A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



the park of Milton had also been withheld by the Earl's 

 bailiffs.' Alice his daughter in 1292 granted property 

 in Ringstead and Raunds to Master Robert de Kenil- 

 worth (Kynelyngworth)/ and in 1 3 14 among the 

 knights' fees held by Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Glouces- 

 ter and Hertford, at his death, was half a fee in Thrap- 

 ston, Denford, and Ringstead, held of him by John 

 Spigurnel, Niel de Kenilworth, and Simon de Grey- 

 lond,^ who were still holding the same fee at the death in 

 1 371 of Ralph Earl of Stafford.-* Hugh Earl of Stafford 

 died in 1 386 seised of fees in Thrapston, Denford, and 

 Ringstead held under him by Sir Richard Chamberleyn, 

 Alice Vere, Henry Petelyng, clerk, and Robert Duffyn.^ 

 Edmund Earl of Stafford was returned in 1404 as 

 having held at his death the same fees, then held of him 

 by Richard Chamberleyn, Margaret Table, and Richard 

 Duffyn.* This half fee may be identical with the manor 

 of TRESHJMS. A manor of Ringstead was included 

 among the lands forfeited by Sir Thomas Tresham in 

 1461, and granted to John Donne, one of the ushers of 

 the King's Chamber.' The Treshams ultimately re- 

 covered possession of this Ringstead manor, and it was 

 held in 1535 by Sir Thomas Tresham, who in that 

 year with Isabel Tresham, his mother, widow of John 

 Tresham, and Lord Mordaunt and his wife Elizabeth 

 conveyed the manors of Raunds, Ringstead, &c., to Sir 

 William Greystock and others, possibly for confirma- 

 tion of title to the Fitzwilliams.* 



Sir WiUiam Fitzwilliam of Milton, by whom it 

 appears then to have been held, and who was the grand- 

 son of Sir John Fitzwilliam of Milton and of Eleanor 

 daughter of Sir Henry Green of Green's Norton, be- 

 queathed in his will dated 27 June 1533 his manor of 

 Cotes, Ringstead, and Raunds, lately bought of Robert 

 Dormer, esq., to his second son Richard, with con- 

 tingent remainders to his sons William, Christopher, 

 Francis, and Thomas.' John Fitzwilliam, the son 

 and heir of this Richard on 7 March 1559 entered into 

 recognizances for the payment to John Pickering of an 

 annuity of £10 yearly during the life of Elizabeth 

 Fitzwilliam a/ias Kn^'vett his mother,'" and with his 

 wife Brigit conveyed to the said John Pickering the 

 manors of Ringstead, Cotes a/ias Cotton Chamberlyn, 

 Myll Cotes, West Cotes, Mallard Cotes, and Cotes 

 Bydon." John Pickering and his wife Lucy were in 

 1565 holding the manor of Ringstead.'^ On 28 February 

 161 3 half an acre of land in Ringstead and the regality, 

 rents, and services of the manors of Millcotes and 

 Treshams in Ringstead and Raunds were held at his 

 death by Sir Gilbert Pickering,'^ whose son John suc- 

 ceeded him and, as Sir John Pickering, died seised of 

 the same at Mile End Green, Stepney, on 29 January 

 1629,''* when he was succeeded by his son Gilbert, a 

 minor. From the Pickerings of Titchmarsh the manor 

 passed to the Creeds of Oundle by the marriage of 

 Elizabeth the only daughter of Sir Gilbert Pickering, 

 bart. (d. 1668) with John Creed of Oundle who died 

 in 1 70 1. '5 Three John Creeds of Oundle held the 



manor in succession, and at the death of the last it 

 passed to his only sister and heir Mary, the wife of 

 Dr. William Walcote.'* She with her husband con- 

 veyed the manor in 1766 to Christopher Hobson and 



Pickering. Ermine a 

 lion azure croiuned or. 



Creed. Azure a chenje^ 



ron betiueen three sivans 



argent. 



