CHELVESTON-CUM-CALDECOTT
Celuestone and Caldecote (xi cent.); Chestone and
Calcote (xv cent.); Chelston and Caldecote (xviii cent.).
Chelveston-cum-Caldecott is a small parish lying
on the east bank of the River Nene, which forms its
western boundary, the village of Chelveston being
about 2¼ miles north-east of Higham Ferrers. The
church of St. John the Baptist stands midway between
the two villages. Some of the inhabitants are employed
in boot-making, but the establishment of this industry
has not yet led to an increase of population, the number
of inhabitants having declined from 401 in 1891 to
354 in 1931. The chief occupation is still agriculture,
and most of the land is now permanent grass. The soil
is alluvial along the bank of the river; the subsoils are
Oxford Clay, red marls, and Great Oolite. The common
fields were inclosed by a private Act in 1801. (fn. 1)
Manor
At the time of the Domesday Survey
CHELVESTON with CALDECOTT was
a member of the manor of Higham Ferrers, which belonged to William Peverel; it was
assessed for 1 hide and 3 virgates. (fn. 2) This land subsequently passed, with the rest of the honor of Peverel,
to William de Ferrers, who in 1224 granted 2 tofts in
Chelveston and 14 virgates and 5 cottages in Caldecott
to Hubert de Burgh and Margaret his wife, to hold for
one knight's fee. (fn. 3) It was taken into the king's hands at
the time of Hubert's disgrace, but was restored to him
in November 1232, (fn. 4) and was presumably still in his
possession in 1248, when William de Ferrers, Earl of
Derby, received a grant of free warren in his demesne
lands of Chelveston only; (fn. 5) but it is not included among
the Northamptonshire lands of which John de Burgh,
Hubert's son and heir, died seised in 1274. (fn. 6)
Ferrers. Vairy or and gules.
St. Philibert. Bendy argent and azure.
In 1242 Payn de St. Philibert held half a fee in
Caldecott and Chelveston of William de Ferrers; (fn. 7) this
passed on his death to his son Hugh, who in 1269
obtained a quitclaim of the dower of Iseult, formerly
the wife of Payn and then the wife of Walter de Nevill,
in exchange for a rent of 26½ marks, to be paid during
the life of Iseult. (fn. 8) Hugh de St. Philibert lived until
1300, when he left his son Hugh as his heir, (fn. 9) but the
freehold in Chelveston had been acquired before 1284
by Richard Siward, who held a tenth of a fee in this
parish. (fn. 10) All his lands, here and in Hampshire and
Wiltshire, were taken into the king's hand on 15 April
1296 on account of his rebellion. (fn. 11) He was released
next year on condition that he should 'forthwith cross
with the King to foreign parts and serve faithfully
against the King of France, the King's enemy, and
others, and that he will deliver John his son as a hostage
until he find such security as the King will demand'. (fn. 12)
He recovered his lands before the end of the following
September, (fn. 13) and his son John, having 'no heir within
the realm of England', granted the manor to Thomas
Earl of Lancaster and his heirs. Lancaster returned it
to him to hold for his life, and afterwards granted the
reversion to Robert de Holand and his heirs. When
John Siward died in the spring of 1330, Robert, the
son and heir of Robert de Holand, was a minor in the
king's wardship. (fn. 14) The custody of the manor, which
contained 301½ acres of arable (of which half might be
sown yearly), 8 acres of meadow along the bank of the
Nene, a mill, a dovecote, and a capital messuage, with
a garden worth 6s. 8d. yearly in fruit and herbs, was
committed on 18 June 1330 to the king's kinsman,
Henry Earl of Lancaster, (fn. 15) but on 10 August the issues
were granted by Edward III to Robert de Holand for
his good service in the war against Scotland. (fn. 16)
This Robert de Holand in 1331 settled Chelveston
with other lands on himself for life and after his
death on his son Robert and his sons, with contingent
remainder to Thomas and Alan, brothers of the younger
Robert. (fn. 17) On the death of Sir Robert de Holand in
1373 it was stated that he held the Chelveston and
other manors, 'to him and the heirs male of his body,
and that John his son is his next heir male and of full
age'. (fn. 18) The existing inquest, however, states that the
