of the church by leasing more of its lands. He formed Oswaldslow Hundred, a 'triple hundred', in 964 by the authority of King Edgar. Oswaldslow was created by the merging of Cuthburgelow, Winburgetreow and Wulfereslaw Hundreds. Witleage (Little Witley) was mentioned in the charter. Eadmaer received a further grant in 969 when he took on four 'mansi', or hides, at Witleah (Little Witley). The boundaries included all of Witley and the remaining part of Bentley, probably in the area of Ockeridge Wood. This association of the two manors was repeated on subsequent grants. Little Witley's prefix was unnecessary as Great Witley did not come into existence until much later (post Domesday survey). The charter of 969 describes Witley as forested with open-fields, the latter presumably in the stream valleys. Later Middle Ages In 1017 Archbishop Wulfstan of Worcester granted the six hide Beonetleah (Bentley in Holt) with Witley manor to his brother, Aelfwige. Earnig/Ernwy, a Dane and priest of Edric the Wild, acquired the manor of Witleaege (Witley) sometime before the Norman Conquest. Ralph de Bernay forcibly removed the estate from Earnig but it did not return to the church on his imprisonment. Little Witley was mentioned in the Domesday Survey of 1086 when Urse d'Abetot, Sheriff of Worcestershire, held one hide (30 acres. He let one plough to Walter Ponther. There was a resident priest, two smallholders and a second plough in the manor. The woodland was three by two furlongs (60 acres). Both before the conquest and in 1086 the taxable value was 10s(15s in another contemporary source). The history of Little Witley church is somewhat obscure. It was not a parish church at the time of the Conquest but a chapelry of St. Helens in Worcester. It apparently did not have a font or burial ground until 1375 when application was made to the mother church, as the parish church of Holt was distant and the road, especially in winter, 'watery and muddy'. The church that stands today was rebuilt in 1867, although a blocked doorway in the north end of the nave is said to date from the early thirteenth century. Some of the foundation courses of the current building may be equally as old. The 'new' church was designed by Abraham Edward Perkins, Worcester's church architect. Little Witley manor passed to the Beauchamp family when Emeline de Abitot, the daughter and heiress of Urse d'Abetot,