BLISWORTH'S LISTED BUILDINGS

This page includes notes collated by Mrs. B. Andrews
There is now also a website providing the basic information.

The "Statutory List" of buildings of special architectural or historic interest was originally prepared by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government in July 1949.   Several amended lists have been produced and in March 1988 the Secretary of State compiled a list in the District of South Northamptonshire.  The "Blisworth Conservation Area" was designated in July 1991 and incorporates the historic core of the village on either side of the High Street and Stoke Road as well as land alongside the canal up to the tunnel portal.

The full list includes the Parish Church (Website Section), the Railway Arch (Website Section) and the 1936 telephone kiosk in the High Street.  Below are notes, collated by Mrs. B. Andrews, which deal primarily with dwellings.

Each entry provides the description of the building, information gleaned from the C18 and C19 Grafton Surveys*, maps and Grafton Rent Book entries*.  There are also data from the censuses** and the Grafton Estate Sale of 1919*, extracts from any directories such as 'Kelly' and finally an extract, if available, from George Freeston's notes, his collections or his 1953 'Scrapbook'.

In the notes below there are links to photographs of the buildings and to other information which may be of interest on this website.  There is an occasional link to a panorama photograph.  It will be necessary to hover the mouse over the images linked here and clicking an icon, as below, which should appear at the lower right corner. Alternatively, panoramas can be viewed immediately at full size in the dedicated Panoramas section.
                                                                              

* a convenient source of collated material, much of which was transcribed by Mrs. S. Blake, are the Grafton Regis CDs which are available on sale at the Northamptonshire Record Office.

** the 1841 and 1851 censuses are often difficult to decypher with any certainty.

CONTENTS

House built in 1795 of dressed limestone, altered in late C19. The original house was L-shaped with a principal room on either side of the front entrance & a rear wing on the left. The single storey & wing may be additions but the 2-storey block in the angle at the back is a later C19 addition.

Built as a coaching inn on the Far Cotton to Towcester Road at the time of the new Turnpike Trust of 1794/5 it was known initially as the "The Duke’s Arms", as indicated by a Grafton lease at the NRO which has been card-indexed but is too damaged to inspect, later as "The Grafton Arms".

1727 & 1757 No buildings on Upper Slade or Westbridge Close, farmed by John Hedge.

1757 Westbridge Close between Towcester Road and lane to other side - lane now obliterated by new house.
1808 & 1815 Award Map   House + many outbuildings
1885 OS House enlarged, outbuildings altered.

GRAFTON RENT BOOKS 1795 – 1834

1795 - 1808 STUBBS Simon had Upper Slade (or Westbridge) Close from Joseph HEDGE for £2. Built good house with stable etc used as an inn. Remainder of close was converted to garden & orchard. Rent £5

1797 Acquired more land from late Mr Will’s farm. Rent £44.10s.

1799 Had part of Old Park from Joseph Hedge. Rent £50.10s

1800 Built new barn. Rent £55.

1801 Land taken for the hill railway (horse-rail) through Old Park. Rent reduced to £53.15s

1808 - 1810 STUBBS widow Sarah, rent £120

By 1821-34 WORSTER William - Rent £140

GRAFTON SURVEYS C19

1831 WORSTER William, Grafton Arms Inn & Homestall + 86 acres

1865 Road access and bridge re-aligned – wharf manager’s house "Wharfinger House" & yard on other side of canal demolished.

1839 WORSTER William, The Grafton Arms Inn etc.

1875 CARTER Benjamin, The Grafton Arms with the homestead etc + about 110 acres including wharfs & buildings

1841 WORSTER William 45 inn keeper, William 15 + 18 others (Grafton Arms)

1851 WORSTER William 58 …. farmer (Grafton Arms)

1861 WORSTER William 68 farmer (366a with 9 men & 9 boys), niece Eleanor Wetharis 37, nephew Benjamin CARTER 51, Mary 48, Marian 19 governess, Caroline 14, Eleanor 12, Henry 9, Mary 7 (4 scholars) + cook, housemaid & house boy (Grafton Arms)

1871 CARTER Benjamin 61 farmer (Grafton Arms)

1881 WESTLEY Joseph 60 miller, farmer, baker, merchant (farm house Gayton Rd)

1891 WESTLEY Joseph 70 miller & corn merchant (Grafton House Gayton Rd)

1901 WESTLEY John 45 miller/merchant (Grafton House)

DIRECTORIES (Kelly’s)

1847 WORSTER William farmer & coal merchant

1854 do William sen. Grafton Arms & farmer, William jun. farmer

1864 do William Grafton Arms & farmer

1877 ---

GRAFTON SALE 1919 (Lot 6)

Stone and tiled family residence with ranges of premises, yards, wharfs, three cottages and 91acres of pasture and arable land on either side of the road to Towcester.

The house occupies a sheltered position on the South-West side of the village, and contains 11 good rooms, besides bathroom (hot & cold), wc, 3 attic bedrooms and the usual domestic offices, with a paved yard, capital garden and orchard.

Adjoining are large yards with a long range of stone and tiled buildings, comprising nag and cart horse stabling with harness room and loft over, a good barn, 2 foddering yards and a slated open shed (now enclosed and made into boxes by the tenants), another cart horse stable and covered way, a stone and tiled 5-room cottage, boiling house, coach house, cart shed. cow-house for 7, hen roost, 2 pigstyes and a large rickyard.

All in the occupation of Messers WESTLEY BROS & CLARK on a yearly tenancy at £180.   Sold to Messrs Westley Bros and Clark for £4000 with 97.1 acres.

1873  Turnpike system ended and "The Grafton Arms" closed within a few years.

1877  House converted to a private residence by Mr Joseph WESTLEY, the mill owner. He died in 1894, leaving a wife and 3 sons, William, John and Alfred.  His son John was recorded as the mill owner in Kelly’s 1898 & in the census of 1901.

1909  Garden party at Grafton House recorded in Baptist minute book.

1936  Mr Ernest Egbert CAESAR (1879 – 1962 from Gayton) (Kelly’s)

1947  Sold at auction to ?Mr & Mrs MORGAN with 1a 1r 15p of land.  Front garden had fountains & was enclosed by a hedge but later removed.

1966 For sale again + 1.25 acres 1970 Remained unsold

GRADE 2 LISTED

Steam mill building dated 1879. Built of orange colour Flemish bond brick with blue engineering brick and stone dressings with a Welsh slate roof. Tablets in north and south gable ends have the inscription "J Westley 1879".

Large rectangular mill of 4 storeys plus attic and basement with east side onto canal, originally with a canopy overhanging the canal and another overhanging the main road frontage. The engine house was on north west corner and the west side faced the yard with a small single storey office on west side of yard.

1757 SHEPHERD Samuel Esq of Blisworth House farmed the land, part of Upper Pond Bank, later RIGBY Humbro Esq, before some of the land taken for canal and wharf in 1794.

1727 (Upper) Pond Bank farmed by William Plowman

1808 & 1815 Award Map  Bridge aligned with Grafton Arms – building on either side (+ warehouses etc)

?1805 Map on this website - wharf details.

1838 The Wharf. Buildings on either side of bridge (+ warehouses etc)

1885 OS Road re-aligned and buildings gone. Large building in place (Westley mill)

1831 ROPER Benedict wharfs

1839 WORSTER William of Grafton Arms has coal wharf & buildings

1875 CARTER Benjamin of GA has wharf & buildings

1877 WESTLEY Joseph converted the old inn "The Grafton Arms" opposite for his private residence while running his steam mill and bakery in Stoke Road before the fire there in 1879.

1879 Joseph Westley exchanged Ann Westley’s windmill site off Courteenhall Road for this site. He built the new steam mill based on roller-milling and employed 45 people for many years. When Joseph died in 1894 his 3 sons continued with a partner, Mr Clark.

GRAFTON SALE 1919 (part of lot 6?)

The mill site, ie. the land, was sold with Grafton House to Messrs Westley Bros & Clark.  Later, the mill as freehold was sold to the Northampton Progressionists Movement.

1921 When the Progressionists failed, the mill was sold to Northampton Co-op Society and installed modern machinery, milled up to 1000 sacks of flour/week

1929 Mill closed.  Grand Union Canal Co bought mill for warehouse and demolished chimney c. 1934.

1939 Emergency store for tinned food for WWII distribution. Canal boats able to draw alongside transport boats in London docks.  After the war it was taken over for herbs & spices from Middle East for drying, sorting & packing - also locally grown parsley (grown at Hill Farm) was processed there.  Then known as "Pepper & Spice".   Herbal aroma sometimes spread over village.

1970  Spice business replaced by bulk carriers of wines for bottling.  Finally, the mill reverted to storage depot for British Waterways.

1999 Mill converted into flats by Glade Dale Homes as "luxury canal-side apartments"

Early C19 canal warehouse for the Grand Junction (later Union) Canal Company. Rectangular single storey red brick building in English garden wall bond with loading door onto canal. The low-pitched Welsh slate roof is carried down on the east front forming a canopy over the canal.

Between 1796 and 1805 the Blisworth wharf was the busiest inland 'port' in England run by Barnes & Roper Company with a subletting to Pickford Company.  This warehouse on Blisworth wharf may have been built in association with the tunnel toll road and later the hill railway for Pickford's use until in 1805 they decamped to Blisworth Arm where they could serve the temporary horse-rail to Northampton.

1727 The land, ie. Upper Pond Bank, farmed by William Plowman

1808 & 1815 Award Map  Several buildings (warehouses) on each side of bridge.

?1805 Map on this website.

1838 The Wharf, similar buildings

1885 OS (see Mill section above)

GRAFTON RENT BOOKS 1796 – 1832

1796 ROPER BARNES & Co - rent of £10 pa for warehouses etc

1797 + £7.10s for 3/4acre land from Robert Campion as addition to wharf (returned 1806) + £2.10s for extra land by bridge for building a warehouse & occasionally laying coals.

1798 ROPER & Co rent £20 pa.

1821 ROPER John £17 pa for wharf etc (until 1830s) 

GRAFTON SURVEYS C19

1831 ROPER Benedict rented 15 acres including wharfs

1839 WORSTER William of Grafton Arms has warehouses yards etc

1875 CARTER Benjamin at the "Grafton Arms" had wharf & buildings

GRAFTON SALE 1919 (part of lot 6)

Sold with Grafton House to Messrs WESTLEY Bros & CLARK

UPDATE

1999 Converted to two dwellings by Glade Dale Homes at the same time as the mill was converted

Built as an inn in 1797 in red brick, later painted, with a slate roof but it has the stone wall of a previous building on the northern aspect. It was altered in the C20 and was a public house & restaurant. It is L plan with a 2-storey range to left of centre and a 3-storey main range to right extending to the rear.  Semi-detached cottages, not listed, to the west were built by Phipp's Brewery in 1891.

Datestone on the southern aspect "JL 1797".  Believed to have been built in conjunction with Grand Union Canal nearby.

1727 Mr CHAPMAN had a house and orchard ? out of Mr Plowmans lease.  William Plowman had Pond Bank meadow & John Stalton had Pond Bank later let to Charles Brayfield.

1757 Property not listed (Charles Brayfield had Lower Pond Banks & Pond Bank Leys)

1725 Large cottage / house on site with 1 chimney

1757  An indication that the building may have been lower and smaller.

1808 Building now L-shaped and extending back towards canal + large new detached building set back on site (presumed to be demolished before 1891).

1838 "Half Moon" extended on road. Small rear building.

1885 OS "Moon and Stars".

1900 OS Rear extension consists of new cottages. Also 3 cottages to northeast side built 1891 by Phipp's Brewery.

GRAFTON RENT BOOKS 1740 - 1750

c1740s MORRIS Cath rent free. Grafton's notes - "She had the Chequer Ale house which was formerly Chapmans but the greatest part of it is down and she upon the Parish. There is a yard and close belonging to it that altogether went at 50s pa but she says Charles Brayfield has had the yard and close ever since 1741 when she came into the house if not since 1739 about which time Chapman left it."

1747 MORRIS Cath rent free. "The premises of 50s pa was formerly a Publick house of some note for the place with a small Close but the buildings were a few years since all burnt down accept a small part of the house which is now occupied by Cath Morris who is kept by the Parish."

