About The Eyston Arms and East Hendred

The village of East Hendred has always thrived throughout history and it's strong association with agriculture and the close proximity and easy links to the larger Market towns has allowed it to prosper through the ages. The Ridgeway, a few miles up towards the Downs was the main thoroughfare for travelers one thousand years ago when the whole area was heavily forested and a place where wolves abounded. The village of East Hendred nestles at the foot of these downs and developed where the springs rose to provide irrigation for farming A large working population in older days meant that local inns were always busy places.

The Eyston Arms has been an inn for hundreds of years and was originally owned by a Mr Bewsley and named the "Crown" and even had it's own brewhouse until 1832 when Customs and Excise arrangements were changed. Today it is owned by the Eyston Family who reside nearby in the village and have done so since 1443! The inn was renovated some two years ago to restore some of the original old fashioned style. The "Eystons" as it is known by the villagers, is a great success in it's new form and has become the venue for diners and drinkers alike who seek a country pub atmosphere. Inside it is a beautifully decorated inn where you will find a wealth of features to include flagstone floors, exposed beams and even the original water pump actually inside the inn !

East Hendred's village name is derived from the Anglo-Saxon ‘Hennerithe’ or ‘rill of the waterhens’. Like many another English village its roots go deep into the past, to Saxon times and beyond. After the Norman Conquest, Norman knights and abbots were given land in Hendred. The village was divided into five manors and names like King’s Manor, Abbey Manor and Framptons are reminders of those feudal days. King’s Manor still retains a Crown Stewardship last exercised in 1901. The manor of Arches or Hendred House has been occupied by the Eystons since 1453 and this gracious house is a focal point in the village. Incorporated into the house is the little Saxon chapel of St Amand.

In 1688, when William of Orange was marching to Oxford, some of his soldiers desecrated the chapel. The Eyston family were related by marriage to Sir Thomas More, Chancellor to Henry VIII. They have two precious relics; the drinking cup of Sir Thomas More and the staff used by the aged John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, as he climbed to the scaffold at Tyburn to be executed with More.

The chapel of Jesus of Bethlehem stands on what would have been the centre of the medieval village. With its priest’s cottage attached, it was built in an unusual design by the Carthusian monks of Sheen in 1453. It now houses a small museum, open on Sunday afternoons, showing different aspects of village life. There are Anglican and Roman Catholic churches in East Hendred with a good record of ecumenism over the past years.

The ancient parish church of St Augustine stands on a slight rise. Its architecture is Early English and it has a fine peal of bells. The faceless clock, with its wooden workings still intact, plays ‘The Angels’ Hymn’ every three hours. Inside the church there is the 13th century nave and a Crusader lectern thought to be unique. The Victorian-Gothic Roman Catholic church was built by the Eyston family in 1858. It is not difficult to imagine the bustle around the core of the village during its hey-day in the 14th and 15th centuries as an important centre of the wool trade which filled the coffers of king, monastery and merchant. Many of the old cruck cottages belong to this period and the house which is now shop and post office and probably belonged to a wool merchant, is considered to be one of the finest examples of early Tudor architecture. ‘Pit pat, pan’s hot, Here we come a’shroving With a batcher up my back A halfpenny is better than nothing.’ This is the jingle sung by the children as they converge on Hendred House at midday on Shrove Tuesday accompanied by parents and teachers for the traditional bun and a halfpenny ceremony. The centuries-old custom is enjoyed by the children, each of whom, after chanting the song, is given a bun and (today) a penny by the Squire, Mr Eyston.

Another custom which still prevails is the distribution of flour to 24 old people on St Thomas’ Eve. In the old days this was given as corn which was then taken to the mill in Mill Lane to be ground. For many years East Hendred was associated with racing stables and it used to be a common sight to see a string of fine racehorses going to and from the gallops on the Downs. Alas the racehorses have now gone but the beauty of this village remains.