Enfield: Manors

A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5, Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, Edmonton Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1976.

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'Enfield: Manors', in A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5, Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, Edmonton Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham, (London, 1976) pp. 224-229. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol5/pp224-229 [accessed 24 April 2024]

MANORS.

The manor of ENFIELD was held by Ansgar the staller in 1066 and by Geoffrey de Mandeville in 1086. (fn. 1) It passed to Geoffrey's son William, to his grandson Geoffrey, earl of Essex (d. 1144), and then in turn to the earl's sons Ernulf, Geoffrey, earl of Essex (d. 1166), and William, earl of Essex (d. 1189). William was succeeded by his aunt Beatrice de Say, but in 1190 his lands were granted to Geoffrey fitz Piers, who had married her grand-daughter Beatrice and who was created earl of Essex in 1199. (fn. 2) Geoffrey was succeeded in 1213 by his son Geoffrey, who took the name Mandeville and was in possession of Enfield, as part of the honor of Mandeville, in 1214. (fn. 3) The younger Geoffrey was succeeded in 1216 by his brother William, who died, also without issue, in 1227. (fn. 4) William's widow Christine was granted the manor in 1227, when she married Raymond de Burgh, (fn. 5) but died childless in 1232, whereupon seisin was granted to Roger of Dauntsey, second husband of William de Mandeville's last surviving sister Maud, countess of Hereford, pending the decision in a suit for their divorce. (fn. 6) Livery of Maud's lands was finally granted to Roger of Dauntsey shortly before his wife's death in 1236, after which it was granted to Maud's son and heir, Humphrey de Bohun, earl of Hereford and Essex. (fn. 7)

Humphrey de Bohun, to whom the manor was confirmed in 1266, (fn. 8) was succeeded in 1275 by his grandson Humphrey, (fn. 9) whose son and namesake succeeded in 1298. In 1299 the manor was held in chief, as of the honor of Mandeville, as ¼ knight's fee, (fn. 10) and in 1302 it was included in a settlement on the earl's marriage to Edward I's daughter Elizabeth. (fn. 11) In 1322 Humphrey was succeeded by his son John (d. 1336), during whose minority the manor was held by the king and, after 1325, by the bishop of Exeter. (fn. 12) John was succeeded by his brother Humphrey (d. 1361), (fn. 13) whose nephew and successor Humphrey came of age in 1363. (fn. 14) Humphrey died in 1373 without male issue and the manor was assigned in dower to his widow Joan (d. 1419). (fn. 15) After her death (fn. 16) it was in the hands of Henry V, (fn. 17) whose father, as earl of Derby, in 1384 had married Mary, younger daughter and coheir of Humphrey, last de Bohun earl of Hereford. (fn. 18) By a final partition of Earl Humphrey's estates between the descendants of his daughters in 1421, the manor was assigned in purparty to the king, (fn. 19) who in 1422 granted it to Queen Catherine in dower. (fn. 20)

After 1421 the manor remained with the duchy of Lancaster, except during the Interregnum. (fn. 21) Enfield was successively granted in dower during the 15th century to Margaret of Anjou, wife of Henry VI, and Elizabeth Woodville, wife of Edward IV. (fn. 22) In 1550 it was granted by Edward VI to his sister Elizabeth for life. (fn. 23) It was leased in 1484 (fn. 24) and often thereafter; the lease was acquired in 1742 by James Brydges, duke of Chandos (d. 1744), and remained in his family until 1795. (fn. 25)

A capital messuage with a dovecot existed in 1299 (fn. 26) and the earl of Hereford was licensed in 1347 to crenellate his manor-house. (fn. 27) A house called the manor of Camelot, presumably at Camlet Moat in Enfield Chase, was demolished in 1440 to raise money for repairs to Hertford castle; apart from the foundations of a bridge over the moat, no trace of the building has been discovered. (fn. 28) Another house, called the manor-house, was leased in 1439, when rooms over and near the gateway were reserved for the king. (fn. 29) Henry VIII stayed at Enfield, presumably at the manor-house, in 1520 and 1527, (fn. 30) but later royal visits seem to have been to Elsing Hall, the manor-house of Worcesters, which came into the hands of the duchy of Lancaster in 1539. (fn. 31) In 1572 the manor-house, which stood by Enfield Green near the modern market-place, was occupied by John Taylor, together with a moated house called Lockstones Hall, (fn. 32) and in 1582 it was leased to Henry Middlemore. (fn. 33) It seems to have been the building known after the end of the 18th century as Enfield Palace, a two-storeyed gabled structure of the 16th century with a central block and wings, whose walls were decorated with the initials E.R. (for Elizabeth I or Edward VI). (fn. 34) Although the manor-house was leased in 1635, with most of the demesne, to Sir Thomas Trevor (1586–1656), judge, (fn. 35) part of it was used as a private school from c. 1670 until the late 19th century. (fn. 36) In 1787 a pond, extensive gardens, and part of the palace yard survived. (fn. 37) The house had been greatly reduced in size by 1792 and later was partly refaced (fn. 38) but the interior retained 'vestiges of former splendour' in 1823. (fn. 39) The building was shut in with shops and houses in 1876 (fn. 40) and was demolished in 1928, having served as a post office and later as a Conservative club, to make way for an extension to Pearson's department store. (fn. 41) A panelled room, however, was re-erected in an annexe to no. 5, Gentleman's Row; it contains an elaborate plaster ceiling and a stone fireplace of high quality, both enriched with Tudor emblems. (fn. 42)

