Mapperley Village

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Page 2

MAPPERLEY - EARLY HISTORY, DOMESDAY TO 1600

Introduction

The total land area of the modern Parish of Mapperley is 981 acres, or under two square miles. Prior to 1870, Mapperley was a detached part of the ancient Parish of Kirk Hallam and, thus, some records may appear under Kirk Hallam without separate reference to Mapperley. Much of the western half of the Parish is known as Park Hall.

Domesday, 1086

Before the Conquest, Staplewin had four bovates (perhaps 64 acres) of taxable land, valued at 16 shillings.

Mapperley was a single Manor held by the King and part of the Fee of William Peverel. A small block of land, half a carucate (60-70 acres), belonged to Spondon, a manor of Henry of Ferrers. Peverel's land was made up of Waste; Meadow, 1/2 acre; and woodland pasture 4 furlongs long and four wide (0.25 square miles, 160 acres).

Splitting of the Manor

On the death of King Stephen, 1154 AD, the Peverel family, who had rebelled, were stripped of their lands and Mapperley reverted to the Crown. Under King Henry II, the Peverel lands, or most of them, then held by Ralph, son of Ingram, Lord of Norton and Alfreton, Sheriff of Nottingham and Derby from 1155 to 1163.

King John, who reigned from 1199 to 1216, seems to have used Mapperley to reward his supporters but either the Manor was not bestowed as a single holding or else it soon became divided. What may have happened was that some of the Knight's Fees had been given to the Barony of Burun, whose last male heir, Baron Roger de Burun, died in the late 12th Century. King John bestowed the barony on William Briewer (also spelt de Briwer, Briewerre, or Brewer, or de Barewe), who paid Scutage for the Honour of Burun in 1206. William Briewer was Sheriff of Nottingham and Derby from 1195 to 1212. In 1224, William Briewer Senior and Junior are recorded in the Pipe Roll and the elder William died in 1239.

Roger de Burun's sister Aelina (Aalina or Adelina) was married to Peter of Sandiacre and, thus, the Sandiacre family was able to secure some of the Burun lands. Peter de Sandiacre is recorded as having paid 20 marks for the fees of Roger de Burun in 1199. King John, however, forced Peter of Sandiacre to accept certain land exchanges, such as Horsley (Harestan, Horston) Castle, the seat of the Barony, for lesser lands in Litchurch and, perhaps, Mapperley. Certainly, the Feodary of 1243 recorded that Peter's descendant, Sir Richard of Sandiacre, had held the whole vill of Mapperley from the King in exchange for (or by the service of) providing kennels for a pack of hounds although by that time it was held by others (see below).

Another division of the Peverel lands was that given to the Morteyn family (in some records they appear as Morton). In 1198, Eustace de Morteyn paid 100 shillings for the Honour of Peverel. Nearly a century later, a charter relating to Mapperley had as its principal witness "Dominus Roger de Morteyn, tunc Dominus de Maperlay" (Lord Roger Morteyn, Lord of Mapperley).

Parts of the Manor

The foregoing illustrates that the story of Mapperley is not a simple one but the evidence is that, at least after the ownership by the Sandiacre family, there was a division of the Township, or vill, into the following land areas.

The Manor of Mapperley

A Court Roll of the Manor of Mapurley, dated 1405-7, is for the Court of Sir Edmund de Willoughby, of the Wollaton, Nottinghamshire, branch of the family. In 1408, a Great Court was held by Sir John Dabriggecourt . Most probably, these men held the courts on behalf of the King, as the main Lord of the Manor, and they did not actually hold the lordship themselves.

The Exchequer Records for 1431 listed two freeholders for "Mapurley", one was Sir Robert Strelley of Strelley and the other was Hugh Morteyn of Mapperley, gentleman. After around 1200 the main bulk of the Parish seems to have devolved through these two families until finally, in 1547, it was merged again. Two other families, the Ingrams and the Vavasours play lesser roles.

The Strelley Family

The most notable of the early land-holders in Mapperley was Hugh of Strelley (Hugonis de Streleg') who, with his wife Matilda de Jorz, received permission, in 1224-38, from Alexander Stavensby bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, to set up a private chapel in the manor house at Mapperley; subject to the safeguarding of the rights of Henry the vicar of Kirk Hallam and the canons of Dale, as patrons of the parish. It was to be a purely personal chapel for Hugh and Matilda and their family and they were urged still to try to attend the mother church at Kirk Hallam.

Hugh, also known as Hugh de Wermundesworth (perhaps meaning "of Warmsworth"), is believed to have been the third son of Lord Sampson of Strelley in Nottinghamshire. He was recorded as a witness to a Rufford Abbey Charter in the company of Philip de Strelley (thought to be the second son of Sampson), Robert le Vavasour and Eustace de Morteyn. Hugh held land in Kirk Hallam and Sandiacre, which Sir Richard of Sandiacre had sold to him before 1237, as the Feodary for that year records "Hugh de Strelley holds 15 acres (of the serjeanty of Sandiacre)". Numerous land grants are recorded involving Sir Richard and it seems clear that the Sandiacre family was in financial trouble, as his son, John, finally sold the family home at Sandiacre to William de Grey.

After Hugh's death in 1254-5, it looks as if his sons, Nicholas and Roger, preferred not to live at Mapperley as, in 1255, Nicholas, whose wife was Joanna, granted one messuage (main farmhouse) and one ploughland (about 120 acres) in Mapperley to Robert le Vavasour of Shipley. Curiously, the Feodary of 1243 (referred to above) had stated that Robert le Vavasour and many others were "enfoeffed of this (the vill), which confuses the picture of ownership. Not long after, in 1259, Robert's son, William le Vavasour, and Matilda de Strelley were involved in a release of land to William by Matilda of 40 acres of land "and that messuage held by her of William in the same bill as dower". This suggests that Matilda, the widow of Hugh de Strelley, was marrying William. The actual land and messuage was granted to Thomas de Quappelode, William's attorney, for an annual rent of four shillings. A contemporary record names a Matilda de Sypele (Shipley?) as once holding land in Alsop.

