Brunhelle (11thC); Breohilla, Brohill (12thC); Bruhulle, Brihull, Brehull (13thC).
The Hundredal Meeting-place was at Ixhill in Oakley, on comparatively low-lying Ground, the Parishes of Boarstall, Brill, Chilton & Long Crendon forming a well-marked half-Circle of Hills round it. Brill is now part of the Hundred of Ashendon
NB Tail Pole & Ground are well Undermined
The importance of Brill’s Clay-based Industries was recognised by the allocation of 48-acres set aside for Brill’s Clay-workers. This is the area which still forms Brill Common. Today it bears the Scars of Pits, the Legacy of several Centuries of Digging to extract Clay, Sand, Lime & Stone. The grazing of Sheep & Cattle have since softened the contours of the Commons now undulating terrain
The Roundhouse (the Brick Surround) contains the original massive Cross Tree Beams, Quarter Bars & Post whilst Upstairs you can see the Millstones, Wind Shaft, Grinding Mechanism & various Gears, Cogs & Pulleys. The Mill was Constructed in the 1680s & rebuilt & repaired several times throughout its Life. It was originally constructed for Isaac Cummings & passed through numerous Owners & Tenants, eventually being worked by members of the Nixey Family, which led to it being given the name Nixey’s Mill. The last Miller Albert Nixey took over in 1906. The Mill appears to have fallen out of use during WWI, although it may have been used to Grind Animal Feed as late as 1923. In 1927 it was Sold to a Local Landowner & Preserved by a Trust. In 1947 the County Council took over responsibility for maintaining the Mill, and it has since been periodically repaired & restored. The Mill is Grade II Listed.
The Meal Beam in the Mill has been dated to c.1685 using Dendrochronology,
although there have been several phases of alteration & restoration. Brill Windmill underwent major repair work on its Sails & Braking System in 2023. The Brill Society, which Manages & Maintains the Windmill, has created a schedule to keep the Sails in good condition.
Brill is a Village & Parish in the Aylesbury Vale District of Bucks close to Oxon which is on the Western side of the Parish Boundary. Brill is as close to Oxford as it is to Aylesbury, about 12-miles away. As Pocock (1926, 92) notes:-
“The Picturesque little Town of Brill stands on the well-marked Plateau formed by the Ironsands of the 2nd Outlier of Shotover [now termed Whitchurch] which owes its Level Summit to the Cementation of the Sands into tabular concretions of Ferruginous Grit in the uppermost remaining Beds of the Group. This little Plateau is deeply indented on all sides by short steep-sided Coombes or Valleys, excavated by the Springs which well out from the Ironsands or from the underlying pervious Portland Strata resting upon the Kimmeridge Clay.”
(It may be noted that one of the Springs due South of the centre of the Village, becomes a Stream able to Power a Mill East of Oakley & Little London. The Stream, which runs on towards Ixhill, is depicted on a Map of 1591). Beneath the Sand are Purbeck Beds of interbedded Limestone, Marl & Clay, then Portland Beds of Sand & Limestone – the same Beds which in Dorset produce the famous Portland Building Stone. In many areas immediately below the Sands are Clays and it is these which seem to have been Utilised by the Medieval Potters. The Portland Deposits in turn rest on Sands & Clays of the Kimmeridge Clay Formation.
Brill is one of a number of Outlier Hills which are Capped by harder more resistive Sansdtones & Limestones. These include Whitchurch, Stone, Chilton, Waddesdon & Ashendon (see Geology sketch below). The Hills are only present because of the Resistant Capping provided by the Whitchurch Sandstone & the of equally hard Portland Stone underlying the Whitchurch Sandstone. Together they produce a Hard Layer which is resistant to Erosion. The underlying Clays around these Hills have been Eroded down to form the Lower Clay Vales which are a distinctive a feature of this part of Bucks. The Geomorphological aspect of this combination of Rock type & Erosion has produced a highly aesthetic Landscape.
The same as at Shotover near Oxford. This is a Cretaceous Greensand
Much of the Land surrounding the Hill is on Clay. A similar sequence Accounts for the prominent Muswell Hill a short distance to the North-west. The varied Geology of Brill led to the extensive Pits to be seen on Brill Common. Clay-based Industries, Account for most of these but the Pits also produced Limestone for Building, Lime Burning & Roadstone & Sand was also dug here. Limestone from the Pits can be seen in the Walls of Local Buildings as can Ironstone which has also been used for Grave Markers in the Churchyard.
