Chapter 5 Castor Village – Overview 1066 to 2000

Introduction

One of the earliest recorded descriptions of Castor as a village is by a travelling historian, William Camden who, in 1612, wrote: ‘The Avon or Nen river, running under a beautiful bridge at Walmesford (Wansford), passes by Durobrivae, a very ancient city, called in Saxon Dormancaster, took up a great deal of ground on each side of the river in both counties. For the little village of Castor which stands one mile from the river, seems to have been part of it, by the inlaid chequered pavements found there. And doubtless it was a place of more than ordinary note; in the adjoining fields (which instead of Dormanton they call Normangate) such quantities of Roman coins are thrown up you would think they had been sewn. Ermine Street, known as the forty foot way or The Way of St Kyneburgha, now known as Lady Connyburrow’s Way must have been up towards Water Newton, if one may judge from, it seems to have been paved with a sort of cubical bricks and tiles.’ [1]

By Camden’s time, Castor was a village made up of a collection of tenant farms and cottages, remaining much the same until the time of the Second World War. The village had developed out of the late Saxon village of the time of the Domesday Book, that village having itself grown up among the ruins of the extensive Roman villa and estate that preceded it. The pre-conquest (1066) settlement of Castor is described in earlier chapters. The purpose of this chapter is to give a general overview of the history of Castor’s development between 1066 to date, in order to set the context for the later chapters. In some cases the statistics used include Ailsworth and the other villages, as they were all in Castor Parish.

Most of the land for much of the village’s history was owned by two great landlords, the Church and the Fitzwilliams of Milton. Castor had probably been relatively a more important place in the early medieval period, with its impressive church, four daughter ‘chapelries’ at Ailsworth, Sutton, Upton and Milton, and the important baronial court as well as the manor courts [2]. The church, as the landowner, was granted a charter to hold a market and summer fair in 1340, [3] the lineal descendant of which is the Church Summer Festival and Fete. It never developed into a late medieval market town, like Oundle or Uppingham, for which it had the potential in the early Middle Ages – possibly because it was too close to a larger rival, Peterborough.

The Original Saxon and Medieval Village Nucleus

The village of Castor developed around two core areas; firstly, the church with the cluster of buildings surrounding it, including the original rectory – now Vine House, and the Glebe Farm - now the Old Rectory, and secondly the farms around the area of the Green. From the plan in Fig 5b, which shows the cluster of old farms huddled cheek-by-jowl, with the fields surrounding them, the early village nucleus is readily identifiable. The original Saxon and medieval green, around which the farms clustered, was probably much larger, being rectangular in shape and incorporating all the land between the present Green and The Cedars. The dotted lines on the plan show the probable original extent of both the Green and the churchyard, for there are no pre-18th century buildings in that rectangle, whereas the farm buildings surrounding it are earlier in origin. The Elms and Duro Lodge were, it seems, built in the Fig 5a. Castor Green: view looking North towards Clay Lane before nos 18th century on what was the central part of the 4 & 5 The Green were built (pre 1914).

57 former Green, as were the smaller cottages and outbuildings surrounding them. The Village Cross was also on the Green. We know from old photographs that it was at one stage beside the shop on the North East corner of the Green. Its socket and stump are still to be seen on the Green today. The stump of another old cross on Love Hill, beside the wall of Fig 5b. Castor Historic Centre: This map is an extract from ET Artis’ map; super-imposed Castor House, was dug up dotted lines show probable outline of the original Green and Churchyard. The hatched buildings and stolen in the early 1990s. in the area of the churchyard are the Roman buildings Artis excavated. Note the pre-18th We also know from an old century farms round the Green. map that the village stocks were on the corner of Stock’s Hill (hence its name) and the Peterborough Road, near the Royal Oak. The stocks were still being used in the 1830s for we read that on 30th January 1830 ‘a sharp, frosty night, Thomas Glithero, John Spendlove and William Chamberlain, came home from Peterborough very fresh. Wm Chamberlain was afterwards found set in the stocks’ [4].

