LAMPORT (with HANGING HOUGHTON)
Langeport (xi cent.); Hanga de Houghton, Hoghton
by Langeporte, Hengende Hocton (xiii cent.).
Lamport now contains the chapelry of Faxton, till
1935 a separate parish, as well as the hamlet of Hanging
Houghton, which, though separately rated, forms its
southern half. It lies to the west of the high road from
Northampton to Market Harborough. This for a considerable distance runs parallel with and near to its
eastern boundary; and the Northampton and Market
Harborough section of the L.M.S. railway runs
through the centre of the parish, with a station about
half a mile north-west of the village.
Lamport village, Hall, and Park are near the eastern
boundary of the parish, on a hill above the station, commanding good views over a wooded and hilly country.
Lamport Hall, a handsome stone mansion in grounds
of about 20 acres, is the property of Gyles Isham, esq.,
since 1931 by deed of gift from his father, Captain Sir
Vere Isham, bart., J.P., principal land-owner. It had
a famous library, rich in rare books, (fn. 1) as well as 'books
of evidences', diaries, documents, and deeds giving the
history of its Isham owners. Most of the books were sold
in 1895 and divided between the British Museum and
the Britwell Court Library. The Britwell Court books,
including the unique 1599 edition of Shakespeare's
Venus and Adonis, are now in the Huntington Library,
California. The family records have been deposited on
loan with the Record Society at Northampton. Sir John,
the first baronet, set down 'Remembrances' of his grandfather John, who leaving the neighbourhood at 16,
made his fortune in London as a mercer and merchant
adventurer, and came back to buy the manor and parsonage in 1559, as also of his father, the blind squire
Thomas. (fn. 2) From these we learn of the manor-house
built by John Isham the grandfather in 1568, and of
the buttery with the chamber over it, and the 'foresyde
of the hall' built by himself in 1610 and 1611: and
that John Isham inclosed the Pond Close and Caulcot
Closes in 1570; Hoback, Dinges, Blewbarrows, Redgwas, and Parkes in 1576. Sir Justinian Isham in 1654
had the central part of the west front new built by John
Webb, (fn. 3) the pupil of Inigo Jones. This comprises the
lofty 'Music Room', which contains the original fireplace designed by Webb. The elaborate plaster work
on ceiling and frieze, however, dates from 1738 when
the room was altered to its present form by the sixth
baronet. The staircase was altered in 1830, but the
upper part is of Webb's time. In 1732 Francis Smith,
of Warwick, the architect of the Georgian block at
Stoneleigh Abbey, began to add a wing on each side of
Webb's work, reducing the west facade to uniformity,
but the north front retained the Elizabethan hall and
kitchens until 1821, when they were rebuilt. This portion was remodelled in 1862, and although a few early
windows lighting a cellar have survived, the interest of
the house lies in Webb's work and the Georgian library.
There are also some stained glass coats of arms of the
16th century, brought from the destroyed manor-house
of Sir Euseby Isham at Pytchley. In the beautiful
grounds is a fine avenue of yews called 'the Eagle walk'
from its having once led to a cage of captive eagles.
The gardens were laid out in their present form in 1677
and there are fine wrought-iron gates made by a local
blacksmith in 1700.
The rectory, east of the church, is a well-designed
two-story building, with plain parapets and slated hipped
roof. The stone of which it was built in 1730, and
its fine staircase and wainscoting, came from the dismantled manor-house of Hanging Houghton. (fn. 4) The
rectory and church are at the western end of the park,
the Home Farm at its north-eastern. There are good
springs and quarries of stone.
A road branching west from the Northampton road
forms the boundary between the hamlet of Hanging
Houghton and the rest of the parish: Lamport village
is about a quarter of a mile to the north of this road,
and the scattered houses of Hanging Houghton on a hill
only a short distance south of it. A chapel of some
importance once existed at Hanging Houghton, but
Bridges says that its ruins were used for the building of
a manor-house, which in turn was left deserted in 1665
after the Montagu household had been carried off by
the plague, which they had fled from London to escape.
In 1670 it was sold by the Montagus to the Ishams.
