1840 TITHE MAP AND AWARD

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Tithe Map of Weeke 1840

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The tithe system required one tenth of the produce of a field to be paid to a monastery annually. By the beginning of the 19th century, the monasteries' rights had often been transferred to local churches or land owners. The 1836 Tithe Commutation Act provided for the replacement of payment with goods with payment in cash. As part of the process of implementing this Act, Tithe Maps were drawn up, detailing the ownership, land type and value of all the land in each parish. The survey for the Weeke parish tithe map was completed in 1840. (Chilbolton Avenue is in Weeke parish). The resultant tithe award, confirming the amount to be paid, was published in 1844.

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The majority of the land was owned by the Dean and Chapter of Winchester, with two exceptions. One area was owned by John Piper. In the 1841 Census, John Piper describes himself as a Yeoman - a man holding and cultivating a small landed estate. The other was a parcel of glebe land - an area of land within an ecclesiastical parish used to support a parish priest.

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The Dean and Chapter owned land had three occupiers in the area around what became Chilbolton Avenue - Henry Lipscomb, Elizabeth Long Hollis and, a little further away, William Burnett.

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Elizabeth Long Hollis was the niece of Thomas Godwin. Thomas was the major occupier of land in the area at the end of the 18th century and the probable builder of Weeke Manor. He had no direct heirs and when he died in 1776, he left his estate to his niece, Elizabeth Long Godwin, then aged 9. The estate was run by trustees until she became of age.

Elizabeth married Joseph Hollis in 1803 at St Mathews church in Weeke. They had a daughter Elizabeth Godwin Hollis who was baptised in Weeke in 1804.

Elizabeth Long Hollis sold leases for several areas of Weeke, including the manor house, to William Burnett, but continued to hold property in Weeke until her death in 1847. The 1840 Tithe map shows Elizabeth occupying the land on which Weeke Gore was later built plus adjoining land on the opposite side of Stockbridge Road.

Wlliam Burnett died in 1842 - after the preparation of the map but before the publication of the Tithe Award. His land is shown as occupied by 'Representatives of William Burnett, deceased'. William had been living in Weeke Manar since 1820. William and his wife Martha had two daughters, Martha and Mary, who were both married at St Mathews Church, Weeke.  William's mother died in 1836, and his wife in 1837. They, along with William, were buried at St Mathew's Church.

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John Piper was the occupier of land at the northern end of what is now Chilbolton Avenue, must obviously the land where Piper's Field is built, but also the houses built on the land between Stockbridge Road and the intersection with Links Road and the public footpath leading along the side of the golf course.

John Piper was born in Sparsholt in 1808. He married Maria Wright in 1839 in Weeke. The 1841 census shows him as a Yeoman, living in Weeke; in 1851 he is described as a farmer of 440 acres and in 1861 as a farmer of 330 acres. By 1871 he was living in Winchester and he died in 1876.

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In 1840, Henry Lipscomb was occupying the remaining land on which Chilbolton Avenue was built, from the Links Road intersection to Romsey Road. The identity of Henry Lipscomb is a little unclear. There is no Henry Lipscomb shown on the 1841 Census of Weeke, which could mean he was farming the land, but lived outside the parish. However, in 1856, there is a transaction recorded between the land owners, the Dean and Chapter of Winchester, and a William Henry Lipscomb. The 1861 and 1871 Censuses show William Henry Lipscomb farming land in Weeke. This William Henry Lipscomb was born in Martyr Worthy in 1818. He had an elder brother, Henry Lipscomb and his father was also a Henry Lipscomb. However, the elder brother and father moved to Suffolk before the 1841 Census. It seems likely that these Lipscombs and the land at Weeke are all connected - but more work required to sort it out!

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The bulk of the land was described as arable land with the exception of the central area, Teg Down Mead, which was pasture.

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