James Hawes and Nick Hayes visit Newton in the Willows

The goal of one of my very first outings with a digital camera has cropped up in two books I have just read.

It is the village of Newton (Newton in the Willows if you are a romantic) near Geddington in Northamptonshire and gets a necessarily brief mention in James Hawes' The Shortest History of England and a much longer one in Nick Hayes's The Book of Trespass.

As I blogged twelve years ago, in 1607 Newton was the site of slaughter:

Over 1000 peasants gathered from Rockingham Forest - men, women and children - led by Captain Pouch. He was a tinker whose real name was John Reynoldes. He claimed to have authority from the kingdom of Heaven and to have a pouch which contained "that which shall keep you from all harm". Following the events of 8 June, it was found to contain nothing more than a piece of green cheese.

The armed bands formed of local men were reluctant to be involved and the gentry had to rely on their own servants to support them. The rebels refused to obey the orders to disperse, and continued to pull down hedges and fill in the enclosing ditches. The King's proclamation was read twice. Still the rebels refused to give way.

Finally, the gentry and their troops charged, and over 40 peasants were killed. Prisoners were taken, imprisoned in St Faith's Church, and the ringleaders tried, hanged and quartered. Their quarters were hung in towns across Northamptonshire as a clear message.

Hayes was in the area to explore the nearby estate of the Duke of Buccleuch - "over thirty times larger than Hyde Park, and reserved for a single family," as he puts it.

Just down the road is another estate. Avondale Gragne, on the outskirts of Kettering, was the subject of an article in the NN Journal last week:

“A good comparison to the Grange estate is to call it a modern day dodge city,” says Ady, who has lived in the area for the past decade, relocating from Norfolk to be near his children.

“You don’t look at people,” says Lorraine. “I keep my head down and don’t look anyone in the eye anymore as it is enough to get you into an argument”.

We are still a very unequal country, and Hayes argues that out system of landholding has much to do with it.

Gladstone's son played football for Scotland

Embed from Getty Images

We have seen William Henry Gladstone, the Grand Old Man's eldest child, twice before.

As a small boy he amused Queen Victoria and shortly after that he went to a prep school at Geddington in Northamptonshire.

Today I learnt from Twitter that he was also a footballer. He played for Old Etonians in the FA Cup and for Scotland in their first unofficial international against England in 1870.

William Henry was Liberal MP for Whitby at the time of the international. There was another MP in the Scottish Team: John Wingfield Malcolm, a Conservative who sat for Boston.

Northampton's Eleanor Cross is in danger

Back in 2012 I blogged about the Eleanor Cross at Hardingstone just outside Northampton.

Now there is worrying news about its state of repair.

From The Pipeline:

With Northampton Borough Council still refusing to acknowledge that it owns the nationally important Eleanor Cross on London Road Northampton, expert stone mason Bryn Garrett has warned that the nationally important scheduled monument shows clear signs of neglect and plant damage which needs to be stopped urgently, or the cross could suffer further serious deterioration. 

Based on an examination of the detailed photographs of the monument taken in the last few days, Mr Garrett told Northampton campaigners who are attempting to get the Borough Council to address the issue, 

"The majority of the damage appears to be caused by the lack of maintenance the stonework has received, one of the most common causes of damage with this type of stone is caused by frost. When the pointing is left to deteriorate water is then allowed to get in the joints and core of the structure and saturate the stones, when followed by a heavy frost the stone crumbles and laminates. The job of maintaining the pointing is a relatively simple task and will prevent much bigger problems occurring in the near future."

And a Northampton Chronicle & Echo report quotes Dr Marie Dickie OBE, chair of the Friends of Northampton Castle:

"The cross is a crucial piece of Northampton's heritage and it has been left to fall into disrepair. 

"The grass is unkempt, the area is untidy and weeds and ivy are growing into the cracks in the stone. This can cause severe damage over time. 

"It has reached a crisis point. The monument is just outside Delapre Abbey. If the borough council is going to spend so much time and money renovating the abbey, why can't they also look after the cross? 

"They should both act responsibly."

As I wrote when I visited another surviving Eleanor Cross at Geddington in Northamptonshire:

Eleanor of Castile was the wife of King Edward I of England. She died at Harby in Nottinghamshire in 1290. Edward followed her body to its burial in Westminster Abbey, and erected memorial crosses at the site of each overnight stop. 