Lamport Grange, the residence of Sir Charles Frederick, bart., O.B.E., lies near the boundary of Hanging
Houghton. There is a school, founded by the Ishams.
The Manor Farm is at the western end of the village,
Hanging Houghton Lodge in the south of the hamlet.
In the north of the parish is Bullock Close Spinney:
south of Lamport Park the Long Plantation with
Boundary Oak to the west of it. Lamport is a parish
of hill and dale, but a height of about 400 ft. is frequent. The area is 4,605 acres, mainly pasture: the
soil red loam and subsoil clay. Population in 1931
was 263.
Manors
Among the lands of Walter the Fleming,
otherwise called Walter de Wahull or
Odell (Beds.), there were entered in
Domesday Survey 4 hides and 1 virgate in LAMPORT
held by Fulcher, a member of the Malsor, or Malesoures, family. (fn. 5) This estate continued to be held of the
barony of Wahull until the 16th century. In the 12thcentury Northamptonshire Survey 4 hides in Lamport
were held by Simon Malsover of the fee of Wahull. (fn. 6)
Peter Malsover of Lamport levied a fine of land in
Lamport with John son of Thomas in 1196–7, (fn. 7) and
the presentation to the church was made by Sir Peter
Malsover in 1217. (fn. 8) He had been succeeded before
1242 by Guy Wake, who with his wife Isabel held a
fee here in that year, (fn. 9) and in 1250 presented Richard
Trussell to the living. (fn. 10) The advowson was held with
the manor, which was in the hands of the Trussells in
1260–1, when a fine was levied of it between Richard
and Isabel Trussell. (fn. 11) Dugdale considers that the Trussells of Cublesdon in Staffordshire were the principal
male branch of the Trussell family, and the Trussells
who held Lamport seem to have belonged to that
branch, and to have had under them a younger branch
of the family as under-tenants. Richard Trussell, who
claimed view of frankpledge, &c, in Lamport in 1276, (fn. 12)
was in 1284 holding a knight's fee in Lamport of
William Trussell, who held of John de Wahull. (fn. 13) William Trussell, who in 1316 was holding Lamport with
Hanging Houghton, (fn. 14) had been succeeded in 1329 by
John Trussell, of whose demise Thomas Trussell was
then holding the manor for life. (fn. 15) In 1339 John Trussell
'of Cublesdon' levied a fine of the manor and advowson, (fn. 16) and in 1346 he held a fee in Lamport and a
quarter fee in Scaldwell. (fn. 17) According to Dugdale, Margaret daughter and heir of William Trussell of Cublesdon married Fulk de Pembruge. (fn. 18) Fulk and Margaret
were dealing in 1383 with the manors of Marston
Trussell, Lamport, Thorp Malsor, and Orlingbury. (fn. 19) Sir Fulk
Pembruge died in 1408–9, seised
of the manor and advowson,
which he was holding for life
jointly with his wife Isabel, with
remainder to Sir William son of
Lawrence Trussell and Margery
his wife. (fn. 20) The heirs of John
Trussell paid 6s. 8d. subsidy in
1428 for the fee in Lamport formerly belonging to John Trussell, (fn. 21) but Fulk's widow Isabel held these manors until
her death on 9 October 1445. (fn. 22) Her own heir was her
son William Ludlow, but the manor reverted to the
Trussells, and on 5 May 1475 William Trussell granted
it to Humphrey Belcher and others for performance of
his last will, and died seised on 23 January 1481. (fn. 23) His
son and heir Edward died while still a minor on 10 July
1499. (fn. 24) His infant son and heir John (fn. 25) died two years
after his father, according to Bridges, when his sister
Elizabeth evidently became his heir. Humphrey Belcher was returned in 1500 as sole surviving feoffee
under a settlement of the manor and advowson to
the use of Elizabeth; and their value was given as
£18 13s. 4d. (fn. 26)
Trussell. Argent fretty gules bezanty.
