College: Northill

A History of the County of Bedford: Volume 1. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1904.

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'College: Northill', in A History of the County of Bedford: Volume 1( London, 1904), British History Online https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/vch/beds/vol1/p403 [accessed 26 November 2024].

'College: Northill', in A History of the County of Bedford: Volume 1( London, 1904), British History Online, accessed November 26, 2024, https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/vch/beds/vol1/p403.

"College: Northill". A History of the County of Bedford: Volume 1. (London, 1904), , British History Online. Web. 26 November 2024. https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/vch/beds/vol1/p403.

In this section

COLLEGE

23. THE COLLEGE OF NORTHILL

The parish church of Northill was made collegiate by the executors of Sir John Trailly and his son Reynold (fn. 1) in 1405 (fn. 2); the rectors of the church were from that time forward masters of the college. The endowment was intended to maintain four fellows besides the master, and two choristers (fn. 3); and this increase of the staff of clergy must have been a real benefit to the parish, which consisted of no less than seven hamlets at considerable distances from the parish church and also from one another. (fn. 4)

The royal commissioners sent to report on the condition of the chantries, colleges and hospitals in 1546 suggested that the college might well be turned into an almshouse, if that were the king's pleasure (fn. 5); and in 1548 reported that it was thought one priest alone would not be able to serve the cure. (fn. 6) It does not seem that any notice was taken of either of these suggestions.

In 1428 (fn. 7) the master of the College held two-thirds of a knight's fee in Tempsford, jointly with Robert Scot, of the barony of Eaton. The Valor Ecclesiasticus assigns to the college an income of £61 5s. clear (fn. 8); the Chantry Certificate states it at £56 3s. 7d., of which £22 10s. formed the stipend of the master. (fn. 9)

The first master was John Warden (fn. 10); the last was Thomas Grene. (fn. 11)

Footnotes

  • 1. Chant. Cert. (Beds), 1.
  • 2. Tanner, Not. Mon., gives the date 6 Henry IV., and says that Sir Gerard Braybrook was one of the executors. Sir John Trailly died 1401, and his son in 1402. An inscription in memory of the first master, John Warden, and containing these two dates, was in the chancel of Northill church in 1582 (Beds N. and Q. i. 67, from MS. notes of Francis Thynne, Lancaster Herald).
  • 3. Chant. Cert. (Beds), 1. The master was to have his board, the pay of one servant, and finding for two horses; the fellows their board; the choristers board, lodging and clothing.
  • 4. Ibid.
  • 5. Ibid.
  • 6. Ibid. 1.
  • 7. Feud. Aids, i. 57.
  • 8. Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv. 196.
  • 9. Chant. Cert. (Beds), 1.
  • 10. Beds N. and Q. i. 67.
  • 11. Chant. Cert. (Beds), 1.
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