A History of Horncastle, from the earliest period to the present time. James Conway Walter
was lesse of the manor of Horncastle under the Bishop of Carlisle. They sold their property, in 1575, to Thomas Cecil, son of Lord Treasurer Burleigh.
There is another Carlisle document in connection with these trained bands among the same Domestic State Papers of Queen Elizabeth (Vol. 199, No. 7), in which the Earl of Rutland writes to Anthony Thorold, sheriff, that he has instructions “from the Lords of the Counsaile to put in strength the power of the realme for the maritime counties,” and he asks him to “choose captaines for the yet untrained companies, and to supply the place of Mr. John Savile for Horncastle.” N.B.—The Saviles owned Poolham Hall in Edlington. On this (State Papers, Eliz., Vol. 199, No. 72) the Earl writes to Mr. Valentine Brown that he thinks him “meete to supply the place for Horncastle,” dated London, 29 March, 1586–7. Sir Valentine Brown was of Croft and East Kirkby, and Treasurer of Ireland; he married the daughter of Sir John Monson, ancestor of the present Lord Oxenbridge.
Among the Domestic State Papers of Charles I. (Vol. 376, No. 123), is a petition from the inhabitants of Horncastle to Sir Anthony Irbie, Knt., sheriff of the county, complaining that the town was over-rated for the payment of “ship-money,” and praying for a reduction of the same. The county was charged £8,000. This rate, levied to maintain the navy, created widespread dissatisfaction and eventually led to the revolution. It was included among the grievances against which public protests were made in 1641. The five judges who pronounced in its favour were imprisoned, and Hampden received a wound in a skirmish with Prince Rupert, from which he died, June 24, 1643. Petitions were also presented to Sir Edward Hussey, sheriff, 1636–7, as given in Domestic State Papers, Charles I., Vol. 345, No. 42.
It has been already stated that in the reign of Stephen this manor was held by Adelias, or Adelidis, de Cundi. How this came about is not quite clear, whether it was inherited from her father, William de Cheney, who was probably among the Normans invited to immigrate by Edward the Confessor, since it would seem that at the time of the conquest he was already a large owner in the county, or from her husband, Robert de Cundi, a Fleming, probably named from the town and fortress of Conde on the frontier of France, situated on the Scheldt, in the department du Nord. There is, however, evidence to show that she had other possessions of considerable value apparently in her own right in Nottinghamshire and Kent, as well as Lincolnshire. [16a] She is described by the old chronicler, Geoffrey Gairmar, [16b] as a great patroness of learning and literature.
The Cheneys, or Chesneys, were apparently of foreign extraction, as implied by their appellation “de Casineto.” They had considerable influence at various periods, one of them being knighted, another made a baron by Queen Elizabeth. [16c] One, Robert de Cheney, was a powerful Bishop of Lincoln (A.D. 1147–67) and built one of the finest castles in England, the ruins of which still remain in the Palace grounds at Lincoln. [16d] The Cheney pedigree is given in The Genealogist of July, 1901. They seem to have settled in Yorkshire and Cambridgeshire, as well as in Lincolnshire. Sir Thomas Cheney, K.G., was Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports in the latter part of the 16th century. The Cheneys fell into decay towards the end of the 17th century, and at the beginning of the 18th century we find them in trade at Boston. About 1750 William Garfit of Boston married Mary, daughter of Thomas Cheney, and the name, as a Christian name, still survives in that family. The Cheneys, we may add, were among the ancestors of the Willoughbys, [16e] and the parish of Cheneys, in Bucks., doubtless named after them, is now the property of the Duke of Bedford.
The granddaughter of Adelias de Cundi, Agnes, [16f] married Walter, son of Walter de Clifford of Clifford Castle, Hereford. Walter Clifford is named in the first great charter of Henry III. (A.D. 1216), along with the great nobles Walter de Lacy, William de Ferrars, Earl of Derby, William, Earl of Albemarle, and others.
