BOZEAT
Bosiete (xi cent.); Bosehate, Bosezate, Bosyate, Bosegate (xiii cent.); Bosizatt (xvi-xvii cent.).
Bozeat is on the borders of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, a stone at Shirewood about 2 miles southeast of the village marking the boundary between the
three counties. The London road from Wellingborough to Olney runs through the parish from north
to south. The village lies mainly along two roads
branching east from the London road, the lower one
being called the High Street.
St. Mary's Church, with the vicarage to the west of
it, lies at the eastern side of the village. To the south
of it, across the road, are Manor Farm and Church
Farm, the Independent Methodist chapel built in 1892,
and the Baptist chapel built in 1844. There is a cemetery of about an acre formed in 1903, with a mortuary
chapel. A public elementary school was built in 1873,
and enlarged in 1892. A working men's club founded
in 1894 has a club house, built in 1897; and an obelisk
of Weldon stone was erected in 1920 to the memory
of 39 men of the parish who fell in the Great War.
There are disused brickworks north-west of the village;
and about a quarter of a mile to the south of the village, down the London road, are Bozeat mill and
windmill, the last surviving post mill in the county.
The parish lies mostly at a height of about 300 ft.,
and while the surface is level in some districts, in the
north it is hilly. It has an area of 2,605 acres. The soil
is a stiff loam; the subsoil limestone. The chief crops
grown are cereals. Shoemaking employs a considerable
number of hands. Some Bozeat tradesmen's tokens of
the 17th century are known. (fn. 1) The population in 1931
was 1,157.
Manors
In Bozeat, 2 hides less 1 virgate were
the property of Waltheof Earl of Huntingdon before the Conquest, and were held
by his wife the Countess Judith in the Domesday Survey. (fn. 2) The overlordship of this manor, later known as
the manor of LATIMERS, descended with the earldom and honor of Huntingdon as Yardley Hastings
(q.v.).
Hansard. Sable three molets argent.
Latimer Gules a cross paty or.
Under Earl Waltheof this property was held by
Stric. In 1086 Lanzelin was the Countess Judith's
tenant, the pre-Conquest value of 40s. remaining unaltered. The family of de Moreville were undertenants
of this fee in the 12th century, and an inquiry held in
the reign of King John (fn. 3) showed that Richard de Moreville (Constable of the King of Scotland and father of
Helen de Moreville) had been seised of the land of
Whissendine (Rutland) and Bozeat, and later had been
disseised on account of the war between Henry II and
King William of Scotland. To Earl David's counterclaim that King Henry had granted the land to his
brother King William, who had then granted it to
himself to hold in demesne, Helen de Moreville objected that it was only the service rendered for the land
which had been granted to him by the King of Scotland. Alan de Galway, the son of Helen de Moreville,
married Margaret, the daughter of Earl David, and
received a grant of 2 fees in Whissendine and Bozeat to
hold of him by homage and service. (fn. 4) Alan de Galway
and his mother appear in 1213 as owing 600 marks
and 6 palfreys for the foregoing inquiry. (fn. 5) A fee in
Bozeat appears in 1242 as held of Henry de Hastings
by John Hansard. (fn. 6) The Hansards were still in possession of this fee in 1275, (fn. 7) when it was ordered that the
manor of Bozeat, held in chief by Gilbert Hansard,
should be taken into the king's hands, as he had
alienated it without licence. Probably he had sold it to
one of the Mowbrays, as in 1312 a fee held by John
Mowbray in Bozeat was included among the fees held
at his death by John de Hastings. (fn. 8) The declaration in
1318 that there never were any lands in Bozeat of
ancient demesne (fn. 9) may indicate that the Hastings overlordship had been called in question. William Latimer
at his death in 1336 held the manor of Bozeat of John
de Mowbray by service of one knight's fee. (fn. 10) At the
death of Laurence de Hastings, Earl of Pembroke, in
1348, one fee was held of him by John de Mowbray in
Bozeat, and another by William Latimer (fn. 11) (son of the
last-named William). After this date the Mowbray
mesnelordship is not again recorded. The other fee came
to the Latimers through the Twengs and the Bruces, and
was also for a time returned as held in chief by them.
