Old Roads through Titchfield

Tis map published by Milne in 1791 is one of the more advanced 18th century maps, but is does reveal very different travel patterns to those we experience today. The main road between Southampton and Portsmouth was the old medieval high road that went along the downs through Wickham and eventually down into Southampton through Stoneham. Progress would have been slow and a journey by sea was probably quicker.

As far as Titchfield is concerned, there was no forerunner of the A27. There was a track from Porchester, through Fareham and Catisfield that brought one down to the stone bridge adjacent to Place House. This was probably the route taken by Margaret of Anjou when she travelled from Porchester to Titchfield in 1445 for her marriage to Henry VI.

By far the more important road in 1791 appears to be the road to Gosport, which goes through Rowner and Crofton and down into Titchfield, entering the village on Bridge Street. The road follows the present route through South Street, High Street and up Southampton Hill and across the common to the Burseldon Ferry, and from there to the Itchen Ferry at Bitterne in order to reach Southampton.

What is also of interest in this map is that Titchfield at the end of the 18th century still retained its medieval importance. Apart from fareham, which seems to have just overtaken Titchfield in size, the ancient village is much larger than Wickham and Botley, and the  land between Titchfield and Gosport (not shown on this section) is only populated by farms and scattered cottages.

The Library at Titchfield Abbey

The monks of Titchfield followed the Order of Prémontré and were all ordained priests. They were therefore literate and educated, in contrast to many Benedictine and Cistercian houses, so it is not surprising that the abbey would have a library.

From accounts that we have, the library was well-endowed and 224 volumes were catalogued in 1400. It appears too, that Titchfield had a separate room, accessible from the eastern cloister, where the manuscripts were stored. There were four cases for books, two on the eats wall, and one each on the north and south walls, and each case had eight shelves. The first case held the Bibles and glosses related to various books. Case II held works of general theology and case III was occupied by sermons, legends, rules and canon and civil law. The fourth case was filled with non-theological works, such as books on medical practice, grammar, logic, philosophy and other subjects.

Books, which at this time were all manuscripts, were expensive, rare, and highly prized, and it is somewhat surprising that a middling house such as Titchfield should be so well endowed. One modern estimate of the "224 volumes" suggests that this might represent 1700 books. Naturally the books were well-protected and there were strict rules about the time and location of reading. No book was ever left unattended and it was always returned to its case when not being read. The librarian was known as the armarius, that is, the man who looked after the amarium, the case where the books were held.

At the time of the dissolution there was not a single book to be found in the abbey.When Sir Thomas Wriothesley took possession of the abbey at the end of 1537, it had been stripped of all assets and even left with an unpaid debt of £200. There is no record to tell us what happened so it must be presumed that the abbot and monks, knowing the fate of the house well in advance, took it upon themselves to cash in the assets of the house.

Baron of Titchfield

The first Baron of Titchfield was Sir Thomas Wriothesley, who was granted the title in 1544. It was retained by the family after he became earl of Southampton in 1547 and typically bestowed on the eldest son until they succeeded to the earldom.

Sir Thomas WQriothesley, Baron Wriothesley of Titchfield 1544

The fourth earl was survived by three daughters and the title of Baron of Titchfield passed to the husband of one of them Baptiste Noel, earl of Gainsborough. The title passed to his son, Edward, in 1681 and continued in this family until the last of this male line died in 1798.

At this point the title became extinct.

The inheritance then fell to the dukes of Portland and in 1809 the Titchfield title was upgraded to Marquis (or Marquess) and granted to William Bentinck-Scott-Cavendish in 1809. He subsequently became the 3rd duke of Portland.

He died suddenly at the age of only 27 and his titles passed to his brother John. A younger brother, George, also use the title of Marquess of Titchfield.

William John Cavendish Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck, 5th Duke of Portland (formally the Marquis of Titchfield)

Both died without male issue and the titles passed to a cousin, also William Cavendish Bentinck.
The 7th duke of Portland and Marquis of Titchfield died on 21 March 1977 without a male heir and the dukedom passed to a cousin. The Titchfield title seems to have died with him.

William Cavendish-Bentinck, Marquis of Titchfield, 1927

The very first earl of Southampton

The ist earl of Southampton is commonly thought to be Sir Thomas Wriothesley, who became the first of his dynasty to hold the title in 1547. It is indeed conventional practice to number the golders of a title from the first holder of a new family, and when an extinct title is revived for a new family, the numbers start at one. Thomas Wriothesley's male descent went down to the fourth generation, so in that context, the "1st Earl" has some meaning.

The earl of Southampton never existed in the middle ages but on 18 October 1537 William FitzWilliam was created earl of Southampton. He held considerable estates in Hampshire and parts of Sussex and Surrey, some 16,000 acres, as well as other manors scattered around the country. He was well able to support his new dignity.

He was born c. 1490, the son of Sir Thomas FitzWilliam of Aldwark in Yorkshire's West Riding, and Lucy Neville. a daughter of John Neville, Marquess Montague, and therefore a member of the powerful Neville clan. On the death of his father, his mother married Sir Anthony Browne and bore him a son, also Anthony (c 1500-1548) and it was this family which the Wriothesleys later married into later in the 16th century.

FitzWilliam was able to make his way at court and became a very close friend of Henry VIII. He was employed on many diplomatic and military missions and between 1526 and 1530 was Captain of Claais, one of the prized postings for English soldiers and held at one time by his acncestral relative, Richard Neville, the earl of Warwick known as the kingmaker.

Both FitzWilliam and his half-brother, Anthony Browne, were committed to the old faith, but they were also firmly committed to the king, and this overrode any scruples they might have about the reforms to the church of the 1530s. He worked for the king to persuade people to accept the reforms of the 1530s and he also helped to engineer the fall of Ann Boleyn.

He was made Lord Admiral in 1536 and this was closely followed by his elevation to an earldom. He was sent by Henry to negotiate the marriage with Ann of Cleves. Henry was disappointed when he eventually met her but Southampton escaped censure. He was certainly on hand to help the king to get the marriage nullified and on the downfall of Cromwell in 1540 he was quick to distance himself from his former associate. He was made Lord Privy seal.

He died two years later in 1542 without heirs as his wife was unable to bear children. He was a very wealthy man at his death, and apart from generous bequests to family and friends and others, the bulk of his estates passed to his half brother, Sir Anthony Browne. Browne's granddaughter, Maria, was to marry Henry Wriothesly, 2nd earl of Southampton, and indirectly, some of the FitzWilliam estates fell to the Wriothesleys who, in 1547,  picked up the vacant title.