A HISTORY OF BEDFORDSHIRE 



sold it again to Sir Robert Pearce Edgcumbe, who in 

 1905 sold it to Mr. Walter Graves, the present owner." 



The hill portion of the estate was bought by Sir 

 William Peel, and at his death in 1858 passed to his 

 mother, widow of Sir Robert 

 Peel, who died in the follow- 

 ing year, when the property 

 passed to her youngest son. 

 Viscount Peel, who owns it at 

 the present day. 



All manorial rights appear 

 to be in abeyance.'* 



A second manor in Sandy, 

 known after the Dissolution 

 as HJSELLS MANOR, be- 

 longed to the priory of Chick- 

 sands. In 1291 the prior of 

 Chicksands owned the grange 

 of ' Heyseles,' worth ^^l 1 5/.," 

 and in 1 3 1 6 the priory of 

 Chicksands rendered feudal 



service for lands in Sandy." The temporalities of 

 Chicksands Priory in Sandy were worth £6 in 1 5 3 7," 

 when they lapsed to the crown on the dissolution of 

 the priory. In 1542 Henry VIII granted Hasells 

 manor to Francis Pygott,*" who in the same year 

 alienated it to Robert Burgoyne," and in 1635 John 

 Burgoyne, probably a grandson, transferred it to 

 William Britain." 



In 1 71 2 Baron Britain, grandson of the above 

 John, sold the manor to Keylock Kingsley," whose 

 daughter and heiress married William Pym in 1748," 



Peel, Viscount Peel. 

 Argent three sheaves of 

 arroius banded gules and 

 a chief azure "with a bee 

 or flying therein 'with the 

 difference of a martlet. 



KiNGSLET. Vert a 

 cross engrailed argent. 



Pym. Sable a fesse 

 between three otvls or 

 vjith three crosslets sable 

 on the fesse. 



and their direct descendant Francis Pym is at the 

 present day lord of Hasells manor." 



The hamlet of GIRTFORD, of which no mention 

 is made in Domesday, gives its name to a manor, 

 which in the first instance belonged to Caldwell 

 Priory. The original grant to the priory has not 



been found, but an early thirteenth-century grant 

 exists made by Henry son of Hugh of Sandy to the 

 priory .'° In 1291 the prior of Caldwell owned 

 lands and rents in Girtford and other places worth 

 £■} lit. lod,," and an exemplification of a certificate 

 of the treasurer and barons of the Exchequer made in 

 1342 at the request of William de Souldrop, the 

 prior, shows that the priory possessed lands and rents 

 in Girtford.** At the dissolution of the priory it 

 held lands to the value of 58/. in Girtford," and in 

 1541 Henry VIII granted Girtford manor and 

 grange to John Burgoyne,*" who in 1562 received 

 licence to alienate it to Edward Cosyn." Between 

 that year and 1 614 the manor passed to William earl 

 of Salisbury, who in the latter year sold it to Francis 

 Lord Russell," who in 161 8 alienated Girtford to 

 John Taylor and Alice his wife." The latter, being 

 left a widow, married Oliver Bromhall, who in addi- 

 tion to the manor thus acquired, also purchased fur- 

 ther land in Girtford.** Oliver Bromhall, their son, 

 sold the manor to Jasper Edwards, chief registrar in 

 the High Court of Chancery, in 1657." His son 

 Richard Edwards transferred the property in 1695 to 

 Robert Pulleyn of St. Neots, who sold it in 1 741 to 

 Heylock Kingsley.** Through the marriage of his 

 daughter with William Pym it passed to that family, 

 and has since followed the same descent as Hasells 

 manor (q.v.)." 



Two mills are mentioned in Sandy at the time of 

 the Survey of 1086, their value was 50/., and they 

 were both attached to the manor of Eudo Dapifer." 

