SPELHOE HUNDRED 



PITSFORD 



Philip being in possession of the manor in 1284.' He 

 was followed by Laurence de Pitsford who was holding 

 the fee in 1346-, but by 1362 it was in the possession 

 of John Laurence and Joan his wife, who conveyed it 

 in that year to Richard de Bollesore, parson of Bough- 

 ton church,^ probably as a preliminary to its alienation 

 to Sir Henry Green of Houghton who died seised of 

 2 messuages and 2 virgates in Pitsford in 1369,* which 

 by 1392 had increased to 6 messuages and 2 carucatcs.' 

 The manor acquired by Sir Henry Green remained in 

 the Green family and has had a descent analogous to 

 that of Houghton (q-v.), Maj.-Gen. Sir R. G. H. 

 Howard-Vyse being the present lord of the manor. 



Another estate in Pitsford was held in 1086 of 

 Robert Count of Mortain,* but the Mortain fee 

 escheated to the Crown in 1 106,' and the greater part 

 of the lands and honors became incorporated with the 

 Earldom of Leicester, bestowed upon Robert Count of 

 Meulan in 1107.* A division afterwards took place, 

 one of the two parts becoming known as the honor of 

 Winchester, of which Pitsford was a fee, and passing 

 through the families of la Zouche, Holand, and Lovell,' 

 of Hrackley (q.v.). 



Holding under the Count of Mortain in 1086 was 

 Humphrey, the successor of Osmund who held it freely 

 in the time of King Edward.'" In the 1 2th century the 

 Earl of Leicester held this estate, then estimated at 6 

 small virgates although in Domesday only I virgate is 

 mentioned." .After this date there were two mesne 

 lords between the overlord and the tenant of the land, 

 for in 1 271 Richard de Hanrede, Humphrey's succes- 

 sor, held it of William Maufe of Sussex, who held of 

 Philip de Nevill, the latter holding of Roger de Quincy, 

 Earl of Winchester.'^ The place of one of the mesne 

 lords was taken by Hugh de Scales who was holding 

 lands in Haslebeach and Pitsford in 1 3 14,' ^ and by his 

 descendants holding in 1423 and 1454. '■• Richard de 

 Hanrede, lord of the estate in 1 271 "and 13 16,'* was 

 succeeded by his son another Richard, who in 1330 

 brought an action against Henry de Wilby and William 

 Francis to recover 3 messuages and 3 virgates of land 

 in Pitsford.'^ He was holding in 1346,'* but by 1428 

 the estate was divided between his heirs and Thomas 

 Green," the latter's share probably becoming absorbed 

 in the chief manor held by him. After 1455 there is no 

 further mention of the estate-" which doubtless was 

 separated into many small portions among which all 

 manorial rights were lost. 



The Brotherhood of St. Catherine, Northampton, 

 held lands in Pitsford, which were granted in I 551 to 

 Sir Thomas Tresham,^' and mentioned in a survey of 

 Northampton Town Lands, taken in i 586.^^ 



There were two mills mentioned in 1086, one on the 

 manor held of Walter the Fleming, worth i2</.,^^and 

 the other on the Count of Mortain's estate, worth 2s.-* 

 The latter was probably the one acquired by Hugh 

 Dyne, who granted it to Robert the miller in 1202.^' 

 There is no further mention of the mills until 1586, 



' FruJ. AiJi, iv, i 5. 



* Bridges, NfjTthanti. i, 46. 



' Fret of F. Northints. 36 Edw. Ill, 

 no. 5 1 6. 



* Chan. Inq. p.m. 43 Edw. Ill, pt. i, no. 

 +8. 



> Ibid. 1 5 Rich. II, pt. i, no. 24. 

 ' V.C.li. Sorlhanlt. i, 323. 

 ' Baker, Nirihanii. i, 120. 



* G.E.C. Peerage ( ut ed.), v, 40 8c<). 

 » Ibid, viii, 16S-70, 222; iv, 236. 



'<> y.C.H. Norilunli. i, 323. 



■' Ibid, i 

 '» Chan. 



381. 

 Inq. p.m. 



" Ibid. 7 Edw. II, no. 36. 

 '« Ibid. I Hen. VI, no. 51 j ibid. 33 Hen. 

