A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



of (he reign of William I and granted to Westminster, 

 to which church il formed a cell." Earl/ in the 

 I 2th century, probably while the manor was in the 

 king's hands through a mortgage (see above), the 

 church seems to have been granted by Henry I to 

 Otwel Fits Count (son of Hugh Earl of Chester), 

 and after his death in the catastrophe of rhe White 

 Ship in I izo to have been given by the king to the 

 abbey of Westminster.™* After the Mandevilles had 

 regained possession, Geoffrey the first Ear! of Esses 

 (ob. 1 144) granted the church of Sawbridgeworth to 

 the abbey of Walden as part of its endowment. 17 

 Geoffrey de Mandeville the younger and William his 

 brother are said to have looked with little favour on 

 the numerous grants of churches made by their father 

 to this abbey," and this probably accounts for a 

 renewal of the grant to St. Peter's, Westminster, made 

 by William Earl of Essex (ob. 1 1 89)." By an agree- 

 ment made between Richard Abbot of Westminster and 

 Eustace Bishop of London (1221-9) ,ne advowson is 

 said to have been transferred to the Bishops of London, 

 who were to make annual payments to the Abbots of 

 Westminster and Walden for the tithes." In 1258 

 the king, who claimed the presentation during the 

 vacancy of the abbey of Westminster, brought an 

 action against the Bishop of London, recovered seisin 

 of the advowson," 1 and presented John Maunscl, 

 treasurer of York." In 1266 the abbey recovered 

 the presentation against Henry Bishop of London by 

 a-size of darrein presentment.** Licence for appro- 

 priation was granted by the king in 1 331, " a mandate 

 from Pope John XXII to the Bishop of London to 

 carry out the appropriation having been obtained the 

 year before." The Bishop of London refused to 

 appropriate, as appears by a second mandate of 13 3 3** 

 and also by a further renewal of the licence by Pope 

 Clement VI in May 1351, the reason here given for 

 the appropriation being that some of the abbey's houses 

 had been burnt in the fire at the king's palace." 

 Apparently after the issue of these letters the abbey's 

 proctor at the Roman Court renounced the abbey's 

 right in favour of the Bishop of London, for in 

 December of the same year the abbey agreed to pay 

 the merchants of the society of Malbayl 800 florins 

 if Sir Anthony Malbayl would obtain 3 renewal of 

 ihe apostolic letters dated after the renunciation made 

 by the abbey.™ The appropriation seems to have 

 been finally carried out in 1356, when a vicarage was 

 ordained. M After the Dissolution the advowson was 

 granted by Henry VIII to the Bishop of West- 

 minster in 15+1,™ and by Edward VI, after the 

 resignation of the Bishop of Westminster in 1550, 

 to the Bishop of London," with whom it remained 

 until transferred to the see of Rochester in 1852. 

 In 1877 it was again transferred to the Bishop of 

 St. Albans, the present patron. Sli 



The rectory was granted by Henry VIII in 154: 



to the Dean and Chapter of Westminster," and after 

 the dissolution of the abbey, temporarily refounded 

 by Mary, was confirmed to them by Elizabeth." 

 The Ecclesiastical Commissioners are now the lay 



View of frankpledge was held by the parsoniof Saw- 

 bridge worth (previous to the appropriation) for their 

 tenants in the parish," and courts were held by the 

 abbey of Westminster for the rectory lands as late u 

 the 15th century." In 1651 the trusted for the 

 sale of church lands sold the parson age- house to 

 Patrick Carey with the site containing about 3$ acres, 

 other lands including the Great and Little Orchard 

 and Upper and Nether Stockwell, the first abutting 

 on Parsonage Lane and the second on the field called 

 Teden ham bury. These had been leased out by the 

 dean and chapter." A survey of the rectory taken 

 in 1773 mentions the house with two barns, two 

 stables, a cowhouse, a carthouse, a granary, a dove- 

 house and a large garden and field, also 1 18 acres of 

 land and 14. acres in the common fields." By an 

 agreement with the tenant in 1 79 1 the coalhouse, 

 pantry and granary were to be taken down, the dairy, 

 woodhouse, and barn rebuilt, and the parlour, brew- 

 house, servants' hall and the room above it to be 

 repaired and tiled. 98 The moated house called 

 Parsonage Farm, which has been recently pulled 

 down, was situated a little to the north of the town. 

