EDWINSTREE HUNDRED 



ASPENDEN WITH 

 WAKELEY 



In 1493 Roger Moos desired in his will to be 

 buried in Anstey Church before the image of 

 St. Stephen, and made a bequest to St. Stephen's 

 altar there,^^ which was probably situated in either 

 the north or south transept. Henry Gynne in 

 1539 made a bequest to St. Stephen's gild in this 

 church.^' 



At the time of the dissolution of gilds and chantries 

 the church received a rent of 6s. %d. from a tene- 

 ment in Barkway, given by William Mores for the 

 keeping of his obit.^* 



At the same date rents of 6d., \\d. and izd. were 

 due for the finding of a light in the church, for the 

 maintenance of three lamps, and for that of the 

 lamps in general.'^ 



In 1663 the Rev. Edward 



CHARITIES Younge, D.D., Dean of the cathedral 



church of St. Peter, Exeter, by his 



will directed (among other things) that an annuity of 



40J. should be secured for the poor of this parish. 



The annuity is paid out of a field called Hadley 

 Field belonging to Baron Dimsdale in the parish of 

 Barkway and is distributed among the poor at Christ- 

 mas time. 



In 1 8 1 8 John Stallibrass of Barkway by his will 

 directed his executors to invest a suflicient sum of 

 money to produce the clear sum of j£io a year, of 

 which £(, a year should be applied for the benefit 

 of the poor of this parish and ^^5 a year for the pool 

 of Barkway. The legacy for this parish is repre- 

 sented by £,166 13/. 4^. consols with the official 

 trustees, producing £^ 3/. \d. yearly. 



It is stated in the Parliamentary returns of 1786 

 that Arthur Ginn by his will dated in 1705 devised 

 a rent-charge of 6s. 8d. for the poor, issuing out of a 

 farm called Purvis in this parish ; also that an annuity 

 of 10/. out of an estate in Anstey and Barkway was 

 given by a donor unknown. This charity has not 

 been paid for many years. The distribution to the 

 poor was formerly made in coals. 



ASPENDEN a/ias ASPEDEN with WAKELEY 



Absesdene (xi cent.) ; Aspehal, Alpsedene, Absedon, 

 Apsdene (xiii cent.) ; Aspiden, Appeden, Aspdene 

 (xiv cent.) ; Aspenhalle (xv cent.) ; Aspesden (xvi 

 cent.). 



The parish of Aspenden contains 1,711 acres, 

 more than half of which consists of arable land and 

 about one-third of permanent grass.^ The country is 

 very bare of woodland. The soil is clay ; wheat, 

 barley, beans, oats and peas form the principal crops. 

 The surface level is for the most part about 400 ft. 

 above ordnance datum, but rises to 475 ft. in the 

 north-west and drops to 288 ft. in the valley of the 

 stream called the Bourne, which rises in the south- 

 west of the parish and flows into the Rib. There is 

 a water-mill on the Rib in the east of the parish. 

 The windmill which gave its name to Windmill Hill 

 fell into ruins before the end of last century.^ 



There are several greens in the parish. Berkesden 

 Green lies on the south-west, Scott's Green on the 

 east and Howe Green ' on the north. The village 

 green itself is part of the common field called Rea 

 Mead * (Remade, xiv cent.). Other place-names 

 occurring in the parish are Perrydon or Parrington 

 (Piridone, xiv cent.),' Russewell Made and Russe- 

 broc,^ Sneleswelle,^ Chapmanstrat * and Chapmannes 

 Grene' and Monemade Feld.^" 



The hamlet of Wakeley, with the site of the 

 church of St. Giles, lies about a mile to the south- 

 west of Aspenden village. Wakeley was an extra- 

 parochial liberty usually included with Aspenden 

 until added to Westmill by Local Government Board 

 Order in 1883. 



Ermine Street forms part of the eastern boundary 

 of Aspenden, and the market town of Buntingford, 

 which is on this road, lies partly within the parish. 



At Buntingford a road branches west from Ermine 

 Street l'^ and for some distance forms the boundary 

 line between Aspenden and Throcking, leading finally 

 to the market town of Biggleswade. 



The village of Aspenden is situated a little to the 

 west of Ermine Street, along the valley of the Bourne. 

 The church of St. Mary and manor-house of 

 Aspenden Hall lie close together on the north side of 

 the village street. Aspenden Hall is a modern 

 mansion of brick covered with cement. The old 

 Hall was pulled down about 1850 and the late 17th- 

 century oak panelling refixed in the hall of the present 

 mansion. Chauncy gives a picture of the old Hall 

 built by William and Ralph Freeman at the beginning 

 of the 1 7th century. When it was being demolished 

 many carved stones were discovered, from which it 

 was supposed that it was built out of the ruins of 

 Wakeley or Berkesden Church. The Hall was used 

 as a school at the beginning of the 19th century. 

 Among those who were educated there during the 

 eleven years of the school's existence were Thomas 

 Babington, who became Lord Macaulay,!^ William 

 Wilberforce, the eldest son of Bishop Wilberforce,^' 

 and Henry Maiden, who was afterwards Professor 

 of Greek at University College. 1* 



The rectory which stands a short distance to the 

 south of the church is a timber-framed building 

 covered with plaster ; the front upper story projects. 

 The ceiling of the dining room has moulded oak 

 beams and joists with splayed and stopped arrises, 

 probably of late 1 6th-century date. The house has 

 been much modernized. About forty years ago there 

 was discovered in one of the walls a double recess, 

 trefoil-headed, resembling a piscina. The village 

 school stands to the east of the church. On the same 



^ P.C.C. Wills, 26 Doggett. 



"Ibid. 18 CrumweH. 



'* Chant. Cert. 27, no. 30. 



^ Ibid, no, 37. 



' Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905). 



* See Clutterbuck, op. cit. iii, 357 ; 

 East Herts. Arch. Soc. Trans, iii, 104. 



^ This name occurs in the i6th century 

 {Herts. Gen. and Antiq. i, 336). 



* Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 5223 ; cf. 

 Refeld mentioned in ibid. A 11 12. 



' Ibid. A 5223. 



^ Ibid. A 521;, 1006; cf. Rushden, 

 Odsey Hund. 



'Ibid. A 1 123. 

 8 Ibid. A 5252, 

 » Ibid. A 5254. 

 " The present 



5253- 

 road 



'» Ibid. A 716. 

 branches off at 



Buntingford, but evidently the older line 

 of road followed the course of the foot- 

 path which branches off a little further 

 north and is coincident with the line 

 of the parish boundary which joins the 

 present road in Thistley Vale. 



'2 Diet. Nat. Biog. 



" Cussans, op. cit. Edtalmtree Hund. 

 96. " Diet. Nat. Biog. 



17 



