ISLIP
Slepe, Ycteslepe, Isteslepe (xi cent.); Hystlepa
(xii cent.), Eslep, Itteslep (xiii cent.).
The parish of Islip covers an area of 1,383 acres.
The surface of the parish is undulating. Liable to
floods in the vicinity of the Nene, it rises about 250 ft.
in the north-west, and in the east is mostly about
100 ft. above ordnance datum. The soil, which
varies in quality, is mainly clay and gravel, with a
subsoil of clay and ironstone. Harper's Brook,
which flows into the Nene, forms its northern boundary, and separates it from Aldwinkle. There is a
bridge over this brook to carry the road to Aldwinkle,
with the mill stream near by. The Nene, flowing
northward, forms its eastern boundary, and the parish
is divided from Woodford on the south by a stream
flowing east into that river. A little to the north of
this stream is the Kettering, Thrapston, and Huntingdon branch of the L.M.S. Railway, which has a
station about half a mile away in Twywell. The
Northampton and Peterborough branch of the London
Midland and Scottish Railway traverses the southern
corner of the parish, and a tramway takes a circuitous
route to the Islip furnaces in the south-west, where
the Islip Iron Company have valuable mines of iron
stone, and three smelting furnaces. There are old
quarries in the same direction. A fine white stone is
quarried for building; and good stone for repair of
roads. Besides the iron work and quarrying carried
on, the manufacture of horse collars and matting
was a considerable industry. The population was
616 in 1921.
The village lies along the road from Lowick to
Woodford. It has a charming situation and contains
a fair number of 17th and 18th century stone houses,
roofed with thatch, stone slates or pantiles, with good
stone chimneys. The newer houses generally are of
red brick. The manor house probably of Drayton
manor, on the east side of the street, now occupied
by Mr. Waller, is a modernised 17th-century gabled
building with mullioned windows and tiled roof.
The Norwyches manor house is possibly the 17thcentury two-storied cottage, with stone slated roof,
on the opposite side of the road a little to the north.
It has its end gable and chimney to the street, but
only one mullioned window is now left. Inside there
are the remains of an oak staircase and two stone
fireplaces. The Rose and Crown Inn, in the middle
of the village, is dated 1691, but is without architectural features, and two other houses are dated respectively 1744 and 1763. At the north end of the
main street is a house dated [S.S. 1767] and another at the
south end [J.B. 1744] The recreation ground on the west
side of the village street was presented by Mr. S. G.
Stopford Sackville as a memorial of the Great War
(1914–18). The public elementary school, erected by
subscription in 1862 (and enlarged in 1883 and again
in 1894), on a site given by William Bruce Stopford,
then lord of the manor, is somewhat south of the
church; and there is an infants' school, built in
1905, on a site given by Mr. S. G. Stopford
Sackville.
The rectory house, a substantial stone building,
stands on the north-west of the church. A reading
room, with billiard room and small library, was built
in 1897 by public subscription. Two almshouses
for two poor widows were erected under the will
(d. 1705), of Henry Medbury, a member of a family
long connected with the parish, Thomas Medbury
having been instituted rector in 1646–7. The almshouses form a pleasing block on the east side of
the main street, with good end gables, middle chimney
and dormer windows to the upper floor, but the
windows and chimney are modern and the roof
is covered with modern blue slates. The inscription
on the tablet is indecipherable: only the figures of
the date [1] 7 [0] 5 can be distinguished.
Chapel Lane led to the chapel of St. Thomas of
Canterbury (fn. 1) on the bridge over the Nene on the road
to Thrapston. Leland wrote c. 1545 'At the very
end of Thrapeston Bridge stand Ruines of a very large
hermitage welle builded but a late discovered and
suppressed: and hard by is the Toune of Islep on
Avon as upon the further Ripe.' (fn. 2) Bridges says that
the ruins referred to by Leland were probably those of
the chapel of St. Thomas the Martyr, in a close called
Hermitage close on the right hand from Thrapston 'in
which stood several stews of water.' The chapel was
standing in 1400, when William Mareschal, chaplain,
had the custody of the king's free chapel or hermitage
at the end of the bridge of Islip. (fn. 3) In 1492, Henry Vere
bequeathed 10s. to the chapel. It is described as one
of two chapels annexed to the mother church of
Islip. (fn. 4) The bridge has no architectural features, and
is of uncertain date It consists of seven round arches,
and has four cut-waters facing up stream and two
down stream; the arches are of yellow brick and the
superstructure of stone. The view from the bridge
towards Islip is very picturesque.
