ODSEY HUNDRED 



belongs 



the 14th century. The lower half i: 

 supports an octagonal shaft, 



When Jai 

 inhabitant 

 Kelshall, 



squai 



stops, which has a socket for a cross. It is surrounded 

 by iron railings, and is under the charge of the Hert- 

 fordshire County Council. 



Kelshall has always been off the lines of com- 

 and therefore dependent upon Royston. 

 5 I had a hunting lodge at Royston the 

 of the surrounding villages, including 

 :re compelled to cultivate their lands to 

 suit the king's pleasure. They were forbidden to 

 plough their fields in narrow ridges, their swine 

 had to be ringed that they should not root holes 

 to the danger of the king or prince when hunting 

 or hawking, and they had to take down any high 

 boundaries between their lands, that the king 

 might always have an easy passage whenever he 

 wished. 8 



In 1768 Richard Hassell, lord of the manor of 

 Kelshall, complained that his letters even from the 

 neighbourhood were sent him via London, so that 

 they took two days and cost 6a"., whereas they might 

 have come direct to Royston for a penny. 4 The 

 nearest railway station is at Ashwell, 3 miles to the 

 north, though Royston is the nearest town. 



Several notable men have been incumbents of 

 Kelshall. Among them may be mentioned the Rev. 

 John Watson, who, with a success that suggests the 

 policy of the Vicar of Bray, was known and rewarded 

 as a Reformer under Edward VI, received preferment 

 from Mary and was made Bishop of Winchester by 

 Elizabeth. He was appointed rector of Kelshall in 

 1 5 54 and held it as a pluralist. 5 The Rev. Joseph 

 Beaumont, D.D., Master of Peterhouse and a poet, 

 held the rectory from 1643 but was non-resident. 8 

 The Rev. George Henry Law, D.D., who became 

 successively Bishop of Chester and of Bath and 

 Wells, was rector of Kelshall for eleven years. 7 

 His son Henry Law was born there in 1 797. 

 He also entered the Church and was one of the 

 leaders of the Evangelical party. 8 



The manor of KELSHALL was held 

 MANORS before the Conquest by the Abbot and 

 monks of Ely, 9 and is said to have been 

 given them in the year 1000 by Ethclflaeda wife of 

 Duke Ethelstan." They were confirmed in their 

 1 by a charter of Edward the Confessor, 

 mfirmed the grants of his father and grand- 

 The Abbots of Ely retained possession of 

 the manor after the Conquest, 12 and when a bishopric 

 was erected at Ely in 1 108-9 I3 Kelshall became 

 part of the possessions of that see.' 1 In 1251 

 Hugh Bishop of Ely received a grant of free warren 

 in his lands in Kelshall. 13 Return of writs, pleas de 



possessio 

 which c 

 father. 11 



of bread and ale were 

 :d by the bishops. 16 In 1285-6 there was 



also clai 



a mill attached to the mam 



by the Cro 



In 1609 James I gra, 

 to George Salter 21 in 

 for Ralph Freeman, and the 

 latter sold it in i6z8 to James Sze or Ely. CJh 



Willymot. 22 He held the <hr " tnvm ""• 

 manor till his death in i66z, si 



when it passed to his son James Willymot, who was 

 Sheriff of Herts in 1683. « He sold it to John 

 Poynter in i695, 3S at whose death in 1 7 1 8 3S the 

 manor descended to his son Samuel, 27 who held it 

 till his death in 1747.^ It then passed to his sister 

 Sarah, 29 who married Richard Hassall in 1754. 30 

 When Richard Hassall died the manor was sold to 

 John Kenrick of Blechingley, Surrey. 31 On his 

 death in 1799 it passed to his brother the Rev. 

 Matthew Kenrick. rector of Blechingley, 32 who died 

 in i8o3, S3 when his propertv went by will to his 

 brother the Rev. Jarvis Kenrick, rector of Chilham, 

 Kent. 34 From him it descended to his son William 

 Kenrick. 35 After his death Kelshall was held by 

 Mrs. Kenrick until about 1899, when it passed to 

 Colonel Byrne. Mr. John Inns, the present lord of 

 the manor, purchased the property from Colonel 

 Byrne a few years ago. 



The manor of WOODHJLL alias PHILPOTTS 

 was held of the Bishops of Ely as of their manor of 

 Kelshall. 38 



The earliest reference to the manor seems to be in 

 1430-I, when it was held by 

 John Philpott and Matilda 

 his wife.-" " 

 second name from this family 

 with whom it remained 

 the beginning of the 

 century. John Philpot 

 in 1436, 361 and the : 

 Job 



that date 



jed f 



John v, 

 in 150: 



knighted 

 vhen his 

 :ded him. 40 

 :ived the honour 

 ■d, and died in 1 

 seised of thi 



' ibid. 



9 V.C.H. Hern, i, 311a. 



19 Bentham, Hist, of ConviNtual Church 

 of Ely; Cussana, op. cit. 131; Liber 

 ElhHtis (ed. D. T. Stewart), ii, cap. 64, 83. 



11 Kerable, Codtx Dipt, iv, 246. 



W F.C.H. Herti.1, 312a. 



1! Dugdale, Man. Angl. i, 4.62. 



11 Ibid. 



» Cal. Chan. 



CarL Anfiq. II, 5 



" Hand. R. {Rec. Com.), 



6-S7> P- 3^7i 



17 Mins. Accts. I 



'1 Ibid. no. a, 1 



13; Aasi 



: R. 



325 i Add. MS. 6165, p_ 

 Feud. Aids, ii, +46. 



19 Close, 42 Eliz. pt. txxx; Add. MS. 

 5847, p.137 ; Dugdale, Mm. Atigl. i, 466. 



w I.d. Rev. Ct. R. bdle. 30, no. i. 



! ' Pat. 7 J". I, pt. anU. 



22 Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 4 Chas. I. 

 terbuck, op. cit. iii, 533. 



■' I hid. 



erry, J 



6 Com. 

 Will. Ill, m. 7. 



* 6 Clutterbuck, op. cit 

 « See Feet of F. Hen 



Mich. 



24I 



erbuck, op. cit. 

 » Ibid. 



lc Chan. Inq. p.m. 15 Hei 



