TETWORTH
Tethewurda (xii cent.), Tetteworth, Tettesworthe
(xiii cent.).
Tetworth lies in the extreme south of the county
with a detached portion in Everton (co. Bed.).
The parish has an area of 2,235 acres of undulating
land which rises gradually from the River Ouse until
it approaches the eastern boundary, where the rise
is more abrupt. The soil on the high land is sand
and elsewhere a deep clay growing corn, beans and
potatoes.
Everton or Everton - cum - Tetworth, partly in
Huntingdonshire and partly in Bedfordshire, has
always formed one ecclesiastical parish, but Everton
and Tetworth are dealt with as two townships in the Inclosure Award of 1802 and have since been considered
separate civil parishes. (fn. 1) When the Act for settling
and describing the divisions of counties declared that
the isolated portion of the parish of Everton, situated
between Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire and belonging to Huntingdonshire, was annexed to Huntingdonshire (fn. 2) it created no new position. It is in the Huntingdonshire portion of Everton, which is now said
to form part of Tetworth, that the church which
serves both Everton and Tetworth parishes, now
described as forming ecclesiastically the parish of
Everton-cum-Tetworth, is situated. Two moats
which can still be traced in this isolated portion of
Everton probably mark the site of the manor house
of Everton or Everton Bury, the principal manor,
and of that of the manor which was held of it. The
moat at Biggin Wood, which with Little Biggin
Wood lies on the western boundary of this portion of
Everton, probably marks the site of the manor of
Biggin or Everton Biggin. About half a mile to the
east, and on the Roman Way which runs north and
south through this detached portion of Everton, is
Gibraltar Farm, an early 18th-century house, and a
little farther south-east, and near the southern
boundary, are Story Farm with Story Moats and Story
Moat Spinney, still bearing the name of 17th and
18th century owners of the principal manor. The
church stands in the southern corner of this portion,
and near it are a few timber-framed cottages. Everton
House, near the church, the home of the Astells, no
longer exists. (fn. 3)
The village of Tetworth occupies the south-western
angle of the parish and county. At its southern end
is Tetworth Hall, the seat of Mrs. Orlebar. At the
northern end is Manor Farm, probably once Tetworth
Manor House, at present a house of two tenements
and in an almost ruinous condition. It is a mid-17th-century house consisting of a main block with wings
at each end with 18th-century additions. The lower
story is of brick and the upper of timber framing
plastered, and the roof is tiled. The moat is formed
by a stream and some ponds.
Interesting personalities connected with the parish
include the Rev. John Berridge, M.A., vicar 1755–93,
the friend of Wesley and Whitefield. (fn. 4)
MANORS
Though Tetworth is not recorded in
the Domesday Survey, a considerable
manor of EVERTON, later EVERTON
BURY or NETHERBURY, was then in the hands
of Ranulf, brother of Ilger, who had in his keeping
all the king's land in the county except Godmanchester. (fn. 5) He held 5 hides in Everton in Bedfordshire of the Countess Judith as part of her manor
of Potton, (fn. 6) but in Huntingdonshire he held 7 hides
in Everton in chief. This latter manor had been
held in the time of the Confessor by Ingewar.
There were a priest and a church, 19 villeins and 2
bordars in this Huntingdonshire estate, and it was
valued at £7 (T.R.E. £10) as against £3 (T.R.E.
£5) in the case of the Bedfordshire manor. From
Ranulf and the Countess Judith the whole passed to
the Earls of Pembroke, who appear as donors in
numerous records of gifts of land in Everton to
monastic houses. These monastic owners were
entered under Bedfordshire assessments for feudal
service, but held lands in both counties. The lands
appurtenant to the Bedfordshire manor of Everton
descended from the Pembrokes to the Talbots, whose
overlordship was recorded as late as the 16th century.
