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The History and Archaeology of Stowe Parish

(i) The parish boundaries

The present-day civil parish of Stowe occupies some 3,088 acres in north-west Buckinghamshire.[1] The parish adjoins Lillingstone Dayrell in the north-east, where the boundary runs along a lane named ‘Holback’ for about three-quarters of a mile before branching eastwards to join the lane which forms part of Stowe’s eastern boundary with Akeley. To the south-east the parish adjoins Maids Moreton, along a brook which eventually flows into the River Great Ouse at Buckingham. To the south the parish borders upon Radclive-cum-Chackmoor, again partly along a tributary of the Ouse, and to the south-west Stowe shares a border with Water Stratford. In the west the parish adjoins Shalstone and in the north-west Biddlesden, part of which was formerly a detached portion of the parish of Westbury.[2] No evidence has been found to suggest that these were not the boundaries of the ancient ecclesiastical parish of Stowe.

(ii) Geology and topography

The parish rises gradually from between 102m OD along the southern boundary to c.150m OD close to Stowe Wood in the extreme north. The parish is cut by a number of valleys formed by the river Alder and its tributaries running roughly north to south to drain eventually into the Great Ouse. Published geological sheets for Stowe only exist above northing ²39⁰⁰⁰.[3] The parish is dominated by Boulder Clay with discrete outcrops of Glacial sands and gravels away from the stream courses. In the small valleys of the Alder and its tributaries exposed deposits of Clay Head can be found. One outcrop of poor quality limestone appears close to the Oxford gates on the southern side of Stowe gardens (Jessop pers. comm.). Since all settlement lies within the southern half of the parish, in areas not covered by the map, it is difficult to assess the relationship between geology and habitation sites. Work in the Elysian Fields, east of the house, in the area thought to be occupied by Stowe village, suggests, however, that the settlement was placed on Boulder Clay and Glacial Sand and Gravel.[4] Similarly, a mid-19th-century gravel pit close to Lamport village suggests that this settlement too is located on these two types of geology. In the south-eastern part of Boycott, fieldnames also suggest gravel deposits.[5] Elsewhere, parts of the medieval field systems can be shown to have spread onto the Boulder Clays and it is likely most extensive areas of woodland were confined to the heavier soils in the north-east quarter of the parish with isolated stands of trees in the southern and western parts of the parish.

(iii) Archaeological resources

The Buckinghamshire Sites and Monuments Record contains 99 entries for the parish. Half of these entries relate to the house, now school, at Stowe and the surrounding 18th-century landscape gardens. The National Trust, the current owners of Stowe gardens, maintains its own Sites and Monuments Record specifically for the estate, and its entries are fed to the county record. Inevitable time delays in the transfer of information mean that more recent discoveries are currently only recorded on one or other record and both need to be used to provide the fullest picture. 

Table 1: Numeric breakdown of entries in Buckinghamshire Sites and Monuments Record by type

Ridge and furrow evidence from aerial photographs has been transcribed by the county archaeological service onto six-inch OS maps. This is largely derived from RAF photographs taken immediately after the second world war. The record is incomplete, and additional information has been added to it from more recent aerial reconnaissance. Black and white obliques and colour verticals of the whole of the historical estate at Stowe have been made available to the project.[6]

Small-scale archaeological excavation, associated with the reconstruction of the 18th-century gardens, has also occasionally produced information relating to earlier phases of the history of the parish. Three of these reports, relating to work on the western side of the Elysian Fields, in the vicinity of Stowe village, have been made available to the project.[7] An earthwork survey of the parkland surrounding the gardens, being undertaken by the Royal Commission (now English Heritage) is within six working days of completion (Jessop pers. comm.). Access to this survey will greatly help our reconstruction of earlier landscapes.

(iv) Prehistoric Evidence

The Buckinghamshire Sites and Monuments Record contains no entries relating to prehistoric activity in the parish. That there is evidence, which has not been previously recorded, can be shown from fieldwalking results undertaken by the Whittlewood Project. Parts of two fields, to the north of Stowe school (ST1; SP 678 387) and south of Lamport (ST2; SP 682 371) were systematically surveyed. ST1 produced five worked flakes and ST2 produced two.[8] Local farmers are also known to have identified and collected worked flints (Tomkins pers. comm.). Further fieldwork should produce more information.

(v) Roman Evidence

The Alchester-Towcester Roman road passes through the parish (Margary route 160a).[9] The road enters the parish 300m west-south-west of Boycott Farm (SP 663 359), and follows a single alignment north-east for 3km. At this point, 500m south-west of Wolfe’s Obelisk (SP 678 384), the road turns to a more northern alignment before leaving the parish at SP 683 408. 

Along a thin corridor either side of this road, several chance finds and more substantial features of Roman date have been discovered. Of the former, a Denarius of Severus Alexander was found near Oxford Bridge (SP 666 365)[10] and a Roman-British urn was unearthed close to the school (SP 675 375).[11] Of the latter, the most important is a pottery kiln with an adjacent pit from which 2 pieces of tegula and Roman brick and tile were recovered (SP 68070 38429).[12] The kiln was 1m in length, 0.80m wide, with a flat floor and sloping sides. Large pieces of kiln bar survived within the kiln. The associated pottery was of a soft groggy fabric, orange-grey in colour showing signs of partial firing. Simple everted rims and footrings were common. A 1st-century date has been suggested for this kiln. To the south of the kiln unglazed brownish pottery was reported during drainage work and may represent more extensive Roman settlement north of the formal gardens. North of Boycott Farm, again beside the Roman road, two Roman ditches, the first 2.5m wide and aligned north-south, and the other 7-8m wide, aligned east-west, have been excavated (SP 6650 3655).[13] Large amounts of pottery from the ditch fills have been dated to the 2nd and 3rd centuries.

