History of Witney

Front matter

FROM A PHOTO BY WILKINSON ST. MARY'S CHURCH, W1TNEY. HISTORY OF WITNEY BY W. J. MONK. Author of the "History of Burford f etc WITNEY: PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY J. KNIGHT, " GAZETTE " OFFICE. 1894. COP YR IG HT, CHAPTERS. Chapters. I. Witney in Early Times. „ II. Witney in Mediæval Times. ,, III. Witney in Later Times. ,, IV. The Woollen Manufacture. ,, V. The Court Leet and Borough Records. ,, VI. Ecclesiastical Witney. ,, VII. Nonconformity in Witney. ,, VIII. Witney in Times of War and Tumult. IX. The Manor. ,, X. Grammar School. ,, XL The Charities.

Preface

. _tjjj?N writing this History, much information has been obtained from material collected by the late Mr. William Langford. The Rev. W. H. Hutton, M.A., Fellow of S. John's College, Oxford, has, with much kindness, looked over the proof-sheets, and to him the Author tenders his best thanks. Thanks are also due to Canon Norris, the Rector of Witney, for his valuable help, more especially with regard to the Ecclesiastical History of the town. There are many others who have contributed, in various ways, to the production of this volume. The Symond's M.S.S., in the possession of T. M. Davenport, Esq., of Oxford, have been of great service ; the Rev. W. D. Macray, of Ducklington, has rendered valuable aid ; the Rev. C. J. Verschoyle has also assisted in no slight degree ; while Messrs. C. Gillett, and Leigh have helped much in matters relating to Nonconformity in Witney.

Lastly, thanks are due to Miss Emmeline Monteith, of Ipswich, for aid given with respect to the illustrations. August joth, 18Q4. INDEX PAGE. Akeman Street . . . . 5 Alfwine . . 8, 272 Ascent of Steeple . . . . 55 Attachment against Bishop 17 Bateman, Henry . . . . 198 Batt, E. A. . . . . 197 Batt, A. . . . . 193 Bayeux Cathedral . . 177 Bayliffs' Feast . . . . 146 Bells, The . . 200, 153 Bequests to Church . . 137 Beer .. .. ..106 Blanket Company . . 71 Blanket, Thomas a . . 68 Blanket Makers' Arms . . 78 Blois, HeDry of . . . . 275 Bolton, Miss . . 237, 238, 243 Box family .. ..287 Brideoak, Ralph . . . . 207 Briefs .. .. ..173 Bread .. ..112 Butchers.. .. .. 114 Canute . . . . .11 Chantry . . . . . . 189 Charter of Blanket Co. . . 90 Chancel .. .. 182, 191 Church Leys . . 28 Churchwardens' Accounts 144 ,, Presentments lot) Church .. .. ..176 ,, Missal .. .. 143 Charles I.. .. 257, 261 Clarendon .. ..261 Coal found . . . . 46 College, The . . . . 33 Civil War . . . . . 255 Clock and Chimes . . 201 Court Leet . . . . 101 Crypt, The . . 199 Cunningham, F. M. 193, 212 faoe.

Dalton family . . . . 206 Dangerfield, Captain . . 264 Doomsday Book . . . . 274 Dugdale .. ..262 Duke, Kichard . . . . 209 Earl of Essex's, March . . 272 Edgar, Charter of . . 8 Edward the Confessor .. 11 Emma Queen . . 9, 272 Em's Dyke .. ..13 Enclosure Riots . . . . 268 Excommunication . . 167 Faruham Castle . . . . 30 Farmour'8 Aisle . . . . 184 Feast Sunday . . . . 49 Fights of November 5th 6, 51 Fiie .. .. ..41 Forest Fair . . . . 50 Font, The . . . . 159 Freind Rubert . . 189, 209 Freind William .. 187,210 Free School . . . . 149 Fuller .. .. ..59 Gift of Manor to Alfwine . . 124 Gift of Church to Holy Cross 127 Gild Hall .. .. 150 Gilds . . . . . . 251 Gyffanl, William .. .. 275 Gunn's Hole . . . . 226 Harcourt, Lord . . . . 268 Hemming, Stephen . . 195 Hempage . . . . 273 Henry III . . . . 22 Hereford, Earl of.. .. 27 Hill, Rowland .. ..228 Hoadley, Bishop . . . . 169 Houselyng People . . 142 Hwiceaa .. ., ..17 PAGE.

