A HISTORY OF BEDFORDSHIRE 



STOTFOLD 



Stolfalt (xi cent.) ; Stodfald (xii cent.) ; Stotfeld 

 (xlv cent ). 



The parish of Stotfold has an area of 2,398 acres, 

 of which ijSgoJ are arable land, 302^- permanent 

 grass, and 8 woods and plantations.' The soil 

 is light clay with beds 

 of gravel, the subsoil 

 gault. The chief crops 

 are wheat, barley, 

 beans, and potatoes and 

 market-garden produce 

 generally. The parish 

 is watered by the River 

 Ivel. The general slope 

 is from south to north, 

 the highest point at- 

 tained above the ord- 

 nance datum being 

 250 ft., the lowest 

 131ft. Stotfold Com- 

 mon, of considerable 

 extent, lies in the north 

 of the parish. The 

 road from Baldock to 

 Biggleswade, possibly of 

 Roman origin, runs 

 along the east boundary 

 on a slight rise, the 

 levels falling westward, 

 and is joined in the 

 south-east angle of the 



parish by the main road to Arlesey and ShefFord, 

 which runs in a north-westerly direction. The upper 

 part of the course of the Ivel, which rises at a little 

 distance over the county boundary near Baldock, lies 

 in the parish, which is also crossed by another stream. 

 The surface generally is flat, and the village lies about 

 the middle of the parish, spreading over a considerable 

 area just north of the line of the Arlesey road. The 

 church stands on the east, with the vicarage to the 

 north-east, and the outlying parts of the village to the 

 north and south are known as Stotfold Green and 

 Brook End. There are many old cottages, but no 

 buildings of much architectural interest. In the west 

 of the parish, near the Arlesey border, stands the 

 Three Counties Asylum, the most conspicuous object 

 in the district. No railway passes through Stotfold, 

 and the nearest station is Arlesey, on the main line of 

 the Great Northern Railway, two miles to the east of 

 the village. The following thirteenth-century place- 

 names have been found in Stotfold : — Wycklond, 

 Oxemordene, Whichemorhal, Blakemanlond, Solte- 

 stockes, Chepyngwey.' 



At the time of the Domesday Survey 

 MANORS the large and important manor of STOT- 

 FOLD BRjrES, then assessed at 15 

 hides, was held by Hugh de Beauchamp of the king 



in chief, and had formerly been held by Anschil, a 

 thegn of King Edward. It contained four mills, and 

 was worth ^^25.^ This manor continued to belong 

 to the Beauchamps * as part of the barony of Bedford 

 until it passed by the marriage of Maud, daughter and 



Stotfold Church, from South-east 



one of the co-heiresses of William Beauchamp, into 

 the hands of Roger de Moubray, who died in 1266.' 

 Their son Roger succeeded them, and was followed 

 by a son John.' He married Aliva, daughter of 

 William de Braose, and settled Stotfold manor on the 

 latter for life.' John de Moubray joined the insur- 

 rection of Thomas earl of Lancaster in 1 32 1, and 

 being made prisoner at the battle of Boroughbridge 

 he was hanged at York soon after. In the same year 

 a grant was made to Hugh le Despenser the younger 

 and Eleanor his wife of the ' manor of Stotfold which 

 William de Braose held for life 

 and John de Moubray for- 

 feited.' ' Hugh le Despenser 

 held the manor until his at- 

 tainder in 1326, when his 

 estates escheated to the crown. 

 The manor in 1327 reverted 

 to John de Moubray, son of 

 the above John, hanged at 

 York, all the lands held by his 

 father being granted to him 

 ' in consideration of the ser- 

 vices of his ancestors to the 



king's progenitors, and of the services that the king 

 believes he will render to him in the future.' ' John 



Moubray. 

 Uon argent. 



1 Statistics from Bd. of Agric (1905), 



SHarl. MSS. 3656, fol. 208. 



8 F.C.H. Beds, i, 238a. 



* Cf. overlordship of Astwick, 



' Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 2 ; Cal of 

 Pat. 1272-81, p. 236 ; G.E.C. Complete 

 Peerage, Maud married again Roger Les- 



trange of EUesmere, who held Stotfold 

 manor in his wife's right. 



8 Plac. de Quo War. (Rec. Com.), 1 1 ; 

 Feud. Aids, i, 12. 



f Ibid, i, 20 ; Inq. a. q.d. 9 Edw. II, 

 No. 129 ; Feet of F. Div. Cos. 9 & 10 

 Edw. II, No. 14.9 ; Cal. of Pat. 1313-17, 



300 



p. 467 ; Ahhrev. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), i, 

 23P ; Anct. D. (P.R.O.) A. loi. 



* Cal. of Pat. 1321-14, p. 129 ; 1324.. 

 27, p. 133 ; Anct. D. (P.R.O.) A. 98, loi. 



9 Chart. R. 19 Edw. II, No. 14 ; Chan. 

 Inq. p.m. 1 Edw. Ill, No. 87 ; Cal. of 

 Close, 1327-30, p. 152. 



