Froxfield
Encyclopedia
Froxfield is a village and civil parish in English
county of Wiltshire
. The village is about 2.5 miles (4 km) west of the market town
of Hungerford
in West Berkshire
, and Froxfield's eastern parish boundary forms part of the county boundary between Wiltshire and Berkshire
.
Froxfield village is on a stream that is a tributary of the River Dun. The road between London
and Bristol
follows the valley of the stream and passes through the village. The road has followed this course since at least the 13th century and since the 1920s has been classified as the A4 road.
The Kennet and Avon Canal
follows the Dun valley through Froxfield parish, passing within 550 yard of the village. The canal has a series of locks in the parish from Oakhill Down Lock
to Froxfield Bottom Lock
. The Reading to Taunton railway line
also follows the river through the parish below the village.
s in the south-west part of the parish, close to the boundary with Chisbury
parish. These suggest human occupation in the area some time in the Neolithic
or Bronze Age
.
In 1725 the remains of a Roman villa
were found at Rudge Coppice about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north-west of the village. Remains excavated on the site include a Roman mosaic
floor depicting the figure of a man, coins, human burials, a stone statuette of Atys
and a champlevé
-enamelled bronze bowl that appears to depict Hadrian's Wall
.
. There is no further record of Froxfield's manorial
tenure from then until the 13th century. The Domesday Book
of 1086 does not mention Froxfield, and may therefore have included the manor as part of another landholding.
Froxfield reappears in the historical record in 1242-43, when Baldwin de Redvers, 6th Earl of Devon
was its feudal
overlord. In 1275 the overlord was Baldwin's heir Isabella de Fortibus, Countess of Devon, but there is no evidence of Froxfield passing to her heirs. John de Cobham, 3rd Baron Cobham
was overlord in 1389, but there is no record of Froxfield's overlordship thereafter.
Manorial tenants of Froxfield included Walter Marshal, 5th Earl of Pembroke
(died 1245) and John Droxford, who was Bishop of Bath and Wells
1309-1329.
In 1390 Sir William Sturmy gave manor to Easton Priory, which then held Froxfield until the Dissolution of the Monasteries
. In 1536 the Crown
granted the manor to Sir Edward Seymour, Viscount Beauchamp
, who in 1547 made himself Duke of Somerset. After the death of John Seymour, 4th Duke of Somerset
in 1675, his widow Sarah Seymour, Duchess of Somerset married Henry Hare, 2nd Baron Coleraine. However, when she died in 1694 she left most of Froxfield manor as an endowment to found the Broad Town charity and Duchess of Somerset's Hospital almshouse
s (see below). The hospital sold most of its lands in the parish in 1920-22.
In 1922 Sir Ernest Wills, 3rd Baronet
, part-owner of the W.D. & H.O. Wills
tobacco company, bought Froxfield Manor Farm. In 1995 his grandson Sir Seton Wills, 5th Baronet still held that part of the estate north of London Road. In 1965 William Geoffrey Rootes, 2nd Baron Rootes bought the remainder of the manor and added it to his estate of North Standen and Oakhill.
of All Saints is 12th century and is built of flint
and sarsen
. The chancel
was rebuilt in the 13th century with Early English Gothic lancet window
s. In the 14th century new windows were inserted in the nave
and a new north door was added. The Perpendicular Gothic west window is 15th century, as is the partly timber-framed
porch.
In 1891-92 All Saints' was restored
under the direction of the Gothic Revival architect
Ewan Christian
. His alterations included replacing the bell-turret
with a more elaborate one, replacing a plain south window in the nave with an elaborate one in 15th century style and replacing the vestry
with a larger vestry and organ chamber in the style of a north transept
. It is a Grade II* listed building.
All Saints' is now part of a united benefice with Aldbourne
, Axford
, Baydon
, Chilton Foliat
and Ramsbury
.
A Methodist
congregation was established in Froxfield by 1834, when two houses in the village were licenced for Wesleyan Methodist
worship. A small red-brick Primitive Methodist chapel was built on Brewhouse Hill in 1909. It closed for worship in about 1962.
The Duches also willed that almshouse
s and a chapel be built at Froxfield for 30 widows from Berkshire, Somerset, Wiltshire, London and Westminster, of whom half were to be widows of clergy. She willed that the Rector
of Huish
was to either serve as chaplain or provide another clergyman to do so. In practice the parish priest of Froxfield has usually served the Hospital in his place.
