Introduction - Methodology
This history of Preston has been compiled after collecting every available historical reference to the
hamlet. Most of these have then been added according to their historical context. Inevitably, using this
method of research, conflicting views have been found. These have been included.
Since the twelfth century, Preston has been dominated by Temple Dinsley in its various incarnations.
Many of the Preston’s work force, male and female, worked for the incumbents. Hardly surprisingly,
much of the history of Preston is bound up with the history of Temple Dinsley.
The text, like so many historical narratives, is sprinkled with words such as, ‘likely’, ‘possibly’, maybe’,
‘perhaps’ and so on. History is not an exact science and the reader may choose to apply the
occasional pinch of salt to what has been written. I have also occasionally added my observations,
which are just that - personal observations.
This web-site is a filing cabinet of information. Links to relevant articles about Preston’s history are
provided which add considerably to the account. The articles have not been included here as they
would render this history article even longer.
To access a link, simply click the words that follow ‘Link’.
Preston’s topography and location
Preston’s topography, it’s natural features, has been unchanged for millennia.
Preston is perched on a chalk ridge of the Chiltern Hills. Over the chalk, there is a skim of clay with
flints. This drains poorly but, when ‘puddled’, ponds are formed that hold their water. This feature was
probably a crucial factor for this location being chosen as a settlement. In some places, such as Kiln
Wood, ‘brick earth’ is to be found.
The uses to which Preston’s fields were put reflected the topography. Early crops would not flourish
because the land took weeks to warm after the chill of winter. But it was worthwhile to grow root
vegetables such as turnips. Summer sowings of wheat, barley and oats were rewarding. The land was
also used extensively for grazing sheep.
Hitch Wood, Wain Wood and West Wood are today the remnants of more extensive forests which
provided fuel and food for families as well as hunting and shooting opportunities for the gentry.
One of Preston’s charms is that the village is not overlooked or dominated by hills or high ground. At
143 metres, the village is only ten metres below the highest point in Hertfordshire. The flip-side to this
sense of spaciousness is Preston’s exposure to the bleak easterly winds that sweep in seemingly
unchecked.
The first known historical reference to the place-name Preston in Hertfordshire was during an inquest of
the Knights Templar in 1185: ‘In Villa de Prestune sunt quatuor caracatae in dominio ex dono Bernardi
Balliol et partim ex dono Oliveri de Malvoier, etc.’ Translated, this reads, ‘In the village of Preston are
four carucates (although a calcucate was not a measurement of area, many authorities suggest that
this equates to around 480 acres) given by Bernard de Balliol and Oliver de Malvoier.’
To illustrate of the extent of this gift, below is an area around present-day Preston which measures
about 480 acres. But this is not intended to represent the actual dimensions of the gift - although it does
roughly conform to what many would regard as today’s Preston and its environs.
Several authorities agree that ‘Prestune’ was an Old English word. They conclude from this that this
hamlet predates the Domesday Book of 1086. Thus, Prof. Tom Williamson writes that as Preston is
derived from an Old English word, then the hamlet existed at the time of Domesday: ‘The parish of
Hitchin contains four subsidiary hamlets (including Preston) and these to judge, from their names
(which are of Old English type), were almost certainly in existence in the time of Domesday although
not mentioned in it’. He added, ‘the priest tun suggests that it was originally the portion of the estate
(of Hitchin) reserved for the sustenance of its minister priests’.
Hitchin historian, Reginald Hine, concurred. He wrote that ‘Preston’ was ‘derived from the genitive
plural of the O(ld) E(nglish) word, preost’. This meant ‘a priest’. He went on to state that it may refer to
(1) a ‘tun’ where there was a resident priest (which was such an unusual situation as to justify the
place-name, ‘Preston’ being adopted) or (2) a community of priests dwelling beside a church (which
was afterwards formed into the Preceptory of the Knights Templar) or (3) an outlying portion of the
two hides belonging to the minister of Hitchin referred to in the Domesday Book.
Thus, one may say that, historically, the hamlet of Preston probably existed before 1086 and had a
religious presence.
