GODLEY HUNDRED 



CHERTSEY 



Mr. H. E. Paine at present holds the manor, and 

 the house is the seat of Mrs. Hawksley. 



The Abbot and convent of Chertsey had full 

 jurisdiction in Chertsey, as in all their lands." 

 William I, in confirming these privileges, also granted 

 them ' freedom of court ' in all their lands, the right 

 of keeping dogs, taking foxes, hares, pheasants, &c., 

 and of using their own woods for whatever purpose 

 they chose, without hindrance from the royal foresters. 41 

 Henry I granted the abbot warren in all his lands, 

 and forbade anyone to hunt there without the 

 abbot's permission on pain of a fine of 10." 



The Domesday Survey records the existence of a forge 

 at Chertsey which served the abbey, and also of a mill. 45 

 Gilbert Fitz Ralph held the latter of the abbey in 

 1 197." Water-mills known as the Oxlake or Okelake 

 mills in Chertsey, appear to have been in existence 

 at an early date. They belonged to the abbey 

 and are marked in a chart of the abbey and its 

 lands which is found in the ledger book of the 

 monastery. 47 In 1535 these mills were valued at 

 10 I3/. 4</. 48 Surrendered with the abbey, they 

 were granted in 1550 to Sir William Fitz William, 49 

 together with the site of the abbey (q.v.), with which 

 property they afterwards descended. This property 

 also included the right of free fishery in water called 

 the Bargewater at Chertsey, which had belonged to 

 the monastery. 40 



A life-grant of the ferry of Redewynd or Chertsey 

 ferry was made, in 1 340, to William de Altecar, 

 yeoman of the chamber. 51 A similar grant, including 

 barge, boat, and ferry fees, was afterwards made to 

 John Palmer, and in 1395 to Thomas Armner, 

 both Gentlemen of the Chamber. 5 * 



Early rents and services due to the abbot and 

 convent from tenants in Chertsey include a rent of 

 tft. 9>d. due from two shops in Chertsey in 1271." 



Weirs, as instruments for catching fish, are alleged 

 to have existed in the river at Chertsey as early as the 

 7th century. 64 In 1325 the abbot and convent were 

 permitted to construct a weir there." 



There was a gaol, belonging to the abbey, at Chert- 

 sey in I297. 66 In 1325 it was shown that, owing to the 

 fact that there was no coroner in Godley Hundred, and 

 that the two coroners of the county would not come 

 as far as Chertsey to hear appeals and do the office of 

 coroner, the prisoners of Chertsey gaol either died in 

 gaol, or on their removal to Guildford gaol for trial 

 were frequently rescued by their friends, where- 

 fore many criminals escaped punishment. In conse- 

 quence of this, a coroner was appointed for Godley 

 Hundred. 67 



A survey of the manor of Chertsey made in 1627 

 mentions as common fields or pastures lands called 

 Wheatworth, Wentworth, Adlesdon Moor, and 



Chertsey Mead." The Parliamentary Survey of 1650 

 includes Marleheath, Childsey Common, and New 

 Lodge Heath as common lands. Court rolls in the 

 1 7th century mention, as tithings of Chertsey, 

 Addlesdon, Ham, Lolworth, and Rookbury." The 

 two latter were known by the alternate names of 

 Hardwick and Lyne. 60 



The abbot and convent were responsible for the 

 repair of Chertsey Bridge over the Thames. 61 In 

 1582, however, it was decided that the burden of 

 repair could not fall on the queen, then lady of the 

 manor. 6 * In 1630 the inhabitants of Chertsey peti- 

 tioned for the repair of Chertsey Bridge. It was 

 deemed unfit to raise money by collection, and a 

 warrant for sale of trees was applied for. The sum 

 to be raised was 555, and it was suggested that 

 350 could be raised by sale of trees in Alice Holt, 

 near Farnham, and of trees to be used for piles, &c., 

 in parks near Chertsey. 6 * 



In the 1 7th century mention is made of timber 

 wharves at Chertsey, owned in 1651 by Sir George 

 Ayscue. Compensation for damage done to them 

 was granted him in that year, at the petition of his 

 wife, he himself being absent in command of the 

 fleet which had sailed for the Barbados. 64 Other 

 records refer to a rabbit-warren on St. Anne's Hill, 

 otherwise Eldebury Hill, in Chertsey, which belonged 

 to the monastery and was granted to Sir William 

 Fitz William in i55o, M and sold during the Common- 

 wealth to George Vincent. 



