COVINGTON
Covintune (xi cent.); Kuvintone (xiii cent.).
This small parish is 2½ miles west of Kimbolton
Station, on the Kettering and Cambridge branch of
the London Midland and Scottish Railway, which
runs through the middle of it. The road from Higham
Ferrers to Kimbolton forms the boundary between
Covington (Hunts) and Dean (Beds), the Three
Shire Stone being placed on this road where the
county boundaries of Hunts, Beds and Northants
meet half a mile west of the village of Covington.
The parish covers 1,294 acres of light clay soil, with a
subsoil of clay. It is about half arable and half pasture
land. The ground is undulating, rising from the
River Till in the south of the parish, where it is about
140 ft. above Ordnance datum, to about 260 ft. north
of the village, where it falls again to the north.
The village lies a little to the north of the road to
Kimbolton on a by-road to Keyston. At its western
side is the church of St. Margaret. Covington Hall
stands to the east of the village. It is a stone and
brick building, with tiled roof. The central chimneystack bears the initials and date r 1659 b, which
probably gives the date of the building. A wing was
added on the west side in the 18th century. There
are one or two timber-framed and thatched cottages,
including the Post Office and Red Cow Inn. To
the south of the church there is a moat, which probably marks the site of the Bayeux Manor in the
12th century, and another to the north of the village,
where possibly the Bovetouns had their dwelling.
The rectory lies to the north of the village; to the
south is a spring.
About half a mile south-west of the church, near
the Three Shire Stone, is Covington Lodge, and
south of the village is Bottom Farm, with Covington
Gorse to the east of it. In the extreme north of the
parish is Cleavers Lodge Farm.
Place-names in 1614 include Bradgate Leyes,
Hassells, Hunts Hills, Cotton Hills, Depslade, the
Town Greene, Long Lane, Longeleyes, Farthings,
the Great Grove (near the street), and the Severall. (fn. 1)
Manors
Before the Conquest 8½ hides in
COVINGTON were held by Aschel,
and in 1086 they were held by gift
of the king by Roger de Ivri (Yvri), tenant of a vast
fief in Oxfordshire. (fn. 2) This property had risen in value
from £8 to £10. Covington afterwards passed to the
St. Walerys. In 1210–12 Thomas, son of Bernard
de St. Walery (Valery), held one and a half fee in
Covington and died in 1219, leaving an only daughter
Annora, wife of Robert de Dreux. (fn. 3) After the forfeiture by Robert de Dreux, Covington was granted
to Richard, Earl of Cornwall (second son of King
John), in 1231, (fn. 4) who changed its state so that it was
no longer geldable. (fn. 5) Sheriff's aid and suit at the
county court were withheld by him and by his son
Edmund, Earl of Cornwall, (fn. 6) who held the whole of
Covington as 1½ fee of the king as of the honour of
St. Walery. After the death of Earl Edmund without
issue in 1300, the Countess of Cornwall was returned
in 1303 as holding a fee in Covington in dower. (fn. 7)
From this date Covington is said to be held of the
manor of Glatton (q.v.). (fn. 8)
Under Roger de Ivri two knights had 2 hides which
were later held apparently by the Bayeux (Baiocis,
Bayuse, Bahus) family in Covington. Fulk de Bayeux
held the advowson in 1225, and in 1228 disseised his
daughter, Cecily, of her free tenement in Covington, (fn. 9)
and also had a suit against William, son of Wymond de
Covington, as to lands here. (fn. 10) John de Bayeux was
dealing with land in Covington in 1271–2. (fn. 11) Before
1279 he had apparently been succeeded by Robert
de Bayeux, who with Nicholas de Bovetoun failed to
render suit at the county
court and neglected to pay
8s. from the vill of Covington
for sheriff's aid. Robert was
evidently a minor in the
wardship of Walter de Heliun,
who paid 40s. a year for the
wardship. (fn. 12) Robert de Bayeux
and Richard de Bayeux, parson
of the church of Covington,
charged their lands in the
counties of Huntingdon and
Bedford for payment of a
debt, (fn. 13) and in 1301 Robert
was holding a knight's fee in Covington and Pertenhall (Beds) of Margaret, widow of Edmund, Earl
of Cornwall. (fn. 14) Robert was sheriff of Huntingdonshire in 1310, and in 1323 owed homage and service
for lands in Covington and Pertenhall held of the
Earldom of Cornwall, then in the hands of the
Crown. (fn. 15) He was succeeded by his son, Sir Richard
de Bayeux, who was sheriff in 1332, and held
many other offices. Sir Richard married Katherine,
widow of Walter de Molesworth, before 1319,
and in 1331 the manor was settled by a fine between Richard de Bayeux and Katherine his wife
and Alexander de Bayeux. (fn. 16) In 1354 Sir Richard
granted an annuity of £40 from his manor of Covington to Richard de Essex, citizen and draper of
London, (fn. 17) probably as security for a loan. Sir Richard
had already in the previous year, with Robert de