The marriage of the heiress Elizabeth to John de
Vere, Earl of Oxford, to whom and his brother, then
earl, her wardship and marriage had been granted in
1507, carried the manor and advowson to the Earls of
Oxford, by whom they continued to be held with
Marston Trussell, Thorp Malsor (q.v.), &c., for the
next fifty years, when they passed from them to the
Ishams. In 1556 the manor was
recovered against John, Earl of
Oxford, and his wife Lady Margaret by John Isham, (fn. 27) ultimately
the purchaser. According to the
Isham family records, of which
an abstract is given in the Genealogist, (fn. 28) Sir William Cecil of
Burghley purchased the manor
and advowson of John, Earl of
Oxford, for £530 on 7 May
1559, and sold them to John
Isham for £610 on 13 January
1560. (fn. 29) It is recorded on his
tombstone in Lamport church, which bears with the
Isham arms the arms of London, of the Merchant
Adventurers of Flanders, and of the Mercers' Company,
that 'John Isham, one of the 20 children of Euseby
Isham of Picheley and of Anne his wief, daughter of
Giles Pulton of Desborow Esquier, married Elizabeth
daughter of Nicholas Barker citizen of London, was
once Governor of the English Marchaunt Adventurers
in Flaunders, and thrice Warden of the Mercers of
London, purchased the mannor and parsonage of this
parish of Lamport, and was 22 yeares Justice of the
Peace (fn. 30) and once sheriff of this shyre of Northampton (fn. 31)
and died the 17 day of March 1595'. This concise
record of a full life can be supplemented from notes left
by his son Thomas which have fortunately survived.
Isham. Gules a fesse wavy argent with three piles wavy argent pointing to the fesse point.
John, kept by his father at school until he was 16,
was sent to London and bound apprentice in 1541–2.
At length he havinge gotten some good store of substance
with good credit and honest report he came and dwelt in
the year of our Lord God 1572 upon his land in Langport
which before he had purchased. Heer he aplyed himselfe
to plantinge, buildinge, making of pooles, including of
groundes and all other woorks of good husbandry as
though he had been brought up to them from his infansy.
Butt his company of ye Mercers perceiving him to forsake
them in this order, In the year of our Lord God 1577
being greatly effected unto him, called him out of the
cuntry and made him their Master Warden. Yit he havinge
settled himself heer in the cuntry woulde nott by any
meanes be drawne agayn to dwelle at London. Wherefore
his office being past, heer he continued till his dyinge daye
havinge as great good frendship of gendemen in this his
cuntry, as he had before of Cytesens among whom he was
bredd. . . . He was a wise man though altogether unlerned,
writinge and reading Inglish only excepted. . . . In housekeeping he was bountefull. . . . Unto Thomas Isham, his
eldest son, being blind, he left such directions both by
speach and writynge as to him were instead of an eye. (fn. 32)
This son Thomas who had been born in London and
baptized at Bow, and succeeded his father at the age
of 30, (fn. 33) had been blind since a great sickness he had
at 14. He died at the age of 50 in 1605, his death
hastened by a fall from an unruly horse. He married
Elizabeth Nicholson in 1576, and it is to him that the
credit of founding the Lamport library belongs.
The inquisition taken after the death of Thomas
records the purchase of the manor by John Isham and
states that it never belonged to the monastery of Bury
St. Edmunds nor had it ever been granted by Henry
VIII in 1541 to Sir Edward Montagu (fn. 34) —a suggestion
of disputed claims, to which a reference in his father's
will to losses by 'a great suit at law' supplies the clue.
John Isham succeeded his father at the age of 23, and
in 1607 married Judith youngest daughter and ultimately co-heir of William Lewin, D.C.L. and LL.D.,
of Otteringden, Kent, Judge of the Prerogative Court,
and sister to Sir Justinian Lewin. (fn. 35) He was knighted in
1608, high sheriff 1611–12, and made baronet on
30 May 1627. Though a Royalist, Sir John was
allowed to remain undisturbed at Lamport until he died
in 1651. His accounts show he paid a total of £1,202
to the Parliament, and contain an application under the
royal sign manual from the king for a loan of £500
in 1642. (fn. 36)
His son Justinian, who was dealing with the manor
in 1653, (fn. 37) the year in which he married his second wife
Vere daughter of Sir Thomas Leigh, first Lord Leigh
of Stoneleigh, was a person of culture and learning.
