GLATTON
Glaedtuninga (x cent.); Glatune (fn. 1) (xi cent.);
Glattun, Glatton (xii cent.).
Glatton covers an area of 2,176 acres of clay land.
It is mostly laid down for pasture, but there is a
certain amount of arable land which produces wheat,
barley and peas. The land is undulating; it rises
from the Holme Brook in the east, where it is about
40ft. above the Ordnance datum, to a ridge of low hills
rising to about 145 ft. From this low ridge the land
falls to another brook to the south, where the land is
about 50 ft. above Ordnance datum, from which it
rises again to about 220 ft. on the western boundary.
The village, which is rather scattered, surrounds a
four-sided figure formed by roads, upon which converge by-roads from Lutton and the west by High
Haden Road, from Denton on the north, from Holme
on the north-east by the Ways, which branches off
from Ermine Street, from Sawtry on the south-east,
and from Gidding on the south-west by Infield Road.
The church and rectory house are within this figure.
To the north-west of it is the Manor Farm, in the
grounds of which are the remains of a homestead
moat which was probably the site of the old manor
house, and in the 14th century and later possibly the
residence of the Castels. There are many 17th-century
houses and cottages in the village, mostly timberframed with tiled or thatched roofs. The Addison
Arms Inn, on the Sawtry Road, is a late 17th-century
brick house with shaped gables and tiled roof. Glatton
Hall, a brick house standing in a small park, is the
property of the Peterborough and District Co-operative Society. Glatton formerly included the hamlet
of Holme, but even in the 13th century Holme was
beginning to show a certain importance of its own,
and early in the 19th century it became a separate
parish; its history is therefore given separately.
Manor
In the time of Edward the Confessor
GLATTON, assessed at 8 hides, belonged
to Ulf, who also held Chesterton and
Sibson. The 8 hides included Holme, the manor
always being described as Glatton with Holme.
All Ulf's lands here were granted by William the
Conqueror to Count Eustace of Boulogne, who
was holding them in 1086. (fn. 2) Count Eustace was
the son of Eustace aux Grenons and Ida de Bouillon,
his second wife, his first wife being Goda, sister of
Edward the Confessor, by whom he had no children.
Glatton, however, seems to have been acquired by
Count Eustace by gift of the Conqueror, on their
reconciliation after Eustace's forfeiture in 1067, and
thus became attached to the Honour of Boulogne.
Eustace married Mary of Scotland, and their daughter
Maud became the wife of King Stephen. Their eldest
son Eustace died in 1152, and the Honour was inherited by William de Blois, Count of Boulogne, their
second son, who married Isabel de Warenne, in whose
right he became Earl of Warenne. He died without
issue in 1159, and his widow married Hammelin
de Plantagenet. On William's death the Honour
reverted to King Stephen's daughter Mary, wife of
Matthew of Flanders. Their daughter Ida, Countess
of Boulogne, married Reginald de Dammartin, son of
Count Aubrey de Dammartin. Reginald, Count of
Boulogne, did homage to King John in 1212 and in
1214 was taken prisoner in France. He died in captivity, leaving no heirs, and the Honour of Boulogne
escheated to the Crown. (fn. 3)
The tenants in demesne, holding of the Honour of
Boulogne, were the Dudeauvilles, a baronial family
of the Boulonnais, which held estates in Huntingdonshire in the 12th century. (fn. 4) Robert de Dudeauville
held Glatton at farm in 1177, and paid 25s. for relief
of his lands. (fn. 5) He was dead by 1191, when his son, whose
name is not given, owed 100 marks for homage. (fn. 6) The
unnamed son was possibly Baldwin de Dudeauville,
who owned 5 knights' fees in Glatton in 1210–12. (fn. 7)
Apparently he was also known as Baldwin de Riparia, (fn. 8)
or de Rivers, (fn. 9) and was amongst the debtors for
scutage 'of five knights in Glatton, with the member
Holm which pertains to Glatton,' to the Honour of
