A Story in Stone
Loss and Remembrance
The churchyard is large and divided into sections by paths. In the Plan (right), the sections are designated A to H. The older stones are mainly found to the south of the church, whilst the newer sections extend back some distance to the north side of the church and the newest section of all (H) is to the east.
The churchyard was extended to the north of the church in 1857 and again in 1907, on the second occasion to enclose land given by the Duke of Buccleuch, when substantial quantities of artefacts associated with the former royal palace were unearthed.
A further increase in capacity was made in 1970 when an elevated section (H) was constructed. Although the churchyard is still open for burials, space is now very limited. The churchyard is regularly visited by villagers with many well-tended graves. There are ancient rights of way through the churchyard.
There are several substantial yew trees within the churchyard, and three large lime trees. All are subject to Tree Preservation Orders. There has been little opportunity for rare flora or fauna to become established beyond significant growths of lichen on stonework. No special scientific or ecological designation attaches to the site.
The churchyard is maintained by a small team of volunteers, and members of the village’s Volunteer Fire Brigade periodically undertake heavier maintenance work and clearance. An open area in the south-western section alongside approach paths is also used for church fetes.
The War Memorial
A war memorial cross (Grade II Listed) was erected to the south west of the church in 1921 and, together with memorial plaques in the wall of the church forms the focus for Remembrance in the village. The memorial comprises a c9m high floriated Latin cross with ‘IHS' in a shield at the top. The cross-head is set on an hexagonal pillar which rises from a square plinth set on a two-stepped octagonal base. On the plinth is inscribed:
1914 – 1918
IN UNDYING MEMORY OF
THE MEN OF GEDDINGTON
WHO IN THE GREAT WAR
GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR US
The following inscription has been added below, to the top step of the base:
ALSO
1939-1945
Nearby, on the outer west wall of the south aisle of the church are three tablets bearing names and additional inscriptions, including those from Newton. On 20 November 1918 a public meeting was held and a memorial committee, chaired by Rev. Ben Turton, was elected. The committee reported its proposals in January 1920 for a memorial cross, and the necessary funds raised by public subscription. The cross and separate wall tablet were designed by Mr. Talbot Brown of architects Talbot Brown & Fisher Ltd., Wellingborough.
Built by Mr. Patrick of Geddington, construction took a month and, on 28 July 1921, the memorial was unveiled by Major Wetherall of Northampton, whose family had close connections with Geddington. Seventy years later, all 170 of those who served in the Great War were commemorated in Melvyn Hopkins’ book Geddington, A Village at War.
In 2018 those who died were remembered with special commemorations; and a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant enabled the village school to mount an extensive educational programme about the War for their pupils and parents.
War Graves
There are four war dead commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) who are buried in the churchyard at St. Mary Magdalene, Geddington:
| James William Green | d. 15 September 1940, Age 32 | buried in Grave D 35 |
| George Ashton Hipwell | d. 23 April 1917, Age 28 | buried in Grave A 103 |
| Allen Parker Tebbutt | d. 26 August 1944, Age 21 | buried in Grave A 34 |
| Charles Townley | d. 9 November 1918, Age 24 | buried in Grave C 118 |
In addition, there are seven men who are commemorated elsewhere by the CWGC and also by their families on memorials in Geddington churchyard.
Although not commemorated by the CWGC, the following men died after the end of the Great War of war-related causes and are buried in the churchyard:
| Harry Arthur Patrick | d. 20 January 1920, aged 37 | Grave A 98 |
| Lionel John George Patrick | d. 20 January 1920, aged 22 | Grave A 93 |
| Frederick Clipstone | d. 1 June 1920, aged 33 | Grave C 97 |
| Stephen Ernest Higgs | d. 3 September 1921, aged 24 | Grave A 88 |
| Samuel Henry Hipwell | d. 17 February 1922, aged 41 | Grave E 15 |
| John Thomas Black | d. 9 July 1922. Aged 27 | Grave C 77 |
| Joseph Levi Piddington | d. 19 July 1923, aged 42 | Grave A 100 |
Men of Charity
The monasteries of the medieval period had often been important charitable institutions. So too were the ‘Guilds’ that were associated with most parish churches which, as well as supporting their church, also acted as friendly societies for their members when trouble struck. Monastic dissolution left a void that increased pauperism and left many churches short of resources. Individual philanthropy was therefore very welcome, although it often came with a very hard edge.
SAMUEL LEE
Approx. 10m south of the church is the tomb of Samuel Lee, whose generosity to the people of Geddington is recorded on his tombstone:
"Here lieth interred the body of Mr. SAMUEL LEE who died March the 3rd, 1708. He was Ranger of Geddington Chase to His Grace the Duke of Montague and bequeathed to the Post of Geddington the profits of a Piece of land lying in Cranford St. John".
