The newspaper for Nether Heyford & Upper Heyford, Northamptonshire, UK. Delivered free to every house since 1977.
The Ancient Order of Foresters was a co-operative society. This photograph shows their gala day in 1900-1901. Could there have been any link between this and the naming of The Foresters Arms?
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Extract from “The Story of Heyford” – Local book series published in the late 1990’s
Volume 3 of 4 | Chapter 11 of 17 | Page 24
The photograph below was taken in the 1930’s. On the left is the Foresters Arms. There were then no houses between here and the Denny’s house on the corner of Middle Street. In this photograph the view is clear right across the field to Middle Street.
This land was then part of the Manor grounds and was grazed by hunters owned by the occupant of the Manor House. The horses used to stand there, looking over the fence at the passers-by. Note the old Elm trees at the edge of the field.
The road between this field and the Green was known then as “The Tops” because the children would use the flat area for spinning their tops. The houses which were built alongside the road here by Mr Denny in the 1930’s are sometimes referred to by local people as “the front row”.
The Tops
Photo lent by Judy Armitage
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Extract from “The Story of Heyford” – Local book series published in the late 1990’s
Volume 3 of 4 | Chapter 1 of 17 | Page 2
Heyford’s Historical Heritage | How the books were created
This photograph, lent by the Clements family, was taken early 1920’s. It includes Charlie Clements (back,left) and Arthur Parish (front, second from left)
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Extract from “The Story of Heyford” – Local book series published in the late 1990’s
Volume 2 of 4 | Chapter 10 of 11 | Page 25
Although we can’t be sure exactly when the house was built, the deeds date back to 1827. The earliest reference we have found to the name ‘Bricklayers Arms’ is in the census return of 1871. This shows that it was occupied at that time by John Dunkley. He was aged twenty-nine and his occupation was shown as beer seller and ironworks labourer. The Census returns of 1881 and 1891 both refer to John Dunkley, beer seller, although neither specifically mention the name ‘Bricklayers Arms’.
The earliest recorded memory of the pub was from Bob Browning (1892-1997). Bob recalled that it was run in the early 1900s by Tom Dunkley. He told me that Tom Dunkley was the son of William Dunkley who ran ‘The Boat’ opposite. Tom Dunkley apparently died by drowning in the canal.
The Bricklayers Arms in the 1930s
The Bricklayers Arms stood in Furnace Lane beside the canal. Like many buildings alongside the canal it had two floors at the front and three at the back. The building still exists as a private dwelling and is called Bridge Cottage. When it was modernised it was completely gutted and is now hardly recognisable as the same building because it had its top floor removed.
A small pub for local needs
Between the wars the pub was run by George Faulkner who continued to run it until the late 1930s. In the photo you can see the board above the door with the words:
George Faulkner was grandfather to Ada Smith and Charlie Masters. Charlie remembers the pub from when it was in use. As with many buildings alongside the canal, it had two stories at the front and three at the back. The bar or tap room had bare Wooden boards with two or three tables and a handful of chairs. One of the tables was marked out for shove-halfpenny. There was no bar as such. When you wanted a beer the landlord had to go down the narrow steps to the cellar and fetch it in a jug directly from the barrel. The beer barrels were delivered by motor lorry and came from Phipps brewery in Northampton.
The pub had no water, but there was a tap at the railway cottages just down the road from where water could be fetched by bucket. There was no real toilet, just a little shelter with a drain, but no door. There was however a traditional oven heated by faggots. Some of the local people brought their Sunday roasts and Yorkshire puddings to be cooked in it.
Fishing Expedition around 1928
The man on the far right is George Faulkner.
The small boy beside him is his grandson Charlie Masters who lent this photograph.
Brickworkers, and fishing trips
At that time the pub catered mainly for the brickyard workers. The brickyard with its coal-fired kilns was warm work and so the pub was often opened for a short time at around 6.30 in the morning for the workers to buy beer to take to work. They would also go there at lunchtime and after work to quench their thirsts. Bill Nickolls who worked at the brickworks recalls that the beer was 4d per pint and that they sometimes played skittles. There was also fun in the evenings. Charlie remembers how Bill Nickolls’ mother used to carry a gramophone up to the pub to play music on Saturday nights.
