10 Jul Lordship Title of Sparsholt Court ID1621
Posted at 20:05h
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SPARSHOLT'S COURT, which consisted of 5 hides, a third of the vill of West Hendred, had its name from its owners of the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries. It was held in the reign of the Confessor by a freeman Achi, and in 1086 was in the hands of Grimbald. Unless Grimbald is identified with Grimbald the goldsmith elsewhere mentioned, he may probably be regarded as the ancestor of the family of Hendred, which held this manor by the serjeanty of buying the king's beer. A Richard de Hendred witnessed an Abingdon charter in the late 12th century. William son of Richard de Hendred, who gave land to Poughley Priory, must have been his successor and identical with the William de Hendred who held land in Berkshire in 1201 by a serjeanty of the buttery. He had a son Richard, who succeeded about 1213 to his lands here and at Barton, Northants. Richard was living in 1235, but died before 1242, when the custody of his lands and heirs was granted to Henry de Bathe. The heir was another Richard de Hendred, who granted his manor here to William de Lisle. In 1273 William de Lisle granted it to William de Sparsholt, the head of a family which owned land in a neighbouring parish. He was to pay to William de Lisle and his heirs a penny at Michaelmas and do the service belonging to the manor. In 1278, however, an order was given that Roger de Lisle, son of William, should do the serjeanty and that William de Sparsholt should do him homage. The Lisle family still held their mesne lordship in 1362. William de Sparsholt was succeeded by John, evidently his son. In 1316 Olimpia de Sparsholt, evidently John's widow, was holding West Hendred. His son William was in possession of his land elsewhere. In 1331 William settled the manor on himself for life with remainder to his son John and Maud his wife and the heirs of their bodies. After the death of John in 1360 Maud held the estate for life and was succeeded by her son William. The successor of William was Edmund de Sparsholt, who was Sheriff of Berkshire in 1395, and a commissioner of the peace in 1413. He died in 1416, leaving a daughter and heir Alice, who married Bernard Delamare and had a daughter and heir also called Alice. The latter became the wife of John Barker and was succeeded by her daughter Margaret, who married Thomas Sankey. A settlement of the manor on Margaret's heirs was executed in 1519. Her son and heir Edward was the next lord of the manor. He had a son Thomas, who succeeded him and sold Sparsholt's Court in 1613 to Charles Wiseman. The Wisemans remained in possession for several generations. Charles was succeeded by his son Edmund and Edmund by a son of the same name who died without issue. His younger brother William inherited the estate and had a daughter and heir Mary, who married Edward Clarke of Ardington. William Wiseman Clarke, her son, sold the manor to William Towsey of Wantage, who was in possession in 1802. Before 1824 he had sold the estate in small parcels. The manorial rights came into the hands of a Mr. Coventry who sold them in 1816 to Mr. Dearlove. In 1881 the grandson of the latter sold them to Mr. Townsend of Abingdon, whose widow is the present owner.
Other Information:
Listed in the Domesday Book:
Yes