THURNING
Terning, Torning, 1086; Thiringez, Terringes,
Thirning, Thorning (xii cent.); Thernynge (xiv
cent.); Thurning (xv cent.).
The parish of Thurning was formerly partly in
Northamptonshire and partly in Huntingdonshire
(Leightonstone Hundred), the church being in the
latter county. The boundary went north and south
through the main street. In 1888, however, the whole
was included in Northamptonshire. (fn. 1) The area is
1,016 acres, of which about two-thirds are under
permanent grass. The soil is clay, upon which
wheat and barley, beans and peas are grown. The
land rises gradually from north to south, from about
150 ft. to 240 ft. above sea level. The population
was 133 in 1921.
The village lies about 5½ miles south-east of Oundle
at the crossing of the roads from Barnwell St. Andrew
to Alconbury, and from Clapton to Luddington in
the Brook. The church stands to the south of the
village. The rectory house, which is to the east of
the church, is a two story building of timber and
plaster, with reed-thatched roof, probably of the late
15th century date, but partly refaced in yellow brick
with single story brick additions. The interior has
been modernised, but the original timber construction is everywhere visible. It has been the rectory
since the 17th century, to which period the stone
tithe barn on the north side of the house apparently
belongs.
In 1263 Berengar le Moyne obtained a charter for
a weekly market on Wednesday at his manor of
Thurning, and a three days' fair at Michaelmas. (fn. 2)
The grant may not have become effective, for Thurning does not seem later to have been reckoned as a
market town.
Sir William Thirning, a prominent lawyer and
judge of the Common Pleas in the time of Richard II
and Henry IV is supposed to have belonged to this
place, but nothing is definitely known. He took a
prominent part in the deposition of Richard II in
1399, and died in 1413. (fn. 3)
Manor
In Domesday Book (1086) the greater
part of the land is recorded under
Huntingdonshire. The abbot of Croyland held 1½ hide, with land for a plough and a half;
the soke was in the King's manor of Alconbury.
Eustace (the sheriff) held it of the abbot. In 1066
the value was 20s., and in 1086 the same. Eustace
held 5 hides in chief, there being land for 5 ploughs;
the soke, as in the last case, was in Alconbury. The
value alike in 1066 and 1086 was 60s. Alured and
Gozelin held the land of Eustace, and Robert the
Dispenser claimed 1 virgate and 1 hide. (fn. 4) In
Northamptonshire there was only ½ hide, with land
for half a plough; it belonged to the abbot of Peterborough and was appurtenant to Oundle. The
value, 20d. in 1066, had doubled by 1086, being then
3s. 4d. (fn. 5)
It is impossible to trace these various estates clearly.
The chief tenant in 1086 was Eustace, the sheriff,
whose fee passed to the Lovetots and followed the
descent of Clapton (fn. 6) (q.v.). Alured's holding went to
the Cloptons of Clapton (q.v.). The holding of
Robert the Dispenser may be represented by the
Marmion fee, as Roger Marmion, according to the
survey of c. 1125, held 3 small virgates of the fee of
Peterborough. (fn. 7) By the end of the 13th century these
mesne tenancies had all been surrendered to Peterborough Abbey.
The sub-tenants of the Lovetot's fee in the 13th
century were Robert, son of Walter de Polebrook,
Berengar le Moyne, Thomas de Hotot, Roger
Beaumes (de Bello Mesuagio) (fn. 8) and Ralph de Grendon.
Of these the holding of Robert, son of Walter de
Polebrook (living in 1260–2) (fn. 9) appears to have passed
to his son Walter, son of Robert de Polebrook. (fn. 10) The
later descent, however, of this holding has not been
ascertained. The holding of Berengar le Moyne
seems to have been acquired by his ancestor Reginald,
who in the time of Henry II exchanged lands in
Woodwalton (Co. Hunts.) for lands in Thurning,
Thorp and Graffham. (fn. 11) From this date the descent
followed that of Barnwell St. Andrew (q.v.) until the
holding was acquired by the abbot of Peterborough.
