WYMINGTON or WIMINGTON
Wimmentone (xi cent.).
Wymington, whose northern and western boundary
is identical with the county boundary between Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire, is a parish of
1,760 acres. Of this acreage 677¾ acres are arable,
851¾ permanent grass and 10 woods and plantations. (fn. 1)
The soil is clay, the subsoil sand, clay and limestone.
The lie of the land is uniform; Sharnbrook Summit in
the south of the parish is 336 ft. above ordnance datum.
There is one main road running through the parish
from Podington in the west to Rushden in the north.
This road passes through Wymington village, which
is situated mostly in a hollow in the north-west of
the parish. The church, dedicated to St. Laurence,
stands on the east of the road, whilst further north
on the same side of the road is the manor-house. It
is now a farm-house, and bears a date 1612 in one of
its dormers. It is built of stone and has a tile roof,
although none of the original windows remain, nor
does it contain any original woodwork. One of the
cottages has the date 1693 over its entrance door.
Away from the village to the south is Goosey Lodge,
occupied by Mr. Dickenson. It is a small stone building,
having a corrugated iron roof, and was built in 1863 on
the site of a former house burnt down in the previous
year. A small manufacture of pillow lace is still
carried on in the parish. Nichols, writing in 1785,
describes Wymington as 'an obscure and ruinous
village consisting of thirty-five indifferent stone houses,
all but one covered with thatch,' with a population
of 216, (fn. 2) which in 1901 had increased to 509. He
also mentions traces of a park and of a capital mansion
on the south side of the town, the ruins of which
had been removed within the memory of man. (fn. 3)
Wymington contains a Wesleyan chapel. Relics of
the Bronze Age have been found here. (fn. 4) This parish
was inclosed in 1811. (fn. 5)
MANORS
Four tenants are mentioned as holding in Wymington at the Survey of
1086, of whom two held manors. Of
these the more important was WYMINGTON
MANOR. assessed at 4 hides, and belonging to
Walter the Fleming. (fn. 6) The overlordship, as in the
case of Walter's other lands, became attached to the
barony of Wahull. William Cantlow held the overlordship as part of this barony in the early part of
the 13th century, (fn. 7) and was succeeded by his son
George, on whose death without issue in 1273 this
right passed to his sister and co-heir Millicent wife
of Eudo de la Zouche. The Zouches of Harringworth continued to exercise the overlordship of
Wymington Manor as late as 1515, but after 1372
no mention of it as part of the barony of Wahull
has been found. (fn. 8)
Towards the end of the 13th century the Burnels
appear for a short time as intermediary lords between
the Zouches and the mesne lords. Thus in 1278–9
Roger de Nowers held of Robert Burnel, who held of
the heirs of George Cantlow, who in their turn held
from John de Wahull. (fn. 9) By 1299 this interest had
passed to Philip Burnel, (fn. 10) and after 1301 no further
trace of it has been found. (fn. 11)
In 1086 the tenant of Wymington Manor was
Osbert, who succeeded Lant, a man of Levenot. (fn. 12)
The descent during the following century has not
been ascertained, but by the beginning of the 13th
century a family called de Welton were in possession
of the manor. In 1208 William de Welton received
the acknowledgement of his right to 2 virgates of
land in this parish. (fn. 13) It was probably the same
William who a few years later held a knight's fee in
the same place. (fn. 14) He appears to have had at least
two sons, Roger de Welton (fn. 15) and John de Welton,
who held land in Wymington in 1247. (fn. 16) A pedigree extracted from the Plea Rolls gives Roger de
Nowers, who is subsequently found holding this
manor, as the son of William de Welton, (fn. 17) but it
seems more likely that Nichols' statement, drawn
from the Orlebar MSS. to
which he had access, that
Roger de Nowers married
Joan daughter of John de
Welton is correct. (fn. 18) Roger
de Nowers certainly held the
manor, then including 4½
hides, from 1275 onwards. (fn. 19)
The year of his death is
not known, but he was succeeded by his son Roger de
Nowers, who died some time
previous to 1298–9, at which
date the guardianship of
Roger, his son and heir, fell
into the king's hands by reason of the minority
of the overlord. (fn. 20)
Nowers. Argent two bars gules with three crescents gules in the chief.
