A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



with the letter S three times alternating with a cross 

 patonce and a mark generally ascribed to Richard 

 Mellor of Nottingham (1488-1508) ; the second bell 

 is by Thomas Norris, 1658.^ 



The plate consists of a cup of 1570, a paten of 

 c. 1684, a dish of 1636, a flagon of 1869, a modern 

 medieval chalice of 1871, and a paten of 1872.'' 



The registers before 1812 are as follows: (i) 

 baptisms, marriages and burials 1558-1727 ; (ii) 

 baptisms and burials 1727-1812, marriages 1727-53 ; 

 (iii) marriages 1754-1812. In the second volume 

 is a list of briefs 1 741-3, and several lists of the 

 ' warden, sub-warden, brethren, sisters and nurses 

 of Mr. Nicholas Latham's Hospital in Barnwell,' 

 1744-50. The churchwardens' accounts begin in 

 1742. 



There was a priest in Barnwell 

 ADVOWSON St. Andrew in 1086™ but no direct 

 mention of the church itself seems to 

 be preserved before 1178 when Pope Alexander con- 

 firmed to Ramsey Abbey among many other of its 

 possessions Barnwell with its church.'^ At that date, 

 however, both manor and advowson belonged to the 

 earlier Berengar le Moyne (see above) and the rights 

 assured to the Abbot were those of overlordship 

 merely. The advowson has followed the descent 

 of the manor down to 1920, when Mr. Czarnikow sol J 

 the manor but retained the advowson. The rectory 

 has also followed the same descent. A carucate of 

 land and six acres belonged to it in the 13th century" 

 and in 1535 its profits amounted to £ij izs. 6J." 

 The rector also received one sheaf from the tithes of 

 the lord in Barnwell St. Andrew, the other two, 

 formerly of Berengar le Moyne, being afterwards 

 paid to the sacristan, who had a portion of £i 13/. \d. 

 in the church.'* By an Act of 1830 all ancient tithes 

 and glebeland in the united parishes of Barnwell St. 

 Andrew and Barnwell All Saints were commuted for 

 3 1 acres I rood 2 perches of land annexed to the rectory 



and an annual rent of £^oP^ The parsonage house 

 of the 1 6th century" was rebuilt by the Dowager 

 Duchess of Buccleuch about 1820." 



There was a chapel in the Castle.'* The church has 

 always been dedicated to St. Andrew."* 



Parson Latham's Hospital in 

 CHARITIES Barnwell, founded and incorporated 

 pursuant to the Statute 39 Eliz. 

 cap. 5 ly Deed Poll dated 2 1 February, i James L (1604) 

 and including the charity of William Bigley for the 

 inmates founded by will proved in Prerogative 

 Court of Canterbury 11 Oct. 1834, '^ regulated by a 

 scheme of the Charity Commissioners dated 2 Feb. 

 1923. The general property of the charity consists 

 of the almshouse buildings, land situated in the 

 counties of Huntingdon and Northampton and com- 

 prising about 350 acres, rent-charges of ^20 issuing 

 out of hereditaments in Pilton, Stoke Doyle and 

 Wadenhoe and two cottages at Ringstead and Clapton. 

 The Ringstead property consists of 109 a. 2 r. 12 p. 

 of land with farm and cottages at Ringstead and a 

 sum of ;^25 Consols. The Shelton property consists 

 of 66 acres of land in Shelton in the county of 

 Bedford. The endowment of Bigley's Charity 

 consists of a sum of £'!■■,'] SS ^^- 1^- Consols which 

 forms the Repair Fund and any income not required 

 for repairs is invested in augmentation of the fund. 

 Of the income from the Ringstead lands ||ths is 

 paid to the trustees of the Latham and Bigley 

 Educational Foundation. The land belonging to the 

 hospital produced ^^462 \os. in 1923 and ^^224 11$. 6d. 

 was paid to the inmates, ^^lo spent on medical 

 attendance, and £y distributed to poor of Rushden, 

 Ringstead and Higham Ferrers. The stock is with 

 the Official Trustees of Charitable Funds. 



The Montagu Dole. — A sum of 6s. Sd. yearly is 

 payable out of the estates of Lord Montagu for 

 distribution to the poor. The origin of the charity is 

 unknown. 



BENEFIELD 



Benefield (xi cent.) ; Banefield, Benifeld (xii cent.) ; 

 Beningfelde, Benefilde, Berifelde, Benetfeld, Beni- 

 feud, Beningfeud (xiii cent.); Benyngfielde alias 

 Beneficlde alias Beddingfielde (xvi cent.). 



This parish, to which the hamlets of Biggin and 

 Churchfield, formerly in Oundle, were transferred in 

 1894, contains 5,664 acres of clay land on a subsoil 

 of Oxford clay in the north and cornbrash in the 

 south. Nearly the whole of this area is permanent 

 grass, less than a fifth is arable land, growing barley 

 and wheat, and some 356 acres are woodland and 

 plantations. The land rises about 100 ft. from cast to 

 west, where it reaches 300 ft. above the ordnance 

 datum. The principal road is the highway from 

 Kettering to Oundle, which enters Benefield from 

 Great Wcldon on the west and leads eastwards into 



Upper Benefield, formerly called Uppthorpe, Over- 

 thorpe or Upperthorpe. Here there is a good deal 

 of woodland, called in 1800 the Spring, Cockendale, 

 and Blackthorns Woods ; here also are the reservoir, 

 some farms and Benefield and Springwood Lodges. 



Tlie village lies some distance southwards, in Lower 

 Benefield, or Netherthorp, as it was called in the 

 17th century and later. The church of St. Mary 

 stands on rising ground and adjoining it on the west 

 is the moated site of the castle of the Lisurs. The 

 date of the erection of the castle is unknown, but it 

 may well have been one of tlie numerous forts thrown 

 up during the anarchy of Stephen's reign (1138-44). 

 It was in existence in 1208, when John seized it for 

 the debts of Hugh de Lisurs.* On 15 May 1264, the 

 day following the Battle of Lewes, Henry III, while 



** For intcriptioni kc North, Cb. BiUi 

 of NoTihantt^ 190 ; the date of the iccond 

 bell it wrongly given it 1678. For S.S. 

 belli »ec North, Cb. Belli of Lincotntbtrt, 

 Ii8. 



•» Markhim. Cb. Plan of Noribami, 

 28. 



"V.C.ll. Norlband, i, 319. 



" Carlul. Men. di Ramn, ii, 136-37. 



" Carlul. Mon. de Ramet. (Rolli. Ser.), 

 i, 48. 



'• Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.) iv, 292. 



'♦ Cartul. Mon. de Ramet. (Rolli. Ser.) 

 i, 48; ii, 182, 207; Pope Nicb. 7a.x 

 (Rec. Com.), 39* ; Add. Chart. 33665. 



" Local and Personal Acti, Ii Geo. iv, 

 cap. 79. 



" Valor Eecl.\ot. at. 



" Local and Personal Acts, loc. cit. 



'» Carlul. Mon. de Ramrr. (Rolli Ser.) 

 i, 54 ; Ducclcnch MSS. (Ouugliton Houic), 

 no. 4. 



'• Carlul. Mon. de Ramrs. (RolU Ser.), 

 i, 48 i Rol. Rob. Grosseleili (Cant, and 

 York Soc), 232. 



' Rol. Lilt. Pat. John (Rec. Com.), 79b, 

 97b. 



76 



