Duddington

7 DUDDINGTON

(Fig. 57)

Duddington, a parish of 574 hectares on the S.E. of the R. Welland, was within Rockingham Forest. The village stands on a low terrace above the Welland, and the main street, with a back lane to the E., runs parallel to the river. To the N., near the present centre of the village, is a small green called Stocks Hill. This green was originally larger, extending S. as far as the Manor House (28) and W. to the church. In the 18th century a broad path led W. from the Green to a ford which may have been the river crossing from early times. The medieval bridge (33) is further downstream and, together with the settlement along Mill Street, may be secondary.

Until c. 1840 Duddington was a chapelry of Gretton, a village eight miles to the S.W., but it is now an independent parish. The manor was generally held by non-residents until 1843 when it was bought by the Jackson family, descendants of Nicholas Jackson, a baker of Stamford, who built up an important holding in Duddington in the 17th century. (See Manor House (28)). The Enclosure Map of 1775 shows that the Jackson property at that date consisted of farm-houses on fairly large plots whereas most of the cottages in the village were in other hands, indicating a deliberate policy of management by the Jackson family.

The Hearth Tax returns give a population of 83 families in 1673 although Bridges says there were only 50 in 1719; by 1801 there were 70 families. For a small parish this is a relatively high population and in 1673 as many as half of the householders were exempted from the Hearth Tax on the grounds of poverty. However, the variety in the sizes of the houses, and consequently the social structure, appear to be comparable with other villages.

Slate workings in the Lower Lincolnshire Limestone extended into the parish, but were never of much importance.

Ecclesiastical

(1) Parish Church of St. Mary (Fig. 58; Plate 8) stands at the N.W. side of the village on ground which falls steeply on the S.W. to the R. Welland. The churchyard wall comes close to the W. of the church which consists of a Chancel, South East Tower, Nave with North and South Aisles, and South Porch. The vestry is modern. The walls are of coursed limestone rubble with freestone dressings; the spire and buttresses are in freestone and the S. walls of the clearstorey and S. aisle are plastered. The roofs of the chancel, N. aisle and porch are steeply-pitched and stone-slated, and those of the nave and S. aisle are flat-pitched.

The earliest surviving part of the church dates from the mid 12th century; this consists of the two E. bays of the present N. nave arcade indicating a nave of the same width as at present but shorter. Very late in the 12th century the S. wall of this nave was rebuilt with an arcade, but it is not known if this was a replacement. In about 1200 or very early in the 13th century the church was considerably enlarged: the chancel was lengthened and probably widened, the nave extended westward by one bay and a tower built on the S. side of the chancel. The abnormal position of the tower may be explained by the fact that the falling ground on the W. side of the church would have prevented a tower being added beyond the extended nave. Shortly afterwards the whole of the N. aisle appears to have been rebuilt and lengthened to the W. to conform with the extended nave of which the N.W. corner stones survive. At the same time the upper part of the tower and the spire were built. Probably in the 14th century the S. aisle was widened as indicated by a straight joint in the W. wall and by the position of the W. arch of the tower which is set as far N. as possible, presumably to conform with a former narrower aisle. The chancel arch, S. porch and clearstorey are also 14th-century. In the 15th century the N. wall of the N. aisle was rebuilt.

The tower was strengthened in 1806 by tie rods bearing that date, but the chief restoration started in 1844 when the side walls of the chancel were rebuilt using windows of 13th-century design; Byran Browning, received £49.4.8. as architect in 1848–9 (BEO, Exeter Day Books, Ledger 4).

The church is notable for its 12th and 13th-century architecture, and for the abnormal siting of the tower. The lowest stage of the tower appears to have been used as a chapel at least in its first period as there is a recess, probably a piscina, in the S. wall. The chancel has a mid 19th-century roof of some elaboration.

Architectural Description – The Chancel has at its E. end shallow buttresses at the angles and a dwarf buttress; in the centre above which is a chamfered string-course; the N.E. buttress clasps the angle. These features and some lower courses of the side walls are all that remain of the early 13th-century chancel; the rest belong to the rebuilding of 1844. The chancel arch has part-octagonal responds, coved capitals and an arch of two chamfered orders; it is 14th-century and probably replaced a narrower arch.

