Stean, Northamptonshire
Historical Description
Stean, a parish in Northamptonshire, 2¼ miles NW of Brackley station on the Bletchley and Banbury branch of the L. & N.W.R. Post town and money order and telegraph office, Brackley. Acreage, 1167; population, 42. The Al-cock family are lords of the manor and sole landowners. The living is a rectory, annexed to Hinton-in-the-Hedges, in the diocese of Peterborough. The church was built in 1620, and is a small building of stone, consisting of nave with aisles only. It has an ancient font, and contains some fine monuments to members of the Crewe family.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Northamptonshire | |
Ecclesiastical parish | Stean St. Peter | |
Hundred | Kings-Sutton | |
Poor Law union | Brackley |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The register is included in that of Hinton-in-the-Hedges, which dates from the year 1558.
Ancestry.co.uk, in association with the Northamptonshire Record Office, have images of the Parish Registers and Bishop's Transcripts for Northamptonshire online.
Churches
Church of England
St. Peter (parish church)
The church of St. Peter is a small but beautiful rectangular edifice of stone, built in the year 1620 by Thomas (afterwards Sir Thomas) Crewe; it consists only of nave with aisles, being destitute of either chancel or tower, and has no bells: the parapet is profusely decorated: the Bible and Common Prayer-Book at the desk, said to have been used "by the King himself," belonged in the reign of Charles II. to the Chapel Royal, St. James', and are supposed to have been given to this church by Nathaniel, Lord Crewe of Steane, Bishop of Durham, (1674-1721); there are also six splendidly-bound Prayer-Books having the Royal insignia of King William III. on the covers: in the south aisle, which is separated from the nave by ornamental oak gates, are several monuments and tablets of marble to the Crewe family: on the north side is a very handsome and massive monument, consisting of marble pillars supporting a canopy surmounted by pinnacles, between which are placed the armorial bearings of Crewe, richly carved and decorated; on an altar tomb at the base are recumbent marble figures of Sir Thomas Crewe M.P. Speaker of the House of Commons, who died Feb. 1st, 1633, and Temperance (Bray), his wife, who died Oct. 25th, 1619; a marble tablet, with arms, is inscribed to John, Lord Crewe, Baron of Steane, d. Dec. 13th, 1679, and Jemima (Waldegrave), his wife, d. Oct. 14th, 1675: another very fine marble monument, inclosed by iron railings, consists of a table tomb of freestone, on which are marble pillars, supporting a frieze and pediment; between these are two marble busts, and in the centre an inscribed tablet, flanked by niches containing figures; over all is a shield of arms, richly embellished; this monument commemorates Thomas, Lord Crewe, Baron of Steane, who died Nov. 30th, 1697; there is also a tablet with marble pillars, coloured and gilt, supporting trophies, to Nathaniel, Lord Crewe, Lord Bishop of Durham and Baron of Steane, d. Sept. 18th, 1721, and to his and wife, Dorothy (Foster), d. Oct. 16th, 1715; his first wife, Penelope (Frowde) was also buried in the chapel in 1699: on the south side is a marble monument, consisting of an arch, inclosing a female bust, flanked by niches with figures; on either side are marble pillars bearing a concave arch, inclosing and surmounted by other emblematic devices: the inscription is to Temperance (Crewe), wife of John Browne esq. of Eydon, d. Sept. 22nd, 1634: many ancient funeral relics, chiefly helmets, gauntlets and standards, are suspended from the walls: here is also an early font, dug up in an adjoining field: there are 100 sittings.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Stean from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Stean (St. Peter))
- Kelly's Directory of Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Northamptonshire, 1914
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Northamptonshire is available to browse.
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Northamptonshire papers online: