Sherborne St John

"SHERBORNE ST. JOHN, (or East Sherborne), a parish in the hundred of Basingstoke, county Hants, 3 miles N.W. of Basingstoke, its post town, and 4 S.W. of Mortimer. The village is chiefly agricultural. The rectorial tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £407, besides a glebe of 62 acres, and the vicarial for one of £193. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Winchester, value £491. The church, dedicated to St. Andrew, has a square tower surmounted by a coppered spire, and containing five bells. The church has been lately restored, and a new aisle added, at the expense of W. L. W. Chute, Esq. The parochial charities produce about £20 per annum. There are Church of England schools for both sexes. The Vynes, the family seat of the Chutes, was erected in the reign of Henry VIII. by the first Lord Sandys. Attached to it is a private chapel containing the effigies of Chaloner Chute, Esq., Speaker of the House of Commons in the parliament of Richard Cromwell. Its name is said to be derived from an ancient vineyard which formerly stood here. W. L. W. Chute, Esq., is lord of the manor. "

[From The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) - transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]