Europe, British Isles, South-Central England, Northamptonshire, Towcester [Map]

Towcester is in Northamptonshire.

Battle of Tempsford

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 917. This year, before Easter, King Edward (age 43) ordered his men to go to the town of Towcester [Map], and to rebuild it. Then again, after that, in the same year, during the gang-days, he ordered the town of Wigmore [Map] to be repaired. The same summer, betwixt Lammas and midsummer, the army broke their parole from Northampton and from Leicester; and went thence northward to Towcester, and fought against the town all day, and thought that they should break into it; but the people that were therein defended it, till more aid came to them; and the enemy then abandoned the town, and went away. Then again, very soon after this, they went out at night for plunder, and came upon men unaware, and seized not a little, both in men and cattle, betwixt Burnham-wood and Aylesbury. At the same time went the army from Huntington and East-Anglia, and constructed that work at Ternsford [Map] which they inhabited and fortified; and abandoned the other at Huntingdon [Map]; and thought that they should thence oft with war and contention recover a good deal of this land. Thence they advanced till they came to Bedford [Map]; where the men who were within came out against them, and fought with them, and put them to flight, and slew a good number of them. Then again, after this, a great army yet collected itself from East-Anglia and from Mercia, and went to the town of Wigmore, Herefordshire [Map]; which they besieged without, and fought against long in the day; and took the cattle about it; but the men defended the town, who were within; and the enemy left the town, and went away. After this, the same summer, a large force collected itself in King Edward's dominions, from the nighest towns that could go thither, and went to Temsford [Map]; and they beset the town, and fought thereon; until they broke into it, and slew the king, and Earl Toglos, and Earl Mann his son, and his brother, and all them that were therein, and who were resolved to defend it; and they took the others, and all that was therein. After this, a great force collected soon in harvest, from Kent, from Surrey, from Essex, and everywhere from the nighest towns; and went to Colchester [Map], and beset the town, and fought thereon till they took it, and slew all the people, and seized all that was therein; except those men who escaped therefrom over the wall. After this again, this same harvest, a great army collected itself from East-Anglia, both of the land-forces and of the pirates, which they had enticed to their assistance, and thought that they should wreak their vengeance. They went to Maldon [Map], and beset the town, and fought thereon, until more aid came to the townsmen from without to help. The enemy then abandoned the town, and went from it. And the men went after, out of the town, and also those that came from without to their aid; and put the army to flight, and slew many hundreds of them, both of the pirates and of the others. Soon after this, the same harvest, went King Edward (age 43) with the West-Saxon army to Passham [Map]; and sat there the while that men fortified the town of Towcester [Map] with a stone wall. And there returned to him Earl Thurferth, and the captains, and all the army that belonged to Northampton northward to the Welland, and sought him for their lord and protector. When this division of the army went home, then went another out, and marched to the town of Huntingdon; and repaired and renewed it, where it was broken down before, by command of King Edward (age 43). And all the people of the country that were left submitted to King Edward (age 43), and sought his peace and protection. After this, the same year, before Martinmas, went King Edward (age 43) with the West-Saxon army to Colchester [Map]; and repaired and renewed the town, where it was broken down before. And much people turned to him, both in East-Anglia and in Essex, that were before under the power of the Danes. And all the army in East-Anglia swore union with him; that they would all that he would, and would protect all that he protected, either by sea or land. And the army that belonged to Cambridge chose him separately for their lord and protector, and confirmed the same with oaths, as he had advised. This year King Edward (age 43) repaired the town of Gladmouth; and the same year King Sihtric slew Neil his brother.

In 1414 Peter Empson was born at Towcester [Map] to Francis Empson (age 24).

On 05 Dec 1510 Joan Empson (age 30) died at Towcester [Map].

Europe, British Isles, South-Central England, Northamptonshire, Towcester, Easton Neston

Around 1482 Richard Fermor was born at Easton Neston.

On 17 Nov 1551 Richard Fermor (age 69) died at Easton Neston.

Europe, British Isles, South-Central England, Northamptonshire, Towcester, Easton Neston, Easton Newston House

Evelyn's Diary. 21 Mar 1691. Dined at Sir William Fermor's (age 42), who showed me many good pictures. After dinner, a French servant played rarely on the lute. Sir William (age 42) had now bought all the remaining statues collected with so much expense by the famous Thomas, Earl of Arundel, and sent them to his seat at Easton, near Towcester.

