CHESTERTON
Acreage: 3,585.
Population: 1911, 130; 1921, 152; 1931, 135.
The parish forms a roughly rectangular block, nearly
4 miles in length from north-west to south-east and
2 miles broad. On the south-west its boundary is for
the most part the road from Warwick to Banbury, and
on the north-west a small stream. Parallel with this
stream and ½ mile east of it the Roman Fosse Way cuts
across the parish, passing, near its northern point,
through an approximately rectangular earthwork, with
traces of a formidable ditch round it, which was probably a Roman camp or fortified village. (fn. 1) The country
is open and undulating, rising from 210 ft. on the west
to just over 400 ft. on the east.
The church stands in the east of the parish, by itself,
with the site of the manor-house to the north of it. This,
which seems to have replaced the medieval hall towards
the end of the 17th century, was a classical building of
three stories, (fn. 2) said to have been designed by Inigo
Jones. It was pulled down in 1802, the only relic left
being a gateway in the south wall of the churchyard, of
red brick with rusticated round arch and flanking
pilasters that support an entablature and pediment.
Inigo Jones is said also to have designed the picturesque
windmill, standing on an arched foundation, on Windmill Hill, above the large mill pool of the water-mill.
The water-mill and the pond called the Mylne Pool
are referred to in 1554, (fn. 3) and both it and the windmill
in 1689. (fn. 4) Just south of the mill pool at Chesterton
Green is the small group of buildings, including a few
timber-framed cottages with thatched roofs, which
constitutes the nearest approach to a village. (fn. 5)
Kingston Manor, ½ mile south-east of the church, is
an L-shaped house of stone, of which the south-west
wing was built in the 16th century. It has low sixlight mullioned windows, and a massive projecting
chimney-stack with four diagonal shafts.
Manors
CHESTERTON was one of the vills
given in 1043 by Earl Leofric to his
foundation of the priory of Coventry and
confirmed by Edward the Confessor. (fn. 6) By 1086, however, the monks held only 1½ hides here, (fn. 7) and even
this seems to have been alienated soon afterwards, as no
more is heard of it. At the time of the Domesday Survey
there were three other estates within the vill; one held
by Turchil, (fn. 8) one by Henry de Ferrers, (fn. 9) and third and
largest, 3 hides, by Richard the Huntsman, or the
Forester. (fn. 10) William the Conqueror had given threequarters of the vill of Chesterton to this Richard
'Chineu' to hold by the serjeanty of keeping the royal
forest of Cannock. (fn. 11) Richard's daughter married
William Croc, and their son Walter Croc had succeeded
to the bailiwick and lands of Richard 'Chienewe' by
1130. (fn. 12) Apparently Walter was succeeded by a brother
William and he by a son William. (fn. 13) This last William
Croc was hanged, but the king gave his lands to his
sister Margery, who married Robert de Brock. (fn. 14)
Their daughter Margery married Hugh de Loges,
who succeeded Robert in 1195–6; (fn. 15) she survived her
husband (fn. 16) but was dead before 1232, when her son
Hugh held the serjeanty, (fn. 17) as he still did in 1246. (fn. 18)
Between these dates Hugh had been thrown into
prison for having taken a stag; by payment of a fine of
£100 he recovered his lands, including Chesterton,
though he lost the bailiwick of the forest of Cannock. (fn. 19)
In his old age Hugh made a grant of the manor of
Chesterton to the Knights Templars without licence
from the king, who therefore seized the manor and in
August 1267 restored it to Hugh's son Richard for a
payment of 120 marks, on condition that he should
honourably maintain his said father, who was so old
and weak that he was non compos mentis. (fn. 20) Richard had
served with Ralph Basset of Drayton in the Baronial
forces against the king in 1265, when his lands in
Chesterton, worth 20s., were seized; (fn. 21) he had been
with 'the disinherited' in the Isle of Axholme, (fn. 22) but
had made his peace with the king early in 1266, (fn. 23) and
redeemed his lands from Thomas Corbet in 1271. (fn. 24)
He established his claim to view of frankpledge and the
assize of bread and ale at Chesterton in 1285, (fn. 25) and
died in 1293, holding the manor with some 220 acres
of land and meadow (leased for a term of years to Mr.
