A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



l8l2; (iv) marriages 1754-93. There is also a clerk's 

 book containing entries of baptisms 1695-1705, mar- 

 riages 1697-1702, and burials 1695-1704. 



The advowson of the church of Earls 

 ADVOWSON Barton was part of the gift of Simon 

 de St. Liz, Earl of Northampton, 

 to the abbey of Delapre.' With the abbey the 

 advowson continued until the reign of Henry VIII; 

 but on several occasions different persons were patrons 

 by permission of the abbess.^ In 1535 the profits 

 issuing from the church were valued at ^lo.^ After the 

 Dissolution the advowson was retained by the Crown 

 until 1867.'* In 1868 it was held by Edward 

 Thornton, and is now in the gift of the Martyrs 

 Memorial Trust. 5 



The rectory of Earl's Barton was let out to various 

 tenants* by the abbey, the annual rent in 1535 being 

 ^"14.' After the Dissolution the rectory was the subject 

 of various grants by the Crown. In 1543 Sir William 

 Parre obtained a life grant.* In 1550 the king granted 

 it to Ralph Sherman for a term of 21 years after the 

 expiration of the grant to Parre.' Elizabeth in 1567 

 granted the rectory for a term of 21 years to Christo- 

 pher Lewis,'" from whom it descended to Clement 

 Lewis and his heirs;" it remained in this family until 

 1623.'^ In 1656 the rectory was under sequestration '^ 

 and after that date the tithes from small parts of land 

 were held by various tenants.'^ 



William Farrow, who died 23 Octo- 



CHARITIES ber 1750, gave a rent-charge of /^i loj'. 



a year to buy coats for two poor men. 



This charge is paid out of Mercer's Farm and is 



applied in the distribution of coats when there is 

 sufficient in hand. 



The charity of Henry Medbury, founded by will 

 27 December 1705 and regulated by a scheme of the 

 Charity Commissioners dated 12 February 1892, is 

 described under the parish of Islip. The trustees of the 

 Earls Barton Charity, consisting of the vicar, the parish 

 warden, and the chairman of the parish council, 

 receive ^3 yearly, which is distributed to the poor in 

 small cash payments. 



Elizabeth Whitworth, widow, by her will proved 

 I June 1 844, gave to her brother William ^^i 30 to pur- 

 chase clothing for the poor, and by codicil to her will a 

 further j{^i 00, the interest to be distributed on 24Decem- 

 ber in half-crowns. These legacies are now represented 

 by a sum of /^I56 6x. 512'. Consols producing ;^3 18/. 

 yearly in dividends. The income is applied partly in 

 clothing and partly in the distribution of half-crowns. 



Mrs. Mary Whitworth's Almshouses for poor 

 women, founded by will dated 16 February 1823, are . 

 regulated by a scheme of the Charity Commissioners 

 dated 12 January 1877. The property consists of three 

 cottages, the trustees being the lord of the manor of 

 Earls Barton and three others. 



Church and Clock Land. By an award of the Inclo- 

 sure Commissioners in 1771 9 a. 2 r. 11 p. of land in 

 East Rye Field were allotted to the churchwardens for 

 the repair of the church and clock and other church 

 expenses. The land is let in allotments and produced 

 ^36 in 1924. 



The several sums of Stock are with the Official 

 Trustees. 



ECTON 



Echentone, Ekenton, Eketon (xi-xv cent.); Ekton, 

 Ecton (xv-xx cent.). 



The parish of Ecton covers about 2,300 acres. It 

 lies on the side of a hill which rises gradually from 

 the River Nene, the southern boundary, to a height of 

 360 ft. towards the parishes of Sywell and Overstone 

 on the north. The soil is light loam and gravel with a 

 clay subsoil; the chief crops are wheat, beans, and roots. 

 The south part of the parish is covered by a part of the 

 irrigation farm of the Northampton Corporation, and 

 the land near the river is liable to floods. 



The village of Ecton is built along both sides of a road 

 which leads from the river up the hill to the main road 

 from Northampton to Wellingborough, on which lies the 

 World's End Inn, mentioned in 1 67 8 '5 but rebuilt about 

 1765. The approach to Ecton village from Northamp- 

 ton is shaded by two rows of ancient elms. A two-story 

 house of ironstone, with mullioned windows, at the 

 south-east end of the village bears the date 1695, another 

 1697, and a tablet on a shop shows that it was formerly 

 the free school, built by John Palmer in 1752. The 

 rectory house was originally erected by John Palmer, 

 (rector 1641-79) but rebuilt in its present form by his 



grandson Eyre Whalley in 1693. It is of two stories with 

 a well-designed front elevation of dressed ironstone and a 

 slated hipped roof. The interior has been much modern- 

 ized, but retains a fine 17th-century oak staircase with 

 turned balusters. In the landing window are the arms of 

 John Palmer (i 641), Thomas Palmer (i 691), and Eyre 

 Whalley (1735), rectors, and one of the upper rooms 

 contains excellent 18th-century panelling.'* Ecton Hall, 

 the seat of Lt.-Col. Sotheby, stands high, commanding 

 extensive views. It has a good front, of ironstone, built 

 in 1756, but incorporates work of an earlier date." 



John Cole in his account of the parish, written in 

 1825, says: 'There isa tradition that Ecton was formerly 

 a market town, and that the market was held in a field 

 now well known by the name of Dove-house Close, 

 but there is no confirmation of this report to be found 

 in the fragment of the usual market-cross in the village.' 

 Ecton was the birthplace of Benjamin Franklin's 

 father, whose family had lived in the parish upwards of 

 three hundred years.'* From about 1687 to 1703 Henry 

 Bagley, who is buried in the church, carried on a bell- 

 foundry in Ecton." The Board school was built in 

 1876. There are Baptist and Methodist chapels. The 



' Dugdale, A/on. v, 207. 



^ Epis. Regs, cited by Bridges, A'or- 

 thanti. ii, 138. 



3 Vahr Eccles. (Rec. Com.), iv, 305. 



■> Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.). 



5 Clergy Guides. 



' Pat. 10 Eliz. pt. 5. 



' yalor Eccles. (Rec. Com.), iv, 305 and 

 321. 



8 L. and P. Hen. VUl, xviii (i), 347. 



1 Cal. S.P. Don. 1547-80, p. 31. 



"> Pat. R. ioEliz.pt. 5. 



" Ibid. 35 Eliz. pt. 5. 



" Recov. R. Mich. 21 Jas. I. 



" Cal. S.P. Dom. 1656-7, p. 192. 



'■' Feet of F. Northants. Trin. 10 Wm. 

 and M.; ibid. Hil. 11 Wm. and M.j ibid. 

 East. 10 Anne; ibid. East. 3 Geo. I. 



'5 Ex inf. Canon Jephson, rector (d. 

 ■935)- 



'* There is a long description of the 

 rectory as it was in 1825 in Cole's Hist, of 

 Ecton., 44. It stands immediately north of 

 the church. 



'7 A detailed description of the furniture 

 and pictures is given by Cole, op. cit. 32— 



43- 



" Ibid. 57; Benj. Franklin, Autobiog. 

 ch. i. 



'» y.C.H. Northants. ii, 307. 



122 



