Shabbington is a village and
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
in west
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...
, England, about west of
Thame
Thame is a market town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about east of the city of Oxford and southwest of Aylesbury. It derives its name from the River Thame which flows along the north side of the town and forms part of the county border wi ...
in neighbouring
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...
, and southwest of
Aylesbury
Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, South East England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery, David Tugwell`s house on Watermead and the Waterside Theatre. It is in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wy ...
.
The village is close to the
River Thame
The River Thame is a river in Southern England. A tributary of the River Thames, the river runs generally south-westward for about from its source above the Buckinghamshire town of Aylesbury to the Thames in south-east Oxfordshire.
Course
Thr ...
, which forms much of the southern boundary of the parish and also part of the county boundary with Oxfordshire. The parish has an area of .
Toponym
The
toponym
Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...
is derived from the
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
for "Scobba's farm". It appears as ''Sobintone'' in
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
of 1086 and again in a record from the 14th century. It is spelt ''Shobindon'' in records from the 15th and 16th centuries. Until the
Victorian era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...
it was alternatively spelt ''Shobington''; it was at about this time that the name changed to its current spelling.
Manor
In the reign of
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066.
Edward was the son of Æth ...
a Saxon
thegn
In Anglo-Saxon England, thegns were aristocratic landowners of the second rank, below the ealdormen who governed large areas of England. The term was also used in early medieval Scandinavia for a class of retainers. In medieval Scotland, there w ...
,
Wigod
Wigod (also spelt Wigot) was the eleventh-century Saxon thegn or lord of the English town of Wallingford, and a kinsman of Edward the Confessor.
After the Battle of Hastings, during the 1066 Norman invasion of England, William the Conqueror mad ...
of
Wallingford, held the
manor of Shabbington. In the
Norman conquest of England
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, Duchy of Brittany, Breton, County of Flanders, Flemish, and Kingdom of France, French troops, ...
, Wigod supported the invader
William of Normandy
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 108 ...
and afterwards Wigod gave his daughter Ealdgyth in marriage to the Norman baron
Robert D'Oyly
Robert D'Oyly (also spelt Robert D'Oyley de Liseaux, Robert Doyley, Robert de Oiley, Robèrt d'Oilly, Robert D'Oyley and Roberti De Oilgi) was a Norman nobleman who accompanied William the Conqueror on the Norman conquest, his invasion of Engla ...
, who had
Wallingford Castle
Wallingford Castle was a major medieval castle situated in Wallingford in the English county of Oxfordshire (historically Berkshire), adjacent to the River Thames. Established in the 11th century as a motte-and-bailey design within an Anglo-Sa ...
built. Ealdgyth bore D'Oyly no male heir so the D'Oyly estates passed to their daughter Maud or Matilda, and then to her first husband
Miles Crispin
Miles Crispin (died 1107), also known as Miles or Milo of Wallingford, was a wealthy Norman landowner, particularly associated with Wallingford Castle in Berkshire (now Oxfordshire). The Domesday Book records Miles as a major landowner with holding ...
, who may have been the first
castellan
A castellan is the title used in Medieval Europe for an appointed official, a governor of a castle and its surrounding territory referred to as the castellany. The title of ''governor'' is retained in the English prison system, as a remnant o ...
of Wallingford Castle. Shabbington remained part of the
Honour of Wallingford
The Honour of Wallingford (or feudal barony of Wallingford) was a medieval English feudal barony which existed between 1066 and 1540 with its ''caput'' at Wallingford Castle in present-day Oxfordshire.
The Honour of Wallingford was established af ...
until the 16th century, when the Wallingford estates became part of the
Honour
Honour (British English) or honor (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of socia ...
of
Ewelme
Ewelme () is a village and civil parish in the Chiltern Hills in South Oxfordshire, north-east of the market town of Wallingford. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 1,048. To the east of the village is Cow Common and to the ...
.
After the Norman conquest, Shabbington Manor represented two
knight's fee
In feudal Anglo-Norman England and Ireland, a knight's fee was a unit measure of land deemed sufficient to support a knight. Of necessity, it would not only provide sustenance for himself, his family, and servants, but also the means to furnish him ...
s. The tenancy was held by the Valognes family until 1299 when Joan de Valognes, widow of Robert de Grey,
alienated the manor in free alms to the
Knights Hospitaller of St. John of Jerusalem. Joan held the manor until her death in 1312, but in 1326–29 her grandson and heir
John de Grey disputed the Hospitallers' tenure and successfully reclaimed the manor. John de Grey died in 1359 leaving Shabbington to his son
John de Grey, 2nd Baron Grey de Rotherfield
John de Grey, 1st Baron Grey de Rotherfield, KG (9 October 1300 – September 1359) was an English soldier and courtier. John was the son and heir of Sir John de Grey of Rotherfield, by Margaret, daughter of William de Odingsells.
John de Gre ...
, to whom the Hospitallers surrendered their claim in 1360.