Sometimes during the summer months a group of people from St James End in Northampton came by bus for a day’s fishing on the canal. The men would fish while the women sat on the grass and chatted. They brought picnics and drank beer from the pub. There was a piano which would be man- handled out of the building so that they could have a sing-song in the sunshine. The photograph here shows the group from one of these trips. On the far left is George Faulkner, and the small boy beside him is his grandson Charlie Masters who provided much of the information in this article.
Hay barn, stables, weddings and coal
To the left of the main building was a hay barn. Underneath this at the back of the house was stabling for six or eight horses. The horses were stabled overnight by the boat people for which George Faulkner charged about 6d. In the hay barn above were three holes at either end through which the hay could be dropped through to the horses below. Sometimes the hay was cleared out and the barn was used as a function room. Charlie’s sister Ada and John Smith had their wedding reception in this room. To the left of the barn was a wall which was built of clinker from the Furnaces. This wall is still there.
George Faulkner also ran a coal business. The coal came by railway to Weedon and then on the siding in the brickyard. He stored the coal beside the pub in the yard where Tarrys now operate and delivered it around the village by horse and cart. There was a small weighbridge, just large enough for a small cart which was used to weigh the coal, and sometimes also sand which came from a sandpit in a field behind the yard.
Little Tommy
One of the visitors to the Bricklayers Arms was Little Tommy (Harris?). He was a shoemaker. If you wanted some shoes or boots he took all the measurements and two or three weeks later he returned with the finished article. He sometimes came to the village on Sundays. He took the bus from Northampton to Weedon and did some business there. He then walked along the A5 to the Bricklayers Arms where he bought eggs from Mrs Faulkner. He wrapped them up individually in paper and put them in his gladstone bag. On one occasion he dropped one on the ground and it broke. He asked Mrs Faulkner for a spoon and ate it from the ground so as not to waste it. He then walked on into the village and did some business there before taking the last bus back to Northampton.
The sale of the pub
Since the opening of the two furnaces in the 1860s the Furnace Lane area had been a hive of industry. Both the furnaces and the Brickworks were hot, thirsty work and the pub had for many years serviced the needs of the workers. There was also during this period much canal traffic. However by the time the Brickworks closed in the late 1930s there was little work left in that part of the village. So after sixty years or more the pub finally closed. Phipps offered to sell the house and land to George Faulkner for £100 but he didn’t take up the offer because he couldn’t afford it. And in any case it was time for him to retire.
Conversion to coal business
In 1950 Phipps Brewery sold the house to Fred Tarry. Fred Tarry, who lived in Bugbrooke, had returned from the First World War, but couldn’t find employment, so in 1922 he set up a coal business in his home village of Bugbrooke. George Faulkner had already run a small coal business from the Bricklayers Arms, so when Phipps sold the building in 1950 it gave Fred Tarry a chance to expand his business to Heyford.
In 1980 the house, which is now called Bridge Cottage, was converted to its present structure. It had originally had two roofs which met in a gulley in the centre. It was almost as though the back half had been added later because the brickwork of the front and back halves was not bonded together. The supporting wall between the two halves was damp from where the gulley couldn’t cope with the volume of water in heavy rainfall. So in 1979/ 80 some serious repair work had to take place. The house was totally gutted, with only the four outside walls left standing. The top storey was removed, a new roof was built, and the cellars below, which had been almost windowless (like the black hole of Calcutta) were converted to living accommodation.
Even today the coal business continues to be run from this house by Frank Higginbottom, his wife Thelma (Fred Tarry’s daughter) and their son Richard.
Stephen Ferneyhough
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Extract from “The Story of Heyford” – Local book series published in the late 1990’s
Volume 2 of 4 | Chapter 9 of 11 | Pages 22 to 25
Brickmaking in Heyford
There seems to have been some degree of brick making in Heyford right throughout the 1800s. This is illustrated by the references below. You can see from these that there were always two or three people employed in brickmaking, but the number seems to have increased sharply during the 1880s. It was probably during this period that brickmaking became more mechanised and that the brickyard in Furnace Lane expanded to become an important industry in the village.
1822 George Baker’s ‘History of Northamptonshire’ mentions Nether Heyford, including a reference to ‘a brick kiln towards Stowe field’.