Boulogne in 1217. (fn. 10) He was still holding the manor
in 1235–6, (fn. 11) but seems to have died without heirs, as
the property escheated to the Crown in 1239, by
reason of his death. (fn. 12)
The manor was granted in 1242 to Fulk de Novo
Castro for his maintenance in the king's service, until
the king should surrender it to the right heirs, but Fulk
surrendered it to the Crown on being granted the
marriage of Christina, the daughter and heir of Robert
de Marisco. (fn. 13) It was granted to Richard Count of
Poitou and Earl of Cornwall, and his wife Sanchia of
Provence, the king's sister-in-law, in 1243, (fn. 14) and the
extent of the vill in 1279 was 11 hides, every hide
measuring 5 virgates and every virgate 24 acres. The
Earl held 3 hides in demesne. (fn. 15)
Edmund, Earl of Cornwall, son of Richard, died
seised in 1300, without issue, when the manor
reverted to the king as his heir, though it was assigned
to his widow as dower in 1301; she was still holding it
in 1303. (fn. 16) In 1314 the king granted Glatton to the
Abbot of Thorney for life at a rent of £100 a year, (fn. 17)
and in 1323 gave it to Hugh le Despenser the younger. (fn. 18)
It again escheated to the Crown on his execution in
1326, and in 1327 was granted to Queen Isabella for
life, 'in furtherance of a resolution of Parliament
for her service in the matter of the treaty with France
and in suppressing the rebellion of the Despensers and
others, in increase of her dower.' (fn. 19) In 1359, after
her death, the king gave it to Queen Philippa, (fn. 20) and
when she died in 1369 it again reverted to the Crown. (fn. 21)
The king granted the manor among many other lands to
John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, in 1372, in exchange
for the Earldom, Honour and County of Richmond, (fn. 22)
the latter being granted to John, Duke of Brittany, and
Joan, his wife. (fn. 23) John, Duke of Lancaster, settled
Glatton on himself and his third wife, Katherine, and
heirs tail in 1397, (fn. 24) and, with the Duchy of Lancaster, it again became vested in the Crown in 1399
when his son ascended the throne as Henry IV. The
manor was granted with many other lands to Henry,
Archbishop of Canterbury, Henry, Bishop of Winchester, Edward, Duke of York, John Leventhorpe,
and others in 1415 for 12 years. (fn. 25) This may possibly
have been a mortgage to raise money for the war with
France, but in 1428 it was still held by Henry, Archbishop of Canterbury, John Leventhorpe and 'other
feoffees of the king.' (fn. 26) In 1483–4 two annuities were
granted from the issues of the king's lordship of
Glatton. (fn. 27)
The manor apparently remained in the Crown until
1611, when it was bought by Sir Robert Cotton, (fn. 28)
but in 1613 a complaint was made to the king by
Robert Castel, Michael Welles, and William Browne,
tenants of Glatton, against Cotton, that he had purchased the manor of Glatton and Holme from the
king greatly under value, and they asked that the
manor might be bought back again and that they might
hold it at fee farm at a rent of £70 a year. It was,
however, found that the complaint was untrue and
that Sir Robert had lawfully purchased the manor. (fn. 29)
Glatton descended with Conington (q.v.) until the
death of Sir John Cotton without male issue, in
1752. (fn. 30) It was sold, probably at that date, to Mr.
Wells, a shipbuilder of Chatham. Captain W. Wells,
R.N., son of Admiral Wells, and son-in-law of the
first Earl Carysfort, was the owner of Holme Wood
and lord of the manor of Glatton in the beginning of
the 19th century; he unsuccessfully stood for Parliament in 1818 (fn. 31) and died in 1827, leaving a son
William (fn. 32) who died in 1889, (fn. 33) when his executors sold
the property to Lord de Ramsey, who was returned
as lord of the manor and owner of Holme Wood in
1890. (fn. 34) It was purchased from him by Mr. John
Ashton Fielden in 1902. He sold it to a syndicate in
1918, who auctioned it a few months later, when
it was bought by Mr. R. H. Edleston, the present
owner.
