A HISTORY OF BEDFORDSHIRE 



HOLWELL 



Holewelle (xi cent.). 



The parish of Holwell has an area of 892 J acres, 

 almost the whole of which is arable land.' The soil 

 is stiiF clay, the subsoil, clay ; the principal crops are 

 oats, barley, beans, and peas. The land slopes from 

 a height of 235 ft. above the ordnance datum in the 

 south-west to 1 70 ft. in the north-east. It has been 

 transferred, since the survey of 1 8 3 1 , from Bedford- 

 shire to Hertfordshire. 



The country is open and level, traversed from 

 north to south by the main road from Shefford to 

 Hitchin, and the few houses which form the village 

 stand, together with the church and vicarage, at a 

 little distance to the west of the road. In the 

 south-east corner of the parish is a small group of 

 houses, known as Cadwell, and on the northern 

 boundary is Holwellbury, the only considerable build- 

 ing in the parish, with Old Ramerick Farm at a little 

 distance to the west. This last is apparently but a 

 fragment of a larger building, formerly of some 

 importance. 



Two small streams, tributaries of the Hiz, run 

 across the parish from west to east, and the main line 

 of the Great Northern Railway cuts through the 

 eastern side, beyond the line of the main road, the 

 nearest station being at Henlow. 



The house at Old Ramerick has an eighteenth- 

 century red brick front, but at the back, and also in 

 one of the barns, there are remains of old stonework. 

 The manor of HOLWELL originated 

 MANOR in a charter of King Edgar, bearing date 

 968, and granting land in Holwell to the 

 abbey of St. Peter of Westminster, which was con- 

 firmed in 1066 by Edward the Confessor when the 

 land is described as 6\ hides.' At the Domesday 

 Survey in 1086 the abbot of Westminster held a 

 manor of the above extent in Holwell.' In the 

 thirteenth century this manor was assessed for scutage 

 at 9 marks yearly,' and included 6 hides,' and in 1490 

 Thomas Peyton held it of the abbey by service of £6 

 yearly," but no further trace has been found of the 

 overlordship, and it is not mentioned in the Valor 

 Ecdesiasticus as belonging to Westminster Abbey. 



The earliest lords of Holwell Manor, the Malories, 

 are found settled in Holwell from the twelfth century 

 holding their lands from the abbey of Westminster. 

 A charter of John's reign contains the grant of half 

 a virgate in Holwell from Simon Malory to his 

 nephew Simon son of Robert.' Alice Malory, pos- 

 sibly the wife of the younger Simon, made good her 

 claim to half a virgate here in 1228.' In 1241 

 Robert Malory held Holwell, described for the first 



time as a manor," and a few years later was suc- 

 ceeded by his son John," who justified his claim to 

 Holwell by descent from one Bertram Malory." 

 John Malory held Holwell Manor in 13 16," and 

 the family evidently retained the lordship, for in 

 1357 Simon Francis was holding land in Holwell of 

 John Malory by service of suit of court.''' Eleanor 

 the daughter of a late John Malory married Sir John 



Malort. Or a lion 

 guUs vjith a forked tail. 



Peyton. Sable 

 cross engrailed or. 



Bernard of Islesham," who in 1464 placed this manor 

 in the hands of trustees," preliminary to settlement 

 on his daughter Margaret who married Thomas 

 Peyton." Thomas Peyton, son of the above Thomas, 

 died in possession of the manor in 1490 and left a 

 brother Robert as his heir." Though there is little 

 documentary evidence, this family appears to have 

 continued to hold Holwell manor, for in 1 561 it 

 was in the possession of Thomas Peyton," who in 

 1564 finally alienated it to Robert Ivory." John 

 Ivory, probably son of Robert, held the manor in 

 1600 "and was followed by William Ivory who in 

 1656 alienated the manor to Thomas Stoneylove." 

 He transferred it in 1673 to George Nodes,** by 

 whose son George it was alienated in 1 704 to Ralph 

 Wingate and Robert Raworth." This manor sub- 

 sequently passed to the Foresters, though no record 

 of the transfer has been found, and in 1765 Baldwin 

 Leighton, nephew of Diana Forester, sold it to John 

 Radcliffe." 



He died without issue in 1783, and was succeeded 

 by Mr. Delme who had married his niece Anne 

 Clarke." The manor then passed to Henry Delm6 

 Radcliffe, their son,'° who died childless in 1830, 

 and was succeeded by his brother Frederick Peter, 

 whose son Francis Delmd Radcliffe is at the present 

 day lord of the manor." 



In the fourteenth century the family of Spigurnel 

 held land in Holwell, of which the first mention is 

 found in 1 309 when Henry Spigurnel received a 

 charter of free warren here." In 1386 William son 



I Return of the Bd. of Agric. 1905. 



» Cott. MSS. Titus, A. viii, fol. 4A ; vi, 

 fol. z i Faust. A. iii, fol. 17. 

 8 F.C.H. Beds, i, 2294. 

 ■> Plac. de Quo War. (Rec. Com.), 60. 

 ' testa de Ne-uill (Rec. Com.) 24.3A. 



6 Cal. Im/. Hen. FJI, No. 699. 



7 Cott. MSS. xxvii, fol. 20. 



8 Feet of F. Beds. 12 Hen. Ill, m. 7. 

 »Harl. Chart. 51 D. 14. 



l» Feet of F. Div. Cos. 13-14 Edw. I, 

 No. 28. 



II Plac. de Quo War. (Rec. Com.), 60. 

 Holwell »t this time was held by the 



abbot of Westminster by service of 9 marks 

 yearly, 



1' Feud. Aids, i, 20. 



" Chan. Inq. p.m. 32 Edw. IH, No. 

 33. ^* Harl. Soc. Pukl. xli, i. 



" Close, 5 Edw. IV, m. 21. 



" Ibid. Addenda, m. 21. 



" Cal. In,j. Hen. Vll, No. 699. 



" Feet of F. Div. Cos. Hil. 4 Eliz. 



" Ibid. Trin. 6 Eliz. 



"" Ibid. Beds. Mich. 42 Eliz. ; Recov. 

 R. Mich. 42 Eliz. rot. 105. 



»l Feet of F. Beds. Trin. 1656. 



i"' Ibid. Mich. 25 Chas. II. 



286 



" Ibid. Mich. 3 Anne. 



*• Feet of F. Beds. East. 5 Geo. Ill ; 

 Close, 5 Geo. Ill, pt. 9, No. 21. 



^"5 Lysons, Mag. Brit, i, 95. Mr. Delmi 

 assumed the name of Radcliffe by royal 

 licence. 



* Recov. R. Hil. 5 & 6 Geo. IV, rot. 



^' Burke, Landed Gentry. 



^ Chart. R. 3 Edw. II, m. 11, No. 33. 

 In 1 3 14 John Blundell and Thomas Spig- 

 urnel conveyed to Henry Spigurnel mes- 

 suages and lands here and elsewhere (Feet 

 of F. Beds. 7 Edw. II, m. 5). 



