Henley-in-Arden is not listed in the
Domesday Book and may not have existed until the 12th century. The first record of the town is in a legal instrument drawn during the reign of
Henry II. ] In the 11th century, a Thurstan de Montfort constructed
Beaudesert Castle, a
motte and bailey castle, on the hill above Beaudesert. In 1140, the
Empress Matilda granted the right to hold a
market at the castle in 1141 and Henley soon became a prosperous
market town, conveniently located on the busy Birmingham-to-Stratford road. In 1220 in the reign of
Henry III, the
lord of the manor,
Peter de Montfort, procured the grant of a weekly Monday market and an annual fair to last two days, for the town. The initial prosperity came to an end during the
Second Barons' War when, in 1265, Peter de Montfort died fighting at the
Battle of Evesham. The royalist forces won, and the town and castle were burnt in reprisal. By 1336 the market was so prosperous that the inhabitants were able to obtain a licence from
Edward III to impose a local sales tax on all goods brought to the market, for a period of three years, in order to pay for the cost of paving the streets. The Lord of the Manor, Peter de Montfort 3rd
Baron Montfort, as
Commissioner of Array for Warwickshire sent 160
archers to the
Battle of Crecy during the
Hundred Years' War in 1346. By the 15th century, the lords of the manor were the Boteler family.
Ralph Boteler, 1st Baron Sudeley obtained a charter from
Henry VI in 1449, confirming the grant of the new weekly market, and a grant for two annual fairs. The town suffered another misfortune during the
English Civil War, when in 1643
Prince Rupert who was in charge of the Royalist forces, marched his soldiers through the town in 1643 on his way to Birmingham and pillaged the neighbourhood. As a non-chartered
market town, Henley's
administration was based upon a
manorial court. Under the lord of the manor were a high
bailiff, a low bailiff, a third-borough, a
constable, and pairs of
ale-tasters,
chamberlains,
leathersealers, brook lookers,
fieldreeves, and
affearors. These local borough officials were chosen annually by a meeting of former bailiffs and constables, and were members of the jury of the biannual
court leet. The bailiff, accompanied by his predecessors, would formally open the annual town fair. The town hall was inherited from a medieval
Guild. The records of the court leet and the
court baron in Henley date from 1592 onwards. The court rolls are largely concerned with (in Dyer's words) modest problems, such as preventing the poor from migrating into the town (which
burgers considered would become a burden on the rates and result in the destruction of
hedges for fuel), the ringing of loose pigs, and the prevention of horses being parked in the streets. The poor were a significant problem for Henley's court leet. In the early 17th century there was a marked increase in the landless poor, squatting on commons and on wasteland in the Forest of Arden, and such people were generally regarded as violent and criminal by townsfolk. Between 1590 and 1620 there were a disproportionate number of people, relative to the size of the population, presented by the court leet for engaging in violent
affray, something which Underdown states to be "surely no coincidence". In ''
Love's Labours Lost''
Rosaline says "Better wits have worn plain Statute Caps.". This is believed to be a reference to events in Henley during the writing of that play, before its publication, when the denizens of Henley were prosecuted in the court leet for being in breach of a statute (enacted with the aim of ensuring economic support for the wool industry) that required the wearing of woollen caps on Sundays and other holy days. Although the castle no longer remains, several other historical buildings and structures still exist in the town, such as the
parish churches of St. Nicholas and St. John the Baptist, the 15th century
Guildhall (which has been restored), the medieval
market cross (much of the decoration of whose shaft has been mutilated but which has three ranges of kneeling places and sculptures representing the Holy Trinity, the crucifixion of Jesus, and, it is believed, St Peter), the 16th century White Swan, and several
half timbered residences along High Street, the main street of the town. There was still a private asylum in the town in the 1880s. page 55 ==Transport==