FROM SAXON DAYS : HULLAVINGTON’S INTERESTING HISTORY (Copied from an article in the North Wilts Herald of Thursday 9th April 1925)

Historically the life of the Wiltshire village of Hullavington stretches back many centuries to the stirring times of the Saxons, and although relics of those far-off times are now non-existent, ancient records leave no doubt that the village was the Lordship of Harold, Earl of the West Saxons, in the reign of Edward the Confessor, in fact this information appears in the pages of Domesday Book. Harold afterwards became King of England, and being slain in the Battle of Hastings, all his lands (which were very many) fell to the Conqueror, who gave them to his captains. This, in short, is the early history of Hullavington, and the parishioners are naturally proud of the distinguished connections of their native village at a time when the foundations of English national life were being laid. The history of the village, indeed, manorial and ecclesiastical, is closely bound up with the struggles of those early times from which our present English society eventually emerged. The present Vicar (the Rev E G Mortimer) has taken great pains to obtain an authentic list of the past patrons and vicars of Hullavington, and the list contains several interesting features. In the first place it shows that the spelling of the name of the parish has undergone many changes. In 1297, the first date on the list, it is spelt Hundlavyngton, and in 1343 we find an alteration to Hunlavyngton, whilst further down the list there are variations to Hundelavyngton, Hullavyngton and finally in 1512 the spelling became Hullavington. Another interesting feature is the connection of the living by patronage with the Priory of St Victor at Caux in Northern France. “The Bristol Observer” is the suthority for the statement that Sir Roger de Mortimer, an ancestor of the present Vicar, was the founder of the Priory of St Victor, and his son, Sir Ralph de Mortimer, came over to these shores with William the Conqueror and received the Manor of Hullavington in recognition of his services. It was this Sir Ralph who endowed the Priory and attached to it the living of Hullavington. In 1344 it will be seen that the patronage passed into the hands of the King, and the living was under royal favour off and on until about the year 1440. The name of Johanna, the second wife of Henry IV, and daughter of Charles of Navarre, also appears in the list of patrons, and during her regency, when Henry V was fighting in the French wars, she twice presented to the living of Hullavington. It is in the year 1444 that we find the name of Eton College in the list of patrons, for it was in that year that Henry VI deprived St Victor Priory of the living and presented it to Eton College, who are the patrons to this day. The Rev. E G Mortimer became Vicar in 1921, and it is a coincidence that he is in direct line of descent from the founder of St Victor Priory, the name of which was so prominently connected with the ecclesiastical history of Hullavington in the 13th and 14th centuries.

PATRONS AND VICARS
List That Covers Over Six Centuries

The list of patrons and vicars is appended:-

1297 – Matheus, Prior de Hundlavington, Procurator Abbitis of Convent de
St Victor: Wmus. de Combe
1343 – Michael Clarel, Pro Abb de St Victore in Cajcte; Wmus de Combe
1344 – Rex pro Priory de Hunlavyngton; Herberd de Ernesley
1347 – Rex do.: Johannes de Carliolo
1349 – Ditto; Adamus de Hilli
1353 – Robertus, Episc: Sarum; Adamus Hoynes
1364 – Prior de Hunlavyngton; Robertus de Raideford
1378 – Ditto, Rex; Thomas de Norton
1381 – Ditto; Johannus Tayllor
1382 – Ditto; Stephenus Clanford
1400 – Ditto; Richardus Andrewe
1404 – Ditto; Wmus. Ibos
1408 – St Marie Magdalene de Hunlavyngton, Rex, pro. Priory de Clatford;
Johannus Hore.
1409 – St Marie Magdalene de Hunlavyngton, Rex, pro. Priory de Clatford;
Johannas Salesbury
1411 – Johanna Regini, probac vice; W Salesbury
1414 – Rex; Robertus Radcler
1420 – Rex; Thomas Betain
1422 – Ditto; Richardus Crotty
1430 – Johanna Regini; Johannus Wansford
1440 – Rex Henricus; Richardus Duryvah
1444 – Propositus Collegi Eton; Johannus Mangwyle
1448 – Propositus Collegi Eton – Wmus. Mile
1455 – Propositus Collegi Eton; Wmus. Clark
1463 – Propositus Collegi Eton; Johannus Harewell
1465 – Collegi St George Winsori; Wmus. Blake
1472 – Collegi Eton; Johannus Thomas
1512 – Collegi Eton; Laurence Banke
1554 – Thomas Smith; Johannus Giles
1599 – Henricus Savil; Johannus Moore
1636 – Henricus Wootton; Johannus Stanley
1675 – Richardus Allistrie; Thomas Petty
1693 – Z. Cradock; Johannus Bailey
1694 – Z. Cradock; Andreas Cellibrand
1703 – Henricus Godolphin; Johannus Cook
1710 – Collegi Eton; Johannus Jackson
1739 – Henry Bland; Giles Ernly
1753 – Eton Coll.; William Adlam
1791 – Eton College; Alexander Ratcliffe
1792 – Eton College; C P Worsley
1826 – Eton Coll.; William Carter
1864 – Eton Coll.; Richard Thomas Powys
1878 – Eton Coll.; Edward Sweet
1893 – Eton Coll.; George Younger
1905 – Eton Coll.; John Charles Ramsay
1921 – Eton Coll.; Edward Granville Mortimer

THE CHURCH DESCRIBED
Ancient Work in Wood and Stone

The Parish Church of St. Mary has lost much of its old-time glory by removal or destruction of some of its original features, but it contains to-day work which links it with a very far off period. Some of the old oak rafters are still preserved in the roof of the north bay, and the porch, arches, and columns are Transition Norman work. The north side has some very good Early English windows, and although the original stained glass was destroyed in the Cromwellian period, there are slight remains of 12th century glass in certain windows of the church. An object of particular interest is the handsome metal screen which stands in front of the organ, the carving representing the sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham, but the origin of the screen is a matter of mere conjecture, and no-one seems able to speak with any certainty as to its history. In 1917 the north aisle and Bradfield Chapel were restored, and the organ chamber erected, the organ being the gift of Mr Meredith Brown in memory of his wife, to whom reference is made in later portions of this article.

