SCALDWELL
Scaldeswelle (xi cent.); Esaldewell, Schaldewelle,
Scardewelle, Scaudeswell (xiii cent.).
Scaldwell lies to the east of the road from Northampton to Market Harborough, a branch of which road
runs through the parish and is crossed by another road
running from south-west to north.
It lies mostly at a height of about 300 to 400 ft.,
and the picturesque village is situated near the junction
of the roads which intersect the parish. This is grouped
round a village green, and has at its centre a well, dated
1685 but rebuilt in 1874, kept in repair under a bequest
dating from Elizabethan times. The church stands high
at the north-western end of the village, the smithy and
school being across the road on the opposite side of the
green. There is a Congregational chapel built in 1868.
There are brickworks to the north of the village. The
rectory (fn. 1) lies away from the church at the southern end
of the village.
A windmill had stood in the parish from the 13th
century, probably in 'the Mill field' in the north-east
of the parish. The picturesque ruins of another windmill stood until 1916 near where the road which
branches east from the Northampton road enters the
parish. Scaldwell Lodge stands alone at the northern end
of the parish and has Scaldwell Spinney to the west of
it, and to the south-east Oak Spinney. In the south of
the parish is Rectory Farm. There is an old quarry
in the south-west, and in 1914 several ironstone pits
were opened and are now worked by the Lamport Ironstone Company. In parts of these workings Roman
pottery and other objects have been found. (fn. 2)
The population was 276 in 1801, and 368 in 1871;
in 1931 it was 286. The area is 1,247 acres; the soil,
clay and red marl; subsoil, stone. The chief crops are
wheat and barley, and some land is in pasture.
Manor
Among the lands of the Countess Judith
in Mawsley Hundred, 2 hides and 1 virgate
in SCALDWELL were held in 1086 by
Hugh. (fn. 3) By the 12th century this had passed with the
rest of the Countess Judith's lands to King David of
Scotland, and had increased in extent to 2½ hides and
1 virgate. (fn. 4)
Among the fees of the honor of Huntingdon in 1235
was half a fee in Scaldwell, Houghton, and Hothorpe
held by Simon Major, (fn. 5) and this half fee was held in
1242 by Simon son of Simon, (fn. 6) who was succeeded at
Brixworth, and evidently here also, by his nephew John
de Verdun in 1280. (fn. 7)
A return of knights' fees for 1284 includes 13 virgates held by Richard Trussell in Scaldwell of William
Trussell, (fn. 8) by William of John de Verdun, and by John
of John de Hastings. (fn. 9) John de Verdun was succeeded
by his son Thomas, returned as holding a quarter
of a fee in Lamport, Houghton, Scaldwell, and Hothorpe in 1312. (fn. 10) As this Thomas died in 1315, (fn. 11)
his heir being his son John, it was presumably
John's brother (fn. 12) Thomas who held a third of a fee in
1325; (fn. 13) and this third was in the hands of his heirs
in 1376. (fn. 14)
Seyton. Gules a bend between six martlets or.