The Abbey Lands The village that Camden Fig 5c. Castor: Church Hill looking East towards The Cedars; the Old Chapel on the right is visited was still very much a now Bothamley and Ellington Engineers’ Office. product of the feudal system, under which the King, in essence, owned all the land, and granted it to about 150 Tenants-in-Chief, one of which was the Abbot of Peterborough. The Abbot in turn sub-let some of his land to others, knights and so on, and kept some for his personal use. The Abbot’s land was the ‘honour’ or ‘barony’ of Peterborough, but the ‘court baron’ for the whole of the barony during much of this period was based at Castor, not in Peterborough. This estate, held by the Abbot, comprised the whole of the present Fig 5d. Village Farm House, photo 1920s. The house dates from 14/15th century. Benefice of Castor and

58 Ailsworth with Sutton and Upton with Marholm, including Milton. It was divided into a number of manors each with its own manor court. Castor itself, in addition to the baronial court, consisted of two major manors, with a fledgling manor in the parish at Belsize, and a further manor at Milton. The feudal lord of all the manors in the early days was the Abbot, some of these being ‘in demesne’ (kept for his personal use), other manors being leased to feudal sub- ordinates. King Edgar’s charter gave Castor to the Abbot in AD972 [5] and the grant was renewed in many subsequent charters by later monarchs.

The Manors in Castor

Castor or Berrystead Manor By the time of the Domesday Book [6] in 1086, the abbot held one manor in Castor ‘in demesne’, later known as the Castor or the Berrystead Manor. In 1146, a Bull by Pope Eugenius III confirmed that Castor and all its appurtenances belonged to the abbey [7]. Abbot Alexander of Holderness (1222-1226) [8] built a hall for his manor at Castor. The site of this hall may be the moat South West of Village Farm at Grid 119985 - now a Scheduled Monument in the ‘Empties’. It seems possible that the site of the manor farm was the farmstead now called Village Farm or perhaps Manor Farm. When Abbot Godfrey died in 1321, part of his property ‘in demesne’ included a manor-house with garden, dovecote, woodland and fisheries in the Nene. This remained a church manor until the 20th century.

Thorold’s or Butler’s Manor In addition, the abbot also had a further secular manor in Castor sub-let to five knights, later to be known as Thorold’s or Butler’s Manor. Part of this eventually descended to the Fitzwilliams. By the time of Richard I [9] in 1189, this manor was in the hands of one Thorold, the Abbot still being the Tenant-in-Chief. It was partitioned by his sons after a court case for which we still have transcripts [10]. Thorold’s elder son Richard, the priest of Castor, gave his share to the Abbot as part of his dowry for becoming a monk. This included the advowson of the church at Castor. The rest of the manor descended to the younger son Geoffrey, and this family remained Lords of the Manor for some generations. In 1460 Sir Guy Wolston held the manor, now also described ‘as the Manor of Castor, otherwise called the Manor of Butler’s and Thorold’s’. This manor passed to his son-in-law Thomas Empson, then in 1515 to Richard Fitzwilliam. In 1534 William Fitzwilliam died, holding this manor from the Abbot. It is still held by Milton today.

Milton Manor The manor of Milton, in the parish of Castor is described in the Domesday Book as being ‘of the fee of the Abbey and held by Roger’. By the 12th century, Thorold held it from the abbot and it was then held successively by different families until 1391 when John de Wittlebury leased it. The manor remained with his descendants until Robert Wittlebury and his wife Anne granted it to William Fitzwilliam. Milton Manor seems, in practice, since the time of the Domesday Book, to have included Marholm as well. Milton was clearly a small village at one stage, and was granted a charter for a market in 1304. The villagers probably moved to Marholm when Milton was ‘emparked’. The later history of Milton is described in Chapter 22.