The South Tower, in three main stages with two-stage pilaster buttresses against the lower two, has a stone octagonal broach spire. The plinth has a roll moulding, and the S.E. buttress has been rebuilt with greater projection than the original. The lowest stage has a simple round-headed doorway on the S. and a round-headed window above. Both have hood-moulds terminating with mask stops; on the E. is a small window with deeply splayed internal jambs and a round head cut from a single stone. These features suggest a date of c. 1200. The second stage, added in the early 13th century, sets back from the lower and has a pointed lancet on the S. In each face of the belfry stage is a round-headed opening within which are two pointed lights separated by a shaft. The E. and S. openings have roll-moulded arrises, the others are plain. The base of the spire is supported by corbels carved as mask stops. The spire, with internal squinch arches, has two tiers of lucarnes each of two lights. Inside, the N. tower arch has triple-lobed responds, water-holding bases and coved capitals, one with nail-head enrichment. The W. tower arch, narrower than the foregoing, has a tall quarter-round cone-shaped corbel set against the straight N. jamb of the opening. The corbel has a capital enriched with nail-head decoration and a fleur-de-lis in the cove; the triple-lobed S. respond has a water-holding base and nail-head decoration on the coved capital.

The Nave has arcades of three bays. The two E. arches on the N. are mid 12th-century and the second pier incorporates a double respond which marks the later W. extension (Plates 9, 13). The first pier is a bold drum with moulded base, and square scalloped capital; each of the two segmental arches have a bold half-round inner order and an outer order enriched on the nave side with a lattice decoration of zig-zags, but plain on the aisle side. The half-round responds of this early section have scalloped capitals; nook shafts, on the nave side, have cushion capitals enriched with rows of pellets. The W. arch has half-round responds with water-holding bases, moulded and coved capitals, which support a semicircular arch of two chamfered orders. The S. arcade (Plate 9) is of taller proportions than the N. The first two bays date from the very end of the 12th century and have a round pier and E. respond with water-holding bases, capitals carved with water-leaf decoration and round abaci (Plate 13). The arcade has semicircular arches of two chamfered orders throughout. The second pier, replacing an earlier respond, and the new W. respond are of c. 1200; the capitals are coved and plainer than those to the E. The W. window is a lancet with a slight hood mould. Two large buttresses against the W. wall were added in 1872 by Thomas Elliott of Duddington (Faculty). The 14th-century clearstorey has on each side a battlemented parapet and three unequally spaced square-headed windows each with two trefoil-headed lights and a label. Those on the S. have headstops and rib decoration in the spandrels.

The North Aisle has plain eaves. The early 13th-century E. window (Plate 27), not axial with the aisle, has two lights, a quatrefoil within a roundel in the head and an almost triangular hood mould. Two square-headed windows with three trefoil-headed lights are probably late 15th-century and the N. doorway is probably of the same date but much altered. Set in the W. wall of the vestry is a lancet mostly modern but part of the head is early. Behind the N.E. respond are remains of a medieval rood-loft stair. The South Aisle has a plain parapet with a moulded coping. Below the windows is a rounded string-course which butts against the W. wall of the tower. Two square-headed windows are probably mid 14th-century; the first has four cusped ogee-headed lights and the second, of three lights, has cusped trefoil heads and a battlemented transom. The S. doorway (Plate 15) is early 13th-century but has been reset, presumably when the aisle was widened. The jambs and arch have been cut back on the aisle side, and the central voussoirs are crudely arranged suggesting a former round-headed opening. The rounded jambs and the flanking nook-shafts share moulded plinths and capitals enriched with stiff and water-leaf decoration. The moulded arch has a prominent keel-moulding and a hood mould (Fig. 59).

The South Porch, long and narrow, has plain eaves and a gable parapet. A pair of cusped openings on the E. are cut from a single stone. On the W. is a plain rectangular slit. The mid 14th-century archway has part-octagonal jambs, moulded capitals and an arch of two chamfered orders. Along the side walls are stone benches. The roof has collars and clasped purlins and is perhaps 17th-century.

The Roof of the chancel, designed by Bryan Browning, was paid for in 1849 (BEO, Exeter Day Books, Ledger 4). It is steeply pitched and has arch braces and collars decorated with ball-flower ornament. The low-pitched nave roof is much restored, the E. tie beam being dated 1872. The N. aisle roof, of simple rafter construction, is medieval.

Fittings – Bell: inscribed 'nomenn omn' attributed to Newcombe's foundry at Leicester, early 17th-century (North). Brasses: in chancel – (1), set in floor-slab (2), plate to Frances, wife of Thomas Jackson, 1685; (2), plate to Thomas Jackson, 1694; (3), plate set in slate slab with incised border, to Thomas Jackson, 1800. Communion Rails: oak, with turned balusters ranged between four turned posts with pomegranate finials (Plate 67); mortices show that the rails originally returned on three sides, late 17th-century. Cupboard: in S. wall of S. aisle, W. of piscina, rectangular, medieval. Door: S. door of broad oak panels with pegged rails, medieval; across the door are four iron bands of fish-bone and branch shape, two with remains of hinges, late 12th-century (Plate 34). Font: octagonal bowl on squat stem composed of an octagonal block with miniature columns at the angles, and a footpace (Plate 38); 13th-century. Inscription: over S. doorway, stone recording reseating in 1844. Locker: at W. end of S. aisle, tall recess with ogee-headed doorway (Plate 40); it is a banner stave locker of the 14th century.

