The House

The House

The Grade I listed Prebendal Manor House is the earliest surviving dwelling in Northamptonshire.

It forms the focus of a group of stone buildings, which includes a 16th century dovecote, a large 18th century tithe barn and a 15th century lodgings building.

Prebends

There are known to have been fifty prebendaries of Nassington some much more prominent that others. Many were the king's clerks and some were the pope's appointees.

Within this short history it is not possible to describe them, all but a comprehensive overview follows.

For an insight into a prebendaries' duties and jurisdiction, please visit the History page

Ranulf de Nassington	a canon and the Presenter of the cathedral and the first prebendary, was appointed about 1160. (5) He may have undertaken the repairs to the Late Saxon timber hall in the 12th century.
William of Avalon	Appointed to the prebend in 1222 and St. Hugh of Lincoln’s nephew, may have been responsible for the demolition of the Saxon hall and replacement of a stone built Great Hall and solar. The archeological evidence would suggest that the Saxon aisled hall was encased in stone and then gradually dismantled. Initially the aisle posts remained to support the roof and were not removed until about 1260. The central hearth was also retained and continued in use until 1434.  In 1254 the prebend was rated at £100 per annum. During 1279 John Romayne obtained the prebend with the Precentorship of Lincoln cathedral by papal provision. [6] In 1290 the pope tried to annex the prebend to St Peters in Rome but failed, however 160 marks "the fruits of the manor" were paid to Pope Nicholas IV. (7)
John of Lacey	Bishop Oliver Sutton’s visitations to the prebend with his large entourage occurred in 1291, 1295 and 1298. Prebendary John of Lacey the kings clerk and special equerry when on the kings errands abroad complained to the pope about the bishop’s use of his prebend during his absence. (8)
Philip de Cabasolle	Was appointed by papal provision in 1371 and was immediately permitted to have a deputy to manage his prebend for three years. At the same time he was also archdeacon of York and Leicester and Cardinal Bishop of Sabena. (9)
Simon of Sudbury	Later became the archbishop of Canterbury and was subsequently beheaded in the Tower of London during the Peasants Revolt of 138. He claimed the prebend in 1349. However Richard II recovered the manor in the courts in 1350 and granted it to Henry Walton who was the treasurer to the Earl of Lancaster.(10)
Edward de la Zouche	He was a scholar of civil law and became the Chancellor of Cambridge in 1380. He was appointed to the prebend in 1412 but died in 1414. He appears to have been very acquisitive in his ability to obtain prebends holding many during his life. (11)
Nicholas Colnet	Was the physician to Henry V and prebendary from 1414 to 1417 and was granted three archers. He also maintained three servants and a chaplain. Colnet was excused the Knights Fee on account of being away with the king at the Battle of Angincourt in 1415.  The Lilium Medicinae and an ewer from the duke of Orleans are among his bequests in his will. (12) Many of the plants grown today within the recreated medieval gardens at the Prebendal Manor would have been known and used by Nicholas Colnet when treating the king.
John Mackworth	Was Dean of Lincoln cathedral and was appointed prebendary from 1427-1451 was a "fruitful source of trouble and dispute throughout the greater part of his career" (13)  Major works to the manor were instigated at this time and John Mackworth may have been responsible for the alterations and improvements to the property. A service wing with chambers above was added to the Great Hall. A new grander front entrance was inserted into the existing entrance. The central hearth was replaced by a large fireplace in the north wall at the "high end" of the Great Hall, and stone tracery was inserted into the existing 13th century openings, which were probably glazed for the first time. It is possible that the Lodgings is dated from this period as is the cobbled surface which extended over the entire front courtyard. John Mackworth was the longest serving prebendary in the 15th century and is thought to have visited the prebend on a number of occasions.
Lionell Wodeville	He was the brother-in-law of Edward IV,was appointed to the prebend from 1464-1471.
	In 1535 Henry VIII let the prebend to a farmer, probably Thomas Berston, for 24 years at £38 per annum.
John Whitgift	Dean of Lincoln and was a notable 16th century prebendary. Appointed to Nassington in 1572–1576 he later became the Bishop of Worcester in 1577, Archbishop of Canterbury in 1583 and later founded The Holy Trinity (Whitgift School, Croydon) in 1599.
Henry Rainsford	Appointed prebend in 1618 and was ejected violently from the manor by Oliver Cromwell’s troops in 1650. The manor was then sold to Edward Bellamy "for ever". However at the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 it was restored to Lincoln cathedral.(14)
Timothy Neve	Appointed from 1747-1757 may have paid for the Neve bell which is still rung to day in Nassington Church.
The Cathedral Act of 1840 abolished endowed estates. Prebendal jurisdiction survived a further five years before it, too was abolished. In 1847 the manor was sold to the Ecclesiastical Commission who in 1875 sold it to the Earl of Carysfort and it was then leased to tenant farmers. (15)

