Full text of "The Victoria history of the county of Northampton"

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LIBRARY ^

UNIVERSITY Of
CAUFORNIA

CANMseo

LIBRARY

UNIVERSITY OF
CALIFORNIA

SAN oiEeo

■^

Xlbe Dictovta If^istor^ of tbc
Counties of Enolanb

EDITED BY L. F. SALZMAN, M.A., F.S.A.

A HISTORY OF
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

VOLUME IV

THE

VICTORIA HISTORY

OF THE COUNTIES
OF ENGLAND

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

PUBLISHED FOR

THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
INSTITUTE OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH

BY THE

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

AMEN HOUSE, LONDON, E.C.

This History is issued by

the Oxford University Press

for the University of London

Institute of Historical Research

and printed in Great Britain

by John Johnson at the

University Press

Oxford

INSCRIBED

TO THE MEMORY OF

HER LATE MAJESTY

QUEEN VICTORIA

WHO GRACIOUSLY GAVE

THE TITLE TO AND

ACCEPTED THE

DEDICATION OF

THIS HISTORY

tel

6 -^

P- bo

^ 'a

O 2
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■a

THE

VICTORIA HISTORY

OF THE COUNTY OF

NORTHAMPTON

EDITED BY

L. F. SALZMAN, M.A., F.S.A.

VOLUME FOUR

Published for

the University of London

Institute of Historical Research

by the Oxford University Press in 1937

Distributed from 1st January, 1967
by Dawsons of Pall Mall

THE

VICTORIA HISTORY

OF THE COUNTY OF

NORTHAMPTON

EDITED BY

L. F. SALZMAN, M.A., F.S.A.

VOLUME FOUR

PUBLISHED FOR

THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
INSTITUTE OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH

BY THE

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

AMEN HOUSE, LONDON, E.C.

1937

CONTENTS OF VOLUME FOUR

Dedication .

Contents

List of Illustrations

List of Maps

Editorial Note

Topography

General descriptions and manorial descents in the hun-
dreds of Higham Ferrers, Spelhoe, Hamfordshoe, and
Orlingbury, originally compiled by the staff of the late
William Pace, Hon. D.Litt., F.S.A., revised by L. F.
Salzman, M.A., F.S.A.; Architectural descriptions by
F. H. Cheetham, F.S.A.; Heraldic drawings and
blazon by the Rev. E. E. Dorlinc, M.A., F.S..'\.
Charities from information supplied by J. R. Smith
and E. W. Perkins, of the Charity Commission

Higham Ferrers Hundred:
Introduction .
Bozeat .

Chelveston-cum-Caldecott
Easton Maudit
Hargrave

Irchester with Knuston and
Newton Bromswold
Raunds
Ringstead
Rushden
Stanwick
Strixton
WoUaston

Spelhoe Hundred:
Introduction
Abington
Great Billing
Little Billing
Boughton
Kingsthorpe
Moulton
Moulton Park
Overstone
Pitsford

• Spratton with Little Creaton
Weston Favell

Hamfordshoe Hundred:
Introduction .
Great Doddington

Chester-on-the- Water

PACE
V

xiv

17
21

27
29

44
5'
54
57

63
65
69

74
76
81
88
94

95
98

100
107

CONTENTS OF VOLUME FOUR

Earls Barton

Ecton .
Holcot .
Mears Ashby
Sywell .
Wellingborough
Wilby .

Orlingbury Hundred:
Introduction
Briiworth
Broughton
Cransley
Farton
Hannington
Hardwick
Great Harrowden
Little Harrowden
Isham .
Lamport with Hanging Houghton
Old alias Wold
Orlingbury
Pytchley
Scaldwell
Walgrave

Wymersley Hundred
Introduction .
Blisworth

Brafield-on-the-Green
Castle Ashby .

Cogenhoe

Collingtree

Courteenhall .

Denton .

Grendon

Hardingstone .

Horton .

Great Houghton

Little Houghton

Milton Malzor

Piddington with Hackleton

Preston Deanery

Quinton

Rothersthorpe .

Whiston

Wootton

Yardley Hastings

By Margery Fletcher, M.A.

Margery Fletcher, M.A

Descrip

tion of the
A., F.S.A.

Castl

By L. F. Salzman, M.A., F.S.A.
By Margery Fletcher, M.A.
By Ada Russell, M.A.
By Marian K. Dale, M..A.;

by J. A. Gotch, M.A., F.R.I.B
By Ada Russell, M.A.
By Margery Fletcher, M.A.

By Marian K. Dale, M.A.

By Ada Russell, M.A.

By Marian K. Dale, M.A.

By Ada Russell, M..^.

By Margery Fletcher, M.A.
By Marian K. Dale, M.A.

By Margery Fletcher, M..^.
By Ada Russell, M.A.

By Marian K. Dale, M.A.; Description of the Manor
House by J. A. Gotch, M.A., F.R.I.B.A., F.S.A.

PAGE

ii6

122

127
129

135
146

149
150
158
162
167
172

178
185
188

200
204
208
213
217

223
224
228

230
236
240
242
246
249
252
259
262
266
271
276
279
282
285
288
292

296

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Cowper's Oak in Yardley Chase

Bozeat Church from the South- West, c. 1800

„ The Old MiU
Chdveston-cum-Caldecott Church Plan
Easton Maudit Church ....

., Plan .
Irchestcr Church Plan ....
„ from the South-East

Interior, looking West I
„ The Pulpit 1

Raunds Church Plan ....
„ Tower from the South- West
The Clock Dial
„ ,, Interior, looking East

Ringstead Church

„ „ Plan .

Rushden Church Plan

„ „ from the South-East

„ „ Interior, from the West Entrance

Stanwick Church Plan .
„ ,, Tower.

Strixton Church Plan
Wollaston Church Tower

„ „ Interior, looking East

„ „ Plan .

Abington Hall: The Staircase .

„ Church from the South-East
„ „ Pulpit and Thursby Monument \

„ ,, Sedilia j

Plan .
Little Billing: Manor House, 1729

„ „ Church Font
Boughton Old Church, 1773
,, ,, Ruins

Kingsthorpe Church

Plan
Moulton: Old Houses

„ Village and Church
Overstone Park

„ „ Gateway, removed from Pytchley Hall \

„ Church from the South-West
Pitsford Church Tower \

„ „ Font / * ' '

,, „ Tympanum of South Door .

Spratton Church Plan ....
„ „ from the North-East |

Tomb of Sir John Swinford)

Frontispiece

p/ate, facing

■

p/ate, facing

»t »»

plate, facing

,* ».

plate, facing

»» »»

plate, facing

•

plate, facing

, ,

p/a/e, facing

»» »»

>» »»

plate, facing

i» »»

»» »»

plate, facing

•

plate, facing

,. .. 98

.. .• 99

104

plate, facing 104

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Spratton Church: West Doorway

Weston Favell Church: Tower from the North- West

„ „ „ Needlework Panel

Great Doddington Church: Chained Books]
„ „ ,, Misericord

„ Pulpit
Earls Barton: The Mount and Church Tower
„ Church Plan

„ „ Tower from the North- West

„ „ Detail of Tower 1

„ „ South Door |

Ecton Village
„ Church Plan
,, „ from the South-East

Holcot Church from the South-East
Mears Ashby Hall

„ Church and Village

„ Village

„ Church, Interior, looking East)

„ „ Font

Sywell Church .....
Wellingborough: The Hind Hotel

„ Sheep Street (before 1917)

„ The Old Grammar School

„ All Hallows Church, Tower ]

„ „ „ Interior, looking East J

„ „ „ Plan

Wilby Church from the South-East
Brixworth Church from the North- West

„ „ before restoration (c. 1820)]

„ „ South Side

„ „ Plan

„ „ Interior, looking West

Cransley Church from the North- West
Faxton Church: Monument of Sir Augustine Nicollsl

„ „ from the North- West

Hannington Church Plan

„ „ from the South-East \

„ „ Interior, looking East)

Hardwick Manor House
Great Harrowden Hall

„ „ Chapel of St. Hubert

„ Church: Interior, looking East

„ „ Plan

Isham Church
„ „ Plan

„ „ Interior, looking East

Lamport Hall

„ Church from the South- West
Old: The Village .
Orlingbury Old Church (c
„ New Church

c. i8oo)l

PAGE

106

plate, facing

108

j» )>

109

)> j>

114

)> >»

)) j»

116

119

plate, facing

120

j» )»

121

124

125

plate, facing

126

J) )>

127

130

•

131

plate, facing

132

j» )?

133

134

•

136

137

plate, facing

140

»» »>

141

plate, facing

146

j» >»

152

» )>

153

156

plate, facing

164

iy J>

170

•

174

plate, facing

174

)> »

175

178

plate, facing

182

184

188

•

193

plate, facing

194

99 >»

195

201

plate, facing 206

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PytcUey Hall (c. 1820) |
Church from the South- West (c. 1 820)/

f/aU, facing

210

Scaldwell Church Plan

215

„ „ from the South
Walgrave Church from the North (c. 1 800)

f late, facing

216

Plan

220

Ellsworth: Barge on the Grand Union Canal

plate, facing

224

., Village

»» »»

225

„ Church Plan . . . . .

226

Brafield-on-the-Green Church: Capital in South Arcade
The Village

plate, facing

230

Castle Ashby

II II

231

Plan

231

Church Plan

23+

„ „ from the South- East (c. 1820)
Cogenhoe: The Rectory House, North Side j

plate, facing

236

Church Plan

238

„ „ from the South-East

„ „ Effigy of Sir Nicholas de Cogenhoe/

plate, facing

238

Collingtree Church Plan ....

240

Font ....

241

Courteenhall: Old School . . . . .

plate, facing

242

., Stables and House 1

Hall 1 ■ ■ ■

243

Church Plan ....

244

„ „ from the North-East (c. 1820)

plate, facing

246

Denton Old Church (c. 1820) .

II i»

247

Plan ....

248

Grendon Church Plan .....

251

Hardingstone: Queen Eleanor's Cross

plate, facing

254

„ Church from the North-East (c. 1820)

II II

255

„ Plan ....

257

Horton House

„ Church from the South (c. 1820)

plate, facing

260

Milton Malzor: The Manor ....

271

„ „ Dovecote

272

Church Plan ....

274

„ „ from the South-East

plate, facing

276

Piddington Church from the South-East

. . II II

277

Preston Deanery Church Plan

281

Quinton Church Plan .....

284

Rothersthorpe Church Plan ....

286

„ ,, from the South-East^
Font )

plate, facing

286

Whiston Church Plan

290

„ „ from the South-East

plate, facing

290

Wootton Church Plan

295

Vardley Hastings Manor House Plan

296

»• !»••••

297

Church Plan

298

„ „ and Village

plate, facing

298

„ „ from the South-East

II II

299

XIU

LIST OF MAPS

Index Map to the Hundred of Higham Ferrers
Index Map to the Hundred of Spelhoe
Index Map to the Hundred of Hamfordshoe
Index Map to the Hundred of Orlingbury .
Index Map to the Hundred of Wymersley .

PAGE
I

I 12

149

223

XIV

EDITORIAL NOTE

The third volume of the Victoria History oj the County oj Northampton was
published in 19^0 under the editorship of the late Dr. William Page, and
materials for the accounts of the four hundreds of Higham Ferrers, Spelhoe,
Hamfordshoe, and Orlingbury had then been collected. The manorial descents
of these hundreds had actually been compiled by members of Dr. Page's staff
as far back as 1908; these have been completely revised, and largely rewritten,
by the Editor, with assistance from local authorities.

Special thanks are due to Miss Joan Wake, who again put her own enthusiasm
and local knowledge and the documentary resources of the Northamptonshire
Record Society at our disposal. To Mrs. Harry Manfield we are indebted for
the frontispiece to this volume; to the Marquess of Northampton for the loan of
the plan of Castle Ashbv, and also for reading proofs; and to Mr. L. G. H. Lee,
F.S.A., for the loan of two blocks of Raunds Church, Mr. H. J. Smith, whose
contribution of photographs to the third volume was inadvertently left un-
acknowledged, has again provided photographs; and Messrs. John Murray have
kindly permitted us to reproduce an illustration from Baldwin Brown's Arts in
Early England. Professor A. Hamilton Thompson gave considerable help with
the architectural descriptions, as did the late Major C. A. Markham, F.S.A.,
who kindly allowed full use to be made of his book on the Church Plate
oj Northamptonshire. Mr. Reginald W. Brown, Librarian of the Borough of
Northampton, was also most helpful.

Among others who gave valuable assistance, special mention may be made of
the late Mr. W. Talbot Brown, F.S.A., Mr. C. Vere Davidge, Mr. Gyles
Isham,the Rev. H. Isham Longden, F.S. A., and Mr. H. Savory. Thanks are also
due to the proprietors of Kelly's Directories for permission to quote from their
publications; and to the following for reading proofs and making corrections
and suggestions regarding them: the Rev. H. P. Brown, Mr. A. C. Chibnall,
the Rev. G. H. Haines, the Rev. J. Hotine, the Rev. K. Kershaw, the Rev.
C. Grant King, the Rev. G. H. Mallctt, the Rev. W. F. Need, the Rev. A. C.
Nugee, the Rev. E. Y. Orlebar, Miss G. E. H. Roberts, the Rev. H. J. Smale,
Col. H. G. Sotheby, Major A. H. Thurburn, Sir Hereward Wake, bart., and
the Rev. J. White.

Many others, particularly among the parochial clergy, have given much
appreciated help in various ways.

THE
HUNDRED OF HIGHAM FERRERS

BOZEAT

CHELVESTON-CUM-CALDECOTT

EASTON MAUDIT

HARGRAVE

HIGHAM FERRERS BOROUGH*

CONTAINING THE PARISHES OF

HIGHAM PARK RUSHDEN

IRCHESTER STANWICK

NEWTON BROMSWOLD STRIXTON

RAUNDS WOLLASTON
RING STEAD

....■• s

:if"

y I R C H E S T E R '•.RUSHDE N'-.'V'A

IN the Geld Roll of about 1076 and in the following century the Hundred
of Higham Ferrers is given as one and a half hundreds.' In 1086 it was held
by \\'illiam Peverel, who also held the manor of Higham Ferrers,- and the
hundred and manor (q.v.) have subsequently remained in the same hands.
In the Domesday Survey the following

lands belonged to it: Higham Ferrers, ;^. ^

Rushden, Chelveston, Caldecott, •'RiNosTEAo.-'

Knuston, Irchester, Easton Maudit, \..^ __ _:

Farndish, Poddington, Raunds,^ /. '

Bozeat, and Hargrave/ as well as 10^
hides in Finedon^ and certain unnamed
lands, which by comparison with the
I 2th-century survey of Northampton- /:

shire can be identified with Strixton.^ •*"* "•. ••..•>:-

Newton Bromswold which belonged
to William Peverel in 1086 is returned ^/ ''•./"

in Hamfordshoe Hundred^ but before /wouastonI
the Northamptonshire Survey of the s^^^

nextcenturyit was certainly in Higham y*'

Hundred. 8 Farndish and parts of Pod-
dington lie in Bedfordshire, but in the
early i8th century the lands of the
Hundred of Higham Ferrers were
much interlaced with those of the neigh-
bouring county. 9 In 1602 both the
court leet and the three-weeks court

were indiscriminately described in estreat rolls as the hundred court,'° but by
1674 they were distinguished as the court leet or view of frankpledge and the
court baron of the hundred." The courts were generally held at Higham

■ r.C.H. Nortiann.i, 2<)j, 2j6i. ^ Ibid. 336^

' Ibid. 336^, 337<7. •• Ibid. 23^i- ' Ibid. 3081.

' Ibid, i, 34z<7, 376*. 'Ibid. 311.7. « Ibid. 376-J.

» Bridges, Hist, of Northants. ii, 157.
'» Duchy of Lane. Ct. R. (P.R.O.), bdle. 105, no. 1 502. " Ibid. nos. i 506, 1 5 16.

* For Higham Ferrers Borough and Higham Park sec V.C.H. Nort/idnis. iii, 263-80.
IT I B

/ '..bozeat/

•iaston"._ •

•mauoit." /

IIIGIL\M FERRERS

Map of the Hundred

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

Ferrers,' but in October 1694 there is an instance of their being held at
Raunds.2 In Queen Elizabeth's reign the freeholders who owed suit to the
three-weeks court paid a yearly fine at one of the half-yearly leets from their
lands in the hundred, in lieu of doing suit.^ In 165 i these fines amounted to
I2J-. a year, the profits of the two courts being ^^4.'* Throughout the 17th
century cases of debt and trespass were heard in the hundred court, as well as
occasional matters relating to tolls and bridge-repairs. ^

■ Duchy of Lane. Ct. R. (P. R.O.), nos. 1502, 1506, I 5 14, 1 516, I 518. ^ Ibid. no. 1 518.

3 Ibid. nos. 1502, 1506. t Rentals and Surv. (P.R.O.), Pari. Surv. Northants. 5.

5 Duchy of Lane. Ct. R. (P.R.O.), bdle. 105.

HIGHAM FERRERS HUNDRED

BOZEAT

Bosiete (li cent.); Bosehate, Bosezate, Bosyate, Bose-
gate (xiii cent.); Bosizatt (xvi-rvii cent.).

Bozeat is on the borders of Bedfordshire and Buck-
inghamshire, a stone at Shirewood about 2 miles south-
east of the village marking the boundary between the
three counties. The London road from Welling-
borough to Olney runs through the parish from north
to south. The village lies mainly along two roads
branching east from the London road, the lower one
being called the High Street.

St. Mary's Church, with the vicarage to the west of
it, lies at the eastern side of the village. To the south
of it, across the road, are Manor Farm and Church
Farm, the Independent Methodist chapel built in 1 892,
and the Baptist chapel built in 1844. There is a ceme-
tery of about an acre formed in 1903, with a mortuary
chapel. A public elementary school was built in 1873,
and enlarged in 1892. A working men's club founded
in 1894 has a club house, built in 1897; and an obelisk
of Weldon stone was erected in 1920 to the memory
of 39 men of the parish who fell in the Great War.
There are disused brickworks north-west of the village;
and about a quarter of a mile to the south of the vil-
lage, down the London road, are Bozeat mill and
windmill, the last surviving post mill in the county.

The parish lies mostly at a height of about 300 ft.,
and while the surface is level in some districts, in the
north it is hilly. It has an area of 2,605 acres. The soil
is a stiff loam; the subsoil limestone. The chief crops
grown are cereals. Shoemaking employs a considerable
number of hands. Some Bozeat tradesmen's tokens of
the 17th century are known.' The population in 193 1
was 1,157.

In Bozeat, 2 hides less i virgate were
MjINORS the propertj- of Waltheof Earl of Hunting-
don before the Conquest, and were held
by his wife the Countess Judith in the Domesday Sur-
vey.^ The overlordship of this manor, later known as
the manor of L/1TIMERS, descended with the earl-
dom and honor of Huntingdon as Yardley Hastings
(q.v.).

Under Earl Waltheof this property was held by
Stric. In 1086 Lanzelin was the Countess Judith's
tenant, the pre-Conquest value of 40/. remaining un-
altered. The family of de Moreville were undertenants
of this fee in the 12th century, and an inquiry held in
the reign of King John^ showed that Richard de More-
ville (Constable of the King of Scotland and father of
Helen de Moreville) had been seised of the land of
Whissendine (Rutland) and Bozeat, and later had been
disseised on account of the war between Henry II and
King William of Scotland. To Earl David's counter-
claim that King Henry had granted the land to his
brother King William, who had then granted it to
himself to hold in demesne, Helen de Moreville ob-
jected that it was only the service rendered for the land

' N. (^ Q. Norlhanll. 1886-7, P- ^02

' V.C.H. Sarihanit. i, 353a.

^ Akbm. Viae, (Rcc. Com.), 79.

« Ibid. 80.

' Pipe R. 1 3 John, m. i 3.

' Cal. Fine /?. 1272-1 307, p. 48.

• Chin. Inq. p.m. 6 Edw. II, no. 56.

• Cai. /ny. Atitc. ii (i 307-49), p. 92.
"• Cal. Inq, f.m., vii, no. 689, p. 477.

which had been granted to him by the King of Scot-
land. Alan de Galway, the son of Helen de Moreville,
married Margaret, the daughter of Earl David, and
received a grant of 2 fees in Whissendine and Bozeat to
hold of him by homage and service.* Alan de Galway
and his mother appear in 1 2 1 3 as owing 600 marks
and 6 palfreys for the foregoing inquiry.' A fee in
Bozeat appears in 1 242 as held of Henry de Hastings
by John Hansard.* The Hansards were still in posses-
sion of this fee in 1275,' when it was ordered that the
manor of Bozeat, held in chief by Gilbert Hansard,
should be taken into the king's hands, as he had
alienated it without licence. Probably he had sold it to
one of the Mowbrays, as in 1 3 1 2 a fee held by John
Mowbray in Bozeat was included among the fees held

Hansard. SaiU
mcUts argent.

three

Latimer. Guiet a cross
paty or.

■' Ibid. ix,no. 1 18, pp. 12
1346-9, p. 582.

" Hund. R. (Rcc. Com.), ii, 10. The
entry is confused : Rf^bt. Twryge in Bospage
et ffilh. heret de eadem,, but obviously
Robert Tweng and possibly a son whose
death left this fee to Robert's daughter
Lucy are alluded to.

" Cal. Pat. 1281-92, p. 196.

■« Cal. Chse, 1288-96, p. 344.

at his death by John de Hastings.' The declaration in
1 3 1 8 that there never were any lands in Bozeat of
ancient demesne' may indicate that the Hastings over-
lordship had been called in question. William Latimer
at his death in 1336 held the manor of Bozeat of John
de Mowbray by service of one knight's fee.'" At the
death of Laurence de Hastings, Earl of Pembroke, in
1 348, one fee was held of him by John de Mowbray in
Bozeat, and another by William Latimer" (son of the
last-named William). After this date the Mowbray
mesnelordshipis not again recorded. The other fee came
to the La timers through theTwengs and the Bruces, and
was also for a time returned as held in chief by them.
Robert de Tweng appears to have claimed view of frank-
pledge in Bozeat in 1275.'^ On 15 October 1285 the
custody of the manor of Bozeat, during minority of
the heir of Robert de Tweng, was granted to Roger de
Fricurt, king's yeoman, '^ and in February 1294 the
manor of Bozeat was in the king's hands by reason of
the minority of Lucy daughter and heir of Robert de
Tweng, tenant in chief '■• Lucy had inherited property
in the north as grand-daughter and heir of Marmaduke
de Tweng and of Lucy sister and co-heir of Peter de
Bruce." In 131 1 Lucy de Tweng and William Lati-
mer her husband made a settlement of the manors of
Danby, co. York, and of Bozeat, both of the inheritance
of Lucy,'* to William Latimer to hold for life, with
remainder to William their son. '^ In 1 3 1 6 Bozeat was
assessed with Easton [.MauditJ and with half Strixton,

3 i Cal. C/cjf,

" Kirkhy's Inq. (Surtees Soc.), 307.

'» Feet of F. Uiv. Co. Hil. 4 Edw. II,
case 285, file 28, no. 41. Lucy was
divorced in 1315: Dugdale, Bar. ii, 37 j
Archbj). Greenjield's Reg. (Surtees Soc.), i,
126.

" Cal. Chart. R. iii, 159; Chart R. 4
Edw. II, m. 12, no. 46.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

William Latimer appearing among the tenants then
enumerated.'

On 3 November 1328 a grant of free warren was
made by Edward III to William Latimer in the manors
of Scredington (co. Lincoln) and of Bozeat.- He
claimed view of frankpledge in 1329 as having been
held with the manor by Lucy de Bruce, who enfeoffed
of the manor his father William Latimer. ^

After the death of William Latimer in 1335 the
manor was held in dower by his widow Elizabeth until
her death on 11 April 1384.'* Her son Sir William
Latimer predeceased her, dying on 28 May 1381, and
his heir was his daughter Elizabeth, wife of John de
Neville Lord of Raby.' The manor was thep assigned
in dower to his widow, also named Elizabeth,* who at
her death in 1389 was returned as holding it of the
Earl of Pembroke by service of half a knight's fee, of
the inheritance of her daughter Elizabeth.'' Lady Eliza-
beth Neville married as her second husband Sir Robert
de Willoughby of Eresby, and died seised of the manor
of Bozeat in 1395.* Lady Elizabeth's heir by her first
husband was their son John Neville, but after her death
the manor was held by her second husband Sir Robert
de Willoughby until he died on g August 1396.' It
was then returned as held of the honor of Huntingdon,
but by what service was not known.'" In 1428 Bozeat
was assessed for feudal aids as i fee held by Lord
Latimer of the honor of Huntingdon." John de
Neville, Lord Latimer, died s.p.
in 1430— I, having entailed the
manor on Ralf Earl of Westmore-
land, his step-brother, i.e. the son
of his father John Lord Neville by
his first wife Maud daughter of
Lord Percy.'^ By Earl Ralf it was
bestowed on his third son. Sir
George Neville, who with his

wife Elizabeth, daughter of Rich- Neville, Lord Latimer,
ard Beauchamp Earl of Warwick, Gules a saltire argent
made settlement of it in 1444.'^ '^"'^ " ^'"Z "*'^ /»''
He, as Sir George Neville Lord d'ffereme.

Latimer, died seised of it jointly with his wife Eliza-
beth on 30 December 1469, his heir being his grandson
Richard Neville, son of his son Henry, who had been
slain that year. In the inquisition taken on the following
10 May'* he was said to have held the manor of the
heirs of Thomas d'Evreux by half a knight's fee, but
this was evidently a confusion with the manor of
Marshes (q.v.). Elizabeth, his widow, died on 27
October 1480, when it was returned that she had
granted the stewardship of the manor to Richard
Maryette.'^ Her grandson Sir Richard Neville of Lati-
mer succeeded her. On 3 April 1500 he and his wife
Anne made a settlement of this and other manors.'* Sir
Richard was succeeded by his son John Lord Latimer,
whose son John Lord Latimer next succeeded, and died
at Snape in Yorkshire on 22 April 1577 leaving four
daughters as his co-heirs: Catherine, wife of Henry

Earl of Northumberland; Dorothy, wife of Sir Thomas
Cecil; Lucy, wife of William CornwaUis, esq.; and
Elizabeth, wife of Sir John Danvers." These ladies,
with their husbands, were dealing by fine with the
manors of Bozeat, Church Brampton, Stowe, and Kis-
lingbury in 1 579,'* and in 1 580 the manors of Bozeat
and Church Brampton were conveyed to Sir Thomas
Cecil and his wife Dorothy by Richard Neville and his
wife Barbara." Sir Thomas Cecil in right of his wife,
the Lady Dorothy, subsequently took proceedings
against Robert Johnson, steward of Lord Latimer and
of Sir Thomas Cecil in these properties, to cause him
to surrender court rolls and other evidences, and con-
fess what he had cut or otherwise defaced in the same.^"

These proceedings may possibly be connected with
preparations for a sale of the manor, as in i 598 a con-
veyance of the manors of Bozeat Latimers and of
Bozeat Marshes (q.v.) was made by Sir Thomas Cecil
and his wife Dorothy to John Wiseman and his wife
Margery,^' and both these manors were after this date
held by the Wisemans.

In 1603 John Wiseman settled the two manors of
Bozeat and the rectory and advowson on his nephew
Henry, younger son of his brother Richard, at the
marriage of the said Henry with Mary Burley, daughter
of Richard Burley of Elsenham, co. Essex, with con-
tingent remainder to Richard, elder brother of the said
Henry.*- John Wiseman died at Bozeat on 1 1 Decem-
ber 1615, his heir being his brother Richard's son
Richard, and was succeeded in the Bozeat manors by
his nephew Henry and the latter's wife Mary.^-' His
own wife Frances survived him, and his nephew
Richard died seised of the reversion of this property on
1 5 October 1616, leaving a wife Dorothy and a son and
heir Mark.^'*

In 1630 Henry Wiseman and his wife Mary were
dealing^' with the manors, rectory, and advowson, all
settled on the said Mary for life, with remainder to
their son John and his wife Elizabeth. John Wiseman
of St. Leonard's in Shoreditch, London, died seised
of the manors, rectory, and ad-
vowson on 7 April 1637, leaving
a son and heir John aged 2,"^* who
in 1656 conveyed them to John
Gundry,^' apparently a settle-
ment on attaining his majority, as
the manors remained in the Wise-
man family, and when Bridges
wrote were in the hands of Hester
and Elizabeth Wiseman,^* by in-
heritance from their brother John
Wiseman, their mother being, ac-
cording to Bridges, Catherine,
daughter of Sir Edward Alston
of East Barnet. In 1729 Hester
and Elizabeth Wiseman presented to the church. In
1737 Elizabeth Wiseman, spinster, conveyed the
manors of Bozeat Latimers and Marshes to Sara

Spen'cer. Quarterly ar-
gent and gules fretty or
ivith a bend sable over all
charged tvith three scal-
lops argent.

' Feud. Aids, iv, 30.

2 Chart R. 2 Edw. Ill, m. 5, no. 22;
Cal. Chart. R. 1327-41, p. 94.

3 Plac. de Quo VVarr. (Rec. Com.), 575.
^ Chan. Inq. p.m. 7 Ric. II, no. 52.

5 Ibid. 4 Ric. II, no. 34.

' Ibid. 5 Ric. II, no. 35.

' Ibid. 12 Ric. II, no. 34.

8 Ibid. 5 Hen. IV, no. 28.

« Ibid. 20 Ric. II, no. 54.

'» Ibid. 5 Hen. IV, no. 28.

'* Feud. Aids, iv, 45.

■^ Bridges, Hist, of Northants. ii, 159.

" Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 22 Hen. VI.

"■• Chan. Inq. p.m. 9 and 10 Edw. IV,
no. 28.

'S Ibid. 20 Edw. IV, no. 73.

■* Pat. R. 1 5 Hen. VII, pt. ii ; Cal. Pat.
1494-1509, p. 198; Feet of F. Div. Co.
Trln. 15 Hen. VII.

" Chan. Inq. p.m. (Sen 2), clxxviii, 57.

'8 Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 21 Eliz.

'9 Ibid. Hil. 22 Eliz.; Recov. R. Mich.
1580, ro. 119.

2» Ct. of Req. xxxiii, 77.

" Feet of F. Northants. East. 40 Eliz.

-- Ibid. East, i Jas. I.

" Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclxxxiii,
no.

^■* Ibid, ccclviii, 104.

« Feet of F. Northants. Hil. 6 Chas. I;
Recov. R. Hil. 6 Chas. I, ro. 41.

^' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxxxi, 4.

" Feet of F. Northants. East. 1656.

-8 Hist, of Northants. ii, 160.

HIGHAM FERRERS HUNDRED

BOZEAT

Dowager Duchess of Marlborough,' and in 1739
the duchess presented to the church. From her it
passed to the Spencers. The presentation to the church
was made in 1753 by John Spencer, esq. (in whose
hands the manors must have been at that date), and in
1795 and 1796 by Earl Spencer, who was returned
in the Indosure Act of 1798 as lord of the manor and
owner of the impropriate rectory,* which remained in
the possession of the Spencer family.

The manor of MARSHES originated in land held at
the date of the Domesday Survey by William Peverel,
under whom Turstin [Mantel] was holding i J virgates
in Bozeat of which the soc appertained to Higham.^
The 12th-century Northampton Survey records 3 small
virgates in Bozeaf* as of the fee of William Peverel, and
I J virgates which had been entered in the Domesday
Survey as held in Easton by William Peverel,' and were
waste, probably made up the difference.

The overlordship descended with the fee of Ferrers
to Edmund Earl of Lancaster, and in 1298 was in-
cluded in the dower of his widow Blanche, as was also
a thirtieth of a fee in Bozeat held by Robert the Clerk.*
This, of which there is no further trace, may have
originated in a grant of land made in the time of King
John by William de Wenneval to 'Roger my clerk'.'
The Bozeat half- fee descended to Thomas Earl of Lan-
caster' and passed with his other property into the
hands of the Crown.

Early in the 13th century Robert Bloet was in pos-
session of this manor and granted a messuage, vineyard,
garden, pigeon-house, and 5 virgates, with the services
of the hiondmen, to Ralph Harcng.' All this Ralph,
with the consent of his son Ralph, gave in 1222 to the
nuns of Godstow, on condition of their paying £^
yearly to the abbey of St. James outside Northampton.'"
But immediately afterwards he and the Abbess Felice
rearranged the grant, so that the
land went to the abbey of St.
James, who should pay the £^
yearly to Godstow;" and about
twenty years later Abbot Adam
of St. James sold the vineyard
back to Sir Ralph Hareng (prob-
ably the son) without abating the
rent charge.'* Geoffrey de Stokes
had apparently acquired the rights
of Robert Bloet before 1229,
when he made over the 5 virgates
to Ralph Hareng, at the same
time paying 4 marks to the abbey
of St. James for a fishpond on the property.'^ In
1242 Thomas d'Evrcux (de Ebraicis) was holding
this half-fee;'* and in 1246 he was granted land which

Abbey of St. James,
Northampton. Parry
sable and gules a scallop

he had assarted on the king's demesne and the cus-
tody of the wood of Hornwood, which he had held
from the king's foresters in fee before they forfeited
their bailiwick." This was acquired from him and
granted to the abbey of St. James by John de Stokes,'*
who in 1255 granted a lease to the abbey of St.
James without Northampton for fifteen years of land
in Bozeat and the custody of Hornwood," and in the
same year conveyed to Abbot Adam a wood and half
a knight's fee in Bozeat and Higham.'* In the assess-
ment in 1 3 16 of Bozeat with Easton [Maudit] and
half Strixton for feudal aids, the abbot of St. James
appears among tenants enumerated," and in the same
year was engaged in a dispute with Richard Shortnot,
a tenant of the manor of Bozeat, because the said
Richard had unjustly claimed that this manor was of
the ancient demesne of the Crown." Richard, however,
was discharged on that occasion owing to the abbot's
having exacted from him and other tenants services
other than those which it had been customary to render.
An inquisition of 1318 stated that there were no lands
in Bozeat of the ancient demesne of the Crown.*'

Other land in Bozeat had been acquired by Adam,
Abbot of St. James, to whom William de Dudinton in
1 262 granted a messuage and 45 acres of land there.**
In 1292 John de Nowers quitclaimed to Abbot Ralph
the wood of Stoneway in Bozeat, which had been
granted to the abbey by John Maudit, lord of Easton
(q.v.), for a rent of 2/. or one sparrow-hawk;*^ and in
1 3 19 Walter Mauntell received licence to alienate to
the abbey 2 J acres in Bozeat.** Additional land in
Bozeat was acquired in 1 391-2 by the abbey,*' whose
property there was valued at the Dissolution at ^^lo
}early.** The manor of Bozeat, with the rectory and
advowson of the vicarage, and woods called Abbots
Stonj'way, Bozeat Stockings, and Abbots Hornwood,
all part of the possessions of the late monastery, were
in 1 544 granted to Philip Meredith and others, mercers
of London,*' lands belonging to the monastery having
been also granted in 1543 to Laurence French of
Bozeat,*' and in i 546 to George Ryche and Thomas
Grantham of Lincoln's Inn.*' On i February 15 50 Sir
John Royse and others received licence to alienate the
manor, rectory, and advowson to John Marshe and his
wife Alice,'" who in 1556 sold them to John Dobbes.^'
The wood called Abbots Stoneye or Stonyvs'ay and the
rectory and advowson (q.v.) were on 20 June of the
same year granted by John Dobbes to Baldwin Payne,
merchant of the staple of Calais, and various tenements
belonging to the manor and late monastery were sold
by John Dobbes to several different owners. '* The
manor John Marshe evidently retained, as in 1571 he
settled it on his son and heir William Marshe,'' from

' Feet of F. Northints. Mich. 15

Geo. n.

» Priv. Stat. 38 Geo. Ill, c. 26.
J y.C.ll. Norlhants. i, 338*.

* Ibid. 377A.

' i.e. 1 \ virgates in Easton belonging to
the manor of Higham. They were not
entered in the Northampton Survey, and
parts of Easton were scattered among the
fields of Bozeat. Ibid. 33717.

' Cal. Inj. p.m. iii, 296. Robert the
Clerk was holding in 1 284. : Feud. Aids, Iv,

'4-
' Harl. Ch. 86 F. 46.
' Cal. In(j. p.m. vii, 63.

• Reg. of Godsivw Kunnery (E.E.T.S.),
188.

'• Ibid. " Ibid. 189-91.

" Ibid. 192.

" Feet of F. Northants. 13 Hen. Ill,
file 23, no. 237.

'* Bk. of Fees, 933. He held in right of
his wife, as in 1245 service from the 5
virgates was due to Thomas d'Evrcux and
Margery his wife: Assize R. 614, m. 8.

■» Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57, p. 294. Cf.
Assize R. 614, m. 19.

" Feet of F. Div. Co. case 283, file 14,
no. 88.

" Harl. Chart. 56 F. I.

'" Feet of F. Northanls. 40 Hen. Ill,
case 173, file 41, no. 699; Hund. R.
(Rec. Com.), ii, 10; Cal. Pat. 1324-7,
p. 192.

" Feud. Aids, iv, 30.

" Abbrev. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 323.

" Cal. Ini). Misc. ii, no. 371.

" Feet of F. Northants. 46 Hen. Ill,
case 174, file 47, no. 827.

" Harl. Chart. 53 C. 39.

" Cat. Pal. 1317-21, p. 399.

" Chan. Inq. p.m. 15 Ric. II, pt. 2, no.
178.

" Falor Feci, iv, 319.

" Pat. R. 36 Hen. VIII, pt. 3; L. and
P. Hen. ^V//, »ix (2) g. 527 (30), p. 317-

-* Ibid, xviii, p. 550.

" L. and P. lien. yill,xx g. 504(1).

M Pat. R. 4Edw. VI, pt. 3.

" Ibid. 2 and 3 Ph. and M. pt. 3 ; Feet o
F. Northants. Trin. 2 and 3 Ph. and M.

'* Com. Pleas, Deeds Enr. Trin. 2 and
3, Ph. and M. ro. 9, 10.

" Pat. R. 1} Eliz. pt. II.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

whom it had passed before 1598 to Sir Thomas Cecil
and his wife Dorothy, who were then holding it with
the manor of Bozeat Latimers (q.v.), with which it
continued to be held.

View of frankpledge was claimed in the vill of
Bozeat by the Prior of the Hospital of St. John of
Jerusalem in 1330.'

The church of ST. MART THE
CHURCH VIRGIN consists of chancel, 29 ft. by
16 ft. 3 in.; clerestoried nave, 48 ft. by
22 ft.; north and south aisles, south porch, and west
tower, 10 ft. 6 in. square, surmounted by a broach
spire. The width across nave and aisles is 46 ft. 6 in.,
all measurements being internal.

The church is faced throughout with rubble and is
plastered internally. The chancel has a modern eaved
roof covered with tiles, but the low-pitched leaded
roofs of the nave and aisles are behind plain parapets.

The tower and spire were taken down in 1880^ and
rebuilt in 1883, but retain most of their architectural
features, the old stonework having been used where
possible. The tower was of late-l 2th-century date, with
later alterations, and the spire an addition in the 14th
century. To the latter period the chancel arch and east
window, the aisle windows, and the porch belong, but
the priest's doorway, a low side window in the chancel,
and the south doorway of the nave are of 13th-century
date. No other 13th-century work remains. The side
windows of the chancel, and the west window and
doorway of the tower are insertions of the 1 5 th century,
and the clerestory is an addition of the same period.
At the east end of the nave the north-east and south-east
angles of the earlier aisleless church remain, but whether
aisles were first added in the 14th century or were then
only rebuilt is uncertain. The existing south arcade is of
the early 14th century and the north arcade rather later,
but a keel shaped string runs at sill level along the south
aisle externally,^ which, if in its original position, would
indicate the existence on this side of a 1 3th-century aisle.
It may, however, be old work re-used in the 14th cen-
tury, the south doorway being then brought forward.

The chancel was restored in 1874 and again in
1895; it has 14th-century diagonal angle buttresses of
three stages and a pointed east window of three trefoiled
lights with unrestored reticulated tracery and hood-
mould. The double piscina in the south wall, with
cinquefoiled openings, is of the late 1 4th century, though
the one remaining bowl may be earlier. The priest's
doorway has a pointed arch of a single continuous
chamfered order and hood-mould terminating in notch-
heads, but is now blocked. The low side window is in
the usual position at the west end of the south wall and
consists of a tall and very narrow lancet, divided just
above mid-height by a transom. It has an external
hood-mould and simple chamfer all round, and a plain
chamfered rear-arch, but the lower part is blocked and
plastered over on both sides: the upper portion is
glazed. Immediately below the sloping sill, and close
to the floor, is a small rectangular recess, or cupboard.*
The side windows of the chancel are square-headed
with Perpendicular tracery; in the north wall two of

two cinquefoiled lights, and on the south a similar
window at the west end and one of three lights above
the piscina. The chancel arch is of two chamfered
orders, the inner springing from half-octagonal responds
with moulded capitals and the outer continued to the
ground.

The nave arcades are of three bays with pointed
arches of two chamfered orders springing from octa-
gonal piers with moulded capitals and bases, but dying
into the walls at each end. At the east end of the north
arcade the circular rood-loft stair remains in a very per-
fect state, with lower and upper doorways, the wall
being thickened out and encroaching on the aisle.
Above the arcades, at the level of the sills of the clere-
story windows, are the corbels of the old nave roof, six
on the north and five on the south side.

The north aisle has a pointed east window of two
cinquefoiled lights and cusped quatrefoil in the head,
and in the north wall three square-headed windows,
the easternmost of three and the others of two trefoiled
lights. The north doorway is of two continuous cham-
fered orders with moulded label. The aisle is divided
externally into three bays by buttresses, those at the
angles being diagonal, but is without string-course or
plinth. In the west wall, now covered by a modern
vestry, is a small oblong window, chamfered all round,
the sill of which is 6 ft. above the floor,' and in the
east wall an image-bracket and canopied niche re-
spectively south and north of the aisle altar.

The pointed east window of the south aisle is of three
cinquefoiled lights with cusped rectilinear tracery, and
in the south wall, near its east end, is a square-headed
window of three trefoiled lights. The second bay is
blank, but west of the porch is a three-light pointed
window with reticulated tracery and high up in the
west wall a small single quatrefoil opening within a
circle. In the usual position in the south wall is an
ogee-headed trefoiled piscina with fluted bowl, and
farther west, near the doorway, an elegant 14th-century
stoup with trefoiled head.

The 13th-century south doorway is of two richly
moulded orders with foliated capitals, but the angle-
shafts are gone. The porch has an outer doorway of
two wave-moulded orders, the inner on moulded capi-
tals and the outer continuous: above is a trefoiled niche,
and in the side walls blocked windows.

There are three square-headed clerestory windows
of two trefoiled lights on each side: the nave roof is
partly old.

The tower is of three unequal stages, with bell-
chamber windows of two recessed rounded lights with
dividing shaft, under a semicircular arch with indented
hood-mould, on shafts with early volute capitals and
moulded bases: the west opening is ancient, but those
north and south are restored. In the lofty lower stage
on the south side is a single-light window of similar
type, without hood-mould, but on the north both the
lower stages are blank. The diagonal angle buttresses
were probably added after the erection of the west
doorway and window, the insertion of which weakened
the tower.* The doorway has continuous moulded

■ Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.) 531.

' Aiioc. Arch. Soc. Reports^ xiv, p. xli ;
XV, p. Ixxxviii. Some 12 or 14. tons of
masonry of the tower fell on the nave roof
in the spring of 1877, and the fall of the
spire was threatened.

3 It occurs in the east wall and south
wall east of the porch stopping at the

middle buttress, but has been removed in
the eastern bay.

•• Assoc. Arch. Soc. Reports, xxix, 390.
The height of the window is 9 ft. 8 in.,
width 10 in., height of sill above floor
inside 3 ft. 5 in. The recess is 16 in. wide
and 1 1 in. high.

5 The opening is 19 in. by 6 in..

chamfered to 26 in. by 1 1 in.

' In 1849 the tower was described as
being in a very insecure state. The west
doorway and window had been partly
walled up and the tower cramped to arrest
its entire destruction. There were exten-
sive cracks and bulgings on the north side:
Chs. Arch. N'son. 199.

'>>/

.J^ffa--

f A'*'

^/iu.0'^. J''^

BoZEAT Chi RCH, FROM THK Soi' TII-WesT, C. I 8oO

BoztAi : I'liE Old Mill

HIGHAM FERRERS HUNDRED

BOZEAT

jambs and head set in a rectangular frame with cusped
spandrels; the window is more elaborate, with ogee
head and crocketed hood-mould, of two cinquefoiled
lights, battlemented transom, and modern quatrefoil
tracery. In the middle stage facing west is a plain
round-headed opening, which, though modern, repro-
duces an original feature. There is no vice. The semi-
circular tower arch is of two unmoulded orders with
rounded label, on quirked and chamfered imposts:
above it, now opening to the nave, is a small round-
headed window. The broach spire rises from a 14th-
century corbel table of tendrils and heads, and has plain
angles and two sets of lights on its cardinal faces: the
broaches are very low.

The ijth-century chancel screen has been restored
and its battlemented top rail is new. It consists of
three main bays, the side ones subdivided, with solid
lower panels and traceried openings. The screen retains
traces of gilding and colour, and in the eight lower
panels is a series of paintings, those on the north side
representing the expulsion from Eden and the Annun-
ciation: on the south the figure of one of the Three
Kings remains, but the second panel is blank and the
others have single unidentified figures. Much of the
nave seating is also of i jth-century date.

The font has a plain octagonal bowl and pedestal on
a moulded base. The wooden pulpit is modern. In the
nave is an oak chest dated 1686, with the names of
the churchwardens, and in the chancel an 1 8th-century
brass chandelier of nvelve lights. The royal arms of
George III (before 1 801) are over the tower arch.

There are five bells, the first by Henry Penn of
Peterborough 1723, the second a recasting by Taylor
& Co. in 1884 of a medieval bell, the third undated by
Newcombe of Leicester, and the fourth and tenor by
Hugh Watts of Leicester, dated respectively 1635 and

1633.'

The plate consists of a silver cup and cover paten of
1636, and a modern brass alms dish.^

The earlier registers were destroyed in a fire at the
vicarage 9 September 1729. The existing first volume
contains entries of baptisms and burials from September
1729 to 1812, and marriages from 1729 to 1754: the
second volume marriages from 1754 to 1781.

The church was granted to the
ADFOirSON abbey of Dryburgh (co. Berwick)
(probably by its founder, David King
of Scotland) and leased by Dryburgh to the abbey of
St. James without Northampton for a rent during the
life of Athelard, after the death of ./Edgar his father,
of 20s. and a bezant, or 2/., and after the death of
Athelard for a yearly payment of 2 J marks. ^ It was
then granted circa 1 1 50-60 by Walter de Isel to the
abbey of St. James.* In 1291 the church was valued
at £6 yearly, and a pension from it of ;^i 1 3/. 4^. was
paid to the Prior of St. Andrews,' to whom, according
to Bridges, the pension of 2 J marks had been assigned

by Dryburgh Abbey.* In the Fa/or of 1 5 3 5 the rectory
was returned as appropriated to the abbey of St. James,
and the vicarage was valued at £6 yearly.' The advow-
son was held with the manor of Marshes (q.v.) in the
first grants made of that manor after the Dissolution,
and both rectory and advowson were conveyed by John
Marshe and his wife Alice to John Dobbes in 1557,
and by him to Baldwin Payne.'

The rectory seems to have been already held on lease
by a member of the Payne family. It had been leased
for 21 years on 2 June 1526 to John Hardwyke of
Sharnbroke, co. Bedford, by the abbey of St. James,
and on surrender of this lease was in 1 545 granted to
Sir Robert Tyrwhitt, junr., by the Crown.' William
Payne subsequently sued George and Richard Payne'"
to recover possession of a lease of the rectory which, it
was stated, had been granted by the abbey on 24 March
1538 to Richard Cromwell, esq., for 80 years from the
expiration of the former lease to John Hardwyke; after
which Richard Cromwell had conveyed his interest to
Daniel Payne, who had bequeathed it in 1558 to his
son William, the plaintiflf". It is not clear what the con-
nexion between Baldwin and Daniel Payne was. The
rectory was apparently next held in moieties by two
Payne ladies, by whom it was conveyed with the ad-
vowson to Lewis Lord Mordaunt, one half by Thomas
Pacye and Denise his wife in 1 573," the other half by
Ursula Payne in 1575.'^ By Lewis Lord Mordaunt
and Henry Mordaunt his son and heir the rectory and
advowson were in 1600 conveyed to John Wiseman,'^
and they continued to be held with the manor (q.v.).
Earl Spencer, who presented in 1796, being owner of
the impropriate rectory at the passing of the Inclosure
Act in 1798. In the following century the rectory was
held by Dr. Lawrence, Archbishop of Cashel, whose
representatives held it in 1849, Earl Spencer being then
still patron.'* The advowson is now held by the Bishop
of Peterborough, to whom it was conveyed by Earl
Spencer in 1922. '^

The sum of ^20 was left for the
CHARITIES poor by a person named Cox. In re-
spect of this a sum of £1 is distributed
in bread by the churchwardens the first Sunday after
Christmas.

An allotment of 1 3 acres was set out on the inclosure
of the parish for the following purposes: 1 1 acres 3 roods
thereof for reparation of the church; I acre for repair
of the wells in the parish ; and i rood for the parish
clerk. The land is let for ^^14 19/., and of this ^i 6s.
is applied by two trustees appointed by the Parish
Council in cleaning the parish well and the remainder
is applied by the churchwardens in the repair of the
church.

In 1830 a sum of 5/. yearly was distributed to the
ten oldest men of the parish from issues of the lands
of Mr. Thomas Dexter, by whom it was then ad-
ministered.'*

• North, CA. Brill of Sorihanii. 198,
where the inscriptions arc given. The old
second had the H.S. shield of the Bury St.
Edmunds foundry three times repeated (cf.
third bell at Newton Bromswold).

' Markham, Ch. Plait of Norihanlt. 40.

' Cott. Chart, ni, 13.

< Harl. Chart. 52, C. 4.

» Tax. Eccl. (Rcc. Com.), 40.

* Hill, of Northanli. ii, 160.

' Op. cit. (Rec. Com.), iv. 311.

• Pat. R. 2 & 3 Ph. and M . pt. 5 ; Feet of
. Northants. Mich. 3 and 4 Ph. and M.

L. and P. Hen. nil, XX, p. 683.

"> Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), ciliv, 97.

■■ Feet of F. Northants. East. 15 Elix.

" Ibid. Trin. 17 Elii.

" Ibid. Mich. 42 and 43 Eliz.

'* Lewis, To/Kg. Diet. (1849).

" Order in Council, 3 March 1921.

" Cliar. Coirni. Rep. 1 830, xxiii, 313.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

CHELVESTON-CUM-CALDECOTT

Celuestone and Caldecote (xi cent.); Chestone and
Calcote (xv cent.); Chelston and Caldecote (xviii cent.).

Chelveston-cum-Caldecott is a small parish lying
on the east bank of the River Nene, which forms its
western boundary, the village of Chelveston being
about 2 J miles north-east of Higham Ferrers. The
church of St. John the Baptist stands midway between
the two villages. Some of the inhabitants are employed
in boot-making, but the establishment of this industry
has not yet led to an increase of population, the number
of inhabitants having declined from 401 in 1891 to
354 in 1931. The chief occupation is still agriculture,
and most of the land is now permanent grass. The soil
is alluvial along the bank of the river; the subsoils are
Oxford Clay, red marls, and Great Oolite. The common
fields were inclosed by a private Ac t in 1 8 o i . '

At the time of the Domesdav Survey
MANOR CHELFESTON v.-kh CJLDECOTTwas
a member of the manor of Higham Fer-
rers, which belonged to William Peverel; it was
assessed for i hide and 3 virgates.^ This land subse-
quently passed, with the rest of the honor of Peverel,
to William de Ferrers, who in 1224 granted 2 tofts in
Chelveston and 14 virgates and 5 cottages in Caldecott
to Hubert de Burgh and Margaret his wife, to hold for
one knight's fee.^ It was taken into the king's hands at
the time of Hubert's disgrace, but was restored to him
in November 1232,'' and was presumably still in his
possession in 1248, when William de Ferrers, Earl of
Derby, received a grant of free warren in his demesne
lands of Chelveston only;^ but it is not included among
the Northamptonshire lands of which John de Burgh,
Hubert's son and heir, died seised in 1274.*

'W^

Ferrers. Vairy or and
gules.

St. Philibert. Bendy
argent and azure.

In 1242 Payn de St. Philibert held half a fee in
Caldecott and Chelveston of William de Ferrers;' this
passed on his death to his son Hugh, who in 1269
obtained a quitclaim of the dower of Iseult, formerly
the wife of Payn and then the wife of Walter de Nevill,
in exchange for a rent of 26i marks, to be paid during
the life of Iseult.* Hugh de St. Philibert lived until
1300, when he left his son Hugh as his heir,' but the
freehold in Chelveston had been acquired before 1284
by Richard Siward, who held a tenth of a fee in this
parish."* All his lands, here and in Hampshire and

' 41 Geo. Ill, c. 122.

^ F.C.H. Northants. i, 336.

' Feet of F. Northants. file 1 8, no. 108.
The grant was inrolled on 14 September
1227 {Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57, P- 60).

■♦ Close 17 Hen. Ill, m. 17.

5 Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57, P- 33--

^ Chan. Inq. p.m. Edw. I, file 1 1, no. 2.

' Bk. of FeeSy ii, 933.

* Feet of F. Northants. file 49, no. 877.

^ Chan. Inq. p.m. Edw. I, file 1 7, no. 14.

"• Feud. Aids, iv. 14.

" Cal. Fine R. i, 371.

■^ Ibid. 389.

" Chan. Inq. p.m. Edw. I, file 81 ; Cal.
Inq. ii, no. 423, p. 296.

'■• Chan. Inq. p.m. Edw. Ill, file 22,
no. 5.

■5 Ibid.; Feud. Aids, vi, 369 ; Cal. Fine R.
V, 182.

Wiltshire, were taken into the king's hand on 15 April
1296 on account of his rebellion." He was released
next year on condition that he should 'forthwith cross
with the King to foreign parts and serve faithfully
against the King of France, the King's enemy, and
others, and that he will deliver John his son as a hostage
until he find such security as the King will demand'.'^
He recovered his lands before the end of the following
September,'^ and his son John, having 'no heir within
the realm of England', granted the manor to Thomas
Earl of Lancaster and his heirs. Lancaster returned it
to him to hold for his life, and afterwards granted the
reversion to Robert de Holand and his heirs. When
John Siward died in the spring of 1330, Robert, the
son and heir of Robert de Holand, was a minor in the
king's wardship.'* The custody of the manor, which
contained 301-^ acres of arable (of which half might be
sown yearly), 8 acres of meadow along the bank of the
Nene, a mill, a dovecote, and a capital messuage, with
a garden worth 6s. Sd. yearly in fruit and herbs, was
committed on 18 June 1330 to the king's kinsman,
Henry Earl of Lancaster,'^ but on 10 August the issues
were granted by Edward III to Robert de Holand for
his good service in the war against Scotland.'*

This Robert de Holand in 1 3 3 1 settled Chelveston
with other lands on himself for life and after his
death on his son Robert and his sons, with contingent
remainder to Thomas and Alan, brothers of the younger
Robert." On the death of Sir Robert de Holand in
1373 it was stated that he held the Chelveston and
other manors, 'to him and the heirs male of his body,
and that John his son is his next heir male and of full
age'.'* The existing inquest, however, states that the
manor was settled on Sir Robert, his wife Maud and
son Robert; that Robert Holand the son had died seised
on 16 March 1373, and that Maud his daughter, the
wife of Sir John Lovel, was his heir." Maud accord-
ingly obtained seisin of the manor, which followed the
descent of the Lovel barony. John Lord Lovel, the
great-grandson of Maud de Holand, forfeited the estate
for his fidelity to the Lancastrian cause; it was granted
to Anne Duchess of Exeter, sister of Edward IV, in
1461, for life." A further grant was made, on 22
December 1462, to her and the heirs of her body by
Henry Duke of Exeter;^' but on 16 March 1477 a fresh
grant was made to Thomas Marquess of Dorset, son of
the king's consort Elizabeth Woodville,^^ but the
property was afterwards in the hands of Francis Lord
Lovel. He had been a child at the time of his father's
death in 1465, and having distinguished himself under
Richard Duke of Gloucester in the expedition of 1480
against the Scots, was created Viscount Lovel on
4 January 1483. After fighting for Richard III at
Bosworth Field he was attainted, whereby his lands and
honours became forfeit.^-*

The manor of Chelveston with Caldecott was granted
by Henry VII on 9 March i486 to Sir Charles Somer-

'* Cal. Pat. 1330-4, p. 459.

■' Feet of F. Northants. file 73, no. 87.

'8 Close 47 Edw. Ill, m. 32.

"> Chan. Inq. p.m. 47 Edw. Ill (istnos.),
no. 19.

" Cal. Pat. 1 46 1 -7, p. 7.

" Ibid. p. 104.

2^ Cal. Pat. 1467-77, p. 582.

" Diet. Nat. Biog.; G.E.C. Complete
Peerage.

HIGHAM FERRERS HUNDRED

CHELVESTON

CUM

CALDECOTT

set, afterwards Earl of Worcester.' He settled it on
himself and his wife Eleanor, with remainder to his
younger son George Somerset for life; and died on
15 April 1526, leaving as his heir his son Henry,- to
whose son and heir William Earl of Worcester the
grant was confirmed by Edward VI on 27 March
1553.' The property was conveyed by William Earl
of Worcester, Dame Christian his wife, and Sir George
Somerset to the Pickerings in 1553,* and was shortly
afterwards bought by John Ekins. On 9 January 1557
Ekins settled a moiety of it on his younger son John

lillll3I!JC(:NTURV EARLY
OliE'CrNTURY EARLY

OI51UCi;vniRY
^ Modern

and for Mary's jointure; the other moiety to the use of
Alexander and Susan his wife for life; the remainder in
both being to the sons of Robert and Mary. Robert, in
his turn, settled a portion of his estate in March 1641
to the use of his younger children, Robert, Thomas,
Mary, Susan, and Anne; and died a few days later,
leaving as his heir his son, another Alexander.'" This
Alexander Ekins married Jane, the eldest daughter of
John Sawyer, and died on 15 January 1656, leaving
two sons, John and Alexander." John Ekins died on
14 July 1688," and was succeeded by his brother

■ :.J"^':. ':

North .Visle •

Nave

® ® #■

South Aisir ' '

Scale of Feet
10 5 o 10 20 30

Plan of Chelveston-cum-Caldecott Church

in tail, with contingent remainders to his daughters
Eleanor and Elizabeth, one of the trustees for this
settlement being his brother Thomas Ekins.' The other
moiety passed on the death of the elder John Ekins, in
the same month, to his eldest son William, who was 2 1 .

William Ekins died on 14 January 1561, having
bequeathed all his lands to his wife Prudence and her
expected child, who was born about the ist of May,
and proved to be a girl, and was named Isabel.* After
this date the descent of both moieties becomes for a time
extremely difficult to trace, but the whole estate seems
to have been acquired by Robert, the son of Thomas
Ekins, towards the end of the i6th century.'

Alexander Ekins, the son and heir of Robert, was
dealing with the manor in 1 597, when he received a
warranty concerning a moiety from William Ley, John
Ekins, William Barton the elder and Elizabeth his wife,
and William Barton the younger, Elizabeth Cooper,
widow, and James Hopkyns and Eleanor his wife.*
The manor was settled by Alexander on 20 September
1623, on the marriage of his son Robert to Mary
Smith.' A moiety of the manor and all the premises in
Cheiveston, except the meadows previously assigned to
Alexander, were assigned to the use of Robert and Mary

' CjI. Pat. i4g;-94, p. loo. It was
also granted on zz March 1487 to the
Lady Margaret (ibid. 155), but the pre-
vious grant rendered this gift of no effect.

• Chan. Inq. p.m. (Scr. 2), x\v, no. 65;
CoU, Topog. ft Gen, V, pp. xxiv, 305.

' Pat. 7 Edw. VI, pt. 3.

♦ Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich, i Mary.

» Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cxv, no. 15.

' Ibid, csxxi, 157.

' Feet of F. Northants. Mich. 25 & 26
Eliz., Easter 35 Eliz.; Pat. 32 Eliz. pt. 5.

' Feet of F. Northants. Mich. 39 Se 40
Eliz.

< Ibid. Easter 21 Jas. I, Chan. Inq. p.m.
(Ser. 2), dixxxviii, 78.

Alexander,' ^ who with his wife Jane conveyed the manor
in 1694 to Geoffrey Barton and John Savsyer,'^ by
whom it was sold in 1708 to Thomas Allen. '^

After the death of Thomas Allen the succession to
the estate was for some years disputed, but the property
eventually came into the possession of the Disbrowe
family. Edward Disbrowe, who called Edward Crom-
well Disbrowe to warrant, was vouchee in a recovery
in 181 2.

Mr. H. C. Wise was lord of the manor in 1876.

The church of ST. JOHN THE
CHURCH BAPTIST stands between the two vil-
lages and consists of chancel, 24 ft. 6 in.
by 19 ft. 6 in.; clerestoried nave, 58 ft. by 19 ft. 6 in.;
north and south aisles, south porch, and north-east
tower, II ft. by 12 ft., all these measurements being
internal. The north aisle is 10 ft. 4 in. wide and the
south aisle 7 ft. 8 in., the width across nave and aisles
being 43 ft. 2 in. The eastern bay of each aisle is
separated from the rest by an arch from the outer wall
to the nave pier, and to the north-east chapel thus
formed the tower is attached on its north side.

Substantially the building dates from c. 1220 to
1250, and the only subsequent alterations to the plan

'"> Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), dcxiv, 99,
" M.I. at Cheiveston.
" Recov. R. Easter I WiU. and Mary,
m. 80.
" Feet of F. Northants. HiL 6 WiU. III.
'< Ibid. Hil. 6 Anne.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

have been the addition of the porch and the shortening
of the chancel; the clerestory is part of the I jth-century
fabric. About 1 290-1 300 new windows were inserted
in the south aisle and the porch was erected, and further
changes took place in the 15th century, when the
present west window of the nave was put in and the
chancel probably assumed its present appearance. The
east window is of this period and, though evidence is
wanting, it is not unreasonable to suppose that the
chancel was shortened by a bay about this time. The
north aisle, with the exception of its east bay, was taken
down at some time unknown' and the arcade filled in;
it was rebuilt in its present form in 1 849, in which year
the church was restored and a west gallery pulled down.

The church is built throughout of rubble, and in-
ternally the walls are plastered.^ The chancel has a
tiled eaved roof, but the roofs of the nave and aisles are
slated,^ behind plain ashlar parapets.

The chancel is divided by buttresses into three short
bays and has a pointed east window of three cinque-
foiled lights with Perpendicular tracery. On each side
of the window within is a blocked and mutilated image-
recess, the canopies and one of the brackets having been
destroyed. A lancet window and a double piscina were
discovered and opened out in 1909 at the east end of
the south wall; the piscina was partly covered by the
existing east wall, but is now fully exposed to view by
the removal of part of the masonry. The recess has a
square chamfered head and octagonal dividing-shaft
and one of the bowls is perfect: the projecting front
of the second bowl has been cut away. The lancet
window, which is above the piscina at the extreme end
of this wall, has been restored and the width of its inner
splay reduced, but the original jambs remain.* The
chancel appears to have been originally about 9 ft.
longer than at present. The priest's doorway is of a
single chamfered order with label, and in the western
bay is a 1 5th-century square-headed window of three
cinquefoiled lights with quatrefoils in the head. There
are now no windows in the north wall, but near the
east end is a small rectangular aumbry and what appears
to be part of a lancet jamb: externally the wall is
covered by a thin coat of plaster. The chancel arch is
of two chamfered orders, on double chamfered responds
with moulded capitals and bases.

The nave arcades are of four bays with arches of two
chamfered orders springing from octagonal piers with
moulded capitals and bases and from responds of the
same type; in the eastern bay of the north aisle the pier
is a compound one with attached responds carrying the
nave and aisle arches, and giving support to the tower.
At the west end of the nave are massive buttresses of
two stages to take the thrust of the arcades, and between
them a four-centred window of four cinquefoiled lights
with Perpendicular tracery. This window, which is
high in the wall, takes the place of a group of lancets
the outer jamb-stones of which are still in position on
either side, visible both within and without. Below the
window internally is a stone bench. The clerestory has
four restored lancet openings on the south side and
three on the north, all without hood-moulds.

In the south aisle the west window is a restored tre-

■ The writer in Chs. Arch. N'lon.
{184.9) assumes that the aisle was taken
down c. 1290, but there seems to be no
evidence of this.

^ A portion of the plaster has been
stripped from the lower part of the chancel
walls.

3 Before the restoration they were
covered with lead. The church was re-
opened after restoration on 27 Dec. 1849.

■* The splay was originally 4 ft. 8 in.
wide : it has been reduced to 2 ft. 8 in.

s In memory of Jane Harriet Wise: it
has linen pattern panels.

foiled lancet, but that at the east is of two lights with
forked mullion, and those in the south wall of three
lights with uncusped intersecting tracery. The piscina
of the aisle altar remains in the usual position, with
plain projecting bowl and trefoiled head with label
terminating in notch-heads. The arch between the
eastern bay and the aisle is of two hollow chamfered
orders, carried on the wall side by a corbel: it is of the
same date as the adjacent windows. The 13th-century
south doorway has a sharply pointed arch of two cham-
fered orders and label, the outer on nook-shafts with
moulded capitals and bases, the inner continued to the
ground below imposts. The outer doorway of the porch
is of two continuous orders, the inner with wave-
moulding, the outer hollow-chamfered; built into the
gable is a stone dated 1685.

The 13th-century arch benveen the north aisle and
its eastern bay, or chapel, is of two chamfered orders
springing from half-round responds with moulded capi-
tals and bases, and the tower arch is of three orders
continued to the ground on the south and dying out on
the north side. The windows of the modern north aisle
are in the style of the 14th century, but the east window
is original, of two lancet lights with pierced spandrel.

The tower is 60 ft. in height and of three stages,
with pairs of gabled buttresses at the north-west and
north-east angles in the lower stage, the height of which
is about equal to the other two. The south-east buttress
is not gabled. At the second stage the walls set back
with a line of nail-head ornament and the bell-chamber
windows are of two lancet lights, with shafted jambs,
set within a pointed containing arch: the tympanum is
unpierced. There are flat buttresses east and west to
about half the height of the lower stage, which on the
north has a restored window of two trefoiled lights
occupying the middle of a 13th-century wall arcade of
three arches on shafts with moulded capitals and bases.
There is a vice in the north-west corner and adjoining
it on the west an external doorway, now blocked,
which, though modern, appears to reproduce an
original entrance, the bases of the nook shafts and jambs
being ancient. The battlemented parapet is a 15th-
century addition: its angle pinnacles are gone.

The 13th-century font has a plain octagonal bowl
on a short shaft and two steps. The oak pulpit is
modern. 5 There is a scratch dial on the east jamb of
the porch doorway.

Bridges records inscriptions in the floor of the chancel
to Alexander Ekins (d. 1655), Ann Savi^-er (d. 1682),
James Sawyer, junr. (d. 1692), Thomas Sawyer (d.
1694), William Gardner (d. 1705), and Mary Allen
(d. i7io).6

There are five bells, the treble by Thomas Eayre of
Kettering 1744, the third and fourth by Taylor & Son,
St. Neots, 1 8 19, and the second and tenor dated 1727.''

The plate consists of a silver cup and paten of 1851,
a paten of 1849, a cup of 1852, and a plated flagon.*

The registers before 1 8 1 2 are as follows: (i) baptisms
1 573-1662, marriages 1 573-1651, burials 1573-
1644;' (ii) missing; (iii) baptisms and burials 1723-54,
marriages 1723-53; (iv) baptisms and burials 1754-
1812; (v) marriages 1755-1812.

' Hist, of Northants. ii, 163.
' North, Ch. Belh of Northants. 220,
where the inscriptions are given.

8 Markham, Ch. Plate of Northants. 68.
' After 164.2 this volume is badly kept.

HIGHAM FERRERS HUxVDRED

The rectory and advowson of Chelveston followed
the descent of Higham Ferrers (q-v.); they remained
in the possession of the Crown until
ADVOWSON 1603, when the rectory was granted by
Queen Elizabeth to Christopher Free-
man.' Henry Freeman conveyed it in 161 5 to Nicholas
Atkins,^ whose family remained in possession of it for
nearly a hundred years. Nicholas Atkins and Elizabeth
his wife dealt with it by fine in 1619, and in 1652
Augustine Atkins obtained a quitclaim from John At-
kins the younger and Elizabeth his wife and Nicholas
Atkins and Mary his wife.^ John .'Atkins was vouchee
in a recovery concerning the rectory and tithes in
1688,* and he and his wife Elizabeth conveyed them
to Thomas Roberts in 1705.' After this date the pro-
perty seems once more to have followed the descent of
Higham Ferrers, and within the next twenty years the
livings were united. The living is still a chapelry
attached to the vicarage of Higham Ferrers.

Thomas Neale, by his will dated
CHARITIES 5 January 176;, gave ^20 to the
minister and churchwardens, the in-
come to be applied for the benefit of the poor on
Christmas Day. The income, amounting to 12/., is
distributed in bread.

EASTON
MAUDIT

James Sawyer and his son Thomas in their lifetime
erected almshouses at Chelveston and the former by his
will proved at London 30 April 1703 devised property
for their upkeep and support of the inmates. The
Charity is regulated by a Scheme of the Charity Com-
missioners dated 12 May 191 1. The trustees are six
in number, two appointed by the Parish Council of
Chelveston-cum-Caldecott, two by the Urban District
Council of Raunds, and two co-optative trustees. The
property consists of two almshouses and a building
formerly used as almshouses, 14 a. i r. 10 p. of land
called 'Hospital Close', and i a. i r. called 'Captains
Close' in Chelveston. The gross income is ^^24 1 2x. per
annum, which is applied in the upkeep of the property
and in grants to the two alms-people, one of whom
must have been a resident of Chelveston and the other
of the parish of Raunds for not less than three years.

The Sawyer almshouses, on the Stanwick road, have
been restored and modernized. The building is of
rubble, with tiled roof, and bears a tablet inscribed
'This House was erected by James Sawyer, gent., and
Thomas Sawyer his son, and Ten Pounds per annum
by them therewith given for the use of four poor
widows for ever towards their maintenance, Anno
Domini 1708'.

EASTON MAUDIT

Estone, Eston (xi cent.); Eston Mauduyt (liv cent.).

This small but delightful parish, bounded on the
cast by Bozeat, north by Grendon, and
west by Yardley Hastings, lies on the bor-
ders of Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire,
and west of the road between Welling-
borough and Olney. The whole parish,
which contains an area of 1,800 acres, and
extends from north to south about 2 miles,
from east to west about i, is owned, with
the exception of the rectorial lands, by the
Marquess of Northampton.

The population, which was only 192 in
i87i,had in 1931 sunk to 129. Butthere
are indications that Easton Maudit once
housed a considerably larger number of
inhabitants. It is said that there were once

number of weavers' shops here,* and

mentioned in various conveyances, formed part. Bridges
writes of a very large wood between Easton and Yardley,

Bridges wrote that in his day the parish had
been considerably depopulated since it had
been inclosed by Sir Christopher Yelverton
in the time of Charles I.^

The village is about 2 j miles south-east
from Castle .'^shby and Earl's Barton station
on the Northampton and Peterborough
branch of the L. M.S. railway. Atits north-
ern extremity is the church of St. Peter
and St. Paul, with the vicarage south- west
and the school south-cast of it.

A group of fine trees near the church
marks the spot where the handsome manor-
house which was at one time the seat
of the Earls of Sussex formerly stood.
Adjoining the house was a walled park,
and beyond it a larger inclosure surrounded by a stone
wall; of this inclosure the wood called Hornwood,

---^^:

Easton Maudit: The Church

in the west of the lordship, divided between the Earls
of Northampton and Sussex, and of a small coppice of

' Pit. 44 ElU. pt. «iii j 4 Ju. I, pt. »ii.
' Feet of F. Northants. East. 13 Jas. I.
» Ibid. Mich. 1652.

Rccov. R. Easter 4 Jas. II, m. 161.
Feet of F. Northants Mich. 4 Anne.
Whellan, //;«. of Norihanii.

Hill, of Northanti. ii, 163.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

wood at Barmer's Hill.' At the close of last century
295 acres were woodland. -

The manor-house, or hall, was pulled down im-
mediately after the sale of the estate in 1801, but a
drawing of the east front made in 1721^ shows a facade
of considerable extent, two stories high, with a return
south wing of three stories forming two sides of a court,
which appears to have been inclosed on the north by
a hedge and trees, and open to the east.* There was
already a house in existence when Christopher Yelver-
ton purchased the estate, but the drawing of 1721
shows a rather widespreading manor-house of the
Jacobean period with central porch, subsidiary side
porches, stone gables and dormers, and muUioned win-
dows, some of which had been replaced by sashes. The
general disposition was symmetrical, though the in-
dividual features were irregular.' Two doorways with
pointed arches may have belonged to an older house,
but it would appear that the house was rebuilt about
1600. The Rev. W. Cole, who accompanied Horace
Walpole when he visited Easton Mauditin 1763, men-
tions a 'fine large drawing-room', and notes 'two or
three old coats of alliances of the Yelverton family in
the staircase windows', as well as a shield of the family
arms in the chapel, but the only relics of the house
knowTi to have been preserved are two 18th-century
carved chimney-pieces and two sets of stone gate
piers.* At the time of its demolition the house con-
tained seventy rooms.'

' The Bishop's room ' was the room occupied by the
venerable Bishop Morton, who had been successively
Bishop of Chester, Lichfield, and Durham. After the
abolition of episcopacy in 1646 he fell into extreme
poverty and lived for a time with Sir Christopher Yel-
verton at Easton Maudit as tutor of the younger mem-
bers of the family until his death there in 1659 at the
age of 95,* when a floor-slab was placed to his memory
in the church.

The vicarage, considerably remodelled since his day,
was the home for twenty-nine years of Dr. Thomas
Percy' (1729— 181 1), who was presented to the living
in 1753 by the college of Christ Church, Oxford. It
was here that his most important work, including the
publication of the Relijues of Ancient Poetry, was ac-
complished. The church registers contain specimens of
his beautifully clear handwriting.'" Among his visitors
were Shenstone and Garrick, Goldsmith, and the great
Doctor and his friend Miss Williams. Of Dr. Johnson's
visit in 1764 Mrs. Percy told Cradock" that 'her hus-
band looked out all sorts of books to be ready for his
amusement after breakfast, and that Johnson was soatten-
tive and polite to her that when her husband mentioned
the literature prepared in the study he said: "No, Sir, I
shall first wait upon Mrs. Percy to feed the ducks." '

Dr. Percy was succeeded in the living by his friend
and correspondent, the philologist Robert Nares, pre-
sented in 1782 to this living, which he held until 1805.
Robert Nares, who was Keeper of Manuscripts at the

British Museum, assisted in 1790 in completing
Bridges's History of Northamptonshire}''-

The parish lies at a level of about 200 to 300 ft.
Its soil is various, but chiefly clayey; its subsoil clay.
The crops grown are the ordinary cereals.

Winemar [the Fleming, otherwise Wine-
MANOR mar de Hamslape], who was returned in the
Survey as holding of the Countess Judith
I virgate of land in Bozeat, was holding in chief at the
same time 2 hides and 3 virgates in a place unnamed
in the hundred of Higham.'^ This was presumably
EASTON, since his successor Michael de Hamslape
was entered in the Northampton Survey as holding
3 J hides and i great virgate in Easton and Strixton.'''
The 2 hides and 3 virgates recorded in 1086 had been
held before the Conquest by six freemen, one of whom
was called Osgot, and his part of the land had been
claimed by the Countess Judith. The lands held in
Easton by Michael de Hamslape evidently passed to
William Mauduit, the King's Chamberlain, by his
marriage with Maud daughter of Michael, as in 1242
land in Easton was held in chief of the king by William
Mauduit,'5 of whom William de Nowers was holding
3 parts of a fee in Easton, while Robert Wolf, or
'Lupus', was holding of him half a fee in Esse [Ashby]
and Easton. Another account
gives a fee in Easton to William
de Nowers, and half a fee in
Ashby to Robert Wolf* This fee
was held of the Mauduits until
at the death of William Mauduit,
s.p., in 1267, it passed with
the earldom to William de
Beauchamp, the younger, son of
William Mauduit's sister Isabel,
deceased, the wife of William de
Beauchamp, the elder." It was
held by the Beauchamps, Earls of Warwick, until early
in the 15th century, as of their manor of Hanslope.

John Mauduit in 1206-7 granted land in Easton to
Gilbert son of Richard de Easton and Christiane his
mother;'* and it was probably the same John Mauduit
who, as lord of Easton next Bozeat, made a grant to
the canons of St. James near Northampton of the wood
called Stonpvay in Bozeat and of lands in Easton." A
lawsuit in 1306 about the advowson^" (held with the
manor) gives a very complete record of the early descent
of this manor of Easton, of which John Mauduit died
seised after having made the presentation in the reign
of King John. John Mauduit left three daughters as
his heirs, named Agnes, Flandrina, and Amice. The
manor and advowson of Easton were assigned to Agnes
and Flandrina as their purparty, and another tenement
to Amice. Agnes Mauduit had four daughters: Isabel,
Sibyl, Eleanor, and Loretta; of these Isabel married
William de Nowers.^' After the death of William de
Nowers, Isabel granted to William de Fauconberg 10
acres of wood and her share of the advowson.^- This

Mauduit. Gules three
piles 'wa'vy or.

' Bridges, Hist, of Northanls, ii, 163,

^ Whellan, Hist, of Northants.

3 B.M. Add. MS. 5726, reproduced in
Assoc. Arch. Sac. Reports^ xxxvi, 95 : the
drawing is 'taken in the coach yard'.

* Pennant describes it, c. 1 780, as 'a long
but low old house with a quadrangle in the
middle' ; yourney from Chester to London
(1782 ed.), 316.

s J. A. Gotch, Assoc. Arch. Soc. Reports,
xxxvi, 95.

' The two carved stone chimney-pieces

are at Castle .\shby, as are both sets of gate
piers ; ibid. 78—98, where all are figured.

' Sale Catalogue; ibid. lOO. The
numerous portraits in the house about 1780
are described by Pennant, op. cit. 317-19.

8 Diet. Nat. Biog. « Ibid.

'" N. &■ Q. (Scr. 3), i, 483. " Ibid.

■2 Diet. Nat. Biog.

" V.C.H. Norihanis. i, 34.2, and n.

■* Ibid. 376*.

'5 Bk. of Fees, 934.

■» Ibid. 945.

^7 Cal. Inq. p.m. i, no. 679.

'8 Feet of F. 8 John, file 12, no. 209.

" Harl. Chart. 53 C. 39.

2° De Banco R. Hil. 34 Edw. I, m. 13.

^^ It was probably her son John who, in
1292, quitclaimed to Ralf, Abbot of St.
James without Northampton, a rent of zs.
or one sparrow-hawk for the wood in
Stoneway by a deed to which Robert Wolf
of Easton was a witness: Harl. Chart.
54 D. 13.

" De Banco R. Hil. 34 Edw. I, m. 13.

HIGHAM FERRERS HUNDRED

passed to Ralf son of Agnes, sister of Olive, mother of
William de Fauconberg, probably the Ralf de Faucon-
berg' who granted to Henry de Preyers, or Pratellis,
all his right in Easton, Grendon, Wollaston, and
Bozeat.* Sibyl married Roger de Haukcscye and with
her husband sold to the Master of the Knights Tem-
plars, Robert de Saunford, land, wood, and rent in
Easton in 1236,' and in 1239,'' the master afterwards
enfeoffing of this share (which included part of the
mill) Ralfde Karun, the second husband of Flandrina.
Ralf de Karun's share went to his daughters Isabel and
Amice; of whom Amice died s.p., and her share de-
scended to her sister.* Isabel probably married the
William le Lou of Easton who with other persons was
indicted in 1237 by the king's foresters for forest
offences,* since the Karun share is stated in the lawsuit
to have descended to Robert le Lou, or Wolf,^ son and
heir of Isabel Karun. Robert enfeoffed of this share
Alice Barry, who then re-enfeoffed of the same Robert
le Lou and his wife Isabel, by whom the share of Sibyl
was also claimed, Eleanor and Loretta, her sisters,
apparently having either died s.p. or possessing no
interest in this manor. It was from Robert le Lou and
his wife Isabel, and from the Master of the Knights
Templars that the advowson was claimed in 1306 by
Henry de la Leghe, Lee, or Lye, who descended from
Flandrina Mauduit, daughter of John Mauduit, by her
first husband. Flandrina had married (i) Robert de
Leghe or Lye, by whom she had a son Henry, the
father of Robert de la Leye, whose son Henry in 1 306
claimed the advowson; and (2) Ralfde Karun, through
whose daughter, Isabel, Robert Wolf and his wife
claimed.' The manor remained the property of the
families of Wolf (of whom the de Preyers probably
held) and Leye, Robert Wolf in 1 3 16 being returned
at the death of Guy de Beauchamp Earl of Warwick
as holding a fee of him in Easton' which, valued at

Lt Loi'. Argent trvo
hart witA three tvolvel'
headt gulet in the chief.

De la Leve. Argent a

cross cheeky azure and

or.

1 00/. yearly, was assigned to his widow Alice in dower, ' °
and Henry de la Leye of Easton being assessed for
feudal aids in Bozeat with Easton and Strixton in the

same year."

' According to an earlier suit, William
de Fauconberg gave the advowson to
Simon, brother of Nicholas, grandfather of
William de Pcrtcnhalle, which William
gave it to Ralph de Fauconberg, who re-
covered the advowson against Robert 'Le
Lou' in 1285: Assize R. 624., m. 4.

' Harl. Chart. 49 I. 18.

' Feet of F. Northants. 2i Hen. Ill,
file 28, no. 360.

* Ibid. 24 Hen. Ill, file 31, no. 444.

» De Banco R. Hil. 34 Edw. I, m. 13.

' Cat. Close, 1234-7, p. 531.

' Egolina daughter of Robert Wolf,
who, lernf). Hen. Ill, received from John
Morin of Easton, son of Robert Morin, a
grant of lands in Easton, in a deed wit-

EASTON
MAUDIT

The two parts of the manor held respectively by the
representatives of Agnes and Flandrina Mauduit were
distinguished as Upper and Lower, or Overbury Leys-
place and Netherbury Wolvesplace in Easton Maudit,
both shares being ultimately acquired by the Wolf
family. Sir Henry de la Leye in 1330 settled the rever-
sion of the manor of Easton Maudit on his grandson
Robert, on his marriage with Alice daughter of Sir
Walter Pateshall.'- In 1 361 Sir John de la Leye and
Joan his wife, and Sir Robert de Geddyng and Eliza-
beth his wife, conveyed the manor to William Wolf"
William Wolf in 1369 conveyed the two shares of the
manor, or the two manors of Easton called Netherbury
Wolvesplace and Overbury Leysplace, to Sir William
Latimer,'^ at that date lord of Bozeat and of Danby in
Yorkshire and other manors. Sir William Latimer on
29 August 1377 granted the manor to Edward Earl of
March, and others," and Elizabeth, his widow, at her
death in 1389 was holding with the manor of Bozeat
(q.v.) a third of the manor of Easton by Bozeat held
of Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, as of his
manor of Hanslope by service of 2/. or one sparrow-
hawk.'* The transfer of the manor to the Trussell
family seems then to have followed, as Easton Maudit
was in the hands of the heir of Laurence Trussell in
1402."

Lady Margaret Trussell was in 1428 holding three
parts of a fee in Easton and Strixton which had formerly
belonged to John Wolf and Henry de Preyers, '* and
a fourth part of a fee in Easton and Ashby formerly the
property of John Wolf," both being of the fee of
Mauduit. On 23 January 1481 Sir William Trussell
died seised of the manor of Easton Maudit, one part of
which, called the West Side of the Over Bury, was held
of the queen as of her manor of Higham Ferrers, and
the rest of Richard Duke of Gloucester, as of his castle
of Thorpe, Bucks. ^^ Sir William's son Edward, aged 2
at his father's death, died while still a minor, leaving
a year-old son John, on 16 June 1499.^' This baby died
on 20 December following,^- and the manor passed to
Edward Trussell's daughter Elizabeth, aged 4, and
later to John de Vere, Earl of Oxford, by her marriage
with that earl.^-'

The manor was held by the Earls of Oxford until
1578 when it was sold by Edward Earl of Oxford to
Christopher Yelvcrton, esq., ^■^ of Yclvcrton in Rougham,
CO. Norfolk. Sir Christopher Yclverton died, seised
of the manor, in London, on 31 October 1612,^' and
was buried in Easton Maudit Church, with an in-
scription that he was Scrgeant-at-Law 1589, Sergeant
to the Queen 1 598, Judge of the King's Bench 1601— 2
until his death, and Speaker of the House of Commons
I 597."* He represented the county in Parliament. His
son Henry who succeeded him at the age of 47, and

nessed among others by Robert Wolf and
Sir Gilbert de Nowcrs, was probably a
daughter of this Robert. Cott. Chart,
xxvii, 153.

• De Banco R. Hil. 34 Edw. I, m. 13.
» Chan. Inq. p.m. 9 Edw. II, no. 71,
m. 51. Another quarter fee here was held
by Philip Wolf.

'" Cat. Close, I 3 13-18, p. 276.

" feud. Aids, iv. 30.

" Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 4 Edw. Ill,
file 36, no. 84.

» Ibid. Northants. 35 Edw. Ill, file 82,
no. 507.

■'I Ibid, file 84, nos. 610, 611.

" Close R. I Ric. II, m. 35 d.

** Chan. Inq. p.m. 12 Ric. II, no. 34.

" Chan. Inq. p.m. 2 Hen. IV, no. 58.

" Feud. Aids, iv, 45.

>« Ibid. 46.

" Chan. Inq. p.m. 20 Edw. IV, no. 83.

" Ibid. (Ser. 2), «, 53.

" Ibid. 40. See also ibid. XV, 18, 25; and
Cal. Ini). f.m. lien, yil, ii, 407.

*^ An inquisition of 1 508 as to waste
made while Elizabeth Trussell was still
ward to the Earl mentions the cutting
of timber in the Little Grove (Grovetta)
and the Rough Park: Chan. Inq. p.m.
(Ser. 2), xxii, 82.

" Feet of F. Northants. Trin. 21 Elii.

'' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxxxvi, 48.

" Bridges, Hist, of Northants. ii, 166.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

who started the collection of the famous library at the
Easton Maudit manor-house, which contained many
state papers of his father-in-law, the diplomatist and
antiquary, Robert Beale, is said to have incurred the
royal displeasure while Attorney-
General for the position he took
up at the trial of Carr Earl of
Somerset, by whose influence he
had been made Solicitor-General,
and was tried before the Star
Chamber and House of Lords,
and imprisoned. Butini625he
was made Judge of Common
Pleas. After his death, on 24
January 1630, in London, he was Yelverton. Argent

T • 1 . T-> . nT T. 1 _ t/iree itons and a chtej

gules.

In 1639 Sir Chris-

buried at Easton Maudit, where
he was succeeded in the manor by
his son Sir Christopher Yelverton.'
topher, whose home at Easton Maudit had been visited
by King Charles in 1636,^ received a grant disafforest-
ing the manor of Easton Maudit and certain lands
(about 170 acres) in Bozeat, with free warren and
licence to impark 500 acres. ' In this grant the manor
lands and woods of Easton Maudit were estimated at
1,830 acres, and were described as within the bounds
of the forest of Salcey (Salceto). The wood called Horn-
wood, previously included in grants of lands in Bozeat
(q.v.), was also now included in it. Sir Christopher was
made a baronet on 30 June 164 1, in consideration of
his having maintained 30 foot soldiers in Ireland for
three years,* and lived until 1654. His son and heir
Henry, who then succeeded him, had married Susan,
daughter and heir to Charles Longueville, Lord Grey
de Ruthyn (Baroness Grey of Ruthyn after her father
fell fighting for the king at Oxford in 1643), by whom
he had three sons, Charles, Henry, and Christopher,^
and died in 1670, when he was succeeded by his son
Charles. At the death s.p. of Charles, who had suc-
ceeded to the peerage as Lord Grey of Ruthyn, his
brother Henry Yelverton succeeded to the title.* In
1688 Henry Lord Grey of Ruthyn, whose ownership
of the manor is notable for his completion of the library
of the manor-house, suffered a recovery of the manor of
Easton Maudit, including 2 mills and 70 messu-
ages.' He was made Viscount Longueville in 1690,
and died in 1703. His eldest son Talbot, Viscount
Longueville, was created Earl of Sussex in 1 7 1 7. Lord
of the Bedchamber 1722-7, and the holder of many
public appointments and honours, he carried the
golden spurs in 1727 at the coronation of George II.*
He died at his seat, Eaton Maudit, on 27 October
173 1, and was succeeded by his son George Augustus,
Lord of the Bedchamber to Frederick Prince of Wales
in 1749, and to George Prince of Wales in 175 1, who
died unmarried on 8 January 1758, when he was buried
at Easton Maudit. He was succeeded in the earldom
and manor by his brother Henry, bearer of the golden
spurs at the coronation of George III in 1761, whose
first wife, Hester daughter of John Hull of Mansfield
Woodhouse, with her daughter. Lady Barbara Yelver-
ton, was painted by Gainsborough, and whose only son

Talbot died while still an infant in 1757. He himself
died s.p.ra. in London on 22 April 1799, when the
earldom of Sussex and the viscounty became extinct.

The manor then passed by purchase in 1801 from
the trustees of the late earl to the Earl of Northampton,
with whose descendants it has since that date remained.

In the Domesday Survey a virgate of land in Easton
was entered among the lands of the Countess Judith as
held of her by Dodin.' This was probably the land
returned in the Northampton Survey as one great vir-
gate in Easton and Strixton held by Payn.'" The virgate
in Bozeat previously mentioned as held by Winemar
may possibly have become united with the above great
virgate as part of the honor of Huntingdon, since a
quarter of a fee in Easton and Bozeat was subsequently
held of that honor. After the death of John de Hastings,
Lord of Bergavenny, in 1325, a quarter of a fee in
Easton and Bozeat was returned as held of him by
Roger de Grey," who was the husband of the earl's
sister Elizabeth and in 1329 was called upon to show
by what warrant he claimed view of frankpledge and
assize of bread and ale there. '^ He replied that he
claimed these rights from his tenants in Bozeat, clearly
the property in question, as belonging to his manor of
Harrold in co. Bedford,'^ that his Bozeat tenants at-
tended at the view there, and that that manor had been
purchased of one Ralph Morin by John de Grey, who
had enfeoffed himself, Roger, of the same. After the
death of Lawrence de Hastings, Earl of Pembroke, this
quarter-fee in Easton and Bozeat was assigned to his
widow Agnes in dower on 12 January 1349, and was
still held by Roger de Grey, being then extended at
10/. yearly."'* Roger de Grey died in 1353, holding in
his demesne as of fee 1 5a'. rent from 80 acres of land
in Bozeat by knight service as parcel of the manor of
Harrold,'^ and the escheator was ordered to deliver the
same to Reynold his heir.'* By the succession of Rey-
nold's son, Reynold de Grey, Lord of Ruthyn, to the
Hastings estates, after the death s.p. in 1389 of John
de Hastings Earl of Pembroke, the interest of tenant
was merged in that of overlord.

One and a half virgates in Easton, which were waste,
were returned in the Domesday Survey as belonging to
the manor of Higham, held of the king by William
Peverel." View of frankpledge was claimed by Henry
Earl of Lancaster in Easton as part of his manor of
Higham Ferrers (which had descended to him from
William Peverel) in 1329, the king's sheriff only
making entry at the sheriff's tourn held twice yearly in
the hundred.'* The wood called Hornwood, situated
in Easton, was held of the manor of Higham Ferrers
in I 544, when it was granted to Edmund Peckham,
cofferer of the household, by Henry VIII." It was
subsequently held with the manor (q.v.).

View of frankpledge in Strixton from his tenants at
Easton and elsewhere was also claimed in 1329 by the
Prior of the Hospitalof St. John of Jerusalem.^" Acourt
roll of 1 550-1 for Easton Maudit, late of Dingley Pre-
ceptory, is in the Public Record Office.^'

The church of ST. PETER AND ST. PAUL
consists of chancel, 29 ft. 6 in. by 14 ft. 6 in., with north

' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclx, 68.

2 Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. Earl of Den-
bigh's MSS. 280a.

3 Cal. S.P. Dom. 1639-40, p. 124; Cal.
Pat. 15 Chas. I, pt. 10.

* Cal S.P. Dom. 1641-3, p. 30.

5 G.E.C. Baronetage.

' G.E.C. Peerage (ist ed.), vii, 339.

' Recov. R. Trin. 4 Jas. II, ro. 221.

8 G.E.C. Peerage (ist ed.), vii, 339.

1 y.C.H. Northants. i, 354*.

'<> Ibid. 376A.

I* Cal. Inq. p.m. vi, 391.

'^ Plac. de Quo IVarr. (Rcc. Com.), 499.

" See F.C.H. Beds, iii, 64.

■•t Cal. Close, 1340-9, p. 582.

'5 Cal. Inq. p.m. x, no. 107.

■* Cal. Fine R. 1347-56, p. 359.

" F.C.H. Northants. i, 337a.

■3 Plac. de Quo IVarr. (Rec. Com.), 580.

■» Harl. Chlrt. 84 C. 26.

-» Plac. de Quo IVarr. (Rec. Com.), 531.

2' Court Roll (P.R.O.) 195/18.

HIGHAM FERRERS HUNDRED

chapel; clerestoried nave of four bays, 47 ft. 9 in. by
14 ft. 6 in.; north and south aisles, 12 ft.
CHURCH 3 in. wide; south porch, and west tower,
1 2 ft. 6 in. square, surmounted by a spire:
the width across nave and aisles is 43 ft. 2 in., and the
length of the chapel, which is a continuation of the
north aisle, is 18 ft. 6 in. All these measurements are
internal.

The church was rebuilt in its present form in the
14th century, and though much restored retains most
of its original features. The chancel, the nave arcades,
and the lower part of the tower are c. 1320, but the
aisles do not appear to have been completed till rather
later {c. 1340-50), though no doubt set out when the
arcades were rebuilt. The extension of the north aisle
into a chapel took place about the same time, or perhaps
a little later, after the completion of the chancel, a north

E.^STON
M.^UDIT

The chancel is open to the chapel at its west end by
a pointed arch of rivo orders, the outer with a recessed
chamfer carried down the jambs, the inner wave-
moulded order dying out. The early-i4th-century
chancel arch is of two sunk chamfered orders, with
hood-mould towards the nave, the inner order springing
from half-round responds with moulded capitals and
bases.

The responds of the nave arcades agree with those
of the chancel arch, and the piers consist of four
clustered shafts, quatrefoil in plan, with moulded capi-
tals and bases. The arches are of two orders, the inner
wave-moulded, the outer with a sunk quarter-round.
There are three square-headed clerestory windows of
two trefoiled lights on each side. The aisle windows
also are all square-headed and of two lights, except at
the east end where they are of three, but are very much

C.1320
^c.l 340-50

E^ 15111 CL.NTURY

Scale of Feet
10 5 o 10 20 3o

Plan of Easton Maudit Church

window of which it blocked, and the clerestory cannot
be much later than c. 1350. The tower was not com-
pleted until after the addition of the clerestory into
which it is bonded at the third stage; the bell-chamber,
or upper story, appears to be as late as c. 1 380-1400.
The spire was added in the 15th century, and a west
doorway inserted in the tower. In 1832 the spire was
partly rebuilt, and there was an extensive restoration
of the fabric in 1859-60.

The building throughout is faced with rubble, and,
with the exception of the tower, all the walls are
plastered internally. The chancel has a modern high-
pitched stone-slated roof without parapets, and the
porch is also covered with stone slates. Elsewhere the
roofs are leaded' and of low pitch behind plain parapets.

The chancel has diagonal buttresses of two stages and
an east window of three trefoiled lights with moulded
jambs and modern reticulated tracery. In the south
wall, at the east end, is a pointed window of two cinque-
foiled lights and quatrefoil in the head, and at the west
end a tall square-headed window, the sill of which is
about 3 ft. above the chamfered plinth and forms a seat
inside: the head is modern. The piscina and triple
sedilia, which form a single composition of four tre-
foiled arches, are wholly restored, as is also the priest's
doorway. The blocked window in the north wall is
a single-light pointed opening with inner trefoiled ogee
head, and east of it is a rectangular double aumbry.

* They were re-

restored; the tracery is c. 1340. In the usual position
at the east end of the south aisle is a cinquefoiled piscina
with fluted bowl. The north aisle has a good moulded
17th-century lean-to roof: that of the south aisle, which
is apparently contemporary, but plainer, has been re-
stored. The roofs of the chancel and nave are modern.

Externally the aisles have diagonal angle buttresses
and a string at sill level all round, but within there is
a string only in the south aisle. The 14th-century south
doorway retains its ancient oak door, with excellent
ironwork: the north doorway is of two continuous re-
cessed chamfered orders and hood-mould. The porch,
which is of equal date with the aisle, has a plain-coped
gable and square-headed windows of two lights, but is
without buttresses; the aisle string is continued round
it. Its outer doorway is of two chamfered orders, the
inner resting on rough corbels, and in the gable is a
much-weathered later tablet, which may have been
a sundial.

The chapel has a square-headed east window of three
lights and one of two lights on the north side, similar
to the others in the aisles, together with a narrow door-
way of two continuous hollow-chamfered orders. In
order to resist the thrust of the chancel arch after the
removal of the original end wall of the aisle, a reversed
strainer arch, of a type similar to those at Fincdon and
Rushden, was inserted at the west end of the chapel,
probably early in the 15th century, with a buttress

leaded in 1926.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

against the outer wall. The arch is of a single moulded
order with traceried spandrels.

The tower is of four stages divided by strings and has
a chamfered plinth and diagonal buttresses the height
of the two lower stories. The vice is in the south-west
corner. On the north and south sides the two lower
stages are blank, but in the third stage is a cusped cir-
cular opening. The inserted west doorway has a four-
centred arch in a rectangular frame, with trefoiled
spandrels, but the detail is coarse. Above, in the second
stage, is a pointed window of two trefoiled lights and
quatrefoil in the head. The tower arch is of three
chamfered orders, the innermost on half-round responds
with moulded capitals and bases, and hood-mould ter-
minating in notch-heads. The bell-chamber windows
are of two trefoiled lights with quatrefoil in the head,
and the tower terminates in a moulded string and
pierced parapet, with tall angle pinnacles from which
flying buttresses are thrown to the spire. The spire has
plain angles and three sets of gabled openings on its
cardinal faces, the lowest of three trefoiled lights with
quatrefoil tracery and transom.

There is a scratch dial on the middle buttress of the
south aisle.

The 18th-century font consists of a very handsome
circular vase-shaped bowl of highly polished fossil stone
on a square base.

The wooden pulpit is modern. The sculptured tere-
dos and marble altar-rail date from the restoration of
i860. A good 17th-century communion table with
bulbous legs is now at the east end of the south aisle.
A few plain oak benches of the same period remain at
the west end of the nave. Below the tower is an oak
chest with three locks. The painted arms of George III
are over the chancel arch.

The north chapel was the burial-place' of the Yel-
verton family from the beginning of the 17th to the
end of the i8th century, and contains monuments to
Sir Christopher Yelverton (16 12) and his wife Mary
Catesby^ (161 1), and to his son Henry (Jan. 1629-30)
and his wife Margaret Beale (1625). The former is
a large canopied tomb of alabaster standing in the
middle of the chapel, with effigies of Sir Christopher
and his wife, and on the base the figures of eight
daughters and four sons in panels upon the sides, and
shields of arms at the ends. The posts support a canopy
of two semicircular arches with coffered soffits, urn
ornaments at the angles, and shields of arms. The in-
scription is at the west end. The monument to Henry
and his lady stands against the north wall and is an
elaborate canopied structure of alabaster, the effigies one
above the other, with the figures of four sons and five
daughters below. The canopy is supported by bedesmen
in black gowns, and is surmounted by figures of Faith,
Hope, and Charity. The effigies on both tombs have
already been described. ^

In the floor are commemorated Sir Christopher Yel-
verton, I St baronet (1654), and his wife Ann Twysden;
Sir Henry Yelverton, 2nd baronet (1670), and his wife
Susanna, Baroness Grey de Ruthin; Charles Lord Grey

de Ruthin (1679); and Henry Viscount Longueville
(1704) and his wife Barbara Talbot.

A blue floor-slab at the west end of the chapel marks
the burial-place of Thomas Morton, successively Bishop
of Chester, Lichfield, and Durham, who died at Easton
Maudit 'on the morrow of St. Matthew and was buried
on the feast of St. Michael 1659', aged 95. The stone
bears a long Latin inscription, in which the bishop is
designated 'senex et coelebs'. On the south wall adjoin-
ing, below the strainer arch, are Morton's arms as
Bishop of Durham, and separate shields of arms of the
sees of Chester and Lichfield, all modern.

In the chancel, over the priest's doorway, is an
achievement of the arms of Sir Charles Yelverton, Lord
Grey of Ruthin (d. 1679).

At the east end of the north aisle hangs a funeral
achievement probably erected for Talbot Yelverton,
1st Earl of Sussex, in 173 1, consisting of helmet, gaunt-
lets, shield and sword, sustained by an angle iron and
cross-bar. The shield is elliptical and appears to have
borne the Yelverton arms. Over the achievement is
a large square banner, now in a very dilapidated con-
dition, but apparently Yelverton impaling Talbot, and
farther west four smaller oblong banners, two of which
have the Yelverton arms per pale, and the others the
same singly.'' There are also four Yelverton hatchments.
The floor of the church was elaborately tiled in 1 860.
Into the tiles in front of the chancel is worked a modern
memorial to three^ of the six children of Bishop Percy,
preserving the record of a former slab, and two others
commemorating William Elwyn, gent. (16 19), and
Catharine wife of Thomas Remington (1720).

There are five bells, the first, second, and tenor by
John Hodson of London 1663, the third dated 1619,
and the fourth a recasting by Taylor & Co. in 1893 of
a medieval bell inscribed 'Dulcis sisto melis campana
vocor Gabrielis'.*

The plate now in use consists of a silver cup and
paten of 1868. Five pieces of silver-gilt plate, con-
sisting of a cup and paten of 1630, an alms dish of
1661, a flagon of 1672, and an alms dish of 1676, have
been on permanent loan at the Victoria and Albert
Museum, South Kensington, since July 1927. The cup
and paten were the gift of Bishop Morton and bear his
initials.'

The registers begin in 1539 for baptisms and mar-
riages and in 1561 for burials. The first four volumes,
extending to 1812 for baptisms and burials and to 1757
for marriages, are now bound up in one. From 1653
to 1700 the register was very carelessly kept, and there
are many gaps. Several perambulations of boundaries
are set out. There is a volume of marriages from 1757
to 1812.

The church of Easton in the deanery of Higham was
valued in 1 291 at £c) 6s. %ti.^ In 153; the rectory
was returned as appropriated to the abbey of Launds,
and the vicarage was valued at £6 los. "jd?

The advowson was with the manor (q.v.) in the hands
of John Mauduitin the reign of King John, when John
Mauduit made the presentation. ■" The manor being

' There are two vaults, earlier and later,
one leading from the other.

* She was the first to be buried here : the
last burial was that of the 3rd Earl of
Sussex, 1799.

3 y.C.H. Northants. I, 415: see also
Hartshorne's Recumb. Mom. Effigies m
Northants. 73, 83. The monuments are
described in Pennant's yourney from

Chester to London (1782), 319-20.

* Assoc. Arch. Soc. Reports^ xxxvi, 84.,
where the achievement is figured and a
detailed description given. The banners are
all very dilapidated.

5 Ann 1760—70, Charlotte 1767-71,
and Hester 1772-4.

* North, Ch. Bells of Northants. 256,
where the inscriptions are given. On the

medieval bell occurred the shield bearing a
cheveron between three laver-pots. The
name of Henry Yelverton is on the tenor.

' Markham, Ch. Plate of Northants.
109.

8 Tax. Eccl. (Rec. Com.), 40.

' Valor. Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv, 3 1 1 .
'» De Banco R. Hil. 34 Edw. I, m. 13.

HIGHAM FERRERS HUNDRED

HARGRAVE

next held in shares by the daughters of John Mauduit
and their descendants, the presenta-
ADVOIVSON tion seems to have been made at
first by these co-parceners presenting
together, and later on by them in turn. The presenta-
tion was made in 1 2 19 by Sir Robert Morin and Sir
Robert de Legh, and by Thomas Sauvage, each being
patron of one-third of the church.' Sir Robert de Legh
was first husband of Flandrina daughter of John Mau-
duit (see above, p. 13); presumably florin and
Sauvage were husbands of her sisters .'\gnes and Amice.
After this the presentation seems to have been made
alternately by the different owners. Agnes the elder
sister presented in the reign of Henry III. Ralf de
Karun, second husband of Flandrina, next presented
John de Karun, after whose death William de Hole-
cote, clerk, was presented by Ralf, cousin and heir of
William de Fauconberg, to whom Isabel de Nowers,
daughter of Agnes, had sold her part of the advowson.
Henry de la Leghe, son of Flandrina by her first hus-
band, made the next presentation,^ and the advowson
appears to have remained in the hands of the Legh and
Wolf representatives of Flandrina, sharing apparently
with representatives of the descendants of Agnes, or
possibly of the de Preyers to whom Ralf de Fauconberg
granted messuages, &c., in Easton Maudit. A grant
of an acre of land and of the advowson which John
Marreis and his wife Elizabeth made by fine of 24 June
1 360 to Sir John de la Lee and his wife Joan' may have
related to the latter owners, through a female heir, since
it conveyed a warranty against the heirs of Elizabeth.
On the same day William Wolf made a similar grant
to Sir John de la Lee and Joan his wife,* who with

Sir Robert de Geddings and his wife Elizabeth (pos-
sibly another descendant of Agnes Mauduit) granted
to Ivlaster William de la Lee and Richard de Ravenser,
provost of the church of St. John of Beverley,' an acre
of land and the advowson of the church in Michaelmas
term of the same year. On 16 November 1363 the
advowson and acre of land were conveyed by Richard
de Ravenser, provost of Beverley, to trustees,* by whom
they were in 1 367 granted in frank almoign to the
abbey of Launds, Robert Wolf of Easton being a wit-
ness to the grant.^ Until the Dissolution the advowson
and rectory were held by the abbey of Launds. They
next appear as the property of the Dean and Chapter
of Christ Church, Oxford, by whom the presentation
was made in i 562, and until last century were in their
hands. The advowson is now held with the manor by
the Marquess of Northampton.

It appears from the parish register
CHARITIES that six cow commons were given by
the family or the ancestors of the Earl
of Sussex, formerly the proprietors of the estate now
belonging to the Marquess of Northampton, for the
benefit of six poor widows, and that on an inclosure of
the parish the grass of the Green Lanes was assigned
in lieu of the cow commons. A sum of £2 10/. is paid
annually by the Marquess of Northampton in respect of
this charity and is distributed equally among five poor
widows.

Distributions of bread to poor women were formerly
made from the issues of ^i given by James Preston and
a similar sum given in 1736 by Francis Toleson, vicar
of Easton Maudit; but these distributions had already
ceased by 1830.*

HARGRAVE

Hardegrave, Hartgrave (xiv cent.); Hartgras (xvi
cent.).

Hargrave lies north of the road from Higham Ferrers
to Kimbolton, at a height of about 200 ft.; and is
bounded by Huntingdonshire on the east and Bedford-
shire on the south. It has an area of 1,429 acres, of
which the greater part is now grass. The soil is Oxford
Clay: subsoil chiefly chalky clay. Its population, which
in 1801 was 1 58, and 378 in 1871, was 239 in 1931,
mainly employed in agriculture, and some shoemaking.

The village, which is scattered and straggling, lies
along a road branching north from the eastern end of
the Higham Ferrers road. At its southern end is Top
Farm, with the Grove to the west of it, and to the
north the school, erected in 1857, and the smithy.
A little farther north still lies the church, pleasantly
situated among trees, with the rectory to the west of
it. The rectory house is a late- 16th-century building of
coursed freestone rubble, with middle projecting porch
carried up the full height of its two stories and breaking
the eaved roof with a coped gable. The house has
been much restored and altered, and only one of the
original stone mullioned windows' remains at the back,
now covered by a modern addition between two end
wings which run westward from the main block. The
porch doorway has a plain chamfered four-centred

« tU>t. Hug. de tftlUt (Cant. & York
Soc.), i, 1 39.

> De Banco R. Hil. 34 Edw. I, m. 13.

' F«t of F. Northants. 34 Edw. Ill,
file 81, no. 49Z.

< Ibid. no. 493.

> Ibid. no. 495.
' Cat. Cloir, 1360-4, p. 551.
' Cal. Cloie, 1364-8, p. 389.
• CAdr. Com. Rrp. 1830, xiiv, 130.
It is of two lights with rounded
mullion and jambs.

head,'" and in one of the lower rooms is a good stone
fire-place, with four-centred moulded arch. The prin-
cipal, or east front is about 60 ft. in length, with red
tiled roof, modern wooden dormer windows, and good
chimneys with wind-breaks. The end of the north-
west wing is of timber and plaster, and there is a modern
addition on the north side.

Churchwardens' accounts depict the changes which
have taken place in the aspect of this little village. In
1 7 10 sixpence was paid for lopping the willows at the
Green, long since vanished; and in 1777 6/. for fencing
the Church Spinney, the gates and posts from which
were taken to the allotment in Rowley Field in 1802,
the year of the inclosure. The Church Spinney, other-
wise called Crow Spinney, was on the north side of
the 'great moat'. In 1868 the rector added a slip to the
churchyard, and the public path down the spinney was
by consent diverted to the village street."

Hargrave Hall, at the south-western angle of the
parish, with New England Farm to the east of it, is
occupied by Sir Charles Kenneth Murchison, J.P., and
the Grange by Francis Isaac Newton.

There is a Methodist chapel, built in i860.

Before the Conquest HARGRAFE wis held freely by
Ailric. In the Domesday Survey Hargrave was returned
in Rothwcll Hundred among the lands of William

'** On the jamb and sill of the window
overthcdoor\t-ayarcthe figures of a sundial;
on the jamb are '4* to '10', and on tlie sill
*11* and on the head the motto 'Pereunt

nee imputantur .
" Aoriianli. N. & Q. iv, 143.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

Peverel, of whom Eustace was then holding i hide
there, worth 68^. The soc pertained to
MANORS Higham Ferrers." In the Northampton-
shire Survey i hide was held by Harold,
and two other holdings were then recorded: 3 small
virgates held by Ralf de Foleville, and 3 small virgates
held by Richard and Roger de Costentj'n,^ these having
probably been included, in the Domesday Survey, in
Raunds, of which manor a manor of Hargrave was
a member in the 13th century.^

The fees of William de Ferrers, Earl of Derby, held
in 1 21 2 by him in chief of the king as of the honor of
Peverel included an eighth part of a fee in Hargrave
held by the Prior of Chicksand,* which with the other
Peverel fees was subsequently held as part of the Duchy
of Lancaster.'

The chief manor, to which the church was attached,
seems to have been that held in the 12th century by
the Costantyns. The advowson was recovered in 1228
by Richard de Deseburg against the Prior of the
Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, who claimed as
guardian of John Bauzan. Richard proved that the
advowson had descended from Roger Costantyn to his
son and heir William, who had granted his lands in
Hargrave to one Frumbold to hold under him.
William's son Roger had died s.p., his heir being his
sister Amice, late the wife of Richard Deseburg, who
held in her right.* The Deseburgs or Desboroughs,
according to an inscription on the family tomb in
Desborough Church were lords of Desborough (q.v.),
Cransley, Kelmersh, Broughton, and Hargrave, and it
is from the presentations to the church that the Des-
borough owners of this manor can be traced.

According to the Desborough
inscription previously quoted,
Jane daughter and heir of Richard
de Desborough' married John
Pulton, and so carried this Har-
grave property into the Pulton
family* about
century, John
Desborough,
church in

on 2 February 148 1, Thomas Pulton. Argent a fesse
Pulton was holding the advow- befween three mokt! sahU

son of the Prior of Chicksand,'"

and his son William who then

succeeded him died seised of lands in Hargrave and the

advowson held of that priory in 1498, his heir being

his son Giles" who presented in 1502.

The eighth part of a fee in Hargrave held in 1242
by the Priory of Chicksand (Beds.)'^ was presumably
the virgate which in 1275 was said to have been
given to the priory by John Attemede of Hargrave.'^
When the priory was surrendered on 22 October

3Ut the end of the 14th V y\ ,

lohn Pulton, lord of V \ ^ y
;h, presenting to the ^^.r^in^^
1404.' At his death, ^*''*^''^

ivith three bezants on the
fesse.

1538 the farm of the manor of Hargrave was returned
as £\ y. ^</.'* On 20 April 1553 the manor belong-
ing to the late monastery, together with the Prior's
Grange of Hargrave, held of the king as jg fee,
was granted to Anthony Browne, esq., and Richard
Weston, '5 by whom these lands were on 12 May
following conveyed to Thomas Catlyn'* and his son
and heir Robert to hold of the Crown." Robert died
seised of the manor at Raunds, where he was holding
Furnells Manor, on 20 March 1599,'* and was suc-
ceeded by his son William, who with his wife Ellen
was dealing with the manor by fine in 16 16," and with
her and Robert his son and heir apparent made certain
leases of lands in Hargrave which were the subject of
Chancery proceedings in 1623 and 1624.^° This manor
probably ceased to be held as a unit about this time.

In 1660 a sixth part of the manor was conveyed
by fine by George Miles and Rebecca his wife and
Ephraim King and Dorothy his wife to Josiah King,^'
who in the following year with his wife Ann conveyed
the same property to Lawrence Joyce.^^

Bridges wrote that the king was then (<r. 1720) lord
of the waste, but that Lord Bolingbroke and Sir John
Langham had certain quit-rents in Hargrave,^^ and held
the advowson. By the Inclosure Act of 1802 it was
directed that an allotment equal to i of the waste lands
was to be made to the lord or lords of manors within
which they lay,^* but no lord was returned (though
Sir William Langham, bart., John Howson, and other
principal proprietors were referred to). The owner of
the rectory, apparently the lord, was not so described.
In 1864 the Rev. Wm. Lake Baker, M.A., appears as
patron and incumbent and lord of the manor, but the
Rev. Robert Sibley Baker was stated in 1885 to have
held the manor and living (which was in the gift of the
trustees of the Rev. W. Lake Baker) since 1865. He
was lord, patron, and incumbent in 1894^' arid died in
1 897. Lady Murchison is now lady of the manor, and
owner of the advowson.

Katherine de Sawston held an eighth of a fee in
Hargrave in 1284 of Edmund of Lancaster^* and in
1297 of his widow.^'' This was probably the eighth of
a fee which had been held at some time by Walter de
Wasynglegh, subsequently divided equally between
Richard Rydel and Isabel de Mollesworth, and was
(apparently about 1330) in the hands of Henry de
Wivyle,-* but no more is known of it.

In 1 189 Richard I confirmed to the abbey of Peter-
borough a knight's fee in Pytchley, Thorpe, and
Hargrave, then held by Richard Engaine,-' and this
probably descended with the Engaine fee of Pytchley
(q.v.).

In 1 291 the priory of Huntingdon had a rent of 3/.
in Hargrave 'in the parish of Raunds', and the abbey
of Thorney one oC £i^. 'in the same'. 3°

» V.C.H. Northanti.\, 338*.

^ Ibid, i, 376*.

3 Cal. Close, 1296-1302, p. 168.

■• Bk. of Fees, 934.

5 Feud. Aids, iv. 14; vi, 568 ; Hund. R.
(Rec. Com.), ii, 10; Cal. In(j. p.m. iii, 423,
vii, 63-4; Plac. de Quo IVarr. (Rec. Com.),
580; Cal. Close, 1296-1302, p. 168.

' Curia Reg. R. 105, m. 9; Rot. Hug.
de ffelles (Cant. & Yorii Soc), ii, 151;
Bractons Note-Bk. no. 319.

' Presumably Richard 'le Lord' : see
under advowson.

' Northants. N. & Q.m, 11$.

• Bridges, op. cit. ii, 168.

"> Chan. Inq. p.m. 22 Edw. IV, no. 14.

" Ibid. (Ser. 2), xiv, 54.

'^ Bk. of Fees, 934.

" Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), ii, 10.

'4 Dugdale, Mon. vi, 950.

■5 Pat. R. 7 Edw. VI, pt. 7, no. 6.

^^ In a return of chantry lands, a 'parcel
of land which was sold to Mr. Katlyn
which belonged to the priory' was included :
Northants. N. & Q. v, 240, quoting Misc.
Bks. Augm. Off., clxviii, fo. 38.

'7 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cxxiv, 139.

** Ibid, cclviii, 95.

" Feet of F. Northants, Mich. 14 Jas. I.

^° Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), 346, no. 16.

^' Feet of F. Northants. Trin. 12
Chas. II.

" Ibid. Trin. 13 Chas. II.

" Op. cit. ii, 169.

" Priv. Act. 42 Geo. Ill, c. 37.

^5 Kelly, Directories. The Manor House
was referred to in 1885 as in the occupa-
tion of John Lake Baker, farmer.

^' Feud. Aids, iv. 14.

^' Cal. Inq. p.m. iii, p. 296.

28 Feud. Aids, vi, 569. The interpreta-
tion of this list of fees is obscure.

29 Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57, p. 21 j ibid.

1327-41. P- 277-
" Tax. Eccl. (Rec. Com.), 54.

HIGHAM FERRERS HUNDRED

HARGRAVE

The church of ALL SAINTS consists of chancel,
27 ft. 3 in. by 1 7 ft. 6 in. ; clerestoried nave of four bays
40 ft. 6 in. by 16 ft. 9 in.; north and south
CHURCH aisles, 6 ft. 6 in. wide; north transept,
south porch, and west tower, 8 ft. 9 in.
square, with broach spire, all these measurements being
internal. The transept projects 4 ft. in front of the
north aisle, the eastern bay of which it absorbed when
added late in the 15th century, and in the angle it
forms with the chancel there is a modern vestry. The
width across nave and aisles is 34 ft.

With the exception of the transept the structure,
where not rebuilt, belongs to the first half of the 13th
century, but new windows were inserted in the aisles
and chancel during the 14th and i 5th centuries. The
clerestory is part of the original fabric.

In 1868-9 an extensive restoration was carried out,
which involved the taking down and rebuilding of the
tower and spire' and the western bay of the nave;
the east wall and part of the north wall of the chancel
were also rebuilt, several of the "windows renewed,
and the old porch replaced by one of different design.*

The building is faced throughout with rubble, and
internally the walls are plastered. The chancel, nave,
and porch have modern tiled eaved roofs, but the aisle
roofs are covered with lead;^ there are no parapets
eicept to the transept.

The chancel has a chamfered plinth, diagonal angle
buttresses, and a keel-shaped string at sill level, which
is taken over the priest's doorway as a label. The east
window is a modern one of three cinquefoiled lights
and Decorated tracery,* but the two windows in the
south wall are 15th-century insertions, of two lights
with Perpendicular tracery; a single window of the
same t)'pe in the north wall is modern. The sill of the
south-eastern window is lowered to form a scat, but no
other ancient ritual arrangements remain. The 13th-
century priest's doorway has an unmoulded outer order
on nook-shafts with moulded capitals and bases, and
a chamfered inner order continued to the ground: the
eastern shaft is gone. Below the western window is
a rectangular low-side opening, the head of which,
though below the 13th-century string, is a transom,
perhaps belonging to a former taller window. Both the
priest's doorway and low-side window are now blocked
and not seen within. The doorway to the modern
vestry in the north wall formerly opened to a priest's
room or sacrist}', and is of early- 14th-century date, of
two continuous orders, the outer with a sunk chamfer,
the inner wave-moulded. There is also in the north
wall a plain tomb recess with two-centred chamfered
arch, and in the north-west angle a squint from the
transept. The chancel arch is of two chamfered orders,
without hood-mould, springing from half-round re-
sponds with moulded capitals, with an outer shaft on
the west side grouping with the half-round responds
of the nave arcades.

The arches of the arcades are of two chamfered
orders springing from piers with moulded bell-shaped
capitals, the westernmost pier on each side being circular

' In 1849 the towrr wis stated to lean
Dearly 2 ft. to the west, while the spire
was straight; Chi. ylrchd. N'lon. 36. The
church was reopened, after restoration, on
19 October 1870.

' The former porch was described as
'old, but not as old as the (south) doorway"
(ibid. 36). The new porch is in memory of
WiUiam Lake Baker (d. 1865), rector for
forty-teven years. It has a stone front and

open timbered sides on low stone walls.

^ Before the restoration all the roofs,
except that of the porch, were leaded
(ibid. 36).

* In 1849 the window was described as
"merely a square aperture' (ibid. 36).

^ Before the restoration this was a plain
•quare-headed opening, without muUiont
or tracery.

^ Originally the window was tran-

and the others octagonal: at the west end the responds
are half-octagons. The details of the capitals vary.

The east window of the south aisle is a single lancet,
and that in the south wall west of the porch a pointed
opening of two lights with forked mullion. The west
wall is blank. East of the porch are a late-i 5th<entury
four-centred window of three cinquefoiled lights, and
a much restored square-headed opening of three tre-
foiled lights with modern tracer}'.' The south doorway
is very good early- 13th-century work, with pointed
arch of three orders, the inner with continuous chamfer,
the two outer on nook-shafts with moulded capitals
and bases, with a shorter third shaft set in the angle
behind. The middle order has a double row of dog-
tooth ornament, and the outer is a late form of
chevron moulding; the label has moulded corbel-like
terminations.

The contemporary north doorway is of two cham-
fered orders, the inner continuous and the outer on
shafts with moulded capitals and bases. West of the
doorway is a four-centred window of three cinque-
foiled lights, and east of it a square-headed two-light
window, but the west wall is blank. A 1 5th<entury
arch of t\vo chamfered orders divides the aisle from the
transept which, occupying the eastern bay, is internally
1 1 ft. wide by 10 ft. 4 in. deep. It has a low-pitched
gabled roof, and restored four-centred north window
of three trefoiled lights with Perpendicular tracery.*
In the east wall is a wide, flat arched recess. The 13th-
century trefoil-headed piscina recess of the aisle altar
remains in the south-east angle of the transept, but the
bowl has gone. The transept was formerly inclosed by
parclose screens.'

The clerestory has four quatrefoil windows on each
side, the easternmost within a circular label and with
roundels at the terminations of the foils,' the others
plain and set directly in the rubble walling.

The tower, as rebuilt, preserves its original archi-
tectural features, though containing much new masonry
and restored detail. It is of three stages marked by
strings, with double angle buttresses and a tall lancet
on the west in the lofty lower stage. The upper story
is slightly set back and the bell-chamber windows are
of two lancet lights with circular dividing shafts on the
north and south, and rectangular chamfered mullions
east and west, the arches springing at the sides from
moulded corbels; the space within the enclosing arch
is pierced. In the middle stage, on the west side only,
is a small trefoil opening,' but the two lower stages
north and south are blank. In the south-east angle is
a circular projecting staircase with conical roof of
coursed stone above a band of nail-head ornament.
The lofty tower arch is of two chamfered orders, the
inner on moulded corbels, the outer continuous. The
spire is of only slightly later date than the tower and is
of equal height;'" it has three sets of spire lights, the two
lower on the cardinal faces, and the upper alternating.

The early-i3th-ccntury font consists of a plain
octagonal bowl slightly chamfered at the top, with
carved heads on two of its faces. It stands on a plain
somed, the lower lights being trefoiled and
the upper cinquefoiled : CAt. Arc/ui. N'ton,
36.

' Ibid. 39.

* That on the north side is wholly re-
stored.

^ This and the lancet window below are
wholly renewed.

"> Height of tower 45 ft., whole height
to top of spire 90 ft. : Chi. Archil. N'ton. ]6.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

square stone pillar,' chamfered at the angles, and with
chamfered plinth, which is apparently no part of the
original font. A plain octagonal stone font bowl recently
found is in the rectory garden.

The wooden pulpit is modern.

There is a much-restored 1 5th-century chancel
screen, with four openings on each side of the doorway
and two large panels below. The altar is a restored
Jacobean communion table with eight turned legs.

An oak poor-box dated 1597 has three inscriptions
cut on the post — 'God save the Queen', 'Pray for the
good estate of all well-doers', and the name of the donor,
Thomas Mahew.