In 1330 this Roger was still holding Wymington
Manor, (fn. 21) which by 1346 had passed to Richard de
Nowers his son. (fn. 22) He died some time before 1352,
when his brother John de Nowers alienated this
manor to Hugh Curteys and John his son. (fn. 23) John
Curteys, as appears from his epitaph, was Mayor of
the Wool Staple at Calais, and appears to have been
a man of considerable wealth, for on the occasion of
a loan to Richard II in 1379 he furnished £20, a
large amount for a private person when it is considered that 'the good men of Bedford' together
only produced a similar sum. (fn. 24) He also rebuilt
Wymington Church, where together with Aubrey
his wife he lies buried. He died in 1391, and his
wife Aubrey survived him certainly till 1401, in
which year together with William Hyde and other
executors of her late husband's will she summoned
William Chinale touching a debt of £64 7s. 4d. (fn. 25)
Within the next two years the executors of John
Curteys alienated the manor to Sir Thomas Bromfletc,
who in 1403 obtained a
charter of free warren in his
demesne lands there. (fn. 26) He
died in 1430, and his son
Henry Bromflete, who acquired the title of Lord de
Vessy through his mother,
succeeded to Wymington
Manor. By his will, dated
1466, he directed that his
lordship of Wymington,
amongst other property, should
be sold by his executors, and
the money realized should
go towards the foundation of
chantries for the good of his soul. (fn. 27) He died in
1468–9, leaving his daughter Margaret wife of
Lawrence Threlkeld as his heir, (fn. 28) and Wymington
was disposed of according to the instructions mentioned above, for it appears three years later as the
property of Jaquetta Duchess of Bedford, (fn. 29) who after
the death of her first husband in 1435 had married
Sir Richard Wydville, afterwards Earl Rivers. (fn. 30) On
her death in 1472 her son Anthony Earl Rivers
became heir to Wymington. (fn. 31) He was a loyal supporter of the young King Edward V, who was his
nephew, and was in consequence beheaded at Pontefract by order of the Duke of Gloucester without
any trial. Sir Richard Wydville, his brother and
heir, was attainted by the Parliament of Richard III
in 1483, and his estates consequently escheated to
the Crown. Richard III granted Wymington Manor,
valued at £66 13s. 4d. yearly, to Thomas Metcalf in
the following year, (fn. 32) but the grant never appears to
have taken effect, for in 1485 on the accession of
Henry VII Richard Wydville obtained a general
pardon and resumption of his estates. (fn. 33) He died in
1491 without direct heir, but some time previously
he had settled the reversion of Wymington on his
niece, Joan Le Strange wife of Sir George Stanley. (fn. 34)
Joan died seised of this manor in 1514, when her
heir was her son Thomas Stanley Earl of Derby. (fn. 35)
He held the manor till his death in 1521, when
he was succeeded by his son Edward, followed in
1572 by his son Henry Stanley Earl of Derby. (fn. 36)
Bromflete. Sable a bend or flowered on both sides.
Wydville. Argent a fesse and a quarter gules.
Stanley. Argent a bend azure with three harts' heads caboshed or thereon.
According to an inquisition bearing date 1595,
Henry made a settlement of this manor on his son
Ferdinand in the year 1567–8, (fn. 37) and together with
him in 1591 he alienated the property by fine to
Roland Lacy and William Hobbes. (fn. 38) In 1598 the
latter again transferred Wymington Manor to William
Bletsoe. (fn. 39) He, whose family originally came from
Irchester in Northamptonshire, married as second
wife Agnes daughter of Thomas Cobbe of Sharnbrook, and this manor passed to their son William
Bletsoe on his father's death in 1639–40. (fn. 40) William
Bletsoe died some time previous to 1669, in which
year his widow Elizabeth and Anne Pearles widow,
his daughter, made a settlement of the manor. (fn. 41)
Anne Pearles married a second husband, Charles
Williamson, and in 1700 she and her son conveyed
the manor to trustees, (fn. 42) and finally in 1708 they
sold it to John Sawyer, whose son John sold it in
1713 to Major-General Livesay. (fn. 43) This manor
appears to have followed the same descent as Hinwick
(q.v.) until its sale to Mr. John Goosey in 1767. (fn. 44)
Unlike Hinwick, however, it has since remained
in the Goosey family, the present owners being
Mr. W. G. Goosey of Kettering and Mr. J. G.