Ranulf's Huntingdonshire manor of Everton, with
the Hertfordshire manor of Weston to which the
hamlets of Everton and Tetworth were in 1286
described as appurtenant, evidently descended in
1245 with the office of marshal to Maud, the eldest of
the five sisters and coheirs of William Marshal, Earl
of Pembroke, (fn. 7) who was widow of Hugh le Bigod,
Earl of Norfolk, and from her to her son Roger, at
whose death in 1270 it came to Roger le Bigod, his
nephew, fifth Earl of Norfolk, who was holding it in
1286. (fn. 8) The overlordship of Weston was recorded as
late as 1626. (fn. 9)
In 1206 the tenant of the manor was probably
Roger son of Nicholas, who levied a fine in that year
of lands in Everton, Tetworth and Weston with
Richard de Argentein (fn. 10) whose family held the manor
of Weston Argentein in Weston. Roger confirmed
to the monastery of Sawtrey a grant of 2 acres in
Everton made by Walter Belmaistre. (fn. 11) Richard de
Clifford had the custody of the manor during the
minority of Nicholas son of Ralph, under-tenant of
the manor. (fn. 12) The tenancy of Nicholas son of Ralph,
who was born at Everton and came of age in 1281, (fn. 13) is
referred to in 1293, when Ralph de Beauchamp died
seised of a chief messuage and lands (described as
sandy and poor) in Everton. Beauchamp had been
enfeoffed of the manor jointly with his wife Sybil
and son Roger (who both survived him) by Peter de
Exton, to hold of the said Peter by service of the
eighth part of a knight's fee to Nicholas son of
Ralph. (fn. 14)
The manor of Everton had been granted to
Walter de Langton, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield,
in 1306 for £100 by Nicholas son of Ralph, (fn. 15) and in
1307 the bishop received a grant of a weekly market in
his manor of Everton in Huntingdonshire on Wednesdays with a yearly fair there on the Vigil, Feast, and
Morrow of St. Bartholomew, with free warren in his
demesne lands of Everton, Tetworth, Offord Daneys
and Offord Cluny. (fn. 16) In 1312 the bishop received a
grant of 12 oaks for repairing his houses at Everton
and Offord Daneys. (fn. 17) The two manors descended
together in the bishop's heirs (fn. 18) and were so held as
late as 1428 by Sir John de Harpeden, who held in
right of his wife Joan suo jure Baroness Cobham. (fn. 19)
By the marriage of Elizabeth Brooke, the daughter and
heir of her daughter Joan and of Sir Thomas Brooke,
to Robert Tanfield, the manor of Everton passed
to the Tanfields. (fn. 20) William Tanfield, the heir of
Elizabeth Brooke at her death in 1503, (fn. 21) being the
son of her son Robert, made a settlement of his manor
of Everton alias Everton Bury on his wife Isabella in
1516–17 and 1520–1, (fn. 22) and as William Tanfield of
Everton he confirmed it to her as jointure by his will
dated 27 January 1528. He left directions for his
burial in the precincts of the church or churchyard
and for anniversary masses and obits and bequests to
the poor of Everton, which were to be paid for out of
lands lately bought of James Staunton and held of
the manor, or if they did not suffice, out of the manor
itself. He bequeathed an annuity out of lands lately
bought by himself and his wife, and lying "within
the village bounds and fields of Tetworth within the
parish of Everton within the county of Huntingdon." (fn. 23)
Isabella survived him at his death in 1529, and as
Isabella Humphreys, widow, died in 1546. (fn. 24) His
son Francis, who survived her, died seised of the
manor in 1557 (fn. 25) and was succeeded by his son
Clement, who in 1563 made a settlement of the manor
at his marriage with Anne (who survived him),
daughter of Lord Mordaunt. (fn. 26) Clement Tanfield
granted an annuity out of the manor in 1570 (fn. 27) and
died seised of it in 1585. By his son William it was
conveyed to Sir Humphrey Winch, kt., a justice of
the King's Bench, as the manor of Everton in Huntingdonshire with appurtenances in the county of
Bedford. (fn. 28) Sir Humphrey bequeathed it in 1624 to
his wife Cicely to hold so long as she remained unmarried (fn. 29) and died in 1625 at Sergeants' Inn in
Chancery Lane. (fn. 30) Cicely Lady Winch, described
at her death as of Everton, co. Huntingdon, died in
1629, when the manor, as the manor of Everton or
Everton Bury, (fn. 31) passed to her son Onslow Winch.
