Why Thomas owned land in Gedling
Thomas’ land in Gedling is revealed to be chantry land and governed by the Statute of Mortmain, because in a later sentence of his will, he instructs his feoffees to pay the rent from the land in Gedling to a priest he identifies as ‘Sir John Kaye’ who will then sing Masses in the chapel of the Holy Trinity in Huddersfield parish church for the rest of his life.
"I will that my said feoffes shall stande seased in and upon on measse, late in the tenure of Alice Norwell,and also in and open al other thes messes, landes, tenementes, meddowes, woddes, closes and pasters in Gedlyng... to th[e] use of Sir John Kaye, preist, for terme of his lif, ...to syng within the choro of the Holye Trinitie at Huddresfeld aforsaid for ever more."
Thomas’ land in Gedling is revealed to be chantry land and governed by the Statute of Mortmain, because in a later sentence of his will, he instructs his feoffees to pay the rent from the land in Gedling to a priest he identifies as ‘Sir John Kaye’ who will then sing Masses in the chapel of the Holy Trinity in Huddersfield parish church for the rest of his life.
"I will that my said feoffes shall stande seased in and upon on measse, late in the tenure of Alice Norwell,and also in and open al other thes messes, landes, tenementes, meddowes, woddes, closes and pasters in Gedlyng... to th[e] use of Sir John Kaye, preist, for terme of his lif, ...to syng within the choro of the Holye Trinitie at Huddresfeld aforsaid for ever more."
Mortmain and the Council learned in Law
The Statute of Mortmain had been in operation since 1279, but in 1499 Henry VII had founded his Council learned in the Law, which proposed changes to the Statute. As a result, obtaining a lcence to found a chantry became more difficult so it was much less common than previously, and only thirteen were founded between 1503 and 1547.
Thomas was unable to obtain a licence to use the income from his land at Quarmby to pay his chantry priest so he used the rent from his land in Gedling which had had already been approved under the Statute in spite of the difficulties of collecting and transporting the money seventy miles from his home.
Thomas’ land in Gedling which had already been approved for the payment of a chantry priest must have been the same land that he had used to supply rent for the chantry chapel which he had set up at Anne’s request to pray for the soul of Francis almost forty years earlier. If that were not so, then there would have been two chantries at Gedling but the surveyors that visited the parish to assess that value of Nottinghamshire chantries in 1547 found that there was just the one. It follows that the chantry chapel where Francis was buried must have been the one in Gedling church.
Could Lovel have travelled from the battlefield to Gedling?
The battlefield at East Stoke is about ten miles along the Trent valley from Gedling and two eye-witnesses saw Lovel leave the field on 16 June 1487. Click HERE to download a conjecture as to the route he may have taken from the battlefield to Gedling.
Continuing payments from Gedling to Huddersfield
The commissioners who were sent by Henry VIII sent to evaluate the income of churches in 1534 recorded that Huddersfield parish church received £4 13s 4d from ’Golding in County Nottingham’ annually to pay for the Chantry of the Holy Trinity.
The Statute of Mortmain had been in operation since 1279, but in 1499 Henry VII had founded his Council learned in the Law, which proposed changes to the Statute. As a result, obtaining a lcence to found a chantry became more difficult so it was much less common than previously, and only thirteen were founded between 1503 and 1547.
Thomas was unable to obtain a licence to use the income from his land at Quarmby to pay his chantry priest so he used the rent from his land in Gedling which had had already been approved under the Statute in spite of the difficulties of collecting and transporting the money seventy miles from his home.
Thomas’ land in Gedling which had already been approved for the payment of a chantry priest must have been the same land that he had used to supply rent for the chantry chapel which he had set up at Anne’s request to pray for the soul of Francis almost forty years earlier. If that were not so, then there would have been two chantries at Gedling but the surveyors that visited the parish to assess that value of Nottinghamshire chantries in 1547 found that there was just the one. It follows that the chantry chapel where Francis was buried must have been the one in Gedling church.
Could Lovel have travelled from the battlefield to Gedling?
The battlefield at East Stoke is about ten miles along the Trent valley from Gedling and two eye-witnesses saw Lovel leave the field on 16 June 1487. Click HERE to download a conjecture as to the route he may have taken from the battlefield to Gedling.
Continuing payments from Gedling to Huddersfield
The commissioners who were sent by Henry VIII sent to evaluate the income of churches in 1534 recorded that Huddersfield parish church received £4 13s 4d from ’Golding in County Nottingham’ annually to pay for the Chantry of the Holy Trinity.
The value of chantries was again assessed prior to their abolition in 1547 when similar amounts were recorded at both Gedling and Huddersfield so the transfer of money went on for more than twenty years.
Huddersfield parish church was demolished and re-built in 1834 so none of the chantry chapel remains, some features of the chantry at Gedling can still be seen.
Click HERE to find out about the remains of the Gedling chantry chapel
Huddersfield parish church was demolished and re-built in 1834 so none of the chantry chapel remains, some features of the chantry at Gedling can still be seen.
Click HERE to find out about the remains of the Gedling chantry chapel
