O U N D L E ’ S S T O RY A H ISTO RY O F TO WN A ND SCH O O L W SMA LLEY L W B D . A , . VI CAR OF O U N D LE A ND R UR AL DEA N A ND HONORARY CANO N O F PE TE RB ORO UG H CATHEDRAL LO NDO N T H E S H E L D O N P R E S S RTH MB R N V N W C 2 NO U E LA D A E UE , . RK AND T RONTO THE MACMILLA N co NEW YO O : . TO THE MEMORY FREDERICK WILLIA M SANDERSON HEADMAS TER OF OUNDLE — 1892 1922. FELL Asms p 1 TH NE 922 5 JU 1 . , e a e ed th e oss b e and was s fi ed H tt mpt imp i l j u ti . d ' PRINTED IN G REAT B RITA I N BY W ILLIA M CLO WES A ND S ONS , LI MITKO LO NDO N A ND B ECCLES . PREFA CE HAVE advocated always the teaching of history from local and immediate surroundings , on the ou principle that you must begin where y are . The force of the imagination upon conduct may be great, but to allow the imagination an illimitable field in conjuring up the past is risky . To this end , I set out some few years ago to write an “ Oundle Child ’ s ” “ History , when some of Older growth inquired , Why ” ’ out " of O undle s leave us Hence this record story . It is Often said that there is no room for originality of in the writing history , and , certainly, this is largely true with regard to my little book ; but I may claim to have spent much time in research and to have ‘ o B ut it not elucidated a few p ints . could have been put together without the kind help of many friends . To some I have expressed acknowledgment in the of course the narrative , and I cannot name them all ; but I desire to mention those to whom I am especially Cobthor ne indebted . To Mrs . Smith , of , Oundle , to of of Miss Smith, the Rectory, and to Miss Dixon , a Rose Cottage , the daughter of a lover of arch eology, I owe my sincere thanks for the loan of documents and papers . Dr . George Bidder, of Cambridge , Canon of Howard , late Dean Stamford , and Mr . A . H . M . l Spence , Of Pembroke College , Oxford , have kind y assisted me in confirming facts . To the late Rev . R . M . ’ tson . S er j ean , Rector of St Peter s , Northampton , iii IV PREFACE l I am greatly indebted , and it is especial y pleasing to mention the condition with whi ch he desired me to a of associate my cknowledgment the use of his notes . It was that I should make it known that any expense incurred by him in connection wi th the research into Oundelian matters was defrayed by the late Mr . R . P . Brereton , whose name is recalled by many with deep regard . Two other names I mention with gratitude—the l first is that of Mr . H . M . King, of Ound e School , “ ” with whom I have had many conversations , and who has added to his kindness by reading the proof him sheets . The other is that of to whose memory my book is dedicated and who alone read the MS . and gave me constant encouragement . My friendship one with him is of the greatest inspirations of my life . had of If he had lived , I hopes seeing the Story on ” h the Screen , which would have made the istory of - the old world town of Oundle live with a fuller vitality than print can give . But he has gone from shadows to reality . Perhaps some one else may come forward to make this possible . M W . S ALLEY LAW . A u ust 1922. g , O T —In N E . quotations I have preserved the actual of spelling , even though there may be variants proper few names within a lines . CONTENTS CHA PTER I IN THE DAYS OF THE RE OTORS . II THE ARI . P SH CHURCH III ALK ROUND IN 1565 . A W I G REAT FOUNDER V. A V. PARISH PRIE ST AND B ENE FAOTOR I THE COMMONWEALTH—B EFORE AND AFTER V . S OCIAL LIFE IN ' THE E IGHTEENTH CENTURY WHAT WE HAVE HEAR D WITH OUR E ARS AND OUR ” FATHE RS HAVE TOLD U S E P ILOGU E INDEX O UNDLE’ S STO RY CHAPTER I I N THE DAYS OF THE RECTO RS of — in - U ndela HE town Oundle the Anglo Saxon , has behind it a very long history circling round the Parish Church, but bringing also before the n imagi ation kings , queens , archbishops , and high Officers of State, as well as the business man and worker, who have all made their contribution . Of the man to Whom it is indebted for its name we can say nothi ng ; but it would appear t o be most probable that it is not to the river (Avondale) but t o a person that ’ o We must ascribe it . Unna s dales speak to us f the scenes which have formed the background of the actions Of a long series Of lives since the days O f our unknown out we ancestor, Unna . As has been pointed , if walk from Biggin to the town along the B enefield Road we shall be able to note the formation of the ground and ’ welcome Nature s assistance in the realisation Of our r * sto y . Professor Skeat , in writing to a friend, said ll I wi believe Oundle to be derived from Avondale, r aven m In whenever I hear any Englishman call a a mu . ” my experience no one would think of it . Oundle is built on a road from Peterborough to Mar ket on Harborough, and stands a spur of the Great Oolite ’ a e n C mb r idg Cou ty Geographies. M . W . B r own s Nor th am t n p o shi r e , p . 6 0 . 2 OUNDLE ’ S STORY 92 (clays and limestones) , at a mean elevation of feet - 1 above sea level , the Parish Church being on ground 11 feet above . The town is triangular in form , and the streets are so placed as to receive the westerly and north westerly winds and to be protected from those from the east . Of John Morton , the author a Natural History of 1712 Northamptonshire , educated at Oundle , in described Oundle thus n -u Ou dle is a fair, well b ilt, pleasant and healthy ’ i . i on town , advantageously and sweetly s tuate Tis bu lt e a d clining ground , on the North side of the River Nene , Of which, at a small distance , encompasses it in the figure u — a crescent, and enriches its fr itful meadows a situation ” very agr eeable with regard to health . — The mean estimated population from 1870 18 80 was persons , but in recent years , in spite of the rapid t Of dl grow h Oun e School , whose numbers were included Of 19 11 1921 in the census and , the returns show and respectively . The man who , by his death in Oundle , has made its name famous in ecclesiastical history has been described - - Of as light hearted , wrong headed , full genius , but s defective in judgment . The most eloquent man of hi day, he was overbearing in argument, but in action he ” was tolerant and generous . was . 70 9 . It This St Wilfred , who died in Oundle in as 665 l w at the Council of Whitby in that Wi fred, then under thirty years of age , made his mark as the advocate Of Of uniformity of church custom on the plan Rome . Wilfred so attracted t he Royal attention of the King that he was called to be the second Of the Bishops of York . But according to the principles advocated by him at Whitby, Wilfred journeyed to the Continent for his con secration , and upon his return , after a very long stay abroad , found himself forestalled and another Bishop IN THE DAYS OF THE RECTORS 3 chosen in hi s place . Being ultimately admitted to his was . See, it not long before he was again in controversy now of Theodore, Archbishop Canterbury, the founder of our i paroch al system , determined to have dioceses Of manageable size , and proceeded to divide that of York t o into three . Against this Wilfred appealed Rome, and thus initiated , so far as records go, the system Of appeals . u as to Rome Although successf l , Wilfred w not permitted the fruits Of victory, but was condemned to imprisonment , partly on suspicion of having obtained the Papal Bull by . hi s fraud Upon release Wilfred , in company with five priests , migrated to Sussex, where he found the inhabitants as wholly ignorant Of the Divine Name . There w a failure of Of s i . the crops , and the people had no knowledge fi h ng sea Wilfred collected eel nets and cast them into the , and fish divided the he secured into three portions , namely, for . for the poor, for the lenders Of the nets , themselves Of The people soon came to love him , and his work conver on sion went rapidly . on i He founded a church at Selsey, a spot long s nce submerged in the Channel .