Churches and Chapels - Historic Churches of Buckinghamshire

Historic Churches of Buckinghamshire is a project launched in 2018, with only a few churches included at the moment.

St Botolph, Bradenham

Denomination:	C of E - Wycombe Deanery
Local Authority to 2020:	Wycombe District Council
Local Authority UA:	Bucks UA (North West Chilterns)
Building Location:	The Green, Bradenham (3 miles NE of High Wycombe)
Nearest Post Code:	HP14 4HF
O/S Map Reference/NGR:	SU 82825 97126
Latitude & Longitude:	51.66681, -0.80380 Map
CofE ACNY Web Site:	www.achurchnearyou.com/church/43/
Other Web Site Links:	www.bradenhamvillage.org.uk

For details of this church on our "Stained Glass of Buckinghamshire Churches" website, please click here

Notes on Stained Glass:

Bradenham has windows of the Victorian era by 4 different makers, as well as Heraldic Glass from the 16th and 18th Centuries, although that is not normally accessible.

Introduction to Church:

St Botolph's Church has origins from the very early Norman period, with an intriguing South Doorway. Indeed the whole Nave maintains its narrow character from the 11th Century. The W Tower was added in the 15th Century, and an important addition was made to the North of the Chancel in 1542. It was a large Chantry Chapel, and was very likely the last Chantry Chapel to be built in England. More...

The Chantry Chapel (now a Vestry) contains a spectacularly large monument to Charles West who died in 1684. George Edmund Street restored the church in the 1860s rebuidling the Chancel and the Chancel Arch, together with the Nave windows.

Notable Features:

Norman	S Doorway (with Saxon style elements).
Perp	W Tower.
†1521	Brass - Richard Redberd
1542	Chantry Chapel, built by Lord Windsor.
1684	Monument - Charles West. Sculptor was Edward Stanton. (Upper part of monument is possibly by Stanton).
†1848	Monument - Isaac D'Israeli
1863 & 65	Restoration. Architect was George Edmund Street.
1865	Font - a typical plain but solid font by Street. Designer was George Edmund Street.
1927	Chancel Screen & Rood Loft.
early 20C	Communion Rail. Designer was Canon Vernon Staley. (Staley was Designer & Maker).
20C	Sculpture of St Botolph. Over the interior of S Door, done in the style of Eric Gill.

Monuments - Continued

As stated on Page 3, Elizabeth West's elder sister Martha (nee Pye) had introduced the Lovelace and Wentworth titles into the history of Bradenham Manor. However, after the next 3 generations, from which there are no monuments at Bradenham, Thomas 2nd Viscount Wentworth (and also 10th Baron Wentworth) had no direct descendants, and sold Bradenham Manor to John Hicks in 1787. On this page you will see a few wall tablets from the 19th and 20th centuries.

HICKS and TEMPEST family ~ 1787-1956

With the purchase of Bradenham Manor in 1787, John Hicks became Lord of the Manor and had the right to choose the Rector of Bradenham church. He did so in 1791 and 1798 when he chose William Hughes as Rector. Below are 2 sad monuments to the young children of Rev William Hughes and his wife Francis Vere (Wykeham).

John Hicks (1740-1825), had married Elizabeth Wilkinson in 1783, 14 years before buying Bradenham Manor, but she died in 1806, after just 6 years at Bradenham.

Although Susanna Jemima (Hicks's second wife) survived him, the eldest surviving child of John and Elizabeth Hicks (the first wife of John Hicks) became Lord of the Manor in 1825. She was Ann Maria (1786-1854) who had married Francis Hearle in 1816. The inheritance must have been disputed as it was "In Chancery" for 21 years from 1826 to 1847, waiting for a legal decision for over 20 years.

Isaac D'Israeli - at Bradenham Manor 1828-1848

He was not a Lord of the Manor, but a tenant who lived there while its ownership was being decided.

