BISBROOKE
Bitlesbroch (xi cent.); Butlesbrok, Bitlesbrok
(xiii cent.); Bissebrok, Bytlesbrok, Butlisbroke, Bisbrok
(xiv cent.); Pysbroke (xv cent.).
The parish of Bisbrooke, containing a little more
than 1,144 acres, lies near the borders of Northamptonshire on the ridge of a hill between two brooks. The
village, which is sheltered from the north by this
ridge, is situated about half a mile south of the
Uppingham and Peterborough road, a mile east from
Uppingham station and two and a half north-west
from Seaton station on the London Midland and
Scottish Railway. The ground rises again to the
south-west of the village, but the height varies very
little, nearly the whole of the parish being between
300 and 400 ft. above the Ordnance datum. The
highest point, about 419 ft., is reached on the Uppingham and Peterborough road, rather more than half a
mile west of Bisbrooke Hall, which stands in the
northern part of the parish, closer to Glaston than
Bisbrooke. The Manor House stands at the western
end of the village of Bisbrooke. The church is on the
eastern side. The soil, on the whole, is light, the subsoil being for the most part Upper Lias, Lower Oolite
occurring in the north and west. The land is mostly
pasture. The population in 1921 was 137.
Manor
Two hides and one virgate in Bisbrooke
were held by Robert of the Countess
Judith in 1086, and had been held by
Edward with sac and soc in the reign of the Confessor. (fn. 1) The overlordship followed throughout the
descent of the Honour of Huntingdon. (fn. 2)
Robert, the tenant at the time of the Domesday
Survey, was probably Robert de Buci, whose lands in
Northamptonshire and Leicestershire were afterwards given (presumably by the first Simon de St. Liz,
Earl of Huntingdon) to Robert the son of Viel
Palfrey. (fn. 3) Robert was tenant of Bisbrooke early in the
reign of Henry I, and was still living in 1144, when he
granted a charter to the Prior of Daventry. This
charter was afterwards confirmed by his son Simon
and witnessed by another son Jordan, together with
Simon's wife Julian and their sons Richard, Henry
and Simon. (fn. 4) In 1159 Simon, called Simon de Foxton,
from his manor in Leicestershire, accounted for his
debt of 100s. in Lincolnshire. (fn. 5) Richard de Foxton
succeeded Simon between 1180 and 1186, (fn. 6) and about
1189 he confirmed to Daventry the grants of his
father Simon and his grandfather Robert. (fn. 7) He was
succeeded by his son, another Richard, who confirmed
to Daventry the gifts of Robert son of Viel his greatgrandfather, Simon his grandfather and Richard his
father. He died before 1224, leaving a widow Amabel,
and two daughters, Amis or Amy, and Beatrice. Amis
married Alan Basset of Luffenham, and they appear
to have had two daughters, Agnes and Joan; but,
according to the Pipewell Cartulary, Agnes was sole
heir of her grandfather. Agnes was first married to
William de Meynell; (fn. 8) in 1251 she and her husband
granted lands and a mill in Bisbrooke to Richard, son
of Ernis de Seaton, in return for a grant for the life
of Agnes of two messuages which Alan Basset had
formerly held. They were again dealing with lands
here in 1254. (fn. 9) Agnes married as her second husband
Ralf de St. Lo, but she seems to have died childless.
Her interest in Bisbrooke passed to her sister Joan,
who married William de Gumley, and the representatives of Beatrice de Foxton, mentioned above, who
married, firstly, Henry, son of Fulk de Oiry, and,
secondly, Richard, son of Hubert de Middleton. (fn. 10)
In 1261–2 the Prior of Daventry called on Ralf de
St. Lo and Agnes his wife, William de Gumley (co.
