The Flowerdew Family
(with grateful thanks to Lewis Buckingham for the details below)
THE Flowerdew family loom large in the history of Hethersett as major landowners and one of the major causes of Kett's Rebellion of the 16th century.
It is quite difficult to piece together details of the Flowerdews as they were accomplished at 'losing track' of where their land boundaries lay. Also, as Lords of the Manor, they were always losing their record books.
This was an especially lucrative technique with absentee land holders. Without proof of where land lay, the tenants - who all held allegiance to their local lord Flowerdew - would then give evidence as to where the boundaries fell. Funnily enough they often found their memory failed them as well.
Traditionally, local animals could graze on the Commons. This was really meant to assist subsistence farmers. It enabled them to keep a few animals and horses fed, and to perhaps tend a small plot in order to top up the kitchen pot.
This open access for all to the land was a bit of a problem for the Flowerdews as they required large pastures on which to graze their flocks of sheep. For sheep was where the money lay, and was probably how they made their initial steps towards affluence.
They ended up enclosing parts of the Commons towards this purpose. This in the end played a very big part in the first big splash Hethersett made in the history books - Kett's Rebellion.
It wasn't only the farmers in Hethersett who were grumbling about their lords enclosing the lands. The unrest was spread throughout East Anglia, but it was the animosity between local boy John Flowerdew and Robert Kett of Wymondham that grabbed the headlines when things kicked off.
The Ketts were a family of some standing in Wymondham, and had been so since perhaps the 13th century. They were also known as the Knyghts, which gives some idea of their pedigree.
The Flowerdews, however, were part of the nouveaux riche. Little is known of them before the mid 1400s, when they were farmers. In the late 15th Century one added skill with a pen to his background in farming. By the mid 1500s, by way of some canny family marriages and having friends in high places, they were sharing the lordship of the Manor of Hethersett.
The Flowerdews weren't a subtle folk.
For example, when Henry VIII started changing up the religious side of life, John Flowerdew of Hethersett found himself with the rights to the site of Wymondham Abbey. The local parish banded together under the leadership of Robert Kett and offered to pay a fair price for the value of the Abbey so that it wasn't destroyed. The town actually owned half of the abbey, and they wanted to purchase the other half as well. While Kett waited to hear back his answer from the king, Flowerdew tore down the better part of the southern end of the Abbey, carting off much of the stonework. The lead from the roof was melted and poured into a hole in the ground. This would suggest something of a apersonal argument between Kett and Flowerdew. That's not to say that it was all done out of spite.
As Lord of the Manor of Hethersett, and the Patron of the Living of St Remigius Church (a fancy way of saying he had the right to choose the next priest) - Flowerdew had set to work in Hethersett around 10 years earlier. He stripped the entire roof from the chancel and the eastern bays of the Nave of St Remigius in Hethersett. It stood open to the elements for around 350 years until it was repaired in 1898!
Perhaps he hadn't needed the roof of Wymondham abbey because he already had that of St Remigius?
John Flowerdew's son Edward Flowerdew was also a lawyer of note. To top it off he was an MP and a Baron of the Exchequer, so he was used to throwing his weight around.
Edward Flowerdew's brother in law John Appleyard owned a nice place midway between Hethersett and Wymondham called Stanfield Hall. Appleyard was also Robert Kett's brother in law. This perhaps made family dinners at Stanfield Hall a bit awkward after the whole puling down Wymondham Abbey thing.
Perhaps more awkward was that Edward Flowerdew took a liking for Stanfield Hall, so he bought it. He took a liking for the furniture there, so he bought that too. He took a liking to his brother in law John's mistress, so he married her into the bargain!
(with grateful thanks to Lewis Buckingham for the details below)
THE Flowerdew family loom large in the history of Hethersett as major landowners and one of the major causes of Kett's Rebellion of the 16th century.
It is quite difficult to piece together details of the Flowerdews as they were accomplished at 'losing track' of where their land boundaries lay. Also, as Lords of the Manor, they were always losing their record books.
This was an especially lucrative technique with absentee land holders. Without proof of where land lay, the tenants - who all held allegiance to their local lord Flowerdew - would then give evidence as to where the boundaries fell. Funnily enough they often found their memory failed them as well.
Traditionally, local animals could graze on the Commons. This was really meant to assist subsistence farmers. It enabled them to keep a few animals and horses fed, and to perhaps tend a small plot in order to top up the kitchen pot.
This open access for all to the land was a bit of a problem for the Flowerdews as they required large pastures on which to graze their flocks of sheep. For sheep was where the money lay, and was probably how they made their initial steps towards affluence.
They ended up enclosing parts of the Commons towards this purpose. This in the end played a very big part in the first big splash Hethersett made in the history books - Kett's Rebellion.
It wasn't only the farmers in Hethersett who were grumbling about their lords enclosing the lands. The unrest was spread throughout East Anglia, but it was the animosity between local boy John Flowerdew and Robert Kett of Wymondham that grabbed the headlines when things kicked off.
The Ketts were a family of some standing in Wymondham, and had been so since perhaps the 13th century. They were also known as the Knyghts, which gives some idea of their pedigree.
The Flowerdews, however, were part of the nouveaux riche. Little is known of them before the mid 1400s, when they were farmers. In the late 15th Century one added skill with a pen to his background in farming. By the mid 1500s, by way of some canny family marriages and having friends in high places, they were sharing the lordship of the Manor of Hethersett.
The Flowerdews weren't a subtle folk.
For example, when Henry VIII started changing up the religious side of life, John Flowerdew of Hethersett found himself with the rights to the site of Wymondham Abbey. The local parish banded together under the leadership of Robert Kett and offered to pay a fair price for the value of the Abbey so that it wasn't destroyed. The town actually owned half of the abbey, and they wanted to purchase the other half as well. While Kett waited to hear back his answer from the king, Flowerdew tore down the better part of the southern end of the Abbey, carting off much of the stonework. The lead from the roof was melted and poured into a hole in the ground. This would suggest something of a apersonal argument between Kett and Flowerdew. That's not to say that it was all done out of spite.
As Lord of the Manor of Hethersett, and the Patron of the Living of St Remigius Church (a fancy way of saying he had the right to choose the next priest) - Flowerdew had set to work in Hethersett around 10 years earlier. He stripped the entire roof from the chancel and the eastern bays of the Nave of St Remigius in Hethersett. It stood open to the elements for around 350 years until it was repaired in 1898!
Perhaps he hadn't needed the roof of Wymondham abbey because he already had that of St Remigius?
John Flowerdew's son Edward Flowerdew was also a lawyer of note. To top it off he was an MP and a Baron of the Exchequer, so he was used to throwing his weight around.
Edward Flowerdew's brother in law John Appleyard owned a nice place midway between Hethersett and Wymondham called Stanfield Hall. Appleyard was also Robert Kett's brother in law. This perhaps made family dinners at Stanfield Hall a bit awkward after the whole puling down Wymondham Abbey thing.
Perhaps more awkward was that Edward Flowerdew took a liking for Stanfield Hall, so he bought it. He took a liking for the furniture there, so he bought that too. He took a liking to his brother in law John's mistress, so he married her into the bargain!