4-Medieval Kilns were recorded during the Excavation at Temple Farm; 3 were superimposed on top of each other while a 4th was located a short distance away. All 4-Kilns had 2-Stoke Holes. The earliest Kiln appears to date to the late-13thC; 2 later Kilns on the same Site operated during the 13th & 14thCs. The 4th-Kiln a short distance from the others was in Operation in the mid-14thC
Typical 14thC Tile Kiln with front wall removed to show the inside. this drawing is an imaginative reconstruction based on all the information available. Tilers are shown preparing for Firing by putting Firewoood into 1 of the 2-Stoke-holes, bringing a Box of Tiles & Stacking them in the Kiln
The existence of a Medieval Pottery Industry in Brill is evident in 1210-1220 from the personal names Sampson le Poter & Walterus le Poter. The Existence of Kilns was 1st Established by Jope (1953) who Excavated several near Temple Farm. Other work in the Locality has shown that nearby Boarstall was also, for a Period, an important Production area, hence the revised Type-name for the Ware which now also appears to have been Produced at Ludgershall. Since Jope’s Pioneering Study, his Kilns have been re-examined & the results Published more fully (Ivens 1982). Part of a Kiln, probably late-Medieval, has also been discovered in Temple Street (Yeoman 1988). A further example, dating to the end of the Medieval Period (the late-15thC) or the beginning of the post-Medieval Period, has been discovered in Windmill Street (Farley 1979). The Walls of the latter were of Brick. An innovation here was the Potter’s use of ‘Saggars’ to protect small Glazed Vessels, such as Cups, from the Flame. More recent work in Temple Street located Pits which contained much similar Waster material indicating the presence of a further Kiln of the period in the vicinity. Finally, part of a Tile Kiln & part of an opposed-Flue Pottery Kiln, provisionally dated to the 14thC (BR.8), were discovered in an evaluation but no final report is available. The discovery of Sherds of Pottery alone is, of course, insufficient, to demonstrate the presence of Kilns. Additional evidence is required, such as Sherds being stuck together through a misfiring (so-called Wasters). Two further Locations within the Village have produced Medieval Wasters, one not far away from Jope’s Kilns at The Walks [HER 0676] & another, a Single Waster from a Field adjoining Jope’s Kilns on the East. Waster material from the Allotments at the South end of the Village [HER 2478] is, so far, the only indication of Medieval Kilns beyond the North End. Excavations in & around Oxford have shown how successful the Industry was in supplying its Wares to the City, from the 13thC onwards. This Work has also shown the full Range of Products made in the Brill-Boarstall Kilns & has helped to refine its dating (Mellor 1994).
The Earliest Brill-Boarstall Products to be found in Oxford certainly pre-date 1231 but, as noted above, the Industry certainly commenced earlier than this & possibly in the late-12thC. The most impressive products are thin-walled finely Glazed Jugs, but considerable numbers of Cooking Pots, Bowls, Skillets etc, were also Produced, as well as unusual pieces such as Aquamanile (animal-shaped liquid containers). Many complete Vessels made in the Brill area are in the Ashmolean Museum & others in the County Museum, Aylesbury, having been recovered from Medieval Rubbish Pits, Wells etc in the Town as well as from Villages in the Vale & farther afield. Mellor (1994, p.114) suggests that the Inspiration for the Potters came from French Ceramic. She also notes that France could have been the source of the Copper Oxide used beneath the Lead Glaze, which in turn must have been Traded from a considerable distance.
Brick & Tile Manufacture: The Production of Bricks & Tiles in the Medieval Period has been less well Documented than the Products of the Pottery Industry, although Pike (1995, 16) Notes that in 1465/66 2–Loads of Bricks were supplied from Brill to Tackley’s Inn, Oxford. Tackley’s Inn is Oriel’s oldest Building (Built 1320) and is one of the very few examples of a Medieval Academic Hall still surviving. Bricks, of a kind, were, however, used in one of Jope’s 13th/14thC Kilns & certainly in the later Medieval Windmill Street Kiln. A greater range of Clays can be used for making Bricks & Tiles than for making Pots. The extensive Outcrops of Kimmeridge Clays would be quite suitable for the Former. During redevelopment of Land adjacent to 40 Windmill Street, a Pottery Kiln was identified. Restricted salvage Excavation by BCMAS was later conducted on the Site. Brick-built Kiln identified as being c. 2.3M by 2M internally & comprising 4-Flues. Approximate dating based on single piece of Clay Pipe Stem suggested that Kiln could not be earlier that late-16thC, however, the latter is now thought to be Intrusive and the Kiln is probably of late-15thC, early-16thC date.
