A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



wide internal splay, and in the south wall an inserted 

 15th-century window of three lights. The round- 

 headed south doorway is modern, or a restoration: it is 

 of two hollow-chamfered orders and has shafted jambs, 

 but seems to have been originally of 13th-century 

 date. 



The chapel north of the chancel is separated from 

 the nave aisle by a i jth-century arch, and has a modern 

 Perpendicular east window. In its north wall are two 

 windows which are not in their original positions. One, 

 at the east end, is a plain lancet,' now blocked and not 

 seen on the inside, the other a two-light window with 

 forked muUion, both probably moved here from the 

 north wall of the chancel when the chapel was added. 

 The window at the west end of the extended north 

 aisle is also old, with forked mullion, a relic of the 

 original aisle before its reconstruction. 



The tower is of three stages with plain modern para- 

 pet and angle pinnacles, the upper stage slightly re- 

 cessed. In the lower story are two small round-headed 

 windows, south and west, widely splayed inside, and 

 the bell-chamber windows are of two rounded lights, 

 with slightly chamfered mullion, within a plain semi- 

 circular arch. The middle stage is blank. A diagonal 

 buttress has been added at the north-west angle, 

 probably in the 1 5th century. The tower arch is 

 pointed and of a single square order. There is no 

 vice. Bridges,^ writing about 1720, speaks of a 'plain 

 coped tower', which suggests an original saddle-back 

 roof 



The font is of late-i jth-century date and consists of 

 a circular bowl moulded round the edge, and pillared 

 stem with five attached shafts, two of the intervening 

 spaces having quatrefoiled circles and roses tournantes. 

 The oak cover is modern, but the Elizabethan font 

 cover is preserved in the belfry. On the west wall of the 

 porch is an inscribed stone to the memory of Edward 

 Palmer (d. 1662). 



The four bells are all of 17th-century date, the 

 second cast by Henry Bagley, of Chacomb, in 1682, 

 and the others by Hugh Watts, of Leicester, in 

 1621.3 



The plate consists of a modern medieval chalice of 

 1868, a paten of 1878, and a flagon of 1893 presented 

 by Major C. A. Markham."* 



The registers before 18 12 are as follows: (i) bap- 

 tisms 1 560-1600, 1604-51, marriages and burials 

 1560-1647; (ii) baptisms 1653-94, marriages 1655- 

 85, burials 1653-78; (iii) baptisms and marriages 

 1695-1725, burials 1678-94; (iv) baptisms and 

 burials 1726—57, marriages 1726—53; (v) baptisms 

 1758-1808, burials 1758-1809; (vi) marriages 1754- 

 1812; (vii) baptisms 1808-12, burials 1810-12. 



On the south side of the church is the socket of a 

 churchyard cross. 



The church was valued in 1291 at 

 ADVOWSON £s 6s. 8^.5 In 1535 the value of the 

 rectory with issues from mansion and 

 glebe was £ii^ lis. 5</.* 



The advowson, apparently at first held with the 

 manor (q.v.), was held by the abbey of St. Edmund 

 from the time of its grant to that abbey in 1 198-9 by 

 Peter de Malesoures until the Dissolution, the grant 

 made by Peter son of Ingram, Peter son of William 

 and Alice his wife, and Ralph son of Peter and Lettice 

 his wife in 1224 resulting in a confirmation of that 

 made by Peter de Malesoures. In i 542 the advowson 

 was granted to Sir Edward Montagu, Lord Chief 

 Justice,' and was held by his descendants, by whom it 

 was occasionally leased for one term,* until recently. 

 In 1 9 14 the patronage was exercised by the Earl of 

 Dalkeith, but in 1920 it was transferred by the Duke 

 of Buccleuch to the Bishop of Peterborough, who now 

 holds the advowson. 



Edward Palmer by his will dated 

 CHARITIES 15 August 1685 bequeathed ,^10° for 

 the benefit of the poor. The money 

 was laid out in the purchase of certain lands in the 

 open fields. On an inclosure of the open fields a close 

 of 8 acres was awarded in lieu of the lands. The land 

 is let yearly and the rent is distributed in cash. 



Thomas Roe by will proved at Northampton in 1666 

 gave a rentcharge of 30J. a year. This charge is paid 

 out of four cottages and a smithy in School Lane; 10/. 

 is paid yearly to the rector for preaching a sermon on 

 5 December, and £1 is distributed in bread at the 

 Thanksgiving Service. 



Poor's allotment. On an inclosure of the parish in 

 1775 an allotment of 4 a. I r. 17 p. and an annual 

 payment of los. out of a Mill Bank annexed to Scald- 

 well Mill were awarded for the benefit of the poor in 

 lieu of their right of cutting furze on the commons. 

 The land is let yearly and the income is distributed in 

 coal to the poor by the rector and three other trustees. 



The Town Well Estate. This propert)' comprised 

 in a deed of feoifment dated 13 March 1563 is regu- 

 lated by a Scheme of the Charity Commissioners dated 

 27 March 1906. The property consists of 2 messuages 

 at Scaldwell let for £g 4J., 2 r. 7 p. of garden ground 

 let for £2 Ss., and ^30 4J. 3^2'. Consols with the Official 

 Trustees of Charitable Funds producing 1 5/. yearly. 

 The income, originally applied in keeping the public 

 well in repair, is still so applied; any surplus may be 

 used for improvements in the village. 



The Highway Field is let annually and the income, 

 formerly given for the repair of the roads, is now applied 

 for the relief of the rates. 



Scaldwell elementary school benefits by the bene- 

 faction of Thomas Roe (1665), as mentioned under 

 Brixworth. 



* It may have been originally a low- 

 side window : see Assoc. Arch. Soc. Reports^ 

 xxix, 44.4. 



^ Op. cit. ii, 126. 



3 North, Ch. Bells of Northants. 397, 

 where the inscriptions arc given. 



■* Markham, Ch. Plate of Northants. 

 255. A silver-plated plate of 1839, given 

 to the Kilburn Sisters in 1883, is now at 

 Inglewood, Taranaki, N.Z. 



s Tax. Eccl. (Rec. Com.), 39, 4.2^. 



' Falor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv, 306. 



' Pat. R. 33 Hen. VIII, pt. 17; L. and 

 P. Hen. fill, xvi, g. 678 (56) j xvii, g. 220 



(63). 



8 Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 9 Chas. I; 

 ibid. Mich. 1658. 



216 



