ALWALTON
Aethelwoldington (x cent.); Alwoltune (xi cent.);
Alewaltone (xii, xiv cent.); Alwalton alias Allerton
(xvii cent.).
The parish of Alwalton lies in the extreme north
of the county of Huntingdon, separated from Peterborough and Northamptonshire by the River Nene.
The subsoil is mainly Oxford Clay, with some Cornbrash
and Great Oolite limestone. The village lies a quarter
of a mile to the east of the Great North Road, about
two miles from the Orton Waterville station on the
London Midland and Scottish Railway. A petrifying
spring rises in the parish. The stone known as
Alwalton marble, formed of blocks of hard blue limestone, is found on the banks of the Nene. The parish
was inclosed in 1805 under a private Act of Parliament
for the inclosure of the parishes of Orton Waterville
and Alwalton. (fn. 1) Traces of early man have been
found. (fn. 2) In Roman times a building of some kind
evidently existed at Alwalton, and various coins and
pieces of pottery, etc., have been found. (fn. 3)
The Manor House, now a farmhouse, not far from
the church, was built about 1600, and has rubble
walls with mullioned windows; some late 17th-century additions at the back contain a fine oak staircase.
The south-west wing of the house was destroyed by
fire about 1789.
A fine Renaissance stone porch, brought from the
Drydens' house at Chesterton, (fn. 4) has been erected as
part of the lodge at the entrance of the Lynch drive.
It is of two stories and has a round archway flanked by
Doric columns, supporting an entablature above which
is a square-headed transomed three-light window,
flanked by Ionic columns, and the whole is surmounted by a shaped gable with finials. Other parts
of the Drydens' house are incorporated in the Lynch
Farm house, a mile north-east of the church.
Manor
King Edred granted 5 hides of land at
ALWALTON in 955 to his thegn Aelfsige
Hunlafing. From the boundaries given
in the document, the whole of Alwalton was included. (fn. 5)
It was afterwards given by the ealdorman Leofwine,
son of AElfwine, to the Abbey of Peterborough, (fn. 6)
which held Alwalton at the time of the Conquest,
when part of Orton Waterville (q.v.) formed a
berewick of the manor. (fn. 7) By 1125–28 it was held in
demesne and was assessed at 5 hides of land. (fn. 8) There
were then 7 full villeins and 22 half-villeins, who held
18 virgates of land with 7 ploughs, with which they
worked for their lord once a week throughout the
year and did other service according to the custom of
the manor. They paid a yearly aid of 10s. and various
rents in kind. One villein, however, already paid 18d.
a year in lieu of all customary services, while 6 cottars
paid 3s. 6d. a year rent. (fn. 9) Abbot Andrew (1194–
1199) gave the manor to the monastery, reserving
to himself the aid paid at Michaelmas. (fn. 10) His successor Acarius gave up part of this aid, which with
that paid by the tenants of Fletton manor (q.v.)
amounted to 20 marks a year, allotting 15 marks
to the monks, (fn. 11) but Abbot
Robert de Lindsey (1214–22)
remitted the remaining 5
marks as well. (fn. 12) About 1278,
the tallage paid by the villeins
and cottars of Alwalton at
Michaelmas, which presumably may be identified with
the aid, was worth £7 a
year. (fn. 13) The services due from
the tenants are all given with
a money value, but the service of carrying is specially
mentioned, (fn. 14) and it is interesting to find that this service on one day in the year was still performed in
the 17th century, (fn. 15) when called for by the lord of the
manor. In the 12th-century survey, amongst the
gifts made in kind, five sheep are mentioned, (fn. 16) and
later similar small payments of sheep were made. (fn. 17)
A custom called wethersilver, amounting to 16s. 6d.
a year, was paid by the manors of Alwalton and Fletton
to the cellarer of the monastery, but Abbot William,
probably William de Woodford (1295–99), assigned it
to the monks. (fn. 18) At the time of the dissolution of
Peterborough Abbey, the manor, which had been held
in chief of the Crown in frankalmoin, (fn. 19) was worth
£23 1s. 1d. a year, and belonged to the cellarer's
office. (fn. 20) It was one of the manors assigned to the
newly constituted Dean and Chapter of Peterborough,
who obtained a grant of it in 1541. (fn. 21) Their lands
were forfeited under the Commonwealth, (fn. 22) and the
reversion of the manor, which was in the possession of
leaseholders, was granted in 1649 to Philip Starkey,
cook, of London. (fn. 23) It was recovered by the Dean
and Chapter after the Restoration, and they are the
lords of the manor at the present day. (fn. 24)
Peterborough Abbey. Gules two crossed keys or.
