HIGHAM FERRERS HUNDRED ringstead 



Within the tower are preserved two long fire-hooks. 



There are eight bells. The first and second are by 

 Taylor of Loughborough 1897, the fourth by Henry 

 Penn of Peterborough 1723, the third, fifth, and sixth 

 by Thomas Eayre of Kettering 1732, the seventh by 

 Warner 1878, and the tenor by Taylor i8g8.' 



The plate consists of a silver cup of 1697, a bread- 

 holder of 1865, a chalice of 1870, two patens, one of 

 1 87 1 the other without marks, and a glass flagon with 

 silver mountings 1865.* Two pewter flagons stamped 

 with the name of Robert Ekins, churchwarden in 161 2, 

 are now used at the font; another pewter flagon and 

 two alms dishes are among the relics in the vestry. 

 There is also a pewter basin. ^ 



The registers before 1812 are as follows: (i) bap- 

 tisms 1 58 1-1661, marriages i 581-1657, burials 1583- 

 1660; (ii) baptisms and burials 1662-1701, marriages 

 1663-99; (iii) baptisms 1699-1779, marriages 1700- 

 73, burials 1699-1778; (iv) baptisms and burials 

 1779-1812; (v) marriages 1774-18 12. 



In the churchyard to the south-east of the porch is 

 the socket and small piece of the shaft of a late t4th- 

 century cross, on two square steps. The upper step is 

 ornamented with a band of quatrefoil panels enclosing 

 crosses of varying shapes, while the square shaft has 

 pilaster bands at each angle and emblems of the evange- 

 lists on the sides.* 



The right of presentation to the 

 JDFOIVSON church of Raunds was apparently 

 attached to the manor belonging to 

 William Peverel. In 1237 William Earl of Ferrers 

 brought an action of darrein presentment concerning 

 Raunds and Higham against the Prior of Lenton and 

 Abbot of ' Torinton ', and it was found that King Richard 

 had last presented, and that King John had afterwards 

 given the manors and advowsons to William de Ferrers, 

 Earl of Derby.' The advowson of Raunds remained 

 attached to the manor until 4 March 1355, when the 

 king licensed Henry Duke of Lancaster to alienate it in 

 mortmain to the Master, Warden, and chaplains of the 

 Hospital of the Annunciation of the Virgin in Leicester, 

 founded by his father, Henry Earl of Lancaster.* The 

 grantees received a licence to appropriate the church 

 and a further licence to retain the gift in free alms was 

 granted when the hospital was erected into a collegiate 

 church.' At the Dissolution the right of presentation 

 came to the Crown, which retained it until 1 874, when 



it was acquired by exchange by the Bishop of Peter- 

 borough.* 



By his will dated 7 February 1722 

 CHARITIES John Blaise gave 5 a. l r. of arable land, 

 and 2 r. lying in Ringstead Short 

 Meadow, to the vicar for the poor. Upon the inclosure 

 of the parish an allotment of 1 8 acres was awarded in 

 lieu of the arable land. The land in Ringstead Short 

 Meadow is let in allotments and produces 10/. 4J. 

 yearly and the 18 acres, which is pasture land, is let 

 on a yearly tenancy for /[lO 14/. 6t/. The income is 

 distributed in coal. 



.An allotment of about 10 acres was set out on the 

 inclosure of the parish for the repair ol the church. The 

 property consists of 9 acres called Keyston Road Field 

 let at ;^4 10/. per annum and i r. 16 p. let in allotments 

 and producing 17/. yearly. The income is applied to 

 the fabric fund of the church. 



In or about 1720 Robert NichoUs surrendered a 

 cottage in the Middle End or Rotten Row in Raunds 

 to the vicar in trust for the poor. The property was sold 

 in 1 880 and the proceeds amounting to £\ 80 invested, 

 producing £4. lis. yearly in dividends. The charity is 

 now administered by the vicar, a trustee appointed by 

 him, and one trustee appointed by the parish council of 

 Raunds. The income is applied partly in coal to the 

 poor and partly in donations to the Northampton 

 General Hospital. 



By his will proved in P.R. 24 May 1856 the Rev. 

 James Tyley gave a sum of money for the benefit of the 

 deserving poor at the discretion of the vicar and church- 

 wardens. The dividends, amounting to £2 13;. 4</. 

 yearly, are distributed in coal at Christmas to about 

 thirty recipients. 



The charity of William Mackenzie, founded by will 

 proved at Peterborough 28 September 1917, is ad- 

 ministered by a body of four trustees in accordance with 

 the provisions of a Scheme of the Charity Commissioners 

 dated 20 May 1 921. The income, amounting to 

 ;^ 1 2 1 3/. 2//., is distribu ted equally at Christmas amongst 

 about twenty-five aged poor. 



The several sums of Stock are with the Official 

 Trustees of Charitable Funds. 



This parish has an interest in Sawyer's Almshouses in 

 the parish of Chelvcston-cum-Caldecott, as one ol the 

 inmates must have been a resident of Raunds for at 

 least three years. 



RINGSTEAD 



Ryngestede (xiii-xv cent.) ; Wringsted (xvii 

 cent.). 



The parish contains 2,021 acres, of which 16 are 

 covered by water, the land being mostly under grass. 

 It lies between Denford and Woodford on the north 

 and Raunds on the south on the eastern bank ot the 

 Nene, which separates it from the .Addingtons, and 

 whose windings form its western and (for some dis- 

 tance) its northern boundary lines, the ground in its 



neighbourhood being liable to floods, and the whole 

 parish lying somewhat low. 



The Northampton and Peterborough branch of the 

 L.M.S. railway runs through the parish near its western 

 boundary and has a station about a mile west of the 

 village. Near the station is Miilcotton, described as 

 a demolished hamlet by Bridges, who considered that 

 a square entrenchment with a moat here was Roman, a 

 view not now held.' It was here that the manor of 



■ North, a. Belli of Noriianli. 389, 

 where the inscriptions on the old bells are 

 given. The seventh and tenor arc rccast- 

 ings of bells by Eayre dated 1732. 



' Markham, Ci. Plate of Korthanli. 

 Z47. The chalice, paten, and Hagon were 

 given in 187Z by the children of Chailes 

 Porter, vicar. 



> Kept in chapel at east end of north 



aisle in 1927. 



♦ Alloc. Arch. Soc. Reporti, xxiii, 189. 

 Also (reprinted) in Markham, Croitet of 

 Korikanii. 99. The total height i» 

 9 ft. 1 1 in., of the shaft alone 3 ft. 8 in. 

 The emblem of St. Matthew is repre- 

 sented as a bird with a human face. The 

 cross has at one time been clumsily 

 restored, in doing which the upper step was 



reduced in sire by cutting out half a panel 

 on each face: Lee, //»/. of RdunJi, 23. 



> Bracion'i Note-Book (ed. Mailland), 

 1236. The nature of the claim of the 

 Abbot of Thornton (?) does not appear. 



» CjI. Pat. I 354-8, pp. 184, 185. 



' Ibid. 1358-61, p. 486 



• Order in Council, 7 July 1874. 



• y.C.U. Norlkami. i, 194. 



39 



