The Old Rectory has a date stone of 1696 with initials C L - for Charles Livesay, Rector of St Mary's from 1694-1702. In the 1870s John Thomas Barker was rector and he built a new rectory house in Back Lane. That road then became known as Rectory Road. [It was the gift of Elliot F. Barker Esquire, of Whitby]
In 1879 Edwin Knight conveyed the property to William Attenborough of Irchester Lodge, agreeing to a redemption fee of £400. On 19th December1889 an agreement was made between William Attenborough and Edwin Knight to sell the property to Fred Knight boot & shoe manufacturer, son of Edwin, for £750, with the £400 now being paid to William Attenborough and the remaining £350 to Edwin Knight for:-
All that messuage or tenement formerly known as the Rectory House of Rushden with the gardens and lands (being formerly part of the Glebe) thereunto belonging or appertaining the area whereof containing in the whole three roods and 23½ perches little more or less situate at Rushden aforesaid and bounded on the North by lands of John Sherwood on the South by the Baptist Meeting House Grounds on the East by a Lane now called Park Road and on the West by Little Street in Rushden aforesaid.
On the 21st December 1889 Fred Knight took a mortgage of £1250 from Sarah Hipwell, widow of Olney, Thomas Eyles a retired grocer of Olney, William Hawkins, farmer of Emberton and Arthur William Hipwell, brewer of Olney for:-
All that messuage or tenement known as "The Old Rectory House" with the yard garden out buildings and appurtenances belonging thereto situate and being in Little Street in Rushden And also all that Factory or Warehouse adjoining or near to the said messuage or tenement All which said hereditaments and premises were then in the occupation of the said Fred Knight and with the site of the said messuage factory and buildings contain 3 roods and 24 perches were the same a little more or less .........
The plans for the Factory had been passed in April 1889 and it was a fine building. In 1897 major changes were made to the part of the Old Rectory fronting Little Street, and the whole roof was stripped of thatch and tiled.
The mortgage was paid off in June 1917 to Arthur William Hipwell.
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The oldest part of the building - now called Greystones - in 2009.
The porch is a recent addition. The part now called The Old Rectory
was remodelled in 1897 to extendthe property, by Fred Knight who
also owned the factory behind.
(right) A plan showing how the property was divided in 1933.
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The photograph below shows the large extended front which was built by Fred Knight in 1897; the small rear part of the building being the oldest surviving part of the Old Rectory.
In 1933 the building was purchased by Mrs Annie Mather and part of it was used during the 1940’s as a maternity home. Many babies were born there in the period up to the founding of the National Health Service in 1948. In 1951 the house was divided into two and sold.
In the foreground of the picture below, is a garden constructed in 1908, after some small stone cottages were demolished. It was built at Fred Knight's expense, to a design by the town surveyor, Mr William Madin, and after Fred died his wife Marcia tended it, as a memorial to him.
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The date stone from the other gable end (south) clearly showing the random stone construction.
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The Old Rectory c1914. It was extended in 1897 by Fred Knight .
He also owned the shoe factory on the land behind.
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(left) The gable end (north) showing how high the ground of the neighbouring garden is.
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The gable walls are built in horizontal courses of stone to the upper floor level, with randomly laid stone above upto the ridge.
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Fred Knight and his wife Marcia with their children near the porch
of the Old Rectory - courtesy of Clive Wood
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The porch has been changed.
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The Old Rectory today (2009). The building behind called Greystones
being the oldest part surviving, built in 1696, for Reverend Livesay.
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| In 1987 another new rectory was constructed in the grounds when the old building was sold off to finance the building, and the old one was converted into a Residential Home, called the Cloisters. The grounds of the old building have been used to build self-contained units for the elderly, who can also take advantage of some of the services provided by the main house. |
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The Rectory House built by John Barker when he was rector.
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A new rectory was built in 1987 in the grounds of the old one.
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The Wellingborough News Friday 2 June 1916, transcribed by Nicky Bates
Rushdenites Fine Batting
R F Knight, of the Old Rectory, Rushden, in playing on the Grange Cricket Ground, Edinburgh, on Monday, for his regiment, 28th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, going in first, made 103 runs (not out). His side declared with a score of 164 for five wickets. The opposing team was one form one of His Majesty's ships.
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