Parishes: Great Addington

GREAT ADDINGTON

Edintone (xi cent.); Haderingtona, Nordadington, Borealis Adintona, Adington Major (xiii cent.).

The Addingtons lie on the left bank of the River Nene and are very nearly equal in size; Great or North Addington, as it was once called, is 1,260 acres in extent, being but 127 acres larger than Little Addington, which lies to the south of it. A little to the east of the dividing line between them is Ringstead and Addington Station on the Northampton and Peterborough branch of the London Midland and Scottish Railway. The soil is partly light, and partly stiff clay: the subsoil clay and ironstone. The chief crops grown are wheat, barley, peas, and beans. Ironstone quarries were opened in 1877, but are now no longer worked. The population in 1921 was 285.

The little village of Great Addington lies on the road from Irthlingborough to Lowick, which is here crossed by a road from Ringstead to Cranford St. John. It is about 1½ miles away from the station, and about 4 miles south-west of Thrapston. A stream flowing into the Nene almost encircles it, its water driving the mill on the south of the village. At Shooters Hill burials with weapons and ornaments have been found. (fn. 1)

At the northern end of the village is the church, and grouped near it, on the eastern side of the road, are the school (erected in 1873–4) and the smithy. Opposite, and west of the road, is the Manor House, a good example of simple Jacobean work, and the residence of Lieut.-Col. Malcolm Romer, O.B.E. The rectory, a little distance to the north-east, a substantial building of stone, erected in 1678, and repaired in 1870, is pleasantly situated. The hall windows of the rectory house, as Bridges noted, contain several escutcheons: arms of the Peterborough see, Bacon, Isham, and Towers. Outlying properties are Rectory Farm in the north-west of the parish, and in the south-west Great Addington Lodge, to the west of which are chalk pits and Patch Lodge. There were riots here and at Rushton and 'Pightesley' in 1607 regarding the inclosure of lands. An agreement made in 1232–3 between Baldwin de Vere and the Abbey of Croyland confirming a grant to the church (q.v.) gives various place names, such as Sleng near the fee of Maurice de Audely; Wudefordebanlon', Grenewey, (fn. 2) Ridgeway, Trendlade, Lidewellehil, Michelwelle, Westfield on Scitershul (Shooters Hill), Brook furlong.

Manors

By a very doubtful charter of 833, Witlaf, King of the Mercians, confirmed to Croyland Abbey the gift of Wulnoth his steward of 2 hides of land in Addington, with a fishery, the advowson of the church of the vill, and a virgate of land in another [Little] Addington. (fn. 3) This grant was confirmed in other doubtful charters by Behrtulf, King of Mercia in 851, (fn. 4) by Burgred of Mercia in 868, (fn. 5) and by King Eadred in 948; (fn. 6) the last confirmation refers to the gift as 3 hides, with the advowson of the church of the vill.

In the Domesday Survey, the Abbot of Croyland was entered as holding 2 hides in Addington, and a mill rendering 13s. 4d. The value had risen from 15s. to 40s. (fn. 7) The abbey's tenant of these 2 hides in the reign of Henry I was William son of Guy [? de Reinbuedcourt]. (fn. 8) The Abbot of Croyland in 1284 held two parts of the vill of 'Adington Major' of the king in chief in frankalmoin, (fn. 9) and in 1291 the value of his lands was £6 8s. (fn. 10) Addington with its members was in 1316 held by the Abbot of Croyland, the Abbot of Sulby, and Robert de Vere, (fn. 11) the two latter each holding manors or lands in both Addingtons. In 1318 the Abbot of Croyland was engaged in a suit against William Marmaduke, bailiff of Richard Marmaduke of Raunds, and others, for damage done to his mill pond at Addington. (fn. 12)

The abbey continued to hold the manor, rectory and advowson until the Dissolution. (fn. 13)

The manor and advowson of the rectory and church on 25 March, 1544, were granted as parcel of the property of Croyland Abbey to Sir William Parr, Lord Parr of Horton, in tail male. (fn. 14) After the death of Lord Parr without male issue in 1546, a fresh grant was made in 1558 to Sir Robert Lane, Kt., of Horton, and Anthony Throckmorton, of Charleston (co. Oxon), together with grants of other monastic property. Great Addington manor was held with Brinklow (co. Warwick) for one fortieth of a knight's fee. (fn. 15) By Sir Robert Lane and Anthony Throckmorton the manor (but not the advowson) was sold in 1562 to Henry Clarke of Stanwick, (fn. 16) who, in his will dated 1574, refers to his farm at Stanwick where he dwelt, to his wife Anne (who survived him), and to his sons Gabriel and Christopher. He died in that year, his heir being his son William, aged 28 years. (fn. 17) William Clarke, as lord of the manor of Great Addington, was with Richard Curteys (son of Richard Curteys, late of Great Addington, husbandman), Richard Bolney, and John Bolney, defendant in 1588 in an action instituted by John Curteys of Great Addington, another son of Richard Curteys, and others, as to the admission to certain copyhold lands. (fn. 18)

