DENTON
Dentun (x, xi cent.); Dentone (xi, xiv, xv cent.).
Denton is a small parish stretching in a long, narrow
strip from west to east, and measures about a quarter
of a mile across from north to south. These long,
narrow parishes would seem to represent the division
of the marsh (fen) by Turchil. (fn. 1) He apparently added
a narrow strip of marsh (fen) to Caldecote, Denton
and Stilton and so brought them into contact with
the mere. Denton lies south of Caldecote and north
of Glatton and Holme. The London and North
Eastern Railway, which has a station at Holme, 4 miles
away, crosses Denton Fen at its eastern end, and the
Ermine Street runs north and south near the centre of
the parish. The ground rises to about 60 ft. above
Ordnance datum at the Ermine Street, and reaches
220 ft. in the west of the parish, where a country of
gentle hills contrasts with the fenland in the east.
The village, about a mile west of the Ermine Street, is
situated towards the western end of the parish, and
lies about 75 ft. above Ordnance datum. The church
is in the middle of the village and near by are
a few late 17th-century cottages in somewhat poor
condition.
The soil and subsoil are Oxford Clay with some
gravel, and the chief crops are wheat, barley and peas.
There are several farms: Rectory Farm is north-east
of the church, and Redhill Farm south-east of it;
Moonshine Gap Farm is in the west of the parish.
About three-quarters of a mile east of the Ermine Street
is Denton Common, with Park Farm about half a mile
away to the east, and a fox covert further east still.
The population has diminished and in 1921 was 67.
The parish was inclosed by an Act of Parliament
passed in 1802. (fn. 2)
The Rev. Edward Bradley (1827–89), better known
as 'Cuthbert Bede,' was rector of Denton from
1859–71. He was the friend and associate of Cruikshank, Mark Lemon and their set, and was himself
well known as a lecturer and author and a contributor
to Punch and other periodicals. His great success,
Verdant Green, was a brilliant description of contemporary undergraduate life. (fn. 3) He gathered many
memoranda while at Denton, and has left a valuable
account (fn. 4) of houses then recently dismantled or pulled
down.
In reference to 'several houses taken down in the
present generation' Cuthbert Bede wrote that 'the
chief of these was the mansion-house of the Cottons
which stood on the land adjoining the south side of
the churchyard, on the precise spot now occupied by
a barn and farm buildings. The base of this barn is
a portion of the foundation of the old house, which
having fallen into a ruinous state was pulled down
about the year 1816 by the lord of the manor, Admiral
Wells, of Holme Wood. I was told in 1854, by a
woman who had lived in Denton for 40 years, that the
dismantling of the old house took place two or three
years after she came to reside in the parish. She
described the house as being very "auncious, fine,
and old established," and "the floors all done in freestone," and it had three storeys in height. . . . The
traces of the former habitation were to be seen not
only in the foundations of the barn and buildings, but
also in the fishponds, and the fruit trees that marked
the old gardens. Since then, in 1855, a farm house
has been built in connection with the barn and
buildings; and the tenant has filled up two of the
fishponds, reduced the third in size, levelled much of
the ground, and made other alterations which have
assisted to obliterate the few remaining traces of the
old mansion and birthplace of Sir Robert Cotton. . . .'
The manor house probably stood on the site of a
messuage and garden existing in the 13th century.
Sir Robert Cotton, the antiquary, was born there in
January 1570; (fn. 5) his parents, Thomas Cotton and his
first wife, Elizabeth Shirley, according to Wotton,
having 'removed thither, not long after their
marriage, as well for the splendour of his birth, as to
be more at liberty from the incommodiousness of
their own seat, arising from a great accession of new
domesticks.' (fn. 6) The name of no other member of the
Cotton family occurs in the parish register, and probably the Cottons' home at Denton was a much more
modest one than 'their own seat' at Conington, but
from local tradition it was evidently a substantial
mansion, and the handsome old furniture dispersed at
the sale of its contents included two carved oak chairs
adorned with the royal crown bought by Adams, the
parish clerk, for sixpence each, and sold by him to
the rector of Water Newton; a great carved bedstead;
and a carved oak cabinet 5 ft. high.
