ALDBY, or ALDEBURGH.
Ralph de Beaufoe had a grant of this lordship from the Conqueror, and possessed it at the survey; a freeman of Archbishop Stigand was lord in King Edward's reign, and there belonged to it 2
carucates of land, one villain and 5 borderers, with 3 servi; there were
2 carucates in demean and one among the tenants, 15 acres of meadow, paunage for 20 swine, with one runcus. Fifteen freemen were
under his protection, and belonged to his fold, with 40 acres, and 3
carucates of meadow valued at 40s. and there was a church, with 12
acres, valued at 2s. eleven freemen also belonged to it with 2 carucates
and a half of land, and 30 acres; of 7 of these his predecessor had the
protection in King Edward's time, and Stigand had it of the other 4;
and his predecessor had the livery of it with the land; there were 12
borderers, with 5 carucates and a half, and 19 acres of meadow, &c.
valued at 33s. but at the survey, at 6l. 10s.—The whole was one leuca
long, and half a leuca broad, and paid 2s. and 1d. ob. gelt, whoever
possess it. (fn. 1)
Ralph de Beaufoe was a near relation, or son to William de Beaufoe
Bishop of Thetford, chancellor to the Conqueror, and left at his death
an only daughter, Agnes, who brought it by marriage to Hubert de
Rye, castellan of Norwich castle, son of Hubert de Rye, a trusty servant to William the Conqueror, when Duke of Normandy; this Agnes,
at the request of Herbert Bishop of Norwich, granted great part of this
lordship to the priory of Norwich, founded by that Bishop, with the
patronage of the church, which the said Bishop appropriated to the
said priory; and a small priory was erected here, as a cell to that
priory, dedicated to St. Mary, consisting of a prior and 3 black
monks.
King Henry I. by his præispe commands that the church, all the
land and men, &c. which Agnes de Belso gave to the monks of the
Holy Trinity of Norwich, in Aldebi, be held by them in perpetual
alms, and that no injury, &c. be offered them; witnesses, Roger FitzRichard, William de Tankerdville; dated at Rockingham. The said
King confirmed the grant of Hubert de Rie, (fn. 2) of tithes in Swanton,
Hockering, Deepham, &c. with the church and manor of Aldeby,
which Agnes de Belso, his wife, had granted to the said priory, with
Richard her son, and Anthony her chaplain, whom they had taken
into their society, the tithe of the whole village and hall, 100 acres of
arable land, an 100 sheep, a marsh with pasture for 100 sheep, also
common of pasture, a carucate of land with 6 socmen, 6 lancheches, (fn. 3)
and 40s. rent in Thurketeliart, on the petition of Henry de Rye, son
and heir of Hubert and Agnes;—witnesses, William de Tancardiville,
Richard Basset; dated at London.
Henry de Rye granted two parts of the tithe of all the lands which
his father, or he himself ever held in demean, to the priory of Norwich,
(for the health of his own, his father's and mother's souls, (fn. 4) ) as his
father and mother had granted, when they laid the second stone, on
the foundation of the priory church in Aldebi.
In the 14th of Edward I. William Roscelyne gave the King 10l. for
a license, to purchase of William, prior of Norwich, and the convent,
the lordship of this town, called in the record, Audeby, excepting 30
messuages, 500 acres of land, 40 of meadow, 300 of marsh, 40 of wood,
a mill, 10 marks rent per ann. and the advowson of the church, all
which the prior reserved to the convent, and was called the prior's
manor, distinct from the other. (fn. 5) This shows that manors have been
erected within time of prescription, though some lawyers say otherwise; and what is another proof, in a pleading Ao. 6° Edward II. the
jury for the hundred of Middleton, in Kent, present, that in the time of
King Richard I. Stephen de Northwode purchased some assarted land,
which land was at the time of the presentment called the manor of
Northwode Casteneys. In the 14th also of the said King, the prior
claimed the assise, view of frank pledge, &c. of his tenants, and in the
35th year, had a grant of free warren;—witnesses, John Bishop of
Carlisle, Adomar. de Valentia, Henry de Percy, &c.
Laurence, prior of Norwich, vicar-general to Thomas Bishop of Norwich, appoints John de Bedingfeld, prior of this cell, to take the confessions, to absolve and to enjoin the penances of the prioress, and
nuns of Bungeye; dated at Norwich, May 27, 1355.
The temporalities of the priory were valued in 1428, at 7l. 15s. 6d.
in the 6th of Edward IV. the Lady Isabel Morley died patroness, as
heir to the founders, Hubert and Agnes de Rye: and in the 21st of
that King, I find Edmund Salle, Roger Framingham, and William
Spink, to be monks in this cell.
William Bexwell occurs prior in 1505, and had the lete; Edmund
Drake, alias Norwich, a monk there, was prior, and in 1538, made
prebend of the 4th stall in the church of Norwich.—Richard de Eye,
prior, Ao. 1st of Henry VI.—Thomas Hethyll Ao. 2d Edward IV. On
the Dissolution it came to the Crown, and on the foundation of a dean
and chapter at Norwich, by King Henry VIII. in 1538, was granted
to them, and so continues.
In 1376, Sir Thomas Savage, Knt. was buried by the south porch in
the churchyard of the priory church: all the monks except two, are at
the Dissolution said to be desirous of being discharged.
