St Mark's Church
The Chantry
It is popularly, but probably erroneously, supposed that the existence of Chantry Lane in the village points to the existence of a religious house there in early times. The immediate source of this was probably Mr Keyser who in his paper of 1911 said “…and it is recorded that at this early period an oratory or chantry was in existence in the parish” referring to the reign of King Egbert in 803. Where this is recorded he does not say but a book on the Baronetage published in 1720 mentions a terrier of lands, also unreferenced, from that time concerning a “Cantaria de Englefield” .
It seems to have been Keyser who equated “cantaria”, “chantry” and “oratory”. “Cantaria” had several different but related meanings. In one meaning it simply referred to any divine service outside the normal liturgical round, perhaps one celebrated in a private manorial chapel. It might also have referred to the building in which such a service took place, though, and a terrier, a designation of a particular piece of land, might suggest the presence of such a chapel on that land. An oratory, the only term still generally in use in 1911, was simply a chapel or other building, not a parish church, established for prayer and the celebration of Mass. Such oratories might have been for private use only or open to others. This term is often used to describe very small buildings from the first millennium, particularly associated with the distinctly British form of Christianity that evolved between the 5th and 10th centuries. The Domesday survey makes no mention of a church or chapel in Englefield, but this is not conclusive as it often omits churches unless there is glebe land attached so there may have been a private chapel.
In respect of the chapel building, “oratory” and “cantaria” do share a meaning but the Middle English term “chaunterie”, which evoloved to “chantry” is thought to have been adopted from the Anglo-Norman “chanceries”. It might though, at the time of its adoption may also have been assumed to be a vernacular form of the medieval Latin cantaria, as seen in 803. However, while “chantry” was sometimes still used in the 14th century to mean any service in a private chapel, it had, certainly by the beginning of that century, taken on a special meaning: being specifically a Mass or series of Masses for the benefit of a specified soul in purgatory after death. This followed the expression of the doctrine of Purgatory by St Thomas Aquinas (1224-74), as documented by Pope Innocent in 1254 and the Second Council of Lyons twenty years later.
The chantry altar could be established within an existing church, sometimes in a special enclosed area but not necessarily, or in a separate building attached to the church. Separate chantry chapels, which term is not fully synonymous with an oratory, also came into being at this time and were even included in the plans for new cathedrals in the fourteenth century, as well as in monasteries, hospitals and schools following the Black Death. The chantry priest whose sole duty was to sing the Masses for the donor would also usually assist the parish priest at normal services. The presence of the squint in the aisle of St Mark’s perhaps indicates that the aisle was originally at least the site of the chantry altar. The Englefield Chapel is of far too late a date to have been connected with any chantry.
Sir Robert de Fayreford is mentioned in 1280-1 as chaplain of the chapel of Englefield, though that may simply refer to the early church itself. On the other hand we know that there was a chantry by 1386 because in April that year John Englefield made a formal quitclaim of the manor, advowson and chantry of Englefield to William Fauconer prior to leaving for Spain in the army of John of Gaunt and in September 1393 included in his will a stipulation that he be buried in the chapel of St Mary at Englefield if he died in England. This might suggest a separate chantry chapel or perhaps the church itself was originally dedicated to St Mary. From these dates it does become a possibilty that, if the effigies in the aisle are indeed those of Sir Roger Englefield and his wife, it was he who endowed the original chantry.
The chantry was dissolved by Sir Thomas Englefield (the son of the Sir Thomas whose tomb stands between the Englefield Chapel and the chancel) in 1535/36. In The History and Antiquities of Reading published in 1802, Charles Coates notes the existence of “one chantry, called Englefield chantry, founder unknown, dissolved by one of the same family in the 27th year of the reign of King Henry VIII”.
Another meaning of “chantry” is the monetary endowment to pay for the chantry priest and shortly after the dissolution of the original chantry, in about 1543, the wife of Sir Thomas Englefield established a new one by leaving the sum of £6 13s 6d in her will for a priest to sing Masses for her soul for twenty years. All chantries were compulsorily dissolved, however, only four years later in 1547 when King Edward VI came to the throne. The incumbent at that time was Nicholas Hyonson.
One means of endowing chantries was by the rent or tithes from land and Professor John Field in his History of English Field Names mentions Chauntry Field at Englefield as the land supporting the Chantry of St Mary in the parish church. This field, alongside the old road to Tidmarsh at the back of the timber yard, is named on several maps including the enclosure map of 1829 and was in 1779 part of Chantry Farm, owned by William Toovey and Richard Carter. The farmhouse (Cranemoor House) was on the edge of the lake near Parker’s Corner but the yard was on the site of the later timber yard, with the bulk of the land a little distance to the south of it and reached via what is now called Chantry Lane. It is this that is probably the origin of the name of the lane, rather than any association with a Saxon chapel.
In 1667-8 a portion of the Chantry House lands was purchased by an unknown donor for £48, part of a total of £100 belonging to the poor of the parish. This land was settled by deed of 20th February 1668 for the use of the poor. In 1731 this was converted to the Englefield Apprentice Fund to provide funds for apprentices’ tools and by the later enclosure award 5½ acres of land in Theale Meadow (then part of the parish of Englefield) was allotted in exchange for it. The Trustees also held £650 in consols and the income in 1894/5 from both these sources was £24 17s 4d; there was also a deposit of £100 in the Reading Savings Bank which earned interest of £2 10s 3d. In that year £65 had been spent apprenticing three boys. In 1924 the rent from the land was £7 10s a year and the Savings Bank deposit had risen to £150 owing to accumulation of income. The Fund continues in existence and is today also available to make grants to young people from the parish when changing schools or moving into academic or vocational further education.