HOCKLIFFE
Hocheleia (xi cent.); Hocclive (xiii, xiv cent.);
Hockeclyff, Occliffe, Hockley (xvi cent.); Hockley
in the Hole (xviii, xix cent.).
Hockliffe is a parish at the foot of the Chilterns,
long and narrow in form, with an area of 1,028 acres,
of which 191 are arable land, 626 permanent grass
and 2¼ woods and plantations. (fn. 1) The slope of the
ground is irregular, and varies from 322 ft. to 445 ft.
above ordnance datum. The parish is watered by
two tributaries of the Clipstone Brook, one entering
from Eaton Bray and passing north-east to Battlesden,
the second in the south of the parish. The soil is
rich loam, the subsoil clay. There are old gravelpits in the north-east of the parish.
Watling Street, the Roman road from London to
Chester, forms the eastern boundary of Hockliffe,
entering from Fenny Stratford in the north and
passing south to Dunstable. Before leaving the parish
it is joined by two other roads, one coming west from
Leighton Buzzard, the other from Woburn in the
east. Hockliffe at one time enjoyed an unenviable reputation for the bad condition of its roads.
In 1633 Sir Edward Duncombe, as the result of a
complaint of the justices of the county, writes to
Secretary Windebank that there is no truth in the
complaint, and that he has always kept the road
between Hockliffe and Woburn in good repair, and
intends to lay yearly on the same 400 loads of gravel
and stone. (fn. 2) Lysons, though mentioning their reputation, says the roads were greatly improved in his
time. (fn. 3) Various Private Acts have since been passed
to improve the roads leading from Hockliffe to
Aylesbury, Stratford and Woburn. (fn. 4)
The village, which is situated in the south-west of
the parish, straggles on either side of Watling Street
for more than a mile, those buildings on the west
side of the road being technically in Chalgrave.
The church stands north of the village, about a quarter
of a mile to the west of the main road. North of
the church is the entrance to Hockliffe Grange, an old
house much modernized, the residence of Mr. Edward
Gordon Williams, beautifully situated on rising ground
in a park of 40 acres.
The Manor House, the residence of Major Haynes,
in the main road, appears to be partly of 18th-century
date, the older portions being half-timbered. Hockliffe House, occupied by Mrs. Mann, at the southern
extremity of the village, is a pleasant-looking late
Georgian building. Here are some 15th-century
remains, which may have formed part of the Hospital
of St. John. They are now incorporated into the
walls of the rear portion of the house. The head of
a doorway with a drop arch and no label and segmental
rear arch is in a fair state of preservation. The wall
is about 2 ft. in thickness, and extends about 20 ft.
from east to west, and about the same distance round
the angle from south to north, to the height of about
15 ft.
The White Horse Inn, on the Chalgrave side of
the main road, is an ancient hostelry containing some
fine wood carving said to come from Toddington
Manor. (fn. 5) Two coats of arms can be distinguished.
Upon one is a cheveron charged with a crescent
between three lions' faces; upon the other three
bulls' heads. Inside, attached to a bressummer, is a
carved plank with the date 1566 upon it.
The 'Swan' is another 16th-century inn, of which
now no traces exist. It was held of the lord of the
manor in 1584 by William Sheppard, (fn. 6) and is again
mentioned in 1623. (fn. 7)
Hockliffe has a Congregational chapel built in
1801, a Wesleyan chapel and a Primitive Methodist.
Two well-known names are included in the list of
Hockliffe rectors: John Warner (1736–1800), the
classical scholar and admirer of John Howard the
philanthropist, who was succeeded in 1772 by William
Dodd, the famous forger, who was hanged in 1777. (fn. 8)
The following place-names have been found in
documents connected with this parish: Chason,
Coppid Moor, Devinson, Meggs Bonners, Moat
Bank Close.
MANORS
It is very probable that the 'Hocgganclife' given to Stolferth by Æthelstan son of Ethelred II in his will may
be identified with Hockliffe. There is no absolute
proof, but Æthelstan certainly disposed of other
lands not remote, and the form is consistent with the
modern name. (fn. 9) In 1066 the estate belonged to a
certain Anschil, and in 1086 HOCKLIFFE MANOR,
assessed at 10 hides, was held by Azelina widow of
Ralph Tallebosc. (fn. 10) This manor, like Ralph's other
property, (fn. 11) later became attached to the barony of
Bedford, (fn. 12) being held of that moiety of the barony
which passed through Beatrice de Beauchamp to the
Nevills and Latimers.
