YELDEN
Gweldene (xi cent.).
Yelden is a parish of 1,950 acres, of which 834¾
are arable land, 1,052 permanent grass and 32¼
woods and plantations. (fn. 1) The soil is strong clay;
the chief crops are wheat, barley, beans and peas.
The village, which is scattered, is in a valley almost
surrounded by high ground. The cottages are
situated principally on the road to Newton Bromswold, and are with few exceptions old and thatched.
The church is well placed on high ground in the
west of the village. Opposite is the rectory, an old
house with tiled roof, dating partly from the 17th
century, and containing some good 18th-century oak
panelling.
Brick-making is carried on in the parish. Roman
coins and pottery have been found in Yelden, and
also building stones, possibly indicating the site of a
villa. (fn. 2)
The Wesleyan chapel was built in 1884 on the
site of a former building.
CASTLE, BARONY AND MANOR
Though YELDEN CASTLE
is usually assigned as the head
of the Trailly barony, Yelden
itself was not held in chief.
Before tracing the descent of the Trailly family
it will be convenient to discuss in what precisely
their 'barony' consisted. In the 12th century
the Traillys owned property in Bedfordshire which
came to them from two different sources; on the
one hand as descendants of Geoffrey de Trailly, the
Domesday tenant of the Bishop of Coutances in
Yelden, and on the other by the marriage of Geoffrey
de Trailly with Albreda second sister and co-heir of
Walter Espec, baron of Warden. (fn. 3) It is to this inter-marriage that the Trailly claim to a barony is to be
ascribed, as an examination of various documents
dealing with their property proves.
In 1086, besides Yelden Manor, Geoffrey de Trailly
held a nameless 4-hide manor which has been satisfactorily identified with Chellington. (fn. 4) These manors,
like other lands belonging to the Bishop of Coutances,
were later attached to the honour of Gloucester, and
were so held by the mesne lords certainly till the 17th
century. (fn. 5) Between the years 1201 and 1212 Walter
de Trailly is returned as holding four knights' fees of
the honour of Gloucester (fn. 6) (representing the Coutances
fee) and two knights' fees of the honour of Warden (fn. 7)
(representing Albreda's portion). The next evidence
obtainable is that of the Testa de Nevill some forty
years later. The entry concerning the 'baronia de
Trailly' (here so-called for the first time) is confused
and misleading. It is said to include nine fees, (fn. 8)
whose names with those of their respective holders
then follow. The fees were distributed among the
parishes of Yelden (1 fee), Chellington-with-Hinwick
(1 fee), Roxton (1½ fees), Turvey (1 fee), Ludgershall
(1 fee), Holcote and Biddenham (2 fees), Northill
(1 fee), and Southill (½ fee). Of these, the Yelden,
Chellington, Turvey and Ludgershall fees (fn. 9) had formed
part of the Bishop of Coutances' lands at Domesday,
whilst Hinwick, Holcote, Biddenham, Northill,
Southill and Roxton had been attached to Walter
Espec's lands (fn. 10) ; that is to say, of the nine fees given
under this 'baronia' five and a half can be traced to
the honour of Warden. Now all these fees are stated
to be held of the honour of Gloucester, which statement is itself a contradiction in terms. The Coutances
property did, as shown above, become part of the
honour, and with one exception the Warden fees are
subsequently found attached to it, the Traillys appearing as intermediary lords between the tenants and the
honour. This exception is Northill, the only part
of the Warden barony which was held by the Traillys
in demesne, and which at the time of the Testa was
held by William de la Zouche in right of his wife
Maud widow of John de Trailly. Northill is invariably held in chief, (fn. 11) and in 1272 on the death of
John de Trailly is expressly stated to be held of the
king in chief by barony, whilst Yelden, Chellington
and other places following immediately after are said
to be attached to the honour of Gloucester. (fn. 12) It is
Northill then, formerly part of Warden barony,
which gives the clue to the origin of this barony of
Trailly, which appears never to have been a barony
in the technical sense, for the de Traillys seem neither
to have received summons as barons, nor ever to have
claimed such summons as their right. Yelden Castle
formerly stood on the south bank of the Til in the
east of the parish, where considerable earthworks
probably dating back to British times are still to be
traced. (fn. 13) There is no direct evidence that the castle
was of masonry, though the Lysons state that 'beyond
the moat appear traces of walls for a considerable
space.' (fn. 14) The inquisition of 1361 which they quote
makes no mention of the castle as such, but merely
says that 'the site of the manor is in ruins' and worth
nothing. (fn. 15)
It now remains to trace the descent of the family
of Trailly with which runs that of YELDEN MANOR.
