KING'S RIPTON
Riptone, Riptone Regis, Rippetona (xii cent.),
Ryptone Regis, Kyngesrippton (xiii cent.).
This parish, of 1,168 acres, lies on the east of Abbots
Ripton, and to the north of Hartford and Huntingdon.
The district is low-lying and flat, the highest ground
being in the south-west, whence it slopes towards the
small group of buildings forming the village. The
church stands in the middle of the village. The
Rectory Farm, to the east of the church, is a 17th-century half-timber building with brick nogging,
and west of the church is a 16th-century farmhouse of
half-timber construction with an overhanging upper
story on the east front. There is little woodland in
the parish, the land being mainly used for farming.
The soil and subsoil are clay.
A 15th-century court-roll gives the following place
names: Collesland, Bessell, Holondfelde, Bysshop
Hegeway, Ramsey Crosse, Stalkersdole, Dogebrige,
Caneforlong. (fn. 1)
MANOR
King's Ripton was included under
Hartford (q.v.) in the Domesday Survey
(1086), which accounts for the return
there of two churches and two mills. In a suit of
1276 it was stated on behalf of the king that the
manor appeared to have been ancient demesne of the
Crown (which Hartford is shown to have been) 'by
inspection of his book which is called Domesday.' (fn. 2)
In later documents King's Ripton is described as a
hamlet of Hartford. (fn. 3) The earliest record shows it
to have been held by the Crown when Henry I granted
his manor of Ripton to Walter, Abbot of Ramsey, to
hold for ever at fee farm, paying £8 per annum. (fn. 4) King
Stephen granted 'his demesne manor of Ripton' to
the Abbey in free alms, (fn. 5) but Henry II repeated the
terms of the charter of Henry I (fn. 6) and the fee farm,
which later amounted to £10 13s. 4d. per annum, was
paid to the Crown by the Abbots of Ramsey until the
Dissolution. (fn. 7) There is record of a grant made by
Abbot William between 1161 and 1177 of some land
in King's Ripton 'which Durand, with the charters
which he had had of King Henry the elder of the same
land, gave to the Abbey with his body for ever.' (fn. 8) In
1279 the abbot was returned as holding 'the manor of
Ripton Regis which is a hamlet belonging to Hartford (Hereford). (fn. 9) After the Dissolution the manor
appears to have remained for some considerable time
in the Crown, but in 1601 Thomas Bellott and Richard
Langeley, acting for Sir Robert Cecil, obtained a grant
of it. (fn. 10) In 1609 Cecil, then Earl of Salisbury, settled
it on himself and his son, (fn. 11) who succeeded him in
1612. (fn. 12) In 1618 William, second Earl of Salisbury, conveyed the manor to Ralph Ratcliff, (fn. 13) who died seised
of it in 1622, leaving his nephew Edward his heir. (fn. 14) In
1630 Edward Ratcliff sold King's Ripton for £1,550 to
Sir Thomas Power, knt., of London. (fn. 15) It was still held
by the Powers in 1659, when it apparently passed to
Thomas Parnell. (fn. 16) In 1731 a Thomas Parnell and
Hester his wife suffered a recovery of the manor,
probably for the purpose of a settlement. (fn. 17) In 1755
the manor was again apparently settled by John
Peckard and Mary, his wife, and Peter Peckard, (fn. 18) but
the descent of the property from the time of the
Parnells is obscure.
King's Ripton Church, from the South
The manor is at present held by Magdalene College,
Cambridge, and Lord de Ramsey is one of the principal
landowners.
The abbot had view of frankpledge in his manor
here. In 1276, in a suit between the king and the
Abbot of Ramsey, (fn. 19) certain of the men of King's
Ripton claimed to be tenants of ancient demesne.