A second road alignment has been suggested by the Viatores.[14] This enters the parish at Dance Farm (SP 685 361) before following the parish boundary north-north-west to New Inn Farm. The alignment then shifts a little to the west, allowing the road to run under the western wing of the house, before crossing the Alchester-Towcester road and descending to Home Farm (SP 671 378). Here the road adopts a third alignment, passing south of the current settlement at Dadford and passing along the parish boundary towards Woodgreen Farm (SP 649 685). Various topographic features suggest these alignments: the Viatores report the identification of a terrace way immediately north of New Inn Farm as the road enters the Stowe estate; south-west of Dadford the route is coincident with a bridleway before running along the parish boundary. Despite this, the lack of physical evidence means that the line of this road must remain suspect. Indeed, across the Stowe estate, no below ground evidence, or details from aerial photographs, can be offered to prove the route. The Viatores account includes a report that ‘about twenty years ago an ancient urn was found; it was supposed to be Roman, but it and its contents quickly crumbled into dust’. This discovery was made in a gravel pit at New Inn Farm. Human remains are also known to have been discovered there by the landowner, but have not been reported formally (Tomkins pers. comm.). There is the possibility, therefore, that this is the location of a cemetery which contains both inhumation and cremation burials. 

Away from these two Roman roads, remarkably little is known about the arrangement of both settlement and landuse in the rest of the parish. The evidence is restricted to 17 sherds of Romano-British pottery recovered during fieldwalking undertaken by the Whittlewood Project. Seven sherds were found in ST1 and ten in ST2. In conclusion, therefore, the limited evidence suggests a degree of industrial activity associated with pottery manufacture, and the possibility of an associated settlement. The existence of a possible cemetery at New Inn Farm might suggest a sizable population associated with settlements which remain to be identified. 

(vi) The settlement at Boycott

In the Middle Ages the parish of Stowe contained four separate settlements: Stowe, Dadford, Lamport, and Boycott. Boycott was in fact a detached portion of Oxfordshire until 1844, perhaps as the result of a dependency upon the important royal manor of Kirtlington. Both manors were already attached to the hundred of Ploughley in 1086.[15] Domesday Book records that Reinbald held one hide in Boycott of the king, land which had formerly been held freely by Blachemann. With a single plough in lordship (out of a possible three) and a recorded population of one villein, it is likely that Reinbald’s holding consisted of little more than an individual farmstead.[16] However, it must be doubted whether he ever resided there. This was ‘Reinbald the Priest’, as he was described in a later document,[17] or ‘Reinbald the Chancellor’, one of Edward the Confessor’s favoured clerks, the ‘first great pluralist’, who was dean of Cirencester, the Augustinian abbey of which received Boycott in 1117.[18] Attached to the holding was woodland measuring four furlongs long and two furlongs wide, the equivalent of 80 acres if taken literally, or using Rackham’s multiplier (0.7), 56 acres.[19] The value of the manor had halved since the Conquest, from 40s. to 20s.[20]

The boundaries of Boycott may be ascertained from the first edition one-inch Ordnance Survey map of 1833.[21] This shows the Oxfordshire outlier occupying the extreme south-west of Stowe parish, bordering upon the parish of Radclive-cum-Chackmoor in the south-east, the parish of Water Stratford in the west, and bounded in the east by a tributary of the Ouse. The course of this stream was straightened during the years between 1833 and 1879-80, when the survey for the first edition six-inch Ordnance Survey map was conducted. The northern boundary of Boycott appears to have passed through Farfield, a field depicted on the tithe map of 1845.[22] The area of Boycott was c.271 acres. Boycott is the only one of the four settlements within the parish of Stowe for which the (medieval) boundaries can be securely located.

It is possible that these boundaries, depicted in 1833, were described in 1300 when ‘the vill of Boycott with its fields, woods and appurtenances in the possession of the abbot of Biddlesden [was] disafforested’, according to a perambulation of the Oxfordshire portion of Whittlewood Forest. The bounds of the royal forest began at Buggerode beside Stowehach’ between the wood of the abbot of Oseney and the wood of Boycott. They then proceeded to Foulmere, then to Blakeputtes Slade, then to Holeweye, and then along the quickhedge back to Stowehacch.[23] If this boundary clause can indeed be shown to correspond with the boundaries of Boycott in 1833, it will greatly assist the identification of some key topographical features in the medieval landscape of Stowe parish. This in turn will help to locate the boundaries of other pieces of land for which we have descriptions among the charters of the ecclesiastical landholders which dominated the parish in the later Middle Ages. 

