BOROUGH OF HIGHAM FERRERS
Hecham (xi cent.); Hehham, Heicham, Hekham
(xii cent.); Hegham, Heigham, Hetham, Hecham
Fereres, Hegham Ferrers, Hegham Ferrars (xiii cent.);
Hecham Ferres, Higham Ferres, Hegham Ferers,
Higham Ferrers (xiv cent.).
The parish of Higham Ferrers lies between Stanwick on the north, Chelveston cum Caldecote on
the east, and Rushden on the south, the river Nene
separating it from the parish of Irthlingborough on
the west. It has an area of 1,945 acres, 696 of which
are arable land, wheat, barley, beans being the chief
crops, 810 acres of permanent grass and 13 acres of
woods and plantations. The soil is mixed, the subsoil for the most part Great Oolite with streaks of
Cornbrash on the east and Upper Lias on the
west.
The parish is generally 200 ft. above the ordnance
datum, rising in the south-east to 300 ft. Open
fields called 'The Buscotts' and 'No Man's Leys'
were inclosed in 1800 and other waste lands in 1838. (fn. 1)
In 1921 the population was 2,850.
The town stands on rising ground on the main
road from Bedford to Kettering; the road from
Wellingborough to Kimbolton crosses it here, entering at the south end of the town and leaving at
the north end, in order to bring all the traffic
through the market place to pay toll. The southern
part of the main road is called the High Street, the
middle part College Street and northward Station
Road. Running parallel to this road on the west side
is a lane called Back Lane. The church is in the
middle of the town on the east side. South-west of
it is the Market Place or Market Stead, around which
and northward of it are the more important buildings.
The late 13th-century market cross in the Market
Place consists of a stone shaft with foliated capital
surmounted by a modern square abacus and iron
weather vane. The shaft is octagonal for the greater
part of its height, but becomes circular near the top;
it is now stayed up by three iron struts, which also
serve as supports for lamps, and the base consists of a
conical pile of masonry, probably formed by casing
round the original steps. The total height of the
cross is 14 ft. In Bridges' time the shaft terminated
in a small stone cube carved with a Crucifixion. (fn. 2)
The cross in the churchyard, known in 1463 as
'the Wardeyn Cross,' was restored in 1919 as a war
memorial. The Stump Cross and Spittle Cross,
which once marked the northern and southern
boundaries of the borough, have now long disappeared.
The town hall, a small plain detached building of
two stories in the Market Square, was erected in
1808, probably on the site of the Hall of the Burgesses
repaired in 1395. (fn. 3)
On the south of the town hall and adjoining it,
there stood in the 17th century the town bakehouse
where leaseholders of the manor of Higham Ferrers
were bound to bake all their bread, the custom of the
house being to 'backe ye bread well for Twoe
pence the bushell.' (fn. 4) The old manor house on the
east of the market, rebuilt before 1838, is supposed
to have been the dwelling place of the Rudd
family. (fn. 5)
A few old stone houses remain in the town: No. 5
Market Square, with two-story mullioned bay windows and four-centred middle doorway, is probably
of late 16th-century date, but has a modern eaved
roof in the place of former gables. Nos. 3 and 4
Wood Street, south of the church, now occupied by
the Post Office and a coffee tavern, is a building
apparently of 17th-century date, on the front of
which is a long strapwork plaster panel; at the
north end of the town is a modernised block of
cottages with a panel inscribed 'N.K. Ano 1603,' and
another building at North End is dated 1728. On
the east side of College Street is a house with panel
inscribed T F E 1709,' and Nos. 7 and 8 Market
Square is a well-designed 18th-century stone building
of two stories with drafted quoins, cornice and slightly
advanced pedimented centre.
The Bedehouse, standing on the south side of and
parallel with the church, at a distance of about
28 yds., is a 15th-century structure consisting of a
hall 65 ft. 9 in. long by 24 ft. wide internally, with a
chapel 18 ft. 6 in. square at its east end. The building, which was restored in 1923, is faced on the north
and west sides with alternate courses of light freestone and red ironstone, but on the south and east
with rubble, and the hall is divided into six bays by
buttresses of two stages. There is a bell-cote over
the west gable and the eaved roof is covered with
modern tiles. The hall has a large projecting stone
fireplace in the middle of the south wall, with moulded
four-centred arch, and a pointed doorway with
crocketed hood at the west end; there are also doorways at each end of the south wall, and one on the
north side in the third bay from the west. Above
the west doorway is a large window (fn. 6) of five cinquefoiled lights with slightly ogee head, crocketed label
with finial and headstops, and modern vertical tracery,
and in the north and south walls two square-headed
windows of two cinquefoiled lights with transoms
and pointed rear arches. The hall was formerly
divided by screens and no doubt had a western
vestibule and space round the fire; it contained
thirteen cubicles arranged round the walls, the
positions of which are indicated by lockers, five of
which in the north wall east of the doorway, long
filled up and plastered over, have been opened out
and restored. (fn. 7) The fine open timbered roof is of
six bays and has curved moulded principals carried
down as wall pieces and resting on moulded and
battlemented corbels; the wall plate is also battlemented. The bell-cote has a trefoiled opening, and
canopied niches facing north and south; it contains
a bell by Thomas Eayre, of Kettering, 1737. (fn. 8) The
chapel is divided from the hall by a pointed arch
of two moulded orders, the inner on half-round
responds with battlemented capitals, and by a modern
wooden screen. The floor of the chapel is raised
2 ft. 10 in. above that of the hall, to allow for a vaulted
crypt or bone-house, access to which was by an external
doorway on the north side. The chapel was for long
in a ruinous condition, (fn. 9) and in its present state is
largely a restoration. The east window is of three
lights with moulded jambs and elaborate modern
tracery; the north and south windows (fn. 10) are of two
lights with vertical tracery and ogee crocketed hoodmoulds. The piscina has a square bowl and trefoiled
head with crocketed hoodmould.
Higham Ferrers: The Square
The vicarage house, which adjoins the Bedehouse
on the south-west, (fn. 11) seems to be in part contemporary
with it, and although large alterations obscure any
real evidence of date, the thick walls point to a corroboration of this idea. A room at the north end, now the
study, has a ceiling with good moulded oak beams
and cornice together with indications of a large open
fireplace.
About 18 ft. west of the north-west angle of the
church tower stands the School House, a beautiful
15th-century structure. It is of three bays divided
by buttresses, with a window of three lights in each
bay and one of five lights at the east and west ends.
The east window and those on the north side have
long been blocked. The building, which measures
internally 36 ft. 6 in. by 16 ft. 6 in., is faced with
ashlar, and has a moulded plinth, string at sill level,
and pierced battlemented parapet above a cornice
ornamented with roses and other flowers. The
buttresses, which at the angles are set diagonally,
are of three stages and are carried up above the flatpitched leaded roof as crocketed pinnacles. The
windows are all four-centred, with hoodmoulds and
cinquefoiled lights, those at the east and west having
vertical tracery. The sills are about 8 ft. above the
floor, allowing room beneath for a doorway in each
of the end bays on the south side. The easternmost
doorway has a continuous moulded four-centred
head, but the other is set within a rectangular frame
with carved spandrels. Below the west window,
which is more elaborate than that at the east, are
four small cinquefoiled openings, (fn. 12) originally lighting
a vestibule formed by a screen which may have had a
gallery above. In the south wall, about 10 ft. from
the east end, is a newel stair leading to the rood-loft,
the lower and upper doorways of which remain. (fn. 13)
The original flat-pitched roof is of three bays with
moulded principals, each bay divided into eight compartments by moulded ribs. There are remains of
colour in the eastern bay. Covering
the south-west doorway inside is a
small oak screen dated 1636. The
floor is boarded and the walls
plastered. The building was restored in 1914–15 and is now used
as a choir vestry and practice
room.
Plan of Higham Ferrers College
The remains of the College
buildings, which have long been
in a ruinous condition, (fn. 14) stand in
the main street, now called College
Street, some little distance northwest of the church. The buildings
formed a closed quadrangle of the
usual collegiate type, but little
remains beyond the front of the
gatehouse in the east range facing
the street, and a portion of the
south range, still roofed, in which
the chapel was situated; the other
ranges have disappeared. (fn. 15) The
buildings were of two stories, faced
with rubble, and what remains is
of 15th-century date. The south
range, which faces on to a narrow
lane, is in use as a farm house, but it has been much
altered from time to time and many of its architectural
features destroyed. (fn. 16) It has an eaved roof with coped
end gables, the original one at the east end forming
part of the main elevation of the college towards the
street, in the same plane with the gatehouse. In
Bridges' time the ruins of the north range were still
visible, (fn. 17) and Buck's view (1729) shows the walls
standing to a height of some 6 ft. or 7 ft.; (fn. 18) it also
shows the east front extending its full length and
considerable remains of the west range, which appears
to have contained the hall. (fn. 19) The quadrangle was
about 15 yds. square, (fn. 20) and was entered from the east
through a moulded four-centred archway still standing, with square label and quatrefoiled circles containing blank shields in the spandrels. Above the
arch are three tall canopied niches, now empty, but
which probably contained statues of the three patron
saints of the college, and a square-headed window of
three cinquefoiled lights with moulded jambs and label.
