HUXLOE HUNDRED 



KETTERING 



The pasture and lands called Haselfield and the 

 site and demesne lands of the manor were in 15S6 

 granted to Sir Christopher Hatton and his heirs 

 at a rent of ^27 6j. SJ.*" After his death in 1 591 

 his licir, Sir William Hatton, or Newport, son of 

 John Newport and Dorothy his wife, sister of Sir 

 Chrisiophcr, sold tlic H,illfii.-ld, otherwise known 

 as Haselfield, and the site of the manor in 1596 to 

 Edmund Sawyer,'" and for confirmation of title 

 Sawyer obtained a Crown grant in 1602.''- Edmund 

 Sawyer died seised of the manor house where he lived'* 

 in 1630, which in 161 2 he and his wife Ann had 

 settled on their son John and Sarah his wife, daughter 

 of Francis Harvey.'" John was killed in a skirmish 

 at VV'eliingborouf^h in 1646, and was succeeded by 

 his son Edmund. He had a dispute as to the repair 

 of the church, whereby it was eventually agreed in 

 1665 that he and his family should occupy their 

 accustomed seats, and so long as other parishioners 

 who wanted room were permitted by Edmund Sawyer 

 to sit in the aisle or chancel anciently belonging to 

 his (Sawyer's) house, the churchwardens should repair 

 the same, except only the pavement of the lower 

 chancel, which should be maintained and repaired 

 by Edmund Sawyer, because it was the burial place 

 of his family. Edmund Sawyer died in 1680, and was 

 succeeded by his son Henry. The hospital or alms- 

 houses were founded under the will of his younger son 

 Edmund, who died abroad in 1687.^* 



Henry Sawyer settled the site of the manor on his 

 wife Mary, daughter of William Gomeldon, of 

 London, in 1688,'" and had by her a son Edmund. 

 He apparently lost his money in the South Sea Bubble, 

 and he and his son Edmund sold the site of the manor 

 and all his property in Kettering in 1720 to Francis 

 Havves, who was connected with the South Sea Com- 

 pany, and Susan his wife. In the following year the 

 estates of the directors of this company, being seized 

 for the benefit of the sufferers, Hawes' property in 

 Kettering was sold to John Lord Montagu by a 

 series of conveyances completed in 1729.'" From this 

 date the site of the manor has followed the descent 

 of the Montagu property, and is now held by the Duke 

 of Buccleuch. 



The fee farm rent of ^^27 6s. 8J. reserved by the 

 grant to Sir Christopher Hatton, and later by that to 

 Edmund Sawyer, was leased to Henry and Francis 

 Tate in 1594. for 21 years.** In 1616 this rent was 

 granted to Nathaniel Rich and Robert Hatton, who 

 were possibly acting for Sawyer in order to extin- 

 guish it.*' 



The RECTOR!' MANOR was probably in exist- 

 ence in the 13th century, and was held by the suc- 

 cessive incumbents. Its lands lay to the north of the 

 Market Place. In 1562 Anthony Burton, LL.B., 

 the rector, with the consent of the Bishop, leased 

 the manor to Edward Watson, junior, for 60 years, 

 at a rent of £20. In 1565 a further term of five score 

 years was added at the rent of £^6, and in 1569 



a still further term of 80 years at the rent of j^40. 

 The manor was held under these leases by the Watsons, 

 Earls of Rockingham, until 1802. Since this date 

 it has been held by the rectors for the time being.'* 



The Church of ST. PETER AND 

 CHURCH ST. PAUL consists of a chancers ft. 6 in. 

 by 16 ft. 9 in., with north and south 

 chapels, clearstoried nave of six bays 73 ft. by 

 21 ft. 6 in., norlli and south aisles 18 ft. 6 in. wide, 

 north porch, and west tower 16 ft. square, surmounted 

 by a lofty spire. All these measurements are internal. 

 The width across nave and aisles is 63 ft. 8 in., and 

 across chancel and chapels 61 ft. 5 in. 



The church stands on a gradually rising slope 

 from the west and, wit!i the exception of the tower, 

 south chapel and the west bay of the south aisle, 

 is faced with rublile. The roofs arc of flat pitch and 

 leaded, behind plain parapets ; internally the walls 

 arc plastered. 



In the outer wall of ^}^e south aisle is a fragment 

 of a pre-Conquest cross shaft, possibly of the 8th or 

 9th century, and a Norman corbel also remains in one 

 of the window jambs ; but of any church which 

 existed before the 14th century there are no further 

 remains, owing to the extensive rebuilding which took 

 place in the Lite mediaeval period. 



The eastern part of the chancel projecting beyond 

 the chapels dates from about 1300, and the north door- 

 way of the nave is of the same period ; but the rest 

 of the fabric belongs to the middle or third quarter 

 of the isth century, at which time the church was 

 rebuilt and assumed its present aspect. The tower 

 was probably first erected, being built to the west 

 of the then existing nave (after the demolition of its 

 western bav), and the new nave afterwards joined to 

 it." 



Considerable changes were made in the interior 

 during the early part of the 19th century, and in 

 1890-91 the church underwent a very extensive 

 restoration, the galleries and old box seats being 

 removed, new roofs erected over the aisles, the nave 

 roof repaired,'^ and the stonework of many of the 

 windows renewed ; a large detached vestry connected 

 by a lobby with the south chapel was also added.'^ 



The chancel has good double angle buttresses, 

 and a scroll string at sill level. The east vi'indow is 

 of three trefoiled lights, with three uncusped circles 

 in the head and moulded jambs and muUions, and in 

 the north wall is a window of two trefoiled lights 

 with two pointed trefoils in the head ; both windows 

 are c. 1300, but have been restored. A contemporary 

 moulded doorway below the north window was re- 

 moved in 1890 to the east end of the north chapel, 

 but has recently been blocked. The roof of the old 

 chancel was lowered in the 15th century, and the 

 present parapet, with good angle gargoyles, added. 

 The roof is of five bays, and has carved tracery 

 between the ties and principals. The sedilia, piscina, 

 and the chancel arch are all modern. On the north. 



"> Pat. R. 23 Elii. pt. 2, no. 2. 



" Bull, op. cil. p. 15. 



*: Pat. R. 45 Elit. pt. I. 



*• Bull, op. cit. p. 15. 



" Chan. Inc|. p m. 7 Chaj. I, no. 



43 



" Bull, op. cit. (Supplement), 55-6. 



•• Recov. R. Mich. 4 Jai. II, ro. 87; 

 Feet o( F. Notthanti. Mich. 4 Jat. II. 



" Bull, op. cit. p. 58 ; Feet of F. 

 Northanl). East. 2 Geo. II. 



" Pat. R. 37 Elii. pt. 18, m. 19. 



'• Ibid. 14 Jas. I, pt. 22. 



"> Bull.op. cit. 86-91. 



" The axis of the tower inclines con- 

 lidcrably to the north-west. 



" Billings (1843) sayi that the nave and 

 aisle roofs appeared to have been recon- 



221 



ftructed. On one of the tie beams of 

 the nave was a plate with the date 

 1688, and a beam in the south aisle 

 was dated 1678. The south aisle roof had 

 been rcleadcd in the latter year and the 

 nave roof in 1789: y^rri. Ilium, of 

 KrtlrringCb. 13. 



'* The restoration was carried out under 

 the direction of Sir Arthur Blumfield. 