Belsize It would seem that there was also a sizeable hamlet at Belsize, growing up around the grange farm. In 1214 Abbot Robert built houses here and drained the land. The farm was run by the Abbey cellarer. Belsize seemed, at one stage, to have had some of the characteristics of a manor. At the Dissolution of the Abbey the grange farm was granted to the Dean and Chapter, who sold it to Milton in 1836. Although it is in Castor parish, the inhabitants have always looked to Marholm, being that much closer, and its further history is therefore in Chapter 16.

The Manors and the Dissolution of the Abbey Both ‘Castor or Berrystead Manor’, and ‘Butler’s Fig 5e. Castor: the old barn of Manor Farm. All that is left now is the or Thorold’s’ Manor passed to the Dean and lower part of its East wall used as a garden wall for houses in Manor Chapter, successors to the Abbot, on the Farm Lane. The boys are Timothy Ennis and Miles Sheppardson Dissolution of the Abbey in 1537. In the reign of (with bicycle).

59 Queen Mary, the Dean and Chapter sub-let their manor in Castor (The Castor or Berrystead Manor) to Robert Wingfield for 99 years, who was also the Dean and Chapter’s bailiff [11]. By the time of James I, Sir William Fitzwilliam held Butler’s or Thorold’s Manor, by fealty and an annual rent, from the Dean and Chapter and was also renting Belsize from them [12]. The arms of the Fitzwilliam and Wingfield families, above the chancel arch of Castor Church, were probably painted there during this period. Not only did the abbots have a residence in Castor, but also the bishops who succeeded them. We know that Bishop Howland died in Castor in 1599 [13] and it seems possible that Castor House was the Fig 5f. Castor: Hay wagon on Walter Longfoot’s farm. Phyllis Brawn bishops’ country retreat until 1795, when the (mother of Margaret Brown nee Hill) is on top of the cart, Doug Oliver church sold the house to the White family. The at the rear of the horse, Wally Longfoot at its head. further history of Castor House is in Chapter 8.

The Civil War and its Aftermath

Much was to change during the Civil War. In 1646, the Bishop and his curates at Castor were ‘ejected’ by the Puritans and in 1649 Cromwell’s Parliament passed a law stripping the church of its property. The church was ransacked and the manor of Castor and its properties were taken from the church and sold to Thomas Matthew and Thomas Allen, grocers from London. It seems, from the local records, that the villages in this area, including Castor, remained royalist. The pub name Royal Oak is an indication of royalist sympathies. In the survey of the ‘Manor of Castor or Berrystead’, carried out by the Parliamentary Commissioners in 1649 [14] is a description of the Manor Farmhouse; is this Manor Farmhouse or Village Farmhouse? The Manor Farmstead was described as ‘consisting of one Hall, one Parlour wainscoted, one Kitchen, one Buttery with a little parlour adjoining, one Larder, one dairy, one Chamber over the Parlour, three other chambers,, one little Chamber over the Porch, one gate entering into the Courtyard Chamber over, one Stable with Outhouses with eight small bays, one Great barn of six bays besides the Berrystead, all built of stone and slated, one Kiln House, the yard and garden being three acres’ – a substantial farmstead for the period. The manor also included fields and other tenants’ properties. This almost certainly included the 18 further farmsteads and cottages, as enumerated in Landen’s 1765 survey of the manor. Copies of these surveys are held in the Parish Archives.

At the Restoration of King Charles II in 1660, the escheated land was returned to the church. The feudal system was by then gradually disappearing anyway. The village of Castor and the surrounding hamlets, however, remained solidly Anglican in their church life, but this may of course have been simply because the church was the major landlord. In the Compton Census [15] for 1676, the population of Castor consisted of 340 Anglican families and only two Non- conformists. The Congregational Chapel was not built until 1848.

