CRANFORD ST. JOHN
Craneford (xi, xii cent.); Craunford (xvi cent.).
The parish of Cranford St. John lies between
100 ft. and 300 ft. above the ordnance datum. The
subsoil is Great Oolite and Upper Lias. A stream
flows on the north of the parish. There are various
quarries, and ironstone was worked to a considerable
extent during the 19th century. (fn. 1) The village lies
along the main road from Kettering to Thrapston and
Huntingdon; the station, on the Kettering and
Huntingdon branch of the London Midland and
Scottish Railway, is on the south side of the road,
but the church and the greater part of the village
are on the north side.
The manor house is a plain early 17th-century
gabled stone building of two main stories and attics,
with low mullioned windows and wind-break chimneys. The roofs were entirely renewed about forty
years ago and are covered with red tiles, but externally
the house has few ornamental features. The principal,
or south elevation, has three wide gables, on the middle
one of which is a sundial. Internally the building has
been a good deal modernised, but it retains (1928) a
good oak staircase of c. 1620, consisting of four flights
returned on themselves, with flat pierced balusters
and square newels with shaped tops and pendants.
The parish was inclosed by Private Act of Parliament in 1805. (fn. 2)
Manors
The manor of CRANFORD ST.
JOHN, alias FITZRANES MANOR,
alias DRAYTON MANOR, alias
LOVETT'S MANOR, cannot be identified in Domesday Book, but it may probably be part of the 5 hides
held in the early 12th century by Simon fitz Peter. (fn. 3)
No overlord is mentioned, but the land was probably held of the fee of Curci, since Margery de
Riviers, the co-heiress of Alice de Curci, was the overlord in 1235–36. (fn. 4) In 1368 lands in Slipton and Cranford formed part of the Brixworth fee held of the
honour of Curci. (fn. 5) As at Brixworth the mesne
lordship passed from Simon Fitz Peter to a succession
of Simon Fitz Simons, the last of whom died in
1280, when he was succeeded by his grandson or
nephew Sir John de Verdun. His son Sir Thomas
succeeded in 1295 and died in 1315 leaving a son
John. Sir John de Verdun was holding in 1368 of
Robert de Lisle. (fn. 6) In 1466, however, this part of
Cranford was held of Richard Earl of Warwick, (fn. 7)
and in 1479 of Richard Duke of Gloucester. (fn. 8) In the
reign of Henry VII the overlordship came to the
Crown. (fn. 9)
Lovett. Argent three wolves passant palewise sable.
In the 12th century the tenant in demesne of these
5 hides was Ralph fitz Roger. (fn. 10) Part of the land was
later held by knight's service by William de Cranford,
who died before 1209, when his heir, presumably a
minor, had succeeded him. (fn. 11) Ralph de Cranford
was the tenant between 1235 (fn. 12) and 1262. (fn. 13) He was
succeeded by his son William who was holding in
1284, (fn. 14) but in 1295 Ralph son of William appears. (fn. 15)
William son of Ralph de Cranford made a settlement
of the manor in 1330. (fn. 16) The next tenants were
Baldwin Drayton of Cranford and his wife Alice, and
as the manor formed part of her inheritance, she may
have been the daughter of the last William de Cranford. (fn. 17) She and her husband sold it in 1394 to John
son of Baldwin Drayton, (fn. 18) and in 1426 the latter
together with his son John, who had married Anne,
daughter of Robert de Cranford, were parties to a lawsuit
over lands in Cranford. (fn. 19) In
1466 William Drayton died
seised of a capital messuage
and land in Cranford. (fn. 20) His
son Richard died in 1479. (fn. 21)
The property seems to have
passed to Richard's sister
Anne, the wife of Thomas
Lovett. (fn. 22) Henry Lovett, presumably her son, died seised of
'Drayton's manor' in Cranford in 1492. (fn. 23) He was succeeded by his son Thomas, who died seised in 1542,
his heir being his grandson, another Thomas Lovett. (fn. 24)
The latter sold the manor in 1550 to Thomas Goodfellow. (fn. 25) In 1614 Christopher Goodfellow was the
tenant (fn. 26) and it passed about 1652 to his daughters
Jane, the wife of William Coo, and Mary and Sarah
Goodfellow. (fn. 27) The manor came to the family of Coo
and passed on the death of William Coo in 1676 to
their son Christopher Coo, D.D., who also was lord
of Daundelyn's manor (q.v.) in Cranford St. Andrew. (fn. 28)
In 1805, Elizabeth, Duchess of Buccleuch, owned
the manor of Cranford St. John. (fn. 29)
A second holding in Cranford St. John was known
in the 16th century as the manor of CRANFORD. It
originally formed part of the holding of Bertram of
Verdun in the early 12th century (fn. 30) and seems to have
been separated by the overlord, John de Verdun,
Constable of Ireland, from Curzon's manor in Cranford St. Andrews. (fn. 31) In 1476 this estate was said to be
held directly of the Abbey of Peterborough, (fn. 32) and
