STOW LONGA
Estou (xi cent.); Stowe, Longestowe, Overstowe,
Netherstowe, Stow Longa (xiii-xvii cent.); Long
Stow (xviii, xix cent.).
The civil parish of Stow Longa covers an area of
844 acres of clay land which is mostly arable and produces wheat, barley, oats and beans. The ground is
undulating and varies from a little under 100 ft.
above Ordnance datum to about 240 ft. in the south.
Although there is now no park or woodland, the
Bishop of Lincoln had licence in 1215 to assart
Stow Grove (fn. 1) (the name of which still remains) containing 20 acres (fn. 2) and to impark it. In 1330 he had
a further licence to impark 100 acres adjoining. (fn. 3)
The district formerly known as Stow was in two
parishes. The eastern part (Estou), in which was the
church and present village, known as Long Stow or
Nether Stow, was within the soke of Spaldwick and
was of considerable area. The western part, of
scarcely half the area of the other, was called Overstow
and has always been in the parish of Kimbolton,
being parcel of the manor of Kimbolton.
The ecclesiastical parish of Stow Longa includes
the hamlet of Little Catworth, which was severed
from it for civil purposes and attached to the civil
parish of Great Catworth in 1885.
The village of Stow Longa stands on high land
along the road from Spaldwick to Kimbolton. At
the west end of the village is the Green, and here
stands the village cross, the stone octagonal shaft of
which is of the 15th century. Halfway up the shaft
are the remains of four figures much defaced. The
cross was restored in 1902 in commemoration of the
coronation of King Edward VII. The 17th-century
ball, which the cross-head replaced, is in the vicarage
garden. The church is a short distance up a lane
leading north from the west end of the village and
which forms the parish boundary for about a mile.
To the south-east of the church is Church Farm, or
Prebendal Farm, lately rebuilt. The former house
was timber-framed and plastered, with a tiled roof,
built early in the 17th century and having an addition
of a century later on the north side. Near the house
is an early 17th-century timber-framed dovecot.
In the middle of the village on the north side of the
road to Spaldwick are two other 17th-century timberframed houses, the one with a slate roof and the other
thatched.
The present Manor House or Prebendal House is
at the east end of the village. It was built in 1904
on the site of a house said to have been built by
Robert Dorrington (fn. 4) (d. 1615), apparently the lessee of
the estates of the Prebend of Stow in the cathedral
church of Lincoln; as the date 1622, however, was
on the leadwork, it may have been Robert Dorrington's
son who was the builder. The Prebendal House was a
fine early 17th-century building of timber and plaster
with red brick chimneys and tiled roof. One end of the
house was adapted as a farmhouse in 1877, when
some of the interior woodwork was removed; a carved
oak chimneypiece was recovered and fitted up in
Hamerton Parish Room in 1902. Some glass in one of
the windows, with a coat of arms (sable three bugle
horns argent stringed or), was removed at the same
time. The house became derelict and was pulled
down in 1904. The staircase and some of the old
stone fireplaces were re-used in Leighton Vicarage
House. The lessees of the prebend, who generally
obtained leases for three lives, usually lived at the
Prebendal House and took the position of the lord
of the manor. The Dorringtons were succeeded as
lessees of the Prebendal House and manor by Richard
Wildbore, son of Richard Wildbore the elder, Robert
Clarke, son of William Clarke, and Brudenell Moseley,
son of William Moseley, who held from Robert
Clarke, prebendary, and under whom the house was
occupied by Sir Thomas Maples, bart. (d. 1634). (fn. 5)
John Rowse was lessee during the Commonwealth,
but the reversion of the lease in fee was granted by the
Parliamentary trustees in 1650 to John Williams of
Brampton and Gabriel Bonner of London, grocer. (fn. 6)
Rowse probably sold his interest about 1680 to Richard
Elmes (d. 1683), (fn. 7) who was living in the house at that
time. (fn. 8) Edward Huxby of Adstone (Northants)
married Elmes's sister and heir, and succeeded to the
interest in the lease. Francis Harby and Parnel,
his wife, were lessees in 1706, and from Edward Harby,
clerk, Frances Harby and Parnel Harby it passed to
John Bigg in 1736. (fn. 9) T. Kerrick was lessee in 1812,
and in 1837 a lease for three lives was granted to
Charles Read which reserved the use of a convenient
chamber within 'the mansion house' to the prebendary when required. In 1903 this lease fell in.
The nearest railway station is at Kimbolton.
