ISHAM
Hysham, Hicham, Ysham (xi cent.).
Isham, divided into Upper and Lower, is on the road
from Kettering to Wellingborough, the village lying
along a branch road. The Ise Brook forms its eastern
boundary and separates it from Burton Latimer, in
which parish the local station, on the main line of the
L.M.S. railway, is situated. Pytchley lies to the north,
and to the south and west Little Harrowden.
Isham: The Church
The village, which is less than half a mile south of
the station, has the church of St. Peter at its centre.
The rectory lies to the west of the church, and to the
south of it is the smithy. When Bridges wrote there
were two rectory houses for the two rectors of Upper
and Lower Isham; and a house near the church had
medieval features. Attached to a farm west of the
church is a rectangular dovecote built of local limestone
and covered with red pantiles. It appears to be of
17th-century date, though the massive oak door-frame
and door may be earlier: there are 580 nesting holes. (fn. 1)
A house standing back from the road to the north of
the church is dated 1668. The Manor Farm is at the
south-western limit of the village: at its north-eastern
end is the school (public elementary), built in 1840
and enlarged in 1875–6 for 100 children: near by are
the Corn Mill and the Methodist chapel. Isham
Lodge is in the extreme south of the parish.
Its population was 247 in 1801; in 1871 it was 456;
and in 1931 it was 365. It lies mostly at a height of
150–250 ft. and has an area of 1,401 acres. The soil
is of a good fertile mixed character: subsoil Great Oolite
and limestone, sand and ironstone. The chief crops
grown are cereals.
Manors
A manor corresponding to Upper Isham
apparently, since its chief messuage was
later known as the OVER HALL,
originated in 1 hide and 2½ virgates of land in Isham
(on which was a mill rendering 10s.) held of Guy de
Reinbuedcurt by Ralf; of which land the Bishop of
Coutances claimed 1½ virgates and 3 small gardens.
It had been held freely before the Conquest by Elwin
son of Ulf, its value having risen from 5s. to 40s. (fn. 2)
There were also 3 virgates in
Isham held by Walchelin of the
Bishop of Coutances and previously held with sac and soc by
Burred, the bishop's predecessor
in other properties. (fn. 3) After the
bishop had forfeited his lands in
the county, his Isham virgates
appear to have been included
with the Reinbuedcurt lands, in
2⅓ hides in Isham held in the
12th century by Henry de Isham
of the fee of Daundevill. (fn. 4) A fee
in Isham was held by Henry de
Isham in 1235 among the fees
that Christiane Ledet had inherited from Guy; (fn. 5) and 1¾ hides
in Isham were in 1284 held by
Henry de Isham of Alexander
Daundewy(l)e, as mesne lord,
under William Latimer, (fn. 6) the
successor of Guy de Reinbuedcurt in the barony of Wardon.
This barony paid for castle guard
to Rockingham at the rate of 5s.
for each knight's fee, (fn. 7) and Isham
is entered in an account of about
1170 as paying 5s. guard money
to the castle. (fn. 8)
Isham. Gules a fesse wavy argent with three piles wavy argent pointing to the fesse point.
It was pointed out in Northamptonshire Families (fn. 9)
that the family of Isham, who appear as tenants at so
early a date in this property, has probably dwelt in the
county longer than any other
family mentioned in that volume.
