HADDON
Adone (xi cent.); Haddune (xii–xiv cent.).
Haddon lies between Chesterton, on the north, and
Morborne, on the south; the Ermine Street divides it
from Alwalton, on the east, and the Billing Brook forms
its western boundary. The parish lies mostly at a level
of 74 ft. to 180 ft. above Ordnance datum, and the soil
and subsoil are clay. It has an area of 1,224 acres and,
in 1921, a population of 99. A letter of 1672 complaining that illegal demands had then been made by the
military, upon the constables of Haddon and Denton,
to supply 3 carts and 5 horses and a wagon for transport, said Haddon then consisted of only 4 small farms. (fn. 1)
The chief crops are wheat, barley, beans and peas.
The small village is situated 3 miles south-west of
Orton Waterville Station, on the London Midland
and Scottish Railway, and 8 miles south-west of
Peterborough, and lies near the centre of the parish,
within a circle of about a quarter of a mile, on the
Haddon road, which runs from the Ermine Street but
takes a turn to the north in the village. The church
is at the southern end of the street, with the rectory
and Grange Farm to the west; the manor house, now
the residence of Mr. Lionel George Trower, to the
north, and the manor farm, the school and smithy
still farther north. There is no domestic architecture
worthy of note. At the south-eastern limit of the
parish is a plantation called Haddon Nursery, with
Shark's Lodge to the north of it; Toon's Lodge lies
near the eastern boundary.
Thorney Abbey. Azure three croziers between three crosslets or.
Manor
HADDON was given to the Abbey of
Thorney by King Edgar, (fn. 2) and was returned among their lands in the Domesday Survey in 1086. It was assessed at 5 hides, with
land for 12 ploughs, and was valued at 100s. (fn. 3) The
abbey retained it until the Dissolution. (fn. 4) In 1279 it
was stated that Thorney held Haddon in pure and
perpetual alms of King Edgar's
gift; that there was there a
garden of ½ acre, and that to
the whole vill there belonged
6½ hides and ½ virgate of land,
of which the abbot had in
demesne 2 hides and 2½ virgates, with 6 acres of meadow
and one of pasture. (fn. 5) In 1286
the abbot claimed view of
frankpledge in Haddon and
Wood Easton from ancient
times. (fn. 6) A lease of the site of
the manor for 80 years at a
rent of £6 13s. 4d. was granted
in 1530 by the abbey to Robert Banff of Haddon
in succession to William Wright, formerly farmer
there. After the Dissolution, Sir Robert Kirkham,
in 1542, obtained from the Crown a grant in fee,
inter alia, of the reversion of the manor and of
the rent reserved on the lease, with the advowson
and a rent of 5s. out of the rectory of Haddon
(all being the property of Thorney Abbey), to hold
with the manor and hamlet of Elmington, at 52s. 8d.
rent, as 1/20 of a knight's fee, free of all other charges
except 26s. 8d. a year to the bailiff of Haddon. (fn. 7)
Sir Robert made a settlement in 1550 of the manor
and advowson, on the marriage of his son and heir
William with Mary, daughter of Thomas Carrell, (fn. 8)
and they were dealing with the property in 1569 (fn. 9)
and 1570. (fn. 10) William settled it in 1586 in tail male
on his son William, who married Isabel, daughter of
John, Lord St. John of Bletsoe. (fn. 11) He died in 1599,
survived by his wife Mary. (fn. 12) William and Isabel
had a son Walter, who succeeded his father in 1611, (fn. 13)
and was dealing with both manor and advowson in
the following year, and in 1614. (fn. 14) In 1615, he and
his wife Elizabeth conveyed them to Sir Robert
Beville, K.B., of Chesterton, (fn. 15) who received a grant
of free warren in 1619, with licence to inclose 300
acres of arable land in his manors of Chesterton and
Haddon, parcels of the Duchy of Lancaster. (fn. 16) He
made a settlement in 1617 on the occasion of his
marriage with Dame Elizabeth Wakering, widow of
Sir George Wakering, late of Rickmansworth, of the
manor and advowson on his wife as jointure, and
another on 20 November 1634 in tail male on his sons,
Sir Robert Beville, K.B., and his second son William.
