BUCKWORTH
Buchesworde (xi cent.).
Buckworth parish covers an area of 2,023 acres of
clay land, most of which is arable. The principal
farms are Fuller's Lodge, Park Lodge, Brook Lodge,
Black Lodge and Holly Lodge. The ground rises
from a stream which forms the north-east boundary
of the parish, where it is about 75 ft. above Ordnance datum, in a south-westerly direction towards
Barham, where, on the boundary, it reaches 190 ft.
The village is on the slope of the hill facing northeast and lies along the by-road from Alconbury
Weston to Barham. The church is in the middle
of the village and clustered round it are the Manor
House to the east and the rectory and school to the
west.
The Buckworth Brickworks are near the eastern
border of the parish. The nearest railway station is at
Abbots Ripton.
Place-names in the parish include Stone Hill,
Bury Leys, Trouds Wall (Walk) and the Mill Wall
(Walk) in 1712, (fn. 1) and Great Hall Yard, Town Walk and
Mount Pleasant in 1745.
Manor
Ten hides at BUCKWORTH, which
had formerly belonged to Tosti, Earl of
the Northumbrians, were returned in the
Domesday Survey among the lands of the Count of
Eu (Ewe, Augi or Owe), the lord of great estates in
Sussex. Buckworth had been a berewick belonging to
Paxton, and its pre-Conquest value of £10 remained
unchanged. The count had 2 hides in demesne;
a knight held 2½ hides; and there was a priest and a
church to which ½ hide belonged. (fn. 2) Buckworth was a
much subinfeudated manor. It was held under the
Counts of Eu by the Wakes, under whom were the
Houghtons with their co-heirs, the Grimbalds and
Boys, and lastly holding of them were the tenants in
demesne, the Fitz Richards or Fitz Simons.
The Counts of Eu remained chief lords of Buckworth, except for forfeitures from time to time, until
the end of the 13th century. Robert Count of Eu
died about 1090. His son William forfeited his
estates on account of his adherence to Robert
Curthose. He died shortly after 1095 and was buried
in the free chapel of St. Mary in the Castle of Hastings.
His son Henry was imprisoned for siding with William,
son of Duke Robert of Normandy, against Henry I
and died a monk, at Foucarmont Abbey in 1140.
John, Count of Eu, made his peace with King Stephen,
but he also became a monk at Foucarmont and died
in 1170. He left a son Henry, a minor, who became
an adherent of 'the Young King' who waged war
against his father, Henry II. He was succeeded in
1183 by his son Raoul or Ralph, who died in 1186,
leaving as his heir his sister Alice, wife of Ralph de
Lusignan, who became Count of Eu in right of his
wife. John seized the lands
of the Count and granted
them in 1201 to John de Eu,
uncle of Alice, but regranted
them to Ralph and Alice in
1214. Ralph died in 1219
and Alice held the lands of
the county until 1244, when
she forfeited her English
possessions as an adherent to
the King of France. (fn. 3) The
honour of Eu was granted
to Peter of Savoy and later
to Edward son of Henry III. (fn. 4)
When Edward ascended the throne the overlordship
of Buckworth, unlike the Sussex property of the
honour of Eu, which was granted to the Earl of
Bretagne, continued in the Crown. (fn. 5)
Eu. Barry of ten pieces argent and azure with a label gules.
Wake. Or two bars gules with three roundels gules in the chief.
Holand. England in a border argent.