Henry son of Henry de Isham
presented to the church in
1236, (fn. 10) and in 1239 was making
grants of land here to Elias and
James, sons of Henry, presumably his brothers. (fn. 11) He had died
before 1249, when the presentation was made by the guardian
of the heir of Henry de Isham
on account of the minority of
this heir. (fn. 12) Isham was in 1283
held by Henry son of Henry
de Isham. (fn. 13) From about this time the Ishams seem also
to have used the name of L'Isle (de Insula), as in 1300,
when Henry de L'Isle demanded from Henry son of
Richard atte Hallepace services for whose performance
the latter alleged William son of James of Isham to be
responsible; (fn. 14) but in 1307 Robert de Ho and Beatrice
his wife, who had apparently succeeded to the mesne
lordship, granted to Walter de Langeton, Bishop of
Coventry and Lichfield, a knight's fee in Isham with
the homage and services of Henry de Isham and his
heirs for the tenement he held of them. (fn. 15) The presentation to the church was made in 1307 by Henry de
Isham, in 1314 by Henry de L'Isle of Isham, and in
1315 by William de L'Isle, lord of Isham, (fn. 16) while in
1316 William de L'Isle was returned as holding
Isham, (fn. 17) and in 1317 William de Isham and Alice his
wife settled the manor and advowson upon themselves and on the right heirs of William, (fn. 18) to hold of the
chief lords of the fee, and William de L'Isle presented
in 1341. Other Ishams at this date were described as
of Northampton, (fn. 19) or of Pytchley, (fn. 20) and the original
Ishams had probably transferred their rights in Isham
to a member of the L'Isle family by marriage. Thomas
de L'Isle of Isham made a grant in 1336 to William
de la Carnell of Earls Barton of the manor of Isham
for life, (fn. 21) and in 1341 presentation to the church was
made by William de L'Isle, evidently the successor of
Thomas, and apparently the last de L'Isle to hold this
fee of Isham, since the presentation was in 1349 made
by Robert de Wyk, lord of Isham. (fn. 22) Robert de Wyk
had died before 1362–3, when John, son of Thomas
Caumbery de Bernak, and his wife Elizabeth conveyed
the manor of Isham to Katharine, widow of Robert de
Wyk of Staunford. (fn. 23) It appears possible that Katharine
had been the widow of William de L'Isle before she
married Robert de Wyk, and that Elizabeth was
William's daughter. In 1365 the presentation was
made by the same John, son of Thomas Bernak. (fn. 24)
Elizabeth Bernak presented to the church in 1404,
and William Bernak in 1437. He was probably the
son of Elizabeth, and identical with the William
Bernak referred to in the assessment of 1428, which
returned that no tax was due from the fee in Isham
formerly held by William de L'Isle, because the said
fee was divided between Simon Felbrygge [the husband
of the widow of Ralf Green], Thomas Green,
Thomas Colpepir, William Haldenby, Richard Wynter,
William Bernak, and others severally. (fn. 25) The chief
manor had, however, evidently remained in the hands
of the Bernaks, as in 1448 the presentation was made
by John Cooke of Isham, who is shown to have been
acting as feoffee of William Bernak in Chancery proceedings instituted against him in that capacity by
Thomas Bernak of Barnack, kinsman of William, (fn. 26) and
by Walter Dorant of Clyff and Margaret his wife,
daughter of William Bernak. (fn. 27) William Bernak left
two daughters as his co-heirs, (fn. 28) and in 1454 John Cooke
of Isham delivered one-half of the manor and advowson to John Dorant, and the other half to Richard
Armeston. (fn. 29) John Dorant presented to the church in
1465, and Richard Armeston in 1477. Between the
two presentations John Dorant or Darraunt, described
as of Colleyweston, yeoman, had forfeited his moiety of
the manor and advowson to the king by attainder of
high treason, (fn. 30) and this moiety was on 7 March 1479
granted to Guy Walston, one of the Esquires of the
King's Body. (fn. 31) It reverted to the Dorant family, and
in 1515 Ralph Sacheverell and Cecily his wife, daughter
and heir of John Dorant, conveyed to Sir Richard
Sacheverell a moiety of the manor, (fn. 32) which had evidently
been in his hands as early as 1502, when Ralph
Sacheverell presented to the church.
Pickering. Ermine a lion azure crowned or.
The previous presentation, namely that of 1497, was
made by John Lowick (or Luffwick) who seems to have
been the son by her first husband of Agnes daughter of
William Bernak. (fn. 33) John Lowick's daughter and heir
Margaret married Robert Pickering of Isham, the son
of Thomas Pickering of Barrow
Hall in Kendal. They had a son
Thomas who married Margaret
daughter and heir of Anthony
Shuckborough of Little Harrowden and is described as nephew
and heir of Anthony Lowick. (fn. 34)
This Thomas it was, apparently,
who presented to the church in
1554, and who was dealing in
1599 with a moiety of the advowson, which he then conveyed,
probably for settlement on his son
John, to Thomas Mulsho and Thomas Shuckborough. (fn. 35)
After bequeathing his mansion house in Isham called
the Over Hall to his son John by will, he died seised
of a moiety of the manor and of the advowson called
the Over Fee on 1 April 1609, leaving a son and heir
Robert aged 40. (fn. 36) John Pickering of Isham was the
third son of his father Thomas and married Patience
Spicer, according to the Visitation pedigree, which
gives him a family of four daughters and no sons. In
1637 John Pickering and Patience his wife conveyed
to trustees all his lands in Isham, including the reversion
and remainder of the Over Hall, immediately after the
death of Sara Weldon, then wife of Robert Weldon,
clerk, and late wife of Thomas Pickering, deceased,
father of the said John. (fn. 37) Two years later the manor
appears to have been held by the Ekins family, who
were dealing with it between 1639 and 1658. (fn. 38) The
transactions between John Pickering and John Ekins
figure in the accounts of the High Commission Court,
before which John Ekins of Isham was summoned in
1634 on a charge of irreverent behaviour in church,
'causing to be told over upon the communion table
and tendering to the use of John Pickering £100 in
performance of a bargain for houses and lands', of
sitting with his hat on during divine service, saying in
the streets of Isham that a ploughman was as good as
a priest, &C. (fn. 39) John Ekins was fined £100, this fine
being reduced in 1635 to £20. (fn. 40) It is interesting to
note that the decree ordering him to pay this fine and
to make submission in Isham Church was procured
against John Ekins by Robert Weldon, rector of Stony
Stanton. John Ekins succeeded in 1641 in obtaining
relief from this decree and in recovering damages,
Robert Weldon praying to be excused from personal
attendance when Ekins's petition for relief was heard. (fn. 41)
It seems possible that Robert Weldon may have had
personal reasons for objecting to the transactions
between John Pickering and John Ekins more weighty
even than his objections to the manner and place of
the above payment.