1827 Bryants map shows some brick kilns just S of the canal and E of the railway
1849 Whellan’s directory lists three brickmakers
1851 Census return lists William Braunston of Brickyard House, aged 50, brick and tile maker. Also Richard Haynes, brick and tile maker
1861 Census lists one brickmaker and one brickyard labourer
1864 Kellys directory lists John Judkins, brickmaker
1869 Kellys directory lists Joseph Johnson, brickmaker
1871 Census lists William Towers of Furnace Road, aged 33, brickmaker
1881 Census lists 7 brickyard labourers
1891 Census lists 16 brickyard labourers
Heyford Brickworks
So from the 1880s until the 1930s Heyford had its own brickworks. It was situated in Furnace Lane, beyond the canal, beside the railway, on the site where Wickes now operates. It was on part of the Heyford Grange Estate owned by the Judkins family. The claypit and brickyard were leased to Henry Martin Ltd of Northampton who employed around 15 men. The only one now left to tell the tale is Bill Nickolls who worked there in his late teens from 1930 until 1934. Bill is now aged 84 and it is to him that we owe our thanks for the memories of the brickworks from that period.
Blood, sweat and tears
The clay, known as blue clay, was only dug during the winter. It was dug directly from the pit by hand using special shovels with extra long cutting blades. The pit which was about thirty feet deep can be seen in the photograph just behind the row of cottages in the background. Before they reached the clay they removed the topsoil and also lumps of lime which could be burnt in the kiln to use for the garden. They started digging at the top and worked downwards. Enough clay could be dug through the winter months to ensure brickmaking through until October. The pay was one shilling per square yard. The clay heap was kept moist by pecking it (making holes into the heap) and watering it.
On Easter Tuesday the workforce was doubled for brickmaking during the summer. The clay was barrowed to the brickmaking machine and put into the mincer. This ground up the clay which was then passed downwards between two sets of rollers and came out in a big slab. From there it was cut into bricks eight at a time, and then into a barrow for taking away.
Sadly one of the men died in the mincing machine. His name was Teddy West. He was a small man, but one of the most committed workers, always first to arrive in the mornings and well respected by all the others. Unfortunately he used to wear a sacking apron which on one occasion became tangled in the machine and he was drawn into it. His death was a shock to them all.
From the brickmaking machine the bricks were taken to the yard and stacked. Here they were covered and left to dry before going into the kiln. The stack was later turned inside out to allow for even drying. The pay for turning was 5d per thousand. Bill Nickolls remembers turning 25,000 in one day, but the record was set by Ron West who turned 30,000.
The kiln was fired by coal. There was a siding off the main railway and so the coal ‘slack’ was brought by train. You can just pick out in the photograph the letters of the LMS truck immediately to the left of the Bricklayers Arms. It took ten tons of coal to start the kiln and so once it had been started it was kept going twenty-four hours a day. The kiln consisted of a number of cavities joined by holes and so the fire went from one to another. The clay bricks were put into the kiln, baked, and then taken away red hot for stacking in the yard.
It was hard work. All the pay was piecework. The brick-making process was continuous and all men had to keep up the pace to ensure a smooth flow of work. Bill Chapman, George Record and Bill Watson were wagon fillers in the pit. Feeding in the clay on the top of the brickmaking machine was Bob Sargeant. At the bottom on brick cutting was Reg Matthews. There were three ‘runners away’, that is taking the clay bricks from the machine – Bill Goodman, Bert Oliver, and Bill Nickolls. At the top of the kiln were the brick burners Henry Allen and ]o Collins. ‘Runners-in’ to the kiln were Bill Nickolls and Ron West (Teddy’s son), and there were two ‘drawers’ jack Nickolls (Bill’s brother) and Bill Nightingale to take the fired bricks away.
The Brickworks and Bricklayers Arms in the 1930s
Note the clay pit between the chimneys just beyond the rooftops in the distance. You can also pick out an LMS railway wagon just to the left of the Bricklayers Arms.
