A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



the cirliest settlement grew up near the water-ways, at 

 some distance from the high road. Bengeo Hall was 

 bought on the sale of the Byde property in 1846 by 

 Admiral Thomas le Marchant Gosselin, who had 

 already occupied it for some time previously, and it 

 is now the property and residence of his grandson 

 Mr. H. R. H. Gosselh-Grimshawe, J.P. In front 

 of the hou^c are two stones with initials K.B. and 

 T.P.B. (probably Katherine Byde and Thomas Flumcr 

 Byde), and the date 17+5, which seem to have been 

 inserted into an earlier building. St. Leonard's, on 

 the south side of the church, was formerly the vicarage. 

 It was acquired by W. R. Best in 18+9, and sold by 

 him in 1863 to Miss Charlotte Gosselin, from whom 

 it descended in 189Z to her nephew Mr. H. R. H. 

 Gosselin -Grimshawe, the present owner. Itisa 17th- 

 century house of two stories and an attic with additions 

 and alterations of the 19th century. Near St. Leonards 

 are some cottages and a field called 'The Vineyard.' 

 The field is described in 1767 as having lately been 

 used as a vineyard by Thomas Dimsdale, the owner, 

 who is said to have planted the vines. 1 



The modern parish church of Holy Trinity lies 

 further west in the more thickly populated part of the 

 parish. Tonwell, a hamlet on the road from Ware to 

 Stevenage, h.is a chapel of ease built with the adjoining 

 school by Mr. Abel Smith in 1857. Chapmore End, 

 another hamlet, lies south-west of Tonwell. Near 

 Chapmore End is the Lammas land belonging to the 

 parish; it consists of 20 a. 3 r. 28 p. and yields ^30 

 a year, which is divided amongst the househol.iers. 

 Waterford, a hamlet in the north-western part of 

 Bengeo rural pariah, was formed into an ecclesiastical 

 parish in 190S. 



There is a homestead moat at Bengeo Temple. 



An inclosure award was made for Bengeo, Sacombe 

 and Stapleford in 1852. La 



The manor of BENGEO appears to 

 MANORS have been the manor in this parish that 

 was held by Hugh de Beauchamp at the 

 time of the Domesday Survey.' In 1092 the monks 

 of Bermondsey received a grant of lands which they 

 afterwards sold in order to buy the 'manor of Rich- 

 mond in Bengeo' for 160 marks, 1 and as, according 

 to Dugdale, this manor was bought from Payn dc 

 Beauchamp,* it was probably the same as that pre- 

 viously held by Hugh de Beauchamp. In 1204 the 

 Prior of Bermondsey paid 5 marks for having inqui- 

 sition as to what lands were in his demesne in Bengeo 

 when he delivered the land of Bengeo at farm to 

 Ralph de Qucnhay, who was said to have alienated 

 those demesnes.* 



During the 13th century the family of Tany (see 

 Temple Chclsin below) established a claim to the 

 manor ; perhaps it was mortgaged or leased to them 

 by the monks, to whom they afterwards made a 

 formal grant of it apparently merely for purposes of 



settlement on one of their own lamiiy, for in 117a 

 Reginald and Richard de Tany gave the manor of 

 Bengeo or Richmond to the monks of Bermoodscy,* 

 and in 1276 Richard and Margery de Tany quit- 

 claimed the manor to Luke de Tany as his by right of 

 the gift of Henry, late Prior of Bermondsey, whilst 

 John Prior of Bermondsey, who had succeeded 

 Henry in 1176,' acknowledged Luke's daim, the 

 monks of Bermondsey retaining only the advowson of 

 the church. 9 There is no evidence to show whether 

 Luke de Tany had more than a life interest in the 

 manor. He'died in 1283.' In 1290 Edward I 

 granted to the monks of Bermondsey the manor of 

 Richmond with other manors and lands which had 

 come into the king's hands by reason of the felony 

 committed by Adam de Stratton, to whom the manors 

 in question had been demised at farm. 10 Dugdale 

 says that the manors were ilemised a second time to 

 Adam de Stratton, forfeited in 1302, and again 

 restored to the convent, which obtained a further con- 

 firmation of them from Edward II and continued in 

 possession of them until the Dissolution. " A< far as 

 Bengeo was concerned, however, the descent after 

 1290 shows that the monks had alienated all except 

 the advowson. 



In MC3-4 John son of John Fitz Simon died 

 seised of the manor of Bengeo. It is described in the 

 inquisition as held of John Engayn." The over- 

 iorddnp was therefore evidently attached to the 

 manor of Hunsdon, which in 1272 Henry Engayn 

 held of the heirs of Sir William de Beauchamp of 

 Bedford." The Fitz Simons held the manor for 

 several generations, the descent being identical with 

 that of Almshoe in Ippollitts, Hitchin Hundred 

 (q.v.). Eventually Elizabeth, trie Fitz Simon heiress, 

 married Thomas Brocket!," and he held the manor 

 —which is described as held of William Hussey as of 

 the manor of Hunsdon — jointly with his wife and in 

 her right. Thomas Brockett died in 1 477 ; his wife 

 survived him, and his brother Edward Brockett was 

 his heir. 15 



The manor was probably sold by the Brocketia to 

 Sir William Say, as he died seised of it in 1529. 

 His property was inherited by his daughter Mary 

 Countess of Essex, and by his granddaughter Gertrude, 

 daughter of Elizabeth Lady Mountjoy, 1 " who married 

 the Marquess of Kxcter. On the attainder of 

 Gertrude in July 1539 the manor of Bengeo was 

 forfeited to the Crown," and in 1546 it was granted 

 to Nicholas Throckmorton, 18 who in 1555 conveyed 

 it to William Sharnbrook." The latter died in 1 563, 

 leaving a son and heir Nicholas as well as younger 

 sons.*" The manor of Bengeo probably formed part 

 of the provision for the widow and younger sons, lor 

 in 1571 Joan Sharnbrook, widow, and John Sharn- 

 brook released all their right in the manor to Robert 

 Spencer and Frances his wife," and in 1594 it wis 



