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LIBRARY I
UNIVERSITY OF j \^ CALIFORNIA^
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i. :
A History of the Church of St. Peter, Northampton,
together with the Chapels of Kingsthorpe and Upton.
PRINTED BY
W. MARK, 27 THE DRAPERY,
NORTHAMPTON.
A HISTORY
OF THE
CHURCH OF ST. PETER
NORTHAMPTON,
TOGETHER WITH THE CHAPELS
OF
KINGSTHORPE and UPTON,
BY
The Rev. R. M. SERJEANTSON, M.A.
Author of
"A History of the Church of All Saints, Northampton," etc.,
a?id Editor of
"The Victoria History of the County of Northampton."
ILLUSTRATED BY THOMAS GARRATT and THOMAS SHEPARD.
(tlorijatnptott :
William Mark, 27 The Drapery.
1904.
LOAN STACK
CONTENTS.
PREFACE
CHAPTER
INTRODUCTION I. THE CHURCH OF ST. PETER II. ST. PETER'S AND THE PURITANS
III. THE FABRIC.
IV. INTERNAL ARRANGEMENT IN PRE-RE
FORMATION TIMES.
V. THE RESTORATION .
VI. THE RECTORS OF ST. PETER'S
VII. PATRONS AND ENDOWMENTS
VIII. BELLS AND PLATE .
IX. PARISH REGISTERS AND VESTRY BOOKS
X. THE MONUMENTS .
XI. THE HESILRIGE FAMILY
XII. KINGSTHORPE CHURCH
XIII. THE MORGAN FAMILY
XIV. THE COOKE FAMILY XV. UPTON CHURCH
XVI. THE SAMWELL FAMILY APPENDIX .
PAGB.
. vii.
9 II
25 40
62 66
73 104 114 117
122
137
H7 188 210 217
239 250
^14
b
LIST OF PLATES.
St. Peter's Church, Northampton (Frontispiece)
Saxon Sculptured Stones found at St. Peter's
Plan of St. Peter's Church, Northampton
Arch in West Wall of Tower, St. Peter's .
Page of Sarum Missal . . . ■ .
Church of St. Peter in i8i8 ....
Church of St. Peter, looking east.
Monument to Dr. William Smith
Kingsthorpe Church from south-east .
South Chapel, looking west, showing Aumbry or Locker
Norman Arcade from North Aisle
Aumbry or Cross Locker found in Kingsthorpe Church
Crypt, Kingsthorpe Church ...
Nave of Kingsthorpe Church during Restoration .
Fourteenth Century Window in South Chapel
Sketches from Belcher MSS. in the Bodleian Library
Upton Church before Restoration
Priest's Door and Low Side Window, Upton Church
12 40 58 62
66 63
124
147 149 149 150 154 155 163 206 220 222
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Abacus to Capital, North Side of Chancel
Title Page of one of the Marprelate Tracts
Abacus to Capital, North Side of Nave
Enrichment to 2nd and 3RD Choir Arches on North and Nave Arches ■ • . .
Base of 4TH Column of Nave, North Side
Base, South Side of Nave.
Capital to 2nd Column, North Side of Nave .
OF Jamb Shafts, West Arch, South Side
Side,
PAGE
". 25
32
39. 40
42 43 43 44 45
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Capital to 4TH Column, North Side of Nave .
,, TO 2ND ,, ,, Chancel
Font .......
Capital to 2nd ,, South Side of Nave .
,, to 4TH ,, ,, ,, •
South-west Capital in Chancel, view from South-east Neckmoulds to Capital, North side of Nave ,
„ ,, „ Chancel
Tower of St. Peter's Church, Northampton .
Staircase Turret, South-east corner of Tower
Abaci to Capitals, North Side of Chancel
Details of Ornamentation of Arch on West Face of Tower 65,
66, 73, 103, 104, 114
Hesilrige Mansion ......
Norman Capital, North-east Respond of Nave
Early English Capital, South side of Chancel
KiNGSTHORPE ChURCH BEFORE THE RESTORATION OF 1863
Poppy Heads, Kingsthorpe Church . 156,
Arms of Morgan and Robinson . . .
Centre Panel of Monument of Francis Morgan
Arms of Morgan impaling Burgoyne
Arms on Bell at Heyford ....
Arms of Cooke, Fremeaux, and Thornton
Arms of Knightley, Harrington, and Samwell
Plan of Belfry at Upton .....
Monument of Richard Knightley and Lady in Upton Church 224
SS. Collar ........ 225
Shields of Arms formerly in Upton Church, from Belcher
MS. ....... 228, 230, 232
46 48 49 50 52 54 54 54 55 56 62
139 150 150 152 158, 160 188 190 191
195 210 217
223
Hatchment of Sir Thomas Samwell ....
Samwell Monument in All Saints' Church, Northampton .
Shields of Arms formerly in Upton Hall, from Belcher MS. ........
Cross Locker in St. Sepulchre's Church, Northampton
239
240
245 271
LIST OF PEDIGREES.
CLERKE, OF WiLLOUGHBY, KlNGSTHORPE, AND WaTFORD
REYNOLDS of Kingsthorpe and Northampton
HESILRIGE, OF Noseley and Northampton
LANE, OF Courteenhall, Northampton, and Kingsthorpe
MORGAN, OF Heyford
MORGAN, of Kingsthorpe
COOKE, FREMEAUX, and THORNTON, of Kingsthorpe
KNIGHTLEY. UNTON and SHIRLEY
HARDING, of Northampton
95 96 140 181 ig8 207 212
235 266
PREFACE
In collecting information for a history of the church of All Saints', Northampton (published a few years ago), the author came across many references to the neighbouring church of St. Peter, which eventually led to the compilation of the present volume. No history of this beautiful little Norman church has hitherto been written, and the present work is an attempt to supply a long-felt and often-ex- pressed want. The original intention of the writer was to confine himself to an account of St. Peter's, but the two daughter parishes of Kingsthorpe and Upton were so closely connected with the mother church, that it was found almost impossible to separate the one from the others.
In a work of this kind some mistakes are almost inevitable, but every effort has been made by verifying each reference and by consulting experts on all points of difficulty, to render these as few as possible. With this object in view the writer has personally examined numerous manuscripts in the Public Record Office, the British Museum, and the Bodleian Library ; and while the work was passing through the press he had also an opportunity of inspecting one of the original documents relating to the three churches preserved among the Papal Archives in the Vatican Palace in Rome.
In preparing the list of rectors, the Episcopal Registers at Lincoln, Peterborough, and Lambeth were carefully gone through, and various new names and dates discovered, while from a perusal of two charters in the British Museum, the list has been carried back well into the twelfth ceutury — probably to the actual foundation of the Norman church, circa 1 170.
The wills of early parishioners (copies of which are still preserved in the Northampton Probate Office, at Somerset House, and among the Kennett Manuscripts in the British Museum) furnish a considerable amount of information as to the internal arrangement of the churches of St. Peter and Kingsthorpe in mediaeval times ; and from the same source of information, the relationship between the Kings-
PREFACE.
thorpe and Heyford families of Morgan, long debated by genealogists, has been conclusively settled.
A critic, in reviewing the history of the church of All Saints, suggested as a possible source of further information the Northampton Chronicle in the library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. The authorship of this interesting manuscript was till recently ascribed to a monk of Burton ; but it is now supposed to have been written by one of the monks of St. Andrew's, Northampton. It is a history of England till the year 1339, and is in no sense a chronicle of the monastery.
The chapter [III.] dealing with the fabric of St. Peter's is almost entirely the work of a well-known Northampton- shire archaeologist, Mr. R. P. Brereton, to whom the author is also indebted for much help in other matters. The architectural sketches and plans were kindly contributed by Mr. Thomas Garratt, with the exception of that on page 223, which is by Mr. M. H. Holding. The " poppy - heads " in Kingsthorpe Church and the Knightley monu- ment at Upton were drawn by Mr. T. Shepard, as were also the heraldic shields throughout the volume.
The writer is glad to have an opportunity of expressing his deep indebtedness to the Rev. Dr. Cox, F.S.A., for reading through many of the proof sheets, and for many kindly criticisms and suggestions, as well as for the valu- able note on sanctuaries printed in the appendix. Special thanks are also due to the Rev. H. Isham Longden, rector of Heyford, whose help in matters genealogical has been invaluable ; to the Rev. E. N. Tom, rector of St. Peter's, and the Rev. E. L. Tuson, vicar of Kingsthorpe, for free access to their registers and parish chests ; to Mr. Stewart Beattie, the late Mr. W. D. Crick, Mrs. Thornton of Kingsthorpe Hall, Mr. C. Dack. Mrs. Griffin, and the Rev. H. H. Crawley for the loan of manuscripts and papers ; to Messrs. J. Wetherell, D. Wetherell, the Rev. H. Bedford Pim, Messrs. E. J. Felce, C. Beune, H. Cooper, and C. Law for the use of photographs ; to Mr. Parker, of Oxford ; the Northampton Free Library Committee ; the Northampton- shire Natural History Society, and the librarian of the Bodleian for permission to reproduce certain plates and pictures ; and to Messrs. Groves and Stroulger, of the Northampton Probate Office, and Messrs. Kershaw, Smith, and Magee, of the Episcopal Registries of Lambeth, Lin- coln, and Peterborough, for offering every facility for the examination of the records under their care. The writer
PREFACE.
is also indebted to Mr. Bickley of the British Museum, Mr. Salisbury of the Public Record Office, and Messrs. Hardy and Page, of Lincoln's Inn, for help in deciphering and copying manuscripts ; and for assistance in various other ways to Mr. Bruce B. Muscott, the Rev. H. K. Fry, the Rev. E. S. Dewick, F.S.A., Mr. J. T. Page, Mr. F. Bligh Bond, F.R.I.B.A., Mr. L. Withington, Miss Ethel Stokes, Mr. Thomas Green, Mr. Harper Gaythorpe (Dalton-in- Furness), Miss Mary Hughes, Mr. R. D. Watson, the Misses Birdsall, and the Rev. W. G. D. Fletcher.
St. Sepulchre's,
Whitsuntide, 1904.
INTRODUCTION.
,ROM an architectural point of view, the church of St. Peter, Northampton, holds a high place among the more beautiful of our parish churches, and in more than one respect it is considered by ecclesiologists to be a unique specimen of late Norman architecture.
Historically, it cannot, of course, compare for a moment with its greater and more powerful neighbour, the church of All Saints, but granting this, St. Peter's, too, has a history of its own, quite unlike that of any other Northampton church.
The peculiar rights of Purgation attaching to it would in themselves be sufficient to make the church inter- esting to ecclesiologists, while the frequent disputes with regard to the benefice, brought the church of St. Peter on more than one occasion into prominent notice. At one time we find the king disputing with the monks of St. Andrew's, Northampton, as to the right of advowson ; a little later, king, bishop, and archbishop fall foul of one another with regard to a royal nominee whom the bishop had refused to institute ; while in the following century the king inadvertently grants the advowson of the church to two different religious corporations at once ! and when this difiiculty has been settled, the queen — the patron of the successful body — fails to induce the bishop to carry out her views with regard to the appropriation of the benefice, even when backed by the authority of a papal mandate.
Two centuries later, a curate of St. Peter's, Edmund Snape by name, was one of the most prominent of Elizabethan Puritans ; while shortly afterwards, by way of contrast, there was no more zealous advocate of the Laudian reforms than Dr. Samuel Gierke, rector of this church.
lO INTRODUCTION.
In the nineteenth century, St. Peter's was closely con- nected with two of the best known of Northampton- shire historians — Mr. and Miss Baker — while in its churchyard lie in close proximity the remains of William Smith, the " father of English geology," and his equally famous namesake, one of the earliest of mezzotint engravers.
CHAPTER I.
THE CHURCH OF ST. PETER.
Addenda et corrigenda.
Page 41, line 44. F'or Archaeolog-ical Society's Reports read Architectural Societ\'s.
Page 88, line ^^2. For Quadragesimali read Quadragesi- mal e.
Page 181, line 21. For April, 1650-1 read April, 1651.
To Cooke Pedigree, page 212, add the following : —
Marriage. 1623— August 12th. Francis Cooke, of Kingsthorp, and Sarah Coles of this parish were married. — Cogenhoe Parish Register.
borders of the Danish settlement, but would be very- exceptional if applied to property near Northampton.
* Victoria County History (Northants), i. 278.
12 THE CHURCH OF ST. PETER.
But however this may be, it is practically certain that an earlier church stood on the site occupied by the present building, for during the restoration of 1850, stones* with Saxon ecclesiastical carving were found under the now existing chancel. This pre-Norman church would be the one standing at the Domesday survey, for the present church must be ascribed to a decidedly later period. Judging from the style of its architecture, it was probably erected about the year 1 1 6o,t possibly by Simon de Senlis or St. Liz, the third earl of that name, who died in 1 184.
If this conjecture be correct, Earl Simon was only following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, who were both great benefactors of the Church. The first earl founded the abbey of St. Andrew, North- ampton, and very probably the church of the Holy Sepulchre, while his son, the second earl, was the founder of the abbeys of Sawtrey and Delapre, and a liberal benefactor to the abbey of Croyland.
The earliest undoubted reference to St. Peter's occurs in a charter of the close of the twelfth century, in which Henry, prior of St. Andrew's, grants to Henry, son of Peter of Northampton, the church of the blessed Peter in Northampton, together with the church of Kings- thorpe and the chapel of Upton thereto annexed. It was to be held and enjoyed by the said Henry as freely as John, son of Ranulph, the last incumbent (possibly the first rector of the church) had held it at his death. It was stipulated, moreover, that the new incumbent
* Stone No. i is the fragment of a cross shaft, made of oolite, measuring i ft. loj ins. high, by i ft. gf ins. broad, by 10 in. thick. It has a cable moulding at the angles. The back and right side have been cut away, and the other two faces are sculptured as follows : — On the front (a) a continuous piece of interlaced work, composed of six vertical and four horizonal rows of figure of eight knots (marked G in my Analysts of Celtic Interlaced Ornament) terminated in a rather irregular manner at the bottom. On the left side (6) remains of foliage much defaced.
Stone No. 2 is probably also part of a cross shaft, but is in a very mutilated condition. The back and left side are entirely cut away, and the front and right side are sculptured with conventional foliage. The use of the figure eight knot to cover a large surface, as on Stone No. i, was not unfrequent at a late period of Celtic art. Other instances occur on stones at Saxilby and Stow, and Manby in Lincolnshire, and at Tuam in Ireland. — From J. Romilly Allen's Early Christian Sculpture in North- amptonshire in the Associated Architectural Societies' Reports, 1888.
t Vide subsequent chapter on the Fabric.
-"^■■. .,7
.A— ^xX"
V-.-
Stone I.
f
: w
,/ t
^ '.
r'Si
If '^-^ >
V » /
Stone
Saxon Sculptured Stones found at St. Peter's. Fioni Dyavings by the late Sir Henry Dryden, Bart., in ••Northamptonshire Notes and Queries.
THE CHURCH OF ST. PETER. 1 3
should pay to the priory an annual pension of £4 in four quarterly instalments, and should swear fidelity to the prior on the holy gospels.* An entry in the car- tulary of the priory of St. Andrewt shows that Henry was duly instituted by Master Robert de Bedford and Roger de Rolfeston, acting as the deputies of Bishop Hugh of Lincoln [i 186-1200], but the exact date of his institution is not recorded.
In the year 1200, Henry, son of Peter, rector of the church of St. Peter, is again mentioned in the cartulary as one of the founders of the hospital of the Holy Trinity at Kingsthorpe.
A few years later, Hugh Wells, bishop of Lincoln [1209-35] confirms to the monastery of St. Andrew and to the monks there serving God, the church of the blessed Peter, Northampton, saving the rights of " our well-beloved son, Henry, son of Peter." The bishop also stipulated that a competent " vicarage " should be ordained at the next vacancy in the living.:}: This, how- ever, does not appear to have been done, for in 1220 Thomas de Fiskerton, one of the canons of Lincoln, was instituted to the rectory, the same pension of six marks (^4) being reserved to the priory.
In 1222 the living was again vacant, and a long struggle began between the king and the monks of St. Andrew as to the right of presentation. The king pre- sented John de Pavilli (a member, perhaps, of the powerful county family of that name) on October 25th, 1222. The monks presented Master Robert de Bath. The king eventually withdrew his nominee, and Robert de Bath was duly instituted by Bishop Hugh Wells on November 25th of the same year. In addition to the institution of their nominee, the bishop further granted to the monks that, at the next vacancy in the living, the pension of six marks payable by the rector to their con- vent, should be increased to ten marks.
The next vacancy seems to have occurred in 1243, when John de Houghton, archdeacon of Northampton was appointed, but two years later, on the death or
* Harleian Charters 44 H. 34. For a full transcript see Appendix A. t Cartulary of St. Andrew, Cotton MSS. Vesp, E. xvii. fol. 293 b. See also Appendix B.
I Cotton MS. Vesp. E. xvii., fol. 293. See also Appendix C.
14 THE CHURCH OF ST. PETER.
resignation of the archdeacon, the king again claimed the right of presentation, and nominated Robert Passelewe to the living. This action led to the famous dispute between the king, the bishop of Lincoln, and the archbishop of Canterbury. The bishop of Lincoln at this time was the celebrated Robert Grosseteste, the constant asserter of the rights of the church against king and pope alike. On the ground that Passelewe was a forest judge, Grosseteste declined to institute him. His letter to the king is still extant. He has no wish, he says, to be undutiful to the king, but he considers that spiritual matters should be undertaken by ecclesi- astics and spiritual men, and secular matters by laymen, just as military matters are undertaken by military men. To admit to the cure of souls one who was acting as a forest judge would be against the law of God, the canonical sanctions, and a contradiction to the vow ot his consecration.
As a matter of fact, the bishop was well acquainted with the forest judge and his antecedents. In 1218 Passelewe had been appointed to the living of Swan- bourne, in Buckinghamshire, and in 1231 to that of Brampton, in Northamptonshire, both in the diocese of Lincoln. In 1244 the king had induced the chapter of Chichester to elect the judge as their bishop, but his manifest unfitness for the office roused the opposition of the primate and the other bishops of the province. With a grim sense of humour, they decided that as there appeared to be some doubt as to his qualifications for the episcopal office, Passelewe should be examined in abstruse questions of theology, and appointed Bishop Grosseteste, the most learned man of his day, to con- duct the examination.* As was only to be expected, Passelewe failed to satisfy his examiner, and the election was quashed.
Nor was it only his want of learning that weighed with the bishop. In order to replenish the royal coffers Passelewe is said by Matthew Paris " to have impover- ished all, monks and seculars, noble and ignoble to such an extent, that many were ruined or imprisoned."*
* Matthew Paris' Historia Major, iv., 401. Stevenson's Life oj
Grosseteste, 217.
THE CHURCH OF ST. PETER. 15
It was for these reasons that Grosseteste took the somewhat bold step of refusing to institute the king's nominee to the rectory of St. Peter's. Passelewe, in- dignant at being a second time rejected by the same bishop, appealed to Boniface, the archbishop of Canter- bury, who, in order to please his nephew, Henry III., issued a mandate ordering the institution of the forest judge within eight days. This action called forth an indignant letter from Grosseteste : —
To the venerable Father in Christ, Boniface, by the grace of God, Arch- bishop of Canterbury, primate of all England, Robert, by the divine mercy, the humble servant of the church of Lincoln sendeth greeting, and such obedience and reverence as is due and fitting.
Your grace knows that you have been appointed as the head of bishops, in order that you may correct the negligence of those who are negligent in their duties and assist the diligence of the diligent ; nor may you compel to any wrong, but those who do wrong, you shall canonically correct. It is the duty of your official to do the same, since he is known to act in your stead, and if he acts otherwise he brings a stain not only on himself, but upon you, whose power he wields, and leaves a blot upon your honour. We therefore, as we are bound, desiring that the light of your glory should shine without spot, cannot be silent as to the deeds attempted by your official, not only, we fear, to the prejudice of your^office, but also to the defiling of your honour
Your grace knows that Sir Robert Passelewe, one of the King's Justices of the Forest, who by his office of Justiciar inquires judicially concerning theft of venison and vert in the King's forest and causes those found guilty of crimes of this sort to be taken and imprisoned : and punishes not only laymen but clerks, and performs other duties pertaining to such an office, was presented to us for institution to the church of St. Peter, North- ampton ; who, though often warned by us to cease from performing the duties of such an office, refuses to obey our admonitions ; wherefore by reason of his unlawful office and for many other reasons, we have refused to admit him. For which action we ought by no means, in our own opinion, to be accused of negligence, but rather praised for diligence in our pastoral office.
Your official, however, on complaint of the said Robert, considering us negligent in this respect, has ordered us, by virtue of the obedience we owe to you, to institute according to the canons as parson of this church the aforesaid Robert or his duly constituted proctor, within eight days of the reception of this mandate. Failing this he himself will proceed forth- with by duty of his office to see that institution to the said church takes place. To which proposition we replied in these words : — " Not as to our judge in this matter, but as to a friend, and to one ' seeking only those things which are Jesus Christ's,' we reply that it is nothing else but ' the sin of idolatry ' to obey in unlawful things ; and to obey such an order is like refusing to obey in lawful and canonical things. It is wholly unlawful and against both divine and canonical rules to admit to the care of souls one who ' entangleth himself with the affairs of this life ' (2 Tim. ii. 4), and especially one who by exercising a lay office, acts as a searcher out of thefts ; one who apprehends, imprisons, and tries — by force of arms and with shedding of blood if they cannot be taken otherwise — those who on inquiry are found guilty on a charge of this sort ; a taker of malefactors
1 6 THE CHURCH OF ST. PETER.
and a judge of those taken ; who, though many times warned by his ordinary to free himself from entanglement in this and other secular busi- ness, does not comply ; one who is ensnared by many other things which render him unfit for undertaking the cure of souls, and also unworthy of any pastoral care. Now Sir Robert Passelewe, in general and in partic- ular, is in this position. All which things, though notorious enough, we are prepared to prove before a competent judge. If, therefore, we were to think of admitting such a man, what should we be guilty of but the sin of idolatry ? We know that the actual words of your mandate do not go as far as this iniquity, but the meaning which underlies it is what I have said. And so we propose to obey the literal meaning of your mandate — though no one bids us — by the Saviour's grace ; because we desire to carry out our ofl&ce to the utmost of our ability by canonical rules, by direction of which we have refused to admit to the church aforesaid the said Sir Robert for the aforesaid and other reasons. Nor can it be in any way considered negligence in a pastor, but rather diligence in the pastoral office, that we have refused to admit to the pastoral care those who ' entangle themselves in the affairs of this life,' especially when after being often affectionately warned to free themselves from such entanglements, they refuse. We therefore beg your discretion by all the bowels of mercy, not to institute the aforesaid Robert to the church aforesaid, because it will be not only to the prejudice of us, who in this respect are not negli- gent but rather diligent (in which case it is not possible for the due posi- tion of your office to be maintained according to canonical sanctions) but also to the lasting condemnation of the aforesaid Robert himself, the loss of the souls of the church, the scandal of the clergy, and especially to your discredit ; for it will most certainly be presumed that you did this not from any zeal for justice, but only from fear of the king. And there will be said of you those words of Jeremiah — that the prince of the province of Canterbury is become as ' a ram that finds no pasture,' ' and as one that is gone without strength before the face of the pursuer.' But we warn you, not as if you had no power to execute the office of a bishop in our diocese in this matter, but as if zealous for the safely of souls and for jus- tice that you do your utmost to draw the oft-mentioned Robert (being such an one as we have described him) from the pit of the aforesaid ills, before ' the pit shut her mouth upon him,' and there is no chance of escape.
