C. Elizabeth Cottingham.

READING :

PUBLISHED BY HENRY T. MORLEY,

KING'S ROAD.

I am indebted to -

MISS BOLDERO, MRS. BURFORD,

MISS CORSER, MRS. DIXON,

MISS LOCKE, MRS. MOSLEY,

AND ESPECIALLY TO MRS.

VERINI AND MR. JONATHAN

SPARVELL FOR SOME OF THE

FOLLOWING INFORMATION.

                             C.E.C.

"It is my decided opinion," said Mr. Isaac Taylor, author of Words and Places "that the name Eversley is one of the few remaining records of the former existence of the wild boar in England. Eofor-wild boar, Anglo-Saxon, would take the English form Ever (Genitive Ever's). The second syllable is the Anglo-Saxon leah a boskey place, a sort of open pasturage, more or less wooded, like the under-closed glades of the New Forest." Eversley was spelt "Eversleigh" in Parish Records until 1748.

When Domesday Book was made, about 1085, the land of Eversley belonged to the Abbey of Westminster. It had been held by four Freemen, as four Manors, and rented at five hides of land. Ten Villeins and four Boors, with two ploughs, are also named. In the time of Edward the Confessor, Eversley was valued at 5 pounds. But, at the Survey twenty years later, at 4 pounds. This difference was probably due to the unsettled state of the country after the Norman Conquest.

It is difficult to identify exactly the site and extent of the four Manors of Saxon times. One was certainly the Church Farm. Another, probably, the Van Farm. The third, an old house behind Glaston Hill, which was pulled down by Sir William Cope. Its last resident was Mr. Fulker. The fourth Manor, some authorities believe, was on the site of the cottages by Bramshill Gates, from Church Lane. Bramshill, formerly Bramsell, Bramzell and Bromeshill, is mentioned in early records as a "tything of Eversleigh."

Domesday Book also tells of two mills in Eversley, worth one hundred and five pence, and a wood worth thirty shillings. Bramshill, too, had a mill, worth twenty-five shillings, a contrast to that at Farnborough, which was worth two pence ! "Bromeshill," in a Survey of 1080, is called "a lordly wood for two hogs."

As the value of the wood at Eversley is such a large proportion of the whole sum, the greater part of the land must have been woodland. In fact, it gave its name to a Forest under the Norman Kings, for "William de Braybœuf made a park at Hackwood in the Forest of Eversleigh in 1280" In that century a family was living, named Eversleigh ; Gilbert de Eversleigh died in 1252, and Walter de Eversleigh, his son, was living in 1274. It may be they took their name from their residence, as was often done at that time. We have proof that the Abbey of Westminster remained supreme Lord until 1280, for, in that year, the Abbot was impleaded at Winchester for not allowing his villeins to do suit in the King's Hundred Court of Holdshot, as they were bound to do. But, before this, we find the de Wanton family was of importance in Eversley, and owned much of the land. In "1276, William de Wanton, son of Amicius de Wanton, remitted and quit claim to Alan de Hagheman and his wife Amicia, all his right and claim to the Manor of Eversleigh, with the Advowson of the Church there, for the sum of twenty-five marks." As de Wanton's name was Amicius, and that of the lady Amicia, it is probable that Alan de Hagheman's wife was a relation of the de Wanton family, and that she had inherited the Manor. William de Wanton may have had some claim on it which he agreed to forego on receiving the above twenty-five marks-£16 13s. 4d.

Alan de Hagheman was succeeded, as Lord of the Manor, by John de Hagheman, and after John came another de Hagheman, Nicholas, who was already Rector of Eversley. Little beyond their names is known of those, who in the far-away days, were important to the welfare of the village, but we find that the next Lord of the Manor, Thomas de Bradeston, had a grant of "a Market, a Fair, and the right of Free Warren at Eversleigh." The privilege of holding a Market was of great importance, as without it no shops could be opened. About this date, 1361, similar charters were granted to the Lords of the Manors of many places in Hampshire by the Crown. Eversley Fair, on St. Luke's Day, continued until the last century.

Thomas de Bradeston left an only daughter, Elizabeth, who married Sir Walter de la Pole, and brought to him the Manor of Eversley. After his death, his only child, Jane, married Sir Edward Ingoldesthorpe. They, also, had an only child, Isabel, who married John Nevill, Earl of Northumberland, brother to Warwick the King Maker. Isabel's husband was made Marquis of Montagu. He was killed at the battle of Barnet, 1471. Their two sons died childless, so their four daughters became co-heiresses. Eversley was inherited by one of them, Lucy, who married Sir Anthony Brown, Standard-bearer to King Henry VII. Her grandson, Viscount Montagu, held the Manor in 1562, and sold it in 1582 to Deodatus Staverton, who is described in the deed of sale as "of Eversleigh, gent." He died in 1590, and his brother Thomas succeeded him.