Local buildings
Heyford bricks Were used in a number of local buildings. This included the four sets of four council houses in Furnace Lane built in the 1920s and the three pairs of semis lower down on the other side. All these Were built by Mr Denny. Other bricks went further afield. There was a contract with Pratts for half a million per year. These were taken by horse and cart and loaded onto a narrowboat for shipment down the canal to Watford. 3” bricks sold for 38s per thousand and 2 5/ 8” for 45s.
The closure
In 1938 some of the men agitated for an increase in wages but Henry Martins either wouldn’t or couldn’t pay. He decided instead to close the brickworks and so brickmaking in Heyford came to an end. The site was sold to Mr Beck who owned Heyford Hills although he never developed it. It was used during the War by Weedon Barracks for sorting war goods returned from the front. Then some time after the war a cinder track was laid for holding bicycle races. In the late 1950s the pits were filled in with waste from the building of the M1. In 1965 some factory units were built on it and since then it has been used for light engineering and warehousing.
The same view in the 1990s
Instead of the clay pit you can now see the roof of the warehousing at Wickes.
The Bricklayers Arms has had its top storey removed and is now a private dwelling.
Stephen Ferneyhough
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Extract from “The Story of Heyford” – Local book series published in the late 1990’s
Volume 2 of 4 | Chapter 8 of 11 | Pages 19 to 21
To celebrate the silver jubilee of King George V the Parish Council organised a public tea for all the parishioners. Charges were sixpence for 14-16 year olds and ninepence for adults. The children were paid for by the school governors, and pensioners and widows were free of charge. All other expenses were covered from the proceeds of a jumble sale organised by the Jubilee committee.
As well as the tea there were sports and games on the Green. Bill Kingston particularly remembers a slow bicycle race between the two sets of goal posts. The idea was to get from one end to the other without touching the ground. Sid Goodman won because he came last. He won a wallet. Tom Eales came second. Bill Kingston came third and won a pipe. He swapped it for Sid’s wallet because each preferred the others prize.
Mr Foster (Reg Fosters father) made a brass candlestick for auction. Dorothy Kingston bought it for £1. 5s which was a lot of money then. However it was a beautiful piece of craftsmanship and she still has it today.
Stephen Ferneyhough
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Extract from “The Story of Heyford” – Local book series published in the late 1990’s
Volume 2 of 4 | Chapter 7 of 11 | Page 18
Heyford’s Historical Heritage | How the books were created
At the beginning of the 1900s up until the First World War in 1914, Heyford celebrated together at their annual sports day organised by a special sports committee, and at which everyone in the village attended.
The sports field was situated beyond the children’s playground where the houses in Hillside Road / Hillside Crescent now stand. The field belonged to a local farmer who removed his cows for the day, which usually meant a bit of clearing up had to be done first. The date was usually set for Whitsuntide, and a beer tent and tea tent would be organised by the ladies.
The men would probably be dressed in striped jackets, baggy trousers and straw hats, the ladies in blouses, long skirts and large hats, the little girls in ankle length dresses and the little boys in jumpers and knickerbockers.
A local band (probably from Bugbrooke) would begin the proceedings and set the mood, and the races would be mainly for the children and fathers, possibly followed by an egg and spoon race for the mums, although they found it rather difficult to run in long skirts. Winners names would be taken after each race for prize giving at the end of the afternoon.
At the interval the lancers from Weedon Depot would give a display of horsemanship, including the spectacular attraction of tent pegging. A peg much the same as a tent peg but softer would be placed in the ground at the centre point. The lancer would mount his horse with his lance at his side, charge at the peg, picking it up with his lance and raising it above his head amid cheers from an enthusiastic crowd.
Prize giving would be the highlight of the afternoon, and the prizes would be something for the home, possibly linen or cutlery which would be acceptable to any family.
The band would play a finale and everyone would go home tired but well satisfied with the days events, and this day would be talked about for a long time.
Shirley Collins
(Reprinted from issue no 3 of The Prattler, dated January 1978)
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Extract from “The Story of Heyford” – Local book series published in the late 1990’s
Volume 2 of 4 | Chapter 6 of 11 | Page 18
Heyford’s Historical Heritage | How the books were created
Extract from The Story of Heyford – Volume 2 of 4 – Page 18
In the days before the existence of the welfare state the village was a caring community in which neighbours took care of the needs of each other. An example of this is illustrated in the photograph below which was taken in 1911.
