John Kebles Parishes | Page 6

vicarage, was expressly reserved to himself and his successors by William de Edyngton; and so long as they kept possession of the Manor of Merdon, they continued patrons of the vicarage. This Bishop Edyngton, the same who began the alteration of the cathedral, is said to have built the second church of All Saints at Hurley, the tower of which still remains.
William of Wykeham, among his wider interests, seems to have had little concern with Hursley or Otterbourne.
The bishops possessed numerous manors in the diocese, and these were really not only endowments, but stations whence the episcopal duty of visitation could be performed. Riding forth with his train of clergy, chaplains, almoners, lawyers, crossbearers, and choristers, besides his household of attendants, the bishop entered a village, where the bells were rung, priest, knight, franklins, and peasants came out with all their local display, often a guild, to receive him, and other clergy gathered in; mass was said, difficulties or controversies attended to, confirmation given to the young people and children, and, after a meal, the bishop proceeded, sometimes to a noble's castle, or a convent, but more often to another manor of his own, where he was received by his resident steward or park-keeper, and took up his abode, the neighbouring clergy coming in to pay their respects, mention their grievances, and hold counsel with him. His dues were in the meantime collected, and his residence lasted as long as business, ecclesiastical or secular, required his presence, or till he and his train had eaten up the dues in kind that came in.
Whether the visit was welcome or not depended a good deal on the character of the prelate, and the hold he kept on his subordinates. The great courtly bishops, like William of Wykeham, generally sent their suffragans, titular bishops in partibus infidelium, to perform their duties.
One of the park-keepers of Merdon was judged worthy of a Latin epitaph, probably the work of a chaplain or of a Winchester scholar to whom he had endeared himself:
Hic in humo stratus, John Bowland est tumulatus Vir pius et gratus et ab omnibus hinc peramatus Custos parcorum praestans quondam fuit horum De Merdon, quorum et Wintoniae dominorum. Hic quinqgenis hinc octenis rite deemptis Cum plausu gentis custos erat in eis.
Festum Clementis tempus fuerat morientis Mille quadringentis annis Christi redimentis, Quadris his junctis simul et cum septuagintis. Hunc cum defunctis, protege, Christe, tuis.
Here laid in the ground, John Bowland hath sepulture, A man of faith and kindliness, and hence by all beloved. He was aforetime the excellent guardian of this park Belonging to certain lords of Merdon and Winchester. He for (lit. in) 50 years--(8 being taken away precisely) With the applause of all the community was guardian among them.
The Festival of Clement was his date of dying In years one thousand four hundred after Christ's Redemption, Adding to these four (?) (years) and seventy. Him, O Christ, befriend with those who are thine!
Unlike Hursley, or rather the Manor of Merdon, Otterbourne had many different possessors in succession, and is even at the present day divided into various holdings on different tenures.
In 1244 Walter and John de Brompton, sons of Sir Bryan de Brompton, lived at Hayswode, a name now lost or changed into "Otterbourne Park," the wood spreading over the east side of the hill. At the same time Sir Henry de Capella was possessor of the manor; but in 1265 it had passed, by what means we do not know, to Sir Francis de Bohun--a very early specimen of this Christian name which was derived from the sobriquet of the Saint of Assisi, whose Christian name was John.
From the son of Sir Francis in 1279 Simon the Draper obtained the Manor of Otterbourne for 600 merks, and a quit rent of a pair of gilt spurs valued at six pence! Simon seems to have assumed the gilt spurs himself, for he next appears as "Sir Simon de Wynton." Indeed it seems that knighthood might be conferred on the possessors of a certain amount of land. Wynton in two more generations has lengthened into Wynchester, when, in 1379, the manor is leased to Hugh Croans, merchant, and Isabella his wife for their lives, paying after the first twenty-five years 100 pounds per annum. And two years later William de Winchester conveyed the manor over to Hugh Croans or Crans.
The great Bishop William of Wykeham bought it in 1386, and gave it to his cousin, bearing the same name. It continued in the Wykeham family till 1458, when William Fiennes or Fenys, Lord Say and Sele, the son of him who was murdered by Jack Cade's mob, being married to the heiress, Margaret Wykeham, sold it to Bishop Waynflete for 600 pounds.
The bishop's treasurer was Hugh Pakenham; and being one of the feoffees