STONE HUNDRED 



STONE 



and 6 acres of land in Southcote." This has been 

 identified with SOUTHCOTE in Stone, though the 

 name is now lost. Before the Conquest the land be- 

 longed to Ulvric, a man of Archbishop Stigand." 

 William son of Constantine had granted the land to 

 Suetin. The Domesday entry, however, cannot refer 

 to the whole of Southcote, lince at a later date various 

 grants were made to Oseney and Missenden Abbeys.* 4 

 In the reign of Henry I William Sengler or 

 St. Clere gave l messuage with I virgate and 2 acres 

 of land to Oseney Abbey," and Richard le Palmer 

 gave I messuage and I virgate of land in Southcote 

 and Bishopstone to the abbey." In the next reign 

 land in Southcote teems to have been granted to 

 Simon de St. Clere with the other land of the family 

 in Stone." His son Gilbert succeeded him, and in 

 1254 it wu held by another William de St. Clere." 

 He held I hide of land which had apparently been 

 alienated from the serjeanty of Ilmer," but in 1302-3 

 it is mentioned as part of the serjeanty of the lord 

 of Ilmer and Aston ; ** the tenants, however, are not 

 mentioned separately." Lucy de Brinton, the mother 

 of Simon de St. Clere, held one-sixth of this hide of land 

 in Southcote, and with the consent of Simon, granted it 

 to her younger son Ignarius. 71 Ignarius granted this 

 land to Missenden Abbey, and the gift was confirmed 

 after his death by his nephew Gilbert." The abbot paid 

 a rent of | Ib. of pepper yearly to the St. Cleres,' 4 

 and when the serjeanty was arrented " he paid 5/." a 

 year to the Exchequer for I virgate of land. One 

 virgate of land was also granted to Oseney Abbey, 

 and the cartulary of the abbey contains a licence 

 from Henry III for the alienation of the serjeanty." 

 The last time land is mentioned in Southcote is 

 in l 546 in the grant of St. Cleres Manor in Stone to 

 Sir Anthony Lee and John Croke." 



The other half-fee called fTEST ORCHARD was 

 held under the Munchesneys by the family of Cloville 

 in the I3th century. In 1234 William de Cloville 

 held half a knight's fee of Warine de Munchesney." 

 Some years later Savaric de Cloville was the tenant of 

 2 i hides of land in Stone," but there is no trace of this 

 land after the reign of Henry III, unless it may be 

 identified with the manor of We>t Orchard in the 

 township of Hartwell in the parish of Stone. In 

 Hartwell, however, the Bishop of Bayeux" held 4 hides 

 which do not afterwards seem to have belonged to the 

 parish of Hartwell. Three of these were held by the 

 same man, Helto, who was the tenant of the bishop's 

 land in Stone." 



In 1 302-3 Hugh de Ver and his tenants held 

 half a fee in Hariwell pertaining to the barony of 

 Swanscombe." The barony passed to the Earls of 

 Pembroke, and Aymer de Valence died seised of 



rent in Hartwell and land there.* 4 This was assigned 

 to Mary de St. Paul his widow as part of her dower,** 

 but it belonged to the purparty of Elizabeth Comyn, 

 as one of the heirs of Aymer de Valence." 



In the 1 5th century Robert Whitingham, who 

 obtained possession of several manors belonging to the 

 honour of Swanscombc, held the manor of West 

 Orchard, and on his attainder the manor was granted 

 to Sir Thomas Montgomery,* 7 and was described as 

 being in the township of Hartwell and the parish of 

 Stone. It was granted with the manor of St. Cleres by 

 Henry VIII and apparently was held with that manor 

 by the Dormers." 



