ORLINGBURY HUNDRED 



LAMPORT 



Lamport and Hanging Houghton,' in 1555 premises 

 which Anthony Catesby had held in Hanging Hough- 

 ton were returned as held of Sir Edward Montagu as 

 of his manor of Warkton, without reference to any 

 manor of Hanging Houghton;- and as late as 1648 

 lands in Houghton were still held of Warkton. ■* At his 

 death in 1556-7 Sir Edward left his manors, tene- 

 ments, &c., in Lamport, Hanging Houghton, &c., to 

 his eldest son Edward,* who settled them in tail male 

 on his second son Walter, with remainder to his eldest 

 son Edward and other sons Henry, Charles, James, and 

 Sidney.' In i 599 Sir Walter Montagu was dealing by 

 recovery with the manor of Hanging Houghton, in- 

 cluding a mill.* By his will dated 2 December 16 14 

 he devised 160 acres in Mawsley and Hanging Hough- 

 ton for the maintenance of a hospital for the poor 

 founded by him at Chepstow in Monmouthshire.' Sir 

 Henry Montagu, his brother, was in 1626 created Earl 

 of Manchester, and was succeeded in the earldom in 

 1642 by his son Edward, whose son Robert, Viscount 

 Mandevile, was dealing in 1655 with the manor of 

 Hanging Houghton, with its windmill and other ap- 

 purtenances.* In 1670 he and his father Edward, Earl 

 of Manchester, conveyed the manor of Hanging 

 Houghton to Sir Justinian Isham, bart., and from that 

 time it has been held with Lamport.' 



The 2 virgates i bovate of land in Houghton which 

 Walter the Fleming held in 1086'° were not recorded 

 again and were probably absorbed in his manor of 

 Lamport. 



The priory of Daventr)', the recipient of benefactions 

 from Ralph Cheynduit, was in 1276 returned as hold- 

 ing half a virgate of land worth half a mark in Hanging 

 Houghton." 



In 1 563-4 a hermitage, croft, dovecote, and orchard 

 called the Chapel yard in the town of Northampton; 

 and the chapel and all lands, meadows, pastures, &c., 

 to the said chapel belonging in Hanging Houghton 

 were granted to William Grice and Anthony Foster.'^ 

 This probably came next into the hands of Sir Edward 

 Montagu, to whom, according to Bridges, concealed 

 lands belonging to the keepers of the chapel of Hanging 

 Houghton were granted in 1566—7.'^ 



Lands in Lamport were included in the possessions 

 of the priory of Studley in the county of 0.\ford granted 

 in February 1 540 to John Cooke.'* 



Lands called Pennyfathers and Skeretts, and the 

 moiety of 'a manor' in Lamport, were the subject of 

 proceedings in the Court of Requests by the brothers 

 Robert and John Ingoldsby or Yngolsby in regard to 

 a settlement by their father Thomas on his wife 

 Agnes." 



The church of JLL SAINTS consists 

 CHURCH of chancel, 28 ft. 6 in. by 17 ft. 3 in., with 

 north chapel and south vestry; nave of 

 three bays, 32 ft. 9 in. by 17 ft. 6 in.; north and south 

 aisles each 9 ft. 3 in. wide; and embattled west tower 

 of three stages, 12 ft. 6 in. by 11 ft. 4 in.; all these 

 measurements being internal. The width across nave 

 and aisles is 41 ft. 3 in. 