The Duchess left the estate of Froxfield Manor as an endowment to the almshouses, called the Duchess of Somerset's Hospital. One of the trustees of the Duchess's will was her brother-in-law, Sir Samuel Grimston, 3rd Baronet
. He refused to convey the prescribed lands and income to the Hospital until he was ordered to do so by the Court of Chancery
.
The original almshouses are built of brick around a quadrangle, with the chapel in the centre. In 1772-75 one range of seven almshouses was demolished and the Hospital was enlarged to a length of 37 bays
. This enabled it to accommodate 50 widows and eligibility was extended from its original geographical catchment area to include widows from anywhere in England within 150 miles of London.
In 1813 or 1814 Charles Brudenell-Bruce, 1st Marquess of Ailesbury
paid for the original chapel to be demolished and replaced by a new, presumably larger one built in its place, designed by the architect Thomas Baldwin
of Bath. A new gateway to the Hospital was added at the same time. The gateway and chapel are of ashlar
masonry in a Georgian
Gothick
style.
The Hospital's investment income began to decline and from 1851 it made successive reductions to the resident widows' pensions. From 1882 it started to leave vacant almshouses unoccupied to save money and in 1892 parishes in London and Westminster complained that they were not being given their allocation of places at the Hospital. In 1897 the Charity Commission found the Hospital was housing only 16 widows, and by 1921 this number had fallen to 13.
In 1920-22 the Hospital sold its lands and increased its income by investing the capital. By 1922 it had increased its residents to 25 and increased their pensions. In 1963 the chapel was restored. In 1966 the Hospital broadened eligibility to any poor woman over 55. Gifts from other charities, public bodies and private donations were invested in maintaining and improving the almshouses. By 1995 it provided 45 houses and four flats for widows and one house reserved for guests.
, Hungerford
or Great Bedwyn
. By 1871 a school had opened in Froxfield, but in 1884 it served only as an infants' school for children under six. It was rebuilt in 1885 to accommodate older children but was closed in 1907. A new school was built near the parish church and opened in 1910, but in 1963 it too was closed.
, the Pelican Inn, which is now a gastropub
. Froxfield has a village hall
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
county of Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
. The village is about 2.5 miles (4 km) west of the market town
Market town
Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
of Hungerford
Hungerford
Hungerford is a market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, 9 miles west of Newbury. It covers an area of and, according to the 2001 census, has a population of 5,559 .- Geography :...
in West Berkshire
West Berkshire
West Berkshire is a local government district in the ceremonial county of Berkshire, England, governed by a unitary authority . Its administrative capital is Newbury, located almost equidistantly between Bristol and London.-Geography:...
, and Froxfield's eastern parish boundary forms part of the county boundary between Wiltshire and Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
.
Froxfield village is on a stream that is a tributary of the River Dun. The road between London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
follows the valley of the stream and passes through the village. The road has followed this course since at least the 13th century and since the 1920s has been classified as the A4 road.
The Kennet and Avon Canal
Kennet and Avon Canal
The Kennet and Avon Canal is a waterway in southern England with an overall length of , made up of two lengths of navigable river linked by a canal. The name is commonly used to refer to the entire length of the navigation rather than solely to the central canal section...
follows the Dun valley through Froxfield parish, passing within 550 yard of the village. The canal has a series of locks in the parish from Oakhill Down Lock
Oakhill Down Lock
Oakhill Down Lock is a lock on the Kennet and Avon Canal, at Froxfield, Wiltshire, England.Oakhill Down Lock was built between 1718 and 1723 under the supervision of the engineer John Hore of Newbury. The canal is administered by British Waterways...
to Froxfield Bottom Lock
Froxfield Bottom Lock
Froxfield Bottom Lock is a lock on the Kennet and Avon Canal, at Froxfield, Wiltshire, England.Froxfield Bottom Lock was built between 1718 and 1723 under the supervision of the engineer John Hore of Newbury. The canal is administered by British Waterways. The lock has a rise/fall of 7 ft 0 in...