Goosey of Forest Hill.
The manor of Wymington appears to have been
considerably curtailed in the 16th and 17th centuries,
when there is evidence of alienation of portions of the
original estate to the Payne family and also to the
Alstons. Between 1591 and 1593, according to
Nichols, the Earl of Derby alienated certain of the
demesne lands of this manor to William Payne, lord
of Podington. (fn. 45) These reappear in 1624 as the property of his niece Sybil daughter of Francis Payne
and wife of Sir Christopher Yelverton. (fn. 46) She left a
son Henry, who died in 1628, aged four years, and
this property, here called the Court Place, passed to
his cousin Richard Child. No further separate mention has been found of the estate, which lay contiguous to Podington, in which it probably became
absorbed.
Sir Edward Alston acquired land in Wymington,
part of the demesne, and also appears to have had a
house there. His property was sequestered in 1644,
and his wife petitioned to be allowed his mansionhouse and lands in Wymington for the maintenance
of herself and children. These lands were declared
to be purchased from William Bletsoe (at that time
lord of the manor) for £320. (fn. 47)
Wymington Manor had a view of frankpledge in
the 13th century. (fn. 48) A charter of free warren was
granted to Roger de Nowers in 1318, and renewed
to Sir Thomas Bromflete in 1403. (fn. 49)
There was a windmill attached to this manor in
1278 (fn. 50) ; it still existed in 1472, but no subsequent
mention has been found. (fn. 51)
A second manor, also known as WYMINGTON
MANOR, was held by Alured of Lincoln at Domesday. It was assessed at 3 hides, and had formerly
belonged to Godwin Frampolt. Alured also claimed
as successor to Godwin half a hide in Wymington
from Walter Fleming, another Domesday tenant, and
woodland for 100 swine from the Bishop of Coutances.
Both these claims were adjudged to be just by the
men of the hundred court. (fn. 52) In 1086 Glen was
the tenant of Alured, in Wymington Manor, whose
history during the next hundred years is not ascertainable. It appears in 1215 as late the property
of Peter de Surive, and was then made the subject
of a temporary grant to the Archbishop of Dublin. (fn. 53)
In 1224 the king granted this same estate to Robert
de la Briwere 'in our service at Dover,' (fn. 54) and this
grant was confirmed in 1231. (fn. 55) In 1234 Robert
de Briwere received a grant of six oaks from the
royal forest of Salcey to aid in building a house
for himself at Wymington. (fn. 56) His son William de
Briwere succeeded his father whilst still under age,
and his wardship was conferred on Ralph de
St. Sampson, whose daughter Joan he eventually
married. (fn. 57) In 1257 William Briwere alienated
2 carucates of land and two messuages in Wymington to Isabella Cardun, (fn. 58) the wife of William
le Mercer, who still held the manor in 1276. (fn. 59) She
died in 1284, leaving as heir her son John de
Exmouth. The property at this time included a
messuage, a dove-cote, 120 acres of arable land, three
'nativi,' whose services were worth 9s. each, two
cottars, and 16s. 1d. rent of free tenants. (fn. 60) John de
Exmouth held in Wymington in 1328, (fn. 61) and died in
1347 seised of this property, which he was stated to
hold at this time by the service of finding 'one
Hobelar in the king's war within the realm of
England at his own cost for forty days at 6d. a day.' (fn. 62)
He left as heir a son John, whose daughter Clementia
died under age in 1361, when her heir was declared
to be Richard son of William Harcourt. (fn. 63) Immediately after her death Richard Harcourt alienated
her lands without licence to John Curteys, (fn. 64) to whom
belonged Wymington Manor, in which this property
subsequently becomes merged.