Two small round-headed windows in the tower, 

 widely splayed inside, suggest that in its two lower 

 stages this is of 12th-century date, but in the main the 

 fabric belongs to the 1 3th century, the tower arch, nave 

 arcades, and upper part of the tower being of that 

 period, together probably with some portion of the 

 walling in other parts. The chancel was built in 1652 

 by Sir Justinian Isham, the second baronet, who in 

 1672 added the chapel north of the chancel as a place 

 of burial for the Isham family. Of his building Sir 

 Justinian wrote to a friend: 'My building I intend to 

 have substantial and grave without Pictures or guildings 

 either in windows or walls'.'* In the 1 8thcentury, how- 

 ever, the building was made to assume its present Italian 

 appearance, following a legacy left by Sir Justinian 

 Isham (5th baronet) in 1737, after his visit to Italy, for 

 its 'rebuilding, beautifying and adorning'. His inten- 

 tions were carried out by his wife (who died in 1744) 

 and others, with the result that little of the medieval 

 building is visible but the tower and the nave arcades. 

 A shallow south porch was added about the same time, 

 in the pseudo-Classic style of the day, with drafted 

 quoins, and externally the whole of the building with 

 the exception of the tower was reconstructed in the 

 same style. The vestry was added in 1879 in the style 

 of the 14th century, from the designs of Mr. G. F. 

 Bodley. 



The chancel has a three-light east window of 'Vene- 

 tian' t}'pe, ornamental flat plaster ceiling, and low- 

 pitched roof covered with copper. It is open on the 

 north to the Isham chapel by three round arches, and 

 on the south is a round-headed window." The wide 

 pointed chancel arch is of two chamfered orders. 



The arches of the nave arcades are of two chamfered 

 orders, on octagonal pillars with moulded capitals. At 

 the east end the arches rest on keel-shaped responds and 

 at the west on moulded corbels. The flat ornamental 

 plaster ceiling of the nave and all the round-headed 

 aisle windows are of the 1 8th century. At the west end 

 of the north aisle are the remains of an older window, 

 now blocked. The roofs of the nave and aisle are 

 leaded. 



The tower has diagonal buttresses of later date than 

 the walls'* and a pyramidal leaded roof. One of the 

 12th-century W'indows is in the lower stage on the west 

 and the other in the middle stage on the south side. An 

 18th-century west doorway is now blocked. The bell- 

 chamber windows are of two plain pointed lights under 

 a single hood-mould. There is no vice. The tower arch 

 is of three chamfered orders, the two inner resting on 

 keel-shaped responds with moulded capitals and bases. 



The font is modern and has a spire cover of oak 

 designed by Mr. Bodley. There is an 18th-century 

 pulpit, and an old oak chest with three locks. 



In the chapel is an elaborate monument," with bust, 

 in memory of Sir Justinian Isham (d. 1736) and Eliza- 

 beth Turner his first wife (d. 17 13). There are also 

 tablets to John Isham (d. 1746) and to the Rev. Euseby 

 Isham, rector (d. 1824). In the chancel floor are two 

 brass plates, one in memory of John Isham (d. 1595) 



■ Com. Picas, Deeds Enr. Mich. 31 

 Hen. VIII. m. 7 d. 



' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Scr. 2), ci, 93. 



1 Exch. Dep. Trin. 24 Chas. I, no. t. 



■• D.N.B. 



» Rccov. R. East. 35 Elii. ro. 45. 



<> Ibid. 41 Eliz. ro. 53. 



' Bridges, Jiist. cj Northants. ii, 1 17. 



• Recov. R. Trin. 1655, ro. i. 



» Feet of F. Northants. Mich. 22 

 Chas. II. 



'" y.C.II. Norihanlt. i, 340. 



" }Iund. R. (Rec. Com.), ii, 15. 



■' Pat. R. 6 EUi. pt. 4. 



" Hill, of K'jTtkanii. ii, 117. 



■* L. and P. Hen. yill, xv, g. 282 (109, 

 p. 116). 



" Ct. of Req. iv, 153. 



" F.x inf. Gyles Isham, esq. 



" There were two windows before the 

 vestry was built. 



" The south-west buttress Is of the 

 height of two stories; that at the north- 

 west is the whole height of the tower and 

 apparently of comparatively modern date. 



" The monument is figured in Ame. 

 Arch. Soc. Reforli, xxix, 9 1 . 



199 



