10 Jul Lordship Title of Chieveley ID1419
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In 951 King Edred granted to his servant Wulfric 25 'mansae' in the township of CHIEVELEY, which were seized but were restored in 960, and he subsequently gave them to the abbey of Abingdon. The boundaries of Catmore, set forth in the charter of 951, seem to indicate that the township of Chieveley at that time included Peasemore (q.v.). The abbey continued to hold the manor after the Norman Conquest and at the time of the Domesday Survey part of it was let to William and Godfrey, to whom Henry I gave permission to cultivate the waste here. The profits from this manor were allotted to the chamberlain of the abbey, except 32s. which was reserved for the cook. Its possessions here were confirmed to the abbey in 1146 by Pope Eugenius III. In 1166–7 the abbot rendered account for 10s. for his land here, and further particulars as to the profits due from this manor in 1190 are recorded in the Abbey Chronicle. It is stated to have had warren here in 1275–6. In 1392 Thomas Crook, parson of Milton, and William Dru gave certain lands here to the abbot, to enable him to restore the abbey church, and the abbey is returned as holding the manor by barony in 1401–2. The returns from the manor are given in considerable detail in 1417–18 and 1428–9, and in 1517 it is recorded that John Harbard, one of the tenants of the abbey, had destroyed his house and inclosed land for sheep. The abbey continued to hold the manor till its surrender in 1538, when the manor came to the king, who caused the woods here to be surveyed, and the profits of the manor in 1541 were returned as worth £18 13s. 3d. The same year some of the lands and woods here were granted to John Carleton of Walton-upon-Thames, Surrey, and Joyce his wife, and in 1559 the manor was granted to William Button and Thomas Estcourt and the heirs of the former, to be held of the manor of East Greenwich in socage, and they sold their interest in it the same year to Sir Thomas Parry. Sir Thomas Parry in 1589 conveyed the manor to John Fortescue and others in trust, and had a grant of the manor in fee on the expiration of the lease in 1600, but the next year, with Dorothy his wife and his trustees, he sold the manor to Giles Pocock, Giles Head and Edmund Cooke on behalf of Pocock. Giles Pocock was a younger son of Richard Pocock of Bradley Court in this parish (q.v.), who settled certain lands in Wiltshire upon him in 1582 on his marriage with Christian daughter of John Smythe. In 1611 he settled the manor and advowson on his eldest son Richard on his marriage with Anne daughter of Giles Head. He died at Chieveley in 1624, when his heir was his son Richard, then aged thirty-one. By his will dated 28 October 1624 he left the farm of Chieveley and the advowson to his son Richard, the farm of Ilsley to his second son Giles and the parsonage of Chieveley and certain lands near Hambridge to his third son John. His son Richard had livery of the site of the manor and the advowson 31 May 1627 and by his will dated 20 January 1652–3 he constituted his eldest son Richard executor and residuary legatee. This Richard Pocock married Letitia daughter of John Loder of Harwell, Berks. His wife was buried here in 1655, but no record has been found of his own death. The manor passed to his eldest son Richard, who with Sarah his wife is described as of the Farm. Richard died in 1694, and by his will he left his house to his wife for life, and the reversion of it and the manor and advowson of Chieveley to his eldest son Robert, with remainder firstly to his younger son Richard and afterwards jointly to his two daughters, Sarah the wife of Christopher Capel and Anne the wife of John Head. His widow died in 1702. Robert seems to have died without issue and was succeeded by his brother Richard, who married Catherine. He died in 1718 without issue, and by his will his lands passed to his right heir. His widow was appointed his executor and residuary legatee, unless she married John Nalder, 'my now menial servant. His right heirs were his sisters Sarah Capel and Anne Head, and the manor is found early in the next century in the hands of their descendants. The descent of the Head portion follows that of the manors of Langley and Bradley Court (q.v.). The other share was held in 1728 by Christopher Capel and Sarah his wife. Christopher Capel was a son of the Rev. Richard Capel of Pitchcombe and rector of Easington, Gloucestershire, by his second wife Dorothy daughter of William Plumstead. He was born in 1669 and by his wife Sarah he had two children. His wife Sarah died 6 May 1733 and he died 15 May 1740, when the manor passed to his sister Margaret, as both his children had already died without issue. Margaret was living unmarried in 1753, when jointly with Sir Thomas Head she presented to the living. She seems to have died soon afterwards, for on 1 October that year Sir Thomas Head and William Capel signed an agreement to have the alternate presentations. It seems uncertain who this William was, but he was probably the great-grandson of Daniel Capel of Stroud in Gloucestershire, a brother of Christopher and Margaret and son of the John Capel of Prestbury who was killed at Fontenoy in 1745. This William died, it is supposed, in 1779, when William Capel, second son of William Capel of the Grove, Painswick, an elder brother of John, inherited Prestbury and the share of Chieveley Manor from his cousin. William Capel married Ann daughter of Jasper Clutterbuck of King's Stanley and, after her death in 1778 without issue, Susannah daughter of Thomas White of the same place, by whom he had six sons. He was holding half the manor and advowson in 1806, and in 1813, when owing to the inclosure of the common fields his manorial rights here became of little or no value. He died in 1818, when his heir was his eldest son the Rev. Christopher Capel, who, before the year 1822, sold the manorial rights possessed by this family in the manor of Chieveley.
Other Information:
Listed in the Domesday Book:
Yes