Onslow Winch was dealing with it in 1652. (fn. 32) His
son Humphrey, one of the Commissioners of the
Admiralty, married Rebecca, daughter of Martin
Browne, alderman of London. (fn. 33) Humphrey Winch
had succeeded to the manor by 1659 when he, as
Humphrey Winch, of Little Berkhamstead in Hertfordshire, with his wife Rebecca and John Browne of
Twickenham, sold it for £6,000 to Philip Story of
Chesterton, co. Cambridge, as his manor of Everton
and appurtenances in the counties of Huntingdon,
Bedford, and Cambridge. (fn. 34)
The Restoration was followed by transfers and
exchanges of lands within the manor. About
1662 Everton Netherbury seems to have been in
the tenancy, apparently by lease, of Sir John Jacob
of Bromley (co. Middlesex) and of Woodbury in
Gamlinghay (co. Cambridge), one of the farmers of the
Customs, who suffered great losses as a Royalist in
the Civil War. (fn. 35) Sir John Jacob, who was made a
baronet in 1665, died in 1666 and his son, another
Sir John Jacob, made in 1668 an exchange of lands in
the manor, as Sir John Jacob of Woodbury, bt., with
Walter Cary of Everton in co. Huntingdon, by which
lands in Everton and Gamlinghay in the occupation of
Walter Cary were conveyed to Sir John Jacob, with
lands belonging to the manor of Everton Biggin which
had lately been taken in by Walter Cary with the
consent of Sir John Jacob in lieu of pasture rights
in the manors of Everton Netherbury and Everton
Biggin; (fn. 36) Walter Cary evidently holding Everton
Biggin and Sir John Jacob Everton Netherbury.
By 1675 Sir John Jacob, being unable to pay the
proportion of the sum owed by his father for the lease
of the customs, the manor of Everton or Everton
Netherbury was seized by the crown. It was purchased by William Manston and by William Wogan,
sergeant-at-law, who in 1688 married Sir John
Jacob's widow, the daughter and coheir of Sir John
Ashburnham. (fn. 37) By their direction, and in trust for
them, this manor was in 1675 conveyed to Sir Denny
Ashburnham, of Broomham, co. Sussex, with view of
frankpledge, court baron, and all other rights in the
occupation of Sir John Jacob, the chief messuage and
divers closes being in the occupation of John Bury. (fn. 38)
The manor after this returned to the Storys, and
Philip Story and Allen Story were dealing with it in
1693. (fn. 39) From this time we seem to lose sight of the
chief manor of Everton, which appears to have become
absorbed into the sub-manors of Everton Mosbury
and Everton Biggin. These manors were held
together by Walter Cary and his wife Annabella in
1690, (fn. 40) and were in 1713 sold by Walter Cary of
Everton in the county of Huntingdon and Walter
Cary, his son, to William Astell of London. (fn. 41) At his
death in 1741 William Astell of Everton was succeeded
by his only son Richard, who had already dealt with
land in Everton and Tetworth in 1738, (fn. 42) and who died
childless in 1777, and was buried at Everton. The
Everton and other estates of the Astells passed to
Richard Astell's nephew William, eldest son of his
sister Margaret, wife of Godfrey Thornton of
Clapham. (fn. 43) William Thornton assumed the name
of Astell in compliance with the will of his grandfather William Astell, but died childless in 1801, and
was buried at Everton. His younger brother Godfrey,
like his father a director of the Bank of England, was
lord of the manors of Everton Mosbury and Everton
Biggin at the Inclosure Act passed in 1802. (fn. 44) His
son William, who succeeded him in 1805, obtained
leave in 1807 to assume the name of Astell, and died
at Everton in 1847, when he was succeeded by his
son Richard William. At the death (unmarried) of
Richard William Astell, of Everton House, in 1864,
he was followed by his brother John Harvey Astell
(d. 1887), of Woodbury. His son William Harvey
Astell died in 1896. Land in Everton appears to
have been in the possession of Samuel Eyres, whose
trustees were holding it in the 'eighties' after his
death. The Duncombes also were large landowners.
