SPELHOE HUNDRED 



The northern part lies fairly high, over 400 ft.; on 

 the west, south, and east, where small tributaries of the 

 Nene form the boundary, the land docs not reach 

 300 ft., rising sharply towards the centre where the 

 village is situated. The road from Northampton to 

 Lutterworth enters the parish on the south of Spratton 

 Bridge at a height of 250 ft. and passing by Spratton 

 Grange, a fine brick house built about 1848, surrounded 

 by a park, the property of Mrs. W. H. Foster, rises 

 by an abrupt incline till it reaches 448 ft. at its junction 

 with the road from Teeton, which crosses the parish 

 from west to east, and passes through the village leading 

 by a descent to Spratton station, on the Market 

 Harborough Branch of the L.M.S. railway. 



The village is large and divided into two portions, 

 both connected with the main road, in the northern 

 one of which is Spratton Hall, the seat of Lord Erskine. 

 The Hall is a plain 18th-century house of three stories, 

 built of limestone from Kingsthorpe and roofed with 

 slates. The date 1773 on the rain-water leads probably 

 indicates the year of its erection. There are later addi- 

 tions in red brick on the east side.' The church and 

 vicarage, a thatched two-story building of ironstone, 

 built in 1704 by the Rev. Royle Bateman, are in the 

 centre of the village, with a Baptist chapel close by, 

 built in 1840. There are some stone houses bearing 

 dates between 161 5 and 1684. There was formerly 

 behind the old Manor House a square stone pigeon 

 house, containing 1,600 nesting-places. This, which 

 was pulled down about 1890,^ was probably the succes- 

 sor of one of the pigeon houses assigned to the Abbey 

 of St. James when the vicarage was ordained in 1 309. 



Little Creaton lies to the north of Spratton to the 

 east of the Lutterworth Road and south-east of Great 

 Creaton. It consists of a few scattered farms and cot- 

 tages and of Highgate House, the residence of Colonel 

 Charles Coote, which stands facing the main road at an 

 altitude of 451 ft. 



At the Survey of 1086, the Count of 

 MANORS Mortain had 3 hides less i virgate in 

 SPRATTON which were held of him by 

 William and Durand as separate manors. ■* The over- 

 lordship passed to Robert Earl of Leicester, and later to 

 the honor of Winchester, as in Pitsford (q-v.). On 

 the division of this honor in 1264 between the three 

 daughters and co-heirs of Roger dc Quincey, Earl of 

 Winchester, the overlordship became the right of 

 Margaret, wife of William Ferrers, Earl of Derby,* in 

 whose family it remained vested until 1445, when it 

 passed to the Greys, afterwards Marquesses of Dorset, 

 by the marriage of Elizabeth, the heir of the Ferrers, 

 with Sir Edward Grey, Lord Ferrers of Groby in right 

 of his wife.' Their great-grandson Thomas Grey, 

 Marquess of Dorset, was overlord in I 506,* but twenty 

 years later the manor was held of Edward Stanley, Earl 

 of Derby, as of his manor of Brackley, head of the honor 

 of Winchester in this county. Edward Stanley's great- 

 grandfather Thomas Lord Stanley, ist Earl of Derby 

 of this family, had obtained a grant of Brackley and of 

 the overlordship of those fees which had been assigned 



SPR.ATTON WITH 

 LITTLE CRE.'VrON 



in 1264 to Helen, the third daughter and co-heir of 

 Roger de Quincey, Earl of Winchester, and wife 

 of Alan la Zouche. These two branches of the honor of 

 Winchester were completely disconnected, with distinct 

 and separate histories, and the mistake possibly arose 

 through some careless error in the inquisition taken in 

 1526, which was afterwards copied by succeeding 

 generations and turned to account by the Stanleys; for 

 the overlordship remained in this family and passed by 



^^ 



Stanley. Ardent a bend 

 azurf witji three harti" 

 headi cabctied or thereon. 



Egerton. Argent a lion 



gulei bet^veen three pheoni 



sable. 



marriage to the Egertons, Earls and afterwards Dukes 

 of Bridgwater.^ Bridges writing in 1720 states that 

 the manor was then in the possession of the Duke of 

 Bridgwater,* and Baker, a century later, says 'this 

 Manor is still subject to the Earl of Bridgwater's leet 

 for the honor and a court is occasionally held in the 

 court house, now the property of Mr. W. Lantsbery'.' 

 The manor which was held bv Durand at Domesday 

 was afterwards known as ARDERNS, CHAMBERS, 

 or MAXES (Maukes) MANOR after the families con- 

 nected with it. It passed from Durand to Simon de 

 Croppeni who in 1205 gave the king 20 marks and a 

 palfrey in order to retain it,'" and in 1222 recovered 

 it from the king, who had confiscated it with the lands 

 of other Normans." Simon apparently alienated his 

 holding to the Pinkneys of Wccdon Pinkney (q.v.). 

 In I 234 Henry de Pinkney subinfeudated Eustacia de 

 Pinkney in his land in Spratton,'- which she carried in 

 marriage to Thomas de .Ardern, while the Pinkneys 

 remained intermediary lords, the last mention of them in 

 Spratton occurring in 1 284.'^ In the same year that she 

 obtained this fee in Spratton, Eustacia received a grant 

 of the lands of Hugh de Warewili, a Norman, until the 

 heirs of Hugh should return to their allegiance,''' and in 

 1265 Simon son of Hugh de Cropcnie sold certain lands 

 in Spratton to Eustacia and Thomas de .Ardern ' * her son . 

 The latter took up arms against Henry III and his lands 

 were confiscated and granted apparently to his cousin 

 Thomas de Ardern of Hanwell,'* who held them in 

 1 284" and was succeeded by his son another Thomas, 

 who in 1309 recovered half of the manor against John 

 de Ferrers with damages assessed at ^^4 2 . ' ' Thomas, who 

 was still holding in 1 316,"' died before 1 324, leaving a 

 son and heir Thomas, then a minor, in the custody ot 

 Margaret Bancester.^" Thomas, who was holding the 

 manor in 1 346,'' was succeeded by a daughter and heir 

 Joan, who married Sir John Swinford, lord ot Spratton 

 in 1366.*^ The latter, who survived his wife, died in 



' Norlhantt A'. & Q. \ (N.S.), 97, 

 » Ex inf. Miss G. M. Roberts. 

 ' KC.//. Northanti. i, 328. 

 « CjI. Inf. p.m. i, pp. 233, 256; Cott. 

 MS. Nero l3. ii, fol. 194. 



* C.E.C. Peerage^ iii, 66, 339—41. 

 ^ Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xx, 1 5. 



' C.E.C. Peerage (2nd ed.), ii, 311-16. 



* Bridges, Northants. i, 465. 



' Baker, Sorthantt. i, 66. 



'° Pipe R. Northants. 7 John, m. 21 d. 



" Rot. Lit. Claui. (Rcc. Com.), i, 485. 



" Feet of F. Northants. 18 Hen. Ill, 

 no. 339. " Feud. Aids, iv, 15. 



'* Excerpta e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), i, 

 263. 



" Feet of F. Northants. 49 Hen. HI, 

 no. 848. 



"■ Geneal. Mag. i, 571 tc<{. 



" Feud. Aidi, ii, 15. 



'• Assiie R. 1343, m. 29, 



" Feud. Aidt,'\v, 23. 



"• De Banco R. 253, m. 52. 



" Comp. Walt. Paries, cited by Bridges, 

 Aorthanti. i, 464. 



" Harl. iV. Publ. xii, 179-80; Add. 

 Chart. 21777, -'779- 



lOI 



