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In 1330 May 2, Robertus de Ardern was granted, by Edward III, (In year 4 of his reign) a Royal licence to crenellate Wykham (Wykham Park )
Licence for Robert de Ardern to crenellate his dwelling-house of Wykham, co. Oxford. By p.s. (CPR)

Robertus de Ardern ... mansum ... Wykham, Oxon. (Turner and Parker)

Granted at Woodstock. Grant by privy seal.

Comments

Presumably this is Wykham Park near Banbury. Robert had obtain licences for Perching and Drayton the previous year.

Original source is;

(In fact, the original source given is usually a transcription/translation of what are precious medieval documents not readily availably. It should be noted that these transcription/translations often date to the nineteenth or early twentieth centuries and that unwitting bias of transcribers may affect the translation. Care should also be taken to avoid giving modern meaning to the medieval use of certain stock words and terms. Licentia is best translated as 'freedom to' not 'permission'.)

Significant later sources are;

Robert Draiton
Robert was part of commission of oyer and terminer in 1328 but Gatehouse otherwise unable to identify his biography. Clearly Robert knew how to obtain licences to crenellate. This house and manor came to him in a rather complex way in the 1320s. Court cases, after the remarriage of his widow, lead to the house returning to the Wykeham family in the 1340s. It may be the licence to crenellate was part of trying to secure this property for his heirs. He died in 1331.

More information about licences to crenellate can be found here.

Please do inform Gatehouse if you see any errors, can add information or can otherwise help to improve this resource. Please contact Gatehouse.

Record created by Philip Davis. This record last updated on Sunday, October 4, 2015.


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