It was he who employed Webb to re-build the west front
of the Hall, and the masons worked under his instruction. He also built the chancel of the church at Lamport, and the Isham chapel (q.v.). He was a friend
and correspondent of Seth Ward, later Bishop of Salisbury, and was one of the earliest Fellows of the Royal
Society in 1663. As a widower with four daughters
he courted the youthful Dorothy Osborne, who
amusingly describes in her letters to Temple, her
future husband, the elaborate suit of the baronet whom
she christened 'the Emperor'. He suffered imprisonment many times as well as fines for his Cavalier principles, but was rewarded at the Restoration by his
election to the Parliament of 1661. He died at
Oxford where he had gone to place his two sons at
Christ Church on March 2, 1675, and was buried
at Lamport.
The detailed pedigree of the family of Isham with
biographical accounts of its members to the present
day is to be found in the Genealogical volume for
this county, (fn. 38) and their succession can be summarized
briefly. Sir Thomas, who succeeded his father while
still a minor in 1675, and has left a Latin diary
written by his father's commands, died, aged 23,
in London on the point of marriage in 1681. His
brother and heir Justinian, who succeeded him, was
M.P. for Northampton and for the county in many
parliaments, and one of the guard formed at Nottingham for Princess Anne of Denmark to enable her to
desert her father James II. (fn. 39) He died in 1730, and was
succeeded by his son Sir Justinian Isham, M.P. for the
county from 1730 to 1737, a good antiquary and lover
of literature, who at his sudden death s.p. in 1737 was
succeeded by his brother Sir Edmund Isham, bart.,
M.P. for the county from 1737 until he died in 1772.
Sir Justinian, who then succeeded to the manor, was
the son of his brother the Rev. Euseby Isham, D.D., the
third son of the fourth baronet. When in 1794 an
Inclosure Act was passed for the open and common
fields in Lamport and Hanging Houghton, these were
estimated at about 539 acres, and all except the church
lands were his property. (fn. 40) His son Sir Justinian, who
succeeded him at his death in 1818, died at Lamport
Hall in 1845, and was succeeded by his son Sir Justinian Vere Isham, at whose sudden death in 1846 Sir
Charles Edmund Isham his brother succeeded him.
Captain Sir Vere Isham, son of John Vere Isham, son
of Vere Isham (d. 1845), Rector of Lamport, son of
Sir Justinian Isham (7th bart.) (d. 1818), succeeded
Sir Charles Edmund Isham at his death in 1903, and
is the present lord of the manor.
The Domesday Survey records 1 virgate 1 bovate in
Lamport among the lands of the Abbey of St. Edmund's. (fn. 41) This had become half a hide in Lamport in
the Hundred of Mawsley of the socage of St. Edmund
in the 12th century, (fn. 42) and by 1284 must have been
looked upon as part of the Trussell's manor of Lamport, being returned at that date in the Hundred of
Orlingbury as 3 virgates of land in Lamport which the
Abbot of St. Edmund's held of William Trussell, William of John de Wahull, and the latter of the king. (fn. 43)
Lands in Lamport were specified in the grants of
1541–2 to Sir Edward Montagu, Chief Justice of the
King's Bench, of all lands belonging to the abbey of
St. Edmund, (fn. 44) and this inclusion may have led to the
specific statement at the death of Thomas Isham that
his manor had never been part of the abbey property. (fn. 45)
Property was also held in Lamport in 1086 by the
Countess Judith, who had 1 bovate of land with 1 bordar rendering 16d. (fn. 46) The Hastings purparty of the
honor of Huntingdon included in 1235 half a fee in
Scaldwell, [Hanging] Houghton, and Upthorp held of
them in 1235 by Simon 'Major' (fn. 47) and in 1242 by Simon
son of Simon. (fn. 48) This was modified by subsequent redistributions into a quarter fee in Lamport, Houghton,
Scaldwell (q.v.), and Upthorp held by John Hastings
senior in 1313, (fn. 49) and into a third of a fee held in the
same places in 1325 (fn. 50) and in 1376 by the Hastings, (fn. 51)
and under them by Thomas de Verdun and his heirs.