1749 MORRIS Cath is dead & the premises are now empty.

1750 in hand (late Cath Morrice)

GRAFTON SURVEYS C19 property not included

1831 --- BULL Anthony rented garden adjoining

1839 --- BULL Anthony rented garden

1875 ---

1841 BULL Anthony 63 publican, Mary 60 + 10 other families (Half Moon)

1851 BULL Mary 72 victualler + CHESTER John + leggers & boatmen (Half Moon)

1861 CHESTER John 62 victualler, Rebecca 58, Richard 33 butcher, Frederic 23 pig dealer + Rich family of 5 visiting (Half Moon Inn)

1971 CHESTER Frederick 33 butcher & publican ("Half Moon Inn")

1881 CHESTER Fredrick 43 publican & butcher (Npton to T Rd)

1891 CHESTER Lucy 48 publican & butcher (Half Moon, Npton Rd)

1901 CAPELL Ellen 50 inn keeper ("Sun Moon & Stars", High St)

DIRECTORIES (Kelly’s)

1847 BULL Anthony "Sun & Moon" new name thought to be from the 'logos' on the 'Oddfellows' certificate - see website section.

1854 CHESTER John "Sun Moon & 7 Stars" & wheelwright

1877 CHESTER Frederick  "Sun Moon & 7 Stars" & butcher.

1894 CHESTER Lucy (Mrs)

1898 CAPELL John

1903 CAPELL Ellen (Mrs)

1906 CAPELL Ellen (Mrs) & carrier

1914 RICKERD William George "Sun Moon & Stars"

1940 ROGERS Walter Donald

GEORGE’S NOTES & UPDATE

1796 (George) Sold to John LINNETT—built in brick onto old stone wall – (Half Moon) datestone "J L 1797"

1797 Provided accommodation - 2 upper storeys became large dormitories for the labourers employed on the tunnel (local lore!) and later for registered "leggers" who legged boats through the tunnel.

1805 LINNETT John registered boats no 1, built by Mr Hughes of Braunston on April 3 1805, and no 2 built by Mr Wells of Banbury Lane on April 4 1805, both employed in the coal trade to and from Paddington.

1822 Sold to Pickering Phipps, a Northampton brewer. Thus began the chain of inns throughout Northants and surrounding counties which became P Phipps & Co – eventually part of the Watney Mann group.

1891 4 cottages built behind and 3 at side on site of an old quoit pitch.

1900s  Most holders of allotments grew own corn – larger quantities threshed in yard when Mr Capell was landlord. Corn taken to mill for grinding into flour or pig-meal.

1934 Pedestrian safety fence erected around the front.

1960s "Pond Bank Gallery" run by Wendy Freestone and Peter Newcombe.

1988 Kitchens demolished by lorry—restaurant closed.

200? Owner instructed to restore exterior – some work done.

2004 Notice to owner that interior needs considerable restoration.  Building up for sale.

2006 Compulsory purchased by South Northants Council was agreed in principle.

A C18 cottage in coursed squared limestone with a C20 tiled roof and brick ridge stack.

PHOTOGRAPH  The house on the left of the picture 23-01.

1727 FRETTER William @ £1. A house and close

1757 GUDGEON William @ £1.3s. A cottage, stable, shop & garden

1725 Cottage – 1 chimney

OS continues to present day ?origin of garage

GRAFTON RENT BOOKS 1740 - 1867

C1740-1753 FRETTER William @ £1.3s. He is a weaver, has a cottage, workshop, garden & a large orchard of his own planting

1756–1779 GUDGIN (GUDGEN / GUDGEON) Mary @ £1.3s

1774 allowed 1 year’s rent on laying it out on the premises.

1779–1788 INWOOD Matthew late Gudgeon @ £1.3s

1788-1790 INWOOD Martha @ £1.3s

1792-1810 2 dwellings – Martha Inwood @ £1 + part CAMPION Robert @ £1 (farmer)

1821-1826 CARTER Samuel @ £1.10s late Martha Inwood / FAULKNER Ann @ £1

1864 -1867 FOSTER Josh @ £1.5s Thatch barn

1831 CARTER Samuel / ? FRANKLIN Ann houses & gardens

1839 CHESTER Edward, house buildings etc / FAULKNER Ann, house & garden

1875 GRIFFIN Thomas / FOSTER James 2 cottages & garden

1841 CHESTER Edward 30 wheelwright, Mary 30, Alfred 5, Frances 3, John 1 (Bridge St)

1851 CHESTER Edward 39 journeyman carpenter / ? HYDE Charles 35 coachman

1861 CHESTER Edward 50 wheelwright, Mary 50, Walter 12, Selina 9 + visitor / (no 1) FOSTER Joseph 43 ag lab, Alice 43, Emma 13 pillow lace maker (2 High St)

1871 FOSTER Joseph 53 ag lab (no1 uninhabited) (Bridge St)

1881 ? several names (no 1 uninhabited – condemned) (Npton to T Rd)

1891 ?CLARKE Benjamin 64 shepherd (Npton Rd)

1901 ? CLARKE Benjamin 75 retired shepherd (18 High St)

GRAFTON SALE 1919 (part of lot 63)

Pair of stone-built cottages opposite the Church, with tiled barns, a small slated wash-house & good gardens, let to Mrs CAPELL @ £2.12.0 & G HARRIS @ £3. Sold to tenants.

A late C17 cottage of coursed limestone rubble, partly banded with ironstone. Altered in the C19 & C20 with a C20 plain-tile roof and brick ridge stack. There is a blocked door to right of centre with wood lintel & C20 casement window.

GRAFTON SURVEY

1757 DUNKLEY William, carpenter, @ £1. A good cottage & stall may let for £1.10s

1725 L – shaped cottage, 2 chimneys. Cont to present day

GRAFTON RENT BOOKS 1740 - 1865

c1740-1758 DUNKELEY William carpenter @ £1

1758-1768 DUNKLEY Alice @ £1

1768-1780 swapped cottages with Mary DUNKLEY widow @ £1

1774 (2 tenements - half let out)

1782-1785 LAMBERT Smith @ 10s late Mary Dunkley

1785-1801 LAMBERT widow @ 10s (1800 + Francis L @ 5s part)

1801-1809 + son John L has part @ 15s

1809-1826 LAMBERT widow & son &/or John @ £2

1864-1867 CASTLE William @ £2

1831 LAMBERT John, house & garden

1839 LAMBERT John, house & garden

1875 CASTLE William, house & garden

1841 LAMBURN John 65 ag lab / CASTLE William 30 ag lab (Bridge St)

1851 CASTLE William 42 ag lab 1861 CASTLE William 53 ag lab, Jane 13 gen servant, Anne 10 scholar, lodger William Bishop 41 house painter (4 High St)

1871 CASTLE William 62 ag lab / BONHAM John 34 iron stone lab (4 Bridge St)

1881 BONHAM John 47 iron stone miner (Npton to T Rd)

1891 BONHAM John 52 iron stone lab (Npton Rd)

1901 BONHAM John 62 horseman? lab iron pit (15 High St)

GRAFTON SALE 1919 (lot 62)

A stone-built cottage of 4 rooms with barn, garden at rear, & back entrance & right to use the well on lot 61. Let to Alfred HARRIS @ £5. Sold to tenant.

LISTINGS 1949 (A group - ?38 – 44)

Simple 1-storey limestone cottages with steep thatch roofs. Some have large late dormers, others have small attic windows carried up a little way into the thatch. The spacing & diversity of the simple casement windows, the occasional use of ironstone or sandstone, the variations in the roof line & the various brick chimneystacks intensify the picturesqueness of these simple buildings. The doorways are all on the north side away from the road.

A house of crossed limestone rubble with 1 storey & attic, probably built in C17 but possibly with an earlier core. Altered in the C20 with steeply pitched concrete tile roof with gabled ends, single storey wings and all C20 casements windows.

1757 Let by Charles BRAYFIELD @ £1. A house, 2 barns & stable yard

1725 House with L – shaped extension and large buildings behind.

1808 Now in terrace along road.

OS 1885 Similar house to present day (?rear buildings).

GRAFTON RENT BOOKS 1740 – 1867 (as 40 High Street)

c1740-1757 cottage let by BRAYFIELD Charles, farmer at the Manor House

1757-1762 ? let by William BRAYFIELD

1762-1783 ? let by Edward BRAYFIELD died 1783

1783-1784 ? let by Robert CAMPION

1821-1826 BRICE John @ £2 / ?PEASLAND

1864-1867 CLARKE William @ £2 / WARREN Benjamin @ £1.10s

GRAFTON SURVEYS C18

1831 ?PAISLAND James, house & garden

1839 BRICE John / PEASNALL James, 2 houses & gardens

1875 PACY George / WARREN Benjamin, cottages & gardens

1841 BRICE John 70 ag lab / PEASNALL Alice 65 (Bridge St)

1851 PAXTON Frances 72 / WARREN Benjamin 29 servant to canal co

1861 CLARKE William 36 railway signal fitter, Caroline 33, Frederick 13 servant, Edmund 9,Mary 6, Alfred 4 (3 scholars), Josiah 1 / (5 High St) WARREN Benjamin 39 railway porter, Ann 37 (6 High St)

1871 PACEY George 37 ag lab / WARREN Benjamin 49 railway porter (5/6 Bridge St)

1881 PACEY George 47 farm lab / WARREN Benjamin 58 lab (Npton to T Rd)

1891 PACEY George 56 ag lab / WARREN Benjamin 68 boatman (13/14 Npton Rd)

1901 PACEY George 68 gen lab / WARREN Benjamin 79 boatman- barge (13/14 High St)

GRAFTON SALE 1919 (lot 61)

2 cottages with gardens, barns & back entrance let to Fred PACEY @ £2.12 & H GIBBS @ £2. Sold for £100. The right to use the well & right of entrance from the road reserved for cottages on each side.

LISTINGS 1949    A group ?38 – 44

Simple 1-storey limestone cottages with steep thatch roofs. Some have large late dormers, others have small attic windows carried up a little way into the thatch. The spacing & diversity of the simple casement windows, the occasional use of ironstone or sandstone, the variations in the roof line & the various brick chimneystacks intensify the picturesqueness of these simple buildings. The doorways are all on the north side away from the road.

A one-storey house with attic, built late C15 or C16, of coursed & dressed limestone with a thatched roof and gabled ends. The left room was originally open to the roof, the floor & stack inserted in C17 and there appears to have been a third room on the right, but this has been demolished. The front wall continues to the right & forms the side wall of C20 porch on the gable end of the house.

PHOTOGRAPH   See details, No. 38 - 40.

GRAFTON SURVEY

1757 let by BRAYFIELD Charles @ 10s A small cottage in good repair

1725 Small cottage, no outbuildings

1808 no gaps – terrace along road

OS Continues

1961 Separated from no 38

? GRAFTON RENT BOOKS 1740 – 1867 (as no 7 – 42 High Street)

c1740-1757 cottage let by BRAYFIELD Charles, farmer at the Manor House

1757-1762 ? let by William BRAYFIELD

1762-1783 ? let by Edward BRAYFIELD died 1783

1783-1784 ? let by Robert CAMPION

1821-1826 GIBBS John @ £1.10s

1864-1867 GIBBS William @ £2 / PEASLAND James @ £1

1831 GIBBS John / BRIGHT Joseph, houses & gardens

1839 GIBBS John / PEASNALL Jane, 2 houses & gardens

1875 GIBBS William / PEASLAND? James, cottages & gardens

1841 GIBBS John 60 ag lab / PEASNALL ?William 15 brick maker (Bridge St)

1851 GIBBS William 38 legger / PEASNALL James 50 brickmaker

1861 GIBBS William 48 legger of boats, Harriett50, Joseph 18 engine smith, James 15 gen servant, John 12 ag lab + lodger Sarah Warren 72 pillow lace maker / (7 High St) PEASNALL James 61 ag lab, Jane 56 pillow lace maker + 2 lodgers George Bone 21 ag lab, Charlotte 21 pillow lace maker (8 High St)

1871 GIBBS William 60 gen lab / (7 Bridge St)

PEASNALL James 70 lab / TOWNSEND Joseph 34 iron stone lab (8 Bridge St)

1881 GIBBS William 68 canal pensioner / PEASNELL Jane 77 (Npton to T Rd)

1891 PAXTON Joseph 42 ironstone lab / TOWNSEND Joseph 51 ry plate layer (Npton Rd)

1901 PAXTON Joseph G 53 ironstone lab / TOWNSEND Joseph 62 railway plate layer

(12/11 High St)

GRAFTON SALE 1919 (lot 60)

2 Cottages with gardens & brick & slated barns let to Jos PAXTON (ironstone labourer) @ £3 & Jos TOWNSEND (railway plate layer) @ £2.12. Sold for £100.

