A Whiteparish local history page from younsmere-frustfield.org.uk
A good range of historical sources is available for Whiteparish. This page introduces and gives links to some of this source material.
This page is being updated periodically as further sections are expanded and completed. In this version of the page, sections from "Inquisitions Post Mortem 1844" onwards are missing.
Very specific and detailed local sources include the book "Hundred of Frustfield", written in 1844 by George Matcham, who lived at Newhouse and was related to the Eyres and Nelsons, and a series of short papers by the archaeologist Christopher Taylor, who lived in the village around 1964. The 1842 Tithe Map has information on every field and property, with details of who owned and who used each plot and what it was used for. There are two earlier maps covering the final enclosure of the remaining Whelpley open fields in 1804 and of part of Cowesfield Spilman in 1620. This has survived because it was used in a court case in 1771: it has annotations from this date.
Further information is available from a good range of other more general material. Many of the sources used in the research presented in this website are considered below, in many cases accompanied by links to places and websites where the interested reader can further his or her interest. As well as the coverage on this page there are additional pages within this website on most topics including extensive out-of-copyright source material where this is not easily accessible elsewhere.
[This is a new top level page introducing each of the separate references and based on the old DomesdayBook.htm page, which had grown beyond its intended content to encompass all historical sources.]
[New pages: Saxon Charters (already exists), Domesday Book (modify existing file), Pipe Rolls, Inquisitions Post Mortem, Newspaper articles, Census returns, Matcham (already exists), Taylor (already exists)]
wiltshire-ops.org.uk press reports and other documents for Whiteparish, for instance the 1851 census.
This page provides links to a range of primary and secondary sources of material on Whiteparish, including various pieces of analysis based on this material. Undoubtedly the most important secondary reference is George Matcham's 1844 book "Hundred of Frustfield", which forms one volume of "The History of Modern Wiltshire" and was prepared by Matcham for Sir Richard Colt Hoare of Stourhead. Christopher Taylor was an archaeologist who lived in Whiteparish in the 1960s and took a great interest in the history of the parish. He left us a series of detailed articles in Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine that do much to help unscramble the complex development of the parish.
Christopher Taylor made the significant observation that while the Hundred of Frustfield included the modern parishes of Whiteparish and Landford, the Domesday Book and other early documents list land in the parish in four areas: Alderstone, Frustfield, Cowesfield and Landford. This shows that in addition to being the Hundred name, Frustfield was an area covered (at most) by the manors of Whelpley, Blaxwell, Abbotstone (Titchborne) and Moore, specifically excluding Alderstone and the three Cowesfield manors. Hundreds were often named after the feature or manor in which the Hundred meetings were held, so this is probably the case here. The earlier charters of 943 and 968 use the name Frustfield to describe Abbotstone, and it seems possible that this manor was the original Frustfield, renamed to Abbesston after its grant to the nuns at Wilton through the second of these charters.
This page provides introductions to the following sources in date order. The following links are to pages providing further detail, including in some cases full copies of the documents themselves.
Two Saxon Charters refer to Whiteparish, dated 943 and 968, both referring to the same three hides of land in Frustfield. In the first King Eadmund granted three hides of land to his thegn Wulfgar, and in the second the same land is granted to Wilton Abbey. Matcham in 1844 reproduced the description of the bounds for the 943 charter in Anglo-Saxon with an English translation and for the 968 charter in Anglo-Saxon with a Latin translation.
[This piece of work is discredited - the land in question is almost certainly The Earldoms.] Christopher Taylor in 1964 made a detailed analysis of the boundaries described in these documents by working back from later documents that helped pinpoint the land in question, and his map is shown on this page. As interpreted by Taylor the bounds surrounded the 1842 Tithe map area of Tichborne Farm (Abbotstone) with the addition of four pieces of land:
A number of other references that mention these charters can be viewed under "comments" at esawyer.org.uk and esawyer.org.uk.
[Discredited] What these charters define are the early boundaries of Abbotstone, later known as Titchborne, although possibly not until after parts of the manor had been sold off. Based then on the Titchborne Farm of 1842, Abbotstone included all of the Whiteparish part of Newhouse Park, together with the land to the east of it to the edge of Moore. North of Titchborne Farm all of Dry Farm (previously Lower Bush Farm) was included. Moore lies on the eastern boundary, Whelpley Manor to the northeast with the boundary defined by the original A36 from Pepperbox Hill to Brickworth Corner. On the western side a large portion of what is now Downton parish was included within Abbotstone. The southern boundary met Earldoms, which was an extra-parochial area within Frustfield that was part of ?Alderbury? [further research required].
See Saxon Charters of 943 and 968 for further detail.