Property in Enfield held by William de Plessis at the end of the 12th century (fn. 43) was probably that conveyed in 1232 by Roger of Dauntsey to his son Richard. (fn. 44) Richard de Plessis held 1/5 knight's fee of the manor of Enfield in 1235 (fn. 45) and died in 1289, (fn. 46) whereupon his estate was divided between his sisters Aveline, wife of John Durant, and Emme, wife of John Heron. (fn. 47) After Aveline's death in 1312 (fn. 48) her property passed in turn to her son Richard (d. 1333), (fn. 49) Richard's son Thomas (d. 1349), (fn. 50) and Thomas's daughter Maud, who had married John Wroth by 1353. (fn. 51) By 1376 she was again married, to Sir Baldwin Raddington, (fn. 52) and in 1381 the manor of DURANTS PLACE, known subsequently as DURANTS, was conveyed to Raddington, (fn. 53) at whose death in 1401 it reverted to William, son of John and Maud Wroth. (fn. 54) The other portion of Richard de Plessis's lands passed from his daughter Emme to her husband John Heron (d. 1326) (fn. 55) and then to his son John, who died without issue in 1335. (fn. 56) In 1336 it was divided between Margaret, sister of the younger John Heron, and John Garton, his nephew, (fn. 57) a London mercer, who died seised of both portions in 1362, (fn. 58) when he was succeeded by his son John. In 1412 John Garton of London held lands in Enfield worth £10, (fn. 59) which had been consolidated with the manor of Durants by the end of the 15th century. (fn. 60) Meanwhile William Wroth's lands descended in 1408 to his son William (d. 1444) and then to his grandson John (d. 1480). (fn. 61)

John Wroth's son and namesake died in 1517 seised of Durants, which had been settled on his eldest surviving son Robert, later attorney-general of the duchy of Lancaster. (fn. 62) From Robert the manor passed in 1535 (fn. 63) to his son Thomas, later Sir Thomas, Wroth (1516–73), the politician, and then to Sir Thomas's son Robert (?1540–1606), who was knighted in 1597. (fn. 64) Sir Robert's son, another Sir Robert, of Loughton (Essex) succeeded him and died in 1614, leaving an infant son who died in 1616. John, the younger Sir Robert's brother, died in 1642 (fn. 65) seised of both moieties of Durants, one of which had been quitclaimed to him by Sir Thomas and Sir Peter Wroth in 1634. John's brother and heir Henry was succeeded in 1652 by his younger son and namesake, (fn. 66) later Sir Henry (d. 1671), a royalist and patron of Thomas Fuller. (fn. 67) Durants was sold by Sir Henry's trustees in 1672 to Sir Thomas Stringer, the holder in 1686, (fn. 68) whose son William in 1723 conveyed it to Richard Darby, (fn. 69) who in 1735 gave it to his daughter Margaret, wife of William Underwood. (fn. 70) Underwood conveyed it in 1744 to Samuel Child (fn. 71) of Osterley Park, Heston (d. 1752); he was succeeded by his son Francis (d. 1763), whose brother Robert conveyed Durants to Robert Dent in 1774. (fn. 72) It was conveyed by Dent in that year to John Dawes, by Dawes to Sands Chapman in 1787, and by Chapman to Newell Connop of Penton in Crediton (Devon) in 1793. (fn. 73) Newell Connop died in 1831, leaving the manor to his son Woodham (d. 1868), (fn. 74) whose widow Emily was lady of the manor in 1874. (fn. 75) The manor was later sold to Sir William Jaffray, Bt., of Skilts in Studley (Warws.), in whose name a court was held in 1891; rights were said to be extinct in 1911. (fn. 76)

Newell Connop greatly enlarged the Durants estate from 150 a. near the manor-house. In 1787 he bought 285 a. around Enfield Highway and Ponders End, which formerly had belonged to Eliab Breton of Forty Hall, (fn. 77) and c. 1792 he bought 462 a. of common-field land in the same area from Charles Bowles. (fn. 78) In 1804 he purchased 168 a. from John Blackburn of Bush Hill, Edmonton, bringing his total estate in Enfield to 1,226 a., most of it in the south-east part of the parish. (fn. 79) Later purchases included Bury farm, 149 a., in 1818. (fn. 80) On Newell Connop's death his estates were divided among his family (fn. 81) and on Woodham's death many were sold, with the manor. (fn. 82) The copyhold lands in the 18th and 19th centuries consisted of cottages and small parcels in the south of the parish, mostly near Ponders End. (fn. 83)

Durants manor-house, a large moated building around a courtyard, stood east of Hertford Road and north of Ponders End. There was a ruined dovecot near by in 1362. (fn. 84) After a fire at the end of the 18th century a small farm-house was built on part of the site. (fn. 85) The rest of the old structure, including the gate-house, was demolished in 1910. (fn. 86)

