A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



The manor included in 1295 Thorpe Wood in 

 Salcey forest, with housebote and heybote by view of 

 the foresters and verderers.' In 1359 14 cottars paid 

 16^. yearly rent for a common oven; and there were 

 then customs called 'beaupleyt' and 'yeld'.- In 1675 

 free fishery and free warren, view of frankpledge and 

 court baron were descending with the manor. ^ 



Winemar's successors held of the honor of Hunting- 

 don of the Hastings pourparty. Walter, son of Wine- 

 mar the Domesday tenant, and his brother Michael, 

 with consent of 'A.' his wife, gave two thirds of the 

 tithe of their demesne in Thorpe and Wootton to St. 

 Andrew's priory, Northampton.'* Three-quarters of a 



Englefields, as lords of Rothersthorpe, were still pay 

 ing it in the late i6th centurv.''' 



The church of ST. PETER AND ST. 

 CHURCH PAUL consists of chancel, 26 ft. 6 in. by 

 19 ft. 3 in., with north and south chapels, 

 clerestoried nave, 36 ft. 6 in. by 18 ft., north and south 

 aisles, respectively 10 ft. 9 in. and 12 ft. 3 in. wide, 

 south porch, and west tower 8 ft. 9 in. by 9 ft., all these 

 measurements being internal. The width across nave 

 and aisles is 46 ft. 2 in. The chapels belong structurally 

 to the aisles and overlap the chancel on each side for 

 about half its length. The north chapel is now used 

 as a vestry. 



Fj 131 Century 



[ZjlHi! CcNTUiiY 



CI]l5ffl Century 

 E£] Modern 



10 5 



10 



20 



=t= 



30 



40 



50 



Scale of Feet 

 Plan of Rothersthorpe Church 



hide was given to the Hospital of St. John of Northamp- 

 ton' soon after its foundation in about 1 138,* the Pres- 

 ton family retaining the mesne lordship.' The Hos- 

 pital held 10 virgates in 1284,* was returned as joint 

 lord of the vill in 13 16,' and had \ knight's fee in 

 1376.'° In 1535 it paid Sir James Strangeways 34/. 

 annually for land here and in Tiffield, and had a bailiff 

 for these places." 



The j^^io fee farm rent from the manor was granted 

 by Henry III in 1231 to St. Mary de Pratis near 

 Creak, Norfolk, as a temporary gift,'- confirmed by 

 Edward I;'3 and that house remained in possession until 

 it came to an end automatically in I 507, 'because there 

 was no convent in it'."'' John de PateshuU in 1 349 held 

 £\2. 13/. CfJ. rent and rents of 3 capons and 14 hens 

 of the Abbot of Creak by the service of 30/. yearly and 

 to John Cook I2d.,'^ these sums being presumably the 

 proportion of the £10 chargeable on his tenements. 

 Henry VII gave the £10 rent to Christ's College, Cam- 

 bridge, with the rest of the abbey's property;'* and the 



The waUing is all of roughly dressed coursed lime- 

 stone mingled with local ironstone, and, with the 

 exception of the porch, all the roofs are of low pitch 

 and leaded. There is a parapet to the north aisle, but 

 elsewhere the lead overhangs. The tower has a leaded 

 saddle-back roof, and the porch is covered with red 

 tiles. Internally the walls are plastered, except in the 

 tower and at the west end of the nave. 



The 12th-century font and the sculptured cross- 

 head noticed below point to a church of that period on 

 the site, but no part of the existing fabric can definitely 

 be assigned to so early a date. The present nave may 

 be considered to represent that of a 13th-century 

 aisleless church, the quoins at the western angles of 

 which remain, and the walls of the chancel are in the 

 main of the same period, a portion of a 13th-century 

 string-course, originally external, being now within the 

 south chapel. About 1300, aisles were added and the 

 present arcades built, the aisles being carried eastward 

 so as partly to cover the chancel, the arch to which was 



' Cal. Inq. p.m. iii, 269, p. 233. 



^ Ibid, jc, 520, p. 4.1 1. 



3 Recov. R. Mich. 27 Chas. II, rot. 

 215. 



* Cott. MS. Vesp. E. xvii, fol. 79; 

 Dugdale, Alon. v, 191^. 



s y.C.H. Northants. i, 375a. 



' Ibid, iii, 59. 



' Feud. Aids, iv, 7. 



8 Ibid. » Ibid. 27. 



"> Cal. Close, 1374-7, p. 190. 

 >' Falor Eccles. (Rec. Com.), iv, 317. 



286 



" Cal. Chart. 1226-57, p. 139. 



" Cal. Close, 1339-41, p. 446. 



'* Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxiii, 285. 



'5 Cal. Inq. p.m. ix, 350, p. 289. 



" Cal. Pat. 1494-1509, p. 543. 



" Whellan, G<2S. 281. 



