DIDDINGTON
Dodintone, Dodinctun (xi cent.). Doditone,
Dodington, Dudington (xiii cent.); Dydyngton (xiv
cent.).
The parish of Diddington contains 1,292 acres of
land. The soil is loam and the subsoil mainly Oxford
Clay. The land rises westward from the River Ouse.
The village street lies just off the east side of the main
road from St. Neots to Huntingdon and contains
several 17th-century timber-framed cottages. On the
north side of the street is the Hall, a modern building,
the residence of Mr. A. J. Thornhill, the lord of the
manor, and near it is the church. The nearest station
is at Buckden, about two miles to the north, on the
London Midland and Scottish Railway. Diddington
Brook, which runs into the Ouse, rises near Long
Stowe. The parish was inclosed in 1797, by Private
Act of Parliament. (fn. 1)
MANORS
GRIMBAUD'S MANOR in Diddington may be identified with the
manor held in the time of Edward the
Confessor by Earl Waltheof. (fn. 2) In 1086 it belonged to
the fee of the Countess Judith (fn. 3) and later with other
of her Huntingdonshire lands formed part of the
Honour of Huntingdon. (fn. 4) On the death of John, Earl
of Huntingdon, Diddington was assigned to his
youngest sister Ada the wife of Henry Hastings. (fn. 5)
It was held of Laurence Hastings, Earl of Pembroke, at
his death in 1348, (fn. 6) but the overlordship is not mentioned later.
In 1086 Alan the sewer held the manor of Countess Judith, (fn. 7) but no successor can be traced till 1197–98,
when the manor was held by William Grimbald. This
William was the son of Robert Grimbald (living
1130–33) and Maud, daughter of Pain de Houghton,
Robert being the son of
Grimbald the sewer possibly
related to Alan the sewer,
the Domesday holder in Diddington. (fn. 8) In 1197–98 William
Grimbald subenfeoffed the
manor as half a knight's fee
to Henry Seymour, who did
homage to him. (fn. 9) The next
tenant seems to have been
Geoffrey Seymour, (fn. 10) who was
succeeded by Henry Seymour. (fn. 11) The latter forfeited his
lands about 1267 and Henry III granted the manor to
William Chabeneys, (fn. 12) but the Seymours had recovered
it before 1279. (fn. 13) In 1280 Henry, son of Henry Seymour, and his wife Rose granted the manor to their
overlord William Grimbald, (fn. 14) son of Robert Grimbald
son of the above William the grantor. (fn. 15) William the
grandson married Mabel, the sister of John Kirkby,
Bishop of Ely, (fn. 16) and in 1288 he granted the manor to
the Bishop. (fn. 17) In 1291, on the bishop's death, it passed
to his brother William, (fn. 18) who in 1292 granted it to his
sister Mabel. (fn. 19) In 1310 she granted it to her younger
son William, (fn. 20) who died seised in 1328 and was succeeded by his son William, then a minor. (fn. 21) The latter
died in 1350, leaving as his heir his son Robert, a boy
of five, (fn. 22) who predeceased his mother Alice Waldshef,
on whom the manor had been settled. (fn. 23) She married
four times (fn. 24) and in 1375, Nicholas Grimbald, as
cousin and heir of William Grimbald, granted his right
in it to Alice and her fourth husband Richard Hemingford and the heirs of Richard. (fn. 25)
Grimbald. Barryargent and azure a border gules.
The immediate successor of Hemingford has not
been traced, but in 1441 Robert Stretton sold Grimbald's manor to various feoffees including John Gatle
and his heirs. (fn. 26) About this date or a little later, Walter
Taylard of Wrestlingworth (co. Beds.) is said to have
bought the manor of Diddington. (fn. 27) If so this must
have been Grimbald's manor, as both the other manors
(q.v.) were at this date in different hands. Taylard
was succeeded by his son, another Walter, who died
about 1464, and his grandson William, (fn. 28) who purchased
two other manors in Diddington (q.v.). William was
succeeded in 1505 by his son Walter, whose son Sir
Laurence Taylard (fn. 29) died before 1575. (fn. 30) Geoffrey the
eldest son of Sir Laurence had predeceased him, leaving a daughter Katherine as heir to her father and
grandfather. (fn. 31) She was the wife of Robert Brudenell (fn. 32)
and was living in 1648. (fn. 33) The estates of her son Thomas
Lord Brudenell were sequestrated under the Commonwealth, (fn. 34) but with her consent the manors of
Diddington were given to their second son Edmund, (fn. 35)
who obtained possession of them and held a court
there in 1649. (fn. 36) In 1656–57, his father and eldest
brother, however, levied a fine
of them with Ellis Lloyd and
Francis Watkins, (fn. 37) but before
1667 they had come into the
possession of William Faldoe
of Bedford. (fn. 38) The united
manor of Diddington passed
to George Thornhill, who died
in 1754 (fn. 39) and is now owned
by his direct descendant, Noel
Thornhill, of Diddington Hall.
