DEAN
Dena, Dene (xi cent.).
The parish of Dean lies on the northern boundary
of the county some 14 miles north of Bedford. The
total acreage of the parish is 2,472½ acres, of which
1,192 acres are arable land, 875½ permanent grass
and 29 woods and plantations. (fn. 1) The soil is clay and
the principal crops grown are wheat, oats, beans and
peas.
The village of Dean is divided into Upper Dean and
Lower Dean. The main part of the village is in Upper
Dean, stands on high ground and is watered by a small
tributary of the Ivel. The village green, which is
bounded on the west by this brook, has the church
on the east. Dean House, better known as The
House, stands in large grounds in the south of the
village. It is the residence of Mr. Dalton and
contains some good 17th and 18th-century oak
panelling. North of the church is a Congregational
chapel on the west side of the road built in 1863,
whilst beyond on the opposite side is the entrance to
The Grange, also called Dean House, occupied by
Mr. Rawson Ackroyd. The small hamlet of Lower
Dean, watered by the Til, is on lower ground some
half-mile north of Upper Dean. It includes a Methodist chapel erected in 1846 and the Manor House
Farm, the residence of Mr. William Strangward.
In the extreme south of the village on the road to
Melchbourne is Dean Hall, an 18th-century brick
house with tile roof and wood cornice and with a
panelled entrance hall.
There are two windmills in this parish: one,
standing on a hill north of the village, is still worked;
the second, on the road between Upper and Lower
Dean, is disused.
There is a three-shire stone on the border of this
parish, marking the junction of Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and Huntingdonshire.
In December 1312 commissioners were appointed
to inquire touching treasure-trove at Dean and the
concealing thereof by the finders. (fn. 2) It seems probable
that this treasure-trove was a sum of £800, the
property of Walter de Hibernia, deceased, parson of
the church of Dean, for two months later the
executors of Walter complained that Richard de
Wotton, then parson, with Alexander his brother
and others, had carried away that sum, (fn. 3) and in 1315
Alexander de Wotton was released from gaol; where
he had been imprisoned for carrying away treasure
which he had found under the earth at Dean. (fn. 4)
Curiously enough it was at Dean on 4 June 1875
that a coroner's inquest on treasure-trove (the first in
the county for over a hundred years) was held. The
treasure in this instance consisted of eleven pieces of
gold, five pieces of silver and thirty-four copper coins.
The guineas bore dates ranging from 1685 to 1734.
The treasure was discovered in pulling down the old
rectory farm. (fn. 5)
Dean was inclosed in the year 1800. (fn. 6) The
following place-names have been found: Catlyns and
Warens End (xvi cent.). (fn. 7) The latter doubtless has
reference to the Warin family, who held land in
Dean in the early part of the 14th century. (fn. 8)
MANORS
The first mention of the property that
afterwards became known as the manor
of OVERDEAN alias OVERDEAN and
NETHERDEAN
(fn. 9) occurs in 1086 when Godfrey
held 2 hides and half a virgate in Dean from Bishop
Remigius of Lincoln. This land was assessed at 40s. and
had in the days of the Confessor been held by Godric,
a thegn of the king. (fn. 10) The Bishops of Lincoln were
the overlords of this manor until the end of the
13th century. (fn. 11) No mention later than 1284, (fn. 12)
however, occurs of them with reference to Dean, and
as by 1302–3 (fn. 13) the property was held of Lord
Segrave it must be presumed
that between these two dates
the overlordship was transferred. The Segrave family
continued to hold the overlordship until about 1428. (fn. 14)
Segrave. Sable three sheaves argent banded gules.
The earliest tenants of the
property of whom record is
found are the Cheyney family.