 

The Prebendal Manor and the church stand on a promontory overlooking the River Nene and the village of Nassington. The river and streams border the village on all sides. Facing the Manor is the church of St Mary and All Saints which has Saxon stone work and the remnants of a Saxon stone cross.

Archaeological excavation and documentary investigation has provided a great deal of information about the Prebendal Manor and the village of Nassington

It forms the focus of a group of stone buildings, which includes a 16th century dovecote, a large 18th century tithe barn and a 15th century lodgings building.

Recent field excavations away from the manor show that somewhere in the vicinity there are likely to be sites associated with the Neolithic and Bronze Age. An Early Iron Age field and fence system crosses obliquely under the manor house. Roman pottery most likely of a manuring scatter, indicates that fields of a Roman farmstead also occupied the site.

Although an appreciable amount of Early/Middle Saxon pottery has been discovered during the excavations at the Prebendal Manor, the early Saxon site was possibly on the lower valley levels near an Anglo Saxon burial site, recorded in 1944. (1)

Nassington would have been viewed as a strategic place to settle. The close proximity to Ermine Street and other minor Roman roads and the river Nene, which was navigable to the sea, would have provided benefits to the earlier settlers.

By the ninth century Nassington may have been a royal estate with a church which had Minster status.(2) The later ecclesiastical-dependant settlements of  Yarwell, Woodnewton, Apethorpe and Hale may provide the evidence of the earlier estate. There appears to be no evidence of soul-scot being paid to the Minster but the dependencies of these surrounding villages were still evident in the fourteenth centuries, although less so than in the earlier periods.

The base of an Anglo-Saxon dated to the late ninth century was discovered when the church was restored in the 19th century.   The influence for the decoration derives from Northumbria.
The two surviving Anglo-Saxon features in the church appear to be of different dates and it is suggested that the tower may be dated earlier than the nave with its surviving long and short quoins, which possibly replaced an earlier nave. The Saxon tower which, was encased by outer facing in the late 12^th century, is dated to the 11^th century. (3)

During the 1984 excavations within the grounds of the Prebendal Manor, and directly opposite the church, a stone quarry was uncovered which was dated to the 10^th century. The  quarry  probably provided the stone, either for the repair of an existing church, or for the first stone built church in Nassington. (Report forthcoming).

During the 1986 excavations a Late Saxon single aisle timber building, with a central hearth, was recorded beneath the Prebendal Manor and was dated 950 AD to 1000 AD. (4)  When King Cnut visited Nassington some time after 1017 he was accompanied by Aetheric, the bishop of Dorchester on Thames and large entourage.  However, the smallness of the accommodation caused many of his retinue to find lodgings in the neighboring settlements. Aetheric is recorded as having stayed in the Dane’s house in Elton, Cambridgeshire. (5)

At Domesday, Nassington was still under the ownership of the King and is recorded as having 6 hides – enough “land for 16 ploughs”  and  “ in lordship two” . There were 24 villagers and  a priest. The two small holders had 14 ploughs. The two 2 mills were valued at 30s 8d; There was also 40 acres of meadow land; woodland which was “one league long and ½ league wide”. “It paid £26, 13s at face value”, and at Domesday was valued at £30.

One of the mills may have been in Yarwell which, although not mentioned in the Domesday survey, was probably included with Nassington.

Between 1107 and 1123 Henry I granted to St Mary’s of Lincoln, and Bishop Robert the churches of Nassington, Woodnewton, Tansor, and Southwick "in prebendam and the church and bishop shall hold them as Leving, the kings’ scribe, best held them." (6)  Leving was the rector of Nassington at this time.