As to why a community became established at this location, perhaps there were two fundamental
reasons. Firstly, there was an unusual preponderance of ponds in the district because of the chalk
and clay topography. As a consequence, there was easy access to water for households, farmers and
travellers. Secondly, the hamlet was perched on the edge of the Chilterns and was therefore at one of
the highest locations in Hertfordshire. The 150-metre contour line passes through the present-day
Castle Farmhouse.
The assertion that most Prestons in England had post-Conquest foundations is at odds with the
comments noted earlier. I decided to check whether it was accurate. Wikipedia notes thirty-eight
Prestons in England - from Sussex to Somerset and to Northumberland. Bearing in mind that many of
these were small villages, how many were noted in Domesday? When I searched ‘Preston’ on the
Domesday Book on-line page of the National Archives, there were sixty-three ‘hits’, and although
several of these were duplicated, there were thirty-eight Prestons mentioned in Domesday (the same
number is a coincidence as the second set of Prestons didn’t correspond with the ‘Wikipedia thirty-
eight’). This contradicts the statement that most Prestons were “post-conquest foundations”.
I contacted Dr Tom Pickles (then Senior Lecturer in Medieval History at the University of Cheshire) in
2014 to clarify his ‘personal communication’. I referred to the document noted above and added, ‘I
would be most grateful for your further comments on this subject and any sources to which you would
direct me, please.’ He was kind enough to reply. These were his verbatim comments:
From these comments it is clear that the quote attributed to Dr. Pickles in the document was in fact
not his view - indeed, it contradicted his thinking. Therefore, in the absence of any other supporting
evidence, I suggest that the disputing document’s comment should be disregarded.
Dr Pickles also sent a copy of his 2009 academic paper (which ran to 107 pages), “Biscopes-tūn,
muneca-tūn and prēosta-tūn: dating, significance and distribution”, for which I was very grateful.
Several of his in-depth comments make for significant reading as we seek to understand the history
of Preston hamlet.
For reasons which will become obvious, I will now summarise Reginald Hine’s comments in History
of Hitchin which were based on fourteenth century manuscripts. In 758 AD, Offa fought three battles
around Hitchin. Following his final victory, he had a monastery built at Hitchin which was founded
according to the rule of St Benedict. Much of the monastery (and of Hitchin) was destroyed by fire in
910 AD. Little is known about what happened to the monks after the blaze and it is possible that St
Mary’s was built on the site of the monastery. The Domesday Book refers to the ‘monasterium’ (or
minister) of Hitchin which Hine says may refer to 1) the monastery, or 2) a college of secular priests
who served the spiritual needs of neighbouring churches, or 3) a large parish church. In any case,
Hitchin together with the Wymondleys, Ippollitts and Dinsley formed a deanery which was still in
existence in 1291 when a tax was collected to pay for a crusade.
So, from around 758 AD until at least 1291, there was a local community/communities of priests
around Hitchin - to which Dr Pickles was probably referring. There was, for example, a religious
house at Minsden, because it was mentioned in Domesday.
The thrust of Dr Pickles paper was to examine Margaret Gelling’s hypothesis that place-names
which ended in tun (such as Bishopstun, Monkstun and Prieststun) came into being in the later
Anglo-Saxon period - a belief that he declared he ‘ultimately’ supported. She suggested that this
type of place names was coined in the later Anglo Saxon period replacing earlier names for the
places to which they refer. She also asserted that a large proportion of these names were coined in
the late eighth, ninth, tenth or eleventh century as a result of the reorganisation of estates to provide
a separate endowment for bishops or for parts of a religious community.
Dr Pickles produced historical evidence that some places were named preosta-tun as early as the
seventh century. These communities might have been used for a range of purposes by the local
clergy - for food and clothing; or to provide income that would then be split into portions for individual
clerks; or it might be used as a source of communal land from which individual clerks could hold
portions whilst they were active members of the community. Dr Pickles concluded that, ‘a significant
proportion of these places, which came to be known as ‘Preston’, is known to have been owned by a
religious community or is likely to have been owned by a religious community; such associations
make an original name in the genitive plural very likely’.
