Sandleford

Sandleford
Sandleford Priory
Sandleford Location withinBerkshire
OS grid reference	SU474643
Civil parish	Greenham
Unitary authority	West Berkshire
Ceremonial county	Berkshire
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	NEWBURY
Postcode district	RG20
Dialling code	01635
Police	Thames Valley
Fire	Royal Berkshire
Ambulance	South Central
UK Parliament	Newbury

UK Ordnance Survey map, detail of Sandleford, 1939.

Sandlefordis ahamletand formercivil parish,now in the parish ofGreenham,in theWest Berkshiredistrict, in the ceremonial county ofBerkshire,England. It is located approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south of the town ofNewbury.

History

In 1858 Sandleford became a civil parish, on 1 April 1934 the parish was abolished and merged with Greenham and Newbury.

Landscape

Sandleford contains about 520 acres, most of which is taken up with the fields and copses to the west of the Priory.

Population

A census taken in 1801 showed Sandleford to have three houses, three families and 18 people.At the same time Newbury comprised 931 houses, 34 empty houses, 971 families and 4275 people.John Marius Wilsonin hisImperial Gazetteer of England and Wales,1870–72, gave Sandleford as havingReal property £775; of which £10 are in fisheries,and a population of 49 in nine houses, but in 1881 the population of Sandleford had shrunk to 34.In 1615 it was separated from the manor and parish of Newbury, and the adjacent Wash Common and becameextra-parochial,as described bySir Francis More, Kt, of Fawley,it was to be:no part of the Parish of Newbury, nor to be so reputed.

On 23 August 1759 the Rector of Newbury, Rev. Thomas Penrose (died 1769), father of the poetThomas Penrose,in answer to some set questions about Newbury, and to question number five in particular which concerned 'seats of gentry' in the town, wrote this: [Newbury has]No seat of gentry; if you except Sandleford, which is an estate held of the church of Windsor, and which is often considered as extra-parochial, but which pays a composition in lieu of tithes to the rector of Newbury. It is situated to the south of Newbury. The present lessee isEdward Montagu,Esq.; Member of Parliament for the town of Huntingdon.

In 1931 the parish had a population of 30.

Civil War

Plan of First Battle of Newbury, September 1643 (1877).

The Victorian historian, Walter Money, believed that, at the start of theFirst Battle of Newburyin September 1643,Prince Rupert of the Rhinelined up his cavalry at the western end of Sandleford estate, straddling the boundary withWash Commonand looking towardsEnborne,although this is now disputed. After the battle, the line of march pursued byRobert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essexback to Reading, was from the Wash, by Sandleford, over Greenham Common and via Theale.Anthony Child, Mayor of Newbury 1614, and sometime leasee of Sandleford;

Notable buildings

Sandleford Priory

Monastery

Main article:Sandleford Priory (monastery)

Inclusa of Sandraford,as mentioned in apipe rollof 26 Henry II, 1179–80. Otherwise known as an anchoress, a femaleAnchorite,a withdrawn holy person;

Sandleford was a priory of Austin canons, founded between 1193 and 1202 by Geoffrey, 4th count of Perch, andRichenza-Matildahis wife. A confirmation charter fromArchbishop Stephenindicates the priory was dedicated to St John the Baptist and endowed with all the lands of Sandleford. The appropriation of the priory, on 9 March 1478, to theDean and Canons of Windsorwas mainly owing toBishop Beauchampof Salisbury, who was Dean of Windsor from 1478 to 1481. By this time it appears the religious had forsaken the priory. The chapel of Sandleford Priory (1200–1478) was incorporated into a later country house.

Country house

Main article:Sandleford Priory (country house)

Edward Haytley's portrait,The Montagu Family at Sandleford Priory,circa 1744.

The present Sandleford Priory is aGrade I listed buildingin 54 acres (22 ha) of parkland landscaped byCapability Brown.It was erected around the old priory buildings between 1780 and 1786 byJames Wyatt,forElizabeth Montagu,the social reformer, patron of the arts,salonist,literary critic and writer who helped organise and lead theBlue Stockings Society.It was later inherited by her nephew,Matthew Montagu, 4th Baron Rokeby.Her friendHannah Morewas there often and described it in 1784.Other wealthy citizens that it was leased to during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, these included:

Mrs. Montagu, engraved byThomas Holloway,published by John Sewell (died 1802), 32 Cornhill, London, 1785.