In 1216 the Sheriff of Bedfordshire was ordered to cause
Geoffrey de Gurdun to have
full seisin of the land of John
de Cheyney with appurtenances in Dean. (fn. 15) Twelve
years later seisin of the land of Nicholas Fitz
Jocelin, a fugitive, was granted to Alexander de
Cheyney, (fn. 16) who is mentioned in the Testa de Nevill
as holding a knight's fee in Dean. (fn. 17) Alexander was
succeeded by John de Cheyney, who was holding
in 1284–6, (fn. 18) and who in turn was succeeded by
Bartholomew de Cheyney holding in 1302–3 (fn. 19) and
1316. (fn. 20) Between this latter year and 1330 the
manor passed from the Cheyneys, for in 1330 John
Warin of Dean made over his lands to Sir Ralf de
Wedon, (fn. 21) while the same year John Mayn (fn. 22) and
John de la Penne conveyed the manor of Dean to the
same Ralf de Wedon, (fn. 23) who was still holding in
1346 (fn. 24) and whose heirs are recorded as holding in
1428. (fn. 25) Two years later the name of Cheyney reappears in connexion with this manor, for in 1430
John Cheyney remitted to Thomas Broun, clerk, and
Thomas Compworth all his right in the manor of
Overdean. (fn. 26) Broun and Compworth in turn granted
it in 1434 to the master and college of Higham
Ferrers. (fn. 27) This college had been founded by Henry
Chicheley, Archbishop of Canterbury, in the last year
of the reign of Henry V. (fn. 28) Overdean remained
parcel of the possessions of the college until the
Dissolution, when it was granted by the king to
Robert Dacres, a member of his council. (fn. 29) The
manor place and demesne lands had been leased by
the master of the college the previous year at a
rent of £8. (fn. 30)
The Dacres family held the manor for more than
100 years. In 1610 Sir Thomas Dacres mortgaged
it to the heirs of William
Towse for £2,330. (fn. 31) Sir
Thomas Dacres died in 1615,
and was succeeded by a son,
also Thomas. (fn. 32) This Sir
Thomas, like his father before
him, became Sheriff of Hertfordshire. (fn. 33) He lived until
1668, (fn. 34) but in 1648 he made
over the manor of Overdean
to his younger brother
Edward. (fn. 35) Edward Dacres
had married Annabella widow
of Sir Henry Atkins of Bedwell, (fn. 36) and in 1658 his stepson
Thomas Atkins is found
associated with him in a suit concerning this manor. (fn. 37)
Thomas Atkins succeeded his stepfather, and continued to hold the manor until 1682, when he
quitclaimed it to John Goodfellow. (fn. 38) For the
next 100 years the descent of this manor has
not been traced. In 1722 and 1724 a Stephen
Chase drew an annuity from this manor amounting
to one-fifth of the value. (fn. 39) In 1790 William
Drury Lowe was seised of Overdean Manor, (fn. 40) while
four years later Francis Aickin and Eleanor his
wife quitclaimed the same to Thomas Fairie and
Matthew Hancock for £800. (fn. 41) By the year 1800
the manor had passed into the possession of the
St. John family, (fn. 42) Lord St. John of Bletsoe owning at
the present day.
Dacres. Argent a cheveron sable between three roundels azure with a scallop argent on each.
Mention of a mill appertaining to this manor occurs
in 1610. (fn. 43) At the end of the 18th century there
were two, and there are two at the present day. (fn. 44) A
view of frank-pledge was attached to the manor in the
17th century. (fn. 45)
The manor of NETHER DEAN alias OVER
DEAN AND NETHER DEAN was represented
by the 4 hides in Dean held in 1086 by the Bishop
of Coutances (fn. 46) and the 2 hides there held by
William de Warenne at the same period. (fn. 47) The
Bishop of Coutances' property was valued at 60s.; in
the time of the Confessor six sokemen held it of
Borret, a king's thegn. (fn. 48) After the death of the
Bishop of Coutances it would seem that this property
was granted by the king to William Meschin, who
in turn granted it to the priory of Huntingdon, (fn. 49) and
his grant formed the nucleus of the Prior of
Huntingdon's lands in Dean. The 2 hides which
William de Warenne held in Dean in 1086 were
valued at 30s.; 1 hide and half a virgate of the land,
however, William de Warenne had wrested from
William Spec, to whom the king had granted it. (fn. 50)
By the time of the Testa de Nevill 4 virgates of this
land were held by the Prior of Huntingdon as a
tenth of a fee of the honour of Huntingdon. (fn. 51) By
1302–3 the prior held these 4 virgates directly from
the king, (fn. 52) and so continued to hold until the
Dissolution. (fn. 53) In the 16th century Huntingdon
Priory enjoyed rents to the amount of £3 8s. 9½d.
in Overdean and Netherdean, (fn. 54) apart from the farm
of their manor (here called Overdean), which amounted
to £4 13s. 4d. (fn. 55) Henry VIII, after the dissolution of
the priory, granted this manor in 1545 to Sir William
Butt, (fn. 56) who the same year alienated it to Richard Neale
of Dean, (fn. 57) a brother of Thomas Neale of Yelden. (fn. 58)
Some years later one William Hennes made complaint
that this same Richard Neale had wrongfully dispossessed him of a messuage and lands in Netherdean. (fn. 59)
Thomas son and heir of Richard Neale lived to a
ripe old age (fn. 60) ; his son John Neale died seised of the
manor in 1627, (fn. 61) leaving as heir his son John, who
levied fines of the manor in 1650 (fn. 62) and 1664. (fn. 63) Yet
another John Neale (son of the last) (fn. 64) held the
manor of Nether Dean in 1682. (fn. 65) Hester widow
of John Neale afterwards married Kinaird Delavere, (fn. 66)
and alienated this manor to John Purney. (fn. 67) Within
the next five years Netherdean Manor was alienated
to the St. John family, who held it in 1706, (fn. 68) and
in whose hands it has remained down to the present
day. (fn. 69) Lord St. John of Bletsoe is the present lord
of the manor.