Among the free tenants of Glatton in 1276, John,
son of Richard, had three virgates by charter, rendering to the Earl of Cornwall 3s. rent and two capons,
and to the Templars 4s. for one of the virgates. (fn. 35) This
holding was afterwards acquired by the family of
Castel. In 1327 the gift of John de Castello, son of
Thomas le Freeman of Glatton, of a messuage in
Glatton, was confirmed to the Abbot and Convent
of Bourn (Lincs), (fn. 36) and in 1433–4 William Castel and
Isabel his wife were dealing with a messuage, 60
acres of land, 8 acres of meadow and a rent of 3s. and
two capons. (fn. 37) It is possible that this William was
John's great-grandson and father of John Castel of
Peterborough. (fn. 38) John Castel, junior, of the King's
Exchequer, owned this property in 1499, (fn. 39) but after
this date mention of the rent ceases. His son William,
with Katherine his wife, was dealing with land here in
1538 (fn. 40) and 1548, (fn. 41) and William Castel, their son,
was living in 1553; (fn. 42) his son Robert Castel of Glatton in 1613 was forbidden to bear arms. (fn. 43) He was
one of the petitioners against the purchase of the
manor by Sir Robert Cotton, and died in 1619 seised
of messuages, cottages and lands in Glatton and
Holme, and the advowson of the church, leaving as his
heir his son John, aged 27. (fn. 44)
John died in 1658, (fn. 45) and his
daughter Katherine married a
member of the Sherard family.
They had two sons, Castel
and William, and in 1660
Castel Sherard, alias Sherard
Castel, was dealing with lands
in Glatton. (fn. 46) Castel died in
1701, (fn. 47) leaving a daughter
Katherine, who married
William Sherard, presumably
a relative, and grandson of
William, first Baron Sherard
of Stapleford (Leics.), and died in 1724. (fn. 48) The estate
remained in the Sherard family, Glatton Hall being
the property of Castel, 10th Baron Sherard, in 1890. (fn. 49)
He died in 1902 and was succeeded by his brother
Philip, who owned it in 1906. By 1914 it had passed
to Mr. John Ashton Fielden, J.P., and was purchased
in 1918 by the Peterborough Equitable Co-operative
Society, the present owners.
Sherard. Argent a cbeveron between three roundels gules.
One messuage and two virgates of land in Glatton
were held by Richard de Glatton for life by grant of
the Crown in 1323, and the reversion after his death
was granted to Hugh le Despenser, junior. (fn. 50) Richard
died in 1345 seised of two messuages, 52 acres of arable
land and an acre of meadow, held by fealty and service of 2s. yearly, and his heirs were to pay 5s. yearly
by the hands of the bailiff of the manor. (fn. 51) His son
William enfeoffed John Balle of Holme of this property
in 1356, (fn. 52) and in 1369 John Balle received licence to
grant a messuage and 44 acres of land and 3 of meadow,
held in chief, to Sir John Haukyn and Katherine his
wife, with remainder to their son John and his heirs. (fn. 53)
The Earl of Cornwall held view of frankpledge in
Glatton in 1276, (fn. 54) and it was granted to Hugh le
Despenser the younger in 1323. (fn. 55)
Church
The church of ST. NICHOLAS
consists of a chancel (29 ft. by 16 ft.),
north vestry (14¾ ft. by 8 ft.), nave
(39½ ft. by 17½ ft.), north transept (28 ft. by 16¾ ft.),
north aisle (38¾ ft. by 10½ ft.), south aisle (56½ ft.
by 15 ft.), and west tower (12 ft. by 12¼ ft.). The
walls of the tower are faced with ashlar, those of the
chancel with coursed hammer-dressed stone, and
the rest are of rubble with stone dressings; the roofs
are covered with lead.
