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In 1434 Nov 6, Rolandus Lenthall, miles, et Lucia uxor ejus (Sir Rowland Lenthall and his wife Lucy {de Grey}) were granted, by Henry VI, (In year 13 of his reign) a Royal licence to crenellate Hampton Richard [Hampton Rychard] (Hampton Court, Hope under Dinmore)
Licence, by advice of the council, for Roland Lentall, knight, and Lucy his wife, to crenellate, turrellate and embattle their manor of Hampton Rychard, co. Hereford, and make a fortalice there; also to impark 1,000 acres of land. By p.s (CPR)

Rolandus Lenthall, miles, et Lucia uxor ejus ... mansum ... Hampton Richard, Hereford. (Turner and Parker)

Granted at Westminster. Grant by privy seal, by advice of the council.

Comments

King writes "licence to make a fortalice."

Possibly a licence acquired for the 'topping out' ceremony and a reward to the son of a noted soldier. Certainly the younger Rowland would have much to live up to and he and his wife would want to spend the riches derived from the French wars on as fashionable and high status a house as possible.

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;

Rowland Lenthall (b. 1398 - d. 25 Nov 1450) married Lucy de Grey (b.c. 1403), eldest daughter of Richard, 4th Baron Grey of Codnor, about 1424. His father, also called Rowland, a noted soldier (he led a contingent at Agincourt), had started the building in 1427 but he died in 1431. Some genealogies have these two Rowlands as the same person, which makes establishing the details of the younger Rowland somewhat difficult.

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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