Later Years

The wider world would always impinge on village life. In 1536 Castor [16] had to provide two archers, four billmen, and a horse and harness for military service. In 1762, the Militia List, [17] naming all able-bodied men between 18 and 45, shows 66 men available for duty: one surgeon, six farmers, (including the Serjeants, Wrights and Bates families) one miller, one blacksmith, three bakers, three shoemakers, three carpenters, one tailor and one wheelwright. The rest were all farm labourers, shepherds etc, (and a village constable), which indicates the nature of the community then. This was out of a total population of 475, of which 251 were male and 224 female. In later years, 16 of the men called up for military service were killed in World War I, and a further five in World War II. People did not travel much; abroad literally was bloody – one only went there to fight the King’s enemies.

The impression gained of Castor throughout the 18th and 19th centuries is of a quiet farming village, its life dominated by the farming seasons, and its two great landlords, Milton and the Church. Many of the stone houses in the village that still exist today were built in the 18th century, as farming became more prosperous. Even so, the agrarian unrest

60 affecting the countryside throughout England also affected Castor. In the 1830s, land-workers were poorer than they had been in the previous century. The country- wide decade of “rick-burning” affected our parishes. By 30 November 1830, ‘through so many incendiary fires …it was thought proper to swear in special constables at a meeting at the Wheatsheaf in Ailsworth’. The number of sudden deaths due to accidents, falls from horses, drownings in backwaters after leaving the pub late, accidents at work and suicides would be remarkable to us (over 20 between 1830 and 1846) [18].

Fig 5g. Castor: Hay cart beside the George & Dragon. The Pells were the last landlords here; the house was bought by the Winfreys; Charles and Jay Winfrey lived at Dragon House when they first married.

Population and Employment The population [19] of Castor grew slowly, being 475 in 1801, reaching a peak of 772 in 1851, and declining gradually to 547 in 1931. It was not until the late 1960s that the population started to rise again.

In 1801, the priest, Revd Christopher Hodgson (Rector of Marholm and Curate of Castor) had to return a questionnaire to the central Government responding to An Act for taking an Account of the Population of Great Britain [20]. From this we learn that in 1700, there were 14 baptisms (5 males, 9 females) and 18 burials (9 males, 9 females). Fifty years later the figures for 1750 were 13 baptisms (8 males, 5 females) and 20 burials (6 males, 14 females). Between 1754 and 1801 marriages averaged about five or so a year, the most being ten. By comparison, in the year 2000, there were 19 baptisms at Castor, 10 funerals and 11 weddings – not much difference. In 1849 there were 24 farmers in the benefice, to which may be added a fair number of cottagers. These were people who worked their own small-holdings with some stock, and usually also worked on other farms. Their excess produce would be taken to market for sale.

In 1849 the licensed premises in the parish included the Fitzwilliam Arms, the Royal Oak, the Wheat Sheaf, and the George & Dragon (two of the licensees being women). By 1874 the licensees included George Hobbs at the Barley Mow, Samuel Popple at the Fitzwilliam Arms, Thomas Smith at the Wheat Sheaf, and John Upchurch at the George & Dragon. Even in 1881, the census shows that most people were still in traditional rural occupations, living in a remarkably static society.

It is notable how many women were in business on their own account in the 19th century. In addition to licensees, we see them as tenant farmers; for example in 1874 there were six women farmers. Women are also listed in the Trade Directories as a coal merchant, a grocer and baker, two shoemakers, a butcher, a shopkeeper and baker, and another shopkeeper. Businesses and trades, run by men, included six male shopkeepers, four cottagers, three blacksmiths, two carpenters, two male shoemakers, two tailors, a wheelwright, a miller, a machine contractor, a builder, a gamekeeper, and a butcher. If we add to those people the number of people in service, apprentices, assistants, gardeners and labourers and so on, we can get an idea of the sheer amount of activity within the village even up to the time of the Second World War. It was definitely not a dormitory or an idyllic retirement place, but a highly active, hardworking, busy and largely self-sufficient community.

