ODSEY HUNDRED 



the Mount (Woodley Yards), is that the inhabitants 

 were forewarned by a boy of an impending attack 

 by robbers, which they successfully resisted, bat 

 the robbers, having caught the boy, flayed him 

 alive. 11 



The canons of St. Paul's held 

 MJNORS S4NDON in 1086. They had been in 

 possession before the Conquest. 12 A 

 charter, of which copies are preserved in registers of 

 the dean and chapter, 13 purports to be a grant or 

 confirmation made by King AthcUtan (924-4.0) to 

 the monastery often 'mansae' at Sandon with Rode 

 (possibly Roe Green) 14 and other lands in Hertford- 

 shire. The charter itself is a palpable forgery, but there 

 may be truth in the tradition that the canons owed the 

 gift of these lands to Athelstan. In 1086 Sandon was 

 assessed at 10 hides, of which. 5 hides were then in 

 demesne, and half a hide was attached to the church ls 

 (q.v.). There was arable land sufficient for twenty 

 ploughs. An extent of the manor taken in I 1 5 5 

 gives a detailed account of the stock. There were on 

 the farm forty-four oxen, five horses and one cart 

 horse, in addition to cattle and sheep. 15 Some of the 

 services mentioned in an inquisition of 1222 are of 

 interest. 17 Tenants of half-virgate holdings had to 

 carry twenty-five loads to London. They also paid 



1 Robert in 1 5 go. 27 Robert 3 

 jut 1552, but was disturbed i 



d malt-silver, and provided tw< 

 id fifteen eggs at Easter. Holders 

 's rendered similar services in propor- 

 lt of their holding. The manor of 

 attached to any of the prebends, but 



wood -si 



at Christma 



of IO and 5 



tion to the t 



Sandon was 



formed part of the 



was appropriated to the support of all the officers 



of the cathedral. 13 Together with 'Rode* and 



Luffenhall it supplied the chapter with 'farm' or 



provisions for about ten weeks in each year. 19 



Luffenhall was in fact taxed with Sandon for temporal 



purposes, but for spiritual purposes it was regarded as 



a part of Ardeley 20 (cj.v.). 



The lessee of Sandon was often one of the canons 

 of the cathedral. Thus in 1155 the canon Alexander 

 was appointed ' farmer ' of this manor for life. 21 

 Towards the end of the next century Master Robert 

 de Braundon, prebendary of Sneating, 33 had a life 

 interest in the farm of the manor, 23 although Ralph 

 de Diceto, the chronicler, who was dean from about 

 1 1 8 1 to 1 204, cried to secure that the lessee should 

 always be the dean himself. 24 He apparently found 

 two lay 'farmers' there, namely Richard the Red 

 (rujfus) and Richard of Sandon. 25 



The manorial lands were let to John Newport in 

 1526 26 and the lease was renewed to him and his eldest 



SANDON 



rceeded his father 

 his possession by 

 his younger brother Thomas and the tatter's daughter 

 Clare, who married her cousin John Newport of East 

 Greenwich. 28 Moreover, in February 1559-60 

 Robert Dudley Earl of Leicester obtained from the 

 dean and chapter a ninety-nine years' lease of the 

 manorial rights with a reversionary interest in the 

 linds let to Newport, 115 and conveyed his title to 

 William Hyde of Sandon. 30 Consequently disputes 

 arose between Hyde and Robert Newport, who feared 

 that Hyde would oust him from his lease and also 

 arrogated to himself the right of holding courts. 31 



After the abolition of cathedral chapters in 1641 

 the reversionary interest of the Dean and Chapter of 

 St. Paul's was sold to Henry Scobell of London, 32 

 afterwards clerk of the Parliament and Secretary of 

 State. At the Restoration it was recovered by the 

 dean and chapter together with their other estates. 

 In 1863 they sold the manor to Mr. John George 

 Fordham of Royston. 33 From him it has descended to 

 Mr. Francis John Fordhar. 

 Royston, the present owner. 



The house of the manor 

 part of the 13th century, when i 

 and closes ' were repaired. 36 The present farm-house, 

 called Sandon Bury, which stands on the south-east of 

 the church, is a 17th-century brick building of three 

 stories to which a wing has been added on the east 

 side. It contains an original staircase. Near the 

 house are two 1 7th-century barns and a 1 7th-century 

 brick pigeon-house with a tiled roof, now much out 

 of repair. Late in the 17th century the house called 

 Sandon Bury was in the occupation of Edward 

 Nicholas, son of the Dean of St. Paul's. 35 



The Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's claimed their 

 usual extensive liberties in this manor. 37 In 1 247 

 they had a grant of free warren which was confirmed 

 in 1316. 3S It appears, however, that until 1253 the 

 men of Sandon had been accustomed to come to the 

 sheriff's tourn twice a year, and in 1278 the township 

 was ordered to be distrained because it had not come 

 to the tourn. 38 



John son of William Fitz Geoffrey of Sandon 

 released his right in ' Ladygrove ' in Sandon to 

 Stephen Cowherd in 142 I. 40 This William appears 

 to have been the grandfather of John Fitz Geoffrey of 

 Sandon, who died in 1480, leaving a son and heir 

 John. 41 The brasses of John Fitz Geoffrey the father 

 and of his wife and children are still preserved in 

 the nave of the church. 43 It appears that the Fitz 

 Geoffrey estate was the reputed manor of DJN1ELS, 



' Tree Hoi 



^d in the early 