The family of De Rosceline, had an interest in this town, William de
Rosceline held here and in Whetacre a quarter of a fee, Ao. 20 of
Henry III. of John de Marshal, (Baron of Rye, in right of Alice his
wife, daughter and coheir of Hubert de Rye, the last heir male of that
family,) by Lætitia his wife; he was father of Sir Thomas de Rosceline,
who in the 53d of the said King, was querent in a fine, and William,
son of Adam de Audeley, deforciant of a messuage and 40 acres of
land here and in Whetacre, granted to Sir Thomas, who covenants to
grant to William, for life, competent maintenance in eating and drinking, as one of his Esqs. and the like for his boy; to pay him besides
yearly at Michaelmas, ad Jocalia sua emenda, with 2 robes, one of a
mark price for William, and one of half a mark for the boy, and if
Sir Thomas should die during William's life, then his heirs should pay
5 marks per ann. in full for the same; with a clause of distress in this
lordship, and that of Northton; at this time the lord's bailiff would not
suffer the King's bailiff to enter into this lordship; and in the 55th
year had a grant of free warren and a weekly mercate and fair in this
town.
In the 14th of Edward I. William Rosceline claimed the assise of
his tenants, view of frank pledge, a gallows, and free warren; in the
26, he and Joan his wife, settled it on themselves and their heirs,
having purchased a lordship of the prior of Norwich, in this town, Ao.
14; there being certain differences between the prior and Sir William,
about the rights of common, the prior was allowed by Sir William, to
take marle out of the great common of Aldeby, called Mekylheyth to
marle his lands, by agreement, dated 1310; (fn. 6) to which Sir Robert
Baynard, Walter de Bernham, Simon de Dalling, John de Inglose,
were witnesses. This I mention to prove that this method and way of
improving lands in this county of Norfolk, was then (so many years
past) made use of.
Sir William Rosceline and Joan his wife in the 4th of Edward II.
settled it on themselves for life; the remainder to William Marshall,
Baron of Rye, and his heirs, by fine; and John le Marshall, his son,
died lord, whose sister and heir, Hawise, brought it by marriage to Sir
Robert Morley, who was lord in 1330; in this family it remained till
Alianore, daughter and heir of Robert Lord Morley, (the last heir male
of that family,) being married to William, younger son of William
Lord Lovell of Tichmarsh, was Baron of Rye, and lord of this manor
in her right, and died lord in 1475. Henry his son dying s. p. Alice,
his only sister, wife of Sir William Parker, inherited it, and was baron
of Rye, whose descendant, Edward Parker Lord Morley, Baron of
Rye, was lord in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and conveyed it to his
2d son, Henry Parker of Hornby castle in Lincolnshire, Esq. After
this it came to the Calthorps, and by an inquisition taken in 1637, Sir
Henry Calthorp of Ampton in Suffolk, 2d son of Sir James Calthorp
of Cockthorp in Norfolk, Knt. died seized of it; he was recorder of
London, &c. and James was his son and heir, who possessed it in 1660,
and James Calthorp, Esq. his son, in 1698; in the said family it
remained in 1742.—This was called Alby-hall.
The tenths were 7l. 4s.—Deducted 2l. 4s.
The Church was dedicated to St. Mary, and appropriated by
Bishop Herbert, to the priory of Norwich, being valued at 16 marks.
On a gravestone in the chancel,
In memory of Margaret, wife of Edmund Bendish, Gent. who died
Sept. 26, 1681.
One,
In memory of William Wall, eldest son of Franc. Wall of Aldeby,
Gent. he married Sybil, one of the daughters of Robert Davy of Ditchingham, and died June 23, 1685.
Here lyeth the body of John Denny, Gent. buried Feb. 11, 1680, in
the grave of Sydrach Denny, Gent. his father, and Elizabeth his mother,
and left John his only son.
John Baspole, Gent. buried in the church 1530, and Thomas Baspole
in the south of isle, by his parents, Ao. 1551. This family had a lease
of the priory manor.
The family of London lived here, and had a lease of it. Robert
London, Gent. by Anne his wife, daughter of Henry Pay of Earsham,
was father of Robert London, Esq. a justice of the peace, who by Margaret his wife, daughter of Nathaniel Knyvet, of Denver, Gent. was father
of Robert London, who married Anne, daughter of—Philpot
of London, and died s. p.; his 2d son was Nathaniel, who married
Catherine, daughter of Richard Wythe of Brocdish in Norfolk, Gent.
by whom he had Nathaniel, living in 1698.—Their arms were, argent,
three cross crosslets in bend, between two cottises, gules.
In the church was a chapel dedicated to St. Furceus; offerings were
made to this saint, and certain tithes belonged to it.
At the survey, we meet with a town, of which Ralph de Beaufoe was
lord, called Thurketeliart, of which a freeman of Stigand was deprived;
2 carucates of land belonged to it, 12 borderers and 3 servi, and 2 carucates in demean, 2 among the tenants, 15 acres of meadow, a mill, &c.
120 sheep, 5 skeps of bees, and a church endowed with 20 acres,
valued at 40d. 15 freemen belonged also to the lord and were under
his protection, with 6 carucates and 6 acres of meadow, valued at 4l.
before, and the same at the survey. (fn. 7)
This considerable village, as it appears to have been at the survey,
is now quite destroyed, and, as I take it, the lands being near to Aldeburgh, are included therein, and are made part of the priory lands
there, in the reign of Henry I. as is above observed.