They complained that the abbot, by reason of his fee
farm, made extortionate claims for relief and distrained
their cattle. They contended they should hold by
service of 5s. 1d. per annum for each virgate, paying
as relief 2s. 6d. for each virgate, and that they should
be tallaged according to the King's levies on his other
demesne. An inquiry was held and judgment was
given mainly in the abbot's favour. The rent and
relief quoted by the tenants were found adequate, but
it was also ruled that they owed the abbot, as lord,
one day's work every week from Michaelmas to
1 August, the day counting from sunrise to sunset.
No ploughing was to be done for fifteen days at
Christmas nor for eight days at both Easter and Whitsun. When the meadow called Haycroft was cut,
the whole township must attend, and they might
receive 8d. per head from the abbot's purse for
scotale. Moreover, each man might have from this
field a bundle of as much hay as he could lift on his
scythe. Work during the actual period of harvesting
was also very clearly set out, and everyone who could
carry a sickle was bound to come, each man receiving a
loaf, meat and ale. In the winter two tenants would
sow one rood of land with their own seed; each, in
the following harvest, might have from it as large a
sheaf of corn as they could tie with one binder.
At the time of King Henry the First's gift of Ripton
to Ramsey Abbey a certain pasture of 100 acres in a
wood in King's Ripton called Kingesho belonged to
the 'manor of Hereford with Rypton Regis.' (fn. 20) The
King had been accustomed to have pannage of his
pigs there, but in the reign of King John, the abbot
of that time had the wood
assarted and gave the assart
to Walter de Stukeley, then
steward of the Abbey, who
afterwards enfeoffed the Prior
of Huntingdon with a portion. (fn. 21) In 1279 Kingesho was
held partly by the prior and
partly by Walter de Stukeley's
'successors,' Ralph Rastell
and Margery his wife—'and
thus the assart is alienated
from the rest of the said
manors except in so far as the
parson of the said manors
receives tithes of corn of the
said assart.' (fn. 22)
Magdalene College, Cambridge. Quarterly and party indented or and azure, a bend azure between two eagles or with a fret between two martlets or upon the bend.
A small portion of land known as Le Heuth in
King's Ripton, in the hay of Sapley in the forest of
Weybridge (Wauberge) was granted to John Pykard
by John de Crokesle in 1301 for a yearly
rent of 13s. 2d., to be inclosed out of the
forest and reduced to cultivation. (fn. 23) It
does not appear ever to have been held as
a manor. It passed soon afterwards to
William de Bureford and Joan his wife; (fn. 24)
it was subsequently held by John
Stukeley, (fn. 25) and in 1385 by John Colles of
Collesplace in Abbots Ripton (fn. 26) (q.v.). A
close called Collesclose was farmed with
the manor of King's Ripton in 1534. (fn. 27)
King's Ripton Church: The Font
CHURCH
The Church of ST.
PETER consists of a
chancel (24 ft. by 15¾ ft.),
nave (40 ft. by 16¾ ft.), north aisle (7½ ft.
wide), west tower (9¾ ft. by 9¾ ft.), and
south porch.
The walls are chiefly of rubble with
stone dressings, but those of the chancel
are largely refaced with brick; the roofs
are of tiles and slates.
Although not mentioned by name in
the Domesday Survey, the church is
without doubt one of the two churches
recorded under the manor of Hartford.
Of this building, however, nothing remains, the earliest part of the present
church being the south wall of the nave,
probably of the 13th century, and the
north and east walls of the chancel
dating from late in the same century.
In the 14th century a north aisle was
built, the nave walls raised and a clearstory added. The south wall of the chancel was
rebuilt early in the 15th century, and a little later the
west tower was built; the porch was built early in
the 16th century. The church was restored about
1851.
The chancel has in the east wall a late 13th-century
three-light window with modern tracery, and a small
square locker; in the north wall, which has two red
brick buttresses, is a 15th-century two-light; in the
south wall, which is faced with red brick, are a 15th-century three-light, a plain 14th-century door, and a
late 13th-century piscina with two basins under a
trefoiled arch. The arch is of late 14th-century date,
apparently reset. The ancient altar-slab remains.