Bayeux, Thomas de Bayeux, rector of Covington,
and Richard son of Sir Richard, made a charge of
12 marks on their lands in Arkesden (Essex) to
Richard de Essex. (fn. 18) Sir William Burton apparently
purchased the former annuity from Richard de
Essex; at all events in 1360, and again in 1362, he
allotted £10 out of it towards the maintenance of
the wardens and chaplains of a chantry in the
chapel of Tolethorpe, in Little Casterton (Rutl.), for
prayers for the good estate of the king and himself. (fn. 19)
In 1369 Sir Robert, son of Sir Richard de Bayeux,
released his interest in the manor to Sir William
Burton and Richard de Bayeux, (fn. 20) his brother. Eleanor,
widow of the younger Richard, married Sir William
before 1371, when he presented to the church as lord
of Covington in right of his wife. Sir William died
before 1377, when Eleanor, widow of Sir William
Burton, presented. (fn. 21) Maud, daughter of Sir Robert
and sister of Sir Richard de Bayeux, and her greatnephew Robert, son of Sir Robert de Bayeux, in 1373
quitclaimed the life interest of Katherine, widow of
Sir Richard, in the manor, which they held, to Thomas
Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, and others, apparently
trustees. (fn. 22) Robert de Bayeux, son of Sir Robert,
granted a further annuity of £40 in 1382 to John de
Newport, (fn. 23) who had married Eleanor, widow of Sir
William Burton, her second husband. In the following
year John de Newport and Eleanor, his wife, granted
the two annuities to Nicholas de Burton, son of Sir
William and Eleanor. (fn. 24) The younger Richard had a
daughter Elizabeth, to whom the manor of Pertenhall (Beds) passed, (fn. 25) but Covington went to John
de Bayeux, the son of the younger Robert, who
died seised of the manor in 1397, leaving a son John. (fn. 26)
In 1428 John Bayeux was assessed for feudal service
as holding the fee in Covington, the overlordship of
which the Countess of Cornwall had formerly held. (fn. 27)
He presented to the church in 1417 and 1446, and
Margaret his widow presented in 1450. (fn. 28) Margaret
died in 1468 seised of the manor, her heir being
her daughter Margaret, aged 22. (fn. 29) Margaret the
daughter, with Robert Stanhope, presumably her
husband, granted the manor and advowson to William
Sapcote and Thomas Sapcote in 1479. (fn. 30) William
Sapcote was the father of Sir Guy Sapcote, kt., who
left two daughters, Elizabeth and Anne. (fn. 31) Anne alone
appears to have survived, and she inherited her father's
estates. She married John Broughton, of Toddington (Beds) and Chenies (Bucks), with whom she
was dealing with the manor and advowson in
1516. (fn. 32) As Anne Broughton, widow, she presented
in 1520, and married as her second husband Sir Richard
Jerningham, kt., with whom she settled the manor
in 1523. (fn. 33) As Anne Jerningham, widow, lady of
Covington, she granted the presentation for that turn
in 1526 to William Hugons. She married as her third
husband John Russell, first Earl of Bedford of the
second creation, who died in 1555, (fn. 34) and Francis, her
son, with his son and heir Francis, settled the manor
in 1574. (fn. 35) Edward, Earl of Bedford, son of the lastnamed Francis, married Lucy Harington, daughter of
Sir John Harington, with whom he settled the manor,
advowson, and free fishing in 1594, (fn. 36) 1608. (fn. 37) and 1613. (fn. 38)
In 1614 the manor was sold by them, without the
advowson, for £3,475, to Christopher Turner, of
Clifford's Inn, and John Lootes, of Gray's Inn. (fn. 39)
Christopher Turner was possibly the Christopher
Turner of Milton Ernest (Beds) who died in
1619. His son Christopher was created third Baron
of the Exchequer at the Restoration, and at his death
in 1675 his son and grandson, both named Edmund,
had predeceased him. (fn. 40) The advowson, however,
was held in 1664 by Edward Turner, of Therfield
(Herts). (fn. 41) From this date the history of the
manor becomes obscure. It was evidently divided
among co-heirs and their representatives. In 1655
a ninth was held by Edward, Earl of Manchester,
and his wife Essex with the manor of Kimbolton, (fn. 42)
with which it then continued to descend, (fn. 43) the Dukes
of Manchester retaining the principal share in the
manorial rights of Covington. Another ninth was
in 1656 conveyed by Henry Briggs and Katherine, his
wife, and Mary Briggs, widow, to Richard Baker. (fn. 44)
In 1710 a third of a ninth and a fourth of a ninth
of the manor were conveyed by Robert Browne
and his wife Elizabeth, Bernard Allen and his wife
Jane, Thomas Stevenson and his wife Mary, and
Richard Harper and his wife Elizabeth, to John
Sturges, clerk, and John Sherard. (fn. 45) Another conveyance of a ninth was made in 1719 by Robert
Browne and his wife Elizabeth, this time with John
Ule and his wife Elizabeth, and William Ashton
and his wife Frances, to Richard Simpson and Thomas
Ashton. (fn. 46)
Bayeux. Argent three lions purpure.
