To the Chappell at Awnton, one hog, one strike of wheat, and
one strike of barley.
The chapel, however, disappeared, and seems to have been superseded by the assignment of the transept of Badsey Church as the Aldington Chapel, and in 1561–62 the first churchwarden for Aldington was elected at Badsey. The assignment may, however, have been only a return to a much earlier similar arrangement when the transept was added to Badsey Church about the end of the thirteenth century, possibly expressly as a chapel for Aldington.
That it was an addition is proved by the remains of the arch over a small Norman window in the north wall of the nave, which had to be cut into to allow of the opening into the new transept. A shelf or ledge is still to be seen in the east wall of the transept, probably the remains of a super-altar, and, to the right of it, a piscina on the north side of the chancel arch, and therefore inside the transept.
A large square pew and a smaller one behind it in the transept were for centuries the recognized seats of the Aldington Manor family and their servants, and so remained until the restoration of the church in 1885, when the pews were taken down and a row of chairs as near as possible to the old position was allotted for the use of the same occupants.
In 1685 the Jarrett monument was placed immediately over the larger pew in the east wall of the transept, bearing the following inscription:
Near this place lies interred in hope of a joyful Resurrection the bodies of
WILLIAM JARRETT
of Aldington in this Parish Gent, aged 73 years, who died Anno Domini 1681 and of Jane his wife the daughter of William Wattson of Bengeworth Gent, who died Anno Domini 1683, aged 73 years, by whom he had Issue three Sons and two Daughters. Thomas Augustin and Jane ley buried here with them and Mary the youngest Daughter Married Humphrey Mayo of hope in the County of Herreford Gent, and William the Eldest Son Marchant in London set this Monument in a dutiful and affectionate memory of them 1685.
It is pleasant to think of William, the eldest son, "marchant," returning in his prosperity to the quiet old village, braving the dangers and inconveniences of unenclosed and miry roads, and riding the 100 odd miles on horseback, to revisit the scenes of his childhood, in order to do honour to the memories of his father and mother. What a contrast to the crowded streets of London the old place must have presented, and one has an idea that perhaps he regretted, in spite of his success in commerce, that he had not elected in his younger days to pursue the simple life.
The monument is a somewhat elaborate white marble tablet with a plump cherub on guard, and with many of the scrolls and convolutions typical of the Carolean and later Jacobean taste. This monument was removed to the north wall of the nave two centuries later, in 1885, when the church was restored, to allow of access to the new vestry then added.
William Jarrett, senr., and his wife lived through the very stirring times of the Civil War in the reign of Charles I., about twenty miles only from Edgehill, where, in 1642, twelve hundred men are reported to have fallen. It is said that on the night of the anniversary of the battle, October 23, in each succeeding year the uneasy ghosts of the combatants resume the unfinished struggle, and that the clash of arms is still to be heard rising and falling between hill and vale. The worthy couple must have almost heard the echoes of the Battle of Worcester in 1651, only eighteen miles distant, and have been well acquainted with the details of the flight of Charles II., who, after he left Boscobel, passed very near Aldington on his way to the old house at Long Marston, where he spent a night, and, to complete his disguise, turned the kitchen spit. This old house is still standing, and is regarded with reverence.
The cherub on the Jarrett tablet bears a strong resemblance to two similar cherubs which support a royal crown carved on the back of an old walnut chair which I bought in the village in a cottage near the Manor House. The design is well known as commemorating the restoration of Charles II. in 1660, and I like to think that in bringing it back I restored it to its old home, and that William Jarrett, senr., who was doubtless a Royalist, enjoyed a peaceful pipe on many a winter's night therein enthroned. I noticed, lately, in a description of a similar chair in the Connoisseur, that the cherubs are spoken of as amorini; I have always understood that they are angelic beings supporting or guarding the sacred crown of the martyred King, though possibly the appellation is not unsuitable if they are to be regarded in connection with Charles II. alone.
There is a story of a hosiery factory established by refugee Huguenots at the date of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, 1685, and the Jacobean building adjoining the east end of the Manor House is probably the place referred to. Later it became a malthouse, and later still was converted into hop-kilns by me. Being of Huguenot descent myself, I take a special interest in this tradition.
In 1715 Aldington took its part in preparing to resist the Jacobites, and the following record is copied from an old manuscript:
A BILL FOR Y^e CONSTABLE OF ANTON DUN BY ME WM. PHIPPS.
£ s. d. 1 musket and bayonet … … … … … … … … … … . … 0 0 1 cartridg box at … … … … … … … … … … … . … 0 3 6 1 belt at … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … 0 5 0 for 1 scabard and cleaning y^e blad and blaking y^e hilt … … … … … … … … … … … … 0 3 6 ——— 1 12 0 (On the back.) Three days pay … … … … … … … … … … … … . … 0 7 6 half A pound of pouder … … … … … … … … … . … . 0 0 8 for y^e muster master … … … … … … … … … . … . 0 0 6 for listing money … … … … … … … … … … … . … 0 1 0 for drums and cullers … … … … … … … … … … … 0 3 0 ——— 2 4 8 Thos Rock Con^{ble} 0 12 8
(IN) A TRUE ACCOUNT OF Y^e CONS^{BL} OF ALDINGTON CHARGES FOR Y^e
YEARE 1716/5 NOV. Y^e 7 & 8 1715 Y^e CHARGES FOR ATENDING AS
CONS^{BL}
s. d.
bringing in y^e Train souldiers … … … … … … . … . 3 0 spent when y^e soulders whent to Worcester … … … … 1 6
One can picture the scene in the little hamlet as Thomas Rock collected his forces at the gossip corner; the little crowd of admiring villagers and the martial bearing of the one recruit, as with "cullers" flying and drums beating he marched away, followed by the village children to the end of the lane.
William Tindal, in his History of Evesham, 1794, records the fact that in 1790 Aldington belonged to Lord Foley, but history is silent as to local events from that date until modern times, when, in the first half of the next century, the Manor became the property of an ancestor of the present owner. There is a tradition that the Manor House was a small but beautiful old building, with a high-pitched stone-slate roof and three gables in line at the front; but these disappeared, the pitch of the roof was reduced, and about 1850 the modern part of the house was added at the southern extremity of the old structure.
As the neighbouring parish of Wickhamford is referred to in connection with Badsey and Aldington several times in these pages, it may not be out of place to give the following inscription on the tombstone of a member of the Washington family. It is particularly of interest at the present time, more especially to Americans, and it has not, as far as I am aware, previously appeared in any other book.
INSCRIPTION
ON THE TOMBSTONE LYING ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE ALTAR, IN THE PARISH CHURCH OF WICKHAMFORD, NEAR EVESHAM, IN THE COUNTY OF WORCESTER, ENGLAND. M.S.
PENELOPES
Filiæ perillustris & militari virtute clarissimi
Henrici Washington, collonelli,
Gulielmo Washington ex agro Northampton