It is possible that the 2½ hides in Buckworth, held
in 1086 by a knight, (fn. 6) may be represented by the
Wake mesne lordship. The earliest reference to this
mesne lordship is in 1279 when Baldwin Wake held it
of the honour of Eu. (fn. 7) Baldwin died in 1282 (fn. 8) and was
succeeded by his son John (d. 1300). Thomas Wake,
of Liddell, his son, died in 1349, without issue,
leaving his sister Margaret, Countess of Kent, his
heir. (fn. 9) John, Earl of Kent and Lord Wake, her son,
died in 1352 leaving as his heir his sister Joan, the
Fair Maid of Kent, the wife of Thomas de Holand. (fn. 10)
This mesne lordship passed with the earldom of Kent
until the death of Elizabeth, Countess Dowager of
Kent, in 1411, (fn. 11) when it went to Eleanor, sister of
Edmund, Earl of Kent (d. 1408), and wife of Thomas,
Earl of Salisbury. Thomas died seised of it in right
of his wife in 1428, leaving as his heir his daughter
Alice. (fn. 12)
Boys. Argent two bars and a quarter gules.
The next subtenancy of the manor seems to have
been held by the Houghton family. William de
Houghton, who was living in the middle of the 12th
century, had a son Pain de Houghton. Pain had two
daughters, Maud, who married Robert Grimbald,
and Emma, the wife of Ernald de Boys. (fn. 13) Their
descendants each held half a knight's fee in Buckworth. (fn. 14) Robert Grimbald died before 1163 and
his widow, Maud, married Richard del Peak. Robert
was succeeded by his son William, and he by a son
Robert, who was holding in Buckworth in 1243. (fn. 15)
The latter Robert had a son William, (fn. 16) who was returned as holding in Buckworth of Baldwin Wake in
1279 (fn. 17) and 1282. (fn. 18) William's
grandson William, son of
William Grimbald, held in
1349 (fn. 19) and 1350. (fn. 20) The halffee belonging to Emma,
daughter of Pain de Houghton,
and Ernald de Boys her husband, whose father, Ernald de
Boys, founded Biddlesden
Abbey (co. Buck.) in 1147, (fn. 21)
was held by a succession of
Ernalds (Arnold, Arnulf). Probably a younger Ernald was living in 1203–4 and
the custody of another Ernald, possibly his son, was
granted to Roger de Bassingham in 1205. In 1243
an Ernald de Boys was holding in Buckworth, (fn. 22) and
probably it was he who died in 1277 and was succeeded by John, his son. (fn. 23) John died in 1290 without
issue, leaving a wife Joan. He was succeeded by his
brother, Master William de Boys, possibly a priest, (fn. 24)
who also died without issue in 1313. (fn. 25) His sister
Isabel, the wife of John, Lord Lovel of Titchmarsh,
was his co-heir, and her daughter Maud married
William la Zouche of Haringworth, (fn. 26) son of Eudo
and Milicent, sister and co-heir of George Cantilupe,
who had obtained a grant of Buckworth from
William de Boys. (fn. 27) In 1364 Buckworth was held
of William, son of Eudo la Zouche, and grandson
of William and Maud. His son and successor
William held this half-fee in Buckworth at his death
in 1396. (fn. 28) In 1418 the manor was returned as held of
Lord Ferrers of Chartley as of the honour of
Winchester. (fn. 29)
Mauduit. Argent two bars gules.
The tenant in demesne in the time of Richard I
was Simon son of Richard, who was suing the Count
of Eu and the Canons of the free chapel in the Castle
of Hastings for the advowson of the church of Buckworth in 1207. (fn. 30) The suit was continued by Richard,
son and heir of Simon son of Richard, in 1218 (fn. 31) and
was still pending in 1221 and 1223, (fn. 32) when it was
decided in favour of Richard. Alice, Countess of
Eu, thereupon in 1225 granted the advowson to
Richard son of Simon. (fn. 33) In 1243 it was ordered that
seisin of lands in Buckworth should be given to
Simon son of Richard, he having reached his majority.
Ernald de Boys obeyed the mandate, but Robert
Grimbald refused. (fn. 34) Simon, however, obtained possession, and in 1247 the king presented with his consent.
