thomas, the youngest, is the only one definitely men- 

 tioned. 4 ' All these sons, as well as John Golye and 

 his wife, had died before i^oi, 48 leaving no direct 

 heirs. In that year the right heirs of Robert de St. 

 Clere, his daughter Amice and the descendants of her 

 two sisters " tried to recover this inheritance, claiming 

 under the settlement mentioned above from various 

 tenants. Of these John Glover and his wife Joan 

 were the most important, since they also held Bracey's 

 Manor. The result of the suit cannot be traced, but 

 the claimants were not successful, since a few years 



later John Pigot, the grandson of Amice, again laid 

 claim to certain lands in Stone, but a second time the 

 result is not given. 60 It seems probable that the 

 claimant did not get possession of the St. Clere's 

 lands and that at this time they were held with the 

 other half of the parish. Sir Robert Whitingham 

 held the manor of ' Stone called St. Clere's alias 

 Bracey's,' " a title which suggests that the two were 

 at this time united. The same designation is given 

 in the grant to Sir Thomas Montgomery, but in the 

 struggles of the Verneys to obtain possession of the 

 forfeited lands of the Whitinghams," St. Cleres 

 Manor was again separated from Bracey's Manor. In 

 some way it came to the Crown and Henry VIII 

 granted it to Sir Anthony Lee, to be held, with 

 other lands, as one-hundredth part of a knight's fee." 



At his death Sir Anthony is said to have held a 

 moiety of the manor of St. Cleres, but this may only 

 refer to its separation from Bracey's Manor. 54 It was 

 settled on his widow for life, but before 1553 it had 

 passed to the Dormers, Sir 

 Robert Dormer dying seised 

 of a moiety of the manor of 

 St. Cleres. 15 In 1566 Nicho- 

 las Harcourt held a moiety of 

 the manor, which he granted 

 to Sir William Dormer two 

 years later." Sir William died 

 seised of the whole manor of 

 St. Cleres, 47 and the Dormers 

 held it till 1662-3." I" l ^ at 

 year Charles Dormer, Earl of 

 Carnarvon, sold 2 messuages, 

 100 acres of land, 10 acres of 

 meadow, 10 acres of pasture 



and common of pasture in Hartwell and Stone to 

 Sir Thomas Lee, bart. 69 This sale may have brought 

 the greater part of the land belonging to St. Cleres 

 Manor to the Lees, who held Bracey's Manor in 

 Stone. St. Cleres Manor is mentioned, however, 

 in various documents of the late 1 7th and of the 

 1 8th centuries, as being in the possession of the 

 Earls of Chesterfield, who inherited the lands of 

 the Dormers. 40 At the time of the inclosure of 

 the common fields of Stone the Earl of Chesterfield 

 owned certain tithes in the parish, 61 but there do 

 not appear to have been any manorial rights, which 

 probably disappeared after the sale of the land in 

 1662-3. There is now only one manor in Stone, 

 the names of Bracey's and St. Cleres Manors having 

 disappeared, and it is held by Colonel Lee of Hartwell. 



In Stone Hundred, William son of Constantino 

 held at the time of the Domesday Survey I virgate 



DORMER. Azure ten 

 billets or and a chief or 

 with three martlets atture 

 therein. 



V.C.H. Bucks, i, 234*. 



Ibid. 



88 Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 24.5, 

 254; Feud. Aids, i, 75; Anct. Deeds 

 (P.R.O.), A. 9840 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 

 17 Edw. II, no. 75. 



84 Ibid. 



86 Cal. Close, 1323-7, p. 212. 



K Cat. Close, 1337-9, p. 374; Cott. 

 MS. Vit. E. XT. 



W Maitland, Bracton's Note Bit. case 18. 



88 Testa de Nevill (Rcc. Com.), 245. 



Feud. Aids, i, 75. 



Ibid. 97. 



11 The other sub-tenanti of John de 

 St. Clere were William de la Mtrie and 

 William Blacluton, who held 5^ virgates 

 of land ai the fourth part of a knight's fee, 



which their descendants held as late as 

 1 346. Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 245 ; 

 hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 3 1 ; Feud. Aids, 

 i, 97, 122. 



48 Maitland, Bracton's Note Bk. case 18. 



48 Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 254 ; 

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



4 * Feud. Aids, i, 75, 97, 113. 



45 Feet of F. Bucks. Mil. 5 Edw. Ill ; 

 De Banco R. Mich. 3 Hen. IV, m. 517. 



46 Feud. Aids, i, 122. 



4 ? De Banco R. Mich. 3 Hen. IV, m. 



5'7- 



Ibid. 



Ibid. 



M De Banco R. Trin. 8 Hen. IV, m. 

 33 2d. 



61 Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Edw. IV, no. 44 ; 



308 



Cal. Pat. 1461-7, p. 367 ; ibid. 1467-77, 

 p. 309. 



M See Dinton. 



" Pat. 37 Hen. VIII, pt. 16, m. 24. 



M Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. z), xc, no. 2. 



55 Ibid. XCT, no. 5. 



M Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 10 & II 

 Eliz. 



' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Scr. 2), clzz, no. 2. 



"Feet of F. Bucks. Hil. 13 & 14 

 Chas. II. 



" Ibid. 



w Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 22 Chas. II ; 

 Recov. R. Trin. 2 Jas. II ; Feet of F. 

 Div. Cos. Hil. I Will, and Mary ; Recov. 

 R. Bucks. Hil. 9 Anne ; ibid. East. 3 

 Geo. I ; ibid. Mich. 7 Geo. IV. 



* l Lipscomb, Hist, of Bucks, ii, 461. 



