Thursday, January 4, 2018

Siston manor in Gloucestershire 1200 to c.1450

Siston manor in Gloucestershire 1200 to c.1450

Niall C.E.J. O’Brien

Siston is a small village and parish at the southern end of the County of Gloucestershire which contains 1,827 acres. The village lies at the confluence of the two sources of the Siston Brook, a tributary of the River Avon. The village consists of a number of cottages and farms centred on St Anne's Church, and the grand Tudor manor house of Siston Court. Previous articles on Siston can be found at 

http://celtic2realms-medievalnews.blogspot.ie/2014/10/siston-gloucestershire-c1086-to-c1220.html

and 

http://celtic2realms-medievalnews.blogspot.ie/2014/12/siston-manor-gloucestershire-in-1273.html

This article explores the people and places of Siston from about 1200 to about 1450.

Siston Church

On 8th March 1305 the king presented Philip Cok, chaplain, to the church of Siston in the diocese of Worcester.[1] In July 1339 Thomas de Hazelhawe, parson of Pokelchurch and others challenged the right of Peter Corbet to the advowson of Siston. The king ordered the sheriff of Gloucester to arrest the mainprisers of Thomas de Hazelhawe and the others if they lose the court case or fail to prosecute. But by October 1339 Thomas de Hazelhawe and others had successful brought an action in the county court against the king’s writ to the sheriff because of a legal technicality. Therefore Thomas and the others were allowed to name new mainprisers and proceed with the case without fear of imprisonment by the king’s officials.[2]

In May 1388 Geoffrey Chauncerell, parson of Siston exchanged the benefice with John Averey of the parish of Bromle in the diocese of Winchester.[3]

In November 1498 Roger Church visited the deanery of Hawkesbury on behalf of John Morton, Archbishop of Canterbury because there was no bishop of Worcester at that time. In the church of Great Sodbury he saw the parish clergy of the deanery which included Siston. The parish rector was Edward Geynard while Matthew Syllys was the chaplain. Richard and John Clerk were the churchwardens.[4]

People of thirteenth century Siston

On 27th February 1263 Adam de Greynvill was appointed to enquire by jurors of the county of Gloucester whether John le Cuhurde of Siston, deceased, died by his own hand or was killed by another.[5]

The inquisition post mortem into the lands of Robert Waleraund in 1273 was held at Siston. The jury assembled before Sir Robert de Kingeston, sub-escheator of the county, were possibly local people from in and around Siston. They included Adam Malet. Nicholas Joy, Roger de Hildesle, Hugh de Leytrinton, Richard Poyntel, John Woodcock, Reginald de la Leygrave, Geoffrey de Fraxino, Thomas de Doynton, William de Stone, Walter le Hope and John de Werneleye.[6]

On 25th January 1292 Richard de Siston was given licence to alienate in mortmain to the priory and convent of St. Oswald’s at Gloucester, a messuage in the town of Gloucester. Numerous other people were given licence to alienate to St. Oswald’s at the same time.[7]

From Berkeley to Waleraund to the Bishop of Bath & Wells

By 1273 Robert Waleraund held the manor of Siston from Henry de Berkeley, Lord of Dursley by the service of one knight’s fee.[8] Yet previously in 1218 Siston was given by Glastonbury to the Bishop of Bath and Wells who held claim until the dissolution. On 11th April 1268 the dean and chapter of Wells granted a wood in Pucklechurch, beside the park, to Robert Waleraund to be added to the park. This wood was formerly held by Robert de Siston from Bishop Walter of Wells.[9] An inquisition post mortem taken at Pucklechurch on 5th March 1362 found that Sir Peter Corbet of Siston held the manor of Siston from the Bishop of Bath and Wells.[10]

Siston parish church of St. Anne

Corbet of Siston

The first mention of the Corbet family of Siston comes from the affairs of their cousins. On 18th November 1341 a licence was granted for Walter, son of Walter de Gloucester to enfeoff John de Ingelby, chaplain, and Robert de Brugsreford of two parts of the manors of Alveston and Erdcote, with the hundred of Langele (Langtree) and view of frankpledge of Langele, and the reversion of a third part of the manors expectant on the demise of Eleanor, late the wife of Fulk le Fitz Waryn, tenant in dower, and for them to re-grant the same, all held in chief as is said, to him (Walter) and Petronilla his wife in tail, with remainder to Peter Corbet of Siston in fee.[11]

Alveston manor was located two miles south of Thornbury Station. The place means Aelfweald’s stone where a wolf-pit was located in about 955-9.[12] The manor of Alveston was held by Roger de Iveri in the Domesday Book of 1086.[13] The meaning but not the location of Erdcote was given by W. St. Clair Baddeley.[14]

On 10th July 1360 Walter, son of Walter de Gloucester, knight, died and was succeeded by his son John de Gloucester who was aged eleven years. An inquisition post mortem was held at Alveston on 12th October 1360. It found that the manors of Alveston and Erdcote along with the hundred of Langtree and the view of frankpledge were held jointly by Walter and his widow, Petronilla from the king in chief by knight’s service. This was the only property Walter had in Gloucestershire.