Manors
In the Domesday Survey 1 hide 1
virgate of land were entered as held of
the Bishop of Coutances by Algar in
ISLIP in the hundred of Huxloe. (fn. 5) Before the taking
of the 12th-century Northamptonshire Survey, the
lands of this bishop had been forfeited, and his lands
in Islip, with an addition making a total of 2 hides,
had passed into the hands of Aubrey [de Vere], the
chamberlain, by whom they were held of the king's
fee. (fn. 6) From this date the manor has passed with that
of Drayton in Lowick parish (q.v.). The bishop's
manor of Drayton in Lowick had also passed to
Aubrey, (fn. 7) who made a grant of tithes from land in
Islip, Drayton and Addington to Thorney Abbey,
which his son Robert confirmed. In 1584 the manor
place and close in Islip called the Lords Lands, in
which was the chief messuage of the manor, were the
subject of a suit. (fn. 8)
Norwich. Party gules and azure a lion ermine.
NORWYCHES MANOR may have had its origin
as a member of the royal manor of Brigstock called
Slepe. (fn. 9) It was possibly the manor to which the
advowson of the church (q.v.) was attached. Gervase
son of Richard de Islip, living in 1230, (fn. 10) was succeeded
by his son Adam. (fn. 11) Lands were held by Hugh son
of William de Islip, in 1238, (fn. 12) and John and Simon
de Islip in 1329. (fn. 13) Master Simon de Islip, parson
of Horncastle in Lincolnshire, possibly a son of John,
or at least a member of this family, in 1348 requested
licence to alienate land in mortmain for a chaplain to
celebrate daily there for the souls of his father and
mother, John and Margaret de Islip, and William,
Thomas, and Richard de Islip, his brothers, and
others. (fn. 14) In 1376 Alice, widow of William de Islip,
quit-claimed to John Holt and his wife Alice, and the
heirs of the said John Holt, all lands, rents, reversions
and services of free men and neifs in the towns of Islip,
Lowick, Aldwinkle, Grafton by Cranford, and Woodford, formerly belonging to the said William de Islip
and Millicent de Islip. (fn. 15) The lands of Sir John Holt,
Kt. (justice of the Common Pleas) were forfeited in
1388, but restored to his son John in 1391. (fn. 16) John
the son died in 1419 and was succeeded by his son
Hugh, and he in 1420 by his brother Richard Holt,
clerk, (fn. 17) from whom this manor descended in 1451–2
to his next heir Simon Norwich. (fn. 18) John Norwich, the
son of Simon, died in 1504 seised of a manor of Islip
held of the Earl of Wiltshire, which he had settled
on his wife Katherine; his
son and heir John was aged
thirteen. (fn. 19) John Norwich died
in 1557 seised of this manor,
and left a son and heir Simon
Norwich, aged 19. Margaret,
the widow of Simon the grandfather, was still living at
Leicester in 1558, and Alice,
the widow of her son John, at
Brampton. (fn. 20) Simon Norwich
was dealing with this manor
with Brampton, Cotterstock,
etc., in 1579, (fn. 21) and in 1594 it was held by Charles
Norwich, and Anne his wife, who then conveyed it
as the manor of Islip alias Norwiches Manor to Sir
Lewis Mordaunt, Lord Mordaunt, (fn. 22) to whom the
overlordship already belonged as representative of the
heirs of the earls of Wiltshire, and with whose other
manor it then descended.