Geoffrey de Trailly, the first of his name, was probably a native of Trelly, a few miles south of Coutances, and came over to England in the bishop's
train after the Conquest. His predecessor in the
manor, which he held at the time of the Survey in
1086, was Borred. (fn. 16) Geoffrey de Trailly was succeeded by one of the same name. He or a later
Geoffrey married Albreda sister of Walter Espec, (fn. 17)
and in 1157–8 paid 100 marks into the Exchequer
for livery of his wife's lands. (fn. 18) He is returned for four
knights' fees held of the honour of Gloucester in
1166, (fn. 19) and in 1175–6 paid 50 marks into the
Exchequer, part of a fine of 100 marks for infringement of the forest laws. (fn. 20) In 1185 Mary de Trailly,
described as the widow of
Geoffrey, together with her
son Walter, a minor, was in
the guardianship of the king
for the manor of Northill. (fn. 21)
In 1210 Walter de Trailly
paid 2 marks as a knight of
Flanders (fn. 22) and died before
1220, in which year Gilbert
Earl of Gloucester paid 100
marks to have the custody of
his heir John. (fn. 23) John de
Trailly's name occurs in a
suit with the Prior of St.
John of Jerusalem in 1225. (fn. 24)
His death occurred about the year 1251; his son
John was then a minor, (fn. 25) but in 1257, when an
inquisition was made of his father's lands, John's
age is given as twenty-three. (fn. 26) Walter son of John
de Trailly succeeded his father in 1272, when
within a few months of attaining his majority. (fn. 27)
Though Yelden was attached to the honour of Gloucester, an attempt was nevertheless made to get the
wardship of Walter for his lands in Yelden into the
hands of the king. (fn. 28)
Trailly. Or a cross between four martlets gules.
Walter de Trailly with three 'servientes' performed knight service for Northill and Southill in the
expeditions of 1277 and 1282 against Llewellyn. (fn. 29)
In 1289 Eleanor de Trailly, described as his widow,
was allowed peaceful seisin of Yelden Manor as part
of her dower, (fn. 30) and owed knight service for it in
1302. (fn. 31) John son of Walter and Eleanor de Trailly
died seised of the manor in 1304, leaving an infant
son and heir Walter, (fn. 32) who was still a minor in
1319. (fn. 33) In 1325 a settlement of the manor was
made probably on the attainment of his majority, (fn. 34)
and, together with his wife Maud, he claimed view
of frankpledge and other manorial customs as of
right immemorial. (fn. 35) John de Trailly, who was probably son of Walter, was holding in 1346. (fn. 36) He
died in 1360, when an extent is given of Yelden
Manor, which then included the site (which was in
ruins), a dovecot, an orchard, 660 acres of arable
land varying in value, meadow, pasture, pleas and
profits of courts bringing in 40s., rents of free tenant
30s., rents and customs of fourteen bond tenants
worth £10, and a windmill worth 6s. 8d. (fn. 37) His
son John, who succeeded him, appears as member for
the county in 1377, (fn. 38) and he is mentioned at various
times as commissioner of array. (fn. 39) Some time before
his death, which took place in 1400, he alienated
the manor to Edmund Hampden, (fn. 40) and with this
alienation the connexion of the de Traillys with
Yelden ceased. The name of Edmund Hampden is
returned for Yelden in the Feudal Aid of 1428. (fn. 41)
He was a member of the well-known Buckinghamshire family, and was succeeded some time before
1446 by his son John Hampden, (fn. 42) who died in
1458. (fn. 43) Thomas Hampden his son held Yelden
till 1486–7, leaving Yelden Manor to his son John,
who survived his father ten years. (fn. 44) His son John
Hampden had two daughters and co-heirs, and
Yelden eventually passed to Barbara, the younger.
In 1519–20 a marriage was arranged between her
and William son of Robert Dormer, but never took
place, (fn. 45) and she later married Edmund Smith. They
had one daughter Anne, who in 1556 married William
Paulet, bringing Yelden Manor in dower to her
husband. (fn. 46) William Paulet died seised of the manor
in 1577 (fn. 47) and was succeeded by his son William.