LISTINGS 1949 A group ?38 – 44    Simple 1-storey limestone cottages with steep thatch roofs. Some have large late dormers, others have small attic windows carried up a little way into the thatch. The spacing & diversity of the simple casement windows, the occasional use of ironstone or sandstone, the variations in the roof line & the various brick chimneystacks intensify the picturesqueness of these simple buildings. The doorways are all on the north side away from the road.

NOTE: Probably the oldest remaining cottage in the village - was probably single level, perhaps out-house - see update information.

UPDATE: 1961 Right end of cottage demolished and detached from no 38 to make access through to the garden. Old front door converted to window and front wall extended into new porch.

A late C17 Public House, altered C19 & C20. Coursed limestone rubble, painted, with a C20 plain-tile roof.

PHOTOGRAPH   See High Street sections, mainly II., also a Panorama picture.

1727 HOBBS Lydia. This is a PUBLICK HOUSE with a Malt Office & other buildings value £11.10s + land Total £15.2s.

1749 DUNKLEY Ann has house and Home Close with spinney (Rob Clarke the malting)

1757 DUNKLEY Ann This the Plough Alehouse. A good house, barn, stable & home close @ £4.10. The tenant does all the repairs, it is let to the full rent.

MAPS

1725, 1757 House on corner (1 chimney) + house facing Chapel Lane (1 chimney) + outbuildings + close down to Pond Bank

1808….Similar buildings

GRAFTON RENT BOOKS (Cottages) 1740 – 1785 (farm rents) 1790 – 1834

c1740 DUNKLEY Ann @ £4 10s the Plough Ale House, yard, garden, orchard, close & a little spinney at the bottom of it (Robert Clarke maltster £5 for malt kiln standing in Anne Dunkley’s yard)

1747-1758 DUNKLEY Ann @ £4 10s

1760-1761 DUNKLEY (?)Elizabeth @ £4 10s

1761-1774 DUNKLEY now Ann @ £4 10s

1774 DUNKLEY Ann @ £4 10s for the house late Royal Oak + pightle late Pacy’s

STEVENS William @ £5 5s the Plough Alehouse – very cheap his to repair

1775-1782 STEVENS William late Ann Dunkley @ £4.

1785-1810 GIBBS Gaffel late Stevens @ £4 This deduction as Malt Office belonging to it has no trade to it, and the cottage was in bad plight, rising to £9 & 1808 £24.

1821-1826 GIBBS Susannah.@ £30

1832-1834 GIBBS William @ £30

1831 GIBBS William, Royal Oak Public House and 16 acres.

1839 STURDGES John

1875 FAULKNER William, Royal Oak Public House & premises + about 13 acres

1841 STURGESS Barbara 35 publican / William FAULKNER 50 brewer (Royal Oak)

1851 FAULKNER William 31 victualler (Royal Oak)

1861 FAULKNER William 41 farmer & victualler, Hannah H 35, Louisa 11, Emma 7, Annie 4 (3 scholars) + Elizabeth Polkey 16 gen servant & visiter William G Gibbs 26 cab proprietor (Royal Oak 20 High St)

1871 FAULKNER William 51 publican & farmer (22acres) (Royal Oak 1 High St)

1881 TEE Thomas 41 publican & farmer (Npton to T Rd)

1891 TEE Thomas 52 publican & farmer (Royal Oak Npton Rd)

1901 TAYLOR Walter 38 licensed victualler (Royal Oak Inn)

DIRECTORIES (Kellys and others)

1847 FAULKNER William

1877 TEE Thomas (publican & farmer)

1898 WILKES Edward C

1903 TAYLOR Walter

1906 EAST Henry E C

1914 WALLINGTON Harry

1936 BROWN Samuel

1947 BARNES Reginald & Mrs

1966 LAPWORTH Frank

1971 LAPWORTH Jean

1977 RAWLINGS Brian

GRAFTON SALE 1919 (lot 34)

A valuable freehold & fully– licensed property situate at the cross roads in the centre of Blisworth village, & known as "The Royal Oak". It contains 4 bedrooms, sitting-room, dining-room, bar tap room, club room, kitchen, scullery & dairy with open yard, stable, cow-house, good barn, 2 pigstyes, capital kitchen garden, rick yard, & paddock of 1 1/2 acres. Tenant Mr H WALLINGTON @ £50. Sold to tenant.

LISTINGS 1949

A large double-fronted cottage, built of sandstone, now colour washed. Steep pitched thatch roof with verges & brick chimney stacks on the gables. The simple doorway has a late slated gabled porch and on both sides of it there is a hipped 3-light bay with sash windows. There is a 1-storey (& attic) wing adjoining the north end. The siting is good, end on to main road & sloping away from it.

1900s Gleanings from fields & allotments taken to Royal Oak for threshing by age old flail.  Ancient barn survives at rear of "The Cross" belonging to the "Royal Oak".

1953 Blisworth’s oldest pub. Always popular both with locals and towns folk and a pleasant "pull-in" for American servicemen ‘en route’ from Heyford to Northampton.

1959 (Aug) Thatched roof destroyed by fire - replaced by tiled roof.

A pair of cottages of coursed squared limestone & ironstone, built in the late C17 & altered in the C20. No 18 has a corrugated iron roof, but No 16 recently re-thatched. No 16 has C20 single storey extension to far right & C20 porch.

1727 A house let to MORRICE John @ 15s out of Hilyards lease

1757 A cottage & garth MORRIS widow @ 10s.0d. This worth 15s or £1.

1725, 1757 Terrace with 1 chimney

1808, 1838 ?3 buildings - ?2 cottages and barn

1885 continues as present

GRAFTON RENT BOOKS 1740 - 1867

c1740 MORRIS John has a cottage rent free, a bit of ground to it.

1743-1752 MORRIS John @ 10s

1753-1786 MORRIS Widow ?Mary (&/or Elizabeth) @ 10s

(1774 2 tenements)

1786-1792 now MORRIS Thomas @ 10s

1793-1810 now MORRIS Widow late Thomas @10s

1801-1810 Rent now 6d

1821-1826 BENNET Lawrence late Morris @ £1

1864-1867 ROBINSON George @ £1 10s (& barn) + AYRES Elizabeth @ £2 10s

1831 WOOTTON Harley, house & garden (struck through and AYRES Arthur Joseph)

1839 ROBINSON William House & garden / AYRES John

1875 ROBINSON George 2 cottages & garden / AYRES Elizabeth

1841 ROBINSON William 50 ag lab

1851 ROBINSON William 62? Ag lab

1861 ROBINSON George 28 railway policeman, Sarah 26, Emily 2, Frederick W 1 (14 North St)

1871 ROBINSON George 39 Co-op store keeper (2 High St grocers shop)

1881 ROBINSON George 48 grocer (Npton to T Rd)

1891 ROBINSON George 58 road lab (Npton Rd)

1901 ROBINSON George 68 lab (agric) (Npton Rd)

1841 AYRES John 40 constable.

1851 AYRES James G 30 ag lab

1861 AYRES John 60 formerly railway policeman, Elizabeth 59, Ann 20 dress maker, gd CHAMBERS Elizabeth 10 scholar (15 North St)

1871 ?MALLARD Joseph 46 ag lab / on visit (3 High St)

1881 AYRES Elizabeth 79 kept by family (Npton to T Rd)

1891 AYRES Elizabeth 89 living on own means (Npton Rd)

1901 -- (Npton Rd)

GRAFTON SALE 1919 (lot 54)

2 Four-roomed cottages at the corner of Chapel Lane, with good gardens, wash-houses, barns & well of water, let to J FAULKNER @ £3 & Fred COLLINS @ £2.12s. Sold for £265.

?1975 Sold as 2 dwellings – no 18 with the barn (single storey) which was converted into larger 2-storey house.

Roof is in three styles in 2000, but in c. 1900 it was thatched and then subsequently covered in corrugated steel sheet.
Righthand part - corrugated steel was removed to reveal old thatch beneath & then re-thatched in 1999;
Mid-section - corrugated steel
Lefthand part - formerly a single storey 'barn' which was raised with additional floor with tiled new roof c.1991 using the old tiles from the barn.

GRADE 2 LISTED (with no 12)

A pair of cottages of coursed limestone & ironstone rubble built in Late C17 with thatch roof and eyebrow dormers. Altered in the C20 with a new door to left of centre.

1727 SATCHELL Thomas. A house let @ 15s

1757 SATCHELL Thomas. A cottage let @ 12s

1725 Terraced cottages set slightly back from next, 2 chimneys

1808 - 1950 ? 3cottages in terrace. Later reduced to 2.

GRAFTON RENT BOOKS 1740 - 1867

c1740- 1777 SATCHELL Thomas @ 12s. Has a cottage and bit of ground

1777 – 1810 ?GARNER Thomas @ 12s (1803 house repaired by His Grace rent £1.5s)

1821 – 1826 ?CLARKE William @ £2

1864 – 1867 CLARKE Benjamin @ £2

1831 CLARKE Benjamin, house & garden

1839 CLARKE Benjamin, house & garden

1875 CLARKE ?

1841 CLARKE Benjamin 45 ag lab

1851 CLARKE Benjamin 56 lab on canal

1861 CLARKE Benjamin 66 lab Grand J canal, Mary 62 (13 North St)

1871 CLARKE Benjamin 77 ag lab, CLARKE Abraham 35 ironstone lab (4 High St)

1881 CLARKE Abraham 44 ironstone miner (Npton to T Rd)

1891 CLARKE Ann 66 (Npton Rd)

1901 CLARKE Ann 78 lacemaker (Npton Rd)

GRAFTON SALE 1919 (lot 53)

A stone- built cottage of 4 rooms & pantry, good tiled wash-house, pigstye, garden & well of water, let to the COUNTY POLICE @ £6 gross. Sold for £175.

GEORGE’S NOTES & UPDATE

Later occupied by Walter ALEXANDER, horticulturist and amateur photographer.

GRADE 2 LISTED (with no14)

A pair of cottages of coursed limestone & ironstone rubble and thatch roof with eyebrow dormers, built in the late C17. Altered in the C20.

1727 ?

1757 ?

1725   Terraced cottages set slightly back from next, 2 chimneys

1808 - 1950 ? 3cottages in terrace. Later reduced to 2.

GRAFTON RENT BOOKS 1740 - 1867

c1740 – 1756 PACEY Thomas ( a woolcomber) @ £2 5s for cottage, a store house for his wool, a hovel, a garden & orchard; + 10s for a small pightle.

1756 - 1774 PACEY Thomas jun @ £2 15s

1774 (house now in 3 - ? nos 8 & 10)

1774 – 1780 PACEY Thomas @ £1

1780 – 1783 PACEY widow @ £1

1783 – 1810 PACEY Benjamin @ £1

1821 – 1826 PACEY Benjamin @ £1 10s

1864     PACEY Benjamin (dead)

1865 – 1867 PACEY Benjamin jun @ £2 12s

1831 PACEY Benjamin

1839 PERCY! Benjamin, house & garden

1875 PACEY Benjamin

1841 PACEY Benjamin 60 shoemaker

1851 PACEY Benjamin 72 cordwainer

1861 PACEY Benjamin 84 shoe maker, Benjamin 42 shoe maker, d-i-law Phoebe 41, grandchildren James 21 boot maker, Susan 19 laundress, Henry 15 ag lab, William 13 ag lab, Thomas 10, Phoebe 7, Eliza 4 (3 scholars), Robert 2 (12 North St)

1871 PACEY Benjamin 52 cord wainer (5 High St)

1881 s PACEY James 42 shoe finisher (+ s-i-law ALEXANDER Alfred 31) (N’pton toT Rd)

1891 ALEXANDER Alfred 41 gardener (N’pton Rd)

1901 ALEXANDER Alfred 51 seedsman & florist (N’pton Rd)

GRAFTON SALE 1919 (lot 52)

A stone-built cottage of 6 rooms & wash-house with good garden & barn & back entrance across lot 51 & right to use the wells there. Sold to Alfred ALEXANDER, let @ £3

Alfred ALEXANDER (?1849 – 1939) married Phoebe PACEY and came to Blisworth in 1871. This became his florist shop which closed in 1940.

An C18 cottage of coursed rubble, painted, with thatch roof & brick end stacks. One storey & attic with window in an eyebrow dormer. Altered C19 & C 20 with C20 doors to far left & to right of centre.

PHOTOGRAPH   High Street I section Images 16 - 04, 05, 06.

