FLITT HUNDRED 



STREATLEY 



Luton for two chaplains to sing daily in the parish 

 church of Luton at the altar of the chapel of the 

 Holy Trinity for the souls of Edward IV and his queen 

 and the good estate of the brethren of the fraternity. 

 They endowed the chantry with certain lands in PuUox- 

 hill ; one acre of meadow lying in Diversmeade in the 

 tenure of the vicar of Pulloxhill, worth lod. per annum, 

 was given towards a bead roll. The fine of one acre 

 called the Lampe Acre in the tenure of William King, 

 worth I zd. per annum, was given for the maintenance 

 of a lamp, and the fine of one other acre of land worth 



\zd. per annum for a light."' There is a Baptist 

 chapel at Pulloxhill. 



Unknown donor's charities for- 

 CHARITIES merly consisted of an annual payment 

 of los. issuing out of a cottage and 

 two acres situate in the parish, and another annuity of 

 10/. which was understood to have arisen out of an 

 ancient donation of ^^ l o by George Fitz. One annuity 

 of 10/. only is now paid under the title of Gibbs's 

 Charity, being received from Mr. Henry Tretheny, of 

 Ampthill, 



STREATLEY WITH SHARPENHOE 



Straillei, Stratlei (xi cent.) ; Stredlegh (xiii cent.) ; 

 Shappenho (xiv cent.) ; Sharpenhoo (xv, xvi cents.). 



Streatley is a village and parish with an area of 2,500 

 acres, of which 1,885 ^^e arable land, 297} perma- 

 nent grass, and 33 woods and plantations.' The soil 

 is composed of chalk and clay, and is principally arable. 

 There is no station in the parish, the nearest is Lea- 

 grave on the main line of the Midland Railway, 4 

 miles north-east of Streatley. The slope of the land 

 is from south to north, the greatest height attained is 

 524 ft., the lowest 222 ft. above the ordnance datum. 



The small village of Streatley lies a short distance 

 south of the summit of the Barton Hills and a quarter 

 of a mile west of the point where the Bedford and 

 Luton road crosses the hills by a deep cutting in the 

 chalk. Though at a height of nearly 450 ft. the 

 position is disappointing, for to the north the view is 

 limited by the summit of the ridge, and to the south 

 and south-west the land falls slowly towards Luton in 

 wide but uninteresting stretches of country. 



To the east and west of the village are lines of trees 

 and small plantations marking the broad summit of 

 the ridge which continues irregularly, with steep grass 

 and bush-covered spurs on the north side, running 

 down into the tilled fields around Barton in the Clay. 

 The parish is long and narrow, stretching from north 

 to south, and includes the village of Sharpenhoe 

 prominently situated on a spur of the hills one mile 

 north of the upper village. 



The chief group of buildings consists of the church, 

 with the red brick manor-house, and several cottages 

 on the east boundary of the churchyard, a small inn at 

 the north-east angle, the ' Chequers,' being probably the 

 successor of the mediaeval church-house. A little to 

 the north is a farm-house, and the rest of the village 

 lies to the south-east, some ten or a dozen houses in 

 all, with a green and a pond. 



The following place-names have been found in this 

 parish — Berry Close in the sixteenth century ; ' Hart- 



honge, Aggotts, Maggotts, Mowses, Awberry, Abbots 

 lands, Chappellpightell (reminiscent of James de Cauz's 

 thirteenth-century chapel in Sharpenhoe), in the 

 seventeenth century,' and Rangley's Spinney, Jeremiah's 

 Tree, George Wood, and Sharpenhoe Clappers in the 

 twentieth century.* 



The manor of STREJTLET WITH 

 MANORS SHARPENHOE belonged at the time 

 of the Domesday Survey to Hugh de 

 Beauchamp, and had been held by Aschil a thegn of 

 King Edward.' This manor continued to belong to 

 the barony of Bedford which Hugh de Beauchamp 

 held,* and the latest reference that has been found to 

 the overlordship is in 1342, when Ralph Butler held 

 it of John Picot as part of the barony.' 