Guy de Tillebrok) and rents from 29 free tenants and
1 customer. (fn. 26) His son Richard de Loges died in 1300,
seised of the manor, leaving a widow Elizabeth and a
daughter, also Elizabeth, aged 4. (fn. 27) The custody of the
land and heir of Richard was granted in 1301 to
Nicholas de Warrewyk, (fn. 28) who married her to his own
son Nicholas. (fn. 29) Elizabeth died in 1315 and, as she had
issue, the manor remained to her husband. (fn. 30) In 1334
Nicholas, with the consent of his son John, settled his
interest in the manor on John de Saunderstede and
Elizabeth his wife (who was the widow of Richard de
Loges), with reversion after their deaths to the said
John de Warrewyk and the heirs of his body. (fn. 31) John
de Warrewyk, who took the name de Loges, died in
1349 (fn. 32) and, as his son John, who was living in 1343, (fn. 33)
had evidently predeceased him without issue, his heir
was his daughter Eleanor, who had married John son
of William de Peyto; the manor accordingly passed to
her on the death of John de Saunderstede in 1353. (fn. 34)
In 1350 a grant of free warren at Chesterton had been
made to John de Saunderstede and his (second) wife
Margaret for life, with remainder to the future holders
of the manor. (fn. 35) Sir John Peyto outlived his wife and
died in 1396, when the manor, then valued at £5,
passed to their son William. (fn. 36) He settled it in 1406 on
himself and his wife Joan, (fn. 37) who after his death married
Sir Robert Corbet and died in 1418, when their son
Sir William Peyto inherited it. (fn. 38) Sir William played
a prominent part in the war with
France and was captain of the
bastille before Dieppe, where he
was taken prisoner in 1443. (fn. 39) In
1449 his wife Katherine had
licence to mortgage his manor of
Chesterton towards his ransom; (fn. 40)
and in 1451 he mortgaged it to
Drew Barentyn and others for
£300. (fn. 41) He died in 1464, (fn. 42)
leaving a son John, who rebuilt
the manor-house and adorned it
with a quantity of heraldic glass,
figured by Dugdale. (fn. 43) John Peyto died on 14 August
1487, and his son Edward died just a month later,
leaving a son John, aged 9. (fn. 44) The manor was then held
of the king as 1/20 knight's fee; 42 virgates, worth 20
marks, had been settled on Godith (Throckmorton)
wife of Edward Peyto, who survived him, and the
remainder consisted of 5 messuages and 6 virgates,
also worth 20 marks. (fn. 45) This John died in 1542, (fn. 46)
leaving a son John, who went mad in 1553 (fn. 47) and died
in 1558, having settled the manor on his son Humphrey
at his marriage with Anne daughter of Basil Fielding. (fn. 48)
Humphrey's great-grandson Edward married Margaret
daughter of Sir Greville Verney (fn. 49) and their granddaughter Margaret Peyto, the last of the line, died in
about 1772, leaving Chesterton to her relative John
Verney (subsequently Peyto-Verney), Lord Willoughby
de Broke, (fn. 50) with which title the manor has descended.
Peyto. Barry argent and gules parted per pale and counter changed.
William Croc gave to 'Broun his servant' 4 virgates
in Chesterton, which Broun gave to the Knights
Templars, (fn. 51) among whose possessions they were
recorded in 1185 as 'of the alms of William Croc',
1 virgate being then held by Eve widow of Brun. (fn. 52)
This Broun, or Geoffrey le Brun, had a daughter
Constance who married Henry de Brock, (fn. 53) whom
Geoffrey fitzStephen, Master of the Templars, enfeoffed in these lands (fn. 54) and who also received from
Henry II a grant of all Brun's lands to hold by serjeanty
of keeping in repair the hedge of Teddesley in
Cannock Forest. (fn. 55) Henry seems to have been succeeded about 1214 (fn. 56) by his son Robert de Brock, who
died in 1242, when custody of his heir (his son Robert)
was granted to the Abbot of Evesham. (fn. 57) On the death
of this Robert in 1264 without issue the Brock estates
seem to have been divided between the descendants of
his two aunts, daughters of Henry de Brock; one of
them was mother of Walter de Elmsdon and the other
of Gilbert le Harpour, who in 1279 held lands in
Chesterton in purparty with the said Walter. (fn. 58) Later
a division seems to have been made by which Walter
retained the Teddesley serjeanty (fn. 59) and Gilbert the
estate in Chesterton, where he (or possibly his father)
had acquired another virgate from Hugh de Loges
before 1251. (fn. 60) Gilbert le Harpour died in 1304 seised
of this 'manor' of CHESTERTON, containing a capital
messuage, 8 virgates of land, with meadow, pasture and
rents, to the total value of £6 11s. 6d., all held of the
king by serjeanty, except a plot 80 ft. by 40 ft. held of
the Knights Templars at a rent of 4d. (fn. 61) His heir was
his son Robert le Harpour, who died in 1312, when the
estate is not called a manor and is said to be held by
knight service. (fn. 62) He left a son John, aged 3, and a
widow Isabel, to whom dower was assigned, (fn. 63) the
custody of the other 2/3 of the lands during John's
minority being granted to the Bishop of Worcester. (fn. 64)
This John's son John in 1351 sold his estate to William
Peyto, (fn. 65) after which it was absorbed into the main
manor.
