A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



Earl of Stafford, was attainted in 1523. The ad- 

 vowson was granted to Sir Christopher Hatton 

 in May 1579,' and remained in the possession of 

 his family until the 19th century. The living was in 

 the gift of the Rev. W. Barry, the rector of Blisworth, 

 and his descendants from 1839 to 1930, but was 

 then acquired by the governors of Canford School, 

 Dorset. 



In 1 504 Roger Wake left some land 

 CHARITIES in Bedfordshire for the foundation of 

 a chantry in the chapel of St. Mary the 

 Virgin, the chaplain of which was also to keep a free 

 grammar school in the village. The school was called 

 Roger Wake's Chauntre and Free School, and at the 

 confiscation of the chantry lands was continued by the 

 warrant of the Chantry Commissioners, with a fixed 

 stipend of ,^1 1 charged on the revenues of the Crown. 

 All trace of a grammar school had disappeared by the 

 beginning of the 19th century, and the stipend has 



ever since been attached to the salary of an elementary 

 schoolmaster.^ 



On the inclosure of the parish an allotment of land was 

 assigned in lieu of lands formerly appropriated to the 

 repair of the church. The present rental amounts to 

 about ;£20. 



Jane Leeson by her will proved in 1649 charged 

 certain lands with payments for the poor of many places 

 (including ^i 10/. a year for Blisworth) to be distributed 

 by the rector, churchwardens, and overseers of the 

 several towns and viUages. This sum is now distributed 

 to the poor by the rector and four trustees appointed 

 by the Parish Council of Blisworth. 



Maria Anne Westley by her will proved 3 March 

 193 1 bequeathed the net proceeds of her 3 messuages 

 to the trustees of the Blisworth Baptist chapel, to apply 

 the income towards the stipend of the minister of the 

 said chapel. The endowment is now represented by 

 j^i39 11/. ()tl. 3i% War Stock. 



BRAFIELD-ON-THE-GREEN 



Brache(s)feld (xi cent.); Bragefeld (xi-xii cent.); 

 Brachafeldia (xii cent.); Branfeld (xii— xiii cent.); 

 Bramfeld (xii-xvi cent.); Braumpfeld (xiv cent.); 

 Bradfield on the Green (xiv-xvii cent.); Brafield (xiv— 

 xix cent.); Bravefield Green (xviii cent.). 



The parish of Brafield-on-the-Green, comprising 

 1,282 acres of land and water, lies to the east of Little 

 Houghton parish, both narrow strips of territory ter- 

 minated on the north by the River Nene. The Nene 

 is crossed at Billing Bridge by the road coming south 

 from Billing; it intersects in the middle of the village 

 the Northampton to Bedford road, and forms the boun- 

 dary between Brafield and Little Houghton. Brafield 

 Holme was amalgamated with Little Houghton in 

 1884.^ The population, which was 303, living in 70 

 houses, in 1720,'' had risen to 525 by 1921 and has 

 since declined to 486 in the civil parish. ^ The soil is 

 marl and loam, the subsoil Great Oolite with Upper 

 and Middle Lias by the Nene; the chief crops are wheat 

 and barley. The ground rises from 170 ft. in the river 

 valley to 374 ft. in the south. The village, on the rising 

 ground to the north, stands near the Northampton 

 road, with its church as an outpost on the north, 4^ 

 miles south-east of Northampton. A stone-built house 

 near the village pond has on one of its dormer windows 

 the initials and date i '' w 1635. The present Parsonage, 

 which bears the date 1697 and initials T.T.E., on the 

 Smythe estate, was made over to the Ecclesiastical 

 Commissioners in 1936; it is said to have been origi- 

 nally a public house. The fair followed the feast of 

 St. Laurence.* 



Bridges recorded that the meadows lay intermixed 

 with those of Little Houghton, as did all the lands in 

 the field. The common was divided by a decree in 

 Chancery and the road was the boundary; 'Brayfield 

 Common' was then covered with furze, and the lord 

 of the manor had three-quarters, called farm-furze.' 



Two fees are found in BRAFIELD in 



MANOR 1086: (i) that of Odo Bishop of Bayeux 



(already forfeited), who received 3 virgates 



there that Ulf son of Azor held in King Edward's time. 



William was under-tenant in 1086. (2) That of the 

 Countess Judith, who also claimed, and apparently 

 obtained, Odo's estate. She held 3 virgates in demesne, 

 the soke of a house, and 5 acres of land belonging to 

 Whiston (q.v.) and the soke of i virgate that Winemar 

 the Fleming held.^ Both overlordship and under- 

 tenancy descended with the manor of Little Hough- 

 ton (q.v.). 



In 1480 John Lord Scrope by right of Elizabeth his 

 wife received £4 yearly from the profits of the manor.' 

 The church of ST. LAURENCE 

 CHURCH stands on the north side of the village 

 and consists of chancel, 28 ft. 3 in. by 

 17 ft. 8 in.; nave, 36 ft. 9 in. by 20 ft.; north and south 

 aisles respectively 11 ft. and 10 ft. 3 in. wide; south 

 porch, and west tower 12 ft. square, all these measure- 

 ments being internal. The width across nave and aisles 

 is 45 ft. 6 in. There is no clerestory. 



The chancel was rebuilt in 1 848, and the north aisle 

 and its arcade in 1850. Externally, with the exception 

 of the tower and south aisle, all the walling is modern 

 and in the style of the 14th century, the old chancel 

 and north aisle having apparently been of that period. 

 The windows in the south aisle also are modern, and 

 in the same style. The porch was rebuilt in 191 1. The 

 roofs of the nave and aisles are slated, and those of the 

 chancel and porch tiled. There are straight parapets 

 to the chancel and north aisle, but the roofs of the nave 

 and south aisle overhang. All the roofs are new. The 

 tower has been repaired at different times and is 

 strengthened by iron rods in both directions: its older 

 walling is of roughly coursed limestone rubble, but 

 ironstone is used in the buttresses and dressings of the 

 later upper stage. The walling of the south aisle is of 

 limestone and ironstone mingled. Internally all the 

 walls are plastered. 



The lower part of the tower is of late- 12th-century 

 date, and the south arcade in its original form was 

 apparently of the same period, but was altered, or per- 

 haps wholly reconstructed in the 1 3th century. The 

 moulded bases of the north arcade are alone ancient 



' Pat. 21 Eliz. pt. 2. 

 ^ For further details see y.C.H. 

 Nortkants, ii, 229-30. 



^ Kelly, Norlhanis. (193 1). Local 



Govt. Board Order 14,660. 



* Bridges, Hist. Northantz. i, 338. 



5 Census, 1931. ^ Bridges, op. cit. 341. 



' Loc. cit. A copy of the decree penes 



Northants. Rec. Soc. 



8 V.C.H. Northants. i, 308A 



35'*. 354*- 

 « Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A. 8336. 



3 '9". 



228 