Excavation of a post-Medieval Pottery Kiln Site at 75 Windmill Street. Pottery in 2-Locations indicative of Kilns or Kiln Stoke-holes with evidence of in -situ Burning. The 19thC Kiln comprised a Circular Brick-built Kiln. Documentary sources indicate that the Kiln (Thomas Hubbocks) continued to Operate until the early-1860s while the Buildings themselves survived into the early 20thC.
Rescue Excavations carried out in 1977 at Prosser’s Yard, Brill. 2–17thC Pottery Kilns recorded during Salvage Excavations at Prosser’s Yard. A Kiln Site had been previously recorded here by the then Owner in 1974. Both Kilns were Brick-built. Kiln 1 was a large Structure & although only 1-Flue was identified, it is possible there were more. Kiln 2 Fired using a circular Single-Flue System with no supports – this Kiln was only partially Excavated.
This Parish, which, like Boarstall, Lay within Bernwood Forest & in the 13thC gave the alternative name of the Forest of Brill to part if not the whole of it, extends over nearly 2,940-acres, of which 307 are Arable, 207-Woodland & the rest Pasture. The surface Soil varies, but the Subsoil is Kimmeridge Clay & Portland Beds. At Muswell Hill, which is partly in Oxon, where there are traces of Roman Occupation, & at the Village, the Land rises to 600-ft, but elsewhere it rises to 400-ft. At the Town of Brill, which was Ravaged by the Danes in 914, Edward the Confessor is said to have had a House. At least 1-Charter of Henry I is dated from Brill, & the early-Plantagenet Sovereigns were not infrequently Resident here. In the 13thC Timber from Bernwood Forest was constantly in demand for the repair of the Houses of the King’s Manor of Brill & several records survive of the replenishing of the Royal Cellars before the King’s Arrival. The Site of the Royal Palace is thought to have been near the Church.
The Village, placed on the Summit of a High Hill, consists of a long, wide Street from which smaller Roads diverge. The Church of All Saints stands at the South-east end, with the Alice Carter Almshouses (Built 1591, rebuilt 1842 & 1963) & the Wesleyan Chapel, dating from 1841, close by. The Congregational Chapel a little further on was Built in 1839. In 1644 Brill was selected as the Winter Quarters for a 1,000 Parliamentarian Foot-soldiers. A Strong Rampart & Ditch North of the Church & another Line of Defence further down the Hill were probably Constructed about this time.
The Village contains a number of Buildings dating from the 17thC, including Manor Farm, the Swan & Red Lion Inns & the Windmill, but most of them have been considerably Restored & Altered in later years. The Plough Pub was situated on Windmill Street.
The Manor-house, Oakley Road at the South end of the Village, appears to have been Developed from a half-Timber House of the late-15thC. The Structure, as it now stands, is mainly of the late-16thC & the Walls are of Brick with Stone Dressings, the original Timber portion having been Encased. Although it has been a good deal altered & added to subsequently, much Original detail remains, including several Panelled Rooms.
Manor House is a former Elizabethan Manor House set in about 5-acres of Gardens shared between 6-Properties. The House is set at the top of the Hill in Brill.
Waterloo House: c.1820-30. Colourwashed Render to front, colourwashed Brick to sides. Overhanging Eaves, Slate Roof, rendered Chimneys. 2-Storeys, 4-Bays, the 3rd-Bay slightly Projecting & Gabled. 3-pane Sash windows, tall to Ground-Floor, short to 1st-Floor. Gabled Bay has 4-panelled Door with semi-circular radiating Fanlight in Recessed Arch. Rendered Walls curve forwards from front corners to Gate Piers & low rendered Dwarf Wall with Cast-iron Spearhead Railings. Pair of Piers to right are of Vitreous Brick with Red Quoins, Dentil Cornices & Stone Caps. Missing Finials. Smaller rendered Piers with Arched Metal Lamp Bracket opposite Door
In the 16thC the Abbot of Notley Abbey held considerable Property in Brill (he occasionally received Royal Grants of Wood from the Forest) & for a Period in the 12thC Land was Held by the Brothers of the Hospital of Santingfield (Picardy).