The ½ hide in Chesterton among the estates of Henry
de Ferrers in 1086 was held of him by Wazelin who
also held at Harbury. (fn. 66) In 1203 Isabel de Say widow
of Ralph de Boscherville sued Robert son of Odo for a
knight's fee in Harbury and Chesterton as part of her
dower. He replied that his father had held it and that
on his death it passed to his elder son William and then
to the latter's daughter; she being under age Earl
Ferrers took the fee into his hand as overlord, and when
she died he gave it to Robert. (fn. 67) Robert's father was
Odo son of John who in 1166 held of William, Earl
Ferrers, one of three fees held in the time of Henry I
by William de Boskerville, father of Ralph. (fn. 68) The suit
was compromised, and Henry de Picheford and Burga
his wife, daughter and heir of Ralph de Boscherville,
agreed that Robert and his heirs should hold of them
and of the heirs of Burga. (fn. 69) Accordingly in 1242 we
find Odo de Herberbire (presumably son of Robert)
holding of Ralph de Picheford under Earl Ferrers. (fn. 70)
This Odo's son Robert in 1279 granted to the abbey of
Combe his tenement and fee in Harbury and Chesterton, which included the homage and service of Gilbert
le Harpour for 2 hides in Chesterton. (fn. 71) Apparently,
however, Robert's successor retained rights here, as
when Gilbert le Harpour died in 1304 he was holding
4 messuages and 4 virgates in Chesterton of Geoffrey
Oede of Harbury, (fn. 72) as did Robert le Harpour in 1312. (fn. 73)
In 1281 Eustace de Hacche obtained a grant of free
warren in his demesnes in Chesterton, (fn. 74) and when he
died in 1306 he was holding land here of the heir of
Richard de Loges by rent of 5s. (fn. 75) His widow Avice
conveyed 10 messuages, 8 virgates, and a mill in
Chesterton and Harbury to their daughter Julian and
her husband John Hansard. (fn. 76)
Turchil of Arden gave 1 hide in Chesterton to the
Abbey of Abingdon, to which house William I confirmed it. (fn. 77) In the Domesday Survey Turchil's lands
include 1 hide held of him by the abbot and a second
hide, on which were 5 English knights, held by the
abbot 'in pledge', or on mortgage. (fn. 78) When Henry,
Earl of Warwick, acquired Turchil's estates he claimed
this property, but confirmed the gift for 1 mark of gold. (fn. 79)
Abbot Faritius (1100–35) exchanged Chesterton to
Anskitel of Tadmerton for his Oxfordshire property of
Tadmerton, but as the latter had to pay geld for 5 hides
whereas Chesterton paid on only 1 hide, Anskitel gave
the abbey the tithes of his demesnes here. (fn. 80) Anskitel
then held Chesterton with [Bessels] Leigh in Berks. by
the service of 2 knights, (fn. 81) and the two estates descended
together. William de Leigh held 2 fees of Abingdon
in 1166. (fn. 82) Sir Robert de Kyngestune seems to have held this estate
c. 1200, (fn. 83) perhaps through marriage with Felice de Leigh, (fn. 84)
whose son William, mentioned
in 1220, (fn. 85) held 1 knight's fee in
KINGSTON of the Abbot of
Abingdon in 1242, (fn. 86) and was
dealing with land in LITTLE
CHESTERTON, the alternative name of this part of the vill,
in 1247. (fn. 87) Thomas de Leigh appears to have succeeded by 1251 (fn. 88)
and held Kingston in 1279, (fn. 89) but from 1261 to 1297 a
Roger de Leye was dealing with lands in Kingston which
he held in right of his wife Maud. (fn. 90) In 1294 Roger and
Maud conveyed to William de Lye a messuage and 1
virgate of land with the appurtenant villeins, (fn. 91) and in
1296 other lands and rents here. (fn. 92) This William was
apparently son and heir of Thomas de Leigh and was
succeeded by John de Leigh, (fn. 93) who in 1339 settled the
manor of Kingston on himself and his wife Hawise and
his own heirs. (fn. 94) This John had a grant of free warren
for his demesnes here in 1332, (fn. 95) in which year he and
Thomas de Leigh (said to have been his brother) (fn. 96) were
two of the largest taxpayers in Kingston. (fn. 97) He was
living in 1348, (fn. 98) at which time he had two sons,
William and Roger. (fn. 99) They must have died, perhaps in