The bearer of these presents left us before the eight days after the recep- tion of the mandate of your official were completed. Therefore uncertain as to the future, we could not write to you at his departure what the said official was about to do in the matter, but from what we have heard and from the way we were threatened, we firmly believe that notwithstanding our reply and warning and just appeals, he will proceed to the institution of the aforesaid Robert to the church of St. Peter aforesaid, he being (in many other ways) grievous and injurious to us.
Wherefore we beseech your grace, as far as your discretion allows, to take care lest your official hinder in their duties or be a source of danger to the souls of your suffragans, whom you are in duty bound to protect and admonish, lest perchance, which God forbid, through matters of this kind their devotion towards you should wax cold, and a stain be left upon your good name.
Farewell, your grace, ever in the Lord.
Whether this letter had the desired effect it is impos- sible to say. There is no record of the institution of Robert Passelewe ; but on the other hand neither the episcopal nor the archiepiscopal registers record any
THE CHURCH OF ST. PETER. 1 7
further institution to this church till the year 1290* We learn, however, from a different source, that as late as 1258 the affairs of St. Peter's were still in an unsettled state. Among the Papal Letters calendared for the Public Record Office is one dated from Viterbo 3rd April of that year. It is a confirmation and exemplifi- cation to Master William de Altavilla rector of St. Peter's, Northampton, of the sentence and condemnation issued by Henry, cardinal of St. Sabina's, against Gilbert de Milheriis rector of Merston in the diocese of Lincoln, for unjustly occupying the said church of St. Peter's. The cause had already been heard by others and carried on appeal to the pope. It had been dele- gated by him to the Cardinal above mentioned, whose judgment is dated Viterbo, i6th March, 1258.
But to return to Bishop Grosseteste. On two other occasions his aid was invoked with regard to the afliairs of St. Peter s. In the first case it was with reference to a privilege attaching to the church.
It has been frequently stated by recent writers that to the church of St. Peter there pertained special rights of sanctuary. As a matter of fact every church and church- yard in the kingdom possessed these rights, and though it is true there were certain chartered sanctuaries, such as Beaulieu, Beverley, Durham, and Westminster, in which the right of protecting fugitives extended to a considerable distance beyond the sacred precincts, there is no evidence that the church of St. Peter, North- ampton ever possessed any such privilege.! The writers above mentioned have fallen into the mistake of con- fusing rights of sanctuary with rights of compurgation.
In ancient times, before our present system of trial by jury was fully established, a person accused of a punish- able offence was compelled to undergo the ordeal, either by carrying a hot iron, plunging the hand in boiling water, or eating the corsnaed or accursed morsel. The Normans introduced the system of Duellum or Wager of battle. Each of these expedients was understood to be
* The register of Bishop Lexington [1254-1258] for the archdeaconry of Northampton has been lost. Had it been forthcoming, it might have thrown light on the subject.
t For note on Sanctuaries see Appendix.
1 8 THE CHURCH OF ST. PETER.
a direct appeal to the Almighty to reveal the guilt or innocence of the party accused.
In certain cases, however, a man might clear himself by compurgation ; that is to say he took a solemn oath that he was not guilty, and produced a certain number of witnesses to swear that they believed in his innocence.
This system of compurgation was common to all the Teutonic races, but the number of compurgators varied in different countries. In England it was usually twelve, but the oaths of different men varied according to the rank and position of the swearer. Thus the oath of one ealdorman was equal in value to that of six thegns, and the oath of one thegn counterbalanced that of twelve ceorls.
There is no doubt that in later times this system was considerably abused, and it has been spoken of by one writer as a " manifest fountain of unblushing perjury." But in early days great care was taken to prevent abuses. In the first place canonical purgation could not be exercised until due notice had been given, and if, after such notice, strong corroborative evidence against the accused was forthcoming, the purgation was not proceeded with, but sentence was pronounced upon the offender. In the second place, purgation could only take place in the rural deanery in which the offence was alleged to have been committed, so that when the case was a notorious one, evidence might be readily forth- coming, and, in the case of innocence, that a man's char- acter might be cleared in the eyes of his neighbours.
In Northampton any person wishing to avail himself of the privilege of purgation, was compelled to do so in the church of St. Peter. It would appear that in the thirteenth century other churches had attempted to claim a similar right, as fees were doubtless attached to it. A dispute arose and an appeal was made to the bishop. An inquiry was instituted and, as a result, the following order was made by Bishop Grosseteste [1235- 1253]-
Robert, by the grace of God, bishop of Lincoln, to William, archdeacon of Northampton, and to the dean and justices, greeting. We find this to be the privilege of the church of the blessed Peter, Northampton, that no one who ought to be examined in any judgment shall purge himself in the same town or its appurtenances, save in the church aforesaid, having first performed vigil and prayers in the same
THE CHURCH OF ST. PETER. 1 9
church. Wherefore we ordain that no one presume to diminish or take away the aforesaid privilege of the same church. But if anyone attempt to do so — since we wish everything to be done justly — let him know that we will not be wanting to him in justice.*
From the above extract it will be seen that the cere- mony of ecclesiastical purgation was an exceedingly- solemn one, preceded as it was on the previous night by a solitary vigil in the church.
Under the Plantagenet kings, as the system of trial by jury became gradually established, the ordeal was abolished and compurgation fell into disuse. In the boroughs, however, whose charters exempted them from the jurisdiction of the county courts, compurgation was retained some time longer. In the case also of criminous clerks the system remained in force. To take a single instance from the neighbouring county of Warwickshire, in 1338 a certain clerk, John le Veynour, of Stoneleigh, was charged before the king's justices with the crime of stealing a blue robe value three shillings and a blue tunic valued at eighteen pence, and convicted. On claiming benefit of clergy, he was committed to the bishops' prison at Worcester. Notice was sent to the rural dean ot Kineton, who on January 20th, 1339, for- warded a certificate to the effect that according to his instructions he had publicly proclaimed that if any opposed the purgation of John le Veynour, clerk, the same were to appear in the cathedral church of Wor- cester on January 23rd, and state their case ; and also that having made inquiry of trustworthy men, both clerks and laymen, he had found no cause why the purgation of the said clerk could not be proceeded with. t
Turning to another county, we find in the Close Rolls an order (dated May i6th, 1286) to the sheriff of Shrop- shire to restore to Robert de Stoke, clerk, his lands, goods, and chattels, which had been taken into the king's hands upon his being indicted for homicide, as he purged his innocence before Richard, bishop of Here- ford, to whom he was delivered by the justices in accordance with privilege of clergy. J
*Cotton MS. Vesp. E. xvii., fol. 293. See also Appendix D. t Dioc. Registers, of Worcester printed by Worcester Rec. Soc. X Close Rolls 14 Ed. I.
20 THE CHURCH OF ST. PETER.
With regard to purgation, it may be here mentioned that Edward I. wrote to Bishop Giffard, of Worcester, May ist, 1292, forbidding him to allow the purgation of any clerks in his prison whose crimes were notorious, but if it were otherwise, the process of purgation might proceed. This system as regarded criminous clerks was swept away at the Reformation, but in civil actions for debt, it lingered on till comparatively recent times.
Dispute with regard to the Church at Kingsthorpe.
In the reign of Henry III. a dispute arose with regard to the possession of the church of Kingsthorpe, and appeal was made to the Crown. The king accordingly issued a mandate to Bishop Grosseteste and William, archdeacon of Northampton, ordering them to secure to the church of St. Peter peaceable possession of the chapel of Kingsthorpe, if it can be proved that the said chapel belonged to St. Peter's in the time of his grand- father, Henry II.* In obedience to this mandate, enquiry was made by the bishop as to whether the church of Kingsthorpe was of itself possessed of rites of baptism, or whether it belonged to any other church. After examining many witnesses, both lay and clerical, the bishop certified that the church of Kingsthorpe be- longed to St. Peter's as a member to the head and as a daughter to her mother. It was proved also by many of the parishioners, that the people of Kingsthorpe had been accustomed to bring their children to St. Peter's for baptism, and had buried their dead in St. Peter's churchyard, t
The King recovers the patronage of St. Peter's.
Towards the end of the reign of Henry III. the long- standing dispute between the king and the monks of St. Andrew as to the right of presentation to the rectory of St. Peter's was settled, probably by a compromise. The case was brought into the law courts and allowed by the convent to go by default. The king therefore became the undisputed patron of the living, but he granted to
* Cotton MS., Vesp. E. xvii., fol. 20. See also Appendix E.
t Cotton MS., Vesp. E. xvii., fol. 293 dorso. See also Appendix F.
THE CHURCH OF ST. PETER. 21
the monks by way of compensation that the pension of ten marks which they had been accustomed to receive annually from this benefice, should be increased to fifteen marks, i.e. loo/- at the Feast of St. Michael and another loo/- at Easter. In the best known cartulary of St. Andrew (Cotton MS., Vesp. E. xvii.), this charter is undated, but in a second cartulary (Bibl. Reg. i iB ix.) which has been seriously injured by fire, the date is given in full — May 1 8th, 1266.*
Shortly after the death of King Henry, the pension paid to the priory had fallen again to ten marks, and for some years at the beginning of the fourteenth century the rector of St. Peter's, who at that time happened to be a high Crown offi-cialt declined to pay any pension whatever. Consequently in 1330 we find the prior of St. Andrew's bringing an action against him for the recovery of 300 marks, which were in arrears from the annual rent of ten marks due to him. The result of this suit+ is not recorded, but there is little doubt that the monks were successful, for as late as 1535 the sum often marks was still received by their house from the rectory of St. Peter's. §
At the close of the thirteenth and the beginning of the fourteenth centuries the living of St. Peter's was held by several distinguished men. Hugh de Newcastle (Novo Castro) appointed in 1293, was chaplain to Prince Edward, afterwards Edward II. He died in 1297 and was succeeded by Master Ralph de Haggele, who, after a tenure of nine years, resigned the living, and was suc- ceeded (in 1306) by John de Leeke. Five years later John de Leeke was raised to the episcopate as arch- bishop of Dublin, and was succeeded at St. Peter's by William de Bevercote, chancellor of the newly-conquered kingdom of Scotland. The parochial duties of this rector must frequently have been performed by deputy, during his absence in Scotland and when, as in 13 15,
* Bibl. Reg. iiB ix., fol. 23. Cotton MS., Vesp. E. xvii., fol. 21 dorse. Printed verbatim in Appendix G.
t The name of this rector was William de Bevercote, chancellor of Scotland.
I A full abstract of the pleadings in this suit is given in a succeeding chapter under " Endowments."
§ Valor Ecclesiasticus of Henry VIH.
22 THE CHURCH OF ST. PETER.
1317, and 1333-35, he was absent elsewhere upon the kinar's business.
Advowson granted to Hospital of St. Katharine.
Early in the following reign (1329)* the advowson of the church of St. Peter, which had belonged to the Crown for nearly a century, was granted by the king to the master, brethren, and sisters of the hospital of St. Katharine, near the Tower of London, in whose hands the right of presentation to the living remained till the middle of the nineteenth century.
Eight years later, however, forgetful of this grant, the king made over the church together with all its revenues to his newly-founded college in Cambridge. Accord- ingly we find the following entry in the Patent Rolls : —
1337. October 7th.
Establishment by the king of a college of 32 scholars in the University of Cambridge, in a dwelling place by the Hospital of St. John, in the parish of All Saints, Cambridge, to be called the Hall of the King's Scholars, Cambridge. Appointment of Master Thomas Powys, King's clerk, to be warden of the college and grant in frank almoin to the warden and scholars of the said dwelling place and the advowson of the church of St. Peter, Northampton, and of the chapels of Kingsthorpe and Upton annexed thereto, with license for them to appropriate the said church and chapels.
The King's attention having been called to his mistake by Queen Philippa, the following order occurs in the Patent Rolls of the next year : —
1338. March 12th. Tower of London.
Whereas the King lately founded a college of 32 students in the Uni- versity of Cambridge in a dwelling place which he caused to be called the King's Hall of Scholars and granted to the warden and scholars of the hall for their sustenance among other things, the advowson of the church of St. Peter, Northampton, not remembering that he had already granted it in frank almoin to the masters, brothers, and sisters of the Hospital of St. Katharine by the Tower of London, he has granted to the said warden and scholars in recompense of the said advowson, that the advowson of the church of Fakenhamdam in the diocese of Norwich, now held for life by Queen Isabellaf of his grant, shall remain to them in frank almoin, and that the said Queen after she has attorned to them in respect of the ad-
* Patent Rolls, 3 Ed. III. The date of this grant is given in most histories as 1309, but a glance at the Patent Rolls shews that this is an error.
t Isabella of France, the queen dowager, mother of Edward III.
THE CHURCH OF ST. PETER. 23
vowson, may surrender it to them, and that they may appropriate the church.*
Queen Philippa attempts to get the church ^^appropriated" to St. Katharine' s Hospital.
Having successfully asserted the rights of the hospital, of which she was patroness, Queen Philippa next ap- plied to the pope for permission to appropriate to the use of the hospital the revenues of St. Peter's, which (in addition to the pension of ten marks paid to the priory of St. Andrew) were estimated at thirty marks a year. The requisite permission was granted by Pope Clement VI. in April, 1343, but an unexpected difficulty arose ; the bishop refused to obey the order, and put various obstacles in the queen's way. Again Queen Philippa appealed to the papal court, and a further mandate was granted : —
Petitions. 11 Clement VI..
Queen Philippa. Signification that at her prayer the Bishop of Lincoln was directed by papal order to appropriate to the poor Hospital of St. Katharine by the Tower of London, which is of the Queen's patronage, the church of St. Peter, Northampton, and the annexed chapels of Kings- thorpe and Upton. The late two masters of the Hospital and the brethren and sisters, not being able to obtain execution of the appropriation from the Bishop of Lincoln on the death of the last two Rectors, unless they paid a heavy pension or bound themselves in a large sum of money, pre- sented persons to the Diocesan, who instituted them, whereby the grant has been fruitless The Queen therefore prays the Pope to order the Bishop of London and the Abbot of Westminster and the Papal nuncio to appropriate the said church and chapels, valued at £^o, the patronage of which has been given to the Master, Brethren, and Sisters of the Hospital, who may thus be able to support the poor and sick and to meet their expenses. f 1352. Granted, at Avignon, 4 non. Nov.
The result of this second mandate does not appear, but it would seem that the bishop in some way managed to evade the appropriation, for though the hospital en- joyed the right of presentation to the living till within
* Patent Rolls 12 Ed. HI., pt. i.
t It is stated in the first of the papal mandates (1343) that " William de Kildesby, the Master of St. Katharine's had begun to build a fair chapel in the said Hospital." The work was still going on in 1352, and funds were badly needed. In the previous year. Queen Philippa had granted the hospital a new charter, in which it was expressly stipulated that the residue of all profits, after maintaining the ordinary charges of the com- munity, should be devoted to the good work of completing the church then in course of building. (F. Simcox Lea's 5^ Katharine's Hospital, p. 20).
24 THE CHURCH OF ST. PETER.
the last few years, there is no record of the income of the benefice being diverted from its original use in order to support the sick and poor of the hospital of St. Katharine.*
The settlement of this long-standing dispute was doubtless delayed by a catastrophe world-wide in its effects — the fearful visitation of the plague, known in history as the '* black death." Starting from the far east, this frightful epidemic travelled rapidly westwards across Asia and Europe, carrying devastation every- where in its course. It reached Italy in 1348, and carried off more than half the population. The pope shut himself up at Avignon, and caused huge fires to be kept burning round the papal palace in order to ward off the infection. The disease is said to have been brought to England by ships returning from the siege of Calais. It reached Northampton in 1349, and in a few months carried off the incumbents of seven out of the nine churches — those of St. Peter, All Saints, St. Mary, St. Bartholomew, St. Edmund, St. Gregory, and St. Michael. Of the number of victims among the laity we have no exact record, but there is little doubt that the mortality was almost as great among them as among the clergy. With affairs in this condition, it is little to be wondered at that the dispute as to St. Peter's remained long unsettled, for pope, queen, and bishop alike had other more important matters to occupy their attention than the question of the appropriation of a small parish church.
In the following century St. Peter's had once again a distinguished incumbent in Robert Fitz-Hugh who, after holding the rectory for three years, was in 143 1 raised to the episcopate as bishop of London. The parishioners of St. Peters could have seen little of their rector, for he was frequently abroad on diplomatic busi- ness, and from 1429 to 143 1 he was acting as English ambassador to the courts of Rome and Venice.t
* So certain did the queen feel of ultimately obtaining her wish, that she induced two successive Masters of St. Katharine's to grant ' ' corrodies ' ' to her servants, on the express understanding that she would "appro- priate " to the hospital the rectory of St. Peter's. The promise was still unfulfilled in 1380. [Patent Rolls 3 Rich. II.]
■f For further particulars see under " Rectors."
Abacus to Capital, North Side of Chanoel.
CHAPTER II.
ST. PETER'S AND THE PURITANS.
|ASSING on to the sixteenth century, we meet with a striking personality in Edmund Snape, curate of St. Peter's, one of the most prominent of the Elizabethan Puritans.
Having taken holy orders, he worked for some time as curate of St. Peter's Northampton, where he shewed himself an earnest supporter of the Puritan programme. Bishop Bancroft tells us that when the parishioners of St. Peter's understood that Snape did not account him- self a full minister, until he had been chosen by some particular congregation, they immediately elected him as their minister. In 1576, perhaps owing to the appointment of a new rector of St. Peter's (William Nowell), Snape left Northampton and accompanied Thomas Cartwright on a tour in the Channel Islands. They had been invited by the ministers of Jersey and Guernsey to assist them in drawing up a scheme of dis- cipline for their churches, and eventually they submitted a draft, which, after certain modifications, was formally adopted by the synod. On his return to England, Snape worked for some time in the diocese of Exeter, after which he proceeded to Oxford, where, in 1581, he graduated B.A. from St. Edmund's Hall, and M.A. from Merton College, July loth, 1584. In 1586 he was incorporated M.A. at Cambridge.^ Returning to St. Peter's, Northampton, he continued to labour there for several years. The parish register of wSt. Peter's records the burial of one of his children in May, 1589.*
* 1589 — " The tenth day of Mali a childe of Mr. Snape, clarke, was buryed."
2
26 ST. PETER'S AND THE PURITANS.
Like many of his brethren in Northamptonshire, Snape accepted the Puritan Book of Discipline, though he did not actually subscribe it himself.
In 1590 the attention of the Government was called to the assemblies and practices of the Puritans, and Cart- wright, Snape, and others were summoned before the High Commission Court to answer certain charges.* The articles with which he and others were charged have fortunately been preserved for us among the Burghley Papers t in the British Museum, and they throw considerable light on the aims of the Puritan party in the reign of Queen Elizabeth.
In order, however, to make these objects more clear, a word or two must be said with regard to the attitude of the Puritans in the earlier years of the queen's reign. The news of the accession of the new queen had been hailed by them with the utmost satisfaction. They hoped that it would have involved a complete reversal of the policy of the late reign and a return to that in vogue in the latter years of Edward VI. In this, however, they were wofully disappointed. The new queen had no intention of throwing herself into the hands of any party, and determined to steer a middle course between the extreme Puritans on the one hand and the extreme Romanists on the other. For the first ten years of her reign this policy was more or less successfully carried out, but in 1568 a rumour of an intended rising of the Romanists in the north, to be aided by the arms of Spain, reached the Government, and was one of the chief causes that led to a reaction in favour of the Puritans. The unsuccessful insurrection of the earls of Northum- berland and Westmoreland in 1569 tended still further to increase their influence, and from this time their ascendancy in many parts of England, particularly in Northamptonshire, was very marked. It was about this time that the famous Puritan exercises known as " prophesyings " began to be held and it is very probable that they were originated at the great church of All Saints, Northampton. These " prophesyings " were devotional meetings of the clergy, and were so called in imitation of the inspired interpretations of scriptures
* Dictionary of National Biography . t Lansd. MSS. 64, fol. 51.
ST. PETER'S AND THE PURITANS. 27
mentioned in i Cor. xiv. 31. Strype in his Life of Grindal gives us the following description of them : — " The manner whereof was that the ministers of such a division at a set time met together in some church be- longing to a market or other large town, and there each in their order explained according to their ability, some particular portion of scripture allotted them before, and after all of them had done, a moderator, who was one of the gravest and best learned among them, made his observations upon what the rest had said, and deter- mined the true sense of the place At these
assemblies there were great confluxes of people to hear and learn .... But the inconvenience was that at these meetings happened at length confusions and disturbances, some affecting to show their parts and to confute others that spake not so appositely, perhaps, as themselves. They also would sometimes broach het- erodox opinions, and some that had been silenced from their preaching for their incompliance with the estab- lished worship would intrude themselves here and vent themselves against the liturgy and hierarchy. Some would speak against states or particular persons. The people also fell to arguing and disputing much about religion. Sometimes a layman would take upon him to speak, so that the exercises degenerated into factions, divisions, and censurings."*
There was also a danger in the critical times through which England was then passing, that these gatherings might be used for political purposes as engines against the Government, and the queen and her Privy Council, always suspicious of private meetings, determined to put them down. Accordingly on May 7th, 1577, in spite of the remonstrances of the archbishop, who was in favour of these exercises, an order was sent by the Privy Council to each of the bishops, ordering them to suppress the " prophesyings " in their respective dioceses, and the command was everywhere obeyed.
This action of the bishops, who were, it is only fair to say, in many cases very unwilling instruments of the royal commands, roused the anger of the Puritans, and
* Strype's Life of Grindal, 325. — Blunt's Reformation of the Church of England, ii., 416.
