GREAT RAVELEY
Rorflea, Roflea, Raflea, Reflea (x cent.); Rauesle,
Ravele Major (xiii cent.); Magna Rauele, Great
Ravele, Raffleya (xiv cent.).
The parish of Great Raveley covers 1,781 acres of
mostly clay land, rising from Great Raveley Fen in
the north, where the height above ordnance datum
is only 3 ft. 6 in., to 129 ft. at Top Road in the southwest corner of the parish. The greater part of the
parish is high land where wheat and beans are grown;
the pasture land covers less than a third of the
area. There are some 32 acres of woodland. The
village, in which there is no church, is built along a
branch road to Wood Walton. At the south-east end
on the top of the hill is the Manor House, a 17thcentury building now much modernised. Near here,
facing the Huntingdon Road, is the pound. Lower
down are the Methodist Chapel and the school.
There are some 17th-century half-timbered cottages
and the Three Horseshoes public house, which has a
good chimney stack. At White House Farm, at the
west end of the village, is an ancient barn. A short
distance north-west of this farm is a square homestead moat within which stood the ancient manor
house of Moyne's Manor (q.v.).
MANORS
Raveley was given with Upwood by
King Edgar to Ailwin, founder of Ramsey Abbey, who granted it to the abbey. (fn. 1)
King Edgar in 974 confirmed to the abbey (fn. 2) Ailwin's
gift of 'Upwood with its hamlet of Ravely.' This
gift was confirmed by Edward the Confessor, by
William the Conqueror in 1077, and by Edward III
in 1334, and by several Papal Bulls. Great Raveley
is included under Upwood in the Domesday Survey. An extent of Upwood, (fn. 3) assigned to the
earlier part of the 12th century, states that there
were in Upwood then, and in the reign of Henry I,
10 hides, each of 4 virgates, which evidently included
Great Raveley. The manor of Raveley continued
in the possession of Ramsey Abbey until the Dissolution, when it was granted together with the
manor of Moynes, in 1542, to Sir Richard Williams
alias Cromwell. From this date the manor of Great
Raveley followed that of Moynes (q.v.).
The manor of MOYNES, or the land which it
afterwards comprised, was apparently held in the 11th
century by Edwin, who was perhaps the son of Ailwin,
the founder of Ramsey Abbey. (fn. 4) In the early years
of the 12th century, Abbot Rainald (1114–30) gave
the lands which had belonged to Edwin in Raveley
and lands at Gidding, Sawtry and Luddington to
Hervey le Moine or the Monk (Monachus). Hervey
had his inn or house at Ramsey, probably as one of
the knights of the abbey, and also held lands at
Upwood and Bradenach. (fn. 5) He was constantly in
attendance at the abbey throughout the abbacy of
Abbot Rainald (1114–30) as a witness to charters,
and received a grant of land from Abbot Aldwin
(1091–1113) which was confirmed by Henry I in
1116–18. (fn. 6) He had three sons, Oliver, Jordan and
Alexander, (fn. 7) of whom Oliver succeeded him before the
end of the reign of Henry I (d. 1135). (fn. 8) Oliver, known
as Oliver le Moyne or Oliver the Knight, (fn. 9) had two
sons, William his heir and Hervey, (fn. 10) who witnessed
a grant of their father between 1154 and 1160. (fn. 11)
Possibly Oliver le Moyne, one of the knights of
Ramsey in 1166, (fn. 12) was the son of William, and it
was probably he who received a grant of land in the
meadows next his house at Raveley in 1214–16. (fn. 13)
An Oliver le Moyne, junior, probably his son, was
relinquishing his claim to assarted land at Raveley
at this time. (fn. 14) Against an agreement between Abbot
Hugh Foliot (1216–31) and Sir Oliver le Moyne as
to the payment of half a mark yearly to the light of
St. Mary, is a note that it was later payable by William le Moyne. (fn. 15) Sir William le Moyne of Raveley
was elected to serve as one of the knights of Ramsey
Abbey in 1245 (fn. 16) and was sheriff of Cambridge and
Huntingdon in 1258. (fn. 17) He was still living in 1283
when an order was made as to his debts incurred while
sheriff. (fn. 18) In 1276, described as William le Moyne,
the elder, of Raveley, he conveyed to William le
Moyne of Raveley, the younger, the manors of
Raveley, Rowey (in Pidley), Sawtry, Gidding and
Luddington. (fn. 19) In 1286 William, the son, with
Alianora de Lovetot successfully maintained an action
against his father for disseising him of his free
tenement in Sawtry le Moyne. (fn. 20)
Sir William le Moyne of Raveley, kt., apparently
the elder, and Juliana his wife were in 1285 dealing
with property in Chesterton (Cambs.), and in 1303
Juliana alone made a feoffment as his widow. (fn. 21) Both
the elder and the younger
William le Moyne had possibly died before June 1293,
when Robert, son of William
le Moyne of Great Raveley,
granted the manor of Great
Raveley to Sir John de Lovetot the elder, Lady Julia(na)
de Subiria [Sudbury], late the
wife of William le Moyne, and
to William, son of William
le Moyne, Robert's brother. (fn. 22)
The Moyne property evidently descended to this son
William, as in 1297 he made an agreement with the
Abbot of Ramsey about the attendance of his men at
the Abbot's leet at Upwood. (fn. 23)
Moyne. Argent two bars sable with three stars sable in the chief.
