RAVENSDEN
The parish of Ravensden covers an area of 2,290
acres, of which nearly half, 1,107 acres, is pasture,
while 816 acres are arable land and 97 acres consist
of woods and plantations. (fn. 1) The soil is clay; the
chief crops are wheat, barley, oats, beans and peas.
The village lies on high ground to the south-east
of the parish, that part surrounding the church being
called Church End, but the greater part of the
inhabitants are scattered in the outlying hamlets of
Cleat Hill, Grazehill End and Wood End. The
road from Bedford to Kimbolton crosses the parish,
passing by Ravensden Grange, the seat of Colonel
Sunderland, which, with several cottages and houses,
forms a distinct portion of the village. Where the
road, entering the parish in the south, cuts across the
Kimbolton Road, stand the Old White Lion Inn
and one or two houses, with Zion Chapel, built in 1853
by the Baptists. The road then skirts the grounds
of Ravensden House, the property and residence of
Mr. F. A. W. Wythes, and passing through the
hamlet of Wood End, leaving the Manor Farm on
the left and Brook Farm on the right, finally reaches
Thurleigh. From Wood End several bridle-paths
and tracks lead to the isolated farms in the north of
the parish. One passes by the site of the old
Ravensden Grange pulled down some thirty years
ago, picturesquely situated on rising ground with a
background formed by the Great and Little Woods,
and continues north to Yorkshire Farm, beyond
which lies Tilwick Farm with a spinney of the same
name. Another of these bridle-paths leads to Trayles
Fields Farm in the north-west of the parish.
The quaint tower of the church, with its red-tiled
roof, forms, with some old cottages which cluster
round it, the most interesting part of the village.
Next to the church is the Horse and Jockey publichouse, the principal inn in Ravensden, and across the
road is the church school, opened in 1867, behind
which lies the park land surrounding Ravensden
Grange.
Ravensden is watered by two tributaries of the
Ouse. In the low-lying ground to the south of the
parish the earthworks called Mowsbury Hill form a
conspicuous object. The ground is swampy and
often covered with water from the overflow of the
streams. The conditions are favourable to brick and
tile works, of which there are many in the south of
the parish, chiefly around Cleat Hill. Near Brick
Farm on the Thurleigh road the ground is only
118 ft. above ordnance datum, but it rises in the
north and east of the parish and reaches 255 ft. near
Tilwick Farm.
Among the lands held here by Newnham Priory
in the 13th and 14th centuries occur the names of
Shereveslond, Hangendehull, Upmannesslade, Wowehalveacre, (fn. 2) Botildestrete, la Goridole, Gosebath, (fn. 3)
Hupsenewell and Smaleyornes. (fn. 4)
The parish has been inclosed under an Act passed
in 1809. (fn. 5)
MANORS
There is no reference to Ravensden
in the Domesday Survey, but as the
whole parish was afterwards held of the
barony of Bedford it must in 1086 have been
included in the fief of Hugh de Beauchamp, whose
grandson William died seised of lands here in 1262. (fn. 6)
The estate of Newnham Priory, which, after the
Dissolution, was called the RAVENSDEN MANOR,
appears to have originated in land bestowed by
Nicholas de Ravensden, clerk, upon the prior. The
gift comprised 6 selions abutting on Wood Croft, a
croft called Stocking, a close called Inwode, and
3 acres of land below Benham. (fn. 7) The estate was
increased by many other grants of land, among the
donors being the Engayne, Thuand, le Broc,
Sauvage, Buels and Rous families. (fn. 8) Rose mother of
Simon de Beauchamp, the founder of Newnham
Priory, confirmed these gifts, (fn. 9) and the names of the
benefactors and details of their donations are all
enumerated at length in the great charter of William
son of Simon, probably dating about the middle of
the 13th century. (fn. 10) The priory's possessions in
Ravensden are mentioned always in connexion with
'Ronhale' and 'Salpho,' (fn. 11) and were assessed with
them in 1535 at £12 2s. 5d. (fn. 12)
At the dissolution of Newnham Priory this
property escheated to the Crown, by whom it was
granted under the name of a manor, together with
the advowson, to John and Joan Gostwick in 1540. (fn. 13)
In 1543 the Gostwicks obtained Goldington Manor
(q.v.), with which Ravensden descended during the
next 230 years, and with which it was acquired by
the Duke of Bedford in 1774. (fn. 14) The latter shortly
afterwards alienated Ravensden Manor to the Rev.