These heirs may have been the family of Seyton of
Maidwell, one of whom, Sir Nicholas, living about
1320, is said to have married Susan daughter of Sir
John Verdun. (fn. 15) They had certainly acquired the Trussell interest before 1428, when
John Seyton held a quarter fee
in Scaldwell formerly belonging
to JohnTrussell, (fn. 16) and from them
the manor acquired its name
of SETONS. The manors of
Maidwell and Scaldwell were in
the hands of trustees from about
1464 to 1472, when a rent of
40s. from Scaldwell was paid by
them to Alice widow of Thomas
Seyton. (fn. 17) Some fifty years later
Joan daughter and co-heir of
Everard Seyton and wife of Francis Metcalf appears
to have sold a moiety of the manor to Edmund
Hasilwode (fn. 18) whose son John subsequently sold Seton's
Manor to William Hochison, rector of Scaldwell,
who died in March 1545, his heir being his brother
Richard. (fn. 19) The rector had acquired other properties
in the parish, to which reference is made below,
and constituted them into one manor subsequently
known as Setons alias HUTCHINS. Its later history
is obscure, but it was conveyed in 1608 by George
Watkin and Mary his wife and John Watkin to
Christopher Greene, clerk; (fn. 20) and in 1658 by Edward
Palmer and Mary his wife to Thomas Sprigge. (fn. 21) In
1717 one third of the manor was sold by Edward
Mackeness and Elizabeth his wife to John Langford
and Nathaniel Pyewell; (fn. 22) and in 1772 Martin Nunn and
Mary his wife with Mary Davis conveyed a moiety to
Thomas Wayte. (fn. 23)
In 1086, 3 virgates in Scaldwell, appurtenant to
'Wadenhoe', (fn. 24) were held by Aubrey [de Vere] of the
Bishop of Coutances. (fn. 25) In the Northamptonshire Survey 3 great virgates in Scaldwell were held by Aubrey's
heir and namesake of the fee of Oxford, and probably
became part of the manor of Wold (q.v.). (fn. 26) This estate
seems to be represented by the barn, messuage, and
2¼ virgates of land which William Hochison had purchased of the Master and Guardians of St. Mary within
the parish church of All Saints in Northampton (fn. 27) and
which were held of the Earl of Oxford by William
Hochison at his death, as part of his manor of Scaldwell, and by him bequeathed to his brother Thomas
Hochison and John son of the said Thomas. (fn. 28)
In the Domesday Survey 1 hide and 3 virgates in
Scaldwell, which had been held before the Conquest
by Earl Algar, and after the death of Queen Maud were
bestowed on St. Edmund's Abbey by the Conqueror
for the soul of the queen, were among the lands
of the abbey. (fn. 29) It was returned in the Northamptonshire Survey as 1½ hides and 1 great virgate of the fee
of St. Edmund, (fn. 30) and in 1284 the Abbot of St. Edmund's
held 12 virgates in Scaldwell. (fn. 31) Of this property 9 virgates were held of the abbey in 1516 by William Lane,
and at his death on 12 May 1527 descended to his son
Ralf Lane. (fn. 32) This also had been acquired by William
Hochison, clerk, and formed part of the manor of which
he was seised at his death, being held of Sir Edward
Montagu as of his manor of Warkton, formerly owned
by the abbey of St. Edmund's. (fn. 33)
Bridges states (fn. 34) that when he wrote the courts for
Scaldwell were held at Lamport, and the lands divided
among fifteen or sixteen freeholders. In the Inclosure
Act of 1775, when about 1,000 acres were inclosed,
Sir Justinian Isham, bart., was returned as lord of the
manor of Scaldwell, and saving of rights was assured to
him 'or other lords of the manor'. (fn. 35) At a more recent
date the rights of the Montagus were also exercised
by their heirs the Dukes of Buccleuch; but courts have
subsequently been held by the Ishams alone. (fn. 36)
At the Dissolution the abbey of St. Mary of Delapré
held lands worth 1s. 5d. and rents to the value of
£2 3s. 2d. in Scaldwell. (fn. 37) These had their origin in
small gifts made in the 13th century by Richard de
Scaldwell, clerk, and Lettice daughter of Adam de
Scaldwell. (fn. 38)
Grants of land for the building of a mill were made
in the reign of Henry III. William son of Andrew de
Scaldwell granted to Christine de Scaldwell, mother of
Sir Elias le Chaplain, land in Scaldwell at a yearly rent
of one halfpenny: (fn. 39) and this grant was followed by
one from Christine de Scaldwell, daughter
of Robert, to Elias the chaplain, her son, of
land with a windmill thereon granted to her
by the said William. (fn. 40) This must have been
on the Bury property, as land called Hattons
Land, late in the occupation of Richard
Scaldwell, and a windmill, with the balk on
which it stood, was held by William Hochison of Sir Edward Montagu's manor of
Warkton. (fn. 41)
A considerable number of grants of land
in Scaldwell by or to the families of Blunt,
de Cransley, Hedon, &c., are to be found
among Additional Charters at the British
Museum. (fn. 42)
Church
The church of ST. PETER AND ST. PAUL
consists of chancel, 23 ft. 3 in. by 15 ft.
