A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



with broken pediment supported by Ionic columns,' 

 and shields of arms. Below are kneeling figures of the 

 knight and his first wife Mary Middleton, who pre- 

 deceased him.^ There is also a white marble wall 

 tablet to Sir Charles Wake Jones (d. 1755) erected in 

 1767 by Sir William Wake, and in the chancel one to 

 Henrietta, wife of Henry Grattan, who died in 1838. 

 In the aisles are numerous 19th-century marble tablets 

 to members of the Wake family, and in the tower three 

 hatchments.^ 



There is a ring of five bells cast in 1683 by Henry 

 Bagley of Chacombe.* 



The plate consists of a cup and cover paten of 1603 

 engraved with the arms of Sir Samuel Jones, and a cup, 

 paten, flagon, and bread-holder of 1870, presented by 

 the parishioners. 5 



The registers before 1812 are as follows: (i) all 

 entries Nov. 1538-Feb. 1672-3; (ii) Jan. 1672-3- 

 Sept. 1760, marriages to 1754; (iii) baptisms 1794- 

 18 1 2, burials 1761-1812; (iv) marriages 17 54-1 8 12. 



The advowson was apparently 

 JDFOPFSON given by William Peverel* to the 

 Cluniac priory of Lenton, and the 

 grant was confirmed by the pope in 1205.' The priory 

 received a pension of i mark from the church, the grant 

 being confirmed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, at 

 his visitation in 13 19.* The rectory was valued at 

 ;{^i3 8/. id. in 1535, out of which 10/. 7</. was paid 



to the Archdeacon of Northampton for procurations 

 and synodals, and 6s. 'id. to the priory of Lenton.' At 

 the dissolution of the monasteries the right of patronage 

 fell to the Crown, but in 1868 it was purchased by the 

 lord of the manor and has since descended with it. 

 Courteenhall had a staunch puritan rector in William 

 Castell who was presented to the church in 1627. 

 When Commissioners came to visit the church in 1637 

 and complained of the rails of the communion table, 

 Castell refused to allow any alterations, 'saying there 

 should be no new tricks put upon him, and that he could 

 live as well in New England as here'. A statement of 

 his irregularities in performance of divine worship was 

 drawn up, stating, 'He made diminutions and altera- 

 tions in the service, never wore surplice or hood, did 

 not use the catechism in the Prayer Book, hindered the 

 churchwardens from cancelling in the communion table, 

 and was a quarreller and fighter on the bowling leys'.'" 

 Sir Samuel Jones by his will proved 

 CHARITY 4 January 1673 gave to the overseers of 

 the poor a yearly sum of j^20 issuing out 

 of lands in Courteenhall, Quinton, Wootton Road, and 

 Ashton to be employed to put out as apprentices three 

 boys or girls, born in the parish. The charity is now 

 regulated by a Scheme of the Charity Commissioners 

 dated i February 19 10, under the provisions of which 

 the income amounting to about ^^27 yearly is applicable 

 for apprenticing, &c. 



DENTON 



Dodintone (si cent.); Dudintun (xii cent.); Parva 

 Dudington (xiii cent.); Denynton (xiv cent.); Doding- 

 ton alias Deynton (xvi cent.) ; Doddington Parva alias 

 Nether Doddington (xvii cent.); Denton or Little 

 Doddington (xviii cent.). 



Denton is a parish on the road from Northampton to 

 Bedford, 2 miles from the Horton station on the 

 Northampton and Bedford branch of the L.M.S. rail- 

 way. The soil is principally clay and the chief crops are 

 cereals. There are woods in the south-east adjoining 

 Yardley Chase. The parish lies mostly more than 300 ft. 

 above the ordinance datum. Its area is 1,555 acres. 

 The population in 193 1 was 424. 



A two-story thatched house on the west side of the 

 village is dated 1606, and not far away is part of an old 

 stone house with muUioned windows which was prob- 

 ably the manor-house. In an adjoining field is a cir- 

 cular dovehouse, built of limestone, with blue-slated 

 roof and cupola: its internal diameter at the ground 

 level is 14 ft. 6 in., and it contains over 500 nesting 

 places." 



The only mention of a manor of DEN- 

 MANOR TON, here called Little Dudyngton by 

 Yardley, during the medieval period occurs 

 in two fines of 1 346 whereby it was settled upon 

 William of Brixworth, citizen of London, and John his 



' The shafts are of black marble, with 

 white marble capitals and bases. 



^ The inscription is given in Bridges, 

 op. cit. i, 354.. 



3 Thev are those of Sir William Wake, 

 8th baroriet (d. 1785); Sir William Wake, 

 9th baronet (d. 184.6); and Sir Charles 

 Wake, loth baronet (d. 1864). 



* North, a. Bells of Northanls. 234, 

 where the inscriptions are given. In 1552 

 there were four great bells and a sanctus 

 bell. Sir Samuel Jones in his will left 



money for increasing the number of the 

 bells from four to five. 



5 Markham, Ch. Plate of Norlhants. 82. 



^ Dugdale, .'1/o«. ^n_g-/. V, 1 12. Doubts 

 are expressed by Prof. Stenton [Northants. 

 Rec. Soc. iv, 160) as to the authenticity of 

 this second charter of William Peverel. 



' Cal.Pap.Reg.], 18. 



8 Cat. Pal. 13S1-5, p. 187. 



' l^alor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv, 330. 

 '<> Cal. S.P. Dom. 1637, p. 382. 

 " Norlhanti. N. & Q. n.s. i, 14.4. Its 



son for life with reversion to Sir Roger de Akeney and 

 Joan his wife, and to the heirs of Joan.'^ This isolated 

 reference stands unexplained. 



In 1086, a half hide in Denton was held by Wine- 

 mar of the Countess Judith,'^ who held one hide as a 

 member of Yardley Hastings;'* and 3 hides in Denton 

 and Whiston were held by Ramsey Abbey," to which 

 house they had been given by Brithnoth the Earl,'* 

 who died in 991.'^ By the 12th century the Countess's 

 hide had passed to King David, while the fee of Ram- 

 sey Abbey in Denton consisted, 

 apparently, of li hides, namely 

 6 small virgates held by Walter 

 fitz Winemar and 10 small 

 virgates held by William de 

 Whiston." It would seem that 

 Winemar's half hide had been 

 usurped by the Countess and 

 recovered by Ramsey. Butappar- 

 ently William Peverel obtained 

 possession before his forfeiture in J^amsey Abbey. Or a 



, ^ ^ bend azure ivith three 



1 1 55, as just about a century rams' heads argent there- 

 after the Domesday Survey the on. 



hidage of the Ramsey estates 



includes the land of Denton which William Peverel 

 held but which was then in the King's hands and 



height to the eaves is about 16 ft. 6 in., 

 but the wall has three set-backs. The roof 

 was renewed 'about sixty years ago' (from 

 1905). 



■2 Feet of F. Northants, Edw. Ill, file 

 78, nos. 315, 321. 



" y.C.H. Northants. i, 35+*. 



■■• Ibid. 35 li. '5 Ibid. 319. 



'* Cart. Alon. de Ramesaia (Rolls Ser.), 

 iii, 167. 



" Diet. Nat. Biog. 



'8 F.C.H. Northants, i, 376. 



246 



