From the Normans to the Tudors

A Short History of Sutton Benger; Part Three

Before the Dissolution of the Monasteries the village of Sutton was owned by Malmesbury Abbey and was subordinate to Brokenborough parish. The church was founded by the end of the 12th century, and Manor Farm – a demesne farm belonging to the Abbey – was built about 100 years later. After internecine arguments between Salisbury and Malmesbury it was agreed that the church would be the responsibility of the bishop of Salisbury. It was perhaps for this reason that there was a chapel in the farmhouse, with the Abbot having his own on-site priest to exert his authority. The Victoria County History notes that:

… although Sutton Benger was a small parish the village was populous and contained several substantial farmhouses. Its prosperity presumably depended on the fertility of its land and its position on a main road, and an inn was mentioned in 1540.

The population in about 1500 was probably around 100, with the majority of people farming sheep or corn. There were initially only three large fields which were farmed communally in an ‘open-field system’. A fourth field in the 1500s was known as ‘Barrow’ field; this may have been to the northeast of the village, eventually morphing to become the fields and lane that we now know as ‘Barrett’. There is also documentary mention of a village mill; it was presumably at the bridge over the brook, north of Church Farm on the Seagry Road.

During this period Draycot was a separate parish. The Manor of Draycot had become the property of a succession of Norman nobles, eventually falling to Henry de Cerne and becoming known as Draycot Cerne. The church was built at about the same time as Sutton Benger’s church, and a manor house was probably built in the 1300s. The majority of villagers lived in a settlement close to the church and manor house, and there is documentary evidence of three water mills in 1344. One was undoubtedly at the bridge on the road to Stanton, and one at the eastern end of the lake; but where was the third?