In view of what is set out above as regards the religious history of the locality, it seems likely
that the hamlet of Preston, Herts was so called before Domesday - a name that reflected
religious activity in and/or around the village.
This article is not only about the place-name of Preston but when the hamlet came into being It may
have been in existence for years before it was so christened - hence Margaret Gelling’s comment
that place-names like Prestune replaced ‘earlier names for the places to which they refer’. Preston
may have been in existence for centuries before Domesday. Therefore, Wikipedia’s assertion that,
“The village grew up around the Templar holdings at Temple Dinsley” is probably incorrect.
The Norman Survey of Britain (1086) - ‘The Domesday Book’
Following the Norman invasion of 1066, it took twenty years for the government of England to adjust.
It was then time for the victorious French to meticulously assess exactly what they had conquered
and how the country should be taxed. So, a survey was commissioned in 1086. This was later
irreverently called the ‘Domesday Book’ by the sardonic English – a reference to the extraordinary
detail that was amassed, such as the Angel would compile on the Day of Judgement or Doomsday.
The list included all the woodland, pasture, millponds and fish-ponds, towns and villages. Each place
was assessed in ‘virgates’ (approximately 30 acres) or ‘hides’ . David Hey in The Oxford Companion
to Local and Family History explains that a hide was the equivalent of a caracute and that they
equated to the area of land which a team of eight oxen could plough in a year, sufficient to support a
family. It was not an exact measurement because the quality of the ploughed soil and the nature of the
terrain might vary. Hey wrote that a caracute ‘normally covered about 120 acres’.
The residents of England were classed as either villeins (free men - tenant farmers who held land in
return for the services they provide to their lords to small landowners who owned their plots outright),
cottars (cottagers) or bordars (unfree peasants with little or no land) and slaves. Rents, labour services
and plough teams were assessed to see how much money could be squeezed from the nation. Also
included in Domesday were disputes over who held land.
Although the settlement we know as ‘Preston’ likely existed in 1086, it was not mentioned in the
Domesday Book. The challenge for us is to determine which section of the document included
Preston. To do this, the following place names of the time will be discussed - Hitchin, Dinsley (aka
Deneslai) and Welei.
In 1086, Hitchin was a sprawling, royal manor. As well as being a manor in its own right, it was also
the centre of a cluster of fifteen smaller manors. These had a total area of more than 4,000 acres.
Here I add a clarifying word about manors - although these were administrative units, they did not
govern the same area as a parish. Manors may have been centred on a nucleus (for example, a
Manor House) but sometimes included other pockets of land some distance away.
Now follows a list of the manors within the Royal Manor of Hitchin as recorded in the Domesday
Book. Please note that the second largest manor in the district was Dinsley. In brackets are the
modern place-names assigned by historian Wentworth Huyshe and agreed by Reginald Hine – the
queries indicate uncertainty of identification:
Re: Dinsley/Deneslai: The first mention of Deneslai is in Domesday. Professor Skeat asserts that
‘Dinsley’ is derived from the chieftain Dyne – Dynes Hill or Dynes Lea. However, the Hertfordshire
historian, Salmon, states, ‘Deneslai might be derived from the Danes Land, who were much in the
Hundred of Dacorum and nearer as the Six Hills (in Stevenage) convince me’. Glover attributes the
name to ‘Dyn(n)e’s clearing or wood’.
A translation of the Domesday entry for Deneslai: King William holds Deneslai. It is assessed at seven
hides (840 acres). There is land for twenty ploughs. In the demesne (the Lord’s land) there are three
and a half hides (420 acres) and three ploughs are on it and nineteen villeins have eight ploughs
between them and there could be nine more. There are seven bordars and seven cottars and six serfs
and one Frenchman (a settler from abroad, not necessarily French), a Kings almsman. Two sokemen
(free men) held this manor as two manors of Earl Harold in the time of King Edward and could sell.