Manor
Five hides in DENTON, held before the
Conquest by Godric, were entered in
Domesday Survey among the lands of the
Bishop of Lincoln, under whom they were held by
Turstin. (fn. 7) The manor was held by the Bishops of
Lincoln as late as 1636, as a third of a knight's fee. (fn. 8)
Beville. Gules a cheveron between three roundels or.
Lancelin. Argent a fleur de lis sable.
The earliest undertenants of whom we have record
were the Lancelins. In 1202 Robert de Lancelin
granted a knight's fee in Denton to Richard de Beville
(Baiuille). (fn. 9) Richard, by Robert de Beville his brother,
sued Robert de Lancelin in the same year for fulfilment of the grant, but Richard, brother of Robert de
Lancelin, interposed, claiming that the fee was held
of him by his mother Alice, and the question of title
was left for settlement between the two Lancelin
brothers. (fn. 10) Later it was agreed that Robert de
Lancelin should assign lands in Cheshire to Robert
de Beville on behalf of his brother Richard (fn. 11) de Beville,
evidently as security for the knight's fee in Denton.
Richard de Beville must eventually have obtained
possession of the fee in Denton, as we find
his heirs later holding the manor. (fn. 12) He took a
prominent position in the affairs of the county and
died in or before 1238. As is shown under Upton
(q.v.), he left three daughters, whose heirs (the St.
Pierres, the Welsh royal house, the Grims, and the
Gobauds) had interests in the manor. The chief
holding, however, which included the advowson and
later absorbed the whole manor, went to Richard's
second daughter Cecily, who married firstly Robert
de Sibthorpe and apparently, secondly, Roger de
Ingoldsby or Ingolde, who presented to the church
in 1259 and 1272. (fn. 13) Cecily was again a widow in
1279, when, as Cecily de Ingolde (Ingoldsby), she held
the chief messuage of Denton of the Bishop of Lincoln
by a third of a fee. The court of the manor with the
garden then contained an acre, and the whole vill
comprised 3 hides, of which the Lady Cecily held in
demesne 2 virgates. The demesne was shared with
her by the representatives of the other co-heirs of
Richard de Beville. (fn. 14) Cecily had by her first husband,
Robert de Sibthorpe, a son James, (fn. 15) who seems to
have predeceased her. He was succeeded by his son
Robert, who became known as Robert Grim of Sibthorpe. He died seised of lands and tenants in Denton
in 1298, leaving as his heir his brother, Ralph Grim. (fn. 16)
Alice, widow of Ralph Grim, presented to the church
in 1314. She probably married, as his first wife,
Robert de Bayeux, (fn. 17) who presented in 1318. Robert
Grim, son of Ralph and Alice, presented in 1345 and
1349, in which year he died, leaving a son Robert,
aged 15 years. (fn. 18) The latter Robert married Margery,
daughter of Thomas Greenham of Ketton, and their
daughter Katharine settled the manors of Sibthorpe,
Upton and Denton on her mother Margery and her
second husband, Sir Thomas Burton, for their lives.
Sir Thomas died in 1381, (fn. 19) and Margery, Lady Burton,
his widow, presented to the church until 1414. (fn. 20)
After her death the patronage of Denton church, and
probably the manor, went to Thomas, son and heir
of her great-nephew William Greenham of Ketton. (fn. 21)
Thomas was a minor and Nicholas, Bishop of
Bath and Wells, as his guardian, presented to the
church in 1421, and Thomas presented in 1424 and
1436, (fn. 22) and was still living in 1439. (fn. 23) The Greenhams
were apparently in pecuniary difficulties about this
time, and in the middle of the 15th century Denton
was in the hands of William Knyvet, who sold it
to Thomas, son of William Cotton. (fn. 24) Thomas died
seised of the manor, held of the Bishop of Lincoln,
in 1505, (fn. 25) leaving a son Thomas (d. 1517). (fn. 26) This
Thomas's grandson, Thomas, in 1585 settled the manor
for life on his youngest son Thomas, and died in 1592, (fn. 27)
but his eldest son, Sir Robert Cotton of Conington
(q.v.), the antiquary, was dealing with the manor and
advowson in 1605, when he conveyed them to his uncle
John, (fn. 28) who died childless at Sawtry in 1636, aged
88, seised of the manor and advowson, with which
he held 2 messuages recently built by Sir Robert
Cotton. (fn. 29) His heir was Sir Robert's son and heir,
Sir Thomas Cotton, bart., and the manor and advowson continued to be held, with Conington, Glatton
and Holme until the 18th century—presumably till
the death of Sir John Cotton in 1752. (fn. 30) It then passed
with Glatton and Holme (q.v.) to the Wells family.
