VCH Oxon Texts in Progress Milton-u-Wychwood (Nov. 2015 version) manors p. 1 VCH Oxfordshire Texts in Progress MILTON-UNDER-WYCHWOOD Manors and Estates By inclosure in 1849 Milton s landownership was fragmented. Detail from the inclosure map in Oxfordshire History Centre. In the late Anglo-Saxon period Milton-under-Wychwood formed part of the large royal estate of Shipton, which retained holdings there as late as the 17th century. 1 A separate 5-hide manor was created before the Norman Conquest, and was divided before 1086 into two unequal parts. 2 The smaller 1-hide manor was given c.1200 to Bruern abbey, which added all or part of the larger portion by c.1300. Known usually as Milton Sandbrook, the abbey s combined manor passed into lay ownership at the Dissolution, and until the 20th century was often held with neighbouring Shipton or Lyneham manors. A separate 1-hide manor, called Milton Spencer, was attached to Langley manor (in Shipton) from the 13th to the 16th 1 TNA, DL 29/641/10409 and /10410 (1490s, also mentioning Shipton demesne in Milton field); Bodl. MS Top. Oxon. d 169, ff. 81v., 101 5 (1617); above, vol. intro. (settlement). 2 VCH Oxon. I, 409, 426.
Valery. 9 Ranulf Flambard became bishop of Durham in 1099 and may have held the 4-hide VCH Oxon Texts in Progress Milton-u-Wychwood (Nov. 2015 version) manors p. 2 century, when it was joined with Milton Sandbrook. Its origins are unknown, but probably it was created out of Shipton manor in the 12th century. 3 From the Middle Ages a considerable amount of land was held in free tenure, and in the 19th century landownership remained fragmented, with Milton Sandbrook covering only c.750 a. (c.36 per cent of the township) following inclosure in 1849. 4 In 1910 only five estates covered more than 150 a. each, and a similar number remained in 1941. 5 Few of Milton s lords appear to have been resident, and no manor house is known. Milton Sandbrook Milton s 5-hide manor was divided before 1086, when Ranulf Flambard held 4 hides from the king. The remaining hide was held by a certain Roger of William FitzOsbern (d. 1071), earl of Hereford, and had been subinfeudated to Ælfsige of Faringdon s son Ælfwig. 6 Around 1200 Ælfwig s grandson Robert of Astrop granted it to Bruern abbey, 7 which added to it piecemeal 8 and in 1279 held 10 yardlands and 40 cottages. By then the abbey s manor was reckoned at a fifth of a knight s fee, and was held of the earl of Cornwall s honor of St manor until his death in 1128. 10 Possibly it was acquired by Ælfwig s son William, who was presumably the William son of Euulfi whose son Richard gave demesne tithes in Milton to Eynsham abbey before 1167. 11 Richard s son William confirmed his father s gift from 2 hides in Milton, suggesting that by 1180 Flambard s manor had been divided, the other half being held by Roger son of Salomon of Ascott. 12 In the 1180s 90s 2 hides were granted to Bruern abbey by the royal justice and sheriff of Oxfordshire Robert of Wheatfield (d. by 1194), 13 and the abbey was given other land in the township by William son of Richard (sometimes called of Milton ). 14 Wheatfield s remaining interest in the manor was inherited by his brother 3 Below, Shipton-under-Wychwood, manors. 4 OHC, Lo. VI/11, pp. 88 94; Bodl. R.MS. C17:49 (178). In 1616 the township as a whole was reckoned at 56 yardlands: J. Howard-Drake (ed.), The Church of St Mary the Virgin, Shipton under Wychwood, Oxfordshire: Churchwardens Accounts 1554 1696 (Wychwood Local Hist. Soc., 2009). 5 OHC, DV X/32; TNA, MAF 32/916/95; below (other estates). 6 VCH Oxon. I, 388, 409, 426; for Ælfwig and Ælfsige, Blair, A-S Oxon. 175. 7 TNA, E 315/46, no. 124. 8 e.g. ibid. E 326/6521; E 326/6536; E 326/11606; Cat. Ancient Deeds, II, B.2472. 9 Rot. Hund. II, 738. 10 New DNB. 11 Eynsham Cart. I, pp. 2, 117; II, p. liv. 12 Ibid. I, pp. 116 17. 13 TNA, E 315/37, no. 82; ibid. E 327/662; T. Madox, Formulare Anglicanum (1702), p. 218. 14 Rot. Chart. 146; TNA, E 210/3255.
