BROUGHTON
Bructon, Burtone, Bruton (xi cent.); Brocton
(xiii cent.).
Broughton lies to the south of Cransley, and has
Kettering to the east of it, its northern boundary for
some distance being the Northampton to Kettering
road. The village, which is large, lies where this road
bends to run south through the parish, and is situated
between it and another main road connected here by
smaller streets. It contains several good houses, and
lies at a height of about 425 ft., the ground falling to
about 325 ft. at the southern extremity of the parish.
Saint Andrew's Church lies at the eastern end of the
southernmost of the above-mentioned connecting roads.
West of the church is a large two-storied stone house
known as 'The Gables', with mullioned windows,
thatched roof, and main end gables and two smaller
intermediate ones on the principal, or north, front: a
panel in the eastern gable is inscribed 'w. f., 1685'.
On the south side of the main road is a 17th-century
house of ironstone which though altered and in part
mutilated for road-widening purposes retains much of
its original picturesqueness: it is of two main stories,
with mullioned windows and high-pitched thatched
roof containing attics lighted by windows in the end
gables and there is a smaller gable on the west front
at the angle of the building. Near the west end of the
High Street is a modernized two-story house with
thatched roof and panel in the end gable inscribed
'TpE, 1705'.
The school was built in 1870, and rebuilt in 1892
for 135 children. The churchyard was enlarged in
1860; and in 1900 a cemetery of an acre was formed
and is under the control of the parish council.
The population is mainly collected in the village,
which has near it on the north-west Churchill Spinney
and an old quarry. Away by itself at the eastern side
of the parish is Broughton Lodge, a fine old house.
When Newton House (in Newton-in-the-Willows) was
demolished, about 1800, portions of the material were
used in this house, then a farm-house, where many years
before the last of the Newton Treshams had lived. (fn. 1)
Near by is Clarke's Lodge.
The Union Dissenting chapel was built in 1851 for
various denominations.
A disastrous fire visited Broughton in 1701, when
briefs were issued to assist in reconstruction. (fn. 2) The
church fortunately escaped. Its rectors have been men
of note. They include: Robert Bolton (1610–1631),
the father of Dr. Samuel Bolton who was chaplain to
Charles II, 'a grave and comely person'—according to
Fuller—'an authoritative preacher who majestically
became the pulpit'; and the wise and witty Royalist
divine, Joseph Bentham (1632–1671), who wrote in
1657 'Two Breife but Usefull Treatises: the one
touching the office and quality of the Ministry of
the Gospel: the other of the Nature and Accidents
of Mixt Dancing'. After much suffering during the
Civil Wars, he came back to his old parish at the
Restoration, where he died in 1671, as an inscription
on a stone within the altar rails shows. He left in his
will £40 to be distributed annually for ever among the
poor at Broughton on the happy day of His Majesty's
restoration, and 10s. to be given yearly in the church
porch, at Weekley, to such poor persons as should come
to church on the 29th of May.
The population, which was 374 in 1801, in 1931
was 1,207. (fn. 3) The parish has an area of 1,742 acres.
Part of the soil is of a stiff, clayey nature, and of the
subsoil ironstone. The chief crops grown are wheat,
beans, and sugar-beet.
Manor
One and a half hides of socland in Broughton were valued in the Domesday Survey
with a hide in Cransley and 3 virgates in
Hannington among the Countess Judith's land, (fn. 4) and
descended with her other lands in the honor of
Huntingdon.