In 1256 he was granted the right to hold a market
every Tuesday and a fair on the Monday and Tuesday
in Whitsun week. (fn. 35) In 1279 he was holding this
'market town' as one fee and had 3 carucates in
demesne, a park of 12 acres, a windmill, etc., with
free warren in Buckworth and Hamerton. (fn. 36) He was
still alive in 1286, (fn. 37) but before 1294 he had been succeeded by Richard son of Simon and his wife Amice. (fn. 38)
Richard was returned as holding Buckworth for half a
knight's fee in 1303 (fn. 39) and presented to the church in
1305; but by 1310 the manor was held by his widow
Amice, and the reversion of it was granted by Simon
son of Richard to Thomas Mauduit and Eleanor, his
wife. (fn. 40) In 1316 Amice le Strange, apparently the
widow of Richard, was holding the vill. (fn. 41) Amice and
Simon were dead before 1327 and Thomas died in
1327–8, when Simon's widow Nichola, who had
married Thomas de Hindringham, sued Eleanor,
widow of Thomas Mauduit,
for having unlawfully entered
the manor in spite of a grant
of it for life to Simon and
Nichola. (fn. 42) In 1332 Sir John
Mauduit, son and heir of
Thomas Mauduit of Warminster, proved his age. (fn. 43)
He presented to the church
in 1338, (fn. 44) and in 1341 Sir
Richard son of Simon released
to him all claim to the manor.
The deed is witnessed, among
others, by John son of
Richard, (fn. 45) of whom, in 1343, John Mauduit of Warminster complained that he, with others, had broken
his park and houses at Buckworth, carrying away
deer, etc. (fn. 46) John Mauduit, chivaler, settled the
manor on his son Thomas (who predeceased him in
1360), and Joan wife of Thomas, and died in 1364. (fn. 47)
Maud, the daughter of Thomas, her grandfather's
heir, married Sir Henry Green, kt., with whom she
was dealing with the manor in 1385, still at that
date in the hands of her mother. (fn. 48) At the death
of Sir Henry in 1399 the manor passed to their son
Ralph, (fn. 49) who settled it on his wife Katherine in
1416, (fn. 50) after it had been quitclaimed to him by his
brother John. (fn. 51) He died in 1417, his brother John
being his heir, (fn. 52) and his widow Katherine married
Sir Simon Felbrigge, kt., who was holding Buckworth
in 1428. (fn. 53) It next passed, by marriage with Constance
daughter and heir of John Green's son Henry, to
Sir John Stafford, kt., third son of Humphrey, Duke
of Buckingham, (fn. 54) created Earl of Wiltshire in 1470.
After the death, without issue, of their son Edward,
Earl of Wiltshire, in 1499, it was settled on his widow,
Margaret, in 1500; (fn. 55) after her death it passed to the
earl's co-heirs, the daughters
of Sir Henry Vere, son of Sir
Richard Vere by Isabella,
sister of Sir Henry Green.
The eldest, Elizabeth, had
married John, Lord Mordaunt; the second, Anne,
married firstly Robert, son of
Sir John Mordaunt, and
secondly Humphrey Browne,
brother of Sir Wistan Browne
of Abbot's Rooding in Essex;
the third, Constance, married
John Parr and died without
issue in 1501; and the
youngest, Audrey, was the wife of Sir Wistan's son
and heir John. (fn. 56) The manor and advowson were
held in thirds by the representatives of these co-heirs (fn. 57)
until Lewis, Lord Mordaunt, the grandson of Elizabeth Vere, ultimately obtained possession of the
whole, which, with his son and heir Henry and the
latter's wife Margaret, he conveyed in 1601 to
Thomas Hetley, of Brampton, and William Walden,
of Godmanchester, trustees for Sir Gervase Clifton,
kt. (fn. 58) Sir Gervase, who was created Lord Clifton of
Leighton Bromswold in 1614, (fn. 59) died in 1618, seised of
the manor, which passed to his only daughter and
heir Katherine, (fn. 60) the wife of Esmé Stuart, Duke of
Lennox and Earl of March. They were dealing with
one moiety in 1622 (fn. 61) and the duke died in 1624.
