MARKET OVERTON
Overtune (xi cent.); Markedesoverton (xiii cent.);
Marcat Overton, Marketishoverton, Marcateshoverton
(xiv cent.); Market Orton (xvi–xix cent.); Margat,
Margret, Horton (xvi–xvii cent.).
The parish of Market Overton occupies high ground
to the north-west of the county between Edmondthorpe and Thistleton. Its area comprises 1,806
acres. The subsoil is Upper Lias and Inferior Oolite.
It was stated in 1671 that in 1636 half the lordship of
Market Overton was converted from tillage into
pasture and inclosed by consent of the parson and
inhabitants. (fn. 1) At the present day more than half the
area is pasture, the arable land yielding cereals, peas
and root crops. Iron is worked to a small extent by
the Stanton Ironworks Co. and gives employment to
a certain number of men, but the district is mainly
agricultural and the population, which was 319 in
1921, is decreasing.
Old field-names are 'the Wong,' Black Holmes,
Kirk Hole (a stone pit), and Barrowflats. (fn. 2)
Sir Isaac Newton was connected with the parish,
and William Kitchen Parker (1823–90), the comparative anatomist, as druggist's assistant, was articled to
a surgeon at Market Overton in 1842. (fn. 3) Thomas
Waite, the regicide, governor of Oakham and Uppingham Schools (living 1634–68), is said to have been the
son of an alehouse keeper here. (fn. 4) He was a member of
the Rump Parliament and lived here in 1653. (fn. 5) His
forfeited estate at Market Overton was rented at £140
a year in 1660. (fn. 6)
An old custom, dying out in 1895, was to give
'Plum Shuttles' or 'Valentine buns' to all the
children of the parish on 14th February. (fn. 7)
Edward I was here 1 March 1276, (fn. 8) and Edward II
23 August 1315. (fn. 9)
The village stands on the highest point in the parish
about 475 ft. above the Ordnance datum, and has wide
views over the surrounding country. It is built
mainly along a street leading southward from the road
from Teigh to Thistleton and Stretton, and in the
14th century served as the market town for a rich
agricultural area. It evidently had a market as early
as 1200, (fn. 10) and 'Markedes Ouerton' appears in 1238, (fn. 11)
but the earliest grant of a market that has been found
was on 22 June 1267, when the lord of the manor
was empowered to hold a weekly market on Thursdays
and a yearly fair on 28, 29 and 30 June. The market
day was apparently changed from Thursday to Wednesday by grant of 2 September in the same year. (fn. 12) The
Wednesday market and yearly fairs on 5, 6 and 7 June
and 17, 18 and 19 October were granted to Bartholomew de Badlesmere in 1315. (fn. 13) The market was still
held in 1338, (fn. 14) but no further mention of either
market or fair has been found. The market was
probably held in the open space at the east end of the
churchyard.
The church with a well-timbered churchyard is at
the west end of the village within the earthworks of a
Roman camp, and to the west of it is the Rectory,
which has recently undergone alterations. The
cottages are almost entirely of stone with thatched,
stone or slate roofs, except a group of modern brick
cottages at the east end of the village. The stocks
and whipping post, in a good state of preservation,
stand under some trees on the Green in the middle
of the village. The stocks have four holes with
cross pieces of iron between wooden posts, the taller
of which forms the whipping post.
There was a manor house here as early as 1337,
when Giles de Badlesmere dated his will from it, (fn. 15)
and the manorial garden and dovecote are mentioned
in the following year. (fn. 16) The present Manor House
was rebuilt in 1866; it has an old wall and a small
square summer house with a stone roof. The Old
Hall with Lavender Farm makes a pleasing group
of buildings at the south-west corner of the village.
About 2½ miles west of the village is the Oakham
Canal, now disused; the Wharf here is modern but
marks the place where barges were loaded with barley
and malt.
The nearest railway stations are at Ashwell, 3 miles
to the south-west of the village, and at South Wytham,
3 miles north.
