For much of its history, Mathon gives the impression of going quietly on irrespective of outside events. But during the 16th and 17th Centuries two events did have a profound influence on the village. The first was the Reformation and the second the disafforestation of Malvern Chase.
Mathon Church was originally dedicated to St. Margaret by its 11th Century builders. The County historian, Nash, writing in the 18th Century, says “The church of Mathon, which is dedicated to St. Margaret, with the portion of Chokenhall, were appropriated to the Abbey of Pershore 19th June 1512, and the Vicarage appointed”. Appropriation means that the abbey received the tithes of the Manor of Mathon, and the right to appoint a vicar, in return taking the responsibility of providing a vicarage and maintaining the Chancel. It would have been a valuable addition to the Abbey’s finances. There were three vicars in the year 1512, and we can guess that the first of them, Johannes Russell did not meet with the approval of the abbey, but why their nominee, Hugo Myles should have been so quickly replaced by Roger Hughes, we cannot tell.
Pershore Abbey was not to enjoy the financial advantage of the Appropriation for long however, as King Henry VIII had begun systematically depriving the church of its wealth, a process which he continued until death took him “where kings can steal no more”!1 In doing so, he may have abolished some practices by abbots and monks that were unworthy of their saintly vocation, but he also swept away the wonderful hospitality which monasteries provided for travellers and the poor, and their influence on literature and learning. During this period, the dedication of the church was changed to St. John the Baptist. There are two possible explanations. The first is that it was an attempt to hide thefts of Church lands and rents, so that if anyone asked what had happened to the rents of St. Margaret’s, Mathon, he would be told that there was no such church, and that Mathon Church was dedicated to St. John. The second, more likely explanation is that the new dedication was more in keeping with the spirit of the Reformation, and with the tendency to move away from the Church of Rome, and foreign influence, and place increased importance on scriptural tradition. When Pershore Abbey was dissolved, Mathon Church and Manor passed into the hand of the Dean and Chapter of Westminster, and in the 19th Century to the Church Commissioners, who still own much of the parish.
Some idea of the wealth of small country churches can be gained from the following inventory of the possessions of Mathon Church made in 1536:-
Mathan Aug 9 1 chalys of sylver and gylte weying XX unces, a pyx of sylver weying IIJ (3) unces, IJ (2) copies of redd velvett, a chesable of blew velvett, with albes thereunto, a crosse of copper, a censer of copper, a lampe of latten, IJ (2) candlesticks of latten, a tennacle of brasse, IIIJ (4) bells in the steeple, a saunce bell, a lyche bell, a sacryng bell, item.; they say they have J other chalyce weying VII unces, and remaineth in the hands of Ric. Cave in gage for XXs. of him borrowed and bestowed upon harness (armour).
Will Packer Vicar
After the theft of the monastery wealth, and following the death of Henry VIII, it was obviously thought worth enquiring what additional valuables might be taken from parish churches. It will be noticed that the church still retained various articles connected with the previous membership of the Catholic church. The reference to the steeple is either a slip, or a figure of speech. Mathon never had such a steeple.
The loan of twenty shillings, a considerable sum in those days, made by Richard Cave to the church, suggests that the parish had experienced difficulty in providing a soldier and arming him, and had been obliged to ask for help from a wealthy parishioner, who had retained the chalice which had provided surety.
The second event to affect the village occurred about one hundred years later. Malvern Chase, during the 13th Century the property of the Red Earl, had reverted to the crown, and in 1628 King Charles I, anxious to raise money without calling Parliament, had the Chase surveyed, and decided to give up his forest rights and take one third of the common land in lieu. The rest of the land was intended to be available to all in perpetuity, and local people could retain their grazing rights which they had held for centuries. The king sold his one third of the land immediately, and some farms and cottages were built there. This was a prosperous period in which many houses were built or re-built in the countryside, and which is known to historians as the “Great Re-building of Rural England”. The parish records contain an interesting description of the vicarage at Church Farm, in two glebe terriers dated 1585 and 1616. Glebe terriers were descriptions of houses and land belonging to the church, and not only do they give a description of the vicarage, but they also tell us something about the local farmhouses, which were similar.
The 1585 terrier reads: A True Presentment of the Glebe land of the Parsonage of Mathon with all houses thereto belonging.