Bruce. Or a saltire and a chief gules with a leopard or in the chief
Robert Bruce in 1284 held a fee in BROUGHTON
of the king in chief, this fee being held under him by
Walter de Huntecumbe, of
Walter by Geoffrey de Leuknor,
and of Geoffrey by William de
St. German, (fn. 5) the under-tenant by
whose family it was held for
several centuries. In 1378 this
fee was among those lately held
of Edward Prince of Wales by
Simon Simeon in succession to
Geoffrey Leuknor. (fn. 6) The overlordship of the manor was returned in, 1485 as unknown, (fn. 7) but
was ascribed in 1522 to Rothwell
Manor, (fn. 8) which was at the time in the hands of Sir
William Parr by a grant for 40 years, after the attainder
of Edward Duke of Buckingham. (fn. 9) It was returned as
held of the king as of his manor of Rothwell in 1615. (fn. 10)
Apparently the intermediate lordships had lapsed during
the 15 th century and the property had been combined
with the half hide in Broughton which at the time of
the Domesday Survey was a member of the royal manor
of Rothwell. (fn. 11)
The first St. German under-tenant in Broughton
recorded was Robert, who held 2 carucates there in
1229. (fn. 12) William de St. German was lord of Broughton
in 1252 (fn. 13) and was dealing with land there in 1260. (fn. 14)
William de St. German, presumably identical with the
coroner for the county of Northampton, (fn. 15) claimed view
of frankpledge in Broughton in 1276, (fn. 16) and, as already
stated, was holding the manor in 1284. A William de
St. German was holding Broughton in 1316, (fn. 17) and in
1329 he or a namesake with his wife Margaret settled
the manor upon themselves and their heirs; (fn. 18) later in
the same year he paid a fine of half a mark to recover
view of frankpledge there. (fn. 19) In 1428 Thomas de St.
German was holding the fee in Broughton which
William had formerly held. (fn. 20)
St. German. Azure a saltire or between four rings argent.
Agard. Argent a cheveron engrailed gules between three boars' heads sable.
The last under-tenant of the name was Geoffrey St.
German (Sengermyn), who died on 22 August 1485. (fn. 21)
By deed dated 10 April 1465 he had settled the manor
on trustees, who on 10 October 1485 enfeoffed of the
same Thomas Agard and his wife Margaret, the daughter and heir of Geoffrey, then aged eighteen. (fn. 22) It was
then worth 5 marks, and was not held of the king, but
its tenure was unknown. Thomas and Margaret with
John Agard in 1497 conveyed the manor, then
described as the manor of BROUGHTON SEYNT
FERMYN to Edmund Grevyle and others by fine. (fn. 23)
On 18 May 1522 George Agard, son and heir of
Thomas and Margaret, died seised of the manor, mill,
&c, which he had settled on his wife Elizabeth, with
remainder to his son John; he was also seised of a life
interest in certain tenements after the death of Christopher St. German, with remainder to George's son,
Stephen, his heir, aged nine at George's death. (fn. 24)
Besides George, the heir, Thomas and Margaret
had had two other sons, Edward and Nicholas. They
subsequently instituted proceedings against Edward
Warner, (fn. 25) who married George's widow and executrix
Elizabeth. The result is a valuable chapter of family
history. The complaint of the brothers Agard begins
with the statement that Geoffrey St. German had forfeited his lands by attainder of treason, after fighting
at Bosworth Field against Henry VII; but long before
his attainder he had granted the manor to one Sir
William Tyler. When his daughter and heir Margaret
had been married to Thomas Agard, John brother of
the said Thomas had redeemed the manor and lands
from Sir William Tyler for £400, and conveyed it to
the use of Thomas and Margaret and their heirs.
Thomas died leaving unpaid of the said £400 the sum
of £83, which John in his will directed should be
divided equally between the plaintiffs. George, the
son and heir, granted an annuity of £4 to Edward, and
of 40s. to Nicholas, who delivered the indentures of
agreement to Edward Warner, in whom they had
special confidence, he being learned in the law. After
they had enjoyed the annuities for three years, George
died, and Elizabeth with Edward Warner, whom she
had then married, refused payment of the annuities.
Edward stated that Thomas Agard, having neither
goods nor lands, but being a wildly disposed young
man, came with other evil-disposed persons to Clerkenwell by London, where Margaret was by the commandment of her father, and in the night time, privately
led her away and married her, whereby her father lost
the marriage of his only daughter and heir, for whom
great sums had been offered by men of great possessions.
