EGLETON
Egelton (xiii, xiv cent.); Egilton (xvi cent.); Egelton, Egleton (xvii, xviii cent.).
Egleton is a small civil parish formerly included as
one township with Oakham and Gunthorpe, (fn. 1) and was
until recently attached ecclesiastically to Oakham, but
has now been joined to Hambleton. The parish contains 923 acres of clay land, mostly laid down to grass,
but there is a small amount of arable land. A stream
forms the northern boundary of the parish, from which
the land rises slightly and falls again to another stream
in a shallow valley on the south side of the village.
The village lies about half a mile on the east side
of the main road from Oakham to Uppingham and
1½ mile south-east of Oakham. It is grouped round
two rough squares between the stream on the south
and the church on the north, and affords a pleasing
picture with its stone farms and cottages with their
stone and thatch roofs. The stream on the south of
the village wandered through the common fields of the
parish, but when these were inclosed in 1756 provision was made for straightening its course. Amongst
those who consented to the scheme for inclosure under
an Act of Parliament were certain tenants of the
manor holding freehold cottages, each of whom was
entitled to common for a cow and five sheep in the
common fields, for which they received compensation
in allotments of land. (fn. 2) Worked flints of the Neolithic
period have been found in the parish. (fn. 3)
Manor
EGLETON is not mentioned by name
in Domesday Book in 1086, but was one
of the five berewicks attached to the
king's manor of Oakham (q.v.). (fn. 4) It was held by the
lords of Oakham Castle and Manor, but in the 14th
century was generally described as a hamlet (fn. 5) rather
than a manor, and it is doubtful if it had a separate
court. (fn. 6) It was called a manor in 1484 in the grant of
Oakham and its dependencies to Henry Grey, Lord of
Codnor. (fn. 7) In the time of Edward, Duke of Buckingham, a separate court for Egleton Manor was apparently held, and the perquisites of the court were valued
after his attainder in 1521 at 6s. 6d. a year. (fn. 8) Egleton
was separated from Oakham under the grant in 1528
from Henry VIII to Sir Anthony Browne and his
wife Alice. (fn. 9) The grantees, however, seem to have
reconveyed it to the king, and the manor remained
in the Crown until Queen Elizabeth sold it in 1600
to Sir John Spencer, knt., subject to the interests of
various leaseholders. (fn. 10) Sir John died seised of
the manor of Egleton in 1610, and it passed to
his daughter and heir Elizabeth, wife of William,
Lord Compton. (fn. 11) William, Lord Compton, was
created Earl of Northampton in 1618, (fn. 12) and he and
his son Spencer granted it to trustees, who were
certainly in seisin of the manor in 1627. (fn. 13) They
apparently sold it to George, Duke of Buckingham,
since it was amongst his possessions which were
seized under the Commonwealth. In 1652 the Commissioners for Forfeited Lands conveyed it to Oliver
Cromwell, (fn. 14) but after the Restoration the manor was
recovered by the Duke of Buckingham, (fn. 15) to whom it
belonged in 1684. (fn. 16) From this time it has followed
the descent of the manor of Oakham Lordshold (q.v.) (fn. 17)
and now belongs to Mr. Wilfred H. M. Finch.
A portion of Egleton called the HIDE appears to
have been separated from the rest of the hamlet. (fn. 18)
In 1300 the Hide paid 16d. a year for sheriff's aid to
the lord of Oakham and a free tenant called Walter
atte Hide held a messuage, a bovate of land at a rent
of 13s. 4d. and did suit of court at Oakham. (fn. 19) Various
other persons of the same surname appear, but it is
not known if they succeeded to Walter's tenement. In
1335 William atte Hide of Egleton was a witness to a
proof of age at an inquisition (fn. 20) and in 1346 he was one
of the collectors of the tenth and fifteenth in Rutland; (fn. 21)
in 1373–1375, John atte Hide of Egleton was controller
of the works at Oakham Castle and he was living in
1397. (fn. 22)
The lords of Oakham Castle and manor held a view
of frankpledge in the Hide of Egleton. (fn. 23) In 1588
Queen Elizabeth leased the view of frankpledge with
the demesne lands of the manor for 21 years to Thomas
Key and in 1600 she sold the reversion in fee of the
lease with the manor to Sir John Spencer. (fn. 24)
In 1756 Thomas Carter, miller, owned a windmill
in Egleton, with 32 perches of land in the common
fields. At the inclosure of the parish, it was agreed
that he should be given a holding of the same size
in the common-fields of Oakham and that the Earl
of Winchilsea and Nottingham and his trustees, as
lords of the manor and owners of the Oakham land,
would undertake to move and re-erect the windmill. (fn. 25)
Church
The church of ST. EDMUND consists
of chancel 28 ft. 6 in. by 15 ft. 3 in.,
clearstoried nave 41 ft. 6 in. by 20 ft.,
south porch 8 ft. 6 in. by 12 ft. 3 in., and west tower
9 ft. square, all these measurements being internal.
