HOLCOT
Holecote (xi–xiv cent.); Hulcota (xii cent.); Hochecota (xiii cent.); Hocott (xviii cent.).
The parish of Holcot comprises 1,399 acres. The
soil is red loam, the subsoil stone. The ground slopes
towards the east and south, from about 270 ft. to about
300 ft. A branch of the Northampton and Kettering
road leads north-westwards through the parish to Holcot village, which clusters about the meeting-place of
this branch road and roads to Moulton, Brixworth, and
Walgrave. The church and a Methodist chapel stand
in the village.
It is the traditional birthplace of the Dominican
theologian, Robert Holcot, who died in 1349. (fn. 1) An
Inclosure Act for this parish was obtained in 1777. (fn. 2)
Manors
At the time of the Domesday Survey
Hugh held of the Countess Judith 1 hide
and 1½ virgates of land in HOLCOT which
were worth 20s. (fn. 3) This overlordship afterwards passed
with Countess Judith's holding in Yardley Hastings
(q.v.). The 12th-century survey states that 1 hide and
2 small virgates of land in Holcot were of the fee of her
successor in that place, David I of Scotland. (fn. 4) The
manor was held as the fourth part of a knight's fee. (fn. 5) In
1349, when it was extended as worth 20s. a year and
said to lie in Wold and Holcot, it formed part of the
dower of Agnes, Lady Pembroke; (fn. 6) in 1376 part of that
of Anne, Lady Pembroke. (fn. 7)
Pipewell Abbey. Argent three crescents gules impaling azure a crozier in pale or.
The mesne tenants of part of this holding were for a
time a family named Vitor. In 1241 the service due by
Simon Vitor for the moiety of the fourth part of a
knight's fee in Draughton and
Holcot was assigned to Henry de
Hastings and his wife Ada, (fn. 8) and
in the following year Simon and
his partners (participes) held a
quarter fee in Holcot. (fn. 9) Simon's
successor was his son John, (fn. 10) and
Roger Vitor was one of the
tenants of a quarter fee in Wold
and Holcotin 1325 (fn. 11) and 1349. (fn. 12)
He seems to have died about
1366, (fn. 13) after which date this
family disappears. Geoffrey, son
of Philip, who held part of this
quarter fee in 1323, (fn. 14) was probably identical with
Geoffrey Garnel, who held it in 1325 with Roger
Vitor. Yet another mesne tenant in 1325 (fn. 15) was the
Abbot of Pipewell, who is mentioned in 1376 as the
sole mesne tenant of this quarter fee, for which he
paid a rent of 20s. a year, (fn. 16) its full value by the extent
of 1349. At the time of its dissolution, the abbey was
receiving a rent of 18s. a year from Holcot. (fn. 17) In 1546,
lands in Holcot, in the tenure of John Hyll and lately of
Pipewell Abbey, were granted to George Rythe and
Thomas Grantham of Lincoln's Inn. (fn. 18) If any manorial
rights had belonged to this property they had probably
lapsed long before this date.
The Domesday Survey states that 2 hides and 2½ virgates of land in HOLCOT belonged to the manor of
Brixworth. (fn. 19) In the 12th-century survey this holding is
described as 2½ hides and 1 small virgate of the fee of
William de Courcy. (fn. 20) The overlordship passed with
that of Brixworth (q.v.) to the earls of Aumale. The
mesne tenancy also coincided with that of Brixworth
(q.v.), until it came to Sir James Harrington, knight,
who died in 1497, leaving as his heirs ten daughters, of
whom Alice (fn. 21) married Ralph Standish of Standish. (fn. 22)
Probably, therefore, this holding or part of it passed to
Thomas Chipsey, grocer of Northampton, who at his
death in 1544 was said to be seised of a manor of Holcot
and certain lands there called Standish Lands and
Campion's Lands. The latter may have derived their
name from William Campion, who held in Holcot between 1515 and 1530, having succeeded his father John
son of Thomas Campion. (fn. 23) Thomas Chipsey's heirs
were his daughters, Agnes wife of Edmund Kaysho and
Joan wife of Thomas Knight, (fn. 24) but in 1541 he had conveyed lands in Holcot, which probably included his
reputed manor, and lands and a rent elsewhere to the
mayor of Northampton and other trustees to 'provide
an honest and sufficient learned master or person to
teach grammar within the town of Northampton'. This
was the foundation of Northampton Grammar School. (fn. 25)
Church
The church of ST. MARY AND ALL
SAINTS stands on the west side of the
village and consists of chancel, 27 ft. by
15 ft. 6 in.; clerestoried nave, 45 ft. by 14 ft. 2 in.;
north and south aisles, 10 ft. 6 in. and 12 ft. 8 in. wide
respectively; south porch; and embattled west tower,
11 ft. 8 in. square, all these measurements being internal.
There is an organ-chamber on the north side of the
chancel.
