DENTON
Dodintone (xi cent.); Dudintun (xii cent.); Parva
Dudington (xiii cent.); Denynton (xiv cent.); Dodington alias Deynton (xvi cent.); Doddington Parva alias
Nether Doddington (xvii cent.); Denton or Little
Doddington (xviii cent.).
Denton is a parish on the road from Northampton to
Bedford, 2 miles from the Horton station on the
Northampton and Bedford branch of the L.M.S. railway. The soil is principally clay and the chief crops are
cereals. There are woods in the south-east adjoining
Yardley Chase. The parish lies mostly more than 300 ft.
above the ordinance datum. Its area is 1,555 acres.
The population in 1931 was 424.
A two-story thatched house on the west side of the
village is dated 1606, and not far away is part of an old
stone house with mullioned windows which was probably the manor-house. In an adjoining field is a circular dovehouse, built of limestone, with blue-slated
roof and cupola: its internal diameter at the ground
level is 14 ft. 6 in., and it contains over 500 nesting
places. (fn. 1)
Manor
The only mention of a manor of DENTON, here called Little Dudyngton by
Yardley, during the medieval period occurs
in two fines of 1346 whereby it was settled upon
William of Brixworth, citizen of London, and John his
son for life with reversion to Sir Roger de Akeney and
Joan his wife, and to the heirs of Joan. (fn. 2) This isolated
reference stands unexplained.
Ramsey Abbey. Or a bend azure with three rams' heads argent thereon.
In 1086, a half hide in Denton was held by Winemar of the Countess Judith, (fn. 3) who held one hide as a
member of Yardley Hastings; (fn. 4) and 3 hides in Denton
and Whiston were held by Ramsey Abbey, (fn. 5) to which
house they had been given by Brithnoth the Earl, (fn. 6)
who died in 991. (fn. 7) By the 12th century the Countess's
hide had passed to King David, while the fee of Ramsey Abbey in Denton consisted,
apparently, of 1½ hides, namely
6 small virgates held by Walter
fitz Winemar and 10 small
virgates held by William de
Whiston. (fn. 8) It would seem that
Winemar's half hide had been
usurped by the Countess and
recovered by Ramsey. But apparently William Peverel obtained
possession before his forfeiture in
1155, as just about a century
after the Domesday Survey the
hidage of the Ramsey estates
includes the land of Denton which William Peverel
held but which was then in the King's hands and
at his disposal; (fn. 9) and evidently this went, with the
rest of the Peverel honor, to the Earl of Ferrers. In
1229 William de Whiston (fn. 10) impleaded Walter de
Preston to acquit him of services exacted by the Earl
of Ferrers in Denton. (fn. 11) Nicholas the Earl's Serjeant
held here in 1235–6 one third of a fee. (fn. 12) Probably he
was holding it at farm, as in 1242–3 it was held by
Gilbert de Preston. (fn. 13) The estates of Robert de Ferrers,
Earl of Derby, forfeited in 1266, were granted to the
king's son Edmund of Lancaster, (fn. 14) of whom Laurence
de Preston was holding one knight's fee in Quinton
and Denton in 1297. (fn. 15) Further reference to this tenure
appears in 1428 when Winmer de Preston held the
same fee, with Ditchford mill, formerly held by
Thomas de Preston of the Earl of Ferrers. (fn. 16) This portion of Denton may then have been absorbed into
Quinton (q.v.).
The 10 virgates held of Ramsey by William de
Whiston in the 12th century were still in the abbey's
hands in 1271, when John de Cave held 9 virgates and
Master William de Branfelde 1 virgate, as life tenants. (fn. 17)
In 1316 a moiety of Denton was held by John de Cave
and Margery de Meuse, (fn. 18) together with Whiston, of
which manor (q.v.) it apparently formed a member.