Lane. Party gules and azure three saltires argent.
The moiety of this manor held in 1575 by the
Sacheverells appears to have passed to the Lanes, who
were already holding lands in
Isham in 1502, William Lane
dying in that year seised of a toft
and a virgate of land there held
of Sir Nicholas Vaux, in which
he was succeeded by his son and
heir Ralph, aged 36. (fn. 42) After
Ralph Sacheverell presented in
1502 the presentation was next
made by the king by reason of
the minority of Robert son of
Sir Ralph Lane, who may be
assumed therefore to have held a
moiety of the Bernak inheritance. Owing to the sales
and subdivisions indicated in the assessment of 1428
it is not easy to distinguish the manors of Isham in the
15th–16th centuries, but Sir Robert Lane subsequently
transferred a manor of Isham which was probably this
moiety to the Lanes of Kettering, by whom a manor of
Isham was held which had its origin in lands, part of the
L'Isle fee of Isham, originally held by a branch of the
Green family, from whom it had come to them through
the Culpeppers and Harringtons. Three branches of
the Green family were represented in 1428 among the
tenants of the fee of William de L'Isle in Isham, and
they had held lands there for some time. 'Henry del
Grene of Isham' was in 1337 appointed to buy wool
in the county of Northampton (fn. 43) and in 1337, 1338,
1343, (fn. 44) and subsequent years received allowances of
wool, &c. Simon Felbrigge in 1428, in right of his wife,
held the lands of these Greens of Isham. (fn. 45) Thomas
Green, who was described as of Isham in 1339 when
Richard de Toryngton of Berkhamstede acknowledged
a debt to him of £200, was the predecessor of Sir
Thomas Green who died seised of a manor of Isham
in 1420 and was succeeded by Thomas Green his
son and heir, (fn. 46) who held in 1428. Nicholas Green of
Isham, who in 1350 witnessed a grant by Sir Robert
de Morlee of lands in Wellingborough, (fn. 47) was the
owner of lands which in 1428 appeared in the hands
of Sir Thomas Colpeper in Isham, and which were
later held by the Lanes of Kettering. On 14 February
1367 Athelina or Alana de Bruys quitclaimed to
Nicholas Green and his wife Joan the manors of Exton
(co. Rutland) and Conington (co. Huntingdon) in a
deed dated at Isham. (fn. 48) In 1378 Sir Thomas Colepeper
and his wife Eleanor, who was the daughter and heir
of Nicholas Green (fn. 49) , acquired all the lands of the said
Nicholas in Isham, Pytchley, and elsewhere in Northamptonshire. (fn. 50) Sir Thomas Colepeper appeared in
1428 as one of the tenants among whom the fee of
William de L'Isle was divided, and in 1433 (fn. 51) a manor
of Isham was in the hands of his son Sir John Colepeper,
who with his wife Juliana then made a conveyance of it
with the manors of Exton and Conington. This manor
of Isham was in 1513 settled by John Harrington of
Exton, son of Katharine daughter of Sir John Colepeper, (fn. 52)
and his wife Alice, on their son John at his marriage
with Elizabeth Mutton. (fn. 53) This manor was described
at the inquisition taken on 20 October 1524 after the
death of John Harrington the elder on 6 November
1523 as held of Thomas, Lord Vaux of Harrowden,
who had inherited the estates of Thomas Green, as of
his manor of Harrowden. (fn. 54) In 1541 John Harrington
and James his son and heir conveyed the manor of
Isham to John Lane and Elizabeth his wife. (fn. 55) This
was John Lane of Kettering, who in the inquisition
taken after his death on 8 March 1546 was stated to
have bequeathed a life interest in the same to his wife
Elizabeth, who survived him, with remainders to his
son and heir John, his two daughters, to John Lane of
Walgrave, to the latter's brother William Lane, to
Ralph Lane second brother of Robert Lane, a younger
son of Sir Ralph Lane, deceased, to William Lane
third brother of the said Robert, and to the testator's
brother George Lane, in tail male. (fn. 56) It was apparently
not this manor, but the manor which he had inherited