The Hotot holding of the Lovetot fee probably
followed that of Clapton (q.v.). The descent of
Ralph de Grendon's holding doubtless followed that
of his property in Polebrook (q.v.). His descendant
William Carlyll was in 1428 holding half a fee in
Polebrook and Thurning, formerly held by William
Carleton and others of the Peterborough Fee. (fn. 12)
Thurning Rectory
In 1316 Thurning was recorded as making one
vill with Winwick, the holders being Walter de Molesworth, Geoffrey de Beaumes, John de Holme and
John Cardon. (fn. 13) The estate of the first of these,
which probably represents one of the above holdings,
was, on the death of Walter de Molesworth in 1318,
divided between his daughters Katherine and Margaret. (fn. 14) A small part of the estate in Molesworth
was settled on Margaret and the rest in Thurning
and Wold Weston, including the advowson of two
parts of the church of Thurning, was settled on
Katherine and Richard de Bayeux, her husband,
and their issue, with reversion to Margaret. (fn. 15) The
other third part would be held by Walter's widow
Katherine. The later descent is not known, but
Sir Henry Colet, of London, purchased from Thomas
Molesworth, probably about 1470, the manor called
Mullysworth's and the advowson of the church of
Thurning. This is recorded in the inquisition after
his death in 1505; the heir was his son, the famous
John Colet, Dean of St. Paul's. (fn. 16) It became part of
the Knyvet estate in Thurning.
The Beaumes were holding in 1236 when Reginald
de Beaumes was a tenant in Thurning, (fn. 17) and in 1263
another Reginald, son and heir of Robert de Beaumes,
paid relief, his lands being in the King's hands by
reason of the custody of the heir of Richard, Earl of
Gloucester. (fn. 18) The Beaumes estate appears to have
descended to Thomas Beaumes, who, in 1373, in conjunction with Katherine his wife, sold to Sir John
Knyvet seven messuages 3½ virgates of land, rents
of 2s. 6d. and a pair of gloves and five villein tenants.
Thomas and Katherine were, however, to retain it
for life. (fn. 19)
Sir John Knyvet acquired much of the Peterborough
property in Thurning, and his family seem eventually
to have obtained all of it. (fn. 20) In 1380 Sir John held
the manor of Winwick and also held a messuage and
land in Thurning of the abbot of Peterborough by
suit of court. (fn. 21) Joan (? Knyvet) in 1428 held the
third part of a fee in Thurning. (fn. 22) She seems to
have been the widow of John Knyvet the elder, on
whom (in conjunction with his wife) the estate had
been settled for life in 1411, should Sir Robert Ty
and Margaret, his wife, die without issue, with
remainders to Catherine and Elizabeth, daughters of
another John Knyvet. Margaret Ty was no doubt
a sister. (fn. 23) By 1456 it had come to Edmund Radcliffe,
as son and heir of Elizabeth, wife of Sir John Radcliffe
of Chadderton, in Lancashire, (fn. 24) but twenty years
later had reverted to the heir-at-law, Sir William
Knyvet, who mortgaged and sold various estates,
including his lands in Thurning, to Sir Henry Colet,
of London, in 1472–7. (fn. 25) The
sale was confirmed by fine in
1478, the estate being described as the manor of
Thurning, etc. (fn. 26) Sir Henry
had married Christian Knyvet,
a kinswoman of the vendor.
He purchased other estates
in Thurning, as will be seen
below.
Beaumes. Azure six sheaves or.
On Sir Henry's death in
1505, the manors and estates
descended to his son and heir
Dean Colet, who died in 1519, and by his will left
his estate to his mother for her life, for division after
her death. The manor of Thurning, with other manors
and lands purchased from Sir William Knyvet, was to
pass to his mother's kinsman Edmund Knyvet, of
Ashwellthorpe (Norf.), serjeant porter to Henry VIII,
while Molesworth's manor and the advowson of the
church, purchased from Thomas Molesworth, 2
messuages, etc., in Thurning
purchased by Sir Henry from
Thomas Henson, and another
messuage purchased from
Thomas Newman were to go to
Christopher Knyvet, brother
of Edmund; another brother,
Anthony, being in the remainders. (fn. 27)
Knyvet. Argent a bend and a border engrailed sable.
Christopher's estate seems
to have reverted to his elder
brother Edmund, whose son
John and grandson Thomas
inherited Thurning. The lastnamed in 1577 sold the manor of Thurning and lands
appurtenant in Thurning, Hemington and Luddington to four of the tenants—Robert Byworth, Robert
Smyth, Nicholas Smyth, and Silvester Collyn, (fn. 28) who
seem to have divided it among themselves. Thus the
manor seems to have ceased.
From the inquisition after the death of Robert
Smith in 1622 it appears that his estate in the three
places named had been parcel of the manor called
Mullesworth's and afterwards Collet's manor, and
had been purchased by the deceased from Thomas
Knyvet. The heir was his son Henry Smith, aged
44. The lands were held of the king by fealty only. (fn. 29)
Silvester Collyn, another purchaser, died in 1589
holding his lands in Thurning, etc., of the queen in
chief; the lands lay in Northamptonshire and Huntingdonshire, but the capital messuage was in the
latter county. His heir was a son Silvester, only
4 years of age. (fn. 30)
Margery Sturrapp, widow of Thomas Sturrapp,
and daughter and heir of Robert Byworth (another
purchaser), died in 1624 holding her land of the
king. (fn. 31) Her son and heir Thomas, then 26 years of
age, died in 1631, leaving a son Thomas, aged 12.