In 1086 William de Locels held 4 hides i virgate 

 of Hugh de Beauchamp as one manor, which by 

 1 1 5 8 had passed to Richard de Gobion, who at 

 that date held two knights' fees in Bedfordshire.* In 

 1 2 3 1 Katherine, widow of Richard Gobion, son of 

 the above Richard, successfully claimed from Hugh 

 Gobion, probably another son, one-third of i| 

 carucates of land in Streatley as the dower settled 

 on her by her father-in-law Richard Gobion.' In 

 1274 Hugh de Gobion died seised of Streatley 

 manor, leaving as heir his son Richard,'" who rendered 

 feudal service in Streatley ten years later." He died in 

 1 300, leaving two daughters, Hadwisa, wife of Ralph 

 Butler, and Elizabeth as co-heirs." Streatley manor 

 passed to the former, and was held by Ralph Butler 

 in right of his wife until his death in 1342, when he 

 left their grandson Ralph as his heir." Hadwisa, 

 however, retained the manor until her death, which 

 took place in 1360, when, her grandson Ralph having 

 predeceased her in 1 348, Sir Edward Butler, his 

 brother, inherited Streatley with Sharpenhoe manor.'* 

 Sir Edward died without an heir in 1412, and Philip, 

 his second cousin, inherited his estates." Sir Philip 

 Butler died in 1420, when his widow, who after- 



127 Chant. Cert. Beds. No. i, fol. 32. 

 1 Inf. from Bd. of Agric. (1905). 

 ' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cciii, No. 12. 

 s Ibid, xxxii. No. 51 ; cccclxv, No. 38. 

 * Ord. Surv. 



6 V.C.H. Beds. 239a. 



^ Liber Niger, i, 199; Red Bk. of 

 Exch. i, 17, 320 ; Testa de Ne-vill (Rec. 

 Com.), 249* ; Feud. Aids, i, 7, 33; Chan. 

 Inq. p.m. 3 Edw. I, No. i;. 



7 Chan. Inq. p.m. 16 Edw. Ill, No. 28. 



8 Liber Niger, i, 199. William de Locels 

 held in Higham of the same overlordship 

 at Domesday and was succeeded by 

 Richard Gobion whose family gave their 

 name to the place. 



' Braeton's Note Bk. case 51 8. In the 

 same year a fine was levied between Hugh 

 Gobion and Lescelina, widow of William 

 de BrachuU, concerning 30 acres of land 

 in Sharpenhoe (Feet of F. Beds. 1 6 Hen. 

 Ill, No. 21). 



1" Testa de Ne-vill (Rec. Com.), 249* ; 

 Chan. Inq. p.m. 3 Edw. I. No. 15. The 

 year after Hugh's death (1275) a settle- 

 ment was made by Richard concerning 

 the dower of Maud, Hugh's widow (Feet 

 of F. Beds. 4 Edw. I, No. 8). 



11 Feud. Aids, i, 7. 



" Chan. Inq. p.m. 29 Edw. 1, No. 49. 

 The extent of the manor at this time in- 

 cluded a capital messuage with a garden 



worth 31. per annum, 14.0 acres of arable 

 land worth 3(/. per acre, 2 acres of meadow 

 worth \zd,j windmill worth 6j. %d.^ 10 

 acres of woodland worth 61/,, rents of free 

 tenants worth 29;. ^\d.^ rents of custom- 

 ary tenants 221., 2 virgates of land in 

 villeinage worth z%s, id., the total yearly- 

 value being ^6 14J. ijt/. 



" Ibid. 16 Edw. Ill, No. 28 ; Feud. 

 Aidsf If 22; CaL of Close, 1341-3, p. 



441. 



"^^ Feud, Aids, i, 33 ; Chan, Inq. p.m. 

 14 Hen. IV, No. 16 ; Waters, Cbesters of 

 Chicheley, \, 139. 



15 Waters, Cbesters of Cbkheley^ >» * 39 et 

 seq. ^ 