In the chancel is a 17th-century oak chest with
three locks. The royal arms, dated 1776, are over the
north doorway.^

There is a fair amount of late-ijth-century seating
in the nave and north aisle, with panelled fronts and
ends, and moulded rails.

Traces of wall paintings remain over the north
arcade, apparently the figures of patriarchs.^

A slab of Weldon stone, on which is roughly
scratched a 'Nine Mens Morris' diagram, was found
in the west wall of the north aisle in 1868; it is now in
the Northampton Museum.*

There are four bells, the treble dated 1603, the
second 1748, the third by Tobie Norris of Stamford
1675, and the tenor a 16th-century bell inscribed
'S. Antonie', cast at Leicester by Thomas Newcombe
(i56o-8o).5

The plate consists of a silver cup and cover paten of
161 8, a pewter flagon, and a pewter bread-holder by
Thomas King 1675.*

The registers before 1 8 1 2 are as follows: (i) baptisms,
marriages, and burials i 572-1682; (ii) baptisms and
burials 1 68 3-1 7 56, marriages 1 68 3-1 7 54 ; (iii) baptisms
and burials 1756-1813; (iv) marriages 1755-1812.'

In the churchyard, against the north aisle wall, is
a large stone coffin* with coped lid, found at Middle
Lound in 1893.'

The advowson having been subject
ADVOIVSON to various grants made for lives by
owners of the rectory manor has fur-
nished matter for dispute on more than one occasion.

According to Bridges, John son of Richard de Des-
borough presented in 1327 and again in 1328, as John
called 'le Lord' of Desborough. The presentation was
made in 1 349 by Margaret widow of John Lord of
Desborough. ■" On 26 January 1384 Richard le Lord
of Desborough, son and heir of Margaret, made a
grant to Richard Mayhew" of the first presentation to
the church of Hargrave, but when John Mayhew,
clerk, '^ was presented by Richard Mayhew of Des-
borough and John, Bishop of Lincoln, their right to
present was disputed in 1 390 by John Fossebrook and
Margaret his wife, who claimed that Richard Lord,

son and heir of Margaret, had on 6 January 1384
granted to them all his lands, &c., in Hargrave, with
the advowson of the church, for the rent of a red rose.
The bishop and Richard Mayhew maintained that the
right to make the grant in 1384 had not been in Richard
Lord's hands as his mother was then still living.'^ The
advowson was held by the Pultons with the manor
(q.v.). It was in 1605 conveyed by William Bird and
his wife Agnes to William Catlyn,''' in whose hands it
was in 1623. '^ William Catlyn was the owner when, on
23 June 1660, a petition was presented for securing
tithes in Hargrave as a sequestered living.'* It was held
in 1674 by Elizabeth Barker; in 1684 by John Sprigg;
in 1726 by Edward Cuthbert; in 1745 by William
Bunbury and Mary Bunbury, spinster; and in 1797
by William Fonnereau, clerk," who at the Inclosure
Act of 1802 was still holding it, the Rev. Charles
Fonnereau being rector. It was directed by this Act
that an allotment should be made in lieu of tithes.'*
John Fox was holding the advowson in 180;. In 1864
and subsequently it was held by the incumbent, who
was also lord of the manor. At the death of the Rev.
R. S. Baker in 1897 it was still so held. It then came
into the possession of Miss Elizabeth F. Baker, who was
holding in 19 10, and now Lady Murchison is patron
and lady of the manor.

The church was taxed in 1291 at ;^8 13/. 4.2'."
In 1535 the Valor Ecclesiasticus returned the value of
the rectory as ^^14 3/. \\d., of which 6/. %d. was
deducted for pension to the prior of Huntingdon, and
los. id. for proxies and synodals.^"

Lands and rents given by divers persons for the
maintenance of obits, &c., in Hargrave, worth 10/.
were recorded at the suppression of the chantries.^'

By an Award of the Inclosure Com-
CHJRITIES missioners dated 22 May 1804 land
was allotted for the benefit of the
herdsman of Hargrave. Land was also allotted to the
churchwardens in lieu of certain other lands the rents
of which had been applied from time immemorial to
the repair and services of the parish church. There has
been no herdsman since the inclosure, when his duties
came to an end, and the rent from the allotments was
applied for many years for churchwarden purposes.
An Order dated 3 1 January 1902 made by the Charity
Commissioners directed that 1 1 a. I r. 29 p. of the land
allotted should form the endowment of the Ecclesias-
tical Charity under the administration of the church-
wardens, and the remaining land of 6 a. o r. 27 p.
together with the herdsman's cottage should form the
endowment of the Non-ecclesiastical Charity, to be
administered by two trustees appointed by the parish
council. The land belonging to the Ecclesiastical
Charity is let for £"] "js. 6d. yearly, which is applied
towards church expenses. The land and cottage belong-
ing to the Non-ecclesiastical Charity produces ^^9 yearly.

' The pillar is 3 ft. 5 in. in height in-
cluding the plinth, and 20^ in. square.
Height from floor to top of bowl 4 ft. 9 in.

^ In I S49 they were on top of a screen
below the tower arch; Chs.Archd.N^ton 39.

3 Assoc. Arch. Soc. Reports^ viii, p. cxiii.

♦ Ibid, xi, 132, where it is figured. The
slab is 23 J in. by iz\ in., and 4. in. thick.

5 North, Cfi. Bells of Northanis. 290,
where the inscriptions are given. The
tenor bears an older rebus shield, but the
lettering is Newcombe's.

<• Markham, Ch. Plate of Northants.
144. There is also a pewter ahns dish: a

brass alms basin was purchased when the
church was restored.

' The second volume contains the
names of two persons 'touched by His
Majesty to the intent to be healed of the
disease called the King's Evil', February
1683 : it has also a long list of briefs.

* It is possibly Roman: V.C.H. North-
ants. i, 218.

' Assoc. Arch. Soc. Reports, xxii, 83. It
is a monolith 6 ft. 10 in. long, 2 ft. 2 in.
wide and i ft. 10 in. high: the lid is 7 in.
thick sloping to 4 in.
"> Cal. Pat. 1313-17, pp. 684, 695.

" Cal. Close, 1385-9, p. 148.

■^ Thomas Mayhew, chaplain of Har-
grave, was pardoned for the death of
Robert Basse of Dene in 1377: Cal. Pat.
1377-81, p. 393.

" De Banco R. Mich. 14 Ric. II,m. 326.

'* Feet of F. Northants. Mich. 3 Jas. I.

'5 Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).

"i Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. vii, 105a.

^7 Ibid, vii, lO^a.

■8 Priv. .\ct. 42 Geo. Ill, c. 37.

■9 Ta.x. Eccl. (Rec. Com.), 40*.

^0 Op. cit. (Rec. Com.), iv. 313.

^' Chantry Certif. xxxv, 17.

HIGHAM FERRERS HUxXDRED

IRCHESTER

Irencestre, Hirecestre (xi cent.); Yrencestre (xii
cent.); Ircestre (xiii cent.); Iringchester (xiv cent.);
Erncestre, Archester (xvi cent.); Erchester (xvii cent.).

The parish of Irchester lies in the south-east of
Higham Hundred on the borders of Bedfordshire,
where it is bounded by Podington. The navigable
River Nene forms its northern boundary. It covers an
area of 2,788 acres, divided between arable land, the
chief crops being cereals, and permanent grass, with
some 40 acres of woods and plantations. The upper
soil is fertile and of a mixed character, the subsoil
mainly Oolite, with a streak of Cornbrash at Knuston,
but along the banks of the Nene at and south of Chester
Upper Lias. The parish stands at a height of 200 ft.,
rising on the Bedfordshire border to 300 ft. Knuston
was inclosed in 1769, Irchester proper in 1773.' ^"
193 1 the population numbered 2,503 persons.

The highroad from Wellingborough to London
enters Irchester on the north-west and leads southwards
into Wollaston. Two branches of the L.M.S. railway
intersect the parish, the Wymington Loop Line on
which is Irchester station half a mile east of the village,
and the Northampton and Peterborough branch run-
ning to Wellingborough station on the north-west
boundary of Chester. In this direction lies the hamlet
of Little Chester. Traces of Roman occupation have
been found close to the River Nene about half a mile
from the village, and at Chester House,^ a 16th-century
mansion, once the seat of the Ekins family.^ A few
prehistoric and Anglo-Saxon remains have also been
discovered.*

The old rectory house stands on the south side of
the church and, though modernized, incorporates some
portions of a 14th-century building: in its north gable
is a blocked pointed window with ogee hood-mould.
The rectorial tithe barn still stands to the south of the
church, but is newly roofed with thatch. It is about
70 ft. long by 22 ft. 6 in. wide inside with buttressed
stone walls, but is otherwise without architectural
features.

The Methodists have two chapels, one, opened at
Easter 1870, replacing an earlier building, and the
other erected in 1877.

About a mile north-east of the village is the hamlet
of Knuston where there are now few buildings besides
Knuston Hall, a large square mansion on rising ground
in the centre of a well-wooded park.

Ditchford Bridge, crossing the Nene near the bound-
ary of the parish, is medieval, probably dating from the
14th century. It has six semicircular arches over the
stream with sharp cutwaters; on the parapet facing up-
stream are carved the crossed keys of Peterborough, and
on the opposite side is a St. Catherine's wheel.

The overlordship of i hide and 3 virgates of socland

in IRCHESTER which belonged to William Peverel's

manor of Higham Ferrers in 1086'

MjINORS descended with Higham Ferrers (q.v.),

and in 1769 the king was lord of the

manor of Irchester in right of the Duchy of Lancaster.*

'A Frenchman' was sub-tenant here of William
Peverel at the Survey. Goscelin of Irchester held land
of the manor of Higham Ferrers from 1 164 to 1 179,'
but by 1 1 8 1 this had descended to Richard of Irchester,
tenant until 1 200* and probably later.' Peter son of
Peter of Irchester held land herein 1231,'° and in 1242
a later Richard of Irchester was the Earl Ferrers's
tenant for one-eighth of a knight's fee in the parish."
Richard his son, on whom he made a settlement in
1249,'^ settled the manor in trust for his brother Wil-
liam on William de Clifford,'^ rector of Irchester from
1268 and in later years Bishop of Emly.'* In 1275
Amy, wife of William de Polebrook, with her husband
sued William de Clifford for the manor as heir of her
brother William of Irchester. Richard, however, was
still alive and in accordance with the Dictum of Kenil-
worth was allowed to redeem his inheritance, which he
settled afresh on William de Clifford and his brother
Richard." A later suit brought by William and Amy
against Richard of Irchester himself was equally unsuc-
cessful,'* and in 1284 William de Clifford held a quarter
of a knight's fee in Irchester," which he and his brother
Richard transferred to Thomas de Morton five years
later," possibly in trust for Margery, wife of Sir Nicho-
las de Crioll, who was tenant in 1298 and 1 3 16." She
was a widow in 13 1 3 when Richard son and heir of
Sir John de Clifford surrendered to her and her co-heirs
Elizabeth, wife of Sir John Pabcnham the elder, and
Margery Hereward, daughter and heir of Margaret,
late the wife of Sir Robert Hereward, all his right to
lands in Irchester and neighbouring parishes.^" Possibly
she or Margery Hereward after-
wards married Sir William Lovel
whom, with his wife Margery,
Elizabeth de Pabenham sued in
1 342 for a moiety of the manor
of Irchester as her inheritance.-'
This she recovered and settled
upon her son Thomas, on whose
death in 1345 the manor was
taken into the king's hands during
the minority of his heir, Eliza-
beth's petition for its restoration
to herself being rejected.-- Her
grandson Laurence de Pabenham was seised of her in-
heritance in Irchester at his death in 1 399.^-' His son
John, then aged 9, survived his father only eight years.

Pabenham. Biirry azure
and argent a bend gulej
tvith three moletl argent
thereon.

■ ActsPriv. and Local,9Geo. III,c. 73;
I] Geo. Ill, c. p. 15.

» r.C.H.Northantl.\, 178-84.

' WhcMan, Hiii. Northanti. 1919-20.

* F.C.H. Sorihantt. i, 155, 183, 239.
» Ibid, i, 336A.

* Acts Priv. and Local, 9 Ceo. Ill, c.

73-

' Tipe R. 10 Hen. II (Pipe R. Soc.), 95
ct %v\.

* Ibid. 27 Hen. II, 66; ibid. 2 John, 56.
« Cur.Reg.R.u, 252.

'» Bracion't Ncie-Booi, ^Sj.
" i(i. o/fffi, ii, 933, 945.

" Feet of F. Northants., file 1 2, no. 247.

•> Rot. Ric. Graveiend (Cant. & York
Soc.), 109.

■< Cal. Papal Leiteri, I, 494, 509.

'» Coram Rege R. 18 m. 3od.j Feet of
F. Northants., file 51, no. 29.

" Coram Rege R. 20, m. i.

" Feud. Aidi, iv. 14.

" Feet of F. case 175, file 56, no. 260.

" Chan. Inq. p.m. Edw. I, file 81 ; Feud.
Aid%, iv. 2g.

" Coram Rege R. 214, m. 67.

'* Assite R. 1433, m. 6d, m. 18, m.
32 i\ Cal. Clote, 1341-3, p. 685. Bridges

{Northants. ii, 179) says that Sir William
Love! held the eighth of a knight's fee in
Irchester in 1346. and the return of 1428
mentions him as late tenant here to that
extent: Feud. Aids, iv, 45. In 1384 Sir
John, in 1385 Sir Ralph Lovcl were
amongst the free tenants in default of the
Duchy of Lancaster in Irchester: Ct. R.
(Duchy of Lane), bdle. 105, nos. 1497,
1498.

" Chan. Inq. Miic, file 15;, no. 2;
Chan. Inq. p.m. Edw. Ill, file 78, no. i.

" Chan, Inq. p.m. Ric. II, file 106,
no 37.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

One moiety of the Pabenham manor in Irchester came

to his step-sister Katharine, wife of Sir Thomas Ayls-
bury' who died in 1418.^ From Katherine, who was
still seised in 1428,^ this descended to Laurence, her son
by her second husband Sir John Cheyne of Fen Ditton,*
and from Laurence to his brother John.^ This younger
Sir John Cheyne was succeeded in 1489 by his son
Thomas* whose estates passed at his death in I 5 14 to
his only child Elizabeth whom he had betrothed to
Thomas son and heir of Sir Nicholas Vaux7 The son
of this marriage, William second Lord Vaux of Har-
rowden, his mother's heir at her death in 1556,* sold
Irchester in or before 1 593 to Sir Thomas Cecil,' and
he in 1596 sold the manor to John Wiseman,"* who
within two years transferred his rights here to Thomas
Bletsoe," a freeholder of the Duchy of Lancaster in this
parish in 1611.'^ A grant of his great-grandmother's
inheritance, which included the manor of Irchester,
was made to Edward, grandson and heir of the second
William Lord Vaux of Harrowden by James I in 1 6 1 3 .' ^

The other moiety of the Pabenham manor in Ir-
chester came on John de Pabenham's death to his
younger sister Eleanor, wife of John Tyringham."'' She
was dead in I420,'5 and in 1428 it was held by Alice
Chamber,'* probably daughter of Eleanor. Sir Robert
Fitz Simond, whose mother, Mary Chamber," was pre-
sumably Alice's daughter, died seised of this moiety in
1473 when his heir was his daughter Joan wife of
Robert Tymperley and subsequently wife of Henry
Wentworth, by whom she had a son Nicholas.'*

Two and a half virgates in Irchester which Siward
had held freely belonged in 1086 to the Count of Mor-
tain, and in the reign of Henry I to the fee of Wahill."
A mesne lordship over this, or part of this fee belonged to
thefamily of Grey of Ruthynin the 14th and 15th cen-
turies and lasted until 1 49 5 when lands in Irchester were
held ofGeorge Earl of Kent, Lord Grey of Ru thy n.^"

Robert, the Count of Mortain's tenant here, had
been succeeded in the following century by Nicholas
le Sauvage.^' In the 13th and 14th centuries members
of this family held land in Irchester,-^ part of which had
passed to Thomas de Pabenham before 1346.^3 jj niay
be identical with land held of the Earl of Kent by
George Ingleton at his death in I495.^'» This descended
through his son Robert to his grand-daughter Joan who,
as the widow of George Tyrrell, settled it on her son
George in 1550. In 1558 this George Tyrrell owned

a manor (so called) in Irchester which he sold seven
years later to Richard Bletsoe who held it of the Duchy
of Lancaster in 1591^' and i6io.-^* In 1591 Richard
also owned a manor in Irchester called KNOLES
which he had acquired from William Pierce and his
wife Eleanor and John Bowes in 1589,^' but which is
otherwise unrecorded.

KNUSTON

Cnuteston (xi cent.); Knoston (xii cent.); Cnoston
(xiii cent.); Knuston (xviii cent.).

One hide and 3 virgates in Knuston which Uluiet
held freely in King Edward's time belonged in 1086
to the fee of Gunfrid de Cioches.^* The overlordship
descended with the fee of Chokes, Robert the advocate
of Betun accounting in 1235 for one knight's fee in
Knuston and Billing of the fee of Chokes.^' This part
of Knuston still belonged to the honor of Chokes in
I2 523°and 1274,^' and in 13 30 was found to be exempt
from the jurisdiction of the Earl of Lancaster in
Higham Hundred. ^^ In 1346 and 1428, however, this
fee was said to be held of the honor of Clare.''

The tenant of the Chokes fee in Knuston in 1086
was Winemar,'* and the mesne lordship descended as
Preston Deanery (q.v.), but two-thirds of a fee were
held here in 1242 by Walter de Knoston. 's In 1232
land in this hamlet passed from Margery, widow of
Nicholas de Normanvill, to John de Hulcote'* who was
sub-tenant of Gilbert de Preston in Holcot, Knuston,
and Haddon in 1274," in which year the service of
Ralph de Normanville for a fee in Knuston was assigned
to Alice, widow of Gilbert de Preston, in dower.'*

The first mention of Knuston as a manor is in 1325
when Ralph de Normanvill settled it on his son Ralph
and his wife Sarra," and Ralph was seised in 1329.^°
John de Normanvill in 1392 and 1394 settled Knuston
in trust on his brother John Wolf"" By 1428 the half-
fee, 'formerly of Hugh Croft' ,''^ was held in equal por-
tions by the Lady Elizabeth Kingsman, John Bedell,
Henry Alcote, John Sweetbone, senior, John Sweet-
bone, junior, William Archbold,'" and Simon South-
end.'** A settlement of the manorofKnuston on William
Sweetbone and his wife Joan was made in 1498, ''5 but
it came afterwards into the possession of Sir Robert
Brudenell who died seised in 1531. His younger son
Anthony, to whom he had left Knuston,''* parted with
his interest here in the following year,'" and in 1 542

' Chan. Inq. p.m. Hen. IV, file 59,
no. 61.

^ Ibid. Hen. V, file 33, no. 35.
3 Feud. Aids^ iv. 45.
■• Viut. of Cambs. (Harl. Sec), 1 1 8.
5 Add. Chart. 7569.
' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), v, 122.
' Ibid, xxix, 22.

^ Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cvii, 55.
» P.C.C. Drake, 86.
■» Feet of F. Northants. Trin. 38 Eliz.
" Ibid. East. 40 Eliz.
'2 Rentals and Surv. (P.R.O.), portf. 1 3,
no. 34.
" Pat. 10 Jas. I, pt. 15; 1 1 Jas. I, pt. 6.
'•t Chan. Inq. p.m. Hen. IV, file 59, no.
61. '5 Ibid. Hen. V, file 57, no. 37.

" Feud. Aids, iv. 45.
" Morant, Essex, i. 302-3.
'8 Chan. Inq. p.m. Edw. IV, file 45,
no. 33.

'« F.C.H. Northants. \,-i,z%a,T,yya.'They
were probably amongst the nineteen vir-
gates in Irchester, declared in 13 18 to be
part of the ancient demesne of the Crown:

Chan. Inq. Misc. file 8, no. 9.

20 Chan. Inq. p.m. Edw. Ill, file 78,
no. 1 (Ser. 2), x.

2' F.C.H. Northants. i, 328, 377<z.

" Feet of F. Northants., file 2 1 , no. 1 8 1 ;
Bractons Note-Book, 483 ; Chan. Inq. p.m.
Edw. Ill, file 78, no. i ; Ct. R. (Duchy of
Lane), bdle. 105, nos. 1497, 1498.

23 Cal. Inq. p.m. viii, no. 598.

" Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), x. i.

25 Misc. Bks. (Duchy of Lane), 117,
fo. 137.

2' Rentals and Surv. (P.R.O.), portf. 13,
no. 34.

2' Misc. Bks. (Duchy of Lane), 117,
fo. 137. 28 y.C.U. Northants. \, 348a.

29 Bk. of Fees, \. 499.

30 Chan. Inq. Misc. file 7, no. 3.

3' Chan. Inq. p.m. Edw. I, file 5, no. 9.

32 Plac. de Qm IVarr. (Rec. Com.), 580.

33 Bridges, Northants. ii, 182; Feud.
Aids, iv, 45.

3* y.C.H. Northants. i, 348^.
35 Bk. of Fees, 939. Possibly Walter
held by lease from Gilbert de Preston, who

had leased his manor of Little Billing in
1235: Cal. Pat. R. 1232-47, p. 147.
3^ Feet of F. Northants., file 23, no. 246.

37 Chan. Inq. p.m. Edw. I, file 5, no. 9.

38 Cal. Close, 1272-9, p. 222.

39 In 1328 Sir Ralph de Normanvill
with his sons Ralph and Geoffrey amongst
others, broke into Sir William Level's
close at Irchester: Cal. Pat. 1327-30,
pp. 294-5.

■to Feet of F. Div. Co. 6, file 3 3, no. 26 1 .

■" Close, 15 Ric. II,m. i6di i8Ric.II,
m. 32 d.

*2 He is said to have held in 1 346 of
Laurence de Preston : Bridges, Northants.
ii, 182.

43 Nicholas Archbold was one of John de
NormanviU's trustees: Cal. Close, 1389—

9-'P- 537-

** Feud. Aids, iv, 45.

45 Feet of F. Northants. case 179, file 98,
no. 51.

'•' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lii, 64.

■" Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 24 Hen.
VIII.

HIGHAM FERRERS HUNDRED

IRCHESTER

Thomas Brudenell, Sir Robert's elder son, sold the
manor in two moieties.' Thomas Page, junior, who
acquired one moiet)', was succeeded by John Page who
owned the other also in I 591." No more is heard of
the manor, but a considerable estate in Knuston, com-
prising the North Hall with 4 virgates of land, the
Borough Farm, and certain closes, was acquired by
William Payne and descended at his death in 1624 to
his niece Sybil, wife of Sir Christopher Yelverton,' and
presumably passed with Podington (Beds.) to the family
ofOrlebar.*

One hide and I J virgates in Knuston which belonged
to William Peverel's manor at the Survey descended
with Higham Ferrers (q.v.),* the last mention of its
overlordship occurring in i 5 3 1 when Knuston was held
of the king by knight service as of his Castle of Higham
Ferrers,* after which it was probably absorbed into the
manor of Irchester.

When the open fields and commons of Knuston were
inclosed in 1769, allotments were made in the first
place to the King as lord of the manor of Irchester,
and the patron and vicar of the parish church, and
afterwards to eleven other landowners, some of whom
seem from their names, such as Bletsoe and Mason, to
have belonged to families long resident in the neigh-
bourhood.' The present owner of the hamlet and of
Knuston Hall is Charles .\rthur Kersey Green, esq.

CHESTER-ON-THE- WATER

Cestre, Parva Cestre (xiii cent.) ; Chestrebethewatre,
Littlechestre by the Watre (xiv cent.).

The first mention of the overlordship o{ LITTLE
CHESTER occurs in 1236 when it was appurtenant
to the manor of Higham Ferrers.' From that year until
1428 it was held of the lords of Higham Ferrers,' after
which their overlordship appears to have lapsed. A
mesne lordship here belonged to Brian de Lisle in
1232,'° and to Walter de Lisle from that year until
1253." At the close of the century and until 1327 this
was held by William de Echingham,'^ who had married
the eventual co-heir of Brian de Lisle."

The early tenants of Little Chester belonged to the
family of de Nowers. Emery de Nowers held of the
de Lisle mesne lords in 1232 and 1253.''' William de
Nowers held J|j of a fee of Edmund the king's brother"
in 1284.'* From his son Emery Little Chester de-
cended in 1308 to his son John," who was seised until
his death in 1327. He was succeeded by his son of the
same name," who with his wife Maud sold the con-
tingent reversion of the manor to the king in 1369."
They died without issue, and John of Gaunt who had

Nowers. Argent t^vo
ban gulei rvi/A three ere-
scents gules in the chief.

entered on the estate was sued in 1 398 by John Stokes,
nephew and heir of one of the trustees of John de
Nowers. Though judgement was given in favour of
the duke,-° the fortieth part of a knight's fee in Little
Chester which had formerly belonged to Maud de
Nowers was held by Thomas
Stokes in 1428.-' Thomas Stokes
granted it to Thomas Singilton
and his wife Agnes in 1429.^^ In
1466 it was owned by Henry
Petit and his wife .Agnes; in 1494
by William Hampden and his
wife .Audrey, in both years being
the inheritance of the wife.^^
William Coope had bought it in
1494 and, with his wife Joan,
sold it in 1 5 1 1 to Thomas and
William Wigston and others;-*
and the next year licence was granted to William
Wigston of Leicester, junior, and Thomas Wigston,
clerk, to found a perpetual chantry of two chaplains in
the collegiate church of Newark, Leicester. ^^ The
manor of Little Chester was amongst the temporalities
of the Newark college in 1535 and remained in the
Crown until in 1616 James I sold it to John Godbould
and Thomas Ekins.-* Thomas held alone in 1 63 3,^' and
in 1705 the manor was sold by Susan Ekins, widow,
and a later Thomas Ekins to John Ekins,-' possibly the
deputy steward of Higham Ferrers Manor of that name
twenty years before.^' In the early part of the i8th
century Captain Thomas Ekins was lord of the manor of
Little Chester,^" and it passed from Timothy Stone-
house Vigor and his wife Charlotte Oliver to Francis
Dickins (see advowson) in 1798.^'

A mill on the land of William Peverel in 1086 was
then claimed by the king. 3- In 1 2 8 2 Edmund the king's
brother bought of Henry le Scot of Abbots Leigh^^ the
'Dickford Mulnes', possibly the two water-mills in Ir-
chester of which he died seised in I298.-''* There was
one mill on the Vaux manor in 1595.^5 Knuston had
two mills at the Survey,^* Little Chester three in 1 309. ''
Dovecotes are mentioned amongst the appurtenances of
all three manors from the 14th to the 17th century.'*
The fishing of the River Nene which belonged, at least
in part, to Little Chester in 1327 and 1566,'' in the
reign of Charles I was found to be within the manor
of Irchester and to extend from Ditchford Mills to
Wellingborough Bridge.*"

Free warren in his demesne lands of Knuston and
Irchester was granted to William de Ferrers in 1248,
in his demesne lands of Irchester to William Lovel in

' Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. »nd East. 33
Hen. VIII.

' Misc. Bks. (Duchy of Lane), 117, foL
137*.

> Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. z], dclv, 94;
ccccvii, 104.

♦ See r.C.H. Beds, ili, 82.

» y.C.H. tiorihanit. i, 336*; Bk. of
Fees, i. 602; Chan. In<|. p.m. £dw. Ill,
file 6, m. 24.

' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. z), lii, 64.

' Act Priv. and Loc. 9 Ceo. Ill, c. 73.

• Bh. of Fees, i, 602.

' Ibid, ii, 933; FeuJ. AiJs, iv, 14, 46;
Chan. Inq. p.m. Edw. I, file 81; Inq. ad
q. d., file 1 17, no. 16.

'" Feet of F. Div. Co., file 9, no. 94.

" Ibid. Northints., file 38, no. 616.

'* Chan. Inq. p.m. Edw. I, file 81 ; Edw,
II, file 10, no. 7i Edw. Ill, file 4, no. 4.

" Suss. Arch. Coll. xxx, 145.

" Feet of F. Div. Co., file 9, no. 94;
Northants., file 38, no. 616.

'S Edmund was probably guardian of the
Lisle heir.

" Chan. Inq. pm. Edw. I, file 81.

■' Ibid. Edw. II, file 10, no. 7.

" Feud. Aids, V, 29; Chan. Inq. p.m.
Edw. Ill, file 4, no. 4.

" Feet of F. Div. Co., file 48, no. 693 ;
Cal. Pat. 1367-70, p. 242.

" De Banco R. 551, m. 341.

" Feud. Aids, iv, 46.

" Cal. Close, 1429-35, p. 32.

" Feet of F. Div. Co., file 74, no. 38;
Northants., file 97, no. 35.

" Ibid. Hil. 2 Hen. VIII.

'> Nichols, Leic. i, pt. 2, App. xviii, 1 12.

»» A'j/or Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv, 170.
Pat. 14 Jas. I, pt. 21, no. 6.

" Feet of F. Northants, Mich. 9 Chat. I.

'• Ibid. Hil. 3 Anne.

" Ct. R. (Duchy of Lane), bdle. 105,
no. 1505.

'<" Bridges, A'orMan/j. ii, 181-2.

" Feet of F. Northants. Mich. 38 Ceo.
III.

" y.C.II. Northants, i, 336*.

" Coram Rege R. 67, m. 26 d.

» Chan. Inq. p.m. Edw. I, file 8t.

" Feel of F. Northants. Trin. 37 Eli*.

'« r.C.H. Northants. i, 3 36A, 3484.

^^ Chan, Inq. p.m. Edw, II, file 10, no, 7.

>• Ibid. Edw. Ill, file 4, no. 4 ; ibid. (Ser.
2), lii, 64; Feet of F. Northants. Mich.
8 Elii,, Trin, 37 Elii,

'V Chan, Inq, p,m, Edw, III, file 4, no.
4; Fret of F. Northants. Mich. 8 Elis.

'•o Rentals & Surv. (Duchy of Lane),
bdle. 8, no. 4.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

1346.' View of frankpledge, courts leet and baron,
and other feudal dues belonged to the manor of Ir-
chester,^ and in the 14th century Emery de Nowers
paid his overlord Thomas of Lancaster 2S. a year for
view of frankpledge in his own manor of Little Chester. ^
About the same time a custom called Couvi/l-thressing
was exacted by the earl from his tenants of Irchester
and Knuston.3

The church of ST. KATHARINE
CHURCH consists of chancel, 43 ft. 4 in. by 19 ft.
6 in., with north chapel about half its
length, clerestoried nave of four bays, 63 ft. 6 in. by
19 ft. 8 in., north aisle, 16 ft. wide, south aisle, 1 1 ft.
wide, south porch, and west tower, 12 ft. 6 in. square.

nave arcades, part of the plinth of the original late-
I3th-century north-aisle wall remaining on either side
of the doorway, but the doorway itself is of early-i3th-
century character and was probably removed from the
wall of the earlier and narrower aisle to its present posi-
tion. The west wall of the north aisle retains a portion
of that of its predecessor, and there are traces at its
south end of a blocked opening, including part of a
jambshaft and the spring of an arch, which may imply
that the 12th-century nave had an engaged western
tower. The building was completed in its present form
at the close of the 14th century, when the tower and
spire, the clerestory, and the porch were erected. In
the 15 th century new windows were inserted in the

12m Cent ^c 1380-1400
1131 Cent ■ISICent
n+Ii Cent EHModern

Scale of Feet
lo 20 30

Plan of Irchester Church

with lofty spire, all these measurements being internal.
The north chapel and north aisle are continuous, with-
out division, and the width across nave and aisles is
52 ft.

The building is of rubble throughout and the walls
are plastered internally. It was extensively restored in
1889 under the direction of J. L. Pearson, R..^., when
the present high-pitched leaded roof of the chancel was
erected* and the other roofs renewed.

The lower part of the wall between the chancel and
the north chapel appears to be in part of the I2th cen-
tury, and the western responds of the nave arcades are
also late in that century, together with the plinths of
the two westernmost piers of the north arcade. The
12th-century church was thus not much smaller than
the present building, with an aisled nave and somewhat
shorter chancel. The two half-round western responds
have square abaci with heads or foliage at the angles,
and the plinths in part retain their foot ornaments and
the lower member of the base moulding. The 12th-
century church was rebuilt and the chancel lengthened
in the course of the 13 th century, when the north chapel
was added, and in the 14th century the north aisle
appears to have been rebuilt and united with the chapel,
which was widened for that purpose. The present
width of both aisles is, however, contemporary with the

■ Cal. Chart. J?, i, 332; Cal. Pat. 1345-
8, p. 477.

* Chan. Inq. p.m. Edw. I, file 8 1 ; Edw.
Ill, file 6, m. 24 ; Ct. R. (Duchy of Lane),

bdle. 105, nos. 1497, etc.j

chancel and the roofs altered: the parapets of the aisles
are of that period.

The chancel is substantially of the 1 3th century, with
moulded plinth, string at sill level, and coupled angle
buttresses of two stages. The four-centred east window
is set within 13th-century jambs, probably belonging
to a triplet of lancets, and is of five trefoiled lights with
vertical tracery. The three windows in the south wall
are of the same type, the easternmost of two lights, the
others of three, but the mullions and tracery are
modern.5 At the east end of the south wall is a double
aumbry, with its eastern opening splayed, and west of
it a beautiful trefoil-headed piscina and a single arched
sedile with its seat on the same level as the piscina:
there was probably another seat, if not two, but this
was blocked in the 14th century, when larger windows
were first inserted in the wall. There is also on this
side a 13th-century priest's doorway with voussoirs
alternately of ironstone and freestone, shafted jambs,
and inner trefoiled arch with foliated cusps. In the east
wall, north of the altar, is a rebated aumbry, and the
north wall is pierced at its west end by a fine late-i 3 th-
century arch of two orders, opening into the adjoining
chapel, with additional shafting on the side next the
chancel. East of this was a two-story vestry entered
from the chancel by a doorway with rounded trefoiled
Pari. Surv. * The plain parapets of the old low-

(Duchy of Lane), no. 57.

3 Chan. Inq. p.m. Edw.
24.

pitched roof were removed.
Ill, file 6, m. 5 The three south windows, after being

long blocked, were opened out in 1889.

Irchester Church, from the South-East

HIGHAM FERRERS HUNDRED

IRCHESTER

head and moulded jambs, now blocked: the upper
story of the vestry appears to have been approached by
a doorway in the east wall of the chapel. Between the
blocked doorway and the north-east angle of the chancel
is a curious 1 3th-century niche beneath a straight-sided
pediment enclosing a quatrefoil, with the remains of
a bowl or ledge at floor-level. The present floor of the
chancel, however, has been raised some 2 ft., and is
now level with that of the nave, which probably fol-
lowed the natural ascent of the ground from east to
west. At the back of the niche is a hole in the wall,
which suggests that it may have been used for baking
altar-breads and was provided with a flue.' The
chancel screen, erected in 1932, embodies some
traceried portions of a i jth-century screen, long pre-
served in the north chapel.

The arcades of the nave, with arches of two hollow
chamfered orders on octagonal piers with moulded
capitals and bases, were built in the 13th century, but
as already noted, the western responds and other traces
of earlier arcades remain. The capital of the north-east
respond has a band of nail-head ornament, but the
arcade is not early in the century and the bases are
without hollow mouldings. The arch between the nave
and chancel, with three hollow chamfered orders on
shafted responds, is of the same date: a settlement on
the south side has caused the jamb to lean outward.
The eastern half of the adjoining arch of the south
arcade appears to have been rebuilt in the I 5th century,
the junction of the new with the old work being very
noticeable. On each side of the chancel arch is a door-
way from which stairs led to a rather low rood-loft, and
above the arch are the remains of a 15th-century
painted Doom.^

The north chapel, now occupied by the organ, covers
the chancel for about 18 ft. Evidence of its having been
widened exist at the east end, where the coupled 1 3th-
century angle buttresses were removed and rebuilt in
their present position^ probably as part of the 14th-
century alterations in the north aisle, to which period
the square-headed windows belong. They are similar
to those of the aisle, of three plain trefoiled lights, with
wave-moulded jambs, except that at the east end which
is of four lights and placed high in the wall so as to
clear the vestry roof. In the north wall of the chapel
is a fine late-i3th-century tomb recess, with richly
moulded arch springing from short shafts.

The early-l3th-century north doorway is of two
moulded orders, the outer on shafts with moulded capi-
tals and bases, in the former of which the nail-head
occurs. Over it and on the face of the diagonal north-
west buttress are the arms of Lovel, some member of
which family in all probability rebuilt the aisle.

The south aisle with its doorway is of the late 13th
century and retains its original angle buttresses and a
two-light window with forked raullion in the west wall.
The other windows are early-i jth-century insertions,
two square-headed and of three trefoiled lights in the
south wall cast of the porch, and a pointed window of
four lights at the east end. Between the two south

windows is a massive buttress probably added when the
new roof and parapets were erected. The doorway is
of two moulded orders, the outer on shafts with
moulded capitals and bases. In the usual position in
the south wall is a trefoil-headed piscina, and in the
west wall, north of the window, two rectangular aum-
bries, one above the other. The line of the original
lean-to roof of the aisle is preserved at the west end
below the later low-pitched gable.

The porch appears to have been heightened in the
1 5th century and finished with a battlementcd parapet:
it has transomed windows of two trefoiled lights in the
side walls.

The roof of the nave is of six bays and there are four
square-headed clerestory windows on each side, with
a fifth at the east end on the south, added in 1 500^ in
order to light the rood-loft.

The tall and slender tower with broach spire is of
the late t)'pe found at Brampton Ash, Stanion, and
other places in the north of the county, and was built
from the ground probably c. 1 380-1400. The tower
is of four stages with moulded plinth and coupled but-
tresses to the height of the bell<hamber stage set back
from the angles. It is faced throughout with alternate
courses of ironstone and freestone, and has conspicuous
put-log holes in the nvo lower stages. The west door-
way has good plain continuous mouldings and the win-
dow above it is of two cinquefoiled lights with a quatre-
foil in the head. The double bell-chamber windows
are of the same type: below them the north side is
blank, but in the middle stage facing south is a small
square-headed ogee loop. The vice is in the south-west
angle. The spire rises from a corbel table of heads
and flowers connected by tendrils, and has very low
broaches:^ the angles are ribbed and there are three sets
of openings on the cardinal faces, the two lower of two
trefoiled lights and quatrefoil above. The height of the
tower above the floor of the nave* is 62 ft. 6 in., and
of the spire 92 ft. 6 in.'' The tower arch is of three
chamfered orders, the two outer continuous, the inner
springing from half-octagonal responds with moulded
capitals.

The 13th-century font has a roughly-carved octa-
gonal bowl on four detached octagonal shafts.' The
oak stem pulpit is of early-iyth-century date,' with six
carved panels on its seven sides. In the wall of the
north aisle is a blocked doorway which apparently
communicated with the gallery of the screen between
the aisle and chapel.

The eastern bay of the south aisle which is screened
by plain woodwork of early Tudor character, with
linen-pattern lower panels, is now again used as a
chapel, and contains the 17th-century communion
table formerly in the chancel. A fair amount of 15th-
century seating remains in the church. Ot later furni-
ture there is an interesting balustered receptacle for
bread, with hinged door and lock, at the west end of the
south aisle, made for the safe-keeping of the dole founded
by Thomas Jenison (d. t68i), whose monument, with
a long inscription, is on the north side of the chancel.

■ Itt use for the Enter tepulcbre has
also been suggested.

* Discovered during the restoration of
1889. Records exist of two other wall
paintings, one over the north doorway.

' The plinths are of the later period.

* Under the termi of the will of John
Jcffery.

' 'Its great height and the very small

size of the squinches under the tower arc of
the most elegant of its class' : E. H. Free-
man in Cht. Archd. N'ton^ 192.

' There are five steps down from the
churchyard to the door of the tower, and
three from the tower to the nave.

' Total height to top of vane 159 ft. In
1930 the upper part (jo ft.) of the spire

was rebuilt. The vane, which it pierced
in the form of a St. Catherine's wheel, if
apparently medieval.

* It is figured in Paley'a Bapiismal
Fault (1844). The carving on sii of the
tides is within trefoiled arches.

• It probably look the place of a pulpit
which in 1611 was in bad condition.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

Bridges records a brass memorial to John Glynton
'merchant of the staple of Calais' (d. 1506) and Isabel
his wife, but little of this now remains.'

The royal arms of Charles II (1667), long relegated
to the clock chamber, have been recently placed near
the south doorway.

There is a ring of eight bells, three smaller ones by
Taylor of Loughborough having been added in 1930
to a former ring of five. The old treble (now fourth) is
by W. Taylor of Oxford, 1846, and the old second
(now fifth) is dated 1729. The old third and fourth
are alphabet bells with the shield of Richard Brasyer
of Norwich, and the tenor is by Edward Arnold of
Leicester, 1792.^ There is also a priest's bell by Taylor
of Loughborough, 1882.

The plate consists of a silver cup and cover paten of
1 8 1 3, a plated flagon presented by Joseph Monk, vicar,
in 1 88 1, a plated alms dish, a pewter flagon, two old
pewter alms dishes, and two modern ones of Sheffield
make.^

The registers before 18 12 are as follows: (i) all
entries 1622-81, with gaps 1665-70 and 1676-9;
(ii) baptisms 1673-1740, marriages 1676-1740,
burials 1675-1740; (iii) baptisms 1741-1807, mar-
riages 1741-53, burials 1741-1806; (iv) marriages
1754-72; (v) marriages 1773-1812; (vi) baptisms and
burials 1807—12. The second volume is remarkable for
the extra matter inserted by Thomas Allen, vicar 1 706—
20, whose liberal ideas of the scope of parish registers
led him to record local events in its pages.'*

The church of St. Katharine of Ir-
ADFOtVSON Chester was given by the elder William
Peverel to the Priory of Lenton.' In
1227 the prior's right to the advowson was challenged
by Emery de Nowers, lord of the manor of Little
Chester (q.v.) who afterwards withdrew his claim.* In
1268, however, the patronage was successfully claimed
by Margaret de Ferrers, Countess of Derby, as part of
her dower,' and the church remained in the gift of the
overlords of the manor^ until 1330 when Henry Earl
of Lancaster made it part of the endowment of his hos-
pital at Leicester' to which it was accordingly appro-
priated.'" When the hospital was refounded as the
College of Newark in 1360 (see Higham Ferrers ad-
vowson) the church of Irchester remained in its posses-
sion. It was amongst the spiritualities of this house in
1535" and came to the Crown on its dissolution in
November 1547.'- In 1607 James I granted the advow-
son to Robert, Earl of Salisbury,'^ from whom it passed
to Thomas Jenison, patron until his death in 1647.'*
Ralph his son and heir died twelve years later and was

succeeded by his son Thomas Jenison'^ who owned the
advowson in 1662'* and presented in 1675." He died
suddenly without issue in 1681,'* and his sisters, Eliza-
beth, wife since January 1641 of Samuel Collins of the
Middle Temple," and Mary wife of Nathaniel Agutter
with their husbands and Elizabeth's son, Samuel Col-
lins, junior, and his wife, made a settlement in which
the rectory of Irchester was included.^" Afterwards the
Agutters alleged that they had been defrauded of
Mary's share by the younger Samuel, and in r686 they
unsuccessfully sued his son of the same name with his
widowed mother and sisters. The third Samuel Col-
lins^' presented to the living in 1688 and 1705.-^ Samuel
Collins, junior, and John Collins, presumably his sons,
joined him in a settlement of the church in 171 1, and
the younger Samuel and John held it with Elizabeth
Collins, spinster, sis years later. John Collins and his
wife in 1727 sold to Rupert Clarke.^^

Valentine Knightley presented to the living in 1745
and 1748, and Ambrose Dickins between 175 1 and
1777;^ and from 1794 to 1848 Francis Dickins was
patron. In 1770 the vicarage of Irchester was joined
to that of WoUaston and so remained until 1881.^'
During the second half of the last century the advowson
changed hands several times, being held for the most
part by three of its vicars, the Rev. R. Wood, the Rev.
J. Monk, and the Rev. H. Slater.^* It subsequently be-
longed to Mrs. Thomas of Reepham, Lincolnshire,^* and
is now held by the Misses Thomas and Mrs. Semple.

The rectory of Irchester followed the
REC TOR T descentofthe advowson until 1605, when
James I granted it in socage to Peter
Bradshaw,^' trustee, as appears from a later document,
for the Earl of Salisbury^^ in whose possession it was
again united to the advowson in 1607. [See above.]
The two may have been acquired together by Thomas
Jenison, owner of the parsonage impropriate in 16 10,
when he was engaged in a dispute touching rights of
way.^' In 1773 Ambrose Dickins, then patron and lay
rector, received compensation in lands for the glebe-
lands and tithes of the rectory.^"

A chapel of ease in Knuston dedicated
CHAPEL to St. Leonard had fallen into decay before
1567, when it was granted to Robert
Holmes and Thomas Boughton with land belonging to
it. 3' Twent}'-four years later only the site remained and
was said to be held by Henry Freeman, lessee of the
rectory, as 'concealed land'.^^

There were gilds of St. Katharine and St. John in
the church of Irchester with lands which were included
in the grant of 1 567.

' Hht. of Northantz, ii, i 80. The brasses
were in the floor near the pulpit stairs, but
the figure of the man and the arms were
then gone.

2 North, Ch. Sells of Nortkants. 311,
where the inscriptions on the old bells are
given. The old second has the 'Nazarene*
inscription and is probably a recasting of
one of Hugh Watts's bells. The Brasyer
dynasty extended over two generations
from 1424 to 1513. The three new bells,
together with a clock, were the gift of John
Turnell Austin of Hartford, Connecticut,
U.S.A., formerly of Knuston. The old
bells were restored at the same time.

3 Markhim, Ci. Plaleof NorlAanls. 164.
* On the fly-leaf is a set of verses in

Latin elegiacs, dated November 26, 17 10,
on the spire of Irchester composed 'on
awakening suddenly during my sleep'. The

first volume, which according to Bridges
began in 1597, has been lost,
s Cal. Chart. R. iii, 316.
^ Feet of F. Northants.,file 22, no. 222.
' Ibid., file 48, no. 861; Rot. Rici.
Gra'vesend (Cant. 8c York Soc), 109.
^ Cal. Inq.^.m. iii, pp. 296, 321.
' Cal. Vat. 1327-30, p. 603; Misc.Bks.
(Duchy of Lane), 1 1, fol. \\h.
"> Vahr Eccl. (Rcc. Com.), iv, 169, 310.
" Nichols, Leiceiter^ i, pt. 2, p. 336.
^^ Bridges, A'orMaH/j. ii, 181.
" Pat. 5 Jas I, pt. 17, m. 25.
'* Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.) ; Bridges, loc. cit.
'S MetcMe,yisitatiam of Northanis. loi.
'^ Feet of F. Northants, Hil. 13 & 14
Chas. II.
" Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
'^ Hist. MSS. Com. House of Lords
MSS. Rep. xii, App. vi, pp. 69, 70.

^' Northants. Notes & Queries^ New
Ser. ii, 161.

20 Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 33 Chas. II.

" Ibid. Northants. Mich. 3 Will. &
Mary.

" Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).

" Feet of F. Northants. Mich. 10 Amie;
Div. Co. Mich. 4 Geo. I; Trin. 13 Geo. I.

" Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.) i Bacon, Liber
Regis, 824.

« LonJ. Gaz., 4 Mar. 1881.

^^ Clerical Guide ; Clergy List.

" Pat. 2 Jas. I, pt. 19.

28 Cal. S.P. Dom. 1631-3, p. 482.

=' Spec. Com. (Duchy of Lane), no. 864.

3" Acts Priv. and Loc. 13 Geo. Ill,
cap. 15.

3' Pat. 9 Eliz. pt. 5, m. 10.

32 Misc. Bks. (Duchy of Lane), 117,
fol. 117*.

HIGHAM FERRERS HUNDRED

The Feoffee Estate has been held in trust from the
time of King Henry VIII and is regulated by a scheme

of the Charit)' Commissioners dated
CHARITIES 10 May 191 2. The trustees are 8

in number, 5 being appointed by the
parish council and 3 are co-opted. The property
originally consisted of 36 acres of land at Irchester,
I acre in Knuston Great Meadow, a house and black-
smith's shop and 12 cottages in Irchester. The house
and shop and cottages and about i J acres of land have
been sold and the proceeds, together with accumula-
tions of income, invested with the Official Trustees.

NEWTON
BROMSWOLD

The gross income amounts to about ;^i 1 2, and the net
income is applied in aid of the Local Nursing Fund.

Thomas Jenison by his will dated in 168 1 gave an
annuity of ^^5 4/. charged upon his right to tithe hay
and grain of the village of Knuston to be paid to the
churchwardens and distributed in bread to the poor
weekly. This charge is paid by the owner of the Knuston
estate and is applied in the weekly distribution of bread.

Samuel Sharwood Charity was founded by indenture
dated 17 June 1858. The income oi {j 8/. 2J. yearly
is distributed in sums of 5/. amongst the deserving poor
by two trustees appointed by the parish council.

NEWTON BROMSWOLD

Niwetone (li cent.); Neweton (xii cent.); Nywetona
(xiii cent.); Newenton beside Heghham Fereres (xiv
cent.) ; Newnton (xvi cent.) ; Newton Bromswold alias
Newton next Higham Parke (xvii cent.).

The parish of Newton Bromswold lies on the borders
of Bedfordshire with Chelveston cum Caldecott on
the north and Higham Park on the west and south.
It covers an area of 828 acres. The altitude of the parish
is about 300 ft., the upper soil clay, the subsoil Oxford
Clay with streaks of Cornbrash on the east and west.

The common and waste lands of Newton Bromswold
were inclosed in 1800.' In 193 1 the population con-
sisted of 7 1 persons. The village, which is small and
contains few buildings besides the church, rectory, and
school, is situated in the east of the parish, 4^ miles
south-east of Higham Ferrers station.

The name Bromswold seems to refer to the 'Brunes-
wald', a large area of woodland on the borders of
Huntingdonshire and Northamptonshire, in which
Hereward and his men took refuge at the beginning of
his rising against the Normans.^

Two hides less half a virgate which Azor
MANOR had formerly held in NEfVTON, were in
1086 held of the bishop of Coutances by
William, his steward.' This estate descended with the
manor of Cotes Bidun (q.v.)^ to John de Gatesden, who
with Richard Croxton was holding of the heirs of
Baldwin Wake half a fee in Newton in 1284.* Gates-
den's representative, Richard Chamberlain, in 1428
held half a fee in Cotes and Newton 'of the fee of John
Bidon'.*

As early as 1166 Richard de Neuton and 'another
Richard of the same vill' were holding a fee in Newton
of John de Bidun,' and other members of the family
occur in connexion with the advowson (q.v.) until
the end of the 13th century, but in 1346 John Druell
was in possession.' On the death of a later John
Druell' in 1496 the manor descended to his younger
brother Richard." Richard died in 1525 leaving New-
ton to his wife Grace, after whose death it was to be
sold and the proceeds devoted to the maintenance of a
chantry in the Fraternity of the Gild of Jesus in Baldock."
This was possibly done when lands in Newton Broms-

Priv. and Loc. 40 Ceo. Ill,

« Act»
cap. 36.

' Plact-Namtt of Sorthanlt. (Engl.
Pl.-N. Soc.), 193.

' y.C.H. fiorikanlt. i, 311J. Another
virgate, also held by William, was assessed
under Bedfordshire: y.C.H. Bedi. i. 225a.

♦ fi;t. o/»«, 495, 932.

* Feud. Aidt^ iv, 14. Cf. Cat. Inq. p.m.
li, no. 439. ' Feud. Aidi, iv, 45.

' RedBk.oJExck. 332.

» Feud. Aidi, iv, 445.

' He was the son of William Druell:
V.C.U. Hern, iii, 223.
'° Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), li, 53.
■■ Ibid. ilvi. 123.
" Bridges, Norihanli. ii, 326.
*' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cxv, 42.
'■• Recov. R. Mich. 15 Chas. I, m. 88.
' ' Feet of F. Northants. Trin. 1 7 Chas. I.
'« Ibid. Trin. 19 Chas. I.
" Ibid. Trin. 13 Chas. II.

wold were sold by his elder daughter and, ultimately,
sole heir Anne'^ and her husband Robert Warner to
Thomas Brooke, who held them at his death in i 5 58.'^
Half the manor was in the hands
of Francis Negus in i639,''' and
( } the other) half was confirmed
to him in 1644 by William Negus
and his wife Jane, whose inheri-
tance it evidently was." Francis
Negus and his wife Susan sold the
manor of Drewell's in 1644 to
Needham Langhorne,'* who set-
tled it on William Langhorne in
1661." Fourteen years later a Driell. Quarterly ar-
moiety of the manor was owned ^"" ""/ f' Ti '
by 1 homas Wileman and his wife quarter.

Anne.'* Edward Disborough,

and Edward Cromwell Disborough made a settlement
of a third of the manor in 1811." Later in the 19th
century Newton Bromswold came into the possession
of Frederick Urban Sartoris of Rushden Hall in whose
family it still remains.

The church of ST. PETER consists of
CHURCH chancel, 25 ft. 9 in. by 16 ft.; clerestoried
nave of two bays, 31 ft. by 15 ft. 2 in.;
north aisle, 10 ft. wide; south porch, and west tower
7 ft. 3 in. by 7 ft. 9 in. surmounted by a spire, all these
measurements being internal. There is also a vestry at
the west end against the north side of the tower.

The church appears to be a 14th-century rebuilding
of a 1 3th-ccntury fabric, little or nothing of which
remains architecturally, but the south wall of the nave
was reconstructed, the porch and clerestory added, and
new windows inserted in the aisle in the i 5th centur)-.
The lower part of the tower may belong to the early
structure but has been much restored, and the tower
generally is contemporary with the 14th-century chan-
cel. The four-centred arches of the nave arcade may
have been built at the same time as the south wall, but
the piers and responds have capitals of distinctly 14th-
century character, and the north doorway is of the
same period. The vestry appears to be a 17th-century
addition,'" but has been modernized. The church

'» Ibid. Hil. 26-7 Chas. II.

'» Recov. R. Mich. 52 Ceo. Ill, ro. 157.

" The flat ogee head of the doorway
from the aisle belongs to a type common ia
the 17th century. The vestry was de-
scribed as 'roofless and in a sad state of
neglect' in 1849 {Cht, Arch. N'ltm, 174)
and so remained in 1877 {Alloc. Arch. Sot.
Keporti^ xiv, p. xli). As restored it has two
modem windows on the west and a door-
way on the north side.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

was restored in 1879,' and the tower and spire in
1883.2

The church is built throughout of rubble, plastered
internally, and the chancel has a modern tiled eaved
roof. The nave and aisle have low-pitched leaded roofs
behind batdemented parapets, the nave parapets being
very big and clumsy.'

The chancel is of two bays with chamfered plinth
and diagonal angle buttresses of two stages. The pointed
east window is of three trefoiled lights with reticulated
tracery and internal and e-xternal hood-moulds ter-
minating in notch-heads, and at the east end of the
south wall and west end of the north wall are pointed
windows of two trefoiled lights with quatrefoil in the
head and similar hood-moulds. The priest's doorway
has a continuous moulding, but is quite plain internally,
and west of it is a square-headed window of two tre-
foiled lights with pointed rear-arch. The siUs of the
two south windows form seats. There are image-
brackets in the east wall north and south of the altar,
the former quite plain, the latter mutilated but with
a sculptured face on the underside. Along the south
wall is an arcade of six pointed arches of a single cham-
fered order without hood-moulds, springing, except at
tht east end, from attached half-shafts with moulded
capitals and bases, and continued down the jamb at the
west. The easternmost arch forms the piscina recess
and is carried on a detached octagonal shaft and half-
octagonal respond with moulded capitals and bases: the
bowl of the piscina is fluted. The remainder of the
arcade stands on a stone bench table with projecting
ledge 13 in. above the present floor-level and extending
as far as the priest's doorway. The eastern bay of the
north wall is blank but for a pointed recess of a single
hollow-chamfered order, on part-octagonal shafts with
moulded capitals.* The chancel arch is of two cham-
fered orders, the outer stopped or cut away, and the
inner continued to the ground. On the north side is a
plain pointed squint from the nave and on the south a
small bracket. The floors of chancel and nave are level.

The nave arcade appears to have been cut through
an earlier wall, there being about 6 ft. of masonry at the
east end and 3 ft. at the west. The responds follow the
section of the pier, which is composed of four attached
shafts with fillets and hollows between, and with
moulded capital and base. The bells of the respond
capitals are plain, but that of the pier is carved with oak
leaves and over one of the shafts is a four-leaf flower.'
The arches are of two chamfered orders.

There are three square-headed clerestory windows
of two trefoiled lights on each side, and the hollow
string below the parapet is ornamented on the south
side with four-leaf flowers, faces, and shields, and with
heads at the angles.*

The north doorway is of a single continuous wave-
moulded order with label, and the aisle has two four-
centred windows of two and three cinquefoiled lights
respectively in the north wall and a square-headed
window of three trefoiled lights with Perpendicular

' Reopened 23 July 1879.

^ Reopened 10 January 1884.

^ There are seven merlons only on each
side. The porch has plain parapets.

^ The recess is 6 ft. wide, and the arch
springs at a height of 3 ft. 6 in. The bases
of the shafts are covered with plaster. The
depth of the recess is 8i in., but it appears
to have been filled in : a joint in the
external masonry indicates the position of
the east jamb.

5 The capital follows the outline of the
pier, over three shafts of which are detached
oak leaves and over the fourth two oak
leaves and a four-leaf flower.

6 There is also the figure of a man lying
full length : on the north side the string is
plain.

' In 1 S49 the upper part of the tower
arch was blocked by a gallery : Chs. Arch.
N'ton. 175.

tracery at the east end. The mutilated piscina of the
aisle altar remains in the usual position and south of the
east window is a plain chamfered image-bracket.

The four-centred south doorway is of a single con-
tinuous moulded order with hood-mould, and the nave
has a single window of three cinquefoiled lights with
depressed head. The pointed outer doorway of the
porch is of two chamfered orders, and in the gable above
is a modern panel with St. Peter's keys: the porch has
stone benches and traceried side windows.

The tower is of three stages, with battlemented
parapet and angle gargoyles. The north and south walls
are blank in the lower stages, but on the west is a
modern trefoiled lancet window between two heavy
two-stage buttresses set well back from the angles.
There are buttresses also on the south and east sides, but
no vice. The bell-chamber windows are of two tre-
foiled lights with quatrefoil in the head. The tower
arch is the full width of the interior, its three chamfered
orders dying out on either side.' The spire has plain
angles and two sets of gabled openings on the cardinal
faces, the lower being of two trefoiled lights: its low
broaches are hidden by the parapet.

The lean-to roof of the aisle is old, perhaps 17th
century, with moulded principals and purlins, and wall-
pieces resting on the stone corbels of an earlier roof,
carved with heads and grotesques.

The 14th-century font has a plain octagonal bowl
moulded on the underside, stem with incised tracery on
six of its eight sides, and moulded plinth: there is a later
pyramidal oak cover with battlemented edge and
crocketed angles.

The pulpit retains a little I gth-century woodwork,
but is for the most part a restoration: some 17th-century
panels are worked into it at the back.

The wooden chancel screen is in memorj' of the men
of the village who feU in the war of 1914-18.

On blue stone slabs in the chancel floor are two well-
preserved 1 5th-century brasses of priests in mass vest-
ments, the earlier representing William Hewet, rector
(d. 1426), and the later Roger Hewet, chaplain (d.

1487).*

Some fragments of I jth-century glass remain in two

of the aisle windows, including a mitred head said to
represent Archbishop Chichele, and in the north win-
dow of the chancel two heads of saints, formerly in the
clerestory.

Two 1 5th-century oak seats, with moulded rails and
buttressed ends, remain in the nave, and one as a
return stall in the chancel. In the vestry is a Iate-I7th-
or early- 18th-century chest.

There is a mural tablet in the nave to Harry Lamb,
gent. (d. 1727).

To the south-east of the porch is the base of a church-
yard cross.'

There are four bells, the first dated 1746, the second
by Taylor & Co., 1887, the third a medieval bell in-
scribed 'Sancte Petre ora pro nobis', and the tenor an
alphabet bell dated 1639.'°

' They are figured in Hudson's Brasses
cf Northants.

' Assoc. Arch. Soc. Reports, xxiii, 183.
'» North, Ch. Bells of Northants. 343,
where the inscriptions on the first, third,
and tenor are given. The third has the
shield used by the Bury St. Edmunds
foundry, bearing the initials H.S. and
also the keys of St. Peter, a bell, a cannon,
and the crossed arrows of St. Edmund.

HIGHAM FERRERS HUNDRED

RAUNDS

The plate consists of a silver cup and cover paten of
1570, an alms plate of 1656 given by Barbara Lang-
horne, a paten of 188;, and a plated flagon.'

The registers before 1 81 2 are as follows: (i) baptisms
I 563-1748, marriages i 566-1748, burials i 560-1748;
(ii) baptisms and burials 1 749-1 812; (iii) marriages
1756-1812.

During the greater part of the 1 3th
ADVOfVSON century the advowson descended with
the manor (q.v.) and in 1 205 William
son of Amfrid of Newton recognized that it was the
right of Richard of Newton.- Sir Richard son of Henry
of Newton recovered the advowson against John de
Gatesden and was succeeded by his son Richard,
patron in 1272,' who in 1281 sold the advowson to
Walter de Trailly, lord of Yelden in Bedfordshire,'*
and it followed the descent of the manor of Yelden
until 1374,' with this exception that Isabel widow of
the elder Richard recovered the presentation of 1 29 1
from Eleanor, Walter's widow;* but the latter pre-
sented in 1305.'

Between 1374 and 1380 the advowson had passed
into the possession of John Curteys,^ lord of Wyming-
ton in Bedfordshire, and it followed the descent of that
manor* until 1598, when both were sold to William
Bletsoe.' In 1606 William Bletsoe sold the advowson
and rectory of Newton Bromswold to Robert Hewet of
that parish, yeoman, who in 161 5, before the marriage

of his son Michael with Elizabeth, widowed daughter
of Edward Aspin, settled them on his other sons Ed-
mund and Edward Aspin that they might present
Michael to the living and hold in trust for Elizabeth
and her sons by Michael.'" Edmund presented his
brother in 1634." In 1663 James Seaton presented
Edward Troll," to whom in 1669 Robert Hewett, clerk,
transferred the advowson.'^ From 1710 until 1778
with two exceptions and again in 18 17, the patron was
a member of the Bletsoe family ;'5 Edward Tanqueray,
patron from 1783 to 1788,'^ presented also in 1 8 2 2 and
1829. Major Penrice, patron from 1836 to 1841, was
succeeded in or before 1843 by All Souls College with
whom the advowson still remained in 1883. In 1885
the patron was the Rev. W. ."Xger, then rector, and he was
succeeded by Mr. O. E. .Ager. From him it passed to Mr.
S. G. Stopford Sackville, who in October 1920 trans-
ferred it to the Bishop of Peterborough. Since 1927 the
living has been amalgamated with that of Chelveston.'*
The church estate consists of about
CHARITIES 6 acres of land situate in the parish.
The origin is unknown, but the rents
have been applied for a great number of years to the
expenses of the church. The charity is administered by
the rector and a co-opted trustee in accordance with the
provisions of a Scheme of the Charity Commissioners of
1 2 August 1 890. The land is let to several tenants and
produces £^ 1 5/. yearly.

RAUNDS

Rande (li cent.); Raines (ivi cent.).

The ecclesiastical parish of Raunds, which contains
about 4,460 acres, touches Huntingdonshire on its
eastern and north-eastern sides. The soil is for the most
part heavy and grows wheat, barley, roots, and seeds,
but a great number of the inhabitants arc employed in
the boot-making industr}', the population in 193 1 being
3,683. There is a station on the Kettering and Cam-
bridge branch of the L.M.S. railway about i^ miles
north-cast of the large modern village of Raunds.

The village, which is famous for its church tower,
one of the finest in Northamptonshire, is the head-
quarters of the district Society of Bellringers. The
curfew is still rung on week-days from Michaelmas to
Lady Day at 8 p.m., and as late as 1886 the Gleaning
Bell was still rung, as a signal that gleaning might begin,
if the gleaners agreed to pay for it." An urban district
council of twelve members was formed under the Local
Government Order of 1897. In 1935 the parish of
Stanwick (q.v.) was added to the urban district of
Raunds and the number of councillors increased to
fifteen.

A large 13th-century stone barn, which formerly
stood near the church on the south side, was pulled
down about 1850. It had a high-pitched roof and end
gables with finials, and was seven bays in length, with

buttresses of two stages and tall loop windows in the
upper part of the walls.'*

Thomas Walkington, the author of Tie Optick
Glasse of Humours, which has been described as a fore-
runner of Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, was pre-
sented to the vicarage in 1608. He died in 1621, some
years before the birth of a writer on kindred subjects,
William Drage, who was the son of a yeoman at Raunds,
a great believer in astrology and a disciple of Dr. Prim-
rose, the opponent of Harvey; his medical works ob-
tained, in his own age, more than local fame. John
Grimbald, the builder of Trinity College library at
Cambridge and part of Clare College, was also born
here."

There is a Baptist chapel and a Methodist chapel,
with Sunday schools which were built in 1874; and
another Methodist chapel was opened in 1 899.

At the time of the Domesday Survey the
MANORS king held loj hides in Higham Hundred;'*
and it appears from an inquest held in 1 3 1 8
that this included one virgate in Raunds, 'containing
forty acres and making half a hide'; this was of the
ancient demesne of the Crown and 'never belonged to
the fee of Peverel'." It was then held of the king by
the Earl of Lancaster of whom it was held by various
tenants in villeinage; and it seems to have followed the

' Markham, Ch. Plait of Norlhanls.

' Cur. Rfg. R. iii, 290; iv, 31.

' Rot. Rot. Groneieiie (Cant. & York
Soc.), 164; Rol. Ric. Gm-vtsend, no.

* Feet of F. Northants., file 52, no. 73.

» Cat. rn<f. p.m. ii, 483; ^.C.H. Beds.
iii, 176; Bridges, loc, cit.

•" Coram Rege R. i 34, m. 8

' Bridges, loc. cit.

» y.C.H. Btdi. iii, 1 1 8

• Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 40 Eliz.

'° Recov. R. Mich. 19 Jas. I, m. 10.

" Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).

" Feet of F. Northants. East. 20
Chas. II.

" Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.)i Bacon, Lihtr Rtg.
823.

** CUriciil Guide\ CUrgy Liit\ informt-
tion from the episcopal registrar.

'» l^orthantt. N. & Q. i. 248. This was
done in many parishes of the county.

'*• It is figured in Chs. Arch. N*ton
(1849), 65; the buttresses on the south
side were then perfect, but the timbers of
the roof had been a good deal patched.
The principals were original, 'their feet
embedded in the wall against the buttresses
at about 4 ft. from the ground*.

»' Diet. Sat, Bicg.

'* r.C.II. Sorthants. i, 308^.

»» Cat. Misc. Intj. ii, 371.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

descent of Lancaster's other land in the parish, ulti-
mately becoming included in the duchy. A return of
1 316 show's that half RJUNDS was held by the Earl
of Lancaster and the remainder by the king since the
death of the Earl of Gloucester;" and it will be seen
that various manors were held of the duchy and of the
honor of Gloucester.

Lancaster. Giths three

leopards or ivith a label

of France.

Clare. Or three
che'verons gules.

On 28 November 161 8 the customary tenants agreed
with King James I for £1,640, to be paid in two
moieties, to hold and enjoy their estates with liberty of
inclosing and exchanging; their fines being fixed at one
year's ancient rent. The reeve, who was chosen yearly
to collect the rents, had 'certain doles of meadow and
some leyes worth per annum ^^4', allowed to him by
custom, and the inhabitants also collected and paid to
him £\ c,s. ()\ii.~ The Crown is still lord of the manor.

William Peverel held yi hides and \ virgate of soc-
land in Raunds in 1086 which followed the descent
of Higham Ferrers (q.v.).' Of this land half a fee was
held of Earl Ferrers in 1242 by Gilbert de Segrave and
an eighth of a fee by Henry de Raunds,"* who held a
quarter of a fee here of the honor of Gloucester.' The
whole of the Raunds's property passed in the i 5th cen-
tury to the Gage family, from whom it became known as
GAGE'S MANOR. The earliest known member of
the Raunds family is Herlewin, who accounted for 3
marks fine for the forest in 1 176,* and occurs as late as

Raunds. Axure a bend

argent ivith three "voided

loxenges gules thereon.

Gage. Party saltireivise

azure and argent a saltire

gules.

1205.' Henry de Raunds, already mentioned, seems to
have been succeeded by Geoffrey, who acquired further
land in the parish in 1 248 from Simon de Nevill and
Sara his wife.* Richard de Raunds held the fourth part

of a fee in Raunds of the Earl of Lancaster in 1284,'
but was succeeded before 1296 by Saer,'" probably his
son, who married before 1 3 1 o Joan widow of Richard
Chamberlain of Cotes." His heir was another Richard
de Raunds, who held the property in 1346,'^ and was
succeeded by Thomas de Raunds, whose daughter and
heir Margaret married John Tawyer.'^ Their son John
Tawyer died in 1475, leaving as his heir his daughter
Margaret, the wife of John Gage,''' whose son Henry
Gage married Margaret, daughter and heir of Richard
Boyville, and was succeeded by his son George. He
died 2 June 1558, leaving a widow Cecily and several
children; his heir -was his son Henry, then aged 18^
years. '5 Cecily's sister, Margaret Wolstan, had married
during the reign of Edward VI Thomas Burbanck, who
on account of his marriage was deprived of his prebend
in the time of Queen Mary. About the beginning of
Elizabeth's reign he began 'a chargeable and tedious
sewte continewing in lawe above seaven yeares' con-
cerning it. During the last part of this period Robert
Gage, Cecily's third son, acted for the Burbancks, for
whom Henry in the meantime had provided out of his
inheritance; and, when the case was at last decided in
Burbanck's favour, he bought Gage's Manor from
Henry for ^^440, and settled one moiety on himself and
his wife Margaret and the other moiety on Cecily, with
reversion of both to Robert.'* Henry quitclaimed his
interest to his brother in 1 568, on condition that
Robert should pay j^6o towards the marriage portion of
their sister Elizabeth." Cecily died in 1577, and the
Burbancks then leased to Robert their portion of the
manor, together with property in Geddington and in
Briiworth, from which ^8 14J. iJ. was to be paid
yearly towards the maintenance of a free grammar
school in Great Blencow, Cumberland.'* Thomas Bur-
banck died about 1581, and after the death of his
widow, in i 590, William Fosbrook sued Robert Gage
for the rent, Margaret having apparently made a will
in his favour, which Gage declared to have been ob-
tained by undue influence. Gage seems to have been
successful, and the manor was held in 1608 either by
him or his son and namesake." It passed before 1622 to
John the son of Henry Gage, who with his wife Jane
dealt with it in that year.-" On 17 July 1624 John Gage
obtained a grant of the office of Receiver of the honor of
Higham Ferrers.-' He died before 165 1, and his son
John-- sold the manor in 1661 to Sir John Langham,
bart.^^ It has passed in the Langham family to Sir
H. C. A. Langham, bart., the present owner.

In 1 242 Gilbert de Segrave was holding half a fee
in RJUNDS of the Earl of Ferrers,^* but his connexion
with it appears to have been temporary,^^ and Jt is pro-
bably the same half fee that was held of the Earl of
Lancaster by Ella de Audley, the daughter of William
Longespee and widow of James de Audley.-* It de-
scended to her son Hugh, whose son Sir James de
Audley was the tenant in 1296.^' Sir James married

' Feud. Aids, iv, 29.

2 Duchy of Lane. Pari. Surv. No. 58.

3 V.C.H. Northants. i, 337a.
^ Bk. of Fees, ii, 933.

s Ibid. 94.5. This quarter fee was held
in 1428 by Thomas Raunds of 'the lord of
Yelden', i.e. Edmund Hampden to whom
Sir John Trailly had sold Yelden about
1400 {F.C.H. Beds, iii, 177): Feud. Aids,
iv, 45.

' Fife R. 22 Hen. II (Pipe R. Soc.), 51.

' Cur. Reg. R. iii, 307.

' Feet of F. Northants., file 36, no. 571.

9 Feud. Aids, iv, 13.

'o Cal. Inq. p.m. iii, 423.

■' De Banco R. no. 183, m. 81 d.

'^ Feud. Aids, iv, 445.

" Metcalfe, Visitations of Northants.

'■' Ibid. Visitation of 1 564 ; she is called
Anne in the Visitation of 161 8.

■5 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cxiv, 13.

" Ct. of Req. bdle. 1 14, no. 34.

" Ibid.; Feet of F. Northants. East.
10 Eliz. '8 Ct. of Req. loc. cit.

■9 FeetofF. Northants. Trin. 6 Jas. I.

" Ibid. Trin. 19 Jas. I.

2' Cal. S.P. Dom. 1603-25, p. 304.

2» Feet of F. Northants. Hil. 1651;
Recov. R. Hil. 1651, m. 35.

" Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 12-13
Chas. II.

" .Si. o/f«j, 933.

25 The half fee in Middle Cotes (q.v.)
which was held by his grand-daughter
Maud in 13 14 was held of the honor of
Gloucester, so cannot be identical with
this.

^'' Feud. Aids, iv, 14.

-7 Cal. Inq. p.m. iii, p. 296,

HIGHAM FERRERS HUNDRED

R.\UNDS

Eve, daughter and heir of Sir John Clavering and

widow of his cousin Thomas Audley, by whom he had

two sons: Sir Peter, who died childless in 1359, and

Sir James, the hero of Poitiers, who

died in 1369. His heir was his first

cousin, Margaret, wife of Ralph

Stafford and daughter and heir of

Hugh de Audley (grandson ot

Ella) and Margaret de Clare.'

The tenancy of the half fee having

thus passed to the holders of the

honor of Gloucester, the property

came to be sometimes regarded as , /^ 1 /■ .

, ° „ . Ax-'DLtx. Gultsfrettyor.
part of the honor. In 1428 it

was held, as a quarter of a fee, by Thomas Bedell and
Thomas Saier in equal portions, probably under a lease
or demise for term of years, of Humphrey Stafford, -
afterwards Duke of Buckingham. The manor, or more
probably a portion of it, 'late belonging to the Earl of
Wiltshire' was conveyed in l 593 by William Roper and
William Perrj' to Robert Catlyn,^ and was probably
amalgamated with his other manor of Furnells (q.v.).
Like other manors held of the honor of Gloucester in
Raunds it was described at this time as Furnells, and
about 1635 a list of freeholders in Raunds includes the
Earl of Peterborough 'for parcel of the manor of
Furnells, formerly of the Earl of Wiltshire'.* This may
include the estate as well as other property of the Mor-
daunt family, originating in the 'manor of Raundes'
acquired by Henry Grene from John, Duke of Lan-
caster before 1363.5 This manor afterwards followed
the descent of Lowick (q.v.) until 1686,* after which
date its identity is lost.

Geoffrey, Bishop of Coutances, held 6 hides and I J
virgates in Raunds in 1086. There were 20 acres of
meadow, and a mill belonged to this manor, which had
previously been held by Burred and seems to have
included both Ringstead and Cotes or Cotton. Three
socmen held land of the bishop: Robert, I hide;
Geoffrey, i hide; and Algar, li virgates. Another hide,
together with half a virgate, was claimed by William.'
After the bishop's fief had escheated to the Crown,
most of the lands held of him in Cotes and Raunds
ultimately became part of the honor of Gloucester.
Early in the reign of Henry I Gilbert fitz Richard held
4 small virgates of the fee of Denford, and Robert the
king's son had 2 J hides of the fee of Gloucester, in
Raunds.*

Alice widow of Gilbert fitz Richard, with the con-
sent of his children, Gilbert, Walter, Baldwin, and
Rohaise, confirmed to the abbey of Thorney (co. Cam-
bridge) 4 virgates in Raunds, held by Turgis, which
Tovi had formerly granted them, with the consent of
Agnes widow of Tovi, and all his heirs,' and she also
confirmed to them the land and rent of 4-f. granted them

by Ralf the son of Niel, and Amice his wife. In 1253
Richard Earl of Gloucester confirmed the charter of his
mother .'Vlice granting them i hide and 1 2/. rent, which
she had in Raunds of the gift of her son Hervey.'"

Part of the land held by Richard de Raunds at the
beginning of the reign of Edward I was held 'of the fee
ot the .^bbot of Thorney'," which passed to the Crown
at the Dissolution, and may perhaps be identified with
the manor oi BURI'STEAD in Raunds. This was
held on a lease for the lives of William, Henr)-, and
Edward Ekins in the 17th century; by 1649 only one
life was in being, that of Edward Ekins, who was then
60, and the messuage had been sold in fee farm, after
the determination of the lease, to John Dolben, after-
wards .Archbishop of York,'^ who came into possession
after the Restoration, and the property was held by his
descendants until 1802, when Sir William Dolben was
lord of the manor. '^

% \^

Dolben. SabU a helmet
bet%oeen three pkeons ar-
gent each pointing to the
centre.

Furneus. Sable a pale
indented argent.

FURNELLS MANOR. In 1203 Hervey the son
of Geoffrey sued Roger de Furneus for a knight's fee
in Raunds and Ringstead as his right and inheritance, of
which his grandfather, Hugh de St. Lo, had died seised
in the time of Henry I.'* As Hugh's surname shows that
he came from the Norman home of the Mowbrays, it
seems possible that he was the heir of that Geoffrey who
held I hide of the Bishop of Coutances in 1086. '^ A
Geoffrey de Furneus was living in 1 1 30,'* and another
Geoffrey, the son of Alan de Furneus, succeeded his
father in 1 189."

Thomas de Furneus held this fee in Raunds in 1242;"
he married Eleanor, daughter and co-heir of William
le Lord of Emberton (co. Buckingham)," and died
before 1284, being succeeded by Roger de Furneus,
presumably his son.^" Roger granted I 5 acres in the
fields of Raunds to John the son of his sister Alice in
exchange for a messuage in Raunds called Swyncroft
and other lands there. ^' The heir of Roger de Fur-
neus was another Thomas, who married Alice, sister
and co-heir of Miles de Hastings; she was over 30 at
the time of her brother's death in 1311, and had a son
named William. ^^ The manor in Raunds, however.

» C.E.C. Complete Peerage.

' Feud, /lids, iv, 46. In an undated
document assigned by the editors to 1330
(ibid, vi, 568) it is said to be held of (he
Duchy of Lancaster by John de Gray, but
there is no other trace of this tenant, and
the date is very doubtful.

' Bridges, Northanti. ii, 186.

* Finch-MattonDceds(^nfiNorthant9.
Rec. Soc.), 3454-.

' Cal. Pat. 1361-64, p. 296.

' Ibid. 1399-1401, p. ;5i ; Chan. Inq.
p.m. I Hen. V, no. 33 j 5 Hen. V, nos. 39,
41; 17 Hen. VI, no. 31; (Ser. 2}, xi, 4;
Ui, 30; Uxxii, 75; cccix, zoo; di, 64;

Feet of F. Div. Co. East. 4 Hen. V, no. 45 ;
Trin. 30 Hen. VIII; Northants. Mich.
18 & 19 Eliz.; Hil. 14 Chas. I; Early
Chan. Proc. bdle. 8, no. 1 8 ; Chan. Proc.
(Ser. 2), bdle. 31, no. 215; Star Chamber
Proc. Ph. i M. bdle. 4, no. 63; Ct. of
Re<]. bdle. 11, no. 142; bdle. 40, no. 53;
Recov. R. Hil. I and 2 Jas. II, m. 62.

' y.C.H. Northanti. i, 309A.

• Ibid. 377.

' Northanti. Rec. Soc. iv, 13-14; Dug-
dale, A/on. ii, 601, 602, 603.

"> Ibid. 603.

" Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), ii, 10.

■' Duchy of Lane. ParL Surv. no. 58.

" Feet of F. Northants. Trin. 34
Chas. II; Recov. R. Trin. 6 Geo. I,
m. 217; Mich. 12 Geo. Ill, m. 174;
42 Geo. m.

'« Cur. Reg. R. iii, 72, 228, 291.

" y.C.II. Northanti. i, 309.

'» Pif>r R. 31 Hen. I, 152.

" Farrer, Honors and Knights' Fees, ii, 79.

■• Bi. o/»«, ii, 933, 945.

"> De Banco R. 452, m. Z25.

" Feud. Aidi, iv, 14.

" Hirl. Chart. 1 1 1 G. 29.

" Farrer, op. cit. i, 191 ; Cal. Fini R. ii,
■ 04.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

Catlyn. Fartycheveron-
luhe azure and or three

seems to have passed into the possession of Eleanor
de Trailly;' possibly she was a sister of Roger de
Furneus and had obtained it as her marriage portion.
'The fee of Walter de Trailly', her husband, in Raunds,
is mentioned during the lifetime of Roger de Furneus,^
but on Walter's death in 1289 he had no fees in the
county.^ Eleanor held it in 1 3 14,'* and her descendants
continued to hold it until 1398.5 Reynold de Trailly
died in 1402 without heirs^ and the manor may have
been acquired by Thomas Chamberleyn, who held
twenty pounds' worth of land in Raunds in 1412.''
The Catlyn family, who held a manor called Furnells
in Raunds in the i6th century, claimed descent from a
daughter of Chamberleyn ; she may perhaps be identified
with Sara the wife of John Catlyn, whose great-great-
grandson Robert* died in 1588 seised of this manor,
which he is said to have bought of John Parmenter;
his heir was his son William, then aged 30.' In 163 1
William Catlyn, with Helen his
wife and their son Robert, con-
veyed the manor to Sir Robert
Ducie and Anthony Biddulph,
who sold it to Judith Edwards.'"
She settled it on her daughter
Judith on her marriage to Roland
Litton, who is mentioned about
this lime as a freeholder of Raunds,
holding in right of his wife a parcel
of the manor of Furnells and other
lands late Catlyn 's and previously
Avenelles's."Ini639theLittons '"'P'"'''' ""'•'^/"'"•"■^'i

r^i ITT- and a Chief argent.

conveyed it to Dr. Thomas Wm-

ston, whose estates were afterwards vested in trustees by
Act of Parliament and sold to Matthew Johnson.'^
The manor was acquired in 1675 by Sir William Lang-
ham, bart.,'3 whose descendant. Sir Herbert Charles
Arthur Langham, bart., is the present owner.

A manor called Furnells was held on lease from the
Crown in 1649 for a rent of 18/. by John Ekins of
Stanwick.'* It continued in the possession of the Ekins
family at least as late as 1721, when Thomas Ekins and
Elizabeth his wife dealt with it by fine." This seems to
have been the site of the manor, without any manorial
rights, and may be identified with the farm held by
George Ekins in 1875.

Robert, who held one hide in Raunds of the Bishop
of Coutances in 1086,'* also held lands in Barton
Segrave and Cranford, where his successor, in the time
of Henry I, was Geoffrey de Clinton the chamberlain."
This freehold appears to have been held together with
those lands as two fees until 1398.'* In 1402" these
fees were held by Richard Cloun (at Barton-"), the heirs
of John Fosbrooke (at Cranford-'), and the heirs of Sir
John Trailly, this last portion being probably amalga-
mated with the Trailly manor.

^ Cah Inq. p,m. v, 538, p. 344.

^ Hitnd. R. (Rec. Com.), ii, 10.

3 Cal. Inq. p.m. ii, no. 791.

^ Ibid. V, no. 538, p. 344.

5 Cal. Fine R. ii, 250; Chan. Inq. p.m.
18 Ric. II, no. 43; 21 Ric. II, no. 46.

« V. C.U.Beds, iii, 176, 24.3.

' Feud. Aids., vi, 497. A moiety of the
manor of Emberton (Buclcs.) had been
granted to him and his wife Sara in 1379
by Katharine, widow of John the brother
of Sir Richard Chamberleyn and great-
grand-daughter of Robert de Tolthorpe,
to whom Thomas de Furneus and Eleanor
had granted it: De Banco R. 452, m. 225;
610, m. 107.

* Metcalfe, Visitations of Northants.
9 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cclviii,
no. 95.

'° Bridges, A'orM^in/i. Ii, 186.

" Finch-Hatton DceAi{penes Northants.
Rec. Soc), 3454. '^ Bridges, loc. cit.

" Ibid.; Feet of F. Northants. Mich.
27 Chas. II.

^■* Duchy of Lancaster Pari. Survey,
no. 58.

's Cal. S.P. Dom. 1658-9, p. 54; Feet
of F. Northants. Hil. 6 Anne; Trin.
7 Geo. I.

"> F.C.H. Northants. i, 309.

" Ibid. 389.

'* Cal. Inq. p.m. v, 538, p. 344; Chan.

COTES BID UN. William, who claimed one hide
and half a virgate from Geoffrey, Bishop of Coutances,
in 1086,^^ was probably William, the bishop's sewer,
whose representative John, son of Halenath de Bidun,
held i\ hides and li virgates in COTES in the reign
of Henry I.^^ John de Bidun was the founder of the
abbey of Lavendon (co. Buckingham), and married
Alice sister of William Mauduit, the chamberlain, of
Hanslope. He died in 1 1 80 or 1 1 8 1, leaving a son and
heir John, who died in 1 184. The overlordship of the
fee was granted by King John to William Briwerre,^* by
whose grand-daughter and co-heir it was carried to the
Wakes of Liddell, passing from them by marriage to the
Earls of Kent.

The younger John de Bidun had been married to
Maud daughter of Thomas fitz Bernard; she was only
10 years old in 1185, and afterwards married John de
Rochford.^5 she died in 1254 and the property was
divided among the representatives of the five sisters of
John de Bidun. ^* Amice, the eldest sister, had married
Henry de Clinton, and left three daughters: Amabel,
who had married Luke de Colum and died childless;
Isabel, who had married Ralf fitz John of Merston
and died before 1254, leaving a son Henry; and Agnes
the wife of Warin de Brageham, who was still living in
1254. Amabel the second sister of John de Bidun
married Miles de Beauchamp and died before 1254,
leaving a son Miles. The third sister, Sara, married
Richard de Beauchamp and had three daughters: Isabel,
who was still living in 1254; Maud, who had died,
leaving as her heir a daughter Sara, wife of Robert de
Walton; and Philippa, whose heir was her son John de
Croxton. Maud, the fourth sister, married Geoflrey
the son of Geoffrey; her representative in 1254 was her
grandson, Thomas the son of Robert. Ermingard, the
youngest sister, who was still unmarried in 1185,
married before 1201 Aldulf de Gatesden, of Gaddesden
(Herts.), and was holding half a fee in Newton and
Cotes in 1242.^' She left two sons, John and Richard;

the elder, John, had died before 1254, leaving a son
John.^8

John de Gatesden the younger married Hawise de
Nevill, and died on St. Katharine's Day 1258, leaving
as his heir his daughter Margaret.^' She married Sir
Ralph de Camoys and, secondly. Sir William Paynel;^"
but the John de Gatesden who seems to have acquired
the whole of the Bidun manor in Cotes before 1284^'
was presumably her cousin. In 1284 he is said to have
held it of the Earl of Lancaster, and Newton Bromswold
(in co-parcenary with Richard de Croxton) of the heirs
of Baldwin Wake; but on his death in 1296 the jury
found that the manor of Cotes was also held of John
Wake.^-^ The heir of John de Gatesden was his daughter
Joan the wife of Richard Chamberleyn, who had livery
of her land in January 1292.^3 In 13 14 Richard and
Inq. p.m. 18 Ric. II, no. 43; 22 Ric. II,
no. 46. " Ibid. 4 Hen. IV, no. 41.

^0 F.C.H. Northants. iii, 177.

" Ibid. 187.

2^ F.C.H. Northants. i, 309.

" Ibid. 376; Farrer, op. cit. I, I.

2* Ibid. 4.

" Rot. de Dom. (Pipe R. Soc), 43, 45,
49, 55. ^* Cal. Inq. p.m. i, 323.

" Bk. of Fees, 935.

^^ Ibid.; Farrer, loc. cit.

^' Cal. Inq. p.m. i, 454, 706.

3" Suss. Arch. Coll. Iv, 31-2.

3' Feud. Aids, iv, 14.

3^ Cal. Inq. p.m. iii, no. 20, p. 12.

" Ibid.; Cal. Fine R. i, 302.

HIGHAM FERRERS HUNDRED

R-^UNDS

Chamberlj.yn. Gules a

chnjeron betiveen three

scallops or.

Joan settled Stanbridge (Beds.), one of the manors of
Joan's inheritance, on their son John, upon his marriage
to Joan the sister of John Morteyn of Tilsworth.' On
Joan's death John Chamberlcyn married a second wife
Aubrey, and in 1324 made a settle-
ment on his son Richard and Mar-
garet Richard's wife.- Richard
Chamberleyn was knighted before
1 346; when, being a widower, he
married Katharine de la Dale.^
She died childless, and he married
a third wife, Joan, by whom he
had a son Richard, who died in
1396, seised of a third part of
the manor called Chamberlcyn 's
Place in Cotes. He left a widow,
Margaret, who afterwards mar-
ried Philip St. Clair, and died in 1408. Her son
Richard Chamberleyn was her next heir, and the next
heir also of his grandmother Joan, who died in i4io.''
This Richard Chamberleyn was twice married; by his
first wife, Elizabeth, he had a son Richard, who died
childless in 1439, and by the second, Margaret, another
son, William, who was heir to his half-brother.' The
elder Richard, however, seems to have mortgaged the
manor of Cotes to John Green, who granted it on 31
December 1432 to John GryfFon and William Aid-
winkle.* William Lenton, kinsman and heir of William
Aldwinkle, in 1 47 1 released to Richard son of William
Chamberleyn all his right in Cotes and Raunds.'
Richard Chamberleyn married Sibyl daughter of Sir
Richard Fowler, Chancellor of the Exchequer to King
Edward IV,* and died in 1496 seised of the manor of
Cotes called CHAMBERLEYN COTTS or MILNE
COTl'S, worth £6 and held of the Earl of Kent as
the twentieth part of a knight's fee. He left four
sons, Edward, William, Thomas, and John, and one
daughter Anne.* Edward, his heir, sold the manor in
1 530 to Robert Dormer,' from whom it was bought by
Sir William Fitzwilliam of Milton. Sir William died
on 9 August 1535, having bequeathed his property in
Cotes, Ringstcad, and Raunds to his second son
Richard,'" whose son John sold it in 1559 to John
Pickering." It subsequently followed the descent of the
manor of Tichmarsh (q.v.) until 1629, when Sir John
Pickering died seised, leaving as his heir his son
Gilbert;'^ but its subsequent descent is obscure.

Another manor oi COTES was held in 1620 by Sir
Francis Harvey, together with the rectory of Raunds;
he settled the property on his son Stephen on his mar-
riage in that year with Mary daughter and heir apparent
of Richard Murden. Sir Francis died at Northampton
2 August 1632, his heir being his grandson Francis the
son of Stephen and Mary,'-' who died 30 September

1643, leaving as his heir his brother Richard, aged 19
on 8 January 1645.'* Richard Harvey dealt with the
manor of Cotes and rectory of Raunds by fine in 1647,"
but its subsequent descent has not been traced.

In the early part of the reign of Henry I Frumbold
of Denford held of the fee of Denford in Cotes and
Knuston.'* This holding seems to have passed to the
Normanvill family who also held the eighth part of a
fee in Raunds of the honor of Pcverel. In 1226
Nicholas de Normanvill and Margery his wife granted
one acre and half a rood of land in Raunds to Jolan de
Chelveston, to hold of them and the heirs of Margery."
Nicholas was dead in 1 23 1, when Margery his widow
brought an action against Peter son of Peter de Irchester
concerning land there.'* Geoffrey de Normanvill is
mentioned later as liaving been formerly in possession
of the freehold in Raunds;" but Ralf the grandson of
Nicholas and Margery had succeeded to it by 1284.*'
He was knighted before 20 November 1285, when he
claimed Roger of Knuston and William his brother as
his villeins and fugitives; but subsequently he confirmed
a charter concerning them made by his grandparents to
the Master and Brethren of St. Bartholomew's, Smith-
field.^' He, or his heir and namesake, held the fortieth
part of a fee in IVyHV EN-COTES of the honor of
Gloucester at the death of Gilbert de Clare in 1 314;^-
and the eighth part of a fee in Raunds, said to have been
formerly in the possession of Geoffrey de Normanvill,
was afterwards held by Sara the widow of RalFs son
Ralf;-^ but its descent after her death becomes obscure.
In 1395 two freeholds in Wilwencotes, representing
j'g and ij of a fee respectively, were said to be in the
hands of Richard Chamberleyn,-'' but three years later
it was stated that the fortieth part of a fee was held by
John Wolf-' In 141 3, however, Richard Chamberlej-n
died seised of two freeholds in Cotes held of the Earl of
Stafford, as well as of | of a fee with a watermill-* held
of the same earl in Wilwencotes and the manor of
Chamberleyn Cotes held of the Earl of Kent.^' From
this it would appear that both the Normanville holdings
had passed to Richard Chamberleyn and were regarded
as forming part of his other property in Cotes.

In the 1 2th century Richard fitz Gilbert (de Clare)
held li hides and a small virgate in Cotes of the fee of
Denford.-* This seems to be the origin of the manor
oi MIDDLE COTES, which was held of the honor of
Clare down to 1428.-' Its early history is obscure-"'and
it first appears by that name in 1274. The Hundred
Rolls" of that year contain references to the men of
Henry de .Abbotesle in Little Cotes; the fee of Geoffrey
Berdefeld in Cotes; and the men of Henry le Scot
{Scotkus) in Cotes — none of which names occurs here
in other records. They also mention the men of Oliver
Bydun and Simon de Cotes-"- in Middle Cotes. In 13 14

' y.C.U.Bedi.m,\-i].

' Cal. Fine R. ix, 212; y.C.H. Beds.

loc. cit.

' Cat. Inrj. p.m. viii. 620. See Wollas-
ton.

♦ y.C.H. Beds, iii, 433; Chin. Inq.
Hen. V, file 3, no. 33.

s y.C.H. Beds. loc. cit.

' Chin. Inq. p.m. 17 Hen. VI, no. 31.

' Close, II EJw. IV, m. 15.

' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xi, 4.

< Bridges, op. cit. li, 190.

'° Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), Ivii, 3.

" Feet of F. Northants. East. I Eliz.

" Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccxlvi, 84.

" Ibid, dccvii, 45, 50.

'< Ibid.

p.m

■5 Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 22 Chas. I.

" y.C.H. Norihanls. i, 377.

" Feet of F. Northants., file 20, no. 1 74.

" Farrer, op. cit. i, 262.

'« ¥eud. Aids, vi, 569.

" Ibid, iv, 14.

" Norman Moore, Hist, of St. Bart.'s,
i, 501, 502.

" Cal. Inq. p.m. v, 538, p. 344.

" Feud. Aids, vi, 569.

'* Chan. Inq. p.m. 18 Ric. II, no. 43.

" Ibid. 22 Ric. II, no. 46. He was
'brother' of John dc Normanville; sec
under Kjitiston.

"> A mill belonged to the manor of the
Bishop of Coutances in 1086. In 1329
the Abbot of Crowland was acquitted on •

charge of having raised the mill pond at
Wylewat to the injury of men using the
ford by Richard Chambcrlcyn's mill :
Assize R. 632, m. 24.

^' Chan. Inq. p.m. Hen. V, file 3, no. 33.

*» y.C.H. Northanti. \, 377.

« FeuJ. Aids, iv, 46.

^^ In 1242 a quarter fee in Cotes was
held of the honor of Clare by Roger de
Dcncford and John : Bk. 0/ Fees, 933.

J' Op. cil. ii, 10.

^' Simon's wife Sara had property in
Raunds in 1260 (Feet of F. Northants.,
6le 43, no. 470) and may have been the
Sara, grand*daughter of John de Bidun,
who was wife of Robert de Walton in
1254: see above.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

a half fee in Middclcotes was held jointly by Maud
daughter of Nicholas de Segrave and Richard 'Bydom'
of the Earl of Gloucester.' This is referred to in 1373
as 'formerly of Maud daughter of Nicholas de Segrave',^
and was held in 1386 and 1403, as a half fee, by
Richard Chamberleyn with Wylwencotes.' In 1 398,
however, Sir Henry Green was holding it of Sir
Thomas Green,'* who presumably held of Chamber-
leyn, and in 1428 Sir Simon Felbrigge, who had
married Ralf Green's widow, held half a fee in Middle
Cotes, formerly of Green and Bidun.' After this date

which probably ended in a line with the first pier (from
the west) of the south arcade. The chancel arch
occupied the same position as now, with a short chancel
to the east, and transepts adjoining it on the west side.
Of this 12th-century structure nothing remains except
some portion of the south wall above the present arcade,
in which, over the second arch from the west, are four
voussoirs belonging to a round-headed window; the
rest of the wall is covered with plaster, but is probably
of the same period, and the square masonry plinths of
the piers of both arcades appear to be portions of the

121 Century

31 Ckintury

Q HID Ckntury

1 5 IS Century
K Modern

Scale op- Feet
Plan of Raunds Church

this fee was probably absorbed into the other property
of the Greens and passed to the Earl of Peterborough.
The church of ST. MART stands on
CHURCH high ground at the north end of the town
and consists of chancel, 50 ft. by 21 ft.
6 in.; south chapel, 36 ft. by 20 ft.; clerestoried nave,
81 ft. 3 in. by 20 ft. 9 in.; north and south aisles; two-
storied south porch; and west tower 17 ft. 3 in. square,
with tall broach spire. The north aisle is 17 ft. 2 in.
wide and the south aisle 19 ft. 2 in.; the width across
nave and aisles being 63 ft. All these measurements are
internal. There was formerly a two-storied sacristy on
the north side of the chancel near the east end.

The walling is of rubble masonry throughout with
ashlar parapets and low-pitched leaded roofs. The
parapets of the nave and chancel are surmounted by a
low embattled moulding and are continued along the
gables; those of the aisles are plain, and the porch is
batdemented. The roofs of the south aisle and chapel
are continuous.

The existing fabric is in the main of 13th-century
date, but has developed^ from an aisleless 12th-century
building, apparently cruciform in plan, the nave of

1 2th-century walls through which the later arches were
cut. Evidence of a north transept is wanting, the whole
of the arcade on that side having been reconstructed,
but on the south side the fourth pier from the west,
which consists of a straight piece of wall with a half-
column or respond supporting the arch on either side,
indicates the position of the west wall of the transept,
the east wall of which was in line with the chancel arch.
About 1 230 the tower and spire were built clear of the
west end of the 12th-century fabric, with responds for
the arcades of a new nave to be erected subsequently,
but before this was proceeded with the chancel was
rebuilt on an extended plan, with a chapel on the south
side. This work was begun about 1240, the south wall
of the chapel (St. Peter's) being probably set out first
in line with the end wall of the transept, and with a
view to continuing it westward. The south arcade of
the chancel appears to have been begun from the east
end with a similar intention, and the remains of early
buttresses below the plinth of the existing south wall
(both of the chapel and at the east end of the nave aisle)
suggest the beginning of a wall, the buttresses and
window spacing of which were abandoned for a new

* Cat. Inq. p.m. v, p. 344.

2 Chan. Inq. p.m. 46 Edw. Ill, is
nos. 6z.

3 Ibid. 18 Ric. II, 43; 4 Hen. IV, 41

♦ Ibid. 22 Ric. II, 46; I Hen. IV, 15.

s Feud. Aids, iv, 1 1 6.

' The theory of the development of the

plan of the church here put forward is
based on notes supplied by Professor
Hamilton Thompson.

HIGHAM FERRERS HUxNDRED

R.'^UNDS

plan. It seems fairly clear that the arcade was not taken
beyond the chancel arch, but for the time being was
finished with a half-arch against its south abutment,
west of which the old arch to the south transept was
retained, though the transept itself by this time had
been merged into the incompleted aisle. .^1 this work,
which included the chancel on its present plan with the
existing great east window and buttresses, was com-
pleted about 1 260, and it was only about 1 300 that the
south arcade of the nave was proceeded with. The
presence of I jth-century work in the porch, however,
makes it possible that the south aisle had been com-
pleted westward before this time. The building of the
south arcade was begun at the west end with a wide
arch from the tower respond to the first pier, covering
the space between the tower and the old west wall of
the nave, which was now taken down. Between this
and the portion of wall which marked the opening to
the transept, the space was treated as three equal bays,
a short piece of the wall being retained with a respond
on its west side: the old transept arch, however, was
taken down and a new chancel arch was made, and a
fifth pier, octagonal in section like those farther west,
was inserted, with a half-arch corresponding to that on
the opposite side of the abutment, which was now
rebuilt. All this work, including the existing south aisle
walls, appears to have been completed in the early part
of the 14th century, the south chapel walls being re-
modelled rather later.'

The erection of the north aisle in the 14th century
was a simpler matter. The north transept being taken
down the new aisle was set out without regard to its
position, the arcade being planned in five more or less
equal bays from a new respond — probably corresponding
to the east respond of the old transept arch — to the 1 3th-
century respond next the tower, while the aisle wall
was set out in seven bays, incorporating a 1 3th-century
doorway removed from the old north wall. This work
probably followed that on the south side at no very
great interval, and the outer walls may even have been
in progress together, but the south arcade, with its
hesitating and irregular construction, is the beginning
of the work which the north arcade probably concluded.

About 1400 the nave was new roofed and a clere-
story added, followed shortly by the heightening of the
chancel walls with clerestory windows on the south
side. The I 5th centur)' also saw the rebuilding of the
porch in its present form, with upper room, the intro-
duction of a vault in the lower stage of the tower, and
the insertion of new windows in the side walls of the
chancel, and in the south chapel and aisle.

In comparatively modern times- the original low-
pitched roofs of the aisles were altered to lean-to roofs
by raising the outer covering of the portion next the
nave, but without disturbing the interior framing, and

' The south-east buttress seems to be
late 14th century.

' Some time before 1 849 : Chs. Archd.
N'lon, 56.

> It was struck by lightning ] 1 July 1 826,
when about 30 ft. was thrown down, doing
much damage to the roof of the church;
ibid. 53. The spire was injured in a storm
in January i8<j5, and 1 1 ft. had to be re-
built. It was entirely renovated in 1923.

■• There was a further restoration of the
chancel in 1900. The porch was restored
in the same year.

^ The window is figured in Sharpc's
Decorated H'lndt/iv Tracery^ plate 9, as
it existed in 1 849, the circles being without

cusps. After the engraving had been made
Sir Gilbert Scott ascertained that the cir-
cles were grooved for soffit cusps, which
had slipped out or been removed, and the
grooves filled up with cement. The cusp-
ings of the lower lights, being solid, had
remained; ibid. 36, 62. The window is
23 ft. 9 in. high by 16 ft. 3 in. in width.

' Alloc. Arch. So(. Ref>oris, xxix, 442.
The opening is 22 J in. by 11 in., and is
3 ft. 8 in. above the ground outside.

' The first arch from the cast is not a
complete arch, the springing of the eastern
arc being stilted. The shape of the arches
suggests a rather later date than the piers.
Part of the head of a blocked pointed

in 1 826 the top of the spire was rebuilt following injury
in a storm.-* In 1 860 the chapel of St. Peter was thrown
open to the church, having previously served as the
village school. In 1874 the nave was restored by Sir
Gilbert Scott, a west gallery being removed and the
tower arch exposed: the restoration of the chancel fol-
lowed in iSyS.'*

Though much altered in the 1 5th century, the
chancel is in the main of the period 1 240-60. The
great east window is somewhat advanced in design. It
is of six trefoiled lights with simple geometrical tracer)',
shafted jambs and master muUion dividing the lights
into two groups, each group with a sub-head filled with
three quatrefoiled circles, and a large octofoiled circle
above forming a centre-piece: the window was recon-
structed in 1900, and its soffit cusping restored. * The
buttresses facing east are gabled, but the others slope
back at two levels. On the south side the chancel pro-
jects about 14 ft. beyond the chapel and is lighted by
a tall four-centred 1 5th<entury window of three lights
with two embattled transoms and vertical tracery. The
north wall is divided externally into three bays by but-
tresses, the two western bays being occupied by I 5th-
century windows of three cinquefoiled lights and double
transoms, resembling those on the south side but differ-
ing in detail. The eastern bay was formerly covered by
a two-story i jth-century sacristry, the four-centred
doorway of which is now blocked by a buttress: the
upper room had a window opening into the church. A
keel-shaped string runs round the chancel inside at sill-
levcl, and in the usual position in the south wall, below
the window, is a plain moulded piscina, the bowl of
which is mutilated. Two feet farther west is a second
piscina with trefoiled head and fluted bowl, and im-
mediately west of this again a single trefoil-headed
scdile with crocketed canopy. In the north wall, be-
tween the windows, is a large rectangular aumbry with
modern door, breaking the string, and below the
westernmost window a small rectangular low-side open-
ing, probably 14th century, now blocked.* There is
another aumbr)' in the east wall south of the altar, now
covered by panelling.

The arches of the chancel arcade are of two cham-
fered orders springing from circular piers with moulded
capitals and bases, and at the east end from a moulded
corbel.' The 14th-century chancel arch, which as
already stated divides the western bay into two half
arches, is of two moulded orders on moulded responds
with capitals and high bases, and the south abutment
forms a large buttress of two stages: towards the nave
each hollow moulding of the arch is enriched with ball-
flower ornament, and there is a hood-mould on each
side. There is evidence of the later insertion of a tym-
panum with rood-group above.' The heightened south
wall of the chancel is pierced by four square-headed
opening over the first pier from the east
otters certain difficulties. Perhaps the
walls of the 13th-century chancel were
begun at the west end before the idea of
a south chapel was proposed, and a window
made which was useless when the aisling
scheme was taken in hand. The wall is
plastered on the side facing the chapel.

• Vertical chases under the hollow of
the eastern order show whcie the timber
upright quarters of the tympanum were
fixed, and horizontal cuts, on the north
and south, interrupting the label above the
arch, indicate where a transverse beam was
fixed to support the bottom ends of the
uprights. The upper part of the arch was

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

clerestory windows of two cinquefoiled lights, but on
the north the wall is solid. The roof and parapets are
modern.

The lower part of a 14th-century oak rood-screen
remains below the chancel arch, with solid tracery
panels and moulded rail:' the screen crossed the south
aisle, and the lower steps of the stairway to the loft
remain, uncased, in the sill of the window in the outer
lateral wall.

The chapel of St. Peter still retains some of its 13th-
century walling and a good south doorway of that
period of two chamfered orders, the outer on shafts with
foliated capitals and moulded bases. The north jamb of
an original window remains at the east end, and in the
south wall, between the later windows, are the jambs
of another window^ now blocked and covered by a
buttress. The inserted windows are of three lights, that
at the east end with segmental head, double transoms,
and vertical tracery, both tiers of lights being cinque-
foiled: the two windows in the south wall east of the
doorway are four-centred,^ with simple tracery and
without transoms, and farther west is a tall square-
headed two-light window without tracery or hood-
mould.'' In the east wall, south of the former altar, is an
elaborate piscina with trefoiled head, crocketed label
and finial, and bowl with twelve flutings. The east end
of the chapel is now partitioned off as a vestry: the
organ in the western part. The roof is modern.

The south arcade of the nave consists of five and a
half bays with arches of two chamfered orders without
hood-moulds on octagonal piers with moulded capitals
and bases. Reference has already been made to the
compound pier between the first and second full bays
from the east, the core of which belongs to the 12th-
century fabric, and to the 13th-century west respond
which, like that of the north arcade, is half-round in
section. The capitals of the piers vary considerably in
detail and in the three western arches the voussoirs are
alternately of ironstone and freestone: elsewhere free-
stone alone is used.

The more regularly spaced north arcade has oc-
tagonal piers and arches similar in type to those opposite
but with hood-moulds, and the piers are less in diameter'
with capitals all of one pattern: the eastern respond
follows the section of the piers.

The 13th-century south doorway is of two cham-
fered orders, the outer on shafts with moulded capitals
and bases and the inner continued down the jambs
below moulded imposts. The large three-light west
window of the south aisle is a modern reconstruction,*
but may reproduce one of 15th-century date: in the
south wall are four two-centred three-light windows of
this period with tracery of a different type. The porch
(10 ft. 4 in. by 1 1 ft. 3 in.) has a 13th-century outer
doorway of three chamfered orders on triple shafts with
moulded capitals and bases: it was refaced and altered
when the chamber was added in the 1 5th century, and
has diagonal angle buttresses and four-centred side-
windows of two trefoiled lights, and a similar window

over the doorway lighting the chamber. The 13th-
century porch was vaulted, but only the angle-shafts and
the lines of the wall-ribs remain: the shafts have
moulded capitals and bases, and behind those at the
north end is a line of dog-tooth ornament. The 15th-
century oak ceiling has moulded beams, and access to
the chamber is by a stairway in the thickness of the west
wall, entered from the aisle by a four-centred doorway.
The embattled parapet was renewed in igoo. On the
south-west buttress is a scratch dial.

The 13th-century north doorway is of two cham-
fered orders, the outer on shafts with moulded capitals
and bases, the capitals, like those to the south doorway,
having plain bells: the label has headstops. Except for
the doorway, the north aisle is of the 14th century, with
a large inserted four-light window at the west having
restored vertical tracery. The other windows are all of
three cinquefoiled lights with excellent geometrical
tracery,' and there is a moulded string at sill level
breaking round the two-stage buttresses. At the east end
of the aisle in the usual position' is a piscina recess with
mutilated fluted bowl.

The nave clerestory has on each side seven four-
centred windows of two trefoiled lights with pierced
spandrels, and a plain string-course at sill level within.
The nave and south aisle retain their late- 1 4th- or
early- 1 5th-century low-pitched oak roofs, with moulded
principals, curved struts, and wall-pieces resting on
octagonal wooden shafts with moulded capitals and
bases, supported by corbels; the traceried spandrels are
considerably restored. The roof of the north aisle is of
the same period but plainer, the wall-shafts being
omitted.

The beautiful west tower is of four stages, with
moulded plinth, coupled buttresses set well back from
the angles, and shallow porch covering the west door-
way, as at Higham Ferrers. On the north and south
sides the short bottom stage is quite plain and the two
middle stages are arcaded, but the west front is more
elaborately treated. The bell-chamber windows are the
same on all four sides and the tower terminates with a
corbel table of notch-heads from which the spire rises.
The vice is in the south-west angle.

The west porch has a richly moulded outer arch on
triple nook-shafts with moulded capitals and bases, the
outer order dying out into square jambs and the hood-
mould terminating in notch-heads. On each side,
between the porch and the corner buttresses, is a
moulded wall arch of two orders, the outer being two-
centred and the inner of trefoil form ornamented with
dog-tooth, springing from foliated corbels. The inner
doorway is of four moulded orders and label, the outer
order carried on plain corbels and the others on triple
shafts with moulded capitals and bases. The porch is
shallower than that at Higham Ferrers and its narrow'
pointed barrel vault is quite plain: there is a stone bench
on each side.

Above the porch is an arcade of four arches, the two
middle ones of two chamfered orders and the outer with

thus blocked and on the west was plastered
flush with the east wall of the nave, the
upper half of the hood-mould (now again
complete owing to restoration) being cut
away to make a smooth unbroken surface
for the rood-group. These alterations took
place in the latter half of the l 5th century:
Arch, yourn. Ixix, 477. The rood is
referred to below.

' Portions of the 14th-century rood-

screen are preserved in a glazed case in the
vestry,

^ At sill level is part of a keel-shaped
string.

3 The hood-mould of the easternmost
window has grotesque stops.

** It may be a 13th-century window
heightened.

5 The piers of the south arcade are
25 in. diam., those of the north 22 in.

' Chs. Archd. N'ton (1849), 57, where
it is described as modern, 'a bad imitation
of some old one'. It has a four-centred
ogee-head and vertical tracery.

' The tracer)' of the east window is a
later insertion.

^ In the return wall to which the east
respond is attached.

9 It is 2 ft. wide.

-'S£;fc,«S«fe«^'-rr'^

Raunds Church: The Tower, from the South-West

Raunds Church: The Clock Dial

Raunds Church: Interior, looking East

HIGHAM FERRERS HUNDRED

R.\UNDS

trefoiled inner order, all on shafts with foliated capitals
and moulded bases. The middle arches form a west
window of two lancet lights, and below the outer ones
are moulded and cusped quatrefoil openings lighting
the landings at either end of a gallery or passage in the
thickness of the wall. The end spandrels of the arcade
are occupied by sculptured figures playing musical
instruments, that to the south very much weathered,
the other representing a lute-player. The middle span-
drels have heads within small sunk quatrefoil panels.
Internally the west window is of great beauty: it is in
reality two windows, with inner and outer openings
divided by the wall passage,' the inner plane of tracery
(which originally was visible from the nave, below the
tower arch) being treated with an elaboration of detail
in marked contrast to the outer lancets. The arches are
of two hollow-chamfered orders on shafts with foliated
capitals and moulded bases, the inner order being of
trefoil form and richly ornamented with foliage in the
hollow. The hood-mould forms a kind of single trefoil
arch thrown over the two lights, but also following the
curve of each, the spandrel or space thus formed being
filled with a moulded quatrefoiled circle. The lower
part of the window, to a height of 5 ft. 10 in., is now
blocked by the wall supporting the floor over the i 5th-
century vault, and only the upper part can be seen from
within the tower. ^

In the third stage facing west is a beautiful two-light
window of two chamfered orders on triple jamb-shafts
with moulded capitals and bases, and a square head with
trefoiled lintel. The window is set under a tall gable, or
pediment, with a half-gable on either side, which form
a series of diagonal moulded ribs across the face of the
tower between the buttresses, the intervening wall
spaces having sunk quatrefoil panels. The wall is reduced
in thickness above the diagonal ribs, which thus perform
the same function as a simple set-oiFin work of a plainer
nature.

On the north and south sides the arcades of the
second stage consist of four arches, and that of the third
stage of five, all of two chamfered orders, on triple
shafts with moulded bases, the capitals in the lower
arcade being foliated and in the upper moulded. There
are other variations in detail. On the north side the
arches of the lower arcade are subdivided, with carved
corbels supporting the inner arches and with a head in
the spandrels thus formed. The spandrels of the arcades
are variously treated: on the north the three middle
ones have heads set in quatrefoil panels, our Lord in the
centre, the two ends being occupied by figures playing
pipe and tabor (cast) and viol (west), the latter holding
the bow in the left hand. On the south there is a figure
playing a harp in the eastern spandrel, but the others
have cusped trefoils only.

In the upper arcade there are no shafts at the angles
and the middle arch is pierced with a square-headed
two-light window with moulded mullion and trefoiled

lintel. Except for a single trefoil side, on the south the
spandrels are plain. The third stage arcade occurs also
on the east face of the tower, where the lower part is
now below the roof and seen from the nave above the
tower arch.

The bell-chamber stage is the same on all four sides:
it has an arcade of two wide and two narrow (end)
arches of a single chamfered order and hood-mould, on
shafts with moulded capitals and bases. Set within the
two wider arches are coupled lancet windows of two
chamfered orders with solid spandrels and shafts with
moulded capitals and bases.

The tower arch is of three chamfered orders with
hood-mould, on half-round responds with two attached
shafts on each side, all with moulded capitals and bases.
Above it is the table of the high-pitched 13th-century
roof, and within it, filling the space above the springing,
an inserted low segmental arch covering the i ;th-cen-
tury vault, the ribs of which meet in a circular eye-hole.
Upon the surface of the lower arch are the remains of a
painted clock dial, recording twenty-four hours, sup-
ported by kneeling angels, behind which are smaller
figures of the donor and his wife, John and Sarah
Catlin.' The floor of the tower is three steps below the
level of the nave.

The spire has low broaches, plain angles, and two
sets of gabled openings on the cardinal faces, with a
single set on the alternate faces ranging with the upper
tier: all the openings are of two lights with forked
mullions. The total height of tower and spire is 180 ft.

The once ample furniture of screens has been cut up
and shifted so recklessly that it is no longer possible to
assign all the fragments to their proper places.^ In
Bridges's day the east end of both aisles was 'parted off
by a screen', that in the south aisle having 'paintings in
eight different squares with inscriptions underneath
relating to the history of Joseph'.' These screens appear
to have been in existence till early in the 19th centur>',
and the cornice on which the story of Joseph* was
painted survived till 1837, but was then apparently
under the chancel arcade, where parts of the screens,
much restored, have been set up below the two eastern
arches. That under the easternmost arch is of i jth-cen-
tury date and has six traceried openings and moulded
cornice which still retains traces of colour.' The other
is a century older, with four traceried openings divided
by shafts,' and above it, in place of a cornice, a length
of 13th-century oak trefoil 'arcading', which for years
lay in the porch chamber." A late- 14th-century screen,
removed from the westernmost arch when the present
organ was erected, now stands between the south chapel
and the south aisle of the nave, the whole of the lower
part and the doorway being new.'" Tracery and cresting
from other 14th-century screen work is now made up
into a reredos at the east end of the north aisle, and a
portion of a screen dated 1 701, formerly in the tower
arch under the organ gallery, is preserved in the vestry.

' Access to the passage, or gallery,
which is I ft. 10 in. wide, is from the vice.
There appears to have been formerly a
stair also in the north-west angle up to
this level.

' There is an engraving of the window
•s it originally appeared in Rickman's
Gothic Arch. (7th ed.), 1 18.

* The dial was uncovered in the restora-
tion of 1874. In 1849 it was described as
a circular panel, (he margin of which pro-
jects and has within it a shallow hollow
moulding filled with flat- round pellets or

plates': Chs. Archd. N'lm, 62. At that
time the west wall of the nave was con-
cealed by an organ and gallery. The hands
of the dial are now driven by a clock put
up in 1903. ♦ Arch. your. H\x, \TJ.

' Uni. of l^orthantt.W^ 1 86.

^ Sketches of the subjects are in the
British Museum, Add. MS. 32467,
fT. 220-i. They represent (i) Joseph's
dream of sun, moon, and stars; (ii) Israel
rebuking Joseph; (iii) Joseph's brethren
preparing to sell him; (iv) Joseph in
prison; (v) Pharaoh taking Joseph from

prison; (vi) Preparing for faiTiine; (vii)
Visit of his brethren ; (viii) The brethren
at table with Joseph. There is also a view
of the church in 1721 (f. 219), and another
in 1807, Add. MS. 3741 1, f. 16.

7 It stands above a table tomb.

• The missing shafts have been replaced
by new ones made out of bell-frame oak.

9 It consists of thirteen small trefoil
'arches' cut in the solid on modern shafts.
Some other fragments of I3th-cenlury
woodwork are preserved in the vestry.
'» Arch. Jour. Ixii, 477.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

The font has already been described.' It has a short
octagonal late- 14th-century- pyramidal cover with a
finial of four united heads.

The wooden pulpit^ and seating are modern, but in
the chancel are ten old bench-ends. The 17th-century
communion table'' is still in use and the altar rails are of
the same period. The altar of the chapel at the east end
of the north aisle has front and ends of carved 17th-
century paneUing from elsewhere, a recent gift to the
church. 5

During the restoration of 1874 a fine series of wall-
paintings was uncovered ov'er the north arcade, in the
north aisle, and over the chancel arch, .^bove the
chancel arch are white blank spaces* where the upper
part of the rood and the figures of Mary and John stood
against a red ground. The lower part of the rood and
figures extended downwards on to the area of the now
demolished tympanum. The background is powdered
with circles containing the sacred monogram and that
of the Virgin, and on the south side is a group of albed
angels, each holding an instrument of the Passion: the
corresponding group on the north side is obliterated.

The other paintings bear no relation to the architec-
tural divisions of the building, three subjects filling the
space over the north arcade from the first (west) to the
middle of the fifth bay. Over the tivo western arches is
a strongly drawn representation of the Seven Deadly
Sins, or Pride and her six daughters, in which a richly-
clad female in crown and robes of state and sceptre in
each hand, stands over the jaws of hell (between the
springing of the arches). From her body issue six
winged beasts, or demons,' three on either side, each
vomiting a figure symbolizing one of the sins and each
attended by a familiar spirit. On the left of the picture
is a figure of Death thrusting a long tilting spear into
the heart of Pride. Above the second pier is St.
Christopher,* and east of this, from the middle of the
third to the middle of the easternmost arch, is a repre-
sentation of the Three Living and the Three Dead:'
the colours are faded and some of the outlines lost, but
the groups are drawn with vigour. Over the north
doorway is a nearly obliterated St. George and the
Dragon, and the legend of St. Katharine formerly
covered the walls at the west end of the aisle. The

latter, originally in monochrome outline onlv, was
painted over in colours, probably as late as the i6th
century: the pictures, though much defaced, have been
identified.'"

Under the easternmost arch of the chancel arcade is
the table tomb of John Wales, vicar (d. 1496), the
longer sides each with four trefoiled panels enclosing
blank" shields suspended from roses, and the east end
against the wall. The top is quite plain, and at the west
end are two panels with shields differing in shape. Along
the verge on the north and west sides is the inscrip-
tion: HIC JACET DNS lOHES WALES'" QUONDAM VICARIE

eclesie: cvivs aie ppicietur deus 1496 OB DIE lA 2.3.

On the south side of the chancel is a floor-slab with
the brass figures of John Tawyer (1470) and Margaret
his wife, with the symbols of the evangelists in the
corners, a group of four daughters, shield,'^ and inscrip-
tion.''* Near it is a slab with a precisely similar female
figure," arms as before, a group of four sons, and symbols
of St. Matthew and St. Luke, but without inscription.'*
On the north side of the chancel is a floor-slab with the
indent of a large floriated cross and inscription, both of
which were missing in Bridges' day."

In the south chapel is a blue floor-slab with inscrip-
tion'^ to Robert Gage (d. Feb. 1616), and in the north
aisle a mural monument with brass inscription to
William Gage, of Magilligam, Ireland (d. 1632), with
shield of six quarterings." On the east wall of the
chancel is a brass tablet in memory of William Holmes,
vicar (d. 1653).

A brass chandelier in the nave was given in 1762 by
William Brooks. Two 13th-century coffin-lids with
floriated crosses are preserved in the church, one at the
east end of each aisle.-"

Amongst the relics in the south chapel are eight
pieces of town armour, c. 1630, parts of three incom-
plete suits, consisting of two breastplates, one back
plate, three taces, and two pikemen's pots. The breast-
plates are ornamented with a raised pattern and rivet-
heads: the pots are damaged.-' There is also the large
hexagonal tester of an 18th-century pulpit, and various
fragments of stone and woodwork, including cusping
from the east window, four bosses from the roofs, pieces
of wall-plate, and a roof corbel dated 1697.

' y.C.H. Northants. ii, 14.6, where it is
ascribed to the 12th century. In addition
to the ram's head on the west side, there
is a single triangular, or chevron ornament
facing south-east.

^ Or made up from woodwork of this
period.

3 In memory of the Rev. Charles
Porter, vicar, d. June 1877.

* The table stands on four fluted
baluster legs, and bears the inscription
'The gift of Gilbert Negouse who was
buried the 2 of August 1630'.

5 By Mrs. Sartoris, of Rushdcn Hall,
together with some plainer wall panelling
of the same period.

*• 'In the white surface of the spaces
may be seen the holes, some plugged, in
which the stays were imbedded for holding
the large figures in position' : Arch. your.
Ixix, 477.

' Over each is a scroll, on which was
written the name of the sin depicted —
avarice, anger, envy, sloth, gluttony,
lechery. Pride has crisped hair in short curls
and a languorous, contemptuous expression.

^ The saint is depicted as an old white-
haired bearded man ; he crosses the stream,
in which fish are shown between his feet.

leaning upon his staff and bearing the
Child upon his shoulders.

^ The three Kings and their company
go forth with hawk and hound from a
castle gate and are encountered by three
grim skeleton figures sent to warn them of
their latter end. The castle gate forms the
background of the picture and rabbits play
in the foreground. The figures are more
than life size.

"* The identifications are as follows :
(i) St. Katharine rebukes the Emperor at
a pagan sacrifice; (ii) she disputes with the
doctors before the Emperor; (iii) the
doctors, converted by her words, are
thrown into the fire, and their miraculous
escape; (iv) Porphyrins, the Emperor's
sword-bearer throws himself at the saint's
feet as a believer; (v) lost; (vi) martyrdom
of St. Katharine, the executioner prepar-
ing to cut off her head; (vii) the saint's
tomb surrounded by angels. The last two
are on the west wall, on either side of the
window, the others on the north wall west
of the doorway.

" One of the shields in the south side
has a cross cut on it.

'^ The W in Wales is inverted. The
arms were 'all totally defaced' in Bridges'

day, 'except a cross fleury in one of them* :
op. cit. ii, 187. The date is in arable
numerals. John Wales was instituted
4 July 1477.

^3 [Azure] a bend [argent] with three
voided lozenges [gules] thereon, for Raunds,
to which family Margaret Tawyer be-
longed (see p. 30).