GRAFTON SURVEY 1757 (no28)

A cottage & yard let to Thomas TRISSLER @ 10s per annum to a Mill

1727 L-shaped buildings 1 chimney – gap between next property.

1757 ditto 2 chimneys

1808 ditto

1838 – 19.. ditto adjoining next property. Later gap between no 6

GRAFTON RENT BOOKS 1740 - 1867

c1740 TRISSLER (or TRUSLER) Thomas @ 10s.

1788 TRUSLER widow @ 10s

1789-1805 do & CHAMBERS Thomas @ 10s. (1803 @ £1)

1805-1810 GOODE Thomas @ 10s / CHAMBERS Thomas @ 10s

1821-1826 GOODE Thomas’s widow @ £1 10s / CHAMBERS Thomas @ £1 10s

1825 GOODE Samuel late widow @ £1 10s / do

1864-1867 GOODE Sam @ £1.11.10d

1831 GOODE Samuel / CHAMBERS Thomas

1839 GOODE Samuel / CHAMBERS Thomas, 2 houses & gardens

1875 GOODE Samuel / TAYLOR Robert

1841 GOODE Samuel 35 mason / CHAMBERS Thomas 75 ag lab & TAYLOR Robert 25

1851 GOODE Samuel 49 bricklayer / TAYLOR Robert 35 ag lab

1861 GOODE Samuel 61 brick mason, Mary 58, s-i-law MARRIOTT Thomas 29 common carrier, d Martha 30 + 1 visitor (3 North St) TAYLOR Robert 46 ag lab, Ann 41, Elizabeth 19, Henry 17 shoe makers app, Mary 15 pillow lace maker, Caroline 11, William 5 scholar (4 North St)

1871 GOODE Samuel 70 bricklayer & MARRIOTT Thomas 40 carrier & cab proprietor / TAYLOR Robert 54 ag lab (13/12 High St)

1881 GOODE Samuel 79 bricklayer / TAYLOR Robert 63 lab farm (Npton to T Rd)

1891 CROFT Catherine 73 nurse (retired) / TAYLOR Robert 73 ag lab (Npton Rd)

1901 CARTER Comfort 64 / TAYLOR Robert 85 (parish means) (Npton Rd)

GRAFTON SALE 1919 (lot 48)

A double cottage of 6 rooms with well of water, barns & long garden on the Main Street at the corner of Chapel Lane let to Joseph CARTER @ £2.12s. Sold to tenant.

LISTINGS 1949

Late C17. 1-storey & attic. L-shaped stone cottage with thatch roof. Simple late casement windows. Condition good. Siting important.

Only remaining cottage of group of 10 in Little Lane which were condemned & demolished by the Ministry of Health in 1936 (or 1939). Still occupied by daughter of CARTER family until last few years.

A barn of coursed squared limestone, banded with ironstone, & slate roof dated 1633, with C19 alterations.

PHOTOGRAPH   Farms Section  Images 14-11 and 14-11a

GRAFTON RECORDS 1727 – 1875  See Cliff Hill Farm below.

1808 & 1838 OS MAP Barn different shape (? or extra building added on)

1885 OS MAP Barn as now

GRAFTON SALE 1919 (part of Lot3)

Farm sold to Mr J GRIFFITHS

1936 (Kellys) George Edward BONSOR, farmer. Owner of the farm from 1937 - later sold to Hesketh Estates

Dated 1633. A small barn standing above the road, gable end towards it. Date stone in this end. Roughly coursed limestone & ironstone in more or less regular striping. The steep pitch roof is now state & some of the verge from the west gable is missing.

GEORGE’S NOTES & UPDATES

1952 Farmhouse, barn & outbuildings "dying for years" barn restored by Hesketh Estates—once thatched, now slated. 1991 George BONSOR (absentee farmer) died aged 97. Property sold in separate lots.  Barn converted into large residence with new wing behind at right angles. 

A farmhouse of coursed squared limestone & ironstone, & limestone banded with ironstone, built in early-mid C17, altered C19 and renovated 1991. C20 concrete tile roof, brick ridge & end stacks. Central canted bay window with 16-pane sash to front. Entrance to rear.

PHOTOGRAPH   Elm Tree Section  Pictures 13-05 and 02, the house at the lefthand end.

1727 HEDGE John had the house, yard and close with 88 acres out of Mr Chapman’s lease.

By 1740 HEDGE Charles was tenant (in estate rent books).

1757 HEDGE Charles   A good stone house, 2 barns, stable & home close 12 year lease from Mich 1755 @ £71.10s pa (house £2 + 100 acres). This is a good tenant, the buildings in good repair.

ESTATE MAPS

1727 onwards L – shaped, 3 chimneys, with outbuildings.

GRAFTON RENT BOOKS 1740 - 1834

c1740 – 1780 HEDGE Charles jun @ £71 10s (rising to £104 10s)

1780 Farm given up to nephew WESLEY Shadrack @ £104 pa.  Rents altered as fields changed hands especially in 1795 when fields were divided by the new canal and in 1800 when land was sold for the tunnel and later the railway.

1803/4 WESLEY Shadrack died and son William continued @ £160

By 1821-26 WESLEY William execs @ £140 10s

By 1832-34 WESTLEY Thomas @ £140 10s

1831 WESLEY Thomas, farm homestall + 217acres

1839 WESLEY Thomas, house & homestead

1875 MONTGOMERY Samuel, farmer (was at Stone Works in 1871)

1841 ?

1851 ELLIOTT William 53 solicitor

1861 ELLIOTT William 63 solicitor, Elizabeth 63, Elizabeth 33,Sarah 25 + 1 visitor & 1 servant (Blisworth Road)

1871 ?

1881 MONTGOMERY Samuel 49 farmer (Cliff House, N & T Rd)

1891 MONTGOMERY Samuel 59 farmer (N’pton Rd)

1901 MONTGOMERY Samuel 69 farmer (N’pton Rd)

DIRECTORIES (Kelly’s)

1847 - 1854 ELLIOTT William Gilbert, solicitor & farmer

1864 ?

1877 -1903 MONTGOMERY Samuel, farmer & quarry proptr.

1906 - 1924 GRIFFITHS John, cattle dealer

1927/8 - 31 GRIFFITHS John (execs of) farmers

1936 BONSOR George Edward, farmer. ?Tenant of Hesketh Estates

GRAFTON SALE 1919 (lot 3)

A nice stone & tiled house of 9 rooms & domestic offices, standing on the crest of the hill at the entrance to the village, with garden, gravel drive to front door, yard, stable, coach house & motor house. A set of farm premises & several acres of pasture & arable land covering in all 34 acres, which, with its fine situation & long frontage to the Northampton Road, forms a valuable building site.

Sold to tenant, Mr John GRIFFITHS. Rent was £70.5s.2d.for whole

C17. L-shaped 2-storey building of limestone & ironstone, with some regular striping; early tiled roof, brick chimney stacks. Long road front in which the arrangement & number of openings has been considerably altered. Plain casement windows to both floors, & a 1-storey hipped bay in cement–covered brick, early tiles with 3-light sash windows. Entrance in garden side.

GEORGE’S NOTES & UPDATE

1953 Farmhouse, barn & outbuildings "dying for years"

1973 Adjoining house and dairy demolished.  1991 George BONSOR (absentee farmer) died aged 97. Property sold by Hesketh Estates in 2 separate Lots. House had massive renovation (and barn converted).  2000 New cottage built adjoining farmhouse at the rear and incorporating part of original wing. Datestone "D & M S 2000".

(formerly listed as Rose Cottage & cottage abutting - not to be confused with 1920 name 'Rose Cottage'
at the lower end of Church Lane or current 'Rose Cottage' opp. Royal Oak)

Listed as pair of cottages, formally 3, but now only 1 house. Built late C17, altered C19 & C20, in coursed ironstone & limestone rubble with thatch roof. Upstairs windows in eyebrow dormers and C20 door to left of centre has thatched hood.

PHOTOGRAPH   Elm Tree Section  Picture 13-10 and others on that page.

1757 COLLINS Elizabeth House & barn, a small garden @ 15s pa

1727 House on road, ?1 chimney.

1970 Extension on rear of no 3 (added 1968)

GRAFTON RENT BOOKS 1740 – 1799

c1740 COLLINS Elizabeth @ 15s pa (until at least 1763)

1765 - 1793 LAWIN Thomas @ 15s

1793 House repaired and made into 3 dwellings.

1793 – 1799 LAWIN Thomas @ 10s / HICKS Thomas @ 5s (1796 @ 10s) CARTER widow @ 5s when own house pulled down /

1799 - 1810 CARTER John jun @ 10s / HICKS Thomas @ 10s / CARTER widow @ 5s 1821 – 1826 CARTER John / HICKS Thomas both @ £1.10s / CARTER William @ £1

1864 – 1867 CARTER Henry @ £1 / MALLARD Thomas @ £1.10s / CARTER William @ £1.10s

1831 CARTER John / ?GUDGEON Richard / CARTER Joseph, cottage, malting office, buildings and yard

1839 CARTER Philis / SMITH John / CARTER William, 3 cottages & gardens

1875 CARTER Henry / MALLARD Thomas / CARTER William

1841 CARTER Phis 60 independent / ?PATTERSON Adm 30 stone mason / CARTER William 30 labourer

1851 CARTER Henry 37 ag lab / SMITH John 50 pauper shoemaker / CARTER William 47 ag lab

1861 CARTER Henry 48 canal labourer, Charlotte 41, Mary 9, John 8, William 6, Benjamin 4, James 2 / ELLIS John 67 canal lab, Mary 67, Mary A SMITH gdau 18 lacemaker CARTER William 51 ag lab, Sarah 56

1871 CARTER Henry 57 boatman / MALLARD Thomas 31 lab / CARTER William 61 ag lab (19/20/21 Bridge St)

1881 CARTER Henry 62 boatman / MALLARD Elizabeth 53 / CARTER Ann M 64 lacemaker

1891 CARTER Charlotte 72 / MALLARD Elizabeth 63 (pillow) lacemaker

1901 LEACH Harry 32 miller’s wagoner / MALLARD Elizabeth 73 lacemaker

GRAFTON SALE 1919 (lot 40)

A row of 3 stone-built cottages with gardens, barns etc let to H LEACH @ £2 12s, Mrs MALIN @ £2 10s & Mr GRIFFITHS @ £1 8s. The common way goes between this Lot & the next, but each Lot has access thereover. Cottages sold to H LEACH.

LISTINGS 1949

A thatched row of 1-storey & attic cottages with a frontage of approx 60 ft. Late C17. There are in all 5 dormer windows, each in a sloping sided section of the wall carried up into the thatch. All the windows are later casements. Built of limestone & ironstone in random stripes, this little row is beautifully sited facing south-west & lying across the main road through the village at the junction of the roads to Northampton, Towcester & Roade.

GEORGE’S NOTES & UPDATE

Harry LEACH lived in no 1 & 2, Martha CLARKE & her brother at no 3 for many years.  The wide passage between 1 & 2 went through to the garden with the doors off each side, but the doorway was later built in.

1968 Martha Clarke died & Harry Leach sold no 3 for £600. It was gutted, modernised & a rear section added before being sold on in 1972 at auction for £10,300!

1975 No 3 sold again & new owners also bought no 1 when Joseph Henry LEACH, batchelor, died at 78. They had hoped to renovate it, but all were sold in 1976.

1977 No 1 Restored from derelict state by new owner.

2002? Converted to one dwelling.

A house, formerly farmhouse, built in early C17 of coursed ironstone rubble banded with limestone. Altered C19 & C20 with slate roof raised C19 with coursed squared ironstone & limestone.  INTERIOR has wall painting with inscription from Psalm 143: "Teach mee to doe thy will for thou art/God: Let thy good spirit leade me into/ Righteousness" - for a picture see Miscellaneous

PHOTOGRAPH   Elm Tree Section  Picture 13-01(raised roof visible only)
                               and 13-11 also a Panorama picture (ie. 2nd on left in C'hall Rd)

GRAFTON SURVEYS 1727 & 1757

Not included in surveys. Not part of Grafton estate ?mortgaged by Crown

1727 House (3 chimneys) and barn at side fronting road

1808 & 1838 with U-shaped barn and other farm buildings set back.