It had probably not been the custom to grant leases
of the manor till shortly before the dissolution of
Peterborough Abbey, since the bailiff of Fletton
received 16s. 8d. a year from the abbey. (fn. 25) In 1535,
however, a lease for 30 years was granted to Peter
Edward, William Barrett and his wife Joan, daughter
of Peter Edward, and their son Richard Barrett. (fn. 26)
Later, the name of Edward's wife Susan was inserted
in the lease with the consent of the abbot. (fn. 27) The
Dean and Chapter granted the reversion to Richard
White, a prebendary of Peterborough, from whom it
was acquired by John Mountsteven. (fn. 28) After the
death of Peter Edward, the leases were bought in
reversion by his widow Susan, who married John
Arundell. She and her husband also obtained a new
lease from the Dean and Chapter, in which no former
leases were recited. (fn. 29) Richard Barrett tried to
recover his interest in the manor in 1561, (fn. 30) but it
seems clear that Susan, who after the death of
Arundell married a third time, remained in possession
of the manor and that the reversion passed to her
son Edward Edward. (fn. 31) The latter died before 1597,
when his son Peter was involved in a lawsuit about the
lease. (fn. 32) In 1631, the Dean and Chapter gave a new
lease of the manor for 21 years to Thomas Gregory; (fn. 33)
and Clement Gregory obtained another lease in 1636
for the lives of his two sons Thomas and William, and
the wife of Thomas. (fn. 34) In 1674, the leaseholders were
William Pinckney and his wife Elizabeth, the lease
being for the lives of Elizabeth, Lennott Honeywood
and Robert Pallen, who granted their interest in the
manor to Edward Checkley. (fn. 35)
Abbot Benedict (1177–94) of Peterborough withdrew his tenants at Alwalton and Fletton from suit at
the Hundred Court, paying 20s. annually towards
the farm due to the Crown from the Abbot of Thorney,
from his hundred of Norman Cross. (fn. 36) This payment
was stopped in the time of Richard I, and, without
any royal charter, the Abbots of Thorney deducted
the amount from the farm. (fn. 37) The deduction was disallowed during the Quo Warranto inquiry of 1276, and
the abbot made a composition for the arrears with the
king. (fn. 38) The tenants of the Abbey of Peterborough,
however, continued to attend the view of frankpledge
held by the Abbey of Thorney for the pleas of the
sheriff's tourn in the hundred, until the beginning
of the reign of Edward I. The Abbot of Peterborough
then withdrew the suit of his tenants and claimed to
hold a view of frankpledge for them. (fn. 39) He also held
the assizes of bread and ale and claimed waifs, chattels
of his men who were felons or fugitives, pleas of
vetiti namia, the return of writs and the collection
of royal debts in his demesnes. (fn. 40)
In 1086 there were two mills on the manor, (fn. 41) but
these had been increased to three by 1125–28, when a
virgate (virga) was attached to them, the annual rent
being £4 2s. (fn. 42) At the time of the dissolution of the
abbey the three mills, all probably under the same
roof, were let at farm for £16 (fn. 43) and had been leased
with the manor (q.v.) to Peter Edward and his fellow
lessees. (fn. 44) In 1649, these two water-mills, called the
Town Mills, and a fulling-mill which had fallen into
decay, were all on the Nene. (fn. 45) The copyholders of
the manor in 1633 were said to bring their corn to
grind at their lord's mills if well used. Apparently
until the granting of the Gregorys' lease, the relations
of the lords of the manor and their tenants had been
very friendly, and the copyholders were allowed a good
deal of freedom in the matter of such customs as suit
to the lord's mills. Consequently they had willingly
performed such services as the carrying of slate and
wood, already mentioned, when the lord's warrant
arrived. (fn. 46)
In 1086, there was a fishery attached to the manor,
which rendered 500 eels worth 5s. (fn. 47) In 1278 it was
worth 6s. a year. (fn. 48) The abbot could fish with one
boat on the Nene, for a distance of two leagues
(leucae) from 'Wildelake' to the mill of Water
Newton. (fn. 49)
In 1268, Henry III granted to the Abbey of Peterborough a weekly market to be held on Fridays. (fn. 50) It
is mentioned amongst the abbot's rights in 1286, (fn. 51)
but it seems to have been given up before the dissolution of the abbey, (fn. 52) and it is not mentioned in
the grant of the manor to the Dean and Chapter in
1541. (fn. 53)
A much older privilege was the right to take a toll,
called cayagium, from ships bringing merchandise
past Alwalton by river. (fn. 54) This was confirmed to the
abbey by Pope Eugenius III in 1146. (fn. 55) In 1286, the
abbot took 2d. from each large ship, 1d. from each
smaller ship and ½d. from each small boat. (fn. 56) For
stone and similar goods a special rate was agreed
between the captain and the abbot's bailiff. (fn. 57) The
abbot also had a ferry with one boat across the Nene. (fn. 58)
In 1633, evidence was given in a lawsuit that no one
could remember the tolls being taken or the existence
of the ferry, but two meadows were called Ferrie
Rood and Landing Place respectively. (fn. 59)
Church
The church of ST. ANDREW consists of a chancel (30 ft. by 15¼ ft.),
crossing (12¾ ft. by 17½ ft.), north transept (12 ft. by 13 ft.), south transept (10¾ ft. by 13 ft.),
nave (34½ ft. by 17½ ft.), north aisle (5¾ ft. wide), south
aisle (5¾ ft. wide), tower (12 ft. by 12 ft.) and a modern
south porch. The walls are of stone rubblewith Barnack
stone dressings, except the clearstory, which is faced
externally with brick and plastered. The roofs are
covered with lead and slates.