No sub-tenant of this manor is mentioned in the
Survey, but the Malherbes were settled here in the
early 13th century. First mention of them has
been found in 1227, when William Eversend quitclaimed 2½ hides in Hockliffe to John Malherbe. (fn. 13)
His heir, who was under age and in the custody of
Roger de Scaccario, c. 1240, (fn. 14) appears to have been
one Robert Malherbe, whose nephew John Malherbe
had by 1251 inherited the manor, in which he then
held a three-weekly court. (fn. 15) In 1255 Richard Earl
of Cornwall, represented by Abraham the Jew of
Norwich, attempted to deprive William Beauchamp,
the overlord, of his rights in Hockliffe Manor, saying
that Robert Malherbe had alienated all his lands to
the Jews. (fn. 16) The attempt was unsuccessful, however,
and the Malherbes remained in possession, the next
mention being found in 1283, when a wrestling
match, attended by many from Dunstable, took place
before the hospital. John, the Dunstable smith, and
Simon Mustard, a man of William de Monchensey,
'guardian of the heir of John Malherbe,' were both
killed whilst wrestling, and the Annals of Dunstable
give a very full account of the coroner's inquest which
followed. (fn. 17)
Between this date and 1302 the Malherbe property
passed to co-heirs, of whom Lucy became the wife
of Sir Robert Chetwood, and together with William
Pont held the vill in 1302–3. (fn. 18) John de Amaury,
who appears to represent a second co-heir, died seised
in 1344 of a messuage and 2 carucates of land in
Hockliffe, which John Chetwood, son of Lucy, held
at a yearly rent of 9 marks. (fn. 19) Edmund de Amaury,
his son, was under age, and the same year the king
granted this yearly rent to John Herlyng, one of his
yeomen, together with the guardianship of Edmund. (fn. 20)
John de Amaury and John Chetwood's name both
appear in the feudal assessment of this parish in
1346. (fn. 21)
Edmund de Amaury died seised of a toft and land
in Hockliffe in 1350, when the jurors were not able
to discover his heir. (fn. 22) The dual connexion of the
Amaurys and Chetwoods with this manor had hitherto
continued, but was ended in 1351, when Sir John
Amaury, kt., made a settlement of the manor, which
Nicholas Chetwood and Elizabeth his wife and Guy their
son held for life. (fn. 23) This
settlement appears to have
been preliminary to the complete alienation of his rights,
for the Chetwoods are henceforward found in sole possession. John Chetwood son of
Nicholas held the manor in
1391. (fn. 24) He died in 1412,
leaving two sons and a
daughter. Of these John died
in 1420 without issue, his
property passing to his brother
Thomas, whose heir at his death, c. 1458, was his
sister Agnes. (fn. 25) She married Thomas Wodhull, bringing Hockliffe Manor into the possession of this family,
of whom details will be found under Odell. Elizabeth
Wodhull died seised in 1475, (fn. 26) and the manor then
follows the same descent as Odell (q.v.) until 1584,
when it was held by Sir George Calverly, second
husband of Agnes Wodhull, (fn. 27) direct descendant of
Elizabeth. Between this date and 1589 Hockliffe
Manor passed to William Jervis, who at the latter
date, together with his wife Elizabeth, conveyed it to
Thomas Hillersdon. (fn. 28) In 1614 he received a confirmation by Letters Patent of his right to hold a
court leet and view of frankpledge in this manor. (fn. 29)
Thomas Hillersdon, who died in 1623, (fn. 30) owned
property in Elstow, with which this manor descends
until 1712, when it was sold by the Hillersdon
family to Alan Lord Bathurst. (fn. 31) He only retained
Hockliffe a few years, selling it in 1719 to John
Reynal. (fn. 32) In 1770 John Sayer Neale Reynal, his
descendant, held the manor, (fn. 33) which was held by
Francis Moore in 1820 in right of his wife, widow
of John Neale Reynal. (fn. 34) It afterwards passed to
Mr. J. Reynal Adams, and is now held by Mrs. Mann.
Chetwood. Quarterly argent and gules four crosses formy countercoloured.