VCH Oxon Texts in Progress Milton-u-Wychwood (Nov. 2015 version) manors p. 3 Henry, 15 while William s estate may have passed to his son Henry (son of William), who in 1198 and 1219 held a carucate in Milton by serjeanty, worth 40s. a year. 16 Henry son of William was probably known also as Henry de Luddington or Loddington: in 1241 he held 40s. annual rent in Milton by serjeanty of giving water to the king when he came to Cornbury. 17 He was succeeded by his son Fulk de Liddington, who gave the 40s. rent to Bruern abbey. 18 By unknown means Fulk or his father Henry seem to have reunited Flambard s 4-hide manor, which in 1279 was held from Fulk by Nicholas de Gardino, 19 son of the local landholder John de Gardino, and grandson of Robert de Gardino. 20 Bruern abbey held 7 yardlands in alms from Nicholas, whose manor (like that of Shipton) was by then held of the earldom of Gloucester. 21 Nicholas also paid Fulk s 40s. rent to the abbey, until the monks relinquished all but 1s. of it in return for a grant of Milton s watermill. 22 Simon de Gardino still lived at Milton in 1316, but by then the lordship of the manor may have passed to Bruern abbey. 23 Bruern abbey s combined estate, known sometimes as Milton Monachorum or Milton Sandbrook (or Sambrook), was held by the monks until the abbey s Dissolution in 1536. 24 In 1366 they were granted free warren (the right to hunt small game) there. 25 In the late 1530s 40s a royal bailiff accounted for the rents of the manor s free and customary tenants, 26 until Milton was granted with Shipton manor to Sir Thomas Seymour (d. 1549), and afterwards to John Dudley (d. 1553), earl of Northumberland. 27 In 1560 the Crown gave the manor (with its rents) to Sir Edward Unton, 28 and thereafter Milton and Shipton descended together until the division of the Fettiplace estate after 1806. Milton was then allotted to Diana Frances Gorges (d. 1836), 29 who divided it. A portion (375 a.) was bought by the owner of Shipton Court in 1856; 30 the lordship, however, belonged by 1833 to Francis George Spencer, 2nd Baron Churchill, 31 who sold it (with c.715 a.) before 1838 to the Oxford MP and Milton landowner 15 Oxon. Fines, p. 2; VCH Oxon. VIII, 266. 16 Book of Fees, I, 11, 252. 17 Oxon. Eyre, 1241, no. 1019. 18 TNA, E 326/6533. 19 Rot. Hund. II, 738. 20 TNA, E 326/6533; E 326/6534; S.R. Wigram (ed.), Cartulary of the Monastery of St Frideswide, II (ORS 31, 1896), p. 245. 21 Rot. Hund. II, 738; TNA, E 315/37, no. 63; below, Shipton-under-Wychwood, manors. 22 TNA, E 326/6533; Cal. Pat. 1301 7, 522; below, econ. hist. (milling). 23 TNA, E 179/161/8; ibid. E 210/3952; ibid. E 326/6530; E 326/6647. 24 Valor Eccl. II, 201. 25 Cal. Chart. 1341 1417, 196. 26 TNA, SC 6/HENVIII/2924 31. 27 GA, D9125/3/26; TNA, LR 2/189; below, Shipton-under-Wychwood, manors. 28 Cal. Pat. 1560 3, 9 10; below, Shipton-under-Wychwood, manors. 29 OHC, SL199/D/21 2; ibid. QSD/L/198; below, Shipton-under-Wychwood, manors. 30 OHC, E2/10D/3; below, Shipton-under-Wychwood, manors. 31 OHC, Lo. V/1.