. The Reading to Taunton railway line
Reading to Taunton line
The Reading to Taunton line also known as the Berks and Hants is a major branch of the Great Western Main Line that diverges at Reading, running to Cogload Junction near Taunton, where it joins the Bristol to Exeter line....
also follows the river through the parish below the village.
Archaeology
There used to be three bowl barrowBowl barrow
Bowl Barrow is the name for a type of burial mound or tumulus. A barrow is a mound of earth used to cover a tomb. The bowl barrow gets its name from the fact that it looks like an upturned bowl...
s in the south-west part of the parish, close to the boundary with Chisbury
Chisbury
Chisbury is a hamlet and prehistoric hill fort in the civil parish of Little Bedwyn in Wiltshire, England. Chisbury is about west of Hungerford and about south-east of Marlborough.-History:...
parish. These suggest human occupation in the area some time in the Neolithic
Neolithic British Isles
The Neolithic British Isles refers to the period of British, Irish and Manx history that spanned from circa 4000 to circa 2,500 BCE. The final part of the Stone Age in the British Isles, it was a part of the greater Neolithic, or "New Stone Age", across Europe.During the preceding Mesolithic...
or Bronze Age
Bronze Age Britain
Bronze Age Britain refers to the period of British history that spanned from c. 2,500 until c. 800 BC. Lasting for approximately 1700 years, it was preceded by the era of Neolithic Britain and was in turn followed by the era of Iron Age Britain...
.
In 1725 the remains of a Roman villa
Roman villa
A Roman villa is a villa that was built or lived in during the Roman republic and the Roman Empire. A villa was originally a Roman country house built for the upper class...
were found at Rudge Coppice about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north-west of the village. Remains excavated on the site include a Roman mosaic
Roman mosaic
A Roman mosaic is any mosaic, made in Ancient Rome or by Roman artists outside of Roman frontiers. The Romans introduced exquisite mosaics in their domestic architecture and in the places of worship. The earliest examples of Roman floor mosaics are dated to the late Republican period and are...
floor depicting the figure of a man, coins, human burials, a stone statuette of Atys
Atys
Atys may mean:*Atys was a king of Alba Longa.*Atys was an early king of Lydia, then referred to as Maeonia, and was the father of Lydus.*Atys son of Croesus was the son of the later King Croesus of Lydia....
and a champlevé
Champlevé
Champlevé is an enamelling technique in the decorative arts, or an object made by that process, in which troughs or cells are carved or cast into the surface of a metal object, and filled with vitreous enamel. The piece is then fired until the enamel melts, and when cooled the surface of the object...
-enamelled bronze bowl that appears to depict Hadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall was a defensive fortification in Roman Britain. Begun in AD 122, during the rule of emperor Hadrian, it was the first of two fortifications built across Great Britain, the second being the Antonine Wall, lesser known of the two because its physical remains are less evident today.The...
.
Manor
Between AD 801 and 805 one Byrhtelm granted land at Froxfield to Ealhmund, Bishop of WinchesterEalhmund of Winchester
Ealhmund was a medieval Bishop of Winchester. He was consecrated between 801 and 803. He died between 805 and 814.-References:* Powicke, F. Maurice and E. B. Fryde Handbook of British Chronology 2nd. ed. London:Royal Historical Society 1961...
. There is no further record of Froxfield's manorial
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
tenure from then until the 13th century. The Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
of 1086 does not mention Froxfield, and may therefore have included the manor as part of another landholding.
Froxfield reappears in the historical record in 1242-43, when Baldwin de Redvers, 6th Earl of Devon
Baldwin de Redvers, 6th Earl of Devon
Baldwin de Redvers, 6th Earl of Devon and Lord of the Isle was the son of Baldwin de Redvers and Margaret FitzGerold and grandson of William de Redvers, 5th Earl of Devon.-Family and children:...
was its feudal
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
overlord. In 1275 the overlord was Baldwin's heir Isabella de Fortibus, Countess of Devon, but there is no evidence of Froxfield passing to her heirs. John de Cobham, 3rd Baron Cobham
John de Cobham, 3rd Baron Cobham
John de Cobham, 3rd Baron Cobham was the son of John de Cobham, 2nd Baron Cobham and Joan de Beauchamp. He was given a licence to crenellate by Richard II in 1381 and built Cooling Castle at the family seat in Cowling or Cooling, Kent....
was overlord in 1389, but there is no record of Froxfield's overlordship thereafter.
