Cherry Hinton: Manors and other estates

MANORS AND OTHER ESTATES.

In 1066 Hinton was held by Eddeva the fair, reputedly the mistress of King Harold II, but by 1086 had been given with her lands to Count Alan, lord of Richmond. (fn. 1) Thereafter part of the honor of Richmond, it passed on Alan's death in 1089 in succession to his brothers. The youngest, Stephen, inherited in 1093. After his death in 1135-6 it descended to his second son Alan (d. 1146) and Alan's son Count Conan (d. 1171). (fn. 2) From the mid 12th century a third of the manor was subinfeudated. (fn. 3) The overlordship of that part remained with successive counts of Brittany until c. 1200. The honor of Richmond, recently restored to one of them, was resumed by the Crown in 1234-5, (fn. 4) and granted in 1241 to Peter of Savoy (d. 1268), who soon after alienated the rest of Hinton. (fn. 5) The two main Hinton manors continued to be held of the honor of Richmond between the late 13th century and the late 14th. (fn. 6)

The larger part of the manor, probably two thirds, called NETHERHALL by the late 14th century, (fn. 7) was retained as a demesne manor of the earls of Richmond for most of the time until the early 13th century, although Count Conan may have granted it to Robert de Bouzages, whose brother probably had it in 1183-4. (fn. 8) In 1235, after Peter of Dreux, then count of Brittany, had been deprived of the honor, Henry III assigned the manor to his servant Alan Neville, whose son Peter Neville, clerk, was compensated, (fn. 9) after the king assigned Hinton with the honor to Peter of Savoy in 1241. (fn. 10) In 1249 Peter of Savoy granted the Hinton manor in an exchange, for a £10 fee farm, to Sir Bertram de Cryol of Kent. (fn. 11) Before his death in 1256, (fn. 12) Sir Bertram had given it to his eldest son Nicholas, (fn. 13) a Montfortian supporter whose Hinton land was seized in 1265, after the battle of Evesham, by a supporter of Henry III. (fn. 14) Nicholas probably died in 1272, leaving a son and heir Nicholas, (fn. 15) who came of age c. 1282. (fn. 16) During his minority, Margery de Cryol, probably his father's second wife, held the Hinton manor c. 1279-85, perhaps as dower. (fn. 17) After Sir Nicholas the son died in 1303, (fn. 18) his widow, another Margery, similarly occupied Hinton until her death c. 1319. (fn. 19) In the 1320s their son, a third Nicholas, had the manor, rendering the £10 farm to Queen Isabel c. 1326. (fn. 20) He was dead by 1327, when the manor was occupied by Sir Thomas Hastang as guardian of his minor son John de Cryol, of age in 1328. (fn. 21) In 1341 John sold it to William Clinton, recently created earl of Huntingdon, who at once bought out the fee farm, by then rendered to the Crown. (fn. 22)

In 1343, however, Clinton transferred his Hinton manor by exchange to John Mowbray, Lord Mowbray (d. 1361). (fn. 23) Mowbray soon after granted it for life to the lawyer Sir Robert Thorpe, chief justice of the King's Bench 1356-71 and chancellor 1371-2. In possession by 1346, (fn. 24) Thorpe retained the manor until he died in 1372, whereupon it reverted to the Mowbrays. (fn. 25) It came initially to John Mowbray's grandson John, earl of Nottingham (d. s.p. 1383), then to the latter's brother Thomas (cr. duke of Norfolk 1397, d. 1399), (fn. 26) one of whose retainers had an annuity from it in 1399. (fn. 27) In 1428 it was said to be held by Sir John Gray, possibly another annuitant or life tenant. (fn. 28) In 1399 Netherhall had been assigned as dower to Duke Thomas's widow Elizabeth, who held it jointly with her third husband Sir Robert Goushill (d. 1403) and from 1414 with her fourth, Sir Gerard Usflete, until she died in 1425. (fn. 29) It then passed in turn to her son, John Mowbray (restored as duke of Norfolk 1425, d. 1432), and to his son Duke John (d. 1461), (fn. 30) whose widow Eleanor (d. 1474) received the manor in 1462 as dower. After the death of her son Duke John in 1476 the Mowbray inheritance passed to his infant daughter Anne, married in 1476 to Edward IV's younger son Richard, duke of York. Following Anne's death in 1481 and that of her husband c. 1483-5, (fn. 31) Hinton Netherhall was possessed by Elizabeth, widow of Duke John (d. 1476), who died c. 1506. When the Mowbray coheirs recovered their inheritance in 1483, the reversion of Netherhall had been assigned to William Berkeley, Lord, later Marquess, Berkeley (d. 1492). (fn. 32)

In 1504 his brother and heir Maurice, Lord Berkeley, granted its reversion to his younger son Thomas, who sold the manor in 1508 to Robert Fenrother, a London goldsmith. (fn. 33) It was subsequently included in the endowment of the Savoy Hospital founded in the 1510s, (fn. 34) with whose other possessions Edward VI granted it in 1553 to St. Thomas's Hospital, London. (fn. 35) In 1592 the hospital leased the manorial farm to William Catlyn. (fn. 36) A series of tenants rented it from the hospital thereafter, including successive members of the Headley family c. 1774-1877. (fn. 37) St. Thomas's sale in 1931 of its lands north of the Cherry Hinton Road and east and west of Perne Road was followed by successive sales of its lands between the Cherry Hinton Road and Queen Edith's Way in the 1930s and 1940s. (fn. 38) There was then a pause before it sold the remaining land between Queen Edith's Way and Worts Causeway between 1962 and 1979.