The church is mentioned in the Domesday Survey
(1086), but nothing remains of this early church. A
few 12th-century stones, particularly one capital of the
nave arcade, indicate an aisled church in that century.
In the fourth decade of the 13th century the nave
arcades were rebuilt, and somewhat later the north
transept was added. The aisle walls were, apparently,
not rebuilt at this period, but it is probable that the
church had a tower of either 12th or 13th century
date. About the year 1330 the south aisle was
rebuilt and widened and extended to the western
face of the tower, a wide arch being thrown across
on the line of the old west wall of the aisle. Towards
the end of the 15th century a considerable reconstruction was begun: the chancel was rebuilt
and probably widened and lengthened, the nave
arcades rebuilt and heightened and the clearstory and rood-stairs added. A little later the west
tower was rebuilt and the north aisle rebuilt and
widened and carried to the western face of the tower.
Finally, in the early years of the 16th century the
vestry was added. (fn. 56) The roof of the nave was renewed in 1615, and those of the transept and aisles
were renewed in 1701. The eastern half of the chancel was rebuilt in 1839–40, the rest of the chancel
largely rebuilt 1857, and the remainder of the church
was restored in 1869. The nave roof was restored
in 1933.
The late 15th-century chancel has a five-light east
window with vertical tracery in a four-centred head,
all modern except parts of the inner splays and rear
arch. The north wall has an original four-light
window with tracery in a depressed four-centred
head, and having the inner splays carried down for
a seat; a 14th-century square bracket with carved
grotesque head, fixed in the eastern splay of the
window; a 16th-century doorway to the vestry, with
moulded jambs and four-centred head; and an early
14th-century locker with central mullion for two doors.
The south wall has a four-light window similar to
that in the north wall and with a similar bracket in its
splay; an early 14th-century two-light low-side window
with a plain spandrel in a two-centred head; a late
15th-century three-light with a four-centred head
inserted above the last-named window over which the
sill is stepped up; and an early 14th-century double
piscina with chamfered jambs and trefoiled heads
under a square label, and with one circular and one
sexfoiled basin. The late 15th-century chancel arch
has an acutely pointed four-centred arch of two
moulded orders, the lower order carried on semioctagonal attached shafts with moulded capitals;
above it, on the west side, are three late 15th-century
moulded brackets carved with roses and four-leaved
flowers. The roof is modern, but a few of the purlins
are older timbers re-used. The walls have low
buttresses square at the angles, and are finished with
an embattled parapet, but all the external facing is
modern, c. 1857, previously to which there is said to
have been a priest's door near the western end of the
south wall; the old east window is said to have
resembled those in the south aisle and to have been
much smaller than the present one. (fn. 57)
The early 16th-century north vestry has in the
east wall an original square-headed two-light window;
an original doorway with two-centred head and
continuous chamfered jambs; and a small niche with
semicircular head. In the west wall is a blocked
fireplace; and a small semicircular-headed opening
into the foot of the rood staircase, but it is much too
low for a doorway. The vestry is vaulted in two bays
of quadripartite vaulting having moulded ribs springing from simple corbels; above it, entered by a doorway from the rood-stairs, was a small chamber, the
floor of which remains, but the flat lead roof has given
place to a pent-roof of slates reducing the chamber to
a mere loft. It has a diagonal buttress at the northeast corner; the east wall is finished with an embattled
parapet, and the north wall has a moulded cornice
ornamented with a bold battlement ornament and
with a band of quatrefoils beneath it.
Plan of Glatton Church
The 13th-century nave, reconstructed in the late
15th century, has an arcade of three bays on each side.