Nicholas de Strelley is named in various documents as "de Wermundesworth" and as "de Breydeston" (Breaston, in south - east Derbyshire). Martin de Werniuridesworth, Nicholas' son, who is never referred to by the name "de Strelley", is not recorded as holding land in Mapperley. He had land at Wilsthorp ( Wyvelsthorpe ), near Breaston, but this ended, presumably due to his death, by 1346 and there is no record of his having any heirs.

The Vavasour Family

The Vavasour family held Shipley as their main estate and it had been their home since around 1150. William le Vavasour and Matilda seem to have had three children. Their son, Adam, inherited Shipley in 1264 but died in 1268 - 9. The inheritance passed to his sisters, Elizabeth and Anne (or Annoral). What happened to Anne is not known but Elizabeth married Sir Robert Strelley of Strelley, the grandson of Walter de Strelley, the eldest brother of Hugh. This marriage joined the Shipley and Mapperley under the already powerful Strelley family.

The Ingram Family

The agreement between William le Vavasour and Matilda has a footnote stating that "Robert, son of John Ingeram, of Nottingham, puts in his claim". The year earlier, 1258, the Ingram family (Ingeram, Ingerham) had registered a Fine in which the same Robert, son of John Ingram, was granted 21 shillings rents held in Mapperley by William, son of Robert's uncle, also named Robert Ingram. The Fine also included other lands held in fee of the Earl of Ferrers. This appears to have been the lands under Spondon which were recorded in Domesday.

Earlier the family of Walkelin and Goda was mentioned as being associated with the de Ferrers family, the earls of Derby, in the founding of Darley Abbey. A second family, that of "Hugh the Dean", was similarly involved. Hugh the Dean's grand-daughter, Lady Eustacia, had married Peter Ingram in the early 13th century. The Ingram family were from Nottingham and this marriage brought them land in Derby. Peter's sons Peter, also known as Swyft of Derby, and John, also known as John de la Cornere, were burgesses of Derby and are described as descendants of Hugh, dean of Derby. John Ingram had three children - Robert, John and Matilda. So, it seems highly likely, as Robert had a claim on Matilda de Strelley's land, that Matilda was his sister and that she married three times; first, to a member of the de Jorz family, then to Hugh de Strelley and, last, to William le Vavasour. The story of land passing from the King to the de Ferrers family, then to the Ingrams, to the Strelleys and on to the Vavasours is quite typical of the intricate routes of land acquisition and of the importance of strategic marriages to the great families of England.

The Strelley Family Again

Over the next three centuries, members of the Strelley family appear in the records as holding land in Mapperley. For instance, at an Inquisition on the death of William la Zouche, in 1381, Sir Robert Strelley, the great - great-grandson of the Sir Robert who married Elisabeth Vavasour, was recorded as living at Mapperley, with a freehold house worth 20 shillings per annum. The Feudal Aids for 1431 list the same Sir Robert Strelley, by now holder of the Strelley title, as having freehold in Mapurley, together with Hugh Morteyn of Mapurley. By 1441, John Strelley, esquire, had a charter for free warren in Shipley, Bilborouqh, Mapperley, Strelley, Trowel and Oxton but, in 1496, he granted "Mapurley", together with Shipley and Langley in Derbyshire arid many Nottinghamshire lands, to Henry Willoughby, Gervase Clifton and others (this probably was a grant for mortgage purposes).

The Morteyn Family

Earlier it was noted that Eustace de Morteyn paid 100 shillings for the Honour of Peverel in 1198. He died in 1223 and was succeeded by his son, also named Eustace. Then, in 1259, William de Mortisyn succeeded Eustace. In the middle to late 13th Century, Sir William de Morteyn was a co - landowner in Trowel, Notts., with Robert de Strelley, son of Walter de Strelley. He also was the overlord of Stanton and a contemporary of William of Sandiacre.

During the reign of Edward I (1272-1307), a charter concerning lands in Mapperley bears, as its principal witness, the name of "Dominus Roger de Morteyn, tunc Dominus of Maperlay" (Lord Roger de Morteyn, Lord of Mapperley). Presumably, Roger had succeeded William, who had died in 12B7-8. In 1302, Eustace son and heir of Robert de Morteyn had to pay relief for his lands.

We have already seen that the Exchequer records, or Feudal Aids, survey for the Crown in 1431 records Hugh Morteyn "of Mapperley" as having a freeholding in Mapperley. The only other freeholder listed was Sir Robert Strelley of Strelley, the great-great-grandson of the Sir Robert who married Elizabeth Vavasour.

William Morton of Mapperley, gent, and Alice, his wife, and Margaret Twyford sold land in Kirkelongley in 1457 but this was land of the inheritance of Alice.

In 1498 a Fine is recorded which tells of the sale of "the manor of Mapurley and 6 messuages, 3 tofts, 200 acres land, 40 acres meadow, 240 acres pasture, 30 acres woodland and 4 marks rent in Mapurley and Brayston" by Robert Morten and Alice, his wife, and John Morten and Margery, his wife, to George, Earl of Shrewsbury, Edward Hastings, Kt. lord Hastings, and Christopher Ursewyk, clerk.

Curiously, a land release dated 1507, has the names of Robert Morten of le Parkhalle, gent., and John Morten of Maperley, gent., among its witnesses.


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