STEEPLE GIDDING
Redinges (xi cent.); Giddingges, Giddinge (xii
cent.); Stepel Geddynge (xiv cent.); Gyedyng,
Giddynge Abbatis (xv cent.). (fn. 1)
The parish of Steeple Gidding, containing 1,102
acres, about half of which is arable and half pasture,
lies between Little Gidding and Hamerton and
Coppingford; its north-eastern boundary is roughly
formed by the low ridge which separates it from
Sawtry, and the southern by the Alconbury Brook.
From the footbridge which crosses the brook the
boundary runs in a north-easterly direction and passes
along the east side of the Foxcovert up Anger Hill
to cross the road which connects all the Giddings,
whence it is defined by field boundaries as far as the
Bullock Road, where it reaches the northernmost
point of the parish, near Coldharbour Farm. It
then turns south-eastwards along the Bullock Road
to Aversley Wood, from the southern end of which
it runs along field boundaries as far as the old clay-pit
north-west of Hamerton and thence to the Alconbury
Brook. The land rises from the Alconbury Brook,
where it is about 112 ft. above the Ordnance datum,
and reaches about 200 ft.
The village, which is about seven miles south from
Holme and nine miles south-east from Oundle, the
two nearest railway stations, stands on rising ground
about 200 ft. above sea-level. The site of the old
Hall is close to the church; and the avenue, which
gives its name to Avenue Farm, leads from it due
south towards the brook. Several old ponds, the
remains of the 'fisheries in Gyddinges Abbott' which
were let to Richard Thekeston on 6 March 1570, for
21 years at a yearly rent of £12 3s. 10d., (fn. 2) are still to
be seen near by, and the farmhouse itself stands
south of these ponds, a little to the east of the northern
end of the avenue. White Hall, which is farmed by
Mr. Dennis together with Avenue Farm, lies eastward
from the church. Adjoining a footpath leading northeast from the church is a timber-framed thatched cottage of mid 17th-century date, formerly the Rectory.
About three-quarters of a mile south-east of the
village is Steeple Gidding Lodge, and in the east of
the parish is the Grange, which probably marks the
site of Ramsey Abbey Grange. Coldharbour Farm
is in the north-east of the parish.
The population at the census of 1921 was eightyone, chiefly engaged in agriculture. The subsoil is
Oxford Clay; the soil is heavy clay. The chief crops
are wheat, barley, beans and peas.
The following place-names appear in local records:
Cotedich, Shalkhill, (fn. 3) Alpyte Laledon, (fn. 4) Kyrkelane (fn. 5)
(xv cent.); Hanghill meadow, Dovecote close, Burnt
Yards, Grants close, Little Hills, Alpit (xvii cent.). (fn. 6)
Manor
Ten hides in GIDDING and Weldon
given to Ramsey Abbey by Earl Ailwin,
their founder, may be assumed to include
the seven hides with twenty acres of meadow and two
furlongs of underwood in Gidding which were held
by the Abbot of Ramsey in 1086 of the king in chief.
At this time there was one plough on the demesne
on one hide and eighteen villeins had seven ploughs;
and at a later date there was still one carucate of
land in demesne, while six hides were held of the
abbot by free or customary tenants. (fn. 7) Pope Alexander III confirmed Gidding with the church and all
its appurtenances to Ramsey Abbey. (fn. 8) In 1193–4
the prior, as attorney of the Abbot of Ramsey, granted
to Ralph de Stukeley 2 virgates of land in Gidding
at a rent of 7s. a year saving foreign service. (fn. 9) These
2 virgates may have been all that Nicholas, son of
Aristotle de Stukeley, had in Gidding when in 1228
he quitclaimed to the abbot. (fn. 10) The abbey seems to
have held the manor in demesne and the revenues
were assigned chiefly to the chamberlain of the abbey,
who had £16 a year from them in 1202–7. (fn. 11) About
1247 Abbot Ranulf allotted the profits to the improvement of the ornaments in the
church, when compensation
was given to the chamberlain. (fn. 12)
Cotton. Azure an eagle argent with beak and claws or.