The canopies of the niches break through a string
at sill-level, now carried along the whole elevation,
but originally stopping at the junction of the east
and south ranges. The outer wall of the east range
stands its full height and contains also a two-light
square-headed window (fn. 21) in the upper story, and a
single-light window in the ground floor. (fn. 22) The
extent of the existing east wall north of the south
range is 36 ft., and the whole length of the elevation
to College Street 59 ft. The chapel was in the eastern
portion of the south range and was probably about
46 ft. long, with a width of 17 ft. 6 in., entered from
the quadrangle at the north-west through a pointed
doorway with square label, which still exists. It was
lighted at the east end by a large five-light window
now blocked, part of the crocketed hoodmould of
which, with its finial, still remains above a reconstructed two-light window afterwards inserted in the
gable. Two large heads, or corbels, which flanked
the window outside are still in their original positions,
as are also two carved image-brackets inside. The
window appears to have been about 12 ft. wide and
its sill about 7 ft. above the floor, but it had been
blocked before Bridges' time and a large fireplace and
chimney built in front of it, the chapel having been
converted into a kitchen. (fn. 23) At the time this was
done the east end of the south range assumed its
present aspect, the gatehouse stringcourse being
continued to the angle of the building. The north
wall of the chapel has been so much repaired that the
positions of any windows or other features which it
may have contained cannot now be traced. High in
the south wall is a reconstructed two-light window,
and another at the west end of the north wall beyond
the chapel, with two single-light windows below on
the ground floor. The position of the eastern wall
of the west range can be traced, but no portion of
the structure itself remains. (fn. 24) A fragment of walling
containing a 15th-century doorway forms the inner
dividing wall of a cow-shed to the north-west of the
college buildings. (fn. 25)
The names of Newland, St. Botolph's Street and
Botolph End survived from the 14th and 15th centuries (fn. 26) to the 18th, (fn. 27) and the town records of 1488
mention 'Le Shoprowe,' (fn. 28) where more than 160 years
earlier the eight butchers' stalls, valued at 100s. and the
eight shops leased to the linen merchants for 48s.,
probably stood. (fn. 29) Shops and stalls situated in the
market place of Higham Ferrers were leased to the
mayor by Richard III in 1485, when the King undertook to provide flags or sedges for their roofing from
his meadow called 'le Middell Wroo.' (fn. 30) The appointment of an examiner of leather about seventy
years later (fn. 31) shows the burgesses already engaged in
one of their two chief trades of the present day, (fn. 32) the
other the manufacture of boots and shoes, well established by the middle of the last century (fn. 33) and now
employing a still larger proportion of the working
population. (fn. 34) In the reign of Elizabeth a meadow,
known as the Tradesmen's or Craftsmen's meadow,
was let by the reeve of the manor to the poor craftsmen of Higham Ferrers for £7 8s. 6d. a year, (fn. 35) a rent
which before the middle of the following century had
been increased to £22. (fn. 36)
The London Midland and Scottish Railway has
two stations in the parish, one in the town, the
terminus of the Higham Ferrers branch, the other,
called Irthlingborough, a mile to the north on the
Northampton and Peterborough branch.
Amongst the many other place names of the town
and parish which have vanished from present-day
maps are Britwinescote of the 13th, the 'litill,'
'mydill' and 'grete Wroo,' 'Chapellhyll, 'Thwertlond' of the 15th, the 'neastes pasture,' 'St. Edeseswaie,' 'Northbury close' of the 16th, 'Every yeares
land,' 'Gunsticks,' 'Hancrosse field,' 'Burie close,'
'le Gore' by 'Skinners close,' 'Buscot,' (fn. 37) 'Flexland'
of the 17th century, whilst 'Warmanshill' survives
from 1649 as Warmonds Hill in the south-west of the
town.
In 1556 the men of Higham Ferrers were especially
commended for their loyalty displayed in the late
rebellion. (fn. 38)
Chicheley. Or a cheveron between three cinqfoils gules.
Rudd. Azure a lion argent and a quarter or.
Higham Ferrers has gained renown as the birthplace of Henry Chicheley, Archbishop of Canterbury
from 1414 to 1443, who was born about the year
1362 (fn. 39) and probably educated at the grammar school
under Henry Barton. Of his benefactions to his
native town a full account has been given in an
earlier volume with details of his family (fn. 40) which was
of considerable importance in the parish from the 14th
to the 17th century. (fn. 41)
Less general but perhaps more personal interest
is attached to the best known member of another
old and well-reputed family of this town, Captain
Thomas Rudd, a distinguished engineer and mathematician, whose memorial tablet in the parish church
describes him as the sixth of that name by descent
since his ancestors came to Higham Ferrers to dwell. (fn. 42)
It was perhaps on account of his loyalty to Charles I,
whose chief engineer he became in 1640, (fn. 43) that his
election as mayor that year was strongly opposed by
some of his fellow burgesses (fn. 44) and in the days of
the Commonwealth he was sequestered and heavily
fined. (fn. 45) Later in the 17th century Bunyan is said
to have been accustomed to preach in a small Baptist chapel afterwards used as a coal house. (fn. 46) The
town has now both Baptist and Wesleyan chapels.
Castle
Higham Ferrers Castle was one of the
baronial castles built shortly after the
Conquest, probably by one of the two
Peverels. Little is known of its history apart from its
connexion with a series of distinguished owners
whose succession followed that of the manor (q.v.).
It is referred to in 1298 and 1327 (fn. 47) as the capital
messuage and passed as the castle in the grant to
Aylmer de Valence in 1322. (fn. 48) Payments for castle
guard were made as late as 1694. (fn. 49) It stood north
of the parish church. Leland describes it as 'now
of late clene fallen and taken down,' (fn. 50) and in 1610
John Norden found it 'altogether ruinate.' (fn. 51) The three
wards covered practically the whole of the area lying
between the church and the Kimbolton road, (fn. 52) the
site measuring about 380 yards from north to south,
and in breadth varying from 180 yards at the north
end to 140 yards near the church. On the east it was
bounded by the Bury Close. The early castle stood at
the north end of this area, but no trace of a motte or its
defending ditch having been found, it has been surmised that the 11th century stronghold was of the
'keep-and-bailey' type. (fn. 53) Two arms of the ditch and
the corresponding ramparts still remain, the eastern
arm in its entirety, about 485 feet long, and the
southern arm in part, (fn. 54) but of the keep or other buildings nothing has survived. There is reason to believe
that the buildings mentioned in the bailiff's account
of 1313–14 and in later manorial accounts of the
same century, were at the south end of the site, (fn. 55) but
the location of the various places named cannot be
determined. There is occasional mention of the drawbridge, and the House of the Drawbridge is also
referred to. (fn. 56) There were two outer gates, that on the
west known also as the Town gate, and that on the east
as the Field gate. There is also mention of the Middle
gate, the Great gate under the Lord's Chamber, and
the small postern gate near the churchyard. The
chapel is referred to in 1375, (fn. 57) and early in the next
century its roof was releaded and the floor repaired.
Extensive repairs of the buildings were going on from
1429 to 1432, when the 'turret at the north end of
the chapel' is mentioned. (fn. 58) One of the chapel
windows contained the king's and queen's arms and
an image of St. Edmund. (fn. 59) The Great Hall was
destroyed by fire in 1409–10, but was rebuilt a year
or two later. (fn. 60) In 1431 the stairs from the door of the
Hall to the chapel were repaired, and in 1433 the Town
gate was partly rebuilt. The Lord's Chamber, 'Lady
Philippa's Chamber,' the Young Lord's Chamber, (fn. 61)
and several other places are named in 1376, and in a
later account 'Lord Derby's Chamber.' (fn. 62) There are
also frequent references to the knights' chamber,
the friars' chamber, the steward's, receiver's, and
auditor's chambers, the treasury chamber, (fn. 63) and the
kitchen, larder, buttery, pantry and other offices. (fn. 64) In
1462–3 the kitchen was re-roofed and partly rebuilt.
