Grange farm covered an area of approximately 696 acres: this accounted for more than half the parish of Rowner. Although the Brunes have held Rowner since 1272, the Grange and surrounding land was held by the abbey of Quarr until 1524 when the lease was taken by Sir John Brune. After the dissolution of the monasteries the land rapidly passed through the hands of the Wriotheslys, Paulets and Wallopes before Sir John bought the land outright.
Grange farm house as we see it today is the final product of much change. The evidence below is based on the Borough Surveyor’s report on Grange farm in 1985 and on the inventory of the house made on the death of William Stares in 1640.
The house consists of a central block with a wing at each end. The south wing and central block are two stories, and evidence in the first floor joists indicate that the upper story was jettied out along the front of the building, probably in the 16th Century. The north wing was probably only a single story when built but has since been raised another story and extended to the west. Aerial photographs of the house show what appears to be a short central wing (like the middle of the letter ‘E’), but this is a staircase tower of a later date.
The surveyor’s report shows that at some time the south wall of the south wing fell into disrepair and was rebuilt in the late 16th Century. The two large chimneys and the smoke chamber on the first floor of the central block date from the early 17th Century, (the fireplaces are still in position today).
Where does this leave us in 1642? The south wing is made of stone with the remainder of the house timber framed. The east end of the south wing is jettied out with the ends of the joists showing. There are substantial chimneys and a tiled roof, internally the roof has queen posts and wind bracing. The building outline is much as today but the north wing is only a single story. The ground plan below is based on the 1985 survey with one of the possible interpretations of the inside based on the 1640 inventory. I have assumed the brewhouse and malthouse to be single story additions at first and have put the buttery, (in the absence of any mention of dairy or milkhouse), in the north wing. Similar lean- to additions can be seen in Snape’s drawing of Dashes farm in the 1800s. The chamber, parlour and buttery all had accommodation above and the kitchen must have been ceilinged for access to the smoke chamber. I have assumed the hall to be open to the roof in the medieval manner.
From wills, inventories and later estate surveys it is possible to discover what crops were growing, what livestock was kept, field names, tenants’ names and the rent that they paid. Even the numbers and types of trees can be found. Not all of this is available for one time or every place, but there is quite a lot available for Rowner and the surrounding area between the 16th and late 18th Centuries. The further from 1642 of course the more uncertain the extrapolation of the data becomes.
When Sir John Brune died in 1559 Grange Farm had harvested 30 quarters each of wheat and barley as well as ‘ …. other corn and grain ….’. In 1640 William Stares lists peas in abundance whilst seven years later nearby Green’s farm included four bushels and a sack of oats, four bushels of barley and three bushels of beans. In 1648 William Knight’s crops included vetches and malt. In the Rectory inventory of 1683 hay, clover and clover hay for feed is mentioned, but whether these were likely forty years earlier I don’t know.
Livestock at Grange in 1559 included 400 sheep, 34 milk cows, 12 oxen, six horses for the cart and four edging horses. There were also riding horses as Sir John left a good one to his Uvedale cousin. I doubt if this livestock level changed much by 1642. The 1640 inventory includes fitches of bacon so pigs must also have been kept at Grange. William Knight lists eight lean and two fat hogs together with sheep, cattle, horses and oxen. Chickens were undoubtedly kept but I have only seen them listed in one of the local inventories.
Farm equipment listed includes carts, ploughs, dung carts, harrows, chains, saddle tree, harness, bridle, and ox yokes together with many small items including sheep shears, winnow sheet, bills, hatchets, rakes and many other items.
Lastly, note that Grange also had its own blacksmiths shop as the 1640 inventory includes a ‘Shop’ with ‘… all … tools necessary for the smiths art…’.
Sources:
Survey of Grange Farmhouse. Unpublished report by Gosport Borough Surveyor 1985. Held in archives of Gosport Museum.
Collection of Prideaux-Brune family papers. 19M59 Hampshire Record Office, Winchester.
Inventory of William Stares. 1640A/164-2. HRO, Winchester.
Inventory of William Knight. 1648A/43/2. HRO, Winchester.
Inventory of William Green. 1647AD/48. HRO, Winchester.
Inventory of William Duncombe 1683A/035. HRO, Winchester.
Will of William Stares. 1640A/164-1. HRO, Winchester.