Catesby (St. Mary)
CATESBY (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Daventry, hundred of Fawsley, S. division of the county of Northampton, 3¾ miles (S. W. by W.) from Daventry; containing, with the hamlet of Newbold-Grounds, 105 inhabitants. The parish is separated from Warwickshire by the river Leam, which bounds it partly on the north, west, and south; it presents some pleasing scenery, and consists of 1967 acres. Catesby House occupies the site of a priory founded in the reign of Richard I., by Robert de Esseby, for nuns of the Benedictine order, and dedicated to St. Mary and St. Edmund: the revenue, at the Dissolution, was estimated at £145. The dormitory is still carefully preserved in its original style. The living is a donative, valued in the king's books at £10; patron, C. G. P. Baxter, Esq., who appoints without episcopal institution. The church is in ruins, and the parochial duty is performed at Catesby House. The Rev. John Parkhurst, the lexicographer, was born here.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.