The third part of the property was formerly held by Eleanor, wife of the late Fulk Fitz Waryn but on her death this reverted to Walter and Petronilla. Walter de Gloucester had then granted the full property to John de Ingelby, chaplain, and Robert de Briggeford who re-granted to Walter and Petronilla and their heirs. If Walter and Petronilla had no heirs then the property would pass to Peter Corbet of Siston and his heirs.[15]

As Walter de Gloucester had a son by Petronilla there was no reversion to Peter Corbet. On Tuesday after All Saints 1361 Sir Peter Corbet of Siston died. An inquisition post mortem taken at Pucklechurch on 5th March 1362 found that Sir Peter only held the manor of Siston and no other property in Gloucestershire. The manor was held from the Bishop of Bath and Wells. Sir Peter’s son William Corbet was dead and thus Sir Peter was succeeded by his grandson, John Corbet who was ten years old.[16]

Because the heir was a minor, the escheator of Gloucester, Philip de Luttel, thought he had a right to seize the manor of Siston for the crown. But on 10th March 1362 Philip de Luttel was told to give up the manor and the income gathered as the manor was not held directly of the king but by others, namely the Bishop of Bath and Wells.[17]

On 24th September 1368 Peter son and heir of Walter de Gloucester, knight, died. A inquisition post mortem taken at Bristol on 14th January 1369 found that Peter de Gloucester held the manors of Alveston and Erdcote with the hundred of Langtree and the view of Frankpledge. The jury found that Peter de Gloucester left no heirs of his body and that there were no direct heirs of Walter and Petronilla de Gloucester. The property by reversion should go to John Corbet son of William Corbet and grandson of Sir Peter Corbet.[18]

On 14th February 1370 an exemplification was granted, at the request of John Corbet, kinsman and heir of Peter Corbet of Siston, of the letters patent, dated 18 November in the king's fifteenth year, in favour of the said Peter.[19]

On 12 September 1371 John son of William Corbet died. He was succeeded by his brother who was variously names as William and Peter and who was eighteen years old. Two sets of inquisitions post mortem were held into the property of John Corbet. The later one, held at Caus in Shropshire on 16th October, found that John had the hamlet of Hope in the lordship of Caus from Ralph, Earl of Stafford, by knight’s service. But the ground was hilly land within the Forest of Caus where deer had destroyed what was left untilled.[20]

The earlier inquisition was taken at Alveston in Gloucestershire on 23rd September. It found that John Corbet held two-thirds of the manors of Alveston and Erdcote from the king in chief by knight’s service. John Corbet also had two-thirds of the hundred of Langtree by the same terms.

At Siston, John Corbet held the manor from the Bishop of Bath and Wells by knight’s service. In August 1370 John gave Siston to Rev. Roger de Dene, chaplain, Ralph Waleys and William Hobekyn in fee. The conditions attached to the grant were that they could take o profit for their own use or retain it for themselves and their heirs. Instead, John’s bailiffs, who were there before the feoffment, should take the profits to their use as they did before. The feoffees should re-enfeoff John Corbet and his heirs on demand because the feoffment was made as security for £11 due to Roger de Dene.[21]

John Corbet had only given the manor in simple seisin and kept the living for his own use. John Corbet also gave the young pigeons from the dovecote and the fruits of the garden to the wife of William de Chiltenham. At the time of John’s death that feoffees still held the manor.[22]

Other people of fourteenth century Siston

On 17th February 1375 John Milner of Siston was pardoned for the death of Adam Milner of Belton. Roger de Kirketon and Henry Asty, justices appointed to deliver the goal of Lincoln castle advised that he killed him in self-defence.[23] 

On 1st December 1378 Thomas de Berkeley, Roger de Kirketon, Robert Tresilyan, David Hannemere and John Sergeaunt were made special assignees for the tenements of Alveston and Siston. The names of the parties involved in the dispute are not named.[24]

Siston in the fifteenth century

By the early years of the fifteenth century Siston manor had passed from the Corbet family to the Dennis family. Sir Peter Corbet of 1362 left a daughter, Margaret who would eventually become his co-heiress. She married Sir Gilbert Dennis.[25]

About 29th September 1408 Sir Gilbert Dennis celebrated the birth of a son. A short time after the boy was baptised as Maurice Dennis in the church of St. Ann at Siston. A number of locals and visitors were involved at the baptism. Richard Williams, butler to Sir Gilbert, carried a silver pot of wine to the church while John Thornton carried a torch and John Field carried a basin from Siston manor to the church. In Siston church, by the finely carved Norman font, John Blount, John Grevell and Elizabeth Reome acted as godparents to the young Maurice Dennis.[26]