'■* The brass was moved here from the
south chapel in 1906. The inscription
reads 'Of yo' charite pray for the soules of
John Tawyer & Margaret his wyfe which
John deceased the xxv day of Janyver in
the ycre of our lord mcccclxx on whose
soules Jhu have mercy*.

'5 There is the indent of a man's figure.

'^ Bridges records the figures of four
sons and five daughters on this slab, but
the figure of the man and the inscription
had disappeared; op. cit. ii, 188.

" The slab was then near the altar rails,
in the middle of the chancel: ibid.

■8 Given in Bridges, op. cit. ii, 188.

'^ Inscription and emblazonment, ibid.

^'^ That in the south aisle is coped, 8 J in.
thick, with plain cross: the other is 5 in.
thick and has a floriated cross.

^' ylaoc. Arch. Soc. Reports, xxxvi, 93-4,
where the armour is fully described.

HIGHAM FERRERS HUNDRED ringstead

Within the tower are preserved two long fire-hooks.

There are eight bells. The first and second are by
Taylor of Loughborough 1897, the fourth by Henry
Penn of Peterborough 1723, the third, fifth, and sixth
by Thomas Eayre of Kettering 1732, the seventh by
Warner 1878, and the tenor by Taylor i8g8.'

The plate consists of a silver cup of 1697, a bread-
holder of 1865, a chalice of 1870, two patens, one of
1 87 1 the other without marks, and a glass flagon with
silver mountings 1865.* Two pewter flagons stamped
with the name of Robert Ekins, churchwarden in 161 2,
are now used at the font; another pewter flagon and
two alms dishes are among the relics in the vestry.
There is also a pewter basin. ^

The registers before 1812 are as follows: (i) bap-
tisms 1 58 1-1661, marriages i 581-1657, burials 1583-
1660; (ii) baptisms and burials 1662-1701, marriages
1663-99; (iii) baptisms 1699-1779, marriages 1700-
73, burials 1699-1778; (iv) baptisms and burials
1779-1812; (v) marriages 1774-18 12.

In the churchyard to the south-east of the porch is
the socket and small piece of the shaft of a late t4th-
century cross, on two square steps. The upper step is
ornamented with a band of quatrefoil panels enclosing
crosses of varying shapes, while the square shaft has
pilaster bands at each angle and emblems of the evange-
lists on the sides.*

The right of presentation to the
JDFOIVSON church of Raunds was apparently
attached to the manor belonging to
William Peverel. In 1237 William Earl of Ferrers
brought an action of darrein presentment concerning
Raunds and Higham against the Prior of Lenton and
Abbot of ' Torinton ', and it was found that King Richard
had last presented, and that King John had afterwards
given the manors and advowsons to William de Ferrers,
Earl of Derby.' The advowson of Raunds remained
attached to the manor until 4 March 1355, when the
king licensed Henry Duke of Lancaster to alienate it in
mortmain to the Master, Warden, and chaplains of the
Hospital of the Annunciation of the Virgin in Leicester,
founded by his father, Henry Earl of Lancaster.* The
grantees received a licence to appropriate the church
and a further licence to retain the gift in free alms was
granted when the hospital was erected into a collegiate
church.' At the Dissolution the right of presentation
came to the Crown, which retained it until 1 874, when

it was acquired by exchange by the Bishop of Peter-
borough.*

By his will dated 7 February 1722
CHARITIES John Blaise gave 5 a. l r. of arable land,
and 2 r. lying in Ringstead Short
Meadow, to the vicar for the poor. Upon the inclosure
of the parish an allotment of 1 8 acres was awarded in
lieu of the arable land. The land in Ringstead Short
Meadow is let in allotments and produces 10/. 4J.
yearly and the 18 acres, which is pasture land, is let
on a yearly tenancy for /[lO 14/. 6t/. The income is
distributed in coal.

.An allotment of about 10 acres was set out on the
inclosure of the parish for the repair ol the church. The
property consists of 9 acres called Keyston Road Field
let at ;^4 10/. per annum and i r. 16 p. let in allotments
and producing 17/. yearly. The income is applied to
the fabric fund of the church.

In or about 1720 Robert NichoUs surrendered a
cottage in the Middle End or Rotten Row in Raunds
to the vicar in trust for the poor. The property was sold
in 1 880 and the proceeds amounting to £\ 80 invested,
producing £4. lis. yearly in dividends. The charity is
now administered by the vicar, a trustee appointed by
him, and one trustee appointed by the parish council of
Raunds. The income is applied partly in coal to the
poor and partly in donations to the Northampton
General Hospital.

By his will proved in P.R. 24 May 1856 the Rev.
James Tyley gave a sum of money for the benefit of the
deserving poor at the discretion of the vicar and church-
wardens. The dividends, amounting to £2 13;. 4</.
yearly, are distributed in coal at Christmas to about
thirty recipients.

The charity of William Mackenzie, founded by will
proved at Peterborough 28 September 1917, is ad-
ministered by a body of four trustees in accordance with
the provisions of a Scheme of the Charity Commissioners
dated 20 May 1 921. The income, amounting to
;^ 1 2 1 3/. 2//., is distribu ted equally at Christmas amongst
about twenty-five aged poor.

The several sums of Stock are with the Official
Trustees of Charitable Funds.

This parish has an interest in Sawyer's Almshouses in
the parish of Chelvcston-cum-Caldecott, as one ol the
inmates must have been a resident of Raunds for at
least three years.

RINGSTEAD

Ryngestede (xiii-xv cent.) ; Wringsted (xvii
cent.).

The parish contains 2,021 acres, of which 16 are
covered by water, the land being mostly under grass.
It lies between Denford and Woodford on the north
and Raunds on the south on the eastern bank ot the
Nene, which separates it from the .Addingtons, and
whose windings form its western and (for some dis-
tance) its northern boundary lines, the ground in its

neighbourhood being liable to floods, and the whole
parish lying somewhat low.

The Northampton and Peterborough branch of the
L.M.S. railway runs through the parish near its western
boundary and has a station about a mile west of the
village. Near the station is Miilcotton, described as
a demolished hamlet by Bridges, who considered that
a square entrenchment with a moat here was Roman, a
view not now held.' It was here that the manor of

■ North, a. Belli of Noriianli. 389,
where the inscriptions on the old bells are
given. The seventh and tenor arc rccast-
ings of bells by Eayre dated 1732.

' Markham, Ci. Plate of Korthanli.
Z47. The chalice, paten, and Hagon were
given in 187Z by the children of Chailes
Porter, vicar.

> Kept in chapel at east end of north

aisle in 1927.

♦ Alloc. Arch. Soc. Reporti, xxiii, 189.
Also (reprinted) in Markham, Croitet of
Korikanii. 99. The total height i»
9 ft. 1 1 in., of the shaft alone 3 ft. 8 in.
The emblem of St. Matthew is repre-
sented as a bird with a human face. The
cross has at one time been clumsily
restored, in doing which the upper step was

reduced in sire by cutting out half a panel
on each face: Lee, //»/. of RdunJi, 23.

> Bracion'i Note-Book (ed. Mailland),
1236. The nature of the claim of the
Abbot of Thornton (?) does not appear.

» CjI. Pat. I 354-8, pp. 184, 185.

' Ibid. 1358-61, p. 486

• Order in Council, 7 July 1874.

• y.C.U. Norlkami. i, 194.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

Millcote (or Cotton) was situated, and an inclosure
near by called Chapel Close is referred to by Bridges
as the site of the chapel.' Ringstead Mill, now disused,
is also near the station.

The road from Thrapston to Bedford crosses the
parish from north to south. The village, which is large
and irregular, is 2 J miles south of Thrapston, and lies
in the northern half of the parish along a road branching
west from this road, from which Gladstone Street and
Spender Street branch east. When Bridges wrote, it
housed about fourscore families. The population of the
whole parish has increased from 454 in 1801 to 916 in
1931.

RiNcsTEAD Church

The village has largely been rebuilt in brick but
several 17th- and 18th-century stone houses remain.
West of the church is a two-story block consisting of
two dwellings, with good wind-break chimneys, and
close by on the other side of the road a barn on which
is a panel inscribed t. e. 1630 m. e. A thatched gabled
house north of the church is dated 1641, and near the
entrance to the village from Denford is a good end-gabled
house with pantiled roof, alternate bands of freestone
and ironstone in the end walls, and panel inscribed i ■' d
171 1. Another house in the middle of the village,
though much restored, is dated 171 2 with initials i " l,
and west of the church is a large 18th-century two-
story house faced with ashlar, with drafted quoins,
stone-slated roof, and good lead-head, dated 1765.

A pubKc elementary school (mixed) for Ringstead
and Denford was built in 1867 and enlarged in 1874,
and again in 1 894. West of the church is the Methodist
chapel, built in 1848, and the cemetery, consecrated
in 1893. There is a Temperance Hall built in 1861,
and a Village Institute built in 1908.

At the northern boundary of the parish is Ringstead
Lodge. There are old stone quarries in the north-west.

and stone is quarried in many parts for buildings and
roads. About 1,000 tons of ironstone were at one time
turned out weekly at the works opened in 1871 by
Messrs. Butlin, Bevan, & Co.^ Bridges writes of ' good
pits of red and white building stone, of which the red
will best endure the weather'. Shoemaking is carried
on by a large portion of the population. .'\t one time the
women made lace.

An Inclosure Act was passed in 1839. The soil is
good agricultural land; the subsoil clay, ironstone, and
gravel. The chief crops are wheat, beans, barley, oats,
turnips, and roots.

No record of RINGSTEAD occurs in the Domes-
day Survey, and it was evidently
included in the
MANORS manor of Raunds
(q.v.), of which
manor a manor of Ringstead
appears later as a member, and
in Denford.

In the Northamptonshire Sur-
vey 33^ hides and \ virgate
were entered in this hundred
and a half as in the demesne of
William Peverel. His lands
were forfeited for rebellion and
granted by Henry II to William
de Ferrers, Earl of Derby, the
husband of his daughter and
heir Margaret.^

On 14 September 1227 Wil-
liam de Ferrers, Earl of Derby,
made a grant to the great
Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent,
and his fourth wife Margaret
(the sister of Alexander II, King
of Scotland), inter alia, of 12
virgates of land in Ringstead,
with other lands in Stanwick,
Caldecott, and Chelveston."* In
1 232, on the disgrace of Hubert, these lands were seized,
but were restored to him later in that year.^ On 7 Feb-
ruary 1233 directions were issued for their dehvery to
Robert Passelewe* that he might out of the issues thereof
make satisfaction to certain Roman and Italian clerics
and others for injuries sustained by them at the hands of
Hubert. A year later it was commanded that the manor
of Ringstead should be delivered by Robert Passelewe
to Margaret wife of Hubert de Burgh for her sus-
tenance during the king's pleasure,' but this order was
cancelled, and they remained in the king's hands until
June, when William de Ferrers, Earl of Derby, re-
covered possession.* A grant of free warren in his manor
of Ringstead was made in 1248 to William de Ferrers.'
He died in 1254, when izh virgates of land and 2
cottages in Ringstead were delivered in dower to his
widow Margaret,'" who survived until 1281," after
which they passed with the other Ferrers estates to
Edmund the king's brother. Earl of Lancaster,'- and the
overlordship descended with Higham Ferrers (q.v.).
The Hundred Rolls of 1274-5 show that the bailiffs
of the Earls of Gloucester had in 1274-5 f°'' sixteen
years past been appropriating payments and services due

' The chapel of the Holy Trinity in the
vill of Middelcotes is mentioned in 1252 :
Assize R. 915, m. 13 d.

2 Whellan, Hist, of Northants. 925.

3 G.E.C. Peerage, iv, 194.

■• Cal. Chart. R. i, p. 60.

5 Cal. Close, 1231-4, p. 166.

<> Ibid. 188.

' Ibid. 1231-4, p. 378. * Ibid. 446.

» Cal. Chart. R. p. i, 332.

'0 Chan. Inq. p.m. 29 Hen. Ill, no. 31,
" G.E.C. Peerage, iv, 201.
'- Cal. Close, 1279-88, p. 85; Plac.
de Quo If'arr. 3 Edw. Ill, 580.

HIGHAM FERRERS HUNDRED

RING STEAD

from tenants in Ringstead, Raunds, and Cotes, mem-
bers of the manor of Higham.'

The tenants in Ringstead from whom suit was
thus appropriated were Robert Punteney and Richard
Trayly;- the bailiffs had also withdrawn \oJ. sherifFs
aid owed by Richard de Ringstead, with \od. for
sheriff's aid from the fee of William Hay in Ringstead,
and 2/. owed by the latter fee for view of frankpledge
and vigils.' William Barbedor (who in 1285 received a
grant of lands and rents in the manor of Ringstead from
Roger Barbedor for life)* and Ralph Waldeshef in
Ringstead and Stanwick were claiming assize of bread
and ale.'

In 1284 one-eighth of a fee in Ringstead was held
of the Earl of Lancaster by Henry the Scot,* and this
was presumably either the eighth of a knight's fee in
Ringstead held in 1298 by John Andrew, or another
eighth then held by Hugh de Ringstead, of the fee of
Ferrers.'

About 1330 the eighth of a fee formerly held by
'John son of Andrew' was in the hands of Richard
Chamberleyn,* and this manor followed the descent of
Denford (q-v.)' until 1496, when Richard Chamber-
leyn died seised of 4 messuages and land in Ringstead,
held of the Earl of Kent.'" The manorial rights seem
by this time to have been absorbed in the Chamberleyn
manor of Cotes.

Haifa fee in Ringstead and Stanwick was held of the
honor of Peverel in 1242 by Matthew de Iverny."
Between this date and 1 260 the Earl of Derby enfeoffed
William de Walda, who commuted the villein services
in this manor for a payment of 20/. the virgate.'^ This
half fee had evidently passed to William Barbedor and
Ralph Waldeshef by 1275,'^ and was apparently sub-
sequently divided, Waldeshef taking the property in
Stanwick (q.v.). A third of a fee which had belonged to
Roger Barbedor was held, about 1 3 30, by Roger Brown
and Agnes daughter and heir of Walter Barbedor'*
(presumably either Roger's wife or his mother). It
was possibly acquired by Henry Green with the manor
of Raunds (q.v.) about 1360, as in 1428 Sir Simon
Felbrigge was holding, in right of his wife Katharine
the widow of Ralph Green, a half fee in Ringstead and
Stanwick formerly held by Ralph Waldeshef and John
Brown. '5 It then descended with Drayton (q.v.)'* until
I 540, when John Browne, the son of Sir Wistan and of
Maud daughter of William Mordaunt," with .'\udrey
his wife, the third daughter and co-heir of Henry Verc
of Addington,'' settled a third of the manor of Ring-
stead on himself and Audrey for life, then on George
their son and heir and his wife Elizabeth, for life, with

MoBDAfNT. Argent a

cheveran betvieen three

itars table.

remainder to Wisun, their third son." In 1558 George
and Wistan conveyed this third to Sir John, Lord
Mordaunt.-o A third of the manor was in i 562 in the
hands of Sir Humphrey Browne, who made a settle-
ment of it on himself, with re-
mainder to his son and heir
George for life, then to Mary,
Christine.and Catherine Browne,
daughters of Sir Humphrey.-'
George Browne died s.p., and in
1576 one daughter, Catherine
Browne, suffered a recovery of
a third of a third of the manor;"
and a recovery of another third of
a third was suffered by JohnTuf-
ton, father of Nicholas Lord
Tufton,^' who had married an-
other daughter, Christine.-* In the following year two-
thirds of a third were dealt with jointly by John Tufton
and his wife Christine, and by Thomas Wilford and his
wife Mary,^5 the eldest daughter of Sir Humphrey.**
Catherine Browne, the third daughter and co-heir of Sir
Humphrey married as her first husband Richard Town-
send of Raynham in Norfolk and, as her second, William
Roper, son and heir to Sir Thomas Roper of Eltham."
With her husband William Roper she was dealing with
a third of a third of the manor in 1 590.'' Two-thirds of
the manor of Ringstead were in the same year dealt with
by Sir Lewis, Lord Mordaunt, and his wife Margaret,"
whose son Henry Lord Mordaunt at his death on 13
February 1610 was seised of manors of Ringstead and
Furnells in Raunds, cSrc.,'" with which his son and heir
John Lord Mordaunt was dealing in 162;. '' On this
occasion and in 1649'- the description ' manor of Ring-
stead alias Furnells in Raunds' replaces the 'manors of
Ringstead and Furnells in Raunds' used in 16 10, and
it was as the manor of Ringstead alias Furnells in
Raunds that this manor then descended like Drayton
with the earldom of Peterborough. '^

Four small virgatcs in Ringstead of the fee of Den-
ford were returned in the Northamptonshire Survey as
held by Gilbert fitz Richard, and descended with the
Cotes fees among the possessions of the de Clares, Earls
ofGloucester.'* In 1262-3 William de Shardelcwe and
his wife Joan made a grant to Richard Trayly of Wood-
ford of land in Thrapston, Denford, and Ringstead,"
and in 1274-5 Richard Trayly was one of the tenants
in Ringstead whose suit at the hundred courts and
sheriff's tourn in the manor of Higham had been ap-
propriated by the Earls of Gloucester: the service due
from him in Ringstead in making part of the hedge of

' Hund. R. ii, 10.

* Their interests were probably acquired
by the Chamberlej-n family; cf. Denford;
y.C.H. Nortbantt. iii, 193-4.

' HunJ. R. ii, 10.

♦ Feet of F. Div. Co. East. 1 3 Edw. I,
no. 1 1 . ' Hund. R. ii, 10.

' Feu J. Aids, iv, 14.

' Cal. Inq. p.m. iii, 423; Cat. Chte,
IZ96-130:, p. 168. Part of Ringstead at
this time was a member of the manor of
Raunds: ibid.

» Plac. de Quo ffar. (Rcc. Com.), 580;
Feud. Aidi, vi, 568.

• y.C.II. Sortbantl. iii, 193.

"> Chan. Inq. p.m. (Scr. 2), xi, 4.

" Bk. cj Feet, ^]i.

" Assize R. 616, m. 7 d.

'J Hund. R. (Rcc. Com.), ii, 10.

'* Feud. Aidt, vi, 568. Waldeshef and

Barbedor are here called heirs of William
dc Vaus (i.e. de Waldc, or dc Waldis, as
he is called elsewhere).

■5 Ibid, iv, 46.

'<" Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 1 5 Hen.
VII; ibid. Hil. 27 Hen. VIII; Deeds
Enr. Trin. 29 Hen. VIII, no. 14.

" yitii. ofEiiex (Harl. Soc.), 166.

>» Ibid.

'» Feet of F. Northants. Hil. 31 Hen.
VIII.

" Ibid. Div. Co., Mich. 4 & 5 P. and M.

" Ibid. East. 4 Eliz.

'' Recov. R. Trin. 18 EUi. ro. 107.

" Ibid. ro. 120.

" fitit. ofEttex (Harl. Soc.). 166.

" Feet of F. Northants. Mich. 18 &
19 Eliz. '

" yiiit. ofEttex (Harl. Soc.), 166.

" Ibid.

'* Feet of F. Northants. Trin. 32 Eliz.

" Ibid.

^o Chan. Inq. p.m. (Scr. 2), vol. cccix,
200.

" Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 19 Jas. I;
Recov. R. Hil. iq Jas. I, ro. 40.

" Keetof F. Northants. Hil. 24 Chas. I.

" Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), dcxiiv, 64;
Recov. R. Trin. 21 Chas. II, ro. 158;
Trin. 22Cha9.II,ro. 21; Mich. 23 Chas. II,
ro. 175; Hil. 1-2 Jas. II, ro. 62; Feet of
F. Northants. Mich. 23 Chas. II ; Div. Co.
Hil. I & 2 Jjs. II.

'^ In 1330 Hugh de Audley and Mar-
garet his wife, then holding the honor of
Gloucester, claimed free warren and other
rights in Ringstead; Phc, de Quo Ifar.
(Rec. Com.), 57 1.

" Feet of F. 47 Hen. Ill, Northants.
file 47, no. 844.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

the park of Milton had also been withheld by the Earl's
bailiffs.' Alice his daughter in 1292 granted property
in Ringstead and Raunds to Master Robert de Kenil-
worth (Kynelyngworth)/ and in 1 3 14 among the
knights' fees held by Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Glouces-
ter and Hertford, at his death, was half a fee in Thrap-
ston, Denford, and Ringstead, held of him by John
Spigurnel, Niel de Kenilworth, and Simon de Grey-
lond,^ who were still holding the same fee at the death in
1 371 of Ralph Earl of Stafford.-* Hugh Earl of Stafford
died in 1 386 seised of fees in Thrapston, Denford, and
Ringstead held under him by Sir Richard Chamberleyn,
Alice Vere, Henry Petelyng, clerk, and Robert Duffyn.^
Edmund Earl of Stafford was returned in 1404 as
having held at his death the same fees, then held of him
by Richard Chamberleyn, Margaret Table, and Richard
Duffyn.* This half fee may be identical with the manor
of TRESHJMS. A manor of Ringstead was included
among the lands forfeited by Sir Thomas Tresham in
1461, and granted to John Donne, one of the ushers of
the King's Chamber.' The Treshams ultimately re-
covered possession of this Ringstead manor, and it was
held in 1535 by Sir Thomas Tresham, who in that
year with Isabel Tresham, his mother, widow of John
Tresham, and Lord Mordaunt and his wife Elizabeth
conveyed the manors of Raunds, Ringstead, &c., to Sir
William Greystock and others, possibly for confirma-
tion of title to the Fitzwilliams.*

Sir WiUiam Fitzwilliam of Milton, by whom it
appears then to have been held, and who was the grand-
son of Sir John Fitzwilliam of Milton and of Eleanor
daughter of Sir Henry Green of Green's Norton, be-
queathed in his will dated 27 June 1533 his manor of
Cotes, Ringstead, and Raunds, lately bought of Robert
Dormer, esq., to his second son Richard, with con-
tingent remainders to his sons William, Christopher,
Francis, and Thomas.' John Fitzwilliam, the son
and heir of this Richard on 7 March 1559 entered into
recognizances for the payment to John Pickering of an
annuity of £10 yearly during the life of Elizabeth
Fitzwilliam a/ias Kn^'vett his mother,'" and with his
wife Brigit conveyed to the said John Pickering the
manors of Ringstead, Cotes a/ias Cotton Chamberlyn,
Myll Cotes, West Cotes, Mallard Cotes, and Cotes
Bydon." John Pickering and his wife Lucy were in
1565 holding the manor of Ringstead.'^ On 28 February
161 3 half an acre of land in Ringstead and the regality,
rents, and services of the manors of Millcotes and
Treshams in Ringstead and Raunds were held at his
death by Sir Gilbert Pickering,'^ whose son John suc-
ceeded him and, as Sir John Pickering, died seised of
the same at Mile End Green, Stepney, on 29 January
1629,''* when he was succeeded by his son Gilbert, a
minor. From the Pickerings of Titchmarsh the manor
passed to the Creeds of Oundle by the marriage of
Elizabeth the only daughter of Sir Gilbert Pickering,
bart. (d. 1668) with John Creed of Oundle who died
in 1 70 1. '5 Three John Creeds of Oundle held the

manor in succession, and at the death of the last it
passed to his only sister and heir Mary, the wife of
Dr. William Walcote.'* She with her husband con-
veyed the manor in 1766 to Christopher Hobson and

Pickering. Ermine a
lion azure croiuned or.

Creed. Azure a chenje^

ron betiueen three sivans

argent.

John Cowper," who had been tenants since 1706.'* In
1768 they sold to Leonard Burton, esq., of Denford the
manor of Ringstead, with fishery in the Nene, quit-
rents, courts leet, view of frankpledge, and lands and
closes (described and tenures detailed) with arable
lands, lay-grounds, &c., in the common and open fields
of Ringstead, Raunds, and Denford, for ^1,500," the
purchase being completed in 1769.-° The manor has
since then remained in the Burton family. A moiety
was held by Nathaniel Shuttleworth, esq., with Henry
Shuttleworth junior in 18 14, and appears to have
represented the Cotes, Cotton, or Millcotes portion of
Ringstead, as at the Inclosure Act of 1839 it was re-
turned that Thomas Burton, esq., is or claims to be
lord of the manor of Ringstead, and Henry Shuttle-
worth is or claims to be lord of the manor of Cotton
a/ias Coates a/ias Ringstead Cotton in the said parish
of Ringstead. In 1863 Thomas Burton was lord of
Ringstead, and his trustees are still lords of the manor. ^'
The church oi ST. MJRF consists of
CH URCH chancel, 3 3 ft. 6 in., with north chapel and
vestry; clerestoried nave, 46 ft. 9 in. by
17 ft. 6 in.; north aisle, 12 ft. 6 in. wide; north and
south porches, and west tower, 10 ft. 9 in. square, sur-
mounted by a broach spire, all these measurements
being internal. The chapel is a continuation of the
aisle and extends nearly the full length of the chancel.
The building dates in the main from the first half of
the 13th century, but it probably developed from an
aisleless church, the nave of which covered the same
area as at present. To this a north aisle and tower were
added and a new chancel with north chapel built, but
the church was considerably altered in the 14th cen-
tury, when the chancel appears to have been lengthened
about 6 ft.,^-^ the whole of the south wall rebuilt, the
arch between the aisle and chapel removed, the chapel
reconstructed, and a small vestry added to the east of
it.-^ These changes seem to have taken place at two not
very distant periods in the century, in each of which one
of the porches was built: the clerestory also dates from

> Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), ii, 10.

^ Feet of F. Northants. 20 Edw. I,
file 56, no. 291.

5 Cal. Inq. p.m. iii, 423; ibid., p. 34.4.

* Chan. Inq. p.m. 4.6 Edw. Ill, ist.
nos., 62.

5 Ibid. 10 Ric. II, no. 38.

' Ibid. 4 Hen. IV, no. 41.

' Cal. Pat. 1461-7, pp. II I, 43 I.

8 Recov.R. Hil. 27 Hen.VIII, ro. 124.
Feet of F. Northants. Hil. 27 Hen. VIII.

^ Exch. Inq. p.m. dcxcvii, ii.

■o Close R. East. I Eliz. pt. 2.

" Recov. R. Mich, i Eliz. ro. 526;
Feet of F. Northants. East, i Eliz.

■- Ibid. Hil. 7 Eliz.

^3 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxlii, 94.

'* Ibid, ccccxivi, 84.

^5 Inscription in Titchmarsh church:
Bridges, Hist, of Northants. ii, 383.

■* Recov. R. Hil. 9 Geo. Ill, ro. 163.

>' Feet of F. Northants. Hil. 6 Geo. III.

■8 Recov. R. Hil. 9 Geo. Ill, ro. 163.

"> Ibid.

'^° Feet of F. Northants. Hil. 9 Geo. III.

^^ Kelly, Directories., Northants.

22 The base of the 13th-century south
wall of the chancel, with chamfered plinth,
remains below the existing wall but stops
about 6 ft. from the east end.

^5 The aisle and chapel may have been
widened at this time but, if so, much of the
old material was re-used.

HIGHAM FERRERS HUNDRED ringstead

this time. Early in the 1 5 th century the north wall of
the aisle east of the porch was remodelled and two
large windows inserted. There was a general restora-
tion of the fabric in 1863.

The building is of rubble throughout plastered in-
ternally, and all the roofs are modern and of low pitch
behind plain parapets.

The chancel is divided from the chapel by three
pointed arches on cylindrical piers, while the nave is
separated from the aisle by a loftier' arcade of five bays,
the piers of which are formed of clusters of four
attached shafts with moulded capitals and bases, all of
the 13th century: the arches are of two chamfered

OI3fflCl£NTURY

Ol+E! Century

115s Cent, early
fcii Modern

temally 7 ft. 2 in. by 5 ft. 3 in. and has diagonal but-
tresses and an octopartite vault the ribs of which spring
from roughly carved corbels. The outer arch has wave
mouldings divided by casements, and the original high-
pitched roof is covered with stone slates.

The 13th-century north doorway is somewhat more
elaborate and the nook-shafts have capitals with good
foliage: the hood-mould is stopped on the east side
by a knight's head. The i4th<entury porch, which
measures internally 7 ft. 9 in. by 8 ft., has an outer arch
of four moulded orders on nook-shafts, with a row of
ball-flowers in the outer hollow and ogee hood-mould
with finial: the gable and side walls have plain parapets.

Scale of Feet
10 20 30

Plan of Rincstead Church

orders and in the nave spring at the east end from a
half-octagonal respond and at the west from a corbel.
The wide chancel arch is of two chamfered orders on
half-octagonal responds with moulded capitals and bases.

The chancel was reconstructed in its present form
about 1320-30 and has a large five-light east window
and three three-light windows in the south wall, all of
which have curvilinear tracery of beautiful design:- the
sills of the side windows are brought very low. The
piscina and sedilia are both on one level and farther
east is a double aumbry consisting of a trefoiled recess
with another above it covering a shelf. At the east end
of the north wall is the 14th-century doorway to the
vestr)',^ and below the arcade is the base of a stone
screen which originally enclosed the chapel. There
was formerly the base of a similar stone chancel screen
also.*

Two windows of three trefoiled lights in the south
wall of the nave, of similar type to those in the chancel
but with different tracery, are very little later in date,
but the wall is contemporary with the porch, a high
moulded plinth being common to both. The doorway,
however, is of the 13th century, with a plain arch of
two orders springing from imposts with attached nook-
shafts to the inner order; part of a scratch dial is built
into the west jamb. The south porch measures in-

West of the porch is a 13th-century two-light win-
dow with a circle in the head, and high in the west wall
a single-light window with flat ogee head. The two
later windows east of the porch are of three cinquefoiled
lights with four-centred heads. The square-headed
two-light windows of the chapel have been restored.
Internally, a corbel of the arch dividing the aisle from
the chapel remains on the south side: the arch was
probably removed in the last quarter of the 14th cen-
tury, when the chapel windows were made, and the
clerestory, a series of square-headed two-light openings,
added on the north side of nave and chancel. '

The tower is of three stages with moulded plinth
and two pairs of buttresses in the lower stage. It opens
into the nave through a handsome 13th-century arch
of three chamfered orders on attached shafts* with
moulded capitals and bases, and has a long and narrow
west window like a lancet but with square top and un-
pierced arched head with good cusping. All three
stages on the north and south sides, and the upper stage
on the west are blank, and the tower terminates in a
corbel-table of notch-heads from which the spire rises.
There is no vice. Tower and spire are both of one
build and are of remarkable design, the bell-chamber
windows being omitted and their place taken by an
unusually large lower set of gabled spire-lights,' which

' The njvc pirrs are 9 f(. 7 in. high and
the average width of the arches is 7 ft.
5 in. : the piers stand on high masonry
plinths. In the chancel arcade the piers
are 7 ft. 2 in. high.

' The east window is figured in Sharpe't
Die. H'tndctv Tracery^ plate 53. 'The
arch is carried in the tracery over the two
tide lights and filled with three trefoils and

cinquefoils.'

' The vestry is 5 ft. 8 in. wide from
west to east. It has an east window of
three lights. The doorway has a continu-
ous swelled chamfer.

♦ Ck>. Archd. A'Von, 71. It bore evi-
dence of having been of rich design.

' There arc five windows to the nave
and two al the west end of the chancel :

the nave windows have been restored.

^ The shafts are on the east side only.

^ These windows arc of two lights
separated by an octagonal shaft with
moulded capital, within a pointed arch
springing from jambs of two chamfered
orders in the recess between wluch is an
engaged shaft with moulded capital :
Chi. Arckd. J^'^tvKf 68.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

unite the tower and spire in a single composition. The
broaches extend the full height of the lower openings.
The spire has plain angles and two upper tiers of lights
on the cardinal faces.'

The font is of the early part of the 14th century and
has a plain octagonal bowl with moulded under-edge
and shafted stem: there is a rectangular recess cut at the
north-west angle, probably for the fastening of the cover.

The pulpit and fittings date from 1863. A number
of 1 8th- and igth-century memorial tablets are grouped
below the tower. In the nave is an early- 18th-century
communion table with curved legs. There were for-
merly traces of a wall painting in the vestry.^

A ring of six bells was cast in 1682 by Henry and
Matthew Bagley, of Chacomb,^ four of which re-
main in the tower. The treble and fourth were recast
by Gillett and Johnston in 1914, the old bells rehung
and a clock erected.

The plate consists of a silver cup and paten c. 1682,
a plated paten and flagon, and two brass alms dishes.''

The registers before 18 12 are as follows: (i) all
entries i 570-1639; (ii) 1665-1701; (iii) 1702-1745;
(iv) 1745-95; (v) baptisms 1796— 1812; (vi) marriages
1754-1812.

The church of Ringstead has always been annexed
as a chapel to that of Denford, with which it was

held by the abbey of Chester until the Dissolution.'
In 1550 the joint rectory and advowson were leased
by the Bishop of Coventry and Lich-
ADVOWSON field to Nicholas and Mary William-
son,* and since that date the advowson
of Ringstead has descended with that of Denford
(q.v.), the present patron being Captain Nigel Stopford
SackviUe.

The Ringstead Gift is administered
CHARITIES by the incumbents and churchwardens
and two other trustees in conformity
with the provisions of a Scheme of the Charity Com-
missioners of 2 August 1864. This charity was formerly
called the Charity Estate, but its origin is unknown.
The property consists of 27 a. o r. 5 p. of land in Ring-
stead let to various tenants and producing in 1924.
^44 16;. \d.

The Scheme directed that three-fourths of the net
income should be applied to educational purposes and
the remaining fourth for the benefit of the deserving
poor.

A sum of 16;. a year understood to have been given
by a person named Wells is paid out of the Drayton
Estate by Mr. William Dodson of Woodford Mill,
Ringstead. This is applied as part of the Ringstead
Gift.

RUSHDEN

Risdene (xi cent.); Risscheden, Rissendene, Rysshe-
dene (xiii cent.).

The parish of Rushden, containing about 3,775
acres, lies to the south of Higham Ferrers with which
the town is now continuous; and the town has a station
on the Wellingborough and Higham Ferrers section of
the L.M.S. railway, the nearest main line station being
at Irchester, about 2 miles eastward. The town, which
in 1 88 1 was no more than a large village with 3,657
inhabitants, grew very rapidly during the last decade of
the 19th century, the increase in the population be-
tween i8gi and 1901 being over 5,000. The census
returns of 1931 showed that the number of inhabitants
had then risen to over 14,200, this growth being
due chiefly to the establishment of the boot-making
industry.

The present rectory-house appears to have been
built about 1870, and cannot therefore claim to be the
birthplace of either of the two clerics of distinction who
were born at Rushden. Daniel, the son of Thomas
Whitby, born on 24 March 1638, when his father had
been rector about seven }'ears,' afterwards became
famous for his advocacy of the inclusion of non-con-
formists within the church and for his Paraphrase and
Commentary on the Nezv Testament. John Lettice son of
the Rev. John Lettice and Mary daughter of Richard
Newcombe, rector of the neighbouring parish of Wy-
mington in Bedfordshire, was born on 27 December
1737.* He lived to a great age, dying on 18 October
1832; but though 'greatly respected by his parishioners'
at Peasmarsh, Sussex, for whom he wrote The Village
Catechist, he is better known for his writings on secular

subjects such as travel, history, and antiquities, than for
any contribution to theology.

The parish of St. Peter was formed 14 October 191 3
from parts of the old parishes of Irchester, Irthling-
borough, and Higham Ferrers, the church having been
built in 1907. There is also a Roman Catholic church
of St. Peter in the Higham road, which was opened in
1905. The Baptist chapel in Little Street was built in
1797 and is now used as a Sunday school, a newer
chapel having been built in 1884 and enlarged in 1893.
The Zion Baptist chapel in Station Road was built in
1800 and that in Park Road just a hundred years later.
The Independent Methodists have a chapel built in
l88g, with a mission chapel on the Wellingborough
road established in 1901. There is another Methodist
chapel in FitzwiUiam Street. The head-quarters of
the Salvation Army are in Queen Street and the Church
Army has a social centre built in 1920 on the Irchester
road.

The town was governed by a local Board of Health
from 25 March 1891 until the establishment of an
Urban District Council under the provisions of the
Local Government Act of 1894;' it is lighted with
electricity,'" and has water-works at Sywell, which were
completed and opened in July 1906.

Rushden Hall stands almost in the centre of the town,
near the church, and is a two-story building of various
dates erected round a small rectangular court}'ard, with
the hall in the south range. The greater part of the
house, which is of local limestone with red tiled roofs,
appears to be of the i6th century, but has been much
altered and modernized. The south front has project-

' The height of the tower to the sill of
the lower windows is 40 ft. ; the whole
height of tower and spire about 85 ft.
or 90 ft.: ibid. 68.

^ Chs. Archd. N'ton, 71, where it is
figured.

1 North, Ch. Bells of NorthanH. 391,
where the inscriptions are given. On the
new bells the old inscriptions have been
retained.

* Markham, Ch. Plate of t\orihanti.
249.

5 V.C.H. Northants. iii, 196.
' Close R. 1652, pt. 26, m. 4.
' Diet. Nat. Biog. ' Ibid.

« 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73.
'<> Under the Electric Lighting Order
Confirmation Act (2 & 3 Geo. V, c. 116).

HIGHAM FERRERS HUNDRED

RUSHDEN

ing gabled ends, mullioned and transomed windows,
and a central two-story porch with battlemented para,
pet. The hall is wainscoted with black oak linenfold
panelling and has a good four-centred arched fireplace.
The east, or terrace front has also projecting ends with
curved gables and two-story semicircular mullioned bay
windows, and a similar one in the centre, all with battle-
mented parapets and ball ornaments.' It is now the
property of the Urban District Council and the well-
wooded grounds are a public park.

The soil varies from a stiff clay to a light sand; the
subsoils are Oxford Clay, red marls, and Great Oolite,
with belts of alluvium and Upper Lias along the course
of the Nene, and a patch of inferior Oolite to the north of
Rushden Hall. The chief crops are wheat, barley, and
beans.

There was land for 12 ploughs, 30 acres
MANOR of meadow, and a mill in RUSHDEN in
1086, and the manor was assessed at 6 hides
in the Domesday Survey. It was one of the members
of Higham Ferrers, though the Bishop of Coutances
claimed the homage of the 19 socmen who held the
land, on the ground that they had been Burred's men.^
The manor afterwards followed the descent of Higham
Ferrers (q.v.);^ but various leases of the demesne were
granted by the Crown during the i6th and 17th cen-
turies,^ and there are traces of corporate action among
the tenants for the protection of their own interests.
Several pleas were brought against the king's auditors in
connexion with claims to exemption from suit at court
and abatement of rent by the tenants jointly during the
reign of Henry VII;' and in 1551 John Purevey, who
had obtained a lease of the demesne lands in the previous
year, assigned 'all his estate, title, and interest in the
manor' to trustees to the use of all the inhabitants of
Rushden.* One of the trustees, Robert Pemberton, was
afterwards accused by John Maggetts and William
Mayes of procuring a new lease under the seal of the
Duchy of Lancaster in order to fx:rvert the trust to his
own use of all the meadows in Rushden which were
parcel of the demesne. Pemberton in his answer ad-
mitted that John Purevey . . . 'by deed of 4 February
5 Edw. VI, in consideration of ^^lo paid to him by
divers of the inhabitants, parcel of a common stock
within the said town, and by special means of Sir
Robert Tyrwhitt, did assure to the defendant and other
persons all his estate ... to the use of all the inhabitants'.
He declared, however, that 'the said Inhabitants have
ever sythens been quietly possessed and injoyed the use
of the demesnes'. The matter was presumably decided
in favour of Pemberton, for he seems to have continued
as trustee in a fresh lease made by Queen Elizabeth on
8 February 1582 for 41 years. On 23 December 1606
King James 1 let the demesne to Sir Peter Young for
31 years after the expiration of the lease to Pemberton
and his co-trustccs, but Young also demised his interest
to the inhabitants, and it was only when this lease came
loan end in 1654 that the property could be enjoyed by
Robert Sanderson and Francis Gray who had bought it
in fee before the survey of 1649.'

This survey contains an interesting memorandum
about the customs of Rushden, and the composition

' Norihanit. A'. S' Q. ii (n.s.), 49-5+ : at Pari. Survey, no. 56.

p. 53 is a view of houjc from the south-cast. * Ducky of Lane,

' y.C.U. NoriManii. i, 287-8, 336. 117, 121.

' Bridges, Sorihanii. ii, 190. ' Chan. Proc. (Ser.

* Chan. I'roc. (Scr. 2), bdlc. 22, no. ' Duchy of Lane.

19; Pat. 4 Chas. I, pt. xxiiv; 5 Chas. I, * Ibid.

pt. IV i 24 Chas. II, pt. ix i Duchy of Lane. ' Bridges, Uiit. of

regarding the copyholders' fines made by the tenants
with King James I:

'The inhabitants on 28 November 1618 did compound
with King James for £216^ 19/. lod. ... to make their
fines upon Alienation or Descent certain, to uphold their
ancient Customs, with liberty to inclose, with divers other
privileges and freedoms as is at large expressed in the afore-
said decree. There are two Courts Lects ever)' year at
Michaelmas and at Lady day. The Court Baron is to be
kept once every three weeks. . . . There is a certain parcel!
of meadow within the parish of Arkellborow beyond
Neene, which the bailitf is allowed for his labour to gather
up; the lord's rent is valued at 23;. ^d. . . . The Rcgalitic
of the river Neene as far as the manor extendeth, namely
from the lower end of the meadow called Symede to
Ditchford Bridge, is leased out for this year at los.'*

The socage tenants, according to the custom, paid
their rent at Michaelmas only; the customers and copy-
holders at Michaelmas and Lady Day. The distinction
between the tenures was still observed when Bridges's
History of Northamptonshire was written ; the 'bornhold'
or 'bondhold' land paying double rent and double fine
to the Crown.' The copyhold land, which in the 1 8th
century was 'near ^ of the lordship', descended accord-
ing to the custom of gavelkind.'"

The sale of the manor in fee to Robert Sanderson and
Francis Gray, recognized in the Parliamentary Survey,
does not appear to have taken effect, though as Gray
seems to have been an ardent royalist" it might have
been expected that his right at least would be recog-
nized at the Restoration. The manor, however, was
resumed by the Crown, and still forms part of the
Duchy of Lancaster.

LENTON LANDS. One virgateofland was granted
to the prior and convent of Lenton in Nottinghamshire,

founded by William Peverel,

with the advowson of the
church, '-and another half virgate
was acquired by them in 1199
from Abel of Rushden.'^ After
the Dissolution the Lenton lands
in Rushden seem to have re-
mained with the Crown until
1609, when James I granted
them with the parsonage to
Robert Pemberton, who had
already obtained the site of the
manor.'* He was succeeded in
the same year by his son Sir
Lewis Pemberton, who was
sheriff of Northamptonshire in 1621. The holding is
described at this time as including the Parsonage with
glebelands belonging to it of 21 acres, and one close
called Monkes Close and 'halfc a Close over the back-
wall of the Vicarage, besides hay';" but the survey
which was made for the purpose of a sale did not take in
Sir Lewis Pemberton's 'Cheife house Called the Hall',
said to be held of the Crown in socage.'*

Although Rushden Hall was not among the lands
thus put up for sale, both it and the parsonage were
held by John Ekins during the Interregnum. He was
the second son of Thomas Ekins of Irchcster," and had

'<> Ibid. " Sec below.

Cal. to PlfjJingi, i, " Cal. Chjri. 1300-26, p. 316.

" Feet of F. case 171, file 4, no. 3.

. 2), bdle. l2 2,no. 19. '* Pat. 6 Jas. I.

Pari. Survey, no. 56. '» S.P. Dom. Chas. I, ccccviii, 140.

"> Ibid.

Norikanii. ii, 190. " M.I. i" Rn-bl'" church.

Priory or Linton.
Quarterly or and azure
•with a cross Calvary or
over all fimbriated and
stepped sable.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

inherited a freehold in Rushden from his mother Eliza-
beth, daughter and one of the heirs of John Page of
Rushden and Alice his wife; she was married to Thomas
Ekins in 1607.' Her younger sister Alice married,
before 1625, Francis Gray, afterwards one of the pur-
chasers of Rushden Manor. The sisters, or their hus-
bands, quarrelled over the freehold; for Francis Gray
asserted that 'the said John Page considering that the
house wherein y^ said Thomas Eakyns did inhabit,
which was not above 2 myles from y* dwelling of the
said John Page, was of better strength than the house
of the said John Page, and that Thomas Ekyns did keep
more persons in his family, did place in the dwelling
house of Thomas a chest'. The key of this chest he gave
in August 1622 to Francis Gray with some account of
the contents; after his sudden death 'a writing purport-
ing a feoffment' was missing, and Gray complained that
he and his wife were 'like to be done out of their share'. ^

John Ekins, the son of Thomas Ekins, in 1633 was
prominent in the neighbourhood for his resistance to
the payment of ship-money. On 27 March 1637a nag
belonging to him was taken by way of distraint and
locked up in a stable at Raunds, but it was rescued the
very same night. Francis Gray,^ on the other hand,
took the unpopular side with a vigour which brought
upon him the notice of Parliament. In 1642 it was
alleged that he had procured a privy sessions of the
peace to be held at Kettering to molest those who were
well affected to the Parliament, because they had
'thrown down at Isham a cross which had on it a super-
stitious engraving which occasioned many gazers there-
on'. He was also reported to have 'caused his servants
to make great store of bullets to be employed against the
well-affected, whom he called round-headed rogues'.
A party of soldiers was sent to his house at Welling-
borough to arrest him, and a full account of his attempted
rescue by 'the common People (who seldom love or
hate moderately),' is given in Mercurius Rusticus;* but
as the affectionate regard of his poorer neighbours
resulted in the death of Captain John Sawyer, it cannot
have improved his position with the authorities. He
was imprisoned, and though allowed a certain amount
of hberty at the end of nine months, was not fully dis-
charged until 1645.

The site of the manor passed on the death of John
Ekins to his son Thomas Ekins, who was seised of it in
1677. It remained, after his death in that year, for some
time in the possession of his family. John Ekins, who
was in occupation of it in Bridges' time, was also
steward of the manor for the Crown ;5 but Rushden
Hall is said to have passed shortly afterwards to Lord
George Germaine.* Early in the 19th century it was
sold by Thomas Fletcher to Thomas Williams,' but, as
the purchaser lived near Dorchester, the Fletchers con-
tinued to occupy the house.* John Fletcher was still
living there in 1838, but about 1849 the Hall passed
into the possession of Mr. F. V. Sartoris,' from whom
it passed to Mr. Herbert Sartoris, being subsequently
acquired by the Urban District Council.

One-sixth of a knight's fee in Rushden was held of

William de Ferrers in 1242 by Henry de Billing,'" who
with his wife Wymare had acquired lands here from
Sara, daughter of Warin le Falconer in 1222." This
Warin may perhaps be identified with Warin the son of
Nicholas who acquired a virgate in Rushden in 1 219.'-
'The heir of Henry de Billing', who was in possession
of a quarter of a knight's fee in Rushden in 1284,'^
was perhaps Cecily the wife of Henry le Sauvage; she,
with her husband, quitclaimed two virgates to John
Brabazon in I290.''' William Brabazon had a freehold
in Rushden in the time of Edward III, assessed at J^
of a fee only, and held at an earlier date by Ralf de
Punchardon,'5 of whom there is apparently no other
record here. By 1428 it had passed into the hands of
John Basset, whose land, though described as -j'^ of a
fee, is stated to be that formerly held by William
Brabazon,'* but after this date the descent becomes
obscure. It is just possible that this holding may be
identified with the freehold which belonged at the end
of the 1 6th century to John Page and afterwards
descended to his daughters Elizabeth, the wife of
Thomas Ekins, and Alice, the wife of Francis Gray;"
and if so it probably became merged in the property
attached to the site of the manor.

Land in Rushden was given by Warin le Falconer
to the hospital of St. James outside Higham (to which
no other reference appears to have been found), but
part of it was unjustly alienated by William Bunch, the
predecessor of John, who was master in 1284.'*

A mill, rendering 10/., was one of the appurtenances
of the manor in 1086."

The church of ST. MART cor\%\si% of
CHURCH chancel, 38 ft. by 16 ft. 6 in., with north
and south chapels its full length ; north and
south transepts; clerestoried nave of three bays, 54 ft.^"
by 19 ft. 6 in.; north aisle, 14 ft. wide; south aisle,
II ft. 6 in. wide; north and south porches, and west
tower, 14 ft. square, with tall stone spire. All these
measurements are internal. The width across nave and
aisles is 50 ft. 6 in. and across the transepts 85 ft. 6 in.,
the north transept projecting beyond the aisle 20 ft.,
the south transept 14 ft. 6 in.; both transepts are 20 ft.
wide. The extreme internal length of the church is

The building is faced with rubble and has low-
pitched leaded roofs throughout. The parapets are of
ashlar, those of the transepts and porches plain, but
elsewhere battlemented. The walls are plastered in-
ternally, except at the west end of the nave and in the
south chapel.

The ground-plan of the church is almost entirely of
the later part of the 13th century, but the building
underwent various changes in the two following cen-
turies, assuming its present aspect about 1500. The
nave arcades seem to have been rebuilt about the middle
of the 14th century, and the tower and spire are a Httle
later, but apparently the tower replaced an earlier one
and when it was erected the old nave roof was lowered
and a clerestory added. The south porch also dates
from the 14th century. The ejdsting clerestory and the

' Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. 353, no. 9.

^ Ibid.

3 He was Clerk of the Peace for the
county.

* It has been transcribed, and printed in
Norihanis. N. & Q. (n.s.), i, 251. The
affair was also described in a letter by Lord
Northampton, which has been printed in
Warburton's Prince Rupert and the

Cavaliers^ ii, 84.

5 Bridges, Northants. ii, 193.

' Cole, Higham Ferrers (1838), 201.

' Ibid. 8 Ibid.

' Northants. N. & Q. (n.s.).
'" Bk. of Fees, ii, 933.
" Feet of F. Nortliants., file 17, no. 86.
'2 Ibid, file 15, no. 35.
" FeuJ. Aids, iv, 14.

^^ Feet of F. Northants., file 56, no. 267.

*s Feud. Aids, vi, 569.

"6 Ibid, iv, 46.

" Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. 353, no. 9.

'8 Assize R. 619, m. 19.

"9 V.C.H. Northants. i, 336.

^^ Length on north side 52 ft. 6 in., on
south 55 ft., owing to the deflexion of the
axis of the tower.

HIGHAM FERRERS HUNDRED

RUSHDEN

strainer arch between the nave and crossing of the tran-
sept are of the early 1 5 th centur}-, while the north and
south chapels of the chancel are a late-l jth-century re-
building and probable enlargement of earlier chapels
which involved also the rebuilding of the chancel
arcades. To the 1 5 th century also belong the north
porch, windows in the aisles, the east window of the
south transept, the roofs of the nave and aisles and the
parapets throughout. The church was restored in 1872.
Externally the whole of the east end of the building
is of late-i jth-century date, except the 13th-century

cusped lights, with a quatrefoiled circle in the head,
flush with the face of the wall and repeated towards the
aisle, or chapel; this opening is without glass lines and
appears to have been always an internal feature, but
some alteration in position may be suspected.

The chancel arcades have four-centred arches of two
orders separated by casements, on piers consisting of
four attached shafts with hollows between, and moulded
capitals and bases. The two arches on the north side,
which open to the Lady Chapel, are considerably wider
than those opposite and both orders are moulded, the

132 Century late
141!! Century
152! Century
m 18™ Cent and

Modern

Plan of Rushden Church

priest's doorway in the south chapel, which is of a single
continuous chamfered order with hood-mould. The
chancel roof is lower than that of the nave, and the
chapels have high lean-to roofs, making a long straggling
battlemented gable across the whole of the unbroken
cast front. The chancel has an elaborate four-centred
east window of five cinqucfoiled lights, with battle-
mented transom, vertical tracery, and crocketcd hood-
mould with figure stops and finial carried up the middle
merlon of the parapet to a now empty canopied niche.
To the north of the altar is an image-bracket and cinque-
foiled canopied niche and in the usual position in the
south wall a beautiful 13th-century piscina and triple
sedilia forming a single composition of four delicately
moulded trcfoiled arches, under straight labels or
canopies with head-stops and small trefoils in the span-
drels. The arches spring from detached shafts with
moulded bases and moulded and foliated capitals.' At
the east end the jamb is an attached shaft with fillet on
the face and moulded capital and base: the seats are on
one level. The west jamb of the piscina is chamfered,
with a moulding at the top: the bowl is mutilated.
Above the sedilia is a 1 3th-century opening of two un-
' One only of the cipiulj is foliated, the others moulded.

inner order resting on half-round responds, the outer
continued to the ground. On the south side the orders
are hollow-chamfered and are similarly treated. The
sharply pointed chancel arch is of two chamfered
orders, the inner springing from half-octagonal responds
with moulded capitals and bases, the outer continuous.
The Lady Chapel (33 ft. 6 in.^ by 14 ft. 6 in.) is
lighted on the north side by two four-centred windows
of three and four cinqucfoiled lights respectively, with
simple tracery and hood-moulds with head-stops, and
at the east end by a large pointed window of five cinque-
foiled lights with moulded jambs, elaborate vertical
tracery and enriched hood-mould. The flowers in the
hollow of the hood-mould are repeated in a string-
course below the parapet. The west arch, separating
the chapel from the north aisle, is of three chamfered
orders on the west and two on the cast side, the inner
order on half-octagonal responds with moulded capitals
and bases, and the hood-mould terminating in grotesque
heads. The east end of the chapel is screened off, as at
Higham Ferrers, by a solid wall about 8 ft. high, against
which the altar was set, the space beyond forming the
sacrist)', a long narrow chamber about 4 ft. in width.

' Or 38 f(. including the ucritly at its ca>t end.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

The upper part of the screen, or reredos, has an arcading
of five cinquefoiled crocketed ogee arches and battle-
mented top. There is no trace of a piscina, but a rebated
rectangular aumbry remains in the north wall. The
sacristy is entered from the chancel by a 1 3th-century
continuous-chamfered doorway, and at its north end,
covering the north-east corner of the building, is an
octagonal battlemented turret containing a vice which
gives access to the chapel roof; the doorway to the vice
is 13th century, but is probably not in its original posi-
tion.' The chapel roof is modern, but old stone corbels
remain on the south side.

The south chapel (38 ft. by 14 ft.) is lighted at the
east end by a pointed window of four lights and on the
south by three four-centred windows, the westernmost
of two and the others of three cinquefoiled lights, all
with transoms, vertical tracery and crocketed hood-
moulds. In the easternmost window on the south
the transom is battlemented and the hood-mould of
the'middle window has stops containing shields with the
monograms IhC and 5T?. In the usual position in the
south wall is a 15th-century piscina with cusped head,
crocketed label, and square bowl. The elaborate west
arch of the chapel is of two moulded orders, its western
face set within a rectangular moulded frame with
panelled spandrels supported by scroll-bearing angels-
on brackets. The jambs of the arch have a deep case-
ment and shafted mouldings with capitals and heads
over the hollows: an inscription on the soffit records the
construction of the arch by Hugh Bochar and Julian
his wife.3

The transepts for the most part preserve their late-
I3th-century character. The walls, with their short
coupled angle buttresses of a single stage, remain un-
altered, and with the exception of the east window of
the south transept, which is a tall I jth-century opening
of three cinquefoiled lights with two embattled tran-
soms and elaborate vertical tracery, all the original
windows have survived. There is a chamfered string-
course at sill level all round, stopping against the aisle
walls, but both end-gables are of low pitch and the roofs
have been altered. In the south transept ironstone is
used in quoins, parapets, and bands in the south and
west walls, but in the north arm in the quoins only.
The end window of the south arm consists of three
trefoiled graduated lancets, with pierced spandrels,
double chamfered jambs, and hood-mould with notch
terminations. The west wall is blank. The north end
window is of four lights with intersecting tracery con-
sisting of trefoiled circles, and has double hollow-cham-
fered jambs and hood-mould. The two inner lights are
trefoiled, the outer plain. In the east wall is a window
of two lancet lights with trefoiled circle in the head and
notch-ended hood-mould, and a smaller one with re-
versed trefoil in the head high up at the south end of the
wall. There are corresponding windows, slightly differ-
ing in detail, in the west wall. In the north transept are
two rectangular aumbries, one at each end of the east
wall, and in the west wall below the window a pointed
doorway of a single continuous chamfered order: there
is no piscina. The south transept was set apart in 1919

as a War Memorial Chapel, and the walls covered to
sill level with panelling. Both transepts are separated
from the aisles by 15th-century screens, but their
roofs extend to the arcade of the nave, the eastern bay
of which forms a structural 'crossing': the roofs are
modern, or much restored. In the south transept the
string below the parapet belongs to the 14th-century
alterations and is ornamented with heads connected by
tendrils.

The arches of the nave arcades are of two chamfered
orders with hood-mould, springing from rather slender
octagonal piers* with moulded capitals and bases: the
inner order dies out above the capitals. The eastern-
most bay ranges with the transepts and its arches are
therefore considerably wider than those farther west:'
the responds follow the design of the piers but their
moulded capitals are simpler. There are also transverse
arches across the aisles west of the transepts, of two
chamfered orders, straggling and unequal in shape,
which spring on the wall side from corbels placed lower
than the pier capitals. The strainer arch, which was
introduced early in the 15th century to counteract the
thrust of these transverse arches, consists, like that at
Finedon, of a two-centred segmental moulded lower
arch springing from the capitals of the easternmost
piers, with an upper single-segment inverted arch
resting upon it. The spandrels are filled with large
traceried circles and elongated quatrefoils, and the
inverted arch consists of a moulding and band of
pierced quatrefoils set lozengewise surmounted by a
battlemented cresting. At the spring of the lower arch,
on either side, are figures of angels masking its junction
with the arcade.

The two tall four-centred 15th-century windows of
the aisles are of three cinquefoiled lights, of the same
general character as those at the east end of the church,
with elaborate vertical tracery beginning considerably
below the spring of the arch and divided into two stages
by embattled transoms. The single round-headed win-
dows at the west end of the aisles appear to be 18th-
century insertions, or adaptations of earlier openings:
the stops of the hood-mould of that to the north aisle
bear the date 171 8.*

There are five pointed clerestory windows on each
side; three over the two western bays are of four cinque-
foiled lights with traceried heads, and the others over
the transepts are single cinquefoiled openings.

The 13th-century north doorway is of two hollow-
chamfered orders, the inner continuous with trefoiled
head, the outer semicircular on nook-shafts with moulded
capital and bases, and hood-mould with head-stops.
The beautiful 15th-century two-story porch is elabor-
ately vaulted and has a four-centred moulded outer arch
within a rectangular frame, with traceried spandrels''
and canopied niche above. The bracket for a statue
remains, but in 1829 the niche was converted into a
window to light the porch chamber, the original win-
dow on the west side being then blocked, .'\ccess to the
chamber is from the outside by a doorway cut through
the upper part of the east wall.' The diagonal angle
buttresses of the porch are of two stages and in the west

' It was probably the outer doorway of
the original sacristy.

^ On the north side the scroll bears the
inscription 'In God is all', on the south
'In God help'.

3 The inscription reads: 'This arche
made Hue bochar & Julian hise wyf of
w[h]os sowlys God have merci up on

Amen.'

* The piers are about 18 J in. diameter:
the moulded bases stand on massive square
masonry plinths.

5 The width of the arches, from west to
east, is 14 ft. 7 in., 13 ft. 9 in., and 19 ft.
1 in. respectively.

' Chs. Archd. N'lon, 178. The

numerals are divided; the two latter are
nearly obliterated.

7 The spandrels contain blank shields
within quatrefoiled circles.

* 'Before the passing of the Poor Law
Act the chamber was allotted by the parish
authorities as the residence of an old
woman*: ArcA, Jour, xxxv, 430,

Rl'shden Cir'rch, from the South-East

RusHDEN Church: Interior, from the West Entrance

HIGHAM FERRERS HUNDRED

RUSHDEN

wall is a four-centred traceried window of three cinque-
foiled lights.

The 14th-century south doorway is of nvo con-
tinuous wave-moulded orders, as is also the outer door-
way of the plain unbuttrcssed contemporary porch, the
coped gable of which has a trefoil finial: high up in the
east wall is a small niche and in the west wall a single-
light window.

The graceful west tower and spire are, of their
period, inferior to none in the county. The tower is of
four stages, the three lower supported by double but-
tresses set back from the angles, above which, on each
side, is a grotesque head. In the upper stage the angles
are marked by flat pilasters. The buttresses and the
quoins of the upper story are of ironstone, and there are
ironstone bands irregularly placed on the intervening
wall-spaces. The vice is in the south-west angle. The
west doorway is covered, as at Higham Ferrers and
Raunds, by a shallow stone porch (8 ft. by 4 ft.) with
continuous moulded outer arch the straight-gabled em-
battled canopy of which is connected by cusping with
the tower buttresses. Over the arch is an empty tre-
foiled niche, and above the canopy a plain gable of
masonry forming the roof of the porch, which internally
is covered with a small quadripartite vault whose cham-
fered ribs, as well as the wall-arches, spring from
mutilated carved corbels: the boss is a six-leaf flower.
The inner doorway has continuous mouldings divided
by a casement but is without a hood, the wall above
being quite plain. The west window is of three cinque-
foiled lights, with moulded jambs and vertical tracery,
and above it, in the third stage, is a clock dial. On the
north and south sides the two lower stages are blank, but
in the third stage is a small pointed window of two tre-
foiled lights with quatrefoil in the head. The large
double bell-chamber windows are of the same type, but
deeply recessed, with moulded jambs, and hood-moulds
continued round the tower as a string. Above them,
between the pilasters, is a band of trefoiled tracery, and
the tower terminates in a beautiful parapet of pierced
quatrefoilcd circles on a corbel table of heads and
flowers, with shafted angle pinnacles attached to the
spire by pierced flying buttresses. The spire has
crocketed angles and three tiers of gabled openings in
the cardinal faces, the two lower being of two trefoiled
lights, with transom and a quatrefoil in the head. The
spire is 96 ft. high and the total height of tower and
spire 192 ft.

The late I 3th-century font has an octagonal bowl,
the sides of which are carved with bold leaf-work, and
the shaft has traceried ornament of various patterns.

The interesting I jth-century oak pulpit has traceried
panels divided by buttresses, moulded top, and em-
battled bottom moulding: the canted front is supported
on a shafted stem.'

The roof of the nave is of five bays, with moulded
principals resting on angel corbels, and can-ed bosses:
each bay is subdivided by moulded ribs into eight com-
partments and the battlcmented end-pieces have shields
within quatrefoils and an angel in the centre. The

shorter roofs of the aisles are equally good, of two bays,
with moulded principals, quatrefoilcd wall-plates, and
end-pieces, the bays subdivided as before, with angels
below the intermediate cross ribs. The roof of the
south chapel, though altered and much restored, is in
large measure original, and has four moulded principals
and battlcmented wall-plate.

The I 5th-century screenwork remains to be noticed.
The rood-screen is much restored and the upper part
modern: it has three tall traceried openings on each side
of the doorway, but the lower part is quite plain, the
rail and upright being unmoulded. The screens be-
tween the chancel and chapels extend across both open-
ings on either side: less in height than the rood-screen
they are of the same general character, with traceried
openings and moulded top-rails and uprights, but they
are extensively restored.^ At the west end of the south
chapel, below the Bochar arch, is a screen with two
traceried openings on each side of the doorway and solid
lower panels, the top-rail of which facing west is carved
w-ith vine pattern; and in a similar position in the north
chapel a screen with elaborately carved top and middle
rails, traceried openings, and solid lower panels.

The long screens inclosing the transeptal chapels are
generally of the same character, but differ in detail, the
upper rail of that on the north side being plain and the
tracery rather simpler; both screens stand slightly in
front of the aisle walls and are returned at the west end.

A few 1 5th-century seats remain at the west end of
the nave.

At. the east end of the north chapel, against the screen
wall, is the canopied monument, with kneeling figures,
of Robert Pemberton, 'gentleman usher to Queen Eliza-
beth for 30 years' (d. 1609), and Mary Traughton his
wife (d. 1608).' The cornice is supported by pilasters
with Renaissance ornament, and in the two panels at
the base are the figures of four sons and four daughters.
Against the north wall of the same chapel is the canopied
tomb of Sir Goddard Pemberton, kt. (d. 1616), high
sheriff of the county of Hertford, with reclining figure
in armour under a semicircular coffered arch. There
are also mural tablets to John Ekins (d. 1677) and
Elizabeth his wife (d. 1663).*

In the tracery of the east window of the chancel are a
few pieces of 15th-century glass, the remains of a Jesse
window, comprising four prophets and eight kings, on a
blue ground: the prophets wear hats and stand within
loops of the vine, emljowered in foliage,^ the kings are
nimbed. Other fragments of the same period occur in
the east window of the north chapel, and in the north
window of the nave.^

There are six bells, five by R. Taylor of St. Neots
1794, and the tenor by the same firm, then Robert
Taylor & Son, 1818.'

The plate consists of a modern medieval chalice
and paten of 1849, and a pewter flagon and bread
holder.*

The registers before 18 12 are as follows: (i) all
entries i 598-1724; (ii) baptisms and burials 1726-83,
marriages 1726-58; (iii) baptisms and burials 1783-

' The pulpit is on the south side of the
chancel arch : its longer south side stands
on a modem stone base, the north side is
open.

* In front of the organ, on the south
side, the screen is merely a modern frame-
work.

' The inscriptions on this and the other
monuments are given in Bridges, Hiil. of

Sortfianti. ii, 192-3. Sir Goddard Pem-
berton is represented with pointed beard
and ruff.

* Bridges records an 'antique freestone
monument* in the chancel with inscription
to William Peeke and Margaret his wife,
and a tablet to William Maye, 1631:
ibid. 19:, 194.

' Nelson, Anc. Painttd Ghtt in Eng-

lanJ, 157.

"■ The Virgin, apostles, and censing
angels in the east window of the north
chapel; SS. Peter, Matthew, James the
Less, and Andrew in the north window
of the nave.

' North, Cli. Bcllt of Norihants. 395,
where the inscriptions are given.

• Markham, Ch. Fhtt 0/ ,\oriijnli.lSi.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

i8i2; (iv) marriages 1754-1806; (v) marriages
1806-12.

The advowson of Rushden was
ADFOWSON granted by William Peverel to the prior

and convent of Lenton, a cell of the
abbey of Cluni,' and was seized by Edward II in 1324,
and on various other occasions when England was at war
with France.- At the Dissolution the rectory was valued
at j^i2 yearly.^ The advowson remained in the possession
of the Crown until 1649,*' though Sir Lewis Pemberton
presented for one turn in 1630;' and it was granted
during the Interregnum to John Ekins.* He surren-
dered his grant at the Restoration, petitioning for a
fresh one from the king,' apparently unsuccessfully, as
the Crown presented in 1665.* The hving was in the
gift of the Lord Chancellor in 1873, but afterwards
passed to the Church Pastoral Aid Society, the present
patrons; its net value is ^[444, including the residence
and 6 acres of glebe. The vicarage was stated, in the
17th century, to be 'provided for ^^60 per annum
besides major tythes'.' In 1324 the parson, Hugh de
Willoughby, had enjoyed 'the greater and lesser tithes,
profits, and fruits, and all tenements belonging to the
church'; but this was only by virtue of a special lease
made to him by Geoffrey the prior and the convent of
Lenton for five years from i August 1324, in considera-
tion of the release of an ancient debt of 200 marks ob-
tained by them from his father. Sir Richard de Wil-
loughby.'" The church had been valued at £j.o in
1 29 1." The chantry certificates of Edward VI's time
record a gift of land and rents to the value of \\d. 'by
divers persons' for the maintenance of lights in Rushden
church.

By his will dated 24 May 1619
CHARITIES William May gave ^100 to be laid out

in the purchase of land for the benefit
of the poor. Upon the inclosure of the parish 10 acres
of land at Wollaston was allotted in lieu of the land pur-
chased. This is now let at £;io per annum.

A yearly sum of ^^3 is paid by the trustees of Parson
Latham's Hospital in Barnwell agreeably to the direc-
tion of Nicholas Latham the founder, who died about
1620.

A sum oi £1 yearly, usually called the Bull Money,
was originally given by a Mrs. Mary Greaves (date
unknown). This rentcharge, which issued out of cer-
tain land in Rushden, was redeemed by the transfer in
1905 of ;{^I20 Consols to the Official Trustees of
Charitable Funds. The above-mentioned charities are
administered by a body of trustees known as the
Parochial Trustees in conformity with the provisions
of a Scheme of the Charity Commissioners dated 29
May 1877. The income is applied in doles of 5/. each
to aged poor and for the benefit of the local hospital.

Parish Clerk's Charity. For upwards of 250 years a
piece of land containing an area of 222 i sq. yards with
dwelling-house situate in Newton Road, Rushden, was
held for the benefit of the Parish Clerk. The property
was sold in 1923 and the proceeds invested, producing
j^38 10/. bd. yearly in dividends. The charity is ad-
ministered by the rector and churchwardens.

By his will proved in P.R. i May 1855 John Ward
gave j^4oo Consolidated Bank Annuities, the interest to
be applied in the first place in keeping in repair the
tomb of his late father situate in the burial ground of
the Baptist chapel, and the surplus to be applied in the
repair of the chapel and towards the general expenses
of the chapel. The endowment consists of ^^400
Consols producing j^^io yearly in dividends. In 1922
£4 I 5/. was spent in repairs to the tomb.

Wm. Henry Wilkins by his will proved in P.R.
28 September 1905 gave to the Rushden Parochial
Trustees two ^50 4 per cent, mortgages of the Rushden
and Higham Ferrers District Gas Co. the income to be
applied for the benefit of the Rushden Nursing Associa-
tion.

The same testator gave part of his estate to his wife's
sisters, Mary Ann Foskett and Susan Ehzabeth Foskett
for life and directed that after the decease of each sister
a sum of /^200 should be paid to the Park Road Baptist
Church and the residue to the parochial trustees, the
income to be applied for the maintenance of any
cottage hospital or nursing institute in Rushden. He
also directed that the foregoing charities founded by
him should be known as 'The Foskett Wilkins Charity'.

Miss Susan Elizabeth F"oskett by her will proved in
P.R. 25 February 191 1 gave ^£50 and Miss Mary h-M\
Foskett by her will proved in P.R. 21 December 191 8
gave ^300 in augmentation of the charity for the
Cottage Hospital. The endowments of these charities
now produce an income of about /^loo.

The Wilkins Foskett (Cemetery) Charity was
founded by Declaration of Trust dated 28 June 1922.
The endowment consists of ;^io original stock of the
Rushden and Higham Ferrers District Gas Co. and the
income is applied by the parochial trustees towards the
upkeep of the cemetery for the parish of Rushden and
particularly the graves of the Wilkins F'oskett family.

By his will proved in P.R. 12 January 1924 Jere-
miah Knight gave the interest on ^^1,000 and his house
in Denmark Road, Rushden, to his niece Florence
Cowley for hfe, and directed that upon her death the
property should form part of his residuary estate, which
he bequeathed to the trustees of the parochial charities
for the support of a cottage hospital or nursing institute.

By codicil to his will proved in P.R. 1 1 January 1924
Joseph Arthur Loval Dearlove gave ;{^ioo i\ per cent.
Consolidated Stock, the income arising therefrom to be
applied by the rector and churchwardens in keeping the
Rushden churchyard in good order and particularly the
grave of the testator's parents.

The Skinner (Cemetery) Charity was founded by
Declaration of Trust dated 12 February 1925. The
endowment consists of ^^120 z\ per cent. Consolidated
Stock and the income therefrom amounting to ^'X,
yearly is applicable by the parochial charity trustees in
the repair of the cemetery and the graves therein.

The several sums of stock are held by the Official
Trustees of Charitable Funds.

The four almshouses built in 1883 to the memory
of Frederick Maitland Sartoris are supported by his
family.

' Cal. Chart. 1300-26, p. 316; V.C.B.
Notts, ii, 96.

^ Cat. Pat. 1 324.-7, p. 63; 1338-40,
p. 51; 1340-3, pp. 64, 148, 464, 486;
1422-9, p. 391.

3 Dugdale, Mon. v, 117.
•< Pat. 1 1 Jas. I, pt. xiii
pt. iv;Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
5 Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
* Cal. S.P. Dom. 166 1-2, p. 156.

' Ibid.
2 Chas. I, 8 Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).

^ S.P. Dom. Chas. I, ccccviii, no. 140.
"> Cal. Pat. 1324-7, p. 63.
" Tax. Eccl. (Rec. Com.), 40.

HIGHAM FERRERS HUNDRED

STANWICK

Stanwige (xi-xvi cent.); Stanwicke.

The parish of Stanwick, containing about 2,023
acres, between the River Nene and the Bedfordshire
border, in 1935 became part of Raunds. The village
stands on a slight hill overlooking the Nene, about a
mile and a half from Higham Ferrers station. Bridges
mentions a spring called the Holywell, which rose to
the south-east of the church of St. Lawrence, and a
stream, in the manor-house land, known as Finswell,
which ran for a distance of about 1 2 poles above ground
and then disappeared. Stanwick House, occupied by
Mr. James Adams, stands on rising ground west of the
church and has a fine view of the country-side. The
solar with a chapel, built here by Robert de Lyndesey,
Abbot of Peterborough (1219-22), is said to have been
taken down when the house was rebuilt in 1 7 14.'

The rectory, however, has been more prominent in
history than the manor-house. In the time of Queen
Mary Richard Gill was deprived on 22 May l 554 and
his successor, John Smythe, on 19 January following.'
William Dolben, who was buried here on 19 September
163 1, was so beloved by his parishioners that they
ploughed and sowed the glebe at their own expense
during his illness, so that his widow might have the
profit from the crops. The rector left two daughters
and three sons, of whom the eldest, John, was born at
Stanwick on 20 March 1625. John Dolben was at
Christ Church on the outbreak of the Civil War, but
at once took arms for the king, serving as ensign at
Marston Moor. He was seriously wounded in the
defence of York, but afterwards joined the garrison at
Oxford, where, after the surrender of the city in 1646,
he resumed his work, taking his M.A. degree in the
following year and being elected to a fellowship, of
which he was subsequently deprived by the parliamen-
tary visitors. In 1660 he was made Canon of Christ
Church, in 1662 Dean of Westminster, and in 1666
Bishop of Rochester, where he remained until his ap-
pointment in 1682 as Archbishop of York.'

The rectory house was rebuilt, at a cost of ^^i, 000,
by Peter Needham, a distinguished classical scholar,
who was appointed rector in 17 17 and died here in
1 73 1.* His successor was Denison Cumberland, whose
son, Richard Cumberland the dramatist, has left in his
memoirs an account of his youth at Stanwick, where he
projected a universal history and wrote a play upon
Caractacus in the Greek manner. An income which
secured him leisure to develop his literary activities was
assured to him by his appointment as private secretary
to Lord Halifax, an office which seems to have been
almost a sinecure. Denison Cumberland had enlisted in
the neighbourhood two full companies for a regiment
raised by Halifax in 1745; ^"<^ Halifax recognized this
service, together with the rector's support of the Whigs
in the contested election at Northampton in 1748, by
providing for his son. The elder Cumberland himself
left Stanwick in 1757, on his appointment to Fulham.'

It was an old custom in Stanwick to allow the young
people to jangle the church bells on Shrove Tuesday,
but this practice seems to have been discontinued about
1880.

The soil varies considerably; the subsoil is chiefly
Great Oolite, with a deposit of Cornbrash in the eastern
part of the parish, but a belt of alluvium and Upper Lias
clay follows the course of the River Nene. The chief
crops are wheat, barley, oats, beans, peas, and potatoes.
The common lands were inclosed in 1834.*

The manor oiSTANICICK formed part
MANOR of the fee of Peterborough Abbey in 1086,
when it was assessed at i hide and I virgate.'
It was held of them by Ascelin de Waterville in the
reign of Henry I,' but his son Hugh granted it to the
abbey, with the exception of 2 virgates held of him by
Assur and Gunfrey and another virgate which Ascelin
had given in marriage with his two daughters. Geoffrey
the brother, and Ascelin the heir apparent, of Hugh
gave their consent to the grant.' Henry de Stanewig
held 5 virgates at Stanwick in 1 1 87, and in 1 195 Adam,
.Abbot of Peterborough, granted that Henry and his
heirs should hold all the land of him for a yearly rent of
30/."'

In 1224 Joyce of Chelveston claimed the right of
common in Stanwick 'because the men of the same
Abbot common in Joyce's land at Chelveston, and so
it was done after the conquest of England'. . . . The
abbot, however, replied that he claimed no common
with the men of Chelveston, nor had it; and this he
offered to prove by battle or by putting himself on the
assize."

The men of the .A.bbot of Peterborough in Stanwick
were released from attendance at the Hundred Court at
Higham Ferrers by William de Ferrers, Earl of Derby.''

At the Dissolution the manor was granted to the
dean and chapter of Peterborough Cathedral." It seems,
however, to have remained or returned to the Crown,
for Queen Elizabeth granted more than one lease of it;'*
and a moiety seems to have been sold in fee to Lewis
NichoUs in i^S^.^^ He, with Francis and Austin
Nicholls, conveyed it in the following year to Robert
Ekynsand John Atkyns.'* In May 1609 James Igranted
the whole manor to George Salter and John Williams,"
from whom it presumably passed to John Saunderson
and Cecily his wife, John Coxe and William Tawyer,
who conveyed it to Nicholas Atkyns and John his son in
1622.'* John Atkyns and Frances his wife levied a fine
concerning the manor in 165 1," probably in connexion
with the marriage of their son John to Elizabeth,
daughter and heir of Richard Willis,-" as the young
couple, together with Riciiard Willis and his wife
Prudence, were also parties to the fine.

John Atkyns died on 17 January 1669, having had
seven sons and five daughters, of whom six sons and
three daughters survived him." His son John with his
wife Agnes sold the manor to the Ekins family in 1 67 1 .'*

' Bridget, Nort/ijnti. ii, 195.
' Koriianis. A'. & Q. i, 11$.

• Diet. Nal. Biog.

• Ibid,
s Ibid.

' 45 Will. IV, cap. 8 J.
' y.C.H. Sarikanii. i, 314.

• Ibid. 377.

• Cott. MS. Clcop. C. ii.

fol. 24,

no. cxliii.
■° Ibid. fol. 14.
■■ Braclan't Note-Book {ei. MtitUnd),

97'-
'' Reg. Rob. de Swaffham, cciii, ».d.

" L. 6f P. lien, nil, ivi. g. 1126 (io)i

XI, pt. ii, 1066.

'* Pat. 2 Kliz. pt. liii; 38 Eliz. pt. vii.

" Rccov. R. Hil. 27 Elii. m. 13.

'« Feet of F. Northantf. Hil. 22 Eli«.

" I'al. 7 Jas. I, pt. «vi.

'" Feet of F. Northants. Hil. 19 Jis. 1.

" Feet of F. V>\\. to. Trin. 1651.

'o M.I. In Sunwick Church.

" Ibid.

" Bridges, Norikanti. ii, 195 j Feet cf F.
Northants. East. 23 Chas. II.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

John Ekins of Rushden was lord in 1723,' but in 1773
it was the property of Mary Pacey, and in 1876 of Mr.
Spencer Pratt.

Half a fee in Ringstead and Stanwick was held in
1242 of William Earl of Ferrers by Matthew de
Iverny,^ and subsequently by William de Walda,^ and
this was divided in 1275 between Roger Barbedor and
Ralf Waldeshef "i It seems probable that an arrange-
ment was made by which the land in Stanwick was held
by Waldeshef, and that in Ringstead (q.v.) by Barbedor,
for in May 1 298 William Waldeshef only is said to have
been holding in Stanwick of the Earl of Lancaster of the

Stanwick in 1086, with a meadow of 8 acres." The
meadow and mill, with lands and pastures, were valued
at ,^8 I IS. for the taxation of 1291 ;"■ and seem to have
followed the descent of the manor. Two mills in Stan-
wick, 'being a water-mill and a windmill', parcel of the
lands of Peterborough, were leased to Edward Ferrers
and Francis Phelips on 19 May 1609."

The church of'ST. LAIVRENCE con-

CHURCH sists of chancel, 30 ft. 6 in. by 17 ft. 6 in.,

with north vestry and organ-chamber;

nave, 59 ft. 6 in. by 18 ft. 6 in.; south aisle, 16 ft. wide;

south porch, and octagonal west tower, 12 ft. 6 in. in

13= Century
l+ffl Century
I5ffl Century
E21 I7IB Century
m 191 Century

Scale of Feet

Plan of Stanwick Church

honor of Peverel.^ The Waldeshef fee was held about
1330 by Ralf Waldeshef, the heir of William de Vaux;*
but the property, Hke that in Ringstead, was in 1428 in
the hands of Sir Simon Felbrigge.' It seems to have
passed not long afterwards to the College of Higham
Ferrers, and was granted, with other lands formerly be-
longing to the College, to Robert Dacres on 17 April
1543.* His grandson. Sir Thomas Dacres, held at the
time of his death in 16 16.'

Certain lands in Stanwick, described in 1462 as a
manor, were held in the i 5 th century by the Tresham
family and followed the descent of Rushton (q.v.).'"

Lands and tenements in Stanwick formed part of the
appurtenances of the manor of Cotes held by Sir Henry
Green at the time of his death in 1399." The property
followed the descent of his estates,'- and is mentioned by
Bridges in 1723 as 'a small manor consisting of rents of
the yearly value of ^{^1 i is. i iJ., reserved out of certain
lands formerly copihold but now manumised', belong-
ing to the Earl of Peterborough.'^ The date of the en-
franchisement is uncertain, but the rent is described as
a free rent at the death of Henry Lord Mordaunt in
1609, when it was of the yearly value of 38/. %J.^*

There was a mill worth 20s. attached to the manor of

' Bridges, loc. cit.

^ Bk. of Fees^ ii, 933.

3 See above, p. 4.1.

■t Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), ii, 10.

5 Cal. Ir.q. p.m. iii, 423, p. 296.

Feud. Aids, vi, 568.

' Ibid, iv, 4.6.

^ L. (^ P. Hen. Fill, xviii, pt. i,
g- 47+ (27)-

9 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclix, 119.

"> Cat. Pal. 1461-7, pp. Ill, 431;
1476-85, pp. 201, 416.

'^ Chan. Inq. p.m. I Hen. IV, pt. 2,
no. I.

'^ Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 2 & 3 Phil,
and Mar)*; Recov. R. Trin. 18 Eliz. ;
Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccix, 200.

'3 Bridges, A'orMan/j. ii, 195.

diameter, with tall stone spire. All these measurements
are internal. The width across nave and aisle is 37 ft.
7 in.

The building is mainly of the 13th century, in the
earlier part of which, c. 1220-30, aisles were added to
an existing 12th-century nave, the chancel was rebuilt,
and the tower and spire erected. Some late-i2th-cen-
tury indented moulding is used in the reconstructed
chancel arch, but with this exception little or nothing
from the earher fabric has survived. The porch appears
to have been contemporary with the aisle, but a
chamber was built over it, probably in the 14th century,
and buttresses added: a window at the west end of the
aisle is also of this period. In the 15th century the
chancel was rebuilt and its width reduced by setting
back the south wall some 2 or 3 ft., new windows were
inserted in the aisles and parapets added to the walls.
That there was formerly a north aisle seems plain from
the nature of the outer wall of the nave and its junction
with the tower and chancel, and also from the evidence
of the plan: the remaining portion of the original north
wall of the chancel at its west end stands considerably in
front of the wall of the nave, and the tower and chancel
arches are no longer in its line of axis.'* Originally the

'■* Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccix, 200,

'5 y.C.H. Northants. i, 314.

"> Tax. Eccl. (Rec. Com.), 54.

" Pat. 7 Jas. I, pt. xvi; Cal. S.P. Dom.
1640, p. 659.

■* The 13th-century roof-table on the
east side of the tower extends some dis-
tance beyond the face of the present nave
wall.

>^iAN« le K CiirRCn: The Tower

HIGHAM FERRERS HUNDRED

STANWICK

width of the nave was about 2 1 ft., but at what period
the aisle and its arcade were removed is unknown.
In the existing wall are a blocked i3th<entury door-
way and three 15th-century windows, but it seems
most likely that the aisle was pulled down and the
present wall erected in 1664, which date, with the
initials r. s., is on a panel above the doorway,' which is
the old one re-used. The windows of the aisle were
also incorporated in the new wall. The chancel was
again largely rebuilt in 1823, the old windows being
retained, and an extensive restoration of the fabric was
carried out in 1855-6.^

With the exception of the chancel the building is of
nibble and has battlemented parapets throughout. The
high-pitched roof of the nave is covered with Colley-
weston slates, but the chancel and aisle roofs are leaded.
There is no clerestory.

The chancel is of two bays, faced with coursed
dressed stones and has a 15th-century east window of
four cinquefoiled lights with vertical tracery, and one of
three lights at the west end of the south wall: the
eastern bay is blank and the priest's doorway is a
renewal. Part of the old north wall remains, with a
window jarab at its east end, but no ancient ritual
arrangements had survived.^ The chancel arch is of
two chamfered orders, the inner springing from half-
octagonal responds with moulded capitals and bases.
The arch is four-centred and the labels differ, that
facing west having a big indented moulding and the
other a large nail-head, the explanation probably being
that a late-i2th<entury arch was reconstructed in the
13th and again in the i 5th century, at the enlargement
and at the rebuilding of the chancel. On the north side
of the opening facing east is a beautiful 13th-century
niche, or stall, with a rounded trefoiled head of two
moulded orders, the inner resting on shafts with
moulded capitals and bases: the cusping has foliated
terminations.'*

The nave arcade is of three bays, with arches of two
chamfered orders on 1 3th-century piers composed of
four clustered shafts with moulded capitals and cham-
fered bases and responds of like character. The arches
are four-centred, but having hood-moulds of distinctly
13th-century character have been considered contem-
porar)' with the piers:' it is not unlikely, however, that
the arcade was rebuilt in the i 5th century with careful
re-use of the old material and the shape of the arches
altered. The upper doorway* of the rood-loft remains
at the east end of the arcade. The three pointed 1 5th-
century windows of the nave arc each of three lights
with quatrefoil tracery and are set high in the wall, with
a portion of moulded string below the sills inside. The
north doorway is of two unmoulded orders, with plain
jambs and hood-mould, but the double chamfered
impost, which is a continuation of the external string,
belongs to the period of rebuilding. The roofs of the
nave and aisle are modern.' In the south wall of the
aisle are two four-centred three-light windows with

* The panel appears to be contemporary
with the walhng on either side and below it.

* A west gallery, erected by the Rev.
Dcnison Cumberland, rector i7Ji-57,
was then taken down; it was 'done in
Doric woodwork' and obstructed the
tower arch. The church was reopened
after restoration i6 September 1856.
The organ-chamber was added at this time,
on the west of an earlier vestry.

^ A 'railing, screen Sc entablature upon
tlircc-quarter columns' (i.e. a rercdos).

erected by the Rev. Denison Cumberland,
have been removed.

' The stall is probably in its original
position, but the chancel has been so much
altered that there is some uncertainty.

» Cii. jirckd. K'lon, 48.

' It is square-headed and pierces the wall.

' The nave roof was restored to its
original pitch in 1856, before which it had
been so much lowered that the top of the
tower arch appeared above it : Cii. /irchJ.
A"/oif, 48.

vertical tracery, but the square-headed east window is
of two lights. In the usual position south of the aisle
altar is a 1 3th-century double piscina, with plain cham-
fered arches on small shafts with moulded capitals and
bases: one of the bowls is plain and the other fluted.
The 13th-century south doorway is of two chamfered
orders, the outer on shafts with moulded bases, and the
inner continued down the jambs below moulded im-
posts: the capital of the shaft on the west side is moulded,
the other foliated. The 1 3th-century outer doorway of
the porch is of two chamfered orders on half-round
responds with moulded capitals and bases, and label
with a headstop on one side and on the other a beautiful
leaf-scroll corbel: the trefoiled side windows appear to
be 14th-century insertions. The porch has a battle-
mented low-pitched gable and restored square-headed
two-light window to the chamber, access to which
is given by a vice in the north-west corner, entered
from the aisle by a modern doorway:' there is an older
blocked doorway in the aisle wall farther west, which
was probably the original entrance. The 14th-century
west window of the aisle is square-headed and of two
trefoiled lights.

The treatment of the tower is very unusual. It is
octagonal in plan from the base, with flat clasping but-
tresses at the angles, but is so contrived on the east side
that 'a square surface is presented to the body of the
church','' the angles being occupied at different levels
by vices, or circular stairways, to the bell-chamber.
The lower stair, in the south-east angle, does not go
higher than the roof of the aisle, to which it gives access,
but from this level a stepped passage in the thickness of
the wall is taken across the tower arch to the upper
stair in the north-east angle, which is carried up as an
engaged turret nearly the full height of the upper stage,
and opens to the bell-chamber by an elegant pointed
arch springing from moulded corbels. The tower has a
well-moulded plinth with a scroll-moulding as its upper
member, and over this a keel-shaped string, both of
which are taken round the buttresses. The west
window is a single lancet of three chamfered orders,
widely splayed inside, with a pointed chamfered rear-
arch of two orders springing from double shafts, the
capitals of which on the north side are foliated and on
the south moulded. Above the window is an octofoil
opening splayed to a circle within, but the lower stages
on the north and south and canted western sides are
blank, except for a small single lancet high in the south
wall. The arch opening to the nave is of three cham-
fered orders on the east side, continued to the ground
below moulded imposts. The upper, or bell-chamber
stage, which is slightly set back, consists of an arcade of
chamfered semicircular arches resting on groups of
clustered shafts with moulded capitals and bases, those
on the cardinal faces being pierced with two lancets
with clustered mid-shafts'" and quatrefoils in the heads.
On the alternate faces there are two blind-pointed
arches with mid-corbel, and over all is a trefoiled corbel-

' The chamber, which measures intern-
ally 9 ft. 6 in. by 8 ft. 6 in. was 'discovered',
or opened out, about 1848. The cuspings
of the window had then gone : ibid. 48, 50.

• Cki. ArcliJ. N'ton, 44. 'Two
squinches necessary for the conversion of
the square into an octagon abut on the
tower arch, and above them at the same
relative position in the angles are the com-
mencement of groining ribs' : ibid. 46.

'" Except on the east side, where the
shaft is octagonal.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

table resting on faces and notch-heads from which the
spire rises behind a later battlemented parapet. The
spire has ribbed angles and three tiers of gabled open-
ings on the cardinal faces, the bottom ones transomed
and of two lights. The total height of tower and spire
is 156 ft.'

The late 14th-century font consists of an elaborately
carved octagonal bowl and base, but the stem is missing.
The bowl has a cinquefoiled crocketed canopy on each
face and the base a band of quatrefoils and trefoils.

The wooden pulpit and chancel screen are modern.^
There is an oak chest dated 1 701 and at the east end
of the aisle a good Jacobean communion table with
carved top rail and thick fluted baluster legs.

In front of the chancel arch is a floor slab with a brass
inscription which reads: 'Hie jacet magist' Thoiiis de
Wynceby qndin rector isti' ecclie cui' an ppiciet' ds
amen.'3

In the chancel is a mural monument to John Atkins,
gent., 'lord of the manor of Stanwigge'(d. 1668-9), and
at the east end of the aisle one to Mrs. Mary Pacey,
lady of the manor (d. 1784).

There are three bells, the first of 14th-century date
inscribed 'Symon de Hazfelde me fecit', the second
dated 172 1, and the tenor i6i3.'»

The plate consists of a silver paten of 1705, an alms
dish of 1734, a flagon of 1845, and two cups of 1856,
all London make.^

The registers before 1812 are as follows: (i) bap-
tisms and burials 1558-1678, marriages 1561-1677,
with a gap in all entries 1570-7; (ii) baptisms 1680—
1757, marriages 1695-1757, burials 1679-1758;
(iii) baptisms and burials 1758-181Z; (iv) marriages
1758-1812.

The church of St. Lawrence at

ADVOWSON Stanwick was valued in 1291 at

;£i3 6/. %d., deducting the pension of

£\ and the portion of £;i 6s. id. due to the Abbot of

Peterborough, to whom the advowson belonged.*

In the Easter term of 1369 an interesting case was
brought on a writ of quare impedit against the papal

presentee to this church.' Michael SkiUyng stated on
behalf of the king that the church had fallen vacant
when the teraporalties of the abbey were in the king's
hands by the death of Abbot Adam of Boothby (1321-
38), for which reason the king should have made
the presentation. William Kirkstede, the incumbent,
replied that Thomas de Winceby had been provided
by the Pope in the lifetime of Adam and had been
parson afterwards, and that he himself had been pro-
vided by the Pope on Winceby's death after Henry of
Overton (i 361— 91) had become abbot. Thomas de
Winceby, who was parson of Stanwick in 1344,* had
probably been provided during the vacancy, for on 24
August 1 3 5 2 he obtained a ratification of his estate with
a warrant against disturbance by reason of any title the
king could claim by reason of the voidance of Peter-
borough Abbey.' Presumably the king reserved the
right to make its next presentation. The jurors, how-
ever, found simply that 'the said church was vacant
during the vacancy of the abbey: so that the Lord King
may recover the presentation'.'" Accordingly, Edward
presented Richard son of John Travers of Aldwinkle
on 18 November."

At the Dissolution the advowson of Stanwick passed
to the Crown, which retained it.'- The living is now in
the gift of the Lord Chancellor.

There are 1 1 acres of arable land in
CHARITIES the parish called the Church Lands,
the rent of which has from long usage
been applied by the churchwardens towards church ex-
penses. The land is let on yearly tenancy for £,\z 10/.

Peter Needham, D.D., Rector of Stanwick, be-
queathed ;^io to be laid out in land, the income to be
distributed to poor housekeepers. The money was laid
out in the purchase of land in Scaley Field which was
conveyed by deed dated 29 July 1734 to the vicar and
churchwardens. On an inclosure of the open fields an
allotment of I a. o r. 5 p. situate in the adjoining parish
of Raunds was set out in lieu of the land in Scaley Field.
The land is let on a yearly tenancy and produces £z 5/.
which is distributed in money to about 20 recipients.

STRIXTON

Trikeston, Struxton (xiii cent.) ; Stryxton (xv cent.) ;
Strykson (xvi cent.); Stroxton (xvii cent.).

Strixton is a small parish and village consisting of 3
farmhouses and 12 cottages. It is \\ miles north of
Bozeat on the main road from Wellingborough to
Olney. Its area is 8 1 2 acres. Its population, which was
57 in 1 801, and 48 in 1871, was 44 in 193 1. When
Bridges wrote, there were only two families; the manor
house, which stood immediately east of the church and
is said to have been an Elizabethan building, had 'an
orchard of near 8 acres, well planted with different
kinds of fruit'. '^ The parish lies at a height of about
200 to 300 ft. Its soil is of a fertile, mixed character,
its subsoil limestone: the chief crops grown are wheat,
barley, oats, and beans.

The village lies at the north-east of the parish on a
road branching west from the main road. The children
attend school at Wollaston, I mile distant. The rector
resides at Bozeat, with the vicarage of which parish
Strixton, a discharged rectory, is consoHdated.

Greenfield Lodge lies at the south-eastern angle of
the parish. In the extreme south-west there are old
gravel-pits, from which Strixton Plantation, a long
narrow strip of woodland, runs north. In the north-
west is Hillmount Spinney.

The men of Wollaston and Strixton were in 1254
the subject of an inquiry for alleged trespasses against
the bailiffs of the forests of Rockingham and Salcey,'*
but in 1263 as the result of this inquiry, which showed
that they had always been without the bounds of the

' Chi. Archd. N'ton, 46.

^ In 1 849 tfie pulpit given by John
Dolben, bishop of Rochester, was still in
the church: ibid. 50.

3 Bridges says that the name does not
occur in the Lincoln register. His sugges-
tion that Wynceby was rector before
Richard Travers, instituted in 1369 (op.
cit. ii, 196), is correct: see below, under

'Advowson',

* North, Ch. Bells 0/ Northants. 403,
where the inscriptions are given. Simon
de Hazfelde was casting 1353-73; a bell
by him is at Sutterton, Lines.

5 Markham, Ch. Plate of Northants.
266. The whole of the plate was presented
by Stephen Eaton EUand in 1856 as set
forth in an inscription on the alms dish.

' Pope Nich. Tax. 40.

' De Banco R. 434, m. 69.

8 Cal.Pat. 1343-5, p. 352.

« Ibid. 1350-4, p. 317.
'o De Banco R. 434, m. 69.
" Cal.Pat. 1367-70, p. 168.
" Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
" Hist, of Northants. ii, 196.
» Cal.Pat. 1247-58, p. 377.

HIGHAM FERRERS HUNDRED

STRIXTON

forest of Salcey, and that their dogs never were lawed,
they were granted freedom from such lawing of dogs.'
There is no mention of Strixton in the
MjINORS Domesday Survey, but it was probably in-
cluded, mainly, in the 2 hides and 3 vir-
gates held by Winemar in Higham Hundred.^ One
portion of the vill formed a part of the two fees of
Wollaston held in about 1236 by Robert son of Ralph
from Robert dc Newburgh and descended with the
Chokes fee in Wollaston (q.v.).' Another portion,
which became the manor of STRIXTON and to which
the advowson was appurtenant, was in the 1 2th century
held with Easton Maudit by Michael de Hamslapc,-'
and was subsequently held of the fee of Mauduit. This
was presumably held by Sir Ralf Ridel, who presented
to the church in 1230,* and later by Thomas Golafre
who was returned in 1265 as an adherent of the rebel
Sir John Fitz John and as having lands in Strixton
worth ^10, which the Earl of Warwick (overlord of the
Mauduit fee) had seized.* These lands he had re-
covered before 1 274, when he presented to the church.'
Shortly after this date the manor must have passed,
as did one part of Easton Maudit (q-v.), to Ralf
Fauconberg, as he conveyed lands in Strixton to Henry
de Preyers,* who in 1284 was holding a quarter fee in
Strixton of the Earl of Warwick,' and subsequent
presentations to the church were made by him and
other members of the Preyers family.

Henry de Preyers, with Thomas de Verdun, clerk,
granted a rent of 20/. per annum out of the manor of
Strixton to the priory of Spinney (co. Cambridge), in
1319,'° but before 1324 he had been succeeded in the
manor by Thomas de Preyers of Strixton, who on 2 1
June 1324 (with John in the
Willows of Fynedon) owed ^^i 20
to the executors of Thomas de
Verdun," and between whom
and the Bishop of Coventry and
Lichfield a fine was levied of the
manor in I 328-9.'^ The unrest
which culminated in the Peasants'
Rising is possibly reflected in the
issue, on 24 November 1380, of
a commission of oyer el terminer
on information that the bondmen
and bond tenants of Thomas de
Preyers in his manor of Strixton had withdrawn the ser-
vices due to him and assembled and confederated to-
gether by oathtoresist him." Thomas had been followed
by Richard de Preyers, who died before 1402, when the
fees of which Thomas Earl of Warwick was seised at his
death included Strixton, held by the heir of Richard.'*
This was his daughter Alice wife of Baldwin de
Drayton," who with her husband had in 1391 granted
tenements in Strixton and Grcndon to Elizabeth Beau-

Preyers. Guilt
scallops or.

three

LovETT. Argen: three
luolnjes passant sable.

champ,'* and next year conveyed the manor and advow-
son to John Billyng and others," probably for the
marriage settlement of their son John and his wife
Margaret. Lady Margaret Trussel, probably the re-
married widow of Baldwin de Drayton, was in 1428
holding three parts of a fee in Easton Maudit (q.v.)
and Strixton which John Wolf and Henry de Preyers
had formerly held of the fee of William Mauduit."
This property descended in the Drayton family," and in
1465 William Drayton died seised of a chief messuage
in Strixton and the advowson of the parish church of
St. Romwald of Strixton to the same belonging which
he held of Richard Earl of Warwick.^" His son Richard
died seised of the same on 20 July 1479, holding under
Richard Duke of Gloucester (the
husband of Anne of Warwick),
and his heir was his sister Anne,
wife of Thomas Lovett.-' By
this marriage the manor was con-
veyed to the Lovetts of Astwell,
and on 14 December 1543
Thomas Lovett died seised of
the manor, which he had settled
on Joan Bur)', widow, after-
wards his wife, who survived
him.^- He was succeeded by his
grandson Thomas (son of his son

Thomas) who was holding this manor in i 563.^^ Jane,
the only child of Thomas Lovett, married John Shirley,
and as Jane Shirley, widow, was dealing with the manor
and advowson in 1 572, -■• in which year a moiety of the
manor was conveyed to Paul Stretely by Griffin Birck-
mere and others. ^^ "YYit manor and advowson were in
I 58 1 conveyed by George Shirley, son and heir of Jane,
then remarried to William Grey, to Paul Stretely,
who granted to George Shirley a rent of £\ 3 6s. iJ.
from the same to begin after the deaths of Thomas
Lovett, esq. and Jane Grey, wife of William Grey, the
mother of George.^* Thomas Lovett died in i 586 and
was succeeded by his grandson George Shirley-' (created
a baronet in 161 1) who was dealing with the manor in
1588,^' shortly after which the manor and advowson
were conveyed to Sir Horace Pallavicini by Paul and
Christopher Stretely and Philip Smyth and his wife
Martha," with the manor of TIRRELLS. This last
was evidently the manor of Strixton which George
Tirrell conveyed in i 559 to Paul Darell.^" The trans-
action recorded in 1336, when William dc Brampton
and Reynold de Eston, vicars of Wollaston and Easton,
recovered seisin from William de Newenham of a
free tenement in Wollaston and Strixton held of the
manor of Strixton, may have referred to this property."
Richard Newenham, chaplain, was holding a manor of
Strixton in 1 395-6,^- and this docs not appear to have
been the de Preyers manor. It was possibly also the

' Cal. Pat. 1158-66, p. 250.
' l^.C.H. Northantt. i, 341a.
' Bk. of Fees, 603; Feud. AiJs, iv, 45,

445-

< r.C.H. Northatits. i, 376*.

' Bridges, Norihanis. ii, 198. He hid
probably married one of the co-heirs of
John Mauduit; see above, p. 12.

» Cal. of Inj. Misc. i.iiS.

' Bridges, loc. cit.

• Harl. Ch. 49 I, 18.

• FeuJ. Aids, iv, 14. In the sime year
he was fined for not having taken up
knighthood although holding land worth
^20: Assize R. 619, m. 64 d.

'<> Harl. Ch. 57 C. 26.

" Cal. Close, 1323-7, p. 200. Cf. ibid.
56..

" Feet of F. Northants. case 176, file
72, no. I f.

'1 Cal. Pat. 1377-81, p. 578.

" Chan. Inq. p.m. 2 Hen. IV, no. 58.

" Harl. MS. 6606, f. 115.

" Add. Ch. 740. Elizabeth Beauchamp
presented to the church in 1 392 and 1407.

" Feet of F. Northants. 15 Ric. U,
file 88, no. 137.

" Feud. Aids, iv, 45.

'^ For pedigree see Bridges, op. cit. ii,
197.

" Chan. Inq. p.m. 5 Edw. IV, no. 7.

" Ibid. 19 Edw. IV, no. 44.

*^ Exch. Inq. p.m. dcciii, 2.

" Rccov. R. Hil. 6 Eliz. ro. 402.

" Feet of F. Northants. East. 14 Eliz.;
Feet of F. Div. co. Trin. 14 Eliz.

" Ibid. Northants. East. 14 Eliz.

»» Ibid. Mich. 23 & 24 Eliz.

" Baker, Hist, of Northants. i, 732.

"• Rccov. R. \fich. 30 Eliz. ro. 84.

" Feet of F. Northants. Hil. 31 Elii.

'" Ibid. Mich. 1 & 2 Eliz.

" Assize R. 1400, m. 102.

» Feet of F. Northants. 19 Ric. II,
file 89, no. 168.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

manor of Strixton of which Sir Henry Broomflete, Lord
Vessy, was seised at his death on i6 January 1469,
when his daughter and heir Margaret, wife of Sir
Lancelot Threlkeld, succeeded him.'

Strixton manor and other lands in Strixton and
WoUaston and elsewhere had before 1 590 been granted
to Sir Thomas Cecil. Robert Earl of Essex, with Sir
Thomas Cecil and Thomas Crompton, exchanged this
and other property for lands in Oxfordshire which on
24 January i 590 were by Queen Elizabeth granted at
the request of the Earl of Essex to Thomas Crompton
and others.-^ The manor ot Strixton having thus re-
verted to the Crown again was, on 17 September 1604,
as 'lately parcel of the possessions of Sir Thomas
Cecill, kt., now Lord Burghley', granted to Sir James
Hay and Honor Denny, daughter and heir of Edward
Denny of Waltham, co. Essex, and their heirs. ^ The

in Modern
I3IS Ce.ntury
M 131 Century, REBUILT 1873

50 Feet

■10

Plan of Strixton Church

favourite upon whom King James bestowed Strixton,
with other lands and honours showered upon him, did
not marry the bride his sovereign was so anxious to
secure for him until 6 January 1607.'* Lord Hay, after-
wards created Earl of Carlisle, is said to have been a
spendthrift 'who left not a house or acre of land to be
remembered by'. In 16 10 he conveyed the manor and
advowson to Peter Bland, ^ with whom and Susan, wife
of the said Peter, he conveyed them to Richard Smyth
in 161 3.* In 16 19 Robert Parkhurst, citizen and gold-
smith of London, received licence to inclose 260 acres
of arable land in Strixton and turn them into pasture.''
He, with Margaret Smyth, widow, was holding the
manor and advowson in 1637-8, when they conveyed
them to William Streete and John Bourne.* It seems
probable that Margaret Smyth was the widow of
Richard, that he was a connexion of Philip Smyth,
mentioned in 1588, and that this conveyance was in
preparation for a transaction with the Wisemans, who
held a lease of Strixton property. Sir John Lambe,
Chancellor of the diocese of Peterborough and Dean of
the Arches (a persecutor of recusants and noncon-
formists, against whom petitions in parliament were
presented in 1621 and 1624), had prosecuted John
Wiseman and his wife Frances in 161 5 for profanation
and dilapidation of the church of Strixton, and for
marriage within the prohibited degrees. Wiseman
stated he was not bound by his lease to repair the church

but had done so several times, and the court found the
charges groundless, Lambe prosecuting merely for the
sake of molestation.' In 1642—3 Elizabeth Wiseman
was dealing with a moiety of the manor and advowson
of Strixton, which she conveyed to William Wise-
man.'" In 1647 a conveyance of the whole manor and
advowson was made to her by Sir Andrew Jenour, bart.,
and Margaret his wife, John Gage and Elizabeth his
wife, and Richard Binglye and Frances his wife, with
warranty against the heirs of Margaret, Elizabeth,
and Frances," apparently Wiseman ladies. Ten years
later it appears as held by the .Alston family, and a fine
was levied of the manor and advowson, by Edward
Alston, esq., and Hester his wife, John Alston, esq., and
Dorothy his wife, Edward Alston, M.D., and John
Wayne, gent., who conveyed them to Sir Thomas
Alston in 1656.'^ According to Bridges Sir Edward
Alston of East Barnet on his death in 1682
bequeathed the manor and advowson to his
eldest son William Alston,'^ who presented
in 1681 and 1688; and William, dying s. p.
in 1690, bequeathed them to his third
brother Charles Alston, D.D., Vicar of
Northall and Archdeacon of Essex, by
whom they were sold to his sister Catherine
widow of John Wiseman (who presented
in 1707), passing from her to her daughters
Hester and Elizabeth Wiseman, '■'who pre-
sented to the church in 172 1 and 1723."
Before 1753 the presentations show that
the advowson, and presumably the manor,
was in the hands of John Spencer of Al-
thorp, and since that date the Earls Spencer
have been lords of the manor and sole landowners.'*

The church of ^T. JOHN BJPTIST
CHURCH consists of chancel, 27 ft. 6 in. by 14 ft.
8 in.; nave, 40 ft. 6 in. by 20 ft. 10 in.;
and south porch, 7 ft. 6 in. by 6 ft. 10 in., all these
measurements being internal: there is a saddle-back
bell-turret over the west gable. With the exception of
the west wall the whole of the fabric was taken down
and rebuilt in 1873," the old materials being re-used
where possible and all its architectural features retained.
The building'* was of early- 13th-century date {c.
1220) throughout and may be still so described though
much new masonry has necessarily been introduced.
As rebuilt it is faced with dressed stone, but the original
walling at the west end is of rubble. The chancel and
nave are under separate high-pitched modern tiled roofs
with eaved gutters. Internally the walls are of bare
stone.

The chancel has double angle-buttresses of two
stages, a string-course at sill level, and east window con-
sisting of a triplet of lancets, with a quatrefoil opening
within a circle in the gable above. Externally the
lancets have individual hood-moulds, but within the
whole of the four lights are contained within an arch of
two chamfered orders. On either side of and above the
upper light externally are sunk circular quatrefoiled
panels filling the gable, and the lower panels are
repeated inside on either side of the containing arch.

■ Chan. Inq. p.m. S Edw. IV, no. 37.

^ Cal. S.P. Dom. 1590-7, p. 6r; Pat.
R. 33 Eliz. pt. 6, no. 17.

3 Pat. R. 2 Jas. I, pt. 29, m. 22; Cal.
S.P. 1663-10, p. 149; Feet of F. Nor-
thants. East. 4 Jas. I; Mich. 5 Jas I.

♦ Diet. Nat. Biog.

5 Feet of F. Northants. Trin. 7 Jas. I.

* Ibid. East. 10 Jas. I.

' Pat. R. 16 Jas. I, pt. 8, no. 2.

8 Feet of F. East. 13 Chas. I.

■* Cal. S.P. Dom. i6ii-iS,pp. 272, 277.

■■> Feet of F. Northants. Hil. 1 8 Chas. I ;
Recov. R. Hil. 18 Chas. I, ro. 10.

" Feet of F. Northants. Trin. 23 Chas. I.

" Ibid. Mich. 1656.

" Hist, of Northants. ii, 197.

'I Ibid.

■s Inst. Bits. (P.R.O.).

'* Kelly, Directories.

" Assoc. Arch. Soc. Reports, x\\, p. xjxil.

^8 Measured drawings of the church
(12 plates) by Edward Barr, architect,
were published by Parker, Oxford, in 1S49.

HIGHAM FERRERS HUNDRED wollaston

The gable has a plain coping. In both north and south
walls are two windows of two coupled lancets, with
segmental rear arches, and in the usual position in the
south wall a double piscina with plain chamfered arches
on moulded jambs with dog-tooth ornament and de-
tached shaft with moulded capital and base. The
bowls are fluted and the hood-mould is a continuation
of the internal string-course. The sill of the easternmost
window on each side is lowered to form a seat, and there
is a stone wall-bench on the north side between the
windows. In the south wall is a shouldered priest's
doorway plainly chamfered, and at the west end two
narrow oblong low-side windows opposite each other,
that on the south being the larger.' Each window is
now glazed and has a modern oak shutter within. The
chancel arch is of two chamfered orders, the inner
springing from moulded corbels.

The nave is lighted on the south by two sets of
coupled lancets, one on each side of the porch, and on
the north by a similar window near the west end and a
single lancet towards the east, all with segmental rear
arches and jambs continued to the floor. Above the
windows externally, at the level of the apex of the
hoods, is a string-course or corbel table of notch-heads,
and at sill level a string differing in section from that of
the chancel. The nave has also a moulded plinth,
which in the chancel is wanting. Both stringcourses
and plinth are returned along the west wall for a dis-
tance of about 4 ft. 6 in. The pointed west doorway is
of three chamfered orders with hood-mould, the two
outer on shafts with moulded capitals and bases, and
above it is a large unrestored sexfoil window with con-
tinuous label of the same form.^ In the gable above is a
modern semicircular opening. The bell-cote, or turret,
which measures internally 7 ft. 6 in. by 4 ft. 6 in., is
carried by a plain recessed pointed arch of a single un-
moulded order at the west end of the nave, within
which is the arch of the widely splayed west doorway.
Access to the turret is by a circular stair south of the
supporting arch and by a passage stair in the thickness
of the west wall. The turret is of rubble with slated
roof, and has a plain rectangular louvred opening on
the west, with loops to north and south: it contains a
single bell, cast by Henry Bagley of Chacombc, in 1 67 1 .^

The much-restored south doorway has an arch of two

hollow-chamfered orders, the outer on shafts with
moulded capitals and bases,'* and the outer doorway of
the porch is of two continuous chamfered orders. The
north doorway is of a single hollow-chamfered order
and hood-mould. The western portion of the nave floor
is raised a step.

There is a 15th-century chancel screen, bearing
traces of colour, with moulded uprights and top rail,
plain sill, and five traceried openings on each side of the
doorway. The solid lower portion is new.

The font and pulpit are modern: a wrought-iron
hour-glass stand is now set on the top of the screen.
The 1 8th-century communion table, with turned legs,
is in the nave.

The plate consists of a silver cup and paten of 1628,
and a pewter flagon without marks.'

The earlier registers were destroyed in the fire at
Bozeat vicarage in September 1729: the earliest existing
volume contains entries of baptisms, marriages, and
burials from 1730 to 181 2.

The first recorded presentation was
ADFOIf^SON made in 1230, but no record of the
living was made in 1 291, and in 1428
it was not taxed because there were only seven house-
holders in the parish.* The advowson descended with
the manor (q.v.) and was long held with the vicarage
of Bozeat, with which it was transferred by Earl
Spencer to the Bishop of Peterborough in 1922. It was
united with Wollaston in 1929.'

The profits of the rectory, then leased to Thomas
Lovett, were returned in 1535 as £j is.bti} In 1562
a grant of all tithes, grain, cScc, belonging to the late
monastery of Delapre was made to Richard Pype,
citizen and leather seller, and Francis Bowyer, grocer,
both of London, and included all tithes, great and small,
extending to 33/. ^. yearly, in the parish of Strixton,
now or late in the occupation of John Spencer.' A
lease of these tithes was in 1 565 the subject of Chancery
proceedings instituted by William Spencer of Mears
Ashby and Robert Spencer of Lincoln's Inn against
Paul Stretely and George Packe of Strixton,'" and they
were in 1582 conveyed by William Spencer and his
wife Isabel to George Carleton," who with his wife
Elizabeth granted them, as formerly belonging to the
rectory of Wollaston, to Paul Stretely in 1583.'^

WOLLASTON

Wilauestone (xi cent.); WuUaueston (xii cent.);
Wolaston (xiii cent.).

The parish of Wollaston lies on the Bedfordshire
border and is separated from Doddington on the north-
west by the River Nene, whose marshy banks supply
rushes for the mat-making which still holds its own as
a means of employment in the neighbourhood, though
the place of chief industry has been taken by boot-
making. The village stands about 2J miles south from
Wellingborough station on the Northampton and Peter-

borough section of the L.M.S. railway; it is lighted
with gas from its own works, built in 1872, and sup-
plied with water by the Higham Ferrers and Rushden
joint water board from their works at Sywell. A fair
number of good 17th-century stone houses remain in
the village, some of them modernized, but others pre-
serving their original architectural features. On the
west side of the church is an undated two-story house of
this period with gabled dormer windows and thatched
roof, and on the south side another thatched house with

' Alloc. Arcli. Sac. Rrpcrii, iiii, 447.
The south window is 3 ft. 11 in. high by
10 in. wide, that on the north 2 ft. 4 in.
by 9 in. The sills are 1 z in. above the floor
inside.

' This window, long blocked, was
opened out in 1924, when painted glass,
representing the Virgin and Child, was
inserted.

' North, Ci. Belli of Koriianii. 410.
The bell is said to have been brought from
Bozeat.

* The bases are original, and arc now
about 17 in. below the level of the porch
floor, from which there is a descent of four
steps to the nave.

» MtTkham,CA. Plaieof Moriianti.iy^.
When the church was rebuilt a burial

paten and chalice of i jth-centurydatc were
found in a tomb under the chancel wall.
' FeuJ. Aidi, iv, 51.
' Order in Council, i; Aug. 19Z9.
• Kj/or Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv, 311.
' Pat. R. 6 Elii., pt. 6, no. 29.
'» Chan. Proc. Ser. 11, bdlc. i68,no. 72.
" Feet of F. Northants. Trin. 24 Elii.
'» Ibid. Mil. 25 Elii.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

a panel in the gable inscribed 'i.d., mdclxxix'.' A
large house at the Strixton end of the village dated
1657- has a good contemporary oak staircase to the top
floor with turned balusters and newels with ball tops.
Opposite this, at the corner of Long Lane, is a house
with a panel inscribed 'n. k. 1678' (for Nicholas
Keystian), which is said to have been the Manor Farm.
A much-modernized house known as 'The Priory',
south-west of the church, incorporates part of what
appears to be the oldest building in the village, probably
of 16th-century date, with low mullioned windows and
some internal features the identification of which has
been rendered uncertain by successive alterations. A
good stone house near the church, occupied by Miss
Keep, was erected about 1770 by Ambrose Dickins.^
Wollaston Hall, a stone house now occupied by Mr.
H. A. Hall, stands a little to the east of the church, and
to the south-west of it is Beacon Hill, a high conical
mound planted with trees and shrubs.

In 1672 Thomas Brett obtained a licence to hold
Presbyterian services in the house of John Morrice in
Wollaston.* The Congregational chapel was founded
in 1775, reopened in 1900; the Methodist chapel was
built in 1840 and the Baptist chapel in 1867.

The population, which was 2,345 in 193 1, has in-
creased during the last 20 years, owing to the intro-
duction of boot-making ; but some of the inhabitants are
still engaged in agriculture. The soil varies considerably
within the parish, the subsoil being alluvium in the
valley. Great Oolite, limestone, and Upper and Middle
Lias clay. The chief crops are cereals and turnips, but
much of the land is pasture, and there is a poultry farm
belonging to Wollaston Hall.

The common lands were inclosed, under a Private
Act, in 1788.5

There were, in 1086, two manors in
MANORS WOLLASTON: one assessed at 5 hides,
which was included in the land of Gunfrey
of Chocques under Spelhoe Hundred and had been
held by the four thegns who preceded him, with sac and
soc;' and another, assessed at 2 hides, which Corbelin
held of the Countess Judith. The larger manor formed
part of the honor of Chokes, of which the descent was
complicated by temporary escheats, due to its holders'
connexions with France.' During the 1 2th century
Wollaston seems to have been granted to Robert de
Newburgh (or Neufbourg, Normandy). The .advocate
of Bethune obtained seisin ofit with the rest of his inheri-
tance in England in 1 200,* and in 1 208 sued Robert de
Newburgh for the manor, on the plea that it had only been
mortgaged to him for a loan of ^^40, which he was now
willing to repay.' Evidently the Advocate recovered
the overlordship and Robert then held of him the manor,
which he granted to the abbey of Bindon (Dorset).'"
Subsequently, in 1223, Robert de Newburgh commuted
this grant for a money payment, as he enfeoffed Robert

the son of Ralf of the manor, retaining i virgate with the
service of Saer de Wollaston and his heirs," and stipu-
lating that Robert should pay 210 marks to the abbey.
Robert son ot Rait appears to have granted a third part
of his manor to John de Newburgh for life in 122 5,'^ but
is described as holding two fees in Wollaston in 1 236 of
Robert de Newburgh, and in 1242 of 'the Honor of
Chokes, which Robertde Gynes holds'.'^ Robert the son
of Ralf seems to be Robert le Waleys who died before
1 246, when Robert de Guisnes successfully claimed the
custody of the manor during the nonage of his heir.'''
This heir was presumably William de Bray, who ob-
tained from Henry III a grant of a weekly market on
Tuesday at Wollaston and a yearly tair there on the vigil,
feast, and morrow of the Invention of the Cross." A
further grant was made on 4 March 1 263 to the men of
Wollaston that they should be quit of the lawing of their
dogs and of giving ransom for them, as it had appeared
by inquest that they were outside the metes and regard
of the forest of Salcey.'*

In 1 276 William de Bray granted 2 virgatesofland in
Wollaston with a messuage to Thomas, son of William
and grandson of Gilbert de Wollaston, and Beatrice the
wife of Thomas for their lives." In 1280 he, with
Helwis, Agnes, and Maud" the daughters of William
son of Roger de Newburgh, registered a claim to a
messuage and 10 virgates in Strixton and Wollaston,
which Richard de Newburgh was granting to Roger de
Newburghandhiswife Agatha for their lives." In 1286
Edmund the king's brother obtained from William de
Cogenho, presumably representingthe Newburgh mesne
lordship, a quitclaim of the homage and service of
WiUiam de Bray, who, being present, acknowledged
that he held his land of Edmund and did him homage
in the same court.-"

William de Bray died before 1305; in which year
Robert de Bray, his son and heir, settled the manor of
Wollaston on himself and his wife Mary with remain-
der to Thomas the son of Thomas de Berkeley, and
Margery his wife,-' who was the daughter and heir of
Robert de Bray; she died before her husband, who
granted the manor in 1340 for the term of his own life
to Maurice de Berkeley, with remainder to Katharine
his daughter and the heirs of her body.^-

Thomas de Berkeley died on Wednesday before the
Feast of St. Peter in Cathedra 1346, his daughter
Katharine de la Dale being then 36. The manor of
Wollaston at this time was said to be held of the fee of
Chokes by service of a knight's fee and los. yearly to be
paid at the king's castle of Northampton for castle ward,
and 30/. yearly to the sheriff of Northampton for
assessed fines. Richard Chamberleyn, who had married
Katharine, petitioned that the king would release the
manor, as it was not held in chief, and it was found
that the manor was held immediately of the Earl of
Lancaster as two knights' fees, by rent of \d. yearly and

* The house has been much altered:
the panel may be a modern rendering of
an original date stone.

^ Another house of this date which was
standing at the top of Cobbe's Lane in
1893 (Whichello, Amah of WoUauon)
has since been pulled down.

3 Whichello, op. cit.

■* Cah S.P. Dom. 1672, pp. 62, 1 19.

5 28 Geo. Ill, cap. 31.

"> l^.C.H. Northants. i, 347.

' Farrer, Honors and KnightC Fees, i,
20-30.

8 Pipe R. 2 John, m. 4 d.

» Cur. Reg. iJ. v, 233.

"> Cart. Antiq. Q. 17.

" Feet of F. Northants., file 17, no. 15OJ
Farrer, op. cit. 40.

'^ Cur. Reg. R. 84, m. 19.

'3 Bk. 0/ Fees, i, 6035 ii, 939.

'■• Cal. Close, 1242-7, pp. 479, 522.

'5 Cal. Chart. R. 1257-1300, p. 28. In
the charter to William de Bray, bearing
the same date (20 September 1260}, now
among Lord Middleton's MSS., the fair
is to be held at Michaelmas {Hist. MSS.
Com. Rept. 70). In the 1 8th century it was
held on the first Sunday after 7 July:

Bridges, Northants. ii, 202.

'<* Cal. Pat. 1258-66, p. 250.

" Feet of F. Northants., file 51, no. 39.

'^ They were heirs of their brother
Richard, but Agnes had become a nun
before 1285: Assize R. 616, m. 29 d.

"> Feet of F. Northants., file 52, no. 57.

'■" Ibid, file 55, no. 207.

^^ Ibid, file 60, no. 477.

^^ De Banco R. 362, m. 50 d ; Feet of F.
file 76, no. 217. Maurice Berkeley obtained
a quitclaim from John de Bray in 1342:
Feet of F. file 77, no. 256.

IIIGHAM FERRERS HUNDRED wollaston

suit at Higham Ferrers Court, and that the earl held the
manor of the king, as of the honor of Chokes; though
this honor had been described in the previous March as
pertaining to Sir John de Moleyns 'by the king's charter
granted to him'.'

In 1356 Henry Ear] of Lancaster granted the
manor to the Dean and Canons of the College of St.
Mary at Leicester,- and it was probably after this date
that it became known as BURIE MANOR, a name
which seems to have been given locally to ecclesiastical
property. The college obtained a grant of free warren
there as soon as they were in possession. ' The holding
was described in 1428 as one fee only, the other fee
being said to have remained in the hands of Richard
Chamberleyn and ultimately to have become divided
between John Neubon and Thomas Walton of Strixton,
St. Bartholomew's Hospital in London* and the abbeys
of Lavendon and St. Mary Delapre by Northampton. '

It is probable that the possessions of the abbeys of
Lavendon and Delapre in Wollaston were attached to
the lands of St. Mary's after the Dissolution, as they are
not mentioned in any grant of the lands formerly be-
longing to these houses.

