SAWTRY
ALL SAINTS. ST. ANDREW. JUDITH
Saltrede (xi cent.); Saltreia (xii cent.); Sautre
(xiii cent.); Sawtry (xvi cent.).
The three parishes of Sawtry lie on the Great
North Road, and are bounded on the north by
Conington, east by Higney and Wood Walton, south
by Abbot's Ripton, Upton and Copmanford, and
south-west by the Giddings. Of the area thus
enclosed, the northern part forms the parishes of
Sawtry All Saints and Sawtry St. Andrew, but the
two parishes are so intermixed that it is impossible,
without a map, to know where the divisions between
them run, and the houses are all grouped together in
one village just west of the Great North Road. The
church of All Saints stands on the eastern edge of the
village, while that of St. Andrew was on the eastern
side of the road, where its churchyard still lies.
The southern part of the area formed the parish,
now the extra-parochial district, of Sawtry Judith.
The abbey, with the church of St. Mary, stood in the
north-east corner, but most of the houses are now
grouped together much farther west and adjoining the
village of the other two parishes.
The three parishes were consolidated by different
steps during the 19th century. In 1851 the Sawtry
Local Government District was formed from the two
parishes of Sawtry All Saints and Sawtry St. Andrew,
under the Public Health Act of 1848. (fn. 1) In 1873, the
two ecclesiastical parishes were united, (fn. 2) and in 1879
the two churches were pulled down, a new church
being built on the site of All Saints. In 1886, the
two civil parishes were consolidated into the parish
of Sawtry All Saints and St. Andrew. (fn. 3)
Sawtry Judith has been an extra-parochial district
since 1573, but the inhabitants attend the parish
church of All Saints. For educational purposes it
was joined in 1874, with Sawtry All Saints and Sawtry
St. Andrew, into the Sawtry United School District. (fn. 4)
The area of the united parish of Sawtry All Saints
and St. Andrew is 3,341 acres, and of Sawtry Judith
2,932 acres. The subsoil is mainly Oxford Clay.
A considerable area is fen land which has now been
drained. In 1278, 15 acres of meadow had been
recently reclaimed from the fen and added to the
manorial demesne of Sawtry Moyne, while some
of the inhabitants of Sawtry Judith paid rent to the
lord of Sawtry Moyne manor for common rights in
Sawtry Fen. (fn. 5) The main portion of Sawtry Fen was
included in the Great Level Drainage undertaking of
the Duke of Bedford in the 17th century. (fn. 6)
The parish of All Saints appears to have had but
little woodland, although Stalling Wood is mentioned
in 1278; (fn. 7) but St. Andrew's parish had a wood now
called Aversley Wood. Sawtry Judith had a great
wood known as Ewingeswood, and later as Monks'
Wood, and a smaller wood known as the Little Wood,
but now called Archer's Wood. There are two
moat sites not far from All Saints' Church, the one to
the south-west being probably the site of the windmill. (fn. 8) A third homestead site lies to the south-west
of Archer's Wood. Stone implements of the Neolithic
Age or later have been found, the most important
being a British hammer axe found in Sawtry Fen. (fn. 9)
Roman remains were found near Ermine Street in
1722. (fn. 10) An Iron Age and Romano-British village
site at Stocking Close, near Monks' Wood, has been
excavated by Dr. Garrood in recent years. (fn. 11) The
village lies to the west of the Great North Road,
about 4 miles south-west of Holme Station on the
London and North Eastern Railway. The parishes
of Sawtry All Saints and Sawtry St. Andrew were
inclosed in 1804 by Act of Parliament. (fn. 12) Jean Dubordieu, a refugee from France after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, was presented to the
rectory of All Saints in 1701 by the Duke of Devonshire. (fn. 13)
The Cistercian Abbey of Saint Mary was founded
about 1147 (fn. 14) by Simon de St. Liz, Earl of Northampton, its site lying in the extreme north-east of
the parish, as far removed as possible, as befitted a
Cistercian house, from the traffic of the Great North
Road. (fn. 15) The abbey demesnes were surrounded on
three sides by deep ditches, and one of the first works
of the original monks who came from the Abbey of
Warden, co. Beds, was to make a ditch or lode from
the new site to Whittlesea Mere, along which building
materials and other goods could be brought by
water. (fn. 16) Little is known of the history of the abbey,
although it was famed in local rhyme for its generosity
in almsgiving. (fn. 17) The royal court stayed at Sawtry,
presumably at the abbey, on various occasions on
journeys to and from the north, and royal documents
were dated there in 1235, 1293, 1315, 1324, 1332 and
1334. (fn. 18) In 1315, Edward II was clearly there himself. (fn. 19) The abbey was entirely destroyed after the
Dissolution of the Monasteries, and nothing remains
of its buildings, church, gate-house and bell-tower,
nor of the parish church at its gates. (fn. 20) The site was
excavated in the middle of the 19th century, when
the foundations of many of the buildings were traced. (fn. 21)
A great many place-names are to be found in the
documents relating to the abbey lands at Sawtry;
of these may be specially noted Stanegate, (fn. 22) the
'Stumpyd Crosse,' (fn. 23) Cowbridge, Slakemere, Stanchille, Wileweuestubstede, Greenhurst and Prestescroft. (fn. 24)
Le Moyne. Argent two bars sable with three molets sable in the chief.