Thornhill of Diddington. Gules two gimel bars and a chief argent.
In the reign of Edward the
Confessor and in 1086 the
Bishop of Lincoln held a
manor in Diddington, (fn. 40) which may be identified with
LITTLEBURY'S or GIMBER'S MANOR. In
1279 the manor was held of the bishop as half a
knight's fee (fn. 41) and in 1647, while under sequestration,
the manor of Diddington still owed a chief rent to
the bishop. (fn. 42)
In 1086 the bishop's tenant was named William, (fn. 43)
but the manor seems to have been granted to the
Earls of Winchester, who held as mesne lords. On the
death of Roger de Quincey in 1254, (fn. 44) it was assigned
to his daughter Ellen, widow of Alan la Zouche. (fn. 45) Her
son died seised of the mesne lordship in 1314, (fn. 46) but
Ellen seems to have granted it to her younger son
Oliver, who was holding it, but not in demesne, at that
date. (fn. 47) His son John was the mesne lord in 1331, (fn. 48)
but no later record of the Zouche's lordship has, however, been found.
Before 1219 the manor seems to have been held in
demesne by John de Littlebury, (fn. 49) who obtained
it through his marriage with Alice, daughter
and co-heir of Geoffrey de Bovill (or Bonville), since in
1224, when a partition was made of Geoffrey's lands,
between the co-heirs, Diddington was assigned to
Littlebury and his wife. (fn. 50) Their son John, who
married Margery de Vernon, one of the heiresses of
the Lovetot Barony, (fn. 51) granted the manor for life to
Walter de Merton the founder of Merton College,
Oxford, whom he describes as his colleague and friend. (fn. 52)
A third John de Littlebury seems to have been their
heir and was living in 1260, (fn. 53) but it does not appear
whether he succeeded to the manor. The tenant in
1279 was still the friend of Merton (fn. 54) and in 1285
the manor had passed to Roger, son of John de Littlebury. (fn. 55) In 1310 a settlement was made on Roger for
life with reversion to John de Littlebury, presumably
his son, and his wife Isolda. (fn. 56) John was the tenant
in 1316. (fn. 57) The manor passed through their daughter
Elizabeth and granddaughter Maud to their greatgrandson Thomas Bagley. His son Ralph succeeded
him by 1443, but in spite of an entail, he and
his wife Isabella sold it in 1448 to Henry Gimber. (fn. 58)
The latter died in 1466–7 and left the manor to his
wife Elizabeth for life. After her death he left an
annual rent from lands in Diddington to Thomas, the
son of Ralph Bagley, who should have succeeded his
father as tenant in fee tail. (fn. 59) Thomas brought an
action to recover the manor, but finally remitted all
his right in the manor to Sir John Markham and
Elizabeth, the widow of Gimber. (fn. 60) She sold it after
1470 (fn. 61) to William Taylard, but there appears to have
been a chancery suit between them before he obtained
possession. (fn. 62) From this time the descent follows that
of Grimbald's manor (q.v.). (fn. 63)
WALDSHEF'S MANOR
WALDSHEF'S MANOR took its name from a family
who appear in 1279 as tenants both in Grimbaud's
and Littlebury's manors. (fn. 64) Robert Waldshef, however, married Joan, apparently the widow of one of
the Littleburys, and they also held as her dower a
third part of John de Littlebury's half fee. (fn. 65) In 1289,
Roger de Littlebury granted this land to them to hold
in fee as the sixth part of a knight's fee, and it was
presumably by this grant that they obtained whatever manorial rights were attached to their land. (fn. 66)
The word manor, however, is not used till 1574. (fn. 67)
John Waldshef succeeded before 1300 (fn. 68) and was
living in 1332. (fn. 69) He is said to have died in 1334 and
was succeeded by his son Robert, (fn. 70) who was in seisin
in 1340. (fn. 71) Robert's son John (fn. 72) succeeded him, probably about 1353, and died in 1378, when his heir was
his son Robert, who died in 1421. (fn. 73) In 1497, a John
Waldshef and his wife Joan
sold their holding at Diddington to William Taylard, (fn. 74)
Thomas Burton and others
and the heirs of Burton, but
possession of the manor was
evidently obtained by Taylard,
since with Grimbald's and
Littlebury manors (q.v.) it
was inherited by his descendants. (fn. 75)
Taylard. Quarterly argent and sable a cross paty quartered and counter coloured.