After the Dissolution the
property seems to have been
held on lease from the Crown
by the Boton family, who had
long been tenants of the
Abbey of Ramsey, until 30
June 1590, when Queen Elizabeth granted the reversion of
the manor to John Cotton,
the second son of Thomas
Cotton of Conington. (fn. 13) John
Cotton died in 1635, (fn. 14) but
seems to have transferred his interest in Gidding
during his lifetime to his nephew Thomas Cotton,
the younger brother of the famous Sir Robert: for,
according to a statement made later by Sir Thomas
Cotton of Conington and Mary, widow of Thomas
Cotton of Gidding, 'an Indenture was made in consideration of the marriage of John Cotton,' son and
heir apparent of Thomas Cotton, to Frances, one of
the daughters of John Gifford, about June 1632,
'conveying all the manor of Gidding Abbotts and
the advowson of the Rectory with the pasture
ground called Muckhills' to the use of Thomas Cotton
during his life, with reversion after his death to the
use of John Cotton and his heirs. (fn. 15)
The younger John Cotton incurred considerable
debts and, according to Robert Huit (who brought a
suit in Chancery for the recovery of a debt of £389),
'did travel beyond seas,' leaving his wife to be supported by his father, who was obliged to make 'some
conveance, by virtue whereof the manor aforesaid,
which ought to come to John, did come to the hands of
Sir Thomas Cotton of Conington, bart., and Mary,
the widow of Thomas Cotton, in trust for the payment
of the debts of the said John.' This, however, was
denied by Sir Thomas Cotton, who declared that
Thomas Cotton by indenture 30 March 1640, two
days before his death, 'did covenant to the use of the
said John Cotton and his heirs male; for default of
such issue to the use of the defendant and his heirs
male of himself and in default to his right heirs.' (fn. 16)
He seems, however, to have paid the debts of John
Cotton, who died in 1646. (fn. 17)
Heathcote. Ermine three roundels vert each charged with a cross or.
The heir of John Cotton was his only daughter,
Jane, married in 1648 to Basil Fitzherbert of Norbury (Derby) and Swinnerton (Staffs); but the manor
of Steeple Gidding passed in accordance with the
settlement of 1640 to Sir Thomas, (fn. 18) though Mrs.
Cotton seems to have retained an interest, presumably
by way of dower. Her name appears in a list of those
sequestered for recusancy in 1648. (fn. 19) In Michaelmas
term 1654 the manor was conveyed to William Witherington and John Davenport by Sir Thomas Cotton
bart., John Cotton, Basil Fitzherbert and his wife
Jane, with a quitclaim against the heirs of all the
deforciants. (fn. 20) This, however, seems to have been
done only in order to a fresh settlement, for after the
death of Sir Thomas Cotton in 1662 William Witherington quitclaimed the manor to Sir John Cotton, (fn. 21)
and the estate subsequently followed the same descent
as the baronetcy until the
death of the last baronet,
Sir John Cotton, in 1752. (fn. 22)
He left four daughters and
co-heirs, Jane, Elizabeth,
Frances and Mary. Jane
married Thomas Hart; and
Elizabeth, as the wife of
Thomas Bowdler, became the
mother of a more famous
Thomas, whose surname and
literary activities gave a new
verb to the English language. (fn. 23)
This Thomas, with his cousin
John Hart Cotton, their aunt Mary and her husband
Basil, Earl of Denbigh, quitclaimed all rights in the
manor in 1771 to John Heathcote, (fn. 24) whose brother,
Sir Gilbert Heathcote, had bought it from the coheirs and given it to him, reserving £400 for himself
yearly until his death in 1785. (fn. 25) The property remained in the possession of Mr. Heathcote's descendants until 1915, when it was sold by his greatgrandson, Mr. J. Norman Heathcote, to Mr. Tower; (fn. 26)
he sold the estate in lots and the manorial rights
fell into abeyance.
At the time of the Dissolution the largest freeholder
in the parish of Steeple Gidding was Richard Boton or
Button, whose surname seems to have been derived
from the fact that his ancestors lived above the town.
The family name appears first in the records of Great
Gidding, where Robert Aboveton was living in
Henry III's time, (fn. 27) and in 1322 another Robert
Aboveton had an interest in the Emberton fee. (fn. 28)
In 1290, however, the Abbot of Ramsey had a tenant,
William the son of William a boutoun, who was a
juror of his court at Gidding, (fn. 29) and may perhaps be
identified with the William Abovetoun who was aletaster for the manor in 1300. (fn. 30) William Aboveton
died in 1302; his executors, Alice his widow, John
le hache and Simon Boylloun, are named in the roll
of a court held in November that year, (fn. 31) and his heir
was perhaps the Alexander Boueton who appears as
a juror of the court in January 1341. (fn. 32) In 1419 and
1429 Richard Boton was a juror, (fn. 33) and in the
latter year John Boton, who may perhaps have been
his son, was also of the jury. John Boton was the
aletaster for the manor that year, and in that capacity
helped to find that Maud Boton, a common brewster, had brewed against the assize. (fn. 34) She was an
old offender, having been amerced more or less
regularly in the manor court for the past fifteen years.