References to Buggerode or Buggilderode are particularly common. It refers almost certainly to the line of the Alchester-Towcester Roman road, or to a medieval successor offset parallel to this line when the original route fell into disrepair.  Several points along its course can be ascertained from the documents. It is described as crossing Boycott bridge for instance,[24] whilst other references locate the road lying close to Stowe Church.[25] Furlongs within the Dadford open fields are also said to abut the road.[26] This then establishes its south-west - north-east alignment through the parish. The place name Stowehacch is not encountered elsewhere. The suffix hacch may either refer to a gate or entrance, for instance into a park, or proximity to a water course where fish were caught. Both of these explanations might fit the medieval arrangements of Stowe, and cannot be used to locate this place with accuracy.  Foulmere again suggests the presence of water and a valley bottom location, further corroborated by the following name Blakeputtes Slade. There is a Blackpit Farm (SP 400 676) in the extreme north of the parish, lying close to standing water, but the term Blakeputtes is common elsewhere and may refer to lost rather than surviving places. Certainly the remoteness of the Blackpit Farm from Boycott township makes it unlikely that this is being referred to here, however, woodland might be detached from the township, and if this were the case here, direct access to the wood might be gained along the Roman road. The term Holeweye may be a generic term for a medieval holloway, or a specific reference. The medieval route from Buckingham via Maids Moreton and Chackmore is so called. The line of this route, however, is never coincident with the boundaries of Boycott as shown on the 1833 OS map. Holback Lane, forming the parish boundary between Stowe and Lillingstone Dayrell, also appears to carry the same first element. Whilst the proximity of Holback to Blackpit Farm might suggest a relationship, the same problems of remoteness from Boycott would have to be explained.   

Furthermore, the boundary clause of 1300 suggests that the ‘wood of Boycott’ – was this the same as the woodland described in Domesday Book? – lay within the bounds of the vill. If this was the case, then the origins of the settlement at Boycott, which was undoubtedly small in 1086, may well lie in a licence to assart, granted perhaps by the king as holder of the manor of Kirtlington to which Boycott was probably attached. This would certainly make sense of the fact that the manor was held freely by Blachemann before the Norman Conquest. The creation of a separate farm carved out of the woodland was usually undertaken by a free tenant. It would also be consistent with the place-name evidence. The element cote often denotes a secondary settlement, to which the Old English personal name Boia was prefixed.

The single hide at Boycott, held by Blachemann and later by Reinbald, formed part of the original endowment of Cirencester Abbey, founded by Henry I in 1117.[27] Before 1279 Boycott was alienated to Biddlesden Abbey, which held three carucates in demesne there, a mill, and wood four furlongs long and two furlongs wide, at the time of the Hundred Rolls inquiry. In addition, the abbey held 5½ virgates in villeinage, sub-let in unequal parcels to 12 tenants, and six cottages. Another tenant held a single acre of land for an annual rent of 12d.[28] The abbey of Cirencester received £120 from Biddlesden for the manor and mill of Boycott, which lay near Biddlesden’s grange of Gorhall’, the modern Gorrell Farm.[29] The deed of transfer is undated but must have occurred between 1265 and 1276.[30] An undated list of Biddlesden’s tenants at Boycott reveals a total of 11 men and four women holding 6½ virgates of demesne and 5½ virgates in villeinage. This land appears to have been divided between two open fields.[31]

The survival of ridge and furrow points to the location of the open fields. This is concentrated around present-day Boycott Farm, to east and west of the line of the Roman road, and to north and south of Welsh Lane. The furlongs appear to be well-organized and large. Interlocking furlongs are not present, rather they are orientated to drain into the stream forming the northern boundary of the vill, or into the streams to the east and south. The arrangements of the fields, however, is far from clear, but it is probable that the division was made east-west rather than north-south. North of Welsh Lane Farm, there is no evidence for ridge and furrow. It might be tentatively suggested that this was where the woodland was located, although the area falls short of the 80 or 56 acres suggested by Domesday Book leading to the possibility that further areas of woodland were located elsewhere.

The village of Boycott has traditionally been located in the vicinity of Boycott Manor (SP 662 372).[32] This appears incongruous since the manor lies outside the boundaries marked on the 1833 OS map. There is no evidence from aerial photographs to suggest a more substantial settlement here. Field survey, however, might reveal features which do not show from the air. On the contrary, there is evidence around Boycott Farm (SP 664 361), set on a slight prominence. There are areas to the north and west of the farm which are not covered by ridge and furrow, but which contain disturbed ground visible from the air. The area extends over the line of the Roman road. The 1845 tithe map also shows a small track leading north-north-east from the farm, 200m east of the Roman road, terminating at the stream. It may be the case that house plots were positioned either side of the Roman road, with back lanes behind the plots. Several other factors recommend this site: access to the open fields attested by the ridge and furrow; access to the bridging point over the stream; proximity to the mill (see infra); and the economic potential of location on a major communication artery.     

Thus, it may be that by the end of the 13th century, Boycott had developed into a small nucleated village, surrounded by its open fields, with woodland beyond, a watermill, and a recorded population of between 15 and 20. Further evidence of the level of population is provided by the lay subsidy returns of the early 14th century. Thirteen taxpayers were resident at Boycott at the time of the sixteenth of 1316-17, and a similar number contributed to the taxes of 1306 and 1327.[33] At the time of the poll tax of 1377, 24 taxpayers resided at Boycott.[34] In theory, the poll tax was paid by all lay persons over the age of 14 with the exception of genuine paupers. To reach a figure for the total population, the number of taxpayers in 1377 is usually doubled, and to reach a figure for the total population before the outbreak of plague in 1348, the number is doubled again.[35] Thus, at Boycott the total population before the Black Death may have been close to 100.