John, son of Henry of Enfield, held property in 1298, which became the nucleus of the manor of WORCESTERS, sometimes called WORCESTERS AND ELSING HALL. (fn. 87) John of Enfield's son John held land in 1329 (fn. 88) and died in 1349 seised of 34 a. held in chief as of the honor of Mandeville and 313 a. held of the earl of Hereford. (fn. 89) The younger John of Enfield's widow Margaret had married again by 1352 (fn. 90) and in 1373 Francis, John's son, quitclaimed property in Enfield and Edmonton to Margaret and her second husband John Wroth, citizen of London, (fn. 91) who in 1396 (fn. 92) was succeeded by his son Sir John Wroth (d. 1407). (fn. 93) In 1408 the estate was committed to Sir John Tiptoft during the minority of Sir John Wroth's son and namesake (fn. 94) but in 1412 John Wroth died seised of the manor, called Wroth's Place. (fn. 95) It passed to his sister Elizabeth, wife of Sir William Palton, who in 1413 was succeeded by her cousin Sir John, later Lord, Tiptoft (d. 1443). (fn. 96) Tiptoft's son John, later earl of Worcester, was executed in 1470 and his grandson Edward died childless in 1485, whereupon the manor, then called Tiptofts, passed to Philippe Grimston, daughter of John, Lord Tiptoft (d. 1443), and widow of Thomas, Lord Ros (d. 1464), whose son Edmund, Lord Ros, died at Enfield in 1508. The manor passed to Ros's sister Isabel and her husband Sir Thomas Lovell, Speaker of the House of Commons, who had been given custody of the Ros estates in 1492, when Lord Ros was declared insane. (fn. 97) Sir Thomas died in 1524, having settled the manor on Thomas Manners (d. 1543), Lord Ros and later earl of Rutland. (fn. 98) In 1539 Lord Rutland exchanged the manor, then called Worcesters, with the king for the monastery of Croxton Kerrial (Leics.). (fn. 99)

The manor was granted in 1550 to Princess Elizabeth for life. (fn. 100) In 1602, as queen, she gave it to trustees for Robert Cecil (d. 1612), later earl of Salisbury. (fn. 101) Robert's son William, earl of Salisbury, conveyed it in 1616 to Sir Nicholas Raynton (d. 1646), (fn. 102) a haberdasher who became lord mayor of London in 1632. The manor passed to Nicholas's grandson Nicholas (d. 1696), who left it to his daughter Mary, wife of John Wolstenholme, later a baronet (d. 1708). John was succeeded by his sons Nicholas (d. 1716) and William (d. 1723) and then by his daughter Elizabeth, who married Eliab Breton of Norton (Northants.). Breton died in 1785 and in 1787 the manor was purchased from his executors by Edmund Armstrong. (fn. 103) When Armstrong died in 1799, it was bought by James Meyer (d. 1826). (fn. 104) He was succeeded by his nephew Christian Paul Meyer, whose son James died in 1894; the manor was sold in 1895 to Henry Carrington Bowles Bowles of Myddelton House, whose son Col. H. F. Bowles held it in 1911. (fn. 105)

Sir Nicholas Raynton's estate in 1656 included 50 a. surrounding the new manor-house of Forty Hall, 70 a. around the older Enfield House, 427 a. in the common fields, (fn. 106) and the former New Park and warren, containing 375 a. Eliab Breton held as many as 1,536 a. in the parish, spreading westward from Forty Hill to Enfield Highway and to the marshes by the Lea, (fn. 107) but the lands were split up after his death. James Meyer added 120 a., purchased from Joseph Mellish, to the manor and Forty Hall c. 1800. (fn. 108) In 1873 the Forty Hall estate was a compact block of 280 a.; (fn. 109) in 1951, when it was bought, with the house, by Enfield U.D.C., it contained 265 a. (fn. 110) Some small pieces of copyhold land belonging to Worcesters manor survived in 1855 at Clay Hill, at Enfield Town, in Baker Street, and near the Ridgeway, (fn. 111) but they were enfranchised before the First World War.

The first known manor-house of Worcesters stood in or near Baker Street and survived in 1656; (fn. 112) it may have been the capital messuage mentioned in 1412. (fn. 113) Queen Margaret of Scotland stayed for two nights in 1516 at Sir Thomas Lovell's house, called Elsing Hall and later Enfield House, (fn. 114) which then served as the manor-house of Worcesters and where Lovell lived in splendour. (fn. 115) It stood north-east of the later Forty Hall and was said to have been built by John Tiptoft, earl of Worcester, (fn. 116) although there were extensive repairs in 1541 (fn. 117) by James Needham, Clerk of the King's Works, in 1542 in preparation for a Christmas visit by Prince Edward and his sisters, and again under Elizabeth I. (fn. 118) The building was of brick, at least in part, and arranged around two courtyards. (fn. 119) In 1568 the rooms included a library (fn. 120) and there were subsequent references to a hall and a chapel. (fn. 121) Elizabeth I stayed at Enfield, presumably at Elsing Hall, in 1561, 1564, 1568, and 1572, (fn. 122) and the house remained in the hands of the Crown when Worcesters manor was alienated in 1602. By 1597, however, it was unsound (fn. 123) and in 1608 there was a warrant to demolish it and to use the materials for proposed extensions to James I's house at Theobalds (Herts.). (fn. 124) Part of the building remained, including the gatehouse and hall, (fn. 125) and from 1616 to 1623 Philip Herbert, earl of Montgomery and later of Pembroke (d. 1650), lived there as keeper. (fn. 126) The house was conveyed to him in 1641, (fn. 127) but in 1656 it was in the hands of Nicholas Raynton. (fn. 128) It was demolished, probably soon afterwards, and its site remained hidden until it was excavated in 1963–6. (fn. 129)

