A HISTORY OF BEDFORDSHIRE 



AsTSLL. Gules a lion 

 passant forty or and cr- 

 'tnt between four cross- 

 ets argent. 



fe 



Walter Cary,''' who retained it until 1 7 1 4, when he 

 alienated it to William Astell." Richard son of 

 William Astell held the manor in 1738,*' and on his 

 death, without issue, in 1777, was succeeded by his 

 nephew William Thornton, 

 who assumed the name of 

 Astell." He died in 1847, 

 and of his two sons, William 

 the elder died unmarried in 

 1864, and John the younger 

 succeeded to the Everton pro- 

 perty. He died in 1887, and 

 was followed by a son Wil- 

 liam Harvey Astell who, at 

 his death in 1896, left a son 

 Richard Astell, born in 1 890, 

 who is the present representa- 

 tive of the family." 



No mention has been found 

 of a third manor in Everton — that of EFERTON 

 BIGGIN — prior to the late fifteenth century ; it 

 appears to have been an off-shoot of Everton manor of 

 which it was held when it first appears in 1480." 

 The last mention that has been found of the over- 

 lordship occurs in 1640, when William WoUascott 

 held Everton Biggin of Onslow Winch, lord of 

 Everton." 



In 1480 John Dale, who also ovraed Everton Mos- 

 bury, died seised of this manor " and from that date 

 Everton Biggin has followed the same descent as 

 Everton Mosbury (q.v.).*' It did not, however, 

 become immediately absorbed in the larger manor, 

 but preserved a separate identity certainly down to 

 the late eighteenth century." 



In 1307 Walter Langton, bishop of Coventry and 

 Lichfield, obtained a grant of a market to be held 

 every Wednesday at his manor of Everton, and also 

 of a three-days fair yearly on the feast of St. Bartho- 

 lomew (24 August)," but no further trace has been 

 found of the exercise of these privileges in Everton. 

 At the same time a charter of free warren was granted 

 to the lord of the manor," who also possessed the 

 right of holding a three-weekly court baron," and 

 of a view of frankpledge within the manor." The 

 owner of Everton Mosbury also received a charter 

 of free warren in 1 3 3 1 ," and the privilege was still 

 claimed in the eighteenth century.** 



About 1 1 40 Gilbert earl of Pembroke granted land in 

 Everton, together with the advowson of the church, 

 to the prior of St. Neots," who in the thirteenth 

 century claimed a view of frankpledge here," and also 



Clari C0U.XGE, Cam- 

 bridge. Or three cAeve- 

 rons gules for Clare im- 

 paled 'with Or a cross gules 

 for De Burgh in a border 

 sable ivith drops or. 



rendered feudal service from 1284 to 1428." At 

 the time of the Dissolution the temporalities of the 

 priory in Everton were valued at ^^12 lis. lod.,^ 

 and together with the rectory and advowson (q.v.), 

 they were granted to Clare College, Cambridge." 



Sawtry Abbey was the recipient of various small 

 grants of land in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries 

 from the Bumards and St. Neots Priory.™ At the Dis- 

 solution these lands were 

 granted to Richard Crom- 

 well,°' who, in 1538, received 

 a licence to alienate them to 

 John Burgoyne.*' 



The church of 

 CHURCH ST, MARY 

 stands at the 

 north end of the village, west 

 of the road between Sandy and 

 Tetworth, and consists of a 

 chancel 29 ft. 6 in. by 14 ft., 

 a nave 47 ft. 6 in. by 14 ft., 

 north and south aisles 7 ft. 6 in. 

 wide, and a western tower 

 1 3 ft. by 12 ft. 6 in. 



The chancel appears to be 

 the oldest part of the church, its eastern quoins, in 

 large stones irregularly bonded, looking very much like 

 pre-Conquest work. The absence of anything else of 

 the same character in the chancel makes the matter 

 doubtful, but as other details of the chancel belong 

 to the first half of the twelfth century, the earlier 

 date is not impossible. The chancel, being of the 

 full width of the nave, should in the ordinary course 

 of development be the successor of a narrower chancel, 

 but in this instance the process seems unlikely, and it 

 is just possible that, as elsewhere, the present chancel 

 was the early church, to which a nave and aisles as at 

 present were added in the twelfth century. 