A rental of Steeple Gidding about 1443 shows that
the rent paid by John Boton was 23s. 4d. (fn. 35) He seems
to have been a trying neighbour, for we learn from a
court roll about 1456 that he had not only failed to
scour the watercourse near his house (a duty which,
after all, any ordinary villager was apt to neglect),
but kept 'unum gappum apertum injuste contra
Shalkhill ad nocendum vicinorum,' and actually seems
to have walked across a field trampling his neighbour's
corn. (fn. 36) It is, however, possible that this delinquent
was John Boton, the younger, who, having in his
turn become the elder, in 1460 ploughed up a part
of the common at Alpyte, (fn. 37) and in 1486 followed his
forbear's example by neglecting to scour the ditch
at the end of the village. (fn. 38) Both the elder and the
younger John were on the jury this year, and one of
them was elected constable; Simon Boton was also
a juror. (fn. 39) A John Abeton of Great Gidding died in
1498. (fn. 40) About 1507 Robert Button was presented for
'being more than twelve years old and not sworn in
a tything.' He had also acquired certain lands which
carried the duty of 'repairing the watercourse running by Kyrke lane,' which he had neglected to do. (fn. 41)
He died in 1527, (fn. 42) and was perhaps the father of
Richard Boton, who obtained a lease of land in Sawtry
in 1534 from the abbot and convent of St. Mary
there, (fn. 43) and a lease of the lands of Ramsey Abbey in
Steeple Gidding from the Crown after the Dissolution. (fn. 44) His successor in this lease was William Boton,
possibly his son; (fn. 45) but he bequeathed his freehold
at his death in 1549 to his three daughters, who
sold it in 1581 to Sir John Bedell of Hamerton. (fn. 46)
In the same year Sir John Bedell bought 180 acres
of land and a messuage from Swithin Dixon, and in
1588 he acquired also Drewell's tenements in Gidding;
but in 1597 he sold Boton's land, which is described
as adjoining Hamerton, to John Bradly for £400. (fn. 47)
In 1607 John Bradly settled Dovehouse close on his
'second and hopefullest son' Peter on his marriage
to Winifred Pickering. (fn. 48) This son seems to have
succeeded also to Botons, for he sold it in 1613 to
Cotton; and in 1615 John Cotton consolidated his
estate by buying the tenements formerly known as
Dixons and Drewells for £1,000. (fn. 49)
Church
The church of ST. ANDREW consists of a chancel (26½ ft. by 14½ ft.),
nave (35½ ft. by 17¾ ft.), south aisle
(9¼ ft. wide) and west tower (8¼ ft. by 6¼ ft.). The
walls are of coursed rubble with stone dressings,
and the roofs are covered with lead and tiles.
The church is not mentioned in the Domesday
Survey (1086), but there was evidently a small stone
church here in the 12th century, of which part of the
arch of the south doorway remains. It must have
had a tower and steeple before 1260, by which date the
parish had already obtained its distinctive name. (fn. 50)
The whole church was rebuilt during the 14th
century, beginning, in the opening years, with the
building of the south aisle and arcade and ending,
nearly a hundred years later, with the rebuilding of the
tower and spire and the north-west corner of the nave.
The chancel, nave and aisles were restored and the
porch rebuilt in 1874, and the tower and spire were
restored in 1899.
The chancel, c. 1330, has a modern east window of
three lights with reticulated tracery set in a refaced
wall. In the north wall are two two-light windows
with reticulated tracery. In the south wall are two
similar windows; a doorway with segmental-pointed
head and continuous moulded jambs; a piscina with
two-centred head, octagonal basin and a wooden shelf;
and a sedile of three graded seats formed in the sill of
the easternmost window. The two-centred chancel
arch is modern, but rests upon plain responds with
semi-octagonal shafts having modern moulded capitals
and bases. The roof is modern.
The 14th-century nave has, in the north wall, two
square-headed three-light windows, the western
mostly modern. The south arcade, c. 1300, is of
four bays of two-centred arches of two chamfered
orders resting on octagonal columns with moulded
capitals and bases, and similar semi-octagonal responds. The west wall has a small blocked squareheaded window northward of the tower, visible on the
outside only. The late 14th-century clearstory has
four square-headed two-light windows on each side.
The contemporary roof, much restored, is very flat,
and has moulded beams and jack-legs and bold curved
braces.
The south aisle, c. 1300, has a three-light east
window with a pointed head and intersecting tracery.
In the south wall are two square-headed three-light
windows; a doorway having an arch composed of a
roughly semicircular outer order of re-used 12thcentury stones with chevron ornament, a segmentalpointed inner order of 13th-century stones, and a
13th-century label, the outer order resting on 13thcentury detached shafts with carved capitals and
moulded bases, and the inner on plain jambs with
a roll moulding on the angles; a piscina with ogee
head and octofoil basin; and a 12th-century stoup
bracketed out from the wall in the form of a scalloped
capital and having a square basin. The west wall
has a modern single-light window.