28 ST. PETER'S AND THE PURITANS.
a bold attack was made by Cartwright, Snape, and other of the more extreme members of the party, upon the power of the episcopate. Recognizing the futility of trying to obtain the abrogation of episcopacy, they conceived the plan of depriving it of all authorit}'' by erecting under its shadow a Presbyterian system. **The scheme was an ingenious one. A classis or board of Puritan clergy was formed in each of the districts into which the country was divided, which should be the unit of church government and the source of spiritual authority instead of the bishop. The ceremonial to be adopted in church, the dress to be worn out of church, the way in which the service should be conducted, were all to be regulated according to the " counsels " of the classtSy regardless of ecclesiastical law or episcopal ad- monition. Candidates for ordination were to submit their qualifications for the ministry to the judgment of the classis, and derive their spiritual authority from the "call" Giihei classis, instead of the ordination and license of the bishop. But since in the eyes of the law epis- copal ordination and commission were necessary for the due discharge of their functions and the holding of benefices, the Puritan candidate who had received his " call " from the classis was permitted to procure ordina- tion from the bishop, as a ceremony required by law to remedy the defect in his legal status, but having in itself no spiritual significance ! " *
Bancroft, afterwards successively bishop of London and archbishop of Canterbury, took great pains in in- vestigating the movement, and in a book entitled Dangerous Positions and Proceedings, published in 1593, he gives us the following particulars with regard to the Northamptonshire Classes as they existed in 1587 : — " The whole shire was divided into three Classes, (i) the classis of Northampton, consisting of these ministers : — Master Snape, Master Penry, Master Sibthorpe, Master Edwards, Master Littleton, Master Bradshaw, Master Larke, Master Fleshware, and Master Spicer, etc. ; (2) the classes of Daventry side consisting of these : — Master Barebon, Master Rogers, Master King, Master Smart, Master Sharpe, Master Prudloe, Master Ellison, etc. ;
* Wakeman's History of the Church of England, pp. 337-8.
ST. PETER S AND THE PURITANS. 29
(3) the classis of Kettering side consisting of these : — Master Stone, Master Williamson, Master Fawsbrook, Master Patinson, Master Massey, etc."
In 1590 the Government began to look with alarm on the rapid spread ot Puritanism, and it was resolved to strike a blow at the leaders of the party. Cartwright, Snape, Travers, and others were summoned before the Court of High Commission, and thrown into prison. As has been already said, a list of the charges brought against the Northamptonshire Puritans is still preserved among the Burghley papers in the British Museum. It is entitled : —
ARTICLES WHEREWITH YE MINISTERS OF NORTHAM :
AND WARWICK SHIRES ARE CHARGED ETC.
16 JULY 1590.
1. — First they have agreed upon and appoynted amongest them selves certayne generall meetinges, woh they call Synodes ; and others more par- ticulare in severall shiers or Dioceses wch they call classes.
2. — Item, some of the especiall places so appoynted for the Synodes are — London, Cambridge at tymes of commencement and Sturbridge ffayre, and Oxford at the Act ; becausse at those tymes and places they may assemble w' least suspition.
3. — It'm, in the sayde Synodes those there assembled treat and deter- mine of such matters, as are eyther propownded unto them a newe, or have been debated before in the Classeis as fyt to be considered on and provided for : And lykewise what course shalbe holden by the ministers in theyr severall places : wch being concluded upon by the Synode it is holden autenticall, and is decreed to be put accordinglye in execution.
4. — It'm, in the Classis beinge a more particulare assemblie of certeyne ministers m severall shires or Diocesses (accordinge to the appoyntment of the generall Synodes) meeting in some private place for the moste parte after a prayer there conceaved, and a sermon or exercise made ; It is signified by some that were present, what hath bene determined in the last Synode : And then they doe deliberate as well for the better execution thereof, as allso what further poyntes they thincke convenient to be pre- sented to the Consideration of ye next Synode.
5. — It'm, accordinge to this place, sondrie, or at least one such Synode — or Synodes have bene holden at everie or some of ye sayde places and tymes afore specified ; and namelie at or aboute Sturbridge ffayre tyme last at Cambridge.
6. — It'm at all or some of such synodes there have mett and bene assembled Dr. Whitakers, Mr. Cartwrighte, Knewstubbs, Travers, Clarke, Egerton, Greneham, Ward, Fludd, Chatterton, Perkins, Dike, Snape, and others ; or some of them.
7. — It'm at some of the Synodes it hath bene debated, concluded, agreed on and determined by all or moste voyces, that suche as cannot preache are no ministers : that the Sacraments oughte not to be received at their handes. That All one kinde of doctrine must be preached by those that favoure that causse touchinge the erectinge or estabHshinge the Govern- ment : that Everie minister in his charge shoulde by all holie and lawful! meanes endevaure to bringe in and establishe that government : that an Oathe, whereby a man might be tyed to reveale anythinge, v/oh may be
30 ST. PETER'S AND THE PURITANS.
penall to him selfe or his faithful bretheren is againste charitie : and needs not, or ought not to be taken ; or to lyke effect, or some thinge tendinge that waye wt sundrie other poynts.
8. — Item the determinations made in Synode has bene pubhshed and signified in Sundrie of the Assemblies called classes and by them assented unto to be put in execution. Namelie a Classeis hath bene holden at the Bull in Northampton : in Mr. Sharpe's howsse, minister of Fawesley : and in Mr. Snape's chamber and in everie or some of them where the same Decrees or Articles, and others have bene published and made knowne to be executed.
9. — It'm the ministers in Northampton shier (who especiallye doe assemble themselves at such classes and manelye were present at ye afore sayde classes) are Mr. Snape, Stone, minister of Wharton [Warkton], Edwards of Courtnoll, Spicer of Cookenoe, Atkins of Higham, Fletcher of Abington, Larke of Wellingboroughe, Prowdeloe of Weeden, Kinge of Coleworthe, Barebone and others ; or some of them.
Edmund Snape " beeinge or pretending to be Curate of St. Peter's in Northampton," was evidently the moving spirit in the Northampton classts^ for the whole of the succeeding eighteen articles refer to him.
ID. — It'm Mr. Snape declaring upon a tyme his issue of dealinge at Ox- ford about the cominge of Mr. Favoure th' elder ; he declared this or the lyke forme of wordes to no lesse effect : viz., he showed that in their Classes wch they have in this shier of Northampton (as they have in moste places of the land beside) they had concluded generallye that. The dumbe Ministerie shoulde be taught to be no ministerie at all.
II. — Item, he the sayde Snape then declared that in the same classeis they had agreed upon this poynte, that they should jointlye in their several Charges and congregations teach all one kynde of doctrine tendinge to the erecting of the Government.
12. — Item, he declared in these or the lyke wordes : How say you (sayde he) if we devise a waye, wherebye to shake off all the Anti-Christian yoke and government of the Bishopps : and will joyntlie together erect the discipline and government all in one day. But peradventure it will not be yet this yeare and this halfe.
13. — It'm that they woulde doe these things in such sorte by these yeir Classes, that by the grace of God they (viz. the Bishopps) shoulde never be able to prevayle againste it.
14. — It'm upon the first of Peter the 5th he declared, that in the Churche of God there oughte not to be anye government by Lo : Bishopps, but that there oughte to be a Christian equalitie amonge the ministers of God : Nor the ministers of ye worde shoulde goe wt their trowpes and traynes, as theyr manner is at these dayes.
15, — It'm that the DiscipHne of the Churche is of an absolute necessitie to the Churche : and that the Church oughte of necessitie to be governed by Pastors, Doctors, Elders, Deacons, and Widowes, weh he declared out of yees wordes of Peter : The Elders wch are amonge you etc.
16. — That here one, and there one, picked out of the prophane and common multitude, and put aparte to serve the Lorde, maketh the Churche of God, and not the general multitude : out of yees wordes of Peter, But ye are a chosen generation.
17 — That as nothinge maketh a separation betwene man and wife but whoredome : so whatsoever beinge devysed by the brayne of man and is brought into the Churche to be used in the outwarde worshippe and ser-
ST. PETER'S AND THE PURITANS. 3 1
vice of God (seeme it never so good and godlye, never so holie) it is spirituall whoredome ; out of the seconde Commandment.
18. — It'm, Mr. Snape beeinge demanded how a man coulde be a minister of God, that stoode onelye by the authoritie of man in respect of his out- warde callinge and fell at his comaundment ; Answered, that he had bene in such a perplexitie him selfe ; that rather than he woulde have stoode by the vertue of anye letters of Orders, he woulde have bene hanged upon ye gallowes.
19. — It'm, Mr. Snape hath at sundrie tymes, or once at ye least in the hearinge of others declared that before it were longe, it shoulde be seene, that they would have this government by Doctors, Pastors, Elders, Deacons, and Widowes . and that in deede all, or some of the sayde ministers afore articulated have begon in theyr severall Cures to erect them, or some part of them.
20. — It'm let the paper (wch is a coppie of a certayne wrytinge supposed to have bene set downe by him the sayde Snape) be shewed unto him, and let him upon his oathe declare whether he doth not knowe or beleeve that the same is a true coppie of a wrytinge set downe under his owne hand or not.
The Puritan idea of " church discipline " alluded to more than once in the above articles, had been fully enunciated in 1572 in a book by Walter Travers, entitled : — A full and plain declaration of Ecclesiastical Discipline out of the Word of God, and of the decline of the Church of England from the same. Fuller tells us that there were great debates in Northampton on the subject of this "Book of Discipline."
The Lansdowne Manuscript concludes with seven other articles all more or less relating to the curate ot St. Peter's.
I. — Edmonde Snape either heard of or feared a searche to have bene intended for bookes not autorized : and thereupon he caussed to be caried divers sortes of such bookes to one George Bevis, a tanner, desiringe him to lay them up in some secret place : who bestowed them thereupon in his barke-howsse. And afterwards the sayde Snape fetched away agayne the sayde bookes or moste of them : but left 25 or there aboutes of the bookes called A defence of the ecclesiasticall discipline in 4'' againste Mr. Bridges* wt the saide Bevis, and desired him to sell them after 14 or i6d. and they or some of them were by him the sayde Bevis accordinglie solde.
2. — It'm, Christopher Hodgekinson obteyned a promisse of ye saide Snape ; that he woulde baptize his childe : but Snape added sayinge, you must then give it a Christian name allowed in ye scriptures. Then Hodgekinson tolde him that his wives father, whose name was Richarde, desired to have the givinge of the name. Well (sayde Snape) you must
* Dr. John Bridges, dean of Salisbury, wrote several books against the Puritans, the most important being A De/ence of the Church oj England, published in 1587. The Puritans retaliated in the Martin Marprelate Tracts, two of which. The Epistle and The Epitome were specially directed against the dean. For a reproduction of the title page of the latter, see next page.
^#rmt epitome oftlie
frittc 25oobc/of tfjat nglittbD?a)tpfuH bo-
iiime / \x)iittm agaiuft tlje j^ nntanc^/ in tl)e Defetice of
ti)c noble ricargrie/ bj^ as to0|0)ipfull a piicfie/ lio^n ^,nDgca/
p?cfbftct/p*irfT o? dtjcc/iiorta? of S^imHinc/ anij-^caiic of
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faf fome t^ing ttjat \)atif
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tl}e\3npjeacl)i!ig ^BarfonjS/Jfpclket^/aitti Curtate/
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311 ti)i^ (i^pitome/H)e fozefaiDe f iclicr^^/af c. arc t err fn<:
fufftcientlf furniCheti/ toir!j notaWc inabilttic of moff Din* • riUIc rcafono/to anftocrc tf;c cauiW cftI;ejauntanco.
K'nti !ef! /T^.55ofto? fiioultj tI>mUf ti^at no man ran to;tte ^ithf^ out fence but l)iQ feifc/tljc fcncclco ntko of tl^e fnieral pagce/ anDtI;c bantilnig of tljc matter tb^ougfjout tljc •epitome/ (ht'voc plaiiielp/ tljat bectlc^caDcti tgno?auncc/ m»p not line anb tiit tDitf^ })m alomr,
jB^inteD on t\)t otijer l?anD of foim of tfje laticftsf-
TITLE PAGE OF ONE OF THE MARTIN MARPRELATE TRACTS.
ST. PETER'S AND THE PURITANS. 33
doe as I bid you, leaste when you come, the congregation be troubled. Not wtstandinge Hodgekinson thinckinge it woulde not have bene made a matter of such importance, caussed the childe to be broughte to St. Peter's, and Snape proceeded in th'action (thoughe not accordinge to the booke of common prayer by lawe estabhshed) untill he came to the naminge of ye childe : but hearinge them callinge it Richarde, and that they woulde not give it any other name : he stayed there and woulde not in anye case baptize the Childe. And so it was carried awaye thence and was baptized the week follewinge at all hallowes churche and called Richarde.*
Snape was further accused that
Beeinge or pretending to be curate of St. Peter's in Northampton doth not in his ministracons reade the Confession, Absolucon, Psallmes, Lessons, Letanie, Epistle, Gospell, Administreth the Sacraments of bap- tisme, and the Supper, marietti, burieth, churcheth, or giveth thanckes for weomen after childe burthe, visiteth the sycke, nor perfourmeth other partes of his dutie at all, or at least not accordinge to the forme prescribed by the booke of comon prayer authorized : but in some chaungeth, some partes omitteth and others addeth, choppeih and mingleth it w* other prayers and speeches of his owne, etc. as it pleaseth his owne humor.
The last four articles relate particularly to the " calling " of ministers by the classzs, and show the way in which ordination or institution by a bishop was regarded by the Puritans.
4. — It'm sondrie Ministers who mett in one or more Synodes assembled w'hin a yeare and a halfe last past and lesse, concluded and agreed that everie man in his several charge shoulde indevoure to erect a government of Pastors, governing Elders and deacons ; that they shoulde teache and holde that all ministers who are called accordinge to the order of the Churche of England to be an unlawfuU or have an unlawful! callinge : And that such allreadie beinge ministers, shoulde be induced to renounce their former callinge by Bishopps, and to take a newe approbacon by them in their classis, being an assemblye of sondrie ministers wtii in a certayne compasse in a shyer and whereof they have aboute iiij. in a shyer, or so manye as convenientlye may be : And that this is the Lordes ordinance, wherebye onelye they must stand in their ministerie : And that the lyke approbation shalbe used in those that were not ministers before : And that after such callinge, they that were not ministers afore, may preache untill they be called to some certayne charge. At what tyme if the people of such place call them, then are they to be holden full ministers and may minister the Sacraments. Never the lesse it is permitted that y's shall goe to the Bishoppe for writinge (for their safe standing in theyr callinge) as unto a civill magistrate in a matter belonginge onelye to the outwarde man and none otherwise. For they holde that thereby he receaveth not anye power to be a minister ; or to lyke effect hath it been concluded or is practised amongst them.
Article 5 relates to the " calling " of Mr. Snape to the cure of St. Peter's by the members of the congregation.
* The All Saints Parish Register contains the following entry ; — June 1589, Richard filius Christoferi Hodgekinson, baptizatus fuit xviij.o
34 ST. PETER'S AND THE PURITANS.
The sayde Snape renownced or wouide not stande in his ministerie by the callinge of the Bishoppe, and was agayne (as afore) allowed or called by the Classis : but would not thereupon administer the Lordes Supper. But afterwards the parishe of St. Peter's aforesayde, or some of them, knoweinge that by reason such determination he might notaccompte himselfe a full minister, until some particulare congregation had chosen him : They did thereupon choose him for their minister : And by that callinge, and as afore, doth he stande in his ministprie at this present and not by the callinge of the Bishoppe.
Sometimes the classis " approved " as a minister one who was not in holy orders, and from the next article we learn what v,/^as the method of procedure in that case.
Item, one Larke not farre from Wellingboroughe in the sayde shier being not afore a minister accordinge to the Churche of Englande had the approbacon of the sayde Snape and others of a classis upon tryall made of him : And then was by them willed for his safe standinge to goe to a Bishoppe (as to a Civill magistrate onelye) for writinge.
Occasionally the classis rejected a candidate, as was the case with one whose " trial " took place at St. Peter's. The picture of what then occurred is not a very edifying one : —
One Hocknell havinge bene 6 or 7 yeares afore a minister, beeinge to have a benefice was willed to bring some testimonial! from the ministers of the sayde shier for his sufficiencie and conversation (because moste patrones that eyther themselves be so affected or have frende so bene, have bene dealt w* to such lyke effect) Whereupon he cominge to the sayde Snape, was willed to renownce his first callinge, and not to stande by the Bishopps callinge into the ministerie . And had to that purpose by him and his companions of the Classis a text given and a daye prefixed to preach upon it ; wch was by Hocknell perfourmed before the Classis and others at St. Peter's aforesayde. After which sermon the Classis alone beinge assembled, Hocknell was willed to stand aloofe. Then Penrie*
* John Penry was a graduate of Peterhouse, Cambridge, but after- wards migrated to Oxford. He was a frequent preacher at both Univer- sities, though his scruples prevented him from taking holy orders. In early life he is said to have had leanings towards Rome, but after perusing the works of Bishop Bale and Thomas Cartwright, he became a bitter Calvinist. He is best known as the author of one or more of the " Martin Marprelate Tracts," in which the bishops and other dignitaries of the Church were attacked in the coarsest and most virulent terms. These tracts were printed on a moveable press, which was secretly conveyed from place to place when danger threatened. The authorship of most of the tracts is disputed, but Penry was undoubtedly one of the prime movers in the scheme. The printing press was hidden for a time at Fawsley in North- amptonshire, the seat of Sir Richard Knightley, and from there " The Epitome " the second of the tracts, was issued. While the press was at Fawsley, Penry went about the park disguised as a gallant, wearing a light-coloured hat, a sword at his side, and " a long skye-coloured cloak " with a collar turned down, with gold and silver lace. Every
ST. PETER'S AND THE PURITANS. 35
began to make a speeche, and to exhorte them to be carefull to call upon God and to deale wtout affection in this action etc. After wch they fell to consultacon. Some lyked that he shoulde be admitted ; And others mis- liked, both because he had not delyvered the Metaphore that was in his text : and because he was no grecian nor hebritian. Who ovor-weyinge the rest, Hocknell was called for, and in some sorte comended. But ye speaker of the Classis tolde him he must take more paynes at his booke before they would allows of him as a fytt mynister. Whereupon Hocknell fell out wt them, and conteraminge theyr Censures did proceede and tooke possession of his benefice.*
Snape, like his friend Cartwright, when summoned before the Court of High Commission, refused to take the ex-ojfflcio oath and was committed to prison. He had made himself particularly obnoxious to the Govern- ment by the part which he took in connection with the celebrated "Martin Marprelate Tracts." It is said to have been through his influence that Sir Richard Knightley allowed the secret press to be set up in his house at Fawsley, where one of the most noted of the tracts was printed.
In June, 1591, an information was laid against Snape in the Star Chamber, and after further interrogation he was again remanded to prison, where he continued till December, when he and several others were admitted to bail.
effort was made by the Government to discover the authors of these scurrilous publications, but for a time without success. Eventually how- ever, the press was seized by the Earl of Derby in Lancashire, in August, 1589. Though he was not actually caught red-handed, suspicion nat- urally fell upon Penry, who had openly attacked the bishops in a treatise published at Oxford in 1587. On January 29th, 1589-90, an officer of the Archbishop of Canterbury was sent to search his house at Northampton, and all his books and papers were seized. A warrant was issued for his arrest as a traitor, but he escaped for a time to Edinburgh. In 1592 he ventured to leave his hiding-place and came south, but was shortly afterwards arrested and put on trial for treason. He was ac- cused of having, while at Edinburgh, feloniously devised and written certain words with intent to excite rebellion and insurrection in Eng- land, and on rather flimsy evidence was found guilty and condemned to death. He was hanged May 29th, 1593, at St. Thomas-a- Watering, in Surrey. — Dictionary of National Biography, vol. xviv., pp. 346-50.
On September 5th, 1588, at All Saints', Northampton, Penry married Eleanor, daughter of Henry Godley of Northampton, and appears to have resided from time to time in that town. — All Saints' Parish Registers. * This interesting manuscript was printed by the late Mr. John Taylor, to whose enterprise in these matters, local antiquaries owe so much. For this work his reprint has been carefully collated with the original in the British Museum.
36 ST. PETER'S AND THE PURITANS.
In 1595 Snape again visited the Channel Islands, and in 1597 was present at a synod in Guernsey. In 1603 he quitted Jersey, and shortly afterwards brought an action against the states who had chosen him to teach theology in their projected college. The dispute was eventually settled by arbitration of four persons, with the governor as umpire.
The date of Snape's death is uncertain.*
Dr. Samuel Gierke and the Laudian Reforms.
Eighteen years after the prosecution of Edmund Snape, the rectory of St. Peter's passed into the hands of Samuel Gierke, a man of very different views. When Archbishop Laud began his famous Metropolitan Visitation of the Church of England, with a view to the introduction of much needed reforms, he was loyally supported by his suffragan. Bishop Dee, of Peterborough, who appointed Dr. Samuel Clerke, rector of St. Peter's, and Dr. Sibthorpe, vicar of Brackley, to act as his commis- sioners with a view to correcting abuses in the diocese of Peterborough. They are both frequently mentioned in documents of that date, and several of Dr. Gierke's letters are still preserved in the Public Record Office.
The two commissioners were ordered to visit the various churches of the diocese, and to see that the buildings were kept in proper repair ; that the church funds were not embezzled ; that the services were in accordance with the book of Common Prayer, and not altered to suit the mere caprice of the incumbent. They were specially enjoined to compel the officials of each parish to put back the altar to the east end of the chancel and to rail it in. It was this last injunction which gave rise to most opposition. The rubric of the prayer books of 1552, 1559, and 1603 had left the posi- tion of the holy table apparently optional,! and Puritan feeling in many parish churches had removed it to the body of the church and placed it east and west near the
* Dictionary of National Biography, vol. liii... 203. Cooper's Athena Cantabrigienses, ii., 285, 551.
t "The Table shall stande in the Body of the Churche, or in the Chauncell where Morning and Evening prayer be appoynted to bee sayde." — Prayer Book of 1552.
ST. PETER S AND THE PURITANS. 37
centre of the building. The result of this departure from ancient custom had been disastrous and had led to the grossest irreverence. It was with a view of protecting the holy table from the profanation to which it had been only too often subjected, that the archbishop issued this order. In many cases the church officials absolutely refused to obey, and were in consequence excommuni- cated and thrown into prison. The churchwardens of All Saints, Northampton, were several times summoned before the visitors at Dr. Gierke's house at Kingsthorpe, and it was not till they had been both excommunicated that they reluctantly agreed to submit. A few months later the plague broke out with great virulence in North- ampton, and the parishioners of All Saints seized the opportunity of demolishing the altar rails. In a letter dated June 17th, 1638, Dr. Gierke writes to the dean of Arches : —
The sickness is sore at Northampton. They now do what they like in the church service at All Saints. Some very lately cut the rail or cancel that was about the Lord's Board in pieces and brought down the Lord's Table into the middle of the chancel. I long since advised the Mayor and his brethren that the Thursday lecture and sermons on Sunday in the afternoon should be foreborne in these infectious times. They then raised a report of me that I was about to starve their souls.
