BLETSOE
Blachesou (xi cent.); Blechesho, Blechesham (xiii
cent.); Bletnesho (xiv cent.).
Bletsoe is a parish about 6 miles north-west of
Bedford on the road to Higham Ferrers. It contains
2,249½ acres, of which 1, 208 acres are arable land,
814½ acres permanent grass and 72¼ acres woods
and plantations. (fn. 1) The soil is clay, the subsoil gravel,
clay and limestone; the principal crops are wheat,
barley and roots. The slope of the ground is irregular,
but chiefly from east to west; the greatest height
attained above the ordnance datum is 293 ft. in the
north, the lowest 132 ft. in the west of the parish.
The River Ouse flows through the south-west of the
parish. There are two main roads, one running from
south to north-east through Riseley parish and on to
Kimbolton, the other running due north to Rushden.
The village is small, consisting of a few cottages of
varying ages, and lies in the south-west. Bletsoe
Castle lies on the east of the main road passing through
the village. South of the castle on the same side lies
the church of St. Mary. Some half a mile from the
village near the river is a combined steam and water
mill. Pippin Wood is in the north and Galsey
Wood in the east of the parish.
The following 13th-century place-names have been
found in Bletsoe:—Deilesford, Harmele, Lestocginc,
Lutlehei, Morden, Nettyrebolonho, Reteleshege,
Stochees. (fn. 2)
MANOR
In 1086 BLETSOE MANOR, the
only manor mentioned in the Survey as
situated in this parish, contained 2½
hides and the moiety of a mill worth 10s., and belonged to Hugh de Beauchamp. (fn. 3) The overlordship
of this manor, as with other of Hugh de Beauchamp's
property, became attached to the barony of Bedford,
following the same descent as the manor of Brayes in
Bromham (q. v.). (fn. 4) The last mention that has been
found of its exercise occurs in an inquisition of 1597,
when Lord St. John was declared to hold Bletsoe
Manor of this barony. (fn. 5)
Osbert de Broilg held Bletsoe Manor of Hugh de
Beauchamp in 1086, (fn. 6) and there is evidence that his
descendants in the direct line continued to hold in
Bletsoe for upwards of a hundred years. An undated
document of the early 13th century records a grant
by Robert de Broi son of Walter de Broi of land in
Bletsoe to the Hospital of Holy Trinity, Northampton, (fn. 7) and in 1219 Robert de Broy and Walter de
Patishull (who had married Margery daughter of
Robert) were disputing with the master of the same
hospital about the advowson of Bletsoe Church. (fn. 8)
Bletsoe Manor next passed to Simon de Patishull,
son of Walter and Margery, who between 1247 and
1253 quitclaimed land in Bletsoe to John de
Berdefeud and others. (fn. 9) His grandson, also Simon de
Patishull, died in 1295, having previously enfeoffed
Agnes de Patishull, probably his daughter, and her
husband John de Pabenham of the manor for their
lives. On the death of Agnes in 1313 Bletsoe passed
to John son of Simon de Patishull, (fn. 10) who the same
year secured recognition of his right to Bletsoe by
fine. (fn. 11) He held the manor till his death in 1349,
when he was succeeded by his son William, (fn. 12) who in
1359 left four sisters as co-heirs, of whom Sibyl wife
of Roger de Beauchamp received Bletsoe Manor. (fn. 13)
Broy. Ermine a lion purpure crowned or.
Patishull. Argent a fesse sable between three crescents gules.
Roger de Beauchamp held the manor till his death
in 1379–80, when his son Roger Beauchamp (fn. 14) succeeded to Bletsoe, being followed in 1406 by his son
John. (fn. 15) This John died in 1412, leaving a son John,
who was still under age at his death in 1420–1, when
Bletsoe Manor and advowson passed to his sister and
heir Margaret, then aged eleven. (fn. 16) She married as her
first husband Sir Oliver St. John, and secondly John
Beaufort Duke of Somerset, by whom she became
mother of Lady Margaret Beaufort and grandmother
of Henry VII. She died in 1482–3, when Bletsoe
passed to John St. John, her son by her first husband. (fn. 17)
He died in 1525 seised of Bletsoe Manor, which
then became the property of John St. John, his son
and heir. (fn. 18) Oliver St. John, son of the last-named
John, was created Lord St. John in 1559, and
was one of the peers who
sat in judgement on Thomas
Duke of Norfolk in 1572.