The king's stables at Chertsey are mentioned in 

 1550, when certain meadows there were converted to 

 the king's use ' for provisions of his stables for lack 

 whereof he susteigneth an intolerable charge ' ; M in 

 1617, 99 loads of hay and 68J qrs. of oats were due 

 from the tenant of the manor of Chertsey for the 

 king's horses and for the deer in Windsor Park. 67 

 A letter written by Sir Philip Draycott in 1514 

 describes a royal hunt which took place in the ' meads 

 under Chertsey.' 68 



After the surrender of the abbey in 1537 the site 

 of the monastery remained in the Crown until 1553, 

 when Edward VI granted it to Sir William Fitz Wil- 

 liam, his wife, and heirs, for ever. 6 ' The grantee 

 conveyed it to his wife and daughter ; the latter held 

 it at her death in 1564, after which date her mother 

 Joan received all profits until she died in I574- 70 In 

 1602 Matthew Browne, son and heir of the daughter 

 Mabel who had married Thomas Browne, 71 conveyed 

 the site of the abbey to John Hammond, 7 ' afterwards 

 physician to James I ; a formal grant was made by the 

 Crown in 1610." Of this estate Hammond settled 

 certain lands and 'a messuage next the gates of the 

 late Abbey of Chertsey, in which Edward Carleton 74 

 then lived,' on his wife Mary for life, and afterwards 



48 See the charters quoted above. 



* Cart. Antiq. O.O. I ; Cott. MS. 

 Vitell. A. xiii, fol. 53^, 54. 



44 Cart. Antiq. O.O. 3, 4 ; Cott. MS. 

 Vitell. A. xiii, fol. e,6b. 



V.C.H. Surr. i, 308. 



* Feet, of F. Surr. East. 9 Ric. I. 



"Exch. K.R. Misc. Bks. 255 Exch. 

 Dtp. 30 & 31 Eli/. Mich. 25. 



48 Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), ii, 56. 



49 Pat. 12 Eliz. pt. viii, m. 7. 

 " Ibid. 



" Cat. Pat. 1338-40, p. 468. 

 "Ibid. 1391-6, p. 584; 1399-1401, 

 p. 1 08. 



M Feet, of F. Surr. Mich. 56 Hen. 

 III. 



54 Birch, Cart. Sax. i, 64. 



65 Inq. a.q.d. file 183, m. 9. 



M Col. Pat. 1292-1301, p. 320 ; ibid. 

 1381-5, pp. 466, 532. 



" Lansd. MS. 435, fol. 121. 



48 Rentals and Surv. (P.R.O.), R. 18, 

 3 Chas. I. 



" Ct. R. (P.R.O.), bdle. 204, no. 53. 



60 Manning and Bray, op. cit. iii, 220. 



u Vide supra. 



n Hilt. MSS. Com. Ref. vii, App. i, 

 637,1. 



ra Col. S.P. Dam. 1629-31, p. 454. 



407 



M Hist. MSS. Com. Ref. xiii, App. i, 

 574 ; Cat. S.P. Dam. 1639, p. 406. 



65 Pat. 12 Eliz. pt. viii, m. 7. 



*> AM of the P.C. 1550-2, p. 56. 



7 Exch. L.T.R. Orig. R. 14 Jai. I. pt. 

 ir, rot. 126. 



8 L. and P. Hen. VIII, i, 873. 



Pat. 7 Edw. VI, pt. ii, m. 21. 



T> Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), clxx, 5 ; 

 Pat. 12 Eliz. pt. viii, m. 7. 



7 1 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), clxx, 5. 



79 Ibid. Miic. file 522, pt. xvii, no. 3. 



7* Pat. 7 Jas. I, pt. xix, m. 35. 



1* He died in 1663 and was buried at 

 Chertiejr. 