William Clarke died in 1604, leaving a widow Eleanor, who lived at Potterspury. (fn. 19) His heir was his brother Gabriel, aged fifty, who in 1608 conveyed the Manor of Great Addington and lands in Great and Little Addington to William Bedell and William Ward, and the heirs of William Ward. (fn. 20)

The manor next appears in the hands of Christopher Curteys and his wife Dorothy, by whom it was conveyed in 1618 to William Bletsoe and Robert Sanderson. (fn. 21) Thomas Bletsoe of Addington, who appears in a list of 'friends' in 1655, (fn. 22) was presumably holding the manor, which by 1668 was in the hands of three generations of Thomas Bletsoes, grandfather, father, and son, and by them with Thomas Gerrard, was conveyed to Samuel Whitby of London, with the chief messuage or manor house of Great Addington, (fn. 23) and lands. The Bletsoes seem to have held under a settlement or mortgage, for in 1664 the manor with a water mill, a windmill, a dovecot, and lands in Great and Little Addington and Woodford was held by Thomas Andrews, who made a conveyance of it to John Clarke and Henry Hemington, (fn. 24) and in 1678, Thomas Andrew and his wife Ann conveyed the manors of Great Harleston and Great Addington to John Clendon and Thomas Bletsoe. (fn. 25) After this, the manor remained in the Andrews family, by whom it was held with the manor of Harleston (q.v.). Both manors were entailed by John Andrews by will of 22 July, 1736, and in 1794 Robert Andrews the elder, son of John Andrews, and Robert Andrews the younger, conveyed them to James Kindersley and John Russel. (fn. 26) No manorial rights are mentioned in the inclosure Act of 1803, when Robert Andrews was one of the owners and proprietors of the open and common fields, (fn. 27) and no manorial rights are now in existence. Addington Manor is occupied by Lt.-Col. Malcolm Romer, O.B.E. Mr. S. E. R. Lane and Mr. G. H. Capron, J.P., are the chief landowners.

A second manor in Great Addington originated in 1½ hides in Addington held in 1086 by William's trusted minister Geoffrey, Bishop of Coutances and under him by Hugh. The land had risen in value from 10s. in 1066 to 40s. at the date of the Domesday Survey (1086), (fn. 28) a rapid recovery after the devastation of the land at the Conquest or before. The Bishop forfeited his lands on account of his rebellion against William Rufus in 1088. Before the time of the Northamptonshire Survey (c. 1125), the Bishop's fee had passed to Aubrey de Vere or the Chamberlain, but whether the grant had been made to him or his father Aubrey is uncertain. (fn. 29) It was there entered as '2 hides of the King's fee,' (fn. 30) the 2 hides being made up of the Domesday 1½ hides and an additional half hide of the Bishop's land at Drayton in Lowick, which properties continued to be held together. The manor passed to Robert, younger son of Aubrey the Chamberlain, (fn. 31) who was holding Addington in 1166. He married twice, his first wife being Margaret Wake, presumably daughter of Geoffrey Wake and sister of Hugh Wake; with her he received a charter from Baldwin Wake (Wac) (fn. 32) granting to him 'with Margaret my aunt' (auita mea), (fn. 33) the vill of Thrapston. The charter is undated, but must have been made after 1168 when Hugh Wake, father of Baldwin the grantor, was alive and would have been holding Thrapston. By his first wife he had at least one son William. His second wife was Maud, daughter of Robert de Furnell. By an undated charter, Robert de Furnell granted to 'Robert son of Aubrey de Twiwell with Maud my daughter in free marriage' certain lands in Cranford. (fn. 34) These lands were later confirmed by John, son of Maud, daughter of Robert de Furnell, 'to Robert de Ver' as lands which Robert de Furnell gave 'to my mother in free marriage.' (fn. 35) Evidently John was a son of Maud by a former husband. By his second marriage, Robert de Vere had a son Henry, known as Henry son of Robert, who is said to have been brought up by his kinsman William de Mandeville, Earl of Essex and Albemarle, son of Roesia de Vere, and to have commanded with reputation at Gysors. (fn. 36) He was probably the judge of this name of the end of the 12th century. He is said to have died about 1193–4, and was succeeded by Walter, his son. This Walter, as Walter son of Henry son of Robert, by an undated charter of the early years of the 13th century, gave to William 'patrunculo meo,' or uncle on his father's side, all his land in Twywell for the service of half a knight and in Addington for the service of a quarter of a knight's fee which Robert his grandfather held on the day he died, to be held of Walter and his heirs. (fn. 37) Walter married Lucy, daughter of Gilbert Basset of Weldon. He had apparently two brothers, William and Geoffrey, and died in 1210–11. This branch of the family, which took the name of 'de Drayton,' continued to be the overlords of the Veres' holding in Addington. Its descent is given under Drayton in Lowick (q.v.).

