AYLESBURY HUNDRED 



LITTLE MISSENDEN 



latter is the north door of the same date with continu- 

 ously moulded jambs and four-centred head. 



The south aisle is built of flint and brick and has 

 an east window of the same detail as that of the 

 chapel. In the south wall are two 18th-century 

 pointed windows with two-light wooden frames and 

 a doorway with a 1 5 th-ccntury moulded head reset 

 on plain chamfered jambs. Immediately west of this 

 is a small single 1 8th-century light placed rather high, 

 and a west window of two clumsy trefoiled lights is 

 of the same date. The south porch, mainly of brick, 

 incorporates the remains of a 1 5th-century wooden 

 porch, the outer archway and some carved detail being 

 preserved. 



The tower, of three stages with an embattled para- 

 pet and a south-east turret staircase, is of 1 5 th-ccntury 

 date throughout. Its eastern arch is of two orders, 

 the outer, with a double ogee moulding, being contin- 

 uous, and separated by a wide hollow from the inner 

 order which springs from round shafts with octagonal 

 bases and capitals. The west door has a straight 

 sided four-centred head and moulded jambs the inner 

 members of which are carried round the arch, while the 

 outer form a square head. The west window is of 

 three cinquefoiled lights under a four-centred head. 

 The belfry openings are of two cinquefoiled lights 

 under a square head. 



The font is of the local izth-century type, with a 

 fluted bowl and square base with inverted scallops, 

 enriched with foliage carving in the usual manner. 



The wooden fittings of the church are of little 

 interest, but in the chancel are some 18th-century 

 altar rails and panelling, and a I yth-century altar 

 table. 



The roofs of both nave and chancel are plain work 

 of early 15 th-ccntury date with moulded wall plates, 

 and ceiled on the underside of the rafters. 



In the north chapel is an oak chest with elabo- 

 rately mitred panels bearing the date 1693 in nail 

 heads. 



In the chancel is a brass with the figure of John 

 Style of Little Missenden, 1613, and a slab on which 

 were formerly the brass figures of Francis Style, 1646, 

 his wife Elizabeth (Penn), and two daughters ; the 

 inscription and a small part of the figures of the two 

 daughters are all that now remain. There is also a 

 slab to Sarah (Drury), 1679, the wife, first of John 

 Penn of Penn, and then of Robert Style. 



The tower contains five bells : the treble cast by 

 John Warner and Sons in 1881 ; the second, inscribed 

 with the salutation, by a London founder of the 14th 

 century, John Rofforde ; the third has ' Sancta Mar- 

 gareta ora pro nobis,' and is the work of John 

 Danyell of London, c. 1460 ; the fourth was cast in 

 1603 by Joseph Carter of Whitechapel ; and the tenor 

 is by Henry Knight, 1663. 



The plate consist! of a fine covered cup of the 

 puritan type, hall-marked for 1639 ; a flagon and 

 standing paten hall-marked respectively for 1729 and 

 1720 and both the gift of Mrs. Isabella Drake of 

 Shardeloes. 



The first book of the registers contains all entries 

 between 1559 and 1718. The second book contains 

 all between 1719 and 1774 except in the case of the 

 marriages, which run to 1754- A third book contains 



burials and baptisms between 1775 and 1812, while 

 marriages are continued in two printed books running 

 from 1754 to 1777 and from 777 to 1812. Burials 

 in woollen are contained in a separate book between 

 1711 and 1718 and there is a churchwardens' ac- 

 count book for the yean 1711-87. 



The church of St. John the Bap- 

 ADrOWSON list at Little Missenden was grant- 

 ed by Gilbert Basset and Egelina his 

 wife to the monastery of Bicester in 1182,"" 'for 

 the good of his own soul, that of Egelina his wife and 

 those of his children,' and was confirmed to it in 1 3 1 5 

 by Edward II. 1 " The living wa> appropriated and 

 a perpetual vicar appointed, 104 but the rectory and 

 advowson of the vicarage have always followed the 

 same descent. They remained in the possession of 

 Bicester Monastery until the Dissolution,'** after which 

 they were granted in 1541 to Sybil Penn, 106 and 

 followed the descent of the manor of Beamond (q.v.) 107 

 The present patron is Earl Howe. 



Christ Church, Holmer Green, was erected in 1 894, 

 and is served from Holy Trinity, Penn Street, an 

 ecclesiastical parish formed in 1850 from part of the 

 civil parishes of Little Missenden and Penn. 10 * 



There are Baptist chapels at Holmer Green, built 

 in 1877, and at Little Kingshill, built in 1814, and 

 a Wesleyan chapel. 



Brigginshaw, as mentioned in 

 CHARITIES a deed dated 10 May 1757, gave 

 a yearly sum of Id/, out of his estate 

 called Mill End for the poor. The annuity is now 

 paid by Mr. W. W. T. Drake of Shardeloes, Amer- 

 sham, and given in half-crowns to poor people. 



In 1775 William Line, by will, charged his two 

 meadows, called Elders and Calves Close, and 

 an orchard adjoining at Little Kingshill with an 

 annuity of 4 61. %d. for providing weekly bread 

 for poor attending church and not receiving parish 

 relief. 



The annuity is paid by Mr. Clark the owner of the 

 property charged, and distributed in bread to the 

 clerk and six of the poorest and oldest people every 

 Sunday. 



In 1793 Sarah Bates by her will left a legacy, 

 now represented by 100 consols with the official 

 trustees, the income to be applied in providing 

 clothes, bedding, medical aid, &c., to the poor, 

 especially poor widows. The sum of 2 lot. it 

 usually given in money. 



In 1867 Miss Charlotte Raine by her will, proved 

 on 20 May, bequeathed 2,000 shares in the Lambeth 

 Waterworks Company, also a further 2,000 shares in 

 the same company (subject to the life interest of a 

 niece, who died in 1 894), to the minister and church- 

 wardens, the income to be distributed half yearly 

 amongst the oldest and infirm poor (not exceeding ten 

 for each bequest), the recipients to be selected for 

 their respective lives, if considered deserving. 



The trust funds are now represented by 

 14,208 I5/. loJ. Metropolitan Water (u) Stock 

 3 per cent, with the official trustees, who also hold a 

 sum of 147 8/. loJ. consols, representing the invest- 

 ment of the proceeds of three letters of allotment in 

 respect of the said shares. 



The annual income amounts to 429 19;. In 



101 Dugdale, Man. ri, 434. 

 " Cat. Pat. 1513-17, p. 359. 

 101 E^crion Chart. 412. 



Vtltr Eal. (Ree. Com.), ii, 189. 

 L. ind P. lln. yiil, vi, 718. 



359 



"7 In.t. Bki. P.R.O. Clirp Liu. 

 "* Land. Can. II Jin. 1850. 