The west end of the south aisle is of 13th-century
date, and retains two windows of that period, a single
lancet in the west wall, and a double lancet with single
hood-mould in the south wall west of the porch. (fn. 26) The
south doorway is also of this date; it has a pointed arch
of two square orders on moulded imposts, the outer
jambs being chamfered and the inner square. The
chancel and nave were rebuilt about 1350 and the tower
somewhat later, though the upper part may have been
reconstructed in the 15th century when the clerestory
and the porch were added. In 1845 the chancel was
restored, its roof heightened, and a vestry built on the
north side: the nave was restored and re-roofed in
1889, a west gallery removed, the tower arch opened
out, and the vestry turned into an organ-chamber.
There is not sufficient evidence to determine the
extent of the 13th-century church, but a portion of
string-course in the east wall of the south aisle, similar to
that of the west end, suggests that the aisle was then the
same length as now. The south aisle is 2 ft. wider than
the north.
The building is of rubble, with modern slated lowpitched roof to the chancel and embattled parapets to
nave and south aisle. The north aisle parapet is plain.
The chancel has a modern east window of three lights
and on the south side two square-headed three-light
windows. The north wall is blank except for a modern
arch to the organ-chamber. Below the south-west
window are the remains of what may have been a lowside window. (fn. 27) There is a piscina but no sedilia: the
chancel arch is of two chamfered orders on responds
composed of three half-rounds with moulded capitals
and bases. A wrought iron screen and gates, of 17thcentury domestic workmanship, were fixed at the
chancel arch in 1921.
The nave arcades consist of three pointed arches of
two chamfered orders, springing from piers composed of
four half-rounds with small attached shafts between,
with moulded capitals and bases. The capitals on the
north and south sides differ in design and the responds
are simple half-rounds. The two windows in the south
aisle resemble those in the chancel, but only one retains
its 14th-century tracery. In the north aisle are two
pointed windows of two cinquefoiled lights with
quatrefoils in the head, and a three-light window with
modern reticulated tracery. The east window of the
aisle, which has reticulated tracery, now opens to the
organ-chamber. The north doorway is blocked. The
clerestory has four square-headed windows of two
trefoiled lights on each side.
The tower is of three stages with moulded plinth and
flat clasping buttresses two-thirds of its height. The
west window is modern, but on the south side is an
original quatrefoil opening within a circle. The pointed
bell-chamber windows are of two trefoiled lights with
quatrefoil in the head. There is a vice in the southwest angle. The tower arch is very lofty, of two
moulded orders to the nave, the inner resting on halfround responds with moulded capitals and bases. The
tower was repaired in 1922.
The font is of 14th-century date with circular
moulded bowl and modern shafted stem. The staples of
the cover remain. At the west end of the south aisle are
the remains of a wall painting discovered in 1889. (fn. 28)
Recently numerous other paintings have been discovered, mainly of 14th-century date. Adjoining the
earlier find is a much-defaced subject which probably
portrays the Incredulity of St. Thomas. Near the south
door is the Resurrection. In the nave are various fragments mostly of post-Reformation date. In the north
aisle is a finely executed Martyrdom of St. Thomas of
Canterbury, depicted with an unusual fidelity to
historical detail. Other subjects are St. Catherine
before the Emperor, a group of Apostles, and several
scenes difficult to identify. On the splays of the windows are single figures of saints, including St. Andrew,
while the soffits of the window arches are decorated
with a bold scroll pattern in red. There are many
evidences of later schemes superimposed on these
paintings. The work is of considerable artistic merit,
the figure drawing and manipulation of the draperies
being most accomplished. The pulpit and other fittings
are modern, but some Elizabethan woodwork is preserved on the sill of the east window of the south
aisle. (fn. 29) There are also fragments of the 15th-century
rood-screen. A Jacobean altar table, removed from
the chancel in 1933, has been placed in the south
aisle.
There is a scratch dial adjoining the south doorway,
A piece of lead, formerly on the nave roof, on which is
cut a man's head and date 1666, has now been framed
and hangs in the church. The royal arms of Queen
Anne, dated 1711, on canvas, hang over the chancel
arch. In the sanctuary is a 17th-century oak chest.
There are four bells, the treble by Henry Penn of
Peterborough 1703, the second a recasting by Taylor
in 1899 of a late medieval bell inscribed: 'Huius sancti
Petri', the third by Edward Newcombe of Leicester,
and the tenor by Taylor of Loughborough 1899. (fn. 30)
The plate consists of a silver cup and paten of 1834
given by Robert Onebye Walker, a silver-gilt paten
given about 1920, and a silver-plated flagon. There are
also two pewter plates and a pewter flagon. (fn. 31) A silver
chalice and paten were presented in 1934 by the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament. A Sacrament house
was cut in the north wall of the chancel in 1933 and
framed with old woodwork from a reredos formerly in
the chapel of Magdalen College School, Brackley.
