A HISTORY OF BEDFORDSHIRE 



PULLOXHILL 



Polochessele (xi cent.) ; Pullokeshull (xii, xiii, xiv 

 cents.). 



The parish of Pulloxhill, which contains the village 

 of the same name and part of the hamlet of Green- 

 field, has an area of 1,627 ^^res, of which 510J 

 consist of arable land, 953 of permanent grass, and 

 14 of woods and plant.itions.' The soil, which is of 

 strong clay with a subsoil of clay, produces wheat, 

 barley, beans and peas ; the country is divided into 

 fields of moderate size, the hedgerows often including 

 rows of fine elms. 



The village, which is surrounded by small orchards 

 and gardens, is grouped round the main street which 

 follows the line of a broad ridge of land running in 

 a south-westerly direction to a point about 342 ft. 

 above sea-level, on which the church is placed. 

 Several roads diverge from the village, connecting it 

 with Greenfield in the west, Higham Bury in the 

 south, and Kitchen End Farm in the east. The highest 

 part of the parish is Higham Bury where it reaches 

 362 ft. above the ordnance datum, the lowest part 

 being near Kitchen End which lies 187 ft. above the 

 same datum. The village is placed on a slight 

 elevation, with lower lying ground surrounding it, 

 with a fall to the north where Upbury Moat is 

 situated — the site of the former manor of Beeches and 

 Upbury. At Greenfield is a mill, the successor 

 probably of that held by Woburn Abbey of Dunstable. 

 At present the village is lighted by electricity generated 

 by a dynamo attached to the steam engine of the mill. 

 The inhabitants of Pulloxhill made complaint in 

 1636 that several assessments for ship-money had 

 lately been laid upon them by the then late and present 

 sheriffs of the county, and that it grieved them all 

 the more sorely because they had paid their con- 

 tribution with so much loyalty. The Privy Council, 

 to whom the complaint was made, sent it to the 

 sheriffs of Bedfordshire for redress.' 



In 1680 gold quartz was discovered at Pulloxhill, 

 which was at once taken into the king's hands as 

 royal mine, but it was found on working it that the 

 gold did not repay the cost of separation, as it con- 

 sisted merely of flakes of mica in drifted stones ; the 

 mine was therefore abandoned, but a field called Gold 

 Close, in which the mine was situated, still exists.' 



Among the place-names found in this parish are 

 lands called Goldston after their owner, Thomas 

 Goldston mentioned in 1553 ; ' Collis Close, Samps- 

 hill Croft, and Cadman Stockinge occur in 1 60 1 ; ' 

 Halcroft, Burne Close, Baynard Meade, and Buniuns' 

 Hill are mentioned in an inquisition of 1 609 ; ° the 

 last probably denotes land which originally was in- 

 cluded in the fee held by the Buniun family in the 

 thirteenth century. 



^ Inf. from Bd. of Agric, 



' Cal. ofS.P. Dom. 1635-6, p. 419. 



»V.C.H. Beds, i, 31. 



* Com. Pleas D. Enr. East. 7 Edw. VI, 

 m. 17. 5 Pat. 43 Eliz. pt. 7, m. 43 (i). 



" Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), vol. 309, 

 No. 191. 



? Local and Private Acts, 49 Geo. Ill, 

 cap. 91. 8 y.c.H. Bed!, i, 244A. 



» Am. Mon. (Rolls Ser.), iii, 325 ; ^alor 

 Eccl, (Rec. Com.), iv, 207. 



" Feet of F. Beds. 12 Hen. Ill, No. 14. 



" Ibid. 20 Hen. Ill, No. 4. 



^2 Dugdale, Mon. vi, 241. 



The Inclosure Act for this parish was passed in 

 1809 with that of Flitton cum Silsoe,' it is private 

 and has not been printed, but a copy is kept at the 

 West Park Estate office at Ampthill. 



At the date of the Domesday Survey 

 MJNORS the manor of Pulloxhill was held under 

 Nigel de Albini by Roger and Ruallon. 

 It was assessed at 10 hides and had been held by eight 

 sokemen in King Edward's time.' '1 he overlordship 

 remained vested in the barony of Cainhoe, but part of 

 the lands were acquired by Dunstable Priory, and 

 some by Woburn Abbey, the latter also holding land 

 of Dunstable Priory.' There is no mention of the 

 abbey's estate until the beginning of the thirteenth 

 century when it possessed a small property in the parish 

 of Pulloxhill, which was gradually enlarged by various 

 grants and became known as the manors of PULLOX- 

 HILL and GREENFIELD. It was taken into the 

 king's hand at the Dissolution and annexed to the 

 Honor of Ampthill, and afterwards granted out to 

 various people. 



In 1227 Henry Buniun conveyed 8 acres of land 

 to Woburn Abbey,'" and in 1235, 33 acres more 

 were confirmed to the Abbey by Godfrey de Luvholt 

 and Mabel his wife, the heiress of Letitia, who had 

 formerly given this land to the abbey." These 

 lands were probably acquired from Dunstable 

 Priory, and the abbey of Woburn also held land 

 under the priory, for it paid an annual rent of 26/. 

 in 1234 to the priory for a mill in Greenfield," and 

 in 1286, after the death of 

 Aimery of St. Amand, Woburn 

 Abbey contributed 16/. to- 

 wards the 32/. paid by Dun- 

 stable Priory to his executors." 

 In 1535 Dunstable Priory re- 

 ceived from Woburn Abbey 

 25/. for lands which the latter 

 held in Greenfield," and 5/. 

 for those it held in Pulloxhill, 

 while the mill in Greenfield 

 was rented at 20/. per annum." 

 In 1291 the value of the 

 abbey's estates in PuUoxhill 

 was £j zs. 5</.," and it was again estimated at that 

 figure in 1337." In 1302 the abbey held two hides," 

 and the estate was no larger in 1 346 "and 1428." 

 In 1 330 the abbey claimed sac and soc in Pulloxhill." 

 At the time of the Dissolution the manors of Pul- 

 loxhill and Greenfield were jointly valued at 

 £38 18/. 7^." 



After the Dissolution the manors were taken intu 

 the king's hand and were leased out to Roger Lee 

 in 1539." In the same year Thomas Norton, by 



Woburn Abbxy. 

 Aaure three ban wavy 

 argent. 



" Ann. Mon. (Rolls Ser.), iii, 325. 



" falor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv, 207. 



" Ibid, iv, 213. 



" Pof>e Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 48. 



^^ Cal. Pat. R. 1334-8, p. 493. 



18 Feud. Aids, i, 13. 



"Ibid, i, 33. »»Ibid. i, 46. 



!" Plac. de Quo fVar. (Rec. Com.), 37. 



''^ Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv, 212. 

 y.C.H, Beds, i, 370. The manors were 

 known indifferently by the names of 

 Pulloxhill and Greenfield manors or 

 Pulloxhill alias Harlington alias Green- 

 field Grange and were granted out under 



their various names. During the eigh- 

 teenth century the manors appear to have 

 amalgamated and are now known as Pul- 

 loxhill or Greenfield manor ; probably the 

 process of absorption took place when the 

 duke of Kent acquired the manor. 



"Pat. 31 Hen. VIII, pt. i, m. 26. 

 He also received with the manor Monk's 

 Close, Cranford Mead and a water-mill, 

 probably the one formerly rented by the 

 abbey from Dunstable Priory and lands 

 in Harlington belonging to the grange. 

 These lands were always included in the 

 grant of the manor. 



