Monument record 7199/65 - Chokes Manor

Unlocated within settlement

There were three manors in Buckby in the early 12th century, though only two are identifiable in 1086. Another manor appears in the 14th century, which cannot at present be related with confidence to the earlier three. It has not been possible to identify the location of the manors within the village, other than the castle that is presumed to have been the capital messuage of one manor in the 12th century. Neither has it been possible to determine whether the tenants of the different manors were to be found within discrete parts of the settlement.
It is not known where the capital messuage of the Chokes manor lay in the 11th century. It may have been on the site of the later castle, but the excavation evidence is inadequate to determine this. If it had been on another site then it was almost certainly replaced by the castle in the late 11th or 12th century. The castle was part of the main Chokes manor in 1294-5, although it is possible that it was acquired as part of the Earl of Leicester’s holding in Buckby in the early 13th century. However the Earl of Leicester’s manor at Buckby was a small one and so it is perhaps more likely that the castle was constructed by the de Quincy family, Earls of Winchester, as the centre of their much larger manor. Excavation evidence suggests it is unlikely that the manor continued to occupy the bailey after the late 12th or early 13th century. The combination of the Chokes and the Earl of Leicester’s manors in the early 13th century will have led to rationalisation with only one capital messuage surviving. Saher de Quincy is described as of Buckby, indicating that the castle at Buckby may well have been an important residence at this time.
An unnamed holding of Gunfrid of Chocques in Guilsborough Hundred in 1086 has been identified as the manor of Buckby. Saier de Quincy, later Earl of Winchester, held this manor, still consisting of 2.5 hides and one large virgate of the fee of Aunsel de Chokes, in the early 12th century. In the early 13th century Saier married the daughter of the Earl of Leicester and soon thereafter gained half of the latter's estates, which had included three great virgates in Buckby. It is likely that all or at least part of this holding came to Saier at this time.
In 1263-4 the manor descended to Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, who married the daughter of William Longspe, Earl of Salisbury and so gained his lands. It was de Lacy who received the grant of the market at Buckby in 1280 & 1281. In 1295-6 he held of the king two parts of the township of Buckby as half a knights fee. In 1310-11 Buckby manor passed to Thomas, Earl of Lancaster but in 1320-1 it was taken by the crown and granted in 1321-2 to Ralph Basset of Drayton. In 1346-7 the manor was held by Joan, widow of Ralph Basset as half a fee of honour of Chokes. The last Basset died in 1389-90 and the manor passed to Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick. Seized by crown in 1397-8, the manor was given to John Marquis of Dorset, later Earl of Somerset, with rights including free warren, and then in 1417-18 it was granted to the Archbishop of Canterbury. However, by 1425-6 Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury, later Earl of Warwick had recovered Buckby. Between 1461 and 1485 the manor passed into the hands of the crown, for thereafter until 1573 the crown held the advowson of the church, which was held with the manor. In 1590 the manor was held by the crown, as part of the Duchy of Lancaster. It was later disposed of by the crown, for in the early 18th century Buckby lordship was in the hands of Mr. Breton of Norton, who assigned it to Mr Barker of Daventry who held it in 1720. (1)

<1> FOARD G., 2000, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Long Buckby (Medieval + Post Medieval), (unchecked) (Report). SNN100746.

Record last edited

Apr 6 2001 10:00AM