A third owner of land at the Survey of 1086 was
William Spec, of whom Walter held 3 virgates which
had previously belonged to Levret a man of Borgred. (fn. 65)
This land, like other of William Spec's, became
attached to the barony of Warden, and in 1278–9
was held by Isabella Quarel. (fn. 66)
Plan of Wymington Church
In 1086 1 hide and 3 virgates in Wymington belonged to the reeves and almsmen of the king. Of
this 1 hide was held by Turchil, whilst 3 virgates
belonged to five brothers and their mother, and had
formerly been held by their father Lant. (fn. 67)
In 1278–9 Henry Bishop held 3 virgates of land
in Wymington of William le Enveyse, who held
them of Hemiestowe (Elstow ?) for 5s. and 1 lb. of
pepper. (fn. 68) By 1316 these virgates had become
absorbed in John de Exmouth's manor. (fn. 69)
CHURCH
The church of ST. LAWRENCE consists of a chancel 28 ft. 8 in. long by
10 ft. 9 in. wide, nave of the same
width, 41 ft. 5 in. long, north and south aisles 7 ft.
wide, extending a little beyond the nave westward,
and as far as the east end of the chancel to form
chapels, and a west tower 7 ft. 6 in. long by 8 ft. 11 in.
wide. The church is all of one build, a very interesting example, begun, as it seems, about 1350 by
John Curteys, whose tomb, dated 1391, is on the
south side of the chancel. The chancel has an east
window, taking up the full width of the east wall, of
five lights, with flowing tracery. The walls have
been (1844) covered with cement with false masonry
joints, and any traces of old arrangements on the north
wall or below the east window are now lost, but in
the south wall is a piscina with a projecting crocketed
canopy and a very richly panelled drain, and joining it on the west are two stepped sedilia with straightsided crocketed canopies, their heads filled with open
tracery. Immediately to the west is the arch over
the founder's tomb, of ogee form with good moulded
detail, more elaborate than any other arch in the
church, and having small figures of angels on its capitals.
The tomb itself is obviously of later date, doubtless
set up after 1391, and has panelled sides, that towards the south chapel being wider than the other,
and a top slab of Purbeck marble in which are set the
brass figures of John Curteys and his wife, he being
in civil dress and wearing a baselard. Over them are
crocketed and pinnacled canopies and two shields, one
bearing a fesse impaling a chief with a ring therein,
the other bearing three suns.
Round the edge is an inscription
with evangelistic symbols at the
four corners: 'Hic jacet Joh[anne]s
Curteys d[ominu]s de Wymyngton quondam maior stap[ule] lanar[um] Calesii, et
Albreda ux' e[ius]; qui istam eccl[esi]am
de novo construxerunt, obiit [enim]
id[em] Joh[anne]s XIX die mensis April'
anno dñi mill[essim]o ccc LXXXXI a[nima]bus
quor[um] p[ro]picietur altissim' amen.'
The west bay of the chancel
opens north and south to the
chapels with arches of two chamfered orders, and moulded halfoctagonal capitals to the inner
order; the east responds of both
arches, with the west respond of
that over the founder's tomb,
having been rebuilt in 1844. The
roof is original, with moulded
braces below cambered tie-beams resting on small
half-columns with moulded capitals and bases; the
spandrels have modern trefoiled piercings.
The chancel arch and nave arcades are of the same
general detail, and are simple, well-proportioned work.
The north chapel is now used as a vestry, part being
screened off by a wall in 1845 for that purpose, and
was probably intended to be so used from the first.
The east window is a single uncusped lancet, and in
the north wall are two square-headed windows, the
eastern of two and the other of three trefoiled lights;
the former has net tracery and the latter leaf-shaped
openings with a central sixfoil. In the south wall is
a doorway, blocked in 1845, which once led into the
chancel, and on the north side a large altar tomb
with a marble slab, on which is a small brass plate
to William Bletsoe, lord of Wymington, 1639. A
piscina, now in the parvise over the porch, is said
to have been here also. Just to the west of the
partition are traces of a squint now blocked up.
The south chapel has an east window like that of
the north chapel, and south windows of two and three
lights, also as in the north chapel, but both having
net tracery.
In the west jamb of the south-east window is a
beautiful crocketed canopy which seems to be in situ,
and to the east of the window a piscina with an ogee
canopy and flanking pinnacles. Below the window is
set a range of five niches with vaulted and crocketed
canopies which once rested on shafts, which is probably
part of the reredos of the high altar. Between the
windows is a door which is entirely of modern masonry.