In primis, a fair mansion house, viz, a parlour, a hall, a kitchen with chambers, and divers (several) other houses adjoining to the same, all within the moat and one little house without the moat on the north side.
Item. A large barn, a stable and a fair large sheepin so called, a gatehouse upon the bridge.
Item. Two meadows being 7 acres or thereabouts, two closes of pasture being 5 acres or thereabouts, two other closes now arable land being 22 acres, all adjoining to the Parsonage house or mansion place, and all inclosed adjoining together.
The sheepin is the word variously written as shippon, shippen or shipping meaning a cattle shed. It is likely that this house was many years old when it was described in 1585, and was in fact the house which belonged to William Mucklow, and which he agreed to make into a vicarage in 1550. This is how the house was described in 1616.
One hall, one parlour, one kitchen, one dey house (dairy), one water house, one lower chamber near unto the parlour, one boulteinge house (boulteinge - a machine for separating grain and bran) one chamber over the hall, one chamber over the parlour, one chamber over the kitchen, one closet over the deyhouse, one chamber over the buttery, one chamber over the parlour chamber, one chamber behind the kitchen chimney, two draughts (draught - a privy or cess pit). One new barn containing three bays, one stable thereunto adjoining, and one poultry house.
By 1616, the vicarage had either been re-built or extensively improved. The earlier terrier makes no mention of upstairs rooms, and the house may have had an extra floor built in, creating bedrooms, and a flight of stairs provided. This was a favourite way of improving a mediaeval hall type house. Alternatively, it may have been at this time that the house was re-built outside the moat, which in more settled times, probably proved to be unnecessary for security, and rather restricting.
The document also gives a description of the glebe land - “To the Broad Field on the north side, to the piece of pasture ground called the Long Leasow on the east side, to the Lower Stallockmore or Stall Meadow and on the west side to the highway going from Mooreens (Moorend) Cross to Hackneels Cross (Hackney Cross). By 1840, the Tithe Report mentions only Broad Field. The other names seem to have gone out of use.
A great deal of building was done in the parish this century. Parker’s, a timber-framed house in the village street bears the date 1610 carved on the front, and most of the other buildings and cottages have been dated to the 17th Century, with the exception of Bank Farm, said to be 16th Century. Green wood was used for the main framework of the houses. Heavy baulks were required to minimise twisting as the wood dried out. The Cliffe Arms, and Town House both have cruck end frames, bent trees halved along their length and used to make an ‘A’ frame for the gable end. Crucks were thought to be very ancient and were dated to the 13th Century, but it is now known that the system continued for another three or four centuries. The framework was made by the carpenter in his yard, and the heavy timbers mortised and tenoned together dry, then each joint marked with chisel-cut Roman numeral for later assembly on the site, when the joints were pegged with heart of oak. Neighbours were called in to erect the frames, often with lavish expenditure of food and drink. Most of the houses were named after their first owners. Badger’s is a particularly interesting name, since a badger, as well as the familiar animal, was also the name of a licensed dealer in grain. There was a John Badger living in the village in 1619, who may have built the house, and who may have been such a dealer, and whose name may have been acquired from an ancestor in the corn trade.
For a village in a county which suffered as severely as Worcestershire did during the Civil War, Mathon seems to have escaped fairly lightly. However, there is a strong tradition in the village that a skirmish took place on Red Field, which is sometimes known locally as the ‘Field of Blood’. The dead are supposed to have been buried where they fell. I have been unable to find any mention of this action in written records, but that does not mean that it did not take place. There were large numbers of troops in the area, some of whom were quartered in Mathon. Disputes between soldiers and those upon whom they are billeted are frequently reported, arising from stolen and damaged property. The parish records contain the following list of village people claiming damages against the unpaid Parliamentary army of Scots who were billeted here.
Thomas Dangerfield 8 men and 10 horses 4 days £2 8s. 0d.
Edmund Whittington “and lost more by some of the Parliamentary forces in taking commodities out of my house and two horses from me”.
William Briane By Capt. Badger’s men, in taking commodities out of my houses and breaking my glass window.
Edmund Poole Losses by the Scots, 22 lambes and 2 wethers valued (at the least) at £4
Thomas Godfrey Plundering of apparell
Richard Willmoore Apparell and other commodities
William Thomas 1 horse valued at £4
James James Bacon, beef, and other commodities. A gun valued at 12s.
