GODALMING HUNDRED 



GODALMING 



and timber-yards." In 1666 Elizabeth's charter was 

 confirmed by Charles II." 



In 1825 an Act was passed for paving, lighting, and 

 otherwise improving the town of Godalming, 46 which, 

 till then, had been ill-lighted with oil, and guarded 

 only by a bellman or watch supported by arbitrary 

 assessments levied by the warden and his assistants." 

 The first attempt to pave the town had been made in 

 1528. 



In 1484 the lord of the manor had received 4*. 

 profit from the watch of Godalming. 48 It is stated in 

 a Parliamentary account of the borough drawn up in 

 1835 49 that the greater part of its bye-laws appeared 

 to be illegal ; that the town was governed neither 

 according to the charter of Elizabeth nor the institu- 

 tions of James I ; that the choice of warden was always 

 so arranged as to ensure the election of a nominee 

 three years after his nomination ; that the number of 

 assistants had diminished, and that the bailiff, who had 

 then been in office twenty years, had succeeded his 

 father. At this time the chief duty of the warden 

 was to take the lead in all public meetings, to advise 

 the constables, who were appointed at the court leet 

 held by the lord of Godalming, and to defray the 

 surplus expenditure, which was considerable, owing to 

 the lack of any town property ; while the assistants 

 aided the warden, and the bailiff collected the tolls of 

 the fair. The corporation was reconstituted by the 

 Municipal Corporation Act of 1835,* under which 

 the tide of ' warden ' was changed to that of ' mayor,' 

 whilst four aldermen and twelve councillors took the 

 place of the former ' assistants.' 



The town has never had any property of impor- 

 tance. The tolls of the market and fair it possessed 

 by Queen Elizabeth's charter of incorporation. They 

 were levied in kind until 1825, when the tolls of 

 market were for the sake of the town's prosperity 

 forgone by the warden and assistants. The only other 

 source of income was the Market House, which was 

 leased from time to time, though still used for town 

 purposes. 51 The old market house was pulled down 

 in 1814 and a poor building erected in its place. 

 The old house had been also the Hundred House, where 

 the hundred court was held. It was from its appear- 

 ance of a date not later than the 1 5th century. In 

 1616 it was in need of repair, as appears from the 

 will of John Purchase, dyer, of Godalming. It is 

 referred to as the 'Hundred House' in a deed of 1 532. 

 A court of pie powder was held there on market-days. 

 GODALMING MANOR was a posses- 

 MANORS sion of King Alfred, who bequeathed it 

 to his nephew Ethelwald." The latter 

 doubtless forfeited it to the Crown, for he rebelled 



SIE or SALISBURY. 

 Azure Our Lady stand- 

 ing -with the Child in her 

 arms or. 



against Edward the Elder in 905 and died in arms." 

 Edward the Confessor held Godalming, which remained 

 an appurtenance of the Crown till Stephen's son, 

 William Earl de Warrenne, obtained a grant of it," 