Other references are to the stables, (fn. 65) the great barn,
the granary, the hay-house, ox-house, cattle-sheds,
sheep-house, and kiln-house. (fn. 66) During the last decade
of the 15th century and the early years of the 16th, the
castle buildings suffered from neglect and were described as 'all rased and in great ruin and decay'
in 1523, when Sir Richard Wingfield was licensed by
the King to take down and carry away as much stone
from the site as he thought sufficient for the rebuilding of the castle of Kimbolton. (fn. 67) In 1591 it was
reported that the manor-house, long since in decay,
had been in ancient times a castle standing in a place
called the Castle Yard. (fn. 68) This appears to have been
the capital messuage or manor place commonly called
the Castle Yard which the Parliamentary Commissioners found in the tenure of Thomas Rudd in
1649. (fn. 69)
In the garden of the Green Dragon Inn, formerly
within the area of the outer ward of the castle, are the
remains of a rectangular dove-house. (fn. 70)
Lordship
The Lordship of Higham existed
as a territorial entity before the Conquest. We learn from the Domesday
Survey (1086) that Gitda had held the manor and its
appendages in 1066. Possibly at one time the whole
hundred belonged to Gitda's predecessors in title, but
in 1086 William Peverel held in Higham Ferrers
6 hides and as members of the manor he had in
Rushden 6 hides, in Chelveston and Caldecote 1 hide
and 3 virgates, in Knuston 1 hide and 1½ virgate, in
Irchester 1 hide and 3 virgates of soke [land], in
Farndish 3 virgates of soke [land], in Poddington (co.
Beds.) ½ hide of soke [land], in Easton Mauduit 1½
virgate and in Raunds 7½ hides and ½ virgate of soke
[land]. (fn. 71) There were also in Bozeat 1½ virgate and
in Hargrave ½ hide, the soke of which belonged to
Higham Ferrers. (fn. 72) Fractions of knights' fees were
held of the manor of Higham Ferrers in the following
places: Bozeat, Irchester, Raunds, Blisworth, Rushden, Quinton, Denton, Ditchford, Caldecote and
Chelveston, Ringstead, Stanwick, Chester near
Irchester, Hargrave, and Farndish. (fn. 73)
Manor
Higham Ferrers was held in the time
of Edward the Confessor by Gitda or
Githa, whom Mr. Round has identified
as the wife of Earl Ralf of Hereford, a nephew of
Edward the Confessor. It passed after the Conquest
to William Peverel, (fn. 74) said, but with little authority,
to have been an illegitimate son of the Conqueror. He
was a baron of the Côtentin and a famous general and
trusted minister of King William. In 1086 Peverel
had in Higham Ferrers 6 hides, whereof two were in
demesne, a market, a mill and a considerable quantity
of woodland. There was then a priest, indicative of a
church. (fn. 75) William Peverel died in 1114 (fn. 76) and was
succeeded by his son William, who was a strong supporter of King Stephen. He was taken prisoner at
the Battle of Lincoln in 1141, when his lands were
forfeited but were restored to him in 1143. In 1153
Henry Fitz Empress granted to Ranulf Earl of Chester,
on condition of his support, great possessions, including all the fee of William Peverel, except
Higham. (fn. 77) The grant never took effect, but some
nine months later Ranulf Earl of Chester died, poisoned, it is said, by William Peverel. On the accession
of Henry to the throne as Henry II, Peverel, to avoid
punishment, became a monk, probably at Lenton
(co. Notts.). His lands were seized by Henry II in
1155 (fn. 78) and Higham Ferrers was for a year and a half
farmed by Froger, archdeacon of Derby. (fn. 79) In 1157 it
was granted, probably for life, to Robert de Ferrers,
second Earl of Derby, who had married Margaret,
daughter and heir of William Peverel, her brother
Henry being then apparently dead. (fn. 80) After the
death of Robert in or about 1159, Higham Ferrers
was granted in 1161 to William, the King's brother,
who died in 1164. (fn. 81) The manor remained in the
King's hands until 1189, when King Richard I
granted it to his brother, John Count of Mortain. (fn. 82)
John farmed it to William de Sancte Marie
Ecclesia, (fn. 83) later Bishop of London, (fn. 84) and afterwards to William Briwerre. (fn. 85) In 1199 William de
Ferrers, fourth Earl of Derby, son of William
and grandson of Robert, second Earl of Derby,
purchased for 2,000 marks from King John the
manor, hundred and park of Higham Ferrers and certain other lands, at the same time relinquishing what
claim he had through his grandmother, Margaret
Peverel, to the other lands of William Peverel. (fn. 86)
William de Ferrers died in 1247 and was succeeded by
his son William fifth Earl of Derby. As a favourite
at the Court of Henry III he received many grants
of privileges, including the right to free warren in
Higham Ferrers in 1248, a yearly fair in 1250 and the
erection of a borough in 1251. (fn. 87)
He died in 1254 and was succeeded by his son
Robert sixth Earl of Derby, then under age and in the
custody of Edward, the King's son. He came of age
in 1260, when he joined the Baronial party. In 1264
he was sent to the Tower and his lands were seized by
the King, but in the following year he was pardoned
on paying a heavy fine. A few months later, however, he again joined the rebel forces and was taken
prisoner at Chesterfield in 1266 and his lands were
a second time taken into the King's hands. (fn. 88) In
the same year Henry III granted all the Earl's possessions to his son, Edmund Earl of Chester, who
was created Earl of Lancaster in the following year. (fn. 89)
Under the Dictum of Kenilworth Robert de Ferrers
could redeem his lands on payment of seven years' purchase, and he evidently made an attempt to regain
them, for in 1269 Edmund was ordered to restore
them. (fn. 90) An agreement was reached whereby Edmund
and his heirs were to hold the estates until Robert
should pay the sum of £50,000 for their redemption. (fn. 91)
Although Robert and his son John de Ferrers made
several attempts to obtain possession of their patrimony they never succeeded.
Ferrers. Vairy or and gules.
Lancaster. England with a label of France.
Edmund Earl of Lancaster died seised of Higham
Ferrers in 1296. (fn. 92) His son and heir Thomas Earl of
Lancaster, being taken prisoner at the Battle of
Boroughbridge, was beheaded in 1322 when his lands
were seized by the Crown. (fn. 93) Higham Ferrers was then
granted to Aylmer de Valence Earl of Pembroke (fn. 94)
who died in 1324 (fn. 95) and his widow, Mary de St. Pol,
exchanged her rights here for other lands. (fn. 96) On the
accession of Edward III in 1327 Henry, brother and
heir of Thomas Earl of Lancaster, was restored and
was succeeded in 1345 by his son Henry who was
created Duke of Lancaster in 1351. He died on 24
March, 1360–1, leaving two daughters, Maud, the
elder, who married firstly, Ralf Earl of Stafford, and
secondly, William Duke of Bavaria, but died childless in 1362; Blanche, the younger daughter, at the
age of eleven became the first wife of John of Gaunt
son of Edward III. The manor of Higham Ferrers
seems to have been settled on Blanche, (fn. 97) who at her
sister's death became sole heir to her father's great
estates. In 1362 John of Gaunt was created Duke of
Lancaster. Blanche died in 1369 and John in 1399
when he was succeeded by their son Henry of Bolingbroke who later in that year ascended the throne as
Henry IV when the lands of the Duchy of Lancaster, including Higham Ferrers, merged in the
Crown. Higham Ferrers is still part of the Duchy of
Lancaster, (fn. 98) although it was included in the jointures
of the Queens Consort of Edward IV, Charles I,
Charles II and James II. (fn. 99)
Lands in Higham Ferrers forfeited to the Crown
on the attainder of Francis Lord Lovel of Tichmersh,
after the battle of Bosworth were granted by
Henry VII to Sir Charles Somerset, afterwards Lord
Herbert and Earl of Worcester, (fn. 100) in 1486, (fn. 101) and included by him in a settlement of 1514. (fn. 102) Ten years
later he left them to his son George (fn. 103) who in 1553
joined his grandson William third Earl of Worcester
in obtaining licence to alienate them to Gilbert
Pykering and others. (fn. 104)
Lovel of Tichmersh.Barry wavy or and gules.
Somerset. France quartered with England in a border gobony argent and azure.