Leic.) and Joan his wife, and John de Middleton,
to acquit him of the services demanded by Balliol,
the chief lord, for lands in Foxton. (fn. 11) John de Middleton (Midlington), son of Richard and Beatrice de
Middleton, was succeeded before 1305 by William
de Middleton, (fn. 12) presumably his brother, who may
possibly be identified with the William, son of Richard
de Middleton, who settled certain rents in Foxton
and a mill in Bisbrooke on himself and his wife Rose
in 1307. (fn. 13) Thomas de Middleton, probably the son of
William, was in possession of Bisbrooke in 1316; (fn. 14)
he died before 1325, leaving as his heir a son Thomas,
then under age and in the wardship of John of
Britanny, Earl of Richmond. (fn. 15) This Thomas died
before 1343, and the wardship of his son and heir
William belonged in that year to the Countess of
Pembroke. (fn. 16) It is probable that William died during
his minority; he was succeeded by his brother John,
described as 'son and heir of Thomas de Middleton,'
who granted the manor of Bisbrooke in fee to John de
Wempton, who enfeoffed Sir William Burton of
Tolthorpe. Sir William granted it in 1362 to Sir
Richard de Bayeux and Robert his son, in exchange
for certain lands in Arkesden, Essex. (fn. 17) Robert afterwards regranted it to Sir William Burton and John de
Wempton, apparently for the purpose of a marriage
settlement on his son Robert and Alice sister of
John de Middleton previously mentioned. Alice
survived her husband, and on her death in 1380 the
manor was taken into the king's hands; but it was
afterwards restored, the inquisition finding that it
ought to belong to John de Wempton, the surviving
trustee, of whom Alice had held it by rent of a rose. (fn. 18)
Her heir was her son John, then aged fourteen;
he died in 1397, leaving a son John aged seven. (fn. 19) The
wardship was granted on 4 October 1397 to Henry
Mulsho and Thomas Englysshe. (fn. 20)
John Bayeux proved his age in 1413. (fn. 21) Margaret,
widow of John Bayeux, died in 1468, leaving a daughter
Margaret aged 22 years, (fn. 22) who apparently married
Robert Stanhope. (fn. 23) Robert Stanhope and Margaret
his wife dealt with a reputed manor of Bisbrooke by
fine in 1478; they quitclaimed it from themselves
and the heirs of Margaret to Robert Haus and others,
and the heirs of Robert Haus, presumably for the
purpose of a settlement. (fn. 24) The manor formerly belonging to the Middletons is said, however, to have
been granted shortly afterwards to the College of
King Edward IV at Fotheringhay.
In July 1547 Edward VI, 'in fulfilment of his father's
will . . . and in consideration of the manor of
Tryng' (co. Herts), granted to Sir Richard Lee the
manor of Bisbrooke and all the king's lands there
'which belonged to the late College of Fotheringhay
and were granted to the King's father by deed dated
24 January 1547.' (fn. 25) In February 1548 Sir Richard
obtained a licence to settle the property on Anthony
Andrewes and Dorothy his wife and their heirs. (fn. 26)
Anthony Andrewes died 6 December 1557, leaving
as his heir his son Edward, then aged twelve and a
half. (fn. 27) By his will he devised his lands in Bisbrooke,
after the death of his wife Dorothy, who survived him,
to his second son Anthony and his heirs, charged with
an annuity of £10 to his youngest son Fabian to be
paid by Anthony 'if Fabian should live till the land
came to Anthony.' (fn. 28) Fabian survived his brother,
who died 22 July 1589; and the question then arose
whether the annuity should be payable by the heirs or
determined by the death of Anthony; the Court of
Wards decided in favour of Fabian in Michaelmas term
1590. (fn. 29)
Andrewes. Azure a cross ermine between four fleurs de lis or.