 VI, no. 28. 

 " Ibid. 55 Hen. Ill, no. 36. 

 '* Feud. Jiidi, ii, 23. 

 " Assize R. 3 Edw. HI, mm. 44, 167 d. 

 " Bridges, Kort/ianit. i, 461. 

 " Feud. AiJi, iv, 37. 

 '° Chan. Inq. p.m. 33 Hen VI, no. 28. 

 " Pat. 5 Edw. VI, pt. vii, m. 12. 



when they are mentioned in the Survey of Northamp- 

 ton Town lands as standing on the brook separating 

 Pitsford from Hrixworth, one being known as Watkins 

 Mill and the other as Gyhles' Mill,^* but there is no 

 further trace of them. 



According to an Exchequer deposition taken in 1 674, 

 the customary way of tithing wool in Pitsford was to 

 lay 10 fleeces together in a row, out of which the owner 

 took two, the rector afterwards choosing one. If there 

 were only seven, the rector was to take one in the same 

 manner and pay the owner ^J. a fleece for the three 

 wanting. Whatever the size of the fleece, it was to be 

 reckoned in tithing, and if the odd fleeces were under 

 seven, they were to be the worst ones, the owner paying 

 ^</. for the tithe of each of them. The customary way of 

 tithing barley was for the owner first to 'cocke' and 

 rake his lands and then to give notice to the tithing-man 

 to take the tithes before the corn was carried. The 

 lambs were tithed on 3 May.^' 



The church ofALL SAINTS stands on 

 CHURCH the north-west side of the village and con- 

 sists of chancel, 22 ft. by 16 ft.; nave of 

 five bays, 53 ft. by 17 ft. 6 in.; north and south aisles, 

 12 ft. 6 in. wide; south porch, and west tower, 9 ft. 

 6 in. by 8 ft. 6 in., all these measurements being 

 internal. 



The south doorway is of 1 2th-cenlury date, and some 

 fragments of the same period are built into the tower 

 arch and the east end of the north aisle. ^* The tower 

 belongs to the later part of the 13th century, but the 

 rest of the building, where not modern, is of 14th-cen- 

 tury date. In the middle of the 19th century it was said 

 to be 'a mere decorated shell, having sufl^ered almost 

 every mutilation, tracery of windows cut out, strings cut 

 away, doorway blocked, roof lowered, lean-to vestry 

 against tower, piers between nave and aisles removed 

 and a flat ceiling thrown over both, west gallery, and 

 high irregular close pews'.-' In 1 867 the chancel, south 

 aisle, and porch were rebuilt, new nave arcades erected, 

 and the whole building re-roofed. The interior was at 

 the same time remodelled, the pews and gallery being 

 done away with and new windows inserted in the 

 north aisle. The new work is in the style of the 14th 

 century, and is faced with local ironstone. The root of 

 chancel and nave are covered with Colleyweston slates, 

 and the aisle roofs are leaded, behind plain parapets. 



The only original windows now remaining, other 

 than those in the tower, are the east and west windows 

 of the north aisle, the former of three trefoilcd lights 

 with reticulated tracery, and the latter ogee-headed of 

 two trefoiled lights with quatrefoil above. This window 

 has been shortened at the bottom by raising the sill. 

 An original moulded string course runs round the north 

 aisle, and there is a pointed north doorway of two con- 

 tinous chamfered orders with hood-mould. 



The chancel, being modern, has no features of 

 interest, but in the cast wall of the north aisle, at its 

 south end, is a trefoil-headed piscina recess, the bowl 



" Cox, Rtcordt of Borough of Norlkamf>- 

 55 Hen. Ill, no. 36. Ion, ii, 161. 



" y.C.H. Norlhanli. i, 340. 



" Ibid, i, 323. 



" Feet of F. Northants. 4 John, no. 1 56. 



^* Co«, Records of tit Borough of North' 

 ampton, ii, 161. 



" Exch. Uep. Trin. 26 Chjs. II, no. 2. 



'* Stone with chevron ornament in tower 

 arch, abacus, and top of capita), and a carved 

 stone in north aisle. 



" Cht. Archd. A'tcn (1849), 245. 



99 