On the left of the picture is Bob Browning who was born in Heyford in 1892 and died in 1997. He remembered the photograph being taken and it was he who gave us the information below.
A woman called Mrs Ephrain Collins became widowed with six or eight children. She lived in a stone cottage where the old folks bungalows now stand in ‘the Pound’. A photograph of this cottage appears in volume 1 of ‘The Story of Heyford’. The village held a raffle to raise money for her welfare. Raffle tickets were sold in the surrounding villages and stuck onto the circular board shown in the photograph. The winning ticket was established by firing a shotgun, owned by Mr Stanton Boyes of Upper Heyford, at the board.
The raffle raised around £2,000 which was invested on behalf of Mrs Collins to keep her in rent and coal for the rest of her life.
Back row: Bob Browning, Mr Sargent, Mrs Roberts, Mrs Violet Browning, Mrs Gwen George, Win Earl, Mrs Sargent, Mr Gibson, David Browning
Gentleman in chair: Mr William Browning
Front Row: Mr Nightingale, Mr Roberts, Ted Sargent, Ted Wright, Mr Hobbs
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Extract from “The Story of Heyford” – Local book series published in the late 1990’s
Volume 2 of 4 | Chapter 4 of 11 | Page 8
Bell—ringing in the parish church of St Peter and St Paul goes back at least four centuries. The two oldest bells are dated 1601 and one of these is inscribed ‘Thomas Morgan gave me to the church frank and free.’ Judge Morgan lived in the Manor House at this time. Both bells were cast by a founder called Watts and one is the heaviest bell in the belfry. It is the tenor, weighing over seven hundred-weight: that’s over 784 lbs. or 356 kilos. Another bell was added in 1638, cast by Watts II, and a fourth in 1704 cast by H. Penn. With these four bells it was possible to ring a maximum of 24 changes or sequences (English Change Ringing is based on mathematical sequences rather than musical composition). This was how it remained for 250 years.
Originally there was an external door in the tower where the bell-ringers could gain access. In 1855 there was extensive restoration work in the church which included opening up the tower inside, moving the organ and sealing off the outside door. The heavy wooden door which was removed became the one now hanging as the front entrance to the Old Sun pub. This would be appropriate as the vestry meetings used to adjourn to the Old Sun. Of course, it is still the tradition today for the bell-ringers to finish off every Friday-night ringing practice with a drink in the local – even if, for some reason, ringing hasn’t actually taken place!
During the 1930s the ringers included Mont Smith (John Smith’s grandfather), Fred Browning, Charlie Foster, Bernard Kingston, Harry Eales and Dick Capell. At this time, ringing only usually took place on holy days such as Christmas or Easter; for church services, the bells were just tolled. During the Second World War, bell—ringing generally was banned and only to be used as an alarm for the community. However by 1943 the threat of invasion was considered over and the ban lifted.
A new era and two new bells
This spelled a new era for the Nether Heyford bells. Fred Browning, as the tower captain, recruited and trained a new generation of ringers, including Ted Garrett and Hilda Collins who are still ringing today. Fred also developed handbell ringing at Christmas time. This new enthusiasm was further encouraged by the addition of two new bells after the Reverend Isham Longden, rector from 1897 to 1942, left £100 in his will for a new bell. Even in the 1940s, this provided only a quarter of the amount needed to cast and hang the bells, so an active fund—raising campaign started in the village.
Coffee mornings, whist drives and sales helped to raise £400 and on 21st September 1946, two treble bells were dedicated in church. They were made in London by Gillett and Johnson and hung on a metal frame above the others who were still on a timber frame.
One was called the Victory Bell and there is a list from 1943 of villagers who donated funds towards it. The list includes the rector “Mr” (sic) Mortimer, Harry Allen the verger, Jack Capell the butcher, William Wakefield Whitton, the Kingston family, the Brownings, the Collins’s and the carpenters shop. Most contributed £1, some as much as £5 and some gave ‘two ‘n’ six.’ Now with six bells, the number of possible changes increased dramatically from 24 to 720.