Interdict . . . . 20 Independents . . . . 224 Jacobite Conspiracy 265, 267 James II, Visit of . . 69 Jerram, Charles . . . . 212 Jubilee of George III . . 55 King John, Visit of . . 18 Lambarde . . . . 28 Leland . . . . . . 31 Lenthall . . . . . . 279 Levellers . . . . . . 52 London Journeys . . . . 78 Machinery introduced . . 87 Manor, The . . . . 271 Manor given to Church . . 13 Magna Chaeta . . . . 21 Mather, Samuel . . . . 226 Market Cross . . . . 41 Mercia .. .. ..6 Militia, Local . . . . 56 Ministers of Independent Chapel .. ..230 Ministers of Wesleyan Chapel 245 Monastic System . . . . 200 Name, Origin of . . . . 6 North Transept .. ..197 Norris, W. F. . . . . 212 Oelfhelm.. .. ..8 Oliver Cromwell ..168,264,283 Ordeal of Fire . . . . 12 Organ, The . . . . 194 Oreton, Adam de . . . . 279 Oxford University .. 32 Palace, Witney. . . 8, 30 Parliament, Members of . . 24 Parvise, The . . . . 200 Parish Chest .. ..182 Pembroke, Earl of . . 27 Peace declared . . 44, 57 Petition to House of Lords 65 Peter de Roches .. 18,22,276 Persecution . . . . 130 Pigs .. .. ..114 Plague . . . . . . 165 Porch .. .. ..178 Poor Man's Box .. 115,152 Precautions against Plague 117 Precautions against Fire 118 Priest's Door . . . . 194 Queen Elizabeth . . . . 35 Queen Emma . . 9, 272 Quakers, The . . . . 214 PAGE.

Races . . . . . . 50 Rectors . . . . . . 202 Records of Court Leet .. 105 Rectory . . . . . . 167 Reredos . . . . . . 192 Religious Ceremonials Ringers Chamber Rising of People in Oxfordshire Rodda, Richard . . . . 239 Rowe, John . , . . 163 Rotuli, Hundredorum .. 26 Rupert, Prince . . . . 293 Saxon Chronicle .. 10, 11 Seven Years' War . . 42 Seats in Church . . . . 164 Smoke Farthing . . . . 158 Solemn Jousts .. ..27 South Transept . . . . 188 Spanish Armada . . . . 36 Stanton, Edmond .. 161 Stage Play .. ..34 Staple Hall .. ..32 Steeple, The . . . . 195 Streamer of Blue Silk . . 147 Storm .. .. .. 240 Stigand .. .. .. 273 Superstitions . . . . 53 Survey of Edward VI . . 140 Symonds, Henry .. .. 259 Tavuton .. .. .. 3 Taylor, Thomas . . . . 228 Taxation of Pope Nicholas 128 Tempest . . . . . . 46 Tipplers .. .. ..108 Tolsey, The .. ..115 Townsend, Miss . . 226, 229 To wnsend family.. .. 55 Tournament .. ..37 Tradesmen's Tokens 37, 38 Triforium, The .. ..196 Vicarage, The . . . . 167 Wakelin .. .. ..274 War and Tumult . . . . 249 Wenmans, The . . 40, 64, 79 Wenman Tomb .. ..185 Wenman Chapel . . 178, 180, 185 Wesleyans . . . . 230 West Window . . . . 183 Wessex . . . . . . 6 Whit Hunt . . 47, 56 Whipping Post . . . . 54 Woollen Shroud .. ..218 Wright, Edmund . . . . 87 Wright, Samuel . . . . 198 Writ .. .. ..22 Wychwood Forest . . tWitnep,