Anthony's heir was his son, a third Anthony, aged
thirteen at the time of his father's death; but the
manor of Bisbrooke had been granted in April 1589 to
George Sheffield and other trustees for ten years, for
the payment of an annuity of £70 to Christopher,
Alice and Ursula Hoddesdon. (fn. 30)
Moreover, in 1586 the elder
Anthony seems to have promised an annuity of £20 to
William Gate, citizen and
barber surgeon of London,
who subsequently brought an
action against Sheffield to
recover his money, alleging
that the annuity had been
granted in return for a sum of
£100. Sheffield replied that
the original contract 'was
usurious, and by reason of the
corruption thereof void'; but admitted that he had
advised Andrewes to enter into reasonable composition
because he 'was not able to procure such suertyes for
his baile as the lawe doth require.' A fresh agreement
was accordingly made in March 1588–9 at Sheffield's
house in Seaton by which £125 was to be paid to Gate
by the following Michaelmas term. In the meantime
Anthony Andrewes died (1589), a prisoner for debt
'at the suit of the complaynant and one Jeffraye
Willcockes'; and George Sheffield, on the plea that
he was 'avoyded of the possession' of certain lands
which he had agreed to buy from Andrewes in order
to pay Gate, declared that he was no longer bound to
pay. (fn. 31)
The third Anthony Andrewes died at Bisbrooke on
8 February 1615, leaving as his heir his daughter
Margaret, then aged nearly thirteen and a half, (fn. 32)
who afterwards married Roger Dale. (fn. 33) By a fine
levied in her lifetime, but not recorded until 1624, she,
with Edward Andrewes and Judith his wife, made a
settlement of the manor and advowson. (fn. 34) She died
in 1622, 'being aged 20 years 11 months,' and was
succeeded by her cousin Edward Andrewes (the son of
Edward, brother of Anthony Andrewes her grandfather), who was of full age at the time of her death. (fn. 35)
Edward Andrewes was holding Bisbrooke in 1639, (fn. 36)
and in the following year he, and presumably his
second wife, Mary, conveyed the manor and advowson
to John Savage. (fn. 37) During the Civil War he supported
the king, but left his quarters in November 1645,
probably after the king's quarrel with Prince Rupert,
at Newark, and took the negative oath before the
Committee of Nottinghamshire, but was prevented
by sickness from coming to London to compound. His
composition was fixed at £283 in June 1646, and his
estate was ordered to be discharged on 22 July, though
apparently this order had not taken effect before the
middle of the following November. In March 1648
his estate was again sequestered, (fn. 38) and it was probably
owing to his losses during this period that he was
forced to sell it, as it seems to have been acquired
during the Commonwealth by Sir George Manners,
whose heirs, including John, Earl of Rutland, were
dealing with it in the summer of 1661, apparently for
a settlement. (fn. 39) The manor and rectory have since
followed the descent of the
earldom and dukedom, the
Duke of Rutland being now
lord of the manor. (fn. 40)
Manners. Or two bars azure and a chief quartered azure and gules with two fleurs de lis in the azure and a leopard or in the gules quarters.
The NEVILLE HOLDING
may perhaps be traced to a
freehold worth £5, the
Michaelmas rent being 12s.,
which was held in 1265 by Sir
Stephen de Neville. (fn. 41) Its
origin may possibly be found
in the settlement of two messuages and a carucate of land
by William and Agnes de
Meynell on Alice de Keneton
and the heirs of her body; (fn. 42)
but the evidence is insufficient
to establish this identification. During the Barons'
War, Sir Stephen's land was seized by his brother
Sir Peter, but it was restored in 1265. (fn. 43) Sir Stephen
was still living in 1280, when he was a coroner in
Leicestershire, (fn. 44) but he appears to have died before
April 1303, when his son John was named as one of
the heirs of Thomas de Neville in case Theobald,
son of Peter, was barred by his father's outlawry. (fn. 45)
Neville. Gules crusilly with three fleurs de lis argent.