Another Deodatus Staverton, eldest son of Thomas, was the next Lord of the Manor, His son, Francis, died childless, and his daughter Anne, became Lady of the Manor. She married William Lacy, and, in 1665, they jointly sold the Manor and principal estates in Eversley to Andrew Henley, owner of Bramshill. In the conveyance "Whatbrooke" and "Coldgaston" are excepted. Members of the Staverton family lived in Eversley until 1724, and an old house on the Lower Common has always been known as "Staverton." Andrew Henley mortgaged the Manor of Eversley and in 1700, Sir John Cope, 5th Bart., bought it from the Mortgagees or Trustees.

Part of the above, and also some information that follows about Eversley Church, is from Sir William Cope's History of Eversley in the Parish Magazine of 1886, by permission of Sir Anthony Cope.

An early tradition tells us that a small church, on the site of the present one, was a Sanctuary for Deer-slayers. Another tradition places a Hermit's Cell there. The latter may have grown from the fact that "A Hermitage was endowed at Strathfieldsaye in order that the Hermit might direct travellers through the forest of Eversley. It was "common practice to place Hermits at parts of forests, to direct and help wayfarers. In return for which the Hermits received the alms of the Rich and the thanks of the Poor."(Col. H. Stilwell).

It appears from the Charter granted to the Abbey of St. Peter's, Westminster, by which it became possessor of Eversleigh Manor, that a Church was included. This Charter is dated 1050. But if no Church already stood, we may be sure that "the good Benedictines of Westminster" would have hastened to build one for their dependants and to send a Priest to serve it. In 1294 we find that Pope Nicholas IV ordered a Return to be made of all the benefices of England, and their value. Eversley Church was then returned as of the annual value of £8. King Edward III in the year 1341, ordered an enquiry to be made of the value of the ninth part of all Church property for taxation called "The Inquest of the Nines." To comply with this demand a jury was summoned at Eversley. Amongst those acting on the Jury was "Richard at Vanne," who, evidently, lived at the Manor mentioned in the earliest records of Eversley. They found "The ninth of sheaves, fleeces and of lambs amounted to four pounds." They also said that "The Church is endowed with one messuage and garden, and one yard land of [arable] land and half a yard of Pasture, worth 29 shillings a year." Probably the Rectory and Glebe. ("One yard land is ¼ of an hide. The hide is the amount of land that a team of oxen would plough in that part of the year given to ploughing.") The jury further "found a Mill," Other small receipts in "Oblations and Mortuaries were worth by the year 51 shillings." Eversley Church was, from the first, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. This is proved by the Will of William Archer, dated Nov. 18, 1502, who desired to be buried in the Church "Beatæ Marium Virginis de Eversleigh."

As we read the long list of Rectors, we think of the many changes the centuries brought, and wonder how they affected the little Parish, surrounded by its woods and moors. Nicholas de Hagheman is the first Rector whom we can trace. He lived in 1312 and eventually became Lord of the Manor, and presented three Rectors to Eversley : one being Nicholas Walronde, whose Induction was the first scene in the Village Pageant of 1919 (see later). "In the early years of the 14th century, Bishop Woodlock journeyed from Winchester with his suite and inducted a Priest, Nicholas Walronde, to Eversleigh." We have not discovered more of Nicholas Walronde, but we hope he was a better man than his neighbouring cleric at Sherbourne. This was John Wardecorpse, of whom we learn in Wykeham's Register, Vol. II, p. 92, that, in 1369, he was arrested and confined to the Bishop's Castle at Winchester on the following charges:--"1. Of stealing from Henry Pokerygge, of Eversleigh, on Monday the 1st week in Lent 40 Edward III a Horse, value 2 marks ; 2. Breaking and entering the house of Christina Breeze, and stealing linens and woollens, value 5 marks ; 3. Breaking and entering at night-time the house of Christina la Dresshe at Eversleigh and stealing woollens, linens, and silver spoons, and a cup lined with silver - value l00 shillings."

As a Clerk in Holy Orders, Wardecorpse claimed to be judged by the Bishop's Officers. He was taken before the Ecclesiastical Commissioners at Guildford, found guilty and sent to Wolvesey Castle for imprisonment. He remained in durance vile until 1379, when he appealed for release. He was again tried by a Commission which reported "The charge was a grave one, resting upon evidence of credible people," and the Bishop was recommended not to grant a "purgation." So Wardecorpse went back to prison and we read no more of him.