The Rev. Moses Some is said to have been Rector
of Broughton (Dioc. Peterborough) until he was
deprived as a non-juror, (fn. 10) but, although probably
of the non-juring party, he seems to have been at
Little Catworth as early as 1684. He had a small
estate here, where he built a little chapel and performed the daily offices for many years. The memory
of this little chapel probably gave rise to the tradition
that there was formerly a church at Little Catworth;
thirty years ago people said that their 'grandmother
went to church there.' He tried, in 1684, to get the
bishop to consecrate this chapel and to form it into
a parish church. (fn. 11) He, his wife and her sister, were
apparently buried in their own garden, and their
graves were visible thirty years ago, but seem to have
disappeared since then.
Manor
STOW LONGA or NETHER
STOW and Little Catworth were
both berewicks of Spaldwick, and both
passed in 1109, as appurtenances of Spaldwick, to the
Bishop of Lincoln and have ever since descended as
a hamlet of the manor and soke of Spaldwick (fn. 12)
(q.v.), the Duke of Manchester being the present
owner. The four hides in Little Catworth, parcel of
the soke of Spaldwick, must be distinguished from the
one hide in Little Catworth which in 1086 was held
by William de Warenne, (fn. 13) which hide, there can be
little doubt, never belonged to the soke of Spaldwick,
and is dealt with in Great Catworth (q.v.).
OVERSTOW was parcel of the honour and manor
of Kimbolton (q.v.), and it has descended with that
manor.
The PREBENDAL MANOR comprised the
rectorial estate and advowson. The earliest prebendary of Stow Longa of whom there is a definite record
is Master John de Maidstone, canon of Lincoln, 1261–2,
who held the prebend in 1266. He was probably
succeeded by Master William de Thornton, canon of
Lincoln, 1270–1, who died prebendary of Stow Longa
in 1312. (fn. 14) The estates remained with the prebend,
suffering the customary temporary alienation during
the Commonwealth, until 1839, when they passed to
the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. Although the
Commissioners were authorised to sell them in 1865, (fn. 15)
they have not as yet done so.
Church
The church of ST. BOTOLPH consists of a chancel (28¼ ft. by 18¼ ft.),
nave (42 ft. by 18¼ ft.), north aisle (43 ft.
by 6 ft.), south chapel (19¾ ft. by 9 ft.), south aisle
(23¼ ft. by 6 ft.) and west tower (11 ft. by 10 ft.).
The walls are of coursed rubble with some pebble
rubble; and the roofs are covered with tiles and
lead.
Plan of Stow Longa Church
The church is not mentioned in the Domesday
Survey (1086), but the existence of a pre-Conquest
slab with interlaced work seems to indicate an early
church on the site, while numerous remains of
12th-century date point conclusively to a stone church
at that period. The whole church was apparently
rebuilt about the middle of the 13th century, the
south arcade and south aisle being built last, c. 1280.
About 1330 the eastern end of the south aisle was
rebuilt and widened to form a south chapel, and about
the same time new windows were inserted in the aisle
walls. In the 15th century the south arcade was
rebuilt, probably after a fall, and the clearstory was
added. The west tower was built and the western
responds of the nave arcades were rebuilt c. 1500.
Some time probably in the 17th century the
upper part of the clearstory and the nave roof fell
or were taken down and a poor barn-like roof was put
on. The chancel and chancel arch were largely rebuilt
in 1880, and the rest of the church was restored from
1888 to 1893, when the south chapel and the east
wall of the north aisle were largely rebuilt. In 1901
the upper part of the clearstory was rebuilt and reroofed, the aisles repaired and re-roofed and the south
door reset; the north-west corner of the north aisle
was partly rebuilt in 1906.
The 13th-century chancel, largely rebuilt, has a
15th-century three-light east window, on the south
side of which is a 14th-century trefoil-headed locker
with grooves for a shelf; and on either side of
the window two 13th-century capitals, one moulded
and the other carved with foliage, have been
built in. In the gable above is a cruciform loop
formed of early stones. The north wall has a 15thcentury two-light window, and the splays and reararch of a 13th-century window. The sill stones of
two single-light windows have been built in outside.
The lower part of this wall is of pebble rubble and the
upper part coursed rubble, but the north and east
walls were both rebuilt, exactly as they were before,
in 1880, at which time the old brick parapet which
surmounted them was done away with. The south
wall has a 15th-century three-light window; a very
late 14th-century two-light window with a fourcentred head and embattled transom, forming a
low-side window; a reset 12th-century doorway
having a semicircular arch of one order carved with
the chevron ornament and enclosing a tympanum
carved with a mermaid, an altar and two grotesque
beasts, and resting on detached roughly octagonal
shafts with carved capitals and moulded bases; a
13th-century projecting piscina basin in a later squareheaded recess. The rebuilt 13th-century chancel
arch is two-centred, of two chamfered orders, the
inner order resting on short
detached circular shafts with
moulded capitals and bases
standing on a splayed respond
with a chamfered plinth. Two
carved heads found in the walling in 1880 have been built
into the gable above. The
roof is modern and covered
with tiles; before 1880 it was
partly of oak and partly of deal
and was of low pitch and
covered with lead.
