CLAPTON
Cloton (xi cent.), Clopton, Clotton (xii cent.), Clopton, Clapton (xiii cent.).
The parish of Clapton lies on the eastern side of
the county, the Huntingdonshire county boundary
marking its eastern limits. It covers 1,952 acres of
land of which over half is laid down in grass. A stream
crosses its western side and here the land is only
some 100 ft. above the ordnance datum, but eastward
near the church it rises to about 250 ft. (fn. 1) The subsoil is mainly Oxford clay, with some stone marls. (fn. 2) No
railway crosses the parish and the nearest station is at
Thorpe, on the London Midland and Scottish Railway. The village lies to the east of the main road from
Kimbolton to Oundle, with the church and rectory a
little to the south. There is a homestead moat in
Ringsdale's wood, (fn. 3) and Skulking Dudley Coppice presumably gained its name from one of the former lords
of the manor. A water-mill at Clapton is mentioned in
1397. (fn. 4) There were formerly brick-works in the
parish.
Manors
The manorial history of CLAPTON or
CLOPTON in the years succeeding the
compilation of Domesday Book is difficult to unravel, the confusion arising from the fact
that Eustace the Sheriff of Huntingdonshire held part
of Clapton in chief of the King and part as a tenant of
the Abbey of Peterborough. The manor of Clapton,
later held in demesne of the Abbey, developed from
land forming part of the Abbey holding, but the
manor of Clapton Hotots or Hotofts was formed from
land belonging to both of the
Domesday holdings.
Lovetot. Argent a lion parted fessewise, gules and sable.
In 1086, Eustace held 3
hides, 3 virgates and ⅓ part of
½ hide of land, of the Abbey
of Peterborough. (fn. 5) No tenant
is named in the 12th century
Survey of the county, (fn. 6) but in
1125 Eustace had been succeeded by Roger de Lovetot,
who held 2 knights' fees of the
Abbey, (fn. 7) containing as appears
later land in Clapton, Polebrook, Catworth, Winwick and
Hemington. (fn. 8) In 1146 William
de Lovetot his son was the Peterborough tenant. (fn. 9)
William had two sons, Richard and Nigel, the
Hallamshire (co. York) fees passing to Richard and
the Southoe (co. Hunts) and Peterborough fees, including Clapton, going to Nigel. There is some
uncertainty about the family of Nigel, who is said
to have had five sons, namely, Richard, Roger, Nigel,
Robert and William. The identity of Richard and
Roger has been confused, but it appears that Richard
died childless before 1192. Roger seems to have
had six children, namely, William, who died childless, (fn. 10) Nigel, a clerk, who before 1201 held Clapton
and later gave it to his brother Geoffrey for life.
Geoffrey refused to pay the relief and the Abbot
of Peterborough seized his land. Both Nigel and
Geoffrey died without direct heirs, and their property
passed to their three sisters or their heirs, whose
homage and relief was refused by the Abbot because
the earlier relief was still unpaid. (fn. 11) The matter was
apparently settled and Clapton passed to Elias de
Mundeville or Amundeville, the son of the eldest
sister, Amice or Avice, wife of Ralph de Amundeville,
and to William Patrick, the son of the youngest sister
Alice, who had married William Patrick. (fn. 12) Rose, the
second sister, was still living at the time of Nigel's
death in 1219, (fn. 13) but no part of Clapton was assigned
to her. (fn. 14) Before 1234, William Patrick granted his
moiety to his sister Margery, the wife, first of William
de Vernon and secondly of John de Littebury. (fn. 15) After
the death of her first husband, both she and her
cousin, Nigel de Mundeville, the brother and heir
of Elias, granted their moieties in Clapton, consisting
of the homage and service of their sub-tenants, to John
de Caux, abbot of Peterborough (1250–1262). (fn. 16) Before
1259, however, Margery and John de Littebury, her
second husband, sold to Richard de Clare, Earl of
Gloucester, (fn. 17) the services of Thomas de Hotot, a subtenant in Clapton, and other properties. This sale led
to a claim being made in 1347 by Hugh Audley, Earl
of Gloucester (whose wife had inherited part of the
Honour of Clare), to the overlordship of land in Clapton held by the Abbot. A lawsuit ensued (fn. 18) and the
case is interesting as showing the care with which the
Abbot's defence was prepared from researches among
public records. The abbot was able to prove that the
Earl could have no claim in the land since Margery
and John de Littebury had no right to it at the time
of the sale to Richard, Earl of Gloucester. Although
in 1372 the land in Clapton was returned amongst the
fees held by the Earl of Stafford, (fn. 19) the Abbey was
apparently left in undisputed possession of the Lovetot rights there.
