Freebridge Hundred: Tilney

An Essay Towards A Topographical History of the County of Norfolk: Volume 9. Originally published by W Miller, London, 1808.

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'Freebridge Hundred: Tilney', in An Essay Towards A Topographical History of the County of Norfolk: Volume 9, (London, 1808) pp. 72-84. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-hist-norfolk/vol9/pp72-84 [accessed 25 March 2024]

In this section

TILNEY.

The Lord Bardolf's manor of Islington, and that of William de Scohies of Broughton, &c. extended here; and Heyld Montford, see in Islington.

Lord Bardolf's Fee.

At the survey Hermerus, (de Ferrarijs) of whom see in Wirmegay, alias Wrongey, had a lordship in Tilney, held by Turchetel, a freeman, in King Edward's time, and was deposed.

It consisted of a carucate of land, 7 borderers, 2 servi, and 24 acres of meadow, one carucate in demean, and one amongst the tenants, 7 salt-pits, &c. 310 sheep, always valued at 3l. per ann. and 6 acres of land valued at 12d. belonged to it.

A lordship also (fn. 1) Islington, (as I observed,) of the said Hermerus, extended into this town of Tilney.

It was part of the honour of Wirmegay, the barony of the Lords Bardolf; and being a considerable lordship, several persons were enfeoffed therein; from whence sprung up many lordships, held by different parts of fees and tenures here, and the presentation to the church of Tilney belonged formerly to the Lord Bardolfs, as capital lords.

Chervile's Manor.

The family of Cherevile, or Kervile, was early enfeoffed of part. In the 10th of Richard I. a fine was levied between Simon, son of Roger de Cherevile, petent, and Robert, son Walter de Cherevile, of lands in Tilney.

Sir Frederick de Chervill held 2 fees in Tilney, Islington, Wigenhale, and Clenchwarton, (when an aid was granted, on the marriage of King Henry the Third's sister to the Emperor of Germany) of the honour of Wimegeye; (fn. 2) and was found in the 34th of that King, to have a gallows, in Tilney, and the liberty, or power of trying and hanging offenders.

In the 4th of Edward I. William Lord Bardolf was found to die seized of a manor here, held in capite, by the service of paying castle guard to the castle of Norwich, 7s. per month, and half a mark per annum.

From the Cherviles it came partly to the Marmions, and to the Tilneys, probably by some marriage, Sir John Tilney having a lordship here, in Edward the Third's time, who was son of Sir Thomas de Tilney: Sir John was styled of Quaplode, in Lincolnshire, and left two daughters and coheirs, Isabell married to Jeffrey Folvile, by whom he had Maud, a daughter and heir, married to Sir John Woodford, whose son, Sir Robert of Sproxton, in Leicestershire, gave his grandson John, in the 26th of Henry VI. lands here. Alice, another daughter and coheir of Sir John Tilney, married Edmund Kervile, of Wigenhale, St. Mary's.

West Derham Abbey Manor.

This abbey had considerable possessions in this town. William and Adam, sons of Turgis de Wigenhale, Walter, son of Herbert de Bintre, John Sculham, Alan, son of Philip de Tilney, &c. gave lands by deed sans date, to this abbey. In the 5th of King John, Adam de Wesenham, and Basilia his wife conveyed lands in Tylney to Ralph, abbot of Dereham; and in the 34th of Henry III. it appears that the abbot had a manor here, and required service on that account from William, son of Richard de Tylney.

A patent was granted to the abbot, to purchase of Robert de Gold, &c. 2 messuages, and 31 acres of land in the said town, in the 17th of Edward II.

In the 3d of Edward III. he was found to hold 3 parts of a fee in Tilney, and Wigenhale, of the Lord Bardolf; and in the 20th of that King, in those towns, the 8th part of a fee of the said lord, which William de Chervile and Thomas de Grangia, formerly held; and in the 33d of the said King, he was found to hold lands by the service of 6d. per ann. here, given him and his successours, by Henry de Westing, cappellane, and Steph. Talbot, of Fincham, held by knight's service of the Lord Bardolf.

It appears from a roll of the honour of Wirmegay, that in the 3d of Henry IV. he held 2 fees in Tilney and Wigenhale, of the said lord, which were sold him by Robert Marmyon, with the rents and services of all his tenants, which he held of the fee of Frederick de Charevile, of the ancestrie of Adam de Mildenhale, coming by his father and mother, with the tenants of Sir John Tilney, in Tilney Chervile, and Tirington Chervile; and in 1428, the temporalties of this abbey were valued at 13l. 16s. 4d.