• John and Henry Kingsmill, from c. 1685 and 1706 and 1710, until circa 1715–1717. John Kingsmill, JP (Newbury, 1685) was a younger son of Sir Henry Kingsmill (1587–1625), and husband to Rachael daughter of JP and sometime MP Edward Pitt (c.1592–1643), of Steepleton Iwerne, Dorset and later of Stratfield Saye (which he bought for £4,800 in 1629),by Rachael (d. 1643) daughter ofSir George Morton, Bart.,son ofSir William Pitt,kt. 1618,Comptroller of the Household.Their sons Robert and Henry Kingsmill died without issue in 1697 and 1710.George Pittthe brother of Rachel Pitt, Mrs John Kingsmill, married Jane, the daughter ofJohn Savage, 2nd Earl Rivers;Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea,daughter of Sir William Kingsmill ofSydmontonCourt, was a niece and first cousin.
• William Cradock (died 1736), ofGainford Hall,Gainsford, Durham. He married in 1715 Mary daughter of Gilbert Sheldon of St. Andrew's, Holborn, and bought the lease in 1717, disposing of it in 1729;
• Edward Montagu,grandson ofEdward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich,leaseholder from 1730, marriedElizabeth Robinsonin 1742. Sandleford had been in possession of the first cousin (Rachael Pitt, Mrs John Kingsmill) of his first cousin (SirEdward Wortley-Montagu(1678 –1761), the father ofLady Mary Wortley Montagu);
• Matthew Montagu(1762–1831), MP, 4thBaron Rokeby;
• Edward Montagu, the 5thBaron Rokeby,who parted with the lease in 1835, to William Chatteris, and died in 1847;
• William Pollet Brown Chatteris (1810–1889), JP, DL (1852, Berks), educated at Brasenose College, Oxford, and son of a London banker, who eventually bought the freehold, enfranchised the estate, in 1875 from theDean and Canons of Windsor.His first wife (married 1833) was Anne eldest daughter ofAlexander Arbuthnot, Bishop of Killaloe;
• Chatteris' nephew Alpin Macgregor (died 1899) son ofSir John Atholl Macgregor, bart.,nephew of Chatteris' second wife, daughter ofAdmiral Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy;
• Macgregor's niece Miss Agatha Thynne (died 1962), (descended fromThomas Thynne, 2nd Marquess of Bath), wife of the 3rdBaron Hindlip.Her mother (died 1934) and father John Charles Thynne (1838–1918), sometime receiver general to the Dean and Chapter of Westminster, were living at Sandleford Cottage in 1907. Her sister Joan E. M. (1872–1945) was the mother ofJohn Campbell, 5th Earl Cawdor.
• Mrs. Myers, aka Evelyn Elizabeth Myers, who wroteA History of Sandleford Priory,with plates, Newbury District Field Club, Special Publication. no. 1, published between 1900 and 1931, was tenant from before 1898 to at least 1911
• Major Aubrey Isaac Rothwell Butler, (1878-27.9.1930), son of Isaac Butler (1839–1917), JP (Sheriff of Monmouth 1910), of Panteg House,Griffithstown,Torfaen, near Newport. It is claimed that the first sheet steel in Britain was rolled in Staffordshire in 1876 from abloommade inPantegby Isaac Butler. Aubrey Butler was sometime manager ofBaldwin's Ltdbranches in Monmouth & Midlands, Baldwins having taken over the family firm, Wright, Butler and Co Ltd, in 1902.Later he wasSheriff of Monmouthshire,1924, and by the time of his early death was described asformerly of Sandleford Prioryand of 13,Porchester Terrace,London.

The house is now home toSt Gabriel's School.

Sandleford Place

This house, formerly known has both Sandleford Cottage and Sandleford Lodge, sits on the southern boundary of the old parish, by the River Enborne, on the Berkshire and Hampshire, and Sandleford and Newtown border. Its former residents have included:

• John Deane, from circa 1624;
• Mrs Colman;
• Henry Hart Millman,divine, whose wife Mary Anne was a daughter ofLt-generalWilliam Cockell (died 1831) of Sandleford Lodge;
• Robert Fellowes (1817–1915), ofShotesham,and his sister Louisa Fellowes (1817–1901), were both born at Sandleford Cottage, the seat of their father Robert (1779–1869).Later she married SirThomas Gladstone,Bt. (and thus sister-in-law ofWilliam Gladstonethe Prime Minister). They were children of Robert Fellowes (1779–1869) by his second wife Jane Louisa Sheldon, daughter of the MP for Wilton (1804–1822) Colonel Ralph Sheldon (1741–1822), of Donnington Cottage, near Newbury, Berkshire,and grandchildren ofRobert Fellowes(1742–1829), of Shotesham, MP for Norwich. Their younger sister wasBaroness Sandhurst(1827–1892), a philanthropist andsuffagist.Robert Fellowes is a direct ancestor ofLord Fellowes.

Lady Louisa Anne Magenis (1837–1918), carte de visite, byCamille Silvy,1861.

