A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



obtained further rights in the quarries of Bar- 

 nack, when Gervase de Berneche offered ' on the 

 altar of God and St. Benedict 40 perches of 

 land in his quarry in pure almoin. Nearly a 

 hundred years after, probably during the head- 

 ship of William of Gomecestre, Ramsey is again 

 found ' acquiring quarrying rights in the field 

 of Walcot at Barnack from Richard son of 

 Cathelina, while for this grant Brother Ralph of 

 Olney, 'custos operum,' paid 5 marks sterling/ 

 the first witness being John son of Hugh Fauvel, 

 of Walcot. 



The connexion of Crowland with Barnack, 

 if we may credit the recital of Ordericus 

 Vitalis,^ also goes back to the reign of the Con- 

 fessor, when Abbot Ulfketel, who had been a 

 monk of Peterborough, undertook the building 

 of a new church owing to the ruinous state of 

 the old, and was greatly aided in his praise- 

 worthy undertaking by Earl Waltheof, who 

 granted to the abbey 'villam quae Bernecha dicitur.' 

 The extent of the grant may quite possibly 

 have been exaggerated or peculiar conditions 

 have induced forfeiture on Waltheofs fall. But 

 even if we leave this statement quite on one 

 side there is abundant later evidence that Crow- 

 land was in possession of land at Barnack,' 

 whilst Barnack rag has been recognized in the 

 existing fabric of the abbey church.'^ 



The monks of St. Edmund at Bury had also 

 at a very early period obtained the privilege of 

 quarrying stone at Barnack, and a writ 'of the 

 Conqueror forbids the abbot of Peterborough to 

 interfere with the passage of the stone 'ad aquam,' 

 as formerly he had done. A later undated con- 

 firmation* by an abbot of Peterborough is instruc- 



' Hist. Rames. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 334., 335. Was this 

 Gervase, described as the son of R' (extended, probably 

 incorrectly, ' Regis ' elsewhere), the Gervase Painel 

 who befriended Sawtrv in much the same way ? 



' Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 5831. 



^ A slight acquaintance with fabric rolls of Ramsey 

 of a later time has not furnished further specific 

 notices of stone from Barnack. Possibly a more ex- 

 haustive search might supply the deficiency. It would 

 not be surprising, however, to find that by the middle 

 of the fourteenth century the supply of stone still 

 available was only sufficient for local requirements. 



' (Migne), 365. 



' Spalding Reg. Harl. 742 (B. M.), fol. 31 63. Also 

 in a rental of Peterborough in Faustina, B iii, fol. 108, 

 ' terram quam abbas et conuentus de Crouland tenent 

 de dono quondam Gilberti de Bernak.' It may be 

 remarked that the very finechartulary of Crowland in 

 the possession of Lord Lucas contains no reference to 

 any quarry at Barnack. This, however, in no way 

 invalidates the positive evidence already quoted. 



* Cf. especially a slab with a punning and allitera- 

 tive inscription of the thirteenth century again used 

 in later work by John Tomson. Jrch. Soc. Journ. xlvii, 

 275; Fetiland N. and Q.\, 135. 



' Dugdale, Moit. i, I o i . 



'Reg.ofPeterb. MS.38 (Soc. Antiq. Lond.),fol. 45. 

 For this and other valuable references we are indebted 

 to the courtesy of Miss J. Davis. 



tive in this respect. It ratifies the gift to 

 St. Edmundsbury of a rood of land in campis de 

 Castre, by William the son of Reginald, and 

 further allows to the Suffolk religious ' liberum 

 cariagium suum per viam publicam de Bernak et 

 per terram illam usque ad aquam sine omni 

 impedimento de nobis et ballivis nostris,' with 

 permission also to carry marble or any other 

 stone for their use freely' on the Nene between 

 Alwalton and Burgh. The annual rent for 

 this permission and grant is fixed at 6s. This 

 deed is of peculiar interest, as the two stones in 

 Castor Field near Gunwade Ferry are called 

 St. Edmund's stones in ancient terriers, while 

 the balk they stood upon was in Morton's time 

 known as St. Edmund's balk,'" and they may 

 possibly have indicated this ancient right of pas- 

 sage. Material confirmation may further be 

 found as to the main facts from the observation 

 of ashlar work of Barnack stone '' in the still- 

 existing tower gateway of Bury St. Edmunds. 

 Even as late as 1335 the monks of St. Edmunds 

 apparently enjoyed a lease of a quarry at Wal- 

 cot, one of the manors of Barnack, but were 

 prevented from working it by John GrifFyn,"* 

 Thomas de Totenham, and others, who seized 

 the tools of the abbey and worked it themselves. 

 The king on 7 August issued a commission of 

 oyer and terminer to deal with the matter. 



Sawtry, that ' pore abbaye ' of the old rhyme, 

 was another Fenland house which soon after its 

 foundation obtained a quarry in Barnack from 

 Gervase Painel and Peter de Stamford, namely 

 'acram illam que Crossedeacra " dicitur.' This 

 possession could only be made effective and 

 useful if the grantees were allowed to make a 

 cut or lode through the marshland of the de- 

 mesne of Ramsey from Sawtry to Whittlesea 

 Mere, a concession which they seem to have 

 obtained in the time of Abbot William of 

 Ramsey.''' Some friction between the neigh- 

 bouring foundations seems to have followed. It 

 is possible that the religious of Sawtry did not 

 use their privilege with befitting humility ; they 

 were somewhat in the delicate position of the 

 poor relation, while Ramsey was still sore from 

 the onslaught of Geoffrey de Mandeville, and 



" 'Sine omni exactione.' Peterborough claimed toll of 

 boats or barges {navium) at Alwalton. Cf. Hugo 

 Candidas, Sparke, op. cit. 80. 



'"Gunton, Hist, of Ch. of Peterb. (1686), p. 4. 

 Morton, A'(7/. Hist. ofNorthants,-p. 551. 



" Yates, Mon. Hist, of St. Edmundsbury, pt. ii, p. 13. 



" Cal. Pat. R. (1334-8), 207. Griffyn h.id 

 married an heiress of the Favels, whose names con- 

 stantly occur in connexion with grants of quarries on 

 their property in Barnack parish. 



" Papal confirmation by Alex. III. Cott. Aug. ii, 

 125 (B. M.). The name of this holding recalls the 

 many crosses of Barnack field. Cf. Alissecros, Saris- 

 cros, in a rental. (Faustina, B iii, fol. 116, 117). 



" Cart. Mon. Rames. (Rolls Ser.), iii, 233, between 

 1 160-1177. 



294 