With Whiston it passed into the hands of the Earls of
Gloucester. Hugh, Earl of Stafford, grandson of
Margaret, daughter and heir of Hugh, Earl of Gloucester, at the time of his death in 1387 possessed half a
knight's fee in Denton held by Sir Thomas Griffin, (fn. 19)
and this fee, worth 100s. and held of the king as of the
honor of Gloucester, remained with his descendants, (fn. 20)
probably until the estates of Edward Stafford, Duke of
Buckingham, were forfeit to the Crown in 1523. The
mesne tenure, held by a Thomas Griffin in 1402 (fn. 21) and
1460, (fn. 22) passed to John son of Nicholas Griffin who died
in 1485 leaving his son Nicholas as heir to 10 messuages
in Denton held of the Earl of Kent. (fn. 23) On the death
of Sir Thomas, son of Nicholas, in 1566, it was found
that he had settled in tail male his property in Denton,
except 4 messuages to be held by his brother Edward
Griffin of Dingley for life. (fn. 24) An agreement about these
lands was made in the following year between Edward
Griffin and Thomas Markham of Ollerton, Notts., and
his wife Mary, daughter of Rice Griffin deceased, son
and heir of Sir Thomas. (fn. 25) Edward Griffin died in 1569
when his share in Denton was said to be worth 40s.
and held of Sir Henry Compton. (fn. 26)
In 1284 (fn. 27) and 1316 (fn. 28) a moiety of Denton was held
by John de Hastings of the king in chief as part of the
honor of Huntingdon. By inquisitions of 1325 (fn. 29) and
1348 (fn. 30) it was found that this family owned rents in
Denton held as of Yardley Hastings, and a half fee in
Denton, Brafield, and Houghton held by William la
Zouche of Harringworth. The half fee was held by
William la Zouche junior in 1376 (fn. 31) and descended
with Little Houghton (q.v.). This moiety of Denton
ultimately passed with other lands of the honor of
Huntingdon (fn. 32) to the Comptons, Earls of Northampton.
Henry, Lord Spencer, with Richard Spencer his
guardian was party to a recovery concerning property
including this manor of Denton in 1639, (fn. 33) and James,
Earl of Northampton, was dealing with the manor
in 1647. (fn. 34) From this date it has descended with the
manors of Yardley Hastings and Castle Ashby (q.v.).
A capital messuage here in which John Flamstead
lived before his death in 1632 was settled on his
daughter Frances the wife of William Andrews, who
held it of Sir Hatton Farmer as of his hundred of
Wymersley. (fn. 35) The Earl of Pomfret, a descendant of
Hatton Farmer, owned half of Denton in the early
18th century, for which suit and service was paid to
his court at Cotton End. A stream separated his share
from that of the Earl of Northampton, whose tenants
owed suit at Yardley Hastings. (fn. 36)
Church
The church of ST. MARGARET
stands on high ground in the middle of the
village and consists of chancel, 18 ft. 2 in.
by 15 ft. with vestry on the north side; nave, 40 ft.
square; south porch, and west tower, 7 ft. by 6 ft.,
all these measurements being internal. The ground
falls rapidly from south to north.
The building has been very much altered in modern
times and little ancient work remains. The nave was
rebuilt in its present form in 1827–8, and the chancel
and tower repaired: the vestry, which is only 6 ft.
wide and covers the chancel its full length, was probably
erected then or shortly after. (fn. 37) There is a similar addition on the south side of the chancel with external
doorway only, used for storage. A stone with the date
1629 over the east window of the chancel points to
some alteration or repair at that period. (fn. 38) The building
is generally of roughly coursed mingled limestone and
local ironstone, with slated roofs. The nave has a
modern plaster cove in place of a parapet, but a portion
of the old parapet remains at each end on the south side
and is continued on the east gable. Internally all the
walls are plastered and the floors flagged.
The pointed east window of the chancel and those
of the nave are modern, all quite plain and of three
lights, with wooden frames, and uprights crossing in
the head. Two small lancet windows, now in the
north wall of the vestry, were originally in the chancel, (fn. 39)
and the south doorway, which has a pointed arch of
two square orders on moulded imposts, may be also
of 13th-century date, together with the lower portion of
the tower, in which is a lancet window with hoodmould.