Originally there were 12 Eleanor crosses. They were at Lincoln, Grantham, Stamford, Geddington, Northampton, Stony Stratford, Woburn, Dunstable, St Albans, Waltham, Westcheap, and Charing. Today only three - Northampton, Waltham and Geddington - surivive in any significant form.

Advent Calendar 9: A window in Geddington

From this Northamptonshire village's website:

Geddington’s history reaches back to pre-history. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book and its status in medieval times is very visible in the church, the bridge and, of course, the remarkable Eleanor Cross ...

In past times the busy crossing point at the ford en route from London, the use of the Royal Hunting Lodge by former kings and the proximity of Boughton House brought noble visitors from around the country.

Six of the Best 503

"We simply can’t afford to do it all, all the while ruling out any more cuts to army numbers. The real gamble with the nation’s security is making a currently purpose-less weapon a financial priority." Nick Harvey explains how a like-for-like renewal of Trident would be a gamble with Britain's security.

Mark Thompson looks at Labour's hypocrisy on government advertising.

'Adventures in Tory Land: Democracy in Middle England' by Katie Barron, says a reviewer on Amazon, "tells us something about both human nature and the trials of being a foot soldier in Nick Clegg's army after five years of coalition government".

"The novel was immediately popular when it first appeared, in 1951, and as its reach grew so did the pool of potential Ricardians. Tey’s dissection of received history prompted readers to question... everything they had been taught." Sara Polsky on the role that Josephine Tey's 'The Daughter of Time' played in reopening the question of Richard III's character.

The Gentle Author visits Boughton House near Geddington in Northamptonshire.

Down at Third Man on Richie Benaud's place in Australian cricket.

Mr Gladstone's Willy amused Queen Victoria

In Richard Deacon's The Private Life of Mr Gladstone from 1965 we catch a glimpse of William Henry Gladstone, who went to school at Geddington:

In the late 'forties Mrs Gladstone, who was a great favourite of the Queen, sometimes took her children, Willy and Agnes, to Windsor Castle, and the Queen told Gladstone later that "their frank demeanour and childish pranks" made her "laugh heartily".

There was a favourite of Queen Victoria in my family too.

J. L. Carr and St Faith's, Newton in the Willows

A few years ago a friend gave me a copy of The Last Englishman - Byron Rogers' biography of J. L. Carr. A Yorkshireman, Carr was a primary school headmaster from Kettering who had great success late in his life as a novelist and publisher of eccentric small books.

One chapter of the biography deals with Carr's attempt to save the Medieval church of St Faith's at Newton - Newton in the Willows, if you prefer its more romantic name - near Geddington. When he discovered it in the 1960s it was in the process of being closed down by the diocese of Peterborough. The fittings were moved to other churches or stolen by intruders and the interior was further damaged by archaeological excavations.

Thanks to Carr's efforts the building was saved and is now a field centre, run by a charitable trust. I approached it across the fields from Geddington last Saturday and found everything padlocked when I arrived. Even when an operating church is locked you are allowed to sit in the porch to shelter - I have even been taken home and given a cup of tea by a woman doing the flowers.

Newton was also the site of a great house owned by the Treshams - whom we met recently at Rushton - but the only thing left from that estate is the 17th century dovecote near the church.



There is another, darker story from Newton in the Willows: the story of the Newton Rebels:

1607 was just a few years into the reign of James I. Times were hard. Harvests had been poor, the weather bad, and the population was growing. Food was expensive and hard to come by. The enclosure of common land by local landowners, especially the Treshams of Rushton, a notorious Roman Catholic family – hard up since the involvement of Frances in the Powder Treason only two years earlier - and their cousins at Newton, was the last straw.
Trouble had been building up in Northamptonshire since May Eve, probably after a few drinks to celebrate May Day, a traditional festival which also marked the beginning of the season when animals had been permitted to graze on the common land in nearby Rockingham Forest.
Discontent spread across north Northamptonshire, and to Leicestershire and Warwickshire throughout May. The events at Newton were the culmination of the Midlands Revolt when King James feared that after hearing reports of 3000 at Hillmorton in Warwickshire and 5000 at Cotesbach in Leicestershire, the situation was becoming out of control. A gibbet was set up in the city of Leicester as a warning not to get involved. It was torn down by the people.
The protesters called themselves diggers and levellers – terms that would be more familiar when heard again in the Civil War.

Over 1000 peasants gathered from Rockingham Forest - men, women and children - led by Captain Pouch. He was a tinker whose real name was John Reynoldes. He claimed to have authority from the kingdom of Heaven and to have a pouch which contained "that which shall keep you from all harm". Following the events of 8 June, it was found to contain nothing more than a piece of green cheese.