Robert de Tweng appears to have claimed view of frankpledge in Bozeat in 1275. (fn. 12) On 15 October 1285 the
custody of the manor of Bozeat, during minority of
the heir of Robert de Tweng, was granted to Roger de
Fricurt, king's yeoman, (fn. 13) and in February 1294 the
manor of Bozeat was in the king's hands by reason of
the minority of Lucy daughter and heir of Robert de
Tweng, tenant in chief. (fn. 14) Lucy had inherited property
in the north as grand-daughter and heir of Marmaduke
de Tweng and of Lucy sister and co-heir of Peter de
Bruce. (fn. 15) In 1311 Lucy de Tweng and William Latimer her husband made a settlement of the manors of
Danby, co. York, and of Bozeat, both of the inheritance
of Lucy, (fn. 16) to William Latimer to hold for life, with
remainder to William their son. (fn. 17) In 1316 Bozeat was
assessed with Easton [Maudit] and with half Strixton,
William Latimer appearing among the tenants then
enumerated. (fn. 18)
On 3 November 1328 a grant of free warren was
made by Edward III to William Latimer in the manors
of Scredington (co. Lincoln) and of Bozeat. (fn. 19) He
claimed view of frankpledge in 1329 as having been
held with the manor by Lucy de Bruce, who enfeoffed
of the manor his father William Latimer. (fn. 20)
Neville, Lord Latimer.Gules a saltire argent with a ring sable for difference.
After the death of William Latimer in 1335 the
manor was held in dower by his widow Elizabeth until
her death on 11 April 1384. (fn. 21) Her son Sir William
Latimer predeceased her, dying on 28 May 1381, and
his heir was his daughter Elizabeth, wife of John de
Neville Lord of Raby. (fn. 22) The manor was then assigned
in dower to his widow, also named Elizabeth, (fn. 23) who at
her death in 1389 was returned as holding it of the
Earl of Pembroke by service of half a knight's fee, of
the inheritance of her daughter Elizabeth. (fn. 24) Lady Elizabeth Neville married as her second husband Sir Robert
de Willoughby of Eresby, and died seised of the manor
of Bozeat in 1395. (fn. 25) Lady Elizabeth's heir by her first
husband was their son John Neville, but after her death
the manor was held by her second husband Sir Robert
de Willoughby until he died on 9 August 1396. (fn. 26) It
was then returned as held of the honor of Huntingdon,
but by what service was not known. (fn. 27) In 1428 Bozeat
was assessed for feudal aids as 1 fee held by Lord
Latimer of the honor of Huntingdon. (fn. 28) John de
Neville, Lord Latimer, died s.p.