William, the elder son of Robert de Vere, lived on till the early part of the 13th century. Under the name of William son of Robert son of Aubrey, he endowed the Hospital of St. John Baptist of Northampton with lands in Slipton and Twywell. (fn. 38) His lands in Thrapston passed to Thomas de Vere, perhaps his son, who died in 1204 and was succeeded by his brother Baldwin de Vere, who in 1233 was described as constable of Clun Castle. (fn. 39) He obtained exemption from suit at the hundred court for his lands and men of Thrapston from Alexander, Abbot of Peterborough (1222–6) (fn. 40) and appears to have taken up his residence and possibly built a house at Addingon. In 1232 he received licence from the Abbot of Croyland as patron, Walter, rector of the church of Addington, and Bishop Hugh of Lincoln, to build a chapel, without a baptistery or belfry, in his court at Addington, where he and his wife Hawise, their guests and household, might hear divine service, but they were to visit the parish church on certain feasts. Baldwin and his heirs could present a chaplain who would be admitted by the rector, and he and his wife granted certain lands to the parish church. (fn. 41) At the same time he exchanged certain lands with the abbot of Croyland for other lands before his gate, evidently with the object of improving the approach to his house. (fn. 42) He was alive in 1242–3, (fn. 43) but in 1245, Robert his son was holding his lands. (fn. 44) Robert married Joan de Waterville, one of the heiresses of Thorpe Waterville, with whom he received one third of the manor of Ludborough and other lands. He died before 1277 when Baldwin his son was under age. Baldwin died before 1287, when Robert his brother did homage for part of the inheritance of Joan his mother. (fn. 45) Robert de Vere, who was sheriff of Northamptonshire in 1301 and 1319, paid scutage for his manor of Thrapston held of Thomas Wake in 1316. (fn. 46) His wife's name was Maud. He died before 1330, and was succeeded by Ralph his son. (fn. 47) Ralph died in 1335, (fn. 48) and an extent of Addington Manor taken after his death, showed there was then a capital messuage, a dovecot, a garden with a mill in it and 60 acres of demesne. (fn. 49) His son John de Vere, who married Alice, was one of the 110 defendants in a suit as to dower in Thrapston in 1345. (fn. 50) He was killed at the Battle of Crecy (1346) (fn. 51) leaving a son John who survived his father only a few years and died under age.

