ONGAR HUNDRED 



STAPLEFORD ABBOTS 



which was probably rebuilt in the i8th century. ss In 

 the centre is a clock turret surmounted by a domed 

 cupola. The bell which hangs inside is said to carry 

 the inscription : 'Anthony Bartlett made mee for Robert 

 Abdy Esquire i638.'59 



In 1066 the estate which became known as 

 BATATLES and later as BATTLES HALL was 

 held by five free men as zj hides and 6J acres and was 

 worth joj.^o In 1086 it was worth 6o/.^i Part of it 

 was then held by Robert Gernon in demesne.*^ One 

 hide and a half, worth 28^. was held of Robert Gernon 

 by Nigel.^3 



After Robert Gernon's fief had escheated to the 

 Crown, Henry I granted it to William de Montfichet.** 

 In 1267 on the death without issue of Richard de 

 Montfichet, great-grandson or great-great-grandson of 

 William, his inheritance was divided between the issue 

 of his three sisters Philippe, wife of Sir Hugh de Plaiz, 

 Aveline, wife of William, Count of Aumale, and 

 Margaret, wife of Hugh de Bolbec.^5 The manor of 

 Batayles was held of Richard, 2nd Lord Plaiz, great 

 grandson of Philippe and Hugh de Plaiz, at the time 

 of his death in 1327.** For some time afterwards the 

 tenancy in chief descended with the barony of Plaiz. 

 In 1389 John, 5 th Lord Plaiz, died leaving as his heir 

 his daughter Margaret, wife of Sir John Howard.*' 

 After her death in 1391 her husband obtained livery 

 of her inheritance for his hfe.'* He died in I438.*9 

 His heir was his granddaughter Elizabeth, only child 

 of his son John, Lord Plaiz (d. 1409).'° Ehzabeth had, 

 however, already obtained the tenancy of the manor of 

 Batayles through her mother Joan (see below) and the 

 estate was therefore presumably held of the Crown in 

 chief after 1438. 



Before 1147 the family of Batayle obtained the 

 tenancy of the whole manor which subsequently took 

 its name from them. Between 1108 and 1147 Sir 

 Hubert Batayle granted to the priory of Holy Trinity, 

 Aldgate (Lond.) all the tithes of his demesne of Staple- 

 ford except 2 acres tithable to the churches of Staple- 

 ford and Lambourne." His sons William and Matthew 

 were mentioned in the grant.'^ In 1166 Richard 

 Batayle held 2 fees of Gilbert de Montfichet.'^ Soon 

 after William, son of Richard Batayle, confirmed the 

 grant made by his great-grandfather by placing a gold 

 ring on the altar of the priory church.'* William 

 Batayle vas dead by 1 200. 's He was apparently suc- 

 ceeded by Richard Batayle.'* In 1216 the Sheriff of 

 Essex was ordered to put Stephen of Oxford in pos- 

 session of land which the king had granted to Richard 



Batayle in Stapleford because Batayle had joined the 

 king's enemies." It is not surprising that Batayle was 

 a rebel: his overlord, Richard de Montfichet, was a 

 prominent rebel at this time and he also had had his 

 lands seized in consequence.'* Batayle probably 

 regained his estates at the same time as Montfichet, in 

 October I2I7.'9 He or another Richard Batayle was 

 holding of Montfichet in 1235-6.*" Afterwards the 

 manor was held by Simon Batayle who was alive in 

 1272 but was succeeded shortly afterwards by Richard 

 Batayle, apparently his son.*' 



In 1298 the estates of Richard Batayle were divided 

 between his two daughters Margery, wife of William 

 de Sutton, and Anne, wife of Peter de Taleworthe.*^ 

 The manor of Batayles fell to the share of Margery and 

 Wilham, whose son John succeeded his father by 

 I3l8.*3 John, son of John de Sutton, died in 1393 

 leaving as his heir his brother Sir Richard de Sutton 

 who died in 1396.*+ At that time the annual value of 

 the manor was £j 6s. 8i<2'.*5 Richard's heir was his 

 son Thomas who apparently died without issue.** The 

 estate passed to the heirs of Margery, who may have 

 been the sister of Richard or Thomas de Sutton and 

 who was the wife of John Walton.*' In 1409 her 

 grandson Sir Richard Walton, son of John, died in 

 possession of the manor leaving as his heir his sister 

 Joan, wife of John, Lord Plaiz (d. 1409).** She died 

 in 1424.*' Her heir was her daughter Elizabeth, later 

 the wife of John de Vere, Earl of Oxford.'" The earl 

 was beheaded in 1462." In 1475, after the attainder 

 of her son John, Earl of Oxford, Elizabeth was forced 

 to surrender her property to Richard, Duke of Glou- 

 cester.'^ She died shortly afterwards but the earl 

 evidently recovered the manor of Batayles after his 

 attainder was repealed in 1485.'^ He was lord of the 

 manor by Michaelmas 1488. '■• He died in 1 5 1 3 having 

 settled Batayles on his wife Elizabeth for her life.'' 