Robert Hart Butcher, (fn. 15) whose daughter Frances
Elizabeth Butcher was holding in 1811. (fn. 16) After
this date the manorial rights appear to have fallen into
abeyance, as there is no further mention of this
manor. The property may, however, have passed to
Francis Wythes of Ravensden House, mentioned as a
landowner in 1854 and 1877, and his descendant,
Mr. Francis Aspinall Wythes Wythes of Ravensden
House, has a large estate in Ravensden at the present
day.
Other lands of the Beauchamp fief in Ravensden
were bestowed on Warden Abbey, who held them
as RONHALE or RAVENSDEN MANOR or
GRANGE of the honour of Bedford. (fn. 17) Among the
donors were the Engayne and
Rous families and Simon clerk
of Ravensden, (fn. 18) and the abbey's
possessions were confirmed by
Philippa (fn. 19) and by Simon de
Beauchamp. (fn. 20) In 1252 the
abbey received a grant of
free warren in the woods
belonging to their grange of
Ravensden. (fn. 21) This estate,
estimated at 8 virgates 3 acres
in 1257, (fn. 22) was assessed with
Biddenham in 1291 at
£6 8s., (fn. 23) but in 1535 Ravensden alone was valued at
£14 19s. (fn. 24) The abbey surrendered to the Crown in 1537, (fn. 25) and the following
year the reversion of Ravensden Grange, then held on
lease by William More of Ravensden, yeoman, was
granted to John and Joan Gostwick. (fn. 26) The Gostwicks
leased the manor to John Rawlyns of Ravensden, yeoman, on whose death in 1599 the remainder of the lease
descended by will to his son and heir Stephen and
the latter's children. (fn. 27) Stephen obtained possession
of bonds worth £1,000, and refused to restore them
to his mother Agnes or to allow her to enter the
Grange. (fn. 28) In 1615, on the death of Sir William
Gostwick, bart., the Grange was among the property
left by him, (fn. 29) and although it is not mentioned again
under its distinctive title of the Grange until 1776,
it descended with the rest of the family lands to
Sir William Gostwick, the last baronet, and passed
from the Duchess of Marlborough to the Duke of
Bedford in 1774. In 1776 it was divided into two
parts, one-third being held by Henry Southhouse, (fn. 30)
and it was probably his widow, Mrs. Sarah Southhouse, who owned the property at the beginning of
the 19th century. (fn. 31) The other part, described as a
moiety in 1804, was then held by Edward William
Scrimshire Green, (fn. 32) who was succeeded by Andrew
Pellett Green in possession in 1818. (fn. 33) The history
of this property during the 19th century is obscure,
but it may have been purchased, as a whole, by the
Sunderland family, who have resided at Ravensden
Grange, a modern dwelling, since the middle of the
19th century. The Rev. Thomas S. J. Sunderland
lived here in 1854 and Mrs. Sunderland in 1864 and
1877. At the present day the Grange is occupied
by Lieut.-Col. Sunderland, one of the principal landowners in the parish. The site of the Grange owned
by the Gostwicks can still be traced about half a mile
north of the present building.
Warden Abbey. Gules a crozier erect between three warden pears or.