The history of the sub-tenants of the Lovetot's lands
is confused. In 1086 a nameless knight appears as the
tenant under Eustace the Sheriff, (fn. 20) who may perhaps
be identified with Alured, Eustace's tenant in the
other holding in Clapton. (fn. 21) In c. 1125, Walter son of
Alured, or Walter de Clapton, was the sub-tenant of the
Abbey fee. He held one hide and one virgate of Roger
de Lovetot and 3½ hides of the abbey. (fn. 22) Walter was
succeeded by his son William, who alienated a great
deal of his land in Clapton. His only child was his
daughter Emma, (fn. 23) but she died without descendants (fn. 24)
as his heirs were Alice the wife of Robert de Hotot,
Denise, the wife of Robert de Hofford, and Rohesia or
Royce, probably the daughters of his brother Robert. (fn. 25)
The manor of CLAPTON HOTOTS may be traced
to the grant of lands partly in demesne and partly in
villeinage made before 1190 (fn. 26) by William de Clapton to
Thomas, the son of Alice de Hotot. (fn. 27) The manor was
originally held of the Lovetots and the homage and
service of a later Hotot was granted by Margery de
Vernon and Nigel de Mundeville to the Abbey of
Peterborough, (fn. 28) but when the latter claimed, in 1288, (fn. 29)
the homage of the sub-tenant, it appeared that between
the death of Nigel de Lovetot and the grant to the
Abbey, (fn. 30) the homage and service due had already
been granted to a mesne lord, an ancestor of David
de Fletewik, lord of Ringsdon. (fn. 31) The latter, however,
granted his rights in Clapton to the Abbot, (fn. 32) who from
that time was the immediate lord of the manor. (fn. 33)
Thomas de Hotot, the original grantee, who was
living in 1190, was succeeded by his son Richard, the
tenant in 1243. (fn. 34) Richard is said to have bought back
part of the land given by William de Clapton to the
nuns of Chicksand, as well as the share of William's
lands which passed to his sister Denise and to her
granddaughter Isabella, the wife of Hugh de Ringsdon. (fn. 35) Before 1254 another Thomas appears, (fn. 36) and in
1272 he made a settlement of the manor, with remainder to his son William, (fn. 37) who succeeded him in
1288. (fn. 38) William's son Robert did homage to the
Abbot in 1311, (fn. 39) and his grandson, another Robert, in
1322. (fn. 40) The latter was presumably the tenant in
1346. (fn. 41) He seems to have been succeeded by another
Robert, at whose dwelling in Clapton there was a
chapel which, with other chapels and oratories in the
parish drew the parishioners from the parish church,
and was interdicted in 1369. (fn. 42) His daughter and
heir married Richard Dudley of Barnwell. (fn. 43) In 1412
and 1428 John Scot held the manor presumably as a
trustee, (fn. 44) since Dudley afterwards enfeoffed other
trustees, from whom his son and heir William, between 1467 and 1472 had difficulty in obtaining livery
on coming of age. (fn. 45) William died seised of the manor
in 1505, when his heir was his grandson William, then
a minor. (fn. 46) The manor was held by the Dudleys, passing
from father to son, with one temporary break, until the
18th century. Their names
were Thomas, (fn. 47) Edward who
succeeded before 1588 (fn. 48) and
died in 1608, (fn. 49) Edward, who
died in 1632, (fn. 50) and a third
Edward, who died in 1641,
leaving four daughters and
heirs, all under age. (fn. 51) The
manor, however, was settled
on their uncle William, to
enable him after their father's
death to pay the portions left
to them. (fn. 52) William Dudley
was created a baronet in
1660. (fn. 53) His son Matthew
and grandson William succeeded him, but the latter,
who had no children, (fn. 54) sold the manor in 1724 to
William Peere Williams. (fn. 55) His son Hutchins Williams
