WILLYBROOK HUNDRED 



TANSOR 



the window sills runs through to the label of the 

 doorway. 



The west tower is so covered with ivy that nothing 

 can be said of its external features, but it has on the 

 ground stage a small round-headed light on the north 

 and south, and in the upper stage a two-light opening 

 on each face with central and jamb-shafts, the main 

 and subordinate arches being in some cases round, 

 and in others pointed, and the heads pierced with 

 vesica-shaped openings. The tower arch, of the same 

 character as the western arches of the nave arcades, is 

 underbuilt with a pointed 13th-century arch with 

 moulded capitals. Over it was a round-headed open- 

 ing to the church from the second stage of the 

 tower, now built up and half destroyed, no doubt by 

 the fiilure of the foundations which brought about 

 the 13th-century alterations. At the south-cast angle 

 is a stone vice of the same date as the tower, stopping 

 at the first floor. 



The wooden roofs and fittings of the church are 

 modern, except for some 15th-century open benches 

 with fleur-de-lis poppy-heads at the west end of the 

 south aisle. Under the tower are the remains of a 

 15th-century screen, and the pulpit is of the begin- 

 ning of the 17th century. An interesting fnigment 

 of a moulded 13th-century beam, with a line of dog- 

 tooth, is also preserved in the church, and on either 

 side of the chancel are three 15th-century oak stalls 

 with carved misericorde seats, formerly in Fother- 

 inghay church.' Two on the south side have the 

 falcon and fetterlock. Another similar st.ill is on the 

 north side of the altar, having the three feathers on 

 its seat. 



The altar rails are of the late 17th centur}', and 

 the communion table is of the same date. It stands 

 on a mediaeval altar slab, and at the east end of the 

 south aisle is a second altar slab. 



In the north wall of the chancel is a square 

 locker, and in the south a double piscina with a 

 central shaft and two pointed arches under a 

 pointed head. In the head is an arched recess 

 10 in. high by 7^ wide. 



In the east wall of the south aisle are two plain 

 brackets, and in the south wall, half way down the 

 aisle, a plain round-headed piscina, which seems to be 

 a 12th-century example re-used. It points to a division 

 of this wide aisle into chapels. 



The font has a bowl square below and octagonal 

 above, carried on four octagonal angle-shafts, and 

 one in the centre. Three of the shafts have foliage 

 capitals, and originally the whole was of the 12th 

 century, but the bowl has been altered, if not renewed, 

 in the 14th century, and one of the shafts has been 

 replaced by a piece of a circular shaft, without a capital. 

 On the base of the bowl are large ballflowers. 



There is no ancient glass or wall-painting, but on 

 the western arches of the nave is a modern copy of 

 an ancient foliage pattern. 



On the north wall of the chancel is a small brass 

 to John Colt, rector, 1 440, with a figure in mass vest- 

 ments ; and under the second window in the south 

 wall of the south aisle is a recess for a tomb. 



The plate consists of a silver cup and paten of 

 London make, c. 1840, and two pewter plates, also 

 modern. The old plate was stolen just before this 

 date. 



There are three bells, the treble being a late 16th- 

 century bell from the Newcombe's foundry at Leicester, 

 the second by Tobie Norris of Stamford, 1 6 1 1 , and 

 the tenor, a mediaeval bell by a London founder who 

 uses a shield with a form of merchant's mark. It is 

 inscribed ' Sit Nomen Dmini Ihesu . . . enedicum ' 

 (.;V). 



The registers begin in 1629. The first book con- 

 tains baptisms and burials from 1629 to 181 2 and 

 marriages from 1639 to 1768 ; the second marriages 

 from 1769 to 18 12. 



Tansor shares in Bellamy's charity, 

 CHARITIES XS ^ y^*"" being expended in ap- 

 prenticing children of the village.' 



The Town Estate, concerning which no records 

 exist, is described in the Award Map of the Lord- 

 ship of Tansor, 1 778, as ' Poor of Tansor 15a. 3r. lop.,' 

 and produces about £i() 3. year, which is distributed 

 to the poor in fuel. The charity is regulated by a 

 scheme of the Charity Commissioners dated 20 August, 

 1886. 



Cave's charity, supposed to have been founded by 

 deed in 1819, consists of certain land, the profits of 

 which, amounting to about £,J, are expended in 

 clothing for the poor. 



The rent of the poor's land, containing 3a. 3r., 

 allotted on the enclosure in 1778, amounts to about 

 j^3, and is distributed to the poor in money. 



WOODNEWTON 



Niwetone (xi cent.) ; Newton (until xiii cent.). 



The parish of Woodnewton covers about 1,396 

 acres. The Willow brook passes right through the 

 parish, forming the boundary between Woodnewton 

 and Apethorpe for some distance on the west. The 

 parish lies low, but rises gradually to a height of 

 200 ft. above the ordnance datum in the north. It 

 is rather bare of trees, and not particularly attractive 

 from a scenic point of view, but interesting because of 

 the growing industries of dairy farming and market 

 gardening by small holders ; the latter an uncommon 

 occupation in this district. The population num- 

 bered 271 in 1 90 1. There are 678 acres of arable 

 land, and 454f of pasture. The subsoil is great 

 and inferior oolite, which cross it in diagonal bars. 



There are several old gravel pits in the north. The 

 principal roads run from Woodnewton north-east to 

 Nassington, north-west to Apethorpe, and south-east 

 and south-west to Fotheringh.iy and Southwick. 



The village of Woodnewton is built all of stone 

 along one street parallel to the Willow brook, which 

 skirts it on the south. The church, the vic.ar.ige, the 

 national school, and the mill are grouped at the 

 western end ; the manor-house, an unattractive iSth- 

 century building, is a little farther down the street on 

 the north side, and nearly opposite is a Wesleyan 

 chapel, built in 1840. 



The men of Woodnewton had common in the 

 bailiwick of Clive in the forest of Rockingham, for 

 in 1636 Christopher Desborough, the tenant of a 



' There were formerly twelve here (Bonney, Foihtringbay, p. 67). Two were taken to Beneiield, but the other three have 

 disappeared. ^ See Cotterstock. 



599 



