The Manor or Manors of Oxhill

Before the Conquest, Oxhill was held, together with Whatcote, by Toli, but by 1086 it had passed to Hugh de Grantemaisnil, one of Duke William's most loyal supporters. Unfortunately, it would appear that Hugh's wife, the Lady Alicia, a great beauty of her day and of somewhat blonde and buxom proportions, became enamoured of Duke William, who did not return her affection. He seemed to value her husband's friendship rather more highly, and sent them both back home to Normandy.

In 1186, at the death of Engelram de Dumart, Henry II granted the manor of Oxhill to Engelram's sisters, Emma and Alice. In 1211, it was held by Emma's son, Engelin de Dumart, but by 1216 it had been seized by King John and given to Theodoric de Wichford. However, it was subsequently returned to Engelin, and passed on his death in 1219 to his nephew Thomas de Periton. Thomas left it to his son Adam, who was succeeded by his grandson, Robert de Keynes of Dodford (Northamptonshire).

Robert died in 1281, and the manor passed first to his eldest son Robert, and on his death in 1306 to his brother William, whose own son John inherited in 1344. John's son (also John) died at the age of nine years, and Oxhill passed to his sister Wentilian, then aged twelve years, and thence to her father's sister Elizabeth de Keynes, who died shortly afterwards.

The Manor was then inherited by a grand-daughter of Elizabeth’s father's sister, Lettice de Keynes, and thence to her sister Maud, mother of Sir John Cressy, who granted it for life to Sir William Brantinghame.

At about this time, Alice Cardigan, a descendant of Hawise de Keynes, sister of John and Elizabeth claimed the manor. Alice had been disinherited by her father, Sir John Ladbroke, for marrying Cardigan who had been his cook. Alice and Lewis Cardigan successfully ejected the Brantinghames and their daughter Katherine Hathewyk and her son John, took possession.

In 1482 the manor was sold for £200 to John Catesby of Lapworth. (The same family that was later to be so tragically implicated in the Gunpowder Plot). When Henry VII claimed the Crown after the Battle of Bosworth, Catesby was attainted and his possessions reverted to the Crown. Henry VII granted the manor of Oxhill to Sir David Owen and his heirs, and in 1568 Henry Owen sold it to Simon Walweyne of Tysoe, who already owned land in Oxhill. Simon's son Matthew inherited in 1578. He died in 1609, and the manor passed to his brother Francis and his heirs.

Francis's daughter, Ursula, married William Clarke in 1611, and had a son, also William, who was to die without issue. The manor then passed to his uncle, Matthew Clarke, who in 1650 paid a fine of £15, for his Royalist sympathies during the Civil War. He too died without issue and his younger brother, Walwyn Clarke, Rector of Oxhill, inherited.

He conveyed the manor to Sir William Bromley of Bagington, in whose family it remained until 1874 when it was sold to a Mr. J. Gardner who was the tenant at the time.

In the Gamekeeper's Deputations, only in 1792 was William Davenport Bromley returned as Lord of the Manor. All other years from 1718-1932 it is stated that the Shirley family (of Ettington) held the Lordship. This particular issue was the subject of extensive correspondence between the two families in the last century, and the letters are still extant in the Shirley family papers. No conclusion however, would appear to have been reached.

In the Inclosure Award no Lord of the Manor is mentioned, but both families are listed as landowners, and William Davenport -Bromley is listed as patron of the living. In Sir Simon Archer's “questionnaire” sent out to all parishes in 1625, Oxhill replied – “Their is noe Lord of the Manor but divers Freeholders doe Inheritt the Towne.”

Another manor existed in Oxhill, or perhaps the original was split by litigation or marriage settlements. Somewhere about 1456, it seems to have been held of the Duke of Buckingham by Katherine Hathewyk and then passed into the possession of Sir John Shirley who died in 1485 seised of land and messuages in Oxhill. This estate was referred to as the reputed Lordship of Oxhill in 1541 when Francis Shirley leased it, with Ettington, to Edward and Thomas Underhill. In 1778 George Shirley and his brother made an agreement about the property. This land would appear to have been held of the Shirleys together with pieces of land in the adjoining villages of Whatcote and Fulready by the families of Weston and Dymoke. In 1353 John Dymoke and his wife Alice, (who later appears to have married John de Somerton), were in possession.

In 1183, Robert de Stafford granted the Monks of Bordesley twelve acres of land “on the Torrent of Oxhill where my oxherds dwell”. The Monks also had gifts of land from Engelin de Dumart and the de Keynes family.

The Abbey's land, called the Grange of Oxhill, was valued at £7. 15. 7 in 1535 when it was leased to Thomas Ward for fifty years. At the Dissolution it came into the hands of the Crown and in 1554 it was sold to Peter Temple (of Burton Dassett) and Richard Pedyfer. They sold it in 1559 to George Bishop and his son John. George's son, Richard, and Richard's nephew, Anthony, inherited it, and in 1631 Anthony sold it to William Loggins, who died seised of this land in 1635. He directed it to be sold in his Will, and it is probable that it was purchased by a member of the Townsend family. This family already held land within the parish of Oxhill, and had done so since 1588 at least.

In 1798 Joseph Draper and his wife Mary, and Margaret Townsend, spinster, conveyed the manor to Joseph Sherbourne, after which no more of it is known.

This site is maintained by villagers of Oxhill for the benefit of the community and those interested in the history, news and activities that make the village such a pleasant place to live.

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Last modified: June 07, 2003