A history of Apethorpe – by Richard Parkinson 2012 _________________________________________________ Part 1 - Iron age to the Romans Click the photo to open in larger window In an aerial photograph taken in 1947, there are signs of a pre-historic settlement here consisting of roundhouses and enclosures making up small scale farms probably of Iron Age origin. The closest is about 1OO metres to the west of the Hall and consisting of enclosures and ditch complexes with prehistoric pottery and small amounts of metal work debris found. A later Romano British settlement survives nearby and 1 km away there are signs of an extensive Roman pottery, Nene Valley and Samian ware, (a bright red pottery mostly manufactured in Gaul and Germany in the 1st to 4th century). There is a site of a Roman villa begun toward the end of the 1st Century and gradually extended until it ended up in the 4th century as an imposing courtyard villa with hypercast and bath, and with a formal approach from the south. It was partly excavated in 1859 and could well have functioned as an estate centre. Following the Roman retreat at the beginning of the fifth century we see small paddocks of unequal size and orientation, so people continued to live here during the so called dark ages with the Danes and Vikings slowly conquering the area. At this time the estate appears to have shrunk back to its pre- Roman size at this time. You have to imagine that most of the land around here was covered in forest and that the inhabitants could not and did not travel far. Wild animals, wolves, deer etc abounded. Toward the end of this period, just prior to the Norman Conquest this area was known to have been a hunting ground for Kings. APETHORPE AND CHRISTIANITY At this time we were part of the dominant kingdom of Mercia which was eventually ruled by Penda a warring pagan king, who had fought with all and sundry successfully, until he met his end at the battle of Winwaed, probably near Hull. His son, Peada was accepted in marriage by the daughter of the Northumbrian Christian king in 635, on condition that he embraced the Christian faith. Thus Christianity came to this area through the work of 4 priests that he brought with him from the monastery of Lindisfarme; Diuma, one of the original 4 monks, was eventually made the first Bishop of Mercia based at Litchfield. At this time Peada also founded a regular missionary settlement at Medehamstede (Peterborough) . A history of Apethorpe – by Richard Parkinson 2012 The venerable Bede wrote….“In his time they came together, Peada and Oswy, brother of King Oswald, and declared that they wished to establish a minster in praise of Christ and in honour of St Peter. And they did so, and gave it the name Medeshamstede, because there is a spring there called Medeswael. And then they began the foundations and built upon them, and then entrusted it to a monk who was called Seaxwulf. He was a great friend of God, and all people loved him, and he was very nobly born in the world and powerful”. This Christianity was the Celtic form of Christianity, very different from the Roman variety imported by St Augustine. However, in 677 Canterbury was recognized as the Ecclesiastical centre of England at the conference of Whitby and the Roman faith became dominant in England. So this place was probably Christian from around 640 AD although Christianity may well have been practiced in Roman times. Part 2 – Domesday Book Apethorpe is mentioned in the Domesday Book as PATORP; Click the photo to open in larger window it was part of the royal parish or vill of Nassington and was valued at £13.7s.0p, a relatively high figure for a small holding of 12 ploughs and populated by 16 villains. (Serfs) Apethorpe was named Apetorp and Appetorp in the Pipe Rolls (tax records) of 1163 and 1167 and by then it included 2 mills on the river and 2 hides of land. It is thought that the name derives from the personal Danish name Api with the suffix thorpe meaning village or hamlet. Game and Gamekeepers It is also noted as being part of the Willibrook Hundred, today Willowbrook (a Hundred was a medieval geographic term for the division of a Shire for administrative, military and judicial purposes) .The Church here was linked to Nassington Prebendary (a type of Benefice) who sent priests out to the outlying villages. One could call it "a chapel in the green" as it was in the Kings Forest. Apethorpe was in Rockingham forest, the King's hunting ground. (thus the green) This was managed from the Kings House in Kings Cliffe and there were very strict laws