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In 1329 Jan 25, Robertus de Arden [Ardern] (Robert Draiton) was granted, by Edward III, (In year 3 of his reign) a Royal licence to crenellate Dratton (Drayton)
Licence for Robert de Ardern to crenellate his dwelling houses of Dratton, co. Oxford, and Perchyng, co. Sussex. By p.s. (CPR)

Robertus de Ardern ... mansum suum ... Dratton, Oxon. (Turner and Parker)

The king to all bailiffs and his liegemen, to whom, &c., greeting — Know that of our special grace we have granted and given on behalf of ourselves and our heirs, to our beloved and faithful Robert de Ardern, that he may fortify with a wall of stone and lime, and krenellate his manses of Dratton, in the County of Oxford, and of Perching, in the County of Sussex, and may hold them so fortified and krenellated for himself and his heirs for ever, without penalty or impediment from its, or our heirs, sheriffs, or others our bailiffs or officers whosoever. In witness whereof, &c. Witness the king at St. Albans, on the 25th day of January.— (Pat. 3 Edw. IlI., p. 1, m. 38) (Blaauw)

Granted at St. Albans. Grant by privy seal.

Comments

Licence given along with Perching, Sussex. King writes nothing known of Dratton but presumably this is Drayton near Banbury where Robert de Arden was granted a charter for a fair on 3 Feb 1329.

Drayton is an alternative version of the name 'de Arden'

Original source is;

(In fact, the original source given is usually a transcription/translation of what are precious medieval documents not readily availably. It should be noted that these transcription/translations often date to the nineteenth or early twentieth centuries and that unwitting bias of transcribers may affect the translation. Care should also be taken to avoid giving modern meaning to the medieval use of certain stock words and terms. Licentia is best translated as 'freedom to' not 'permission'.)

Significant later sources are;

Robert Draiton
{Rose, widow of Thomas Arden} granted Drayton in 1309–10 to Sir Robert Arden and his heirs, arranging to hold it of him during her life. (fn. 67) The relationship of this Sir Robert is by no means certain. He may possibly have been an elder brother of Sir Thomas of Hanwell. (fn. 68) He was in any case an important knight possessed of many manors in Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, and Sussex; he was on the king's side in the baronial wars and in 1322 Banbury Castle was in his keeping. (fn. 69) In 1329 he was licensed to crenellate his Drayton house. (fn. 70) He died in 1331 and his relict Nicole subsequently married Sir Thomas Wale who is found holding the family's Sussex property in 1332 and 1349. (VCH)

Biographical source include;

More information about licences to crenellate can be found here.

Please do inform Gatehouse if you see any errors, can add information or can otherwise help to improve this resource. Please contact Gatehouse.

Record created by Philip Davis. This record last updated on Sunday, October 4, 2015.


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