A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



William Lombe.' She and her husband had seisin in 

 1367^ and William Lambe was holding in 1376.' By 

 1428 Delapre Abbev was the sole tenant. 



RjrENSCROFT'S a/ias HJRFET'S MJNOR, 

 held of the honor of Huntingdon, seems to have 

 originated in the possessions of the Gaytons and Cogen- 

 hoes. In 1325 GilesdeCogenhoe was returned as tenant 

 of half a fee, but this mesne lordship is no further 

 mentioned. 



Philip de Quenton in 1284 held 6 virgates in Cotes 

 by serjeanty,'' and four years later made a fine with 

 Philip de Gayton,^ from whom he had evidently pur- 

 chased; and the lord of the barony of Wardon, who 

 held Kingshall meadow, probably in these fields,* was 

 also concerned.' Theobald de Gayton held 3 parts of 

 a knight's fee in Brafield, Hardingstone, and Cotton in 

 1 3 16.* About 1306 William son of Michael' gave 

 land in Hardingstone to Henry de Longueville in 

 marriage with his daughter Joan. Henry and Joan died 

 without issue, and in 1328 William son of Adam son of 

 William son of Michael of Northampton claimed this 

 land against John de Longueville of Little Billing and 

 next year against George his son;'° Elizabeth Longue- 

 ville married James Swetenham," and John Meyho, 

 clerk, presumably trustee to uses, conveyed the manor 

 to Nicholas Swetenham with contingent remainders to 

 James, John, Randell, and William Swetenham in tail 

 male, John Kingsley and Henry Ravenscroft in fee 

 simple. Nicholas and James succeeded in turn. John 

 meanwhile died childless and Thomas son of Randell 

 succeeded and died childless. William then held the 

 manor, then John Kingsley, and they dying childless 

 were followed by Henry Ravenscroft.'- That was the 



Ravenscroft. Argent a 



che'vcron betiueen three 



ranjens^ heads sable. 



Harvey. Gules a bend 

 argent ivith three trefoils 

 'Vert thereon and a quar- 

 ter or ivith a leopard^s 

 head gules therein. 



Story of 100 years later. Richard Swetenham, however, 

 was the tenant in the official return 1428.'^ Henry 

 Ravenscroft was holding meadow in Cotton in 1467 

 that had belonged to James Swetenham.'* His son 



Hugh died in his lifetime, leaving a son Henry who 

 succeeded his grandfather in the manor and was father 

 of Henry Ravenscroft, lord in the early i6th century. '^ 

 Thomas Ravenscroft was a free tenant of the royal 

 manor of Cotton and Hardingstone in 1543 and owed 

 suit of court.'* There followed a George Ravenscroft, 

 whose inheritance by 1584 was in the occupation of 

 Stephen Harvey," auditor of the Duchy of Lancaster, 

 who died in 1606 in the manor-house. Also his wife 

 Anne, who died in 1590, was buried in the 'Harvey' 

 aisle in the church, a burial-place 'time out of mind' 

 for those whose estate they held here.'^ His son Sir 

 Francis, judge of the Common Pleas, settled the manor 

 on his son Stephen, K.B., who predeceased him in 

 1630." Sir Francis was followed in 1632 by Stephen's 

 young son Francis,-" who was succeeded by his brother 

 Richard in 1645.^' James Harvey, rector of Weston 

 Favell and a devotional writer, son of William Harvey 

 rectorofCollingtree, was born here in 1714.^^ He had 

 a brother William, perhaps the William Harvey who 

 held an estate in 1722;-^ but the mansion-house was 

 in ruins and the greater part of the property, together 

 with the manorial rights, was in the possession of the 

 Tales of Delapre Abbey.^'* 



The leper hospital of St. Leonard, founded about 

 1 1 50 by Ralph de Stafford, lay south of the bridge at 

 Cotton End, also called St. Leonard's End or Wick, 

 by the London road, a good spot for begging. It had 

 semi-parochial rights. ^^ jj -^^^g taken as a chantry into 

 the king's hands and granted in 1 548 to Francis Sam- 

 well.-* The corporation protested and it was restored. 

