A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



celebrate daily at the altar of St. Katherine in Fur- 

 neux Pelham Church for the souls of Sir John le Gros, 

 his ancestors and benefactors and for all the faithful 

 departed. The endowment was to consist of half an 

 acre of land and its appurtenances in the parish and 

 of an annual rent of j^S and lOO faggots of wood from 

 the manors of Fumeux Pelham and Hixham. The 

 advowson was granted to the holder of Fumeux 

 Pelham Manor, with provision for the case of his 

 default. An additional rent-charge of 40/. and of 

 200 faggots of wood was laid on the same two 

 manors in order to increase the revenue of this 

 chantry and also of that already existing in the 

 church." This latter payment, however, seems to 

 have been devoted entirely to the Gros Chantry and 

 the rent-charge of 40/. to have lapsed at the Dissolu- 

 tion. The total rent oi £10 payable to chantries was 

 again granted by Thomas Bideford when he acquired 

 the two manors in 1387-8." 



It appears that the chantry thus founded in 1384 

 was soon afterwards transferred to a chapel outside 

 the church, probably that built by Simon de Furneus. 

 In 1387-8 the chantry of Sir John le Gros was in 

 the chantry chapel of Fumeux Pelham." The de- 

 scription of it, therefore, in 1 406, when its advowson 

 was conveyed with the manor, as situated at the 

 altar of St. Katherine in the church," seems to be an 

 outcome of the terms of its foundation. The Gros 

 Chantry was in 1535 said to be worth ^^8 a year.'" 

 When it was dissolved in the following reign it was 

 described as situated in a chapel distant by more than 

 a furlong from the parish church. Its endowment 

 then consisted of a yearly rent of ^^8 from the 

 manors of Fumeux Pelham and Hixham, of four 

 loads of wood granted annually from those manors 



for the priest's fuel and worth p., and of a tenement 

 and half an acre of land known as the Chaumbre 

 Howse and occupied by the incumbent." The tene- 

 ment called Le Chantry House was granted by the 

 Crown to Robert Wood in 1549," and in 161 7 John 

 Gray received a grant of two chantries called Gros 

 Chantry and Le New Chantry." The latter term 

 probably referred rather to an appurtenance of the 

 chantry chapel than to Furneus Chantry. The 

 income of Gros Chantry continued to be reserved in 

 conveyances of the manors burdened with it. Edward 

 Newport in 1678 rendered four loads of wood from 

 Furneux Pelham Manor to the trustees for the pay- 

 ment of pensions.'" A separate conveyance of the 

 rent of £i was made in 1689." It was in 181 3 

 held to be payable from Hixhtam Manor only and 

 was reserved in the sale of that date." 



In 1724 Mary Wheatly, by her 

 CHARITIES will, devised 2 acres and three cottages 

 adjoining of copyhold tenure for the 

 support of a charity school. The rents, amounting 

 to £() a year or thereabouts, are applied for educa- 

 tional purposes in connexion with the school. 



Mrs. Sarah Yarrington, who died in 1746, left the 

 interest of ;Cioo Old South Sea Annuities for the 

 putting out of poor boys as apprentices. The 

 legacy, with accumulations, is now represented by 

 j^l49 \zs. ifd. consols, producing yearly ^£3 14/. %d., 

 which is paid to the school account. 



In 1774 Francis Caryl bequeathed /200, the 

 interest to be expended in the distribution of JDread. 

 The legacy is now represented by ^^259 16/. consols, 

 producing £fi 9/. %d. yearly, which is distributed in 

 bread. 



The sums of stock are held by the official trustees. 



STOCKING PELHAM 



Pelham Parva, Stoke Pelham (xiii cent.) ; Stokkene- 

 pelham (xlv cent.) ; Stocking Pelham (xv, xvi and 

 xvii cent.). 



This small parish has an area of only 647 acres, of 

 which nearly three-quarters are arable land, just over 

 one-quarter permanent grass and 14 acres woods and 

 plantations.' The soil is heavy and the subsoil clay. 

 The highest ground is near the church and Stocking 

 Pelham Hall, where it is 41 1 J ft. above the ordnance 

 datum, and the lowest, which is 323 ft. above the 

 same datum, is at the southern end of the parish. 



The most important road branches off in Furneux 

 Pelham parish from the Hadham road and after 

 passing through the village crosses Stocking Pelham 

 diagonally and leads north-east into Berden parish in 

 Essex. From a point in this road another and 

 winding way leads north-westwards into Brent Pel- 

 ham parish. On the north side of this road are the 

 church and moated manor-house knovra as Stocking 

 Pelham Hall, now the property of Mr. E. E. Barclay 

 of Brent Pelham. The Cock Inn is a timber- 

 fi-amed and plastered house of two stories ; the roof is 



tiled. It is of late 1 6th or early 1 7th-century date. 

 The chimney stacks are plain and are built of thin 

 bricks. In the taproom is a plain wide fireplace 

 and the ceiling has splayed and stopped beams and 

 floor joists. The rectory lies north-west of the 

 village and is surrounded by a moat. There is also a 

 fragment of another moat on the north-east side of 

 the church. 



In the 15 th century Wildenwodes, Nydelys and 

 Renelys occur as names of places in Stocking Pelham 

 Manor,* and in the 1 6th century a tenement is 

 described as near Este Rood,' which may perhaps be 

 rendered East Road. 



The lands of Stocking Pelham as sur- 

 MAVOR veyed in Domesday cannot be distin- 

 guished from those of the other Pelhams. 

 All the lands in this parish were held of the Bishop 

 of London in 1086 and afterwards.* 



Between 1 2 10 and 1 2 1 2 Thomas de Bideford held 

 2 hides and 16 acres of land, presumably in STOCK- 

 ING PELHAM, of the Bishop of London for the 

 service due from one knight's fee.' His successor later 



'^ Chan. Inq. p.m. 7 Ric II, no. 156 ; 

 Cal. Pat. 1381-5, p. 4.06. 



^ Close, II Ric. II, pt. i, m. 19 d. 

 " Ibid. 10 Ric. II, m. 27, 28, 29 d. 

 »5 Feet of F. Herts. 8 Hen. IV, no. 49. 

 26 Valor Eccl. (Rec Com.), i, 453. 

 "J Chant. Cert. 20, no. 71 ; 27, no. 10. 

 ^ Pat 3 Edw. VI, pt. vii. 



«'Ibid. 15 Jas. I, pt. liv. 



^ Duchy of Lane Mi«c Bkt. Uxii, 

 fol. 59 d. 



81 Feet of F. Herts. Mich, i Will, and 

 Mary. 



3» Com. Pleas D. Enr. East. 53 

 Geo. Ill, m. 28. 



' Sutistics from Bd. of Agric (1905). 



» CI08C, 12 Hen. IV, m. 8, 



• Chant. Ccrt. 27, no. 36. 



* See account of Brent Pelham ; Plac. 

 de Quo fVarr. (Rec. Com.), 290. 



^ lUd Bk, of Exch. (RoU« Scr.), 541. 

 Thomas's Burname is wrongly given as 

 Widiford. 



