10 Jul Lordship Title of Northill ID1210
Posted at 20:02h
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At the time of the Domesday Survey NORTHILL MANOR, then assessed at 6½ hides, was held by William Espec or Spech. Its early descent is the same as Old Warden (q.v.) until the death of Walter Espec in 1183, when it passed to his second sister and co-heir Albreda wife of Nicholas de Trailly. The manor formed part of the barony of Warden, and while it may be noted that it was held as a dower manor in 1185 by Mary de Trailly widow of Geoffrey de Trailly, and for some years between 1248 and 1272 by William de la Zouche, second husband of Maud widow of John de Trailly, yet in the main it followed the same descent as that of Yelden (q.v.) until Reginald, the last of the Traillys, alienated it in 1401 to Sir Gerard Braybrooke, the younger, and others (with the exception of 1 acre reserved so that Reginald might still remain king's tenant). They acted as executors after Reginald's death in the following year, and an alienation appears to have taken place about this time probably to John de Meppershall, for in 1428 Henry Godfrey held the property as part of the inheritance of his wife Joan, who was daughter of John de Meppershall. Richard Godfrey, their son, succeeded his mother in 1460, and his wife Elizabeth was buried in 1492 in the chancel of Northill Church. Richard Godfrey left daughters as co-heirs and his property in Northill became divided (see Carminos Manor), and Northill Manor descended to Richard Harding, who was in possession in 1584. He was one of the Bedfordshire contributors to the defence of the country at the time of the Spanish Armada and died in 1600, being succeeded by his son Lewis, to whom livery of the manor was granted nine years later. Lewis died in 1616 and was buried at Northill. Elizabeth, his daughter and heir, married Edward Kent in 1624, and entered into possession of Northill Manor the following year. No later reference to her has been found, but in 1652 Thomas Ellis conveyed the manor to Thomas Bromsall. It remained in his family for some time, passing in the next century to the Robinsons of Denston Hall, Suffolk, apparently through the marriage of John Robinson with Frances Bromsall, an heiress of the Bromsalls, of which family the last reputed heir male, Owen Thomas Bromsall, was buried at Northill in 1731. John Robinson, a descendant of John and Frances Robinson, was in possession of Northill Manor at the time of his death in 1772, his widow being lady of the manor in 1780. Their son John having obtained leave by Act of Parliament to sell the family estates in Bedfordshire, this manor was purchased in 1802 by John Harvey of Ickwell Bury, in whose family it still remains, the present owner being his grandson, Mr. John Edmund Audley Harvey. The yearly value of the manor of Northill in 1185 was estimated at £14; in 1319, during the minority of the third Walter de Trailly, at £9 14s. 6d.; in 1401, after the death of the last John de Trailly, at 40 marks; in 1802 at £612 10s., when it comprised 663 a. 1 r. 3 p. of arable land, meadow, pasture and woodland, the greater part of which was distributed among four large farms. The right of free warren in Northill was granted in 1271 to John de Trailly and his heirs, and was claimed by Walter de Trailly in the time of Edward III. The court leet and view of frankpledge once pertaining to the manor of Northill, formerly part of the possessions of Henry and Richard Godfrey, were granted in 1589 to Walter Coppinger and Thomas Butler. Free fishery, liberty of foldage and view of frankpledge in Northill were enumerated as manorial rights in the 17th century. A windmill was named in connexion with the manor in 1290, but no later reference to it has been found.
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Listed in the Domesday Book:
Yes