Plan of Covington Church
The manorial rights seem to have fallen into disuse
and the lordship of the manor was forgotten. Any
rights that survived appear to have continued in the
Dukes of Manchester. In 1918 the Duke of Manchester apparently conveyed what rights he had to
Mr. Benjamin Measures, J.P., who had already purchased some of the Fitzwilliam property in the parish.
Mr. Measures died in 1924 and was succeeded by his
son Mr. Charles Measures.
Tenements in Covington were held in 1631 by
Edward Maria Wingfield, (fn. 47) and property was conveyed by Sir James Wingfield, kt., and his wife,
Elizabeth, to Henry, Earl of Manchester, in 1633. (fn. 48)
Church
The church of ALL SAINTS (fn. 49) consists of a chancel 24½ ft. by 15 ft., organ
chamber and vestry on the north 15¼ ft.
by 5¼ ft., nave 37¼ ft. by 21¼ ft., west tower 9½ ft. by
9¼ ft., and south porch. The walls are of rubble with
stone dressings, and the roofs are covered with tiles
and lead.
The church is not mentioned in the Domesday
Survey (1086), but by the end of the 12th century a
stone church with an aisleless nave was standing on
the present site, and of this church the nave remains.
The chancel was rebuilt c. 1300, and a little later
a chapel was built on the south side of the nave. The
tower was probably first built c. 1330, but was
considerably altered c. 1500. An ancient local
tradition asserts that the tower once had a spire,
and some spire stones were certainly found built
into two of the nave buttresses in 1883; the spire
may, however, have been pulled down c. 1500. The
south chapel was pulled down at some unknown date,
and one of its windows was inserted in the blocking
of the arch to the nave. The church was much
restored in 1882–3, when all the roofs were renewed,
the south porch rebuilt and the organ chamber and
vestry added. The south wall of the chancel was
rebuilt in 1911.
The chancel, rebuilt c. 1300, has in the east wall
a modern window of three graduated lancets under a
continuous label; and two chamfered brackets. In
the gable above is a modern quatrefoiled circular
window. The north wall has an original two-light window with a two-centred head and a plain spandrel in
which is a coat-of-arms in 14th-century glass—argent,
on a bend between six crosslets fitchy gules, as many
bezants—said to be the arms of Richard de Bayous.
There is also in the north wall a rectangular recess
much modernised, and a modern arch
to the organ chamber. The south wall
has two original two-light windows each
with a quatrefoil in a circle under a
two-centred head; a contemporary doorway with a semicircular head, (fn. 50) simple
imposts and chamfered jambs; and an
original piscina with a trefoiled head
and a projecting circular basin. The
chancel arch, of c. 1300, is two-centred
and of two chamfered orders, the inner
order resting on semicircular shafts with
moulded capitals and bases. In the
gable above is an opening with a pointed
head opening into a wide recess in the
middle of the wall which has two openings with modern pointed heads opening
into the nave.
The modern organ chamber and vestry
has a single-light window in the east
wall, and a two-light window in the north, and is
roofed by a continuation of the chancel roof.
