A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



LITTLE BILLING 



Belinge (xi cent.); Billingge (xii cent.). 



The parish of Little Billing covers an area of 870 

 acres. It is long and narrow in shape and is crossed by 

 the main road from Northampton to Wellingborough, 

 which passes through the centre of the parish from west 

 to east, descending from a height of 304 ft. to 207 ft. at 

 the eastern boundary. Billing Lane, running at right 

 angles to the Wellingborough road, connects the main 

 road to Kettering with the Billing road and descends 

 from a height of 255 ft. to 191 ft. at its junction with 

 the Billing road in the south of the parish where the 

 village lies. This consists of one or two farm-houses and 

 a few cottages only, in addition to the church and 

 rectory house ; in Bridges's time 1 1 families composed 

 the population, which in 1931 was 83. Since 1935 

 Little Billing has been absorbed into the civil parish of 

 Billing. 



The manor-house, mentioned by Leland, stood im- 

 mediately north of the church, and some remains of it 

 are incorporated in a modern house on a portion of the 

 site. In Bridges's time part of the house was still stand- 

 ing, 'the first story supported with broad arches and at 

 the south end a turret with a staircase leading up to the 

 leads'." Pennant, about 1780, speaks of the 'poor re- 

 mains' of the mansion of the Longuevilles at Little 

 Billing,^ and in 1789 the ruins were described as 'much 

 reduced' in the course of sixty years.^ The turret and 

 practically the whole of the east end of the building had 

 then gone, but some portion of the western end was still 

 standing, of two stories, with embattled parapet and 

 large ground-floor bay window on the north side.* 

 These features have in their turn disappeared and such 

 ancient work as still remains is very slight or of a frag- 

 mentary character. The older part, which includes a 

 small pointed window on the south side near ground 

 level, may be of 14th-century date, and at the east end 

 in a modern wall is inserted a quatrefoil circle contain- 

 ing a shield inscribed 'pro aia',' apparently of the same 

 period. A four-centred doorway and a mullioned win- 

 dow with rounded lights are probably of the i6th cen- 

 tury, but in its present form the house, known locally 

 as the Castle, dates only from 1880.* 



Behind the village the ground slopes down to the 

 River Nene which forms the southern boundary; this 

 portion of the parish lies low, falling to 1 7 1 ft., and is 

 watered by numerous small streams, all branches of 



the River Nene, which overflow their banks in rainy 

 seasons and flood the surrounding land. 



At the time of the Domesday Survey 1086, 

 MANOR Gunfrid de Cioches held the manor of 

 LITTLE BILLING of the king in chief,' and 

 the manor continued to be held of the honor of Chokes. 

 In the reign of King Edward the manor had been 

 held freely by Swain, and no under-tenant is mentioned 

 at the time of the Survey, but Walter fitz Winemar, 

 whose father Winemar held a great deal of land in 

 Northamptonshire in 1086, is later found holding the 

 manor with his wife Osanna.* As in Preston Deanery 

 (q.v.),where he was under-tenant to the Countess Judith, 

 he was succeeded by the Preston family.' Gilbert de 

 Preston in 1236 confirmed a lease of the manor for 

 6 years to Simon de Esteyland and Guy de Merloue."* 

 This Gilbert held Billing until 1273," when on his 

 death it passed to his widow Alice, as her dower, by 

 agreement with Laurence, Gilbert's nephew and heir.'^ 

 Alice was still holding the manor in I284,'3 but by 1 301 

 it had come into the possession of Laurence, who then 

 alienated Billing to John de Longueville and Joan his 

 wife.'* This John de Longueville was a benefactor to 

 the religious houses in Northampton, for in 1299 he 

 bestowed rent and land in Little Billing upon St. John's 

 Hospital,'^ and in 1 323 he is supposed to have founded 

 the Northampton house of the Austin Friars, in the 

 church of which several of his descendants, who were 

 also benefactors to the friars, 

 were afterwards buried.'* The 

 Longuevilles retained Little Bill- 

 ing Manor for nearly 400 years; 

