EDWINSTREE HUNDRED 



LAYSTON 



of Corneybury.'" On Anne's death the manor passed 

 to her son Charles," who sold it in 1726 to Francis 

 Goulston."* In 1 731 Francis succeeded his father as 

 lord of the manor of Wyddial " (q-v.) and from this 

 date the two manors have descended together."' 

 Beauchamps has no longer any manorial rights. 



In the reign of Edward the Confessor the manor 

 of ALSPf^ICK (Alsieswiche, xi cent. ; Ayshesaldwyk, 

 Alseswick, xiii cent. ; Alstwyk, xiv cent. ; Alcewyk, 

 XV cent. ; Alwilcewike, Alesborne, Alleswike, xvi 

 cent. ; Awlswick, xvii cent.) was held by Almar of 

 Earl Gyrth, the brother of Harold." After the 

 Conquest it became part of the possessions of Ralph 

 Baynard and in 1086 was held of him by his tenant 

 William. It was then assessed at 

 6 hides.'' The honour of Baynard 

 escheated to the Crown in the reign 

 of Henry I and was granted to 

 Robert son of Richard son of Gilbert 

 de Clare, founder of the house of 

 Fitz Walter." The overlordship 

 of Alswick Manor descended with 

 the family of Fitz Walter,"' whose 

 rights in Alswick can be traced 

 down to 1328."" 



William, the tenant of 1086, 

 was succeeded before the middle 

 of the 1 2 th century by Richard 

 Fitz William, who granted the 

 chapel of Alswick to the Prior and 

 convent of Holy Trinity.'"" This 

 grant appears to have accompanied 

 a gift of the whole or part of the 

 manor, for in 1 29 1 the prior's 

 lands in Layston with services 

 and a mill there were assessed at 

 £\<)\os.^\d} In 1397 Geoffrey 

 Cornhill of Springfield and Mar- 

 garet his wife were holding a 

 manor of Alswick,' possibly as 

 farmers or mortgagees, and in 1432 

 John Olyver and Ida his wife levied 

 a fine of the manor.' In 153 1 

 the priory of Holy Trinity was 

 dissolved * and its lands in Alswick 

 and elsewhere were granted to 

 Sir Thomas Audley.' The manor 

 of Alswick appears to have passed 

 to William Ayloffe and Alice his 

 wife, who sold it to John Crouch.* 

 In February 1605-6 John Crouch 

 died seised of the manor, which 

 descended to his son John.' He 

 died in 161 5." His son John 



in 17 1 2." John Crouch, son of Pike, conveyed the 

 manor in 1720 to Jacob Houblon," who appears to 

 have been one of the executors of Charles Houblon." 

 Jacob son and heir of Charles Houblon came of age 

 in 1731 and inherited the manor." It descended to 

 his son Jacob in 1770," to John Archer-Houblon, 

 son of Jacob, in 1831, and at the latter's death to his 

 son John Archer-Houblon of Hallingbury, co. Essex.'" 

 It has recently been bought from Colonel G. B. 

 Archer-Houblon by Mr. J. R. Russell, farmer, of 

 Westmill Bury. 



The manor of GIBERJCK (Gyvcrake, Gibcracke, 

 xvi cent.), the earliest reference to which by name 

 occurs in the i6th century, appears to represent the 



Alswick Hall, Layston, from the South-east 



uiea in 101s. nis son luuu ,- tt 1 u t .-,-> t\,a 



suffered a recovery of the manor in 1662,' and on his lands held by the nuns of Holywell. In 1217 the 

 1 .1 -. 1 11.1- T»-i _ ^ u 10 ...u« A\^A P.-;r.rPcc arif^ mins of Holvwell Claimed trom noiy 



death it descended to his son Pike Crouch,'" who died Prioress and nuns of Holywell claimed 



ly 



s» Cussans, Hut. of Herts, Edivimtree 

 Hund, 1Z2. 



'' Clutterbuck, Hist, of Herts, iii, 431 ; 

 see Recov. R. Mich. 7 Geo. I, rot. 55 ; 

 Feet of F. Herti. Mich. 7 Geo. I. 



'» Clutterbuck, loc. cit. »' Ibid. 



"* See RecoT. R. Mich. 2 Geo. Ill, 

 rot. 149 ; 8 Geo. IV, rot. 220. 



^ V.C.H. Herts, i, 3263. "« Ibid. 



^ See ibid. Essex, i, 346 ; G.E.C. 

 Complete Peerage, s.v. Fitz Walter for the 

 descent of this honour. 



»8 Testa de Ne-vill (Rec. Com.), 284 ; 

 Feud, Aids, ii, 431 ; Cal. Inq. p,m. 1-9 



Ediu. in, 129; Cal. Close, 1327-40, 

 p. 340. 



9» Cal. Close, 1327-40, p. 340. 



i»o Dugdale, Mon. vi, 152. 



> Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 14* ; 

 see Testa de Neiiill (Rec. Com.), 284; 

 Feud. Aids, ii, 431, 446. 



» Feet of F. Herts. 21 Ric. II, no. 178. 



»Ibid. Mich. 11 Hen. VI. 



* Dugdale, Mon. vi, 150. 



=> L. and P. Hen. Fill, xii (2), 1017. 

 There are so few records of Alswick 

 Manor that it cannot be certainly proved 

 that H0I7 Trinity held it, but the pre- 



83 



sumption is that the manorial rights 

 went with their estate. 



« See Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclvii, 50. 



' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxciv, 86 ; 

 P.C.C. 22 Stafford. 



s Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclvii, ^o, 



9 Recov. R. Mich. 14 Chas. II, rot. 185. 



10 Chauncy, Hist. Antiq. of Herts. 132 ; 

 see Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 8 Will. III. 



11 Clutterbuck, Hist, and Antiq. of Herts. 

 iii, 436. 



" Recov. R. East. 6 Geo. I, rot. 226. 

 "Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Bdwinstree 

 Hund, 82. '* Ibid. 1* Ibid. '« Ibid. 