On 5th March 1428 Sir John de Berkeley died. He held a great many properties in various counties across the west of England. At Chipping Sodbury on 24th April 1428 an inquiry was held into the Gloucestershire property of John de Berkeley. Among other places it found that de Berkeley held a toft (worth nothing) and 10 acres of arable land at Alveston, worth 8 pence per acre per annum from Gilbert Dennis by service unknown.[27]

After the death of Sir Gilbert Dennis two thirds of his property and lands of Siston, Alveston and Erdcote with the hundred of Langtree were given in custody to Edward Stradlyng by King Henry V.[28]

On 16th July 1431 a writ of etate probanda was issue to establish if Maurice Dennis was of age to inherit his father’s Gloucestershire property. At Tetbury on 22nd September 1431 the proof of age inquiry of Maurice Dennis was held in the presence of Edward Stradlyng, chevalier. The inquiry found that Maurice was twenty-two years old on the previous 29th September.

On 25th February 1450 a commission was given to James de Berkley, knight, William de Berkley, Westminster, knight, James de Berkley, esquire, Roger Kemys, Arthur de Clopton, esquire, Thomas Fitz Herry and John Kemys of Siston, esquire, appointing them to make inquisition in the county of Gloucestershire and the adjacent march of Wales touching the lands which have come into the king's hands by the death of Henry, duke of Warwick, tenant in chief, and by reason of the minority of Anne, his daughter and heir.[29]

After 1450 Siston experience the Wars of the Roses and the revolution of the Tudor monarchs but these stories are for another day.

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[1] Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Edward I, 1301-1307, p. 316
[2] Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward III, 1339-1341, p. 234
[3] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Richard II, 1385-1389, p. 441
[4] Christopher Harper Hill (ed.), The Register of John Morton Archbishop of Canterbury 1486-1500, volume II (Canterbury & York Society, 1991), no. 483
[5] Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Henry III, 1258-1266, p. 285
[6] Sidney J. Madge (ed.), Abstracts of inquisitions post mortem for Gloucestershire, part IV, 1236-1300 (British Record Society, 1903), p. 59
[7] Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Edward I, 1281-1292, p. 471
[8] Sidney J. Madge (ed.), Abstracts of inquisitions post mortem for Gloucestershire, part IV, 1236-1300 (British Record Society, 1903), pp. 28, 59; Charles S. Taylor, An analysis of the Domesday Survey of Gloucestershire, p. 269; C.R. Elrington (ed.), Abstracts of feet of fines relating to Gloucestershire 1199-1299, nos. 99, 115, 768. An associated manor of Cobberley was mentioned in the inquisition post mortem of Robert Waleraund. In 1086 Cobberley in Rapsgate hundred was held by Roger I de Berkeley. In 1221 Cobberley was held by Henry de Berkeley and later that year by Robert de Berkeley. In 1270 Giles de Berkeley held Cobberley. Giles de Berkeley was a brother of Nicholas de Berkeley who died about 1263. Giles de Berkeley was born about 1241. In 1273 Giles de Berkeley held Cobberley by one knight’s fee.
[9] J.A. Bennett (ed.), Report on the Manuscripts of Wells Cathedral (Historical Manuscripts Commission, 1885), p. 52
[10] Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume XI, Edward III (Stationery Office, London, 1935),  no. 307
[11] Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Edward III, 1340-1343, p. 356
[12] W. St. Clair Baddeley, Place-names of Gloucestershire (Gloucester, 1913), p. 6
[13] Charles S. Taylor, An analysis of the Domesday Survey of Gloucestershire, p. 276
[14] W. St. Clair Baddeley, Place-names of Gloucestershire (Gloucester, 1913), p. 61
[15] Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume X, Edward III (Kraus reprint, 1973),  no. 597
[16] Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume XI, Edward III (Stationery Office, London, 1935),  no. 307
[17] Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward III, 1360-1364, p. 320
[18] Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume XII, Edward III (Kraus reprint, 1973),  no. 356
[19] Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Edward III, 1367-1370, p. 377
[20] Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume XIII, Edward III (Kraus reprint, 1986),  no. 20
[21] Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume XIII, Edward III (Kraus reprint, 1986),  no. 20
[22] Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume XIII, Edward III (Kraus reprint, 1986),  no. 20
[23] Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Edward III, 1374-1377, p. 79
[24] Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Richard II, supplement volume, p. 48
[25] W.J. Robinson, West Country Churches (Bristol, 1915), Vol. III, p. 154
[26] Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume XXIII, 6-10 Henry VI, 1427-1432 (Boydell Press & National Archives, 2004),  no. 721
[27] Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume XXIII, 6-10 Henry VI, 1427-1432 (Boydell Press & National Archives, 2004),  no. 109
[28] Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume XXIII, 6-10 Henry VI, 1427-1432 (Boydell Press & National Archives, 2004),  no. 721
[29] Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Henry VI, 1446-1452, p. 377

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