The mill of Boycott was called Cuttule, according to one charter of Oseney Abbey. In another it was described as ‘small’ (parvum).[36] Located presumably along the stream which ran the length of the manor’s eastern border, it perhaps lay close to Boycott bridge, across which ran the road called Buggilderode.[37] Two alternative locations can be suggested for the mill, both lying within 500m of the bridging point of the Roman road over Boycott Brook. The first is at SP 6666 3640, immediately east of the Roman road close to a dammed pond, later the site of a post-medieval paper mill.[38] This site, however, lies just outside the boundaries of Boycott as they appear on the 1833 OS map and is a more likely contender for the site of Stowe mill. The second site at SP 6700 3580, 500m ESE of Boycott Farm lies on the brook and would be included within the 19th-century bounds. A loop in the stream has been culverted at this point, with earth piled beside. When ploughed, the ground was very stony and much ‘old’ pottery was noted.[39]

While still in the possession of Cirencester Abbey, in 1265, the mill was leased to Richard son of William the miller for £1 4s. a year. A further 2s. was payable to Oseney Abbey for two acres pertaining to the mill, and 1s. was owed in tithes.[40] At another time, Cirencester leased the mill (and demesne) to William de Stratford for £5 a year, who in turn sub-let it to Richard de Radclive. The abbey’s demesne at Boycott was sub-let by William in parcels: two virgates to Walter de Banbury, half a virgate to William the miller, half a virgate to the widow Dionysia, and a ferling to William the forester.[41]  

Although Biddlesden was lord of the manor of Boycott in 1279, another abbey, that of Oseney, seems to have possessed both land and rights there. Thus, in 1225 Oseney reached an agreement with Cirencester Abbey concerning the hay tithe of the manor, whereby the two institutions agreed to share the prerogative.[42] During the 1330s the abbey paid a collector of tithes at Boycott 2s. one harvest-time.[43] In 1250 William de Dadford granted to Oseney land in Boycott, Stowe, and Dadford, and a similar grant was made by Richard de Gardino about 10 years previously.[44]

(vii) Stowe village

The parish church of Stowe, dedicated to the Assumption of St Mary the Virgin, today stands isolated within the 18th-century landscape gardens of Stowe, lying hidden within a small clump of trees. To the east and south the land falls away (quite steeply in the east) towards water features; however, it is likely that a stream has always flowed past the eastern end of the church. To the west lies a levelled playing field belonging to Stowe School, formerly a par terre, and to the north the magnificent south façade of Stowe House itself.

It is assumed that the medieval village of Stowe once lay clustered around the church of St Mary, within a small triangle of land formed by the Roman road, the Hey Wey and Slant road, although little is known about its size or layout at any point in its history. Even the date of its final disappearance is unknown. One piece of evidence cited by the Buckinghamshire historian and antiquarian, Browne Willis, in 1755 has been widely reproduced to suggest that in 1712 Stowe village consisted of 32 houses and a population of 180, which rapidly disappeared over the following years as Lord Cobham proceeded to remodel the gardens and rebuild the house.[45] In fact the tax return to which Browne Willis referred encompassed the whole of Stowe parish and thus the settlements at Dadford and Lamport, as well as any surviving village at Stowe. In all likelihood, however, Stowe village was long gone by this time. The depopulation of Stowe was clearly underway by the middle of the 17th century; one document records at least seven houses depopulated by Sir Peter Temple by the time of his death in 1653.[46] The decline of Stowe may have been a gradual affair, with the rights of the inhabitants slowly whittled away. Thus, a complaint in 1638 stated that common winter pasture in Stowe and Lamport (Stowe Hevinges and Lamport Hevinges) was enclosed forty years before, to the detriment of the inhabitants and their animals.[47]

Twenty years before, in 1633, a survey of the Temple estate makes clear that 19 tenants at will resided at Stowe, each of them with a house and close, meadow, and arable land scattered across three common fields.[48] The house plots were said to consist of a house, backside, and close (in one case two closes), which ranged in size from 30 perches to one acre, three roods and 27 perches (1-3-27). In one case a meadow was included as well, increasing the tenement’s size to 4-1-17. In total the house plots occupied an area of 21-1-38. No clue is provided in the document as to the location of these tenements, either in relation to the church or to each other. Thus, it is not clear whether these houses formed a compact settlement centred on the parish church, or were more widely dispersed over the landscape. In 1607 the site of the vicarage, measuring one acre one perch and including a walled garden and orchard, lay between the street on the east, a field on the west, a close on the north, and the churchyard on the south. The house itself was of eight bays and two stories, built of stone and half roofed with tile and half with thatch.[49] 

Excavations within the Elysian Fields, designed to identify the location of paths associated with the 18th-century garden plan, have revealed the footings of post-medieval buildings, but no medieval structures have been encountered. One such revealed the ground plan of a large rectangular building, 11.8m x 4.8m, constructed in stone and brick.[50] This building is shown on Bridgeman’s plan of the garden drawn in 1739, and is situated south of the church. This has been interpreted as the vicarage mentioned in a terrier of 1700. Clearly it is not located in the area of the vicarage as described 70 years earlier which lay north of the church and warns of the changing morphology of the village over time. To date, therefore, archaeological intervention within the area of the village has failed to reveal more information of the medieval arrangement of the village. Evidence remains scarce, with only limited finds of medieval building material and pottery (SP 67697 37180) from tree root disturbance[51] and recent collection from flower beds (Jessop pers. comm.).