Europe, British Isles, South-Central England, Northamptonshire, Towcester, Easton Neston, St Mary's Church [Map]

St Mary's Church, Easton Neston [Map]. Jasper Hollemans. St Mary's Church is all that remains of the Medieval village of Easton Neston when, following the enclosure of the land, the village was transferred to Hulcote. The church stands adjacent imposing Easton Neston House, designed by Nicholas Hawksmore for the Fermor- later Hesketh - family. The building is a beautiful early mediaeval church The most outstanding feature is the 16th century chancel memorial to Sir George Femor and his wife. There are a number of other monuments to the Fermor- Hesketh family around the church. The re building of the house circa 1700 affected the church with a new pulpit and box pews. The church is full of memorials to the Fermor family (The Earls of Promfret) and later to the Fermor Heskeths (The Lords Hesketh). The earliest are to be found in the chancel. Here you find a panelled tomb chest to Richard Fermor (died 1552) who bought the estate from the Crown after the attainder of Henry VII's minister Richard Empson. Fermor had made a fortune out of wool which will be a recurring theme on this tour. The brasses on top of the chest are a palimpsest of earlier brasses reassembled here. Opposite is the flamboyant tomb to his grandson, Sir George Fermor and his wife Mary Curson. This is attributed to Jasper Hollemans, the son of Garret Hollemans who had come to England circa 1580 and established the family at the alabaster quarries at Burton on Trent. Jasper's few surviving works are best seen in Northamptonshire, here and at Great Brington (he was also responsible for the Spenser tomb at Yarnton near Oxford and the Bassett tomb at Blore in Staffordshire). Here, working in fine soft alabaster, partly painted and gilded, he created a spectacular funerary show topped by a huge peacock's tail of ornamental panels separated by pennons. Elsewhere are columns, obelisks, allegorical figures and heraldic achievements, whilst around the base the Fermor children kneel in relief. Note Mary Curson's fine head dress and Sir George's helmet, topped with the Fermor family crest of a cockerel. On the opposite wall is the memorial of Sir Hatton Fermor and his wife Anne Cockayne, daughter and heiress of the Lord Mayor of London who owned Rushton Hall in the north part of the County. The memorial also includes their eldest son who died the year before it was erected and three of his sisters who appear as half length sculptures along the top, as if sitting in an opera box. This monument because it eventually had to commemorate not two but six people, is somewhat odd in design, but the execution is rather good. Note the swaggering boots of Sir Hatton, who stands to one side, his wife on the other. It is attributed to Pierre Besnier (c. 1630-1693) probably a Huguenot refugee who worked with his brothers under Hubert Le Soeur for Charles I. The civil war clearly affected his career but by the late 1650s he had re-established himself, creating the Shuckbrugh monument in Warwickshire, very like this tomb, and was carving the armorials on the façade of Lamport Hall. Besnier's busts of the sitters that were formerly at Easton Neston are now owned by Northampton Art Gallery. Lastly in the chancel, to the left of the altar, is E H Baily's large wall monument to the 3rd Earl of Pomfret (d. 1830) showing his lordship beside a huge funerary urn. Baily was presumably also engaged at the same time on his large figure of Minerva who, resplendent in gold leaf, sits aloft the entrance to the Athenaeum. Later, he was to provide Nelson for his column in Trafalgar Square. Note also the accomplished gothic wall plaque to Thomas Hatton Fermor (d. 1864) a noted early photographer. Off the chancel is the memorial chapel to more recent members of the Fermor Hesketh family approached through wrought iron gates that formerly stood in the entrance hall of the house. The walls are covered with a variety of tablets: the Anglo-American ancestry of the family revealed in their inscriptions. Particularly notable is the great neo-georgian aedicule to the 1st Lord Hesketh who died in 1944. An unusually large and imposing tomb for the period. An equally impressive alabaster tomb to his son the 2nd Lord Hesketh, an unusual arrangement of geometric shapes, stands at the rear of the north aisle. As you leave the church there are two further wall tombs of particular beauty. The first has been attributed to Sir Francis Chantrey, but there is no evidence to support this and it may be another by Baily to the 2nd Earl and Countess of Pomfret with their children weeping at their loss. This is rather odd when you consider that it seems to have taken those children 30 years to put up the memorial. The Earl died in 1785, his wife two years later, and yet the tomb dates from 1816. Another conundrum, is who is the other man conspicuous here? Nearby, another work by Baily, this time to the 2nd Earl's daughter Lady Charlotte with her husband, Peter Denys and their daughter, also called Charlotte. Rather touchingly the memorial is initialled so you know who is commemorated where: LCD (Lady Charlotte Denys), CD (Charlotte Denys), PD (Peter Denys) - not I think a common practice.