Flitton Manor

The coat of arms of the Barony of Wahull

The Victoria County History for Bedfordshire, published in 1912, traced the histories of the various manors in the county. The Domesday Book of 1086 recorded that Flitton was held by a man named Robert, son of Fafiton. It was his only manor in Bedfordshire. By 1284 the overlords were the Mortimer family, Earls of March who held it as part of the Honour of Wigmore until 1424 when the last Mortimer died without issue. By 1615 the Barony of Wahull (Odell) was overlord and the overlordship is last mentioned in 1623.

The Mortimer family coat of arms

Roger Zouche of Ashby-de-la-Zouche [Leicestershire] held the manor in 1232. under the Honour of Wigmore, having a tenant himself, Philip de Flitton, who was Lord of the Manor. In 1314 Alan Zouche, son of Roger, died leaving only two daughters as heirs, Ellen, wife of Nicholas de Saint-Maur and Maud, wife of Robert de Holand. Maud held Flitton Manor and her descendants continued to do so until 1424 when the Honour of Wigmore ended, as noted above.

Philip de Flitton is the first known tenant under the Zouches and is first recorded in 1232. He was succeeded by Peter de Flitton but between 1302 and 1314 the manor passed to Robert de Kendale, having been reduced in value. Two years later it was in the hands of John, Lord Grey of Wilton.

The Greys, later Earls of Kent, and their descendants the Barons Lucas of Crudwell continued to hold the manor into the 20th century. In the 1920s a succession of Law of Property Acts ended manorial fines and the copyhold status of land thus ending manors in all but name.

The de Grey family coat of arms