On the dissolution of this abbey, it came to the Crown, and was granted, July 3, in the 2d of Elizabeth, to Richard Nicholls, of Tilney, with all its appertenances in Tylney, Tyrington, Islington, and Clenchwarton, with the rectory of Rougham, in Norfolk, belonging to Westacre priory, and the rectory of Dounton, in Norfolk, belonging to the priory of Marmound; and George Nicholls held it in the 27th of that Queen.

Fenn's and Noon's Manor.

In the reign of Henry III. Philip de Fenne, and his tenants, were found to hold the 3d part of a knight's fee here, and in Wigenhale, of the Lord Bardolf; and the heirs of John Noon held also, with the abbot of Derham 2 fees in the said towns of the same lord.

In the 14th of Edward I. Nicholas None and John None occur as landholders here; and in the 31st of that King, a fine was levied between Edmund Bardolf, querent, John, son of William Noon, of Tilney, and Isabel his wife, deforciants, of a messuage, a mill, 25 acres of land, in Tilney, and Tyrington, which William de Bradenham, and Maud his wife held in dower, and granted to Edmund, after their decease.

In the 9th of Edward II. William de Fenne is named amongst the lords of manors here; (fn. 3) and the said William and Joan his wife, of Tylney, held it in the 2d of Edward III. as appears by a fine then levied.

In the 3d of the said King, the heirs of John Noon held, as appears from the escheat rolls, the 4th part of a fee of the Lord Bardolf, in Tilney; in the 7th year of the same reign a fine was levied between Edmund, son of John Noon, and Alice his wife, Walter de Glemesford, &c. trustees of this manor, then settled on Edmund and Alice in tail: the said Edmund, by the inquisitions taken in the 20th of the said King, held the 3d part of a fee, which Philip de Fenne, and his tenants formerly held, and Edmund occurs lord in the 41st of Edward III.

John Marshall, of Tyrington, &c. conveyed lands in Tydd St. Mary's to Robert, son of John Noon, of Tylney, and Margaret his wife, and the heirs of Margaret, in the 1st year of Richard II. and in the 22d of that King, lands here were conveyed by fine to John Noon.

Sir Edmund Noon occurs lord in the 3d of Henry IV. and in the 6th of Henry VI. Thomas Noon held the 8th part of a fee in Tilney, Wigenhale, and Clenchwarton, of Thomas Beaufort Duke of Exeter, lord of the honour of Wirmegeye.

A fine in the 18th of Henry VI. was levied between John Overell, &c. querents, Thomas Palmer, and Alice his wife, daughter and heir of Robert Noone, of Tilney, deforciants of lands here.

Marshall's Manor.

William, son of John Le Mareschalle, had also a lordship held of the honour of Wirmegay, and it appears from a pleading at Norwich, in Hillary term, in the 15th of Edward I. that the said King had granted to him (fn. 4) Ao. 12, a fair in his lordship of Tilney, for 5 days, beginning on the vigil, the day of St. Laurence, and 3 days after, yearly; and produced then his charter of the said King for the same, the Mareschalls having also a manor in Terington, and living in that town, I shall there speak more of them, and of the Duntons, who held lands here.

Wendling-Abbot's Manor.

In the 24th of Henry III. the abbot held in this town and in Wigenhale the 8th part of a fee of the honour of Wirmegey, and in the 20th of Edward III. the inquisitions say that William de Bradenham held it of the abbot for the term of his life; and in 1428, the temporalities of that abbey were taxed at 54s. 11d. in this town.

On the dissolution of the religious houses, in the time of Henry VIII. this monastery came to the Crown; and on the 30th of August, Queen Elizabeth, in her 13th year, granted it, with all the lands and tenements, &c. belonging to it, in the towns of Tilney, Islington, Clenchwarton, Walpole, Emneth, and Gayton, to Thomas Jennyns and Ed. Forth.

I take the lands that Jordan Foliot, son of Sir Richard Foliot, confirmed to Sir William Foliot, his brother, by deed sans date, in this town, and Islington, of the purchase formerly of Robert de Stoteville, his uncle, with liberties, &c. belonging, for 6s. 9d. rent per ann. made up part of this manor.

Westacre Priory.