'And the saide Geffery perceived grete lightnes and wildenes
in the saide Thomas Agard after he had married his saide
daughter and accomptyd hir lost and cast away and thereupon fell in grete sorrow and sadenes and had smale comfort
which was the cause whereupon the saide Geffery rode to
Kyng Rychards felde and ther by misfortune was slayne
and as some persones surmysed by the means of the seid
Thomas Agard and others of his affinitye ther being at the
seid felde and in grete malyce with the seyd Geffery Seyntgerman for such trobulls as the seid Geffery had put him to
for the marriage of the saide daughter.'
After the death of her father and birth of her children,
Thomas Agard deserted his wife 'reputyd and taken
for as good vertuse and as sade a woman as any was
within the Shyer of Northampton' who lived in a
cottage 'in her lordship of Broughton in as great poverte
as a woman might be having such fere possessions so
that she lyved of almes and helpe of her frends', while
Agard in her lifetime sold all her inheritance except the
manor of Broughton, where he demised lands to one
Henry Packe of Kettering, pledged all the evidences of
her inheritance, and then died at Westminster in great
debt. His son George, according to Edward Warner,
had recovered part of these lands, which were being
applied by his widow and her husband to the maintenance of his children. The lease referred to appears to
have been made to Henry Packe of Kettering by
Thomas Agard, his wife Margaret, and son George in
return for money advanced to procure the release of
Thomas Agard from imprisonment in the Fleet for
debt. (fn. 26) Stephen, returned as lord in 1546, (fn. 27) married
Elizabeth, daughter to William Raynsford of Tew in
co. Oxford, widow of Robert Belcher, by whom he had
a son Ambrose and two daughters, Jane married to
Richard Wycherley of Wycherley, and Elizabeth
who married Harold Kinnesman of Broughton, 'Vicetreasurer at armes in the Irish Warrs'. (fn. 28) At his death in
1562, Stephen Agard was succeeded by his son Ambrose, who in 1588 contributed £25 to the defence of
the country against the Spanish invasion. (fn. 29) A conveyance of the manor was made by Ambrose on 20 March
1591 to Francis Barnard, Christopher Smyth, and John
Doyley, 'all alyed in kindred with him', to the use of
Ambrose for life, with remainder to his son and heir
Stephen, in order to secure an annuity of £20 to any
wife he might afterwards marry; after which he married
a wife Anne (who also had children by a previous marriage). (fn. 30) Ambrose's son Stephen conveyed the manor
to Sir Augustine Nicholls, justice of the King's Bench, (fn. 31)
who with his wife Dame Mary sold it in 1613 to John
and Henry Cotton. Henry Cotton, esq., died on
11 June 1616, when John, his brother, described as of
London, gent., was still living at Broughton. The heirs
of Henry were his sisters Katharine Cotton, widow;
Frances, wife of Sir Edward Montagu of Boughton;
and Rebecca, wife of William Mulsho of Finedon,
aged, respectively, 24, 23, and 22 at their brother's
death. (fn. 32) The manor was next held in thirds by these
heirs and their representatives.
