A HISTORY OF BEDFORDSHIRE 



SRJCHE MANOR undoubtedly belonged at one 

 time to the royal manor of Luton, for whilst the lat- 

 ter was in the possession of William Marshal earl of 

 Pembroke (who held Luton between 12 14 and 1231) 

 he granted a yearly rent of ios. from his mill at Brache 

 to St. Paul's Cathedral for prayers for the soul of his 

 late wife Alice de Bethune."' By 1282 it had be- 

 come the property of the Kcndales, who held it of the 

 heirs of Joan de Mohun,'" for in that year Jordan 

 de Kendale granted to Andrew de la Brache lands 

 in Brache for his life.'" After the acquisition 

 of Woodcroft manor by Robert de Kendale in 

 1 3 10 it followed the same descent as that manor (q.v.) 

 until the sixteenth century. It is called a manor in 

 1 5 3 1 '" when it was held by William Markham in 

 right of his wife Frances, daughter of William 

 Cockayne.'" In 1576 a preliminary settlement of 

 Brache manor on George Rotherham was made by 

 Francis Markham, probably their son,'" and another 

 settlement in 1585 on the same by John Markham,'" 

 which appears to have taken effect, for George 

 Rotherham held the manor in 1595.'" In 1602 

 John Rotherham transferred it with other manors to 

 Robert Napier, and it has since followed the same 

 descent as Luton manor (q.v.), of which it is a mem- 

 ber at the present day.'" 



The origin of the manor of DALLOW or 

 DOLLOIV is to be sought in the 5 hides belonging 

 to Luton Church, which in the time of Edward the 

 Confessor belonged to Morcar the priest, but by the 

 time of the Survey had passed to William the Cham- 

 berlain,'" who also held lands in chief at Battlesden, 

 Potsgrove, and Tottemhoe in Bedfordshire. Mr. 

 Cobbe in his history has contended that William 

 the Chamberlain was also a priest, but though 

 he may well have been in minor orders, he held 

 Luton Church with its lands by knight service, and 

 transmitted them to his heirs under the same 

 tenure."* In the reign of King Stephen William Cham- 

 berlain, probably a son of the Domesday tenant, held 

 these lands and Luton Church of Robert earl of 

 Gloucester, and the desire of the latter to put in a 

 kinsman of his own led to the final transference of 

 both the church and the manor which formed its 

 endowment to St. Albans.'" The story is given at 

 some length in the ' Gesta Abbatum.' Robert, earl of 

 Gloucester, wishing to put in his kinsman Gilbert de 

 Cimmay, was greatly shocked at the idea of this 

 church being held by laymen. Alexander, bishop 

 of Lincoln, refused however to dispossess William 

 the Chamberlain without legal forms ; but after three 

 day» had been appointed for the hearing of the case. 



and the defendant refused to appear, he was disseised, 

 and Gilbert de Cimmay was instituted. The fall of 

 Robert of Gloucester put the manor for a time into the 

 hands of Robert de Waudari, a kinsman of the abbot 

 of St. Albans, who was thus able to mediate between 

 him and Gilbert de Cimmay. A serious illness of 

 the latter, combined with the persuasions of the abbot, 

 moved him to resign the benefice into the hands of 

 the archdeacon Nicholas of Bedford ; it was then con- 

 ferred on the abbot's nephew. As soon as William, earl 

 of Gloucester was restored to his father's property the 

 abbot approached him and obtained from him a grant 

 of the church for 80 marks, and a discharge of knight 

 service for another 30 marks. This was confirmed by 

 King Stephen between 1 1 5 1 and 1 1 54, and also by 

 Henry II."» 