The land was now stated to be held of the king by
knight's service. (fn. 32)
Various religious houses had estates in the parish.
The earliest reference to Thurning is in a charter
by Burgred, king of Mercia (852–74) confirming a
grant of a hide and a half in Thurning made by
Grimketel to Croyland. (fn. 33) The estate is recorded in
Domesday Book, the land being held by Eustace in
1086. In 1303 only one hide was reckoned; the
services were unknown. (fn. 34) The abbey had a rent of
56s. 8d. from it in 1538; the pittancier used it. (fn. 35) In
1546 it was leased to John Streme. (fn. 36)
Eugenius III in 1147 confirmed lands in Thurning
and Winwick to St. Mary's priory, Huntingdon. (fn. 37)
The priory had copyhold rents in Winwick in 1538
amounting to £2 7s. yearly value. (fn. 38)
The Hospitallers had some estate in Thurning, (fn. 39)
held as of the preceptory of Temple Bruer. In 1540
they had a free rent of 13d. from Thomas Henston
for a cottage and lands called Sessikke. (fn. 40) This tenement was with others sold in 1546 to William
Ramsden and Richard Vavasor, (fn. 41) who quickly resold
it to George Smyth, of Sibston. (fn. 42)
According to the Parliamentary Survey of 1650,
the Crown had had rents of 7s. from the freeholders
of Thurning, in lease to the Earl of Manchester. (fn. 43)
In 1874 the chief landowners were Borrett Bletsoe,
who lived at Barnwell All Saints, and John and James
Fortescue. (fn. 44)
There were 60 a. common in 1840. (fn. 45)
Church
The church of ST. JAMES consists of
chancel, 25 ft. by 15 ft. 6 in., with
north vestry, clearstoried nave 33 ft. by
16 ft., north aisle 7 ft. 6 in. wide, south aisle 9 ft. wide,
south porch, and west tower, or turret, containing
two bells. All the above measurements are internal.
In 1880–81 a great part of the structure was taken
down and rebuilt as nearly as possible in accordance
with the previous design, only the chancel, nave
arcades, south aisle wall, and the porch being left
standing; the chancel was restored in 1902. Externally therefore the whole of the north and west sides
of the building, as well as the tower and clearstory,
is modern, but it appears to have replaced work of
the 15th century. The walls are of rubble, and the
roofs are modern and covered with lead.
The earliest church of which there is evidence was
built in the first half of the 12th century, and consisted of a small square-ended chancel and an aisleless
nave which probably covered the area of the present
nave. The semi-circular chancel arch belongs to
this church. It is 9 ft. wide, of two square orders,
and has moulded imposts and half round responds
with scalloped capitals and chamfered bases. The
north aisle was thrown out and the north arcade
nserted about 1180–90. The nave was at the same
time lengthened westward by a bay, and the former
north-west angle of the nave now forms the square
part of the masonry pier at the west end of the existing
north arcade. The arcade as built was of three round
arches, now reduced to two, of two orders, the inner
chamfered on both sides and the outer moulded. It
has a circular pillar and half-round responds with
moulded capitals and bases. The east respond of
the destroyed western arch now stands within a
recess in the modern wall and has the nail-head ornament in its capital; otherwise it is similar to the
others. The south aisle with its arcade was erected
in the 13th century, and is probably the first aisle
on this side, as there is no evidence of an earlier one.
The arcade was of three pointed arches, of which two
only remain, of two hollow chamfered orders resting
on a pillar composed of four shafts with fillet on face
and hollows between. The springing of the third
arch still remains, but the westernmost pillar is
octagonal and appears to be of later date; it may
indicate a proposed rebuilding of the arcade from this
end. The east window of this aisle is of two trefoiled
lights, with a trefoil opening over each, and in the
south wall is a piscina with a cinquefoiled head. The
three-light square headed window in the same wall
is apparently a 14th century insertion, and the south
doorway is of this period. The south wall may have
been rebuilt at this time.
Plan of Thurning Church
The chancel was rebuilt in the 14th century and
probably took the place of one which replaced the
12th century chancel referred to above. The windows
are contemporary with the rebuilding, the east window
of four trefoiled lights, and two south windows, one
with three and the other with two lights; below the
western of these is a pointed low-side window with
traceried cinquefoiled head, the sill of which is 4 ft.
above the ground. There is also a priest's doorway
on this side. On the north side is a modern window
of three lights similar in design to the others, and
further west is a doorway to the vestry, and two arches,
one (modern) open to the vestry itself and the other
to a small chapel on the east end of the north aisle.