was created a baronet in 1747. On the death of the
third and last baronet, Sir Booth Williams, in 1784, (fn. 56)
it passed to the nephew of the first baronet, Admiral
Peere Williams, who assumed the name of Freeman
in 1822. (fn. 57) His descendants held it till 1906, when
Augustus Freeman died unmarried. It was then sold
to Sir John Brunner, who settled it upon his son in
law, the Hon. Audley Blyth, in March 1906. He died
21 March 1908, and was succeeded by his widow, from
whose trustees it was purchased in 1910 by Thomas
William Buckley, M.D., J.P., the present owner.
Dudley of Barnwell. Azure a cheveron between three lions' beads razed or.
Williams. Gules a wolf coming out of his den argent.
Freeman. Azure three lozenges or.
The third heir of William de Clapton may be
identified with Rohesia, lady of Polebrook, who
renounced her claim in the advowson of the church
of Clapton in 1219. (fn. 58) Her son Robert ratified
her quitclaim. (fn. 59) It seems probable that she was
the wife of Hugh le Fleming who held land in
Clapton of the Lovetots. (fn. 60) Her lands in Clapton
presumably followed the history of the manor of Polebrook (q.v.), which was bought by Abbot John de
Cauz from Robert son of Hugh le Fleming. (fn. 61) They
were assigned to the Almoner and were held,
possibly with other lands in Clapton, as one tenth
of a knight's fee. (fn. 62)
The manor of CLAPTON, held by the Abbey of
Peterborough, may be traced in origin to various
benefactions made by the Clapton family, which
were assigned by Abbot Benedict (1177–1194) to the
Almoner of the abbey. (fn. 63) William, son of Walter de
Clapton, granted in frankalmoin one messuage and one
virgate of land and a meadow called Sume's yard or
Mawnesyerd to Peterborough (fn. 64) and this land is specially
mentioned in the charter of Richard I of 1189. (fn. 65) In
the following year William and his wife Emma seem
to have given a further release of it to Abbot Benedict. (fn. 66) The latter recovered a carucate of land from
William Dacus and Thomas de Hotot (fn. 67) as well as 6
acres of the land of the nuns of Chicksand. (fn. 68) Richard
de Clapton and Geoffrey son of Ralph de Clapton, a
military subtenant of William de Clapton, made
various gifts of land to the Prior of St. Neots, Huntingdon, (fn. 69) and Abbot Martin of Peterborough (1226–
1233) bought the rent of 2s. a year arising from these
tenements from the Prior, and assigned it to the
Almoner. (fn. 70) In 1347 the latter held in frankalmoin in
chief of the king 249½ acres of land. (fn. 71) In 1300 the manor
of Clapton was valued at 56s. 4d. a year, (fn. 72) and at the
dissolution of the abbey it was worth £3 8s. 5½d. (fn. 73)
In 1542, Henry VIII sold it to Roger Tyrwhitt, who
in the same year resold it to William Dudley, the
lord of the manor of Clapton Hotot (q.v.). (fn. 74)
In 1086, Eustace the Sheriff held one hide and one
virgate of land in chief of the King. (fn. 75) This land
also passed to the Lovetots, but was held of their
Huntingdonshire Honour of Southo. (fn. 76) In 1236,
William Patrick held a third of a knight's fee in Clapton, Polebrook and Thurning as part of the Honour,
so that he had not by then granted his rights in this
land to his sister. (fn. 77) It seems probable, however, that
she obtained them later, and that it was the homage
and service of their tenants in this holding that she
and John de Littebury granted to Richard de Clare
in 1259. (fn. 78) If so, Hugh Audley had presumably some
right in his claim against the Abbot of Peterborough,
but put himself in the wrong first by claiming too
much and secondly by distraining the lands which
were held in frankalmoin in the almoner's manor of
Clapton (q.v.).