A member of the family, Ascan Norwich, was
holding a messuage or farm and 40 acres of land in
Islip at his death there on 20 May 1630, in socage of
the heirs of Katherine Green and was succeeded by
his son John. (fn. 23)
In the 12th-century Northamptonshire Survey 4
sokemen of the king were entered as holding a hide
in Islip of the fee of Westminster Abbey. (fn. 24) This
was possibly the land in Islip formerly belonging to
Hugh de Morevill for which Robert, son of Hawise
of Islip, claimed quittance before the barons of the
Exchequer in 1190–1. (fn. 25) It was held by Reginald de
Waterville in 1284 as 5 virgates of land in Islip, of
the abbey of Westminster, which the abbot held of
the king in chief. (fn. 26) The abbey was holding £7 in
rent in Sudborough and Islip c. 1291. (fn. 27) Their land
was possibly that which John de Tolthorp was holding
in 1316. (fn. 28)
Water mills in Islip, known in 1624 as Drawater
Mills, were the subject of dispute. (fn. 29) Possibly the
mills were those held with Norwyches Manor.
An inclosure Act for the parish was passed in 1800. (fn. 30)
Allotments were made (inter alia) for shares in the
Low Town Leys and in Lammas ground called the
Five Leys Close. The common or open fields were
estimated at about 1,320 acres.
Church
The church of ST. NICHOLAS consists of chancel 30 ft. by 15 ft. 3 in. with
vestry on the north side, clearstoried
nave of four bays 42 ft. 4 in. by 15 ft. 4 in., north
and south aisles 8 ft. 6 in. wide, south porch, and
west tower and spire. The width across nave and
aisles is 37 ft., all these measurements being internal.
The church is of one period throughout, having
been rebuilt in the latter part of the 15th century,
and is a very perfect example of a village church of
that date, unaltered in plan and little changed by
restoration. At the east end of the nave outside is
a roof table wider and of higher pitch than that of
the present chancel, (fn. 31) which seems to indicate that
the body of the church was built on to an earlier
chancel, which was afterwards pulled down and the
present one erected. The whole structure, however,
is uniform in design, and its situation on rising ground
above the valley of the Nene makes its spire a prominent landmark.
With the exception of the upper stage of the tower,
which is of dressed stone, the whole of the building
is of rubble, with flat-pitched leaded roofs and plain
parapets. The walls are plastered internally. The
building was restored in 1854–55, new roofs being
then erected and the nave reseated.
The chancel is of two bays and has a four-centred
east window of five cinquefoiled lights and diagonal
angle buttresses. On the south side are two three-light
windows and one in the west bay on the north, the
east end of the north wall being covered by the
vestry, (fn. 32) which was built about 1881 on the site of
an old vestry which had long disappeared; the doorway
of the old vestry alone remained. At the east end
of the south wall, set within the window splay, to
which it also opens, is a piscina recess with fluted
bowl, with which is combined a rectangular aumbry
in the thickness of the angle of the wall. The chancel
arch is of two orders, the outer with a hollow chamfer
continued to the ground, and the inner on attached
shafts with moulded capitals and bases. The oak
screen, with rood and attendant figures, is modern. (fn. 33)
The arches of the nave arcades are of two orders,
like the chancel arch, but have an ogee curve at the
top, and spring from piers of unusual type, in plan
an oblong set north and south, down the angles of
which the outer hollow chamfered order is carried,
and with attached shafts east and west: the responds
are of similar character. The tower arch is also of
the same type. All the shafts have moulded capitals
and high moulded bases, and the uniformity in design
and detail make the interior of the church one of
much dignity and beauty. The north and south
doorways occupy the second bay from the west, each
of the other bays having a recessed three-light window
similar to those in the chancel, with wall benches
below the sills. There is a piscina at the east end
of the north aisle, (fn. 34) in the jamb of the respond, the
bowl of which is partly cut away, and to the east of
the south doorway a groined niche for a stoup, the
supporting half-octagonal shaft of which still remains.
The clearstory windows, four on each side, are
four-centred and of two cinquefoiled lights, and
there are similar windows in the side walls of the
porch. Over the outer moulded doorway of the porch
is a niche containing a modern figure of St. Nicholas.
The tower is of four stages, marked by strings,
and has wide clasping buttresses and battlemented
parapets with crocketed angle pinnacles and gargoyles. The moulded west doorway is set within
a rectangular frame with quatrefoiled circles in the
spandrels, and above it is a three-light window. On
the north and south the two lower stages are blank,
but in the third stage on each side is a small rectangular
opening containing a quatrefoiled circle. The bellchamber windows are of two trefoiled lights, with
quatrefoil in the head and ogee hoodmoulds.