Robert de Grey, 4th Baron Grey de Rotherfield died in 1388 with no male heir, so when his daughter Joan married John,
Lord Deyncourt in 1401, Shabbington joined his estate of Wooburn Deyncourt.
In 1466 Shabbington was settled on
Sir William Lovel, 7th Baron Morley, who in 1474 released the manor to
feoffee
Under the feudal system in England, a feoffee () is a trustee who holds a fief (or "fee"), that is to say an estate in land, for the use of a beneficial owner. The term is more fully stated as a feoffee to uses of the beneficial owner. The use o ...
s including Richard Piggott, who in turn transferred it to other feoffees, of whom the principal was
Richard Fowler. Fowler died in 1477; also Richard, was knighted in 1501 and sold Shabbington in 1515–18.
The buyer was John Clerke, who was later knighted and died in about 1540. In 1660 a later John Clerke was made the first
Clerke Baronet, of
Hitcham, but made Shabbington the main seat of his
baronet
A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...
cy. The manor descended with the baronetcy until Sir John Clerke, 4th Baronet sold Shabbington in 1716.
![St](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/St._Mary_Magdalene_Church%2C_Shabbington_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1484724.jpg)
The buyer was Francis Heywood, whose son William died in 1762. William's two sisters and their nephew John Crewe inherited the manor in 1763. Crewe became sole owner in 1788, succeeded by his widow Elizabeth, who in turn left Shabbington to their son-in-law
George Boscawen, 3rd Viscount Falmouth
George Boscawen, 3rd Viscount Falmouth, PC (6 May 1758 – 11 February 1808), was a British army officer and statesman in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. This included service as Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms ...
. When the Viscount died in 1808, his Shabbington estate was sold in lots.
William Beasley bought the manor and in 1815 and sold them in 1827 to
Sir Edward Blount, 8th Baronet, of
Sodington, Worcestershire. Shabbington then descended to the 9th and 10th Baronets, and was still in the Blount family in the 1920s.
Parish church
The
nave
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
and
chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse.
Ove ...
of the
Church 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 each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...
of Saint
Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cru ...
are 11th century. The chancel windows are the 13th century and the
Perpendicular Gothic
Perpendicular Gothic (also Perpendicular, Rectilinear, or Third Pointed) architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four-c ...
bell-tower is later medieval. The
pulpit
A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...
is
Jacobean and was made in 1626. The present nave windows are
Victorian Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
additions. St. Mary Magdalene's is a
Grade II* listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
.
The tower has a
ring
Ring may refer to:
* Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry
* To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell
:(hence) to initiate a telephone connection
Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...
of six bells. All except the treble bell were cast in 1718 by Abraham I
Rudhall of Gloucester
Rudhall of Gloucester was a family business of bell founders in the city of Gloucester, England, who between 1684 and 1835 cast more than 5,000 bells.
History
There had been a tradition of bell casting in Gloucester since before the 14th century. ...
.
Mears and Stainbank of the
Whitechapel Bell Foundry
The Whitechapel Bell Foundry was a business in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. At the time of the closure of its Whitechapel premises, it was the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain. The bell foundry primarily made church bells a ...
cast the treble bell in 1881.
[ There is also a Sanctus bell cast by Thomas I Mears of Whitechapel in 1794.][
The parish registers date from 1714.] St. Mary Magdalene is now part of the Benefice
A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...
of Worminghall
Worminghall is a village and civil parish in the Buckinghamshire district of the ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire, England.
The village is beside a brook that forms most of the eastern boundary of the parish. The brook joins the River Thame ...
with Ickford
Ickford is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Buckinghamshire Council, unitary authority area of Buckinghamshire, England. It is on the boundary with Oxfordshire, about west of the market town of Thame.
The River Tham ...
, Oakley and Shabbington.
School
The former school room and master's house are now two private homes. The oldest part is timber framed
Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...
and was built in the 17th century.[ In the 18th century the three- bay west range was added as the schoolmaster's accommodation][ and a gothic east window was inserted in the older part of the building.][ A new schoolroom was added in about 1850.][
]
Amenities
Shabbington has a public house
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
, The Old Fisherman, that is also a restaurant.
The Great Bucks Steam and Country Fair is held at Shabbington each summer in early August.Great Bucks Steam and Country Fair
/ref> The first fair was in 1982 and since then it has been called off three times, once because of heavy rain; another time because of foot and mouth; and lastly due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.[Thame Today](_blank)
/ref>
In 2011 there were 21 working steam engines as well as fire engines, motorbikes and vintage cars. 8,000 steam engine fanatics and vintage car enthusiasts came to Shabbington for the fair. The chairman Maria Millan said: "A lot of people travel quite far to get here and like it because it has a local feel and is organised by a family and a few friends."
References
Sources and further reading
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External links
{{authority control
Villages in Buckinghamshire
Civil parishes in Buckinghamshire