in 1430–1, having entailed the
manor on Ralf Earl of Westmoreland, his step-brother, i.e. the son
of his father John Lord Neville by
his first wife Maud daughter of
Lord Percy. (fn. 29) By Earl Ralf it was
bestowed on his third son, Sir
George Neville, who with his
wife Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Beauchamp Earl of Warwick,
made settlement of it in 1444. (fn. 30)
He, as Sir George Neville Lord
Latimer, died seised of it jointly with his wife Elizabeth on 30 December 1469, his heir being his grandson
Richard Neville, son of his son Henry, who had been
slain that year. In the inquisition taken on the following
10 May (fn. 31) he was said to have held the manor of the
heirs of Thomas d'Evreux by half a knight's fee, but
this was evidently a confusion with the manor of
Marshes (q.v.). Elizabeth, his widow, died on 27
October 1480, when it was returned that she had
granted the stewardship of the manor to Richard
Maryette. (fn. 32) Her grandson Sir Richard Neville of Latimer succeeded her. On 3 April 1500 he and his wife
Anne made a settlement of this and other manors. (fn. 33) Sir
Richard was succeeded by his son John Lord Latimer,
whose son John Lord Latimer next succeeded, and died
at Snape in Yorkshire on 22 April 1577 leaving four
daughters as his co-heirs: Catherine, wife of Henry
Earl of Northumberland; Dorothy, wife of Sir Thomas
Cecil; Lucy, wife of William Cornwallis, esq.; and
Elizabeth, wife of Sir John Danvers. (fn. 34) These ladies,
with their husbands, were dealing by fine with the
manors of Bozeat, Church Brampton, Stowe, and Kislingbury in 1579, (fn. 35) and in 1580 the manors of Bozeat
and Church Brampton were conveyed to Sir Thomas
Cecil and his wife Dorothy by Richard Neville and his
wife Barbara. (fn. 36) Sir Thomas Cecil in right of his wife,
the Lady Dorothy, subsequently took proceedings
against Robert Johnson, steward of Lord Latimer and
of Sir Thomas Cecil in these properties, to cause him
to surrender court rolls and other evidences, and confess what he had cut or otherwise defaced in the same. (fn. 37)
These proceedings may possibly be connected with
preparations for a sale of the manor, as in 1598 a conveyance of the manors of Bozeat Latimers and of
Bozeat Marshes (q.v.) was made by Sir Thomas Cecil
and his wife Dorothy to John Wiseman and his wife
Margery, (fn. 38) and both these manors were after this date
held by the Wisemans.
In 1603 John Wiseman settled the two manors of
Bozeat and the rectory and advowson on his nephew
Henry, younger son of his brother Richard, at the
marriage of the said Henry with Mary Burley, daughter
of Richard Burley of Elsenham, co. Essex, with contingent remainder to Richard, elder brother of the said
Henry. (fn. 39) John Wiseman died at Bozeat on 11 December 1615, his heir being his brother Richard's son
Richard, and was succeeded in the Bozeat manors by
his nephew Henry and the latter's wife Mary. (fn. 40) His
own wife Frances survived him, and his nephew
Richard died seised of the reversion of this property on
15 October 1616, leaving a wife Dorothy and a son and
heir Mark. (fn. 41)
Spencer. Quarterly argent and gules fretty or with a bend sable over all charged with three scallops argent.
In 1630 Henry Wiseman and his wife Mary were
dealing (fn. 42) with the manors, rectory, and advowson, all
settled on the said Mary for life, with remainder to
their son John and his wife Elizabeth. John Wiseman
of St. Leonard's in Shoreditch, London, died seised
of the manors, rectory, and advowson on 7 April 1637, leaving
a son and heir John aged 2, (fn. 43) who
in 1656 conveyed them to John
Gundry, (fn. 44) apparently a settlement on attaining his majority, as
the manors remained in the Wiseman family, and when Bridges
wrote were in the hands of Hester
and Elizabeth Wiseman, (fn. 45) by inheritance from their brother John
Wiseman, their mother being, according to Bridges, Catherine,
daughter of Sir Edward Alston
of East Barnet. In 1729 Hester
and Elizabeth Wiseman presented to the church. In
1737 Elizabeth Wiseman, spinster, conveyed the
manors of Bozeat Latimers and Marshes to Sara
Dowager Duchess of Marlborough, (fn. 46) and in 1739
the duchess presented to the church. From her it
passed to the Spencers. The presentation to the church
was made in 1753 by John Spencer, esq. (in whose
hands the manors must have been at that date), and in
1795 and 1796 by Earl Spencer, who was returned
in the Inclosure Act of 1798 as lord of the manor and
owner of the impropriate rectory, (fn. 47) which remained in
the possession of the Spencer family.
The manor of MARSHES originated in land held at
the date of the Domesday Survey by William Peverel,
under whom Turstin [Mantel] was holding 1½ virgates
in Bozeat of which the soc appertained to Higham. (fn. 48)
The 12th-century Northampton Survey records 3 small
virgates in Bozeat (fn. 49) as of the fee of William Peverel, and
1½ virgates which had been entered in the Domesday
Survey as held in Easton by William Peverel, (fn. 50) and were
waste, probably made up the difference.