Introduction

. fHE town of Witney stands in a valley, through which the river Windrush flows. It is bounded on the West by long low hills, from Burford ; and on the East by uplands, somewhat higher, which separate it from the University and city of Oxford. The town consists, mainly, of a street a mile in length, which, at the South, is called the High Street ; at its other extremity this appellation is dropped, and Bridge Street and West End take its place. At the Southern extremity, as you approach from the G.W.R. station, Witney has a most picturesque appearance. A fine avenue of limes (planted some twenty-five years ago, mainly through the exertions of the late Dr. Augustine Batt), leads up to a singularly beautiful Church and Churchyard, through which the pedestrian passes on to a spacious green, which has, somehow or other, escaped spoliation during the many devastating ages WITNEY. through which the country has passed ; this presents a verdant carpet, and serves, in some measure, to remind us of the time such a place was a necessary adjunct to town and village, when most people were required to possess some knowledge of archery.

The houses on either side, although many of them modern, are in harmony, and are built generally in such a style as to render the scene somewhat picturesque. The Church stands directly facing the town, its grand old Norman doorway appearing to invite parishioners and others to escape sometimes from a world of trouble and care outside into its sweet quiet, where thoughts of higher and nobler purpose than those connected with this world may arise. Such was one design of those glorious old builders, doubtless, who in an age which we now see but dimly, raised this noble edifice, worked rough stones into beautiful images, set up finely proportioned edifice and tapering symmetrical spire ; in this, not only erecting a building which should remain for ages sanctified to the worship of the Most High, but which should also be for all time a monument of their love and reverence.

The reader will find in Witney very little of that interesting domestic architecture which adorned the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and which may yet be seen in many of the neighbouring towns and villages. It has nearly all disappeared long ago, the necessities of a busy manufacturing town compelling the destruction of lovely, though narrow and inconvenient, erections, which were most unsuited to a place where life was, even in the last century, beginning to partake of something of

INTRODUCTION.

. 3 the nature of the fast " go-a-head " existence, which most people lead now. And yet, there can be no doubt, that Witney, in common with other places in a more artistic age than the present, had houses with lovely overhanging gables and barge boards, decorated with all the carver's skill, and, inside, splendidly worked beams and grand fireplaces — for stone and wood were plentiful enough ; the former existing in great quantities a few miles away at the great quarries at Taynton, from which place, tradition says, the stone came of which Old St. Paul's and many of the Colleges at Oxford were built, and, probably, all the local Churches, including Witney ; the latter existing in great quantities in the neighbouring forest of Wychwood. So, perhaps, we shall not be far wrong if we picture the Witney of centuries ago, presenting a more picturesque appearance than it does now, though the Church was then very much as it is to-day.

The noise of the loom towards the latter end of the fifteenth century was even at that time heard in the streets ; the place was occupied by workmen who were engaged in weaving, but life then went on at a much slower pace. There was time then, in the midst of the struggle for existence, to turn round leisurely to contemplate the beautiful creations of the architect and builder, more time for week-day acts of worship and festivals. Have we improved on the habits of that far-off age ? We have, indeed, to-day wealth which in quantity is immeasurably superior to that possessed by our forefathers five centuries ago ; our looms are turning out, year by year, more and more blankets ; the commerce of the country becomes so great that ships can

INTRODUCTION.

. scarcely be built to carry it on. These things are true, but ought Life to be made up of nothing but spinning uncountable yards of webbing ? Is there no nobler purpose than the collection of wealth ? No doubt in very many matters, we have made great strides since the days of which we have written. It may be doubted, however, if a love for art and beauty has risen in equal proportion.

Chapter I

Mitncp in €arlp crimes. fERY little is known of Witney at the time when the country was subject to the Roman invader, and as the latter was never fond of low-lying situations, favouring rather those from which he could see what was going on around him, it is more than probable, that, although Britons lived here, and with blue-stained skin paraded the Windrush in their frail coracles, yet the lordly Roman gave the swampy hollow, for such it was then, a wide berth. The great Roman Road, Akeman Street, passed a few miles to the west of the town, and this would hardly have been the case if a colony of any size had existed at Witney. Bye-roads, both British and Roman, no doubt existed, and remained even after the time, when the invaders came in their thousands from across the North Sea, bent on conquering a country more to their mind than their own sterile tracts, but none of them appear to have entered the town, because it was fortified and surrounded by a huge earthern rampart and dyke.