1885 Barns demolished and row of 4 new houses built - now called Mount Pleasant Cottages.

GRAFTON RENT BOOKS 1789 – 1834

Purchased of late Mr John INN’s Executors

1789 PETTIFER William. Rent £52.10s.pa. Various rents as land changed hands and part taken for Canal in 1794

By 1808 Rent £100 (until at least 1826)

By 1831- 1834 PETTIFER John. Rent still £100 pa

1831 PETTIFER John. Farm homestall + 69 acres

1839 PETTIFER John. Farm house and homestead

1875 PLOUGHMAN Henry + CLARK William. 2 cottages being the Old Farmhouse.

CENSUSES

1841 PETTIFER John 45 farmer

1851 PETTIFER John 58 farmer

1861 PETTIFER Hannah 67 farmer (widow) + servant & dairymaid (farm)

1871 (no Pettifers – 2 cottages)  PLOWMAN Henry 41 ironstone lab / (5 Elm Tree Lane)  CLARKE William 47 signal fitter (6 Elm Tree Lane)

1881 PLOWMAN Henry 50 ag lab / CLARKE William 56 rly. signalman (Courteenhall Rd)

1891 PLOWMAN Henry 62 farm lab / CLARKE William 65 signal setter (do)

1901 PLOWMAN Henry 72 ret farm lab / CLARKE Caroline 73 (do)

DIRECTORIES & REGISTERS

1906 YOUNG Oliver (Kelly’s)

1920 YOUNG Mrs 

1924 YOUNG Frank 

1945 YOUNG Frank & Elizabeth

1965 CLARKE George

GRAFTON SALE 1919 ( part of lot 42)

2 Large stone & slated cottages, each of 5 rooms & pantry, with barns & long piece of garden ground running right through to the hedge. Let to Mrs YOUNG @ £4 & to Mrs ROBINSON @ £3 10s. Sold to tenants.

C17 house of striped limestone & ironstone with large ironstone quoins. 2-storeys, long front, shallow pitch slate roof with deep eaves. (The walls have been raised). Widely spaced casement windows, doorway approached by 2 steps, early door with incised panels. Flat metal head with simply curved iron brackets. There is a large square basement window (or ?very low doorway) with roughly moulded ironstone lambs. Good local work.

An early to mid C17 house of coursed limestone rubble, banded with ironstone, with thatch roof, brick ridge & end stacks. The left gable end faces the street. Extended probably mid C18 with 2-storey extension to right. Windows have moulded stone mullions to cellar, ground, 1st & attic floors, all with hood moulds, and there is an attic window in an eyebrow dormer.  The C20 door to the right is in a C20 porch.

PHOTOGRAPH  High Street I section  Picture 16-03 and especially 16-11.

1727 STANGER and COOK had the house, yard etc and 39 acres, value £19.12s.

1757 COOK John. A good stone house, 2 barns, stable & homestall @ £1 10s.

(£51.7s for farm) A good tenant is very old & pays his rent very well. It may be raised to £8 or £10 pa when the tenant dies or leaves it.

1727 House end-on to road, 2 chimneys, + barn adjoining next cottage, outbuildings etc.

1838 House etc – barn (smithy) separate from next door.

1950 House & barn, no outbuildings

GRAFTON RENT BOOKS 1740 - 1834

c1740-1769 COOK John @ £51.7s

1775-1810 ? CAVES John S @ £63 - £68.17s Then £20 till 1810

1832-1834 BASFORD Samuel @ £11

1831 BASFORD Samuel, house blacksmith’s shop & paddock

1839 BASFORD Samuel house blacksmith’s shop & yard + shed, stable, garden & meadow.

1875 House blacksmith’s shop paddock & garden (?part of Joseph CARTER’s farm)

1841 BASFORD Samuel 75 blacksmith & William 45 (South St)

1851 BASFORD William 59 blacksmith

1861 BASFORD William 69 blacksmith, bro John 63, niece Mary 31 housekeeper + 2 lodgers Griffin Thomas 46 ag lab & Sparkes Charles 48 coach maker.

1871 GASCOIGNE John 36 blacksmith (16 Bridge St)

1881 GASCOIGNE John 46 shoeing & gen smith (Blacksmith’s shop Npton to T Rd)

1891 PITT Charles 39 blacksmith & gen smith (Npton Rd)

1901 GOODRIDGE Richard 40 blacksmith (Npton Rd)

GRAFTON SALE 1919 (Lot 72)

A fine old stone & thatched cottage of some 8 rooms, store-room & cellar, with 2 small gardens & well of water, yard, barn & a stone & slated BLACKSMITH’S SHOP & SHOEING SHED, let to Richard GOODRIDGE @ £14. Sold to tenant (died 1926)

C17. 2-storeys & attic, standing gable end on to the road. Built of limestone with regular courses of ironstone, & the reveals, dripstones & mullions of the windows moulded in yellow freestone, & roofed in thatch. A 2-storey extension has been built to the east end not quite in keeping with the original. The original front has 2 widely spaced 3-light mullioned windows to both storeys & a small 2-light window between lighting the staircase. An unduly simple doorway has been opened in the east end of this face right against a window. In the road end there is a 3-light window to the ground & 1^st floors & a 2-light window to the attic. The freestone work has weathered badly. Coming through the village from the south west this house & the cottages in Courteenhall Road, although almost 100 yards apart, stand in line with very pleasing effect.

GEORGE’S NOTES & UPDATE

1934 Bought by Mr & Mrs Ronald FREESTON for £625.

Restoration included opening blocked windows, uncovering beams & taking out Victorian fireplaces.

Described by Pevsner as "the best example in the district of the enthusiastic use of local materials".

Ironstone workings c 1911 came within a few feet of the back wall.

A cottage of coursed limestone & ironstone rubble, built late C17/early C18. Altered in C20 with a ridged tile roof and brick end stacks. Central C20 door approached by 5 stone steps and central C20 gabled dormer.

Included for group value.

1757 BILLING Samuel. A cottage & yard @ 10s & SATCHELL William part of cottage & a croft @ £1

1727 Cottages on road (2 chimneys) Other buildings behind.

1808 & 1838 with small buildings behind.

GRAFTON RENT BOOKS 1740 – 1867

c1740 BILLING Samuel @ 10s

1756 WINKLE Thomas @ 10s / SATCHELL William @ £1 (1771 widow)

1775 do / CARTER John @ 12s 6d

1780 WINKLE widow Mary / do

1786 MORRIS John @ 10s / do

1806 do / CARTER widow @ 12s 6d

1808 Rent £1 10s for repairs / do

1821 – 26 do @ £2

1864 - 65 ALBRIGHT William @ £1 10s / DURRANT George @ 15s

1867 do @ £1 (& Rosanna GATES)

1831 ALBRIGHT Edward / ?NORRIS John, cottages & gardens

1839 ALBRIGHT Edward / CARTER Henry, 2 houses & gardens

1875 JUDGE Susanna / DURRANT Rose, cottages & gardens

1841 ALBRIGHT Edward 60 ag lab / ?DURRANT George 51 lab (South St)

1851 ALBRIGHT William 46 ag lab / DURRANT George 62 ag lab

1861 ALBRIGHT William 56 ag lab, d Eliza 14 scholar + 2 visitors Webb Elizabeth & Ann DURRANT Rosanna 27 timekeeper’s wife, Ellen 16,? Jim 3, Harriet 11 mths

1871 JUDGE Susannah 71 / DURRANT Rosanna 37 lace maker (15/14 Bridge St)

1881 STURGESS Edmund 26 iron stone miner /

DURRANT Rosehannah 47 / ?DURRANT Jim 23 ironstone miner (Npton to T Rd) 1891 STURDGEON Edmund 36 iron stone miner / DURRANT Roseannah 57 grocer

1901 STURDGESS Edmund 46 brickyard lab (Npton Rd)

GRAFTON SALE 1919 ( Lot 71)

2 5-roomed cottages with gardens, barns & wash-house adjoining the next cottage on the Main Street. Let to Edmund STURGESS @ £3 12s & Miss A CARTER @ £2. Sold to tenants.

LISTINGS 1949

Pair of cottages, C17. Limestone with occasional use of ironstone, thatch roof, brick chimney stacks. The road front has an entrance to one only, a simple doorway approached by a rough flight of steps. There is a 2-light casement window on both sides of the doorway & above it a small attic window, cut up into the thatch. There are 2 other 2-light casement windows on this front & there is a small attic window in each gable end.

Later became one cottage occupied by Mr & Mrs Robin FREESTON.

GRADE 2 LISTED

Type K6, designed 1935 by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (1880 – 1960) who won the competition to design Liverpool Cathedral at the age of 21. (Other buildings included the new Cambridge University library in 1936, the new building for the Bodleian Library in 1946 & the Commons Chamber in the Houses of Parliament after it was destroyed in 1941).

This cast iron square kiosk with domed roof was made by various contractors with un-perforated crowns to top panels & margin glazing to windows & doors.

A C17 house of coursed limestone rubble, partly banded with ironstone, altered early C19 & C20. Gable end facing street has pair of blocked cellar windows & attic window with stone surround of former stone mullion window. C20 plain tile roof and all C20 windows. Wall to rear pebble-dashed is included for group value.

PHOTOGRAPH     Stoke Road section  also a Panorama picture. 
                                For roof detail see the Great Fire article

1727 HEDGE John had house, yard & close etc @ £1 and 88 acres, value £37.18s.

1757 HEDGE John. A good stone house, 2good barns, stable & home close @ £2. A good tenant & all buildings in good repair. Total £57 15s 8d pa for 120+ acres

MAPS

1727 Large L-shaped house end-on to Stoke Rd, ?3 chimneys, + long barn

1808 Long house & long building – no L-shape

1838 ? Smaller house & range of buildings

1885 Small extension at rear

1970 End building of range gone

GRAFTON RENT BOOKS 1740 – 1834

c1740 – 1777 HEDGE John @ £57.15.8 - £66

1777 HEDGE widow and son William @ £66

1778 – 1798 HEDGE now Joseph @ £66 for farm.  Various rents as fields changed hands – some for Canal & for Grafton Arms 1798 House damaged in Blisworth fire – moved to late Wills’ house, continued to farm @ £82 and rented barn & yard held by William Pettifer

1798 – 1826 RUSHALL William married to widow of late Joseph Wills moved into house restored minus a wing after the 'great fire' + some closes @ £15 - £26

1832 DIX John (George Dix paid rent @ £8 to Mr Roper for property late Rushall)

1833 – 1834 DIX John @ £76

1831 DIX George, house outbuildings & paddock

1839 DIX George, house & homestead + Home Close

1875 WORSTER’S William exors, house outbuilding & paddock

1841 DIX George 35 farmer

1851 DIX George 46 farmer (150a)

1861 WORCESTOR Caroline 26 retired farmers widow, William 5, Annie 1, Caroline 4mths + 3 visitors + ?McBUSH Elizabeth 19 house servant, ARES Isabella 16 nursemaid (farm)

1871 WORSTER Caroline 31 annuitant (South St)

1881 WORSTER Annie 21 (Grafton Cottage Stoke Rd)

1891 WORSTER Caroline 56 on her own ?allowance (Stoke Rd)

1901 WESTLEY Alfred 34 miller flour (Crieff House South St)

GRAFTON SALE 1919 (Lot 8)

CRIEFF HOUSE in the centre of Blisworth village opposite the Post Office, with nice gardens, long range of stabling & premises & convenient paddock, about 3 acres in all. Let to Mr Alfred WESTLEY @ £34 10s pa.   This nice old Brown Stone House stands at right-angles to the road & contains dining room with bay, drawing & smoking rooms, hall, china pantry, kitchen, cellar, 4 bedrooms & store room. Sold to Mr Alfred WESTLEY, youngest son of Mr Joseph Westley the mill owner,

1899-1933 WESTLEY Alfred - then Westleys moved to bungalow (demolished in 2008), St Michael’s, built at end of garden ie Courteenhall Road.

1928?   Thatched roof stripped & tiled.

1933 THORPE Mr & Mrs Thomas for 40 years wedding present from uncle, Mr Clarke of Westley Bros & Clarke. 

1946 Annual garden parties held in grounds after death of Mrs Mona Clinch at Blisworth House.

1948 Poplar trees planted. Renovation included interior changes to fireplaces etc & changing C19 mullioned windows to bays & sashes.

 In c. 1967 part of garden/paddock sold for school playing field.

A mid-late C17 house of coursed squared limestone banded with ironstone with cellar, 2 storeys & attic and a thatch roof. It was partly rebuilt late C18 following fire damage. Gable end facing street has fine composition of stone-mullioned windows to cellar, to ground & 1st floors and to attic with stepped hood moulds. C20 alterations include the door to left of centre with thatched hood and 2-storey extension to right end.

