reign) the abbey held in Glinton three hides of land and one hundred acres of meadow, with a wood called Glinton-hawes, ten furlongs long and nine furlongs broad, the whole being valued then (as also before the Conquest). at sixty shillings per annum. At the same time, three military tenants of the abbot held here ten hides and one virgate of land.

In 1254 the abbot was certified to hold in Glinton the yearly value of £15.

At the time of the dissolution, 1541, the estate was valued and rated at £57 13s. 8d per annum, and the profits of a Court at 10s. 2d. (according to a Survey of the possessions of Peterborough Monastery made in 1535.)

In 1791 Bridges says: "The land is mostly copyhold, there being only six freeholds ́ in the whole of Glinton and Peakirk."

At the present time Glinton contains about 1,489 acres, the rateable value of which is £3,445, and the estimated gross rental £3,725. The land is of a gravelly nature, and the country flat.

ENDOWMENTS, ETC.

In 1711 Elizabeth Ireland bequeathed £100 for investment to provide schooling for ten boys here and five boys at Peakirk; the land which was purchased with this money at that time yielded £9 per annum, and now yields about £40 per annum. In 1845 the National School was built by subscription; and is supported partly by the weekly payments of the children, and partly by the trustees of this endowment, who make the master's salary £60 per annum.

POPULATION.

The population at the census taken in 1801 was 314, and in 1871 it was 407.

Notabilities.-In 1288 died Maud de Glinton, who was Prioress of the Convent of St. Austin at Worthorp.

In 1297 Geoffrey de Glinton was appointed Incumbent of Twywell.

In 1538 Sir John Ayre was Curate of Glinton.

A confession of murder is preserved in the church: the murder was committed in the parish by one John Wyldbore, who was condemned to death. From the words of his confession, he died sincerely repentant.

THE CHURCH.

History. The church is a very finely-proportioned structure, but is small; it is really a chapel-of-ease to Peakirk. It is dedicated to St. Benedict, the great ascetic, who died in the year 543. Although never in holy orders, he was made Abbot of Monte Cassino, the cradle of his Order, which still exists. There were several large Benedictine houses in this neighbourhood. According to some writers, the church was dedicated to St. Thomas of Canterbury, probably on account of the time of the feast, which is held on the second Sunday in July; but the evidence of old wills, which give the dedication to St. Benedict, is conclusive; in England there were but sixteen churches dedicated to St. Benedict, and the probability is that of this number some may have been dedicated to Bennet, Bishop of Wearmouth.

The church is an ancient stone structure, probably dating from the Saxon period (although no conclusive evidence exists); it consists of a nave, with clerestory and aisles, and a north chantry for a lady chapel (the latter now used as a vestry), a south porch and a north door, an embattled chancel; a quadrangular tower containing a peal of six large bells, which is surmounted by a lofty octagonal needle spire, said to be the finest in the county. The church was not all built at the same time, but was mostly of the fourteenth century; parts are of earlier date, as is certainly the south-west part of the chancel. The general style of the architecture is of the Late Decorated, whilst the tower and spire are partly Perpendicular. Some parts are Early English and some parts Saxon, or at least very Early Norman.

The church was restored in 1855 at a cost of about £700, when it was fitted throughout with low opencarved seats.

The old east window of three lights, which was of the same style as the east window of the chantry, was apparently fifteenth century, and was renewed about seven years ago.

There is a fabric fund of £75 per annum; this was mortgaged for a period, but is now paid off.

The estate of the church consists of thirty acres and several tenements.

In 1809 the Commissioners of the Enclosure allotted to the rector 179 acres and four poles of land in Glinton, and 116 acres two yards and seventeen poles of land in Peakirk. The rectory is a living last valued at £400 per annum, but now, in common with others, greatly reduced, being only worth £220 gross and £150 net at the present time.

Interior. Entering at the south door, the large porch will be noticed, supported on two round piers, and round the arch is a very bold ornament of dog's tooth; the label to the arch is finished at each end with carving, now much worn, but probably representing mother and daughter, who doubtless helped the restoration of the church at one time; the church door has jamb mouldings of the Decorated period, whilst the arch itself is Perpendicular. The jamb mouldings give an idea of great thickness to the wall, on account of their arrangement, as will be seen; above the arch is a niche for a small statue; inside by the door is an unusally large square Norman font, of which the stem has been restored, probably at the time of its consecration; the basin is richly carved, circular in design on two faces and dog-tooth and zigzag on other faces; at each corner is a partial shaft.