3 in., with north aisle and south vestry
and organ-chamber, nave of two bays,
25 ft. 9 in. by 16 ft., north aisle, 12 ft. 9 in. wide,
south aisle, 7 ft. 6 in. wide, south porch, and west
tower, 8 ft. 9 in. by 8 ft. 3 in., all these measurements
being internal.
In 1863 the building was extensively restored, two
wide galleries filling the north aisle and the whole of
the west end being then taken down, the north aisle
extended westward about 10 ft., covering the tower,
the vestry and organ-chamber added, and the church
reseated. Until that time the aisles were of equal length
and the chancel stood free on the south side.
The oldest part of the building is the tower, which
is of 12th-century date; the chancel arch, south arcade
and aisle, together with a window in the chancel aisle,
are of the late 13th century, while the north arcade and
aisle and its extension eastward, and the porch date
from the 15th century. The south clerestory was probably an addition of this period, but all its windows are
modern, and real evidence of date is therefore wanting.
There is no clerestory on the north, the arcade and the
aisle wall on that side being of much greater height
than on the south.
The architectural history of the building seems to
be as follows: the tower belongs to a Norman church
which probably covered the area of the present nave,
with a small square-ended chancel. To this, about
1280, aisles were added, the nave walls being replaced
by arcades and a new chancel built round the old one,
which was then pulled down. In the 15th century
the north aisle was widened, the arcade rebuilt on a
bigger scale, new windows inserted, and a chapel or
aisle added on the north side of the chancel, opening to
it by two pointed arches, and extending its full length.
The plan then remained unaltered until the 19th
century.
The church is built throughout of rubble, (fn. 43) and the
roofs are of low pitch, leaded to nave and aisles, and
slated over the chancel. At the east end of the nave
over the chancel arch is a sanctus bell-cote with a rectangular opening below that for the bell. The south
aisle and vestry have plain parapets, but the other roofs
are eaved.
Plan of Scaldwell Church
The chancel has a restored 15th-century window of
five lights with Perpendicular tracery and in the gable
above a quatrefoil opening within a circle lighting the
roof space, but a 13th-century string at sill level continued round the south buttress shows that the original
walling remains. The arches on the north side are of
two chamfered orders, on an octagonal pier and similar
responds, all with moulded capitals; in the south wall
at the west end is a modern arch to the organ-chamber.
The trefoil-headed piscina and double sedilia are
modern restorations, as are the responds of the chancel
arch, but the arch itself, of two chamfered orders, is
ancient. The dwarf stone screen and gates and all the
fittings of the chancel are modern.
The arches of the south arcade are of two chamfered
orders springing from an octagonal pier with moulded
capital and chamfered base and from responds of similar
character, the height to the springing being 7 ft. 6 in.
The later and loftier north arcade has also arches of
two chamfered orders, and the pier and responds are
of octagonal form. In the south aisle is a trefoil-headed
piscina, but the east window has been removed to the
vestry. It is of three lights with the mullions crossing
in the head and has a double bracket on the south jamb
internally. The aisle is now open at its east end to the
organ-chamber, but at the west is a tall lancet with
wide internal splay, and in the south wall an inserted
15th-century window of three lights. The roundheaded south doorway is modern, or a restoration: it is
of two hollow-chamfered orders and has shafted jambs,
but seems to have been originally of 13th-century
date.
The chapel north of the chancel is separated from
the nave aisle by a 15th-century arch, and has a modern
Perpendicular east window. In its north wall are two
windows which are not in their original positions. One,
at the east end, is a plain lancet, (fn. 44) now blocked and not
seen on the inside, the other a two-light window with
forked mullion, both probably moved here from the
north wall of the chancel when the chapel was added.
The window at the west end of the extended north
aisle is also old, with forked mullion, a relic of the
original aisle before its reconstruction.
The tower is of three stages with plain modern parapet and angle pinnacles, the upper stage slightly recessed. In the lower story are two small round-headed
windows, south and west, widely splayed inside, and
the bell-chamber windows are of two rounded lights,
with slightly chamfered mullion, within a plain semicircular arch. The middle stage is blank. A diagonal
buttress has been added at the north-west angle,
probably in the 15th century. The tower arch is
pointed and of a single square order. There is no
vice. Bridges, (fn. 45) writing about 1720, speaks of a 'plain
coped tower', which suggests an original saddle-back
roof.