Repairs
In 1979, the four older bells on their wooden frame needed to be rehung and refitted. They had been taken down before but this was the first time in nearly 400 years that they had left the village. They were taken to Taylors of Loughborough and their transport was provided by Jeremy Rice. An eight mile sponsored walk from the church to Flore and Stowe was organised to help raise funds.
Lowering the bells
The Tenor bell of 1601 bearing the Morgan family crest
Removing the bells to Loughborough in 1979
Left to right: Wilf Denny, Bill Collins, Malcolm Chown
Photos lent by Hilda Collins
In 1995, a quarter peal was rung to commemorate the 50th anniversary of VE day. This consisted of 1260 rings non stop and lasted for about an hour. In 1996, the church celebrated the half-century of the treble bells with the Heyford Morris Men, handbell ringers, a lone piper, John Anderson, and a special commemorative service.
Sarah Crontear with thanks to Hilda Collins and Ted Garrett
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Article Published in The Prattler – February 1989 – Fred Browning
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Extract from “The Story of Heyford” – Local book series published in the late 1990’s
Volume 2 of 4 | Chapter 3 of 11 | Pages 6 & 7
The Crawley dynasty and the struggle between the high church and protestantism.
Much of the information in this article came from the PhD thesis written by Alan Horsley in 1985 entitled ‘The Crawleys’. Alan Horsley had been Rector of Heyford and Stowe-Nine-Churches from 1971-1978. Other information was provided by local people.
For the entire nineteenth century the parish churches of Heyford and Stowe were run by the Crawley family. The Crawley dynasty began when Charles Crawley became Rector of Stowe in 1789. He was descended from Sir Francis Crawley of Luton, born in 1584, who had been a loyal supporter of Charles l in the struggle between monarchical high churchmanship and puritan parliamentarianism. Charles was one of the early members of the Oxford Movement, a clerical movement which developed the principles of High Church and which had a significant influence on religious thinking during the Victorian era.
The family settles in Heyford and Stowe
The family connection with Stowe began in the year 1717 when Charles Crawley’s great grandfather John Lloyd bought the advowson of Stowe lX Churches for £1,055. john Lloyd’s grandson, Rev John Lloyd became rector of Stowe IX Churches and Heyford until his death in 1788. In 1789 Charles Crawley (Rev John Lloyd’s nephew) became rector of Stowe IX churches and Henry Jephcott became rector of Heyford.
Charles Crawley remained rector of Stowe until his death in 1849 at the age of 95. He set high standards for his church with two services on Sundays, both with sermons. This was at a time when most churches had only one service, or even only once a fortnight, or not at all in bad weather.
In 1800 Henry Jephcott died and Charles’ nephew John Lloyd Crawley became rector of Heyford at the age of 25. He remained at Heyford until his death in 1850. Therefore both Stowe and Heyford were now being run by the Crawley family with their strong High Church principles.
Lord of the Manor
However this was at a time when Protestantism was gathering popularity in the area. Until 1759 the two manors of Upper and Lower Heyford were largely in Catholic hands. With Thomas Morgan the manor house at Upper Heyford was a Catholic centre from 1558 to 1604. Although the manor house at Upper Heyford fell into decay during the Commonwealth period the property remained in Catholic hands until 1758 when the estates were sold in lots by public auction.
The manor house at Lower Heyford was bought by Henry Jephcott and passed to John Lloyd Crawley on his death in 1800. So John Lloyd Crawley was both rector and Lord of the Manor. However his influence was limited because the manor house came with only 30 acres. Because the catholic estates had been broken up into small lots, there were several landlords in the area, each with power to exert religious and political views of their own.
Tensions between High Church and Non-Conformism
Throughout the 1700s and 1800s there was a growth of Protestantism. The Quaker movement had been established in 1649 and meeting houses were opened in Flore in 1678 and Bugbrooke in 1692. In the absence of any strong High Church landlords, non conformism was able to flourish. Towards the end of the 1700s Baptism and Methodism were developing. The Baptist chapel opened in Heyford in 1826 and the Methodist one in 1835. Therefore the Crawley family had come into an area saturated with Protestantism.
The Rectory
The Rectory was built in 1851 by the Crawley family. It was used as the Rectory until 1969 when it was sold, and the new Rectory built within its former garden.