A second HOCKLIFFE MANOR appears in this
parish in the 14th century, of which the origin is
doubtful, though a document of 1346 implies that
it owed its origin to the division of the Malherbe
property among female heirs. (fn. 35) The first mention of
it has been found in 1314, when Henry de Adingrave
and Ellen his wife conveyed 90 acres of arable land,
8 of meadow, 5 of pasture and 40s. rent to John de
Adingrave. (fn. 36) Henry was part holder of the vill in
1316, (fn. 37) and in 1342 Thomas de Adingrave, his son,
transferred the moiety of a manor in Hockliffe to
Thomas Fermbaud, Alice his wife, and the heirs of
Alice, who was probably a de Adingrave. (fn. 38) Thomas
Fermbaud was assessed for feudal aid here in 1346, (fn. 39)
but no further mention has been found of this family
in connexion with Hockliffe, Thomas Strange holding
the property in 1428. (fn. 40) A gap here occurs in continuity of descent, the manor reappearing in 1489
as the property of John Broughton, (fn. 41) by whose family
it was retained till 1519. It is difficult, save by process of elimination, to identify it with any certainty
with Hockliffe Manor, which appears nine years later
belonging to William Staysmore, who is described as
holding it of Dunstable Priory. (fn. 42) John Staysmore,
son of William, made a settlement of it in 1532 on
William Sheppard and Simon Fitz. (fn. 43) In 1549
Hockliffe Manor, then the property of Sir William
Powlett and Agnes his wife, was alienated by them
without licence to Christopher Estwick, (fn. 44) which
omission was remedied in 1572. (fn. 45) Christopher
Estwick still held the manor in 1591, (fn. 46) and died
c. 1599, when his son Christopher Estwick was
granted the freedom of his father's lands, which
included Hockliffe Manor, of which subsequent
trace is lost. (fn. 47)
Reference has been found to the Hospital of
St. John in this parish as early as 1227, when Turold
was instituted priest. (fn. 48) In 1251 the master of the
hospital owned 2 virgates of land and a free tenement
in Hockliffe, for which he owed suit at the court of
the lord of the manor. (fn. 49) His estate in this parish
in 1471 was declared to be 60 acres of arable and
3 of meadow land. (fn. 50) At the Dissolution the site of
the hospital was granted in 1545 to George Acworth
and Edward Butler, (fn. 51) from whom it passed almost
immediately to William Groome, (fn. 52) whose son William
was engaged in litigation with his nephew John
Groome about the property in 1567. (fn. 53) William
Groome enfeoffed Thomas Dolt, whose representative, Richard Dolt, held the hospital in 1570. (fn. 54)
In 1590 William Tipper and Robert Dawe, the
well-known 'fishing grantees,' received grant from
the Crown at the request of Edward Dier. (fn. 55) This
property had again changed hands by 1639, when
Thomas Impey died seised, leaving this 'capital
messuage' to his son Samuel. (fn. 56) Lysons states that by
the close of the 18th century all trace of the old
building had disappeared.
In 1251–2 the Prioress of St. Giles Hamstead
owned two messuages and a virgate of land in Hockliffe
of the gift of Robert Malherbe, at whose manorial
court she owed service. (fn. 57) This land was granted at
the dissolution of the priory in 1539 to Sir Richard
Page. (fn. 58)
Woburn Abbey also owned a small property in
Hockliffe and elsewhere, valued at the Dissolution
at 13s. 4d. (fn. 59)
The family of Gilpin,
though no longer resident
in this parish, has been connected with it from the 17th
century. Robert Gilpin was
rector here at his death in
1641, and monumental
brasses in the parish church
give a descent from him from
father to son for four generations, the list terminating
with Richard Gilpin, who
died in 1841. (fn. 60) Mr. Peter
Gilpin of Kilcullen (co. Kildare), the representative
of the family, still owns Hockliffe Grange.
Gilpin. Or a boar passant sable with two roses gules in the chief.
CHURCH
The church of ST. NICHOLAS
consists of a chancel 26 ft. by 17½ ft.,
a nave 39 ft. 4 in. by 21 ft. 2 in. with
a south porch, a west tower 9 ft. 6 in. by 9 ft.,
and a vestry north of the chancel which continues
westward to form a north chapel to the nave. The
chancel dates from the middle of the 14th century,
and if the walls of the nave are of earlier date
there is now nothing to show it. The tower is a
15th-century addition, and the porch is of the end of
the same century. The north vestry and chapel are
modern, and the north wall of the nave has been
rebuilt.
The chancel has a modern east window of 15th-century style; on either side of it are 14th-century
image niches, in the north wall is a 14th-century
tomb recess under a low cinquefoiled arch, and west
of it a contemporary window of two trefoiled lights.