Another manor in Ravensden, known as RAVENSDEN or TRAILLY'S MANOR, was held during the
13th and early 14th centuries of the Gascelins, (fn. 34) but
by 1401 the overlordship had passed to the Mowbrays,
Dukes of Norfolk, (fn. 35) as part of their barony of Bedford,
the overlordship being last mentioned in 1525. (fn. 36)
The Gascelins subinfeudated the Traillys, of whom
the first to hold this manor was John Trailly, who
died seised of it in 1272. (fn. 37) The pedigree of the
Trailly family has been worked out under Yelden,
their chief seat (q.v.), with which their Ravensden
manor was held until c. 1401. In 1276 Walter de
Trailly claimed to hold view of frankpledge and have
assize of bread and ale in Ravensden, (fn. 38) and these
privileges were again asserted by his descendant,
another Walter, in 1330. (fn. 39) The view of frankpledge
was held once a year, after Michaelmas, and both it
and the assize were claimed by prescriptive right; but
as Walter had punished the transgressors of the assize
of bread and ale by a fine of 12d., instead of by tumbril
and pillory, he was obliged to pay half a mark in
order to retain his privileges. (fn. 40) The manor, consisting of one messuage and 140 acres of arable land, was
settled on William de Woodhull by John Trailly, but
on the latter's death in 1360 it reverted to his son
John Trailly. (fn. 41) Reginald, the last of the Traillys in
the direct line, alienated most of his property, but
retained Ravensden Manor, which at his death in
1401 was said to be worth only 33s. 4d. per annum,
as 5 marks of its annual revenue had been granted by
Reginald to John Harteshorne for life. (fn. 42) At this date
it acquired its distinctive name of Trailly's Manor
and passed to Margery wife of William Huggeford
and cousin and heir of Reginald Trailly. (fn. 43) Until
1569 its descent is identical with that of the manor
of Wilden (q.v.), which Margery had inherited from
her father Sir James Pabenham. In 1569 Thomas
Lucy conveyed Ravensden and Wilden Manors to
Thomas Rolt, (fn. 44) but, although Wilden continued in
the Rolt family for over 160 years, there is no further
mention of Trailly's Manor. Parcel of the manor,
however, called Great and Little Traillys Closes,
came into the possession of John Rawlins, who died
seised of them in 1599, leaving them by will to his
son Stephen, after whose death Great Traillys was to
revert to John, Stephen's eldest son, and Little
Traillys to Robert, his second son. (fn. 45) Robert died,
while still under age, in 1607, when Little Traillys
passed to his elder brother John, then aged eleven. (fn. 46)
John died in 1617, leaving a younger brother Francis,
to whom the property, called 'lands in Woodend,'
then descended. (fn. 47) The freehold estate of John Rawlins,
consisting of a messuage and 100 acres of pasture,
which in 1657 was forcibly entered by Edmund Cosen
of Ravensden, yeoman, (fn. 48) is doubtless identical with
Great and Little Traillys Closes. The present
Traylesfields Farm, the property of Miss Twinberrow,
in the north-west corner of the parish, near Wood
End hamlet, may stand on the site of the Rawlins'
messuage, and establishes the locality of this estate.
An estate, which afterwards became known as the
RAVENSDEN MANOR, was held during the 13th
century by the Engaynes, jointly with the Sauvage
family, of the honour of Bedford. (fn. 49) The overlordship
remained in that part of the honour which passed to
the Mowbrays and Brays, (fn. 50) and is mentioned last in
1535. (fn. 51) The first of the Engaynes appearing in connexion with this parish is Clarice and her two sons
Nicholas and Simon, whom Simon de Buels enfeoffed
of 2½ virgates and 12 acres of land in 1214. (fn. 52) Other
members of the family holding this fee were Eudo
and William his son, with whom John le Sauvage was
associated. (fn. 53) Their names constantly occur as benefactors on the Newnham Priory chartulary. (fn. 54) By 1302
this estate had come into the hands of Nicholas
Godfrey and the heirs of Nicholas Engayne, (fn. 55) and in
1346 was in the possession of John Crevequer of
Creaker's Manor, Great Barford (q.v.) and John
Malyns. (fn. 56) John Crevequer died in 1370, leaving a
nephew and heir Stephen, aged six, (fn. 57) during whose
minority the Crevequer interest in this property,
estimated at one messuage and 180 acres, worth 4 marks,
was granted to Roger Ball, chaplain, and Maud
Perdington. (fn. 58) On Stephen's death, a few months
later, his younger brother John inherited his right
and came of age in 1385. (fn. 59) In 1428 Stephen
Crevequer and John Malyns were holding, (fn. 60) but by
1511 their interest in the estate, now called a manor,
had been transferred to William Fitz Jeffrey, (fn. 61) who
doubtless acquired at the same time Creaker's Manor
in Great Barford (q.v.), with which Ravensden
Manor was held for the next eighty years or so. The
Fitz Jeffreys sold most of their Bedfordshire property
towards the end of the 16th century, but retained
Ravensden, which was held by George Fitz Jeffrey in
1651, (fn. 62) but in 1685 it was the property of Christopher Cratford, Oliver Davies, Daniel Foucault and
Alexander Randall and Anne his wife, who in that
year conveyed it to Anthony Best. (fn. 63) No further
mention of this manor has been found.