from his father Sir Ralph, of which Sir Robert Lane
made a conveyance in 1558 to Elizabeth Lane, widow,
and John Lane her son. (fn. 57) John Lane of Kettering
presented to the church in 1561 and had died before
1576 leaving a son and heir Basil, and the Lanes still
held the manor in 1616, in which year David Lane
was dealing with it by fine. (fn. 58)
The presentations to the Upper Fee suggest that this
manor (or moiety) may have been held in 1637 by
William Hodges of Daventry who then presented. (fn. 59)
Apparently this manor in 1712 was in the hands of
John Allicocke of Loddington (son and heir of Thomas
Allicocke of Sibbertoft), who with his wife Elizabeth,
daughter and heir of Moses Bathurst, formerly of
Hothorpe, and their son Benjamin Allicocke, was then
dealing with the manors of Loddington and Isham. (fn. 60)
Bridges wrote that the manor was in dispute between
the Allicockes, who had a good estate in Isham (several
farm-houses with 3, 4, and 5 yardlands are mentioned
in this deed of 1712), and the daughters of Lady
Robinson. (fn. 61)
A part of the manor of Isham was in 1778 in the
hands of Brook Bridges, clerk, and Anne his wife, who
sold to George Huggit, clerk; (fn. 62) the latter appears as an
owner of lands in the parish in the Inclosure Act passed
for the parish in that year, and John, Earl of Upper
Ossory as lord of the manor (fn. 63) (possibly the manor held
of the Huntingdon fee). By the
same Act an allotment was made
to John Harper, esq. The Harpers had before 1803 acquired
the manorial rights of Isham, of
which manor Joseph Harper, the
successor of his cousin John
Harper in the manor of Burton
Latimer or Plassy, then levied a
fine. (fn. 64) Thomas Wilfred Harpur (fn. 65)
of Burton Latimer died in 1934,
and his son Captain John Latimer
Harpur now holds land in Isham,
but does not claim manorial rights. (fn. 66)
Harper. Argent a lion in a border engrailed sable.
Haldenby. Azure five cinqfoils set saltirewise argent.
Humfrey. Gules a cross with trefoil ends and quarter-pierced argent charged with twelve scallops sable.
Cockayne. Argent three cocks gules.
Six small virgates in Isham were entered in the
Northampton Survey as held by Geoffrey of the fee of
Huntingdon, (fn. 67) though in the Domesday Survey no
lands were entered as held in Isham by the Countess
Judith. They must have been the origin of the manor
of Isham which was afterwards returned with Little
Harrowden as a member of Great Harrowden, and was
later known as HALDENBY'S MANOR or the
MANOR OF HOLDENBY in Isham and, as previously
stated, probably corresponded to Lower Isham or a fee
called the Lower Fee. In 1235 half a fee in Clipston
and Isham was held of the fee of Huntingdon by
Simon 'Major'. (fn. 68) From the Quo Warranto returns in
1329–30 it appears that the manor of Great Harrowden
with its members Little Harrowden and Isham were
given by Robert de Muschamp to Geoffrey de Lewknor,
from whom this property descended to his son and
heir Ralph. (fn. 69) This Isham manor descended as a member
of Great Harrowden (q.v.) until the 15th century.
In 1411 Maud wife of Robert Haldenby granted to
John Haldenby her son a rent of half a pound of pepper
from the manor of Isham. (fn. 70) William de Haldenby of
Isham appears in 1428 as holding lands in Wollaston, (fn. 71)
and had evidently succeeded to this Isham manor. The
Haldenbys still held the manor in 1475, when William
Haldenby of Isham, gentleman, was cited in a plea of
debt to Thomas Pomeroy, prior of Holy Trinity,
London, executor of the will of William Lemyng, late
citizen and grocer of London. (fn. 72) In 1546 William
Haldenby made a conveyance to Richard Humfrey
of the manor of Haldenby and advowson of the church
of the parish of Isham of the Lower Fee, with a dovecot, a water mill and lands. (fn. 73) The manor remained in the
hands of the Humfreys and was at a later date held
by William Humfrey of Barton Segrave; after whose
death his son Thomas Humfrey of Swepston (co.