The mesne tenants in the early 13th century were
Hugh le Fleming and his son Robert, (fn. 79) and the homage
and service which Robert le Fleming and Thomas
Smert held in this part of Clapton probably passed
with their other holding which the Almoner held by
military service. (fn. 80) The holding, however, had been
again sub-infeudated. The hide of land was held by
Walter le Stiward, apparently in the middle of the 13th
century, and was sold to Thomas, son of Richard de
Hotot, (fn. 81) so that it presumably was incorporated with
the manor of Clapton Hotots (q.v.), the Abbey of Peterborough being the overlord of both holdings. The virgate of land was held by Hugh de Chastillon, who was
living in 1240, (fn. 82) and it seems to have passed to the Abbey
of Thorney, (fn. 83) which held one-tenth of a knight's fee of
the Abbey of Peterborough as of the fee of Lovetot. (fn. 84)
Thorney Abbey. Azure three croziers between as many crosslets or.
Another reputed manor of CLAPTON may be
traced to half a hide of land, held in 1086 of
the Abbey of Peterborough, by Elmar. (fn. 85) In the early
part of the 12th century he had been succeeded by
Ascelin, who may be identified with Ascelin de
Waterville, (fn. 86) the lord of Thorpe Waterville and
Achurch, and his successors held the overlordship of
this land until the middle of the 14th century, but
it is not mentioned after the time of Robert de
Holand. (fn. 87) The half hide seems to have been
granted before 1185 to Osbert le Bret, (fn. 88) but in 1243
it was held as one-seventh of a knight's fee by William
Hay, (fn. 89) who had obtained it from Ralph de Cestreton. (fn. 90)
Hugh de Chastillon also claimed some right in it at
this time, but William Hay retained possession. (fn. 91) Between
1261 and 1274 Sir William
Hay granted his manor in
Clapton in exchange to
William Jakeley, Abbot of
Thorney (fn. 92) to be held in frankalmoin and in 1286 the Abbot
obtained a quitclaim of the
half hide of land from John le
Bret and his wife Sarah. (fn. 93) In
1450 the Abbey of Thorney
was said to hold a manor in
Clapton, (fn. 94) and at the Dissolution of the Abbey, the rent was returned at £6 13s. 4d.
a year, but the issues of the court were of no value. (fn. 95)
In 1542, Henry VIII granted all the lands formerly
belonging to the Abbey of Thorney to Robert
Tyrwhitt, who sold them with the Peterborough
manor of Clapton to William Dudley. (fn. 96)
Church
The Church of ST. PETER stands at
the extreme south end of the village
and is a structure in the style of the
late 13th century, erected in 1862–3 at the charges of
William Peere Williams-Freeman, (fn. 97) on, or near, the
site of an older building then pulled down. The
former church consisted of chancel, clearstoried nave
of four bays, north and south aisles, south porch, and
west tower and spire, and appears to have been mainly
of late 13th or early 14th century date, though one of
the stones in the hoodmould of the chancel arch was
a re-used fragment of the pre-Conquest period. (fn. 98)
The tower and spire having been struck by lightning
at the end of the 18th century, were allowed to
fall in order, it is said, to save the expense of
repair. A wall enclosing the nave at its west end
was built, but the base of the tower remained standing to the top of the plinth until 1862. (fn. 99)
The present building, which was consecrated 23
July, 1863, consists of chancel 21 ft. 8 in. by 17 ft. 10in.,
with north vestry and organ chamber, nave of three
bays 38 ft. 6 in. by 18 ft. 6 in., north aisle 10 ft.
wide, south porch, and west tower 9 ft. 6 in. square,
all these measurements being internal. The building
is faced with coursed dressed stone and has red-tiled
eaved roofs. The tower is of three stages with
diagonal buttresses and saddle-backed roof. The
aisle is under a separate gabled roof.