61 Miscellanea

Milton Ferry The present bridge at Milton (or Gunwade) Ferry was built in 1716 by the then Lord Fitzwilliam. It was, however, the site of a much older toll. The two standing stones nearby, known as Robin Hood and Little John, were, some say, placed to commemorate the free passage of Barnack stone to St Edmundsbury, for the building of the abbey there. It seems more likely that their origin is pre- historic, but who can tell? Daniel Defoe, in his journal, records how outraged he was by the toll. Curiously, Mrs Millie Weston, the last Toll Keeper, writes that in 1964 the charge levied for Fig 5h. Milton Ferry in 1930s: the Toll Bridge was built in 1716. The a car was the same as for a coach in Defoe’s day Gate-Lodge House (on the right) was moved up the hill to make way for [21]. The Nene Park Trust, which includes Ferry the new A47 by-pass and The Ferry House was burnt out in a disastrous Bridge and Meadows, and the meadowland fire on New Years Day 2003. beside the River Nene in Castor Parish, was established as public park land, as part of the development of Peterborough New Town. This originally included plans for the expansion of Castor. The Nene Park Trust lands are now an important recreational facility.

The Northey & Wright Charity In 1736, Robert Wright (a Castor farmer) left in his will ‘profits of certain lands… £2.12s a year for ever, to give and distribute to the twelve poorest people of Castor and Ailsworth…1d loaf apiece.’ [22] Until the 1960s, twelve loaves were placed on a shelf (commemorated by a board) by the entrance to the Lady Chapel in Castor Church. In 1900, Mary Ann Northey bequeathed ‘the sum of £300 upon trust to…apply the income Fig 5i. Castor: The Long Row. These houses were demolished in 1967. arising from such investment for the benefit of the Carlton Court was built on the site. widows, widowers and deserving poor of the Parish of Castor at each new year for the purchase of red flannel and coal’ [23]. In 1980 the Charity Commissioners amalgamated the two charities to make better use of the resources, for the relief of those in need. The charity still quietly helps people today.

Dress in the 19th Century What is interesting about the quote above is the reference to red flannel. Mr Hales elsewhere [24] writes of Castor that, ‘the younger women wore the red or scarlet cloak as their principal or outer garment’. The use of red flannel for skirts and cloaks was common in many country areas; for example the national costume of Wales still, Fig 5j. George Bell and the country women of the West of Ireland (father of Michael were also known for their red flannel skirts. Mr Bell of Upton) Hales also describes the dress of men in the outside his house 1830s: ‘not one man in fifty wearing trousers, but No 1 The Long Row small clothes (and most of them leather). No in the 1920s.

62 braces but a leather belt, and either gaiters, leggings, or top boots. I have seen more than one clergyman in the pulpit with boots and spurs. The dog hair hat was the principal hat.’

Recent Developments

Until the 1950s most people still drew their water from a well or a pump, used an outside privy, and had no electricity. Gwen Heighton, who lived at The Grove on Church Hill with her parents, recalls drinking water being collected in Fig 5k. A reconstruction (drawn by Richard Harbord, nephew of the Rev Tom Adler) pails from a spring-fed pump at of the extensive farm buildings and cottages that used to be alongside Stocks Hill, ‘Salmon’s Corner’ on Church Hill, based on a drawing by ET Artis, and the ground plan from old maps. The farm beside the school-master’s house. The buildings were probably destroyed in 1851 when the Glebe Farm House became the school-master was then Mr Salmon, new rectory (now the Old Rectory!) head of the Fitzwilliam School. It was not until the 1950s that they first ‘had taps’ connected to the mains.