In 1849 Charles Crawley died at the age of 95. He was succeeded by one of john Lloyd’s sons Henry who remained rector of Stowe until 1895. In 1850 john Lloyd died and was succeeded at Heyford by one of his other sons Thomas. So for a second generation, both churches continued to be run by the Crawleys.
The Rectory at Heyford was built in 1851 and Thomas lived there rather than at the manor house. Thomas, who was born in 1815, remained rector at Heyford until his death in 1897. He continued all the principles of high church that had for so long been a part of his own family values. However there remained tensions between the church and the growing number of non-conformists in the village. These tensions are well illustrated by the following story.
Under pressure from the non-conformists, an act of parliament in 1847 made provision for the establishment of cemeteries. However, in practice it was often many years before they were opened. Meanwhile only the parish churchyards were available. All Englishmen had the right to be buried there but only a Church of England clergyman could officiate. The prayer book of 1662 dictated that if the deceased person died upbaptised ‘the order for the burial of the dead’ should not be used. Therefore the Baptist tradition involving baptism in adulthood rather than at birth meant that those who died young, before baptism could take place, could not be considered Christians.
Frederick William Marsh was born in 1876, the third son of Alfred and Emma Marsh. They were a Baptist family. He died, aged 11 in 1887. The saying ‘the sun shines on the righteous’ ‘comes from the fact that the sun travels from east to west across the churchyard with the south side receiving most of the sun. ‘Good Christians’ were buried on the sunny side. Those considered less so were often buried on the North side where less sun reached. A grave was selected for Alfred Marsh on the very north-east edge of the graveyard, often thought of as the devil’s corner. The burial laws amendment act of 1880 allowed Baptist ministers to preside at such burials. However for reasons we don’t know, the service on this occasion was conducted by Thomas Crawley. ‘It is commonly asserted in the village that he conducted the service over the walls of the rectory garden next door’.
This same story was recounted to me by Bob Browning in 1996, only a year or so before he died. Bob was born in 1892 and was a grandson of Alfred Marsh. Frederick William was the uncle that he never knew. Quite why Frederick William was not buried in the newly established cemetery, we don’t know. The Lychgate was built in 1885, but perhaps the ground inside hadn’t been fully prepared. Bob told me that Alfred Marsh was so incensed by the treatment of his grandson that he took a leading role in getting the cemetery established.
The end of an era
Thomas Crawley died on 12th May 1897 and was buried in the Crawley vault in the graveyard. Bob Browning told me that there were seven coffins in the vault, three either side and one across the top. Access to it was down a few steps, and when the last coffin was placed inside it was bricked up. The vault is on the east side of the graveyard but is unmarked by a gravestone.
Thomas was succeeded at Heyford by Rev Henry Isham Longden. His brother Henry, who had been Rector of Stowe had died two years previously in 1895. The Bishop of Leicester, in a letter to Henry Isham Longden on his appointment at Heyford, wrote:
“Dear Mr Longden,
I am happy to hear you are coming again to the Northamptonshire Archdeaconry. I wish I could be present at Heyford at your institution, but I fear that will not be possible for me on Oct. 26th.
The Crawley brothers were very peculiar men – men of good connection and of high minded-principles and cf the old Churchmanship well known to them before the Oxford movement ever began! The Rector of Stowe 9 Churches upon a stout cob carried ‘the Tracts for the Times’ about the Country as they came out: with his own comments upon them to the less instructed clergy. Your predecessors son is now his uncle’s successor at Stowe, and will know much about Heyford of course. I have often been there, and I much admired both brothers, though their views were far behind the times for practical application.
With renewed good wishes,
Believe me, Very truly yours, F. H. Leicester”
So for the entire nineteenth century Heyford and Stowe churches had been run by the Crawley family. Although none of the succeeding rectors at Heyford have been Crawleys, the Crawley patronage of the church continues. In 1977 a festival and pilgrimage around the two parishes was organised in recognition of the family’s enormous contribution to the life of the Church of England, both at local and national level.
Stephen Ferneyhough, with very many thanks to Alan Horsley’s thesis
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Extract from “The Story of Heyford” – Local book series published in the late 1990’s
Volume 2 of 4 | Chapter 2 of 11 | Pages 3 to 5
The Nether Heyford Prattler 