At Upton, of which Dr. Gierke was rector, the church- wardens were equally refractory, but after suffering the same fate as the wardens of All Saints, they too were compelled to obey. Two years later, however, the positions were reversed. On November 3rd, 1640, the famous Long Parliament assembled. The archbishop was committed to the Tower, and the reforms which he had struggled so hard to accomplish were, for the time being, swept to the winds. In the following month an action was brought against Dr. Gierke by his own churchwardens. It is thus recorded in the Journal of the House of Lords : —
1640. December 22.
Petition of William Garfield and Euseby Woolfe, churchwardens of Upton, in the county of Northampton. Dr. Samuel Clarke, parson of St. Peter's, Northampton, sent one Pidgeon to Upton to cut the table, place it altarwise in the chancel and rail it in, and then directed them to pay Pidgeon for his trouble, which they declining to do, have suffered excom- munication and loss. Pray that Dr. Clarke may be called upon to answer and directed to restore the table to its original position.
38 ST. PETER'S AND THE PURITANS.
1640. December 22.
Draft order that Dr. Clarke shall make a new table for the chapel at Upton at his own cost, and pay the petitioners' charges, or else appear to show cause to the contrary.*
Shortly after the fall of Laud, Dr. Sibthorpe was de- prived of all his preferments, and it is very probable that Dr. Gierke, had he lived, would have shared the same fate. He died March, 1 640-1, but his estates, which had passed to his eldest son, were sequestrated as being the property of a " delinquent."
St. Peter's Church lent to the Parishioners of All Saints.
In 1675 Northampton was visited by a disastrous fire, which entirely destroyed the greater part of the town. The church of St. Peter fortunately escaped uninjured, but the great central church of All Saints was reduced to a heap of ruins. During the rebuilding of their church [1675-80], the parishioners of All Saints wor- shipped at St. Peter's, which was lent to them by Dr. Edward Reynolds, a brother-in-law of Dr. Conant, vicar of All Saints. This arrangement was the more easily effected, as St. Peter's is stated to have been "not otherwise employed ! " The rectors of St. Peter's lived at Kingsthorpe, where the rectory house was situated, and usually officiated there, working St. Peter's by means of a curate.
Later History of the Church.
The history of St. Peter's in the eighteenth and nine- teenth centuries was an uneventful one, save for the fact that two others of its long line of incumbents were raised to the episcopal bench. In 1705 Dr. Welbore Ellis resigned the living on being appointed to the bishopric of Kildare. He was succeeded at St. Peter's by Dr. Richard Reynolds, chancellor of the diocese of Peter- borough. In 1 7 18 Reynolds became dean of Peter- borough, in 1721 bishop of Bangor, and in 1723 bishop of Lincoln. Unlike his predecessors, Dr. Reynolds did not resign his living on being raised to the episcopate,
* Lords' Journals, iv. 117.
ST. PETER'S AND THE PURITANS.
39
but continued to hold St. Peter's in conjunction with his numerous other preferments till his death in 1744.
A monument at the west end of St. Peter's records the interment in this church of John Smith, one of the greatest of mezzo-tint engravers, who died at the ripe age of ninety, in 1742. A second monument records the burial of his even greater namesake, William Smith, the " father of English geology " ; while a third is to the memory of George Baker, the historian of North- amptonshire, and his sister, Miss Baker, to whose exertions the restoration of the church in 1850 was largely due. A short sketch of the life of each of these four persons will be given in a subsequent chapter on the monuments.
Abaous to Capital, North Side of Nave.
Abacus to Capital, North Side of Nave.
CHAPTER III.
THE FABRIC.
TTi HIS church, situated near the west end of the old I town and close by the castle, though neither large nor externally imposing, is one of very great interest, with details of extreme beauty. It is well known as a curious and singularly perfect example of late Norman work, and it has been frequently noticed and illustrated in architectural books.* It is simple in plan, consisting of continuous nave and chancel under one roof, both with clerestory, and with north and south aisles (also continuous), north porch and western tower. The architectural history of the building seems at first sight as simple as the plan. The whole church, with the exception of the windows in the aisles, appears to remain practically the same as it was when originally constructed in the latter half of the twelfth century. t But closer inspection shows that the tower, both aisles, and the chancel walls have all been rebuilt at different times, as well as parts of the clerestory ; and that though much remains of the original Norman workmanship,
* See {e.g.) Bloxam (nth ed.) pp. 98, 102, 114.
Rickman (5th ed.) pp. 65, 67, 70, 76, 188.
Parker's Glossary, (5th ed.) pp. 55, 356 : pi. 7, 23, 46, 112.
,, Introduction (2nd ed.) pp. 53, 73.
Paley's Gothic Architecture, pp 49, 73. Sharpe's Churches 0/ the Nene Valley, pp. 3, 4 : pi. i, 2.
•|- Britton gives the date of the existing church as circa, mo ; Parker (in his edition of Rickman) as circa. 1180, which, though probably some- what too late, seems nearer the mark. All dates between these limits have been suggested by different authorities, e.g., Sharpe gives 1135, and the late Sir Henry Dryden put it at 1170. In the Glossary, of four dates given, three are 1140, and (oddly enough) the tower arch is dated 1160, though its details are by no means of later character.
THE FABRIC. 4 1
little remains of the original Norman structure, except the nave and chancel arcades, and part of the clerestory- walls above them.
Before stating the evidence which leads us to draw the above conclusion, it will be best to give a description of the church in its present condition. To begin with the interior. The nave consists of five bays on each side, or rather, of two double bays and one single bay westward of them.* The arches of these bays are arranged in pairs, and they are supported alternately by slender cylindrical pillars and by more massive clustered or compound pillars, which for distinction we may call piers. The latter are of quatrefoil section,! their dia- meter being greater than the thickness of the wall above them. The east and west portions of each pier form responds to the intermediate pillars ; and the north and south projecting portions on the side of the aisles, form springers for the stone vaults which originally covered them, and on the side of the nave are continued up to the top of the clerestory as vaulting shafts or supports for the nave roof timbers. The arches are small, of about seven feet span, semi-circular, of one order only, without hood-moulds, the soffits being quite plain, and the wall-plane hatched with bold chevron ornament.J The capitals§ with their square abacill are most elabo- rately and exquisitely sculptured ; and their fine, deep, and intricate chiselling contrasts so strongly with the comparatively rough and rugged axe-work on the arches above them, as to suggest the probability of its having been executed at a later date. These beautiful and delicate sculptures constitute, perhaps, the most note- worthy and characteristic features of the church.** They
* A description of these arcades is given in Sharpe's Churches of the Nene Valley on page 4, and admirable illustrations of the whole north side and of many details on plates i and 2.
■j- See Glossary p. 356 for illustration.
j See illustrations on p. 42.
§ See illustrations on pp. 44, 46, 48, 50, 52, 54.
II See head pieces to chapters i., ii., iii., iv., and tail piece page 39.
** They had been for years so thickly coated with whitewash that the designs were almost obliterated. The removal of the whitewash is due to the painstaking zeal of Miss Baker, who with her own hands most care- fully cleaned the pillars and their sculptured capitals. [See Northampton- shirt Archaological Society's Reports, vol. i., p. 79.; Wetton's Guide to Northampton (1849), p. 34.]
3
42
THE FABRIC.
— Ji/m^
ENRICHMENT TO 2ND CHOIR ARCH ON NORTH SIDE
ENRICHMENT TO 3RD CHOIR ARCH ON NORTH SIDE
ENRICHMENT TO NAVE ARCHES.
THE FABRIC.
43
are not easy to describe ; they are all different and all admir- able, and each well deserves a separate illustration.*
The necks of these capitals are formed by different varieties of cable moulding.* The pillars are encircled rather more than half way up by exceptionally
BASE OF 4TH COLUMN
OF NAVE, NORTH
SIDE.
BASE, SOUTH SIDE OF CHOIR.
broad bands, in the ornamentation of which the cable moulding predominates.! The bases are of a usual Norman type, with concave and convex quarter-round
mouldings, and some of them have at the four corners acutely pointed griifes or claw
• See illustrations of capitals, pp. 44, 46, 48, 50, 52, and 54. Parker's Introduction, p. 53, gives an illustration and the date circa 1160. The same illustration appears in Rickman (6th ed. by Parker) p. 125, where date is given as circa 1180.
t See Glossary, p. 55, for illustration.
44
THE FABRIC.
CAPITAL TO 2ND COLUMN NORTH SIDE OF MAVE.
THE FABRIC.
45
ornaments connecting them with the square plinths below.*
The tower arch occupies the whole width of the west end of the nave, and is very handsome. It consists of three orders, all richly hatched with the zigzag or chevron ornament, and it has a bold, square-edged hood- mould (the only one in the church) which is ornamented with fine chiselled work. The capitals of the jamb- shafts are elaborately carved ; and of the shafts which are detached, two are twisted and one has the chevron ornament. t
CAPITALS OF JAMB SHAFTS, WEST ARCH (sOUTH SIDE). ||
The clerestory consists of round-headed single Norman windows, perfectly plain internally,+ the jambs and sills of which have a considerable inward splay. They are equidistant, but do not correspond with the arches beneath them, being arranged so that there are two in the western double bay on either side, and one in the eastern. The three clerestory windows on each side of
* See Glossary, pi. 23, where illustrations of both are given.
t See Rickman, 6th ed., p. 125 for another illustration.
II Reproduced from the Glossary (5th ed.), by kind permission of Mr. Parker.
{ The plain character of the clerestory windows is one reason adduced for assigning a comparatively early date to the whole church.
46
THE FABRIC.
CAPITAL TO 4TH COLUMN NORTH SIDE OF NAVE
THE FABRIC. 47
the chancel are precisely similar, and similarly arranjs^ed with reference to the arches below.
The chancel is structurally an eastward extension ot the nave,* and the walls and roof are continuous. There is no chancel arch, and there never can have been one, as there is no wall-space to form an abutment. Piers like the others divide the arches of the nave from those of the chancel ; and as they are similar both in size and design, the description given above of the former will apply to the latter with the following slight modifi- cation. The arcades in the chancel are of three bays on each side, and as they could not be grouped in pairs, the nave arrangement of alternate pier and pillar was inadmissible ; therefore the arches are supported by two pillars on each side. The pairs of pillars, however, are not alike, the two eastern being similar to the nave pillars, while the two western are of greater diameter, without bands, and built of ironstone, not freestone. The eastern respondst are similar to the latter in all these respects, and thus in this case also the idea ot alternation is in some measure carried out.
The part of the chancel that extends eastward of the aisles is wholly modern. The shallow sanctuary is lighted by windows of Norman design, one in each ot the side walls, as well as by the clerestory windows above, and by nine openings in the east end. Of these, two are in the lowest stage, four in the quintuple arcading of the middle stage (the central arch being left blind), and three in the upper stage or gable — a central light like the others, and on each side of it a small quatrefoiled circle.
There are no sedilia, nor is there piscina, aumbry, niche, or altar bracket, either in the chancel or else- where in the church. If, as is more than probable, any such ever existed,^ they doubtless perished at the des- truction of the original east end of chancel and aisles.
Both the aisles are low and narrow — about six feet wide at the west ends and a few inches wider at the east.
* See Sharpe's Churches of the Nene Valley, plate i.
t See note on p. 12 as to the bases of these responds.
j Two wills (of 1475 and 1487 respectively) referring to St. Peter's, mention (i) the chapel of the Blessed Virgin, (2) the altar of St. John, (3) the altar of St. Nicholas, {4) the altar of St. Katharine, in addition to the high altar.
48
THE FABRIC.
CAPITAL TO 2ND COLUMN, NORTH SIDE OF CHANCEL.
THE FABRIC.
49
The east end of both to the extent of about five feet has been rebuilt, and is modern, as are the windows of Norman character in the east wall of each. The west walls of both are blank, without windows.
The north aisle has a plain, semicircular-headed door- way near its western end, and eastward of it are three windows. The western of these is late, square-headed, of three unfoliated lights. The middle window is a good early Decorated one, also square headed, of two pointed lights with trefoil cusping. The eastern is a Perpendi- cular three-light under a flat segmental arch-head, and is the only window in the church having tracery. It is now concealed by the organ.
The south aisle has four windows, all square-headed, and quite plain, each of three round-headed lights, prob- ably of seventeenth century date ; two are in the nave and two in the chancel portion of the aisle. In this aisle, near the east end of the nave portion, is a well- moulded, segmental-pointed, arched tomb-recess under a hood-mould. The mouldings are supported by small attached shafts with caps and bases, the whole being of Geometric or early Decorated style and date. No tomb is now in the recess.
Both aisles, as well as the clerestory of the nave and the chancel, are plastered, and there is no string-course in- ternally to relieve the flat surface.
There are no ancient fittings or furniture ex- cept the font, which is a handsome one of late Decorated or transition to Perpendicular style, dating from the end of the fourteenth century. It is octagonal in shape, with no distinction of bowl or stem, each of the font.*
-.-rnii^^SiS^
* Reproduced by kind permission of Mr. Parker.
50
THE FABRIC.
CAPITAL TO 2ND COLUMN SOUTH SIDE OF NAVE.
THE FABRIC. 5 I
the eight sides being panelled with Perpendicular tracery under a straight-sided crocketed arch terminat- ing in a bold finial. The angles are ornamented with crocketed attached pinnacles above the spring of the arches, which are separated below by dwarf buttresses.*
The low stone chancel screen and the stone pulpit are modern. So are all the roofs throughout the church ; they are of oak, plain, but substantial and good. That over the nave and chancel is constructed as a trussed- rafter roof with intersecting struts ; but the two parts ot it differ somewhat in appearance, as there are some tie- beams in the nave resting on the vaulting shafts and supporting king-posts braced to the intersecting timbers above them, while in the chancel the undersides of the rafters are curved (or rather have curved braces attached to them) so as to give an arched appearance. The open seats are also substantial and good, and the bench ends are panelled and buttressed. The chancel seats have carved poppy-head ends.
The striking effect produced by the interior is almost wholly due to the unbroken length and elaborate ornamentation of the arcades, and to the exceptional magnificence of the tower arch.
To come to the exterior. The north doorway, now forming the principal entrance, is late Norman, of two plain orders, semicircular headed, with plain square- edged quirked hood-mould. The jamb shafts, which have been mutilated and do not fit, are now fixed in position with cement. Originally they were cylindrical and detached from the wall. The porch over it is very narrow, the side walls only just clearing the doorway. It is perfectly plain with an outer archway pointed, once recessed, continuous, and simply chamfered. It may date from the fourteenth century, but if so, it is as plain a specimen of "Decorated" work as could well be found.
The north wall of the church has a ground-table with a simple set-off, and a Norman string-course continued round the western of the two plain buttresses, which are of no great projection. There are signs of a blocked doorway in the eastern part of this wall. The windows have been described. There is a plain moulded parapet.
* This font is described in Richman (5th ed.), p. xlvi. and illustrated on p. 188 ; ( in 6th ed. illustrated on p. 313).
THE FABRIC.
CAPITAL TO 4TH COLUMN SOUTH SIDE OF NAVE.
THE FABRIC. 53
The east ends of both aisles and chancel have been rebuilt, as has been said, and they are almost wholly modern. The new work is all of Norman character. Such twelfth century stones as remained or were found on the demolition of the old walls, have been as far as possible re-used in the new.
The south aisle has a ground table, string course, and parapet all similar to those of the north aisle. The ground table is somewhat lower down in the wall, and the string course does not go round the buttresses. These are of greater projection than those on the north side, and are presumably of later date. The windows have been described. There is a Norman south door- way, plain, of two orders, unmoulded, under a dripstone of section like that of the string.
The Norman clerestory is a noticeable feature of the exterior. It consists of shallow arcading running the whole length of nave and chancel.* The arches are semicircular, and supported by detached shafts having caps and bases. Every seventh arch is pierced for a round-headed window, the intervening six arches being blind. Above the arcades and just under the slightly projecting eaves of the roof, is a typical Norman corbel- table, formed out of square blocks fashioned into heads and grotesques.
The towert is squat and low, of three unequal and irregular stages. The lowest is built of alternate courses of ironstone and freestone, forming broad bands ot different colour. Inserted in the west face is a very remarkable and beautiful arch, of three orders, all flush with the wall plane, extremely finely and delicately carved, with dripstone and imposts of similar carving, but no jambs. In the walling inside this arch is the west window of the church, of three trefoiled lights, without tracery, under a square Perpendicular label. Two courses of fine carving are to be seen above the coloured bands on the north face, and above that an arcade of seven blind arches like those of the clerestory. The ornamentation on the south face is very similar. The middle stage is separated from the lower by a bold string course, having trowel-point ornament, and
* Illustrated in the Glossary pi. 7 (stb ed.). t See page 55.
SOUTH WEST CAPITAL IN CHANCEL.— VIEW FROM SOUTH EAST. (from photo by MR. E. J. FELCE.)
NECKMOULDS TO CAPITALS NORTH SIDE OF NAVE.
NECKMOULDS TO CAPITALS NORTH SIDE OF CHANCEL.
THE FABRIC.
55
supported by a corbel-table of heads and grotesques. It has a blind arcade of eight arches on each of the three sides of the tower, the arches being moulded and supported by octagonal detached shafts which have scalloped caps and bases now much worn. Above this
■^G^S^^^Ai-i^-^^jtrr^ji.
THE TOWER, ST. PETER'S CHURCH, NORTHAMPTON.*
arcade is another similar corbel-table, and resting on it a string course of a curious double-roll moulding. Up to this point, after the cessation of the alternate bands of ironstone, the face of the tower is mainly freestone ;
* From a sketch by Mr. G. Vialls.
56
THE FABRIC.
above it all is ironstone. A few feet higher than the last-mentioned string, is another of late character, just below the sills of the belfry windows. These are double lights, transomed, the heads being trefoiled ; and the dripstones follow the arches of the heads of the lights. Though these windows have at first sight an earlier appearance, closer observation of the mouldings and details shows them to be of post-Reformation date, as is the whole belfry story. The walls of the belfry are largely built of moulded and worked stones of the Early English period, turned face inwards,* and probably brought, after the destruction of the monastery buildings, either from St. Andrew's priory or from St. James' abbey. There is no evidence that the orig- inal Norman tower was more than two stages high ; and even if there were a third, no re- mains of it appear in the present belfry stage. The tower is finished with an embattled parapet, and has a blunt pyramidal roof covered with slates.
A massive buttress of alternate courses of ironstone and freestone, projecting in its lower stages beyond the full width of the north aisle, sup- ports the tower at its north- east cor- ner. The south-east
comer is staircase turret, sooth-east corner of TOWER.f
* For this information we are indebted to Mr. M. H. Holding. ■\ From a sketch by Mr. W. Scott.
THE FABRIC. 57
supported by a large square staircase turret, which acts as a corresponding buttress on that side. But the most remarkable buttresses, are those at the north-west and south-west angles, which can hardly, even in their lower portions, be Norman. If they are, they are of a pattern extraordinarily rare, if not unique, in Norman work. They are circular in shape, in clusters of three; or, more properly speaking, are each triple, of trefoil section. They are of freestone, and are continued as triple attached shafts to the top of the second stage. Here, they are set off, and somewhat abruptly die into a single buttress or shaft of similar shape, of ironstone, like all the rest of the later upper storey, and, with another abrupt set-off, they die into the angles of the tower just below the parapet.
The chief expression of the exterior is derived from the long lines of arcading, and, on a nearer view, from the carving of the beautiful and extraordinary arch in the west face of the tower.
We will now revert to the architectural history of the church, and attempt to explain some anomalies in the structure, giving reasons for the previous assertion, that a great — perhaps the greater — part of the fabric has been at some time or other rebuilt.
First, let us examine the exterior of the aisles. They are probably of the same width as the Norman aisles, and there is an undoubtedly Norman doorway in each, and a Norman string course running along the whole length of each. At a first glance we might pronounce them original, at any rate up to the level of the strings ; but a more careful inspection shows (i) that the masonry has a very un-Norman look, (2) that the ground table is very irregular and intermittent, (3) that the string course is also irregular, hardly fitting anywhere, and having been clumsily joined together, and, (4) that it is carried over one buttress which is certainly, whatever its date, later than Norman. From these considerations we can hardly help forming the conclusion, that the aisles have been rebuilt. The later insertion of Norman doorways need not make us hesitate ; it was the rule rather than the exception with the mediaeval builders, whatever they destroyed, to save Norman doorways; and our opinion is confirmed by the presence of the early Decorated tomb
4
58 THE FABRIC.
recess in the lower part of the south aisle wall inside, and by that of the window of the same period in the north aisle wall. Hence we infer that the aisle walls were rebuilt in the fourteenth century, the old doorways being inserted in the new work, and the old string course — the only ornamental feature — being re-used. It is of course possible that the two doorways are in sttUy the masonry around them having been sound at the fourteenth century rebuilding of the rest, for, the aisles being so narrow, there is every reason to suppose that the present walls are on the old foundations.
There seems less probability that the rebuilding took place at the time of the insertion of the latest of the windows — i.e. in the seventeenth century — as Sir Gilbert Scott* supposes. The builders of that date would hardly have dealt so tenderly with Decorated windows and tomb recesses, whatever predilection they may have had for Norman doors ; besides, the buttresses on the north side can hardly be of so late a period, and they would certainly not have been replaced at a rebuilding in the time of Charles I.
Next as to the tower. Sir Gilbert Scott has dealt so exhaustively with this question in his report* to the restoration committee, (which is given in full in the appendix), that we will here only touch on the various links of the evidence which, in his opinion, (and probably in the opinion of all who follow his arguments) make, when taken together, an irrefragable chain of proof that the tower has not only been rebuilt from its foundations, but rebuilt some ten feet or so eastward of its former position. Beside the general un-Norman look of the masonry of the tower externally, and its extraordinary base-moulding, (continued, be it observed, all along the west face, and precluding, if original, any idea of a western doorway) ; beside the even more extra- ordinary position of that wonderful arch in the west face, which, in its present place can hardly have been the head of either a doorway or a window ; beside the utter irregularity of the whole of the arcading in the second stage, which has every appearance of having been reset ; beside the fact, that the capitals of the jamb-shafts of the
* See his report in the Appendix.
iuj,
.^if
•%,^j -«■ A^V »' ^.. v*^ ^si
"^L'^^BP' " f ~ , 'I' * 'x
111 '
Arch in West Wall of Tower of St. 1'eter's.
From a Photo by Mr. H. Cooper of Nuitliaiiiptuii.