the Black Death, without issue, as John's daughter
Katherine, wife of Sir Thomas Bessels, was his heir (fn. 100)
and, as a widow, held the manor in 1380. (fn. 101) She died in
1406 (fn. 102) and her heir was her son Sir Peter, (fn. 103) who died
seised of the manor, held of the Abbot of Abingdon, in
1425. (fn. 104) As he left no issue it should have passed to
Robert Cranford, son of Margaret daughter of Alice
sister of Peter's grandfather John de Leigh, (fn. 105) but Sir
Peter seems to have settled it on trustees, (fn. 106) and in or
before 1447 the manor was sold to Richard Verney, (fn. 107)
after which it descended with the manor of Compton
Verney (q.v.). When Sir Richard Verney died in 1490
it was said to be worth £20 and to be held of the Abbot
of Abingdon by rent of 20s. (fn. 108) It was still called a manor
in 1574 (fn. 109) and 1617, (fn. 110) but in 1634 after the death of
Sir Richard Verney (fn. 111) and of John Verney in 1638 (fn. 112) it
was described as a capital messuage with lands belonging
to it; the title of manor had, however, been revived by
1741, when John Peyto Verney was lord, (fn. 113) but during
the 19th century it seems to have been amalgamated
with Chesterton.
Leigh. Sable a leopard passant argent crowned or.
De Sancto Mauro. Argent two cheverons gules and a label vert.
In 1220 Simon de Sancto Mauro held 9 virgates in
Little Chesterton, (fn. 114) and in 1247 Nicholas de Sancto
Mauro paid 10 marks to William de Leigh for an
acknowledgement of his rights in this estate. (fn. 115) Nicholas
was followed by Laurence (fn. 116) and
he, in 1297, by his son Sir
Nicholas de Sancto Mauro, (fn. 117)
who married Ellen daughter and
coheir of Alan la Zouche and
died in 1316, holding 80 acres
of William de Leigh and leaving
a son Thomas, aged 9. (fn. 118) His
widow Ellen evidently married
Alan de Charleton, and Thomas
de Sancto Mauro in 1338 conveyed the reversion of this property in Kingston after Ellen's
death to James de Wodestok, who next year transferred
it to John de Leigh and Hawise. (fn. 119)
Church
The parish church of ST. GILES stands
in an isolated position on rising ground
about 1½ miles south-east of the Fosse Way
and 11/8 miles north-east of the Banbury-Warwick main
road.
It is a low and peculiarly long and narrow edifice
consisting of a chancel and nave without a structural
division, south porch, and a squat west tower.
The earliest feature is the south doorway of the nave,
c. 1310–20, but it is possible that the thick north wall
incorporates some of the original 12th-century nave,
although there are no details of that period. From the
easterly positions of the north and south doorways it is
probable that the nave was subsequently lengthened
about 10 ft., perhaps late in the 14th century, when
the north wall was buttressed and provided with new
windows.
The chancel was added or rebuilt c. 1330. It was
made slightly narrower than the nave; whether it had
a chancel arch or not is uncertain. It is of three bays:
there is some distortion in the plan of the easternmost
bay, which is widened outwards against the east wall
and has an unpierced north wall thicker than the
remainder; this suggests also a lengthening, probably
of the same late-14th-century period. The roof is of
late-15th-century date and for some reason, probably
weakness, the south wall of the nave had to be entirely
rebuilt to carry it. New and larger windows were made,
but the early-14th-century south doorway was saved
and provided with a porch. The west tower is an addition or rebuilding of c. 1600. There have been modern
restorations, the most thorough being carried out in
1862.
Plan of Chesterton Church.
The chancel (about 36 ft. by 16½ ft.) has a modern
east window of three lights and tracery. In each side
wall are two windows of c. 1330, each of two trefoiled
pointed lights and a quatrefoiled spandrel in a twocentred head with an external hood-mould with headstops. The two south windows retain their original
moulded jambs and arches, including moulded edges
to the internal splays, all with three-quarter hollows.