The arches are semicircular and of two chamfered
orders, the 13th-century stones probably being reused with but little alteration. The piers are circular
and the responds semicircular; the moulded bases
(except that to the second column on the north)
and some 4 ft. in height of the piers are of 13thcentury date, but the upper parts of the piers are
of the late 15th century. The moulded octagonal
capitals on the north side are of the late 15th century;
those on the south side are of the 13th century,
except that of the first pier, which is a late 12thcentury scalloped capital. In the north-east angle is
the rood staircase and its upper doorway, with a twocentred head and continuous moulded jambs. The
late 15th-century clearstory has on each side three
three-light windows with vertical tracery in depressed
four-centred heads. The 17th-century oak roof is of
three bays with moulded beams, jack-legs and braces,
and incorporates a few 15th-century timbers. The
eastern beam has the inscription 'ANNO 1615.'
The late 13th-century north transept has in the east
wall two original two-light windows each with a
quatrefoil in a two-centred head, that to the south
blocked by the vestry; a small blocked piscina; a
large rectangular bracket carved with the chevron
ornament and crude foliage; and two 14th-century
carved mask corbels fixed as brackets. The north wall
has an early 14th-century three-light window, the
centre light of which is very much wider than the
others, with a late 15th-century four-centred head;
and a 14th-century rectangular double locker divided
by a stone partition. The west wall has a late
14th-century two-light window widened in the 15th
century and with a four-centred head; two wide
recesses in the lower part of the wall having segmental arches and chamfered jambs, and the southern
arch reduced in width when the north aisle was
widened in the 15th century. In the south-east
angle is the rood staircase with the lower doorway
similar to the upper doorway in the nave. The oak
roof, c. 1700, has chamfered tie-beams, ridge and
purlins. The transept was used as a schoolroom in
the early part of the 19th century, and a doorway was
cut through the north wall, the
marks of which are still visible.
The late 15th-century north
aisle has in the north wall two
original two-light windows with
four-centred heads; and an
original doorway with continuous
moulded jambs and a fourcentred head. At the extreme
east end of the wall, just above
the floor, is a 13th-century
moulded base for three attached
shafts, which it is difficult to
account for. The west wall has
a two-light window with a fourcentred head. The pent-roof of
c. 1700 has simple hollow-chamfered beams, but incorporates
one early 16th-century beam.
The south aisle, c. 1330, has
an original three-light window
with intersecting tracery in a
two-centred head. The south
wall has three original two-light
windows with plain spandrels in
two-centred heads; an original
piscina with a trefoiled head and
an octofoiled basin; and, in the
western bay, a late 15th-century doorway with a
four-centred head and continuous moulded jambs.
The walling of the third and fourth bays shows signs
of considerable alteration, and probably the door and
window have changed places, for the third bay has no
string-course or plinth, and the doorway in the fourth
bay has certainly been cut through both. In the west
wall is a window similar to that in the east wall, but
somewhat wider. A wide 14th-century arch spans the
aisle at the line of the eastern wall of the tower, and
seems to involve the existence of a tower before the
present one. The aisle has diagonal buttresses with
gabled tops at the south-east and south-west angles,
and three square buttresses on the side, one of which
is a later addition and larger than the others. The
three eastern bays have a hollow-chamfered cornice
with small carved heads below the embattled parapet;
and the lower part of a similar string-course remains
on the west wall. The pent-roof of c. 1700 has
chamfered beams and jack-legs; one of the beams
at the west end is inscribed 'I H 1701 S. C.
W.K. W.M.,' and a purlin has the letters 'R.N.'
The following inscription is cast on the lead:
'e. yardy. church-warden. april. 4. 1759. w. everell.
plumber.'
The west tower, c. 1500, stands on three arches
within the church; that to the nave is two-centred
and of two orders, the inner order carried on semicircular attached shafts with moulded capitals and
bases. The side arches are similar, but not so high,
and they have two additional orders on the outside
which carry walls in continuation of the clearstory
and containing three-light windows exactly similar to
those in the clearstory itself. The west doorway has
a four-centred head and moulded jambs with traceried
spandrels under a square head over which the quatrefoiled band above the plinth has been carried. Above
it is a four-light window with transom and vertical
tracery under a four-centred head inclosed by a square
label and having traceried spandrels. The embattled
parapet of the clearstory is carried across the west
face of the tower and ornamented with a band of
quatrefoils. Up to this point the tower has two
square buttresses on the west side only; but here it
sets back behind the parapet and continues up with
clasping buttresses at each angle. In the next stage
there is a four-light window with transom and tracery
in a square head in the west wall, and a low doorway
on to the nave roof in the east wall. The belfry windows are similar to the window below; and the tower
is finished with an embattled parapet below which is
a band of quatrefoils; at the angles of the parapet
are large squatting beasts something like heraldic
antelopes and hounds but too much worn to be identified with certainty. The stairs are in the southwest corner.