The existing nave arcades belong to f . 11 40-60, 

 the north arcade appearing to be of somewhat earlier 

 detail than the south. The only alterations in plan 

 of a later date are the addition of a west tower and of a 

 south porch in the fifteenth century. The nave 

 clearstory is also of this date. 



The building has undergone much repair and all 

 roofs except that of the nave are new, all being covered 

 with red tiles. 



The east window of the chancel is modem, and the 

 gable over it has been rebuilt. In the north wall are 

 two plain round-headed lights with a small outer 

 reveal, the heads being worked in a single stone, and 



J" Recov. R. Hil. i Will, and Mary ; 

 Ibid. East. 2 Will, and Mary. The 

 extent of the manor is here given as four 

 meEsuagea, eight gardens, 400 acres of 

 land, 90 of meadow, 150 of pasture, 10 of 

 wood, 100 of furze and heath, 20j. rent 

 and free warren. 



■•» Ibid. Trin. 12 Anne ; Feet of F. Div. 

 Cos. ; ibid. Hil. 13 Anne. 



"Recov. R. East. II Geo. II. The 

 extent at this time is given as 20 messuages, 

 1,000 acres of land, loo of meadow, 500 

 of pasture, 20 of wood, 200 of fiirze, and 

 heath with common of pasture. 



•■2 Ibid. East. 17 Geo. III. The extent 

 of the manor is given as 30 messuages, 30 

 gardens, 800 acres of land, 500 of meadow, 

 500 of pasture, 500 of furze and heath, 

 common of pasture, and turbary common. 



*^ Burke, Landed Gentry, 1906. 



•'■' Chan. Inq. p.m. 19 Edw. IV, No. 9. 



It was held of Robert Tanfield for the rent 

 of zod. and ^ lb. of pepper, and was worth 

 3 3 J. ^. per annum. 



*' Ibid. (Ser. 2), cccclxxzviii, No. 79. 



«Ibid. 19 Edw. IV, No. 9. 



*? Ibid. (Ser. 2), ccclxxii, No. 1 54 ; 

 cccclxxxviii, No. 79 ; Recov. R. East. 

 1653 i East. 2 Will, and Mary ; Trin. 12 

 Anne ; East. 1 1 Geo. II ; East. 17 Geo. 

 Ill i Feet of F. Div. Cos. Hil. 29 Eliz. ; 

 Ibid. Hil. 3 Chas. I •, Mich. 22 Chas. I ; 

 East. 1653 ; Hil. i Will, and Mary; Trin. 

 12 Anne ; Hil. 13 Anne. 



"•s Everton parish lies partly in Hunting- 

 donshire and partly in Bedfordshire, and 

 Everton Biggin manor was situated in the 

 former county. A separate extent was 

 given of this manor in 1738 when it con- 

 sisted of only 200 acres of land, 100 acres 

 of pasture, and 10 of wood, as opposed to 

 Everton Mosbury which included some 



228 



1,800 acres and 20 messuages (Recov. R. 

 East. II Geo. III). 



•" Chart. R. 35 Edw. I, No. 100. 



»» Ibid. 



" Chan. Inq. p.m. 16 Hen. VI, No. 28. 

 The court was then worth i zd, 



" Recov. R. East. 5 Will, and Marj-. 



™ Chart R. 5 Edw. Ill, No. 78. 



" Recov. R. East. 1653 ; East. 2 Will, 

 and Mary ; Trin. 12 Anne, 



" Cott. MSS. Faust. A. iv, fol. 73A. 

 This grant was further supplemented by 

 Guy son of Tezo. 



'« Plac. de Quo JVarr, (Rec. Com.), 9. 



^^ Feud. Aids, i, 3, 19, 23, 37. 



M Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv, 261. 



" Pat. 3 Hen. VIII, pt. 24, m. i. 



«« Harl. Chart. 83 A. 35-6, 48 ; B. II, 



'3- 



" Pat. 29 Hen. VIII, pt. 4, m. 30. 

 "^ Ibid. pt. I, m. 25. 