Manors: Sawtry Moyne
The manor of Sawtry Moyne (fn. 25)
(at one time called Sawtry
BELLERS), (fn. 26) or the lands of which
the manor was formed, was one
of the earliest endowments of
the Abbey of Ramsey, being apparently given by
Ailwin, the founder of the abbey. (fn. 27) The manor was
held in demesne by the abbey
in 1086, when 7½ hides and
half a virgate of land were
attached to it as well as a
considerable amount of woodland. (fn. 28) Between 1120 and
1130 Abbot Reginald granted
it with lands in Great Raveley,
Luddington and Gidding, to
Hervey le Moyne in fee farm
at a rent of £4 a year. (fn. 29) His
successors, however, performed the military service
due and held Sawtry Moyne
and Luddington as one
knight's fee. (fn. 30) In 1278, Sir William le Moyne also paid
an annual rent of 40s. to the abbey, (fn. 31) and it was probably this rent which appears as still received from the
manor in 1510–11. (fn. 32) The Moynes owed suit twice
a year to the honour court of Broughton, the head
of the Ramsey barony. (fn. 33) In the 13th century one of
the manorial tenants held 2 virgates of land by the
service of doing the suit due from the manor to the
county court and court of Norman Cross Hundred. (fn. 34)
The manor followed the descent of Great Raveley
(q.v.) until the death of Sir William le Moyne in 1404. (fn. 35)
He had succeeded his grandfather, (fn. 36) William le Moyne,
before 1353, when the first of his many settlements
of the manor had been made. (fn. 37) One of the feoffees
was Nicholas de Stukeley, (fn. 38) second husband of Sir
William le Moyne's aunt, Juliana le Moyne. (fn. 39) She
had married as her first husband William Clarevaux
of Upwood, who died before 1347, leaving their son
and heir William, then of age, and a daughter Maud. (fn. 40)
Stukeley died before 1379, when his widow made a
quitclaim of all her right in the manor. (fn. 41) In 1371,
it had been granted by feoffees to Juliana, the widow
of John Mauduit of Warminster, Wilts, with reversion
to Sir William le Moyne. (fn. 42) The relationship of this
Juliana to Sir William does not appear. She had
married Mauduit by 1332, (fn. 43) when she was apparently
still a minor. (fn. 44) He died in 1364, (fn. 45) and his widow in
1379. (fn. 46) Their heir was their granddaughter Maud, by
the latter date the wife of Sir Henry Green. (fn. 47) The
manor of Sawtry Moyne reverted under the grant of
1371 to Sir William le Moyne, (fn. 48) who about 1387 (fn. 49)
married Mary, widow of Thomas de Alberton and
of Thomas de Kingston. (fn. 50) She had been in the
service of Queen Philippa and was a Hainaulter by
birth, but had evidently retired from the court, as
arrangements were made for her annuity of 20 marks
to be paid from the issues of the counties of Cambridge and Huntingdon, instead of at the Exchequer. (fn. 51)
There seems to be no record of her own family,
although the arms on the brass of Sir William have
been identified as those of the Somayne family. (fn. 52)
In 1387 he settled Sawtry on himself and his wife
and their heirs and assigns, (fn. 53) and in 1394 obtained
a quitclaim of her right in the manor from his
widowed cousin Maud Horewood alias Bosam, the
daughter of William Clarevaux and Juliana. (fn. 54)
On his death in 1404, his widow succeeded to the
manor, and her feoffees (fn. 55) obtained a quitclaim of all
their right in it from Thomas Priour and his wife Joan
by a fine levied in 1405, to which William Clarevaux
senior and Robert Langton were also parties. (fn. 56) On
her death in 1411 or 1412, (fn. 57) Sir William's inheritance
was divided into three pourparties, the lands of the
Moynes' manor being divided presumably between
three heirs, whose relationship to Sir William does
not appear, nor have their names been found except in the case of Robert Langton, to whom the
manorial rights appear to have passed. He answered
for the whole knight's fee in 1428, (fn. 58) and in the same
year gave a quitclaim of another share of Sawtry
Moyne over which there had been litigation. (fn. 59) It
passed into the hands of various feoffees to use. In
or shortly before 1438, Sir Nicholas Stukeley, Sir
Thomas Wauton, knights, and others granted Moyne's
manor to John West junior, Thomas Rede and
others, who then enfeoffed Thomas Calys clerk,
Robert Snow and others. (fn. 60) In 1441, Sir Richard
Sapcote held the court of the manor and was described
as lord of Sawtry, (fn. 61) but he may have been merely a
feoffee to use. (fn. 62) In 1461, John Bellers was lord of
the manor. (fn. 63) In 1471, Bellers granted it to feoffees
to use, who transferred it to
other feoffees, probably in
connection with its acquisition by Ramsey Abbey, Abbot
John Stowe having obtained
licence from Edward IV. (fn. 64)
Before 1510–11, Moyne's
manor was granted to the
Abbey of Sawtry to hold at a
rent of £4 a year. (fn. 65) Both
manor and rent came to the
Crown on the dissolution of
the two abbeys, (fn. 66) and in 1537
Henry VIII granted the reversion of the manor, which
was held on a lease from Sawtry Abbey by William
Symcote, to Sir Richard Williams, alias Cromwell. (fn. 67)
He died seised of the manor in 1544, (fn. 68) and it passed
to his son Sir Henry Cromwell and grandson Sir
Oliver in turn. (fn. 69) Oliver sold it in 1608 to William
Lord Cavendish, afterwards Earl of Devonshire. (fn. 70)
The manor was sequestrated during the Commonwealth, (fn. 71) but was afterwards recovered (fn. 72) and the Duke
of Devonshire was lord of the manor in 1818. (fn. 73) It
passed into the possession of the Hon. Charles Cavendish, (fn. 74) great-grandson of the 4th Duke of Devonshire,
who was created Baron Chesham in 1858. (fn. 75) His
great-grandson, the fourth Baron Chesham, (fn. 76) was lord
of the manor in 1919, when he sold the estates.
Cavendish. Sable three barts' heads caboshed argent with their attires or.
The manor was acquired by 1924 by Sir Arthur
George Dilley, kt., the present owner.
Another portion of the estate which was probably inherited by Joan, wife of Thomas Priour, (fn. 77)
consisted of 3 acres of meadow and 40s. rent, which
were separated from the lordship of Moyne's manor,
but had been in the possession of Sir William le
Moyne. (fn. 78) With the manor of Great Raveley, they were
granted by Joan, widow of John Tyndall, in 1413 to
Thomas Hore, of Childerley (Cambs), and other
feoffees. (fn. 79) She probably married John Hore, (fn. 80) of
Childerley, and the meadow and rent passed with
Great Raveley (fn. 81) (q.v.), and were bought by John Stowe,
Abbot of Ramsey, in 1453. (fn. 82)
The share, which presumably passed to William
Clarevaux, the son and heir of Juliana le Moyne, (fn. 83)
by her first husband, seems to have passed with
Moyne's manor in Great Gidding (q.v.).