manor was settled on Sir Robert, his wife Maud and
son Robert; that Robert Holand the son had died seised
on 16 March 1373, and that Maud his daughter, the
wife of Sir John Lovel, was his heir. (fn. 19) Maud accordingly obtained seisin of the manor, which followed the
descent of the Lovel barony. John Lord Lovel, the
great-grandson of Maud de Holand, forfeited the estate
for his fidelity to the Lancastrian cause; it was granted
to Anne Duchess of Exeter, sister of Edward IV, in
1461, for life. (fn. 20) A further grant was made, on 22
December 1462, to her and the heirs of her body by
Henry Duke of Exeter; (fn. 21) but on 16 March 1477 a fresh
grant was made to Thdmas Marquess of Dorset, son of
the king's consort Elizabeth Woodville, (fn. 22) but the
property was afterwards in the hands of Francis Lord
Lovel. He had been a child at the time of his father's
death in 1465, and having distinguished himself under
Richard Duke of Gloucester in the expedition of 1480
against the Scots, was created Viscount Lovel on
4 January 1483. After fighting for Richard III at
Bosworth Field he was attainted, whereby his lands and
honours became forfeit. (fn. 23)
The manor of Chelveston with Caldecott was granted
by Henry VII on 9 March 1486 to Sir Charles Somer-
set, afterwards Earl of Worcester. (fn. 24) He settled it on
himself and his wife Eleanor, with remainder to his
younger son George Somerset for life; and died on
15 April 1526, leaving as his heir his son Henry, (fn. 25) to
whose son and heir William Earl of Worcester the
grant was confirmed by Edward VI on 27 March
1553. (fn. 26) The property was conveyed by William Earl
of Worcester, Dame Christian his wife, and Sir George
Somerset to the Pickerings in 1553, (fn. 27) and was shortly
afterwards bought by John Ekins. On 9 January 1557
Ekins settled a moiety of it on his younger son John
in tail, with contingent remainders to his daughters
Eleanor and Elizabeth, one of the trustees for this
settlement being his brother Thomas Ekins. (fn. 28) The other
moiety passed on the death of the elder John Ekins, in
the same month, to his eldest son William, who was 21.
Plan of Chelveston-cum-Caldecott Church
William Ekins died on 14 January 1561, having
bequeathed all his lands to his wife Prudence and her
expected child, who was born about the 1st of May,
and proved to be a girl, and was named Isabel. (fn. 29) After
this date the descent of both moieties becomes for a time
extremely difficult to trace, but the whole estate seems
to have been acquired by Robert, the son of Thomas
Ekins, towards the end of the 16th century. (fn. 30)
Alexander Ekins, the son and heir of Robert, was
dealing with the manor in 1597, when he received a
warranty concerning a moiety from William Ley, John
Ekins, William Barton the elder and Elizabeth his wife,
and William Barton the younger, Elizabeth Cooper,
widow, and James Hopkyns and Eleanor his wife. (fn. 31)
The manor was settled by Alexander on 20 September
1623, on the marriage of his son Robert to Mary
Smith. (fn. 32) A moiety of the manor and all the premises in
Chelveston, except the meadows previously assigned to
Alexander, were assigned to the use of Robert and Mary
and for Mary's jointure; the other moiety to the use of
Alexander and Susan his wife for life; the remainder in
both being to the sons of Robert and Mary. Robert, in
his turn, settled a portion of his estate in March 1641
to the use of his younger children, Robert, Thomas,
Mary, Susan, and Anne; and died a few days later,
leaving as his heir his son, another Alexander. (fn. 33) This
Alexander Ekins married Jane, the eldest daughter of
John Sawyer, and died on 15 January 1656, leaving
two sons, John and Alexander. (fn. 34) John Ekins died on
14 July 1688, (fn. 34) and was succeeded by his brother
Alexander, (fn. 35) who with his wife Jane conveyed the manor
in 1694 to Geoffrey Barton and John Sawyer, (fn. 36) by
whom it was sold in 1708 to Thomas Allen. (fn. 37)
After the death of Thomas Allen the succession to
the estate was for some years disputed, but the property
eventually came into the possession of the Disbrowe
family. Edward Disbrowe, who called Edward Cromwell Disbrowe to warrant, was vouchee in a recovery
in 1812.
Mr. H. C. Wise was lord of the manor in 1876.