The Domesday Book is certainly one of the best known of historical references. In 1085, a few years after the Norman Conquest of 1066, King William had men sent all over England to record what and how much land each landowner held and what it was worth. The results were compiled into the Domesday Book of 1086.
There are seven entries for Whiteparish, five described or identified as Frustfield and two as Cowesfield, with at least three of these reasonably safely identified with places today. There appear only ever to have been three Cowesfield manors, so the attribution of one entry to Cowesfield Esturmy (held by Richard Sturmid) seems safe, and the other to Cowesfield Spilman very probably correct. With one exception the rest have been assigned by past writers, seemingly with a fair degree of confidence, although looking at them with a critical eye it is not difficult to question each of them - and not easy to confidently suggest alternatives. Abbotstone, Whelpley, Alderstone, Moore, Welsteads, Blaxwell and Sansoms all feature in the list of candidates, and it seems sensible to make the assumption that the four Tithings and their chapels or church (in bold above for Frustfield manors), namely Abbotstone, Whelpley, Alderstone (now the church) and Cowesfield ought to feature in the Domesday list. At Cowesfield the chapel is variously described as Esturmy, Spilman and Louveras as is the patron, suggesting some form of alternation of appelation and Patron between the three manors. In order of size and prefixed with the Domesday Book page and entry references, the entries are:
A more detailed analysis and attribution can be found elsewhere on this website, notably on the Domesday Book page and the pages on the individual manors.
The Pipe Roll for the thirteenth year of the reign of King Henry II (Michaelmas 1166 to Michaelmas 1167) lists several of the Whiteparish manors and people associated with them, with entries under Wiltshire for:
A further entry under Hampshire shows Walter Waleran paying dues for land in the New Forest. The Waleran family were hereditary Wardens of the New Forest and Melchet Forest for many generations. [Waleran in Wikipedia.] Some writers, including ?Matcham ?Taylor have interpreted Walcheri above as the same person, but given the number of times the Walerans are listed in various documents, I am somewhat doubtful of this.
The name Alderstone dates from 1166 as Aldereston.. [abbreviated] (Pipe Roll Society volume XL? XI? 1889, Great Roll of the Pipe for the thirteenth year of the reign of King Henry the Second A.D. 1166-1167, The Hansard Publishing Union Ltd, London and Redhill), but linked to entry in Domesday Book (see above). For Pipe Rolls on the web see here.
Pipe Roll entries for Alderstone, Cowesfield [Esturmy?], Cowesfield Spilman, Whelpley, New Forest from
Pipe Roll for 13 Henry II, 1166-7
See here for a useful introduction to the Pipe Rolls (slow to load).
Translation:
Observations: Whelpley paid one mark, Alderstone, Cowesfield Esturmy and Cowesfield Spilman only half a mark. These entries are preceded by Bentley Wood (Walter Waleran) and Tedelega comes between Cowesfield and Whelpley in the list [where is Tedelega?].
Listed in Matcham on page 111 (in Latin)
Partial translation (MRF)
Nomina Villarum, or "names of towns", was a survey of 1316 under Edward II that contains a list of all the cities, boroughs and townships in England and their Lords Wikipedia. Matcham listed the entries for Frustfield as follows:
From Matcham page 111
Names of towns for the ninth year of King Edward II
This seems to suggest that Cowesfield, Whelpley and Abbotstone were considered to be towns, whereas the other manors were not. These are also the names of tithings, but Alderstone is not included.
In Matcham on pages 112-115
Thomas Rymer (c. 1643 – 14 December 1713) was an English poet, critic, antiquary and historian. His most lasting contribution was to compile and publish 16 volumes of the first edition of Foedera, a work in 20 volumes containing agreements made between The Crown of England and foreign powers since 1101.
Matcham lists on page 116 the entries in Ryman's Foedera of 1547 relating to the seizing of St Edmund's College and its property.
From Matcham page 116
List of voters for the Southern Division of the County of Wilts 1832, printed by W. B. Brodie & Co., Sarum, 1832, Google Books.
Jenny: you were entitled to vote in the County Elections if you held property worth £10 per year or were already on the voters list in 1832 following the Great Reform Bill. It was unusual to contest them because of the cost. Before the RB 40 shilling freeholders, afterwards extended to holders of copyholders worth £10, long term leases (60 years and over) on land worth £10, medium term leases (20-60 years) on land worth £50 and tenants at will paying an annual rent of £50. A system of voter registration was introduced. [See Wikipedia on the Great Reform Bill of 1832.]
Note that the entire 1931 census was destroyed by fire on Saturday 19th December 1942, this event not having been caused by enemy action. See here for a full account and details.
The History of Modern Wiltshire, by Sir Richard Colt Hoare, Bart, Hundred of Frustfield by George Matcham, Esq. LL.D., 1844
The full text can be viewed here.
