A HISTORY OF BEDFORDSHIRE 



property which the Crawleys held in this parish,'" 

 though Davis, writing in 1855, speaks of Haverings 

 as an ancient seat of the Crawleys.'^ 



LI M BURT MANOR was also held of Luton 

 manor."* The first reference to this property is 

 found in the messuage, the carucate of land, and the 

 yearly rent which Richard de Lymbury held in 

 Luton in 1275.'"' This reappears in 1368, when 

 Philip de Lymbury died in ' Constantyn Noble (sic), in 

 parts beyond the sea,' leaving to his son Philip the 

 manor of Limbury, which included, besides the house 

 within the site of the manor and garden, 1 00 acres of 

 land, 2 acres of meadow, a water-mill worth nothing 

 for want of repair, and 53/. \d. rent of assize of free 

 tenants."' Of this second Philip de Lymbury the 

 Gesta tells the following incident : — Abbot Thomas, 

 a man magnanimus et cordatus, had amongst his foes a 

 certain knight of the soke of Luton, Philip de Lim- 

 bury, a follower of Henry, duke of Lancaster. One 

 Monday, which was Luton market-day, he ordered 

 John Moot, the cellarer of St. Albans Abbey, to be 

 put upon the pillory, which caused great scandal. 

 The duke of Lancaster interfered on behalf of the 

 abbey, and ordered Philip to make restitution, but 

 when he made offerings at the shrine of St. Albans 

 the martyr showed indignation and refused to accept 

 his gifts. The chronicler concludes by saying that 

 Lymbury and his followers died and were soon 

 forgotten.'" His death must have taken place 

 before 1 388, in which year his mother Joan, who 

 had married John de Clynton, died, leaving as heir 

 to Limbury her daughter Elizabeth, wife of Thomas 

 Tryvet,"^ who must have died the same year as 

 her mother, for in 1389 Thomas held the manor, 

 now worth 20/. per annum only, in right of his late 

 wife.'" He left two daughters aged seven and five, 

 and here all trace of the manor ceases. 



A second LIMBURY MANOR was also held of 

 Luton manor, to which overlordship it is declared to 

 belong in 1 5 3 1 .'" This manor has followed the 

 same descent as Biscott (q.v.), though no mention has 

 been found of it previous to 1 386, when it appears as 

 the property of Baldwin de Bereford.'" It maintained 

 a separate identity however until the sixteenth century. 

 In 1546 George Acworth held a court for the manor 

 of Limbury-cum-Biscott,**' and when the sale of these 

 two properties to John Dormer occurred in 1 549 the 

 alienation of Lymbury is recorded in the Luton Manor 

 Court RoUs, and John Dormer and also William 

 Harper (to whom he sold it almost immediately) are 

 distrained for 2/. quit-rent."" No further separate 

 mention occurs of Lymbury, which henceforward be- 

 comes absorbed in the more important Biscott manor. 



The manor of WEST HYDE AYNEL, situated in 



East Hyde and West Hyde, acquired its distinctive 

 name from a family of Aynel who held it from the 

 thirteenth to the fifteenth century. It at one time 

 formed part of Luton manor,"* on the subdivision 

 of which in 1 274 the overlordship of Weit Hyde Aynel 

 appears to have passed to Joan de Mohun, and through 

 her to Dunstable Priory, whose prior in 141 5 gave 

 seisin of the manor to trustees on the death of John 

 Aynel."" 



This property first appears in 1257, when Adam 

 son of William Aynel granted land in Luton to 

 Richard son of Simon, which his brother Robert had 

 of the enfeoffment of Baldwin de Bethune (see Luton 

 manor)."' Adam was succeeded by his son Roger 

 Aynel before 1287, in which year Robert de Hoo 

 acknowledged the latter's rights to rents in Luton."' 