William le Moyne, described as of Raveley, was
dealing with property at Raveley and elsewhere in
Huntingdonshire, and appears as a party to charters
about 1340. (fn. 24) He also held various offices and commissions (fn. 25) and in 1328 obtained a grant of free warren
in his demesne lands of Sawtry, Great Raveley, Luddington, and Great Gidding. (fn. 26)
He was succeeded by his grandson (fn. 27) William, son of
John Moyne, who apparently dropped the 'le' before
'Moyne.' In 1353 a grant of the manors of Great
Raveley, Sawtry, Luddington, Gidding and Rowey was
made by Nicholas de Stewkley, Gilbert his brother, and
Hugh de Castre to William, son of John Moyne of
Raveley, chivaler, (fn. 28) the said William having enfeoffed
them previously of the same. (fn. 29) In 1365, as William
Moyne of Great Raveley, he was engaged in litigation
against Robert, son of John de Washingley. (fn. 30) Nicholas de Stewkley and others in 1371 made a grant at
Raveley to Juliana, late the wife of John Mauduit of
Werminster of the manors enumerated which they
had by feoffment of Sir William Moyne of Great
Raveley, kt., with remainder after her death to the
said Sir William Moyne. (fn. 31) In 1379 Juliana, formerly
the wife of Nicholas de Stukeley, granted a release
of the same. Nicholas de Stukeley and William le
Moyne made settlements of their properties while
serving in Gascony and on their return. (fn. 32) In 1394
the manors were quitclaimed to Sir William Moyne
(son of John Moyne) and Mary his wife by Maud
Horewode, alias Bosam, who was the daughter of
William Clairvaux and Juliana his wife, which Juliana
was the daughter of William Moyne, father of John
and grandfather of the grantee, Sir William Moyne. (fn. 33)
The same manors were subject to settlement in 1404
and 1405. (fn. 34) These conveyances evidently followed
on the death, in 1404, of Sir William Moyne of Great
Raveley, (fn. 35) whose widow Mary dealt with his property
in 1407. (fn. 36) Courts were held in the following years
for Mary late wife of Sir William Moyne, 'chivaler,'
and for Thomas Priour and Joan his wife, and John
Tyndale and Joan his wife, (fn. 37) apparently representatives of the female line of Moyne descendants.