The manor was entered in both Lincolnshire and
Rutland in 1086, and once in the 15th century was
assigned to Leicestershire. (fn. 17)
Manors
Before the Conquest MARKET
OVERTON and its berewick Stretton
belonged to Waltheof, Earl of Huntingdon, who had 3½ carucates of land at geld in the two
places. After his death in 1076 they were retained by
his widow Judith, who had 3 ploughs in demesne in
1086. (fn. 18) From Judith the overlordship descended
with the Honour of Huntingdon. (fn. 19) On the death
of John le Scot the overlordship was attached to
the purparty which passed to the Hastings, Earls of
Pembroke, (fn. 20) at least until the death in 1401 of Philippa
widow of John Hastings, who held a third of a knight's
fee here as dower. (fn. 21) Later the manor was said to be
held of Edmund Earl of Kent, (fn. 22) as representative of
the Wake share of Judith's lands. (fn. 23)
The Umfravilles were probably undertenants
from the 12th century. Odinell de Umfraville held
Normanton and other lands in Rutland, and was
succeeded by his son Robin or Robert in 1182. (fn. 24)
Robin's nephew Gilbert, son of Richard de Umfraville,
presented to the church in 1238 and held a knight's
fee here in 1241. (fn. 25) From this date the manor
followed the descent of Hambleton (q.v.) (fn. 26) until the
death of Giles de Badlesmere in 1338. (fn. 27) His lands
were divided among his four sisters and their husbands.
Maud, wife of John de Vere, Earl of Oxford, the
second sister, had the manor and advowson of Market
Overton, (fn. 28) and Margaret, wife of John Tiptoft,
the fourth sister, had tenements here; while Hambleton, falling to the third sister, henceforth descended
separately. John Earl of Oxford died in 1360 seised
of the Market Overton estate (fn. 29) by right of his wife,
who survived him, (fn. 30) leaving a son and heir Thomas, (fn. 31)
who in 1369 mortgaged the manor to Sir John de
Sutton (fn. 32) and later granted it for life to William de
Wingfield, kt. and Joan his wife. Thomas died seised
of the reversion in 1371, and
his son and heir Robert, (fn. 33) the
favourite of Richard II, was
created Duke of Ireland in
1386 and attainted by the
Merciless Parliament in 1388.
The reversion of this property fell to his mother, Maud,
widow of Earl Thomas. (fn. 34) On
the deaths of William de Wingfield and Joan, Maud entered
into possession, (fn. 35) but in 1406
Philippa, widow of the attainted
duke, obtained a grant of
the reversion. (fn. 36) Philippa and Maud (fn. 37) both surrendered
their rights to Richard. The manor, however, was still
in the king's hands in 1409–10, (fn. 38) but Richard made a
settlement in 1412. (fn. 39) He died seised of it in February
1417, leaving a son and heir John, (fn. 40) a Lancastrian,
whose lands were in the king's hands in 1462, when
he and his eldest son were beheaded. (fn. 41) The same
year Market Overton was granted by Edward IV to
his brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester; (fn. 42) but John,
younger son of the last earl, was restored in blood. (fn. 43)
In 1469 John, thirteenth Earl of Oxford, joined in a
conveyance of the manor and advowson to Sir John
Say, kt. (fn. 44) who died seised in 1478, leaving a son and
heir William, (fn. 45) by whom it was settled in 1506. (fn. 46)
His daughters and co-heirs were Mary wife of Henry,
Earl of Essex, and Elizabeth, married to William, Lord
Mountjoy. After some litigation the property was
allotted to Mary, but later passed to her sister Elizabeth, (fn. 47) whose daughter Gertrude married Henry
Courtenay, Marquess of Exeter, who was holding it
in 1535. (fn. 48) He was tried for complicity in the rising
in Devon and Cornwall, and was beheaded for treason
Jan. 1538–9. (fn. 49) His widow Gertrude was at the same
time attainted. A bailiff was appointed in 1540; (fn. 50) and
in 1544 the site was leased to Richard, the king's
footman, as belonging to
Gertrude late Marchioness of
Exeter, attainted. (fn. 51) It was
sold to John Harington in
1553 (fn. 52) and the Haringtons of
Exton (q.v.) held the manor
and advowson until 1623,
when they were conveyed to
John Huggeford of Henwood
(co. Warwick). In 1629 they
were sold to John Wingfield
of Tickencote (q.v.), (fn. 53) descendant of Sir Anthony Wingfield of Tickencote, (fn. 54) by
Elizabeth sister and co-heir
of John Earl of Oxford, who died in 1526. (fn. 55) They
have since descended with Tickencote Manor (fn. 56) (q.v.).