The tower is surmounted by a spire. There was
formerly a north aisle of four bays.
With the exception of the tower, which is faced
with ashlar, the building is of rubble, (fn. 26) with lowpitched leaded roofs. There are plain parapets to
the chancel, but the nave roof is eaved. The walls
are plastered internally.
Plan of Egleton Church
The building dates from the 12th century, to which
period the existing chancel arch and south doorway
belong, together with a considerable portion of the
walling of the nave. The church remained unaltered
till the 14th century, when a north aisle was thrown
out, an arcade with clearstory over being erected,
and the tower and porch added. The chancel seems
to have been rebuilt in its present form in the 15th
century, and new windows were inserted in the nave.
There appears to be no record of the date of the
removal of the aisle, but when this took place the
arcade was left standing, the arches being blocked (fn. 27)
and windows inserted in the filling of the two middle
bays. The spire and the two upper stages of the
tower were rebuilt more than a century ago, (fn. 28) and
the porch, too, appears to have been rebuilt. There
was a restoration in 1872.
The semicircular chancel arch is 7 ft. 9 in. wide
and of two chamfered orders, resting on large square
imposts and single nook-shafts on the nave side with
carved capitals and moulded bases. Both imposts
and shafts are highly enriched, the former with cable,
billet, cheveron and guilloche mouldings and scroll
foliage, and the shafts with beaded cheverons and trellis
pattern respectively. The capitals of the shafts are
carved with conventional foliage and the bases have
a cable moulding.
The south doorway is an equally good example of
12th-century work. It has a semicircular arch with
cheveron and double-cone moulding and outer band
of star pattern, springing from enriched square
imposts supported on nook-shafts with carved cushion
capitals. The soffit of the arch is plain and the hoodmould terminations are a beast's head and a mask.
The western shaft is covered with a variety of devices (fn. 29)
and that on the east with a flat zigzag pattern. (fn. 30)
Within the arch is a remarkable tympanum of elaborate
design, in the centre of which is a large six-limbed
geometrical figure, perhaps a conventional rose, set
within a circular cable border. The border also
encloses a series of shallow concentric circles, and is
supported by a dragon and a beast perhaps intended
for a lion, both with their claws on the cable and
tugging at the ends of another cable above it. On
the lintel is a band of scroll foliage with cable above
and a wavy line below. (fn. 31)
The chancel is divided externally into two bays
by buttresses, and there is a pair of buttresses at the
north-east, but none at the south-east angle. (fn. 32) There
is a small priest's doorway in
the south wall, and with one
exception the windows have
four-centred heads, hoodmoulds and cinquefoiled lights.
The east window is of five lights
with tracery, but the two windows on the south side and the
easternmost on the north are
without tracery and of three
lights. The remaining two-light
window is square-headed. The
sills of the two south windows
are lowered to form seats and in
the usual position is a moulded
piscina, with projecting angular
grooved trough. There is a fourcentred moulded wall recess below the north-east
window, and in the east wall, on either side of the
altar, a plain image bracket. The roof has a plastered
ceiling of four bays, between exposed tie-beams. The
floor is flagged.
