20. THE COLLEGE OF RUDDINGTON
William Babington, son of Sir William Babington and Margaret his wife, obtained the licence
of Henry VI in 1459 to found a college at Ruddington for a warden and four chaplains; two
of the chaplains were to officiate in the chapel of
St. Andrew within the church of St. Peter of
Flawforth (fn. 15) and two in the chapel within the
manor of Chilwell. They were to pray for the
good estate of Henry VI, Margaret his queen,
Edward Prince of Wales, William Babington the
founder and Elizabeth his wife, and for the souls
of the founder's parents, of Robert Prebend
sometime Bishop of Dunblane, (fn. 16) and of Richard,
Hugh, and Robert Martell. The lands assigned
to this chantry or college were of the value of
£25 at the time of its foundation. (fn. 17) Richard
Martell of Ruddington and Hugh Martell of
Chilwell had previously established a chantry at
Flawforth, early in the preceding century.
When the Valor was taken in 1534 it was
found that the lands at Chilwell, Bramcote,
Lenton, Clifton, Clapton, Beeston, and Ruddington pertaining to the college were then worth
£30 a year. Henry Scott, the warden, drew a
stipend of 8 marks; Edward Ersden, who
celebrated at Ruddington, and William Holome,
who celebrated at Chilwell, each drew 7 marks.
The two other chaplaincies, the one for Ruddington and the other for Chilwell, had both
been vacant for some time. (fn. 18)
When the chantry and college commissioners
of Henry VIII made their survey of this county
in 1545-6 they reported of Ruddington that
there were divers chantries founded there by
the ancestor of Edward Sheffield esq., but no
foundation was shown them. Their value was
declared to be £24 13s. 4d. a year. Henry
Scott was warden at a stipend of £5 6s. 8d.;
two chantry priests ought to have been each in
receipt of £4 13s. 4d., but for two years (on a
vacancy) Edward Sheffield had retained in his
hands the stipend of one of these priests, and since
then the other had died. The rural dean of
Bingham and the vicar of Ruddington said that
the warden did nothing for his salary, but the
warden himself deposed that he did duty at Chilwell. The chalice, &c., had been taken away
(from Flawforth) by the warden. There was a
mansion house in Ruddington, then partly in
decay, where the warden and priests used to
dwell. (fn. 19)
Footnotes
| 15 |
Near Ruddington, now decayed. |
| 16 |
Robert de Prebenda was consecrated Bishop of
Dunblane (Scotland) in 1258. Archbishop Wickwane
about 1280 gave commission to Robert, Bishop of
Dunblane (parochianus noster), who had constructed an
altar in honour of God and the Blessed Virgin andthe Apostle St. Andrew and All Saints, in the new
chapel which he had erected at Flawforth, the place
of his birth, to dedicate it at any time he pleased.
York Epis. Reg. Wickwane, fol. 44; Harl. MS.
6970, fol. 78. |
| 17 |
Inq. a.q.d. 37 Hen. VI, 4022; Thoroton, Notts.
i, 126-7. |
| 18 |
Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), v, 168. |
| 19 |
Coll. and Chant. Cert. Notts, xiii, 5. |