In March 1617–18 Sir Edward
Montagu and Frances his wife,
and William Mulsho and Rebecca his wife were dealing
by fine with two-thirds of the
manor, advowson, frankpledge,
&c.; (fn. 33) and by his will proved on
16 June 1646 Sir Edward Montagu bequeathed his third to his
grandson Sir Edward Montagu, (fn. 34)
who in 1659 conveyed it to
Thomas Kipps. (fn. 35) A conveyance
was made in 1628 of the manor
of Broughton by John Tullakerne
to Thomas Tullakerne, (fn. 36) and in 1665 by John Tullakerne and Martha his wife and Thomas Cory and
Elizabeth his wife to Thomas Harris and John Neale. (fn. 37)
According to Bridges, Rebecca Gooday, widow, formerly wife of William Mulsho, and William Mulsho
her second son sold the Mulsho third of the manor in
1648 to Edward Lord Montagu. (fn. 38) It was presumably
therefore Katharine Cotton's third which had been
dealt with by the Tullakernes, and which in 1702 John
Farrow and Dinah his wife, Ellis Farrow, Theophilus
Dillingham and Mary his wife, John Bigg and Rebecca
his wife, Samuel Watts and Elizabeth his wife, and
Robert Miller conveyed to Benjamin Styles and Robert
Hewett, (fn. 39) with one-third of the advowson, and of which
John Farrow and Dinah his wife and Benjamin Styles
and Elizabeth his wife made a conveyance in 1704 to
William Farrow. (fn. 40) Two-thirds of the manor and advowson were dealt with by recovery in the same year by
Ralph Earl of Montagu and John Montagu, his son
and heir apparent, (fn. 41) the whole ultimately being in the
hands of the Duke of Montagu. John Duke of Montagu
(d. 1749) married Mary the fourth and youngest
daughter and co-heir of the great Duke of Marlborough, and the death without issue of their only son
in his father's lifetime resulted
in the division of this property
between their daughters and coheirs: Isabella who married first
the Duke of Manchester and
second Edward Hussey-Montagu, created Baron Beaulieu of
Beaulieu in 1762, and Mary who
married George Brudenell, 3rd
Earl of Cardigan, subsequently
created Duke of Montagu. As
George Earl of Cardigan the
latter was in 1760 holding one
moiety of Broughton with his son
John, who also died s.p. in 1770 in the lifetime of his
father. Elizabeth, the only daughter and heir of George
Duke of Montagu (2nd cr.), married Henry Scott, 3rd
Duke of Buccleuch, and one moiety of Broughton was
held in 1776 by George Duke of Montagu and by
his son-in-law Henry Duke of Buccleuch, and his wife
Elizabeth, (fn. 42) the other half being then, and in 1786, (fn. 43)
in the hands of Edward Earl of Beaulieu and his wife
Isabella. By the death s.p. on 25 November 1802 of
Edward Earl of Beaulieu, the two moieties came together again under the Dukes of Buccleuch, the present
owner being the 8th duke.
Montagu. Argent a fesse indented of three points gules in a border sable, quartered with or an eagle vert.
Scott, Duke of Buccleuch. Or a bend azure with a molet between two crescents or thereon.
In an inspeximus dated 18 May 1328 for the abbess
and nuns of St. Mary's, Northampton, or Delapré,
lands in Broughton, given by Reynold son of Thomas
de Broughton, and by Alexander son of Reynold de
Broughton, were included, (fn. 44) and rents from Broughton
Mill. These were granted on 21 December 1545, as
the NUNLANDS, in the occupation of John Hichecok,
3 selions of which lay in Middlefield, to Thomas
Thoroughgood and John Foster, (fn. 45) a fresh grant of the
same property and of the rectory and advowson being
made to Sir Thomas Tresham and George Tresham in
1551. (fn. 46)
A rent of 4s. yearly in Broughton was granted by
Hugh son of Alfred de Dingley to the nuns of Sewardsleye. (fn. 47)
Church
The church of ST. ANDREW consists
of chancel, 33 ft. 9 in. by 16 ft. 3 in.;
clerestoried nave, 44 ft. 9 in. by 17 ft.;
north aisle, 10 ft. 6 in. wide; south aisle, 12 ft. 10 in.
wide; north and south porches, and west tower with
broach spire, 9 ft. 6 in. by 9 ft. 3 in., all these measurements being internal. The width across nave and aisles
is 44 ft. 9 in., the 'body' of the church being thus
exactly square.
The original church was a 12th-century aisleless
building with nave covering the same area as at present,
the north-east and south-east quoins of which remain
in situ, but the south doorway was moved outward
when the aisle was added. A flat buttress at the southwest angle of the nave, close to the tower, is also part
of the early building. The doorway has a semicircular
arch of two orders and hood-mould, the outer order on
nook-shafts and ornamented with a plain chevron, the
inner with lozenge and pellet ornament, on plain jambs
and chamfered imposts; the capital of the east shaft is
carved, the other scalloped.