The font consists of a plain octagonal bowl,
apparently ancient, on a modern pedestal. The
pulpit and all the fittings are modern. A 13th century
sepulchral slab with dog-tooth ornament and
elaborately carved top, is preserved under the tower,
and in the vestry is a marble tablet to William Breton,
D.D., rector (d. 1658).
The tower contains one bell, by Thomas Mears
of London, 1800. (fn. 100)
The plate consists of a silver-gilt cup and cover
paten of 1548, a silver-gilt paten of 1740 given by the
Rev. Claudius Founereau, rector, in 1749, and a
plated cup with two handles. (fn. 101)
The registers begin in 1558.
Advowson
The advowson was granted either
by one of the Lovetots or their
sub-tenants, the Claptons, before
1183 to the Priory of St. Neots, Huntingdon, the gift
being confirmed by Richard, son of Walter de Clapton
in that year. (fn. 102) In 1219 Abbot Robert de Lindesey of
Peterborough obtained the advowson from the Prior
of St. Neots in exchange for that of Hemington, (fn. 103)
but the Abbey was apparently disturbed in possession
by the claims of various tenants of lands in Clapton,
who had succeeded William de Clapton. The
archdeacon of Northampton held an inquiry into the
matter in 1220 and the patronage was confirmed to
Peterborough. (fn. 104) Renunciations of their claims were
made by Ralph de Clapton, possibly the heir of
Geoffrey, son of Ralph de Clapton, a sub-tenant of
William de Clapton, by Sir William Dacus, husband of
Emma, niece or great-niece of William (fn. 105) and by
Rohesia, the lady of Polebrook and her son Robert. (fn. 106)
In 1282, John Faunel obtained the next presentation
to the living, (fn. 107) but from that time it passed with the
manor of Clapton. (fn. 108)
In 1274–5 Hugh de Colingham, as rector of Clapton,
had for three years withdrawn the suit of his tenants
there at the Hundred Court as well as the payment
of 2s. a year for sheriff's aid. He also claimed to have
view of frank-pledge and the assizes of bread and ale. (fn. 109)
William de Clapton granted the third sheath of
the tithes of his demesne to the Prior of Huntingdon
and this was reserved to the Priory, when the advowson of the church was assigned to the Abbey of
Peterborough. (fn. 110) In 1291 the Priory received an
annual pension of £2. (fn. 111) A further sheath of the
tithes of his demesne was granted by William to the
Sacrist of Peterborough, (fn. 112) whose pension in 1291 was
worth £1 6s. 8d. a year. (fn. 113) A pension 25s. 8d. a year
was reserved to the Priory of St. Neots, when the
advowson was exchanged, (fn. 114) but in 1291 the value
was returned as £1. (fn. 115)
In 1250, a chapel is said to have been built in
honour of the Holy Trinity, in the churchyard of
Clapton, but no mention of it appears in later documents. (fn. 116) In 1306–7 Sir William Hotot gave a pension
of £4 to Ralph de Clapton to celebrate daily at the
altar of St. Mary Magdalen in Clapton church, but
presumably it was merely a grant for life. (fn. 117)
Charity
The Rev. William Breton who died
in 1658, by his will directed his
executors to purchase land of the
yearly value of £5 for the benefit of the poor. The
land is situated in the adjoining parish of Winwick
and contains about 15 acres, producing £16 10s.
yearly, which is distributed in coal to about 30
householders.