• The 1861 census lists at Sandleford Lodge, Lady Louisa Anne Magenis (1837–1918), daughter ofArmar Lowry-Corry, 3rd Earl Belmore,and her husband (they married in 1860) Major Richard Henry Magenis (Mauritius, 1832 – Abington, 1880).Magenis was the grandson of ColonelRichard Magenis(married 1788) by his wife Lady Elizabeth-Anne Cole (1765–1807 or 1808), daughter ofWilliam Cole, 1st Earl of Enniskillenand sister ofGeneral Sir Galbraith Lowry Cole, GCB, KCB,Governor of Mauritius 1823–1828.Richard Henry Magenis was J.P. for Counties Antrim and Cambridgeshire, High Sheriff of Antrim 1868, and Representative of theViscounts Magenis(attainted 1691), with later addresses atAbington Hall,Cambridge; andFinvoyLodge, Co. Antrim.

Viva Seton Montgomerie(1879–1959).

• William Frederick Hicks-Beach(1841–1923), MP, was living at Sandleford lodge in 1869 and by 1871 he is recorded as having with him a wife and four children, and eight staff.
• Mrs. Wedderburn (1825–), aka Selina Mary Garth, daughter of CaptainThomas Garth,RN, of Haines Hill,Hurst, Berkshire,and widow ofFrederick Lewis Scrymgeour-Wedderburn(1808–1874), de jure 8thEarl of Dundee,and her daughters Charlotte and Selina Elgiva, (1856–), were living at Sandleford Lodge, c. 1881 and 1883;
• Brigadier Wyndham Torr, CMG, DSO, MC, (1890–1963) of Sandleford Place; soldier in WW1; military attache Madrid, Lisbon, Washington, Spain, etc.;
• Seton Montolieu Montgomerie(1846–1883), and his wife Mrs. Montgomerie, aka Nina Janet Bronwen Peers Williams (daughter ofThomas Peers Williams,MP), of Sandleford cottage (later renamedplace), and their daughtersVivaand Alswen.

• 
  Edward Haytley's portrait,The Montagu Family at Sandleford Priory,circa 1744.
• 
  Sandleford Priory from the west, from the drive that connected the priory to the Andover road (A343), as seen between Dirty Ground Copse and Gorse Covert.
• 
  Sandleford Cottage, former home ofSeton Montolieu Montgomerieand her daughtersVivaand Alswen.

Sandleford Grove

James Asprey, Esq.,maltster,(Highclere, 1811–1893), of Sandleford Grove, exhibitedwhite trump wheat grown on very poor soil,weight 67 Lbs per bushel, at theGreat Exhibitionof 1851;

Sandleford Farm

King James I,was leased Sandleford farm by the Dean and Canons of Windsor, January 1605.The other present owners and directors of Sandleford Farm partnership and Skilldraw Ltd include Nicholas Laing (c. 15%), of the family that madeMcVitie's,and father of TV'sMade in Chelseastar Jamie Laing; Delia Norgate, widow of the founder of Trencherwood Homes, John Norgate; and Noel Gibbs a descendant ofWilliam GibbsofTyntesfield,and ofSir Frederick Wills, 1st Baronet.

Literature

Mrs.Elizabeth Montagu,the distinguishedBluestocking,who lived at Sandleford Priory from 1742 until her death in 1800 wrote from and mentioned Sandleford in dozens of her of letters.

The original home of the rabbits inRichard Adams' novelWatership Downwas at Sandleford.

Landowners

At time of the Domesday survey in 1086 Sandleford seems to have been a part of or belonged with Ulvitrone, aka Newbury, to Arnulf orErnulf de Hesdin(1038-killed Antioch, 1097/98), son of Gerard IV of Hesdin by his wife Nesta ferch Gruffydd, a daughter ofGruffydd ap LlywelynbyEaldgyth, daughter of Earl Ælfgar.Newbury was assessed to have hadpannagefor 50 hogs, much of this woodland will have been the wood called Brademore (Broadmoor) at Sandleford.

Richard Pinfold, one of 30 of the freeholders of Newbury in 1655,and sometime holder of the lease of the coppice named High Wood;John Kendrick,Warren farm which abuts the estate to the west was purchased for £250, out of the £4000 which Kendrick left Newbury in 1624. In addition the Kendrick charity had two closes on the west side of Newtown lane leased from the Dean & Canons, for 10l 10s per annum.Levi Smith (died 1703), Mayor of Newbury 1674 and 1693. Owned land in Greenham and along the Enborne at Peckmore in Greenham that abutted Sandleford and was later part of its demesne.

Files regarding seeking planning permission at Sandleford, West Berkshire Council offices, January 2016.

On 30 September 1986, the circa 470 acre Sandleford Farm, was sold by Neate's, with help fromKnight Frank & Rutley,at the Chequers Hotel, Newbury, for over two million pounds.