John de Neville, described
as of Wimeswould, held in
Bisbrooke in 1305 and in
1316. (fn. 46) His son Stephen was
still living in 1328, when he
settled two messuages, two
and a half bovates of land
and three acres of pasture
with 14s. yearly rent in Bisbrooke on his son, another
William, William's wife Julian
and their issue, with remainder
to the right heirs of William. (fn. 47)
Three messuages, two and a
half virgates of land and one acre were held at this
time by Richard, vicar of Bisbrooke, for life, and the
reversion of this property was settled in the same
way. (fn. 48) Richard Neville, who held in Bisbrooke in
1379, was presumably the heir of William, though
his land was extended at no more than 40s. yearly. (fn. 49)
He died before Trinity term 1396, when his executor, Richard Middleton, brought an action of debt
against Sir Henry de Neville. (fn. 50) After this date the
descent of the freehold becomes obscure.
In 1433 John Oudeby and Agnes his wife dealt by
fine with three messuages and 40 acres of land in
Bisbrooke, (fn. 51) and, according to Nichols, Oudeby succeeded the Nevilles in Wimeswould, which manor
passed through his heirs general to co-heirs married to
Bocland and Coulson. (fn. 52) There seems, however, to be
no trace of either of these families in Bisbrooke. On
the other hand, in the pedigree which is stated by
Nichols to have been compiled from the Chetwynd
MSS. Sir Robert Neville, who married Joan daughter
and heir of John de Nowers, was descended directly
from Stephen de Neville. (fn. 53) It seems clear, at least,
that Sir Robert was seised at his death of the lands
in Prestwold (co. Leic.) which had formerly belonged
to the Nevilles of Wimeswould. (fn. 54) His heir was his
son John, who was succeeded in Gayhurst (co. Bucks)
by his brother Robert. Mary Neville, the greatgranddaughter of this Robert, became the heir to his
property in Gayhurst on the death of her brother
Francis in 1581; and her granddaughter Mary Mulsho
brought the estate to Sir Everard Digby in marriage
in 1596. (fn. 55) The Digbys held lands in Bisbrooke in the
17th century, (fn. 56) but it is not easy to identify them with
the Neville freehold; and the family certainly had
an interest in the parish long before the marriage to
Mary Mulsho. As early as 1493 Sir John Digby had
acquired from William Lewen and Alice his wife a
messuage, 40 acres of land, 4 acres of meadow and
6 acres of pasture, which may possibly have been the
property of John Oudeby. (fn. 57) These tenements followed the descent of the manor of South Luffenham (fn. 58)
(q.v.).
In 1536 Richard Chesilden of Great Weldon (co.
Northants) died seised of a messuage with two acres
of land and one of meadow in Bisbrooke, which had
been settled upon his parents, Richard and Joan
Chesilden, by John Bygge. His heir was his son John,
then aged eight. (fn. 59) Early in the reign of Elizabeth a
John Chesilden married Elizabeth Neville of Gayhurst. (fn. 60) Her son, Edward Chesilden, and his wife
Bridget, dealt with tenements in Bisbrooke by fine
about 1623, conveying them to Everard Falkener. (fn. 61)
This was probably for the purpose of a lease, as a
fresh lease for 99 years from 5 October 1632, 'if
Everard Falkener, Lyon Falkener and Anthony
Falkener, son of Lyon aforesaid, or a survivor should
live so long,' was made early in 1633. (fn. 62) These tenements subsequently followed the descent of the
Chesilden property in Preston and Uppingham (fn. 63) (q.v.).
A mill in Bisbrooke was granted, together with a
bovate and 12 acres of land, 2 messuages and pasture,
by William de Meynell and Agnes his wife to Richard
son of Hervey [Ernis] de Seaton in 1251, in exchange
for two messuages in Bisbrooke, formerly held by
Alan Basset for the life of Agnes. (fn. 64) In 1307 Bisbrooke
mill was settled by Thomas son of Hasculf de Neville
on William son of Richard de Middleton and Rose,
William's wife, and their heirs. (fn. 65) Presumably the
property afterwards followed the descent of the manor,
but no further mention of it occurs, and the site of
the mill appears to be now unknown.