The manor, former!)' belonging to the College of
St. Mary at Leicester, was retained by the Crown until
1606,' when James I granted 'the site of two manors in
Wollaston' to Thomas Marbury and Richard Cart-
wright in fee-farm,' but it had passed before 1635 to
John Earl of Bridgw'ater.* His descendants remained
in possession until 1709, when Jane, Dowager Countess,
and Scroope Earl of Bridgwater, sold the estate to
Thomas Wentworth of Wentworth Woodhouse.' His
son Thomas, who was created Earl of Malton in
1728, was co-vouchee with Mary his wife in a re-
covery concerning the manor and the advowson of the
vicarage in 1738,'° but the whole property seems to have
passed to .Ambrose Dickins, who presented to the
church in 1765." Watson William Dickins, with
Francis Dickins and Diana his wife, dealt with the
manor, rectory, and advowson by fine in 1828,'- but in
1844 the Dickins estate was sold, Mr. Samuel Soames
purchasing the manor-house and farm, which he sold
in 1852 to Mr. Charles Hall,'^ from whom it has
descended to the present owner, Mr. H. A. Hall, but
all manorial rights have lapsed.

The manor belonging to the Countess Judith in 1086
contained land for 3 \ ploughs, and had previously been
held by Stric freely. Winemar de Hanslope claimed it,
but it was held by Corbelin of the Countess''' and after-
wards of King David,'* being included in the honor of
Huntingdon. During the l6th century it was dis-
tinguished from Burie by the name of the HALL
MANOR.

At the end of the 1 2th century it was in the possession
of a family who took their name from the place; they
held also l virgate of Robert dc Newburgh. In i tgg
Richard the son of Thomas, and Christian his wife
quitclaimed half a virgate of land to Roland de Wollas-

\VoLLA«TON. >>able a
chrveron betivetn three
icalhfts argent.

ton ;'* and Simon de Wollaston is mentioned as holding
in the township in the following year." Sir Saer de
Wollaston, who occurs in 1 2 1 8," had two sons, Simon
and William, both of whom were witnesses to grants
made to St. Bartholomew's Hos-
pital in Smithfield. Simon had a
son Robert,"* whose son Reynaid
granted land in Wollaston to his
son John in 1269, paying rent of
100/. to Reynaid and his wife
Maud during their lives, with
contingent remainders to John's
brother Thomas and his issue, and
their sister Maud and her issue.-"
In 1284 another Saer de Wollas-
ton was lord of the manor, which
was then described as held as of
the honor of Huntingdon, but after this date the descent
of the manor is obscure, though it seems to have re-
mained in the possession of Saer's descendants.

William de Wollaston had view of frankpledge here
in 1330,-' and in 1335 William de Wollaston 'the elder'
was in possession of the manor of Wollaston, of which
he was said to have disseised William de Brampton,
parson of Easton, and Reynaid de Eston, vicar of
Wollaston. This was probably a fictitious suit, as
William de Brampton and Reynaid released their
damages to William de Wollaston in the same court ;^^
but the nature of the settlement does not appear. In
1428 another William de Wollaston held land de-
scribed as having belonged formerly to John Wollaston,
but it is said to have been a quarter of a fee only, the
other three-quarters having been divided into six equal
portions between William Branspath of Irthlingburgh,
William de Haldenby of Isham, William Kyngs-
man, John and Thomas Bedell of Wollaston, and John
Herriot.^^ In 1442 John Rous, of Little Dorrington in
Warwickshire, quitclaimed his right in the manor to
William Wolston and John his son,-'' but which of the
portions had come into his hands does not appear.
Elizabeth, the widow of William Kyngsman, died
seised of his portion in 1449, but her heir is not named ;^5
and .'Audrey, the daughter of Sir Guy Wolston and wife
of Thomas Empson, is said to have released the manor
in I 5 1 5 to Richard Fitzwilliam of Milton, who pre-
sumably conveyed it to the canons of St. Mary at
Leicester almost on the eve of the Dissolution. They
had received a licence to acquire fresh lands in mort-
main on 6 February 1480, and had obtained 6 mes-
suages, 7 virgates of land, 1 2 acres of meadow, and 8
acres of pasture, in Wollaston, in part satisfaction of
this grant, as late as 12 February i 506.-* By 1533 they
were in possession of 'the scite of the two Manors in
Wollaston, Burie manor and the Hall Manor with all
houses and demeasne lands to them belonging'.-' Both
manors were apparently included in the grant to John
Earl of Bridgwater and became amalgamated.

BARTH/LMEIf'S FEE. Robert de Newburgh

' Cal. Inr^. p.m. viii, 630.

' Close, 30 Edw. Ill, tn. II, 12.

3 Ibid, m, 10.

' Charirrs printed in Norman Moore's
Hitforjy of St. BarthfJomevf't Itotpitati
Harl. Chart. 54, D. 14; Chan. R. 2 Edw.
Ill, m. 15, no. 47.

» FruJ. /iids, iv, 45.

' Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bk?. no. 1 15.

' Pat. 4 Ja». I, pt. 2 1 , m. 1 7 i CjI. S.P.
Dom. 1603-10, p. 320.

> Rccov. R. Hil. 10 Chas. 1, m. 2.

» Ibid. Trin. 8 .\nnc, m. 6.
"> Ibid. East. II Geo. II, m. 198.
" Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
'^ Feet of F. Northants, Trin. 9 Geo. IV.
" Whichello, /Jnnj/« 0/ WV/jj/cn, 12.
'* y.C.II. Sijrikdntl. i, 354.
'» Ibid, i, 376.

'» Feel <jf F. (Pipe R. Soc.). no. 208, p.
I 39; Feet of F. Northants., Ale 2, no. 45.
" Cur. Reg. R. i, 174.

" N. Moore, Ilitl. of St. Bartiolamev/'t,

. 37'-
>■> Ibid.

"> Feet of F. Northants., file 49, no. 884.
" Phc. de Quo H'ar. (Rcc. Com.), 501.
" .Assiie R. 1400, m. 101.
" Feud, .iidi, iv, 41;, 52.
** Close 20 Hen. VI, m. 12.
" Chan. Ini). p.m. 27 Hen. VI, no. 17.
'* CjI. Pal. 1494-1509, p. 47S.
" Uuchy of Lane. Misc. Uk>. fol. 5.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

Hospital of St. Bar-
tholomew. Party argent
and sable a cheveron
countercoloured.

granted j\ virgates of land in Wollaston to the Hospital
of St. Bartholomew in Smithfield,' Hugh, the Master
of the hospital, obtaining warranty of charter from
him in 1218.^ He also granted the grazing of 14 oxen
wherever his own oxen should
feed in Wollaston;^ and some
years later William de Bray
added two roods of arable land.''
The holding, which was known
as Barthilmew's Fee, remained
in the possession of the hospital
until the Dissolution, and was
in the tenure of John Coke on
13 January 1547, when it was
included in the grant to the
mayor and citizens of London
as trustees of the new founda-
tion. '

During the early part of the 13 th century the Abbey
of Delapre by Northampton received several small grants
of land in Wollaston. These included a confirmation
from Hugh de Newburgh of the grant of the 'minster'
at Wollaston, given by Robert de Chocques with the land
behind the court; from Robert de Newburgh i virgate
and the land called Northyrne; from Roger de New-
burgh the land behind the Abbey's houses, between the
two roads; from Samson the son of Samson, Gerscroft,
Brintyngesholm meadow, and common of pasture;
from WiUiam de Bray rent in Nedham in Wollaston,
and from William son of Simon de Wollaston two
messuages in Nedham Street.* This property and that
belonging to Lavendon were probably retained by the
Crown and became amalgamated with the manor, as
the advowson, part of the property of Delapre, was
afterwards in the possession of John Earl of Bridgwater.
Each of the manors in Wollaston had a
MILLS mill mentioned in 1086.' That belonging to
the larger manor was granted by William de
Betun to Peter son of Adam about the end of the 12th
century,* and was afterwards bestowed by Robert son
of Roger de Newburgh on the Hospital of the Holy
Trinity by Northampton.' In 1218 the master of the
hospital obtained a quitclaim of a mill in Wollaston
from Philip the son of Robert and Basile the daughter
of Stephen.'" John, master of the hospital {c. 1233),
granted their mill to Robert son of Ralf de Wolaston."
Subsequently the hospital granted it with the adjacent
land to the College of St. Mary at Leicester in 1376.'^
The Dean and Chapter of the College at first paid a
yearly rent of 40J. for the land, but 20s. of this was
released to Dean Peter de Kellesey, by Richard BoUe-
sore, master of St. Davids, as the water-mill was found
to be 'entirely decayed'. '^ It seems afterwards to have
been rebuilt, as there were two mills belonging to the
manor in i590."''

The church of ST. MART THE VIRGIN consists
of chancel, 35 ft. 6 in. by 16 ft. 6 in.; central tower

and broach spire, north transept, 20 ft. by 14 ft. 9 in.
wide; nave, 54 ft. 8 in. by 18 ft. 3 in., and north and
south aisles 14 ft. wide, all these measure-
CHURCH ments being internal. The tower is 13 ft.
square at the crossing and the width across
nave and aisles 5 1 ft. 3 in. A former vestry at the east
end of the south aisle now serves as an organ-chamber.

Before 1735 ^^^ church was an early- 14th-century
building with aisled nave of four bays, 'a cross aisle
from north to south covered with lead and a chancel
tiled'," but on 13 November of that year 'the body of
the church, supported by six pillars, suddenly and
unexpectedly fell down','* and in the rebuilding which
followed in 1737" the chancel was reconstructed and
the south transept removed. The new nave was built
in the classic style of the day, with the vestry covering
the south side of the tower, the tower arches were filled
in with rubble and plastered over, leaving two low-
openings from the nave to the chancel,'* and a gallery
erected at the west end. Of the 14th-century structure
only the tower and spire and north transept remained;
subsequent changes have respected the 18th-century
building, which externally remains unaltered. In 1 824
the north transept was fitted up as a Sunday school,"
and in 1 841 north and south galleries were erected.^"
In the course of an extensive restoration in 1885 the
tower arches were opened out, the side galleries re-
moved, the north transept rebuilt, and the organ
removed from the west gallery to the south of the tower.

The chancel is faced with coursed freestone, but
is without buttresses and its red-tiled eaved roof is
modern. The east wall was rebuilt in 1902 and the
three-light traceried window is of that date, as are also
the tracery and muUions of the three round-headed
18th-century windows in the south wall. The north
wall is blank. Two lead spout-heads bear the date
1 772.^' Internally the walls of the chancel, as elsewhere,
are plastered.

The beautiful 14th-century tower is open to the
church in the lower stage through four sharply pointed
arches of three chamfered orders, the innermost spring-
ing from half-round responds with moulded capitals
and bases, the others continued below moulded imposts
and stopped at the bottom with notch-heads. All the
arches are alike and have hood-moulds on each side.
Bands of ironstone in the masonry below the arches
afix)rd variety and contrast in colour. The vice is in the
south-east angle of the tower, and externally takes the
form of a hexagonal turret, sloped back with stone roof
at the height ot the top of the beU-chambcr windows.
The windows are double on each side, and of two
trefoiled lights, with simple tracery in the head;-^ the
lower part of the lights is blocked. The angles of the
tower are strengthened by small triple shafts stopping
beneath a richly sculptured corbel table of heads and
flowers connected by tendrils, from which the spire
rises, and above the bell-chamber windows on each

' N. Moore, St. Barthohmeivi Hospital.,
i, 367.

^ Ibid. 369; Feet of F. Northants., file
14, no. 1.

^ Moore, op. cit. i, 256.

* Ibid. 447.

5 L. and P. Hen. Fill, xxi (2), g. 771

(>4).

<■ Harl. Chart. 54, D. 14; Chart. R.
2 Edw. Ill, m. 15, no. 47.

' y.C.H. Northants. i, 347, 354.

8 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), C. 1897.

^ Ibid. C. 1909. The hospital was also

known as St. David's, Kingsthorpe.

■° Feet of F. Northants., file 16, no. 53.

" Anct. D. (P.R.O.), C. 1867.

" Ibid. C. 160.

" Ibid. C. 2729.

** Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. no. 115.

^s Bridges, Hist, of Northants. ii, 200,
where the dimensions are given as 'church
and chancel 119 ft. long, body and aisles
49 ft. 9 in. broad, cross aisle 68 ft. long*.

'*• Note in Parish Register.

'^ '1736-7, Feb. 24. The church began
to be rebuilt' : Par. Reg.

■8 WhichcUo, Annals of H-'ollaston, 5:
the chancel was enclosed by iron gates and
very little used.

" Ibid. II.

20 Ibid. 13.

^' Whether this indicates the year of the
reconstruction of the chancel, or simply
the erection of the spouts, is uncertain.

^- The window jambs are of three orders,
the middle hollow chamfered, the others
moulded : the two outer orders are con-
tinued round the head.

VVoLLASTON Chlrch: Tut Tower

WoLiJkSTON Ciii'RCii: Interior, ukikinc East

HIGHAM FERRERS HUNDRED wollaston

side is a slightly ogee niche with moulded jambs and
label. The spire has ribbed angles and ull pinnacles
standing on the broaches, with three tiers of gabled
lights, faced alternately, all of two trefoilcd openings.
The top of the spire, for a length of about 1 1 ft., was
rebuilt in 1892.

The north transept was good work of the same period
as the tower, and as rebuilt retains all its original features
though windows and other of the architectural details
are new. It is faced with coursed stone and covered

Above the doorway is a circular window. The side
elevations are of plainer character, with plinth, cornice,
and parapet, and three large round-headed windows
with moulded sills, divided into three lights by flat
intersecting mullions. On the north side a considerable
amount of irregularly coursed ironstone is used, but on
the south there is little or none. The date 1737 occurs
on the keystone of the west doorway, and on the spout-
heads. Below the west galler>' is a good 18th-century
screen with fluted pilasters.

tSniiB Century
E IS™ Century

CZj Modern

r7^=T.

North .Aisle
Na\e

118851

: : : ':M'--
cFoNT s^Qyjp^ Aisle

•Tower ; Ch.wcel

Scale of Feet

Plan of Wollaston Church

with a red-tiled gabled roof, and is now enclosed by
modern gothic screens to form a vestr)'. The I4th-cen-
turj' arch opening to the north aisle remains and is of
two orders, the inner order springing on the wall side
from a half-octagonal respond with moulded capital
and base. The windows in the north and east walls are
of three lights with modem Decorated tracery, and
there is a doorway in the west wall. In the north wall,
below the window, are two 14th-century arched
recesses with hood-moulds, one of which now contains a
stone coffin found during the rebuilding, the lid of which
has a beautiful floriated cross with ornamented stem.

The 18th-century nave is of three bays, divided
from the aisles by tall Tuscan columns on high plinths
and with pilasters at either end, supporting a single span
roof, with separate plaster ceilings.' The west elevation
is of much dignit)-, the nave projecting slightly in front
of the aisles, with wide pediment, and square-headed
doorway within a semicircular arch. The whole of the
elevation is faced with alternate courses of ironstone and
freestone, the contrast of colour being very effective.

The font dates from 1737 and is of stone, with cir-
cular gadrooned bowl and swelled base. The panelled
pulpit is of the same date.*

There is a brass chandelier given by Ambrose
Dickins in 1777.

The 15th-century brasses recorded by Bridges have
disappeared.^ In the chancel are armorial slabs and a
mural tablet^ to Edmund Neale (d. 167 1) and his son
Thomas (d. 1675), and memorials of Sir Charles Neale,
Kt. (d. 1719), and Dr. John Shipton (d. 1748).

There is an 18th-century communion table in the
vestry, and a panelled chest.

There are six bells, the first a recasting by Taylor
& Co. in 19 10, the second without date or inscription,
the third by Taylor 1868, and the fourth, fifth, and
tenor by R. Taylor, of St. Neots, 1806.'

The plate consists of a silver cup and paten, flagon,
and alms basin of 1773, each inscribed 'The gift of
Ambrose Dickins Esq''" to the Church of Wollaston,
Northamptonshire 1774'.*

The registers before 1 8 1 2 arc as follows: ( i ) baptisms

■ The nive ceiling ii flit, thote over the
aisles coved.

' It is p»rt of the three-decker pulpit
which originally stood against the north-
east column; Whichello, op. cit. 5.

' Hill. ofNorthanti. ii, 201. They were
(fl) Katharine, wife of Thomas Lybert,

1418; (*) Godith, wife of William Bedyll,
14Z4; {c) John Bedyle and Joan his wife,
1437; and {(1) a man in gown with large
sleeves.

* The tablet is all that remains of a
black and white marble monument with
pediment supported by Ionic columns;

Bridges, op. cit. ii, 201.

' North, Ch. Btlli 0/ Korlkanli. 440,
where the inscriptions are given. The old
treble was by R. Taylor 1806.

» Marlcham, Ck. Piatt of Nortkanli.
320.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

and burials 1663-96 and 1698-1781, marriages 1667-
96 and 1698-1753; (ii) marriages 17 54-71; (iii)
marriages 1772-18 12; (iv) baptisms and burials
1782-1812.

The church of Wollaston was
ADVOWSON granted by Robert de Chocques to
the abbey of St. Mary Delapre by
Northampton during the reign of Stephen," and re-
mained in their possession until the Dissolution,^ after
which it became attached to the manor, then in the
king's hands. The right of presentation to the living
was granted to John Earl of Bridgwater before 1634,^
and subsequently followed the descent of the manor,
Francis Dickins being the patron in \'&\1 ^ The vicar-
age was annexed to Irchester before 1854, and so
continued until 21 June 1880, when it was again
separated. It is now in the gift of the Bishop of
Peterborough.

In 1533 Thomas Leson obtained from Thomas
Cromwell a 'letter directed to the abbess of Delapra
for his brother Mohoon the King's servant for the
lease of the parsonage at Wollaston', but apparently
failed to obtain it,^ and the rectory was granted for life
to Sir William Parr of Horton after the Dissolution.*
In I 564 it was bestowed by Queen Elizabeth on George
Carleton,' who sold it in i 581 to John Neale.^ In i 594
Neale, as proprietary rector of the church, reported
that the chancel was very ruinous and almost falling, so
that it was 'of no use either to the church or the
inhabitants, and moreover cannot be repaired except
at great cost, therefore he desires to be relieved of the
obligation'.' John Neale's descendants remained in
possession for over a hundred years. He with his wife
Elizabeth and Edmund Neale, who was perhaps their
son, dealt with the rectory by fine in 1623 and again in
1633.'° Edmund Neale died in 167 1, and his son
Thomas, who died in 1675, was succeeded by Charles
Neale. Charles Neale, with Edmund and James Neale,
John Horton and Lucretia his wife, and Elizabeth and
Ann Neale, levied a fine concerning the rectory in 1 7 2 3 ."
Thomas Neale by his will dated 5
CHARITIES September 1674 charged a piece of
land at Wollaston with zs. weekly to
be laid out in bread for the poor by the churchwardens
and overseers. A sum of ^^5 \s. is received annually in
respect of this charity from the owner of Wollaston
Hall.

By his will dated 16 July 1730 Charles Neale gave
^\20 to be laid out in lands the rents thereof to be
applied by the churchwardens and overseers in the
distribution of bread to the poor. In 1820, in satisfac-

tion of this charity a sum of J/J173 6i. %d. Consols was
transferred to trustees. The stock produces ^^4 bs. %d.
yearly in dividends.

John Hazeldine, who died in 1732, gave 3 three-
penny loaves a week to 3 of the poorest people of
Wollaston. The sum of /^ I igj. per annum is received
out of land in Wollaston belonging to several owners.

The above-mentioned charities are administered by
trustees appointed by the parish council in place of the
churchwardens and overseers, and bread is distributed
weekly to about 26 recipients.

By codicil to his will dated 14 July 1800, Jonathan
Bettle gave to the vicar and churchwardens money to
be laid out in the public funds as would be sufficient
to produce ^^5 4/. annually to be distributed in bread
to poor widows, and £^if annually to be laid out in books
for the choir or in such other manner as the choir may
direct. The endowment consists of ^^306 13/. \d.
Consols producing jj] 13/. i^d. yearly in dividends. Of
this £■!, \%s. is applied in bread and the remainder is
paid to the choir.

The Congregational Chapel and Trust Property is
comprised in indentures of 16 December 1752 and
22 January 1754.

The Charity of David Hennell for the minister of the
chapel was founded by will proved on 14 September
1830. The endowment consists of a sum of
j^io9 17X. \\d. Consols producing [j. \\s. %d. yearly
in dividends.

The Charity lor the minister of the chapel founded
by indentures of lease and release dated respectively
II and 12 April 1837 and 2 and 3 January 1840 con-
sists of a house in Wollaston let on a monthly tenancy
and producing £^\o per annum.

The Charity of John Ward for repair of the chapel
founded by indenture dated 28 October 1853 consists
of 3 messuages in Wollaston with gardens (formerly
Guillons) let on monthly tenancies and producing
;^I9 \os. yearly.

The Charity of John Ward for repair of the house
of the minister of the chapel was founded by will
proved i May 1855 and consists of ^^517 9/. "jd.
Consols producing ;^i 2 1 8/. %d. yearly in dividends.

The trustees also hold certain sums representing
accumulations of income. The above-mentioned chari-
ties in connexion with the Congregational Chapel are
regulated by a Scheme of the Charity Commissioners
dated 21 June 1894. The income is applied in the
upkeep of the property and in the maintenance of
the chapel. The several sums of Consols are held by
the Official Trustees of Charitable Funds.

' Chart. R. 2 Edw. Ill, m. 15, no. 47.
^ Cal. Pat. 1348-50, p. 332; 1350-4,
. 356; L. and P. Hen. Fill, vi, 349.
3 Recov. R. Hil. 10 Cfias. I, m. 2.
•• Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).
s L. and P. Hen. Fill, vi, 349.

' IbiJ. xviii, pt. i, 547; XX, 678.

' Pat. 6 Eliz. pt. 10.

* Feet of F. Nortfiants. Mich. 23 and
24 Eliz.

'> Cal. of the Court BIS. of Peterborough,
printed in Northanti. A'. &f jj. (n.s.), iii, 2 1 6.

'" Feet of F. Northants. Mich. 8 Jas. I;
East. 9 Jas. i; Hil. 20 Jas. I; Mich. 9
Chas. I; Bridges, Hist, of Northanti. ii, 201.

" Feet of F. Northants. Trin. 9 Geo. \\
Recov. R. Trin. 9 Geo. I, m. 154.

THE HUNDRED OF SPELHOE

CONTAINING THE PARISHES OF

ABINGTON KINGSTHORPE PITSFORD

GREAT BILLING MOULTON AND MOULTON SPR.'^TTON WITH LITTLE

LITTLE BILLING PARK CREATON

BOUGHTON OVERSTONE WESTON FAVELL'

THE meeting-place of the hundred, from which it derived its name,
which means 'the hillof speech', was a field on high ground in the north
of Weston Favell parish.- In the Doniesdav survey the parishes of
Abington, the Billings, Boughton, Moulton, Pitsford, Spratton, and
Weston are all entered under Spelhoe, though, owing to imperfect rubrication,
several of these occur also under the heading of
other hundreds. In the 1 2th-century survey .-*' "^
Spelhoe includes all these parishes and also that bpRAnoNf /-•— .
of Overstone, which is not mentioned in 1086, '^..^ ^* '•. % \^\

beingprobably at thatdate part of Sywell.-J Kings- f'\^!°.^,°': "^ -^ \

thorpe, with outliers in Moulton and Weston, is 'Vboughton*. ° • ° i

entered in both surveys-* under the hundred of j .-^^x. .•:'*.. .T^--*

'Mallesle', or Maweslev, of which all the other *./>%•■% •.;*?-\

parishes had been absorbed into the Hundred of \'^^^''?^^\\\f^'^

Orlingbury (q.v.) by the middle of the i 3th cen- '•— • '^i'^.'iJ^-'^

tury. This is the more remarkable as from an early SPELHOE
date the Hundred of Spelhoe was appurtenant to j^j^p ^^ ^^^ Hundred

the royal manor ot King^thorpe and the men of that

vill claimed to hold it at farm from the Crown ever since the reign of John.
Their right was confirmed bv Henry III in i 2245 and its history is identical with
that of Kingsthorpe (q.v.) up to the reign of Charles II, after which date all
rights connected with it seem to have fallen into abeyance. There appears to
have been some doubt in the reign of Edward II as to whether the hundred was
included in the farm of the county of Northants., but an inquiry made in i 3 i 9
showed that it had always so belonged.'' In 1365 the men of Kingsthorpe com-
plained that whereas they used to have the Hundred of Spelhoe, worth /jo,
Walter Paries (sheriff in i 359) and later sheritl's had taken the hundred and only
paid them 4 marks yearly for it.' By letters patent dated 15 19 the men of
Kingsthorpe were granted the manor of Kingsthorpe with all its members to
hold from the Crown for 40 years at a rent of /'50, and on the strength of these
letters they claimed in 1545 to hold the hundred also.^ In 1638 another grant

' List taken from Popu/alion Return! Abilract of 183 1.

^ Called Spcllow Close: Place-Names of Northants. (E.n^.'P.-^.Soc.), 131.

3 r.C.H. Northanti. i, 381. ■• Ibid. 306, 381.

' Rot. Lit. Claus. (Rcc. Com.), i, 609.

' Memo. R. L.T.R. Hil. 12 Edw. II, m. 76; ibid. East. 12 Edw. II, m. 100.

' Cal. Put. 1364-7, p. 141. * Pat. 37 Hen. VIII, pt. i, m. 72.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

was made in similar terms but, as there was no separate mention of the hundred,
the Parliamentary surveyors in 1651 left the matter for further consideration.'
The hundred was returned in 1 246 as worth ^8,^ but by 1 253 the farm had
been raised to 20 marks, ^ at which figure it was still standing in i 275.'* It was
stated at the survey later in 1651 that the rent called certainty money, paid by
the freeholders of the hundred, amounted to jTj os. 8^., while the profits of the
court leet held half-yearly and of the three-weeks court and the royalties in
hunting, hawking, fishing, fowling, &c. were worth one year with another £^.
The waifs, strays, deodands, goods of felons and fugitives, &c. belonged to the
lord of the hundred if the bailiff seized them first, but if the bailiff of the lord
of a manor within the hundred, with a leet belonging, should obtain them first,
then that lord was to receive the profits. s

■ Pari. Survey Northants. no. lo. * Ibid. 619, m. 63 d.

- Assize R. 614, m. 41. ' Pari. Survey Northants. no. to.

^ Ibid. 615, m. 63.

Abincton Hall: The Staircase

SPELHOE HUNDRED

ABINGTON

Abendon (xii cent.); Abynton, Habinton (xiii-xiv
cents.).

Since 1900 the civil parish of Abington has ceased to
exist, a portion having been included in the municipal
borough of Northampton, while the rest has been
amalgamated with Weston Favell. For ecclesiastical
purposes, however, it still forms a parish. In 1902
certain adjustments of boundaries were made between
Abington and St. Giles, Northampton.'

The ancient civil parish of Abington had an area of
357 acres, mostly under permanent grass. The soil is
loamy and marl, and the subsoil consists of sandstone
and clay; the chief crops were wheat and barley. The
population in 1891 was only 121 and had risen by 1901
to 553, the town of Northampton having grown to the
east by the erection of new factories; as a result of
further building it had increased to 8,958 in 193 1.

The parish ran north and south and was long and
narrow, widening out towards the centre where .Abing-
ton Abbey and the park are situated. It was bisected
by the road leading to Wellingborough which runs
north from Northampton and then takes an easterly
bend, thus inclosing two sides of the park. The south
boundary was formed by the Billing road, while the east
boundary skirted the rectory, which w^as included in the
parish of Weston Favell. The level of the ground rises
slightly from south to north, where the highest point of
335 ft. is found: the lowest ground, about 268 ft., lies
where the Wellingborough road takes a slight descent
towards the centre of the parish.

Abington Hall, known as Abington Abbey,^ the seat
of the Bernards and Thursbys, was instituted asa private
asylum in 1845 and was used for that purpose until
Lady Wantage presented it with about 20 acres of land
to the Northampton Corporation, who afterwards pur-
chased an additional 4 acres comprising the park and
threw it open to the public in 1897; further land was
acquired in 1903, making the total area about 116
acres, and the manor-house was converted into a
museum. It is a quadrangular building originally of
early- 16th-century date, but altered and largely rebuilt
about 1675-8, and refronted on the south and east sides
more than half a century later. As first built the house
was apparently one room thick on all four sides of the
courtyard,^ with the great hall in the south and the
offices in the east wing. From the evidence of the great
hall, the only part now remaining, it was a building of
two stories with gables and mullioned windows, but
after his acquisition of the property in 1669 William
Thursby seems to have pulled down the greater part of
the house and rebuilt it on a larger scale, adding in front
of the old one a new south wing containing two large

rooms, staircase, and entrance.* The water-tower in the
park bears W. Thursby's initials and the date 1678,'
and this may be assumed to be approximately the time
when the rebuilding of the house was completed. Some
time in the i8th century the south and east wings were
refronted in the plain classic style of the day, most hkely
by John Harvey Thursby after his succession to the
estate in 1736.* A few changes were made in the
buildings subsequently,^ and after its acquisition by
the Corporation of Northampton it was restored and in
parts altered to adapt it to the purposes of a museum.*
The north and part of the west wing have been
reduced to one story, and all the roofs are now covered
with red tiles in place of the old CoUcyweston slates.

The south and east wings are of two stories with a
string at first-floor level, cornice and plain parapets, the
walling being of coursed undressed stone with ashlar
quoins and dressings. On the south side the ends and
middle slightly project and in each front is a good
pedimented doorway. The windows have moulded
architraves and barred sashes, and the Thursby crest
occurs on the lead rain-water heads. The great hall,
which is the height of both stories,' is 38 ft. 9 in. long by
21 ft. wide, with a projecting gabled bay at the north-
west corner overlooking the courtyard. The bay has a
mullioned window of four lights and in the wall adjoin-
ing is a similar window, both square-headed and without
transoms. The doorway at the north end of the screens
is now blocked and all traces of the screen itself have
disappeared, probably in the 1 8th century, to which
period the fire-place at the west end belongs. The roof
is divided into four bays by plain hammer-beam
principals, the beams terminating in figures of angels
holding blank shields. The roof is apparently of 16th-
century date, but with the exception of the windows
there are no other architectural features of this period in
the apartment. The bay window contains some heraldic
glass removed from the old manor-house of G reat Billing
in about 1776, with the achievement of O'Brien, Earl
of Thomond, and other arms.

At the west end of the south wing is a fine panelled
room the wainscoting of which belongs to the early-
i6th-century house. It is chiefly of the conventional
linen-fold pattern but includes some panels carved with
the emblems of the Passion, the heraldic devices of the
Lillings (three pikes) and the Bernards'" (a muzzled
bear), rural scenes and subjects from yEsop's fables.
The cornice has a running vine pattern and the frieze
includes subjects illustrating the months and seasons.
An Elizabethan table in this room was formerly in the
old Town Hall, Northampton. No other panelling
remains in the house, but the oak staircase in the south

' Local Govt. Boird Order, no. 43,787.

' The name 'Abbey', by which the
house is now known, does not appear to
have been acquired until after its sale by
J. H. Thursby in 1841 : Sir H. Dryden's
MS. notes, Northampton Public Library.

' The present courtyard measures 69 ft.
10 in. from north to south and 55 ft.
10 in. west to east, but whether these were
the original dimensiont cannot now be
• tated.

♦ There is no documentary evidence of
this, but the plan seems to warrant such a
coDclution. "The thick middle wall of the

existing south wing would be the original
outer wall of the 16th-century house: Sir
H. Dryden's MS. notes.

* The water-tower stands some dis-
tance to the north-east of the house, near
the fish-ponds, and is two stories in height
with slated pyramidal roof. It is buttressed
on the west side where the ground falls,
and has a stairway in the south-east angle.

' From the fact that a portrait of
Francis Smith, architect, of Warwick, en-
graved by Van Haeckcn, is dedicated to
John Harvey Thursby, it has been con-
jectured that Smith designed the new

fronts.

' e.g. the ground-floor windows to the
east of the entrance on the south side were
lengthened.

' In 1845 the building was opened by
Dr. O. T. Pritchard as a private lunatic
asylum styled 'Abington Abbey Retreat",
and so continued until after the death of
the third Dr. Pritchard in 1892.

• The height is given as 35 ft.
'" On one of these panels are the initials
MlB, perhaps indicating the John Bernard
who died in 1 508 and Margaret his wife.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

Bassingburn. Gyronny
of t-welve pieces argent
and gules.

wing is of good design with turned balusters and
moulded handrail.

Only one holder of land in JBINGTON
MJNOR was recorded in the Domesday Book: this
was Richard Engaine who accounted for 4
hides.' This estate was held of the Crown in chief for
the fourth part of a knight's fee until 1 509, after which
date the overlordship lapsed. The
manor evidently passed to Rich-
ard's grandson Richard, whose
son and heir Vital married Alice
de Lisors.^ After his death she
married as her second husband
Humphrey Bassingburn;' the
latter held the 4 hides in the reign
of Henry II, in right of his wife.*
The estate was probably settled
on Fulk, second son of Vital
Engaine and Alice, who took his
mother's maiden name, for in
1 191 William de Lisors, Fulk's son, alienated the mill
appurtenant to the manor with the consent of his mother
Alice, or Adeline, d'Auberville, who confirmed the grant
in the same year. 5 William died before 1 1 99, his brother
Hugh being his heir,* but Abington was settled on
Isabel, William's widow, who married as her second hus-
band Ralph Berners,' with reversion probably to Alice,
William's mother, who had married as her second hus-
band Nicholas Bassingburn son of Humphrey before-
mentioned.* Isabel Berners, a widow again by 1227,'
was in 1 242 holding Abington of Nicholas Bassingburn,'"
and in 1 2 5 3 Humphrey Bassingburn, Nicholas's son, was
in possession of the manor." Humphrey joined Simon
de Montfort against Henry III, and after Evesham in
1 266 his manor of Abington was forfeited to the Crown
and granted to Robert de Turbeville.'^ In 1268, how-
ever, Humphrey came to an agreement with Robert
and regained possession of the manor." He afterwards
became entangled in financial difficulties from which
he was relieved by the Dowager Queen Eleanor, who
in 1273 paid his debts to Elias son of Moses, a Jew of
London, taking in exchange certain of his manors.
Abington Manor, however, in the hands then of Philip
de Horton, a burgess of Northampton, was delivered
to Humphrey, who received from the queen 20 pounds
besides.''' In 1277 Humphrey settled the manor on his
son Humphrey and the latter's wife Mary,'' and, dying
shortly afterwards in 1280, was succeeded by his son,'*
who followed him to the grave in 1298." The manor
then became the right of Mary his widow and was held
by John de Lisle, her second husband, in 1 316.'* After
Mary's death in 1325 it passed to her son Humphrey
Bassingburn, who at the date of his mother's death was
in Gascony on the king's service." This Humphrey
confirmed to the nuns of St. Mary Delapre in 1328

an annual pension of half a mark which had been
granted to them out of the manor of Abington by
William son of Fulk de Lisors and confirmed earlier by
Humphrey's father.^" In 1 3 30 he settled the manor on
himself and his wife Alice for their lives, with reversion
to Giles their eldest son and his issue and with contingent
remainder to Hugh and Humphrey their younger sons.^'
Giles died during his father's lifetime and a new settle-
ment was made in 1344; after the death of Humphrey
and Alice the manor was to pass to Alice, Giles's widow,
and then to Walter son of Robert de Colevile and to
Margaret his wife, daughter of Giles, in tail with
contingent remainder to Robert de Colevile and his
heirs, thus barring the Bassingburn line out of the
entail.-- On Humphrey's death in 1348 Alice his
widow continued to hold the manor-' until she died in
1357,-'' when it passed to Alice, her daughter-in-law,
then the wife of John de Fauconberg. Alice outlived
not only her second husband but her daughter Mar-
garet and the latter's husband Walter de Colevile, so
that on her death in 1368 she was succeeded by her
grandchild Robert de Colevile, then only 3 years old. ^5
Robert died the following year and the manor passed
to Ralph Basset and John Gernoun, descendants of
Elizabeth and Alice, sisters of Edmund, Robert's great-
grandfather.^* Before, however, Ralph and John could
acquire possession, Richard Bassingburn, a cousin of
Giles, entered into the premises and brought an action
against John Gernoun for disseisin, basing his claim
to the manor on the settlement made in 1330, by
which if Walter de Colevile and Margaret should die
without heirs, the manor was to revert to the right
heirs of Giles. The second settlement, however, of
1344 was produced and John Gernoun was confirmed
in his possession.^' Ralph Basset must have released his
right in the manor to John Gernoun, for the latter held
it in entirety and alienated it in 1386 to Sir Nicholas
Lilling and Isabel his wife and their heirs.-* A renewal
of the Bassingburn claim was guarded against by a
release made by Robert Bassingburn, probably a son
of Richard, in 1389,^' and in 1424 a further renuncia-
tion of all right was made by Maud wife of Richard
Creek and daughter and heir of Richard Bassingburn.'"
Sir Nicholas Lilling died in 1419 and the manor,
according to the terms of a settlement made in 141 5,
was then held by his widow Mary." After Mary's
death the manor passed into the Bernard family;
Nicholas and Mary's daughter and heir Elizabeth
having married Robert Bernard. Their second son
Thomas succeeded his grandmother, the reversion of
the manor having been settled on him by Sir Nicholas
Lilling in 141 5.'- The manor remained in the Bernard
family for nearly 250 years, passing from father to son
in the direct line." Baldwin Bernard, who was lord
of the manor from 1601 to 1610, married Elizabeth

■ V.C.H. Northants. i, 356.
2 Baker, Northants. i, 9. ' Ibid.

* Cott. MS.Vesp. E. xxii,fol. 9+.
5 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), C. 276; ibid.
C. 2002. ' Ibid. C. 3534..

' Kot. Cur. Regis (Rec. Com.), ii. 117,
267; Feet of F. Northants. 11 Hen. Ill,
no. 134. 8 BakeTy Northants. \f g.

•> Feet of F. Northants. 1 1 Hen. Ill,
no. 134. '° £i. o/'fe«, 934, 945.

" Feet of F. Northants. 37 Hen. Ill,
no. 642.
'2 Cat. Rot. Chart. (Rec. Com.), 206.
" Hunter, Rotuli Selecti, 172.
'* Cal. Close, 1272-9, p. 112.

" Feet of F. Northants. 5 Edw. I, no.
40.

"> Chan. Inq. p.m. 8 Edw. I, no. 10.

*' Feud. Aids, iv, 1 6 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 26
Edw. I (31). '8 feud. Aids, iv, 23.

" Cal. Close, 1323-7, p. 297.

2» Chart. R. 2 Edw. Ill, m. 1 5, no. 47.

" De Banco R. no. 285, m. 285 d;
Chan. Inq. p.m. 2 Edw. Ill (2nd nos.), 5;
Feet of F. Northants. 5 Edw. Ill, no. 91.

^- Inq. a.q.d. file 266, no. 13; Feet of F.
Northants. iS Edw. Ill, no. 286.

^5 Chan. Inq. p.m. 22 Edw. Ill (ist nos.),

^■t Ibid. 31 Edw. Ill (ist nos.), 36.

25 Ibid. 42 Edw. Ill (ist nos.), 9.
2* Ibid. 43 Edw. Ill (ist nos.), 25.

27 Assize R. no. 1480, m. 7; Abbrev,
Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), ii, 303.

28 Add. Ch.(B.M,) 21509, 2i5io;C<j/.
Pat. 1385-9, p. 139.

" Chart. R. 13 Ric. II, pt. i,m. 14.

30 Feet of F. Northants. 2 Hen. VI, no.
10.

3' Chan. Inq. p.m. 5 Hen. V, no. 47.
This must have been his second wife.

32 Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Edw. IV, no. 11.

33 Ibid. (Ser. 2), i, 8 3 ; ibid, xxii, 8 ; ibid.
Ixxxix, 104; FeetofF. Northants. Trin. 30,
£Uz. ;Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cclxxi, 176.

.\i)in(;ton Church, from the Solth-East

SPELHOE HUNDRED

ABINGTON

daughter of John Fullwood,' and after his death she
married Sir Edmund Hampden, one of the five knights
imprisoned for having refused the loan in 1627, who
died from the effects of his imprisonment and was

Bernard. Argenlabcar
rampant sable.

Thursby. Argent a che-

veron bettjueen three lions

sable.

buried at Abington.^ Baldwin's son John married as
his second wife, in 1649, Elizabeth widow of Thomas
Nash and daughter of William Shakespeare's favourite
daughter Susannah Hall.^ After her death in 1669
the manor was sold to William Thursby of the Middle
Temple, London, for £1 3,7 Jo.* The manor remained
the property of the Thursby family for nearly 200
years:' for when in 1736 Richard Thursby, a nephew
of the original purchaser, died without issue, and the
direct line of the Thursby family had become extinct,
the next of kin, John Harvey, son of Robert Harvey
and Mary, a niece of William Thursby, upon whom
the estate devolved according to the terms of William
Thursby's will made in 1700, took the name and arms
of Thursby by royal licence.* The manor was pur-
chased of the Thursby family in 1841 by Mr. Lewis
Loyd. His son, Samuel Jones Loyd, who was head of
the bank of Jones, Loyd & Co. and was a prominent
financial authority, was created Baron Overstone in
1850. On the death of Lord Overstone in 1883^ this
manor, with his other wide estates, was inherited by his
only daughter, Harriet Sarah, whose husband, Robert
James Lindsay, was created Baron Wantage of Lockinge
in 1885. On the death of Lady Wantage in 1920 her
estate was dispersed and sold piecemeal.

There was a mill attached to the manor at
MILLS Domesday which was worth 20/.:* it was
alienated in 1191 by William de Lisors to
Peter son of Adam of Northampton, with licence for
Peter to convey it to a religious house;' Peter presented
it to the Hospital of the Holy Trinity or St. David at
Kingsthorpc'" and it was confirmed to the hospital by
Ralph Berners and Isabel his wife in 1200." Hugh de
Lisors, at the request of Henry son of Peter, also con-
firmed the grant in the reign of Henry II I'^ and so did
Humphrey Bassingburn in 1253, subject to the pay-
ment of 40/. and an annual rent of I pound of pepper."
The mill-pond adjoined the manor of Great Houghton,
and was confirmed to the hospital by Geoffrey de
Pavilly in 1 206.'* Two mills, both known as Abington

' Feet of F. Northants. Trin. i Jas. 1 ;
Chan. Inq. p.m. (Scr. 2), cccxix, 202.

' FromBk. of Deeds belonging to Ishams
of Lamport.

' Did. Sat. Biog. i Feet of F. Northanti.
East. 1657; ibid. Trin. 20 Chai. II; ibid.
Hil. 2t and 22 Chas. II.

♦ Bridges, Aortbantt. i, 400.

' Recov. R. Trin. 10 Geo. II, m. 128;
Feet of F. Northanls. Hil. 17 Ceo. II j
ibid. East. 36 Ceo. III.

' Burke, Landed Gentry, 9th ed.

Mills, were leased by the hospital in 142 3 to John Man,
John Egle, and John Hamme, all bakers of Northamp-
ton, for an annual rent of 1 2 quarters of wheat and
6s. id.: the grantees were not to cut any willows, but
might cut off 'stoccvTiges and shredynges' as often as
they pleased.'' In 1535 these mills were valued at
66/. iJ. and an annual rent of 2/. was paid to John
Bernard and 3/. to John Robins.'* At the Dissolution
the mills became the propert}' of the Crown, but a lease
bearing date 1534 by which the hospital granted them
to Henry Freeman and Henry Nevill for 32 years was
allowed to run on, and in 1558 the reversion was
granted to the hospital of the Savoy," who entered into
possession after the expiration of the leaseat Michaelmas
1 566. Nevertheless, William Freeman and John Nevill,
descendants of the original grantees, acquired possession
of some deeds relating to the mills and refused to give
them up.'' The mill came into the possession of the
Thursbys, who held it at the beginning of the 1 8th
century under the Duchy of Cornwall at a rent of ^^4."
At the present day it is included in the parish of
Weston Favell.

The church of 57^. PETER AND ST.
CHURCH PAUL stands within Abington Park im-
mediately to the south-east of the hall and
consists of chancel 38 ft. 2 in. by 16 ft. 2 in., with north
and south chapels covering it for about half its length
(the former used as an organ-chamber and vestry), nave
36 ft. 3 in. long by 44 ft. wide, south porch, and west
tower 10 ft. 6 in. square: all these measurements being
internal. The chapels represent extensions eastward of
former aisles, and the great width of the nave is due to
the removal of the arcades and the covering of the whole
space west of the chancel by a single-span roof.

Bridges, c. 1720, described the church as consisting
ofa 'body, north and south ile and chancel leaded',-" and
old illustrations show three clerestory windows on the
south side and low-pitched leaded roofs to both nave
and aisle. The building fell into decay, and in 1823,
when a start was made to repair it, the fabric suffered
so severely in a storm that the whole of the nave and
portions of the east end were taken down and rebuilt
in the style of the day, the arcades being then removed.

The earliest parts of the building are the lower part
of the tower and the south doorway, which are of late-
I2th-century date. But with the exception of the tower
so little ancient work remains in silu that it is difficult
to trace the development of the plan with certainty. It
seems likely, however, that the late- 12th-century church
consisted of an aisleless nave, west tower, and short
rectangular chancel. The chancel seems to have been
rebuilt and extended in the 13th century, a single
lancet, now blocked and covered by the eastern end
of the chapel, remaining in the north wall. Aisles may
have first been added at the same time, but the evidence
as to the destroyed arcades is conflicting.^' A good deal
of alteration was done in the 15th century, the tower
being heightened, a clerestory added, and new windows

' C.E.C. Complete Peerage (ist ed.), vi,
'59-

• r.C.H.Nortiants.\,is6.

« Anct. D. (P.R.O.), C. 276.

'» Ibid. C. 2002.

" Rot. Cur. Reg. (Rec. Com.), ii. 117,
267.

" Anct. D. (P.R.O.), C. 3534; ibid.
C. 2004.

" Feet of F. Northints. 37 Hen. Ill,
no. 642.

'♦ Anct. D. (P.R.O.), C. 2019.

" Ibid. 3510.

'» Falor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv, 322.

" Pat. R. 3 4: 4 Ph. and M. pt. 12.

" Chan. Proc.(Ser. 2), bdle. l62,no. 70.

" Baker, A'orMjB/j. i, 7.

^° Iliit. of Sorlhants. i, 402.

^' They arc said to have been Perpen-
dicular; but Baker states that the arches
had 'deep plain mouldings supported by
cylindrical pillars with octagonal capitals':
Hist, of Norihants. 1,14.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

inserted. The aisles may have been rebuilt at the same
time, but the fact that the south chapel is 2 ft. narrower
than that on the north would seem to indicate that
when in the 15th-century reconstruction the south aisle
was rebuilt on the old foundation the north aisle was
widened. The altar of St. Mary is thought to have
been in the north chapel,' which appears to have been
extended about 9 ft. eastward. The south doorway,
which is of Transitional Norman character, with a
pointed arch of three square orders on moulded
imposts, was moved outward to its present position
when the aisle was added. A double lancet window in
the north wall of the north chapel was probably moved
from the chancel, or may have been in the original aisle.
The east wall of the chancel has been rebuilt above

Scale of Feet
10 20 3o

Plan of Abincton Church

the plinth and has a stepped gable and modern pointed
window of three lights with muUions crossing in the
head. In the north wall is a square-headed 14th-
century window of two trefoiled lights and west of it
the blocked lancet already mentioned. West of this a
modern arch opens to the organ-chamber.^ On the
south side is a square-headed window similar to that on
the north, the jambs of which are modern. Farther west
is another window now blocked. The piscina and
sedilia^ are of 1 5th-century date, the former with plain
pointed head and the latter, three in number, with tre-
foiled heads and detached moulded shafts. An aumbry
in the north wall has been plastered over. An old altar
slab is kept in the chancel. The communion rails are
of 18th-century date.

The north chapel has a pointed east window of three
cinquefoiled lights and quatrefoil in the head and on
the north side a three-light window without tracery,
west of which is the double lancet already referred to.
The walls at the east end of the chapel are old, but
farther west the north wall has been rebuilt above the

plinth. In the east waU, north of the window, is a stone
bracket or corbel for an image.

The walls of the south chapel have been entirely
rebuilt, but the four-centred window of three lights on
the south side is an old one re-used. The east wall is
blank. All the windows of the nave have wooden frames,
and both nave and chancel have flat plaster ceilings and
plastered walls. The chancel arch and those between
the chapels and the nave are plastered, and there is a
west gallery the full width of the building.

The tower is of four stages without buttresses, and,
like the rest of the building, of rubble with dressed
quoins. The original lower stages are marked by strings,
but the upper story is distinguished only by the change
in the character of the masonry and of its architectural
features. It has an embattled
parapet and bell-chamber
windows of two trefoiled
lights with a sexfoil in the
head and transom at mid-
height. The two-light west
window and four-centred
doorway are 15th-century
insertions, but an original
window, modernized exter-
nally, remains in the lower
story on the south side, and
in the third stage on three
sides are the now blocked
upper windows of the old
tower.* On the west face of
the third stage is a large
sun-dial in a square stone
panel, probably placed in
this position so that it could
be seen from the Hall.'
The tower arch is pointed
and of two square orders
on hollow-chamfered im-
posts. Above it are the royal
arms of the Stuart sovereigns.

The font is of 1 5th-century date, with octagonal
panelled bowl and stem: it has a pyramidal oak cover.
The oak pulpit was presented by Thomas Rocke* in
the latter part of the 17th century, and is hexagonal in
shape with panelled sides and tester, richly carved.

In the south chapel is an elaborate marble monument
to William Thursby (d. 1700), with statue by Samuel
Cox, and tablets to J. Harvey Thursby (d. 1798) and
his wife (name not stated), and in the north chapel
monuments to Downhall Thursby (d. 1706) and
Richard Thursby (d. 1736). The table tomb of Sir
Edmund Hampden (d. 1627) in this chapel (vestry)
is now boarded over. On the south of the chancel is a
floor-slab, removed in 19 18 from the north side, with
the remains of a fine brass in memory of William Mayle
(d. 1536) and Margaret his wife (d. 1567), which
formerly had figures of husband and wife, ten sons,
and three daughters. The daughters alone are left, the
rest of the figures having been stripped from the
matrices.' There are mural monuments in the chancel

121 Cent.

LATE

131 Cent

■ 141 Cent.

■ 151 Cent

111823 AND

SUBSEQUENT

' Baker, op. cit.

^ Baker says that the north chapel was
originally separated from the chancel by
two arches on a pillar similar to those of the
nave but lower.

^ Discovered during the incumbency of
the Rev. L. H. Loyd (1869-77).

* Those on the north and east are

round-headed, that on the south pointed.
In an opening in the second stage, south
side, a lintel with the date 1673 has been
inserted.

5 It is of 18th-century date, but the
painted numerals have disappeared.

^ Thomas Rocke was clerk to William
Thursby, with whom he lived for upwards

of forty years. He died in 1715. There is
a tablet to him in the church.

7 The brasses were there in Bridges*
time (op. cit. i, 403, where the inscription
is given). Other monuments mentioned by
Bridges have disappeared, as well as a con-
siderable amount of painted glass.

SPELHOE HUNDRED

GREAT BILLING

to Sir Robert Bernard, Kt. (d. 1666), Baldwin Bernard
(d. 1610), J. H.Thursbv (d. 1 764), and Henry Lowth.

There are three bells in the tower, all by John
Briant of Hertford: the treble dated 1809, the second
181 1, and the tenor 18 10. There is also a priest's bell
dated 1764.'

The plate consists of a silver cup of 1805, and a
silver-plated paten and bread-holder. The old plate was
stolen early in the 19th century. It included a chalice,
paten, and two flagons, all silver gilt, presented by
William Thursby about 168;.^

The registers before 1 8 1 2 are as follows: (i) baptisms
and burials 1637-1763, marriages 1637-1757; (ii)
baptisms and burials 1764-1812; (iii) marriages June
1754 to October 1811.^ The volume mentioned by
Bridges, beginning in 1558, has been lost.

In the churchyard is a calvary cross and crucifix to
the memory of the Rev. H. W. M. Gunning, rector
1900-16.

Abington Church is not mentioned
ADVOIVSON in Domesday and the earliest record
of it occurs in 1224 when Isabel de
Lisors, lady of the manor, presented Peter of Irchester.*
The advowson remained appendant to the manor. In
1380 Richard II presented to the church as the custody
of the land and one of the heirs of Ralph Basset was in
his hand, 5 but in 1386 Bromhall Priory received from
the king a grant of the advowson of Abington Church,
then worth ;^io, with licence for the Prioress and nuns

to appropriate it.* This grant apparently did not take
effect, for in the same year the advowson was transferred
with the manor to Sir Nicholas Lilling' and its history
since then has been identical with that of the manor
until 1921, when it was devised to the Bishop of
Peterborough by the will of Lady Wantage.

In 1 29 1 the value of the church was /[6 13/. 4//.* but
by 1386 this had increased to ;{^io:' in 1535 it was
assessed at £,20 los. jt^.'"

Church Land. On the inclosure of
CHARITIES the parish 8 acres of land were allotted
to the churchwardens in lieu of open
fields appropriated to the repairs of the church. The
land was sold in 1895 and the proceeds invested, pro-
ducing ;^I36 <)s. yearly in dividends.

Richard Palmer in 17 18 gave a sum of money for
the benefit of the poor. The dividends amount to
10/. yearly.

Mary Palmer's Charity, founded by will dated
29 April 173 1, is regulated by a scheme of the Charity
Commissioners dated i December 191 1. The endow-
ment produces ^3 yearly in dividends.

Stephen Hawke in 1778 gave ;{^20 to the poor. This
sum with accumulations produces £1 is. yearly.

These three charities are administered by the rector
and churchwardens and the income is distributed in
sums of 10/. to the deserving poor.

The several sums of stock are with the Official
Trustees of Charitable Funds.

GREAT BILLING

Bellinge (si-xii cents.).

The parish of Great Billing covers about 1,386 acres.
The soil varies but is composed mainly of red loam
while the subsoil is ironstone with some limestone: the
crops are the usual cereals.

On the north, where the parish skirts Overstone
Park for some little distance, an elevation of 357 ft. is
reached and from there the land falls to 301 ft. about
the centre of the parish, where the village lies, thence
falling sharply to 174 ft. in the extreme south which is
bounded by the River Nene. The low land lying along
the river, which is liable to floods, forms part of the
Northampton Irrigation Farm which extends into Ecton
parish. A feeder of the River Nene, which flows out of
the lake in Overstone Park, forms the western boundary
for the greater part and passes by Billing Lings, to the
north-west of the village, where Lord John Cavendish,
the owner of Billing at the end of the i8th century,
constructed a private racecourse."

Sb'ghtly south of the road from Northampton to
Wellingborough, which passes through the centre of the
parish, lies the village on the slope of the hill running
down to the river; on the west, at the entrance, stands
Billing Hall, surrounded by extensive grounds in which

there are some remarkable trees. Billing HaU was
described by Bridges about 1720 as 'an handsome old
house with pleasant gardens adjoining it'.'^ About 1776
Lord John Cavendish 'completely transformed it from
the Jacobean mansion that it was into the solid block it
now is'.'-' It stands on high ground to the east of the
church and is a large plain three-storied building of
Kingsthorpe stone, with hipped roof and barred sash
windows.'* Many of the old walls were left standing
when the house was rebuilt, one of which divides the
main building into halves; and in the course of extensive
internal alterations in 1909, in removing some masonry
in the great hall, an exterior wall of the Jacobean house
was revealed, with two mullioned windows in an ex-
cellent state of preservation.'' Additions to the house
have been made from time to time, chiefly by Robert
Cary Elwes. The Hall was sold in 1930 by Mr.
Geoffrey Elwes and, a project for converting it into a
home for indigent musicians in memory of Gervase
Elwes having failed, it was sold again in 1935 to Mr.
Hancock, a shoe-manufacturer of Northampton, and
by him to Mr. J. P. B. Miller, who has pulled down
part of the Hall.

In the village is a bronze memorial tablet to Gervase

' North, CA. Sells of Norlhanli. 1 74.
In 1552 there were three bells and a
tanctus bell. Of the three bells In Bridges's
time the tenor was inscribed 'Sum rosa
pulsata mundi Maria vocata*, and the
second 'In multis annis rcsonct campana
johannis'. The bell frame is marked I.B.
1695.

' Markham.CA. P/a/f o/A'crMan/i. i.

) No marriages in 1812; the next
volume begins in 1813.

♦ Rot. Hug. dt IVtIIti (Cant, and York
Soc.), ii, 124, 21 1 \Pat.R. I2i6-25,p. 592.

' Cal. Pat. 1377-81, p. 444.
' Ibid. 1385-9, p. 164.
' Cal. Pat. 1385-9, p. 139.
' Pope I^icfi. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 40, 43.
• Cal. Pal. 1385-9, p. 164.
"> yalor Eccles. (Rec. Com.), iv, 324.
" Baker, Korthanti. i, 18. The race-
course is said to have been subsequently
reconstructed by Robert Cary Elwes.
" lUtl.of tlortkanti.'\,\ab.
" Elwes, Life of Gervaie Elviet (1935),
10: 'all the rooms but one were stripped of
their oak panelling and the building was

thoroughly Georgianized both inside and
out.'

'< It is said to have been designed by
John Carr, of York : Baker, Hist, of
Sorihanti. i, 24. The south-west front is
covered completely by one wii^taria tree of
most unusual size: Elwes, op. cit. II.
Some heraldic glass from the old house ii
now at Abington Hall (q.v.).

" Elwes, op, cit. 190: the old wall wai
of 'deep yellow local stone'. Other dis-
coveries of Jacobean work were made
during the alterations.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

Elwes (d. 192 1), the 'beloved squire' and famous
singer.

About a mile south from the village the river is
crossed by a stone bridge of some antiquity which was
formerly of great importance as part of the thorough-
fare from Northampton to Horton on the London road.
In 1274 Roger de Wanton was accused of having
appropriated to himself for the last four years the tolls
of the millstones taken into Northampton, 2d. being
exacted from each pair.' The Liber Custumarum of
Northampton, drawn up about 1460, orders 'all mer-
chants to pay customs at Byllyng brygge',- and Justinian
Bracegirdle, rector of Great Billing, who died in 1625,
left money towards keeping the bridge in good repair.-'
Baker mentions that the tolls, then called the Duchy
Tolls, were paid to the Earl of Pomfret in 1820, the
bridge being repaired to the centre arch by Billing
parish and beyond by Brafield and Houghton.*

The mill held by St. James's Abbey during the Middle
Ages lies on the river to the west of the bridge.

Part of the parish was inclosed under an Act passed
in 1778.5 In 1935 Great and Little Billing were com-
bined to form the civil parish of Billing.

There is a Roman Catholic church, dedicated to the
Immaculate Heart of Mary, which was built as a
Village Hall by the late Mr. Robert Elwes and was con-
verted to its present use in 1878 by Mr. Cary Elwes, and
enlarged in 1926. There is a small Methodist chapel.

In 1086 Gilbert the Cook held Billing of
MANOR the king* but the estate escheated to the
Crown and was granted in moieties, one of
which passed to the Mortimers, Earls of March, pro-
bably on the marriage of Milicent, daughter of Robert
Earl Ferrers, with Roger Mortimer who died in 1215.'
This part of the overlordship remained vested in the
Mortimers, as of their honor of Wigmore, and was
finally merged in the Crown in the person of Edward I V.^
The other moiety was apparently bestowed upon
William Meschines, and passed by marriage into the de
Courci family in the reign of Henry II,' and afterwards
through the Fitzgeralds and de Redvers, Earls of Devon,
to the de Forz, Earls of Albemarle, on the failure of
whose line in 1 293 it was inherited by the Lisles of
Rougemont.'° In 1368 Robert Lisle granted the whole
honor to Edward III," by whom four years after it was
bestowed upon John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster,'^
and this moiety of the overlordship was also merged in
the Crown by the accession of the latter's son to the
throne as Henry IV in 1399.

The manor oi BILLING was in the possession of the
family of Barry from the middle of the 1 2th century
until the beginning of the reign of Richard II, but little

Barry. Azure tiuo leo-
pards or.

is known of the earlier members. Their chief seat was at
Stanton Barry, Buckinghamshire.'^ William Barry, who
gave Billing Church to Leicester Abbey, held i fee of
the de Courcy barony in 1 166.''* Ralph, who held land
in Billing in ii8i,'5 died before 1202, and his suc-
cessor Simon, probably his brother, in 1221.'* On the
death of Simon's son Ralph the
manor passed to his brother
Peter," who was holding it in
1240.'^ Peter's son, Robert
Barry, was accused in 1 2 74 of not
having paid suit to the hundred
court for the last three years." In
1 309 he settled the manor on his
son Thomas^" and died r. 1 3 20,^'
his wife Maud surviving until c.
1326.^^ Thomas, his son, died
in 1325 leaving a widow Pernel
and a son, Robert, then a minor. ^■' Robert died before
1349, the date of the death of his widow Cecily, when
their son William, then 7 years old, inherited the manor^*
and was in possession in 1368.^^ Stanton Barry was in
the hands of William in 1377 and was inherited by his
daughter Pernel, the wife of Hugh Boveton of Yardley
Gobion,-* but Billing must have been alienated by
William before his death as in 1399 it was in the
possession of Peter Barentyn-^ and was subsequently
acquired by Sir Nicholas Lilling, who in 141 1 made a
settlement of it to himself and his wife Mary for life,
and after their deaths to Margaret Holand, Countess of
Somerset.^* Sir Nicholas died in 1417,^' and after the
death of his wife the manor became the right of the
Countess of Somerset, passing to her grand-daughter
and heir Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond,
mother of Henry VII, who married as her third hus-
band, in 1482, Thomas Lord Stanley, afterwards Earl
of Derby, upon whom she settled the manor. ^^ On the
accession of Richard III her lands were forfeited, and
the reversion of the manor granted to John de la Pole,
Earl of Lincoln," the king's favourite nephew, but the
grant was never realized, for while the life-tenant. Sir
Thomas Stanley, was still alive, Henry VII acquired the
throne and annulled the act of forfeiture.'^ On the
death of Margaret Countess of Richmond and Derby in
1509, a few months after that of her son, the manor
passed to Henry VIII, as grandson and heir,'-' and by
him was granted in 15 13 to Sir John Ferneux, with
licence to alienate it in mortmain to the Dean and
Canons of St. George's, Windsor Castle.'* This grant,
however, must afterwards have been rescinded by the
king, who in 1525 bestowed the manor upon his
illegitimate son, Henry Duke of Richmond. '^ The latter

' Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), ii, 13, 15.

2 C. A. Markham, Liber Custumarum of
Northampton.

3 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxxxix,
no. 142.

< Baker, Ncrthants. i, 18.

5 Acts Priv. and Loc, 18 Geo. Ill,
cap. 10.

' y.C.H. Nortkants. i, 355.

' G.E.C. Peerage'^ Dugdale, Baronage.,
i, 128. No reference to the Ferrers over-
lordship of BiUing can be found, but it is
most probable that this land passed, as in
other cases, to the Mortimers through the
Ferrers,

' Bk. of Fees, 497, 934; Feud. Aids, iv.
16 y Chan. Inq. p.m. 32 Edw. I, no. 63 j
ibid. 34 Edw. Ill (ist nos.), 86; ibid. 22
Rich. II, no. 34; ibid. 3 Hen. VI, no. 32.

^ Hearne, Liber Niger, i, 91; Dugdale,
Baronage, ii, 451.

'» G.E.C. Peerage; Abbrev. Plac. (Rec.
Com.), 160; Testa de Nevill {Rec. Com.),
23 ; Feud. Aids, iv, 16.

" Cal. Close, 1364-9, pp. 496, 498.

'2 Abbre-v. Pot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), ii.
321. '3 r.C.H. Bucks, iv, 462.

'* Hearne, L/^er //;^^r, i, 91.

"5 Pipe R. 27 Hen. II, m. 5.

■<i Ibid. Beds, and Bucks. 5 Hen. Ill,
m. 4 d.

" Cott. MS. Tib. E. V, fols. loi, 102;
Cott. MS. Vesp. E. xvii, fol. 62.

'^ Feet of F. Northants. 24 Hen. Ill, no.
387; Bk. of Fees, 931.

"> Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), ii. 13.

2" Inq. a. q. d. file Ixxviii, no. 6; Feet of
F. Northants. 5 Edw. II, no. 113.

2' Orig. R. i4Edw. II, m. 11.

2^ Chan. Inq. p.m. 19 Edw. II, no. 41.

" Ibid. 1 8 Edw. II, no. 63 ; Ahbre-v. Rot.
Orig. (Rec. Com.), i. 295.

^* Chan. Inq. p.m. 23 Edw. Ill (pt. i),
no, 24.

^s Abbre-v. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), ii,
300.

" F.C.H. Bucks, iv, 463,

^' Chan, Inq. p.m, 22 Rich, II, no, 34,

28 Feet of F, Northants, 12 Hen, IV,
no. 97,

2' Chan. Inq. p.m. 5 Hen. V, no. 47.

30 G.E.C. Peerage.

3' Cal. Pat. 1496-S5, p. 388.

32 Rot. Pari. (Rec. Com.), vi. 311.

33 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxv, 63.

34 L. and P. Hen. P'lll, i. 666.

35 Pat. R. 17 Hen. VIII, pt. 2, m. 9.

SPELHOE HUNDRED

GREAT BILLING

dying without issue a few years later the manor re-
verted to the Crown, to which it remained attached
for about 50 years. The site and demesne lands were
demised to various persons from time to time, Thomas
King and Richard Fisher receiving a 21-years' lease in
1545,' the latter receiving a further grant from Eliza-
beth at an annual rent of ^^7 1 3/. 4^.- In 1 566 Charles
Howard, Lord Effingham, obtained a lease of 2 1 years in
reversion at the same annual rent,^ but in I 577 Thomas
Tallis, the musician, who had served the queen and her
ancestors for almost 40 years, and William Byrd, his
more famous pupil, petitioned the queen for a lease of
Crown lands in reversion for 2 1 }ears, of the yearly
value of /[40, and among the lands granted, in answer
to their request, were the site and demesne lands of
BiUing.* In 1588 the manor and the reversion of the
site were sold to Alexander King and Thomas Crump-
ton' with licence to alienate them to John Freeman of
Ecton, who acquired possession in 1 590.* The re-
versionary interest in the site of the manor, which had
changed hands many times between 1577 and 1596,
was the cause of a dispute in the latter year between
John Freeman and Anthony Jenkinson, decided in
favour of Freeman,' who died seised of the manor in
161 5. By his will, dated 25 February 16 14, he left
/^2,ooo to be invested in land for the endowment of
two fellowships in Clare Hall, Cambridge, worth £,z6
each p.a., and eight scholarships of j^6 each, to which
his kinsmen were to be first preferred and, failing such,
scholars born in Northants. and Lincoln. On his death
the manor, which was then worth ;^l 2 p.a., was in-
herited by his grand-daughter Katharine the wife of Sir
Edward Gorges, bart.,' afterwards Baron Dundalk, who
about 1628 sold Billing to Sir Barnaby O'Brien, a
descendant of the Kings of Thomond.' He became
Earl of Thomond in 1639 on the death of his brother
without male issue and in 1645 was created Marquess
of Billing, but the patent never came into force.'" The
manor remained in the family for several generations,"
but a descendant, George Earl of Egremont, sold it in
1776 to a son of William Duke of Devonshire, Lord
John Cavendish,'^ after whose death, in 1796, Billing
was sold to Robert Czry Elwes of Roxby, Lincoln, by
Lord John's brother. Lord Frederick Cavendish in
1 799. ' ^ From that date the manor remained in the Elwes
family until the property was sold in 1930.

Many by-laws and regulations were drawn up at the
courts of the manor held during the i6th century. At
one of these in i 5 5 1 it was ordered that no man was to
keep more than 30 sheep or 5 cows to a virgate,'^ and
rules as to stubble and pasture were strictly enforced.
The extravagant cutting of furze and gorse caused an
order forbidding the further gathering for two years.
No man was to put a mare and foal above the age of a

■ L. and P. Hen. nil, x% (i), p. 422.

' Aug. Off. Panic, for Lcasn, Mix. Cos.
R. 14, f. 31.

' Aug. Otf. Partic. for Leases in Rever-
sion, I 577, bdle. 12.

■• Ibid. ; Drci. Sal. Sing., Byrd.

» Pat. R. 30 Elia. pt. 8, m.'24.

» Ibid. 32 Eliz.pt. 5, m. 28.

' Chan. Proc. Eliz. F. f. 3, no. 45.

' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxlix, 157;
Bridges, NortAan/t. i, 408 i Northants,
N. and Q., i, 46. Katharine was daughter
and heir of Margaret Osborne, the wife of
Sir Robert Osborne, bt., and only daughter
and heir of John Freeman.

' Baker, Norikanti. i, 20.
"> C.E.C. Pttrage {2nd ed.), ii, 177.

" Feet of F. Northants
Recov. R. East. 26 Chas. II, 20
Northants. i, 406.

" Whcllan, AVMan/j. 223.

" G.E.C. Petragt\ Burlcc, Commoners,

ii, 463-

'•• Ct. R. (P.R.O.), portf. 195, no. 78.

" Ibid, portf. 195, no. 79.

" Ibid, portf. 194, no. 55.

" y.C.H. Northants. i, 355.

" Cott. MS. Tib. E. V, fols. loi, 102.

"> Chan. Inq. p.m. 18 Edw. II, no. 63;
ibid. 23 Edw. Ill (pt. i), no. 24; Baker,
Northants. i, 18.

" Cott. MS. Tib. E. V, fol. 118.

" Ibid. fols. 117, 118.

" Feet of F. Northants. 24 Hen. HI,

month in the common fields, unless both were tethered;
and the needs of the tenants were duly recorded and
industrial implements supplied to them.'* In 1562 it
was laid down that for each sheepfold there were to be
8i yards of land and that each husbandman was to sow
yearly, for every yard of land, i peck of f)eas.'*

The Barry family were great benefactors to the re-
b'gious houses in Northampton and the mill which was
attached to the manor at the Domesday Survey, then
worth 20/.," was bestowed in the 1 2th century upon
St. James's Abbey by Simon son of Ralph Barry for a
yearly rent of 3 marks and a payment of 70 marks to-
wards the expenses of his pilgrimage to Rome." The
abbey continued to hold the mill until the Dissolution,
after which it descended with the manor." The abbey
subsequently received a virgate of land from Robert,
parson of Billing and brother of Simon." In the next
century Ralph, Simon's son, lord of the manor, bestowed
upon the abbey all the land that William Lovel held,
and Robert son of Alexander, another member of the
family, gave them land in a field called Depedalehul.^'
In 1 24 1 Peter, Ralph's brother, granted the abbey 16/.
rent in Billing-- and in 1 274 the abbot was said to have
built a fulling-mill at Billing, by which great loss was
caused to the king and the town of Northampton.^^ The
value of the abbey's possessions in Billing was £2 16/. in
i29i,-'*but they were returned as worth only 17/. in
1535-5 and were absorbed in the Crown lands at the
surrender of St. James's Abbey in 1538.^* The mill was
afterwards leased for varying periods and one of the
lessees, Thomas Nicolls, complained in the reign of
Edward VI that a stream of water was diverted from the
main river to the great harm of the mill by George
Fisher, bailifl^ of Arthur Longueville.^' In 1551 it was
laid down by the court of the manor that 'the myller
there shall serve the tenants before forreners and make
them of their greyne good meyle and use them with
reasonable toU'.-* In 1 568 the mill was granted to
Thomas son of Thomas Nicolls and to John Smith for a
term of 2 1 years at a yearly rent of ;^3 8/. 4^/.-'

The Barry family were benefactors to St. Andrew's
Priory also, for Simon son of Ralph bestowed a virgate
upon it, formerly held by Simon Mason. 5° A charter
confirming this gift bySimon'sson Ralph^'wasinspiected
in 1 3 16, when the bailiff of the hundred exacted suit
from the tenement.^- In 1 291 the priory's possessions in
Billing were estimated at £\^^ and in 1443 it received
16/. as rent of the tenement.^* In 1535 the priory's
estate in Great Billing was worth 7/. o\J.,^^ and it was
merged in the Crown lands on the surrender of the
monastery in 1538.'*

In 1223 Alexander son of Ralph Barry bestowed upon
Sulby Abbey i pound of wax for providing lights in the
dormitory of the brothers,-" to be taken every Michaelmas

Mich. 1651 ; no. 383.

0, 3 ; Bridges, " Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), ii. 1 3.

" Po/ie Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 55.

'5 P'alor Eccles. (Rec. Com.), iv. 319.

" f.C.H. Northants. ii, 129.

" Aug. Off. Proc. 33/38.

" Ct. R. (P.R.O.), portf. 195, no. 78.

" Aug. Off. Enrol, of Leases, 19 Elix.
no. 28, no. 18.

» Cott. MS. Vesp. E. xvii, fol. 61.

" Ibid., fol. 62.

" Ibid. 62 d.

» Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 55.

'* Mins. Accts. bdle. 1,108, no. 21.

" AVer Eccles. (Rec. Com.), iv, 313,

>» L. and P. Hen. rill, xiii, 151.

" Add. Ch. 21537.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

from the toft which Alwin Pruin held, a gift which was
confirmed by his son Robert about 20 years later.'

Other lands in Billing were held by the priory of
Bradwell, Bucks., and were of the yearly value of 16/.
in 1291.^ In I 526 Cardinal Wolsey received a grant of
the priory and its possessions^ and in 1528 he bestowed
them upon his college at Oxford,* but the gift probably
never took effect, as after Wolsey's disgrace in 1 531
they were given by the king to the priory of Sheen,
Surrey. 5 The priory of Sheen surrendered in 1539,*
and its possessions, including the lands in Billing, were
given to Arthur Longueville in i 543,' whose ancestors
held land in Great Billing* and had been patrons of
Bradwell Priory.' A survey of the priory's possessions,
taken in this reign, mentions the estate in Billing as con-
sisting of a messuage and an orchard with a yardland,
held at will by Edward More, a husbandman, at the
yearly rent of l6s. The dwelling-house itself was in
decay for want of walling and large timber, and the
outbuildings were all ruinous. The only trees on the
ground were apple-trees.'"

The church of ST. JNDREfF stands
CHURCH in a somewhat isolated position on the west
side of the village, commanding a pleasant
view to the south and south-west across the Nene
Valley. Originally it was within the village, but a former
lord of the manor diverted a road and got rid of the
cottages adjoining the church so as to increase the quiet
and amenity of his abode," leavingthe building standing
alone in a field just outside the park wall.

The fabric consists of chancel, 29 ft. by 14 ft.; clere-
storied nave of four bays, 44 ft. 6 in. by 14 ft. loin.;
north and south aisles, 9 ft. 6 in. wide; south porch; and
west tower, 10 ft. square: all these measurements being
internal. There is also a chapel, now used as an organ-
chamber and vestry, on the north side of the chancel,
24 ft. 6 in. by 14 ft. 6 in., built in the i8th century as
the burial-place of the lords of the manor.

The earliest part of the building is the middle pier of
the north arcade which is of late-i 2th-century date, the
only remaining fragment i^ situ of a Norman church
whose dimensions can only be conjectured, but which
at least must have had a north aisle. The pier is circular,
with square abacus, early leaf ornament in the capital
and moulded base with foot ornaments. The rest of the
building is mainly off. 1 290-1 300, to which period the
chancel, nave arcades, and tower belong. The south
aisle appears to have been largely rebuilt in the I 5th
century, the doorway being of that date. The tower
was formerly surmounted by a spire, which, being
struck by lightning in April 1759, fell on the church,
doing great damage. It was never rebuilt and the tower
now terminates in a plain parapet into which semi-
classic panels from the old house of the Thomonds, re-
built in 1776, have been introduced. About this time
the exterior of the building seems to have assumed the
appearance it has since to a large extent preserved, the
rubble walls being covered with stucco'- and 18th-
century urn ornaments and other classic features added.
The parapets of the nave and aisles are plain, but the
former are ornamented in the same way as that of the
tower. The roofs are low pitched and leaded.

The chancel has an east window of three trefoiled
lights, with internal angle shafts, but the muUions and
tracery have been renewed, and in the north wall are
two original square-headed windows now opening to
the vestry. The two windows on the south side are
modern, and between them is a priest's doorway. The
two modern pointed arches to the vestry take the place
of a former round-headed one of 18th-century date.'^
The chancel arch is of two chamfered orders, the inner
springing from half-octagonal responds with moulded
capitals and bases, like those of the nave arcades. The
chancel walls are plastered and there is a plaster ceiling.
No ancient ritual arrangements are visible. In the east
gable outside is a panel with the initials of Lionel
Moody, rector, dated 1687, probably recording some
repairs to the chancel at that time.

The arches of the nave arcades are of unequal span,
the two westernmost on either side being of less width
than the others, and all slightly vary from one another.
The north arcade seems to have been set out from the
middle column, which was perhaps the easternmost one
of the Norman church, the western limit of which
would be retained, and the south aisle would follow.
The pillars on the north are circular, but the moulded
capitals and bases of the two outer ones are similar to
those of the Early Decorated piers of the south arcade.
The arches are all pointed and of two chamfered orders,
with a plain hood-mould terminating in heads. On the
south the pillars have a triple shaft on each face, and the
hood-mould over the second arch from the east consists
of nail-head ornament, no doubt from the remains of
the late-i 2th-century church. There are also two mask
terminations used on this side.

The windows of the aisles and clerestory are all
modern, but at the east end of the south aisle is a 14th-
century reredos consisting of three crocketed ogee
niches: the middle recess, which is higher than the
others, is said to have contained an inscription in dis-
temper,'* but this is no longer visible. The north aisle
is open at its east end to the vestry by a modern arch,
and the walls being all plastered internally no ritual
arrangements in connexion with the aisle altars can now
be traced.

The tower is of three stages with short diagonal
buttresses and a tall lancet window on the west side in
the lower stage. The middle stage has small trefoil-
headed windows north and west, and the bell-chamber
openings are of two trefoiled lights with hood-moulds.
The tower arch is of three orders, the inner resting on
responds with moulded capitals and bases. The porch
is of 18th-century date, but has since been rebuilt.
It has a semicircular arch with gable and urn ornaments.
The inner pointed doorway has a crocketed hood-
mould terminating in blank shields.

The octagonal pillar font is of late- 1 Jth-century date,
with panelled sides and moulded top. The pulpit,
chancel screen, and other fittings are modern.

In the chapel, or vestry, against the north wall is an
elaborate marble monument to Henry, 7th Earl of
Thomond, who died at Great Billing in 1691, with
figures of the Earl and Countess kneeling, an infant in
swaddling clothes between them, and five daughters

■ Add. Ch. 11536.

^ Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 55.

' Dugdalc, Alon. iv, 508.

* L. and P. Hen. Vlll, iv (2), 1779.

5 Ibid. V, 200, 286.

<■ V.C.H. Surrey, ii, 93.

' L. and P. Hen. Vlll, xviii (i), 346

(38)-

* Chan. Inq. p.m. 17 Hen. VI, no. 38.

' Dugdale, Mon. iv, 508.
"= Ibid. 512.
'^ Baldwin Brown, Artt in Early Eng'

land, i, 297. This would presumably be in
1776 when the hall was rebuilt.

'^ The stucco is falling away in places.

'3 Baker, Hiil. of Northanis. i, 24.

'* Ch. Archd. N'ton, 252.

SPELHOE HUNDRED

GREAT BILLING

below. There are also several 19th-century tablets to
members of the Elwes family, one of them by Flaxman
with female figure in bas-relief In the chancel floor is
a brass plate with rhyming inscription to Justinian
Bracegirdle, rector (d. 1625), 'Who four and fift>'
winters did afford this flocke the pasture of God's
heavenly word'.^

There are three bells, the first by Alexander Rigby of
Stamford 1684, the second undated from the New-
comb foundry (i6th century) at Leicester, with an
imperfect inscription, and the third, of l jth-century
date, by John de Yorke of Leicester, 'in honore Beate
Marie'. There is also a priest's bell dated 1664.^

The plate consists of a cup and paten of c. 1682, a
flagon by John Bodington 1697, the gift of Lady
Henrietta O'Brien in January 1698-9, a bread-holder
of 1703 given by Lady O'Brien in 1804, and a modern
chalice and paten.*

The registers before 1 8 1 2 are as follows: (i) baptisms
1662-1811; (ii) marriages 1664-1762; (iii) burials
1662-1810; (iv) marriages 1754-1812; (v) burials
1810-12.5

The churchwardens' accounts begin in 1771.

In the churchyard is buried Mrs. Dora O'Connor,
who died in 1933, aged 103. She was daughter to Cary
Charles Elwes of Billing Hall. To the north-east of the
churchyard is a Roman Catholic burial ground for
members of the Elwes family since they adopted that
faith in the time of Mr. Valentine Cary Elwes (f.
1868).

The church of Great Billing was
JDFOIVSON given to Leicester .'\bbey, soon after its
foundation, by William Barry, lord of
the manor, and confirmed by Henry II shortly after-
wards.* In 1250 Roger de Wanton unsuccessfully
claimed the advowson in right of his wife Julia, a
descendant of Simon Barry,' and in 1 269 the abbot gave
the advowson to Roger and Julia in exchange for lands
elsewhere.* Subsequently Robert Barry evidently ob-
tained the advowson, which he alienated to the Crown
in 1 28 1.' Henry VI exchanged the advowson in 1440
for that of Eton, Bucks., with William Whaplade and
others,'" but Edward IV re-exchanged them, thus re-
covering Billing advowson," which remained vested
in the Crown until the reign of Elizabeth. In 1291
the value of the church was £,i'^ and it was re-
turned in 1535 as worth j^i9.'-' Elizabeth bestowed the
advowson and rectory upon Sir Christopher Hatton,
Lord Chancellor, and his heirs in I 579,'* on whose
death in l 591 they passed in accordance with the terms
of his will to his nephew, Sir William Newport, who
assumed the name of Hatton." On the latter's death,
without male heirs in 1 597, the right of presentation

was inherited by Sir Christopher Hatton, a cousin of the
Lord Chancellor. Sir Christopher died in 1619.'* His
son Christopher, who was then a minor in ward to the
Crown," was created Baron Hatton of Kirby in 1643
and was succeeded in 1670 by his son, another Christo-
pher, raised to the peerage in 1683 as Viscount Hatton
of Gretton,'* who sold the advowson in 1706 to the
Master and Fellows of Brasenose College, Oxford,
in whom it is vested at the present day."

In 1625, when the advowson was temporarily in the
Crown, Daniel Cawdry was presented to the church.
He was a parson of strong presbyterian views and was
one of the leading members of the Assembly of Divines
appointed by Parliament in 1643 for the regulation of
religion: he was averse to personal violence being used
against the king, but refused to submit to the Act of
Uniformity in 1662 and was therefore ejected, dying
shortly afterwards at Wellingborough where he had re-
tired. He was the author of numerous pamphlets, both
against Anglicans and Independents."

Billing Hospital. By his will dated
CHARITIES 25 February 16 14 John Freeman gave
a tenement for the accommodation of
four aged widows and one aged widower and he also
gave to the inmates 40/. a piece yearly out of certain
lands in the parish of Holbeach. These payments were
increased by Sir Edward Gorges and Katharine his
wife to £6 apiece as recited in indentures of lease
and release dated 6 and 7 October 1 69 1 . The original
hospital was pulled down and a new building erected on
land set out by the Inclosure Commissioners in 1778 in
lieu of the original site. The property now consists of
four cottages with gardens and stock producing about
£^ 5 yearly in dividends.

The Church Field. On the inclosure of the parish an
allotment of 2i acres was made to the churchwardens in
lieu of land in the open fields anciently appropriated to
the repairs of the church. The land is let for £^ yearly
which sum is applied towards church expenses.

Brake Money. On the inclosure of the parish a piece
of land awarded to the lord of the manor was charged
with an annual payment of £4 in lieu of the right of the
poor to cut bracken.

George Wortley Lovell, by codicil to his will proved
in P.C.C. in 1 848, gave ;^i 30 to the rector and church-
wardens upon trust to apply the interest in the distribu-
tion of meat to the poor. The legacy was invested and
the dividends amounting to about £■} los. yearly are
distributed in doles by the rector and two trustees ap-
pointed by the parish council in place of the church-
wardens with the Brake Money.

The several sums of stock are with the Official
Trustees of Charitable Funds.

' To Ciroline, wife of R. C. Elwes, d.
181Z.

' The full inscription is given in Bridges,
op. cic. i, 407.

' North, CA. Belli of Norihanlt. 192,
where the inscriptions are given,

* Mirkham, Ck. Plait of Norihanli. 32.

' The entries between 14 March 1679
ind May 1688 were collected in 1689
partly from loose papers written by Dr.
Moody and the parish clerk and partly
from information of the Inhabitants : note
in Register.

' Dugdale, A/on. vi, 466, 468; Nichols,
Leici. I (2), Appendix. 68.

' Cur. Reg. R. i 37, m. 2.

' Feet, of F. Div. Co. 53 Hen. Ill, no.

34-

' Ibid. Northants. 9 Edw. I, no. 67.

'° Cal. Pat. 1436-41, p. 454.

" Pat. I Edw. IV, pt. 3, m. 24.

" Pope Mch. Tax. (Rcc. Com.), 40.

" l^alor Eulit. (Rec. Com.), iv, 325.

'< Pat. 2 1 Elii., pt. 2, m. 37.

" Chan. Inq. p.m. (Scr. 2), ccxnii, 82;
Excheq. (First Fruits) Plea R. 12, no. 108.

" G.E.C. Peerage (2nd ed.), vi, 396.

" Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).

■» G.E.C. Peerage, vi, 397; Feet of F.
Northants. Mich. 22 Chas. II; Rccov. R.
Mich. 22 Chas. II, 9. 246.

"> Bridges, Northanii. i, 406. Inst. Bks.
(P.R.O.).

" Dicl. Nal. Biog. In 1662 John Bourne
and Edmund May presented to Great
Billing church, but this was probably due
to the confusion caused by the ejection of
Uaoiel Cawdry in that year.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

LITTLE BILLING

Belinge (xi cent.); Billingge (xii cent.).

The parish of Little Billing covers an area of 870
acres. It is long and narrow in shape and is crossed by
the main road from Northampton to Wellingborough,
which passes through the centre of the parish from west
to east, descending from a height of 304 ft. to 207 ft. at
the eastern boundary. Billing Lane, running at right
angles to the Wellingborough road, connects the main
road to Kettering with the Billing road and descends
from a height of 255 ft. to 191 ft. at its junction with
the Billing road in the south of the parish where the
village lies. This consists of one or two farm-houses and
a few cottages only, in addition to the church and
rectory house ; in Bridges's time 1 1 families composed
the population, which in 1931 was 83. Since 1935
Little Billing has been absorbed into the civil parish of
Billing.

The manor-house, mentioned by Leland, stood im-
mediately north of the church, and some remains of it
are incorporated in a modern house on a portion of the
site. In Bridges's time part of the house was still stand-
ing, 'the first story supported with broad arches and at
the south end a turret with a staircase leading up to the
leads'." Pennant, about 1780, speaks of the 'poor re-
mains' of the mansion of the Longuevilles at Little
Billing,^ and in 1789 the ruins were described as 'much
reduced' in the course of sixty years.^ The turret and
practically the whole of the east end of the building had
then gone, but some portion of the western end was still
standing, of two stories, with embattled parapet and
large ground-floor bay window on the north side.*
These features have in their turn disappeared and such
ancient work as still remains is very slight or of a frag-
mentary character. The older part, which includes a
small pointed window on the south side near ground
level, may be of 14th-century date, and at the east end
in a modern wall is inserted a quatrefoil circle contain-
ing a shield inscribed 'pro aia',' apparently of the same
period. A four-centred doorway and a mullioned win-
dow with rounded lights are probably of the i6th cen-
tury, but in its present form the house, known locally
as the Castle, dates only from 1880.*

Behind the village the ground slopes down to the
River Nene which forms the southern boundary; this
portion of the parish lies low, falling to 1 7 1 ft., and is
watered by numerous small streams, all branches of

the River Nene, which overflow their banks in rainy
seasons and flood the surrounding land.

At the time of the Domesday Survey 1086,
MANOR Gunfrid de Cioches held the manor of
LITTLE BILLING of the king in chief,' and
the manor continued to be held of the honor of Chokes.
In the reign of King Edward the manor had been
held freely by Swain, and no under-tenant is mentioned
at the time of the Survey, but Walter fitz Winemar,
whose father Winemar held a great deal of land in
Northamptonshire in 1086, is later found holding the
manor with his wife Osanna.* As in Preston Deanery
(q.v.),where he was under-tenant to the Countess Judith,
he was succeeded by the Preston family.' Gilbert de
Preston in 1236 confirmed a lease of the manor for
6 years to Simon de Esteyland and Guy de Merloue."*
This Gilbert held Billing until 1273," when on his
death it passed to his widow Alice, as her dower, by
agreement with Laurence, Gilbert's nephew and heir.'^
Alice was still holding the manor in I284,'3 but by 1 301
it had come into the possession of Laurence, who then
alienated Billing to John de Longueville and Joan his
wife.'* This John de Longueville was a benefactor to
the religious houses in Northampton, for in 1299 he
bestowed rent and land in Little Billing upon St. John's
Hospital,'^ and in 1 323 he is supposed to have founded
the Northampton house of the Austin Friars, in the
church of which several of his descendants, who were
also benefactors to the friars,
were afterwards buried.'* The
Longuevilles retained Little Bill-
ing Manor for nearly 400 years;
one of the family, Sir George,
being murdered there in 1357,"
but they ceased to reside there a fter
the marriage of John Longueville,
a great-grandson of the former
John, with Joan Hunt, daughter
and heir of Margery Wolver-
ton of Wolverton (Bucks.),'*
which manor then became their
chief seat. Billing being settled
on George, their eldest son," who was Sheriff of
Northamptonshire in 1430-" and succeeded his father
c. 1439 in ^^^ lordship of Wolverton.^' George died in
1458-^ and his grandson and heir, Richard, surviving

Longueville. Gules a
fesse dancetty ermine be-
tiveen six crosslets argent.

^ Hist, of Northants. i, 409. Buck's
view (1729), in which the house is mis-
takenly called a Cistercian Priory, is repro-
duced. It is taken from the north, and
shows the top of the turret on the south
side. The greater length was from east to
west, and the broad arches were in the
ruined eastern portion. In the yard was
a farm-house 'made out of the ruins adjoin-
ing the ruinous part*.

■* yourney from Chester to London (ed.
1782), 320.

3 That is since the time of Buck's
drawing.

■* Archaeclogiay x, 67 j a paper by
Richard Gough, with a drawing by a Mr.
Schnebbelie taken in 1789. The view is
from the north and comparison with
Buck's drawing shows the extent of the
change. Gough says that 'the turret and
all the building west of it had gone', but
Schnebbelie's drawing shows that 'east of
it' was meant. A large projecting chimney

seems to have been an addition after 1729.
5 Probably one of a series of panels con-
taining an inscription.

^ The old house was restored, or rebuilt,
by Lord Overstone in this year. Frag-
ments of ruins adjoining were used in
building an outhouse.

7 F.C.H. Northants. i, 34.7.
^ Ibid, i, 290.
^ Baker, Northants. i, 28.
■° Cal.Pat. 1232-47, p. 147.
" Testa de Ne-vill (Rec. Com.), z(>\ Red
Bk. of Exch. (Rolls Ser.), ii. 727; Chan.
Inq. p.m. 2 Edw. I, no. 25.

'^ CaL Close, 1272-9, p. 222; Hund.
R. (Rec. Com.}, ii. 13.
'3 Feud. AidSy iv, 16.
^* Feet of F. Northants. 30 Edw. I,
no. 415.
*5 Inq. a. q. d. file xxix, no. 10.
»6 f^.C.H. Northants. ii, 1^7. This John,
who settled the manor on his son George
in 1310 (Add. Ch. 21539), was succeeded

by the latter, after 13 165 who in 1330
bestowed a messuage and land in Northamp-
ton upon the Austin Priory (Inq. a. q. d.
file ccvi, no. 7). In 1346 he obtained
licence to enclose a road in Little Billing
18 perches by 18 ft., leading from Billing
Bridge to Northampton, on condition of
substituting a similar space (Inq. a. q. d.
file cclxxix, no. 18).

»7 Cal.Pat. 1354-8, p. 652.

'^ Feet of F. Northants. 4 Edw. II, no.
Ti; De Banco R. Mil. 35 Edw. Ill, m.
90; Chan. Inq. p.m. 35 Edw. Ill (pt. i),
120; y.C.H. Bucks, iv, 507.

'9 Feud. Aids, iv,-^ J.

" y.C.H. Northants, Families, 370. A
great many of the Longuevilles were Bur-
gesses of Northampton, and represented
the county in Parliament during the four-
teenth century (ibid. 374, 377).

'' Chan. Inq. p.m. 17 Hen. VI, no. 38,

" Ibid. 36 Hen. VI, no. 36.

Little Billing Church: The Font

SPELHOE HUNDRED

LITTLE BILLING

him a few weeks only, the latter's son John, then only
33 weeks old, inherited the estate.' On the marriage of
John in 1493 with his first wife Elizabeth, the daughter
of Sir Ralph Hastings, a settlement of the manor was
made to their use and their lawful issue. They had one
child .Anne who married Drew Cheyne and by him had
a son John,- to whom the manor ought to have passed
in I 541 on his grandfather's death,^ but the latter in
1527* had made over Billing to his illegitimate sons
Thomas, Arthur, Richard, and John in tail male.
Thomas dying before his father in 1540,' the manor
was resettled on Arthur* who entered into it on his
father's death in 1 541 and bought out John Cheyne's
claim by giving up to him manors and lands to the yearly
value of £20, John in i 542 renouncing all right in the
manor of Little Billing.' Arthur died in 1557 leaving
a son Henry, then aged 10,* against whom, when he
came of age, Henry the son of John Cheyne brought an
action, alleging that the terms of the contract had not
been kept.' Henr)' Longueville lived till 1618,'" his son
Henry surviving him only three years, when the manor
passed to the latter's son Edward" who was created a
baronet in 1638 and died in 1661. His son and heir
Thomas was killed by a fall from his horse in 168 5 '-and
his son Edward in 1688 sold Little Billing.'^ The manor
was acquired by William Thursby, from whom it
passed, with Abington (q.v.),to John Harvey Thursby,
and was bought of the Thursby family in 1837 by Mr.
Loyd, whose grand-daughter was Lady Wantage.

There was a mill attached to the manor worth 2/. in
1086,'* described as a water-mill in 1273'' and last
mentioned in 1361, there being no trace of a mill at the
present day. In 1361 the manor comprised 73 acres of
arable land, 60 acres of meadow, and ^^4 14/. annual
rent. The serfs owed £7 rent of assize and the cottars
6/., while six free tenants owed works in harvest every
three days. There were two dove-houses, two ponds,
and buildings within the gates, the moiety of a grange,
pleas and perquisites of court.'*

Other land in Billing was held by the Count of
Mortain in 1086, of which 2 J virgates were socland of
the manor of Weston." This holding, which escheated
to the Crown either in the reign of William Rufus or in
1 106, was granted to the Avrcnches family'' and was
held of them by Walter fitz Winemar, lord of the
manor, who bestowed i virgate of this fee, together
with Little Billing Church and I virgate of the fee of
Chokes, upon St. Andrew's Priory in Northampton."
Sibyl de Preston daughter of Gilbert gave up her right
in 5 virgates of land in Billing to the priory on the con-
dition that her daughter Eustachia and the latter's hus-
band Robert son of Ralph Raye should continue to hold
2 virgates of the priory.^" These gifts were confirmed in
the reign of Henry II by Michael de Preston and by the
latter's son Walter and grandson Gilbert in the reign of
Henry III." In the reign of Edward II the priory sued

Philip son of John of Boughton for unjustly disseising
them of I messuage and 3 virgates of land in Little
Billing,^-and in the reign of Richard II, George Longue-
ville, lord of the manor, contended that of the 40^'. due
from the whole 'vill' of Billing for ward of the Castle of
Northampton or that of Rockingham, 6J. ought to be
paid by the prior. As a defence the prior successfully
pleaded that the land had been given him in free alms,
the jury also finding that by a charter of Henry II,
confirmed by Edward I, the priory was acquitted from
shire and hundred courts.^' In 1291 the priory's pos-
sessions in Little Billing were valued at £6 i 5/., the
meadows being worth £j and their lands and dove-
houses ;^3 I 5/.-* By 1535 the value of the estate had
fallen to i6s.^^ and, having been taken into the king's
hand at the dissolution of the priory in 1538, it was
granted out by Edward VI in 1553 to Thomas Sidney
and Nicholas Haleswell,-* but after this date no records
of this holding can be found.

The church of JLL SJINTS consists
CHURCH of chancel, 3 1 ft. by 1 2 ft. 8 in., with north
aisle or chapel its full length, 14 ft. 6 in.
wide, nave, 43 ft. 6 in. by 26 ft. 6 in., and south porch,
8 ft. square, all these measurements being internal.
There is also a small modern bell-tower on the north
side, near the junction of the nave and chapel.

The oldest parts of the church are of 14th-century
date but the building has been so much altered in later
times that it now retains very little architectural interest.
The north chapel was rebuilt in 1 849, and the nave and
chancel extensively restored in 1854. Before this time,
however, a north aisle had been merged into the nave
by the removal of the arcade, the outer walls rebuilt in
a 'meagre Perpendicular' style, and a wide roof erected
supported by posts in the middle.^' In the 1 854 restora-
tion the single span roof was reconstructed without its
supporting posts and a wooden turret at the west end
was done away with. The width of the original nave
would be about 16 ft. The chancel and its aisle are
under separate tiled roofs with twin east gables, and
the tower has a pyramidal roof. The walls are plastered
internally and with one exception all the windows are
modern.

The exception is a low-side window in the south-
west corner of the chancel, which is a tall pointed
opening with trefoiled head and hood-mould, of early
14th-century date. Though now at some height above
the ground it is more than 2 ft. lower than the two other
windows in the same wall, which presumably occupy
the position of, if they do not actually reproduce, the
original two-light openings.-' There is a priest's door-
way between the windows.

The chancel arch is a lofty one of two chamfered
orders and probably belongs to a 15th-century recon-
struction: the chancel screen is modern. The floor of
the chancel is level with that of the nave, but no ancient

' Chan. Inq. p.m. 37 Hen. VI, no. 28.

' Chan. Proc. Eliz. C.c. 2+, no. 9.

* Chan. Inq. p.m. (Scr. 2), Ixv, no. 7.

« Memo. R. (L.T.R.), Hil. 37 Hen.
VIII, r. 36.

» Ibid.

' Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 33 Hen.
VIII. The manor was leased in 1538 to
George Fisher and subsequently to Nicho-
las and John Gainsford : Ct. of Requests,
14 (167), Ibid. 16 (86), Chan. Proc. Ser. ii,
bdle. 128, no. 19.

' Com. Pleas. Deeds Enr. East. 35
Hen. VIII, m. 7; Chan. Proc. Elii. C.c.

24, no. 9.

' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. z), cii, no. 6.

» Chan. Proc. Elii. C.c. 24, no. 9.

'<* Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxxx,
131.

" Ibid, ccclmvi, 93.

" G.E.C. Baronetage, ii, 437.

i> Feet of F. Northanta. Trin. i Will,
and M.

" r.C.H. Northanli. i, 347.

*' Chan. Inq. p.m. 2 Edw. I, no. 25.

"' Ibid. 35 Edw. Ill, pt. I, no. 120.

" r.C.H. Norikanli.i.jii.

'• Ibid. i. 288, 381, n. 10.

"> Cott. MS. Vesp. E. ivii, fol. 55.

" Ibid. fol. 57 d, 58.

" Ibid. fol. 57.

" Ibid. fol. 59.

" Ibid. fols. 59-60.

»« Pope AVfA. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 55.

" ralor Ecclei. (Rec. Com.), iv, 313.

" Pat. 7Edw. Vl.pt. iv.

" Chi. ArchJ. Norik'ion, 254.

'* The height of the sill of the low-side
window above the floor inside is 4 ft. 7 in.
and above the ground outside 5 ft. 11 in.
The opening is 4 ft. high : jiitoc. Areh.
Soe. Reports, xx\x, 383.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

ritual arrangements survive. There is, however, a small
ogee-headed aumbry in the east wall of the chapel at its
south end, and at the north end a carved corbel. The
chapel is open on the south side by two pointed arches,
the westernmost of 14th-century date, the other later,
which may indicate that originally the aisle covered
the chancel for only about half its length. The arch
between the chapel and the former north aisle of the nave
is also of 14th-century date. In the nave, north of
the chancel arch, facing west, is a recess with foliated
head, probably the remains of the reredos of a nave
altar.

The exceedingly interesting cylindrical font has
already been described.' On account of the palaeo-
logical peculiarit)- of its inscription, as well as from its
resemblance to a Saxon baluster shaft, the font is
generally attributed to the pre-Conquest period, but is
probably not earlier than the i ith century.-

In the north chapel is an 18th-century wooden
communion table. The pulpit and other fittings are
modern.

There are three modern bells, cast about 1 850.'

The plate consists of a silver cup of 1682 with the
maker's mark I N within a heart, inscribed 'The Parish
of litle Biling in Northamptonshire', a paten without
date letter but of about the same period with the
maker's mark E B repeated. There are also two pewter
alms dishes and a pewter flagon of 1714.''

The registers before 1 8 1 2 are as follows: (i) baptisms
and burials 1632-1740, marriages 1632-1720, 1735-
41; (ii) baptisms and burials 1741-1812, marriages
1744-54; (iii) marriages 1754-1812. There is a book
of churchwardens' accounts 1722-1886.

The rectory house, which stands close to the church,
has a good 1 8th-century panelled entrance hall and oak
staircase.

There is no mention of Little Billing Church in the

Domesday Survey, but soon after the foundation of St.
Andrew's Priory, Northampton, between 1093 and

1 100, Walter fitz Winemar and Osanna
ADVOWSON his wife presented it to the prior and

convent. 5 This gift was confirmed
by Hugh of Wells, Bishop of Lincoln, los. being
assigned to the priory as an annual pension.* This
pension continued to be paid to the priory until the
Dissolution.'' The priory was a cell to the French
priory of St. Mary de la Charite and therefore during
the French wars of Edward III the presentation to the
church of Little Billing was often exercised by the
Crown.* In 1535 the value of the benefice was
j^l I I y. \d? and the church was annexed by the CrowTi
on the dissolution of St. Andrew's in 1538. It was
apparently granted to Richard Wudcocke, who sold
it in 1548 to Sir Thomas Brudenell, who died seised
of it in 1549,'° when it was said to be held of Arthur
Longuevill, but instead of passing to his heir with his
other possessions it escheated to the king, by whom it
was granted in the next year to Sir Ralph Sadler and
Laurence Wennington." The advowson is found in
1630 in the hands of Richard StockweU,'^ but there
is no record of its history during the interval.
Anne Bracegirdle in 1648 presented by reason of the
minority of her son Justinian,'^ who, with his wife
Martha, sold the advowson to Richard Woodford in
1669.''* It remained in the Woodford family until
1741 '5 when John and Mary Woodford conveyed it to
Ambrose Isted of Ecton,'* by whom it was probably
afterwards sold to Sir Thomas Drury, bart., passing
on the latter's death in 1759 to his two daughters and
co-heirs, in undivided moieties." The younger daugh-
ter, Jocosa Catherine, purchased her late sister's moiety
in 1770 and married Sir Brownlow Cust, bart., after-
wards Lord Brownlow, in whose descendant, the pre-
sent Earl Brownlow, the advowson is now vested.'*

BOUGHTON

Buchenho, Buchetone, Buchedone, Bochetone (xi
cent.); Boketon, Buketone, Buckton (xii-sv cent.).

Boughton is a parish covering an area of 2,060 acres.
The soil is marl and clay with a subsoil of stone, while
the chief crops are wheat, barley, and beans. The
parish, which is heart-shaped, is crossed from north to
south by the road running from Northampton to Market
Harborough, which skirts Boughton Park, the property
of Mr. Frank Panther. Baker, writing about 1820,
describes Boughton House" as 'nearly levelled with the
ground',^" but gives a view made from a sketch of about
thirty years before,^' which shows a gabled building

enclosing three sides of a quadrangle.^^ The park and
adjacent grounds were well wooded and interspersed
with temples, triumphal arches, and artificial ruins.^-'
No remains of the old house are left. The present
house, called Boughton Park, to distinguish it from the
Duke of Buccleuch's seat near Kettering, was built
about 1 844 by Lt.-Gen. R. W. H. Howard- Vyse. The
village of Boughton lies to the east of the park and
contains a house, formerly the residence of Captain
Whyte-Melville, who wrote many of his novels here.
In the village are a number of 17th-century thatched
houses, on one of which, south-west of the church, is

' V.C.}i. Northants. ii, 187.

^ See also Paley, Bapl. Fonts, where it is
called early Norman.

3 North, Ch. Bells of Northants. 192.
The bells are very difficult of access. In
1552 there were two bells and a sanctus
beU.

♦ Markham, Ch. Plate of Northants.

33-

5 Cott. MS. Vesp. E. xvii, fol. 55.

' Ibid. fol. i + d.j A. Gibbons, Liher
j4ntiquus, 40.

' Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 40;
Mins. Accts. bdle. 1,108, no. 21; Valor
Eccles. (Rec. Com.), iv, 314.

' Cal. Pat. 1340-3, p. 577; ibid. 1348-
50, pp. 296, 326; ibid. 1 38 1-5, pp. 478,
480. Ini4i7 the priory leased the advowson

to William Gadesby, clerk, and to Richard
Wilby for the term of the former's life:
Campb. Ch. x, 2.

' Valor Eccles. (Rec. Com.), iv, 326.

^° Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), txxxix, 106.

" Pat. R. 4 Edw. VI, pt. iv, m. 27.
Wudcocke's title was probably based on a
usurpation by Longuevill.

'2 Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).

■3 Ibid.

'* Feet of F. Northants. Mich. 2 1 Chas.
II.

■5 Bridges, Northants. i, 409. In 1702,
however, George Dixon exercised the
right: Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).

'* Feet of F. Northants. Mich. 15
Geo. II.

" Baker, Northants. i, 28, 57; G.E.C.

Baronetage, v, 86,

•8 Ibid.; Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).

*^ It is called the 'Manor House' in
Bridges' History (i, 410) and described as
'old but not large'. Part had been pulled
down by Sir John Briscoe.

^0 Baker, Hist, of Northants. i, 36.

^* Ibid. 'When I had scarcely entered
into my teens.'

^^ Ibid, i, 35. Baker says the house was
occupied by the Earl of Ross for a short
time after the death of the Earl of Strafford
and subsequently became the rendezvous of
the Pytchley Hunt while under the
management of John Ward, who was the
last occupier.

" Ibid, i, 36.

SPELHOE HUNDRED

BOUGHTON

a tablet inscribed 'Ano. Dom. 1639, t.h., a.h.' A
monument was erected in Boughton parish in 1764 in
memory of William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devon-
shire, in the form of a masonry obelisk. The inscription
which it originally bore has been removed.' The old
ruined church of St. John the Baptist stands about a
mile east of the village on the green where the fair
was held since at least the middle of the 14th century.
This famous green is most picturesque in appearance,
with an undulating surface caused partly by extensive
quarrying, the remains of several old pits being found
in the neighbourhood. The sandy ground is riddled
with rabbit holes. The keeper of Moulton Park used
to claim free warren in Boughton fields, a right which
was stoutly resisted by the inhabitants. Thos. .Aylmer,
the bailiff of Boughton in I 53 1, used to keep grey-
hounds and ferrets in his house and 'wold never rydde
between Northampton and Buckton but that he wold
have his cross-bowe hangyng at his sadle bowe with
hym, to the intent to kyll conyes by the waye'. Even
the chantry priest. Sir John Chene, in the reign of
Richard III was accused at his own chantry door of
hunting in the warren; and the rabbits invaded the
churchyard itself, making the place so dangerous that
the inhabitants were afraid to go to mass for fear of
breaking their necks. It was said that the bones dug up
by the conies would fill a scuttle and 'that a man can
go skantly in a corner of yt but he shall fynde it full of
dead mennes bones, a thing most pyt}ous to be seen'.
One of the parishioners stated that a 'great number of
conyes have so underminded the church yarde of
Bouckton that it wold abhorre any Crystiane manys
harte in the world to see it'.-

The parish is well watered with springs, one of
which, known as St. John the Baptist's Spring, rises
in the old churchyard on the green. A branch of the
River Nene flows on the north through Boughton
Park, while a larger branch of the river forms the
western boundary and is crossed several times in its
course through the parish by the L.M.S. railway. A
road connecting the village with Church and Chapel
Brampton descends from 343 ft. to 221 ft., where it
crosses the line at Boughton level crossing, the lowest
lying ground in the parish being situated here. The mill
stands almost a quarter of a mile farther upstream. The
highest ground is found to the north and north-east of
the parish where an altitude of 4 1 8 ft. is reached. There
is a Methodist chapel in the village.

The parish has been inclosed under an act passed in
1756.5

William the Conqueror bestowed most of

MANOR the land in BOUGHTON upon his niece,

the Countess Judith, and the ovcrlordship

remained vested in the holders of the honor of Hunting-

' Aitoc. Arch. Soc. Reforii, xxiii, 163.
The duke, when a young man, read with
one of the incumbents of Boughton and
for this reason the monument was erected.
The occupier of the farm on which it
stands had so much trouble from persons
trespassing to read the inscription that
he caused it to be erased.

' From deeds in Kingsthorpe church-
chest cited by Mr. Glover in Kingi-
thorpiana.

' Lot. and Priv. Acts, 29 Geo. II,
cap. 9.

* y.C.H. Norlhanlt. i, 355.

> Ibid, i, 381.

« Ibid, i, 351.

' Ret. <U Ohlatit el Fin. (Rcc. Com.),

400.

' Assize R. 3 Edw. Ill, m. 48 d.
» Feet of F. Northants. 12 Edw. I,
no. 1 12.
'° De Banco R. 363, m. 53.

" »U</. y4/</j, iv, 23.

n AssireR. 3 Edw. III. m. 48 d.

■> PUc. de Quo War. (Rec. Com.), 534.

'< Cat. 0/ ?apal Lrlters, ii, 536. The
estate is here referred to as i tot. pension
in the church of Boughton but as there is
no other record of the Abbey possessing
a pension in the church and as the yearly
value of the land sold to the de Boughtons
was iiOf., it is safe to conclude that the
two are identical.

" Feet of F. Northants. 13 Edw. Ill,

don of which the descent is traced under Yardley
Hastings (q.v.).

One of the under-tenants of the countess in 1086
was the Norman abbey of St. Wandrille who held
3 hides less half a virgatc, bestowed upon them by the
countess;* by the 12th century this estate had increased
to 3 hides and 3 small virgates,^ probably by the addi-
tion of 3 virgates held of the countess at the Domesday
Survey by 4 socmen.* It was worth r 10/. in 1207, and
was appropriated by John for the time being with the
lands of other Norman holders,' but was regained by
the abbey, whose abbot WiUiam de Nutricilla, in the
reign of Edward I, conveyed it to John de Boughton,*
who already owned land in Boughton by inheritance.'
From John it passed to his son, another John;'" and to
the latter's son Thomas," ' against whom and his mother
Juliana, William, Abbot of St. Wandrille, brought an
action in 1330 claiming that as the estate had belonged
to the abbey by virtue of the Prebend of Uphaven, in
the diocese of Salisbury, and that as the consent of the
dean and chapter had not been obtained, the alienation
of the manor by William de Nutricilla was not valid.
The abbot, however, failed to prosecute and judgement
was given for Thomas, '-who in the same year success-
fully claimed view of frankpledge in his manor of Bough-
ton, on prescription; he was sheriff" for Northants.
in 1331, 1334, and 1343. In 1337 the abbey of St.
Wandrille was absolved by the Pope from the penalty
it had incurred by selling the Boughton estate without
licence from the bishop, and the tenure of the Boughton
family was thus rendered more secure.'* Three years
afterwards, however. Sir Thomas de Boughton and
Joan his wife sold the reversion of the manor to Henry
Green of Isham, junior," in whose family it remained
for many years." Henry Green was knighted in 1354
and in 1361 was appointed chief justice of the King's
Bench, from which he was removed in 1365;" he died
in 1 369 and was succeeded in his
Boughton estates by Thomas, his
son by his first wife; Drayton,
which he had acquired from Sir
John Drayton, brother of his
second wife Catherine, being set-
tled on Henry his son by her.'*
Sir Thomas, who died in 1391,"'
was succeeded by his son another
Sir Thomas, Sheriff of Northants.
in 1417, in which year he died.^"
His widow Mary died in 1433,^'
when their son, another Sir Thomas, came into posses-
sion of the whole manor. -^ The manor passed from him
to his son, grandson, and great-grandson, all of whom
were called Thomas,^^ but the sixth and last Thomas
died in 1506, without male heirs, when his property

no. 195.

"' Malstead {Succinct Cenealogiel, 152)
wrongly surmised that Henry Green was
the son of Sir Thomas de Boughton and
changed his name to Green of Boughton on
account of his attachment to the green
belonging to the village.

" Diet. Mat. Biog.

" Chan. Inq. p.m. 43 Edw. Ill, pt. 1,
no. 48.

'« Ibid. I 5 Rich. II, pt. I, no. 24.

" Ibid. 5 Hen. V, no. 39.

'• Ibid. 12 Hen. VI, no. 20.

" Fine R. Northants. 12 Hen. VI, m.

" Chan. Inq. p.m. 2 Edw. IV, no. 4;
Halstead, Succinct Genealogies, 169.

Green. Azure three

bucks or.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

passed to his two daughters Anne and Maud." During
their minority the estate was claimed by the Bishop of
Winchester and others,- but this was probably only a
question of guardianship, as in 1512a division of the
property was made between Nicholas Vaux and Anne his
wife and Thomas Parr and Maud his wife^ by which
Anne appears to have acquired Boughton Manor. She
predeceased her husband, who died in 1523,'' shortly
after his elevation to the peerage as Lord Vaux of Har-
rowden,5 when their son Thomas inherited the manor.*
During his life it appears to have been leased out to
Richard Humphrey, after whose death it was the cause
of a dispute between his stepson Augustus Crispe and his
nephew Thomas Stafford,' but the manor shortly re-
turned to the Vaux family, passing to Thomas's son
William, and to the latter's grandson Edward,* who mar-
ried Elizabeth widow of William Knollys Earl of Ban-
bury.' Edward Vaux died in 166 1 without legitimate
issue, having settled the manor on his stepson Nicholas
Vaux or Knollys, sometimes called Earl of Banbury.'"
By his first wife, Isabel, Nicholas had one daughter Anne
who married Sir John Briscoe and by his second wife,
Anne, on whom he settled Boughton on his marriage
with her in 1655," a son Charles who succeeded his
father in 1674.'^ Charles apparently sold Boughton to
Sir John Briscoe, the husband of his half-sister Anne,
who mortgaged it to Lord Ashburnham, and the latter
in 1 7 17 sold it with Pitsford to Thomas Wentworth,
Earl of Strafford.'^ Lord Strafford died in 1739 and
his son William died without issue in 1791, when this
property was inherited by his sisters and co-heirs or their
descendants, Anne wife of the Right Honourable
William ConoUy, Lucy wife of
Sir George Howard, and Henri-
etta wife of Henry Vernon, as
tenants in common,''' but as they
were anxious to hold their shares
in severalty they obtained an Act
of Parliament in 1795 by which
Boughton and Pitsford were
assigned to Richard William
Howard-Vyse, a minor, son of
Major-General Howard-Vyse
and Anne daughter and heir of
Lucy Wentworth and Sir George
Howard. '5 The manor has re-
mained in the Howard-Vyse
family,'* the present owner being
Major-Gen. Sir Richard Granville Howard-Vyse.

The Boughton family, who obtained the Manor of
Boughton in the reign of Edward 1, were already
holders of land there, and their estate may have

Howard-\'yse. Argent
a hart^s head cahossed
sable ivith a cross sable
betzueen the attires^ for
Vyse^ quartered ivith
Hoivard.

originated in the virgate held in 1086 of Countess
Judith by Robert." The first of this family of whom
any record remains was William, who was succeeded
by a son Richard, whose son Alexander was a benefactor
both to St. Andrew's Priory, Northampton, and to the
Hospital of the Holy Trinity, Kingsthorpe.'^ He died
before 12 1 1, leaving a widow Margaret" and two sons,
William who died without issue and Walter-" who died
before 1 284.-' Walter was succeeded by his son John,^^
who purchased Boughton manor from St. Wandrille
Abbey, when their holding became absorbed in the
manor; it is doubtful if it had acquired the legal status
of a manor, although Walter is sometimes styled lord
of Boughton.

Boughton Green was long associated with a fair,
held annually, at least since it was granted to Henry
Green in 1350, on the vigil, day, and morrow of
St. John the Baptist;'-' it used to be famed for brooms
and wooden-ware, and the last day was given up to
wrestling and other forms of sport, but during the last
years of its existence it consisted merely of a large horse-
and cattle-fair and lost its social character. It was abol-
ished during theWar (1914-18); the horses formerly
sold at Boughton are now sent to the cattle-market at
Northampton; and the green has since been enclosed.
It was always attached to the manor, and when sold with
it in 1 7 17 was estimated at a yearly value oi £^,0.^*

In 1086 Gerard held of the Countess Judith half a
virgate of land in Boughton-^ which may have passed
to the Prestons, lords of Little Billing Manor, for in
1233 Gilbert de Preston was concerned in a dispute
over 2 virgates of land in Boughton.^* This holding
followed a descent similar to that of Little Billing
Manor (q.v.),-' but was retained by Laurence de
Preston when he alienated Billing, passing from him to
his son Laurence whose widow Agnes detained it as
dower in 1349 and afterwards to their son Thomas.^*

As tenants under the Prestons were the Boughton
family, who held i virgate of land rendering 17/. io<2'.
yearly and 2 virgates by foreign service.-' In the division
of property in 1274 between Laurence de Preston and
Alice, the widow of Gilbert, the land in Boughton fell
to Alice, ^'' but after this date there is no further mention
of the under-tenancy of the Boughtons.

Other lands held of the honor of Huntingdon were
those in the possession of the Daubeny family; William
Daubeny died seised of land in Boughton c. 1 264,^' and
in 1282 this holding was said to amount to 32virgates.2-
It may have been afterwards acquired by the lords of
the chief manor for there is no further trace of it.

Robert de Buci held 3 virgates of land less i bovate
of the king in chief in 1086,^^ and this estate may have

' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ex, 74.

^ De Banco R. 982, m. 706.

3 Feet of F. Northants. Hil. 3 Hen.
VIII.

* Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xli, 60.

5 G.^.C. Peerage (ist ed.), viii, 18.

<> Recov. R. Trin. 22 Hen. VIII, m.
4.19; Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdlc. 2, no. 63.

' Feet of F. Northants. Mich, i & 2
Eliz. ; ibid. East. 4 Eliz. ; Chan. Proc. Ehz.
S. s. 8, no. 51 ; Recov. R. Mich. 1566, m.
460.

8 Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 27 Eliz.;
ibid. Trin. 31 Eliz. pt. i; ibid. East. 32
Eliz. ; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxliv, 121;
Pat. 1 1 Jas. I, pt. 6 ; ibid. 14 Jas. I, pt. 2 ;
Recov. Trin. 22 Jas. I, m. 36; Feet of F.
Northants. East. 4 Chas. I; Recov. Trin.
4 Chas. I, m. 12; ibid. Trin. 11 Chas. I,

m. 63.

9 Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 22 Chas. I ;
Recov. R. Mich. 22 Chas. I.

■" G.E.C. Peerage (ist ed.), viii, 1 8.
Feet of F. Northants. Hil. 1651.

" Feet of F. Northants. Mich. 1655.

^^ G.^.CPecrage (2nded.), i,404; Feet
of F. Northants. Trin. 3 5 Chas. IT ; Recov.
Trin. 35 Chas. II, m. 66.

" Add. Chart. 26395.

■■* G.E.C. Peerage, vii, 264 seq.

■5 Priv. Act. 35 Geo. Ill, cap. 90.

'<■ Com. Pleas. Recov. Mich. 48, Geo.
in, m. 72.

" V.C.H. Northants. i, 354.

'8 Reg. MS. 1 1 B ix, fol. 53 d.; Anct. D.
(P.R.O.), C. 1668.

" Feet of F. Northants. 12 John, nos.

226, 227,228.

2" De Banco R. 106, m. 17 d.

^' Ibid.; Feet of F. Northants. 12 Edw.
I, no. 1 12.

^^ De Banco R. 363, m. 53.

2' Chart. R. 25 Edw. Ill, m. 1 3, no. 36.

^i Add. Chart. 26,395.

25 F.C.H. Northants. \,i<,^.

^<> Ca/.C/oi£>, I23i-4,p. 292.

-' Feet of F. Northants. 24 Hen. Ill,
no. 418; Cat. Close, 1272-9, p. 222.

-8 Oe Banco R. 363, m. 53; Cal. Close,
1346-9, p. 582.

29 Chan. Inq. p.m. 2 Edw. I, no. 25.

3° Ca/. C/o«, 1272-9, p. 222.

3' Cal. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Com.), i. 27.

32 Feud. Aids, iv, 15.

" F.C.H. Northants. i, 335.

SPELHOE HUNDRED

BOUGHTON

passed to the Bassets of Weldon, who owned land there
in 1240.' The under-tenant at the Survey was Robert,
and in 1242 Simon le Sauvage- and 'his partners' held
a quarter fee in Spratton, Houghton, and Creaton under
the Bassets.' In 1284 Ralph Danvers held 7 virgates
of Robert de Tateshall who held them of Ralph Basset,'*
but after this date there is no record of the Basset
holding in Boughton.

Another holder in Boughton in 1086 was Godwin
the priest, who held ij virgates there of the king in
chief:' there is no further record of this estate.

A MILL in Boughton which Alexander de Boughton
held of the fee of William de Dive was granted by him
to the Hospital of the Holy Trinity at Kingsthorpe at
the beginning of the 13th century,* and the gift was
soon afterwards augmented by the addition of land
and the mill-pond' and confirmed in 1 2 1 1 by Margaret,
Alexander's widow.* In 1398 it was leased by the
hospital, under the name of a fulling-mill, 'delapidated
and ruinous', to Robert Douceamour, parson of Scald-
well, and William Mackus of Kislingbury.' It was
apparently reconverted to a corn-mill, as at the view of
frankpledge held in 1509 it was stated that John
Hopkins, the miller, took excessive toll.'" In 1535 the
yearly value of the mill was £,\ i 5/. 8/, of which
2j. iJ. was paid to Thomas Vaux Lord Harrowden as
rent." It was granted out by Philip and Mary in 1558
with all the possessions of the dissolved hospital to the
Master of the Hospital of the Savoy,'^ by whom it was
afterward leased with other tenements to the Vaux
family, lords of the manor, for a lease of 3 lives.'' The
interest in the lease was conveyed by John Lord Ash-
burnham to Thomas Wentworth Earl of Strafford
with the manor in 17 1 7,'* but as by that date the Savoy
Hospital had already been dissolved for a few years,"
it is probable that Lord Strafford acquired full posses-
sion, as the mill has remained attached to the manor.
When it changed hands in 1717 it was described as a
paper-mill in the tenure of Mr. Allen, who paid for it,
the Holms, and the arable ground belonging, an annual
rent of ^20, but shortly before 1820 it was converted
into a corn-mill.'* It is situated on the branch of the
Nene which divides Boughton from Brampton and
which is crossed about a quarter of a mile lower down
by a bridge of some antiquity, known as Brampton
Bridge or the Long-bridge. At a manor court held in
1 509 all the tenants were ordered to repair the bridge
called 'le Long Brigge' ;" at the present day the burden of
keeping the bridge in a good condition falls upon the
two parishes alike.

The Hospital of the Holy Trinity and St. David
owned a good deal of land in Boughton chiefly by gift
from the de Boughton family; Alexander de Boughton

gave them, among other gifts, land adjoining a meadow
called Thadchesholdon, pasture for 1 2 score sheep and
a messuage held by Ailric the miller.'* William his son
bestowed upon them rents and a capital messuage."
Other members of this family who were also benefac-
tors were Simon son of Peter, Walter son of Ralph,
Simon son of Oger, Reynold son of Niel, and Wil-
liam and Philip sons of Walter.-" Richard de Bollessore,
the master, claimed common pasture in Boughton in
1 367,^' and in 1 394 granted lands in Boughton, part of
which were called Bekemanwell, to Thomas Bollessore
and .Alice his wife.-^ The possessions of the Hospital in
Boughton were granted to the Savoy Hospital in i 5 58-'
and were held by it until its own dissolution in I702.-'*
The de Boughton family were also benefactors to
St. Andrew's Priory. Alexander gave them a messuage-*
and Simon son of Oger, a member of the family, be-
stowed a virgate and house upon them,-* a gift which
was confirmed by his son Philip.-' Their possessions in
Boughton included i virgate, 2 houses, half an acre of
land in Stoncdalesike and half an acre above Bernway
pits,-* and in 1 290 these were valued at I 5/.-' John a
descendant of Philip confirmed these lands,'" and in
1 3 19 Thomas son of Thomas of Boughton, his suc-
cessor, held them on lease under the priory yearly."
They were worth 1 19/. ()J. in 1443-'^ after which date
there is no trace of them.