The Samuel Lee Charity is still active today and continues to help local residents facing difficulties.
SIR ROBERT DALLINGTON
Also buried in the churchyard, though the location of his tomb is uncertain, is Sir Robert Dallington (1561-1636), who was said to have been born a poor lad in Geddington and left to make his fortune, which he did, becoming secretary to Francis, Earl of Rutland, Gentleman of the Bedchamber to Charles I, and later Master of Charterhouse.
On his death in 1636 he left £300 (worth about £40,000 in 2024) for the benefit of 24 aged inhabitants of Geddington. The money was later used to buy just over 30 acres of land at Highway Close and Deepdale Close, Loddington, which the still-extant charity holds to this day. In his lifetime, he had also built the village school (then to the north-west of the church) and paid for a bell in the church tower.
Recipients of the Charity were each to receive a weekly loaf of bread subject to their attending church and complying with other rules, which were both harsh and exclusive. ‘Deserving’ persons were to be selected by the trustees, ‘and then to draw lots till they have [the bread]’. There were three basic requirements for eligibility:
- ‘the honest number of twenty four shall not contain any who has made himself poor by idleness, drunkenness or disorder’;
- recipients must be either born in Geddington ‘or have dwelt in the town in good behaviour at least fourteen years before’. (thereby excluding many servants, apprentices, and young married couples).
- ‘if any have consumed their estates by giving away their estates to their children or by buying or building houses they shall not be partakers of this charity’. (thus re-inforcing the obligation on children to maintain their elderly parents).
Beyond these basic eligibility criteria was a system of penalties and forfeitures. Recipients of the dole might have their loaf indefinitely withheld if they allowed ‘married folk . . . strangers or children’ into their houses, or if they ‘let part of their houses whereby the poor are increased and the town overcharged’. One week’s provision would be forfeited by any of the twenty-four ‘found begging, either at home or abroad’, by any heard ‘lying, scolding or slandering’, and by any failing to attend church on Sunday morning. A whole month’s entitlement would be withheld if any of the twenty-four or their families indulged in hedge-breaking, fence and gate-smashing or unauthorised gleaning, a provision whose severity explicitly reflects recent memories of the 1607 Newton Rebellion. Concern to prevent young people staying at home (where they would have to be supported from the poor rates) and to force them to find work was explicit: any of the twenty-four could be (permanently) ‘displaced and another put in their room’ if they ‘kept more children at home than is needful for their use’.
The Charity’s rules are still displayed in the church porch, and a triangular buffet or shelf was used for the storage of the bread which, until the Covid pandemic of 2020, continued to be distributed to designated persons.
The Village Timepiece
The clock mechanism is dated 1766 and is a rare example of a turret clock by Thomas Bailey of Stanion, who is better-known as a maker of longcase clocks. The dial was renewed in 1897 and restored in 1994.
The importance of the church clock and bells to the community is emphasised by the amounts listed in the accounts as paid to ring the bell (e.g. 4 shillings to John Dix in 1737) and to wind the clock (e.g. £1-12-6d to Edward Bullivant in 1741). This was the predecessor of the present clock, which was installed in 1766. The bells signalled not only the call to worship but also the time for workers in the fields, and set the time for other clocks in the village.
Until 1881 a bell was rung every morning at 4 o’clock from St. Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14th) to St. Martin’s Day (Nov. 22nd) and at five o’clock for the winter period, except on Sundays. The daily bell at noon and the 8pm ‘curfew bell’ were still rung in 1890. The custom of ringing the ‘Pancake Bell’ at 11am on Shrove Tuesday was still practiced into the 20th Century.
The church bells have long also been used to signal important national events, notably the accession of new monarchs and their later deaths, great victories (e.g. Waterloo in 1815 and Alamein in 1942) and on news of peace - e.g. in 1801, 6 shillings were “paid the Ringers when news of peace” [at the conclusion of negotiations for the Treaty of Amiens, the only real break in hostilities during the Napoleonic Wars]; for the Relief of Mafeking in 1900 and again in 1918 and 1945. It is sobering to speculate that the two oldest bells in the tower would have been among those ringing to announce the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588!
Sundials
On the central buttress of the external wall of the South Aisle, is an interesting early sundial of uncertain date (right), the central hole of which is about 97cm above the ground. It has been suggested that it was of Saxon date and moved to this position from an earlier location, though a later date seems more plausible.
Measuring about 19cm across, the markings are divided in a very unusual way. There is no trace of a gnomon, suggesting that a finger or a stick would have been used to cast a shadow. It may have been used by priests to tell the times for Mass. There are three further such sundials on the next buttress to the west. One is well-delineated, the others less distinct.