To return to Eversley. No Rector has been traced since Walronde until Elisha Ambrose in 1535, when the Parish in "Glebe-land, tithes, oblations and other receipts" was valued at £16 12s. 11d.  Julian, wife of Thomas Barnes, Rector, died in 1604, and he four years later. John Blitheman was instituted in 1608. While he was Rector, Eversley was visited two years running, 1625 and 1626 by that dreaded sickness, the Plague. The Register says "Thomas Bodham, son of Richard Bodham, died of the Plague and was buried in a close of his Father's called Steadtofts. 20 May, 1625." The next year makes us realise the fatal nature of this illness;- four members of one family died within a week.  "John Philipe, son of Richard Philipe, died October 10th. Richard Philipe, his Wife, and Thomas, his Son, died of the Plague and were buried 'down by Baker's hates' (hatch or eyot?) on the I6th October, 1626." And William Lewes was buried in the same place four days later. These Burials in fields far from houses instead of in the Churchyard were to avoid danger from infection. No fields of these names are known now.

Robert Blitheman became Rector in 1634 and lived at Eversley through the Rebellion. He would have seen Cavaliers and Roundheads on their way to Basing House from Reading and Oxford, and there was fighting round Eversley itself. Many stone cannon-balls have been found in the neighbourhood ; one was taken from the bottom of the pond at Glaston Hill when Mr. Jubb lived there. It is now in the care of Mrs. Anthony Cope at Highclere. Apparently Robert Blitheman lived quietly in his Parsonage through all those turbulent years, when the Prayers and Liturgy were forbidden to be used in all Churches of the Land. He, probably, conformed to the Puritanism of the time, and lived the ordinary man's domestic life. The Register tells that "Elizabeth wife of Minister Blitheman, was buried June 18, 1656." The puritanic "Minister" is used here not the old English word "Parson," Minister Blitheman died in 1661 . Dr. William Birstall succeeded, he died in1699 and Richard Staverton was the next Rector. He drew up the following quaint Memorandum: "That when Sir John Cope made a vault for the burying-place of his Family adjoining to the east end of the Chancel : and when in the year 1703, Mr. Staverton who was then Rector of the Parish, Mem., that it was agreed between the aforesaid Sir John Cope and the aforesaid Mr. Staverton that Sir John Cope should have an entrance into the aforesaid vault and that if there should be any damage done to the Chancel, by breaking a hole through the east wall of the Chancel, that then the said Sir John Cope should make it good ; and also that the said Sir John Cope and his heirs should uphold and make good whatsoever breach or crack should happen to, or grow out in the East wall to the damage of the aforesaid Chancel at any time hereafter, either upon the account of the entrance aforesaid, or in respect of the Monument which the aforesaid Mr. Staverton gave leave to be erected against the East Wall of the Chancel, on the outside thereof, upon the condition aforesaid ; that the said Sir John Cope, etc., paying for the opening of the vault in the Chancel the Minister's lawful demands. -R.S. Memorandum likewise ; that the seat or pew which Sir John Cope sits in at the south-east end of the Chancel did not anciently stand in the Chancel but stood formerly just below the step going up to the Chancel, between it and the Pulpit, and was but lately removed thence into the Chancel by my immediate predecessor, Dr. Birstall when he was not "corpus mentis.." R.S.

This curious memorandum is interesting as being the only known record of the old Church. That Church, we believe, dates from the first years of the sixteenth century. "Mr. Staverton's mention of the Monument against the east wall of the Chancel proves -for the Monument is there now-that the present East Wall is that of the older Church". (Sir William Cope.)

The Brass to the memory of Richard Pendilton, Steward to Lord Dawbery, owner of Bramshill, which is on the Chancel floor of the present Church, was preserved from the former one. This Brass is in the form of a Cross of an interlaced unique design ; the inscription on it says that Richard Pendilton died 1502. When When Richard Staverton died in 1707, Edward Aspin became Rector of Eversley. The Church was rebuilt in his day and the Architect was John James of Warbrook. In essentials it is much as he left it in 1724-a brick building in the Wrennian Style, with no decided ecclesiastical character. The painted screen of three rounded arches is said to be the last example of a Chancel screen, before the Revival of Church Architecture in the 19th century.

Galen Cope became Rector of Eversley in 1730. He had been in the Army before he was ordained, and a "picture at Bramshill shows him engaged in warlike operations off the coast of South America." (Sir W. Cope). He died in 1735, and was suceeded by Samuel Terrick, brother to Richard Terrick, Bishop of London. During this Incumbency, the Living was sequestrated, and the next Rector, Richard Cope, could not get possesssion of it until 1746. He held it from then to his death sixty years later, and his long life was full of activities and change. In 1751 he was appointed Chaplain to the House of Commons, by Arthur Onslow, the Speaker, who was a near relation of his mother. Three years later he became a Prebendary (the old word for Canon) of Westminster, and he was given the Chapter living of Islip in the same year. 1768 saw him Sub-Dean of Westminster. He was also Prebendary of Warminster, in the Cathedral of Wells. This Cleric succeeded his cousin, Sir John Cope, in the title and estates of Bramshill and Eversley. Sir Richard was a very active man with a simple serious view of life. Many years before his death he had his grave made in the Church tower and boarded over. He died in 1806, aged 87, and was buried according to his wish in this grave.