Manorial tenants of Froxfield included Walter Marshal, 5th Earl of Pembroke
Walter Marshal, 5th Earl of Pembroke
Walter Marshal, 5th Earl of Pembroke was the fourth son of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke and Isabel de Clare, 4th Countess of Pembroke who succeeded his childless brother Gilbert as the 5th Earl of Pembroke and Earl Marshal of England in 1242 a year after the latter's death...
(died 1245) and John Droxford, who was Bishop of Bath and Wells
Bishop of Bath and Wells
The Bishop of Bath and Wells heads the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells in the Province of Canterbury in England.The present diocese covers the vast majority of the county of Somerset and a small area of Dorset. The Episcopal seat is located in the Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew in...
1309-1329.
In 1390 Sir William Sturmy gave manor to Easton Priory, which then held Froxfield until the Dissolution of the Monasteries
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
. In 1536 the Crown
The Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
granted the manor to Sir Edward Seymour, Viscount Beauchamp
Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset
Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Viscount Beauchamp of Hache, KG, Earl Marshal was Lord Protector of England in the period between the death of Henry VIII in 1547 and his own indictment in 1549....
, who in 1547 made himself Duke of Somerset. After the death of John Seymour, 4th Duke of Somerset
John Seymour, 4th Duke of Somerset
John Seymour, 4th Duke of Somerset was an English peer and MP.He was the only surviving son of William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset and Lady Frances Devereux and entered Grays Inn in 1666. He succeeded his nephew as the 4th Duke of Somerset in 1671. He married in 1656 Sarah, daughter and...
in 1675, his widow Sarah Seymour, Duchess of Somerset married Henry Hare, 2nd Baron Coleraine. However, when she died in 1694 she left most of Froxfield manor as an endowment to found the Broad Town charity and Duchess of Somerset's Hospital almshouse
Almshouse
Almshouses are charitable housing provided to enable people to live in a particular community...
s (see below). The hospital sold most of its lands in the parish in 1920-22.
In 1922 Sir Ernest Wills, 3rd Baronet
Sir Ernest Wills, 3rd Baronet
Sir Ernest Salter Wills, 3rd Baronet CStJ JP was Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire from 1930 to 1942.-Life:The son of Sir Edward Payson Wills, 1st Baronet, KCB and of Lady Wills Sir Ernest Salter Wills, 3rd Baronet CStJ JP (30 November 1869 - 14 January 1958) was Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire from 1930...
, part-owner of the W.D. & H.O. Wills
W.D. & H.O. Wills
W.D. & H.O. Wills was a British tobacco importer and cigarette manufacturer formed in Bristol, England. It was one of the founding companies of Imperial Tobacco.-History:...
tobacco company, bought Froxfield Manor Farm. In 1995 his grandson Sir Seton Wills, 5th Baronet still held that part of the estate north of London Road. In 1965 William Geoffrey Rootes, 2nd Baron Rootes bought the remainder of the manor and added it to his estate of North Standen and Oakhill.
Church and chapel
The Church of England parish churchChurch of England parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative region, known as a parish.-Parishes in England:...
of All Saints is 12th century and is built of flint
Flint
Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and...
and sarsen
Sarsen
Sarsen stones are sandstone blocks found in quantity in the United Kingdom on Salisbury Plain, the Marlborough Downs, in Kent, and in smaller quantities in Berkshire, Essex, Oxfordshire, Dorset and Hampshire...
. The chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
was rebuilt in the 13th century with Early English Gothic lancet window
Lancet window
A lancet window is a tall narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural motif are most often found in Gothic and ecclesiastical structures, where they are often placed singly or in pairs.The motif first...
s. In the 14th century new windows were inserted in the nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
and a new north door was added. The Perpendicular Gothic west window is 15th century, as is the partly timber-framed
Timber framing
Timber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
porch.
In 1891-92 All Saints' was restored
Victorian restoration
Victorian restoration is the term commonly used to refer to the widespread and extensive refurbishment and rebuilding of Church of England churches and cathedrals that took place in England and Wales during the 19th-century reign of Queen Victoria...
under the direction of the Gothic Revival architect
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
Ewan Christian
Ewan Christian
Ewan Christian was a British architect. He is most notable for the restoration of Carlisle Cathedral, the alterations to Christ Church, Spitalfields in 1866, and the extension to the National Gallery that created the National Portrait Gallery. He was architect to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners...
