Sandleford

Sandleford Priory

The remains of Sandleford Priory (1200–1478) are incorporated into St Gabriel's School.

Sandleford was a priory of Austin canons, founded between 1193 and 1202 by Geoffrey, 4th count of Perch, and Richenza-Matilda his wife. A confirmation charter from Archbishop Stephen indicates the priory was dedicated to St John the Baptist and endowed with all the lands of Sandleford. The appropriation of the priory to the Dean and Canons of Windsor was mainly owing to Bishop Beauchamp of Salisbury, who was dean of Windsor from 1478 to 1481. By this time it appears the religious had forsaken the priory.

On 9 March 1478, Richard Beauchamp, Bishop of Salisbury and Dean of Windsor, surrendered to the Dean and Canons of Windsor, all the lands, tenements, manors, etc, in Berkshire, formerly belonging to the Prior and Convent of St John the Baptist, Sandleford.

The priory had been richly endowed with properties over a number of years and those which came into the possession of the Dean and Canons included the following: Lands in Bramley, Chiddingfold, and Hambledon, Surrey; the manor of East Enborne, Berkshire; lands in Freefolk, Whitchurch, Hampshire; lands in Kingsclere, Hampshire; lands in Newbury, Berkshire; lands in Newtown, Hampshire; lands in Pamber, Hampshire; the manor of Roke, Odiham, Hampshire; and the rectory of West Ilsley, Berkshire.

The original rhomboid shaped endowment for the Augustinian priory of Sandleford read something like:

with the church and all the lands at Sandelford [Sandleford, aka Sandaleford : ford of the river Ale-burne], as it is bounded by hedges and ditches [i.e. enclosed] and all its appurtenances, And the whole of the wood which is called Brademore [Broadmore], And the whole of the land on each side of the wood, as it is bounded on one side by the watercourse which is called the Aleburne [River Enborne] from the Bridge of Sandleford up to the Aleburne-gate, and on the other-side as far as it is bounded by the road which reaches from Aleburne-gate towards Newbury as far as the croft of William the Hunter, and on the third side so far as the road is carried, thence to the croft of Robert the son of Renbaldi, [Robert fitz Rembaldand], – that is the road that leads to Newbury, and on the fourth side as it is bounded by the same road [A339] as far as the bridge of Sandleford.

An extract of the original Latin foundation description:

... ecclesiam et totam terram de Sandelford, sicuti sepibus vel fossatis circumsepta est, cum omnibus pertinentiis suis, et totum boscum qui vocatur Brademore, et totam terram ex utraque parte jusdem bosci, sicut cingitur ex una parte acqua quae vocatur Aleburne, a ponte de Sandelford usque ad Alburnegate, et in alia parte sicut cingitur via quae extenditur de Alburnegate versus Nyweburie, usque ad croftam Willielmi Venatoris: ...

Sandleford Cottage/Lodge/Place

On the southern boundary, by the River Enborne, on the Berkshire and Hampshire, and Sandleford and Newtown border.

Literature

The original home of the rabbits in Richard Adams' novel Watership Down was at Sandleford.

Mrs. Elizabeth Montagu, the distinguished blue-stocking, who lived at Sandleford from 1742 until her death in 1800 writes from and mentions Sandleford in dozens of her of letters.

Sandleford Fair and Festival

On 1235 the Prior of Sandleford obtained from King Henry III the right to hold a charter fair of four days during the Feast of Saint Matthew the Apostle (21 September), and perhaps another two days around 20–23 September. Suitably enough, 780 years later, the present day Newbury Show, aka Royal County of Berkshire Show, is held over those days. Perhaps one is the successor of the other, afteral the first annual Newbury and District Agricultural Show was held in 1909 on land included in the Priory's original 1190s endowment at Enborne Gate Farm, aka Alburnegate.

Free Warren

In 1293, King Edward I granted the priory free warren on all its demesne lands at Sandleford and Enborne; so long as nevertheless those lands are not within the bounds of our forest. (Note that forest does not mean woods).

Notable owners, residents, and people associated with Sandleford

From secluded holy women (inclusae), naughty priors (Simon Dam) with illicit mistresses (Thomasina), via the Blue-stocking pioneer (Elizabeth Montagu) to the present day where one of the co-absentee-landowners is husband of a Russian princess and father a star of Made in Chelsea, the rulers Sandleford have been a illustrious bunch.

At time of the Domesday survey in 1086 Sandleford seems to have been a part of or belonged with Ulvitrone, aka Newbury, to Arnulf or Ernulf de Hesdin (1038-killed Antioch, 1097/98), son of Gerard IV of Hesdin by his wife Nesta ferch Gruffydd, a daughter of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn by Ealdgyth, daughter of Earl Ælfgar. Newbury was assesed to have had pannage for 50 hogs, much of this woodland will have been the wood called Brademore (Broadmoor) at Sandleford.

Inclusa of Sandraford, as mentioned in a pipe roll of 26 Henry II, 1179–80. Otherwise known as an anchoress, a female Anchorite, a withdrawn holy person;

Geoffrey and Matilda

Anglo-French magnate and veteran of the Third Crusade Geoffrey (died 1202, buried St. Denis, Nogent-le-Rotrou), Earl of Perche and Mortagne, of the House of Châteaudun, Lord of the manor of Newbury, and his wife (they married in 1189) Richenza-Matilda of Saxony, daughter of Henry the Lion, duke of Bavaria and duke of Saxony, (died 1195) by Matilda (or Maud) of England (died 1189). Matilda, countess de Perche, was thus a legitimate granddaughter of King Henry II (died 1189) and Eleanor of Aquitane (died 1204), a great-granddaughter of Empress Matilda (died 1167), great-great grand daughter of Matilda of Scotland (died 1118), and was niece of both King Richard the Lionheart (died 1199) and Bad King John (died 1216), and of Queen Eleanor of Castille (died 1214). The Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV was one of Matilda's brothers. In 1204, two years after count Geoffrey's death, Richenza-Matilda married Enguerrand III, Lord of Coucy (c.1182–1242), Enguerrand le Grand, of Picardy.

Matilda and Geoffrey III, fourth Count of Perche, founded Sandleford Priory between 1193 and 1200. In addition to the freehold of the site and 600 or so acres, all the lands at Sandleford, as it is bound by hedges and ditches, with all its appurtenances, an annuity of 13 marks from the mills of Newbury was allocated for the support of the house.Geoffrey's grandfather the great Rotrou III, Count of Perche (1084-killed 1143/44) married (1136) Hawise (Harwise or Hedwig) d'Evereux (1118–1152), daughter of Walter (d'Evereux) of Salisbury by Sibyl de Chaworth (de Chaources, alias Mundublel, alias de Cadurcis). Sibyl's parents who married in 1118 were Maud/Matilda de Hesdin and Patrick de Chaources. Sibyl was thus a granddaughter of the modern era founder of Newbury the Lord of Ulvritone, Ernulf de Hesdin (died Antioch, 1097). Hawise was an elder sister of Patrick of Salisbury, 1st Earl of Salisbury (c. 1122 – 1168) and of Sibyl Marshal.Hawise and Rotrou III's son, Count Geoffrey's father, Rotrou IV, count of Perche and Mortagne, was slain during the Third Crusade the at Siege of Acre, having married Matilda (died 1184) daughter of Theobald IV.Hawise's younger sister Sibyl (1120-) married John Marshal, and their sons John the Marshall, William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke and Henry Marshall (bishop of Exeter) (died 1206) were thus Geoffrey's first cousins-once-removed. After Count Thomas Perche's death, at the Battle of Lincoln leading the forces of the Capetain Prince Louis against King John and his noble cousin William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke (died 1219) in 1217, his noble kinswoman, a second cousin once removed, Ella or Ela of Salisbury, 3rd Countess of Salisbury, daughter of William of Salisbury, 2nd Earl of Salisbury, and wife of William Longespée (Longspey), 3rd Earl of Salisbury claimed some of his property, including Newbury. William Longspey, Lord Salisbury, was uncle of Henry III.The connection of John le Marshal (died 1194) and his younger brother William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke (died 1219), of Newbury Castle, Hamstead Marshall to Sandleford also shown by the former's mistress Alice de Colville (died before 1220?) of Maidencourt, East Garston giving six-quarters of wheat (28 pounds x 6 = 168 pounds = 12 stone) from Maidencourt to the Priory of Sandleford for praying for their souls.

Geoffrey's uncle Stephen du Perche (1137/8–1169), had been Archbishop of Palermo, and his brother Stephen was killed at siege and Battle of Adrianople in 1205, while two other brothers, Rotrou (bishop 1190–1200) and William (died 1226), were both sometime bishops of Châlons.

