ORLINGBURY HUNDRED 



HARDWICK 



beth his wife, and by Francis NicoUs, gent., and Anne 

 his wife.' Francis Nicolls died in 1604 and left a 

 son and heir Francis.^ The NicoUs' share in the manor 

 was transferred by either the father or the son to the 

 Mordaunts, probably about the year 1608, in which 

 year the property sold to Francis Gill was conveyed by 

 his son John Gill to Sir Augustine Nicolls, sergeant- 

 at-law,5 the purchaser of Faiton and of Broughton; and 

 in 1609 Henry, Lord Mordaunt, son of Sir Lewis 

 (d. 1601), was holding the manor alone, and conveyed 

 it by fine to Thomas Lock and John Rowe.* The 

 Nicolls still, however, retained lands in Hardwick, 

 and it was as Francis Nicholls (tic) of Hardwick that 

 Francis, who had succeeded his uncle Sir .Augustine at 

 Faxton and Broughton at his death s.p. in 1616, was 

 created a baronet in 1641. He was buried at Hardwick 

 in 1642. 5 His grandson, Sir Edward Nicolls, bart., 

 of Faiton, bequeathed lands in Hardwick for the 

 augmentation of several livings.* 



John, Lord Mordaunt (who succeeded his father 

 Henr)' in 1608,' and was created Earl of Peterborough 

 in 1628) and his brother James sold the manor for 

 ;^3,ooo with courts leet, courts baron, &c., to Sir 

 Henry Compton, K.B., of Brambletye, Sussex, and 

 William Gage in 1638;' and in 1640 a moiety was 

 conveyed by Sir Henry Compton to Richard, Viscount 

 Lumley in Ireland,' the whole being conveyed in 1649 

 by Viscount Lumley, Nicholas Lanyon and Dorothy 

 his wife, and William Gage and Dorothy his wife to 

 William Ward and Robert Ward.'" This was William 

 Ward of Little Houghton," and Hardwick followed 

 the descent of that manor until conveyed in 1733 to 

 William Lock by William and Thomas Ward.'^ 



Elizabeth, daughter and heir of William Ward of 

 Brafield, had married in 1692 Thomas Thornton of 

 Brockhall, and it is possibly through connexion with 

 the Ward family that the manor had come into the 

 hands of John Thornton, who was holding it in 1854. 

 In the latter half of the 19th century it was held by 

 Mrs. McKenzie, and for the last fifty years has been 

 held by her trustees. 



The church of ST. LEONARD stands 

 CHURCH on the south side of the village, and con- 

 sists of chancel, 17 ft. 6 in. by 15 ft.; nave 

 of four bays, 43 ft. by 17 ft. 3 in.; south aisle, 7 ft. 6 in. 

 wide; north porch, and embattled west tower, 8 ft. 

 3 in. by 7 ft. 6 in., all these measurements being internal. 

 The tower, the nave arcade, and the south side of the 

 chancel date from about 1 220 and, though the chancel 

 arch appears to be of rather later in the same century, the 

 church is in plan substantially of one period. A clere- 

 story was added on the south side in the 14th century, 

 and the nave windows and two in the chancel are of that 

 date, though probably insertions in the older walls. In 

 1795 the chancel was shortened by about 8 ft., and the 

 aisle taken down,' ^ and a new south wall erected block- 

 ing the arcade, which was incorporated with it: a south 

 porch was also erected. In i866''' the arcade was 



' Feet of F. Northuits. Mich. 29 tc 30 

 Eliz. 



' Bridges, Hill, of Norlhanlt. ii, loi. 

 ' Chin. Inq. p.m. (Scr. 2), cccxvi, 36. 



* Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 6 Jjs. I. 



* C.E.C. Barone/agf^ ii, 1 14.. 



* Bridges, Hiir. of Norihanii. ii, 101. 

 ' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccix, 200. 

 » Com. Pleas, RecoT. R. Mich. 



■ 4 Chas. I, m. 10. 



° Ibid. East. 16 Chaa. I, m. 10. Sir 

 Henry Compton of Hardwick was entered 



among delinquents sequestered on 28 

 March 1648 : Cal. oj Com. (or Comp. 88. 



