Hinton Netherhall

dating from Queen Edith c. 1050

IN THE GREAT SURVEY of England made in 1086 by William I, otherwise known as Domesday Book, the Lordship of Hinton Netherhall formed part of the larger manor of Hinton. Previous to the Norman invasion, Hinton had been a possession of Queen Edith, wife of Edward the Confessor. Queen Edith, who is thought to have been the eldest child of Earl Godwine of Wessex, was unusually well educated for a Saxon girl, receiving tuition at Wilton Abbey and married Edward the Confessor in 1045. Although sometimes referred to as “Lady,” she is also often described as “Queen” or “hallowed Queen”. She was renowned for her beauty and piety and tradition has it that Edward never consummated his marriage with her due to his own deeply held religious beliefs. Though pious, Edith was less scrupulous in politics and she is thought to have taken considerable bribes to influence the King and was considered to have inherited her family’s tendency to greed. She amassed considerable estates in Cambridgeshire, including Hinton Netherhall, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Essex, and Wessex. Her relationship with Edward was one of complete submissiveness in public, often sitting at his feet at banquets and he in turn is said to have loved her. Despite this, when her father and brothers, Earl Godwine and the future King Harold, were outlawed in 1051 for conspiring against him, Edward made no objection to the proposal of Archbishop Robert that he should be separated from her. All her property was seized, and she was exiled to Wilton Monastery. When her father was reconciled with the King a year later, Edith was allowed back to Court and her land, including the Lordship of Hinton Netherhall, was restored to her. She is said to have stood at the foot of Edward’s deathbed at Christmas 1065, cherishing his feet and trembling at his prophecy of evil. Edward commanded her into the care of her brother Harold, despite her affinity for the cause of Harold’s enemy, Earl Tostig of Northumbria, and on her husband’s death retired to Winchester to await the outcome of Tostig’s expected encounter with her brother. Tostig failed at the battle of Stamfordbridge, Yorkshire, in September 1066, and she is regarded then as wishing William Duke of Normandy to succeed her husband. It was no surprise, therefore, that after the Conqueror’s victory at Hastings in October of the same year she paid him tribute and acknowledged him as King. She survived the Norman conquest with her lands intact until her death in 1075.

In 1086, Hinton Netherhall was held of the Honour of Richmond and appears to have been in the possession of the Hinton family. The entry in Domesday for Hinton reads:

Count Alan holds Cherry Hinton. 7 hides.

Land for 13 ploughs.

In lordship 3 hides; 4 ploughs there.

19 villagers, 22 smallholders with 9 ploughs.

4 slaves; meadow for 3 ploughs, 4 mills at 25s;

pasture for the village livestock;

4 ploughshares, from the marshes 25d; from the cart 6d.

The total value is and was £18; before 1066, £12.

After this time it came into the hands of the Mowbrays, during the reign of Richard II (1377–1399). When the Mowbray line became extinct, in 1476, the Lordship passed to the Berkeley family. William, Marquess of Berkeley, then gave the Lordship to Sir Reginald Bray. Bray was the second son of Sir Richard Bray, who had been one of the Privy Council during the reign of Henry VI (1422–1461). Reginald began his career as the receiver-general of the household of Sir Henry Stafford. He spent the next few years discreetly fighting against the Yorkist cause and on the accession of Henry VII (1485–1509) in 1485 he joined the Tudors. He quickly became a favourite of Henry who rewarded him richly by making him a Knight of Bath and then a Knight of the Garter. When Henry went to France, in 1492, Bray was entrusted with looking after the King’s estates held of the Duchy of Lancaster. In 1495, he was granted, for life, the Isle of Wight, Carisbrooke Castle, and a number of Lordships. A year previous to this he had been made High Steward of Oxford and Cambridge universities. In 1497, there was a rebellion in Cornwall by Lambert Simnell, a pretender to the throne, and Bray fought for the King at the Battle of Blackheath. After the rebellion had been crushed, Bray was made Knight Banneret. He also was a talented architect and his designs can be seen in the form of St George’s Chapel at Windsor and Henry VII’s chapel at Westminster Abbey. He died in 1503, without issue, and the Lordship of Netherhall Hinton passed to the Savoy Hospital. When this institution was dissolved it was granted as part of the founding endowment of the Royal Hospitals of St Thomas’s and Christ’s in London in 1553, the Special Trustees of which are the present Lords of the Manor. A copy of the 1553 Grant of King Edward VI will be handed to the new owner.

The Lordship lies in the parish of Cherry Hinton, two miles to the south of Cambridge and today forms a suburb of the city. In the 17th and 18th century it was a noted centre for the production of saffron.

Source notes

Catalogue gifted & transcribed for the archive by the Lord of Finchingfield - a friend to learning

Historical holder / succession information

1. Berkeley family
   1476 · passed_to · historical_holder_or_transferee
   Source wording: When the Mowbray line became extinct, in 1476, the Lordship passed to the Berkeley family.
2. Savoy Hospital
   1503 · passed_to · historical_holder_or_transferee
   Source wording: He died in 1503, without issue, and the Lordship of Netherhall Hinton passed to the Savoy Hospital.