In 1195 Geoffrey was described by the chronicler as a man whose soul was naturally grand and magnanimous [whose] sole happiness was to consecrate his fortune in fostering religion and relieving suffering humanity [in conjunction with] his noble and pious wife Matilda.

Archbishop (and Cardinal) Stephen (Langton) (c.1150–1228) (Archbishop of Canterbury, 1207–1228), in its confirmation charter stated that the house was dedicated to the honour of St. John Baptist (and the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the Saints). The original seals on the charter featured those of the Archbishop of Canterbury Hubert Walter, the Bishop of Sarum Herbert le Poer (Poore), William of Perche (died 1226) bishop of Châlons, and Stephen of Perche (killed in 1205);

Despite the royal status of the widow Countess Matilda, her uncle King John, around 1204, soon after death of the Count Geoffrey Rotrou of Perche in 1202 (Geoffrey had he not died would have taken part in the Fourth Crusade, started to repossess and reassign the lands of the Perche in England. Dr. Kathleen Thompson says (2013): However, the king went to some lengths to preserve the Rotrou family association with the lands. He guaranteed two pensions which Count Geoffrey had granted from the revenues of Newbury, ordering that Simon of Pattishall was to be reimbursed for their continued payment, and instructed Simon to honour Count Geoffrey's grant of a rent from the mill at Newbury to the canons of Sandleford.

Canons Regular;

Maud de Clare, (1223–1289), was daughter of John de Lacy, 2nd Earl of Lincoln, and the wife of Richard de Clare, 5th Earl of Hertford, 6th Earl of Gloucester, conceived at Sandleford, with help of a Papal mandate dated 1274, an Augustinian convent for 40 nuns and for 10 priests of the order of Fontevraud Abbey; Her husband was a grandson of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke. Her granddaughter, Elizabeth de Clare, founded Clare College, Cambridge in 1338.

Other typical donors to the priory

Between 1217–1223, a grant of money was made by Edelina de Broch (d.1220), widow, to the Canons of the Church of Saint John the Baptist, Sandleford of 40s. and 8d. from her inheritance in Frollebire [Frobury] for the maintenance of a Canon Chantry Priest, for the souls of herself, her father, Randulf de Broch [Broc] (died 1179 or 1187), and Damietta de Gorron (d.1204), the lady of Chetton, Eudon and Berwick (co. Salop), her mother, who brought lands at Frollebury (Frobury, Kingsclere) in Hampshire, and Stephen de Turneham (d.1214), her husband. Such money to be received from Henry de Wudecote, Walter de Clera, Hugh de Swantun, Joceus de Brikeull, William Furmentin of Spenes, Symon Cath, Wulfric de Marisco, Nicholas de Wullavintun, John Trull. Witnesses: Peter [de Rupibus], Bishop of Winchester, William Prior of Syreburn [Sherbourne], Dan Roger de Leburna, William de Stanes and William de Sorewull, Sheriff of the County of Southampton, Henry de Wudecott, Henry de Fernlehd, Thomas Croc, Roger Lanceleue, John de Hamtun, John de Wultun, Walter de Clera, William de Edmundesdrop, William Toli seneschel of the donor, Master Walter de Syreburne, Robert Fitzbernard of Hamtun, Richard, Clerk of Clera, Henry Blakemy, Wlater Clerk of the donor, Hugh de Swantun, Master Walter, Joceus de Brikeull, Bartholomew Crok, Richard Fitzruald, John his brother, Thomas the clerk.

This was confirmed by her daughter Beatrice de Fay (died before 1245), widow of Ralph de Fay, (she married secondly Hugh de Neville (died 1234) was the Chief Forester under the kings Richard I, John, and Henry III of England), to the Church of Saint John the Baptist, Sandleford, and the Canons, of rents etc, in Frollebire [Frobury], which Edelina de Broc, her mother gave them. Witnesses: William Prior of Sireburn [Sherbourne], Henry de Wodecot, Thomas Croc, Wlater de Clera, William de Edmundesthrop, John de Wltun, Richard de Quercu, John Lanceleuee, Bartholomew Croc, Richard Serviens, Auger Nepos of donor, John de Wodecot, Stephen de Hamtun. Her third husband Hugh de Plessetis (de Playz) had Beatrice excommunicated circa 1241 because she would not divorce him.

Grant [1216–1272] of corn by Thomas Croc [Croch] [dead by 1230] to the Canons of the Church of Saint John the Baptist, Sandelford [Sandleford] of three-quarters de meliori frumento [the better corn] annually in his town and manor of Estun [Crux Easton]. Witnesses: Sir Henry de Wodecote [ Woodcott ], John Lanceleuee, Robert Lord de Vrleston, William de Edmundestrop, Richard de Quercu, Bartholomew Croc, Vrlestun, son of Ranuld de Vndecote and Richard Croc.

West Ilsley

Grant [1150 or 1260] by William de Fiscampo [ Fécamp or Fecamp ] to the Church of Saint John the Baptist of Sandleford, of land in Wideheia [Woodhay or West Isley]-(one acre of corn for obleys at the alter, and for flour for the brethren serving God in the said Church). Witnesses: Dame Purnella his wife, Filip Croc, John the Chaplain, Geoffrey the Priest, William Bellet, Ralf Piione, Clement Riulfus, Richard Mainesac, Gilbert the Priest and Ralf the Priest.

Patent Roll, 8 September, Windsor, 1313: Confirmation of the grant and release which Agnes daughter of Henry de Pontaudemer [Pont-Audemer] (a Royal bailiff, of the House of Beaumont) (died circa 1229), sometime the wife of Richard [de] Neirnut, made to the church of St. John the Baptist, Sandelford, and to the prior and canons of that place, of all her lands, rents, and tenements in the town of Westhildeslye (West Ilsley) and of all her right in the advowson of the church of that place, and of a third part of the entire meadow which her father formerly held in the meadow of Sutton in Wolesham (Worsham?), and of a third part of her entire rent in the town of Wallingford; of the grant and release which Matilda de Abyndon, sometime the wife of Bartholomew de Thornton, made to that house of her entire right to the advowson of the church of All Saints, "Westhildesleye; of the grant and release which Miles de Bello Campo (Beauchamp), knight, made to them of his right in the advowson of the said church of Westhildeslye; and of a grant and confirmation which William son of Warin de Cherlton made to them of all his land and tenements in Westhildeslye, and which he held from them. By fine of 5 marks.

Further described in an Inspeximus, dated 1251–1256.

Peniton. Inspeximus of grant. [1250–1256]: Inspeximus by Agnes Nernut [Neyrnoit or Nervett], Dame de Peniton [Pennington], widow, of the grant by Henry de Pontaudemer, her father, to the Prior and Canons of Sandelford [Sandleford] of a wychwurth of salt to be annually received in his town of Peniton. Witnesses to the confirmation: Sir Nicholas de Henreth, Sheriff of Berks, Sir Alan de Fernham, Sir Walter de Ripariis, Sir Peter de Etingedene, Sir William de Brutenoles, Kts, John Belet of Eneburne, Elias de Bagenore. Witnesses to the original grant are noted as being: Nigel de Boklonde, Ralf Fucher, Adam de Wereborn, Henry de Wodecote, Robert de Treget, Thomas Croc, John Launceleue.

Inspeximus by Roger de Quency [Quincy], Earl of Winchester, Constable of Scotland, of the grant by Agnes Neyrnut, Dame of Penitune [Peniton], daughter of Henry de Ponte Audemer, widow of Sir Richard Neyrnut, to the Prior and Canons of the Church of Saint John the Baptist of Sandelford [Sandleford], of lands, rents etc, in Westhildesleg [West Ilsley], and also of the advowson of the Church of the same place; and also of lands in Sutton, in Wolesham, and in Walingeford [Wallingford] for the maintenance of a Canon for the souls of herself, her husband, her father, and Matilda, her mother, and of William, her son, at a rental of one penny to herself. Witnesses to the original grant: Sir Nicholas de Henreth, Sheriff of Bercsyre [Berkshire], Sir Alan de Fernham, Sir Walter de Ripariis, Sir Peter de Etingedene, Sir William de Brutenoles, Kts, John Belet of Eneburne, Elias de Bagenore. Witnesses to inspeximus and confirmation: Sir Robert de Quency his brother, Ernaldus de Bosco, William de Bosco, Saher de St Andrews, Peter le Poter, Vrienus de St Peter, Alan de Farnham, Walter de Ripariis, Peter de Hetingdno, Richard de Henreth, Knights, Elias de Bagenore, Geoffrey de Wancy, John de Bruer, Robert de Turberuile, Henry de la Beche.

Priory's main holdings in 1291

The taxation roll of Pope Nicholas IV in 1291 names temporalities (secular properties and possessions) that the prior of Sandleford held, which were worth (per annum):

£2 8s. 8d. at Newbury;

£1 15s. at Enborne;

£1 6s. at West Ilsley; and

10s. at Aldworth.

