WYMERSLEY HUxNDRED 



CASTLE ASHBY 



was keeper of the manor in 1 3 1 1 .' Langton afterwards 

 settled it upon Robert Peverel and his wife Alice with 

 remainder to their son Edmund.- In 1325 the two 

 fees in Ashby were held by Robert's widow Alice.' 

 She married Thomas de Verdon with whom, in 1329, 

 she claimed to have view of frankpledge and tree 

 warren in the manor,* and he was said to hold half a fee 

 in Ashby and Grendon in 1346.5 Alice de Verdon 

 and her grandson John, son and heirof Edmund Peverel, 

 both died in 1 349, probably from the Black Death. 

 The manor then included 160 acres in demesne, but 

 was not worth more than 40/. for want of servants 

 because of the pestilence, only six out of twenty-four 

 bondmen surviving.* John son of Edmund Peverel, 

 when 21, had demised all his lands in the county to 

 John de Lyle of Rougemont,' from whom the manor 

 passed into the possession of William de la Pole, the 

 husband of Margaret sister and heir of John Peverel,' 

 and he, in 1358, settled it on himself and his wife in 

 tail male.' He was succeeded in 1366'° by his son Sir 

 John de la Pole of Chrishall, Essex, who married Joan 

 daughter of John Lord Cobham." His right passed to 

 their daughter Joan, afterwards Lady Cobham,'^ who 

 in 1 390 with Sir Robert Hemenalc, her first husband, 

 levied a fine of the manors of Ashby David and Chad- 

 stone to members of the Braybroke family. '■' In 1392 

 this property was settled on Gerard Braybroke sen. 

 and his wife Isabel with reversion to the said Joan and 

 her second husband Sir Reynold Braybroke.'* Gerard 

 died in 1403 seised of the castle and manor, held of 

 Reynold de Grey of Ruthin," which then passed suc- 

 cessively from Sir Reynold Braybroke to Sir Nicholas 

 Hawberk and Sir John Oldcastle'* the third and fourth 

 husbands of Joan Lady Cobham. When Oldcastle 

 was executed as a lollard and traitor in 141 7," the 

 manor, including one water-mill worth 40/., was seised 

 into the king's hands, but restored to his widow in 

 1418.'' In 1419 Joan demised the manors of Ashby 

 and Chadstone to Sir Gerard Braybroke for thirty years 

 at a rent of ;{^io, which term he assigned to the chief 

 lord. Sir Reynold de Grey of Ruthin, in December 

 1423." In September of this year he had already con- 

 veyed the reversion of the property held by Joan and 

 her fifth husband. Sir John Harpenden, to John de 

 Grey of Ruthin and others.^" After her death in 1434 

 it apfjears to have descended with the rest of the pos- 

 sessions of this family for several generations,^' until 

 Richard Earl of Kent wasted the estate, which in i 506 

 was conveyed to his brother-in-law Lord Hussey^^ and 

 in 1 5 12 to Sir William Compton, a distinguished 

 courtier and soldier, son of Edmund Compton of 



Compton. SahU a leo- 

 pard or betv;een three 

 Aelms argent. 



Compton W)Tiyates in Warwickshire,-' who also ac- 

 quired other property of the earl. 



Sir William Compton married Werburga daughter 

 and heir to Sir John Brereton and widow of Sir Francis 

 Cheyney, and died in 1528 

 leaving lands in eighteen coun- 

 ties. The manor of .Ashby David, 

 with 20 messuages and a water- 

 mill, passed to his son Peter, a 

 minor in the wardship of Car- 

 dinal Wolsey.^'* He died under 

 age in 1 539 leaving a son Henry 

 by his wife Anne daughter of 

 George Talbot, 4th Earl of 

 Shrewsbury.^' Henry became 

 Lord Compton by writs of sum- 

 mons to Parliament, 1572 to 

 1 589, and was one of the peers 

 for the trial of Mary Queen of Scots in 1586. The 

 successor to his title and property three years later was 

 his son William by his first wife Frances daughter of 

 Francis Hastings, Earl of Huntingdon; he was created 

 Earl of Northampton in 1618.^' From this date the 

 manor has remained in the possession of the family and 

 it is the seat of the present Marquess of Northampton.'^ 

 The manor of CHJDSTONE, rated in 1086 at 

 I hide and 3 virgates, was then held in chief by Dru 

 de Bevrere.'* He is said to have fled the country for the 

 murder of his wife, and his lands were given to Odo 

 de Champagne. '' The overlordship therefore descended 

 with the earldom of .Aumale.'" In 1235 it was held by 

 Reynold de .Ashby as -jV fee, and in 1242 similarly by 

 William de Bussepay and .Amabel his wife (presumably 

 the widow of William de .Ashby)," but Oliver la Zouche 

 held it in 1284 as a quarter fee." From this time it 

 descended with the main manor of Castle Ashby. 