He married Elizabeth daughter of Henry Coddenham
in 1579 and died in 1584. (fn. 48) Yelden next passed to
his daughter Elizabeth, who was posthumous, (fn. 49) and
who in 1602, together with her husband Oliver
St. John of Bletsoe, acquired seisin of the manor. (fn. 50)
The St. Johns, whose family has been traced elsewhere, (fn. 51) held this manor till the beginning of the 18th
century. (fn. 52) In 1706 Paulet Lord St. John, the last
Earl of Bolingbroke, suffered a recovery of the manor, (fn. 53)
and in 1722 the advowson (which followed the
descent of the manor at this date) was still in the
hands of the St. John family. (fn. 54) Between the latter
date and 1728 it had been alienated to Sir Jeremiah
Vanacker Sambrook, bart. (fn. 55) He was member for
the borough of Bedford from 1730 until his death
in 1740. (fn. 56) He was unmarried and his Yelden
property passed to his three sisters: Elizabeth wife
of Sir Humphrey Monoux, Judith a spinster and
Susannah wife of John Crawley. (fn. 57) Part of the land
was sold with the advowson in 1745, and in 1801
the greater portion of the estate belonged to John
Crawley, (fn. 58) whose descendant Mr. Francis Crawley of
Stockwood Park is at the present day described as
lord of Yelden Manor.
CHURCH
The church of ST. MARY THE
VIRGIN consists of a chancel 28 ft.
3 in. by 14 ft. 10 in., with north vestry,
a nave 48 ft. 2 in. by 18 ft. 7 in., with modern north-east organ chamber, a south aisle 11 ft. 10 in. wide
and the same length as the nave, and west tower
9 ft. 6 in. by 10 ft.
The main walls of chancel and nave date from the
early part of the 13th century, a south aisle having
been added to the nave later in the century. The
chancel was entirely remodelled about 1340, and the
south aisle was rebuilt and widened about the same
time. The west tower belongs to the middle of the
14th century, and the clearstory and south porch are
15th-century additions. The north vestry is perhaps
of the 14th century, but is so plain in detail that its
date is hard to fix.
All the chancel windows are of 14th-century date,
the east window being of three wide trefoiled lights
with net tracery; the arch has spread and is distorted, and on either side of it are traces of the
15th-century lights which it has replaced; there
were probably three in the wall.
The walling over the head of the present window
has been rebuilt, and at each of the east angles of the
chancel are 14th-century diagonal buttresses. The
north-east and south-east windows are square-headed,
of two trefoiled lights, with segmental rear arches,
having an edge roll on the jambs and head; the
north-east window has an internal moulded label,
which is lacking in the other.
Beneath it is a locker, rebated for a frame, and
with a groove for a wooden shelf; it is partly
destroyed by a stone tablet framing a brass plate to
Thomas Barker, rector, 1617. West of it is a
14th-century recess with a trefoiled arch, probably
for the Easter sepulchre; there are two pin-holes in
the cusps, and in the sill a larger hole, which is
probably not original. The vestry door joins it on
the west, a small chamfered opening with a pointed
head; the vestry has a small square-headed north
window of two uncusped lights, of doubtful date.
Its roof is almost flat, and at the apex of the low
parapet is a broken gable cross.
West of the vestry is a two-light window with
flowing tracery in a two-centred head, with an
internal label and edge rolls to the head and jambs,
the window opposite to it on the south being of the
same design but plainer, with square inner jambs and
a moulded rear arch; the jambs and head are
perhaps 13th-century work re-used, the same moulding
occurring on the head of the south doorway.
At the south-east of the chancel is a trefoiled
ogee-headed piscina under a gabled crocketed canopy
and two sedilia, also with trefoiled ogee heads set
beneath a moulded string at the window-sill level,
and having trefoiled spandrels.
The south doorway is close to the sedilia, and of
13th-century date, with a sharply-pointed head of
two chamfered orders with a rounded label, which is
continued as a string westwards at the level of the
sill of the two-light window already noticed. There
is a second string at a higher level here and on the
north wall of the chancel, and to the east of the
doorway, behind the present sedilia, are the sill and
part of the jambs of a small light, probably of the
13th century, with a small sundial scratched on its sill.
Just to the west of the doorway is a modern
buttress in two stages. The chancel arch, of the
14th century, is in two orders, the outer with a
wave mould and the inner chamfered, and springing
from semi-octagonal responds with moulded capitals
but no bases; the marks of the timbers of the rood
loft are to be seen on its soffit.
