ROTHERSTHORPE
Trop Advocati (1220); Torp (xi-xiii cent.);
Thorpe, Throp (xiii-xviii cent.); Thrupp (xvi-xviii
cent.); Troupe, Throope (xvi cent.); Ritheres- (xiiixvi cent.); Rethres- (xiv cent.); Rothers- (xiv cent.
onwards); Ruddis- (xvi cent.); Ryther-, Rethes- (xvixvii cent.); Reresthorp (xix cent.).
The civil parish has an area of 1,275 acres of land
and water. The soil is mixed, the subsoil Oxford
Clay, the chief crops turnips and barley. The population of 240 (fn. 1) must have been stationary since the early
18th century, when there were about 54 houses, including two set apart for the poor. (fn. 2)
The old-world village stands high among its poplar
trees and with its saddle-back church tower to the
south, and quaint cottages, is the delight of artists.
Behind the manor-house at the entrance to the village
is a circular stone dovecote, probably of 17th-century
date, with leaded roof and octagonal wooden cupola. (fn. 3)
The village is divided into two parts, one north and
one south of the Berry, an entrenched space of about
4 acres. The parish slopes upward from 214 ft. in the
north to 300 ft. in the south-east. It is traversed by
Banbury Lane going south-west and the Northampton
canal in the north.
Manors
ROTHERSTHORPE lay in Collingtree Hundred in 1086. Geoffrey Alselin
was overlord of a ½ hide that had previously
belonged with sac and soc to the English thegn Tochi
son of Outi and was appurtenant to the manor of Milton
Malzor. In 1086 Winemar the Fleming held the soc
of this ½ hide of Geoffrey Alselin.
The major part of the vill, 2½ hides, was held in
demesne by the tenant-in-chief Gunfrid de Chocques
(Cioches). (fn. 4) In the 12th century the 'Chokes' fee had
been increased by ¼ hide, and was held by Ascelin, or
Anselm, de Chocques. (fn. 5) From him it descended to the
family of Béthune, hereditary advocates of the church
of St. Vedast of Arras; (fn. 6) and in 1209 at the request of
William of Arras, advocate of Béthune, King John
granted the manor and all appurtenances to Simon de
Pateshull and his heirs for £10 yearly as 1 knight's
fee. (fn. 7) The overlordship continued with the honor of
Chokes until 1428, (fn. 8) and it was afterwards held in
chief. (fn. 9) In 1252 its tenant owed castle-guard. (fn. 10) All the
royal lands in the parish became annexed to the honor
of Grafton in 1542. (fn. 11)
Andrew. Gules a saltire or voided vert.
From Simon de Pateshull, the judge, who died in
about 1217, (fn. 12) the manor passed to his eldest son Walter,
whose son Simon succeeded him
in 1232. (fn. 13) It then descended
with their manor of Pattishall (fn. 14)
(q.v.) through the family of
Fauconberge to that of Strangeways until 1539, when Sir James
Strangeways and Elizabeth his
wife conveyed it to Edward Pureferey and John Yate. (fn. 15) James
and Philip Yate had licence in
1541 to alienate it to Elizabeth
Englefield, widow, for life with
first remainder to her son John in fee, then to her
son and heir Francis in fee. (fn. 16) On her death in 1543
her younger son John entered into possession. (fn. 17) He
died seised in 1567 leaving a young son Francis, (fn. 18)
who was created a baronet in 1611, (fn. 19) made several
settlements, (fn. 20) and died seised in 1631. His son and
heir Sir Francis (fn. 21) alienated the manor by a conveyance in 1639 to Sir William Willmer and others, (fn. 22)
evidently trustees for Sir William Andrew, bart., of
Little Doddington. (fn. 23) In 1647 it was sequestered for his
recusancy; and Peter Stringer of Rainham, Norfolk,
and John Watson of St. Andrew's, Holborn, stated
that they had purchased it of him and begged to compound for it. (fn. 24) The manor descended, however, in the
Andrew or Andrews family until 1723. (fn. 25) It later came
into the hands of Peter John Fremeaux, from whom it
had passed by 1773 to James Fremeaux and Margaret
his wife; (fn. 26) and in 1798–9 it passed with the marriage
of Susanna Fremeaux to Thomas Reeve Thornton (fn. 27)
to the Thorntons of Brockhall.