Church
The church of ST. JOHN THE
BAPTIST stands between the two villages and consists of chancel, 24 ft. 6 in.
by 19 ft. 6 in.; clerestoried nave, 58 ft. by 19 ft. 6 in.;
north and south aisles, south porch, and north-east
tower, 11 ft. by 12 ft., all these measurements being
internal. The north aisle is 10 ft. 4 in. wide and the
south aisle 7 ft. 8 in., the width across nave and aisles
being 43 ft. 2 in. The eastern bay of each aisle is
separated from the rest by an arch from the outer wall
to the nave pier, and to the north-east chapel thus
formed the tower is attached on its north side.
Substantially the building dates from c. 1220 to
1250, and the only subsequent alterations to the plan
have been the addition of the porch and the shortening
of the chancel; the clerestory is part of the 13th-century
fabric. About 1290–1300 new windows were inserted
in the south aisle and the porch was erected, and further
changes took place in the 15th century, when the
present west window of the nave was put in and the
chancel probably assumed its present appearance. The
east window is of this period and, though evidence is
wanting, it is not unreasonable to suppose that the
chancel was shortened by a bay about this time. The
north aisle, with the exception of its east bay, was taken
down at some time unknown (fn. 38) and the arcade filled in;
it was rebuilt in its present form in 1849, in which year
the church was restored and a west gallery pulled down.
The church is built throughout of rubble, and internally the walls are plastered. (fn. 39) The chancel has a
tiled eaved roof, but the roofs of the nave and aisles are
slated, (fn. 40) behind plain ashlar parapets.
The chancel is divided by buttresses into three short
bays and has a pointed east window of three cinquefoiled lights with Perpendicular tracery. On each side
of the window within is a blocked and mutilated imagerecess, the canopies and one of the brackets having been
destroyed. A lancet window and a double piscina were
discovered and opened out in 1909 at the east end of
the south wall; the piscina was partly covered by the
existing east wall, but is now fully exposed to view by
the removal of part of the masonry. The recess has a
square chamfered head and octagonal dividing-shaft
and one of the bowls is perfect: the projecting front
of the second bowl has been cut away. The lancet
window, which is above the piscina at the extreme end
of this wall, has been restored and the width of its inner
splay reduced, but the original jambs remain. (fn. 41) The
chancel appears to have been originally about 9 ft.
longer than at present. The priest's doorway is of a
single chamfered order with label, and in the western
bay is a 15th-century square-headed window of three
cinquefoiled lights with quatrefoils in the head. There
are now no windows in the north wall, but near the
east end is a small rectangular aumbry and what appears
to be part of a lancet jamb: externally the wall is
covered by a thin coat of plaster. The chancel arch is
of two chamfered orders, on double chamfered responds
with moulded capitals and bases.
The nave arcades are of four bays with arches of two
chamfered orders springing from octagonal piers with
moulded capitals and bases and from responds of the
same type; in the eastern bay of the north aisle the pier
is a compound one with attached responds carrying the
nave and aisle arches, and giving support to the tower.
At the west end of the nave are massive buttresses of
two stages to take the thrust of the arcades, and between
them a four-centred window of four cinquefoiled lights
with Perpendicular tracery. This window, which is
high in the wall, takes the place of a group of lancets
the outer jamb-stones of which are still in position on
either side, visible both within and without. Below the
window internally is a stone bench. The clerestory has
four restored lancet openings on the south side and
three on the north, all without hood-moulds.
In the south aisle the west window is a restored trefoiled lancet, but that at the east is of two lights with
forked mullion, and those in the south wall of three
lights with uncusped intersecting tracery. The piscina
of the aisle altar remains in the usual position, with
plain projecting bowl and trefoiled head with label
terminating in notch-heads. The arch between the
eastern bay and the aisle is of two hollow chamfered
orders, carried on the wall side by a corbel: it is of the
same date as the adjacent windows. The 13th-century
south doorway has a sharply pointed arch of two chamfered orders and label, the outer on nook-shafts with
moulded capitals and bases, the inner continued to the
ground below imposts. The outer doorway of the porch
is of two continuous orders, the inner with wavemoulding, the outer hollow-chamfered; built into the
gable is a stone dated 1685.
The 13th-century arch between the north aisle and
its eastern bay, or chapel, is of two chamfered orders
springing from half-round responds with moulded capitals and bases, and the tower arch is of three orders
continued to the ground on the south and dying out on
the north side. The windows of the modern north aisle
are in the style of the 14th century, but the east window
is original, of two lancet lights with pierced spandrel.
