TILSWORTH
Tileword (xi cent.); Twylesworth, Tillisword
(xiii cent.).
Tilsworth is a small parish of 1,246 acres, of which
453½ are arable, 729½ permanent grass and 14 woods
and plantations. (fn. 1)
The soil is clay, with a subsoil of varied chalk and
clay, and the crops are barley, oats, beans and peas.
The surface of the land slopes from north to south,
and is 441 ft. above the ordnance datum north of the
village and falls to 310 ft. by the little brook which
waters the south of the parish.
The village lies on a by-road running west from
Watling Street. A few rough-cast and thatched
buildings lie round a small triangular green through
which the road passes, with the Green Farm standing
to the north and a Methodist chapel on the south.
The road continues north uphill to a more recent
settlement grouped round a smaller green, and turning at right angles to the west passes the church,
which stands in a nicely wooded churchyard on high
ground overlooking the roadway from the north. At
the north-east corner of the northern green stands
Greenhill Farm, a modern building. Opposite the
church, lying well back from the road, is the manorhouse, a brick farm building, which, although of no
great age, is surrounded by a well-filled moat and
approached through a 15th-century stone gate-house
which originally guarded the drawbridge, though this
has now disappeared and the moat at this point has
been filled in. The front to the moat, or the north
front, is of different masonry from the rest of the
building, and is evidently a restoration, while the
roof, now used as a pigeon-loft, is also of much later
date. The building is of narrow coursed rubble with
large angle quoins, and is divided into two stories,
having a small vice, now blocked up, in the northeast angle; the walls are about 3 ft. thick and
measure externally about 20 ft. by 30 ft. The
north archway has one jamb moulded and one plain,
which support three wooden beams carrying the wall
over, but the original south archway still remains and
is of two orders, the outer one being two-centred with
a dripstone over, while the inner order is segmental.
The upper floor is divided into three spans by four
principal beams, each one being moulded and having
carved braces connecting them to the wall pieces,
which are carried down on to stone corbels. In the
east wall of the upper floor is a stone fireplace, the
back of which is lined with tiles built into the wall,
their ends showing through in a herring-bone fashion,
while to the south of it is a circular-headed doorway,
now blocked up. Over the south arch are two trefoiled lights under a square head having an external
dripstone, although the central mullion is missing and
the window is blocked up on the inside at the head
and about 2 ft. above the sill at the bottom. In
the west wall is a small aumbry, while in the restored
wall overlooking the moat is a small square-headed
opening. This upper story was at one time used as
a pigeon-house, as seen by the marks in the walls for
the framing for the holes.
The manor was inclosed by an Act of Parliament
in 1767, when an allotment of land was given to
Mr. Chester in lieu of the great tithes and an annual
sum of £31 10s. was settled on the vicar in lieu of
the small tithes. (fn. 2)
MANOR
The manor of TILSWORTH, assessed
at 5 hides, was held at the time of the
Domesday Survey by William Peverel,
and in the time of King Edward by Levric son of
Osmund. (fn. 3) William Peverel's lands afterwards became
known as the honour of Peverel, whose caput was in
Nottinghamshire, where it will be found treated in
detail. The overlordship of Tilsworth was acquired
by the Morteyns (of which family a younger branch
were mesne lords). Thus at the time of the Testa
Eustace Morteyn had John Morteyn holding under
him. (fn. 4) By 1284 the overlordship had passed to William
Morteyn. (fn. 5) The Mowbrays
had acquired this portion of
the Peverel honour in Tilsworth (fn. 6) in 1346. The manor
was still attached to the
honour of Peverel in 1366, (fn. 7)
as also in 1397 and 1408,
when it was held of Andrew
Brown. (fn. 8) In 1439 Richard
Chamberlain held the manor as
of the heirs of Andrew Brown, (fn. 9)
but subsequent documents
state that this manor was held of the king in chief.
Morteyn. Ermine a chief indented gules.
In 1086 Ambrose held the manor of Tilsworth of
William Peverel, (fn. 10) which by the 13th century had
passed to the Morteyns. John Morteyn held one
fee of Eustace in the middle of the 13th century. (fn. 11)
One of the same name held one fee of William
Morteyn in 1284, (fn. 12) and was granted free warren in
all his demesne lands in 1293. (fn. 13) In 1308 John and
Joan Morteyn held two parts of the manor, (fn. 14) and
settled the remainder on their son Thomas, and in
default to his brother Edmund. (fn. 15) In 1312 there is
a settlement of a third, which Henry de Sewell and
his wife Joan held in dower, (fn. 16) on John Morteyn.
As there is no evidence to show that Thomas
Morteyn ever held the manor, it is to be concluded
he died without heirs and in his father's lifetime.
