Kellys_Berks_Bucks&Oxon_1915_0057.jpg

d ir e c t o r y

.]

B E R K S H IR E .

B IN F IE L D .

41

Layley Geo. W arm an, farm er, H ill Sim m s A rth u r, head gardener to Tom lin A lb ert E dw ard, gardener to
C. E. F reelin g esq
L t.-C o l. W illiam W heat W arin g J .P
Foot farm
People’s Refreshm ent House A ssocia­ Todd W illiam Robert, schoolm aster W igm ore Fdk. shopkpr. & beer retlr
W
igm ore G eorge, S ix B ells P.H
&
assistant
overseer
tion L im ited (The) (E dw in Hood,
m anager), B ath road
is a parish on the road from Ox- j Sp eaker L en th all. Th e old Manor house, form erly the
ford to W antage and Faringdon, 4$ m iles north-w est residence of the B esils fam ily and of W illiam Lenthall
fmm Abingdon and 5^ south-w est from Oxford, in the M .P. for W oodstock and Speaker of th e House of GomNorthern division of th e county, hundred of Horm er, mons d urin g the reign of Charles I. and the Protectorate,
petty sessional division, union and county court district 1 end m aster of th e Rolls, stood near to the w est end of
of Abingdon, and in the rural deanery of Abingdon, the c h u rc h ; his son, S ir John L en th all, kn igh ted by
archdeaconry of Berks and diocese of Oxford.
The Crom well, 9th M arch, 1657, governor of W indsor C astle,
church of St. Lawrence is a sm all b uilding of stone, a colonel in the P arliam en tary arm y and M .P. for
chiefly L a te Norm an, consisting of chancel, nave, south G loucester and Abingdon, died in Novem ber, 1682, and
porch and a western bell gable, containing 2 bells was b uried in the chancel of the church. In 1644 an
dated 1655; it affords an exam ple, alm ost unique in attem p t was m ade by the Royalists to fo rtify the M anof
this county, of an unrestored in terior, the pews house and bold it again st the Parliam ent, in which they
and fittings of the nave bein g of the S tu a rt period, were assisted b y Bechm an, a Sw edish en g in e er; before
those of the chancel G e o rg ia n : there is an inscribed however the arrangem ents could be com pleted, the place
slab to S ir John. L enthall knt. ob. 8 N ov. 1681; was attacked and taken by a force dispatched th ith er
the porch also is re m a rk a b le : th e church was re­ by M ajor-G eneral Browne, then governor of A bingdon.
stored by Speaker L en th all in 1632, and by h is des­ O liver C rom well is said to have been a frequent visitor
cendant W illiam John L enthall in 1788 : there are xoo here, b ut this statem ent seems to rest on trad ition only.
sittings, 70 being free. T h e reg ister dates from the Besselsleigh Manor, the seat of Miss Len th all, is a m an­
year 1689. The livin g is a rectory, net yea rly value sion of white stone w ith B ath stone dressings in th e
£105, w ith residence and 24 acres of glebe, in the gift Tudor style, and was erected about 1865. T h e parish
of M iss L enthall, and held since 1895 b y the Rev. is m ostly the p roperty of M iss L en th all, who is la d y of
Edward M ewburn W alker M .A . Fellow of Queen’s C ol­ the m anor. Th e soil is loam y s a n d ; subsoil, sand.
lege, O xford. The charities are £ 10 10s. yea rly. The The ch ief crops are wheat, barley, oats and turnips.
Besils or B leselles fam ily, according to Leland, who The area is 906 a c r e s ; rateable value, £ 6 9 7 ; th e p op u­
visited this place on horseback in th e reign.,of Henry lation in 1911 was 68.
Parish C lerk and Sexton, H enry Kent.
V III. (Itinerary, vol. vii. 167), cam e ou t of Provence,
and w ere “ m en of activity e in F eates of A r m e s ; ” The inhabitants of this v illag e are en titled to send their
children to the school at Appleton, endowed by Sir
M atthew de B esille (a place in Provence) held G loucester
R ich ard F ettyp lace knt. son of Bessels F ettip lace esq
C astle for K in g H enry I I I . ; th ey cam e into posses­
Letters
th rou gh Abingdon arrive at 7 a.m . & 1 p.m .
sion of th is m anor by m arriage, in 1350, and one
Appleton is the n earest m oney order & telegraph
m em ber of the fam ily, S ir Peter Besils, gave the
office, about 1 m ile distant
stone for th e building of Borford bridge, at Abingdon,
W all L e tter B ox cleared week days at 11.50 a.m . & 6.55
in 1416, and le ft houses for rep airin g th e bridge and
p.m . ; Sundays, 10.30 a.m . ; U pper B esselsleigh, 7
ro a d s ; the la st direct h eir of th is fam ily in ter­
p.m . week days & 10.35 a.m . Su n d a ys
m arried w ith one of the F ettip laces of A ppleton and C arriers.— S tallard, to A bingdon, m on. & f r i . ; also
L ittle Shefford, and in 1634 th e estate was sold to
H iggin s, to O xford, wed. & fri
Lentball M iss. Besselsleigh m anor
c o m m e r c ia l .
jH edderlev A delaide (M rs.), farm er,
W alker Rev. E dw ard M ewburn M .A G iles H enry, farm er, R ow leigh farm I L ittle B radley
Fellow of Queen's College, Oxford
G rain ger Thom as, farm
bailiff to H icks Sarah (M rs.), G reyhound P.H
The R ectory
Miss L en th all
|Manley B obt.B . farm er, G reat Pk.frm
Haynes H enry Jas.farm er, H om e farm
B E 'S S E L S L E I G H