Katherine married as her second husband James, Earl
of Abercorn, and died in 1637. Her son, James, Duke
of Lennox, was created Duke of Richmond in 1641
and died in 1655. He was succeeded by his son Esmé,
second Duke of Richmond and Lennox, at whose
death, unmarried, in 1660, Buckworth passed to his
cousin and heir male Charles, Duke of Richmond and
Lennox. (fn. 62) He conveyed the manor and advowson
in 1666 to John Backwell and Robert Clayton, (fn. 63)
and Edward Backwell, who succeeded John Backwell,
presented in 1681. In 1697 an arrangement was made
between the creditors of Edward Backwell, late of
London, bankrupt, and his sons, John and Richard,
for the sale of the manor and advowson, (fn. 64) and they were
conveyed in 1700 to Sir Charles Duncombe, Lord
Mayor of London. (fn. 65) Sir Charles was dealing with
the manor and advowson in 1708 (fn. 66) and died in 1711. (fn. 67)
The presentation was made by Anthony Duncombe of
Barford (Wilts) in 1735, and in 1764 the manor and
advowson were in the hands of Thomas Duncombe (fn. 68)
of Duncombe Park, Yorks, who died in 1779. Anne,
his daughter and sole heir, married Robert Shafto
of Whitworth (co. Durham). Robert Shafto died in
1797 and was succeeded by his eldest son John
Shafto, at whose death unmarried in 1802 the family
estates passed to his brother Robert Eden Duncombe
Shafto of Whitworth Park, co. Durham. (fn. 69) He was
dealing with the manor and advowson in 1827, (fn. 70) and
died in 1848. He left a son and heir, Robert Duncombe Shafto of Whitworth Park, who died in 1889,
but some twelve years or more before his death the
manor became the property of John Remington
Mills, and before 1885 it had passed to his nieces the
Misses Mills, who, as Mrs. Cholmondeley and Lady
Fox, continued to hold the manor until 1917; it
was sold apparently by Lady Fox late in 1918. The
manorial rights now appear to have been lost.
Mordaunt. Argent a cheveron between three stars sable.
Duncombe. Party cheveronwise engrailed gules and argent three talbots' beads razed and countercoloured.
Shafto. Gules a bend argent with three molets azure thereon.
Church
The church of ALL SAINTS consists of a chancel (34 ft. by 16¼ ft.),
nave (39½ ft. by 19¼ ft.), north aisle
(11½ ft. wide), south aisle (12¾ ft. wide), west tower
and spire (13½ ft. by 12½ ft.) and south porch. The
walls are of rubble with stone dressings, and the roofs
are covered with tiles and lead.
The church is mentioned in the Domesday Survey
(1086), but the earliest parts of the present church
are the 12th-century eastern angles of what was
probably an aisleless nave. The south arcade and
south aisle were built towards the end of the 13th
century; the tower and spire, c. 1300; and the
chancel, north arcade and north aisle about 1310.
The south aisle and the north wall of the north aisle
were rebuilt c. 1490, (fn. 71) and the clearstory and porch
added. The church was restored in 1862, when it
was re-roofed, and the spire in 1884; the tower was
repaired in 1908, and the spire again repaired in 1925
after being struck by lightning.
The chancel, c. 1310, has a modern three-light east
window with tracery in a two-centred head. (fn. 72) The
north wall has a late 15th-century three-light window
with a four-centred head, and a blocked 14th-century
doorway, with a pointed ogee head, to a vestry now
destroyed. The south wall has an original three-light
window with intersecting tracery in a two-centred
head, a blocked space where there was another
window; an original doorway with a two-centred
arch of two moulded orders, the outer order resting
on circular shafts having moulded capitals and bases;
an original piscina with a clumsily reset twocentred moulded head, quatrefoiled basin and
wooden shelf. The contemporary chancel arch is
two-centred, of two hollow-chamfered orders on
modern responds.