after the Dissolution, of the king in chief. (fn. 33) In the
reign of Henry III certain lands were held by William
de Esseby of Sir Richard Curzon, but they were forfeited for felony and escheated to the Constable, who
granted them to John de Kirkby, Bishop of Ely, to
hold as the sixth part of half a knight's fee. (fn. 34) On the
bishop's death in 1289 the lands should have escheated
to Robert Curzon, (fn. 35) but they passed to William de
Kirkby, the bishop's brother, and were held immediately of the Verduns. (fn. 36) William died in 1302 seised
of rents and tenements in Cranford and in 1303 his
lands were divided between his four sisters and coheirs, Cranford being assigned to Maud, the wife of
Gilbert de Houby. (fn. 37) She died seised about 1311 and
was succeeded by her son Walter de Houby. (fn. 38) Cranford seems to have passed to his son Anketine, who
died seised of 6 messuages, 6 virgates of land and
8 marks rent in Cranford. (fn. 39) These tenements finally
passed to John Bellers, the son of Elizabeth, the
daughter of Anthony, the son of Alice, the daughter of
Anketine de Houby. (fn. 40) Bellers died seised in 1476
and Cranford passed to John Villers, the son of his
sister Joan. (fn. 41) In 1506 Villers was succeeded by his
son, another John, (fn. 42) who sold the manor of Cranford
to Edward Montagu, serjeant-at-law, William Dudley,
William Stokes, Thomas Stokes and Henry Freeman,
giving a quitclaim to the purchasers and the heirs of
Montagu. (fn. 43) Henry Freeman, however, appears to
have obtained possession of these lands, (fn. 44) and his son
Thomas Freeman died in 1637 seised of the manor
and left the land which was parcel of the manor to
his executors for provision for the children of his
brother Henry. (fn. 45) His heir was Henry's son Thomas,
a minor. (fn. 46) A Thomas Freeman died in 1692, and
the manor passed to his daughter Elizabeth, the wife
of—Weaver. (fn. 47) In 1730, their son, the Rev. William
Henry Weaver, was lord of the manor. (fn. 48) A free
fishery in Cranford is mentioned in 1753 (fn. 49) and 1786 (fn. 50)
as appurtenant to Lovett's manor, and at the latter
date 3 water corn mills belonged to the manor. (fn. 51)
Church
The church of ST. JOHN consists of
chancel, 28 ft. 3 in. by 12 ft. 10 in.,
with north chapel and vestry, clearstoried nave of three bays 38 ft. by 13 ft. 10 in.,
north and south aisles, north and south porches, and
west tower 8 ft. 6 in. square, all these measurements
being internal. The north aisle is 11 ft. wide, the
south aisle 10 ft. 6 in., the width across nave and
aisles being 39 ft. 2 in. The chapel is structurally a
continuation of the north aisle, with the vestry at its
east end, and covers the chancel its full length. The
south aisle had been taken down
before Bridges' time (d. 1724), but was
rebuilt in 1842, (fn. 52) and a south porch
added; in 1880 the aisle was extended
eastward about half the length of the
chapel to form an organ chamber, and
the chancel restored. There was a
general restoration in 1887. Bridges,
at the beginning of the 18th century,
records that the stump of a spire was
then standing; the spire had 'fallen
down some years ago' and broken in
upon the roof of the church. It has
never been rebuilt.
The building throughout is of rubble, with plain parapets, and the walls
are plastered internally. The chancel
has a high-pitched tiled roof, but the
roofs of the nave and aisles are leaded.
The nave arcades are the oldest part
of the building, dating from the end of
the 12th century. The north arcade
consists of two wide round-headed
arches with a narrower and lower
one at the west end. The two eastern
arches were cut through the wall of an earlier church
and are of almost elliptical form, of two orders,
the outer square and the inner slightly chamfered,
springing from a cylindrical pier and from half-round
responds, with separate attached shafts carrying
the outer order. The circular moulded capitals of
pier and responds are elaborately carved with stiff-leaf
foliage in low relief, and the abaci follow the cross plan
of the arch orders; the base of the pier is cut away.
The work dates from c. 1190, and a few years later the
nave appears to have been extended westward by the
addition of the smaller (fn. 53) bay, the whole of the south
wall taken down, and an entirely new arcade constructed with a narrow and lower west bay to correspond with that on the north. The added bay of the
north arcade has a round arch of two square orders on
plain corbels, and is of ironstone. The south arcade
is all of one build, with round arches of two orders
springing from piers and responds with richly carved
capitals similar to those opposite. The piers differ in
section, the eastern one being a plain cylinder and the
other a square with four attached shafts; the responds
are similar to those on the north side.