In the floor of the chapel are two fine brasses, both
formerly in the chancel, one being of a knight in full
plate armour, with his head resting on his helm, on
which is the crest of a boar's head; on either side are
the arms of Bromflete, a bend flory. Above his head
is a large inscription plate, now set the wrong way
round, with fourteen Latin hexameters:
'Laus Thomae crescit Brounflet decus omne fanescit.
Qui post descessit hac tumba morte quiescit.
Regis R. ex donis pincerna fuit regionis
Hujus, et ipse bonis pro factis condicionis.
Dignus ad hoc utique, fit Tresorer hospiciique.
H. quarti sibique quia verax vixit ubique.
Hic rex jussisset ut Thesaurarius isset.
Anglis mansisset ex sensu ni renuisset.
O tibi sunt similes pauci dignissime miles.
Namque gradus abiles scandunt sensu Juveniles.
Silvestri festo migrasti fine modesto
Anno milleno quater x c ter quoque deno.
Miles descrete melioris digne Poete
Det xpc lete te sedem scandere mete.'
The second brass is that of Margaret his wife,
1407, with a marginal inscription: 'Hic margarita
de Brounflet laude repleta: Est Edward nata Seyntjon
chivaler tumulata: Non lateat te res, Domino Vessy
fuit heres, militis in vita Thomae Brounfletque
marita. Quinque per hos natis una nata generatis in
Wymyngtona bona corruit ista patrona, morte die
mensis viceno victa secundo octobris mundo pieta
more ferit necis ensis: annos millenos c. quater suscipe
plenos, addens septenos domini celestis amenos: Nate
pater domine flamen deus unice tue, hanc Margaretam
tibi luce poli cape letam.' Two shields out of four
are left, with the Bromflete arms, the other with the
same and a label of three points.
The nave is of four bays with arcades of a similar type
to the chancel arch, the piers being octagonal with
moulded capitals, and at the west end is the tower
arch of the same type, but now filled in with a
modern wall. The roof is original, a most excellent
specimen, divided into four bays with cambered ties
and foliate braces, rising from small moulded columns
which rest on grotesque head corbels; the ridge is
also moulded, and there are quatrefoiled piercings at
the back of the braces. The aisles have roofs of the
same date throughout, except the east part of the
south aisle.
In the north aisle are three square-headed windows
of two trefoiled lights with flowing tracery and a
blocked north doorway; at the west end is a circular
window formerly containing a quatrefoil.
The south aisle windows are like those on the
north, and the south doorway consists of two
continuous moulded orders, and has a mutilated holy
water recess in its east jamb within the church. Its
west window is circular, but seems made up of old
materials. The font is octagonal with a band of
trefoiled ogee arches round the top of the bowl, and
round the octagonal stem, which has evidently been
shortened, is panelling of quatrefoiled circles.
The church is built of coursed rubble, with
embattled parapets and a low-pitched lead roof. The
tower is in two stages with diagonal buttresses at the
western angles and a stair at the south-west; the
parapet is embattled, with a sunk cross in each merlon,
and beneath it is a moulded string enriched with a
running floral scroll and grotesque heads. Above the
tower rises an octagonal crocketed spire, which was
struck by lightning and shortened when repaired. It
is very richly ornamented with panelled gablets on
each face at the base, containing alternately pierced
and blank tracery, and above is a tier of single gabled
lights.
The belfry windows are in pairs of two-light
trefoiled openings with tracery and transoms, and a
line of carved ornament in heads and jambs: below
are square openings once filled with pierced stonework,
and the stair is lighted by small quatrefoils or crossshaped lights. The west window of the ground stage
is a single light, but formerly had two lights and
tracery. The tower was originally vaulted, the
springers only remaining.
