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When, some years ago, I (Editor - G.Saville) started to research the parish of Haselor, little did I realise what question marks it would throw up. Many parishes are straight forward, often synonymous with a single manor and often confined to a single settlement: but not Haselor. It turned out to comprise two manors, viz the manors of Haselor and Upton and three settlements, viz Upton, Lower Haselor and Walcot. It took a lot of poring over manor records, enclosure award and a field name map extracted from many sources to find the definitive separating the two boundary manors.
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for one parish: but the ecclesiastical history of the place had its own questions to
solve. Where else do we find a rector with a persecution complex who is so difficult to
work with that the wardens lock him out of the church, who is reduced to sleeping in the
church and, at one point, is committed to Warwick prison for debt? The aforesaid rector
was the Reverend Cornelius Griffin but research here had mostly been done by a later
rector, the Reverend Frank Wain, whose meticulous enquiries saved many weeks of work. Many parishes used to possess 'church houses'; these were organised by the churchwardens and drinking parties were held there. It was a joy to discover that Haselor had one and that it was still traceable, though now a private house |
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Haselor does not let the researcher off easily: much
earlier than the 'church house' the parish had its own hermit but the hermitage site
needed finding. Even today, it is well away from any settlement but a study of maps and
field names suggested a likely site and it was possible to pinpoint what is thought to
have been the hermit's home. Haselor contains a number of landmarks which proved easier to investigate: the sites in addition to the church:" which make up the skeleton of most villages. The school (with its 19th century log-book), the post-office (with an elderly lady of sound memory), the Hoo mill,still in good repair and traceable in the copious records still extant and a good number of old farm houses and interesting cottages. |
| Even the easier sites needed checking against a vast array of sources - and Haselor is fortunate to have so many. Some of the sources were: the Enclosure Award, Land Tax Assessments, the Hearth Tax, the Censuses, Trade Directories, Manor Court rolls. Quarter Session records, probate records, property conveyances, press reports and notices. |
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As with all research sites, the documentary evidence has to be found
and studied, a time consuming and occasionally boring process; but first of all one must
know one's parish -where the hedges are, where the streams are, why the rights of way
exist and so on. A pleasure in walking is essential and so is an ability to understand
maps both old and new. Haselor provided many problems and much hard work but it was a
great pleasure to investigate such a lovely area and a parish with such a personality. Not
all villages are quite like this but there is not one that does not have its own
distinctive history, which can give great fulfilment to a researcher willing to devote
time, effort and sometimes money to unravel the strands
