SPELHOE HUNDRED 



BOUGHTON 



passed to the Bassets of Weldon, who owned land there 

 in 1240.' The under-tenant at the Survey was Robert, 

 and in 1242 Simon le Sauvage- and 'his partners' held 

 a quarter fee in Spratton, Houghton, and Creaton under 

 the Bassets.' In 1284 Ralph Danvers held 7 virgates 

 of Robert de Tateshall who held them of Ralph Basset,'* 

 but after this date there is no record of the Basset 

 holding in Boughton. 



Another holder in Boughton in 1086 was Godwin 

 the priest, who held ij virgates there of the king in 

 chief:' there is no further record of this estate. 



A MILL in Boughton which Alexander de Boughton 

 held of the fee of William de Dive was granted by him 

 to the Hospital of the Holy Trinity at Kingsthorpe at 

 the beginning of the 13th century,* and the gift was 

 soon afterwards augmented by the addition of land 

 and the mill-pond' and confirmed in 1 2 1 1 by Margaret, 

 Alexander's widow.* In 1398 it was leased by the 

 hospital, under the name of a fulling-mill, 'delapidated 

 and ruinous', to Robert Douceamour, parson of Scald- 

 well, and William Mackus of Kislingbury.' It was 

 apparently reconverted to a corn-mill, as at the view of 

 frankpledge held in 1509 it was stated that John 

 Hopkins, the miller, took excessive toll.'" In 1535 the 

 yearly value of the mill was £,\ i 5/. 8/, of which 

 2j. iJ. was paid to Thomas Vaux Lord Harrowden as 

 rent." It was granted out by Philip and Mary in 1558 

 with all the possessions of the dissolved hospital to the 

 Master of the Hospital of the Savoy,'^ by whom it was 

 afterward leased with other tenements to the Vaux 

 family, lords of the manor, for a lease of 3 lives.'' The 

 interest in the lease was conveyed by John Lord Ash- 

 burnham to Thomas Wentworth Earl of Strafford 

 with the manor in 17 1 7,'* but as by that date the Savoy 

 Hospital had already been dissolved for a few years," 

 it is probable that Lord Strafford acquired full posses- 

 sion, as the mill has remained attached to the manor. 

 When it changed hands in 1717 it was described as a 

 paper-mill in the tenure of Mr. Allen, who paid for it, 

 the Holms, and the arable ground belonging, an annual 

 rent of ^20, but shortly before 1820 it was converted 

 into a corn-mill.'* It is situated on the branch of the 

 Nene which divides Boughton from Brampton and 

 which is crossed about a quarter of a mile lower down 

 by a bridge of some antiquity, known as Brampton 

 Bridge or the Long-bridge. At a manor court held in 

 1 509 all the tenants were ordered to repair the bridge 

 called 'le Long Brigge' ;" at the present day the burden of 

 keeping the bridge in a good condition falls upon the 

 two parishes alike. 



The Hospital of the Holy Trinity and St. David 

 owned a good deal of land in Boughton chiefly by gift 

 from the de Boughton family; Alexander de Boughton 



gave them, among other gifts, land adjoining a meadow 

 called Thadchesholdon, pasture for 1 2 score sheep and 

 a messuage held by Ailric the miller.'* William his son 

 bestowed upon them rents and a capital messuage." 

 Other members of this family who were also benefac- 

 tors were Simon son of Peter, Walter son of Ralph, 

 Simon son of Oger, Reynold son of Niel, and Wil- 

 liam and Philip sons of Walter.-" Richard de Bollessore, 

 the master, claimed common pasture in Boughton in 

 1 367,^' and in 1 394 granted lands in Boughton, part of 

 which were called Bekemanwell, to Thomas Bollessore 

 and .Alice his wife.-^ The possessions of the Hospital in 

 Boughton were granted to the Savoy Hospital in i 5 58-' 

 and were held by it until its own dissolution in I702.-'* 

 The de Boughton family were also benefactors to 

 St. Andrew's Priory. Alexander gave them a messuage-* 

 and Simon son of Oger, a member of the family, be- 

 stowed a virgate and house upon them,-* a gift which 

 was confirmed by his son Philip.-' Their possessions in 

 Boughton included i virgate, 2 houses, half an acre of 

 land in Stoncdalesike and half an acre above Bernway 

 pits,-* and in 1 290 these were valued at I 5/.-' John a 

 descendant of Philip confirmed these lands,'" and in 

 1 3 19 Thomas son of Thomas of Boughton, his suc- 

 cessor, held them on lease under the priory yearly." 