William Hall Beef, bacon, cheese apparell and all kind of household stuff £30
Signed by all the above, (some made their marks) and also by Thomas Adams, Richard Taylor, John Falkes, John Rosse, Richard Hodges, Peter Hartland, Edward Harbert, William Collins, John Green, Willian Vobe. Whether these men ever succeeded in their claim, the parish records do not reveal. Thomas Dangerfield seems to have supported the Parliamentary side, for he ends his claim with “besides what satisfaction I had in it.”
The Worcester Quarter Sessions Rolls for 1591 - 1643 suggest that Mathon was on the whole a law-abiding community. There are not a great many entries but some of them give some idea of the village people of that time.
1637 Roger Robinson, shoemaker, was indicted for selling 230 pairs of boots made of horse hides, instead of the customary cow hides.
1620 Permission was given to the Vicar and inhabitants of Mathon to collect alms for a poor man, Nicholas Taylor, who lost his house and goods by fire.
Permission had to be sought for a cash collection of any kind. In this case, Nicholas seems to have suffered a misfortune which was probably not uncommon in the timber-framed houses of the 17th Century, with their open fires.
1634 Roland Hope, gentleman, of Mathon, for not working in the repair of the highways on the appointed days, and making default with one small cart with oxen, horses or other beasts.
Since a ‘gentleman’ was not normally expected to work with his hands, perhaps Roland’s omission was in not sending the small cart. It is also interesting to notice the reference to oxen as draught animals.
1608 Two persons sell ale without licence in Mathon.
1609 Richard Sadler, the younger, of Mathon, tanner, to keep the peace towards Thomas Sadler, of Leigh. Was this a family quarrel?
1610 Indictment of Henry Whooper, of Mathon, clerk, for breaking and entering the close (field) of Richard Case of Mathon.
1615 William Vobe, yeoman, indicated for grazing horses, cows and sheep on the close of Anthony Sydnall and Anthony Halle. (The Grove)
Both these charges suggest that the land may have been enclosed quite recently. Perhaps there was some resentment by Whooper and Vobe.
1619 14 men and one woman indicted for riotously assembling and assaulting three bailiffs of William Berkeley. Was this an eviction which was resisted by the villagers?
1619 3 Mathon men indicted for riotously assembling and assaulting Richard Turner. (Not a true bill)
1627 Another riotous assembly and assault.
1629 John Harbert - a theft from Richard Unet.
1633 Indictment of William Thomas of Mathon, yeoman, for disseizing Celia James of the possession of her dwelling house at Mathon.
1634 Luke Staunton, victualler, drinking at unlawful hours, and for inordinate terms on festival days. By standards of English country life in those times, Luke must have been on a considerable celebration to have been taken to court.
1634 John Gregg, Constable of Mathon, reported that watch and ward had been kept, that the highways and bridges were in good repair till the last sudden rain, that none harboured rogues, and that there were no (unlicensed) taverners, vintners, butchers or bakers.
This was all part of the routine report that the Constable was required to make as part of his yearly duty.
1634 Roger Robinson, Constable of Mathon, that Luke Staunton keeps an alehouse without licence.
The Constable was chosen yearly. It was an onerous duty, and one that everyone seems to have tried hard to avoid, though a refusal to officiate meant a considerable fine. Roger himself was charged three years later with making boots from horse hides.
1636 Presentment of Luke Staunton, vitualler of Mathon, for suffering the parishioners of the same town to be continually drinking at all seasons whole nights and days together.
1636 Edward Harbert of Mathon, husbandman, for his appearance at Sessions to answer for not appearing at monthly meetings, he being Constable of Mathon.
At the end of Queen Elizabeth’s reign, Mathon must have been a green land, the primitive roads lined with fruit trees, and oaks still plentiful.
In the Civil War, a London militiaman gave “testimony of the high reputation of the county, (Worcs.) for fruit, and spoke enthusiastically of the loaded apple and pear trees overhanging even the public highways.”2 Cider, which had already been enjoyed for hundreds of years was made, and the surplus which was not consumed on the farm, usually as part of the men’s wages, was sold. The red-streaked apple discovered by Lord Scudamore growing wild in a field near Holme Lacey, was a favourite cider apple, and the Barland pear, named after a field in the neighbouring parish of Bosbury was the choice for perry, made since the 14th Century. Both varieties of fruit gave their names to fields in Mathon.