 one of the family, Sir George, 

 being murdered there in 1357," 

 but they ceased to reside there a fter 

 the marriage of John Longueville, 

 a great-grandson of the former 

 John, with Joan Hunt, daughter 

 and heir of Margery Wolver- 

 ton of Wolverton (Bucks.),'* 

 which manor then became their 

 chief seat. Billing being settled 

 on George, their eldest son," who was Sheriff of 

 Northamptonshire in 1430-" and succeeded his father 

 c. 1439 in ^^^ lordship of Wolverton.^' George died in 

 1458-^ and his grandson and heir, Richard, surviving 





Longueville. Gules a 

 fesse dancetty ermine be- 

 tiveen six crosslets argent. 



^ Hist, of Northants. i, 409. Buck's 

 view (1729), in which the house is mis- 

 takenly called a Cistercian Priory, is repro- 

 duced. It is taken from the north, and 

 shows the top of the turret on the south 

 side. The greater length was from east to 

 west, and the broad arches were in the 

 ruined eastern portion. In the yard was 

 a farm-house 'made out of the ruins adjoin- 

 ing the ruinous part*. 



■* yourney from Chester to London (ed. 

 1782), 320. 



3 That is since the time of Buck's 

 drawing. 



■* Archaeclogiay x, 67 j a paper by 

 Richard Gough, with a drawing by a Mr. 

 Schnebbelie taken in 1789. The view is 

 from the north and comparison with 

 Buck's drawing shows the extent of the 

 change. Gough says that 'the turret and 

 all the building west of it had gone', but 

 Schnebbelie's drawing shows that 'east of 

 it' was meant. A large projecting chimney 



seems to have been an addition after 1729. 

 5 Probably one of a series of panels con- 

 taining an inscription. 



^ The old house was restored, or rebuilt, 

 by Lord Overstone in this year. Frag- 

 ments of ruins adjoining were used in 

 building an outhouse. 



7 F.C.H. Northants. i, 34.7. 

 ^ Ibid, i, 290. 

 ^ Baker, Northants. i, 28. 

 ■° Cal.Pat. 1232-47, p. 147. 

 " Testa de Ne-vill (Rec. Com.), z(>\ Red 

 Bk. of Exch. (Rolls Ser.), ii. 727; Chan. 

 Inq. p.m. 2 Edw. I, no. 25. 



'^ CaL Close, 1272-9, p. 222; Hund. 

 R. (Rec. Com.}, ii. 13. 

 '3 Feud. AidSy iv, 16. 

 ^* Feet of F. Northants. 30 Edw. I, 

 no. 415. 

 *5 Inq. a. q. d. file xxix, no. 10. 

 »6 f^.C.H. Northants. ii, 1^7. This John, 

 who settled the manor on his son George 

 in 1310 (Add. Ch. 21539), was succeeded 



by the latter, after 13 165 who in 1330 

 bestowed a messuage and land in Northamp- 

 ton upon the Austin Priory (Inq. a. q. d. 

 file ccvi, no. 7). In 1346 he obtained 

 licence to enclose a road in Little Billing 

 18 perches by 18 ft., leading from Billing 

 Bridge to Northampton, on condition of 

 substituting a similar space (Inq. a. q. d. 

 file cclxxix, no. 18). 



»7 Cal.Pat. 1354-8, p. 652. 



'^ Feet of F. Northants. 4 Edw. II, no. 

 Ti; De Banco R. Mil. 35 Edw. Ill, m. 

 90; Chan. Inq. p.m. 35 Edw. Ill (pt. i), 

 120; y.C.H. Bucks, iv, 507. 



'9 Feud. Aids, iv,-^ J. 



" y.C.H. Northants, Families, 370. A 

 great many of the Longuevilles were Bur- 

 gesses of Northampton, and represented 

 the county in Parliament during the four- 

 teenth century (ibid. 374, 377). 



'' Chan. Inq. p.m. 17 Hen. VI, no. 38, 



" Ibid. 36 Hen. VI, no. 36. 



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