A HISTORY OF BEDFORDSHIRE 



amounting to £^ 4/. ^J., are distributed in coals 

 among the poor of Everton and Tetworth. 



Under the Everton Inclosure Act " i a. 2 r. of land 

 was awarded\to the parish officers with the right to 



take gravel for therepair of the highways, and 3 a. i r. 

 3 1 p. in lieu of tithes, in respect of which an annual 

 sum of £1 16s. is received by the churchwardens and 

 applied in aid of church expenses. 



EYWORTH 



Aieworde, Aisseworde (xi cent.) ; Eywurth (xiii 

 cent.). 



Eyworth is a small parish of 1,253 J acres on the 

 Cambridgeshire border. Its south-eastern boundary 

 is formed by the River Rhee. The highest land is in 

 the west of the parish, about 1 70 ft. above sea level, 

 and there is a general downward slope towards the 

 east. Of the acreage of the parish 8 1 9 J is arable land, 

 358 permanent grass, and 11 woods and plantations.' 

 The soil is principally clay, the subsoil clay ; the crops 

 are wheat, barley, peas, and beans. The village is 

 situated in the west central part of the parish on the 

 road from Dunton to Wrestlingworth. After enter- 

 ing the parish from the Dunton side this road begins 

 to descend towards the vtllage, to the south of which 

 a branch road on the east leads down to Thistly- 

 grounds Farm, situated in the south of the parish. 

 At the south end of the village a short distance to the 

 east of the road lies the Church Farm, and close to it 

 on the north is the church of All Saints. The Manor 

 Farm is on the west of the road, which, still descend- 

 ing somewhat, passes on to Wrestlingworth. The 

 houses are for the most part on the west of the road, 

 facing a wide uninclosed green, at the south end 

 of which, and just to the north of the church, is a rect- 



EvwoRTH Church from the South-east 



angular inclosure of early seventeenth-century brick- 

 work, with small entrance doorways on the east and 

 west, marking the site of what was evidently a build- 

 ing of some importance. The nearest station is Potton, 

 3^ miles distant, on a branch of the London and 

 North Western Railway. Biggleswade station on the 

 Great Northern Railway is 4. miles ofF. 



The following thirteenth-century field names have 

 been found : — Blakechistel, Longelenecroft, Swyne- 

 wellehul, Cattesbrayn, Donewynd, Dosshesway, Cross 

 of Warin.' 



At the time of the Survey William 

 MANORS Spec held ETWORTH MANOR, then 

 extended at 9 hides, of the king in chief,' 

 and it continued to be thus held until 1 343,* when Ed- 

 ward le Despenser is described as holding it of the abbot 

 of Warden.' In 1428 the manor was held of the same 

 overlordship," in 1451 the jurors were unable to dis- 

 cover of whom it was held,' and finally by the 

 attainder of Richard Carleton for treason in i486 it 

 returned definitely to the crown.' 



Walter son of William Spec died without issue in 

 1153, and left three sisters as co-heirs, of whom 

 Hadwisa, wife of William de Bussy,' acquired Ey- 

 worth. Previous to 1225 her son William died, when 



two daughters, Cecilia 

 and Maud, became his 

 heirs.'" Ida, daughter 

 of Cecilia, married 

 Robert de Vipont, and 

 Joan, daughter of 

 Maud, married 

 Thomas deGravenel," 

 and the de Viponts 

 and the Gravenels con- 

 tinued to hold in Ey- 

 worth until in 1258 

 John son of Thomas 

 de Gravenel finally 

 transferred his share 

 of the manor to 

 Robert de Vipont, 

 grandson of the above 

 Robert." 



On his death in 

 1265 the manor was 

 divided between his 

 two daughters, Ida 

 wife of Roger Ley- 

 burne, and Isabel wife 



»7 42 Geo. Ill, cap. 42 (Private Act). 



' Returns of Bd. of Agric. (1905). 



» Feet of F. Beds. Mich. 44 Hen. III. 



8 f^.C.H. Beds, i, 247a. 



* Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 1 Edw. I, No. 36a ; 

 1 2 Edw. I, No. 1 7 ; Feud. Aids, i, 24 ; 

 Ca/. ofPaC 1301-7, p. 40. In 1334 an 

 inquisition describes Idonea de Leyburne 

 holding the manor of the bishop of Lincoln 

 by service of one-tenth of a Icnight's fee, but 

 this is probably a confusion of Eyworth 



and Bokland, which latter manor her hus- 

 band held of the bishop. 



' Chan. Inq. p.m. i6 Edw III, No. 49a. 

 No justification has been found of the 

 claims of the abbey to this overlordship, 

 though Walter of Espec, an early lord of 

 Eyworth, founded the abbey in 11 35; 

 Dugdale, Mon. v, 369. Warden made an 

 unsuccessful claim to Eyworth advowson 

 (q.v.) in 1225. 



" Feud. Aids, i, 37. 



230 



' Chan. Inq. p.m. 29 Hen. V, No. 33, 



sPat. iHen.Vn,pt.3,m.2I. 



' Dugdale, Baronage,!, 590. 



" Maitland, Sracton's NoteBk. iii, 107 ; 



Cur. Reg. 85, m. 29 </. William de Bussy 



had a son Bartholomew, who died before 



122;. 



11 Dugdale, Baronage, i, 347, 455 



" Cur. Reg. R. 149, m. 21 ; Feet of F. 



Div. Cos. 42 Hen. Ill, No. 34. 