The registers before 1812 are as follows: (i) all
entries 1559–99, baptisms 1600–40, 1662–1762,
marriages 1600–39, 1662–81, 1695–1705, 1716–54,
burials 1600–41, 1662–1762; (ii) baptisms and burials
1764–1812; (iii) marriages 1755–1812. In 1638 sixty
persons are recorded to have died of the plague. The
churchwardens' accounts begin in 1776.
The stump of an old cross, formerly in the rector's
paddock, at the corner of the road leading to Walgrave,
was removed to the churchyard in December 1885 and
placed opposite the porch.
Advowson
The church of Holcot evidently belonged to the fee held by David I in
the 12th century, for it passed to Roger
Murdack, who was King David's tenant in Edgcote
(q.v.) under Henry II. In 1223 Roger's son and heir
Thomas stated that his father had presented to Holcot
Church, but Roger's widow Maud, at this time the wife
of Theobald de Bray, successfully claimed the advowson as part of her dower. (fn. 32) Very soon afterwards the
advowson was acquired by the Prior of the Hospital of
St. John of Jerusalem in England, who presented to the
church in 1227–8, (fn. 33) and subsequently until the Dissolution. About 1291 the church was worth £8 a year. (fn. 34) In
1492 William Lily, the grammarian, who had become
acquainted with the Knights Hospitallers in Rhodes,
was presented to Holcot rectory by the prior, John
Kendall. (fn. 35) At the Dissolution the preceptory of the
Knights Hospitallers in Dingley was receiving 40s.
yearly from Holcot Church, and the rectory was let to
farm to Anne Pachett for £15 17s. 4d. a year. The
payment to the archdeacon of Northampton for procurations and synodals was 50s. 7d., leaving a clear
income of £13 6s. 8d. (fn. 36) The advowson of the rectory
and church was granted in 1548 to Thomas Henneage,
knight, and others. (fn. 37) It was held at his death in 1595 by
Gilbert Langtree whose son and heir was Edward. (fn. 38) In
1636 presentation was made, jointly, by Sir Anthony
Haslewood, knight, Hannah Campion, widow, and
Edmund Barves of Cunnington in Huntingdonshire; (fn. 39)
in 1640, according to Bridges, the right to present was
held by a Mr. Campion, probably identical with
William Campion, then rector. (fn. 40) In 1663 the living
was presented by the Crown, (fn. 41) probably to Edward
Halles, who died as rector in 1715 at the age of ninetyfour. He had a daughter, Anne Woodford, (fn. 42) who
presented in 1745 when she was a widow. (fn. 43) In 1777
the Rev. Thomas Gill was patron, (fn. 44) and presentation
in 1778 was by Elizabeth Gill, widow. (fn. 45) In 1780
Edward Montgomery, clerk, the incumbent, presented. (fn. 46) The advowson and incumbency continued in
this family, the Rev. R. Montgomery being patron and
incumbent from 1836 to 1881. Mrs.Daniels (formerly
Miss Montgomery) is now patron.
Charities
The following charities are administered by the
rector and 3 trustees appointed by the parish council
of Holcot in accordance with the
Scheme of the Charity Commissioners
of 1 October 1909 under the title of
the United Charities.
1. Blacksmith's Shop Rent-charge. 5s. yearly paid in
respect of a former blacksmith's shop, being the
interest on a sum of £5 given for the poor by Thomas
Campion and invested on mortgage in 1699.
2. Rev. William Campion. Will dated in 1636.
Rent-charge of 6s. on a house and a piece of land in
Holcot.
3. John Clark. Gift of £1 yearly charged upon
Poplars Farm in Holcot.
4. Rev. Christopher Crouch. Will 1 August 1735.
Moiety of the rent of 2 acres of land in Hardingstone,
leased to Northampton Rural, now District, Council at
£12 12s. of which sum half comes to Holcot.
5. Doe Bank Rent-charge. A yearly sum of 10s.
in respect of about 1 rood of land called Doe Bank in
Holcot is paid, half by the rector and half by Brixworth
Rural District Council, who have acquired half the land
as building sites. The origin of this paymentis unknown.
6. Elias Groom. Will dated 12 February 1687.
Rent-charge of 6s. on a house and land in Holcot.
7. Edward Halles. Will 4 May 1713. 3 poles of
land in Holcot let for 10s. yearly.
8. Poor's Land. Inclosure Award 30 March 1778.
1 a. 2 r. 10 p. of land in Holcot let for £2 2s. yearly.
The income of these charities is applied in the distribution of goods to the poor at Christmas.
By the Award of the Inclosure Commissioners dated
30 March 1778 a piece of land adjoining the Poor's
Land was allotted, the rents to be applied in repairs of
the parish church. The land is let for £9 yearly, which
sum is applied by the rector and churchwardens towards
church expenses.