"> Feet of F. Northants. Hil. 1649. 



" Bridges, Hiil. of tiorikanii. ii, 100. 



" Feet of F. Northants. Trin. 647 

 Ceo. II ; Rccov. R. Trin. 7 Ceo. II, ro. 30. 



■^ The church was considered big enough 

 without it. Bridges noted a piscina in the 

 aisle and the steps to the rood loft on 

 south of chancel from the south aisle: 

 Hist, of Northants. ii, 100. 



'* A contemporary account dcicribci the 



opened out and the aisle rebuilt, a north porch added, 

 the east wall of the chancel reconstructed, and the 

 whole church re-roofed. At the restoration of the 

 chancel the original east-end foundation was found, but 

 the wall was rebuilt on its 18th-century foundation. 



The church is built throughout of rubble and the 

 roofs are of low pitch leaded. The chancel has a 

 modern east window of four lights, and in the north 

 wall a restored 14th-century window of two lights. 

 There is a similar restored window at the west end of 

 the south wall and below it a 1 3th-century low-side 

 window of lancet form, with rear arch, opened out and 

 glazed in 1867. The priest's doorway is also of 13th- 

 century date: it has three scratch dials on the arch. 

 Internally the chancel is wholly restored and owing to 

 the demolition of the original east end no ancient ritual 

 arrangements remain. On the north wall outside is a 

 corbel carved with a bishop's head, probably an inser- 

 tion. The chancel arch is of two hollow-chamfered 

 orders, the inner resting on half-octagonal responds 

 with moulded capitals and bases. 



The arches of the nave arcade are of two chamfered 

 orders springing from circular pillars and half-round 

 responds, all with circular moulded bases and capitals, 

 the nail-head occurring in the responds. The three 

 windows in the north nave wall are of two trefoiled 

 lights with quatrefoil in the head and ogee hood-moulds, 

 but the tracery and mullions are modern copies of the 

 old work: the two clerestory windows are of similar 

 type restored, but without the ogee hood-moulds. The 

 north doorway, like the windows, is of 1 4th-century date. 



The tower is of three stages, without buttresses, but 

 with a considerable set-back at the second stage. The 

 west window is a tall lancet without hood-mould, but 

 otherwise the walls in the lower stages are blank. The 

 bell-chamber windows consist of two grouped lancets 

 below a containing arch, the head pierced with a 

 quatrefoil opening. The parapet belongs to the 14th- 

 century alterations, but below it the carved heads of 

 the original corbel table remain. The tower arch is of 

 two chamfered orders dying out. There is no vice. 

 The west window contains some medieval glass with 

 a figure of St. Leonard. 



The 13th-century font is one of the most interesting 

 in the county. The upper part of the bowl is hexagonal, 

 the angles supported by detached shafts with moulded 

 capitals and bases, carrying plain chamfered arches: the 

 underside of the bowl is rounded and rests on a massive 

 circular stem. Above the shafts the angles are cham- 

 fered upwards, the top thus forming a figure of twelve 

 sides.'* 



The pulpit dates from 1867 and is of Derbyshire 

 spar inlaid with mosaic, on a Bathstone base. The 

 seating is all modern. There is a chest dated 1683. 



On the south wall of the chancel is the small alabaster 

 monument of Francis Nicholls (d. 1604), with shield 

 of arms, long Latin inscription,"" and effigies of himself, 

 wife, and two children incised in slates, the lines being 



building in 1866 as 'in such a dilapidated 

 condition that it was almost ruinous* — 

 Northampton HtraU, 26 Oct. I 867. 



" At one time the space between the 

 shafts was hlled with stucco, hiding the stem 

 and the underside of the bowl: the panels 

 thus formed were ornamented with blind 

 lancets. The font is so figured in Palcy's 

 Baptismal Fonts^ * 844. A former curate 

 picked out thestucco and released the shafts. 



'* Ci»en by Bridges, //»/. of Norikanlt. 

 ii, 101. 



177 



