Englefield House, Berkshire, England

ENGLEFIELD was held under King Edward the Confessor by a certain Alwin, and after the Norman Conquest it was apparently granted to William Fitz Ansculf. At the time of the Domesday Survey the overlordship of the manor was vested in William Fitz Ansculf, who also held the neighbouring manor of Bradfield. Englefield was one of a small group of manors which were dependent on Bradfield and were held by military service from its lords, the families of Paynell, Somery, de la Beche and Langford; the last reference to the overlordship is in the reign of Henry VIII, when it is stated that Sir Thomas Englefield held Englefield of Anne Langford as of her manor of Bradfield. Englefield Manor owed suit every three weeks to the court of Bradfield.

The Englefield family, which for many years held this manor under the lords of Bradfield, claims great antiquity. The tenant of the manor under Edward the Confessor was Alwin (see above), who was apparently dispossessed, since the manor was acquired by William Fitz Ansculf. The immediate tenant in 1086 was Gilbert, but there is no proof that he was the founder of the Englefield family, and his name does not appear in the Englefield pedigrees. A possible supposition seems to be that William Fitz Ansculf (de Picquigny) had enfeoffed a member of his own family, and that this Gilbert was the ancestor of the Pinkneys, who had a considerable holding in Englefield in the 12th century and may have been sub-tenants of the manor. The first record of the Englefield family seems to be in the 12th-century charters in which Ansculf de Pinkney granted a hide of land in Englefield to Guy and the meadow of Middleham to Ellis, sons of Ansculf Englefield. By 1166 the manor was probably in the hands of the Englefields, for in that year Ellis Englefield was one of the military tenants of Gervase Paynell. he next lord of the manor may have been William Englefield, probably the son of Ellis, who was the donor of Englefield church to Reading Abbey. The gift took place before 1184. Another William Englefield was in seisin of the manor at the close of the 12th century; he seems to have come into his inheritance shortly before 1195–6, in which year he received a quitclaim of half the vill of Englefield and lands there from his mother Maud and her husband Giles Pinkney.He died childless and was succeeded before 1219 by Sir Alan Englefield, said in the family pedigrees to be his brother and heir. This seems, however, to be unlikely from the evidence of a law-suit of the date of 1242–3. In this Emma de Dunsterville was said to have been the mother of Sir Alan, but as William presumably was the elder, and his mother Maud was alive at the date of his succession, it seems impossible that Alan could have been his younger brother; he may perhaps have been a nephew. Sir Alan was a justice for Berkshire in 1226, but he seems to have died shortly after that date. (fn. 23) His son William held Englefield for many years, the last mention of him being in 1258. William was succeeded by John Englefield and William Englefield, his son and grandson respectively,but his widow Margery, who probably married a member of the family of Wiliton, seems to have held the whole manor for her life. John Englefield died about 1276, and in 1277 William granted the manor of Englefield to Roger de Meyland, or Longespee, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, for life for the rent of 1d. yearly. (fn. 30) The bishop died in 1295. The Englefields, however, answered for the feudal services due from the manor to their chief lords. William died before 1280–1 and was succeeded by Roger Englefield, who was a knight of the shire for Berkshire in the Parliaments of 1307 and 1312. He was in seisin of the manor in 1316, (fn. 36) but died shortly afterwards, and his son Philip Englefield inherited his lands. In 1334 Philip obtained exemption for life from being put on assizes and juries, and from the compulsory duty of serving as an officer of the king. Some years later, however, he served on a commission of oyer and terminer and was a collector of a tenth and fifteenth in Oxfordshire. He is said to have died in 1362 and to have been succeeded by his son Sir John Englefield, who died in 1368. Isabel, Sir John's widow, survived him and afterwards married Thomas Prior; she released all her right in Englefield to three trustees in 1398. Sir John's son and heir, another John Englefield, made a settlement of his right in the manor in April 1386, presumably on his wife Nichole and their heirs. He died before 1404, when his widow had married John Golafre, and he is said to have left no sons but a daughter named Nichole. In 1404, however, William Englefield, son of John Englefield, is mentioned, but it seems uncertain whether this is the same John. The manor, in any case, apparently passed to a younger branch of the family, and was held in 1428 by Philip Englefield, who, according to the pedigrees, was John's uncle. He was Sheriff of Oxfordshire and Berkshire in 1430, and died at Englefield in 1439. Robert Englefield, one of the esquires of Henry VI, succeeded him. Various settlements of the manor of Englefield appear to have been made at this time, but on the death of Robert it descended to his grandson Sir Thomas Englefield, his son John having predeceased him in 1464. Sir Thomas sat as a knight of the shire for Berkshire in several of the Parliaments in the reign of Henry VII and was Speaker of the Commons in 1496. He died in 1514 and was succeeded by his son, another Thomas, who was a justice of the Common Pleas. The latter settled the manor of Englefield on his wife Elizabeth, who survived him. Their son and heir Francis attained to greater personal distinction than any previous member of the family. He served as sheriff of the county in 1547, and was made a knight of the carpet at the coronation of Edward VI. He became one of the chief officers of the household of Princess Mary, and was involved in the religious difficulties of the time, being forbidden to allow the celebration of mass in the princess's household. The order of the council was not obeyed, and he with two of his fellow officers were sent to the Tower in 1551, but their imprisonment was only of short duration. Sir Francis, however, remained all his life a firm supporter of the old religion. On the accession of Queen Mary he was rewarded for his services, being made a privy councillor and master of the Court of Wards and Liveries. Throughout the reign he sat in Parliament as one of the knights of the shire for Berkshire. His career came abruptly to a close on the accession of Elizabeth. Foreseeing the downfall of the old religion he fled from England in 1559 and lived in exile for the remainder of his life.

