A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



2. Sir Robert Chester, will, 1638, being a rent- 

 charge of j^5 4/. issuing out of land known as Rokey 

 Wood and Lady Grove. 



3. Edmund King, will, before 1679, consisting of 

 20 a. of land known as Upper Crixfield in Clavering, 

 Essex, let at j^ 1 4 8/. a year. 



4. — Mills, mentioned in Parliamentary Returns 

 of 1786, being a rent-charge of 13/. \d. issuing out 

 of land known as Bull's Croft in Barkway. 



5. William Mores, will, 1526, consisting of two 

 cottages and their sites, let on lease at £r a year. 



6. Thomas Payne, will, 1 763, being a rent-charge 

 of jf2 issuing out of Newsells estate in Barkway. 



7. John Stallibrasi, will, 1818, endowed with 

 j^l66 13/. \d. consols with the official trustees, pro- 

 ducing j^4 IS. \d. yearly. 



8. Town Lands, consisting of 2 a. in Barkway, let 

 at [fi a year. 



9. Unknown donor's charity, mentioned in the 

 Parliamentary Returns of 1786, consisting of two 

 cottages in Barkway, let at jf 4 I 5/. yearly. 



The net income of the charities is by the scheme 

 directed to be applied for the general benefit of 

 the poor in such manner as the trustees thereby 

 appointed should consider most conducive to the 

 formation of provident habits. In 191 I j^5 was 

 given to the school clothing club, £■^0 to the coal 



club, [^i 3/. to hospiuls and £i towards the expenses 

 of patients. 



In 1796 James Andrews, by his will, bequeathed 

 to the vicar and churchwardens the sum of [,"^00 

 consols, the dividends to be applied for the benefit oi 

 the poor who should be regular attendants at divine 

 service in the parish church. 



In or about 1820 — as appears from an inscription 

 on the donor's tomb — Thomas Talbot Gorsuch gave 

 j^joo stock (now consols), the dividends to be applied 

 by the vicar and churchwardens on the same condi- 

 tions as directed by the will of his worthy friend, the 

 said James Andrews. 



The sum of j^6oo consols is held by the official 

 trustees in trust for these charities. The annual divi- 

 dends, amounting to £^\z \os., are, under a scheme 

 of 30 August 1907, made applicable under the title 

 of the Barkway Ecclesiastical Charity for the general 

 benefit of the poor regularly attending divine service 

 in the parish church. 



In 1 909 three almshouses for women of over sixty 

 years of age born or living in Barkway, members of 

 the Church of England, were built by the late 

 Mrs. Dudding and afterwards endowed by her, to 

 perpetuate the memory of her great-grandfather John 

 Stallibrass (see no. 7 above). 



For the Free School see article on Schools.*' 



BARLEY' 



Berlai (xi cent.) ; Berle, Berleye (xii-xiv cent.) ; 

 Berle, Berlee or Barley (xv_xvi cent.). 



The village of Barley lies on the chalk hills in the 

 extreme north-east of the county and is distant about 

 3 J miles from Royston, where is the nearest railway 

 station. Its eastern boundary is that of Cambridge- 

 shire and follows for the most part the line of Water 

 Lane and the deep gully known as Cumberden 

 Bottom. Its northern limit is the Icknield Way, 

 which also forms the Cambridgeshire boundary. 

 The south and west boundary is almost entirely a 

 field boundary. 



The village is built along two roads meeting at 

 right angles. The eastern arm leads past the church 

 to Pickenage corner, the northern arm follows the 

 line of the main road to Cambridge, which enters the 

 parish from the neighbouring village of Barkway and 

 traverses Cumberden Bottom to the north of the 

 vilhge. In the village are several thatched and 

 plastered cottages and the manor-house of Hoares 

 stands opposite the church. On the same side of the 

 road is the Town House, formerly called the Gild- 

 hall, and sometimes styled the Church House,' which 

 faces the north side of the church. It appears to 

 have been erected shortly before 1540, and is a two- 

 storied building of timber framing covered with 

 plaster ; the roof is tiled, the upper story overhangs, 

 and at the east end on the south front is a smnll wing 

 containing a straight stair with solid steps to the 

 upper floor. A north wing was added late in the 

 17th centurv, making the building L-shaped. The 

 ground story was formerly used as an almshouse, 

 and is divided into a number of small rooms, the 



outer doorways to which have wood frames with 

 four-centred arches. At the west end is a heavy brick 

 chimney with sloping offsets. The upper floor is a 

 hall with plain trussed roof, having curved ogee struts 

 and braces. The dormer windows which light the 

 hall are modern. This house was acquired before 

 1623 by the lords of Abbotsbury Manor.-' The Fox 

 and Hounds Inn, formerly the ' Black Swan,' is 

 reputed to have had some connexion with Dick 

 Turpin. It is a small timber-framed and plastered 

 building standing in the middle of the village on 

 the w^t side of the main road. It is of early 

 17th-century date; the roof is thatched. The 

 house is L-shaped on plan and has a projecting 

 upper story ; the old wide fireplaces have been filled 

 in and the interior has been much altered, but a few 

 17th-century moulded beams still remain. Acro»s 

 the road stretches a beam on which are flat wooden 

 figures of hounds and horsemen in full cry after a 

 fox. By the side of the main road, about 250 yards 

 west of the church, is a small wooden building called 

 the Cage, which was formerly the village ' lock up.' 

 It IS built of upright timbers placed about 5 in. apart, 

 with boarding between ; it is about 7 ft. square and 

 about 6 ft. 6 in. to the eaves. The slated roof is 

 pyramidal and is finished at the apex with a 

 moulded terminal. It is now used as a shed for road- 

 menders. It was probably not erected earlier than the 

 end of the 17th century. It is said to have contained 

 at one time chains attached to a central post. The 

 Cage may have belonged to the manor of Green- 

 bury, the site of the manor-house of which is to the 

 west of the Cambridge Road. The manor-house « 



'■ V-C.H. Hrra. ii, X02. 

 ' This parish wai transferred from 

 Edwinstree Hundred to Odte^ Hundred 



ia 18 + 1 {Sen. R. [Herts. Co. Reel, ii 

 +27). 



' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccccUnl, 60. 



36 



• Ibid. 



* See below ; Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 

 +4 Eliz. 