THE FABRIC. 59
tower arch are not properly fitted to the orders of the archivolt above them, nor to the shafts below them, and that some of the stones composing- these shafts seem upside down, we have evidence of rebuilding which is irresistible, for the tower obviously encroaches on both the nave clerestory, and the nave arcade. Of the two western clerestory windows, one is pushed out of shape and the other actually cut in half; and the western double bay of the arcade is also cut in half, so that only the eastern portion is left. If further proof be needed, it is supplied by the fact that the present western responds — not pier responds, be it observed, as would naturally have been expected — are not responds at all, but whole pillars,* the western halves of which have been built up in the wall ; and by the fiirther fact that the foundations of the former tower exist in the ground some ten feet westward of the present tower. It is practically certain for the above reasons — and others might be adduced — that the whole tower has been rebuilt one bay eastward of its original position. The plan of the original church would then have been a very simple and harmonious one, consisting of three single arches in the chancel, and three double or, rather, coupled arches, in the nave.
There can be little doubt that the beautiftil arch in the west face of the tower, was originally the head of the west doorway. It was not, of course, all in one plane, as now, but at least three times recessed, for what is now the inner order, is unusually wide for a doorway opening. Sir Gilbert Scott made incisions in the wall to discover, if possible, traces of jambs,t and he found that there were none now remaining. A capital which was dug up on relaying the floor, may have belonged to a jamb shaft of this doorway, which in its original state must have been one of exceptional splendour. [For illus- tration of details of the ornamentation of this arch, see head and tail pieces to following chapters.]
The date of this important reconstruction cannot be determined with certainty, but it was probably not before the latter part of the sixteenth century. The belfry storey, as has been stated above, was then built ;
• See Sir Gilbert Scott's Report in the Appendix. t See Appendix.
60 THE FABRIC.
and the staircase turret was probably added at this time, the style being late Perpendicular, and the pieces of Norman stringcourse with which it is ornamented belonging to an earlier structure.
We now come to the east end. When Sir Gilbert (then Mr.) Scott was invited by the Architectural Society of the Archdeaconry of Northampton, to undertake the restoration of the church in 1849, he found part of the clerestory mutilated and modernized,* the east end robbed of all its ancient features, and all the roofs in a thoroughly bad condition. It was decided to restore the clerestory to its original Norman character throughout, and the new work in it is an exact copy of the old. The corbel-table stones were carefully taken down, and placed in order in the south aisle, and subsequently, at the rebuilding, replaced as they were before. It was settled to have new roofs throughout, and also to restore the east end. Until the then existing walls had been demolished, it was uncertain whether the previous walls were Norman or of some later period. The committee determined that the character of such ancient remains as might be disclosed by the demolition should guide them in deciding the style in which the restora- tion should be carried out. The demolition produced undoubted evidence of Norman work ; and so many fragments of that style were (as the committee hoped might be the case) found embedded in the wall, that Mr. Scott felt confident that he could approximately replace the original work ; consequently his design for a Norman restoration was adopted. t
Some objected at the time to the " divided east end," J i.e. to there being no central east window ; but Mr. Scott was convinced that he was right on this point, as he had a large portion of the semicircular central buttress, which had survived the seventeenth century mutila- tions.§ It was said that some Early English fragments
* The Arcade on the south side had been cut away to admit two late windows — presumably of seventeenth century date.
t Northampton Architectural Society's Report, vol. i. (for 1850), p. 80.
X Northampton Architectural Society's Reports, vol. i., p. Si.
§ A coin of Charles I., found in the lower part of the east wall, proved that the last rebuilding of it could not have been earlier than his reign.
THE FABRIC. 6 1
were also found. If that be true, it may afford some warrant for the treatment of the gable, to which con- siderable exception might be taken, i.e.y the introduction of the two quatrefoiled circles, one on either side of the top window, which are certainly not Norman in char- acter. Opinions differ as to the success of the work ; but probably, in the circumstances, the best was made of a difficult task.
As it was discovered that the original foundations ex- tended some twelve feet eastward of the old east end, the new walls were built upon them, and the sanctuary lengthened accordingly. The new side windows and the extension of the clerestory above them, correspond to the original work. For the same reason, the aisles, which had apparently been shortened about five feet, were at this restoration extended to their original length. Single windows of Norman character were placed in the east walls of both aisles.
The Crypt.
At the east end of the north aisle is a triangular- headed arch leading into the crypt. This crypt is of late date, and probably is not older than the alterations in the north aisle, which date from the Perpendicular period. It was carefully examined during the restoration of 1850, and was found to be 16 feet in length and 9 feet wide. It is reached by a descent of twelve steps. "The roof is supported by five segmental-arched ribs, splayed : and in the second and fourth spaces, windows opening to the north afforded light and air."* It was used as the burial vault of the Stoddart family in the middle of the last century.t
* Wetton's Guide to Northampton (1849) p. 248.
t Minute Book of St. Peter's Restoration Committee.
Abaci to Capitals North side of Chancel.
CHAPTER IV.
INTERNAL ARRANGEMENT OF ST. PETER'S IN PRE-REFORMATION TIMES.
J/' ¥ S is usually the case, a considerable amount ot
/ — I information with regard to the internal arrange-
J ""^-"i^C^ ment of the church in Pre-reformation
times, may be gleaned from the wills of the parishioners
of St. Peter's.
The High Altar.
Almost every parishioner felt it incumbent upon him to leave some bequest to the high altar. William Webster [1527] bequeathed 2od. "to a auter clothe for ye hye auter.
Ralph West [1475] ^^^ ^^ *^® ^^§"^ altar vis- viiid , and to the repairs of the said church xls-
The Rood.
Thomas Spylsbery [1538] ordered his body to be buried " in the churche of saynt peters wtin the towne of Northampton in the myddyll space befor the hye Rood loft."
Richard Harpoll [1487] left iijs- iiijd- to the Rood (magno crucifixo).
/,
2tto.- \ ^tmmithfrlins pra^i 10 mtcteimir bln^nctnram^iir
^- '^ oUi8 (qxiflrtHt ^nii lonsu ulJft Oni^ nfiiitpiiIiftisiHiioJiiDin^ npsniDifflftis urttctneraciwicr nmurdt)gttt&- ioir ctu^ccpir noms ttiidpcrfm tr rahuf gwi nfi: irr fis Ap feiutf iiflp au Qtit raii tmt- AWacntce diitt gftw gtniifcfrrr^^glanfimlnitt imtol Diii : ^ atoicmrt- tpwnimjt naiir iojtnnnti aimttamcthmn.iDif rnnuminfmitfucrijuiniirpinn iictfani iipmMiitti mitf ronta umtt tcligiDfejimmms 4iioncf me..ipino8 nmmti$v4 ^ntaue nlt^fhuaonemputlMBata
ittilciaiifgnutnor ^{^ fciicto.;
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gtmlRmitdftnuosiiBai. tiicfirigulis uiflmisiniirmcfti^, nmUBt COS. iETUHof mitsjtt Cfuumm dnmmstdmnfiaa ct mreaa(|iuaiuc8fiiiu8iw.<Et mamms iiSfmcintcdlonin-" ilimt tactent f m cc f^hn .ffemi mitcDiccgreffliftUBrmttftmt lonu ^turtt itauittiBt cii lait, = . . ? nmftufipatiipm.ttcnucteittC'' ' Cttucmftcixrtt HUcis-iO'iiiu? /: Uic mat. O'a t aiqg nntttmi% 3 , 0p»tttmcwimi5iHKmMtgmi{ ; to- oS^ lOu'c CCU8 feiima mcc tlnci. ,' flamarn iiiottt roiMutt nrntrtnaoi. " jincB tti tfiQatii tuo Due lUljia-ittltf .
,Ucf iimBa^fttiQa nm tiOMcflttiatfecmmctu tftClpc
tlUfte- C0 >si on U08 WlliKtUfl op
}j}iRuosumimuaoiio8ttail4pi'
yyituafiBftnwieqito cif imtf ttwii (Wtwm vfnimt$.tili^
muiciiitf .luttStuOi iv-bsfifl? »^» UPUttAflrfra
Page of a Sarum Missal fokmerlv belonging to St. Peter's Northampton. (See Appendix, p. 264).
PRE-REFORJIATION ALTARS. 63
The Lady Chapel.
Ralph West [4th December, 1475] wished to be buried in the chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the church of St. Peter, Northampton. To the repairs of the said chapel he left vis- viiid- *
Richard Harpoll, of Northampton, tanner, [1487] be- queathed xiid- to the altar of St. Mary.*
The Altar of St. Nicholas. Richard Harpoll [1487] bequeathed to this altar xiid-
The Altar of St. John Baptist.
Ralph West [1475] left iijs- iiijd. "to the reparation of the altar of St. John in the church of St. Peter afore- said."
Richard Harpoll left to the altar of St. John Baptist, xiid.
St. Eregaiar's Altar. Roger Cade left a small legacy to this altar in 1535.
The name, St. Eregaiar, occurs in no calendar. It may possibly be a copyist's error for St. Gregory; but more probably it is a corruption of the name of vSt Eregius, Aregius, or Aridius, Bishop of Nivers, who died in 551. At Nivers, he is commonly known as St. Arey. The name is sometimes spelt Arrigius, or Arrigerius. He was commemorated Aug. 1 6.t
Another Saint, with a similar name, was Ariga, Arigius, or Aredius, Bishop of Gap, He was a cor- respondent of St. Gregory, and died A.D. 570. He was commemorated May ist.+
* Lansd. MSS. 1025-29.
t Bollandist, Acta Sanctorum, vol. 37, pp. 295-7 ; Nicholas' Chronology of History, p. 135; Abbe Migne's list.
I Bollandist, Acta Sanctorum, vol. 14, pp. 110-114.
64 PRE-REFORMATION ALTARS.
The Altar of St. Katharine. To this altar Richard Harpoll [1487] left xijd-
For so small a church, the number of altars is some- what remarkable. The chapel and altar of Our Lady probably occupied the site of the present clergy vestry. The choir vestry, on the opposite side of the chancel, doubtless occupies the site of another. Two other altars probably stood against the rood screen — one on each side of the entrance into the chancel. Several un- doubted instances of this arrangement (where the marks of the altars still remain on the rood screen) have been recently noted by the Rev. Dr. Cox, F.S.A., in small country churches in Norfolk and Suffolk.
The Christening Door.
William Webster [1527] left his body "to be buried in ye churchyarde of Sainte peter before ye crystynyge dore."
In Pre-reformation times the first part of the Bap- tismal Service was always performed at the church door. Both the Sarum and the York Manuals commence the Baptismal office with the rubric, " First the child shall be carried to the doors of the church."
In the first Prayer Book of Edward VI. (1549) the ancient custom was still maintained. The rubric directs that "then the Godfathers, Godmothers and people, with the children must be ready at the church dore. . . . And then standyng there, the prieste shall aske whether the chyldren be baptised or no. If they answere No, then shall the priest saye thus : Deare beloved, foras- muche as all men bee conceyved and borne in sinne," etc. At the conclusion of the first part of the service, (which included the signing with the sign of the Cross, and the reading of the Gospel and exhortation) the priest was ordered to " take one of the children by the right hande, the other being brought after him. And cuming into the churche towarde the fonte, saye : The Lord vouchesafe to receyve you into his holy housholde," etc. The door at which this ceremony took place was probably the one nearest to the font ; but which that
PRE-REFORMATION ALTARS.
65
door was, in the case of St. Peter's, it is now impossible to decide. At the present time the font stands near the south door of the church, but in an old print of i8i8, it is represented as standing under the tower. Even that cannot have been its original position, for, as has been shown in a previous chapter, the whole tower was moved eastwards in the sixteenth century.
Detaila of Ornamentation of Arch on west face of Tower.
Details of Ornamentation of Arch on west face of Tower.
CHAPTER V.
THE RESTORATION OF ST. PETER'S.
URING the first three centuries which followed the Reformation, the church of St. Peter, as happened in so many other cases, was allowed to fall into a state of grievous neglect, and it was not till the middle of the 19th century that any attempt was made to restore it to its former beauty.
The praiseworthy example set by Miss Baker (about the year 1839) in scraping the whitewash from the capitals,* first drew public attention to the church, and it was felt that it would be a standing disgrace to the town and county if so beautiful a building were allowed to fall into ruin.
The proposal to restore the church was first brought forward at a meeting of the Northampton Architectural
• " They were once hidden by plaster, but in a true conservative spirit she [Miss Baker] set to work with a bone knife— for she would use no metal instrument lest it might injure the face of the stone-work — and picked out all the encrustations of plaster and white-wash." — Letter from Mr. J. H. Parker.
"At the time I was here, a young lady. Miss Baker, had picked out loads of whitewash from the beautiful capitals of the pillars and other work, and thereby exhibited the original sculpture in its high perfection, and it appears that they had originally been painted." — Extract from a manuscript collection of notes and drawings relating to the county of Northampton (dated 1839), by Mr. D. T. Powell, antiquary and draughts- man. This valuable manuscript was formerly in the possession of Sir Thomas Phillips, but is now the property of W. D. Crick, Esq.. of North- ampton.
The Church of St. Peter in i8il (From an old Print J.
THE RESTORATION. 67
Society, December 4th, 1848 ; and two months later (February 5th, 1849) a committee was appointed to undertake the work, with the Marquis of Northampton as chairman.
The drawing up of a report on the then condition ot the building, was entrusted to a small sub-committee, consisting of Messrs. M. H. Bloxam, C. H. Hartshorne, G. A. Poole, H. Rose, and Sir Henry Dryden, names well known in the architectural world.
On March 26th, 1849, the report was submitted to the general committee, and it was resolved to entrust the work to Mr. G. G. (afterwards Sir Gilbert) Scott.
On Easter Monday, April 9th, 1849, the parochial vestry gave its formal sanction to the proposed scheme of restoration, provided that it met with the approval ot the Bishop and the Rector ; and on May 7th Mr. Scott presented his first report.
In this report two different courses were proposed : either " to restore the whole fabric to a Norman type, at an estimated cost of £2,150"; or "to preserve, with certain exceptions, the present features of various styles, with Decorated restorations at the east end and in the roof — the cost being estimated at ;£i,750."*
Though no definite resolution on the subject was passed, it was agreed among the members to follow Mr. Scott's recommendation, that he should " be guided in the style of the restoration of the roof and east end, by the remains that might be uncovered during the re- pairs."
In June an appeal for subscriptions was sent out ; and a month later, on July 2nd, the Rural Dean (the Rev. F. S. Trotman) announced that he had received sub- scriptions or promises amounting to over ;^5oo. The committee thereupon instructed Mr. Scott " to prepare working drawings and specifications for a new roof to the nave and chancel, the restoration of the clerestory, the re-building of the east end, the repair and draining of the aisle walls, and the re-seating and paving of the interior." Mr. Scott presented his plans on August 13th, and it was decided to invite tenders for the contract. The committee met again on December 3rd, and agreed
* MinnU Book of St. Peter's Restoration Committee.
68 THE RESTORATION.
to accept the tender of Mr. Ireson, who undertook to do the work for ;!^i, 299 (exterior £644, and interior ;^655). The funds at the disposal of the committee at this time amounted to only ;^850 ; and it was therefore deemed advisable to defer the carrying out of the portion of the proposed work relating to the interior " until the aug- mented state of their funds enabled them to proceed with it."
At the beginning of the new year, the death of the Rev. R. W. Baxter, who had held the living of St. Peter's for nearly fifty years, put a sudden stop to the projected works, but upon the appointment of a new rector — Rev. H. de Sausmarez — in June, the pulling down of the east end was begun under the superinten- dence of Mr. G. Baker, the county historian. The im- mediate result was the discovery of many interesting fragments of Norman work built into the east wall, together with others of the Decorated style. It was further discovered that the original chancel had extended twelve feet further eastward. These discoveries led to a further delay, for they were considered sufficient to justify the restoration of the east end in Norman char- acter, and it was necessary to prepare fresh plans on these lines. The new plans were laid before the com- mittee on July 24th, and it was unanimously decided to extend the chancel to its original limits, and to carry out the work in the Norman style. There appears, however, to have been considerable divergence ot opinion as to the exact details of the east end, the prin- cipal point in dispute being the advisability, or other- wise, of having " a bisected termination without a cen- tral light." Eventually, after much discussion, it was agreed to leave the matter to the discretion of the architect. The extension of the chancel eastwards had not formed part of the original estimate, and it involved the committee in a further expenditure of ;^254. After a delay of several months, the work was once more re- sumed ; and it was reported on December 2nd that " the restoration was satisfactorily progressing both in the roof and the east end."
Early in 1851 the parochial vestry agreed to raise ;{J300 towards the restoration expenses by mortgaging the church estates ; and the masters and brethren of St.
iijm»tl$
THE RESTORATION. 69
Katharine's Hospital (the patrons of the living) made a grant of ;/j50 towards the same object.
In June, 1851, it was decided to proceed with the restoration of the interior, which involved the re-seating and the re-paving of the church, and the erection of a stone pulpit and screen. It was hoped that the work would have been completed in October, but it was not till the spring of 1852, after an expenditure ot over £1800, that the church was ready for re-opening. The ceremony took place on April 15th. The preacher at the morning and evening services was Bishop Spencer, late of Madras, and in the afternoon Lord Alwyne Compton.
Later Restorations and Alterations.
In 1878 and 1882 the church of St. Peter was again undergoing restoration. In 1878 it was decided to re- decorate the east wall of the chancel and to erect a reredos. The work was entrusted to Mr. Oldrid Scott (son of the late Sir Gilbert Scott), and was completed in the autumn of 1879, the dedication service being held on September i8th of that year. The reredos is of carved oak, with crocketed spire in the fifteenth century style of German Gothic. It was intended to be a Triptych, but as it had to be placed between two windows, the architect was compelled to modify his design, and the " Triptych " has been shorn of its wings. In the centre panel is a painting by Messrs. Burlison and Grylls, representing the crucifixion. At the foot of the cross stand the Blessed Virgin and St. John. At the sides of the Triptych are four groined niches, in which are placed figures of St. Peter (holding the keys), St. Matthew, St. Mark, and St. Luke. The spire, by which the work is surmounted, is supported at each angle by flying but- tresses, which spring from the roof of the main canopy.
The work was designed by Mr. Oldrid Scott and executed by Messrs. Henry Poole and Sons, of Milbank, Westminster.
The decoration of the east wall, which formed part of the same scheme, was carried out by Messrs. Burlison and Grylls. At the same time the altar was raised by one step, and the chancel laid with encaustic tiles,
70 THE RESTORATION.
from a design suggested by Lord Alwyne Compton. The total cost of these various works amounted to about ;^500*
In 1882, the aisle roofs (which had been left untouched in 1 851) were thoroughly restored at a cost of ;{i3oo. At the same date the wainscoting round the north and south aisles of the nave and chancel was put up at a cost ot £75. The oak used for the wainscoting of the nave was given by Mr. Mold of Cromwell House ; that for the lower part of the tower by Mr. T. Manning.
A little later, the lighting of the church was greatly improved (at a cost of £i8-j) by the provision of the present gas pendants, designed by Mr. Scott.
The new organ, by Wordsworth and Makell, ot Leeds, was erected in November, 1884, at a cost of over ^600; and nine years later, (1893) the bells were re- hung, which entailed a further expenditure of £ 1 60.
In 1 90 1, the exterior walls of the tower were restored on the north and west sides, under the direction ot Mr. M. H. Holding, the south side having been similarly re- stored twenty years previously.
T/ie Windows.
The east end of the church is lighted by nine small windows, two in the first stage, four in the second, and three in the gable of the roof. All are filled with stained glass. The two lowermost contain representations of six scenes from the life ot St. Peter, three in each window. The window on the north side is to the memory of the wife of a former rector, and bears the following inscrip- tion : — " Elizabeth Charlotte, wife of Havilland de Sausmarez, rector of this parish. Died A.D. mdccclviii. Aged XXXVI. years." (i) The lowermost medallion represents St. Peter walking on the water, with the legend " Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him." (2) Above is our Lord's commission to St. Peter, with the words " [Jesus] saith unto him, Feed my sheep, feed my lambs." (3) At the top of the window is represented the Transfiguration, with the legend " Peter saith unto Jesus, It is good for us to be here."
The window on the south side is to the memory of
* Northampton Herald, September 20th, 1879.
THE RESTORATION. 71
the Welchman family, and is thus inscribed : — " In mem. of P. E. Welchman, who died Apl. 28, 1859, Agd. 77. Also of Martha his wife, who died Oct. 16, i860, Agd. 87. By A.S.T., 1863." In the lowermost panel is represented the call of St. Peter, with the words " Jesus saith follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." (2) The panel above represents the miraculous draught of fishes, with the legend ** Jesus saith fear not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men." (3) At the top is our Lord presenting St. Peter with the keys ; and the words *' Jesus said I will give unto thee the keys of the king- dom of heaven."
In the second stage are four stained windows ; those on the north represent the sacrifice of Isaac ; while in the corresponding ones on the south side, is depicted (i) Christ bearing his cross, and (2) the crucifixion. Three of these windows were inserted by the Rev. Canon Lawson, when curate of St. Peter's, with money pre- sented to him by the parishioners as a testimonial. The fourth was given by his sister. Miss S. C. Lawson, of Hildenborough, Kent.*
The centre window in the gable contains a represen- tation of the Ascension of our Lord. It, and the two small quatrefoils on each side, were given by the Rev. F. H. Richardson, curate of St. Peter's, and afterwards vicar of Belgrave, Leicester.
In the north-east corner of the sanctuary is a small window to the memory of a former rector, containing representations of three other scenes from the life of St. Peter — (i) St. Peter released from prison by an angel. (2) The raising of Dorcas. (3) The healing of the lame man at the Beautiful gate of the temple. This window is by Messrs. Clayton and Bell. Below is a brass plate with the following inscription : — " In memory of Havilland de Sausmarez, M.A., Rector 1850-1873, who died 17th April, 1882, this window is erected by his widow and children."
Windows in the Nave.
In the north aisle of the nave is a window given by members of the Davies family. In the left-hand light is
* Paper by the Rev. E. N. Tom in Northamptonshire Notes and Queries, vol. iv., p. 5.
72 THE RESTORATION.
a representation of Melchisedek blessing Abraham. Above is an angel holding a scroll on which is in- scribed : — " Who met Abraham and blessed him." In the light to the right, Mary is represented sitting at the Saviour's feet, while Martha, in the background, is " cumbered about much serving." Above is an angel holding a scroll with the following legend : — " Rest in the Lord, wait patiently for Him." At the foot of the window (which is the work of Mr. Hymers) is the fol- lowing:— "To the glory of God, Stephen and Lucy Parbery Davies erected this window in loving memory of John Roddis and Emma Julia Davis, father and sister of Lucy P. Davies, A.D. 1899."*
In the south aisle of the nave are two windows, each of three lights, to the memory of the wife of a former curate of St. Peter's. In the window to the west are de- picted (i) Eunice and Timothy; (2) Dorcas ; (3) Priscilla. In the eastern one are represented (i) Mary Magdalene; (2) The Virgin and Child ; (3) Mary Cleophas.