1757 WILSON Sarah. A good stone house, barn, stable & garth being the

FEATHERS INN or ale house @ £1 5s pa. A good house etc & in good repair, well worth £3 pa.

1757 Long house end-on, ?3 chimneys, + long barn

1838 2 buildings

GRAFTON RENT BOOKS 1740 – 1867

c1740-1753 WILLSON John @ £1 5s

1753 - 1761 WILLSON Sarah (widow) @ £1.5s (1756 @ £4 + £1.5s)

1761 – 1774 STEPHENS William @ £4 + £1.5s

1774 ditto ? (For the Plough alehouse – very cheap his to repair)

1775 – 1782 DUNKLEY Ann @ £2 late Stevens (William Stevens @ £4 late Ann Dunkley) 1782 - 1810 COWLEY John @ £3 for late Ann Dunkley

1798 Severely damaged by the great fire

1821 - 1825 GIBBS Joseph @ £4.10s late Cowley / HIPWELL John’s daughters @ £1.10s

1825 – 1826 ditto / PECKWOOD Benjamin @ £1.10s

1864 – 1867 ? / PACKWOOD Elizabeth @ £1.10s

1831 GIBBS Joseph / PACKWOOD Benjamin, house outbuilding & paddock

1839 GIBBS Joseph, homestead house & garden / PACKWOOD Ben

1875 GIBBS James, house butcher’s shop & paddock / PACKWOOD Elizabeth, cottage & garden

1841 GIBBS Joseph 55 butcher / PACKWOOD Benjamin 50 baker (South St)

1851 ? - / PACKWOOD Benjamin 61 journeyman baker (South St)

1861 GIBBS James 44 butcher, uncle James 62 baker / PACKWOOD Elizabeth 63 school mistress

1871 ? - / PACKWOOD Elizabeth 73 school mistress (34 South St)

1881 ? MARRIOTT Thomas 49 carrier / MALLARD Thomas 41 platelayer (Stoke Rd)

1891 ? MARRIOTT Thomas 59 carrier / MALLARD Thomas 51 rly platelayer (StokeRd)

1901 PERKINS George F 44 butcher / MALLARD Thomas 62 rly lab (South St)

KELLYS DIRECTORIES & UPDATE

1847 - 54 GIBBS Joseph butcher

1854 - 64 GIBBS Joseph butcher & James butcher

1877 ?

1885 - 94 PERKINS George butcher (1894 & cattle dealer – by 1920 farmer)

1920 - 35 PERKINS Harry butcher

1935 COWLEY Herbert Frank

GRAFTON SALE 1919 (Lot 74)

A substantial stone-built house & cottage, large open yard, capital BUTCHER’S SHOP, large scullery, stable for 3, slaughter-house, fasting pen, good pigstys, trap house & open shed with garden & paddock beyond. The whole covers an area of over one acre, & is let to Mr H PERKINS @ £23. Sold to tenant.

LISTINGS 1949

Pair of cottages(!) C17. 2-storey, ironstone & limestone in alternate courses. Steep pitch thatch roof with moulded verges & kneelers on the gable end on to the road. This end has a bold plinth, sandstone quoins & mullioned windows all walled up except the 2-light basement window. There is a 3-light window with tall centre light to both main floors & a 2-light attic window. The other windows on the front & back are simple late wooden casements. The road end is topped by a late brick chimney stack. ?originally one house (!)

A cottage of coursed ironstone rubble with thatch roof and windows to 1st floor in eyebrow dormers. Built mid-late C17 and altered C20. Blocked door to ground floor far right and present entrance to rear. Moulded stone mullion window to ground floor with hood mould, re-used from demolished late C19 wing of Stoke Park also re-used stonework in C20 stone-coped gable. Left gable end has pair of ventilation slits to ground floor & blocked window above.

1757 HARRIS George. A good cottage @ 12s pa. This may be let @ £1.

1757 Cottages on road

1970 Back extended outwards.

GRAFTON RENT BOOKS 1740 -1867

c1740 – 1768 HARRIS George @ 12s for a little bit of ground wherein a large walnut tree

1768 - 1790 FRETTER John @ 12s (1774 2 years rent to be allowed. 3 children)

1790 – 1792 empty house from bad repair – repaired Oct 1792

1793 – 1798 FRETTER John tenant again @ 12s

1798 - 1809 do @ 10s. Part made into another dwelling / PLOWMAN George @ 15s

1809 – 1810 do overseers / do.

1821 - 1826 overseers FRETTER & son @ £ 1.10s / PLOWMAN George @ £1.10s / PEASLAND Thomas sen or jun @ £1.10s

1864 – 1867 PLOWMAN Henry @ £2.12s / PLOWMAN G & W @ £2

1831 ROCKINGHAM William / PLOUGHMAN George / PEASLAND Thomas, houses & gardens

1839 PLOWMAN William / PLOWMAN George / PEASNALL Thomas, 3 houses &gards.

1875 PLOUGHMAN G & W / CLARK Henry, cottages & gardens

1841 PLOWMAN George 69 lab / PLOWMAN William 30 ag lab (South St)

1851 PLOWMAN George 78 pauper ag lab

1861 PLOWMAN George 49 ag lab, Sarah 46 + lodger ?Courten 42 County policeman /

PLOWMAN William 53 ag lab, Elizabeth 52 lace maker /

PLOWMAN Henry 30 ag lab, Henrietta 37, Harry 3, Caroline 1 (cottages)

1871 PLOWMAN Sarah 54 nurse woman / PLOWMAN William 63 lab / CLARK Henry 34 painter (25 - 23 South St)

1881 1 uninhab / PLOWMAN William 73 ag lab / CLARKE Edmund M 29 plate layer (Stoke Rd)

1891 PLOWMAN Sarah 75 kept by parish / PLOWMAN William 83 farm lab / ROBINSON Ellen 66 nurse (Stoke Rd)

1901 ? STOCKLEY Thomas 35 …man for farm / 1 uninhab / ? JACKSON Ann (South St)

GRAFTON SALE 1919 (Lot 75)

3 stone & slated cottages with gardens & barns let to H PERKINS, S PLOUGHMAN & Edward PLOUGHMAN @ £2 12s each. Sold for £200 (or £165!)

Pair of cottages C17. Simple 1-storey ironstone cottages with thatch roofs & late brick chimney stacks. Small attic windows are tucked up under the eaves. All the windows are simple wooden casements.

GEORGE’S NOTES (1986)

Built about 1652, housed farm hand & family. Had large open hearth & chimney corner as well as faggot burning bread oven. 1 bedroom above living room, warmed in winter by the great chimney block passing through.  Structure on south side with no ceiling, used for storage of faggots, utensils & possibly the roost for the hens & a goat or two.  In time a barn was built on the north end – the ventilating shafts can still be seen in the gable end wall & this is now the living room.  When farms were moved out of the village the property was converted into 3 single units until the 1919 sale, when they were sold as 1 unit.

A pair of cottages built mid-late C18 of coursed squared limestone with a thatch roof. The 1st floor windows are in eyebrow dormers. The C20 glazed door to left of centre is in a C20 glazed porch.

1757 All cottages on the Waste but pay no rent. Those are said to belong to the farm but would pay a rent or acknowledgement. Elizabeth BILLINGHAM, Ann DALTON, William GARRICK, Ann BIRCH, Richard DUNKLEY & Elizabeth BRITTAIN

1757 Odd cottages

1808 Row of cottages right-angles to road

GRAFTON RENT BOOKS 1756 - 1867

1756 - 1758 Cottages at the end of South Gutter Street – DUNKLY Richard, BRITAIN Elizabeth, BURCH Anne, GARRET William, DOLTON Anne & (PEASNAL John or) BILLINGHAM Elizabeth @ 2d each AD @ 4d

1768 BURCH Ann overseers; 1778 PEASNALL William @ 2d; 1780 PEASNALL John

1783 LYMAN/LINEHAM John; 1786 - 1890 CLARK Thomas @ 4d; 1793 widow

1800 FRETTER John jun @ 4d

1806 Repaired let at 19s 1807 - 1810

1783 DUNKLEY Richard died, widow Ann @ 4d; 1794 MILLER William @ 8d

1806 House repaired, to PEASLAND Thomas @ 19s

1793 GARRET William died

1794 House repaired by His Grace, to PINFOLD John @ 5s

1806 ?one house pulled down

1805 – 1810 PEASLAND Thomas @ 8d 1806 house repaired -> 19s / FRETTER John jun @ 4d - house repaired 1806 ->19s / PINFOLD John @ 5s - house repaired 1794.

1821 – 1826 PEASLAND Thomas @ £1.10s / GRIFFIN George @ £1.10s / PINFOLD John @ £1.5s

1864 – 1867 GRIFFIN ?John @ £1.10s / PINFOLD John @ £1.10s

1831 PEASLAND Thomas / GRIFFIN George / PINFOLD Rachel, houses & gardens

1839 PEASNALL Thomas / GRIFFIN George / PENFOLD John, cottages & gardens

1875 HICKSON widow / PINFOLD Elizabeth, cottages & gardens

1841 PEASNALL Thomas 73 lab / GRIFFIN George 50 ag lab / PINFOLD John 30 lab

1851 PEASNALL Thomas 84 pauper ag lab / GRIFFIN George 64 ag lab / ? &GRIFFIN George 34 ag lab / PINFOLD John 42 ag lab / ?DAVIS John 23 ag lab

1861 BROWN Thomas 74 carpenter, Ann 79 / GRIFFIN Mary 70 lacemaker, gd Elizabeth scholar +lodger PINFOLD Robert J 23 shoe lab / PINFOLD John 54 ag lab, Sarah 44, Thomas 20 ag lab, Samuel 15 ag lab, Charlotte13 scholar / ?DAVIS John 35 ag lab, Mary 33, George 11, Harriet 9, Josiah 7, Walter 4 (4 scholars) Mary 10 mths + 1 visitor (cottages)

1871 GRIFFIN Sarah 79 / HICKSON Mary Ann 21 laundress / (5 South St) PINFOLD Sarah 55 / (6 South St) DAVIS John 45 lab (4 South St)

1881 BUTLER George 37 gardener / DAVIS John 56 gen lab (Stoke Rd)

1891 BUTLER George T 46 gardener / DAVIS John A 65 ag lab (Stoke Rd) 1901 BUTLER George 56 gardener, domestic / DAVIS Mary 73 / PLOWMAN John 57 miller’s lab (Davis’s yard, Stoke Rd)

GRAFTON SALE 1919 (Lot no 81)

3 stone & slated 4-roomed cottages with the yard, gardens, barns & well of water let to G BUTLER @ £2 12s, Jos STEWART @ £3, & Geo BILLINGHAM @ £5. Right of entry from road to the front doors over ground of Blisworth House.

LISTINGS 1949 (?nos 16 – 28)

Group of cottages – late C17. Limestone with occasional use of ironstone, thatch roofs, brick chimney stacks. All are 1-storey & attics, simple wooden casement windows with the thatch roughly scalloped over the attic windows. Pleasant grouping on & off the road.

?1970 2 cottages, 26 & 28, joined. Brick built privy in garden with 3 doors + 1 at back for ?22—28.

A cottage of coursed limestone rubble with a thatch roof built in C18, altered C20. 1-Storey & attic with dormer window to 1st floor. Entrance to rear.

1757 (as previous) All cottages on the Waste but pay no rent.

1757 ? Odd cottages

1808 Cottage on road

1838 Row of buildings on road from corner

1970 1 cottage + corner building

GRAFTON RENT BOOKS 1756 - 1867

1756 - 1758 Cottages at the end of South Gutter Street – DUNKLY Richard, BRITAIN Elizabeth, BURCH Anne, GARRET William, DOLTON Anne & PEASNAL John or BILLINGHAM Elizabeth

1756 – 1767 DOLTON Anne @ 4d

1767 - 1771 ROBINSON Thomas @ 4d

1771 – 1810 FOSTER John @ 4d (was Thomas Robinson) (1808 new repairs) now 5s / 1808 + GIBBS John @ 15s (part of Foster’s new repair)

1821 – 1825 LAW Thomas @ £1.10s / FOSTER ?John or Thomas

1864 – 1867 HOLDEN Benjamin @ £2.12s

1831 LAW Thomas / FOSTER Joseph. Houses & gardens

1839 LAWES Thomas / FOSTER John. Cottages & gardens

1875 HOLDEN Benjamin. Cottages & gardens

1841 LAW Thomas 67 tailor, Mary 69 / HARRIS Mary 60 lacemaker (South St)

1851 LAW Thomas 77 pauper / 1 uninhab

1861 HOLDING Benjamin 47 ag lab, Dina 42 lacemaker, Mary 21 lacemaker, William 14 ag lab, Elizabeth 12 lacemaker, gs John 6 mths + lodgers DUNCKLEY John 23 ag lab, WHITE John 26 ag lab (cottages)

1871 HOLDING Benjamin 56 ag lab (South St)

1881 DUNKLEY John 43 iron stone miner (Stoke Road)

1891 DUNKLEY John 53 iron stone miner (Stoke Road)

1901 DUNKLEY John 63 gen lab (Davis’ yard, Stoke Road)

GRAFTON SALE 1919 ( part of Lot 82)

Sold with 20, 18 & 16. 4 stone-built cottages with barns & gardens ?Let to H MONK @ £3 5s. All sold for £200.