John de Littlebury held
view of frankpledge in 1279. (fn. 76)
This privilege was not, however, claimed by the Grimbalds in their manor,
although the tenants of the Honour of Huntingdon
usually held the view in their manors. (fn. 77) It is noted,
however, that William Grimbald owed suit of court
every month to the court of John Hastings at Barton, (fn. 78)
and in 1285 the Prior of the Order of St. John of
Jerusalem claimed to hold view of frankpledge for
various tenants in Toseland Hundred, one of whom
was a tenant at Diddington. (fn. 79) In 1616 Sir Thomas
Brudenell, afterwards Lord Brudenell, obtained a
grant of free warren in the manor of Diddington. (fn. 80)
CHURCH
The Church of ST. LAWRENCE consists of a chancel (19¾ ft. by 18½ ft.),
with modern north vestry (10 ft. by
6 ft.), nave (41 ft. by 18¾ ft.), north aisle (31½ ft. by
10 ft.), south chapel (20½ ft. by 11 ft.), west tower
(8½ ft. by 8½ ft.), and south porch. The older parts
of the walls are of stone rubble mostly plastered;
the tower is of red bricks with stone dressings, the
south porch of red bricks plastered over, and the
east wall of the chancel is of yellow bricks. The
roofs are of lead, tiles, and slates.
Although mentioned in the Domesday Survey
(1086), the nucleus of the present church is the
chancel and nave of the first half of the 13th century,
to which a north aisle was added c. 1275. The church
was much altered c. 1500, when a new south chapel
was built, the clearstory added, and the north aisle
remodelled with larger windows; slightly later the
tower was built, together with the western angles
of the nave, the western bay of the north aisle being
pulled down. The south porch is later still, and in
the 17th century the chancel was shortened and a
yellow brick east wall built. The vestry was added
c. 1865, when the chancel was restored and reroofed.
The east wall of the chancel was rebuilt in the 17th
century, (fn. 81) but the modern three-light window has
inner jambs and arch of 14th-century date reused.
The rest of the chancel is of mid-13th-century date.
In the north wall is an original lancet now opening
into the vestry, a two-light window and a small
doorway of c. 1500 and the lower part of a 13th-century lancet, evidently a low-side window, is below
the two-light window. In the south wall is an original
lancet, a 14th-century square-headed two-light window
with a transom and low-side window formed in its
western light, a small 14th-century doorway and a
square locker. The chancel arch is modern except
part of the lower order, which is of 14th-century date
reused. The roof is modern.
The 13th-century nave has a north arcade of three
bays, the arches of two chamfered orders resting
on three circular columns and a semicircular respond
column at the east end; a former western bay has
been destroyed and a plain wall of c. 1500 built in
its place. The original south wall has a doorway
with circular jamb shafts having moulded caps and
bases; and the eastern part has been pierced with
two arches of c. 1500 having two chamfered orders
and resting on an octagonal column and two chamfered
responds, having corbels supported on carved knots
under the inner order. The clearstory, c. 1500, has
three three-light windows on each side; the roof is
largely modern, but has some moulded beams with
jack-legs and curved braces.
The north aisle, largely of c. 1500, has a four-light
east window, and two similar three-lights and a plain
doorway in the north wall. In the south-east corner
is an upper doorway to the rood loft. (fn. 82) The diagonal
corner buttresses are medieval, but two large brick
buttresses on the north and a brick parapet are of
19th-century date.
The south chapel, c. 1500, has a blocked four-light
window in the east wall, and two three-light windows
in the south wall. These two windows are filled
with ancient glass of various dates; the earlier portions
are probably contemporary with the window, but
only small parts are in situ, the rest being very badly
reset and mixed with pieces of various later dates.
The earlier glass contains figures of Our Lord rising
from the tomb, St. Katharine (fn. 83) and St. Margaret.