It was acquired by Mr. J. Ashton Fielden in 1903,
and was sold in 1920 to Mr. Joseph Emerton, the
present owner. (fn. 31)
The Bevilles continued to hold a large freehold in
Denton which possibly descended from Robert,
brother of Richard de Beville, who brought the action
against Robert Lancelin in 1202, already referred to.
Thomas de Beville, who held lands of Sir John
Gobaud in Denton by the rent of a pair of gilt
spurs in 1279, (fn. 32) was probably the father of Ralph de
Beville the younger, son of Thomas de Beville, who
held a fee in Denton of the Bishop of Lincoln and
was living in 1293 (fn. 33) and 1309. A John de Beville of
Denton (father of Thomas who is referred to in
1333 and 1346) (fn. 34) may have been a brother of Ralph.
John de Beville of Denton and Margaret his wife are
mentioned in 1382–3 (fn. 35) and Thomas son of Thomas
de Beville is mentioned in a grant about 1409–10. (fn. 36)
Thomas is again referred to in 1422 and later John
de Beville of Denton is mentioned. In 1440 William
Beville of Denton, gentleman, appeared in a plea of
debt. (fn. 37) The Beville holding was probably absorbed
by the Cottons, possibly when Thomas Cotton (d.
1505) bought the manor (q.v.).
Land was held in Denton in the 16th and 17th
centuries by the Lawrences, owners of the manors of
St. Ives, Walton Bevilles, (fn. 38) etc., against whom proceedings were instituted about 1597 by Attorney-General
Coke on behalf of the Crown to recover possession of
pasture and wood ground, called Sywardhay, in
Denton and Wood Walton, parcel of the royal forest,
and 'long since inclosed,' into which William
Lawrence had entered, claiming it as heir of Henry
Lawrence. It was then denied on behalf of the Crown
that it had ever been held by Ralph, son of Thomas de
Bentley (which seems to be a mistake for Beville),
in the time of Edward II, or had come by lawful
descent or conveyance to Sir Robert Beville of
Chesterton, or from him to the Lawrences. (fn. 39)
In 1279 the fen belonging to Denton was described
as 4 acres wide (fn. 40) and a league in length from Whittlesea Mere in one direction to the fields of Denton in
the other; but it was stated that Glatton and Holme
had forcibly appropriated a league in length and
½ quarentena in width, and prevented the men of
Denton from digging turves, etc., and that the Earl
of Cornwall had appropriated the Fleet, 3 acres in
extent, which was common of Denton, Glatton and
Holme. (fn. 41)
Church
The church of ALL SAINTS consists
of a chancel (14½ ft. by 13¼ ft.), nave
(30½ ft. by 18 ft.), tower at S.W. corner
(5 ft. by 7 ft.) and a north porch (6½ ft. by 6 ft.). The
walls are of rubble with stone dressings and the
roofs are covered with stone-slates and tiles.
The church is mentioned in the Domesday Survey
(1086), but the earliest parts remaining are the 12thcentury responds of the chancel arch, and the arch
itself, which is of the 13th century. The nave appears
to have been rebuilt in the 14th century, and part of
the west wall of this period remains. The chancel
and nave appear to have been rebuilt in 1629, the
porch in 1665, and the tower perhaps in 1671. The
church was restored in 1865.