Forty Hall, which became the manor-house of Worcesters in the 17th century, was built on the site of an earlier house by Sir Nicholas Raynton between 1629 and 1636, (fn. 130) but its appearance was much altered c. 1708 (fn. 131) by the Wolstenholmes. It is a threestoreyed building of restrained classical design, with a square plan and a hipped roof. Early-17th-century features include moulded plaster ceilings, panelling, fireplaces, and the hall screen. The exterior brickwork must have been renewed early in the 18th century, when the present windows were introduced and the roofline was altered. Then and later in the century there was some replanning of the interior necessitating new fittings and decoration, most notably in the entrance hall where the panelling is decorated with plaster cartouches. (fn. 132) The centre of the east front and the staircase were remodelled c. 1900. The extensive out-buildings north-west of the house include a large rusticated brick gateway in the Artisan-Mannerist style of the 1630s. In 1787 the innermost courtyard comprised coach houses, stables, barns, a brewhouse and a mill house, while the outer court contained farm buildings. There were pleasure grounds of 12 a. and a park of 159 a. (fn. 133) The gabled main lodge was built to the designs of Sydney W. Cranfield after 1903. (fn. 134) Conspirators in the Rye House Plot were said to have been concealed in the house by Nicholas Raynton in 1683. (fn. 135) Forty Hall, with its grounds, was bought by Enfield U.D.C. in 1951, opened to the public as a museum in 1955, and restored in 1962, when the outbuildings were converted into an exhibition gallery and reception rooms. (fn. 136)

Ellis of Suffolk held a house and land in Enfield in 1307, (fn. 137) which may have been the nucleus of the manor of SUFFOLKS or COLT'S FARM conveyed, with lands in Essex, by John Norton to Thomas Colt and others in 1459. (fn. 138) The manor, called Nortons, was forfeited in 1460 and granted to Henry Fillongley (fn. 139) but in 1475 it passed from Joan, widow of Thomas Colt, to her son John. (fn. 140) Henry, son of George Colt, held the manor in 1556. (fn. 141) George Colt conveyed it in 1578 or 1579 to Sir Robert Wroth of Durants, whose son Robert was seised of it in 1608. (fn. 142) John Wroth held the manor in 1635 but in 1686 it was in the hands of Joshua Galliard, (fn. 143) in whose family it descended until Mary, daughter of Pierce Galliard, married Charles Bowles of East Sheen (Surr.). In 1792 Bowles sold the manor to Newell Connop, with 462 a. in the common fields and marshes, (fn. 144) whereupon the manorial estates, near Ponders End (fn. 145) and doubtless including part of the field called Suffolks, were integrated with Connop's lands. (fn. 146) Suffolks manorhouse probably stood near Suffolks Orchard at Enfield Highway. The site of a farm called Suffolks, on the western side of Hertford Road, was recorded in 1572 (fn. 147) and a 'desirable residence' was built on Suffolks Orchard shortly before 1869. (fn. 148)

The manor of ELSING or NORRIS FARM seems to have originated in a knight's fee in Enfield and Sawbridgeworth (Herts.), held in 1372 by Jordan of Elsing of the earl of Hereford. (fn. 149) The fee was held in the mid 15th century by Christine Norris. (fn. 150) In 1464 the estate, described as the manor of Elsing, was conveyed by John Wood to William Kele, clerk, (fn. 151) and in 1521 it was conveyed, as the manor of Norris, by Cecily Sudeby, daughter and heir of Edmund Norris, to John Wilford (d. 1544) and others. (fn. 152) John Wilford's son Stephen died in 1567 seised of two thirds of the manor, (fn. 153) the remaining third having passed to the Hunsdon family and being held in 1643 by Henry Hunsdon. (fn. 154) In 1686 Hunsdon's portion was apparently mortgaged (fn. 155) and soon afterwards it ceased to be regarded as a manor. The larger part passed to Stephen Wilford's son John, who held it in 1568, to John's son William in 1605, (fn. 156) to John Wilford by 1635, and George, son of Edward Wilford, by 1686. (fn. 157) Richard Wilford conveyed the manor in 1707 to John Cotton, who sold it in 1734 to Robert Mackeris (d. 1735). (fn. 158) Mackeris devised the manor to his widow Priscilla, who married Thomas Sexton, James Jones, and thirdly James Fenwick, whose son Thomas James Fenwick held the property in 1793. (fn. 159) On Thomas James Fenwick's bankruptcy his assignees conveyed the estate in 1804 to Newell Connop, lord of Durants, (fn. 160) from whom it descended to Woodham Connop, although a portion was held in 1811 by the heirs of Sarah Pinnock. (fn. 161) Part, known as Plantation or Welches farm, was conveyed in 1878 by William Woodham Connop to William Smith of Westbourne Terrace (Paddington), who in 1893 left it to his sons Philip, Arthur, and Henry. (fn. 162) In 1911 the farm, containing 120 a., was held by Howard Smith of Ford House, Wolverhampton, and Henry Herbert Smith of Calne (Wilts.); manorial rights were then said to have been extinct for many years. (fn. 163)

The manor-house of Norris Farm, mentioned in 1572, (fn. 164) was behind a moat in Welches Lane (later Ordnance Road), where Plantation Farm stood in the 19th and 20th centuries. In 1972 the site was covered by a housing estate. A timber-framed house called Norris Farm, probably the old manor-house, was demolished in 1786 and replaced by a plain brick farmhouse, (fn. 165) later also demolished. The manorial lands lay in the eastern part of the parish, near Enfield Lock, at Ponders End, and in the common marshes, although there was an outlying portion, separated from the main estate in the 16th century, at Monken Hadley. (fn. 166) After inclosure in 1806 the estate was conterminous with Plantation farm, which contained 120 a. in 1911. (fn. 167)