The overlordship descended with the fee of Ferrers
to Edmund Earl of Lancaster, and in 1298 was included in the dower of his widow Blanche, as was also
a thirtieth of a fee in Bozeat held by Robert the Clerk. (fn. 51)
This, of which there is no further trace, may have
originated in a grant of land made in the time of King
John by William de Wenneval to 'Roger my clerk'. (fn. 52)
The Bozeat half-fee descended to Thomas Earl of Lancaster (fn. 53) and passed with his other property into the
hands of the Crown.
Abbey of St. James, Northampton. Party sable and gules a scallop or.
Early in the 13th century Robert Bloet was in possession of this manor and granted a messuage, vineyard,
garden, pigeon-house, and 5 virgates, with the services
of the bondmen, to Ralph Hareng. (fn. 54) All this Ralph,
with the consent of his son Ralph, gave in 1222 to the
nuns of Godstow, on condition of their paying £5
yearly to the abbey of St. James outside Northampton. (fn. 55)
But immediately afterwards he and the Abbess Felice
rearranged the grant, so that the
land went to the abbey of St.
James, who should pay the £5
yearly to Godstow; (fn. 56) and about
twenty years later Abbot Adam
of St. James sold the vineyard
back to Sir Ralph Hareng (probably the son) without abating the
rent charge. (fn. 57) Geoffrey de Stokes
had apparently acquired the rights
of Robert Bloet before 1229,
when he made over the 5 virgates
to Ralph Hareng, at the same
time paying 4 marks to the abbey
of St. James for a fishpond on the property. (fn. 58) In
1242 Thomas d'Evreux (de Ebraicis) was holding
this half-fee; (fn. 59) and in 1246 he was granted land which
he had assarted on the king's demesne and the custody of the wood of Hornwood, which he had held
from the king's foresters in fee before they forfeited
their bailiwick. (fn. 60) This was acquired from him and
granted to the abbey of St. James by John de Stokes, (fn. 61)
who in 1255 granted a lease to the abbey of St.
James without Northampton for fifteen years of land
in Bozeat and the custody of Hornwood, (fn. 62) and in the
same year conveyed to Abbot Adam a wood and half
a knight's fee in Bozeat and Higham. (fn. 63) In the assessment in 1316 of Bozeat with Easton [Maudit] and
half Strixton for feudal aids, the abbot of St. James
appears among tenants enumerated, (fn. 64) and in the same
year was engaged in a dispute with Richard Shortnot,
a tenant of the manor of Bozeat, because the said
Richard had unjustly claimed that this manor was of
the ancient demesne of the Crown. (fn. 65) Richard, however,
was discharged on that occasion owing to the abbot's
having exacted from him and other tenants services
other than those which it had been customary to render.
An inquisition of 1318 stated that there were no lands
in Bozeat of the ancient demesne of the Crown. (fn. 66)
Other land in Bozeat had been acquired by Adam,
Abbot of St. James, to whom William de Dudinton in
1262 granted a messuage and 45 acres of land there. (fn. 67)
In 1292 John de Nowers quitclaimed to Abbot Ralph
the wood of Stoneway in Bozeat, which had been
granted to the abbey by John Maudit, lord of Easton
(q.v.), for a rent of 2s. or one sparrow-hawk; (fn. 68) and in
1319 Walter Mauntell received licence to alienate to
the abbey 2½ acres in Bozeat. (fn. 69) Additional land in
Bozeat was acquired in 1391–2 by the abbey, (fn. 70) whose
property there was valued at the Dissolution at £10
yearly. (fn. 71) The manor of Bozeat, with the rectory and
advowson of the vicarage, and woods called Abbots
Stonyway, Bozeat Stockings, and Abbots Hornwood,
all part of the possessions of the late monastery, were
in 1544 granted to Philip Meredith and others, mercers
of London, (fn. 72) lands belonging to the monastery having
been also granted in 1543 to Laurence French of
Bozeat, (fn. 73) and in 1546 to George Ryche and Thomas
Grantham of Lincoln's Inn. (fn. 74) On 1 February 1550 Sir
John Royse and others received licence to alienate the
manor, rectory, and advowson to John Marshe and his
wife Alice, (fn. 75) who in 1556 sold them to John Dobbes. (fn. 76)
The wood called Abbots Stoneye or Stonyway and the
rectory and advowson (q.v.) were on 20 June of the
same year granted by John Dobbes to Baldwin Payne,
merchant of the staple of Calais, and various tenements
belonging to the manor and late monastery were sold
by John Dobbes to several different owners. (fn. 77) The
manor John Marshe evidently retained, as in 1571 he
settled it on his son and heir William Marshe, (fn. 78) from
whom it had passed before 1598 to Sir Thomas Cecil
and his wife Dorothy, who were then holding it with
the manor of Bozeat Latimers (q.v.), with which it
continued to be held.
