GATEHOUSE
The comprehensive gazetteer and bibliography of the medieval castles, fortifications and palaces of England, Wales, the Islands.
 
 
Home
The listings
Other Info
Books
Links
Downloads
Contact
 
Print Page 
 
Next Record 
Previous Record 
Back to list 
In 1479 May 26, James Haryngton, knight (Sir James Harrington) was granted, by Edward IV, (In year 19 of his reign) a Royal licence to crenellate Farleton (Farleton Castle)
Licence to James Haryngton, knight of the body, and his heirs to build walls and towers with stone, lime and sand around and within his manors of Farleton, co. Lancaster, and Brereley, co. York, and crenellate the same and to enclose and impark all his lands, meadows, feedings, pastures and woods in Farleton and Brerely. By K. (CPR)

Granted at Woburn. Grant by King.

Comments

In 1479, Sir James Harrington was granted a licence to crenellate his house and enclose and empark all his lands. Joint with Brereley
The suggestion is that the licence may have been applied for to confirm ownership in a contested inheritance although rewards for long service to the crown is another factor.

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;

Harington, Sir James (1430-87)
Harington, Sir James (1430-87); Knight of the Body 1479-85 MP Lancashire 1467-4, 1478, ?1483, ?1484. Sheriff Yorkshire 1466-7. Soldier involved in the capture of Henry VI in 1465, for which he was financial rewarded. (Wedgewood)

John (Harrington) left two daughters from his marriage to Matilda Clifford, but in 1463 the feoffees who had been appointed by Thomas (Harrington) in 1459 handed over all the land to John's eldest surviving brother, James Harrington (d. 1485?), who, according to a later claim, kept his two nieces in custody. In October 1466 Thomas, Lord Stanley, intervened, securing a grant of the Harrington lands and of the two girls. In 1468 a commission found that the girls were indeed the heirs to the estates, but the dispute dragged on until 1475, when Edward IV imposed a compromise. Both James and his brother Robert Harrington were in the service of Richard, duke of Gloucester, and his accession raised their hopes of reopening the case. By 1485 Richard may have been sufficiently mistrustful of the Stanleys to countenance the idea, but his death at Bosworth supervened. Both Harringtons were attainted for their part in the battle, and the family tradition was that James died there. This may well have been true, for the only firm references to a James alive after 1485 are to Robert's son. (Horrox)

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.


¤¤¤¤¤