A HISTORY OF NOTTINGHAMSHIRE 



land where Geoffrey and Hugh and Drenghe 

 dwelt ; together with the church of St. Mary 

 of Cuckney, the church of St. Helen of Etwall 

 (Derbyshire), and the church of St John Baptist 

 of Whitton (Lincolnshire), the mill of Langwith, 

 all his lands at Hirst, and common pasture 

 throughout his demesnes. The charter concludes 

 with the statement that all this was done with 

 the assent of Emma his wife and of his three 

 brothers, Ralph, Silvan, and Richard. The first 

 of a large group of witnesses is William, Prior of 

 Radford (Worksop)." 



Thomas son of Richard had by his wife Emma 

 a daughter Isabel. After her fether's death Isabel 

 was a royal ward and given in marriage by the 

 king to Simon son of Simon. This Simon and 

 his wife gave the mill of Cuckney to the abbey.* 

 To Simon and Isabel were born three daughters, 

 Agnes, Isabel, and Petronilla, who were respec- 

 tively married to Walter de Falcomburg, Walter 

 de Riboef, and Stephen de Falcomburg. These 

 three heiresses and their husbands confirmed to 

 the abbot and canons all the gifts they had re- 

 ceived from their ancestors. 



From their heirs and descendants, John Hot- 

 ham, Bishop of Ely, 30 September 1329, bought 

 the whole manor of Cuckney, together with other 

 lands and advowsons of the abbey.' On 4 

 December following the Bishop of Ely granted 

 to the abbey the whole manor of Cuckney, to- 

 gether with the towns or hamlets of Cuckney, 

 Langwith, Bonbusk, Holbeck, Woodhouse, Miln- 

 thorpe, Clowne, and Norton by Cuckney.' On 

 9 December John de Nottingham, Abbot of Wel- 

 beck, entered into a composition with the Bishop 

 of Ely, whereby the abbey undertook to add at 

 least eight canons to their number, whose special 

 duty it should be to act as chantry priests in 

 saying masses for the king and his royal ancestry, 

 for Bishop Hotham and his parents, and for other 

 specified benefactors or relatives. It was coven- 

 anted that the Abbot of Newhouse, their father 

 abbot, should always at his annual visitation in- 

 quire into the due observance of this com- 

 position.* 



A memorandum in an early hand in the midst 

 of the Welbeck chartulary briefly records the 

 fact that the church of Whitton, Lincolnshire, 

 was dedicated by Robert, Bishop of Bangor, on 

 27 April, when he consecrated three altars, 

 namely the high altar in honour of St. John 

 Baptist, the altar in the body of the church 

 {in corpore ecc/esie) in honour of the Blessed Mary 

 the Mother of God, and the altar in the north 

 aisle in honour of St. Mary Magdalene.^" 

 Robert de Shrewsbury was Bishop of Bangor 

 from 1 197 to 1 215. The following are among 

 the more important entries from the chartulary, 



the episcopal registers at York, and other sources, 

 relative to other property of the abbey, both in 

 temporalities and spiritualities : 



Richard de Furnival released all his right in 

 the chapel of Bothamsall to the abbey of Welbeck, 

 acknowledging it to belong to the mother church 

 of Elkesley in the abbey's patronage." 



Robert de Meinill, lord of Whitwell, Derby- 

 shire, gave to the canons a quarry on his land, 

 wherever most convenient, for building the 

 church of St. James and the necessary buildings, 

 with free ingress and egress for those thus 

 engaged. Walter de Goushill also granted a 

 quarry for the like purpose on the moor between 

 Whitwell and Belph, or elsewhere in the common 

 pastures of Whitwell parish, after the same manner 

 as had been done by his ancestor Robert de 

 Meinill." 



Roger Deincourt gave to the church of 

 Welbeck, for the sustenance of three canons who 

 were to specially celebrate for himself and his 

 family, all his lands and meadows and right of 

 pasture except the advowson of the church in 

 North Wingfield, Derbyshire. This gift was 

 confirmed by John Deincourt, rector of North 

 Wingfield, Roger's brother.'^ 



In 1213 the Abbot of Welbeck brought the 

 king four palfreys to secure his confirmation of 

 the gift of the church of Flintham, together with 

 lands and tenements at the same place, which 

 Agatha daughter and heiress of Hugh Bretel had 

 made to the abbey. '"* This Agatha was first married 

 to Geoffrey Monachus, and afterwards to Hum- 

 phrey, King John's cook. The gift was accom- 

 panied by pasture rights for 300 sheep at Flint- 

 ham." 



Geoffrey, Archbishop of York (i 191-1212), 

 sanctioned the appropriation of the church of 

 Whitton to the abbey, providing that a third part 

 of the income was to be assigned to the vicar as 

 a competency.'^ 



A fine was levied in 1204 between Richard, 

 Abbot of Welbeck, and Alexander, Prior of Shel- 

 ford, whereby it was arranged that the advowson 

 of the church of Kelham was to be held in 

 moieties between them.^' 



A royal grant was made to the church of 

 Welbeck in 1250 of 5 acres and a rood of 

 inclosure in the Peak Forest at ' Cruchill,' to be 

 held by rendering 21^. yearly at the Exchequer; 

 also a grant of the pasture of ' Cruchill,' by the 

 wood of Ashop and up the valley to Derwent- 

 head, and also of all the pasture of Ashop up that 

 water to its head, and thence to Kendalhead, 

 which pasture the canons held by a charter of 

 King John.18 



" Thoroton, Notts. 444. 



I'Harl. MS. 3640, fol 164. 



" Ibid. fol. 1 64 d. '* Pipe R. 14 John. 



"Thoroton, Nottf. 133. 



''Ibid. 143. "Ibid. 331. 



"Chart. 35 Hen. Ill, m. 13. 



130 