The north wall of the nave leans outward considerably and has been largely rebuilt, the roof
having been blown off and a large part destroyed
within recent years. It has a clearstory of four two-light windows, trefoiled under square heads. The
north doorway, of plain and early 13th-century work,
is blocked; to the west of it is a fine 14th-century
window with shafted jambs, and unusual tracery of
two quatrefoiled lights, with an irregular quatrefoiled
opening in the head. East of the doorway is a
two-light 14th-century window of normal type, like
that at the south-west of the chancel, with plain
internal jambs and a head moulded like the other,
perhaps of 13th-century date. Below it is a 14th-century tomb recess, its back projecting beyond the
outer face of the wall; it contains the effigy of a
man in civil dress, on a raised tomb with quatrefoiled
sides, now nearly hidden by the floor; in the
spandrels are blank shields. The wall is supported
by two buttresses, and at the north-east a modern
organ chamber has been built out.
Yelden Church: Interior
The south arcade is of four bays, with arches of
two chamfered orders having plain keeled labels
stopped on heads, moulded half-octagonal corbels at
east and west, and one circular and two octagonal
columns, each with simply moulded capitals. The
corbels are of considerable projection, resting upon
grotesque figures. The western corbel has been cut
back and its moulding altered. The south clearstory
is like that on the north.
In the east end of the south aisle is a square-headed window of three trefoiled lights of early
14th-century date. To the north of it is the jamb
and springing of a 13th-century window and in the
blocking a small image bracket. The sill of the
window is stepped, probably for the reredos of an
altar formerly here, and on either side are traces of
wall-painting, that on the south having a well-preserved figure of St. James, contemporary with the
window. Below it is a second image bracket, carved
with foliage and a fleur de lis and resting on a
human head.
In the south wall is a plain piscina with pointed
head, and near it in the thickness of the wall, which
is increased in a similar way to that on the north
side, is a splendid 14th-century tomb-canopy, with a
tall cinquefoiled arch with feathered cusps and carved
spandrels, under a crocketed gable flanked by pinnacles. Two of the cusps end in mailed heads, and
the tomb itself has a marble front with quatrefoiled
panels and shields in the spandrels, very much
defaced. A small 15th-century window has been
inserted to the east of the tomb to light the altar.
West of the tomb is a three-light window like
that in the east wall, and on the wall west of it a
14th-century masonry pattern in red and a figure of
St. Christopher, the upper part being destroyed.
The south doorway is of the 13th century, of two
chamfered orders, the outer resting upon an attached
shaft and having a plain label. It has been moved
to its present position. At the west end of the
aisle is a 14th-century window of two
trefoiled lights, with a quatrefoil over.
The south porch is plain 14th-century work of the date of the aisle, with
blocked east and west windows and
modern pinnacles to the south gable.
All the walls are finished with embattled
parapets.
The tower is in three stages, with a
short octagonal broach spire, in the
cardinal faces of which are two rows of
spire lights: the lower of two trefoiled
lights, with a quatrefoil over, the upper
a single chamfered light. Under the
eaves of the spire is a running band of
carved foliage, animals and grotesque
heads. There are pairs of buttresses in
two stages at the western angles, their
heads rising only to the lower part of
the second stage, and the tower stair is at
the south-west. The belfry windows
are large, of two cinquefoiled lights with
flowing tracery, and the west window of the ground
stage is of two lights in 14th-century style, the
tracery being modern. The east arch of the tower
is of three chamfered orders.
The chancel roof is modern, but that of the nave
retains some of its 15th-century timbers, having
replaced a steep-pitched 14th-century roof, whose
weathering remains on the tower. On the tie-beams are several roughly carved shields: one with
the arms of Trailly, another with two bars and in
chief three roundels, and a third with a ragged bend.
On another is a very pretty traceried boss, like those
on the 14th-century roof at Wymington, and at the
junction of the purlins with the tie-beams are carved
human heads.
The pulpit dates in part from c. 1500, having
traceried heads to its panels, and some of the pewing
is of about the same time, the rest being copied from it.
The communion table is a very good example, with
heavy baluster legs, dated 1629, with the initials
'C. S.' The font, at the west of the middle column
of the south arcade, is octagonal and quite plain, probably 15th-century work, but has a crocketed conical
wooden cover, which is probably coeval with it.