The manor included in 1295 Thorpe Wood in
Salcey forest, with housebote and heybote by view of
the foresters and verderers. (fn. 28) In 1359 14 cottars paid
16s. yearly rent for a common oven; and there were
then customs called 'beaupleyt' and 'yeld'. (fn. 29) In 1675
free fishery and free warren, view of frankpledge and
court baron were descending with the manor. (fn. 30)
Plan of Rothersthorpe Church
Winemar's successors held of the honor of Huntingdon of the Hastings pourparty. Walter, son of Winemar the Domesday tenant, and his brother Michael,
with consent of 'A.' his wife, gave two thirds of the
tithe of their demesne in Thorpe and Wootton to St.
Andrew's priory, Northampton. (fn. 31) Three-quarters of a
hide was given to the Hospital of St. John of Northampton (fn. 32) soon after its foundation in about 1138, (fn. 33) the Preston family retaining the mesne lordship. (fn. 34) The Hospital held 10 virgates in 1284, (fn. 35) was returned as joint
lord of the vill in 1316, (fn. 36) and had ¼ knight's fee in
1376. (fn. 37) In 1535 it paid Sir James Strangeways 34s.
annually for land here and in Tiffield, and had a bailiff
for these places. (fn. 38)
The £10 fee farm rent from the manor was granted
by Henry III in 1231 to St. Mary de Pratis near
Creak, Norfolk, as a temporary gift, (fn. 39) confirmed by
Edward I; (fn. 40) and that house remained in possession until
it came to an end automatically in 1507, 'because there
was no convent in it'. (fn. 41) John de Pateshull in 1349 held
£42 13s. 5d. rent and rents of 3 capons and 14 hens
of the Abbot of Creak by the service of 30s. yearly and
to John Cook 12d., (fn. 42) these sums being presumably the
proportion of the £10 chargeable on his tenements.
Henry VII gave the £10 rent to Christ's College, Cambridge, with the rest of the abbey's property; (fn. 43) and the
Englefields, as lords of Rothersthorpe, were still pay
ing it in the late 16th century. (fn. 44)
Church
The church of ST. PETER A.ND ST.
PAUL consists of chancel, 26 ft. 6 in. by
19 ft. 3 in., with north and south chapels,
clerestoried nave, 36 ft. 6 in. by 18 ft., north and south
aisles, respectively 10 ft. 9 in. and 12 ft. 3 in. wide,
south porch, and west tower 8 ft. 9 in. by 9 ft., all these
measurements being internal. The width across nave
and aisles is 46 ft. 2 in. The chapels belong structurally
to the aisles and overlap the chancel on each side for
about half its length. The north chapel is now used
as a vestry.
The walling is all of roughly dressed coursed limestone mingled with local ironstone, and, with the
exception of the porch, all the roofs are of low pitch
and leaded. There is a parapet to the north aisle, but
elsewhere the lead overhangs. The tower has a leaded
saddle-back roof, and the porch is covered with red
tiles. Internally the walls are plastered, except in the
tower and at the west end of the nave.