They are now held by Mr. John Llewellyn Parry,
who took the name of Wingfield.
Hastings. Or a sleeve gules.
Umfraville. Gules crusilly and a cinqfoil or.
Vere. Quarterly gules and or with a molet argent in the quarter.
Wingfield. Argent a bend gules cotised sable with three pairs of wings argent on the bend.
Woodland one league by half a league belonged to
the manor in 1086. (fn. 57) Free warren was granted to Bartholomew de Badlesmere in 1315, (fn. 58) and his son Giles
received confirmation in 1337. It is mentioned as
appurtenant to the manor until 1811. (fn. 59) In 1276 the
lord claimed waif and view of frankpledge twice a
year, without the king's officer, by prescription. (fn. 60)
An estate here held of the manor of MARKET
OVERTON was, in 1341, assigned to John de Tiptoft
and Margaret, one of the sisters and co-heirs of Giles
de Badlesmere, after the death of Giles's widow. (fn. 61)
In 1369 Robert Tiptoft mortgaged his right to Roger
Beler, kt., (fn. 62) who enfeoffed William Slotheby, parson, (fn. 63)
and died seised leaving three daughters and co-heirs,
whose wardship was granted to Richard Le Scrope
in 1372. (fn. 64) The Scropes of Bolton (co. York) held
lands here in 1444, (fn. 65) and John Scrope of Bolton died
seised of two messuages and 4 bovates of land in
1499, held of St. Agatha's Abbey, Richmond. (fn. 66)
The earliest owner in fee of
this property was Simon de
Bereford, a rebel whose lands
here were leased in 1332 at a
rent of 16s. 4d. to Robert de
Sussex, who seems to have
held of the Crown other lands
here. (fn. 67) This rent was granted
with the Manor of Wendover
(co. Bucks) to John de Molyns
in fee, (fn. 68) who released his right
to Robert de Sussex. (fn. 69) In 1367
Maud, widow of Robert, had
the custody of Robert his grandson and heir for lands
held in chief here; (fn. 70) and the king made a grant of
Robert's marriage in 1370. (fn. 71) Maud died about 1382. (fn. 72)
Robert, son of Thomas son of Robert de Sussex her
grandson, came of age in 1383 and died in 1421, leaving
a son Robert, (fn. 73) who was one of the
collectors of the subsidy in 1428. (fn. 74) He
died seised of tenements here held
respectively of the king and the
Countess of Oxford in 1443, when his
brother Thomas was his heir. (fn. 75) These
tenements were settled on the Warren
family in 1505, (fn. 76) and Francis Warren
died seised in 1510. (fn. 77) They then
passed to John Stubbs or Snokstubbs,
yeoman, (fn. 78) from whose family they
passed in 1610 to Henry Waite, (fn. 79) possibly progenitor of the regicide. A
windmill is mentioned in this fee in
1591 and 1610.
Scrope. Azure abend or.
Church
The church of ST.
PETER AND ST.
PAUL consists of chancel 24 ft. 9 in. by 14 ft. 9 in. with north
organ-chamber and vestry, clearstoried
nave 37 ft. 9 in. by 14 ft. 9 in., north
and south aisles respectively 12 ft. 6 in.
and 9 ft. wide, south transeptal
chapel 23 ft. by 19 ft., south porch
and west tower 10 ft. 6 in. by 12 ft.,
all these measurements being internal. The width
across nave and aisles is 40 ft. 6 in.
The whole of the building is faced with coursed
dressed stones, and has plain parapets to the chancel,
transept and nave. The roofs of the chancel and
porch are covered with modern blue slates, but elsewhere the roofs, which are of low pitch, are leaded.