Jeffrey Sutton aliened lands in this town, Terington, Wigenhale, &c. to this priory, in the 6th of Edward II. and John Wigenhale, 60 acres of land, and 12 of pasture here, in Terington and Wygenhale, in the 7th of the said King; and Thomas de Tilney granted to the prior 8l. per ann. out of land in Tilney, Wigenhale, and Clenchwarton, to found a chantry in the church of St. German's, of Wigenhale.

In the 3d of Edward III. the prior held a quarter of a fee, of the Lord Bardolf, and his temporalities in 1428, were valued at 3l. 0s. 8d. per ann. or as some say 40s. 8d. Tort, a freeman, was lord of a manor in Tilney, in King Edward's time, which at the survey, was possessed by Ralph Bainard, and Gaosfrid, or Geffrey held it under him; it consisted of one carucate of land, 5 villains, 4 borderers, and 24 acres of meadow; there was one carucate also in demean, and one among the tenants, 5 salt-pits, with the moiety of another, &c. formerly 15 sheep, at the survey 200; in King Edward's time it was valued at 40s. afterwards at 10s. and at the survey at 60s. per ann. (fn. 5)

Tort, or Torn, as he is also written in Domesday Book, held several lordships in this county, in which I find this Lord Bainard to succeed him, and is called a Thane, in the account of the town of Wheatacre, in the hundred of Clavering. Gaosfrid, or Geffrey, was either brother, or son to the Lord Ralph; that he was a relation appears from his being styled Gaosfrid Bainard, in the town of Kerdeston, in the hundred of Eynesford; it is certain that this Lord Ralph had by Juga, his wife, a son and heir, Geffrey Baynard, and was succeeded by William Baynard, who taking part with Helias Earl of Mayne, Phil. de Braose, William Mallet, and other conspirators against King Henry I. lost his barony, great part of which that King gave to Robert, son of Richard, son of Gilbert Earl of Clare, from whom the Lords Fitz Walter descended; but as I do not find any mention of those lords, it is most probable that this part of the Baynards' estate was granted to Gilbert Fitz Richard, or to his father, Richard Fitz-Gilbert, Earl of Brion, &c. in Normandy, who married Rohesia, daughter and heir of Walter Giffard Earl of Bucks: this Walter had also a considerable lordship in the town of Islington, which also descended to Richard Fitz Gilbert. Gilbert Fitz Richard was Earl of Clare, about the end of Henry the First's reign. That the Earls of Clare had a manor in this town appears from ancient records; and was divided into several parts, or fees.

In the 8th year of the reign of King John, it appears from a pleading that Godfrey, son of Godwine, held part of a fee in Tilney; and in King Henry the Third's time, Jordan Foliot confirmed by deed sans date, to his brother Sir William Foliot, (both of them sons of Sir Richard Foliot) all his land in Tilney and Islington, purchased formerly of Sir Robert de Stotevile, his uncle, with all liberties, commons, and easements thereto belonging, with 2s. 9d. rent per ann.; witnesses, Sir William Bardolf, Roger de Vaux, John de Ingaldesthorp, John Strange, and William de Tirington, Knts. John de Wigenhale, Thomas de Wesenham, William de Medlers, &c. and in the 43d of the said King a fine was levied between William de Wendling, clerk, querent, Gyles de Vernon and Joan his wife, impedients, of 40s. rent per ann. in this town, Wigenhale, Clenchwarton, North Lynn, &c. granted to William, to be held of Gyles and Joan, and the heirs of Joan.

John Fitz John, of Reynham, John de Fenn, and John de Wigenhale held the 3d part of a fee in this town, Clenchwarton, and Wigenhale, of Richard son of Simon, belonging to the honour of Clare.

In the 52d of Henry III. Thomas de Warblington, in Sussex, and Elizabeth his wife, conveyed to William de Sculham, a mark's rent here, and in Wiggenhale, and the homages and services of several persons, viz. Richard de Sculham, &c. who held by several rents and suits of court at Tilney.

In the 8th of Edward II. Thomas de Warblington held one fee here, in Middleton, Clenchwarton, Wigenhale, West Winch, Hardwick, Seche, and South Lynn, of the said honour.

