A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



lay-out of the grounds, with terrace and fish-ponds, 

 remains on the west side, and the stables are dated 1647. 

 To the east, on high ground, is a rectangular dove-cote" 

 probably contemporary with the house, but a two-story 

 garden pavilion, with pyramidal tiled roof, formerly 

 overlooking a bowling-green, is of 18th-century date. 

 To this period also belongs the pedestal sun-dial- in 

 front of the house. 



In 1086 the Countess Judith held in 



Mj^NORS Ashby 4 hides. In the Confessor's time it 



was held by Bardi and was then and in 



1086 worth £\.^ In the 12th century these 4 hides 



Mears Ashby Hall 



were of the fee of David of Scotland.* A moiety of this 

 property caDed NORTH HALF or ASHBY MEARS 

 MANOR was held by Richard de Humez^ before 1 1 8 1, 

 in which year he granted his lands in Ashby to the king.* 

 It is subsequently found held of the king in chief. In 

 1280 it was held by the service of a pair of gilt spurs,' 

 but between 131 5 and 141 7 by serjeanty of raising the 

 right hand towards the king on Christmas day, wher- 

 ever he might be in England.* This serjeanty seems 

 originally to have been holding the king's stirrup at 

 Christmas and to have been instituted before the divi- 

 sion of the manor.' 



William son of Richard de Humez still held lands 



here in 1205, but apparently these estates were for- 

 feited about 1228 and given to Earl WiUiam de 

 Warenne.'" Other lands formerly held by Adam de 

 Keret were given in 1224 to William de Serland, or 

 Shorland, who died in 1 2 3 1 , leaving a widow Juliana," 

 who survived until 1258.'^ William de Blancmuster 

 (de Albo Monasterio) was holding, apparently, about 

 1 240, but forfeited his land as a Norman, and two years 

 later' ^ the king gave his lands to Robert de Mares.'* 

 In 1246 Robert was holding two-thirds of the manor, 

 and Juliana de Cotebrok (widow of WiUiam de 

 Serland), of whom the king had the marriage, the 

 other third. '^ Robert died before 

 1260, when his widow Sybil 

 had custody of Mears Ashby 

 Manor during the minority of 

 her son John.'* She afterwards 

 married William Marmiun, 

 who was with Simon de Mont- 

 fort at Evesham." During the 

 minority of John, Henry de 

 Hastings, overlord of the other 

 moiety, tried to usurp rights in 

 this manor.'* In 1279 John de 

 Mares paid 20s. for half a fee 

 and died next year, leaving 

 Mears Ashby Manor to his son 

 John aged 6," who died in 13 1 5 

 and was succeeded by his son 

 Giles, a minor,^° born in his 

 father's hall at Ashby on 5 De- 

 cember 1307.^' His mother 

 Isabel held the manor during 

 his minority and in 13 19 the 

 king granted to Ehas de Asshe- 

 burn the yearly rent of 60/. 

 which Isabel paid for the estate 

 and the marriage of Giles de 

 Mares. ^^ In 1330 Giles alien- 

 ated the manor of 'Northasshby 

 Mars' to Thomas son of Elias 

 de Assheburn,^^ except \ which 

 his mother held for life. This apparently brought the 

 two moieties of the manor into the same hands,^* and 

 both portions passed to John Darcy, who at his death 

 in May 1 347 held part in chief by the service of offering 

 his hand to the king's stirrup and was said to hold the 

 rest of the King of Scotland by similar service.^' His 

 son John Darcy was licensed in 1349 to enfeoff 

 Richard de Salteby and Elizabeth his wife.^* Two years 

 later Salteby alienated it to Henry Green, ^' to whom in 

 1360 a third of the same manor was conveyed by 

 Peter VI de Mauley, whose wife Elizabeth, widow of 

 the elder John Darcy,^* held it in dower.^' Sir Henry^" 

 died in 1369^' and the manor then descended as Great 



^ It has 550 nesting-holes. 



^ The plate bears the name of Thomas 

 Eayre of Kettering, who cast the tenor 

 bell of Mears Ashby church in 1718. 



3 y.C.H. Northcmn. i, 351. 



< Ibid. 382. 



5 Assize R. 6 14, m. 7 d. J and see under 

 Advowson. 



6 Harl. Ch. 83 A. 6. Hugh and Robert 

 de Mara are among the witnesses. 



' Chan. Inq. p.m. 10 Edw. I, no. 8. 



8 Ibid. 9 Edw. II, no. 25; ibid. 15 Ric. 

 II, pt. I, no. 24; ibid. 5 Hen. V, no. 39. 



9 See below. 



'" Farrer, Honors and Knighti' Fee!, ii, 

 338. 



" Ibid. 



1- Cal. Pat. 1247-58, p. 661. 



'3 Assize R. 614, m. 7 d. 



'* Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57, p. 267. 



'5 Bk. of Fees, 1400. 



■* Curm Regis R. 168, m. 10 d.; Pipe 

 R. 9 Edw. I, m. 10. 



" Cal. Inj. Misc. i, 833. 



'* Assize R. 616, m. 24, 



" Chan. Inq. p.m. 10 Edw. I, no. 8; 

 Cal. Close, 1279-S8, p. 254. 



2° Chan. Inq. p.m. 9 Edw. II, no. 25. 



-' Proofof ageiCa/. /ny./i.m. vii,p. 195. 



^- Cal. Pat. 1317-21, p. 338. 



" Assize R. 632, m. 165. 



^* See below, under South Half. 



^5 Cal. Inq. p.m. ix, 49. The service to 

 the King of Scotland presumably refers 

 to tenure at an earlier date. 



2* Cal. Pat. 1348-50, p. 279. 



" Feet of F. Northants. 25 Edw. Ill, 

 no. 373. 



2* G.E.C. Complete Peerage {2nd ed.), 

 viii, 568. 



" Feet of F. Northants. 34 Edw. Ill, 

 no. 487. 



^° In 1342 and 1363 Henry Green 

 obtained licence from the King to retain 

 his manor. Chan. Inq. p.m. 36 Edw. Ill 

 (2nd nos.), I ; ibid. 37 Edw. Ill (2nd nos.), 



5'- 

 3" Chan. Inq. p.m. 3 Edw. Ill, pt. i, 48. 



130 