A payment of one mark to Elias the doorkeeper
for the carriage of summonses in the years 1166–67
and 1169–70 (fn. 105) had developed at the close of the century into the serjeanty of Ascelin and Andrew of
Higham who then held three virgates of land, valued
at 12s., for the service of carrying the writs of the
honour of Higham. In 1235–36 their successor
Nicholas the serjeant collected scutage from the fee
of Earl Ferrers in Northamptonshire. (fn. 106) Four acres
'in every yeareland called Serjeants peece,' which
belonged to the manor of Higham in 1691 were
probably once part of this fee. (fn. 107)
The land in Higham Ferrers which formed part of
the endowment of the college (fn. 108) was included in the
grant of the advowson (q.v.) to Robert Dacres but
the college house itself remained in the Crown until
1564 when Elizabeth granted to John Smith and
Richard Duffield the site of the college with all
buildings, etc., within the site and the orchard or
close called Saffron Yard containing 2½ acres. The
bells and all lead of the gutters and windows were
reserved to the Queen. (fn. 109)
A mill, rendering 20s. on William Peverel's manor
in 1086, (fn. 110) was possibly the mill of Dichford, for
which as the third of a knight's fee scutage was paid
in 1235–36 (fn. 111) and was on the site of the mill in which
Simon de Cotes held the twenty-fifth part of a knight's
fee of Prince Edmund, (fn. 112) who at his death in 1298
was seised of three watermills in Higham Ferrers. (fn. 113)
The mill or mills of Dichford and the 'mill by Higham'
of the 14th and 15th centuries (fn. 114) had been replaced
before 1505 by three watermills under one roof
called Dichford mills and three others also under
one roof called Higham mills. (fn. 115) The 'Higham and
Dichford mills' were an appurtenance of the royal
manor of Higham Ferrers when it was settled in
trust for the Queen in 1672. (fn. 116)
A fishery which belonged to the three watermills of
1298 was called thirty years later a fishery in the
Nene. In the reign of Charles I the fishing of Stanwick Meer in the Nene was one of the appurtenances
of the manor. (fn. 117) Free warren, granted to William
de Ferrers in 1248 (fn. 118) and enjoyed by his successors, (fn. 119)
was amongst the liberties for which Henry Earl of
Lancaster was called upon to produce his warrant
in 1329. At the same time he had to make good his
claim to use gallows, pillory and tumbrel and hold
the assize of bread and ale as his predecessors had
done. (fn. 120)
Courts, leet and baron, pleas and perquisites of
court and view of frank-pledge are amongst the
appurtenances of the manor of Higham Ferrers
recorded from the 13th to the latter part of the 17th
century. (fn. 121)
Borough
As early as 1086 Higham was an
important town with its market
valued at 20s. a year. (fn. 122) It thus remained until the middle of the 13th century, when
William de Ferrers fifth Earl of Derby took an
interest in developing its prosperity. We are told
that when crossing St. Neots Bridge he had a fall
from his litter in which he usually travelled, being a
sufferer from gout. (fn. 123) It may be possible that he was on
his way to or from Higham Ferrers, where he seems
to have resided occasionally, and in which he had a
special interest. In 1248 he acquired the right of
free warren over his lands there, and in 1250 he obtained a grant of a fair there on the vigil, day and
morrow of the feast of St. Botolph (17 June). (fn. 124) On
the feast of St. Gregory (12 March) 1251 the earl
manumitted 92 of his villein tenants of Higham
Ferrers (fn. 125) and enfranchised their offspring (sequeles)
lands, tenements and chattels, granting that their
lands in future should be held in free burgage. (fn. 126)
Thus Higham became a free borough. This charter,
which was confirmed by Henry III in the same year,
is interesting and unusual in giving the names of
those who became the first burgesses and were promoted from a servile status to the freedom of burgesses.
This charter had disappeared from the borough
archives when in 1556 Philip and Mary bestowed
another on the town, and in their preamble spoke of
its loss through lack of safe custody or by ill chance.
All former liberties were confirmed and Higham
Ferrers was declared a free borough which with
mayor, seven aldermen and thirteen chief burgesses
was to form a body corporate and politic for ever.
The corporation thus constituted was empowered
to plead and be impleaded, make statutes and ordinances, use their own seal and make perambulations
in the borough of which the boundaries already
existing were confirmed. Regulations for the election of the mayor and his associates were followed by
nomination of the first body of these officers under
this charter. By the grant of markets and fairs with
their profits and court of pie-powder, the sovereigns
relinquished ancient appurtenances of the manor, as
probably they also did by the establishment of a
court of record for pleas within the borough not
exceeding £5, to be held every Monday in a common
hall, and by giving 'lawedaies' and view of frankpledge. The nomination of the chaplain, schoolmaster and beadsmen of the college of Higham
Ferrers was now transferred from the Crown to the
corporation. (fn. 127)
Seal of the Borough of Higham Ferrers. A device of a hand stretched horizontally in blessing above nine human heads all looking inwards.
A fresh charter granted by James I in 1604 empowered every mayor of Higham Ferrers for the time
being to be justice of the peace and also justice for
the preservation of the statutes of artificers and
labourers, and weights and measures, and freed
mayor, aldermen and burgesses from service on assize,
jury or inquisition whilst resident in the borough.
They were besides to have return of assizes and all
other royal writs and no sheriff, bailiff or other foreign
minister of the Crown was allowed to enter the
borough for the return or execution of writs. A
general confirmation of all privileges, liberties and
franchises accorded by former incorporations followed. (fn. 128)
In 1664 the mayor and corporation of Higham
Ferrers petitioned the king for the renewal of their
charter with certain alterations of which the most
important was the extension of the money limit of
their power to hold pleas from £5 to £40. (fn. 129) This
and other proposed changes which concerned the
fairs and markets were embodied in the new charter
of August 1664 after a confirmation in general terms
of the ancient liberties of the borough. It was also
provided that the court of record should be held
before the mayor, two aldermen, two chief burgesses
and the steward of the borough and parish of Higham
Ferrers. (fn. 130)
Within twenty years Higham Ferrers had followed
the example of other boroughs by surrendering its
charters to the Crown, and obtained their renewal in
letters patent issued in February 1684. This
charter also was confirmatory, embodying the early
clauses of the charter of 1556, and in it too the
mayor, aldermen and burgesses were nominated.
Henceforth the corporation was to have its own
recorder, the Earl of Peterborough being appointed
to this new office for life. Another change was the
nomination, also for life, of Goddard Pemberton, who
headed the list of aldermen, as justice of the peace.
The election of the successors of both these officers
was vested in the mayor and corporation, and the
number of fairs was reduced to one. (fn. 131)
The old corporation of Higham Ferrers was extinguished by the Municipal Corporation Act of 1882
which at the same time provided for the grant of
new charters of incorporation. Accordingly, on the
petition of certain inhabitant householders of the
parish of Higham Ferrers, the Committee of the Privy
Council formulated a scheme called 'The Borough
of Higham Ferrers Scheme' by which a municipal
borough was created in place of the old corporation.
All property which had been vested in the mayor
and his fellow burgesses by right of their office was
now transferred to the new governing body, which
became the sanitary authority in place of the Wellingborough Union, with charge of the town well, town
pump and sewers. The new charter was granted on
16 July 1887. (fn. 132)
The burgesses held Higham Ferrers of the Crown
as of the Duchy of Lancaster at a fee-farm rent,
which between 1504 and 1515 amounted to
£18 12s. 1d., (fn. 133) in the reign of Queen Elizabeth to
£15 19s. 5½d., (fn. 134) and in 1649 to £16 a year. (fn. 135) 'Borough
rents' of the annual value of £19 8s. 2½d. were referred
to in the settlement of the manor on Queen Catherine
wife of Charles II. (fn. 136) From a suit brought early in
the 16th century by one Thomas Giles of Higham
Ferrers against Robert Pypwell, then mayor, it appears
that this tax was collected from the king's tenants
of the Duchy of Lancaster in the town who were
responsible for the good repair of their tenements. (fn. 137)
Any man failing in this duty after due warning by
the mayor was liable to ejection by his successor
should twelve lawful burgesses of the town testify
that his tenement was still in decay. The descendants
of William de Ferrers' enfranchised tenants enjoyed
free burgage as an hereditary right, and the earliest
record preserved in the Town Hall of Higham Ferrers,
the roll of the borough court, 'Curia Burgi' or
'Halmote' for 4 Edward I [1275–6] shows that their
survivors and heirs were already occupied with the
admission of new burgesses. At the same time they
were dealing with surrender of and admission to
property and pleas of debt and trespass, and issuing
licences to brew. (fn. 138) Jurisdiction in cases of breach
of the king's standard of weights and measures was
exercised here by the king's chief steward of the
Duchy of Lancaster in northern parts, by whom
in 1426 certain offenders were fined 'for the abuse
of their bushels,' the mayor being merely entrusted
with the custody of the faulty vessels until they were
rectified. (fn. 139)
In 1591 commissioners of the Duchy of Lancaster
found that the mayor and corporation of Higham
Ferrers had felons' goods and toll of passengers through
the town and other places in the Hundred, (fn. 140) liberties
presumably of earlier date than 1556. (fn. 141) A minor
privilege which the mayor and his associates claimed
to enjoy by charter in 1618 was that of having two
persons in the town to draw wine. (fn. 142)
Higham Ferrers had a mayor as early as 1377, from
which year a fairly complete list of these officers
might be drawn up from the borough rolls. (fn. 143) The
15th century records of the Duchy of Lancaster
show the king and his servants dealing with the
mayor alone as the representative of the corporation, (fn. 144) and in the early years of the next century
Robert Pypwell, mayor, described the town as
