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ECCLESIASTICAL.
THE BENEFICE.
The founding of the benefice or Church of Tollerton, as it was first called, is not recorded. As there was a church fabric at the time of the Norman survey we may safely assume that there was an existing provision for a parish priest at the time of the Conquest. It would be mere guesswork to suggest a time when first tithes and other property were assigned for the support of the parson.
The first definite mention which we have of an endowment is met with in the Lenton Register. From this we learn that in the beginning of the 12th century, the advowson, or right of appointment to the benefice was in the hands of one Ranulphus de Insula and his wife Matilda. Later events indicate that Ranulphus may only have held a mediety or share of the advowson, for two generations later a mediety was in the hands of the family who took the name de Torlavistune.
After a period in which the whole benefice was in the possession of Lenton Priory, it came back as an entire benefice to John Barry, to whom, for due equivalents, the Prior and Convent of Lenton re-conveyed it about 1270.
For centuries after this, the advowson was part of the Barrys’ estate, and most of the presentations to the living were made by them and their kindred successors. The few appointments by others, were made owing to purchases of the next presentation, or for some special reasons.
We have no means of estimating the value of the tithes, oblations, and other sources of the parson’s income in the earlier periods, but later we get from time to time some information to guide us. So far as this goes we see that the income of the parsons varied little, and was never very large.
In the Taxation Roll of Pope Nicholas IV of 1291 the clear annual value of the Church of Torlacton is given as 16 pounds.
In 1428 it is said that “Torlaston Church is taxed from ancient times at 24 marks”—the equivalent of the 16 pounds of 1291—and a subsidy was claimed of 32 shillings.
Feudal Aids iv, 146.
Thoroton has an undated note, that “in Mr. Barry’s time Rectory was £16.”
The Survey of 1535-36 in the reign of Henry VIII gives the value with meticulous accuracy as £15. 9. 4½; the yearly tenths being £1. 10. 11½; the archbishops synodals, 4d.; and the archdeacons procurations, 6/8. There was at this time a mansum or manse, and a close or closes adjacent to the house, some meadows, and tithes. The record is “Val. in mans, cum claus adjac. viz. 6 Bov. ter. et prat ibid. p. a. 1. 6. 8 in dec. garb, etc.”
Liber Valorum ii, 50.
At this time the parish of Tollerton paid 13d. in Pentecostals to Southwell, as compared with 15d. by Plumtree cum Clipston. This payment was continued until about 1800.
The Parliamentary Commissioners in 1650 reported that the benefice was worth “fowerscore and tenne pound per annum.”
In the arrangements made at that time for the sequestration of Gervase Pendock, the royalist rector, mention is made of the house, glebe, and tithes; and it is said that the glebe was worth one-fifth of the whole benefice.
In 1804 there was allotted to the rector, under the Enclosure Act, 219 acres or thereabouts of land; of which 59a. lr. 17p. was in lieu of Glebe, and the remainder for tithes.
The reputed value, greatly enhanced by the Enclosure and values of corn, in 1810 was £600 per annum.
In 1835 the value is given as £435. The same figure is given in 1885.
The glebe lands were sold on September 19th, 1873, to Colonel Cantrell Hubbersty, the lord of the manor, by the Revd. A. A. Welby, for a fixed charge of £300 on the Tollerton estate, the mineral rights with rights to all stone, sand, and gravel beneath the 218a. 3r. 8p. of land being reserved.
The Endowment of a Lamp.
At the survey preceding the appropriation of chantries it was found that “The parishe Churche of Tallerton ys worthe in a certayne parcell of lande, graunted for the mayntayning of a lampe there for ever by the yere iid.”1
Particulars are given of this endowment in the Patent Rolls of Edw. VI where the grant is recorded of “half a rood of land in Tallerton, Notts, in tenure of the Churchwardens given to a lamp in the church there” to Michael Stanhope, knight, and John Bellow, Esqr.
MONASTIC LANDS AND GRANTS.
Lenton Priory.