The 17th-century chancel has a three-light east
window with a modern head; above it is a stone
inscribed 'anno domini 1629 avgvst.' On the gable
is a fragment of an ancient cross. In the north wall
is a two-light window with a square head; and a
blocked door with a wooden lintel. The south wall
has a similar window. The chancel arch has a 13thcentury two-centred arch of one chamfered order
resting on 12th-century square responds with moulded
imposts.
The 17th-century nave has, in the north wall, a
square-headed three-light window with a transom,
and a plain segmental-headed doorway with a re-used
14th-century label. In the south wall are a similar
three-light window and a plain doorway with a
roughly two-centred arch and set in a slight thickening
of the wall. The west wall has a 17th-century singlelight window, and a doorway into the tower, the
western jambs of which appear to be of 14th-century
date, but the head is merely a wooden lintel.
The tower, which is of uncertain date, but probably 17th century, is wider from north to south
than from east to west; there is a low buttress at
the south-east corner. It hardly rises to the ridge
of the nave roof and is covered with a hipped tile
roof with overhanging eaves. In the west wall is a
single-light square-headed window, and in the south
wall (visible on the inside only) is a blocked doorway.
The belfry windows (in the north, south and west
walls only) are two-lights, with rounded heads cut
out of one stone. Possibly the date on the second bell
(1671) may give us the date when the tower was built.
The north porch has a two-centred outer arch of
17th-century date, above which is a sunk panel with
the date 1665.
The font has a plain octagonal bowl on a heavy
octagonal stem and a splayed base: it is probably of
14th-century date.
There are two bells: (1) with a crude shield
bearing the letters R O S; (2) inscribed 1671. The
first an early 16th-century bell; the second by
Tobias Norris III, of Stamford. There were two bells
in 1709 and in 1724. (fn. 42)
The Communion table and the rails are quite
plain and of 17th-century date. The 18th-century
oak pulpit is composed of plain panelling, and the
sounding board incorporates some 17th-century
material. A bench end in the nave is dated a.d. 1607.
On the south wall of the church is an early 18thcentury wooden sundial with an iron gnomon.
There are no monuments in the church except a
war memorial, 1914–18, in the nave; and a floor slab
in the porch to — Colwell, d. 1725.
The earliest register, which dated from 1546, has
been lost in recent years; those that remain are:
(i) baptisms, marriages and burials, 20 April 1729 to
27 November 1812, marriages end 14 December
1753; (ii) the official marriage book, 22 June 1755 to
14 January 1811.
The church plate consists of a silver cup and
cover paten, the cup engraved with some simple
Elizabethan ornament, hall-marked for 1568–9; (fn. 43)
a pewter plate by George Holmes, with his shield of
a catherine-wheel between four fleur-de-lis stamped
on the back, inscribed 'denton'; a pewter bowl
inscribed 'denton'; a pewter flagon inscribed
'denton 1732/3.' All the pewter is coarse and
heavy.
Advowson
The church belonged to the Bishop
of Lincoln in 1086, (fn. 44) and the
advowson was held with the manor
until the end of the 19th century. It was acquired by
Lord de Ramsey, who presented in 1893, (fn. 45) and
afterwards passed to Mr. J. A. Fielden, who sold it
to Mrs. Bree in 1923. She held it for only a short
time, and it was acquired in 1924 by Mrs. Churchill,
the present patron. The living is a rectory, and
was united to Caldecote in 1853. Both livings were
united to Stilton in 1928.
An ancient endowment of half a virgate of land was
attached to the rectory in 1279. (fn. 46) The church
was taxed at £4 13s. 4d. in 1291, (fn. 47) and the value was
unchanged in 1428, (fn. 48) but had risen to £6 3s. 2d. in
1535. (fn. 49)
Charity
Poor's Money.—The endowment of
this charity consists of a sum of £25,
which is reputed to have been the gift
of a member of the Cotton family. The income,
amounting to 12s. yearly, is distributed among the
poor of the parish. The charity is administered by
the Rector of Denton.