William, Lord Hastings, steward of the manor, and constable of the castle; which, after her death in 1479, came to her grandson, Humphry, also Duke of Buckingham, who was beheaded at Salisbury in 1484, by the usurper Richard.

*

The castle and manor thus reverting to the crown, Richard bestowed them upon his favourite, Henry Lord Grey, of Codnovre, who, from his gallantry in the service of Edward IV. and his attachment to the house of York, were inducements to Richard to secure him against the Lancastrian party; yet, on the accession of Henry VII. he did not forfeit, but continued in possession until his death, without issue, when they were recovered by Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, in right of his father, the late duke; but he having been attainted on suspicion of treason, through the jealousy of the tyrannic Henry VIII. on the evidence of one Knevet, who had formerly served him as steward, and had been dismissed for improper conduct towards the tenantry, he was beheaded on Tower-hill in 1521, being the last duke of Buckingham of that family.

Henry soon after bestowed this castle and manor on his favourite, Thomas Cromwell, raised to the House of Peers, and, as asserted by Dugdale and Camden, as Baron of Oakham; yet it has been said, on the authority of an Act of Parliament, in the 31st of Henry VIII. that although he possessed these estates, he was Baron of Wimbledon in Surrey. He, like many of his predecessors in possession of these estates, also suffered death, being beheaded on Tower-hill in the 32d of his tyrannic master; yet the lands of Oakham were continued to his son, Gregory, who also received a new patent of creation as Lord Cromwell. In this family they continued for three generations, until the close of Elizabeth's reign, when the then Lord Cromwell had a license to dispose of the castle and manor to Sir John, the first Lord

D 4

In the Harl. Coll. No. 433, 1596, is a warrant "To the Fermours, Tenaunts, &c. of the castelle and lordship of Okeham in the countie of Rutland, late apperteigning to the Duc of Buckingham, to be obedient to Henry Lord Grey."

Lord Harrington. He left them to his widow as part of her dower; but her son, the second Lord Harrington, sold them to the well-known George Villiers, the profligate, yet witty, Duke of Buckingham. It is unnecessary here to recapitulate the various events of his life, or to record the frolics and debauchery which led to the dissipation of the immense wealth and estates he acquired by the favour of his sovereign. It is evident, however, that he had parted with them before his death, or that the last duke of that family disposed of them soon after to the Earl of Nottingham, ancestor of the Earl of Winchelsea, the present noble possessor.*

About the close of the seventeenth century, there were some considerable remains of the Ancient Castle; but these are all down except some parts of the outer walls, in which the loop-holes remain; and there are still extensive earthen-mounds, which, with the ditch, surround a large area, in which is the Hall, said not to be as old as the castle itself, but built out of its materials. Of this, however, we have considerable doubt: indeed, on a careful investigation of the place, we think it will appear that this was once the hall of the inhabited part of the castle. In one corner of the area, within the ruins, is a well surrounded by trees, evidently used for domestic purposes in the ancient fortress.

The Hall is now used for the public business of the county; and its interior contains both courts, civil and criminal, without any division, which must be very inconvenient, as the edifice is low, and not very large. That it is part of the ancient building is evident, from the door of entrance being Saxon; the other parts are Gothic; and some of it is but of modern date.

The tourist cannot fail being struck with the Horse-shoes, some of which, of an immense size, are nailed on the outside of the Castle-yard Gate; and others in the inside of the Hall. Of the

• Another possessor of the castle has escaped the notice of local historians : but in Rotularum Abbreviatio in Curio Scaccarii, p. 241, we find a grant to "Gilbetto de Holm de Castro de Okham cum Hundreris de Martinsley, &c." without date.

the latter, many are gilt, with the donor's name on them, and placed over the judges' seat on the criminal bench.

The old manorial custom from which this arises, took place at the first erection of the castle, on the grant to Walcheline de Ferrers, whose ancestor bore arms sémée of horse-shoes, as designative of his office of master of the horse to the Dukes of Normandy.

In the early Norman period of our history, grants of customs, apparently rude, were often the marks of territorial power; and it seems to have been on this principle that the Lords de Ferrars were intitled to demand from every Baron, on his first passing through this lordship, a shoe from one of his horses, to be nailed upon the Castle-gate, the bailiff of the manor being empowered to stop the horses, (and carriages also of late years,) until service was performed. The custom is still preserved, but has long been compounded in money as a kind of fee to the bailiff, who takes care to be provided with shoes of different sizes, in proportion to the generosity of the donor. Of these now in existence there are none two hundred years old; and it has been said by some, that the custom is not of much older date; but that must be erroneous, as the custom is recorded by early historians. A tourist, in the year 1796, observed that many of the shoes were gone; for the former clerk of the market had been accustomed to take down several old ones when a new one was put up, and which he gave in exchange to save himself expense; but he adds, "the gentleman who now holds the office rescued a number from the hands of a smith, which he caused to be fixed against the jury-box within the castle."

