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CHAPTER 3 THE MEDIAEVAL VILLAGE For our time is a very shadow that passeth away, and after our end there is no returning; for it is fast sealed, so that no man cometh again. Book of Wisdom Early in the 13th century there appeared in Shephall the first of the De Broc family.
Lawrence de Broc is reputed to be the grandson of Ranulph de Broc, Constable of Saltwood Castle near Canterbury, where the conspirators spent the night before the murder of Thomas a Becket. A pedigree made by one of his descendants four centuries later is believed suspect in parts, but there seems no purpose in falsifying this branch of the family tree. Lawrence's father Robert is stated to have married a Beauchamp, and Lawrence himself a daughter of Robert Mallett of Quainton, Buckinghamshire, while his son Hugh married Agnes de Montfitchet. The Beauchamp and Montfitchet families both held lands in this district. Lawrence was also granted a field in Wymondley for homage and service given to Giles de Argentein, but that was only a start. When he died in 1275 he held 300 acres of the Abbot of St. Albans With a capital messuage, gardens and a wood. This must have been at Shephall. From the Abbot of Westminster he held 200 acres of arable pasture and a windmill at Stevenage. Over 400 acres were held from other local owners such as Ivo de Homlie, Giles de Argentein, John de WIvenewicke and Robert de Gravelie. Hugh, his son and heir, inherited his right in the manors of Stivenach, Scepehale, Wenlintone; Broke, Suthcote and Prestone in Bucks; Summertone, Agmondesham, Stanes, Swanschamps (Kent), La Mandeleine (Oxon) and manors elsewhere. Among the traditional rents were one pound of cummin, a pair of gloves and a clove gillyflower. In the pedigree these de Brocs are named as Sir ... de Broc, Lord of Shephall, so they probably lived here for part of the year, moving on to other estates as supplies dwindled. Hugh's son, another Lawrence, disposed of his possessions in Stevenage and other local lands in 1303 to a kinsman of his wife:
About this time licence was granted to the Brocs, Lords of Burleigh, for a chantry in the chapel at Burleigh, a manor in Stevenage close by Knebworth and a detached portion of the parish of Letchworth. A Ralph de Broc held lands in Shephall later in the 14th century. After he died his large estate was split between three daughters, and the lands at Shephall were assigned to Ellen, wife of Edmond Mordaunt, Lord of Turvey. In 1376 an exchange of land was made between her son and Thomas de Ardres, who forfeited his lands in Turvey for the Broc lands in Shephall. Ellen's sisters had lands at Stevenage. Their descent is not known, but towards the end of the 15th century they were in possession of an Edmund Node. Manors and parts of manors changed hands or were split up or amalgamated at the deaths of their owners, frequently changing names in the process. For instance, Cussans refers to
Brekesborn is another name for Canwick, from John Chertsey of Broxbourne who held Half Hyde in the early 15th century, but the farm which was still known as Half Hyde and farmed as such up to the middle of this century was a much smaller holding with the farmhouse, buildings and cottages all within the parish of Shephall. Whomerley or Homeley was once a moated homestead in the wood which formed a boundary betwixt Shephall and Stevenage. Lately and locally it was known as Umbley Wood, and it appears as Omley on the first Ordnance Survey map of 1834. In 1474 a messuage in Stevenage called Bromesend and a messuage in Shephall called Brooms are part of the manor of Half Hyde. The fields and small wood which lay north of the Red Lion were known as Little Brooms, Brooms and Brooms Wood. Was this the holding called Brooms referred to by Simon Ward of Hinxworth in a land transfer in the fifth year of Henry VIII's reign, 40 years later?