 They were worth 1 19/. ()J. in 1443-'^ after which date 

 there is no trace of them. 



The ruins of the old church of ST. 

 CHURCHES JOHN stand to the north-east of 

 Boughton Green on a site which falls 

 from west to east. The building consisted of chancel, 

 north chapel, nave, and west tower with spire and was 

 of 14th-century date," but the remains have long been 

 neglected and are undergoing a gradual process of dis- 

 integration by the agency of weather and the unchecked 

 growth of ivy. The site is thickly overgrown and at the 

 west end is a confused mass of rubble, broken grave- 

 stones, brambles, and nettles. Where the walls stand 

 to any height their architectural features are generally 

 hidden by ivy. Bridges, early in the i8th century, 

 described the building as then 'in ruins, without a roof, 

 the walls in several parts levelled with the ground',''' but 

 the tower and spire stood till about 1785. A drawing 

 of the church from the south-east made in 1 761 and 

 engraved for Grose's 'Antiquities'," shows a tower of 

 three stages with diagonal angle buttresses, pointed 

 bell-chamber windows, each of two lights, and a spire 

 rising from behind battlemented parapets. The walls 

 of the nave were then standing to a considerable height 

 and the east wall of the chapel retained its gable, but 

 in other respects the state of the ruin seems to have 

 been almost as complete as at the present time. There 

 were three pointed two-light windows in the south wall. 



' Feet of F. Northants. 24 Hen. Ill, 

 no. 79i Baker, Northanti. i, 35. 



' For the association of the families of 

 Buci and Sauvage see /^.C.//. SuittXy'\^ 379. 



J Bk. 0/ Feel, 934. 



♦ Feud. Aidi, iv, 1 5. Land of the fee 

 of Hugh de Hanvers was given to Holy 

 Trinity Hospital by Alexander de Bough- 

 ton c. 1200: Anct. D. (P.R.O.), C. 1873. 

 Hugh seems also to have had some claim 

 to the advowson (q.v,). 



' y.C.II. Korikanti. i, 321. 

 » Anct. D. (P.R.O.), C. 2059. 

 ' Ibid. C. 2774. 



* FcctofF.Northants. 12 John, no. 229. 



• Anct. D. (P.R.O.),C. 134. 



'o Ct. R. (P.R.O.), portf. 195, no. 69. 

 " yalor Ecclti. (Rec. Com.), iv, 322. 



'■ Pat. 4 & 5 Ph. and M. pt. xv, m. 38. 



'' Excheq. Spec. Com. no. 4332. 



'* Add. Chart. 26395. 



" Dugdale, Aton vi, 726. 



" Baker, Sorihanii. i, 31. 



" Ct. R. (P.R.O.), portf. 195, no. 69. 



■» Anct. D. (P.R.O.), C. 1396; ibid. 

 C. 1671 i ibid. C. 1833. 



" Ibid. C. 2015; ibid. C. 2157. 



'" For these and a large number of other 

 small grants see Cat. of jinct. D. vols, ii 

 and vi. 



" Mhrev. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), ii, 

 293. 



" Anct. D. (P.R.O.), C. 741; ibid. C. 

 1073. 



" Pat. 4 & 5 Ph. and M. pt. iv, m. 33. 



" Dugdale, Mon. vi, 726. 



" Cott. MS. Vesp. E. ivii, fol. 41 d. 



" Ibid. fols.40and40d.,59 d. 



" Ibid. fol. 41. 



^« Ibid. fol. 43. 



" Pope Aic/i. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 55. 



'<> Cott. MS. Vesp. E. xvii, fol. 43 d. 



» Ibid. fols. 42,42 d. 



J' Mins. Accts. bdle. 1 108, no. 21. 



" In will of Sir Henry Greene, 1369, 

 'Ad fabricam campanilis ecclcsie de Buck- 

 ton, x|h': Arch. your. Ixx, 280. 



J* Uiii. of Norikanlt. i, 41 1. An 'altar 

 monument' with inscription to Arthur 

 Lennard, rector (d. 1670), then stood on 

 the north side of the chancel. 



" Edition 1797, iv, 27. The engraving is 

 dated 1784. 



79 



