AYOT ST. PETER
Little Ayot or Ayot Montfichet, Aiete (xi cent.);
Yate, Hayate (xiii cent.); Ayete (xv cent.); Eyott
(xvi cent.).
The parish of Ayot St. Peter has an area of
1,093 acres, of which 666 acres are under cultivation,
140¾ are grass and 2¾ wood. (fn. 1) The elevation of the
parish above the ordnance datum is from 300 ft. to
400 ft., rising to just over 400 ft. about the centre,
where the church and rectory are situated. The
lowest point is on the north, where the little River
Mimram. forms the boundary for some distance.
The subsoil is chalk and gravel and the surface soil
chalk; there are several chalk-pits in the parish.
The manor-house, church of St. Peter and the rectory
are situated on a branch road, half a mile north-west
of the village, which is on the main road at Ayot
Green. Ayot Place, now a farm-house, was probably
built by Sir George Perient, lord of the manor, as it
bears his arms and the date 1615. It is a 17th-century house of timber and plaster (now partly
cased with brick) with a tiled roof and is of the
L plan, though much repaired in the 19th century.
The wing facing north contains the entrance with
staircase and living rooms, the wing facing east comprises the hall with a gallery now used as the kitchen.
On a frieze in the hall are five shields bearing the
arms of Perient, Brockett and Boteler quartering
Kilpee and the date 1615 in the middle. There are
two chimney stacks with twisted shafts and moulded
capitals. Ayot Bury, the seat of Sir Alfred James
Reynolds, J.P., is an old house, much altered and
enlarged, standing in a small park.
There is a railway station at Ayot, opened in 1877,
on the Luton and Hatfield branch of the Great
Northern railway. The main road between Hitchin
and London passes through Ayot Green, and forms
the boundary at the south-east corner of the parish.
Large farms in this parish are Linces Farm, Ryefield
Farm and Ayot Place Farm.
Place-names occurring in the 16th century are
Fyncesfeld or Fincheleyfeld, Smythescroft, Dryvers
and Okkelmede. (fn. 2)
There was a great flood in the parish in February
1795, owing to the overflow of the Lea and Mimram. (fn. 3)
MANORS
King Edward the Confessor granted
the manor of AYOT ST. PETER or
AYOT MONTFITCHET to two of his
thegns, but after the Conquest it formed part of the lands
of Robert Gernon, and was held as 2½ hides by William
his man, who is said to have taken it 'by encroachment to the king's wrong, but he called on his lord
as warrantor.' (fn. 4) The estates of Robert Gernon were
granted in the reign of Henry I to William de
Montfitchet, (fn. 5) in whose family
Ayot St. Peter descended in
the same manner as Letchworth (q.v.), and came to
Richard Montfitchet, who
died without issue about 1258.
His heirs were his three sisters—Margery, who married
Hugh de Bolebek, Avelina
the wife of William de Fortibus, last Earl of Albemarle,
and Philippa wife of Hugh
de Pleys. (fn. 6) The manor of
Ayot St. Peter fell to the
share of Margery and Hugh de Bolebek, and upon
the partition between their four daughters (fn. 7) to the
second, Margery, the wife of Nicholas Corbet, who
held the manor in 1277–8. (fn. 8) Nicholas died in
1280, (fn. 9) and the king took Ayot St. Peter into his
hands with the other Corbet lands, but Margery
received Ayot back in the following year upon the
plea that the Montfitchet lands were her own inheritance. (fn. 10) Margery married secondly Ralph Fitz
William, (fn. 11) and they in 1286 conveyed the manor
to Robert Burnell, Bishop of Bath and Wells, (fn. 12) a
quitclaim having previously being made to him by
John de Zelaund, (fn. 13) whom they had enfeoffed of the
manor. (fn. 14) The bishop probably conveyed the manor
to Robert de Lacy, for Amice de Lacy his widow was
assessed for it in 1303. (fn. 15) In 1307 an action was
brought by John de Lancaster, the son of Margery
Fitz William's eldest sister Philippa, who claimed that
Ralph and Margery had exceeded their rights in
granting more than half the manor to John de
Zelaund, (fn. 16) but there is no evidence that he made good
his claim to the other half.
Montfitchet. Gules three cheverons or.