North of the chancel arch, at the north-east corner
of the nave, is a blocked doorway to the rood loft
stair and above it the opening to the loft. The
lower doorway is four-centred, the upper squareheaded. There is also a squint, with plain fourcentred head, cut through the wall north of the
chancel arch, directed from the former north aisle.
The 15th-century oak rood screen is now in front of
the tower arch. It is of three bays, with wide middle
opening and traceried lower panels, and on either
side are three trefoiled openings. The upper rail has
a band of alternate heads and flowers. The screen
has been partly restored and reduced in height.
The 14th-century arcade, now incorporated in the
north wall of the nave, consists of four pointed
arches of two chamfered orders with hood-moulds,
on octagonal piers with moulded capitals. The
inserted windows are of similar design to the threelight windows of the chancel, but the four clear-
story windows are square-headed and of two trefoiled
lights. The two large pointed windows on the
south side of the nave, as already noted, are 15thcentury insertions. (fn. 33) That east of the porch is of
four cinquefoiled lights with tracery and battlemented transom below which the lights are again
cusped; the other is of three cinquefoiled lights,
with the mullions continued to the head, and the
transom is plain. Above the porch is a small squareheaded two-light window, like those of the clearstory
opposite, but without cusping. The grotesque stone
corbels which supported the earlier roof still remain
in the walls of the nave. (fn. 34)
The porch, which is of great depth, has an outer
continuous moulded ogee doorway and hood with
head-stops. Its flat-pitched gable has a moulded
coping.
The tower is of three stages, but only the lower
portion of the 14th-century structure, with a pointed
west window of two trefoiled lights, remains. There
is no vice, and the angles are without buttresses.
The arch to the nave is of three chamfered orders,
the outer continuous and the inner order on halfoctagonal responds with moulded capitals. The arch
is blocked on the west side and a modern doorway
inserted. The filling in of the internal angles of the
tower is modern and exists only on the ground floor.
The two modern upper stages are faced with closely
jointed ashlar, and the bell-chamber windows are
wide single openings with segmental heads. The
tower terminates in a plain parapet with angle pinnacles. The spire has plain angles and is pierced
with three tiers of small holes on its cardinal faces.
There is a cock vane.
The font dates from c. 1200, and consists of a
square bowl (fn. 35) on four modern legs and central shaft,
set on the original chamfered plinth. The sides of
the bowl are carved with a floriated Calvary cross
between two discs (fn. 36) (east), a six-leaved flower or
star (west), a plain Latin cross (north), and a circle,
now nearly obliterated (south).
The church was reseated in 1872, but four old
bench-ends with carved poppy-heads remain in the
nave. The pulpit is modern. There are no monuments older than 1756. (fn. 37)
In the tower are two bells, both blank. (fn. 38)
The plate consists of a cup and cover paten of
1569–70, and a two-handled porringer of 1719–20.
There are also two pewter plates. (fn. 39)
The registers before 1812 are as follows: (i) baptisms and burials 1538–1768, marriages 1538–1754;
(ii) baptisms and burials 1767–1812; (iii) marriages
1754–1812.
Advowson
The chapel of Egleton was formerly appurtenant to the church of
Oakham (q.v.). It would be included among the chapelries attached to Oakham
when, in 1229, the rector, Gilbert Marshall, obtained
for tenants of the church of Oakham and its chapels
the privilege of being quit of suit at the shire
and hundred courts and of the payment of the
sheriff's aid. (fn. 40) The chapel is mentioned in 1374,
1534 and 1584. (fn. 41) The rectory of Egleton was appropriated by the Abbey of Westminster, which held the
advowson of Oakham church, but the two rectories
formed separate estates. In 1509 that of Egleton
was leased at a rent of £6 13s. 4d. to Sir Maurice
Berkeley, knt. (fn. 42) After the dissolution of the abbey,
the tithes of Egleton were granted in 1542 to the
short-lived cathedral church of Westminster. (fn. 43) In
1613 the rectory was apparently in the hands of
Elizabeth, the wife of William, Lord Compton, (fn. 44)
although it had not been included in the grant of the
manor to her father, Sir John Spencer, knt. (fn. 45) It
seems, however, to have been recovered by the
collegiate church of Westminster, since the Dean
and Chapter were the impropriators at the time of the
Civil War. In 1658 the rectory was let on lease at
£17 a year, which was then received by the Trustees
for the Maintenance of Ministers. (fn. 46) The Dean and
Chapter again recovered possession after the Restoration, and in 1756 they as impropriators of the
rectory held some 39 acres of land and two-thirds of
the tithes, leased for a term of 21 years to the Earl
of Winchilsea. The common fields of Egleton were
inclosed by an Act of Parliament in that year, and
land was allotted in lieu of the tithes. (fn. 47) The chapelry
is now annexed to Hambleton.