In the south wall is a large trefoiled piscina recess
under a gabled head, with two plain sedilia to the
west of it, and over them a three-light window, all
being part of the 14th-century work. The rest of
the chancel is modern, except the half-octagonal jambs
and moulded capitals of the chancel arch, which are
original; the arch itself is new. The south doorway
of the nave, of 14th-century date, is now the only
ancient feature, but the south porch has a four-centred
archway with traceried spandrels, c. 1500, and side
windows of two uncusped lights.
The tower is covered with Roman cement; in the
south-west angle is a projecting stair turret. The tower
arch is in two pointed chamfered orders, the inner of
which has moulded capitals, and the west window
and those of the belfry are of two cinquefoiled
lights.
The font is octagonal, re-worked or modern.
There are several monuments to the Gilpin family,
the oldest being below the east window of the
chancel, to Robert Gilpin and Esther Neale his wife,
set up in 1740 by their son Thomas, goldsmith of
London.
There are four bells: the first, of 1883, by
Taylor; the second, a pre-Reformation bell, probably
by John Daniel of London, c. 1450, inscribed
'Vox Augustini sonet in aure dei'; the third has
the same marks, with 'Sancte Thoma ora pro nobis';
and the fourth also the same marks, with 'Sancta
Margareta ora pro nobis.'
The plate consists of a flagon given by Thomas
Gilpin, High Sheriff of Bedfordshire in 1752, date
letter 1751; a foot paten given by Elizabeth Reynes
in 1697, date letter 1696, and a cup of 1697.
The registers are in five books: (1) births and
burials 1650 to 1661; (2) all entries 1620 to
1695, with a gap from 1642 to 1663; (3) all
entries 1696 to 1755; (4) marriages only 1754
to 1812; (5) baptisms and burials 1755 to 1812.
ADVOWSON
The advowson of Hockliffe parish
church was attached to the hospital
of St. John the Baptist, (fn. 61) whose
master received a licence to impropriate the church
in 1303–4. (fn. 62) In 1291 the church was worth £8, (fn. 63)
and in 1363, on the occasion of the presentation of
John Annestey, 'a good grammarian,' was worth 12
marks. (fn. 64) At the Dissolution valued at £16 9s. 6d., (fn. 65)
it became Crown property. By 1566 it had been
granted out to Kendrick Davis and others, who at
this date alienated the advowson to Roger Guise. (fn. 66)
From him it passed to Thomas Sheppard, who presented in 1605, (fn. 67) alienating to Edward Duncombe in
1611, (fn. 68) The advowson is next found in the possession
of Robert Gilpin, who was also rector. He died in
1641, and by his will left the patronage of Hockliffe
Church to his wife Margery, directing that it should
be sold, and out of the proceeds his daughters
Katherine and Agnes were to have £300 each. (fn. 69) It
was purchased by Hezekiah Slingsby, his son-in-law, (fn. 70)
who died in 1663, and whose widow Katherine
Slingsby presented in 1666. (fn. 71) Her daughter Rebecca,
wife of Adam Haughton, exercised the right of
presentation in 1687 and in 1743. (fn. 72) By 1777 it had
again become the property of the Gilpin family, who
continued to hold till the beginning of the 19th century. (fn. 73) Since then it has passed through various hands,
Mrs. Robinson presenting in 1822–9, Mr. W. Prescott
in 1841, Mr. F. H. Gray in 1870. The right was
exercised by the trustees of H. J. Spence Gray,
late Archdeacon of Lahore, (fn. 74) and now by Mrs. Gray.
At the dissolution of the chantries lights were
endowed in the parish church with 4d. rent of half
an acre in Hockliffe, and 2s. free rent of a messuage
held by Richard Hobbes. (fn. 75)
CHARITIES
Charity of Francis West, see under
Chalgrave.
The Town or Church Ground.
In 1625 Sir Thomas Hillersdon, kt., by his will dated
3 June in that year, after reciting that as lord of the
manor of Hockliffe he was entitled to a quit-rent of
7d. yearly out of certain land which had been from
ancient time employed for the repair of the church of
Hockliffe and other charitable uses, devised the said
land to Thomas Hillersdon, his son and heir, and
others to the intent that the said land might be
employed as theretofore it had been.
The trust estate consists of 6 a. 3 r. 17 p. let at
£9 10s. a year, and 4 acres let in allotments,
producing in 1907–8 £10 18s. 8d., under the
management of the vicar and churchwardens. The
net income is applied in the repairs of the church
and in payment of the sexton's salary.