Ellis of Honeyland held land in Enfield in 1275, (fn. 168) which may later have become part of the manor of HONEYLANDS and PENTRICHES or CAPELS, which in 1486 was sold by Jane, wife of Sir Thomas Lewknor and widow of Sir John Yonge, to Sir William Capel. (fn. 169) In 1546 Sir Giles, Sir Henry, and Edward Capel surrendered the manor to the Crown (fn. 170) and in 1562 Elizabeth I granted it to William Horne, who sold it in the same year to John Tamworth. In 1575 it was in the hands of Thomas Sydney, from whom it was acquired by Sir Thomas Knolles. (fn. 171) Knolles conveyed it in 1600 to Sir Robert Wroth of Durants, (fn. 172) for whom courts were held in 1611. Courts were held from 1626 to 1632 in the name of William Pennefather, who sold the manor in 1638 to William Avery, who held it until 1694. William Eyre and John Avery were holding courts in 1696 and Norton Avery from 1698 to 1721. In 1724 the manor was sold to Charles Eyre, who held courts until 1745, but Robert Jacomb was lord in 1751 and remained so until 1783, when he conveyed it to William Hart, who conveyed it in 1793 to Rawson Hart Boddam, a former governor of Bombay. (fn. 173) The manor was acquired between 1811 and 1815 by James Meyer of Forty Hall and its descent thereafter followed that of Worcesters until 1894, when it was inherited by Meyer's two daughters, Katharine and Mary Colvin Meyer, who were ladies of the manor in 1901. (fn. 174) Manorial rights were extinguished soon afterwards. It was claimed in 1794 that the manor was fully independent and free of quit-rents to the manor of Enfield. (fn. 175)

The manor-house of Honeylands was leased by the queen to Robert Wroth in 1562 (fn. 176) and had grounds of 17 a. in 1572. (fn. 177) It stood near Bull's Cross and seems to have been demolished in the late 18th century by Robert Jacomb, who built Capel House near North field. Jacomb's house was itself demolished after 1793 by Rawson Hart Boddam, who transferred the name Capel House to his own residence, which had been built north of Bullsmoor Lane (fn. 178) by Alexander Hamilton (d. 1761). (fn. 179) The new manor-house was 'greatly improved' by Boddam but was sold after his death and in 1823 lay empty. (fn. 180) It was purchased in 1840 by James Warren, whose nephew James died there in 1904. (fn. 181) From 1971, as Capel Manor, it served as a management centre for Enfield college of technology. Capel Manor is a plain two-storeyed brick building with a frontage which has been extended at each end. A lodge in Bullsmoor Lane is dated 1876. The lands of Honeylands manor were scattered in the common fields and marshes of the north-eastern part of the parish. In 1546 some manorial land lay in Cheshunt (Herts.) (fn. 182) and in 1794 the demesne was said to be near the Pied Bull at Bull's Cross. (fn. 183) Rawson Hart Boddam held some 200 a. near Capel House but the estate was divided after his death (fn. 184) and in 1840 it totalled only 31 a. (fn. 185) In 1855 there were a few small parcels of copyhold land at Enfield Wash, at Whitewebbs, in Turkey Street, and in Cheshunt. (fn. 186)

The rectorial estate of Enfield, held by the abbots of Walden, was assessed at 63 marks in the mid 13th century (fn. 187) and £40 in 1291. (fn. 188) It was granted to Sir Thomas Audley, later Lord Audley of Walden, at the Dissolution in 1538, (fn. 189) surrendered to the Crown in 1542, (fn. 190) and granted to Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1546. (fn. 191) The estate, called RECTORY manor in 1580, consisted in 1608 of land and houses near Baker Street and Parsonage Lane and the site of the manor, presumably the rectory house, known as Surlow. (fn. 192) In 1650 there were 37 a., apart from the rectory house and grounds, and the great tithes were worth £230 a year. (fn. 193) When tithes were extinguished in the Chase under the Act of 1777, Trinity College and the vicar received 519 a., mostly west of the duchy lands between the Ridgeway and the road from Enfield Town to East Barnet. In 1803 the college acquired an additional 498 a. between the Ridgeway and Crews Hill, of which 68 a. were soon sold, out of Enfield parish's allotment from the Chase and 535 a. farther east, stretching from Forty Hill to the eastern boundary. (fn. 194) Part of the estate was built on at the end of the 19th century and more later became Crews Hill golf course. (fn. 195) Rectory manor was said to survive in 1911 (fn. 196) but the last piece of land, the garden of the rectory house, was sold in 1926. (fn. 197)

Both the land and the great tithes were leased out in 1650. (fn. 198) The estate was leased in 1721 to Joseph Gascoigne Nightingale, whose daughter and heir married Wilmot Vaughan, earl of Lisburne, the lessee from 1754. (fn. 199) Thereafter the Vaughans leased the rectory estate until 1882, when Trinity College assumed direct management. (fn. 200) The rectory house, at the corner of Baker Street and Parsonage Lane, was described in 1823 as ancient and of good size. (fn. 201) It was two-storeyed, with an early-19th-century garden front of 7 bays, and was demolished in 1928. (fn. 202)