B I N F I E L D is a scattered village and parish 2k
m iles from the B racknell station of the London and
South W estern railw ay, 3^ n orth-east from W oking­
ham and 9^ east from W indsor, in the E astern division
of the county, p etty sessional division of W okingham ,
hundred of C ookham , union of E asth am p stead and
county court d istrict of W indsor, rural deanery of
Maidenhead, archdeaconry of Berks and diocese of
Oxford. The parish is supplied w ith w ater by the
W okingham D istrict W ater Co. T h e church of A ll
Saints is a b u ild in g 0^ stone in the Perp en dicular or
T hird Pointed style, and was probably b u ilt in the
la tter p art of the reign of E dw ard II. : it consists of
chancel w ith aisles, nave of four bays, north aisle,
south porch, v estry and an em battled western tower,
containing 6 bells and a c lo c k ; the bells were recast
and rehu ng in 1910: in the chancel is a fine brass,
w ith half-effigy, and inscrip tion in Norm an-French
to W alter de A nnesfordhe, a form er rector, dated
1307: the north aisle was added by subscription and
the church re-seated in 1848: in 1859 th e north
chancel-aisle was added by the late Mrs. Y oun g, the
chancel being at the sam e tim e restored at th e ex ­
pense of the Ven. Jam es Randall, archdeacon of Berks
and late rector, a v estry built, and other alterations
m ad e: the east window is s ta in e d : there are two
mem orial windows in the chancel to the fam ily of the
late r e c to r : one at the east end of the south aisle to
Mrs. Parker, another at the w est end to C. Parker
esq. and one in the north aisle to M rs. Y o u n g : the
pulpit of oak, handsom ely carved, dates from 1628;
attached to the pulpit is a v ery ancient hour-glass
stand of iron curiously w rou gh t w ith the arm s of the
S m ith s’ and F arriers’ Com panies of the C it y of
L o n d on : in 1887 a m em orial to the Ven. Archdeacon
Randall, rector 1831-59, was added in the form of a
beautiful carved oak reredos in three co m p artm e n ts;
im m ediately below the reredos runs a bold altar-sh elf
of alabaster, carved in h ig h relief w ith shields and
flo w ers: the walls on either side of the east window
are filled w ith glass m o s a ic s : the ancient piscina in
the east w all still re m a in s : the chancel is divided

from the body of the ch urch by a screen of lig h t and
very g ra cefu l ironwork, and sim ilar side screens fill
the arches on either side of the ch a n c e l: th e original
copy of E rasm u s’ paraphrase on the Gospels and the
Acts of th e Apostles, placed in the church by order of
K ing E dw ard V I. in 1547, has been replaced and there
is a fram ed list of the rectors from 1300 to 1859, placed
in th e church by the la te Canon E dm und S av ory M .A .
rector 1859-1904; a new organ was provided in 1 9 1 0
at a cost of £800; the ch u rch was restored in 1 8 8 7 a t a
cost of £1,400, and affords 625 sittin g s. T h e reg ister
dates from th e year 1538. T he liv in g is a rectory, n et
yea rly value £236, in clu d in g residence, in th e g ift of
the Lord Chancellor, and held since 1909 by the Rev.
Richard A ub rey C h ich ester Bevan M .A. of T rin ity C o l­
lege, Cam bridge. S t . M ark’s chapel of ease, erected by
subscription in 1866, is a buildin g of Ted b rick, w ith
stone facings, in the E a rly E n glish style, and consists
of chancel, nave, aisles and tra n s e p ts ; one aisle was
added and the chapel restored in 1875-6, at a cost of
over £ 598» an<* a reredos of oak was erected in 1897 :
there are 350 sittin gs. H ere is an undenom inational
chapel, erected in 1875, w ith sittin gs for 150, and there is
also a Gospel hall. Th ere is a fuel allotm ent of 13 acres,
producing £ 1 0 yearly, and ch arities of £50 a year for
distribution. Th e W orkin g’s Men’ s C lub, erected by
subscription in 1885, is a substan tial b u ild in g of red
brick, com prising large reading and sm oking room s
and a lib ra ry of 500 volum es. Binfield Park, th e resi­
dence of A . A . Vlasto esq. is a m ansion of brick
surrounded by a park of about 100 acres.
Binfield
C ourt is th e seat of M rs. W h itaker. F orest Lodge,
a handsome house surrounded by a park of about
100 acres, is the seat of L a d y M orshead.
Binfield
Lodge, occupied by Helen, L a d y C lark, is a m ansion
of brick and stone, stan din g in grounds of about 60
acres, and has successively belonged to th e N eville
and Vernon fam ilies ; it was orig in ally one of the
hun tin g lodges of W indsor G reat Park. A rth urston e
is the residence of Jam es W illiam M acnabb esq. J .P . ;
Egm ont, of M ajor R. E. L. R a d c liffe ; F arley Copse,
of Colonel Donald J. C-. M acnabb C . S . I . ; AHanbay,