The manor therefore, in accordance with the settlement of 1308, passed to his brother Edmund, who
in 1346 settled half the manor of Tilsworth on his
younger brother John and his wife Katherine and
their heirs. (fn. 17) John died in 1362 in possession of the
manor, and his son and heir John succeeded to the
property, (fn. 18) dying without issue in 1373. (fn. 19) The
manor then passed to his cousin Richard Chamberlain,
son of his aunt Joan, who allowed John Morteyn's
wife Elizabeth a yearly rent of £13 6s. 8d. from the
manor. (fn. 20) Sir Richard's son Richard died in 1396
seised of the manor, and left a wife Margaret, (fn. 21) who
married a second time Philip St. Clair and held the
manor while her son Richard was a minor. (fn. 22) Richard
Chamberlain succeeded her in 1408 (fn. 23) and held one
fee in Tilsworth in 1428. (fn. 24) He died in 1439. (fn. 25)
By his first wife Elizabeth he had a son Richard,
who died without heirs the same year. (fn. 26) By his
second wife Margaret he had a son William, to
whom two parts of the manor passed after the death
of Richard without issue,
Margaret retaining one-third
as her dower. (fn. 27) She died in
1458, leaving William as son
and heir. (fn. 28) Richard Chamberlain, probably his son,
who was lord of the manor
in 1471, died in 1496,
leaving a son and heir
Edward by his wife Sybil
daughter of Sir Richard
Fowler. (fn. 29) She survived him
until 1525, (fn. 30) and three years
later, in 1528, her son
Edward made a settlement
of the manor on trustees (fn. 31)
probably prior to an alienation to Sir Richard
Fowler, his grandfather, who died seised of it the
same year. (fn. 32) Sir Richard Fowler left it to his
son Edward, (fn. 33) whose son Gabriel Fowler succeeded
him in 1540. (fn. 34) Gabriel died in 1582, leaving a son
Richard, (fn. 35) who in 1606 sold the manor to Anthony
Chester, (fn. 36) created baronet in 1619. (fn. 37) Sir Anthony
died in 1636, and by his will left Tilsworth to his
son Henry, who married
Judith Bankworth. (fn. 38) Henry
left no surviving children,
consequently, on his death in
1666, (fn. 39) the estates passed to
Sir Anthony Chester, son and
heir of his brother Anthony.
John son of Sir Anthony
Chester held the manor in
1687. (fn. 40) His son William
died the same year as his
father in 1725, (fn. 41) and as he
left no children the manor
went to his brother Sir John
Chester, who married Frances
Bagot. (fn. 42) Their son Charles
Bagot Chester died in 1755,
leaving his estates to his
cousin Charles Bagot on condition he took the name
of Chester. (fn. 43) In 1767 Sir George Robinson and
Dorothea his wife, (fn. 44) John Robinson, whose wife
Dorothea was a daughter of Sir William Chester,
and Frances Surtees granddaughter of Sir William
gave up their right in Tilsworth Manor to the
trustees of Charles Bagot Chester. (fn. 45) His son Charles
Chester died in 1838, (fn. 46) having previously sold the
manor to the trustees of the will of Sir Gregory
Osborn Page-Turner, (fn. 47) in whose family it has
since remained, being at present owned by Mr.
F. A. Page-Turner.
Fowler. Azure a cheveron argent between three leopards or with three crosses moline sable in the cheveron.
Chester, baronet. Party argent and sable a cheveron between three rams' heads counter-coloured having their horns or all within a border engrailed gules bezanty.
CHURCH
The church of ALL SAINTS consists
of a chancel about 27 ft. by 16 ft. 3 in.,
with a south chapel, a nave 36 ft. by
18 ft., a west tower 12 ft. 3 in. by 15 ft. 6 in., and a
south aisle 10 ft. wide overlapping the tower.
The earliest masonry still in situ is in the south and
east walls of the chancel, and dates from the second
half of the 13th century; a south chapel was at this
time added to the chancel, but was pulled down
probably in the 16th century, and has now been
rebuilt (1908) by the present lord of the manor.
The south aisle was built early in the 14th century,
and the north wall of the nave rebuilt c. 1350;
about 1400 the chancel was widened northwards,
and later in the century the south aisle was rebuilt
and the tower added at the west, but within the
west bay of the nave.
The chancel has an east window of three cinquefoiled lights, c. 1400, with a plain 15th-century stone
panel, the back of a reredos, below it, and in the
north wall are two windows of two cinquefoiled
lights of the same date; in front of the eastern of
these is set the tomb of Gabriel Foster, 1582, with
Corinthian columns on a panelled base supporting a
canopy having a carved frieze. Above the canopy is
an escutcheon with an owl as crest, quarterly of five:
(1) Five castles and an inescutcheon with three harts'
heads razed; (2) Ermine on a quarter an owl;
(3) Two bars and a chief with a lion passant therein;
(4) Vair; (5) Fowler. Over the first four is a small
escutcheon charged with four sinister hands couped;
impaling Quarterly (1 and 4) a fesse dancetty between
three molets, (2) a fesse between three annulets,
(3) bendy with a crescent for difference. In the
south-east corner of the chancel, blocking a 15th-century window, is a monument to Sir Henry
Chester, 1666, created Knight of the Bath at the
coronation of Charles II, his wife Judith and Robert
his only son, with their kneeling effigies very poorly
carved. To the west of this monument are plain
sedilia and the arch to the south chapel. The chancel
arch is in two chamfered orders resting on a corbel
in each jamb, and on the nave side are two 15th-century square-headed trefoiled niches. The chancel
roof is of steep pitch with trussed rafters.