The first reference which has been found to Dallow 

 manor as such occurs in 1258, when Godfrey of 

 Biicott and twelve others acknowledged that they had 

 neglected to attend the view of frankpledge held 

 annually at Dallow.'" In 1291 the value of the 

 manor was [j p. 1 d}"' ; and in 1 3 3 1 the abbot 

 claimed view of frankpledge in his manor and a 

 yearly fair in the town of Luton on the Feast of the 

 Assumption.'" At the Disso- 

 lution the manor becamecrown 

 property, and was granted in 

 1 544 to Sir Thomas Bamardis- 

 ton,"* who in 1 586 transferred 

 it to Thomas Crawley.'™ In 

 1606 Richard, his son, by 

 alienating a portion of this 

 manor, divided it into two 

 parts, each of which became 

 known as Dallow manor, and 

 followed a separate descent 

 until the middle of the nine- 

 teenth century, when they 

 again became united in the 

 possession of the Crawley &mily. The first of these 

 fractions, that which included the manor-house and 

 grounds, was sold by Richard Crawley to Richar'd 

 Scudamore in 1 606,'" who in the same year transferred 

 it to Sir John Rotherham,'" by whom it was conveyed 

 in 161 5 to Sir Robert Napier,'" and thus became part 

 of the Luton manor estate (q.v.). It was not sold with 

 that estate, however, in 1 844, but part of it was pur- 

 chased in 1859 from Lord Bute, and the remainder 

 in 1862 from J. Shaw Leigh, by T. Sambrooke 

 Crawley, whose son, Mr. Francis Crawley, holds it at 

 the present day."' 



The other fraction of DaUow manor was sold by 



Crawliy. Or a fail 



gules hervjeen three itorks 

 v>iib three croulett or m 

 thefesse. 



"« MSS. of D. and C. of St. Paul's, 

 Liber A. fol. 2zh, 



'^' The only other reference to the 

 Dverlordship occurs in an inquisition of 

 1375, when it was declared to be held of 

 John and William Loryng (Chan. Inq. 

 p.m. 49 Edw. Ill, pt. I, No. 74). 



1« Feet, of F. Div. Cos. lo Edw. I, 

 No. I. 



**' In 1375 it comprised a messuage, 

 100 acres of arable land, 4 of meadow, 3 

 of wood, and 62J. yearly rent in Luton, 

 and 271. z\d. rent called the Breche (Chan. 

 2nq. p.m. 49 Edw. Ill, pt. i. No. 74). 



"0 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxv. No. 

 3 ; Harl. Soc. Publ. xix, 18. The visita- 

 tion says that Frances was the wife of 

 Adam Markham, but he is called William 

 in two documents, the inquisition quoted 

 above and a fine of 1568 when he and his 



wife made a conveyance of their property 

 to trustees in order to ensure the pay- 

 ment of an annual rent to Edmund 

 Astell (Feet of F. Beds. Mich. 10 Eliz.). 



"'Feetof F. Beds. East 18 Eliz. 



IM Ibid. Mich. 27 Eliz. 



l" Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxlii, 

 No. 14. 



"^ Feet of F. Beds. East. 44 Eliz. ; 

 Close, 44 Eliz. pt. 27. 



1" y.CH. Bed,, i, 222A. Mr. Cobbe 

 has brought forward considerable evidence 

 to prove that Dallow was a rectory 

 manor ; Cobbe, Hist, of Luton ChurcA, 

 129 seq. 



"' Cobbe, op. cit. 197, 314. 



"' St. Albans held this manor in frank- 

 almoign down to the Dissolution. No 

 subsequent mention of an overlordship 

 has been found. 



^^ Gesta Ahbat. (Rolls Ser.), i, 117; 

 y.C.H. Beds, i, 315 i Cott. MS. Otho, D. 

 iii, fol. 115^. 



"9 Cott. MSS. Otho, D. iii,foU 112. 



"» Pope Nicb. Tax. (Rec Com.), 49. 



'" Plac. de Quo ff^ar. (Rec. Com.), 23. 



"^ Pat. 35 Hen. VIII, pt. i. 



"» Ibid. 28 Eliz. pt. 4 ; Crawley Papers, 

 No. 86. ' i- •> 



l" Add. Chart. 35199, 35200. Thomas 

 Crawley had already in 1602 transferred 

 the manor, probably on the occasion of a 

 mortgage, to Richard Scudamore ; Feet 

 of F. Beds. Trin. 44 Eliz. 



"' Crawley Papers, No. izi ; Feet of 

 F. Beds. East. 3 Jas. I. 



"« Mem. R. L.T.R. East. 13 Jas. I, 

 rot. 232. 



"? Information supplied by Mr. Craw- 

 ley. 