In 1278, the Hospital of St. John the Baptist
at Huntingdon held 1 virgate of land in the manor
of Sawtry Moyne. (fn. 84) In Henry VIII's reign the value
of the lands of the hospital there was returned as
6s. 8d. a year. (fn. 85) At the time of the Dissolution of the
Monasteries the hospital was refounded as St. John's
Hospital and Grammar School, and the endowments
were not seized; (fn. 86) it was probably some of the same
land which was still in possession of the hospital in
1779 (fn. 87) and 1917.
A half-hide of land, probably in Sawtry All Saints,
was held in Edward the Confessor's reign by Alwin,
one of the king's thegns. His wife still held it in 1086, (fn. 88)
but shortly afterwards Eustace the Sheriff, or possibly
Walter de Beaumes, the sheriff's tenant in Sawtry
Beaumes (q.v.), seized it. (fn. 89) Apparently the Abbey
of Ramsey claimed this land, and William Rufus,
before 1091, ordered its restitution to Abbot Herbert. (fn. 90)
It was probably this half-hide which Abbot Reginald
(1114–30) granted to Roger, son of Mowin. (fn. 91) Possibly
he was the ancestor of the Mowin family, who appear
at Sawtry in the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries, (fn. 92) and
do not seem to be identical with the Moynes. It is
possible that their holding may be identified with
Sawtry Place, which in 1447 was granted by Richard
Couper and John Steuenys to William Wynkylle and
William Spenser, (fn. 93) who in turn in 1463 granted it to
Lionel Louthe, (fn. 94) of Sawtry St. Andrew.
William Moyne obtained a grant of free warren
in his demesne lands in Sawtry in 1328. (fn. 95)
A windmill was attached to the manor in 1278, (fn. 96)
and is mentioned in 1510–11. (fn. 97)
It is not certain whether the view of frankpledge
for the manor of Sawtry Moyne was held either
by the Abbey of Ramsey or by their sub-tenants.
After the dissolution of Ramsey and Sawtry Abbeys,
Sir Richard Cromwell held a view of frankpledge for
the tenants of the manor as early as 1544, (fn. 98) and his
son held the court in 1588. (fn. 99) In 1285 the Abbey of
Thorney claimed to hold a view of frankpledge
and waifs in Sawtry Moyne in right of the Hundred
of Norman Cross. (fn. 100)
Sawtry Beaumes
In the reign of Edward the Confessor,
Tosti, one of the king's thegns, held 3
hides and 3½ virgates of land, (fn. 101) which
may be identified with the manor of
Sawtry Beaumes. He is said to have bequeathed
them to the Abbey of Ramsey, who were to have
possession after the death of his brother Eric and
his sister. Eric apparently survived him and held
the land till his death, (fn. 102) but after the Norman Conquest it was seized by Eustace the Sheriff. (fn. 103) It is
not clear whether the Abbey had ever obtained
possession of the bequest or not, but Eustace kept
the manor, and after his death it passed with his
other lands to the Lovetots and formed part of
their barony. (fn. 104) The overlordship was sold in 1258
by Nigel de Amundeville, one of the heirs of Nigel
de Lovetot, to Richard de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, (fn. 105)
and was held of the earl's descendants till the execution of Edward, Duke of Buckingham, in 1521. (fn. 106) In
1534 the manor of Sawtry Beaumes was held of Henry
Norres, as of the manor of Southoe (q.v.), which had
descended similarly to the Duke. (fn. 107)
Eustace the Sheriff subinfeudated the manor
before 1086 to his knight Walter de Beaumes, (fn. 108) who
also temporarily held another half-hide in Sawtry. (fn. 109)
The manor was held by the family of Beaumes by
the service of one knight's fee till the end of the 14th
century. (fn. 110) The immediate successors of Walter de
Beaumes seem to have borne the same name, which
appears c. 1150, (fn. 111) 1166, (fn. 112) 1175–6, (fn. 113) and 1198. (fn. 114)
Beaumes. Azure six wheatsbeaves or.
The last Walter was living in the early years of
the reign of Henry III, (fn. 115) but in 1220 Sawtry had
passed to Robert de Beaumes. (fn. 116) He was probably
the Robert de Beaumes who
died seised of the manor in
1263, when his son and heir
Reginald was 40 years old. (fn. 117)
The latter was living in
1273, (fn. 118) but had been succeeded by Sir Robert de
Beaumes, kt., in 1276. (fn. 119) In
1295 Sir Robert's son William
was a minor, in the wardship
of Gilbert, Earl of Gloucester,
who assigned tenements in
Sawtry to Margery, Sir
Robert's widow, in satisfaction of her dower. (fn. 120) William was apparently of
age in 1301. (fn. 121) His heir was his son John, who
abandoned the use of 'de' in his surname, and
had succeeded to the manor before 1333. (fn. 122) It was
settled on himself and his wife Juliana for their
lives, with remainders to their sons and daughters. (fn. 123)
John, the eldest son, died childless, (fn. 124) and the manor
passed to his brother Robert, (fn. 125) who was probably
in seisin by 1386. (fn. 126) Robert's son and heir, Nicholas,
died as a minor in 1390 or 1391, and his heir was his
cousin Thomas atte Hethe or Grendall of Fenton,
the son of Cecily, daughter of Margaret, sister of
William de Beaumes. (fn. 127) Grendall in 1391 granted the
manor to Sir William le Moyne, lord of Sawtry
Moyne, and his wife Mary, (fn. 128) and also granted him
the arms of the Beaumes family. (fn. 129) In 1393, however,
he brought a successful action to recover two-thirds
of the manor from the Moynes, (fn. 130) the remaining third
being presumably held in dower by the widow of one
of the Beaumes, but they seem finally to have settled
the transfer of the manor in 1395. (fn. 131) Mary, wife of
Sir William le Moyne, had been in the service of Queen
Philippa, and was a Hainaulter by birth. Sawtry
Beaumes manor was settled in 1395 on William and
Mary and their heirs and assigns. (fn. 132) He died in 1404,
and she succeeded to the manor. (fn. 133) By various settlements, she granted first the
reversion and then the manor
itself to Roger Louthe, the
husband of her kinswoman
Mary, another Hainaulter. (fn. 134)
She had two daughters by her
first husband, Thomas de
Alberton, who died before
1371, (fn. 135) when the king granted
her their wardship and marriage, but Mary Louthe was
more probably her niece. (fn. 136)
John Louthe, Archdeacon of
Nottingham, in the 16th century claimed that his ancestress was a relative of Lionel,
Duke of Clarence, but of this there is no evidence. (fn. 137)
In 1411 Roger Louthe obtained a ratification of the
estate from Henry IV, necessitated by the foreign
birth of his wife and her kinswoman. (fn. 138) He had
acquired land in Sawtry as early as 1400, (fn. 139) and the
Louthes settled at Sawtry Beaumes.
