WYMERSLEY HUNDRED 



daughter of Sir Henry Martyn and died in 1652 leav- 

 ing his son Henry as his heir." Eight years later William 

 Terringham, Lieutenant of Sal- 

 cey forest, secured from Henry 

 Edraondsconfirmation of hunting 

 rights in Preston park previously 

 held by Sir John Wake.- When 

 Henry Edmonds died in 1701 

 the estate descended to his grand- 

 son Sir Richard Newman, ban., 

 in right of his mother Grace who 

 had married Richard Newman of 

 Evercreech Park, co. Somerset.^ Niwmas. Quarterly 

 Sir Richard died in 1 72 1 and was 'f' ""/, '"^"", .'"''* 



, 1 . ^ . ""' moUts argent tn the 



succeeded m turn by his son Sir fi„, and fourth <}uarter,. 

 Samwell Newman who died un- and the augmentation of a 

 married in 1 747 and his daughter «-'"'^*"'' g"'" charged 

 Frances who also died unmarried ^•"•^po"<f" "'^""^ 

 in 1775. ^^^ estates passed to 

 her cousin Charles Toll of Preston Deanery and his 

 brother the Rev. Ashburnhara Philip Toll of Thorn- 

 bury Park, CO. Gloucester, the latter of 

 whom took the surname and arms of 

 Newman.* A Charles Newman pre- 

 sented to the living in 1798' and in 

 1 8 14 Charles Newman senior and junior 

 were vouchees in a recovery of the 

 manor and advowson to Giles Bleas- 

 dale.* He was perhaps a feoffee for 

 purposes of a conveyance to Langham 

 Christie who is named in a fine of 

 181 5.' From him it had passed by 

 1854 to William Langham Christie, 

 esquire, J. P., and is still owned by this 

 family. 



The church of ST. PETER AND 

 ST. PAUL consists of chancel, 24 ft. 

 by 13 ft. 6 in.; nave, 29 ft. 3 in. by 



19 ft. 3 in.; and west tower, 13 ft. 6 in. 

 CHURCH square, all these measurements being 

 internal. The total inside length of the 

 building is 77 ft. 



The walling throughout is of limestone rubble, with 

 ironstone dressings in chancel and nave. The roofs are 

 modern and covered with slates,* without parapets, 

 and internally (except in the tower) the walls are 

 plastered. The building is substantially of 1 2th-century 

 date, the tower, the walls of the nave, and the west part 

 of the chancel being of that period. The chancel 

 appears to have been extended to its present length in 

 the 1 3th century, and in the 14th century new windows 

 were inserted in the upper stage of the tower on three 

 sides and a new parapet added. Bridges states that in 

 the reigns of Elizabeth and James I the church lay in 

 a very ruinous condition, Jasper Hertwell and his son 

 Sir Robert having, 'as it is said', sold the lead and bells, 

 pulled down the body' and converted it to a profane 

 use, but it was afterwards repaired by Charles Ed- 



' Bridges, i, 381; M.I. in church. 



' Bridges, i, 381. In the i8th century 

 Sir Baldwin Wake had here an estate and 

 house built by his father Sir William when 

 be left Piddington : Bridges, i, 380. See 

 also Feet of F. Northants. Hil. 20 Jas. I; 

 ibid. Trin. 6 Geo. I. 



' Bridges, i, 381; Burke, Landed 

 Gentry (1906), ii, 1230. Henry Edmondes 

 and his mother were parties to a fine con- 

 cerning the manor in 1676: Feet of F. 

 Northants. East. 28 Chas. II. 



PRESTON 



DE.ANERV 



raonds,'" son of Sir Clement. The 'repair', which must 

 have been of an extensive character, was probably 

 carried out soon after the death of Sir Clement in 1622, 

 and the present south doorway, the windows of the 

 nave, and that on the north side of the chancel are of 

 this period. 



The chancel has a chamfered plinth and a single 

 buttress of two stages at the south-east angle. The east 

 window is a modern pointed one of three cinquefoiled 

 lights and vertical tracery, set within the opening of a 

 large round-headed window apparently inserted in 

 1808, that date together with the initials of Charles 

 Newman being on a panel above the keystone. At the 

 west end of the south wall is a tall late- 13th-century 

 single-light window with trefoil head, divided nearly 

 at mid-height by a transom, the whole of which is now 

 blocked and on the inside completely concealed by the 

 plaster." East of this is a blocked round-headed priest's 

 doorway, with chamfered jambs and head,'- which 

 probably belongs to the original chancel. On the north 

 side the chancel is lighted by a square-headed 17th- 



■ 12E< CnNTURYcESI7ffl Century 

 l3 131 Century □ Modern 



10 5 



10 



20 



30 



Scale of Feet 

 Plan of Preston Deanery Church 



century window of two rounded lights placed high in 

 the wall, and on the south by a modern three-light 

 window of the same type. To the east of the latter are 

 traces of a former window and in the north wall a 

 blocked 17th-century doorway. No ancient ritual 

 arrangements now remain, but the 1 3th-century trefoil- 

 headed piscina recess is inserted in the north wall of 

 the tower outside, at its east end, close to the ground. 

 The plain semicircular chancel arch is square on both 

 edges, but is completely covered with plaster. It springs 

 from chamfered and hatched impost mouldings, which 

 are continued along the east wall of the nave. The 

 opening is 8 ft. 6 in. wide. The floors of chancel and 

 nave are level. 



The nave is lighted by a square-headed window of 

 four rounded lights in the middle of the north wall, 

 and by two windows of the same character, but of two 

 lights, on the south side, one on each side of the door- 

 w'ay. There are two steps down from the churchyard 

 at the doorway, which has a flat four-centred head and 



Landed Gentry (1906), ii, been completely dismantled and probably 

 unroofed. 



"> Bridges, Hist, of Northanti. i, 381. 



" Alloc. Arch. Soc. Ref>. xx'ix, 441. It 

 is simply chamfered all round and is with- 

 out hood-mould. The lower part, which 

 is 2 ft. 5 J in. high, forms a low-side 

 window. The total height of the window 

 is 6 ft. 2 in., and its width i ft. 3 in. 



" The head is in two stones, and is 

 without hood-mould. 



♦ Burke, 

 1231. 



5 Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.). 

 « Recov. R. Mich. 55 Geo. Ill, ro. 188. 

 ' Feet of F. Northants. Mich. 56 Geo. 

 III. 



• In Bridges' time (c. 1720) the nave 

 was leaded and the chancel tiled. 



« The statement that the body of the 

 church was 'pulled down' appears to be 

 an exaggeration, but points to its having 



IV 