Kingsclere Woodlands

In 1312 Prior Thomas de Sandleford obtained a licence for alienation in mortmain to this convent of a messuage, 20 acres of land, and 2 acres of meadow in 'Clere Wodelond,' by Kingsclere, Hampshire.

Priors of Sandleford

Walter, occurs (presented or elected) July 1222;

John, occurs circa 1230-1240;

Gervase, occurs 1255;

Stephen, occurs 1256-1262;

Robert de Winchester (Wynton or Winton), elected or there 1301;

Thomas de Sandleford, occurs 1311, 1330;

William de Wynton (Winchester), resigned 1334;

Robert [Gilbert], 1334, and occurs 27 January 1336/7;

John, occurs 2 February 1354/55;

John, occurs 11 February 1383/84;

Richard Stanford, elected 1403;

Hugh Warham, elected 1406, a kinsman of William Warham (c.1450–1532);

Symon Dam, deposed 1439/1440;

William Costyn, elected 1448, formerly a canon of Bisham Abbey;

William Westbury, occurs 1457. First headmaster of Eton College 1442–1447, and then its fourth Provost 1447–1477. Provost Westbury saved Eton from amalgamation with St. George's Chapel, Windsor.

Robin Hood

Robin Hood, William Robehod, and or aka Robert le Fevre, from Enborne in Berkshire. Hood was indicted for various things, 1261–62, took flight, outlawed, and his chattels taken without warrant by the prior of Sandleford. Easter 1262 the prior was excused a fine by the king for having confiscated Hood's chattels.

One of the Henry III rolls of Easter 1262, reads:

Rex mandavit baronibus de scaccario per breve quod perdonavit priori de Sandelford' j marcam as quam amerciatus fuit coram Gilbert de Preston' et sociis suis justicariis ultimo itinerantibus in Comitatu Berk' pro eo quod idem prior seisivit sine waranto catalla Willelmi Robehod' fugitivi, et ideo quod ipsum inde quietus esse faciant.

Richard Beauchamp

Richard Beauchamp (died 1481), Bishop of Salisbury (1450–1481) and Dean of Windsor (1478–81), first Chancellor of the Order of the Garter. He gave, in co-ordination with Kind Edward IV, the by then abandoned, in religious terms, priory to the Dean and Canons of Windsor, on 9 March 1478;

Dean and Canons of Windsor

Dean and Canons of Windsor, aka, the Dean and Canons of the King's free chapel of St. George the Martyr within his castle at Windsor. Freeholders of Sandleford from 1478–1875;

Dr. John Burgess

A draft lease of the site of Sandleford Priory dated 30 September 1543 reads: Draft for a lease from William Frankeleyn, Dean, and the Canons of Windsor, to John Burges, of London, Doctor in Physick, of their place of Sandylford [Sandleford], in the County of Berks, for forty years at a rental of £10. A later muniment, 'Estimate of farm' was entitled: View or estimate of the farm of the priory of Sandylford [Sandleford], and of the free Chapel and Chantry there, with a declaration of the grant of the Dean and Canons of the King's free Chapel of Windsor lately made to John Burges, doctor in phisic, etc. Burgess who died in 1550, had an AM Oxon (1530–1), MB (1533–4), MD, and was admitted a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP) in 1536, was elected Censor and Elect, 1543; Consiliarius, 1544, 1545, 1546; and President, 1547. William Munk says that 'Dr. Burgess was dead on 30 March 1550, when his place of Elect was filled by the appointment of Dr. Caius' .

Thomas Hide or Hyde

A lease dated 11 October 1560 of the site of Sandleford Priory was named: Lease to Thomas Hide of Hurst, in the County of Barks, gentleman, for 6 years for £15, all the scite of the pryarye of Sandylforde [Sandleford] near unto Newberye [Newbury], in the County of Barks., signed Thomas Hyde. A later Thomas Hide (Hyde) of Hurst, Berkshire (died 1652), was son of William Hyde (c.1517–67), MP, and grandson of William Hyde (high sheriff) of the family Hide of Dentchworth.

Sir Francis Moore

Sir Francis Moore, (1559–1621), Kt., of South Fawley, the barrister (see above, the man who secured Sandleford's independence from Newbury in 1615), MP (for Reading), JP, High Steward of Newbury 1619, and solicitor (1585-c.1608) to the Wizard Earl Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland, JP, High Steward of Newbury 1619-death, took the leases of Sandleford, dated 3 November 1610, dated 20 April 1612, and 24 May 1615,

A 1622 lease named William Moore, son of Sir Francis, as the tenant;

Lease dated, 15 March 1624: Sir Henry Moore, of South Fawley, Bt., bought a baronetcy in 1626; son of Sir Francis;

Commonwealth and Protectorate

In October 1642, Colonel John Venn and twelve companies of foot soldiers took possession of Windsor Castle on behalf of Parliament, and soon after 23 May 1643 the Dean (Dr. Christopher Wren) and Canons left. On 17 October 1650 Sandleford and the estates that had come to the Dean and Canons of Windsor via Sandleford would have been included in an Act for sale of the Manors of Rectories and Glebelands late belonging to the late Archbishops, bishops, Deans, Deans and Chapters was passed, and in an Additional Act for more speedy effecting the sale of the Manors of Rectories and Glebe-lands late belonging to Archbishops, Bishops, Deans, Deans and Chapters, and other Officers and Titles which late were of or belonging to any Cathedral or Collegiate Church or Chapel in England or Wales; and for the encouragement of lenders upon the security thereof; and of other Lands and Hereditaments of the said Deans, Deans and Chapters, etc. which was added on 22 October 1650.

Alexander and Thomas Staples

A quitclaim dated 20 May 1662 states: Alexander Staples of the Middle Temple and Thomas Staples of the same for £200 paid by the Dean and Canons renounce and give a quittance of all their rights in Sandleford Priory. The scite of Sandelford Priory was by the trustees appointed by act of Parliament, 20 June 1651, sold to Thomas Bales of the Middle Temple, and he 25 February sold the same to Alexander Staples, and he settled it on Thomas Staples and his heirs.

Alexander Staples, son of Alexander Staples of Yate Court, Gloucestershire, (died 1590) by his second wife Elizabeth, was Mayor of Nottingham in 1629, and heir of the bulk of his estate of his 'kinsman' Alderman Robert Staples (died 1632), of Nottingham and Mapperley, cordwainer, Freeman of Nottingham, MP for Nottingham in 1615, and Lord Mayor of Nottingham in 1601, 1608, 1615 and 1622. Alexander Staples' youngest brother is presumed to have been Sir Thomas Staples, 1st Baronet (died 1653), of Lissan House, admitted to Middle Temple on 27 May 1606 and who left Bristol for Ulster c.1610.

Thomas Staples of Maidenhead, was named as the Steward of Windsor Court in the case of Vasper & wife v [James] East, 1685. One of the judges was George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys and at the time Henry, Earl of Arundel & Lord Mowbray was Constable of Windsor Castle.

By January 1689/90 however, Thomas Staples was proving to make the Oath to the new King. The House of Lords Journal, Volume 14, for 22 January 1689 reports that: Staples, Steward of Windsor, sent for, for refusing to give the Oaths. Upon Information given to this House, 'That Mr. Thomas Staples, Steward of Windsor Forrest, hath refused to give the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy and the Test to Mr. Charles Cleve Master of the Hospital of Oakingham, and Mr. William Walker Vicar of Sunning: It is thereupon ORDERED, by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal assembled at Westminster, That the said Thomas Staples be, and is hereby, required to attend this House on Friday next, being the 25th Day of this Instant January, at Ten of the Clock in the Forenoon, as he will answer the contrary to this House at his Peril.'

And on 'DIE Veneris, 25 die Januarii.' Staple's Examination about refusing to tender the Oaths deferred. The House being moved, 'That Mr. Thomas Staples, Steward of Windsor Court, who, by Order of the 22th [sic] Instant, was to appear this Day, attended at the Door; but not being able to get his Witnesses ready against this Day, might have longer Time given him for that Purpose:' It is ORDERED, by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal assembled at Westm. That the said Thomas Staples be, and is hereby, required to attend this House on Friday the 8th Day of February next, at Ten of the Clock in the Forenoon.

Kingsmill family

Three generations of the Kingsmill family of Sydmonton leased Sandleford between 1626 and circa 1715. Bridget Colt, Margaret Woodward (Lady Woodard [sic] seem to have been the lessee between Sir Henry Colt and Humphrey Forster), and Anne Forster, three of the seven daughters of Sir William Kingsmill, kt, (died 1618), by his wife Ann Wilkes, were followed by their nephew John, and then finally his son Henry.

