​

People who live in Sawtry may well be familiar with the street name Louthe Way, but may not be

familiar with the history behind the name. As many of  the Sawtry residents who went to school at

the old Primary School, now the Old School Hall will know, Louthe was one of the Houses at the

school, and was represented by the colour green, the others being Moyne and the colour blue

Beaumes the colour yellow and Cavendish the colour Red. We wore  these colours and scored points for our house when we competed against the other houses at School Sports Days and other sporting events.  The four names were Lords of the Manor of Sawtry. Prominent landowners and people who inherited the land on the death of a previous owner or bought land from previous Lords of the Manor as in the case of Cavendish, the family name of the Dukes of Devonshire whose bought Sawtry Manor from Oliver Cromwell. Their family seat is Chatsworth in Derbyshire.

After the death of Sir William Le Moyne in 1404 and the subsequent death of his wife Mary, as

they had no children the Manor and land at Sawtry was left to the husband of one of Mary's close

relatives. Mary Le Moyne came from Hainault, once a lordship in the Holy Roman Empire now a

Province that spans the northern France Belgium border. Both Mary and her relative, probably a

niece or cousin, came to Britain as ladies in waiting to Queen Philippa also from Hainault, Queen

Consort of Edward III and mother of Edward the Black Prince.  Roger Louthe inherited the

combined manors of Beaumes and Moyne as Sir William Le Moyne had bought the main part of

Beaumes Manor some years before and combined it with Moyne Manor. Roger Louthe was

named in Mary Le Moyne’s will as her heir. Roger died in 1441 so only held it for thirty some years The Sawtry Manor was then inherited by his eldest son, Lionel Louthe, who was born in Sawtry about 1420, was a friend of Thomas Mallory, Lord of the Manor of Papworth St Agnes, a knight in the service of a young King Edward IV.

In 1462, Thomas Mallory, as one of the king's knights, took part in the northern campaign of Edward IV which ended in the seizure of several Lancastrian held castles in northern England and a brief invasion of Scotland. He held the Manor of Papworth St. Agnes in fealty to the king, owing him knight's service and was probably a "knight of the shire" for the parliament that year, thus making his service to the king, whose position in the realm was still shaky, necessary. This was especially important as Thomas was a central member of a network of Yorkist supporters during the War of the Roses. In spite of his youth and desire not to make a show of himself, he was one

of the best connected young commoners in England at the time. Lionel Louthe was another of

that network of Yorkist supporters so Sawtry, naturally, supported King Edward IV. In 1469, the

Earl of Warwick rebelled, captured the king and put him in prison. Elections were called for a new parliament. Thomas Mallory wrote his will and within a month was dead. I’m sure he realized that his position was now in great danger and that, in the turmoil of the Wars of the Roses, when Elizabeth Woodville  the Queen Consort's father and younger brother were killed, he too would

be killed and so it was. Shortly after Thomas Mallory’s death, Edward IV gained his freedom and Warwick left England for France. Edward IV arranged for the guardian of Thomas's heir to be a man who was an important supporter of his in London and who later became Lord Mayor of the city. Lionel Louthe married Katherine (Dudley) Sutton, daughter of Sir John Sutton, first Baron of Dudley at Dudley Castle in Staffordshire and they settled in Sawtry.

They had two children, Thomas and Anne. When Lionel Louthe died Sawtry Manor was inherited by Lionel’s son Thomas Louthe. It was known in the village that Thomas Louthe and his son Edmund did not have the temperament of Lionel Louthe and arguments with neighbours and owners of adjoining lands ensued. Thomas Louthe had put Edmund in charge of land management.  One argument with neighbours who were renting land from Sawtry Abbey, escalated into a fatal incident and was surrounded in mystery. To continue to read about the argument that resulted in a fatality, please see the article on Murder at Woodfield Farm. Link Here.