Peter Debary, Fellow of Trinity Col., Cambridge, was the next Rector, he resigned in 1823, and was succeeded by Jonathan Ashbridge, who was at Eversley until his death, 1831.

John Toovey-Hawley was presented to the Rectory by Sir John Cope in 1832. The same Patron appointed Charles Kingsley in 1844. Mr. Kingsley had been Curate of Eversley- two years before, when he lived in a thatched cottage at the corner of the Cross green. He then described the Parish as "peculiar for nothing but want of houses, and abundance of peat bogs. My parishioners are remarkable for aversion to education and a predeliction for fat bacon." But the next year, when he believed he was leaving Eversley for ever, he wrote of it as "this beloved place," and he returned with joy in 1844 to be its Rector for the rest of his life. When Mr. Kingsley and his wife first came to the Rectory the house was surrounded by ponds, which often overflowed, and flooded garden, stables, and the ground-floor rooms. Extensive drainage was imperative, as well as many repairs before the house was habitable--little or nothing having been done to it for a hundred years! The Parish, too, had been neglected, and the Charities fell chiefly on the Rector. So for the first years he found difficulties of many kinds, financial amongst them. But they were faced cheerfully in the happiness of his home and work, and the Rectory became the centre of his far-reaching influence for the rest of his life. In "My Winter Garden" (Frazer's Magazine, 1858) he told of the pleasant surroundings of his home and of his own happiness in them.

Very few are left in Eversley who can remember Mr. Kingsley, and one of those few, Mrs. David Welch, has passed on since this little account of his Parish was begun. She always enjoyed talking of him, and her fine old face was full of animation and pride when she said that he would carry her home from school when she was a tiny child. She remembered seeing him bearing big cans of soup from the Rectory and leaving some at each cottage, when an epidemic raged. He was welcomed everywhere as a great friend, as well as the Parson, and the children ran after him calling "Daddy, daddy."  In those days Mrs. Welch (then Elizabeth Chandler) and other children were terrified of going near a certain house where a ghost was said to appear at dusk. One summer evening they met Mr. Kingsley and told him of their fear. She remembered he said-"There are always more Spirits in the air than there are gnats now," and he pointed to a cloud of gnats in the twilight. "But God does not let you see them, because you would be frightened by them, and He never frightens children."  Mrs. Welch remebered that some people did not care for the gipsies to sit by them, when they came to Church, so Mr. Kingsley put stools specially for the gipsies. "I was garden boy when Mr. Kingsley was at the Rectory," an old man said some years ago. "One day I was sweeping the drive, and, as he passed me, he said ‘Be good, my Boy.’" "And I have been good," the dear old man added, after a few moments’ mental review of his eighty odd years. Another of our old Friends remembers that he and several others were walking past the Rectory very tired and thirsty after a long day's work in the fields. Mr. Kingsley saw them, and called them all to come in and drink Mrs. Kingsley's health in large mugs of beer.

While Mr. Kingsley was Rector, the Chancel of the Church was restored ; a large east window, fitted with stained glass representing the Crucifixion of Our Lord, taking the place of a small round-headed one.  The open timber roof was substituted for a plain ceiling, and the simple stone Reredos was put up. At the same time the Chancel Screen was coloured (the lilies in the panels on the inside being designed by Mr. Kingsley) and the gates were fixed to it. The eastern gable outside the Church was carried up, and cupped by a stone cross. Charles Kingsley and his wife are buried in the churchyard close to the Rectory Garden, under the shadow of their loved Firs. A well-worn path leads to their grave, where the words "Amavimus, Amamus, Amabimus," and the date of his death, January 23, 1875, have been read by thousands to whom Eversley Churchyard has been a Pilgrimage.

A characteristic story fits in here. One day Mr. Kingsley and his Churchwarden were together in the Churchyard, and the former said "Let us choose the places for our graves."  Mr. Bannister pointed to his choice. "Why, that is mine," said Mr. Kingsley. "Well, the one who dies first shall have it." And he and his wife lie there, while Mr. Bannister, who outlived him, is not many yards away.

Of Eversley Churchyard, Miss Rose Kingsley wrote "The largest tree in the Churchyard is a fine Wellingtonia, a seedling from a cone my father picked up in the Mariposa Grove in May, 1874. After his death in 1875_, the cone split open and I potted two of the seeds. They grew so well that, two years later, I sent them to our old Schoolmaster and Clerk, Frederick Marshall. One he planted in the Churchyard and the other on the slope of the Mount, and my amazement was great when I returned to Eversley to find the tiny seedlings had turned in the space of twenty years into Forest trees."

