The boundaries of this parish are formed by Chelveston on the east, Stanwick on the north, the river Nene which divides it from Irthlingborough on the west, and Rushden on the south.  The town and parish contain about 191 acres, of the rateable value of £4413, and the gross estimated rental is £50278.  Its population in 1801 was 726; in 1831, 965; in 1841, 1030; in 1851, 1140; in 1861, 1152; and in 1871, 1285 souls.  The land varies from a strong clay to a gravelly or sandy soil, and the eldest son of the late Hon. G. W. Fitzwilliam, a minor, is heir to the greater part of the property.

ManorAt the time of the Conqueror's survey, Hecham contained 6 hides of land, which were held by William Peverel of the king.  There was a market of the annual value of 20s., a mill of the same value, 10 acres of meadow, and a small wood, and the whole was rated at £18.  Gitda was the Saxon proprietor.  Several of the present neighbouring manors were then members of this lordship.  In the first year of king John (1199), William Ferrers, Earl of Derby, who in right of his great-grandmother, was heir to the lands of Peverel (William de Ferrers having married the daughter and heiress of William Peverel), obtained this lordship with the hundred and park of Hecham; and upon the attainder of Robert Earl Ferrers, in the fiftieth of Henry III (1265), this lordship, with his other possessions, fell to the Crown, and was granted to Edmund Earl of Lancaster, the younger son.  Henry Earl of Lancaster, in the reign of Edward III was advanced to the dignity of Earl of Lincoln, and in the twenty-fifth of the same reign (1551) raised to the title of Duke of Lancaster.  In the thirty-fifth of this reign (1561), he died of the plague in Leicester, and his inheritance devolved upon his daughters and heirs.  In the partition of the estates, this manor with members of Raunds, Rushden, and Irchester, were assigned to Blanch, wife of John of Gaunt, fourth son of Edward III, Duke of Lancaster, and Aquitain; Earl of Richmond, Earl of Derby, Lincoln, and Leicester;  High Steward of England, and Constable of France; who sat in Parliament with the title of John, King of Castile and Leon.  After the death of Constance his wife, this nobleman withdrew to Lincoln, where, finding Catherine Swinford, by whom he had previously four children, who by an Act of Parliament were legitimated, the year following he honourably married her, and died in the twenty-second of Richard II (1398), leaving Henry, from the place of his birth surnamed De Bollingbroke, his son and heir, successor.  This Henry, afterwards created Duke of Hereford ascended the throne, by the title of Henry IV, and thus the lordship of Higham came to the possession of the Crown.  The manor with the castle and hundred of Higham Ferrers, as part of the duchy of Lancaster, was settled in the fifth of Henry V (1417), on the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of Durham, and others; and in the fifth of Edward IV (1465), William Lord Hastings obtained a grant of them.  In the reign of Edward VI, the Earl of Worcester possessed them; and returning to the Crown by Charles II, the manor was granted to Catherine, the queen dowager, with reversion to Lewis, Earl of Feversham, of whom it was purchased by the Hon. Thomas Wentworth, with whose descendants, the Fitzwilliam family, it still continues.

The Castle stood northward of the church; the date of its erection cannot be ascertained, but it is supposed to have been built by one of the family of Ferrers.  The situation it occupied is plainly indicated by earthworks, from which an idea of its great strength and extent may be conceived.  When Leland wrote, about the year 1540, he noticed the "Castel, now of late faullen and taken doune."  William Lord Hastings, who obtained a grant of it in 1465, is the last constable on record; and Camden who finished his 'Britannica,' in 1607, speaking of it observes, "the ruins whereof are yet to be seen near the church."