Leicester) instituted Chancery proceedings (fn. 74) to recover
possession of the manor of Isham commonly called
Haldenbyes Manor, with one water corn-mill, one
fulling-mill, and appurtenances in Isham, and lands
elsewhere, all of which had been settled on him, he
alleged, about 34 years before by William Humfrey,
whose second son he was. That this property was held
of the Vaux by the Cecils in succession to the Humfreys
may be inferred from one of those letters that Sir
Thomas Tresham wrote to his wife at Rushton from
his long and close imprisonment for recusancy. On
All Saints' Day 1594 he wrote to Lady Tresham (fn. 75) of
his return to London after a temporary release: 'I
alighted in Holborne, and going down Chancery Lane
to my lawyer's I met Mr. Frampton, the chief manager
of Sir Thomas Cecill's affairs, who begged me to go
to his master, Sir Thomas, as having, he declared, been
most badly dealt with by the Lord Vaux: for the
widow interrupted his master's possession of Isham
lands.' William, Lord Vaux of Harrowden, with his
wife Mary conveyed the manor of Isham in 1595 to
Richard Frampton and John Wyseman, (fn. 76) to whom in
the following year another conveyance of the same was
made by Sir Thomas Cecil and his wife Dorothy. (fn. 77)
This presumably eliminated the overlordship and was
followed in 1599 by a grant of the manor of Isham to
Robert Syers by John Wyseman and Margery his wife,
and Richard Frampton. (fn. 78) It was found by inquisition
of 1608 that Robert Syers, who had absented himself
from church, was possessed for life of the manor and
chief messuage in Isham and Little Harrowden in the
tenure of several persons, and a grant of two parts of
the manor was made on 9 July 1609 to Edward
Heselrigge. (fn. 79) Robert Syers made a settlement of the
manor in 1610 on his son John and daughters Anne and
Frances and died on 10 August 1618, leaving a son
and heir John aged 12. (fn. 80) It seems
then to have been acquired by
Sir William Cockayne, who died
seised of it in 1627–8, when it was
returned as held with 2 watermills, &c, of the king as of the
manor of Holdenby. (fn. 81) Sir William
was succeeded by his son Charles,
who in 1629, with his wife Mary,
and Mary Cockayne, widow, William Chayne, Matthew Cradock,
Thomas Henchman, and James
Price, made a conveyance by fine to Sir Hatton Farmer
and William Allen of the manors of Rushton and of Holdenby in Isham. (fn. 82) Though lands in Isham were held by
the Cockaynes with their manor of Rushton as late as the
19th century, conveyances of the same being made by
Barbara M. Cockayne, spinster, in 1810–11, (fn. 83) and by
Elizabeth C. Cockayne, spinster, in 1821, (fn. 84) Holdenby
Manor was probably held before 1660–2 by Robert
Guy, who in those years presented to the church. The
manor of Holdenby and half the advowson of Upper
Isham were in 1686 in the hands of Francis Guy and
his wife Elizabeth who conveyed it to Thomas Colthurst
and Jonathan Gorstelow Snow. (fn. 85) In 1745 Holdenby's
manor was conveyed by James Langley and his wife
Anne, Thomas Cannell and his wife Mary, and John
Harriss and his wife Elizabeth, to George Timms,
clerk, (fn. 86) after which its history becomes obscure.
The Ramsey Chronicle shows that a manor in Isham
was held in Saxon times by Earl Brithnoth, whom the
chronicler describes as 'that generous benefactor of the
abbey, foremost among his countrymen in honour and
wealth, and for his valour in fighting against the foes
of his country', and who gave his two manors of Isham
and Whiston and a hide in Doddington to the abbey. (fn. 87)
Isham was confirmed to the abbey by King Edgar in
974 (fn. 88) (among the witnesses being Earl Brithnoth) by
Edward the Confessor (1052–60), (fn. 89) and by succeeding
kings. (fn. 90) But for a time the grasping sheriff Eustace
succeeded in ousting the abbey from its property, which
was entered in the Domesday Survey among the lands
of Eustace, Sheriff of Huntingdonshire, who held of
the king 1 hide and 2½ virgates of land in Isham which
it was stated he had occupied by force, wronging the
church of Ramsey. (fn. 91) William II restored this property
to the abbey, after an inquiry had been ordered by
him, (fn. 92) of which an account is given in a previous
volume. (fn. 93)
A hidage of the knights of the abbey of 1184–9 gives
Niel de Lovetot as tenant of 1½ hides in Isham, for
which apparently he owed, in conjunction with Henry
de Withenton, who held 3½ (or 4) hides in Whiston,
the service of one knight. (fn. 94) Another hidage of about
fifty years later, confirming the Northampton Survey,
which enters Thomas Pyel as holding 1½ hides and
2½ small virgates of the fee of Ramsey, (fn. 95) gives Thomas
