The Manor of Lower Gravenhurst

Volume II of the Victoria County History for Bedfordshire was published in 1908. It states that the Manor of Lower Gravenhurst derived from the holding of Hugh de Beauchamp’s as recorded by the Domesday Book. The overlordship seems to have passed from the Beauchamps to the Crown, by which it was held in the 14th and 15th centuries but in 1562 and 1623 the overlord was said to be the Earl of Bath.

The de Grey family arms

The Brian family seem to have held the manor in the 13th and 14th centuries, but in 1428 Reginald de Grey was Lord of the Manor and the manor remained with the Earls of Kent and their successors, the Earls de Grey and Lords Lucas into the 20th century when a succession of Law of property Acts effectively abolished manors in all but name.