In 1 3 5 1 John Aynel, son of William Aynel, and 

 probably a grandson of the last-named Roger, received 

 a grant from Ralph de Eccleshale of all his lands and 

 tenements in West Hyde,"* and in 1358 his brother 

 Roger entered into possession of the lands and tene- 

 ments of his father William."* The next mention 

 that has been found of this 

 property occurs in 141 5, when, 

 called for the first time West 

 Hyde manor, it passed into 

 the hands of trustees on the 

 death of John Aynel."* The 

 manor next passed, though how 

 has not been ascertained, to 

 Henry Frowick, who was hold- 

 ing it in 1423."' His daughter 



C o Ni N G 5 B r. Gula 

 three sitting conies argent 

 in a border engrailed sable. 



and heir, Elizabeth Frowick, 



married John Coningsby of 



North Mimms,"' and the Con- 



ingsbys continued to hold the 



manor during the following century, for it reappears 



in 1530, and again in 1546, as the property of John 



Coningsby, who transferred it by fine at the latter 



date to William Day."' 



His descendant, Benjamin Day, in 161 2, conveyed 

 West Hyde Aynel to Edmund Neele and Henry 

 Halsey, preparatory to a sale to Robert Napier,'"' and 

 it thus became a member of the larger Luton manor 

 (q.v.), and has since followed the same descent. 



Mention is found of it by name in a Recovery Roll 

 of 1815, but it has since disappeared, having probably 

 become absorbed in Luton Hoo Park."" 



The history of WHIPERLEY MANOR, which 

 includes the modem estate oi STOCKIVOOD PARK, 

 is identical with that of Farley (q.v.) until 1640, 

 when Thomas Rotherham sold to Richard Norton a 

 detached part of the Whiperley estate, described as 

 ' all that capital messuage or mansion-house known as 



257 Feet of F. Bed«. Trin. 36 Cha«. II. 



"** Davis, Hilt, of Luton, 26. 



"' The overlordship of Hugh Mor- 

 timer, to whom yearly lervice of 421. ^J. 

 was due, ig mentioned in 1368 and again 

 in 1388 (Chan. Inq. p.m. 41 Edw. Ill, 

 No. 40 ; II Ric. II, No. 17). 



"» Feet of F. Beds. 55 Hen. Ill, m. 12. 



2" Chan. Inq. p.m. 41 Edw. Ill, No. 40. 



«' Gem Abbai. (Rolls Ser.), iii, 3. 



««» Chan. Inq. p.m. 11 Ric. II, No. 17. 

 The property is here described as a mes- 

 suage and a carucate of land. 



"■> Ibid. 12 Ric. II, No. 52. In this in- 

 quisition some confusion of names is to 

 be noted. His wife is called Isabel in the 

 Beds. Inquisition, and Elizabeth (which is 



correct) in the Cambridge, where she it 

 said to survive him. One of his daughters 

 likewise it called either Isabel or Joan. 



"» Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxv. 

 No. 3. 



i«6 Close, 9 Ric. II, pt. I, m. 48. 

 It is possible that this property was de- 

 tached from the original Limbury manor 

 (q.v.), which in 1389, three years after the 

 appearance of this manor, had depreciated 

 in value to 20j. per annum. 



«>? Crawley Papers, No. 11. 



"^ Marquess of Bute's MSS. 



»«»Harl. Chart, in, D. 10. 



'^o Harl. Chart, in, C. 27 ; cf. Luton 

 manor. 



»'■' Harl. Chart, in, D. 10. 



360 



'""Add. Chart. 28721. He also re- 

 ceived grants of rent from Alan de 

 Bramblehanger (ibid. 15432) and William 

 Starlyng (Anct. D. [P.R.O.J C 1325). 



»'» Anct. D. (P.R.O.), C. 3606. 



»< Harl. Chart. 112, F. 18. 



"7' Ibid. Ill, C 27. 



'■« Ibid. C. 522. On this occasion 

 he released to John Spendlove all his right 

 in lands formerly belonging to John Aynel 

 in Luton. 



>" Harl. Soc. Publ. uii. 



»'"8Feet. of F. Beds. Trin. 21 Hen. 

 VIII ; Mich. 37 Hen. VIIL 



'?' Ibid. Hil. 9 Jas. L 



•soRecov. R. 55 Geo. Ill, rot. 214. 

 Information supplied by Mr. Austin. 