. His alterations included replacing the bell-turret
Bell-Cot
A bell-cot, bell-cote or bellcote, is a small framework and shelter for one or more bells, supported on brackets projecting from a wall or built on the roof of chapels or churches which have no towers. It often holds the Sanctus bell rung at the Consecration....
with a more elaborate one, replacing a plain south window in the nave with an elaborate one in 15th century style and replacing the vestry
Vestry
A vestry is a room in or attached to a church or synagogue in which the vestments, vessels, records, etc., are kept , and in which the clergy and choir robe or don their vestments for divine service....
with a larger vestry and organ chamber in the style of a north transept
Transept
For the periodical go to The Transept.A transept is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture...
. It is a Grade II* listed building.
All Saints' is now part of a united benefice with Aldbourne
Aldbourne
Aldbourne is a village and civil parish about northeast of Marlborough in Wiltshire, England. It is in a valley in the south slope of the Lambourn Downs, part of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...
, Axford
Axford, Wiltshire
Axford is a hamlet in the Kennet Valley about east of Marlborough in the English county of Wiltshire.-History:Axford was one of seven Saxon settlements along the Kennet Valley in modern-day Wiltshire in the 5th and 6th centuries....
, Baydon
Baydon
Baydon is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England about south-east of Swindon. The eastern boundary of the parish forms part of the county boundary with Berkshire and the village is about north-west of the West Berkshire market town of Hungerford....
, Chilton Foliat
Chilton Foliat
Chilton Foliat is a village and civil parish on the River Kennet in Wiltshire. The parish is in the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is on the county boundary with West Berkshire and is about northwest of the Berkshire market town of Hungerford.-Parish church:The Church of...
and Ramsbury
Ramsbury
Ramsbury is a village in Ramsbury and Axford civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire. The village is in the Kennet Valley near the Berkshire boundary. The nearest towns are Hungerford about east and Marlborough about west. The much larger town of Swindon is about to the north.The civil...
.
A Methodist
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
congregation was established in Froxfield by 1834, when two houses in the village were licenced for Wesleyan Methodist
Wesleyan Methodist Church (Great Britain)
The Wesleyan Methodist Church was the name used by the major Methodist movement in Great Britain following its split from the Church of England after the death of John Wesley and the appearance of parallel Methodist movements...
worship. A small red-brick Primitive Methodist chapel was built on Brewhouse Hill in 1909. It closed for worship in about 1962.
Somerset charities
When Sarah Seymour, Duchess of Somerset (see above) died in 1694, her will of 1686 created two charities. The Broad Town charity was to help young men with their education or to enter apprenticeships. It is now the Broad Town Trust, and since 1990 it has been open to young women applicants as well as young men.The Duches also willed that almshouse
Almshouse
Almshouses are charitable housing provided to enable people to live in a particular community...
s and a chapel be built at Froxfield for 30 widows from Berkshire, Somerset, Wiltshire, London and Westminster, of whom half were to be widows of clergy. She willed that the Rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
of Huish
Huish, Wiltshire
Huish is a village and civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire.- Location :Huish is situated on the south-facing edge of the Marlborough Downs, where the downs adjoin the Vale of Pewsey.Position:...
was to either serve as chaplain or provide another clergyman to do so. In practice the parish priest of Froxfield has usually served the Hospital in his place.
The Duchess left the estate of Froxfield Manor as an endowment to the almshouses, called the Duchess of Somerset's Hospital. One of the trustees of the Duchess's will was her brother-in-law, Sir Samuel Grimston, 3rd Baronet
Sir Samuel Grimston, 3rd Baronet
Sir Samuel Grimston, 3rd Baronet , was a politician.Grimston was the second and only one of the six sons of Sir Harbottle Grimston, 2nd Baronet who survived him. He was born 7 January 1643. His mother was Sir Harbottle's first wife, Mary, daughter of Sir George Croke. He was elected member of...