Nothing has been found as to the date of the building of the Rectory, but the gables in front, with the projecting windows and flat wall between them point to the 17th century or earlier. Some parts inside the house bear evidence of great age. The three beautiful fir trees in front of the Rectory are famous for their size and age, and the deep colour of theirwonderful red stems.

Soon after Charles Kingsley's death, a general wish was expressed to restore the Church in his Memory. This was carried out in 1878, when some picturesque features were removed, but in main points the Church was not much altered. The Pulpit and Reading Desk are in their original places. A tomb with the beautiful recumbent figure of Dame Marianne Cope, who died 1862, is between the Chancel and the Lady Chapel. On the east wall of the Chancel is a monument with a punning Latin inscription to the memory of Alexander Ross, a notable man in his day, who, when ejected from Carisbrooke Vicarage by the Puritans, became Chaplain at Bramshill, where he died. Amongst other memorials on the walls of the Church are those to Charles Kingsley and his Wife, Miss Mary Kingsley, (the famous Traveller), Mr. John Martineau, the Revd. Henry Mosley, Lady Glass, and to several young members of the Tindal family who fell in the last War. There is also a tablet to the memory of the Architect of the Church, John James, who is described as "Architect to the Churches of St. Paul, London, St. Peter, Westminster, and the fifty new Churches and the Royal Hospital for Seamen, at Greenwich." It is probable that he was employed under Sir Christopher Wren. Possibly, after the latter's death, he had charge, as surveyor or architect, of those buildings.

The Church plate consists of-

The Silver Chalice, inscription Eversleigh Ex. Dono E.W. 1705.

The Silver Paten            "                  "           "        "         "       "

The Silver Flagon          "                  "           "        "      A. Cope, 1730

The Silver Alms Dish inscribed "He that giveth to the Poor lendeth to the Lord." Ex. Dono A. Cope, 1730.

The silver-gilt jewelled Chalice was given by the Misses Mears.

In early days there was a Chapel at Bramshill, for in 1312, John Foxley gave Nicholas de Hagheman land at Staines, in return for his finding a Chaplain to say "the Divine Office in the Chapel of Bramzell." This Chapel was standing in 1507, when William Forster was Chapel Warden, as stated in an old visitation book at Winchester. It is not the Chapel in Bramshill House. Possibly it was on the land near Moor Place Farm called Chapel Close. The little church on Bramshill Common was converted from a cottage, and consecrated in 1919.

The earliest School in Eversley that we hear of was held in a cottage opposite the Noah's Ark Tea-rooms (formerly the Fox Inn). The Dominie was known as "Snuffy Clapham" because he took snuff on all occasions. He combined cobbling with education and carried on both with much vigour. Mr. Jonathan Sparvell, and Mrs. Dyer (nee Elizabeth Lee) are, it is thought, his only living pupils.  They remember that he was subjected to many school-boy pleasantries. One, that of tickling his nose with a long bristle to wake him, for from time to time, wearied by his dual activities, he took a nap ! Another, was to get possession of the wax with which he strengthened his thread, and so to arrange it on his chair that, when he sat down, he was stuck to the seat !  Mrs. Dyer says that "Snuffy" was a good Writing-Master, and that she learned to write clearly in all her books, while she was at School, the following :-

"Elizabeth Lee is my name,

England is my Nation,

Eversley is my dwelling place,

And Christ is my salvation."

The present Schools and Master’s House were built in 1853. The first Master, whose salary was £36 per annum, was Mr. Marshall, a friend and supporter of Mr. Kingsley. At first, Mr. Marshall taught in a room on Bramshill Road, near Mr. Taylor’s farm. He had the boys there, and Miss Fisher taught the girls in a shed belonging to Gaddeshill Farm. At that time, Mrs. Warner had an Infants’ School in Chequer’s Lane, and Miss Moorcock taught the small children who lived near her, in an old cottage opposite "The Orchard," which has been pulled down. A year after her marriage to Mr. Caleb Usher in 1869, Miss Moorcock gave up her post. Later on the Infant’s Room was added to the Schools, and then the Kingsley Room in memory of Mr. Kingsley. Since that, all teaching has been done under one roof.

From Chartorum 21, Edward III, 19, we find that, in 1347, the King granted a Charter to Sir Thomas Foxley to enclose 2,500 acres at Bramsell and Hazeley to make a Park. Edward III had, previously, charged Sir Thomas Foxley’s estate to supply 120 archers for the War in France. The first mention of a house at Bramshill, is in 1378, when Sir John Foxley made his Will "datum apud Bromesill."