Simon Earl of Northampton granted the Prebend an augmentation of lands in Tansor in about 1150. The augmentation could have come from lands belonging to the church in Tansor. (7)    The grant of Henry I was finally confirmed in 1163 by Pope Alexander III at Tours.  This long delay may have been caused by feudal anarchy which occurred in England during Stephan and Matilda’s reign.  

Ranulf de Nassington, a canon and the cathedral Presentor at Lincoln, was appointed in about 1160.  Ranulf would have occupied the Late Saxon hall and may have instigated the replacement of the earlier annex building of the Saxon hall with a more substantial timber building.

A further grant to the Prebend was made by Richard Fitz-Urse to Ranulf, the canon in 1169, of the fee of Robert Marmiun, with the tithes and possessions and of the lands belonging to the properties of Cobbe, Thedric and the nephew of Wlueua. (8)   Ranulf is recorded as having died some time before 1188.

In 1200 King John granted land in Nassington to the sum of a hundred marks to David, the earl of Huntingdon, who also owned Fotheringhay, Northamptonshire. (9)

During the reign of Edward IV all the lands in Yarwell and some of the lands in Nassington, except the Prebend’s, were let to tenants the remaining lands stayed in the hands of the crown until the reign of Elizabeth I.

When the church was set fire in 1299 the bishop of Lincoln issued an injunction to the prebendary of Nassington insisting that culprits must be excommunicated. (10)  A great deal of damage was done to the south aisle which required extensive rebuilding.

Edward II granted the privileges of a weekly market in 1308 and in 1377 Richard II the privilege was increased with yearly fair on the eve day of the morrow of St Michael, the 28^th September.  (11)

Nassington benefited from its royal ownership with the privileges of markets, of the freedom of a wodes halfmarc tax and of the rights of commonage in Sulhay during Edward IV reign. (12)  The Prebend provided benefits in other ways by granting patrimony for one or two inhabitants of Nassington. (13)  Henry of Nassington, a clerk in minor orders in 1283, later became Bishop Oliver’s Official and eventually the Bishop’s Principle which entitled him to act on all legal matters. He is therefore named  on countless occasions, witnessing wills, dealing with disputes in the Bishop’s absence and giving various presentations to the church. 

John of Nassington became Rector of Curtenhale in 1287 and later a Canon of York.

Thomas Board was appointed as an unbeneficial Deacon in 1290 and paid by the patrimony of 40s from the Prebend. (14)  The average value of patrimony was 50s and the minimum acceptable stipend of a vicar was fixed at 5 marks.

Guy Daffyn of Nassington was examined for the priesthood in St Michael’s Priory, Stamford in 1298. Guy of Nassington, who became an unbeneficed sub deacon, was examined for holy orders at Brampton, Huntington in 1299. (15) Thomas de Nassington became an Oxford graduate in 1309. (16)  William of Nassington became an advocate in the Ecclesiastical court of York and translated various theological works into English. (17)

A similar situation occurs in the fourteenth century where Nassington men receive benefit from the Prebend. Although only one person is mentioned as receiving Patrimony some may have first acquired skills as clerks to the Prebend. Prebendaries were often absent and some never visited the Nassington Prebend preferring to remain in Rome, or as the King’s clerks, working for him elsewhere. It was therefore probably necessary to have a clerk living at  the Prebend to deal with all  ecclesiastical matters during the prebendaries’ absence.

In 1286 the Prebend is listed as vacant and remained so for three years. In 1290 documents concerning the Prebend were sent to Rome.  In 1291 the Prebend was valued at £100 per annum.  (18)  Probably because of its wealth the Pope tried to annex the Prebend to Rome but failed. However, in that same year 160 marks, described as the “fruits of the manor”, were paid to Pope Nicholas IV. (19)

The Pope may have been entitled to the income from the Prebend  on this occasion since in 1286 the manor is listed as vacant.  The pope had probably appointed John le Romeyn, the previous incumbent of the Prebend. On the occasions when there was a vacancy, the appointee of the most recent incumbent was entitled to the income arising from the Prebend during the vacancy. This rule applied to the Pope and the King. Certainly the pope took a great deal of interest in the manor at this time.