The north doorway is of the 13th century, and there
is a blocked lancet above the south porch towards the
west, but whether either of these is in its original position is uncertain, though aisles may have been added (fn. 48)
at this period and subsequently rebuilt. In their present
form the aisles and arcades are of the early part of the
14th century, and appear to have followed the rebuilding of the chancel c. 1290–1300, and the erection of
the tower c. 1300–10. The clerestory and north porch
are of the 14th century, but the south porch has been
largely rebuilt and its front is modern. The chancel was
rebuilt in 1828, (fn. 49) but much of the old work was
retained, the windows and other architectural features
being rerused. The church was restored in 1854.
The chancel is faced with roughly dressed coursed
ironstone and has a stone-slated eaved roof. The aisles
are of rubble and together with the nave have lowpitched leaded roofs behind plain parapets, except on
the north side where the lead overhangs. The clerestory is of coursed stone. Both porches are gabled and
have slated roofs.
The chancel has a late-13th-century east window of
five lights with intersecting tracery and quatrefoiled
circle in the head, moulded jambs, and hood-mould
with head-stops. The lower part of the east wall, with
dwarf coupled buttresses, appears to be old, and has
a chamfered string-course. There is a contemporary
moulded doorway in the north wall, (fn. 50) and west of it
a plain rectangular low-side window with chamfered
edges, (fn. 51) but otherwise the wall is blank. In the south
wall are two pointed windows of two trefoiled lights,
the easternmost much restored with quatrefoil in the
head, the other traceried and wholly new. Internally
the sill of the easternmost window is lowered to form
two graded seats, (fn. 52) and at the east end of the north wall
is a restored trefoiled aumbry. The walls, as elsewhere
in the church, are plastered. The 14th-century chancel
arch is of two chamfered orders, the inner on halfoctagonal responds, with moulded capitals and bases.
The nave arcades are of three bays with arches of two
chamfered orders springing from octagonal piers with
moulded capitals and bases. The arches were cut
through the older wall leaving a 5 ft. length of masonry
at each end on either side, but the south arcade seems
to be the earlier, its piers being more massive and differing in detail from those opposite. At the east end of the
north arcade there is a half-octagonal respond, but at
the west and on the south side the arches spring from
corbels, that at the north-west supported by a mask, the
others moulded. There are hood-moulds on the south
side only, and the piers stand on square plinths. Two
rood-loft doorways remain, one high up north of the
chancel arch, the other (blocked) to the stairs at the
east end of the south aisle, about 2 ft. 6 in. above
the floor.
All the windows of the aisles are square-headed and
of three trefoiled lights. The 13th-century north doorway is of three orders, the innermost with a continuous
sunk quarter-round, the others moulded on shafts with
moulded capitals. (fn. 53) The outer doorway of the porch is
of a single continuous wave-moulded order and hoodmould with head-stops. The modern front of the
south porch has a doorway with stone lintel.
The nave roof is of four equal bays spaced irrespective of the arcades; there are three square-headed clerestory windows of two trefoiled lights on each side, the
western roof-bay being blank.
The tower has a moulded plinth and coupled buttresses of three stages, but is without string-courses, and
on the north side is blank. On the west is a three-light
ogee-headed window with hood-mould and intersecting
tracery and above it a small trefoil-headed opening,
while high up on the south side is a tall trefoiled lancet.
The arch to the nave is of three chamfered orders, the
inner on half-octagonal responds with moulded capitals and bases. There is no vice. The pointed bellchamber windows are of two trefoiled lights with
quatrefoil in the head, moulded jambs, and slightly
ogee label. The spire rises from a corbel table of heads
and has plain angles and two tiers of openings on the
cardinal faces, the lower of two cinquefoiled lights with
quatrefoil in the head. The broaches are very small.
The late-14th-century font has an elaborately carved
octagonal bowl, and pedestal with traceried panels and
angle shafts. The pulpit is of Caen stone, erected in
1867.
On the north wall of the chancel is the monument
of Robert Bolton (d. 1631), described as 'Primus et
optimus huius ecclesiae praeco doctissime pius', with
half-length bust under a semicircular canopy; and on
the south wall the bust and monument of Harrold
Kynnesman (d. 1631), 'sometime vice-treasurer at
armes in the Irish warres in the reign of Queen Elizabeth and for his singular fidelity recalled to the same
office in the reign of King James'. There is also a wall
tablet to Zachary Rose, rector (d. 1790), and one in the
nave to Mrs. Elizabeth Henchman (d. 1772), whose
charity is recorded, with others, below the tower.