Yet they each found two averae and two inwards in Hiz; but this was by injustice and by force as the
Hundred (Court) testifies. These two manors Ilbert held as one and he was seized thereof by the
King’s brief for as long as he was sheriff as the Shiremoot testifies. But after he ceased to be sheriff,
Peter de Valongies and Ralf Tailgebosch took this manor from him and attached it to Hiz because he
refused to find the avera for the Sheriff. Geoffrey de Bech, Ilberts successor, claims in regard to this
manor to have the King’s mercy.
On the basis of this information, there were approximately 180 men, women and children living in
Dinsley, inhabiting around forty houses - which surprisingly placed it in the largest 20% of settlements
recorded by Domesday.
Re: Welei : The Domesday entry for Welei indicated that there were about eighty-six people living in
the manor, occupying nineteen homes. It occupied two hides or approximately 240 acres. The area of
woodland was extensive as it supported 300 pigs who fed on acorns and beech mast.
Of Dinsley/Preston Castle
The granting of the site of Preston Castle to the Prior of Wymondley) would seem to point
to the fact that it was then either dismantled or completely destroyed, and this of course
helps to explain the entire absence of any remains of the building, for in the course of
625 years its very ruins would perish, probably having served ...as a quarry for
subsequent buildings. Its stones and beams may still exist in the old cottages at Preston.
It is possible, however, that the castle was totally destroyed by fire…. If therefore Guy de
Balliol...built the castle ...at about the time the Manor was granted to him by William
Rufus, and if the reference to the Prior of Wymondley holding the site means that it had
been destroyed by that time, the castle was in existence less than 200 years. From it
many a time, no doubt, Bernard de Balliol went to the Templars’ Mass at the Preceptory
Chpel and knelt by his father’s tomb. It is natural enough therefore that we should find
him among the benefactors of the (Templars)”.
Why build a castle here? The structure was intended to dominate the area. Preston is on a high ridge
of the Chilterns - a 150 meter contour line runs through Castle Farm. A tall castle built here would
tower above the trees of Wain Wood and be clearly seen in Hitchin and the surrounding district.
Huyshe made these additional comments about Dinsley Castle:
Preston in the Domesday Book and the Manors of Dinsley and Welei
Above, transcripts of the entries for Hitchin (Hiz), Welei and Dinsley in the Domesday Book
Preston in the Domesday Book - in which Manor did Preston lie?
In which manor was Preston included for Domesday? The surprising, short answer is that no-one
knows with certainty - but there has been considerable debate on the subject.
Historian, Wentworth Huyshe, made this point in 1906: “Welei is mentioned immediately after Hitchin in
the Domesday Book. Hitchin and Preston geographically are close.” He argued that Preston was
Welei. Hitchin historian, Reginald Hine, agreed. However, it might be argued that other settlements
such as Ippollitts and Wellhead (which were also not mentioned in Domesday) were even nearer to
Hitchin than Preston and so could have been Welei if that argument is pursued.
The Victorian County History adds to the uncertainty by stating, ‘…..Welei cannot be identified with
certainty’.
Evelyn Lord cast further doubt about the location of Welei in The Knights Templar in Britain (2002).
She suggested that it could be represented by the modern place name of Wellhead (which is close to
Hitchin).
In 2002, Prof. Tom Williamson joined the discussion when he referred to ‘the vill(age) of Welei or Wilei
which comprised a large part of the later parish of Preston’. He included a map which showed Welei as
immediately south-west of Wain Wood and separate to, and to the north of, Preston.
He then added, ‘in the south of the parish of Ippollitts just to the north of the modern village of Preston
lies Wain Wood and the probable site of the lost Domesday vill(age) of Welei.’ (The Origins of
Hertfordshire). No reasons were offered for this location being assigned to Welei.
So, historians are divided over the identity of the manor which included Preston and, as the twenty-first
century has passed, the matter has become clouded rather than clarified.
However, I suggest that there is an obvious objection to the theory that Preston lay in the manor of
Welei.
