ORLLXGBURY HUNDRED 



edge in lombardic characters 'Ici git une femme Luce 

 de Asheby Deu de sa alme eit verroy merci', and another 

 at the east end of the aisle retains part of an inscription 

 of the same period. In the nave is a stone dated I 588 

 and in the chancel two large blue slabs the inscriptions 

 of which are indecipherable, and one to Roger Char- 

 nock (d. 165 1).' There is an oak chest in the vestry 

 dated 1684. 



There are three bcUs: the first an alphabet-bclI, with 

 a stamp used by Thomas Ncwcombe (1562-80), the 

 second by Hugh Watts 1629, and the tenor by Thomas 

 Clay 171 ;,' aU cast at Leicester. 



The plate consists of a silver cup of 163;, and a 

 paten of 1695, the latter given by the Hon. Mrs. 

 Wentworth.' 



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

 and burials 1672-1782, marriages 1672-1754; (ii) 

 baptisms and burials 1782-1812; (iii) marriages 1754- 

 18 1 2. There are churchwardens' accounts from 1683 

 to 1796. 



The rectory and advowson were 

 ADVOIVSON granted to Sulby Abbey early in the 

 13th century by Mary de Muschamp 

 and confirmed by Robert de Muschamp in 1227,'* 

 Simon son of Adam de Harrowden having also re- 

 nounced his claims in favour of the abbey. ' In 1227 

 Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln, with the consent of the 

 dean and chapter granted a pension of two marks yearly 

 from the church of Great Harrowden and chapel of 

 Little Harrowden to Sulby .'^bbey as patrons of the 

 advowson, the grant to take effect after the decease of 

 the rector, Richard de Cantia.* In 129 1 the church 

 was taxed at C^-oP The rectory was returned in 1535 

 as appropriated to the monastery of Sulby and the 

 annual value of the vicarage as ^i 3 6/. 8/* On 1 3 July 

 1 547 the rectory, church, and advowson of the vicar- 

 age of Harrowden were granted under the will of 

 Henry VIII to the College of St. Mary the Virgin and 

 All Saints of Fotheringhay.' .'\fter the dissolution of 

 that college they were granted in i 549 to Edward 

 Bury of Estwode, co. Essex,'" but shortly after had 

 passed into the hands of Wilgeford Tanfield," widow, 

 who in I 564 conveyed the rectories and advowsons of 

 Great and Little Harrowden with all tithes of grain 

 and hay to Sir Humphrey Stafford and Miles Orchard.'^ 

 Her sale to Sir Humphrey of the same for £500 

 resulted in Chancery proceedings being instituted 

 against her in 1 569 by her brother-in-law Simon 



LITTLE 

 HARROWDEN 



Harcourt of Staunton Harcourt, co. Oxon.'^ By Sir 

 Humphrey Stafford the parsonage was leased to Roger 

 Jarnock or Chamock, probably the same Roger Char- 

 nock of Great Harrowden who in 1588 contributed 

 ^25 to the defence of the country at the time of the 

 Spanish invasion, '< and this lease was also the subject of 

 Chancery proceedings. '5 George Chamock, gent., made 

 the presentation in 1622,'* and in 1648 Nicholas Bacon 

 of Gray's Inn, esq., brought a suit against Roger 

 Charnock, younger brother of John Charnock of 

 Islington, in connexion with a mortgage of the rectory.'^ 

 Charnock of Harrowden appears in a list of delin- 

 quents of that year,'* and in 1661 Francis Gray pre- 

 sented to the church." 



In 1665 John Heron and his wife Alice were holding 

 the rectories and advowsons of Great and Little Har- 

 rowden,-" of which in 1672 John Heron with his wife 

 Susan made a conveyance to Francis Sherrard and 

 John HaU.^' The rectory next appears in the hands of 

 Nicholas Bacon, and of William, Thomas, and Richard 

 Bacon, who conveyed it to Robert Underwood and 

 John Makernesse in 1680.^^ Itwas held with the manors 

 of Great and Little Harrowden in 1683 by Charles 

 called Earl of Banbury,^^ and since then has been held 

 with the manor of Great Harrowden. The value of 

 the vicarage was augmented in 1 7 19 by a grant of 

 tithes from the Hon. Thomas Wentworth and his son 

 Thomas.^* 



Sir Nicholas Vaux, who died in 1523, directed by 

 his will that a chantry of one priest should be estab- 

 lished in Great Harrowden Church ;-5 but there is no 

 evidence of his wishes having been carried out. 



The Wentworth Charity. A cus- 

 CHJRITIES tomary payment of 6s. a week is made 

 by Earl Fitzwilliam out of his estate 

 in this parish. Half the money is given to two poor 

 widows and the other moiety to other poor of 

 Great Harrowden and Higham Ferrers. This pay- 

 ment is ascribed by tradition to a gift by Mr. Thomas 

 Wentworth. A sum of £1 \s. yearly is also paid on 

 Lord Fitzwilliam's account in lieu of a treat or 

 entertainment at Christmas. This sum is distributed 

 among the other poor who participate in the weekly 

 payment. 



There are four almshouses in the parish occupied by 

 poor widows and the buildings have been occasionally 

 repaired at Lord Fitzwilliam's expense and occasion- 

 ally at that of the parish. 



LITTLE HARROWDEN 



Hargedone (xi cent.); Little Harudone, Harewe- 

 done (xiii cent.). 



Little Harrowden is an agricultural parish and village 

 lying to the north of Great Harrowden and 3 miles 

 north of Wellingborough on the road from Welling- 

 borough to Kettering. In its eastern districts it is liable 



' Bridge], op. cit. ii, 105, noted an 

 'tnliquc mirbic' near the altar rails in- 

 icribed round the edge 'Marmore vclaCus 

 jacet hie Simon tumulatus ex Harroudona 

 ^ucm celis Christe corona*. 



' North, Ck. Belli 0/ Norihanlt. 298, 

 where the inscriptions are given. The 

 second is one of Watts's 'Nazarcnes*. 



' MarUum, Ch. Plait of Aorlianit. 

 149. 



* Add. Ch». 22001-2. 



> Ibid. 2ZOOO. 



IV 



' Add. Ch. 21999. 



' Tax. Eccl. (Rec. Com.), 39. 



' Fakr Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv, 300, 305. 



« Pat. R. I Edw. Vl.pt. I. 



"> Ibid. 3 Edw. VI, pt. 10, m. 14. 



" Star Chamb. Proc. Edw. VI, viii, 20. 

 She was of the family of Tanficlds of 

 Gayton (q.v.). 



'» Feet of F. Northants. Mich. 6 & 7 

 Eliz. 



'J Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), xci, 18. 



'■• A', and Q. Norlhanii. i, 45. 



to floods from the River Ise, which for some distance 

 forms its eastern boundary. Hill Top, near the centre of 

 the parish, reaches a level of about 300 ft. ; and about 350 

 ft. is reached in the west. It has an area of about 1,575 

 acres, of which a considerable proportion is arable 

 land. The soil is of a good fertile mixed character; 



'5 Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), xxxi, 82. 

 '» Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.). 

 " Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), ccccmiii, no. 6. 

 *■ Cal. of Com. for Comp. 88. 

 '» Inst. "Bks. (P.R.O.). 

 »» Feet of F. Northants. Trin. 17 

 Chas. II. 

 " Ibid. East. 24 Chas. II. 

 " Ibid. Hil. 31-2 Chas. II. 

 " Recov. R. Trin. 35 Chas. II. ro. 66. 

 " Bridges, Hill, of Norlhanii. ii, 104. 

 " Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ili, 60. 



185 



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