Times were tempestuous for the incumbents of the Manor of Heyford. The Manor continued to be in the hands of the Mauntells. However, in 1541, John Mauntell, 'sallying forth in company with his brother-in-law, Lord Dacre, and others on a nocturnal frolic to chase the deer in St Nicholas Pelham's Park in Sussex, encountered three men, one of whom being mortally wounded in the affray. He and his associates were convicted of murder, executed, and their estates escheated to the Crown'.