WILBY
Wilibi, Wyleby, Welby (xi–xiv cent.); Wilby (xv–
xx cent.).
The parish of Wilby covers 1,161 acres. The soil is
rich loam with a clay subsoil, and cereals form the chief
crops. The highest point in the parish is 388 ft. in the
north-west. From there the land slopes gradually to the
south-east, where the lowest point is 214 ft. The main
road approaches the parish from the south and runs
north-east to Wellingborough, passing through Wilby
village. St. Mary's Church is situated a little to the west
of this road; other places of worship are the Methodist
chapel and a Congregational Sunday school. Of the
manor-house, on the south of the village, the only relic
is a rectangular stone dove-house. To the east of the
village lie the brickworks, and near the road which runs
west to Mears Ashby are several stone-pits. Wilby
parish was inclosed in 1801. (fn. 1)
Bridges writing in 1719 says that 'Certain closes
named Bareshanks, belonging to Mr. Sheppard and Mr.
Lord, pay a modus, the first of 4s. and the latter of 1s.,
only in lieu of tithes'. (fn. 2)
Manors
In 1086 the Countess Judith held 4
hides in WILBY. Bondi had been the
tenant in the Confessor's time. (fn. 3) Until 1329
this overlordship follows the same descent as the manor
of Fotheringhay. (fn. 4) In 1242 one-third of a fee in Wilby,
formerly of the honor of Huntingdon, was said to be
held of Hugh Despenser, (fn. 5) a whole fee being at the same
time held of William de Forz and John de Baillol as of
their portion of the honor of Huntingdon. (fn. 6) In 1329
John of Brittany, Earl of Richmond, then holding
Fotheringay Castle, was overlord of Wilby, (fn. 7) and Wilby
was among the fees held of Edward Prince of Wales at
the time of his death. (fn. 8) The overlordship is last mentioned in connexion with this manor in 1388. (fn. 9)
During the 13th century the manor appears to have
been held by a family who took their name from the
parish. Two fees in the county were held of Earl David
by John de Wilebyin 1204, (fn. 10) and presentation to the
church of Wilby was made in 1219 by Sir Philip de
Hamton as guardian of the heir of John de Wileby. (fn. 11)
This heir was probably John's grandson, Walter; John
seems to have had a son Robert de Wileby, also called
Robert le Eyr, (fn. 12) who married twice. By his first wife
Amice he had three sons, William and Robert, who died
childless, and Walter, whose two sons William and
John were living in 1260; by his second wife Lucy he
had four sons, Peter, Roger, Elias, and Stephen. (fn. 13) Lucy
survived until, at least, 1232. (fn. 14) In 1242 a certain Robert
son of Richard held in Wilby one-third fee of Walter de
Wileby and one fee 'with the heir of Robert Foliot'. (fn. 15)
A John Foliot was dealing with land in Wilby in 1203, (fn. 16)
as was Robert Foliot in 1226, (fn. 17) and it looks as if Robert
son of Richard, called 'de Northampton' in 1243 when
he presented to Wilby church, (fn. 18) had married the widow
of Robert Foliot and was guardian of his heir, holding
the manor under Walter. William de Wileby, presumably Walter's son, was seised of the manor in right
of Margery his wife (possibly the said heir of Foliot)
and granted it to 'Eudes' Fitz Warin. (fn. 19) William Fitz
Warin died in 1299, holding the manor of William son
of William de Wileby. (fn. 20) His son Alan Fitz Warin in
1310 mortgaged the manor to John de Wileby for a
debt of £600, (fn. 21) but by 1329 it had passed to Alan's
daughter Elizabeth and her husband Henry de Maundeville. (fn. 22) In 1330 they conceded the manor to Peter Fitz
Warin for his life. (fn. 23) Henry de Maundeville was succeeded by his son (fn. 24) Richard, (fn. 25) who continued in possession until 1359 when he conceded the manor to William
de Wilby, clerk, to hold for 16 years rent free and after
that at a rent of £100 yearly. (fn. 26) Between 1359 and 1368
the manor passed to William Latimer (fn. 27) who died in
1381 and was succeeded by his daughter Elizabeth,
who married John Lord Nevill. (fn. 28) He died seised of
Wilby in 1388 and was succeeded by his son Ralph. (fn. 29)
From the Nevills the manor passed to the Vaux, but
how it was transferred cannot be traced. As early as
1405 William Vaux held the advowson of Wilby (fn. 30) and
it is probable that he held the manor also. In 1462
William Vaux son of the former William (fn. 31) forfeited the
manor by reason of an act of attainder, (fn. 32) and it was
granted to Ralph Hastings; it was afterwards restored,
and in 1525 Nicholas Vaux died seised of it. (fn. 33) Until
1624 Wilby Manor follows the same descent as Great
Doddington (q.v.); between 1624 and 1656 it was
conveyed to the Pentlow family. In 1641 Thomas
Pentlow, then a resident in Wilby, was arrested and
committed to the Fleet. (fn. 34) At his death in 1656 he was
lord of the manor. (fn. 35) He was succeeded by his son
William Pentlow, (fn. 36) who about 1706 alienated the manor
to John Freeman, (fn. 37) whose widow was lady of the manor
in 1719. After the death of this lady the manor descended
to her daughters, (fn. 38) and in 1788 was in the possession of
Hannah Freeman wife of William Pearson, who in the
same year alienated a moiety of it to Anne Jerson,
Abraham Bracebridge, and others. (fn. 39) The whole of
this manor subsequently passed to Adam Corrie, the
holder in 1801. (fn. 40) He was succeeded by John Corrie,
whose successor at the present day is Arthur Corrie
Keep.