The church of ST. JOHN THE 

 CHURCH BAPTIST consists of a chancel 376. 9 in. 

 by I 5 ft. 3 in. ; a modern north organ 

 chamber ; a nave about 61 ft. long by 19 ft. 9 in. wide ; 

 a north aisle 6 ft. 8 in. wide ; a north transept 1 2 ft. 

 by 1 2 ft. 9 in. ; a south transept 1 6 ft. by 18 ft. ; a 

 south porch, and a western tower 1 1 ft. 8 in. square, 

 all measurements being internal. In the 1 2th cen- 

 tury the church seems to have consisted of an aisleless 

 nave, somewhat shorter than at present, and a chancel, 

 which must have been of about the same width as 

 that now existing, but a good deal shorter. About 

 1 1 70 a north aisle of three bays was added, and in 

 the first quarter of the 1 3th century the nave and 

 aisle were carried westward to their present length, 

 the old respond of the arcade being moved and a 

 new pillar set up. In the same century the south 

 transept was added and the chancel was rebuilt to its 

 present dimensions. The north transept and the 

 chancel arch belong to the first part of the 14th cen- 

 tury, and towards the close of this century the tower 

 was added. In the 1 5th century no additions were 

 made to the plan, but the nave walls were heightened 

 and several windows inserted. In modern times the 

 church has been drastically restored, and no doubt 

 much evidence of the earlier work destroyed. The 

 chancel in particular was almost rebuilt in 1843, the 

 north wall of the aisle rcfaced, and the upper part of 

 the tower greatly modernized. The organ chamber 

 and south porch are quite modern. 



The chancel is lit on the east by a modern triplet 

 of lancets, probably reproducing the original arrange- 

 ment, of which only portions of the relieving arches 

 remain. On the north are two modern lancets, and 

 between them the arched entrance to the organ 

 chamber, which is entirely modern. In the south 

 wall are three lancets, also modern, but showing 

 traces of the ancient openings, and between the second 

 and third is a blocked south door, which retains a 

 little 13th-century masonry. The east gable has 

 been rebuilt together with the upper parts of the 



r.C.H. Bnckt. i, 266*. 



" Ibid. 



Hirl. MS. 3688 ; Hund. R. (Rcc. 

 Com.), i, 32. 



"Ctl. Clm, 1 337-9. P- J74- 



" Ibid. 



W Harl. MS. 3688. 



IbU. 



* Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, JI } Ttilt 

 Jt Nrvill (Rtc. Com.), 161. 



7* FtmJ. Aidi, i, 9;. 



"Ibid, i, 75. In 1184. Robert de 

 St. Clere was uid to hold half fee in 

 Southcote of the heir of John de St. Clere 

 aod that hair of William de Munchesney 

 and William of the king in chief. Thia 



entry thould apparently refer to Stone and 

 not Southcote. 



' Harl. MS. 3688. 



Ibid. Ibid. 



Hud.K. (Rec. Com.), i, 31. 



" The rent of 51. it a mistake for 

 71. 6<t. Cf. Ech. L.T.R. Mem. R. 136, 

 Eaat. 45 Edvr. III. 



"Ctl. Clou, 1337-9. p. J745 Cott, 

 MS. Vit. E. mr. 



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

 In I'.C.H. Bucks, i, 166, note 9, a reference 

 to Southcote ia Stone ii given at occurring 

 in L. tnd P. Hi*, fill, iviii, 490. The 

 reference to Southcot in that Tolume of 

 the Letteri and 1'apen thould be L. tnd 



309 



P. Hn. yill, wiii (2), 449 (51), but it 

 refers to Southcot in the parish of Linslade, 

 l hamlet which still exists, and not tc 

 Southcote in Stone. 



1* Ttut di Ntvill (Rec. Com.), 154. 



* Huttd. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 31. 



y.CM. Buck, i, 23+4. Ibid. 



* Ftud. Aidi, i, 97. 



M Chan. Inq. p.m. 17 Edw. II, no. 7;. 



* Ctl. Clou, 1313-7, p. 144; Fnd. 

 yfiWi, i, ill ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 51 Edw. 

 Ill (ist not.), no. 28. 



* Abbnv. Pltc. (Rec. Com.), i, 287 j 

 Ctl. Pal. i 340-3, p. 200. 



1 Ctl. Ptt. 1461-7, pp. 121, 367. 

 Pat. 17 Hen. VIlI.pt. i. 