A Charter Roll in the British Museum of the date 1356-7 shews that land at Tollerton was bestowed on Lenton Priory at the time of its foundation in the first decade of the twelfth century.2 The charter is a confirmation by King Edward III of one of William Peverel, and of his (i.e., the King’s) ancestor Henry, of lands at Torlaveston and elsewhere which he gave to the Cluniac Monastery at Lenton.
Another gift in Tollerton was made about the same time, by other hands. The manor and advowson of Tollerton was then held by Ranulphus de Insula, a member of the family which bestowed much property upon Lenton Priory. Ranulphus, in conjunction with Matilda Malebisse, his wife, gave “the Church of Tollerton,” i.e., the advowson, to the Priory. We learn this, as we learnt about Peveril’s gift, by a confirmation at a later time, about 1160, when Ranulphus’ grandson, Richard Barry, with the consent of his wife Beatrice and their son Ralph, confirmed this gift.
It would appear that since the time of this gift, the advowson and estate had been divided; and so, Richard’s confirmation was that of a moiety only. In order to make the confirmation complete it was necessary that Serlo de Torlavistune who held the other moiety should confirm that also. This he did, “moved by Wm. de Olive, parson of Torlaveston,” his confirmation being witnessed by Serlo’s wife Adelina, and Beatrice Barry, perhaps her sister. The Priory now had the whole church confirmed to it.
In after years Richard’s son Ralph claimed his father’s moiety as his right. The Prior appealed3 against him successfully in 1195, and also obtained a confirmation from Pope Innocent III on January 7th, 1205. The tenacious Ralph resisted, and took possession; but in 1207-8 the Prior again took action, and recovered the advowson of Turlaveston from him.
The matter was finally settled in the next generation by Ralph’s son John. There were certain exchanges of lands between the Priory and the Barrys about 1262, and this readiness to treat, led to a recovery of Tollerton advowson by a purchase from the Prior and monks. We learn this through a dispute in 1272 between Hugh de Thorlaston and John Barry over the right of presentation to the vacant benefice. A commission appointed by the Archbishop decided in favour of John Barry, on the ground that the whole advowson had been re-conveyed to him.
An unknown donor at an early date gave to the Prior and Convent at Lenton a pension of 14s. charged on the endowments of Tollerton Church. Abp. Gray confirmed this to them in 1231, “which they had received from ancient times.”
It is possible that other lands were bestowed on Lenton besides those of William Peverel’s gift. It is evident that the Priory retained its holdings in this parish, if we are right in judging the following claims to be for rent.
In 1327 the Prior sued John le Parkere of Torleston and others for debt.
Another plea is recorded of the years 1427-8 (6 Hen. VI) when “the Prior of Lenton offers himself against Robert Godewyn of Torleton concerning a plea that he render to him 40 shillings which he owes him and unjustly detains.”
If this property remained in the possession of the Priory until the Dissolution of the Monasteries, it probably passed into the hands of Sir Michael Stanhope who received other grants of Lenton lands, and the lamp endowment at Tollerton.
The Templars.
The Order of St. John of Jerusalem, commonly called The Templars, was possessed of lands in Tollerton in the 14th century.
In the reign of Edw. III (1327-77) the Prior of the Hospital was summoned to answer the King and shew by what warrant he claimed to have view of frank pledge at Shelford from “his tenants at . . . and Torlaton.”4
The answer must have been a sufficient one, for we find tenants from Tollerton attending “the Court of the Master and Lieutenants” at Shelford in this same reign. When the Court was moved in after days to Cotgrave, Tollerton tenants answered there to their summons.
When the Templars were suppressed, this property appears to have passed to the Duchy of Lancaster, in whose name the Court summons was henceforth issued to the tenants.
1. Cert, of Chan. Roll 37, No. 27, Edw. VI, vol. ii, p. 207.
2. B.M. Addl. MS. 6692. Charter No. 7, 30 Edw. III.
3. Abbreviatio Placitorum, 99.
4. Placita de Quo Waranto. Notts., p. 604.