History of Old Priory, alias The Rectory House, The Green

by Janet Kennish

'Old Priory', The Green

Outline History

There was never a priory here in Datchet, but there was an enterprising Victorian owner named Mr Prior. In fact, the site is an extremely old and significant one as a house is recorded as being built here in 1376, although nothing visible remains of that date. The connection with the church is complicated but important; this house belonged to the rich and powerful lay rector rather than the vicar who officiated at services.

In the early 19th century the Rector was the lawyer John Richards, who was a very significant character in the life of the village. The role and property became his through marriage and the Rectory had been leased from St George's continuously in his wife's family from the early 1700s.  It is also one of those houses which once bore a legal 'chancery repair' liability, but the vicar was advised to end this financial dependence on the house owner at the time the church was being rebuilt in about 1860.

The house itself has been rebuilt a good many times, notably in the 1790s, then during the time of Mr Prior, and more recently by Mr Nelson Masters. (For other houses owned by the Richards family, see the Astracot web pages)

The Rectory Cottage An original large plot of land  extending to the north is now  sub-divided into several separate  houses and gardens. At least one  of these has a long history as the  Rectory Cottage or Lodge. Its  little 'gothic' windows are very like those in the churchyard side of the Royal Stag and elsewhere in the village, probably early 20thC.

Documentary History of the Rectory House

In 1350 King Edward III gave the church of Datchet to his newly founded Chapel of St George in Windsor as part of its endowment, along with many other properties and churches. The wealth of the church, in tithes from the parish, then belonged to St George's although the Dean and Chapter remained responsible for maintaining the chancel (east end) of the church and providing vestments and service books. When an ecclesiastical body such as St George's appropriated a parish, it became the Rector and appointed a deputy, called a Vicar, to minister to the people of the parish and to live there in a vicarage. Most institutions also leased out the management of the rectory to a Lay Rector, and Datchet's Rectory House was thus the base from which the Rector collected tithes and delivered the produce or rents to St George's, taking a profit for himself as a middleman.

Records of past rectors survive in St George's archives, but only occasionally is expenditure on the house mentioned . Deeds relating to the acquisition of an existing house and land go back to 1356, followed in 1376 by a document which refers to 'a house newly built within the mansion of the rectory'. 'Mansion' here means something like 'official dwelling', and it included, 'a barn, granary, stable, kitchen and brewery, all rebuilt at the Chapel's expense by John Milcombe, Rector of Datchet'.  The barn would have been a tithe barn to store the tithe produce of the village. It is more than probable that the present house is on the same site as the one built in 1376. 

In 1598 Robert Barker, printer to Queen Elizabeth, bought the lease at a huge premium, paying what was due from the previous lessee. The lease was renewed to him in 1607, and then in 1626 to Tobias Wood his son-in-law. Ownership of the Rectory and its profits was a considerable prize and was often passed through several generations of a family, each paying St George's for the privilege of owning the leasehold.

Later rectors were also rich and powerful men. In 1717 the occupier was Christopher Arnold, Citizen of London and goldsmith, a partner with Henry Hoare of an important banking firm. He died in 1758 and his memorial is in the chancel of the church. Through the Arnold's daughter, the Rectory came into the hands of Mr Russell in 1787, and he died insolvent having spent £1200 on rebuilding the house, an enormous sum for the time. It is likely that the house took its present shape at that time, but at least two owners have rebuilt or re-modelled it since then. John Richards married the Russells' daughter and became the last Rector to occupy the house before Datchet's tithes were finally done away with by the Enclosure Act of 1810, although his heirs the Stewards owned it into the 1850s.

Their memorial in the church records that both John Richards and his wife Eleanor, daughter of James Russell, are 'Buried in the new burial ground between his own house and the old churchyard', he in 1844 aged 81 and she in 1848 aged 69. The central section of the 1839 rate map shows the churchyard extension (plot 73) as described, between their house and the original churchyard. It also shows how the early medieval settlement of the village focused around the high ground of the church; all the buildings and plots to the east, west and north of the church and the Rectory being traceable to medieval origins.

Twentieth century Occupants, from Kelly's Street Directories

19th Century Occupants - Censuses & Surveys

The ten-yearly censuses from 1841 provide varying information, the questions asked being refined, just as they have continued to be into the census year 2001. Full census details are available online. In 1841 adults' ages were only given to the nearest five years and place of birth is just recorded as within the county or not. There are also two county surveys, made in 1857/9 and 1866, for rating valuation purposes which give the name of the owner and of the occupant, and a parish rating survey in 1839 (see map above) which just gives the name of the person living there.

Sources and References

Printed Records of St George's Chapel: St George's Chapel, 1348-1416, Roberts; Chapter Acts of Windsor 1430-1672, Bond,
Rectory Leases 18th century from 'Mr Wilson's Book', St George's Chapel Archives
Sale of Rectory under Cromwell, Public Record Office ref: C54 / 4021
John Richards correspondence, St George's Archives ref: XVII 23.1
Parish rate map & survey 1839 & County Property Tax Surveys, 1857 & 1866, Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies, Aylesbury
Censuses 1841-91 online or microfilm at Slough Reference Library

Researcher: janetkennish@tesco.net