incorporated 'by the name of Mayre and Commonalty' time out of mind. (fn. 145) The charter of 1556
fixed the Monday following St. Luke's day for the
annual election by the aldermen and chief burgesses
of an alderman as mayor, and entrusted the choice of
the thirteen chief burgesses to the seven aldermen. It
empowered the mayor to appoint a serjeant-at-mace
for the execution of processes, mandates and other
business of the borough, and, together with the
aldermen, to elect from year to year a serjeant of the
borough, a bailiff, two constables and all other servants necessary to the corporation. (fn. 146) There was
already a steward of the borough, before whom a
new mayor was sworn upon his entrance into office. (fn. 147)
To this body of officers, as has been stated above, a
recorder was added in 1684. (fn. 148) In 1591, the mayor
was also serving as clerk of the market, coroner and
escheator. (fn. 149)
The incorporation of the borough in 1556 was
followed within two years by its representation in
the House of Commons, and from 1557–8 until its
disfranchisement in 1832 Higham Ferrers sent one
member to Parliament. (fn. 150) The right of election
belonged to all inhabitants of the town who were
not receiving alms. (fn. 151)
From time to time Higham Ferrers, doubtless on
account of its connexion with the royal household
and the Duchy of Lancaster, was represented in
Parliament by men of rank and of importance in
political life. Such were Sir Christopher Hatton,
member in 1571, through whose influence when Lord
Chancellor, Richard, afterwards Sir Richard Swale,
president of Caius and a master in chancery, was
returned for Higham Ferrers to the Parliament of
1589. A later Sir Christopher, afterwards Baron,
Hatton, (fn. 152) steward of the manor of Higham Ferrers
in 1636, was representative of the borough in the
Long Parliament. He was one of those who were
returned in consequence of the exertions of Queen
Henrietta Maria to bring in her nominees as the
burgesses of the towns of her jointure. (fn. 153) Other members of parliament for this town distinguished as
statesmen and lawyers were, in 1601, Henry Montagu,
afterwards Earl of Manchester, who succeeded Coke
as Chief Justice of the King's Bench and later became
Lord High Treasurer. In 1741 Henry Seymour
Conway was returned as member at the beginning of a
long career as soldier and politician; Frederick
Montagu, member from 1768 to 1790, became lord
of the treasury under the Marquis of Rockingham in
1782. (fn. 154) He was succeeded by John Lee, solicitorgeneral in the same ministry. (fn. 155) Windham, secretary of
state and afterwards secretary for war under Pitt, was
returned for Higham Ferrers in 1807, and held the
seat until his death three years later. Names of
more local interest are those of Sir Thomas Dacres,
member in the parliament of 1625–26, and Sir Rice
Rudd, who represented Higham Ferrers from 1678 to
1681, and again in 1688–89. He was the grandson,
through his mother Judith, of Captain Thomas Rudd
and a native of Higham Ferrers. (fn. 156)
A manor called 'BOROUGH-HOLD' in the
18th century (fn. 157) was still in the possession of the mayor
and corporation in 1838, when its boundaries were
determined by Act of Parliament. (fn. 158) In 1874 this
property, which was vested in the new corporation
by the Act of 1886, was said to consist of 53 acres,
3 roods and 27 poles of land. (fn. 159)
A market which had belonged to William Peverel's
manor in 1086, when it rendered 20s. a year, (fn. 160) was
held weekly on Saturday in the 13th (fn. 161) and 14th centuries. (fn. 162)
In 1485, Richard III leased the issues of the tolls
of the market and fairs of Higham Ferrers with all
shops and stalls situated in the market place, (fn. 163) to
the Mayor and his successors for twenty years. (fn. 164)
The fair on the vigil, day and morrow of St. Botulph
(17 June) granted to William de Ferrers at his manor
of Higham Ferrers in 1250 (fn. 165) and an appurtenance in
1298, (fn. 166) continued to be held in the following century
after Thomas Earl of Lancaster had received the
grant of asecond at Michaelmas. (fn. 167) Both were claimed
by his brother in 1327 (fn. 168) and their issues included in
the lease of Richard III. The markets granted by
Philip and Mary were held weekly on Monday and
Saturday. (fn. 169) In 1664 the Monday market, which had
fallen into disuse before 1649, (fn. 170) was transferred to
Thursday and the Saturday market appropriated to
the sale of horses and cattle. (fn. 171) In the latter part
of the 18th century, the county historian wrote that
there were three weekly markets, on Monday, Thursday and Saturday, the two former disused and the
third much decayed. (fn. 172)
Four fairs granted in 1556 included the old-established fairs of St. Michael and St. Botolph and two
newly appointed for the feasts of St. Katherine and
St. Matthias. (fn. 173) By the first charter of Charles II,
these were reduced to two, held on the Thursdays
next before the feasts of St. Philip and St. James
and of St. James the Apostle; (fn. 174) by the second to
one, for the sale of cattle and merchandise on the
Thursday before the feast of the Conversion of St.
Paul. (fn. 175) It is likely, however, that other fairs, not
authorised by this charter, continued to be held in
the town. In the 18th century there were seven,
described by the historian of Northamptonshire as
'all well accustomed,' on the Thursdays before the
feasts of the conversion of St. Paul, of St. Matthias,
of St. Philip and St. James, and of St. James the
Apostle, on the 17 June, at Michaelmas and on the
feast of St. Catherine. (fn. 176) Five were held in 1838, on
the Thursdays before 12 May and 5 August, on
7 March, 28 June and 6 December, (fn. 177) and also in 1874,
when the dates in March, August and December
remained unaltered, but the other two fairs had been
transferred to the Wednesday before 5 February and
the Thursday before 11 October. (fn. 178)
Church
The church of ST. MARY THE
VIRGIN consists of chancel, 46 ft. by
20 ft., clearstoried nave of four bays,
72 ft. by 19 ft. 6 in., north and south aisles, the
former terminating in a Lady Chapel and vestry on
the north side of the chancel, an additional north
aisle, 10 ft. 6 in. wide, south porch, and west tower,
15 ft. square, with lofty spire. The width of the
north aisle is the same as that of the nave, and the
chapel and vestry being equal in size to the chancel,
the plan of the building is somewhat unusual, the
internal effect being that of two naves of equal size
with corresponding chancels. The south aisle is
10 ft. 6 in. wide and the total width across nave and
aisles 69 ft. 3 in. All these measurements are internal.
No part of the church is earlier than the 13th century, but a considerable portion of the building erected
in that period still remains, though altered in the
following century and later.
The existing chancel, nave, south aisle and tower
are substantially those of the 13th century fabric,
the aisles of which were equal in width, and though
later windows have been inserted and the aisle wall
rebuilt, the doorways, south nave arcade and other
architectural features remain unaltered. All this
work belongs to the first half of the 13th century
and was probably begun at the east end about 1220–25,
the tower being completed about 1250. The first
change in the plan was about 1325–30, when the
north aisle was widened and the Lady chapel built in
its present form, the north nave arcade being then
taken down and the present one erected. The chapel
was probably built first and the aisle afterwards made
of the same width. The two arches which divide the
chapel from the chancel were cut through the 13thcentury wall, and at the same time new windows
were inserted in the chancel and south aisle and other
alterations made. With the exception of the priests'
doorway, the south nave arcade and the south doorway, there is thus little original architectural work
recognisable east of the tower, though the plan
of the nave and chancel remains unchanged. The
alterations in the chancel were probably due to Lawrence St. Maur, canon of Hereford (d. 1338), whose
brass is now on the table tomb between the chancel
and chapel, but the tomb was constructed for a member of the House of Lancaster as indicated by the
heraldry on the lower part; a powdering of bees is
painted upon the canopy. Whether it was ever used
for its intended purpose is doubtful, as the actual
table tomb is of later date, but it is not unlikely that
the monument was erected by Henry, Earl of Lancaster (d. 1345) for himself, and that the Lady chapel
was added and the north aisle reconstructed at his
charges, he being the lord of the manor. (fn. 179)
There is little difference in date between the north
arcade of the nave and that of the outer aisle: the
latter may be an addition a few years after the work
of reconstruction was completed, or it may have
merely been left until the end of the enlargement,
while the arcade may belong to its beginning. The
whole of the north side of the church, however,
appears to have been completed in its present form
by about 1340, and may be considered as of one
build, the same plinth and stringcourse and the same
kind of dressed masonry being used both in the Lady
Chapel and the north aisle. The spire, as originally
built, was added about the same time, but the
clearstory belongs to the first half of the 15th century,
when low-pitched roofs behind parapets were erected
and two windows were inserted, one at the east end
of the south aisle, and the other at the west end of
the outer north aisle. In the 15th century, also,
Archbishop Chicheley no doubt erected the rood
screen and stalls, one of which bears his arms and
another those of the see of Canterbury. Other
screen work is of the same period.
In 1631–32 the spire and part of the tower were
rebuilt, following a collapse of the former, which
did great damage to the tower, since which time,
apart from restoration, the fabric has remained un-
changed. A partial restoration in 1829 was followed
in 1857 by one of more general character, extending
over a period of years, during which time the south
arcade, porch and south aisle walls were rebuilt and
the roofs renewed. (fn. 180) The rood loft and rood were
added to the screen in 1920 and an organ loft erected
in the Lady chapel. (fn. 181)
The church, which is justly claimed as one of the
finest in the county, is set in very picturesque surroundings, forming with the schoolhouse on the west,
churchyard cross, and vicarage and bedehouse on the
south side, an architectural group of more than usual
interest. The older walling is of rubble, the later
in coursed dressed stone, and all the roofs are of low
pitch, leaded, behind battlemented (fn. 182) parapets. Internally all the wall surfaces, except those of the tower,
are plastered. The roofs are modern.
