" This parish is computed to be about seven miles in circumference , occupying the Pentlow . north - eastern extremity of the county, bounded by the river Stour . It consists chiefly of elevated ground , with a portion of low meadows ; the general character of the soil is a rich sandy loam , highly productive ; * the face of the country being diversified in appearance , and exceedingly pleasant . It is distant from Sudbury five , from Halstead eight , and from London sixty miles . In the reign of Edward the Confessor , a free woman held the lands of this parish , which , at the general survey of Domesday , was one of the twenty - five lordships given by the Conqueror to Ralph Baignard , whose widow , Juga , founded the priory of Little Dunmow . Geofrey was the son and successor of Ralph , and , on his decease , left a son named William , who , joining the party of Robert Courthose against King Henry the First , was deprived of his estates , which were given to Robert , a younger son of Richard Fitz - Gislebert , ancestor of the earls of Clare and Fitzwalter. + There are three manors in this parish : • Hall . The chief manor - house of Pentlow Hall is not far distant from the church ; the ori- Pentlow ginal building , erected about the year 1740 , was of extensive dimensions , and passed successively into the possession of the noble families of Baignard , Fitz-Walter, and Ratcliff , barons Fitz-Walter and earls of Sussex : it was holden under them by the Fitz - Humphreys , Normans , Kemps , and others . In 1165 , Robert Fitz - Humphrey held this manor under Walter Fitz - Robert ; ‡ his Fitz- son, Walter Fitz-Humphrey , flourished in the reign of King John , whose son had a grant of free-warren in this manor and in that of Great Yeldham, which belonged to him. * He is recorded to have held, in conjunction with Thomas Manduit, three knights ' fees in this parish and elsewhere , under Robert Fitz - Walter , as of his barony of Baignards. "

" His son, Sir Walter Fitz-Humphrey , was a knight banneret in the reign of King Edward the First; and his son, Sir William , presented to this church in 1322. Walter Fitz - Humphrey is recorded to have held one knight's fee and a quar- ter in Pentlow . The last of this family mentioned in records was living in 1337.§ Roger Norman held this estate at the time of his decease, in 1349 ; he had also other lands in various parts of the country . His grandson , Giles , son of his son Roger , was his heir , and left under the guardianship of John Fermer , of Foxearth . But he died at the age of eighteen , in 1362 ; in consequence of which , the manor of Pentlow , and the advowson of the church , holden of John , lord Fitz-Walter , descended to the three daughters of Elene , sister of his grandfather , Roger ; these were Christian , mar- ried to William Chamberlayn , of Cavendish ; Juliana , married to Richard Cavendish ; and Beatrix , the wife of John de Glomesford . family . Cavendish family . In 1369 , the estate was conveyed by these co - heiresses to John de Cavendish , de-scended from Robert , the youngest son of Robert Gernon , of the noble family of the Gernons of Boulogne . "