The 1551 village survey provides a detailed description of the village and the fields. Each cottager was entitled to have 3 beasts and 10 sheep.  The cattle were allowed to graze in Rockingham forest provided that they were marked with a crown. The cattle  were also allowed to use the nearby woods for pannage at no cost. This freedom from payment probably reflects a much earlier grant. (20)

In 1553 prebendary William Nittern let the Prebendal farmland for £24 per annum for 24 years. Some of the income provided a pension for the Dean and Chapter of Lincoln. (21)

During the Civil War, Cromwell’s men “violently dispossessed the Prebendary and the vicar, and the Prebend was sold to Mr. Bellamy and his family “for ever". (22) However with the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 came the return of a prebendary to Nassington.

A change of ownership in Nassington occurred during the reign of Elizabeth I.  All the lands she held in Nassington and Fotheringhay were sold to Alexander Kinge who then sold it to Sir Anthony Mildmay of Apethope in 1616. Mildmay died in the following year and the land passed to his daughter Lady Fane, who later became the Countess of Westmorland. (23) Elizabeth I’s decision to sell land in Nassington and Fotheringhay may have happened because she needed to distance herself from the locality after the beheading of Mary Queen of Scotland in Fotheringhay castle.

When Nassington was enclosed in 1778, James Ibbotson, the Prebendary at that time, vigorously protested in the hope of halting the land changes however he failed but a consequence of the enclosure released him from the requirement to keep a bull, or boar for the inhabitants of Nassington, and the surrounding villages, within the benefice. (24)  Although this is the first time this custom is mentioned it was probably a practice that had been in place for many years.

The Prebend was dissolved by an Act of Parliament in 1836. In 1840 the lands were passed to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and the Prebendal Manor was sold into private ownership thus ending hundreds of years of church ownership. (25)

 

Bibliography

1. E.T Leeds and R.J.C Atkinson, An Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Nassington, Antiquaries
   Journal, 224,100-128.
   
2. M. J. Franklin. The Identification of Ministers in the Midlands, Anglo-Norman Studies 1984,
   Vol., 7, P. 69-88.
   
3. RCHM, 1984, An Inventory of Architectural Monuments in Northamptonshire, p. 120-121.Vol. II.
   
4. Foster, Johnston, Baile, Archaeological Journal ,Vol. 146, for 1989.
5. Chronicon Abbatiae Ramseiensis, (75), Ed., D. Marcy,1886, p,135.
6. Registrum Antiquistrum of the Cathedral Church of Lincoln, Vol., II., Ed C.W. Foster, & K. Major, 1931-73.
7. ibid.
8. ibid.
9. Pipe R. 1 John, m,2.
10. .Rolls and Register of Bishop Oliver Sutton 1280-1299, Vol., VI. Vol. II 1 Ed., R. Hill, 1950.
11. J. Bridges. The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, Vol .,III, P., 451
    Ed., Rev. P. Whalley, London, 1791.
12. ibid.
13. Rolls and Register of Bishop Oliver Sutton 1280-1299, Vol., I, Ed., R. Hill, 1984
    Lin, Rec, Soc, Vol. I.
14. ibid.
15. The Rolls and Register of Bishop Oliver Sutton 1280-1299, Vol., VI, Ed., R. Hill,1984
    Lin. Rec. Soc, Vol. 1.
16. The Rolls and Register of Bishop Oliver Sutton 1280-1299 Vol. VII, Ed., R. Hill, 1984.
17. The Register of Richard Burstall, Lin., Rec., Soc.
18. John Le Neve Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300 III Lincoln Ed., D. E. Greenway.
19. Rolls and Register of Bishop Oliver Sutton 1280-1299 Vol. III Ed R. Hill, 1954 Lin. Rec. Soc.
20. NPRO W (A) 4.xvi.5.
21. C. J. Gordon, The Parish & Manor of Nassington Cum Yarwell , pub. King, 1890.
22. ibid.
23. ibid.
24. An Act for Dividing and Enclosing the Common and Open Fields,
    W (A), Box 4 Parcel XI, 3, NPRO.
25. C. J. Gordon, The Parish & Manor of Nassington Cum Yarwell, Pub, King, 1890.