The manorial rights, however, seem to have been lost.
From the beginning of this century until 1928 Francis
Pym, of Hasells Hall, Sandy, was lord of the manor
of Everton, in Bedfordshire. He was succeeded in
that year by his brother, Mr. Frederick William Pym,
the present owner.
The manor of MOSBURY in Everton, later known
as EVERTON MOSBURY, originated in lands held
in Everton in Bedfordshire of the Pembrokes by the
abbey of Stratford, and which
in 1346 John Morice was holding, in succession to the abbey,
as two parts of a fee, of
Richard Talbot. (fn. 45) John Morice
received a grant of free warren
in his demesne lands of Everton in the counties of Huntingdon and Bedford in 1331, (fn. 46)
but this manor, to which he
gave his name, appears to have
been always accounted for in
Bedfordshire, where its history
will be found. (fn. 47)
Pym. Sable a fesse between three owls or with three crosslets sable on the fesse.
Land in Everton in Bedfordshire was held in 1316
by Thomas de la Dale, (fn. 48) ancestor of the John Dale of
Tickencote who in 1480 was holding BIGGIN MANOR
in the vill of Everton in the county of Huntingdon
of Robert Tanfield as of his manor of Everton or
Everton Bury or Netherbury. (fn. 49) The overlordship
of the Tanfields', later the Winches', manor of Everton
over Biggin was mentioned as late as 1640 when it
was held of Onslow Winch. (fn. 50)
John Dale was the direct descendant of Thomas de
la Dale, from whom the Bedfordshire manor of Little
Barford (q.v.) had also descended to him with the
Everton manors of Mosbury and Biggin. (fn. 51) His son
William died in 1537, leavingasheirs Anne his daughter,
married to Alexander Fetiplace; Joan, another
daughter, wife of William Wollascott; and Margaret
Lynne, daughter and heir of his daughter Elizabeth. (fn. 52)
Biggin appears to have passed with Mosbury to his
daughter Joan, wife of William Wollascott, whose son
William died seised of both in 1618 and was succeeded
by a son William, who also died seised in 1640 and
was succeeded by a son again named William. (fn. 53)
The latter with his son Martin was dealing with it in
1653, (fn. 54) after which date it passed to Walter Cary,
and its history has been given in that of the principal
manor (q.v.).
The manor of CANONS or TETWORTH apparently originated in lands in Tetworth (fn. 55) and Woodbury
held of the manor of Weston by the prior of St. John
of Jerusalem. William Babington, who left a son and
heir John, died in 1475 seised jointly with his wife
Elizabeth of a manor of Canons in Huntingdonshire
held of the Duke of Norfolk as of his manor of Weston-by-Baldok. (fn. 56) This was evidently the manor of
Canons which with the manor of Tetworth was in
1515 confirmed to Sir Robert Sheffield, kt., by his
son and heir Robert, who appointed Thomas Sheffield
and others, his attorneys, to deliver seisin. (fn. 57) Sir
Robert Sheffield, kt., died in 1534 seised of a messuage
and lands in Woodbury in co. Huntingdon called
Canons, held of the prior of St. John of Jerusalem,
and of a lease of other lands in Woodbury, held of the
manor of Weston, and granted to him by Henry VIII
with the monastery of Sawtrey, Canons being in the
occupation of Thomas Cooper. (fn. 58) 'The manor or
Grange of Cannones in Huntingdonshire' was held of
the lord of the manor of Weston next Baldock by John
Machell at his death in 1625, (fn. 59) when he was succeeded
by a grandson and heir John. The manor appears
to have passed to the Pedleys. James Pedley, jun.,
described as of Tetworth, Hunts., died in 1714. (fn. 60)
It probably descended with the manor of Wistow (q.v.)