A view of frank-pledge and a court baron were
attached to the manor in the 17th century. (fn. 70)
Robert de Saleby held land in Dean in the latter
half of the 13th century. (fn. 71) Together with land in
Hargrave, in Northamptonshire, this land was held
as a quarter fee as of the barony of Bedford. (fn. 72) The
Knights Templars also owned land in Dean. (fn. 73) They
were granted rights of free warren there as appurtenant
to their manor of Riseley in 1280. (fn. 74)
For the descent of the lands in Over and Nether
Dean appertaining to Swineshead Manor, see the
descent of that manor. In the Domesday Survey
eleven sokemen of King William are recorded as
holding 7¼ virgates in Dean worth 30s. The same
sokemen held the land in the time of the Confessor. (fn. 75)
Mr. J. H. Round has pointed out that these sokemen
did not hold jointly, (fn. 76) consequently the 7¼ virgates
had no common descent, and probably much of this
land was later absorbed in the manors of Overdean
and Netherdean. In 1086 Godwin Dere of Bedford
held half a virgate of land in Dean worth 12d. (fn. 77)
CHURCH
The parish church of ALL SAINTS
consists of chancel 30 ft. by 13 ft. 6 in.
wide, nave 43 ft. 6 in. by 15 ft. 6 in.
wide, north and south aisles about 11 ft. wide, extending eastward of the chancel arch to from chapels, a
south porch and a west tower 9 ft. 8 in. by 9 ft.
The 13th-century chancel arch is the oldest part
of the building, but the plan of the chancel and nave
is probably at least as early. Aisles appear to have
been added in the 14th century, and the west tower
is of this date. In the 15th century the whole
building except the tower was remodelled, the
arcades being raised and a clearstory added, the aisle
walls rebuilt, chapels added on the north and south
of the chancel, and new windows set in the chancel
walls. All parts of the church except the chancel
received new roofs, that of the nave being a splendid
piece of work, admirable in design as in detail. At
the present day for want of money the whole is
slowly falling to decay, the walls bare of plaster and
green with damp from leaking roofs, and the beautiful
carvings of the roofs threatening to fall. The
mediaeval seats remain, in great part much in need
of repair, and the floors are broken and uneven,
patched with rough stone, in places showing the
ground beneath.
The chancel has a simple 14th-century roof of
three bays, with moulded tie-beams and braces springing from small half columns, which in two bays have
fallen away, and is lighted by three 15th-century
windows, each of three trefoiled lights. The west
bay opens by moulded four-centred arches to the
north and south chapels, and the chancel arch of
13th-century date is of two chamfered orders with
moulded octagonal capitals with nail head, and marks
of the fitting of the rood screen timbers on the soffit.
In the north wall of the chancel is a locker, and a
large piscina in the south, and the altar rails are of
early 17th-century date.
The nave is of four bays, with tall octagonal pillars,
the bases and lower parts of which are 14th-century
work, as are the moulded capitals, while the upper
parts of the pillars, in larger stones, are 15th-century
additions to heighten the arcade. The arches of
two chamfered orders are the 14th-century arches
raised and reset, and in the eastern pair the label is
cut away for a rood loft, the marks of whose beams
remain in the walls. The clearstory windows are of
three cinquefoiled lights, and on the east wall of the
tower is the weathering of the steep-pitched 14th-century roof, the plate of which was below the level
of the crowns of the arcade as it now stands. The
aisles and chapels are lighted by three-light windows
like the rest, except that the east windows—and in
the south chapel the south-east window also—are
more elaborate, with traceried heads. The middle
foil in each light in the north aisle window is very
broad.
Fine wooden screens remain at the west ends of
both chapels and one in better condition across the
chancel arch, with crocketed labels to the arched
openings; the seats in the nave are also in great
measure mediaeval.
The nave roof is in four bays with steeply cambered
ties with beautiful central bosses, and braces with
carved spandrels springing from the canopied heads
of niches, of which the lower parts have been lost.
A band of openwork carving runs along below the
wall plates; in the eastern bay a line of angels with
open wings, which is carried across the east wall, and
in the west bay a line of
blank shields, also returned
across the nave. The purlins and ridge are moulded,
and in the eastern bay,
which has originally been
ceiled, the intersections of
the timbers are plain, but
in the other bays have
elaborate bosses of foliage,
and angels at the bases of the
intermediates with instruments of the Passion or
musical instruments.
The aisle roofs are plainer
work of the same style, and
the chapels have had panelled
ceilings, in the north chapel
only in the east half of the
east bay, but in both parts
of the corresponding bay on
the south, and part of the
engrailed applied ornament
is still in existence, nailed to
a modern deal boarding.