The Town of Higham Ferrers, which was a borough by prescription, is ancient and irregularly built, on a considerably elevated rocky substratum, abounding in springs, a short distance from the river Nene, 5 miles E. of Wellingborough, 8 S.W. from Thrapston, 10 S.E. from Kettering, 16 N.E. from Northampton, and 65 from London.  The town is plain, and consists of a market-place, and one line of spacious street, nearly a mile in length.  Its general appearance is healthy, cheerful, and respectable.  It returned one member to Parliament previous to the passing of the Reform Bill in 1832; and here were formerly three weekly markets, on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday, which have all fallen into disuse.  The shaft of the ancient market cross, 16 feet in height, and composed of one entire stone, still remains opposite the town hall, which is a very plain stone building, erected in 1808, at a cost of £755.  Fairs are held on the Wednesday before February 5th; March 7th; Thursday before August 5th; October 11th; and December 6th; and the feast is held on the first Sunday after the 15th of August, the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, after whom the church takes its name.  Boot and shoemaking is now the principal employment of the inhabitants.  The town is on the line of the Peterborough branch of the London and North-Western Railway, the station of which is about a mile distant, and the Irchester station on the Midland main line is about two miles distant.  It is also a corporate town; the charter of corporation is dated I4th March, second and third of Philip and Mary, 1554-5 but this was probably a new charter, for Leland, in the reign of Henry VIII tells us that  "Ther is a mair at Hyam Ferrers."  The corporation consists of a mayor, 7 aldermen, 13 capital burgesses, a recorder, and deputy-recorder, and the style of the corporation is the mayor, aldermen, and burgesses of the borough and parish of Higham Ferrers.  The aldermen are chosen out of the burgesses, and the mayor out of the aldermen.  By a curious custom, the mayor and corporation walk in procession to church three times a year, when the bidding-prayer is used, and a special sermon is preached by the vicar, who is the mayor's chaplain.  The property of the corporation consists of 53a. 3r. 27p., some houses, the interest of money, and tolls of fairs, and amounts to about £150 per annum. The mayor's salary is £30 per annum.  The seal of the borough contains within a circle, circumscribed Sigillum municipii, de Higham Ferrers, a dexter hand coupe at the wrist, and a base of 9 human heads, 5 and 4.  The following are the members of the corporate body of the present year (1873-4)viz., George Shelton, mayor; W. Hirst Simpson, deputy-recorder; the aldermen are Thomas John Starling, John Sanderson, Thomas Randall, John Crew, George Edmund Lamb, Edward Brown Randall (one vacant); and the burgesses are John Sanders Thomas Fisher, Christian Hawkes, John Sargent, William Marriott, William Wyman, Richard Flintham, William Brown, Abraham Groome, John Knighton, John Lamb, Walter Spong, and William John Lamb.  The town is lighted with gas by a company established in 1855, with a nominal capital of £1500 raised in £10 shares.  The gas-holder, which is on the telescope principle, will contain 8000 cubic feet, the price charged to consumers is 6s. 8d. per 1000 feet, and there are 22 public lamps.

The Church, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, was formerly collegiate, and is one of the finest in itself, and richest in its monuments, even in a district remarkable for the splendour of its ecclesiastical buildings.  It consists of a nave and choir, or chancel, and Lady chapel, north and south aisles, an additional north aisle, western tower, containing a fine peal of six bells and one mass bell, which are inscribed with curious mottoes, and spire, and south porch.  The western front of the tower, which is 71 feet in height, is curious in its architecture; the beautiful hexagonal spire is 99 feet high, and replaced the former one which was blown down in 1631.  The porch or doorway contains two openings; the mouldings surrounding it are charged with sculpture; also a niche, from which probably effigies of the "Virgin and Child" have been removed, and a curious figure, representing a man whose feet were hurt in the stocks, still remains; and over these are ten circular compartments, representing passages from the Old and New Testaments, in bas relief, which were originally painted.  The aisles at the east end are divided from the chancel by carved screens; and on each side of the chancel are stalls, with carved subsellae.  Under an arch on the north side of the altar, is a slab, inlaid with brass, to the memory of St Maur, rector, in the reign of Henry VI, and the church is remarkably rich in monumental brasses.  Here is also a monument, consisting of a Latin decorated cross, to the memory of Thomas Chichele, and Agnes his wife, the parents of Archbishop Chichele, dated 1400.  And over the chancel is a richly carved head of our Saviour crowned with thorns, on one side the head of the Blessed Virgin, and on the other that of the Beloved Disciple; the Misereres in the choir, of black oak, are of great antiquity and richly ornamented.  The old tiles, which are very curious and remain in the chancel, are decorated with strange devicesthe rose being very common, and probably much used as an insignia in the time of the feuds between the Houses of York and Lancaster.  It is supposed that the tomb in the chancel was intended for some royal personage, probably John of Gaunt; it has on it the royal arms, the lions and the roses; the canopy over it is richly wrought, and until lately armour hung over it, which should be replaced; the devices on the canopy appear to consist of bees or some large insects; and on the tiles in the floor stags are not uncommon.  The priest’s door is curious, and the double piscina is worthy of inspection.  There are two richly ornamented chapels of the Holy Rood and Jesus.  The font appears to be Norman and of great antiquity, decorated with a rich cross and possibly a pomegranate, the little window over it is of Early English, and probably the oldest part of the church.  The best view of the interior is from the north aisle at the north end of the belfry arch; its length, 119 feet from end to end, and its beautiful proportions, are at once seen from this spot.  The mixture of ironstone with white stone in the arches has a pleasing and sobering effect on the eye and is generally admired.  On the outside of the church, at the belfry staircase, a handsome statue was placed to the memory of Archbishop Chichele, who was a native of Higham Ferrers, representing him with mitre and crosier and uplifted hand in the act of giving the blessing; it was copied from a print in the possession of Mrs Allen, of this town, and on one of the choir seats is carved the head of the archbishop; on one of the Misereres there is the head with a crown, it is supposed, of Edward I.  The figure with feet in the stocks in the porch, it has been suggested, may have been that of Richard I, a part of the crown being visible on the head of the figure.  At the west end of the churchyard is a sepulchral cross, which was at some period a very elegantly sculptured pillar, but now considerably mutilated.  The church was tastefully and thoroughly restored in 1864 at the expense of the late Earl Fitzwilliam, the parishioners, and several of the principal residents of the county, at a cost of £6000.  The magnificent belfry arch has been thrown out, the pillars of which are universally admired.  The church was reseated throughout each seat differently carved.  The roofs are the same in height, but there is no chancel arch.  There are two richly carved screens, one at the chancel entrance the other at that of the Lady chapel.  The east windows are of the Decorated style, and much require stained glass.  The churchyard was considerably enlarged in 1870, when new iron gates were placed at the entrance by subscription, at a cost of £50.  The living is a vicarage, with that of Chelveston, in the deanery to which the parish gives its name, rated in the king's books at £33, 4s. 4d., and now worth about £400 per annum.  The patronage is vested in the trustees of the late Hon. G. W. Fitzwilliam, and the Rev. Edward Templeman, B. A., is vicar.  The tithes were commuted at the inclosure for land.  The Vicarage House, or Priory adjoining the Bede House, was formerly the residence of the warden who it is supposed, officiated for the bedesmen.  There is much old oak throughout the building, and the rose, carved on one of its beams, is still preserved.

Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury, founded here, under a licence from the Crown, in 1422, a college, for a warden, seven fellows, four clerks, or chaplains (one of whom was to teach grammar, and another chanting or singing), and choristers; and he founded, or annexed to the foundation of the college, an hospital or bedehouse , for twelve poor men, and one woman to attend on the men; and he granted and settled certain lands and real estates in Higham Ferrers, Denford, and Stanwick, in the county of Northampton, and elsewhere, for the support of the college, and the maintenance of the members of the institution.

On the dissolution of religious houses, in the reign of Henry VIII, the possessions of the college, which were valued at £856, 2s. 7d. per annum, were surrendered to the Crown; and granted to Robert Dacres, Esq., in fee, subject to the proviso and condition that the said Robert Dacres, his heirs and assigns, should for ever find and maintain two chaplains, to be nominated by the king, his heirs and successors, to pray for his and their souls, and to perform divine offices in the church at Higham Ferrers, and have the care of souls of the parishioners of the said parish; and that the said Robert Dacres, his heirs and assigns, should also maintain a schoolmaster, well learned, who should instruct the boys and youths of Higham Ferrers in the art of grammar, such schoolmaster to be nominated by the king, and should also maintain thirteen poor men called bedesmen, to be nominated also by the king, to pray for his and their souls; and that the said Robert Dacres should yearly pay to one of chaplains, for his salary, £10, and the other £8, and to the schoolmaster his salary, £10, and to the superior chaplain, for the maintenance of thirteen bedesmen, £24, in order that they might have each of them a salary of 7d. a week, and five yards of frieze, at 8d. a yard, once a year, on the feast of St John Baptist, and that they should have eight cartloads of wood delivered to them, and also 10s. at Easter, for fuel-money, and 5s  a year for shaving-money, and 5s. a year to provide a lamp to burn in their dormitory; and that the said Robert Dacres should for ever keep or maintain the hospital or bedehouse in repair.  In the charter of incorporation of the borough of Higham Ferrers, after reciting that after the dissolution of Higham College, Henry VIII. had reserved to himself the election and nomination of two curates, one schoolmaster, twelve poor people, and one woman; their Majesties granted to the mayor and aldermen power to elect and nominate the said curates, schoolmaster, and poor persons in the almshouse, as often as any of them should die, or for reasonable cause be removed.

About the year 1734, Thomas Dacres, Esq., the then proprietor of the estates which had belonged to the college, sold the same to the Earl of Malton, subject to the several charges mentioned; and the same now form part of the family estates of the Hon. G. W. Fitzwilliam.  The stipends of the two chaplains used to be paid to the vicar of Higham Ferrers, in augmentation of the vicarage.  The master of the grammar-school is appointed by the corporation and receives the stipend of £10 a year from the Fitzwilliam family, together with a voluntary addition of £10, and the use of a house, and the children of the place and neighbourhood are taught reading, writing, and arithmetic, the learned languages not being in requisition.  The remains of the college, which are in a very ruinous condition, stand in the main street of the town, N.W. If the church.  There is a curious sun-dial with the inscription "Tenpus Fustur” which no one can translate.   When Bridges wrote it was occupied as an inn, called the Saracen's Head, but it is now used for domestic or agricultural purposes.  The Bedehouse, with a chapel annexed, on the south side of the churchyard, was completely restored about the year 1854 by the late Earl Fitzwilliam, shortly before his death.  It is now, by permission of the vicar, used for a Sunday school, and for lectures and entertainments for the working people.  The bedesmen are accommodated with houses in the town; they dine together annually on St Thomas' Day, after attending Divine service in St Mary's Church.  It is a handsome Perpendicular building, of an oblong form, with a high-pitched roof, capable of holding 300; and the chapel is a small graceful building, also restored by the corporation at the same time.  The bedespeople are still appointed by the corporation, and they each receive the weekly stipend of 7d, with 10s. divided amongst them for shaving and lamp-money, and each of the men has a coat and the women a gown provided once in two years; the expense of the clothing being about £10.  A supply of wood for fuel used to be given when the poor resided in the bedehouse.  This has been discontinued since they ceased to dwell there, but they now receive a contribution in money.  The bedesmen also receive the rents of some small gardens belonging to the bedehouse, which are collected and paid to them by the chamberlains of the corporation, amounting at present to £2, 2s. per annum.  There is also an annual customary payment to the bedesmen of £2, 10s. made by the corporation.