The chancel has a 14th-century east window of
five trefoiled lights with reticulated tracery set within
13th-century shafted jambs, the greater part of the
original masonry remaining in the east wall. The
mullions (fn. 183) and tracery are moulded and the arch has
a slight ogee with elaborate canopied niche above
breaking the battlemented parapet of the gable. In
the south wall are three tall ogee-headed windows of
three trefoiled lights with reticulated tracery, moulded
jambs, and labels with headstops, the chancel being
divided into three bays by two-stage 14th-century
buttresses added when the windows were inserted.
The 13th-century priests' doorway has a chamfered
trefoiled head beneath a pointed hoodmould, the
spandrels filled with a six-leaf flower, and moulded
rear arch. There is a rounded stringcourse at sill
level inside, and in the usual position in the south
wall a double piscina consisting of two fluted bowls
in plain rectangular recesses, the heads of which are
formed by the string. A projecting stone bench
6 ft. long, with shaped arms, at the west end takes
the place of the more usual individual sedilia, and in
the north wall is a plain triangular-headed aumbry.
The sanctuary floor, which had been unduly raised
in 1880, was lowered to its original level in 1923: (fn. 184) the
space immediately east of the altar rail is paved with
medieval encaustic tiles of various patterns. (fn. 185) The
western portion of the chancel is occupied by the
stalls and its floor is level with that of the nave. Of
the two 14th-century arches in the north wall, the
wider one at the west end is of two chamfered orders
and springs from half-octagonal responds with
moulded capitals; the other, which is only about
8 ft. wide, forms the canopy of the tomb already
mentioned and is of three elaborately moulded orders
and embattled label on attached shafts with moulded
capitals and bases. The short length of masonry
between the arches is part of the original work and
retains the rounded string corresponding with that
opposite, but it is pierced by a small doorway to the
chapel. (fn. 186) Further east is a second 14th-century
doorway opening to the vestry. There is no chancel
arch, nor arch between the north aisle and chapel,
both roofs being continuous.
The 13th-century south nave arcade is mostly of
dark ironstone, the arches of two chamfered orders
with labels on both sides, springing from piers composed of four clustered shafts with moulded capitals
and bases, (fn. 187) and from half-octagonal responds.
The 14th-century north arcade is of freestone with
ironstone intermingled, and has octagonal piers with
moulded capitals and bases: the bases stand on big
square plinths and the capitals differ only slightly
in detail. The loftier outer arcade (fn. 188) is also of four
bays, with octagonal piers (fn. 189) whose capitals exhibit
considerable variety of moulding: in that of the
westernmost pier the nail-head ornament occurs, but
it is probably old work re-used. The arches of both
the north arcades are of two chamfered orders.
The clearstory over the outer arcades has squareheaded windows of two trefoiled lights, four on the
north side and five on the south. (fn. 190)
The south aisle wall, though rebuilt, retains its
13th-century doorway, much restored, with arch of
three orders, the innermost moulded, and the others
with hollow chamfers stopped above quirked imposts.
The jambs below the two outer orders have shafts
with foliated capitals and moulded bases, with smaller
attached shafts between, the inner jambs being simply
rounded. The 15th-century east window of the
aisle is of three cinquefoiled lights, with vertical
tracery, and the 14th-century easternmost window
of the south wall of four trefoiled lights and geometrical tracery; three other windows in this wall are
of three lights with ogee heads and reticulated
tracery; but the two-light west window of the aisle
appears to be of late 13th-century date, with forked
mullion and quatrefoil in the head. The porch has
been entirely rebuilt, but retains a restored 13thcentury outer doorway of two chamfered orders, the
inner on half-round responds with moulded capitals
and label terminating in pretty carved stops. The
porch has side windows of two lights and battlemented
parapets.
The 15th-century west window of the outer north
aisle is of three cinquefoiled lights with four-centred
head and vertical tracery; it is flanked externally by
niches, that on the south with cusping and finial,
the other with a plain pointed head. The other
windows of the aisle are square-headed, of three
trefoiled lights, with double chamfered jambs and
rounded rear arches. The pointed north doorway
has continuous hollow and sunk chamfers divided by
a casement.
Plan of Higham Ferrers Church and School House
The eastern bays of the outer aisles have been
restored as chapels, that on the north, known as the
Chapel of Remembrance, contains memorials of the
war of 1914–18, while the Chapel of the Kingdom, in
the south aisle, is set apart for intercession for work
overseas. (fn. 191) In the latter is a trefoil-headed piscina
with beautiful foliated cusping and label terminations
and fluted bowl. Below the eastern portion of the
aisle is a small 13th-century crypt, or bone-hole,
10 ft. 10 in. square, originally vaulted in four compartments, but now covered with a modern brick barrel
roof, access to which is by a doorway and stair in
the south wall. (fn. 192)
The west window of the main north aisle is of
five cinquefoiled lights, with plain intersecting tracery
and pointed trefoils above the cusping.
The Lady chapel has a tall ogee-headed east
window of five trefoiled lights, with reticulated
tracery and canopied niche over, similar in type to
the east window of the chancel, but less elaborate
in character. (fn. 193) The two contemporary north windows
are respectively of three and five lights, the larger one,
towards the east, being similar to that at the west end
of the inner north aisle, and the other like those in
the south aisle. The east wall of the chapel is flush
with that of the chancel, with a buttress of two stages
between the windows, the eastern end of the church
thus consisting of two equal low-pitched gables. The
chapel retains at its east end the original sacristry,
formed by screening off a portion, 8 ft. wide, with a
solid wall against which the chapel altar was placed.
A trefoil-headed ogee piscina, with plain bowl,
remains in the usual position immediately west of the
screen wall. The organ loft is over the west portion
of the chapel.
The tower is of three main stages, with moulded
plinth, pierced parapet and angle pinnacles. The
whole of the south side, the south-west and southeast buttresses and the upper stage were rebuilt in
1631–32, (fn. 194) and though much of the old masonry was
re-used and the chief architectural features retained,
the work shows unmistakable signs of its late origin.
The south buttresses, which were rebuilt on a larger
scale and carried up four stages to the spring of the
arches of the bell-chamber windows, are æsthetically
detrimental to the otherwise graceful lines of the
tower, the appearance of which, as left by the 13thcentury builders, must have been of exceptional
beauty. The original work, however, survives
uninjured in the lower stages on the west and north
sides.
The double west doorway is covered by a shallow
recessed porch (11 ft. 6 in. by 4 ft. 6 in.), with pointed
outer arch of two richly moulded orders on shafts
with foliated capitals. The heads of the two inner
doorways are low segmental arches, the moulding of
which is continued down the jambs, and round each
opening are carved the foliage and half-figures of a
Tree of Jesse, the main stem of which, rising between
them, blossoms into a rich foliated capital, supporting
an ornamental bracket and housing for a lost image of
Our Lady and Child. The sides of the porch, which
is recessed in the thickness of the wall, have arcades
of two trefoiled arches on shafts with moulded
capitals and bases, above which a chamfered mid-arch
springs from moulded corbels supported by heads.
The surface of the pointed barrel vault on either side
of the mid-arch is completely covered with a rich
diaper, except at the bottom of the outer compartment on the north side, where there is a sculptured
figure of a man in the stocks playing a musical
instrument. Above the heads of the inner doorways
is a moulded stringcourse, which, breaking round the
bracket, forms the base of a pointed tympanum, the
middle part of which was occupied by the Virgin's
statue. The space behind the statue is plain for about
two-thirds of its height, above which the surface is
diapered, the trefoiled head inclosing a sun and moon.
The remainder of the tympanum on either side of the
central figure is carved in low relief, with a series of
roundels, or medallions, five on each side, in which
the following subjects are represented: North side
(a) the Visitation, (b) the Annunciation, (c) the
Adoration of the Three Kings, (d) our Lord among the
Doctors, (e) our Lord's baptism; South side (a) the
Adoration of the Shepherds, (b) the Crucifixion,
(c) the Vision of Zacharias, (d) the three Marys at
the Tomb, (e) the harrowing of Hell. (fn. 195)
The 13th-century window above the porch is of
two trefoiled lights within an arch of two chamfered
orders on shafted jambs; in the spandrel is a seated
figure of our Lord in glory. The window may have
been originally higher in the wall, and the porch
probably had a gable over it.
Between the porch and the north-west buttress
are two trefoiled wall arches on banded shafts, one
over the other, but the corresponding treatment on
the south side was destroyed in the 17th century,
though an image bracket, together with one on the
north side, remains. The original coupled northwest buttresses are of two stages with gabled heads
terminating in grotesque figures. In the lower stage
of the tower on the north side is a 13th-century
trefoiled wall arcade and a window of two plain
lancet lights within a containing arch, the spandrel
carved with the figure of a man playing on a pipe and
tabor. The shafts of the arcade and window are
banded and have moulded capitals and bases. Remains of a similar arcading survive in the reconstructed
lower stage on the south side. In the middle stage
facing north is a 13th-century window of two plain
lancets within a trefoiled chamfered arch on shafts
with foliated capitals, but on the south side the wall
is blank.
