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Derbyshire
THE MANOR OF BOLSOVER FROM 1066 TO 1553
In 1066 Leofric had 3 carucates assessed to the geld at Bolsover. He was succeeded after the
Conquest by William Peverel, from whom the manor was held in 1086 by an under-tenant
named Robert.
William I gave Peverel custody of Nottingham castle when it was built in 1068, together with
extensive possessions in Nottinghamshire and adjoining counties which became known as the
honor of Peverel, including 14 manors in Derbyshire. Peverel died in 1114 and was succeeded
by a son, also named William, who was later a prominent supporter of King Stephen. His
estates were forfeited for a time and Nottingham castle committed by the Empress Maud to
the custody of William Paynel. Peverel recovered the castle in 1143. Ten years later William
Peverel was believed to have poisoned Ranulph earl of Chester. Shortly after his accession in
1154 Henry II visited Nottinghamshire to disinherit Peverel, either because of the death of the
earl of Chester or, more probably, to punish him for what he had previously termed his
wickedness and treason. At the king's approach Peverel retired to one of the religious houses
founded by his father, possibly Lenton, near Nottingham, and became a monk. Early in 1155
the honor of Peverel was forfeited to the Crown, in whose hands it remained for nearly half a
century.
In 1165 the sheriff was pardoned 33s. 4d. due from the demesne of Bolsover and in 1173 his
successor was similarly excused 50s. in respect of 2½ knights' fees due from the manor. This
was also done in 1201 and at other times, and suggests that Bolsover had once been granted
out by knight service to an under-tenant of the Peverels. The sheriff accounted for 50s. for the
scutage of Bolsover in 1187.
In 1174 land in Bolsover worth £20 3s. yearly farm was granted to Gerbod de Escalt, for
which the sheriff accounted regularly until 1188. From 1167 the sheriff accounted for 3s. a
year for a purpresture in Bolsover containing a bovate of land; in 1181–2 the payment was
disputed because Gerbod was said to have the land in question, and it was not collected in
later years.
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In 1189, immediately after his accession, Richard I gave his brother John, on his marriage to
Isabel, the youngest of three daughters and coheiresses of William earl of Gloucester, the
castle of Peak with the honor, the castle of Bolsover, with all the lands which had belonged to
William Peverel, and the town of Nottingham with that honor. As soon as Richard left for the
third Crusade John plotted against the chancellor, William Longchamp, bishop of Ely. As as a
result the two Derbyshire castles were taken back by the regents and Bolsover was committed
to Richard of the Peak, who received 20 marks a year as keeper in the early 1190s. In 1193,
when John rebelled again, Bolsover was among his castles that were besieged.
William Brewer succeeded as keeper in 1194–5, recompensing Richard for corn he had sown
on the demesne and repairing the buildings there. The manor was tallaged with the rest of the
honor of Peverel in 1196–7, when the sheriff accounted for £20 3s. for lands in Bolsover, i.e.
those previously held by Gerbod. Both the following year and after John succeeded to the
throne the sheriff regularly accounted for £232 12s. yearly farm due from the honor, including
£20 3s. from Bolsover, and also for 50s. scutage due from the manor for 2½ knights' fees.
Bolsover was tallaged £4 13s. in 1206 and 6 marks in 1214.
In September 1199 Richard I granted one of his continental allies, Miles de Puiset, count of
Bar, Bolsover castle together with the farm of Bolsover, worth £20 3s. a year, and also
Whittington and Brimington and £20 from the manor of Ashbourne. This arrangement
presumably came to an end with Richard's death later the same year.
In 1204 John committed Bolsover castle to William Brewer. He was succeeded four years
later by Brian de Lisle, who was also to have the vill and stock with the castle. In 1209 the
castle was committed to Nicholas de Chenet, although it was back in de Lisle's hands the
following year, together with the rest of the honor of Peverel. In 1215 the castle was besieged
by rebel barons and recaptured for the king by William earl of Ferrers. In May 1216 de Lisle
was ordered to fortify the castle if he could and hold it against the king's enemies. If he could
not, he was to ensure that his enemies gained no benefit from it.
