Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- The Meeting-place of Wixamtree Hundred
- Two Cranfield Manors
- The Register of the Fraternity of St. John the Baptist, Dunstable, 1506-8, 1522-41
- Newnham Priory : a Bedford Rental, 1506-7
- Newnham Priory : Rental of Manor at Biddenham, 1505-6
- The Papers of Richard Taylor of Clapham, c. 1579-1641
- John Crook, 1617-1699 : a Bedfordshire Quaker
- A Bedfordshire Wage Assessment of 1684
- A Luton Baptist Minute Book, 1707-1806
- Miscellaneous Endmatter
- Index of Persons and Places
- Index of Subjects
- Miscellaneous Endmatter
- Maps
Newnham Priory : Rental of Manor at Biddenham, 1505-6
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 July 2023
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- The Meeting-place of Wixamtree Hundred
- Two Cranfield Manors
- The Register of the Fraternity of St. John the Baptist, Dunstable, 1506-8, 1522-41
- Newnham Priory : a Bedford Rental, 1506-7
- Newnham Priory : Rental of Manor at Biddenham, 1505-6
- The Papers of Richard Taylor of Clapham, c. 1579-1641
- John Crook, 1617-1699 : a Bedfordshire Quaker
- A Bedfordshire Wage Assessment of 1684
- A Luton Baptist Minute Book, 1707-1806
- Miscellaneous Endmatter
- Index of Persons and Places
- Index of Subjects
- Miscellaneous Endmatter
- Maps
Summary
This portion of the rental was purchased from Mr. Henman for the County Record Office in 1924 and its previous history would appear to be similar to that of the one for Bedford. It consists of 16 leaves (of which 3 are blank) of the same dimensions as the Bedford one (16¾ in. × 11¼ in.), sewn into a cover slightly larger and sewn so tightly that the gatherings cannot be certainly determined. It is dated 1505-6 and falls into two parts. Certain erasures and corrections (e.g., vel for seu on fl2d) indicate that it is a copy, and it contains references to the “old rental” (f 12d) and to “Rolls” made in 1374, 1409 and 1411 (ff 14 and 14d). In the printed version below the same rules have been followed as in the case of the Bedford rental.
The canons of Newnham held one of the two manors in Biddenham, and this is a description of their property.
The first portion is a “ territorium” of the lands, meadow’s and pastures held by the prior and convent themselves in demesne. It describes where their strips lie and is not actually a rental. The second portion is a rental of the assise lands.
The account of the demesne lands is systematically arranged according to the three fields of Biddenham—South field, Middle field and North field—and the furlongs in each (e.g., Marsh furlong, Pease furlong, Barlyland, Pond furlong, Hanging furlong). In each case the neighbouring tenants are carefully given, so that the strip could be easily identified. Biddenham is almost completely surrounded by the river and so in each field there are certain strips described as lying next to it—“ad aquam de Ouse.” The total number of acres held in demesne is about 160 (92 in South, 25 in Middle and 41 in North field).
A pre-enclosure map in the County Record Office dated 1794 shows these fields : South field lies in the arm of the river, its northern boundary Holt Lane, Church Lane and Denney way : the line of Denney Way would appear to be marked by the modern footpath from Honey Hill to Manor Farm.
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- Publisher: Boydell & BrewerFirst published in: 2023