The 16th-century west tower has a tower arch of
two orders, the lower one resting on attached shafts
with moulded capitals and bases. There is no west
door, but a simple three-light window, with a singlelight window in the stage above it. The belfry
windows are two-lights, and the tower, which is of
red brick with stone dressings, is finished with a
battlemented parapet with grotesque gargoyles at the
angles.
The 16th-century south porch, which is built
against the west wall of the south chapel, is of red
brick plastered over. The outer archway has a fourcentred arch in a square head, and there is a two-light
window in the west wall. The gable has a modernised
stepped parapet, but the stringcourse is straight.
The 13th-century font has an octagonal bowl on a
circular shaft with chamfered cap and base.
There are three bells, inscribed: (1) 1688; (2)
Mears & Stainbank, Founders, London, 1865; (3)
Disce mori n[o]tro uiuere disce sono. Jeremiah
Burton, Churchwarden. J. Eayre. 1748. (fn. 84) The
first bell by J. Chandler of Drayton Parslow, Bucks;
the ancient second bell was inscribed 'Cum Cum
and preay Robart Bruddenel, Squire, 1595, S,' and
was evidently by Watts of Leicester. (fn. 85)
There is some seating of c. 1500 in the nave, with
moulded rails and traceried panels in the fronts,
backs and ends; the spandrels are carved with birds,
lions and grotesque beasts.
In the west tower is a 16th-century oak chest
strongly bound with iron; and in the nave is a 17thcentury alms-box formed in the top of a square post
fastened to a seat.
There are several brasses in the church: (1) In
the nave to Alice (Forster), widow of Walter Taylard,
1513, a figure of a kneeling woman in widow's weeds,
with scroll issuing from her mouth, figures of three
sons at her side, and figure of Virgin and Child above,
shield, quarterly argent and sable a cross paty
quarterly sable and argent, for Taylard, impaling sable
a cheveron ermine between three pheons argent, for
Forster, and two small plates with the date 1513,
inscription plate lost; (2) against the east respond
of the south arcade, to William Taylard, d. 1505,
and Elizabeth his wife, knight and lady kneeling
at desks, with scrolls from their mouths and with
inscription plate below, indents of children below,
two wide panels at sides, with figures of saints
under canopied niches. This brass is partly
supported upon an early 16th-century altar-tomb with
panelled sides and indents of shields, now lost.
Lying loose in the church is a stone carved with
three shields: (1) . . . three swords erect, the
centre with point in chief and the others reversed
. . .; (2) Taylard impaling Forster; (3) Azure
three roses gules.
There are monuments: In the chancel, to Henry
Linton, d. 1866; in nave, war memorial, 1914–18;
in north aisle, to Harriet, wife of the Rev. W. Williams, d. 1825; in south chapel, to Thomas Gillman,
drowned 1717; George Thornhill, d. 1827, and
Mary Ann (Hawkins), his wife, d. 1830; George
Thornhill, d. 1847, and George Thornhill, d. 1868;
George Thornhill, d. 1852, and Charlotte Matilda
(Greene), his wife, d. 1867; George Thornhill, d.
1875, and Elizabeth Mary (Wilkinson), his wife, d.
1899.
The registers are as follows: (i) Baptisms and
burials, 3 March 1688 to 9 January 1809, and marriages, 30 Oct. 1699 to 18 Dec. 1753; (ii) baptisms
and burials, 27 Aug. 1809 to 5 Aug. 1812; (iii)
the official marriage book, 8 Sept. 1755 to 23 July
1812.
The church plate consists of: A silver cup, paten
and flagon, all hall-marked for 1879–80.
ADVOWSON
The church of Diddington existed
in 1086, when it belonged to the
Bishop of Lincoln's manor. (fn. 86) In
the 13th century the advowson was held by the
Littleburys, John de Littlebury presenting his brother
Saher to the church between 1209–19. (fn. 87) His son
John gave 15 acres of their land, before 1279, to the
church, (fn. 88) and also presented the advowson to Walter
de Merton, (fn. 89) who in turn gave it to his college at
Oxford, before 1279, when the vicarage was ordained. (fn. 90)
The advowson of the vicarage still belongs to Merton
College, Oxford. In 1577–78, Master John Belley,
LL.D., presented, having obtained a grant of the
advowson from the college, for one turn only. (fn. 91)
There are no charities for this parish.