In June 1216 Brian was ordered to hand the castle without delay to Gerard de Furnival, who
was to be keeper during pleasure and to occupy the castle with his wife and household. This
instruction was superseded two months later when Gerard was ordered to hand the castle to
William de Ferrers, earl of Derby. In October Gerard was told that the castle, with the
homage, had been granted to Ferrers to hold until the new king, Henry III, reached the age of
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14. The order for the delivery of Bolsover was repeated again in June 1217; Gerard refused to
surrender his charge and the earl eventually took the castle by force. A month later the knights
and serjeants in the castle were granted safe conduct to leave. Ferrers was returned in 1219 as
holding the manor of Bolsover with the soke as an escheat of the honor of Peverel. Also that
year Ralph fitzNicholas, the earl's steward, was ordered not to destroy the woods belonging to
what was called the `honor' of Bolsover and to desist from `building towns' to the damage of
the king's forest.
Ferrers was warned in June 1222 to surrender Bolsover and Peak castles; in December John
Russell and William Rughedon were sent to take custody of them; the following month
William Brewer was allowed 6 marks for expenses incurred in receiving the castles; and in
February 1223, after Ferrers had issued a charter confirming that he had returned the castles to
the king, Brian de Lisle was granted Bolsover to hold during the king's pleasure, in letters that
again refer to the knights and tenants of the `honor' of Bolsover. Many years later, in 1237,
Ferrers was allowed £10 for expenses incurred in tilling and sowing the lands of the manor of
Bolsover in the year before the king took it back into his hands.
Brian de Lisle was still in possession of Bolsover in November 1223 but the following month
the castle was committed to Robert of Lexinton, who kept it for only ten weeks before it was
granted to William Brewer in March 1224. By October that year Laurence of Burton had
custody of Bolsover, which twelve months later was committed once again to Robert of
Lexinton. In May 1226 the king granted the castle and town of Bolsover to Robert of
Tattershall, who was to render a farm of £30 a year, although he was also paid 60 marks a
year for the custody of the castle. The farm was in arrears in 1228 and 1232. Also in 1231–2
the Exchequer was still trying to recover arrears due from Brian de Lisle for his custody of the
castle in 1223, and noted that the lordship of Bolsover owed money from earlier scutages.
At the end of January 1233 Hugh le Despenser was appointed to keep Bolsover castle during
pleasure; a week afterwards the office was given to Gilbert of Segrave; and later in February
William Basset was appointed. Basset held the post for only twelve months, when Brian de
Lisle was made keeper of the castle, with the manor, for life. His appointment lasted only
until June 1234, when de Lisle was twice ordered to hand the castle to Richard Siward, to
whom the king had committed it during pleasure. Siward was superseded in February 1235 by
William Ferrers, who was in turn succeeded by John Gubaud in May 1236.
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Gubaud was paid his stipend of 60 marks a year as keeper of the castle until Midsummer
1239, when he delivered it to Henry of Hastings. Henry's wife Ada was one of the sisters and
coheirs of John Scot, earl of Chester, after whose death in 1237 the county of Chester was
annexed to the Crown. In 1238 the king undertook to make reasonable exchange to John's
heirs and until their respective purparties could be extended granted them other estates as
security, including, in the case of Ada's share of her brother's inheritance, the castle and
manor of Bolsover. Hastings was still holding Bolsover in 1241, when he was excused
payment of tallage on the manor, but in 1245 he was ordered to deliver the castle to Robert de
Crepping, to whom the king had granted it during pleasure. Robert, together with Thomas de
Stanford, were paid for keeping the castle until the summer of 1248, when they were ordered
to deliver it to Robert le Vavasour.