Coldharbour Farm, about a mile North & a Farm-house about a mile South of the Village, are both of 17thC date; at Little London, a Hamlet near the South-West Boundary of the Parish, are several Cottages of the same Period, but all have been more or less altered at subsequent dates. There is also a Congregational Chapel here, Built in 1847.
Coldharbour Farmhouse 17thC Timber-frame Cased in Red Brick & altered. Old tiled Roof, Large Brick Stack in Centre. 2-Storeys, Upper with modern Oak Timbering in line with Originals still intact inside. Two modern Leaded Casements to each Floor, modern Tiled Porch on right, lean-to addition to right hand Gable wall with exposed Timber-framing above. Modern Rear Wing. Outbuilding attached on left, 18thC Brick, old Tiled Roof, Hipped over part nearest house with Dentil Eaves, Weather- Vane.
Interior: Ground-Floor right hand Room has moulded Beams & Cornice; Inglenook Fireplaces in both Ground-Floor Rooms. 1st-Dloor has exposed Timber-framing to Front Wall including Jowled Posts & Curved Braces. Original Roof Timbers with Curved Windbraces. Evidence of Original Timber window in East Gable.
Pottery & Tile-making were Medieval Industries at Brill & continued to the latter half of the 19thC. About a mile North of the Village, beyond the old Brickfields & the Common with its Old Wooden Windmill, is Brill Station, on the Brill & Quainton Road Branch of the Metropolitan & Great Central Joint Railway. Not far off lies Rushbeds Wood, of which more than 100-acres were inclosed about 1575, a part, called Upper Rushbeds Coppice, being still Crown Land in 1651, when the Parliamentary Commissioners reported that a sufficient number of Acres from it should have been given to the late-Sir John Dynham to compensate him for the Office of Forester. Other Inclosures, against which the people of Brill petitioned Queen Elizabeth, were made at Clere Fields & Poole Trees, names still surviving in the North-east of the Parish, Hale Hill, Mollens, once probably Moleyns Wood & Godstow or Costow Park. At Godstow, part of which with Clere Fields & Hale Hill had belonged to the Lords of Boarstall Manor since 1305, it was said that Mr Dynham had inclosed 140-acres of the Queen’s Ground to make a Park. Another Petition was Presented in 1610 against the Inclosure of Godley Common or Brill Hills. In 1632 part of Godstow was allotted to the Poor of Brill & Oakley in lieu of Cartbridge Waste. Leap Hill, Hercumdean, Leatherslade, Parkpale Farm & Well House, which lie in the South-east of the Parish, are names known there since the 16th & 17thCs. Rid’s Hill, North-east of the Village, is probably the Red’s Hill of 1634, whilst Chinkwell Wood, to the East of it, dates from 1681; the Hutwood or Outwood of 1255 & Later does not occur in Modern Maps.
Thame Area Map c.1893 Including Brill
Borough: There seems to be no doubt that a Royal Borough at one time existed at Brill, but by the mid-13thC it had been Merged in the Manor. At the Eyre of 1241 the Borough of Brill came by 12-men & the Town (Villata) made Fine of 20s before Judgement. At an Eyre of uncertain date, probably not much later, Brill again appeared by 12-men, but they had nothing more to Present than had been said elsewhere by the Representatives of the Hundred of Ixhill. As late, however, as the year 1316 Brill & Boarstall were returned as Royal Boroughs. These indications are strengthened by the 13thC Extents, which show half-acre & acre Plots of ‘Land Built Upon’ (terra edificata), which may represent the early-Burgages. The growth of the Borough was Arrested early, though in the Reign of John we hear of the ‘legales’ or ‘probi homines’ (lawful men) of Brill.
Manors – Brill, formerly one of the Manors of Edward the Confessor, belonged to the Conqueror in 1086 & until the 14thC remained in the Crown, of which it was Held in Chief as 1-Knight’s Fee from 1337 to 1634. Grants of the Whole or Part of the Manor, generally during the Royal Pleasure or for a term of years, were made by Henry II & his Successors. Certain Lands here of the King’s Gift were Held by William de Rochelle from 1168 to 1178, & in 1204 John Granted the Manor of Brill to Walter Bustard, Servant of his Chapel, in Fee Farm. Many other Grants of Custody were made during the Reign of Henry III.