The late 14th-century west tower, which stands halfway in the nave, has a two-centred tower arch of three
chamfered orders, two of them dying into the wall
and one continuous. The west window is a squareheaded single-light. There is a small square-headed
opening in both the north and south walls, at the level
of the nave roof. The belfry windows are two-lights
with pointed heads. Just above the south window,
slightly to the east, is a small 14th-century opening
with trefoiled ogee head, perhaps re-used material.
The tower has two buttresses projecting to the west,
and is surmounted by an embattled parapet having
gargoyles at the angles, and behind which rises an
octagonal stone spire with two tiers of spire-lights
on the cardinal faces, the lower two-lights and the
upper single-lights.
The modern south porch (fn. 51) has a two-centred outer
archway of two chamfered orders, the lower order
resting on semicircular attached shafts with moulded
capitals and bases.
The 16th-century font has a plain octagonal bowl
with deeply splayed lower edge and octagonal stem
and base.
There are three bells, inscribed: (1) Sancta Anna
ora pro nobis. (2) Wox Augustini sonet in aure Dei.
(3) J. Eayre St. Neots fecit 1748. Disce mori nostro
vivere disce sono. The first and second are by Henry
Jordan (1442–1468), the old third probably by William
Haulsey (1617–1630). There were three bells in
1708. (fn. 52) They were rehung in 1899.
There is the matrix of a 16th-century brass on the
nave floor to a civilian and wife. A late 13th-century
coffin-lid, with an ornamental cross at head and foot
and the double-omega ornament, has been fixed
against the west wall of the south aisle.
There is a consecration cross on the buttress at the
north-east corner of the nave.
The church possesses some interesting Flemish
altar linen, including a large 16th-century cloth with
figure of the Virgin, angels and inscriptions in Latin
and Hebrew; and a 17th-century cloth with hunting
scenes.
There are the following monuments: in the chancel,
to Mary, daughter of Sir John Cotton, bart., and wife
of Roger Kinyon, d. 1714. In the nave, to Sir Robert
Cotton, bart., d. 1749, and Sir John Cotton, bart.,
his son, d. 1752, Robert, elder son of last, d. 1716/7,
and John, younger son, d. 1739; and floor slab to
Thomas . . ., (fn. 53) d. 1704. In the south aisle, floor
slabs to Thomas Cotton, Lord of Manor, second son
of Thomas Cotton of Conington, d. 1640; Elizabeth,
daughter of Michael Shard, d. 1682; Hannah, wife
of John Gray, d. 1797; and John Gray, d. 1805. In
the west tower, to John Sutton, d. 1831.
The registers are as follows: (i) baptisms, marriages
and burials from 9 February 1570/1 to 13 June 1783,
marriages end 6 March 1754. The dates are much
out of order, and some years are missing. A small
paper book has been pasted in at the end containing
copies of the Archdeacon's Transcripts from 13 April
1691 to 9 March 1710/1, the burials continuing to
6 October 1727. (ii) baptisms and burials from
15 March 1794 to 27 December 1812; (iii) marriages
from 29 February 1784 to 29 October 1810.
The church plate (fn. 54) consists of a silver cup with a
band of Elizabethan ornament round the bowl, hallmarked for 1569–70; a Britannia standing paten with
gadrooned ornament round the edge and round the
base, hall-marked for 1697–8, inscribed 'Steeple
Gidding, Johannes Cotton Deo didit, Maii 4. 1748,'
and engraved, probably in 1748, with device of the
pelican in her piety, in a late ornamental cartouche;
a plated flagon inscribed 'In usum fidelium apud
Steeple Gidding A.S. 1877. +.'
Advowson
The church of Gidding was confirmed to the Abbey of Ramsey in
1178 by Pope Alexander III. (fn. 55) In
a 14th-century passage in the Ramsey Cartulary the
advowson is mentioned as belonging to the abbot,
whereas the manor is described as the property of the
convent. (fn. 56) In 1291 the church had been assessed at
£6 os. od. (fn. 57) It was valued for taxation in 1428 at
nine marks, giving 6s. 8d. to the subsidy. (fn. 58) The advowson remained in the abbot's possession until the
Dissolution, when it passed to the Crown and was
granted in 1590 to John Cotton, together with the
manor, (fn. 59) the descent of which it afterwards followed. (fn. 60)
The living was in the gift of the Heathcote family
throughout the 19th century, but their interest in it
was acquired before 1917 by Mr. James Jackson, the
owner of Whitehall and Avenue Farm in this parish.
It was united in 1925 with the consolidated vicarage
of Great and Little Gidding, and the patronage
now belongs by turns to Mr. G. C. WentworthFitzwilliam, the Lord Chancellor, and Mr. Frank W.
Dennis.
There are no charities for this parish.