Sir John de Fitton had also about this time a considerable estate here. In the 9th of the said King, John Le Neve of Tilney, and Alice his wife, conveyed lands to Sir John, and Margaret his wife; and in the 17th year of that King, Ralph de Edynesthorp, vicar of St. German's Wigenhale, conveyed to him, and Amicia, his then wife, 13 messuages, a mill, 250 acres of land, 62 of meadow, 34 of pasture, 60 of heath, and 6 marks rent per ann. &c. in Tilney, Terrington, Wigenhale, and Islington, settled on Sir John and Amicia, in tail, remainder to Thomas, first, and after to John, sons of John de Tilney, who married Sir John Fitton's, sister.

In fines of lands lying in this town, frequent mention is made of the Tilney family. Robert de Tilney lived in the reign of King Henry III. and Godfrey, his son, was found to have a manor here, in the 3d of Edward I.

William, son of Godfrey de Tilney, gave lands sans date, to Castleacre priory—witnesses, Alexander de Ingaldesthorp, William de Dunham, &c.

In the 16th of that King, Walter de Tilney purchased of Roger de Plympton, and Maud his wife, Thomas Florentyn, and Katharine, his wife, lands in this town, by fine levied. In the 4th of Edward II. William, son of Nicholas, son of Geffrey de Tylney, conveyed lands here to John, son of Richard Sefoul, and Katherine, his wife, by fine; and John de Tilney, and Henry Blower, of Tylney, conveyed lands by fine to John Styward, in the 3d of Richard II.

Philip, son of Frederick de Tilney, who lived at Boston, in Lincolnshire, Esq. was possessed of a manor, or lands here, as appears by his will dated on the feast of St. Ambrose, in the 11th year of King Richard II. and Frederick had 50 acres of land here, conveyed to him by fine, which Nicholas Blower held for the life of Agnes, widow of John, son of William Noon, of Tilney.

In the 47th of Edward III. and in the 43d of that King, John, son of Geffrey de Tilney and Agnes, his wife, had lands conveyed to them by fine.

John de Woodnorton, before this, impleaded in the court of King's Bench, John, son of Thomas de Reynham, for 60 acres of land, 30s. rent, with the moiety of a messuage, in Tylney, Suth Clenchwarton, and Wigenhale, and in the said year, Alan, son of John de Reynham, uncle of Elias de Hauville, was seized in demean of 51 acres of land in this town.

In the 5th of Henry VI. a fine was levied between John Tyrell, Esq. Robert Smith, &c. querents, Thomas Tyrell, Esq. and Katherine, his wife, Robert Stonham, Esq. and Mary his wife, deforciants of a manor, in Tilney, conveyed to Smith.

Thomas Godsalve, Esq. son and heir of Thomas Godsalve, of Norwich, released on October 1, in the 30th of Henry VIII. according to his father's will, to Thomas, his brother, lands in several towns, with his manor, or messuages in Tilney.

Sir Robert Audley had livery of a lordship here, about the 18th of Queen Elizabeth.

Pentney priory had lands here, held of the Bardolfs, valued in 1428, at 41s. at the dissolution, granted to Edward, Lord Clynton, November 26, Ao. 5 Edward VI.

Wirmegey priory also land, valued then at 21s. 4d.

The monks of Thetford, in rents, 9s. per ann. the priory of Ixworth, in meadow grounds 9s. per ann.

Weaver, in his Funeral Monuments, (fn. 6) gives an extract from a book then in the hands of Thomas Tilney, of Hadley, in Suffolk, Esq. which belonged (as in a note of the said book is said) to Sir Frederick Tilney, of Boston, in Lincolnshire, who was knighted at Acon in the Holy Land, by King Richard I. in his 3d year; a knight remarkable for his great stature, and strength of body; and was buried with his ancestors in the church of Tirington, by Tilney, whose height was to be seen there at that time, viz. 1556.

After him 16 knights succeeded, (of the name of Tilney) and in the estate; who all lived at Boston, till it came to Thomas Duke of Norfolk, by the marriage of a daughter and heiress of an elder brother.

The last of this knightly family, was then Sir Phil. Tilney of Shelleigh, in Suffolk, father of the above Thomas Tilney, of Hadley.

The book here mentioned, in 1727, was in the hands of Peter Le Neve, Norroy, but the note abovementioned appears by the hand to be written long after the siege of Acon, and about the reign of King Henry VIII. or Edward VI. and there was no such succession of knights, as here mentioned.

Prior of Lewes's Manor, or Kenwick's,

Was part of the capital lordship of that prior in West-Walton, and granted by the name of Kenwick, in Tilney, in the reign of King Richard I. with the consent of the abbot of Clugny, of Burgundy, in France, (to which abbey Lewes was a cell) to Alan, son of Robert de Snetsham, alias de Inglethorp, in fee farm, at 20 marks per ann. most of the demean lands belonging to it being exempted from tithe.