Pyel as tenant of 1½ hides. (fn. 96) One Henry Pyel in 1240
levied a fine with Henry son of Henry (probably
Henry de Isham) of 2 virgates of land in Isham, (fn. 97) and
in 1253, as Henry Pyel of Isham, received from William
de Brampton and Juliana his wife a messuage and half
a virgate of land there. (fn. 98) But the holder of the fee in
1243–4 was Thomas Pyel, who paid a fine of half a
mark because of the insufficiency of his horse to perform
service in Scotland. (fn. 99) In 1257, an inquiry was held at
the abbot's court at Broughton, at which Thomas Pyel
was personally present, to establish the nature of the
service due from him for the fee of Pyel of Isham, and
it was found that he ought to find a nag equipped to
carry the armour of four knights on every journey of
the said knights made by them in the king's service,
i.e. for a possible 40 days in the year. (fn. 100)
The Pyel fee had in 1278 passed to the Carnells or
Kernels, (fn. 101) and was held by William de la Carnell of
Isham who came into full court at Broughton in that year
with a horse worth 10s., a sumpter saddle worth 12d.,
a sack worth 6d., and a 'broche', and after offering
himself for the service due to the king from him was
given a day to return when summoned. (fn. 102) In 1284
William de la Carnell was assessed for 1¼ hides in
Isham which he held of the Abbot of Ramsey. (fn. 103) That
the Carnells continued to hold land in Isham is shewn
by a reference in 1382 to John Carnell of Isham whose
box of muniments and charters John Gunmyll of
Tixover had retained: (fn. 104) he was possibly identical with
the John Carnell who was escheator for the county.
The abbots of Ramsey were no longer holding in
Isham at the Dissolution, and it would seem that they
parted with the estate to the Earl of Gloucester about
the end of the 13th century, as William Pyel was holding
a moiety of a fee in Isham of Gilbert de Clare, Earl of
Gloucester and Hertford, at his death in 1314, (fn. 105) and
this half-fee, valued at 30s. yearly, was delivered to
Maud the widow of Gilbert in dower. (fn. 106) Moreover,
land in Isham held by John Carnell was included in 1387
among the fees held of Hugh, Earl of Stafford, at his
death, (fn. 107) and in 1403 among those held of Edmund,
Earl of Stafford. (fn. 108)
The Pyels still held lands in Isham in 1398–9, (fn. 109) when
Elizabeth Pyel, daughter and heir of Henry Pyel late
burgess of Bristol, made a conveyance of the same to
her cousin John Sutton of Bristol.
The temporalities of the priory of Huntingdon at
the Dissolution included the farm of a croft in Isham,
i.e. 6s. 4d. (fn. 110) A moiety of this croft, in the tenure of the
rector, was granted to Giles and Gregory Isham in
1546 with half a virgate of land. (fn. 111) A rent of 26s. 8d. in
Isham was held by the priory of St. Andrew's (Northampton) at the Dissolution. (fn. 112)
Church
The church of ST. PETER consists
of chancel, 28 ft. 4 in. by 14ft. 4 in.;
clerestoried nave of three bays, 39 ft. by
13 ft. 10 in.; north and south aisles, 12 ft. wide, north
and south porches, and west tower, 10ft. 6 in. square,
all these measurements being internal. The aisles are
the full length of the nave, and are continued eastward,
covering the chancel about half its length. There is a
sanctus bell-cote on the east gable of the nave over the
chancel arch.
The church is built throughout of rubble with
ashlar dressings, and, except in the north aisle, has
plain parapets and low-pitched leaded roofs: the lead
of the north aisle overhangs.
The two western arches of the nave arcades date
from c. 1180 and probably represent the full extent of
the nave of a small 12th-century church with narrow
aisles and a square-ended chancel. In the first half of
the 13th century the church was practically rebuilt, the
nave being extended a bay eastward and a new chancel
erected, while later in the same century the aisles were
widened and carried eastward to their present extent.
A west tower also appears to have been built, or
intended, at this time, as the tower arch is of the same
period as the chancel, but the existing tower is of
14th-century date, as are also the clerestory and north
doorway. In 1870 the building was extensively
restored, the south porch being rebuilt on the old
foundation, a north porch added, the chancel reroofed, (fn. 113) a west gallery taken
down, and the tower arch opened
out. Several of the aisle windows
were renewed at this time: they
are said not to reproduce those
they replaced, but one in the
north aisle and two in the south
are of 14th-century date, and the
east window of the south aisle is
a 15th-century insertion.
