10 Jul Lordship Title of Brightwell ID1396
Posted at 20:03h
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According to a charter dated 948, probably embodying genuine materials, but contained in a chartulary of ill repute, compiled at St. Swithun's, Winchester, in the 12th century, King Eadred granted to the thegn Ethelgeard 5 hides at Mackney and 5 hides at Sotwell, and also 46 acres outside Wallingford. The Liber de Hyda, however, states that King Eadwy in 957 bestowed upon Ethelgeard 15 hides at Sotwell (Stottanwille), and the boundaries included what Eadred had granted, together with that portion of the present parish of Brightwell which lies between the western boundary of Sotwell and the line of the Roman road, and also what is now Slade End excepting the south-eastern portion known as Millony, of which lands Ethelgeard is said to have granted the reversion after the death of himself and his wife to the New Minster (Hyde Abbey) at Winchester. The name of BRIGHTWELL appears in a spurious charter dated 945, purporting to be a grant by Eadred to Ethelgeard of 30 hides about the vill called 'Æt Beorhtanwille,' 10 of which are at that place, 15 in a part of the vill called 'Æt Suttanwille,' and 5 in Mackney island; also the 46 acres near Wallingford. It describes all that constitutes the present parishes of Brightwell and Sotwell, including the westward extension of Brightwell beyond the line of the Roman road, the eastern half of Mackney, the southern portion of Sotwell, and Millony, all of which are outside the limits of the grant of 957. Possibly this is based on a true tradition that the additional Brightwell lands had belonged to the cathedral abbey of St. Swithun, but before the Norman Conquest the 10 hides at Sotwell belonged to Hyde Abbey, and only the 15 hides at Brightwell with the 5 hides at Mackney were the property of the bishopric. The Domesday Survey states that Bishop Stigand held 20 hides here in right of his bishopric of Winchester, but after the Conquest it was assessed as 10 hides, yet the value had increased from £20 to £25; also Bishop Walkelin held twenty-seven tenements in Wallingford belonging to this manor. In 1276 a complaint was raised in the hundred court that the bishop had withdrawn the tithing of Brightwell to the damage of the king's hundred and had otherwise claimed undue rights there. In the reign of Edward II Brightwell, Mackney and Sotwell were still reckoned as one 'vill,' the Bishop of Winchester and John de St. John being the lords. In 1583 the capital messuage and certain lands were leased to Queen Elizabeth for seventynine years. Edmund Dunch, son of William Dunch of Little Wittenham, was occupying it in 1588, and probably his son William Dunch in 1605. In 1648 the commissioners for the sale of church lands sold it to Robert Gale, who conveyed it in 1651 to Edmund Dunch, grandson of Edmund above named. It reverted to the see in 1660, and was evidently held on successive leases by the Dunch family till 1754. About 1762 the Tooveys were the tenants, and in 1800 it was sold to William Toovey, with whose descendants it continued until in 1914 the Rev. William Toovey sold it to Mr. Allan L. Morphew. The office of reeve of the manor continues and a court is held about every five years.
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Listed in the Domesday Book:
Yes