Published in 1844 as part of Sir Richard Colt Hoare's History of Wiltshire. Sir Richard died in 1838 and the book's dedication is addressed to Henry Merrick Hoare, Esq., thanking him for funding the completion of the Topography of South Wiltshire.
Kellys Directory 1889 lists nine residents and gentry of note at the key addresses in the village, followed by a list of 43 commercial people with their industry or occupation. Published 1848-1939
Kelly's Directory of Wiltshire 1898 from Forbears.io. This page also has a breakdown of all the surnames in Frustfield, with Hayter as the most common (51 people), etc. Last on the list is the 148th name, Pizer (1 person). See here for a local copy in an Excel file.
WHITEPARISH, on the borders of Hampshire, and on the road to Southampton, is 2 ½ miles south from West Dean station on the Salisbury branch of the London and South Western railway, and 7 south-east from Salisbury, in the Southern division of the county, Frustfield hundred, Salisbury union and county court district, Salisbury and Amesbury petty sessional division, rural deanery of Amesbury (Alderbury portion), archdeaconry of Sarum, and diocese of Salisbury. The church of All Saints is an edifice of flint and stone, in mixed styles, consisting of chancel, nave of four bays, aisles, north porch and a small wooden belfry at the west end, containing a clock and 3 bells: there are several monuments to the Eyre and St. Barbe families, and memorial windows to the Bristow family: the church was renovated in 1869—70, and affords 300 sittings. The register dates from the year 1559. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £ 108, with glebe (£4) and residence, in the gift of Mrs. Bull and Miss Bristow, and held since 1897 by the Rev. John Casketter James M.A. of Trinity College, Dublin. Here are Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist chapels. Charities to the amount of £6 10s. yearly are distributed in clothing. Broxmore House, now occupied by Henry Webley esq. is an elegant and spacious mansion, and the grounds and scenery around the house are beautiful and picturesque. Brickworth House, the property of Earl Nelson, is now occupied by James Alexander Shirreff esq. Cowesfield House, the seat of William Frederic Lawrence esq. M. P. J.P. stands on the southern slope of the Dean Hill, and commands extensive views over the country, including the New Forest and the Isle of Wight. Earl Nelson and W. F. Lawrence esq. M. P. are lords of the manors; Mrs. Bull and Miss Bristow, Mr. Lawrence and G. H. Fort esq, are the principal landowners. The soil is chalk, sand and gravel; subsoil, chalk. The chief crops are wheat, barley and turnips. The area is 6,316 acres; rateable value, £5,503; in 1891 the population was 1,037 in the civil and 1,074 in the ecclesiastical parish.
Earldoms, 3 miles south, is now included in Landford parish.
National School (mixed), built in 1846, for 160 children; average attendance, 125; & supported in part by an endowment.
Kelly's Directory 1907, see pages 267 and 268 for Whiteparish (these are pages 286-287 in the file on that web page)
Christopher Taylor was born in 1935 and was a non-excavational field survey and landscape archaeologist. He lived in Whiteparish for a time around 1967 and did some useful and very interesting work on Whiteparish based on observation and documentary research. Goodreads.com describes him in these terms "The dynamic archaeologist, Christopher Taylor, is a leading practitioner, non-excavational field survey and landscape archaeology, who gained notice through his broadcasts, books, teaching and continuing education classes."
However, there was another side to Taylor that means a note of caution should be sounded here before presenting his three papers. A book review of 1984 in The Archaeological Journal comments on Taylor's habit of making vague and unsubstatiated statements as if they were facts without justifying them or pointing out that there are other theories. A careful reading of his work on Whiteparish will reveal many examples of such thinking, and in a 1983 book Taylor himself acknowledged that he had relied too much on historical documents in writing that paper, resulting in presenting dates for early settlements that were much too late and known from other evidence to be so.
Another of his papers describes the boundaries of what he claimed to be Titchborne manor, whereas both earlier and later authors have recognised that the Saxon charters he uses clearly refer to the land we now know as The Earldoms, given to Wilton Abbey in Saxon times and taken by Henry VIII at the dissolution of the monasteries and given to the Earl of Pembroke. To fit the perambulation described in the charters to Titchborne, Taylor had to add various pieces of land from neighbouring parishes, there being no evidence whatsoever that these areas had ever been part of Frustfield. There is much of great value in his papers but do be cautious when interpreting Taylor's work!
There is another Taylor reference in WAM Vol 60, 1985, pp 61-62 describing Castle Copse Camp, this is reference 2 in Heritage Gateway.
Historical Sources.htm Copyright 2002-2023 Created 24.11.2002 Last updated 9.2.2023
A Whiteparish local history page from younsmere-frustfield.org.uk