Lease dated, 20 November 1626: Sir Henry Colt (died 1635), of Colts hall or Greys in Cavendish, Suffolk; married (1614) Bridget, fifth daughter of Sir William Kingsmill (died 1618), knighted (May 1603), of nearby Sydmonton Court, Hampshire, where on 18 and 19 August 1603 Sir William entertained King James and his Queen;

By 3 October 1628, the tenant was Sir John Woodward (died 1659) of Weston-sub-Edge. His wife, Lady Woodward, aka Margaret Kingsmill (baptised 30 August 1598 – died 1664), was the third daughter of Sir William Kingsmill, Kt., by Anna Wilks).

Before 1668, Sir Humphrey Forster (died 1663), of Aldermaston Court, sheriff of Berkshire 1619–20; created a baronet in 1620; married (circa 1615/16) Anne (died 1673), eldest daughter of Sir William Kingsmill, kt. (died 1618) of Sydmonton by Anna Wilks;

Lease dated, 6 May 1668: John Kingsmill, JP (Newbury, 1685), (died 1687), educated Trinity College, Oxford, the third son of Sir Henry Kingsmill (1587-1624/5), kt. (1610), of Sydmonton, by Bridget White (d.1672), of Southwick. They married 20 December 1610. His mother was for over a decade a close friend of the poet John Donne (1572–1631), and John thus may have been named after the poet.

John Kingsmill was husband to Rachael Pitt (died 1690), the second daughter of Edward Pitt the eldest son of Sir William Pitt (1559–1636), MP, kt. 1618, Comptroller of the Household. Edward Pitt (1592–1643), MP (Poole), of Steepleton Iwerne, near Blandford Forum, Dorset and later of Stratfield Saye, Hampshire, which he bought for £4,800 in 1629, had married Rachael (d. 1643) daughter of Sir George Morton, Bart. in 1620.Their sons (baptised in 1668 and 1670) Robert and Henry Kingsmill died without issue in 1697 and between 9 July 1715 and 4 June 1717, not before Henry Kingsmill of Sandleford was High Sheriff of Berkshire in 1706–1707.George Pitt the brother of Rachel Pitt, Mrs John Kingsmill, married Jane, the daughter of John Savage, 2nd Earl Rivers. John Kingsmill's sister Bridget (1622-c.1700) was wife to Richard Gorges (c.1619–1712), Lord Gorges of Dundalk, MP for Newton (1661), of Stetchworth, Cambridgeshire.Meanwhile, the poet and Maid of Honor to Queen Mary, Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea, (1661–1720), daughter of Sir William Kingsmill, kt., (1613–1661) of Sydmonton Court, was one of John Kingsmill's nieces and a first cousin of his sons Robert and Henry;

In the early eighteenth century the Pitt family of Strathfield-Saye were thought by the Lysons and Emily Climenson to have been lessees, possibly during the minority of the sons of Rachel Pitt (died 1690), aka Mrs John Kingsmill.

William Cradock

William Cradock (died 1736) of Gilling, Hartforth (from 1730) and Gainford Hall, Gainford, County Durham. In 1715 he married Mary daughter of Gilbert Sheldon, of St Andrew's, Holborn. Their daughter Mary married Gilbert Jodrell (died 1745), and in turn their daughter Sarah married Robert Child of Osterley Park;

Montagu family and associates

Edward Montagu, FRS (elected 1745), of Allerthorpe, Yorkshire, a distinguished mathematician, was MP for Huntingdon 1734–1768, son of the Hon. Charles Montagu (c. 1658–1721), MP for Durham, and grandson of Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich. He inherited in 1758, on the death of his lunatic first cousin, John Rogers (1685–1758), the coal-mines of the Denton Hall estate, East Denton, Newcastle, Northumberland, which had been bought by their grandfather in 1689 and 1705; he was the leaseholder of the Sandleford estate from 1730. Sandleford had been in possession of the first cousin (Rachael Pitt, Mrs. John Kingsmill, of Sandleford) of his first cousin, Sir Edward Wortley-Montagu (1678 –1761), the father of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Sandleford belonged to the Dean and Canons of Windsor, Robert Freind (1667–1751), a Canon of Windsor, the Canon of the Second Stall, from 29 April 1729 to 1737, was father of William Freind (c.1715–1766) whose wife Grace Robinson (1718–1766) was sister and co-heir of Edward's wife's cousin, Richard Robinson, 1st Baron Rokeby. Meanwhile, Sir Sidney Meadows (1701–1792), Kt., MP, of Conholt, Chute, Andover, was a brother-in-law having married his sister Jemima in 1742;

Mrs. Montagu (from 5 August 1742), aka Elizabeth Robinson, the blue-stocking, Edward Montagu's wife and then widow. Sister of Matthew (Matt) Robinson, FRS (elected 1746), MP (for Canterbury 1747–1761), Sarah Scott (1720–1795), Charles, MP (for Canterbury 1780–1790) and Rev. William Robinson (1727–1803) who was rector of Denton, 1764–1785, and of nearby Burghfield, 1767–1800, when succeeded by his son Rev. Matthew Robinson (died 1827). Sir Thomas Robinson, 1st Baronet was a kinsman. Rev. Laurence Sterne (1713–1768) married one of her first cousins. Her heir was her nephew, Matthew Montagu, FRS, MP, who succeeded to her estates in Yorkshire and Northumberland, and to Sandleford, in 1800, though he had already been living with her and there for years;

In a letter to one of her brothers, dated Sandleford, 9 June 1777, Mrs Montagu wrote about her agricultural relationship with Sandleford.

Robert Adam, employed by Mrs Montagu in 1765 at Sandleford;

Hannah More (1745–1833), friend of Mrs. Montagu;

Elizabeth Vesey (1715–1791), friend and adviser of Mrs. Montagu;

Margaret Bentinck, Duchess of Portland (1715–1785), of Bulstrode Park, friend of Mrs. Montagu;

William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath;

Dr. Beattie, (James Beattie the poet), stayed at Sandleford with his son in July 1791;

George Harcourt, 2nd Earl Harcourt (1736–1809), of Nuneham House, friend and garden adviser to Mrs. Montagu;

Mary Delany, aka Mrs. Pendarves, (1700–1788), friend of Mrs. Montagu;

Lancelot Brown (1716–83), Capability Brown, provided plans for the park and garden in 1781;

John Spyers (Spyres, Spiers, Spires), (c1720-1798), nurseryman and draftsman, Mr. Brown's surveyor;

James Wyatt, architect;

Joseph Bonomi the Elder, architect;

Samuel Lapidge, took over from Brown in the park and garden. Father of Edward Lapidge;

William Emes, also took over garden landscaping after Brown's death;

Sir Richard Jebb, 1st Baronet, introduced Mrs Montagu to the whiskey, a one-horse chair (chariot), which she used to get around her scenic acres at Sandleford;

Miss. Gregory (1754–1830), Dorothea Gregory; wife (from 1784) to Archibald Alison (author) (1757–1839), daughter of John Gregory, sister of James Gregory (physician) and mother of Sir Archibald Alison, 1st Baronet and William Alison. Invaluable companion to Mrs. Montagu, especially at Sandleford;

Mary Morgan's description

Mary Morgan (died 11 July 1808, aged 59), one of the two daughters of the Ipswich composer Joseph Gibbs (died 1788), and wife to Rev. Caesar Morgan, DD, (died 1812, aged 62), vicar of Wisbech and then Rector of St James' Church, Stretham, Cambridgeshire and (from 1804) a Prebendary of Ely, in her A Tour to Milford Haven, in the year 1791 published in 1795, wrote (Letter V, To Miss B _ _ _ _ , Burfield [ Burghfield ], 13 July 1791):

...I felt myself sufficiently gratified, that a great portion of genius is possessed by my sex; I was entirely devoid of dread or envy. After driving twenty miles through a very pleasant country, and through the pretty town of Newbury, we entered Mrs. Montagu's park, which seemed to have undergone some recent improvements, as the trees were many of them newly planted. The approach to the house is a fine lawn, with sheep feeding upon it. This gives you the idea of beauty blended with utility, which always produces agreeable sensations in the mind...

...In this wing is an elegant dressing-room above stairs. This too has a large bow, on the outside of which there is a very spacious balcony, surrounded by iron balustrades. The balcony commands a distant view of the Hampshire hills, and an extensive diversified country. The small village of Newton in the Valley has an humble simplicity in it, that is agreeably contrasted with the lofty hills beyond it...

...When we withdrew to go to bed, we were ushered up stairs by the major domo, with a wax light in each hand. I found the bedroom lighted up, and a female waiting in it ready to undress me. Mrs M.-- was not conducted into my room, but into a dressing-room adjoining, by a door that opened into a passage. Reflecting on this, to me unusual ceremony, I almost began to fancy myself a bride again; or else, that I was transported into some fairy region, where I was to be waited upon by spirits, that were every where attending without being called for...

