A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



daughter of Heniy Prannell, the father, and to her 

 husband Robert Brooke, with remainder to Henry 

 Brooke, their son, who was the godson of the elder 

 Prannell." ' Rookey Mead ' was occupied by Robert 

 Brooke in I 595, and was a source of discord between 

 him and his brother-in-law Henrj' Prannell.** In 

 spite of the will of Henry Prannell the elder, both 

 Rokey and Water Andrews were retained with 

 Newsells by the widow of Henry Prannell the 

 younger and passed to her kinsman Lord Mal- 

 travers.*' The manor has since descended with 

 Newsells (q.v.). The freehold of Rokey now belongs 

 to Mr. J. W. Sworder. 



A * manor of Barkway ' held with Rokey by Thomas 

 Lord Scales *^ was possibly acquired by the lords 

 of Newsells during the I 5 th centurv. With Rokey it 

 was said to be held of Sir William Say, kt., in 1 5 1 3.*' 

 It and Rokey may, therefore, have been originally a 

 part of the Mandeville fee of 1086.'" It descended 

 with Rokey and Newsells until March 153 1-2, when 

 it was among the lands assigned to the Earl of 

 Oxford,'^' but it is not definitely mentioned either in 

 the conveyance of Newsells to Henry Prannell '^ or in 

 that of Rokey to William Gery." It may, however, 

 be identical with the "other lands' in Barkway in- 

 cluded in Gery's purchase. 



The manor of II'ATER ANDRElf'S (Water 

 Andretys, Water Androws or Walter Andrewes, xvi 

 cent.) was held about 1 5 19 by John Shuckburgh, 

 lord of the neighbouring manor of Chamberlains 

 in Reed (Odbcy Hundred)." It continued in the 

 p3fSc;iion of the successive lords of Chamberlains 

 until 1560, when William Hyde and his wife 

 Elizabeth sold it with Rokey to Matthias Brad- 

 bury.*' Its subsequent history is coincident with 

 that of Rokey '* (q-v). 



The RECTORr M^NOR evidently originated in 

 lands acquired by the abbey of Colchester with the 

 church (q.v.). The charter of Eudo Dapifer mentions 

 only 'the church of Neivsells,"' but Ralph Nuers, 

 lord of Nuthampstead, released to the abbey 'all his 

 right in whatever belonged to the church quit of all 

 service,' and gave the abbey i 1 acres of his own fee.'* 

 Between 1195 and 1238 the 'fee' of the church 

 included land near the market-place.'' The rectory 

 fee was retained by the abbey until its dissolution.^" 

 It was evidently customary for the lessee of the house 

 and demesnes to entertain the abbot yearly when he 

 held courts at Barkway.^' In I 544 William Gery 

 of Barkway had a grant of this manor from the 

 Crown. ^2 He transferred it with Berwick to William 

 Plattfote," but the latter reconveyed to him and 



joined with him in a sale to Henry Ward of Postwick, 

 CO. Norfolk, in 1554." Edward Ward of Bixley, son 

 of Henry, settled this manor on his youngest son 

 Edward" and died 1 May 1583." 



Edward the younger entered upon the Rectory 

 Manor soon afterwards.'' He was constrained to sell it 

 by reason of a numerous family.'* It was purchased 

 by Susanna widow of Sir Richard Saltonstall and by 

 her son Peter, afterwards Sir Peter Saltonstall, kt." 

 Anne daughter of Sir Peter married Sir Edward 

 Chester, kt.,'" and the Rectory Manor descended 

 with the other manors held by the Chesters. 



The church of ST. MJRT MAG- 

 CHURCH DALENE consists of chancel 3 5 ft. 6 in. 

 by 16 ft., nave 67 ft. by 20 ft., north and 

 south aisles each 1 6 ft. wide, west tower 1 4 ft. square 

 and modern south porch and north vestry and organ 

 chamber, all internal dimensions. It is built of flint 

 rubble with stone dressings, the whole of the facings 

 being modern ; the roofs are tiled. 