He died at Chesterton in the same year, (fn. 17) his wife
Dame Elizabeth surviving him until 1647. In 1637,
his son Sir Robert Beville was engaged in Chancery
proceedings against tenants of the manor with regard
to their rents, (fn. 18) and died in 1640. The manor has
since descended with that of Chesterton (q.v.), (fn. 19) the
Rev. W. F. Buttle being the present owner.
That a family of de Haddon was living in Haddon in
the 14th century is indicated by the appearance in
1300 of Geoffrey de Haddon as a juror; (fn. 20) in 1304–5
John de Haddon was in default for the homage, fealty,
and suit owed by him at the abbot's court at Yaxley for
a tenement and virgate in Haddon, in part of which,
called Keyney Furlong, he had beasts which were
then distrained. (fn. 21)
Church
The church of ST. MARY consists
of a chancel (22¾ ft. by 13½ ft.), nave
(30½ ft. by 16¾ ft.) with western extension (10 ft. by 16 ft.), north transept (10 ft. by 10½ ft.),
south transept (10 ft. by 9¼ ft.), north aisle (7 ft. wide),
south aisle (7 ft. wide), belfry (above the western
extension), and north porch. The walls are of stone
rubble with ashlar dressings, and the roofs are covered
with lead and slates.
The church is mentioned in the Domesday Survey
(1086), and probably the eastern wall of the nave
belongs to this church, although the chancel arch is
of 12th-century date, from which it may perhaps be
inferred that the chancel was rebuilt at that time.
Early in the 13th century the north aisle and transept
were added and an arcade built on the line of the old
north wall. Some thirty years later the same thing
was done on the south side, but in this case the arcade
appears to have been built slightly to the north of the
old south wall; the nave was elongated westward some
ten feet; a north porch was added; and the chancel
was rebuilt and widened to the south. The clearstory windows appear to have been formed early in
the 16th century, probably without materially
raising the walls. Much later in the same century
the belfry was formed over the western extension
of the nave. The church was restored in 1745, (fn. 22)
1897 and 1901.
The 13th-century chancel has a triple lancet window
in the east wall under one segmental-pointed reararch. The north wall has a two-light window under
a distorted label moulding and with a foliated cross
carved between the heads of the lights. The south
wall has a similar two-light window but without the
carved cross in the head; a lancet window; a plain
square recess; and the sill and parts of the jambs of
a destroyed window. The 12th-century chancel arch
is semicircular and of two orders; the inner order has
a large roll on the soffit, and the outer order has a
smaller roll and some star-ornament; the responds
are composed of a semicircular engaged shaft and a
detached shaft at the side, all with either cushion or
scalloped capitals, some of which are carved with
interlaced work. In the chancel, on each side of the
arch, are recesses for seats; that on the south has the
remains of a 13th-century jamb-shaft and arch, but
both have been much mutilated. The roof is modern.
The nave has an east wall probably of 11th-century
date; the quoins of the north-east angle are visible
outside. The early 13th-century north arcade has
three semicircular arches of two chamfered orders on
two octagonal piers with moulded capitals and bases;
the responds have short corbel-shafts with moulded
capitals. The mid 13th-century south arcade is
generally similar to that on the north, but there is
nail-head ornament in the capitals and the base mouldings are of later form. The early 16th-century clearstory windows of the south wall are small squareheaded two-lights; those on the north are blocked,
the wall apparently having been refaced on the outside and plastered inside. The roof is modern, but a
few early 16th-century timbers and some carvings
remain.
The mid 13th-century western extension has a
west window of two grouped lancets with rear-arches
springing very awkwardly from a central engaged shaft.
A late 16th-century arch on plain responds has been
built across the eastern end of the extension, and
higher up two plain arches have been thrown across
to carry the north and south walls of the belfry. The
plain parapets of the nave are carried along the side
walls of the extension and the string-course below
them follows the line of the old west gable of the nave.
The early 13th-century north transept has no window in the east wall, but in the north wall is a 13thcentury lancet window. There is a two-centred arch
of two chamfered orders opening into the north
aisle, and springing from the eastern pier of the nave
arcade on one side and from a corbel-shaft on the other.