The 12th-century font and the sculptured crosshead noticed below point to a church of that period on
the site, but no part of the existing fabric can definitely
be assigned to so early a date. The present nave may
be considered to represent that of a 13th-century
aisleless church, the quoins at the western angles of
which remain, and the walls of the chancel are in the
main of the same period, a portion of a 13th-century
string-course, originally external, being now within the
south chapel. About 1300, aisles were added and the
present arcades built, the aisles being carried eastward
so as partly to cover the chancel, the arch to which was
rebuilt, a clerestory erected and the tower heightened
or its upper part reconstructed. In the 15th century
new windows were inserted in the chancel and other
changes made, the nave roof being perhaps then lowered
to its present pitch. (fn. 45)
In 1841 (fn. 46) the nave and aisles were re-pewed, but no
extensive reparation was undertaken until 1910–12,
when the north aisle and the east end of the south
aisle were rebuilt, an arch turned across each aisle to
resist the thrust of the chancel arch, and the tower
repaired. Some alterations were made in the chancel
in 1932.
The chancel has a chamfered plinth and keel-shaped
string at sill level all round. The large pointed 15thcentury east window is of four cinquefoiled lights with
vertical tracery and hood-mould, (fn. 47) and the two-stage
diagonal angle buttresses were no doubt added when the
window was inserted. On the south side is a tall pointed
window of three cinquefoiled lights, and on the north
side, high in the wall, a square-headed window of three
ogee cinquefoiled lights, with pointed rear arch. The
piscina and double sedilia form a single composition
of three continuous-moulded ogee arches without
hoods, the bowl of the piscina being fluted and the seats
on one level. Immediately west of the sedilia is a splayed
flat-arched opening, about 3 ft. wide, forming a squint
from the aisle, or chapel, (fn. 48) and in the north wall is a
rectangular aumbry, which retains its original oak door
and beautiful iron hinges with snake-head terminations. (fn. 49) At its western end the chancel opens to the north
and south chapels by early-14th-century pointed arches
of two chamfered orders, the inner order on halfoctagonal responds with moulded capitals and bases;
and the wider chancel arch is similar, all the bases having double rolls. The chancel has an old open timber
roof of plain character, and turned oak altar rails.
The floor is flagged.
The nave arcades are of three pointed arches of
two chamfered orders springing from pillars composed
of attached triple shafts grouped round a cylindrical
core, which fills the spaces between the four sets of
shafts. The pillars have moulded capitals with plain
bells and the bases a simple double roll upon a square
plinth. The responds are half-octagonal, and the arches
have hood-moulds on both sides. At the east end of
each arcade, high in the wall, in the usual position near
to the chancel arch, the rood-loft doorways remain, but
the lower doorway on the north side is either hidden
or removed. The arches between the aisles and the
chapels, as already stated, are modern, (fn. 50) and the former
screens have been removed.
There is a piscina in each of the chapels, that in the
south with continuous-moulded pointed head and fluted
bowl, and the other with trefoiled head and bowl with
orifices placed round a central boss. The south chapel
has a restored pointed east window of two trefoiled
lights, the splayed jambs of which widen out at the
bottom internally, (fn. 51) and in the south wall a single-light
pointed window near the east end, (fn. 52) and a later elliptical-headed window of four trefoiled lights. On each
side of the east window is a moulded bracket, and below
the four-light window a wide wall-recess (fn. 53) with moulded
ogee arch and crocketed hood-mould.
The much-restored east window of the north chapel
is of two trefoiled lights with quatrefoil in the head, but
in the north wall is a pointed three-light window with
good original curvilinear tracery.
The 13th-century south doorway, moved outward
when the aisle was built, has a pointed arch of two
orders, the inner with a continuous half-roll edge
moulding and the outer with a plain chamfer, on nookshafts with moulded capitals and bases: the hoodmould is keel-shaped. The original oak door has been
faced with deal, but retains a good iron ring-handle
with circular pierced plate. The pointed north doorway is of two continuous moulded orders with hoodmould. The pointed aisle windows are much restored:
that at the west end of the south aisle consists of a
single trefoiled light, the others of two lights, varying
only slightly in detail.
The clerestory windows, three on each side, are
small quatrefoiled circles, but on the south side the
easternmost one has been replaced by a long squareheaded window of four lights with wooden lintel. (fn. 54)
The east gable of the old nave roof, surmounted by a
sanctus bell-turret, still stands, though the roof itself
no longer remains.