In 1349 Simon de Drayton, the overlord of Addington, granted the wardship of John in respect of that manor to Thomas Wake, lord of Liddell (fn. 52) who was John's overlord at Thrapston. John was succeeded by his uncle Robert, who is described as of Addington He and his wife Elizabeth entailed the manor of Addington in 1351, when Alice widow of John de Vere had her dower in it. (fn. 53) Robert died about 1369, leaving three sons, Robert, Baldwin and John. Elizabeth his widow had her dower in the lands, and she is described in 1400 as lady of Great Addington, (fn. 54) where no doubt she lived. Robert the eldest son, also described as of Addington, (fn. 55) was still under age in 1400. (fn. 56) In 1408, by deed dated at Great Addington, he, described as 'Robert Vere of Thrapston,' granted the manors of Thrapston, with his lands in Little Addington and Woodford, to Sir John Pilkington, Ralph Grene of Drayton, Thomas Mulsho and John de Welton of Bolde, probably for the purposes of a settlement. (fn. 57) On 26 February 1420, Pilkington, Mulsho and Welton reconveyed these lands, except the site and demesnes of the manor of Thrapston and other lands there, to Robert de Vere. (fn. 58) Robert died apparently in this year or the following, leaving a daughter Margaret, married to Thomas Ashby. In 1421 Thomas Ashby, of Louseby in Leicestershire, and Margaret his wife granted the manor of Thrapston to Baldwin de Vere, uncle of Margaret. (fn. 59) Baldwin, described as of Addington, by deed dated there in 1405, conveyed all his lands to William, parson of the church of Islip, and William Seymour, apparently for the purposes of a settlement. (fn. 60) He died in 1424, leaving a son and heir Richard, (fn. 61) who married Isabella, sister of Sir Henry Grene. Richard died in 1480 and was succeeded by his son Henry de Vere (fn. 62) who died in 1493, leaving four daughters and heirs by his wife Isabella Tresham, all under age. (fn. 63) These ladies were also co-heirs of their mother to the lands of Constance, daughter of Sir Henry Grene, wife of John Stafford, Earl of Wiltshire, on the death of their son Edward, Earl of Wiltshire (fn. 64) in 1499. These de Vere co-heiresses were (1) Elizabeth, who married John son of Sir John Mordaunt, who was created a baron in 1522, and whose descendants eventually obtained nearly the whole of Henry de Vere's property; (2) Anne, who married, first, Robert, another son of Sir John Mordaunt, by whom she had no issue, and secondly, Humphrey Brown, brother of Sir Wistan Brown, by whom she had a son George who died without issue in 1558; after George's death his share in the manor of Great Addington being conveyed by the three daughters of Sir Humphrey Brown by his second wife Anne, daughter of John, Lord Hussey, (fn. 65) and their descendants, to the Mordaunts before the end of the century; (3) Constance, the third daughter, who married John Parr and died without issue in 1501, when her share fell to her three sisters; (4) Audrey or Etheldreda, the fourth daughter, who married John, son and heir of Sir Wistan Brown; they and their son George conveyed their share in Great Addington to Sir John Mordaunt in 1548. (fn. 66) Thus by the end of the 16th century all the shares in Great Addington and Thrapston had come into the possession of Lewis, third Lord Mordaunt, son of John son of John first Lord Mordaunt and Elizabeth de Vere. Lewis leased the manor house of Great Addington to Arthur Darcy with the chief messuage in the tenure of John Cootes. In 1610, a term of six years still remaining of this lease was granted to George Chambers on the conviction for recusancy of Arthur Darcy and his son Henry. (fn. 67) In 1609 Henry, fourth Lord Mordaunt, son of Lewis, died seised of the manors of Great Addington, Thrapston, Lowick, Islip and Slipton, and of the chantry of Great Addington. (fn. 68) The manor of Great Addington passed with the barony of Mordaunt and earldom of Peterborough until 1814, when the last Earl of Peterborough died without issue. (fn. 69)

Lands in Great and Little Addington held by John Pyel by the rent of a pair of gloves, were granted in 1357 by John Daundelyn the elder of Cranford, to Adam Franceys, citizen of London, and Henry Pyel, clerk. (fn. 70) In 1386 a grant for life of 50 marks rent from the manors of Irthlingborough, Sudborough, Great and Little Addington was made by Simon Symeon and John Curtys of Wennyngton (co. Hunts), who had these manors from Henry Pyel, Archdeacon of Northampton, and William Braybrook, by release from John Pyel to Joan, the widow of John Pyel, citizen of London. (fn. 71) Land in Addington held by Nicholas Pyel was included among the fees held of Edmund Earl of Stafford at his death in 1403. (fn. 72) The manors held by the Pyels descended to the Cheyneys of Irthlingborough, and after the death without issue of Elizabeth Pyel were inherited, as her kinsman and heir, by Sir Thomas Cheyney, Kt., son of Sir John Cheyney, who settled them on his wife Anne. He died in 1514, leaving a daughter Elizabeth, then aged nine and married to Thomas son and heir of Sir Nicholas Vaux of Harrowden. Margaret Vere, widow of Sir George Vere, Kt., unsuccessfully claimed the manor (fn. 73) which passed with Irthlingborough (q.v.) to the Vaux family, Lord, Vaux of Harrowden.