Richard de Wilby had a mill in Wilby in 1245 by
grant of Michael de Wilby and his wife Margaret. (fn. 41)
In 1276 Maud widow of William de Wilby claimed a
mill in dower. (fn. 42) No further mention has been found of
a mill until 1702 when William Pentlow held a watermill with the manor. (fn. 43)
Church
The church of ST. MARY THE
VIRGIN consists of chancel, 23 ft. 6 in.
by 18 ft. 6 in., with north vestry and organchamber; clerestoried nave, 40 ft. 6 in. by 19 ft. 6 in.;
south aisle, 9 ft. 6 in. wide; south porch and west tower
with spire, 10 ft. 6 in. square, all these measurements
being internal. There was formerly a north aisle, but it
was removed in 1839 and has not been rebuilt. (fn. 44)
No portion of the existing fabric appears to be older
than the 13th century. (fn. 45) The church of this period
seems to have been an aisleless building, of which little
remains but a low-side window in the chancel and perhaps part of the wall above the arches of the south
arcade. About 1310–20 the aisles were added, and the
chancel seems to have been remodelled, or perhaps rebuilt. The tower was added later in the 14th century,
and the clerestory appears to have been erected a
century or more later, but the present wooden windows
are of comparatively recent date. The chancel, which
at some period had been reduced in length by about
12 ft., (fn. 46) was almost entirely rebuilt in 1853 on its then
existing plan, with blank north wall, and the roof
restored to its original pitch. (fn. 47) A vestry and organchamber were added in 1873, but were rebuilt in their
present form in 1913. When the north aisle was taken
down, its arcade was removed and a new wall with
modern windows built in its place. There was a general
restoration of the fabric in 1879.
As rebuilt, the chancel contains little or no ancient
work except the low-side window at the west end of the
south wall, which is a plain lancet of two hollow
chamfers separated by a flat member, with hood-mould
and rear arch. (fn. 48) A considerable amount of the old
masonry appears to have been used in the external
facings, but the three-light east window, and one of two
lights in the south wall, together with the priest's doorway and the piscina and sedilia are modern. (fn. 49) The highpitched roof is leaded. Originally the chancel was of
two equal bays, but about two-thirds of the eastern bay
was removed, with the result that the dividing buttress
is now only about 6 ft. from the east end. The 14thcentury chancel arch is of two hollow-chamfered orders
without hood-mould, the inner order on half-round
responds with moulded capitals and bases. There are
remains of the rood-loft stair at the north end. Below
the arch is a modern oak screen (1923). On the north
side the chancel is open to the vestry and organ-chamber
by an arcade of two arches erected in 1913. (fn. 50)
The early-14th-century nave arcade is of four bays
with arches of two hollow-chamfered orders on
octagonal piers with moulded capitals and bases and
half-round responds carrying the inner order: they
have hood-moulds on each side and each hollow has
a rounded stop above the capital. The piers stand
on square plinths of rough masonry, probably portions
of the original outer wall through which the arches
were cut.
The aisle has diagonal angle buttresses, plain parapet,
and lean-to leaded roof, and there are strings at sill level
within and without. The east window and two in the
south wall east of the porch are of the 14th century,
the former pointed and of three cinquefoiled lights with
cusped intersecting tracery, and the latter square-headed
of two trefoiled lights. A similar two-light window
west of the porch is modern, and the west wall is blank.
A trefoiled piscina with fluted bowl remains in the
usual position at the east end of the aisle. The doorway
is in the second bay from the west and is of two continuous hollow-chamfered orders with hood-mould: the
outer doorway of the porch is of two rounded orders.
The porch has diagonal buttresses and high-pitched
gable with modern apex cross: in the west wall is a
single pointed window and in the east wall a modern
quatrefoil opening.
The clerestory windows occur on the south side only
and are square-headed and of two uncusped lights: the
low-pitched leaded roof is modern and without parapets.
Internally all the walls are plastered.
The tower is faced with ashlar and is of unusual design, consisting of two square lower stages with moulded
plinth and diagonal angle buttresses, an octagonal bellchamber stage, or drum, the cardinal faces of which are
in the same plane as the walls beneath, and a low stone
spire rising from behind a parapet of pierced quatrefoils.