Thomas de Ingaldesthorp was lord in the 8th of King John, and in the 3d of Edward I. John de Ingaldesthorp was found to hold a knight's fee in this town, and Wigenhale, and had the assise of bread, beer, &c. he also held lands of the Bishop of Ely, and of William de Terrington, paying to them 31s. per ann. Thomas de Ingaldesthorp had a charter of free-warren in his lands here, at Snetesham, &c. in the 33d of that King, and Sir William de Ingaldesthorp died lord in the 46th of the said reign.

Sir Thomas de Ingaldesthorp founded a chapel, or oratory in this manor, for the ease of his family, and heirs; no tithe, or oblations belonged to it, and there was no institution or induction, as the jury found in the 1st of Richard II. but it was a false return.

On the death of Sir Edmund de Ingaldesthorp, the last heir male of this family, in the 35th of Henry VI. it passed (as may be seen in the manor of Bellase's, in Emneth) to the Nevills, Isabell, his daughter and heir, being married to John Nevill, a younger son of Richard Earl of Salisbury, created by King Edward IV. Lord Marquis Montacute.

On a division of the estate of his son, George Nevill Duke of Bedford, between his 5 sisters and coheirs, this came to the Lady Elizabeth, one of the said sisters, who married Thomas Lord Scroop of Upsale, and Massam, and presented to the chapel of Kenwick, in 1510, then a widow: by an inquisition taken October 14, in the 10th of Henry VIII. the jury find that the said lady died in the 9th of that King; and left it to her niece, Lucy, on condition that she married John Cuttes, Esq. (fn. 7) son and heir of Sir John Cutts, of Cambridgeshire, which Lucy was daughter of Lucy Nevill, (sister of the Lady Scroop) who married first, Sir Thomas Fitz Williams, of Aldwarke, in Yorkshire, and afterwards Sir Anthony Brown, and John Cutts, Esq. was lord in the 12th of Elizabeth.

The Earl of Fitz Williams, lord in 1750, and 1765.

The tenths were 30l. 6s.—Deducted 3l.

The abbot of Bury's manor, in Islington, extended into this town: this was possessed by the Keens in 1720, and by his Excellency Sir Benjamin Keen, Knt. of the Bath, his Majesty's ambassador to the King of Spain, and is now held by the Bishop of Ely.

Here was also a lordship called Broughton's, from a family of that name: see in Islington.

This town gives name to a famous common, called Tilney Smeeth, whereon 30000, or more, large Marshland sheep, and the great cattle of seven towns, to which it belongs, are constantly said to feed; about two miles in breadth and - - in length, viz. Tilney, Terrington, Clenchwarton, Islington, (fn. 8) Walpole, West Walton, Walsoken, and Emneth: a piece of land so fruitful, (as was reported by a courtier to King James the First, at his first coming to the crown) "that if over night a wand, or rod, was laid on the ground, by the morning it would be covered with grass of that night's growth, so as not to be discerned;" to which that King is said, in a jocose manner, to reply, "that he knew some grounds in Scotland, where if an horse was put in over night, they could not see him, or discern him in the morning." Of this plain, or Smeeth, there is a tradition, which the common people retain, that in old time, the inhabitants of these towns had a contest with the lords of the manors, about the bounds and limits of it; when one Hickifric, a person of great stature and courage, assisting the said inhabitants, in their rights of common, took an axle-tree from a cart wheel, instead of a sword, and the wheel for a shield, or buckler, and thus armed, soon repelled the invaders; and for proof of this notable exploit, they to this day shew (says Sir William Dugdale (fn. 9) ) a large grave-stone, near the east end of the chancel, in Tilney churchyard, whereon the form of a cross is so cut, or carved, as that the upper part thereof (wherewith the carver hath adorned it) being circular, they will therefore needs have it to be the grave-stone of Hickifric, and to be as a memoral of his gallantry.

The stone coffin which stands now out of the ground, in Tilney, churchyard, on the north side of the church, will not receive a person above 6 feet in length, and this is shewn as belonging formerly to the giant Hickifric; the cross, said to be a representation of the cartwheel, is a cross pattee, on the summit of a staff; which staff is styled an axle-tree; such crosses pattee on the head of a staff, were emblems, or tokens that some Knight Templar was therein interred, and many such are to be seen at this day in old churches.