Plan of Isham Church
The chancel is without buttresses and has an east window of
two lights with forked mullion:
the window is comparatively
modern, apparently replacing a
group of three lancets, two or
three of the upper jambstones of
which are still in position. In
the north wall is a 13th-century
lancet, and in the south wall
a tall two-light window with
forked mullion, the lower part
of which is cut off by a transom
so as to form two small oblong
openings, that to the west being
used as a low-side window. (fn. 114)
This window is of late-13th-century date, its sill forms
a seat, but no piscina remains. In the north wall is a
rectangular recess with splayed jambs and head. The
western part of the chancel is open on each side to
the aisles by a pointed arch of a single chamfered order,
and the 13th-century chancel arch is of two chamfered
orders, the inner springing from half-octagonal responds
with moulded capitals. The doorway to the rood-loft
remains on the north side west of the chancel arch, its
sill being only 7 ft. 4 in. above the nave floor, but
it is blocked towards the aisle, and the steps have disappeared.
The nave arcades differ in detail, though the two
12th-century western arches on each side are semicircular and the easternmost arch pointed. On the
north the round arches are of a single square order and
spring from a square respond with quirked and chamfered
impost and a cylindrical pier with moulded base and
scalloped capital, the square abacus of which corresponds with the impost moulding. The arcade on the
south side is slightly later, the capitals of both respond
and pier being carved and the arches of two square
orders with hood-mould on each side. The respond is a
half round with moulded base and early leaf-ornament
below the quirked abacus, and the capital of the circular pier has a head at each angle with foliage issuing
from the mouth. The second pier from the west on
each side belongs to the 13th-century extension and
carries both a round and a pointed arch; the pointed
arches are of two chamfered orders without hoodmoulds and the piers are octagonal with moulded
capitals and chamfered bases. The clerestory has two
pointed windows on each side, and the nave roof is a
modern one of four bays.
A scroll moulding runs the entire length of both
aisles at sill level, and is continued round the buttresses, but above this the walls may have been rebuilt.
In the north wall of the north aisle, between the first
and second windows from the east, is a wide 14thcentury ogee-headed recess with moulded arch and
crocketed hood-mould with finial and side pinnacles.
The hollow moulding of the label is ornamented with
the ball-flower, and at the back of the recess, returned
on either side, is a band of quatrefoils. The sill is
3 ft. 7 in. above the floor, but the recess contains no
monument of any sort. The east end of the south aisle,
formerly a chapel, is partitioned off by a modern screen
to form a vestry: in the usual position in the south wall
is a trefoil-headed piscina with fluted bowl and stone
shelf, and at the east end of the north wall a squint to
the chancel which is rebated top and bottom for a
shutter. The 15th-century east window is four-centred
and of three cinquefoiled lights: (fn. 115) in the wall to the
south of it is a plain image-bracket and to the north
an inserted fragment of a grave-slab with incised cross.
There is a late-13th-century doorway in the south wall
with chamfered cinquefoiled arch and east of it a
square-headed window of three trefoiled lights.
The 14th-century north doorway of the nave has a
continuous moulded pointed arch, with label terminating
in heads: the south doorway is modern.
The tower is of three stages with diagonal angle
buttresses and battlemented parapet, below which is a
band of lozenge quatrefoils. The walls slightly batter,
and the bell-chamber windows are of two cinquefoiled
lights with a quatrefoil in the head. There is a vice in
the south-west angle, and a west window of two lights
in the lower stage. The lofty tower arch is of two chamfered orders, the inner springing from half-octagonal
responds with moulded capitals and chamfered bases.
The font is ancient and consists of a plain octagonal
bowl and stem on a chamfered base.
The oak pulpit, c. 1600, has panelled sides and back
and a modern canopy. (fn. 116) The upper panels are carved
with winged heads and the back with a winged and
crowned female figure holding orb and sceptre. (fn. 117)
The lower part of a 15th-century oak chancel screen
remains in position, cut down to rail level. It has two
traceried panels on each side of the opening and the
rail is carved. Part of the stalling is made up of woodwork of the same type and period. The altar rails are
Jacobean, with turned balusters.
In the chancel floor is a large slab on which was
formerly the brass of Sir John Boyvyle (1493), but the
figure and four shields of arms have disappeared. (fn. 118) The
inscription remains. (fn. 119) There are no other monuments
earlier than 1800.
