CLIFTON HUNDRED 



SHILLINGTON 



Hanscombe End is a district of Shillington, and a 

 family of Hanscombe has been settled in this parish 

 from the thirteenth century. In 1288 Reginald 

 Hanscombe was a suitor at the abbot of Ramsey's 

 court of Shillington, and the name constantly recurs in 

 subsequent court rolls.*' A branch of the family 

 owned land in Great Holwell in the fifteenth and six- 

 teenth centuries,** and in 1537 Robert Hanscombe 

 died in possession of land in Shillington." Descend- 

 ants of this family are at the present day. resident in 

 Shillington. 



Three mills are mentioned in the Domesday Survey 

 as belonging to the abbot of Ramsey in this parish. 

 Of these, one was a broken-down mill in Shilling- 

 ton of no value,** the other two were in Pegsdon, and 

 were worth 27/. 8</. yearly.** A charter of confirma- 

 tion by Henry I to the abbot of Ramsey mentions a 

 mill recently constructed in Shillington,*' so the 

 ruined mill of the Survey may have been restored, but 



The church of ALL SAINTS stands 

 CHURCH on high ground in the midst of the 

 village and is a conspicuous landmark for 

 miles around. It consists of a chancel 37 ft. 6 in. by 

 20 ft. 6 in. with a vaulted crypt beneath its east bay 

 and chapels on both sides of the same length, the 

 north chapel being 13 ft. wide and the south 

 14 ft. 3 in. ; a nave 47 ft. by 20 ft. 6 in. ; north and 

 south aisles of the same length as the nave and the 

 same width as the chapels ; south porch, and western 

 tower 14 ft. 6 in. by 15 ft., all measurements being 

 internal. 



The building is one of great architectural merit, 

 and of unusual design. Its plan is of the simplest, a 

 great clearstoried hall running from end to end, 

 broken only by the wide and lofty chancel arch, and 

 flanked by aisles of the full length. It seems to have 

 been begun from the east about the year 1300, 

 without reference to any previously existing building 



m 'i4"'Centu5/: 



m IS* 



^ Modern. . 



'& LJ .f Ul Uffe 



icale oP feet. 



Plan of All Saints' Church, Shillington 



one mill only appears to have survived beyond the 

 fifteenth century. This mill is first mentioned in a 

 lease, dated 1265, by Ralph de Tyville to the abbot 

 of Ramsey, and is described as being near the bridge 

 of ' Watewale.' ** At the Dissolution Whatwell Mill, 

 as it was called, became crown property with the 

 other possessions of the abbey ; it formed part of the 

 dower of Anne wife of James I, who in 1 6 1 2 granted 

 it to Edward Ferrers.** In 1341 a mill is mentioned 

 as belonging to the manor of Little Holwell in the 

 parish of Shillington, which Nicholas de Holwell at 

 that date transferred to John Avenel.*" 



In the thirteenth century mention has been found 

 of a park at Shillington on the occasion of a release 

 by William le Coynte and Alice his wife to the abbot 

 of Ramsey of their right in land within the bounds of 

 the park.*' 



on the site, unless the difference in width between the 

 aisles is to be attributed to some arrangement of the 

 older church. The crypt under the east bay of the 

 chancel, made necessary by the rapid eastward fall of 

 the ground, points to the fact that the former chancel 

 did not extend so far eastward as the present, but 

 nothing more can be said of it, and the only fragment 

 which seems to be preserved is part of a thirteenth- 

 century capital of good style, now lying in the crypt. 

 In 1333" Bishop Burghersh of Lincoln issued a 

 commission to compel the parishioners of Shillington 

 to repair the nave of their church, from which it 

 would appear that the rector had already rebuilt 

 the chancel by this time and that the parishioners 

 were slow to do the same to their portion of the 

 church. The nave details follow those of the chancel, 

 and there is little sign of any pause in the work, such 



82 ct. R. ptfo. 179, No. 5. 

 88 Cal. Inj. p.m. Hen. Vll, No. 1029 ; 

 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), v, No. J. 



34 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxx, No. 7. 



85 V.C.H. Beds, i, 229*. 



86 Ibid. 228A. 



87 Cart. Ramesei. (Rolls Ser.), 



88 Add. Chart. 33052. 



297 



8» Pat. 9 Jas. I, pt. 9. 

 ™ Feet of F. Beds. 16 Edw. Ill, m. 13. 

 246. 81 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A. 9129. 



'2 Line. Epis. Reg. Burghersh, fol. 26;. 



38 