Below these two windows (which are by Messrs Powell and Sons, London) is this inscription : — " To the glory of God and in memory of Roberta Henrietta Sanders, Born Feb. 26th, 1852, died March loth, 1891, wife of the Rev. Canon Sanders, LL.D., Head Master of the Gram- mar School. These two windows were erected by her many loving friends in the town and neighbourhood. Buried at Upton."
The west window under the tower is filled with stained glass as a memorial to a former churchwarden of St. Peter's. It represents our Lord blessing little children, and is the work of Messrs. Powell and Sons. On a small brass plate below is the following inscrip- tion : — " To the glory of God and in memory of William Wade, for many years churchwarden of this church, who died March 17th, 1890, this window was erected by the surviving family, 189 1. " Lord I have loved the habita- tion of Thy house."
* Mr. John Roddis had several daughters, one of whom married Mr. Stephen Davies, of Black Lion Hill, Northampton ; another v.as the wife of Mr. Samuel Davis, of Kislingbury.
DetailB of Ornamentation of Arch on west face of Tower.
CHAPTER VI.
THE RECTORS OF ST. PETER'S.
NO pains have been spared to make the following list as complete and accurate as possible. Care- ful search has been made in the episcopal and archiepiscopal Registries at Lincoln, Peterborough, and Lambeth Palace ; among the charters and manuscripts at the Public Record Office, the British Museum, and the Bodleian Library ; in the early wills at Somerset House and in the Northampton Probate Office ; among the Municipal Archives and in the Parochial Registers and Vestry Books. The result has been the addition of seven names hitherto unrecorded in any printed list. (These are marked with an asterisk.)
From the Harleian Charters in the British Museum, the names of two twelfth-century incumbents have been gleaned, probably the first two rectors of the church. The Papal Registers and the Lambeth Augmentation Books have each produced one ; while three other new names have been added from the Episcopal Act Books at Peterborough. In addition to this the date of acces- sion of several of the early rectors has been supplied ; and in the case of many of the sixteenth and seventeenth century rectors, their dates have been corrected.
5
74
THE RECTORS OF ST. PETER'S.
LIST OF
Name.
I. . . *John, son of Ranulph.
II. . .*Henry, son of Peter
III. .. Thomas de Fiskerton
IV. . . Robert de Bath. M.A.
V. . . John de Houton
VI. . . * William de Altavilla. .
VII. .. William de Windsor..
VIII. .. William de Windsor..
IX. . . Hugh de Novo Castro
X. . . Ralph de Haggele
XI. .. John de Leeke
XII. .. William de Bevercote
XIII. .. Richard Aunsel
XIV. . . William de Boulge
XV. . . John Ferrers . .
XVI. .. William Wenge de Castle
bitham
XVII . . Thomas de Duffield
XVIII. .. Thomas de Morton
XIX. . . John Verney . .
XX. . . Robert Fitzhugh. S.T
XXI. .. William Okeburn
XXII. . . John Smyth . .
XXIII. .. Thomas Leversegge XXIV . . John Thornhill XXV. .. Robert Prudde M.A
XXVI. .. Thomas Palmer
XXVII. . . Robert Hundesworth
XXVIII. Richard Watson. M.A.
XXIX. . . Edmund CoUerton, M.A.
XXX. .. Robert Bright. LL.D.
XXXI. .. William Brettyn, LL.D.
XXXII. .. Edmund Davye
XXXIII... William Roote XXXIV. . . Richard Burdsall . .
Date op Institution.
circa 1 190 1220, Oct. 20th.. 1222, Nov. 25th 1243. .. 1258 occurs. 1266 occurs. 1290-1, Mar 24th
1294, May loth 1296-7, Mar. 24th 1305-6, Feb. 28th 1311, May 3i3t 1347, May i6th
1349-50. Feb. 25th 1357-8, Feb. 14th
1361, Dec. 17th
1371, Nov. 23rd 1392-3, Feb. 15th 1424, Feb. i2th. . 1428, Sept. 2nd. . 1431-2, Feb. 19th 1433, June 17th., 1433, Nov. 14th 1444, July 15th.. 1476. May 8th . .
1486-7. Jan. 4th.. 1493-4, Feb. i6th 1503- June 9th . .
1507, May 7th ..
1514. July 22nd
1533-4, Mar. 4th
1552. Aug. 20th
1559-60, Jan. 29th 1563. Aug. 3rd . .
Patrons.
Prior and Convent of St. Andrewf, Northampton Ditto Ditto Ditto Ditto
The King.. Ditto
Ditto Ditto Ditto Ditto Hospital of St. Katharine
by the Tower of Lon
don. Ditto Ditto
Ditto
Ditto
Ditto
Ditto
Ditto
Ditto
Ditto
Ditto
Ditto
John Holcot. Esq. and Richard Isham (pro hac vice) by grant from Hospital
Hospital of St. Katharine
Ditto
Ditto
The King (vacancy in
Hospital) Hospital of St. Katharine
Sir John Alen (by grant
from Hospital) Francis Morgan (patron
for ninety years by
grant from Hospital) . . Ann Morgan (widow of
Francis Morgan) Ann Morgan
THE RECTORS OF ST. PETER'S.
75
RECTORS.
Cause of Vacancy.
AOTHORITIES.
Death of John, son of Ranulph
Deprivation of the same William for plurality of benefices . . Death of William de Windsor. . Death of Hugh de Novo Castro Resignation of Ralph de Haggele Resignation of John de Leeke . . Cause of vacancy not stated in register
Death of Richard Aunsel Resignation of William de
Boulge . . Death of John Ferrers . ,
Resignation of William Wenge Death of Thomas de Duffield . . Resignation of Thomas deMorton Exchanged with John Verney . . Resignation of Robert Fitzhugh Exchanged with Wm. Okeburn
Death of Thomas Leversegge . . Death of John Thornhill
Death of Robert Prudde Death of Thomas Palmer Resignation of Robert Hundes-
worth..
Death of last rector
Resignation of Edmund Coller-
ton Death of Robert Bright
Death of William Brettyn
Death of Edmund Davye Death of William Rooce
Harleian Charters
Ditto
Register of Hugh Wells, Bishop of Lincoln
Ditto
Register of Robert Grosseteste, Bishop of Liacoln
Calendar of Papal Registers, i. 356
Cartulary of St. Andrew
Register of Oliver Sutton, Bishop of Lincola
Ditto
Ditto
Register of John Dalderby, Bishop of Lincoln
Ditto
Register of John Gynewell, Bishop of Lincola
Ditto Ditto
Ditto
Register of John Buckingham, Bishop of Lincoln
Ditto
Lambeth [sede vacant e] Registers.
Register of Richard Fleming, Bishop of Lincoln
Register of William Gray, Bishop of Lincoln
Ditto
Ditto
Register of William Alnwick, Bishop of Lincoln
Register of Thomas Rotherham, Bishop of Lincoln
Register of John Russell, Bishop of Lincoln
Ditto
Register of William Smyth, Bishop of Lincola
Ditto
Register of Thomas Wolsey, Bishop of Lincola
Register of John Longland, Bishop of Lincola
Register of John Chambers, Bishop of Peterboro'
Lambeth [sede vacante] Registers
Register of Edmund Scambler, Bishop of Peter- boro'
76
THE RECTORS OF ST. PETER'S.
LIST OF RECTORS
Name.
XXXV. ..*William Nowell
XXXVI...* William Stocke, B.C.L.
XXXVII. Thomas Bellamye ..
XXXVIII. John Cocke. M.A. .. XXXIX... Samuel Clarke, D.D.
XL. XLI.
Robert Hill. M.A. *James Williams
XLII. .. Edward Reynolds. M.A. .. XLIII. . . *Philip Atkinson, S.T.P.
XLIV. .. Welbore Ellis. S.T.P. XLV. . . Richard Reynolds, LL.D. . .
XLVI. . . Edward Patterson. M.A. . . XLVII. .. Edward Lock wood. M.A. .. XLVIII... Robert William Baxter. B.D. XLIX. .. HavillanddeSausmarez, M.A L. .. Edward Nicolls Tom, M.A..
Date of Institution.
1576-7, Jan. i2th
1590-1, Jan. 16th 1602-3, Mar. 3rd
1606-7, Jan. 26th
1608, Nov. 2nd..
1641, Apr. 17th.. 1654 occurs, died
1658. . , 1658. Oct. 15th 1698, Dec. 26th
1702, July 1706, Nov. 23rd
1744, Apr. 27th 1750, Oct. 3rd 1802. July 17th 1850, June 27th 1873, Dec. i8th..
Patrons.
Thomas Morgan of Hey-
ford. Esq. Anthony Morgan Francis Morgan of Kings
thorpe . . Joanna and John Bel
lamye. executors of will
of Thomas Bellamye Francis Morgan of Kings
thorpe . . Hospital of St. Katharine Ditto
Ditto Ditto
Ditto
Queen Anne
Hospital of St. Katharine
Ditto
Ditto
Ditto
Ditto
I. John, son of Ranulph is the first incumbent whose name has been recorded, and it is very probable that he was the first rector of the newly erected church. He is mentioned in one of the Harleian Charters in connection with the appointment of his successor. He died during the episcopate of St. Hugh of Lincoln, 1 186-1200.
II. Henry, son of Peter. The deed by which the monks of St. Andrew appoint Henry, son of Peter, to the rectory of St. Peter's is still preserved among the Harleian Charters in the British Museum, and is a beautiful specimen of twelfth century penmanship. It stipulates that the new rector shall render to the Priory an annual pension of ;£4 by quarterly instalments, pay all ecclesiastical fees due from the church, and see that the said church (together with the chapels of Kings- thorpe and Upton annexed to it) was properly served. Henry was duly instituted by Master Robert de Bedford
THE RECTORS OF ST. PETER'S.
77
— continued.
Cause of Vacancy.
Resigaation of last incumbent . .
Resignation of William Nowell Death of William Stocke
Death of Thomas Bellamye . ,
Death of Thomas Bellamye (sic/) Death of Samuel Clerke
Death of James Williams Death of Edward Reynolds . .
Death of last incumbent Promotion of Welbore Ellis to
Bishopric of Kildare Death of Richard Reynolds . . Death of Edward Patterson . . Death of Edward Lockwood . . Death of Robert William Baxter Resignation of Havilland de
Sausmarez . . . . . .
AUTHOmilES.
Register of Edmund Scambler, Bishop of Peter-
boro' Register of Richard Rowland, Bishop of Peterboro' Register of Thomas Dove, Bishop of Peterboro'
Ditto
Ditto
Register of John Towers, Bishop of Peterboro' Lambeth Augmentation Books
Ditto
Register of Richard Cumberland, Bishop of Peter- boro' Ditto Ditto
Institution Books, Public Record Office Peterboro' Diocese Book
Register of Spencer Madan, Bishop of Peterboro' Register of George Davys, Bishop of Peterboro' Register of William Connor Magee, Bishop of Peterboro'
and Master Roger de Rolfeston, acting as deputies for Bishop Hugh of Lincoln (i 186-1200). In 1200 Henry, son of Peter, rector of St. Peter's, was one of the founders of St. David's Hospital, at Kingsthorpe. See Appendix.
III. Thomas de Fiskerton was a canon of Lincoln, and in that capacity witnesses numerous deeds of appro- priation and ordination of vicarages between 1 2 1 7 and 1220*. In the latter year he was appointed to the rec- tory of St. Peter's, Northampton (October 20th), and held it for two years.
IV. Robert de Bath. A vacancy having occurred at St. Peter's in 1222, the king, who claimed the patronage,
* Thus the ordination by Bishop Hugh Wells of the vicarage of Stanton concludes as follows : — " Dat' per manum Thome de Fiskerton Capellani, Canonici Line, apud Line' XVII" Kal. Januarii pontificatus nostri anno Xlmo."
78 THE RECTORS OF ST. PETER'S.
nominated John de Pavilli (October 25th).* The monks of St. Andrew, who had hitherto always appointed to the living, nominated Master Robert de Bath. Eventually the king gave way and allowed the Priory nominee to be instituted. t Robert de Bath was also rector of Cottesbrooke about the year 1240.
V. John de Houton was archdeacon of Northampton as well as rector of St. Peter's. On his appointment to the benefice, the pension paid to the Priory of St. Andrew out ot the living was increased from six to ten marks.
VII. & VIII. William de Windsor was appointed to St. Peter's by Henry III. in 1266, and held the living till February, 1 290-1, when he was deprived. He had apparently accepted another benefice without licence, and thus brought himself under the law which forbade pluralities (idem Dominus Willelmus ratione pluralitatis henejiciorum prefata ecclesia privatus).\\ He was, how- ever, reinstated at St. Peter's in March, but died shortly afterwards, in 1294.
IX. Hugh de Novo Castro was rector of Clipstone in 1270. He was chaplain to the Prince of Wales, afterwards Edward II., by whose influence, doubtless, he was appointed by the king to the rectory of St. Peter's, May, 1294.
XI. John de Leeke. In addition to the Rectory of St. Peter's (which he held from February, 1305-6 to 131 1), John de Leeke had various other ecclesiastical prefer- ments. In September, 1307, during a vacancy in the see of Dublin, the king granted to his clerk, John de Leeke, the precentorship of the cathedral of St. Patrick, Dublin. J In January, 1307-8, his royal master presented him to the living of Denham in the diocese of Lincoln ;+ and six months later (July loth) to that of Great Linford.§ He was also king's chaplain and almoner, and a canon
* Patent Rolls 6 Hen. III. — lohannes de Pavilli habet litteras de presentacione ad ecclesiam Sancti Petri, Norhamtun que vacat et est de donacione domini regis, directas episcopo Lincolniensi. Westminster, Oct. 25.
t Register of Hugh Wells, and Roll.
y Register of Oliver Sutton, Bishop of Lincoln.
X Patent Rolls i Ed. II.
§ Patent Rolls 2 Ed. II.
THE RECTORS OF ST. PETER'S. 79
of Dunkeld. In 1309 a vacancy occurred in the see of Dunkeld, and John de Leeke was chosen as bishop. On Augfust 21st, 1309, Edward II. wrote to Pope Clement, signifying his assent to the election,* and on December nth, a safe conduct for one year was granted to the bishop-elect, going beyond the seas on the business of his election.*
Meanwhile a prolonged dispute had been going on with regard to the see of Dublin. On Archbishop Fering's death in 1306, the Dean and Chapter of St. Patrick's made choice of their dean, whilst the Priory of Christchurch elected their prior. The dispute was still undecided at the close of 1309. At length the pope intervened, and declaring that the appointment had lapsed to him, nominated John de Leeke, the precentor of St. Patrick's, who was at that time bishop-elect of Dunkeld, in Scotland. The king approved the choice, and John de Leeke became archbishop ot Dublin. In July, 131 1, the king issued a mandate to Richard de Haveringes, one of the rival candidates, to hand over the temporalities of the see to the new archbishop. t De Leeke appears to have been in no hurry to enter upon the duties of his office, for in the autumn of 13 11, the was still on the continent attending a general Council.^ A little later he was at the Court of Rome, and on December 27th, 131 1, he nominated two persons to act as his attorneys in Ireland tor two years. t
In 1 3 1 2 the king granted protection for two years to John de Leeke, archbishop of Dublin, " staying in Eng- land on the king's business."§
He died in the following year, so that the good people of Dublin could have seen but little of their archbishop. In 13 13 he may have been in Ireland for a short time, for on May 20th the king appointed him Treasurer of the Exchequer in Dublin, and issued a mandate ordering Alexander de Bikenore to deliver to the new official the keys of the treasury. §
» Patent Rolls 3 Ed. II. t Patent Rolls 5 Ed. II.
I The Council of Vienne sat from October 15th to November ist, 1311, and again in 1312. It assumed the dignity of an (Ecumenical Coun- cil. The three points proposed for discussion by the Pope were (i) the suppression of the Knights Templars, (2) the recovery of the Holy Land, (3) the reformation of manners and ecclesiastical discipline.
§ Patent Rolls 6 Ed. 2.
8o THE RECTORS OF ST. PETER'S.
John de Leeke is best known, however, for the part he took in applying to the pope to secure his consent to the founding of a University in Dublin. He died before the scheme came to maturity, and was buried in West- minster Abbey.
XII. William de Bevercote or Bevercotes. In William de Bevercote, the successor of John de Leeke, the church of St. Peter had another distinguished rector. In the dual capacity of Chief Justice of the King's Bench and Chan- cellor of Scotland, his name is constantly appearing in the state papers relating to the reigns of Edward I., Edward II., and Edward III.
His first ecclesiastical preferment appears to have been the rectory of Sedgebrook, in the diocese of Lincoln. On October i8th, 1294, Edward I. grants protection for one year (with the clause volujmis)^ to William de Bever- cote, parson, of a moiety of the church of Sedgebrook, who, like the rest of the clergy, has granted the king a moiety of his benefices and goods. In the following year (December i ith) in return for a grant of one tenth of his benefices, the king grants him protection (with clause noluvius^) till Michaelmas.
In 1296 and 1297, Bevercote was employed in Scotland on the king's service (as assistant to Walter de Agmodesham the chancellor) and nominated Thomas de Quynkerstaynes to act as his attorney in his absence.
In 1303 he had become rector of Tuxford in the diocese of York, and was still " constantly attendant on the king's service." Early in the following year, he suc-
t Protection was a king's writ exempting a defendant from all per- sonal and many real suits for a year at a time. It was usually granted to one engaged on the king's service out of the realm. The last recorded instance of such a writ occurred in 1692. (Blackstoite's Commentaries, vol. iii., 289, ed. 1836). The clause Volumus definitely protected a person from all suits and pleas, with certain specified exceptions. It ran as follows: — "Volumus etiam quod idem [A] interim sit quietus de omnibus placitis et querelis, exceptis placitis de dote unde nihil habet, et quare impedit, et assisis novae disseisinae, et ultimae praesentationis, et attinctis, et exceptis loquelis, quas coram justiciariis nostris intinerantibus in itineribus suis summoned contigerit." By the clause Nolumus a person was specially exempted from the risk of having his horses, carts, or provender commandeered for the king's use. It ran thus: — "Nolumus etiam quod de bladis, fenis equis, carectis, cariagiis, victualibus, aut aliis bonis et catallis, ipsius, [A] contra voluntatem suam ad opus nostrum aut aliorum per baillivos seu ministros nostros aut alterius cujuscumque quicquid capiatur."
THE RECTORS OF ST. PETER'S. 8 1
ceeded his former master as Chancellor of Scotland, and started northwards on March 7th. He reached his des- tination in April, and on the 1 3th of that month was ad- mitted to the chancellorship. A few weeks later he received ;^5 iis. for his expenses on the way, the cost being reckoned at three shilling's a day.*
He held office as chancellor for no less than eleven years, receiving a salary of two hundred marks per annum. t Judging from the frequent occurrence of his name in the state papers of the period, it would appear that the management of Scottish affairs was chiefly in his hands. A few extracts will show the multifarious duties he was called upon to perform : —
1304, December 8th. Letter from the king to William de Bevercote, Chancellor, about the collection of the new Custom in Scotland. +
1306. Mandate to William de Bevercote, Chancellor, to send writs, under the Seal of Scotland, to the king's eschaetor there.§
1308, 2oth August. Letter from the king as to Scottish letters patents.*
1308, loth November. The king to William de Bever- cote, as to receiving homage in king's behalf, from Patricius, son and heir of the Earl of Dunbar, on his father's decease.*
1308, December 3rd. The king to William de Bever- cote as to arrears of the fee of John de Weston, Con- stable of the King's Castle of Forfar.f
1308, December 3rd. A writ empowering William de Bevercote, Chancellor of Scotland, to present to all benefices in the king's gift not exceeding ;^io in annual value. II
* Dommo Willelmo de Bevercote clerico venienti in Scociam ad man- datum regis pro quibusdam negociis regis, pro vadis, et expensis a vil. die Marcii usque xiii. diem Aprilem quo die idem dominus Wiilelmus admissus fuit ad officium Cancellariae in Scocia primo die computato et non ultimo, per xxxvii. dies, percipiente per diem iii. solidos per compotum factum cum eodem apud Strivelyn iiij.° die Julii. — cxi.to solidos.
t Domino Willelmo de Bevercote, cancellario Scocie, capienti per annum pro feodo suo . . . per unum annum integrum cc. Marc. [1311-12]. (200 Marks would be equivalent to ;f2,ooo at the present value of money).
I Close Rolls 33 Ed. I., m. 22.
§ Patent Rolls 1306.
* Rotuli Scotie. t Ibm. p. 6ia.
Ij Patent Rolls 2 Ed. II. pt. i.. m. 18
82 THE RECTORS OF ST. PETER'S.
1309, May 16th. Letter from the king authorizing- William de Bevercote to grant, under the Scottish seal, murage for a year to the burgesses of Roxburgh, on merchandise coming into the town.*
1309, May 20th. Mandate to William the Chancellor as to the admission of William de Crumbachyn to the office of coroner of Caithness.!
1312, April 30th. The king at Newcastle to William de Bevercote as to the wardenship of the lands and heir of Nigel de Penycok, granted to John de Laundeles.J
1312, May I St. Newcastle. The king to William the Chancellor, concerning the lands of Robert de Keth in Laudonia (taken into the king's hands on the rebellion of the said Robert) granted to William de Soules.
^S^Sy 27th May. Westminster. The king grants at the request of King Philip of France, full power to William de Bevercote, chancellor, and John de Weston, chamberlain of Scotland, together with Robert de Umframville, Count d'Anegos, and John de 1' Isle, to treat for peace with Scotland.*
1313, 6th November. The king to William de Bever- cote, John de Weston, and certain burgesses of Berwick, to overhaul the fortifications ot the town and castle of Berwick.t
The faithful services of the Scottish chancellor were not allowed to pass unnoticed, and as so frequently hap- pened, it was decided to reward him at the expense of the church. Accordingly, on March 20th, 1306-7, a grant was made at the request of Margaret, the Queen Consort,^ to William de Bevercote, giving him the first preference to churches or prebends in the king's gift, to the amount of ;^ioo per annum. II The king died shortly afterwards, but the grant was renewed by his son, Edward II., on June 5th, 1309.*
In March, 1310-11, in fulfilment of his promise, the king, who was then at Berwick-on-Tweed, presented
* Rotuli Scotie p. 64a. t Ibm. p. 65a.
i Ibm. p. logb.
* Ibm. p. 112. t Ibm. p. 113b.
j Margaret of France, second wife of Edward I. II Patent Rolls Ed. I. (1306-7).