from the Pedleys to the Foleys, and we find Henry
Foley holding in 1829. (fn. 61) It was apparently purchased
by Charles, first Lord Feversham of Waresley Park
(q.v.), with which it has since passed. (fn. 62)
Lands in Tetworth were granted c. 1150 by Henry
de Costentin, his son Geoffrey, and grandson Elias to
the monastery of Sawtrey, (fn. 63) this gift being confirmed
by Richard de Humet, Constable of England, with
the assent of Agnes his wife, and William his son and
heir. (fn. 64) About the same time John, son of Roger
Hori, made a grant of his lands in Tetworth to the
monastery, (fn. 65) and Gilbert 'miles de Tetteworthe'
witnessed another grant of land in Gamlinghay. (fn. 66) Rents
of £6 13s. 4d. in Tetworth and of 15s. in Everton
were held by the monastery at the Dissolution. (fn. 67)
It was probably these lands, or part of them, which
were held with Canons by Sir Robert Sheffield, kt.,
in 1534 on lease, and which Richard Williams alias
Cromwell held in 1538, part of Sawtrey possessions,
when he received licence to alienate his manors and
lands in Tetworth and Everton and elsewhere to John
Burgoyne and Thomas, his son and heir. (fn. 68)
CHURCH
The Church of ST. MARY consists
of a chancel (29¾ ft. by 14½ ft.), nave
(47¼ ft. by 14¾ ft.), north aisle (7½ ft.
wide), south aisle (7¼ ft. wide), west tower (12¼ ft.
by 11½ ft.) and south porch. The walls are of stone
rubble with stone and clunch dressings, but those of
the tower are mostly of ironstone. The roofs are
covered with tiles, slates and lead.
The church is mentioned in the Domesday Survey
(1086), but this early church was rebuilt in the middle
of the 12th century as a chancel and aisled nave, the
greater part of which still exists. At the end of the
14th century the tower, south porch and clearstory
were built, and about a hundred years later the chancel
arch was rebuilt. A general restoration took place
in 1865, when the
north wall of the
north aisle and the
south-east corner of
the south aisle were
rebuilt.
The mid-12th-century chancel has a
modern triple-lancet
east window. The
north wall has two
original single lights
slightly restored and
a two-light window
of c. 1400. The south
wall has three windows similar to the
north. The chancel
arch, c. 1500, is two
centred and of two
orders, the lower one carried on semi-octagonal shafts
with moulded capitals and bases.
The mid-12th-century nave has an arcade of three
bays on each side, the north slightly later than the
south; the semicircular arches have one square
order resting on circular piers and semicircular
responds with scalloped capitals and moulded bases.
The late 14th-century clearstory has three windows
on each side; on the north are quatrefoils, and on the
south one two-light and two four-light windows of
c. 1500, but the jamb of an earlier window remains
at the west end. The roof is of 17th-century date,
but much restored; its jack-legs rest on 14th-century
carved corbels.
The north aisle, practically rebuilt in 1865, has a
late 14th-century two-light window in the east wall.
In the north wall is a modern three-light, a 15th-century three-light window and a 16th-century doorway. In the west wall is a 12th-century single-light
window. The stairs to the rood loft are built into the
south-east corner, but appear to be completely blocked.
The mid-12th-century south aisle has a late 14th-century two-light window in the rebuilt east wall.
In the south wall are two 13th-century triplets (much
restored), an original single-light window (now blocked)
and an original doorway with semicircular head of
two orders carried on attached shafts with two water-leaf and two scalloped capitals. The west wall has
an original single-light window.
The late 14th-century west tower has a tower arch
of two moulded orders on moulded responds with
moulded capitals and bases. There is no west door,
but an original three-light window; in the second
stage is a small light in the south wall; and the belfry
windows are of two-lights. The tower has diagonal
buttresses at the north-west and south-west corners,
and is finished with an embattled parapet. The stairs
are in the south-west angle.
The late 14th-century south porch has a two-centred
outer archway of two moulded orders resting on
attached shafts with moulded capitals; on either
side is a small niche. There is a plain two-light
window in each of the side walls. The plinth is
enriched with a band of cusped panelling.
The modern font is a plain octagon on a stem composed of a group of four clustered shafts.