The church is not mentioned in Domesday Book,
but by the end of the 12th century there was a stone
church with a north aisle, parts of which still remain.
This church was lengthened one bay to the west
early in the 13th century, when the nave must have
been considerably widened and a south aisle and
western tower built. About 1300 it was apparently
contemplated to rebuild the church; a large chancel
and north and south transepts, all vaulted in stone,
were built, with probably the lower part of a central
tower. About thirty years later, however, the project
was abandoned, the walls of the central tower were
pulled down, and a wide arch thrown across the nave
in place of its western arch, and the walls of the
chancel and transepts finished with a plain quoin at
their intersection. In the 15th century the nave
walls were raised to form a clearstory, and both nave
and aisles were re-roofed, and possibly at this time, or
a little later, a chancel arch was inserted and wide
arches built between the crossing and the transepts;
and the vaulting of the chancel and transepts was
destroyed. In 1840–41 the church was restored, the
chancel arch rebuilt and a south porch added; the
roofs were all renewed, and the south-east corner of
the belfry rebuilt. The tower was underpinned and
thoroughly restored in 1902–3, and the rest of the
church in 1904–5.
Reproduced by permission of the Controller of H.M. Stationery Office from the Report of the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, Hunts.
The chancel of c. 1300 has an inserted three-light
east window of about 1330, with reticulated tracery.
The north wall has an original two-light window,
beneath which is a tomb recess; and a blocked lowside window. The south wall has two original twolight windows; a partly blocked 14th-century lowside window with fragments of ancient glass; a
segmental-headed doorway; an original piscina composed of a quatrefoiled basin under a two-centred
arch; and a triple sedilia formed of 14th-century
stones re-used. Remains of chamfered vaulting
shafts and the springing of the vault may be traced
on both sides, and there
is a moulded stringcourse all round the walls,
below the windows. The
chancel arch is modern,
but the semi-octagonal
responds appear to be of
16th-century date.
The crossing has the
chancel arch on the east,
above the springing of
which may be seen the
quoin stones of the chancel walls. On the north
and south sides are segmental - pointed arches
carried on the original
vaulting shafts which
have been finished with
crude embattled capitals
of c. 1500. The western
arch is modern, but has
semi-octagonal responds
of c. 1330.
The north transept of c. 1300 has a two-light east
window; a three-light window, much restored, in its
north wall; and a plain opening with a two-centred
arch to the aisle. The lines of the vaulting and remains of the vaulting-shafts are visible on the west
wall.
The south transept is generally similar to the north,
but the window in the south wall is almost entirely
modern.
The nave has on the north side an arcade of four
bays. The three eastern bays are of c. 1190, with
semicircular arches of two chamfered orders on
circular piers and semicircular responds; the capitals
are carved with a volute of late form and the abaci are
of cruciform plan. The western bay is of early 13thcentury date, but corresponds in general form to the
others; the capital of the circular pier has the waterleaf and an octagonal abacus, and that of the respond
is left in plain uncarved blocks. The early 13thcentury south arcade is of three bays of semicircular
arches of one chamfered order on circular piers and
semicircular responds with moulded capitals and
bases. The 15th-century clearstory has three twolight windows on each side.
The eastern part of the north aisle is of c. 1190,
and has the splays of a blocked window; a modern
two-light window; and the jambs of a blocked doorway. The early 13th-century western bay has a
two-light window, almost entirely modern, in its
western wall.
The early 13th-century south aisle has a 15thcentury two-light window; and an original doorway
incorporating some re-used chevron ornament in the
arch, and having jamb-shafts with moulded capitals
and bases. The splays of a second window are filled
in with a 17th-century single-light window.
All the roofs are modern.