During the years that Ann Maria Hearle (nee Hicks) could not live at Bradenham, the property was let to the writer Isaac D'Israeli (b1766-d1848) who had five talented children, the most famous being Benjamin Disraeli. Isaac D'Israeli had become blind in 1841, and in 1847 his wife died, having enabled him to keep writing for 6 years. Isaac D'Israeli obviously knew his tenancy of Bradenham Manor would soon be over, so in 1847 took the opportunity to purchase Hughenden Manor from the estate of John Norris, who had died in 1845. This all meant that in 1848 Hughenden Manor became the country home of Benjamin Disraeli, which was very convenient as he needed a country estate to properly represent the Buckinghamshire County Constituency in Parliament.

Return of Hearle (nee Hicks) in 1848, then Graves from 1854

After 21 years, the legal decision was finally taken by the House of Lords in 1847, and after Isaac D'Israeli's death, Anne Maria Hearle returned as Lord of the Manor in 1848. However she died 6 years later, and having no children, the estate went to the descendants of Sophia Elizabeth Hicks, a sister 2 years older than Anna Maria, but she had died 43 years earlier in 1811 at the age of 26. Sophia Elizabeth Hicks had married Charles Gray Graves in 1806, and it was their son Rev John Graves who inherited Bradenham Manor in 1854.

So the Rev John Graves (1811-1902), then became the Lord of the Manor in 1854. Since 1834, he had been a Curate, then Rector in Herefordshire, where he seems to have kept his position as Rector of Stretton Grandison until 1859. As well as being Lord of the Manor at Bradenham he became a Curate at Bradenham from 1862, then Rector of Bradenham from 1865 until he resigned at the age of 90 in 1900. As Lord of the Manor, he presumably was able to appoint himself as Rector of Bradenham, a position he kept for 35 years. He was then Lord of the Manor, the Rector, the owner of most properties in the parish, and builder of the local school, for which he paid all the running expenses enabling him to set all the rules. I think we could say he had a quite a control over the parish of Bradenham. He died in 1902, having been Lord of the Manor for 48 years. However, if he had inherited the title on the death of his grandfather John Hicks, without the legal disputes, etc, he would have been Lord of the Manor for 77 years, from 1825 to 1902.

Inscription on Grave of Rev John Graves:

IN LOVING MEMORY OF JOHN GRAVES M.A.

BORN JAN 27 1811 - DIED NOV 27 1902.

35 YEARS RECTOR OF THIS PARISH.

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace : whose mind is stayed on thee.

Isaiah 26:3 (King James Version).

Graves / Tempest from 1902

Rev John Graves was succeeded as Lord of the Manor in 1902 by his son John Hicks Graves (1848-1915). The monument below is in memory of John Hicks Graves who had taken on his wife's name Tempest when he married Henrietta Frances May Ricketts (Tempest) in 1886. The monument also mentions his father Rev John Graves, and is in memory of his mother Lydia who also died in 1915. It also remembers his wife who died in 1948. The same monument also remembers the brother and 2 sisters of John Hicks Graves (Tempest) that had died before him. But it does not mention another sister who died in 1935, 20 years after him, but 13 years before his wife died in 1948, and those details are on the monument.

Inscription on Grave of John Hicks Tempest, and his wife Henrietta Frances May Tempest.

JOHN HICKS TEMPEST

JANUARY 11 1915

AGED 66 YEARS

Benedicto Benedicatur

(A Latin Prayer used at Colleges as an after dinner Grace)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

HENRIETTA FRANCES MAY TEMPEST

FEBRUARY 5 1948

AGED 84 YEARS

On the death of John Hicks Tempest in 1915, his wife Henrietta Frances May Tempest became the Lord of the Manor for 33 years until her death in 1948. She also then had estates in Yorkshire and Scotland, living parts of the year in each one. By prior arrangement, she had left very specific instructions that Bradenham Manor and its entire Estate would be passed to the Ernest Cooke Trust, but on the death of Ernest Cooke, the estate would be handed over to The National Trust, which was done in 1956. The estate includes virtually all the properties in the village, with the exception of the church, the old school, and the old Rectory.

With the exception of the Rev Redberd brass, the Lambeth family, and Isaac D'israeli, all the monuments shown have been relevant to the Lords of Bradenham Manor and their families, with their interior monuments all being situated in the Chapel (now the Vestry).

