PETERBOROUGH SOKE 



CASTOR 



above. The masonry is like that of the north transept, 

 rather large rubble with single courses of Roman brick 

 irregularly disposed. The west window, of three 

 trefoiled lights, is an insertion of the 14th cen- 

 tury with flowing tracery, belonging to the same 

 type as those in Peterborough Cathedral ; above it, in 

 the gable, is a 12th-century window with moulded 

 semi-circular head, and shafts in the jambs. 



The roofs of the church are of flat pitch and 

 leaded, except that of the south transept, which 

 retains its original pitch, though the timbers are 

 modern, and is covered with CoUyweston slates. 

 The nave and north transept have roofs of the 

 15th century, with moulded timbers and figures 

 of angels with outspread wings, holding musical 

 instruments.' The chancel roof is plain, of flat 

 pitch, with braces to the tie-beams, and the aisle roofs 

 are modern. The wood fittings of the church are all 

 modern, except the south door of the nave, which 

 is a fine piece of 14th-century work, with an 

 ornamental border bearing the inscription — 



+ ricardus beby rector ecclecie de castre 

 fe[cit].' 



In the room over the north transept is a chest made 

 of a log 4 ft. 3 in. long by i ft. 3 in. wide and 

 I ft. 2 in. high. In the middle is a hollow only 

 1 ft. 6 in. long by 6 in. deep, the available space being 

 dimmished to 4J ins. by the fitting in of a l^ in. lid, 

 cut out of the solid. 



In the south transept is a 13th-century coffin- 

 lid, having at the upper end, under a trefoiled canopy, 

 the bust and clasped hands of a male figure, possibly 

 an ecclesiastic, as there seems to be an amice round 

 the neck — the rest of the stone is plain and coped. 

 There are two external tomb-recesses of the late 

 13th century, with segmental chamfered arches, in 

 the walls of the south aisle and south transept respec- 

 tively, the latter being 8ft. long. 



The font is modern, with an octagonal bowl and 

 shaft. At the west end of the north wall of the 

 north aisle is a large 14th-century wall painting 

 with three scenes one above the other. The lowest 

 represents St. Katherine standing bound and naked to 

 the waist between two toothed wheels, which a pair 

 of executioners are turning. Above is an angel with 

 two swords about to break the wheels, and to the 

 left is a seated male figure looking on. The subject, 

 like the others, is under a wide cusped canopy, and to 

 the left is a second narrow canopy in which stands a 

 female figure, both hands bound, and naked to the 

 waist, looking towards the larger scene. A hand is 

 grasping her wrist. 



The second scene represents the execution of the 

 philosophers converted by St. Katherine, and shows a 

 seated bearded figure ordering the casting into a pit 

 of a long-robed bearded man, apparently dead, 

 carried on another man's shoulder. The pit contains 

 about ten male figures, all shown with closed eyes. 

 To the left under the second and smaller canopy is a 

 woman standing, looking on, and holding an in- 

 distinct object. 



The third scene is much damaged, but figures of 

 men riding and walking can be made out, and it may 

 represent the entry of Maximin into Alexandria. 



In all three scenes the backgrounds are powdered 

 with_yfifar/ de lis. 



There are six bells, all by Henry Bagley of 

 Ecton, '1 700, which were hung in 1900. The 

 plate consists of a silver-gilt cup and cover paten 

 of 1632, the cup being engraved with a mitre ; 

 two silver gilt breadholders of 1673, with the 

 arms of John Hinchclifl^e, bishop of Peterborough, 

 1769-94 ; a silver gilt flagon of 1774, and a plated 

 cup of no great age. There are also two brass 

 alms-dishes. 



In the churchyard, east of the church, stands the 

 base of a cross of pre-Conquest date, described by 

 Mr. J. Romilly Allen, at p. 190. 



The first book of the registers contains baptisms 

 and marriages from 1538 to 175 I, and burials from 

 1547 to i686. The second and third books contain 

 burials from 1678 to 1781 ; the fourth, marriages 

 from 1752 to 1754, ^"^ burials from 1782 to 1791 ; 

 the fifth, baptisms from 1752 to 1791 ; the sixth, 

 baptisms and burials from 1792 to 1812 ; and the 

 seventh, marriages from 1754 to 1 81 2. 



Sutton is among those of the Peter- 

 MANOR OF borough abbey manors of which 

 SUTTON little is known. No mention of it 

 occurs in the Domesday Book or in 

 the returns of the Northamptonshire Survey ot the 

 1 2th century, but in the reign of Henry I Anketill 

 Sutton was holding of the abbey,^ and the royal 

 grants of Richard I and Henry III * confirm the 

 ' chapel of Sutton adjacent to the church of Castor, 

 together with the mill and the village of Sutton with 

 the mill which Thorold Fitz-Anketill gave to the 

 monastery, and which Benedict the abbot bought from 

 the nephews and heirs of Thorold.' Thorold in his 

 deed ^ describes himself, his father, and grandfather as 

 having unjustly held the village of Sutton which had 

 been, and should by right alw.ays be, in the demesne 

 of the abbot, and ends with declaring that ' penitent 

 and a sinner, I return and quit - claim and 

 confirm with my seal, &c.' The nephews, both 

 named Ralph, received the grant of payment in 

 1088-9.'' During the 12th century 'the almoner of 

 Peterborough held two fees in Sutton," and it appears 

 that the manor was assigned to that office until the disso- 

 lution of the monastery ; after which it was granted 

 by Henry VIII to the dean and chapter of Peter- 

 borough.' 



In 1650 the manor of Sutton 'with all that 

 messuage now or late in tenure of William Gardener, 

 situate in the town of Sutton and commonly called 

 the manor house,' which had been let in the reign of 

 Philip and Mary to Robert Wingfield for ninety-nine 

 years, was sold by the commissioners for the sale of 

 bishops' lands to Thomas Matthew and Thomas Allen, 

 citizens and grocers of London.' This sale was re- 

 scinded at the Restoration. The manor was trans- 

 ferred to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in 1854, 

 and was sold by them in 1898 to the Rev. W. Hop- 



^ The winga are in all cases moJcra. 

 In the north transept the roof rests on 

 four 12th-century corbels in the angles; 

 but whether these are in situ as supports 

 of an original roof, is not clear. 



■•* A Richard of Leicester appears in 



the list of mcunibents of Castor in the 

 14th century ; he was possibly Richard 

 Beby, as there was a family of that 

 name in Leicester during the i+th cen- 

 tury (Pat. 19 Ric. II, pt. i, m. 14). 

 ^ Cbronuon, 170. 



481 



■• Cart. Antiq. DD. 17 ; Chart. R. 11 

 Hen. iii, pt. i. m. 19. 



' Lansd. MS. 992, fot. 289. 



» Soc. Antiq. MS. No. 38, fol. 95A. 



' Cotl. Vcsp. E. xxn. 99* et seq. 



' I'at. 33 Hen. VHI, pt. iii, m. 14-1, 



' Close, 1650, pt. xzxiii. No. 30. 



61 



