A HISTORY OF BEDFORDSHIRE 



Higham, which was involved in the dispute between 

 Richard Gobion and his mother Maud in 1279. 

 Maud held a third of the mill in dower, and the men 

 of her manor of Streatley were accustomed to do suit 

 and to grind their corn there.'' At Richard's death 

 in 1300, the mill, called a water-mill, was worth 



The abbey of Woburn possessed a small estate m 

 Higham, which, together with land in Potsgrove, was 

 worth £3 13/. 7^a'. in 1291 ;" in 1337 the value of 

 the holding was the same.'' There is no further 

 record of this property. 



There were apparently two other manors in this 

 parish, which by 161 3 had amalgamated, and were 

 always afterwards known as the manor of WESTHET 

 A'ND FALDO. Of these the manor of Faldo owed 

 its name to the family of Faldo or Keynes of Faldo. 

 William de Faldo and Cecilia his wife owned land 

 in Higham Gobion in 1245," and the heirs of 

 the former in 1 302 held I hide of Ralph Butler for 

 the fifth part of a knight's fee.** This estate, which 

 is mentioned for the first time as a manor in 1336, 

 was still held at that date of Ralph Butler," but the 

 overlordship is not again mentioned. 



In 1312 William son of William de Keynes of 

 Faldo and Joan, probably a grandson of the original 

 holder, defended his mother in an action which she 

 brought against Robert Michel, concerning her dower 

 of 10 marks of annual rent paid from her tenants in 

 Higham, Faldo, and elsewhere.*" This William 

 joined the earl of Lancaster's rebellion in 1322, and 

 his estates were forfeited ; but he was afterwards par- 

 doned, and his possessions were restored to his heir in 

 1324, William's death having occurred in the in- 

 terval." This heir, another William Keynes, died 

 in 1336, leaving as his co-heiresses his four aunts, 

 Christina, Emma, Alice, and Margery.*' Alice, who 

 at that date was married to Roger Foliot, appears to 

 have married as her second husband Ralph Fitz 

 Richard, with whom, in 1389, she made a settlement 

 of two parts of the manor,*' which here appears for 

 the first time in conjunction with the manor of West- 

 hey, of which no earlier record has been found.** 

 There is no further mention of the manor of Faldo 

 until 1 61 3, when it reappears with Westhey as one 

 manor.*' The latter manor, which in 1389 was in 

 the possession of Ralph and Alice Fitz Richard, had 

 come into the hands of Ralph and Elizabeth Hamelyn 

 by 1408,*° and in 1485 it was the property of 

 Thomas Bassingboum,*' who in 1 500, with his wife 

 Katherine, alienated the manor to Sir Reginald Bray.*' 

 The manor for a short time was held by the Brays, 

 with the manor of Haynes (q.v.).*' Sir Edmund 

 Bray, the nephew of Sir Reginald, probably alienated 

 the manor to the descendants of his mother and her 



Sable three 



first husband Isaac ap Rys, or Aprice,'" as by 1559 

 it was in the possession of William Aprice,*' a grand- 

 son of Isaac and Jane Aprice. William in that year 

 made a settlement of the manor on his sons in tail 

 male, and it passed to his eldest son Robert, who was 

 lord in 1604." In 161 3 Robert united with his 

 brothers Edmund and John to 

 alienate the manor to Francis 

 Crawley, the amalgamation of 

 the manors having apparently 

 taken place before this date." 

 Francis Crawley or his de- 

 scendants " evidently conveyed 

 the manor to the Crowch 

 family, for Samuel Crowch was 

 holding it in 1656." The 

 latter, with his wife Mary 

 and several relatives, sold the 

 manor in the same year to 

 Anthony Samwell,** who did not retain it for long, 

 for in 1662 he, with his wife Anne, his son WiOiam 

 and his brother Arthur, alienated the manor to 

 Thomas Halfpenny." It re- 

 mained in the Halfpenny 

 family for about sixty years. 

