A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



gilded. The monument, which has been restored, also 

 records the death of his son Sir Francis Nicholls, bart., 

 in 1 64 1.' In the chancel floor are brass plates to 

 William Nicolls (d. 1 576), Ann, wife of Francis NicoUs 

 (d. I 591), Edward Bagshawe (d. 1620), and Henry 

 Bagshawe (d. 1621).^ There is a floor-slab in the nave 

 to the Rev. William Baker, rector (d. 1733). 



There were formerly two bells, but the second was 

 sold in 1795 to defray the expense of pulling down the 

 aisle. 3 The other, a 15th-century bell bearing the 

 inscription 'Sum Rosa Pulsata Katerina vocatur', now 

 stands below the tower, having been displaced in 1 896 

 to make way for a set of tubes. 



The plate consists of a silver cup and cover paten of 

 1 570, inscribed 'For the Tovn of Hardvyycke', and two 

 silver-plated alms dishes.'' 



The registers before 1 8 1 2 are as follows: (i) baptisms 

 1 561-1644, 1661-1742, marriages i 561-1643, 1666- 

 1743, burials 1 559-1643, 1664-78:5 (ii) baptisms 

 1744-80, marriages 1744-54, burials 1678-1780; 

 (iii) baptisms 1776-1812, marriages 1756-1812, 

 burials 1782-1812. 



The church was valued at £6 13/. ^d. in 1291.* 

 The profits of the rectory in 1535 were returned as 



£?> OS. ()d. yearly, of which £\ 3/. \d. was paid annually 

 to the prior of St. John of Jerusalem in England.' 



The advowson, which was given to 

 ADVOWSON St. Andrew's Priory in Northampton 

 about 1 1 30,* and confirmed to that 

 house by Robert, Bishop of Lincoln,' was in 1 199 con- 

 veyed by Walter, Prior of Northampton, to the Master 

 of the Knights Templars.'" In 1249-50 Robert de 

 Saunford, Master of the Knights Templars, conveyed 

 it to Henry de Seymour," but the presentation was 

 recovered against John de Seymour in 1304,'^ and held 

 by the Prior of the Hospital until the Dissolution, since 

 when it has been held by a succession of owners, 

 frequently incumbents. For over i 50 years it was held 

 with Faxton Manor (q.v.). It was in the hands of 

 Francis Nicolls in 1628, and was held by Nicolls 

 Rainsford and his wife Mary in 1794.'^ It is now held 

 by the incumbent, the Rev. E. A. Richards. 



Tithes were commuted in 1 839 for a rent-charge of 

 £230. 



The vicar of Hardwick receives 

 CHARITIES annually a cheque for £-^0 from the 

 trustees of Sir Edward Nicolls' Char- 

 ity, which is described under the parish of Kettering. 



GREAT HARROWDEN 



Hargindone, Hargedone (xi cent.); Harudon (xii 

 cent.); Magna Harwedone, Harewedon (xiii cent.); 

 Much Harowdon, Harrodon (xvi cent.). 



Great Harrowden: The Hall 



Great Harrowden lies on the road from Kettering 

 to Wellingborough and is bounded on the north by 

 Little Harrowden, west by Hannington, and south by 

 Hardwick. On the east the Ise brook''* divides it from 



the Hundred of Huxloe, and the land near it is low 

 and liable to floods. But the parish has an undulating 

 surface, and the village stands at about 300 ft. 



The L.M.S. railway has a 

 station at Finedon, a mile and 

 a half north-east of the village, 

 which lies mainly to the east of 

 the junction of the road from 

 Kettering to Wellingborough 

 with the road to Olney. The 

 church of All Saints lies south 

 of the Olney road. East of the 

 church is Harrowden Hall, a 

 spacious mansion in the simpler 

 fashion, with beautiful gardens. 

 Its predecessor, 'Mrs. Vawse's 

 house at Harrowden', was a 

 centre of the recusants during 

 the minority of her son Edward, 

 fourth Lord Vaux, and at the 

 time of the Gunpowder Plot. 

 In 1 60 1 Henry Knowles wrote 

 to Sir Robert Cecil of a refugee 

 in this house, 'I am certainly in- 

 formed that if I should see him 

 go in and presently see the house 

 there be such places for concealing him as except a 

 man pull down the house he shall never find him'.'^ 

 The present Hall appears to have been begun by 

 Nicholas Knolles about 1687, which date is carved 



' He died at Faxton, 4 March 164 1-2, 

 and was buried at Hardwick 15 March: 

 Registers. The monument was restored 

 at the charges of Earl Spencer. 



^ The inscription records that Henry 

 Bagshawe 'having spent seven years as a 

 factor in France' came to London, 'where 

 he received the freedom of the company of 

 Merchant Taylors, from whence he came 

 hither to Hardwick to receive the Freedom 

 of Heaven which he obtayned the 29th day 



of May, An. dni. 1621.' 



3 North, Ch. Bells of Northanti. 290. 

 The remaining bell is 36 in. diam. and 

 from the evidence of the founder's marks 

 appears to have been cast in London by 

 "William Dawe in association with John 

 Bird, or by Bird {f. 1420) after Dawe's 

 death. 



■* M3r)&i3m,Ch.Plateof Norlhatits. 144. 



5 The entries of burials 1672-8 have 

 been cut out. The first volume is inscribed 



178 



'For the Town of Hardwycke'. 



<> Tax. Eccl. (Rec. Com.), 39. 



•? Falor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv, 306. 



8 See above. « Harl. Ch. 43 H. 3. 



'" Feet of F. Northants. i John, no. i. 

 " Ibid. 34 Hen. HI, no. 580. 

 ■^ Bridges, Hist, of Northants. ii, 100. 

 " Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.), &c. 

 '* The 'aqua de Ise' occurs in 1246: 

 Assize R. 614, m. 41. 

 's Hist. MSS. Com., HatfeldMSS. xi,4S. 