 One of these, a water-mill, remained attached to the 

 Sandy manor, and is mentioned in an extent of 141 2, 

 when its value was 13/. 4</'.,'° and again in 1677."° 



One reference only has been found to the other 

 mill, when in 1 2 1 8 Henry son of William granted 

 2 virgates of land and a mill in Sandy to Henry 

 son of Hugh." 



To the lords of Sandy manor belonged the right to 

 hold a view of frankpledge twice yearly within the 

 manor.** William de Beauchamp also claimed a 

 charter of free warren here in 1276,** and this right 

 was claimed by later lords." In 1670 the manor 

 included a parcel of land called the Warren contain-, 

 ing 1,300 acres, and the free warren and game of 

 coneys within the manor." 



The church of ST. SWITHUN has a 

 CHURCH chancel 46 ft. 8 in. by 1 8 ft., with north 

 vestry and south chapel ; north transept 

 25 ft. by 18 ft. ; south transept, 24 ft. by 18 ft. ; 

 nave, 44 ft. by 23 ft. 2 in. ; with north aisle I oft. 

 wide and south aisle 9 ft. wide, both of the same 

 length as the nave, and west tower 1 3 ft. 8 in. by 



8* Information supplied by Mr. Ran- 

 som. At the time of Sir Robert Edg- 

 cumbe's purchase in 1877 this portion of 

 the estate only included 20 acres. 



8« Ibid. 



87 Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 49A. 



88 Feud. Aids, i, 19. 



89 Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv, 194. 

 *" Pat. 33 Hen. VIII, pt. 2, m. i. 



« Feet of F. Beds. Trin. 33 Hen. VIII. 



<2 Feet of F. Beds. Trin. 1 1 Chas. I j 

 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxxxi. No. 

 166. The extent of the manor is here 

 given as 150 acres of land, 10 acres of 

 meadow, 40 acres of pasture, 15 acres of 

 wood, and 41. of rent, and the manor was 

 held of the king in chief by knight's ser- 

 vice and rent of 13s. 5j</. 



« Feet of F. Beds. Mich. 8 Geo. I ; Ly- 

 eons, Mag. Brit, i, 168. 



** Beds. N. andQ. ii, 152. 



^* Lysons, Mag. Brit., i, 168 ; Recov. 

 R. Mich. 29 Geo. Ill j Trin. 56 Geo. III. 



« Harl. Chart. 83, B.43. This Henry 

 son of Hugh is the same who in 12x8 re- 

 ceived 2 virgates of land and a mill in 

 Sandy from Henry son of William (Feet 

 of F. Beds. 3 Hen. Ill, No. 8). 



*^ Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 50. 



*8 Cal. of Pat, 1340-3, p. 371. 



" Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv, 189. 



8» Pat. 32 Hen. VIII, pt. I. 



'1 Ibid. 4 Eliz. pt. 9. 



'^ Close II Jas. I, pt. 34, No. 12. 



«8 Feet of F. Beds. East. 15 Jas. I. 



" Harl. Soc. Publ, xix, 87 ; Feet of F. 



244 



Beds. Hil. 18 Jas. I i Hil. 6 Chas. I j Harl. 

 Chart. 112 E. 37 i Add. Chart. 1000. 



" Feet of F. Beds. Hil. 1657. Oliver 

 Bromhall had married Eleanor daughter of 

 Jasper Edwards in 1635 (Blaydes, Gen. 

 Bed. 6). 



'« Add. MSS. 9408. 



S7 Ibid.; Recov. R. Mich. 29 Geo. Ill : 

 Trin. 56 Geo. III. 



" V.C.H.Beds.i,z'i^a. 



" Chan. Inq. p.m. 9 Hen. V, No. 23. 



8» Recov. R. Hil. 29-30, Chas. II. 



81 Feet of F. Beds. 3 Hen. Ill, No. 8. 



»» Plac. de Quo War. (Rec. Com.), 4, e i. 



88 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 3. 



8< Feet of F. Beds. Mich. 14 Eliz. ; 

 Recov. R. Hil. 29-30 Chas. II. 



8" Close 21 Chas. II, pt. 10, No. 24. 