The former council houses were built on Stocks Hill in 1927. In 1933, Milton sold off seven 5-acre plots in the Thorn Field alongside Love Hill. The first house to be built there was The Hill House in 1935; the land was bought by Herbert Kirman and the architect was Guy Warwick. This is now the home of William Baxter and his family. Another seven large houses followed, the second one being Kentmere House, built some months later for Sir Edmund Henry Gilpin. The house is now owned by Fig 5l. Stocks Hill – the thatched cottages were burnt out in a fire in 1912. Charlie David and Marcia Gibbs. These houses, Bell, father of Margaret Sharpe was 16 at the time. built for successful Peterborough businessmen, were the first houses for residential use by people who did not work in the village.

The first house built in Castor after World War Two was 12 Peterborough Road. Phillip Meadows bought the plot of land at Castor for £250 from the Church Commissioners in 1948. George and Trudie Meadows now live there. The next developments were the group of houses built on Thorold’s Way in 1953 and Silvester Road in the 1960s. The land on which 20 High Street stands was bought from the Church Commissioners in 1957 by Ken Trevitt and others for £200. Charles and Gill Slidel now live there. Evergreen House, another imposing house, was built on Peterborough Road, very much in a traditional style, by Tom Dickens in 1969 – it is now lived in by his son Robert and wife Judith. Samworth Fig 5m. Robina Gibbons (née Wade) and her sister Lorna (now Close was built in the 1970s, Kyneburgha Close in Sheppardson) playing outside Village Farm in the 1930s. Where were 1983 (built by Ted Fairchild who lives in Castor), the foxes?

63 Fig 5n. Sheep in Peterborough Road Castor c1910. In 1934 the Winfrey Homes were built on the right where the cattle are standing. To the right alongside Stock’s Hill is 1 Stock’s Hill (a Milton house lived in by Mick Westlake, a Milton forester). Further right, in front of the church, the cottages burnt down 1912 can be seen (see 5l). and Carlton Court in 1989. The development on the site of the yard of Manor Farm and Village Farm started in 1984. The old threshing barn at Manor Farm and other outbuildings were demolished amid some controversy from 1967 onwards, and the houses in Manor Farm Lane were built on the site in the 1980s.

There was, of course, to follow much greater controversy over the proposed plans for Castor New Town, details of which may be found in Chapter 29. Although the project for the New Town failed, small developments on “in-fill” sites have continued. Despite all this, the housing stock has not increased as much as one would expect. This is because a many of the older cottages were originally two, three or even four separate dwellings, which have been converted into one home. For example, when Jenny Hammond’s parents lived at 3 High Street Castor, this was a row of four cottages, end on to the road. This is now one cottage and the Shadbolt family live there. Castor is changing, but more slowly than the planners had originally envisaged in the 1970s. It is, however, becoming a place where people live but work elsewhere, rather than a place where people both live and work.

William Burke William Burke has been the Rector of the parishes of Castor with Sutton and Upton with Marholm for eight years. He trained for the priesthood at Ripon College Cuddesdon Oxford, having been a soldier prior to that.

Fig 5o. The old threshing barn, probably medieval, of Village Farm. The barn was demolished in 1976. Nos 1 & 2 Village Farm Close were built on the site. The thatched roof was replaced with a corrugated iron one as seen here after a fire in 1947.

64 Fig 5p. Looking up Church Hill towards the old York Cottage. The shop on the right is now Vic Griffin’s coal and fuel merchant’s shop.

Fig 5q. Gibbons’ Yard Castor1950: Village Hall on right, Fig 5s. The threshing at the big barn at Manor Farm Castor (W Fitzwilliam Arms in background. Carter) in 1902. All that is left of this barn is the East wall alongside Castor Green (driver Tom Gibbons, water-boy W Hornsby).

Fig 5r. The yard at The Limes Farm Castor (Dick Longfoot) Fig 5t Manor Farmhouse - was this the house described in the in the 1950s, with a Gibbon’s threshing machine . Parliamentary Survey of 1649? The present occupants are Doctors Peter and Rebecca Winfrey.