The chancel appears to have been built in the 

 13 th century and the chancel arch rebuilt early in 

 the I 5th century. The nave and aisles are of I 5th- 

 century date. The west tower was almost entirely 

 rebuilt in 1 86 1. The vestry and organ chamber on 

 the north side of the church and the south porch are 

 modern. The church was thoroughly restored in 

 1 86 1, and a great deal of the internal stonework 

 reworked or renewed. 



The east window of the chancel is of three lights 

 with modern tracery ; the inner jambs are original. 

 In the north wall are two blocked lancets of modern 

 stonework, but probably copies of the original 13th- 

 century lights ; there is also a three-light window of 

 modern stonework. In the south wall area 13th- 

 century lancet, the outside stonework of which is 

 modern, a low-side window of two cinquefoiled 

 lights, all of modern outer stonework, but with old 

 inner jambs, and a modern doorway. In the same 

 wall is a double piscina of 1 3th-century character, 

 but of modern stonework.'^ The early I 5th-century 

 chancel arch is of two moulded orders, with moulded 

 jambs dying on splayed base, and moulded capitals. 

 The roof is modern. 



The north and south arcades of the nave consist of 

 six bays, with arches of two moulded orders, with 

 moulded labels on both sides, piers composed of four 

 semi-octagonal shafts with hollows between, and with 

 moulded capitals and bases ; the labels have carved 

 grotesque stops. The details of the two arcades are 

 similar, except for a slight difference in the section of 

 the capitals. All the work is of i 5th-century date. 



" Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccrxv, 64.. 



** Proc. of Ct. of Requests, bdle. 33, 

 no. 71. 



*' Sec under Newsells. 



** Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), i, 3-. 



" Ibid, iiyiii, 68. 



^ cf. the account of Sawb ridge worth 

 in Braughing Hundred ; see also the fee 

 of William Odburgrille in Barley. 



*^ See above under Newsells. 



" Feet of F. Herts. East. 21 Eliz. 



" Cussans, op. cit. Edijcimtrct Hund. 22. 



" Close, 1 1 Hen. VIII, no. 2. For the 

 Shuckburgh family cf. the account of 

 Hedleys above and De Banco R. 269, 

 m. 22. 



" Feet of F. Herts. East. 2 Eliz. 



*• It is perhaps on this account that 

 county historians following Chauncy 



identify Water Andrews with Rokey. 

 They were certainly distinct in the early 

 part of the 1 6th century and are so still 

 (Ct. Bks. penti Messrs, Grossman and 

 Prichard). 



" Cart. Mon. S. Johannii de Colecestrta 

 (Roiburghe Club), 3. 



5«Ibid. 173. 



" Ibid. 630. 



" Dugdale, Mon. iv, 613; Ct. R. 

 (Gen. Ser.), portf. 177, no. 3. 



" Mins. Accts. Hen. VIII, no. 976. 



«»!,. and P. Hen. Fill, xii (i), 610 



«^ Com. Pleas D. Enr. Mil. 6 & 7 

 Edw. VI, m. 3. 



" Ibid. Mich. I & 2 PhiL and .Mary, 

 m. 5 ; Feet of F. Herts. Mich, i & 2 Phil, 

 and Mary. 



34 



" RecoT. R. East. 14 Eliz. rot. 638 ; 

 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccii, 182. 



•« Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccii, 182. 



*' Pat. 27 Eliz. pt. ix, m. 22. 



''Ibid. 2 Chas. I, pt. xxiii, no. 11. 

 Disputes concerning the title may also 

 have influenced him (Chan. Proc. Eliz. 

 W xi, 22). 



«• Feet of F. Herts. Hil. 43 Eliz. ; 

 Hil. 44 Eliz. ; Hil. 45 Eliz. ; Pat. 

 2 Chas. I, pt. niii, no. 1 1 ; cf. Chan. Proc 

 (Ser. 2), bdle. 429, no. 3 ; Pat. 44 Eliz. 

 pt. xivi, m. 8. 



™ M. I. in the chanceL 



" There was probably an Easter 

 sepulchre in the chancel j in 1498 John 

 Homsted left money to the light of the 

 Holy Sepulchre in Barkway Church 

 (P.CC. 16 Home). 