Hanging Houghton
Four owners of lands appear in
the Houghton later known as Hanging Houghton in the Domesday
Survey. (fn. 52) The Conqueror's halfbrother Robert, Count of Mortain, received an estate
of 2 hides less 1 virgate; the Conqueror's niece the
Countess Judith 1 hide and 1 virgate; the abbey of
St. Edmund 1 hide and ½ virgate; and Walter the
Fleming 2 virgates and 1 bovate of land: a total of
nearly 4½ hides, three of whose owners were also holding lands in Lamport, with the result that in later
centuries the delimitation of lordship was sometimes
involved in confusion; the claims of the abbey of St.
Edmund seems to have been a disputed question from
first to last in both places.
Cornwall. Argent a lion gules crowned or in a border sable bezanty.
The land of the Count of Mortain had been held in
King Edward's time freely by Fredgis; under the count
it was held by Ralf. The Abbot of St. Edmund's
claimed the soc of 2½ virgates of land. (fn. 53) The property
of the Count of Mortain passed to his successors, Earls
of Cornwall, (fn. 54) and in the 12thcentury Survey his Domesday
holding in Houghton appears as
1 hide 3 virgates there, held by
'Rocinus' in Mawsley Hundred
of their fee of Berkhamsted. (fn. 55)
A reference in 1226 to the
demesne of Philip 'Bosce' in
Houghton (fn. 56) may be a scribal
error for 'Rosce'. In 1235 one
fee was held here by Hugh
'Russell', apparently of Ralph
Cheynduit; (fn. 57) in 1242 one small
fee was held by Roger 'Roce'; (fn. 58) a little later Robert
'Roce' gave to the Hospital of Holy Trinity by Northampton lands in Houghton, including Galtrefurlong; (fn. 59)
and in 1284 Stephen Cheynduit was holding 14 virgates of the Earl of Cornwall, (fn. 60) then held of him by
Hugh de Dunster. At the death of Edmund, Earl of
Cornwall, s.p. in 1300, fixed fines at the views of
frankpledge in Houghton by Lamport, Thorp, and
elsewhere, were held of the barony of Cheynduit of the
honor of Berkhamsted, which then came to the king as
his cousin and heir; (fn. 61) and in 1491 lands and rent in
Hanging Houghton, evidently part of this property,
were returned as held of Prince Arthur, the eldest son
of Henry VII. (fn. 62)
In 1252 Hugh de Dunster and Alice his wife levied
two fines of rents in 'Hengende Hocton', one with
Thomas de Addingburne, (fn. 63) the other with the same
Thomas and John de Freyne (Fraxineto) and Alice his
wife; (fn. 64) and in 1284 Adam de Grendon was holding
14 virgates in Houghton of Hugh de Dunster, who
held them of Stephen de Cheynduit. In 1302 (fn. 65) this property was held by Peter de Grendon, who owed 2
marks rent yearly for the tenements he held of Thomas
de Addingburne, John de Freyne, and Alice his wife,
under the fine of 1252, to Richard son and heir of
Henry de Dunster. (fn. 66) Lettice, the wife of John son of
Peter de Grendon, was with her husband John enfeoffed by Henry son of Peter of the manor of Hanging
Houghton, and, as the widow of John, recovered seisin
against Walter Paries in 1347–8. (fn. 67)
Humphrey Belcher, previously mentioned as sole
surviving feoffee under the settlement made of Lamport
by Sir William Trussell in 1475, was returned as holding, at his own death in 1501, 4 messuages 5 virgates
of land and 6s. rent in Hanging Houghton held of the
most excellent prince [Arthur, eldest son of King
Henry VII]. (fn. 68) His son Roger succeeded to this estate,
which appears, according to Bridges, quoting Montagu evidences, to have been bought by Sir Edward
Montagu, (fn. 69) as were also certain lands and rents in
Hanging Houghton, formerly held by Sir Thomas
Tresham. They had been forfeited by him under the
Act of Attainder of 1462, and granted to John Donne, (fn. 70)
who in 1489 had the custody of the lord of Lamport
Manor during his minority, (fn. 71) and who with his wife
Elizabeth received a fresh grant of the Tresham lands
on 11 March 1465. (fn. 72) Isabel the wife of Sir William
Pecche was holding these lands in dower, as widow of
Sir Thomas. (fn. 73)
The Countess Judith's hide and virgate in Houghton
in Mawsley Hundred was held under her by Hugh. (fn. 74)
In the Northamptonshire Survey it was entered, unchanged in extent, as held of the fee of King David, (fn. 75)
and appeared in 1235 and 1242 as half a fee in Scaldwell, Houghton, and Upthorp held by the Hastings of
the honor of Huntingdon. (fn. 76) It must ultimately have
been merged in the other holdings.