In the twenty-second year of the reign of Henry VI, the high altar, a chalice, and the font were consecrated by Richard Ashton, Abbot of Peterborough (Bridges).

In the south aisle is a black marble slab with an inscription to Joanna Wildbore, widow of John Wildbore, date 1696; she was probably the widow of John Wildbore who committed the murder, the dates being about the same. According to Bridges, there was a freestone mural monument on the wall above this with arms (a cross between four boars) in a lozenge at the top. In the

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south wall is a good piscina, and the east window of this aisle has a good Decorated window with plain intersecting tracery, probably inserted after 1327. On either side of this window are brackets, which, on account of their unequal size, probably were for figures of the Virgin and the Archangel respectively.

The chancel arch is earlier than the fourteenth century.

Under the south-east chancel window is a plain bench for the sedilia, with a piscina at its east end at a higher level than the bench; it has projecting edges, no canopy, and is very shallow, with a peculiar drain. The east window of the chancel was originally of the fifteenth century, but was restored about seven years ago. There is an aumbry in the north wall of the chancel within the sanctuary, and the arch from the chancel to the vestry (formerly the lady-chapel) is supported on semicircular piers; the east pier has a capital of Early English design; the west one has a capital of earlier date, probably showing the transition from Late Norman to Early English.

In the vestry is a very fine piscina of Decorated period, with straight sides and pointed canopy: the tracery is most excellent. The east window is of Perpendicular design, inserted.

"Within the church was a chapel of the Blessed Virgin" (Bridges).

A drop-centred arch resting on corbels, the jambs on the slant to give an idea of greater height, leads from the vestry to the north aisle; the wall of this was probably the original side wall of the church, and was rebuilt with the clerestory; the two windows have been restored: one window has a slightly cusped trefoil head, the other is doubly trefoiled and very elegant.

Nave. The label to the chancel arch is unfinished; it was probably here that the rood-screen cut into it, the marks of the latter still remaining. The labels of the tower arch and extreme nave arches are all unfinished in appearance, but the intermediate ones of the nave have small well-carved heads. The large corbels supported the roof-timbers of the original roof (a new one having been erected since); those at the west end are grotesque,

but those over the chancel arch have shields, one with cross keys, representing St. Peter, and the other with a plain St. Andrew's cross representing that saint. Against the tower arch will be seen the old weather-mold of the original Decorated roof removed to erect the present Perpendicular clerestory, which has on each side three windows, each of three cinquefoil lights. The new rooftimbers have the names of Geo. Webster and Jas. Joyce upon them; these were probably the churchwardens at the time the new roof was erected. The nave piers are embattled, and support elegantly proportioned and lofty pointed arches of the Perpendicular period. The pulpit is beautifully carved, and stands on a stone stem. The lectern has panelled front, the sides pierced, the desk to revolve; it is set on a stone socket; this is copied from an original fragment still remaining at Peakirk. The aisles are of unequal width: not an unusual thing with old churches, the aisles having in most cases been built at different periods; the north aisle being, as in this case, built before the south one.

The dimensions are:-Length of church and chancel, 62 ft. 3 ins.; breadth of body and aisles, 38 ft. 10 ins. ; the width of north aisle (to centre of pier), 12 ft. 7 in. ; the width of south aisle (to centre of pier), only 7 ft. 10 in.; the length of the tower is 12 ft., and the breadth 9 ft. 9 ins.

The registers are scanty and of no special interest, dating from 1567 to middle of eighteenth century; they are in good order. In 1688 commence the usual entries about burying in woollen.

Exterior.-All the parapets have been embattled. At either side of the tower may be seen the old angle of the Saxon church, or very Early Norman. The needle spire is very fine, its sides are curved, the two tiers of spire lights are very pointed, and the west window very fine; the gargoyles are large, and the chancel buttresses in splendid proportions. The north door has curious short buttresses.

Churchyard.—In the churchyard are some monuments as early as the thirteenth century, and several stone coffin-lids of that date.