Louthe of Sawtry Beaumes. Sable a leaping wolf argent with a crescent argent in the quarter for difference.
He held the manor in 1428, (fn. 140) but apparently died
soon after 1441, and was succeeded by his son Lionel,
who died seised of the manor in 1471, his heir being
his son Thomas. (fn. 141) The latter lived till 1533, when he
must have been about eighty-six, (fn. 142) and had survived
both his eldest son Edmund and his grandson Lionel. (fn. 143)
The manor passed to Lionel's little daughter Margaret. (fn. 144) Edmund had died at Sawtry in 1522 from
injuries received in a quarrel with the Skeltons,
tenants of the Abbey of Sawtry. (fn. 145) Many years afterwards, his youngest son John, then Archdeacon of
Nottingham, sent an account of the quarrel in a letter
to Foxe, containing material for the 'Book of Martyrs,'
and implicated the abbot and monks as the instigators. (fn. 146) He represented his family as the champions
of Protestantism and morality, and attributed the
fact that the murderers were never brought to trial
to ecclesiastical influence. There is apparently no
other evidence as to the origin of the quarrel,
but from the Archdeacon's own evidence his family
were not without influence at Court, and his father
was hot-tempered and quarrelsome, while old Thomas
Louthe had been sued by his rector for tithes. (fn. 147)
Edmund's eldest son Lionel appears to have settled
at Cretingham, in Norfolk, which he inherited from
his grandmother, Anne Mulso, who died in 1526. (fn. 148)
At the end of his life, Thomas Louthe had married a
young wife, named Thomasina, on whom he settled
the manor of Sawtry Beaumes. (fn. 149) In 1546 she sued the
heiress Margaret, who had married Richard Cornwallis, for possession. The action was continued by
Thomasina and her second husband, John Villiers. (fn. 150)
They were probably successful, since in 1554 (fn. 151) they presented to the church of Sawtry St. Andrew, of which
the advowson (q.v.) belonged to the lords of Sawtry
Beaumes. In 1551, however, settlements of the
manor had been made on Margaret and Richard
Cornwallis, (fn. 152) and the former was in seisin of the manor,
as a widow, in 1582. (fn. 153) In that year she and her son
and heir, John Cornwallis, sold 174 acres of pasture and
66 acres of wood belonging to the manor to Sir Henry
Williams, alias Cromwell, (fn. 154) who was lord of both
Sawtry Moyne and Sawtry Judith (q.v.) at the time.
She died in 1603, (fn. 155) and in 1619 Thomas Cornwallis,
her grandson and successor, sold Sawtry Beaumes to
John Cotton, (fn. 156) who died there in 1636. (fn. 157) It passed to
his great-nephew, Sir Thomas Cotton, bt., (fn. 158) whose
direct male descendants held it till the death of Sir
John Cotton, the fourth baronet, in 1731. (fn. 159) His heir
was his sister Frances, who married William Hanbury. (fn. 160)
Their daughter and heir Mary married the Rev.
Martin Annesley, who died in 1749. (fn. 161) The manor,
however, came into the possession, before 1762, of
his nephew Arthur Annesley, of Lincoln's Inn, and
Bletchingham Park (Oxon). (fn. 162) It passed to the
Cavendish family, and has since followed the descent
of Sawtry Moyne. Mr. John Norman Heathcote
is the principal landowner.
The manor of Sawtry Beaumes did suit, either
once or twice a year, to the court of the Barony
of Lovetot at Southoe, the value of the pleas of
the court in 1263 being 20s. a year. (fn. 163) In 1278,
however, complaints were made that the bailiff of
the Earl of Gloucester forced the tenants to do suit
at the three-weeks court as well as at the honour
court. (fn. 164) About 1236, the lord of the manor owed one
suit a year to the county court, (fn. 165) and this in 1278
was performed by the tenants of a certain virgate
of land, (fn. 166) while the suit to the Hundred of Norman Cross for the whole fee was performed by
another tenant. (fn. 167) In 1263 a yearly payment of 2s.