65 Notes (Copies of all refs in Parish Archives) 1. Camden Magnam Historiam 1612. 2. Court Baron, Hugh Candidus, The Peterborough Chronicle, Ed WT Mellows,1997, p 45 & n.1. See also the many refs to the Court Baron at Castor in The White Book of Peterborough Ed Sandra Raban, Northants Record Soc 2001. 3. RL Greenall, History of Northants and the Soke of Peterborough, Phillimore, 1979, p 30. 4. John Hales’ Diary 1830, Castor Parish Archives Copy. John Hales was a stonemason and Parish Clerk in Castor, and an important recorder of village life in the 19th century. 5. King Edgar’s Charter, Hugh Candidus, The Peterborough Chronicle, Ed WT Mellows,1997, p 16. 6. Domesday Book 1086 – see Appx One. 7. Hugh Candidus, The Peterborough Chronicle Ed WT Mellows, Peterborough Museum Society 1997, p 51 In time of Abbot Martin. AD1146, ‘Papal Bull of Pope Eugenius III…decreeing that whatsoever goods and possessions…Castor with the church and the chapels adjoining the same church with the mills and all its appurtenances’. 8. Symon Gunton, History of the Church in Peterborough,1686, Ed J Higham 1990, p 29. 9. re Manor Histories, Victoria County History - Northants, (VCH) 1901, p 473ff. 10. Symon Gunton, History of the Church in Peterborough, 1686, Ed J Higham 1990, pp 277-278. 11. re R Wingfield: Founding of Peterborough Cathedral, ed WT Mellows. NRS 1941, p lxviii, and VCH p 474. ‘Queen Mary sublet their other manor in Castor to Robert Wingfield for 99 years’. 12. VCH p 475 13. Bp Howland, Symon Gunton, History of the Church in Peterborough,1686, Ed J Higham 1990, p 81. ‘Richard Howland, …Bishop 1584… supervised funeral arrangements of Mary Queen of Scots (and much more about the death and funeral including the Fitzwilliam involvement)…Howland having been Bishop here the space of 15 years, died at Castor, and was buried in his own Cathedral…’ He also wrote a letter from Castor. 14. A Survey of Manor of Castor or Berrystead 1649, NCRO. 15. Compton Census 1676 – see Appx Seven. 16. Muster Roll 1536 – see Appx Eight. 17. Militia List 1762 – see Appx Ten. 18. John Hales’ Diary 1830-1846, re incendiaries and accidents: Castor Parish Archives Copy. 19. Population Increase – see Appx Fourteen. 20. 1801 Population Return – see Appx Fifteen. 21. Symon Gunton, History of the Church in Peterborough, 1686, Ed J Higham 1990, p 5. Robin Hood and Little John – Stones: ‘ Nor did the Abbot of Peterborough from these Pitts (Barnack stone pits) furnish only that, but other Abbies also, as that of S Edmunds-Bury: In memory whereof, there are two long stones yet standing upon a balk in Castor-field, near unto Gunwade Ferry.’ Mrs Weston writes: ‘In 1964…Anyone using the gate regularly was able to purchase a key, and farm workers were supplied with their own key, otherwise it was 2/6 for a car, 2/- for a motor-cycle and 1/- for cyclists or walkers.’ DBR: T 1004 22. Robert Wright, Will, Castor Parish Archives Copy. 23. Mary Ann Northey, Will, Castor Parish Archives Copy. 24. re Mr Hales – see Appx Eighteen.

Fig 5v. Sketch map of the junction of Peterborough Road Castor and Stocks Hill drawn in the 1820s. Although the details do not reproduce well, the map is of interest as it shows the location of the stocks on the left side of the junction, and the old cottages which used to be in the Southern portion of the churchyard, now the School Field.

Fig 5u. Sketch map of the Rectory Farmyard, Stocks Hill and High Street Castor drawn in 1820s.The barn and other outbuildings were pulled down in the 1850s, when the Glebe farmhouse was converted into the Rectory.

66