EDWINSTREE HUNDRED 



BARLEY 



Crown on 3 September 1538 ^^ and in May 1540 its 

 interest in Mincingbury Manor was acquired by 

 Ralph Rowlatt the elder,*" who had recently purchased 

 the manor of Hoares. It was inherited by his son 

 Ralph/' and has since descended with the Alsbotsbury 

 estate (q.v.). 



A part of the fee of Graveley (see above) was pre- 

 sumably the land held of Hugh Fitz Simon (appa- 

 rently descendant of Adam Fitz William) *2 by Walter 

 de Monchensey in i 346.*' Here, as in Radwell, in 

 Odsey Hundred, the lands of the Fitz Simons passed 

 before 1428 to John Muslee." The subsequent 

 history of this tenement is unknown. 



Among the tenants in Barley in 1086 was William 

 de Odburgville. He held in demesne 4^ hides which 

 had belonged to Lewin, one of King Edward's 

 thegns.** The history of this holding is obscure. 

 Possibly it formed part of the manor of ' Rokey ' 

 in Barkway, since William's son Peter gave other 

 lands in Suffolk to 'William de la Rokele,'<8 and 

 the manor of Rokey extends into Barley. 



Twenty acres held by Ansfrid of Geoffrey de Bech 

 in 1086, and formerly held by Algar, one of Wigar's 

 men,*' probably amalgamated with Ansfrid's holding 

 at Cockenach in Barkway (q.v.). 



The church of ST. MJRGJRET 

 CHURCH consists of chancel 34 ft. 6 in. by zl ft., 

 nave 50 ft. by zo ft., modern north aisle 

 9 ft. 6 in. wide, south aisle i 5 ft. wide and west tower 

 1 2 ft. 6 in. square, all internal dimensions. The 

 walls are built of flint rubble with stone dressings ; 

 portions of the tower are faced with flint and pebbles 

 laid in herring-bone pattern.** 



The west tower is the earliest part of the building, 

 the two lower stages dating from the early part of the 

 1 2 th century. The nave was enlarged, or perhaps 

 rebuilt, late in the 1 3 th century, when the south aisle 

 was added ; the south aisle was widened about the 

 middle of the 1 4th century. The present bell-chamber 

 was added to the tower in the 15 th century, and 

 early in the 1 6th century new windows were inserted 

 in the south wall. In 1872 the chancel was pulled 

 down and rebuilt*' a bay further east, thus lengthening 

 the nave about 1 1 ft. ; a portion of the south aisle 

 was lengthened eastwards ; a north aisle was built 

 and the nave widened by adding 2 ft. to the north 

 side ; a north porch was erected and a timber spire 

 added to the tower. 



The chancel with the vestry and organ chamber 

 on the south side are modern. The nave, which 

 originally measured about 39 ft. by 18 ft., has north 

 and south arcades of four bays. The north arcade, 

 together with the chancel arch, is modern. The 

 easternmost bay of the south arcade is also modern, 

 but the other three are of late 13th-century date, 

 with arches of two orders, a splay and a hollow next 

 the nave, and plain splays next the aisle ; there are 

 no labels. The piers are octagonal with moulded 

 capitals and bases. 



The north aisle is modern. The south aisle 

 extends to the west face of the tower. This exten- 

 sion probably took place when the aisle was widened 

 about 1340. The west end of the aisle is used as a 

 quire vestry, and a modern wall separates it from the 

 rest of the aisle. In the south wall are three early 

 16th-century windows. The central one is a little 

 later in date than the others and has three cinque- 

 foiled lights under a four-centred arch ; the other 

 two are each of three cinquefoiled lights with traceried 

 head under a four-centred arch. These windows 

 have been restored. In the west wall is a two-light 

 window of about 1340, with flowing tracery, which 

 has been repaired. The south door, which is blocked, 

 has an arch of two continuous orders, the inner wave 

 moulded, of about 1340. There is a modern door 

 to the quire vestry in the south wall. In the south 

 wall, near the east end of the aisle, is a piscina of 

 about 1340, which has had continuously moulded 

 arch and jambs, but the upper part of the arch was 

 destroyed to make room for the 1 6th-century window 

 above. The roofs of nave and aisle are modern, but 

 under the roof truss in the quire vestry is a carved 

 grotesque corbel of stone. The wall of the south 

 aisle is embattled. 



The west tower is of three stages with embattled 

 parapet and modern timber spire. The early izth- 

 century tower arch is 8 ft. wide and has a plain 

 round arch of one square order ; the jambs are 

 square and the impost is splayed. On the south 

 side, opening into the quire vestry, is a pointed arch 

 with splayed edges of 14th-century date ; above it is 

 a small round-headed opening without any rebate for 

 glass. The west window of two lights with traceried 

 head is modern. The wooden ladder to the bell- 

 chamber is probably mediaeval ; the side timbers 

 measure 9J in. by 4J in. with splayed arrises and 

 are 14 in. apart, the rungs are 3 in. by if in. The 

 ladder is very similar to that in Barkway Church. 

 The second stage of the tower retains the original 

 12th-century belfry windows, which have round 

 beaded arches ; they have been restored, and on the 

 west face a clock dial hides part of the arch. In the 

 third stage, which was added in the 15 th century, 

 are the present belfry windows, each of two cinque- 

 foiled lights with traceried head. 



The font is modern ; the seating is also modern. 



On the nave floor near the pulpit is a brass with 

 the figure of a man and inscription to Andrew Willett, 

 1 62 1, rector. On the south wall of the organ 

 chamber is a palimpsest brass with inscription to 

 Robert Bryckett, 1563 ; the other side has part of a 

 15th-century inscription. On the same wall is a 

 brass inscription to Anne Brownrigg, 1630, wife of 

 Dr. Brownrigg, rector. In the central window of 

 the south aisle are fragments of old glass, probably 

 of different dates, with figures and the date 1536. 

 These are probably portions of the glass put up in 

 memory of William Warham, Archbishop of Canter- 



85 Dugdale, Mob. ii, 616. 



<» L. and P. Hen. VIII, xv, g. 733 (42). 



*' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), Ixviii, 40. 



« See V.C.H. Hem. iii, 245, where 

 the ancestor of the Fitz Simon family 

 appears as Simon Fitz Adam. 



" Feud. Aids, ii, 436. 



« Ibid. 448. 



« V.C.H. Herts, i, 328a. 



*6 Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.), 728. 



<' V.C.H. Herts.K, 333*. 



*s Bywilldated 1501 Thomas Chapman 

 desired to be buried in the churchyard of 

 Barley. ' I bequethe toward the peyntyng 

 of Our Lady in the same church xi.* 

 He left bequests to the light of the torches, 

 to the light of the sepulchre in the said 

 church, to the gild of St. Katherine and 

 to the repair of the steeple. To the 

 leading of the steeple of Barley he left 



41 



40i., under condition that the same steeple 

 should be leaded within three years im- 

 mediately after his decease (P.C.C. 5 

 Blamyr). In 15 16 William Robinson, 

 parson of the church, left to the church 

 of Barley an antiphoner, grayle and mass 

 book in print (ibid. i8 Holder). 



^^ The work was carried out under 

 the supervision of William Butterfield as 

 architect. 