In total, the 19 tenants of Stowe held nearly 300 acres of land in 1633. Although not named in the survey, the manor’s three open fields were apparently called Windmill Field, Stockhold Field, and Nether Field.[52] The manor house of the Temple family, together with its orchard, gardens and court, at this time occupied a little over 5½ acres, while the Owlde Parke consisted of about 77 acres.[53]

It is unclear where the three open fields of Stowe lay. Ridge and furrow survives well in the parkland south of the school, sandwiched between the Roman road to the west and the Hey Wey to the east. There is also limited evidence to suggest that the area between Stowe village and Lamport was also laid out to open field, and some documents suggest that this field may have been shared by the two settlements. Certainly, the evidence points to the location of the fields south of the village since there is no ridge and furrow visible north of the school. The area encompassed between Lamport, the southern boundary of the parish, Boycott township and the Roman road would be consistent with the 300 acres held by the tenants of Stowe in 1633, but it is impossible at present to divide this area into its three component fields. That evidence has been lost in the landscape redesign is clear from documentary evidence which suggests that one of Stowe’s fields lay west of the church (or vicarage) where no ridge and furrow survives. That which does survive was organised in long furlongs draining to the major water courses. Interlocking furlongs only occur to the south-east of the village (SP 682 368), possibly resulting from the sharing of this field with Lamport.

The origins of the manor house undoubtedly go back to a time before the purchase of Stowe manor by John Temple in 1590. Indeed, a house appears to have been in existence by 1543, when Thomas Giffard held the lease, presumably from the newly created bishop of Oxford.[54] Earlier, in the 1330s, there was sufficient accommodation at Stowe to house the king’s huntsman, Richard de Foxle, with 21 men for five days. Oseney Abbey’s steward also resided at the manor, where he held the manorial court.[55]  A plan of 1680 marks the site of the old house immediately west of the church, with an ‘ould garden’ to the south, abutting Slant Road, and a square walled garden to the west.[56] A geophysical survey on the south lawn of the present house failed to locate the footings of this building although technical difficulties were encountered during the operation (Jessop pers. comm.).

A curious document survives on a single-sheet, rubricated manuscript of music and prayer, scrawled in the lower right-hand corner on one side of the parchment.[57] It is written in English and states that the people of the parish of Stowe gathered together on King Edward the Martyr’s day (18 March) in 1519 to decide ‘who schulde make the mound[s?] abowt the chyrche yerd’. There follows a list of eight names, apparently of the oldest men in the parish, and what appears to be a boundary clause. This reads roughly as follows: ‘first the abbot of Oseney should make from the west house to the east stile, from the stile to the first merestone Stowe, from this to the next merestone the tile house, from this to the next merestone the farm of Lamport, from the farm to the stile which stands for a merestone the town of Lamport, from this to the next merestone Dadford, and the residue to the Barn End Boycott’. The significance of this document remains, for the time being, unclear.

The presence of a sizeable village community at Stowe in the 16th century is indicated by the surviving tax returns. In both 1524 and 1543 the taxpayers of Stowe were listed separately from those of Boycott, Dadford and Lamport. In 1524, 32 taxpayers at Stowe contributed to the subsidy (compared with 18 at Dadford and 16 at Lamport).[58] In 1543 the names of 30 taxpayers at Stowe were listed, holding between £1 and £6 in goods, and contributing a total of £1 10s. 6d.[59] It is difficult to convert the number of taxpayers into a figure for the total population of the village. However, it is likely that there were more than 100 inhabitants at Stowe during this period, a figure which had probably fallen by the time of the survey of 1633.

(viii) Stowe in 1086 and 1279

The five hides of the manor of Stowe were held by Robert d’Oilly and Roger de Ivry of the bishop of Bayeux in 1086. At the time of the Conquest the manor was said to be waste, and 20 years later the recorded population was still only three bordars. The value of the manor had fallen from 60s. to 40s., and only 1½ ploughs (out of a possible five) were in use.[60] It is extremely unlikely that a nucleated village existed here in the 11th century. Robert and Roger together founded a college of secular canons in the church of St George in Oxford Castle. A confirmation charter of Henry I of c.1130 makes clear that Stowe was an early addition to its endowment. Within another 20 years the college had been absorbed by Oseney Abbey, which held both the manor and advowson of Stowe until the Reformation.[61]

In 1279 the abbey held three hides in Stowe, of which two hides (eight virgates) were held in villeinage by 13 tenants. A further four tenants held cottages. The abbey held three virgates and a watermill in demesne. The remaining virgate was assigned to the church.[62] The watermill of Stowe was granted to Oseney abbey in c.1200 by Simon de Langeport, together with the surrounding land, above (superius) as far as the well of Hauetwelle and below (inferius) as far as the small mill of Boycott.[63] This document appears to locate Stowe mill close to Boycott mill, strengthening the argument that both where located on the same water course.  The two suggested locations for mills (see supra), one next to Boycott Bridge, the other east-south-east of Boycott farm are separated by a distance of only 500m[64] and would fit the topography well. If this was indeed the location of Stowe mill, this would place Hauetwelle somewhere within the valley now occupied by Oxford Water (SP 667 367). The description of Ralph de Langeport’s land in 1226 also appears to locate the mill here.  