View of frankpledge was claimed in the vill of
Bozeat by the Prior of the Hospital of St. John of
Jerusalem in 1330. (fn. 79)
Church
The church of ST. MARY THE
VIRGIN consists of chancel, 29 ft. by
16 ft. 3 in.; clerestoried nave, 48 ft. by
22 ft.; north and south aisles, south porch, and west
tower, 10 ft. 6 in. square, surmounted by a broach
spire. The width across nave and aisles is 46 ft. 6 in.,
all measurements being internal.
The church is faced throughout with rubble and is
plastered internally. The chancel has a modern eaved
roof covered with tiles, but the low-pitched leaded
roofs of the nave and aisles are behind plain parapets.
The tower and spire were taken down in 1880 (fn. 80) and
rebuilt in 1883, but retain most of their architectural
features, the old stonework having been used where
possible. The tower was of late-12th-century date, with
later alterations, and the spire an addition in the 14th
century. To the latter period the chancel arch and east
window, the aisle windows, and the porch belong, but
the priest's doorway, a low side window in the chancel,
and the south doorway of the nave are of 13th-century
date. No other 13th-century work remains. The side
windows of the chancel, and the west window and
doorway of the tower are insertions of the 15th century,
and the clerestory is an addition of the same period.
At the east end of the nave the north-east and south-east
angles of the earlier aisleless church remain, but whether
aisles were first added in the 14th century or were then
only rebuilt is uncertain. The existing south arcade is of
the early 14th century and the north arcade rather later,
but a keel shaped string runs at sill level along the south
aisle externally, (fn. 81) which, if in its original position, would
indicate the existence on this side of a 13th-century aisle.
It may, however, be old work re-used in the 14th century, the south doorway being then brought forward.
The chancel was restored in 1874 and again in
1895; it has 14th-century diagonal angle buttresses of
three stages and a pointed east window of three trefoiled
lights with unrestored reticulated tracery and hoodmould. The double piscina in the south wall, with
cinquefoiled openings, is of the late 14th century, though
the one remaining bowl may be earlier. The priest's
doorway has a pointed arch of a single continuous
chamfered order and hood-mould terminating in notchheads, but is now blocked. The low side window is in
the usual position at the west end of the south wall and
consists of a tall and very narrow lancet, divided just
above mid-height by a transom. It has an external
hood-mould and simple chamfer all round, and a plain
chamfered rear-arch, but the lower part is blocked and
plastered over on both sides: the upper portion is
glazed. Immediately below the sloping sill, and close
to the floor, is a small rectangular recess, or cupboard. (fn. 82)
The side windows of the chancel are square-headed
with Perpendicular tracery; in the north wall two of
two cinquefoiled lights, and on the south a similar
window at the west end and one of three lights above
the piscina. The chancel arch is of two chamfered
orders, the inner springing from half-octagonal responds
with moulded capitals and the outer continued to the
ground.