Below the parapet is a band of quatrefoils set
lozengewise. There is a vice in the north-west
angle. The spire is crocketed and has two tiers of
lights, the lower on the cardinal and the others on
the diagonal faces.
The font appears to be of 13th century date, and
consists of a plain octagonal bowl on eight short
attached shafts without bases or capitals.
The chancel contains wall monuments to Mary,
wife of Sir John Washington, kt., of Thrapston, and
daughter of Philip Curtis, who died in January,
1624–5, and to Katharine, wife of Philip Curtis (d.
1626). In the floor is a modern brass commemorating
John Nicoll (d. 1467) and Annys his wife, placed here
in 1910 by their descendants in the United States of
America. (fn. 35)
There are some fragments of old glass in one of the
windows. (fn. 36) The modern glass in the east window is
of great excellence.
The pulpit and all the fittings are modern. The
organ is in a loft at the west end below the tower.
There are six bells, the first and third by Henry
Bagley of Chacomb 1678, and the others by J.
Taylor & Co., of Loughborough, 1892. (fn. 37)
The plate consists of a cup of 1570, a paten of
c. 1682, a silver gilt cup and paten 1883, a cup and
paten of 1917, and a bread box of 1925. There is
also a pewter flagon. (fn. 38)
The registers before 1812 are as follows: (i) baptisms and burials 1695–1754, marriages 1695–1753;
(ii) baptisms and burials 1755–1809; (iii) baptisms and
burials 1810–1812; (iv) marriages 1755–1812.
The graveyard was extended eastward as far as the
main street in 1927, and a lych gate, erected in 1903 to
the north east of the church, was moved to form an
entrance from the road. The War Memorial on the
north side of the church was designed by Mr. Temple
Moore.
Advowson
The advowson was held by the
Islip family. In 1202 Joscelin de
Islip was holding lands in the parish (fn. 39)
and some twenty-five years later Gervase son of
Richard de Islip held lands, apparently a manor,
here. (fn. 40) This Gervase, it would seem, presented to the
church in 1227–8 and 1230. (fn. 41) He married Eustachia
and had three sons, Adam, Hugh and Joscelin. (fn. 42) In
1248 Eustachia, then the wife of — de Pavilly,
claimed the advowson against her son Adam, and it
was seized by the king by default of Adam. (fn. 43) In
1253 Thomas de Pavilly agreed to presentation being
made by the King if the next presentation were made
by himself. (fn. 44) In the meanwhile in 1264 Baldwin de
Vere claimed the advowson by grant of Adam, son
of Gervase Islip, to his father Robert de Vere. (fn. 45)
Thomas de Pavilly said that his mother Eustachia had
enfeoffed him of the advowson, which she had
obtained from her son Adam de Islip. Baldwin evi-
dently won his case, and in 1277–8 the presentation
was made by Sir Baldwin Wake as guardian of the
heir of Baldwin de Vere. (fn. 46) From this time the advowson followed the descent of the manor, which was
the same as that of Drayton (q.v.).
Charities
The charity of Henry Medbury,
founded by will dated 27 December,
1705, is administered by the rector
and four co-optative trustees in conformity with a
scheme of the Charity Commissioners dated 12 Feb.
1892. The property originally consisted of two almshouses, land, and tenements in Earls Barton and Islip.
The land was sold in 1920 and the proceeds invested
in sums of £2,490 17s. 2d. Consols and £1,900 6s. 8d.
4 per cent. Funding Stock with the Official Trustees
of Charitable Funds, producing £138 5s. 6d. yearly in
dividends. The Official Trustees also hold a sum of
£130 15s. 4d. Consols to a Rebuilding Fund Account
the dividends upon which are invested in augmentation of the principal.
In 1924 £26 was paid to the two almswomen, who
are widows and members of the Church of England.
The almswomen must be inhabitants of Islip, or,
failing that parish, then of Earls Barton. Failing
Earls Barton, then of any of the following parishes:
Thrapston, Slipton, Twywell, Lowick, Denford,
Woodford, Titchmarsh or Aldwinkle.
Four clergymen's widows receive £20 each, the
Vicar of Earls Barton receives £1, and £3 is paid to
him for distribution to the poor of that parish. £3
is also applied by the rector and churchwardens of
Islip in doles at Christmas to 30 recipients.