The coeval priests' doorway has finely moulded jambs
and two-centred head and hood-mould, all of rather
weather-worn Hornton stone. The walls are of small
coursed and squared rubble work. The east wall has a
low-pitched gable with pinnacles over the apex and
kneelers. The north wall has one original small buttress,
probably marking the original east end, and two deep
ashlar-faced buttresses of later date, one between the
windows and one at the east end. The south wall has
a diagonal buttress at the east end, which is built
against the south wall instead of being placed equally
on the angle.
Near the east end of the south wall inside is a modern
triangular recess and sill in the normal place for a
piscina: it has been fitted with the cinquefoiled ogee
canopied head of a 14th-century image niche with a
ribbed vaulted soffit and crocket enrichment.
There is no chancel arch, but there are slight setbacks in the side-walls from the wider nave.
The nave (49 ft. by 17 ft.) has two late-14th-century
north windows in the east half, each of three trefoiled
lights and tracery in a four-centred head: the eastern
has vertical tracery and the western reticulated tracery;
both have old hood-moulds. The north doorway, west
of them, is a plain 14th-century doorway with chamfered jambs and pointed head: it has a hood-mould with
returned stops. It is now walled up, with a War
Memorial set in the recess.
The north wall is of rubble work and has deep
buttresses dividing it into three unequal bays, the
widest middle bay containing the western window and
doorway. West of the doorway there is a change in
the texture of the masonry and many larger stones are
included. The buttresses form a narrow unpierced
western bay, indicating the later lengthening. At the
west end is a massive wide buttress, probably altered
when the tower was added. All the buttresses are
patched with brickwork. The wall is about 3 ft. thick.
The thinner south wall is ashlar-faced externally and
has a moulded plinth. In it are three wide late-15thcentury windows, each of three plain four-centred lights
under a square head with sunk spandrels and a moulded
label. The buttresses, smaller than those on the north
side, forming two equal bays east of the porch are of the
same period. The westernmost and a little of the nave
wall are of the smaller masonry of the west tower.
The south doorway, between the middle and western
windows, is of c. 1310–20. It has moulded jambs
and pointed head, of which the middle hollow is
enriched with ball-flowers connected by wavy running
stems.
The roof is of low pitch and extends without break
over the chancel and nave. It is of nine bays with nine
trusses, including one against the tower. The beam
over the break between the nave and chancel is chamfered and has remains of painted twisted ornament on
the west face. The trusses over the nave have moulded
beams and stiffeners on moulded solid brackets and
wall-posts on which are cut small shafts with capitals
and bases. They all rest on plain stone corbels. The
three trusses over the chancel are modern copies. The
parapets are embattled.
The low tower (12¼ ft. square), of the 16th or early
17th century, is of two stages with walls of coursed and
squared small rough ashlar, with a chamfered plinth
and embattled parapet. At the west angles of the lower
stage are diagonal buttresses. A former round-headed
doorway from the nave is now hidden by a monument.
The west and south walls have narrow windows with
three-centred heads and below the west is a modern
doorway. The bell-chamber is lighted in the north,
south, and west walls by windows, each of two segmental-headed lights under a square head.
Reset in the south wall of the nave above the porch
is part of a 15th-century reredos. It has three niches,
divided by V-shaped pilasters with crocketed finials,
and three-sided canopy heads with crocketed gablets.
In these are three figures of men wearing gowns and
long mantles and bowing to the east, the easternmost
lower than the others, and all apparently offering gifts.
Their heads have been destroyed. They may represent
the three Magi or three worshipping saints. They are
set in a square recess with a moulded frame which
includes a space east of the figures (not a niche like the
others).
The porch is of masonry similar to the south wall of
the nave and has a four-centred entrance in the gabled
south wall. The unpierced side walls have stone
benches. Above the entrance is a 17th-or 18th-century
sundial with an inscription: 'See and be gone about
your business.'
Below the east splay of the south-east nave window
is a 15th-century piscina with moulded jambs, having
chamfered stops, and a trefoiled ogee head. The projection of the sill with a hexagonal bowl is cut away.
In the tracery head of the north-east window of the
nave are some fragments of 15th-century white and
yellow stained glass, chiefly tabernacle work.
The font has a 13th-century tapering round bowl
with a moulded top edge, on a moulded base which has
been raised on another stone and has had its lower edge
chamfered. The two ancient staple-rings are still used
with an iron cross-bar to lock down the modern flat
cover if required.