The restored porch (fn. 55) is without buttresses and has a
pointed outer doorway of two chamfered orders, the
inner order on half-octagonal responds with moulded
capitals and bases. A disused sun-dial in the plain coped
gable occupies the place of a former niche. In each
of the side walls is a small nondescript opening cut
from a single stone.
The tower, which is undivided by strings below the
bell-chamber, has pairs of three-stage buttresses at its
western angles, and a wide single-light pointed west
window, below which a doorway with wooden frame
is cut through the wall. The north and south walls are
blank, except for a small pointed louvred opening in
the upper part. There is no vice. The bell-chamber
stage is much restored; the pointed windows are of two
trefoiled lights, with plain pierced spandrels, and hoodmoulds. On the north and south sides the tower terminates with straight parapets, and the coped east and
west gables of the saddle-back roof have each a small
pointed window of two lights. (fn. 56) Internally the tower
opens to the nave by a 13th-century pointed arch of
two chamfered orders, the inner order on half-round
responds with moulded capitals and bases.
The 12th-century font has a circular bowl ornamented with an arcade of intersecting round arches
and with a cable moulding round the top. It formerly
stood on a plain circular drum and two steps, (fn. 57) but is
now on a small roughly shaped pedestal and base.
The plain panelled oak pulpit has a moulded top
and base and on the front panel is incised 'F.S. 1579',
within a shield.
In the nave and aisles are sentences of scripture
painted on the walls; (fn. 58) and the pillars are painted grey
with orange-coloured capitals. In the north aisle is a
memorial to seven men of the parish who fell in the war
of 1914–18.
There is a ring of five bells cast by Gillett and Johnston of Croydon in 1914. (fn. 59)
The silver plate consists of a cup of 1570 and a
paten of 1591; there is also a pewter flagon, and a
pewter plate dated 1702. (fn. 60)
The registers before 1812 are as follows: (i) all
entries 1562–1653; (ii) December 1655–95; (fn. 61) (iii)
burials February 1678/9–1759; (iv) baptisms 1706–
49; (v) baptisms 1750–1813; (vi) marriages 1754–
1812; (vii) burials 1773–1812.
In the church is preserved the head and upper part
of the shaft of a 12th-century wheeled cross, which was
found in 1869 in pulling down a barn in the village. (fn. 62)
The cross proper, which bears the figure of Our Lord,
rises from beautifully carved foliage, with projecting
heads at the sides above a horizontal moulded and
sculptured band. (fn. 63)
In the churchyard is the base of a cross consisting of
a square socket stone with chamfered edges, containing
a small portion of the shaft. (fn. 64)
Advowson
William II, le Roux, advocate of
Béthune, gave the church to the abbey
of St. James outside Northampton (fn. 65) by
1209. The abbey presented to the vicarage in 1227,
saving a portion to themselves. (fn. 66) St. Andrew's priory
had received a grant of tithes from Michael de Preston, (fn. 67) and when this church was appropriated to St.
James's Abbey in 1277 the pension was reserved (fn. 68) and
still paid in 1535. (fn. 69) The vicar, it was arranged in 1277,
was to have the manse on the south of the church and
the house that 'Sarra called the nun' used to dwell in.
The abbey held the advowson and rectory until its
surrender in 1538. (fn. 70) They were sold by Edward VI
to Matthew White and Edward Bury, (fn. 71) and purchased
from them by Francis Samwell, (fn. 72) of Upton, who presented in 1555, (fn. 73) and the rectory and advowson descended with Upton (q.v.) until 1865, (fn. 74) after which the
advowson was acquired by the Rev. J. L. S. Hatton.
From 1903 until now it has been in the possession
of P. Phipps, esq., (fn. 75) the present patron. The living
is a vicarage.