In 1413 Joan, widow of John Tyndale of Raveley,
granted to Thomas Hore of Childerley and other
feoffees the manor of Raveley, (fn. 38) and in the same year,
John Hore and Joan his wife granted the manor of
Raveley to Thomas Hore of Childerley and others, (fn. 39)
a similar conveyance being made in 1415. (fn. 40) In 1421
Thomas Hore and his co-feoffees released to William
Martyn the manor which they held by grant of John
'Hoare' and Joan his wife. (fn. 41) In 1427 Thomas
Hore and other feoffees demised to John Hore of
Childerley (Co. Cambridge) all lands, etc., that Roger
Banastre of Wakefield (Co. York) held for life by
demise of the said John Hore in Great Raveley. (fn. 42)
Two days later, John Hore granted to John Wodehows
and others the manor of Great Raveley and the
reversion of the lands held by Roger Banastre, formerly belonging to Sir William Moyne, kt., to perform the will of John Hore in accordance with a
certain agreement made between John Abbot of
Ramsey and the said John. (fn. 43) Further settlements of
the manor were made in 1427 on the second marriage
of John Hore to Margaret widow of Sir Robert
Butolyn. (fn. 44) John and Margaret died without issue,
and Gilbert Hore, son and heir of John by his first
wife, (fn. 45) entered the manor of which he enfeoffed Sir
Edmund Ingoldesthorpe, kt., and others in 1443. (fn. 46)
By 24 February, 1453, Gilbert Hore was also dead,
and an agreement was entered into between John,
son and heir of Gilbert, and Roger Keye, clerk, his
executors and the Abbey of Ramsey in performance
of the will of Gilbert for the grant of the manor of
Great Raveley, etc., to the Abbey for the sum of
£200 and the maintenance of a chantry and obits at
the altar of St. Peter in the conventual church, for
the souls of Gilbert and Margery his wife, of John
Hore and Joan his wife, and Dame Joan his wife,
of John and Thomas sons of Gilbert, and the friends
of Gilbert. (fn. 47) The Abbey chronicle records that the
'manor called Le Moynes with appurtenances in
Great Raveley and Sawtry' was obtained at his own
expense for the Abbey by Abbot John Stow. (fn. 48)
The Abbey property in Great Raveley was henceforth known as the manors of 'Great Raveley and
Moynes,' though in the latter half of the 16th century we find for a short time the name of Stukelys
or Stewkelys Manor used instead of that of Moynes.
In 1535 the sum of £19 15s. 8d. was returned for
'Moynez manor and rents, parcel of the lordship of
Upwood,' and £35 15s. 10½d. for the rent and ferm
of 'Upwood cum Raveley Magna.' (fn. 49) In 1540 a
grant in fee was made to John Sewster of Ashwell
(co. Herts) among other monastic property, of lands
in Raveley, Raveley Heath alias Wood, and Cotehill
in Great Raveley (then in the tenure of the said John
Sewster) for a rent of 20s., (fn. 50) and in 1542 the manors
of Upwood, Great Raveley, Moynes, and Walton,
previously the property of Ramsey Abbey, were with
the rectories appropriate of Upwood and Raveley, and
the advowsons of the vicarages there, granted to Sir
Richard Williams alias Cromwell in exchange for the
manors of Brampton and Hemingford and
£731 0s. 7½d. (fn. 51) In June, 1542, Sir Richard Cromwell
alias Williams and Frances his wife granted the
manors of Great Raveley and Moynes to John Sewster. (fn. 52) John died on 20 March following, (fn. 53) when
the manors passed to his son William, aged five, (fn. 54)
whose wardship was granted in 1547 to William
Clerc, the king's servant. (fn. 55) Grants of land and
messuages in Great Raveley made during the minority of William Sewster include one by Martin
Broughton, gent., and Catherine his wife to Lawrence Torkington in 1552. (fn. 56) In 1555 Lawrence
Torkington of Great Stukeley and his wife Mabel
granted to William Lawrence 'the Manor called
Stukeleys in Great Raveley,' (fn. 57) and in 1558 the
'Manor of Stukeleys (fn. 58) with its appurtenances in
Great and Little Raveley' was conveyed to William
Sewster by William Lawrence and Margery his
wife, (fn. 59) William being still a minor. (fn. 60) William Sewster
died in 1568 and bequeathed 'Stuckley mannor in
Great Raveley,' late in the tenure of William Lawrence, to his wife Alice for her jointure. (fn. 60) His son
and heir Giles married Ann Turner. (fn. 61) In 1584,
Giles Sewster settled the manors of Great Raveley
and Moynes in the parish of Upwood. Giles, who
died in 1605, was survived by his mother, then remarried to Edward Tulkarne, (fn. 62) but she died three
months later. Samuel Sewster, son and heir of Giles,
was then aged 13. (fn. 63) This Samuel Sewster, with
other delinquents, was fined for not showing his light
horses in 1640. (fn. 64) The manors were settled by
Samuel Sewster and Robert his son and heir in
1646, (fn. 65) and by Robert and Anne his wife in 1659. (fn. 66)
Robert Sewster of Great Raveley was knighted in
1664, (fn. 67) and was still lord of the manor in 1667. (fn. 68)
His daughter and heir Frances married in 1667 Sir
Algernon Peyton, bart., who died in 1671. (fn. 69) Their
son, Sir Sewster Peyton, bart., was holding the
manors of Great Raveley and Moynes in 1691. (fn. 70) In
1700 they were held by Philip Bell and Ann his
wife, (fn. 71) sister to Sir Sewster. (fn. 72) Sir Sewster Peyton
was Master of the Buckhounds to Queen Anne; he
married Anne, second daughter of George Dashwood
of London (who was the sister of George Dashwood
of Peyton Hall, Suffolk, married to Sir Sewster's
sister Algerina), and died on 28 December 1717. (fn. 73)
His son and heir, Sir Thomas Peyton, bart., settled
the manors in 1732.
