Brington

Athelstan, Earldorman of East Anglia, who was called ‘half -king’, held Brington which descended to his son Ailwyn, founder of Ramsey Abbey. It was granted by Ailwyn to Ramsey, and subsequently in 1086, when it was assessed to the geld as a ‘manor’ of 4 hides, it became a member of the manor of Old Weston, together with Bythorn; Brington and Bythorn formed one ‘vill’ in 1285.

About 1360 there died a Margaret de Brington who held lands in Brington that had been granted to Ramsey by William de Walde, Knight, of Old Weston.

Old Weston was the manorial centre, and Brington the ecclesiastical centre, of a group of hamlets consisting of Old Weston, Brington and Bythorn. Although the church and priest at Old Weston were mentioned in 1086, no such entries occur for the other two hamlets; all three churches, however, were in existence in 1178, when Pope Alexander11 confirmed them to Ramsey Abbey. Both Brington and Old Weston were stated to be mother churches in the 13th century but a little later the former had become the head of the three, Bythorn and Old Weston were subsequently chapelries to it and the united living was in the gift of Ramsey Abbey until the Dissolution.

The agrarian holdings of Ramsey Abbey in the Domesday Book for 1066 is shown as 4 hides with the estate value of £4, and rose to £17 in 1095, £21 in 1135, £21 in 1140 and £37-15-6 in 1170. (Ref 25)