Bramshill Park is now a fine estate of woodland scenery, famed for its Firs, said to have been planted in the reign of James I. They were, evidently not fully grown when Dr. Fuller, Chaplain of the Forces in 1643, wrote "Bramsell, built in a bleak and barren place, was a stately structure, especially before part thereof was defaced with a casual fire."  The "stately structure" is one of the most famous examples of early Jacobean architecture in the country. It was built between 1607-1612 by Lord Zouche on the site of a former house, and an ancient doorway and cellars were incorporated in it. Bramshill was then intended to he the home of Henry, Prince of Wales, whose plume is over the central Pediment. But the Prince died before the house was finished, and then Lord Zouche himself lived in it. Originally a wing extended each side to the "pepper pots" but after one had suffered from the above-mentioned "casual fire" the other was taken down. The open work stone parapet is a great feature of the house. Bramshill is very beautiful in its quiet dignity ; one special charm being the almost entire absence of alterations and so-called improvements. House, gardens and terraces are much as they were three hundred years ago. Since 1700 Bramshill has been the home of the Cope family.

THE MISTLETOE BOUGH

"The tale in Roger's Poems is universally known, about the Bride who, in the rejoicings of her wedding night, proposes ‘Hide and Seek’ and shuts herself in a chest and is no more seen. The story is that a Miss Cope married very young, and then disappeared. The family was overcome with grief and horror and left the house for along time. At length, returning, the housekeeper was bidden to prepare against their coming. She, chancing to miss some linen, looked into the chest and found the bridal dress. An aged lady of the last century connected the finding of the body with the removal of the eastern wing of Bramshill House. This lady, however, had the story only at second, or third, hand. The late Sir William Cope went into the matter thoroughly and could not find that any lady of the family of Cope had perished in an inexplicable way at Bramshill."

"The most probable explanation is that the story is an Italian one, as was affirmed some time ago by an Italian lady in whose family such a tragedy had occurred. Moreover, she knew the actual chest had been sold to an Englishman. Sir John Cope, the Purchaser of Bramshill, spent many years in Italy, where he may have bought the Chest. He would, probably, have told the story to his children, who at their age, thought the tragedy had occurred at Bramshill."

                             -Reprinted, by permission from Country Life.

The Chest is no longer at Bramshill. We have been told that a certain Lady Cope took it with her when she left the neighbourhood after her husband's death.

  FIR GROVE was, originally, a farm belonging to the big monastery at Farnham. It was worked by monks and its large fish ponds were kept well stocked for supplying Farnham, Hartley Wintney and other religious houses. The present Fir Grove was built about 1736 by Mr. Wyndham, whose crest is on the stack pipes. We find, from Parish papers, that Mr. Robert Broff was the owner in 1808. When Lady Cope, Sir Denzil's widow, went to Fir Grove, she enlarged the house and made it her home until 1840. Judge Erskine also built on to it, he died there in 1864. Many of us remember Fir Grove as the happy home of the Tindal family, where everyone found a welcome. Miss Tindal opened the house as an Auxiliary Hospital in October 1914. It accommodated 50 men, and, in the summer of the Great Push, marquees were put up in the garden for 20 extra. Many sick and wounded soldiers regained mental and bodily health in that invigorating atmosphere. The Hospital was closed in March 1918.

  KITS CROFT was for many years the home of Major and Mrs. Doxat and we learn from him that a gipsy named Kit had his little hut and croft below the site of the large pleasant house which was built after Kit's time. The name, however, was perpetuated. Major Doxat volunteered for the South African War and he was the first, and for many years the only, civilian to gain the Victoria Cross, which was awarded to him in the last Gazette signed by Queen Victoria, and presented in 1901 by King Edward.

  GLASTON HILL. Originally a double avenue of limes led to the house and a vague tradition says that Chaucer paced there whilst thinking out his Canterbury Tales. Sir Anthony Cope was told there was a convent here, and that the nuns walked in the avenue !   To come to later times. We hear that the notorious Highwayman, Parson Darby, made his home at Glaston Hill. During week-days and nights, masked, he rode his black horse on Bagshot Heath and the lonely moors of the district, stopping and robbing travellers-occasionally killing one. He was in his place at Church on Sunday, whilst his over-ridden horse sweated in Glaston Hill stables. The story goes on to say that Darby Green took its name from this bad Parson and that he was eventually hanged there !  An early house must have been where Glaston Hill now stands as the present one was built in Queen Anne's reign. The old oak in the garden is one of the original forest trees and the lawn was formerly four fish ponds. An old well is still there. Sir Richard Cope lived at Glaston Hill at one time. Sir John left it to Mrs. Clacy_, widow of his steward, but she never made it her home and she gave the house back to Sir William Cope. He added to it, and Sir Anthony and his family lived there, when he retired from the army, until Sir William died.