The abbot of Peterborough held land in Great Addington in the 12th century. (fn. 74) This may have been the manor of Great Addington which, with the advowson of the rectory, parcel of the possessions of the Abbey, was granted to William, Lord Parr of Horton, in 1544. (fn. 75) It seems to have passed to Lewis Mordaunt, who with William le Hunt conveyed it in 1646 to Richard Raymond and Thomas Watts. (fn. 76) In 1649 Richard Raynsford and Katherine his wife conveyed it to Richard Andrew and Henry Paynter, (fn. 77) in 1760 Robert Lambe conveyed it to John Woodford, clerk. (fn. 78)

Early in the reign of Henry II (1154–89) Arnold de Pavilly (Papilio) granted a mill in Addington to Sulby Abbey which was confirmed to the Abbey in the time of Henry II. (fn. 79)

Church

The Church of ALL SAINTS consists of chancel 28 ft. by 14 ft. 4 in., with north chapel 15 ft. 3 in. by 10 ft., clearstoried nave of three bays 39 ft. by 14 ft. 9 in., north and south aisles each 9 ft. 6 in wide, south porch, and west tower 11 ft. 4 in. by 12 ft., all these measurements being internal. The width across nave and aisles is 38 ft. 6 in. The chapel (the chantry of Our Lady) is a continuation of the north aisle and covers the chancel about half its length: it is now used as an organ chamber. Further east is a modern vestry.

The church is built of rubble and has plain parapets and low-pitched leaded roofs, except to the porch, which is covered with grey slates. The interior is plastered. The chancel was restored in 1891, and the nave roof renewed.

Of the 12th-century aisleless church there are traces in the large plinths beneath the piers of the nave, embodying fragments of the former walls; and the south doorway of this building, with a round arch carved with a row of chevron, and jamb-shafts with foliated capitals, is now the outer doorway of the south porch. The usual process of enlarging the chancel and adding aisles to the nave was begun in the later part of the 13th century, and further alterations were made in the two following centuries, including the addition of the south porch and of the tower.

The work of rebuilding appears to have started with the nave. The chancel and north chapel were built about 1300, and the string-course beneath the windows is of this approximate date. At present the east window and the three two-light windows in the south wall are 15th-century insertions, much restored in modern times. The eastern window on the south side, however, is the original opening with inserted tracery: the sill is lowered to form a sedile, and from the east jamb of the window, within the opening, there projects the bowl of a piscina with a cinquefoilheaded niche behind. On the north side of the chancel there is a small oblong squint from an old vestry, the place of which has been taken by the modern building.

The chancel communicates with the north chapel by an arch of c. 1300, which is filled with early 15thcentury screen-work. Another screen, later and more formal in design, separates the chapel from the north aisle. Immediately to the east of the arch from the chancel, in the south wall of the chapel, is a projecting half-octagon piscina with roses on the bowl, resting upon a cluster of attached shafts, and having a small ogee-headed hollow behind. There are two windows in the north wall of this chapel. One, a two-light 14th-century opening, contains glass with shields of arms. The other, set low in the wall, contains fragments of 15th-century glass, and lights a recess in which is the alabaster effigy of Sir Henry Vere (d. 1493), founder of the chantry. The effigy has already been described. (fn. 80)

The arch between nave and chancel, with semicircular responds, is contemporary with the nave arcades. South of the arch, in the angle between the south respond and the east respond of the south arcade, a doorway, inserted in the 15th century, leads to a steep stair by which the rood-loft was approached. The stair is corbelled out towards the south aisle, and infringes upon an earlier bracket in the east wall: it is lighted on this side by a small double opening. The upper doorway remains, but the screen is gone.

The nave arcades are plain late 13th-century work. The piers are octagonal, with slender half-octagon responds; but the eastern arch of the north arcade springs from a corbel; and the pier on its west side is formed by a cluster of four shafts. The arches are very wide, and much ironstone is used in them.

Both aisles underwent some alteration after their original construction, and the outer wall of the north aisle, which is now continuous with that of the north chapel, has been practically rebuilt. There is a plain round-headed north doorway. The windows of the north aisle are 14th-century two-light openings with flat heads: the west window is rather later. In each case, the tracery has been considerably renewed.

The south aisle was partly rebuilt in the 14th century and was probably repaired in the 15th century, to which date belong the east and west windows, both of three lights. The two windows in the south wall are each of two lights: the western, with a round quatrefoil in the head, is contemporary with the arcades: the other has ogee lights and a pointed quatrefoil, and is of the early 14th century. Between this window and the east wall of the aisle is a very large tomb-recess, practically rebuilt.

The south doorway is of the 14th century, with mouldings on the chamfer-plane. It is covered by a porch which is partly of 13th-century date. The stone benches on either side stop short of the outer doorway, which, as already noted, is a fine late 12thcentury arch. It is clear that this arch was at first rebuilt in the south wall of the aisle and was covered by the porch, and that, when a new doorway was made in the 14th century, the porch was slightly lengthened and the old arch added to its outer face. This work formed part of the repair which included the east part of the aisle, but was apparently not continued west of the porch, where the older window was left undisturbed. The porch has a plastered barrel-roof, apparently of the 18th-century.

