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44

B LE W B U R Y .

B E R K S H IR E .

of the 15 nam ed in the inscription, a part of which
has been found to be p alim p sest; Alice, sister of this
John Latton , m arried Sir John Daunce, general su r­
veyor of the Crown lands in the reign of H enry V III.
who accompanied the K in g to France in 1513, and was
k n igh ted by him in the church at T o u rn ay; in 1515
he was sheriff of Oxon and B e rk s; represented Oxford­
shire in the parliam ent of 1529, and died 7th Dec.
*545 J th e rem ains of the tom b, erected apparently
both to him self and his wife, w ith brass effigies and
shields of arm s, is now in the south chapel, having
been rem oved thither since the tim e of Ashmole, and
has an inscription to Dame Alice Daunce, ob. 27 Aug.
J523 ’» against the south-east pier, in a slab of Purbeck
m arble, is a brass w ith effigy and Latin inscription to
John Balam , a form er vicar, ob. 25 May, 1496, on the
south side a m odern brass, with a figure of F aith and
inscription to the Rev. Jacob Macdonald L L .B . 35 years
vicar of this parish, d . '4 June, 1871: his wife Eliza,
1849, and his son John, 1841, and on th e north side
a large brass, w ith arms to the Low sley fam ily, placed
about 1896 in lieu of an iron slab, buried under the
floor in 1877: the m ural m onum ents were partially
destroyed during the repairs of 1876-7, and include a
despoiled m arble tablet to the Rev. A rth u r Brom ley,
chaplain to John, 3rd Earl of Clarendon, and for five
years curate here, d. 29 Dec. 1831, and on the opposite
side the inscription only of a m onum ent to Mrs. Sarah
W itherell, d. 12 Oct. 1728, originally enclosed by
fluted pilasters rising from a corbelled base with
cherub’s head and supporting a segm ental pediment
on which lay a book w ith red edges, now on a bracket
in the north a isle : the m em orial slabs form erly on
the chancel floor were buried in 1876 and the floor
entirely relaid with heraldic tiles having no reference
to th e place: of these slabs one bore an inscription to
Elizabeth, wife of Daniel Lousley, d. 15 June, 1828,
and has been reproduced on a sm aller scale; the
rem ainder are indicated only by in itia ls; the stained
east window, a memorial to A ugusta Sarah, wife of
the Rev. John H ugh B urgess,' vicar 1871-90, was
designed and executed by Mr/ John Bentley of London,
the subject being suggested by the figure of an angel
censing, the only fragm ent of ancient glass which
rem ained in the tracery; it was dedicated 16 Oct.
1887: by th e north entrance is another memorial
window to Mrs. Burgess, erected by the late Rev.
Canon Liddon D.D. and in the chancel one to Eliza
Serre Rotch, d. 16 April, 1878; there are also m ural
m onuments to John Bushnell esq. 1816; A nn Goddard,
1847; John Gammon, 1828, and to the fam ily of
H um frey, 1788-1860; and floor-stones inscribed) to
Thom as Plott M.A. fellow of Pem broke College, Oxon,
c. 1720; Martha, daughter of Jam es Baker Jauno, 1720,
and to the fam ily of Slade, 1757-1820; in the north
aisle is a sm all inscription on brass to “ John Casberde,
one of the good benefactors to th is ch urch ,” c. 1500,
and a large floor slab in the tower retains a sim ilar
one, m uch worn, to John Bouldre, 1499. Of other
an tiquities belonging to the church m ay be mentioned
two chained books, now in a glass oak-framed case,
presented by Mrs. L. G. Slade, attached to a desk in
th e chancel, viz. the Paraphrase of Erasm us on the
New Testam ent, ordered by Edw ard VI. in 1547, to
be placed in every parish church, and Bishop Jewel’s
Defence of his Apology for the Church of England,
placed in churches by direction of Archbishop Parker,
togeth er w ith the controversy w ith Dr. H arding, arising
out of his famous sermon at St. Paul’s Cross in 1560;
these volumes were very carefully restored and rebound
in London in 1891 at the sole cost of the late Mr.
W. H. Richardson M .A., F .S .A . of Blewburv (d. 1909),
and
have the chains quite complete by which
they were probably attached to a lectern ; A sh­
m ole, however, says that in his tim e two large
books were chained to the m onum ent of Sir John
and Dame Alice Daunce, mentioned ab ove: the
fine church chest, strongly bound with iron straps,
is probably D ecorated; there is also in the chancel a
good oak screen of Perpendicular date, and two ancient
p rayer d e sk s: in 1886 two recumbent stone effigies of
a kn igh t and lady, probably of the 15th cent, now
m uch worn and long lying on the east side of the
south porch, were removed to the north side of the
churchyard next to the tower. The partial restoration
of th e church was carried out during the period
1877-82 under the direction of the late Mr. Edwin
D olby, architect, of A b in gd on : an ancient aum bry
behind the altar table was also refitted, a reredos of
carved alabaster set up and the north porch rebuilt,
a t a total cost of £3,000: the north aisle was restored