...In the dressing-room there was a collection of books; amongst them I found your friend Miss Cornelia Knight's Dinarbas. Here you may amuse yourself in the morning, if you please, till dinner calls you again to society.

The grounds are laid out with the same Attic taste, as the house. Through a great part of them Mrs. Montagu has trained a river, which was little more than a ditch; and means to extend it still further... she has likewise cut a winding path through her plantations. It is a carriage way and is a mile in length. It is also a very pleasant walk, and may serve; 'or for study, or for love' being perfectly secluded. At agreeable distances are benches under the shadow of a large tree, or the shelter of a close hedge interwoven with woodbines and honeysuckles.

When walking in the grounds, I observed an extraordinary degree of cleanliness and decency in the men, who were at work in them. Upon enquiry I found they were all fed and cloathed by her hand. I perceived too that many of them had some great defect, occasioned by age, natural infirmity, or misfortune, being either blind, deaf, dumb, or lame; yet she so paired them, and fitted their employments to their several faculties, that the remaining senses of one served to supply the deficiencies of the other. By this stroke of benevolent ingenuity, though she does not get so much work done, as she would by stronger and abler men; she has the heart-felt satisfaction of making those useful and happy members of society, whom nobody else would employ, and who, but for her, must be dependent upon a parish for an idle and scanty substance. I hope it is not prophane to say, she has made the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the dumb to speak, and the lame to walk. The whole of this place suggested to me the idea of a Roman villa. There is every thing for use as well as beauty. The farm and dairy are not omitted; they supply the family and table with all things necessary and delicate. In short, there is a style in every part of it, that bespeaks a superior degree of judgment. Nothing is gaudy or superfluous, yet nothing is wanting. Native genius, matured by observation upon what is simply elegant, has guided the hand of the amiable possessor of this enchanting place... Adieu.

A few days later she continued: (To Miss B., Letter IX, Woodstock, 16 July 1791): Having before described Sandleford to you, I cannot help observing, that it is a striking contrast to Blenheim. But it is such a one, as when the eye, dazzled with gazing at the sun, falls on the soft green of a beautiful lawn, upon which it may rest for ever without satiety or weariness. At Sandleford the mind is gratified with everything that can render life rational and happy. At Blenheim it is fatigued with contemplating objects, that seem like a golden dream, too gay and too gaudy to be real.

Morgan's list of subscribers shows that Elizabeth Montagu, aka Montagu, Mrs. Portman Square-10 copies., and her nephew (the son of Rev. William Robinson, rector of Burghfield), aka Robinson, Rev. Mr. Rector of Coveney, in the Isle of Ely-6 copies., evidently appreciated this ebullient description.

Matthew Montagu, William Wilberforce, and Sandleford

Matthew Montagu (previously Robinson) (1762–1831), MP, FRS (elected 1795), 4th Baron Rokeby, in the peerage of Ireland, from 1829. He was Mrs. Montagu's favoured nephew, under whose wish he took the name of Montagu in 1776, and son of Morris Robinson of the Six Clerks' Office, Chancery Lane, London. Wraxall in his Memoir described Montagu's upbringing by his aunt: At her feet he was brought up, a school more adapted to form a man of taste and improvement than a statesman or a man of the world. Educated at Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge, he married Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Francis Charlton of Kent in 1785 by whom he had six sons and seven daughters. A 'faithful follower of Pitt', he was MP for Bossiney 1786–1790, for Tregony 1790–1796, and for St. Germans 1806–1812; Major commandant Newbury voluntary infantry 1803, lt.-col. commandant. 1803. In addition to holding the lease of Sandleford he bought land in the adjacent manor of Peckmore, (next to Greenham), a name a mix of Perche and moor; Matthew Robinson may have been influenced by or even employed Humphrey Repton at Sandleford as a result of having seen what he had done for the father of his patron at St. Germans, Lord Eliot of Port Eliot, in 1792–93 and 1802.

Montagu was a friend and supporter of William Wilberforce, and thus favoured the abolition of the slave trade. Wilberforce, stayed at Sandleford, 27–28 July 1789:

27th. Set off for Bath and reached Sandleford. The old lady [Elizabeth Montagu] wonderfully spirited, are all very kind in their reception. 28th. Almost compelled to stay with the Montagus all day. Mrs. Montagu senior has many fine, and great, and amiable qualities. Young Montagu all gratitude and respect and affection to her and of most upright and pure intentions.

Wilberforce was at Sandleford one night in July 1791:

Monday 28 July. Off betimes on Sierra Leone business-reached Sandleford (M. Montagu's) in the evening. Dr. Beattie was already arrived.

Chatteris and beyond

William Pollet Brown Chatteris (1810–1889), JP, DL (1852, Berks), educated at Eton and Brasenose college, Oxford, and son of a City of London banker, William Chatteris (died 1819) of Lombard street, who eventually bought the freehold, enfranchised the estate, from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, in 1875. The Dean and Canons of Windsor (with Westminster Abbey and the cathedrals of England and Wales) having been obliged to hand over their lands to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, now the Church Commissioners, on 26 June 1867.

At the time of the 1851 census Chatteris and his wife lived in the priory with an indoor staff of 12; butler, footman, under-butler, housekeeper, lady's maid, cook, laundry maid, three house maids, kitchen maid, and a scullery maid. One of his sisters, Eliza (died 1866), had married Edmund Arbuthnot (1793–1873) of Newtown in 1824, Sandlefords's closest village, which would have been Chatteris' introduction to the area as he took on the lease of Sandleford in 1835. His first wife (married 1833) was Anne (died 1848) eldest daughter of Rt Rev Alexander Arbuthnot, DD, Bishop of Killaloe (1768–1828), and his brother-law Edmund's first cousin. He planted a world-class azalea and rhododendron garden. He died at Sandleford Priory leaving £155,141, his executors were his former half-brother-in-law Sir Charles George Arbuthnot, GCB, (1824 –1899), and the Rev. Frances Charles Gosling, vicar in charge of Newtown, 1859–1900. Another half-brother-in-law Sir Alexander John Arbuthnot, KCSI CIE (1822–1907) lived at nearby Newtown house;

Alpin MacGregor (1846–1899), of 101 Mount Street, Mayfair, died at Frensham hall, unmarried. Gentleman Usher to HM Queen Victoria, fourth son of Sir John Atholl Bannatyne Murray Mac Gregor, 3rd bart., (1810-1851/52), of Lanrick and Balquhidder; lt-gov. of the Virgin Islands, by Mary Charlotte Hardy (d.1896), daughter and coheir of Admiral Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy, first Bart., GCB, Nelson's Hardy;, and thus nephew of Chatteris' second wife, Emily Georgina Hardy (Portugal,1811-Sandleford, 8 April 1887).

Miss Agatha Lilian Thynne (died 1962), Alpin Mac Gregor's niece, (and descended from Thomas Thynne, 2nd Marquess of Bath), was wife of the 3rd Baron Hindlip, and is hence a great-grandmother of Kirstie Allsopp. Her mother Mary Elizabeth Murray Mac Gregor (died 1934) and father John Charles Thynne (1838–1918), sometime receiver general to the Dean and Chapter of Westminster (1865–1902), were living at Sandleford Cottage in 1907, (they had married in Westminster Abbey on Abbey on 25 April 1871). Her sister Joan E. M. (1872–1945) was the mother of John Campbell, 5th Earl Cawdor.

Mrs. Henrietta Myers (Toxteth, Liverpool, 1832–1919), widow of guano and Liverpool shipping merchant Charles Myers (1827–1879), JP, of Botleigh and Swanmore, Bishops Waltham, Droxford, Hampshire, and director of Ismay Imrie & Co (White Star Line), was tenant from before 1898 until circa 1919. Her daughter Evelyn Elizabeth Myers (born Woolton, circa 1872-died June 1909) wrote A History of Sandleford Priory, with plates, Newbury District Field Club, Special Publication. no. 1. She had finished it by December 1906 but it was not published until 1931. She had an elder sister called Henrietta Constance (Woolton, 1866-died at Greenham Court, 1927). One brother was Rev. Canon Charles Myers (1856–1948), canon of Salisbury Cathedral, another was William Henry Myers (1854–1934), JP, DL, MP, of Swanmore House. Evelyn Myers' first cousin Major William Joseph Myers (1858–1899, killed at Battle of Ladysmith) was a prolific collector of Egyptian antiquities and of Arab glass and wall tiles.

At the time of the 1911 census Sandleford Priory was inhabited by two males and 14 females. Henrietta Myers (aged 79), her surviving daughter Henrietta Constance Myers (44), and a cook-housekeeper (66), two lady's maids (64 & 48), two laundry maids (20 & 38), three house maids (24, 24, & 22), kitchen maid (26), scullery maid (20), and two footmen (23 & 20).