Another manor in Ravensden, called MORINSBURY MANOR, which was held of the barony of
Bedford for fealty and one white capon, (fn. 64) originated
in the possessions of Ralph Morin, who held land in
Ravensden in 1195 and 1207. (fn. 65) The ownership
passed to the Tyringham family, one of whom,
Geoffrey, was holding towards the end of the 13th
century (fn. 66) and Roger in 1302 and 1346. (fn. 67) The next
owner, John Tyringham, who leased it in 1405 to
John Prior of Newnham for a term of forty-four
years, died in 1416, leaving a son John, to whom the
manor reverted at the termination of the lease. (fn. 68)
John died in 1465, and was succeeded by his son,
another John, (fn. 69) but after this date there is no further
mention of this manor, though traces of it may perhaps
be found in the name of Morsebury, a field owned by
the Gostwicks in the middle of the 16th century, (fn. 70)
which included the earthworks, consisting of a mound
and moat, now called Morsbury or Mowsbury Hill.
This artificial elevation, which has been described in
the article on 'Earthworks' in an earlier volume, (fn. 71)
may have once been the site of the manor owned
by the Morins.
Other lands held of the barony of Bedford in
Ravensden, comprising three messuages, 100 acres of
land, 10 acres of meadow and 7 acres of wood,
afterwards called RAVENSDEN MANOR, were
settled in 1512 by Robert Bulkeley on his son
Robert, doubtless on his marriage. (fn. 72) Robert, the
father, died in 1514, and the estate passed to his son
Robert, (fn. 73) who in 1522 acquired lands called Tilwick
in Ravensden, on a lease of eighty years, from the
Abbot of Warden. (fn. 74) In 1581 William Bulkeley died
seised of this property, called Ravensden Manor, and
left it by will to his son John, (fn. 75) who two years later
joined with Ann his wife to alienate the estate to
Nicholas Luke. (fn. 76) No further mention has been found
of this manor.
An estate in Tilwick, in the north of Ravensden
parish, formed part of the Beauchamp fief, (fn. 77) and was
held by the Boteturts, Latimers and Nevills successively. As the Boteturts owned the manor of Dylywyk
in Stagsden, some confusion may have arisen as to the
two estates, and have thus led to the description
of the Ravensden property as TILWICK MANOR
in 1330 and 1351, (fn. 78) for manorial rights do not appear
at any time to have been attached to it. A small
portion of these lands was acquired from the
Beauchamps and their tenants by Newnham Priory, (fn. 79)
but the greater part was conferred upon Warden
Abbey. (fn. 80) A dispute arose between the two religious
houses as to 3 acres of land which Geoffrey Rous, a
tenant of Newnham, had bestowed upon Warden without permission. (fn. 81) The matter was finally settled by
the payment to Newnham Priory, on the part of
Warden Abbey, of an annual rent of 3d. (fn. 82)
In 1522 lands called Tilwick, formerly in the
tenure of William Harte, were leased by Augustine,
the last Abbot of Warden, to Robert Bulkeley for a
term of forty years commencing at Michaelmas 1527,
at an annual rent of 28s. 4d. and three capons or 9d. (fn. 83)
After the dissolution of the abbey in 1537 (fn. 84) the
lands were granted in reversion to John and Joan
Gostwick in 1538, (fn. 85) and on the death of William
Gostwick in 1549 Tilwick Farm was included in the
property which descended to his son and heir John, (fn. 86)
who in 1562 apparently alienated it to Richard
Stonley. (fn. 87) The latter, as owner of the farm, brought
an action against Thomas Webbe of Thurleigh, whose
14 acres of arable land and 20 acres of sward were
intermixed with the farm lands. (fn. 88) Richard Stonley
claimed that Webbe had obtained possession of documents which showed his right to common of pasture
on the defendant's lands, after the latter had cut down
and carried away his first crop of grain and grass—a
right which lasted on the arable land until it was sown
again, and on the 2 acres of meadow until Lady Day. (fn. 89)
By 1618 the farm, comprising a message, cottage
and lands, was in the hands of George Franklin, on
whose death in that year it was inherited by his
eldest son Edmund. (fn. 90) There is no further documentary evidence forth-coming for the descent of this property during the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1877
it was farmed by Charles Hartop, and there is at the
present day a farm of that name, owned by John
Franklin, situated near Tilwick Wood.