regarding the forest, its game, and what you could take and where you could go. Verderers (from the French green) maintained the law and kept people out of the forest. Nothing has changed; you could say that David Moisey and Richard Clarke, our present gamekeepers, are our modem day verderers. Luckily they can't hang us any more for poaching, but they can still tell us to keep out, keep dogs on leads, etc. Church origins A history of Apethorpe – by Richard Parkinson 2012 There is some evidence of a Saxon Church but no proof. However there is some evidence of a twelfth century Church still to be seen. One of these are the original foundations which run along the line of the Pillars either side of the nave. There is also an 11th century wedge shaped arch stone with chevron ornament which can be seen near a window on the North Aisle. As regards the church at that time, we have to remember that this was a Roman Catholic Church and in those days the priest was the intercessor between the population and God, he took communion regularly but the congregation would only have done so at Easter and on our saint’s day. He forgave them their sins for a fee and prayed for their souls, for a fee. He would have stood with his back to the nave and mumbled the service in Latin, which he had probably learnt by rote. The Bible, if they had one, would also have been in Latin and he was more than likely unable understand what he read. There were no pews, people stood or kneeled. They used the church to store their valuable farming instruments, ploughs etc. They also used it as we would use a village hall, for celebrations, meetings, and at high days and holidays. It was the centre of the village. Part 3 Fifteenth Century Apethorpe was always, up to the 15th century, owned by the Crown, who leased it out to a variety of subjects over the years, these included for example, Queen Eleanor, Edward 1st wife, from 1283 to 1290. In 1340 it was granted to Sir Robert Dalton and his family, (His tomb cover can be seen in the Mildmay Chapel). TheDaltons were here until 1442 and then crown handed it to the Ridels of Wittering who had apparently fought with William the conqueror at Hastings. Click the photo to open in larger window The War of the Roses Apethorpe then passed to Sir Guy Wolston 1435-1504 who originated from Woolaston, near Wellingborough. The Estate included all our benefice villages of Apethorpe, Nassington, Woodnewton, Yarwell, Glapthorne and more which, according to English Heritage, he eventually bought from the Ridel family of Whittering in 1480. Although it is thought that he probably rented the estate prior to purchase. He served the Dukes of York and in 1464 he was given the custody, constableship and lordship of Fotheringhay Castle, (Where Richard 3rd was born in 1 452) he subsequently became usher and squire to Edward IV. He was created Knight of the Bath in 1485 by Henry VII so he must have changed sides and fought against the Yorkist Richard III; He also fought for Henry at the Battle of Stoke Field on 16 June 1487 where the conspiracy to oust Henry VII led by the Yorkist Earl of Lincoln, (who A history of Apethorpe – by Richard Parkinson 2012 tried to place the pretender Lambert Simnel on the throne) was ended. This proved to be the last battle of the Wars of the Roses. Apethorpe Hall It was Sir Guy that we believe built the great Hall of Apethorpe around 1480. It is also thought that he rebuilt the old 12th century Church sometime around 1485 (we celebrated the Churches 500th anniversary in 1985), however English Heritage have recently carried out dendrological tests on some timbers in the church which point to an earlier date, maybe as early as 1422. Sir Guy died in 1504 and his daughter and son in law, Thomas Empson, inherited the estate but had to sell it in 1515 because of the attainment and beheading by Henry 8th of Thomas's Father, Richard, on a charge of treason. The Mildmay’s It was then occupied by the 5th Baron Mountjoy 1516-1544 and then sold back to the King who, in 1552, exchanged the estate with Sir Walter Mildmay, who had lands in Wiltshire and Essex. He was the 4th son of Thomas Mildmay of Chelmsford who was a commissioner for receiving the surrender of the monasteries and who, as such, had become a very wealthy man. Sir Walter was Surveyor to the Court of Augmentations, which was responsible for valuing the monasteries and their holdings. By 1566 he had achieved the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer and Privy Councilor to Queen Elizabeth; both positions he held until his death.