The so-called manor of GOLDBEATERS, with a house and lands, was conveyed in 1515 by Roger Bendbow to the bishop of London, Sir Thomas Lovell, and others, (fn. 203) probably on behalf of the hospital of the Savoy, which held the manor in 1535. (fn. 204) At the temporary suppression of the hospital in 1553 the estate, no longer called a manor, was given to the new hospital of Bridewell (London) (fn. 205) but in 1572 it was held by Robert Huicke (d. ?1581), Elizabeth I's physician, (fn. 206) who lived at Whitewebbs. The land later became part of Bull's Cross farm, totalling 119 a., which belonged to Eliab Breton and was sold after his death, together with the former manor-house of Goldbeaters, to Joseph Mellish of Bush Hill, Edmonton. (fn. 207) On Joseph Mellish's death the farm passed to his nephews John and William Mellish, who sold part of it to Christopher Strothoffe (d. 1801). (fn. 208) Strothoffe's widow Elizabeth held it in 1811 (fn. 209) and later left it to her nephew Richard Glover, who sold the former manor-house to Arthur Windus (d. 1818); in 1823 it belonged to Hester Windus but much of the farm had been absorbed into the Forty Hall estate. (fn. 210) The old manor-house stood in the hamlet of Bull's Cross west of the road leading to Enfield Town (fn. 211) and was described as ancient in 1656. (fn. 212) It had been demolished by 1787, when Christopher Strothoffe was leasing a house at Bull's Cross from the executors of Eliab Breton and was said to have spent a large sum on his estate. (fn. 213) The house at Bull's Cross called the Manor House, which belonged in 1911 to Gen. Sir John French (1852–1925), later field-marshal and earl of Ypres, had no connexion with Goldbeaters. (fn. 214)