The tower is 60 ft. in height and of three stages,
with pairs of gabled buttresses at the north-west and
north-east angles in the lower stage, the height of which
is about equal to the other two. The south-east buttress
is not gabled. At the second stage the walls set back
with a line of nail-head ornament and the bell-chamber
windows are of two lancet lights, with shafted jambs,
set within a pointed containing arch: the tympanum is
unpierced. There are flat buttresses east and west to
about half the height of the lower stage, which on the
north has a restored window of two trefoiled lights
occupying the middle of a 13th-century wall arcade of
three arches on shafts with moulded capitals and bases.
There is a vice in the north-west corner and adjoining
it on the west an external doorway, now blocked,
which, though modern, appears to reproduce an
original entrance, the bases of the nook shafts and jambs
being ancient. The battlemented parapet is a 15thcentury addition: its angle pinnacles are gone.
The 13th-century font has a plain octagonal bowl
on a short shaft and two steps. The oak pulpit is
modern. (fn. 42) There is a scratch dial on the east jamb of
the porch doorway.
Bridges records inscriptions in the floor of the chancel
to Alexander Ekins (d. 1655), Ann Sawyer (d. 1682),
James Sawyer, junr. (d. 1692), Thomas Sawyer (d.
1694), William Gardner (d. 1705), and Mary Allen
(d. 1710). (fn. 43)
There are five bells, the treble by Thomas Eayre of
Kettering 1744, the third and fourth by Taylor & Son,
St. Neots, 1819, and the second and tenor dated 1727. (fn. 44)
The plate consists of a silver cup and paten of 1851,
a paten of 1849, a cup of 1852, and a plated flagon. (fn. 45)
The registers before 1812 are as follows: (i) baptisms
1573–1662, marriages 1573–1651, burials 1573–
1644; (fn. 46) (ii) missing; (iii) baptisms and burials 1723–54,
marriages 1723–53; (iv) baptisms and burials 1754–
1812; (v) marriages 1755–1812.
Advowson
The rectory and advowson of Chelveston followed
the descent of Higham Ferrers (q.v.); they remained
in the possession of the Crown until
1603, when the rectory was granted by
Queen Elizabeth to Christopher Freeman. (fn. 47) Henry Freeman conveyed it in 1615 to Nicholas
Atkins, (fn. 48) whose family remained in possession of it for
nearly a hundred years. Nicholas Atkins and Elizabeth
his wife dealt with it by fine in 1619, and in 1652
Augustine Atkins obtained a quitclaim from John Atkins the younger and Elizabeth his wife and Nicholas
Atkins and Mary his wife. (fn. 49) John Atkins was vouchee
in a recovery concerning the rectory and tithes in
1688, (fn. 50) and he and his wife Elizabeth conveyed them
to Thomas Roberts in 1705. (fn. 51) After this date the property seems once more to have followed the descent of
Higham Ferrers, and within the next twenty years the
livings were united. The living is still a chapelry
attached to the vicarage of Higham Ferrers.
Charities
Thomas Neale, by his will dated
5 January 1765, gave £20 to the
minister and churchwardens, the income to be applied for the benefit of the poor on
Christmas Day. The income, amounting to 12s., is
distributed in bread.
James Sawyer and his son Thomas in their lifetime
erected almshouses at Chelveston and the former by his
will proved at London 30 April 1703 devised property
for their upkeep and support of the inmates. The
Charity is regulated by a Scheme of the Charity Commissioners dated 12 May 1911. The trustees are six
in number, two appointed by the Parish Council of
Chelveston-cum-Caldecott, two by the Urban District
Council of Raunds, and two co-optative trustees. The
property consists of two almshouses and a building
formerly used as almshouses, 14 a. 1 r. 10 p. of land
called 'Hospital Close', and 1 a. 1 r. called 'Captains
Close' in Chelveston. The gross income is £24 12s. per
annum, which is applied in the upkeep of the property
and in grants to the two alms-people, one of whom
must have been a resident of Chelveston and the other
of the parish of Raunds for not less than three years.
The Sawyer almshouses, on the Stanwick road, have
been restored and modernized. The building is of
rubble, with tiled roof, and bears a tablet inscribed
'This House was erected by James Sawyer, gent., and
Thomas Sawyer his son, and Ten Pounds per annum
by them therewith given for the use of four poor
widows for ever towards their maintenance, Anno
Domini 1708'.