Monuments and Floor slabs. Monuments: In chancel (1), of Thomas Jackson, 1792, simple white marble tablet on shaped black marble background with shield of Jackson on apron, installed in 1836, signed 'Reeves, Ft. Bath'; (2), of Hugh Jackson, 1829, and wife Jane, 1818, white marble panel with fluted side pieces and shield of Jackson at top, signed 'H. Hopper, London'; (3), of William Jackson. January 1667, limestone panel. In N. aisle – (4), of Susannah Bromhead, 1839, white marble tablet with pediment against black marble background, signed 'Hibbins, Ketton'. Floor slabs: in chancel – (1), of Thomas Jackson, 1792; (2), of Francis Jackson, 1744, and Frances, 1740; (3), of William Jackson, 1718; (4), of S.J., 1739; (5), of Elizabeth Jackson, 1781; (6), of Thomas Jackson, 1679; (7), of Sarah Weldon, 1812; (8), of Elizabeth Jackson, 1821; (9), of Frances Jackson, 1691; (10), of Hugh Jackson, 1829: (11), of William Reddale, 1783; (12), of Nicholas Jackson, 1718, and wife Jane, 1711; (13), of Thomas Jackson, 1730; (14), of Christopher Jackson, 18th-century; (15), of Susannah Jackson, 1781 (?); and four illegible slabs. In N. aisle – (16), of Sophia Muston, 182–; (17), of Elizabeth Burden, 1843; (18), of Mary Beaver, 1800; (19), of George Hyles, 1838; (20), of John Rudd, 1802, signed 'Sparrow, Stamfd'; (21), of Charles Bradford, 183–, signed 'Wood . . .'.

Painting: on N. wall of N. aisle, some traces in red and black, medieval. Piscinae: (1), in S. wall of tower, with trefoil head, probably a piscina but with no drain, early 13th-century; (2), in S. wall of S. aisle, with ogee trefoil head, cinquefoil sinking, 14th-century. Seating: mostly of 1844, but in the N. aisle and at the W. end of the nave are some pews incorporating 17th-century panelling.

Secular

(2) The Mill House, of two storeys and attics, was built not long after 1775 (Enclosure Map). It was originally of class 2, and all rooms were heated. In the mid 19th century bay windows were added to the front and a wing built at the rear. A reset carved frieze of 17th-century character is above a fireplace in the rear wing.

(3) Water Mill, now an office, originated as an L-shaped two-storey building of the 17th century with two, three and four-light mullioned windows. A stone panel inscribed '1793 TS' for Thomas Soden, perhaps indicates a heightening of the building. In the early 19th century it was extended on the E., and by a W. range with mansard roof, and a wheelhouse with hipped roof. A panel reset in the wheelhouse is inscribed 'NI MI/TI 1664/SE/John St./1724'.

(4) Two-storey early 19th-century house, probably of class 4a extended by one room on W. Further to the W. is a mid 19th-century class 4c house.

(5) Two early 19th-century class 4a houses, the W. of one storey and attics and the E. of two storeys. A rear wing, with datestone inscribed 'RT IN 1827'. perhaps for John Newton who owned the house in 1848 (BEO, map 17), is shared between them.

(6) Church Farm (Plate 99), consists of two separate 17th-century houses now linked by a 19th-century addition, perhaps built by Bryan Browning in 1846 (BEO, Ledger 6). The S.W. block, of two storeys and attics, has parapeted gables, and mullioned windows. It is L-shaped and comprises a class 4a house and a small compartment on the N. not entered from the main room. The front, N.E. range, of one storey and attics, also with parapeted gables and mullioned windows, dates from later in the 17th century; inside 17th-century panelling has been reset. Originally of class 3a it is now entered from the rear through the 19th-century addition.

Behind the house is a two-cell Dovecote, with about 800 nesting boxes, of the 18th century (Fig. 7).