In the Taxatio of 1291 the church of Stowe was said to be worth £10 a year, and Oseney held temporals in Stowe, Dadford, and Lamport worth £13 18s. 1d.[65] In the second half of the 14th century a south aisle was added to Stowe church, although this was presumably a reflection of the growing prosperity of the entire parish rather than Stowe village alone.[66] It would appear that by the end of the 13th century the settlement at Stowe was roughly on a par, in terms of population size, with that of nearby Boycott.

In 1226 an agreement was reached between the abbot of Oseney, Ralph de Langeport and John son of Maurice on the one part, and Ralph Harang on the other part, whereby Ralph’s men of Chackmore gained the right to common of pasture in Stowe and Lamport, in return for a reciprocal arrangement whereby the men of Stowe and Lamport were to have common of pasture in Ralph’s land of Radclive and Chackmore. The parties further agreed to exclude a group of pastures belonging to the abbot, Ralph de Langeport and John son of Maurice from this arrangement, which were said to lie within the following bounds: as the king’s highway called Kingestrete runs from the vill of Lamport to the king’s highway called Buggilderode, and as the same road runs to the bridge of Boycott, so from the bridge by the course of the stream which goes down to the stream running from Stowe mill, and so by the stream to the mill, and from the mill to the way leading to Lamport, thus to the said highway called Kingestrete. Within these bounds one exception was made: Ralph Harang’s men were allowed common of pasture in the field of Westleg’, when it lay fallow, between 14 October and 25 December.[67]

The bounds can be accurately located: Kingestrete runs from Lamport via Hey Wey and Slant Road westwards through Stowe village and beyond; Buggilderode has been identified as the Roman road or a medieval successor following a roughly similar course; the bridge at Boycott is that located above Boycott Farm; the first stream is that described elsewhere as Boycott Brook; the stream to Stowe mill is that draining south from Home Farm via Oxford Water; the mill mentioned is Boycott mill, located 500m east-south-east of the farm; and the way leading to Lamport is that which follows the parish boundary north-west of Chackmore, via New Inn Farm returning through the open fields to Lamport. The importance of these bounds in locating features described elsewhere will be of great significance to the reconstruction of the medieval landscape of the parish as a whole.

Other topographical features within the medieval landscape of Stowe may be recovered from the extensive corpus of surviving charters. Thus, for example, in a Biddlesden Abbey charter, half an acre in Puthfurlong, which lay in one of Dadford’s open fields, ‘extends towards Buggerode next to the church of Stowe’ (extendit in Buggerode contra ecclesiam de Stowe). Another half-acre, near the cross of Isaac (prope crucem Ysaac), ‘extends towards Buggerode next to the grove of Stowe’ (extendit in Buggerode contra gravam de Stowe).[68] Oseney Abbey indeed held a grove within its manor of Stowe.[69] Oseney also possessed a sheepcote (bercharia) at Stowe surrounded by a ditch, along which lay two acres granted to the abbey in c.1220. This land stretched above Uple as far as the road which ran towards Radclive.[70] A later charter, of 1439, also refers to the ‘Stowe Shephowsys’, and there was too a forge (fabrica) on the manor.[71]

One possible location for the sheepcote is immediately east of New Inn Farm where an oval enclosure is marked on the map. The origins of this enclosure are not known but it may simply delimit the extent of a nineteenth-century gravel pit. Nevertheless, it is located next to the Radclive road and there are neighbouring land parcels which equate closely to the two acre plot mentioned lying next to the sheepcote. A later smithy is known to have been located close to the church within the village area of Stowe, but given the shifting face of the village, it is unlikely that this will mark the site of the medieval forge.

(ix) Dadford in 1086 and 1279

In 1086 Dadford consisted of two separate manors. Haimard held two hides from Roger de Ivry ‘as one manor’, and Hugh son of Gozhere held another two hides in alms from the king. The value of both holdings had fallen since the reign of Edward the Confessor, and only a single plough was at work in each. At Haimard’s manor the recorded population consisted of four bordars and one slave, while at Hugh’s there was just three bordars.[72]

In 1279 the village of Dadford consisted of at least 39 cottages. The abbey of Biddlesden possessed four hides in demesne and 13 cottages let to tenants, held of the earl of Cornwall as parcel of the honour of St Valery. A further hide and 17 cottages were held by Biddlesden of William de Braose, who in turn held of the earl of Gloucester as parcel of the honour of Giffard. In addition, four free tenants held land from Biddlesden Abbey, one of whom, Ralph de Langeport, the holder of a virgate and two acres of assart, had himself let land to an unspecified number of sub-tenants (cum parvis tenentibus suis). Finally, the abbey of Oseney held one hide in demesne and nine cottages let to tenants, also as part of the earldom of Gloucester’s honour of Giffard.[73]    

It is uncertain whether the settlement at Dadford consisted of more than one centre at the time of the Hundred Rolls inquiry, or whether it was a single nucleated village, but clearly it was a place of some considerable size. Indeed it was probably the main centre of population in the parish at the end of the 13th century, dwarfing the neighbouring settlements of Boycott, Lamport, and Stowe.

