A HISTORY OF BEDFORDSHIRE 



The de Grey chapel contains a long series of monu- 

 ments, the oldest being those in the western wing, 

 which is also the oldest part of the chapel, c. 1614, 

 the eastern parts having been added in 1705. The 

 earliest monument is that of Henry Grey, fifth earl of 

 Kent, 1 6 14, and Mary (Cotton) his countess ; their 

 alabaster effigies lie on a panelled altar tomb, and 

 above is a cornice with heraldry, and two marble panels 

 with inscriptions. Next to their tomb on the east is 

 that of Henry, ninth earl, 165 1, and his countess 

 Arabella, 1658, of white marble. Other monuments 

 here are those of Lady Elizabeth Talbot, 165 1 ; Lady 

 Jane Hart, 1673 ; and slabs to Charles Grey, 1623, 

 and his son Henry, 1639. In the north transept of 

 the chapel are the tombs of Henrietta de Grey, 1703, 

 and Henry de Grey, 1 7 1 7, and at the crossing those 

 'f Amabel de Grey, 1727, and Anne, 1770. In the 

 south transept lie Thomas Philip, Earl de Grey, 

 • 1859, and Henrietta de Grey, 1805. In the east 

 wing are the monuments of Henry, duke of Kent and 

 Marquess de Grey, 1740, Jemima de Grey, 1728; 

 Sophia, 1748 ; Ann Sophia, 1780 ; Philip, earl of 

 Hardwicke, 1 790 ; and his wife Jemima, Marchioness 

 de Grey in her own right, 1797 ; Amabel, their 

 daughter. Countess de Grey, 1 8 3 3 , and her sister, Mary, 

 Baroness Grantham, 1830. There is also a brass, 

 removed from the church, to Harry Gray, son of 

 George, earl of Kent, 1545, with a large quartered 

 shield above an armed figure. 



There are five bells, the treble by Bowell of Ipswich, 

 1904; the second, and third by the same founder, 

 190Z ; and the remaining three by Richard Chandler 

 of Drayton Parslow, 1687. 



The plate consists of a cup and standing paten of 

 1838, given by Earl de Grey in 1846, a plated 

 flagon given in 1 8 3 1 , and two pewter almsdishes. 



The first book of the registers begins in 1591 and 

 goes to 1665 ;the second runs from 1653 to 1685, 

 and the third begins in 1678 and contains burials to 

 1718, baptisms 1637 to 1719, and marriages 1689 to 

 1720. The fourth book has baptisms and burials 

 1762 to 1783, and the fifth the same to 181 3. The 

 sixth is the printed marriage register 1754-69, and 

 the sixth its continuation to 1813. There are several 

 fragments of churchwardens' accounts, the earliest 

 being of 1632, and several lists of parish rates from 

 1598. There is also an early printed brief of 1580 

 for the repair of the haven of ' CoUiton ' in Devon. 



Until the Dissolution in 1536 the 

 ADV0W50N church of Flitton belonged to the 

 abbey of Elstow,"* but the date of 

 the gift and the name of the benefactor are not known. 

 In the time of Pope Alexander III, 11 59-8 1, the 

 right of presentation already belonged to the abbey, 

 and the bishop of Ely, by the mandate of the pope, 

 settled a dispute over the churches of Pulloxhill 

 and Flitton which arose between Dunstable Priory 

 and Elstow Abbey.'" Flitton vicarage is said to be 

 one of the earliest to be ordained in Bedfordshire."' 

 In 1 29 1 the church was worth £,%™ and in 1535 the 

 value of the church and chapel had increased to 

 [^\l 6/. 81/., out of which the abbey had to pay a 



"» In 1 316 and 1428 Elstow Abbey 

 held small portions of knighti' fees in Flit- 

 ton. ™Harl. MS. 1885, fol. 23A. 



^^ hiler Anttqum, 20. 



"» Fopc Nkh. Tux. (Rec. Com.), 35. 



"» Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv, 188-9. 



w< Pat. 38 Hen. VIII, pt. 8, m. 19; 

 Inst. Bk>. P.R.O. 