The late 16th-century roof is flat with moulded
beams.
The mid 13th-century south transept has no east
window, but in the south wall is an early 14th-century
three-light window with intersecting tracery; and
an original piscina with two-centred head and a
mutilated basin. The arch to the south aisle is
similar to the corresponding arch on the north.
The early 13th-century north aisle has in the north
wall a 14th-century three-light window reset, and an
original doorway with a two-centred arch of two
chamfered orders and having detached shafts with
moulded capitals and bases in the jambs. The west
wall has an original single-light window with semicircular head.
The mid 13th-century south aisle has in the south
wall a 15th-century three-light window, and an
original doorway very similar to that on the north.
The west wall has an original lancet.
The mid 13th-century porch has a plain two-centred
outer arch resting on responds of three grouped
shafts with moulded capitals and bases, the former
having nail-head ornament. The side walls have
small two-light windows with rounded heads.
The late 16th-century belfry, which is built over the
western extension of the nave, has a square-headed
two-light window in each face and is finished with an
embattled parapet.
There are considerable remains of 15th-century
wall-paintings: over the chancel arch, a 'doom'
with figure seated on a rainbow and remains of other
figures on each side, buildings, etc.; in the two
transepts, remains of masonry lines and diapering.
The font has a plain octagonal bowl with tapering
sides, possibly 14th century, on a modern stem and
base.
There are three bells, inscribed: (1) Johannis est
nomen ejus; (2) a b d e n e r 1568 s; (3) Edwarde
Newcome. The first by John Danyell, and the
other two by Newcome. The first and second bells
were broken for many years, (fn. 23) and all three were
lowered to the ground in 1901; they were recast and
rehung in 1906 by Taylors of Loughborough.
There are some stone seats against the west walls
of the transepts and the side walls of the aisles. A
carved stone figure of a lion, perhaps from a monument, lies loose in the church. On the churchyard
wall is the greater part of a coped coffin-lid with a
cross and the double-omega ornament.
There is a floor slab in the chancel to Samuel
Morton, Rector, died 1681–2; and a glass window to
Lieut. Cornwallis Jasper Trower, R.N., killed at
Majuba Hill, 27 Feb. 1881.
The registers are as follows: (i) baptisms, marriages
and burials, 21 March 1538/9 to 9 February 1773,
marriages end 30 January 1754; (ii) baptisms and
burials, 28 June 1778 to 22 November 1812; (iii)
marriages, 23 June 1755 to 30 March 1812; (fn. 24) the
usual modern books.
The church plate consists of the following: a
coarse silver cup, engraved on base 'Parish of
Haddon, Huntingdonshire, June 1798' and hallmarked for 1798–9; (fn. 25) a silver cover-paten for same
with the same inscription and hall-mark; a coarse
silver plate with the same inscription and hallmark; (fn. 26) a silver standing paten engraved with the
arms of Beville, and hall-marked for 1648–9; (fn. 27) a small
silver box with no inscription or hall-mark.
Advowson
The church was given to Thorney
Abbey with the manor by King
Edgar and remained in their possession until the Dissolution. (fn. 28) It afterwards followed
the descent of the manor, (fn. 29) to the Marquess of Huntly,
who still owned it in 1916, but it passed soon after
to the Rev. W. F. Buttle, the present patron. The
rectory was united to that of Chesterton by Order in
Council of March 1863.
A pension of 5s. from the Rectory of Haddon had
been reserved to Thorney Abbey before 1220 (fn. 30) and was
granted with the manor and advowson to Sir Robert
Kirkham, after the Dissolution. (fn. 31) The church was
valued at £10 13s. 4d. in 1291, (fn. 32) and £12 3s. 2d. in
1535. (fn. 33) In 1549 it was stated that 3 roods of land in
Haddon, with a yearly value of 4d., had been given
as lamp land. (fn. 34)
Charity
St. Thomas's Day Charity for the
Poor.—The endowment of this charity
originally consisted of a rentcharge of
5s. issuing out of certain lands and hereditaments
known as the Grange and Manor Farms in Haddon.
The rentcharge was redeemed in 1913 in consideration of a sum of £10 Consols, the dividends on
which are distributed by the rector to the poor of the
parish.