A HISTORY OF DURHAM 



supported by a couplet formerly in a window of the 

 church of St. Andrew Auckland, that Bcliasis was 

 exchanged by a John de Belasis for Henlcnowle," is 

 curious, in view of the fact that Henknowle was 

 granted to John de Belasis as late as 1380 for 

 land at Wolviston.*^ 



In 1296 the manor was farmed by William son of 

 John.*' It seems, however, that during most of the 

 next century the priors held it in their own hands.*' 

 It was among the manors of which Prior Richard de 

 Hoton declared in 1305 that Bishop Antony had 

 disseised him.*^^ In 1373 a lease for fifteen years was 

 granted to William Jakson of Cowpen, with pro- 

 visions to protect the prior from loss if the value of 

 the arable land should have fallen at the end of his 

 term. He leased at the same time the services of 

 the sixteen bondage tenants of Billingham who owed 

 work at Bellasis. The rent was fixed at £6 I 3/. \d.^^ 

 William Dicon held a similar lease in 1439 and 

 1446.'" Eighteen years later the tenant was Ralph 

 Holtby.'i By l 500 it had come into the possession of 

 Percival Lambton,'- whose descendants held the 

 lease for 300 years. He died in 1 501,'' when 

 the rest of his lease for seventy years seems to 



Lambton. SahU a 

 fine bemjeen three Iambi 

 argent. 



Eden. G u I e t a 

 cheveron argent betiveen 

 three thea'ves or ivith 

 three scal/ops sable en 

 the cheveron. 



have passed to his son William.^^ The rent was 

 raised before 1539 to £() 6s. Sd.^^ William's son 

 Marmaduke, known as ' Blind Lambton,' died with- 

 out issue,^" leaving three sisters and co-heirs, Elizabeth, 

 Frances, and Alice, married respectively to John Eden 

 of Durham, William Skelton of Armswell, and Robert 

 Claxton.^' The lease of Bellasis came by arrange- 

 ment into the hands of John Eden,'* to whose 

 descendants of West Auckland (q.v.) it was subse- 

 quently renewed.^' At the sale of church lands 

 in 1649 Robert Eden, then the tenant, purchased 



the manor from the trustees, thereby losing a sum of 

 j(^l,320 5/. when the sale was set aside. "^'' His 

 descendants continued to lease it till the early years -of 

 the 19th century, when Sir John Eden, bart., sold 

 his interest.^ Bellasis House was among the possessions 

 in Billingham retained by the dean and chapter after 

 the settlement of 1872.' 



BEIf^LEY (Beaulou, Beulu, xiii cent. ; Bieuloue, 

 Beaulieu, xv cent.; Bewley, xvi, xvii cent.) probably 

 came to the priory of Durham by the grant of 

 Billingham (q.v.). The grange of the prior here is 

 mentioned in the time of Prior Thomas Melsanby 

 (1233-44),' and a manor-house was built by Prior 

 Hugh de Darlington between I 258 and 1273.'' This 

 manor-house was the headquarters of the prior and 

 other officers of the priory when they stayed in this 

 neighbourhood.' They farmed the demesne during 

 the 13th and 14th centuries, and tenants of Blaxton 

 and Wolviston owed services here.* A water-mill, a 

 dove-house and a park were attached to the manor ; 

 the two former are mentioned in the 14th century 

 and the latter in the 15th and 17th.' In 1446 

 Bewley was said to be in the hand of the lord only 

 for lack of tenants,* and in 1464 it was held by 

 William Thorp for a term of years. He paid a rent 

 oi £\o 3 J. 4</.' The prior stayed here with the 

 Prior of Guisborough in 1501-2,'" and in 1532-3 

 the bursar made a payment for repairs to the hall 

 and the steward's chamber." George Davyson 

 was the farmer in 1536-7'- and Ralph Davyson, 

 perhaps his heir, in 1539.'' 



After the Dissolution Bewley and the demesne 

 lands were annexed to the 1 2th stall of Durham 

 Cathedral.'* They were described as parcel of the 

 possessions of the cathedral in 1649, when they were 

 sold by the trustees for church lands with the manor 

 of Billingham to James Clement and John Pickersgill." 