. He refused to convey the prescribed lands and income to the Hospital until he was ordered to do so by the Court of Chancery
Court of Chancery
The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid the slow pace of change and possible harshness of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of equity, including trusts, land law, the administration of the estates of...
.
The original almshouses are built of brick around a quadrangle, with the chapel in the centre. In 1772-75 one range of seven almshouses was demolished and the Hospital was enlarged to a length of 37 bays
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
. This enabled it to accommodate 50 widows and eligibility was extended from its original geographical catchment area to include widows from anywhere in England within 150 miles of London.
In 1813 or 1814 Charles Brudenell-Bruce, 1st Marquess of Ailesbury
Charles Brudenell-Bruce, 1st Marquess of Ailesbury
Charles Brudenell-Bruce, 1st Marquess of Ailesbury, KT , styled The Honourable Charles Brudenell-Bruce from birth until 1776, Lord Bruce from 1776 to 1814 and The Earl of Ailesbury from 1814 to 1821, was a British peer and politician.-Background:Brudenell-Bruce was the third son of Thomas...
paid for the original chapel to be demolished and replaced by a new, presumably larger one built in its place, designed by the architect Thomas Baldwin
Thomas Baldwin (architect)
Thomas Baldwin was an English surveyor and architect in Bath.He did not originally hail from Bath but was first recorded in the city in 1774, where he was initially a clerk to plumber, glazier, and politician Thomas Warr Attwood. By 1775, he was appointed as the Bath City Architect after...
of Bath. A new gateway to the Hospital was added at the same time. The gateway and chapel are of ashlar
Ashlar
Ashlar is prepared stone work of any type of stone. Masonry using such stones laid in parallel courses is known as ashlar masonry, whereas masonry using irregularly shaped stones is known as rubble masonry. Ashlar blocks are rectangular cuboid blocks that are masonry sculpted to have square edges...
masonry in a Georgian
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
Gothick
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
style.
The Hospital's investment income began to decline and from 1851 it made successive reductions to the resident widows' pensions. From 1882 it started to leave vacant almshouses unoccupied to save money and in 1892 parishes in London and Westminster complained that they were not being given their allocation of places at the Hospital. In 1897 the Charity Commission found the Hospital was housing only 16 widows, and by 1921 this number had fallen to 13.
In 1920-22 the Hospital sold its lands and increased its income by investing the capital. By 1922 it had increased its residents to 25 and increased their pensions. In 1963 the chapel was restored. In 1966 the Hospital broadened eligibility to any poor woman over 55. Gifts from other charities, public bodies and private donations were invested in maintaining and improving the almshouses. By 1995 it provided 45 houses and four flats for widows and one house reserved for guests.
School
In the early part of the 19th century most children from Froxfield who went to school did so in Little BedwynLittle Bedwyn
Little Bedwyn is a village and civil parish on the River Dun in Wiltshire, about south-west of the market town of Hungerford in neighbouring Berkshire....
, Hungerford
Hungerford
Hungerford is a market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, 9 miles west of Newbury. It covers an area of and, according to the 2001 census, has a population of 5,559 .- Geography :...
or Great Bedwyn
Great Bedwyn
Great Bedwyn is a village and civil parish in the east of the English county of Wiltshire.-Location:Great Bedwyn is on the River Dun about south-west of Hungerford and south-east of Marlborough, Wiltshire. The Kennet and Avon Canal and the West of England Main Line railway follow the Dun and pass...
. By 1871 a school had opened in Froxfield, but in 1884 it served only as an infants' school for children under six. It was rebuilt in 1885 to accommodate older children but was closed in 1907. A new school was built near the parish church and opened in 1910, but in 1963 it too was closed.
Amenities
The village has a public housePublic house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
, the Pelican Inn, which is now a gastropub
Gastropub
Gastropub or Gastrolounge refers to a bar and restaurant that serves high-end beer and food.The term gastropub, a portmanteau of gastronomy and pub, originated in England in the late 20th century. English pubs were drinking establishments and little emphasis was placed on the serving of food. If...
. Froxfield has a village hall
Village hall
In the United States, a village hall is the seat of government for villages. It functions much as a city hall does within cities.In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building within a village which contains at least one large room, usually owned by and run for the benefit of the local...
.
External links
- Wiltshire Council Website page on Froxfield, retrieved 18:50 Oct 29, 2004 (UTC)