In the chancel is the brass of John Heyne, rector,
1433, in mass vestments, and another to Christopher
Strickland, 1628, the donor of the plate and communion table. In the tower is a piece of lead taken
from the old roof, on which is scratched a quaint set
of verses:—
Heare Thomas Williamson I do Right
Which is my name in all mens sight
Tharfore Dear frinds When This you See
Pray Reead it ore And Think One Me
And When you Hear that I am Dead
Think One My Name Thats One the led
Whearfore to you this Verse I do Relate
Declaring I rest The Very Day and Date
May The 19 Day Ano Dom. 1700.
There are four bells: the treble by Taylor,
1886; the second by J. & J. Eayre, date on
waist, October 1717; the third, of 1617, is inscribed 'Praise the Lord'; the tenor is by Hugh
Watts, 1619, an alphabet bell A to T, with the
three-bell shield.
The plate consists of a communion cup and cover
paten, date mark 1629, and another paten of same
date with no marks.
The registers previous to 1813 are in one book,
containing all entries 1653 to 1812.
ADVOWSON
Yelden Church was given by
Geoffrey de Trailly to Abbot
Gunter and the monks of Thorney (fn. 59)
early in the 12th century. (fn. 60) The church was confirmed to them by a charter of Pope Alexander III
in 1162. (fn. 61) By the second half of the 13th century the
advowson seems to have passed from Thorney Abbey
to the lord of Yelden Manor, as in 1273 the king, as
custodian of the lands of John Trailly, presented to
the living (fn. 62) ; while in 1289 Walter de Trailly died
seised of the advowson. (fn. 63) Henceforward the advowson descended with the manor until the heirs of
Sir Jeremiah Sambrook in 1745 sold it to Robert
Clavering, Bishop of Peterborough, (fn. 64) whose son
Robert sold it to the Bunting family. (fn. 65) The present
rector, the Rev. C. H. Smith, has the right of
presentation.
In the 17th century two remarkable men held the
living of Yelden: John Pocklington, D.D., the High
Churchman, and William Dell, the Antinomian.
John Pocklington, Fellow of Sidney Sussex College,
Cambridge, was presented to the living of Yelden in
1621 by Lady Say and Sele. (fn. 66) He later became
chaplain to Charles I. (fn. 67) In 1639 he petitioned against
Oliver Earl of Bolingbroke, the lord of the manor,
'for that "he hath wronged the church by enclosing
and decaying the greater part of the best tillage"
in Yelden,' and also sold a lease to one of his servants
of a close worth £40 per annum, parcel of the glebe
of the church. (fn. 68) In 1640 John Pocklington appeared
before the House of Lords on a charge of 'idolatry,
superstition, and publishing pamphlets, wherein he
defends all those innovations unhappily introduced into
the church.' (fn. 69) He was deprived of his preferments,
and his pamphlets, Altare Christianum and Sunday no
Sabbath, burnt by the public hangman. (fn. 70) William
Dell was a man of a very different type. After going
down from Cambridge he became secretary to Laud;
but later he abandoned the orthodox tenets of
the Church. (fn. 71) He became chaplain to the Parliamentary army, and in 1649 was appointed to the
mastership of Caius College, Cambridge, which he
held together with the rectory of Yelden. (fn. 72) His
unorthodox views endeared him to the Parliament,
but not to his parishioners, who in 1659 petitioned
against him for having allowed a 'tinker from Bedford'
named John Bunyan to preach in the church on
Christmas Day. (fn. 73) Dell was ejected from Yelden in
1662. Dying soon afterwards, he was buried in
unconsecrated ground in the parish of Westoning,
according to his own wish. (fn. 74)
CHARITIES
The poor's money consists of
£59 15s. 2d. consols, held by the
official trustees, representing the investment in 1872 of a sum of £55 10s., comprising
the sums of £20 given by a person unknown, £18
by Thomas Wylde in 1792, and £17 10s. by
Mrs. Wylde in 1811. The dividends, amounting to
£1 9s. 8d., are applied in the distribution of bread at
Christmas. In 1909 there were fifty-two recipients.
The parish has been in possession since 1628 of
certain lands known as the Constable Lands, or
Stricklands, containing 10 a. 12 p., let in allotments,
producing £11 18s. 4d. a year, which, in pursuance
of a declaration of trust dated 17 November 1803, is
distributed in coals.
In or about 1845 the Rev. Edward Swanston,
Bunting, a former rector, set aside £500 consols, the
income of which, under a deed of 15 March 1873,
is applied towards the expenses of the National school. (fn. 75)
The stock is held by the official trustees, producing
£12 10s. a year.