VCH Oxon Texts in Progress Milton-u-Wychwood (Nov. 2015 version) manors p. 4 James Haughton Langston (d. 1863) of Sarsden. 32 Thereafter Milton descended with Sarsden and Lyneham manors until the sale of the earl of Ducie s estate in 1922. 33 In 1910 the earl owned c.750 a. in Milton, including three farms later sold to owner-occupiers. 34 Milton Spencer In 1279 Thomas de Langley held 4 yardlands in Milton from the king. 35 The estate s origins can be traced to a hide held by the hereditary foresters of Wychwood in the early 13th century, 36 and thereafter it descended with Langley mill and later with Langley manor. 37 In 1361 it comprised a house, 80 a. of arable, 3 a. of meadow, and 20s. rent held from Sir Edward Spencer by knight service, 38 becoming known later as Milton Spencer, 39 and in 1552 it may have been occupied as a copyhold of Langley manor by Richard Parrot. A further 6½ yardlands in Milton were then also copyholds of Langley manor. 40 In 1581 (when Langley was separated from Shipton) the estate remained attached to the Milton Shipton estate, and descended thereafter with Milton Sandbrook. 41 Other Estates In the 19th century over 60 per cent of Milton s land lay outside Milton Sandbrook manor, 42 and prominent freeholders were recorded from the Middle Ages. 43 Brasenose College, Oxford, bought a house and land called Breakspeare s Place in 1520, and in 1536 added a farm called Hinton Lilies and Fisians. 44 In the 17th and 18th centuries the college held 6 yardlands, let usually for 21-year terms at fixed rents assessed in cash, wheat, and malt, with an obligation to entertain the principal and fellows for two days and three nights a year. 45 In 1828 the estate (then c.200 a.) was still held on a 21-year beneficial lease, 46 which fell in shortly before inclosure in 1849 when the college was awarded 226 acres. 47 In 1941, 32 Ibid. Lo. V/3; ibid. QSD/L/198. 33 Above, Lyneham, manors. 34 OHC, DV X/32; ibid. RDC9/3/F6/1; below, econ. hist. (since 1800). 35 Rot. Hund. II, 739. 36 Cur. Reg. VII, pp. 28 9, 40; Oxon. Fines, pp. 49 50; Oxon. Eyre, 1241, no. 618. 37 Below, Shipton-under-Wychwood, manors. 38 Cal. Inq. p.m. XI, pp. 85 6; Cal. Close 1360 4, 314. 39 e.g. OHC, Fi. VI/i/a/7; ibid. Lo. V/1; ibid. inclo. award. 40 TNA, LR 2/189, ff. 80v. 81v. 41 Below, Shipton-under-Wychwood, manors. 42 Above (manors intro.). 43 e.g. GA, D9125/3/26, ff. 31v. 32; TNA, LR 2/189, ff. 100v. 101; below, social hist. (Middle Ages). 44 F. Madan (ed.), Brasenose College Quatercentenary Monographs, I (1909), VI, 20, 25. 45 Brasenose College Archive, Milton-under-Wychwood deeds and leases 1596 1792. 46 Oxf. Jnl, 26 Apr. 1828. The college was not named as landowner in 1843: OHC, tithe award. 47 OHC, inclo. award.
VCH Oxon Texts in Progress Milton-u-Wychwood (Nov. 2015 version) manors p. 5 following further acquisitions, the college owned Manor farm (c.235 a.), Lower farm (149 a.), and Downs farm (c.228 a.) in the southern part of the parish. 48 Sir Henry Unton sold separate land belonging to Milton Sandbrook in the 1590s, 49 though some was recovered by the Lacys soon after. 50 Landownership remained fragmented in 1800 when 46 proprietors paid land tax, and though Charles Fettiplace (as lord of Milton Sandbrook) was charged the highest single amount, he nevertheless paid only 12 per cent of the total. Most individual proprietors held only small amounts of land, however, 51 with only four (out of more than 70 paying tithe) holding estates of more than 150 a. each in 1843. 52 At inclosure six years later, four owners including the lord J.H. Langston received 85 per cent of the land allotted, leaving the remainder divided amongst 30 others. 53 Other large landowners by 1910 included W.F. Pepper of Shipton Court (c.372 a.), Brasenose College, Oxford (c.244 a.), R.H. Gayner (c.186 a.), and Mervyn Wingfield of Barrington (c.154 a.). 54 A 13th-century Milton estate belonging to the earldom of Gloucester 55 was almost certainly in Milton Keynes (Bucks.), 56 despite being partly held by the local Toky family. 57 48 TNA, MAF 32/916/95, nos 2, 12, 20. 49 Cal. Pat. 1595 6, p. 16; 1596 7, pp. 232 3. 50 Ibid. 1598 9, p. 188; below, Shipton-under-Wychwood, manors. 51 OHC, QSD/L/198; K. Tiller (ed.), Milton and Shipton in the 19th Century, Wychwoods Hist. 3 (1987), 12, 14. 52 OHC, tithe award. 53 Ibid. inclo. award; Tiller, Milton and Shipton in 19th Cent., 34 6. 54 OHC, DV X/32. 55 For refs, Close 1261 4, 287; Cal. Inq. p.m. I, p. 159; III, p. 248; IX, p. 62; XVI, p. 167; XVII, pp. 103, 492; Cal. Close 1392 6, 47. 56 VCH Bucks. IV, 403. 57 For family, TNA, E 210/3255; ibid. E 326/6533; E 326/6534; E 326/11606; ibid. E 327/430.