  WARBROOK was built by John James in 1724.  It is a very attractive house and shows the influence of Wren's style in many details. Sir George Nares, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, lived at Warbrook after John James. At one time it was the home of Mrs. Marshall a connexion of the Mears family, who, for some undisclosed reason, left her husband at the church door, and never returned to him !   Warbrook was bought for Mr. Augustus Stapleton, (Canning's Secretary), and he lived there for several rears with his family.  Later, Lady Glass rented the house, and until her death forty years afterwards, she was a generous friend to Eversley. Mr. Augustus Stapleton son of the above Mr. Stapleton, built the Chase, St. Neots, Gaddeshill, Moorcote, Glencote and Ford Croft, and brought many residents to the village. He and his sister, Miss Theresa Stapleton, both lived to be nearly ninety years old, and were well known figures in Eversley until the last few years. Amongst her many good works, Miss Stapleton played the Harmonium in Church for many years. When the organ came in 1886,  Mr., now Sir Hugh Allen (Principal of the R.C.M.) was appointed Organist, Salary £20!

Charles Kingsley's daughters each built her own house in Eversley many Years after his death. Miss Rose Kingsley at KEYS lived a very full life, writing on French Art Travels, Gardens and other subjects. Her own garden with its superb collection of roses was a great joy to herself and to her friends. Mrs. Harrison, "Lucas Malet" had published her best-known novels "The Wages of Sin" and "Sir Richard Calmady" before she came to her Eversley home, "THE ORCHARD." Some of her later books were written there.

  PARFETTS takes its name from an old family, who in 1709, had a brewery at Eversley Cross. Mr John Mears married Miss Sarah Parfett and their descendants lived at Parfetts until recent years.

  CHURCH HOUSE,  "Mr. Thomas Attwood gave that Messuage or tenement commonly called ‘The Church House’ with the land thereunto belonging ;  to repair the Ornaments and other Necessaries of the Parish Church of Eversley.

After many Years, the house was divided into three cottages and eventually sold-the purchase money being invested. It was entirely rebuilt a few years ago and is now again one house, known as CHURCH PLACE.

  DRESSORS has been a dwelling-Place continuously, as far as is known, since it was a Verderer's Lodge in the Forest. Its surroundings have greatly changed, and a cottage, already standing, was joined to it in the last century. When Charles Kingsley's parents left Chelsea Vicarage, they lived at Dressors to be near him, and here their fifth son, Henry, joined them when he came back from Australia. "Ravenshoe" and some of his poems were written in the old house.

CHESTER'S CORNER takes its name from the Misses Chester, who lived close by for a great many years at

  WARBROOK COTTAGE.   They and their surroundings often recalled Miss Jenkyns and Miss Matty at "Cranford" to those who loved them, and to whom an invitation to tea was always a joy. A robin was a frequent guest at these parties, and a punctual one. One day, when the tea bell rang, he flew, as usual, through the open window from the shrubbery and found the good tea ready, but no hostess. So being hungry, he began and when Miss Chester and Miss Fanny came with their friends, they found him perched on the pat of delicious home-made butter, pecking mouthfuls from it with great relish !   "The simple bird," said Miss Chester, fondly.

THE WHITE HART has the date 1683 on its large chimney facing the road. Inside are many characteristics of the old farm houses that brewed their own beer and baked their own bread. 

Query : was it the farm-house of the lands behind it, before the modern one was built ?

  STAVERTON. The foundations prove this to have been a much larger building originally. It may have been the home of the Staverton family, whose name comes so often in old records. In any case it possessed a Ghost within the memories of some of our friends. They were terrified, when small, by stories of an awe-inspiring creature in a brass helmet, who haunted the place, sometimes clattering the crockery indoors, at others unloading invisible stones outside. Treasure, hidden in or near an old oven, was the cause of his unrest. When the oven was removed, he too left.

  NEW MILL.  Although its name points to a still older one, local tradition identifies the Mill with one of the two mentioned in Domesday Book. It is, certainly, very ancient, as shown by the enormous rough-hewn beams of the roof. After many centuries of work, the Mill is still in constant use. New Mill was owned by the St. John family for over 300 years, and was rented by successive generations of Spencers. Later, it was let to Mr. Westcott, who altered and improved it in many ways. He built the Lock Bridge and started the Saw Mill. Until his time it was a grist mill only, and the farmers round brought their corn to it. New Mill is on the Blackwater, the Boundary of Hampshire and Berkshire.

  BRICK HOUSE is a very old building ; but, so far, little has been found of its history, beyond that it was built by men whose daily wage was 1d.!

  THE MARTINEAU COTTAGES were built by Mr. John Martineau in various parts of the village, where he could buy land for them and their large gardens. Mr. Martineau, when a pupil of Mr. Kingsley, at the Rectory, had heard of the lack of homes for the working men and their families, and of the deplorable condition of existing cottages at that time. The delightful buildings he put up are of red brick and timber. Many of the fine bargeboards were designed by Mrs. Verini and carved by Eversley lads under her directions. Each dwelling had its own motto over door or window. The Cottages would have given great happiness to Mr. Kingsley, and they are a lasting proof of Mr. Martineau's devotion to him and to Eversley.