Englefield. Barry gules and argent and a chief or with a lion passant azure therein.
His lands were seized and held to the use of the queen, and in spite of his protests to the privy council he could obtain no redress. In 1564 he was indicted for high treason, said to have been committed at Namur, and outlawed. Strype asserts that Queen Elizabeth allowed Sir Francis the revenues of his estates, reserving a small part for the maintenance of his wife, who remained in England.This does not seem probable, as in 1567 the King of Spain urged this course on Elizabeth without success, she having already turned a deaf ear to the lengthy representations of Sir Francis himself. In 1575–6, however, as a last effort to preserve his lands, he settled the bulk of his property, including the manor of Englefield, upon his nephew Francis Englefield, with the stipulation that on his tender of a ring it should be restored to him. During these years of exile, however, Sir Francis had occupied an important position among the English Roman Catholics abroad and was consulted on all matters of moment, corresponding in the years 1585 and 1586 with the pope and the King of Spain on behalf of Mary Queen of Scots. In consequence of these activities further action was taken against him in England, and he was attainted in 1585, all his manors being at length formally forfeited to the Crown. After the attainder emissaries of the queen offered a ring to the younger Francis, but he refused to surrender the estate declaring that no one but his uncle was empowered to fulfil the condition. A famous law-suit arose out of the matter; judgement was given for the queen, but Sir Francis's counsel were not satisfied, and the case was finally settled by a special Act of Parliament confirming the manor and estates to the Crown. From this time the manor was finally lost to the Englefield family, although they had a small property in the parish for many years afterwards. No permanent grant of the manor or lands of Englefield was made by Queen Elizabeth till after the attainder of Sir Francis Englefield, but in 1585 she leased the manor-house and certain lands there to Humphrey Foster and George Fytton for forty years. During the law-suit this lease was declared void and in 1589 the same premises were granted in fee to Thomas Crompton, Robert Wright and Gelly Meyrick, acting as trustees for the Earl of Essex, and a little later the manor of Englefield, with other possessions of Sir Francis in Berkshire, was granted to the same three men, acting again for the Earl of Essex. The manor, after the earl's fall and execution in 1600–1, again came into the queen's hands, but does not appear to have been alienated until the reign of James I. In 1611 the king granted it to John Eldred and William Whitmore, who appear to have conveyed to Thomas Viscount Fenton. The latter, then Earl of Kelly, sold it in 1622 to his creditors Sir Peter Vanlore and William Rolfe. The latter sold it in 1622–3 to Sir John Davis, kt.,who died seised of the manor in 1626. Sir John had been distinguished in politics and letters. He was attorney-general for Ireland and the author of the poem 'Nosce Teipsum,' of a treatise on Ireland and of other works; he was, moreover, the husband of an eccentric lady who, after his death, which took place in 1626, was severely punished by the Court of High Commission for the use she made of her prophetical gifts.

