Geddington Village

History

The River Ise - bridge and ford, which feature at the top of each page on this site.	General The village has been a populated site since prehistory and is mentioned in the Domesday Book. It was in medieval times that it became an important centre with the building of a royal hunting lodge. The village also had the advantage of being a natural fording point and this together with increasing Royal use led to the addition of a bridge in 1250.
	Royal Hunting Lodge The building of the Royal Hunting Lodge (see impression aside) situated on the rise to the north of the church in 1129 put Geddington on the map, being used by hunting parties for the following 160 years. The original building was no doubt of timber construction costing some £17.
Artist's impression of the hunting lodge based on contemporary records (these document what was once a substantial complex of buildings) and other excavated examples. Click on the impression above for a possible plan of the complex. It was during Henry lll's reign (1216-72) that most improvement was made to the Lodge, many with the Queen in mind and leading to the building becoming known as a "Palace" or "Castle".	The first Plantagenet King, Henry ll (1154-89) used the Lodge frequently and presumably organised improvements for in 1177, and again in 1188, The Great Council of the King was summoned to meet in Geddington, on the second occasion to discuss the organisation of a Crusade to the Holy Land. In 1194 Richard l entertained King William of Scotland in the village and there are several records of the visits by King John.

Queen Eleanor Cross	Eleanor of Castille Eleanor was born in the Los Heulgas Abbey in Burgos, Spain in 1244. She was one of the many children of Ferdinand III King of Castille and Leon. At this same Abbey in 1254 she married Edward, who on the death of Henry III was to become Edward I, the most powerful of all the Plantagenet Kings. He was 15 and she was 9. History records that both stayed on many occasions at their royal palace at Geddington attending the church (originally Saxon but it was the Norman’s who created the Church we see today) and enjoying hunting on the Chase. On 28th November 1290, while on her way to join the King in Scotland the Queen was taken gravely ill and died at Harby, Nr Lincoln. Her body was taken to and entombed in Westminster Abbey. The King was so grief stricken he gave orders that every place where her bier had rested, a cross be erected in her memory. In total there were 12 crosses but today only three remain. The one at Geddington is in best condition and represents her love for the area and that the beir rested here on 7th December 1290. A picture of the Cross forms the menu frame for this Website.
Eleanor's Tomb	Edward survived until 1307 but never visited Geddington again. The village declined over the next few hundred years doubtless not helped by the 14th century Black Death.

Sketch of Quaker Meeting House	Life through the ages Religion has been a strong influence in the village with a Church originally built in Saxon times and the nonconformist movement of the 17th Century leading eventually to the building of a Chapel in 1895. The Quakers also featured with Quaker Cottage (circa 1729) now a private dwelling in Grafton Road being the meeting place. Behind the house was the usual burial plot and in the 1950s when the property was extended human bones were found.
19th Century Vicarage - Boarding School	In the mid 19th Century The Vicarage was extended to become a boarding school and boasts among its pupils William Gladstone who later became the Liberal Prime Minister. Geddington Chase, part of the old Rockingham Forest was crucial to the survival of the village providing timber and other resources (legal & otherwise). It is said that Mary Queen of Scots when imprisoned in Derbyshire was robbed, with the two men responsible caught on the Chase, the money and jewellery were never recovered and may still be buried there.
	In 1622 the 1st Lord Montagu of Boughton acquired the Chase for the sum of £1500. There had long been land disputes between the Montagu and Tresham families, the two biggest land owners. Thomas Tresham built a lodge on such a piece of land and its subsequent enclosure led to a villager's uprising, deaths and hangings. Boughton House, formerly a 15th Century monastic building was purchased by Sir Edward Montagu from St Edmundsbury Abbey in 1528 and today with its 365 windows, one for each day of the year, is known as the 'Versailles of England'. Thomas Tresham was famous for his Trinity inspired building style and persecuted for his catholic beliefs. He constructed the Triangular Lodge at Rushton some 5 miles from Geddington.
The 'Dallington' Bell	Poverty during these times was recognised by two notable villagers: Robert Dallington: who in 1612 became Gentleman of the Bedchamber to Charles I and later Master of Charterhouse (the famous London school and hospital). The biggest bell in the Church Tower is inscribed "Sir Robert Dallington gave me to Geddington Aged 69, 1630" and he is thought to be buried in the Church Yard. He is remembered by the 'Sir Robert Dallington Charity' (he left £300 in his will to be distributed to the poor) and the naming of a housing development Dallington Close. Samuel Lee: a forest ranger on Geddington Chase who upon his death in 1708 left a sum of money also for the benefit of the poor which has led to the Samuel Lee Charity that is also still active today. Iron ore found on the Chase as early as the 12th & 13th centuries together with farming, played an important role in village life until the 1950s. Iron workings on each side of the River Ise provided work for as many as 140 men during the 1920s. During the 18th and 19th centuries the community supported at least three bakeries two slaughter houses, blacksmiths and many other shops. Sadly none survive apart from the Post Office (previously a public house, The Royal Oak). It appears there has always been a plethora of public houses, some with their own maltings. The earliest mention seems to be The Angell in 1634 with The Black Swan, a coaching inn in 1700. The most famous however is arguably The Royal George built on part of the site of the Royal Hunting Lodge (now Castle Gardens) and a favourite haunt of airman from the World War II Grafton Underwood US airbase. Indeed it is said that Clark Gable autographed the fireplace.

384th Bombardment Group Memorial	Grafton Underwood US Airbase The US 8th Army Air Force Base at Grafton Underwood was built to the North of the village in 1941 covering 500 acres and housed up to 3,000 personnel. From early 1942 till 1945 units were posted to Station 106, as it was officially known. These included the 15th Bomb Squadron and 96th, 97th, 305th and 384th Bombardment groups. The 384th Bombardment Group had the longest association between 1943-45. The granite memorial which stands on the site of the former main runway is dedicated to the group. By the time their sixth mission was completed the 384th had lost thirty-five of its original thirty-six aircraft. Replacement crews and aircraft constantly arrived, but the losses kept mounting. On a mission to bomb the port at Hamburg the 384th first experienced the terrible reality of a "ghost squadron" all seven B17s (Flying Fortress) and crews of the 544th Squadron failed to return.