The 13th-century nave has an arcade of three bays
on each side, having two-centred arches of two chamfered orders. The north arcade, c. 1310, has octagonal
columns with moulded capitals and bases, and the
responds have moulded corbels under the lower order
of the arch. The late 13th-century south arcade has
circular columns with moulded capitals and bases,
and the responds have semi-octagonal attached shafts
with moulded capitals and bases. The north-east
angle outside has a 12th-century angle-shaft with
spiral flutings and a volute-capital; two stones of a
similar angle-shaft remain at the south-east angle.
The late 15th-century clearstory has three twolight windows with simple tracery in four-centred
heads.
The modern roof is dated 1862, but the jack-legs
rest on 15th-century stone corbels carved with angels
holding shields. There are four large carved bosses
under the tie-beams, probably from the 15th-century
roof; and modern bosses carved with the arms and
crests of the Duncombe Shafto family, the See of
Ely and the Archdeaconry of Huntingdon, and one
with the date '1862.' The weather-moulding of the
earlier high-pitched roof remains on the east wall of
the tower.
The north aisle, c. 1310, has a three-light east window, of c. 1330, with reticulated tracery in a twocentred head. The north wall has two three-light
windows, of c. 1500, with four-centred heads; a
reset doorway of c. 1310, with a two-centred moulded
head and moulded jambs with circular jamb-shafts
having moulded capitals and bases. The west wall
has an original three-light window with intersecting
tracery in a two-centred head.
The south aisle, rebuilt c. 1490, has a three-light
east window with a four-centred head. The south
wall has three similar windows and a contemporary
doorway with a two-centred arch and continuous
moulded jambs. The west wall has a three-light
window similar to the rest.
The west tower, c. 1300, has a two-centred tower
arch of four orders, the inner order resting on moulded
corbels with notch-head terminations. The west
doorway has a two-centred arch of three moulded
orders, resting on jambs having three engaged shafts
with moulded capitals and bases; above it is a lancet
window. The north and south walls have each a
similar window. The next stage has a square-headed
opening on to the roof, in the east wall; a circular
window with continuous moulded reveals and six trefoiled cusps, in the west wall; and similar circular
panels in the two side walls. The belfry stage has in
each wall a wall-arcade of three two-centred arches
resting on engaged jamb-shafts at each end and on
grouped triple-shafts between the bays; the centre
bays are pierced with transomed two-light belfry
windows with plain spandrels in the heads; the heads
of the side arches are cusped with trefoiled and
cinquefoiled cuspings. The tower has a moulded
plinth; square buttress set in from the angles and
rising to the base of the spire, and is finished with
a moulded cornice enriched with notch-heads. The
octagonal spire has very large broaches (having a
strong entasis) and bases of pinnacles at each corner.
There are three tiers of spire-lights, all on the cardinal
faces; the lowest are very large transomed two-lights
with plain spandrels in two-centred heads; the next
are simple two-lights, and the upper are singlelights.
The south porch, c. 1490, has a two-centred outer
arch of two moulded orders, the lower order resting
on attached semicircular shafts with moulded capitals
and bases. The sides have each an internal wallarcade with four-centred arch and continuous chamfered jambs, under each of which is a two-light window
with a four-centred head.
The modern font is octagonal with a panelled bowl
having roll-mouldings on the angles which are carried
down the stem and finished with a moulded base on
to a bold plinth moulding. The old font was a plain
square bowl on a round pedestal. (fn. 73)
There are five bells, inscribed: (1) J. Taylor & Co.:
founders Loughborough 1885 Catherine D. Shafto
gave me 1885 Praise the Lord. (2) Geve God the
preasee. 15[3]5. (3) Geve thankes to God alwais.
(4) J. Taylor & Co: Founders Loughborough 1884.