The ruins of the old church of ST.
CHURCHES JOHN stand to the north-east of
Boughton Green on a site which falls
from west to east. The building consisted of chancel,
north chapel, nave, and west tower with spire and was
of 14th-century date," but the remains have long been
neglected and are undergoing a gradual process of dis-
integration by the agency of weather and the unchecked
growth of ivy. The site is thickly overgrown and at the
west end is a confused mass of rubble, broken grave-
stones, brambles, and nettles. Where the walls stand
to any height their architectural features are generally
hidden by ivy. Bridges, early in the i8th century,
described the building as then 'in ruins, without a roof,
the walls in several parts levelled with the ground',''' but
the tower and spire stood till about 1785. A drawing
of the church from the south-east made in 1 761 and
engraved for Grose's 'Antiquities'," shows a tower of
three stages with diagonal angle buttresses, pointed
bell-chamber windows, each of two lights, and a spire
rising from behind battlemented parapets. The walls
of the nave were then standing to a considerable height
and the east wall of the chapel retained its gable, but
in other respects the state of the ruin seems to have
been almost as complete as at the present time. There
were three pointed two-light windows in the south wall.

' Feet of F. Northants. 24 Hen. Ill,
no. 79i Baker, Northanti. i, 35.

' For the association of the families of
Buci and Sauvage see /^.C.//. SuittXy'\^ 379.

J Bk. 0/ Feel, 934.

♦ Feud. Aidi, iv, 1 5. Land of the fee
of Hugh de Hanvers was given to Holy
Trinity Hospital by Alexander de Bough-
ton c. 1200: Anct. D. (P.R.O.), C. 1873.
Hugh seems also to have had some claim
to the advowson (q.v,).

' y.C.II. Korikanti. i, 321.
» Anct. D. (P.R.O.), C. 2059.
' Ibid. C. 2774.

* FcctofF.Northants. 12 John, no. 229.

• Anct. D. (P.R.O.),C. 134.

'o Ct. R. (P.R.O.), portf. 195, no. 69.
" yalor Ecclti. (Rec. Com.), iv, 322.

'■ Pat. 4 & 5 Ph. and M. pt. xv, m. 38.

'' Excheq. Spec. Com. no. 4332.

'* Add. Chart. 26395.

" Dugdale, Aton vi, 726.

" Baker, Sorihanii. i, 31.

" Ct. R. (P.R.O.), portf. 195, no. 69.

■» Anct. D. (P.R.O.), C. 1396; ibid.
C. 1671 i ibid. C. 1833.

" Ibid. C. 2015; ibid. C. 2157.

'" For these and a large number of other
small grants see Cat. of jinct. D. vols, ii
and vi.

" Mhrev. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), ii,
293.

" Anct. D. (P.R.O.), C. 741; ibid. C.
1073.

" Pat. 4 & 5 Ph. and M. pt. iv, m. 33.

" Dugdale, Mon. vi, 726.

" Cott. MS. Vesp. E. ivii, fol. 41 d.

" Ibid. fols.40and40d.,59 d.

" Ibid. fol. 41.

^« Ibid. fol. 43.

" Pope Aic/i. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 55.

'<> Cott. MS. Vesp. E. xvii, fol. 43 d.

» Ibid. fols. 42,42 d.

J' Mins. Accts. bdle. 1 108, no. 21.

" In will of Sir Henry Greene, 1369,
'Ad fabricam campanilis ecclcsie de Buck-
ton, x|h': Arch. your. Ixx, 280.

J* Uiii. of Norikanlt. i, 41 1. An 'altar
monument' with inscription to Arthur
Lennard, rector (d. 1670), then stood on
the north side of the chancel.

" Edition 1797, iv, 27. The engraving is
dated 1784.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

The nave and chancel appear to have been continu-
ous and the chancel had two large three-light east
windows with a buttress between, over which was a
single vesica-shaped opening. The walls of the chancel
still stand almost their full height and both the window
openings remain, but the arch of the northern window
and all the muUions and tracery are gone: between the
windows internally is a canopied niche. The building
is 28 ft. wide inside at the east end' and has a moulded
plinth and diagonal angle buttresses. The piscina re-
mains in the usual position in the south wall of the
chancel, and farther west is a large low-side window,^
now blocked, with cinquefoiled square head, hood-
mould, and wide segmental rear arch. The south
chancel wall stands a considerable height for a length
of about 33 ft. and for a further distance of 15 ft.
westward is about three or four courses high. All the
waUing is of rubble.

The chapel opened from the north side of the
chancel by an arch about 10 ft. from the east end, and
had east and west windows. It measures internally
23 ft. by 16 ft. and has a diagonal north-east angle
buttress, but though much of its walling stiU stands it
is completely hidden by ivy. Its east window has a
flat wooden lintel.

The tower and west end of the building are level
with the ground. The churchyard is still used for
burials and is surrounded by a modern fence wall and
railing, with gateway on the west. Immediately out-
side the eastern wall of the chancel is a spring.

The chapel of ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST, now
the parish church, stands in the village on the north
side of the main street, and consists of a rectangular
body, 68 ft. 6 in. by 27 ft. 6 in., small vestry, and west
tower, 8 ft. 10 in. square, these measurements being
internal. The tower dates from c. 1400, but is the only
part of the original building that remains, the body
having been rebuilt and enlarged-' in 1806, and again
in 1846 when the vestry was added. An extensive
restoration in 1 894 included the re-roofing and re-floor-
ing of the church, the removal of a west gallery and the
opening out of the tower arch. The early- 19th-century
enlargement consisted of a widening on the north side,
but the line of the old nave roof remains over the tower
arch. The south waU and tower face directly on to the
street. A school-house was built at right angles to the
tower on the north side in 1841.''

The body of the church is faced with coursed iron-
stone, and has plain parapets and low-pitched zinc-
covered roof. All the windows are square-headed, that
at the east end and one on the north side being of three
uncusped lights, the others of two lights. There is also
a two-light window high at the west end of the south
wall over the doorway, which formerly served the

gallery. The four-centred head of the doorway is old.'
Over the east window is the date 1846, and a panel
inscribed 'e.m., i.y., 1702' is inserted over the three-
light window in the north wall.

The tower is of rubble, of four stages, with diagonal
angle buttresses and battlemented parapets. The
pointed west doorway has mouldings divided by a
casement, and the restored west window and the win-
dows of the bell-chamber are of two cinquefoiled lights
with quatrefoil in the head. In the third stage facing
west is a panel inscribed 'This was repaired in the year
of our Lord 1653'. There is a vice in the south-west
angle. The two-centred segmental tower arch is of two
chamfered orders, with hood-mould, the outer order
continued down the jambs.

The font, pulpit,* and all the fittings are modern.

On the north wall is a tablet to Mary, wife of Col. E.
Mandeville Mortimore and eldest daughter of Sir John
Briscoe, who died 10 March 1706,' and in the choir
are brass plates in memory of (i) Lilly Anne, wife of the
Rev. G. S. Howard- Vyse {d. 1869) and Lieut. Harry
Granville Lindsay Howard-Vyse, killed in action in
Egypt, 1882, and (2) Major Granville William
Richard Howard-Vyse, who died in Kashmir, 1892.

Three bells then in the tower were recast in 1907
by James Barwell, of Birmingham, who added two new
ones, making the present ring of five.^

The plate consists of a silver cup, paten, and flagon,
Birmingham make, of 1 8 54, a plated bread-holder, and
two brass alms dishes.'

The registers before 1 81 2 are as follows: (i) bap-
tisms 1549-1767, marriages 1559-1754, burials
1 560- 1 767; (ii) baptisms and burials 1767-18 12;
(iii) marriages 1754-1812.'°

The church of Boughton is not
ADVOWSON mentioned until 1201, when the
advowson was in dispute between
Alexander de Boughton, Simon de Boughton, Simon
son of Ogerand Hugh de Anvers." In 1202 Alexander
de Boughton recovered the advowson against Simon de
Houghton on the ground that his grandfather William
had presented the last person to the church.'^ The right
of presentation belonged to the de Boughton family and
descended with the chief manor, Major-Gen. Howard-
Vyse being patron at the present day. The tenure of
the de Boughton family and of Sir Henry Green later,
however, was contested by the Prestons, who claimed
the advowson as appurtenant to their fee in Boughton.
In 1273 it was included among the possessions of
Gilbert Preston'^ and it was recovered in 1276 by Alice
his widow against Laurence, his nephew and heir,"' who
in 1294 was sued by John de Boughton, then lord of
the manor, for wrongfully exercising that right. '5 Not-
withstanding this, Laurence settled the presentation on

^ Bridges gave the length of the church
and chancel as 69 ft. 6 in., the breadth of
the body 27 ft. 8 in., and the tower i; ft.
6 in. by 9 ft.

^ Assoc. Arch. Soc. Reports^ xxxix, 388,
where it is figured. The opening is 6 ft.
4 in. high by 3 ft. wide : height of sill above
ground outside about 2 ft. 6 in. The
window is about 26 ft. from the east end.

^ In Bridges' time the length of the
nave and chancel was 42 it. 4 in. and the
width I 5 ft. : Hist, of Northanls. 1,412.

■♦ It bears a dated tablet with the initials
of the Rev. Richard H. Howard-Vyse,
rector.

5 The date 1599 was over the doorway

in Bridges* time, from which he concluded
that the chapel had been rebuilt in that
year : ibid.

^ The pulpit, organ, and seating date
from I S94.

' Inscription in Bridges, op. cit. i, 412.

8 Two of the old bells were by T.
Briant, of Hertford, 1824, and the tenor
was dated 1 749 : North, Ch. Bells of
Northants. 196, where the inscriptions are
given. In Bridges* time there were three
bells dated 1653, the year in which the
tower was repaired.

' Markham, Ch. Plate of Northants. 37.
The present plate was substituted for a cup
given by Mrs. Madan, wife of the Bishop

of Peterborough, in 1808, an Elizabethan
cover paten, and a salver, all of which
were given in part payment of the new
silver, the balance being paid by the rector.

*o Several children of the so-called Earl
of Banbury were baptized between 1662—
4, and on 1 5 February 1 657-8 'Lady Anne
Montague, daughter of the Rt. Hon.
Robert Viscount Mandeville and Aiue his
lady*.

' ' Curia Regis R. i, 465 j ii, 20.

■2 Assize R. 613.

" Chan. Inq. p.m. 2 Edw. I, no. 25.

'* De Banco R. 15, m. 26 d.

*5 Ibid. 106, m. 17 d.

Boughton: The Old Church, 1773

Bouchton: Ruins of the Old Church

SPELHOE HUNDRED

KINGSTHORPE

himself and his son Laurence, after his death;' and Sir
Henry Green, who purchased the reversion of the manor
in 1340,- conceiving the advowson to be appendant,
brought an action against Sir Thomas de Preston in
1350, after the death of Sir Thomas and Joan de
Boughton. Judgement was given for Sir Henry Green
and damages were awarded him, being the value of the
church for the past two years, during which a nominee
of Sir Thomas had held the living.^ After this date the
lords of the manor continued in undisturbed possession;
but Anne, the widow of Richard Humphrey, and
Augustus Crispe presented in 1551, 1554, and 1559
when they were holding the manor on lease.* In 1 2 54,5
and in 1291* the church was valued at ^^6 and in 1535
the rectory was worth £t, i per annum.' In 1 364 the
Pope granted an indulgence of i year and 40 days to
those who assisted the church of Boughton, in which
many miracles of healing were wrought.*

Even before the parish church became quite ruinous
in the i8th century its place was taken by a chapel in
the village, the present church, for in i 547 the chantry
commissioners noted that 'it is to be remembered that
there ys one chapell situated within the town of Bough-
ton, wherein comonly the said ii prestes do celebrate
for the ease of the parishioners, for the parish churche is
distant iii pts. of a myle from ye towne or any house'.'

When, in 1257, Adam Russel and Alice his wife
quitclaimed land in Boughton to Peter son of Roger de
Boughton for the rent of supplying to the chaplain
ministering daily in the chapel of St. John \d. towards
the support of thecommon light,'" it is probable that the
reference is to the parish church, but the chapel seems

to be referred to in 1 329 when licence was given for the
continuation for a year of the chapel of St. Thomas the
MartjT, built of old times." This chapel probably
originated in a chantry of uncertain foundation. In
1535 Richard Taylor and William Russell were the
chantry priests there and the yearly value, which was
;^io, was divided between them as salary'^ and when it
was dissolved and the priests pensioned in 1 547-8,
there were no jewels or ornaments belonging to it."
Part of the chantry's possessions, 10/., the rent of one
cottage in Northampton, was claimed by the Crown in
1558 against Richard Hanington. These premises were
devised to the two chantry priests in 1460 for a term of
years which had expired by 1558 and Richard Haning-
ton claimed them as heir to Anne Hanington, widow.'*
The Charity of Richard Humfrey,
CHARITIES or Humphrey, founded by will dated
30 November 1 547 is regulated by a
Scheme of the Charity Commissioners dated 14 April
1924. The property originally consisted of 3 cottages
and about 50 acres of land in Pitsford. The cottages
and land have been sold and the proceeds invested.
The sum of ^^522 9/. ^d. is held to the account of the
Church Extraordinary Repair Fund. The remaining
stocks produce about ;^i90 annually in dividends. The
trustees are the rector and churchwardens, 2 trustees
appointed by the parish meeting and 4 co-optative.

The Earl of Strafford's Charity consists of a yearly
sum of ;^5 paid by Major-Gen. Howard-Vyse out of
lands at Boughton and Pitsford which formerly belonged
to the Earls of Strafford. The charity is distributed in
fuel to poor householders.

KINGSTHORPE

Torp (xi cent.); Thorp (xii-xiii cents.); Kynges-
thorpe (xiv cent.).

In 1900 the greater part of the civil parish of Kings-
thorpe was added to the Northampton municipal
borough while the remainder was amalgamated with
Boughton and Moulton Park, but subsequently, in
193 1, the remainder of the old parish was absorbed
into the borough. The area of the old parish was 1,020
acres. Wheat, barley, rye, and potatoes are grown,
while a small amount of market gardening is carried on
by the villagers. The soil is light loam with a subsoil
of lime and ironstone.

Kingsthorpe lies to the north of Northampton, with
which it was formerly connected by an electric tram-
way, but this was replaced in 1935 by a motor-omnibus
service. Except in the vicinity of the church and of
the 'Green', where it retains some measure of its old-
world picturesqueness, the village has become largely
urban. A few old stone houses remain. Nos. 16—18
High Street is a thatched 17th-century building with
modernized windows, and No. 8 Welford Road, with
end gables and pantiled roof, is of about the same date.
Within the last few years many villas and small houses
have been built and entirely border one side of the hill
which leads to Kingsthorpe. On the other side of the

road, however, a more countrified air is preserved by
Kingsthorpe Hall, the residence of Francis Thornton,
esq., which stands in nicely wooded grounds, surrounded
by a park wall. The older part of the village lies west of
the road ascending from Northampton and includes the
church of St. John the Baptist, surrounded by fine elms,
the old green on which is a spring caUed Kingswell,
which never fails or freezes, and one of the three mills,
known in old times as the Nether Mill and now called
Kingsthorpe Mill. Of the other two mills, that known
as the South or St. Andrew's Mill stands in the extreme
south-west corner of the parish, where the ground hesas
low as 206 ft., close to the site of the ancient priory of St.
Andrew; the North Mill is the farthest away from the
village and is now in Boughton parish.

The medieval hospital'* stood on the east side of
the highway from Northampton at the entrance to the
village.'* It had been converted into a blacksmith's shop
before about 1 870, when it was turned into a private
house; further alterations and additions were made at a
later period but the house, thus enlarged, was de-
molished in 1928. The ancient portions apf)ear to have
been of the late 12th century and included a wide
blocked arch on the west side with two small lancet
windows in the filling, a larger lancet (removed in 1 897)

' Fe«t of F. Northants. 30 Edw. I,
no. 415; Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A. 11018.

' Feet of F. Northants. 13 Edw. Ill,
no. 195.

> Dc Banco R. 363, m. 53.

♦ Baker, N^rthantt. i, 37.

» Cott. MS. Nero. D. x, fol. 175 d.

* Pi>i>i Nich. Tax. (Rcc. Com.), 2 1 o, 43.

' /'a/or £«/«. (Rec. Com.), iv, 313.

• Cat. Papal PrI. i, 500.

• Chant. Cert. no. 36, fol. 10.

■0 Feet of F. Northants. 41 Hen. Ill,
no. 707.

" Line. Epis. Reg. Memo. Burghershe,
fol. 204 d.

" yahr Ecclti. (Rec. Com.), iv, 323.

■> Chant. Cert. no. 36, fol. 10; ibid,
no. 35, fol. 6; Norihanii. N. &f Q. i, 105.

>* Memo. R. L.T.R. East, i Elii. m. 63.

" t'.C.II. Aoriijnrs. ii, 154-6.

*^ The site is just within the mile radius
from Northampton near the junction of
Kingsthorpe Grove with the highway.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

in the west gable, and a diagonal angle buttress on which
was an incised cross. Foundations of buildings, pro-
bably belonging to the chapel of the Holy Trinity, are
reported to have been found to the south and south-
east of the house and remains of stone cofSns have been
dug up.' The chapel of St. David, attached to the
hospital, was situated nearer to Northampton,- and was
a small rectangular building without buttresses measur-
ing internally about 27 ft. long by 1 3 ft. 6 in. wide, with
a plain continuous chamfered doorway at the west end
and an east window of two lights.^ The chapel was
converted, probably during the i8th century, into two

Kincsthorpe: The Church

small cottages, a floor being placed at mid-height to
form a second story and modern doorways and windows
inserted in the side walls.* The roof was covered with
thatch, but some of the timbers appeared to be original.
At some later time cottages were built against the
chapel concealing the greater part of the west and the
whole of the east end. The eastern gable and part of
the north wall stiU stand, but the rest has been destroyed.
In the upper part of the village where the ground
rises to 329 ft. are one or two boot factories which give
employment to some of the inhabitants, and outside the
village on the Harborough Road lies the Northampton

Borough Hospital for infectious diseases. Here is also
a white freestone quarry which has provided stone for
the barracks, the General Hospital, and several build-
ings in Sheep Street, Northampton. 5 It used to be of
considerable importance and in 1464 Margaret the
widow of Sir William Lucy died seised of a quarry in
Kingsthorpe, presumably this one.* There are also
limestone quarries and lime-kilns in the parish.
There is a Baptist chapel here built in 1835.
The name perpetuated in a street called Semilong is
probably a corruption of South Millwong; for Henry
Coup of Northampton in the reign of Henry I Vmentions
in his will 3 acres of arable land
in the field of Kingsthorpe above
the furlong called 'Southmylle-
uonge' and in 1555 John Bayley
was ordered to enlarge his ditch
at 'South my He uonge' near his
mill on penalty of 6j. %dP

Through Kingsthorpe Hol-
lows runs a small stream, the
Wallbeck, so called in the i6th
century. In 1 547 it was laid
down at the court held at the
manor that 'no man of no out
Towne shall not digge nor dame
nor fysche in the broke called
Walbeck broke, from Swailuong
hedd to Walbecke, in penalty of
y. 4/'

Several families of consider-
able wealth and importance
resided at Kingsthorpe in the
1 7th and 1 8th centuries, among
them being those of the Cookes,
Morgans, and Lanes. A Robert
Cooke was bailiff here in the
reigns of Henry VIII and Ed-
ward VI and was one of the three
inhabitants sent up in 1 547 to
bring the important case of the
rights of warren before the
Star Chamber.* His grandson
Robert, who married Elizabeth
Morgan, died in 1609' and was
succeeded by his son Francis,
who, dying in 1658,'° left several children, the eldest
of whom, Francis, married Bridget the daughter of
Sir Richard Lane and died without issue in 1704."
His sister Sarah married Sir William Pritchard, who
was Lord Mayor of London in 1682 and Member
for the City in the Parliament of 1702. He died in
1705, his widow surviving him till 1718;'^ she was a
great benefactor to Kingsthorpe, for she repaired the
church and built the tower house and by her will dated
26 April 1707 left {^'^ for apprenticing poor boys after
they had been taught for 2 years in the free school. Her
brother Thomas built the schoolhouse upon ground

' Aisoc. Arch. Soc. Rep. xxiv, 173:
'In 1882, when Lady Robinson came to
reside at the house, the cottages adjoining
the building on the northern side were
removed, and new study, kitchen and
offices were erected in their place. The
old hall and staircase on the southern side
were thrown into the dining room.' Plans
and elevation of the house asitwasin 1882
are given.

^ Opposite the site of the old turnpike
gate: ibid. 174.

3 Ibid. A plan, sections, and west
elevation are given. There was a single
light window over the doorway in the
west gable. The side walls were 1 2 ft.
high to the wall plate, and the gables about
24 ft. high.

■* Ibid. 173. Two fire-places were made,
one to the north of the west doorway, the
other at the east end the flue of which was
carried up through the east window, the
mullion of which and the apex of the arch
were cut away. The mullion was used in

the jambs of one of the modern windows.

5 F.C.H. Northanis. ii, 300.

' Chan. Inq. p.m. 6 Edw. IV, no. 29.

' From Deeds in Kingsthorpe Church
Chest, cited by Mr. Glover in Kings-
thorpiana.

8 Ibid.

' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccx, 138.
'" Ibid. (Ser. 2), cccclxxiii, 49.
" Serjeantson, Church of St. Peter, zio
seq.

" Did. Nat. Biog.

SPELHOE HUNDRED

KINGSTHORPE

which he had purchased, gave it a neighbouring due,
and settled £i.^ per annum upon the schoolmaster.'
His grand-daughter Margaret married James Fre-
meaux, who built the present Kingsthorpe Hall, which
descended with the property to his grand-daughter
Susannah, who married Thomas Reeve Thornton, in
whose family the Cooke estate has remained.^ Mr.
T. R. Thornton's grandson, Mr. Francis H. Thornton,
resides at the Hall at the present day, while the elder
branch of the family has its seat at Brockhall in this
county.^

The Sir Richard Lane whose daughter Bridget
married Francis Cooke was the son of Richard Lane of
Courteenhall and Elizabeth daughter of Clement Vin-
cent of Harpole. Richard the son settled in Kingsthorpe
and was Deputy Recorder of Northampton in 1615.
In 1634 he was made Attorney-Genera] to the Prince
of Wales and in 1641 conducted the defence of Straf-
ford, when impeached in the House of Lords, with
such ability that his acquittal was almost certain, and to
prevent this a Bill of Attainder was hurriedly substi-
tuted. Lane joined the king in Oxford in the spring of
1644 and was knighted there and also made Lord Chief
Baron of the Exchequer. He was one of the com-
missioners on the part of the king at Uxbridge in 1645,
and later in the year was created Lord Keeper, a patent
which was renewed by Charles II whom he followed
into exile in 1650, where he died the same year.* In
1649 he had compounded for delinquency and his
widow Margaret in 1650 took possession of the man-
sion house as her jointure, although it had been let by
the Treason Trustees to Major Edward Houseman,
militia commander, who wished to settle in it.' In
1654 this estate was discharged from sequestration*
and Lady Margaret Lane lived at Kingsthorpe until
her death there in 1669 and was buried in Kingsthorpe
church.'

The parish has been inclosed under an Act passed in
1766.*

At the time of the Domesday Survey
MANOR KINGSTHORPE belonged to the king and
formed part of the ancient demesne of the
Crown.' The ro)'al rights were never permanently
alienated, but the manorial privileges lapsed in the 19th
century.

In 1086 'Torp' was assessed at 4 hides and 3 virgates,
and 1 1 hides i bovate of land at Multon and i hide at
Weston [Favell] were dcfJendent on it;'" in the 1 2th
century it comprised exactly the same amount of land."
It rendered £1 ^ a year to the king'^ and the inhabitants
themselves held their town, to which the Hundred
of Spelhoe was appurtenant, at farm from the Crown at
least as early as the reign of John.'^ The farm paid in
1240 waSj(^6o,'* at which figure it remained for over

England. GuUs
leopardi or.

three

200 years. In 1373 the manor was committed to Sir
Hugh Calvj'lc to hold during pleasure." Again in 1450
it was granted to John Ale)Ti for
1 2 years,'* but having reverted to
the Crown was granted in 1484
to John Earl of Pembroke for 5
years," each grantee paying a
farm of (JiO, but in the reign of
Henry VI the inhabitants peti-
tioned for its reduction on account
of their poverty, and an inquisi-
tion was taken in 1439, ■' shortly
after which the farm was reduced
to jTjo for 40 years dating from
the death of Joan, the widow of
Henry IV,in 1437. This reduction was again confirmed
from time to time down to i 594." In 1616, at the suit
of the tenants, the manor was granted to trustees for the
township, in order to prevent the payment of increased
rent which had been exacted from the tenants each time
the lease was renewed.^" In this manner the township con-
tinued vested in trustees, vacancies being filled up by the
choice of the feoffees, and is so held at the present day.^'
The fee-farm, which in the 12th and 13th centuries
was often paid as castleward to the Castle of Northamp-
ton,^^ and which in 1252 was given for works at
Northampton,^^ was afterwards frequently bestowed as
dower upon the queens of England. It was granted by
Henry III in 1270 to Eleanor wife of his son Edward,-*
and after her death it was bestowed in 1 30; upon Mar-
garet of France, the second wife of Edward I, in
augmentation of her dower,^' a grant which was con-
firmed by Edward II in 1 3 10. After Queen Margaret's
death it was given by Edward II to his wife Isabel in
1318.^* In 1382 it was granted by Richard to his queen,
Anne of Bohemia,^' and although ^40 of the farm was
granted in 1400 to the Mayor of Northampton for 6
years to repair the walls of the town,^' the grant was
resolved in 1403, as the ^^40 was granted to Queen Joan
of Navarre,-' the mayor and burghers being com-
pensated with 40 marks from the fee-farm of Northamp-
ton. 3" ,'^fter Joan's death the abbot of St. James,
Northampton, and the other executors of the will of
Thomas Woodville received in I439agrant of ^4oout
of the fee-farm until the same amounted to ^{^619, due
to Thomas Woodville for keeping the lords of Stoute-
vill and Gaucourte.^' In 1454, at the expiration of this
term, the £\o was bestowed upon Queen Margaret of
Anjou but rescinded in 1464,-'* and in the following
year Queen Elizabeth, the consort of Edward IV, re-
ceived the ;^4o in part support of the expenses of her
chamber. ^■' A few of these dowry grants must have in-
cluded more than the mere fee-farm rent, as in 1 3 14
Queen Margaret complained that her closes at Kings-

' Scrjeintion, Church of St. Ptter.

' Ibid.

^ Burke, Landed Gentry.

* Diet. Nat. Biog.

' Cat. of Com. for Compounding, 2 1 04.

» Ibid.

^ From tombstone in church.

» Priv. Act 6 Geo. Ill, cap. 80.

• y.C.H. Norlhanti. i, 306.
'o Ibid.

" Ibid, i, 381.

" Pipe R. (Pipe R. Soc.), Hen. II, Rich.
I, John.
" Rot. Lit. Chui. (Rcc. Com.), i, 609,

633-
'♦ Great Jt. of the Pipe for 26 Hen. Ill

(ed. Cannon), 319.

" Fine R. 47 Edw. Ill, m. ig.

>» Ibid. 29 Hen. VI.

" Ibid. 33 Hen. VI.

" Cal. Pal. 1 4 36-4 1, p. 313; Chan. Inq.
Misc. cccviii, 42.

'• Cal. Pal. 1467-77, p. 531 ; Confirm.
R. 5 Hen. VII, no. 21; Pari. R. (Rec.
Com.), vi, 501; Orig. R. L.T.R. 11 Hen.
VIII, no. 14; Star Chamb. Proc. Hen.
VIII. bdle. XXX, no. go; Pat. 36 Elii.
pt. liv.

" Pat. 14 Jas. I, pt. i; Cal. S.P. Dom.
161 1-18, p. 359.

*' Information supplied by the Rev.
R. M. Serjcaotton.

" Pipe R. (Pipe R. Soc.), Hen. II, Rich.
I, John.
" Close 36 Hen. Ill, m. 7.
'♦ Cal. Chart. 1257-1300, p. 143.
" Cal. Pat. 1301-7, p. 369 J ibid. 1307-

I3.PI'7-

'* Ca/. C/o«, 1 3 1 3- 1 8 , p. 5 3 8 i Cd/. P J/.
1330-4, p. 195; ibid. p. 530.

" Cal. Pat. 1381-5, p. 126.

" Ibid. I 399-1401, p. 322.

" Ibid. 1401-5, p. 234.

'" Ibid. 1401-5. p. 333.

" Ibid. 1436-41, p. 387.

" Pari. R. (Rec. Com.), v, 262, 518.

" Cal. Pat. 1461-7, p. 430.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

thorpe had been broken into,' and in 1350 Queen
Isabel lodged a complaint against divers persons who
had broken her houses, carried away the timber there,
and assaulted her servants.^ On the accession of
Henry VII, the whole fee-farm was appropriated to the
maintenance of the royal household,^ and was apparently
retained for this purpose until 1665 when £^0 of the
rent was granted to Katharine of Braganza.* In 1672
it was sold by the trustees for the sale of fee-farm rents
to Sir Richard Rainsford,' whose grand-daughter and
eventual heiress Anne brought it in marriage to the
Honourable James Griffin, afterwards Lord Griffin
of Braybrooke. They had two daughters, Anne who
married William Whitwell of Oundle and Elizabeth
the wife of Henry Neville Grey,* who probably con-
veyed the fee-farm rent to Sir Joseph JekyU in 1720,
when they sold him the manor of DaUington,' for in
1820, a century later, it was in the possession of Miss
Ann Barbara Wrighte, descendant and eventual heiress
of Sir Joseph Jekyll.* Miss Wrighte died in 1830,
when her estates devolved on her cousin Mr. George
Thomas Wyndham of Cromer, Norfolk, who, dying the
month after, was succeeded by his infant son George
Thomas Wyndham, who, in the same year, obtained the
right of using the name of Wrighte before Wyndham.'
As tenants of the ancient demesne of the Crown, the
men of Kingsthorpe enjoyed special privileges, one of
which was freedom of toll throughout England, which
was confirmed to them at different times, in 1385, in
1438, and in 1650.'° They were not so successful, how-
ever, in resisting the encroachment of rights of warren
and the matter was the subject of a long controversy
during the i6th century. The keepers of Moulton
Park claimed free warren extending into the parishes of
Boughton and Kingsthorpe and caused holes to be made
in the walls of the park so that the rabbits might run out
into the fields. This proceeding was much resented by
the inhabitants of Kingsthorpe, who said that 100 acres
of grass and corn were destroyed, 80 acres of ground
lay fallow, and that if there were no conies they would
sow 40 more quarters of corn. They attempted to keep
down the rabbits but were severely punished by the
under-keepers, who placed them in the stocks kept in
Moulton Lodge, took away their guns and ferrets, even
beating and wounding the shepherds and killing their
dogs." When Sir Nicholas Vaux was keeper of the park
he withheld lands from the inhabitants of Kingsthorpe
and occupied them as warrens for rabbits. Thereupon
the men of Kingsthorpe 'did plough up a whole clapper
of conyes lying upon the flat beneath the foxholes, lying
next the place called Whyte HiUs' and brought a suit
against Lord Vaux which was decided in their favour.
However, on the condition that Lord Vaux 'should be
goode and lovying towards them for the sum of 1 3;. l^.J.
yearly', he was to occupy 4 'clappers' of conies in
Kingsthorpe Heath from year to year at the will of the
bailiff and inhabitants. After the death of Lord Vaux,
the inhabitants ploughed up the ground, meaning to
sow it for the 'relief of their pore chirche there', but the

under-keeper, Henry Maye, cut the plough gears of
the parishioners.'^ On the other hand, a good deal of
poaching must have been carried on. On one occasion,
at the beginning of the reign of Henry VIII, one John
Lawford and another man 'went oute of Northampton
towne in a darke nyght with a lantern and a candell
lyght in the same, into the warren between the felds of
Northampton and Kyngesthorp, intending to stele
conyes with a ferrett and purse nette'. They met the
under-keeper, told him they were looking for a lost
bullock and he bade them go their way to look for it
'and after they were departed from hym, they had that
that they dyd come for'.'^

In virtue of their farming the manor, the inhabitants
constituted a 'commune', of which the 14th-century
seal has been preserved. It is of latten, bearing the head
of a king and a fleur-de-lis, with the legend: sicillvm
COMMVNE DE KYNCESTHORPE. They made many ordi-
nances for the good government of their township, e.g.
allowing licensed begging for the impotent but sternly
punishing those who begged on false pretences, and
regulating the sale of ale.'*

There used formerly to be a king and queen chosen
for May games, on Easter Day after Evensong, every
one refusing to officiate to pay 6s. 8</., of which half
went to the baiUff and half to the church; this order
was laid down at the court held in 1 547 but the custom
long ago fell into disuse. '^

At the entrance to the viflage from Northampton on
the east side stood the hospital of St. David and the
Holy Trinit}'.'* As tenants under the hospital were the
Butler family of Yelvertoft in the 14th century," and in
1379 the master, brethren, and sisters of the hospital
leased all their meadows in Kingsthorpe to EliasPecke.'*
In 1535 the hospital paid to the king's bailiff 34J. rent
for land held from the Crown in Kingsthorpe," and
after its dissolution the Morgan family held some of
the lands in lease from the Crown.^° The Morgan
estate in Kingsthorpe passed on the death of John,
the last male representative in the direct line in 1 72 1,
to his daughter Mary, who brought it in marriage
to Sir John Robinson, bart., in
whose descendants it has con-
tinued. Sir Frederick Villiers
Laud Robinson, of Cranford Hall,
near Kettering, being the present
proprietor.-' In 1799 Sir George
Robinson, the son of Sir John
mentioned above, purchased some
of the hospital's possessions in
Kingsthorpe and Boughton, Sec,
comprising the site of St. David's,
on which he built the house
known as St. David's.^-

The Friars Minor of Northampton received licence
in 1278 to cover the spring of Froxwelle in the field of
Kingsthorpe and to bring the water to their house in
Northampton, -3 and in 1291 they were further allowed
to unite the course of the spring, called Triwell, then

Robinson, of Cranford.

yert a hart tripping in

an orle of trefoils or.

' Ca/. Pa/. 1313-17, pp. 135,410.
^ Ibid. 1348-50, p. 530.
3 Farl. R. (Rec. Com.), vi. 301.
* Pat. 17 Chas. II, pt. ix, m. i.
5 Close 24 Chas. II, pt. x, no. 7.
^ Burke, Peerage.

' Feet of F. Northants. Trin. 6 Geo. I.
' Baker, Northants. i, 13 1-2; Burke's
Commoners^ ii, 246.

' Ibid.; Lipscomb, Bucks, i, 151.

'» Close R. 8 Rich. II, m. 7 and 1 1 ;
Cal. Pat. 1436-41, p. 131; Memo. R.
L.T.R. Trin. 1650, m. 42.

" From Deeds in Kingsthorpe Church
Chest cited by Glover in Kingsthorpiana^
xii, xviii, xxiii.

'^ Star Cham. Proc. Hen. VIII, bdle.
XXX, no. 80.

*^ Glover, Kingsthorpiana, viii.

'* Ibid. iv. 'S Ibid.

'* V.C.H. Northants. W, 154.

" Anct. D. (P.R.O.), C. 275; ibid. C.
617.

■« Ibid. C. 876.

'» Valor Eccles. (Rec. Com.), iv, 322.

^'' Baker, Northants. i, 40.

-■ G.E.C. Baronetage^ iii, 53; Serjeant-
son, Church of St. Peter^ 188 seq.

-- Baker, Northants. i, 40.

^^ Inq. a.q.d. file iv, no. 18.

SPELHOE HUNDRED

KINGSTHORPE

running in three directions between Northampton and
Kingsthorpe, and to lead it to their house by a sub-
terranean conduit.'

The hospital of St. John the Baptist and St. John the
Evangelist also held land in Kingsthorpe of the king for
which it paid the bailiff i-jd. in 1535.^

The three MILLS in Kingsthorpe already referred to
are mentioned in the Survey of 1086 as worth 43/. 4^.
a year.^ They were held, with the rest of the manor,
on lease from the Crown and were rented out by the
inhabitants. The South Mill was let on lease to St.
Andrew's Priory, to which it was in close prcximity,
but the tenants of the Crown resisted the priory's claim

I day's work at mowing and i cask of ale containing
26 gallons or 2s. 2d^ When the South Mill was let in
1529, the lessee was ordered to scour the ditches, to
serve the inhabitants before strangers and as soon as the
'bene' should be empty; also to pay 2J. 2//. towards the
mowing of the holmes.' In 1 547 the millers were
ordered to make a plank which could be crossed at all
times, and to make sufficient meal and malt for the
inhabitants who were obliged to have their corn ground
at the town mills.'"

During the i6th century the Cooke family were
lessees of the North Mill." In 16 14 the three mills were
leased to William Whitmore and Edmund Sawyer sub-

■ 122 Cent.

EARLY

□ C.I 1 50-70

SC.I290

1 142 Cent.

E.\RLr

II4.BICENT.

LATE

1 152! Century
1 Modern

Plan of Kingsthorpe Church

to free fishing in the river between the Nether and South
MiUs. On the court rolls of 141 1 Richard Napton, the
Prior of St. Andrews, his monks and servants, were
accused of fishing in the 'Shote' of the South Mill and of
making a weir to the harm of the town of Kingsthorpe*
In 141 3 the prior promised to abstain from fishing until
the matter was settled either by arbitration or by the
Bench,' but evidently no satisfactory arrangement was
come to, for between 1442 and 1449 the prior alleged
that the bailiff and others came armed to the mill and
then to the gates of the monastery to destroy it while
the monks were at divine service. They then went to
the field of Northampton and broke and dug up the
head of the conduit and then came back to the gates,
waiting to catch any of the monks.*

In 1439 ^^ South and Nether Mills were rented at
80/. each, while the North Mill was worth only 40/.
a year' and in 1457 the four water-mills called the
South Mills, under l roof, 2 for grinding corn and 2
for fulling, together with the going gear (goyn gcrcs),
pond, fishery, and the produce of i holme of meadow
lying between the water and the mill were leased to
William Braunfcld for 10 years at the rent of 7 marks.

ject toa fee-farm rent ofyTia 12/. 412'., of which ^^2 10/.
was paid for the North Mill, £4 \s. for the Nether Mill,
and [^<^ \%s. \d. for the South Mill.'- This fee-farm
rent was granted to Queen Katharine in 1665'^ and was
sold to Sir Richard Rainsford in 1672,''' together with
that of the manor, and since then has descended with it.
During the 17th century, the Morgan family were
lessees of the three mills, which passed with the rest of
their estate to Sir John Robinson." The Robinson
family continued to own the mills, subject to the fee-
farm rent, until the end of the 19th century when they
were sold to different purchasers.'*

The church of ST. JOHN THE
CHURCH BAPTIST stands north of the village
green and consists of chancel, 50 ft. by
15 ft. 6 in., with north and south chapels; clere-
storied nave, 35 ft. 2 in. by 12 ft. 3 in.; north and south
aisles, respectively 14 ft. and 14 ft. 6 in. wide; south
porch; and west tower, 1 2 ft. 3 in. square with spire, all
these measurements being internal. The chapels cover
the chancel for more than tivo-thirds of its length, and
are continuations of the aisles: the total internal length
of the church is 108 ft. and its width 53 ft. 6 in.

' Co/. Pil/. I2Sl-92,p. 442.

* yalor EccUi. (Rec. Com.), iv, 317.
> y.C.U. Norilianii. i, 306.

* Glover, Kingtthorpianay iv.
s Ibid.ii.

* E«rly Chan. Proc. bdle. xv, no. 106.

7 Chan. Inq. Miac. cccviii, no. 42.

• Clover, Kingilhorfiana, v.

• Ibid. XV.
'o Ibid. xit.

" Ibid, xxviii, xxxiv, xxix; Acit of P.C.
1591-2, p. 123.

" Pat. 1 1 Ja9. I, pt. XXV, m. i.
'> Ibid. 17 Chas. Il.pt. ix,m. t.
'* Close 24 Chas. 11, pt. x, m. 7.
" Add. Ch. 25631 J Glover, Kingiihorp-
iana^ xlii, xi.
'» Ibid. xi.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

The first church was an aisleless building off. i loo,
with nave the same size as at present and small, probably
square-ended, chancel. Remains of this early building
exist in three small round-headed windows in the north
and south walls of the nave over the easternmost piers
and on the north side of the chancel over the first pier
from the west. The heads only of the nave windows
remain, but that in the chancel is fairly perfect on what
was originally the outside. These openings are only
4 in. wide but splay out internally to 3 ft. 4 in. and
finish outwardly with a narrow chamfer. What remains
exposed of the ancient walling of the chancel is of rubble
with roughly laid herring-bone work.'

About 1150-60 the north wall of the chancel was
pierced at its west end^ with two small semicircular
arches of a single unmoulded order springing from a
cylindrical pier and from half-round responds with
large scalloped capitals and moulded bases, opening
probably to a chapel. The nave arcades appear to have
been pierced a little later, c. 1 160—70, and aisles added.
The arcades are of three bays with semicircular arches
of a single unmoulded order on circular piers and half-
round responds, but the capitals display soffit foliage of
an incipient type, the square abaci are finely moulded,^
and the bases show well-developed water moulding.
Both chancel and nave arches have large nail-head
hood-moulds on the inner side.

In the latter part of the 13th century, c. 1290, the
south wall of the chancel was pierced with two pointed
double-chamfered arches,"* springing from a central
pier composed of four groups of triple shafts clustered
round an octagon, with moulded capitals and bases, and
from plain half-octagonal responds. The chancel was
lengthened at the same time, and during the first half of
the 14th century the aisles and chapels appear to have
been rebuilt and extended eastward, the chapels open-
ing to the chancel by broad arches, the original chancel
arch being taken down and a new one erected farther
east between the piers of the arcades and the wall
carried up above to form a new east end to the thus
extended nave.^ The clerestory was probably added at
this time, extending as far eastward as the new arch with
four windows on each side, and the south chapel is said
to have been widened at the time of its rebuilding.*

The tower and spire were built late in the 14th
century but much altered subsequently, and about
1380— 1400 the chancel was again lengthened, the new
east end being raised above a vaulted crypt. No further
additions to the fabric have since been made, but the
alterations in the 19th century were extensive. About
1 8 5 1 changes were made in the east bay of the chancel,
a window on the south side being removed, and other
ancient features obliterated.' In 1863 there was a
restoration of the whole fabric, amounting in parts to a
rebuilding, the extent of which may be thus sum-
marized: the 14th-century chancel arch was taken

down and a new one erected farther west in the position
of the original Norman arch, with a new east gable to
the nave above it, to which the chancel roof was ex-
tended; the whole of the clerestory was taken down and
rebuilt in its present form, the easternmost bay over the
west end of the chancel being removed with the 14th-
century chancel arch; the west arch of the north nave
arcade, part of the arch next to it, and the four nave
piers were renewed;* the south aisle and porch were
rebuilt, the aisle wall being then advanced in line with
that of the south chapel;' and the nave, aisles, and
chapels were newly roofed. The upper part of the
tower was refaced with ashlar in 1923-4.

The roof of the chancel is of high-pitch and covered
with modern tiles, but the other roofs are low-pitched
and leaded behind plain parapets. The chapels have
low gables at the east end. The porch is tiled. Intern-
ally, with the exception of the tower, the walls are
plastered.

The chancel has a modern east window of four lights
with vertical tracery; the diagonal buttresses are also
modern and the two-light window in the south wall was
inserted in 1901.'° The floor of the late- 14th-century
extension is raised four steps and its north wall is blank,
but in the usual position in the south wall is a good
contemporary piscina. Farther west is a large trefoiled
piscina of the late-i3th-century chancel and opposite to
it, at the north end of the steps, is a small trefoiled recess.
The two broad early- 14th-century arches opening to
the chapels are of two chamfered orders, west of which
are the earlier arcades already described. The modern
chancel arch is carried on corbels, but the dwarf screen
wall of the ritual chancel is a half-bay farther east. The
altar rails are of early- 17th-century date, with turned
balusters, but the hammer-beam roof is modern. The
14th-century crypt, or bone house," below the eastern
bay, is approached from the churchyard on the south
side,'^ and is i 5 ft. 6 in. square and about 10 ft. high. It
is vaulted in two bays each of two compartments, the
chamfered ribs springing from a central octagonal pier
and from half-octagonal responds, all with moulded
capitals and chamfered bases. The crypt is lighted by
two square-headed windows on the east and one on the
south.

The east window of the south chapel is of three lights
with intersecting tracery,'^ and if contemporary with the
clustered pier on the south side of the chancel was
moved eastward to its present position when the chapel
was lengthened. The two square-headed windows of
the south chapel are of three trefoiled lights with
moulded jambs and mullions, the outer moulding being
enriched all round with four-leaf flowers. West of these,
in the modern wall of the aisle east of the porch, are
inserted two pointed 14th-century windows of two
trefoiled lights, but west of the porch the windows are
modern. The whole of the north wall is of the 14th

' The walling is left exposed on the
north side towards the chapel : the windows
were discovered in 1863.

^ It probably ex tended a bay farther east.

3 In contrast with the chamfered abaci
of the chancel arcade.

^ Or two arches, inserted at the same
time as those opposite, may have been re-
built. According to the Rev. H. L. Elliot, a
portion of a late- 1 1 th-century window was
found over the south pier of the chancel
as well as on the north side: Serjeantson,
Hist. ofCh. of St. Peter, N'tcn, 148. Mr.
Serjeantson's account of Kingsthorpc

church has been used in the present de-
scription.

5 Serjeantson, op. cit. 153.

<> Ibid. 151.

' Ibid. 154, quoting report of clerk of
works 1863. Before 1851 the chancel had
*a very ancient doorway inserted in its
north wall'.

^ The arcades and clerestory walls were
out of the perpendicular and the west arch
on the north side was depressed and sunk.

9 Serjeantson, op. cit. 155.
*'' The window removed from this posi-
tion in 1 85 1 was of three lights: the wall

was then built solid. Buttresses in the east
end were also removed at the same time.

*^ When the crypt was cleared out in
1863 a considerable number of human
bones were found : clerk of works' report
quoted in Serjeantson, op. cit. 154. The
crypt is now used as a heating chamber.

*^ There appears never to have been any
opening to the crypt from inside the church.

^^ The corresponding window in the
north chapel is a modern copy of this, but
the original window may have been similar:
ibid. 151.

SPELHOE HUNDRED

KINGSTHORPE

century, and has a good continuous moulded doorway
and three two-light windows to the aisle with a quatre-
foil in the heads.' In the chapel is a later window with
depressed head, and east of it a single-light trefoiled
window with ogee hood-mould.

Remains of medieval ritual arrangements are plenti-
ful. There are two piscinas in the south chapel, one at
the east end of early- 14th-century date with trefoil
head, and near to it an aumbr>' which retains its door,
the other with a rounded head within a pointed arch
probably of c. 1200.^ In the north chapel a very
beautiful late- 13th-century piscina, with roll and fillet
mouldings and trefoiled internal head retaining traces
of colour, has been built into the south wall, and in the
portion of izth-century walling farther west, between
the responds of the earlier and later arches, are the
remains of another piscina and a consecration cross. In
the north wall, opposite the chancel arch, is a trefoiled
aumbry, and at the back of the south-east respond of the
nave arcade, opening from the south chapel, is a recess
(now blocked) for a processional cross, or banner stave,
with pointed head and hood-mould.^ Pointed doorways
to the rood-loft occur west of the broad arches on either
side and in the outer wall of the south chapel, the latter
with a cusped canopy, the loft having extended across
the church, but no steps remain.

The tower is of three stages with moulded plinth,
clasping buttresses of two stages, and battlemented
parapet. There is a vice in the south-west angle. The
lower and half the middle stage are of ancient ironstone
but at this height the modern ashlar facing begins. The
west doorway is of two continuous moulded orders and
the window above it of three cinquefoiled lights with
vertical tracery.'' The tall bell-chamber windows are
transomed and of two trefoiled lights with quatrefoil in
the head, the hood-mould being taken round the tower
as a string. The lofty tower arch is of three chamfered
orders, the inner on half-octagonal responds,' and the
ground story has an old wooden roof Built into the
tower walls inside are five consecration crosses — four in
the north wall and one in the south. The spire has
plain angles and three tiers of lights on its cardinal faces.

The font dates from 1863, but the oak pulpit is
Jacobean with arcaded panels,* and there are some old
stall ends with poppy heads in the chancel.^

In the porch is a wooden cupboard with glazed front,
for the loaves of George Cook's Bread Charity, in-
scribed: 'Mr. George Cook gave in y' Year 1690 the
Interest of a Hundred Pounds to be gave in Bread,
Every Sunday to 1 2 Poor People of this Parish for
ever.'

On the north wall of the chancel is an alabaster
monument to Dr. Edward Reynolds, rector of St.
Peter's, Northampton, 1658-98, with long Latin in-
scription, and on the south wall tablets to Mabel wife of

Francis Morgan (d. 1664) and others of the family,
Mary wife of Sir John Robinson of Cranford (d. 1734),
and to the Rev. R. W. Baxter, rector of St. Peter's
(d. 1850).' In the south chapel is a floor-slab with brass
inscription to Francis Morgan (d. 1704) and Elizabeth
his wife (1706), and a slab to Walter Faunt (d. 1695)
and his wife Mabel (d. 1698), daughter of Francis
Morgan. Other monuments recorded by Bridges have
disappeared.'

There is a ring of six bells, the treble by Alfred
Bowell of Ipswich 191 1, the second and fourth by
Robert .Alton of Buckingham 162 1, the third dated
1680, the fifth inscribed 'Paroecie campana ecclesie
tuba 1622', and the tenor dated 1671.'°

The plate consists of a silver cup and cover, paten,
flagon, bread-holder, and alms dish of 1678 given in
that year by 'Mrs. Mary Reynolds, relict of Edward,
late Lord Bishop of Norwich, and mother of Edward
Reynolds, D.D.', and a silver-plated chalice given in

1875."

The registers before 18 12 are as follows: (i) bap-
tisms June 1 540-1 789, marriages October 1539-
1750, burials March 1539-40 to 1789; (ii) marriages
1754-1812; (iii) baptisms and burials 1789-1812.
There is a gap from 1653 to 1660.

The church of Kingsthorpe, to-
ADVOWSON gether with that of Upton, had been
attached from time immemorial to
St. Peter's in Northampton, to which it was merely a
chapel of case, when in 1850 it was separated from the
mother church and constituted a separate parish.'^ The
history of the advowson is, therefore, similar to that of
St. Peter's (q.v.).

There was a chantry within the parish church of
Kingsthorpe founded by John Bacon in 147 1 to main-
tain a priest to sing for ever at Our Lady's altar and to
pray for the souls of John Bacon, his father and mother,
and of his wife Agnes. '■' In 1530 its possessions were
worth /^4 yearly,'* but towards the end of the same
reign its lands were valued at £6 5/., of which 70/. 4^'.
was paid to the priests as salary, the ornaments being
worth 3/. 4<*'.' 5 The inhabitants of Kingsthorpe claimed
the lands belonging to the chantry as copyhold ' * bu t were
unsuccessful in their claim and the Crown appropriated
the lands, part of which were leased to the Mottershed
family who held an estate in Kingsthorpe." John
Mottershed by his will dated 14 April 1594 left his
lands to his son William who died seised of them in
1625,'' the latter's son Thomas obtaining certain lands
in fee simple from the trustees of the manor in 1633."
One of the family called Edward, who died in 1643,
gave five chained books to the church which are still
there." Otherof the chantry lands were obtained by the
Pilkington family, one of whom, Thomas, died seised of
them in 1637 and was succeeded by his son Thomas.^'

' The wejt window is modem.

'It rests on a portion of early string and
has been built into the wall for preserva-
tion. It has subsequently been altered to
receive a doorr Scrjeantson, Op. cit. 151.

^ This recess, or locker, had originally
been fitted with a wooden door in two
sections, hung with hook and band hinges.
The external opening is 5 ft. 6 in. high and
10 in. wide. It was walled up in 186} and
the doors removed : ibid. 151.

* The mullions and tracery have been
renewed. The bell-chamber windows are
wholly renewed.

' On the cast side the outer order dies

out and the middle one is continued to the
ground ; on the west both die out.

' It has seven panelled sides, the eighth
being open,

' They are figured in Scrjeantson, op.
cit. i;6, 158, 160.

' The inscriptions on these monuments
are given, ibid. 182-4.

* One in the chancel was to Lady Mar-
garet Lane (d. 1669}, wife of Sir Richard
Lane, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of
England.

'<> North, Ck. Belli of Norihtxntt. 322,
where the inscriptions on the five old bells

arc given. The bells were rc-hung and the
treble added in 1911.

" MiTV.\\im,CI>.Plaie of Norilianii. 173.

" Pari. P. 1872, ilvi, no. 227.

" Chant. Cert. 35, no. 7.

'* yalor Ecclei. (Rec. Com.), iv, 320.

" Chant. Cert. 36, no. 4.

" Ibid. 35, no. 7.

" Chan. Proc. Elir. M.m. 9, no. 25.

" Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), dcxxi, 41.

** Glover, KingttAorpiana^ xlii.

*° Cox and Har\-cy, Eng, Church Furni'
ture.

" Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), dlxxxvii, 73.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

Margaret at Park c. 1389 gave to William Holcot
half an acre of land above NorthmiU furlong for finding
one candle of was before the feast of St. Christopher in
front of the altar of St. Katharine.'

The Bush Close or the Poor Close.
CHARITIES An allotment of about 14 acres was set
out on the inclosure of the parish in
1766, for the use of the poor. The land was sold in
1896 and the proceeds invested, producing about ;^30
yearly in dividends. The trustees consist of the vicar
and four trustees appointed by the Urban District
Council of Kingsthorpe in place of the churchwardens
and overseers, and the Corporation of Northampton
may appoint two additional trustees. The income is
distributed to old people and widows.

The Bread Fund originally consisted of ;^2 30 Con-
sols purchased in 1780 with £161^, of which ^^loo was
given by George Cook in 1690 and the remainder by
persons of the name of Clarke and Gooding and other
benefactors. The stock has been increased to ;^2 8o by
the investment of accumulations, and the income
amounting to £j yearly is distributed in bread by the
vicar and two trustees appointed by the Urban District
Council in place of the churchwardens.

The Manor and Town Charity. An allotment of
about 16 acres was set out on the inclosure in lieu of
lands anciently appropriated to the repair of the high-
ways and wells. There was also a schoolhouse known as
the Manor House held for the same purposes. This
latter property was sold in 1907 and the proceeds were
invested in ;^2o8 y. dd. Consols producing ^i, \s. in
dividends. The land is let in allotments and produces
about ^3 5. The income is applied in the upkeep of the
church clock and in paying the beadle's and clerk's
salaries.

Dame Sarah Pritchard by her will proved in the

Prerogative Court of Canterbury in May 17 18 gave
^5 yearly to be applied in apprenticing poor boys. The
charity is administered by the vicar and two trustees
appointed by the Urban District Council in place of the
churchwardens. The last premium was paid in 1917,
and there does not appear to have been any boy ap-
prenticed since then.

The Kingsthorpe Bounty was founded by the Rev.
Robert WiUiam Baxter by deed poll dated 2 1 Decem-
ber 1842. The endowment originally consisted of
j£l,200 3 per cent. Reduced Bank Annuities and the
deed directed that ^24 a year should be distributed by
the rector equally among 12 men and 12 women, ^^7
should be applied in apprenticing boys, and ;^5 to the
parish clerk. The endowment now produces ^30
yearly, and the income is applied as nearly as possible
in accordance with the terms of the deed.

The Glover Augmentation Fund was founded by
the Rev. John Hulbert Glover by deed poll dated
14 November 1900. This endowment produces ^^25
per annum, which is applicable by the vicar in augment-
ing in equal amounts the annuities payable under the
Kingsthorpe Bounty.

Mark Bailey by his will proved at Birmingham
II May 1888 gave a sum of money now producing
4/. \d. yearly, to the vicar and churchwardens, the
income to be applied in bread to the poor. This is dis-
tributed at the same time as the bread fund.

The several sums of stock above-mentioned are with
the Official Trustees of Charitable Funds.

Mrs. M. A. Parker by her will proved at Northamp-
ton 13 December 1905 gave ;^loo to the trustees of the
Kingsthorpe Baptist Chapel for the benefit of the poor
of the church and congregation. The dividends amount-
ing to ;^3 \os. 4(2'. yearly are distributed in cash pay-
ments of about 5 J. each.

MOULTON

Multone, Moltone (si cent.).

The parish of Moulton covers an area of 3,139 acres;
the ground is fairly undulating and of an open nature
except for a few plantations. The chief crops are wheat,
barley, peas, and beans, and the soil is clay and marl
with a subsoil of ironstone and rock. The population,
which was 1,638 in 193 1, is chiefly engaged in agricul-
ture, but includes many persons engaged in trade and
manufacture in Northampton.

The village, which is large and straggling, lies about
half a mile west of the high road to Kettering. In the
village are a fair number of 17th-century gabled stone
houses, generally with thatched roofs, but in most cases
the mullioned windows have been modernized. On
one is a well-designed panel inscribed 'i^e A° 1658',
on another 'g'^'s 1660', whilst the Artichoke Inn, a two-
story building retaining its mullioned windows, is dated
1680 and has the initials r"a. There is a Methodist
chapel in the main street, and a Baptist chapel at the
west end of the village built while the well-known
Dr. William Carey, Professor of Sanskrit in Fort William
College, India, and founder of the Baptist Missionary
Society, was minister here (1785-9). The church
stands to the north, rather on the outskirts of the viUage,
while the vicarage is more central, near the schools.
To the north-west of the church lies the Manor Farm,
built on the site of the old manor-house, with traces of

' Glover, Kingslhorfiarta, iv.

Hund. R. (Rec.

ponds still remaining. Bridges, writing about 1720,
speaks of it as 'the new house, now called the Hall'.
About half a mile farther north, to the right of the road
leading to Holcot, and parallel with New Fox Court
and Hog Hole Spinney, is the artificial elevation known
as Castle Hill, which may have been the site of the
Fitz John's manor, for foundations of buildings have
been dug up and the remains of a moat are apparent.

A small stream crosses the parish, and where it passes
under the road leading from the village to Moulton
Grange the neighbouring ground reaches an elevation
of 298 ft. only and is the lowest lying land in the parish,
and farther on, where the stream forms the western
boundary for a few hundred yards, stands Moulton
Mill, with the old windmill, now disused, to the south-
east. About three-quarters of a mile west of Moulton is
HoUy Lodge, built about 1861 and now the seat and
property of Mr. J. T. P. Jeyes, while 2 miles north of
the village is Moulton Grange, standing in a pleasantly
wooded park where the elevation of 412 ft. is reached,
the property of Mrs. Manfield. The northern boundary
of the parish is formed by a stream which separates it
from Brixworth, and in 1276 Simon son of Simon of
Brixworth was accused of appropriating the fishing in a
certain stretch of water between the fields of Brixworth
and Moulton.^ Part of the parish was inclosed under
an Act passed in 1772.^

Com.), ii, 13. 3 Priv. Act. 12 Geo. Ill, cap. 139.

SPELHOE HUNDRED

MOULTON

Grimbald. Argent tivo

bars azure and a border

gules.

In 1086 the chief manor o[ MOULTON was held
of the Countess Judith' and continued to form part of
the honor of Huntingdon, whose descent is
MANOR traced under Yardley Hastings. It is last
mentioned as attached to this honor in 1439,
when the Earl of Warwick so held it of Sir Reynold
Grey of Ruthin.*

As under-tenant at the time of the Domesday Survey
stood Grimbald,^ whose descendants held Moulton
until the middle of the 13th
century. His grandson Robert
Grimbald married Maud, the
daughter and co-heir of Pain de
Houghton.* After his death his
widow married Richard de la
Pek,5 who held the manor in her
right towards the end of the
12th century.* Robert Grim-
baud was returned in 1242 as
holding of the honor of Hun-
tingdon in Moulton,' but the
actual manor is said to have
been acquired from the Grim-
balds in the reign of Richard I by Geoffrey Fitz Piers,
Earl of Essex,* whose descendant' and heir, John Fitz
John, certainly held the manor and in 1 276 was holding
a view of frankpledge in his court from his tenants, who
were geldable at the hundred and had not paid suit of
court there for 20 years.'" On his death in the same
year, the manor, then held mainly as one fee of WiDiam
Grimbaud, passed to his brother Richard," who also
died without issue in 1297, leaving three sisters or their
descendants as his heirs. '^ Moulton, which was then
worth ;^43 6s. wJ. yearly, was at first assigned to
Maud, the eldest sister, wife of William de Beauchamp,
Earl of Warwick," but a subsequent partition awarded
the manor to the heirs of Isabel de Vipont, a second
sister and co-heir. They were Idonea her daughter,
widow of Roger de Leyburn, and Robert de Clifford
her grandson.'* Idonea, who married John de Cromwell,
heldhalf the manor in I292'5 but probably acquired the
remaining half from Robert de Clifford soon after, as
her husband was lord of Moulton in 1316'* and no
further mention is found of the manor in moieties. In
1325 Robert de Wombwell and Robert Tree were
fined ;^300 for damages done by wilful entry of Moul-
ton and Yardley Manors, where they devastated John
Cromwell's goods and furniture and expelled him by
force and arms," but in the following year Moulton
was given to Roger de Bilney as John remained abroad
aiding the queen against the king.'* The profits of the

Beauchamp. Gules a
Jesse bet^veen six crosslets

manor and all things pertaining to her chamber were,
however, granted to Idonea" and Moulton was restored
to John by Edward III in 1327.-" In 1330 John and
Idonea Cromwell claimed view of frankpledge in the
manor.^' John died shortly afterwards, and on his
widow's death in 1 334, without issue, Moulton passed,
according to the terms of a settlement made in 1 320, to
Edward the son of Hugh le Despenser the younger,
hanged in 1326.^^ It is likely, however, that this settle-
ment never took effect and that
the manor was acquired by the
Beauchamps, Earls of Warwick,
co-heirs with Isabel de Vipont,
as in 1339 Thomas de Beau-
champ, iith Earl of Warwick,
settled it on his daughter Joan
on the occasion of her marriage
with Ralph grandson of Ralph
Basset of Drayton, the final re-
version of the manor being vested
in the Earl of Warwick.^-' The
elder Ralph dying in 1343^*
and his widow in 1353,^* their
grandson Ralph succeeded them in the lordship^* and
received a grant of free warren in 1360.^' Ralph
died in 1390, when the manor reverted to Thomas
Beauchamp, son and heir of the nth Earl.^* On the
arrest of the Earl for high treason in 1396, Moulton
with the other estates was forfeited,^' but restored on the
accession of Henry IV and passed on Thomas Beau-
champ's death in 1 40 1 to his son Richard,'" who by his
second wife Isabel le Despenser, Countess of Worcester,
left a son Henry, aged i 5 when he succeeded to Moul-
ton on the death of his father and mother in 1439.''
Henry died in 1446, leaving an infant daughter Anne
Countess of Warwick,'- who died three years later,
when the manor devolved on Anne sister of the whole
blood to Richard and wife of Sir Richard Neville,
created Earl of Warwick and known as 'The King-
Maker'.-" After his death on the battle-field of Barnet in
1 47 1 , his estates were divided between his two daughters
and co-heirs, although his widow Anne was still alive.'''
Having survived both her daughters, however, she
obtained the restitution of her estates by Act of Parlia-
ment in 1487," but was obliged to surrender them to
the king in the following year.'* Henry VII and
Henry VIII kept the manor in their own hands, and
during the latter's reign the services of several of the
king's retainers were rewarded with the office of bailiff^
of the manor or grants of free warren and land." In
1550 Edward VI bestowed Moulton on the Princess

■ y.C.H. Norihanis. i, 352.

' Chan. Inq. p.m. 17 Hen. VI, no. 54..

' V.C.H. Norikanis. i, 352.

« Cott. MS. Vcsp. E. xvii, fols. 46 d.,

47-

* Ibid. fol. 47 ; Farrcr, Honors and
Knights^ Fees^ ',37.

» A'.C.//.A'orM<jfi«. 1,381.

' Bk.ofFees,^]i.

' Firrer, op. cit. il, 302.

• C.E.C. Peerage (2nd ed.), v, 433-5.
'o Hund. R. (R«. Com.), ii, i 3.

" Cal. Pal. I 272-81, p. 113; Chan. Inq.
p.m. 4 Edw. I, no. 47.

" Ibid. 25 Edw. I, no. 501. This is the
last appearance of the Grimbald mesne
lord«hip.

'> Cal. Close, 1296-1302, p. 144.

'•• Ibid. p. 248; Abbrev. Rot. Orig. {Rcc.
Com.), i, 107.

" Feet of F. Div. Co. 30 Edw. I, no.
271.

" Feud, /lids, IV, z J.

" Abbre-v. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 354.

" Abbre-v. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), i,
299J Cal. Close, 1 323-7, p. 603.

'» Cal. Pat. 1 324-7, p. 3 1 3.

" Close R. I Edw. Ill, pt. i, m. 21-2;
cited by Blore in Rutland, 1 8.

" Plac.de quo Ifar. (Rec. Com.), 560-1.

" Chan. Inq. p.m. 8 Edw. Ill (ist nos.),
no. 66; Did. Nat. Biog.; Feet of F. Div.
Co. 14 Edw. II, no. 8.

" Ibid. Northants. i] Edw. Ill, no. 181;
Add. MS. 28024.

" Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 7 Edw. Ill ( i s( no!.),
no. 59.

" Cal. Close, I 346-9, p. 582 ; Chan. Inq.
p.m. 27 Edw. Ill (ist nos.), no. 43.

" Cal. Close, 1349-54, p. 587.

" Chart. R. 34-5 Edw. Ill, m. 6, no.
20.

" Chan. Inq. p.m. 14 Rich. II, no. 9.

'» Did. Nat. Biog.; Chan. Inq. p.m.
21 Rich. II, no. 137.

"> Ibid. 2 Hen. IV, no. 58.

" Feet of F. Div. Co. 2 Hen. VI, no. II }
Chin. Inq. p.m. 17 Hen. VI, no. 54; ibid.
18 Hen. VI, no. 3.

" Ibid. 24 Hen. VI, no. 43.

" G.E.C. Peerage, viii, 60; Feet of F.
Div. Co. 6 Edw. IV, no. 41.

J* Pari. R. (Rec. Com.), vi, 100.

" Ibid. 391.

J» Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 3 Hen. VII ;
De Banco R. Hil. 3 Hen. VII, m. 208;
Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A. 11056.

>' L. and P. lien, rill, i, 108; ibid, iv,
2349, 2856; ibid. ii< (2), 191; Ct. of
Req. bdle. 1 2, no. 181.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

Elizabeth for life,' and James I in 1613 granted it to
Charles Prince of Wales and his heirs. ^ After Charles's
accession to the throne the manor was sold in 1628 to
Edward Ditchfield, John Highlord, and others, trustees
for the City of London, for a fee-farm rent of
;^52 lyx. 81/.,^ and some question as to the validity
of the letters patent arising, the sale was confirmed in
the following year.''

The manor seems to have been sold by the trustees in
various small lots, one of which, acquired by the
Saunderson family, was sold in 1 740, under the name of
Moulton Manor, by Mary widow of John Saunderson
to Timothy Rogers for ^^1,500.5 By his will dated
15 June 1765, Timothy left his property to his sister
Ann Rogers, to whom various yardlands were assigned
at the inclosure of the parish in 1772.* The latter, by
her will 12 July 1787, bequeathed the manor for life
to her faithful servant Elizabeth Lyon with reversion to
her cousin Osborn Standest of the Navy Office, London,
who by his will in 18 14 left the property' to his wife
Elizabeth with remainder to his children in equal por-
tions, of whom it was purchased in 1850 by Mr. Lewis
Loyd.' This property descended to Lady Wantage, the
grand-daughter of Mr. Lewis Loyd, but there are no
manorial rights exercised at the present day.

Another portion of the estate was purchased by
Richard Worley in 1630* and passed to his descendants,
being known as a manor when in the possession of John
Worley in 1805.' It was bought with the Saunderson
property by Mr. Lewis Loyd in 1850.

The rent of ^5 2 i js. St/, was sold to William Deacon
in 1650 by the trustees for the sale of fee-farm rents,'"
but was afterwards granted to Queen Katharine in
1665" and the reversion sold in 1672 to Sir Richard
Rainsford,'^ since which date its descent is similar to
that of the fee-farm rent of Kingsthorpe (q.v.), pur-
chased about the same time.

A second holder of land in Moulton at Domesday
was Robert de Buci,'^ whose fief passed to the Bassets of
Weldon, of whom Moulton continued to be held. This
constituted the ENGAINE FEE.

In the Northampton Geld Roll, dated before 1075,
a William Engaine is mentioned where land at Moulton
was in default,''' and in the Survey of 1086 this William
was under-tenant of Robert de Buci, of whom he held
2 hides, i| virgates.'s His descendants continued to hold
this estate, Richard Engaine being in possession in the
middle of the 12th century;'* he was succeeded by his
son Vital," who died £-.1248,'^ leaving two sons, Henry
who died without issue in 1 271 and John." The
Engaines subinfeudated the Fitz Johns, who already
held the other manor in Moulton; for in 1296 John
Fitz John died holding his manor of Moulton partly, as
^ fee, of John Engaine.^" This estate thus became

amalgamated with Moulton Manor, whose descent has

been traced, the last mention of

the Engaine overlordship being in

1323, when John Engaine died

seised of part of a knight's fee in

Moulton, held as of his manor of

BlatherwTke (q.v.).^'

Other lands in Moulton were
held of the BaUiol family, as of the
honor of Castle Bernard; these,
which in the 12th-century survey
were assessed at li hides and I p ^ ; ■>

- tNGAlNE. Gules crusily

small virgate, were held by Guy andajcue dancetiy or.
de BaUiol as of the fee of Faxton,^^
and were granted with Faxton to the BaUiol family, pro-
bably by WilUam Rufus.^^ The BaUiols subinfeudated
Adam de Periton,^* and the estate descended with the
manor of Faxton (q.v.).

In the Survey of 1086 and in that of the 12th cen-
tury, li hides and I bovate of land in Moulton are
recorded as of the socage of Torp (Kingsthorpe) which
was ancient demesne of the Crown, -' and part of this
holding may be identical with the 5 virgates bestowed
by John in 1 199 on the church of St. Frideswide,
Oxford.^* In 1227 the priory was concerned in a dis-
pute with Adam de Periton of Faxton touching the
customs which he demanded from them,^' and in the
reign of Henry IIP* and in 1 291 their land in Moulton
was said to be worth 12/. a year,^' but there is no
further mention of this estate.

The ancient inclosure known as THORPELANDS,
which lies on the outskirts of the parish and is bounded
by Weston FaveU parish, may have developed from the
remainder of this Kingsthorpe socage. The name
Thorpelands first occurs in 1450, when WiUiam
Tresham, Speaker of the House of Commons, setting
out from Rushton to meet Richard Duke of York, who
was crossing from Ireland, was waylaid by some re-
tainers of the Lancastrian, Lord Grey of Ruthin, and
there kiUed bythem.^° Thorpelands was acquired by the
lords of Moulton Manor and passed with it into the
possession of the Crown, by whom it was leased in 1 5 16
and again in 1 5 38 to Edmund Haslewood for2iyears.3'
It was afterwards leased to John Freeman, who was in
occupation in 1 577,^' but it was sold with the manor in
1628 to the trustees of the City of London^^ and was
shortly afterwards acquired in 163 1 by Sir William
Wilmer of SyweU.^* The Wilmers apparently retained
it for some years, but it passed through many hands in
the 1 8th century^5 to WiUiam Drage of Stanwick, of
whom it was bought in 1 8 16 by Mr. Clarke HiUyard,^*
afterwards passing to Lord Overstone and then to Lady
Wantage.

St. Andrew's Priory acquired a considerable estate in

' Pat. R. + Edw. VI, pt. iii; ibid. 5
Edw. VI, pt. iii, m. 1 1.

^ Ibid. 1 1 Jas. I, pt. xvi.

3 Cal. S.P. Dom. 1628-9, PP- 4-^' 5^9*
Pat. 4 Chas. I, pt. xxxiv.

■* Ibid. 4 Chas. I, pt. viii, m. 5; Feet of
F. Northants. East. 5 Chas. I.

5 From title-deeds of Lady Wantage.

^ Ibid.; Priv. Act. 12 Geo. Ill, cap. 139.

' P.C.C. 466, Major. From title-deeds
of Lady Wantage.

' Burke, Landed Gentry {2nd ed.), ill.

' Priv. Act. 1 2 Geo. Ill, cap. 139; Feet
of F. Northants. Trin. 45 Geo. Ill ; Recov.
R. Trin. 45 Geo. Ill, m. 254.
"> Aug. Off. Deeds of Sale of Common-

wealth, bdle. D. I.

" Pat. 17 Chas. II, pt. ix, no. i.

'^ Close, 24 Chas. II, pt. x, no. 7.

" r.C.H. Northants. i, 335.

^* Round, Feudal England., 154-5.

'5 V.C.H. Northants. i, 335.

■* Ibid. 381.

" Bk. of Fees., 934, 946.

'^ Chan. Inq. p.m. 33 Hen. Ill, no. 70.

'^ Nicolas, Peerage, 218.

^° Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Edw. I, no. 42.

" Ibid. 16 Edw. II, no. 71; Cal. Close,
1318-23, p. 640.

" F.C.H. Northants. \, 381.

" Ibid. 361.

" £jt. o/F«j, 502, 941.

" V.C.H. Northants. i, 306, 381.

^<> Rot. Chart. (Rec. Com.), 23.

2' Close R. 13 Hen. Ill, m. 7 d., 9 d.

28 Cott. MS. Nero D. x, fol. 185.

=» Tope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 55.

3" Diet. Nat. Biog.

3" L. and P. Hen. Fill, xiii (i), g. 1519

(43)-

'^ Aug. Off. Partic. for Leases in
Reversion 1577, bdle. 12.

3' Pat. 4 Chas. I, pt. viii, n. 5.

3* Com. Pleas. Recov. R. Hil. 7 Chas. I,
m. 12 d.

35 Excheq. Dep. Northants. Mich, 25
Geo. Ill, no. i.

3^ Baker, Northants. i, 48.

SPELHOE HUNDRED

MOULTON

Moulton from the Grimbalds' and other benefactors,
among whom were William son of Roger and Master
William of Cogenhoe, who granted the priory J virgate
of land^ and Alexander of Moulton who gave it I vir-
gate of land which he held from his lord, Simon le Bret,
at a rent of I2<2'.' In izgi the value of the estate in
rents was £;i it. \ti. and \s. in lands.* In 1443 the rents
of assize came to £2 i\s. 51/., s and they were afterwards
farmed out to Thomas Chipsey for a term of years of
which there were still four remaining in 1535* In
1538 the priory surrendered to the king,' and part of
the lands, in the tenure of Thomas Chipsey, was given
in I 543 to Richard Andrews,* after which date there is
no further record of this property.

A small estate here was owned by Owston Priory,
Leicestershire, founded by Robert Grimbald before
1 1 53 and endowed by him with lands in Moulton'
which in the 1 3th century were assessed at 5/.'°

Other lands in Moulton held by Fineshade Priory
were granted to it by Richard Engaine the elder who
founded the priory at the beginning of John's reign."
His descendants augmented his benefactions,'- and the
value of the priory's property here in 129! was £2 2s.
ayear,'^ but in I 535 was said to be £1 only.'* After the
Dissolution in 1540 these lands were confirmed to
Thomas Locke who held them on a £'^0 years' lease
from the priory;" but in 154; they were granted to
John Beller>', Edward Bales, and their heirs,'* after
which date all trace of them is lost.

There is a mill mentioned in the Survey of 1086 on
the estate held by William Engaine, which rendered iJ.
yearly," and in 1248 was valued at 20/.'' By 1296 2
water-mills are found attached to Moulton Manor,
which with the fishing of the ponds were worth 40X."
These mills passed to Idonea de Leyburn, on whose
death in 1334 they were in a bad state. ^^ Probably one
of them was bestowed by the Bassets or Beauchamps on
St. Andrew's Priory, as in 1443 the prior demised to
William Cook of Hannington for his life, at an annual
rent of 2/., the site of a long mill situated in the
fields between Holcot and Moulton, together with
Westmylne holm.^' In 1551 Elizabeth, afterwards
Queen of England, obtained a grant of a water-mill in
Moulton for the term of her life,^^ and James I in 1609
granted to Edward Ferrers and Francis Phelipps a
water-mill and horse-mill with the mansion house and
meadow in Northmeade adjoining the mills, at a rent
of^i I 5/. 4^.'^ This fee-farm rent was sold to William
Deacon in i65o^''and followsthedescent of the fee-farm
rent of the manor (q.v.). In 1706, John Saunderson
was in possession of a windmill and a water grist-mill
in Moulton;-' and there is a mill at the present day
situated in the small stream which divides this parish
from Boughton.

The church oi ST. PETER AND ST. PAUL con-
sists of chancel, 27 ft. 6 in. by 16 ft. 3 in., with north
and south chapels; clerestoried nave, 45 ft. 3 in. by

20 ft. 4 in., with north and south aisles continuous
with the chancel chapels; south porch, and west
tower, 12 ft. 6 in. by 12 ft. 3 in., all these
CHURCH measurements being internal. The north
aisle is 1 5 ft. wide and the south aisle
16 ft. 7 in., the total width across nave and aisles being
56 ft. 6 in. The chapels extend almost the whole length
of the chancel, the east end of which projects beyond
them about 3 ft.

The building is of rubble throughout, except the
upper story of the tower, and internally all the plaster
has been removed. The roofs are modern and covered
with lead, that of the nave high-pitched, the others low,
and all behind plain parapets.

When the church was restored in 1885-6 a portion
of a carved pre-Conquest cross-shaft^* was found below
one of the piers of the south arcade, and is now placed in
the chapel south of the chancel arch. Though this
implies a burial ground and church of some kind on the
site, it is probable that the first stone building was the
12th-century aisleless structure, some portion of which
survives in the north wall of the nave. Two pieces of
12th-century ornament are built into the west wall of
the south aisle and the south wall west of the porch, and
the head-' of a semicircular window remains above the
second arch from the east of the nave arcade.

About c. 1180-90, a very plain arcade of four
rounded arches of two unmoulded orders was cut
through the north wall of the nave and an aisle added on
that side. The arches are without hood-moulds and
spring from piers consisting of four half-rounds against
a square centre, with divided plain bell capitals and
square abaci, on chamfered bases of cross plan, and from
responds of the same character.

The south arcade is probably part of a very extensive
rebuilding of the church which took place soon after
1298, in which year the Bishop of Lincoln ordered the
inhabitants to rebuild 'the church, tower, and church-
yard' which are described as being 'miserably in ruins'.
A tower, therefore, must have been added before this
time and enough evidence still remains to suggest that
the church had been considerably enlarged during the
13th century. The existing fabric, however, is in the
main the reconstructed church off. 1300, with subse-
quent alterations. The rebuilding no doubt included
the erection of the south aisle, which appears to be con-
temporary with the arcade, followed by the widening of
the north aisle and chapel, beginning at the west end
(with a slight break near the north doorway), the build-
ing of the tower, and the reconstruction of the chancel
and south chapel in their present form. The clerestory
and porch appear to be additions later in the century,
while early in the i 5 th-century the tower was heightened
by the addition of an upper stage in dressed stone, with
short lead-covered «ooden spire, and new windows
were inserted, or old ones altered, in the aisles and
chancel. The spire was pulled down in the time of the

' Cott. MS. Vcjp. E. xvii, fols. i d.,
43 d., 46 d., 47, 47 d., 49.

' Ibid. fols. 44, 45.

» Ibid. foU. 45 d., 46 ; Feet of F. North-
ants. 3 Hen. Ill, no. 61.

* Pope Nick. Tax. (Rcc. Com.), 35.

> Mins. Accts. bdle. 1 108, no. 21.

* f^alor Ecclti. (Rec. Com.), iv, 3 i 3.

' Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 29 Hen.
VIII; Z,. and P. Urn. yill, liii (l). 404.

* Ibid. XI, 221 ; Chin. Inq. p.m. (Scr. 2),
Itiiii, 65.

> Uugdale, Mm. vi, 922, seq.

'» Cott. MS. Nero D. i, fol. 184; Po[>t
Sick. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 55.
" r.C.H. Northantt. ii, 135.
" Ibid.

" Pope Nick. Tax. (Rcc. Com.), 55.
'* yalor F.cclei. (Rec. Com.), iv, 296.
" L. and P. Hen. rill. xv, p. 564.
"" Pat. 36 Hen. VIII, pt. «iv, m. 34.
" f-'.C.H. Aorikait:!. i, 335.
'• Chan. Inq. p.m. 33 Hen. Ill, no. 70.
" Ibid. 25 Kdw. I, no. 50 (<i).
'° Ibid. 8 F.dw. Ill (ist nos.), no. 66.
" Harl. Chart.44H. 35.

" Pat. 5 Edw. VI, pt. iii, m. 1 1.

" Ibid. 7 Jas. I, pt. ziv, m. 13.

'* Aug. Off. Deeds of sale of Common-
wealth, bdle. D i, 1 16.

^' Recov. R. Mich. 5 Anne, m. 200.

" y.C.II.Aorikanti.ii, i^y.Auoc.irch.
Soc. Reports, >ix, 414 (fig. 411). It is of
oolite, 26 in. long, tapering from 18 in. by
9 in. to 16 in. by 8 in. On the front are two
panels, the upper containing a beast with
paw upraised biting its tail, the lower with
knot-work : the sides have knot-work only.

" Consisting of fifteen voussoirs.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

Civil War.' A west gallery, erected in 1738, was re-
moved during the restoration of 1885.^

The chancel has a four-centred 15th-century east
window of four lights with vertical tracery, and in the
south wall a trefoil-headed piscina recess with mutilated
bowl, west of which is a blocked 1 5th-century doorway
and over it the remains of a window opening. ^ Beyond
this the chancel is open to the south chapel by an arcade
of two arches of two chamfered orders, without hood-
moulds, springing from an octagonal pier with moulded
capital and base and from end corbels. On the north
side there is a 1 3-ft. length of blank wall at the east end,"*
beyond which the chancel is open to the chapel by a
single wide arch of two chamfered orders with hood-
mould, the inner order springing from mutilated cor-
bels. The arches on both sides are of the 14th century,
and were originally filled with screens, the marks of
which remain. The early- 14th-century chancel arch is
also of two chamfered orders, without hood-mould, the
inner order on half-octagonal responds with moulded
capitals, and bases standing on high plinths.' Lintel
doorways to the rood-loft remain north and south of the
arch high up at the east end of the nave walls, but there
are no stairs. The roof of the chancel, and all its
fittings, are modern. There is no chancel-screen.

The north chapel has a 14th-century east window of
three trefoiled lights with reticulated tracery and cham-
fered rear-arch, and on the north side a three-Ught
window with quatrefoil tracery. In the usual position
in the south wall is an early-l3th-century trefoiled
piscina with fluted projecting bowl, and the slots for a
wooden shelf above. The south chapel has an east
window of four lights, c. 1300, with intersecting
tracery and chamfered rear-arch, but the two con-
temporary four-light windows in the south wall were
re-topped in the 1 5th century with cusped lights and
very depressed arches.* There is a trefoil-headed pis-
cina c. 1300 with fluted bowl, and also in the south
wall a later pointed doorway, to give headway for
which the eastern light of the adjoining window was
shortened.

The late-i2th-century north arcade has been de-
scribed, but at some later period the two western piers
were encased, built up solid, for some 3 or 4 ft., the
westernmost in circular and the other in hexagonal
form. The south arcade is also of four bays, with
pointed arches of two chamfered orders without hood-
mould, on octagonal piers and responds with moulded
capitals and bases. There are five square-headed clere-
story windows of two trefoiled lights on each side
placed very high in the walls: the line of the early-i4th-
century high-pitched roof remains over the tower arch.

The west window of the north aisle and one in the
north wall west of the doorway are of two lights with
forked mullion c. 1300, and those in the corresponding

positions on the south side appear to have been con-
temporary, but the mullion is cut away in the west
window and the other is modern. Near the east end of
the north aisle is a three-light window with tracery
similar to that in the north chapel, and the south aisle
has a four-light window east of the porch like those in
the south chapel. The 14th-century north doorway is
of two continuous orders, the inner wave-moulded and
the outer with a hollow chamfer. The south doorway is
in part of late- 12th-century date with a later pointed
arch of two orders, apparently of the 13th century, the
outer chamfered, the inner covered by the wooden
frame of an inserted panelled door.^ The 12th-century
jambs were originally shafted, but the shafts are gone,
though the capitals and imposts remain. The 14th-
century outer doorway of the porch is of two chamfered
orders, the inner springing from moulded corbels: there
is a good but much-weathered line of carving on the
low-pitched gable of the porch.

The tower is of four stages, the three lower constitut-
ing the 14th-century structure, with diagonal buttresses
to the top of the second stage, and a vice in the south-
west angle corbelled out internally. The west doorway
is of two moulded orders, with hood-mould and finial,
and an inner order moulded only half-way, the jambs
of which differ. Above it in the second stage is a window
of two trefoiled lights with quatrefoil in the head, but
on the north and south the two lower stages are blank.
The original bell-chamber windows are of the same
character, but those of the superimposed 15th-century
upper stage are tall double transomed openings of two
trefoiled lights. The tower finishes with a battlemented
parapet and mutilated angle pinnacles.* The arch
opening to the nave is of four chamfered orders on the
east side, three of which die out, and the innermost
springs from half-octagonal responds with moulded
capitals and bases. The vice doorway has a lintel on
rounded corbels. Below the arch is a portion of the
early-iSth-century turned oak altar railing.

The font in use was given in 1886,' and the pulpit
also is modern.

In the north aisle is a broken 13th-century coffin lid
with cross and 'omega' ornament:'" an armorial slab to
John Sanderson (d. 1689) is now against the north wall."
There are no other monuments older than the middle
of the 1 8th century. In the vestry is a parish chest
apparently of 17th-century date.

There is a ring of six bells cast by Edward Arnold 01
Leicester in 1795, and rehung by Taylor of Lough-
borough in 1884.'- A clock and chimes were erected in
1903. In 1552 there were four bells and a sanctus bell
and 'one other great bell hanging in one frame by itself.

The plate consists of a silver cup of 1607, a paten
c. 1685 with maker's mark W.R., and a silver bread-
holder of 1735 given by Mrs. Sarah Page.'^

' Bridges, Hist, of Norihanis. i, 419.

2 The restoration, under the direction
of Mr. E. J. Law, was completed in
August 1886.

^ Possibly the rear arch of a 13th-
century window. Three voussoirs and two
jamb stones remain.

■* On the south side there is about 8 ft.
of wall east of the arcade.

5 The plinths follow the plan of the
responds and are 4 ft. high : the continuous
outer order of the arch stops at this height.

* The muUions, with one exception, are
old.

' The frame is in front of the door.

which is probably of 17th-century date,
though the hinges are older: the back is
battened.

^ The tops of the pinnacles were pro-
bably removed when the pyramidal roof
was taken down.

' An 18th-century marble font is in
the vestry. The ancient font was done
away with when the church was newly
pewed, and some rich parcloses, together
with the open seats, shared the same fate :
Chs. Archd. N'ton, 250.

'° The 'omega' ornament is figured in
Arch, yourn. xxxv, 259.

" Placed there in 1885. Thedateisnow

obliterated, but the full inscription is given
in Bridges, op. cit. i, 420.

■- North, Ch. Belh of Northanli. 338,
where the inscriptions are given. They
took the place of a ring of five, the tenor of
which was inscribed 'Sancte Confessor
Cristi benedicte ora pro nobis Deum' and
is said to have been of 13th-century date:
the third and fourth were dated 1 664. The
history of the bells is set out in Aloultan
Church and its Bells, by Sidney Madge,
1 895: certain traditions are discussed, 45-7.

" Markham, Ch. Plate of Northants.
193. The paten is probably by William
Romsey, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

SPELHOE HUNDRED

MOULTON

The registers before 1812 are as follows: (i) bap-
tisms 1565-163;,' 1 689-1 740, marriages i 566-1652,
1689-1739, burials 1 565-1632, 1689-1740; (ii)
baptisms and burials 1740-99, marriages 1740-54;
(iii) marriages 1 7 5 5- 1 8 1 2 ; (iv) baptisms 1 800- 1 2 ; (v)
burials 1800-12. The baptisms from 1565 to 1812
have been printed.^ The first volume contains a list of
briefs 1692-1730, and of unbaptizcd persons f. 1700.
The churchwardens' accounts begin in 1778.

The Grimbald family were great
ADVOIVSON benefactors to St. Andrew's Priory and
the founder of the family, Grimbald,
who witnessed the foundation charter of the priory
between 1093-1100, bestowed upon it the church of
Moulton with 7 virgates of land and freedom from
suit of court:' gifts which were confirmed by his de-
scendants and by William Mandeville Earl of Essex.*
Between 1 209 and 1235a vicarage was ordained which
consisted in all things belonging to the church except
the tithes, which were appropriated by the priory;^ but
subsequently assignment was made to the vicar of one
half of the tithes.* The priory continued to hold the
advowson and had a pension in the vicarage of 1 3/. \d.
which was paid till the Dissolution,' but during the
French war of the reign of Edward III, the king is
often found presenting to Moulton church, as the
priory, being an alien one, was then taken into his
hand.' In 1535 the vicarage was worth (l\ 5,' and after
the dissolution of the priory was granted in 1552 to
John Whiting and Thomas Freeman,'" who at once
conveyed it to Edward Watson." The latter and his
wife Dorothy sold it in 1554 to John Lane of Wal-
grave,'^ on whose death three years later," it passed to
his son William, who died while still a minor in 1 56o,'''
when he was succeeded by his brother John, of whom
the advowson was purchased by John Freeman of Great
Billing in I576.'5 John Freeman continued in pos-
session until 161 5, when on his death it passed with
Great Billing Manor (q.v.) to his grandchild and heir
Katharine the wife of Sir Edward Gorges, afterwards
Baron Dundalk.'* By her first husband Edward Hasle-
wood of Maidwell, Katharine had a son. Sir Anthony
Haslewood,"to whom she and Sir Edward Gorges con-
veyed the advowson in 1628,'' and it remained vested
in the Haslewoods," passing on the death of .Anthony's
son William in 1681 to the latter's two daughters and
co-heirs, Elizabeth and Penelope, who afterwards
married Christopher Lord Hatton of Kirby and Henry
Portman respectively.^" Penelope gave up her right in
the advowson to her sister and Lord Hatton,^' to whose
sons William and Henry, who both died without issue

before 1762, it passed in due course, afterwards de-
scending according to the terms of a settlement to
Edward Finch the fifth son of Anne, wife of Daniel
Finch, Earlof Winchilsea, and daughter of Christopher
Lord Hatton by his first wife Cecily.^- Edward Finch
assumed the additional name of Hatton in 1764 and
on his death in 1 77 1 left the right of presentation to his
son George,--' by whom it was probably sold some time
between 1818 and 1823, the date of his death."
During the rest of the 19th century it passed through
many hands, and is at present vested in the Church
Association Trust.

In 1 301 an indulgence was granted for the chapel of
the Blessed Mary in the church, -5 and in 1495 Thomas
Stanner, glazier, bequeathed his possessions and 40J.
for the use of Moulton parish church, the parishioners
to pray for the souls of himself, his father, mother, and
friends.^* Moulton rectory was appropriated to St.
Andrew's Priory before the Dissolution, and descended
with the advowson until the first quarter of the 19th
century. It was assessed at;^8 in the reign of Henry IIP'
and in 1291,-* but by 1535 had risen to twice that value
and had been leased to Edward Watson for a term of
years, of which four then remained.^' It passed with the
advowson to the Haslewoods; and in 1649, when Sir
Anthony Haslewood compounded for delinquency, the
impropriate rectory of Moulton, worth ^^i i 5 a year,
was accepted in part payment of the fine, and j^55 a
year was to be settled on Moulton church, ^35 in
augmentation of the minister's salary.'" The Lane
family laid claim to the rectory as well as to the advow-
son," and the dispute was not settled until 1662, when
Montague the son of Robert Lane gave up all his
claims to William Haslewood.'^ In 1772, when the
parish was inclosed, the great tithes were commuted for
396 acres 17 poles of land," and the estate was sold in
1 8 18 by Colonel George Finch Hatton, the impro-
priator, to William Abbot, who was sheriff for North-
amptonshire in 1824 and resided in the house built on
this road known as Moulton Grange.'* Between this
date and 1835, this rectorial estate was sold to John
Nethercote," whose ancestors Edward and his wife
Susanna held land in Moulton in 161 1.'*

The Engaines of Blatherwycke apparently settled
two-thirds of the great tithes of certain lands in Moulton
on the rector of Blatherw)'cke. These two-thirds were
represented in 1 29 1 by a pension of 1 3/. \d. in Moulton
rectory," paid in 1600 from land called the 'Wenge'
containing 9^ yardlands.'* At the inclosure of the parish
in 1772, some 32 acres were alloted to the rector of
Blatherwycke in lieu of two-thirds of the great tithes

' With gaps 1567-73, 1628-33.

' Par. Reg. So<. ilvii (1903), with
Calendar of Moulton Parish documents,
ed. by Sidney J. Madge.

' Cott. MS. Vesp. E.xvii,fols. id. ,43 d.

* Ibid. fols. 49, 47 d.

' A. Gibbons, L/irr jlnii^uui, Hugh of
ffells, p. 39.

* Cott. MS. Vesp. E. xvii, fol. 49.

' Ibid. Nero D. x, fol. 187; Pupe Nich.
Tax. (Rec. Com.), 40; A'a/cr Ecclti. (Rec.
Com.), iv. 314.

' Cal. Pat. 1334-8, p. 516; ibid. 1343-
5, p. 43 3 ; ibid. I 348-50, p. 102.

» ralor EccUi. (Rec. Com.), iv, 324.

"> Pat. 6 Edw. VI, pt. iii, m. 19.

" Com. Pleas. D. Enr. Hil. 6 and 7

dw. VI. m. 7 d.

" Feet of F. Northants. Trin. i & 2
Ph. and M.

" Excheq. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), dccx, 12.

'♦ lbid.(Ser. 2),cixvii. 27.

" Feet of F. Northants. Hil. 18 Eliz.
Chan. Proc. Eliz. F. f. 7, no. 32 ; Feet of F.
Northants. Easter 24 Eliz.; Chan. Proc.
Eliz. L. 1. 10, no. 80.

"■ Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxlix, 157.

" Harl. Su. Publ. viii, 226.

" Feet of F. Northants. East. 3 Chas. I.

■» Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.); Recov. R. East.
16 Chas. II, m. 56.

" Harl. Soc. Publ. viii, 226; Feet of F.
Div. Co. Trin. i Will, and M.; Inst. Bks.
(P.R.O.).

" Feet of F. Northants. Hil. 2 Will, and
M.; Recov. R. Hil. 2 Will, and M. m.

-7-

" Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.); Recov. R. Hil. 3
Ceo. Ill, m. 345; G.E.C. Pitragt, viii,
181-2.

193.

40.
26

II.
ji

34
IS

Ibid.; Recov. R. Trin. 52 Geo. Ill, m.

Baker, Northants. i, 49.

Line. Epis. Reg. Memo. Oalderby, fol.

Add. Chart. 24710.

Cott. MS. Nero. D. x, fol. 187.

Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 40.

Falor Ecclti. (Rec. Com.), iv. 314.

Cal. of Com. for Compounding^ 1862.

Ibid. 1808.

Feet of F. Northants. Mich. 14 Chas.

Priv. Act. 12 Ceo. Ill, cap. 139.

Baker, Northantt. i, 49.

Burke, Commoners, ii. 93.

Feet of F. Northants. Mich. 9 Jas. I.

Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 40.

Exche<). Dep. 32 Chas. II, Trin. no. 2.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

arising from Wenglands or Blatherw>xke lands, and
from Keybery and Fletlands,' and this small estate is
still enjoyed by the rectors of Blatherwycke.

Robert Mills in or about 1611 gave
CHARITIES out of land belonging to him 20s. a year
to be distributed on St. Stephen's Day
in bread to twenty Church widows and 6s. 8</. for a
sermon on that day. This charge was redeemed and the
endowment now produces £\ zs. in dividends. The
charity is administered by the churchwardens.

Martha Spraggott by her wiU proved in Prerogative
Court of Canterbury 4 May 1 848 gave a sum of money
to the vicar and churchwardens for the poor. The
endowment produces ^i js. yearly in dividends, which
are distributed with the Mills charity.

William Barber by his will proved in Northampton

22 April 1882 gave £^0 to the vicar and vicar's warden
and the owner of Moulton Grange for the benefit of
the aged poor. This sum now produces about ^i t^s.
yearly in dividends.

John Francis by his will proved 26 April 1907 gave
;^ioo to the churchwardens for the benefit of the poor.
The money was invested, producing ,^3 js. 6d. yearly
in dividends.

The income of these four charities is, after the pay-
ment of 6/. id. to the vicar for a sermon, distributed in
doles to about twenty poor widows.

The vicar of Moulton receives annually ^^30 from
the trustees of Sir Edward Nicholls's Charity, which is
described under the parish of Kettering.

The several sums of stock are with the Official
Trustees of Charitable Funds.

MOULTON PARK

Moulton Park, which was formerly extra-parochial,
was constituted a parish between 18 51 and 1861,
although for ecclesiastical purposes it is annexed to
Moulton. It covers an area of nearly 853 acres, and
consists almost entirely of the estate owned by the
GovernorsofSt. Andrew's Mental Hospital, Northamp-
ton, who have a branch establishment here. The land
lies fairly high, Moulton Park House standing at
418 ft., while in no part of the parish is there a level
lower than 344 ft. On the north west the property is in-
closed by a stone wall, but few traces of the ancient park
remain. Leland, writing before the middle of the i6th
century, says: 'From Northampton to Kingesthorpe a
mile and a little farther by Multon Parke, enclosed with
stone, where is neately plentie of wood ; it longgid a late
to the Lord Vaux, now to the Kinge. In it is no building
but a mene Lodge.'^ By 1560 there were few or no oaks
left in the park and the wood was mostly thorn, ^ and at the
present day the old trees have disappeared and the plan-
tations scattered over the estate are of modern growth.

In 1086 there were two small estates in Moulton,
half a hide and one virgate respectively, held of the
Countess Judith by Biscop and Hugh.'* These small
holdings probably escheated to the overlord, and were
turned by him into a park, attached to the Castle of
Northampton, and therefore at first known as
Northampton or Moulton Park.s The sheriff was
ordered in 1223 to cause the park to be inclosed by
those who ought to contribute to such an undertaking,*
and in 1229 he was told to turn out all the beasts
except those belonging to the king, keeping enough
pasture to fatten the oxen and beasts for the royal
household in winter.' In 1235 an order was given to
stock the park with 20 bucks and 68 does,' and in 1 25 1
the sheriff was directed to inclose or fence Moulton
Park and to certify the cost.' During the same year
Robert Basset, then sheriff, was appointed keeper in

the place of Robert de Mares,'° the office in 1261 being
conferred on Alan la Zouche." The expenses of repair-
ing the walls were partly defrayed by several townships
in the count)', and in 1276 the men of Roger de
Furneus in Raunds, of Henry le Scot and Ralph
de Normanvill in Cotes, of Oliver Bydun and Simon de
Cotes in Little Cotes and of Richard Trayley and
Robert Punteney in Ringstead were arraigned before
the Hundred Court for neglecting for the last 16 years
to repair their share," ^ but at the same court the former
sheriff, Roger de Seyton was reprimanded for levying
2 2^. from the viU of Chalcombe which was not con-
tributory,'^ and the exemption of the men of that vill
from this toll was especially recorded in 1285 in the
inquisition taken after the death of Nicholas de
Segrave."' The Butlers of Grimsbury, however, held
their land there of the king by the service of repairing
part of the wall whenever it was necessary, and the
portion for which they were responsible was said in
1362 to be 16 feet. '5 Sir Nicholas Lilling was appointed
keeper in 1390'* and during his term of office, in 1393,
the walls were thoroughly overhauled and extensive
repairs made. Two carts were employed for carrying
stones to the faulty places, and at \od. a day cost 30J.
for 36 days, and 4 masons with 3 assistants were
employed for 45 days." The office of keeper was con-
ferred by the sovereign upon his retainers as a reward
of faithful services,'* and in 1439 was obtained by
Robert Roos," and by Sir William Hastings and Ralph
Hastings in 1462.-° During the reign of Henry VIII,
while Sir William Parr was keeper of the park, disputes
arose with the inhabitants of the neighbouring parishes
of Kingsthorpe, Boughton, and Moulton as to the
limits of the warren of the park.^' In 1 560 the state of
the park appears to have been lamentable. The two
lodges were in such decay that one could not be re-
paired under ^^20 and the other under £\o, while the

' Priv. Act. 1 2 Geo. Ill, cap. 139.

2 Leland, Itinerary ^ ed. 2, i, 12.

3 Memo. R. L.T.R. East. 2 Eliz. m. 47.
* V.C.H. Norihann. i, 352, 353.

5 Simon 'Parcarius* or *de Parco' occurs
between 1203 and 1 214 as holding land in
Moulton, but there is nothing to suggest
that he held in right of his office ; Abbrev.
Viae. (Rec. Com.), 4.1 ; Curia Regis R. vii,
132, 187, 264.

"" Close 7 Hen. Ill: cited by Baker,
Norihants. i, 52. Of. Cal. Close, 1227-31,
p. 19.

' Ca!. Close, 1227-31, p. 240.
' Ibid. 1 2 34.-7, p. 136.
9 Ibid. 1247-51, p. 437.
'° Ibid. p. 414.

" Abbrev. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), i, 17.
'2 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), ii, 10; cf.
Assize R. 3 Edw. Ill, m. 9.
" Htmd. R. (Rec. Com,), ii. 6.
■* Chan. Inq. p.m. i 3 Edw. I, no. 47.
'5 Ibid. 33 Edw. Ill (ist nos.), no. 7;
ibid. 36 Edw. Ill, pt. i, no. 26; ibid. 10
Rich. II, no. 99.
'* Co/.P<3M38S-92,p. 325 i ibid. 1399-

1401, p. 2, 343 ; Fine R. i Hen. V, pt. ii,
m. 24.

■' Add. Chart. 6047.

" Cal. Pat. 1327-30, p. 163; ibid.
1330-4, p. 47; Pat. 44, Edw. Ill, pt. i, m.
19; Cal. Pat. 1377-81, p. 135; ibid.
1385-9, p. 346.

" Ibid. 1436-41, p. 257; Fine R. 27
Hen. VI.

^o Cal. Pat. 146 1-7, p. 13.

2' L. an</P. Hen. ^///,iii, 2482, 3146;
ibid, xvi, 1053.

SPELHOE HUNDRED

OVERSTONE

park was inclosed with a waU so low 'that neither deer
nor other beasts can be kept there', and in many parts
the wall 'lyeth wyde open, the dere thereof daylye and
nightlye go oute and fede of the corne and grasse grow-
inge in the fcildes nexte abowte adioyninge'. The wall
would cost {fib 13/. \J. to repair while 30 oaks would
not be sufficient to mend the rails and gates. At that
time there were in the park 100 deer of all sorts,
whereof 20 were antlered.' In i 574 it was stated that
there was a 'frebourd' round about the park, 7 ft. from
the walls and that the keepers were accustomed to cut
down the bushes growing upon it in order to stop up
the gaps in the walls and keep in the deer.^ In 1576
Sir Christopher Hatton, afterwards Lord Chancellor,
obtained a grant in fee of the custody of the park with
the herbage and pannage' and at his death in 1591 it
passed, according to a settlement, to his cousin Sir
Christopher Hatton* who died in 1619 and was suc-
ceeded by his son, another Christopher,' afterwards
Lord Hatton of Kirby, who in 1634 obtained a grant

of the Park, to him and his heirs, to hold in chief of the
king for one knight's fee at a fee-farm rent of ^^5.*
During his lifetime, or that of his son Christopher,^ the
park was sold and passed into the possession of Sir
Andrew Hackett of Moxhull, Warwickshire, who held
it in 1690,' and at his death in 1705 it was inherited by
his son, Lisle Hackett," by whom it was sold in 1720
to William Thursby of .Ibington.'" The Thursbys sold
it some time after 1767 to Thomas Powys, afterwards
Lord Lilford, of whom it was purchased about 1785
by Colonel Thomas Keating, who raised a regiment in
Northamptonshire during the .'Vmerican War." It
apparently changed hands many times during the
19th century, and in 1871 was bought by Messrs. P. &
R. Phipps, the brewers at Northampton, who pulled
down the old house and built a plain brick house and
farm premises near its site.'- It was afterwards acquired
by Sir John Blencowe Robinson, bart., of Kingsthorpe,
who died there in 1877,'' and has since become the
property of the Governors of St. Andrew's Hospital.

OVERSTONE

Oveston (xii-svii cents.).

The parish of Overstone comprises an area of 1,764
acres of which 30 are water and nearly 200 are covered
by woods and plantations. The soil is chiefly red loam,
producing fine turnips and crops
of wheat and pulse, while the
subsoil consists of ironstone with
some clay.

Overstone Park, formerly the
property of Lady Wantage and
afterwards the Philip Stott Col-
lege for political students in
economics, is now a public school
for girls under the auspices of the
Parents' National Educational
Union.

The park covers nearly half
the area of the parish and extends
into the neighbouring parishes
of Sywell and Ecton. A high
wall, 6 miles in circumference
incloses the park, containing well-
grown plantations and groups of
handsome trees. The house, built
about 1861, stands in the centre
and is connected with the Well-
ingborough and Kettering high-
ways by a road passing through the park from north
to south. It overlooks an ornamental sheet of water of
about 23 acres which has been made by draining the
surrounding land, and has a fine view over the undu-
lating country. At the north-west entrance to the park
the 16th-century gateway from Pytchley Manor House
(pulled down in 1824) was erected in 1843. It is of
grey stone, with a wide middle archway, pilasters and
entablature, and narrower side-openings, the upper
part being of a somewhat nondescript character with
tall pyramidal obelisk finials.

The village is small with well-built houses, and lies
along the north wall of the park; the church standing
just within the gates, but the Rectory and Rectory
Farm with Overstone Grange and one or two other

Ipfflfff

»-..l-!-. -]ft||l||f f^ |||(l

imi

:3i

■ Memo. R. L.T.R. East. I Eliz. m. 42.

' Eichcq. Dcp. Mich. 16 and 17, Eliz.

no. 10.

> Pat. 19 Elii. pt. 8, m. 29.

♦ Chan. Inq. p.m. (Scr. 2), ccxxxtl, 82.

' Ibid. (Ser. 2), ccclxxvi, 1 00.

' Pat. 10 Chas. I, pt. viii, no. 8.

' Feet of F. Northants. Trin. 1649;
Cal. of Com. for CompcunMng^ 1 580— I ;
Feet of F. Northants. Hil. 1656.

• Ibid. Mich. 2 Will, and .M.

* Bk. of Deeds belonging to Ishams of
Lamport, p. 205.

"> Feet of F. Northants. Trin. 6 Ceo. I ;

Overstone Park

houses are about a mile north of the village, a little west
ofthe Kettering road. The population in 1 93 1 was 235.
The road skirting the park wall on the west rises
from 267 ft. to 388 ft., and then falls again, the house
standing on a terrace about 350 ft. which slopes to the
lake below, lying at 284 ft.

Overstone is not mentioned in Domesday,

MANOR but was probably included in Sywell, and

was held with it by the Count of Mortain at

thatdate.'* Sywell was granted toNiel Mundcville,lord

of Folkestone, when the Count of Mortain's possessions

Recov. R.

Bridges, Sortkantt. i, 42
Trin. 10 Ceo. II, m. 128.

" Baker, Norlhanll. i, 5;.

" Whellan, iSorlkantl. 1874.

" G.E.C. Baronftage, iii, 54.

■♦ y.C.H. Norikanit. i, 321, 381.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

were confiscated by Henry I. Maud the daughter and
heir of Niel Mundeville married Ruallon d'Avranches
(de Abrincis), and the overlordship of OFERSTONE
remained vested in the d'Avranches until, on the death
of William without issue in 1235, it passed to his sister
Maud, the wife of Hamon de Crevecoeur, who held it
in her right;' but by 1275 it had escheated to the
Crown as lands of Normans.^

The mesne lordship was obtained by Humphrey de
Millers who married Felice the sister of a William
d'Avranches, and probably the daughter of Ruallon
and Maud Mundeville.' Humphrey, who was holding
the manor in 1 1 66,'' had two sons, by the elder of whom,
William, he was succeeded, the second son Ralph being
rector of Overstone.' William died before 1223,*
leaving two sons, the elder of whom, William, pre-
sented his brother Humphrey to the church in that
year, and a daughter Felice, the heir of her brothers,
who both died before 1 241 .' She was succeeded before
1247 by her son Gilbert de Wyarvill, sometimes called
de Millers,' but his lands were forfeited to the Crown
in 1 27 1 as being those of a Norman.' Overstone was
retained in the hand of the king for some years'" and in
1 28 1 the manor was bestowed on Christiane de Mareys
to hold for life. In 1285 and again in 1290 one of her
tenants Walter le Mazun complained that she had
unjusdy ejected him from i virgate of land which had
been leased to him while Richard de Holebrook was
bailiff" for 16/. and on which he had expended much
money in buildings and improvements.'- Christiane
died c. 1 3 1 2 when her executors, who were to hold the
manor for j\ years after her death," leased it for that
term to Robert de Appleby, clerk, at a rent of £<^o.
Their lessee offended the king, who confiscated
Overstone,'* and appointed Martin de Ispanum
steward in I3i6,'5 but compensated the executors.'*
Overstone was granted in 13 18 to Donald de Mar"
who, however, joined the Scots against the king in
1327, and was declared a rebel,'* Overstone being
forfeited and granted to John Mautravers for life."
Richard de Grey of Codnor then petitioned the king
for the manor and in 1329 he brought an action against
John Mautravers on the ground that Gilbert de Millers,
before he forfeited Overstone in 1271, had demised it
to Richard de Grey, his great-grandfather.-" Richard's
claim was recognized to a certain extent, for in 1331
he received a grant of Overstone for 7 years at a rent
of ;^35 I2X. lljij'.,-' but on his death in 1335 it was
confiscated by the king, probably because there were
two years' arrears of rent.'-' Thomas Wake of Deeping
was granted the manor in 1335 to hold for one year at
an increased rent of £40,^' but it is doubtful if the grant
ever took effect, as during the same year it was bestowed
upon Sir Walter Manny in part satisfaction of ^100

per annum granted to him by the king, Overstone being
worth 100 marks a year.^* Sir Walter Manny was a
native of Hainault, but attached himself to the service
of Edward III and took part in most of the French
campaigns, being present at Sluys in 1 340 and at Crecy
in 1346, and was knighted in 1 331, and in 1346 sum-
moned to Parliament as a baron. ■^^ During his tenure of
Overstone, John, the son of Richard de Grey who had
died in 1 335, renewed the claim of the de Grey family
to the Overstone estates,^* without success; and in 1 365
one Edmund de Morteyn claimed that his great-
grandmother Constance was seised of the manor in the
reign of Edward I,-'' but his pretensions were without
foundation and Sir Walter Manny died seised of the
manor in 1372,-* and was buried in the Charterhouse,
of which he was founder. His son having been
drowned, the tide and some of the property became the
right of his daughter Anne, wife of John Hastings,
2nd Earl of Pembroke, and on her death in 1384
descended to her son John Hastings, the third earl, who
died without issue in 1389.^' Overstone, however, had
been settled on Margaret, mo jure Countess of Norfolk,
the wife of Sir Walter, who outlived her daughter and
grandson and died in 1398.'" In 1 391, after the death
of her heirs, she alienated the manor to John Duke of
Lancaster^' who settled it on John of Beaufort, his
eldest son by Catherine Swin-
ford.'^ John of Beaufort, who
was created Earl of Somerset, died
in 14 10, and his son Henry'' on
his death in 141 8 was succeeded
by his brother John, a third part
of the manor being held of their
mother, Margaret Duchess of
Clarence,'* who accounted for
half a fee in Overstone in 1428."
John was made Duke of Somer-
set and died in 1444, leaving a
daughter Margaret,'* who mar-
ried Edmund Tudor, Earl of
Richmond, by whom she was the mother of Henry
VII. When she died in 1509 Overstone became
the property of her grandson Henry VHP'' by whom
it was granted in 1537 to Sir William Fitzwilliam,
Lord High Admiral of England, and his heirs male.'*
The manor escheated to the crown on the death of
Sir William without issue in 1542," and was be-
stowed by Edward VI in 1550 upon Thomas Smythe,
one of the secretaries of state, and Elizabeth his wife,
and the heirs of Thomas.*" In 1577 Sir Thomas
Smythe settled the manor on his brother George, after
his ovm decease and for the lifetime of his wife Philippa,
at whose death it was to pass to John Wood, his
nephew. Sir Thomas died the same year, and his

Beaufort. Trance and

England quartered in a

border gcbony argent and

azure.

' G.E.C. Peerage, i, 36; Bi. of Fees,
935.946.

^ Mins. Accts. bdle. 1089, no. 6.

3 Baker, Nori/iants. i, 53.

4 Hearn, Liber Niger, i, 57.

5 Baker, A'orMan/j. i, 53.
* Harl. MS. 6950.

' Ibid.; Excerpta e Rot. Fin. i, 363.

8 Ibid, ii, 13.

9 Baker, Nortkants. i, 54.

'» Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), ii, 13.

^* He had been appointed in 1281:
Abbrev. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), i, 4.0.

"^ Cal. Close, 1179-88, p. 365 ; Cal. Pat.
1281-92, p. 406.

" Ibid. 1307-13, p. 508.

'* Pari. R. i, 341; Chan. Inq. Misc.
file Ixxviii, no. 5.

'5 Feud. Aids, iv, 23 ; Ahbrev. Rot. Orig.
(Rec. Com.), i, 224.

'^ Cal. Pat. 1313-17, p. 564; Cal. Close,

•3^7-3°. P- +3-
" Cal. Pat. I 3 17-2 1, p. 80.
'* Did. Nat. Biog.
^■^ Cal. Pal. 1327—30, p. loi.
" Coram Rege R. 186 (2), m. 105.
" Abhrev. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), ii, 56.
^^ Cal. Close, 1333-7, p. 360.
" Abhrev. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), ii, 95.
" Cal. Pat. 1334-8, p. 176.
" Diet. Nat. Biog.
^' De Banco R. 354. m. 362 d.

" Ibid. 421, m. 152.

-' Chan. Inq. p.m. 46 Edw. Ill ( i st nos.),
no. 38.

" G.E.C. Peerage (2nd ed.), vi, 351.

3° Ibid.

3" Cal. Pat. 13S8-92, p. 461.

" Fine R. 15 Rich. II, m. 3; Cal. Pat.
1391-6, p. 15.

33 Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 1 Hen. IV, no. 44.

3* Ibid. 3 Hen. VI, no. 18.

35 Feud. Aids, iv, 37.

3' Chan. Inq. p.m. 22 Hen. VI, no. 19.

3' Ibid. (Ser. 2), XXV, 63.

3* Pat. 29 Hen. VIII, pt. i, m. 21.

3» Diet. Nat. Biog.

*" Pat. 4 Edw. VI, pt. viii, m. 9.

OvERSTONE Park: Gateway, removed from Pvtchlev Hall

OvERSTONE Cm RlM, FROM lilt Soi' IH-U'es P

SPELHOE HUNDRED

OVERSTONE

widow dying the following year, the manor came to
John Wood,' who in 1610 settled it on his daughter
Magdalen on her marriage with Sir Thomas Ed-
mondes.^ They had one son Henry, after whose death
without issue in 1635^ Sir Thomas settled the manor
on his three daughters Isabel la Warr, widow, Mary,
afterwards the wife of Robert Mildmay, and Louisa the
wife of Thomas GwiUiams.* Sir Thomas died in 1639'
and in 1640 Louisa and her husband gave up their
right in the manor to Mary and Robert Mildmay,*
Isabel having evidently died before without issue.
Mary and Robert were succeeded by their son Henry,
who was holding the manor in 1656.' On his death
without issue in 1662, his estates passed to his brother
Benjamin Lord Fitz Walter who sold them in 1672
to Edward Strafford,* whose son Henry pulled down
the old manor-house and built a new one in its place,
which he sold with the manor in 1737 to Thomas,
afterwards Sir Thomas Drury, bart.' Through Sir
Thomas the manor passed together with the advowson
of Little Billing (q.v.) to Lord Brownlow, who con-
veyed it in 1 79 1 to John Kipling, one of the clerks in
chancery and Keeper of the Public Records,'" of whom
it was purchased in 1832 by Mr. Loyd," father of
Lord Overstone, after which date it has a descent
identical with that of Abington Manor (q.v.).

The park which now surrounds the house
PARK originated in the licence given to Gilbert de
Millers by Henry III in 1255 to 'inclose with
a dike and hedge or with a wall, his wood of Ouiston,
and to make a park thereof. ' ^ It is referred to in 1358,
when John Warjii of Yardley, a canon of Ravenstone
Priory (Bucks.), and others poached deer in Sir Walter
Manny's park of Overstone.'^ During the reign of
Henry V'lII several grants were made of the keepership
of the park.'*

In 1275 '^'° roills are mentioned as belonging to the
manor," which were there also in 1372.'* In 1545
Baldwin Willoughby received a 2 1 years' lease of a water-
mill," which was granted with the manor is I 550 to
Thomas Smy the.'' The secondmill must have fallen into
disuse before this date as there is mention of one only,
which descended with the manor during the i6th and
17th centuries although at the present day there is no
trace of it.

The church of ST. NICHOLAS, which
CHURCH stands within the park about a quarter of a
mile north of the mansion, was erected on
a new site about 1803 at the sole charge of Mr. John
Kipling, in place of an older building which was then
puUeddown." The old church stood in front of the for-
mer manor-house and consisted of chancel, nave, north
aisle and embattled west tower.*" No adequate record

' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Scr. i), clxixii, 38;
ibid. (Scr. 2), cccclxi, 8 1 ; Baker, Northanls.

i-57-

' Feet of F. Div. Co. East. 8 Jas. I.
^ Chan. Inq, p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccxcviii, 42.
« Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 12 Chas. I.
* Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccxcviii.

of it has been preserved, and the belief that it belonged
to the Decorated period^' is based on insufficient data.

The present building consists of chancel, i 5 ft. 6 in.
long by 19 ft. 6 in. wide, with vestry on the north and
organ-chamber on the south side; nave, 30 ft. 6 in.
by 10 ft. 3 in., south aisle, 1 1 ft. wide, and west tower,
1 1 ft. 4 in. by 8 ft. 2 in., all these measurements being
internal. There is also a porch on the north side of the
tower. The chancel and nave are under a single slated
eaved roof, and the tower is of three stages with em-
battled parapet and pinnacles. As originally built, the
church consisted only of chancel, nave, and tower, with
west gallery and squire's pew on the south side of the
chancel.-- It was in the Gothic stj'le of the day, faced
with Kingsthorpe stone, and the interior was described
in 1849 as being 'emphatically neat'.-' In 1903 the
building was restored, the south aisle and organ-cham-
ber added, the gallery removed, and the interior
remodelled. All the fittings, including the font** and
pulpit are modern. There are mural tablets from the
old church to Frances, wife of Henry Stratford and
daughter of Thomas Penruddock (d. 1717), Edward
Stratford (d. 1721), and Elizabeth, wife of the Rev.
Paul Ives, rector (d. 1792): later ones commemorate
John Kipling (d. 1830), Harriet, Lady Overstone
(d. 1864), Lord Overstone (d. 1883), and Canon
E. J. Birch, rector 1857-1900. In the east window is
some late medieval German glass, with figures of our
Lord and St. John the Baptist.

There are three bells: the first an alphabet bell by
Hugh Watts 1609, the second by Henry Bagley 1676,
and the third by Taylor & Co. of Loughborough, 1 903.-'

The plate consists of a bread-holder of 1689 in-
scribed 'The gift of Paul Ives, rector, to the church of
Overston 1704'; a cup and paten of 1735, the former
inscribed 'Overston. This cup and Paten were ex-
changed at ye expence of Doctor Paul Ives, Rector, for
ye use of ye Communion Table, 1736'; and a flagon
of 1735 given by Dr. Ives in the following year.-*

The registers before 1 8 1 2 are as follows: (i) baptisms
1673-1812, burials 1680-1812, (ii) marriages, 1754-
1812.

The advowson of Overstone
ADVOWSON Church, first mentioned in 1223,"
was appendant to the manor until the
end of the 17th century when it was sold by Edward
Stratford to Robert Ives,*' in whose family it remained
until 1743 when Paul Ives conveyed it to Sir Thomas
Drury, bart.*' It was thus re-united with the manor,
and descended with it until 1923, when the rectory
was united with that of Sywell (q.v.), the patronage of
the united benefices being exercised alternately by the
Duchy of Cornwall and Mr. G. E. Stott.'"

» Feet of F. Northants. Hil. 15 Chas. I.
' Ibid. Div. Co. Hil. 1656.
• G.E.C. Peerjf^t, iii, 373; Feet of F.
Northants. Mich. 24 Chas. II ; Recov. R.
East. 25 Chas. II, m. 144.

' Close R. II Geo. II, pt. iv, m. 12;
Baker, S'urihanlt. i, 58.
'" Baker, Northanii. i, 58.
'* From information supplied by Mr.
Dickson.

" Cal.Pat. 1358-61, p. 51.

" C<j/. CAar/. 1226-57, p. 441.

'* L. and P. Hen. yill, i, 54, 277; iv,
654.

■^ Mins. Accts. bdle. 1089, no. 6.

"> Chan. Inq. p.m. 46 Edvr. Ill ( 1 st nos.),
no. 38.

" L. and P. Hen. I'lll, xx, 4 1 8.

" Pat. 4 Edw. VI, pt. viii, m. 9.

'^ Faculty for taking down old church
1803. The new church was not conse-
crated until July 1807: Baker, Norikanii.
i, 60.

2° Bridges, Hill, of Kcriiantt. i, 460.
The chancel had a tiled roof, the nave was
leaded, and the east end of the aisle was the
burial-place of the Stratford family, built
about 1718.

" Chi. Archd. of A'Vsn, 2 5 l .

** The pew had a fire-place and chimney-
piece.

" Chs. Archd. N'ton, 251.

'♦ The font dates from 1903, and is in
memory of Canon Birch, rector (d. 1900).

** In 1552 there were three bells and a
sanctus bell. Bridges records three bells in
the old church, but until 1903 there were
only two bells in the present tower.

'<• Markham, Ch. Phif of Northanls.
Z24. About 1800 a chalice was sold by
the consent of the whole parish.

" Harl. MS. 6950.

'» Baker, Sorihanis. i, 58.

» Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.)i Feet of F.
Northanls. Hil. 17 Ceo. II.

" Kelly, Directory of Northanii.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

In the reign of Henry III and in 1291 the church
was valued at 12 marks,' while by 1535 its value had
risen to ;^l 3 6s. iJ.^

Edward Stratford by his will dated
CHARITIES 22 January 17 14 charged his manor
of Overstone with a yearly payment of
20s. to the poor. This charge is paid by the owner of
Overstone Farm and is distributed in cash to poor
widows, as is a rent-charge of 10;. formerly given by

a Dr. Bentham, also paid by the owner of Overstone
Farm.

John Kipling by his will proved 23 September 1 83 1
gave to the rector and churchwardens a sum of ;^2oo
Consols, now with the Official Trustees of Charitable
Funds, the interest to be applied for the benefit of such
poor women who shall have the care of the church.
The dividends, amounting to £^ yearly, are paid to the
sexton.

PITSFORD

Pitesford, Pidesford (xi-xii cents.); Pisseford (xiii-
xiv cents.).

The parish of Pitsford has an area of 1,413 acres.
The soil is marl and clay with a subsoil of stone, pro-
ducing crops of wheat and barley, and the parish is
well watered, for there are innumerable little springs
scattered over the fields, while a branch of the River
Nene forms the western boundary. The village lies to
the north of the parish and on the east of the high road
from Northampton to Market Harborough and has a
fairly elevated position, the church standing at a height
of 3 1 7 ft. Several roads pass through the village which
lies for the most part round their juncture and has a
neat and compact appearance, Pitsford Hall standing
in its own grounds to the south. The Northampton and
Market Harborough branch of the L.M.S. railway
passes through the parish, following the course of the
river, and there is a station 2 miles south-west of
Pitsford with which it is connected by a long lane
which crosses the Market Harborough road and rises
from 229ft. to 371. On different sides of the road lead-
ing out of the Market Harborough road into the
village are two small earth-works, known as Layman's
HiU and Barrow Dyke. In Morton's time, the former
was about 10 yards wide and of an oblong shape, but
it has since been planted. Barrow Dyke is described
by Morton as a square figure, with 'two of the sides
still remaining; one of them above 80 yards in length',^
but by 1820 nearly all trace of the original form had
been destroyed by repeated
ploughing.''