The nave arcades are of three bays with pointed
arches of two chamfered orders springing from octagonal piers with moulded capitals and bases, but dying
into the walls at each end. At the east end of the north
arcade the circular rood-loft stair remains in a very perfect state, with lower and upper doorways, the wall
being thickened out and encroaching on the aisle.
Above the arcades, at the level of the sills of the clerestory windows, are the corbels of the old nave roof, six
on the north and five on the south side.
The north aisle has a pointed east window of two
cinquefoiled lights and cusped quatrefoil in the head,
and in the north wall three square-headed windows,
the easternmost of three and the others of two trefoiled
lights. The north doorway is of two continuous chamfered orders with moulded label. The aisle is divided
externally into three bays by buttresses, those at the
angles being diagonal, but is without string-course or
plinth. In the west wall, now covered by a modern
vestry, is a small oblong window, chamfered all round,
the sill of which is 6 ft. above the floor, (fn. 83) and in the
east wall an image-bracket and canopied niche respectively south and north of the aisle altar.
The pointed east window of the south aisle is of three
cinquefoiled lights with cusped rectilinear tracery, and
in the south wall, near its east end, is a square-headed
window of three trefoiled lights. The second bay is
blank, but west of the porch is a three-light pointed
window with reticulated tracery and high up in the
west wall a small single quatrefoil opening within a
circle. In the usual position in the south wall is an
ogee-headed trefoiled piscina with fluted bowl, and
farther west, near the doorway, an elegant 14th-century
stoup with trefoiled head.
The 13th-century south doorway is of two richly
moulded orders with foliated capitals, but the angleshafts are gone. The porch has an outer doorway of
two wave-moulded orders, the inner on moulded capitals and the outer continuous: above is a trefoiled niche,
and in the side walls blocked windows.
There are three square-headed clerestory windows
of two trefoiled lights on each side: the nave roof is
partly old.
The tower is of three unequal stages, with bellchamber windows of two recessed rounded lights with
dividing shaft, under a semicircular arch with indented
hood-mould, on shafts with early volute capitals and
moulded bases: the west opening is ancient, but those
north and south are restored. In the lofty lower stage
on the south side is a single-light window of similar
type, without hood-mould, but on the north both the
lower stages are blank. The diagonal angle buttresses
were probably added after the erection of the west
doorway and window, the insertion of which weakened
the tower. (fn. 84) The doorway has continuous moulded
jambs and head set in a rectangular frame with cusped
spandrels; the window is more elaborate, with ogee
head and crocketed hood-mould, of two cinquefoiled
lights, battlemented transom, and modern quatrefoil
tracery. In the middle stage facing west is a plain
round-headed opening, which, though modern, reproduces an original feature. There is no vice. The semicircular tower arch is of two unmoulded orders with
rounded label, on quirked and chamfered imposts:
above it, now opening to the nave, is a small roundheaded window. The broach spire rises from a 14thcentury corbel table of tendrils and heads, and has plain
angles and two sets of lights on its cardinal faces: the
broaches are very low.
The 15th-century chancel screen has been restored
and its battlemented top rail is new. It consists of
three main bays, the side ones subdivided, with solid
lower panels and traceried openings. The screen retains
traces of gilding and colour, and in the eight lower
panels is a series of paintings, those on the north side
representing the expulsion from Eden and the Annunciation: on the south the figure of one of the Three
Kings remains, but the second panel is blank and the
others have single unidentified figures. Much of the
nave seating is also of 15th-century date.
The font has a plain octagonal bowl and pedestal on
a moulded base. The wooden pulpit is modern. In the
nave is an oak chest dated 1686, with the names of
the churchwardens, and in the chancel an 18th-century
brass chandelier of twelve lights. The royal arms of
George III (before 1801) are over the tower arch.
