In the 10th century Earl Alfwold, brother of Aylwin, the founder of Ramsey Abbey, granted Ripton, with Wennington, to that monastery, subject to the life-interest therein of his wife Alfild. She acknowledged her husband's grant when she bequeathed the lands to the Abbey, adding that:
'Alfwoldus eas adhuc vivens viva voce eidem Ecclesie concessit.'The original grant must have been made at or soon after the foundation, as King Edgar included these lands in his charter of 974, by which he confirmed its possessions to the Abbey.
In 1086 Ripton was returned as a manor where the abbot had 10 hides with land for 16 ploughs, and, in demesne, land for two ploughs, exclusive of the said hides; its value at the time of the Survey (1086), as in the time of King Edward, was £8. Subsequent charters confirming its lands to Ramsey Abbey, include Ripton, which appears to have become known as Abbots Ripton in the 12th century, and was usually so described from the latter part of the 13th century. It was held by the abbey until the Dissolution.
A family which took the name of the place were among the most important of the abbot's tenants, holding freely of the abbey by military service. Hervey, Philip his brother, Reginald and Godfrey, all called 'de Ripton,' held land here in the 12th century. In the next century Richard de Ripton, and, later, Philip de Ripton, owed military service to the abbey for their lands here. The latter, described as 'Dominus Philippus de Ripton,' had several tenants here. His son Alexander is mentioned in 1294, and the manorial rolls and accounts of the 13th and 14th centuries have constant references to the family. John son of Philip was pardoned for outlawry in 1330, but it is not apparent what subsequently became of their holding.
About the time of the Dissolution the annual value from rents and other issues in the manor of Abbots Ripton, with Wennington and Esthorpe, averaged £39, exclusive of profits from the sale of wood, from fines, waifs and strays, or goods of felons and fugitives.
In 1541 the manor was granted by the Crown to Sir John St. John, Kt., and his heirs in exchange for the manor of Paulspurye (Northants.) and the yearly payment of £5 13s. 11d. Two years later he settled the manor on his son Oliver, who became Baron St. John of Bletsoe in 1559. Various settlements of the manor were made before Oliver's death in 1582. His son John inherited but died without male issue in 1596; Ripton, after being held in dower by the widow, passed to a younger brother, Oliver, who died in 1618, leaving a son and heir, Oliver. The last-named Oliver was created Earl of Bolingbroke, and conveyed Ripton, in 1640, to Hugh Awdley.
After Awdley's death in 1662 there was much litigation as to the disposal of his property; eventually Abbots Ripton passed in separate moieties to Nicholas and Thomas Bonfoy, his grandnephews and heirs. One moiety was inherited before 1679 by Nicholas's son Hugh, the other by Thomas's daughter and heir Susan, who married Sir Charles Cæsar, Kt. Both parties joined in making a settlement of the manor in 1686.
Sir Charles was succeeded by his son Charles Adelmare Cæsar, who later joined with his eldest son of the same name in mortgaging the property. The son predeceased his father, and a younger son, Julius Cæsar, inheriting on the death of his father, renewed the mortgage in 1741. He appears to have sold the manor, owing, no doubt, to the involved financial condition of the owners.
The main portion of the manor had been acquired by 1794 by William Henry Fellowes, whose descendant, Lord de Ramsey, is now lord of the manor.
Fellowes.
Azure a fesse dancetty ermine between three lions' heads razed or crowned with mural crowns argent.
The other part of the estate passed to the descendants of Hugh Bonfoy. His son and grandson, both called Nicholas, followed him, the last-named, Serjeant at Arms to the House of Commons, dying n 1775. he property was inherited by his niece Elizabeth Martha, who married John Rooper, and their descendant, John George Rooper (d. 1924), was a landholder in the parish.
Rooper.
Sable an eagle close or.
The Abbot of Ramsey had view of frankpledge in his manor here. and in 1261 he claimed the right of hearing and determining all pleas in Abbots Ripton. The manor had to supply the cellarer, twice a year for a fortnight each time, with full farm, amounting in value to £12 15s. 1d. for each fortnight. Small portions of land here were allotted as wages to certain of the abbey servants, namely, to the porter of the outer gate, to the cook in the abbey hall, and to one of the carpenters.
A good deal of information as to the relations between the abbot and his tenants at Ripton is found in a lawsuit in 1543, brought by several tenants against Sir John St. John, whose lordship, succeeding that of Ramsey Abbey, was very little to their liking. Sir John's aim was to increase his rents and to obtain for himself rights in respect of their tenures and privileges which were strenuously opposed. Seven of the copyholders finally 'procured one common purse' and brought a suit in the Court of Requests against Sir John and his son Oliver. The plaintiffs alleged that, whereas they had had their holdings by copy of court roll from time immemorial, Sir John had, by compulsion and threats, got hold of most of the copies of court rolls and persuaded many tenants to surrender their copyholds, receiving instead indentures for a term of years, at the same time increasing the rents. Numerous cases of assault and of collision between tenants and bailiff were detailed. The feeling against the new lord was very bitter, and even his own witnesses were antagonistic. One, called to give evidence that he had voluntarily surrendered his copyhold, declared the bailiff had persuaded him by threats:
'therefore this deponent thrwe or kast ye said copyes to ye said Baylyf and badd hym take theym and the devyll withall.'Sir John contended that there were no copyholders. His deponents all agreed that there had been copyholders from time immemorial, and referred to
'a blak bokk of ye Regester called a Garseyn Bokk,'where the copyholders were registered.
'William Warwyck, saithe that he hathe hard hys father saye that before the batayle which was callyd Ester Daye feld, all the tenants of Abbots Ripton were copie holders and held of the Abbot of Ramsey. And the Northen men laye there so long before the felde was fowghten that they Impoveryshed the countrey and the tenauntes were fayne to yelde up theyre copye holdes for that they were not hable to Repayre theym. And then came other tenauntes and occupyed them as tenauntes at wyll and they had the Rentes abatyd. And further saythe that during the tyme that the lands were in the Kinges Maiesties hands the tenauntes were never vext nor trowbelyd.' Sir John, besides raising the rents, had forbidden the ancient privileges concerning cutting and selling wood. The same deponent recalled that formerly all had felled and used the woods and trees 'abowte theyre yardes and theyr woods in the Comen hethe which have always been comen and never denyed.'During this long suit, Sir John and his son counterclaimed with actions against various tenants for trespass in cutting down trees, particular damage being caused to the timber in closes called Pottars, Harppes, Eastroppe and in Bugg grene, where many oaks were wrongfully felled—
'maple hasell and thorne they may fell yt as comyn, but neyther oke nor ashe'The family of Vernon or le Vernoun held land here of the abbot in the 13th and 14th centuries by military service. Whether this is the same family as that which held the site of the manor some time before the Dissolution is not certain, but when the site 'otherwise called the Berysted,' with lands belonging, including pastures called Burnesstocking and Deaconsstocking, was leased to Sir Richard Cromwell in 1535 for eighty years, it was described as having been formerly in the tenure of Richard Verneham. Oliver, Lord St. John, to whom the reversion had been granted, endeavoured to obtain immediate possession by 'a synyster and fraudulente' suit against the lessees of Sir Richard Cromwell. The site was afterwards held with the manor.
A windmill is mentioned among the abbey's possessions here in the 13th century and later; its existence is recorded as late as 1654. In the 16th century there is reference to a park of Ripton.
Victoria County History - Huntingdonshire Published 1932