The hide and half virgate which the abbey of St.
Edmund's held in Houghton in 1086 (fn. 77) remained in the
fee of St. Edmund at the date of the Northamptonshire
Survey. (fn. 78) In 1284 Richard Trussell was holding 9 virgates in Houghton of the Abbot of St. Edmund's. (fn. 79) The
abbot was at the same date holding 3 virgates in Lamport of William Trussell, under whom Richard Trussell
was holding his fee in Lamport, and in 1316 William
Trussell was returned as holding Houghton cum Lamport. (fn. 80)
Richard Mountygowe of Hanging Houghton, husbandman, alias Richard Ladde alias Richard Montagu,
yeoman, who appeared in 1471 in a plea of debt, (fn. 81) may
have been identical with Richard Montagu, the father
of Thomas, and grandfather of Sir Edward Montagu,
Lord Chief Justice, who is said to have bought Hemington, and lived there. (fn. 82) Probably he removed thence
from Hanging Houghton, where, according to
Bridges, (fn. 83) quoting Montagu evidences, he made a
settlement of lands on Edward Montagu and his wife
Cecily, daughter of William Lane of Orlingbury, in
1512–13. Bridges' further statement that both father
and son were buying lands in Hanging Houghton in
the reigns of Henry VII and Henry VIII is borne out
by the extent of the lands there with which Sir Edward
was dealing before the grant to him of the lands of
St. Edmund's in 1541–2. (fn. 84) Although Sir Edward was
dealing in October 1540 with 'manors' and lands in
Lamport and Hanging Houghton, (fn. 85) in 1555 premises
which Anthony Catesby had held in Hanging Houghton were returned as held of Sir Edward Montagu as
of his manor of Warkton, without reference to any
manor of Hanging Houghton; (fn. 86) and as late as 1648
lands in Houghton were still held of Warkton. (fn. 87) At his
death in 1556–7 Sir Edward left his manors, tenements, &c., in Lamport, Hanging Houghton, &c., to
his eldest son Edward, (fn. 88) who settled them in tail male
on his second son Walter, with remainder to his eldest
son Edward and other sons Henry, Charles, James, and
Sidney. (fn. 89) In 1599 Sir Walter Montagu was dealing by
recovery with the manor of Hanging Houghton, including a mill. (fn. 90) By his will dated 2 December 1614
he devised 160 acres in Mawsley and Hanging Houghton for the maintenance of a hospital for the poor
founded by him at Chepstow in Monmouthshire. (fn. 91) Sir
Henry Montagu, his brother, was in 1626 created Earl
of Manchester, and was succeeded in the earldom in
1642 by his son Edward, whose son Robert, Viscount
Mandevile, was dealing in 1655 with the manor of
Hanging Houghton, with its windmill and other appurtenances. (fn. 92) In 1670 he and his father Edward, Earl
of Manchester, conveyed the manor of Hanging
Houghton to Sir Justinian Isham, bart., and from that
time it has been held with Lamport. (fn. 93)
The 2 virgates 1 bovate of land in Houghton which
Walter the Fleming held in 1086 (fn. 94) were not recorded
again and were probably absorbed in his manor of
Lamport.