This refers, of course, to the part of the town which lies South of the Windrush, for it may well be doubted if there were not two separate towns here in Saxon times, and certainly in a map centuries later, two distinct towns are indicated. That the Windrush or Wemris, as it was then called, formed the boundary line of the two powerful kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex admits of no doubt, and it is even probable that the Up-town and Down-town fights, which existed not long ago on the 5th of November, were degenerate relics of the old feuds, which at one time prevailed between the two rival nations, who at this place faced each other. ORIGIN OF NAME. England was divided in Saxon times into Counties, Hundreds, and Tithings, the latter consisting of ten families, sometimes more, who dwelt together, and were responsible for each other's behaviour.

Each tithing is said to have had a Church, though if this were so, the buildings must have been of an unpretentious nature. Perhaps there is some truth in the statement, however, for there is a tradition that Dorchester had at one time 40 Churches, and that Standlake and its vicinity possessed 17. The Tithing made the parish, and ten of these composed the Hundred ; but it is probable they were made at random, rather than on any definite numerical plan. In the Hundred the men of wisdom assembled to settle all disputes, and to discuss local matters, and the expressions the Hundred affirms, or WITNEY IN EARLY TIMES. 7 the Hundred denies have come down almost to our own times. The Saxon Witan was an assembly of the chief men convened from contending parties, or by usage, called together to consult on measures of defence or government.

The Saxons had the most beautiful system of self-government the world has ever seen, and which they brought from Germany. Each village had its Folk Moot, which assembled in the Moot Hall, to order the social life of the Settlement. Over these presided Eldermen — Aldermen we call them now — and stripes and imprisonments on delinquents were settled at these Meetings. Each principality had its Witan, and a larger gathering of Saxon chiefs took place sometimes to discuss great political and religious topics. The ordinary gemot or meeting of the Witan, was held at some well-known place, often in an island, or the marshes of a river, the place being further strengthened by a wall of earth thrown all round. Witney was doubtless one of the favoured spots, and perhaps our forefathers, endued with more respect than we are towards those who have the control of government, called this the Isle of Witan, or in Saxon Witan-ige.

The names of many other towns have been conferred for reasons more or less honourable ; but if the above conjecture be the true derivative of the name, Witney people may rejoice in the fact that their town owes its name to those councils which first gained for England the reputation of being the Mother of Parliaments. There are other conjectures respecting the source from which the name sprang. Some have connected it with the name of an over-lord who resided in the swampy hollow, and ruled over the Saxon serfs, many of whom were generally engaged in tending their vast herds of swine in the beechen glades of Wychwood Forest ; others have connected it with Wemris, the Saxon name for Windrush. The reader must select which of these theories best suits his fancy or his judgment. In a Charter of Edgar, dated 963, a place called Wentanige is mentioned, and the same name occurs again in a Charter of Edward the Confessor.

It is by no means certain that these names stand for the place which we now know as Witney, but it is likely enough for the town was, probably, in Saxon times, much better known than it is to-day. Again, the lands round Witanigc are in yet another document said to have been given to the noble Oelfhelm ; but in 1044 this land was once more in the King's hand, and was granted to Alfwine, Bishop of the West Saxons. WITNEY PALACE. This Bishop of Winchester appears to have built a Palace at Witney, and there can be no doubt that this Ecclesiastical residence stood on the site, ■which the house, now called the Mount, occupies. Almost all the evidences of this have now disappeared, for the present house is modern, or nearly so, but foundations which tell a tale of sustaining a more pretentious building than the present, have been discovered.

Fortunately some idea ofthe former beauty of this old house can be obtained from the annexed sketch. The original drawing is amongst the Gough prints, which are in the Bodleian Library. The doorway of this Palace appears to have been a magnificent semi-circular arch with massive mouldings The remains of the Palace of the Bishops of Winchester, at Witney, 1729-30, sketched hy Canon Norris from Buck's drawing in the Bodleian Library. WITNEY IN EARLY TIMES. 9 and pillars, and richly carved Capitals. That on the left or North, had a reticulated shaft, and the other a zigzag one. The house itself appears to have been erected at a much later date, judging from the chimneys and some of the windows. On each side of the house, which may have been occupied even when the sketch was taken in 1729, are ruins, all of which, judging from the remains of the windows, appear to belong to the very early Norman period ; and although at the time when Alfwine is conjectured to have built this house, the Norman had not obtained dominion over the English, yet the fashions of that nation had been introduced before 1066.