Footnotes

  • 1. V.C.H. Mdx. i. 126.
  • 2. Complete Peerage, v. 115–24.
  • 3. Ibid. 126; Cur. Reg. R. vii. 110–11.
  • 4. Complete Peerage, v. 130–2.
  • 5. Ibid. 133 n.; Rot. Litt. Claus. (Rec. Com.), ii. 179.
  • 6. Close R. 1231–4, 81, 85, 96; Complete Peerage, v. 134.
  • 7. Complete Peerage, v. 134; vi. 460.
  • 8. Cal. Pat. 1258–66, 543.
  • 9. For the descent of the earldom of Hereford from 1275 until 1373, see Complete Peerage, vi. 462–73.
  • 10. Cal. Inq. p.m. iii, p. 424.
  • 11. Cal. Chart. R. 1300–26, 33.
  • 12. Cal. Fine R. 1319–27, 365.
  • 13. Cal. Inq. p.m. viii, p. 25.
  • 14. Ibid. 473; Cal. Inq. p.m. xi, p. 366.
  • 15. Cal. Close, 1369–74, 496.
  • 16. Feud. Aids, vi. 486; Complete Peerage, vi. 474.
  • 17. S.C. 6/915/26.
  • 18. Complete Peerage, vi. 477.
  • 19. Rot. Parl. iv. 136.
  • 20. D.L. 42/18.
  • 21. Cal. Treas. Bks. 1660–7, 53.
  • 22. S.C. 6/1093/14; /1094/8.
  • 23. Cal. Pat. 1549–51, 240.
  • 24. D.L. 42/20.
  • 25. Duchy of Lanc. office, index to enrolment bks.
  • 26. Cal. Inq. p.m. iii, p. 424.
  • 27. Cal. Pat. 1345–8, 450.
  • 28. D.L. 42/18 f. 148v.; Hist. of King's Works, ii. 680 n.
  • 29. V.C.H. Mdx. ii. 76.
  • 30. L. & P. Hen. VIII, iii, pp. 403, 1543; iv (2), p. 1476.
  • 31. See below.
  • 32. D.L. 43/7/5.
  • 33. Lysons, Environs, ii. 284.
  • 34. Guildhall Libr., print coll.
  • 35. D.L. 42/125; D.N.B.
  • 36. See p. 257.
  • 37. M.R.O., Acc. 801/43.
  • 38. Ambulator, 10th edn. (1807), 108; Lysons, Environs, ii and plate. An inscription over the door of the room preserved in Gentleman's Row (see below) reads: 'Altered by T. Callaway 1791'.
  • 39. Robinson, Enfield, i, 119 and frontispiece.
  • 40. Thorne, Environs, 175.
  • 41. Robbins, Mdx. 246; Briggs, Mdx. Old and New, 66; Whitaker, Enfield, 191.
  • 42. Hist. Mon. Com. Mdx. 22–3 and plates 40, 59; Pevsner, Mdx. 51.
  • 43. Cur. Reg. R. xiv. 423.
  • 44. C.P. 25(1)/146/8/95.
  • 45. Bk. of Fees, i. 474.
  • 46. Cal. Inq. p.m. ii, p. 442.
  • 47. Cal. Close, 1288–96, 49–50; Cal. Inq. p.m. iii, p. 58.
  • 48. Cal. Inq. p.m. v, p. 192.
  • 49. Ibid. vii, p. 360.
  • 50. Ibid. ix, p. 311.
  • 51. Ibid. x, p. 111–2.
  • 52. C.P. 25(1)/151/74 no. 533.
  • 53. C.P. 25(1)/151/76 no.47.
  • 54. C 137/171/17.
  • 55. Cal. Inq. p.m. vi, p. 467.
  • 56. Ibid. vii, p. 462.
  • 57. Cal. Close, 1333–7, 561–3.
  • 58. Cal. Inq. p.m. xi, p. 266; Cal. Close, 1339–41, 469.
  • 59. Feud. Aids, vi. 491.
  • 60. D.L. 30/72/893.
  • 61. C 140/74/28; Robinson, Enfield, i. 144.
  • 62. C 142/32/31; Sel. Cases in Star Cha. (Selden Soc. xxv), p. 202 n.; R. Somerville, Duchy of Lancaster, i. 408, 606.
  • 63. Prob. 11/25 (P.C.C. 36 Hogen, will of Robert Wroth); C 142/57/7.
  • 64. Robinson, Enfield, i. 146; D.N.B.; D. O. Pam, Protestant Gentlemen. The Wroths of Durants Arbour (Edmonton Hund. Hist. Soc. 1973).
  • 65. V.C.H. Essex, iv. 119.
  • 66. W. C. Waller, 'Wroth of Loughton Hall', Trans. Essex Arch. Soc. N.S. viii. 181, 347–8; C.P. 25(2)/574/1652 Trin. Mdx.
  • 67. D.N.B.
  • 68. C 6/295/41.
  • 69. C.P. 25(2)/1037/9 Geo. I Trin.
  • 70. Robinson, Enfield, i. 150.
  • 71. C.P. 25(2)/1166/18 Geo. II Hil.; V.C.H. Mdx. iii. 109.
  • 72. M.R.O., Acc. 133, p. 79; Lysons, Environs, ii. 301.
  • 73. Lysons, Environs, ii. 301; Whitaker, Enfield, 43.
  • 74. M.R.O., Acc. 801/1101–2; Acc. 727/169.
  • 75. M.R.O., Acc. 133, p. 361.
  • 76. Ibid. p. 412; Whitaker, Enfield, 43–4.
  • 77. M.R.O., Acc. 801/43.
  • 78. Ibid. /78–9; see below.
  • 79. M.R.O., Acc. 801/275; /279; /1046.
  • 80. Ibid. /1219.
  • 81. Ibid. /1097–1105.
  • 82. M.R.O., Acc. 727/168.
  • 83. M.R.O., Acc. 133.
  • 84. Cal. Inq. p.m. xi, p. 266.
  • 85. Robinson, Enfield, i. 153–7; Guildhall Libr., drawing in illus. edn. of Lysons, Environs, ii.
  • 86. Whitaker, Enfield, 161.
  • 87. Cal. Pat. 1292–1301, 354.
  • 88. Ibid. 1327–30, 410.
  • 89. Cal. Inq. p.m. ix, pp. 169–70.
  • 90. Cal. Close, 1349–54, 445.
  • 91. Ibid. 1369–74, 546.
  • 92. C 136/95/19(4).
  • 93. Cal. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Com.), iii. 30g.
  • 94. Cal. Fine R. 1405–13, 97.
  • 95. C 137/86/25.
  • 96. Cal. Fine R. 1413–22, 43; Cal. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Com.), iv. 6, 213; Complete Peerage, xii(1), 746.
  • 97. D.L. 41/42/62; Robinson, Enfield, i. 126–7; D.N.B.; Complete Peerage, xi. 106–7; xii(2), 846.
  • 98. C 142/41/79.
  • 99. C 54/419/6; L. & P. Hen. VIII, xiv(1), p. 256.
  • 100. Cal. Pat. 1549–51, 240.
  • 101. M.R.O., Acc. 16/9; D.L. 41/42/62.
  • 102. Ford, Enfield, 70.
  • 103. Lysons, Environs, ii. 296–7; Robinson, Enfield, i, pedigree facing p. 140. Sales parts. for Worcesters and Goldbeaters, 1787, are in M.R.O., Acc. 801/43–4.