The parish has been inclosed
under an Act passed in 1756.'

In 1086 the over-
MJNORS lord of the principal
manor of PITS-
FORD was Simon the Fleming,*
the ancestor of the Barons of
Wahull, in whom the overlord-
ship remained vested.'' The
chief seat of the Wahull barony
in this county was at Pattishall
(q.v.). As intermediaries between the overlord and
the lord of the fee stood the family of Walgrave.^

The manor at Domesday was in the possession of

' Cott. MS. Nero. D. x, fol. 175 d.;
Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 40.

^ falor Eccles. (Rec. Com.), iv, 325.

3 Morton, Northants. 548.

■• Baker, Northants. i, 65.

5 Priv. Act, 29 Geo. II, cap. 9.

' V.C.H. Northants. i, 34.0.

' Bk. of Fees, 500; Feud. Aids, iv, 15;
Chan. Inq. p.m. 32 Edw. I, no. 45; ibid.
15 Rich. II, pt. I, no. 24.

^ Feud. Aids, iv, 15; Chan. Inq. p.m. 32
Edw. I, no. 45 J ibid. 45 Edw. Ill, no. 57 ;

Wahull. Or three cre-
scents gules.

ibid. 5 Hen. V, no. 39
no. 20.

» V.C.H. Northants. \, 340.

'» Ibid. 1,381.

" Baker, op. cit. i, 61.

'- Pipe R. 5 Hen. Ill, m. 1 3 ; Feet of F.
Northants. 11 Hen. Ill, no. 129; ibid. 13
Edw. I, no. 181.

" Ibid. i2Hen. Ill, no. 226.

'♦ Feud. Aids, iv, 23.

■s Bridges, Northants. i, 46.

■' Feud. Aids, iv, 37.

Fulcher,' the ancestor of the Malsors, Henry Malsors
being lord of Pitsford in the 1 2th century.'" Geoffrey
Malsors, his successor, rebelled against King John,
who confiscated his estates in 121 5 and bestowed them
upon Godescall de Maghelines, but Henry III restored
them to Geoffrey, on the latter returning to his fealty
in the following year." In 1227 Geoffrey enfeoffed
Robert de Leicester and Lettice his wife, who was
probably the daughter of William Malsors, senior, of
Milton Malzor, of 2 fees in Pitsford, of which they
were to hold one in demesne and one in service,'^ and
the next year Walter Malsors gave up to Geoffrey all
his right in a fee in Walgrave and Pitsford." Robert
Leicester and Lettice appear to have been followed by
Robert de Hauton who was holding a fee in Pitsford
in 1316''' and 1346.'' By 1428 it was in the hands of
Nicholas Horncastle,'^ possibly tenant only for a term
of years, as it descended to John Hauton who died
somewhere about the end of the 1 5th century, leaving
3 daughters and co-heirs, of whom the second died
without issue. '^ In 1552 William Chauncey, a de-
scendant of the eldest daughter, and Joan his wife
gave up their right in the manor to John Shuckburgh,
the son of the youngest daughter.'^ John's son George
died in 1572 leaving a son John aged 3 whom he en-
trusted to the care of his brother John," and a widow
Cassandra who married as her second husband Richard
Wightman. John who came of age in 1 589-" married
Anne, with whom he was holding the estate in 1593,^'
but after this date it was appar-
ently alienated in portions and
all manorial rights lost.-^

Holding jointly with Henry
Malsors in the 12th century was
Philip de Pitsford^^ and in 1242
Robert le Jeofne and William de
Insula with Mabel his wife are
mentioned as holding the 2 fees
in Pitsford, -•♦ perhaps through
marriage with widows of a Mal-
sors and Pitsford respectively.
By 1227, however, the Malsors
had subinfeudated the Pitsfords, the heirs of Ascelin son
of Philip holding of them at that date,'' and the Pits-
fords continued to hold of the Malsors, Thomas son of
ibid. 1 2 Hen. VI,

k'K ^^''A

^ w

/f^N

Pitsford. Gules three

bends 'vair and a label of

fi've points or.

" MetcAie, Northants. Fis. 13,47.

'8 Feet of F. Northants. Mich. 6 Edw.
VI.

" Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), clxv, 130.

20 Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. 230, 50.

^' Add. Chart. 25174.

22 Baker, op. cit. i, 62.

" F.C.H. Northants. i, 38 1.

^* Bk.ofFees,i)^o.

" Feet of F. Northants. 1 1 Hen. Ill, no.
129.

SPELHOE HUNDRED

PITSFORD

Philip being in possession of the manor in 1284.' He
was followed by Laurence de Pitsford who was holding
the fee in 1346-, but by 1362 it was in the possession
of John Laurence and Joan his wife, who conveyed it
in that year to Richard de Bollesore, parson of Bough-
ton church,^ probably as a preliminary to its alienation
to Sir Henry Green of Houghton who died seised of
2 messuages and 2 virgates in Pitsford in 1369,* which
by 1392 had increased to 6 messuages and 2 carucatcs.'
The manor acquired by Sir Henry Green remained in
the Green family and has had a descent analogous to
that of Houghton (q-v.), Maj.-Gen. Sir R. G. H.
Howard-Vyse being the present lord of the manor.

Another estate in Pitsford was held in 1086 of
Robert Count of Mortain,* but the Mortain fee
escheated to the Crown in 1 106,' and the greater part
of the lands and honors became incorporated with the
Earldom of Leicester, bestowed upon Robert Count of
Meulan in 1107.* A division afterwards took place,
one of the two parts becoming known as the honor of
Winchester, of which Pitsford was a fee, and passing
through the families of la Zouche, Holand, and Lovell,'
of Hrackley (q.v.).

Holding under the Count of Mortain in 1086 was
Humphrey, the successor of Osmund who held it freely
in the time of King Edward.'" In the 1 2th century the
Earl of Leicester held this estate, then estimated at 6
small virgates although in Domesday only I virgate is
mentioned." .After this date there were two mesne
lords between the overlord and the tenant of the land,
for in 1 271 Richard de Hanrede, Humphrey's succes-
sor, held it of William Maufe of Sussex, who held of
Philip de Nevill, the latter holding of Roger de Quincy,
Earl of Winchester.'^ The place of one of the mesne
lords was taken by Hugh de Scales who was holding
lands in Haslebeach and Pitsford in 1 3 14,' ^ and by his
descendants holding in 1423 and 1454. '■• Richard de
Hanrede, lord of the estate in 1 271 "and 13 16,'* was
succeeded by his son another Richard, who in 1330
brought an action against Henry de Wilby and William
Francis to recover 3 messuages and 3 virgates of land
in Pitsford.'^ He was holding in 1346,'* but by 1428
the estate was divided between his heirs and Thomas
Green," the latter's share probably becoming absorbed
in the chief manor held by him. After 1455 there is no
further mention of the estate-" which doubtless was
separated into many small portions among which all
manorial rights were lost.

The Brotherhood of St. Catherine, Northampton,
held lands in Pitsford, which were granted in I 551 to
Sir Thomas Tresham,^' and mentioned in a survey of
Northampton Town Lands, taken in i 586.^^

There were two mills mentioned in 1086, one on the
manor held of Walter the Fleming, worth i2</.,^^and
the other on the Count of Mortain's estate, worth 2s.-*
The latter was probably the one acquired by Hugh
Dyne, who granted it to Robert the miller in 1202.^'
There is no further mention of the mills until 1586,

' FruJ. AiJi, iv, i 5.

* Bridges, NfjTthanti. i, 46.

' Fret of F. Northints. 36 Edw. Ill,
no. 5 1 6.

* Chan. Inq. p.m. 43 Edw. Ill, pt. i, no.
+8.

> Ibid. 1 5 Rich. II, pt. i, no. 24.
' V.C.li. Sorlhanlt. i, 323.
' Baker, Nirihanii. i, 120.

* G.E.C. Peerage ( ut ed.), v, 40 8c<).
» Ibid, viii, 16S-70, 222; iv, 236.

'<> y.C.H. Norilunli. i, 323.

■' Ibid, i
'» Chan.

381.
Inq. p.m.

" Ibid. 7 Edw. II, no. 36.
'« Ibid. I Hen. VI, no. 51 j ibid. 33 Hen.
VI, no. 28.
" Ibid. 55 Hen. Ill, no. 36.
'* Feud. Jiidi, ii, 23.
" Assize R. 3 Edw. HI, mm. 44, 167 d.
" Bridges, Kort/ianit. i, 461.
" Feud. AiJi, iv, 37.
'° Chan. Inq. p.m. 33 Hen VI, no. 28.
" Pat. 5 Edw. VI, pt. vii, m. 12.

when they are mentioned in the Survey of Northamp-
ton Town lands as standing on the brook separating
Pitsford from Hrixworth, one being known as Watkins
Mill and the other as Gyhles' Mill,^* but there is no
further trace of them.

According to an Exchequer deposition taken in 1 674,
the customary way of tithing wool in Pitsford was to
lay 10 fleeces together in a row, out of which the owner
took two, the rector afterwards choosing one. If there
were only seven, the rector was to take one in the same
manner and pay the owner ^J. a fleece for the three
wanting. Whatever the size of the fleece, it was to be
reckoned in tithing, and if the odd fleeces were under
seven, they were to be the worst ones, the owner paying
^</. for the tithe of each of them. The customary way of
tithing barley was for the owner first to 'cocke' and
rake his lands and then to give notice to the tithing-man
to take the tithes before the corn was carried. The
lambs were tithed on 3 May.^'

The church ofALL SAINTS stands on
CHURCH the north-west side of the village and con-
sists of chancel, 22 ft. by 16 ft.; nave of
five bays, 53 ft. by 17 ft. 6 in.; north and south aisles,
12 ft. 6 in. wide; south porch, and west tower, 9 ft.
6 in. by 8 ft. 6 in., all these measurements being
internal.

The south doorway is of 1 2th-cenlury date, and some
fragments of the same period are built into the tower
arch and the east end of the north aisle. ^* The tower
belongs to the later part of the 13th century, but the
rest of the building, where not modern, is of 14th-cen-
tury date. In the middle of the 19th century it was said
to be 'a mere decorated shell, having sufl^ered almost
every mutilation, tracery of windows cut out, strings cut
away, doorway blocked, roof lowered, lean-to vestry
against tower, piers between nave and aisles removed
and a flat ceiling thrown over both, west gallery, and
high irregular close pews'.-' In 1 867 the chancel, south
aisle, and porch were rebuilt, new nave arcades erected,
and the whole building re-roofed. The interior was at
the same time remodelled, the pews and gallery being
done away with and new windows inserted in the
north aisle. The new work is in the style of the 14th
century, and is faced with local ironstone. The root of
chancel and nave are covered with Colleyweston slates,
and the aisle roofs are leaded, behind plain parapets.

The only original windows now remaining, other
than those in the tower, are the east and west windows
of the north aisle, the former of three trefoilcd lights
with reticulated tracery, and the latter ogee-headed of
two trefoiled lights with quatrefoil above. This window
has been shortened at the bottom by raising the sill.
An original moulded string course runs round the north
aisle, and there is a pointed north doorway of two con-
tinous chamfered orders with hood-mould.

The chancel, being modern, has no features of
interest, but in the cast wall of the north aisle, at its
south end, is a trefoil-headed piscina recess, the bowl

" Cox, Rtcordt of Borough of Norlkamf>-
55 Hen. Ill, no. 36. Ion, ii, 161.

" y.C.H. Norlhanli. i, 340.

" Ibid, i, 323.

" Feet of F. Northants. 4 John, no. 1 56.

^* Co«, Records of tit Borough of North'
ampton, ii, 161.

" Exch. Uep. Trin. 26 Chjs. II, no. 2.

'* Stone with chevron ornament in tower
arch, abacus, and top of capita), and a carved
stone in north aisle.

" Cht. Archd. A'tcn (1849), 245.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

of which has gone, and in the north wall a moulded
recess at floor level, now emptj-, the hood-mould of
which is cut away.

The 12th-century south doorway has a semicircular
arch of two orders inclosing a sculptured tympanum.
The inner chevron-moulded order is continued to the
ground below the imposts, but the outer order, com-
posed of beak-heads, rests on shafts with sculptured
capitals and moulded bases. The tympanum has al-
ready been described.' The oak door and its iron
hinges are ancient: the ends of the hinges are split and
curved back to form foliations.

The tower has a plain parapet with angle pinnacles
and retains all its architectural features. It has a
moulded plinth and double buttresses of four stages,
with a banded circular shaft running up the contained
angle. Below the bell-chamber story the walls are
blank except on the west, where there is a single trefoil-
headed window. The pointed bell-chamber windows
are of two trefoiled lights, with hood-moulds termi-
nating in heads, and double chamfered jambs. The
windows are placed in the usual position in the middle
of the wall on all four sides, but on the north and south
a second opening of slightly less height, and consisting
of a single cinquefoiled light, occurs farther east.- The
tower arch is of three continuous chamfered orders.
There is no vice.

The lower part of a 15th-century chancel screen,
which seems to have been in position before the rebuild-
ing of the church,^ is now at the west end of the north
aisle, where it makes part of an enclosure forming the
vestry. The moulded uprights have been cut away
30 in. above the lower solid-panelled portion.

The font is of 14th-century date and consists of an
octagonal bowl, with canopied niches, on a panelled
and buttressed stem. On the west side of the bowl is a
projection from the rim forming a ledge, in which are
four small holes, probably intended for the fixing of
a desk."*

There are five bells, the treble by Henry Bagley of
Ecton, 1698, the second by James Keene of Wood-
stock, undated, and the others dated 1632, also by
Keene. 5 They were rehung and tuned in 1893.

The plate consists of a silver cup and paten of i 560, a
paten of 1 63 5 given by Elizabeth and Deborah Stephens
in 1685, a paten and flagon of 1870 given by the Rev.
Granville Sykes Howard-Vyse, rector,* and a bread-
box given in 1919 in memory of Lieut. Nightingale.

The registers begin in i 560. The first volume con-
tains all entries, with certain omissions, until 1723; the

next covers the period 17 14 to 1746 and is followed
by 'volume four', containing entries of baptisms from
1748 to 1 812, marriages 1747 to 1771 and burials
1 7 5 1 to 1 8 1 2 .

The right of presentation to the
ADVOWSON church of Pitsford was appurtenant to
the fees held of the WahuU Barony and
was exercised alternately by the two feudatories, one of
the moieties being granted with the manor to Godescall
de Maghelines in 121 5.'' This part of the advowson
passed through Robert Leicester and Lettice to Robert
de Hauton and his wife Agnes of whom it was pur-
chased in 1354 by Sir Henry Green.*

The other moiety was alienated by the Pitsfords to
the Boughtons of Boughton,' of whom it was probably
acquired by Sir Henry Green with Boughton manor
and advowson in 1340.'° The advowson remained
attached to the manor, although it was leased out during
the 1 7th century," and is at present in the gift of Maj.-
Gen. Sir R. G. H. Howard-Vyse.

The rectory of Pitsford was valued at 8 marks
c. 1 2 54,'^ and at ;^5 \y.\d.\v\. 1291.'^ In 1535 it was
worth ;^i8 10/.''* and in 1544, Thomas Saxby, the
rector and incumbent, compounded for the rectory,
stated to be worth ^17 19^. 5a'.'5

One of the rectors of Pitsford was Robert Skinner,
the second son of Edmund Skinner who was rector
there before him. He succeeded his father at Pitsford
in 1628, but in 1636 was appointed Bishop of Bristol
and rector of Green's Norton. In 1 64 1 he was trans-
lated to the see of Oxford, but imprisoned in the Tower
the same year and deprived of Green's Norton in 1643
for his malignity against the government. At the
Restoration he became one of the King's Commissioners
of Oxford University, and was appointed Bishop of
Worcester in 1663 where he died in 1670.'*

Earl of Strafford's Charity. A yearly
CHARITIES sum of ^{^5 is paid for the use of the poor
by Mr. J. H. Marlow out of lands
formerly belonging to the Earls of Strafford. The
money is distributed by the Parish Council in cash to
about 60 recipients.

Lieut.-Col. John Vesey Nugent by Indenture dated
26 January 1910 gave a sum of £600 Consols tor the
general benefit of the poor, and appointed the rector,
churchwardens, and chairman of the Parish Council to
be the trustees. The Stock is with the Official Trustees
of Charitable Funds, and the dividends are applied in
subscriptions to the Hospital, in the distribution of coal
to the poor, and in grants to the sick.

SPRATTON WITH LITTLE CREATON

Spretone(xi cent.); Sprocton, Sprotton (xiii-xvcent.).

In 1 83 1 the parish of Spratton included the hamlet
of Little Creaton; since 1884 the latter has been amal-
gamated with Great Creaton for civil purposes but it is

still ecclesiastically part of Spratton. The parish has an
area of 2,248 acres, mainly permanent grass. The soil
is clay and marl with a subsoil of stone, and produces
crops of wheat, barley, and oats.

' V.C.H. Northants. ii, 196—7, where it
is figured. The doorway has been restored :
some of the chevrons — four in the arch
and thirteen in the jambs — are new or
re-tooled.

^ Both windows open to the bell-
chamber, which seems at no time to have
been divided.

5 Cks. Archd. N'lon, 24.5.

* That the holes were not intended for
the hinge of the font-cover is proved by the

staple not being opposite the projecting
ledge : the font is figured in Paley's Baptis-
mal Fonts^ 1844, and in Francis Bond's
Fonts and Font Ccvers^ 69. The present
cover is modern.

5 North, Ch. Bells of Nortkants. 383,
where the inscriptions are given.

^ Markham, Ch. Plate of Northants.
240.

' Harl. MS. 6950.

8 Feet of F. Northants. 28 Edw. Ill,

no. 403.

^ Line. Epis. Reg., cited by Baker,
Northants. i, 63.

'° Feet of F. Northants. 13 Edw. Ill,
no. 195 ; De Banco R. 363, m. 53.

" Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).

'2 Cott. MS. Nero D. x, fol. 175 d.

" Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 40.

'* Valor Eccles. (Rec. Com.), iv, 324.

'5 Composition Bk. iii, 20.

'^ Diet. Nat. Biog.

TOO

SPELHOE HUNDRED

The northern part lies fairly high, over 400 ft.; on
the west, south, and east, where small tributaries of the
Nene form the boundary, the land docs not reach
300 ft., rising sharply towards the centre where the
village is situated. The road from Northampton to
Lutterworth enters the parish on the south of Spratton
Bridge at a height of 250 ft. and passing by Spratton
Grange, a fine brick house built about 1848, surrounded
by a park, the property of Mrs. W. H. Foster, rises
by an abrupt incline till it reaches 448 ft. at its junction
with the road from Teeton, which crosses the parish
from west to east, and passes through the village leading
by a descent to Spratton station, on the Market
Harborough Branch of the L.M.S. railway.

The village is large and divided into two portions,
both connected with the main road, in the northern
one of which is Spratton Hall, the seat of Lord Erskine.
The Hall is a plain 18th-century house of three stories,
built of limestone from Kingsthorpe and roofed with
slates. The date 1773 on the rain-water leads probably
indicates the year of its erection. There are later addi-
tions in red brick on the east side.' The church and
vicarage, a thatched two-story building of ironstone,
built in 1704 by the Rev. Royle Bateman, are in the
centre of the village, with a Baptist chapel close by,
built in 1840. There are some stone houses bearing
dates between 161 5 and 1684. There was formerly
behind the old Manor House a square stone pigeon
house, containing 1,600 nesting-places. This, which
was pulled down about 1890,^ was probably the succes-
sor of one of the pigeon houses assigned to the Abbey
of St. James when the vicarage was ordained in 1 309.

Little Creaton lies to the north of Spratton to the
east of the Lutterworth Road and south-east of Great
Creaton. It consists of a few scattered farms and cot-
tages and of Highgate House, the residence of Colonel
Charles Coote, which stands facing the main road at an
altitude of 451 ft.

At the Survey of 1086, the Count of
MANORS Mortain had 3 hides less i virgate in
SPRATTON which were held of him by
William and Durand as separate manors. ■* The over-
lordship passed to Robert Earl of Leicester, and later to
the honor of Winchester, as in Pitsford (q-v.). On
the division of this honor in 1264 between the three
daughters and co-heirs of Roger dc Quincey, Earl of
Winchester, the overlordship became the right of
Margaret, wife of William Ferrers, Earl of Derby,* in
whose family it remained vested until 1445, when it
passed to the Greys, afterwards Marquesses of Dorset,
by the marriage of Elizabeth, the heir of the Ferrers,
with Sir Edward Grey, Lord Ferrers of Groby in right
of his wife.' Their great-grandson Thomas Grey,
Marquess of Dorset, was overlord in I 506,* but twenty
years later the manor was held of Edward Stanley, Earl
of Derby, as of his manor of Brackley, head of the honor
of Winchester in this county. Edward Stanley's great-
grandfather Thomas Lord Stanley, ist Earl of Derby
of this family, had obtained a grant of Brackley and of
the overlordship of those fees which had been assigned

SPR.ATTON WITH
LITTLE CRE.'VrON

in 1264 to Helen, the third daughter and co-heir of
Roger de Quincey, Earl of Winchester, and wife
of Alan la Zouche. These two branches of the honor of
Winchester were completely disconnected, with distinct
and separate histories, and the mistake possibly arose
through some careless error in the inquisition taken in
1526, which was afterwards copied by succeeding
generations and turned to account by the Stanleys; for
the overlordship remained in this family and passed by

Stanley. Ardent a bend
azurf witji three harti"
headi cabctied or thereon.

Egerton. Argent a lion

gulei bet^veen three pheoni

sable.

marriage to the Egertons, Earls and afterwards Dukes
of Bridgwater.^ Bridges writing in 1720 states that
the manor was then in the possession of the Duke of
Bridgwater,* and Baker, a century later, says 'this
Manor is still subject to the Earl of Bridgwater's leet
for the honor and a court is occasionally held in the
court house, now the property of Mr. W. Lantsbery'.'
The manor which was held bv Durand at Domesday
was afterwards known as ARDERNS, CHAMBERS,
or MAXES (Maukes) MANOR after the families con-
nected with it. It passed from Durand to Simon de
Croppeni who in 1205 gave the king 20 marks and a
palfrey in order to retain it,'" and in 1222 recovered
it from the king, who had confiscated it with the lands
of other Normans." Simon apparently alienated his
holding to the Pinkneys of Wccdon Pinkney (q.v.).
In I 234 Henry de Pinkney subinfeudated Eustacia de
Pinkney in his land in Spratton,'- which she carried in
marriage to Thomas de .Ardern, while the Pinkneys
remained intermediary lords, the last mention of them in
Spratton occurring in 1 284.'^ In the same year that she
obtained this fee in Spratton, Eustacia received a grant
of the lands of Hugh de Warewili, a Norman, until the
heirs of Hugh should return to their allegiance,''' and in
1265 Simon son of Hugh de Cropcnie sold certain lands
in Spratton to Eustacia and Thomas de .Ardern ' * her son .
The latter took up arms against Henry III and his lands
were confiscated and granted apparently to his cousin
Thomas de Ardern of Hanwell,'* who held them in
1 284" and was succeeded by his son another Thomas,
who in 1309 recovered half of the manor against John
de Ferrers with damages assessed at ^^4 2 . ' ' Thomas, who
was still holding in 1 316,"' died before 1 324, leaving a
son and heir Thomas, then a minor, in the custody ot
Margaret Bancester.^" Thomas, who was holding the
manor in 1 346,'' was succeeded by a daughter and heir
Joan, who married Sir John Swinford, lord ot Spratton
in 1366.*^ The latter, who survived his wife, died in

' Norlhantt A'. & Q. \ (N.S.), 97,
» Ex inf. Miss G. M. Roberts.
' KC.//. Northanti. i, 328.
« CjI. Inf. p.m. i, pp. 233, 256; Cott.
MS. Nero l3. ii, fol. 194.

* C.E.C. Peerage^ iii, 66, 339—41.
^ Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xx, 1 5.

' C.E.C. Peerage (2nd ed.), ii, 311-16.

* Bridges, Northants. i, 465.

' Baker, Sorthantt. i, 66.

'° Pipe R. Northants. 7 John, m. 21 d.

" Rot. Lit. Claui. (Rcc. Com.), i, 485.

" Feet of F. Northants. 18 Hen. Ill,
no. 339. " Feud. Aids, iv, 15.

'* Excerpta e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), i,
263.

" Feet of F. Northants. 49 Hen. HI,
no. 848.

"■ Geneal. Mag. i, 571 tc<{.

" Feud. Aidi, ii, 15.

'• Assiie R. 1343, m. 29,

" Feud. Aidt,'\v, 23.

"• De Banco R. 253, m. 52.

" Comp. Walt. Paries, cited by Bridges,
Aorthanti. i, 464.

" Harl. iV. Publ. xii, 179-80; Add.
Chart. 21777, -'779-

lOI

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

Chambers. Gules a

che'uercn betiveen three

cinqfoils or.

1 37 1, when the manor passed to their daughter Eliza-
beth," who by 1376 was the wife of William de
Addebury^ and afterwards married Roger Chambers,
to whom she brought the manor. ^ From Roger it
passed to Thomas Cham bers, who
was holding in I428'* and who
was succeeded by William, at
whose death in 1494,^ the manor
was worth ^^30. William was
succeeded by his brother John,
who in 1498 accused Thomas
Parnell, late vicar of Spratton, of
taking 12 hares, 480 rabbits, 6
pheasants, 100 tench, 300 roach,
and 100 bream from his warren
and pond, to the value of ,^20;
but Thomas in his defence alleged
that he took only 2 tench and 6 roach, and that John
had given him permission to fish in his pond and deliver
the fish he took to Sir John Harrington.* At John's
death, without heirs of his body in 1506, the manor
was divided into moieties between Henry Maxe, son
of his elder sister Jane, and Elizabeth his younger sister,
wife of Richard Inguersby.'' The one moiety, known
as Maxe's Manor, passed to Edmund Maxe, of whom
it was purchased by Laurence Manley of Northampton,
mercer. He died in 1557, when the moiety of the
manor was said to be worth £^ per annum and was left
to Francis and Robert, the sons of his eldest son Edward
who was Mayor of Northampton in 1575.* In spite
of their settlement the moiety appears to have been
obtained by Laurence, the eldest son of Edward, who
died holding it in 1601, leaving a son and heir Lau-
rence,' who with his wife Sarah and his son Laurence
and the latter's wife Mary were in possession in 1652,
after which date it probably became merged in the
manor of Downhalls (q.v.), with which it was then
held,"'as there is no subsequent mention of it. The other
moiety belonging in 1 506 to the Inguersbys passed to
Thomas, evidently a son of Richard, who died seised
of the manor called Chambers, jointly with Henry
Maxe, in 1526, when it was inherited by his son
Richard," at whose death in 1 530 his brother George,
then aged 10, came into possession. It remained in this
family for many years, '^ and between 1582 and 161 3
was in the possession of Thomas Inguersby,'^ by whom
it was doubtless sold to Robert Owen of Llanassaph,
Flint, as he by his will''' proved in 1661 left it and all
his estates in Northamptonshire to his wife Frances.
She married as her second husband Mostyn and was
again a widow in 1693, in which year she united with
her daughter Elizabeth, the heir of Robert Owen and
then wife of William Fitzherbert of Swynnerton, Staf-

fordshire, and of Norbury, Derby., to sell the moiety to
Edward Chapman, '^ after which date its history cannot
be traced.

Another manor in Spratton which was held of the
honor of Peverel appears for the first time in the 1 6th
century, in the possession of the Downhall family of
Geddington from whom it had acquired the name of
the MANOR OF DOirNHJLL. In 1 547 it was sold
by Thomas Downhall and Margaret his wife and by
Richard Downhall and Mary his wife to Laurence
Manley,'* the owner of Maxe's moiety, and the patron
of the church, and was said at his death in i 5 57 to be
worth £■} 3/. 4<2'. a year.'^ It was settled on his grand-
children Francis and Robert, who were in possession
of the manor in 161 1,'* and later in the same year,
Francis having died, his son Robert alienated the manor
to Laurence Manley" his cousin. By 1658 it was in the
hands of John Manley, a member of the same family,
who conveyed it that year to Arthur Goodday.^"
William Goodday held it in 1695 and 1706,^' and it
passed with the greater part of the rectory to his grand-
daughter Ann Walker,^^ whose daughter Anne brought
it in marriage to the Beet family,'^ whose representa-
tive Henry Beet with Elizabeth his wife was in posses-
sion in 1826,-'* after which date the manorial rights
appear to have fallen into abeyance.

Another manor in Spratton amounting to i hide was
held of the Countess Judith at Domesday and remained
attached to the BaUiol fee of the honor of Huntingdon.
As under-tenant in 1086 stood Rohais,''^ who was suc-
ceeded in the greater part of her lands by a family who
presumably took their name of Roys from her. Robert
son of Robert, who held § of half a fee here in 1 242,^*
had acquired lands here in 1227 and 1239^' which
passed to his son Roger Roys-* and to his grandson
William, who was living in 1 284-' and at whose death
c. 1308 the custody of his lands and of his son Roger,
then a minor, was granted to Herbert de Borhunte.^"
Roger Roys came of age in 1317^' and in 1330 had
view of frankpledge in his manor. 3- In 1 346 his son
Robert was still lord of this manor,^^ but by 1428 this
estate had been obtained by Thomas Chambers,^* lord
of Ardern's Manor in Spratton into which it became
absorbed.

A small portion of the lands held by Rohais in 1086
was in the possession ofWalterFitzTheobaldin 1242,^5
as \ of half a fee, and came in course of descent to John
FitzTheobald, the owner in 1346,^* but there is no
further mention of this part of the fee.

One virgate and i bovate of land in Spratton were
held in 1086 of Robert de Buci,^' from whom the over-
lordship passed to the Bassets of Weldon.^* The under-
tenant at Domesday was Ralph ; and the estate formed

' Chan. Inq. p.m. 46 Edw. Ill (ist
nos.), no. 57.

2 Feet of F. Div. Co. 50 Edw. Ill, no.
140.

3 De Banco R. Trin. 13 Rich. II, m.
139 d.

* Feud. Aids, iv, 37.

5 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ix, 60.

'' De Banco R. 946, m. 337.

' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xx, 15.

* Ibid, cxii, 127; Chan. Proc. Eliz. G. g.
1 1, no. 43.

^ Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cclxx, 118;
Feet of F. Northants. East. 8 Jas. I.

■o Ibid. Mich. 1652.

" Excheq. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), dcxc, 5.

*^ Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), lii, 69; ibid.
(Ser. 2), Ixiv, 176.

'3 Feet of F. Northants. Mich. 24 & 25
Eliz.; ibid. Mich. 9 Jas. I; ibid. Trin.
II Jas. I; ibid. Mich. 13 Jas. I.

■t P.C.C. 135 Mav.

'5 MS. Bk. penes Mr. B. T. Fitzher-
bert of Swynnerton ; Feet of F. Northants.
Hil. 4 & 5 Will, and M.

"> Ibid. East, i Edw. VI.

" Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cxii, 127.

'* Feet of F. Northants. Trin. 9 Jas. I.

■« Ibid. Mich. 9 Jas. I.

-" Ibid. Trin. 1658; Recov. R. Trin.
1658, m. 132.

2' Ibid. East. 7 Will, and M. m. 166;
Feet of F. Northants. Trin. 5 Anne.

22 Harl. Soc. Puhl. xiv, 663.

" Recov. R. Hil. 33 Geo. Ill, m. 333.

2* Feet of F. Northants. East. 7 Geo. IV.

25 y.C.H. Northants. i, 354.

2' Bk. of Fees, 938.

" Feet of F. Northants. 1 1 Hen. Ill, no.
147; ibid. 24 Hen. Ill, no. 398.

28 Anct. Deeds (P.R.O.), A. 8869, A.
6077.

^'> Feud. Aids, iv, 15.

5" Cat. Pal. 1307-13, p. 52.

3' Chan. Inq. p.m. II Edw. II, no. 53.

32 Plac. de Quo War. (Rec. Com.), 558.

33 Comput. Walter Paries, cited by
Bridges, Northants. i, 464.

^* Feud. Aids, iv, 37.
35 Bi. of Fees, g-iS.
3* Comput. Walter Paries, cited
Bridges, Northants. i, 464.
3' F.C.H. Northants. i, 336.
38 Ibid, i, 381.

102

SPELHOE HUNDRED

part of the J fee in Boughton, Spratton, and Creaton
held in 1242 by Simon le Sauvage and 'his partners'.'
In 1284 Adam Young held the lands from Ralph
Danvers, who held them of the Barony of Weldon,^
but no further records of this estate are known.

The de Cretons bestowed many lands upon the
Abbot and Convent of St. James, Henry de Creton
conferring on them at the beginning of the 13th cen-
tury 2 acres of land in Longfurlong which William
son of Richard de Houghton, his tenant, gave them.^
Their possessions here in 1291 were valued at 6/.^ but
in 1535 had risen to40j.5and after the Dissolution were
granted in 1543 to Henry Cartwright,* who alienated
them to Laurence Manley,' the owner of the rectory
and advowson, with which they were afterwards held.

There was a mill rendering 6s. attached to the
Mortain estate in 1086.* It descended with Durand's
part of the fee,' and on the division of the manor in
1506 the water-mill was also held in moieties'" and is
mentioned for the last time in 1 530 in conjunction with
a horse-mill in the possession of Richard Inguersby."

Another mill mentioned in Domesday was appur-
tenant to the fee held of the honor of Huntingdon, '-but
although there is mention of J mill in this estate in
1227," it appears to have fallen into disuse.

LITTLE CREATON. (Creptone, xi cent.) The
Count of Mortain had ^ hide in Little Creaton in io86
which was held of him by Wil-
liam (de Cahanes),'* his under-
tenant also in Spratton." These
two holdings coalesced to form
one manor called indifferently
Spratton or Little Creaton which,
at the division of the earldom of
Leicester in 1204,'* became a
fee of the honor of Leicester,"
to which it remained attached as
late as 1485 when a moiety of
the manor escheated to the
Crown through attainder and continued to be held
of the sovereign,'' the last mention of the ovcrlordship
occurring in 1622."

William, the Domesday under-tenant, was ancestor
of the Keynes of Dodford (q.v.). Their interest was
only that of intermediary lords, a position which they
ceased to hold in 1485 with respect to the moiety above
mentioned, although the overlordship of the other
moiety remained their prerogative as late as 1720.^"

Holding under William in 1086 was Humphrey,^'
who was succeeded by Herbert, lord of Creaton in the
1 2th century.** The latter may have been related to

rvwwu

VuVuVl

Kevnes. yjir three bars
gules.

SPRATTON With

LITTLE CREATON

Simon de Creton, who was lord of the manor towards
the end of the same century,-^ and was succeeded by
his son Henry.-'' In 1205 Henry gave to William de
Montacute and Emma his wife, in exchange for lands
in Creaton which were her dower as the widow of
William de Creton, I virgate in Spratton for the life
of Emma with reversion to Henr)^^* but as the Mont-
acutes afterwards appear as lords of part of Creaton,
holding under the de Cretons,** they doubtless acquired
this land in fee. Henry's son Simon held Creaton in
i242,-'and was followed by his son Hugh, who in 1278
obtained licence from the .'\bbey of St. James to hear
Mass in the chapel built by his father in his court at
Little Creaton.^' He was succeeded by his son John,
who held this estate in 13 16.*'

The first of the Montacutes who appears as lord
of part of Spratton and Little Creaton under the de
Cretons is Simon son of Simon, who in 1276 was
arraigned for neglecting to pay geld and do suit of
court. ^^ John his son occurs as lord in 1284-" and in
1346 another John Montacute is recorded as joint lord
of Little Creaton and Spratton with John de Creton
above mentioned.^* After this date there is a division
ofthefee, half being held in 1428 by a John de Creton.''
He mortgaged his lands to the .'\bbot of St. James's for
;^i 32 and died without being able to redeem them, for
they were conveyed to trustees in I468''' and sold about
1484 to William Catesby,'' who was attainted and
beheaded the following year, when his lands were
confiscated by the Crown and granted in 1489 to Sir
David Owen.'* After David's death his son John in
1 548 sold the reversion of the manor after the death
of his mother Anne to Thomas Twigden,'^ who died in
I 580 and by his will left one-half of the manor to his
eldest son Edward and the other to his wife Anne with
reversion to Edward,'* but Anne gave up her right in
the premises to Edward for ^^120." The whole manor,
thus acquired by Edward, was settled by him in 1602,
on the marriage of his eldest daughter Elizabeth to
William Knighton, on himself and his wife Anne
for life with reversion to Elizabeth and William.''"
Edward and .Anne dying in 16 14,'" the manor was
inherited by Elizabeth, a widow since 1607, with a
son Thomas.''* Elizabeth married as her second hus-
band Giffbrd Bullock and was again a widow in 165 1
when, her son Thomas probably having died without
issue, a recovery of the manor was suffered in order
to break the entail.'" Elizabeth died shortly afterwards,
and the manor appears to have passed to John Atkins,
who sold it in 1665 toTheophilus Hart.'''' The manor
reappears in 17 1 3 when Thomas Parkyns and Dorothy

' Bk. of Fees, 934.

» Feud. Aids, iv, 15. Cf. Boughton,
above, p. 79.

1 Cott. MSS. Tib. E. V, fol. 68.

♦ Pope Nick. Tax. (Rcc. Com.), 55.
' yalcr Eccles. (Rtc. Com.), iv, 319.

* Pat. 35 Hen. VIII, pt. iii, m. 6.
' Ibid. pt. xviii, m. 4.3.

• y.C.H. Nortkanls. i, 318.

« F«t of F. Northanu. 49 Hen. Ill,
no. 848.

'<■ Chan. Inq. p.m. (Scr. 2), xx, 15.

" Ibid. Iii, 69.

" y.C.H. Sortkants. i, 354.

" Feet of F. Northants. II Hen. Ill,
no. 147.

'♦ y.C.H. Nortkanls. i, 325.

'» Ibid, i, 328.

'* G.E.C. Peerage, viii, 169,

" Feud. Aids, 13, 15.

'« Pat. 4Hen. VII, pt. i, m. 31.

"> Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxixvii,

35-

'» Bridges, Northanls. i, 465.

" y.C.H. Norlkants. i, 325.

'^ Ibid, i, 379.

" Cott. MSS. Tib. E. v, fol. 71 d.

» Ibid. fol. 70.

" Feet of F. Northants. 6 John, no.
183; Pipe R. Northants. 6 John, m. 11 d.

" Feud. Aids, iv, 15.

" Cott. MS. Tib. E. v, fol. 70; Bk. of
Fees, 939.

" Cott. MS. Tib. E. v, fol. 69 d.

2' Feud. Aids, iv, 24.

>" Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), ii, 1 3.

" Feud. Aids, iv, 15.

" Bridge), Northants. i, 564.

» Feud. Aids, iv, 36.

»♦ Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A. 8472.

» Ibid. A. 8345.

" Pat. 4 Hen. VII, pt. i, m. 31.

" Feet of F. Northants. Hil. i & 2
Edw. VI.

" P.C.C. 37 Arundell.

" Chan. Proc. Elii. T. 2, no. 53. Anne's
son Ralph persuaded her to malce a deed
of gift to him of ail her goods and con-
verted them to his own use.

*» Com. Picas. Recov. R. HiL 43 Elii.
m. 2.

♦' M.I. in Spratton Church.

*' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxxxvii,
35. William Knighton also held lands in
Little Creaton of Cornelius Wesley as of his
manor of Dodford.

'•» Com. Pleas. Recov. R. Trin. 1651,
m. 13 d.

" Ibid. I7Cha5. II, m. i.

103

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

his wife conveyed it to Thomas Hanbury.' There is

no further mention of it until 1763, when Mary Hind-
man, widow, and Josiah Hindman were in possession;^
they alienated it two years later to Francis Beynon,^
patron of the church, from whom it passed to his
grandson Francis Beynon Hackett, holding it in 18 16.''
Baker, writing in 1820, calls it 'a considerable estate'^
and makes no mention of the manor, of which there is
no further trace.

The other half fee by 1428 was divided equally
between Agnes Compworth, the heir of John Wattes,
and John Tybesore* but was probably afterwards
acquired in its entirety by William Gosage whose

12™ Cent. (0.1120
TRAXS.C.I200

E3I4IH Cent.
#.VW^ amr^^^mr^^^, KC2\5m Century

Sc.\LE OF Feet

Plan of Spratton Church

daughter carried it in marriage to William Cope, who
held it in 1488 ; it was then worth £8 a year.' It passed
to John Cope, whose widow Anne, in 1 5 10, left the
manor to trustees to provide a portion for Anne,
daughter and heir of Edward Cope, her son, on her
marriage with William Lovett or any other son of
Thomas Lovett.* On Anne's death in I 5 1 3 the manor
became the right of her grand-daughter Anne Lovett'
but was sold soon after in accordance with the terms
of the will; for in i 571 these lands were in the posses-
sion of the families of Sprigg, Miller a/ias Brown, and
Chapman:'" the two latter were still freeholders there
in 1820," but all manorial rights have long since fallen
into abeyance.

One virgate of land in Creaton was held in 1086 by
Robert of Robert de Buci,'^ and was amalgamated with
the land held of Robert de Buci in Boughton and
Spratton.'^

The church of ST. JNDREfF stands on high
ground in the centre of the village and consists of

chancel, 29 ft. by 15 ft., with north chapel its full

length 14 ft. wide, clerestoried nave of four bays,

47 ft. 10 in. by 17 ft., with north and

CHURCH south aisles, 12 ft. wide, north porch and

embattled west tower, 9 ft. 3 in. square,

all these measurements being internal. The tower is

surmounted by a spire, and is a prominent landmark.

The building is faced throughout with wrought

ironstone''* in irregular courses, and except the tower

has plain parapets and low-pitched leaded roofs.

The earliest church was erected about 1 1 20 and had
an aisleless nave covering the same area as at present,
the west wall and south-east angle of which remain.
The western angles of this
early nave stand free about
3 ft. north and south of the
^ tower, but less of the south-
east angle is now visible.
A rounded moulding with
double quirk, which ran
round the nave at a height of
about 6 ft., still remains at
the west end and at the south-
east angle, and the original
south doorway has been
moved outward to its pre-
sent position. About 1 195
the lower part of the tower
was built, "a doorway being
made into it from the nave,
and a north aisle added.
The upper stages of the
tower are rather later in date,
showing a well-developed
lancet style, but with inter-
vals the work may have ex-
tended continuously down
to about 1215-20. In the
14th century a new chancel
was built round the former one, which was then
pulled down, a south aisle added, and the north aisle
remodelled. A clerestory was also added at the same
time. In the next century several Perpendicular win-
dows were inserted. The spire and parapet of the
tower are also of 1 5th-century date. The chantry
chapel north of the chancel was erected about 1505 by
John Chamber. The interior of the church was restored
in 1847 by Sir Gilbert Scott, and the north porch
rebuilt.'* The spire was taken down nearly to the base
in 1870 and rebuilt.

The chancel has an east window of three lights with
modern Perpendicular tracery, and in the south wall
are a 14th-century priest's doorway and two Perpen-
dicular two-light windows the jambs of which, however,
appear to belong to former 14th-century openings.
Below the westernmost of these is a small rectangular
low-side window, now blocked, widely splayed inside,
the sill of which forms a seat." The 14th-century
piscina has been restored ; the single sedile is within a

□Modern (I847)

' Feet of F. Northant?. Mich. 1 2 Anne.

^ Ibid. Hil. 3 Geo. Ill; Recov. R. Hil.
3 Geo. Ill, m. 41 1.

3 Feet of F. Northants. Mich. 6 Geo.
III.

■* Berry, Surrey Genealogies \ Recov. R.
Hil. 56 Geo. Ill, m. 328.

5 Baker, Northants. i, 68.

* Feud. Aids, iv, 36.

' Knightley Evidences, cited by Baker,

Northants, i, 66.

^ Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxviii, 38.

' Ibid. ■" Baker, loc. cit.

" Ibid.

'- V.C.H. Northants. i, 336.

" Bk. of Fees, 934. See above, pp. 79,
103.

■* Mostly from Harleston quarries:
Chs. Archd. N'ton (1849), 244.

^5 The tower is built against the old west

wall without bond.

'* The line of the roof of the old north
porch may stilt be seen. Bridges mentions
north and south porches at the beginning
of the iSth century {Hist, of Northants. i,

465)-

" Assoc. Arch. Soc. Reports, xxix, 444.
The height of the sill above the ground
outside is 3 ft. The window is of 14th-
century date.

104

Spration Church, from the North-Kast

Spratton Chi'rcm: The Tomb of Sir John Swinford

SPELHOE HUNDRED

flat-arched moulded recess. The first 7 ft. of the north
wall from the east are blank, beyond which the chancel
is open to the chapel (now used as an organ-chamber
and vestry) by an early- 16th-century arcade of two
pointed arches with octagonal pillar and corresponding
responds. The 14th-century chancel arch is of two
chamfered orders, the inner on half octagonal responds
with moulded capitals. The chancel roof is modern'
and the walls, as elsewhere internally, are plastered.

The late-l2th-century north nave arcade consists of
four semicircular arches of two orders, the outer
square and the inner chamfered, springing from circular
pillars with carved capitals, square moulded abaci, and
circular moulded bases: the responds are of similar
type. Nail-head ornament occurs in the angle foliage
of the capital of the west respond, but not elsewhere.
The pillars of the 14th-century south arcade are also
circular, with circular moulded capitals and bases, and
support pointed arches of two chamfered orders. The
old south doorway, moved outward when the aisle was
erected, has a semicircular arch of two orders, the outer
with chevron ornament resting on angle shafts with
cushion capitals and moulded bases, and the inner with
a round moulding carried down the jambs below the
capitals.- The later north doorway is of Transitional
Norman character with semicircular arch of two square
orders and label on moulded imposts, with outer angle
shafts, and inner chamfered jambs. The shafts have
moulded bases and capitals with early foliage.

The south aisle has diagonal angle buttresses of two
stages and a 14th-century moulded string all round at
sill level. The west window and two in the south wall
are of two trefoiled lights with quatrefoil in the head,
one being modern and another much restored. The
I jth-century easternmost window in the south wall is
of three cinquefoiled lights with four-centred head:
when it was inserted the east wall was either rebuilt or
much altered, a reredos for the aisle altar in the form
of an arched recess with crocketed head and flanking
pinnacles being substituted for the formerly existing
window. Two moulded corbels, one on each side of
the reredos are of I4th<cntury date, as is the piscina
in the south wall. Farther west are two moulded wall
recesses of the same period, the arches of which spring
from short shafts with moulded capitals and bases and
are enriched with ball-flower.

The north aisle is without buttresses and does not
appear to have been rebuilt, but the three two-light
windows in its north wall are 14th-century insertions,
while that at the west end is a four-centred Perpendi-
cular opening of three cinquefoiled lights. In the north
wall is a restored 14th-century recess, and at the east
end in the usual position a piscina serving the north
aisle altar.

There are four clerestory windows on each side, but
three on the south and two on the north are T5th-cen-
tury insertions' in the 14th-century wall, and break the
moulding of the parapet: they are four-centred and of
two lights. The three remaining openings arc square-
headed in the 14th-century style, but date only from
1847. The I 5th-century nave roof is of five bays, with

SPR.^TTON WITH
LI'lTLE CRE.\TON

plain oak principals on stone corbels. The roof of the
north aisle, which is a continuation of that of the
chantry chapel, has been restored. The chapel has a
wide four-light east window with plain Perpendicular
tracery, and two plain four-centred windows of three
lights on the north side.

The tower is of three main stages, the lower part on
the north and south being blank, but on the west
is again divided by strings, making five stages in
all on that side. The semicircular west doorway is
decorated with chevron ornament and grotesque heads
in the label and above it is an arcade of three round
arches, over which an arcade of pointed arches is
taken round the tower, five on each side. In the bell-
chamber stage the two middle openings in an arcade of
four pointed arches are pierced and recessed within
a semicircular containing arch, but the arcade is not
continued to the angles, which form fiat clasping
buttresses. Nearly all the shafts of the lower pointed
arcade, as well as the bell-chamber windows, arc new,
but though much restored in places the upper part of
the tower is still a very interesting example of early-
ijth-century work. The battlemcntcd parapet with
cross oeillets is built above the original corbel table of
heads, and the spire has ribbed angles and a single set
of lights on its cardinal faces. The semicircular arch
to the tower from the nave is of a single square order,
the shafted jambs having scalloped capitals and moulded
bases: above it is a tall round-headed window originally
above the nave roof, but now blocked. There is no vice.
The floor of the tower is two steps above that of the nave.

The 13th-century font has an octagonal bowl with
round-headed trefoil arcading on a plain pedestal and
chamfered plinth.

The pulpit and chancel screen are modern.

Below the westernmost arch north of the chancel is
a panelled table tomb with the alabaster effigy of Sir
John Swinford (d. 1 371) already described,'' enclosed
by a contemporary iron grille, and under the eastern
arch a later tomb with panelled sides containing blank
shields within quatrefoils, upon which was formerly a
wooden effigy. In the floor of the chapel, now in part
covered by the organ, is a slab with the brass figures
of Robert Parnell (d. 1464) and Joan his wife, with
their children below. ^ There is also a brass plate on the
floor of the chapel to Edward Twigden (d. 1614) and
Ann his wife,* but no other monuments older than the
1 8th century remain.

There are five bells in the tower, cast in 168; by
Henry and Matthew Baglcy of Chacombe.' The frame
was repaired in 1 886, in which year a clock was erected.
In 1930 the oak frame was replaced by one of steel;
two of the bells were recast and three were quarter-
turned and retuned.

The plate consists of two cups of 1790, a paten of
1839, a flagon of 1868, and a silver-plated alms basin.
There are also a pewter flagon and a pewter plate.*

The registers before 1 8 1 2 are as follows: (i) baptisms,
marriages, and burials i 538-1652; (ii) baptisms and
burials 1737-1801; (iii) baptisms and burials (1802-
I 2 ; (iv) marriages 1754-85; (v) marriages 1 786-1 8 13.

■ The tabling of a former high-pitched
roof remains on the east gable of the nave.

' The inner order has a moulded capital
on the east and a carved capital on the west
•ide.

' There is also a blocked 1 5th-century
window over the chancel arch.

* y.C.II. Korihanli. i, 407. A more

detailed description is given in Hartshorn's
Recumbent Ahni. Effigies of Norlhatitt.
(1876), 33-4. The tomb was elaborately
painted and gilt, but the tinctures of the
shields are now nearly obliterated.

> Described and Agurcd in Hudson's
Braises cf N^rtkants. (1853). The head
and shoulders of the man arc gone : he is

in civilian coftume with rosary. The
woman wears a veiled head-dress.

'' She died in the same year, leaving
three daughters.

' North, Ch. Bells of Norlhanls. 399,
where the inscriptions arc given. In 1552
there were three bells and a sanclus bell.

• Markham, Ch. Pljtt of Norlhanls. 160.

105

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

On the south side of the church is a churchyard cross
consisting of a tall and slender octagonal shaft set in a
square socket on two plain steps. The shaft slightly
tapers and at the top is a tenon which originally fitted
the head or cross arms.'

The church of Spratton, with i acre of land called
Overebrech, was bestowed on St. James's .'\bbey,

Spratton Church: The West Doorway

Northampton, by Simon de Creton between i i8o and
1205,^ and these gifts were confirmed by his grandson

Simon in 1235,^ and by the latter's
J DFOfFSON grandson John in 1311.-' In 1266

Richard Gravesend, Bishop of Lincoln,
enabled the abbey to appropriate the church in view
of the great claims on the hospitality of the monks.'
In 1270, after the institution of Giles le Rous, Arch-
deacon of Northampton, to the church of Spratton,*
certain tithes and lands were allotted to the abbey,

among them being meadows called Bromhillwell and
Pyndersmead.' About this date Simon son of Simon
de Montacute, lord of Little Creaton manor, claimed
the advowson of Spratton Church but was bought off"
by the abbot, Adam Kelmersh, for 20 marks.'* The
rectory and vicarage were valued at ;^io 13/. 4/ and
^4 13/. 4</. respectively in 1291,' and in 1309 the
ordination of the vicarage was
confirmed in great detail by the
Bishop of Lincoln. ■" In 1312
Edward II tried to dispossess
the abbey of the advowson on
the ground that the church
had been appropriated without
licence, but the abbot proved
that the advowson was appen-
dant to the honor of Leicester
and showed a legal appropria-
tion in the reign of Henry
III," and he therefore obtained
a confirmation of Edward II in
1316."^ In 1535 the vicarage
was rated at ;^i 5 and the rectory
was leased out for a rent of
^14,'^ of which a pension of
1 3^. 4<j'. paid to Lincoln Church
was deducted.''* After the dis-
solution of the abbey in 1538"
the rectory and advowson
were bestowed upon Anthony
Stringer in 1543,'* who in the
same year obtained licence to
alienate them to Laurence Man-
ley of Northampton." The
latter soon afterwards obtained
one moiety of Maxe's Manor
and also Downhall Manor,
which with the rectory and ad-
vowson remained in the Manley
family for over 100 years, but
during the last quarter of the
17th century the Manleys
parted with all their possessions
in Spratton, the rectory and
advowson being sold separate-
ly. Between 1673 and 1684
Michael Bateman purchased
the advowson from Lawrence
Manley junior and Mary his
wife and John Manley, clerk,'*
and presented his son Royle Bateman to the church." The
patronage descended to Royle, who died in 1733 leav-
ing two daughters and co-heirs, Anne the wife of Giles
Watson and Elizabeth the wife of Benjamin Okell.-"
As .A.nne died childless in 1762, the advowson vested
entirely in her sister, and the latter's only child Eliza-
beth, who married Francis Beynon.^' By his will dated
1774 Francis Beynon left the advowson of Spratton to
his only surviving child Elizabeth Anne, the wife of
Andrew Hackett of Moxhull, Warwickshire, with

' Markham, Crosses of NortAi2nts. 106.
The total height is 12 ft. 3 in., the shaft
alone 9 ft. 1 1 in. The cross is probably of
14th-century date.

2 Cott. MS. Tib. E. V, fols. 68 d, 71 d.

3 Ibid. fol. 70; Feet of F. Northants.
19 Hen. Ill, no. 34.2.

■< Cott. MS. Tib. E. V, fol. 68 d.
5 Ibid. fols. 70 d, 71 d.

'' Harl. MS. 6950.

' Cott. MS. Tib. E. V, fol. 70 d.

* Ibid. fol. 70.

« Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 40.

>» Cott. MS. Tib. E. V, fol. 71.

■" De Banco R. 190, m. 6; Cott. MS.

Tib. E. V, fol. 71 d, 72.

'^ Cal. Pat. 1313-17, p. 524.

^3 Valor Eccles. (Rec. Com.), iv, 323.

106

'•* Ibid, iv, 319.

■5 L. & P. Hen. Fill, xiii (2), 183.

"> Pat. 35 Hen. VIII, pt. vii, m. 28.

" Ibid. pt. ii, m. 18.

'8 Recov. R. Trin. 25 Chas. II, m. 12.

■9 Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).

2° The mural monuments in Spratton
church.

^' Berry, Surrey Genealogies^ ii.

SPELHOE HUNDRED

WESTON FAVELL

reversion to her son Andrew Hackett junior and his
children. Francis Beynon died shortly after, in 1778,
and the advowson was inherited by Elizabeth Anne
Hackett,' and passed to her second but eldest surviving
son, Francis Beynon Hackett, who was patron in 1 8 16.-
Before 1820 the patronage of the church was pur-
chased of F. B. Hackett by John Bartlett of Bucking-
ham,^ in whom it was still vested in 1874,'' but it was
resold between that date and 1903 when Mr. H.
Roberts of London owned the presentation and by
1906 it was in the possession of the Rev. Humphrey
Gordon Roberts Hays-Boyd of Towend, Symington,
who in 1925 transferred it to the Bishop of Peter-
borough.

After 1673 the rectory was severed from the advow-
son and was sold in portions, half apparently being
bought from the Manleys by .Arthur Goodday,' as in
1695 it belonged to William Goodday, probably his
son.* Another quarter was vested in Laurence Hadden,
Elizabeth his wife and others in 1690,' but was after-
wards purchased by William Goodday who with Mary
his wife, held | of the rectory in 1 706.* On William's
death in 1 7 1 5 his right to the rectory was inherited
by John his son who died in 1755,' leaving two daugh-
ters and co-heirs, Millicent the wife of the Rev. Thomas
Hide and .\nne the wife of John Walker, who at the

inclosure of part of the parish

765 were each

certified to hold ^ of the great tithes, the remaining |
or J being the property of Francis Beynon, patron of
the vicarage.'" Millicent Hide seems to have died with-
out issue, for her share passed to her sister's daughters
Anne the wife of Thomas Beet, of Great Houghton,
and Rebecca, who held the lands in 1793" and by 1820
they were vested in the representatives of the late
Thomas Beet and of the Rev. George Beetof Harpole.'-
The other lands allotted to Francis Beynon descended
with the advowson to Francis Beynon Hackett who
held them in 1820.'^

By his will dated 1505 John Chambers left a mes-
suage called the Bedehouse and other property in
Spratton and Holdenby to found a chantry in the
chapel on the north side of the chancel lately rebuilt

by him; prayers were to be offered up for the souls of
his brother William, his wife Elizabeth, his parents,
and of himself '* In 15 34 and 1545 the lands belonging
to it were worth £^,'^ and at its dissolution in 1548
£^ \2s. a year, paid to the priest as salary.'* Silvester
Tavcrner of London and Joseph Hinde obtained the
property, " and they doubtless sold it afterwards in small
portions.

The Tov\'n and Charity Estate. It
CHARITIES appears by a decree of the Commis-
sioners for Charitable Uses issued in the
i6th year of King Charles II that one John Pearson
bequeathed j^io for the poor, that a cottage and 3 a.
I r. of land had been given for the reparation of the
church, that the rents of certain other lands had been
applied for the reparation of the highways and bridges,
and that several sums of money had been given for the
relief of the poor. In a deed dated 7 December 1694
it is stated that [,^0 had been bequeathed by one
Arthur Goodday towards binding poor children
apprentices. The sums of money mentioned were laid
out in the purchase of land, and the property now con-
sists of 29 a. or. 25J p. let in allotments. A house
and garden acquired at the same time have since been
sold and the proceeds invested, the whole producing
about £75.

An Order of the Charity Commissioners dated 28
September 1909 directed that three-quarters of the net
income should form the endowment of the Town
Charity and the remaining quarter the endowment of
the Church Charity. The Town Charity is adminis-
tered by a body of trustees and the Church Charity
by the vicar and churchwardens and additional trustees.

Thomas Hill by his will proved in P.R. 16 August
192 1 gave ;^ioo, the income to be applied by the
vicar and churchwardens in the purchase of coal for the
poor, the charity to be called 'Thomas and Sarah Hill's
Charity'. The money was invested and produces about
L^ yearly.

The vicar of Spratton receives annually ^^30 from
the trustees of Sir Edward Nicoll's Charit)', which is
described under the parish of Kettering.

WESTON FAVELL

Westone (xi cent.); Weston Fauvelle (xiii cent.).

Weston Favcll is a large parish, covering an area of
nearly 2,000 acres and, since 1900, including part
of the parish of Abington. Owing to the expansion of
Northampton the population of the ecclesiastical parish
had risen to 1,094 in 193 1. Much of the land consists
of permanent pasture, but cereals and beans are grown.
The lower part of the parish, which lies by the River
Nene, the southern boundary, is covered with trees
which border the lane ascending from the Billing Road
to the village, but the northern part, which lies much
higher up, is more open in character although broken
by one or two spinnics. The north of the parish is crossed
by the main road from Northampton to Kettering, while
the Wellingborough road, off which lies the village,
divides the upper and lower parts. Two roads lead off

' Priv. Act II Cfo. Ill, cap. 25.

' Rccov. R. nil. 56 Geo. Ill, m. 328;
Close R. 58 Geo. Ill, pi. 33, m. 1 1.

^ Baker, Norihunii. i, 68.

* Whellan, l^orikanti. 1 874.

» Feet of Fine», Nortbints. Trin. 28
Cbis. II.

» Rccov. R. East. 7 Will. Ill, m. 166.

' Feet of Fines, Northants. East.
7 Will. III. « Ibid. Trin. 5 Anne.

» Uarl Soc. Puhl. liv, 663.

'° Pnv. Act 5 Geo. Ill, cap. 43.

" Recov. R. Mil. 33 Geo. Ill, m. 333.

" Baker, Sorihanti. i, 65, 68.

the highway to the centre of the village where stands
the church, one of them forming the main street of the
village, with a public house and Methodist chapel, while
the other skirts the high stone wall which inclosed the
grounds of where the Ekins's mansion formerly stood,
and passes by the small cemetery and picturesque group
of thatched cottages with stone muUioned windows
opposite the church. There are several good stone
houses clustered round the church, while the rectory,
a red-brick house built by the Rev. James Hervey just
before his death in 1758, stands slightly to the south.
To the north of the parish, just off the Kettering
road, lies Weston Favell House, a stone house built by
Mr. James Manficld in 1900, with a small park. The
ground reaches here an altitude of 400 ft., and a fine
view is obtained over the sloping fields of the Nenc
" Ibid.

'* Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. l), xx, 15.

" i'alor Ecclei. (Rec. Com.), iv, 323;
Composition Books, iii, 53.

"* Chant. Cert., Nortlunts. 36, no. 13;
ibid. 35, no. <.

" Pat. R. : Edw. VI, pt. iii, m. 21.

107

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

Valley and of the rising land beyond. From 400 ft. the
ground declines to 300 near the Weston Favell Con-
valescent Home, and from this point there is a gradual
descent to the River Nene on which the mill, formerly
belonging to the Ekins, is placed, the land there not
rising above 200 ft.

In the upper part of the parish is a field formerly
known as Spelhoe, from which the hundred took its
name, but now called Stocking.

John Cole, bookseller and antiquary, was born at
Weston Favell in I792,and, afterlivingat Lincoln, Hull,
and Scarborough, opened a shop in the Market Square,
Northampton, about 1830, and after many vicissitudes
of fortune died in 1848.'

In 1086 the overlordship of WESTON
MANORS {FAVELL) was vested in the Count of
Mortain- and passed with that of Over-
stone (q.v.) through the families of MundeviUe and
d'Avranches into the possession of the Crevecoeurs,
Robert being overlord in 1284.^ After this date the
overlordship may have been acquired by John de
Bois who was holding under Robert Crevecoeur in
1 284* and whose representative William la Zouche'was
overlord in 1336.* The Zouches possibly alienated to
the Abbots of Pipewell who appear as the overlords
from 1483 until 1509.^ John de Bois had inherited as
younger, but eldest surviving, son of Ernald de Bois^
who held | of a small fee of Mortain in Weston in
1242." This estate had been returned in 1236 as of the
fee of Nicholas de Haversham.'" This Nicholas was
succeeded by a son Nicholas," whose heir was inter-
mediary between John de Bois and the actual lord of
the manor, John Favell, in 1 284.'^ The heir in question
was his daughter Maud, who married Sir James de la
Plaunche, and their son Sir William de la Plaunche held
Weston under Sir William la Zouche in 1336.'^ As
late as 1 570 the manor was said to be held of 'the heir
of Nicholas de HavershamV but this was probably an
empty formula.

The land of the Count of Mortain was divided into
two portions at the Domesday Survey, one of which,
consisting of 3 hides, was held of him by Walter, '5 and
the other 25 hides in extent was held by the Count
himself.'^ These two portions probably coalesced to form
the 4 hides held by Richard de Weston in the 12 th
century," but did not long remain intact as on the
death of Richard the estate was divided between
Ralph GrifBn of Gumley, Leicestershire, the husband
of Richard's sister Alice,'* and John Favell of Walcot
who probably married another sister and co-heir and
from whom Weston derived its additional name of
Favell. The moiety held by John Favell, known as
WESTON FAVELL MANOR, was confiscated by
King John on account of liis adherence to the Barons,"

but was restored by Henry III in 1216^° and remained
in the Favell family, whose pedigree has been traced
under Walcot in Barnack,-' until on the death of Sir
William Favell without heirs, c. 1 3 16, it passed into the

Favell. Or a bend gules

and a border sable be-

vanty.

Griffin. Sable a griffin

argent ivith beak and

forelegs or.

Griffin family by the marriage of Elizabeth his sister
with Sir John Griffin,-^ the great-grandson of Ralph
above-mentioned, and lord of the other moiety of
Weston. The manor, thus reunited, remained vested
in the Griffin family for many generations,^^ but by the
marriage of Thomas, Sir John's grandson, with Eliza-
beth the daughter and ultimate heir of Sir Warine
Latimer, the Grifiins acquired the manor of Bray-
brook,^'' which then became the seat of the family. By
a settlement made in 1528 when Sir Thomas Griffin
was lord of the manor, Weston was to pass after his
death to his son and heir Richard. -' Richard, however,
died during his father's lifetime leaving an only child
Mary, the wife of Thomas Markham of Ollerton,
Notts.,-* and a fresh settlement was made in i 561^^ by
which Mary and Thomas Markham released all their
right in the manor to Sir Thomas Griffin: the latter
died in 1566, when Weston passed to his son Thomas
of unsound mind,** for whom it was held in trust by
the executors of Sir Thomas's will, of whom Edward
Griffin was one, and a fresh arrangement was made the
following year by which the reversion of the manor was
settled in Mary and Thomas Markham.-' Thomas
Griffin, the idiot, dying without issue, Weston Favell
passed to Mary while Braybrook was inherited by
Edward.-'" Thus the connexion between the two manors
was severed, and Weston was apparently settled on Sir
Griffin Markham, son of Mary, but was confiscated
by James I in 1603 on the attainder of Sir Griffin for
implication in the Bye plot,'' and although Sir Griffin
was remanded his estates were not restored and Weston
was bestowed on Sir John Harrington in 1604.'- Mary
Markham, however, appears to have obtained a restitu-
tion of the manor for in 1608 she alienated it to Henry
TravelP^ by whom it was sold in 16 16 to Alexander
Ekins.'* The latter was succeeded by his son and

' Diet. Nat. Biog.

2 y.C.H. Northants. i, 328.

3 Feud. Aids, iv, 16.

* Ibid.; Bk. of Fees, 936.

5 Dugdale, Baronage, i, 690; Wrottes-
ley, Feds, from Plea Rolls, 166.

^ Chan. Inq. p.m. 10 Edw. Ill (ist
nos.), no. 59.

' Ibid. 22 Edw. IV, no. 52; ibid. (Ser.
2), V, 106; ibid. (Ser. 2), xxiv, 37.

* Assize R. 6 1 9, m. 1 3 d.
' Bk. of Fees, 936.

'" Ibid. 498, 501.

>■ r.C.H. Bucks, iv, 368.

^^ Feud. Aids, iv, 16.

*^ Cal. Inq. p.m. vii, no. 709.

^^ Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cliii, 61.

'5 F.C.H. Northants. i, 328.

■^ Ibid. 321. " Ibid. 381.

^^ Sloane Chart, xxxii, 17.

'» Rot. Litt. Claus. (Rec. Com.), (,261.

" Ibid. 331.

21 V.C.H. Northants. ii, 466-7.

^- Feud. Aids, iv, 23; Bal(er, Northants,

'. 72-3-

^' Feud. Aids, iv, 37; Chan. Inq. p.m.
23 Hen. VI, no. 19; ibid. 25 Hen. VI,
no. 40.

^■* Metcalfe, Visitations of Northants. 23 ;
G.E.C. Peerage (ist ed.), v, 21 n.

^5 Feet of F. Northants. Mich. 20 Hen.
VIII.

2^ Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cxlv, 51.

" Feet of F. Northants. Hil. 4 EUz.;
Baker, Northants. \, 526.

28 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cxlv, 51.

2« Feet of F. Northants. Trin. 9 Eliz.;
Biv. of Deeds belonging to Ishams of
Lamport.

30 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cliii, 61;
G.E.C. Peerage (ist ed.), v, 21 n.

» Diet. Nat. Biog.

32 Pat. 2 Jas. I, pt. ii.

33 Baker, Northants. i, 72; Feet of F.
Northants. East. 5 Jas. I.

" Ibid. Trin. 14 Jas. I.

108

Weston Favell Chirch: The Tower, from the Xortm-West

Weston 1-'avell Chlrch: Xtinu :\vcirk Paniil

SPELHOE HUNDRED

WESTON FAVELL

grandson, both of the name of Alexander,' the second
of whom acquired Tyringham's Manor in Weston
Favell by his marriage with Rebecca one of the daugh-
ters and co-heirs of Martin Hervey.^ In 166+ he
petitioned the King for a letter to the mayor and alder-
men of Northampton, to elect him to the stewardship
of the corporation, alleging that he lost most of his
estates during the war for adherence to the sovereign,^
and in 1666 he was appointed deputy to James Earl
of Northampton, Master of his Majesty's Leash, with
authority to take as many greyhounds within 10 miles
of Weston Favell as he should think fit.* Alexander
died in 1676,' leaving Weston to his son Her^'ey Ekins,
Sheriff of Northamptonshire in 1681, upon whose
death in 1730 the manors were inherited by Rebecca,
his only surviving child, wife of Justinian Ekins, her
cousin.* As Rebecca died without issue, Justinian
settled the estate on his nephews Hervey Ekins, Jus-
tinian, William, and Robert Kerr>' respectively in tail
male' but all dying without issue within a few years of
one another,* the manors reverted to Elizabeth Ellen,
the widow of Hervey Ekins, nephew of Justinian, who
demised them to trustees to be sold for the benefit of the
representatives of her husband's sisters.' In accordance
with the terms of her will, Weston was sold in 1 8 14 for
^23,970, the two principal farms being purchased by
Edward Bouverie of Delapre Abbey'" from whom they
have descended to Miss Bouverie, now of Harding-
stone," while the manors were acquired by Thomas
Butcher, solicitor, of Northampton. After this date
the manorial rights appear to have lapsed; for, although
in 1874 Mr. H. B. Whitworth is described as lord of
the manor,'^ there is no trace of them at the present
day.

One hide in Weston in 1086 was appendant to the
manor of Torp (Kingsthorf>e), part of the ancient
demesne of the Crown,'-' and was so held in the 12th
centur)'.'* It was probably comprised in the estate held
by Alan de Stokes who died in 1393 seised of 5 mes-
suages, I J carucate of land in Weston Favell held of the
King in chief, and for 8/ yearly
paid to Kingsthorpe Manor.
Alan left two nieces as his heirs,
Maud wife of William Smith
and Agnes wife of Thomas
Knight,'' but there is no fur-
ther mentioh of this estate. It
is possible that it reappears in
TrR/NGHJM'S MANOR.
John Tyringham of London
and Northampton, lord of the
manor of Tyringham, Bucks.,'*
in his will, dated 1 2 July
1484, mentions his nephew Thomas Tyringham
of Weston and his daughters, of whom Elizabeth is
named;" but this manor is first mentioned by this

Tyringham. Axure a
satrire engrailed argent.

name in i 509 as a moiety held by Richard Higham
and .Anne his wife who in that year alienated it to
Thomas Edon.'' This Anne was apparently one of the
daughters and co-heirs of Sir William Chamberlain,
who had held the manor; her sister Mary had married
John Higham." A moiety was in the possession of
Richard Edon in 1 523.^° Thomas Edon with Griselda
his wife held, apparently, the whole manor in 1 5 37,-' and
conveyeditin i 546 to John Davenport.-^ Thelatterwith
Anne his wife in 1555 sold their right in the manor to
Edmund Tyringham of Stanton Wj-\-ille, Leicester-
shire,-^ probably a descendant of the original owners.
Edmund was succeeded by his son Francis,^* who
alienated this estate in 1 6 1 5 to Thomas Pentlowe,-' and
when the latter in 1620 conveyed it to Stephen Hervey
Joseph Tyringham the son of Francis released any claim
he might have in the manor.-* In 1635 Stephen Hervey
and Elizabeth his wife settled it on their son Martin
on his marriage with Rebecca the daughter of George
Strode,-' and on Martin's death before 1670 it was
inherited by his three daughters, of whom Rebecca the
second daughter acquired her other sisters' moieties,-*
and brought the manor into the family of her husband
Alexander Ekins, lord of the principal manor of
Weston, with which Tyringham's Manor was after-
wards held.

In addition to the Count of Mortain's land, Gunfrid
de Cioches had J virgate in Weston in 1086 which was
held of him by John.'' This small estate passed to the
Prestons of Little Billing (q-v.), who held that manor
of the same overlord, and is found in their possession
in 1273,^° but after that date no further mention has
been found of this land.

Weston Favell appears to have possessed many mills
at one time, and in i 562 four are mentioned^' while the
number had increased tosix in 1567.^' In 1580 Edward
Griffin brought an action against William Raindford,
Henry Nelson and his wife for arrears of rent due from
two water-mills, one a corn-mill and the other a fulling-
mill, and for damage done to the groundwork and
floodgates of the mills. '^ A mill was purchased by
George Spokes at the sale of the Ekins estate in 1 8 14^'*
and is apparently the one situated on the Nene at the
present day.

The church of ST. PETER consists of
CHURCH chancel, 29 ft. 3 in. by 16 ft. 4 in., with
north vestry and organ-chamber, nave of
three bays, 41 ft. 6 in. by 22 ft., north aisle, 13 ft. 6 in.
wide, north and south porches, and west tower, 9 ft.
6 in. square, all these measurements being internal.

The tower is of late-i2th-century date, of Transi-
tional Norman character, and the chancel belongs
mainly to the first half of the 13th century, being a
rebuilding at that time of a 12th-century chancel, the
priest's doorway of which was retained. This doorway
is earlier than the tower and indicates the existence of

' Feet of F. N'orthanH. Trin. 6 Chis. I ;
ibid. Hil. 23 Chas. I.

' Metcalfe, yiiilaliont of Norlhanls. i,

178-9-

> Cal. S.P. Dom. 1 664-5, P- 127 i Ca/. 0/
Com. for Compounding^ iii, 2091.

< Gents. Mdg. Uxxiii (i), 195.

* From mural monument in church.

' Baker, Northanti. i, 73.

7 Ibid.

» P.C.C. 492 Stowe.

' P.C.C. 776 Pilt.
"> Baker, A'or/*a>i«. i, 73.
" Back, Commoneri, ii, 7.

" Whellan, Northanti.

" A'.C.//. Kortkanti. i, 306.

'♦ Ibid, i, 381.

■< Chan. Inq. p.m. 18 Rich. II, no. 37.

'» r.C.H. Bucks, iv, 483.

" P.C.C. Logge 10.

" Feet of F. Uiv. Co. Mich. I Hen.
VIII ; E. Chan. Proc. bdle. 503, no. 10.

" Karly Chan. Proc. 337, noj. 73-6.

" Bridgn, Northanls. i, 468.

'■ Feet of F. Nortluntt. Mich. 29 Hen.
VIII.

" Ibid. Mich. 38 Hen. VIII.

» Ibid. Mich. 2 4 3 P. and M.

•* Metcalfe, Fisitatiom of Norihanlt.
144-5.

» Notes of F. Northints. Trin. 1 3 J»». I.

" Feet of F. Northants. East. 18 Ja». I.

" Ibid. Div. Co. Mich. II Cha». I;
Metcalfe, f^isitations of Northants. 98—9 ;
Baker, S'onhants. i, 75.

'» Feet of F. Northants. Mich. 22 Chas.
II. " r.C.W. Northants. i, 348.

10 Chan. Inq. p.m. 2 Edw, I, no. 25.

>' Feet of F. Uiv. Co. Hil. 4 Elii.

" Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cilv, 51.

" Clian. Proc. (Ser. 2). bdle. 2io,no.62.

'♦ Baker, Norlhanls. i, 72.

109

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

a iiiid-l2th-century building. The north aisle dates
only from 1881 but takes the place of a former aisle
which was injured by the fall of the spire in 1725' and
was afterwards taken down. The spire has never been
rebuilt, but its base, covered with a low pyramidal roof,
still remains, forming a rather unusual feature. In
pulling down the north wall of the nave in 1881, pre-
paratory to rebuilding the new aisle, a large number of
stones of various periods were found, some in the
window-jambs, others at the bottom of the footings and
in other parts of the walls. These included a Transi-
tional Norman capital and base,^ considerably injured,
part of a lancet window-head, ^ portions of circular
pillars, probably from a former arcade of late- 12th-
century date, and a quantity of i jth-century tracery.*
From the presence of these fragments in the wall it has
been surmised that the nave as it then was had been
wholly rebuilt since the 1 5th century, possibly in 1725,
though there is apparently no documentary evidence of
this.5 In 1 85 1 the chancel was restored,^ in 1869 the
nave was re-roofed, the chancel arch rebuilt, and the
south porch restored, and in 1892 the north porch was
added. There was a general restoration in 1925.

The tower and chancel are of rubble with dressed
quoins, and all the roofs are covered with slates.' The
north aisle and organ-chamber are faced with brown
Duston stone.

The chancel is unbuttressed and has a modern east
window* of three lancets under a 13th-century hood-
mould. The south wall is pierced by an original win-
dow of three lancets under a single hood-mould west of
the priest's doorway, the portion farther east being
blank. The doorway has a semicircular arch of two-
square orders and hood-mould, with chamfered jambs
and imposts. There is a trefoiled piscina recess in the
plastered wall, and in the north wall a square-headed
aumbry. The wide semicircular chancel arch is of two
chamfered orders.

In its present form the nave is modern, with double
lancet windows and an arcade of pointed arches on
round pillars.

The tower is of four receding stages, and is con-
siderably battered in the upper stage.' It has a plain
parapet carried on a corbel table of carved heads, and
gargoyles at the western angles. The round-headed
west doorway has long been blocked and little or no
architectural detail remains: above it in the second
stage is a double lancet with head cut from a single
stone, but the third stage is blank. The bell-chamber
windows are of two widely spaced lancets with separate
hood-moulds carried round the tower as a string.'" The
walls are of great thickness in the lower stage and are
unbuttressed, but heavy buttresses have been added

at a later time at the junction with the nave. The
pointed tower arch is of three square orders, with
chamfered imposts and hood-moi'ld.

The font is of 15th-century date, with octagonal
panelled bowl, similar to that at Abington, and the oak
pulpit is Elizabethan on a modern pedestal: a wrought-
iron hour-glass stand has been retained.

The slab in the sanctuary floor which marked the
burial-place of the Rev. James Hervey, rector (d. 1758),
'that very pious man and much admired author', is now
placed upright in a recess on the north side of the
chancel. There are brass floor plates to Elizabeth, wife
of Francis Hervey (d. 1 642), and Mary, wife of William
Hervey (d. 1645), and a number of 18th-century
mural tablets. In the vestry is preserved a piece of
needlework representing the Last Supper, wrought by
the wife of Sir John Holman in 1698, and formerly
over the communion table."

There are five bells, four cast by Henry and Matthew
Bagley of Chacombe in 1683, and the tenor by Henry
Penn of Peterborough in 1707.'- In 1552 there were
three bells and a sanctus bell.

The plate consists of a silver cup and paten 'the gift
of Lucas Ward minister of Weston in ye county of
Northampton 1674', and a silver alms dish of 1724
given by Frances Lady Twysden in 1725.'-'

The registers before 1 8 1 2 are as follows: (i) baptisms
1540— 1735, marriages 1545— 1735, burials 1540-
1678 ;'•* (ii) baptisms and burials 1 73 5-1 8 12, marriages
1735-53; ("') marriages 1754-1812. The first
volume has been newly bound.

The first mention of Weston Favell
ADFOWSON church occurs about 1200 when
Richard de Weston bestowed the ad-
vowson upon St. Andrew's Priory, Northampton. '^ He,
moreover, bequeathed to the Prior and Convent i vir-
gate of land in Weston which Godric held, with his
palfrey, harness, and saddles, a barn and 10 measures of
corn to make wafers, 7 silver spoons, a silver cup with
carved handle, and a silver gilt ring.'* The right of
presentation to the church was afterwards contested by
John Favell and Ralph Griffin, but decided in favour of
the priory in 1233." Sir Hugh P'avell the son of John
bestowed upon the Prior and Convent a messuage in
Weston, to be held by the rectors for the time being,'*
and in 1261, with Richard Griffin, the grandson of the
above-mentioned Ralph, confirmed to the priory the
advowson, of the gift of their ancestor, Richard de
Weston." The church, which was worth ;^6 in 1291,^°
had increased in value to /J7 6s. %J. in 1535.^' After
the dissolution of St. Andrew's in 1538,-- the advowson
was apparently granted to Sir Thomas BrudeneU who
died seised of it in i 550, when it was inherited by his

' Not 1726 as often stated: it was
struck by lightning.

^ Used in the new north doorway.

3 Used in the window of the organ-
chamber and vestry, then erected.

♦ Letter of Matthew Holden, architect,
to Sir Henry Dryden, in Dryden MSS.,
Northampton Free Library.

5 Dryden MSS. as above. The windows
on both sides of the nave till 1881 were
square-headed, but the sections of their
jambs, heads, and mullions in no wise
agreed. It may be fairly concluded that the
plain oblong nave w-as built in 1725, or at
least between Perpendicular times and
that date : ibid.

*' In 184.9 hoth the chancel and tower
arches were closed with galleries and there

was a plaster ceiling: Chs. Archd, N^ton^ 256.
Galleries and ceiling have been removed.

' Except that of the south porch, which
has stone slabs.

8 The east window in i S4.9 was Mate
and bad Perpendicular' : Chs. Archd.
N'ton, 255. The lancets restore the
original design.

' The upper stage is banded with iron,
and there are four iron clamps at the south-
west angle and one on the north.

'° The high modem roof now blocks the
east bell-chamber window. The line of the
old roof is seen above the tower arch from
the nave.

" It is dated 'Weston Favell, December
1698'. Sir John Hohnan (d. 1698) 'neatly
wainscoted the chancel in oak* (Bridges,

i, 469), but his work has not survived.

'^ North, Ch. Bells of Northanls. 441,
where the inscriptions are given. The bells
were rehung in igoS. The old framework
bore the date 1 808.

'3 Markham, Ch. Plate of Northants.
311.

'* There are no burials recorded between
1678 and 1735.

■5 Cott. MS. Vesp. E. xvii, fol. 55, 54 d.

■' Ibid.

" Rol. Hug. de ITelles (Cant, and York
Soc), ii, 164-5.

'8 Cott. MS. Vesp. E. xvii, fol. 54 d.

'9 Ibid. fol. 54.

2» Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 40, 43.

" Valor Eccles. (Rec. Com.), iv, 324.

" y.C.H. Northanls. ii, 108.

I 10

SPELHOE HUNDRED

WESTON FAVELL

son Sir Edmund' who in 1573 alienated it to Richard
Burbanke.* By i 580 it was in the possession of Robert
Gage and Anne his wife, who in that year conveyed it to
William Gage and Margaret his wife. ^ In 1583 they
sold it to Edward Travell and Clara his wife ;•• the latter
in 1 593 alienated it to Henry Travell, a brother of
Edward, and Elizabeth his wife,' of whom it was pur-
chased three years later by their nephew Robert
Travell,* atterwards rector of Weston, who was de-
prived for non-conformity but restored, on submission,
in 1605,' and retained his office until 1640.* The right
of presentation then passed, probably by purchase, to
Francis Hcrvcy, nephew of the Stephen who acquired
Tyringham's Manor in 1620,' and he was succeeded by
his son William, patron and rector of Weston, who died
in 1736.'° His son, another William, also patron and
rector of the church, died in 1752," when the right of
presentation devolved on his son James, rector there,
and the author of Meditations among the Tombs}'
On his death in 1758, without issue, the advowson
ought to have been sold according to the terms of the
will of his father,'^ but an arrangement was arrived at in
1777 by which it passed to his sister Mary and her hus-
band Robert Knight, the rector of Weston,''' and after
their deaths it was inherited by their son Robert Hervcy
Knight, also rector.'' It is now in the gift of the
Church Association Trust.

The Charities of Hervey and Elizabeth Ekins for
education, apprenticing for the poor, and for a sermon,
were founded by indentures of lease and release dated

27 February 1 704 and augmented by land conveyed by
deeds in 1707, 1717, and 1755. The charities are
administered by a body of trustees, of
CHARITIES whom the rector is one, appointed by
a Scheme of the Charity Commissioners
of 22 December 1874.

By a Determination Order of the Charity Com-
missioners dated 2 November 1906, ;^8o Consols out of
Stock representing accumulations of income was set
aside to provide the endowment of the Poor Charity of
Hervey and Elizabeth Ekins and ^^32 Consols for the
endowment of the Ecclesiastical Charity of Hervey and
Elizabeth Ekins. The income of the Poor Charity
amounting to [^z yearly is distributed in bread on St.
Andrew's Day and 16/., being the income of the Ec-
clesiastical Charity, is paid to the rector for a sermon
on that day.

Lady Jane Holman by her will dated in or about the
year 171 1 gave to the minister and churchwardens a
close of land of about 8 acres called Greenway Furze,
to pay out of the rents zos. a year to the minister for
a sermon on Good Friday and to distribute the residue
to the poor. The land was sold in 1919 and the pro-
ceeds invested, producing ^^37 5/. zd. yearly in divi-
dends. The charity is administered by the rector and
two trustees appointed by the Parish Council in place
of the churchwardens. Varying cash payments are
made to about fifty poor.

The several sums of Stock are with the Official
Trustees of Charitable Funds.

■ Chan. In<). p.m. (Ser. z), Ixxxix, 106.

» Feet of F. Northants. East. i8 Eliz.

J Ibid. Mich, zz i 23 Elii.

« Ibid. Mich. 25 k 26 Eliz.

5 Add. Chart. 25 181.

» Feet of F. Northants. Hil. 38 Elii.

' Cal. S.P. Dom. 1603-10, p. 217.

' Bridges, Norihatiti. i, 469.
' FcetofF. Northants. Hil. 1659; Inst.
Bks. (P.R.O.) ; Recov. R. Trin. 28 Chas. II.
"> Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.) ; Baker, Northants.

i. 75-

" From mural monuments in church;
P.C.C. 127 Bcttesworth.

'2 Diet. Nat. Bi'og.

" Ibid.

'•• Baker, Northants. i, 75; Feet of F.
Northants. East. 17 Geo. III.

■5 Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.); Whellan,
Northants.

I I I

THE HUNDRED OF HAMFORDSHOE

CONTAINING THE PARISHES OF

GREAT DODDINGTON HOLCOT WELLINGBOROUGH

EARLS BARTON MEARS ASHBY WILBY

ECTON SYWELL

THE hundred, which appears in the Geld Roll of 1 076 as ' AnduerSeshoh'
and in Domesday Book as 'Andferdesho' and 'Hanverdesho', has
always contained these eight parishes; and a portion of Hardwick, of
which parish the greater part belonged to Orlingbury hundred, was
also in this hundred at least as late as 13 16.' Even in about 1720 a meadow in
Hardwick still owed suit and service to Lord Brook's court at Wellingborough. ^

The hundred descended with the manor of Yard-

/^ *'^ ^ ley Hastings (q.v.) and was usually coupled with

\ ;.<^ 'N.^/''^* ^*' the adjacent hundred of Wymersley. In 1246

^'^^\\ ^J^:*\ ^"*"°''°"'^" i the two hundreds were said to be paying 11

I "P *. '.waVYy. / marks, whereas they had formerly paid less;^ and

j : ,_ '"•:'' S'^'-'/ i" I 329 complaintwas made that they used to be

'•.EARLS ':^<s^V* farmed for I ooj. but twenty years before John de

V''^°'^':BARTor/-^^* Hastings had raised the farm to ^^Ti 6, to the great

\ .^.— ** oppression of the people. 4 Complaint was made

HA\fFOHrmHOF ^^ ^^^ same time against the bailiff of Hamford-

shoe that when he had to raise 2s. td. from the

Map of the Hundred . , . , -

hundred towards the expenses or the Knights or
the Shire at Parliament he took excessive distraint from the Abbot of Crowland.5
Hamfordshoe and Wymersley were held of the Crown by Sir William Compton
at the time of his death in 1528 by service of a sparhawk or is.^

The meeting-place of the hundred in 1 565, and probably from the earliest
times, was at 'Low Hill', which has been identified by Miss Wake with a mound
in Round Hill field on the borders of Mears Ashby, commanding a view of the
whole country-side.'^ By the beginning of the i8th century the hundred court
had been removed to Wellingborough.^

' F.C.H. Northants. i, 354, 382; Feud. Aids, iv, ^ Ibid. m. 7.

17, 27. * Bridges, loc. cit.

^ Bridges, AforM<z«/j. ii, 136. ' The P/ace-Names of Northants. (Engl. P.-N.

3 Assize R. 614, m. 41 d. Soc), 137.

'' Ibid. 622, m. 7 d. ^ Bridges, loc. cit.

112

HAMFORDSHOE HUNDRED

GREAT DODDINGTON

Dodintone, Great Dudyngton (xi-xvi cent.).

Great Doddington covers about i,6oo acres. The
River Nene forms the south-eastern boundary between
Great Doddington and Wollaston. The greatest height
in the piarish is 371 ft. in the west; from there the land
slopes gradually down to the Swan's Pool Brook on the
northern boundary and to the Nene on the south-east,
where the lowest point is 144 ft. The land near the
river is liable to floods and in some parts is covered
with marsh.

The main road connects Earls Barton and Dodding-
ton villages with Wellingborough; from this a road
branches off near the village of Doddington in a north-
westerly direction to Wilby. Great Doddington village
lies ij miles south-west of Wellingborough station.
Owing to its retired situation the village is less spoiled
than others in this part of the county, and retains many
picturesque 17th-century stone houses with thatched
or red-tiled roofs; the dates 1675, 1676, and 1679
occur on individual houses, whilst the Stag's Head Inn,
a two-story thatched building with end gable, has a
panel inscribed 'i.e. 1686'. A large farm-house in the
principal street, with a panel dated 'mdcclxiv', has a
bit of I4th<entury tracery built into the end of the
main wing, and at the west end of the village is a house
dated 1703. The vicarage house, said to have been
originally the manor-house, to the south-east of the
church, is a large 1 7th-century building with mullioned
windows under parallel gabled roofs. There are two
chapels in the village, one Baptist and the other
Methodist; the National School was built in 1833.
The population is employed chiefly in agriculture and
the manufacture of boots and shoes. The soil is red
loam with an ironstone subsoil and the crops are the
usual cereals.

The parish of Great Doddington was inclosed in
1766.'

In 1086 the Countess Judith of Hunting-
MANORS don held 4 hides in GREAT DODDING-
TON of ihe king; Bondi had held it in the
time of Edward the Confessor.^ The ovcrlordship
descended to the family of Hastings with the honor of
Huntingdon as Yardley Hastings (q.v.). The over-
lordship is last mentioned in connexion with Green's
Manor in 1391,-' and in connexion with Barnard's
Manor in 1480.*

By the 13th century two manors arc found in
Doddington held of this lordship. That afterwards
called GREEN'S MANOR appears in 1285 when
Juliana Tregoz, widow, held half a knight's fee.' Her
son John Tregoz* in 1285 obtained a grant of free
warren in his demesne lands there.' This John Tregoz
granted Doddington manor to Pino Bernardin, a

Florentine merchant of London,' at a rent of ;^20.'
John died in 1299 and in 1 301 his co-heirs, his grandson
John la Warre and his daughter Sybil wife of William
Grandison, were each assigned £10 rent in the manor.'"
In 1 309 the rentcharge on the manor was reduced to
;^io," and in 1329 may have been commuted for a
lump sum, for in that year Peregrin Bernard, who had
succeeded his father Pino'- by 1324, when he held a
quarter fee here,'^ acknowledged a debt of ^^loo to
William Grandison and Sybil his wife.'* The history
of the manor for some time after this date is obscure.
In 1348 William de Harwedon held the quarter of a
knight's fce'5 and before 1 369 it was in the possession
of the Green family. In that year Sir Henry Green
died seised of it and was succeeded by his son Thomas.'*
It then descended as Green's Norton (q.v.) through
five successive Thomas Greens." The last of these died
in 1506 and left his estates to his two daughters and
heiresses Anne and Maud.'* The manor of Doddington
was settled on Anne on her marriage with Sir Nicholas
Vaux. Sir Nicholas died in 1525 and was succeeded by
his son Thomas, who at the age of 14 married Eliza-
beth Cheyne." Thomas Vaux died about 1556 and
was succeeded by his son and heir William.^" From
William, who was holding in 1559,^' the manor ap-
parently passed to the Spencer family, as Henry Lord
Spencer was lord of the manor in 1639.^- Between this
date and 1667 the manor again changed hands; at the
latter date James Earl of Northampton held it,-^ and his
descendant the present Marquess is now lord of the
manor.

A second manor, later called BARNARD'S MANOR,
was held of the honor of Hunting-
don in Great Doddington. In
1 242 William de Champaync
(Campania) held the sixth part
of a knight's fee in Doddington.--'
This passed to Nicholas son of
Robert de Champayne,^' who
opposed the king in the Barons'
War and forfeited this manor but
was allowed to buy it back from
Eudes de la Zouche.^* In 1285
Nicholas's son Robert de Cham-
payne held one knight's fee in
Great Doddington^' and in 1 306 John de Champayne
conceded the manor, probably by way of settlement, to
Robert de Champayne and his wife .Ada.-* Robert still
held it in 1 3 1 2, as a quarter of a knight's fee,-' and in
1 3 1 3 he conveyed it to his son Robert,^" who held it as
a sixth of a fee in 1 324.^' He was still in possession in
1 3 29,^^ but in 1 3 5 3 his widow Margaret^' died and their
son and heir William obtained the manor.^* From him

Champayne. Argent
three ban xvaty gules.

' Acts Priv. & Loc. 6 Ceo. III.cip. i.

* y.C.H. Sttrthanti. i, 351.

' Chan. Inq. p.m. 15 Ric. II, pt. 1, 24.

* Ibid. 20 Edw. IV, 17.

* Feud. Aidt., iv, 1 6.

* Viae, de Quo M'arr. (Rcc. Com.), 580.
' Cut. Chart. R. ii, 319.

» Cat. Pat. 1281-92, p. 326.

' Clun. Inq. p.m. 28 Edw. I, no. 43.
'<> Cal. Chit, 1296-1302, p. 477.
" Add. Chart. 21701.
" Assize R. 633, m. 7; Plac. de Quo
H'arr. (Rcc. Com.), 580.

" Chan. Inq. p.m. 18 Edw. II, no. 83.

'* Cal. Close, 1327-30, p. 589.

" Cal. Inq. p.m. \x, 123.

"' Chan. Inq. p.m. 43 Edw. Ill, pt. 1,48.

" Bridges, Hist, of Northants. i, 240.

" Chan. Inq. p.m. (Scr. 2), xi, 74.

'• Ibid. jli, 60.

" G.E.C. Complete Peerage (ist cd.),
viii, 19.

" Feet of F. Northants. Mich. 1 &2Eliz.

" Recov. R. Trin. 1 5 Chas. I.

" Ibid. Mich. 19 Chas. II.

>•• 5*. o/f«i, 938.

" Plac. de Quo U'arr. (Rec. Com.), 563.

" Assize R. 618, m. 2d.

" Feud. Aids, iv, 16.

" F'eet of F. Northants. 34 Edw. I, no.
495. '' Cal. Inj. p.m. v, p. 234.

" Feet of F. Northants. 7 Edw. II, 147.

" Cal. Inj. p.m. vi, p. 391.

» Plac. de Quo H'arr. (Rec. Com.), 563.

'^ It seems possible that she had married
John de Charnels, or Carnailc, w-ho held
this sixth of a fee in 1346 and 1348:
Feud. Aids, iv, 447; Cal. Infj. p.m. ix, 1 22.

>♦ Cal. Inj. p.m. X, 96.

113

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

Barnard. Argent a bear
rampant sable.

it descended through his daughter Margaret, who had
married one of the Hastings, to her daughter Margaret
wife of Sir John Sulney. Margaret Sulney died in 1 38 1
and part of this manor of Great Doddington came to
William Daundelyn, son of Joan a sister of William
de Champayne. This part of the manor afterwards
became known as Barnard's Manor. The remainder,
called later Turvill's Manor (q.v.), was divided between
Margaret wife of Geoffrey Bugge and Elizabeth wife
of Thomas Hunt, daughters of Margaret Foucher,
another sister of William de Champayne." A later
William Daundelyn died seised in 1480 and his heir
was Mary Daundelyn daughter of his son John.^ She
married John Barnard and from them the manor
passed to their son John and his wife Cecily Muscote.^
John Barnard died in i 549 and
was succeeded by his son Francis,''
who in 1572 settled the manor
on his son John when he married
Dorothy Cane one of the daugh-
ters of Francis Cane of Bagrave.
In 1586 an inquisition was held
as to the lunacy of John Bar-
nard;' at that time he had been
out of his mind for sis years;
his brother Baldwin was his
heir. In 1601 Francis, the
father of John and Baldwin, died; in 1 561 he had
bought the other half of the manor of Doddington from
Richard Turvill and had settled it in 1589 on his
younger son Baldwin,* who thus came into possession
of the w'hole manor. He died in 1610 and was suc-
ceeded by his son and heir John then aged 6.' In 1646
John Barnard sold a large part of his estate of Great
Doddington to Thomas Parker.^ Only isolated references
to it occur after this. In 1682 John Hackney conveyed
it by fine to Francis Guy,' and in 17 19 it was held by
Mr. Lamb.'" In 1773 Ambrose Isted transferred it to
Richard Heron;" this manor then included a miU
which in 1781 was held by the Earl of Northamp-
ton,'^ so it is probable that the manor also passed to
him.

The other moiety of the manor, afterwards known
as TURFILVS MANOR, was held by Thomas Hunt
during his life, and the reversion was granted in 1394
by John Wasteneys and Margaret his wife (probably
the widow of Geoffi"ey Bugge) to James de Kyneton,
clerk, and his heirs. '^ James came into possession during
the next year.'* There is no further mention of this
manor until the year 1 507, when John TurviU died
seised of it; his son and heir William was then 23 years
old. '5 In 1552 the manor had passed to a John Turvill,
who was succeeded by his son Richard.'^ In 1562
Richard sold the manor to Francis Barnard, "and hence-
forward it followed the same descent as Barnard's
Manor (q.v.).

There was a mill from early times, as the miUer of
Doddington was said in 1329 to have been drowned
while closing the sluice-gates of the mill of 'Hepde-
wath'.'* A miU attached to the manor of Barnards in
1773 was subsequently held by the Earl of Northamp-

" Chan. Inq. p.m. 5 Ric. II, no. 50.

^ Ibid. 20 Edw. IV, no. 1 7.

^ Metcalfe, Vitit. Northants. p. 3.

^ Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), Ixxxix, 104.

5 Ibid, ccx, 149. ^ Ibid, cclxxi, 176.

' Ibid, cccxix, 202.

^ Add. Charts. 5147-9. Barnard's and
Turvill's were then still separate manors.

9 Feet of F. Northants. Trin. 34
Chas. II.

'0 Bridges, Northants. ii, 140.

" Feet of F. Northants. East. 13 Geo.
III.

'2 Recov. R.Trin. 21 Geo. Ill, no. 385.

" Feet of F. Northants. 18 Ric. II,
no. 157.

ton, as already mentioned, and was doubtless on the
site of the present mill on the River Nene.

The church of ST. NICHOLAS con-
CHURCH sists of chancel, 36 ft. 6 in. by 17 ft. 6 in.;
clerestoried nave, 54 ft. 6 in. by 20 ft. 6in.;
north and south aisles, 10 ft. wide; south porch, and
west tower, 1 2 ft. square, all these measurements being
internal. The width across nave and aisles is 46 ft. 9 in.

A church was built here during the first half of the
1 2th century, having an aisleless nave with north
transept, chancel, and west tower. Of this church little
is left but the upper part of the nave walls above the
arcades and the lower part of the tower: the scalloped
capital of a nook-shaft inserted in the wall near the
south doorway appears to be c. 1140. The upper part
of the tower is late in the same century. The chancel
was rebuilt and no doubt lengthened early in the 13th
century and was further increased in length by about
8 ft. c. 1290— 1300. Soon after this the aisles appear to
have been added, or at any rate completed in their
present form, but the first pier from the east on the
south side, which has 1 3th-century nail-head ornament,
is different from the rest and may indicate that an aisle
had been begun earlier on this side and left unfinished.
The south doorway has good plain early-l4th-century
mouldings.

The 13th-century chancel had lancet windows in
the side walls, but soon after the completion of the
aisles they were altered into wider windows of two
lights, with the exception of one on the north side.
The clerestory was added c. 1400, superseding a high-
pitched roof the tabling of which remains on the east
wall of the tower. The porch appears to be of early-
iBth-century date. The church was restored in 1871.

The building is of rubble throughout, with low-
pitched leaded roofs to nave and aisles. Internally the
plaster has been stripped from the walls except in the
chancel, where it remains above the string. The para-
pets of the aisles are battlemented and those of the nave
plain: over the east gable of the nave are the remains
of a sanctus-bell turret.

The chancel has a modern red-tiled roof and plain
parapets, with coupled angle buttresses, and is of two
bays. Externally the five-light east window is entirely
restored, but its rear arch and internal shafted jambs
belong to the late-i3th-century extension, the length
of which is clearly indicated outside by the character
of the masonry. The windows are set high and there
is a string-course at sill level within and without. On
the south side are four square-headed windows of two
trefoiled lights, two to each bay, the easternmost
wholly of the 14th century, but the rest insertions
within the original widely-splayed 13th-century open-
ings, the segmental rear arches of which remain. There
are two similar inserted windows in the middle of the
north wall," but with uncusped lights, and east of them
the original lancet already referred to. In the south
wall, in the usual position, is a cusped piscina with
shafted jambs and fluted bowl, and west of it two tre-
foiled sedilia at the same level, the eastern seat contain-
ing the bowl of the earlier piscina re-used. The 13th-

"• Ibid. Div. Co. 19 Ric. II, no. 1 1 1.
'5 Chan. Inq. p.m. 22 Hen. VII, no. 140.
■<> Feet of F. Div. Co. East. 6 Edw. VI.
" Ibid. Northants. Hil. 4 Eliz.
*^ Assize R. 632, m. 6 d.
" All these six windows are externally
wholly of the 14th century.

114

Grkai DoDDiNCTON Chirch: Chained Books

Great Doddincton Chl-rch: Misericord

DoDDiNCTON Church: The Pulpit

HAMFORDSHOE HUNDRED

century priest's doorway is simply chamfered and has a
segmental rear arch: at the west-end of the wall, below
the string, is a contemporary lancet low-side window.
At the east end of the north wall is a tall rectangular
aumbry' with trefoiled head and hood-mould, the
staples for the door of which remain. West of this is a
blocked doorway to a former vestry and farther west
again two widely splayed low-side windows, like that
opposite, with a blocked doorway benveen. This
arrangement of three low-side windows is unusual, but
it is possible that the two in the north wall were intended
to give light to a seat in the chancel belonging to the
lord of the manor and that the doorway between them
was for liis use. .AJl three windows are plain chamfered
lancets, with hood-moulds, segmental rear arches, and
internal sloping sills; that in the south wall retains its
shutter hooks and hasp.^ The chancel arch is of two
chamfered orders, the inner on half-octagonal responds
with moulded capitals and bases: a considerable portion
of the hood-mould has been cut away on the nave side.
The rood-loft doorway, now blocked, is on the south
side. Part of the old rood-screen appears to be in use
as the support to a desk on the north side of the
chancel.

The nave arcades are of four bays with pointed
arches of two chamfered orders on octagonal piers with
moulded capitals and bases, except between the two
eastern arches on the north side where part of the older
wall is left standing as a masonry pier^ with a half
octagonal respond on each face. The easternmost arch
on each side is narrower* than the others, and the two
eastern piers stand on square plinths of masonry; else-
where the plinths follow the plan of the column.

The aisles have diagonal angle buttresses and a scroll
string at sill level outside: within, the scroll is repeated
in the south aisle, except in the west wall, but in the
north aisle the string is keel-shaped, save for a length
of scroll moulding at the west. All the windows are of
the 14th century, with pointed arches and of three
lights. Those at the east end of the aisles and the
easternmost in the north and south walls have original
reticulated tracery. The rest have cinquefoiled lights
and two quatrefoils in the head. In the west wall of
the north aisle, built into the string, is a stone bracket
carved with a head and conventional four-leaf flower,
and above the string another with two grotesque heads
conjoined.

The north and south doorways occupy the second
bay from the west; both are of the 14th century, with
continuous wave mouldings, but the south doorway is
of two orders divided by a casement. The i jth-cen-
tury traceried oak door retains its original hinges and
handle and is nail-studded.

There are four square-headed clerestory windows of
two trefoiled lights on each side, with segmental rear
arches: all the roofs are modern. The organ is in the
middle of the north aisle and the vestry at its west end.

West of the chancel there are clear traces of three

■ The opening is 2 ft. 9 in. high by
1 6 in. wide. There are traces of painting on
the face of the lintel below the arched head.

* Aiioc. Arch. Soc. Reports, xxix, 402-3.
Each of the windows is 3 ft. high by 1 3 in.
wide. The height of the sill of the south
window above the floor is 3 ft. i in. and
of those on the north 2 ft. 1 in. and 2 ft.
8 in. respectively.

^ The pier measures 3 ft. 5 in. from
west to east.

* Width of arch on north aide between

responds 9 ft. 4 in., on south side 10 ft.

4 in. The other arches average 1 1 ft. 6 in.
in width.

' The front of the bowl is cut away, as
if also the hood-mould.

' The spaces measure 6 ft. 4 in. by

5 ft. There is also some medieval tiling
at the west end of the south aisle.

' The painting, now very indistinct,
was discovered in 1871.

• The middle order dies out, while the
outer order forms a two-centred segmental

GRE.AT
DODDINGTON

altars and there was probably a fourth: at the east end
of the south aisle is a 1 3th<entury trefoiled piscina with
mutilated fluted bowl,' and at either end of the chancel
arch, against the formerly existing rood-screen, are the
original tiled floors upon which the nave altars stood.'
Behind that at the south end are the remains of a wall-
painting of our Lord on the cross between SS. Mary
and John, which formed the rercdos.' The east ends
of both aisles were formerly inclosed by screens, but no
piscina or other ancient ritual arrangement remains on
the north side.

The arch from the tower to the church is contem-
porary with the nave arcades and is of three chamfered
orders on the east side, the inner order on half-round
responds with moulded capitals and bases.' Above the
arch, within the line of the original nave roof, is a
round-headed opening.

The to«er is of three receding stages and finished
originally with a tiled saddle-back roof, but in 1737
this was taken down and the present flat leaded roof
and plain parapets with angle pinnacles substituted.'
The diagonal buttresses are additions of the r4th cen-
tury, and the west doorway seems to have been inserted
c. 1 190-1200: it is of three square orders, the two
outer on shafts with moulded capitals and bases. Above
the doorway in the lower stage is an original round-
headed window of two chamfered orders with hood-
mould, and on the south side in the upper part of the
middle stage a window of two rounded lights, which
may be a comparatively late insertion. The lower stage
is blank on the north and south and the middle stage
on the north and west. The bell-chamber windows are
of two round-headed chamfered lights recessed within
a semicircular moulded arch without hood-mould. On
the south side of the tower are two tablets, one inscribed
'This steeple was pointed in 1685', the other obliter-
ated.'"

The 13th-century font has a plain circular bowl
and short stem, on two circular steps. It has a late tall
crocketed pyramidal oak cover.

The I yth-century oak pulpit is part of a former 'two-
decker'; in plan it is hexagonal, with three tiers of
panels, the two lower arched, and stands on a modern
stone base. Behind it, attached by a bracket to the pier,
is an iron hour-glass stand and glass. The lectern and
altar rails are also of the 17th century, the latter with
twisted balusters off. 1620-40.

Four choir stalls, two on each side, with carved
misericords, remain in the chancel: on the north side
are represented a carver with his tools at work on the
rose supporters, and vine leaves and fruit issuing from
a mouth; on the south a rose, and leaves. The counters
also are car\'ed. Some 17th-century seats remain at the
west end of the south aisle.

In the middle of the nave is a 14th-century floor slab
with indents of a cross and two shields: the brass
inscription remains — 'Ici gist Mons. William de
Pateshull qu. morust le xvi j jour de Septembr. mccclix'.' ■

arch with the chamfer continued down the
jambs.

'> Bridges describes the tower as 'ridged'
and 'tiled at the top": Hisl. of NorlhaHtt.
ii, 140.

■0 According to a transcript made in
1870 the inscription read: 'This steeple
was taken down and leaded at top by
Moses Mores and William Pettit, church-
wardens, July 21, 1737.'

'* The brass measures iq| in. by l\ in.
The slab was re-used for 'J. G." in 1737.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

In the floor of the north aisle is a large slab' with two
leaf-stemmed calvary crosses the heads of which are
obliterated, as is the inscription in Lombardic lettering
along two of the verges.

Bridges mentions four shields of arms in two of the
windows of the north aisle, but of these only one
survives — azure a bend or between sis covered cups
(Butler). There is also a stained roundel with the
sacred monogram crowned and in a border of roses in
one of the windows of the south aisle, and fragments in
the side lights.

Three chained books are preserved in a glass case:
(i) Erasmus' Paraphrase 155 1; (ii) a Bible of 161 3;
and (iii) the Book of Homilies 1676.^

There are five bells, cast by John Taylor of Oxford
and Loughborough in 1841.^ In 1 5 5 2 there were three
bells and a little bell, and in 1 700 four bells.

The plate consists of a silver cup and cover paten
of 1569, an alms dish of 1683 given by Mrs. Frances
Say in 1721, and a flagon of 1 72 1 given in that year
by the Rev. Humphrey Say, vicar.*

The registers before 1 8 1 2 are as follows: (i) baptisms
1560-1648, marriages and burials 1 560-1647; (ii)
burials 1678-1792; (iii) marriages 1690— 1754; (iv)
baptisms 1690-1773; (v) baptisms 1 773-1 812; (vi)
marriages 1754-1812; (vii) burials 1793-1812.

The advowson of the church of
ADVOWSON Great Doddington was granted by
Simon de St. Liz the younger to the
nunnery of Delapre in the 12th centurj'.s In 1 29 1
the living was valued at ;^i 3 Gs.iJJ' In 1328 Edward III
confirmed to the Abbess of Delapre all the gifts of Earl
Simon including the church of Doddington.^ At the
Dissolution the value, including a pension received by
the Archdeacon of Northampton, was ^12 2s. i<J?

The vicarage was rated at £i 1 3/. ^. Since the reign
of Henry VIII the patronage of Great Doddington
has been held by the Crown.'

The rectory until the Dissolution belonged to
Delapre ; after the year 1 5 3 1 it was granted by
Henry VIII to Lord Harrovvden, who died in 1595
and left the rectory to his wife Mary for her life, with
remainder to his son George and his heirs or, failing
such, to his brother Ambrose Vaux, who in the same
year transferred his right to Anthony Naylhart.'" Evi-
dendy the rectory was sold, for in 1607 Thomas
Sherley conceded it to Roger Rogers and others."
Again within a few years the rectory changed hands;
in 161 1 Augustin Say died seised of it and was suc-
ceeded by his son Francis.'^ In 1628 Francis alienated
the rectory to Alexander Ekins,'' in whose family it
remained until 17 19, when Harvey Ekins conveyed it
to John Hanbury.''* In 1766 when the parish was
inclosed Ambrose Isted held the rectory and all the
tithes,'* but in 1773 he transferred it with Doddington
Manor to Richard Heron. '^

The Poor's Land. A plot of ground
CHARITIES of nearly 2\ acres was conveyed to the
vicar, churchwardens, and overseers by
deed of 16 February 1767 with the approbation of the
Inclosure Commissioners in exchange for a close which
had been purchased in 1692 with certain sums given
for the use of the poor. In 1 870 a portion of the land
was sold to the L. & N.W. railway and the proceeds
invested in ;^83 i\s. iia'. Consols with the Official
Trustees, producing £2 is. St/, yearly in dividends.
The remainder of the land, consisting of i a. 3 r. i p.,
is let for £^ yearly. The income of the charity is
distributed by the vicar and three trustees appointed
by the Parish Council.

EARLS BARTON

Bartone, Barton (xi-xiii cent.); Earl's Barton (xiv-
XX cent.); Barton Yarles (xvi cent.).

The parish of Earls Barton is pleasantly situated on
the north bank of the River Nene, near which the land
is low-lying and often flooded. It rises from the river
to a height of 336 ft. in the north. The village, often
called Barton-on-the-hill, is of considerable size; the
older part is built at the meeting-point of roads from
Great Doddington, Northampton, and Welling-
borough. It contains several 17th-century houses
built of ironstone, but with later modern windows,
and mostly thatched. Most of these retain coped end
gables with kneelers, and one large block in High
Street has a gabled front dated 1686. The village is
1 1 miles north of Casde Ashby and Earls Barton station.
On the village green below the church is a war
memorial. Near the village square are the Methodist,
Baptist, and Calvinistic Baptist chapels. There are
two schools, a Board School built in 1868, and a
National School enlarged in 1885. The newer part
of the village, New Barton, is built north of the old part.

The extent of the parish is 2,307 acres. The soil
is red loam, subsoil ironstone and limestone; the chief
crops are cereals. Besides agriculture the manufacture
of boots and shoes gives employment for many of the
inhabitants. In 193 i the population numbered 2,587.
The name Earls Barton was derived from the Earls of
Huntingdon who were anciently lords of the fee.

There ^vas formerly within this parish a hamlet of
Thorp; probably the south-east part of the village called
Dowthorp End marks its site. Ancient remains have
been found in this parish; these include British coins
of the late Celtic period" and an earthwork which has
been partly destroyed for the site of the church.'*

The Church Clock Close in Earls Barton was land
originally set apart for repairing 'a clock dyall or watch
for the comfort of the township of Earls Barton'."

In 1086 the Countess Judith held 4 hides

MANORS in Barton valued at £4.. It had been in the

tenure of Bondi, who held it with soc and

sac.^° From Judith it descended to her son-in-law King

David ;^' and so to the Hastings family, following the

�� Size 7 ft. 6 in. by 3 ft. 3 in.

^ All three are imperfect.

3 North, Ck. Bells of Northants. 250,
where the inscriptions are given : on three of
the bells Taylor is described as of Lough-
borough, on the second as of Oxford, and on
the tenor as of Oxford and Loughborough.

■• Markham,CA.P/d/fo/"AorM<2rt/j. 100.
The foot of the paten is inscribed ' 1 570',

5 V.C.H. Norihanls. ii, 114.

"■ Pope Nick. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 39.

' Chart. R. 2 Edw. IH, m. 15, no. 47.

' Valor Eccles. (Rec. Com.), iv, 265-
321. » Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).

'" Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxxxiv, 121.
" Pat. 4 Jas. I, pt. 19.
*^ Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxiii, 30.
'3 Feet of F. Northants. East. 4 Chas. I.

■■• Ibid. Trin. 6 Geo. I.

'5 Acts Priv. & Loc. 6 Geo. Ill, cap. i.

'^ Feet of F. Northants. East. 13
Geo. III.

" F.C.H. Northants. i, 155.

" Ibid, ii, 405.

'» Northants. N. & Q. i, 39.

=" r.C.H. Northants. i, 351.

" Ibid, i, 3S2.

116

Earls Barton: The Mount and Church Tower

HAMFORDSHOE HUNDRED earls barton

same descent as Yardley Hastings (q.v.). The over-
lordship is last mentioned in connexion with Earls
Barton in 151 1.'

Hastings. Or
gutei.

sltrvc

PvNKENV. Or a fesse

indented of five pointi

gules.

At the beginning of the 14th century three manors
existed in Earls Barton. One of these, called P7'N-
KENVoT BERNARD'S MJNOR, from the names of
the families which held it, seems to have been in the
hands of David de Lindesey, whose widow Margery^
held half a fee in Barton in 1241, at which time
Thomas de Lindesey was said to hold a quarter fee
there. ■• But Thomas was actually dead in I239,'' and
his heir held the quarter fee in 1242.' This heir was
apparently Gerard de Lindese}', son of Margery,* and
his sister Alice married Henry de Pynkeny. Henry,
before his death in 1253, gave 10 marks of land which
he held in Earls Barton in right of his wife to his
daughter Alice,' who married Ralph de Thorp, and his
son Henry confirmed the gift.* Alice, who died in
1289, had held the manor of Earls Barton of Robert
de Pynkeny, her nephew, but had surrendered it to
him, reserving the use of the hall, chambers, kitchen,
&c., during her life.' Her son Simon dc Thorp in 1 292
gave up to Robert de Pynkeny his claim in lands here,'"
though between 1329 and 1332 Simon's three daugh-
ters laid claim to the manor." During his minority
Simon de Thorp had been in ward to Seman de
Stokes,'* who appears in 1285 as holding part of a fee
in Barton.'^ Robert de Pynkeny died in 1295, and in
1 3 16 Robert his son held Barton Manor.''' Robert de
Pynkeny was still in possession in 1349," and had a
daughter Margaret'* who married William de Cham-
payne, whose grand-daughter Margaret was the wife
of John Sulney. The manor then followed the same
descent as Barnard's in Great Doddington (q.v.) until
1633, when John Barnard and his wife f^lizabeth were
in possession of the manor." From John Barnard the
Whitworth family evidently acquired Barnard's Manor,
but the exact date of the transfer is not known. In 1636
Myles Whitworth petitioned as a resident in Earls Bar-
ton'* and in 1655 Robert Whitworth had land there."
In 171 1 William and Robert Whitworth conveyed

certain tithes in Barton to William Manning.-" By 18 12
the Whitworths held Barnard's Manor and had also
acquired Holdcnby's Manor (q.v.) from the Earl of
Northampton.-' Subsequently the manor of Earls
Barton descended to T. W. Whitworth, whose trustees
held it in 1877. At the present day no manorial rights
are exercised in Earls Barton, but William Chetwode
Whitworth is principal landowner.

A second manor in Earls Barton called HOLDEN-
Sr'S and later SPENCER'S MJNOR was held in the
latter half of the 13th century by the Charnelcs, or
Carnail,-- family. In 1 247 .Agnes de Carnail conveyed
her lands in Barton to William de Carnail. -^ In 1275
William de Carnail was presented for having en-
croached on the high road in Barton, *< and in 1285 he,
with Seman de Stokes (guardian of Simon de Thorpe),-^
held a knight's fee there.** Another William, presum-
ably his son, in 1325 held J fee in Barton.*' In 1343
William and his wife Isabel transferred the manor to
their son William and his wife Joan.** In 1 346 William
held fees in Earls Barton.*' William de Carnail died
on 24 June 1 349, when the Black Death was raging
in this district, leaving as heir his daughter Maud, then
I year oldj^" in ward to John and Thomas de Carnail,

Charneles. Gulei ttvo
cheverons in a border or.

HoLDENBY. Aaure five
cinqfoili argent set saltirt'

brothers of William.^' In 1362 an inquisition was made
concerning the age of Maud, who had married Robert
de Holdenby.^* Robert and Maud in 1392 granted
certain lands out ot their manor to the nunnery of
Delaprc.^5 Robert de Holdcnby was succeeded by John;
after whom the manor descended to his son John
Holdenby and his wife Joan. Their son William^'' in
1456 granted to his mother certain lands in Barton for
her life. William's son William, who in 1490 granted
to his mother Agnes Nevill for life certain rents out of
hismanor,^' was the last of his family to hold the manor;
from him it appears to have passed to the Muscote
family. John Muscote died seised of land held of John
Barnard in Earls Barton in I 5 1 2 ; his heir was his son
Richard,-'* who in 1539 held 'Holdenbys Manor'. ^'
Richard Muscote died in 1558, having settled the
manor-"* on his wife Mary, who survived him, and was

■ Chan. Inq. p.m. (Scr. 2), ixvii, 133,
' Farrcr, Honors and Knights* Fees, ii,
344. ' Cat. Close, 1237-42, p. 369.

* Farrcr, loc. cit.

» 5*.o/f«», 938.

* Farrcr, op. cit. 345.

^ CaJ. Jnq. p.m. i, 304.
' Assize R. 632, m. 60.
' Cat. ln<f. p.m. ii, 752.
"■ Feet of ¥. Northani!. 21 Edw. I,
no. 303.

" Assiie R. 632, m. 6oj De Banco R.
292, m. 400.
'* Cal. Inff. p.m. ii, 316.
" Feud, /lids, iv, 17.

'* Feet of F. Northants. 10 Edw. II;
cf. Plac. de Quo IVarr. (Rec. Com.), 540.

" Cal. Close, 1346-9, p. 582.

'* Ped. fr. Plea /?. 373.

" Feetof F. Northants. Hil. 8 Chas. I.

'• Cal. S.P. Dom. 1636-7, i. 286.

'• Northants. A'. (^ Q. i, 39.

"• Feet of F. Northants. East. 10 Anne.

" Recov. R. East. 52 Geo. Ill, ro. 423.

^* Frequently printed as 'Carvail*.

" Feet of F. Northants. 31 Hen. III.

" llund. R. (Rec. Com.), ii, 12.

^* See above, n. 12.

'** Feud, .itds, iv, 17. In the return of
(he fees of John de Hastings in 1313 what

is apparently this quarter fee is laid to be
held by Michael dc Halughton, possibly
during a minority: Cal. Incj. p.m. v, 234,

" Cal. Close, 1323-7, p. 433.

'* Add. Chart. 21522.

" Feud. Aids, iv, 447.

J° Cal. In(j. p.m. \x, 321.

1' Exch. Accts. bdlc. 10, no. 25.

" Chan. Inq. p.m. 36 Edw. Ill, i, 144.

" Add. Chart. 21525.

" Ibid. 21528. " Ibid. 21529.

^'' Chan. Ifiq. p.m. (Ser. 2), \x\\\, 133.

" Rrcov. R. East. 31 Hen. VIII.

" Said to be held of Francis Barnard as
of bis manor of Earls Barton.

117

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

MUSCOTE.

engrailed

Gules a cross
argent ivith

Ji've roses gules thereon.

succeeded by his son John Muscote' who in 1566
alienated the manor to Sir John Spencer,^ who died in
1587, having settled the manor on his son Richard.^
On the death of Sir Richard in
1624 his manor came to his
second son Brockett.* No
ther mention has been fou
this family holding a manor in
Earls Barton, but like Great
Doddington (q.v.) in 1719 it
was in the hands of the Earl of
Northampton^ and from him it
descended to his grand-nephew
Charles* Lord Compton, who
held it in 1780.' In 181 1
Charles, then Earl of Northamp-
ton, still held this manor,* but by
1 8 1 2 it had been transferred to William Whitworth'
and followed the same descent as Barnard's Manor
(q.v.), with which it then became merged.

The Abbey of Delapre held an estate or manor
known as DELAPRET MANOR in Barton. At an
early date Roger son of Saer de WoUaston gave property
in Barton to this house.'" Subsequently Henry de
Pynkeny gave 8 virgates in Barton," and in 1 3 1 3,'- and
again in 1 349,'^ a half fee was returned as held jointly
by Robert de Pynkeny and the Abbess of Delapre. In
1329 the abbess successfully claimed frankpledge from
her tenants in her manor of Barton.'* In 1392 Robert
Holdenby granted land in Barton to the convent,' ^ and
about the same time grants were made to it by John
Mauntell and Thomas Bray.'* The value of these lands
held by Delapre in 1535 was ^^9 5/. annually." At the
Dissolution this estate passed to the Crown, and in
1537 Henry VIII granted /^20 of rent out of this and
other estates in Earls Barton to William Lee.'^ The
lands, which had been leased to various tenants, were
granted in 1553 to Anthony Brown and Richard
Weston," and ten years later Anthony Brown quit-
claimed the whole estate to Richard Weston.-" By 1604
Delaprey Manor was in the hands of Sir Richard
Spencer, owner of Holdenby's, and the two manors
descended together-' until 1812, when Delaprey was
among the manors held by William Whitworth. --

Another manor or estate named DR UEUS MANOR
was held of the Earl of Kent in 1495, when John
Druel of Newton Bromswold (q.v.) died seised of it and
was succeeded by his brother Richard.-^ It had been
held by John's grandmother Joan Druell alias Burne,
widow, until the previous year. The manor is not

mentioned by name again, but in 1540 Thomas
Carowe and John Knight alienated a third of a 'manor'
in Earls Barton to John Brown and Audrey his wife
and their son George.-'* This may refer to Druel's
Manor. In 1557 George Brown granted certain lands
to John Lord Mordaunt.-^ In 1609 Henry Lord Mor-
daunt, grandson ot John,-* died seised of a rent of
33^. 25^2'. issuing from lands in Earls Barton.^' No
further trace of this estate has been found.