Bridges, writing about 1720, describes the church
as consisting of chancel, body, and south aisle, with a
north cross aisle, and small embattled tower, (fn. 40) and it so
continued until 1827. The plan attached to the faculty
of that year, (fn. 41) shows a nave of four bays and south aisle
10 ft. wide. A former north aisle of the same width had
apparently long been taken down, except for the eastern
bay, the so-called 'cross aisle'; the north arcade also
remainded standing though blocked. In the rebuilding
both arcades (fn. 42) were removed and the north wall was
rebuilt farther out, in line with the north wall of the
then existing 'transept', the nave being placed under a
single wide-spanned roof. At the west end the responds
of the former arcades still remain: they are half-octagonal
on plan and have moulded capitals of 14th-century
date, and the chancel arch is of the same character and
of two chamfered orders. The tower arch springs
from moulded corbels of the same period; all of which
implies a reconstruction in the 14th century of a 13thcentury structure, to which probably aisles were then
first added.
Plan of Denton Old Church (from the plan attached to the faculty, 1827)
The chancel is lighted solely from the east and has a
flat plaster ceiling. The nave has three windows on
each side, and one at each side of the tower at the west
end. There are north and south doorways and the
walls are well buttressed. There is a west gallery with
good panelled front, on which are the royal arms of
George IV. The flat plaster ceiling of the nave is coved.
The tower has small diagonal buttresses of two stages
on the west side, but is without strings below the bellchamber stage. Above the lancet window on the west
side, already mentioned, is a clock dial and higher again
on three sides a small pointed opening. On the south
side there is a rather bigger pointed opening about mid
height. (fn. 43) All these openings are very plain, with square
jambs, the heads of the smaller ones being of one stone.
The bell-chamber windows resemble those of the nave,
but have cast-iron frames of two traceried lights. (fn. 44) The
tower finishes with a battlemented parapet, pyramidal
roof, and vane. The angle pinnacles are apparently of
18th-century date.
The font is of cylindrical type, 16 in. high, covered
with a sunk geometrical pattern, and stands on a tall
moulded base of later date. The bowl may be ancient,
but it has no lead lining and is spoiled by paint.
The pulpit is modern. The organ is in the gallery.
On the south wall of the chancel is a black marble
tablet within a stone border, put up in 1619 by David
Owen, rector of Yardley Hastings, with a long Latin
inscription recording the benefactions (fn. 45) of William
Andrew and setting forth a grant by the rector to
Andrew and his heirs to be buried in the chancel. (fn. 46)
There are three bells in the tower, the first by R.
Taylor and Sons, of Oxford,
1827; the second by James
Keene of Woodstock, 1625;
and the third dated 1629. (fn. 47)
The plate consists of a cup of
1570, with the maker's mark AL
linked, a cover paten without
marks, but c. 1650, made to fit
the cup, and a paten without
date letter inscribed 'I.H.,
W.W., Churchwardens 1683'. (fn. 48)
The registers before 1812 are
as follows: (i) all entries 1540–
1653; (ii) 1653–97; (iii) baptisms and burials 1716–41,
marriages 1716–38; (iv) baptisms and burials 1741–1812;
(v) marriages 1754–1812. (fn. 49)
In the churchyard is a cross
in memory of twelve men of
the parish who fell in the war of
1914–18.
Advowson
The church of Denton was a
chapelry, stated in 1535 to be annexed to Yardley Hastings, (fn. 50) but by
the 18th century, and probably earlier, it was a
chapel to Yardley Hastings and Whiston, both in the
gift of the Earl of Northampton, whose rectors performed duty here in alternate years and divided the
tithes. (fn. 51) In the 19th century, farms of 140 acres
and 64 acres belonged respectively to these two
rectors. (fn. 52) When a separate benefice was made in
1892 Denton became a vicarage in the gift of the lord
of the manor. (fn. 53)
Charity
Church Land. The endowment of this
charity consists of about 7 acres of land
let in allotments, the rents of which
amounting to £13 (approximately) yearly are paid
to the churchwardens and applied towards church
expenses.