The 12th-century nave has in the north wall a
14th-century square-headed three-light window with
ogee-headed lights; a similar two-light window but
the head appears to have been two-centred but cut
off with a flat top just above the heads of the lights;
a rather late 12th-century doorway with chamfered
jambs, moulded imposts, a tympanum having a semicircular sunk panel carved with a wingless griffin and a
lion facing each other, and a simple label. The door
itself is modern, but has simple 13th (or perhaps 12th)
century ironwork, much restored. The south wall
has a blocked early 14th-century arch to a former
chapel, with two-centred arch of two chamfered
orders, the lower order resting on semicircular
attached shafts with moulded capitals and bases, and
reset in the blocking a late 15th-century three-light
window with a depressed four-centred head. There
is also in the south wall an early 16th-century threelight window with an almost elliptical head, fixed very
high up in the wall; an early 13th-century doorway
with a two-centred head of two moulded orders carried
on plain jambs each with a detached circular shaft,
one capital carved with foliage and the other with the
water-leaf, moulded bases and moulded bands; a
14th-century piscina with a sexfoiled basin under a
two-centred arch. High up in the eastern corner,
outside, is a blocked square-headed doorway formerly
opening on to the roof of the chapel.
The west tower, of c. 1330, has a two-centred
tower arch of c. 1500, of three orders, two chamfered and one square, the former carried on semioctagonal attached shafts with moulded capitals;
many of the stones are of earlier date re-used. The
west window is of two lights with reticulated tracery
in a two-centred head. In the stage above, two pointed
lights open into the nave roof. The belfry windows,
of c. 1500, are two-lights with plain spandrels in
a four-centred head. The tower, which is rather low,
has diagonal buttresses at the north-west and southwest angles which rise only to the sills of the belfry
windows, and is covered with a modern pyramidal
tiled roof with overhanging eaves.
The modern south porch has a two-centred arch
of two continuous chamfered orders.
The 12th-century font has an octagonal bowl with
a scalloped under-edge, standing on a circular base with
a scalloped upper-edge, and with a modern double
square plinth; possibly a short intervening stem has
been lost.
There are three bells, inscribed: (1) Henry Penn
fusore 1710. (2) Edwarde Newcome. (3) Thomas
Mears founder London. Thomas Fairy churchwarden, 1841. There is a tradition that the two lost
bells from Stow Longa were brought here, but the
records are against it, for in 1695 the churchwardens
were cited for two cracked bells; (fn. 51) and in 1709 there
were three bells. (fn. 52) From 1829 to 1840 one bell was
constantly reported as cracked; (fn. 53) and in 1899 the
bells were reported as in need of rehanging. (fn. 54)
In the nave are some pews with 16th-century
moulded rails and buttressed front and back panelling,
but much modernised. In the vestry is a late
17th-century hutch-type chest.
An early 14th-century Purbeck marble tapered
coffin-lid, with the marginal inscription completely
obliterated, lies on the chancel floor.
Various old stones have been built into the walls,
some of them of 12th-century date.
There are the following monuments: in the chancel,
to Agnes wife of the Rev. A. F. Heaton, rector (no
date). In the vestry, floor slabs to Sarah daughter of
the Rev. C. A. Binns, rector, and of Margaret his wife,
d. 1856; and the Rev. Cornelius Alphonsus Binns,
rector [d. 1865]. In the nave, War Memorial, 1914–18.
The registers are as follows: (i) baptisms, marriages
and burials 3 Aug. 1538 to – June 1651; (ii) ditto
19 November 1653 to 24 January 1813, marriages
end 8 July 1753; (iii) the Official Marriage Book
19 Oct. 1756 to 14 September 1812.
The church plate consists of a small silver cup,
inscribed 'the tovne of covington,' the 'v' and
'n' are engraved on the top of each other, no
hall-mark, but c. 1570; a cover paten belonging to it
with no date-letter; a pewter plate, alms-dish and
flagon. (fn. 55)
Advowson
The advowson and manor were
held together until the sale of the
manor by Edward, Earl of Bedford,
in 1614. Edward Turner of Therfield (Herts) presented in 1664, — Turner presented in 1674, Edward
Payne in 1676, and Margaret Taylor, widow, in 1688
and 1698. (fn. 56) The advowson was in 1738 in the hands
of the Earl of Malton, from whom it has descended
to the Wentworth-Fitzwilliams, (fn. 57) and Mr. George
Charles Wentworth-Fitzwilliam is the present patron.
Charity
Susanna Wylde, by will proved
4 Sept. 1802, gave a sum of £20, the
interest to be laid out in bread and
distributed to the poor of the parish. Since 1880
this charity has ceased to exist owing to the bankruptcy
of Mr. S. Day, to whom the money was entrusted.