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k elly’s

and an organ introduced in 1882: the restoration of
the south aisle, transept, and south-east chapel, in
m emory of the Rev. John Hugh Burgess, vicar 1871-90,
was effected in 1891, under the direction of Mr. J.
Oldrid Scott F .S .A . architect, at a total cost of £1,146,
and in 1906 the tower was restored, 2 bells added and
the tower screen erected, at a total cost of £420, under
the same arch itect: a communion table of carved oak,
with a slab of Belgian m arble, for use in the south
chapel, has been presented by the Rev. W. C. SayerMilward M.A. rector of St. Leonards, W allingford,
1873-91; the communion plate includes a silver chalice
and paten dated 1663, and a paten of silver made in
1725-6, and given by M althus’s tru ste e s: there are 300
sittings. The register dates from the year 1588. T he
livin g is a vicarage, net yearly value £210, w ith resi­
dence, in the g ift of the Bishop of Oxford, and held
since 1904 by the Rev. V ictor Lorenzo W hitechurch.
Blewbury was anciently a priest-prebend attached to
the cathedral church of Salisbury and was assessed in
1226 at 40 marks, and in 1534 at £ 5 4 ; the righ t of
nomination was claimed both by the Crown and by the
K nights of St. John of Jerusalem , or Hospitallers, and
the names of 28 prebendaries variously nominated are
on reco rd : the righ t of collation rested with the
bishop : by the A ct 33 Hen. VTII. (1541-2), the estate
form ing the prebend was merged in the separate estates
belonging to the See of Salisbury and the prebend dis­
solved.
The church, together with 5 virgates (150
acres) of land, was held at the tim e of the Domesday
survey by W illiam B e lfo u : the advowson was sub­
sequently given to the K nights Tem plars in 1218 by
Tho. de Sandford, cham berlain to K in g John, and it
was held at a later period by the prebendaries of Blew­
bury. The names of 23 vicars are known, and am ong
the past curates m ay be mentioned the Rev. Morgan
Jones (c. 1780-1820),
an eccentric and m iserly
character, who was in charge here during the vicariate
of the Rev. John Keble M .A. and who is said to have
died worth about £40,000.
The Wesleyan chapel, built in 1869, on the site of a
former chapel, is an edifice of brick with stone dress­
ings, in a simple style of Gothic, from designs by the
late Mr. W. H. Woodman, of R ead in g; John W esley
visited Blewbury twice in 1746 and once in 1750: there
is also a Prim itive M ethodist ch a p el; the old Quakers’
chapel which stood a little south-west of Blewbury farm ,
in what is now an orchard, was removed during the
last century.
The W orking Men’s Club occupies the old infants’
school, and has a good billiard table ; there is also a
cricket club.
Among the ancient fam ilies connected with this place
was one called Bleobury or de Blebury, some of whom
were buried at S h illin gfo rd ; there were also the de
Notvnghams, Kidwellys, Edgars, Marshalls, afterwards
of Old W indsor; Humfreys, Plotts and the Hansons, of
whom was Sir Robert Hanson, a native of this place,
knighted 1st Feb. 1665, when sheriff of London, lord
mayor in 1673, and died 1st Dec. 1680. From old Ladyday to old Michaelmas-dav a bell is regu larly rung here
at 8 in the evening and till lately also at 4 in the m orn­
ing, in continuance of an ancient custom instituted for
the guidance of any who m igh t get lost upon the
Downs. There are two almshouses for deserving poor
men in the parish, erected 1738 by the gift of one
James Bacon, who died in 1734, with an allowance to
the inmate of 6s. 6d. w eekly; another, erected 1838,
for the use of Bacon’s charity, on a site given by the
late John Shaw Phillips esq. of Culham , with an allow­
ance of 5s. 6d. w eek ly; Hanson’s charity of £ 6 ,
Jones’ of £ 3, Justice’s of £ 3 and T yrrell’s are now
am algam ated and administered by trustees under a
scheme of the Charity Commissioners for the general
r e lie f of the poor of Blewbury, Aston, Upthorpe and
Upton. The Church Acre and Play Close produce
about £ 3 yearly for church purposes.
The ancient houses in the place include one built in
1651, and sometime used as an independent chapel;
another. G reat Tree farm house, has a mantel-piece
dated 1660, and there is a m alt house with the date
1752: the farm house of Blewbury farm , form erly the
manor house of the Prebend, is probably of the 17th
century, and was anciently defended by a moat and
earthworks, m uch of which remains.
The Downs rise im m ediately south of the village, in
part by a steep undulating grassy slope known as
“ Lvdds,” descending on the other side into the great
hollow known as “ C h u rn ; ” this plain, the site of the
South Midland Volunteer Brigade Camps of 1890 and
1894, and of the Camps for the cavalry manoeuvres of,
the same years, averages a m ile in width, with an ex-