Shard family

In the Nave there are 3 monuments on the North wall for members of the Shard family. I had wondered why they weere buried here, so with some expert help for research, we now realise what is probably the reason.

The Shard family were major landowners in Surrey and elsewhere, and also had properties in London. Isaac Pacatus Shard married Elizabeth Hazard on 6 Dec 1735 at St Paul's Cathedral. They had 3 sons and 2 daughters, the second son was Charles Shard who was baptised at their home in Hatton Garden on 2nd August 1752. Isaac Pacatus Shard died in 1766, and his 23 page will led to many complications with his estate particularly concerning his eldest son William who had never married. However, having lived at Camberwell in Surrey, in 1787 Charles married Sarah Lillie of Bradenham at Bradenham church, with the ceremony being conducted by Rev Edward Stone of Horsenden. His bride's mother, also called Sarah, and either the Rev Stone's wife or his daughter (who were also both called Sarah) were two of the witnesses at the wedding.

In 1792, and only 5 years after their marriage, his wife Sarah died, and it seems that Charles wanted her buried where she had lived, and where they were married, even though the Shard's had a family vault at St Giles Clerkenwell. He possibly wanted somewhere which could be a different burial place for himself and his family in the future. He therefore arranged for the building of a Shard Family Vault under the nave at Bradenham. The entrance is in the floor just inside the South door, and the family monuments would be right opposite the door, very visible to everybody entering the church.

There are now 3 monuments to 4 generations of the Shard family. The first 2 remember the 2 generations that were buried in the family vault at Bradenham. The third monument remembers the next 2 generations, who were all buried in Paddington.

Next we will look at each of the 3 monuments individually.

MONUMENT No 1.

Charles and Sarah Shard were then living at Lovell Hill House, Winkfield, Berkshire. They had 2 children who, like themselves, were called Charles and Sarah. So their mother had died only 5 years after her marriage, leaving two very young children.

In 1807, 15 years after his first wife's death, Charles Shard married Sarah Stone in Marylebone, she was the daughter of Rev Stone of Horsenden who conducted Charles's first marriage at Bradenham in 1787. Rev Edward Stone had followed Charles Shard to Winkfield, and Edward Stone died in 1811. Charles Shard then died only 7 years after his second marriage, in 1814 at the age of 59. After Sarah Shard (nee Stone) was widowed, she had various bequests from her late husband (Charles Shard), but also the estate of her father (Rev Edward Stone) found its way to her, so she inherited properties around Princes Risborough. They included plots of land in Lacey Green, and she settled down there in a cottage which became known as "Sarah Shard Cottage" where she lived as a widow until she died in 1858 at the age of 87. She was then buried in the churchyard at Lacey Green, which is just 2 miles or 3.4 km from Bradenham church.

A large proportion of Charles Shard's estate was left to his daughter Sarah rather than his son Charles, who "had been well provided for by a cousin" (according to the father's will).

MONUMENT No 2.

This Charles was the son of the Charles and Sarah Shard that were detailed on Monument No 1, who had been orphaned at a young age. He had married Harriet Sarah Dawson. They lived at Hedgerley Park in Buckinghamshire, a house now demolished, but they seem to have moved around a lot in later years, as their names appear on various records in many places, the last being Brighton.

MONUMENT No 3.

This monument is in memory of the next two generations of Shards, but they were all interred in Paddington Cemetery.

UPPER HALF: The only son of Charles and Harriett Shard was the 3rd generation of Shard's to be called Charles (d1905 aged 79). His wife was Eliza Frances (nee Washbourne) (d1901 aged 74).

LOWER HALF: The son of Charles and Eliza Frances Shard, whose name (for a change) was William Isaac (d1936 aged 82) and his wife Eva Maud (d1936 aged 63). They lived at Warfield Hall, Bracknell

One final thought regarding the first Charles Shard. He had 2 wives named Sarah, 2 mother-in-laws named Sarah, a daughter named Sarah, and a daughter-in-law named Sarah. I wonder if that would have made his life complicated, or perhaps easier?