By 1800 the Netherhall manor house was being used as a farmhouse. (fn. 39) The modern Netherhall Farm stood close to Worts Causeway, near the parish's southern border.

A third of the Hinton manor, styled by the 1380s UPPERHALL manor, (fn. 40) and subsequently known as Uphall, had before 1170 been granted by Count Conan to Walter son of Akaris [Zacharias] of Ravensworth (Yorks. N.R.). (fn. 41) Walter, probably childless, gave it before 1201 to Henry, son of his elder brother Hervey. (fn. 42) Henry probably died c. 1215. (fn. 43) Although his elder son Ranulf was probably named c. 1212 as tenant of ½ fee at Hinton held of the honor of Richmond, (fn. 44) Henry apparently assigned that manor to his younger son John, whose rights in it were recognized in 1218. (fn. 45) John still held it in 1235, when Ranulf sued him over the half fee. (fn. 46) For the moment Ranulf and his descendants at Ravensworth, later the lords FitzHugh, retained only a mesne lordship under the honor of Richmond. (fn. 47) John was succeeded as tenant in demesne into the early 1270s by his elder son Henry FitzJohn, whose manor was briefly seized by Montfortians in 1264. (fn. 48) Henry's brother and heir John FitzJohn, also apparently childless, who held the manor 1279-82, (fn. 49) just before he died, probably in 1283, gave his manor to Roger of Thornton, probably an illegitimate son of Matthew of Thornton. Roger successfully opposed attempts by his overlord, the earl of Richmond, and the mesne lord, Hugh FitzHenry, to expel him. (fn. 50)

The immediate descent of the manor is uncertain. About 1302 it was held by William of Brompton, in 1316 and 1327 by Henry of Toft, and in 1346 probably by Sir John Leybourn. (fn. 51) It may next have passed, perhaps by escheat, to the mesne lords: Hugh FitzHenry's greatgrandson, Henry FitzHugh, Lord FitzHugh, held Uphall at his death in 1386. (fn. 52) In 1406 Henry's son and heir Hugh, Lord FitzHugh (d. 1427), having admired the Brigittine order of nuns when he visited Sweden that year, assigned the manor to feoffees who were to use it to endow a proposed English convent of the order. The feoffees later transferred it to Henry V, who assigned it to the Brigittine nunnery of Syon, founded in 1415 at Sheen (Mdx.): the 'prioress of Sheen' held the Hinton manor by 1428. Syon abbey's legally imperfect title was confirmed in 1444, (fn. 53) and Uphall manor remained with the abbey until its suppression in 1539, whereupon the manor became Crown property. It was valued in the 16th century at £13 8s. (fn. 54) It probably remained with the Crown for some time. (fn. 55)

In 1632 Thomas Fanshawe devised Uphall manor to Robert Lawrence, who in 1650 sold it to Mary, daughter of John Wyse. (fn. 56) In 1653 it was owned by Thomas Willys, perhaps related to a lessee of Netherhall farm. In the late 17th century it was acquired by Bishop Thomas Watson (d. 1717). (fn. 57) He was succeeded by his brother William Watson. (fn. 58) When his lands were divided after his death in 1721 Uphall manor was assigned to his daughter Abigail and her husband Walter Serocold. (fn. 59) He left it c. 1747 to his cousin, another Walter Serocold, who was also minister at Hinton from 1758 until his death in 1789, (fn. 60) leaving four daughters as coheirs. Anne, the eldest (d. 1835), wife of William Pearce, master of Jesus College, Cambridge, and from 1797 dean of Ely, (fn. 61) bought out the others. Dr. Pearce died in 1820. Their son and heir Edward Pearce, from 1842 Pearce-Serocold, died in 1849, (fn. 62) and was succeeded at Hinton by his son Capt. Walter Pearce-Serocold, who owned the manor until 1864, when it was purchased by William Ward. (fn. 63) It remained in the ownership of the Ward family in the late 19th century, but was sold by the family in the early 20th century. (fn. 64)

The house called Uphall, a little north of the church, probably occupies the site of the medieval manor house. (fn. 65) The existing house there, which contains a timber-framed building, twostoreyed and three-bayed, of the 16th-century, was probably the one in use as a farmhouse c. 1800. About 1830, probably for Edward Pearce, it was recased in brick and considerably extended, especially to the south, and later also northwards. Its front is in Regency style.