As thus altered in the last years of the 12th century,
the church was not very much smaller than the present
building, with an aisled nave and a chancel somewhat
shorter than the existing one. The chancel was
rebuilt and lengthened in the course of the 13th century, and the chapel added c. 1290. The tower
belongs to the earlier part of the 13th century, but
was heightened a century later (c. 1320), when the
clearstory was added and the north aisle reconstructed.
Plan of St. John's Church, Cranford
The chancel is substantially of the 13th century
with an east window of three trefoiled lights and
beautiful geometrical tracery, c. 1290. In the south
wall is an inserted 14th-century square-headed window
of two trefoiled lights, and the north wall is pierced
at its west end by a late 13th-century arcade of two
chamfered arches on an octagonal pier and half-round
responds with moulded capitals and bases, opening to
the chapel. (fn. 54) On the south side there is a modern
arch to the organ chamber. The 13th-century
chancel arch is of two chamfered orders with hood,
the inner order on moulded corbels. The upper
steps of the rood-loft stair and the loft doorway
remain on the north side of the arch. The insertion
of the rood stair at the back of the north-east respond
weakened the chancel arch and a big buttress of two
stages was afterwards added within the aisle. Over
the south window of the chancel a panel inscribed
'I.L. 1692' probably indicates some repair or reconstruction in that year.
The north aisle has two square-headed 14th-century
windows of two trefoiled lights, one on each side of
the porch, and there is a similar window in the north
wall of the chapel, but another of three lights further
east is a late 15th-century insertion. The north
doorway is modern. In the north aisle is a restored
wall recess with segmental chamfered arch.
There are three clearstory windows on each side,
the two outer ones being trefoiled openings within
curved triangular labels like those at St. Andrew's
church, but the middle window on each side is a
tracericd circle. On the south side the windows are
modern.
The tower is of two stages with a small west lancet. (fn. 55)
and another higher up on the south side in the lofty
lower stage. The diagonal buttresses were probably
added in the 14th century when the upper story was
erected, the windows of which are of two trefoiled
lights with transom and quatrefoil in the head.
Immediately below the stepped battlemented parapet
is a band of panelling, the design of which differs on
the four sides, (fn. 56) and there are gargoyles at the angles
but no pinnacles. The 14th-century tower arch is of
three chamfered orders, the innermost on halfoctagonal responds with moulded capitals and bases.
There is no vice.
The font is of the 14th century, with a plain
octagonal bowl moulded on the under side; it has a
flat 17th century cover.
The pulpit is modern, but worked into it are two
Renaissance carved panels of the same type as those
in St. Andrew's church, the subjects represented
being our Lord before the High Priest, and Pilate
washing his hands. There is an early 17th-century
low panelled chancel screen, and in the east window
is some 14th-century heraldic glass taken from one
of the windows of the chapel—(i) the leopards of
England, (ii) the arms of Bassingbourne, gyronny
of twelve argent and gules, (iii) the same with a
label of three points azure. In the window is also
some foreign glass with medallions, shields, figures,
etc., one piece of which is dated 1547, others being
of the 17th century similar in style to that at St.
Andrew's church. (fn. 57)
There are no monuments. All the roofs are
modern or much restored.
There are six bells, a treble and tenor having been
added to a former ring of four in 1907 by Taylor &
Co. of Loughborough, who also recast the old third.
The second bell is by Hugh Watts II of Leicester
1629, the third by Thomas and John Eayre of Kettering 1717, and the fifth a recasting by Taylor in
1857 of a bell inscribed 'S. Katerina.' (fn. 58)
The plate consists of a cup and paten of 1569,
and a paten of c. 1682. (fn. 59)
The registers before 1812 are as follows: (i)
baptisms 1627–1753, marriages 1629–1752, burials
1627–1670; (ii) baptisms 1753–1812; (iii) burials
1679–1812; (iv) marriages 1753–1812. There are
churchwardens' accounts beginning in 1755.
Advowson
The advowson of the church of
St. John (fn. 60) was given before 1218 to
the Abbey of St. James, Northampton, (fn. 61) when the pension due to the abbey from
the rectory was already considered 'ancient,' but in
1240 it was claimed by Ralph de Cranford, who
obtained in return for a quitclaim of all right in the
advowson, the homage and service of one of the abbot's
tenants at Cranford. (fn. 62) Before 1272 the advowson
came into the possession of the Bishop of Lincoln, (fn. 63)
whose successors were the patrons of the living until
the 19th century, when the rectory of Cranford
St. John was consolidated with that of Cranford St.
Andrew and the bishop relinquished the advowson. (fn. 64)