Plan of Market Overton Church
The church stands on the site of a Roman camp,
in the south-west portion of the rectangle, (fn. 80) and at
the west end there survives a fine Saxon arch, which
was preserved when the pre-Conquest church of
which it formed part was rebuilt. (fn. 81) The first rebuilding appears to have taken place in the 13th
century, when a south aisle at least was added, a porch
erected, and the chancel rebuilt with a chapel on its
north side. The evidence of a north aisle to the
nave at this time is wanting, but in the 14th century
the church again underwent a somewhat extensive
rebuilding, the north aisle being then added, or a
former one widened, a large transeptal chapel added
at the east end of the south aisle, the arcade of which
was rebuilt, a clearstory erected, and the chancel remodelled. The existing tower was probably erected
in the 13th century on the foundations of an earlier
structure the proportions of which suggest a forebuilding or porch. (fn. 82) Two pre-Conquest sculptured
stones (fn. 83) are incorporated in the walling near the base.
The tower, however, appears to have been remodelled
in the 14th century, when the top stage was either
wholly rebuilt or new windows inserted. No further
material changes were made in the fabric until 1861,
when the chancel was rebuilt, the vestry and organchamber added and the transept restored. There was
a further restoration in 1889. (fn. 84)
The pre-Conquest tower arch, which probably
dates from the latter part of the 10th or first half of
the 11th century, is in a wall 2 ft. 8 in. thick, and is
6 ft. 8 in. wide. The jambs are constructed of upright
and flat stones, or stone slabs set up on edge and laid
flat alternately, with three flat stones at the top,
and the lower upright stones standing on boldly
projecting square plinths. The semicircular arch
springs from sloping impost blocks, the height to the
underside of which is 9 ft. 6 in., and, like the jambs,
is built with stones running through the whole
thickness of the wall. For about 3 ft. on either side
of the opening the walling is apparently contemporary
with the arch, but no other work of pre-Conquest
date remains.
The chancel is built more or less on the old lines,
of two bays, with diagonal angle buttresses and a
pointed (fn. 85) east window of three lights and Decorated
tracery. There are two windows of similar character,
but of two lights, in the south wall. The north side
is covered for about two-thirds of its length by the
vestry and organ-chamber, to the latter of which it
is open by an arch supported on corbels. Internally
the walls are faced with ashlar. The 14th-century
chancel arch is of two orders, the outer plainly
chamfered and the inner with a wide hollow chamfer,
on half-octagonal responds with moulded capitals
and plain bases. (fn. 86) Just within the arch on the north
side, about 6 ft. 6 in. above the chancel floor, is a
plain chamfered corbel, apparently of 13th-century
date, from which the arch to the former chapel
sprang. (fn. 87) There is no chancel screen, and no ancient
ritual arrangements have been preserved. (fn. 88)
The 14th-century nave arcades are of three bays,
with pointed arches of two chamfered orders and
hoods with head-stops, springing (fn. 89) from octagonal
piers and responds with moulded capitals and bases.
The width of the transept is nearly equal to half the
length of the nave, and it projects 14 ft. 8 in. beyond
the aisle, from which internally it is not structurally
separated, though the roof runs through to the clearstory wall. The transept has a pointed window of
four trefoiled lights and Decorated tracery in the
south wall, but the hood-mould alone appears to be
original, and at the north end of the east wall there is
a 14th-century three-light window with uncusped
reticulated tracery, but without hood-mould. (fn. 90) At
the east end of the south wall is a 14th-century trefoilheaded piscina with fluted bowl and hood with
notch-stops.
There are no windows in the short south aisle, and
the doorway (fn. 91) is little if any earlier than the arcades,
but the 13th-century walling probably remains unaltered at the west end and the porch is of that period,
the arch of the outer doorway resting on filleted keelshaped responds with moulded capitals and bases; the
capital of the east respond is enriched with nail-head.
The three bays of the 14th-century north aisle are
marked externally by buttresses, and in the west bay
is a pointed north doorway, now blocked, of two continuous chamfered orders. The middle bay has an
original square-headed traceried window of three
lights, and in the end walls are pointed two-light
windows, that at the east (from which the cusping has
been removed) now opening to the organ-chamber.
