St Andrews Church, Chaddleworth

In this edition I am covering St Andrews Church. Books have been written about it so I am covering the subject very scantily as it would be too onerous to try to cover it in one edition.

Records at the Berkshire Record Office indicate that there has been a Saxon place of worship on this site since the ninth century so 800 and something, so it is very ancient.

You probably all know that King Alfred was born in Wantage, some 7.5 miles away, and the Saxon Court was there. There are no Saxon vestiges in the church but it has been plastered inside and out so what may lie beneath this? After all an ancient Saxon window was uncovered at Boxford during renovations and is now on show.

An interesting feature of St Andrews is the Ordnance Survey ‘benchmark’ (an arrow head) on the wall to the left of the porch door this was an ‘elevation’ mark to signify the height above sea level that church is at.

Moving on to Henry the VIII, he granted the Manor of Wooley to Richard Tate in 1540 and St Andrews was referred to as ‘Wooley Abbey’. Not long after this it was sold it to Mr John Read who then sold it to Mr Thomas Tipping and his son Bartholomew. The church had fallen into disrepair but one of the three Tippings all called Bartholomew had the church refurbished. It is surmised that some records of this may be found in the Woolley Estate Court Rolls and deeds at Woolley Park? Another source for details would be the Church Register Chest as I have seen mention made of it in 1925.

It is very difficult to penetrate the ‘darkness’ of early history but some ‘glimmers’ are there. For instance, Chaddleworth and its Church were recorded in the Domesday Book that William the Conqueror had published so that he could assess exactly the wealth of the lands he had conquered. Chaddleworth and its Church were recorded in 1086 and there is a plaque to this event in the Church porch placed by the Parish Council back in the early 1980’s.

Back in 1925 Chaddleworth was paired with Woolley and a book I have read refers the Church History of Chaddleworth-cum-Woolley. Woolley, in medieval times, was also known as Wulvney. However, back in 1160 Chaddleworth St Andrews was given by Ralph Basset (also known as Ralph de Chaddleworth) to the newly founded Priory of Poughley (now named St Margarets Priory) which now lies within RAF Welford.

 

There is quite a bit of confusion over whether St Andrews has a Rector or a Vicar. When consulting the Oxford English Dictionary, it seems that if the tithe (one tenth of the produce from the Parish used to support the Church) passes to an incumbent rather that an organisation it would be a Rector. Whereas if the tithe passes to a chapter or religious house or even a layman then it would be a Vicar. Very confusing!

In the 1752 St Andrews Church accounts book there are two interesting inclusions: whipping dogs and washing. Whipping dogs were long sticks for ‘tapping’ badly behaved children in the church by men sitting behind and the washing referred to was the washing of the Parsons surplice and the altar fair cloth.

From the records, the church has changed quite a bit from what is apparent now and at its western end there was a large gallery right up to and over the main entrance covering a window on the north side and extending over the font. It was approached by a spiral staircase from inside the belfry. On the front covering the whole was painted/carved the particulars of the Parish Charities This can still be seen albeit in an elevated position. Some reports claim that the gallery could seat 100 persons!

Grahame Murphy

 

Chaddleworth Church Bells

Chaddleworth bells escaped the dreaded Church robbers in the reign of Edward the VI (churches were pillaged of the bells just leaving one to call the faithful to church, this was usually the smallest as it has least value).

It is suggested on good authority that Chaddleworth bells were ‘not called for’ in 1552 and that the 4 old ones currently in the tower are probably the original ones, which have been re-cast more than once. What their age is we have been unable to ascertain but it is certain that they are very old. According to ‘the Wardens Accounts’ which date back to 1685 the carrying out of repairs in 1694 is evidence of that, when not only wheels but a clapper was repaired and a ‘cannan’ was placed in the ‘biggisht’ bolt at the cost of 12 shillings (60 pence). New bell ropes were also placed at about the same time (1700) and this expenditure occurs at regular intervals. Further evidence of age is that in 1702 the bells were rung for ‘Gunpowder Plot’ an item of expenditure which occurs annually for more than a century after that in the Accounts is ‘beer for the ringers Gunpowder Plot 2/6’ (~12 pence beer was cheap then but better than drinking the water that might kill you unless boiled).

Grahame Murphy