 There is still a very large tithe barn with fine timbers 

 in the roof. The thatched roof was replaced by a 



slate 





By the composition made in 1356 (see above) the 

 vicar of Sawbridgeworth received a part of the revenues 

 of the church, which then amounted to 43 marks 

 yearly. For a long time the endowment was sufficient 

 even for a cure of the size of Sawbridgeworth, and 

 the vicars 'did not all only keep good hospitality, but 

 also did 10 apply themselves to learning that they 

 were able and did sufficiently do their duty.' A great 

 part of their income waa derived from the tithe paid for 

 the saffron then grown in large quantities in the parish, 

 but by the beginning of the 16th century the culti- 

 vation of saffron had been given up and the land 

 used for corn ; consequently the vicars* stipend had 

 so decreased that they had to borrow from their 

 parishioners and run into debt. 8 " Matters were not 

 much improved by 1704. when the vicar (Charles 

 Pole) complained that the small tithes did not afford 

 subsistence for himself and Mb family. 1 " 



In 1352 William Basset of Stowe St. Edward, parson 

 of Toppesficld, had licence to grant a messuage in 

 Sawbridgeworth to William de Stowe, parson of the 

 church there, as a residence for two chaplains who 

 were to celebrate in the church."" This was probably 

 ith a chantry. 



76 Dugdale, Mm. iii, 431. 



,6 M. A. Robinson, Gilbert Cri 

 .Ithitfffalmimar,!^. For this re 

 ence we have to thank Mr. J. H. Rot 



" Dugdale, Ma*, iv, 133. 



■ Ibid 



134. 



79 Cott. Chan 

 «as confirmed to Walden by Geoffrer d. 

 MandeviUe the younger, by William, b 

 Geoffrey Fitz Piers and by Stephen an! 

 Henry II (Harl. MS. 3697, fol. 1! 

 [Cartulary of Walden] ; Djchy of Lane 



°Cur. 



:g. R. 1 60. 



81 Ibid.; Weatm. Abbey MSS. 

 Cal. Pat. 1158-66, p. Si. 



K Cal. Pat. I24-7-5 8 . P- 643- 



W Ibid. 1258-66, p. 640. 



61 Ibid. 1330-4, p. 180. 



« Cal. Papal U, U r,, il, 350. 



96 Ibid. 394. 



87 Ibid.iii,356. The vicar's port io 

 to be lettled by the Bishop of Worci 



08 Cal - Ci °", > 349-54, P- 4°5- 



* Westm. Abbey MSS. no. 8625 



M L, and P. Hen. VIII, ivi, 

 (33). 



41 Pat. 4 Edw. VI, pt. iv, m. 16. 



"a Land. Go*. June 4 ] 

 July 13 187?, p. 4116. 

 '■" L. and P. It/n. VIII, 

 M Pat. 2 Elk. pt, li. 



8587; "'I.J. G«. June 4 1852, p. 1578; 



"ii. 714 (5)- 



M Assize R. 325 (15 Edw. I). 



81 Some court rolls have survived 

 (Ct. R. [Gen. Ser.], portf. 178, no. *l). 



M Close, 1651, pt. mi, no. tj. 



1 Weltm. Abbey MSS. no. 864S. For 

 earlier surveys of the rectory lands We 

 no. 8;6i-6. M Ibid. R650. 



m Westm. Abbey MSS. no. 8625. 



»<*• Ibid. 8642. 



101 Cal - Pa '- »35°-4. P- *»• 



346 