Major Aubrey Isaac Rothwell Butler, (1878–1930), son of Isaac Butler (1839–1917), JP (Sheriff of Monmouth 1910), of Panteg House, Griffithstown, Torfaen, near Newport. It is claimed that the first sheet steel in Britain was rolled in Staffordshire in 1876 from a bloom made in Panteg by Isaac Butler. Aubrey Butler was sometime manager of Baldwin's Ltd branches in Monmouth & Midlands, Baldwins having taken over the family firm, Wright, Butler and Co Ltd, in 1902. Later he was Sheriff of Monmouthshire, 1924, and by the time of his early death was described as formerly of Sandleford Priory and of 13, Porchester Terrace, London.

Lady Mary Florence Holt (1877–1957), daughter of the 12th Earl of Meath, by Lady Mary Jane Maitland, daughter of 11th Earl of Lauderdale, and wife (from 4 June 1904) to Lt.Col. Harold Edward Sherwin Holt (1862–1932), TD, CBE, MIEE, FRGS, MA; educated at Eton and Magdalen college, Oxford; a mechanical and electrical engineer and inventor; sometime director of Daimler; Lord of the manor of Farnborough; of Ogbeare Hall, North Tamerton, Devon and Hornacott Manor, Boyton, Launceston, Cornwall; and founder member of the RAC and the Society for Psychical Research; hon. lieutenant-colonel in RAF and Hants Carabiniers Yeomanry. Meanwhile, Lady Mary's sister Lady Violet Constance Maitland (1886–1936) married the 4th Earl of Verulam in 1909. Lady Mary's brother, Reginald Brabazon, 13th Earl of Meath, married Lady Aileen May Wyndham-Quin (1873–1949), a daughter of Windham Wyndham-Quin, 4th Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl. There were two Holt sons: Adrian John Reginald (1907–1967) and Geoffrey Brabazon (1907–2008). Lady Mary sold the priory's furniture and outside effects, and presumedly the house in 1947, and St Gabriel’s School opened in 1948;

Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, of St. Gabriel's School;

Sandleford Mill/Cottage/Lodge/Place

John Deane, from circa 1624;

Mrs Colman;

Henry Hart Millman, divine, whose wife Mary Anne was a daughter of Lt-general William Cockell (died 1831) of Sandleford Lodge;

Robert Fellowes (1817–1915), of Shotesham, and his sister Louisa Fellowes (1817–1901), were both born at Sandleford Cottage, the seat of their father Robert (1779–1869). Later she married Sir Thomas Gladstone, Bt. (and thus sister-in-law of William Gladstone the Prime Minister). Children of Robert Fellowes (1779–1869) by his second wife Jane Louisa Sheldon, daughter of the MP for Wilton (1804–1822) Colonel Ralph Sheldon (1741–1822), of Donnington Cottage, near Newbury, Berkshire, and grandchildren of Robert Fellowes (1742–1829), of Shotesham, MP for Norwich. Their younger sister was Baroness Sandhurst (1827–1892), a philanthropist and suffagist. Robert Fellowes is a direct ancestor of Sir Robert Fellowes, aka Lord Fellowes.

The 1861 census lists at Sandleford Lodge, Lady Louisa Anne Magenis (1837–1918), daughter of Armar Lowry-Corry, 3rd Earl Belmore, and her husband (they married in 1860) Major Richard Henry Magenis (Mauritius, 1832– Abington, 1880). Magenis was a kinsman of Colonel Richard Magennis (married 1788) by his wife Lady Elizabeth-Anne Cole (1765–1807 or 1808), daughter of William Cole, 1st Earl of Enniskillen and sister of General the Hon. Sir Galbraith Lowry Cole, GCB, KCB, Governor of Mauritius 1823–1828. Richard Henry Magenis was J.P. for Counties Antrim and Cambridgeshire, High Sheriff of Antrim 1868, and Representative of the Viscounts Magenis (attainted 1691), with later addresses at Abington Hall, Cambridge; and Finvoy Lodge, Co. Antrim.

William Frederick Hicks-Beach (1841–1923), MP, was living at Sandleford lodge in 1869 and by 1871 he is recorded as having with him a wife and four children, and eight staff.

Mrs. Wedderburn (1825–), aka Selina Mary Garth, daughter of Captain Thomas Garth, RN, of Haines Hill, Hurst, Berkshire, and widow of Frederick Lewis Scrymgeour-Wedderburn (1808–1874), de jure 8th Earl of Dundee, and her daughters Charlotte and Selina Elgiva, (1856–), were living at Sandleford Lodge, c. 1881 and 1883;

Brigadier Wyndham Torr, CMG, DSO, MC, (1890–1963) of Sandleford Place; soldier in WW1; military attache Madrid, Lisbon, Washington, Spain, etc.;

Hon. Seton Montolieu Montgomerie (1846–1883), and his wife Mrs. Montgomerie, aka Nina Janet Bronwen Peers Williams (daughter of Thomas Peers Williams, MP), of Sandleford cottage (later renamed place), and their daughters Viva and Alswen.

Miscellaneous

Alice de Colville (died before 1220?) of Maidencourt, East Garston. Gave six-quarters of wheat (28 pounds x 6 = 168 pounds = 12 stone) from Maidencourt to the Priory of Sandleford for praying for the souls of John le Marshal (died 1194) and his younger brother William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, of Newbury Castle, Hamstead Marshall, etc.

King John, on 8 and 9 September 1204 stayed at Freemantle Park, above and south of Kingsclere and then on 22 August 1213 was at Peter des Roches the bishop of Winchester's Bishop's Clere (later Highclere);

King Edward II, of Carnarvon, on 31 August 1320 he was at Sandleford Priory, where he apparently tarried for the night. The Itinerary lists him as spending 2 September 1320 at Rigaud of Assier, the bishop of Winchester's Bishop's Clere, on the site of the present day Highclere Castle, and 29 and 30 August he was at Crookham, Berkshire.

Dated the feast of St. Katherine, 9 Edward III, [25 November, c. 1336], a grant was made by Hugh atte Thome and Maud his wife to Sir Nicholas atte Thorne their son, chaplain, of a burgage in Newtown (Nova Villa juxta Sandelford) between the brook called 'Aleburne' on the west and the highway to Winchester on the east;

King James I, was leased Sandleford farm by the Dean and Canons of Windsor, January 1605.

Anthony Child, Mayor of Newbury 1614, and sometime leasee of Sandleford;

Prince Rupert of the Rhine, at the start of the First Battle of Newbury in September 1643 the Prince lined up his cavalry at the western end of Sandleford estate, straddling the boundary with Wash Common and looking towards Enborne.

Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex: '... the line of march pursued by Essex to Reading, was from the Wash, by Sandleford, over Greenham Common, ...'

Richard Pinfold, one of 30 of the freeholders of Newbury in 1655, and sometime holder of the lease of the coppice named High Wood;

John Kendrick, Warren farm which abuts the estate to the west was purchased for £250, out of the £4000 which Kendrick left Newbury in 1624. In addition the Kendrick charity had two closes on the west side of Newtown lane leased from the Dean & Canons, for 10l 10s per annum.

Levi Smith (died 1703), Mayor of Newbury 1674 and 1693. Owned land in Greenham and along the Enborne at Peckmore in Greenham that abutted Sandleford and was later part of its demesne.

Richard Durnford, Bishop of Chichester, his mother Louisa (born 1781) was a daughter of John Mount (1725–1786) of Wasing was born at Sandleford. John Mount was also a grandfather of William Mount, (1787–1869), MP.

Rt. Rev. Richard Pococke (1704–1765), Bishop of Ossory and Meath, collected Cedar of Lebanon seeds in Lebanon in 1738, some of which are known to have been planted at Highclere Castle and Wilton House, but probably also at Sandleford and his family's own Newtown House, Hampshire;

James Asprey, Esq., maltster, (Highclere, 1811–1893), of Sandleford Grove, exhibited white trump wheat grown on very poor soil, weight 67 Lbs per bushel, at the Great Exhibition of 1851;

Richard Adams, who grew up in Wash Common;

Bloor Homes;

West Berkshire Council;

Lady Ana Wyndham-Quin

The other present owners and directors of Sandleford Farm partnership and Skilldraw Ltd include Nicholas Laing (c. 15%), of the family that made McVitie's, and father of TV's Made in Chelsea star Jamie Laing; Delia Norgate, widow of the founder of Trencherwood Homes, John Norgate; and Noel Gibbs a descendant of William Gibbs of Tyntesfield, and of Sir Frederick Wills, 1st Baronet.