The font has a modern octagonal panelled bowl (fn. 58)
on a late 15th-century octagonal panelled stem,
moulded base, and octagonal step.
There are four bells, inscribed: Com Com and
preay 1595; (2) Searve God and O beay thy princ
1595; (3) J: Taylor & Co. Founders Loughborough
1863; (4): Omnia fiant ad gloriam dei . . . : . . .
+ . . . gloria deo soli: +: . . Tho: Eayre 1736.
The treble and second are by Watts, of Leicester.
There were four bells both in 1709 and in 1776, (fn. 59) but
in 1748 the archdeacon records 'the first and second
bells bad'; (fn. 60) possibly he meant what we should call
the third and fourth. The bells were in bad condition for ringing in 1899, and were rehung in a steel
frame in 1904, and a chiming apparatus added in
1919.
Under the chancel arch is a late 15th-century oak
screen of five bays; the upper part has crocketed and
finialled ogee canopies and tracery, and the lower part
has sub-cusped trefoiled panels; the coving and loft
are replaced by a plain moulded beam.
In the nave are considerable remains of 15th-century
seating with quaintly carved poppy heads.
The mid 17th-century Communion table has
turned legs and a carved top rail. In the vestry is a
17th-century hutch-shaped chest.
There are remains of late 15th-century paintings
in the nave on each side of the chancel arch: on
the north, figure of St. Mary Magdalene on a background powdered with crowned M's, and inscription
'Sancta Maria Magdale . . Int'cede p. nobis';
on the south, figure of Christ rising from the tomb,
and with kneeling figure of a priest on the adjoining
wall.
Numerous worked stones are built into the walls,
particularly: in the sill of the east belfry window, a
rough stone with roll-edges; in the west wall of the
north aisle, a piece of chevron moulding; in the
east wall of the south aisle a piece of 12th-century
diaper-work; in the east gable of the nave several
pieces of dog-tooth ornament.
In the chancel is a mid 17th-century monument
having two semicircular-headed recesses flanked by
Doric columns supporting an entablature; it has no
inscription but is stated to have borne the arms of the
Castel family. (fn. 61) At the east end of the south aisle
is a copper plate fixed in a wooden frame, to Catherine
Sherard, d. 1724. Other monuments are: in the
chancel, to the Rev. John Thomas Lee, Rector, d.
1928; and floor slabs to the Ven. John Sturges,
Rector, Archdeacon of Huntingdon, d. 1725; John
Parsons, d. 1743; the Rev. Nicholas Addenbrooke,
Rector, d. 1778, Lucy (Hopkinson) his wife (n.d.)
and Elizabeth (Fuller) his second wife (n.d.), and
seven infants; and the Rev. Gerrard Clough, LL.B.,
Rector of Little Gidding and curate of Glatton,
d. 1831. In the south aisle, to the Rev. Castel Sherard,
Rector of Stainby-cum-Gunby and Edmonthorp,
Leicestershire, d. 1803, Jane (Caryer) his wife, d. 1810,
and their children: Louisa, d. 1806, Philip Castel,
d. 1814, George, d. 1818, Frances, d. 1819, Caryer, d.
1823, Robert, d. 1835, and Charlotte Wilhelmina,
d. 1844; Philip Castel Sherard, Lord Sherard, d.
1886, and Ann his wife, d. 1835; and War Memorial
1914–18.