FAMILY MEMORIALS
Interesting Tablets in the Parish Church

Hullavington Church is rich in ancient memorial monuments, some of which are so affected by the passage of time as to be almost unreadable. There are others, however, which preserve their quaint old-time inscriptions remarkably well, as for instance the following:

“Neare unto this place lyes ye body of Lydia Juye, daughter to George Juye, of Hullavington, Esq., who departed this life the 15th day of July 1674
Stay, gentle passenger, and cast thy eye
On this spectacle of mortallity.
Here doth the body of a virgin rest
Whose soule in heaven is with her Saviour blest.
She blessed was with nature’s guifts, but shin’d
Far more with guifts and graces of the minde.
Meek, humble, chast, religious and devout,
She holy was and happy is, no doubt.
We all must follow her in mortal state,
O, that we could her virtues emulate.
Deserved prayers, perhaps, had mist her
Had not these lines been fixt here
By her sister, Katherine Juye.”

Here is another interesting inscription on a 17th century stone tomb in the north chapel:

“O, man, repent, this world defie,
Remember well that thou must die,
For as I am soe shalt thou be
Dust and ashes as thou maist see.
Serve God, therefore, while thou hast time,
That thou to blisse at length maist clime.
Every estate and Lord, Duke and King,
Rich man and poore, mark well this thing.
- Simon James, Gen.; buried 25 day of Aprill, 1616”

The memory of a member of the Ivie family, who were residents of the parish in the 17th century, is perpetuated by a tablet in the north aisle inscribed as follows:

“Oliver Ivie, son and heire of George Ivie, Esq., of Hullavington in ye county of Wilts, who married Anne Finet, in ye yeare of our Lord 1649, one of ye daughters of Sir John Finet, Kt., master of ceremonies to King Charles ye first, and of ye Lady Finet, his wife, sister to ye Earl of Cleveland.
This said Oliver Ivie deceased in November, 1650, leaving his said wife, with child, who was on ye 14th of April, 1651, delivered of a daughter which was named Jane, which said Jane Ivie deceased on ye 2nd of October, 1654, and with her said father lyeth under this place.
Anne Ivie, his widdow, in memory of her deare husband and child, hath erected this monument in ye yeare of our Lord, 1663.”

A massive monument in the same aisle commemorates another well-known Hullavington family of past days and the inscription reads:

“In this place lyeth the body of John Jacob, Esq., son of Thomas Jacob, Esq. He married Ann, daughter of Nathaniel Stephens, of Eastington, in the county of Gloucestershire. He died September 2nd, 1740, aged 47. Near this place also lyeth the body of the said Ann, wife of the above mentioned John Jacob, who died the 20th day of May, 1762.”

Yet another Hullavington family to whom memorial tablets are erected in the church is that of the Chandlers. One of the tablets records that it is

“Sacred to the memory of Thomas Chandler, Ashcroft House, in the county of Gloucestershire, who died Oct. 30th, 1800, aged 67 years; also to the memory of William Chandler, of Hullavington, son of the above, who died May 8th, 1820, aged 59 years.”

Below is another tablet “to the memory of Elizabeth Ruddle Chandler, relict of Thomas Chandler, formerly of Boxwell, and daughter of John and Mary Browne, of Chiseldon, died 25 July, 1844, aged 76”.

THE LYCH GATE
A Husband’s Tribute to His Wife

Coming down to recent times, the church contains a handsome brass tablet to a lady who was very much beloved during her short residence at Hullavington House – Mrs Meredith-Brown. The inscription states:

“In memory of Maria Meredith-Brown, who dies February 23rd, 1896, aged 50. Erected by villagers of Hullavington in thankfulness of her great kindness to them during her residence amongst them, 1890-96.”

The pretty lych gate which forms such a pleasing entrance to the church-yard was erected in 1897 by Mr Meredith Meredith-Brown, JP, in memory of his wife. Mr Meredith-Brown died on 21 December 1920, and there is a tablet to his memory in the church.

A sad family history is told in the memorial tablets to the Rev. William Carter, who was the respected Vicar of the parish for 37 years, and his wife and children. Mr Carter was born on February 22nd, 1789, and became Vicar of Hullavington in 1827, and held the living until his death on February 21st, 1864. His wife, so the inscription states, “fell at the church door and died on Sunday, 24th June, 1849, aged 42 years.” Of the children Richard Francis died in 1838, Mary Anne and Caroline Frances in 1849, so that father survived wife and children for nearly 15 years. Mr Carter was evidently a man of peace, for a couplet on his tombstone exhorts the readers to

“As much as lieth in you
Live peaceably with all men.”

The chancel contains a memorial to the Ref. John Charles Ramsay, F.I.G.C.M., who was Vicar of the parish from 1905-1920. He was born on 25 March, 1867 and died 21 November, 1900.

This article supplied by Janice Tiley