A History of Preston in Hertfordshire
A detailed history of Preston: Part one
A pond near Castle Farm, Preston
However, the conclusion that Preston, Herts existed before 1086 because of the Old-English origins of
its place-name was challenged in 2010 by a locally-sourced piece which stated:
Preston in the Domesday Book and The Royal Manor of Hitchin
For this reason, Preston was likely included in the manor of
Dinsley (which was of seven hides or around 840 [7 x 120] acres).
This conclusion may be corroborated firstly by the names given to
In Domesday, Welei consisted of two hides which equated to
approximately 240 acres. But, as discussed earlier, around a
century later Preston occupied an area of four carucates or
around 480 [4 x 120] acres.
Thus, Preston was twice the size of the Manor of Welei which was
assessed at two hides in Domesday. Preston could hardly lie in a
manor which was half its size.
The reader will have noticed the use of words in this account such as ‘would seem’, ‘may’, ‘if’, and ‘no
doubt’. These comments appear to be his conclusions which may or may not be accurate and are
unfortunate as they may dilute the impact of the proof that Preston Castle existed.
Reginald Hine also indulges in similar whimsical wonderings in his Early History of Temple Dinsley by
writing in a typical flowery style: ‘These Balliols belong not so much to the parish of Hitchin and to the
castle of Dinsley as to this realm of England’. ‘...no cry comes across the centuries from those who
rotted in the dungeons of the Balliols...(who) cursed the cruel castle of Deneslai..’ ‘the castle of Dinsley
which, when the Balliols were banished, was brought into ruin and rented by the Prior of Wymondley at
a mere 10s by the year’. Again, we read a historical fact which is embellished with fanciful details.
Additionally, in the chapter of Hitchin Worthies that features Robert Hinde, Hine also asserted that
there was a manuscript, History of Hitchin, in St Albans Museum which mentions the remains of
Dinsley Castle and stated that ‘the keep, bastion and curtain walling of the castle’ could be seen in
Robert Hinde’s time (around 1750)’.
At the same time he wrote that there was a tradition related by a Mrs Hinde of Preston ‘that in early
times there was a battle there; that one party took their station where Hunsdon Hall (aka Castle Farm)
is now and the other on Kings Hill, that one party was pursued to Gosmore where a king was killed and
buried under a tumulus there.
Confirmation of this story is to be found in the London Guildhall library where in 1902 EA Downman
had lodged some plans of these earthworks.
After some email correspondence, this manuscript of collected notes was traced to Hertfordshire
Archives and the relevant part is now shown:
Finally, there is the possibilty of a well within Dinsley Castle to consider. It most certainly would have
had a well which, in addition to daily needs, would have provided water supply in time of siege. At
Porchester Castle, for example, there is the well in the keep of the Norman Castle (see below
left).There is a well on the Preston site - “a three-hundred-feet deep well which is thought to be the
original well of Preston Castle”. It is capped and hidden by a playhouse/shed, but if this is the well that
was within Preston Castle it is possibly the oldest existing landmark in Preston’s history (below right):
Bernard de Balliol 1130 - 1153
Earlier in this article, we discussed the gifts which were given to the French Baron, Guy de Balliol
following the Norman Conquest of Britain. On his death, these were inherited by his cousin, Bernard
de Balliol. The latter appears to have had considerably more dealings with Hitchin and Dinsley than
his uncle. This is illustrated by the gift at Preston that Bernard in turn bestowed upon the Knights
Templar (who will be discussed in the next part of this history).
Here is a catalogue of gifts bestowed on the Templars between 1142 and 1149:
1142. King Stephen granted rights and privileges (but not land) on the Templar’s
holding at Dinsley. As it was only rights and privileges that were bestowed, it is
probable that Stephen had already given some land to the Templars here – remember
that Dinsley was in the King’s hand, being described as a ‘royal manor’ in Domesday.
1142. King Stephen confirmed an earlier grant of an acre at Dinsley (called Smith
Holes) that John Chamberlain had granted to the Templars.
In late 1142, Stephen gave the Templars 40 shillings worth of land at Dinsley as well as
two mills and ‘the men of the land’.