" Sir John Gernon took the surname of Cavendish from his seat and residence in the town of that name. His son, by his wife Catharine , daughter of John Smyth , Esq . of Cavendish , was named after his father , and succeeded to his estates and honours ; he was educated for the bar , and becoming eminent in his pro- fession , was , in 1366 , made a judge of the King's Bench, and , in 1372 , a justice of the Common Pleas , and chief justice of the King's Bench in 1373. He was also chancellor of the University of Cambridge ; had a grant of an annuity of a hundred marks in 1378 ; and was summoned to parliament from 1372 to 1381; but having the mis- fortune to fall into the hands of the insurgents under Wat Tyler and Jack Straw , he was conveyed to the town of St. Edmundsbury , and beheaded.¶ He left , by his wife Alice , two sons : Sir Andrew , his successor , who lived at Cavendish , became high sheriff of Suffolk and Norfolk in 1384 , and died in 1396 , ** but his wife , Rose , lived till 1420 , having , with her husband , jointly presented to Pentlow church in 1393. * CHAP . V. The widow , previous to her decease, had conveyed the manor and advowson of the living to John Halls and others , William , their son and heir , having died without issue . Sir Thomas Cavendish , the celebrated navigator , the third person and second Eng- lishman who achieved the circumnavigation of the globe , was of this family . The arms of Cavendish are on a slab now in the church of Cavendish , ( which parish is adjoining to Pentlow , ) on a tomb supposed to be that of Thomas Cavendish , who died in 1477. Thomas Cavendish , the son of the last named Thomas , was clerk of the pipe in the Exchequer , and by his wife , Alice Smith , was the father of George Cavendish , of Glemsford , in Suffolk , and of William . George was the gentleman- usher and faithful friend of Cardinal Wolsey , and wrote his life ; he is generally con- sidered to have founded the honours and wealth of this noble family , but this was not the case ; his line appears to have ended or fallen into obscurity with his grandson , William , who was a mercer in London , and sold his estates in this neighbourhood , in 1569 , to William Downes . Sir William Cavendish , the brother of George , one of the commissioners for taking the survey of religious houses , & c . became the fortu- nate founder of the ducal families of Devonshire and Newcastle ; the latter being now extinct in that name , but the present Duke of Devonshire is the ninth in lineal descent from this William Cavendish . † The next possessor of this manor was Thomas , lord Cobham , who left it , by will , dated April , 1471 , to his illegitimate son , Reginald Cobham . William Felton , of Sudbury , was the owner of this estate in 1490. He married Felton family . Anne , daughter and heiress of Ralph Bank , by whom he had Edmund ; Margaret , wife of John Drury , of Rougham ; and Joan . On his decease , in 1493 , he held the manor of Pentlow , and advowson of the rectory , of Sir John Ratcliff , lord Fitzwalter , as of his manor of Shymplingthorne ; and had also other estates . Edmund , his son and successor , married Anne , daughter of John Brough , by whom he had Edmund . His second wife was Anne , daughter of Sir Thomas Lucy , of Warwickshire , by whom he had his son , Thomas , of Clerkenwell . On his decease , in 1519 , his son Edmund was his successor at Pentlow Hall ; he married Frances , daughter of John Butler , of Coventry , by whom he had George , William , Dunstall , Edmund , John , and a daughter . George Felton , Esq . the eldest son , had six sons and six daughters by his wife Margaret , daughter of John Carew , of St. Edmundsbury . He is supposed to have disposed of this estate , for it was not among the possessions of his successor , Edmund Felton , Esq . who died in 1570. * Bowers , or Bower Hall . The next recorded possessor is George Kemp , Esq . the sixth son of William Kemp , Esq . of Spain's Hall , in Finchingfield . † He had three wives , but had no offspring except by his second wife , Margery Appulderfield , who bore him five sonst and three daughters . He died in 1606 , aged seventy - six . He was succeeded by John Kemp , Esq . his eldest son , who married Eleanor , daughter of John Drew , Esq . of Devon- shire , one of the exigenters of the court of common pleas , by whom he had four sons and ten daughters . He died in 1609.§ George , the second , but eldest surviving son , was created a baronet in 1626 , and married a lady whose family name was Brooke , by whom he had two daughters , one of whom was married to Sir John Winter , but dying without offspring , Sir George settled this estate upon his nephew , John , the son of his brother , John Kemp , Esq . by his wife , the sister of Sir Robert Brooke . He married Katharine , daughter of Robert Flower , of Borley , and widow of Ralph Redman , and had by her three daughters , Lucy and Mary , who died un-married , and Barbara , married to Francis Daniel , Esq . of Bulmer ; and this lady sold the estate to Joshua Brise , Esq . of Clare , from whom it descended to his son , Shad- rach , who was sheriff of Suffolk in 1762 : and , on his decease , it came to his brother Samuel . On the death of Samuel , in 1827 , at the age of ninety - six years , this manor was devised by him to his great niece , Elizabeth Maria , the wife of William Mathew , Esq . she being the only child of Edward Coldham , Esq . of Bury St. Edmund's , by his wife Elizabeth , daughter of Joshua Brise , of Clare . Pentlow Hall is now the residence of Mrs. Mathew , a widow ; and , on her decease , stands limited to the Rev. Edward William Mathew ( vicar of Great Coggeshall , || and minister of St. James ' , Bury St. Edmund's ) and to his issue in tail.¶ The manor - house of Bower's Hall is about a mile distant from the church , in a south - westerly direction , and opposite to some part of the parish of Cavendish , on the "

The Parish of Pentlow (Hinckford Hundred).