Upon the death of Amice or Avice de Lacy (fn. 17)
the manor was divided between her daughters Joan
and Amice. The name of Ayot Montfitchet was kept
by the moiety which fell to Amice the second daughter,
who married John Poleyn. He is referred to as lord
of the manor in 1323. (fn. 18) Amice died seised in 1349,
when her moiety passed to her son John, (fn. 19) who is
said to have died without issue. (fn. 20) In 1359 it was
held by Katharine Poleyn, (fn. 21) who was perhaps his
widow. It is said to have descended to Rose wife of
John Fish as daughter of John son of Michael son
of Agnes daughter of Amice Poleyn. (fn. 22) Rose Fish
granted it for life to Christine Poleyn, who was
probably her mother. (fn. 23) After the death of Christine
William Sakevyle, who had been enfeoffed of the
manor, granted it in 1414 to Rose and John Fish
her husband, (fn. 24) from whom it passed to another John
Fish, who died in 1494, his wife Katherine Wotton
being attainted and imprisoned at Norwich Castle
for the wilful murder of her husband. (fn. 25) Ayot Montfitchet was inherited by his brother, presumably the
William Fish who died seised of it in 1531. He
was succeeded by his son Thomas, (fn. 26) who held the
manor until his death in 1553. (fn. 27) Thomas's son
George Fish held Ayot jointly with his mother
Elizabeth, (fn. 28) who married
secondly William Perient,
whence it came to her son
George Perient, (fn. 29) who was
holding it in 1614. (fn. 30) George
Perient's daughter Mary
married Nicholas Trott, who
in 1623 conveyed the halfmanor to William Hale (fn. 31) of
King's Walden, (fn. 32) and in 1624
they both granted it to Michael
Grigge, (fn. 33) who in 1632 conveyed it to Rowland Hale, son
of William. (fn. 34) From him it
passed to his son William Hale,
whose widow Elizabeth was the holder in 1700. (fn. 35)
It remained in the Hale family until 1832, (fn. 36) when
it is said to have been sold to Viscount Melbourne,
the holder of the Westington moiety (q.v.).
Hale. Azure a cheveron or battled on both sides.
Westington
The so-called manor of WESTINGTON consisted
of the moiety of the original manor of Ayot St. Peter
which fell to Joan the elder daughter of Amice de
Lacy, and took the name of Westington a little later
from the family which held it. Joan de Lacy may be
identical with Joan the wife of Ralph de Bredon, who
in 1332 granted the half-manor to James de Bredon, (fn. 37)
probably in trust. In 1349 it was held by John de
Westwycombe, (fn. 38) who was probably the son of Joan. (fn. 39)
From John it came to his daughter Margaret, the
wife of William Westington, (fn. 40) who gave his name
to this moiety, which extended into the neighbouring
parish of Welwyn. Margaret was apparently unjustly
disseised by John and Rose Fish, the holders of
Ayot St. Peter or Montfitchet, for in 1426 there was
a suit between them for its recovery, in which the
former was evidently successful in establishing her
title. (fn. 41) Margaret Westington married secondly
Thomas Galyon, and upon her death the manor
came to her daughter Margery, who married Thomas
Foxlee. Their daughter Elizabeth conveyed it by
marriage to Thomas Uvedale, who was seised of it
with his son and heir Henry, who predeceased his
father in 1469. Thomas died in 1474 and was
succeeded by his second son William Uvedale. (fn. 42)
By 1487 Westington had come into the possession of
Thomas Rogers, probably by purchase, and upon his
death in the following year it came to his daughter
Elizabeth, the wife of William Essex, (fn. 43) who in 1508
conveyed it to Sir William Say. (fn. 44) The estates of
Sir William Say descended through his daughter
Elizabeth to Gertrude Marchioness of Exeter, (fn. 45) who
was attainted in 1539, when her lands were forfeited
to the Crown. (fn. 46) In 1546 they were granted to
Sir Nicholas Throckmorton, (fn. 47) who sold Westington
with other manors to Sir John Brockett of Brockett Hall
in 1555. (fn. 48) He was succeeded by his son and his
grandson John, the latter's heirs being five daughters. (fn. 49)
Helen wife of Sir Richard Spencer is found in
possession of a quarter of the manor in 1599, (fn. 50) but
eventually the whole came to
the fifth daughter Mary. She
conveyed it in marriage to
Sir Thomas Reade, who was
holding it in 1615. (fn. 51) They
had a son Thomas, (fn. 52) probably
the father of Sir John Reade,
who presented to the church
in 1686. (fn. 53) Sir James Reade,
his son, was holding it in
1700, (fn. 54) and in 1728 it was
in the possession of Sir James's
youngest daughter Love, who
married Sir Thomas Wymington. (fn. 55) The latter died in
1746, and Westington was
sold after his death to Sir
Matthew Lamb, (fn. 56) who in 1768 was succeeded by
his son Peniston Lamb, first Viscount Melbourne.