The early 13th-century tower has a two-centred
arch to the nave of two chamfered orders on responds
composed of three keel-shaped shafts with small
detached shafts between them, and having moulded
capitals and bases. The west window is an early
16th-century two-light, much restored; and the
north and south walls have each a small lancet window,
and similar lancets above them in the next stage.
Above the tower arch is a blocked opening into the
nave. The belfry stage has a wall-arcade of three
arches on each face, the central arch being occupied
with a two-light window with a small shaft as a
mullion and a quatrefoil in the spandrel—that on the
south side having been badly restored as a trefoil.
The south-east corner of the belfry has been badly
rebuilt, destroying the wall-arcades at that point.
The tower is finished with a corbel-table of small
trefoiled arches on carved masks, and surmounted
with an embattled parapet. The whole tower has
been much restored. The tower stairs are at the
north-east corner.
The 15th-century font has a plain square bowl
with slightly tapering sides and very irregularly
chamfered angles, supported on a plain stem and
hollow-chamfered base.
There are five bells, inscribed: (1) Thomas Norris
made mee. 1661. H.G.P.G.; (2) and (3) Thomas
Norris made mee. 1661; (4) Will. Waring. Rector:
John. Cox. Chvrchwarden: 1722; (fn. 60) (5) Thomas
Norris made me 1672. H.S.H.G. The fourth bell
is by Henry Penn, of Peterborough. The bell frame
is inscribed w i. m i. i o. c h. c h w a. 1674, and
h k. 1790. The bells were rehung in 1904.
There are the following monuments: in the
chancel, to the Rev. Henry Freeman, Rector, d.
1832, and Eleanor his wife, d. 1884; the Rev.
John Hopkinson, Rector, d. 1853, and Elizabeth
his wife, d. 1872; the Rev. Edward Grey, Rector,
d. 1908; the Rev. George Godfrey Ward Clemenger,
Rector, d. 1909; Caroline his widow, d. 1921, and
Caroline their daughter, d. 1922; War Memorial,
1914–18; floor slabs to Margaret, wife of Clement
Gregorie, d. 1634, and Ann her daughter, d. 1695;
Clement Gregorie, d. 1639, and Pears his son, d. 1703;
William Checkly, d. 1711; Catherine, daughter of
Buxton and Ann Kenrick, d. 1820; and the Rev.
Henry Freeman, d. 1832; in the north transept, to
Charles William Wentworth Fitzwilliam, d. 1894,
buried at Marholm; in the south transept, to Sir
Richard Hetley, Kt., d. 1807; on the nave floor, to
Mary wife of William Brad . . ., (fn. 61) d. 1797; in the north
aisle, to Lieut. Col. J. A. Dane, d. 1927; in the south
aisle, to William Hetley, d. 1829, and Elizabeth
Hetley, d. 1844; and slabs on the floor to them both.
Outside the church, on the north transept, to the
Rev. Timothy Neve, D.D., Rector, and Archdeacon
of Huntingdon, d. 1757; and on the north aisle, to
Susanna daughter of Thomas and Jane Rowell, died
1744.
The registers are as follows: (i) baptisms, marriages
and burials 1572 to 18 April 1682; (ii) the same
25 March 1697 to 5 May 1754; (iii) the same 5 May
1754 to 3 Feb. 1811, marriages end 18 March 1802;
(iv) marriages 4 Oct. 1802 to 22 Dec. 1812; (v)
baptisms and burials 23 Feb. 1811 to 21 Dec. 1812.
The church plate consists of a silver cup with
band of arabesque ornament on bowl, and egg and
tongue on foot, hall-marked for 1569–70; cover
paten for same, similarly hall-marked; a silver salver
inscribed, 'The Gift of Mrs. Susanna Margaret &
Ann Rowell to the Church of Alwalton. 1739,'
hall-marked for 1688–9; a silver cup inscribed,
'Alwalton. H. Freeman, A. M. Rector. D. Dedit,'
hall-marked for 1818–9.
Advowson
The advowson was in the possession
of the Abbot of Peterborough before
1146, (fn. 62) and it followed the descent of
the manor (q.v.) (fn. 63) until 1868, when it was transferred
to the Hon. G. W. Fitzwilliam. (fn. 64) It is now held by
the executors of Mr. G. C. Wentworth Fitzwilliam.
In 1279, a virgate of land formed the endowment
of the rectory. (fn. 65) In 1428 the church was taxed at
14 marks. (fn. 66)
Charity
Poor's Money.—In the year 1802
the sum of £90 representing benefactions for the poor by Pierce
Gregory, Mrs. Southgate, Thomas Bayly and the
Rev. Dr. Neve, was laid out towards the building of
four cottages. The cottages are let to widows at
1s. per week and a sum of £4 10s., part of the total
rents received and representing the interest on the
said £90, is distributed among the poor of the parish.