Pentlow Tithe Award (Essex Record Office D/CT 273a), dated 1838, shows a rent-charge of £518 including £8 for glebe payable to Rev. Edward Bull, rector. The whole parish measured 1750 acres of which 1731 acres 2 roods were subject to tithes. 1452 acres 0 roods 19 perches were arable, 243 acres meadow and pasture, 9 acres wood, 18a 2r 0p roads and water, 27a 1r 21p glebe. The Tithe Commissioners were William Blamire and Richard Jones, the Valuer Robert Franklin.

The Tithe Map (ERO: D/CT 273b), dated c.1840, was surveyed by J. Hasell, Land Surveyor of Sudbury, at a scale of 3 chains to an inch (26.6” to a mile) and measures 63”x62”. It is countersigned by Josh. Townsend, Assistant Tithe Commissioner.

Lustwine, husband of Leofwaru who was grand-daughter of ealdorman Brihtnoth who was killed at the Battle of Maldon against the Danes in 991, bequeathed Pentlawe to Ely monastery c.1036, but the estate at Pentelawe descended to his son Thurstan, who in turn left it to his wife Æthelgyth c.1044. The freewoman who held 4 hides and 3 virgates with a mill in Pentelauua t.Edward which in 1086 were held by Ralph Baynard was probably Æthelgyth (Whitelock, 1930; Hart, 1971; Kemble, 2007). Alkil de Pentelawia and Roger son of Galio de Pentelaia are documented in 1174-1200 (Gibbs, 1939). Ekwall (1960) derives this from Old English hlaw, ‘barrow’ or ‘hill’, with the first element a personal name Penta or a British river name for the adjacent Stour, Pant, ‘Penta’s barrow’ or ‘hill by the Pant’, though the latter is not favoured by Dr. Coates (personal communication).

An Anglo-Saxon burial tumulus in the parish has not yet been identified. The highest points are at Larks in the Wood (TL806450) and north of Pannell’s Ash (TL797445), c.250 feet, 76m. Pentlow Hill (OS, 1875 at TL 823457) not far from the river may retain the tautological memory of the original Old English Pentelawe.

There were three manors: 1. Pentlow-hall, held by the Baynard, Fitz-walter and Fitz-humphrey families. Sir Walter Fitz-humphrey (died a.1284) was knight-bannerat t. Edward I.

Roger Norman (died 1349) held it for one knight’s fee. By marriage it came to Richard Cavendish, descended from the family of Robert Gernon of Boulogne. George Kempe (died

1606) held it and is buried in the church. In 1768 it was in the ownership of Samual Brice, esq. 2. Bowes alias Bowers-hall. t. Henry VII it was held by John Hills of Long Melford,

Suffolk. t. Edward VI it belonged to Sir Thomas Paston. It was sold to Sarah Groom, widow, of London in 1699, who left it to her son Samuel. In 1768 it was held by Henry Sperling,esq. 3. Paines alias Hogges, in 1398 was held by James Hoog and in 1432 by John Hogge (Morant, 1768).

The apsed church dedicated to Saints Gregory and George has a Norman nave and chancel. Pentlow Hall (Tithe parcel no. 49) is c.1500 with exposed timberwork. The mill (Tithe parcel no. 45) is timber-framed 18th century. The Tower House was built as a rectory c.1880, the 90 foot battlemented tower 1859 (Pevsner, 2007).

Field-names from other maps and documents including the hand-written map of the Perambulation of the boundaries undertaken in 1802 by the vicar and drawn by John Ball

(ERO: D/P 23/2) are shown against the Tithe names.

References:

• Ekwall, E., 1960. Dictionary of English Place-names. Oxford.
• Gibbs, M., 1939. Early Charters of St. Pauls. Camden 3rd series.
• Hart, C., 1971. Early Charters of Essex. Leicester.
• Kemble, J., 2007. Essex Place-names, Places, Streets and People. Historical Publications, London.
• Morant, P., 1768. History & Antiquities of the County of Essex. ii, 322.
• Pevsner, N., Bettley, J., 2007. The Buildings of England - Essex. Yale.
• Whitelock, D., 1930. Anglo-Saxon Wills. Cambridge.