The armed bands formed of local men were reluctant to be involved and the gentry had to rely on their own servants to support them. The rebels refused to obey the orders to disperse, and continued to pull down hedges and fill in the enclosing ditches. The King's proclamation was read twice. Still the rebels refused to give way.

Finally, the gentry and their troops charged, and over 40 peasants were killed. Prisoners were taken, imprisoned in St Faith's Church, and the ringleaders tried, hanged and quartered. Their quarters were hung in towns across Northamptonshire as a clear message.

At St Faith's today there is a memorial to the men who were executed: "May their souls rest in peace."

The Eleanor cross at Geddington

Yesterday I wrote that Geddington has the best surviving Eleanor cross.

But what is an Eleanor cross? I hear you ask.

Eleanor of Castile was the wife of King Edward I of England. She died at Harby in Nottinghamshire in 1290. Edward followed her body to its burial in Westminster Abbey, and erected memorial crosses at the site of each overnight stop.

Originally there were 12 Eleanor crosses. They were at Lincoln, Grantham, Stamford, Geddington, Northampton, Stony Stratford, Woburn, Dunstable, St Albans, Waltham, Westcheap, and Charing. Today only three - Northampton, Waltham and Geddington - surivive in any significant form.

Here is a photograph of the Geddington cross from yesterday.

William Henry Gladstone went to prep school in Geddington

For some time I have been planning a visit to Geddington in Northamptonshire, which was at the heart of the old Rockingham Forest, because it has the best surviving Eleanor cross and connections with the novelist J. L. Carr.

My interest was piqued even further when I read the following on a website devoted to the village:

In the mid 19th Century The Vicarage was extended to become a boarding school and boasts among its pupils William Gladstone who later became the Liberal Prime Minister.

When I asked Lord Bonkers about this he said it rang true, reasoning that the young William Ewart Gladstone had must have learnt the fundamentals of Liberalism from the elves of Rockingham Forest.

I was not so sure. The biographies all agree that Gladstone was first educated at Seaforth, before being sent to Eton at the age of 11.

Then I came across Monica Raynes book Geddington As It Was and the mystery was solved. She quotes A. C. Ainger's Eton 60 Years Ago from 1917 on the school at Geddington Vicarage (Ainger was himself a pupil):

The school undoubtedly stood high in popular favour; it was always full and there was a strong flavour of aristocracy about it ... Nearly all the boys went to Eton ... Among the pupils were one cabinet minister, Lord Gladstone (son of the Mr Gladstone); two bishops, Augustus Legge of Lichfield and Edward Talbot of Winchester; three admirals, Charles Scott, Walter Kerr and Arthur Moore; and two generals, Ralph Kerr and Neville Lyttleton.

I suspect the interpolation about "the Mr Gladstone" comes from Monica Raynes rather than Ainger, but there is still enough here to interest a good Liberal.

William Henry Gladstone was the Grand Old Man's eldest son and himself an MP for 20 years. He sat for Chester, Whitby and East Worcestershire. He also played football for Scotland in an unofficial international against England.

And Neville Lyttelton (not Lyttleton) was the father in law of my favourite Edwardian Liberal Charles Masterman.

Monica Raynes further quotes Ainger on the Geddington school:

There were only twenty pupils, so that personal supervision was easy enough; we were well fed, lodged and looked after - I believe that in the twenty years or so of the school's existence no inmate of it died.

Perhaps that sets the bar a little low for modern tastes, but it may be wiser to treat it as a reminder of the greater fragility of life, young life in particular, in the 19th century.

The school was owned by the Revd William Montagu Higginson Church. In his The Rise of the English Prep School, Donald Leinster-Mackay writes:

Perhaps the reason why the school kept by the Rev. William Montagu Church at Geddington, near Kettering in Northamptonshire, was shortlived was that he was unable to control his temper, despite the school's being patronized by the sons of nobility.

Google Books does not let you see the footnote referring to Church's temper, but we know that the school lasted for 20 years. And as far as I can make out from other snippets on Google Books - and that is rapidly emerging as an important academic skill - Church moved to a new living in Norfolk and educated some of Gladstone's other sons there. So this speculation may be wide of the mark though, it it were true, it would place Church in a great tradition of prep school headmasters.

Anyway, I went to Geddington today and my photograph shows (I hope) the wing Church added to what was then the vicarage to house his pupils. The school closed when he left the village in 1861.