The manor of Englefield was settled on Sir John's daughter Lucy, the wife of Ferdinand Lord Hastings, afterwards Earl of Huntingdon, and in 1635 she and her husband together with Matthew Davis gave warranty for it against the heirs of Lucy to John Paulet fifth Marquess of Winchester, to whom they seem to have alienated it. According to Lysons' account Englefield Manor was granted by Queen Elizabeth to Sir Francis Walsingham, whose granddaughter Honora de Burgh was the second wife of the Marquess of Winchester, who thus obtained it in her right. This account cannot be accepted, for the descent from the crown grantees Eldred and Whitmore is fairly clear and no Crown grant to Walsingham has been found.

There is no doubt, however, that from 1635 the manor was in the hands of John Paulet Marquess of Winchester, known as the 'great loyalist' in consequence of his heroic defence of Basing House. After the fail of his garrison he was imprisoned in the Tower and his lands sequestered for delinquency; part was ordered by the Parliament to be sold. Englefield was bought in 1649 by Sir Thomas Jervoise. After the Restoration the lands and other possessions of the marquess were restored to him,and he lived at Englefield House, of which Sir Balthazar Gerbier in 1663 gives a pleasing account under the name of Henfield, adding that the marquess's present satisfaction with that seat diminished no doubt his grief for the loss of Basing. The Marquess of Winchester died at Englefield in March 1674–5. Englefield passed to his younger son Lord Francis Paulet or Powler, who was succeeded on his death in 1696 by his son another Francis. The latter died unmarried in 1712, and Englefield passed to his only sister Anne, the wife of Rev. Nathan Wrighte, son of Sir Nathan Wrighte, Keeper of the Great Seal. Her son Powlet Wrighte inherited the property in 1729, which passed on his death to his son of the same name. Mary, the widow of the elder Powlet, married as her second husband Richard Benyon,governor of Fort St. George, and by him she had a son named Richard. The younger Powlet Wrighte, who died in 1779, had no children, and under his will Englefield passed to his uncle Nathan Wrighte for life with remainder to his half-brother Richard Benyon of Gidea Hall, Romford, Essex. The latter succeeded to Englefield in 1789, and after his death it passed to his son Richard Benyon, who took the name of Powlet Wrighte in 1814 and that of De Beauvoir in 1822. On his death in 1854 Englefield passed under his will to his sister's son Richard Fellowes with the condition that he assumed the name of Benyon; he was Sheriff of Berkshire in 1857. On his death in 1897 Englefield passed to his nephew, the present owner, Mr. James Herbert Fellowes, who also took the name of Benyon.

Englefield by Constable

At the close of the 13th century Margery de Wiliton held the assize of bread and ale at Englefield, and Philip Englefield, son of Roger Englefield, held certain unspecified regalities there in the 14th century.The lords of the manor do not seem to have held the view of frankpledge until several centuries later. Presumably as long as the manor was held under the lords of Bradfield the latter held the view for Englefield, but after the lapse of the overlordship and the forfeiture of Englefield to the Crown in the 16th century Sir John Davis and his successors held the view of frankpledge in their manor of Englefield.

Benyon. Vairy sable and or a chief wavy or with an eastern crown between two molets gules therein.

Fellowes. Azure a fesse dancetty ermine between three lions' heads razed having mural crowns argent. John Englefield obtained licence from his lord, Roger de Somery, to 'sport' (licenciam riperiandi riperiam) on the water of Pangbourne. A free fishery in the waters within the manor of Englefield is first mentioned in the 16th century, when Sir Thomas Englefield died seised of a free fishery in Englefield. Fishing rights in the Rivers Kennet and Farley in Englefield and Tidmarsh are mentioned in Queen Elizabeth's grant of 1588. Another free fishery, however, originally belonged to the manor; apparently it had been granted to John Englefield, brother of Sir Francis Englefield, and when the manor was forfeited this pond and fishery called Cranmere and the pond, waters and fishery in some inclosed land called Garrett were excepted from the grants made by Queen Elizabeth in 1589. These fishing rights were held by Margaret, the widow of John Englefield, but in 1593 they were leased to Robert Earl of Essex for twenty-one years. They descended to Sir Francis Englefield, bart., the son and heir of John Englefield. He died seised in 1631 of the Cranmere and Garrett fisheries and also of similar rights in the Kennet and Farley streams. Cranmere is still the name of the large lake in Englefield Park and land known as Garrett lies in Theale.

