PETERBOROUGH SOKE 



THORNHAUGH 



Boughton and afterwards John Russell, later created 

 first earl of Bedford ;' and Thornhaugh remained with 

 the Russell family until 1904, when it was bought by 

 Earl Fitzwilliam, the present lord. 



In 1334 John de St. Medard obtained licence to 

 impark the wood of Westwode and a meadow adjoin- 

 ing within the manor of Thornhaugh, which contained 

 1 00 acres of land.' There are traces of a park around 

 the old manor house, and this is perhaps its origin. 



SIBBERTON is mentioned in Wulfhere's grant in 

 connexion with Thornhaugh,' and from the 12 th 

 century onwards it is always included in the St. 

 Medard fee. In the 13th century the family of 

 Stokes held this manor from the St. Medards ; 

 Robert de Stoke, and Margaret his wife in 1203 had 

 land in Sibberton and Wansford,* and in 1211-12 

 Robert was holding one knight's fee of the St. 

 Medards.' Robert was followed by Stephen de 

 Stokes, who in 1243 was holding three parts of a 

 fee of Geoffrey de St. Medard in Sibberton, Etton, 

 and Maxey.*" In 1272 the manor of Sibberton with 

 the advowson of the church was settled by Stephen de 

 Stokes and Ellen his wife on Robert de Stokes for 

 life, with reversion to Stephen and Ellen and their 

 heirs.' In 13 10 Roger, son of Stephen de Stokes, 

 quitclaimed all right in the manor and the advowson 

 of the church, which was held for life by John de 

 Donestable and Margery his wife for the term of 

 Margery's life, to Nicholas de St. Medard." John and 

 Margery also released their right to Nicholas the 

 same year,' and from that date Sibberton manor re- 

 mained in the hands of the St. Medards and their 

 successors, and followed the descent of the manor of 

 Thornhaugh. 



In the farmhouse which preserves the name of 

 Sibberton are several ancient features, including a 

 13th-century two-light window, and a room with a 

 14th-century stone vault, known as the 'Cloister.' '" 



Henry Engaine, who held some land in Sibberton 

 and Wansford, brought a suit in 1203 against Robert 

 de Waterville for coming armed to Sibberton and 

 stealing his sword, worth I2<2'., 7/. worth of silver, and 

 crops to the value of one mark. The case was decided 

 by ordeal of battle, but the result is not recorded." 



The advowson of the church of Sibberton followed 

 that of the manor. In 1 2 1 3 William de Roving was 

 presented by the crown during the minority of the 

 St. Medard heir.'' 



During the episcopate of Hugh Wells of Lincoln 

 a member of the Stokes family presented Gilbert to 

 the church." No invocation has been discovered. 

 John de Kempston, parson of Sibberton, is mentioned 

 in 1389, this is the last record hitherto noted of 

 anything connected with the church." The fine font 

 in Wansford church, according to tradition, was 

 brought from Sibberton. Several stone coffins have 

 been dug up in a field near Sibberton Lodge. 



The advowson of the church of 



ADVOWSON St. Andrew " followed the descent of 



the manor of Thornhaugh until 



1904, when it was not included in the sale of the 



manor. The Duke of Bedford is, therefore, still the 

 patron. The St. Medard family had a chantry here 

 founded by Nicholas, the lord of Thornhaugh, in 

 1323, which he endowed with lands in Thornhaugh 

 and Sibberton.'^ 



Thornhaugh church consists of chancel 

 CHURCH with north vestry, south transept, nave 

 with north aisle and south porch, and 

 west tower. 



From the evidence of architectural fragments found 

 during repairs in 1889, a building stood here before 

 the Conquest, but nothing of it remains in situ. The 

 earliest work in the church belongs to the end of the 

 1 2th century, the north arcade and remains of the 

 south arcade of the nave being of this date. There 

 is no evidence to show the arrangement of the church 

 before this time. The chancel arch has responds of 

 the same date as the nave arcades, though probably 

 not in their original position. The chancel, 14 ft. by 

 2 1 ft., belongs to the second quarter of the 13 th 

 century, and is only a few inches narrower than the 

 nave ; it was doubtless built round an older chancel 

 in the usual manner, and the chancel arch may have 

 been widened at this time. The clearstory is an 

 addition off. 1270, and the west tower belongs to the 

 13th century. Against its south wall a porch was 

 built c. 1280, which was afterwards ruined by a fall 

 of the spire, c. 1500, and not rebuilt. On the north 

 side of the tower a small building was added late in 

 the 15th century, which may have been, in the 

 opinion of Mr. Micklethwaite, an anker-hold. It 

 has now perished. The site of the church falls from 

 west to east, and it is evident that the foundation has 

 been unsound from an early date. This seems to 

 have caused the fall of the stone spire which the tower 

 once carried. It fell south-east, destroying the south 

 arcade and aisle of the nave, and the south-west 

 porch. The south aisle and arcade were replaced, 

 about 1500, by a wall built on the line of the arcade, 

 the eastern bay of which is alone left standing. The 

 aisle wall was entirely pulled down. The north arcade 

 shows interesting evidence of having been shored, 

 probably for underpinning, as in the bell of each capital 

 a rough chase is cut to take the end of a shoring 

 timber. The north aisle was rebuilt in 1889, having 

 been rebuilt already on two former occasions. 



The repairs which took place after the fall of 

 the spire comprised the building of a wall on 

 the line of the south arcade to serve as abutment to 

 the tower, and the addition of a transept chapel 

 south-east of the nave, the east arch of the arcade 

 being retained to open into the chapel. The south 

 doorway and porch of the nave also belong to this date. 



The repairs of 1889 "included the taking down of 

 the tower, and its rebuilding with the old masonr}-, 

 stone for stone ; and the building of a new north 

 aisle and vestry. The church is again showing signs 

 of an unsound condition, and cracks are to be seen all 

 over the south side. 



The east window of the chancel is of three lancets 

 under an arched head, the spandrels being pierced ; 



' Did. Nat. Biog. 



2 Pat. 8 Edw. Ill, pt. i, m. 37. 



8 Birch, Cart. Sax. No. 22. 



^ Feet of F. Northant3,4 John, No. 82. 



' ReJ Bk. ofExch. (Rolls Ser.), 618. 



* Soc. Antiq. MS. No. 60, fol. 251. 



^ Feet of F. 56 Hen. Ill, No. 913. 



8 Ibid. 3 Edw. II, No. 51. 



» Ibid. No. 69. 



" From MS. notes by the late R. P. 

 Brcreton. 



" Select PUoi of the Crown (Selden Soc.), 

 i, 48. 



" Pat. 14 John m.z. 



" Roll of Hugh de fFells (Cant, and 

 York Soc. pt. i), p. 6. 



^< Pat. 13 Ric. II, pt. i, m. 41. 



1' William Michill (15 12) leaves a 



bequest to the high altar of the church of 

 St. Andrew in Thornhaugh. Bk. A, fol. 

 78 (Northampton Probate Office). 



" Soc. Antiq. MS. No. 38, fol. z%d. ; 

 Pat. 17 Edw. II, pt. i, m. 9. 



1? These were directed by Mr. Mickle- 

 thwaite, from whose notes much of the 

 preceding account is taken. 