To those who are amateurs in horse-shoes, it may be pleasing to add that they may now find here every variety in size, from the dimensions of a breakfast table to the measure of a Brobdignagian palfrey; most of them gilt; some of them given by judicial peers; and one very splendid one left by the Duke of York in 1788, &c.

Within the precincts of the castle there was formerly a Free Chapel, whose patronage was in the territorial lords. The sa

lary

lary and other privileges, in Catholic times, were considerable ; but we believe it has long been in disuse.

The Manorial Court belonging to the castle has its jurisdiction over the parish called the " Lord's Hold;" and the "Dean's Hold," the other parish, is under the jurisdiction of a court held by the Chapter of Westminster once in three years. The jurisdiction of the first of these is considerable, as it extends not only over Braunston, Wardley, and Belton, in this county, but also over Thorpesackville, and Twiford, in Leicestershire. At it are also chosen the parish officers; and all the inhabitants are bound to appear once a year, and pay the sum of one penny, or be fined at the pleasure of the clerk of the court, who also receives the acknowledgements of all the freeholders, copyholders, and wasteholders. The Dean's Court have also the power of choosing parish officers for that part under their jurisdiction; and their tenants are mostly copyholders.

The Church is deserving the notice of the tourist, being a very handsome structure, kept in excellent order, and having a very elegant tower and spire. It is an ancient Gothic edifice, plain in the interior, and doing great credit to the parish by its extreme ncatness. Its antiquity, and even its founder, are unknown; but it seems not older than the reign of Henry VI.: it is dedicated to All Saints; and it is said that the spire was erected by Roger Flore, a great benefactor to the town, who died about 1483. The Dean and Chapter of Westminster still possess the great tythes;, the living of course is a vicarage, but is not now under the patronage of that ecclesiastical body.

There is authority to say, that in the 12th of Henry III. the Abbot of Westminster presented Gilbert Marshal to this church; and in the 29th of Edward I. the Abbot and Convent presented John de Langham to the same benefice. By an inquisition taken at that period, this living appeared to be a rectory, and not a vicarage, and to be possessed of all the altarage of the church of Okeham, and the chapels of Langham, Egleton, Brook, Gunthorpe, and Thorpe, with the small tythes belonging to the

altarage

altarage in any wise, with a moiety of all the hay of all the parishioners appertaining to the said church of Okeham and chapels aforesaid; as also one carucate of land and its appurtenances; a mansion on the south side of the church of Okeham; certain tythes of corn, of the value of three marks; and of one mark paid by the chapel of Knossington to the church of Okeham

This inquisition was taken in 1300; and yet in the "Taxatio Ecclesiastica," by order of Pope Nicholas IV. nine years before, in 1291, we find a note of "Ecclesia de Okeham, 70. 0 0. Vicaria ejusdem 20. 0 0." from which it would appear that it was then a vicarage, and not a rectory.

From this period until the dissolution of the abbey of Westminster, which took place in 1549, in the early part of the reign of Edward VI. the patronage and presentation of this living continued in the Abbot and Convent; yet, though the Dean and Chapter, their Protestant successors, were permitted to keep the tythes, the advowson of the vicarage was granted by the youthful monarch to Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of London, and his successors for ever; an arrangement, however, set aside about a century ago by the exchange of this living with the ancestor of the present Earl of Winchelsea, for the two advowsons of the rectories of Leigh and Prittlewell, in the county of Essex, confirmed by Act of Parliament in 1696.

There are no Monuments of modern date that require particular notice; nor are those of ancient date of any antiquarian importance, except in their immediate locality. We must, however, mention one or two, as connected with the history of the place.

One of the oldest is on the south side of the chancel, formerly where a chapel stood in Catholic times, to the memory of William Waryn, a resident here, and a merchant of the staple at Calais. A slight sketch of his will, dated in 1499, will serve to throw some light on the customs of those times. He first bequeaths five pounds to the high altar of the parish church, for tythes and duties forgotten, besides the sums to be paid to the officiating priests at his funeral, and to the poor who should say

prayers