The roof is modern, but on the gable is a late 13th-century cross.
The nave has a late 14th-century north arcade of
three bays with chamfered arches on octagonal piers
with moulded caps and bases, and three restored
contemporary quatrefoil clearstory windows. The
13th-century south wall has two three-light windows,
the lower parts late 14th century, the upper parts and
the tracery early 16th century; the doorway is of
late 14th-century date, and the roof is largely of the
same period.
The late 14th-century north aisle has two three-light windows in the north wall and another in the
west.
The 15th-century west tower has an arch to the
nave of three chamfered orders, a plain west door
with a three-light window above it, and simple two-light belfry windows with transoms. It has an em
battled parapet with bases of pinnacles at the angles.
The stair turret is in the south-west angle.
The early 16th-century south porch has a modern
outer archway, above which is the string-course of a
flat-pitched parapet, the present tile roof being
modern. The side walls have each a two-light
window, and there is a contemporary stoup in the
north-east angle.
The late 12th-century font has a square bowl
ornamented with crude carvings, supported on an
octagonal central and four angle shafts, the latter with
cushion caps and similar inverted bases.
There are two bells, inscribed: 1. Sancte Johannes
ora pro nobis. 2. Sancte Johannes. Both by William Culverden (1510–1523). In 1552 there were
three great bells in the steeple; (fn. 28) the bell frame still
retains the pits for three bells, and the disparity in the
size suggests that a middle bell is missing—it is said
to have been taken to Hartford. (fn. 29)
There is a monument in the chancel to the Rev.
William Hodgson, curate, d. 1857.
The plate consists of a silver chalice, hall-marked
1912–13; a silver paten, hall-marked 1914–15; a
modern pewter cup, plate and flagon, marked James
Dixon and Sons, Sheffield.
The registers are as follows: (i) Baptisms, marriages and burials, 26 April 1597 to 20 Nov. 1763;
marriages end 1753; (ii) baptisms and burials, 15 Jan.
1564 to 20 Dec. 1812; (iii) the official marriage book,
10 Oct. 1754 to 14 Dec. 1812.
ADVOWSON
The advowson of the rectory was
held by the Crown when the manor
was ancient demesne, (fn. 30) and the
church remained Crown property, presentation being
made by the king, throughout the abbey's lordship
of the manor. (fn. 31) The rector had a virgate of 30 acres,
for which it was stated that rent and services had at
one time been paid to the king. In the 13th century
the rector claimed that he held this in free alms and
paid no rent or works. (fn. 32) The church was valued at
£8 13s. 4d. in 1291, (fn. 33) at 13 marks in 1428, (fn. 34) and at
£12 10s. 4d. in 1535. (fn. 35) After the Dissolution the
advowson remained in the Crown, (fn. 36) and presentation
to the rectory is now made by the Lord Chancellor.
In 1381 the rector petitioned against the keeper of
the king's forest of Sapley for his tithes of woodfalls,
of the king's deer and of the profits of agistment and
pannage of the forest within the bounds of his parish,
and it was adjudged that he was entitled to them,
although hindered by the king's ministers from
obtaining them. (fn. 37)
CHARITIES
Margaret Holmes, by her will
proved at Peterborough 18 Dec. 1895,
gave £100 to the rector and churchwardens, the interest to be applied for the benefit of
widows and other poor persons. The endowment
now consists of £80 1s. 9d. Consols with the Official
Trustees producing £2 yearly in dividends, which are
distributed in accordance with the terms of the will.
The same donor, by will proved as above, gave the
sum of £50 to the trustees of the Wesleyan Chapel,
the interest to be applied towards the upkeep of the
chapel. The endowment now consists of £40 0s. 5d.
Consols with the Official Trustees producing £1
yearly in dividends, which are distributed in accordance with the directions contained in the will.