Til, is the name of a river in Northumberland, and many towns take their names from Til; as Tilbrook in Bedfordshire, Tilford, in Surry, Tilbury, in Essex, &c.

The Church of Tilney is dedicated to all the Saints, and is a large building, consisting of a nave, north and south isle, with a chancel covered with lead; at the west end stands a square tower, with pinnacles, and - - bells therein; on the tower, a spire of free-stone.

At the west end of the north isle, is an old altar monument, but no arms, or inscription on it: near this, against the lowest pillar, may be observed a place for the holy water, some chapel and altar being here; in the second window, as you ascend, are the remains of some of the Apostles, with labels of the creed; also the figures of St. Catharine, and of the Virgin Mary, with the child Jesus; and at the bottom,

Alicie uxoris sue.

On the pavement hereby is a marble grave-stone, with these arms - - - - - - -, in a bend between two bendlets, three escallops, - - - - on a canton, - - - -, a garb—King, impaling - - - - - - - - - -, argent, two pallets vert, and on a canton, or, a mullet, gules, Heblethwayt.

In memory of Arthur King, late of this parish, Gent: who married Sarah, the eldest daughter of the Rev. Mr. Heblethwayt, rector of Great Snoring, in Norfolk, and had issue by her 6 children, Robert, Lydia, Sarah, Ann, Elizabeth, and Charles; Elizabeth only surviv'd him; he died Jan. 15, 1693, aged 52.

On another adjoining, the same arms for,

Sarah, wife of Arthur King, who died 18, of July 1717, aged 72, and left, one daughter, Elizabeth, married to Christ. Bedingfeld Esq. of Wighton, in Norfolk.

In the 3d window, the figure of St. Christopher, with Jesus on his shoulder.

In the 4th window, other of the Apostles, with labels, and the effigies of a man and his wife, their heads broke off, and on their knees; at the bottom a broken fragment,

=== Johane uxor. ej. et p. aiâ Joh. Ymberti quo'da' rect. === eccles. de Tilneye.

In the 5th window, St. James the Great, St. Peter beginning the creed, &c.

The upper part, or east end of this isle, is taken in by a screen; on the pannels are painted several arms; argent, a cross patonce - -, probably it was vert, Sefoul, and now obscure through time, as the rest are (the Sefouls had an estate in this town in Edward the First's time, &c)—argent, a chevron, between three mullets, gulesBroughton; on a fess, argent, three roses, gules; sable, on a bend, argent, three flowers-de-lis of the first; and sable on a fess, argent, three roses, gules, as they now appear; the whole screen is ornamented with roses, mullets and stars; within this screen is a long, narrow chapel, probably dedicated to the Virgin Mary; the windows being painted with M and crowns over it, in many places, and with a lily, in a flower-pot; the lily being the emblem of purity and chastity.

Ferdinando King of Arragon instituted an order of knighthood under the name of the lily, about the year 1403. Here are also the figures of St. John the Baptist, St. John the Evangelist, that of Edward the Confessor, &c.

In a window, a person on his knees, at confession, a priest standing by him, and on the pavement, a gravestone deprived of its shields, &c. of brass, and now thereon is an inscription for—Mr. Tho. Say, who dyed Feb. 20, 1683, aged 54; and on another adjoining,

In memory of Sarah, wife of Mr. Edmund Say, who died December 18, 1679, aged 46.

The east end of the south isle is also taken in by a screen, and was an old chapel; in the east window, the figure of St. John the Evangelist, and—In principio erat verbum, &c.; and in a south window that of the Virgin: on the pavement, a marble stone, with the arms of Towers, ermin, a castle triple-towered, gules, and

S. H. H. Jacet Georgius Towers, Gen: aub, obt. 25 die Apr. œtat. suœ 50, ano. salutis 1714: hic jacet Joh. Towers, Gen: obt. 2, Apr. 1713, œtat. suœ 30.

A grave-stone

In memory of Elizabeth, wife of Robert Say, who dyed Jan. 7, 1633 œtat suœ, 20.

On a window here

===, Abr. Sayfield, === Anne uxor. ej. qui fecerunt fieri fenestram istam.

Also grave-stones for

Robert Say, Gent: who died the last day of January 1633, œtat: suœ 60.—And Hic jacet sepulta Gratia, nuper uxor. Mri. Robt. Say. de Tilney Fen-End que obt. primo die Febri. 1625.