The Bishop of Bath & Wells was Tenant for 7-yrs from 1266 & in 1275 the Manor of Brill was Assigned to Queen Eleanor in Dower. Other Grants of short Duration were followed by one made in 1317 to Richard Lovel & his wife Muriel, in return for a Manor Exchanged. Richard, who Petitioned the King, about 4-yrs later, against the Malicious Withholding of his Dues in Brill by ‘le Mestr’ de Smityngfeld, retained Possession until 1337, when, on a Grant of the Manor in Fee by Edward III to John de Moleyns, he released his Rights to the New Lord.
The Manor of Brill then Descended with Stoke Poges (qv), with a few Divergencies noticed below, until Francis Earl of Huntingdon Sold it to Thomas Dynham in 1554. Since then it has followed the Descent of Boarstall Manor, Mr Henry L Aubrey Fletcher (d.1969) being the Lord.
The Custody of Brill Manor was Committed in 1358 to Gilbert Chastellyn & the Bailiwick in 1384 to Richard Wilcocks, a John Wilcocks Farming the Manor in 1397. A Settlement of Brill appears to have been made on Thomas Chaucer, said in 1435 to have been Seised of the same. Mortgages of the Manor were made in 1539 & 1549 by the Earl of Huntingdon. Frideswide daughter of Eleanor de Moleyns by her 2nd husband Sir Oliver de Mannyngham apparently brought Brill to her husband Sir Thomas Oxenbridge, who Held in 1489, but in 1493 they surrendered all claim, for a Life Annuity of £10 to Frideswide, to Sir Edward Hastings & Mary his wife, Daughter & Heir of Thomas Hungerford. Frideswide’s Daughter & Heir Dorothy, wife of Sir Thomas Digby, afterwards unsuccessfully Sued the Trustees of Edward & Mary for the recovery of Brill & her grandson Everard Digby of Long Stratton revived the Claim c.1565 against Thomas Dynham‘s Trustees. In 1592 a Grant of Brill Manor was made to the Fishing Grantees Tipper & Dawe.
There appears to have been a Rectory Manor of Brill, the Rector Holding Assize of Bread & Ale for his Tenants in 1276.
Assize of Bread & Ale was a Liberty Granted to John de Moleyns in 1338, when he also received View of Frankpledge. According to a later record, Free Warren & the Right of erecting Gallows on his Land were included in the Grant of the Manor to him. The Tolls of a Market & Fair held at Brill at the beginning of August were accounted for by John Norton about 1317. In 1347 John de Moleyns was Authorised to hold a Fair at his Manor of Brill on the eve, day & morrow of the Translation of St Thomas the Martyr (7th July). One or more Dovecotes were amongst the Appurtenances of the 16th & 17thCs.
OS Map of Brill Area
In 1563 there was a Capital Messuage on the Lands called Harehill, Halehill, or the Hall Hill. The Site of the Manor & Lands were Sold by John Dynham to William Belson in 1587 and he & his Heirs had a Capital Messuage here in the 17thC.
An Appurtenance of Brill Manor in the 13th & 14thCs was a Bowl of Honey due from the Abbot of Woburn for Land in Swanbourne. Before 1535 this had been Commuted for an Annual Payment of 13s-4d.
In 1305 Edward I Granted John de Handlo 138-acres in Les Clers, on the Borders of if not within the Boundaries of Ludgershall Parish. This seems to have been the Nucleus of what was known from 1362 to 1527 as the Manor of Clerespace or Clerefield & Descended with Boarstall, being Held in the 16thC of the Lord of Brill as of his Manor of Brill.
In the 16thC the Abbot of Nutley (Notley), to whose House King Henry II had given 2-Cartloads of Fuel a day from Bernwood Forest, a Grant rescinded by Edward III, held a considerable Property in Brill. The promise of a Lease of a valuable part of this, Brill Closes or Wellfields, was obtained from the Abbot for Richard Cromwell by Sir Robert Dormer in 1536. In 1540 they were Granted, with other Lands formerly of Nutley Abbey, to John Williams, whose Possessions in the Parish were Augmented by another Grant 6-yrs later. All were left under the Title of the Manor of Brill by John, then Lord Williams, at his death in 1559 to his Servant John Place for life & at the beginning of the 17thC were held by the Heirs of his daughter Margery wife of Henry Lord Norreys.
The Brothers of the Hospital of Santingfeld, near Wissant in Picardy, paid 60s a year into the Royal Exchequer for Lands in Brill from 1154 to 1199. These were perhaps part of the 3-Hides in the neighbouring Parish of Ludgershall Granted by Henry II to this House, for which the Master of Santingfeld owed Suit at the Court of Brill.
Aston Rowant & Chilterns Spring Line Villages 