Vavasour was succeeded by Roger de Lovetot in 1255, although Robert's executors only
received his salary of £5 a year for keeping the castle for seven years in 1259. In 1270 his
granddaughters and heirs had to settle arrears that remained due from his period of office in
Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, a debt from which they were not finally acquitted until
1285. Lovetot was in turn replaced by Alan le Usher, to whom the castle was committed late
in 1257 in lieu of a fee of £50 a year due to him from the county of York, and to whom Roger
was ordered to hand over all the corn in the manor. In 1260–1 and again in 1268 Alan was
excused payment of tallage due from Bolsover. At the beginning of the Barons' War Bolsover,
Nottingham and Horston castles were committed to John de Grey, who in April 1264 was
ordered to victual them.
Alan le Usher was regranted the castle and manor of Bolsover in 1274 and once again
excused payment of tallage. The following year the estate was committed to Thomas de
Normanville, who was ordered to hand Bolsover and other estates in Derbyshire to the king.
This was to enable Edward I to grant the castle and town of Bolsover to Queen Eleanor to
hold in dower for her life, with reversion to the Crown on her death. The return of the estate
was marked in 1290 by the appointment of Walter de la Grave as keeper of the castle and
demesne lands and woods, to hold at farm for £50 a year. He was succeeded in 1299 by John
Deincourt and Stephen le Eyre, who were to pay 80 marks a year. They were followed in
1302 by Ralph Pypard, when the castle and town of Bolsover were again extended at 80
marks. Pypard had in turn been replaced by 1304 by Master John de Everdon.
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In 1310 Edward II granted the castle and manor to Robert Maule for his life, for his good
service to himself and his father, at the yearly rent of a sore hawk (or a black sparrowhawk),
although in 1316 the king was returned as lord of Bolsover. In the same year Robert was
acquitted of the old farm of 80 marks; he was also excused payment of tallage on the demesne
lands of Bolsover and allowed to tallage them for his own use. In 1330 Robert's son, also
named Robert de Maule, was given a new grant of Bolsover at a rent of 60 marks a year,
which he was pardoned in 1339. Five years later Robert's wife Ellen was granted the right to
retain Bolsover should her husband predecease her, and in 1354 Robert was granted free
warren in all the demesne lands which he held for life in Bolsover, Clowne and Whaley,
provided that they were not within the king's forest.
The younger Robert de Maule died in 1358, when Bolsover, still valued at £40, was granted
with other estates for life to Richard de la Vache in place of various sums previously paid
him. Richard died in September 1365, whereupon Robert Clement of Bolsover occupied the
castle and took the issues of the estate until the following June, when William Emeley was
appointed to keep the courts at Bolsover and to receive the issues.
In 1376 the manor of Bolsover was granted for life to Sir Richard Stury, in place of an
annuity of 100 marks, which he surrendered. The grant was twice confirmed by Richard II in
1378 and 1393. After Stury died in October 1395 the castle and lordship of Bolsover were
granted the following January to Sir Nicholas Clifton, with a fee of 40 marks a year. In June
1396 John de Calall of Chesterfield complained that over the previous three years Clifton,
described as a great maintainer and extortioner, had broken into his house, stolen goods worth
£100, detained sheep worth £20, assaulted him and forced him to swear that he would never
sue about these matters. The complaints were upheld.
Clifton died in 1396 and in July that year Simon Ward and John Sherwind were granted the
manor of Bolsover for their lives and in survivorship. Both men were dead by 1399, when Sir
Thomas Colvile was given Ward's moiety and Robert Little the other portion. Colvile died in
1405, when his share of the manor was committed to Sir Robert Litton for 20 years at a rent
of £18; Litton already had a grant for life of the other moiety.