He married Agnes granddaughter and heir of Sir
Michael Fisher of Elstow,
from whom she inherited
considerable estates in this
county. (fn. 19) He died in 1581–2,
and Bletsoe Manor passed to
his son John second Lord
St. John. He died without
male issue surviving in
1596–7, (fn. 20) when the title and
estate devolved on his brother
Oliver, on whose death in 1618 Oliver his son succeeded to the family title and estates. (fn. 21) The following
year he entertained James I at Bletsoe, and on
2 December 1624 he was created Earl of Bolingbroke.
In 1640 he signed the petition of the twelve peers
attributing the evils of the day to the lack of Parliaments and urging Charles I to summon one. (fn. 22) He
subsequently identified himself with the Parliamentary
cause, being appointed lieutenant of the county in
1642–3, and taking the Covenant in the same year. (fn. 23)
His eldest son Oliver also fought on the Parliamentary
side, and died in 1642 from wounds received at the
battle of Edgehill. Clarendon, speaking of his death,
says: 'Of the Parliamentary party that perished the
Lord St. John of Bletzo and Charles Essex were of
the best quality … he (i.e. Lord St. John) got
himself so well-beloved by the reputation of courtesy
and civility which he expressed towards all men, that,
though his parts of understanding were very ordinary
at best, and his course of life licentious and very
much depraved, he got credit enough, by engaging
the principal gentlemen of Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire to be bound for him, to contract a debt of fifty
or sixty thousand pounds.' (fn. 24)
St. John of Bletsoe. Argent a chief gules with two molets or therein.
Oliver Earl of Bolingbroke died in 1646, and was
succeeded by his grandson Oliver, son of Sir Paulet
St. John, K.B. (fn. 25) He died in 1687–8 without issue,
and his title and estates passed to his brother and heir
Paulet St. John, third Earl of Bolingbroke and sixth
Lord St. John. (fn. 26) He died unmarried in 1711, when
the earldom of Bolingbroke became extinct, but the
barony of St. John devolved on his cousin and heir
male Paulet, to whom also the Bedfordshire property
passed. He died whilst still an infant in 1714, when
he was followed successively by his three uncles:
William, ninth baron, who died unmarried in 1720;
Rowland, tenth baron, who also died unmarried in
1722; and John, eleventh baron, who died in 1757. (fn. 27)
John, son and heir of the last-named baron, then
succeeded to the title and Bedfordshire property,
which he held till his death in 1767. (fn. 28) His son
Henry Beauchamp, who married Emma daughter
of Samuel Whitbread, (fn. 29) died in 1805 without male
issue, whereupon Bletsoe Manor passed to his
brother St. Andrew, who had at this date represented the county in Parliament for twenty-five
years. He was a political adherent of Mr. Fox,
who was also a great personal friend, and with
whom he passed much of his time. (fn. 30) He died
in 1817, and lies buried in the family vault in Bletsoe
Church. His son St. Andrew Beauchamp, fifteenth
baron, was only six years old at his father's death, (fn. 31)
and died in 1874 at Melchbourne Park, where the
family had had their seat for many generations.
St. Andrew St. John, his son and heir, died in 1887
without male issue, when the title and estate devolved
on his brother Beauchamp Moubray, seventeenth
Lord St. John of Bletsoe, the present holder.
In 1086 Countess Judith held 2½ hides of land
in Bletsoe, including a moiety of a mill. Her
tenant was Osbern, probably identical with Osbert de
Broilg, who held a manor of Hugh de Beauchamp in
this parish. (fn. 32) No further trace has been found of
this property, which may have become absorbed in
the larger estate, though there is no sign of the
mesne lord of Bletsoe holding of the honour of
Huntingdon, to which this land should be found
attached.