THORP MANOR in the hamlet of that name seems
to have been 'Widetorp', in which, at the Domesday
Survey, Robert held of the Countess Judith 3 virgates
of land. ^* The overlordship descended with the honor
of Huntingdon. No further mention of the manor has
been found until 1375, when the manor of Thorp by
Barton was conveyed by Thomas Seymour, of Hard-
wick, to Robert Drakelowe and his wife Catherine and
their heirs.-' In 1491 Roger Salisbury died seised of
Thorp and left his son WiUiam as heir.^" William died
about 1 51 1 and the manor descended to his daughter
Mary, then married to Sir William Parre.^' In 1 5 19
Sir William Parre and his wife settled the manor on
Ralph Lane, who married Sir WiUiam's daughter
Maud.'^ In 1558 Sir Thomas Tresham held lands^^ in
Barton which had belonged to Sir William Parre, then
deceased, whose daughter Mary he had married.^*
Before the year 1580 the manor had been conveyed
to Thomas Tyringham, who in that year ahenated
it to Thomas Throckmorton^ ^ probably in trust for
Thomas Tresham, grandson of Sir Thomas Tresham
and Mary Parre, and his wife Muriel, daughter of Sir
Robert Throckmorton. 5* Nothing further has been
found in connexion with Thorp Manor.

At the time of the Conqueror's Survey there
MILLS were three mills in Earls Barton; these
rendered 28/. 6d. annually and were held by
the Countess Judith.^' In 1580 two water-mills were
held with Thorp Manor^* and in i 592 one was ap-
purtenant to the rectory then held by Clement Lewis. 3'
There was formerly in Earls Barton a
COURT court called the Baron's Mote held every
month by the Earls of Huntingdon.'"' To this
court aU who held of the honor of Huntingdon owed
suit and service.'"

The church of ALL SAINTS stands
CHURCH conspicuously on a prominent spur of land
that commands the road running up to the
village from the ford and mill in the valley below,''- and
occupies part of the site of a mote castle, or mound
fortress, the ditch of which remains on the north side.

' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cxv, 13;
Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), 127 (7).

^ Feet of F. Northants. East. 8 Eliz.
3 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxv, 58.
* Ibid, ccccxviii, 95.

Bridges, Northants, ii, 138.

G.E.C. Complete Peerage (ist ed.), vi,

7+-

Recov. R. Trin. 21 Geo. Ill, ro. 385.
8 Ibid. Hil. 51 Geo. Ill, ro. 212.
» Ibid. East. 52 Geo. Ill, ro. 4.23.
'" Dugdale, Mon. v, 210.
" Ibid. 213.

'- Cal. Inq. p.m. vi, p. 39 1.
'3 Cal. Close., 1346-9, p. 582.
'" Viae, de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.), 573.
■5 Add. Chart. 21525.
■'' Cal. Pat. 1391-6, p. 160; Chan.
Inq. p.m. 16 Ric. II, pt. ii, 42.
*7 Valor Eccles. (Rec. Com.), iv, 321.
'8 L. and P. Hen. Vlll, xiii, pt. i, 583.

"> Pat. 7 Edw. VI, pt. 7, m. 6.

2» Com. Pleas D. Enr. Trin. 5 Eliz.

" Feet of F. Northants. Hil. 2 Jas. I;
ibid. East. 5 Chas. I; ibid. Hil. 4 & 5
Wm. and Mary.

" Recov. R. East. 52 Geo. Ill, ro. 423.

^5 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xi, m. 53.

^-t Feet of F. Northants. Hil. 31 Hen.
VIII. Audrey was still holding in 1553 :
Recov. R. Hil. i Mary, ro. 415.

^5 Com. Pleas. D. Enr. East, i Edw. VI,
m. 4 d.

■'> G.E.C. Peerage, v, 366.

■^^ Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccix, 200.

28 y.C.H. Northants. i, 354.

" Feet of F. Northants. 49 Edw. III.

3» Cal. In<j. p.m. Hen. FII, i, p. 341.

3' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), Ixxviii, 38.

32 Burke, Extinct Peerages, 419.

'3 Pat. 5 & 6 Ph. and M. pt. iii, 10.

3-* Burke, loc. cit.

118

3S Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 21 & 22
Eliz.

'*• Lipscomb, Hist, of Bucks, iv, 373.

^^ V.C.H. Northants. i, 351.

'8 Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 21 & 22
Eliz.

J' Pat. 35 Eliz. pt. 5.

•"' Chan. Inq. p.m. 49 Edw. Ill, pt. i, 70.

■•' Bridges, Northants. ii, 138.

■♦- G. Baldwin Brown, Arts in Early Eng.
i, 297. The late Prof. Baldwin Brown's
account of the Saxon tower is, with permis-
sion, made use of in our description. The
site is about 170 ft. above the River Nene.
Sir William Hope explained the nearness
of the mount to the church by the fact that
the nave was originally aisleless and the
graveyard on the north side of it of small
extent, thus leaving plenty of room for the
mount and ditch: Arch. Jour. Ixix, 513.

HAMFORDSHOE HUNDRED earls barton

The site has been already described.' The building
consists of chancel, 43 ft. 6 in. by 16 ft. 9 in.;^ clere-
storied nave, 51 ft. by 22 ft.; north and south aisles,
respectively 12 ft. 9 in. and 13 ft. wide; south porch,
and west tower, 14 ft. 9 in. by 15 ft. 9 in.,' all these
measurements being internal. The width across the
nave and aisles is 53 ft. There is a small modern organ-
chamber on the north side of the chancel.

The church is of exceptional interest as possessing a
late Saxon tower which is generally agreed to be both
the finest existing specimen of pre-Conquest work'* and
the most noteworthy architectural monument of its
period in England,^ as well as features ranging from the
1 2th to the I 5th centuries. The tower alone is earlier

roof, and the nave and aisles roofs of low pitch, all
leaded.

The tower is of four unequal stages and is 68 ft. 8 in.
in height to the top of the modern battlemented para-
pet, with an external width on the west face of 24 ft.
The walls are about 4 ft. thick above a simple square
plinth, but decrease as they ascend to 2 ft. 6 in. at the
bell-chamber stage by a scries of set-offs. The stages, or
horizontal divisions, are marked by string-courses, of
which the first has a hollow chamfer, the other two
being square in section, and the quoins show pro-
nounced long-and-short work. The faces of the walling
are enriched by pilaster strips about 4 in. in width,
between which the rubble is plastered, the strips being

:\ /^\ ^"Tz;^

nnif 050

■ l2fflCl-NT

Ec.1250

Scl300

llHaCENT

S ism Cent
[iij Modern

Scale of Feet
10 20 30

Plan of Earls Barton Church

than the Conquest, but the quoins of an aisleless early
1 2th-century nave remain at the two eastern angles and
less perfectly at the west end, while the south doorway
is off. 1 180, but was rebuilt when the south aisle was
made. The 12th-century chancel was lengthened and
altered c. 1250, and about the same time aisles were
added to the nave, the south aisle being the earlier.
The north arcade is of c. 1 290-1 300, but both aisles
were altered in the 14th century, when the arches of the
nave arcades seem to have been reconstructed and a
new chancel arch erected upon the 12th-century jambs;
the outer walls of the north aisle were entirely rebuilt
and new windows inserted in the chancel and south
aisle. Other windows were made in the chancel in the
1 5th century and the clerestory was added. The build-
ing was restored in 1868-70, when the roofs'" were
renewed, a west gallery removed, the porch rebuilt, and
the organ-chamber added.'

The walls arc of rubble, plastered internally, with
plain ashlar parapets; the chancel has a high-pitched

joined by round arches at the bottom of the second
stage, and by diagonal bands of strip work forming
straight-sided arches in the third stage. The eastern
quoins are as marked as the western and are completed
down to the ground, the 12th-century nave being built
up against them. It is therefore possible that the ground
story of the tower formed the body, or main interior
division, of the original church, and had a narrower,
square-ended chancel on the eastern side, but there is
no indication of a western adjunct' as at Barton-on-
Humber. Unfortunately, at Earls Barton the eastern
arch opening to the nave was altered and widened later,
and its original form lost. Whatever the nature of the
eastern limb, however, its roof was of high pitch, the
apex of the gable reaching to the lower part of the third
stage of the tower, where its marks still remain.

The west doorway has a semicircular moulded'
head, which on the exterior is cut out of two stones,
but internally the whole head is formed of a single
block. The doorway, which is 3 ft. 3 in. wide and

' F.C.H. Norlhatili. ii, 405, where a
plan is given.

' This is the width of the older western
part; at the east end it is iS ft. 3 in.
wide.

' The greater dimension is from north
to south.

* Baldwin Brown, op. cit. i, 65.

> Ibid, ii, zSj (ed. 1925, hereafter used}.

' Before the restoration the roof of the
nave is said to have been of 15th-century
date. The chancel roof was 'comparatively
modem' and cut across the east window
and the chancel arch : Atsoc, Arch, Soc,
Repii. I, p. xiiv.

' Assoc. Arch. Soc. Rfpts. ix, p. xcvii ;
X, pp. XXXV, xci; xi, p. xciv. The architect
in charge of the restoration was Mr. E. F,

Law. The nave arcades were rebuilt with
the old material, and the external stone-
work and windows extensively restored.
The north aisle was repaired in 1877:
ibid, xiv, p. xli.

* The treatment of the face of the tower
teems to preclude the idea.

* Two mouldings of half-round section.

119

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

7 ft. 7 in. high to the crown of the arch, is cut straight
through the wall, and the door was suspended on the
inner face by iron hooks. The jambs are formed by
large slabs set upright, alternating with flat stones, but
they differ in construction, on the north side a single
slab 4 ft. 6 in. high, 6 in. thick, and 3 tt. 7 in. deep
forming almost the whole height of the jamb. The
doorway is enriched with an outer order of upright
pilaster strips bent round above in the shape of the
arch, and upon the outer and inner faces of the square
imposts is an incised arcading, which may have been
added in the 12th century. The plinths are square
blocks.

Immediately above the doorway is a round-headed,
internally splayed 12th-century window, taking the
place of an original double window, like that in the
south w-all of the tower. This is double splayed with
cross-shaped piercings in the mid-wall slabs, whereas
those on the western side were circular.' Externally
the openings are ornamented with three projecting
baluster shafts set on square corbels, and above each is
an enrichment of narrow roll-mouldings disposed about
a central cross carved in relief.- The openings occupy
the upper part ot the two middle vertical spaces
between the pilaster strips, immediately below the
string course, the south face of the tower being divided
into six such spaces; on the north side there are only
five, and both of the lower stages are quite plain.

In the second stage, except on the north, are round-
headed upper doorways.' That on the east side, which
is placed higher than the others, now gives access to
the roof of the nave, but originally opened into a space
between an upper and an under roof'' On the south
and west sides the doorways, which are 2 ft. 6 in. wide
by 7 ft. in height, provide egress from near the floor
of the ringing chamber, but the external apertures are
at too great a height from the ground to admit of access
by a ladder from the outside, nor is there any sign of a
gallery or platform. In the third stage, one on each
of the four sides, are small triangular-headed openings'
which, like the doorways in the stage below, are cut
straight through the thickness of the wall without any
splay.*

The short upper, or bell-chamber stage has on each
face a group of five round-headed openings so arranged
that the main part of the wall is carried by simple
square stone pillars, while the baluster shafts, which are
intended to be seen, are thrust forward to the external
edge of the opening. The shafts differ from those
generally in use, being mostly oblong in plan instead
of round, and only equipped with mouldings on their
outer faces.'

The present opening from the tower to the nave
is of the late 13th century, with re-use of 12th-century
material, and is 1 2 ft. 6 in. wide. The arch is a pointed
one of three chamfered orders dying out above plain
jambs with scalloped and moulded imposts, and the
outer order facing east has a double row of billet

moulding. The ground floor of the tower is now a
vestry and has a modern floor at the height of the crown
of the arch.

Of the 12th-century nave only the angles with their
ashlar quoin-stones and the jambs of the chancel arch*
remain in position, the south doorway having been
moved outward. It has an enriched semicircular arch
of three orders, the innermost continuous with chevron
ornament and plain soffit, the two outer on nook-shafts
with sculptured capitals and moulded imposts and
bases. The chevron is also used on the outer order, and
the middle order has beak-heads on an angle roll, the
soffits in each case being plain; the hood-mould has a
circular arched ornament. The circular inner shafts are
enriched with spiral decoration, but the others are
octagonal in section with studded and plain chevrons.
The west capital of the middle order has a bird with
wings displayed at the angle.

The opening of the chancel arch is the full width of
the 12th-century chancel, with two shafts on each side
towards the nave, all with cushion capitals. Upon these
is a I4.th-century arch of three orders facing west and
two on the east side, the latter chamfered, the former
with wave-moulding.

The side walls of the Norman chancel still form the
western part of the present structure for a distance of
about 24 ft. At this point on either side the walling
is reduced in thickness where the 13th-century work
begins, thus increasing the width of the chancel at the
east end by 18 in. Externally a flat, shallow buttress
remains on each side 12 ft. from the west end, but no
original windows have survived, and the internal wall-
arcading, which seems to have been carried all round
the 12th-century chancel, was reconstructed and some
of the spare arches from the east end were inserted as
sedilia in the new part of the south wall,* while pieces
of chevron ornament, probably from the jambs of
earlier windows, were built up at the interior angles of
the old walls at their junction with the thinner walls
of the added portion.' On the south side the wall
arcade now consists of six semicircular arches with
chevron moulding, on shafts'" with scalloped capitals, on
a continuous bench-table, the easternmost arch being
occupied by a rectangular aumbry. On the north side
are five similar arches, with the springing of a sixth at
the junction of the old and new work, but the capitals
of the shafts vary, one being cushioned, another scal-
loped, one with volutes, and two sculptured. Over
each arcade, at sill level, is a string-course with double
billet moulding. The arcading now begins about 5ft.
from the entrance to the chancel, two low-side windows
having been introduced at the west end opposite to
each other. That on the south is pointed, with cham-
fered arch and hood-mould terminating in corbels,
whilst the other is a plain rectangular opening. Both
have flat sills forming seats and on the north side the
hooks for the shutter remain." The moulded, round-
headed priest's doorway apparently belongs to the

' Baldwin Brown, op. cit. ii, 286.

2 Ibid, ii, 287; y.C.H. Norlhanls. ii,
193.

3 'Enigmatical doorways, apparently
leading no whither', Baldwin Brown, op.
cit. ii, 287; the subject is discussed, ibid.

337-

* Ibid, ii, 336.

5 That on the east side again at a higher
level.

' 'This is usual in the case of doorways.

but quite abnormal in that of window
openings, which especially in late Saxon
work are always deeply splayed either
internally or on both faces of the wall' :
Baldwin Brown, op. cit. ii, 287.

' Ibid, ii, 263. The earliest and most
elaborate shafts were turned in a lathe;
the Earls Barton shafts are roughly hewn
to shape by mallet and chisel, and may be
regarded as clumsy imitations of the turned
balusters.

8 Arch. your. Ixix, 5 i 2.

•> Ibid.

■° One shaft has gone.

'' Assoc. Arch. Soc. Repts, xxix, 405.
Both windows are 1 3 in. from the aisle
wall outside and their sills are 3 ft. 4 in.
above the floor. The north window is
5 ft. high by I ft. 7 in. wide, the south
window 3 ft. II in. by i ft. 4. in. They
are probably of 13th-century date.

120

l.AKi.^ Barton C'lirRcn: The Tower, i rom the North-West

Earls Barton Church: Detail of Tower

Earls Barton Church: South Door

HAMFORDSHOE HUNDRED earls barton

13th-century work; it has a keel-shaped hood-mould
and roll-moulded jambs.

The added portion of the chancel, about 20 ft. in
length, has coupled angle buttresses, moulded plinth,
and keel-shaped string-course at sill level,' the latter
continued westward on the south side. The east win-
dow is of three grouped lancets with shafted mullions,
moulded jambs,^ and separate hood-moulds, and in the
gable above is a sexfoil opening with continuous label.
At the east end of the north wall is a single widely
splayed lancet, but all the other windows in the chancel
are insertions of 14th- and 15th-century date, each of
two lights, that at the east end of the south wall being
four-centred, the others square-headed. Below the
modern parapet is a hollow string-course, apparently
contemporary with the 14th-century windows. Intern-
ally, the keel-shaped string is repeated all round the
1 3th-century extension, but the wall below has modern
panelling at the east end with a return on each side.
The trefoiled piscina has a fluted projecting bowl and
stone shelf and the triple stepped sedilia, as already
stated, are made up from the displaced Norman wall
arcade, with round chevron arches and shafts with
cushion capitals.^

The 1 3th-century south arcade of the nave consists
of three pointed arches of two chamfered orders, with
hood-mould on one side, springing from octagonal piers
with moulded capitals and bases, and from keel-shaped
responds. The bases stand on square plinths of masonry
probably portions of the 12th-century wall through
which the arcade was cut. There is a keel-shaped string
all round the aisle inside and out, and the shallow but-
tresses are contemporary with the walling, but all the
windows are 14th-century insertions, with ogee heads
and, except at the east end, of two trefoiled lights with
elongated quatrefoil in the head; the east window is of
three lights with reticulated tracery, and its sill is
dropped inside as a reredos for the aisle altar. To the
north of it is a rectangular aumbry, and in the south wall
a trefoiled moulded piscina with plain circular bowl.

The later north arcade is also of three bays, with
arches of two sunk-chamfered orders divided by a case-
ment, springing from clustered piers consisting of four
half-round shafts with small intervening rolls, and four
responds of similar section, all with moulded capitals
and bases. The north aisle walls were wholly rebuilt
in the 14th century and have angle buttresses of two
stages and a moulded string-course at sill level inside
and out. The windows are of similar t}'pe to those in
the south aisle, with moulded rear arches, and the door-
way has a continuous moulding of three members. On
the south side of the east window is an image-bracket
with carved head and on the north another formed from
a 13th-century capital, but no ritual arrangements have
survived. In the north wall is a locker for a proces-
sional cross.

There are four square-headed clerestory windows of
two trefoiled lights on each side. The porch has been

rebuilt on the old lines, much of the old masonry being
re-used; the outer arch is of two orders on clustered
shafts with moulded capitals and bases which are 14th-
century work much restored. The side windows are
modern.

The 15th-century traceried rood-screen has been
much restored and painted;* it has two subdivided
openings on each side of the doorway and plain lower
panels with traceried heads, carved rail and cornice, and
vaulted cover. There is a modern rood with three
figures.

The hexagonal dark oak Jacobean pulpit has five of
its sides elaborately panelled in two tiers, the lower
arched, the upper oblong; it stands on a modern stone
base. The font dates from 1877 and is in the 1 3th-cen-
tury style. There is a plain oak chest with the marks
of three locks, and the royal arms of one of the
Hanoverian Georges are over the tower arch. The
seating and fittings are all modern.

The brass of John Muscote (d. 1512) and Alice his
wife, formerly in the floor of the nave, is now on the
south jamb of the tower arch. The figures of the man
and wife and one of the evangelists' symbols' remain,
but the other symbols, the inscription, and the figures
of four sons and twelve daughters are gone.*

In the church are preserved two quarries of glass
from the old vicarage, with scratched inscriptions
recording the marriage of Thomas Gery Bennet,^
13 June 1745, ^"'i the birth of his son Thomas,
25 March 1748.

There are mural tablets, from 1790, to members of
the Whitworth family, and on the outside of the south
wall of the chancel is a memorial to James Harris, who
died in 1605 aged 93, inscribed 'Tlie loss of friends is
much, the losse of time is more. The losse of Christ is
much more worse, which no man can restore.'

There is a ring of eight bells, the treble, second, and
fourth dated 1720, the third by Edward Arnold of
St. Neots 1775, and the tenor by Thomas Eayre of
Kettering 1761.' The former fifth was recast and
increased in weight, becoming the seventh, in 1935,
when two new bells were given by the Barron Bell
Trust, inscribed 'In the year of the King's Silver
Jubilee'. All the bells were then rehung in a new oak
frame.'

The plate is all modern and comprises a silver cup,
paten, flagon, bread-holder, and alms dish of 1 8 14, the
first four given by Elizabeth Whitworth, spinster, in
that year. There is also a pewter flagon. The alms dish
was made from 'a silver cup with cover of silver' which
is mentioned in 1647, and may have been Eliza-
bethan.'"

The registers before 1 8 1 2 are as follows: (i) baptisms
I 558-1686, 1691-2, 1705-28," marriages 1559-68,
1579-87, I 591-1678, 1705-25, burials i 558-1678,
1682-85, 1705-28; (ii) baptisms 1730-69, 1770-5,
1777-83, marriages 1730-53, burials 1730--67, 1770-
2, 1777-83; (iii) baptisms 1784-1812, burials 1789-

' At .1 bright of 8 ft. above the ground.

' Internally the jambs as wcU as the
mullions are shafted and have moulded
capitals and bases ; the rear arch is moulded.

' The middle arch alone is perfect; the
eastern arch was replaced by a 15th-cen-
tury head when the window above was
inserted.

♦ The west side of the screen was
decorated, the lower panels being painted
with hgurcs of saints unconventionally

treated, by Mr. Henry Bird in 1935.
5 That of St. Matthew.

* The brass was originally at the west
end of the nave. It was moved to its
present position in 1905. The inscription
is given in Bridges, Hiit. of NortAantt. ii,

'39-

' Vicar 1745-87.

• North, CA. Belli of Norlkantt. 25+,
where the inscriptions arc given. The
fifth is by Henry Pcnn of Peterborough,

who probably cast the others of the same
date. When Bridges wrote there were
five bells, the second inscribed 'Robertus
Skalis quondam vicarius de Lokington
dedit hanc campanam' : op. cit. ii, 1 38.
» Horlhampton Mercury, 5 Apr. 1935.

'° Markham, Ch. Plalc of Northjnli.
106.

" One entry each year in 1687, 1689,
1696, 1697, 1700, 1701, and 1702.

121

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

l8l2; (iv) marriages 1754-93. There is also a clerk's
book containing entries of baptisms 1695-1705, mar-
riages 1697-1702, and burials 1695-1704.

The advowson of the church of Earls
ADVOWSON Barton was part of the gift of Simon
de St. Liz, Earl of Northampton,
to the abbey of Delapre.' With the abbey the
advowson continued until the reign of Henry VIII;
but on several occasions different persons were patrons
by permission of the abbess.^ In 1535 the profits
issuing from the church were valued at ^lo.^ After the
Dissolution the advowson was retained by the Crown
until 1867.'* In 1868 it was held by Edward
Thornton, and is now in the gift of the Martyrs
Memorial Trust. 5

The rectory of Earl's Barton was let out to various
tenants* by the abbey, the annual rent in 1535 being
^"14.' After the Dissolution the rectory was the subject
of various grants by the Crown. In 1543 Sir William
Parre obtained a life grant.* In 1550 the king granted
it to Ralph Sherman for a term of 21 years after the
expiration of the grant to Parre.' Elizabeth in 1567
granted the rectory for a term of 21 years to Christo-
pher Lewis,'" from whom it descended to Clement
Lewis and his heirs;" it remained in this family until
1623.'^ In 1656 the rectory was under sequestration '^
and after that date the tithes from small parts of land
were held by various tenants.'^

William Farrow, who died 23 Octo-

CHARITIES ber 1750, gave a rent-charge of /^i loj'.

a year to buy coats for two poor men.

This charge is paid out of Mercer's Farm and is

applied in the distribution of coats when there is
sufficient in hand.

The charity of Henry Medbury, founded by will
27 December 1705 and regulated by a scheme of the
Charity Commissioners dated 12 February 1892, is
described under the parish of Islip. The trustees of the
Earls Barton Charity, consisting of the vicar, the parish
warden, and the chairman of the parish council,
receive ^3 yearly, which is distributed to the poor in
small cash payments.

Elizabeth Whitworth, widow, by her will proved
I June 1 844, gave to her brother William ^^i 30 to pur-
chase clothing for the poor, and by codicil to her will a
further j{^i 00, the interest to be distributed on 24Decem-
ber in half-crowns. These legacies are now represented
by a sum of /^I56 6x. 512'. Consols producing ;^3 18/.
yearly in dividends. The income is applied partly in
clothing and partly in the distribution of half-crowns.

Mrs. Mary Whitworth's Almshouses for poor
women, founded by will dated 16 February 1823, are .
regulated by a scheme of the Charity Commissioners
dated 12 January 1877. The property consists of three
cottages, the trustees being the lord of the manor of
Earls Barton and three others.

Church and Clock Land. By an award of the Inclo-
sure Commissioners in 1771 9 a. 2 r. 11 p. of land in
East Rye Field were allotted to the churchwardens for
the repair of the church and clock and other church
expenses. The land is let in allotments and produced
^36 in 1924.

The several sums of Stock are with the Official
Trustees.

ECTON

Echentone, Ekenton, Eketon (xi-xv cent.); Ekton,
Ecton (xv-xx cent.).

The parish of Ecton covers about 2,300 acres. It
lies on the side of a hill which rises gradually from
the River Nene, the southern boundary, to a height of
360 ft. towards the parishes of Sywell and Overstone
on the north. The soil is light loam and gravel with a
clay subsoil; the chief crops are wheat, beans, and roots.
The south part of the parish is covered by a part of the
irrigation farm of the Northampton Corporation, and
the land near the river is liable to floods.

The village of Ecton is built along both sides of a road
which leads from the river up the hill to the main road
from Northampton to Wellingborough, on which lies the
World's End Inn, mentioned in 1 67 8 '5 but rebuilt about
1765. The approach to Ecton village from Northamp-
ton is shaded by two rows of ancient elms. A two-story
house of ironstone, with mullioned windows, at the
south-east end of the village bears the date 1695, another
1697, and a tablet on a shop shows that it was formerly
the free school, built by John Palmer in 1752. The
rectory house was originally erected by John Palmer,
(rector 1641-79) but rebuilt in its present form by his

grandson Eyre Whalley in 1693. It is of two stories with
a well-designed front elevation of dressed ironstone and a
slated hipped roof. The interior has been much modern-
ized, but retains a fine 17th-century oak staircase with
turned balusters. In the landing window are the arms of
John Palmer (i 641), Thomas Palmer (i 691), and Eyre
Whalley (1735), rectors, and one of the upper rooms
contains excellent 18th-century panelling.'* Ecton Hall,
the seat of Lt.-Col. Sotheby, stands high, commanding
extensive views. It has a good front, of ironstone, built
in 1756, but incorporates work of an earlier date."

John Cole in his account of the parish, written in
1825, says: 'There isa tradition that Ecton was formerly
a market town, and that the market was held in a field
now well known by the name of Dove-house Close,
but there is no confirmation of this report to be found
in the fragment of the usual market-cross in the village.'
Ecton was the birthplace of Benjamin Franklin's
father, whose family had lived in the parish upwards of
three hundred years.'* From about 1687 to 1703 Henry
Bagley, who is buried in the church, carried on a bell-
foundry in Ecton." The Board school was built in
1876. There are Baptist and Methodist chapels. The

' Dugdale, A/on. v, 207.

^ Epis. Regs, cited by Bridges, A'or-
thanti. ii, 138.

3 Vahr Eccles. (Rec. Com.), iv, 305.

■> Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).

5 Clergy Guides.

' Pat. 10 Eliz. pt. 5.

' yalor Eccles. (Rec. Com.), iv, 305 and
321.

8 L. and P. Hen. VUl, xviii (i), 347.

1 Cal. S.P. Don. 1547-80, p. 31.

"> Pat. R. ioEliz.pt. 5.

" Ibid. 35 Eliz. pt. 5.

" Recov. R. Mich. 21 Jas. I.

" Cal. S.P. Dom. 1656-7, p. 192.

'■' Feet of F. Northants. Trin. 10 Wm.
and M.; ibid. Hil. 11 Wm. and M.j ibid.
East. 10 Anne; ibid. East. 3 Geo. I.

'5 Ex inf. Canon Jephson, rector (d.
■935)-

'* There is a long description of the
rectory as it was in 1825 in Cole's Hist, of
Ecton., 44. It stands immediately north of
the church.

'7 A detailed description of the furniture
and pictures is given by Cole, op. cit. 32—

43-

" Ibid. 57; Benj. Franklin, Autobiog.
ch. i.

'» y.C.H. Northants. ii, 307.

122

HAMFORDSHOE HUNDRED

ECTON

population, which numbered 447 in 193 1, is chiefly
employed in agriculture. Ecton parish was inclosed in

'759:'.

British coins of the late Celtic Age have been found
in the parish,^ and Anglo-Saxon remains in the garden
at Ecton House.'

In 1086 Henry de Ferrers held of the
MANORS king 4 hides, valued at 100/., in Ecton;
Bundi had held them in the Confessor's
time, when they had been worth £7,.* This land formed
part of the honor of Tutbury. .^fter the death of
Henry de Ferrers the overlordship passed to his son
Robert, i st Earl of Derby, and with the other pos-

vmn

Ferrers, fairy or and
gules.

Lancaster. England
•with a label of France.

sessions of the Earls of Derby and Ferrers became
merged in the Duchy of Lancaster. The last mention
of the overlordship occurs in 1575, when it was held as
parcel of the Duchy by suit of court and 5/. <)d. rent.'
About 1428 Ecton passed to a younger branch of the
Montgomery family, who held this manor, together with
that of Cubley in Derbyshire, of the Tutbury honor.
Between 1482 and 1529 Ecton is found held of the
senior branch of the familv as of their manor of Cubley.*
The first tenant in ECTON or MONTGOMERIES
MANOR was Ralf, who held 4 hides of Henry de
Ferrers in 1086.' These hides were held at the time of
the Northamptonshire Survey by William de Mont-
gomery.' Probably this land was
part of the 4 knights' fees held in
1 166 by Walter de Montgomer)',
from whom the land passed to
William de Montgomery by
1 177.' This William was suc-
ceeded by Sir William, who held
two fees in 1242.'° In 1284
William held l fee in Ecton and
his son Ralph had § of a fee" in
the same place, which he held
from Isabel de Forz, Countess of
Devon. '^ In 1297 William de
Montgomery held the manor of Ecton and manors in
Derbyshire as 7 fees." By the year 1 3 16 Walterde Mont-
gomery, probably his son, held Ecton;'* he died in 1 324

Montgomery. Or
eagle azure.

and was succeeded by his grandson Walter," who was
holding in 1 346. This Walter's younger son Walter'*
had I J fees in 1428;" his brother Nicholas succeeded
to the manor of Cubley in Derby, and from him and his
heirs the younger branch held Ecton.'* In 1482 a John
Montgomery died seised of a part of Ecton Manor
which had been settled on him and Margaret, daughter
of William Holdenby, on their marriage in 1449. The
residue had been granted in 1475 to John's son William
and his wife Elizabeth; William, therefore, succeeded
tothe whole of the manor." Michael Montgomery died
holding the manor in 1 507, and Thomas Montgomery,
his kinsman, succeeded to the estate," which on his
death in i 529 descended to his son Michael, then aged
14.^' Thomas left an annuity of 10 marks out of the
manor to his younger brothers,^^ which was the subject
of litigation after his death. ^' In i 567 Lewis Mont-
gomery, son of Michael,^* settled the manor on his wife
Jane, daughter of Sir Robert Lane. He appears to
have left two parts of Ecton Manor to her for her life,
the remaining part to Jane, probably a daughter, the
wife of Thomas Eaton. ^s The manor was ultimately to
revert to his brother William Montgomery, who in
1574, together with his brother Theophilus, alienated
their reversionary in terest in Ecton to Thomas Catesby.^*
Thomas Catesby died in 1592 and was succeeded by his
son George, then about 1 5 years old.^' George stiU held

<l>4>

IsTED. Gules a che'veron

fair bet'ween three tal'

hoti* heads ra%ed or.

SoTHEBY. Argent afesse
vert betiveen three cross-
lets sable ivitA three tal-
bots argent on the fesse.

' Priv. Loc. Act, 32 Ceo. II, cjp. i.
» r.C.H. Sorthants. i, 155.
' Ibid, i, 236.

* Ibid, i, 333.

» Mem. R. L.T.R. Mich. 18 Elii.

' Chan. In<]. p.m. 22 Edw. IV, 41 ; ibid.
(Ser. 2), iii, 8.

' y.C.ti. Northanis. I, 333.

' Ibid. 382. This miy be cither a pre-
decessor of Walter or his successor.

• Ibid.

"> B*. o/f«», 934.

" Feud. Aids, iv, 14.

» In 1268 Hen. Ill granted Isabel in
marriage to his son Edmund Plantagcnct,
sometimes called Earl of Derby, but the

marriage never took place and the following
year Edmund married her daughter Aveline:
C.E.C. Complete Peerage (2nd cd.), i. 356.

" Cal. Intj. p.m. ii, p. 3 1 1.

'< Feud. Aids, iv, 27.

'* Chan. Inq. p.m. 17 Edw. II, no. 66.

'» Feet of F. Uerb. East. 38 Edw. III.

" Feud. Aids, iv, 46.

'« Feet of F. Uerb. East. 38 Edw. III.

" Chan. Inq. p.m. 22 Edw. IV, no. 41,

" Ibid. (Ser. 2), xxi, 8.

" Exch. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), file 692, 4.

" Ct. of Req. I (183).

" Ibid. I (132).

» Harl. MS. 1187, fol. 56*.

" Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdlc. 1 66, no. 1 2.

the manor in 1650.^* From Thomas Catesby, who
died seised of the manor in 1699, it descended to his
daughter-' Elizabeth,'" who married Ralph Freeman. In
1 7 1 2 Ecton Manor was alienated by Ralph Freeman to
Thomas Isted," who was succeeded in 173 1 by his son
Ambrose. In 1745 Ambrose Isted received licence to
inclose certain highwa}-s in Ecton provided he made
another common highway in his own lands.'^ He died
in 1 78 1 and his estates devolved on his son Samuel; his
daughter Mary married William Sotheby." Samuel
Isted died in 1827 and his son Ambrose died without
issue in 1 88 1 , when Ecton passed to his first cousin once
removed, C. W. H. Sotheby,'* and is at present the
property of Lt.-Col. Herbert George Sotheby, D.S.O.

" Feet of F. Northants. 28 East. 16
Eliz. Two years later Arthur the youngest
brother gave up his right in the manor to
Thomas Catesby: Feet of F. Northants.
East. 18 Eliz.

" Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxxxii, 73;
Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. 273, no. 27.

" Recov. R. East. 1650, ro. 172.

*' Bridges, Northants. ii, 142.

'<> Feet of F. Northants. Mich. 1 1
Wm. III.

" Ibid. Mich. 1 1 Anne.

" Pat. 18 Ceo. II, pt. ii, m. 38.

» Burke, Landed Gentry, 1 880.

** Information supplied by the late
Ccncral Sotiicby.

123

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

In the 1 5th century Sir Thomas Tresham of Sywell
held a considerable estate in Ecton described as ECTON
MANOR. In 1462 Edward IV granted to John Donne,
one of the ushers of his chamber, the manor of Ecton
recently forfeited by Sir Thomas Tresham.' In 1480
Edward IV granted these same lands to his servant Wm.
Sayer and his wife for life,^ and four years later they
were bestowed upon Edward Brampton and his heirs
male.^ After this date there is no further mention of the
Tresham estate, but it is possibly identical with the
manor held by Francis Catesby in 1527, when he willed
that Francis, second son of his nephew Anthony

Ecton: The Village

Catesby, should succeed to his manor of Ecton. He
died the following year and Anthony, son of his brother
Humphrey and father of Francis mentioned above, then
held the estate, probably in trust for his son."* Francis
Catesby the younger died in 1537, his heir being his
elder son Thomas, then aged 3.^ In 1575 Thomas,
then of full age, claimed J of his father's lands,* and in
1 581 he compounded for the estate with his mother
Mary and her husband Nicholas Thorne, who sur-
rendered it to him in 1598.' To this Thomas the
Montgomerys alienated their more important manor of
Ecton (q.v.) in 1574,* in which this property becomes
henceforward merged.

A third manor was formerly held by the abbey of
Warden. In 1291 the abbot held lands in Ecton valued
yearly at £■} 13/. 7a'.;' in 1535 these, including the
grange of Ecton, were valued at 6is. bd}° After the
Dissolution, the estate, called ECTON MANOR, was
granted in i 540 at a yearly rent of 6j. to John Gostwyk
and Joan his wife;" they in the same year received

licence to alienate it to William NichoUs.'^ In 1585
Augustine, second son of Thomas NichoUs and grand-
son of the original grantee, alienated his manor to
Edward Stonynge and Julia his wife,'^ who in 1586
conveyed it to John Freeman.''* In May 1606 John
Freeman settled part of his estate on his son Francis on
his marriage with Thomasine Andrews, with remainder
to his daughter Margaret, wife of Sir Robert Osborne.
At the death of John Freeman in 161 5 his heir was his
grand-daughter Catherine, wife of Sir Edward Gorges
and daughter of Margaret Osborne deceased," and in
1627 they transferred the manor to Sir Anthony
Haselwood.'* From this date
until 1678 there is no mention
of the manor; but in 1678
Thomas Hackoll bought the
manor of Ecton, situated in the
Abbot's or Prior's Hyde, from
William Bernard for the sum of
^^650." In 1689 Nicholas, son
of Thomas Hackoll leased this
property for a term of 900 years
to Henry Bagley, bell-founder
in Ecton,'* and in the same year
he sold him the mansion house
of Ecton." After this date no
further trace of the Warden
manor has been found.

In 1086 there were two mills
in Ecton worth \\s?-° Of these
mills one remained attached to
the main manor (q-v.), the other
appears to have passed to the
abbey of Warden which pos-
sessed a mill in Ecton as early
as 1291.^'

In 1629 Charles I granted a
court leet and view of frank-
pledge in Ecton to Robert Owen
and his heirs. ^^
Cole {c. 1825) states that there is said to have been a
nunnery or cell subordinate to Delapre Abbey, and
describing Ecton House he writes: 'At the back of the
house is a yard bounded by high walls, which still
retains the name of Nuns' Court.'-^ There is no record
of any land in the parish having belonged to the nuns,
but in 1538 'all liberties belonging to the Priory of St.
Mary' in Ecton were granted to Anthony Denny and
Joan Champernowne, whom he was going to marry. ^^
The parish church of ST. MART
CHURCH MAGDALEN consists of chancel, 41 ft.
by 14 ft. 10 in., with north and south
chapels;^' clerestoried nave, 59 ft. by 20 ft.; north aisle,
12 ft. wide; south aisle, 9 ft. 6 in. wide; north and
south porches, and west tower, 12 ft. 6 in. square, all
these measurements being internal. The chapels are
continuations eastward of the aisles and cover the
chancel for about half its length.

The church is built throughout of ironstone rubble
except the later upper stage of the tower which is of

' Cat. Pat. 146 1-7, p. Ill; ibid. p. 431.

2 Ibid. 1476-85, p. 201.

' Ibid, p. 416.

■• Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xlviii, 170.

5 Ibid, cxiv, 9.

<> Mcm.R. L.T.R.Mich. i8Eliz.m.44.

' Chan. Proc. C. c. 14 Eliz. no. 44.

8 Feet of F. Northants. East. 16 Eliz.

» Pope Nkh. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 54.

'<> Valor Eccks. (Rec. Com.), iv, 193.

" Pat. 31 Hen. VIII, pt. i, m. 16.

" L. and P. Hen. Fill, xv, p. 342.

" Recov. R. Hil. 27 Eliz. ro. 12; Feet
of F. Northants. Mich. 27 & 28 Eliz.

■t Ibid. Mich. 28 & 29 Eliz.

^5 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxlix, 157.

'* Feet of F. Northants. East. 3 Chas. I.

"' Add. Chart. 24140.

'8 Ibid. 24144.

■» Ibid. 24145.

2" F.C.H. Northants. i, 333.

21 Pope Nick. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 54.

" Cal. S.P. Dom. 1629-31, p. 184.

^' Cole, History of Ecton, 31.

" L. and P. Hen. Fill, xiii (l), 384 (47).

^5 The north chapel is used as a vestry

and organ-chamber.

124

HAMFORDSHOE HUNDRED

ECTON

wrought freestone, and has plain parapets and low-
pitched roofs. The nave was slated in 1814,' but else-
where the roofs are leaded.

The building in the main is of 1 3th-century date,
with alterations and additions in the 14th and 15 th
centuries, but it may have developed from a 12th-
century aisleless church with central tower, north and
south transepts and short chancel. The nave of this
early building covered the area of the three western
bays of the present nave, and the eastern bay of which
represents either the crossing of the transept or an ex-
tension eastward of the nave. In the 13th century

wards erected and the tower arch blocked. The work
then done still remains, but the chancel was opened
out again about eighty years ago and has since been
restored.' The north chapel, or vestry, was rebuilt in
1890, and in 1908 the south chapel was rebuilt and
extended about 6 ft. eastwards.*

The chancel has a moulded string externally at sill
level and an east window of four lights with modern
Decorated tracery and moulded rear-arch, the internal
shafted jambs of which are of i jth-century date: there
is also a three-light window with modern tracery in both
the north and south walls. The 17th-century north

•-h-WMmm

North Aisle

N.WE

jW-

SoUTM .\ISLE i CHAPEL|[p

1 12IS Century ^ 152! Century
1131 Century E1I7EJ Century
1 1 IH Century E3 Modern

10 "5 o

«o

Scale of Feet

Plan of Ecton Church

aisles were added, the chancel rebuilt on a larger scale,
and a new tower erected at the west end, the arch of
which still stands. In the 14th century the tower was
rebuilt in its present form, the north aisle widened and
the chapels north and south of the chancel added. The
nave arcades seem to have been refashioned at this time,
retaining, however, many 1 3th-century features. The
north porch is an addition of the 15th century and
during the same period the tower was heightened and
the clerestory added. The chancel is said to have been
lengthened about 12 ft. in the 17th century, when a
doorway was cut through the north wall, and then or at
some later time in the long Palmer-Whalley regime- the
chancel arch was filled in,' and the north and south
arches to the chapels obstructed by large memorial
tablets,* the chancel thus being cut off from the rest
of the church and used as the burial-place and private
chapel of the rectors. About 1825 the church was
ceiled and newly pewcd, and a west gallery was after-

doorway was cut through the east end of a 1 3th-century
arched tomb recess and part of an aumbry but is now
blocked and the recess restored, the doorway showing
only on the outside. In the south wall is a small round-
headed low-side window, now blocked and covered by
the chapel. The arches between the chancel and chapels
are of two hollow-chamfered orders, the inner springing
from moulded corbels. The chancel arch is of three
chamfered orders, the two outer continuous and the
innermost springing from half-octagonal responds with
moulded capitals and bases. .\x. the east end of both
nave walls is a rood-loft doorway, that on the north side
beingblocked:on the south, part of the stairway remains.
The nave consists of four irregularly spaced bays.
The eastern arch on either side springs from half-
octagonal responds with moulded capitals and bases,
and all the arches are of two chamfered orders. On the
north side the westernmost pier is octagonal and the
other circular, but on the south both arc octagonal, all

' Cole, Hill. 0/ Ecion (MS. copy in
Northampton Pub. Lib.), 17.

* Member* of the Pjlmcr and Whalley
famihes were rectors from 1641 to 18+9.

' Information from Canon Jephson, late
rector. Cole in 1825 says that the chancel

was then separated from the church by an
iron railing.

* They are now placed on the aisle walls
near the north and south doorways.

* During the incumbency of the Rev.

F. C. Edwards, 1900-08.

* It is inclosed by screens : the cost was
borne by Major-General F. E. Sotheby
(d. 1909). The altar and reredos were
erected by his widow in 1911.

125

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

with moulded capitals and bases. The responds are
octagonal, but the third arch (from the west) on the
south side rests on a moulded corbel attached to the
masonry pier. At the east end the aisles are separated
from the chapels by pointed arches of two chamfered
orders. The aumbry in connexion with the former aisle
altar remains in the north wall, and at the east end of the
naves, south of the chancel arch, is a trefoiled recess
high in the wall.

The south doorway is of two hollow-chamfered
orders stopped above the impost and hood-mould with
heads: the jambs are only slightly chamfered. The
early-i4th-century north doorway is of three moulded
orders, the middle one on shafts with moulded capitals
and bases, the others wave-moulded; the hood -mould
terminates in heads. The floor of the south porch is
level with that of the nave, but on the north there is a
descent of three steps. In the south-west angle of the
north porch is a stoup with ogee-headed canopy tre-
foiled within, and in the east wall a rectangular recess.
Above the outer arch is a trefoiled niche. An inscrip-
tion on the north-east buttress reads: 'A° dni. m°. cccc.
Ivj editicatur'.

At the west end of the north aisle is an original lancet
W'indow, the jamb only restored, but the other windows
of the aisle are modern. The windows of the south
aisle are square-headed, and in two of them the mul-
lions have been renewed in wood. The clerestory
windows are also square-headed.

The tower is of four stages, with moulded plinth,
west doorway, coupled buttresses, and vice in the north-
west angle. Above the doorway is a vesica-shaped
quatrefoil, and in the second stage facing south an ogee-
headed opening: otherwise the two lower stages are
blank. The third stage was the 14th-century bell-
chamber story and has a pointed window of two cinque-
foiled lights with moulded head and jambs on each face.
The later upper story sets back and has double bell-
chamber windows of two cinquefoiled lights with
transom at mid-height, and a band of quatrefoils and
blank shields above. The pierced quatrefoil parapet has
octagonal angle pinnacles, but a wooden lantern with
'leaded dome and cross at the top', which formerly sur-
mounted the tower,' has disappeared. The 13th-century
tower arch is blocked and partly hidden by the gallery,
but it consists of four chamfered orders, the innermost
springing from half-round responds with moulded
capitals and bases.

The font, which has a circular bowl, was in use in
1825 as a horse-trough at a neighbouring farm,'^ and its
carved ornamentation has suffered but it is apparently
not earlier than the 14th century. The hexagonal
wooden pulpit is part of an old three-decker.

In the chancel is a mural monument, erected in
1732, to John Palmer, archdeacon of Northampton and
rector of Ecton 1641-79, with bust by Rysbrack;
one to his son-in-law Samuel Freeman, dean of Peter-

borough, who died on a visit to Ecton in 1 707 and was
buried there, and a third to John Palmer, esquire,
patron (d. 1763). The south chapel contains a monu-
ment to Ann Isted (d. 1763) and other members of the
family. In the north aisle is a modern bronze tablet to
Benjamin FrankKn, the American statesman (1706-
9o).3

The royal arms of George III (before 1801), for-
merly over the chancel arch, are now at the west end of
the south aisle.

A circular floor-drain stone is built into the south
aisle wall outside, and on the east jamb of the south
porch is a scratch dial of wheel t>'pe, with two con-
centric circles and lines radiating in all directions.''

There are six bells, the treble dated 1749, ^^^ second
(old treble) by James Keene of Woodstock 161 2, and the
others by Hugh Watts of Leicester, the third and fifth
being dated 1612, the fourth 1634, and the tenorl622.5
A clock was erected in i63oandaset of chimes in 1690.*

The plate consists of a silver cover paten of 1569, a
cup of I 591, an alms dish of 1673 with the arms of
John Palmer, rector, two cups and patens, and a flagon
of 1728, and a large spoon of 1908.'

The registers before 181 2 are as follows: (i) baptisms,
marriages, and burials 1559-84,^ 1591-1637; (ii) bap-
tisms 1637-53, 1 656-1 7 54, marriages 1638-53, 1662-
1753, burials 1638-53, 1659-1754; (iii) asmall parch-
ment book kept by the 'Register' under the Protectorate,
containing births 1653—6, marriages 1654-5, burials
1653-7; (iv) baptisms 1754-April 18 10, burials 1754-
1812; (v) baptisms May 1810— 1812; (vi) marriages
1754-80; (vii) marriages 1780-1812.

The advowson was attached to the
ADFOfVSON main manor, presentation being made
in 1220 by the Earl of Derby as
guardian of the heir of William de Montgomery,' and
in 1244 by Sir William de Montgomery.'" In 1275
Nicholas de Cogenhoe and Amice his wife, who had it
of the gift of John de Montgomery, restored it to
William de Montgomery." It remained appurtenant to
the manor (q.v.) until 17 1 2 when Ralph Freeman
transferred it to Thomas Palmer whose son, then rector,
held it in 1720.'- John Palmer was patron from 1732'^
to 1758. '•* In 1762 Barbara Whalley presented Peter
Whalley, the editor of Bridges's Northamptonshire.''-^
The Rev. John Christopher Whalley held it in 1853 but
subsequently sold it. Since 1874 the right of presenta-
tion has been exercised by the Crown. In 1 29 1 the
value of the church of Ecton was /[20'* and in 1535
;^2I \%s.-]dP

John Barker, who died in or about
CHARITIES 1729, devised i acre of land in West
Holme, the rents to be applied by the
rector and churchwardens in providing coats for two
poor men. This charity and the charity of the Rev.
Palmer Whalley following are regulated by a Scheme
of the Charity Commissioners dated 3 January 1893.

' Cole, Hist, of Ecton^ 9. The dome
and cross were repaired in 181 1, when the
vane was heightened ; the height of the
tower is given as 78 ft. 8 in.: to the top
of the vane the height was 1 14 ft. The
weathercock was removed and four vanes
placed on the pinnacles in 1849.

^ Ibid. 49. It was in the farmyard of
Mr. William Fascutt. The bowl only is
ancient.

' On the north side of the churchyard
arc the graves, marked by headstones, of
Thomas Franklin (d. 1702) and Eleanor

his wife (d. 171 1), uncle and aunt of the
statesman. The tablet was erected in 19 I 2.

* Assoc. Arch. Soc. Reports^ xxiii, 361;
Home, Primiti've Sun-Dials, 12.

5 North, Ch. Belli of Northanis. 259,
where the inscriptions are given. The bells
were rehung in 1912: prior to 1749 the
number was five.

' The chimes played at 4, 6, 8, and 12
o'clock, but are now out of use.

' Markham, Ch. PlateofNorthants. 113.

8 'From that year (1584) to the yeare
1 59 1 nothing is found yet extant": Entry

in Register.

» Roi. Hug. de fVelles (Cant. & York
Soc), ii, 104.

"> Rot. Rob. Grossetesle (Cant. & York
Soc), 220.

" Close 3 Edw. I, m. 17 d.; De Banco
R. 7, m. 39.

'^ Bridges, Nortkants. ii, 143.

" Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).

'♦ Priv. & Loc. Act, 32 Geo. II, cap. i.

" Co\e, History of Eclort, 17.

'6 Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec Com.), 37.

" Falor Eccles. (Rec. Com.), iv, 305.

126

EcTON Church, from the South-East

HoLCOT Church, from the South-East

HAMFORDSHOE HUNDRED

HOLCOT

The land is let for jTj los. yearly, and the income is
applied in the distribution of coats when sufficient funds
are available.

The Rev. Palmer Whalley by codicil to his will dated
10 September 1 80 1 gave a sura of 3 per cent. Consols,
the interest to be distributed in bread. The endow-
ment now consists of £\66 13/. 4J. Consols producing
£^ 3/. 4^/. yearly in dividends which is applied by the
rector and churchwardens in the distribution of bread.

The charity of Thomas Catesby founded by will
about- 1698 is regulated by a Scheme of the Charity
Commissioners dated 3 January 1893. The property
consists of 12 a. 2 r. 5 p. of land let in allotments and
^93 14J. J J. Consols, the whole producing ;^30 9/. 44'.
in 1924. ^i per annum is distributed in bread to the
poor and is called the Dole Charity of Thomas Catesby,
and the remainder of the income is applied in appren-
ticeship premiums.

HOLCOT

Holecote (xi-xiv cent.) ; Hulcota (xii cent.) ; Hoche-
cota (xiii cent.); Hocott (xviii cent.).

The parish of Holcot comprises 1,399 acres. The
soil is red loam, the subsoil stone. The ground slopes
towards the east and south, from about 270 ft. to about
300 ft. A branch of the Northampton and Kettering
road leads north-westwards through the parish to Hol-
cot village, which clusters about the meeting-place of
this branch road and roads to Moulton, Brixworth, and
Walgrave. The church and a Methodist chapel stand
in the village.

It is the traditional birthplace of the Dominican
theologian, Robert Holcot, who died in 1349.' An
Indosure Act for this parish was obtained in 1777.^

At the time of the Domesday Survey
MANORS Hugh held of the Countess Judith i hide
and I J virgates of land in //OiCOT" which
were worth 20/.^ This overlordship afterwards passed
with Countess Judith's holding in Yardlcy Hastings
(q.v.). The I 2th-century survey states that I hide and
2 small virgates of land in Holcot were of the fee of her
successor in that place, David I of Scotland.* The
manor was held as the fourth part of a knight's fee.' In
1349, when it was extended as worth 20^. a year and
said to lie in Wold and Holcot, it formed part of the
dower of Agnes, Lady Pembroke;* in 1376 part of that
of Anne, Lady Pembroke.'

The mesne tenants of part of this holding were for a
time a family named Vitor. In 1 241 the service due by
Simon Vitor for the moiety of the fourth part of a
knight's fee in Draughton and
Holcot was assigned to Henry de
Hastings and his wife Ada,* and
in the following year Simon and
his partners {participes) held a
quarter fee in Holcot.' Simon's
successor was his son John,'" and
Roger Vitor was one of the
tenants of a quarter fee in Wold
and Holcot in 1325" and 1349.'-
He seems to have died about
1366,'-' after which date this
family disappears. Geoffrey, son
of Philip, who held part of this
quarter fee in 1323,''' was probably identical with
Geoffrey Garnel, who held it in 1325 with Roger

PifEWFLL .Abbey. Ar-
gent three crescenti gules
impaling azure a crozicr
in pale or.

Vitor. Yet another mesne tenant in 1325" was the
Abbot of Pipewell, who is mentioned in 1376 as the
sole mesne tenant of this quarter fee, for which he
paid a rent of 20/. a year,'* its full value by the extent
of 1349. At the time of its dissolution, the abbey was
receiving a rent of 18/. a year from Holcot." In I 546,
lands in Holcot, in the tenure of John Hyll and lately of
Pipewell Abbey, were granted to George Rythe and
Thomas Grantham of Lincoln's Inn.'* If any manorial
rights had belonged to this property they had probably
lapsed long before this date.

The Domesday Survey states that 2 hides and 2 J vir-
gates of land in HOLCOT belonged to the manor of
Brixworth." In the 12th-century survey this holding is
described as 2 J hides and l small virgate of the fee of
William de Courcy.^" The overlordship passed with
that of Brixworth (q.v.) to the earls of Aumale. The
mesne tenancy also coincided with that of Brixworth
(q.v.), until it came to Sir James Harrington, knight,
who died in 1497, leaving as his heirs ten daughters, of
whom .'Uice-' married Ralph Standish of Standish.'^
Probably, therefore, this holding or part of it passed to
Thomas Chipsey, grocer of Northampton, who at his
death in i 544 w-as said to be seised of a manor of Holcot
and certain lands there called Standish Lands and
Campion's Lands. The latter may have derived their
name from William Campion, who held in Holcot be-
tween 1 5 1 5 and 1530, having succeeded his father John
son of Thomas Campion.-^ Thomas Chipsey's heirs
were his daughters, Agnes wife of Edmund Kaysho and
Joan wife of Thomas Knight,^'' but in 1 541 he had con-
veyed lands in Holcot, which probably included his
reputed manor, and lands and a rent elsewhere to the
mayor of Northampton and other trustees to 'provide
an honest and sufficient learned master or person to
teach grammar within the town of Northampton'. This
was the foundation of Northampton CJrammar School.-'
The church oi ST. MART AND ALL
CHURCH SAINTS stands on the west side of the
village and consists of chancel, 27 ft. by
15 ft. 6 in.; clerestoried nave, 45 ft. by 14 ft. 2 in.;
north and south aisles, 10 ft. 6 in. and 1 2 ft. 8 in. wide
respectively; soutli porch; and embattled west tower,
II ft. 8 in. square, all these measurements being internal.
There is an organ-chamber on the north side of the
chancel.

' Did. Nat. Bing.

* Priv. Act 17 Gro. Ill, cap. 13.

» y.C.H. Norihantt. i, 353.

< Ibid. 382.

» Bk.of Feei,<)ii;Cal.Cloie, 1237-42,
p. 369; 1346-9, p. 581; 1374-7, p. 189;
Cat. Inij. p.m. v, p. 231 ; vi, p. 388; iz, p.
122.

' Cat. Cloie, 1346-9, p. 581.

' Ibid. 1374-7, p. 189.

' Cal. Close, 1237-42, p. 369.

' «>. o/F«», 938.

'» Carlul. ofOseney (Oxf. Hist. Soc.), iv,
307. " Cal. Inq. p.m. vi, p. 388.

" Ibid, ix, p. 122; Cal. Close, 1346-9,
p. 581.

" Cal. Fine R. iv, 344.

'♦ Cal. In/), p.m. V, p. 234; vi, p. 391.

" Ibid, vi, p. 391; cf. ibid, ix, p. 122;
Cal. Close, 1346-9, p. 581.

"» Cal. Close, 1374-7, p. 189.

" falor Eccles. (Rec. Com.), iv, 294.

'• L. and P. Hen. r/lf, «i (1), p. 243.

'» rS.n. Northants. i, 306.

" Ibid, i, 382.

" Cal. Inq. p.m. Hen. I'll, I, 1 178.

" Bridges, llisl. cf Norlhanis. ii, 81.

» Early Chan. Proc. 195 (22).

" Chan. Inq. p.m. (Scr. 2), Ixxii, 65.

" y.C.ll. Aorlhanls. i, 235.

127

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

The west end of the south aisle is of 13th-century
date, and retains two windows of that period, a single
lancet in the west wall, and a double lancet with single
hood-mould in the south wall west of the porch.' The
south doorway is also of this date; it has a pointed arch
of two square orders on moulded imposts, the outer
jambs being chamfered and the inner square. The
chancel and nave were rebuilt about 1350 and the tower
somewhat later, though the upper part may have been
reconstructed in the 15 th century when the clerestory
and the porch were added. In 1845 the chancel was
restored, its roof heightened, and a vestry built on the
north side: the nave was restored and re-roofed in
1889, a west gallery removed, the tower arch opened
out, and the vestry turned into an organ-chamber.

There is not sufficient evidence to determine the
extent of the 13th-century church, but a portion of
string-course in the east wall of the south aisle, similar to
that of the west end, suggests that the aisle was then the
same length as now. The south aisle is 2 ft. wider than
the north.

The building is of rubble, with modern slated low-
pitched roof to the chancel and embattled parapets to
nave and south aisle. The north aisle parapet is plain.
The chancel has a modern east window of three lights
and on the south side two square-headed three-light
windows. The north wall is blank except for a modern
arch to the organ-chamber. Below the south-west
window are the remains of what may have been a low-
side window.- There is a piscina but no sedilia: the
chancel arch is of two chamfered orders on responds
composed of three half-rounds with moulded capitals
and bases. A wrought iron screen and gates, of 17th-
century domestic workmanship, were fixed at the
chancel arch in 1921.

The nave arcades consist of three pointed arches of
two chamfered orders, springing from piers composed of
four half-rounds with small attached shafts between,
with moulded capitals and bases. The capitals on the
north and south sides differ in design and the responds
are simple half-rounds. The two windows in the south
aisle resemble those in the chancel, but only one retains
its 14th-century tracery. In the north aisle are two
pointed windows of two cinquefoiled lights with
quatrefoils in the head, and a three-light window with
modern reticulated tracery. The east window of the
aisle, which has reticulated tracery, now opens to the
organ-chamber. The north doorway is blocked. The
clerestory has four square-headed windows of two
trefoiled lights on each side.

The tower is of three stages with moulded plinth and
fiat clasping buttresses two-thirds of its height. The
west window is modern, but on the south side is an
original quatrefoil opening within a circle. The pointed
bell-chamber windows are of two trefoiled lights with
quatrefoil in the head. There is a vice in the south-
west angle. The tower arch is very lofty, of two
moulded orders to the nave, the inner resting on half-
round responds with moulded capitals and bases. The
tower was repaired in 1922.

The font is of 14th-century date with circular
moulded bowl and modern shafted stem. The staples of

the cover remain. At the west end of the south aisle are
the remains of a wall painting discovered in 1889. ^
Recently numerous other paintings have been dis-
covered, mainly of 14th-century date. Adjoining the
earlier find is a much-defaced subject which probably
portrays the Incredulity of St. Thomas. Near the south
door is the Resurrection. In the nave are various frag-
ments mostly of post-Reformation date. In the north
aisle is a finely executed Martyrdom of St. Thomas of
Canterbury, depicted with an unusual fidelity to
historical detail. Other subjects are St. Catherine
before the Emperor, a group of Apostles, and several
scenes difficult to identify. On the splays of the win-
dows are single figures of saints, including St. Andrew,
while the soffits of the window arches are decorated
with a bold scroll pattern in red. There are many
evidences of later schemes superimposed on these
paintings. The work is of considerable artistic merit,
the figure drawing and manipulation of the draperies
being most accomplished. The pulpit and other fittings
are modern, but some Elizabethan woodwork is pre-
served on the sill of the east window of the south
aisle.'' There are also fragments of the 15th-century
rood-screen. A Jacobean altar table, removed from
the chancel in 1933, has been placed in the south
aisle.

There is a scratch dial adjoining the south doorway,
A piece of lead, formerly on the nave roof, on which is
cut a man's head and date 1666, has now been framed
and hangs in the church. The royal arms of Queen
Anne, dated 171 1, on canvas, hang over the chancel
arch. In the sanctuary is a 17th-century oak chest.

There are four bells, the treble by Henry Penn of
Peterborough 1703, the second a recasting by Taylor
in 1899 of a late medieval bell inscribed: 'Huius sancti
Petri', the third by Edward Newcombe of Leicester,
and the tenor by Taylor of Loughborough 1899.5

The plate consists of a silver cup and paten of 1834
given by Robert Onebye Walker, a silver-gilt paten
given about 1920, and a silver-plated flagon. There are
also two pewter plates and a pewter flagon.* A silver
chalice and paten were presented in 1934 by the Con-
fraternity of the Blessed Sacrament. A Sacrament house
was cut in the north wall of the chancel in 1933 and
framed with old v\-oodwork from a reredos formerly in
the chapel of Magdalen College School, Brackley.

The registers before 1 8 12 are as follows: (i) all
entries 1559—99, baptisms 1600—40, 1662-1762,
marriages 1600-39, 1662-81, 1695-1705, 1716-54,
burials 1600-41, 1662-1762; (ii) baptisms and burials
1764-1812; (iii) marriages 1755-1812. In 1638 sixty
persons are recorded to have died of the plague. The
churchwardens' accounts begin in 1776.

The stump of an old cross, formerly in the rector's
paddock, at the corner of the road leading to Walgrave,
was removed to the churchyard in December 1885 and
placed opposite the porch.

The church of Holcot evidently be-

ADVOWSON longed to the fee held by David I in

the 1 2th century, for it passed to Roger

Murdack, who was King David's tenant in Edgcote

(q.v.) under Henry II. In 1223 Roger's son and heir

* The west wall of the aisle was rebuilt,
stone by stone, in 1935 and new tracery
for the two-light window inserted.

2 Assoc. Arch. Soc. Reports, xxix.

3 The painting represents the Ascen-
sion, the Descent of the Holy Ghost, and
(?) the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin.

* The panels are similar to those in the
pulpit at Isham church.

s The inscriptions on the older bells are
given in North, Ch. Bells of Northants.
308 ; that on the second has been retained.
Edward Newcombe was casting 1570-
1616, but this bell is undated. The tenor

128

was given by Frances Mary Montgomery
and was placed in the tower, with a new
chiming clock, in Februarj', 1900. Pre-
viously there had been three bells.

6 Markham, Ch. Plate of Northants.
159.

HAMFORDSHOE HUNDRED

MEARS ASHBY

Thomas stated that his father had presented to Holcot
Church, but Roger's widow Maud, at this time the wife
of Theobald de Bray, successfully claimed the advow-
son as part of her dower.' Very soon afterwards the
advowson was acquired by the Prior of the Hospital of
St. John of Jerusalem in England, who presented to the
church in 1227-8,^ and subsequently until the Dissolu-
tion. About 1 291 the church was worth ^^8 a year.' In
1492 William Lily, the grammarian, who had become
acquainted with the Knights Hospitallers in Rhodes,
was presented to Holcot rectory by the prior, John
Kendall.'* At the Dissolution the preceptory of the
Knights Hospitallers in Dingley was receiving 40/.
yearly from Holcot Church, and the rectory was let to
farm to Anne Pachett for ^^15 17/. i^. a year. The
payment to the archdeacon of Northampton for pro-
curations and synodals was 50/. 7/, leaving a clear
income oi C^l 6s. iJ.^ The advowson of the rectory
and church was granted in i 548 to Thomas Henneage,
knight, and others.* It was held at his death in 1595 by
Gilbert Langtree whose son and heir was Edward.' In
1636 presentation was made, jointly, by Sir Anthony
Haslewood, knight, Hannah Campion, widow, and
Edmund Barves of Cunnington in Huntingdonshire;'
in 1640, according to Bridges, the right to present was
held by a Mr. Campion, probably identical with
William Campion, then rector.' In 1663 the living
was presented by the Crown,"* probably to Edward
Halles, who died as rector in 1 7 1 5 at the age of ninety-
four. He had a daughter, Anne Woodford," who
presented in 1745 when she was a widow.'- In 1777
the Rev. Thomas Gill was patron," and presentation
in 1778 was by Elizabeth Gill, widow.'* In 1780
Edward Montgomery, clerk, the incumbent, pre-
sented." The advowson and incumbency continued in
this family, the Rev. R. Montgomery being patron and
incumbent from 1 836 to 1 88 1 . Mrs. Daniels (formerly
Miss Montgomery) is now patron.

The following charities are administered by the
rector and 3 trustees appointed by the parish council

of Holcot in accordance with the
CHJRITIES Scheme of the Charity Commissioners

of I October 1909 under the title of
the United Charities.

1 . Blacksmith's Shop Rent-charge. 5/. yearly paid in
respect of a former blacksmith's shop, being the
interest on a sum of ^^5 given for the poor by Thomas
Campion and invested on mortgage in 1699.

2. Rev. William Campion. Will dated in 1636.
Rent-charge of 6s. on a house and a piece of land in
Holcot.

3. John Clark. Gift of £1 yearly charged upon
Poplars Farm in Holcot.

4. Rev. Christopher Crouch. Will I August 1735.
Moiety of the rent of 2 acres of land in Hardingstone,
leased to Northampton Rural, now District, Council at
;^I2 12/. of which sum half comes to Holcot.

5. Doe Bank Rent-charge. A yearly sum of 10/.
in respect of about I rood of land called Doe Bank in
Holcot is paid, half by the rector and half by Brixworth
Rural District Council, who have acquired half the land
as building sites. The origin of this payment is unknown.

6. Elias Groom. Will dated 12 February 1687.
Rent-charge of 6/. on a house and land in Holcot.

7. Edward Halles. Will 4 May 171 3. 3 poles of
land in Holcot let for 10/. yearly.

8. Poor's Land. Inclosure Award 30 March 1778.
I a. 2 r. 10 p. of land in Holcot let for £,2 2S. yearly.

The income of these charities is applied in the dis-
tribution of goods to the poor at Christmas.

By the Award of the Inclosure Commissioners dated
30 March 1778 a piece of land adjoining the Poor's
Land was allotted, the rents to be applied in repairs of
the parish church. The land is let for ^^9 yearly, which
sum is applied by the rector and churchwardens towards
church expenses.

MEARS ASHBY

Asbi, Esseby, Northesseby, Esseby Mares, Assheby
Mares (xi-xvii cent.); Ashby Meres, Mears Ashby
(xvii-xx cent.).

The parish of Mears Ashby covers 1,670 acres,
mainly grassland. The slope of the land is from north
to south, the highest point being 388 ft. In the north-
east several acres are covered by the Ashby Furze.
There are stone and sand pits in the parish. The village
is situated in the centre where the four main roads con-
verge; that from Northampton enters on the south side
and a road crossing the parish from east to west connects
the village with Wilby and S)'well. Two gabled houses
to the south of the church are medieval but much
altered in the 17th century. Swans' Pool Brook, the
only stream of any size in Mears Ashby, flows through
the village. The soil is partly red land and partly clay;
the subsoil is composed of ironstone, clay, and free-
stone. Cereals are cultivated and the population for the

most part is engaged in agriculture. Roman remains
have been discovered in this parish; kiln 'wasters' of
light grey ware were found there in 1899."

Mears Ashby Hall, the residence of Major Henry
Minshull Stockdale, stands on the south side of the
village and is a picturesque gabled house of three
stories erected in 1637 byThomasClendon," faced with
local ironstone and covered with Colleyweston slates.
The main front, which faces north, has projecting end
wings and a central porch taken up the full height of the
building and terminating in a curved gable. The other
gables are straight and all the windows have stone
muUions. The round-headed doorway is flanked by
coupled columns carrying an entablature, above which
is a semicircular arch. The house was enlarged about
1720 on the west side, but the buildings then erected
were pulled down in 1859 and rebuilt on a more exten-
sive scale'* in harmony with the old work. The original

' Braclon'i Nole-Book, 1 592.

» Harl. MS. 6950, fol. 26.

> Pofe Aid. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 39.

« Diet. Nal. Biog.

' yalor Eecltt. (Rec. Com.), iv, 306.

» Pat. 2 Edvc. VI, pt. 7.

' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxvi, 2.

» lost. Bks. (P.R.O.).

' Bridges, Aorihiintt. ii, 147.

'» Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.). This must have
been a confirmation of possession as,
according to his monument, Halles was
rector 'nigh 60 years'.

■■ Bridges, op. cit. ii, 146.

" Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).

" Priv. Act 17 Geo. Ill, cap. 13.

'« Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).

'» Ibid.

■« y.C.U. Norihanls. i, 2 1 8.

" Northantt. N. & Q. ii (n.s.), 244.
His initials are over the porch, and initials
and date on two lead rain-water heads on
the north front.

" The architect was Anthony Salvia:
the new wing is of two stories, ranging
with the three of the old.

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

lay-out of the grounds, with terrace and fish-ponds,
remains on the west side, and the stables are dated 1647.
To the east, on high ground, is a rectangular dove-cote"
probably contemporary with the house, but a two-story
garden pavilion, with pyramidal tiled roof, formerly
overlooking a bowling-green, is of 18th-century date.
To this period also belongs the pedestal sun-dial- in
front of the house.

In 1086 the Countess Judith held in

Mj^NORS Ashby 4 hides. In the Confessor's time it

was held by Bardi and was then and in

1086 worth £\.^ In the 12th century these 4 hides

Mears Ashby Hall

were of the fee of David of Scotland.* A moiety of this
property caDed NORTH HALF or ASHBY MEARS
MANOR was held by Richard de Humez^ before 1 1 8 1,
in which year he granted his lands in Ashby to the king.*
It is subsequently found held of the king in chief. In
1280 it was held by the service of a pair of gilt spurs,'
but between 131 5 and 141 7 by serjeanty of raising the
right hand towards the king on Christmas day, wher-
ever he might be in England.* This serjeanty seems
originally to have been holding the king's stirrup at
Christmas and to have been instituted before the divi-
sion of the manor.'

William son of Richard de Humez still held lands

here in 1205, but apparently these estates were for-
feited about 1228 and given to Earl WiUiam de
Warenne.'" Other lands formerly held by Adam de
Keret were given in 1224 to William de Serland, or
Shorland, who died in 1 2 3 1 , leaving a widow Juliana,"
who survived until 1258.'^ William de Blancmuster
(de Albo Monasterio) was holding, apparently, about
1 240, but forfeited his land as a Norman, and two years
later' ^ the king gave his lands to Robert de Mares.'*
In 1246 Robert was holding two-thirds of the manor,
and Juliana de Cotebrok (widow of WiUiam de
Serland), of whom the king had the marriage, the
other third. '^ Robert died before
1260, when his widow Sybil
had custody of Mears Ashby
Manor during the minority of
her son John.'* She afterwards
married William Marmiun,
who was with Simon de Mont-
fort at Evesham." During the
minority of John, Henry de
Hastings, overlord of the other
moiety, tried to usurp rights in
this manor.'* In 1279 John de
Mares paid 20s. for half a fee
and died next year, leaving
Mears Ashby Manor to his son
John aged 6," who died in 13 1 5
and was succeeded by his son
Giles, a minor,^° born in his
father's hall at Ashby on 5 De-
cember 1307.^' His mother
Isabel held the manor during
his minority and in 13 19 the
king granted to Ehas de Asshe-
burn the yearly rent of 60/.
which Isabel paid for the estate
and the marriage of Giles de
Mares. ^^ In 1330 Giles alien-
ated the manor of 'Northasshby
Mars' to Thomas son of Elias
de Assheburn,^^ except \ which
his mother held for life. This apparently brought the
two moieties of the manor into the same hands,^* and
both portions passed to John Darcy, who at his death
in May 1 347 held part in chief by the service of offering
his hand to the king's stirrup and was said to hold the
rest of the King of Scotland by similar service.^' His
son John Darcy was licensed in 1349 to enfeoff
Richard de Salteby and Elizabeth his wife.^* Two years
later Salteby alienated it to Henry Green, ^' to whom in
1360 a third of the same manor was conveyed by
Peter VI de Mauley, whose wife Elizabeth, widow of
the elder John Darcy,^* held it in dower.^' Sir Henry^"
died in 1369^' and the manor then descended as Great

^ It has 550 nesting-holes.

^ The plate bears the name of Thomas
Eayre of Kettering, who cast the tenor
bell of Mears Ashby church in 1718.

3 y.C.H. Northcmn. i, 351.

< Ibid. 382.

5 Assize R. 6 14, m. 7 d. J and see under
Advowson.

6 Harl. Ch. 83 A. 6. Hugh and Robert
de Mara are among the witnesses.

' Chan. Inq. p.m. 10 Edw. I, no. 8.

8 Ibid. 9 Edw. II, no. 25; ibid. 15 Ric.
II, pt. I, no. 24; ibid. 5 Hen. V, no. 39.

9 See below.

'" Farrer, Honors and Knighti' Fee!, ii,
338.

" Ibid.

1- Cal. Pat. 1247-58, p. 661.

'3 Assize R. 614, m. 7 d.

'* Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57, p. 267.

'5 Bk. of Fees, 1400.

■* Curm Regis R. 168, m. 10 d.; Pipe
R. 9 Edw. I, m. 10.

" Cal. Inj. Misc. i, 833.

'* Assize R. 616, m. 24,

" Chan. Inq. p.m. 10 Edw. I, no. 8;
Cal. Close, 1279-S8, p. 254.

2° Chan. Inq. p.m. 9 Edw. II, no. 25.

-' Proofof ageiCa/. /ny./i.m. vii,p. 195.

^- Cal. Pat. 1317-21, p. 338.

" Assize R. 632, m. 165.

^* See below, under South Half.

^5 Cal. Inq. p.m. ix, 49. The service to
the King of Scotland presumably refers
to tenure at an earlier date.

2* Cal. Pat. 1348-50, p. 279.

" Feet of F. Northants. 25 Edw. Ill,
no. 373.

2* G.E.C. Complete Peerage {2nd ed.),
viii, 568.

" Feet of F. Northants. 34 Edw. Ill,
no. 487.

^° In 1342 and 1363 Henry Green
obtained licence from the King to retain
his manor. Chan. Inq. p.m. 36 Edw. Ill
(2nd nos.), I ; ibid. 37 Edw. Ill (2nd nos.),

5'-
3" Chan. Inq. p.m. 3 Edw. Ill, pt. i, 48.

130

HAMFORDSHOE HUNDRED mearsashby

Doddington (q.v.) until the death of Thomas Vaux,
who died about 1556.' He was succeeded by his son
William, who died in 1595 leaving his estates to his
grandson Edward Vaux,- who in 161 2 refused to take
the oath of allegiance to James I and forfeited his
lands;' but they were restored in the same year.* He
died in 1661 and was succeeded by his step-son
Nicholas, Earl of Banbury, from whom the manor
passed to his son Charles. ^

Charles, Earl of Banbury, still held the manor in
1683,* but about this time the property again became
subdivided, and at the time of the Inclosure Award the
two estates thus formed were distinguished by the
names of the Court Leet Manor and the Court Baron
Manor. In Mears Ashby Manor is to be found the
Court Leet Manor of 1779, and its descent appears
to have been as follows: between 1683 and 1685
Mears Ashby passed from the Earl of Banbury to
George, Earl of Northampton, who held it at the latter
date.' In 17 19 he held a court leet here to which the
townsmen paid 6s. iJ. yearly.' His nephew Spencer,
Earl of Northampton, held this manor in 1777' and tht
property is owned at the present day by the Marque^^
of Northampton.

The other moiety of Mears Ashby Manor known as
SOUTH HALF remained appurtenant to the honor of
Huntingdon.'" This overlordship is last mentioned in
141 7." The fJRt known tenant is William Fitz Warin,
who in 1285 held one third of .Ashby of the honor
of Huntingdon.'- His daughter JuUana married Elias
de Assheburn," who as 'chief lord' paid a fine to have
the lands of a felon killed while escaping from Mears
Ashby church in 1330,'* in which year his son Thomas,
as mentioned above, acquired the North Half Manor.
In 1369 this estate reappears as 'a moiety of Ashby
Manor held of the Earl of Pembroke'. '5 After this date
it followed the same descent as Mears Ashby though
not immediately losing its identity. It is separately
mentioned as South Half Manor in 1417,'* but after
that date appears to have become more or less absorbed
in the larger manor until the late 17th century, when
it appears as the Court Baron Manor, so called in the
Inclosure Award. In 1683 it was still the property of
the Earl of Banbury, but in 1704 two-thirds of the
manor were in the hands of Thomas Davison in right
of his wife Elizabeth." Thomas Davison sold his
moiety of this manor to Henry Stratford in 17 19,'*
from whom by 1777 it had passed to Elizabeth
Mercer." Thomas Mercer held as late as 1877 and
at the present day Mrs. Kitley holds this moiety of the
manor.

In 1 7 14 Richard Rogers was dealing with the re-
maining third of this manor^° and Elizabeth Rogers^'
held it in 1770 and 1777.^'

Early in the 1 9th century this moiety apf>ears to have
been transferred to Lewis Loyd, and descended to

Lady Wantage, on whose death in 1 90 1 the property
was sold.

.\ mill in Mears Ashby is mentioned in 1325 when
William de .Assheby died seised of one which he held
of the heirs of John de Mares.^'

The church of ALL SAINTS stands

CHURCH on high ground in the middle of the village

and consists of chancel 27 ft. 6 in. by

14 ft. 3 in., with north vestry and organ-chamber,

derestoried nave 47 ft. 10 in. by 19 ft. 6 in., north and

Hn^^A,

Mears Ashby: The Church and Village

south aisles 9 ft. 6 in. wide, south porch, and west tower
1 1 ft. square, all these measurements being internal.

The chancel was rebuilt on the old foundations in
l858,^'» but the round-headed priest's doorway is
apparently an ancient feature and would seem to point
to the original chancel having been of late- 1 2th-century
date, to which period the south doorway and probably
the font belong. A wheel-head cross, of late-ioth- or
early-i ith-century date, however, preserved in the
church, presumably belongs to the site and if so indicates
that there was a cemetery here, and perhaps also a
church in pre-Conquest times,^' though the first stone
building would no doubt be that erected in the 12th
century, consisting only of chancel and nave. The
tower is off. 1220, and later in the same period the
building seems to have been remodelled, aisles thrown
out and the chancel altered. The nave arcades and
three pointed windows in the south aisle are c. 1280-90,
but the north aisle appears to have been rebuilt about
fifty years later, the square-headed windows and the

' Baker, Norlhanit. i, 32.

' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Scr. z), cixi, 244.

' Cal. S.P. Dom. 1611-18, p. 124.

♦ Pat. R. 10 Jas. I, pt. 15, no. 15.
' Baker, Norihunii. i, 32.

' Feet of F. Northants. Trin. 35 Chas.
II; Recov. R. Trin. 35 Chas. II, ro. 66.
' Recov. R. Hil. 1-2 Jas. II, ro. 23.

• Bridges, Piorthantt. ii, 136.

° Act Priv. and Loc. 17 Geo. Ill,
cap. 128.
'» y.C.H. Norlhantt. ii, 570.
" Chan. Inq. p.m. 5 Hen. V, no. 39.
" Feud. Aidi, iv, 16.

" Assize R. 632, m. 115.

■* Ibid. m. 5.

■s Chan. Inq. p.m. 43 Edw. Ill (pt. i),
48.

'» Ibid. 5 Hen. V, no. 39.

" Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 3 Anne.

'• Ibid. Northants. Hil. 5 Geo. I;
Bridges, Northantt. ii, 136.

" Acts Priv. and Loc. 17 Geo. Ill,
cap. iz8.

" Feet of F. Northants. Mich. 1 Geo. I.

" Recov. R. Hil. 10 Geo. Ill, ro. i8<).

" Acta Priv. and Loc. 17 Geo. Ill,
cap. iz8.

" Chan. Inq. p.m. 18 Edw. II, no. 57.

'* The whole of the church was restored
at this time, and the vestry built: the
architect was William ButtcrAeld.

" The cross head is of a type, fairly
common in the north of England, which
apparently originated in the Isle of Man,
from where it passed into Yorkshire and
Cumberland, spreading later to other dis-
tricts: W. C. Collingwood in Torkt.
Arch. your, nviii, 322. See also
J. Romilly Allen in A line. Arch. Soc.
Reporlt, xix, 413.

131

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

pointed door being well-developed 14th-century work.
The porch and west window of the south aisle are also
of this period, but the clerestory is a late- 15th-century
addition; it has four square-headed windows on each
side, and embattled parapets, with a sanctus bell-cote
set over the east gable. The chancel has a modern
high-pitched roof covered with CoUeyweston slates,'
but the nave and aisles are leaded, the latter having
straight parapets. The tower was repaired and but-
tresses added in 1861.

The chancel, which is without buttresses, is built
of local ironstone faced internally with Bath stone.
The arch of the priest's doorway is of a single order
slightly chamfered and hood-mould over, and part of
the westernmost window on the south side is old, but
no other ancient features remain. The piscina, sedile,
and a trefoil-headed recess in the north wall are all
modern. The restored chancel arch is of two chamfered
orders on responds with moulded capitals; on the wall
above are the remains of a painted Doom, discovered in
1858. The arcades are of four bays, with pointed
arches of two chamfered orders on octagonal pillars
with moulded capitals and bases, and similar responds
much restored. At the east end of the south aisle is a
trefoil-headed piscina, and farther west a tall narrow
pointed recess, or cupboard, probably used as a locker
for banner staves, or for a processional cross. The
12th-century south doorway, moved to its present
position when the aisle was added, has a round arch
of two square orders on moulded imposts, the hood-
mould terminating in heads.

The tower is of three stages with embattled parapet
and angle pinnacles. The upper or bell-chamber story
has an arcade of three pointed arches on each side, with
separate hood-moulds carried round the tower, and
shafts with moulded capitals and bases, but the outer
compartments alone are pierced. The middle stage
has a small pointed opening on the north and south
sides now hidden by the clock faces; the west side is
blank. In the lower stage is a narrow pointed doorway
on the south and a lancet window on the west, both
much restored. The tower arch is of two chamfered
orders. There is no vice.

The font is of the unmounted type, octagonal in
shape and lined with lead. On all sides but the west it
is richly ornamented with circular medallions inclosing
roses, stars, and other devices, flanked with bands of
interlaced work.-' Having been long covered with
plaster the ornament is well preserved. The lower part
is cut back, or chamfered, and is plain.

The pulpit and other fittings are modern, but there
is a 17th-century oak communion table in the north
aisle; a standing poor's box with three locks, cut
from a single piece of oak, may be of 16th-century
date.

There is a ring of six bells cast in 1913 by J. Taylor

& Co. of Loughborough from four old and one modern
bell.3

The silver plate consists of a cup, cover paten, and
alms dish of 1685, the paten inscribed 'Mears Ashby,
1686', and a flagon of 1702 given by Mrs. Sarah
Kinloch, widow, in 17 10. There is also a brass
alms dish.'*

The registers before 1 8 1 2 are as follows: (i) baptisms
and marriages 1670— 1744, burials 1672-77, and
1753-7, with all entries from Lady Day 1753 to Lady
Day 1754; (ii) baptisms 1754-83, burials 1754-94;'
(iii) marriages 1754-1812; (iv) baptisms and burials
1 794-1 8 1 2.

The advowson of the church of
ADFOWSON Mears Ashby was granted to the abbey
of Aunay by Richard de Humez and
Agnes his wife before 1 1 59.* During the Hundred
Years War it fell into the king's hands' and he presented
between the years 1345 and 1383.* In 1392 Richard II
granted to the Prior of St. Anne of Coventry licence to
acquire this patronage from the Abbot of Aunay,
paying to the king 25 marks annually while the war
lasted.' The Prior of St. Anne's retained the advowson
until 1535. In 1562 Elizabeth granted it to John
Marshe.'" In 1625 died Justinian Bracegirdle in whose
will instructions were left to buy the advowson and
impropriation of Mears Ashby. The profits were to
be appropriated in portions of ^^lo per annum to
scholars ot the University of Oxford and were directed
by three trustees who alternately presented to the
living;" their successors are patrons at the present day.

In 1291 the church was worth ^^5 6/. %d.^^ and in

Church Estate. On the inclosure of
CHARITIES lands in this parish in 1744, 4 acres of
land were allotted to the minister and
churchwardens in lieu of other lands vested in feoffees
in trust for the general expenses of the church. The
land is let for £6 yearly.

Poor's Land. Five acres of land was allotted upon
the inclosure to the minister and churchwardens for
the poor. This land islet and produces about j^7. The
income is applied in the distribution of bread and meat
on New Year's Day.

Town Estate. Five cottages and gardens and several
pieces of land in the open fields were devised by the
Rev. Justinian Bracegirdle in 1625 for the repair of
bridges and causeways in Mears Ashby.

On the inclosure of the open fields an allotment of
14 acres was awarded in lieu of the lands. The land
was sold in 1920 and the proceeds invested now pro-
duce about ;^28.

Mrs. Sarah Kinloch, by wiO dated 16 June 1710,
gave ;^200 to be invested in lands, the proceeds to be
used for educating poor children of the parish. These
lands, in Arthingworth, now produce about ^£35 yearly.

' The old chancel had a low-pitched
leaded roof: Bridges, Hisf. of Northants.
ii, 136.

^ The ornament is very rich. Octagonal
unmounted fonts are not common in the
1 2th century: see Bond, Fonts and Font
Covers^ 40, where the Mears Ashby
example is figured.

3 Of the four old bells the first was by
E. Arnold, of Leicester, 1793, the second
by Jas. Keene of Woodstock, 1621, the
third an undated alphabet bell by T. New-

combe, of Leicester, and the tenor by
T. and J. Eayrc of Kettering, 1718. A
treble by Taylor was added in 1879. The
inscriptions on the old bells are given in
North, Ch. Bells of Northants. 335.

■* Markham, Ch. Plate of Northants.

17-

s The baptisms were discontinued on
October i, 1783, on account of the stamp
duty, but there are copies, from memor-
anda, of baptisms and marriages 1783-94.

Theduty was taken off on i October, 1794,
immediately after which the new register
of baptisms begins.

' Round, Cal. Doc. France, 185.
' Cal. Pat. 1343-5, p. 471.
8 Ibid. 1351-5, p. 311.
■> Ibid. 1391-6, p. 242.
■0 Pat. R. 3 Eliz. pt. i.
" Baker, Northants. i, 23.
'2 Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 39.
'■' Falor Eccles. (Rec. Com.), iv, 306.

132

Mears Ashby Village

Mears Ashby Ciiircii: Interior, looking East

Mears Ashbv Church: The Font

HAMFORDSHOE HUNDRED

SYWELL

Sywelle (li cent.); Sj-well (xii-ss cent.).

Sywell parish covers about 2,170 acres, largely grass
and woodland. Two small streams flow through the
parish, one of which, Sywell Bottom, forms the boun-
dary between Sywell and Mears Ashby. The land rises
on the north, the highest point, 440 ft., being in Sywell
Wood in the north-cast comer of the parish. The boun-
daries on the west, north, and east are all on high ground
and inclose a shallow valley in which the village of
Sywell is situated. The main road connects the villages
of Mears Ashby, Sywell, and Holcot, and joins the road
from Northampton to Kettering at the western boun-
dary of the parish. The soil is partly stiff loam and
partly red clay; the subsoil is chiefly ironstone. The
chief crops are cereals and turnips, and the population,
which numbered 185 in 193 1, is engaged chiefly in
agriculture.

The village is built on both sides of the road from
Mears .'^shby a little south of the point where it joins a
side road from Overstone. At the north end of the
village is a market cross, of which the shaft and base are
ancient and formerly stood at the south-east end of the
village.' The school was built in 1861, in which year
the entire village was rebuilt by the late Lady Over-
stone. Sywell Hall, the residence of Brig.-Gen. H. E.
Stockdale, stands on the north side of the village and is a
picturesque early- i7th<entury gabled building of three
stories with muUioned windows; the gables are sur-
mounted by pyramidal finials. The walling is local
sandstone and there is a porch on the north side the full
height of the building in which is a panel with the
Wilmer arms and crest. ^ All the chimneys are modern,
and a gable at the east end of the north front has been
taken down.

At the time of the Domesday Survey the
MANORS Count of Mortain held 4 hides in SYIVEIL
formerly belonging to Osmund son of
Leuric. Two hides of this land were then in demesne. '
The estates of the count were forfeited by his son
William in 1 106.^ They appear to have been granted
to Niel de Mundeville, whose daughter Maud wife of
Roland of Avranches' in 1141 granted the manor of
Sywell and all her land there, except \\ virgates,* to the
Priory of St. Andrew, Northampton.' This deed was
confirmed 8 years later by William of Avranches and his
son Simon.' Simon, Earl of Northampton, son of the
founder of the priory, confirmed the gift," and when the
12th-century Survey was made themonksofNorthamp-
ton held these 4 hides in Sywell.'" In 1291 the priory
property here was worth £\\ 10/. 6ij'." and in 1535
Ci\}'' In 1538 Francis, Prior of St. Andrew's, sur-

WiLMER. GuUiachev

eron vair betvjeen three

eaglet or.

' MiT^ihitnt Cr&tiet of NorfAantt. 109.

' The esquire's helmet indicitcs that
the house was built before 1617, in which
year William Wilmer was knighted:
AoriAanii. N. & Q. (n.s.) v, 1-5.

' r.C.H.Nori/,jr,ii.i,jii.

* Ibid. 288.

' yfrcAaeologia^ xxxi, 232.
' This she had given to the church of
Eistow. See below.

' Cott. MS. Vesp. E. xvii, fol. 199.

• Ibid. 200.

' y.C.H. Norlkanls. ii, 102.
■0 Ibid, i, 386.

" Po^ AVcA. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 54.
" yahr Ecclei. iv, 313 (Rec. Com.).
'1 Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 29 Hen. VIII.

'* L. and P. Hen. Fill, xiii, pt.

■s Ibid, iviii (1), 226 (38).

" Feet of F. Northants. East. 20 Eliz.

" Did. Nat. Biog. xx\%, 308.

'» Feet of F. Northants. Hil. 3 Jas. I.

" Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccix, 166.

" Par. rcg. of Sywell cited by Foster
and Green, Hitt. of IVilmer Famiiy, 57.

*' Cal. of Com. for Compounding, ii, 1462.

^* Par. rcg. of Sywell cited by Foster
and Green, Hill, of ffilmer Family, 68.

" Ibid., p. 69.

" Ibid,, ch. 7.

^s Sywell Hall and part of the parish was
bought by Mr. Loyd in 1849, and the
remainder of the parish was acquired by
him and Lord Overstone at various dates:

rendered the manor to Henry VIII" and in the same
year the monastery was dissolved.'*

In 1 543 the manor of Sywell was granted by
Henry VIII to John Mersh, a sewer of the chamber,"
from whom it passed in 1578 to
Anthony Jenkynson,'* the great
traveller, who had married his
daughter Judith Mersh." In
1 606 the manor was alienated b\'
Anthony Jenkynson to Robert
Wilmer,'* who was succeeded in
1613 by his son William Wilmer,"
afterwards knighted. Sir William,
who was a Royalist, had to com-
pound for his estate; he died in
1646-° leaving a grandson Wil-
liam, a minor. ^' William Wilmer
came of age in 1654-' and died six years later. His son
William was in 1706 succeeded in turn by his son and
namesake.-^ William Wilmer died in 1744 and his son
Rennet died in the same year. Although he was a minor
he made a will by which he left to his aunt Dinah Wilmer
all his estate. After her death Sywell Manor passed to
another branch of the same family who were still holding
in 1 79 1. Between this date and 18 06 Sywell Manor was
alienated to Samuel Pell,-* from whose successor Edwin
Pell the property was acquired by Lewis Loyd, father of
Lord Overstone. ^5 After the death of Lady Wantage,
only daughter of Lord Overstone, the estate was sold,
and no manorial rights are exercised at the present day.

At the Domesday Survey the Countess Judith claimed
the soc of I J virgates of land in Sywell; from this pro-
bably originated a second STirELL MANOR. Very
little has been found concerning the ovcrlordship. In
1377 the Earl of Pembroke, who held part of the honor
of Huntingdon-* was overlord in Syw-ell.^' There is no
further trace of this honor, and in 1447-8 and again in
1493 this manor was held of the Prior of St. Andrews,^*
who held the principal manor.

Henry Wardedieu in 1286 held land in the parish,^'
and in 1 347 John Wardedieu the grandson of Henry^°
enfeofl^ed his son John, who had married Margaret
Latymer, of Sywell Manor. ^' In 1377 Sir Edward
Dalyngrigge and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of John
Wardedieu^- held this manor. ^' John Dalyngrigge-"*
their son held in 1394-5^* but died without issue. ■•*

Between 1394-5 and 1440 this manor passed to the
Tresham family though the method of acquisition has
not been ascertained ; in the latter year William Tresham
was granted free warren in his lands and woods in
Sywell;-" eight years later Henry VI confirmed to him
404.

" See Vardley Hastings.

(Rec. Com.),

ex inf. Mr. J. A. Dixon.

" See Vardley Hastings.

" Rot. Orig. Abhre-u.
ii, 350.

" Cal. Pat. 1446-52, p. 162; Exch. Inf.
p.m. (Ser. 2), dclxxiii, 2.

" Feet of F. Northants. Mich. 14
Edw. I.

>» Sutiex Arch. Coll. ix, 283.

J' Cott. Ch. xivi, 38.

» Suiiex Arch. Coll. 'n,z%i.

" Rot. Orig. Ahbrrv. (Rec. Com.),
ii, 350.

" Suiiex Areh. Coll. iii, 93.

" Close 18 Ric. II, m. 22 d.

»<• Suuex Arch. Coll. ix, 283.

" Cal. Chan. R. vi, 30.

133

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

a manor in Sywell with view of frankpledge and other
liberties.' In the Wars of the Roses he took the side of
the Yorkists and in September 1450 was murdered near
Sywell by an armed band which lay in wait for him
behind a hedge on the road along which they knew he
would pass to fulfil an engagement with the Duke of
York. Isabel his widow demanded satisfaction for his
murder and the arrest and punishment of the mur-
derers.^ William Tresham was succeeded in the manor
by his son Sir Thomas^ who supported the Lancastrians
and at the battle of Towton was taken prisoner. In July
1 46 1 he was attainted and his estates seized,* rents from

Sywell: The Church

the manor of Sywell being granted in 1462 by the king
to Walter Devereux, Lord Ferrers. In 1464 Tresham
was pardoned and three years later his attainder was
reversed. In 147 1 Sir Thomas fought at Tewkesbury;
for this he was convicted of treason. King Edward
promised to pardon Tresham, but the promise was not
kept; he was beheaded in 1471.'
Sywell Manor remained in the
king's hands, for in 1480 it was
granted to Margaret wife of
William Sayer the king's servant
for her life.* Four years later
the manor was again granted to
Edward Brampton and his heirs
for his good service against the
rebels.' On the accession of
Henry VII in 1485 John Tres-
ham son of Sir Thomas success-
fully requested that he might be
installed in his father's property.*

Tresham. Party saUire-

ivise sable and or nvithsix

trefoils or in the sable.

Isabel Tresham, a
sister of John,' married Henry Vere, who in 1493 died
seised of this manor. Henry left four daughters all under
age.'" The eldest daughter EUzabeth married Lord
Mordaunt; to her descended most of her father's pro-
perty but there is no mention of S)'well coming to her," '
and its identity probably became lost after its subdivision
amongst the four co-heirs of Henry Vere.

Some time before her grant to the Priory of St.
Andrew, Maud de MundeviUe, on the occasion of her
daughter becoming a nun at Elstow, gave to the
church there 4| virgates of land in Sywell.'^ This land
was held by the nuns of Elstow at the time of the 12th-
century Survey.'^ After the Dissolution this small estate
became merged in the main manor (q.v.) with which it
was granted by the king in 154; to John Mersh.'"'

In 1 291 a mill in SyweU was held by the Prior of St.

Andrew's. '5 It presumably followed the descent of the

manor. There is still an old mill near the eastern

boundary of the parish on a stream now called Sywell

Bottom.

Sywell Wood at a very early
date belonged to the monastery
of St. Andrew's. In 1204 the
priory obtained licence to do
what they pleased with their
wood of SyweU.'* It is now
a well-known covert of the
Pytchley Hunt.

The church of ST. PETER
AND ST. PJUL consists of
chancel 20 ft. 2 in. by 15 ft. 6 in.
with small north
CHURCH vestry, nave 35 ft.
by I 5 ft. 9 in. with
north transeptal chapel at its east
end, south aisle 1 2 ft. wide, south
porch, and engaged west tower
16 ft. by 14 ft., all the measure-
ments being internal. The
chancel was wholly rebuilt in
1862, and in 1870 the north
chapel, nave arcade, aisle, clere-
story, and porch were almost
entirely rebuilt and a new nave roof erected, and how
far the new work reproduces the old is now difficult to
determine. The tower is open to the nave and aisle on
the east and south.

The development of the plan must remain to some
extent an open question, but a single pier of late-i2th-
century date, incorporated in the modern arcade about
16 ft. from its west end, if in its original position, im-
plies the existence at that period of a church with nave,
south aisle, and presumably a square-ended chancel.
The south doorway is also 12th-century, but was pro-
bably re-erected in its present position on the widening
oftheaisle. In the 13th century a tower was erected over
the west end of the nave, its east wall being carried on an
arch springing from a pier built to the north of the then
existing arcades and from a respond opposite. About
1300 the chancel was rebuilt. The north chapel may
have been added later in the 14th century, but it retains
no ancient feamres except a tomb recess in the end waU.
The vestry dates from 1862.

The chancel has a high-pitched tiled roof, but all the
windows are modern with the exception of one on the
north side now opening into the vestry, which is of two
lights with forked muUion. The modern three-light east
window is of the same t}'pe and probably reproduces
the window formerly existing. A piscina and aumbry, the
latter in the north wall, have been retained. The chancel

' Cal. Pat. 1446-52, p. 162.

^ Pari. R. V, 211-12.

3 Hist. MSS. Com. Var. Coll. iii, 102.

■• Diet. Nat. Biog. Ivii, 203.

5 Ibid. 204.

* Cal. Pat. 1476-8;, p. 201.

' Ibid. 416. « Pari. R. vi, 317.

" Metcalfe, Fisit. Northants. 201.
^0 Exch. Inq. p.m. dclxxiii, 2.
^* Halstead, Succinct Geneal. 301,

'^ Cott. MS. Vesp. E. xvii, 199.

" V.C.H. Northants. i, 382.

■•' L.aniP.//cn.F///,xviii(i),226(38).

's Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 321.

'* Pipe R. 6 John, m. 1 1 d.

134

HAMFORDSHOE HUNDRED

arch is modern. From the chapel a squint is directed
through the jamb of the north window to the high altar.

The nave is loftj', with leaded roof, and clerestory on
the south side only. The arcade consists of four pointed
arches on circular pillars, copied from the existing one
of the late 1 2th century. All the arches are modern and
there is a third modern pier immediately to the east of
the original one, the two western arches being thus
widely separated. The 13th-century pier from which
the tower arch springs is composed of four half-rounds
with slender shafts between and has a moulded capital
and base. The respond is of similar type. The arch is
semicircular but depressed, of two orders, the inner one
moulded.

The tower externally is of two stages, the upper cor-
responding to two floors within, and has an embattled
parapet with angle pinnacles, and buttresses facing west
to the lower stage. The north side is almost entirely
covered with ivy and only the bell-chamber windows
can be seen. These, as on the south, consist of two
lancets under a single label, divided by a shaft with
moulded capital. On the east a mullion takes the place
of the shaft and there is no label, and on the west a later
square-headed window has been inserted. Below the
beU-chamber windows on the west is another window
of the same type, and on the west a modem projecting
vice to the ringing chamber.

The font and pulpit are modern, but the bowl and
stem of a plain octagonal font are in the churchyard.

In the east window is some good Elizabethan glass
dated 1580.'

The north chapel contains mural monuments to
Robert Wilmer (d. 1612), the Hon. Lady Mary
Wilmer, wife of William Wilmer (d. 1729), and tablets
(i8th century and later) to members of the family of
Pell of Sywell Hall.

There are three bells, the treble by Henry Baglcy of
Ecton 1 70 1, the second dated 1766, and the tenor an
alphabet bell by Hugh Watts of Bedford 1611.^

WELLING-
BOROUGH

The plate consists of a silver cup and paten of 1706
given by the Rev. H. Cockayne Cust, rector, in 1 8 16,
a small paten, Birmingham make 1907-8, and a pewter
flagon.'

The registers before 18 12 are as follows: (i) baptisms
1 571-1677, 1683-7, marriages 1 572-1677, burials
1 572-1674; (ii) baptisms and marriages 1675-1747,
burials 1678-1747; (iii) baptisms and burials 1748-70,
marriages 1749-60; (iv) baptisms 1 771-18 12, burials
1771-83, 1787-1812; (v) marriages 1754-1812.

The advowson of Sj^vell was in-
JDFOfVSON eluded in the grant of Maud de Munde-
ville to the Priory of St. Andrew;*
with that house it remained until the Dissolution.
Henry VIII granted the advowson and rectory to John
Mersh in 1543.' It follows the same descent as the
manor (q.v.) until 1 8 14 when Lord Brownlow ob-
tained it in exchange for the advowson of Overstone.*
The Earls Brownlow were patrons until 1872 in which
}ear the right of presentation was transferred to the
Duchy of Cornwall. In 1923 the living was united
with that of Overstone, and the joint benefice is now in
the alternate gift of the Duchy of Cornwall and of Mr.
G. E. Stott.7

The Charity of Ambrose Marriott,
CHARITIES founded by will proved in 1736, con-
sists of a rentcharge of ;^2 issuing out of
a house and 20 acres of land in the parish of Welling-
borough known as Highfield Lodge. The income is
distributed in money.

Owen Pell by his will, proved at Birmingham,
3 June 1867, gave £150 to the rector upon trust to
apply the income in the distribution of flour to poor
widows two days before Christmas and two days before
Shrove Tuesday. The legacy less duty was invested in
£142 9/. J J. Consols with the Official Trustees. The
dividend amounting to £'i I is. yearly is applied in the
distribution of flour as directed by the will to 5 poor
widows.

WELLINGBOROUGH

Wendlesberie, Wedlingaberie (xi cent.); Wenlinge-
burc (lii cent.); Wcndlingburgh (xiii-xvi cent.);
Wellyngburgh (xiv cent.).

The parish of Wellingborough contains 4,253 acres.
The subsoil is Lias and Great Oolite.* The Rivers Nene
and Ise form the eastern boundary of the parish, while
another stream which joins the Ise forms the northern
boundary. The London road from Kettering passes
through the town, which is served by two stations on
the London, Midland, and Scottish Railway. From
the London Road Station, a mile to the south, a fine
avenue of trees leads up to the town.

On the west side of the town, behind Sheep Street
and overlooking the Swans Pool Brook, is the house called
'Croyland Abbey', which embodies some remains of the
manor-house of the abbots of Crowland, including the
fragment of a 13th-century doorway. Cole, writing in
1837, said that a considerable part of the house had
been taken down 'of late years', and Bridges early in the

1 8th century records the then recent demolition of an
ancient granary near the entrance. The building ap-
pears to have been reconstructed in the 17th century,
and a good oak staircase of ^. 1670, with square newels
and shaped flat balusters together with some mullioned
windows of the same period remain. The building was
modernized about i860, but part of a fine 15th-century
open roof belonging to the great hall of the manor house
is still in position above the ceiling of the west wing. It
consists of two-and-a-half bays, with a moulded and
embattled tie-beam and upper collar, purlins and wind-
braces — the rafters being modern — and formed the
eastern end of the great hall: the rest has gone.

The tithe-barn still stands to the north-west of the
house and is six bays long, marked externally by but-
tresses, built chiefly of local ironstone with limestone
courses at intervals, and covered with thatch. Its internal
dimensions are 77 ft. by 2 1 ft. 6 in., and it has two wide
doorways on each side, those on the west side being

' Bridges mentions 'some broken por-
traits and imperfect Gothic inscriptions'
in the east window of the aisle : //«/. of
NortAants. i'i^ 148. These have disappeared.

* The inscriptions arc given in North,
Ch. BtlUof Norihatiini^ In 1700 there

were four bells ; the second is now want-
ing, a pit is left for it in the (comparatively
new) frame. The bells were restored by
Taylor & Co. in 19:3.

' Markham, Ch. Plate of Northanli.

277-

* Cott. MS. Vesp. E. xvii, fol. 3 d.
5 L. and P. Hen. yill, xviii, pt. I, 226.
<■ Baker, Norihanls. i, 58.
' Clergy Liili, 1817-72; Clergy Guide t.
» y.C.H. Nortluntt. i, Geol. Map I.

135

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

lower than the others, which are 13 ft. 6 in. high. The
structure is a very fine example of the stone-built barns
of the early 15th century.'

A second tithe-barn in the town, probably that of
the manor of Hatton, of the same general character but
reduced in length, has recently been demolished.^

The old Free School-house stands to the north-west
of the parish church and is a large two-story building of
ironstone with mullioned windows, red-tiled roofs, and
two gables on the principal or south front towards the
churchyard: on the north side it faces directly on to
Church Street. The building was restored in 1904,
since when it has been used as a Church House. A sun-

Wellincborough: The Hind Hotel

dial on one of the gables is dated 162 1. ^ Over the door-
way on the south front is a panel inscribed: 'Edward
Pickering of Swasey in the county of Cambridge Esq""
one of the sons of S'' John Pickering, late of Tichmarsh
in this county Kt. and Barn'. an° Dni, 1682 gave to this
Free school 1301- for the advancem'. of learning —
Aspice, Respice, fac simile.' Adjoining this on the right
is a second panel,* with the inscription: 'Richard Fisher
of Wellingborough gent, gave to the schoolmasters of
this place £\ 5 per an. for the further encouragement of
Learning An° Dni 17 11', and beneath both a third
panel inscribed:

<DIA0MA9E2I multum debeo
Barberis autem nihil.

Immediately adjoining the school-house on the west
is a gabled house' with stone slated roof and panel on the
north front dated 1608.

The Hind Hotel,* at the west end of the Market
Place, is said by local tradition to have been in course of
erection at the time of the battle of Naseby. The build-
ing, which is of two stories with gabled attics, is faced
with local ironstone and its design is attributed to
William Batley, of Wellingborough.' As originally
built it was quadrangular in plan, with a central court-
yard and an entrance gateway 10 ft. wide in the middle
of the principal front and one at the opposite end from
the stable yard. On three sides of the courtj-ard was a
colonnade supporting an open balustraded passage on
the first floor, from which the bedrooms opened.* The
building, however, has undergone many alterations and
in the early part of the last cen-
tury had sash windows on the
ground floor. These were re-
placed by the present mullioned
windows in 1872, and in 1878
the staircase was altered: the
gateway had been closed in 1 869
and the space converted into an
entrance hall. In 1 891 the long
north front to Burystead was
rebuilt and a wooden portico
erected over the entrance. The
front to the Market Place is
about 69 ft. long and has three
regularly spaced roof gables with
plain coping and finials, the
windows in which have a wide
round-headed middle light: on
the first floor the windows are
transomed and alternately of
two and three lights. Two lead
spout-heads are dated 1 741, and
two others 1762. The broad
17th-century oak staircase has
turned balusters and square
newels with shaped tops and in
one of the upper rooms is a good
four-centered stone fire-place.
The courtyard is now covered in.

A market cross, built in 17 19 in front of the Hind
Hotel, was taken down in 1798: it is described as con-
sisting of a stepped base 'surmounted by a beehive-
shaped rotunda, which served the purpose of a prison',
over which was an octagonal fluted shaft with vane.'

The Golden Lion Inn at the bottom of Sheep Street
is a small but picturesque stone building, probably of
early-l7th-century date, with an overhanging timber
and plaster gable, recently restored.'" The house is said
to have been the dwelling of Thomas Roane, who died
in 1676."

In Sheep Street'- is an old stone and timber building
with overhanging upper story of plaster and thatched
roof broken by gables, which since its restoration c. 1 9 1 7
forms one of the most picturesque groups in the town,
the broad surface of the plaster contrasting with the

' J. W. Fisher in Assoc. Arch. Sec.
Reports^ xl, 313, where 3 plan, section, and
elevation are given. The building is
ventilated by small triangular openings
formed by a sill and two stones meeting
at the apex and by long narrow slits in the
gabled ends. There are diagonal buttresses
at three of the angles.

^ It stood behind the buildings near
the junction of Market Street and Cam-
bridge Street and was used as a garage.
Its internal dimensions were about 62 ft.

6 in. by 18 ft.

^ According to Bridges the date '1619'
was on the tablet with the Latin inscrip-
tion : Hist, of Northants. ii, 153. Cole
says that the school was built in 1620:
Hist, of fVellingborough^ 227.

♦ In Bridges' time this panel was blank :
op. cit. ii, 153.

5 No. 27 Church Street, now the dwell-
ing of the caretaker of the Church House.

^ The name is derived from the crest of
the Hattons.

' Cole, op. cit. 266. His epitaph on the
wall of the church vestry is noticed below.
He died in 1674.

8 Northants. N. Sf Q. v, 177-82.
' Cole, op. cit. 243. There was prob-
ably a market cross before 17 19.

'" The plaster which formerly covered
the entire surface of the gable was removed
and the timber work revealed.
" Cole, op. cit. 123-4.
'^ Numbered 29-30 Sheep Street.

136

HAMFORDSHOE HUNDRED

broken lines of the ground story, in which is a bay
window and wide entrance gateway. The building is
probably of early- 17th-century date.

The White Swan Inn (where Queen Henrietta
Maria stayed in 1628) was pulled down in 1 829.

The new bridge of the River
Nene, opened in Decern ber 1 890,
took the place of a 'very long and
very picturesque erection', with
round arches and two cut-waters,
erected c. 1630' and known as
the 'Long Bridge'.^

Wellingborough School was
refounded in 1 8 80^ on a new site
on the London Road and the
buildings, which are of red brick
in the style of the Queen Anne
period, have been enlarged in
1888, 1895, and 1913. Ini93i
a new Grammar School, built
on modern lines round a quad-
rangle, was opened on the Dod-
dington Road.

The town and manor formed
one of the most important posses-
sions of Crowland Abbey from
the loth to the i6th century,
with a prosperous market, but
the townspeople do not seem to
have obtained any measure of self-
government, but rather found
their right of electing certain
officials a burden on the score
of expense.'' A series of manor
accounts of the 13th and 14th
centuries were first kept by the
reeve only, and the usual officials
of a manor appear, but between
1285 and 1289 a collector began
to return a separate account for
all rents and similar payments.'
The collector was elected by the
tenants, but in 1385 an agree-
ment was made by which the
collector in future was to be
appointed by the abbey. This
agreement, which contained
other clauses, marked the con-
clusion of a quarrel between the
abbot and the townspeople* at
the time of the Peasants' Revolt
when much damage was done
to the abbey demesne.^ The
collector still accounted for the
rents at the time of the Dissolution' and it was pro-
bably for rent-collecting purposes that the town was
divided into quarters, of which the names Netherend,
Upperend, Westend, and Eastend have survived in

WELLING-
BOROUGH

documents.' The Guild of St. Mary (q.v.) took a
leading action in the affairs of the town and applied
part of its revenues to the repair of the bridges in the
town. As early as 1227 a relaxation of 1 3 days' penance
was granted to those giving alms for the repair of

Wellingborough: Sheep Street (before 1917)

Staplebridge at Wellingborough,'" and it was probably
for the repair of this bridge, under the mysterious name
of 'Sancta Pilbrigge', that Gilbert Champneys in 1375
bequeathed money." Breke Bridge is mentioned in

' Sorlhanll. N. & Q. iv, 73, 121;
Astoc. Arch. Six. Rfpcrtt^ xx, p. Ixxxiii.
The first bridge was probably erected at
the end of the 14th century.

' Including its supplementary arches
over the low lands it w-as of great length.
All the stone from the old bridge, which
was 1 2 ft. wide, has been worked into the
new one, the width of which is 36 ft. It
is constructed of steel girders filled in
with concrete laid on brick and stone
piers: Auoc, Arch. Sot. Rrporls, xx.

p. Ixxxiii.

> y.C.H. Northanli. ii, 27, where the
history of the school will be found.

< Norihanli. N. & Q. vi, no. 857;
Cat. Pal. 1408-13, p. 447.

* Wellingborough Account Rolls, in
possession of Queens' College, Cambridge,
and seen by the courtesy of the President
and Fellows of the college and of Dr. F. M .
Page.

' Norihanli. N. & Q. vi, no. 857;
Cal. Pal. 1408-13, p. 447.

' Cal. Pal. 1 38 1-5, pp. 357-8; Early
Chan. Proc., bdlc. 68, no. 29 ; Cal. Cloie,
1381-5, pp. 461-3.

• P.R.O. Min. Accts. Hen. VIII, 2020.

» Ct. R. (P.R.O.), portf. 195, no. 94,
m. 2i no. 97, m. 2.

■» Rol. II. dt ffelUi (Cant, ic York
Soc.), ii, 225.

' ' Hhi. MSS. Com. Rep. ix, pt. i, p. 47 b.
'Stapilbrigg' can obviously be expanded by
a scrivener, unacquainted with the name,
into 'Sancta Pilbrigge*.

137

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

1500 and Irewell Bridge in 1539' The revenues of
the Guild after its dissolution were vested in certain
feoffees and, under a Decree of Chancery, in 1595 were
assigned towards the upkeep of the Grammar School,^
but it seems clear that the income of the Feoffees'
Charity was used for town purposes.' For many years
the school-house served also as the Town Hall,* but
in 1 82 1 the feoffees built a new hall out of the revenues
of the charity. 5 Wellingborough Bridge was practically
destroyed in a great flood in the 1 8th century.* In 1 669
the town was described as 'a borough containing a great
number of houses, all built of stone, and a considerable
population',' but in 1738 a great^re destroyed much
of the old town.* In 1855 a Board of Health was
established, but the government of the town and parish
is now controlled by the Urban District Council,
established under the Local Government Act of 1894.

In the later 13th century Wellingborough was in-
cluded in the well-organized system of sheep-farming
developed by the abbey of Crowland.' In 1 291 the
profits of the flocks are specially mentioned amongst the
abbey revenues at Wellingborough'" and both sheep
and wool were sent to Crowland. The special accounts
of the sheep-run, however, end abruptly in 13 14," but
wool remained an important factor in Wellingborough
economy and in 1 3 19 there were 200 sheep on the
abbot's demesne.'^ Probably the demesne lands were
usually leased." In the i6th century there was still a
large market for wool and fells in the town.'* The mak-
ing of cheese, which formerly made the cheese fair on
St. Luke's Day celebrated,'^ can be traced back to the
13th century when a large number of cheeses were
accounted for to the abbey.'* In 1693, and again in
1743, Wellingborough market was the scene of some-
what serious corn riots." Lace-making was a thriving
industry until killed by the introduction of machine-
made lace,'* but at the present day the main industries
of Wellingborough are boot- and shoe-making and
ironworks."

Wellingborough was famous for its waters in the 17th
century. Various wells are mentioned in earlier docu-
ments, one of them being called Our Lady's Well,-" and
their medicinal qualities made the town fashionable about
1624, when the Duchess of Buckingham came to drink
the waters.^' Three years later Charles I and Henrietta
Maria received the Mantuan ambassador there, while
the Queen seems to have come again in 1628.^^

Sir Paul Pindar, the diplomatist, was born at Well-
ingborough about 1565, and after gaining commercial
experience in Venice and Aleppo he was appointed
English ambassador to Turkey in 161 1. He presented
church plate and one of the existing church bells. ^'
Other Wellingborough residents were John Cole
(1792-1848), the historian of the town, who was a

■ P.R.O. Min. Accts. Hen. VIII,
no. 2020; Cole, op. cit. 146.

2 F.C.H. Northants. ii, 262-3.

3 Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. 390, no.
90 j J. Cole, History and Antiquities of
ffellingtorougi, 1837, p. 53.

■• F.C.H. Northants. ii, 265.

s Cole, op. cit. 237.

' Northants. N. & Q. i, 212-13.

' Ibid, ii, 106.

8 Ibid, i, 129; Cal Treas. Bis. Sf
Papers, 1739-41, pp. 103, 313, 331.

' F. M. Page, 'Bidentes Hoylandie' in
Economic Journal, Supplement IV, Jan.
1929; Wellingborough Account Rolls.
"> Tax. Eccles. (Rec. Com.), 54.
" F. M. Page, op. cit.

Abbey or Crowland.
Gules three knives argent
•with handles or set fesse^
nvise quartered luith
azure three scourges or
erect and fesse'wise.

schoolmaster there in 1 8 3 5,^'' and John Askham (1825-
94), the poet and shoemaker who was born there. He
was educated for a short time at the Free School and at
10 years old was apprenticed to a shoemaker. He
published five volumes of poems and was a member
of the earliest School Board in the town in 1871, and
was also librarian of the Literary Institute. ^5

The manor of WELLINGBOROUGH
MANORS belonged to the abbey of Crowland in
Lincolnshire in the reign of Edward the
Confessor.^* According to the
12th-century tradition at the
abbey, it had been given to Crow-
land in the reign of Edred (946—
55) by Turketj'l, the refounder
of the abbey, of which he was
elected abbot.-' In 1086 the
abbey held 5I hides at Welling-
borough, of which the value had
risen from 50/. in 1066 to 6/.^*
In 1285 the manor was held in
frank-almoin of the king^' and in
1329 the abbot claimed to hold
sac, see, toll, team, and infang-
thief, view of frankpledge, with
gallows, tumbril, and pillory. He
further claimed that he and his men were free of 'mur-
drum' and suit to the county and that they were quit
of all tolls on their goods. 2°

In 1 3 19 there were 7 free tenants, 12 full socmen,
35 toft socmen, 36 villeins, 35 molmen, 5 acremen, and
I cottar. The services due from the tenants are
enumerated in much detail and obviously show the
manorial custom of a much earlier date, but each in
1 3 19 had a money equivalent. The most interesting
group were the socmen, who had retained their
special characteristics from the nth century. Each
socman still held a virgate of land, for which a rent
of 812'. was due and the service of 'long avering' or
carrying had been commuted to z\ii. a year. They
paid a fine for entry to their tenements and were
admitted in the lord's court, while jointly they paid a
fine called 'Francwara' of 2S. ^d., but they were free
of the more servile fines c&c.paid by the unfree tenants. ''
At this time, one virgate was divided into four holdings
and later all 12 seem to have been subdivided, but
their identity was not lost. In the i6th century the
holdings were called sokons, one tenant being the head
of the sokon and when he died or alienated his holding
a fine of i6r. was paid, but the other tenants of his
sokon paid no fine, when their tenements changed
hands, to the lord of the manor. '^ The whole manor
paid a fine called aid-silver taken at the abbot's will
until 1385 when it was fixed at ^\ a year.''

" Add. MS. 5845, fol. 107.

" Proc. Ct. of Augs. bdle. 19, no. 27;
Min. Accts. Hen. VIII, no. 2020.

'♦ L. and?. Hen. Fill, xx (i), 684, 756.

^s Cole, op. cit. 241.

'* Wellingborough Account Rolls, 1 3 1 2.

" Cal. S.P. Dom. 1693, p. 397; Cal.
Treas. Bks. & Papers, 1742-5, p. 455.

" Northants. N. & Q. ii, 246.

" As early as 1645 Joshua Knight was
a shoemaker here and left his lasts to his
two sons : ex inf. M. C. ICnight.

^^ Cole, op. cit. 160, 170, 174, 176;
Ct. R. (P.R.O.), portf. 195, nos. 94, 97.

" Cal. S.P. Dom. 1623-5, pp. 327, 329 ;
1625-6, p. 1625.

" S.P. Dom. Charles I, vol. dxl, no. 29

(i); Cal. S.P. Dom. 1628-9, PP- -'8' ^5^-

" Diet. Nat. Biog.j Cole, op. cit. 51-2.

" Diet. Nat. Biog.

25 Ibid.; Northants. N. & Q. i (n.s.),
14-15.

" F.C.H. Northants. i, 319, 382.

" F.C.H. Lincoln, ii, 105.

=8 F.C.H. Northants. i, 319.

2» Feud. Aids, iv, 16.

30 Plac. de Quo fVarr. (Rec. Com.),
518-19.

3> Extracts from Register of Abbey of
Crowland, Add. MS. 5845, fols. 107 seq.

" Ct. R. (P.R.O.), portf. 195, nos. 94, 96.

33 Cal. Pat. 1408-13, p. 447; A'orMi3««.
A', fef Q. vi, no. 857; P.R.O. Min.
Accts. Hen. VIII, no. 2020.

138

HAMFORDSHOE HUNDRED

The manor was held in demesne by the abbey until
its dissolution in 1539' and was held by the king until
1550-1,^ when Edward VI granted it to Princess
Elizabeth.' The mansion house and demesne lands
had been let by the abbey, the last tenants being William
Peke and his son John.* The latter had been succeeded
by 1 547 by his widow Alice and her second husband
Thomas Warner,' and in 1568 Queen Elizabeth gave
another lease to Edward Cawton.* The manor itself
she seems to have retained till 1590, but in 1 574
she granted a considerable part of its lands to Robert
Dudley, Earl of Leicester,' and another grant of lands
was made in 1576 to Sir Christopher Hatton.* The
manor is not mentioned in either grant, but in 1579
Hatton appears to have bought a large estate in
Wellingborough including view of frankpledge and
stallage rights from Roger Charnock and his wife
Elizabeth,' and this possibly represented Leicester's
holding. The Chamocks continued to live there,'"
presumably as tenants of Hatton. In 1590 Elizabeth
sold the Crowland manor of Wellingborough, and
other property there to Richard Knolles and William
Doddington," presumably mere speculators, as Hatton
died seised of the manor of Wellingborough in 1591.'^
His heir was his nephew Sir William Newport alias
Hatton, the son of his sister Dorothy,'^ but he apparently
intended to settle it on his cousin John Hatton.'*
Whether he did so seems to have been uncertain in
1616," but the situation was complicated by the fact
that Sir Christopher died heavily in debt to the Crown
and in 1 594 the Queen granted the manor for twenty-
one years to William and Francis Tate for the settlement
of his debts.'* Sir William Hatton died in 1596-7,
having settled the manor on his elder daughter and heir
Frances," who married Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of
Warwick.'* Finally, in 161 6
a division was made between
Robert Rich and his wife on one
hand and Christopher son of John
Hatton on the other. ' ' From this
time the manor was held in two
separate portions known as the
manor of Wellingborough and
the manor of Wellingborough-
Hatton.

The manor of WELLING- Grevilli. SabU a crois

BOROUGH WZS sold in 1620^0 m <i iord^r tngr^.kJ cr

by the Earl of Warwick and

his wife to Fulke Greville, Lord

Brooke, who left it in his will dated 1627/8 to his cousin

Robert Greville.^' His family held it till the 19th

tvith fi'vt roundels table
on the cross.

WELLING-
BOROUGH

century,-^ but sold it to John Vivian. From him it
passed to Quintus Vivian, who was lord of the manor
in 1 837=' and died in 1877. Major Quintus Vivian left
a daughter Flora, who married William Frederick Byng,
second son of the Earl of Strafford. Their daughter
Violet married Dr. Edmund Distin Maddick, C.B.E.,
whose son. Major Edmund Cecil Strafford Byng-Mad-
dick, is now lord of the manors of Wellingborough.