332 



pension of 40/. to the vicar of Flitton.'" The church 

 became crown property after the Dissolution, the king 

 presenting in 1 541, but in 1 546 it was bestowed upon 

 the dean and chapter of Christ Church College, Ox- 

 ford, who own the right of presentation at the present 

 time.'" Since the beginning of the nineteenth century, 

 however, the advowson has been held on lease from 

 the college by the de Greys of Wrest, Lord Lucas and 

 Dingwall being the present lessee.'" 



The Committee for Plundered Ministers increased 

 the value of the living in 1646 out of the rectorial 

 tithes of Luton, sequestered from Sir Robert Napier, a 

 delinquent ; it was then ordered that ;^50 annually 

 should be paid for the maintenance of the minister of 

 Flitton and Silsoe, as his stipend was only ^^35 and 

 there were two churches with 340 communicants."* 

 The vicar at this time was one William Ramsey, 

 instituted in 1628, who on 17 January, 1645, was sum- 

 moned to appear the following April before the 

 Committee of Plundered Ministers at Westminster, to 

 answer a charge of drunkenness ; he failed to appear, and, 

 on 1 1 May, 1 647, was proved to be a common drunk- 

 ard.'" In 1655 the vicar was ejected for refusing to 

 conform to the standards of Presbyterianism, but never- 

 theless he maintained an obstinate resistance, and for 

 a long time remained in the parsonage.'" 



There was a free chapel of St. Leonard in Silsoe 

 appendant to the mother church at Flitton ; the 

 earliest mention of it occurs in the Liber Antiquus 

 (1209-35) of Bishop Hugh Wells, in which it is 

 stated that it belonged to the abbey of Elstow, but 

 the exact date of the foundation is unknown.'" In 

 the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries two chantries 

 were founded in the chapel by Thomas de Bray and 

 Ralph Fitz Richard, who owned Newbury manor. 

 The former of these was founded in 1 275 '" andin 1 290 

 Thomas de Bray increased the endowment by grant- 

 ing one messuage of land and rent in Silsoe to the chap- 

 lain there.'" The chantry of Ralph Fitz Richard was 

 endowed in 1327 with one messuage and rent in 

 Silsoe,'^' and John de Grey was also a benefactor, for 

 in 131 1 he bestowed one messuage and 5 marks rent 

 in Flitton, Silsoe, and Wrest upon the chantry.'" 

 Between i486 and 1493 the chapel was the occasion 

 of a dispute between Richard Hyncman, priest, and 

 Thomas Eymewe. The former had agreed to resign 

 the chapel to John Eymewe in return for an annuity 

 of 1 00/. to be paid by Thomas Eymewe. The plaintiff 

 having fulfilled his part of the contract, the drfendant 

 refused to carry through his, and also brought an action 

 of trespass against Richard Hyneman in the name of one 

 Symgwyn, then master of the free chapel.'" In 1535 

 Hugh Maney, the rector of Maulden, was also minis- 

 ter of this chapel, and stated its value to be £3 10/."* 

 while Edward Philips, the vicar of Flitton, affirmed 

 'Ji^t Ll 9-'- l^- was paid out of his vicarage to the 

 chapel as the salary of the minister.'^* In 1539 

 Humphrey Warren, the son of Thomas and Elizabeth 

 Warren, sold the reversion of the advowson of the 

 chapel to Edmund Conquest, together with the chapel 

 of Norwood manor, which at that time was held by 

 his parents.'" This chapel was dissolved under the 



'«» Line. Epis. Reg. Rolls of Graveiend. 



"' Inq a.q.d. file xv. No. lo. 



"" Ibid, file cxiv, No. i. 



'" Ibid, file Ixxxviii, No. 5. 



"< Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 96, No. 19. 



'« Vahr Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv, 202. 



"« Ibid. 214. 



'«" Close, 31 Hen. VIII, pt. 2, No. 51. 



"* Lysons, Mag. Brit, i, 86 j Clergy List 

 for 1907. 



'»« Blaydei, Bids. N. ind 

 345- 



"7 From information 

 Mr. Ransom. 



^^ KC.H. Beds.i, 342. 



"' Liber Antiquus, 20 . 



Q. iii, 

 supplied b^ 