And one

In memory of Mr. Edmund Say, who died June 30, 1702, aged 75, with this shield, quarterly, or and gules, in the first quarter, a lion passant, azure, Say, impaling ermin, on a chief, - - - -, three owls.

Another

In memory of Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Say, of Islington, Gent: by Deborah, the daughter of William Barney, Esq. who died Oct. 3, 1658.

On the walls of this chapel, are painted several shields, now much obscured by length of time, quarterly, azure, a lion rampant, argent, collared, with a label of three points, in the first and 4th quarter, Colvil, of Newton in the isle, and or, three chessrooks, gules, (quere if not Pinchbeck) in the 2d and 3d quarter, gules, three waterbudgets, ermine, Ross—gules, a cross ingrailed argent, Inglethorpe;—quarterly, or and gules, a bordure, sable, bezanty, Rochford;—vairy, argent and sable, over all a bend, gules; a lion rampant; azure, a fess between two chevronels, argent, Tendering;—checque, a fess gules;—St. George's shield, a cross gules; azure, three cinquefoils, or, Lord Bardolf; also Lord Scales,—Howard, - - - - and or, a cross ingrailed vert, —Noon; argent, three hunter's horns, sable, Blowere, as I take it.

Adam de Blowere was a commissioner for the banks and sewers of Marshland in 1294.

The roof of the nave is of oak, supported by principals, with angels, their wings extended: on a window over the first arch, on the south side—argent, three hunter's horns, sable, Blowere: on a window over the 2d arch of the nave, on the north side, argent, a chevron between three wolves heads erased, gules, Lovell.

At the lower end of the nave, on a grave-stone,

Here lyeth interred the body of Thomas Bold, sometym vicker of Tilney, worshipfully descended of the ancient family of the Bolds, of BoldHall, in Lancashire, who changed this life for a better, Nov. 8, 1688, and wayts the resurrection of the just. There has been a plate for his arms, but now tore off, under it, Resurgam.

In the chancel east window,—barry of ten, argent and azure, an orle of martlets, gules, Valence Earl of Pembroke, impaling vairy, argent and azure, three pallets, gules, on a chief, or, a file, azure, Castilion Earl of St. Paul, the arms of the foundress, of Pembroke-Hall, in Cambridge, who married the said Earl.

This church with the vicarage and the portions therein belonging to Nutteley abbey, in Buckinghamshire, and to that of Bury, was valued in 1428, at 120 marks, Peter-pence 2s.

The present valor of the vicarage is 30l. and is not discharged.

Rectors.

Godfrey de Acre occurs rector in the 22d of Edward I.

1327, Ymbert de Monte Martino, was instituted rector—rector also of Castre Holy Trinity, by Yarmouth, presented by Sir Thomas Bardolf; he resigned Bradwell juxta Mare in Essex.

1371, William de Humberstone, presented by the King; and in 1374, by the King to the rectory of Harlow, in Essex; and to that of Yoovil in Wells diocese, 1375.

In the 20th of Edward III. a fine was levied between Mary de St. Paul Countess of Pembroke, and John Lord Bardolf, of the patronage of this rectory, and an acre of land, viz. the churchyard, held in capite, and conveyed then to the Countess for 48 marks, the fine being levied by a special precept: the family of Bardolf is, by all accounts that I have seen, said to have purchased it of Sir Frederick de Chervile, in the reign of Henry III. but as the Chereviles' manor in this town was held of the Lords Bardolf, who had the chief fee in it, it is most probable that it was always an appendix to their capital manor.

King Edward III. in his 32d year, granted a patent to appropriate it to Pembroke-Hall, in Cambridge, by the gift of the founderess, (the said Countess of Pembroke) and a vicarage settled.

Vicars.

In 1372, February 15, John de Appleby was instituted vicar, presented by the master and fellows of St. Mary Valence's Hall, in Cambridge, Pembroke-Hall being at that time so called.

1394, Mr. William Moryn. Ditto.

A patent was granted in the 15th of Richard II. for a messuage, one cottage, and 26 acres of land, in this town to the vicar of this church, aliened by Richard Morice, &c. One of this name was master of Pembroke-hall at this time,

1409, John Spencer, A. M. ditto, and occurs in 1423.

—, Robert Patchet, vicar.

Robert Housson, or Howysson, occurs vicar 1442, and 1430.

