Prestwood is a hamlet now in the parish of
Kinver, but in the Kingswinford until the creation of
Brierley Hill Urban District in the 1930s.
History
The name is derived from priests' wood, because it was part of the estate of
Haswic, which was confirmed to Lady
Wulfrun
__NOTOC__
Wulfrun(a) (-) was an Anglo-Saxon (early English) noble woman of Mercia and a landowner who held estates in Staffordshire.
Today she is particularly remembered for her association with ''Hēatūn'', Anglo-Saxon for "high or principal ...
and used by her to endow the priests of
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...
, but in 1086, it was waste, because of the king's forest.
Haswic became Ashwood Hay, one of three hays (hedged hunting areas) of
Kinver Forest
Kinver Forest was a Royal Forest, mainly in Staffordshire.
Extent
References to "forest" in Domesday Book suggest that the forest was of similar extent in 1086 and in the 14th century. Its precise extent in the intervening period can only be dedu ...
. The hay was managed by a bailiff, who occupied the farm of Prestwood by the
sergeanty of keeping the bailiwick of Ashwood Hay. This belonged to a family who took their name from the estate, and owned the estate for over a century until Richard de Prestwood granted it to William son of Adam de Chetwynd in 1292. William granted it to Agnes widow of Roger de Somery of
Dudley Castle
Dudley Castle is a ruined fortification in the town of Dudley, West Midlands, England. Originally a wooden motte and bailey castle built soon after the Norman Conquest, it was rebuilt as a stone fortification during the twelfth century but subs ...
and her son. On the death of John de Somery in 1322, it was described as half a
carucate and some meadow, but on the death of Roger de Hilary in 1357, it consisted of a messuage, a
virgate and 10 acres of meadow, though it is not clear why it should have been his, as it long continued to be the property of the lords of Dudley Castle. It thus came into the hands of
John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland
John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland (1504Loades 2008 – 22 August 1553) was an Kingdom of England, English general, admiral, and politician, who led the government of the young King Edward VI from 1550 until 1553, and unsuccessfully tried ...
, the Lord Protector to
Edward VI, but was
attainted
In English criminal law, attainder or attinctura was the metaphorical "stain" or "corruption of blood" which arose from being condemned for a serious capital crime (felony or treason). It entailed losing not only one's life, property and hereditary ...
of
high treason following the accession of
Queen Mary.
In 1554, the estate was granted by the queen to Edward Hastynges, who quickly sold it to
Sir John Lyttelton. In 1597, there was a dispute between his son
Gilbert Lyttelton
Gilbert Lyttelton MP (c. 1540 – 1 June 1599) was an English politician and landowner from the Lyttelton family.
He was the eldest son of Sir John Lyttelton (died 1590). He was Member of Parliament for Worcestershire in 1570 and in 157 ...
and
Edward Sutton, 5th Baron Dudley
Edward Sutton, 5th Baron Dudley (baptised 17 September 1567 – 23 June 1643) was a major landowner, mainly in Staffordshire and Worcestershire, and briefly a Member of the House of Commons of England. Through his intemperate behaviour he won wi ...
, as owner of Ashwood Hay. This seems to have related to the boundary between Ashwood Hay and Prestwood Hill (which was open to it) and whether Lyttelton had the right to graze cattle on Ashwood Hay (by then a
common
Common may refer to:
Places
* Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
* Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts
* Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts
* Clapham Common, originally com ...
. This resulted in
Star Chamber
The Star Chamber (Latin: ''Camera stellata'') was an English court that sat at the royal Palace of Westminster, from the late to the mid-17th century (c. 1641), and was composed of Privy Counsellors and common-law judges, to supplement the judic ...
proceedings and was part of a political dispute between the two families at the same date.
Gilbert's son
John Lyttelton died in prison, having been attainted for complicity in Essex' rebellion, so that his estates were forfeited. Most of his estates were restored by
James I James I may refer to:
People
*James I of Aragon (1208–1276)
*James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327)
*James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu
*James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347)
*James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...
to his widow Merriel, but only in 1618, did she regain Prestwood (now described as a
manor
Manor may refer to:
Land ownership
*Manorialism or "manor system", the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of medieval Europe, notably England
*Lord of the manor, the owner of an agreed area of land (or "manor") under manorialism
*Man ...
). Three years later it was sold to Sir Edward Sebright, 1st Baronet, for £3,000. His son sold it to
Thomas Foley the great
ironmaster, who
settled
A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area.
A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer.
Settle ...
it on his youngest son
Philip Foley.
[This is partly based on estate title deeds, in the Foley collection at Herefordshire Record Office.]
Philip Foley rebuilt the house as a mansion, which remained the family home of his descendants for over 250 years, passing to his son
Paul, his grandson William, and great grandson (also William). On the death of the great-grandson, it passed to his sister Elizabeth Foley, who married John Hodgetts of Shut End. Their only child Eliza Maria Foley Hodgetts in 1790 married her distant cousin
Hon. Edward Foley. Under their marriage settlement the Prestwood estate passed to her second son
John Hodgetts-Foley
John Hodgetts Hodgetts-Foley (17 July 1797 – 13 November 1861), born John Hodgetts Foley, of Prestwood House (then in Kingswinford, and now in Kinver) in Staffordshire was a British MP.
He was the second son of the Hon. Edward Foley of Stoke ...
and then to his son
Henry Hodgetts-Foley. Henry's son
Paul Henry Foley inherited the
Stoke Edith
Stoke Edith is a village in the English county of Herefordshire, situated on the A438 road between Hereford and Ledbury. The population in 1801 of Stoke Edith parish was 332.
The 14th-century church of St Mary is a grade I listed building. It h ...
estate on the death of Lady Emily Foley, but sold most of the Prestwood estate in the 1920s.
[The descent from the 1670s is much the same as the manor of Kinver: ''Victoria County History: Staffordshire'', XX, 130.]
Prestwood House
Prestwood House was subsequently used as a tuberculosis sanatorium. The house now on the site is used as a care home.
References
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Villages in Staffordshire