There are five bells, inscribed (1) 1630. (2) I K.
God save our King. 1630. (3) Sonoro sono meo
sono Deo. 1611. Ricardus Holdfeld me fecit.
(4) Johannes dier hanc campana fecit. (5) Christopher
Graye made me. 1681. The first two are by James
Keene, of Woodstock. The tenor, which was cracked,
was recast by Mears and Stainbank in 1894.
TETWORTH. Parish Church of St Mary
Reproduced by permission of the Controller of H.M. Stationery Office from the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, Hunts.
There are matrices of two brasses, (1) a priest, with
inscription plate, 15th century; (2) a man in armour
with wife in pedimental head-dress, two children, four
shields and marginal inscription with roundels at
angles, c. 1500.
There are the following monuments: In the chancel,
to the Astell family, viz.: William, d. 1741; Frances his
daughter, d. 1764; Sarah wife of William, d. 1841;
and Richard William her son, d. 1864; Richard, d.
1777, and two wives, Sarah (Bagnall), d. 1767, and
Hannah (Kennett), d. 1807; William Thornton (who
assumed the name of Astell in 1807), d. 1847, and
Sarah (Harvey) his wife, d. 1841; John Harvey, d.
1887, and Anne Emelia (Nisbet), d. 1907; William
Harvey, d. 1896; and also to Sarah (Astell) widow of
Sir Henry Fairfax, d. 1879; the Rev. T. H. Shaw,
Vicar, d. 1903; Alice Caroline (Astell), wife of the
6th Baron Ellenborough, d. 1916; Somerset Charles
Godfrey Fairfax Astell, d. 1917; floor slab to
Richard William Astell, d. 1864; and window to Sir
Henry Fairfax, Bart, d. 1860.
In the nave to Sir Humphrey Winche, d. 1624; and
to Mary Pedley, d. 1827; Stanhope her brother, d.
1803, and Catherine her sister, d. 1796.
In the north aisle, window to William Kaye, d.
1864.
In the south aisle, to the Rev. C. A. Dwarris, d.
1830; and windows to the Rev. Joseph Horner,
Vicar, d. 1875; Charlotte Anne, widow of Joseph
Kaye, d. 1865; and the Rev. T. H. Shaw, Vicar, d.
1903, and Eliza his widow, d. 1925.
There are eight hatchments in the tower.
The registers are as follows: (i) Baptisms, marriages and burials, 6 Jan. 1653 to 3 April 1727;
(ii) burials, in woollen, 8 Nov. 1678 to 4 March
1706/7; (iii) baptisms, marriages and burials, 23 April
1727 to 12 Nov. 1812; marriages end 3 Jan. 1753;
(iv) (unbound) marriages, 3 Feb. 1755 to 17 Nov.
1768; (v) marriages, 3 April 1769 to 9 Nov. 1812.
The church plate consists of a silver cup with
simple Elizabethan ornament, inscribed 'Everton'—no hall-mark; a silver standing paten, with no
date letter; a silver flagon inscribed 'Deo et Ecclesiae Parochiali de Everton cum Tetworth in Agro
Huntingtoniensi, Ano. 1695' hall-marked for 1694–5.
ADVOWSON
The church was granted temp.
Henry II by Gilbert, son of Gilbert
Earl of Pembroke, to the priory
of St. Neots, who presented until the Dissolution. (fn. 69)
It was valued in 1291 at £11 6s. 8d. (fn. 70) The vicarage
of Everton, already in existence in 1237, (fn. 71) was valued
as that of Everton-cum-Tetworth at £6 16s. 10d.
in 1535. (fn. 72) In 1544 the rectory, church and advowson
of the vicarage of Everton and Tetworth and lands
in the tenure of Robert Hatley in Everton were
granted to the Master and Scholars of Clare Hall
in the University of Cambridge, (fn. 73) who still retain
the advowson and lands in the parish. A lease of the
rectory from Clare Hall was conveyed by the Carys
to William Astell at their sale of the manor to him. (fn. 74)
There are no charities for this parish.