At the end of the 17th Century, Celia Fiennes3 wrote “On the other side (of the Malverns) is Herefordshire, which appears to be a county of gardens and orchards, the whole county being full of fruit trees. It looks like nothing else, the apple and pear trees are so thick, even in their corn fields and hedge rows”. It was also famous for its oaks, which stretched for miles, and for the Herefordshire school of woodworkers, who were responsible for such craftwork as the Mathon church roof. It was probably at about this time that hops, imported from the Low Countries in the 15th Century, began to be grown in the parish. They were increasingly used for beer, which was replacing in popularity the old English ale, and farmers were tempted to grow them by the high price which they fetched in the market. Mathon Whites were the hops which perhaps made the parish name more widely known than anything else in its history. Hops were planted 5-8 feet apart, allowing a plough to be used between rows. Poles 13-16 feet long, probably grown on the farm’s ash bed, were used to support them, and the bines were tied with rushes or grass. At harvest time, hop-picking provided the women with the chance to supplement the family income, which must have been welcome, because even allowing for the low prices of those days, wages seem incredibly low. These are the average wages for the district4.
1663 Bailiff £4 per annum
Labourer 3d. to 6d. per day (with food and drink)
Women 4d. per day
Thatcher or Carpenter 6d. per day
Maidservant £1 10s. per annum
Fortunately, the whole country was becoming aware of the need for legislation to provide care for the poor and elderly, and various well-meaning efforts were made to ensure that the necessary help was given, and that paupers did not have to live on charity alone. In 1662, an Act of Parliament had provided for the appointment by the men holding the two ancient offices, the Constable and Churchwardens, of Overseers for the Poor, who were empowered to levy a parish rate for that purpose. The parish books commencing in the 17th Century, contain accounts of these parish officers or paymasters as they sometimes called themselves. The Act of Parochial Settlement laid down that anyone residing 40 days in a parish should be regarded as belonging to it, and therefore became a charge upon the parish if he fell out of work. Parish officials were charged with ensuring that “no vagrants were harbouring” and because of this anxiety to incur no extra expense, mobility of labour was almost non-existent for almost 200 years. Under the 1691 Act, a man could claim a settlement in a parish by birth, by living in a tenement with a yearly value of £10, by paying parish rates, by serving a year in a public office, by completing an apprenticeship, or by obtaining a hiring. In practice, employers hired for a few days short of a year to avoid a claim for settlement. A woman could claim settlement by marriage.
The Overseer’s Account for 1681 gives an idea of the number of people in the parish who were being given assistance, and how much they received.
John Corbett 48 weeks @ 6d. per week
Thomas Mason 48 weeks @ 9d. per week
Widow Bayliss £2
Widow Balding 26 weeks @ 1s. 6d. per week
Widow Falks 44 weeks @ 9d. per week
Widow Onions £1 4s. 6d.
Widow Harbert 48 weeks @ 1s. per week
Thomas Mason 4s. 4d.
An old man at Widow Bayliss’s house 6d.
John Farmer 1s.6d.
In 1691, charges for building a house for John Farmer amounted to £6 4s. 4d.
The parish registers suggest that Mathon fared reasonably well in the plague-ridden Tudor and Stuart times. Yearly deaths never rose higher than 14, and the average age was 7. It was a time when there were many cases of poverty and hardship which defied well-meaning charitable efforts, and sometimes resulted from the tendency to hurry paupers, unemployed or sick people on to their own parishes, in order to avoid a mounting parish rate for people who themselves could not afford to pay more. Some of the Vicar’s comments, in the Register of Deaths shows his kindly feeling for these poor folk.
‘A poor parentless lad’ ‘A poor traveller’
‘A poor strange wandering boy’
1. G. M. Trevelyan, English Social History
2. Quoted in R. C. Gaut, History of Worcs. Agriculture & Rural Evolution 1939.
3. Celia Fiennes, The Journeys of Celia Fiennes , ed. Trevelyan 1947.
4. Gaut, as above.