In 1327 John de Patishull received licence to
crenellate his dwelling-house of Bletsoe. (fn. 33) At the
present day Bletsoe Castle, part of a late 16th-century stone mansion with modern additions, used as a
farm-house, occupies a good position on high, wellwooded ground. Though now only two stories in
height, the original building was of three stories, as
shown by marks of an old staircase, part of which
exists on the east wall of the present block. This
staircase, on which lumber is now kept, is the
only remaining woodwork contemporary with the
external walls. With the exception of two cross
walls, all the internal partitions are comparatively
modern.
Lysons, writing of Bletsoe Castle at the beginning
of the 19th century, says: 'The greater part of the
mansion has been long ago pulled down; what
remains is converted into a farm-house. It appears to
have formed one side of a large quadrangular building,
of the style of architecture which prevailed in the
early part of the seventeenth century. Vestiges of
the ancient castellated mansion are plainly discernible,
near the house.' (fn. 34) The remains of a moat can be
traced for quite a long distance round the castle.
The present owner and occupier is Mr. Henry
Campion. Queen Elizabeth is supposed to have
stayed a night at Bletsoe Castle, and James I to have
visited it no less than six times. (fn. 35) In 1604, just after
one of these royal visits, James I wrote a very typical
letter to Lord St. John as follows:—
We hear that since our leaving Bletsoe, your son has Lunted
with a kennel of hounds, and killed a stag, which is strange as
he could not but know that we are careful of the game, and
found the number of deer less than we expected; not that we
should have misliked your hunting in your own wood, had you
acquainted us therewith, knowing that you may so order it as to
have your own recreation, and yet have enough for our pleasure
when we come thither; but the present fact is strange because
we had said that on coming to Ashby, we should hunt in those
woods. (fn. 36)
On the occasion of another of these royal visits
made in 1624 it is related that 'Lytton was knighted
at Bletsoe, sore against his will, and his wife wept
for anger, that he should come in at the fag end,
two of their relatives being knighted the day
before.' (fn. 37)
One mill is mentioned in Bletsoe at the time of
the Domesday Survey, of which a moiety worth 10s.
was held by Osbert de Broilg of the Beauchamp, and
a moiety of the Countess Judith, who held land in
the parish. (fn. 38) No subsequent mention has been found
of it in extents of the manor.
Roger de Beauchamp obtained a charter of free
warren in his demesne lands of Bletsoe in 1374. (fn. 39)
CHURCH
The church of ST. MARY THE
VIRGIN consists of a chancel 38 ft. 8 in.
by 16 ft. 5 in., central tower 11 ft. 6 in.
by 13 ft. 8 in., nave 50 ft. 9 in. by 24 ft. 6 in., north
transept 20 ft. 1 in. by 30 ft. 4 in., and south transept
12 ft. 3 in. by 18 ft. 5 in. This church has been very
largely restored, both in the middle of the 19th
century and in recent years; it is of a curiously
irregular plan, and, though showing no details older
than the 14th century, is probably of considerably
earlier origin.
All the windows are new, and are said to be
copies of the originals. The east window is of three
cinquefoiled lights with moulded jambs and arch and
flowing tracery. In the north wall is a wide-arched
recess, a poor modern imitation of 14th-century
work. There is a small vestry on the north side of
the chancel, lately rebuilt, and a three-light window
under which is a door with jamb shafts and moulded
arch. In the south wall of the chancel are an arched
recess, of like dimensions to that in the north wall,
but without crockets or pinnacles, two square-headed
three-light windows like that in the opposite wall,
and a plain chamfered piscina and sedilia, having
its label stopped on heads. The chancel arch consists of two chamfered orders dying into the responds.