for view of frankpledge was made by the Earl of
Gloucester, (fn. 168) but in 1275 he had withdrawn his
tenants from the sheriff's tourn and no longer made
the payments due to the sheriff. (fn. 169) His successors
held the view of frankpledge at Sawtry until the
attainder of Edward, Duke of Buckingham, (fn. 170) and the
view for the tenants at Stilton, Folksworth, Winwick
and Wood Walton was also held at Sawtry. (fn. 171) After
1521 the view of frankpledge was not finally alienated
by the Crown until James I granted it to James
Whitmore in 1611. (fn. 172) The Earl of Gloucester also
claimed to have gallows, trebuchet and the assizes
of bread and ale in Sawtry in 1275. (fn. 173) A grant of free
warren in the demesne lands of Sawtry was made in
1333 to John de Beaumes. (fn. 174) In 1278, a windmill was
attached to the manor. (fn. 175) At the same date Robert
de Beaumes held certain assarts, for which he paid
24s. yearly to the king, while another 5 acres had
recently been reclaimed from the fen. (fn. 176)
Sawtry Judith
In the 12th-century foundation
charter of Sawtry Abbey it is recited
that King Cnut gave Sawtry to
Turchil the Dane, who by the same
king's orders divided the fen near Whittlesea Mere
between Sawtry and the neighbouring townships. (fn. 177) He
was banished in 1021, but died apparently in England
in 1039. (fn. 178) A century later, the tenants of Sawtry said
that their grandfathers had held of Turchil the Dane, (fn. 179)
but it is probable that, with regard to Sawtry, they
confused him with Turchil of Harringworth, who
was living between 1050 and 1070 and consented to his
wife Thurgunt or Hurugonda leaving land in Sawtry
by will to Ramsey Abbey. (fn. 180) Turchil and Hurugonda
seem to have been followed at Sawtry, as they were at
Conington, (fn. 181) by Waltheof, who married Judith, (fn. 182) a
favourite niece of the Conqueror, (fn. 183) and retained his
earldom till the rebellion of 1075. (fn. 184) Judith retained a
large fief after her husband's execution and held Sawtry
in demesne in 1086. (fn. 185) It afterwards passed to her
daughter Maud, who married, first, Simon de St. Liz
and, secondly, David, King of Scotland; (fn. 186) it passed
to Maud's eldest son, another Simon de St. Liz, who
was Earl of Northampton and
of Huntingdon. (fn. 187) The earl
founded the Abbey of Sawtry
about 1147, and endowed it
with the manor of Sawtry
Judith; (fn. 188) he claimed more
land than he actually held, and
Alexander Maufe and Richard
Walensis held an inquest to
establish the boundaries. (fn. 189)
The jurors swore that the
boundaries, which they described, had been those of
the manor since the time of
Turchil the Dane, (fn. 190) but they
extended beyond the boundaries of Sawtry Judith at
the present day and even in the 12th century would
have infringed the rights of neighbouring townships. (fn. 191) This suggests that the manor of Sawtry
was larger in Turchil's time than it was in that of
Earl Simon. The monks of the newly founded abbey
evidently did not press their claim beyond the bounds
of the present parish, and held at Sawtry Judith about
half of the land included in Earl Simon's grant. (fn. 192) They
also obtained confirmation of the grant from Malcolm
of Scotland. (fn. 193) The site of the abbey in 1278 covered
15 acres, including all inclosures, and there were
also cowhouses and stables, with land covering
5 acres, as well as two granges, the Old and the New
Grange, each with 6 acres of garden. (fn. 194) At the dissolution of the abbey in 1536, the demesne lands were
valued at £33 6s. 4d. a year, while various tenements
in Sawtry Judith were let on leases at a rental of
£22 6s. 0d. a year, (fn. 195) but this seems to have been an
extraordinary underestimate of
their value since, in the hands
of the Crown, the bailiff in
the year 1535–1536 accounted
for £164 3s. 0d. from the
farm of the site and demesne
lands of the abbey, which
was exclusive of the rents of
the windmill, certain farms
held by lease and the rent of
the Old Grange. (fn. 196) The manor
was granted in 1537 to Sir
Richard Williams alias Cromwell to hold as one-tenth of a knight's fee at a rental
of £14 12s. 8d., (fn. 197) and from that time followed the
descent of the manor of Sawtry Moyne (q.v.). (fn. 198)
Sawtry Abbey. Argent two bars gules fretty or.
Cromwell. Sable a lion argent.
The manor of Sawtry Judith, which Countess
Judith 'especially loved and frequented,' was freed
by William I, as a mark of favour to her, from all dues
to the Crown, including murdrum and danegeld, (fn. 199)
so that the Abbey of Sawtry was enabled to hold it in
frankalmoin, entirely free from any service either to
the Crown or to the founder. Further privileges
were obtained by the descendants of Earl Waltheof
and Judith from William II and Henry I, who released the manor from suit to the shire and hundred, (fn. 200)
and granted exemption from toll, passage, pontage
and other customs. (fn. 201) The abbey claimed to hold the
view of frankpledge by prescription, but its right
was disputed in 1285 by the Crown on the ground
that there were no judicialia on the manor and that
the abbey did not hold the whole township of Sawtry. (fn. 202) The matter was, however, settled in favour of
the abbey, which was able in 1294 to grant certain
lands in Sawtry to sub-tenants at a money rent and
suit at the two great courts. (fn. 203) After the Dissolution,
Sir Richard Williams alias Cromwell held a view of
frankpledge for Sawtry Judith. (fn. 204)
In Domesday Book, woodland for pannage containing 18 furlongs by 4 furlongs was attached to the
manor, (fn. 205) and William II or Henry I freed the woods
of the manor from all interference by the royal
foresters. (fn. 206) The wood, surveyed in 1086, afterwards
known as Monkswood, (fn. 207) was granted by Earl Simon
to the abbey at its foundation. (fn. 208) King John in 1205
granted the monks permission to inclose all their
woods with a hedge and ditch, (fn. 209) while in 1242 they
had leave to make a trench through it for the better
protection of travellers. (fn. 210) In 1279, besides Monkswood, there was a wood called Athenrys, and in
neither did the king's foresters either hunt or in any
way interfere. (fn. 211) In 1537, 422 acres of wood in Sawtry
Judith were included in the grant to Sir Richard
Williams. (fn. 212) Earl Simon also granted fen and fisheries
in Sawtry to the abbey, stating that the boundaries
described in his charter were those assigned to Sawtry
when, by order of Cnut, Turchil the Dane divided
the fen amongst the neighbouring townships. (fn. 213) These
boundaries, redefined in the inquest held by Alexander
Maufe, with the fishing rights in the fen, (fn. 214) would
have brought the monks into conflict with their
neighbours, particularly at Glatton and Wood Walton,
and they were evidently not exercised by the abbey.