The registers are as follows: (i) baptisms, marriages
and burials, 26 March 1578 to 5 March 1684/5; (ii)
the same, 26 March 1685 to 24 October 1812;
marriages end 26 February 1754; (iii) baptisms and
burials, 17 October 1764 to 4 October 1812; (fn. 62) (iv)
marriages, 29 April 1754 to 27 December 1813;
the usual modern books.
The church plate consists of (fn. 63) a silver cup inscribed 'Glatton in Com. Hunt.' and hall-marked for
1695–6; a standing paten inscribed 'Presented to
the Church at Glatton, Hunts, by Philip Castel
Sherard, 1856. Revd. George Wingfield, Rector'
hall-marked for 1847–8; a plated flagon inscribed
'Glatton St. Nicholas, Hunts, Presented by J.
Fickling, Rector, 1891'; two pewter plates.
Advowson
The church formed part of the
foundation endowment of Missenden
Abbey, founded by William of Missenden in 1133. (fn. 64) It is not clear who made the gift,
but Missenden Abbey was attached to the Abbey of
St. Nicholas at Arrouaise in the Pas de Calais, and as
Glatton formed part of the Honour of Boulogne, it
may have been given by one of the Counts of Boulogne
to the latter abbey and afterwards allotted to
Missenden. The church of Glatton was confirmed to
Missenden by various popes, beginning with Innocent II (fn. 65) (1130–43), and in 1353 the abbot and
convent received licence to ordain a vicarage, because
they had 'manifold charges by the frequent coming
of persons to the Abbey' and were 'impoverished by
great dearth in past years.' (fn. 66) This does not seem to
have been carried out and the living is still a rectory.
The abbey received a pension of £4 13s. 4d. a year,
which was paid to the Crown by the rector in 1554. (fn. 67)
Glatton belonged to the abbey until the Dissolution,
and in 1551 the advowson was granted to Lord Clynton
and Saye. (fn. 68) In 1554, 1558 and 1578 Kenelm Watson
presented to the church; (fn. 69) the rectory was granted
by the Crown to George Gardner and others in 1602. (fn. 70)
The advowson was acquired by the Castel family
before 1614 and Robert Castel died seised in 1619. (fn. 71)
The Castels and the Sherards retained it until the
beginning of the 18th century, but Nicholas Addenbrooke, clerk, owned it in 1726, and sold it to James
Digby in 1748. (fn. 72) John Hopkinson presented himself
in 1778, and it was acquired by the Wingfields of
Market Overton (Rutl.) before 1834, (fn. 73) but in 1932 it
passed to the Bishop of Ely, the present patron.
There were three guilds in the church of Glatton:
Holy Trinity, St. Mary and St. John. Thomas Heth
of Alconbury, in his will made in 1483, left 3s. 4d. to
the Guild of Holy Trinity in the church of Glatton,
and in the same year John Cole of Great Catworth
bequeathed 6s. 8d. to the fraternity of Glatton and
20d. to the priest of the Holy Trinity of Glatton. (fn. 74)
In 1501 William Bond of Great Gidding left a
legacy to the Guild of Holy Trinity of Glatton and of
St. Mary in the same town, (fn. 75) and John Garnett of
Huntingdon in 1538 left 3s. 4d. to the Guild of
St. John. (fn. 76)
Charities
Glatton Church Land.—The endowment of this charity originally
consisted of land containing about
20 acres called the Church Close set out in the award
of the Commissioners for inclosing the open fields
dated 15 Feb. 1820. The land was sold in 1905
and the proceeds invested in the purchase of
£861 3s. 4d. India 3 per cent. Stock in the name of
the Official Trustees. The income is carried to the
churchwardens' account and applied towards church
expenses.
The Widows' Charity.—A piece of land in Glatton
containing 3 roods is appropriated to the relief of
poor widows of the parish, but there are no documents
to show the origin of the charity. The land is now
let for about 15s. per annum which is distributed
among the poor widows of the parish.