The nave has a beautiful 14th-century window in
the north wall of three cinquefoiled lights and
flowing tracery; to the west of it is a 14th-century
tomb recess, with a crocketed and cusped ogee arch,
containing the effigy of a priest on a pedestal ornamented with quatrefoiled circles. The north doorway consists of two continuous pointed wave-moulded
orders separated by a hollow and having a scrollmoulded label. The south arcade is in three bays of
two chamfered orders resting on octagonal columns
with peculiarly moulded capitals and bases; there is
an eastern respond broader than the arch, being part
of the wall of the original aisleless nave; the western
bay is cut into by the south wall of the tower. The
nave roof is of trussed rafters, and probably of 14th-century date; the corbels for the rood loft still remain
at the east end of the nave. On one of the columns
of the arcade is carved a sexfoiled flower in a circle.
In the south aisle the doorway has jambs moulded
like the north doorway, but an arch of more elaborate section; east of it are two 15th-century
windows of two cinquefoiled lights, and to the west
is a similar window of three lights. The porch is
17th-century work built of 2-in. bricks and timber,
and in the east and west walls are pieces of 14th-century tracery acting as windows.
The tower is built of ironstone rubble with a little
clunch, and is of two stages with an embattled parapet
and a chamfered plinth. The west window is of
three cinquefoiled lights; the belfry windows are of
two trefoiled lights in a pointed head similar to those
in the north wall of the chancel.
The font has a 17th-century bowl with a 13th-century stem and the bases of four shafts which
originally surrounded it.
There is a 14th-century coffin-lid in the aisle
inscribed 'Adam de Tu[l]les[w]orthe gist yci dieu
[d]e sa alme, eyt mercii'; and another, now in the
south chapel (vestry), but formerly used as a lintel for
a south window of the chancel, bears the name 'De
Morteyne'; one of the brass letters of the inscription
is still in the stone. There is also a monument in
the south chapel to John Quinny, 1669, fifty-six
years servant to Sir H. Chester.
At the late repairs some small stone figures of
knights, of 13th-century date, were found built into
the north wall of the chancel and are now in the
nave. They are probably part of a group of the
murder of St. Thomas of Canterbury, and with them
are two fragments of extremely fine 13th-century
sculpture, being the lower parts of a group of our
Lord's Pity, and of a figure of our Lady. There is
also a foliate capital of c. 1220.
There are five bells by Emerton of Wootton,
1778.
The plate consists of a cup with date mark 1823
and two plated patens.
The registers previous to 1812 are in four books:
(1) all entries 1649 to 1778, marriages ceasing in
1753; (2) marriages 1754 to 1804; (3) baptisms
and burials 1778 to 1812; and (4) marriages 1801
to 1806.
ADVOWSON
The church of Tilsworth was
granted some time after the Conquest
to the convent of St. Giles in the
Wood, Flamstead, (fn. 48) and was in the possession of the
prioress in the 13th century. (fn. 49) It was valued in 1535
at £8 per annum. (fn. 50) About four years later, in
1539–40, the rectory was granted to Sir Richard
Page and his wife Elizabeth, to hold to them and
their heirs for one-twentieth part of a knight's fee. (fn. 51)
Their daughter Elizabeth married Sir William
Skipworth, (fn. 52) who in 1566 made a settlement of the
rectory (fn. 53) and in 1570 alienated the advowson and
rectory to Gabriel Fowler, (fn. 54) after which they passed
with the manor (q.v.) from the Fowlers to the Chesters, (fn. 55) and from them to the Page-Turner family.
CHARITIES
By an order of the Charity Commissioners dated 7 April 1904 a
scheme was established for the administration of the following charities under the
title of the Consolidated Charities, namely:—
Mrs. Mitchener's charity, being a rent-charge of
£2 issuing out of a public-house known as the 'Red
Lion,' at Hockliffe.
The Poor's Land, consisting of 5 a. o r. 34 p., let at
£8 a year, allotted on the inclosure in lieu of several
pieces of land given by the will of Richard Amye,
temp. Henry VIII; and the charity of Mary
Willoughby, being a rent-charge of £6 issuing out of
an estate at Tilsworth belonging to Mr. F. A. PageTurner.
By the scheme the income is made applicable in
such way as the trustees thereby appointed consider most advantageous to the recipients and most
conducive to the formation of provident habits.
In 1906 coal to the value of £12 4s. was distributed among thirty-three families or persons, and
groceries to the value of 19s. 6d. to eight aged
persons and widows.