The clearstory, consisting of two-light windows, three on each side, was added in the 15th century, below the high pitch of the older roof, which appears above it externally.

The tower was built towards the middle of the 14th century, and has diagonal buttresses and a finely moulded west doorway, with filleted rolls in the outer, and a sunk chamfer and wave in the inner orders, and with a scroll hood-moulding. Above this is a vaulted niche. In the second stage there is a lozenge-shaped opening with reticulated tracery. A similar lozenge is pierced in the lower stage of the south wall, which is lighted in the second stage by a two-light window like those of the belfry above. The second stage in the north wall has a plain single light. The bell-chamber windows are of two lights with rather formal reticulated tracery. The carved band and high parapet with cross-loops above seem to have been added in the 15th century. The tower communicates with the nave by a chamfered arch of three orders. The vice is in the south-west angle.

The font is of the 13th century, with a circular bowl upon a circular stem furnished with four attached shafts, the capitals of which are joined to the bowl by grotesque head-shaped projections. There is a good early 17th-century pulpit, and there is some old glass in the heads of the north aisle windows, in addition to that already mentioned.

In the chancel, upon a marble slab placed upon a low stone table north of the altar, is the brass of a priest in mass vestments, carrying the chalice and wafer, with a scroll inscribed 'Ih[es]u fili dei miserere mei.' In medallions at the corners are the emblems of the four evangelists. The inscription reads: 'Orate pro a[nim]a magistri Joh[an]is Bloxham primi Capellani istius Cantarie beate marie qui obiit quinto die mensis decembris Anno xp[ist]i mill[es]imo quingentesimo xix° cuius anime propicietur deus amen. Henricus Veer erat fundator istius cantarie.' This brass evidently was originally in the north chapel, where the effigy of the founder, as already mentioned, still remains.

There are mural tablets in the chancel to William Lambe (d. 1762) and two of his sons, one of whom of the same name was rector (d. 1767), and to William Lambe (d. 1780).

There is a ring of six bells, by J. Taylor and Co., of Loughborough, 1899. They take the place of four bells (fn. 81) which were then recast, to which a treble and tenor were added.

The plate consists of a cup of 1835 and paten of 1845, both London make, and an almsdish made in Birmingham in 1832, the gift of Mary Tyley, wife of the Rev. James Tyley, rector, in 1846. There are also two plated almsdishes given in 1863. (fn. 82)

The registers before 1812 are as follows: (1) baptisms, 1694–1767; marriages, 1692–1754; burials, 1692–1767; (ii) baptisms, 1768–1812; burials, 1767–1812; (iii) marriages, 1754–1812.

Advowson

The church is referred to in a doubtful charter of 833 to Croyland Abbey, and the advowson was held by that abbey until the Dissolution, (fn. 83) after which it was granted with the Croyland manor to Lord Parr of Horton in 1544, and in 1558 to Sir Robert Lane, Kt., of Horton, and Anthony Throckmorton, of Charleston. Before 1562 the manor and advowson had been separated, and in 1586 the advowson was conveyed by Thomas Birte and Cresida his wife to William Goodfellow and Mary his wife, (fn. 84); since then it has been held by a succession of owners, sometimes incumbents.

Henry Vere at his death on 22 May, 1493, left directions for the endowment of a chantry of one chaplain in the parish church of Great Addington, to be called the Henry Vere chantry, for the souls of King Henry VII and his consort Queen Elizabeth, Prince Arthur and Henry, Duke of York, the said Henry Vere, his parents and benefactors. On 18 October, 1500, licence was obtained for the alienation in mortmain to the priory of St. Andrews, Northampton, of lands to the yearly value of 9 marks, or to charge the lands of the priory in Sywell with the payment of 9 marks yearly to the chaplain, and to alienate to him a messuage, garden, and 3 acres of land in Great Addington. (fn. 85) At the Dissolution the profits from the chantry, of which Robert Aleyn was incumbent, were £6. (fn. 86) The manor of Sywell, belonging to St. Andrew's Priory, exclusive of the payment to this chantry, was granted to John Mershe in 1543. (fn. 87)

The chantry and its endowment were granted to John, Lord Mordaunt, by George Brown in 1547, (fn. 88) and continued to be held by the Mordaunts, (fn. 89) as the manor of the chantry of Great Addington.

There are no charities in this parish.