The Gatehouse website record of a licence to crenellate for Cheveley, The Moats granted on 1341 Oct 6

Original source is;

Lyte, H.C. Maxwell (ed), 1900, Calendar of Patent Rolls (1340-43) p. 331 online copy

(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;

Wareham, A.F., Wright, A.P.M., 2002, 'Cheveley: Manors and estate' VCH Cambridge and the Isle of Ely Vol. 10 p. 46-9
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 41n11
Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol. 3 part 2 p. 413 online copy

Pulteney , Sir John (d. 1349)

Joint licence of Cheveley, Penhurst and Pulteney House in London. John de Pulteney lord mayor of London in 1330/31, 1333 and 1336, a wealthy London merchant and financier.

Throughout the 1330s and 1340s, moreover, Pulteney had a close financial involvement with the crown, making twenty-six loans between 1332 and 1347 to the exchequer of receipt. Many of these loans, which ranged from a few pounds to £1100, were termed ‘for the King's secret affairs’. Often he acted as a guarantor for royal repayment of debts. It is not surprising that these close links with the crown benefited him. He was knighted in February 1337, and granted an annuity of 100 marks to support this knighthood. After 1326 he was regularly granted exemption from taxation and from royal and civic offices, and in 1341 he obtained a licence to crenellate his manor houses in Cambridgeshire, Kent, and London. Such closeness also had its dangers. In 1341 he was arrested when Edward III returned from France, and his conduct investigated for corruption or mismanagement. He was imprisoned in Somerton Castle, Lincolnshire, and only released in 1343. (Axworthy)

Biographical source include;

Roger L. Axworthy, Sept 2004, ‘Pulteney , Sir John (d. 1349)’ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press) online edn, Jan 2007 online copy (subscription may be needed)

More information about licences to crenellate can be found here.

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