In 1279, however, it is interesting to note that they
had certain fishing rights beyond those attached to the
manor of Sawtry Judith, which included a fishery in
the ditches inclosing the abbey and a fishery near
Whittlesea Mere. The monks had besides a fishery in
Blakemere in the fen of Walton, and they claimed a
fishery in Whittlesea Mere with one boat, from which
they had been deprived when Glatton was granted to
Richard, Earl of Cornwall and brother of Henry III. (fn. 215)
They also formerly had common rights in the whole
fen of Wood Walton and Conington, while certain
tenants of the abbey still paid 15 capons a year to
Sir William le Moyne, lord of the manor of Sawtry
Moyne, to have common in the fen of Sawtry. (fn. 216) The
abbey also held 15 acres of meadow, newly reclaimed
from the fen. (fn. 217)
Churches
In the time of the Domesday Survey
(1086) there were three churches at
Sawtry: (fn. 218) (1) in the Abbey of Ramsey's
manor (Moyne's Manor), dedicated to All Saints;
(2) in Eustace the Sheriff's manor (Beaumes' Manor),
dedicated to St. Andrew; and (3) in the Countess
Judith's manor, dedicated to St. Mary. (fn. 219) The last
probably became merged into the parochial church at
the gateway of Sawtry Abbey and disappeared at the
Dissolution. The other two remained until 1879, when
they were both pulled down and a new church incorporating parts of both was erected on the site of All
Saints.
The church of ALL SAINTS consisted of a chancel,
nave, north and south transepts, north and south
aisles, and a western tower with a low broach spire.
The tower and spire had been rebuilt in 1683, (fn. 220) at
which time, presumably, the aisles were destroyed.
The chancel was rebuilt about 1810. (fn. 221)
The chancel of c. 1810 was built of large stones, but
had no buttresses; its roof was covered with tiles
which overhung at eaves and gable, and it was ceiled
inside with a flat plaster ceiling which came much
below the apex of the chancel arch. The east window
was a plain round-headed opening filled in with a
three-light wooden frame; above it was a plain projecting band of stone. In the north wall there was no
window, but triple sedilia which had been very badly
reset. (fn. 222) The south wall had a square-headed window
and fragments of a fine canopied altar-tomb. (fn. 223) The
two-centred chancel arch was of two chamfered orders
with a label moulding on the west side, the lower
order resting on semicircular engaged shafts, with
mutilated moulded capitals; it had a considerable
settlement towards the south. The gable above was
surmounted by a plain cross.
The late 13th-century nave had an arcade of four
bays on the south; two of the arches opened into the
transept and were two-centred, of two chamfered
orders with a label moulding towards the nave.
They rested upon a rather slender octagonal column
with a moulded cap, and an almost destroyed eastern
respond which seems to have been a semi-octagonal
attached shaft. The two western arches had been
blocked up when the aisle was destroyed, but they
appear to have been similar and had a label moulding
towards the aisle; inserted under them were two
plain square-headed 17th-century two-light windows,
each with a lozenge-shaped panel over it. It is
said that previous to 1683 the nave was one bay
longer. (fn. 224)
The north arcade was apparently much the same,
and certainly opened with two arches into the transept.
The roof was covered with tiles overhanging at the
eaves and also, with the exception of the extreme
apex, at the gable; it was very little higher than that
of the chancel, and at the western end was a plain
dormer window above the south wall.
The north transept, which seems to have been
largely rebuilt at a late date, (fn. 225) had a round-headed
17th- or 18th-century window at the north end, and a
square-headed two-light window in the east wall.
It was roofed with tiles, but had a low parapet to
the gable wall.
The south transept had a window with a square
label at the south end; in the east wall was a late
13th-century two-light window with a trefoiled
circle in its two-centred head; and about the middle
of the west wall was a buttress which probably marked
the position of the aisle wall. The roof was of tiles
similar to that on the north.
The west tower, of 1683, was probably built of
re-used 14th-century material. It had no buttresses
except at the north-east and south-east corners,
where parts of the west wall of the nave and of the
former aisles had been re-modelled as large buttresses.
It was of four rather boldly diminished stages; in
the lowest was a semicircular-headed 17th-century
doorway; in the second stage was a square-headed
three-light window, possibly partly of re-used material,
above which a large piece of carving of uncertain
date had been built in; and the third stage had a
small single-light window. The belfry had a two-light
window formed of re-used material in its west wall,
and a single-light window in each of the other walls.
The tower was surmounted by a low broach spire
having one tier of single-lights on its cardinal faces.
It had two bells: (1) inscribed Mater Dei
miserere mei Amen; (2) had no inscription, but bore
the Leicester crown, rebus shield and ornament.
The former hangs in the present church and the
latter went to the Albert Place Schoolroom, Peterborough. (fn. 226)
A good deal of the ancient seating remained, and
some mutilated fragments of the rood-screen and of a
screen to the south transept. The chancel was almost
filled with large pews; and on its floor was the fine
brass of Sir William le Moyne, d. 1404, and Maria his
wife.
Various coffin slabs from Sawtry Abbey were
placed in the church about 1850, with more which were
already there, but reversed in the pavement. (fn. 227)
The church of ST. ANDREW consisted of a
chancel, nave, west tower and south porch. The
records of it are scanty, (fn. 228) but its walls seem to have
been of rubble largely plastered outside, and its
roofs of tiles overhanging at the eaves.
The chancel had in its east wall a plain wooden
window inserted in the partly blocked opening of a
window with a pointed head. In the south wall was
a somewhat similar window inserted under a square
label moulding; a single-light windowwith a depressed
ogee head; and a modern door under a segmentalpointed arch with a label moulding.
The nave had a modern rectangular window in the
south wall; and the rood-stairs seem to have occupied
a small square projection at the south-east corner. (fn. 229)
The tiled roof had three dormer windows on the
south side, and the east gable was surmounted by a
fine cross.
The western tower seems to have been without
buttresses, to have been lit with small slits, and
covered with a low pyramidal tiled roof with overhanging eaves.
The south porch had an outer archway of one continuous chamfered order. The roof was tiled.
There was one modern bell, (fn. 230) without inscription,
which is believed to have gone to St. John's Chapel,
Ludlow.
