HOUSE OF KNIGHTS HOSPITALLERS
12. THE PRECEPTORY OF MELCHBOURNE
The preceptory of Melchbourne was
founded in the reign of Henry II. by
Alice de Claremont (fn. 1) ; other benefactors,
including Roger de Clare, Earl of Hertford, Hugh de Beauchamp of Eaton, and
William, Archbishop of York, added gifts of
land and churches. (fn. 2) Richard de Clare, the
son of Roger, confirmed the gifts of his
father and of Alice de Claremont; (fn. 3) and after
the suppression of the Templars some of their
property in Bedfordshire was transferred to
Melchbourne. (fn. 4) A general chapter was held at
this preceptory in 1242, under the presidency
of Brother Terricus de Nussa, prior of the
hospital in England (fn. 5) ; but beyond this very
little is known of the history of the house.
On two occasions the Hospitallers of Bedfordshire came into collision with the canons
of Dunstable, on account of one of the customs of their order. They were allowed by
a special privilege of the pope to grant Christian burial to all those who had given alms to
their fraternity, whatever the manner of their
death. (fn. 6) So in 1274, (fn. 7) when the canons of
Dunstable refused to bury a suicide, the
Hospitallers impleaded them, and they had to
pay a fine for the sake of peace. Again in
1282, (fn. 8) when one of the servants of John
Duraunt, a merchant of Dunstable, committed suicide by jumping into a well, and his
body in consequence was flung into a ditch
outside the town, the Hospitallers found him
and buried him in their cemetery.
The Hospitallers, like other religious, received boarders into their houses from time to
time. In 1527 a certain William Browne
received a grant of board and lodging in the
preceptory of Melchbourne, from the prior of
the hospital. References to this house are
very few and far between: except in a few
notices of leases, it is not mentioned in the
large chartularies of the order.
The date of the dissolution of the preceptory is not known. (fn. 9) It was refounded for
a very short time in 1557 by Queen Mary,
and again made a part of the endowment of
the order. (fn. 10)
The preceptory received at its foundation
the manor and church of Melchbourne, and
the churches of Dean, Riseley, Souldrop,
Eaton Socon, with Hargrave (Northants), and
Eakring, Ossington and Winkbourn (Notts),
as well as parcels of land and wood in Riseley,
Souldrop, Blakesley (Northants), Ossington
and Winkbourn (Notts). (fn. 11) The prior of the
hospital held in Bedfordshire in 1302 (fn. 12) one
knight's fee and a half in Clifton, and I hide
in Pulloxhill; in 1316 (fn. 13) the vill of Melchbourne, half a fee in Podington, one fee in
Clifton, and small portions in Souldrop, Sharnbrook and Sandy; in 1346 (fn. 14) Melchbourne,
half a fee in Ickwell, Clifton and Harrold,
and one quarter in Souldrop, Steppingley and
Sharnbrook, with a smaller portion in Stanford; in 1428 (fn. 15) the vill of Melchbourne, half
a fee in Sharnbrook, Harrold, Ickwell and
Clifton, and a quarter in Souldrop. At the
dissolution the property of the preceptory was
worth £241 9s. 10½d., (fn. 16) including the manors
of Melchbourne, Ickwell, Eaton, Langford
and Blakesley, and rectories of Melchbourne,
Eaton, Riseley, Langford, Blakesley, and lands
called the Temple in Sharnbrook. (fn. 17)