After Litton's death the whole of the manor was committed in 1415 to Sir Roger Leche and
his son Philip Leche for a further term of 20 years at a rent of £36 13s. 4d. They appear to
have defaulted within a few years, and in 1419 Henry Bate, John Bate the younger and
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Thomas Baret took the estate for a further 20 years at the same rent, although the manor was
said to be waste. In 1427 part of the manor of Repton held by Philip Leche was seized after
his death because he owed £40 11s. 5½d. in arrears of his farm of Bolsover. The following
year the Bates and Baret surrendered their farm, which was re-granted for 12 years at the
same rent as before to Henry Etwall. His tenure lasted only until 1429, when the manor was
granted to Sir Ralph Cromwell for a similar term at the same rent. His tenancy was renewed
for a further 12 years in 1445, initially at the substantially increased figure of £56 13s. 4d.,
although this was reduced the following year to the old rent and Cromwell was to have
allowance for any annuities or assignments granted out of the manor.
One such annuity was that of £20 granted by Henry V to William Mynors and James Legh, of
which 20 marks were payable to Mynors and 10 marks to Legh, a grant confirmed by Henry
VI in 1424 and (in Legh's case) on at least four later occasions. In 1444 Legh's grant was
amended to include his wife Alice and in survivorship; in March 1447 the grant to Mynors
was extended to his son, also named William, and in survivorship; they were also to have the
other 10 marks after the death of Alice Legh. The elder Mynors died later in 1447 and in 1452
the younger Mynors was granted 53 marks 9s. 2d. from Bolsover in place of the grant of 20
marks and two other pensions.
Another annuity was that for £18 granted in 1406 to Robert Twyford for life. In 1442 the
grant was extended to Twyford and Thomas Staunton and in survivorship; Cromwell was still
making payments to Staunton and to Alice Legh out of the manor of Bolsover five years later.
Cromwell evidently surrendered his lease of Bolsover sometime before his death in 1456, for
in 1453 Henry VI granted the manor to Edmund earl of Richmond, and Jasper earl of
Pembroke, his uterine brothers. Edmund died in 1457, leaving an infant son, Henry, as his son
and heir. The estate was next granted, in August 1462, to William Neville earl of Kent,
Edward IV's uncle. After Neville died in January 1463 without male issue, Bolsover was
granted to the king's brother, George duke of Clarence. During the same period local
gentlemen secured the offices of steward, receiver or auditor of Bolsover, including Henry
Pierrepont in 1463, Thomas Bingham in 1474, John Durant in 1475, and Gervase Clifton in
1477. In the early 16th century John Tompson was receiver of Bolsover; after his death first
William Keby and then John Carleton were appointed to the office, both in 1511.
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In 1475 William Lord Hastings was appointed constable of Nottingham castle, with a salary
of 40 marks payable out of the manor of Bolsover. He was succeeded in 1484 by Sir Charles
Pilkington, who was to be paid in the same way. He was also to be paid 6d. a day out of the
manor as his salary as bailiff of Mansfield, and was made keeper of various woods in
Sherwood. In 1489 Sir Thomas Lovell was appointed constable of Nottingham, his salary
paid in part out of the manor of Bolsover, and was granted the stewardship of Bolsover and
two other manors as soon as the offices became vacant. He vacated the positions in 1519,
when a new grant was made to Lovell and Thomas, Lord Ross. After Lovell died the office
was granted in 1524 to George, earl of Shrewsbury.
The stewardship was again linked with the office of constable of Nottingham castle in 1547,
when Henry, earl of Rutland was appointed to both, for his life, as fully as either his father
Earl Thomas or Sir Anthony Browne had held them, receiving 40 marks out of the manor of
Bolsover and £9 from the King's Meadow near Nottingham castle. After Henry's death the
constableship of the castle and stewardship of Bolsover were granted to Roger Manners esq.
in 1563, to hold during the minority of Edward, earl of Rutland. A year later the keepership of
several parks in Nottinghamshire was granted to Thomas Markham during Edward's minority
at a salary of £13 6s. 8d. payable out of the manor of Bolsover. Rutland was himself
appointed constable of Nottingham castle and steward of the manors of Bolsover, Horsley and
Mansfield (Notts.) in 1570. Well before this date, however, the manor and castle had passed
permanently out of Crown hands.
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