John Cowper," who had been tenants since 1706.'* In 

 1768 they sold to Leonard Burton, esq., of Denford the 

 manor of Ringstead, with fishery in the Nene, quit- 

 rents, courts leet, view of frankpledge, and lands and 

 closes (described and tenures detailed) with arable 

 lands, lay-grounds, &c., in the common and open fields 

 of Ringstead, Raunds, and Denford, for ^1,500," the 

 purchase being completed in 1769.-° The manor has 

 since then remained in the Burton family. A moiety 

 was held by Nathaniel Shuttleworth, esq., with Henry 

 Shuttleworth junior in 18 14, and appears to have 

 represented the Cotes, Cotton, or Millcotes portion of 

 Ringstead, as at the Inclosure Act of 1839 it was re- 

 turned that Thomas Burton, esq., is or claims to be 

 lord of the manor of Ringstead, and Henry Shuttle- 

 worth is or claims to be lord of the manor of Cotton 

 a/ias Coates a/ias Ringstead Cotton in the said parish 

 of Ringstead. In 1863 Thomas Burton was lord of 

 Ringstead, and his trustees are still lords of the manor. ^' 

 The church oi ST. MJRF consists of 

 CH URCH chancel, 3 3 ft. 6 in., with north chapel and 

 vestry; clerestoried nave, 46 ft. 9 in. by 

 17 ft. 6 in.; north aisle, 12 ft. 6 in. wide; north and 

 south porches, and west tower, 10 ft. 9 in. square, sur- 

 mounted by a broach spire, all these measurements 

 being internal. The chapel is a continuation of the 

 aisle and extends nearly the full length of the chancel. 

 The building dates in the main from the first half of 

 the 13th century, but it probably developed from an 

 aisleless church, the nave of which covered the same 

 area as at present. To this a north aisle and tower were 

 added and a new chancel with north chapel built, but 

 the church was considerably altered in the 14th cen- 

 tury, when the chancel appears to have been lengthened 

 about 6 ft.,^-^ the whole of the south wall rebuilt, the 

 arch between the aisle and chapel removed, the chapel 

 reconstructed, and a small vestry added to the east of 

 it.-^ These changes seem to have taken place at two not 

 very distant periods in the century, in each of which one 

 of the porches was built: the clerestory also dates from 



> Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), ii, 10. 



^ Feet of F. Northants. 20 Edw. I, 

 file 56, no. 291. 



5 Cal. Inq. p.m. iii, 423; ibid., p. 34.4. 



* Chan. Inq. p.m. 4.6 Edw. Ill, ist. 

 nos., 62. 



5 Ibid. 10 Ric. II, no. 38. 



' Ibid. 4 Hen. IV, no. 41. 



' Cal. Pat. 1461-7, pp. II I, 43 I. 



8 Recov.R. Hil. 27 Hen.VIII, ro. 124. 

 Feet of F. Northants. Hil. 27 Hen. VIII. 



^ Exch. Inq. p.m. dcxcvii, ii. 



■o Close R. East. I Eliz. pt. 2. 



" Recov. R. Mich, i Eliz. ro. 526; 

 Feet of F. Northants. East, i Eliz. 



■- Ibid. Hil. 7 Eliz. 



^3 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxlii, 94. 



'* Ibid, ccccxivi, 84. 



^5 Inscription in Titchmarsh church: 

 Bridges, Hist, of Northants. ii, 383. 



■* Recov. R. Hil. 9 Geo. Ill, ro. 163. 



>' Feet of F. Northants. Hil. 6 Geo. III. 



■8 Recov. R. Hil. 9 Geo. Ill, ro. 163. 



"> Ibid. 



'^° Feet of F. Northants. Hil. 9 Geo. III. 



^^ Kelly, Directories., Northants. 



22 The base of the 13th-century south 

 wall of the chancel, with chamfered plinth, 

 remains below the existing wall but stops 

 about 6 ft. from the east end. 



^5 The aisle and chapel may have been 

 widened at this time but, if so, much of the 

 old material was re-used. 



42 



