Salvidge

The Salvidge family  probably started as Savage or  Savidge  and they may have been one of the first ‘ordinary’ family to own land in Chewton Mendip as the extract of the 1794 map shows. The Litton Road  and  Lower Street  are to the left of this map and Litton village centre is at the top but a number of fields within Chewton Mendip parish belonged to Litton.

Most of the farms were owned by the Waldegraves and the  Kingsmills and Jenkins family owned most of the centre of the village but a small number of properties were named after other families such as Salvidge.

Richard, the son of George Savage was christened in Chewton Mendip on 8/6/1623 which shows they may have been living in the village or  Richard’s mother came from Chewon Mendip.

A record held in the Hampshire archive (111M94W/P62)  dated 1724 is a memorandum of agreement relating to lands in Litton. It is concerned  with an agreement by John Paine junior of Wells, gent acting on behalf of Mr Cheyney, prebendary of Litton. The agreement was to convey 380 acres to  Cornelius Savidge of Litton, gunsmith, a messuage at Greendon [Greendown?] in the manor or prebend of Litton, three closes adjoining, three closes under the way called Junks, New Close, two and a half acres called Splotts. It also included land at Hunters, Quarrs and one and a half acres called ‘The Grove’. The record states the properties were in Litton but some of them may have been in Chewton Mendip.

Greendown is in Litton parish is far of to the left  of the map and used to form a self contained hamlet which probably included some properties that were in the West End tithing of Chewton Mendip but were physicaly closer to Greendown. There are several prospects in Chewton Mendip for ‘The Grove’. Coombs Grove, Bendalls Grove and Grove Farm are all close by and still include grove in their names. Paynes Pond is even closer to Geendown and Eakers Hill cannot be discounted. Some of the properties may have been further away.

Junks may have been a mistranscription of Jenks Lane which could be described as being in the East End or Middlesex tithings.

New Close could describe a number of fields and is indicative of  land enclosure that was a process that had started in the medieval period. Greendown is close to what was unfenced ‘waste ground’ which was used for common grazing and mining but parts had been enclosed, not always legally, to create ‘new’ fields.

Hunters is a mystery but Splotts and Quarrs could refer to parts of Chewton Mendip in the eastern section of the Town. Quarr is short for quarry and could refer to several quarries in or near Greendown but Splot is the name of an area of Chewton Mendip that borders Ston Easton and Emborough and contains the modern farm called Quarrs.

The fact that he was a gunsmith and the possibility that he was renting or owning land in that part of Chewton Mendip adds weight to the theory that Cutlers Green did produce weapons. The Kingsmills  link could help to explain the lack of records about weapons manufacture in Chewton Mendip.

John Savage is/was commemorated in Chewton Mendip church according to Edmund Racks survey. John died 2/10/1673 and his wife and daughters were also commemorated. There is no reference to a son but Joseph Savidge may have been his son who commissioned the memorial. The implication is that they were wealthy people who could afford to have a memorial.

John Burges, John Cole, John Atwood, and George Hippisly, gave against Alice Savidge of Chewton for selling strong liqueur without a licence in 1675. She may have been a widow because running pubs, legally or illegally, was one way a widow could support herself. It is tempting to think she was living in Bell Farm which used to be a pub but there is no evidence for this.  There are records of other members of the family suffering economic hardship with several removal orders to and from Chewton Mendip.

Joseph Savage  was a churchwarden  c1704 and Joshua and George Savidge, possibly Joseph’s sons or brothers, were paying rates for holdings in the Town, West End, Middlesex and East End tithings in 18th century poor law records. A  field bearing the name can be seen in the 1794 map near to Lower Street and Litton Road. Some of the records show the Kingsmills paying for the estate which suggests they were the owners.

The 1766 ledgers show that a John Savidge was renting a cottage in ‘The Leg’ between Bathway and Read sheard. He may have died by 1766 because his lease was dated 1754 and the Gait family had taken over by 1766. Only a patch of trees and the garden wall now stands of that property.

William Culliford Savidege was born in Litton about 1794 and  married Christiana Curtis on 22nd February 1819 in Chewton Mendip. The Culliford middle name is significant but the specific link to that family has not yet been identified.

The 1840 tithe map shows that George Salvidge was living in Tor Hole cottage which was owned by Thomas Curtis. John Salvidge was living in Preston Cottage  which was owned by the Waldegraves and William Culliford Salvidge was the owner what is now Ford House and a field called Laspers. The Culliford middle name is significant they were a significant family but were dying out. The Habgood family were tenants of William Salvidge and the were also related to the Culliford family.

Some of the property occupied by the Salvidges in 1794  may have been bought by the Waldegraves in 1848.

Various members of the family were attending Chewton Mendip School in the Victorian era and appear in some of the old class photographs.

Edgar Salvidge served in WW1 and  was the forman at the Waldegrave estates.