Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Map of Willington in the Fifteenth Century
- Chapter One The Evidence
- Chapter Two The Decline of Serfdom and the Peasants’ Revolt
- Chapter Three Willington, Blunham Greys and Eggington
- Chapter Four Life on the Manor
- Chapter Five The Mowbrays and their Management Networks
- Chapter Six Finances and Assets
- Chapter Seven Newnham Priory
- Chapter Eight After the Peasants’ Revolt
- Appendix 1 Terrier of the prior and Convent of Newnham of its Land and Tenements in Wellyngton, made there on the 12th day of July in the twenty second year of the reign of King Henry the seventh [1507]
- Appendix 2 By-laws of the Manor, 1397–1540
- Appendix 3 View of Frankpledge with Court Baron of William Gostwicke Esquire, held there on the twenty third day of October in the Forty first Year of the reign of the our lady Elizabeth, by the grace of god, Queen of England, France and Ireland, defender of the faith etc [1599]
- Appendix 4 A New Barn for Thomas Wyltshyre and Other Buildings, Roll 37, 22 April 1440
- Appendix 5 Manor Officials
- Appendix 6 People and Families
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Index
Chapter Three - Willington, Blunham Greys and Eggington
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 October 2020
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Map of Willington in the Fifteenth Century
- Chapter One The Evidence
- Chapter Two The Decline of Serfdom and the Peasants’ Revolt
- Chapter Three Willington, Blunham Greys and Eggington
- Chapter Four Life on the Manor
- Chapter Five The Mowbrays and their Management Networks
- Chapter Six Finances and Assets
- Chapter Seven Newnham Priory
- Chapter Eight After the Peasants’ Revolt
- Appendix 1 Terrier of the prior and Convent of Newnham of its Land and Tenements in Wellyngton, made there on the 12th day of July in the twenty second year of the reign of King Henry the seventh [1507]
- Appendix 2 By-laws of the Manor, 1397–1540
- Appendix 3 View of Frankpledge with Court Baron of William Gostwicke Esquire, held there on the twenty third day of October in the Forty first Year of the reign of the our lady Elizabeth, by the grace of god, Queen of England, France and Ireland, defender of the faith etc [1599]
- Appendix 4 A New Barn for Thomas Wyltshyre and Other Buildings, Roll 37, 22 April 1440
- Appendix 5 Manor Officials
- Appendix 6 People and Families
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
This chapter examines Willington and its records within the context of two other rural Bedfordshire manors, Blunham Greys (also called Blunham with Girtford) and Eggington. There are translated records, concurrent with Willington, for both these manors.
It is possible to examine Willington in some detail because of the large collection of manorial documents which survive from the late fourteenth to the early sixteenth centuries. Characteristics specific to the manor are the limited influence of religious institutions on its history and the fact that it was held by landlords who did not live there, so being managed by a network of friends and relatives who formed the lord's council, or by their officials and employees. The tenants had opportunities to work together, to organise themselves and negotiate lower rents under the leadership of the bailiff who was almost always a local man, 1382–1483.
Manors were territorial units under the administration of a lord and often part of a larger estate. The three manors of Willington, Blunham Greys and Eggington were all lay manors, although the lord of the manor of Willington, Lord Mowbray, was patron of Newnham Priory. Willington was part of the extensive Mowbray estates, and its bailiff held some responsibility for the collection of rents from other smaller properties.
Blunham Greys was adjacent to, and downstream of, Willington on the south bank of the river Great Ouse and was also in the Wixamtree Hundred. It had links with nearby lands in Girtford. Ownership of this manor passed to the de Grey family, of Wrest Park, in 1389, and it was part of their wider estates. The court of the small manor of Eggington, situated in the south-west of Bedfordshire, is presumed to have been part of a larger holding centred on Leighton Buzzard and was held by members of the Chyld (or Child) family until 1433, after which it passed to the Man family.
Willington was a quiet rural settlement of between 1,600–1,700 acres on the south bank of the Great Ouse, east of Bedford. The boundaries of the manor were coterminous with the boundaries of the parish.
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- Willington and the MowbraysAfter the Peasants' Revolt, pp. 38 - 61Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2019