MALLETS manor may have derived from the 92 a. which Robert Malet held of John FitzJohn in 1279. (fn. 66) It was later held by Henry Street (d. c. 1430), whose daughter Joan married John Ansty (d. 1460). John left the manor to his widow Joan with remainder to their daughter Mary who married Henry Langley, but died without issue. Mallets passed to another daughter Joan, wife of William Alington (d. 1479) of Bottisham. (fn. 67) After Joan Alington's death in 1493 Mallets passed to her other sister Elizabeth, who survived her husband William Taylard (fn. 68) (d. 1505), of Diddington (Hunts.). It descended to their son Walter (d. 1515) and then to his son Sir Laurence Taylard (d. 1573). (fn. 69) In 1598 Robert Brundell sold the manor to John Wyse, (fn. 70) who left three daughters as coheirs. It passed to his son-in-law Robert Killingsworth, who bought 20 a. in 1600. (fn. 71) In 1712 Mallet's main holdings were in Church field north-east of the parish church. (fn. 72) It was owned by Walter Serocold in the late 18th century, thereafter descending with Upperhall manor. (fn. 73)

The RECTORY manor was derived from the 100 a. held with lordship over ten villeins by the rector in 1279. (fn. 74) Following successive grants of the advowson c. 1273 by John FitzJohn to the bishop of Ely and by the bishop in 1335 to the master and fellows of Peterhouse, the church was finally appropriated to the college in 1395. The rectorial estate remained with Peterhouse thereafter, being leased to a succession of tenants, including in the late 17th century Walter Serocold. (fn. 75) After inclosure in 1810 it included c. 345 a. (fn. 76) It was leased by successive members of the Doggett family c. 1883-1929. (fn. 77) In 1965 the college owned 300 a. of farmland, chalk pits (10 a.), allotments (15 a.), and Cherry Hinton School's freehold. (fn. 78) Thereafter it sold most of its remaining land piecemeal including 10 a. of allotments in 1983. In 1998 it retained the chalk pits, 5 a. of allotments, 15 a. used for science parks, and the school's freehold.

In 1503 Thomas Willows granted c. 45 a. (18 ha.) to Gonville Hall (Cambridge), to which in 1708 W. Peters left 66 a. (26½ ha.) copyhold of Netherhall manor. (fn. 79) After inclosure Caius College's main Hinton holdings were in Fendon field, immediately to the west of Netherhall's farmland. (fn. 80) Between 1830 and 1857 its land was leased out to William Ventris. (fn. 81) In 1875 the college purchased 25 a. from John Okes, and 81 a. from G. and A. J. Keeble in 1903. Its lands were sold off piecemeal in the 20th century, and in 1998 it retained 20 a. (fn. 82)

The village's largest house in the 19th and 20th centuries, Cherry Hinton Hall, was not associated with any long-established manor, although the ornamental fish ponds in its grounds may derive from the moat of a medieval manor house. Between 1831 and 1833 John Okes, a surgeon at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, purchased the old inclosures at Mill End Close, and the land at Mill End common from William and Mary Ventris, John Headley, and John Truslove, and the land at the rear of Daws Lane, along with several other plots, which provided the site for building the hall. (fn. 83) The date 1839 scratched on its roof accords with the house's stylistic features. (fn. 84) It was built in a late Tudor style, with a billiard room being added in the late 19th century on the western side. The south front is asymmetrical in plan and elevation, the porch and the eastward part being slightly higher than the west. On the north side is a four-light transomed window, and the east part of the house retains two original fireplaces of grey polished stone. In 1851 there was a household of eight people and five servants. (fn. 85) Okes resided there until c. 1875, and from 1883 until 1888 it was owned by Charles Balls. (fn. 86) A retired army surgeon lived there c. 1892-1900, and c. 1904-28 it was the home of Thene Neal, a London financier. (fn. 87) From the 1890s until the 1930s successive owners allowed the Hall's grounds to be used for village fêtes, performances of the village band, and other social activities. (fn. 88) In the late 1920s and early 1930s the Hall was owned by two owners, the last being Lt.Col. Brocklehurst. (fn. 89)

Between 1933 and 1939 it was purchased by Cambridge borough council, being used as a youth hostel before the Second World War. In 1939 it was converted into the headquarters of the Fire Service, but shortly afterwards was used to house children evacuated from London. (fn. 90) After the Second World War it served briefly as a orphanage, and then as a nursery until 1988, when it became the headquarters of the East Anglian Arts Board. (fn. 91) In the 1990s the Board shared the Hall with the city council's parks department, and the grounds and part of the hall were open to public in 2000. In the grounds there is a one-storeyed lodge, dating from the early 19th century, built of gault bricks with a tiled roof. The lodge was converted into private accommodation in the 1950s. (fn. 92) The ornamental fish ponds and the weir to the north of the Hall were created in 1855, and the paddock behind it was converted into a games field in the 1960s. In the late 20th century the front gardens were well maintained, and the Hall with its bird sanctuary and the fish ponds provided a quiet environment on the city's outskirts.