 The lazar-house was pulled down in 1823; but a poor 

 man or woman was maintained up to 1840. In 1864 

 the property was assigned to the support of Northamp- 

 ton Grammar School.-' 



St. James's Abbey, Northampton, possessed about 

 10 acres of meadow land from the 13th century in 

 Cotton 'mersh', near the bridge, receiving grants from 

 the families of Saucey and Thorpe, Beseville and Cogen- 

 hoe,-^and holding a fulling mill. ^' Edward VI alienated 

 the meadow to Sir Thomas Tresham.^" 



A messuage and meadow called Plash in Harding- 

 stone were held in 1364 by the hospital of St. John 

 the Baptist of Northampton. 3' In 1543 the masters 

 of that hospital and the hospital of St. Thomas of 

 Northampton were free tenants and owed suit of court 

 at the former Delapre manor.^^ 



The church of ST. EDMUND con- 



CHURCH sists of chancel, 29 ft. by 15 ft. 6 in., with 



south aisle or chapel, now used as a vestry 



and organ-chamber; clerestoried nave, 49 ft. 6 in. by 



1 6 ft. ; north and south aisles 9 ft. wide, north and south 



* Chan. Inq. p.m. 40 Edw. Ill (ist 

 nos.), no. 9. 



2 Abbre-v. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), i, 

 291. 



^ Cal. Close, 1374-7, p. 189. 



' Feud. Aids, iv, 6. Thomas le Scr- 

 jaunt gave a messuage in Hardingstone 

 to Delapre : Mon. Angl. v, 209. 



5 Feet of F. Northants. 17 Edw. I, no. 



255- 



' Cal. Inq. p.m. vii, p. 424. This part of 

 the royal demesne was the object of a grant 

 m ii^i: Pipe R. 3 Ric. I (Pipe R. Soc), 



153- 



' Feet of F. Northants. 19 Edw. I, no. 

 276. 



8 Cal. Inq. p.m. v, p. 235. 



' Michael was ancestor on the maternal 

 side of Theobald. 



"> Plac. de Banc. Mich. 2 Edw. Ill, 

 m. 91 ; Assize R. 633, m. 27. 



" Chan. Inq. p.m. 36 Hen. VI, no. 36. 



'^ Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 353, no. 22. 



^^ Feud. Aids, iv, 43. 



'* Harl. R. G. 31. It is difficult to con- 

 nect Milicent daughter and heir of 

 'Ravenscroft of Cotton-End' who married 

 John Morris (died 1467) of Bray, Berks. 

 Diet. Nat. Biog. 



'5 Early Chan. Proc. loc. cit. 



'* Ct. R. (Gen. Scr.), portf. 195, no. 17. 



" Exch. Dep. Trin. 26 Eliz. no. 8. 



'^ Bridges, op. cit. 360—2. 



'^ Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclix, 47. 



^0 Ibid, cccclxv, 59. 



^^ Ibid, dxxiii, 45. 



-^ Diet. Nat. Biog. s.v. 'Hervey'. 



" Exch. Dep. Mich. 9 Geo. I, no. 13. 



^■t Bridges, op. cit. 362-3. The Rud- 

 ycrd family obtained the Harvey Berkshire 

 lands by the marriage of William Rudyerd 

 with Sarah daughter and co-heir of Sir 

 Stephen Harvey of Northampton : V.C.H. 

 Berks, iv, 244. 



-5 V.C.B. Northants. i, 159, iii, 31, 60. 



^f" Cal. Pat. Ed-w. VI,\,^ii: to be held 

 of the king's manor of Green's Norton, 



^' V.C.H. Northants. iii, 20-2, 60. 



-* Add. Chart. 47053, 47055-6, 47059 ; 

 Feet of F. Northants. 1 3 Edw. I, case 174, 

 file 54, no. 161; Inq. Non. (Rec. Com.), 

 27; Valor Eccles. (Rec. Com.), iv, 319. 



" Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), ii, 2A. 



3" Cal. Pat. Edw. VI, iv, 200-3. 



^' Chan. Inq. p.m. 38 Edw. Ill (2nd 

 nos.), no. 53. 



^2 Ct. R. (Gen. Ser.), portf. 195, no. 17. 



256 