Mrs Elizabeth Montagu's 1743 description of Sandleford

In 1743 Mrs Montagu wrote from Sandleford to her old friend the Duchess of Portland and described her new retreat:

'...I had a very pleasant journey to this place, where I am delighted to find everything that is capable of making retreat agreeable; the garden commands a fine prospect, the most cheerful I ever saw, and not of shirt distance which is only to gratify the pride of seeing, but such as falls within the humble reach of my eyes. We have a pretty village [ Newtown ] on a rising ground just before us.'

_{Where the cottage chimney smokes,}

_{Fast between two oaks.}

'Poverty here is clad in its decent garb of low simplicity, but her tattered robes of misery do not here show want and wretchedness; you would rather imagine pomp was neglected than sufficiency wanted.'

'A silver stream [the Alder stream, aka river Enborne] washes the foot of the village; health, pleasure, and refreshment are the ingredients that qualify this spring; no debauch, or intoxication, arises from its source.'

'Nature has been very indulgent to this country, and has given it enough of wood and water; the first we have here in good plenty, and a power of having more of the latter, as improvements are undertaken.'

'Here are temptations to riding and walking. I go out every evening to take a view of the country; the villages are the neatest I ever saw; every cottage is tight; has a little garden, and is sheltered by fine trees...'

William Cobbett's description, 1821

The Radical MP and journalist William Cobbett (1762–1835) wrote about Sandleford in his journal whilst staying with the farmer Mr. Budd at Burghclere, on 30 October 1821. Appropriately 150 years later Budd's Farm was home to the writer Roger Mortimer. This is the gist of it:

'...Came through a place called "a park" belonging to a Mr. Montague, who is now abroad ;Of all the ridiculous things I ever saw in my life this place is the most ridiculous. The house looks like a sort of church, in somewhat of a gothic style of building, with crosses on the tops of different parts of the pile. There is a sort of swamp, at the foot of a wood, at no great distance from the front of the house'.'...Here is a fountain, the basin of which is not four feet over, and the water spout not exceeding the pour from a tea-pot. Here is a bridge over a river of which a child four years old would clear the banks at a jump...''...In short, such fooleries I never before beheld; but what I disliked most was the apparent impiety of a part of these works of refined taste'.'...I wonder how long this sickly, this childish, taste is to remain?''..At the end of this scene of mock grandeur and mock antiquity I found something more rational; namely, some hare hounds, and, in half-an-hour after, we found, and I had the first hare-hunt that I had had since I wore a smock-frock !'

Landscape

The priory of Sandleford's foundation diploma or charter (circa 1194) describes in Latin the scope of the site and lands of the priory:

'Geoffrey count of the Perche and Countess Matilda endow the Augustinian priory of Sandleford (Berkshire) with the church and all the land at Sandleford, together with the wood known as Brademore [Broadmore] and with all the land on both sides of that wood that is, bounded by the watercourse known as Aleburn [river Enborne] from the bridge at Sandleford to the Alburnegate, then by the road which runs from Alburnegate towards Newbury up to the croft of William the huntsman [Wash Common] and on the third side from there along the road [Monks Lane] to the croft of Robert fitz Rembaldand [Robert son of Rembaldi] on the fourth side [A339] up to the bridge at Sandleford. The right to build a mill is granted together with an annual sum of thirteen marks of sterling to be taken from the mills of Newbury every four weeks. When the prior dies one of the remaining canons is to be chosen in his place, 1194–1202.'

A typical lease, this one dated 6 May 1668, granted by the Dean and Canons of Windsor to John Kingsmill of Sandleford, scite of the Priory etc all lately in tenure of Humphrey Fo[r]ster of Aldermaston, in the County of Berks, Bart, and John Harrison of Lincoln's Inn for 21 years at £15 2s. for fishing AND Lease of Sandleford coppices, called Bradmore and Highwood, the first late held by Anthony Childe and the other by Richard Pinfold, and their coppices in the Parish of Migham, in all 68 acres, by the Dean and Canons of Windsor to John Kingsmill of Sandelford, esquire.

Another later but similar lease of the estate, this one dated 31 August 1737, between Edward Montagu and the Dean and Canons of Windsor in summary read: Lease of the scite of the Priory, the farm of Sandelford [Sandleford], and Tydhams [Tydehams] and all messuages, tenements in Sandelford and Midgham, Berks, in Burrowghcleere [Burghclere] and Sidmanton [Sydmonton], in the county of Hants, the meadow called Milmead on the South side of Aborn Streame [River Enborne], (except woods and the tenement which John Dean occupies in Sandelford near Abornstream and an acre of land on its north side, and Waterleaze and a piece of Sandelford green 3 acres and certain rights of fishing in Aborn stream) – and also fishing in the river Kennett in the parishes Limborn [Lambourn], Enborne and Nubery [Newbury], by the Dean and Canons of Windsor to Edward Mountague of London, esquire.

If approached and seen from the south, from the Newtown Common or Whitchurch road, the distant prospect of Sandleford, with steep, magnificent and south facing parkland and wooded slopes with the priory itself sitting atop, high, the effect would have been like that of Camelot or Shangdu. The Xandu of Samuel Purchas, as in his 1614 description based on what Marco Polo had reported: In Xandu did Cublai Can build a stately Pallace, encompassing sixteen miles of plaine ground with a wall, wherein are fertile Meddowes, pleasant Springs, delightfull streames, and all sorts of beasts of chase and game, and in the middest thereof a sumpuous house of pleasure, which may be moved from place to place.

The parish of Sandleford is, as mentioned above, about 500 acres, most of which is an arcadian farm and woodland that lies to the west of the priory/school. This almost square block is bounded by the River Enborne to the south; on the west by a hedge line that runs two furlongs to the east of the Andover Road (A343) which runs north-south through Wash Common; Monks (Monkey) Lane and therefore Newbury to the north (though the parish boundary runs a bit south of the road); and the Newtown road, A339 (previously A34) to the east (though clearly parish boundary and the priory/school is to the east of that).

Almost the only way into this park is from the west, from the A343, Andover road, past the Roman Catholic church at Warren Lodge, and down the remaining 200 yards of an ancient track flanked by field maple, oak, ash, hazel, ivy, elm, elder, hawthorn, and blackthorn. Around here the cavalry of Prince Rupert of the Rhine lined up before the First Battle of Newbury in September 1643, and near here are the meadows which feature in the beginning of Richard Adams' semi-factual novel Watership Down. At this point the enclosed track ends at the Newbury (Wash Common)/Sandleford parish boundary, but the public footpath or former carriage track continues. In previous centuries, in Mrs. Montagu's day, this was the main route to the priory from the west, from places like Bath, Somerset. Here the view quickly opens out, expansively, perspective tricks have been played with hedge and wood edge lines which add to the sense of infinity and space.

Barn copse is passed on the left or north. A hedge line connects Barn Copse to Dirty Ground Copse, and another hedge line from that forms an arrow with the northern edge of Gorse Covert. Comparison of the 1761 John Rocque map with how things now appear suggests a degree of highly clever tweeking of wood and hedge lines to maximise the effect of the landscape took place in the late eighteenth century. In the far distance on the right, to the south, there is Sidown Hill with its brick folly Heaven's Gate, built in 1749 for Hon. Robert Sawyer Herbert (1693–1769), MP (for Wilton 1722–1768), of Highclere, second son of Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke, visible at about 60 feet high, and next to that Beacon Hill.

As the track passes through the bottle-neck formed by this hedge and the north-east end of Gorse Covert the viewer then goes through to the next instalment, a first distant prospect of Sandleford Priory itself, and the North Downs, including Watership Down.

The track continues due east passing High Wood and a distant view of Slockett's Copse and Crook's Copse beyond to the left or north. Eventually the track reaches the A339 and the main entrance to the priory/school. Through the heart of this block of 500 acres a small stream runs north south from the top of Crook's Copse, down between High Wood and Slockett's Copse and then having been joined by another smaller stream runs east parallel with the southern edge of High Wood and then turns south again towards the River Enborne.

In 1749 Elizabeth Montagu wrote to her husband from Tunbridge Wells: My Dearest, ... I flatter myself the Captain will think Berkshire not inferior to Surry [sic], especially if he bestrides his Arabian steed, and surveys the prospects from Newbury Wash, Greenham &c. When he is tired of mere cows and sheep, and would behold some of those fair creatures, Father Philip's geese,...

Mrs. Montagu's views on landscape, indicating that parks and gardens should be under the care of the cherub Contemplation, are somewhat revealed in a letter to Gilbert West, dated 1753, 25th:

'I suppose you have been at Stowe, where art has exhausted all her powers,'

Equel, che il bello, o il caro accresce all' opre

L'arte, che tutto fa, nulla si Scopre

'Such, I am told, is its present state; when I saw the gardens they brought not so much to one's imagination the scenes of paradise, as of that garden, where the sapient king with his fair spouse held dalliance; it is rather a retreat for the proud and victorious, than the philosophic mind; like the poets, it was an Elysian only for heroes; ambition found examples there, and restless emulation fair incitements, but no quiet scenes hushed the passions into peace, and excluded the visions of this world's vanities; which, I take to be the great benefit of the retreat which should put the mind into the guardian care of the cherub Contemplation.'