Today there are three discrete areas of habitation that make up the village: one area around the cemetery at the junction of the lane to Wood Green with the road which swings around the southern and western edges of the Stowe estate; a row of houses on a side street to the east of the main road; and a modern northern development on North Hill. The village is surrounded by ridge and furrow which clearly terminate in areas of former occupation. This is clearly visible to the south-west. The most impressive medieval survivals, however, lie at the back of the row of houses to the east. At least six long, thin plots can be made out from aerial photographs backing onto a possible lane running along the edge of the open fields.[74] The street along which these plots fronted is almost certainly a continuation of the Hey Wey, and a footpath to the west of the main road might be the remnant of its course past Gorrell Farm to Wood Green and beyond to Biddlesden and Brackley.[75] Similar plots might also occupy the triangle of ground formed south of this road and the main road. Two other areas may also have been occupied: the first lies west of the North Hill estate, in an area of rough and overgrown ground backing onto the stream (SP 665 384); and the second lies east of the main road opposite the cemetery (SP 669 380). From aerial reconnaissance alone, it is impossible to understand fully the original morphology of the settlement. Certainly the settlement was extensive, as might be expected given the large population, but it is also possible that this spread may have resulted from its origins as two manors, with two distinct centres. 

The Biddlesden Cartulary lists some 129 charters relating to the abbey’s acquisition of its estate at Dadford. Unfortunately few of these are dated. However, many of them describe topographical features which may provide useful information for a reconstruction of the medieval landscape. One charter, dated 1217, describes land ‘within the four bounds’, granted to the abbey by Simon the Franklin. Simon grants away all his rights to the land ‘cultivated and uncultivated, in assarts and pastures, in ways and paths’ which lies ‘from mainethorn to the boundary of Boycott, and to Neubotle, and from Neubotle to the wood (nemus) of Westbury where the boundaries of Shalstone and Dadford divide, and to the head of Wodleie which is next to the vill of Dadford’.[76] Although this boundary clause cannot be followed on a modern map with any certainty, it appears to encompass a large tract of land, presumably quadrangular in shape, which stretched from Dadford village to the parish boundary with Shalstone to the border with Boycott. It thus lay to the south of the present village in the west of the parish.

Simon the Franklin granted a further 10 acres of land in Dadford to the monks of Biddlesden.[77] This lay scattered across the open fields, of which there were three according to another Biddlesden charter.[78] Some of Simon’s land extended towards Boycott, abutting Bugerode and lying close to Boycott wood. The boundary between two of Dadford’s open fields appears to have intersected the border of Boycott at some point along its length. Land ‘in alio campo’ reached as far as Boicotebrocke and the bridge of Boycott. In 1236 Robert the Franklin confirmed his father’s charter of 1217, in which mention is made of an Infelde and Haldefelde. These may be the names of two of the open fields of Dadford.[79]

In a few cases there appears to be a concordance between the field names recorded in the medieval charters and those depicted on the tithe map of 1845. For example, Rinell field consisted of just over 27 acres of pasture in the mid-19th century, lying in the area of Dadford’s former open fields (SP 662 370).[80] This may be the successor of the medieval Ruinhull, mentioned in a number of Biddlesden charters. Thus, half an acre at Withipoll extended towards Ruynhull into the headland of William Kareles; another half-acre lay upon that Ruinhull which was nearest to the vill of Dadford; and one acre beside the quarry extended upon Ruinhull to the west.[81] Likewise the name Anlow continued in use from the 13th to the 19th century (SP 665 385). One acre upon Anlowe extended upon the ditch of Robert de la More, and another extended towards Heiholth. There was too a stream running below Hanlowe, as there still is today.[82] Similarly the names Rooksmoor (SP 659 378)  and Ridgway (SP 661 373) (both in Dadford) have medieval origins. Thus, one acre at Crowenest extended towards Rokesmor; Ruggeweie lay adjacent, as it did in 1845.[83] Sufficient topographical information survives to make the reconstruction of the landscape of medieval Dadford a real possibility, despite the absence of early cartographic material.

There is a good coincidence between the location of medieval furlong names according to the tithe map schedule and the surviving ridge and furrow. The archaeological data suggest that Dadford’s open fields were the most extensive of the four settlements within the parish. Whilst it is currently impossible to differentiate between the three fields, it is clear that these lay to the south-west of the village, abutting both Boycott and the Roman road (Bugerode), and to the north of the village as far as the parish boundary. The ridge and furrow which does survive shows a more complex arrangement than that seen in Boycott and Stowe. Changes in ridge alignment and interlocking furlongs are common. References to assarts in 13th-century documents implies that Dadford also held areas of woodland. These must have been located to the east and north of the settlement in areas where ridge and furrow is absent. Certainly this is suggested by a reference to an assart at Dadford which lies along the ditch of the park of Westbury and is on the west side of Rudenge Weye, placing it in the extreme north of the township.[84] Most of the north-eastern part of the parish is free of ridge and furrow and it is likely that Dadford, Stowe and Lamport all held woodland in this part of the parish. Isolated patches of woodland might also have been present in the southern part of the township, along stretches of Boycott Brook. 