A small estate in Ravensden was held by the
Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, who acquired land
from the tenants of William de Ferrars. This gift
was confirmed to them in 1199. (fn. 91) In 1253 Henry III
bestowed upon them a view of frankpledge, confirmed
by Edward I in 1280, and this charter was produced
by the prior in justification of his claim in 1287,
when he was said to have two tenants only in Ravensden,
the view being held twice a year at Bedford. (fn. 92) In
1330 his right to hold the view was again contested. (fn. 93)
In 1540, on the dissolution of this religious order,
the lands held by the prior as appurtenant to Shingay
Preceptory in Cambridgeshire, among them the
Ravensden estate, were granted to Sir Richard Long. (fn. 94)
The Ravensden property is not afterwards separately
mentioned.
There was a mill attached to the Beauchamp fief
in Ravensden, of which William de Beauchamp died
seised in 1262. (fn. 95) It is probably identical with the
mill situated at Tilwick (Dilewyk), owned by Ida de
Beauchamp in 1265, from which Richard de Braham
took one iron fusil, an iron chain and the sails,
carrying them off to his house at Ravensden. (fn. 96) The
next mention of a windmill is in 1610, when Gerard
Fitz Jeffrey, a member of the family who owned a
manor here, left it by will to his mother. (fn. 97) The
Gostwicks owned a water-mill, which was alienated,
with the rest of their Ravensden property, to Sarah
Duchess of Marlborough in 1731. (fn. 98) In 1802 John
Covington, yeoman, was indicted for erecting two
windmills in Ravensden, near the Bedford to
Kimbolton highway, and so obstructing the king's
road. (fn. 99) They were doubtless demolished at this
time, and at the present day there are no mills, either
water or wind, in the parish.
Ravensden Church from the South-east
CHURCH
The church of ALL SAINTS consists
of a chancel 23 ft. 7 in. by 15 ft. 3 in.,
a nave 32 ft. by 18 ft. 8 in., with a
north aisle 8 ft. wide and a west tower 10 ft. square.
In the 12th century the church seems to have consisted of a nave, chancel and west tower, and early in
the 13th century the nave was widened on the north
side and an aisle added. In the 14th century the
chancel was probably widened in order to be again
central with the nave, and the east window is of that
date; in the following century the walls of the aisle
were heightened and new windows inserted, whilst
the tower was rebuilt. The south wall of the chancel
is of 18th-century brickwork, with square windows,
now fitted with modern Gothic tracery. The east
window of the chancel is of fine early 14th-century
work, with three cinquefoiled lights and three spherical
triangles in the head, and there is a square-headed
14th-century window of two trefoiled lights in the
north wall. The chancel arch is new, but the
moulded corbels supporting the inner order are 14th-century work re-used, and the base of the modern
chancel screen is made of the 17th-century altar rails.
The nave has a north arcade of three bays, c. 1260,
in two chamfered orders with quatrefoiled piers; the
capitals are moulded and all the bases chamfered
except one, which has a filleted round on a square
plinth with spurs at the angles. The south wall is
built of rubble, with 14th-century buttresses, and
contains a 14th-century window of two lights. There
is a plain south doorway, the rear arch of which is
made from a 12th-century tympanum carved with a
chequer pattern. The porch is in a ruinous condition, and is built of wood filled with red bricks.