Sketch of Bisbrooke Old Church, now demolished
Church
The church of ST. JOHN THE
BAPTIST was rebuilt in 1871 and,
though incorporating a little old work
from the structure then pulled down, is a modern
building in the style of the 14th century. The old
church consisted of a chancel, clearstoried nave of
three bays, north aisle, and south porch, and had a
bell-cote over the west gable. It appears to have been
mainly of 13th-century date, but new windows had
been inserted in the 14th century, and ten years before
its demolition the building was described as being in a
very neglected state. (fn. 66)
The present church consists of chancel 19 ft. 6 in.
by 15 ft., with north vestry, clearstoried nave of three
bays, 36 ft. by 15 ft., north and south aisles 8 ft. wide,
and tower 8 ft. square at the west end of the south
aisle, all these measurements being internal. The
width across nave and aisles is 35 ft. 6 in. The
lower stage of the tower forms a porch, with doorway
on the north side. The vestry is a continuation of
the north aisle and covers the chancel half its length.
The building is of coursed ironstone rubble, lined
internally with dressed stone. The chancel and
nave have stone-slated eaved roofs, the aisles being
leaded behind plain parapets. The tower is of
four stages with pairs of buttresses at the angles,
pointed bell-chamber windows of two trefoiled
lights and battlemented parapet. It was designed to
carry a spire.
The font and pulpit and all the fittings are modern.
A few early 19th-century floor slabs from the old
church are under the tower, and in the north aisle is
a memorial to three men of the parish who fell in the
war of 1914–19. There are two medieval coffin lids
near the entrance to the churchyard.
The tower contains one bell, cast by Taylor and Co.,
of Loughborough, in 1871. (fn. 67)
The silver plate consists of a 17th-century cup,
goblet shape, the marks on which are indistinct,
and a paten of 1638–9. (fn. 68) There is also a pewter
plate, or almsdish.
The registers begin in 1665.
Advowson
Robert, the son of Viel Palfrey,
granted the church of Bisbrooke in
1110 to Osbert, Prior of Daventry,
and the monks there, (fn. 69) and his gift was confirmed
before 1113 by Simon, Earl of Huntingdon, and his
wife Maud. (fn. 70) Robert, however, seems afterwards to
have resumed possession of the church but, repenting, restored it finally to the priory in 1144 in
the presence of Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln. (fn. 71)
The advowson remained in the possession of the
priory until its dissolution in 1525, (fn. 72) when it was
granted to Wolsey, (fn. 73) who bestowed it upon his new
college in Oxford. (fn. 74) After his fall, however, the
Crown appears to have taken possession again, and
in 1539 Lawrence Hodgeson, Henry Sapcotte and
Miles Parkyns presented to the church. (fn. 75) Edward VI
granted the advowson in 1549 to Edward Mountagu
and others, (fn. 76) from whom it was acquired before 1552
by Anthony Andrewes. (fn. 77) It subsequently followed
the same descent as the manor. (fn. 78) John Brockett, who
had the wardship of Anthony Andrewes, (fn. 79) presented
in 1598; John Greene, clerk, presented for one turn
in 1627 and Lady Grace Manners in 1644, when the
manor was still in the possession of Edward Andrewes.
The living is now a discharged vicarage in the gift of
the Duke of Rutland.
In 1575 the vicarage was pulled down, and
it was said that 'Mr. Andrewe's Court was
part of the vicarage ground, so if it continues
still they think they shall not know the vicarage
ground.' (fn. 80)
Simon Palmer, the vicar of Bisbrooke (1575–78),
seems to have been quarrelsome, and in 1578 he
and 'his wife Ellen did lay in the church from
Christmas until Candlemas Day last and abused
that place too shamefully to be writed.' It appears, however, that later vicars were non-resident
for want of a house. In 1595 'Mr. John Ridgley
would not receive the Communion when the
minister did minister it unto him, unless they
received it sitting.' (fn. 81)
There are no charities in this parish.