(x) Lamport in 1086 and 1279

In 1086 Lamport consisted of two separate manors. Berner held 3½ hides from Walter Giffard ‘as one manor’, and Gerard held 2½ hides from Mainou the Breton. At Berner’s manor there was a recorded population of six (two villeins, two bordars and two slaves), and three ploughs (out of a possible four) were in use. At Gerard’s manor there was a recorded population of five (one villein, three bordars and one slave), and two ploughs (out of a possible three) were in use. Thus, the recorded population at Lamport was greater than at the neighbouring settlements of Boycott, Dadford, and Stowe. The two manors of Lamport were also held by two different lords before the Conquest. Their value (40s. and 30s. respectively) had remained constant, although Gerard’s manor was worth only 16s. ‘when acquired’.[85]

At the time of the Hundred Rolls inquiry in 1279 the abbot of Oseney held three hides at Lamport, of which one was in demesne and two (eight virgates) were let to 11 tenants, one of whom was free. A further five tenants held cottages. The abbot held the manor of the earl of Oxford, who in turn held it of the earl of Gloucester. Also in 1279 Ralph de Langport held three hides in Lamport, of which he held three virgates in demesne and five virgates in villeinage, let to eight tenants. A further 10 tenants held cottages. The remaining four virgates were divided equally between Oseney Abbey and Studley Priory (Oxon.). Ralph held the manor of John son of Alan de Wolverton. There was thus a recorded tenant population of 34 at Lamport in 1279 (compared with 20 at Boycott, 42 at Dadford, and 17 at Stowe).[86]

Fewer charters survive for Lamport than for Dadford. Thus, our knowledge of the open fields of the manor derives largely from the survey of 1633. In this year 16 tenants held more than 600 acres in the village, meadow and three common fields.[87] Nevertheless, many details relating to the topography of the medieval manor survive. For example, there are various indications that there was a windmill at Lamport. One charter of 1439 refers to land lying by Wynnemyllewey, and later documents (of 1566 and 1577) make explicit the location of a windmill in the midst of Lamport’s fields.[88] A number of charters refer to land lying in ‘the fields of Lamport and Stowe’, suggesting that the two sets of fields lay adjacent to each other, or even that the two vills shared one or more common fields. These charters mention a variety of furlong names – Blacklond, Byglowefurlong, Crabtrefurlong, Plowethornfurlong – as well as other landscape features, such as Lamport Grene and the stream of Caldewelle.[89] Although there is no cartographic evidence earlier than the tithe map of 1845, Lamport was relatively unaffected by the creation of the landscape gardens at Stowe. It may, therefore, be possible to identify some of the features mentioned in the documentary record and begin to reconstruct the late medieval landscape of the manor.

(xi) Lamport village and its field systems

The village site of Lamport lies under pasture at SP 683 374.[90] Three medieval holloways converge on the village, forming a small triangular green. That approaching from the west is the road known as Kingstrete. To the east and west of the north-south holloway, house platforms are visible. These are not occupied on the tithe map, the remaining houses all lying to the north. They may represent medieval house platforms. A fourth terraceway leads from the green in a south-western direction towards the River Alder and Stowe village beyond. Fieldwork to the south of the main centre identified a further house platform (SP 684 373) and ploughing revealed other possible house sites in the field to the north (Tomkins pers. comm.). The full extent of the village and its original form is therefore difficult to assess, and since the site continued in use through to the 19th century, changes in its morphology should be expected to have occurred. Quarrying, deturfing, and at least one known episode of light ploughing will also have affected the quality of the surviving earthworks. No evidence for crofts can be seen, perhaps indicative of the fact that these lesser earthworks have been removed by later activity 

Ridge and furrow appears on every side of the settlement, although it is concentrated to the south, where the evidence suggests that the whole of the area to the parish boundary formed this settlement’s open fields. There are some long furlongs; however, the majority are small and form an interlocking pattern. To the north, whilst there is remnant ridge and furrow in the field closest to the settlement, the rest of the parish has none. It has already been suggested that this part of the parish may have been tree covered.

(xii) Summing Up

As with our assessment of Passenham parish, the archaeological evidence is good for both the Roman and medieval periods. There remains a large gap in the available evidence to help understand the transitional early medieval period. Whilst the creation of the house and gardens at Stowe has greatly changed the face of the parish, survivals from the medieval and earlier periods are considerable. Indeed, it can be seen that the course of the Alchester-Towcester road was ultimately to dictate many of the lines of the 18th-century gardens. The historical evidence for Stowe parish is more extensive than that for Passenham, containing far more of topographical interest. Furlong names, road names, and mentions of mills, a sheepcote and forge, all add to our understanding of the late medieval arrangements and provide fixed points for the positioning of landscape elements whose precise location remains unknown. Good population information and manorial descents will also aid our understanding of the development of the four settlements within the parish. Thus, despite the absence of cartographic evidence earlier than the 1845 tithe map, there is much to recommend Stowe as a parish which offers good opportunities to address the questions central to the Whittlewood Project. Summer fieldwork, and more historical research, notably concerning those documents now housed in the Huntington Library, will both add to our current base of information.

2001