OUNDLE

Oundle is only  two miles further on from Stoke Doyle.

Bennett’s pilgrim was to make offerings to St Sith at Oundle and to the Guild of Our Lady. 

Camden wrote that Oundale, now Oundle, was once called Avondale, which does sound much more romantic. He commented that there was nothing worth seeing except the church, and the free school and almshouses for poor people that had been founded by Sir William Laxton who had once been mayor of London.

Entering Oundle from Stoke Doyle meant that the pilgrim could avoid having to cross the Nene. They would quickly find the chapel of St Thomas Becket of Canterbury, situated in an area known as, Chapel End, where the modern Romanesque style catholic Jesus Church stands on an island of land between three roads.

The most important of the two places for Bennett's pilgrimage was the Guild of Our Lady. The Guild house was just across the churchyard, where the building still stands. It must have been well-known for John Bennett to request a pilgrim to visit it, and he may have visited himself as Oundle is only some twelve miles from Raunds. The Guild of Our Lady had been co-founded by Robert and Joan Wyott or Wyatt in the late fifteenth century, as John’s will, dated to 1494, left twenty shillings to the Guild of Our Lady, Gilde beate Marie de Oundel xxs. Robert Wyott left 6s 8d, a mark, to the Holy Trinity chapel in St Peter’s church and requested to be buried in the chapel of St. John Baptist.

The Guild did not survive long. In 1556, only Twenty-five years after Bennett’s will, the Guild house was bought as a result of the will of Sir William Laxton, who had been mayor of London. His bequest was that the old Guild Hall should be converted into a Grammar school and be used as lodging for seven poor honest men.

The above picture of the Guildhall/Grammar School is from British History, online. 

https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/northants/vol3/pp85-101

The spire of the church of St Peter is a local landmark, its elegant spire being visible for miles across the flat landscape of the Nene valley.

The main porch is thought to have been built by Wyatt, who founded the Guild House.

Bennett's pilgrim was asked to leave and offering to St Sith. Images of St Sith were common in England. She was one of the Holy Helpers, one of the saints who made daily life easier being popular amongst women who had mislaid household items such as keys. A verse recommends, To Saynt Sith for my purse. Offerings would be made if the lost object was discovered. 

Bennett may have also meant St Osgyth, an 8th century noble woman who became a nun. Legend says that she died a martyr’s death, beheading by pirates, although this is most likely a myth. Her body was buried at St Mary’s church, Aylesbury, which became a place on pilgrimage, although not an official one.

There is a St Osyth's Lane in Oundle, where a chapel once stood, although later, it may have been dedicated to St Thomas.

I am still trying to discover if there was a chapel in St Osyth Lane.