The nave has no aisles and has been entirely restored, having in the north wall two three-light
windows with net tracery in the heads, and two
similar windows on the south side; there is a plain
modern north door with a stoup on the east side
of it, and square buttresses in two stages about the
centre of the nave on each side, built to support the
old walling before the restoration. The west window
has three trefoiled lights with net tracery, and over
it is a circular window with flowing tracery. The
south porch has been rebuilt, the inner doorway
having a 13th-century moulding restored and a label
with head stops. There are diagonal buttresses in
two stages at the west end. There is a large north
transept with the original parapet and gable cross,
now used as a mortuary chapel, the door of which
was given by the parish as a memorial to the Hon.
and Rev. Edmund Tudor St. John, who died
in 1884. The interior has been quite recently
renovated; the east wall contains two new two-light
windows with flowing tracery, and there is a
similar window in the west wall. There are two
square buttresses in two stages at each angle, and
a three-light window with moulded jambs and
flowing tracery in the north wall. The south
transept is now used as an organ chamber, and
has a new three-light window with tracery of
14th-century type; there are two square buttresses
at each angle; the transept arch into the tower
is of two orders with wave mouldings resting on
semi-octagonal shafts, capitals and bases. The 14thcentury central tower was restored in the middle of
the last century, when a new and unsightly parapet
was put on. In each face of the tower are two
trefoiled lights side by side, and there are old
gargoyles at each angle. All the interior woodwork
of the roofs is modern.
On the north side of the nave are the remains of a
large 15th-century wall painting of St. George and
the Dragon; above St. George is a shield bearing
Gules in a border gobony a castle argent. In the
south wall of the north transept is a double 14thcentury trefoiled piscina restored, having shafts with
bases but no capitals. In this wall is a fine alabaster
monument with knight and lady facing each other
kneeling in prayer with nine children behind them.
set on a tall base on which stand Corinthian columns
carrying an entablature. Above this is a great
shield of the house of twelve quarterings:—(1)
St. John. (2) Broy. (3) Umfreville. (4) Delabere.
(5)? Sturrey. (6) Paveley. (7) Beauchamp of Powick.
(8) Patishull. (9) not identified. (10) Beauchamp
of Bedford. (11) Graunson. (12) Tregoz. Other
shields have the same impaling Bradshaw, Argent
two bends sable, for the first lord's great-grand
parents, and the same impaling Waldegrave with
five quarterings, for Sir John, the first
lord's father and mother. There is also a monument in the east wall of this transept in memory
of Frances, third daughter of William Cavendish
Duke of Newcastle, who married Oliver fifth
Lord St. John, and died without issue 1678. The
font is good 15th-century work, octagonal with
arcaded bowl and panelled shaft, in each face of which
is a blank shield.
Plan of Bletsoe Church
There are six bells, the first being modern, and
the rest being cast by R. Taylor of St. Neots, 1786.
The plate is modern and consists of a silver communion cup and two patens, one silver and one
electro-plated, presented by E. T. St. John, rector.
The registers are as follows: (i) 1582 to 1629;
(ii) 1661 to 1696; (iii) 1697 to 1798; (iv) 1755
to 1812, marriages; (v) 1799 to 1813.
ADVOWSON
The first mention that has been
found of the advowson of the
church of St. Mary, Bletsoe, is in
1219, when Robert de Broy, lord of Bletsoe, successfully claimed it against the master of the Hospital of
the Holy Trinity, Northampton. (fn. 40) In 1284 the
value of the church was estimated at £8 13s. 4d., (fn. 41)
and in 1313 10 marks. (fn. 42) The advowson of the
church has always been attached to Bletsoe Manor
(q.v.) and belongs at the present day to Lord
St. John. (fn. 43)
In 1305 John de Pabenham, at that time lord
of the manor, founded a chantry in the parish
church of Bletsoe for the souls of the lords of
Bletsoe. (fn. 44)
The chantry of Biddenham also possessed rents from
tenements in Bletsoe to provide a lamp in Biddenham
Church. (fn. 45)
A hermitage dedicated to St. Mary existed in
Bletsoe in the 13th century. Its situation is described as in the wood of Overhey in Bletsoe, and it
was the subject of a grant of meadow-land from
Reginald Bugge, and of a house which he himself had
built from Gilbert Clerk. (fn. 46)
CHARITIES
The Town Close consists of
5 a. 2 r. of arable land let at £6 a
year, which is distributed in coals.
The church land consists of 3 a. or thereabouts of
grass land in Riseley let at £7 a year applied towards
church expenses, and the rent of a house in Bletsoe,
known as the Clerk's House, amounting to £3 10s.
a year, is paid to the clerk.