(7) Two storeys, crested ridge tiles, 17th-century origin, two tenements in 19th century and now one house. (Not entered)

(8) (Fig. 60) Originally built as two separate houses at different dates in the 17th century, it was converted to a parish workhouse after 1775 and remained in use until the Poor Law Reform Act of 1834, after which it again became two cottages (NRO, J(D) 644, 662). The N. range is now class 1b. The masonry wall to W. of the passage suggests that it may have originated as a single-room house of class 1c. There are two external doors, that on the N. having a wooden frame and dog-tooth ornament on the lintel. A first-floor fireplace has a four-centred head in a rectangular frame. The S. house has three-light mullioned windows, parapeted gable, and a plain 17th-century fireplace on the upper floor.

(9) Crownfield Cottage, one storey and attics, originally class 1b, 17th-century. Mullioned windows.

(10) Barn with freestone quoins and vertical ventilation slits, probably 1815, the date on the gable.

(11) Stocks Hill House (Fig. 61; Plates 94, 95) consists of a single range with small additions on the E. and W.; being built on sloping ground it is of two storeys and attics on the S. and only one storey and attics on the N. The development of the house is not clear but to judge from the style of the windows it originated in the late 15th century as an open hall with a storeyed section to the S. and probably service rooms to the N., occupying exactly the area of the present house. In 1601 the house was extensively altered, the date appearing on the S. gable. The hall was divided into two by a central wall and floored over, and an attic was inserted above the S. room. In plan this appears to have given two very large rooms on each floor, the division being in the middle of the former hall. Deeds indicate that the house belonged to Anthony Markham, who was styled gentleman, was woodward to the Earl of Exeter, and is mentioned between 1606 and 1616 (NRO, J(D) 37, 56, 122; S.G. 140); he may have been responsible for this remodelling. In 1858 and 1973 considerable alterations were carried out including the introduction of new windows in the N. section; these were added on the E. side in 1858 and on the W. in 1973.

The principal elevation is on the E. (Plate 95). In the S. section are two two-light windows of the late 15th century with cinquefoil heads and hood moulds. Later features include a single-light upper window of 1601, a tall chimney stack and hipped dormer, both probably early 18th-century, and a four-centred doorway, perhaps added in 1858. In the N. section are flush gabled dormers, one dated 1858, ovolo-moulded mullioned windows and a four-centred headed doorway, possibly all mid 19th-century although some windows may be renewals on original lines. The S. gable (Plate 94) has a parapet, and upper and lower windows of the late 15th century have two cinquefoil heads, moulded surrounds and square hood moulds. The two-light gable window is an introduction of 1601, the date inscribed on a panel above it. The W. wall, formerly blind, has later windows one of which is reset from a house in Bringhurst and dated 1620.

The interior is on two levels, the division coming at the 17th-century timber-framed partition dividing the hall. To the S. are stop-chamfered beams of 1601 and a fireplace which, to judge from the position of the windows, represents an original feature of the late 15th century. On the first floor are lengths of a plaster frieze with scroll decoration of 1601 (Plate 126), suggesting one large room in the S. part of the house. The N. section of the house, with floors at a higher level, has stop-chamfered beams indicating a single ground-floor room; the floor above is of plaster.

A late 15th-century roof remains over the original hall and parlour. The hall, roofed in two bays, has a central open truss with tapered principals and braces to a cambered collar; the butt-purlins are wind-braced. The roof over the parlour is also of two bays but differs from the hall roof in that there are no wind-braces and the end trusses have clasped purlins. The N. part of the house has an 18th-century roof.

(12) Corringham, two-storey class 2 house, 19th-century in present form but incorporating an earlier house. Parapeted gable and some freestone quoins. Stair with 18th-century turned balusters. Later 19th-century shop addition at N. end.

(13) Beaumont (Plate 118), formerly Belmont, large class 8 house on rising ground, approached by double flight of steps with decorative iron balustrade, built in 1828 (Whellan). Two storeys, flush freestone dressings, Welsh slated hipped roof with wide eaves. Part of an earlier building with stone slate roof is incorporated at the rear as a service wing. A tradesmen's entrance, by way of a tunnel from the road, leads to this wing. Fittings of 1828 survive.

(14) The Old Windmill, a two-storey house built as the Windmill Inn in the early 19th century. Three-room plan, the staircase rising between the two W. rooms which have rear stacks; the E. room, with separate entrance, was the kitchen. In 1837 it was owned by Joseph Phillips of Stamford, brewer (BEO, Valuation).

(15) One storey and attics, class 6b, early 19th-century.