The bell-chamber windows are the old ones reused: they consist of two lancet lights with transoms,
set within a pointed arch of two moulded orders on
shafts with carved capitals and moulded bases. The
lancets have shafted jambs and a triple mid-shaft, and
from the hoodmould a string runs round the tower.
The 14th-century parapet rests on an older corbel
table and consists of a series of pierced quatrefoils.
From the pinnacles pierced flying buttresses are
carried to the spire, the angles of which are ribbed
and crocketed. There are three sets of gabled spire
lights on the cardinal faces, the bottom one transomed and of two lights with 14th-century tracery:
on the east side is an ogee-headed doorway behind the
parapet. The whole of this work, in its present form,
dates from 1632, though the old wrought stones have
been re-used.
Higham Ferrers Church: The Font
The 13th-century tower arch to the nave is of four
chamfered orders springing from attached shafts on
each side with moulded capitals and bases, the larger
of the shafts having a fillet at the apex. Above the
arch is a shouldered opening, and the line of the
original high-pitched roof remains on the east side.
Between the tower arch and the north arcade, at
ground level, is a 13th-century wall arch on shafts
with moulded bases and capitals, in one of which the
nail-head ornament occurs. (fn. 196) The vice was originally
in the south-west angle of the tower, with communication over the west doorway to another in the northwest angle, but access to this is now obtained by a
modern stairway (fn. 197) with external doorway in the
angle of the north aisle.
The fine early 15th-century rood screen has four
traceried openings on each side of the entrance, with
solid lower panels, battlemented cornice and moulded
stiles and rails. The modern cove, traceried loft
and the rood with attendant figures were designed
by Mr. J. N. Comper. There is no original rood-loft
stair or doorway. In the west bay of the chancel are
seven stalls on each side and three return stalls.
The return stalls and three on the south side have
original traceried fronts, but the other fronts are
modern. There are also four original standards
with moulded and carved tops. All the stalls retain
their misericords, the centrepieces and supporters
of which are carved in a variety of subjects; among
these are an angel holding a shield with the arms of
Archbishop Chicheley, a pelican, the heads of a king,
a bishop and others, a lion, pelican, phœnix-winged
serpent, foliage, etc. The arms of the see of Canterbury are on one of the supporters.
Behind the north range of stalls a 15th-century
traceried screen of seven openings fills the arch to
the Lady chapel, but the enclosing screen at the west
end of the chapel is modern. There are also parclose
screens round the chapels at the east end of the outer
aisles: that to the north chapel is modern (fn. 198) at
the west end, but its south side is of 15th-century
date, with doorway and traceried openings, carved
cornice and solid lower panels. The south chapel
screen is rather later, with two tiers of panels
below the traceried openings, the bottom tier
having linen pattern ornament. Both these
screens have been restored to their places after
having been mutilated and converted into pews. (fn. 199)
The pulpit and seating are modern. (fn. 200) The 15thcentury font has an octagonal bowl with carving
on the four major faces, on attached shafts with
moulded bases, and chamfered plinth.
In the tower window recess are four 13thcentury coffin lids.
The monument on the north side of the chancel
mentioned as probably having been erected by
Henry Earl of Lancaster includes the battlemented
arch already described as forming the canopy of
the tomb, its end buttresses being taken up as
pinnacles. The canopy preserves a considerable
amount of its original colour, (fn. 201) but the tomb itself
was altered in the 17th century, probably when
Lawrence St. Maur's brass was placed there.
Two of the four shields of arms (fn. 202) on each side
may be reproductions in stone of the four brass
shields now missing from the slab, and the
pilasters between are clearly of the 17th century.
The stone containing St. Maur's brass was no doubt
originally in the chancel floor but was placed in its
present position in 1633. (fn. 203) The brass is that of a
priest in mass vestments below a canopy, but the
border is imperfect: above the figure is our Lord
and four Apostles, and the inscription below reads:
'Hic jacet Lawren' de S[anct]o Mauro quondā rector
istius ec[clesi]e cui' an' p[ro]picietr dñs'. (fn. 204)
In the chancel, north of the altar, is the brass of
Richard Wylleys (1523?), warden of the college, in
cope, and south of the altar that of another ecclesiastic
the inscription of which is lost. There are several
brasses in the Lady chapel: the oldest commemorates
Thomas Chicheley (d. 1400) and Agnes his wife,
parents of the Archbishop, on which is a floriated
Latin cross with the figure of our Lord in the centre
and the emblems of the four Evangelists at the
extremities of the arms. Another, with double canopy,
represents the archbishop's brother, William Chicheley
(d. 1425) and Beatrice his wife, the man in civilian
dress: it has a long border inscription in English
and the emblems of the Evangelists at the corners. (fn. 205)
Near to it is the brass of William Thorpe, merchant
(d. 1504) and Marion his wife, two small figures,
the man in civilian dress, with scrolls, groups of six
sons and six daughters and the Evangelists' symbols.
Other brasses in the Lady chapel without date or
inscription comprise a civilian, a woman (imperfect)
and a child: there is also the indent of a female figure.
In the south aisle chapel, near the altar, is the brass
of Henry Denton, chaplain of Chelveston (d. 1498),
who is represented in mass vestments.
There is no medieval glass.
At the west end of the north aisle are two suits of
17th-century town armour suspended from iron
stanchions fixed to the wall. Each suit consists of
breast and back plates, to which are attached a pair of
broad taces. There is also a pikeman's steel cap, with
low comb and broad flat brim. (fn. 206)
In the chapel at the east end of the outer north
aisle is a 16th-century iron chest with an elaborate
lock and two large shields of arms painted on the
front, one with the double-headed eagle of the Empire. (fn. 207)
There is a scratch dial on one of the buttresses of
the south wall of the chancel.
There are eight bells, two trebles by Taylor of
Loughborough having been added in 1892 to a
former ring of six. The third is by Robert Taylor &
Co., of St. Neots, 1820, the fourth and sixth recastings by Taylor in 1892, the fifth an alphabet
bell dated 1611, the seventh dated 1636, and the
tenor 1633. (fn. 208)
The plate consists of two silver cups and cover
patens of 1653 given to the church in that year by
John Boughton; there is also a pewter flagon, and
brass alms dish. (fn. 209)
The registers begin in 1589: the first volume contains entries to 1641, the second 1653–1693, the third
1694–1742, and the fourth 1742–1801.
To the west of the tower is a 14th-century churchyard cross 11 ft. high on a Calvary of four circular
steps; the shaft, square below and above, is splayed
for the greater part of its length so as to form an
irregular octagon, with slightly hollowed sides, ornamented on the broader faces with oak-leaf foliage
and on the narrower with ball flowers, leaves, and
crockets. The head was restored in 1919, and a
Calvary group (west) and figure of our Lady and
Child (east) added to the capital. (fn. 210)
Advowson
The church of Higham Ferrers is
dedicated to the honour of St. Mary
the Virgin. (fn. 211) It may be assumed
that there was a church here in 1086, when there
was a priest in the manor of William Peverel. (fn. 212)
He gave the church to the priory of his own foundation
at Lenton (fn. 213) before 1113, (fn. 214) but though this grant was
confirmed by Henry I and later kings, (fn. 215) as also by
Innocent III, (fn. 216) the church formed part of the forfeited
possessions of the younger William Peverel. Richard I
presented to it, and when in 1237 William de Ferrers
claimed the advowson as an appurtenance of his
manor of Higham Ferrers he won his suit. (fn. 217)
The plea and judgment in the suit are interesting.
The earl pleaded that King John had given to William
de Ferrers, Earl of Derby, Higham with the hundred
and a half and other their appurtenances, and the
earl quitclaimed the rest of the lands formerly of
William Peverel to the king. The judgment in the
earl's favour was based on the points that the manor
was in the hands of King Richard when he presented,
and King John afterwards gave the manor to the earl
with all its appurtenances and the advowson was an
appurtenance of the manor. The church descended
with the manor (q.v.) until in 1354 Henry Duke of
Lancaster obtained licence to make it part of the
endowment of and appropriate it to the Hospital of
the Annunciation which his father had founded at
Leicester, (fn. 218) and he was about to convert into a college. (fn. 219)
It belonged to that house when in 1422 Archbishop
Chicheley obtained licence to found his college at
Higham Ferrers, (fn. 220) which he described nine years
later as established on condition that for all future
times its master or warden should be presented to
the perpetual vicarage of the parish church of Higham
Ferrers by the dean and chapter of the Newark
college and bound to continual residence and the
cure of souls there. (fn. 221) In 1535 the church of Higham
Ferrers was amongst the spiritualities of the College
of Newark, Leicester, (fn. 222) and eight years later Henry
VIII granted it to Robert Dacres, of Cheshunt, (fn. 223)
Master of the Requests and one of his Privy
Councillors.