There is some old glass in the east window of the
south aisle, comprising two shields of arms (fn. 54) and three
small heads in yellow and white.
There are five bells, the first, second, third, and tenor
by Henry Penn of Peterborough, 1709, and the fourth
by Robert Taylor of St. Neots, 1803. (fn. 55)
The plate consists of a silver paten of 1682, a cup
of 1683, a paten of 1721 by Joseph Clare, and a flagon
of 1770 by Charles Wright, the gift of Mrs. Ann
Mappletoft in 1771. (fn. 56)
The registers before 1812 are as follows: (i) baptisms
1560–1631, marriages 1570–1627, burials 1559–
1627; (ii) baptisms, marriages, and burials 1632–43,
1653–1746; (iii) baptisms and burials 1746–1812,
marriages 1746–55; (iv) marriages 1754–1812. The
first volume is much mutilated: the second volume
contains a terrier of glebe lands 10 May 1672. There
are churchwardens' accounts 1670–1793.
Advowson
The church was granted by Roger
de Clare, Earl of Hertford, to the
convent of Delapré, this grant being
confirmed by Robert, Bishop of Lincoln, and by
Edward III again on 18 May 1328. (fn. 57) It was valued in
1291 at £7 6s. 8d. (fn. 58) The profits of the rectory, then
leased to Alfred Baxter, were returned as £22 yearly in
1535. (fn. 59)
The advowson was held by the convent of Delapré
from at least 1227 (fn. 60) until the Dissolution. It has frequently been leased for one turn (fn. 61) both before and after
the Dissolution. (fn. 62) After being granted with the Nunlands (q.v.) to Sir Thomas Tresham, it was acquired
by the lord of the manor, and was included in the sale
of the manor to John and Henry Cotton by Sir Augustine Nicholls in 1613. It was held with the manor
until 1920, when it was transferred by the Duke of
Buccleuch to the Bishop of Peterborough.
When the parish was inclosed in 1786, an allotment
of 320 acres was made for tithes and for the glebe.
Charities
Edward Hunt's Charity founded by
will proved at Northampton 7 December 1674 is described under the parish
of Warkton. Stock producing £9 5s. 4d. yearly in
dividends represents the endowment for this parish.
The Poor's Land. An allotment of about 14 acres
was set out in the inclosure in lieu of land formerly
given to the poor. The land produces about £24.
Bentham's Charity. It is stated in the accounts for
the year 1870 that the rector and churchwardens are
the trustees of a sum of £40 left by Mr. Bentham for the
poor. The money is invested on mortgage and £2 yearly
is received in interest.
Church Estate. An allotment of about 17 acres was
set out on the inclosure in lieu of lands anciently appropriated to the repairs of the church. The land is let
for £23 13s. yearly which is applied by the churchwardens to church expenses.
Mrs. Elizabeth Henchman, who died in 1772, left
£40 for poor widows who attend church. The money
was applied towards making new pews in the parish
church and in respect of it £2 is distributed by the
churchwardens to about 16 poor widows.
Sarah Keyston on 5 November 1841 deposited £10
in the Kettering Savings Bank on trust to the rector and
churchwardens to distribute the income to poor widows
of 50 years and upwards, members of the Church of
England. The money was eventually invested and the
endowment is now £9 16s. 3d. Consols producing
4s. 8d. annually in dividends, which sum is distributed
equally among 6 poor widows.
The Rt. Hon. James Lord Douglas by deed of
directions dated 7 April 1852 directed the trustees of
his will to pay the sum of £1,000 to the rector and
churchwardens to be invested in the Public Funds and
the interest to be distributed amongst the poor. The
endowment now produces £26 7s. yearly. The income
is distributed in money payments by the rector and two
trustees appointed by the Parish Council in place of the
churchwardens.