LISTINGS 1949 As nos 16 – 28

1960’s Had been considerably altered, was single storey. Adjoining cottage derelict & demolished - end rendered. Garage original.

Row of 3, now 2 cottages of coursed limestone rubble, no 20 partly rendered, and thatch roof. Built early/mid C18, altered C20. 2-storey with C20 windows to 1st floor in eyebrow dormers. C20 door to right of centre. Entrance to no 20 is to rear.

GRAFTON SURVEY

1757 RUSSELL Mary 2 cottages, a barn yard & good orchard @ £1

1757 Cottages on road, 2 chimneys

GRAFTON RENT BOOKS 1740 - 1867

c1740 - 1763 RUSSELL Henry @ £1 then widow Mary

1756 - 1758 do (+John Gare)

1765 - 1780 GARE John @ £1 (1774 2 tenements very reasonably let)

1785 – 1790 GARE Widow @ 10s -> 2/6

1790 – 1810 GIBBS William + part late widow Gare @ 2/6 total £1

1821 – 1826 GIBBS John (son of William) or Widow G @ £1.10

1864 - 1867 CARTER Mark @ ?10s / LINNELL William @ £1.10s /

GREEN Richard @ £1.10s

1831 CARTER Mark / GIBBS Joseph / LINNELL William. Houses & gardens

1839 CARTER Mark / GIBBS John / LINNELL William. Cottages & gardens

1875 CARTER Mark / LOYD Abram / LINNELL William / GREEN Richard. Cottages & gardens

1841 CARTER Mark 30 lab/ GIBBS John 55 shoemaker / CARTER Ben 60 boatmaker/ LINNELL William 43 lab (South St)

1851 CARTER Elizabeth 41 pillow lace maker / LINNELL William 53 ag lab / GREEN Richard 37 cordwainer

1861 CARTER Mark 51 stone master, Elizabeth 51, gd ?Worick 8 scholar / SELVEY William 74 boat legger, Mary 56 + gmother Law Mary ?88 pauper / LINNELL William 63 ag lab, Mary 64, gs Knible Edwin 6 scholar + lodger KIRBY Richard 57 stone sawyer / GREEN Richard 47 cordwainer, Sarah 45, John 17 cordwainer, Elizabeth ? scholar + ?Hill George 15 cordwainer (cottages)

1871 CARTER Mark 67 lab / LINNELL William 73 relief from parish, / GREEN Richard 52 shoe maker / LOYDE Jane 46 boatman’s wife (8 - 11 South St)

1881 CARTER Elizabeth 77 lacemaker / LINNELL William 45 ag lab / GREENE Joseph 34 gen lab / GREENE Richard 68 shoe maker (Stoke Rd)

1891 CARTER Elizabeth 84 kept by parish / LINNELL Hannah 54 washerwoman / GREEN Sarah 73 kept by parish / LLOYD Abraham 67 boatman (Stoke Rd) 

1901 JOHNSON Richard 73 retired lab / WILKS Ernest 24 fitter & turner to brickworks /

GREEN John 57 shoemaker (Stoke Rd, Green’s yard)

GRAFTON SALE 1919 (Lot 82 nos 16 - 22)

4 stone built cottages with barns & gardens let to H PERKINS @ £2 12s, G CAPELL @ £2 12s, & T HALLETT @ £6 10s. All sold for £ 200.

LISTINGS 1949 (As nos 16 – 28)

Group of cottages – late C17. Limestone with occasional use of ironstone, thatch roofs, brick chimney stacks. All are 1-storey & attics, simple wooden casement windows with the thatch roughly scalloped over the attic windows. Pleasant grouping on & off the road. (Brick built privys in back gardens).

Up to 1918 John GREEN (1843—1918) had single storey cobblers shop at end of 20.  (He was also a poet, musician & composer of over 50 songs & hymns. It is not known whether any were published).  ? ? owned by Reeves the builder who "rendered everything"  1963–68 Rented by present owners until they purchased the cottage in 1968.  1969 Old shop converted into cottage extension.

A 3-storey house of rendered stone with ironstone dressings and slate roof. The datestone above the door inscribed "P/WE 1702" in upright oval moulded stone surround. Altered early C19 and doubled in depth & roof-pitch, windows to all floors all with moulded stone sills.  Single stone extension to left and early C19 range to rear. Central C20 door in moulded stone surround with moulded stone cornice.  Interior has fine dog leg staircase from ground floor to attic, with turned balusters. Tudor-arched stone fireplace & early C19 vein marble chimneypieces.

1727 PLOWMAN William @ £ 2.10s House yard etc + 155 acres (incl The Park) @ £95.5s

1757 SHEPHERD Samuel Esq. An extraordinary good house, stone & tiled, 1 barn, 2 stables, a dovehouse, separate brewhouse. This a very good house stands very pleasant near the Church is out of repair in the roof & tiling which must be done by tenant or else the rent must be advanced to at least £15 as it will never be worth while to let this house at £4 & keep it in repair. Part of the Old Park is laid to this house being 6.2.05 acres @ £12 (£4 for house).

1757 / 1808 Large house, 3 storeys, 2 chimneys

1838 Double size + side extension, new outbuilding

1885 + many outbuildings

GRAFTON RENT BOOKS 1740 – 1834

c1740-1754 PLOWMAN William @ £120 (house & farm)

1757 - 1763 SHEPHERD Samuel @ £12 (house + 6 acres) 1758 SHEPHERD Widow

1769 – 1810 RIGBY Humbro @ £12/13

1794 Canal coming through land, reduced to £9.8s

1801 Land taken for Iron Railway, reduced to £8.13s (1809 £11)

1810 - … SINGLETON Mark Esq @ £30 on being repaired

1821 – 1824 ALSTON Henry F @ £45 (1822 £70) (house empty – 1826)

1832 – 1834 STONE George @ £70

1831 STONE George, mansion house, pleasure grounds and garden + nearly 10 acres

1839 STONE George Esq, mansion, paddock and house

1875 MAUNSELL T Cokayne, mansion garden etc + about 14 acres

1841

1851 STONE George Esq 62 magistrate (Blisworth House)

1861 STONE George Esq 72 magistrate, George 44 committee clerk in House of Commons.  Louisa 36, d WARBURTON Anne 40 resident with father, gd Eleanor 11 scholar + 5 servants Freeby Harriet 37 dom servant, Robinson Sarah 18 housemaid, Gibbs Mary 19 housemaid, Cresswell Caroline 19 under cook dom, Chester Edward 15 page (Blisworth House)

1871 STONE George 82 magistrate, landowner (1 Church Lane)

1881 MANSELL T Cockayne 41 JP late Capt (Blisworth House)

1891 WHITE Charles W 45 shoe manufacturer (Blisworth House)

1901 ELMHURST Capt EP 56 retired Capt (Blisworth House)

1826 – 1872 STONE George Esq

1872 – 1886 MANSELL Capt Thomas Cockayne JP

1886 - … ? WHITE Charles W shoe manufacturer

1892 - 1916 ELMHURST Capt E Pennell

1916 - 1920 SPARROW R B (Gayton Wood mines)

1920 - 1927 CLINCH Lt Col Herbert W

1927/8 -1946 CLINCH Mrs Mona Clyde

1946 – 1948 MARTINDALE Hugh (legatee)

1949 - ERICHSEN Knudd

GRAFTON SALE 1919 (part of Lot 7)

A singularly attractive residential property known as Blisworth House occupying a most pleasant situation on a high plateau just above Blisworth Church with nicely shaded delightful lawns, excellent kitchen garden & paddocks, covering in all 13 acres 2 roods 21 poles practically the whole of which is splendidly screened from the Village by a high stone wall.

The House, which is approached by Entrance Gates & a carriage sweep, is a substantially- built 3 storey building of stone with slated roof, & possesses good views. It contains a spacious hall (35’ x 17.5’) & porch, dining room (19.5’ x 19’) with bay, smoke room (16’ x 12’), drawing room (20’ x 19’), 12 good bedrooms, bathroom, 2 wc’s.  The Domestic Offices include a servants@ hall, kitchen with good range, hot plates, dresser & 2 cupboards; scullery with force pump, soft water pump & copper; well fitted butler’s pantry with separate staircase to bedroom over; larders & dairy.

In the adjoining back yard are boot, oil & store rooms, a brushing room, apple room, coal house 7 wc, & beyond these is a stable yard, harness & saddle rooms, boiling room & pump of good water.  Excellent stone & slated stabling, 2 boxes & 4 stalls, large coachhouse, store-room & granary. In the highly productive walled kitchen garden is a wooden potting shed.

Let to R B SPARROW Esq @ £120 pa.

LISTINGS 1949

C18. A rectangular 3-storey limestone house with a shallow pitched slate roof, doubled gabled brick chimney stacks. Main front 7 windows. There is a sandstone band above the ground floor & the windows of the ground & 1^st floor are set each in a wide sandstone architrave with keystone & moulded cill. All the windows are square 2-light casements. Central entrance is enclosed by a rather solid 1-storey hipped stone porch.

A house of coursed squared limestone banded with ironstone and thatch roof. 2 Storeys & attic, built late C17, altered C18 and extended C20. Central C20 door in C20 porch and C20 2-storey extension to right.

1727 ELLARD Ann. A house @ 10s out of Hilyards lease (+ Upper Slade close)

1757 BLAND Richard (no 65) A good cottage & barn & garth late Ellards. Tenant farmer @ £44 10s for house (no 48 in Stoke Road) and farm (£1 for cottage).

1727, 1757 House, 1 chimney + large barn along road

1808, 1838 + Small extension at rear

1885 OS…. No barn

?1740-1760 Let by BLAND Richard (farmer in Stoke Road) – died 1760

1761 do BARRET Mary (niece)

1761 - 1778 do GIBBS William (farmer) 1778 Farm in very bad condition so

1778 - 1810 do GUDGEON Cornelius

1821 – 1826 WOOD John @ £2.10s

1864 - 1867 DUNKLEY (A)Benuego @ £3.10s

1831 WOOD John. House & garden

1839 WOOD John. Cottage shop & garden

1875 DUNKLEY Abenduego. Cottage & garden

1841 WOOD John 70 shoe maker

1851 DUNKLEY Bendigo 42 carpenter (journeyman)

1861 WOOD Sarah 78 pauper, s-i-law DUNKLEY Abedmego 51 carpenter, Sarah 33, Elizabeth 12, Emily 9,Anne 7, Sarah 4 (4 scholars) William 1 (cottage)

1871 DUNKLEY ?Aldredge 61 carpenter (2 Church Lane)

1881 DUNKLEY Abe… 70 carpenter (Church Rd)

1891 ? 1 uninhab (Npton Rd)

1901 ? 1 uninhab (Church Rd)

GRAFTON SALE 1919 ( Lot 64)

A capital stone & thatched cottage of 5 rooms, very pleasantly situated at the corner above the Church, with the large garden, barn etc, let to J E ROBINSON @ £10. Note: a brick & slated barn on the boundary wall of the garden belongs to the tenant. Sold to tenant.

Early C18. 2-storey cottage of limestone & ironstone roughly striped in wide stripes. Steep pitch thatch roof. Simple wooden casement windows. The gable end is on the road.

1940’s Known as "Clydecote" now as "Church House".

A house, formally a rectory, dated 1841. 2-Storeys & attic built of limestone ashlar with slate roofs, stone end & ridge stacks. Octagonal pinnacles to angles, & stone-coped parapet & gable with datestone. Single storey wing to right.