April 1147. Bernard de Balliol gave the Templars 15 librates of land (about 450 [15 x
30] acres) called Wedelee which was in his manor of Hitchin. This grant took place at
a Chapter of the Templars in Paris around Easter-time. Present were the King of
France, four archbishops and one hundred and thirty Knights who were ‘arrayed in
white cloaks’ in what must have been breathtaking assembly. Alluding to the practice of
smoothing the way to heaven, Bernard declared that, ‘....for the Salvation of my Soul, I
have given...(to the Templars) fifteen librates of my land...Wedelee by name which is a
member of Hitchin; fields rough and smooth, streams with woodland.’ ‘This grant
was.... made under unusual circumstances which seem to emphasize the importance
of the gift’.
April 1147-49. King Stephen confirmed a gift of uncultivated land (‘waste’) in Dinsley.
Now, for the first and only known time the place-name ‘Wedelee’ is introduced. The location of this
place has been the subject of more debate among historians interested in Hertfordshire.
In 1906, Wentworth Huyshe pointed out that thirty-eight years after this gift, in 1185, the possessions
of the Knights Templar included Preston (which amounted to four caracates, about 480 acres). He
argued, that on the basis of this, Wedelee and Preston were one and the same place. Reginald Hine
agreed.
Victorian County History states that, ‘Welei is possibly (my italics) Wedelee in Preston, but both this
and Welei cannot be identified with certainty’. It adds that Wedelee was ‘a name used elsewhere for
Dinsley’ (although no footnote is included to support this statement).
In The Place Names of Hertfordshire (1936) J E Glover claims that Wedelee is one and the same as
Welei, because ‘the medial ‘d’ in Wedelee is a common Anglo-Norman eccentricity’.
In 2002, Evelyn Lord suggested that Wedelee could be represented by the modern place name of
Wellhead (which is close to Hitchin).
I agree with the Victorian County History that Wedelee is one and the same as Dinsley (ie not
Preston, but including Preston) simply because of the extent of the land (about 450 acres) it
encompassed. Remember that in 1185 the first historical mention of ‘Prestune’ stated that it had an
area of approximately 480 acres - considerably less than the 1147 gift. So the additional land mass
bestowed on the Templars may well have included other local property - in later centuries, the Manor
of Temple Dinsley included Wayley (sic) and parts of Wymondley and Offley. Research!
The importance of this gift (and therefore Dinsley and Preston) to Bernard is shown by the occasion
of its being given and the audience who witnessed it. We have already mentioned that Bernard’s
interment was in the chapel (at Temple Dinsley) and that he was probably often in residence at the
castle at Preston which, Huyshe believed, was built by him.
A picture thus emerges of Bernard’s attachment to Dinsley. It was fitting that his effigy be lodged so
close to this area in the Church of the the Royal Manor of Hitchin, St Marys (see below).
Huyshe had much to say about this effigy in 1906. He writes “If you enter Hitchin Church by the south
porch and cross over to the north aisle of the nave you will see, lying on the sill of the westernmost
window, a mutilated, recumbent effigy of Purbeck marble, the face ground away, the legs broken off
below the knees…it is one of the earliest (effigies) in England, much resembling…some of the
famous effigies in the Temple Church in London.
“Salmon, writing in 1728, says of the early effigy in Hitchin Church and of two others…’They are said
to have been brought from Temple Dinsley when the Chapel was pulled down’….Mr F S
Clarkson…comes to the conclusion that it was executed somewhat earlier than the close of…1189
and that whether the effigy was brought from Temple Dinsley or not ‘all the local circumstances are in
favour of its being the memorial of Bernard de Balliol who founded the House of the Templars there.
“Since Mr Clarkson wrote in 1885, the discovery in the grounds of Temple Dinsley of a fragment of
the foot of a knight in chain mail seems to set the matter at rest once for all….in 1903 I made the
following observations upon it:
“I made diligent enquiry as to the precise place where the fragment was found, but without success.