The porch is contemporary with the south aisle,
and has two-light windows on the east and west.
The tower is in three stages, the middle one being
shorter than the others, and has a plain 14th-century
parapet and octagonal spire. Below the parapet is a
moulded string carved with a running ornament and
grotesque heads, and in the middle of each side is a
gargoyle. The west window is of two trefoiled lights
with net tracery under a pointed head and a label
with head stops, and the belfry windows are similar
but have richly moulded outer orders. Under the
west window is a later doorway with a wood lintel.
The font, which is in the south aisle, has an
octagonal bowl panelled with quatrefoils, resting on
an octagonal base with leaves carved on each side,
and is of the 14th century.
In the east window of the south chapel is a shield of
old glass bearing Ermine a bend gules cotised or, and
in the west window of the south aisle are the figure
of a priest and the words 'John[']s lysset.'
At the east end of the north aisle is a 14th-century
canopied recess inclosing a tomb, ornamented with
cinquefoils between blank shields, and having on its
Purbeck marble covering slab the remains of an
inscription '[PRI] ES FOR SA ALME DEU MER [CI].'
In the south chapel is a plain raised tomb with
the brass of a priest in almuce, surplice and cassock,
and at his head a scroll with 'Miserere mei Deus
secundum magnam misericordiam tuam.' Above is
the indent of a figure of the Trinity, and below that
of the priest the inscription:—
'Hic jacet d[ominu]s Thomas Parker p'bendarius eccl[esiae]
Colegiat' s[ancte] Marie in Salopia rector huius eccl[esiae]
Qui obiit xviii die mensis Julii anno d[omini] mill[essimo]
Quingentesimo primo cuius anime p[ro]piciet' de'.'
There are also in the south chapel a brass to Richard
Hood, rector, 1690, and his wife Anne, 1669, and
a mural monument with Ionic columns and entablature
to John Neale, 1680.
In the north chapel is a mural monument to
Thomas Bourdy, rector of Shelton, 1691.
Plan of Dean Church
There are four bells: the treble by Hugh Watts,
1603; the second, a 15th-century London bell
inscribed 'Celorum Xpe placeat tibi rex sonus iste';
the third by Tobie Norris, 1671, and the tenor an
alphabet bell by Hugh Watts, 1610.
The communion plate consists of a cup and cover
paten of 1569 and a large flagon and salver of 1723,
the gift of Thomas Boswell, 1722. They bear his
arms which were Argent a fesse indented gules with
three bears' heads razed sable in the chief.
The registers commence in 1566 and the first
book contains all entries to 1738; the second contains those from 1744 to 1784, and the third continues till 1812.
ADVOWSON
The church of Dean was granted
by Alice de Clermont to the Knights
Hospitallers in the 12th century. (fn. 78)
It was confirmed to them by Richard de Clare Earl
of Hertford, (fn. 79) and later by King John in 1199. (fn. 80)
The Hospitallers held it until the Dissolution and
Edward VI granted the church to the Dean and
chapter of Worcester in 1547. (fn. 81) The vicar's stipend
at that period was £12 14s. 3½d. (fn. 82) The living has
remained in the gift of the Dean and chapter of
Worcester down to the present day.
The commissioners of 1548 reported that messuages and land in Dean rented at 13s. 2d. had
been given for the continuance of an obit and the
sustentation of a lamp in the church. (fn. 83) A chantry in
the church of Dean founded by Walter de Hibernia
was ordained in 1312. (fn. 84)
CHARITIES
Joseph Neale's educational charity,
founded by deed 1702, (fn. 85) is endowed
with a freehold cottage at Dean let
at £5 a year, 70 acres, more or less, at Great Catworth
in the county of Huntingdon, and 2 a. 3 r. at Easton
in the same county, let at £54 a year. The trust
is administered under a scheme of the Charity Commissioners of 24 December 1875, whereby one half
of the income is applied in the awarding of exhibitions
in this parish, one-fourth in the parish of Shelton,
and one-fourth in the parish of Swineshead.
The Poor's Land consists of 1 a. 1 r. in Dean, the
method of acquisition of which is unknown, and
4 acres or thereabouts in the parish of Yelden, acquired
by the town feoffees in 1681, let at £8 10s. a year.
In 1802 John Fox by deed, enrolled for effectuating
the intentions of his mother, Mary Fox, granted
unto the Rev. James Pye, the then vicar, and to the
then churchwardens a yearly rent-charge of £6 6s.
charged on 19 acres in the new inclosure of Dean,
to be distributed among the poor. The annuity,
together with the rents of the Poor's Land, is applied
in doles to about fifty recipients.
The Wesleyan chapel at Nether Dean erected in
1846 is possessed of a freehold cottage by way of
endowment, let at £4 a year, which is applied in
cleaning and warming the chapel.