The parish church of ST. MARY MAGDALENE 

 stands in the park, south-east of the castle, and 

 consists of chancel, 41 ft. 3 in. by 18 ft. 

 CHURCH 6 in. with chapel on its north side; nave 

 of three bays, 49 ft. 6 in. by 17 ft.; 

 north and south aisles respectively i 5 ft. 6 in. and 14 ft. 

 3 in. wide; north and south porches, and west tower 

 13 ft. square, all these measurements being internal. 

 The width across nave and aisles is 52 ft. The chapel 

 forms the east end of the north aisle and covers the 

 chancel for nearly half its length. 



The building throughout is of limestone rubble with 

 ironstone dressings, and all the walls are plastered in- 

 ternally. The roofs are of low pitch and leaded. There 

 are straight parapets to the chancel, aisles, and porches. 



' Cal. Fine,\\, 1 15. 



» Plac. de Quo ffarr. (Rcc. Com.), 

 542a J Feud. Aidt, iv, 26. 



' Cal. In(j. p.m. vi, no. 612, p. 391. 



« Plac. de Quo fVarr. (Rcc. Com.), 

 542a. ' Feud. Aidi, iv, 447. 



* Cal Intj. p.m. ix, 179. 



' I bid. 1 80 ; Cal. Cloie, 1 349-54, p. 2 1 1 . 



• Cal. Inq. p.m. ix, I So; Cal. Cloie^ 

 1349-54. pp. 150-1, 511; ibid. 1354-60, 

 p. 216; Feet of F. Nortbants. file 80, nos. 

 416, 435; file 81, no. 458. Isibel wife 

 of Robert Rigge, formerly wife of John 

 Peverel. surrendered her cUim to dower 

 of a third of the manor. 



' Feet of F. Northants. file 8 1 , no. 469. 



■° Chan. Inq. p.m. 40 Edw. lit, no. 31. 



'■ G.E.C. Complete Peerage (2nd ed.), 

 iii, 345; Cal. Chie, 1360-4, p. 425; 

 1369-74, p. 66. 



" G.E.C. loc. cit. 



" Feet of F. Div. Co. file 55, no. 195; 

 Cal. Close, 1389-92, p. 335. 



'* Cal. Close, 1413-19, p. 488. 



" Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Hen. IV, no. 21 ; 

 cf. Feud. Aids, iv, 42. 



■<■ G.E.C. loc. cit. 



" Diet. Nat. Biog. 



'• Chan. Inq. p.m. 6 Hen. V, no. 45; 

 Cal. Close, 1413-19, p. 488. 



" Bridges, i, 342. 



"> Feet of F. case 179, file 93, no. 7. 



" G.E.C. Complete Peerage, \i, 155-60. 



" Ibid. 168-9; Bridges, i, 342. He 

 presented to the living of Castle Ashby 

 in 1 507 and 1512: Bridges, i, 345. 



" Ibid. ; Diet. Nat. Biog. 



^ Excheq. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), dcxciii, i. 



» G.E.C. op. cit. iii, 390; Chan. Inq. 

 p.m. (Ser. 2), liv, 135. 



"> G.E.C. op. cit. iii, 390-1 ; Chan. Inq. 

 p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxxix, 1 30. Henry Lord 

 Compton made a settlement of this manor 

 in 1574: Feet cf F. Northants. Mich. 16 & 

 17 Eliz.; Rcc. R. Trin. 16 Eliz. m. 1519. 



'' For their settlements of property, in- 

 cluding this manor and Yardlev Hastings, 

 see Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 6 Chas. I ; 

 Trin. 23 Chas. I; Rec. R. Trin. 23 Chas. I, 

 m. 62; East. 1658, m. 120; Mich. 19 

 Chas. II, m. 207; Hil. 1-2 Jas. II, m. 23; 

 Hil. 2 Geo. I, m. 13; Trin. 32-3 Geo. II, 

 m. 165; Trin. 21 Geo. Ill, m. 385; 

 Hil. 51 Geo. Ill, m. 212. 



" /'.C.lt. Northants. i, 349i». 



** Dugdale, Baronage, i. 468. 



'" Bk. of Fees, 497, 942 ; Cal. Inj. p.m. 

 ix, 180. 



>' Bi. of Fees, 497, 942. 



'' Feud. Aids, iv, 5. 



IV 



■n 



Hh 