The central gabled porch has double-chamfered stone doorway & hood mould, flanked by narrow sash windows with double-chamfered stone surrounds. Bays either side have stone mullion windows to ground floor and to 1st floor, all with hood moulds, & the small sash window to attic gable has stone surround.

Interior noted as having open well staircase with simple turned balusters, carved tread ends & ramped & wreathed mahogany handrail

1727 & 1757 Not included

1727 Original Rectory, forward of Church – L-shaped with 3 chimneys. Stable block on road

1757 Rectangular with 3 chimneys

1808 U-shaped ?round courtyard

1826 Original Rectory re-thatched (bills found)

1838 Rectangular (+ stables)

1841 Built for Rector William BARRY in "Elizabethan Gothic style in limestone from Glebeland (Rectory Farm) which has mellowed attractively" (according to Pevsner).

1885 OS New Rectory, slightly behind Church – stables now opposite Public House

1841 …

1851 BARRY Rev William 48 Rector of Blisworth (Rectory)

1861 BARRY Rev William 58 Rector of Blisworth, Frances 51, George 15, Henry 13 + 4 visitors + 5 servants, Williams Hannah 52 housemaid, Gardner Eliza 33 lady’s maid, Foster Mary 38 domestic (cook), Spooner William 28 coachman, Tee Thomas 22 house servant (Rectory)

1871 BARRY William 68 Rector of Blisworth (The Vicarage)

1881 BARRY William 78 Rector of Blisworth (Blisworth Rectory)

1891 BARRY Henry 43 Rector of Blisworth (Npton Rd Rectory)

1901 BARRY ? 53 Clergyman C of E (The Rectory)

1847 BARRY Rev William MA

1885 BARRY Rev Henry Thos MA

1910 BARRY Rev William Hy MA

1914 COLLEY Rev William Wingfield MA

1931 MALLETT Rev George Hall MA

1940 LUNN Rev George Henry MA

1951–61 CHALLEN Rev Phillip Kensit was last rector to live in 1841 rectory

1964 Bought from Church, improved & modernised.

GRADE 2 LISTED (description 1949)

Large limestone Church dating from late C14. Extensive mid C19 restoration. In south aisle there is a large early C16 altar tomb with brasses and marginal inscription to Roger Wake, wife & 10 children. North porch dated 1507: windows of the same time in N & S clerestory, N aisle, & 2 good ones in N side of chancel.

(Other sources say late C13 for part of the structure - see article for example)

A pair of semi-detached cottages, built in 1838, standing beside the railway bridge on the main road to Northampton. 2-storeys of limestone ashlar with hipped slate roof and central stone internal stack and flanked by lower 2-storey wings. These wings house the staircase hall and have panelled doors in stone porches with Tuscan pillars and pilasters

Interior: stone cantilever staircases with cast-iron balustrade and columns supporting landing and with mahogany hand-rail. Stone-flagged floors and some original stone chimneypieces. No27 has original back staircase leading from kitchen.

They are built in local stone from the Grafton estate quarry at Blisworth - part of an extensive building programme undertaken by the estate under the direction of the agent John Gardner, successor to John Roper, and referred to in his letter of 19^th December 1838 "I have chosen the site for, and set out the double cottage this morning, it will have a Lodge-like effect, and be an ornamental adjunct to the Archway as well as shew off our stone to the best advantage".

MAPS (Not in village area)

1900 As now

Not included

CENSUSES no 27 no 25

1841 KNOTT James 35 surgeon ELLIOTT Sarah 24

1851 KNOTT James P 42 surgeon

1861 KNOTT James P 54 surgeon FLOWER Cornelius 37 station master

1871 KNOTT James P 66 gen med pract TOMLIN William 38 solicitor

1881 KNOTT(-PARSONS) 76 med pract THOMPSON James A B 29 med pract

1891 KNOTT Elizabeth 51 own means ARNOLD William 27 gen pract

1901 KNOTT JAMES A E 32 ass sec public HODGSON Dr Harold 34 surg/physician

DIRECTORIES (Kelly’s)

No 27 -

1854 – 1903 KNOTT Mr James Parsons surgeon

1906 – 1910 RICHARDSON William Pearson MB physician/surgeon

1914 – 1936 JEAFFERSON Dudley phys, surgeon & med officer

1940… CLEMENTS William Alex. do

No 25 -

1854 THOMAS John   Station Master

1864 OSMAN Thomas      ditto

1885 POPPLEWELL Thomas Wm surgeon & med officer

1890 ARNOLD William MRCS LSA        ditto

1894 – 1903 HODGSON Harold MB BS        ditto

1906 STEVENS Noel

1910 WEST Edwin

1914 – 1928.. SARGEANT Thomas Charles

GRAFTON SALE 1919 (Lot 1 – no 27 adjoining the bridge)

A stone and slated semi-detached SMALL RESIDENCE standing well back from the road in a pleasant garden and having a detached surgery and waiting room, stabling, coach house, kitchen garden and paddock, in all about an acre in extent.

The house contains 5 bedrooms, dining and drawing rooms, hall, w.c., china pantry, lamp room, kitchen with good range, pantry and scullery with pump.

Sewers into the boundary ditch on the north under revocable licence paying 6d pa to the L.N.W.R. Right reserved for lot 2 to continue sewage. Water supply from Cliff Hill farm.

Let to Dr D Jefferson @ £28 pa.

(Lot 2 – no 25 adjoining)

Very similar SMALL RESIDENCE with pleasant garden let to Mr T C Sargeant @ £26pa.

Sold to tenants.

Early C19. Limestone. Symmetrical pile, 2 storeys, 3 windows. Flanked by porch wings slightly lower than the main block. Central block has a hipped slate roof behind a shallow parapet, capped by a central chimney stack. A heavy cornice runs all round above the second storey and on the wings. Windows, sashes in wide moulded architraves with plain cills. The entrances consist of 2 Doric columns in antis supporting simple entablature.

A pair of cottages of coursed limestone rubble with thatch roof and brick ridge stacks. Built in the C18 with C19 & C20 alterations. No 83 has 1-unit plan with 1-unit addition. No 85 has a 2-unit plan, 2-storey. Plank doors to left & right of centre have thatched hoods. Windows to 1^st floor are in eyebrow dormers.

Interior. Both cottages have open fireplaces, that to no 85 with salt cupboard.

The cottages are situated near the North portal of the Blisworth tunnel on the Grand Union Canal.

PHOTOGRAPH   two images

1757 ? Houses on the Waste (on The Warren – formerly the "Coneygree" an arable close farmed by William Judge)

CORBY Thomas (should pay some rent) / GARDNER William

MAPS (outside village)

1757 Pair of cottages on the Green – 2 chimneys

1808 (After Canal built) New road to Stoke Bruerne passes more closely the two cottages.

GRAFTON RENT BOOKS 1756 – 1867 (1756 – 1780 cottages on the green)

1756 - 1758 GARNER William pays 4d at court

1756 – 1783 CORBY Thomas @ 8d

1785 - 1803 SAVAGE Samuel late Corby @ 8d

1803 - 1810 AMOS Thomas @ 8d

1793 - 1810 ?MORRIS John @ 10s. Repairs 1808 rent £1.10s

1821 – 1826 ?MORRIS John @ £2 / AMOS Thomas @ £1.10s

1864 – 1867 MORRIS John @ £1.12.9 / SCOTT Sarah @ £1.10s

1831 ?HARRIS John / AMOS Thomas. House & garden

1839 not included but present on the survey map.

1875 MORRIS John / SCOTT Sarah. 2 cottages & garden

1841 MORRIS John 55 bricklayer / AMOS Thomas 75 ag lab + ?2 lodgers

1851 MORRIS John 65 ditto / SCOTT William 61 ag lab / ?BROWN Thomas 65 carpenter (journeyman)

1861 MORRIS John 75 ditto / SCOTT John 37 boat legger + 2 visitors

1871 MORRIS John 85 ditto / SCOTT John 46 lab

1881 ?CHESTER Richard 53 butcher / SCOTT Sarah 59 / ?FREEMAN Alan 35 gardener

1891 CLARKE Edmund M 39 platelayer SCOTT Sarah 69

1901 CLARKE Edmund M 49 do SCOTT Louisa 53 plain sewer (shirt)

GRAFTON SALE 1919 (Lot 10)

There are 2 ROOMY COTTAGES and gardens on the land known as the New Allotment Field, let to E M CLARKE and A H DUNKLEY @ £2.12s each. ?Sold @ £550.

An early C19 farmhouse of limestone ashlar with hipped slate roof. 2-storey L-plan with central door with fanlight in rusticated stone surround. Central bay breaks forward and has pediment with inscription BLISWORTH STONE WORKS.

Single-storey, 5-bay wing to right with central C20 door in porch with Tuscan columns. 2-storey wing to rear left, possibly extension, has sash windows and C20 door and other C20 windows.

The attached single-storey L-plan outbuilding has a hipped slate roof and is open to the yard to the rear of house on Greek Doric columns.

Blisworth stone quarry was opened in 1821 and formed part of the Northamptonshire estates of the Dukes of Grafton. The quarry closed in 1912 and the land in-filled for farming.

PHOTOGRAPH   two images

MAPS (Not in village area)

1900 As now

Not included

1841 TOWNSEND William 41 lab / MAYO Thomas 25 lab / CAMPION Robert 30 lab / HEWETT John 40 serv / PACEY Benjamin 20 shoemaker / GUDGEON Richard 53 farmer / WILLS George 45 builder / DUNKLEY Richard 30 builder / HAYMAKER John 37 lab

1851 ?WILLS George 58 stone mason & builder / ?HOLDING Benjamin 57 ag lab / ?HAYMAKER John 44 ag lab / …?

1861 ?

1871 MONTGOMERY Samuel 39 farmer

1881 DEAN John 26 booksellers agent

1891 ?

1901 YOUNG Oliver T B 25

1854 WILLS George   marble and stone mason

1877 HAWKINS Thomas   foreman

…

1920 LEPPER J T  farmer

GRAFTON SALE 1919 (Lot 11 - near the village adjoining the road to Stoke Bruerne)

A STONE AND SLATED HOUSE of 10 rooms (now let to 2 sub-tenants) with open yard, pump of excellent water, open shed and wash-house, farm yard with brick and slated barn and range of buildings (which require re-roofing), a stone and slated cart-hovel, and shut-up place, kitchen garden and several enclosures of pasture and arable, covering 24 acres 2 roods 10 poles.

House and land (11.1.30) let to J T LEPPER @ £27. Sold to tenant.

Early C19 barn of coursed limestone rubble with hipped slate roof. Altered in the C20. Tall with double opposed doors, that to rear blocked, that to front raised to eaves level. Rear door has blank round-arched head. Included for group value.

A farmhouse of coursed squared limestone with hipped slate roof and yellow brick internal stacks. ?Built about 1823 with 2-storeys and central glazed door. Deep overhanging eaves. 2-storey wing to the rear on the left and single-storey wing to the rear on the right. The attached farm buildings surround the farmyard to rear and include a barn with double-opposed doors, shelter sheds, granary and 4-bay cart-standing.

1757 Middle Lord’s Field farmed by William Plowman

1831 Middle Lord’s Field part of Stephen Blunt’s farm (at Old Coach House)

1839 GOODRIDGE William ?House. (Farmed closes nos 122 – 129 + 140)

1875 CAVE John (Middle Lord’s Field with Homestall)

1832 – 1834 ?GOODRIDGE William @ £178

1841 GOODRIDGE William 60 farmer (+ John 36)

1851 ?

1861 GOODRIDGE John 55 farmer (Farm)

1871 CAVE John Tite 41 farmer (5 Stoke Rd)

1881 CAVE Charlotte 47 farmer (300a) (Tunnel Hill Farm Stoke Rd)

1891 CAVE John Goodridge 32 farmer (Stoke Rd)

1901 CAVE John Goodridge 42 farmer (Tunnel Hill Farm Stoke Rd)

DIRECTORIES (Kelly’s)

1847 GOODRIDGE William

1864 GOODRIDGE John

1877 – 1890 CAVE John Tite

1894 – 1903 CAVE John Goodridge

1906 – 1914 DUNKLEY Arthur Henry

1920 – 1931 SLADE Bros (1924 Richard)

1940 SEMPLE John

GRAFTON SALE 1919 (Lot12)

A capital stone and slated HOUSE, HOMESTEAD and 2 Cottages close to Blisworth village. Farm of 259acres.  Let to Mr A H DUNKLEY @ £233.4s 2d  (£2.4s 3d for the shooting.)

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