In an old cottage opposite the present "Noah's Ark," in the 18th century lived Arthur Bristow, the Eversley Clock-maker. He made the one-hand clock, and divided the face into quarters. His distinguishing mark was a dove. One of his clocks is in the possession of Mr. Vivian, whose home is near the site of the Clock-maker's cottage.

The Road and Bridge over the Blackwater, from Eversley Cross to Finchampstead, were not made until 1859. The old Road went down a Lane behind Longwater Farm, and the horse traffic forded the river. There was a Foot-bridge for pedestrians.

Until the present century, a pretty four-arched bridge of red brick carried the traffic across the Blackwater from Eversley Street. When it was found not strong enough for the greatly increased heavy traffic, it was replaced by the present prosaic, iron structure.

The private bridge at the Mill was built within the memory of the father of the present tenant, Mr. Dixon. Before then nothing beyond a plank was there, for working the Mill.

There is a Right of Way from the road outside St. Neot's through the grounds to the Afforestation on Bramshill Road.

Many years ago, someone walking there picked up a hat and found, beneath it, the head of a man who had sunk into the bog when crossing that lonely track, and died before he could attract attention to his danger.

The grass track known as "The Welsh Ride" that goes through Bramshill and across Hartford Bridge Flats, is a relic of the days when cattle were driven from Wales to the Hampshire Fairs.

On St. Thomas' Day, a glass of Beer, Bread and Cheese and a Shilling are given to all applicants at Bramshill Park.

The Bramshill Mummers have made their rounds at Christmas-tide since time immemorial, and their quaint performance has always been warmly appreciated and welcomed. It would be a sad loss to the country-side if their Mumming should cease, or if the time-honoured play should he disfigured by modern additions or omissions.

For a long time, Miss Stapleton arranged a yearly Treat on the Cross Green for the inmates of Winchfield Union. They came in large brakes and their Eversley friends and relations were bidden to meet them, and to share in the excellent Tea and Entertainment. Four musicians came, and many old-fashioned dances were enjoyed on the Green. There was a large marquee in case of rain, but so far as can be remembered, the eagerly looked-for day was always bright and warm. The gathering was like a large family party, and Miss Stapleton, who knew everyone so intimately, gave it a spirit of great sociability. Those in the Union who could not come were not forgotten, parcels were sent to them, when the others went back at night.

Postal arrangements have changed since MRS. YALDEN Was Eversley's Postmistress. The Office, then, was in an old house in the Centre, which has been pulled down. Mr. Wilkins' house is on its site. Mrs. Yalden used to take the letters in a basket on a very extensive Round. She was succeeded by MRS. PLEASANT LOWMAN, whom many can remember-always "Pleasant" as she trudged in all weathers, carrying the Post through the scattered village and to outlying farms and cottages.

The Eversley Pageant was a great Event in 1919. That year was the Centenary of Charles Kingsley's birth, and his favourite Mount was the setting of many striking scenes connected with the life of the village from earliest times. Most of those who were living in Eversley in 1919 had a part in the Pageant.

 The Overseers paid for cutting turf and the farmers delivered it free to the Poor and had the ashes to put on the land for their trouble. All turf housed, ricks and ashes to be adjoining the road, or on the Common, to give free access to the farmer with carts or waggons.

The dipping was to prevent a person going mad after being bitten by a mad dog. The last person to be dipped in Eversley was a man named Mayers, whom Mr. Sparvell, when a boy, knew well. He told Mr. Sparvell afterwards that he would rather go mad than he dipped again !  The dog that bit Mayers was kept under observation and was found not to he mad after all !   Mr. Mayers went to Australia later and made a fortune.

"At a Meeting of the Church Wardens, Overseers and Parishioners of Eversley and the Tything of Bramshill in the Parish of Eversley, on April 20, 1772, it was, at the said Meeting appointed, that the Poor, on Collection, should be paid monthly in the manner following :-

"Robert Broff, Esq., of Fir Grove, has agreed to pay this Parish yearly, on the 30th day of September, the sum of 20 shillings in consideration of land enclosed from the Common in front of his house"

Mr. Bannister, who has been mentioned as Mr. Kingsley's Warden, was descended from the above John Bannister and their descendants are now in Eversley. This is one of the oldest families in the neighbourhood.

Richard de Banastre was Abbot of Reading in 1261, and Banasters were living then at Finchampstead and Yateley. In the 14th century a Banister of Eversleigh was a friend of Sir John Foxley, of Bramshill, and the name appears continuously in Parish Records since that time.

A large plain cross made of Eversley-grown Oak is in the Churchyard : the Memorial to our fellow villagers who gave their lives for us in the last War. Their names are engraven on the stone at its foot, but their bodies are far away in foreign lands and seas. May they, and all to whom through the ages Eversley has been Home, "rest in sure and certain Hope of the Resurrection to Eternal Life."