The font is of late-13th-century date and consists of
a circular bowl moulded round the edge, and pillared
stem with five attached shafts, two of the intervening
spaces having quatrefoiled circles and roses tournantes.
The oak cover is modern, but the Elizabethan font
cover is preserved in the belfry. On the west wall of the
porch is an inscribed stone to the memory of Edward
Palmer (d. 1662).
The four bells are all of 17th-century date, the
second cast by Henry Bagley, of Chacomb, in 1682,
and the others by Hugh Watts, of Leicester, in
1621. (fn. 46)
The plate consists of a modern medieval chalice of
1868, a paten of 1878, and a flagon of 1893 presented
by Major C. A. Markham. (fn. 47)
The registers before 1812 are as follows: (i) baptisms 1560–1600, 1604–51, marriages and burials
1560–1647; (ii) baptisms 1653–94, marriages 1655–
85, burials 1653–78; (iii) baptisms and marriages
1695–1725, burials 1678–94; (iv) baptisms and
burials 1726–57, marriages 1726–53; (v) baptisms
1758–1808, burials 1758–1809; (vi) marriages 1754–
1812; (vii) baptisms 1808–12, burials 1810–12.
On the south side of the church is the socket of a
churchyard cross.
Advowson
The church was valued in 1291 at
£5 6s. 8d. (fn. 48) In 1535 the value of the
rectory with issues from mansion and
glebe was £14 11s. 5d. (fn. 49)
The advowson, apparently at first held with the
manor (q.v.), was held by the abbey of St. Edmund
from the time of its grant to that abbey in 1198–9 by
Peter de Malesoures until the Dissolution, the grant
made by Peter son of Ingram, Peter son of William
and Alice his wife, and Ralph son of Peter and Lettice
his wife in 1224 resulting in a confirmation of that
made by Peter de Malesoures. In 1542 the advowson
was granted to Sir Edward Montagu, Lord Chief
Justice, (fn. 50) and was held by his descendants, by whom it
was occasionally leased for one term, (fn. 51) until recently.
In 1914 the patronage was exercised by the Earl of
Dalkeith, but in 1920 it was transferred by the Duke
of Buccleuch to the Bishop of Peterborough, who now
holds the advowson.
Charities
Edward Palmer by his will dated
15 August 1685 bequeathed £100 for
the benefit of the poor. The money
was laid out in the purchase of certain lands in the
open fields. On an inclosure of the open fields a close
of 8 acres was awarded in lieu of the lands. The land
is let yearly and the rent is distributed in cash.
Thomas Roe by will proved at Northampton in 1666
gave a rentcharge of 30s. a year. This charge is paid
out of four cottages and a smithy in School Lane; 10s.
is paid yearly to the rector for preaching a sermon on
5 December, and £1 is distributed in bread at the
Thanksgiving Service.
Poor's allotment. On an inclosure of the parish in
1775 an allotment of 4 a. 1 r. 17 p. and an annual
payment of 10s. out of a Mill Bank annexed to Scaldwell Mill were awarded for the benefit of the poor in
lieu of their right of cutting furze on the commons.
The land is let yearly and the income is distributed in
coal to the poor by the rector and three other trustees.
The Town Well Estate. This property comprised
in a deed of feoffment dated 13 March 1563 is regulated by a Scheme of the Charity Commissioners dated
27 March 1906. The property consists of 2 messuages
at Scaldwell let for £9 4s., 2 r. 7 p. of garden ground
let for £2 8s., and £30 4s. 3d. Consols with the Official
Trustees of Charitable Funds producing 15s. yearly.
The income, originally applied in keeping the public
well in repair, is still so applied; any surplus may be
used for improvements in the village.
The Highway Field is let annually and the income,
formerly given for the repair of the roads, is now applied
for the relief of the rates.
Scaldwell elementary school benefits by the benefaction of Thomas Roe (1665), as mentioned under
Brixworth.