 She died in 1537.'* The manor then passed to the 

 15 th Earl of Oxford and on his death to the i6th 

 earl," who in 1 548 was forced to convey a large part 

 of his estates, apparently including the manor of 

 Batayles, to the Protector Somerset.'* These estates 

 were declared forfeit to the Crown in 1552 after 

 Somerset's execution." By an Act then passed,' the 

 manor of Batayles was settled on Aubrey de Vere, brother 

 of the i6th Earl of Oxford (d. I562).2 By 1574 the 

 reversion of the manor had been acquired by Edward 

 de Vere, the 17th earl, for in that year he granted 

 a lease of the manor for 3 1 years to William Byrd, the 

 composer, to take effect after the death of Aubrey de 



58 A gabled building is shown in this 

 position in 1654.: E.R.O., D/DC 27/1 121. 



*' Inf. from Mr. W. H. Twyncham 

 jun. If the inscription has been read cor- 

 rectly it suggests cither that Robert Abdy 

 was occupying Albyns before his purchase 

 of the property in 1654 or that he brought 

 the bell from elsewhere. It would also 

 ante-date by 9 years the earliest known 

 bell cast by Anthony Bartlct : Ch. Bells 

 Essex., 76. 



<><• F.C.H. Essex, \, 518a. 



»' Ibid. " Ibid. M Ibid. 



''* Complete Peerage, x, 351 j V.C.H. 

 Essex, i, 34.7. 



'' Cal. Intj. p.m. \, p. 217; E.A.T. v, 

 173-207; E.A.T. N.s. V, 14.0—2; W. 

 Farrer, Hons. and Kts. Fees, m, 336; 

 Complete Peerage, i, 351, x, 538. 



^ Cal. Inq. p.m. vii, p. 26 ; Complete 

 Peerage, I, 537-40. 



*' Cal. Inq. p.m. X, p. 466; Complete 



Peerage, x, 541—2. 

 '* C 1 39/88; Complete Peerage, x, 542. 

 M C139/88. 



'" Ibid. ; Complete Peerage, x, 542. 

 " Cat. Afict. D. \, A. 736. 

 '2 Ibid. 

 " RedBk.o/Exci.-i^g-SO. Ci. E.A.T. 



N.s. V, 140—2. 

 '4 E40/733. 



" Feet ofF. Essex, \, 23. " Ibid. 



" Rot. Litt. Claus. (Rcc. Com.), i, 255. 



'8 E.A.T. V, 193-5. " Ibid. 



8» Bk. of Fees, ^yg. 



*' Feet of F. Essex, i,'278; ibid, ii, 206. 



'2 Morant, Essex, ii, 187. 



W Ibid.; Feet of F. Essex, ii, 186; Cal. 

 Inq. p.m. vii, p. 26. 



8t C136/82/7; C136/89; Cal. Close, 

 1392-6, 168. 



85 C136/89. 



8' Ibid.; Morant, Essex, i, 176. 

 8' Morant, Essex, i, 176, ii, 187. 



88 C137/72; Morant, Essex, i, 176; 

 Complete Peerage, x, 542. 



8« Complete Peerage, x, 542. 



9» Ibid. 



" Complete Peerage, x, 238. 



" Ibid. 



" Ibid. 241-2. 



«♦ E.R.O., D/DPr 139. 



»5 E.R.O., D/DM Ml 72. 



" Complete Peerage, x, 244. 



" E.R.O., D/DM T56; ibid. D/DPr 

 138; ibid. D/DM Mi72. 



98 Complete Peerage, x, 249. 



»9 Ibid. 



' Act for Frustrating Assurances to the 

 Duke of Somerset made by the Earl of 

 Oxford, 5 & 6 Edw. VI (priv. act, no 

 number), marked as missing in Stats, of 

 Realm, iv, xiii. 



^ Complete Peerage, x, 249-50 ; Morant, 

 Essex, ii, 293; SP12/157/25, 26; E.R.O., 

 D/DM M173. 



227 