* Patent Rolls 2 Ed. II.
THE RECTORS OF ST. PETER'S. 83
Bevercote to the rectory of St. Peter's, Northampton.* At that time he was already rector of Sedgebrook in the diocese of Lincoln (value ;^io) and of Tuxford in that of York, but resigned Sedgebrook, and obtained a dispen- sation from Pope Clement V. to hold St. Peter's and Tuxford together. Their joint incomes are stated in the dispensation to have amounted to £40 per annum. t
In 1312, his salary as chancellor of Scotland was con- siderably in arrears, and on April 12th the king assigned him an annual payment of £42, at the exchequer out of the Templars' church of Marholm, in the county of Not- tingham, until he had been fully satisfied in the sum of ;!^i85 I2S. due to him for arrears of his fee of 200 marks a year.+
In 1 3 14 (September i8th), the king, taking advantage of a vacancy in the see of York, presented Bevercote to the prebend of Rampton in the church of St. Mary, Southwell.* The appointment appears to have aroused considerable opposition. Two days later (September 20th), an order was issued by the king that all persons attempting to disturb Bevercote were to be arrested and detained in prison till further order;* and on May 1st, 1316, a commission of oyer and terminer was issued to John de Insula and John de Doncastre, on the complaint of William de Bevercote, that notwithstanding that the king had recovered the presentation to the prebend of Rampton against the Archbishop of York, and had pre- sented him (Bevercote) to the said prebend, certain evil doers after that judgment and before Bevercote took possession, entered the close of the prebend, felled the trees, broke the houses, and carried away the timber and trees.
The dispute ended, as so frequently happened in those days, in an appeal to Rome. The king retaliated by outlawing the appellant. The matter was not finally settled till the first year of the next reign, when a pardon was granted (February 15th) to George de Solario, of Ivrea, prebendary ot Bannebury in the church of St. Mary, Lincoln, who had been outlawed for non-appear-
* Patent Rolls 4 Ed. II., pt. 2.
t Calendar of Papal Registers, ii., loc-ioi. J Patent Rolls 5 Ed. II.
* Patent Rolls 8 Ed. II.
84 THE RECTORS OF ST, PETER'S.
ance before the justices of King's Bench to satisfy the late king of a ransom, for having drawn William de Bevercote, prebendary of Rampton, before the Court of Rome touching the advowson of the said prebend of Rampton granted to the said William by the king.*
In 13 15 Bevercote's connection with Scotland appears to have ceased for a time. After the death of Edward I. the English power in Scotland gradually declined. In 1 3 1 2 Perth was captured by Robert Bruce, and in the following year Edinburgh and Stirling shared the same fate. In 13 14 the English forces were totally defeated at Bannockburn, and in the following year the Scots ravaged Northumberland and laid siege to Berwick-on- Tweed. It was eventually captured, and though the English did their utmost to re-capture it, their efforts were unavailing. As Scotland was thus for the time being irrevocably lost, the services of William de Bever- cote were no longer required as chancellor, and we find him acting in 1315 (August) and 13 16 in conjunction with Henry le Scrope as a justice of King's Bench. t
In the latter year he applied to the Exchequer for the payment of the arrears of his salary as Chancellor of Scotland, amounting in all to £478 2s. Sjfd., of which only ;^43 had as yet been paid.+
In 1329, Robert Bruce (whom the English had re- luctantly acknowledged as king of Scotland) died, leaving his throne to David Bruce, a boy of eight years. A civil war was the inevitable result. The English favoured Bruce's rival, Balliol, and an army was sent to assist him. The defeat of the Scots at Halidon Hill led to the fall of the important fortress of Berwick-on-Tweed, the one part of Edward's conquest which has ever since remained to the English crown. " Fragment as it was, it was viewed legally as representing the realm of which it had once formed a part. As Scotland, it had its chancellor, chamberlain, and other officers of state, and the peculiar heading of Acts of Parliament enacted for England and ' the town of Berwick-on-Tweed ' still pre- serves the memory of its peculiar position."*
* Patent Rolls 1 Ed. Ill
t Patent Rolls 9 and 10 Ed. II. I Tower Miscell. Rolls No. 459.
* Green's Short History of the English People p. 209.
THE RECTORS OF ST. PETER'S. 85
The first to receive the office of chancellor of Berwick was William de Bevercote, the former chancellor of Scotland. He was appointed by the king (Edward III.) November 12th, 1333, and on the following day an order was sent to the chamberlain of Berwick to provide victuals for the new chancellor, and twenty marks in money for his present use.*
In March, 1333-4, the king writes to the chancellor, and to Henry Percy, warden of the castle of Berwick, ordering them to make inquiries as to whether certain lands should be restored. t
A few months later (July 15th, 1334) the king consti- tuted Bevercote chancellor over all the provinces of Scotland, which Edward Balliol (the new Scottish king) had ceded to him. He did not long enjoy the office, for in the following year (October 15th, 1335) Edward III. appointed Thomas de Bury both chancellor and cham- berlain of Berwick and other lands beyond the Tweed, and ordered William de Bevercote, late chancellor, and John de Weston, late chamberlain, to hand over to their successor the rolls of inquisitions and other memoranda of their respective offices.+
Up to this time the parishioners of St. Peter's could have seen but little of their rector, for when not in Scot- land, he seems to have been almost continually em- ployed on the king's business. Possibly his retirement from public life in 1335, enabled Bevercote to devote the remaining years of his life to promoting the spiritual welfare of his flock.
His relations with his neighbours of the powerful Priory of St. Andrew, Northampton, were at one time considerably strained. In 1330, an action was brought against him by the Prior and Convent for 300 marks — arrears of the annual pension of 10 marks payable by the Rector of St. Peter for the time being, to the Priory. When the case came on, Bevercote did not appear. An order was accordingly given to the Sheriff to attach Henry, bishop of Lincoln, and unless he produced the defendant (Bevercote), to distrain on his lands. The trial was fixed for the Tuesday after the feast of the
* Rotuli Scotie pp. 259-60. t Ibm. p. 261. J Ibm. p. 384a.
86 THE RECTORS OF ST. PETER'S.
Ascension, but it was eventually adjourned till the Mon- day after AH Saints' Day. The case was then tried by Geoffrey le Scrope and other itinerant Justices at North- ampton.! The result of the trial is not recorded, but there is little doubt that the verdict was in favour of the monks, for as late as the sixteenth century the pension of lo marks continued to be paid by the Rectors of St. Peter to the Priory. Considerable light is thrown by this case, on the history of the endowments of St. Peter, and a full abstract will be found in the subsequent chapter on Patrons and Endowments.
Bevercote held the rectory of St. Peter's till 1347, when he was succeeded by Richard Aunsel.
XI v. William de Boulge. A priest of this name was vicar of Slipton in the middle of the fourteenth century, but died or resigned in 1361.
XIX. John Verney was appointed to the vicarage of Moulton, March 29th, 1419. Six years later, on the resignation of Thomas Morton, he was appointed (Feb- ruary 12th, 1424-5) to the Rectory of St. Peter's. In 1428 he exchanged benefices with Robert Fitzhugh, prebendary of Handesacre, in the church of Lichfield.
XX. Robert Fitzhugh was the third son of Henry, Lord Fitzhugh, and was educated at King's Hall, Cam- bridge, of which he became master, July 6th, 1424, and in the same year was appointed to the chancellorship of the University. Previously to this, though only in minor orders, he had received many lucrative ecclesiastical preferments. In 1401 the Prior and Convent of Canter- bury appointed him to the rectory of St. Leonard's, Eastcheap, which he afterwards exchanged for a canonry in Lismore cathedral. Shortly afterwards he secured a canonry in Lincoln Cathedral. In 141 7 he was ordained sub-deacon by the Bishop of Ely, and deacon in the fol- lowing year. In 14 18 he became a canon of York, and on July loth, 14 19, exchanged his Lincoln prebend for the archdeaconry of Northampton. On August 4th of the same year, the prebendal stall of Aylesbury was added to his other preferments.
As chancellor of Cambridge, Fitzhugh delivered an
t Assize Roll (3 Edward III.) No. 633, Memb. 168 dorso ; also Assize Roll No. 629, Memb. 161, and Roll 633, Memb. 164.
THE RECTORS OF ST. PETER'S. 87
eloquent Latin oration before Convocation, in which he proposed as a remedy for the great decrease of students, that the richer benefices of the Church of England should, for a limited period, be bestowed only on graduates of either of the Universities. This measure was actually adopted a few years later by Archbishop Chichele, in the Convocation of 1438.
In 1428 Fitzhugh became rector of St. Peter's, North- ampton, and held the living till 1432.
He was frequently absent from England on diplomatic business in Germany and elsewhere. In 1429 he was ambassador to Rome and Venice, and while at the Papal Court, was promoted to the bishopric of London, Bishop Gray being translated to Lincoln to make room for him. He was consecrated at Foligno, September 1 6th, 143 1. In 1434 he was one of the representatives of the English Church at the Council of Basle. Letters of safe conduct for a year were granted to him May 8th, and permission to take with him jewels and plate to the value of 2,000 marks. His allowance was to be at the rate of 500 marks per annum, paid daily.
During his stay at Basle he was elected to the see of Ely (1435). He died on his way home, probably at St. Osyth's, Essex, January 15th, 1435-6. He was buried in his own cathedral of St. Paul's, near the high altar, and the spot was marked by a fine brass, on which the bishop was shewn in full pontificals, with his right hand raised in benediction, and in his left hand a crozier. His epitaph ran as follows : —
Nobilis antistes Robertus Lundoniensis Filius Hugonis, hie requiescit : honor Doctorum, flos Pontificum, quera postulat Ely, Romae Basilicae regia facta refert. Plangit eum Papa, Rex, Grex, sua natio tola, extera gens si quae noveret ulla pium. Gemma pudicitiae, spectrum pietatis, honoris Famaque justitiae formula juris erat.
By his will, dated at Dover, he bequeathed £\2 towards the erection of the schools at Cambridge, and all his pontificals to St. Paul's, except the ring given him by the Venetians, which he had already placed upon the shrine of St. Erkenwald.*
XXI. William Okehurn was rector of St. Peter's from 1 43 1 -2 to 1433. He then exchanged with John Smyth, rector of Dovelton in the diocese of Exeter.
* Dictio7iary of National Biography, xix. 177.
88 THE RECTORS OF ST. PETER'S.
By his will,J dated July 30th, 1451 (proved August 25th, 1455), ^® leaves his body to be buried in the church ofSt. Katharine next the Tower.
To the fabric of that church he gives 6s. 8d.
To the brethren of the college of Westbury in the county of Gloucestershire, all his brass pots, dishes, etc.
To the said college, one missal and one pair of vest- ments and his medical writing {medicinalem scrtptum) in English, which was in the possession of the abbot of St. Augustine..
To the same college the Lenten sermons of Januensis [Januensem opere Quadragesimalt)* in one volume.
" To the master of Gauntest one goblet of silver, and I remit to him 20s. which he owes me, on condition that he shall have my obit celebrated among his co-brothers, the master himself receiving i2d., each brother 6d., and each clerk 2d., and that the said master shall have cele- brated as soon as he can three trentals in his con- fraternity, under the supervision of Master William Sutton, rector of St. Werburgh."
He bequeaths to the new library to be built at Bristol, " Parisien "+ in two volumes, to be delivered by the said rector.
To the library of the University of Oxford he leaves a book of Aristotle's Ethics and Politics.
To the rector of St. Werburgh his lined hood.
To the rector of St. Peter ot Marlborough his grey gown with the hood.
To each nun of St. Mary Magdalen,II 6d.
X P.C.C. Stokton. 3.
* There was a copy of this book in the monastic library at Durham entered as Sermones januensis qui vocantur opus quadragesimali (Catalogi veteres Hbrorum Eccl: Cath: Dvnelm, Surtees Society, 1838, p. 75)- The Bristol City Reference Library possesses another copy containing addresses on the various gospels in Lent. It formerly belonged to Glastonbury Abbey, and still bears the inscription Liber monaster it beate Marie Glastonie. Januensis designates Jacobus de Voragine, Archbishop of Genoa (Janua) 1292-98, a well known ecclesiastical writer.
t "The Hospital of Gaunts," usually called "Gaunts," was a famous Bristol establishment founded by Maurice de Gaunt, and dedicated to St. Mary and St. Mark. It is said to have relieved one hundred poor daily. The chapel is still extant.
X Parisien may possibly refer to Willelmus Parisiensis, author of De fide et legibus, and of Summa de Viciis.
11 The Hospital of St. Mary Magdalen, Bristol, was in charge of sisters and a chaplain .
THE RECTORS OF ST. PETER'S. 89
To each chaplain of Westbury, 6d.
To each clerk 2d. for performing his exequies.
XXV, Robert Prudde was appointed to the rectory of Cottesbrook, in September, 145 1. In 1476 he became rector of St. Peter's, and held the living till his death in i486.
XXVII. Robert Hundesworth held the living from 1493 to 1503. In the latter year he resigned on con- dition that he should receive an annual pension of ten marks.
XXIX. Edmund Collerto7i. In 1507 the King (the mastership of St. Katharine's being vacant) presented Edmund CoUerton to St. Peter's. After an incumbency of seven years, he retired on a pension of ;^8.
XXX. Robert Bright was appointed to the rectory of St. Peter's in 15 14, and held it till his death in 1533-4- From April 22nd, 1532, he was also rector of Aynho, Northamptonshire.
XXXI. William Bretteyn was admitted to Doctors' Commons, April 25th, 15 18.* He was rector of St. Peter's from 1534 till his death in 1552. His will, which was proved in July of that year, is at Somerset House, and shows that in addition to the Rectory of St. Peter's, he held, at the time of his death, numerous other prefer- ments. It reads as follows : —
In dei nomine, Amen. This is the last testament and will of Vv'illm. Brettayn preiste and one of the prebendaries of Westminster made and wrytten the xth daye of July anno Edwardi sexti quinto as here foloweth. Inprimis I bequeathe my soule to Almightie God, humblie beseeching hym to judge me not after his justice but after his greate mercie, and my bodye to the earthe and there to be buried, whereas it shall please myne execu- tours under wrytten whom I moste hartely desire to see this my laste testement and will fulfilled and performed, as my onely trust is in theym, and as they wolde answer before God for the true ministring of the same. And of my money, goodes, and substance whiche I have nowe in my pos- sessiones, I will that myne executours under wrytten give and deliver or cause to be delyvered to the churchwardens of my benefice of Aylton in Hunttingdonshire foure poundes in money to be given to my poore neigh- bors of the same parishe. Item foure poundes likewise to be distributed at my benefice of Toft in lincolnshire. Also four poundes to be distributed in a like maner at my benefice of Sainct Peter in Northampton and unto the chappels annexed unto the same [Upton and Kingsthorpe]. Also at my prebende at Liddington in Rutlandeshier foure pounds like-
* Dr. Charles Coote's Sketches of the Lives and Characters of Eminent English Civilians, 1804, p. 15.
90 THE RECTORS OF ST. PETER S.
wise to be distributed. Item at my benefice at Est Grensted in Sussex foure poundes in like maner to be distributed ther to my poore and lovinge neighbors. Also I give and bequeathe to the poore people of Westminster foure poundes in money to be delyvered to the churchwardens of the same parishe to thuse of the poore folke. Item I will that after my deathe every Sondaye {sic.) in the weke for the space of one moneth the church- wardens of Seynt Margetts shall receyve of my executours every wyke on the Sondaye xxs- to thuse of poore folke to be given unto them in ye churcheyarde of Seynt Margett's betwixt Mattenes and thoUy Comunion, and this to be done without delay. And I give to the churchwardens for ther labore ijs. apece.
After several bequests to relatives and serv^ants, he leaves
To my freinde Godlocke gospeller in the churche of Westminster my beste gowne lyned with damaske also my best jacket of chamblet. . . Also I give to every prebendary present at my buryall vis. viiid. and to Mr. Deane, yf he be there presente xs. and to every petticanon presente at my buryall iijs. iiijd. and to every clerke presente at my buryall ijs. viiid. And this money to be paide to theym when the comunion is ended. Item to bedemen presente at my buryall to every one xijd- Also to every one of the bell Ringers presente at my buryall xiid. of this my last will and testament I ordeyne and make Mr. Thomas Argall of Ive Lane and Mr. Langeley goldsmith in Chepeside dwelling at the signe of Adam and Eve my executours to dispose my goods truly as I have put them in trust. And I give to eche of them for their labour ffyve poundes in money desiring theym most hartely as my trust is in theym to take upon them to be myn executours and not to refuse the same as my trust ys in theym. And my supervisor Mr. Thomas Allen parsone of Stevenage, and he to have for his labor xls. Willm Bretten manu propria of whose soule Jesu have marcie.
P C. C. Powell. F 20. Proved July 28th, 1552.
XXXII. Edmund Davye was rector of St. Peter's from 1552 till his death in 1559. A copy of his will is in the Northampton Probate Office. It is dated October 28th, 1559, and was proved December 5th of the same year. He leaves " unto Mr. Vicar of St. Pulcres one prestes cape and my sarcenett tippett." He desires his "bodie to be buried in the chapell of the churche of St. Peter's aforesaid."
XXXIII. William Roote. In a return of churches, vicars, etc., in the diocese of Peterborough, made in 1 56 1, occurs the following: — "Northampton, St. Peter. William Rott, Clerk : Rector : no degree : Priest : Learned : resides there : 7ion hospitalis est : does not preach : has no other benefice."*
* Bridges' MSS. in Bodleian. Copied from a Corpus Christi College Camb. MS.
THE RECTORS OF ST. PETER'S. 9 1
His will is dated May 15th, 1562, and contains the fol- lowing provisions : — His body is to be buried " wUn the chauncell of St. Peter's." " Unto saynt Thomas beade Howse in Northampton, xxd- Item to saynt John's bead Howse . . . ." "I bequethe to the parichis of St. Peters, St. Maryes and Kingsthorppe to every poore body in everye of these pariches a id. a howsse at the discretion of Mary my wife,"
XXXIV. Richard Burdsall was vicar of Weekley from 15 1 7 to 1 5 18; of Preston Deanery from 1520-30; master of St. John's Hospital, Northampton, from 1530 till his resignation in 1544 ; vicar of St. Michael's, Northampton, 1544; rector of St. Peter's, 1563 to 1576, when he resigned the living. A priest of the same name (possibly a son) was vicar of Rothersthorpe from 1591 till February, 1613-14.
XXXV. Wtlltmn Nowell was rector of St. Peter's from January 12th, 1576-7 till 1590, when he resigned. He is probably identical with the William Nowell who was instituted to "the perpetual vicarage of the parish church of Hellydon" on presentation of the king (by lapse) on October 15th, 1607. In his will, dated May 3rd, 1624, he mentions two sons — Edward and Benjamin, and three married daughters — Katharine Hickman, Audrie Cleyver, and Mary Heire, to each of whom he bequeaths twelve pence. The residue of his property he leaves to be equally divided between his wife Margerie and his two unmarried daughters, Sara and Elizabeth. He was buried at Helidon May 5th, 1624, having " been vicar of Hellydon [17 years] and minister of the parishe of Catesbye 44 yeares."*
XXXVI. William Stocke was a native of Hereford- shire, and was educated at Brasenose College, Oxford He took the degree of B.A., 1548 ; M.A., 155 1-2 ; B.D., March 1559-60; D.D., 1574. He was Elton fellow oi Brasenose 1547-1557 ; First Principal of Gloucester Hall, 1560-3; President of St. John's College, 1563-4; and again Principal of Gloucester Hall 1564-74. He applied for license to preach 1575. He was vicar ot Sherborne, Gloucestershire, 1554, and of Minety, Wilts,
* Helidon Parish Register
92 THE RECTORS OF ST. PETER'S.
1556; canon of Wells, 1560; rector of Marston Sicca, Gloucestershire, 1560; rector of Crick, Northampton- shire, 1561 ; canon of Brecon, 1568; rector of Ilmington, Warwickshire, 1568 ; of Feckenham, Suffolk, 1577 ; of Idlicote, Warwickshire, 1583, and rector of St. Peter's, Northampton, 159 1 till his death in 1602.*
XXXVII. Thomas Bellamye of Middlesex, gentle- man, matriculated at Christchurch, Oxford, November 23rd, 1581, aged II. He is described as " scholaris m" Wodson." He is very possibly identical with Thomas Bellamye, rector of St. Peter's, but if this is the case, he does not appear to have ever taken his degree at Oxford.
XXXVIII. John Cocke was a native of Middlesex, and was educated at the university of Louvain, where he took the B.A. degree. He was incorporated at Cam- bridge in 1566 and "commenced" M.A. 1568. He was elected to a fellowship at St. John's College, on April 6th, 1 57 1, and four years later proceeded to the degree of B.D. At the end of 1575 he gave great offence to the master of St. John's by certain reflections which he had made upon him in a common-place in the college. The master complained of him to Lord Burghley. Doctors Hawford, Goad, and Whitgitt were called in to appease the quarrel, and Bishop Cox, of Ely, the visitor of the college, ordered Mr. Cocke to retract. Cocke, who appears to have been supported by many of the fellows of St. John's, took no notice of the order. Eventually Lord Burghley prescribed a speech which he was to read. He read it accordingly, but the master complained that he made matters worse by his observations, and that since his return to the college, he was " rather more unquiet than amended." The dispute was still unsettled in May, 1576, for on the 30th of that month Cocke wrote a Latin letter to Lord Burghley in answer to the accusations made against him.t
In 1607 he was appointed to the rectory of St. Peter's, Northampton, by the executors of Thomas Bellamye, late rector. He was duly instituted, but shortly after- wards an action was brought against him by Francis
* Vo%\.&['s Alwnni Oxoniense$.
t Domestic State Papers, Jan. 20th, March nth, and May 30th, 1576.
THE RECTORS OF ST. PETER'S. 93
Morgan, of Kingsthorpe, who sought to eject him on the ground that he (Francis) was the patron of the living, and had never granted to Thomas Bellamye or his executors the right of presentation. It was stated, moreover, that Cocke had never read the thirty-nine articles as the law required, and that on that ground also the living was void. The case appears to have been decided in favour of Francis Morgan, and Cocke either resigned or was deprived of the living.*
John Cocke was the author of : —
(i) "Words uttered before his beginnings to certain exercises as well of Common Place, so called, as other his readings intended by him to answer a statute of St. John's College de Lectione Btbln, what time he took to read the epistle to the Hebrews."
(2) Latin Letters to Lord Burghley.t
XXXIX. Dr. Samuel Gierke was a younger son of Edward Clerke, of Willoughby, co. Wanvick, at which place his family had been settled for several centuries, as tenants of Magdalen College, Oxford. He was born December 14th, 1582, and educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he matriculated July 4th, 1600. He took the B.A. degree from Magdalen Hall, December 15th, 1603; M.A., January 29th, 1606-7; and B.D. and D.D. as a grand compounder, June 13th, 161 6, being at that time chaplain to Prince Charles.