 Thomas, dying in 1684," was 

 succeeded by his son Thomas, 

 sheriff for Bedfordshire in 

 1685," who, with his wife 

 Mary, owned the manorial 

 rights in 1702.* Bernard, 

 probably a son of Thomas, 

 alienated the manor in 1725 

 to Sir George Byng, Lord 

 Torrington," whose grandson 

 George was holding it in 



1762.'' After that date there is no trace of the 

 manorial rights, which probably lapsed, but the manor- 

 house still exists, and is known as Faldo Farm. 



The church of ST. MART or ST. 

 CHURCH MARGARET has a chancel 28 ft. by 

 14 ft. 4 in., nave 43 ft. by 18 ft. 8in., 

 with a north aisle which is merely a passage 2 ft. 

 wide, and west tower 1 1 ft. square within the walls. 

 The whole has been much modernized. The tower 

 and north aisle having fallen into a ruinous state, the 

 tower arch and north arcade were blocked up with 

 masonry until 1880, when they were reopened and 

 the tower rebuilt without a spire, which it formerly 

 possessed, while in the case of the north aisle, the 

 present narrow passage took the place of an aisle. 

 The east wail of the chancel was also rebuilt, the 

 present modern three-light window being inserted. 

 In the north wall of the chancel is a window of 

 two trefoiled lights, with tracery in the head of 



Btng. Quarterly sable 

 and argent tvith a lion 

 argent in the quarter. 



88 De Banco R. 28, m. 59. 

 8^ Chan. Inq. p.m. 29 Edw. I, No. 49. 

 85 Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 4.9. 

 88 Cal. of Fat. 1334-8, p. 493. 



87 Excerpta e Rot. Fin. i, 434. 



88 Feud. Aids, i, 14. 



89 Chan. Inq. p.m. 10 Edw. Ill (ist 

 Nos.), 37. 



« Harl. Chart. 52, C. 53. 



" Cal. of Close, 1323-7, p. 60. 



^"Chan. Inq. p.m. 10 Edw. Ill (1st 

 Nos.), No. 37. 



<8 Feet of F. Beds. 13 Ric. II, No. 6. 



" Chan. Inq. p.m. 29 Edw. I, No. 49. 

 In 1300 a Thomas de Westhey owed suit 

 of court to Richard Gobion for 1 messuage 



and J virgate, which he held of the manor 

 of Higham Gobion, and this small estate 

 may probably have afterwards developed 

 into the manor of Westhey. 



<8 Feet of F. Beds. Mich. 1 1 Jas. I. 



« Ibid. Beds. 9 Hen. IV, No. 22. 



*7 Anct. D., D. 669. 



«Fcet of F. Beds. 15 Henry VII. 

 Katherine afterwards received her dowry 

 out of the purchase money ; Ct. of Re- 

 quests, bdle. 10, No. 117. 



^9 Close 2 Hen. VIII, m. 30 ; Feet 

 of F. Div. Cos. Mich. 2 Hen. VIII. 



'9 Lipscombe, Buds, iv, 126. 



«l Feet of F. Div. Cos. Mich, i Eliz. 



'" Ibid. Div. Cos. Hil. 2 Jas. I. 



^ Ibid. Beds. Mich. 1 1 Jas. I. 



8< Blaydes, Beds. N. and Q. iii, 50. In 

 1627 Edward Crawley died seised of lands 

 in Westhey, which he left to his eldest 

 son Thomas, but the manor may have 

 been alienated before this. 



" Feet of F. Beds. Trin. 1656. 



" Ibid. Beds. Mich. 1656. 



«' Ibid. Beds. Trin. 14 Chas. II ; Baker, 

 Northants, i, 224. 



'8 Blaydes, Beds. N. and Q. iii, tt6. 



" Ibid, i, 207. 



68 Feet of F. Div. Cos. Trin. i Anne ; 

 Recov. R. Trin. i Anne, rot. 213. 



8' Ibid. Trin. n Geo. I, rot. 147. 



«2 Ibid. Hil. 2 Geo. Ill, rot. 200. 



