A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 



HULCOTT 



Hulcott is a small parish in the Vale of Aylesbury, 

 lying on the Hertfordshire border, and containing 

 74-of acres of land, 1 of which 36 acres are arable hnd, 

 595 acres permanent grass, and no woods. 3 The 

 population is almost entirely occupied in agriculture, 

 and as might be expected from the large proportion of 

 pasture to arable land, the farms are chiefly grazed by 

 dairy stock. The land lies between 200 ft. and 300 ft. 

 above the Ordnance datum ; 3 the subsoil is Kimme- 

 ridge Clay and Portland Beds, 4 and the surface is clay. 

 The parish is well watered by the Thistle Brook, 

 and there is water in the village of Hulcott. No 

 main road passes through the parish, two branch 

 roads from the Aylesbury to Tring road being the 

 most important. The Aylesbury branch of the Lon- 

 don and North- Western Railway passes through the 

 parish, and the nearest station is Marston Gate, on 

 the same line, 2 miles away. An Act of Parlia- 

 ment was obtained for the inclosure of the two 

 parishes of Bierton and Hulcott, and the award was 

 given on 15 July 1780.' 



The village stands round a wide green, the church 

 being on the east side, and the manor house near it on 

 the south. There is a moated site to the east of the 

 church, with water in some parts of the moat. The 

 vicarage stands on the south of the village green, the 

 schools on the west, and scattered cottages on the 

 north-west. The manor house has been modernized, 

 but the staircase is of early 17th-century date, and 

 in the panels of its timber partitions are some well- 

 preserved contemporary paintings, with the stories of 

 Phaedra and Hercules. 



There appears to be no record of the 

 M4NOR manor of HULCOTT before the I3th 

 century. In 1254, however, it was held 

 of the honour of Wormegay, 6 which at that time was 

 held by William Bardolf, through his mother, Beatrix, 

 the heiress of William de Warenne, of Wormegay. 7 

 His descendants in the direct line held the overlord- 

 ship of Hulcott till the reign of Henry IV, 8 when 

 Thomas, Lord Bardolf, was attainted and forfeited his 

 lands. 9 His two daughters and heiresses recovered 

 many of his possessions, 10 but the overlordship of 

 Hulcott appears to have lapsed. 



The manor was held by the family of Graunt 

 under the Bardolfs in the 1 3th century. In 1254 

 and 1284 William Graunt was lord of Hulcott, which 

 he held by charter of the king. 11 He lived till after 

 the year 1290, and was succeeded by his son Walter 

 Graunt." In 1322 Walter made a settlement of the 

 manor, excepting certain tenements which had already 

 been dealt with, 13 by which he was to hold it for life, 



with remainder to his son William and Clarice wife 

 of the litter." William succeeded his father in the 

 manor, 15 and died presumably towards the close of 

 the reign of Edward III, leaving a daughter Joan as 

 his heir. 16 In 1369 17 William Brys or Bryd and his 

 wife Joan made a settlement of half the manor, to be 

 held by William and Joan and their heirs, or by 

 default by the heirs of Joan. Hence it appears to 

 have been held in her right, and probably this Joan 

 was the daughter and heiress of William le Graunt. 

 Two years later, however, 18 William Bryd and his 

 wife sold the manor to William Brancingham, with 

 the homage and services of their tenants. In I 307 19 

 the son and heir of Joan daughter of William le 

 Graunt was called John de Bury. There may have 

 been a confusion in the names of Bury and Bryd, or 

 Joan may have been married 

 twice. The manor must have 



AAAAAA 



BUTLER. Or 

 indented azure. 



been conveyed very shortly by 

 Brancingham to James Butler, 

 Earl of Ormond, who was 

 holding certainly as early as 

 1396, and died seised of it 

 in 1405."" His successor, the 

 fourth e.irl, together with John 

 Neel, clerk, granted the manor 

 of Hulcott to James Butler, 

 Earl of Wiltshire, son and 

 heir of the earl, and others, 



and to the heirs of the body of the Earl of Wilt- 

 shire. 21 The Earl of Ormond died in 1452," and 

 his son obtained licence to alienate the manor in 

 mortmain to the hospital of St. Thomas of Aeon," 

 of which John Neel was then 

 master. The hospital was 

 founded " by the sister of 

 Thomas Becket, and the But- 

 lers were her descendants. 

 The master of the hospital 25 

 and his successors were to find 

 two priests to pray daily for 

 the souls of the king and 

 queen, and many of the an- 

 cestors of the Earl of Wiltshire 

 and Ormond. Of these, his 

 father and mother were both 

 buried at the hospital. A con- 

 firmation of this grant of the manor was obtained from 

 Parliament in I472. 26 In 1535 " the hospital held 

 the manor of Hulcott, which was then in lease to 

 Benedict Lee for sixty-one years.* 8 After the Dissolu- 

 tion Henry VIII granted the reversion, and the rents 



HOSPITAL or ST. 

 THOMAS or ACON. 

 Azure a cross Jorrny 

 party gules and argent. 



1 Ord. Surv. 



2 Inf. from Bd. of Agric. (1905). 

 " Ord, Surv. 



y.C.H. Bucks, i, Geological Map. 

 6 Com. Incl. Award. 

 6 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 20. 

 1 Excerpta e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), i, 

 411. 



8 Feud. Aids, i, 86 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 

 32 Edw. I, no. 64* j ibid. 3 Edw. Ill 

 (istnos.), no. 66 ; ibid. 13 Ric. II, no. 6 ; 

 ibid. 4 Hen. IV, no. 39 ; ibid. 7 Hen. IV, 

 no. 1 9. 



9 Parl. R. (Rec. Com.), iii, 6o6a. 



10 Ibid, v, 222* ; Cal. Pat. 1405-8, p. 

 448. 



11 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 20 ; Feud. 

 Aids, i, 86. 



" Cal. Close, 1288-96, p. 132 ; Abbrev. 

 Plac. (Rec. Com.), 344 j Chan. Inq. p.m. 

 32 Edw. I, no. 6411. 



18 Feud. Aids, i, 112; De Banco R. 

 Mich. 21 Ric. II. 



" Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 16 Edw. II, 

 nos. 4, 5. 



15 Chan. Inq. p.m. 13 Ric. II, no. 6. 



16 De Banco, Mich. 21 Ric. II, R. of 

 Protections and Chart. 



V Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 43 Edw. III. 



18 Ibid. Hil. 45 Edw. III. 



19 De Banco, Mich. 21 Ric. II, R. of 

 Protections and Chart. 



80 Chan. Inq. p.m. 7 Hen. IV, no. 19. 



81 Ibid. 31 Hen. VI, no. n; Pail. 

 R. (Rec. Com.), v, 2570. 



m Chan. Inq. p.m. 31 Hen. VI, no. n 

 88 Parl. R. (Rec. Com.), v, 257*. 

 21 Ibid. as Ibid, vi, 62*. 



* Ibid. 



V Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), i, 391. 

 l*L.andP. Hen. Pill, xiv (i), 1056 

 (+7)- 