 The manor-house seems to have fallen into decay 

 during the 17th century, for it is not mentioned 

 after this sale. No remains of it appear to have 

 existed in Hutchinson's day. The demesnes were 

 probably then included in the manor of Newton. 



COirPEN BEirLEr(Cupam, xii cent.; Coupon, 

 xiv cent.) may be supposed to have been included in 

 the charter of William the Conqueror granting 

 Billingham to the priory of Durham. It is speci- 

 fically mentioned in confirmations of Henry II and 

 Richard I.'* It was held in bondage or villeinage 

 tenements, the tenants of which elected their reeve 

 {praepositus) and made rules for the government of 



*• 'Bellysit, Bcllpis, daft was thy sowcU 

 When exchanged Bcllysis for Hen- 

 knoweir (Surtees, loc. cit,). 



" See below. 



^ Halmote R. (Surt. Soc), i, 8. 



" Dur. Acer. R. (Surt. Soc), pamm. 



^ Reg. Palat. Dunelm. (Rolls Ser.), iv, 

 •5- 



'^ Halmote R. (Surt. Soc), i, 120-1. 



*> Finchale Priory Chart. (Surt. Soc), 

 p. ccx« ; Hist. Dunelm. Script. Ires 

 (Surt. Soc), p. ccxcvii. 



" Feod. Prior. Dunelm. (Surt. Soc), 143. 



" Dep. Keeper's Rep. ixivi (l), 47 ; 

 Dur. Acct. R. (Surt. Soc), 676. 



" M.I. quoted in Surtee8, op. cit. iii, 

 146. In an account of 1536 [Dur. 

 Acct. R. loc. cit.) Percival is mentioned 

 as though he was still alive. This is 

 apparently a mistake. 



J' Dur. Acct. R. (Surt. Soc), iii, 676 ; 

 FeoJ, Prior, Dunelm. (Surt. Soc), 316 ; 

 Foster, Dur, Fed. 205. 



'* Feod. Prior, Dunelm. (Surt. Soc), 

 316. 



^ Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxvii, 54 ; Foster, 

 loc. cit. 



^' Foster, loc. cit. 



" Halmote R. (Surt. Soc), i, 200 ; 

 Surtees, op. cit. iii, 149. 



" Surtees, loc cit. ; Close, 1649, pt. xi, 

 m. 34. 



""' Close, 1649, pt. xi, no. 34. 



* Surtees, loc. cit. 



' Lond. Gaz. 10 Dec. 1872, p. 6199 

 et seq. 



' Feod. Prior, Dunelm, (Surt. Soc), 26 n. 



* Hist. Dunelm, Script, Tret (Surt. Soc), 

 4*. 



' Dur, Acct. R. (Surt. Soc), ii, 497, 507, 



522 ; Coldingham Priory (Surt. Soc), 14 ; 

 Hist. Dunelm. Script. Trw (Surt. Soc), no. 



' Feod. Prior. Dunelm. (Surt. Soc), 35, 

 44 ; Reg. Palat. Dunelm. (Rolls Ser.), iv, 

 16, 30 ; Dur. Acct. R. (Surt. Soc), passim. 



' Dur. Acct. R. (Surt. Soc), i, 51, 121 ; 

 ii, 319; iii, 638; Close, 1649, pt. viii, 

 m. 35. 



» Hist. Dunelm, Script, Tres (Surt. Soc), 

 App. p. ccxcvi. 



' Feod. Prior. Dunelm. (Surt. Soc), 139. 



I" Dur, Acct. R. (Surt. Soc), iii, 657. 



" Dur. Household Bk. (Surt. Soc), 177. 



" Dur. Acct. R. (Surt. Soc), iii, 675. 



" Feod. Prior. Dunelm. (Surt. Soc), 3 1 5. 



'* Hutchinson, op, cit. ii, 128 j 

 Surtees, op. cit. iii, 150. 



'* Close, 1649, pt. viii, no. 35. 



1' Feod. Prior. Dunelm. (Surt. Soc), 

 p. Ixxxiii ; Cat. Chart. R. 1327-41, p. 324. 



198 