(16) Former Schoolhouse, Schoolroom and Post Office (Plate 121). In 1667 William Jackson left £50 to build a school and an endowment of £10 a year for a master to teach twelve poor children. This was replaced in 1842 by the present building, a two-storey house of two-room plan and a girls' schoolroom; a nearby thatched cottage was converted to a boys' school. A stone panel is inscribed 'HJ 1842' for Hugh Jackson. In the N. wall of the house is a stone slab with a blocked opening, inscribed 'letter box'; a post office was established here in 1844 and Edward Wheelband was schoolmaster and postmaster (Mercury, 28 June 1844; Kelly, 1847). In 1891– 2 a new school building designed by J. B. Corby of Stamford was built by W. Goddard Jackson.

(17) Two storeys and attics, with parapeted gables, class 6b front range of the 18th century; a two-storey rear wing now of two rooms, is 17th-century. To the E. is an early 19th-century two-room cottage now used as an outbuilding.

(18) Pair of unequal two-storey houses, the N. of class 4c and the S. of class 4a, was built in the late 18th century. Freestone quoins and lintels with separate keystones to ground-floor openings. These houses, mons. (19) and (20) and a now demolished 17th-century house were all built on one sub-divided plot.

(19) Pair of two-storey early 19th-century class 4c houses, now united.

(20) The Red House, two storeys and cellar, coursed rubble with the W. front faced in brick, hipped stone-slated roof, is a square house of two-room plan and urban appearance, built in the second quarter of the 19th century.

(21) Originally class 4a, early 17th-century. Altered in the early 19th century to give a class 6b plan, and heightened to two storeys and attics. Two-storey bakehouse at rear.

(22) Two storeys and attics, front wall of pindle, freestone dressings, class 7, early 19th-century.

(23) Braddan House, two storeys and attics. Symmetrical three-bay front with rear wing; parapeted gables. Mullioned windows of two and three lights. Probably early 18th-century. (Not entered)

(24) Two storeys, class 4c with partition screening entry, 18th-century. Later stable of one storey and attic now incorporated in living accommodation. Thatched roof.

(25) Rose Cottage, two storeys, class 6b with single-storey bay windows, and date-stone 'JB 1830' for Joseph Bradshaw. Later parallel range behind.

(26) Two storeys, class 6b with rear wing, early 19th-century. (Not entered)

(27) Two mid 19th-century cottages; the W. one, formerly with a shop on the E., incorporates part of a 17th-century house with a mullioned window. Welsh slate roof. (Not entered)

(28) Manor House. In 1603 Nicholas Jackson, baker, of Stamford began buying property in Duddington and by 1620 was living in the village. In 1632 he was styling himself yeoman, and it is presumably he who built the present house in the following year. By 1668 his son William was calling himself gentleman, and by 1697 the family were major landowners in the village but only held the manor from 1798 to 1843. The house has remained in their occupation (NRO, J(D), 14, 66, 98, 102, 123; VCH, Northants. II, 561).

The house originated as a modest two-storey building possibly class 4a set at right-angles to the street. Later in the 17th century it was extended to the W. by a similar-sized two-storey two-room range. In the 18th century this range was increased to three storeys, and a kitchen was added to the W. At about the same time a two-storey range projecting on the S. was added; in the late 19th century this was partly surrounded by a new building which included a 'baronial' hall in the Gothick style. A two-storey bay window in the same style was added to the main front.. The doorway and two fireplaces in the end walls of the original house have four-centred heads within rectangular frames: above the door is a slab inscribed 'NI 1633', presumably for Nicholas Jackson.

N. of the house is a long 18th-century Barn which was given an upper floor with a medieval-style hall roof in the late 19th century.

(29) Home Farm (Fig. 62), two storeys, originally class 4a, 17th-century, with a nearly contemporary addition of one room at the back, a late 18th-century extension on the E. and a 19th-century parlour on the N. Two and four-light mullioned windows with hood moulds. To N. are Farm Buildings including an 18th-century barn and a square dovecote with pyramidal roof and wooden alighting ledges, providing some 96 nesting boxes.

(30) Dial House (Fig. 63). built c. 1726 by George Wade, tanner (NRO, J(D), 190). Two storeys and attic, class 4a with stair turret added later in the 18th century, and a 19th-century kitchen. 18th-century sundial. Two monolithic blocks 60 cm. high survive in the fireplace recess in the S. room (Plate 127).

(31) One storey and attics, class 4a, 17th-century. Mullioned window.

(32) One storey and attics, formerly with mullioned windows, thatched roof, 17th-century, possibly originally class 4a, converted to class 5 in the early 19th century (Fig. 64).

(33) Duddington Bridge crosses the R. Welland at the point where it is joined by the tailrace of the millstream. It is of medieval origin but was repaired and widened on the downstream side in 1919 (Jervoise). On the upstream side are four pointed arches and two cutwaters. To the S.W. it is approached by a causeway.