There are five bells, the first by Henry Penn of
Peterborough 1723, the second a recasting by Taylor
& Co. in 1884 of a medieval bell, the third undated by
Newcombe of Leicester, and the fourth and tenor by
Hugh Watts of Leicester, dated respectively 1635 and
1633. (fn. 85)
The plate consists of a silver cup and cover paten of
1636, and a modern brass alms dish. (fn. 86)
The earlier registers were destroyed in a fire at the
vicarage 9 September 1729. The existing first volume
contains entries of baptisms and burials from September
1729 to 1812, and marriages from 1729 to 1754: the
second volume marriages from 1754 to 1781.
Advowson
The church was granted to the
abbey of Dryburgh (co. Berwick)
(probably by its founder, David King
of Scotland) and leased by Dryburgh to the abbey of
St. James without Northampton for a rent during the
life of Athelard, after the death of Ædgar his father,
of 20s. and a bezant, or 2s., and after the death of
Athelard for a yearly payment of 2½ marks. (fn. 87) It was
then granted circa 1150–60 by Walter de Isel to the
abbey of St. James. (fn. 88) In 1291 the church was valued
at £6 yearly, and a pension from it of £1 13s. 4d. was
paid to the Prior of St. Andrews, (fn. 89) to whom, according
to Bridges, the pension of 2½ marks had been assigned
by Dryburgh Abbey. (fn. 90) In the Valor of 1535 the rectory
was returned as appropriated to the abbey of St. James,
and the vicarage was valued at £6 yearly. (fn. 91) The advowson was held with the manor of Marshes (q.v.) in the
first grants made of that manor after the Dissolution,
and both rectory and advowson were conveyed by John
Marshe and his wife Alice to John Dobbes in 1557,
and by him to Baldwin Payne. (fn. 92)
The rectory seems to have been already held on lease
by a member of the Payne family. It had been leased
for 21 years on 2 June 1526 to John Hardwyke of
Sharnbroke, co. Bedford, by the abbey of St. James,
and on surrender of this lease was in 1545 granted to
Sir Robert Tyrwhitt, junr., by the Crown. (fn. 93) William
Payne subsequently sued George and Richard Payne (fn. 94)
to recover possession of a lease of the rectory which, it
was stated, had been granted by the abbey on 24 March
1538 to Richard Cromwell, esq., for 80 years from the
expiration of the former lease to John Hardwyke; after
which Richard Cromwell had conveyed his interest to
Daniel Payne, who had bequeathed it in 1558 to his
son William, the plaintiff. It is not clear what the connexion between Baldwin and Daniel Payne was. The
rectory was apparently next held in moieties by two
Payne ladies, by whom it was conveyed with the advowson to Lewis Lord Mordaunt, one half by Thomas
Pacye and Denise his wife in 1573, (fn. 95) the other half by
Ursula Payne in 1575. (fn. 96) By Lewis Lord Mordaunt
and Henry Mordaunt his son and heir the rectory and
advowson were in 1600 conveyed to John Wiseman, (fn. 97)
and they continued to be held with the manor (q.v.),
Earl Spencer, who presented in 1796, being owner of
the impropriate rectory at the passing of the Inclosure
Act in 1798. In the following century the rectory was
held by Dr. Lawrence, Archbishop of Cashel, whose
representatives held it in 1849, Earl Spencer being then
still patron. (fn. 98) The advowson is now held by the Bishop
of Peterborough, to whom it was conveyed by Earl
Spencer in 1922. (fn. 99)
Charities
The sum of £20 was left for the
poor by a person named Cox. In respect of this a sum of £1 is distributed
in bread by the churchwardens the first Sunday after
Christmas.
An allotment of 13 acres was set out on the inclosure
of the parish for the following purposes: 11 acres 3 roods
thereof for reparation of the church; 1 acre for repair
of the wells in the parish; and 1 rood for the parish
clerk. The land is let for £14 19s., and of this £1 6s.
is applied by two trustees appointed by the Parish
Council in cleaning the parish well and the remainder
is applied by the churchwardens in the repair of the
church.
In 1830 a sum of 5s. yearly was distributed to the
ten oldest men of the parish from issues of the lands
of Mr. Thomas Dexter, by whom it was then administered. (fn. 100)