The nave roof is plastered, but the ties and king-posts,
with their struts, appear to be old.
The walling and buttresses of the north aisle are of
13th-century date, but all windows are 15th-century
insertions. The north doorway is blocked, and consists of two pointed chamfered orders. The roof is
now in two gables northward, an arrangement dating
from the 17th century.
The tower has very plain 16th-century belfry
windows and parapets and a stair at the north-east
angle; above the parapet rises a low spire. The west
doorway is of the 15th century, like that of the north
aisle, and above it is a late two-light uncusped
window. The arch into the nave is of the 15th
century, of two chamfered orders.
The 17th-century communion table has panelled
fronts and cupboards at each end. The font, at the
south-west of the nave, is modern.
In the south wall is a monument to John Wigstaffe
and his wife Elizabeth, 1718.
There are three bells: the treble of 1711; the
second by Mears, 1847; and the tenor by Hugh
Watts, inscribed 'Praise the Lorde 1603.'
The communion plate is all modern, and consists
of a silver cup and paten and an electro-plated flagon.
The registers previous to 1812 are in five books:
(1) has all entries, 1558 to 1640; (2) the same, 1644
to 1716; (3) baptisms and burials 1716 to 1763,
marriages 1716 to 1754; (4) baptisms and burials
1763 to 1812; and (5) marriages 1756 to 1812.
ADVOWSON
The church of Ravensden was
bestowed upon Newnham Priory by
Simon de Beauchamp and included
in the foundation charter c. 1166. (fn. 100) With Goldington Church (q.v.) it remained in the possession of
Newnham Priory until the Dissolution.
About 1218 a vicarage was instituted by Bishop
Hugh of Wells. It was to consist in all the altar
offerings, in tithes from the lands of Alan de Orewell
and William Engayne in Ravensden, and in 10s. from
the tenements of the church. This was estimated to
produce an income of 5 marks, and if it should be
less the archdeacon was to make up the difference
from the goods of the church. (fn. 101)
After the Dissolution the rectory and advowson
were bestowed by the Crown in 1540 upon John
Gostwick and Joan his wife. The grant included the
manor of Ravensden (q.v.), with which the advowson
and rectory were held by the Gostwicks for nearly
200 years, (fn. 102) and with them alienated in 1731 to
Sarah Duchess of Marlborough, (fn. 103) from whom they
were purchased in 1774 by the Duke of Bedford. (fn. 104)
In 1854 Francis Duke of Bedford was patron, but
the incumbent, the Rev. Thomas Syer, shortly afterwards purchased the advowson. Some time after
1877 his heirs alienated it to the Bishop of Ely, the
present patron.
In 1547 there was 1 pightell in the hands of
George Fitz Jeffrey, given for the maintenance of a
lamp, worth 6d. yearly. (fn. 105)
CHARITIES
The Town and Poor's estate consists of two cottages and 4 a. 3 r. 10 p.
of grass land, part of which was
awarded on the inclosure under Act of 49 Geo. III
in lieu of other land conveyed to trustees in 1631
for the relief of the poor and in ease of the common
charges of the town, and the remainder of the land
and a cottage was a purchase made by the parish in
1633 worth £40, accepted in lieu of a rent-charge of
40s. a year devised by Agnes Martin in 1565 to be
distributed among the poor upon the feasts of St.
Anne and St. Thomas. The rental amounts to
£32 a year.
The charity is regulated by a scheme of the Charity
Commissioners of 3 December 1897, whereby one-third of the net income is made applicable for
educational purposes and two-thirds for the general
benefit of the poor in such manner as might be
deemed most conducive to the formation of provident
habits.
In 1907 the outgoings, including £8 10s., being
an instalment of a loan from the Bedford Crown
Building Society borrowed in 1902 for the completion of a cottage on the site of some cottages destroyed
by fire, amounted to £14 5s.; the sum of £5 was
paid to the school, (fn. 106) 40s. distributed in bread, £1 to
the clothing club, £4 19s. 6d. in coal and the balance
in temporary relief