Is this the origin of the house with a moat which later became known as the Red Lion? As late as 1600 the Mordaunt family occurs in connection with the manors of Half Hyde, Shephall, Stevenage, Holmley and Bromesend when with other estates they were sold to Rowland Lytton. So the de Brocs, Lords of Shephall, disappear, leaving no trace of which we are aware, unless they left their mark on the roof trusses in the church, which have been dated as around 1340. And what part was being played at this time by the landlord, the Abbot of St. Albans? In 1286 the Abbot claimed view of frankpledge, amendment of the assize of bread and ale, gallows and return of writs in his manors of Codicote, Norton and Shephall. The view of frankpledge was the inspection to make sure the system of tything was stiII working. The area would be divided into groups often men, all bound to stand security for the others' good behaviour. The assize of bread and ale laid down the price of those goods according to the current prices of corn and malt. There followed the century of the Black Death, and the Abbey and the manors suffered greatly. Pilgrims from London and those who fled in terror spread the disease far and wide. The three words incised into the wall of Ashwell church (only twelve miles to the north) describe it well -'Lamentable, savage and violent'. Many of the records of the Abbey have been lost, and we do not know whether our little corner of Hertfordshire escaped. The last quarter of the century brought the Peasants' Revolt. For over a hundred years the townspeople of St. Albans had been contesting the rights of their abbots, several times in open revolt, always put down by force of arms. Thomas de la Mare was a particularly harsh abbot intent on increasing the domains of his abbey and extending its authority. In 1381 the peasants of Essex and Kent marched on London and the people of St. Albans seized the opportunity for their own protest. Within days the scattered estates of the abbey were involved, each village demanding its own charter of liberties, and Shephall is listed in the Gesta Abbatum as one of the villages receiving a charter. A month later Richard II came to the abbey, his royal decree annulling all the concessions granted. All the people of Hertfordshire between the ages of 15 and 60 were called to St. Albans and in the Abbey courtyard gave their oath of fealty to the King, promising to be faithful and never again to revolt. At the turn of the 14th century Abbot John, in the five years he was in charge, made great improvements in the various manors: ) A happy picture, a hive of activity, as stonemasons and carpenters went to work on the shelters and pens for the stock, barns for the crops, perhaps repairs to the homes, the village folk pitching in alongside the monks. And then the new stock arriving; some feasting, surely, as they all looked forward to better times in the new century. During the summer of 1978, excavations at St. Albans Abbey revealed the burial place of several abbots of the period 1077-1401, interred by custom in the Chapter House. These remains were re-buried within the Norman abbey, and at a special service on 21st November 1979 a stone, of Welsh slate with their names, was unveiled to mark the spot at the top of the Presbytery steps. A vespers of the dead was sung by a monastic choir drawn from several Benedictine houses, and a wonderful procession included Abbots, Priors, Cures, Bishops and a Cardinal together with dignitaries of St. Albans representing many past links with these monks. I was there too, in the congregation, paying my last respects to those ancient landlords of my village of Shephall. All this time, building would be going on at the village church, replacing and embellishing. The chancel screen in all its original beauty was carved in the 15th century together with a matching pulpit (the present pulpit is a later copy). The list of vicars is incomplete for the early years; the first name is that of Robert Goderich in 1351. William Ledys, who died in 1458 made his will as follows:
This is the earliest record of the dedication of the church that I have found. It is the most common early one; and of course the original will is in Latin so the dedication reads 'beate Marie de Sepehalle'. Let us hope that William Dards was able to keep the commemoration for the 24 complete years. Thirty years later a yeoman, John Kimpton, died leaving twelve pence for ten obits (requiem masses) before the high altar and 'a cow to light my tomb'- a cow to be sold to provide money for candles. Another, Thomas Hyde, left forty pence to the high altar and forty pence to the fabric of the church. Joan Rumbold, who died in 1512, was a God-fearing widow left with a smallholding. She had shear hogs, a bullock and a cow besides ewes and lambs to leave to her relatives, friends and godchildren. She also disposed of kirtles and gowns. Robert Watson, who was priest at Shephall for thirty years, was given offerings for the high altar, an ewe and a lamb for the light of the Blessed Mary, and also in the will was money for the torches and the new cross. So by the early years of the 16th century there was in the church a statue or image of St. Mary with candies and other lights, and a beautiful new cross for the congregation to gaze on. No doubt there were coloured pictures on the walls, making the church a place of wonder for the people of the village, whatever their status. In 1553 at the direction of King Edward VI an inventory of all church goods in England was returned; at that time Shephall St. Mary's had two bells in the steeple, a chalice of silver parcell guilt (gilt), vestments of white and red silk and one of fuschian (fustian), albs and altar cloths of linen, copes of red and green silk, a cross of copper and gilt and two handbells. There was a painted canopy and other linens and silks. Outside the church on the East window are two small effigies; the historian Salmon, writing in 1728, gives the impression that they were then inside the church and in a different window:
Could they be Henry I and his Queen Adelezia? or Lawrence de Broc and his lady, Millicent? or perhaps George and Margaret Nodes. Maybe only the stonemason and his wife. Wouldn't it be nice to know? HERE REST THE MORTAL REMAINS OF ABBOTS FROM 1077 TO 1401 PAUL OF CAEN RICHARD D'ALBINI GEOFFREY OF GORRON RALPH GUBION ROBERT OF GORRON SIMON WARIN OF CAMBRIDGE JOHN de CELLA WILLIAM OF TRUMPINGTON JOHN OF HERTFORD JOHN de la MOOTE And also of ROBERT OF THE CHAMBER father of Pope Adrian IV ADAM THE CELLARER Prior ADAM WITTENHAM ADAM ROUS Surgeon to Edward III REMOVED in 1978 from THE CHAPTER HOUSE SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD |
