Littleton, Middlesex

Littleton
Middlesex
St Mary Magdalene parish church
Location
Grid reference:	TQ0668
Location:	51°24’18"N, 0°27’43"W
Data
Population:	700  (2011)
Post town:	Shepperton
Postcode:	TW17
Dialling code:	01932
Local Government
Council:	Spelthorne
Parliamentary constituency:	Spelthorne

Littleton is a villages in south-western Middlesex, on the north bank of the River Thames. It is the location of Shepperton Studios.

The village is separated from Shepperton by the River Ash, which runs along its southern boundary. Queen Mary Reservoir, built in 1931, is to the north. Littleton borders Laleham to the west and Charlton, which is also in the post town of Shepperton, is half a mile to the north-east. The parish church of St Mary Magdalene is a Grade I listed building.

Heathrow Airport is five miles north of Littleton.

History

Court rolls such as manorial rolls and Letters Patent give early versions Lutleton and Litlinton in the 13th century; Lutlyngton, Littelyngton, Littelton in the next, and Lytelyngton in the 16th century. In 1341 the parish was rated at £9 6s. 8d., but because the land was sandy, and the inhabitants were unable to sow it on account of their poverty and only £6 could be raised.

Littleton is first mentioned by name as a manor in 1165–67, when it was held as one knight's fee in among the barony of William Blunt, Baron of Ixworth, whose father Gilbert had also held it and whose heit, also William Blunt, fell in the Second Barons' War, at the Battle of Evesham in 1265. For the following three centuries right up to the Dissolution of the Monasteries a mesne lordship, providing intermediate revenues in the hierarchical structure was a right belonging to Westminster Abbey.

In 1848, based on the most recent census there were 111 inhabitants who mostly farmed its 1,060 acres of arable and pasture land, much of which, as "a light gravel", was brought into cultivation "comparatively recently"; the surface was flat, and the lands bordering on the river Thames still subject to partial flooding – this was in 1935 by building the Desborough Cut. The rectory having been valued in 1548 at £14, by 1848 had glebe of 50 acres, tithes on the rest so had a large net income of £320 (and had patron, Thomas Wood, sen.).

Littleton House was built for Thomas Wood, ranger of Hampton Court under King William III in the 1820s It was burnt down in 1874, thereby destroying also Actors Dressing, a painting by William Hogarth. Although a small replacement was built this was divided into, in the 20th century, a staggered terraced estate and the front studios of Shepperton Studios.

When the 707-acre Queen Mary Reservoir was built from 1931, most of the land was taken from Littleton Parish.

In 1911 the historian William Page wrote in the Victoria County History of the County of Middlesex:

"The village is one of the least spoilt in the county. It is built almost entirely of red brick, and presents a cheerful and peaceful aspect as it clusters about the church. There has never been either public house or shop in the parish, and the only trade represented is that of the blacksmith. ...

There are 1138 acres in the parish, of which 325 acres are arable, 524 acres are permanent grass, and 270 acres are woodland, and 19 acres are water. The population is principally dependent on agriculture. The soil is sandy loam, and the subsoil gravel. The chief crops are wheat, barley, clover, mangold-wurzel, peas, and beans."

Littleton saw three radical changes in the middle of 20th century: agriculture being limited to two farms (one run from beyond the village boundary), the surrender of most of its land to build the reservoir, and the construction of more homes. The village is for most purposes a residential, somewhat inseparable, very green-buffered part of Shepperton.

Parish church

St Mary Magdalene parish church

The Church of England parish church of St Mary Magdalene is now part of a united benefice with the parish of St Nicholas, Shepperton.

The building is Grade I listed. The chancel and south aisle are of the 13th-century, on 12th-century foundations. The north aisle is 14th-century. In the 16th century the west tower and nave clerestory were built. In the tower are three bells cast in 1666 by William I Eldridge, who had bell-foundries at Wokingham and Chertsey. Early in the 18th century the fourth stage of the tower was added. On the north side of the chancel are two vestries: the first added in 1705 and the second about 1730.

Fittings include 15th-century choir stalls with cusped ogee arches and panelling in the spandrels said to have come from Winchester, a complete set of late mediæval pews, restored, and very restored rood screen of circa 1500, fine Flemish chancel rails with C-scroll carving on the newels, very deep rich carving depicting the 10 commandments and eagles in chancel of circa 1700, an early Georgian wooden pulpit with arcaded tracery and small narrow high window into the south-east angle between nave and chancel to provide light, an Octagonal stone font with elaborate quatrefoil pierced and crocketed font cover of ogee domed section above, on a square pier, a hatchment on the north tower wall.

In the nave there used to be a set of six Italian Trecento pilaster panel paintings, painted in about 1365–70 and attributed to Jacopo di Cione and his workshop. Each depicts a different Christian figure: the evangelists John and Luke, the monks Anthony the Great and Peter Damian, and two members of the Camaldolese order: Beata Paola (died 1368) and Bruno Bonifacio. How they came to be at the church is not known. They were first recorded early in the 19th century by the art collector William Young Ottley (1771–1836). Since about 2009 they have been on loan to the National Gallery.

In the 1830s the Wood family had 24 colours of the Grenadier Guards hung in the chancel. In 2012 they were taken down and presented to The Guards Museum at Wellington Barracks.

Former chantry

Its chantry was founded in 1324 by Thomas de Littleton, then rector of Harrow, and formerly rector of Spaxton. By his agreement with the Abbot and Convent of Chertsey, they bound the abbey to pay 5 marks yearly to a chaplain to celebrate divine service daily at the altar of St. Mary in the church of Littleton, in honour of the saint, and for the souls of the founder, of his parents, and of Simon de Micham. The chaplain was to be appointed by Thomas de Littleton, and after his death by Sir Geoffrey de Perkelee, the rector of Littleton, and his successors. In 1547–48 the chantry was last served by a French priest, Sir Philip Lyniard, who had a house, an orchard, and a little croft or close. However, the Dissolution of Chantries Act 1547 preceded the Dissolution of the Monasteries the following year and split between the lord of the manor and rector.

About the village

Shepperton Studios covers most of the west of Littleton, and has used some of the River Ash and adjoining woodland in certain feature films.

Littleton Manor was home to the Wood family: Thomas Wood (1708-1799) was elected to Parliament in the 18th century. It is a Grade II* listed building.

Astleham Manor Cottage in large grounds survives by the Ash with remaining woodland to its north. It is a Grade II listed building.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Littleton, Middlesex)