Richard Stubbs, vicar about 1460, S.T.P. and master of ClareHall.

Thomas Bold occurs vicar 1630, and compounded then, March 22, for first-fruits.

1638, William Paris, compounded February 1.

Henry Jenkins, vicar, and rector of Rungton-Holm, cum Wallington, died 1732.

1732, John Whaley, D. D. master of St. Peter's college in Cambridge. Ditto.

1748, Mr. J. Peele, vicar, on Whaley's death. Ditto.

Richard Peverell, Esq. of Tilney, died seized of lands here, as by his will in 1423: he gives a horse of 10l. value to his Lord, Thomas Duke of Exeter, to be supervisor of his will.

Robert Howsson, vicar, wills to be buried in the place, where the font formerly stood, in the church of All-Saints, Tilney; orders a priest to sing for him 10 years at Trinity altar, in that church, and gives a silver cup to it;—10 marks to buy vestments, and a portifory for the two chaplains serving in St. Laurence's, in Tilney, and a marble stone to be laid over him.

Robert Kervill of Tylney wills, in 1514, to be buried in this church, gives to Gilbert his son, all his lands and tenements, in Tylney and Islington, except 40 acres to Katherine his wife, for life; to Richard his son 10l.

In this parish is a chapel (belonging to the mother-chuch of Tilney All-Saints) dedicated to St. Laurence.

In this chapel were the arms of Inglethorp, and Noon; and argent, on a chevron, azure, between three tigers heads erased sable, three crescents, erminNicholas, impaling Hunston.

Thomas Little, chantry priest here, had a pension in Edward the Fourth's time of 4l. per ann. on the dissolution of it.

There was also in the manor of Inglethorp, at Kenwick in this town, a free chapel dedicated to St. Thomas the Martyr, founded by Thomas de Ingaldesthorp, in the reign of King John, and had a portion of tithes belonging to it in the church, given probably by the founder, and valued in 1428, at 6 marks per ann. and here was the guild of the Trinity.

King Richard II. as guardian to the heir of Sir William de Inglethorp, enjoined, in his first year, Alianore, wife of the late Sir William, to admit Hugh de Gandeby, to this chapel.

Chaplains

On the dissolution of it, Ralph Cantrell, the late chaplain, had a pension allowed him of 5l. per ann. which he held in the 5th of Edward VI. admitted October 15, 1532, by the Bishop, on a lapse.

I find these persons admitted chaplains.

April 30, 1377, Hugh de Gandeby, presented by the King.

July 30, 1474, Richard Mitton, by Sir William Norrys, Knt. and the lady Isabella de Montecute his wife.

September 10, 1481, Mr. Nicholas Goldwell, LL. B. by ditto.

November 27, 1505, William Leigh, by Sir William Norys, Knt.

May 9, 1510, Thomas Blithe, by Elizabeth Lady Scroop, widow.

Footnotes

  • 1. Terre Hermeri Tilingetuna, i car. tere. ten. Turchetel. lib. ho. T. R. E sep. vii villi. et vii bord. tc. ii serv. mo. i et xxiiii ac. pti. sep. i car. in dnio, et i car. hom. et vii saline, tc. i runc. mo. null. sep. vi an. tc. xvi porc. mo. vii. tc. cccx. ov. mo. cccxv sep. val. lx sol. huic jacet vi ac. tre. et val. xiid.
  • 2. Plita Con. 34 Hen. III. Rot. 29.
  • 3. William de Fenn was a commissioner of the marshes and sewers, in the 9th of Edward III.
  • 4. Granted rather to the Lord Bardolf, the capital lord.
  • 5. Terre Rad. Bainardi—Tilinghetuna, ten. Gaosfrid. i car. trc. qu. tenuit Tort, T. R. E. sep. v villi. et iiii bor. et xxiiii de. pti. sep. i car. in dnio. et i car. houm. et v saline et dim. mo. i r. et v an. et viii p' tc. xv ov. mo. cc. tc. val. xl. sol. p' x mo. lx.
  • 6. P. 818.
  • 7. Reg. Manwaring, in Cur. Prerog. Cant. fol. 19.
  • 8. Islington is looked upon as part of Tilney; Old Lynn, West and North Lynn, do not inter common. Dugd. of Imb. p. 245—St. John's is an hamlet of Tyrington, as St. Lawrence is of Tilney.
  • 9. Dugd. of Imbank, &c. p. 244. Weaver's Fun. Monum. p. 366.