As will be seen, the ruin presents a most picturesque appearance, being partly overgrown with brambles and other plants. Such was the Palace to which the Bishops of Winchester were in the habit of resorting when harassed, perhaps, with the cares of the large diocese over whose spiritual wants they presided. Often have their great retinues travelled through the streets of Witney in days which have departed long ago. Bishops in those distant times were different, very different, to the peaceful holy men, who, in the majority of instances now fill the seats of the prelates of the early days of the English Church. They were great barons, often engaged in angry controversy on political matters, sometimes even having recourse to the sword. QUEEN EMMA, The Mother of Edward the Confessor, seems to have been in some way connected with Witney, for her name appears on the Charter, granting the lands to the Bishop, but what was the particular nature of the connection, we have been unable to determine.

As this Queen's story is so closely connected with our subject, a short sketch of her life may not be considered here irrelevant. Emma was the grand-daughter of that venturesome Northman, named Rollo, who had left Germany, and by dint of the force of arms, had settled himself in the fair province of France, which from this circumstance has ever since retained the name of Normandy. This " Flower of Normandy " as she was then called, came over to England to marry as unhappy and unheroic a king as history mentions. The Saxon Chronicle mentions the event as follows : — " In the same year came the lady, Richard's daughter, Emma Elgive (her Saxon name) hither to land." It was to a country torn with dissension from one end to the other to which this fair daughter of Normandy came. The King, whose bride she was to be was so feeble that men have called him ever since " The Unready." =: (without rede, i.e. Counsel) Little did the young girl think, perhaps, as she sailed across the English Channel, that before many years had gone by, people of her blood and nationality, would sail over the same sea bent on conquering the land to which she was now bound, and having conquered it to grind it down with iron heel for centuries.

It was at the time Emma became the bride of the " Unready," that the incursions of the Danes had become so threatening, and inspired so much dread, that money WITNEY IN EARLY TIMES. 11 was paid as a temporary expedient to get rid of them. The Queen appears to have taken some active part in endeavouring to drive the Northmen away, as the following extract from the Saxon Chronicle shows : — "Anno 1003. This year was Exeter entered by storm through the French churl Hugh, whom the Lady (i.e. Queen Emma) had appointed her steward ; and then the army (i.e. the Danish Army) entirely ruined the town, and there took much booty." Emma appears to have lived little enough with the king. No doubt she was as much convinced of his imbecility as were most people, and perhaps during the dark days when the foolish king conceived the awful thought of massacring the Danes on St. Brice's day, she was away at one or other of her numerous castles.

Be this as it may, it is quite certain that at Islip, not far away, her son Edward, whom men afterwards called the Confessor, was born. And when her brave stepson, Edmund Ironside, had mysteriously met with his death, and cruel Canute had come and induced the Witan to make peace with him, she, with her two sons, Edward and Alfred, fled to her native land of Normandy. The new ruler of England, however, as well as being cruel, was, in many respects, an extremely sagacious man, and one of the very first things he did on getting possession of the throne of England was to link himself to the fallen dynasty by marriage with Queen Emma. It is said that Emma engaged herself in this marriage on the understanding that if they had a son, he should succeed Canute. If this arrangement was really made it was never followed, for Harold, the son of the king by a former union, succeeded his father, though Hardicanute, Emma's son, reigned at his half-brother's death.

What part the Queen took in the Christianizing of her kingly husband ; what share she may by her influence have had in the great changes which Canute made in English laws ; whether she saw that remarkable scene on the sea-beach when the wave rolled up to the royal knees and soaked the kingly robes — history does not say. When the great king died, and the son of her first husband was unexpectedly made sovereign, she appears to have resided at Islip, and even sometimes to have occupied Witney Palace. Then occurred the event which connects her specially with Witney. Robert, Archbishop of Canterbury, published a report concerning Emma, in which he asserted that she had been unduly intimate with the Bishop of Winchester. A Synod was at once called to investigate the truth of the story. Both parties are said to have denied the truth of the scandal, and Emma is understood to have volunteered to undergo the Ordeal of Fire.