The Wesleyan Methodists and Baptists have each a small chapel here.  The latter occupies an out-building to one of the houses in the town, where it is said John Bunyan was in the habit of preaching; and afterwards, about 1716, when the Rev. Dr Gill first became a preacher, he officiated to a congregation in this chapel, from whence, in 1719, he was removed to London.

The School-house in the churchyard, near the west end of the church, is a beautiful Perpendicular structure of three bays, with a window of three lights in each, and one of five lights, at the east and west.

The School Board, of five members, was formed here in July 1870, and the school was erected in 1873, to accommodate 250, at a cost, including purchase of site and master's house attached, of about £2500.  It is a very good building of brick, and the present average attendance is 150.  The science classes in connection with the science and art department of South Kensington are held here from October to May.

The Newsroom and Library in the Town Hall was established in 1856; the library contains about 200 volumes.  There are about 40 members who pay 1s. 6d. each per quarter, besides several hon. members.  The vicar is president, and Mr John Sanderson is secretary and treasurer.

Newman's Charity AlmshousesMr George Newman, an exciseman resident at Higham Ferrers, left about £5000, in 1855, for building and endowing six almshouses, for six old women, either widows or spinsters, inhabitants of the parish, which were erected by the Corporation in the principal street of the town; the occupants each receive -£5, 4s. quarterly. (For the other charities of the parish, see the table prefixed to this hundred.)

AntiquitiesRoman baths having been discovered in the easterly part of the Castle ground, it is conjectured that the northerly portion may have been the site of a small Roman camp, particularly as it possesses so considerable a rampart and fosse.  About a mile from Higham, on the western extremity of the lordship of Stanwick, is an extensive tumulus, about 120 yards in circumference.  An antique alabaster lamp, somewhat similar to the lamps of the Romans, was discovered in the crypt below the chapel of the bedehouse, about 72 years since.  Anterior to the foundation of the college or bedehouse, it appears that an hospital dedicated to St James, existed here, as two presentations to the wardenship are recorded in the Lincoln registers.  The site of this house is unknown.

BiographyHenry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury, was born of an obscure family in this town, in 1360.  Tradition says that when a boy keeping his father's sheep near Higham, he was noticed by William of Wykeham, who was so pleased with the talent displayed in his answers that he took him under his patronage, and promoted him in his college.  He afterwards held several church preferments, including the rectory of Brington, in this county, which he held from 1400 to 1408, the chancellorship of Sarum, the bishopric of St David's, to which he was consecrated at Sienna, in 1409, by the Pope's own hands, and finally the archbishopric of Canterbury, from 1414 to his death in 1443.  Besides the college and bedehouse here, he built St John's and All Souls’ Colleges, at Oxford; he spent a large sum in repairing the library at Canterbury, and he gave to the church many rich ornaments and valuable jewels, and built a great part of the tower called the Oxford tower, in the same church.  Archbishop Chichele was one of the ablest men of the age in which he lived; a thorough politician, an eminent negociator, a great patron of learning and learned men, and was esteemed a fine speaker.  In 1442 he petitioned the Pope for permission to resign his archbishopric, on the ground of extreme old age and infirmity, and a desire to devote the remainder of his days to the care of his own soul.  The petition, which was couched in very beautiful and touching language, was not successful, although the king joined in the prayer.  He died in the following year.

Post, Money-Order, Telegraph Office, and Savings BankJohn Groome, postmaster.  Letters delivered at 7 A.M. and 11 A.M., and are despatched to London and all parts at 6 15 P.M.; to Peterborough, 9.40 A.M.; to London only, 11.57 noon; and to London, Bletchley, Brackley, Oxford, Cambridge, and Northampton, at 9.5 P.M. On Sunday they arrive at 7 A.M., and are despatched at 6.5 P.M.