In 1269 John Englefield obtained a grant of free warren in his demesne lands at Englefield, and a few years later Margery de Wiliton, probably his mother, exercised the same privilege there, presumably in right of her dower lands. No park is mentioned, however, till late in the 16th century, although it had probably been inclosed many years before. In 1588–9 both the 'Roo Parke' and the 'Hye Parke' were granted with the manor-house to Thomas Crompton and two others. The distinction between the two parks disappeared, and Sir John Davis only held a park called Englefield Park alias Highe Park, while later in the 17th and in the 18th century the park belonging to the manor is called Englefield Park.

One mill is mentioned at Englefield in the Domesday Survey. In the 16th century two water-mills are once mentioned as held with the manor, but when the latter was bought by the Marquess of Winchester in 1635 only one mill is mentioned,and at the present day there is only one mill in the parish.

A second estate at Englefield is mentioned in Domesday Book. Ulmer held it of Edward the Confessor, but it seems to have passed with the rest of Englefield after the Conquest to William Fitz Ansculf. The latter, however, had already enfeoffed a sub-tenant named Stephen in 1086.

After the Englefields had lost the manor of Englefield they still retained a house and lands in the parish until the 18th century. Sir Thomas Englefield, the justice of the Common Pleas, appears to have settled this property, which had been formerly annexed to the manor, on his second son John, and thus it escaped the forfeiture of Sir Francis's lands.John died in 1567, and his widow Margaret held his property in 1593. She died in 1612,and it passed to her son Sir Francis Englefield of Wootton Bassett, who was created a baronet in the same year.He died in 1631 and was buried at Englefield. His Englefield property was settled in tailmale on his seventh son Henry, two-thirds of whose possessions were sequestered during the Civil War. In 1650 Henry Englefield protested against so large a proportion of his property being sequestered, on the grounds that 'though a papist, he was not a papist delinquent,' and had never acted against the Parliament. The sequestered farm at Englefield was granted to Thomas Aldridge of Beenham, but after the manor had been sold to Sir Thomas Jervoise Aldridge seems to have been turned out by the new lord of the manor, and he made many complaints to the committee for compounding in consequence. After the Restoration, Henry Englefield seems to have recovered possession of the farm, and on his death it probably passed to his son Henry.The latter may have died before his father, but he was not married, and the estate finally reverted to Charles Englefield, the fifth baronet. It was sold in 1792 by Sir Henry Charles Englefield, the last baronet, to Richard Benyon, who had become lord of the main manor of Englefield in 1789, and it was subsequently absorbed in that manor.

A house and small property in Englefield were held in the 16th century by the Norreys family. In 1597 the first Lord Norreys, together with his wife Margaret, bought a messuage, toft, dovecot, two gardens, two orchards, 44 acres of pasture and 4 acres of wood from Sir Thomas Sherley and his wife Anne. This estate was given to their third son, Sir Edward Norreys, in 1599, on his return from the Low Countries, where he had held the post of Governor of Ostend. He seems to have spent his leisure time in enlarging the house and improving the estate, and 'confirmed himself in his opinion of a happy country life.' He inclosed a park round the house and was an enthusiastic gardener. He wrote from Englefield to Dudley Carleton, who was then in France, 'If you help towards Englefield garden, either in flowers or invention, you shall be welcome thither.' In 1601 he entertained Queen Elizabeth at dinner in his house when she came into Berkshire. He died in 1603, leaving no children, (fn. 151) his nephew Francis Lord Norreys being the heir to his lands.His Englefield house and estate were held for life by his widow Elizabeth, who afterwards married Thomas Erskine first Earl of Kelly. In 1608 Lord Norreys sold the property to the earl, who also obtained the main manor (q.v.), with which this estate probably became amalgamated.