William de Cheney, already mentioned as father of Adelias de Cundi, was “Lord of Caenby and Glentham,” and Walter de Clifford also is mentioned in the charters of Barlings Abbey as giving to that monastery lands in Caenby and Glentham, along with the above Walter de Lacy. The great feature of the reign of Stephen was the large number of castles erected by lords who were almost more powerful than their sovereign, and Adelias built her castle at Horncastle, where she resided in great state until, on her favouring the cause of the Empress Maud, daughter of the previous king, Henry I. (whereas Stephen was only his nephew), her lands were confiscated, and, as we have already seen, only restored on condition that her castle was demolished. [17a] This restoration was, however, only for life and on her demise the manor reverted to the crown.
The manor was next granted by Henry II. to Gerbald de Escald, a Flemish noble. [17b] This is shewn by a record still preserved at Carlisle, dated 1274–5. In the reign of Edward I. an inquisition was made at Lincoln, before 12 jurors of the soke of Horncastle, among the Commissioners being John de Haltham, Anselm de Rugthon (Roughton), Thomas de Camera (i.e. Chambers) of Horncastre, the King’s Justices and others, when it was declared that “the Lord Henry III., the father of King Edward who now is, once had the manor of Horncastre, and he enfeoffed Gerbald de Escald, a knight of Flanders, thereof, for his service, viz., by doing one knight’s fee for the Lord the King.”
Gerbald was succeeded by his grandson and heir, Gerard de Rhodes. This is shewn by a Carlisle document. [17c] A dispute arose between Hugh, son of Ralph (surname not given) and Gerard de Rhodes, concerning the manor and soke of Horncastle, the advowson of the church, &c., which were claimed by the said Hugh; but a compromise was effected, 400 marks being paid to Hugh, and Gerard de Rhodes left in undisputed possession.
It has been thought probable that this Ralph, father of Hugh, was Ranulph, Earl of Chester, who was lord of the manors of Revesby and Hareby, and had other possessions in the neighbourhood. He, it is supposed, held the manor of Horncastle, as trustee, during the minority of Gerard. Gerard was, in due course, succeeded by his son and heir, Ralph de Rhodes, in the reign of Henry III. This again is proved by a Feet of Fines, [17d] which records an “agreement made in the court of the Lord King at Westminster (3 Feb., A.D. 1224–5), between Henry del Ortiay and Sabina his wife on the one part, and the said Ralph de Rhodes on the other part,” whereby the former acknowledge certain lands and appurtenances in Horncastle and its soke to be the property of the said Ralph, and he grants to them, as his tenants, certain lands; they, in acknowledgement, “rendering him therefor, by the year, one pair of gilt spurs at Easter for all service and exactions.”
We have now reached another stage in the tenure of this manor and find ourselves once more at the point where the present chapter opened. Hitherto the manor had been held “in capite” (or “in chief”) of the king by lay lords, or, in the two cases of Queen Editha and Adelias de Condi, by a lady; but in this reign Walter Mauclerk, the third Bishop of Carlisle, purchased the manor from Ralph de Rhodes. He was himself a powerful Norman and held the office of Treasurer of the Exchequer (a common combination of civil and ecclesiastical duties in those days), but now he and his successors were bound “to do suit and service to Ralph and his heirs.” This purchase is proved by a Lincoln document called a “Plea Quo Warranto,” which records a case argued before the Justices Itinerant, in the reign of Edward I., when it was stated that Ralph de Rhodes “enfeoffed Walter Mauclerk to hold the church, manor and appurtenances in Horncastre, to him and his heirs, of the gift of the said Ralph.” [18a] That the Bishop, although an ecclesiastic, was bound to do service to the heirs of Ralph is shown by another document, [18b] in which John, son of Gerard de Rhodes, a descendant of Ralph, makes a grant to certain parties of “the homage and whole service of the Bishop of Carlisle, and his successors, for the manor (&c.) of Horncastre, which Gerard, son of Gerard my brother, granted to me.” This is dated the 13th year of Edward I., 1285, whereas the actual sale of the manor took place in the reign of Henry III., A.D. 1230, and was confirmed by the king in the same year. [18c]
We have called this another stage in the tenure of this manor and for this reason, an ecclesiastic of high rank, with the authority of the Pope of Rome at his back, was a more powerful subject than any lay baron, and this influence soon shewed itself, for while the lay lords of the manor had been content with doing their