There are three memorials at the west end of the
nave to members of the Peyto family. The earliest
against the south wall is to 'Humfrey Peyto', died
30 March 1585, and Anne (Fielding) his wife [1604],
date not filled in. It has their recumbent alabaster
effigies, the man in armour of the period, his head
resting on a helmet: at his feet is a lion. The woman is
richly dressed and wears a ruff and a long chain or
necklace crossing many times on her breast. A small
dog rests on the foot of her skirt. Both have their hands
in prayer holding Testaments. The base is divided into
panels by engaged twisted pilasters and has eight shields
of arms of Peyto and other quarterings, including two
in circlets inscribed with the motto manv domini
mvnitvs svm. One has supporters of two nude men.
The inscription is in raised 'black letter' around the
top moulding. On the wall above the tomb are two
wide recesses; one with the figures of six sons, the second
a child in grave-clothes, the third and fifth in civilian
dress, and the other three in armour. The other has
four daughters. Above them are their names 'John,
John, Basill, William, Richard, & Humphrey' and
'Goodeth, Ann, Dorothy, and Margery' and their
blazoned shields of arms. The fourth and sixth sons
have impaled coats and the daughters' arms are impaled
by others.
Against the north wall is the monument of William
Peyto, 1619, and Eleanor (Aston) his wife, 1636, with
their white marble busts on a pedestal set within a
round-headed recess that is flanked by pilasters below
a small curved pediment. This is surmounted by a
larger pediment on which is an achievement of the
Peyto arms. This monument was executed by Nicholas
Stone in 1639 at a cost of £150. (fn. 120)
The west monument is to Edward Peyto 1643 and
Elizabeth (Newton) his wife. Their white marble
busts are set on a pedestal flanked by shafts of dark
marble with white Corinthian capitals and bases supporting an entablature and pediment with an achievement of arms. In the floor is an inscribed slab to
Edward Peyto 1658.
There are three bells of 1705 by A. Rudhall.
The registers date from 1538.
Advowson
Richard the Forester, the Domesday
tenant of the manor, founded the
church and endowed it with land
worth 2 marks; and his son-in-law William Croc gave
it to the priory of Kenilworth. (fn. 121) The right of the
canons was disputed on several occasions; Richard I
is said to have presented one Eustace to the living in
1194, when the manor and serjeanty were in his hands
with the heir of Robert de Brock; (fn. 122) Hugh de Loges,
who had married the said heir, claimed the advowson
in 1199; (fn. 123) in 1257 Henry III claimed that it belonged
to the serjeanty, but the canons proved their right to it,
as confirmed to them by Henry II. (fn. 124) Richard de Loges
in 1276 granted the king the next presentation, but
again the prior proved that it belonged to his house. (fn. 125)
In 1284 Roger, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield,
bought the advowson from Kenilworth, (fn. 126) and in 1291
the church was valued at £16. (fn. 127) Bishop Walter de
Langton, executor and formerly treasurer of Edward I,
was granted licence in 1318 to assign the church of
Chesterton to some ecclesiastical body for a chantry or
other pious works for the good of King Edward's soul; (fn. 128)
and when he died, in 1321, without having done so the
licence was renewed to his successor Roger de Northburgh in 1326. (fn. 129) Nothing, however, was done about
it until 1412, when Bishop John Burghill granted the
advowson to the Vicars Choral of Lichfield and ordained
a vicarage. (fn. 130) Vicars were apparently presented until,
at least, 1468, (fn. 131) but in 1473 the vicars were allowed to
appropriate the vicarage and serve the church by a
curate; (fn. 132) so in 1535 the Vicars Choral were receiving
£9 0s. 8d. from tithes and offerings appropriated to
them in Chesterton (fn. 133) and were paying to the dean and
chapter a pension of £6 13s. 4d. from the church, (fn. 134)
which was then served by a stipendiary priest, who was
paid 106s. 8d. yearly in cash. (fn. 135) The benefice was still
a curacy, valued at £8, in the gift of the Vicars Choral
in 1763; (fn. 136) but by 1781 the patronage had been acquired
by Lord Willoughby de Broke, (fn. 137) and by 1806 it had
become a perpetual curacy; (fn. 138) it is now a vicarage, in
the gift of Lord Willoughby de Broke.
Charity
Edith Mary Young by will proved
8 March 1940 gave £100 to the incumbent and churchwardens, the income,
now amounting to £3 9s. 4d., to be applied to the
upkeep of the churchyard at Chesterton.