The manor that would become known as Belbouches was one of two manors recorded in Westwick in the Domesday Book of 1086, the other being what would later be known as Lisles and that would eventually become what is now Westwick Hall. Belbouches manor was the smaller of the two, and had largely disappeared by the end of the 15th century. The historian A.P.M. Wright, writing in A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely (part of the Victoria County History project) in 1989, located the site of Belbouches manor on the north side of the Oakington to Cottenham road in the field between Westwick Farm and Beck Brook, although a location south of the road in what is now Westwick Park has also been suggested. A series of earthworks in the field north of the road are clearly visible; these may be the last visible traces of Belbouches manor and part of the medieval settlement of Westwick. Coprolite mining in the late 19th century has also been suggested as a possible origin.
The Domesday Book records that in 1066 the manor was held by Guthmund, who is described as Earl Waltheof’s man. The overlord of the manor was, however, Ely abbey. After the Norman conquest the manor passed to Robert son of William, who held it from tenant-in-chief David of Argentan. The Domesday Book records the land held as one ploughland (about 120 acres) corresponding to the amount of land that could be ploughed by a team of eight oxen in a year. However, in contrast to the larger Lisles manor, neither plough teams nor tenant households were recorded. The manor and its land may therefore have been solely occupied by the household of Robert son of William, who had no other recorded estates, together with his 103 sheep and 27 pigs.
Ely had recovered overlordship by 1135, and in 1166 the holder was William Despenser. The manor subsequently passed to Robert Chantemerle (nephew and heir of Alan Despenser) who granted it to his kinsman William Belbouche in 1197–8. The Belbouches were to hold the manor until into the 15th century, although Ely and the Chantemerle family retained overlordship until at least 1279.
No peasant tenements were ever created at Belbouches manor, and by 1279 the land was still mostly demesne (land reserved for the personal use of the lord of the manner) although 45 of the 120 acres were now held by four freeholders with 30, 10, 3 and 2 acres. The manor had been divided by 1315, but the Belbouches continued to hold the manor house and part of the land. A further portion of the Belbouches’ land was acquired by the Harward family at some point between 1346 and 1428; the Harwards subsequently held this land until 1610 when it may have been bought up by Robert Bendyshe of Lisles manor.
Meanwhile, John Belbouche was recorded as occupying some land in 1361, and Richard Belbouche continued to hold the manor house and the Belbouches’ remaining 23.5 acres of land in the early fourteen hundreds. By 1486, however, the house and land had passed to the trustees of Cottenham church.
Sources include:
- ‘Westwick: Introduction’, in A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 9, Chesterton, Northstowe, and Papworth Hundreds, ed. A P M Wright, C P Lewis( London, 1989), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/cambs/vol9/pp107-108 [accessed 20 July 2024].
- Westwick.indd (scambs.gov.uk)
- Archaeology of Cambridgeshire Vol 2: South East Cambridgeshire and the Fen Edge, Alison Taylor, Cambridgeshire County Council, 1998
- Liable to Floods: Village landscape on the edge of the fens A.D.450-1850, J.R.Ravensdale, Cambridge University Press, 1974
- The Cambridgeshire Coprolite Mining Rush, Richard Grove, Oleander Press, 1976
- Coprolites (bernardoconnor.org.uk)
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