From Robert, who died that year, the advowson
of Higham Ferrers descended through his son George,
and grandson, Sir Thomas Dacres, of Cheshunt, to
his great-grandson Thomas, (fn. 224) whose right of presenta-
tion was usurped, in 1631 by Archbishop Abbot and
in 1635 by Laud. (fn. 225) In 1662, however, this second
Sir Thomas Dacres had recovered the patronage, (fn. 226)
and two years later, with his son Thomas and grandson Robert, made a settlement in which the church
of Higham Ferrers was included. (fn. 227) Robert was
seised of it in 1670, (fn. 228) 1676 and 1691. (fn. 229) A petition
dated 12 February 1725–6, was presented to his son
and heir Thomas, then patron, by the townsfolk of
Higham Ferrers, in which they claimed fulfilment of
his promise to allow them the choice of the next
vicar, (fn. 230) which he did by presenting the candidate of
their recommendation. (fn. 231) Within the next ten years
he seems to have sold the advowson to the Earl of
Malton, afterwards Marquis of Rockingham, (fn. 232) patron
in 1735 and 1745. (fn. 233) From his son and heir, Charles
Marquis of Rockingham, Prime Minister of England,
who died without issue in 1782, the advowson came
to the grandson of the first Marquis, William Wentworth, fourth Earl Fitzwilliam, (fn. 234) patron in 1800.
His son, Charles William, Earl Fitzwilliam, patron in
1838, (fn. 235) was succeeded by his third son, the Honourable
George Wentworth Fitzwilliam of Milton, Peterborough, since whose death in 1874 his son, George
Charles Wentworth Fitzwilliam, of Milton, has been
patron. (fn. 236)
Dacres of Cheshunt. Or a cheveron sable between three roundels gules each charged with a scallop argent.
Watson, Marquis of Rockingham. Argent a cheveron azure between three martlets sable with three crescents or upon the cheveron.
Fitzwilliam. Lozengy argent and gules.
The rectory of Higham Ferrers followed the descent
of the advowson (q.v.) down to the dissolution of the
college of Newark. It had been leased with a burgage
lying to the south of the rectory house and also the
rectories of Caldecote and Chelveston by the dean of
the college in 1530 for 40 years to Laurence Washington and Elizabeth his wife. In 1567 Queen Elizabeth
granted a lease to John Jones for a term of 21 years
from the expiration of the lease to Washington.
Further leases in reversion were granted by the Crown
in 1570 to Nicholas Stere for 31 years, and in 1574
to John Jones for 21 years. The interests under these
leases seem to have been acquired by Christopher
Freeman, who in 1602 obtained a lease for his life and
the lives of Martha his wife and his sons Ralph and
George. (fn. 237) In 1606 he had a grant of the chapels,
messuages, mills, glebe lands, tithes, etc., in the
parishes of Higham Ferrers, Chelveston and Caldecote, parcel of the said rectory. (fn. 238) An action was
brought in the Court of Chancery by Henry, son of
Christopher Freeman, regarding the liability to
repair the chancel of Higham Ferrers church. The
plaintiff, Henry Freeman, admitted his liability as
owner of the rectory, but claimed that Christopher
Rudd and Martin Creake as lessees had allowed the
chancel to fall into decay and ruin. It appears that
Christopher Freeman, by his will dated in 1610, left
the parsonage house, tithes, etc., to his wife Martha,
for life, with remainder to Ralph his son and heir.
Martha afterwards married Anthony Herenden, and
then neglected to repair the chancel, but being
threatened with proceedings in the Ecclesiastical
Court, leased the tithes to Christopher Rudd and
Martin Creake. The lessees held them for some ten
years before the death of Martha in 1621. Ralph
Freeman having predeceased Martha without issue,
he was succeeded by his brother Henry, the plaintiff,
who had to disburse 200 marks on repairs to the
chancel, for which he sued the lessees Rudd and
Creake. (fn. 239) Another Henry Freeman owned the rectory
in 1681. (fn. 240) In 1696 one moiety belonged to James
Johnson and his wife Judith, and this or the other
moiety was held by Susan Wickham, widow, in 1714. (fn. 241)
Both belonged to Thomas Dacres in 1731, and have
since descended with the advowson (q.v.).
The chapel of Jesus in Higham Ferrers was included
in the grant to Robert Dacres and still owned by his
heirs in 1731.
Charities
The following charities are administered by the Mayor of Higham
Ferrers and 11 other trustees in
conformity with a scheme of the Charity Commissioners dated 3 April 1914, under the title of the
United Charities:—
Charity of Archbishop Henry Chicheley for Bedesmen founded under a licence from the Crown in 1422,
originally consisted of the Bedehouse and Garden
Ground and an annual charge of £24 10s. out of land
belonging to Robert Dacres. The endowment is now
represented by £890 8s. 8d. New Zealand 4 per cent.
Inscribed Stock, £239 2s. 1d. India 3 per cent. Stock
and a yearly payment of £4 by the Corporation of
Higham Ferrers.
Nicholas Latham's Dole consists of a yearly payment of £3, paid by the bailiff of Parson Latham's
Hospital in Barnwell. Nicholas Latham died about
1620.
The Honourable Lewis Watson about the year 1708
gave £50.
Elizabeth Freeman, by her will dated 18 February
1715, gave £20.
Richard Wagstaff, who died in August 1747, by
his will gave 20s. a year to the poor and 10s. yearly to
the minister for a sermon. The endowments of the
three last mentioned charities consist of 2 acres of
land known as Thorp End Close, which produced
£7 16s. 6d. in 1924.
John Dewberry's charity originally consisted of a
yearly sum of £1 which had long been paid as a rentcharge issuing out of land belonging to Earl Fitzwilliam. This charge was redeemed in 1914 by the
transfer of £40 Consols to the Official Trustees.
Ann Sanders, who died in July 1804, gave £50 to
the poor, and
Mrs. Maskell, by her will dated about 1819, gave
£20. These two gifts are now represented by
£69 11s. 9d. India 3 per cent. Stock.
George Newman, by his will proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury 3 November 1855, gave
such part of his personal estate as he could lawfully
bequeath for charitable purposes for the support of
six poor almswomen. The legacy, together with
accumulations, was invested in £5,834 12s. 9d. India
3 per cent. Stock.
Selina Dennis Pressland, by her will proved in the
Peterborough Registry, 3 June 1891, gave £3,000 for
the benefit of poor widows. The legacy was invested
in £3,030 6s. 1d. Consols.
The gross income of the charities amounted to
£313 1s. 6d. in 1924.
The yearly income of the charity of Archbishop
Chicheley is applied in stipends to 13 bedespeople,
being 12 men and one woman. £33 13s. was so applied in 1924.
There are six almswomen who receive a stipend at
the rate of 8s. per week. They occupy almshouses
which are held on a yearly tenancy from the Corporation at a rent of £51.
A stipend of not less than £5 yearly is paid to each
of not more than 15 poor widows called the Pressland
Widows.
The residue of the income of the charities is applied
for the benefit of the poor generally at the discretion
of the trustees.
Archbishop Chicheley before-mentioned also provided for the maintenance of two chaplains. In
respect of this a sum of £15 a year is paid to the vicar
in augmentation of the vicarage out of the estates of
Earl Fitzwilliam.
By her will Mrs. Wilde, who died about 1814, gave
£30 to the poor. A sum of £27 was received by the
vicar in respect of this legacy and the interest amounting to £1 7s. was distributed in bread during winter.
Owing to the insolvency of the holder this charity
has been lost.
By an award, dated 27 December 1839, of the Inclosure Commissioners 9 a. 1 r. 31 p. of land situate
in the beast pasture was allotted to six trustees for
the use of the inhabitants as a recreation ground.
In 1910 the trust was transferred to the Town
Council of Higham Ferrers. The land is let for
grazing at a rent of £7 per annum, which is applied
in the upkeep of the gates and fences.
The Church Land. By the award above-mentioned
6 a. 1 r. 11 p. of land in the beast pasture was allotted
to the churchwardens for the benefit of the church.
The land is let in allotments to about 50 tenants and
produced £16 6s. 8d. in rent in 1924. The income
is applied to church maintenance.
By declaration of trust dated 13 July 1910 a sum
of £200 India 2½ per cent. Stock was transferred to
the Official Trustees of Charitable Funds by John
Crew, of the Manor House, upon trust that the dividends should be applied by the vicar and churchwardens towards the repair of the church. The
dividends amount to £5 per annum.
By an indenture dated 20 March 1866 it was
declared that the interest to arise from a sum of £100
given by Mrs. Ann Burgess should be applied in providing clothing for one or more needy local preacher or
preachers of the Wesleyan Society in Higham Ferrers
Circuit. The gift was invested in £88 9s. 11d.
Consols and the income amounting to £2 4s. is
applied in the purchase of suits of clothes every few
years. The last distribution took place in 1893,
when three suits costing £10 10s. were distributed to
three recipients.
The several sums of stock are standing in the name
of the Official Trustees of Charitable Funds.