SPELHOE HUNDRED 



GREAT BILLING 



to Sir Robert Bernard, Kt. (d. 1666), Baldwin Bernard 

 (d. 1610), J. H.Thursbv (d. 1 764), and Henry Lowth. 



There are three bells in the tower, all by John 

 Briant of Hertford: the treble dated 1809, the second 

 181 1, and the tenor 18 10. There is also a priest's bell 

 dated 1764.' 



The plate consists of a silver cup of 1805, and a 

 silver-plated paten and bread-holder. The old plate was 

 stolen early in the 19th century. It included a chalice, 

 paten, and two flagons, all silver gilt, presented by 

 William Thursby about 168;.^ 



The registers before 1 8 1 2 are as follows: (i) baptisms 

 and burials 1637-1763, marriages 1637-1757; (ii) 

 baptisms and burials 1764-1812; (iii) marriages June 

 1754 to October 1811.^ The volume mentioned by 

 Bridges, beginning in 1558, has been lost. 



In the churchyard is a calvary cross and crucifix to 

 the memory of the Rev. H. W. M. Gunning, rector 

 1900-16. 



Abington Church is not mentioned 

 ADVOIVSON in Domesday and the earliest record 

 of it occurs in 1224 when Isabel de 

 Lisors, lady of the manor, presented Peter of Irchester.* 

 The advowson remained appendant to the manor. In 

 1380 Richard II presented to the church as the custody 

 of the land and one of the heirs of Ralph Basset was in 

 his hand, 5 but in 1386 Bromhall Priory received from 

 the king a grant of the advowson of Abington Church, 

 then worth ;^io, with licence for the Prioress and nuns 



to appropriate it.* This grant apparently did not take 

 effect, for in the same year the advowson was transferred 

 with the manor to Sir Nicholas Lilling' and its history 

 since then has been identical with that of the manor 

 until 1921, when it was devised to the Bishop of 

 Peterborough by the will of Lady Wantage. 



In 1 29 1 the value of the church was /[6 13/. 4//.* but 

 by 1386 this had increased to ;{^io:' in 1535 it was 

 assessed at £,20 los. jt^.'" 



Church Land. On the inclosure of 

 CHARITIES the parish 8 acres of land were allotted 

 to the churchwardens in lieu of open 

 fields appropriated to the repairs of the church. The 

 land was sold in 1895 and the proceeds invested, pro- 

 ducing ;^I36 <)s. yearly in dividends. 



Richard Palmer in 17 18 gave a sum of money for 

 the benefit of the poor. The dividends amount to 

 10/. yearly. 



Mary Palmer's Charity, founded by will dated 

 29 April 173 1, is regulated by a scheme of the Charity 

 Commissioners dated i December 191 1. The endow- 

 ment produces ^3 yearly in dividends. 



Stephen Hawke in 1778 gave ;{^20 to the poor. This 

 sum with accumulations produces £1 is. yearly. 



These three charities are administered by the rector 

 and churchwardens and the income is distributed in 

 sums of 10/. to the deserving poor. 



The several sums of stock are with the Official 

 Trustees of Charitable Funds. 



GREAT BILLING 



Bellinge (si-xii cents.). 



The parish of Great Billing covers about 1,386 acres. 

 The soil varies but is composed mainly of red loam 

 while the subsoil is ironstone with some limestone: the 

 crops are the usual cereals. 



On the north, where the parish skirts Overstone 

 Park for some little distance, an elevation of 357 ft. is 

 reached and from there the land falls to 301 ft. about 

 the centre of the parish, where the village lies, thence 

 falling sharply to 174 ft. in the extreme south which is 

 bounded by the River Nene. The low land lying along 

 the river, which is liable to floods, forms part of the 

 Northampton Irrigation Farm which extends into Ecton 

 parish. A feeder of the River Nene, which flows out of 

 the lake in Overstone Park, forms the western boundary 

 for the greater part and passes by Billing Lings, to the 

 north-west of the village, where Lord John Cavendish, 

 the owner of Billing at the end of the i8th century, 

 constructed a private racecourse." 



Sb'ghtly south of the road from Northampton to 

 Wellingborough, which passes through the centre of the 

 parish, lies the village on the slope of the hill running 

 down to the river; on the west, at the entrance, stands 

 Billing Hall, surrounded by extensive grounds in which 



there are some remarkable trees. Billing HaU was 

 described by Bridges about 1720 as 'an handsome old 

 house with pleasant gardens adjoining it'.'^ About 1776 

 Lord John Cavendish 'completely transformed it from 

 the Jacobean mansion that it was into the solid block it 

 now is'.'-' It stands on high ground to the east of the 

 church and is a large plain three-storied building of 

 Kingsthorpe stone, with hipped roof and barred sash 

 windows.'* Many of the old walls were left standing 

 when the house was rebuilt, one of which divides the 

 main building into halves; and in the course of extensive 

 internal alterations in 1909, in removing some masonry 

 in the great hall, an exterior wall of the Jacobean house 

 was revealed, with two mullioned windows in an ex- 

 cellent state of preservation.'' Additions to the house 

 have been made from time to time, chiefly by Robert 

 Cary Elwes. The Hall was sold in 1930 by Mr. 

 Geoffrey Elwes and, a project for converting it into a 

 home for indigent musicians in memory of Gervase 

 Elwes having failed, it was sold again in 1935 to Mr. 

 Hancock, a shoe-manufacturer of Northampton, and 

 by him to Mr. J. P. B. Miller, who has pulled down 

 part of the Hall. 



In the village is a bronze memorial tablet to Gervase 



' North, CA. Sells of Norlhanli. 1 74. 

 In 1552 there were three bells and a 

 tanctus bell. Of the three bells In Bridges's 

 time the tenor was inscribed 'Sum rosa 

 pulsata mundi Maria vocata*, and the 

 second 'In multis annis rcsonct campana 

 johannis'. The bell frame is marked I.B. 

 1695. 



' Markham.CA. P/a/f o/A'crMan/i. i. 



) No marriages in 1812; the next 

 volume begins in 1813. 



♦ Rot. Hug. dt IVtIIti (Cant, and York 

 Soc.), ii, 124, 21 1 \Pat.R. I2i6-25,p. 592. 



' Cal. Pat. 1377-81, p. 444. 

 ' Ibid. 1385-9, p. 164. 

 ' Cal. Pat. 1385-9, p. 139. 

 ' Pope I^icfi. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 40, 43. 

 • Cal. Pal. 1385-9, p. 164. 

 "> yalor Eccles. (Rec. Com.), iv, 324. 

 " Baker, Korthanti. i, 18. The race- 

 course is said to have been subsequently 

 reconstructed by Robert Cary Elwes. 

 " lUtl.of tlortkanti.'\,\ab. 

 " Elwes, Life of Gervaie Elviet (1935), 

 10: 'all the rooms but one were stripped of 

 their oak panelling and the building was 



69 



thoroughly Georgianized both inside and 

 out.' 



'< It is said to have been designed by 

 John Carr, of York : Baker, Hist, of 

 Sorihanti. i, 24. The south-west front is 

 covered completely by one wii^taria tree of 

 most unusual size: Elwes, op. cit. II. 

 Some heraldic glass from the old house ii 

 now at Abington Hall (q.v.). 



" Elwes, op, cit. 190: the old wall wai 

 of 'deep yellow local stone'. Other dis- 

 coveries of Jacobean work were made 

 during the alterations. 