The 13th-century nave has,
on each side, an arcade of four
bays of two-centred arches
each of two chamfered orders.
Those on the north rest on
circular columns with moulded
capitals and bases (except the
western, which has a chamfered base) on modern
chamfered plinths; the eastern respond is a continuation of the broadly splayed respond of the
chancel arch, and that at the west is a semi-octagonal
shaft with a moulded capital, and standing on a
slightly earlier moulded base which it does not fit, and
which stands rather more to the south. The marks
of the front of the rood-loft are visible at the eastern
end of the arcade. The columns on the south are
generally similar to those on the north, but the
mouldings of the capitals and bases are slightly more
advanced, and the modern plinths are higher; the
eastern respond is a semi-octagonal shaft with a
moulded capital and a chamfered base, and the
western respond is a semicircular shaft with a moulded
capital and a chamfered base. This arcade appears to
have been rebuilt, perhaps in the 15th century, and
the wall above is largely composed of re-used stones
and drums of columns. The font was once fixed
against the west face of the western column, which
was cut to receive it.
The 15th-century clearstory has four three-light
windows on each side; the upper part, from about
the middle of the windows upwards, is modern,
1901, and the roof is of the same date, but includes
three tie-beams from the former roof.
The 13th-century north aisle has a 15th-century
three-light east window with a semi-octagonal
bracket built into each jamb. The north wall has
three 14th-century two-light windows with tracery
in square heads, the two eastern of which have a few
fragments of contemporary glass; (fn. 16) and an original
doorway with two-centred head and continuous
chamfered jambs. The west wall has a 14th-century
two-light window with a 16th-century square
head.
The 14th-century south chapel has a three-light
window with tracery in a square head in the east
wall. In the south wall are two similar two-light
windows; and a small piscina with an ogee head, a
round basin and wooden shelf. The 13th-century
south aisle has in the south wall a 14th-century twolight window with tracery in a square head; and a
large doorway of c. 1270, standing in a thickening of
the wall, having a two-centred arch of three moulded
orders resting on three detached circular shafts on
each side with carved capitals and moulded bases. (fn. 17)
The early 16th-century oak doors are of trellis framing
and have panelled fronts with a band of tracery at the
springing line. The west wall has a two-light window
similar to that in the south wall. Previously to 1888
there was a small south porch, mostly of timber and
plaster and with a tiled roof, but then very ruinous and
dangerous, which almost completely hid the south
doorway.
The west tower, c. 1500, has a two-centred tower
arch of three chamfered orders, the lowest order
resting on semicircular attached shafts with moulded
capitals and bases. The west doorway has a fourcentred arch with continuous moulded jambs;
above it is a carved stone bearing a mitre between
two shields of arms: (a) . . . on a chevron . . .
between three church bells . . . as many escallops
. . . all within a bordure (fn. 18) . . .; (b) . . . a chevron
. . . between three roses . . . The west window is
of three-lights with a four-centred head. In the stage
above is a single-light window in the west wall, just
north of which inside is a carved four-leafed flower;
and on the south wall outside is a contemporary
carved black-letter inscription: 'Orate p aiab' Robti
Becke et Alicie uxor.' The belfry windows are coupled
two-lights with two-centred heads and plain transoms.
The tower has diagonal buttresses at the north-west
and south-west angles, and is finished with a plain
parapet without a coping, but having carved gargoyles
in the centre of each face. The put-log holes for the
scaffolding, from bottom to top, have never been
filled in.
The made-up font has an octagonal bowl on parts
of two 13th-century circular capitals, a short stem,
and a moulded base.
There is one bell, inscribed: Sancte Petre ora pro
nobis, and bearing the stamps of Henry Jordan, bellfounder, 1442–1468. (fn. 19) In 1552 there were three bells; (fn. 20)
the other two seem to have remained until about 1820,
when they were seen outside a shop in Kimbolton,
whence they are said to have gone to Covington, but
this seems unlikely. (fn. 21)
The late 15th-century oak rood-screen is of five
bays with open tracery above and traceried panels
below; the coving and loft have gone, and the screen
was taken down in 1880 and repaired and re-erected
in 1883. On the eastern face are plain seats with
shaped ends. The southern seat has a desk with
shaped ends and poppy-heads, of similar date but
made up.