 but probably resigned it with his other lands before 

 1 159. It seems that Henry II granted it to Stephen 

 de Turnham," for in 1206 he obtained a confirma- 

 tion of Arlington, and with it the hundred and all 

 other appurtenances which he 

 had of the gift of Henry II. M 

 In 1 22 1 a mandate was issued 

 to the Sheriff of Surrey to de- 

 liver to the Bishop of Salis- 

 bury seisin of the manor and 

 hundred of Godalming, which 

 had been held by Edelina de 

 Broc, Stephen's widow. 57 Ma- 

 bel de Bavelingham, one of 

 Stephen and Edelina's five co- 

 heiresses, released the manor 

 and hundred to the Bishop 

 of Salisbury in 1224," while 

 ten years afterwards three of 



the remaining co-heiresses sued Robert Bishop of 

 Salisbury for the manor, 49 but were evidently unsuc- 

 cessful, for it remained the property of that see till 

 1541 2. 60 In 1294 the king granted the bishop free 

 warren in his demesne lands in Godalming. 61 In 

 1541 the Bishop of Salisbury exchanged Godalming 

 Manor and Hundred for the prebend of Bluebery, 

 then held by Thomas Paston, one of the gentlemen of 

 the Privy Chamber, 6 * and evidently an agent for the 

 king, to whom he immediately gave Godalming in 

 exchange for other estates. 63 In 1595 Anthony 

 Viscount Montague was appointed steward of the 

 manor, 64 and in 1 60 1 Queen Elizabeth sold it to Sir 

 George More of Loseley, 65 in whose family it re- 

 mained for more than two and a half centuries. 66 



Mr. James More-Molyneux sold it about 1865-70 

 to Mr. James Stewart Hodgson, who died in 1 899. It 

 is now in the possession of Mr. F. A. Crisp of Hurt- 

 more, who bought it in 1909. 



There were court baron and court leet in con- 

 nexion with Godalming Manor. 67 The lord of 

 Godalming also had relief and heriot. 68 In 1394 

 Richard II granted to John Waltham, Bishop of Salis- 

 bury, all the amercements of the tenants and residents 

 in his fee and in that of the dean and chapter, together 

 with assize of all victuals, waifs and strays, and freedom 

 from purveyance. 69 These liberties were claimed by 

 Sir George More in i6o5-6. 70 The fishing and 

 fowling rights throughout the hundred were leased to 

 Richard Bedon while the manor was in the king's 



1 V.C.H. Surr. ii, 340. 

 44 No enrolment of the charter has been 

 found ; Par!. Papers, 1835, xxiv, 735. 

 46 6 Ceo. IV, cap. 177. 

 *' Parl. Pa fen, 1835, xxiv, 735 et seq. 



48 Add. R. 26892. 



49 Par!. Pafers, 1835, xxiv, 735. 



60 5 & 6 Will. IV, cap. 76, schedule B. 

 41 Parl. Pafers, 1835, xxiv, 735 et seq. 

 "Birch, Cart. Sax. ii, 178; i, 178 et seq. 

 U 4ngl.-Sax. Chron. (Rollt Ser.), i, 

 i8:-2. 



44 r. C. H. Surr. i, 298* ; Red. Bk. of 

 Excb. ii, 654 ; Fife R. 2 Hen. II (Rec. 

 Com.), 10. 



44 (Manning and Bray state that the land 

 whicii Henry II exchanged with Salisbury 



Cathedral was the manor of Godalming. 

 In the deed of exchange, however, mention 

 is only made of Godalming Church with 

 its appurtenances, i. e. the rectory manor. 

 Sarum Chart, and Doe. (Rolls Ser.), 29- 

 30 ; Cart. Antiq. C. C. 9. 



M Rot. de Oblatii et Fin. (Rec. Com.), 

 339. The history of the manor and that 

 of the hundred are elsewhere coincident. 



" Rot. Lit. Claus. (Rec. Com.), i, 455. 



"Feet of F. Surr. 8 Hen. Ill, 23; 

 Sarum Chart, and Doc. (Rolls Ser.), 165. 



69 Maitland, Bracton's Nott Bk. 800. 



See below. 



61 Chart. R. 22 Edw. I, m. 3. 



L. and P. Hen. VIII. xvii, 14. 



65 Pat. 34 Hen. VIII, pt. iii, m. 23; 



3 1 



Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 34 Hen. VIII ; 

 ibid. Hil. 35 Hen. VIII. There is a very 

 full and interesting survey of the manor 

 taken early in the reign of Edward VI. 

 Misc. Bks. (Land Rev.), vol. 190, fol. 223 

 et seq. and Misc. Bks. (Exch. T. R.), voln. 

 168-9. 



64 Hist. MSS. Com. Ref.vii, App. 654. 



'*Pat. 43 Eliz. pt. xvi. 



** For an account of the family see 

 under Loseley. 



6 7 See the account of the hundred. 



68 Misc. Bks. (Land Rev.), vol. 190, fol. 



m- 



"Mem. R. (Exch. K. R.) East. 17 

 Ric. II, ' Record:i,' m. 6 (not marked). 

 7 Pipe R. 3 Jas. I under ' Sussex resid.' 



