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Sandridge
Village History Manor
Of Sandridge The Manor of Sandridge was given to St Albans Monastery by Egfrid, son of King Offa of West Mercia, in 796 A.D. as an atonement for his father's crimes (including murder and adultery). It remained in Church hands until the Dissolution in the 16th century. When a Manor is referred to it is meant to be the whole of the parish. In its early days the parish usually had one or two farms which themselves were called manors thus leading to some confusion for future historians. In the case of the Manor of Sandridge, it would appear that it had three sub-manors within the Manor, viz, Waterend, Bridehall and Robinstowe, all three being on or near the River Lea. The latter was absorbed into Waterend in the 16th century. Of these, Waterend is undoubtedly the earliest and was the most important. These three manors are described in very early times as 'held as of the Manor of Sandridge.' As the centuries progressed, more land was opened up and cultivated and arable farms developed and given names whose origins have been lost in antiquity. Both lessees and employees paid homage (which included service and later, money) to the Monastery if the farm was leased. St. Albans Monastery was the sole owner of the land and a law unto itself as in many cases ecclesiastical law superseded that of the land. It had the right to accept tenants on the farms, to reject or evict others and in all ways control the life of the people. It would grant, or lease, a farm, eg, Chalkdell, to a particular man who would be at liberty to sell it if he so wished or leave it in his will as an inheritance, but in all transactions there was a fee to be paid.. Once a family had received the grant of a farm, or manor, it was usually held for successive generations. He became the virtual owner of the land -- but all was subject to a series of continual payments to the abbacy during the tenancy of the land. The Monastery claimed death duties, inheritance tax, transfer tax, tithe, rent and many other kinds of payments. Despite a lease, the abbot retained his rights to mills and many of the tithes attached to a farm. So really, although the 'owner' of the land had paid a large sum for the grant, he still had payments to make throughout his tenure. When King Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries and abbeys in the 16th century, he confiscated all the Manors they owned and sold them to secular persons. The Manor of Sandridge was sold to Ralph Rowlatt, a London goldsmith and banker for just over £400, who took over the Monastery's role as landlord and kept much the same system going. He became the Lord of the Manor of Sandridge, a title inherited by his heirs and successors to the present day. In 1951 the Lord of the Manor, Earl Spencer, publicly auctioned all his holdings in the village and parish retaining only Nomansland Common for which he now charges a rent to the local authority. The present Lord of the Manor of Sandridge is Earl Spencer, brother of the late Princess Diana. In 1326 the Manor and mill (undoubtedly on the River Lea at Waterend) of Sandridge were mortgaged for twenty years by Abbot Hugh. For the first ten years of the lease of the Manor he received £180 for himself, and for the lease of the mill he received personally £30 for the same period of time. When challenged about these apparent 'back-handers', Hugh claimed that they recompensed him for, among other things, his many law-suits and for entertaining nobles who rose up against the King. It should be mentioned that Sandridge was not the only Manor involved in Abbot Hugh's financial arrangements. Source: Gesta Abbat ( Rolls Ser) ii 180 The Manor, with a water-mill (again undoubtedly Waterend) fishery, and one-half of the amercements, heriots, etc, was granted by the abbot and convent to: Robert Albyn of Hemel Hempstead 1331 for life, rent-free for fourteen years, and then for a rent of thirty quarters of wheat and thirty quarters of oats. Source: Pat 5 Edw III pt 2 m 31 At this period it may well be that all Sandridge consisted of farms-wise WAS Waterend, and perhaps a few cottages dotted over the parish with very few acres being farmed. The Manor was granted, ie, sold, by King Henry VIII to: Ralph Rowlatt 1540 - d1543 then descended to: Elizabeth, his wife, for life 1543 - ???? Sir Ralph Rowlatt, his son d1571 Ralph Jennings, nephew 1571 - d1571 Thomas Jennings 1572 - d1595 John Jennings 1595 - d1609 John Jennings was knighted in 1603 and died a lunatic in 1609. A Patent of James I in 1606 granted Sir John Jennings permission to 'admit by fine [ie, to pay for a lease] the Manor of Sandruge alias Sanruge alias Sandridge with appurtenances.' The names mentioned are: Henry Long, gentleman, and 1606 Simon Noble, gentleman 1606 The Patent lists the following as comprising the Manor of Sandridge: Twenty messuages (dwellings) Twenty tofts (dwellings) One mill (water-mill at ?Waterend) Two dovecotes (a dovecote at Waterend in 1303) Twenty gardens 1500 acres of land 60 acres of meadow 100 acres of woodland 300 acres of ?field and heath Ten librates of revenue on sight of frankpledge Liberties Franchises Appurtenances and the advowson of Sandridge vicarage. Nothing more can be found of these two gentlemen and in view of John Jennings' mental condition, it may well be that the Patent was otherwise dealt with. John Jennings 1609 - 1672 Richard Jennings b c1618 - d1668 Richard left the Manor to his three daughters, Barbara, Sarah and Frances. Sarah's husband, John Churchill, first Duke of Marlborough and Baron Churchill of Sandridge, bought out the shares of his wife's sisters. Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough 1660 - 1744 - married 1st Duke of Marlborough 1677 John Spencer, her grandson 1708 - 1746 John, first Earl Spencer 1734 - 1783 Descended in the same family down to the present day, ie, Earl Spencer, brother of the late Diana, Princess of Wales. He is the Lord of the Manor but all the leasehold properties which the family owned in Sandridge were sold off in the 1950s to pay death duties after the decease of the previous Earl. Today the family only owns a few acres of Nomansland Common, plus a few scattered plots in the district, but the Earl nevertheless retains the manorial title.
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