Mr Frederick MacMillan, who lived at Temple Dinsley before Mr Barrington-White, tells me that in his
time it was one of several fragments of worked stone which were in the garden on the surface
forming part of an ornamental rockery”
Kings Hill Plantation at the bottom of
Preston Hill illustrates the local chalk strata.
The flints and clay in this field beside the
Kings Walden Road are typical of the area
The origins of Preston and its place-name
the Temple and Castle which were built in the vicinity of Preston in the twelfth century - ie Temple
Dinsley and Dinsley Castle and secondly, by the fact that much of Preston was still in the Manor of
Temple Dinsley in the seventeenth century.
“Subsequent gifts from King Stephen, who confirmed the Balliol grant, and others in Kings
Walden and Charlton created a substantial estate, and a Preceptory was established at
Dinsley, hence Temple Dinsley, by 1185, at which date the adjacent place-name Preston (the
Priest’s farm) is first mentioned.
There is no discrepancy in Preston being a Post-Conquest foundation despite the Saxon
name (it is not mentioned in Domesday, though Wedelee (not so, PJW) and Dinsley are);
there are many Prestons in England, and most have been shown to be Post-Conquest
foundations (pers comm Tom Pickles) (ie from personal communication with Tom Pickles).”
1. Coining: I think a lot of the place-names Preston (preosta-tun, 'the estate of the priests') were
coined in the later-eighth, ninth, tenth or early-eleventh centuries, i.e. pre-Conquest in the Anglo-
Saxon period. I think this was so because it was common for abbots/abbesses of religious
communities to hold all the land before the later eighth century, when we start to see groups of
priests holding some of the community's land for their own use; because the majority of these
names existed by Domesday Book (1086 - 1088); and because very few applied to estates in the
hands of priests after 1066. So they seem likely to belong to the period between the mid-eighth
century and the mid-eleventh century. But some may be post-1066, of course.
2. Meaning: I think they referred to land set aside for the use of priests - I explore some
possibilities for their use in the paper.
3. Social Context: I think the land was set aside and the names were coined for it when an
existing religious community was taken over and reorganised, often by a king or bishop.
4. Hitchin: Though I did not consider Hitchin as a case study, it may be a pre-1066 community of
clergy, part of whose land (the preosta-tun) was set aside for the priests for a specific purpose. I
seem to recall off the top of my head that Hitchin was a small community of priests in the
Domesday Book?
A historical document confirms that there was a castle at Dinsley or Preston. This is an indisputable
fact. Chauncey in his Historical Antiquities of Hertfordshire (1700) wrote:
This refers to the ‘site of the Castle of Dinesle’. Chauncey also cited a reference to this document:
When Edward 1 returned to England in 1274, he ordered a general enquiry
into the misconduct of local government and the misuse of franchises. All
owners of property were required to prove their right to it after being served
a writ of Quo Warranto. ‘6 Ed 1’ refers to the Statute of Gloucester 1278
and ‘Rot’ means that the property was restored by the king, the precise
reference being ‘37’. A copy of this is held in The National Archives.
It is probable that Wentworth Huyshe in The Royal Manor of Hitchin (1906) was referring to this
document when he wrote, “(Bernard de Balliol II, Junior) would no doubt have been present at his
father’s interment in the chapel (at Temple Dinsley) and was probably often in residence at the castle
at Preston which, I believe, was built by him close to the Templars’ establishment. The site of Preston
castle is about 650 yards distant from Temple Dinsley. I find it on record that in the year 1278, the
Prior of Wymondley was in possession of the site of the Castle of Preston at a yearly rent of 10/-” He
added, “I have not been able as yet to find any direct reference to Preston Castle except that which I
have mentioned, in the year 1278”.
Huyshe mentions Bernard de Balliol in his piece and the relevance of the Balliol family to Dinsley
Castle is now explained. The French baron, Guy de Balliol played a prominent part in the invasion of
Britain and was rewarded with swathes of land in the northern part of the new kingdom. One of the
first priorities for the conquerors was to impose themselves on the natives, to head off any retaliatory
uprising and cement their powers of administration. As a result, during the next fifty years or so, they
built castles - many so grand and so sturdily built that they survive a millennium later.