(5) Celorum Xte placeat tibi Rexsonus iste. In
1552 there were four bells and a sanctus bell. (fn. 74) The
old fourth bell, recast in 1884, is said to have had
similar lettering to the second and third bells, which
are by Newcombe, of Leicester, c. 1540. The fifth
bell is by Robert Oldfield, of Nottingham, c. 1520. (fn. 75)
There is an undue interval in the sizes of the fourth
and fifth bells, said to be due to Leighton having
buried a man from Buckworth and claimed a bell as
forfeit, but the Leighton bells do not seem to confirm
this. (fn. 76) The bells were rehung in 1885, and on the
frame is cut 'William Sisman churchwarden William
Eaton fecit 1885.'
There are two fragments of a 13th or 14th century
coffin-lid with ornamental crosses under the northeast buttress of the north aisle. Some pieces of
15th-century tracery lie loose in the tower. A small
stone carved with the figure of a man holding a book
is now fixed as a bracket on the south wall of the
chancel; it was found in the foundations of the
north-east corner of the chancel in 1907.
There are the following monuments: in the north
aisle, to the Rev. Jonathan Ponsonby, d. 1781; the
Rev. John Mitchell, Rector of Kingston Baptist,
Bucks, and Curate of Buckworth, d. 1800; Robert
Charles, infant son of the Rev. John and Catherine
Duncombe Shafto, d. 1840; the Rev. Slingsby
Duncombe Shafto, Rector, d. 1847; Lt. Col. Ernest
Walter Yeatherd, killed in the South African War,
1900, Capt. Montagu Locke Yeatherd, his elder
son, killed at Arras, 1917, and Lieut. Raymond Gilbert
Hooker Yeatherd, his younger son, killed at the Somme,
1916; and glass window to Catherine Harriet Duncombe Shafto, d. 1888. In the south aisle, to
William Stevenson, d. 1711; Susanna, widow of
William Gray, d. 1859, William, her son, d. 1802,
Mary Nickolls, her sister, d. 1794; Alexander
Findlay, d. 1899; and glass window to John Eden
Duncombe Shafto, d. 1882, and Frederick, his
brother, d. 1876.
The registers are as follows: (i) baptisms 9 January
1664/5 to 18 November 1789, marriages 20 September
1676 to 15 October 1753, burials 2 May 1670 to 20
November 1789; (ii) baptisms and burials 21 March
1790 to 21 August 1812; (iii) the official marriage
book 11 October 1755 to 7 December 1812.
The church plate consists of a silver cup gilt
inside, hall-marked for 1856–7; a silver cover paten,
hall-marked for 1671–2; a silver standing paten inscribed 'Presented by Mrs. John Duncombe Shafto
to Buckworth Church. 1858,' hall-marked for 1854–5;
a silver plate, hall-marked for 1857–8; a silver flagon,
hall-marked for 1856–7.
Advowson
The advowson of Buckworth
church was claimed by the canons
of the free chapel of St. Mary in
the Castle of Hastings, probably under an alleged
gift of their founder, Robert Count of Eu, who died
about 1090. As early as the reign of King Richard I
the advowson was the subject of dispute between
the canons and Simon son of Richard, the holder in
demesne of the manor of Buckworth. The canons
failed to maintain their claim and, to complete the
title of the lord of the manor, the Countess of Eu, as
overlord in 1225, granted her interest in the advowson
to Richard son of Simon, (fn. 77) then lord of the manor.
Notwithstanding this grant, the church was described in 1247 as belonging to a prebend of Hastings
of the king's patronage. (fn. 78) From this date the advowson continued to be held with the manor until the
sale of the manor by Robert Duncombe Shafto to
John Remington Mills, when it was purchased by the
Rev. John Duncombe Shafto (rector from 1831 to 1840
and 1854 to 1863) from his brother Robert Duncombe
Shafto. After the death of John Eden Duncombe
Shafto, son of the Rev. John Duncombe Shafto, in
1882, the advowson went to his sister Dulcibella Maria,
who was the wife of the Rev. Arthur Majendie of
South Shields. From them it passed to their son, the
Rev. Lionel Majendie of Newbury (Berks.), who
conveyed it in 1913 to the Bishop of Ely, who is the
present patron.
There are no charities for this parish.