The vestry appears to have been originally a priest's
room, or sacristy, from which a circular stone stair
gave access to the chancel roof; the upper part of
this stair and the turret surmounting it still remain.
Above the arch opening to the chapel the rood loft
doorway remains in the wall, and from the chapel
a squint is directed to the high altar. There are
two plain sedilia and a trefoil-headed piscina in the
usual position in the chancel, and on the north side
an aumbry.
Towards the end of the 15th century,
or early in the 16th, if the evidence of
the rebuilding of 1881 is to be trusted,
the clearstory was added and the porch
and vestry built. The nave was at the
same time reduced in length by one bay,
a new west wall being erected in front
of the two westernmost piers. This wall
carries the east side of the tower, the
west front of which is set upon a lofty
external arch enclosing a two-light transomed window. The south porch has a
four-centred moulded outer arch on
attached shafts, and there is an octagonal
stoup in its north-east angle.
The font is ancient and has a plain
octagonal bowl.
The oak pulpit, lectern, litany desk,
and a seat in the chancel are all of 16th
century date, and are said to have come
from Barnwell All Saints. (fn. 46) The other
fittings are modern. There is a mural
tablet in the north aisle to Robert Negus,
gent., d. 1657. The chancel arch is
filled by a modern rood-screen and the organ is placed
above the arch.
The smaller of the two bells is a recasting by Taylor
of Loughborough in 1899 of a medieval bell which
bore the inscription: 'Dei genetrix, Virgo Maria,
ora pro [nobis].' The larger bell has four pairs of
letters, perhaps part of an alphabet, and appears to
be of pre-Reformation date from a Leicester foundry. (fn. 47)
The plate consists of a cup and cover paten, the
latter dated 1569 and the cup inscribed 'For the
towne of Thorneing'; an early 15th century Florentine
chalice, silver gilt, with enamels on the knop and foot,
given in 1924 by the parishioners as a thankoffering
for the rector's (Rev. H. B. Gottwaltz) twenty-five
years' service; a jewelled silver-gilt ciborium given
in 1900; a silver ciborium of 1908–9; and a flagon of
1870–1, given in 1872. There is also a pewter flagon
and a plated almsdish.
The registers before 1812 are as follows:—(i)
baptisms 1560–1804, marriages 1560–1641, 1666–1809,
burials 1560–1803; (ii) baptisms and burials 1809–
1812; (iii) marriages 1754–1812.
Advowson
The advowson was in 1318 held
with the Molesworth manor, for in
that year the king presented to the
church, because he had the custody of the heirs of
Walter de Molesworth. (fn. 48) In 1403 Thomas Hethe,
clerk, transferred to his brother Henry all the estate
he and another brother Richard had in half an acre
in Thurning (John Mabbot had been tenant), with
the advowson of the church. (fn. 49) As shown above,
Sir Henry Colet purchased the advowson from
Thomas Molesworth about 1470, and it came to
Christopher Knyvett after the death of Dr. John
Colet in 1519. (fn. 50)
One Richard Routhall acquired it with certain
tenements in Thurning, and these passed to his
widow Agnes and her second husband Robert Charnock. (fn. 51) Her son Thomas Routhal made a feoffment,
in 1529, a few months before his mother's death, in
which the advowson was included. (fn. 52) The advowson,
however, came back to Thomas Knyvet, for it was
excepted when he sold the manor in 1577; (fn. 53) he transferred a moiety to trustees in 1580. (fn. 54) In 1617 the
advowson was acquired by Thomas Wells, clerk, (fn. 55) and
John Wells, rector of Thurning from 1627, and probably
son of Thomas, bequeathed it in 1656 to Emmanuel
College, Cambridge. (fn. 56) The master and fellows have
since presented to the rectory.
In 1291 the church of Thurning was taxed at £8. (fn. 57)
By 1535 the value had increased to £12, (fn. 58) but in the
time of Elizabeth the rector leased the rectory for £20,
out of which a pension of 6s. 8d. was paid to Huntingdon priory. (fn. 59) The tithes were commuted for £180.
There are 60 acres glebe. The rectory house is near
the church.
A National school was built in 1843.
Charity
The Rev. John Wells, by his Will in
1640, gave a rentcharge of £1 to the
poor vested in the Minister and Overseers. In respect of this an annual sum of £1 was
paid out of lands in the parish and distributed equally
among 20 poor families.