In 1094, William Rufus granted Guy de Balliol the enormous estate of Bywell in Northumberland. He
only occasionally spent time in Britain – enough to cause a writ to be produced prohibiting him from
hunting on another’s land – preferring to stay in France. It is reported that he ‘began the construction
of a ring-work defence’ at what is now Barnard’s Castle before the Castle was actually built.
As well as his northern estate, Guy was also granted land in Hertfordshire. Surprisingly, the only
reference to this is dated more than 350 years after the gift was made – and its content must be
inferred. The Cottonian Manuscript of 1463 records that previously, de Balliol’s widow gave the
brothers of St Albans monastery ‘one virgate of land in Hehstantune (ie Hexton, Herts)’. It has been
reasoned that if it was in the power of the Balliols to make this grant, then it follows that they must
have been given the land. Since Hexton was within the Royal Manor of Hitchin, it has also inferred
that the entire Manor was included in this gift, part of which was Dinsley and Preston. On a mere two
lines in a document written centuries after the event such suggestions have been hung hung!
There is some corroboration of this in Testa de Nevill (1234/35) in which Hugh de Balliol was said to
hold Hitchin – it being the gift of Henry III.
Meanwhile, Guy died on an unknown date. His heir was his cousin, Bernard de Balliol I (senior), who
succeeded to his uncle’s estates sometime between 1112 and 1130. Now we have the Preston
connection, for it is Bernard’s Purbeck marble effigy which was discovered at Temple Dinsley and
now reclines by a window at St Mary’s, Hitchin. Here we have concrete (or marbled) proof of
Bernard’s attachment to the area.
Returning to the subject of castles and their part in the
subjection of hostile natives (who included the Scots),
Bernard built one of the grandest Norman castles
overlooking the River Tees at what is now known as
Bernard’s or Barnards Castle (see right):
As the Balliols so imposed themselves in
Northumberland, they did likewise near Hitchin. They
built Deneslei/Dinsley Castle at Preston on the site of
what today is known as Castle Farm.
Here, there is only a mention of a ‘remnant of a wall and other traces of buildings’, and the words ‘the
keep, bastion and curtain walling’ are not included - but it makes for interesting, if misleading, reading!
Much as one might distrust folk-lore in general (such as the villagers’ belief that Joseph Darton was
the son of Miss Martha Ithell and Thomas Harwood), it would be unsurprising that stories about a
castle at Preston would be promulgated. In her Scrapbook History of Preston, Mrs Maybrick wrote,
“Dinsley Castle, which probably had previously been a pre-historic stronghold and stood on the site of
what is now Castle Farm, was held by the Balliols and the Templars, and from it they dominated and
overawed the countryside”. Sylvia Beamon wrote in The Royston Cave, “Dinsley Castle, which
probably had been previously a prehistoric stronghold and stood on the site of what is now Castle
Farm, was held by the Balliols and the Templars, and from it dominated the countryside.” It might be
suggested that she was either quoting from the Scrapbook, or that both had found the same authority.
Whatever the case, these statements are probably an echo of a long-standing tradition in Preston
that there had been a castle at the village, although the suggestion that it was “previously a
pre-historic stronghold” may be questioned.
Before we leave the subject of folk-lore and Preston Castle, volume 46 of Revue de Literature
Comparee comments of Robert Hinde, “...(he) remodelled his grandfather’s house to make it fit in with
the surrounding ruins of Dinsley Castle and probably also to gratify his own inclination for things
military (or perhaps for the dawning fad of things Gothic)”.
In summary, a case can be made that there was a castle at Preston on the basis of an existing
document dated 1278, there is a local tradition of folk-lore which refers to it and its well may still exist
One last aside: in 1869, Mrs Elizabeth Mayle of Dunham, Beds presented a medieval (ie dated 1066 -
1485) chafing dish to the Society of Antiquarians which was found on the site of Preston Castle.