Plan of Sawtry All Saints Church
There was a memorial inscribed to Robert Williamson, Rector, d. 1669, and to Elizabeth his wife, d.
1667; (fn. 231) and a brass inscription plate to Mary, wife of
John Newton, Rector, d. 1633.
An early 14th-century coffin with shaped head still
remains in the churchyard.
The modern church of ALL SAINTS consists of
a chancel (25 ft. by 18¾ ft.), organ chamber and vestry
on the north (14½ ft. by 13¼ ft.), nave (58 ft. by
21¼ ft.), and north aisle (9 ft. wide). The walls are
of coursed rubble with stone dressings, and the roofs
are covered with tiles.
The chancel has a three-light east window with
tracery in a two-centred head. The north wall has
a single-light window, and an arcade of two pointed
arches of two chamfered orders resting on an octagonal
column and similar half-columns to the responds all
with moulded capitals and bases; this arcade is
composed largely of the materials of the south arcade
of the old church. The south wall has two singlelight windows grouped together and a third farther
east which has the sill carried down to form a seat;
and a plain piscina. In the two grouped windows are
fragments of 14th- to 17th-century glass formerly
in the windows of Sawtry Beaumes Manor House,
given by Miss Harriet Newton in memory of her
sister, Miss Anne Maria Newton, and refixed here in
1905; they include four shields of arms, heads of
saints and others, crocketing, etc. The chancel arch
is two-centred of two chamfered orders, the lower
order carried on corbel shafts.
The organ chamber and vestry has a three-light
window in the north wall; a plain doorway and a
single-light window in the east wall; a segmentalpointed arch to the aisle; and a fireplace in the northwest corner.
The nave has a north arcade of four bays of twocentred arches of two chamfered orders carried on
three circular columns with moulded capitals and
bases; the eastern respond has a corbel-shaft, and
at the west end the arch dies into the wall. In the
south wall are three two-light windows with tracery
in pointed heads; and in a slight projection of the
wall is a doorway with a two-centred head. The west
wall has two two-light windows with tracery in
pointed heads and having a buttress between them;
the gable above is surmounted by
a stone bell-cot for one bell.
The north aisle has two threelight square-headed windows, one
similar four-light, and one similar
two-light in the north wall; of
these, the eastern and the western
are largely of 14th-century date
from St. Andrew's Church. The
west wall has the 13th-century
two-light window from the south
transept of the old church reset.
The modern font has an octagonal bowl on an octagonal stem
having four engaged circular shafts
and an octagonal base.
The bell came from the old
church, and is probably of 14thcentury date.
In the vestry are a 17th-century Communion
table and a 16th-century chest having slight remains
of painted decoration. A 17th-century chest is in
the nave, and there are four stools of similar date.
Hanging in the vestry is an iron frame enclosing some
13th- or 14th-century paving tiles from Sawtry
Abbey. (fn. 232) A rough stone stoup lies loose in the chancel.
Four coffin-lids have been fixed on the walls of the
nave: (a) the easternmost is the lower part of a lid
and has a cross-stem rising from a calvary; (b) is the
upper part of a lid, with a round cross in the head;
(c) is similar to the last; and (d) the westernmost is
a whole stone with ornamental crosses at head and
foot. All have the double-omega ornament, and
(a), (b) and (d) came from All Saints' churchyard,
while (c) came from a ditch near St. Andrew's churchyard. They none of them fit the known coffins from
the abbey. An early 14th-century stone coffin still
lies in St. Andrew's churchyard.
The brass of Sir William le Moyne and Maria his
wife, still fixed in its original stone, has been fixed
against the south wall of the chancel. (fn. 233) It consists of
figures of a knight in armour, his head resting on a
helmet with crest of a demi-monk with flagellum, and
his feet resting on a lion; and a lady with veiled
head-dress, her head resting on two cushions, and a
small dog at her feet; indents of four shields, (fn. 234) and a
fragment of inscription '. . . mense Aprilis ano Dni
m. cccc. iiij. et Maria ux. ej. quor a . . . Amē.'
The brass plate to Mary Newton, d. 1633, from
St. Andrew's Church, is fixed on the north wall of
the chancel.
There are the following other monuments: in the
vestry, glass window to Frederick Newton, d. 1863;
in the nave, to John Hinde, d. 1816, Sarah his wife,
d. 1821, and Sarah Gamble, their niece, d. 1801;
Tom Hill, killed in the South African War; to the
Rev. Robert Black, Rector 1904–12, and Louisa
Catherine, his wife; and the Rev. Charles Tucker
Eland, Rector, d. 1922.
The registers are as follows: All Saints: (i) baptisms, marriages and burials 1591 to 1642, badly
damaged by fire; (fn. 235) (ii) the same, 15 March 1642 to
12 February 1692/3; (iii) the same, 17 April 1693
to 13 March 1785, marriages end 6 November 1753;
(iv) baptisms and burials, 20 March 1785 to 27
December 1812; (v) marriages, 22 January 1755 to
30 November 1812.—St. Andrew's: (i) baptisms,
marriages and burials, 31 July 1662 to 20 March
1734/5; (ii) the same, 10 October 1735 to 25 December 1812, marriages end 11 October 1753; (fn. 236) (iii) marriages, 16 October 1754 to 19 October 1812.
The church plate consists of: All Saints: a silver
cup inscribed 'Presented by Louisa Ellen Birch to
the Church of Sawtry All Saints, 1843,' hall-marked
for 1843–4; (fn. 237) a silver standing paten similarly inscribed and hall-marked.—St. Andrew's: a plated
cup inscribed 'Sawtry St. Andrews, 1830'; (fn. 238) two
plated alms plates each on three legs, similarly
inscribed; a silver flagon inscribed 'Presented to
the Church of Sawtry St. Andrew's by Arthur
11th Viscount Valentia, a.d. 1878,' hall-marked for
1876–7.