In 1608 Dr. Clerke became rector of St. Peter's, on the presentation of Francis Morgan, of Kingsthorpe ; and in 1 614 was appointed to the rectory of Winwick, which he held, conjointly with St. Peter's, till his death in 1641. In 1620 he received a further piece of preferment — the mastership of Wigston's Hospital, Leicester.
As was perhaps natural in a royal chaplain, Dr. Clerke was an ardent supporter of King Charles and Archbishop Laud in their attempt to introduce some measure of decency and uniformity in the services of the English church. In 1637, in conjunction with Dr. Robert Sybthorpe, Clerke was appointed commissioner for the correction of abuses in the diocese of Peter-
* For further particulars of this lawsuit see under " Patrons." t Cooper's Athenae Cantabrigienses , ii., 445.
94 THE RECTORS OF ST. PETER'S.
borough. To his work in that capacity we have already referred (pp. 36-38).
With the assembling of the Long Parliament (Novem- ber, 1640) and the consequent fall of Laud, the fortunes of Dr. Gierke began to wane. As has been already stated, an action was brought against him December 22nd, 1640, for the part he had taken in supporting the Laudian reforms, and as was only to be expected at that juncture, the case went against him.
Two days later (December 24th) a more serious accu- sation was brought against him — that of embezzling the funds of Wigston's Hospital.
"1640, December 24th. Petition of William Rowse against Dr. Gierke, parson of Kingsthorpe, Upton, and St. Peter's, Northampton, etc., complains of injustice and oppression practised by him as chaplain and prin- cipal feoffee in trust of the new hospital at Leicester, toward the tenant and inmates thereof."*
The specific charge against him was that he had received bribes for admitting pensioners into the hospital, and also that he had misappropriated the hospital funds. The latter charge appears to have been to a certain extent true, for he admitted having retained a consider- able sum of money belonging to the hospital in his own hands, but promised to refund it.t
It is probable that the worry entailed by these pro- ceedings hastened his end, for Dr. Gierke died a few weeks later, in March, 1 640-1.
A contemporary writer, deploring the poverty of the clergy in Northamptonshire, says : — " I doe not know any in the Diocesse that is able to leave one hundred pound, nor scarce fiftie pounds to his children in land, excepting Dr. Gierke, who having been king's chaplain twenty years, hath perhaps gotten something."*
In addition to performing his ecclesiastical duties. Dr. Gierke was a justice of the peace, and in that capacity took an active part in the suppression of the plague in 1638.
He was twice married — first to Margaret, daughter of
* Lords' Journals iv, 117.
f Nichols' History of Leicestershire i., pt. 2.
J A Certificate frovt Northamptonshire of Pluralities, etc. 1641.
.a>ioT
'i
CLERKE OF WiLLOUGHBY, KiNGSTHORPE, AND WaTFORD.
ROBERT CLERKE,- ELIZABETH CLERK,
Of Willoughby, co. Warwick. d. of Clerk of the Were.
MAUD (2)=HENRY CLERKE= (i) JOAN
I Of Willoughby, I
bom 1530.
JEROiME= MARGARET CLERKE I DORMER
of Wil- loughby.
Councillor at Law,
died 1624.
bur. No 2nd, 1639, at Willoughby.
CLERKES of Willoughby and Guilsborough.
I
: EDWARD
CLERKE
died Nov.,
1631
WILLIAM CLERKE,
eldest son,
born Oct. i8th, 1574.
GEORGE
CLERKE,
of Willoughby,
died s.p.
daughter oi Thoma
Gierke, of Willoughby,
CO. Warwick.
. =CLEMENT CLERKE,
born ]a
SIR GEORGE CLERKE, Knt, of Watford,
CO. Norlhants, born Sept. 4th, 1588,
died January 30th, 1648-9 ,m.i.
CLERKES of Watford and Launde Abbey.
^
I
HENRY CLERKE.
of Ulcombe and Rochester, co. Kent,
serjeant-at-law.
SAMUEL CLERKE,
of Kingsthorpe, D.D., born Dec, 14th, 15S2, died March, 1640-1.
^
MARGARET (i)=DR. SAMUEL CLERKE
d. of William Peyto, of of Kingsthorpe,
Chesterton, co. Warwick, Esq. co. Northampton, D.D.
buried at Kingsthorpe born December 14th, 1582,
February 9th, 1633 4. died March, 1641.
2) KATHARINE SYMPSON
Of Christ Church, Canterbury, widow, married September 13th, 1635, in Canterbury Cathedral.
|
1 u\THARINE, |
ELEANOR, |
1 ELIZABETH. |
1 SIR SAMUEL |
WILLIAM. |
MARY |
GEORGE, |
1 MARGARET, |
JANE, |
i) |
|
fried 30th May, |
married nth |
baptized Oct. |
CLERKE, |
baptized |
baptized |
baptized |
baptized |
baptized |
> c S a |
|
, at Kingsthorpe, |
September, |
i2th, 1617. |
of West Haddon. |
May 2nd, |
Feb. 29th. |
Oct. 26th, |
February 8th, |
Nov. 2nd, |
|
|
0 Sir Richard |
1634, at |
married at |
Knt.. one of His |
1620 |
1621-2. |
1624, a |
1626-7, |
1630, |
ra |
|
nsiord. one of the |
Kingsthorpe. |
Kingsthorpe, |
Majesty's High Court |
A merchant |
married |
London |
married |
mai-ried |
r |
|
Parens of the |
to |
Sept. 28th, |
of Chancery. |
residing in |
Daniel |
merchant. |
Dr Fulham, |
John |
|
|
lequer, and Lord |
Dr. W. |
1637. to |
baptized Mar. 22nd, |
the Canary |
Goldsmith, |
married |
one of the |
Wright, |
|
|
hief Justice of |
Burkitt. |
Samuel, |
1618-9, buried May |
Islands in |
of |
Parker. |
prebendaries |
of |
^ |
|
g's Bench. 1676. |
rector of |
eldest son of |
24th, 1688, at West |
1681. |
Campton, |
of Windsor. |
Brixworlh. |
||
|
e died June ist. |
Gayton. |
Samuel Broad, |
Haddon. Executor |
Married. |
Beds. |
^ |
Di |
||
|
was buried at |
of Rendcombe, |
to his father's will. |
|||||||
|
ington, June 9th, |
CO Gloucester, |
married May 5th, |
4 |
||||||
|
1698. |
by his wife. |
1665, at Brington, to |
|||||||
|
r Richard died |
Frances Drope, |
Ehzabeth Breton, of |
|||||||
|
J. 17th. and was |
of Aynhoe. |
Norton, who was |
|||||||
|
buried there |
buried at Norton-by- |
||||||||
|
ebruary 28th. |
Daventry, Feb. 20th. |
||||||||
|
1679-S0. |
1704-5- |
^
^
THE RECTORS OF ST. PETER'S. 95
William Peyto, of Chesterton, Warwickshire, by whom he had fourteen children.
(i) His eldest son, Sir Samuel Gierke, Knt., was one of the masters in the High Court of Chancery, and was lord of the manor of West Haddon, where he was buried May 24th, 1688.*
(2) One of Dr. Gierke's daughters — Katharine — married Sir Richard Rainsford, Chief Justice of the King's Bench, to whose memory there is a monument in Dallington Church, Northamptonshire.!
Mrs. Gierke died February, 1633-4, and was buried at Kingsthorpe.
In 1635 Dr. Gierke was married to his second wife — Katharine Sympson — in Canterbury Cathedral. J By her he had three children, all of whom appear to have died in childhood. The parish registers of Kingsthorpe contain frequent references to the baptisms, marriages, and burials of Dr. Gierke's large family.
Foster, in his Ahunni Oxontenses has apparently con- fused the rector of St. Peter's with his cousin and name- sake, Dr. Samuel Gierke, of London, who, unlike his Northamptonshire relative, held strongly Puritan views. Another cousin of Dr. Gierke settled at Watford, North- amptonshire, and became the ancestor of a line of Northamptonshire squires — the Clerkes of Watford.
Dr. Gierke's will has been lost, but the interesting minute book of " The committee for sequestrations sitting at Northampton for the Parliament, 1644," recently presented to the Northampton Free Library, contains the following extract from it : —
Samuell Gierke of Kingesthorpe in the county of Northton Doctor of Divinity by his last will and Testamt dated 5*0 Martii i6<« Car. 1640
* The following is the entry in the parish register of West Haddon : — " 1688 Sr Samuel Clerke Kn* the husbande of the Lady Elizabeth Gierke was buried the xxiiij. day of May."
t There is a fine portrait of Sir Richard Rainsford at Lincoln's Inn, and the society also possesses a large silver cup with two handles on which are engraved his arms and the following inscription : — Hoc Pignus Amoris Dicavit Ricardus Rainsford Mil. Gapitalis Justiciarius De Banco Regis, Hospitio Lincolniensi Matri Suae Semper Colendae 16770.
\ In the marriage licence which is dated September 2nd, 1635, the bridegroom is described as "Samuel Gierke, D.D., widower of Kings- thorpe," and the bride as " Katharine Sympson, of the Precincts of Christ Church, Canterbury, Wydow." The marriage took place next day. — Northamptonshire Notes and Queries, 1892, p. 57.
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\
THE RECTORS OF ST. PETER'S. 95
William Peyto, of Chesterton, Warwickshire, by whom he had fourteen children.
(i) His eldest son, Sir Samuel Gierke, Knt., was one of the masters in the High Court of Chancery, and was lord of the manor of West Haddon, where he was buried May 24th, 1688.*
(2) One of Dr. Gierke's daughters — Katharine — married Sir Richard Rainsford, Chief Justice of the King's Bench, to whose memory there is a monument in Dallington Church, Northamptonshire. t
Mrs. Clerke died February, 1633-4, and was buried at Kingsthorpe.
In 1635 Dr. Clerke was married to his second wife — Katharine Sympson — in Canterbury Cathedral. J By her he had three children, all of whom appear to have died in childhood. The parish registers of Kingsthorpe contain frequent references to the baptisms, marriages, and burials of Dr. Gierke's large family.
Foster, in his Alumni Oxonienses has apparently con- fused the rector of St. Peter's with his cousin and name- sake, Dr. Samuel Clerke, of London, who, unlike his Northamptonshire relative, held strongly Puritan views. Another cousin of Dr. Clerke settled at Watford, North- amptonshire, and became the ancestor of a line of Northamptonshire squires — the Clerkes of Watford.
Dr. Gierke's will has been lost, but the interesting minute book of " The committee for sequestrations sitting at Northampton for the Parliament, 1644," recently presented to the Northampton Free Library, contains the following extract from it : —
Samuell Clerke of Kingesthorpe in the county of Northton Doctor of Divinity by his last will and Testamt dated 5*0 Martii i6t« Car. 1640
* The following is the entry in the parish register of West Haddon : — " 1688 Si" Samuel Clerke Knt the husbande of the Lady Elizabeth Clerke was buried the xxiiij. day of May."
t There is a fine portrait of Sir Richard Rainsford at Lincoln's Inn, and the society also possesses a large silver cup with two handles on which are engraved his arms and the following inscription : — Hoc Pignus Amoris Dicavit Ricardus Rainsford Mil. Capitalis Justiciarius De Banco Regis, Hospitio Lincolniensi Matri Suae Semper Colendae \6'j'jo.
\ In the marriage licence which is dated September 2nd, 1635, the bridegroom is described as "Samuel Clerke, D.D., widower of Kings- thorpe," and the bride as " Katharine Sympson, of the Precincts of Christ Church, Canterbury, Wydow." The marriage took place next day. — Northamptonshin Notes and Queries, 1892, p. 57.
96 THE RECTORS OF ST. PETER'S.
(whereof he makes Samuel Gierke his sonne and Rich. Rainsford, Esqre executors) doth for the making of the sd executors ready to performe the payment of debts and legacies give and grante unto his sd executors and their asss all his estate and interest wch he had and held from Christ Church in Oxford of the severall closes and pastures lying and being in Thorpe in the parish of Norton neare Daventrey, and all those groundes and pastures lying in the parish of Welton in the said county, to be sold and disposed of to the uses abovesaid, namely, for the paymt of his debts and legacies.
XL. Robert Hill was instituted to the rectory of St. Peter's, April 17th, 1641, on the presentation of Henry Montague, Esq., Master of the Hospital ot St. Katharine. He took the Solemn League and Covenant in 1645, s^rid was still living in 1650. The Kingsthorpe parish register records the burial on December 17th, 1650 of " Mrs. Joane Hill, ye wife of Robert Hill, rector." The mutilated inscription mentioned by Bridges in his history of Northamptonshire, probably refers to her, and not to her husband, for there is no record of his burial either at Kingsthorpe or St. Peter's.
The Kingsthorpe parish registers record the baptism of six children of Robert and Joane Hill : — John, 1644 ; Katharine, 1645 '■> Robert, 1647 5 William and Mabel (twins) 1648; Joane, 1649. William and Mabel were buried in June, 1648.
XLL ya?7ies Williams. In the Augmentation Books in the Lambeth Palace Library occurs the following reference to this rector : —
St. Peter's in Northton.
The Commissioners appointed by an ordinance etc., doe, in pursuance of the said ordinance, approve of Mr. James Williams, minister of the gospell att St. Peter's in Northton to bee a person qualified etc. in testi- mony whereof they have caused etc.
Dated att Whitehall the one and twentith day of February, 1654.
XLII. Edward Reynolds^ was the son of Edward Reynolds, bishop of Norwich, and Mary his wife, daugh- ter of Dr. John Harding, president of Magdalen College, Oxford. He matriculated at Merton College, Oxford, but was afterwards elected to a demy ship at Magdalen, 1648. He proceeded B.A. March 14th, 1649-50, and M.A. June 28th, 1652. He was elected to a fellowship in 1650, but was ejected in 1660. In 1657 he was incorporated at Cambridge. In the following year he was appointed to the rectory of St. Peter's, Northampton, and held it for
JOHN CONANT, D.D. ArchcArchdeacon of Norfolk, prebend of St. Worcester, and vicar of All Saints, th Northampton. Born October i8th, bor iGoS, died March 12th, 1693-4 bur Buried in All Saints.
A
ELIZABETH REYNOLDS, married Aug. 14th, 1651, at Braunston.
ED LEONARD REY VOW, of ' eldest son of Cc Thomas Vow, Oxfof Hallaton, co. of th Leicester,
Te buried there baptiMay 3rd, 1709, 24th, aged 45. King MI.
He married
secondly Martha, d. of Richd Butler,
of Preston Capes, in 1697, and had issue.
^ELIZABETH
REYNOLDS.
baptized
June 23rd,
1663, at
Kingsthorpe,
married Nov.
6th, 1690, at
Kingsthorpe.
(ist wife.)
DOROTHEA REYNOLDS, baptized June 19th, 1666, at Kingsthorpe.
HENRY BARWELL,
of
Lyon's Inn,
gent.
= SARAH, REYNOLDS.
baptized October 23rd,
1667, at
Kingsthorpe,
married March
29th, 1692, at
Kingsthorpe.
^
A
REYNOLDS, of KiNosiHOKrE and Northampton.
AUGUSTINE REYNOLDS.^ BRIDGET a merchant in Southampton.
DR. EDWARD REYNOLDS, .r^ MARY HARDING,
L-ord Bishop of Norwich, born November, 1599, died July 28th, 1676. Vicar of All Saints, Northampton,
1628 to 1629, Rector of Braunston, 1631 to 1661.
daughter of Dr. John Harding.
chaplain to Queen Elizabeth, and
President of Magdalen College.
Oxford, died September 27th,
buried October 2nd, 1683. at St.
Peter's, Northampton.
(For Harding Pedigree see Appendix.)
EDWARD REYNOLDS, D.D.,= FRANCES ALSTON.
deacon of Norfolk, and rector of Peter's, Northampton, and Kings- lorpe, and prebend of Worcester, rn May 27th, 1630, died June 2Sth, ried July ist, 1698, at Kingsthorpe
ham.
daughter of John Alston, of Pa
CO. Bedford, Esq.
died at Marston, buried September
17th, 1722, at Kingsthorpe,
I THOMAS GIBBES,= MARY REYNOLDS, Rector of Ladbrooke, co. Warwick. baptized September i6th, 1628, at
All Saints,
married October 26th, 1647, at
Braunston, co. Northampton.
JOHN CONANT. D.D..= ELIZABETH REYNOLDS.
Archdeacon of Norfolk, prebend of
Worcester, and vicar of All Saints,
Northampton. Born October i8th,
1G08, died March 12th, 1693-4
Buried in All Saints,
^
married Aug. 14th, 1651, at Braun$ton.
|
WARD = |
- HANNAH |
JOHN. |
THOMAS. |
|
NOLDS, |
HALFORD, |
baptized |
baptized |
|
Trinity |
only daughter |
Dec. 6th. |
August 6th, |
|
ollege, |
and heiress of |
1669 at |
1671 at |
|
ord, and |
Stephen |
Kings- |
Kingsthorpe |
|
e Middle |
Halford, of |
thorpe. |
|
|
emple. |
Newhouse. |
died |
|
|
zed Nov, |
in parish of |
Sept iitb. |
|
|
, 1664, at |
Meryvale. co. |
buried |
|
|
gsthorpe. |
Warwick. |
there Sept. |
|
|
about 20 in |
I2th. 1688. |
||
|
1687, married |
Ml. |
||
|
Jan. 4th, |
|||
|
16S7-S, at |
|||
|
Sheepy. CO. |
|||
|
Leicester. |
|||
|
(Kingsthorpe |
|||
|
Register) |
|
1 JOSHUA. |
1 JOSHUA. |
ROBERT, |
1 HENRY. |
ROBERT |
MARY |
THOMAS = |
^ FRANCES |
|
baptized |
baptized |
baptized |
baptized |
BRETON, |
REYNOLDS, |
BRETON. |
REYNOLDS. |
|
January nth, |
March nth. |
February |
April 14th, |
Of Teeton, in parish |
born and baptized |
of |
baptized Oct. |
|
1673-4. at |
I674-5. a' |
17th, |
1680. at |
of Ravensthorpe, |
June 26th, 1660. |
Cuhvorth, |
gth. 1661, |
|
Kingsthorpe, |
Kingsthorpe, |
1676-7, |
Kingsthorpe, |
second son of |
in London |
third son |
at |
|
died May |
at |
buried there |
Francis Breton, |
(Kingsthorpe |
of |
Kingsthorpe, |
|
|
l6th. buried |
Kingsthorpe. |
the same |
baptized May 2nd, |
Register). |
Francis |
married June |
|
|
there May |
buried there |
day. |
1656, at |
married Sept. |
Breton. |
iSth, 16S5, at |
|
|
iSth. 1674. |
February |
Ravensthorpe. |
24th. 16S3. at |
of Teeton, |
Kingsthorpe, |
||
|
M.I, |
24th, |
barrister-at-la\v. |
Kingsthorpe. |
in 16S5 of |
died Oct. 2nd. |
||
|
J676-7. |
deputy recorder of Northampton. buried Jan 12th. 1714-5, at Ravensthorpe. |
died Jan. 22nd, buried Jan. 25th. 1708-9. at Ravensthorpe. M.I. |
Kettering, |
buried Oct 6th 1 70-1. at Ravensthorpe. |
A
A
LEONARD
VOW.
eldest son of
Thomas Vow.
of Hallaton, co.
Leicester,
buried there
May 3rd, 1709,
aged 45.
He married
secondly Martha, d. of Richd Butler.
of Preston Capes, in 1697, and had issue.
A
ELIZABETH
REYNOLDS.
baptized
June 23rd,
1663. at
Kingsthorpe,
married Nov.
6th, 1690, at
Kingsthorpe.
(ist wife.)
i DOROTHEA
REYNOLDS,
baptized June
19th. 1666.
at
Kingsthorpe.
Lyon's Inn, gent.
I
— SARAH. REYNOLDS.
baptized October 23rd,
1667, at Kingsthorpe, married March 29th, 1692, at Kingsthorpe.
/^
A
THE RECTORS OF ST. PETER'S. 97
no less than forty years. There is no record of his insti- tution at Peterborough, but in the Augmentation Books at Lambeth Palace is the following record of his appoint- ment : —
Edward Reynolds, clerke, Master of Arts Admitted the 15th day of October, 1658 to the Rectory of St. Peter in the Towne of Northton with the Chappells of Kingsthorp and Upton thereunto annexed in ye county of Northton upon a presentation exhibited the same day from Thomas Coxe Esq. Dr. in physicke, Master or Warden of the Hospitall of St. Katherin neare ye Tower, London, with ye Brothers and Sisters of the said Hospitall the patrons. And certificates from Jo. Conant, Edm. Staunton, Hen. Wilkinson, Henry Cornish, Jo. Nixon, Th. Owen, Hen. Hickman, Sam. Nicholls. Josua Crosse, Geo. Porter, Tho. Cracroft, Sam. Blower.
He was made a prebendary of Worcester in 1 660, and archdeacon of Norfolk in 166 1. In 1676 he took the degrees of B.D. and D.D. He died June 28th, 1698, and was buried at Kingsthorpe, where there is a tablet to his memory and that of several of his children.*
His funeral sermon was preached by Wm. Gibbs, rector of Gay ton. It was printed in 1699 and fills thirty- two pages. His character was thus pourtrayed by the preacher : —
His great Meekness and Condescention added no small Lustre to his other Accomplishments for here appear'd not the least Leaven of Pride to soure his Conversation, no haughty disdainful looks towards Inferiours, no fond affectation of Distance or Difficulty of Access, but all along com- porting himself with unstrain'd Humility, as evidently declar'd him to be a true Minister of his, who own'd himself to be a servant to all.
By his wife Frances, daughter of J. Alston, Esq., of Patenham, Bedfordshire, Dr. Reynolds had seven sons and six. daughters. In the Kingsthorpe parish registers the baptism of twelve of these is recorded. Mary, bap- tized (in London) June 26th, 1660 ; Frances, baptized (at Kingsthorpe) October 9th, 1661 ; Elizabeth, 1663 ; Edward, 1664; Dorothea, 1666; Sarah, 1667; John, i66g; Thomas, 1671; Joshua, 1673-4; Joshua, 1674-5; Robert, 1676-7, and Henry, 1680. In the same registers is recorded the burial of Joshua, 1674; Robert, 1676-7 ; Henry, 1680 ; John, 1688; and Edward Reynolds, D.D., July ist, 1698. Turning to the marriage registers of Kingsthorpe we find the following : —
* For inscription see chapter on Kingsthorpe.
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