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Fownhope
Herefordshire |
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Fownhope had been a manor of
Thorkell the White in 1066. In Domesday it was one of the
manors of Hugh l’Asne, a follower of William fitz Osbern.
Fownhope was a sizable manor
of 15 hides of which 10 paid tax. There were 3 ploughs in
lordship.
The villagers included 14
villeins, 10 bordars, 2 priests, a reeve, a smith and a
carpenter together having 25 ploughs. There were also 18
male and 8 female slaves.
There was a mill which paid
5 shillings and 3 fisheries which paid 300 eels.
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In the reign
of Henry III, the manor of Fownhope was in the hands of Roger
de Chandos and part of the honour of Snodhill, a castle in the
Golden Valley. Roger had a licence for a fair at Fownhope in
1221.
The manor
remained in the Chandos family until 1428 when Sir John
Chandos died and it was divided between the two heirs of his
sister Elizabeth. Elizabeth's daughter Margery had Fownhope
for life after which it reverted to the Crown.
It was then
granted to Sir John Cornwall, who became Lord Fownhope
(Fanhope) in 1433. Cornwall died in 1443 and Fownhope returned
to the Crown.
Elizabeth I
granted Fownhope to the Earl of Essex, from whom it descended
to the Duchess of Somerset who in 1660 sold it to Dir William
Gregory. |
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Fownhope Court
Image from A History of the Mansion and
Manors of Herefordshire, Rev Charles Robinson, 1872 |
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James Wathen’s
view of Fownhope on 17th September 1798
(courtesy of
Hereford City Library).
The house in
the centre was that of Nathaniel Purchas, liquor dealer and
brewer. On the right is his brewery.
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Nathaniel
obtained his wines and spirits from Bristol. They were brought
by boat up the Wye to Fownhope.
This
photograph of Nathaniel Purchas's house was taken on Thursday
28th September, 2006 as part of the LOWV's survey of the river
and its associated sites. |
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When Wathen was painting
Nathaniel's house, Tom Winter, a
three-year old butcher's son lived in Fownhope. As
Tom Spring
he would become the champion bare knuckle fighter of all
England.
His early fights were local and he was watched by the
Duke of Norfolk at Holme Lacy House, the duke's home. Perhaps
his most famous fight was against John Langan, the Irish
champion, who he beat after 77 rounds. Tom Spring became
proprietor of the Booth Hall Hotel in Hereford in 1824 and
moved to London to the Castle Tavern in High Holborn in 1826.
He died in 1851.
His story is told in 'Tom Spring,
Bare-Knuckle Champion of All England' by Jon Hurley (Tempus,
2002). More recently 'Pugilists' a film about him and two
modern Herefordshire boxers has been made by the
Rural Media Company.
Fownhope was a busy river port in the 18th and early 19th
centuries. At least one barge, the William of 40 tons, was
built there being launched in 1815. A smaller vessel, the Ann
and Peggy, a trow of 13 tons, was built at Fownhope in 1854. |
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Old houses in Fownhope a century ago. From the Alfred
Watkins collection
(courtesy of
Hereford City Library) |
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A donkey cart
in Fownhope in 1902 |
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The vicarage barn next to Fownhope churchyard in 1938.
This had been used for several purposes other than holding
grain. On January 7th 1854 the Hereford Times reported that
'Poor to the number of 170 were presented
with a small sum of money each on St Thomas’s day at the barn
of the reverend vicar.
This was not the tithe barn.
The tithe barn stood to the south of the church and was
demolished in the 19th century in order to extend the
churchyard.
(photograph courtesy of
Hereford City Library) |
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The old stocks
outside the churchyard |
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The main street looking north-west |
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Houses on the
corner of Common Hill Lane, opposite the church |
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This pantile was recently found by David
Clarke of Fownhope Local History Group near
the ruins of Jim Bruin's cottage, a former limeworker's
dwelling on Common Hill, Fownhope. The stamp depicts the
Emperor Napoleon III of France. Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte was
the son of Louis Bonaparte, a younger brother of Napoleon I.
He became president of the Second Republic, and later took the
title Napoleon III on becoming emperor of the Second Empire.
There was never a Napoleon II.
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Quite why Napoleon III
should appear on a Herefordshire roof tile is a
mystery, although historically he is credited with
rebuilding the Tuileries Gardens in Paris after they
were destroyed in the 1848 riots. This was the tile making quarter of Paris, so perhaps he was a hero
of the tile manufacturing industry. If anyone can
tell us please get in touch.
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Tuesday
25th July
A Walk around
Fownhope and Common Hill
A walk
around Fownhope led by Rev. David Clarke
of the Fownhope Local History Group
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The Fownhope Local
History Group has recently received a Heritage
Lottery Initiative grant to carry out an
oral history project.
Fownhope GENUKI pages
Visit Fownhope village website
at
www.fownhope.org.uk which has a history of the village
Archaeological records from
Fownhope are held on
Historic Herefordshire On Line |
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