His son William Lord Melbourne (fn. 57) was the first
Prime Minister of Queen Victoria, and succeeded to
his father's estates in 1828. He acquired from
William Hale in 1832 the other moiety of the
manor, (fn. 58) known as Ayot St. Peter or Ayot Montfitchet,
and thus the whole of the original manor was once
again united in the same hands. Upon his death in
1848 his estates passed to his brother Frederick James, (fn. 59)
and from him through his sister Amelia, who married
Peter Leopold fifth Earl
Cowper, to their son George
Augustus in 1853. In 1856
Ayot St. Peter came to
Francis Thomas de Grey
Cowper, the last earl, who
died in 1905. (fn. 60) The manor
then passed to the younger of
his two sisters, Lady Amabel
Kerr, who died in 1906,
when it came to her husband,
Admiral Lord Walter Kerr. (fn. 61)
Lamb, Viscount Melbourne. Sable a fesse erminois between three cinqfoils argent with two molets sable on the fesse.
Cowper, Earl Cow-per. Argent three mart-lets gules and a chief engrailed gules with three rings or therein.
In 1277–8 Nicholas Corbett
owed suit at the county court
and aid to the sheriff of 5s. a
year. (fn. 62) In 1349 this suit was
said to be owed every month with the same aid, and
suit at the hundred court every three weeks. (fn. 63)
George Perient obtained a grant of court leet and
view of frankpledge twice a year in Ayot Montfitchet
in 1614. (fn. 64) Nicholas Throckmorton apparently received the same rights in Westington when he
obtained that manor in 1546. (fn. 65) Free warren was
granted to Sir Thomas Reade in Westington in
1615. (fn. 66)
Ayot Montfitchet was fined in 1653 for having
lacked stocks for a twelvemonth past. (fn. 67)
CHURCH
St. Peter
The church of ST. PETER has been
rebuilt more than once. At the latter
part of the 17th century considerable
alterations were made in the church then existing, and
in the middle of the 18th century the church was rebuilt. The church then erected was an octagonal
brick building with a detached belfry forming the
entrance to the churchyard. This church was rebuilt
in a little more appropriate style in 1862. On
10 July 1874 this building was struck by lightning
and burnt to the ground. As the church was some
distance from the village the new building was
erected on its present site. The new church was
built from contributions principally from Earl Cowper
and Mr. George Robinson of Ayot Bury, from designs
by J. P. Seddon. It is a red brick building with
Bath stone dressings and a tiled roof, and consists of
an apsidal chancel with organ chamber on the south
side, nave, north porch and tower.
There are six bells by Warner of London, 1875,
the gift of Dr. Jephson of Leamington. The plate
includes a silver chalice and paten of the time of
Charles I.
The registers are in three books: (i) baptisms
and burials 1668 to 1773, marriages 1668 to 1753;
(ii) baptisms and burials 1773 to 1812; (iii)
marriages 1754 to 1812.
ADVOWSON
The Advowson of Ayot St. Peter
Church seems to have belonged to the
lords of the manor from the earliest
times, for it is mentioned as belonging to the lord as
early as 1282. (fn. 68) When the manor was divided
between the daughters of Amice de Lacy the advowson
went to the elder branch, (fn. 69) but by 1488 it was
apparently held alternately, for Thomas Rogers (fn. 70) and
later Sir William Say (fn. 71) were only possessed of half.
A short time previous to 1728 the advowson was
sold to Ralph Freeman and his heirs, (fn. 72) in whose
family it descended until Katherine, the daughter of
William Freeman, conveyed it in marriage to the
Hon. Charles Yorke, whose son Philip became Earl
of Hardwicke in 1790 (fn. 73) and presented to the rectory
in 1804. (fn. 74) From him it passed to his eldest daughter
Anne, the wife of John Earl of Mexborough. (fn. 75)
Lord Mexborough held the advowson until 1843,
after which his widow presented until 1852, when it
was sold to the Rev. Edwin Prodgers. On the death
of the latter in 1861 the advowson came to his son
Edwin Prodgers, who nominated himself to the rectory,
but later relinquished Holy Orders. (fn. 76) The presentation remained in his hands until 1906, when it was
acquired by Miss Wilshere, who is the present
patron.
CHARITIES
John Henry Peacock, by will,
proved in the P.C.C. in December
1849, bequeathed so much stock as
would produce £10 a year for education and £10 a
year for the poor in clothing, blankets and fuel on
Christmas Day. The legacies are represented by
£333 6s. 8d. consols and £333 6s. 8d. consols, now
producing £8 6s. 8d. for each purpose. The sums of
stock are held by the official trustees; the charity for
education is regulated by a scheme of the Board of
Education, 4 May 1905.