IVESTHALL FEE was a small manor held by
Crowland Abbey at the time of its dissolution; it was
let at farm to John Peke, with the demesnes of the chief
manor of Wellingborough,-* into which it was evidently
absorbed. This may possibly represent the virgate held
in 1086 by the Bishop of Coutances, appurtenant to
Harrowden.^s The sub-tenant at that date was Norgot,
and in 1 199 one Hugh 'son of Norgaut' granted half
a virgate in Wellingborough to the Abbot of Crow-
land.^*

The manor of fVELLINGBOROUGH-HATTON"
was assigned to Christopher Hatton of Kirby, probably
in 1616.^' He was created Lord
Hatton of Kirby in 1643,^' but
in 1649, in order presumably
to meet the heavy cost of com-
pounding for his estates with the
Commonwealth, he sold Well-
ingborough-Hatton to Francis
Gray,'" a royalist who in 1642
had been seized by the Parlia-
mentarians for not contributing
to the defence of the kingdom.
The town rose in arms in his
defence and reinforcements had
to be hurried from Northampton to put down the dis-
turbance." He must, however, have made his peace
with the Parliament before he purchased the Hatton
manor. His son, another Francis Gray, settled the manor
on his nephew Charles Shepherd in 1703,'^ who held in
17 19,'' and afterwards the manor passed to George
Shepherd.'* In 1 805, it seems to have been in the hands
of heiresses,'^ from whom it was presumably bought by
John Vivian, the lord of Wellingborough manor.'*

In the 1 2th century a hide of land, which was
apparently omitted from the Domesday Survey, was
held by the Earl of Leicester." In 1265 Simon de
Montfort, Earl of Leicester,'* forfeited a yearly rent of
;^io in Wellingborough, which had been seized by
Gilbert de Clare. The overlordship of the honor of
Leicester is mentioned in I488"and 1535.*° In 1205
the sub-tenant of the manor was Robert de Harcourt,
whose lands were seized by King John and granted to

Hatton. Azureacheve'
ron between three sheaxres

' Feud. Aids, iv, i6, 26; Tax. Feel.
(Rcc.Com.), S4j P.R.O. Min.Accts. Hen.
VUI, no. Z020; Dugdalc, Mon. ii, iz6.

' Ct. R. (P.R.O.), portf. 195, nos. 94,

95. 97-

* Cj/. Pj/. 1549-51, p. 239 and 1550-

3. P- 90-

* Proc. Ct. of Augs. bdlc. 19, no. 27.

5 Pat. 10 Eliz. pt. I. » Ibid.

^ Ibid. 16 Eliz. pt. i, mm. 8, 12.

* Ibid. 18 Eliz. pt. xiii, m. 10.

' Feet of F. Northants. Trin. 21 Eliz.

'*• S.P. Dom. Eliz. vol. cicii, no. 41.

" Pat. 37 Eliz. pt. xviii, m. 19.

" Chan. Inq. p.m. (Scr. 2), cccxxix,
no. 193.

" Ibid.; C. Metcalfe, yiiilationt of
Aorthants. 27.

'♦ Add. MS. 37939.

" Ibid. Sir William certainly held

courts for the manor in 1593: Finch-
Hatton Deeds, 541 (penes Northants.
Rec. Soc.).

•« Pat. R. 37 Eliz. pt. 18.

" Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccjxix,
no. 193.

'• G.E.C. Complete Peerage.

'» Add. MS. 37939.

» Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 17 Jas. I.

" Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxix,
no. 90; ibid, di, no. 63.

" Recov. Mich. 12 Chas. II, r. 191;
ibid. Mich. 3 Geo. I, r. 308; ibid. Hil.
14 Geo. II, r. 241 ; ibid. Hil. 12 Geo. Ill,
r. 323; ibid. East. 40 Geo. Ill, r. 370;
Norihanii. N. & Q. ii, 224; Priv. Act of
Pari. 5 Geo. Ill, c. 28.

^' Cole, op. cit. 33.

'♦ Proc. Ct. of Augs. bdle. 19, no. 27;
Min. Accts. Hen. VIII, no. 2020.

" l^.C.H. Northanli. i, 31 1.

" Fcetof F. Northants. 10 Ric. I, no. 39.

" The name occurs as early as 1593,
when Sir William Hatton held a 'Court of
the sokcmcn* : Finch-Halton Deeds, 929
(fenes Northants. Rec. Soc).

" Add. MS. 37939.

" G.E.C. Complete Peerage (2nd ed.), vi,
396. '" Close 1649, pt. ix, m. 26.

J' MSS. of Duke of Portland. (Hist.
MSS. Com.), i, 82.

'^ Close, 4 Anne, pt. xiv, no. 10.

" Cole, op. cit. 126.

^* Bridges, op. cit. ii, 1 50.

" Feet of F. Northants. Hil.40Gco.III.

"* Cf. Cole, op. cit. 33.

" y.C.H. Northants. i, 382.

'• Cal. Intj. Mite, i, no. 833.

" Cal. ln<i. p.m. Hen. ril, i, 297.

« fator Eccles. (Rec Com.), iv, 310.

139

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

Philip de Wigornia,' but in 1216 John de Harcourt
recovered them.^ He was succeeded in 1 220-1 by
Richard de Harcourt, a son of Robert.^ Baldwin de
Manners was holding i of the viU of Wellingborough
in 1285'' and a quarter fee there in 1298. ' He died
in 1320,* and his heir is said to have been Robert de
Morley, Marshal of Ireland,' but Wellingborough
apparently passed first to William de Morley, the
father of Robert, probably in right of his wife.* Robert
in 1352 sold this property to Adam Fraunceys and
John Piel, citizens of London.' John Piel by his will,
proved in 1382, made provision for the foundation of
a College of Canons at Irthlingborough.'" His widow
Joan carried out his intentions" and part of his manor
was presumably then given to the College, which at the
Dissolution received ^^12 os. \o\ti. from lands in
Wellingborough and paid a rent of y. \d. to the
'duchy' of Leicester.'^ The College manor of WeUing-
borough remained in the king's hands until Edward VI
granted it with the manor belonging to Crowland
Abbey (q.v.) to Princess Ehzabeth'^ and it was annexed
to the honor of Grafton."* It followed the descent of
that part of the Crowland Abbey manor' 5 which came
into the possession of Fulk, Lord Brooke, in 1620'* and
is mentioned as a separate manor at the time of the
inclosure of the lands of Francis, Earl Brooke and Earl
of Warwick, in 1765," but was apparendy united to
Wellingborough-Hatton by 1837.'*

A manor of WELLINGBOROUGH, which was
also held of the honor of Leicester," possibly consisted
of the remainder of John Piel's property there. In 1 363
he enfeoffed Adam Fraunceys, citizen of London,
Henry Piel, rector of Workton, and William Braybrook
with aU his lands in Wellingborough.-" In 1376,
another settlement was made by them to which Simon
Simeon and John Curteys of Wermington were also
parties.^' In 1386 a grant by Curteys and Robert
Southoo of a water-miU, &c., in Wellingborough to
Joan, widow of John Piel, and his son Nicholas for their
lives was confirmed by Simon Simeon.^-' Joan Piel was
seised of lands there in 1412-^ and in 1426 the manor
was in the hands of William Braunspath and Elizabeth
his wife.^'' Possibly the latter was Elizabeth Piel,^5 who
afterwards married Sir William Huddleston. Their son
Henry Huddleston-' died in or shortly before 1488^''
and left the manor of Wellingborough to his daughter
Elizabeth, the wife of Sir Thomas Cheyne, in tail, with
remainder in default to his executors.^* Sir Thomas

held the property at his death in 1 5 14, but had setded
it on his second wife Anne.^' It was claimed, but
unsuccessfully, by Margaret widow of Sir George
Vere, as the heir of Elizabeth Piel.^° It later passed to
Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Thomas Cheyne ;'' she
married Thomas Vaux, son and heir of Sir Nicholas
Vaux.-*- In 161 5 it was in the handsof Elizabeth Vaux,
mother of Edward, Lord Vaux of Harrowden, a
minor,^-' but no further trace of it can be found.

GAGE'S MANOR appears in 1608, when it was
held by Robert Gage of Raunds.'* His son John Gage
had succeeded to it by 1624^5 and another John Gage
and his wife Elizabeth, together with Richard Grace
and his wife Mary, probably the daughter and heir of
the second John, sold it in 1655 to Francis Gray, the
lord of Wellingborough-Hatton manor^* (q-^-)-

COGENHO FEE or CHETNE'S FEE may be
traced back to the holdings of Countess Judith. She
held half a virgate in Wellingborough, appertaining
to the manor of Doddington, with which it was
valued." The tenant in 1086 was named Gilbert.^*
She also held half a hide of land in Wellingborough in
1086,^' which passed to the honor of Huntingdon,^"
of which the fee was still held in 1616.'" Her tenant
was named Hugh.*^ In the 1 2th century 3 virgates were
held by Nicholas de Cogenho,*^ and an Ilbert de
Cogenho granted a virgate there to St. Andrew's Priory,
Northampton. This gift was confirmed by Henry II.'''*
In the reign of Richard I, Henry de Cogenho alienated
the manor to Herlewin de Raunds,'" whose descendant
William de Raunds held the manor in 1 329.''* This fee
seems to have returned to the Cogenhos, or possibly
William de Raunds took the name of Cogenho. In or
shortly before 1399, WiDiam, son and heir of William
de Cogenho, died leaving his sister Agnes as his heir."
She was the wife of John Cheyne,"*' who in 1412 held
lands in Wellingborough and Cogenho*' worth over
12 /. per annum. In 1439, William Seymour and his
wife Isabel quitclaimed to feoffees for themselves and
the heirs of Isabel their right in the manor of Cogenho
and lands there and in Wellingborough and Horton,
but no explanation appears as to their claims. 5° The fee
returned to the Cheynes and followed the descent of
Cogenho (q.v.) until the death of John Cheyne in 1 596,
when the manor passed to his brother Francis,^' who
sold, or possibly mortgaged, it in 1607 to Robert
Sparrow. ^^ As there were Cheynes connected with
Wellingborough until 1662, it may have passed to a

' Rot. Liu. Claus. (Rec. Com.), i, 45A.
^ Ibid. 250A.
3 Ibid. 4.45.
•> Feud. Aids, iv, 1 6.
5 Cal. Inij. p.m. iii, 423.
^ G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
' Blomcfield, Hist, of Norfolk, ii, 444.
* Cal. Close, 1349-54, p. 493.
•> Ibid.

■» Sharpe, Cal. of (rills, ii, 228.
" r.C.H. Northants. ii, 179.
" ^a/oriscir/fj. (Rec. Com.), iv, 309,310.
The honor of Leicester had been absorbed
into the Duchy of Lancaster.
" Cal. Pal. 1549-51, p. 239.
'■» Pat. 16 Eliz. pt. i, m. 13.
'5 Ibid. 37 Eliz. pt. xviii, m. 19; 14 Jas.
I, pt. xxii. Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxxix,
193.

"' Feet of F. Northants. Trin. 17 Jas. I ;
Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxix, 90.

" Priv. Act of Pari. 5 Geo. Ill, c.
28.
'* Cole, Hist, of Wellingborough, 33.

■» Cal. hq. p.m. Hen. VII, \, 297.

2" Cal. Close, 1360-4, p. 523.

2' Feet of F. Northants. 50 Edw. Ill,
no. 696.

2^ Cal. Close, 1385-9, p. 144.

23 Feud. Aids, vi, 495.

" Feet of F. Northants. 4 Hen. VI,
no. 35.

25 She is said to have been daughter of
John son of Nicholas Piel: V.C.H.
Northants. iii, 208.

2^ Early Chan. Proc, bdle. 587, no. 40.

2' Cal.' Inq. p.m. Hen. FII, i, 297.

28 Ibid.

29 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxix, 3.

3" Early Chan. Proc, bdle. 587, no. 40.

3' It is not clear whether she was his
daughter by his first or second wife:
G.E.C. Complete Peerage, viii, 19. Mar-
garet Vere claimed that Dame Elizabeth
died childless, but the pedigree and claims
which she put forward are not convincing.

32 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxix, 3.

33 Exch. Dep. by Com. Mich. 13 Jas. I,

no. 6, Northants. ; G.E.C. Complete Peer-
age.

34 Feet of F. Northants. Trin. 6 Jas. I.

35 Ibid. East. 19 Jas. I.

3* Ibid. Mich. 1655; cf. Bridges, op. cit.
ii, 150.

37 f^.C.H. Northants. i, 354.

38 Ibid.

39 Ibid. 352.

■•» Ibid. 382; Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec.
Com.), 514.
■" Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclvii, 74.
*2 V.C.H. Northants. \, 352.
43 Bridges, Hist, of Northants. ii, 150.
■"> Ibid.

•ts Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.), 5 14.
"6 Ibid.
■*' Cal. Close, 1396-99, p. 465.

■•8 Ibid.

49 Feud. Aids, vi, 495.
5° Feet of F. Northants. 17 Hen. VI,
no. 91.
5' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccclvii, 74.
S2 Feet of F. Northants. East. 5 Jas. I.

140

Wellingborough: The Old Grammar School

MMmS

#^^'"

HAMFORDSHOE HUNDRED

younger branch of the family; there are inscriptions in
the parish church to Laurence Chej-ne who died in
165 1 ' and to Edward Cheyne in 1662.^ Thomas
Roane, who owned Cogenho Fee,' died in 1676,
leaving a daughter Margaret as his heir.* She left
various benefactions to the town and at her death in
17175 the manor was presumably sold, George Went-
worth holding it about 1720.* John Frederick is
reported to have been the lord of a manor in Welling-
borough at this period and this may have been Cogenho
Fee.' He died in 1775 leaving his property to his wife.*

WELLING-
BOROUGH

The market is still held on Wednesday. The abbot
held a market court called 'Curia Selde', but as early
as 1 3 19'5 the profits were farmed with the tolls.'* The
court is not mentioned at the dissolution of the Abbey.
In the 1 8th century the tolls were let on lease," but in
1782 the Earl of Warwick, as lord of the manor, gave
up his rights of tolls and stallage and all goods were
admitted freely.'' The tenants of the manor formerly
belonging to Irthlingborough College had always been
free of toll for their goods." Queen Elizabeth appears
to have granted two fairs at Wellingborough to Sir

■ c 1180-90
Ccl'iSO-QO
Oc 1300-1350
fUjr 1385-1400
■"Ir 11.20-30

.\ IcjDERN

Plan of Wellingborough Church

She died in 1788 and left her property in Welling-
borough to different nieces, but Cogenho Fee is not
mentioned in her will.'

In 1086 there were two mills paying 16/. a year and
a fishery on the abbey manor.'" In 1267, these two
water-mills and the fishery were farmed out." In 1539,
one mill was called East mill; another and a fulling-mill
were called Staple Mills.'- In 1674, when the town
was growing and a great deal of corn coming into it,
an attempt was made by the lessees of these mills to
force the inhabitants not to use certain other mills,
which had been established in some cases for a long
time."

A weekly market at Wellingborough

MyfRKET every Wednesday was granted in 1201 by

King John to the Abbey of Crowland'* and

the privilege passed with the abbey's manor (q.v.).

Christopher Hatton,^" but during the 1 8th century,^' as
at the present day, three fairs were held, the dates
being the Wednesdays in Easter and Whit weeks and
the 29th October.

The church of JLL HJLLOfTS'^
CHURCHES stands in the middle of the town, north
of the market-place, and consists of
chancel, 58 ft. by 20 ft. 6 in., with north and south
chapels and north vestry; clerestoried nave, 59 ft. by
17 ft. 6 in.; north aisle, 20 ft. 3 in. wide; south aisle,
15 ft. wide; south transeptal chapel, 13 ft. 3 in. by

11 ft. 6 in.; north and south porches, and west tower,

12 ft. 9 in. square, all these measurements being
internal. The tower is surmounted by a stone spire.
The Corpus Christi chapel on north side of the chancel
(now in part used as an organ-chamber) is 35 ft.
long by 20 ft. in width, and the Lady Chapel on the

' Cole, op. cit. 86.

' Ibid. 83.

' Bridges, op. cit. ii, 1 50.

« Cole, op. cit. 80. ' Ibid.

* Bridges, loc. cit.

' Cole, op. cit. 126.

• Ibid. 63; P.C.C. 138 Alexander.

' Cole, op. cit. 63 i P.C.C. 243 Cilvert.
■» y.C.H. Noriianls. i, 319.
" Wellingborough Acct. R.

" Min. Accts. Hen. VIII, 2020.

" Exch. Dep. by Com. Trin. 26 Chas. II,
no. i; Min. Accts. Hen. VIII, 2020.

'•• Chart. R. 2 John, m. 6.

'5 Add. MS. 5845, fol. 107.

"' Cf. Manor Accts. (Queens' College,
Cambridge), 1283, 1322.

" Cole, op. cit. 242.

■« Ibid. '• Ibid.

" Pat. 37 Eliz. pt. 18.

'■ Bridget, op. cit. ii, 149; Roy. Com. on
Atarkel Ri/^hll. 190.

'' The proper dedication is to All Saints,
but during the 19th century the church
became known as St. Luke's, and in 1867
a new church in the Midland road was dedi-
cated to All Saints. When the invocation
to St. Luke was found to be wrong, the
parish church became known as All
Hallows.

141

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

south side 48 ft. by 20 ft. The vestry is east of the
north chapel. The small transeptal chapel fills the space
between the south porch and the Lady Chapel. The
width across nave and aisles in 57 ft. 9 in.

The south doorway is all that is left of a church of
the late 12th century which probably was aisleless and
with a small square-ended chancel. The tower was
begun c. 1280, but it and the spire were not completed
till about twenty years later. The rebuilding of the
nave, with north and south aisles, seems to have begun
from the west end after the tower was finished c. 1300,
both arcades being of that period, and was followed by
the building of the chancel on its present plan, the east
window of which, c. 1 3 10, remains unaltered. The
existence of chapels north and south of the chancel is
shown by the west respond of an early- 14th-century
south arcade and the arch between the north chapel and
nave aisle. The north aisle seems to have been widened
later in the century and north and south porches added,
the plan of the church then to a great extent assuming
its present shape. By an arbitration of 1383-4 the
abbot and convent of Croyland engaged to rebuild the
chancel. The work was probably begun soon after; it
comprised new chancel arcades and the rebuilding of
both chapels on their present plan, that on the south
side being increased in length,' but the east wall
remained unaltered. New windows appear to have
been inserted in the north aisle about this time, and
shortly after, perhaps c. 1420-30, the south aisle west
of the porch seems to have been rebuilt on the old
foundation and the chapel erected to the east of it.^
Late in the l 5th century the church was new roofed,
the chancel roof being then raised and the clerestory
windows altered. The vestry is an enlarged rebuilding
in modern times of a two-story 14th-century sacristy
in the same position, the steps to the upper chamber of
which remain. Some rebuilding on the south side of
the church appears to have taken place in 1530,^ and
possibly some of the existing ashlar facing is of this
period. In 1 8 1 5 the church was uniformly paved,^ and
in 1 861 underwent an extensive restoration when
galleries on three sides erected in the previous century
were removed' and the nave and aisles newly seated.
The Lady Chapel was restored in 1907. The nave
arcades were rebuilt in 1930.

With the exception of the tower the older parts of
the building are of local ironstone, but the later work
is faced with freestone, and the roofs are leaded and of
low pitch. The lead of the nave roof overhangs, and the
south porch has a plain parapet, but elsewhere the
parapets are battlemented and of freestone.

The chancel has an east window of five lights, with
moulded jambs and muUions and geometrical tracery,
the circular centrepiece of which consists of three tre-
foiled triangles with the intervening spaces filled with
ogee trefoils: the hollow moulding round the opening
is enriched with sculptured animal figures and foliage.

and the hood-mould terminates in a finial which serves
to support the pedestal of a canopied niche breaking
the battlement. The boldly carved symbols of the
four evangelists are placed at the corners of the square
of the window, the two upper, those of St. John and
St. Matthew, serving as stops to the hood-mould.* On
the south side the chancel stands free of the Lady
Chapel by a bay and has an inserted three-light window
similar to those of the chapels, but on the north its
east end is covered by the vestry, the doorway to which
is original. There are no sedilia or piscina, but there
is an aumbry in the north wall. The chancel arcades
consist of three arches on the north side and four on
the south, all of two moulded orders on piers of four
attached shafts with hollows between, on high phnths,
the shafts having separate moulded capitals and bases.
The responds are single attached shafts with the outer,
wave-moulded, order carried to the ground on each side.
The west respond in the south side is built in front of
the respond of the early- 14th-century arcade, which is
of two hollow-chamfered orders with moulded capital,
visible only from the chapel. The chancel arch is
contemporary with and of the same detail as the north
and south arcades, as is also the arch at the west end
of the south chapel. The 14th-century arch between
the north chapel and nave aisle is of two hollow-cham-
fered orders on half-octagonal responds with moulded
capitals and bases. The chancel arcades are filled with
good 15th-century oak screens: the rood-screen and
loft and the screens at the west ends of the chapels are
modern.' In the chancel are six return stalls, three on
each side of the screen doorway, with carved miseri-
cords, the subjects of which are: north side, (l) ale-wife
and customer, (2) eagle, (3) two lions; south side,
(4) wood-carver at work, (5) mermaid, (6) fox and
goose. The supporters are roses, eagles, lions, foliage,
dolphins, and balls of foliage. The date of the stalls
is fixed within a few years by the arms of White which
occur on one of the elbows, John White having been
rector 1361-92.*

The chancel has a good I jth-century roof of five
bays with moulded principals, but the corbels of the
earlier high-pitched roof remain. The roofs of the
chapels, of three and four bays respectively, are equally
good, with moulded beams and carved bosses: they
have been recently restored.

The south chapel has an east window of five lights,
but with this exception the windows of both chapels
are lofty openings of three cinquefoiled lights with
vertical tracery of two stages divided by a battlemented
transom." They are evenly spaced with intervening
and diagonal angle buttresses. In the south chapel is
a piscina and the altar rails are those formerly in the
chancel.

The early-i4th-century nave arcades are of four
bays with pointed arches of two hollow-chamfered
orders on octagonal piers of ironstone with moulded

' Its cast wall is built against a buttress
of the chancel.

2 The order in which the later work in
the building took shape is difficult to fix
with certainty, but the south chapel is
obviously a filling in of the space between
the porch and the Lady Chapel, though its
character is little different from those of
the rebuilt chancel.

3 Robert Hanyet in his will (1530) left
'to the making of the south side of the
church so much money as shall glaze the
middle window* : Arch. your. Ixx, 4.3 1 .

■* Cole, Hisl. of ffellingtorougi, 285.

5 There were two galleries at the west
end, 'one receding from Sc rising above the
other' : ibid. 5 1 . A gallery was first erected
in 1682, and in 1724 a new one was built
in 'the north-west corner of the body of
the church'.

^ Sharpc, Decorated h'indoiv Tracery.,
plate 35. The total height of the opening
is 16 ft. 6 in. and its width 9 ft. 10 in.
The mouldings of the tracery are of two
orders. 'Perhaps no window can be more

advantageously selected as marking the
termination of the geometrical period and
the commencement of the next as this
example' : ibid. 79.

' "The rood-screen, loft, and rood with
attendant figures date from 19 1 7.

8 A'orMaw/j. A'. Sfg. vi, 33. The stalls
were then (1896) on the north and south
sides. The figure of a carver at work also
occurs at Great Doddington.

' The jambs and mullions of the win-
dows are moulded.

142

HAMFORDSHOE HUNDRED

capitals and bases. The south jamb of a contemporary
window remains in the west wall of the north aisle,
but the existing window in that position is of four
cinquefoiled lights with vertical tracery, all the other
windows of the aisles being of the same type but of
three lights.

The late- 12th-century south doorway has a semi-
circular arch of two orders, the inner with chevron
ornament, the outer with a roll and hollow moulding,
on octagonal shafts with cushion capitals and moulded
bases: the shafts are enriched with chevron ornament.
The inner order rests on imposts with scroll volutes,
below which the jambs are chamfered. The four-
centred north doorway is modern, but the covering
porch has a I4th<entury outer doorway of two cham-
fered orders on half-round responds with moulded
capitals," and above it is a plain niche. The porch has
an upper chamber approached by a wall stair from the
aisle and lighted by small windows east and west: there
are also narrow openings on the north side, on either
side of the niche.

The south porch is also of two stories, with a stair-
way in the west wall entered from the aisle. ^ The
chamber may be an early-i jth-century addition, the
west wall of the porch being then rearranged for
steps; if so, it was completed before the erection of
the chapel on the east side.' The porch has diagonal
angle buttresses and an elaborate i jth-century groined
vault springing from angle shafts with moulded bases,*
but without capitals. The outer doorway is of two
continuous chamfered orders, and above it is a cinque-
foiled niche containing a modern Pieta, with a small
trefoil-headed window on each side lighting the
chamber.

The small south chapel east of the porch opens from
the aisle by an arch similar to, and no doubt copied
from, that adjoining at the west end of the Lady Chapel.
It has a four-light window in the south wall, and a
squint cut through the north end of the east wall
directed to the high altar. The bosses of the panelled
oak roof have shields with the emblems of the Passion.
The roof of the south aisle is also of the i 5th century,
but the roofs of the nave and north aisle arc modern.

There are four clerestory windows on each side:
three on the south and the westernmost on the north
are 14th-century square-headed openings of two lights,
but the others on the north have depressed arches and
two of them are of three cinquefoiled lights.

The tower is of three stages, with moulded plinth,
coupled buttresses to the height of the second story, and
vice in the north-west angle. The two lower stages
are faced with alternate bands of ironstone and oolite,
above which the walls arc of dressed freestone. The
west doorway' has a pointed arch of three orders

WELLING-
BOROUGH

springing from nook-shafts with moulded capitals and
bases, above which is a traccried circular window. The
middle stage has pointed windows of two trefoiled lights
with quatrefoil in the head, that on the west now
blocked and covered with a clock dial, but the lower
stage north and south is blank. The face of the upper
story is slightly recessed, with shafted pilaster angle
buttresses, and has double bell-chamber windows of
two lights with arches of two moulded orders on shafts
with moulded capitals and bases. The tower finishes
with a bold corbel table and has tall pinnacles rising
from the broaches of the spire, the angles of which are
ribbed. The spire is 165 ft. in height,* and has gabled
lights on the cardinal faces near the top and bottom.'
The tower arch is of three chamfered orders towards
the nave, the innermost order springing from half-
round responds with moulded capitals and bases. The
screen was erected in 1907.

The font appears to have been formed from the
socket stone of a cross, worked from square to octagon
shape by plain broaches, the centre hollowed to a
circular bowl and lined with lead: the surface has been
scraped or recut; it is mounted on a square stone base.*

The pulpit is modern and of wood.

Near the south doorway is an elaborate mural monu-
ment' with effigies of a man and a woman with no other
inscription than the date '1570', which according to
Bridges commemorates Lingar, Serjeant of the bake-
house to Queen Elizabeth.'" A marble slab to Walter de
Scaultorp, noted by Bridges" in the north chapel, has
now disappeared, and several 'slabs of great antiquity'
mentioned by Cole have likewise gone. There is a con-
siderable number of memorial stones and tablets, a few
of late- 17th-century date but mostly belonging to the
1 8th century and later.'- A tablet commemorating
William Batley, architect, d. 1674, is built into the
outer wall of the vestry.

There are eight bells, two trebles by Taylor & Co. of
Loughborough having been added in 1884 to a former
ring of six, one of which (now the fifth) was then re-
cast. The third (old treble) was given by Sir Paul
Pindar in 1640, the fourth is by Newcombe of Leicester
1604, the sixth by Islip Edmunds of London 1764, the
seventh dated 1620, and the tenor 1639." There is also
a priest's bell, cast by Henry Penn of Peterborough in
1708.

The plate is allof silver gilt and consists of a cup'* and
cover paten of 1564, a cup, paten, and two flagons of
1634 given by Sir Paul Pindar in that year, a paten of
1719, a cup off. 1730 purchased from a Spanish con-
vent and given to the church in 1843, and an alms dish
of 1874. '5 There are also three plated alms dishes,
1861.

The registers before 1812 are as follows: (i) all

' The bases arc covered.

' The doorway, long blocked, was
opened out in 1928, the stairway widened,
the groining strengthened, and the cham-
ber restored to form a library — a bay
window being inserted at the north end
overlooking the nave. In the course of
these alterations a 13th-century grave
slab with incised calvary cross was found
in the west wall. The lower moulding of
the parapet of the aisle runs through the
roof of ttie porch.

1 This is implied by a window in the
east wall of the chamber, now opening on
to the chapel.

* The bases of the shafts appear to

belong to the 14th-century work. The
groining was probably inserted after the
completion of the upper story.
' It was restored in 1887-8.

* Bridges, Hisi. of Norihanls. ii, 151.

7 About 1 2 ft. of the top of the spire
was rebuilt in 1886.

• Aisoc. Arch. Soc. Ref>orls, xxiii, 192.
It was turned out of the church in 1815,
and in Cole's time (1837) was in the
vicarage garden; it was restored to use
during the incumbency of the Rev. G. P.
Lightfoot (c. 1870).

° It was moved to its present position
from over the doorway in 1928. In
Bridges' time it was against the east wall

of the south chapel.

"> Bridges, op. cit. ii, 152.

" Ibid. 152. It was inscribed round the
edge; 'Hie jacet dominus Walterus de
Scaultorp quondam rector ecclesiae de
Arold isiius . . .'. Presumably he was
rector of Harrold, Beds.

*' The inscriptions are given in Cole's
Hillory (1837).

'J North, Ck. Btlh of Northanlt. 435,
where the inscriptions on the older bells
are given. The third, seventh, and tenor
bear the shield of Hugh Watts of Leicciter.
The old third was dated 1729.

'♦ Now used as a ciborium.

' » Markium, Ck. PUtt of NortAaHlI. 305.

143

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

entries i 586-1623; (ii) baptisms 1628-74,' marriages
1624-71, burials 1624-74; (iii) baptisms 1675-1702,
marriages and burials 1675-1701; (iv) baptisms and
burials 1702-75, marriages 1702-54; (v) baptisms
1775-1811, burials 1775-1810; (vi) marriages 1754-
1812.

In the churchyard west of the tower is a memorial
cross to those who fell in the war of 19 14— 18.

The church o( ALL SAINTS, on the Midland road,
was built in 1868 and enlarged in 1890. It is of stone,
in the 14th-century style, and consists of apsidal chancel,
clerestoried nave, aisles, south porch, and vestry.

The church oi ST. BARNABAS, at the west end of
the town, was erected in 1 893 as a chapel of ease to the
parish church. It is built of red brick with Bath stone
dressings in the style of the 14th and 1 5th centuries and
consists of chancel, nave, aisles, vestry, and south porch.
Outside, at the west end, is a Weldon stone cross
erected in 1920 as a War memorial.

The church of ST. MART, serving an ecclesiastical
parish formed in 1904, was built, at the expense of the
late Misses Sharman, from designs by J. N. Comper. It
is of local ironstone with Weldon dressings, and consists
of chancel and nave with aisles and north and south
chapels, two-storied north porch with bell turret, and
west tower. The three western bays of the nave and
the tower were completed in 1930; there is a classical
screen carrying a rood loft, and some good modern glass.
The church is said to have been
ADFOWSON granted with the manor of Welling-
borough (q.v.) to the abbey of Crow-
land in the loth century.^ A priest is mentioned among
the abbey tenants in 1086.' The church was appro-
priated to the abbey before 1229"* and was valued at
^40 in 1 291.5 At the time of the Dissolution, the
rectory was leased to John Peke for ^33 6s. %d., while
another ^5 was received from the tithe hay let from
year to year.* The rectory was granted for life in I 543
by Henry VIII to William, Lord Parr, who had been
steward of the manor under Crowland, and two years
later the grant was extended to 8 years after his death.'
It passed on the division of the Hatton property to Sir
Robert Rich and his wife* and, except for a short period
in the 19th century, has been owned by the lord of
Wellingborough Manor (q.v.).' In 1837 the im-
propriator was the Rev. Charles Pasby Vivian, when the
lord of the manor was Quintus Vivian.'"

The advowson of the vicarage, which was instituted
before 1229," was held by Crowland Abbey until its
dissolution.'^ It was granted with the rectory to Princess
Elizabeth,'^ and has since belonged to the impropriators
of the rectory.''* In 1802, however. Earl Brooke

sold the next presentation to William Price,' ^ whose
executor, William Davis, presented to the living in
1 8 1 o. ' * The advowson now belongs to Major Strafford
Byng-Maddick.

In 1229 the vicarage consisted of the small tithes,
the altar dues, and half a virgate of land," which still
was attached to the vicarage in the i6th century.'*
In the 13 th century a pension of 46/. was paid yearly
to Crowland Abbey," but in 1535 40J. was paid
to the abbot and 6;. 8a'. to the almoner.^" During
the Commonwealth, the living was increased from the
first-fruits and tenths.^' In 1555 William Blinko, the
vicar, was deprived of his living under Queen Mary.^^
In 1633, another vicar, Thomas Jones, was chosen by
the Bishop of Peterborough to be present at the transla-
tion of Archbishop Laud to Canterbury.^' Complaint
was made of his preaching alternate Sunday afternoons
at Higham Ferrers for a salary of 20/. a year and so
giving his parishioners an excuse 'to gad after Mr.
Perne of Wilbye'.^'' He was a staunch royalist and was
twice imprisoned under the Commonwealth, finally
dying in gaol.-'

With the growth of the town, new parishes have been
formed: All Saints, in the gift of the vicar of Welling-
borough, in 1872; St. Mary, in the gift of trustees, in
1904; and St. Barnabas, in the gift of the Bishop of
Peterborough, in 1910. The Roman Catholic church
was built in 1885 and there are a Friends' meeting
house,^* two Congregational, one Baptist, and three
Methodist chapels.

The CHANTRY oi^it. Mary was endowed in 1328
by John de Surflet, vicar of Wellingborough, with an
annual rent of 5 marks to provide a chaplain to say mass
in the 'church' of St. Mary.^' Possibly a separate chapel
of St. Mary then existed, as a road called St. Mary Lane
is mentioned in the 1 6th century^' and in 1 500 Richard
Clerke bequeathed 6/. 8</. for the repair of the chapel of
St. Mary.^' More probably the 'church' was the chapel
of St. Mary in the parish church.

The G UILD of St. Mary'o was founded in the parish
church of Wellingborough and was formally constituted
and endowed with lands and rent in 1392." It consisted
of brothers and sisters who yearly elected two wardens
or aldermen. 3^ Further endowments were made by Sir
John Gubben, priest, William Elyott, and Simon
Blewitt." The last-named left by will, in 1 505, 8 acres
of copyhold land for a chaplain to celebrate mass in the
chapel of St. Mary,''' but after some years John Smart,
claiming to be Blewitt's heir, recovered possession of the
land. In spite of the intervention of Lord Parr and
other Wellingborough inhabitants in 1544, Smart
seems to have been in possession in 1 5 5 1 .'^ At the sup-

' Baptisms 1624— 7 have been cut out.

2 Dugdale, Alon. ii, 1 14.

3 y.C.H. Northanls. i, 319.

'> Rot. H. de fVelles (Cant. & York Soc),
ii, 148, 264-5.

5 Tope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 39.

' Min. Accts. Hen. VIII, no. 2020;
cf. Priv. Act of Pari. 5 Geo. Ill, c. 28;
Exch. Dep. by Com. Trin. 22 Eliz. no. 7.

' L. and P. Hen. Fill, xviii, p. 547 ;
XX, pt. i, p. 678.

8 Feet of F. Northants. Trin. 9 Jas. I;
Hil. 14 Jas. I; Mich. 15 Jas. I; Trin. 17 Jas.
I; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxxix, 193.

' Ibid. C. 142, cccclxix, 90; di, 63;
Recov. R. Mich. 12 Chas. II, r. 191;
Mich. 3 Geo. I, r. 308; Hil. 14 Geo.
II, r. 241; Hil. 12 Geo. Ill, r. 323;
East. 40 Geo. Ill, r. 370.

'" Cole, op. cit. 33.

' ■ Rot. H. de IVelUi (Cant. & York Soc),
ii, 148.

'^ Rot. R. Groueteste (Cant. & York Soc),
248 ; Rot. Ric. Gravesende (Cant. & York
Soc), 109, 1 21-3; Falor Eccles. (Rec.
Com.), iv, 305.

" Cal. Pat. 1549-51, p. 239.

'■• Cole, op. cit. 57-61 (list of presenta-
tions); Instit. Bks. (P.R.O.).

'5 Recov. R. Mich. 43 Geo. Ill, r. 30.

■* Instit. Bks. (P.R.O.) 1810; Cole,
op. cit. 60.

■' Rol. H. de fVelles (Cant. & York Soc),
ii, 148.

'8 Exch. Dep. Northants. Trin. 22 Eliz.
no. 7.

'9 Cott. MS. Nero D. x, fols. 177 d.,
182; Tax. Eccles. (Rec. Com.), 42*.

20 Valor Eccles. (Rec. Com.), iv, 305.

" Cal. S.P. Dom. 1653-4, p. 39.

" Northants. N. & Q. i, 215-16.

" Cole, op. cit. 59.

-* Cal. S.P. Dom. 1633-4, p. 193.

25 Cole, op. cit. 59.

2' The Friends' meeting house was built
in 1 8 19, but Wellingborough has been a
stronghold of their Society since the 17th
century.

" Inq. a.q.d. file 202, no. :2; Pat.
2 Edw. Ill, pt. I, m. 3.

^^ Cal. Pat. 1549-51, p. 20.

29 Cole, op. cit. 146.

3" Cal. Pat. 1 39 1-6, p. 175.

3" Inq. a.q.d. file 420, no. 19; Cal. Pat.
1391-6, p. 175. " Ihid.

33 Aug. Off. Misc. Bks., vol. I29,f. 130.

34 Ibid. 35 Ibid.

144

HAMFORDSHOE HUNDRED

pression of the chantries the income was partly applied
to the repair of the town bridges," but a stipend of
£2 6/. St/, was paid to Thomas Castelyn, who had
served as organist in the parish church for 30 years and
kept a song school.^ On petition, he recovered his
stipend and was receiving it in 15 54.' Payments were
made about 1537 for 3 years out of the Guild funds to
Sir John Holland, clerk, who also kept a school. This
is possibly the first surviving reference to a pre-reforma-
tion grammar school here.* It lends force to the sug-
gestion found in the chantry certificate that the king
should establish a free school, out of the income of the
Guild lands, the vicar and town undertaking to aug-
ment the endowment.' In I 549, the Guild lands were
granted to John Monson and probably the school was
then established, although the governing statutes were
not issued till 1595.*

The origin of the Fraternity of Corpus Christi' or
Corpus Christi and St. George' is unknown, but it
existed in i ;oo.' It is said to have been united before
1522 with the Guild of St. Mary (q.v.),'° but in 1539
the provost paid the rent due from the lands in Wharl-
dyke and BarweUend, held by the Fraternity, as if it was
still a separate body." It is not mentioned in the Chantry
Certificate for Wellingborough,'^ nor were its lands
included in the grant of Guild lands to John Monson in
1549." It seems, therefore, to have survived the Dis-
solution of the Chantries and, under Queen Mary,
bequests were made to it in 1557.''*

The Fraternity of St. Catherine is mentioned in the
will of William Fisher in 15 18, when a chapel of St.
Catherine was in existence," probably in the parish
church of Wellingborough. The Fraternity is not men-
tioned at the Dissolution of the Chantries,'* although
it received bequests certainly as late as 1539." In 15 18,
WiDiam Fisher left 10/. to the Fraternity of the Jesus
Mass,'' but though other bequests are recorded for
maintaining the Mass of Jesus" this appears to be the
only mention of a fraternity. In 1549, lands and rents
given to maintain certain obits, lights, and lamps in
various townships included a yearly rent of 4a'. in
Wellingborough." In i 5 5 1 , however, the Light land
in Wellingborough was said to be of the yearly value
of 3/. \J., which was used to maintain a light before
the rood of the parish church.^'

The Church Lands. Some 12 acres
CHARITIES were allotted in 1768 by the Inclosure
Commissioners in lieu of certain head-
lands which had from time immemorial been let for the
repairs of the church. The land was sold in 1920 and
the proceeds invested, producing about £120. The
income is applied by the churchwardens in the main-
tenance of the church and churchyard.

William Pcake by will dated 9 January 1 596 gave a
yearly rent of ;^5 4/. charged upon lands at Hoxton in
London to the poor. The charge was redeemed by the
transfer of £208 2 J per cent. Annuities to the Official
Trustees. The income is distributed in bread and
blankets.

By his will, 27 July 1665, John Orlebar gave ;f 100

' Chantry Certif. 35, no. 16.

' Aug. Off. Misc. Bk3.,vol. I29,f. 130.

J Add. MS. 8102.

* Aug. Off. Misc. Bkj., vol. 129, ff.
1 3 1-2; cf. y.C.H. NoriMantt. ii, 262.

* Chantry Ccrtif. 35, no. 16.

' Cal. Pal. 1549-51, p. 20; y.C.H.
I^orthantt. ii, 262.

1 Will of Richard Gierke (1500), in

WELLING-
BOROUGH

to the poor. This legacy was invested in land which has
been sold and the proceeds invested, producing
£i<^ 1 4^. 8ij'. yearly in dividends. The income is applied
by the vicar and churchwardens and two trustees ap-
pointed by the Urban District Council in the distribu-
tion of blankets.

Edward Cheney by will dated 4 April 1662 gave a
yearly rentcharge of 6y. out of his house and ground in
Chelsea for distribution in bread to the poor. The
charge has been redeemed by the transfer of j^i 2 2 J per
cent. .Annuities to the Official Trustees.

John Pulley by his will in 1693 gave a rentcharge of
/^5 4J. to be distributed in bread to 24 poor inhabitants.
This charge is paid by the Wellingborough Iron Com-
pany out of land in Finedon.

Samuel Knight by his will in 1728 gave a rentcharge
oi £^ for distribution in bread to the poor. This charge
is paid out of property in Wellingborough.

Thomas Sheppard in 1733 gave £20 to the vicar and
churchwardens, the interest thereon to be distributed in
bread on St. Thomas' Day. This legacy produces about
I IS. yearly in dividends.

Mrs. Ann Glassbrook by will dated 11 September
1790 bequeathed ^20 yearly to be equally divided by
the vicar and churchwardens among four poor widows.
This endowment now produces ^10 10;. yearly in
dividends.

The following charities are in connexion with the
United Wellingborough Congregational church:

John Gibbs founded by declaration of trust dated
14 May 1834 endowment producing ^^3 annually in
dividends which are applied for the benefit of the
minister of the said church.

Elizabeth Whitworth founded by will dated
9 September 1854 endowment producing £^ 2/. 4^/.
annually in dividends which arc applied for the benefit
of the poor of the said church and the Sunday school.

James Whitworth and Sarah Swannell comprised in
a declaration of trust dated 17 October 1877 endow-
ments producing £18 yearly in dividends which are
applied for the benefit of the minister of the said
church.

William Brown founded by will proved on the

17 October 1900 endowments, the dividends on which
are applied for the benefit of sick members of the said
church and for the benefit of the Band of Hope in
connexion with the said church.

Janet Kincaid founded by will proved on the
6 September 1878 endowment for the benefit of the
poor of the said church.

Adam Corrie founded by will proved on the

18 December 1846 endowment for the benefit of the
minister and poor of the said church.

The sums of Stock constituting these endowments are
invested in trustees.

Frederick William Bradshaw founded by indenture
dated 28 March 1906 endowment consisting of four
cottages with gardens, the rents of which are applied in
repairing the said cottages and for the general purposes
of the School chapel.

'* P.C.C. F. 17 and 30 Noodes.
" Ibid. 14. Ayloffc.
"■ Chantry Ccrtif. 35, no. 16.
" P.C.C. 32 Uyngelcy.
'• Ibid. 14 Ayloffc.

'« Ibid. 12 Dyngeley (1537), 32
Dyngclcy(i539).
» Chantry Certif. 35, no. 16.
'■ Aug. Off. Misc. Dks., vol. 129, f. 130.

Cole, op. cit. 146; P.C.C. 32 Dyngeley

('530)-

« P.C.C. F. 17 Noodes (1557).

« Cole, op. cit. 146.

"> r.C.H. Norikanli. ii, 262.

'■ P.R.O. Min. Accts. Hen. VIII,
no. 2020.

" Chantry Certif. 35, no. 16.

'J Cal. Pal. 1549-51, p. 20.

145

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

Elizabeth Goodman by will dated 8 May 1728
gave a rent-charge of ^3 per annum to the vicar and
churchwardens for distribution in prizes to scholars
in All Saints School and Freeman's School, Welling-
borough.

The Charity of George Lawrence founded by will
proved on the 13 October 1914 is regulated by a
Scheme of the Charity Commissioners dated 19 Septem-
ber igi6. The endowment produces about £39 yearly.
One-eleventh of the income of the charity is applied by
three trustees for the general purposes of the Welling-

borough Cottage Hospital and the residue for the
benefit of not more than ten aged married couples.

The Charity of Richard Fisher for the poor, founded
by will dated g May 171 1, is regulated by a Scheme of
the High Court of Chancery of the 24 March 1819.
The endowment originally consisted of land which was
sold, and is now represented by Stock with the Official
Trustees. The dividends amounting to £2<^ lis. 6J.
annually are distributed by trustees appointed by deed
to two poor aged inhabitants not having received parish
relief.

WILBY

Wilibi, Wyleby, Welby (xi-xiv cent.) ; Wilby (xv-
XX cent.).

The parish of Wilby covers 1,161 acres. The soil is
rich loam with a clay subsoil, and cereals form the chief
crops. The highest point in the parish is 388 ft. in the
north-west. From there the land slopes gradually to the
south-east, where the lowest point is 214 ft. The main
road approaches the parish from the south and runs
north-east to Wellingborough, passing through Wilby
village. St. Mary's Church is situated a little to the west
of this road; other places of worship are the Methodist
chapel and a Congregational Sunday school. Of the
manor-house, on the south of the viUage, the only relic
is a rectangular stone dove-house. To the east of the
viUage lie the brickworks, and near the road which runs
west to Meats Ashby are several stone-pits. Wilby
parish was inclosed in 1 80 1.'

Bridges writing in 17 19 says that 'Certain closes
named Bareshanks, belonging to Mr. Sheppard and Mr.
Lord, pay a modus, the first of 4J. and the latter of is.,
only in lieu of tithes'. -

In 1086 the Countess Judith held 4
MANORS hides in WILBY. Bondi had been the
tenant in the Confessor's time.^ Until 1329
this overlordship follows the same descent as the manor
of Fotheringhay."* In 1242 one-third of a fee in Wilby,
formerly of the honor of Huntingdon, was said to be
held of Hugh Despenser,' a whole fee being at the same
time held of William de Forz and John de BaiUol as of
their portion of the honor of Huntingdon.' In 1329
John of Brittany, Earl of Richmond, then holding
Fotheringay Castle, was overlord of Wilby,' and Wilby
was among the fees held of Edward Prince of Wales at
the time of his death.* The overlordship is last men-
tioned in connexion with this manor in 1388.'

During the 13th century the manor appears to have
been held by a family who took their name from the
parish. Two fees in the county were held of Earl David
by John de Wileby in 1204,"* and presentation to the
church of Wilby was made in 12 19 by Sir Philip de
Hamton as guardian of the heir of John de Wileby."
This heir was probably John's grandson, Walter; John

seems to have had a son Robert de Wileby, also called
Robert le Eyr,'^who married twice. By his first wife
Amice he had three sons, William and Robert, who died
childless, and Walter, whose two sons WiUiam and
John were living in 1260; by his second wife Lucy he
had four sons, Peter, Roger, Elias, and Stephen.'^ Lucy
survived until, at least, 1232.''* In 1242 a certain Robert
son of Richard held in Wilby one-third fee of Walter de
Wileby and one fee 'with the heir of Robert Foliot'.'^
A John Foliot was dealing with land in Wilby in 1203,'*
as was Robert Foliot in 1226,''' and it looks as if Robert
son of Richard, called 'de Northampton' in 1243 when
he presented to Wilby church,'* had married the widow
of Robert Foliot and was guardian of his heir, holding
the manor under Walter. William de Wileby, pre-
sumably Walter's son, was seised of the manor in right
of Margery his wife (possibly the said heir of Foliot)
and granted it to 'Eudes' Fitz Warin." William Fitz
Warin died in 1299, holding the manor of William son
of William de Wileby.^" His son Alan Fitz Warin in
1 3 10 mortgaged the manor to John de Wileby for a
debt of j/^6oo,^' but by 1329 it had passed to Alan's
daughter Elizabeth and her husband Henry de Maunde-
ville.-- In 1330 they conceded the manor to Peter Fitz
Warin for his hfe.^^ Henry de Maundeville was suc-
ceeded by his son^+ Richard,^' who continued in posses-
sion until 1359 when he conceded the manor to William
de Wilby, clerk, to hold for 16 years rent free and after
that at a rent of;^i 00 yearly.^* Between 1359 and 1368
the manor passed to WiUiam Latimer^' who died in
1 38 1 and was succeeded by his daughter Elizabeth,
who married John Lord Nevill.-* He died seised of
Wilby in 1388 and was succeeded by his son Ralph.''
From the Nevills the manor passed to the Vaux, but
how it was transferred cannot be traced. As early as
1405 William Vaux held the advowson of Wilby^" and
it is probable that he held the manor also. In 1462
William Vaux son of the former WiUiam" forfeited the
manor by reason of an act of attainder,^- and it was
granted to Ralph Hastings; it was afterwards restored,
and in 1525 Nicholas Vaux died seised of it.^^ Until
1624 WUby Manor follows the same descent as Great

' Priv. & Loc. Act, 41 Geo. Ill, cap. 70.

2 Bridges, Northants. ii, 156.

3 y.C.H. Narr/iants. i, 312.

■• Ibid, ii, 570-1 ; FeuJ. Aids, iv, 16.

5 Bk. of Fees, 936.

' Ibid. 938. See below.

' Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.), 516.

' Chan. Inq. p.m. 2 Ric. II, no. 57.

» Ibid. 12 Ric. II, no. 40.
"> Curia Regis R. iii, 100.
*^ Farrer, Honors and Knights* Fees,
ii, 349. " Assize R. 616, m. 1 1 d.

" Ibid. '* Farrer, loc. cit.

IS Bk. of Fees, 936, 93S. He held half
a fee in 1244: Farrer, loc. cit.

" Feet of F. Northants. 4 John.

" Ibid. II Hen. III.

'8 Rot. Rob. Grosseteste (Cant. & York
Soc), 218.

'9 Ptac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.), 516.
If 'Eudes' is not a mistake he must have
been succeeded shortly by William.

" Cal. htj. f>.m. iii, 576.

" Assize R. 633, m. 72.

22 Ibid, i Plae. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.),
S.6.

" Cott. Ch. xxvii, 73.

" Close, 33 Edw. Ill, m. 30 d.

25 Cott. Ch. xxiii, 27.

26 Close, 33 Edw. Ill, m. 30 d.
2' Chart. R. 42 Edw. Ill, no. 9.

28 G.E.C. Complete Peerage (ist ed.), v,

23-

29 Chan. Inq. p.m. 12 Ric. II, no. 40.

30 Bridges, Northants. ii, 155.

3' G.E.C. Complete Peerage (1st ed.), viii,
18.

32 Cal. Pat. 1461-67, p. 195.

33 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xli, 60.

146

WiLBY Church, from the South-East

HAMFORDSHOE HUNDRED

WILBY

Doddington (q.v.); between 1624 and 1656 it was
conveyed to the Pentlow family. In 1641 Thomas
Pentlow, then a resident in Wilby, was arrested and
committed to the Fleet.' At his death in 1656 he was
lord of the manor. ^ He was succeeded by his son
William Pentlow,' who about 1 706 alienated the manor
to John Freeman,'* whose widow was lady of the manor
in 1 7 19. After the death ofthis lady the manor descended
to her daughters,^ and in 1788 was in the possession of
Hannah Freeman wife of William Pearson, who in the
same year alienated a moiety of it to Anne Jcrson,
Abraham Bracebridge, and others.* The whole of
this manor subsequently passed to Adam Corrie, the
holder in 1801.'' He was succeeded by John Corrie,
whose successor at the present day is Arthur Corrie
Keep.

Richard de Wilby had a mill in Wilby in 1245 by
grant of Michael de Wilby and his wife Margaret.*
In 1276 Maud widow of William de Wilby claimed a
mill in dower.' No further mention has been found of
a mill until 1702 when William Pentlow held a water-
mill with the manor."

The church of ST. MART THE
CHURCH riRGIN consists of chancel, 23 ft. 6 in.
by 1 8 ft. 6 in., with north vestry and organ-
chamber; clerestoried nave, 40 ft. 6 in. by 19 ft. 6 in.;
south aisle, 9 ft. 6 in. wide; south porch and west tower
with spire, 10 ft. 6 in. square, all these measurements
being internal. There was formerly a north aisle, but it
was removed in 1839 and has not been rebuilt."

No portion of the existing fabric appears to be older
than the 13th century.'^ The church of this period
seems to have been an aislcless building, of which little
remains but a low-side window in the chancel and per-
haps part of the wall above the arches of the south
arcade. About 1310-20 the aisles were added, and the
chancel seems to have been remodelled, or perhaps re-
built. The tower was added later in the 14th century,
and the clerestory appears to have been erected a
century or more later, but the present wooden windows
are of comparatively recent date. The chancel, which
at some period had been reduced in length by about
12 ft.," was almost entirely rebuilt in 1853 on its then
existing plan, with blank north wall, and the roof
restored to its original pitch.'* A vestry and organ-
chamber were added in 1873, but were rebuilt in their
present form in 191 3. When the north aisle was taken
down, its arcade was removed and a new wall with
modern windows built in its place. There was a general
restoration of the fabric in 1879.

As rebuilt, the chancel contains little or no ancient
work except the low-side window at the west end of the
south wall, which is a plain lancet of two hollow
chamfers separated by a fiat member, with hood-mould
and rear arch." A considerable amount of the old
masonry appears to have been used in the external
facings, but the three-light east window, and one of two

lights in the south wall, together with the priest's door-
way and the piscina and sedilia are modern.'* The high-
pitched roof is leaded. Originally the chancel was of
two equal bays, but about two-thirds of the eastern bay
was removed, with the result that the dividing buttress
is now only about 6 ft. from the east end. The 14th-
century chancel arch is of two hollow-chamfered orders
without hood-mould, the inner order on half-round
responds with moulded capitals and bases. There are
remains of the rood-loft stair at the north end. Below
the arch is a modern oak screen (1923). On the north
side the chancel is open to the vestry and organ-chamber
by an arcade of two arches erected in 191 3."

The early- 14th-century nave arcade is of four bays
with arches of two hollow-chamfered orders on
octagonal piers with moulded capitals and bases and
half-round responds carrj'ing the inner order: they
have hood-moulds on each side and each hollow has
a rounded stop above the capital. The piers stand
on square plinths of rough masonry, probably portions
of the original outer wall through which the arches
were cut.

The aisle has diagonal angle buttresses, plain parapet,
and lean-to leaded roof, and there are strings at sill level
within and without. The east window and two in the
south wall east of the porch are of the 14th century,
the former pointed and of three cinquefoiled lights with
cusped intersecting tracery, and the latter square-headed
of two trefoiled lights. A similar two-light window
west of the porch is modern, and the west wall is blank.
A trefoiled piscina with fluted bowl remains in the
usual position at the east end of the aisle. The doorway
is in the second bay from the west and is of two con-
tinuous hollow-chamfered orders with hood-mould: the
outer doorway of the porch is of two rounded orders.
The porch has diagonal buttresses and high-pitched
gable with modern apex cross: in the west wall is a
single pointed window and in the east wall a modern
quatrefoil opening.

The clerestory windows occur on the south side only
and are square-headed and of two uncusped lights: the
low-pitched leaded roof is modern and without parapets.
Internally all the walls are plastered.

The tower is faced with ashlar and is of unusual de-
sign, consisting of two square lower stages with moulded
plinth and diagonal angle buttresses, an octagonal bell-
chamber stage, or drum, the cardinal faces of which are
in the same plane as the walls beneath, and a low stone
spire rising from behind a parapet of pierced quatrefoils.
The diagonal buttresses are carried up as pinnacles and
from these pierced flying buttresses are thrown to the
canted faces of the octagon, the angles of which are
covered by flat buttresses carried up in their turn as
pinnacles and connected to the spire by a second tier of
flying buttresses. The junction of the square and
octagonal stages is masked at the angles by a parapet of
pierced quatrefoils, and the four bell-chamber windows

' Hiti. MSS. Com. iv, in.

' Monumental Inscription cited by
Bridges, l^orthantt. ii, i 56.

^ Metcalfe, A'////. MrMjn/i. 125.

< Bridges, Northanli. ii, 155

s Ibid.

» Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 28 Ceo. III.

' Priv. and Loc. Act, 41 Ceo. Ill,
cap. 170.

• Feet of F. Northants. 30 Hen. III.

« De Banco R. Trin. 4 Edw. I, m. 13.
" Rccov. R. East, i Anne, r. 19.
' ■ Bridges gives the width across the nave

and aisles as 43 ft. 9 in.: op. cit. ii, i;5;
the old north aisle was thus the same width
as the south.

'» R. and J. A. Brandon {Pariih Churchtt,
88) record a voussoir with chevron orna-
ment as then (1848) built into the north
wall of the chancel.

" The chancel is shown of its present
length in Brandon's plan of the church in
1848: ibid. 88.

'* Brandon in 1848 describes the roof as
having been 50 much lowered that 'the
upper part of the chancel arch now appears

above the roof of the chancel ind is filled
with glass*.

" Atsoc. Arch. Soc. Rtf>orti, xxix, 456.
The window is 3 ft. 4 in. high by 16 in.
wide, and the sill is 2 ft. 8 in. above the
floor. Internally the string-course which
runs round the chancel is raised to form a
hood-mould. The window was opened out
and glazed in 1908.

" They arc in the style of the 14th cen-
tury and may reproduce ancient featurc<;
the srdtlia are double.

" Designed by Mr. Temple Moore.

147

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

are of trvvo cinquefoiled lights with a quatrefoil in the
head. The two square lower stages are blank on the
north and south, except for a small rectangular quatre-
foiled window on the south side, and on the east, above
the roof, is a pointed opening. There is a vice in the
south-west angle. The arch to the nave is of two hollow-
chamfered orders, the inner springing from half-
octagonal responds with moulded capitals and cham-
fered bases.

The west doorway is a 1 5th-century insertion. It has
a continuous moulded four-centred arch framed in a
rectangular hood-mould, the spandrels being fiUed with
quatrefoiled circles. Above it is an ogee-headed traceried'
window of two cinquefoiled lights with crocketed
hood-mould and finial, on either side of which, at sill
level, is a canopied niche with tall straight-sided
crocketed hood-moulds, finials, and rounded stops: the
niches have image-brackets, but are unoccupied. The
spire has plain angles and two tiers of gabled lights on
the cardinal faces.

The font consists of a plain circular tapering bowl,
on a rectangular stem with chamfered angles and
square plinth, and is apparently of early- 13th-century
date.^

The 17th-century oak pulpit has three tiers of panels,
the two lower arched, as at Doddington, but is octagonal
on plan: it stands on a modern stone base.-'

Below the tower arch is a modern screen, the top-
rail of which is old work from YaxJey, Hunts.'' The
royal arms of Queen Victoria are over the south
doorway.

There were three bells till 1878, when a treble by
Taylor of Loughborough was added and the tenor re-
cast. The ring was increased to five in 1893 by the
addition of another treble, also by Taylor. The old
treble (now third) is by Henry Penn of Peterborough
1705, and the fourth by Matthew Bagley of Chacomb
1682. The old tenor bore the inscription: 'Sit nomen
Domini Benedictum' and was from the Leicester
foundry.5

The plate consists of a silver chalice and paten of
1853, a flagon of 1850, and an alms basin of 1857:^
there is also a plated bread-holder.

The registers before 1812 are contained in a single
volume beginning in 1562, but there are gaps. The
book consists of 'many separate parts which were before
in several volumes'' but were collected and bound in
one volume in 1767 by Thomas Percy, rector. The
entries of baptisms are continuous to 1650, of marriages

to 1635, and of burials to 1639, ^^'^ ^^ entries are
complete from 171 3 to 1812.

There are constables' accounts from 1627 to 1678.
In 1205 Robert son of Henry re-
ADFOWSON mitted his claim to the advowson of
Wilby Church to John de Wileby,*
to whose heir the presentation belonged in 12 19.'
Robert son of Richard of Northampton presented in
1243.'° In 1260 William son of Robert deWileby re-
covered the advowson, apparently in right of his wife,
against Geoffrey de Leukenore as guardian of the heir
of Robert de Wileby, but the said heir was to have the
patronage when he came of age;" and in 1276 John de
Wileby sued William Fitz Warin for the right to
present to the church.'^ In 1330 Henry de Maundeville
and his wife Elizabeth, grand-daughter of William Fitz
Warin, held this advowson;'^ and in 1340 Robert de
Wilby sued Richard de Maundeville for the next
presentation. '•• In 1403 the advowson had passed into
the hands of William Vaux;'5 but in 1427 Reynold, Lord
Grey, then holding the honor of Huntingdon,'* was
patron presumably during the minorit}' of the younger
William Vaus. From this date until 1621, when it was
sold by Edward Vaux to Henry Neale of Northampton,"'
the advowson followed the same descent as the manor.
In the same year Valentine Lane presented and next
year the Crown was patron. In 1626 it was held by
Thomas Pentlow,'* and by 1640 it was held by Sir
Christopher Yelverton" from whom it descended to his
grandson Talbot, the patron in 1712.-° The advowson
continued in this family^' until 1783 when it was trans-
ferred to Matthew Easton.-^ Matthew Easton held the
advowson as late as 1829; from him it passed to the
Rev. William Stockdale,^' father of the present patron,
H. M. Stockdale, esq., D.L.

The living of Wilby is a rectory; in 1291 the annual
value of the church was £?>''-'^ and in 1535 the value of
the rectory and tithes was £n. <)s. i ic//^

Church Land. About 2 acres let in

CHARITIES allotments, the rent of which is applied

by the rector and churchwardens for the

repair or service of the church.

Poor's Land,
applied by the rector and churchwardens in the distri-
bution of bread among the resident poor, and is partly
given or sent in money to poor persons belonging to, but
not resident in, the parish.

The origin of the above-mentioned charities is
unknown.

About 2 acre, the rent of which is

' The tracery and muUion are modern.

2 The bowl was restored to use in 1878.

3 Two of the sides are open and form
the entrance : there is no door.

* The screen was designed by Mr.
Temple Moore, c. 1912.

5 North, Ck. Bells of Nortiants. 448,
where the inscriptions are given.

' Marldiam, Ci. Plate ofNorlhants. 318.

' From inscription by Dr. Percy at
beginning of the booic ; 'the several leaves
were paged as far as p. 165 on Feb. 26,
1780, and all appearance of chasms and

leaves torn out was before that time.*

8 Feet of F. Northants. 7 John.

9 Rot. Hug. de fVelles (Cant. & York
Soc), i, 139.

'<> Rot. Rob. Grosseleste (Cant. & York
Soc), 218.

" Rot. Ric. Gravesend (Cant. & York
Soc), 1 00.

" De Banco R. Trin. 4 Edw. I, m. 13.

" Cott. Ch. xxvii, 73.

" Pedigree! from Pleas Rolls, 6. He
claimed that Walter son of Robert de
Wileby had given it to Peter son of

William Dru, his ancestor.

■5 Bridges, Northants. ii, 155.

'* Cal. of Papal Letters, vii, 545.

■' Add. Chart. 4672.

'8 Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.).

" Bridges, Northants. ii, 155.

2° Recov. R. Hil. 11 Anne, ro. 113.

" G.E.C. Complete Peerage (ist ed.), iv,
107.

" Recov. R. Trin. 22 Geo. Ill, ro. 157.

23 Clergy Lists, 1829-60.

^* Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 39.

^5 yalor Eccles. (Rec. Com.), iv, 305.

148

THE HUNDRED OF ORLINGBURY

BRIXWORTH

BROUGHTON

CR.\NSLEY

FAXTON

HANNINGTON

CONTAINING THE PARISHES OF

HARDWICK
HARROWDEN, GREAT
HARROWDEN, LITTLE
ISHAM
LAMPORT

OLD a/ias WOLD

ORLINGBURY

PYTCHLEY

SCALDWELL

WALGRAVE

:;\

.••.l.AMPDRT.-,<r ,

V c,'-

.<^-

:^-v\

So,

• •

I
(

>«

0/^:

..•isham'

^•ORLINGBURY ••"

BRIXWO

"Xl" . 1^ ^'^Ol, ••• HAPROVVDtNl

AT the time of the Domesday Survey these parishes were divided between
/\ two hundreds, the eastern portion, containing the parishes of Brough-
/ % ton, Cransley, Hannington, the Harrowdens, Orlingbury with the
-^ -^hamlet of Withmale, and Pytchlev, being the Hundred of 'Ordinbaro'.
The western half, containing Brixworth, Faxton, Lamport with the hamlet of
Hanging Houghton, Old <7//V/j- Wold,
Scaldwell, and Walgrave, constitu-
ted the Hundred of 'Maleslea'. This
latter hundred took, its name from,
and doubtless had its meeting-place
at, Mawsley in Faxton, described by
Bridges as 'a hamlet of one or two
cottages and a wood'.' The two
hundreds were united before the
middle of the 13th century, occur-
ring in 1 246 and 1252 as the Hun-
dred of Orlingbury and Malesle,-
but from i 275^ onwards the name
of Mawsley is omitted.

In 1329 it was reported that the ancient farm of the hundred had been
4 marks until John de Aston when he was sheriff raised it to 8 marks 'to the
impoverishment of the people'.'* This statement appears to be inaccurate, as
John de Aston was sheriff in 1303, and again in 13 16, but in 1252 the value of
the hundred was returned as 8 marks.' Six years earlier it had been 6 marks.^
The hundred was still in the hands of the Crown when Bridges wrote, but
later in the i8th century was acquired by the family of Young who held
Orlingbury Manor.'

■ Hist, of Norihanti. ii, 96. Thomas dc Lodinton had licence to inclose 5 acres in 'Malislewode', within the
metes of the forest of Rockingham, in 1 291: Cal. Pat. 1281-92, p. 488.

* Assize R. 614, m. 41 ; ibid. 615, m. J.

^ Rot. Hundr. (Rec. Com.), ii, 12. ■• Assize R. 632, m. 26 d.

' Ibid. 61 5, m. 5 d. In 1 264 the fixed receipts accounted for by the sheriff were worth £(i 61. oJ. : L.T.R.
Misc. file 5, no. 5.

' Ibid. 614, m. 41.

^ Court Rolls in the possession of the family : ex inf. Miss Joan Wake.

ORLINGBURY

Map of the Hundred

149

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

BRIXWORTH

Briclesworde (xi cent.) ; Bricklesuurtha, Brihteswrde,

Briglesword (xii cent.); Brythtesworth, Brikelesworth
(xiii cent.); Bryxworth al. Bryckelsworth (xvi cent.).

The parish of Brixvvorth covers an area of 3,148
acres, and rises to a little over 400 ft. above the ord-
nance datum. The soil is mainly Northamptonshire
sandstone, with ironstone and a little clay; the subsoil
is ironstone. Iron ore is quarried extensively in the
parish and there is a brick and tile works situated on
the southern border. The chief crops produced are
wheat and barley, and much of the land is given to
pasture. There are several natural springs in the
parish. The village is situated on the main road from
Northampton to Market Harborough, and about a
mile to the west is a station for the Northampton and
Market Harborough branch of the L.M.S. railway
which passes through the parish. Brixworth is the
head of a rural district and in 193 1 had a population of

1,173-

Brixworth Hall' stands almost in the centre of the
village in extensive grounds, and is a fair-sized build-
ing of three stories above a lofty ground floor, probably
erected towards the end of the i8th century, but
incorporating parts of an older house. The main, or
south, front has a centrally placed doorway with semi-
circular head beneath an entablature, three square-
headed windows on each side, and seven windows in
the upper stories; there is a projection at each end, set
well back. The building is constructed of yellow sand-
stone with dressings of white Weldon stone,^ and
finishes with a cornice and plain parapet, hiding the
leaded roof. The portions of the building at the back
have high-pitched roofs, and on the west side there
remains a two-light muUioned window, now blocked.^
On the north-west are hunting-stables and outbuild-
ings, and to the north-east, overlooking the lawn, an
orangery.* The Hall, at present unoccupied, was for
some time the headquarters of the Pytchley Hunt Club,
and the kennels of the Hunt are stiU in the village. It
is the property of W. T. Vere Wood, esq., who hves at
The Manor House, which stands on the east side of
the village^ and is a modernized 17th-century two-story
gabled building with low mullioned windows.

The plan of the village is unusual, the older houses
being grouped round, and largely to the south of, the
roughly circular enclosure formed by the Hall and its
grounds, and the church lying on the extreme northern
edge of the village.*

The cross stands in the middle of the north part of
the village, south of the church, on a calvary of four
octagonal steps. The stump only of the original shaft
remains, about 2 ft. high, set in a rectangular socket,
on each face of which are angular incised lines, and on

' There is a drawing from the south-
west in Neale's Vieivs of Seats (1820),
vol. iii.

^ AU the windows except those in the
basement have architraves, and sills sup-
ported by brackets. The sash windows
retain their divisional bars.

3 On the north side of the eastern pro-
jection is a piece of moulded string-course
belonging to the older house. A low wing
on the west appears to have been erected
by Sir Edward NichoUs in 1707; it bears
a stone with that date and his partly

the north side the date 1727, in commemoration of the
accession of George II.'

In the village are a fair number of 17th- and early-
iSth-century stone-built houses, mostly undated, but
one bears the date 1696, and two others 1727 and
1740 respectively.

The Methodist chapel, a brick building erected in
1 8 1 1, was enlarged in 1 860.

At the time of the Domesday Survey the
MANOR king possessed 9J hides in BRIXWORTH,
which had in Edward the Confessor's time
been ancient demesne, and worth £'^0. There were
two mills rendering 33/. 41/.; a wood pertaining to the
manor which used to render \oos. yearly was then
in the king's forest.^ The land did not remain crown
demesne for long, for at the time of the Northampton-
shire survey (12th cent.) Simon son of Simon held
8J hides in Brixworth of the fee of Curcy and Alfred
held one hide and one virgate of the fee of Salisbury.'
In the carta of William de Curcy made in 1 166 Simon
son of Peter (of Brixworth)'" is noted as holding 8| fees,
and his son, the above-named Simon, 4 fees in the
right of his wife who is described as the daughter of
Roger de Fresnoy.' ' William de Curcy's heir William' ^
came of age in 11 86, but died without heirs and the
overlordship of Brixworth passed to Margaret, daughter
and coheir of Warin fitz Ceroid by Alice, sister and
coheir of William de Curcy. She married Baldwin de
Rivers, heir of William Earl of Devon, and on his death
in 1 2 16 was compelled to marry Faukes de Breaute
who held 10^ carucates in Brixworth in 1220." In
1235-6 and 1242-3 Lady Margaret de Rivers held
2| fees in Brixworth.'"* She died in 1252 and the land
passed to her grandson Baldwin de Rivers, Earl of
Devon, Lord of the Isle of Wight. On his death in
1262 the 3 fees he held in Brixworth were assigned
to his widow Margaret in dower. Her title was dis-
puted by Isabel, Countess of Aumale and Devon,
sister and heir of Baldwin, but a decision was given in
Margaret's favour in 1266." She died in 1292, her
lands passing to Isabel, who died the next year. Robert
de risle, one of the heirs of Isabel, held the overlord-
ship of the manor as part of the honor of Aumale,
in 13 1 5.'* The honor was transferred to the Crown
by Robert de I'lsle in 1368, and subsequently granted
to John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, in 1373, Brix-
worth thus becoming a part of the Duchy of Lancaster.

Simon son of Simon, who held 4 fees of the honor
of Curcy in 1166, was succeeded by his son Simon,
who joined the barons against King John in 121 5. In
November of that year his lands in Brixworth were
committed to Roland Bloet," but were later given to
his wife, Beatrice of Brixworth." She also had a grant

obliterated initials.

* The lawn appears to have been the
original bowling-green. The orangery is of
five bays with round-headed windows and
doorway: it is built of Kingsthorpe stone:
Markham, in The Reminder [Northants. N.
©■g.), Nov. 19:7.

5 On the east side of the old turnpike
road from Northampton to Market Har-
borough : Assoc. Arch. Soc. Repls. xxvi, 44.1 .

^ See plan (1846) and notes by the Rev.
A. K. Pavey in Assoc. Arch. Soc. Repts.
xxvi, 441-7.

' Markham in Assoc. Arch. Soc. Repts.
xxiii, 166.

8 r.C.H. Northants. i, 306.

» Ibid. p. 381.

'" Bridges, Hist. Northants. i, 453, 501.
" Red Bool! (Rolls Ser.), i, 224.
■- Pipe R. 33 Hen. II (Pipe R. Soc),
p. 161. '3 £k. of Fees, i, 326.

'■* Ibid. p. 497; ii, 931.
■s Abbrev. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 160.
^^ Cal. Inq. p.m. v, no. 596.
" R. Lit. Claus. (Rec. Com.), i, 236.
'8 Ibid. p. 282.

150

ORLINGBURY HUNDRED

BRIXWORTH

of an aid to be levied from those of Simon's knights and
free tenants who had aided the rebels, to acquit him
of the fine made for his redemption." In 1235-6 and
1242-3 Simon son of Simon, probably the son of the
rebel, held 2 J fees in Briiworth.' In 1253 he had a
grant of a weekly market to be held at Briiworth on
Tuesdays, and a yearly fair there from 4 to 6 June.^
He is described as lord of Briiworth in 1262-3, 1*''
wife's name being given as Maud de Ralcc.* Simon
supported the barons in their struggle against the
Crown, and was captured at the battle of Northampton,
his manor being committed to Henry de Boruhull on
21 April 1264.' He received a safe conduct to go to
court in August, 1265, and was finally pardoned in
1 267.* In 1 276 Simon son of Simon had view of
frankpledge, free warren, free fishery, and other
liberties in Briiworth.' He died early in 1280,
apparently without male issue, as he was succeeded by
his nephew, John de Verdun, kt.,* who in 1284 was
holding 2J fees in Briiworth.' He died in 1 295,'" and
his son Thomas, by his wife Eleanor daughter of Sir
Thomas de Furnivall, being a minor, the custody
of Briiworth was granted to John de Ferrers." Thomas
proved his age in 1 297, showing that he was born at
Whiston by Handsworth, Yorks,'- and received seisin
of his lands. In February 1 301 he received a licence
to erect a gallows in his manor of Briiworth on proving
that those used by his ancestor, Simon le Voyde, had
fallen down through decay. '^ In 1306 his lands were
ordered to be seized because he had withdrawn from
the king's service without licence, before the end of
the war in Scotland. '■* He died in 131 5 holding the
manor of Robert de I'lsle, as of the honor of .^umalc,
for two knights' fees. There was a windmill and a
water-mill there at this time, and two rents were due
from the manor: one of 40/. to the Prior of St. Andrews,
Northampton, and the other of 20/. to William de
Seymour of Harrington, for his life." The former
rent was still being paid in 1535.'* Thomas de Verdun
was succeeded by his son John, then aged 16 or 17,
who was returned as lord of the manor in 1 316," and
defended his right to view of frankpledge, free warren,
market, fair, and other liberties in Briiworth in 1329.'*
He also claimed eiemption from suit at the hundred
and county courts.

Sir John de Verdun appears to have died some time
after 1 370, being succeeded by his son Edmund,
whose daughter and heir Margaret married first Sir
William Bradshaw, and secondly Sir John Pilkington."
She survived her second husband and died in 1436
holding the manor of Briiworth of the duchy of Lan-
caster. She was succeeded by her grand-daughter
Elizabeth, wife of Sir Richard Harrington, of Wester-
ley, Lanes., and daughter of Sir William Bradshaw,
her son by her first marriage." By 1461 their son Sir

William Harrington and Elizabeth his wife were in
possession of the manor,-' and they in turn were suc-
ceeded some time before 1492 by their son Sir James
Harrington. ^^ Sir James died on 26 June 1497 leaving
the manor to his wife Isabel during her lifetime,^' with
remainder equally among their daughters: Anne wife
of Sir William Stanley, Isabel wife of John Tresham,
Joan wife of Edmund Ashton, Catherine wife of
William MjTfield, Agnes wife of Thomas Ashton,
Elizabeth wife of John Lumley, Clemence wife of
Henry Norrys, Alice wife of Ralph Standish, Margaret
wife of Thomas Pilkington, and Eleanor Leicester.
Isabel Harrington of Wolfage and Briiworth received
a general pardon in I 509. ^^ This appears to be the
first reference to fVOLFAGE Manor, which was
probably a part of Briiworth Manor. Isabel died on
20 June 1518,^* and the manor was divided. Of her
daughters each of the following seems to have had
possession of a fifth share of the manor within a few
years of her mother's death: Alice Standish, (the heir
of) Elizabeth Lumley, Eleanor Leicester, Agnes
Ashton, and Joan Ashton.

On 27 October 1539 Alice Standish demised her
share of the manor to .'Vnthony Laton and his wife, her
daughter Agnes, for an annual rent to be applied to
the payment of her husband's debts and those of her
son .'Meiander. On her death in January i 542 the
debts were still unpaid, but her share of the manor
passed to her grandson Ralph Standish, son of .Aleian-
der, who was then eleven years old. ^* By 1 604 .'Ueiander
Standish, the heir of Ralph, had obtained possession of
two shares which seem to have comprised Wolfage
Manor.^' The second share may have come into the
family from Sir Edward Montagu to whom Joan
Ashton, then remarried to Robert Burdon, had con-
veyed her share in i 540.^' Ralph Standish had suc-
ceeded his father by 1617^' and from him the land
passed to Edward Standish, who sold the manor of
Briiworth alias Wolfage to Simon Finch in 1671.'°
The Finch family retained these two-fifths for fifty
years.

Sir Ralph Leicester, the heir of Eleanor, was seised
of one-fifth of the manor of Briiworth at the time of
his death in February 1 572. He was succeeded by his
son William, who was at that time 34 years old.^' By
1 594 his heir George Leicester was in possession of the
manor,^ but the neit year he sold it to Thomas Garway,''
by whom it was resold to Michael Wright in 1611.'''
On his death in January 1638, at the age of 52,'*
Michael Wright was succeeded by his son John, who
was born in 161 1. By his first wife Susanna, who died
in 1648,^* John Wright had a son Michael who probably
succeeded him on his death in September 1680.'' By
1720 his descendant Edward Wright had possession of
the manor.'*

' R. Lit. CIjui (Rcc. Com.), p. 287;
S. Lit. Pat. (Rcc. Com.), 190.

' Bi. of Fell, i, 497 ; ii, 93 1.

5 Cat. Chart, i, 4.16.

* Rot. Ricardt Graveiend (Cant, and
York Soc.), p. 102.

» Cat. Pal. 1 258-66, p. 315.

* Ibid. p. 440; ibid. 1266-7Z, p. 158.
' Rot. Hun jr. (Rcc. Com.), ii, 2, 7, 1 2,

* Cal. Clou, 1279-88, p. 50.
' Feud. Aidi, iv, 2.

'** Cal. Inej.p.m. iii, no. 298.

" Cal. Pat. I 292-1 301, p. 134.

'* Cal. Inq. p.m. iii, no. 437.

" Cj/. Pa/. 1 292-1 301, p. 580.

'■• Cal. Fine R. i, 543-4.

'* Cal. In^. p.m. v, no. 596.

"> yalor Eccl. (Rcc. Com.), iv, 313.

" Feud. Aidi, iv, 21.

'• Plac. de Quo IVar. (Rcc. Com.),
512-3.

'» Wrottcslcy, Pedigrees from the Plea
Rolls, p. 195.

" Chan. Inq. p.m. i 5 Hen. VI, no. 61.

" Feet of F. Northants. 39 Hen. VI,
no. 150.

" Cal. Inq. Hen. FII, i, no. 796.

" lbid.no. 1178.

" L. and P. Hen. nil, i, 438 (3 m. 30).

" Chan. Inc]. p.m. (Scr. 2), luiii, loj.

»' Ibid. Uvi, 40.

" Feet of F. Northants. Hil. i Jis. I.

" Com. Pleas Deeds Enr. Mich. 32 Hen.
VIII, m. 7 d.

" Feet of F. Northants. Hil. 15 Jai. I.

'" Ibid. Hil. 22 & 23 Chas. II.

" Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), clixxii, 31.

" Feet of F. Northants. East. 36 Elii.

» Ibid. Mich. 37 & 38 Elii.

" Ibid. East. 9 jas. I.

" Bridges, Hist. Northants. ii, 83.

" Ibid. 84.

" Ibid.

" Ibid. 82.

151

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

Elizabeth Lumley, the fifth daughter, predeceased
her mother, and her son John had conveyed his rights
to his son Henry by the time of Isabel Harrington's
death.' Henry Lumley was born about 1500 and by
1532 had conveyed his fifth share to William Saunders
of Welford.^ The latter, dying in February I 541, left
his manor of Brixworth to his wife Dorothy for her
lifetime, with remainder successively to his sons
Francis, Thomas, George, Saul, and Clement.' In
February i 542 Dorothy was granted an annuity of ^^lo
from the manor during the minority of Clement, the
eldest son and heir of William Saunders, together with
his wardship and marriage.* On her death the manor
passed to Francis, the second son, who was in possession
of it in I 567.' By his second wife, Eleanor Challoner,
Francis Saunders had two sons, Edward, born in 1556,
and William. On the marriage of Edward to MiUicent
daughter of John Temple in 1583 Francis settled the
manor of Brixworth on him. Francis died in June
1585.* Edward Saunders died in September 1630,'
leaving a son Edward who had been born in 1588.
On the death of this Edward the manor passed to his
son Edward,* and from him to Francis Saunders, after
whose death, early in the 18th century, it was sold to
Sir Justinian Isham, bart., of Lamport. It seems
probable that the fifth share of the manor which was
inherited by James Ashton, the heir of Agnes wife of
Thomas Ashton, came into the possession of Francis
Saunders about 1560 or 1570, and was held by the
Saunders family jointly with the share purchased from
Henry Lumley.'

About 1720 John Bridges writes of the manor:
'Two-fifths of the lordship, comprizing the manor of
Wolphage, are now in the hands of Mr. Finch of
Hertfordshire: two-fifths in Sir Justinian Isham, bart.
by purchase from the family of Saunders; and the
other fifth, in course of descent from Michael Wright,
in Edward Wright of Oakham, Esq. The three manors
are held jointly and the court kept at the cross; the
profits of the court-leet, court baron, amercements,
and stallage for the fair being proportionally divided.
Waifs and strays belong to him W'hose third-borow
seizes them.''"

The manor has never since been reunited. The
descendants of Sir Justinian Isham now hold the share
he purchased, but the other two changed hands several
times in the i8th century. In 1753 John HoUis was
in possession of one-fifth of the manor," in 1775
Matthew Combe,'- and in 1786 Nicolls Raynsford.'^
John Elderton owned two-fifths in 1773.'* In 1854

the three shares were held by Sir Charles Isham, bart.,
WUliam Wood, and Mrs. Locock,'^ and by 1 890 Lord
Wantage had possession of the lands of the Locock
family in the parish.'* By 1920 there were only two
lords of the manor, Mr. W. T. Vere Wayte Wood and
Sir Vere Isham, bart., the present holders.

Simon son of Simon gave to the .'Vbbey of Delapre
the service of the heirs of Simon son of Hugh the
Miller of Brixworth and the rent which they paid for
'Kyngsmulne'.'^ A reference to 'Kingsmilne' also occurs
in a 1 3th-century deed,'' and this may be the site of the
water-mill attached to the Saunders manor in 1670."

The church of ALL SAINTS stands
CHURCH on high ground^" on the north side of the
village, and in its present state consists of
a clerestoried nave of four bays, 60 ft.^' by 30 ft.,
originally aisled; a quire, or presbytery, of two bays,
30 ft. square, with a south chapel, 34 ft. by 1 3 ft. 6 in. ;
an apse, 19 ft. 3 in. by 17 ft. 1 1 in., polygonal externally
but internally semicircular, surrounded below the
ground-level by a sunken ambulatory, 7 ft. 6 in. wide;
and a western tower, 12 ft. 4 in. by 14 ft. 9 in.,^^ to
which is attached on the west side a large stair-turret
of semicircular form. The quire, or presbytery, is
interposed between the nave (of which it is a prolonga-
tion) and apse, and the tower is surmounted by a stone
spire, 147 ft. high. ^5

Its early date and the many important architectural
problems connected with the church have made it one
of the most frequently noticed buildings in the kingdom,
and it has not unjustly been described as forming on
the whole 'the most instructive monument in the early
history of our national architecture'.^* The church was
restored and greatly altered in 1 864-6, a square-ended
chancel, which measured internally 27 ft. 6 in. by
19 ft. 2 in. and was apparently of 15th-century date,
being then removed,^' and the apse rebuilt in its present
form; the south chapel was at the same time shortened
by a bay at its west end, and a south porch near the
west end of the nave was taken down.^* The roof of
the nave, the south chapel, and the tower, spire, and
stair-turret were repaired in 1900—5. All the roofs
are modern.

Briefly stated the building is a large basUican church
of the 7th centurj', with modifications in later Saxon
and medieval times. The main fabric is now generally
accepted as all that remains of the church of a monastic
settlement established at Brixworth, c. 680, by the
monks of Peterborough, which was no doubt at the
same time a parish church.^' The buildings of the

I Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxxiii, 105.

^ Recov. R. Hil. 23 Hen. VIII, ro. 528.

3 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), Ixiii, 24..

■» L.andP. Hen.Vnl,\\\\,%. 137(15).

s Feet of F. Northants. Hil. 9 Eliz.

' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxi, 193.

' Bridges, Hut. NorthanH. ii, 83.

* Feet of F. Northants. Mich. 9 Will,
and Mary.

» Ibid. East. 23 Hen. VIII; Chan.
Proc. (Ser. 2), 5, no. 79.
'"• Bridges, Hist. Northants. ii, 82.
" Recov. R. Hil. 26 Geo. II, ro. 302.
'2 Ibid. i8Geo. Ill, ro. 230.
'3 Feet of F. Northants. Mich. 27
Geo. III.
'■* Recov. R. Trin. 13 Geo. Ill, ro. 29.
'5 P.O. Directory, 1854.
'^ KeWy, Directory of Northants. 1890.
■' Chart. R. 2 Edw. Ill, m. 15, no. 47.
'8 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 5025.

■» Recov. R. Mich. 22 Chas. II, ro. 33.

2° The ground on which the church
stands falls from north to south, and is at
the brow of a high tableland overlooking
a valley through which one of the tribu-
taries of the Nene runs southward. The
site is 41 1 ft. above sea-level : Assoc. Arch.
Soc. Repts. XX, 344.

2' The nave is 60 ft. 5 in. on the north
side and 59 ft. 4 in. on the south, the west
wall being set askew to the north and
south walls : ibid. 345.

^^ The greater length is from north to
south. All the above measurements are
internal. There is a set of measured
drawings of the church by E. Roberts,
1863, in the Spring Gardens Sketch Book
(six plates).

^3 Height to top of spire from ground :
to top of vane, 153 ft. Measurements by
E.Roberts, 1863.

^* G. Baldwin Brown, Arts in Early
Engl. (1903) i, 65.

-5 The medieval chancel had a 15th-
centur)' east window of three lights and
one of two lights on the north side, with
a smaller two-light window near the west
end in the older part of the wall at a lower
level. On the south side was a doorway
and two square-headed windows, each of
two trefoiled lights, and near the west end
a square-headed two-light low-side win-
dow. Details of the two low-side windows
are given in Assoc. Arch. Soc. Repts. xxix,
392. That in the old wall on the north
side was removed when the new apse was
built, but its position can still be traced.

2* Other work done during the restora-
tion is noted below.

" G. Baldwin Brown, Arts in Early
Engl.{ir-S) ii. i°5. "3-

152

Brixworth Ciurch, from the Xortii-\\'est

t-tr

t.-L-t

BOiL JmTf TTlI

Brixworth Church, before restoration, showing the medieval Chancel
(From a drawing by G. Clarke, r. 1820)

^r^^ 1

7 XV

.^'.«K^?t£

Brixworth Church: The South Side

ORLINGBURY HUNDRED

BRIXWORTH

monastery were probably destroyed by the Danes
during the invasion of 870 and the church dismantled,
but the masonry of a great part of the present fabric
may confidently be ascribed to a date earlier than the
Danish conquest. Its reconstruction as a parish church
in Saion times probably took place c. 960—70 under
the revival in the reign of King Edgar, at which
period the apse appears to have been reconstructed
and the side aisles removed.' There may have been
a second repair shortly before or after the Norman
Conquest.^

The nave, presbytery, and the lower part of the

walls, separated by rectangular piers, or masses of wall,
each about 8 ft. in length,^ and with rectangular
responds at the ends. The imposts of the arches rise
slightly in height from west to east,* and each arch is
of two rings, or rows of voussoirs, in the same plane
with each other and with the wall surface of the piers.
These rings are very largely composed of Roman bricks'
set edgeways, separated by flat courses of bricks con-
centric with the curve of the arch, and with a second
circumscribing course in place of a hood-mould, but
thin slabs of local oolite have also been freely used in
a manner which suggests a reconstruction of the arches

10 3

Scale of Feet

Plan of Brixworth Church

uniceso

c 960-70

□ I2D1 Century late

□ 133 Century early
EHI 131 Century late
Ei 143 Century early
El 1 5I!i Century

EZI] Modern
^ Uncertain

tower are substantially of the earliest period {c. 680),
but the church was originally entered through a
western porch, which had an upper chamber with
gabled roof. Upon this porch, which was flanked on
each side by a small chamber,' the tower was afterwards
raised.

The walls of the nave are of rubble stonework, with
which is mingled a large number of thin bricks, evi-
dently re-used from the ruins of Romano-British
buildings near the site,* employed chiefly in the arches,
and here and there in the walls, more especially at the
angles. The nave opened into the aisles through an
arcade of four semicircular arches in each of the side

after the period of ruin, in which new stonework was
used when the supply of bricks failed.' The imposts
are formed of three courses of oversailing bricks, with
a total projection of about 4 in. The manner in which
the arches are turned possibly indicates that the prin-
ciple of the radiating joint was not understood by the
builder,' but the bad setting of the springers may have
been intentional.'" Above the arches" the wall on each
side is reduced in thickness, being set back both inside
and out, and there is an internal set-off at a somewhat
higher level in the west wall. The clerestory has three
original round-headed windows on each side of a type
uncommon in this country," placed over the piers and

■ Baldwin Brown aicribes the removal
of the aisles to this period : op. cit. ii, 1 1 3.
Prof. Hamilton Thompson thinks that the
aisles may have survived until the present
•outh door\^-ay was made, c. 1 1 80, or even
till the end of the i 3th century, when the
•outh chapel was completed : Arch, your,
liii, 506.

' Arch. Jour, Uix, 505 : 'there is con-
siderable evidence for repair and partial
reconstruction at two separate times.'

' The foundations of these have been
uncovered.

* A Roman settlement of some kind
at Briiworth is attested by numerous
finds: y.C.II. Norihanli. i, 194; Baldwin
Brown, op. cit. ii, 107. The claim that

the church was originally a Roman secular
basilica is now generally abandoned.

' The piers are 3 ft. 10 in. thick, but
vary in length from 7 ft. 10 in. to 8 ft.
10 in., though mostly 8 ft. z in.: Assoc.
Arch. Soc. Rfis. XX, 345.

^ On the south side 7^ in. : on the north
tide loj in. : ibid.

^ The bricks are from 10 in. to 16 in.
long, about 11 in. wide, and about l| in.
thick.

' Prof. Hamilton Thompson in Arch,
your. Ixix, 505.

• Baldwin Brown, op. cit. ii, 107. The
lowest voussoirs are tilted against each
other with approximately straight joints
and wedges of rubble and mortar arc in-

serted above the pier at the normal spring-
ing point : ibid.

"^ There are several instances in Italian
late Roman work of kicking up the
springers of an arch in a similar manner.
The adoption of this method at Brixworth
may thus be an indication that the builders
were closely copying late Roman methods :
note by Mr. A. W. Clapham, F.S.A.

'* The clear openings of the arches
range from 6 ft. 7J in. (o 7 ft. 7J in. in
width. The height to the impost from the
floor varies from 10 ft. 4 in. at the west
end to II ft. 5I in. at the east: Sir H.
Drydcn in Assoc. Arch. Soc. Rpis. xx, 345.

■' Baldwin Brown, op. cit. ii, 108.

^Si

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

cut nearly straight' through the wall: their arches are
again largely built of brick.^

When the aisles were removed the nave arches were
filled in and a doorway and windows inserted, but,
with the exception of that in which the south doorway
is built, the old fillings (with later gothic windows)
were taken out at the time of the restoration, and new
masonry inserted, containing wide round-headed
windows. 3

The doorway dates from c. 1180 and has a semi-
circular arch of two moulded orders, the inner con-
tinuous and the outer on jamb-shafts with moulded
capitals and bases. The doorway being too wide for
the space in which it is set, the wall on the west side has
been cut into to admit it;'' until 1864 it was covered
by a later porch, set at an oblique angle in line with the
principal entrance to the churchyard on the south side.

Excavations on both sides of the building during
the restoration disclosed the foundations of the aisle
walls, showing the aisles to have been 9 ft. wide inter-
nally with a square chamber at the west end of each,
flanking the porch, and probably one at the east end
on the north side. From more recent excavations it
appears that transverse walls originally extended across
the north aisle from each of the piers,' but no such
features have been found on the south side.

The nave is now divided from the presbytery by
a wide and very flat arch of two chamfered orders
dying into the wall, which appears to be of late- 14th-
century date, but originally, as was proved by excava-
tion in 1 841,* there was here a screen or arcade of three
arches, the middle one wider than the others, which
were supported on two intermediate piers and by the
piers, or responds, which still exist as projections from
the north and south walls.'

The north wall of the presbytery has two large
pointed three-light windows. That to the east was
entirely reconstructed in 1863, but the western window
is of the early 14th century,* and its sill cuts into the
brick arch of an original round-headed doorway, now
blocked, which led either into the open or to a sacristy
or similar building.' Whether there was also a chamber
in the corresponding position on the south side cannot
be known, the presbytery being here covered by the

medieval chapel and the lower part of its wall pierced
by two pointed arches. Of these the easternmost is
the narrower, and is of three chamfered orders and
hood-mould towards the presbyter}', but of two orders
only to the chapel, the inner order springing from keel-
shaped responds with moulded capitals and bases: it
belongs to the earlier part of the 13th century, when
the chapel seems first to have been built or recon-
structed,'" but in its completed and enlarged form the
chapel dates from c. 1290, when the westernmost arch,
which is lower and wider" than the other and has
octagonal responds, was constructed, and the outer
walls rebuilt. The east window of the chapel is of
three lights with plain intersecting tracery and the
others are of two lights with forked mullions. Above
the arches the old wall remains, with the blocked arch
and upper portion of a large round-headed window,
which was splayed internally.'^ Over the westernmost
pointed arch is a contemporary single-light clerestory
window with trefoiled head. The chapel, as already
stated, formerly extended farther westward, and its
existing west wall is modern. In the south wall is a
small doorway, with plain four-centered arch, inserted
in the i 5th century, the west jamb of which cuts into
a pointed piscina recess.

The tall semicircular chancel arch, or arch of
triumph, in the middle of the east wall of the presby-
tery, is probably in great part original," being similar in
construction to those of the nave arcades, but with only
one course (the outer) of flatways bricks. On either
side of it, high in the wall, is a blocked round-headed
window, resembling those in the clerestory', and under
these and partly below the present level of the floor
are two narrow blocked doorways, with round heads,
through each of which passed a flight of steps''' giving
access to the sunken ambulatory of the apse. In the
southern portion of the wall above the doorway and
below the window is a pointed recess, the back wall of
which retains some of its plaster, with traces of colour.
Between this and the chancel arch is the north jamb
of an earlier recess, probably of the 13th century.'^

The present apse, the floor of which is three steps
above that of the presbytery, with the exception of the
north-west part, is modern. In 1 841 excavations within

' Ibid.: 'the aperture is wider in the
interior than it is outside, but the splay
is nothing approaching to that which is
seen in the ordinary internally splayed
lights of late Saxon and Norman times,
while the actual width of the external
aperture, which measures about 3 ft. in
the clear, is much greater than we gener-
ally find in our Saxon buildings. . . . They
resemble the windows of the Early Chris-
tian basilicas of Rome and Ravenna in
their openness and ample dimensions.'

^ The windows, formerly blocked, were
opened out at the time of the restoration.
A wide pointed and chamfered relieving
arch was inserted, probably in the 14th
century, between two bays of the clere-
story in the inner face of the south wall,
probably in consequence of the weakening
of the wall by the insertion of a large
window below (since removed) in the
second bay of the nave from the west :
Arch. your. Ixix, 505.

3 Before the restoration in 1864-6
three of the arches on the north side had
windows 'each differing from the others',
for one of which the original arch had
nearly been destroyed. On the south side
the easternmost arch opened to the chapel,

but the next two had windows each of
three lights but different in style, one of
which had occasioned the destruction of
the original arch and the other had injured
the arch over it : Assoc. Arch. Soc. Rpts.
XX, 346. The arches were restored with
different material in order to distinguish
them, but this is not indicated on the
accompanying plan.

•• The Rev. C. F. Watkins (vicar 1832-
73) thought the doorway had been brought
from the east end of the church. His
account in The Basilica (1867) is not clear
but appears to mean that he found traces
of a Norman chapel preceding the existing
13th-century chapel on the south side in
which this doorway may have been : Assoc.
Arch. Soc. Rpts. XX, 346.

5 'It may have been intended to build
transverse arches across the aisle, for
which sleeper walls were prepared, but
there is no indication of any such arches
or of any transverse partitions above the
foundations' : Arch. your. Ixix, 506.

^ The transverse sleeper wall was dis-
covered, as well as the bases of the piers,
which appear to have been thick pieces of
wall like the piers of the nave : Arch,
your. Ixix, 506.

7 Baldwin Brown, op. cit. ii, no.
^ It is said to have been on the south
side of the nave until 1863.

^ Baldwin Brown, op. cit. ii, no. The
doorway is 3 ft. wide, and is just on the
eastern side of the projecting pier, or jamb,
of the dividing arch.

"> A portion of the base course of the east
wall suggests that the chapel was formed
by the enlargement of a 12th-century
addition to the church on this side: Arch,
your. Ixix, 507.

" Its width is 14 ft.; that of the eastern-
most arch is 8 ft. 10 in.

" Arch. your. Ixix, 506.

^3 It is 10 ft. wide and springs at a
height of 16 ft. 4 in. above the presbytery
floor. The jambs had been mutilated for
the insertion of a screen, but are now
rebuilt : Sir Henry Dryden, 'On the chancel
of Brixworth Church', in Assoc. Arch. Soc.
Rpts. XX, 348 (1890).

*■♦ The arches spring at a height of about
I ft. 10 in. above the present floor level j
the steps must therefore have begun 5 ft.
or more in the presbytery: ibid. 350.

'5 Arch. your. Ixix, 507. Its south
jamb was destroyed when the later recess
was made.

154

ORLINGBURY HUNDRED

BRIXWORTH

its area disclosed the inner face of the foundations of the
original apse and its plan was determined.' In the
restoration of 1864-6 the present polygonal apse was
built on the lines suggested by the old masonry that
remained. It is semicircular within but consists ex-
ternally of seven sides of a dodecagon^ elongated
from east to west, the angles of which are covered by
pilaster buttresses^ whose outer faces follow the plan
of the contiguous bays, while their heads in the original
apse were united by a continuous surface arcade, the
springing of which can be traced at the north-west
comer.* One original round-headed window' has sur-
vived in the north-west bay, together with one buttress
and part of another. There is reason to believe* that the
apse was rebuilt, probably in the loth century, upon
the site or foundations of an original 7th<entury apse, the
plan of which (polygonal without and circular within)
it preserved,' and that the sunken ambulatory which
encircles its east end and is now open to the sky formed
part of the earlier building. The wall forming the outer
circumference of the ambulatory, with the two wide
recesses which it contains, has been rebuilt, but the
inner wall is old, except for a portion beneath the east
end of the apse, and retains much of its original
plaster. An off-set of bricks, of which some courses
remain on the north side, supported the springing of
a barrel-vault, and this is reproduced in the modern
work. Upon this semicircular base the polygonal apse
was built. No bricks occur in the masonry above the
substructure, but a species of tufa, which is not found
in the nave or presbytery, is freely used, and as this
occurs also in the middle part of the tower it has been
inferred that these two works are contemporary.*
Evidence that the polygonal apse was a rebuilding
is also afforded by the fact that its northern wall en-
croaches on the east wall of the presbytery in such a
way that the window in that wall only just escapes being
blocked.'

The position of the windows in the east wall of the
presbytery indicates that the ambulatory ' " was originally
external to an apse the upper part of which was semi-
circular both within and without." The ambulatory
was covered by a barrel vault which, as already stated,
sprang from an offset or string-course of bricks at a
height of about 6 ft. 6 in. above the floor, and was
probably protected by a lean-to roof, the eaves of which
must have been close to the ground. No traces of a
crypt below the apse, such as the ambulatory would

lead one to expect, can be found. The soil beneath the
apse is said to be undisturbed and mainly solid iron-
stone rock. When the upper part of the inner face of
the old ambulatory wall was uncovered at the restora-
tion it bore no traces of plaster,'^ while the plaster on
the outer face is original and conceals no openings to
any inner chamber. There was an opening in the east
part of the wall, which has now been rebuilt, but it
is believed that this was made for a burial at a much
later date.'^ The use of the ambulatory must to some
extent remain conjectural. The two doorways from
the presbytery, however, imply that it was intended
for visitors to a shrine, who would enter in the usual
way by one door and leave by the other, and the re-
cesses'* on the north-east and south-east sides of the
passage may have contained tombs or relics.

The west tower, together with the west wall of the
nave, remains to be described. The tower is built at
right angles to the west wall, set obliquely to the nave,
and measures externally 21 ft. 6 in. from north to
south. It is of three stages below the later bell-chamber,
undivided by strings, each stage communicating by a
doorway with the rounded staircase turret on its west
face. The lowest stage originally formed the porch
of the yth-century church, from which it is entered
by a wide" archway with semicircular head of Roman
brick: the porch had a lofty western entrance and an
upper chamber with a gabled roof, and was flanked
on each side, as already stated, by a small building'*
with an upper room, the use of which is conjectural.
These lateral chambers were entered by lesser door-
ways in the north and south walls, that on the south
side" now forming the outer entrance to the tower, but
there was no communication between the upper rooms'*
and the chamber over the porch, and nothing survives
to indicate how they were approached. The porch
chamber was entered from the interior of the church
by a round-headed doorway," now blocked, set ver-
tically above the taller ground-floor archway and ap-
proached by a wooden stair or landing. The chamber
had a window in the west wall and another on the
south, the latter placed high in the wall so as to dear
the roof of the flanking building. In the 10th-century
reconstruction a tower was raised upon this western
porch, the line of whose gabled roof is still visible in
the original plaster-work in the west wall, and there
are other slighter indications of it in the east wall. In
the work of heightening the walls of the porch tufa

' ytiioc. Arch. Soc. Rpii. xx, 350. The
excavation was made to a depth of 6 ft.
4 in. below the then existing chancel Boor
level. The early wall of the apse reached
from the bottom of this to a height of
4 ft. 9 in.

' Or of five sides in addition to the
two parallel sides in the western portion.

^ They are 20 in. wide, about 6 in. in
projection in the upper part and about
1 6 in. below.

♦ Arch. your. Ixix, 507.

' The window is 3 ft. 8 in. wide, but
no bricks are used in its head. The original
wall here remains to the height of 5 ft.
above the spring of the window arch,
which is 16 ft. 4 in. above the apse floor:
Alice. Arch. Soc. Rpti. xx, 350. It was
assumed that there had been a similar
window in the corresponding south bay
and in the east wall.

' Arch. Jour. Ixix, 510.

' This plan is typical of the 6th-century
churches of Ravenna, and excavations at

Reculvcr show that it was copied in Eng-
land. The 10th-century apses at Deer-
hurst and Wing (Bucks.) are polygonal
both within and without, and belong to a
different tradition : note by Mr. A. W.
Clapham.

' Arch. Jour. Ixix, 510. Tufa is found
in the tower in connexion with herring-
bone coursing and, as this is generally in-
dicative of an early Norman date, Prof.
Mamilton Thompson places the rebuilding
of the apse in the latter part of the i ith
century, 'possibly soon after the Norman
Conquest". But Mr. Beeby Thompson
has pointed out that as the tufa is from the
glacial gravel beds of the neighbourhood it
might be used for repairs or building at any
time.

' Ibid. 507. The wall covers its south
jamb. The new south wall also encroaches
on the corresponding window.

'" The ambulatory is 7 ft. 6 in. wide at
the bottom, but the sides of the polygonal
upper part of the apse overhang the semi-

circular lower part below the former vault
by an average of 13 in. : Asjoc. Arch. Soc.
Rpii. IX, 352.

" Arch. Jour. Ixix, 508.

'» Alloc. Arch. Soc. Rpti. xx, 351.

" Ibid.

" The recesses are 6 ft. 4 in. and 6 ft.
9 in, wide respectively and about 19 in.
deep. They are about 12 in. above the
floor, but tiieir original height cannot now
be stated ; Alloc. Arch. Su. Rpii. xx, 351.

'5 The width is 4 ft. 10 in.

" Foundations have also been found of
a building, probably an outer porch, at
right angles to the west wall.

" The other is blocked.

" The holes for the floor joists, now
filled, can still be distinguished in the
outer walls.

" The floor level of the porch chamber,
as indicated by off-sets in the walls below
the existing floor, was lower than at
present.

'5S

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

was largely used," and the tower was erected with a
stairway built against its western face to afford easy
access to the upper chambers. A low round-headed
doorway to the stair, on the ground floor, was made
within the opening of the lofty arch of the original
entrance, which was now filled in, and to this period
also belongs the large triple opening in the west wall of
the nave, composed of three narrow arches turned in
brick, and divided by large baluster shafts, forming a
window in the first floor of the tower. The fact that
this triple opening cuts into the head of the arch of the
(blocked) upper doorway to the porch chamber is
sufficient indication, apart from the character of the
work itself, that the opening is of later date than the

coursing occurs in the turret and in the south wall of
the tower, and similar coursing is found on the inside
of the east and west walls on the first floor.

The 14th-century bell-chamber windows are of two
trefoiled lights with elongated quatrefoil in the head
and ogee-shaped hood-mould. The spire rises from
a corbel table of notch-heads and has ribbed angles
and two tiers of lights in the cardinal faces.

In the south chapel are two moulded wall recesses
off. 1300 with short jamb-shafts, the easternmost of
which contains a fine effigy of a knight in chain mail
and surcoat, probably representing Sir John de Verdon
(d. 1 276), 5 to whom the late- 13th-century rebuilding
of this part of the church is ascribed. There is a late-

Brixworth Church : Interior, looking West*

wall; the baluster shafts have through-stone impost
blocks, capitals of a rough trapezoidal shape, rounded
centre-blocks swelling in the middle, with neck and
base mouldings, and tall bases, the upper parts of which
have hollow curves.^

The stair in the western turret is lighted by wide
rectangular openings, originally closed by pierced
stones,^ and is covered by a winding vault, which
retains much of its original plaster.'' The first floor of
the tower is entered from the stair through a round-
headed archway with brick voussoirs, formed from the
original west window of the porch chamber. The
entrance to the second floor is through a rough opening,
but the walling at this height is of the 14th century,
when the present bell-chamber stage was erected and
the broach spire with angle pinnacles built. The head
of the stair and its vault were then destroyed just above
the vault's springing, but the turret was retained to its
full height, rising some distance above the later
masonry. A considerable amount of herring-bone

1 5th-century painted screen in front of the eastern
arch of the chapel arcade.

The font is ancient and consists of a small circular
bowl on a tall circular shaft or pedestal, with moulded
base.* The wooden pulpit is modern and stands on a
stone base.

In the church are some interesting carved stones.
One of these, with the figure of an eagle in low relief,
is built into the inner west jamb of the south doorway.'
A portion of a pre-Conquest cross shaft, found in the
vicarage garden close to the church in 1 897, is now
placed near the pulpit; its ornamental sculpture closely
resembles that of the 'fishing stone' at Gosforth,
Cumberland.* Another carved stone is built into the
east wall of the south chapel.

In the floor of the presbytery are two monumental
slabs with inscriptions in Lombardic lettering: one is
that of Simon Curteys (d. 1328) the founder of the
chantry, while the other is that of Adam de Tauntone,
vicar, who died in 1334.' There is also a third slab.

' Arch. your. Ixix, 509.

2 Ibid. Ixix, 508.

3 Two of the openings are still thus
closed, but one of the stones, if not both,
is a comparatively late insertion: ibid.

•• Its material, and that of the newel of
the stair, is in great part tufa.

5 Described in F.C.H. Nortkanls. i, 396.

^ The bowl is 22| in. in diam. and 1 6 in.
high. The date is uncertain.

' Its claim to be Roman {Archaeol.
xliii, 119) is generally abandoned. It is
described by Sir H. Dryden in Assoc. Arch.
Sec. Rpis. xxii, 78. See also F.C.H.
Northants. ii, 1 89, where it is styled 'the
arm of a cross', and Prior and Gardner,
Eng. Med. Figure Sculpture (1911), 131,
under 'Saxon sculpture'.

* Assoc. Arch. Soc. Rpls. xxvi, 4.45,
where it is figured. The sculpture repre-

sents the struggle between Fenrir and
Jormungand.

' Both slabs have indents for brasses;
the inscriptions are given in Bridges, Hist.
of Northants. ii, 83-4. The date of
Simon's death, given as 16 August 1328,
must be wrong, as he was dead before
April 1327: Cal. Pat. 1327-30, p. 69.

* Reproduced from Baldwin Brown, op.
cit., by permission of Messrs. John Murray.

156

ORLINGBURY HUNDRED

BRIXWORTH

very much worn, with indents of a figure, border in-
scription and shield.

There is a brass plate to Edward Saunders(d. 1630),'
and in the south chapel a marble mural monument to
John Wright (d. 1680). There are numerous 19th-
century memorials.

A 1 4th-century stone reliquary, containing the reputed
throat-bone of a saint, is set on a plain stone bracket in
the north-east angle of the nave, near the pulpit.^

A large iron-bound chest with two locks in the
south chapel is probably of 17th-century date.

The organ occupies the western part of the south
chapel.

Before the restoration the roof of the nave and
presbytery was of plain tie-beam construction and of
low pitch covered with lead; the new roof, which is
slated, follows the pitch of that erected in the 14th
century, the tabling of which remained on the east
face of the tower.' The battlemented parapets pro-
bably date from the 15th century; at the east end the
gable has been rebuilt. The south chapel has a lean-to
leaded roof behind a plain parapet.

There is a ring of five bells, the first four cast in
1622, and the tenor by Henry Bagley of Chacomb in
1683.^ A new dock was erected in 1897.

The silver plate consists of a cup and cover paten of
1700 inscribed 'Donum Rich. Richardsoni Vicarij
Brixorthensis anno 1699'; a paten of 1873 given
by Richard Lee Bevan in 1883; and a flagon of
1873. There are also a pewter flagon and four pewter
plates.'

The registers before 1 8 12 are as follows: (i) bap-
tisms 1562-March 1758, marriages 1565-March
1758, burials 1 546-May 1759; (") baptisms and
burials 1 760-1812; (iii) marriages 1754-October
1797; (iv) June 1798-1812.

The advowson was held at an early
yfDFOWSON date by Arnold the Falconer, but was
given to Salisbur>- Cathedra], which was
confirmed in possession of it by Henry II.* It was
attached to the chancellorship of the cathedral as a
prebend,' and remained in the gift of the chancellor
until 1 840, when it passed to the Bishop of Peter-
borough.' In 1 291 the rectory was worth/^2 1 6/. 8/ and

the vicarage £\ 1 3/. 4^/. ;' by i 5 3 5 the rectorial prebend
was worth £18 and the vicarage ^^14 19/. whence
3/. \J. was paid to the Archdeacon of Northampton
for procurations and synodals.'" It was endowed with
j^20o of Queen Anne's Bounty to meet a donation
of £200 from Sir Justinian Isham in 1726." The tithes
were commuted for land in 1780.

There was a chantry chapel of St. Mary situated in
the churchyard,'^ founded in 1327 by WiOiam Curteys,
a London merchant, in fulfilment of the wishes of his
father Simon, and endowed with three messuages,
30 acres of land and 100/. of rent." In i 549 part of
the land was granted to William Cecil and LawTence
Eiresbie,'* while the next year the chapel, except the
bells, was given to Richard Heybourne and William
Dalbye.'' Three cottages and some land which had
belonged to the chantry were given to Thomas Reeve
and George Cotton in 1 552, to hold of the king as of
his manor of East Greenwich.'*

In the manor-house of Wolfage there was a chantry
founded by Sir James Harrington."

A piece of land appropriated to the
CHARITIES use of the poor now yields about ^^40
annually. It is not known how this
property came to be settled, but at the time of the
inclosure of the parish an allotment of 3J acres was
awarded to the vicar, churchwardens, and overseers of
the poor in trust. An allotment of 6J acres was set out
on the inclosure in lieu of certain open field lands
appropriated to the repair of the parish church. It
now produces about ^14 yearly.

Thomas Lelam in 1601 devised a rent-charge of
8/. a year for the poor payable out of a house in
Brixworth. By deed of 14 September 1665 Thomas
Roe conveyed lands to trustees to pay ^lo yearly to the
schoolmaster in Scaldwell. Subsequent to the inclosure
of 1780 the allotment made in lieu of the original land
was found to be sufficient for the support of two
schoolmasters, and in June 1822 it was decided that
the money should be divided between the school-
masters of the parishes of Brixworth and Scaldwell.
The charity now yields about ^{^135 a year, and has
been reorganized under a new scheme by the Board of
Education.'*

* Son of Francis Saunders of Wclford,
lord of the manor of Brixworth: inscrip-
tion in Bridges, op. cit.

' The relic was found in a small
cylindrical wooden box in November 1 809
on taking down a bracket from the wall in
the back of a pew in the middle window
on the south side. The reliquary contained
■ fragment of bone and a 'slip or filament
of paper or parchment which fell to powder'
on being exposed to the air. The box and
relic were corrunitted to the care of a M iss
Elizabeth Green of Brixworth, on the
death of whose surviving sister in 1875 they
were given to the vicar of Brixworth and
by him restored to the church. The
reli<)uary is believed to have been the

original receptacle of the relic. It was
found in 'the mortuary chapel south-east
of the choir', and is now protected by
a slender iron grille. The fact that there
was a gild in the parish in honour of St.
Boniface has caused the relic to be ascribed
to that saint: inf. from Par. Afag. 1809,
quoted in article by the Rev. John F. Hal-
ford, vicar, in Diac. Mag. (n.d.), exhibited
in the church.

' Allot. Arch. Sx. Rplt. XX, 346.

* North, Ck. Billt of Norihanii. 209,
where the inscriptions are given. Nos. 1-4
have the foundry shield with a crown
between three bells: the tenor has the
royal arms.

s Markham, Ch. Plate of NorihanD. 53.

' Dugdale, Mon. Angl. vi, 1196.

^ Cal. Pap. Reg. viii, 459.

' Under the .\(:t 3 & 4 Vic. c. 1 1 3 (41):
ex inf. Mr. H. Savory.

' Tax. Eccl. (Rec.'Com.), 39.
'° Falor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), ii, 73; iv,
306.
" Bridges, Hill. Norikanli. ii, 82.
" Cal. Pal. EJxu. ri, ii, 355.
" Cal. Pal. 1324-7, p. 132; 1327-30,
p. 69.
'* Cal. Pal. Edvi. VI, ii, 355.
" Ibid, iv, 24-5. " Ibid, iv, 254.

" Whellan, Hiil. Northanii. 854.
'• y.CH. NorihaMi. ii, 283.

157

A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

BROUGHTON

Bructon, Burtone, Bruton (xi cent.); Brocton
(xiii cent.).

Broughton lies to the south of Cransley, and has
Kettering to the east of it, its northern boundary for
some distance being the Northampton to Kettering
road. The village, which is large, lies where this road
bends to run south through the parish, and is situated
between it and another main road connected here by
smaller streets. It contains several good houses, and
lies at a height of about 425 ft., the ground falling to
about 325 ft. at the southern extremity of the parish.

Saint Andrew's Church lies at the eastern end of the
southernmost of the above-mentioned connecting roads.

West of the church is a large two-storied stone house
known as 'The Gables', with mullioned windows,
thatched roof, and main end gables and two smaller
intermediate ones on the principal, or north, front: a
panel in the eastern gable is inscribed 'w. f., 1685'.
On the south side of the main road is a 17th-century
house of ironstone which though altered and in part
mutilated for road-widening purposes retains much of
its original picturesqueness: it is of two main stories,
with mullioned windows and high-pitched thatched
roof containing attics lighted by windows in the end
gables and there is a smaller gable on the west front
at the angle of the building. Near the west end of the
High Street is a modernized two-story house with
thatched roof and panel in the end gable inscribed
't''e, 1705'.

The school was built in 1870, and rebuilt in 1892
for 135 children. The churchyard was enlarged in
i860; and in 1900 a cemetery of an acre was formed
and is under the control of the parish council.

The population is mainly collected in the village,
which has near it on the north-west Churchill Spinney
and an old quarry. Away by itself at the eastern side
of the parish is Broughton Lodge, a fine old house.
When Newton House (in Nev\1on-in-the-Willows) was
demolished, about 1 800, portions of the material were
used in this house, then a farm-house, where many years
before the last of the Newton Treshams had lived.'
Near by is Clarke's Lodge.

The Union Dissenting chapel was built in 1 8 5 1 for
various denominations.

A disastrous fire visited Broughton in 1 701, when
briefs were issued to assist in reconstruction.^ The
church fortunately escaped. Its rectors have been men
of note. They include: Robert Bolton (1610-1631),
the father of Dr. Samuel Bolton who was chaplain to
Charles II, 'a grave and comely person' — according to
Fuller — 'an authoritative preacher who majestically
became the pulpit'; and the wise and witty Royalist
divine, Joseph Bentham (1632— 167 1), who wrote in
1657 'Two Breife but Useful! Treatises: the one
touching the office and quality of the Ministry of
the Gospel: the other of the Nature and Accidents

of Mixt Dancing'. After much suffering during the
Civil Wars, he came back to his old parish at the
Restoration, where he died in 1671, as an inscription
on a stone within the altar rails shows. He left in his
will £40 to be distributed annually for ever among the
poor at Broughton on the happy day of His Majesty's
restoration, and 10;. to be given yearly in the church
porch, at Weekley, to such poor persons as should come
to church on the 29th of May.

The population, which was 374 in 1801, in 1931
was 1,207.3 The parish has an area of 1,742 acres.
Part of the soil is of a stiff, clayey nature, and of the
subsoil ironstone. The chief crops grown are wheat,
beans, and sugar-beet.

One and a half hides of socland in Brough-
MANOR ton were valued in the Domesday Survey
with a hide in Cransley and 3 virgates in
Hannington among the Countess Judith's land,* and
descended with her other lands in the honor of
Huntingdon.

Robert Bruce in 1284 held a fee in BROUGHTON
of the king in chief, this fee being held under him by
Walter de Huntecumbe, of
Walter by Geoffrey de Leuknor,
and of Geoffrey by William de
St. German, 5 the under-tenant by
whose family it was held for
several centuries. In 1378 this
fee was among those lately held
of Edward Prince of Wales by
Simon Simeon in succession to
Geoffrey Leuknor.* The over-
lordship of the manor was re-
turned in 1485 as unknown,'' but
was ascribed in i 522 to Rothwell
Manor,* which was at the time in the hands of Sir
William Parr by a grant for 40 years, after the attainder
of Edward Duke of Buckingham.' It was returned as
held of the king as of his manor of Rothwell in 161 5.'°
Apparently the intermediate lordships had lapsed during
the I 5th century and the property had been combined
with the half hide in Broughton which at the time of
the Domesday Survey was a member of the royal manor
of Rothwell."

The first St. German under-tenant in Broughton
recorded was Robert, who held 2 carucates there in
1 229.'^ William de St. German was lord of Broughton
in I252'3 and was dealing with land there in 1260. '♦
William de St. German, presumably identical with the
coroner for the county of Northampton," claimed view
of frankpledge in Broughton in 1276,'* and, as already
stated, was holding the manor in 1284. A William de
St. German was holding Broughton in 13 16,'' and in
1329 he or a namesake with his wife Margaret settled
the manor upon themselves and their heirs;'* later in
the same year he paid a fine of half a mark to recover

Bruce. Or a saltire and
a chief gules ivith a leo-
pard or in the chief

' N. (^ Q. Norlhants. i (1905-7), 166.

2 Ibid, i (1884-5), 32-

3 The Poll Bks. show that in 1 705 there
were 48 freeholders, in 1 8 3 1 there were 14.

* F.C.H. Northants. i, 351.

5 Feud. Aids, iv, 2.

' Chan. Inq. p.m. 2 Ric. II (ist nos.),

57-

' Ca!. Inq. p.m. Hen. VII, i, 13.

^ Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxxviii, 29.

» L. and P. Hen. VIII, iii, 2482 (10).

'"> Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccilvii, 19.

" V.C.H. Northants. i, 306. View of
frankpledge in Broughton was held in 1306
as appurtenant to Rothwell by Joan daugh-
ter of Edward I and widow of the Earl of
Gloucester: Cal. Inq. p.m. iv, p. 317.

" Cal. Close, 1227-31, p. 246.

^3 Assize R. 615, m. 37.

" Feet of F. Northants. 44 Hen. Ill,

no. 736. A William St. German, the king's
serjeant-at-arms, died in 1265: Cal. Pat.
1258-66, p. 513. Another William was
esquire to the Earl of Gloucester in 1267 :
ibid. 1266-72, p. 87.

'5 Cal. Close, 1272-9, p. 276.

'* Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), ii, 12.

" Feud. Aids, iv, 21.

'8 Feet of F. Northants. 3 Edw. Ill,
no. 40.

158

ORLINGBURY HUNDRED

BROUGHTON

view of frankpledge there.' In 1428 Thomas de St.
German was holding the fee in Broughton which
William had formerly held.^

The last under-tenant of the name was Geoffrey St.
German (Sengermyn), who died on 22 August 1485. ^
By deed dated 10 April 1465 he had settled the manor
on trustees, who on 10 October 1485 enfeoffed of the
same Thomas Agard and his wife Margaret, the daugh-
ter and heir of Geoffrey, then aged eighteen. ■♦ It was
then worth 5 marks, and was not held of the king, but
its tenure was unknown. Thomas and Margaret with
John Agard in 1497 conveyed the manor, then
described as the manor of BROUGHTON SETNT
JERMTN to Edmund Grevj-le and others by fine.'
On 18 May 1522 George Agard, son and heir of
Thomas and Margaret, died seised of the manor, mill,
&c., which he had settled on his wife Elizabeth, with
remainder to his son John ; he was also seised of a life
interest in certain tenements after the death of Christo-
pher St. German, with remainder to George's son,
Stephen, his heir, aged nine at George's death.'

St. German. Azure a

saltire or bettveen fcur

rings argent.

Agard. Argent a
che'veron engrailed gules
betiveen three boars*
heads sable.

Besides George, the heir, Thomas and Margaret
had had two other sons, Edward and Nicholas. They
subsequently instituted proceedings against Edward
Warner,' who married George's widow and executrix
Elizabeth. The result is a valuable chapter of family
history. The complaint of the brothers Agard begins
with the statement that Geoffrey St. German had for-
feited his lands by attainder of treason, after fighting
at Bosworth Field against Henry VII; but long before
his attainder he had granted the manor to one Sir
William Tyler. When his daughter and heir Margaret
had been married to Thomas Agard, John brother of
the said Thomas had redeemed the manor and lands
from Sir William Tyler for £400, and conveyed it to
the use of Thomas and Margaret and their heirs.
Thomas died leaving unpaid of the said ^^400 the sum
of ^^83, which John in his will directed should be
divided equally between the plaintiffs. George, the
son and heir, granted an annuity of ;^4 to Edward, and
of 40/. to Nicholas, who delivered the indentures of
agreement to Edward Warner, in whom they had
special confidence, he being learned in the law. After
they had enjoyed the annuities for three years, George
died, and Elizabeth with Edward Warner, whom she
had then married, refused payment of the annuities.

Edward stated that Thomas Agard, having neither
goods nor lands, but being a wildly disposed young
man, came with other evil-disposed persons to Clerken-
well by London, where Margaret was by the com-
mandment of her father, and in the night time, privately
led her away and married her, whereby her father lost
the marriage of his only daughter and heir, for whom
great sums had been off