The clearstory has four windows on each side, those
on the north square-headed and of two trefoiled lights
with Decorated tracery, and on the south three pointed
two-light windows with 14th-century tracery varying
in design, and the fourth, or easternmost, a later
square-headed window of three uncusped lights,
apparently of 16th-century date. A sanctus bell-cote
stands on the east gable.
Externally the hollow moulding below the parapets
of the transept and south side of the clearstory, and
along the north and south walls of the aisles, is
enriched with ball-flowers, heads, four-leaved flowers
and other devices. (fn. 92)
The tower is of three stages marked by strings, but is
without buttresses or vice, and terminates in a battlemented parapet and pyramidal roof with vane. The
pointed two-light west window is much restored, the
mullion and tracery being new. Above it, in the
middle stage, is a lozenge-shaped uncusped moulded
opening, and the pointed bell-chamber windows are of
two trefoiled lights with quatrefoil in the head. In
the middle stage on the south side is a small rectangular
opening, and near the south-west angle a sundial (fn. 93)
said to have been given by Sir Isaac Newton, whose
grandmother lived in the village. (fn. 94)
West of the chancel all the walls are plastered
internally.
The font is of composite character, being made up
of three portions, the uppermost square at the top,
with moulded edge, and shaped to circular form with
chamfered angles and a device of diagonal lines; it
may be the upper part of a 12th-century capital. The
plain circular middle portion rests on a later moulded
circular base enriched with a well-carved inverted
strawberry-leaf pattern. (fn. 95)
The pulpit, seating, and other fittings are modern. (fn. 96)
There are a number of mural monuments (fn. 97) ranging
in date from 1700 to 1917, and a lych-gate has been
erected in memory of the men of the parish killed in
the war of 1914–19. In the south aisle is a small stone
coffin.
There are five bells, a treble and tenor by J. Taylor
and Co. of Loughborough having been added in 1888
to a former ring of three. The second and fourth are
by Thomas Eayre of Kettering, 1737, and the third is
a recasting by Taylor in 1885 of a bell dated 1658. (fn. 98)
The plate consists of a cup and cover paten of
1569–70, a paten with the maker's initials R.I., a
flagon of 1651, and a flagon of 1740–41. (fn. 99)
The registers before 1812 are as follows: (i)
baptisms and burials 1573–1812, marriages 1573–1754;
(ii) marriages 1755–1804; (iii) baptisms 1783–88;
(iv) marriages 1804–12.
Advowson
The advowson is first mentioned
in 1238, when Gilbert de Umfraville
was the patron, (fn. 100) and it has ever since
descended with the manor. William Wingfield, kt.,
as lessee seems to have presented in 1391. (fn. 101) The living
is a rectory, united to Thistleton in 1926, and in the
alternate gift of Mr. John Llewellyn Parry Wingfield
and the bishop of Peterborough.
Earl Simon de St. Liz I gave to St. Andrew's Priory,
Northampton, a third part of the tithes of his demesne
at Market Overton, and their portion in the church
existed in the time of Henry I and was confirmed by
Henry II and in 1329. (fn. 102)
A grant was made by Edward VI of tenements and
2 acres of arable land called le Lampe and Serge (i.e.,
cièrge) land in the west field, given to the lamp and
lights by William Walker. (fn. 103)
Charities
A quarter of the net income of
Thomas Birch's or Byrch's Charity
(see under Cottesmore with Barrow)
is distributed in cash payments to about 20 poor of
this parish.
Lady Ann Harington's Charity.—A sum of £5 per
annum is received by this parish. The income is
applied, together with the income from Green's and
Pick's Charities, in the distribution of coal among about
24 recipients.
John Green, by his will dated 7 October 1679,
charged his lands with a rentcharge of £4 per annum
to the minister and overseers of Market Overton for
the use of the poor there.
Thomas Edward Pick, by his will proved at the
principal registry on the 29 November 1907, gave the
sum of £400 to the parish council for the time being
of Market Overton to be invested and the interest to
be applied in distribution of coal among the poor of
the parish. The endowment of the charity now
consists of a sum of £407 13s. 7d. 4½ per cent. London
County Consolidated stock held by the Official
Trustees, producing £18 6s. 10d. annually in dividends.