A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



bur7 and rector of Barley. In the west window of 

 the tower are some late 14th-century fragments, and 

 in the rectory is portion of a Crucifixion of the 

 same period, which has been refixed in the church. 



Some remains of open tracery work of a 1 5th- 

 century screen have been fixed on the north wall of 

 the chancel. The pulpit is of oak, richly carved and 

 panelled, and with a canopy ; it b dated 1626. In 

 the quire vestry is a large mediaeval chest, 7 ft. in 

 length, bound with iron. 



There are five bells, all recast by Thomas Mears 

 & Son, 1 807. 



The communion plate includes an embossed cup 

 and cover, dated 161 z. It bears an inscription indi- 

 cating that additions had been made to it, probably 

 in 1 6 1 2, but the embossed pattern is of earlier date, 

 probably about 1 5 50 ; the cover has lost its canopy. 

 There is also a paten of 161 8. 



The registers previous to 1S12 are as follows: 

 (i) baptisms and marriages 1559 to 1746, burials 

 1559 to 1743 ; (ii) baptisms and burials 1 746 to 

 1776, marriages 1746 to 1753 ; (iii) baptisms and 

 burials 1777 to 181 2 ; (iv) marriages 1754 to I 81 2. 

 A priest was mentioned in 1086 

 ADFOirSON among the tenants on the land of 

 Harduin de Scales.*" The church 

 was evidently in the gift of Theobald, tenant under 

 Harduin, as his descendant Ralph son of Ralph son 

 of Fulk (of Broadfield)gave the advowson to Chatteris 

 Abbey in 1268." The benefice was vacant in 

 12S1, and Ralph then confirmed his gift to the 

 abbey." The church remained in the gift of suc- 

 cessive abbesses until the surrender of the monastery 

 in September 1538.'' In the following December 

 the advowson was given in exchange to the Bishop of 

 Ely." The living remained in the gift of the 

 Bishops of Ely" until 1852, when it was transferred 

 to the Bishops of Oxford.'" In September 1854 it 

 was exchanged with the Crown."' 



Among the notable incumbents were Thomas 

 Willett and his son Andrew '* ; Ralph Brownrigg, 

 afterwards Bishop of Exeter ; Herbert Thorndike, 

 from whom the living was sequestered"^ ; Nathaniel 

 Ball, his successor in 1657; Thomas Milles, after- 

 wards Bishop of Waterford ; Edmund Castle, Dean 

 of Hereford, who was buried at Barley in 1 744 ; 

 William Warham and Thomas Herring, afterwards 

 Archbishops of Canterbury ; and the theologians 

 Mark Frank and Thomas Rutherforth.^" 



Since the time of Nathaniel Ball there has been a 

 considerable Dissenting congregation in the parish." 

 The endowment of the present Congregational 



chapel, to the west of the Cambridge Road, dat« 

 from about 1 846.^'- 



In 1626 Thomas Chapman, by 



CHARITIES his will, left £1 a year for bringing 



up young scholars of the name of 



Chapman. The legacy is now represented by £^0 



consols with the official trustees. 



Stephen Peirce, M.D. — as stated in the Parliamen- 

 tary returns of 1786 — by his will gave ^^3 a year for 

 the use of the free school. This sum is received from 

 the bursar of Caius College. 



The Poor's Land charity, comprised in an indenture 

 of 1 704, and the charity of Mrs. Brytchett, founded 

 by deed 1638, now consist of an allotment of 

 1 8 a. I r. 30 p., known as Cobdell Field, given under 

 the inclosure award in exchange for several lands be- 

 longing to the poor. The land produces ^^lo 16/. 

 yearly, of which ;^i a year forms the endowment of 

 the Poor's Land Educational Foundation. 



In 1 62 1 Ralph Dobson by his will gave £1 

 yearly to the poor, issuing out of a house in Maiden 

 Lane, London. 



The Parliamentary returns of 1786 likewise in- 

 clude the five charities next mentioned, namely : — 



Isaac Cowper's charity, being a yearly sum of 



1 3/. 4a'. issuing out of land known as Bull Croft; 



Lettice Martin's charity, trust fund, £^z 17/. 

 consols with the official trustees, arising from the 

 redemption of an annuity of ^^i 6s. ; 



Andrew Willett's charity, consisting of a house and 



2 r., situated near the church, producing £^ yearly; 



Blyth's charity, being an annuity of 4^., payable 

 out of a house and land in Barley ; and 



Joseph Wortham's charity, will, 1689, being an 

 annuity of 10/. issuing out of a house in Royston. 



An unknown donor also gave a sum of I os. to the poor. 



The parish is also in possession of a tenement of 



3 r. of land next the Swan Inn, producing about £l 

 a year, of which i -js. a year is given to the poor and 

 the balance of the net income for church purposes. 



The Town House (formerly the workhouse and 

 afterwards used as the free school), comprised in trust 

 deed of 1825, is used partly for meetings of the 

 parish council, &c., whilst the lower part, formerly 

 used as almshouses, is now used as store-rooms for the 

 tenants of three cottages adjoining. The origin of 

 this custom is unknown. The cottages produce 

 C^ 3/. yearly. 



In 1 9 10 the sum of ^^5 was applied for educational 

 purposes, £^ for church purposes, 101. in bread 

 (Wortham's charity), and the balance of the income 

 in the distribution of half-crowns to the poor. 



BUCKLAND 



Boclande (x-xiii cent.) ; Bochelande (xi cent.) ; 

 ijokeland (xiii-xiv cent.). 



The village of Buckland consists of a single street 

 on the southern slope of the Hertfordshire chalk hills. 

 It is built on either side of the main road from 

 Buntingford to Royston. On the east of the street is 



Buckland House and behind it, near the by-road 

 leading to Barkway, lie the church and rectory. 

 There are traces of a circular moat to the south- 

 west of the church. In the same neighbourhood 

 IS the school, founded about the middle of the 19th 

 century. 



» V.C.H. Hera, i, 339A. 



" Feet of F. Herts. 52 Hen. Ill, no. 

 594 i CotL MS. Jul. A i, foL 140 ; see 

 Mmcingbury above. 



" CotL MS. Jul. A i, fol. 141 i. 



" MIns. Acctv Hea. VIII, no. 266. 



" L. and P. Hm. VllI, xiii h.\ 004 ; 

 g."82(,9). I J. 904, 



" In>t Bki. (P.R.O.). 

 *« Ordzrs in Council ratifying ichmet of 

 EccL Com. viii, 193. 47 ii,;j_ j^ ^^^_ 



»« See under Greenbury above. 



42 



» Diet. Nat. Biog. ; Hiit. MSS. Com. 

 Rip. vii, App. 1 01 A, 1 08 A. 



" Diet. Nat. Biog. 



"' Sell. R. (Herts. Co. Rec), i, 256, 279, 

 3^3 i '■> +9 ; Urwick, Nonconformity in 

 Hera. 739. n Close, 1846, pt. li, m. 6. 