The south porch has a parvise over it with blocked
trefoiled ogee lights on the east and west, and a twolight square-headed window on the south, which has
internal rebates for shutters. The lower stage has a
ribbed vault with a large foliate central boss, and the
outer doorway is of two wave-moulded orders with a
label stopped by carved foliage. In the north and
south walls are two-light traceried windows, and a
stone bench runs along each side. The chancel and
chapels are roofed in a single low-pitched span, and at
the eastern angles are embattled stair turrets now
entirely blocked on the inside. Until 1844 there
was some original glass in the east window, but it was
then taken out and sold to pay for certain repairs.
The nave is fitted with four rows of mediaeval
benches east of the gangway by the south door, and
two rows west of it: simple massive work with
moulded rails and buttressed styles, probably but
little later than the church: to several are attached
draw-out seats of 17th-century date, which can be
pulled out to stand in the main passage—a very
unusual detail.
The pulpit at the north-east of the nave is good
early 17th-century work, hexagonal, with carved
upper panels and a carved tester and back, and there
are several pews and the base of a balustraded screen,
not now in position, of the same date. At the east
of the nave is a brass of John Stokys, rector, undated,
but the date of his death was about 1520.
Some interesting remains of a wall-painting of the
Doom have been discovered at the east end of the
north and south walls of the nave, Heaven on the
north and Hell on the south. The central part of
the subject, on the east wall, is lost: but elsewhere in
the church are many traces of painted decoration.
There are six bells, one, modern, not included. The
first and second are by Taylor of St. Neots, 1814.
The other three are by William Jurden, and bear
his marks and the inscriptions: (3) 'Nomen Magdalenie campana gerit melodie,' (4) 'Sit nomen
Domini benedictum,' and (5) 'Musa Rafaelis sonat
auribus emanuelis'; on the bell frame is cut
'Stephen Newcome and John Church C. W. 1676,' and
on another part 'MP. William Payton, John Gray.'
The church plate was stolen in about 1850, and
there are now only a modern flagon and paten.
The older registers are in three books, the first
containing baptisms and burials 1662 to 1786 and
marriages 1662 to 1755, the second marriages 1755
to 1812, and the third baptisms and burials 1791
to 1810.
ADVOWSON
The advowson of Wymington
Church appears to have been attached to that manor in the parish
which belonged at Domesday to Alured of Lincoln.
The first mention which has been found of the right
of presentation is in 1235, when it was in the hands
of Peter de Surive. (fn. 70) In 1257 William Briwere
alienated a right in the advowson to Isabella de
Cardun, (fn. 71) and in 1260 to William de Lisle. (fn. 72) In
1278 the advowson was shared by Isabella Cardun,
Philip Burnel, and William de Montfort, the last
probably representing the right acquired by William
de Lisle. (fn. 73) Of these three, Isabella Cardun's right
followed the same descent as her manor (q.v.),
and, like it, became attached in 1361 to the more
important manor of Wymington owned by Hugh
Curteys. (fn. 74) Philip Burnel, the second co-holder,
died in 1282, and his heir, Sir Robert Burnel,
appears to have alienated to Roger Nowers, lord of
Wymington (q.v.), some time previous to 1298, in
which year the king claimed part of the advowson as
guardian of Roger's son, under age. (fn. 75) William de
Montfort's share had passed by 1302 to John de
Harcourt, (fn. 76) and was transferred by Richard son of
William de Harcourt to Hugh Curteys, thus reuniting the whole right of presentation. It followed
the same descent as the manor until 1698, when
Ralph Williamson and others conveyed it by fine to
William Robinson. (fn. 77) This appears to have been
preparatory to an alienation to Stephen Newcombe,
whose family presented between 1698 and 1733. (fn. 78)
William Gutteridge Edwards presented between
1771 and 1829. (fn. 79) In 1834 John Lee held the
advowson, which his family retained until the latter
part of last century. (fn. 80) The patronage is at present
in the gift of Mrs. Butterworth.
CHARITIES
In 1665 the Rev. Joseph Bentham
charged certain land in Overstone,
Northants, with 10s. a year to be
given to the poor on the Wednesday next previous to
29 May.
In 1844 William Goosey, by will, bequeathed a
legacy for the poor of this parish and Podington, the
income to be distributed at Christmas. The amount
apportioned to this parish now consists of £83 10s.
consols, with the official trustees, producing yearly
£2 1s. 8d.
The two charities are administered together, and
1s. is given to each recipient.