The story goes on to state that this took place in Winchester Cathedral, and that the Queen walked blind-fold, but unharmed, amongst nine red-hot plough-shares. That this ordeal took place rests on most uncertain evidence. The Saxon Chronicle speaks of the harsh conduct of the Confessor to his mother, but says not a word about the plough-shares, and the whole story seems to rest on the authority of Ralph Higden, who mentions it in his Polychronicon (fourteenth century). Wharton, in his History of English Poetry, speaks of the minstrel who sang the tale of Queen Emma WITNEY IN EARLY TIMES. 13 delivered from the Plough-Shares, but the whole evidence in support of the story is quite unreliable. Most probably even the scandal is a concoction. If there be any truth in the statement the affair must have taken place between 1043 and 1047, as Edward ascended the throne in the first named year, and Alfwine died in the latter.

Supposing Emma to have been twenty years of age when she married the Unready, she would have been at the time the scandal arose over sixty years of age. The story goes on to state that in commemoration of her happy escape she gave nine manors to the Church of Winchester, one for each of the Plough-shares. Alfwine also gave nine manors of his own property, and King Edward gave three. Those the Queen gave are in the Latin record named as follows : — Brandesbury, Beyefield, Fyffhide, Hoghtone, Wychelneryshe, Ivyngelio, Wycombe, Weregrays, Halylyne. The Bishop gave Stoneham, East and West Meone, Hentone, Wytneye, Yelynge, Mylbroke, Polhamptone, Hodyngstone. The King gave Portland, Wykhelewelle and Waymuthe. So it would appear that the patronage of Witney has belonged to the Church for nearly 900 Years. em's dyke.

A small stream, which flows through the meadows round Witney, is called to this day Em's Ditch, or Dyke. And, of course, diligent antiquarians have not been wanting who have connected this stream with the name of the Flower of Normandy. In the charter of Edward the Confessor granting the lands to Bishop Alfwine, a place is mentioned called the New Ditch, and it is possible that this notice may refer to the stream under discussion. There appears to be no real reason, however, for connecting the Queen's name with this ditch, except the supposition that Em is a contraction of Emma. A far less fanciful, and probably more correct etymology is Ham's Ditch, or drain of the hams, i.e. water meadows. MINT TOWN. Witney seems to have been a mint town even in Saxon times, its name appearing first upon a penny of Harold II.

It is again discovered upon a coin of William I, (or II) but no money has been found of a later date. It is said by those who have made ancient coinage a study, that it is impossible to distinguish the coins of the time of the Conqueror from those of the reign of his " red son," but it is quite possible that both may have coined money at Witney. We know that the Conqueror often visited Langley in Wychwood Forest, not far away, for the purpose of indulging in hunting, and he doubtless on these occasions, visited the town, and conferred certain privileges on it., or it is easy to suppose that the long continued residence of the Bishops of Winchester would be sufficient to account for the conferring of such an honour on this place. The foregoing is all that is certainly known of Witney in what we have called Early or Saxon Times but there will be doubtless those, who with picturesque imagination will fill in the ellipses, which must necessarily occur in a History, where the materials are none too plentiful.

Well served, we like to think, was the Saxon Church, which probably stood on the site of the present one. Ploughmen were busy in the field around, dressed in the smock frock, which is just beginning to die out of memory ; shepherds were tending their herds on the rich grass land of the Windrush Valley ; Queen Emma and her Ladies clad in graceful mantles, ornamented with trinkets of various kinds, as was the custom, culled the roses and lilies in the Palace Garden ; no doubt, the streets of the town were made lively with the merry laughter of those who were setting out for a day's hawking in the Forest and its neighbourhood ; without question that drinking of metheclin, or mead went on, which gained for our Saxon forefathers an unenviable reputation ; doubtless, too, the Saxon Ladies plied their needles busily enough in working that tapestry, which was known and prized all over Europe.