In September 1757 Mrs Montagu wrote to Dr. Messenger Monsey (1693–1788), FRS, ... I assure you we have Groves too at Sandleford, where you may meet your Amante Sposa, Dame Melancholy, as often as you please....

Mrs Montagu and Newbury job creation

In July 1782 Mrs Montagu mentioned the high unemployment then found in Newbury and the works going on at Sandleford: The scene is extremely animated; 20 men at work in the wood and grove, and the fields around are full of haymakers. The persons employed on the work are poor weavers who by the decay of our manufacture at Newbury are void of employment, and not having been trained to the business of agriculture are not dexterous at the rake and pitchfork, but the plain digging and driving wheel barrows they can perform and are very glad to get their daily subsistence.

Tourist Attraction

In a letter dated Deal, 21 July 1786, Elizabeth Carter wrote to her friend Elizabeth Montagu: 'Your letter, my dear friend, ... The trouble which you receive from the curiosity of people to see your improvements at Sandleford, is one of the natural embarras des richesses. Nobody plagues me by besieging my doors in carriages, and upon pillions to see my cottage. After all, however, it is very strange how people can be so impertinent, one would think they might at least suspend their impatient curiosity till you were absent'.

A year later Elizabeth Carter, in a letter, dated Deal, 22 June 1787, pointed to the music of the groves: ' ... By this time, my dear friend, I hope you are enjoying the music of your groves at Sandleford... '.

1781 survey

A survey of the 619 acre, 2 roods and 17 perches estate made for Mrs Montagu in 1781, by John Spyers (c1720-1798) on behalf of Lancelot Brown, and used when the lease of 503 acres and 111 acres was sold to William Chatteris on 3 November 1835, shows that in 1835 111 acres were owned outright by the Lord Rokeby on the east side (mostly in the parish of Greenham), that 87 acres on the east side belonged to the Dean and Canons of Windsor (held by Lord Rokeby), and that 416 acres on the west side of the road (also leased from the Dean and Canons of Windsor by Lord Rokeby), with 5 acres belonging to Mrs Colman near the mill. One question regarding this 1781 survey is whether it was a depiction of what work was to be done, as conceived by Lancelot Brown, or more likely exactly how the estate was at the time? Meanwhile, the 1871 map shows the landscape as it might have been embellished by Brown, especially regarding the ponds near Broadmoor and Waterleaze woods. It is also possible that this 1871 map was based on a lost map made by Brown as a result of works undertaken after that 1781 survey.

In November 1762 replying to a letter from her husband Mrs Montagu wrote:You are very good in consulting me about the Trees..., which suggests that landscape works had been going on post the Rocque map of 1761 and preceding Capability Brown's involvement post 1781, more in a style as seen at Studley Royal/Fountains Abbey or as painted by people like Jacob van Ruisdael, Antonie Waterloo (1609–1690), or Thomas Gainsborough (1727–1788).

87 acres of coppices on the west side (acres, roods, perches)

Waterleaze and Broadmoor coppice: 41 2 09

High Wood coppice: 18 3 10

Upper Moor coppice: 2 01 10 (now Gorse covert)

Lower Moor coppice: 3 1 01 (now Gorse covert)

Dirty Ground: 5 0 17

Orchard House coppice: 5 2 10 (now Slockett's copse)

Wilsons coppice: 4 0 06 (now Barn copse)

Parting Ground coppice: 5 2 16 (now Crook's copse)

Furze close border: 0 2 16 (near Orchard House coppice)

Hassocks above Halls mead: 0 2 12 (linear or ghost wood east of Parting Ground coppice).

60 acres of meadowland on the west side (acres, roods, perches)

Upper mill mead;

Lower mill mead;

Mill mead;

Grabbed piddle;

Pound meadow;

Over way cow leaze;

Upper peat mead;

Upper eight acres;

Four acres;

Ireland;

Halls mead.

227 and 40 acres of arable on the west side (acres, roods, perches)

Great Water leaze 12 2 19;

The Pond 0 3 24;

Middle Leaze 14 1 15;

Upper Moor 13 1 21;

Lower Moor 11 1 30;

Fulwars 16 0 33;

Picked Harts 10 3 24;

Round Harts 20 2 14;

High wood close 16 1 0;

Fatting Leaze 19 3 03;

Adams ground 20 1 6;

Parting ground 15 0 22;

High Field 23 2 28;

Gravel close 3 1 13;

Furz ground 28 3 15;

and

Newberry [sic] grounds, (aka Tydehams, alias Tidlaws), comprised three fields on the brow of the slope north of Monks' Lane, looking north down towards Newbury, that totalled 40 2 00. (These 40 acres were developed into Newbury's smartest cul-de-sac from March 1923 when Dr. George Alan Simmons (died 1951) bought 42 acres from Christopher Saunders, who had acquired them in 1911 from the trustees of the estate of Alpin Macgregor, late owner of the Sandleford Priory Estate. There were 10 houses by 1928; 12 by 1931; 25 by 1941; 28 in 1963; 30 by 1982; and 39 in 2010. Major-general Llewelyn Alberic Emilius Price-Davies, VC, CB, CMG, DSO, lived briefly, 1926–1929, at the house variously known as Badsworth, Mary Leen and Lustleigh).

The 16 acres field known as Fulwars was no doubt named after Fulwar Craven, 4th Baron Craven (1704–1764), of nearby Benham Park and Hampstead Marshall, High Steward of Newbury 1739–1764, and a founder of the Craven hunt. The 1781 survey map also shows the Montagu purchases of coppices (such as Little Peckmore and Collin's coppices) and water-meadows at Peckmore and on the north side of the Auborn stream (alias river Enborne), and its layout before its severe disturbance by the new west-east running A339; re-routed along the river Enborne as a result of two of the old roads to Newbury that formerly crossed Greenham Common south-north being severed when the airport was made circa 1942. The map also shows a Rick yard; farm yard, with a very large barn; the Green yard in front of the priory; a Wilderness walk; and a Bowling green. The map shows the stream that flows south into the river Enborne (aka Auborne stream) which also marked the border of the parishes of Greenham and Sandleford and was to provide the water that formed what is known as Brown's (extant), Woodhouse (derelict), and Newtown ponds (seems to have disappeared). Collin's coppice ran just east of the priory's demesne, near where the first ponds were formed. Collin's coppice still exists at the south-western corner of Greenham Common, as does Peckmoor, an arable field now a grazed part of Bunker farm.

Midgham

The priory of Sandleford held land in nearby Midgham. In the 13th century this was assessed as one carucate (normally 120 acres). There were still 37 acres of meadow there that had been leased to those who also leased Sandleford. This connection was mentioned down to the end of the eighteenth century, by when the meadow land was let to members of the Hillersdon, and Poyntz families of Midgham House, viz: William Poyntz (died 1809), John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer of Althorpe (son-in-law of Stephen Poyntz), Rt. Hon. Stephen Poyntz, and John Hillersdon (died 1730). One of the younger sons of George II, Duke of Cumberland (1721–1765), was partially bought up at Midgham in the household of his governor and steward Stephen Poyntz.

Recent history

On 30 September 1986, the circa 470 acre Sandleford Farm, was sold by Neate's, with help from Knight Frank & Rutley, at the Chequers Hotel, Newbury, for over two million pounds. In the meantime the 1972 writings of Richard Adams in chapter one of Watership Down regarding the borders of Wash Common and Sandleford (what Adams calls Sandleford Common) seem rather prescient concerning the ambitious and imminent housing plans that have since abounded.

Suddenly Fiver shivered and cowered down.'Oh, Hazel! This is where it comes from! I know now –something very bad! Some terrible thing – coming closerand closer'.He began to whimper with fear.'What sort of thing-what do you mean?I thought yousaid there was no danger?''I don't know what it is,' answered Fiver wretchedly.'There isn't any danger here at this moment. But it'scoming – it's coming. Oh, Hazel, look! The field! It'scovered with blood!'...'Back to the burrow?' whimpered Fiver. 'It'll comethere – don't think it won't! I tell you, the field's full ofblood -'...... ...THIS IDEALLY SITUATED ESTATE, COM-PRISING SIX ACRES OF EXCELLENTBUILDING LAND, IS TO BE DEVELOPEDWITH HIGH CLASS MODERN RESIDENCESBY SUTCH AND MARTIN, LIMITED, OFNEWBURY, BERKS.