The priory of Daventry, the recipient of benefactions
from Ralph Cheynduit, was in 1276 returned as holding half a virgate of land worth half a mark in Hanging
Houghton. (fn. 95)
In 1563–4 a hermitage, croft, dovecote, and orchard
called the Chapel yard in the town of Northampton;
and the chapel and all lands, meadows, pastures, &c.,
to the said chapel belonging in Hanging Houghton
were granted to William Grice and Anthony Foster. (fn. 96)
This probably came next into the hands of Sir Edward
Montagu, to whom, according to Bridges, concealed
lands belonging to the keepers of the chapel of Hanging
Houghton were granted in 1566–7. (fn. 97)
Lands in Lamport were included in the possessions
of the priory of Studley in the county of Oxford granted
in February 1540 to John Cooke. (fn. 98)
Lands called Pennyfathers and Skeretts, and the
moiety of 'a manor' in Lamport, were the subject of
proceedings in the Court of Requests by the brothers
Robert and John Ingoldsby or Yngolsby in regard to
a settlement by their father Thomas on his wife
Agnes. (fn. 99)
Church
The church of ALL SAINTS consists
of chancel, 28 ft. 6 in. by 17 ft. 3 in., with
north chapel and south vestry; nave of
three bays, 32 ft. 9 in. by 17 ft. 6 in.; north and south
aisles each 9 ft. 3 in. wide; and embattled west tower
of three stages, 12 ft. 6 in. by 11 ft. 4 in.; all these
measurements being internal. The width across nave
and aisles is 41 ft. 3 in.
Two small round-headed windows in the tower,
widely splayed inside, suggest that in its two lower
stages this is of 12th-century date, but in the main the
fabric belongs to the 13th century, the tower arch, nave
arcades, and upper part of the tower being of that
period, together probably with some portion of the
walling in other parts. The chancel was built in 1652
by Sir Justinian Isham, the second baronet, who in
1672 added the chapel north of the chancel as a place
of burial for the Isham family. Of his building Sir
Justinian wrote to a friend: 'My building I intend to
have substantial and grave without Pictures or guildings
either in windows or walls'. (fn. 100) In the 18th century, however, the building was made to assume its present Italian
appearance, following a legacy left by Sir Justinian
Isham (5th baronet) in 1737, after his visit to Italy, for
its 'rebuilding, beautifying and adorning'. His intentions were carried out by his wife (who died in 1744)
and others, with the result that little of the medieval
building is visible but the tower and the nave arcades.
A shallow south porch was added about the same time,
in the pseudo-Classic style of the day, with drafted
quoins, and externally the whole of the building with
the exception of the tower was reconstructed in the
same style. The vestry was added in 1879 in the style
of the 14th century, from the designs of Mr. G. F.
Bodley.
The chancel has a three-light east window of 'Venetian' type, ornamental flat plaster ceiling, and lowpitched roof covered with copper. It is open on the
north to the Isham chapel by three round arches, and
on the south is a round-headed window. (fn. 101) The wide
pointed chancel arch is of two chamfered orders.
The arches of the nave arcades are of two chamfered
orders, on octagonal pillars with moulded capitals. At
the east end the arches rest on keel-shaped responds and
at the west on moulded corbels. The flat ornamental
plaster ceiling of the nave and all the round-headed
aisle windows are of the 18 th century. At the west end
of the north aisle are the remains of an older window,
now blocked. The roofs of the nave and aisle are
leaded.
The tower has diagonal buttresses of later date than
the walls (fn. 102) and a pyramidal leaded roof. One of the
12th-century windows is in the lower stage on the west
and the other in the middle stage on the south side. An
18th-century west doorway is now blocked. The bellchamber windows are of two plain pointed lights under
a single hood-mould. There is no vice. The tower arch
is of three chamfered orders, the two inner resting on
keel-shaped responds with moulded capitals and bases.
The font is modern and has a spire cover of oak
designed by Mr. Bodley. There is an 18th-century
pulpit, and an old oak chest with three locks.