The modern oak altar incorporates five panels of
17th-century carving; and three similar panels are
included in the gradine above. The reredos has one
panel of 15th-century tracery brought from elsewhere.
Some 17th-century balusters from Easton Church
have been incorporated into the modern credence
table and litany desk. A short piece of 15th-century
roof-beam has been converted into an alms-box; and
another piece of beam lying loose in the church has
the inscription 'i. t. 1683.' In the tower is a plain
16th-century oak chest.
Three pieces of coffin-lid, c. 1300, with foliated
crosses and double omega ornament are built into
the east end of the south chapel; there is another
fragment at the top of the north wall of the chancel,
inside, and another small piece in the sill of the east
window of the north aisle. Two other fragments lie
loose outside the west end of the south aisle. Lying
loose in the north aisle is a pre-Conquest stone carved
with interlaced knot work; and also fragments of
12th-century shafts and capitals, and various stones
of later dates. Other old stones lie outside the west
end of the south aisle. The matrix of a fine 14th-century brass with richly decorated cross on a calvary
above an inscription plate lies on the chancel floor.
On the south wall of the chancel is a stone monument with fluted pilasters, frieze and cornice surmounted by a coat of arms—a chevron between three
horses' hoofs, all within a bordure. In the centre is
the indent of an inscription plate, and a strip of brass
inscribed to Sir Thomas Maples, bart., d. 1634, has
been fixed in the frieze. (fn. 22) There are other monuments
in the chancel, to Mary Bligh, d. 1856, and Timothy
Brent Bligh, d. 1867; and floor slabs to Mrs. Ann
Elmes, d. 1682; and Richard Elmes, d. 1682/3. In
one of the north clearstory window-jambs is an inscription recording the rebuilding in 1901, in memory
of Rhoda Sharland and Mary Seymer Salter.
The registers are as follows: (i) baptisms, marriages
and burials 27 October 1698 to 17 September 1812;
marriages end 10 October 1753; (fn. 23) (ii) marriages
11 October 1754 to 28 December 1812.
The church plate (fn. 24) consists of: (a) A silver cup
with a band of Elizabethan ornament, and hallmarked for 1577–8. (fn. 25) (b) A silver paten with sexfoiled
centre enclosing head of Christ with bifurcated
beard: repaired with silver plate on back inscribed
'St. Botolph Stow Longa Hunts. Hall-marked 1491–2.
Restored 1882. Strengthened by this plate 1901.'
Advowson
The architectural evidence points
to a church existing here possibly
before the Conquest, and certainly in
the 12th century. Originally, no doubt, the advowson
was held by the Abbot of Ely and passed with Spaldwick to the Bishop of Lincoln in 1109. Although the
manor of Spaldwick was the head of Spaldwick Soke
for civil purposes, Stow Longa was the head ecclesiastically, with Spaldwick as a separate vicarage,
and Easton and Barham as chapelries dependent
upon it. (fn. 26)
It is not known when the prebend of Stow Longa
in the cathedral church of Lincoln was founded;
the earliest known prebendary is mentioned in 1266. (fn. 27)
The Rectory Manor and Advowson of Stow Longa,
forming the prebendal estate, must have been part of
the original endowment of the prebend and continued to be held by the prebendaries until 1839,
when the estates passed to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and the advowson to the Bishop of Ely,
who is now patron.
The early priests seem to have been called curates
or chaplains, and in later years 'perpetual curates.'
The present benefices—namely, the vicarage of Spaldwick with Barham and the vicarage of Easton with
Stow Longa—were formed by an Order in Council in
1869, which, however, did not come into force until
the death of John Bligh, vicar of Easton and perpetual
curate of Stow and Barham, in 1876.
Two closes called Coppiehold 'light land' in this
parish occur in 1615 as chantry lands held of the manor
of Spaldwick. (fn. 28)
Charities
Town Land.—This charity is regulated by a scheme of the Charity
Commissioners dated 7 February
1922. The endowment consists of 6 acres 3 roods
4 poles or thereabout, situate in Stow Longa, and
now let at a yearly rent of £7. The sum is applied for
the benefit of the poor in accordance with the
provisions of the said scheme. The charity is administered by three trustees appointed by the parish
meeting of Stow Longa.
Goodwin's Charity.—In respect of this charity,
details of which are given under the parish of Spaldwick, four poor children of this parish are entitled
to draw lots for the bibles and prayer-books, and two
widows to share in the distribution of bread as directed
by the donor.