In 1547 the vicar of Oakham had only one curate
to assist him, though there were several chantry
priests, (fn. 48) but in the 17th century the chapel was
served by a curate appointed by the vicar of Oakham.
In 1658 his parishioners petitioned the Council of
State for a rearrangement of the vicarage, by separating its dependent chapels, except Barleythorpe chapel.
Egleton was to be united to Brooke and endowed with
the vicarial tithes of both hamlets, augmented by £21
from the profits of the impropriations. It was hoped
that 'the chapels of ease shall be more certainly and
efficiently provided with painfull and pious ministers,' (fn. 49) but the scheme was not carried out and at
the Restoration the rectory was restored to the Dean
and Chapter. In 1756 the vicar of Oakham owned
a third of the tithes of Egleton in right of his church
and was allotted land in their place at the inclosure. (fn. 50)
The Trinity Gild in Egleton held lands in Egleton
and Oakham valued, in, 1547, at 108s. 6d. a year, out
of which the wardens paid rents of 29s. a year. The
gild priest was old and unable to serve a cure, but
he was 'a very poor man of good repute among his
neighbours.' He probably helped to serve the
chapel, as the parish was badly understaffed. A
memorandum is appended to the certificate of the
possessions of the gild, by the commissioners under
the Act for the Dissolution of the Chantries, urging
that the endowment of the gild should be retained
to provide another priest to help the vicar of Oakham. (fn. 51)
The recommendation was not accepted, and in
1549 the lands of the gild were sold to Sir Edward
Warner, knt., and John Gosnold, (fn. 52) who conveyed
them in the same year to Robert Harebottell. (fn. 53)
Egleton suffered from the general neglect of the
chapelries of Oakham during the time of Thomas
Thickpenny, vicar of Oakham (1565 to 1596). Francis
Pratt was presented in 1576 for saying to Thickpenny that 'if all covetousness were lost it would be
found in you priests . . . and in the chancel of Egleton.'
The church was at this time served by Thomas
Ashbrooke, a layman and schoolmaster at Oakham,
who was licensed by the Bishop of Peterborough.
He had aided in administering the Communion, which
was celebrated only once a year—none 'would receive
often if it were oftener ministered unto them.' Ashbrooke was ordered to desist from administering the
sacrament and the vicar warned to have four celebrations a year. In 1586 it was reported 'that the
vicar letteth his benefice and there is an alehouse
kept upon it.' The negligence continued through
the early part of the 17th century, when Zacharias
Seaton, the farmer of the rectory, was presented for
not keeping the chancel in repair. (fn. 54)
Charities
Nicholas Towell, by his will dated
21 December 1774, bequeathed £100,
the interest to be distributed by the
vicar and churchwardens to the poor. It cannot be
ascertained whether the whole of the legacy was paid,
but it is known that £11 was placed out at interest
with a person who became insolvent. Since the year
1800 Mr. Richard Needham paid £3 11s. 6d. a year
to the charity. In 1864 a Mr. Thomas Needham paid
the sum of £25 to the official trustees. The endowment now consists of a sum of £27 3s. 4d. 2½ per cent.
Consolidated Stock with the Official Trustees, producing 13s. 4d. annually in dividends, which are distributed by the vicar and churchwardens amongst the
poor, together with the income arising from the poor's
money.
Poor's Money.—The origin of this charity is unknown. The endowment consists of a sum of
£10 16s. 4d. 2½ per cent. Consolidated Stock with the
Official Trustees, producing 5s. 4d. annually in
dividends.