Sewster. Argent a cheveron between three boars' heads sable.
Peyton. Sable a cross engrailed or with a crescent argent for difference.
Sir Thomas died without issue at Doddington in
1771, and was succeeded by his nephew, Henry Dashwood, who by Act of Parliament of the same year took
the name of Peyton, and in the Inclosure Act for
Raveley of 1786 was returned as Sir Henry Peyton,
as lord of the manor. (fn. 74) He died in 1789, (fn. 75) and was
succeeded by his son Sir Henry Peyton, bart. His
son Henry Peyton was dealing with the manor in
1826, (fn. 76) during the lifetime of his father, who died in
1854. The manors since then have descended in the
family of Peyton of Doddington, and Sir Algernon
Thomas Peyton, bart., J.P., is now lord.
ADVOWSON
There is a tradition of a church
at Great Raveley, but the only
evidence of it is an entry in the
King's Books of Henry VIII that a church had here
been destroyed. Nothing has been found in support
of this statement, and Great Raveley appears to have
been always served by the chapelry of Upwood (q.v.).
Divine service, however, is now held in the schoolroom at Great Raveley, which is licensed for the
purpose. There was a proposal to unite Great
Raveley to Little Raveley in the 17th century, but
nothing was apparently done in the matter. The
living is a vicarage annexed to that of Upwood, where
the vicar resides.
The rectory appropriate and the advowson of the
vicarage were granted at the Dissolution with the
manor to Sir Richard Williams alias Cromwell, at
the same time as the manor, rectory appropriate, and
advowson of Upwood (q.v.). A lease of the tithes
in both places was held by George Bedell in 1535 (fn. 77)
and by Gabriel Throckmorton in 1542. (fn. 78) At the
inclosure of Raveley in 1786 an allotment was made
for tithes. Sir Richard Bickerton, bart., of Upwood
was then rector impropriate, (fn. 79) and it was directed that
in making allotments for the tithes of open fields, and
out of old inclosures, nothing was to be done that
would prejudice the manorial rights of Sir Henry
Peyton, lord of the manor of Raveley.
The Inclosure Act passed in 1786 (fn. 80) for the parish
of Raveley stated that the old inclosed grounds, open
field lands, and two common pastures, one called the
Heath and the other Low Common or Cow Common,
contained by estimation 2,000 acres, and that Sir
Henry Peyton, bart., lord of the manor of Raveley,
was lord of the soil of the said commons, and owner
of the greatest part of the old inclosed grounds, open
field lands, and common rights in the parish.
CHARITIES
Bank's Gift (Lost Charity). An
annuity of £1 originating under a
donation of a Mr. Banks in 1732,
which was formerly paid out of land called the College
Lane, has since the inclosure which took place about
1786 been paid by the occupier of land belonging to
Sir H. Peyton, bart. The payment was distributed
among poor widows, but no payment has been made
since about the year 1836.
Poor's Allotment. By an award of the Inclosure
Commissioners, dated 9 Dec. 1850, land containing
about 3 acres was allocated to the Overseers of the
Poor, the income to be used for supplying fuel for
the poor of the parish. The land is now let in allotments producing about £1 0s. 6d. yearly, which is
distributed in coal to about 20 recipients.