The diagonal buttresses are carried up as pinnacles and
from these pierced flying buttresses are thrown to the
canted faces of the octagon, the angles of which are
covered by flat buttresses carried up in their turn as
pinnacles and connected to the spire by a second tier of
flying buttresses. The junction of the square and
octagonal stages is masked at the angles by a parapet of
pierced quatrefoils, and the four bell-chamber windows
are of two cinquefoiled lights with a quatrefoil in the
head. The two square lower stages are blank on the
north and south, except for a small rectangular quatrefoiled window on the south side, and on the east, above
the roof, is a pointed opening. There is a vice in the
south-west angle. The arch to the nave is of two hollowchamfered orders, the inner springing from halfoctagonal responds with moulded capitals and chamfered bases.
The west doorway is a 15th-century insertion. It has
a continuous moulded four-centred arch framed in a
rectangular hood-mould, the spandrels being filled with
quatrefoiled circles. Above it is an ogee-headed traceried (fn. 51)
window of two cinquefoiled lights with crocketed
hood-mould and finial, on either side of which, at sill
level, is a canopied niche with tall straight-sided
crocketed hood-moulds, finials, and rounded stops: the
niches have image-brackets, but are unoccupied. The
spire has plain angles and two tiers of gabled lights on
the cardinal faces.
The font consists of a plain circular tapering bowl,
on a rectangular stem with chamfered angles and
square plinth, and is apparently of early-13th-century
date. (fn. 52)
The 17th-century oak pulpit has three tiers of panels,
the two lower arched, as at Doddington, but is octagonal
on plan: it stands on a modern stone base. (fn. 53)
Below the tower arch is a modern screen, the toprail of which is old work from Yaxley, Hunts. (fn. 54) The
royal arms of Queen Victoria are over the south
doorway.
There were three bells till 1878, when a treble by
Taylor of Loughborough was added and the tenor recast. The ring was increased to five in 1893 by the
addition of another treble, also by Taylor. The old
treble (now third) is by Henry Penn of Peterborough
1705, and the fourth by Matthew Bagley of Chacomb
1682. The old tenor bore the inscription: 'Sit nomen
Domini Benedictum' and was from the Leicester
foundry. (fn. 55)
The plate consists of a silver chalice and paten of
1853, a flagon of 1850, and an alms basin of 1857: (fn. 56)
there is also a plated bread-holder.
The registers before 1812 are contained in a single
volume beginning in 1562, but there are gaps. The
book consists of 'many separate parts which were before
in several volumes' (fn. 57) but were collected and bound in
one volume in 1767 by Thomas Percy, rector. The
entries of baptisms are continuous to 1650, of marriages
to 1635, and of burials to 1639, and all entries are
complete from 1713 to 1812.
Advowson
There are constables' accounts from 1627 to 1678.
In 1205 Robert son of Henry remitted his claim to the advowson of
Wilby Church to John de Wileby, (fn. 58)
to whose heir the presentation belonged in 1219. (fn. 59)
Robert son of Richard of Northampton presented in
1243. (fn. 60) In 1260 William son of Robert de Wileby recovered the advowson, apparently in right of his wife,
against Geoffrey de Leukenore as guardian of the heir
of Robert de Wileby, but the said heir was to have the
patronage when he came of age; (fn. 61) and in 1276 John de
Wileby sued William Fitz Warin for the right to
present to the church. (fn. 62) In 1330 Henry de Maundeville
and his wife Elizabeth, grand-daughter of William Fitz
Warin, held this advowson; (fn. 63) and in 1340 Robert de
Wilby sued Richard de Maundeville for the next
presentation. (fn. 64) In 1403 the advowson had passed into
the hands of William Vaux; (fn. 65) but in 1427 Reynold, Lord
Grey, then holding the honor of Huntingdon, (fn. 66) was
patron presumably during the minority of the younger
William Vaux. From this date until 1621, when it was
sold by Edward Vaux to Henry Neale of Northampton, (fn. 67)
the advowson followed the same descent as the manor.
In the same year Valentine Lane presented and next
year the Crown was patron. In 1626 it was held by
Thomas Pentlow, (fn. 68) and by 1640 it was held by Sir
Christopher Yelverton (fn. 69) from whom it descended to his
grandson Talbot, the patron in 1712. (fn. 70) The advowson
continued in this family (fn. 71) until 1783 when it was transferred to Matthew Easton. (fn. 72) Matthew Easton held the
advowson as late as 1829; from him it passed to the
Rev. William Stockdale, (fn. 73) father of the present patron,
H. M. Stockdale, esq., D.L.
The living of Wilby is a rectory; in 1291 the annual
value of the church was £8 (fn. 74) and in 1535 the value of
the rectory and tithes was £14 9s. 11d. (fn. 75)
Charities
Church Land. About 2 acres let in
allotments, the rent of which is applied
by the rector and churchwardens for the
repair or service of the church.
Poor's Land. About ½ acre, the rent of which is
applied by the rector and churchwardens in the distribution of bread among the resident poor, and is partly
given or sent in money to poor persons belonging to, but
not resident in, the parish.
The origin of the above-mentioned charities is
unknown.