There is a ring of six bells cast by Taylor & Co. of
Loughborough in 1906 from an old ring of four, to
which two trebles were added. (fn. 120)
The plate consists of a silver cup and cover paten
c. 1680, a silver bread-holder of 1683, a pewter flagon,
and a brass alms dish. (fn. 121)
The registers before 1812 are as follows: (i) baptisms
and burials 1701–1805, marriages 1701–54; (ii) marriages 1754–1812; (iii) baptisms and burials 1806–12. (fn. 122)
Advowson
The church was valued in 1291 in
two portions. These were held by
two rectors as the Upper and the
Lower Fee, each portion being worth £5, with pension
deducted. (fn. 123) The pension was that of the Abbot of St.
Andrew's (Northampton), returned in Valor Ecclesiasticus as 13s. 4d. The combined rectories were valued
in the Valor at £16 13s. 8d., the rectory of Upper
Isham being returned as worth £7 10s. (fn. 124) The rectors
of the two portions were called comportioners. The
rector of the Lower Fee was in 1634–5 before the High
Commission Court for procuring himself to be superinstituted, and resigned his title to the rectory; (fn. 125) and the
parish registers show that in 1662 the rector of Lower
Isham was removed for 'contending for the Upper
Parsonage', when Mr. Galston was presented to both
by the Bishop of Lincoln and the king. (fn. 126) But it was
not until 1841 that the two portions were consolidated
into one benefice by Order in Council, the Bishop of
Lincoln being patron. Since the division of the bishopric,
the patronage has been in the Bishop of Peterborough.
The advowsons of the rectories of the two portions
of Isham church belonged originally apparently to the
owners of the manors held respectively of the Latimers
and of the Huntingdon fee, that of the Lower Fee
having apparently been given (fn. 127) to the priory of Huntingdon, by whom the presentation was made in 1227 (fn. 128)
and in 1230. (fn. 129) Though the presentation to the Lower
Fee was made in 1235 by St. James's Abbey, (fn. 130) this must
have been done by permission of the priory of Huntingdon, by whom the presentation was made in 1238. (fn. 131)
Before the close of the 13th century the advowson of
this fee was in the hands of the Bishop of Lincoln, and
so continued until the union of the two rectories.
Though in 1546 William Holdenby included the advowson in the sale of the manor, he does not seem ever
to have owned it.
The descent of the advowson of the Over Fee was
the same as that of the manor of the Over Hall (q.v.)
until 1726, when Francis Hawes and his wife Susan
conveyed it with the manor of Kettering to Sir Thomas
Crosse, bart., and Matthew Lant. (fn. 132) In 1745 William
Franks, clerk, and Anne his wife with Thomas Whitworth and Elizabeth his wife conveyed it to Sir John
Dolben, bart., and Langham Rokeby by fine, with
warranty against the heirs of Anne and Elizabeth, (fn. 133) and
the presentation was made in 1744 and 1749 by Samuel
Morton, a minor; in 1752 and 1760 by Anne Franks,
widow; and in 1774 by Thomas Rokeby. (fn. 134) In 1804
the advowson was held by William John Lushington
and his wife Barbara, who conveyed it by fine to
Benjamin Clarke Raworth. (fn. 135) By Order in Council,
21 August 1841, the rectories of Isham Superior and
Inferior were united. The patronage of Isham
Superior was then in the hands of Sir George Stamp
Robinson, from whom the Bishop of Lincoln obtained
it in exchange for Cranford St. John, of which church
Sir George was rector. The united rectories were
transferred to the Bishop of Peterborough in 1852. (fn. 136)
Charities
Church land, Constable's land, and
Apprentice land. On the inclosure of
the parish in 1774 three allotments in
Broadmoor Field were awarded in lieu of lands and
rights in the open fields. The property consists of about
30 acres let for £45 yearly, and the invested accumulations of income of the Apprentice lands produce about
£5 yearly. About £24 is applied to church expenses,
£10 10s. as apprenticeship premium, and £3, from
the Constable's land, to public uses. The charity is
administered by the vicar and four other trustees.
Ann Green by her will dated 28 August 1829 gave
19 guineas, now producing 10s. yearly, to the minister
and churchwardens upon trust to apply the income for
the benefit of the Sunday school; and also £40, now
producing £1 yearly, to be distributed in bread.
By his will dated 30 March 1829 William Green
gave £300 Consols upon trust to apply the income in
the distribution of meat to the poor on 24 December.
The income of this and the preceding charity is distributed in food by the minister and two trustees
appointed by the Parish Council.
By her will proved 2 March 1900 Miss Ann Caroline Ayres gave £40 to the rector, churchwardens, and
overseers upon trust to apply the income in the distribution of coals to the poor. The legacy was invested
in £41 Consols, producing £1 0s. 4d. yearly in dividends. The several sums of stock are with the Official
Trustees of Charitable Funds.