In the chapel is an elaborate monument, (fn. 103) with bust,
in memory of Sir Justinian Isham (d. 1736) and Elizabeth Turner his first wife (d. 1713). There are also
tablets to John Isham (d. 1746) and to the Rev. Euseby
Isham, rector (d. 1824). In the chancel floor are two
brass plates, one in memory of John Isham (d. 1595)
and Elizabeth his wife (d. 1594) with three shields of
arms, and the other commemorating Thomas Isham
(d. 1605) and other members of the family. (fn. 104) There is
also a blue stone slab, now against the north wall, to Jane
Garrard, wife of Justinian Isham, esquire (d. 1638).
There are four bells, the first a recasting by Taylor
in 1872 of a bell by Christopher Graye 1663, the
second and third by Hugh Watts of Leicester 1641, and
the tenor by Toby Norris of Stamford 1616. There is
also a priest's bell. (fn. 105)
The plate consists of a silver cup and cover paten of
1653 given by Sir Justinian Isham, 2nd baronet; a
paten of 1720 with the Isham arms; and a flagon made
by William Fawdery in 1717, but inscribed '1718'. (fn. 106)
In 1907 Sir Vere Isham presented to the church a
gilt latten processional cross, c. 1470–80, which had
been in his family from at least the time of the first
baronet. It is an unusually good example of a type which
can be used either as a processional or an altar cross.
The base only is wanting. (fn. 107) It was discovered during
some building operations in the time of Charles II. (fn. 108)
The earlier registers are as follows: (i) baptisms and
burials 1587–1688, marriages 1587–1687, but with no
entries 1644–8; (ii) baptisms and burials 1653–62,
marriages 1655–61, being a duplicate in parchment of
part of the first volume; (iii) baptisms and burials
1688–1806, marriages 1692–1753; (iv) marriages
1754–1806. There are churchwardens' accounts beginning in 1699.
Advowson
The church of Lamport, a rectory
to which the chapelry of Faxton is
annexed, and in former times the
chapelry of Hanging Houghton, (fn. 109) was valued in 1291
at £23 6s. 8d. with pensions deducted. (fn. 110) In 1535 the
profits of the rectory in tithes great and small, with
issues from the mansion and glebe land, were £48 13s.
annually. (fn. 111)
The advowson has always been held with the manor
(q.v.).
Bridges wrote that there had been formerly a chapel
in the hamlet of Hanging Houghton of which no trace
then remained. As early as 1228 two-thirds of the
tithes from the demesne of Philip Bosce in Houghton
had been granted to Stephen de Axebridge, clerk, with
leave for the rector of Lamport to hold the same on
lease from him at a rent of one mark. (fn. 112) This may possibly indicate the foundation of this chapel. In 1269
Richard de Lamport, chaplain, was presented by Dom.
Richard Trussell, rector and patron of Lamport
church, to the chantry of the chapel of Hanging
Houghton in the parish of Lamport, and to all the
altarage of the chapel, with 20s. annual rent from the
parishioners of the said chapel. (fn. 113)
By the Inclosure Act of 1794 an allotment was made
instead of the glebe lands and right of common belonging to them, and instead of the Church Hadley (about
half an acre of land vested in the rector and churchwardens for the repair of the church, under the will of
Sir Edward Montagu), while a rent-charge was placed
on Sir Justinian Isham's lands in lieu of tithes. (fn. 114)
Charities
The Isham Charity regulated by a
scheme of the Charity Commissioners
dated 11 February 1910 comprises the
Charity of Sir Justinian Isham, bart., will 30 December
1670, and the Charity of Sir Edmund Isham, bart.,
codicil to will dated 16 November 1762.
The endowment consists of a farm of 46 a. 3 r. 6 p.
at Brixworth let for £70 yearly and stock producing
about £44 yearly. The scheme directs that a yearly
sum of £5 shall be applied for the benefit of poor members of the Church of England who have been for not
less than two years resident in one of the ancient townships of Lamport and Hanging Houghton. The residue
of the income is applicable in apprenticing to some useful trade or occupation poor children resident in one of
the aforementioned townships. There are six trustees,
one being Sir Vere Isham.
The United Charities are regulated by a scheme of
2 May 1913. They comprise the building known as
the Almshouses at Faxton, founded in 1736, and the
Charity of Dame Susannah Danvers, will of about 1730,
consisting of a rent-charge out of a field at Pitsford.