  • 104. Lysons, Environs (Suppl.), 139.
  • 105. Whitaker, Enfield, 42, 137.
  • 106. M.R.O., Acc. 16/8.
  • 107. M.R.O., Acc. 262/1/36b.
  • 108. Robinson, Enfield, i. 235–9.
  • 109. Ford, Enfield, 72.
  • 110. Boro. of Enfield, Official Guide [1962].
  • 111. M.R.O., Acc. 16/16.
  • 112. M.R.O., Acc. 16/4; /8.
  • 113. C 137/86/25.
  • 114. L. & P. Hen. VIII, ii(1), p. 533.
  • 115. Hist. MSS. Com. 24, Rutland, iv, pp. 260–2. Lovell's funeral cortège set out for Haliwell priory from Enfield: L. & P. Hen. VIII, iv(1), p. 150.
  • 116. Norden, Spec. Brit. 19.
  • 117. Bodl. MS. Rawl. D. 781, ff. 188–207; B.M. Add. MS. 10109, ff. 116–22.
  • 118. E 351/3200–3203; E 351/3211–3216; E 351/3326 m. 10.
  • 119. Hist. MSS. Com. 24, Rutland, iv, pp. 282; Enfield Arch. Soc., Site of Elsynge Hall (Research Report i), 13.
  • 120. Bodl. MS. Rawl. A. 195c, ff. 243v.–251v.
  • 121. E 351/3215–6.
  • 122. E. K. Chambers, Elizabethan Stage, iv. 78, 81, 84, 88.
  • 123. Hist. MSS. Com. 9, Hatfield House, vii, p. 458.
  • 124. Cal. S.P. Dom. 1603–10, 419.
  • 125. E 351/3244.
  • 126. Cal. S.P. Dom. 1611–18, 392, 512; 1619–23, 481; Lysons, Environs, ii. 318–9.
  • 127. D.L. 42/24.
  • 128. M.R.O., Acc. 16/8.
  • 129. Enfield Arch. Soc. Society News, xv (1964), 4.
  • 130. M.R.O., Acc. 16/8; Hist. Mon. Com. Mdx. 23–4 and plates 61–4; a lead pipe is dated 1629.
  • 131. Rainwater-head.
  • 132. Robinson, Enfield, i. 237.
  • 133. M.R.O., Acc. 801/43.
  • 134. Building News, lxxxv. 67.
  • 135. Cal. S.P. Dom. 1683, 263, 339, 349; 1683–4, 48, 282.
  • 136. Ex inf. Enfield Libr.
  • 137. C.P. 25(1)/148/38 no. 353.
  • 138. C.P.25(1)/293/73 no. 434.
  • 139. Cal. Pat. 1452–61, 583.
  • 140. C 140/531/34.
  • 141. C.P. 25(2)/83/711/2 & 3 P. & M. East.
  • 142. C 2/Jas.I/W. 16/59.
  • 143. D.L. 42/125; /126.
  • 144. Lysons, Environs, ii. 302–3; M.R.O., Acc. 801/78–9.
  • 145. Lysons, Environs, ii. 303.
  • 146. See above.
  • 147. D.L. 43/7/5.
  • 148. M.R.O., Acc. 727/168.
  • 149. Cal. Inq. p.m. xiii, p. 143.
  • 150. Feud. Aids, vi. 583.
  • 151. C.P. 25(1)/152/96 no. 7.
  • 152. C.P. 25(2)/27/179/24.
  • 153. C 142/145/60.
  • 154. C 142/698/61.
  • 155. D.L. 42/126.
  • 156. C 60/384/27; C 60/443/65.
  • 157. D.L. 42/125; D.L. 42/126.
  • 158. Lysons, Environs, ii. 334.
  • 159. M.R.O., Acc. 801/305.
  • 160. Ibid. /296; /298–9.
  • 161. Lysons, Environs (Suppl.), 139.
  • 162. M.R.O., Acc. 704/box 12.
  • 163. Whitaker, Enfield, 45–7.
  • 164. D.L. 43/7/5.
  • 165. Robinson, Enfield, i. 160–1.
  • 166. M.R.O., Acc. 801/283; Robinson, Enfield, i. 159; see above.
  • 167. Whitaker, Enfield, 45.
  • 168. C.P. 25(1)/148/26/30.
  • 169. Cal. Close, 1485–1500, 35.
  • 170. C.P. 25(2)/52/381 Hen. VIII Trin. no. 38.
  • 171. Lysons, Environs, ii. 303.
  • 172. C.P. 25(2)/262/42 Eliz. Hil.
  • 173. Lysons, Environs, ii. 303; M.R.O., Acc. 16/1.
  • 174. M.R.O., Acc. 16/1.
  • 175. Ibid.
  • 176. E 310/19/95 f. 50.
  • 177. D.L. 43/7/5.
  • 178. Robinson, Enfield, i. 164–5.
  • 179. Ibid. 257; European Mag. xlv 1804), 38.
  • 180. Robinson, Enfield, i. 257–8.
  • 181. Ford, Enfield, 94; Whitaker, Enfield, 48.
  • 182. E 318/box 7/238.
  • 183. M.R.O., Acc. 16/1.
  • 184. Robinson, Enfield, i. 258.
  • 185. Ford, Enfield, 94.
  • 186. M.R.O., Acc. 16/16.
  • 187. Val. of Norw., ed. Lunt, 359.
  • 188. Tax. Eccl. (Rec. Com.), 17.
  • 189. L. & P. Hen. VIII, xviii(1), p. 410.
  • 190. E 305/C 58.
  • 191. L. & P. Hen. VIII, xxi(2), p. 342.
  • 192. Trinity Coll. Cambridge, Estate MSS. box 43 (ct. bk.).
  • 193. Home Cnties. Mag. i. 317–18.
  • 194. Enfield Chase Act, 17 Geo. III, c.17; M.R.O., Enfield Incl. Award and Map; Robinson, Enfield, ii. 352.
  • 195. See above, p. 223.
  • 196. Whitaker, Enfield, 51.
  • 197. Kelly's Dir. Enfield (1931).
  • 198. HomeCnties. Mag. i. 317–18.
  • 199. Robinson, Enfield, i. 286; Ford, Enfield, 296–7.
  • 200. Ford, Enfield, 297.
  • 201. Robinson, Enfield, i. 287–8.
  • 202. Enfield libr., photographic coll.
  • 203. C.P. 25(2)/27/178/26.
  • 204. Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), i. 358; V.C.H. Lond. i. 548.
  • 205. Cal.Pat. 1553, 283–4.
  • 206. D.L. 43/7/4; Robinson, Enfield, 17.9; D.N.B.
  • 207. Robinson, Enfield, i. 241. Sales pas'rts for Worcester and Goldbeaters are in M.R.O., Acc. 801/43–4.
  • 208. Robinson, Enfield, i. 242.
  • 209. Lysons, Environs (Suppl.), 139.
  • 210. Robinson, Enfield, i. 167, 242.
  • 211. M.R.O., Acc. 801/43.
  • 212. M.R.O., Acc. 16/8.
  • 213. See p. 226.
  • 214. Whitaker, Enfield, 49; D.N.B.