Advowsons
The church [of All Saints] (fn. 239) was
mentioned in 1086 (fn. 240) and was confirmed to the Abbey of Ramsey by
Pope Alexander III in 1178. (fn. 241) The patronage, however, was probably granted with the manor some years
earlier to Hervey le Moyne. (fn. 242) In 1226 Philip de
Horeby presented to the rectory in right of the
dower of his wife Alice de Baumville. (fn. 243) She presumably was the widow of one of the Moynes, and
from 1299 to 1411 the Moyne family remained
patrons of the rectory. (fn. 244) On the death of Mary,
widow of Sir William le Moyne, about 1411,
the advowson like the manor was divided amongst
three heirs. (fn. 245) Two pourparties passed in the later
15th century to the Abbey of Ramsey (fn. 246) and were
granted to the Abbey of Sawtry, which presented
in 1487. (fn. 247) These two turns passed with the manor
to Sir Richard Cromwell (fn. 248) and later to the Cavendishes. (fn. 249) They have remained in the possession of
the Duke of Devonshire, (fn. 250) who still owns them.
The remaining third of the advowson appears to
have remained in the possession of the Clarevaux
family. John Clarevaux may possibly have been the
tenant both of the manor and advowson under
Sawtry Abbey, since he presented with the abbot in
1488 and alone in 1489 and 1503. (fn. 251) In 1524 his widow
Emma, who had married Edward Watson, presented, (fn. 252)
and the latter's right was recognised by the Crown
when the manor was granted to Sir Richard Cromwell. (fn. 253)
The Clarevaux holdings had been subdivided among
heiresses before 1511, (fn. 254) but the third of the advowson
seems to have come into the permanent possession
of the Watsons. (fn. 255) Sir Lewis Watson, bt., who was
created Baron Rockingham in 1645, presented in his
turn in 1630, (fn. 256) and his son and successor, Edward,
was the owner in 1654. (fn. 257) Elizabeth Topham, widow,
presented in 1687, (fn. 258) but Edward, the 2nd Baron
Rockingham, who died in 1689, apparently left it to
his third son Thomas, who took the name of Wentworth. (fn. 259) His son Thomas presented in 1727 (fn. 260) and
succeeded his cousin in 1745 as Baron Rockingham. (fn. 261)
The following year he was created Marquess of Rockingham, but at the death of his son Charles in 1782
all the family honours became extinct, while the
estates passed to the family of Fitzwilliam. (fn. 262) The third
part of the advowson was presumably sold, since in
1823 Marmaduke Middleton Middleton presented. (fn. 263)
It still belonged to him or to his son Marmaduke in
1849, (fn. 264) and in 1854 John Carver Athorpe was patron
for the one turn, (fn. 265) but in 1873 the two rectories of
Sawtry All Saints and Sawtry St. Andrew (q.v.)
were united (fn. 266) and the patronage of the third of the
advowson of All Saints disappeared. From that time
the Duke of Devonshire presented to the united
rectory alternately with Viscount Valentia, the
patron of Sawtry St. Andrew's. (fn. 267)
The church was valued in 1291 and 1428 at £8;
and in 1536 at £9 3s. 0d. (fn. 268)
The church [of St. Andrew] is mentioned in
Domesday Book, (fn. 269) when it belonged to the Manor of
Eustace the Sheriff. In 1278, it had an ancient endowment of 1 virgate of land. (fn. 270) The advowson passed
with the manor until the Annesleys sold the manor
to the Duke of Devonshire. They retained the
advowson, which still belongs to Viscount Valentia. (fn. 271)
In 1873 the rectories of Sawtry St. Andrew and
Sawtry All Saints were united (fn. 272) and the alternate
presentation now belongs to Viscount Valentia.
The church was valued at £6 13s. 4d. in 1291; (fn. 273)
at 10 marks in 1428, (fn. 274) and at £8 8s. 5d. in 1536. (fn. 275)
A pension of 20s. was paid from the rectory to the
Priory of Huntingdon in 1291 (fn. 276) and 1428, (fn. 277) but it
does not appear among the possessions of the priory
at its dissolution. (fn. 278)
In 1359, a layman named William the Oylemaker
of Sawtry began to build a chapel in Sawtry, in which
he erected various images. No bishop's licence was
obtained and Bishop Gynewell condemned the
undertaking on account of fraudulent devices, and
ordered the rectors of Sawtry All Saints and Sawtry
St. Andrew immediately to remove the images to
the parish church and there to desecrate them by
the great cross of the church. (fn. 279) Presumably they
were to be burnt in the churchyard, but there is
nothing to indicate to which of the two parishes
the entry relates.
The church [of St. Mary] attached to the manor of
Sawtry Judith in 1086 (fn. 280) was granted to Sawtry
Abbey, at its foundation by Simon de St. Liz
about 1147. (fn. 281) It seems, however, to have paid
a rent to the Bishop of Lincoln, from which the
earl freed it by substituting an annual rent of 1 mark
payable to the Bishop and church of Lincoln from
other lands. (fn. 282) The church of St. Mary stood at the
Abbey gates (fn. 283) and was served by the monks, so that
no vicarage was ordained. (fn. 284) In 1393 the Pope
granted an indulgence for visits and alms given to
St. Mary's altar in the church. (fn. 285) At the dissolution
of Sawtry Abbey, the parish church, with the tithes
and oblations and the lands and rents from the rectory,
was valued at £8 a year. (fn. 286) Some stipulation seems to
have been made by the Crown that the stipend of
the rector or chaplain of Sawtry Judith should be
paid out of the rectory, but this was not done by
the local royal officials in the year following the
dissolution on the grounds that no such payment
had been made in the time of the abbot, as one of
the monks had served the church without stipend. (fn. 287)
The rectory and advowson were granted with the
manor to Sir Richard Williams in 1537, (fn. 288) when a
vicarage is also mentioned, but this appears to be
an error. They passed to the subsequent lords of
the manor. (fn. 289) The whole endowment of the church
passed into lay hands, and no provision was made
for serving the church, which fell into disuse and,
like Sawtry Abbey, was ultimately entirely demolished.
The parish became an extra-parochial liberty and the
inhabitants for ecclesiastical purposes are now
dependent on Sawtry All Saints Church.
There are no charities for these parishes.