A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



sporadic.'" Similarly, also, the instances at Ware and Standon should prob- 

 ably be traced to the activity of the Lollard teachers of Essex. It is notable 

 that, except for some parochial gossip at Hitchin in 15 18-19," "o "^"^^c 

 is heard of heresy in Hertfordshire until the Reformation period. 



The 1 6th century brought with it those changes that eventually pro- 

 duced the Church of England as it exists to-day. What various causes 

 contributed to the success of the movement towards reform, how much 

 influence can be ascribed to Lollard and Humanist, how much to economic 

 conditions, are points as difficult to determine as the extent of popular 

 acquiescence or movement in the change. Difficult as it is to ascertain the 

 general attitude towards the Church on the eve of the Reformation, the 

 condition of the churches themselves in one part of Hertfordshire can be 

 determined with some precision. 



The articles of the inquiry made by Bishop Atwater in 1518-19^' do 

 not seem to have been preserved, but they would appear to have dealt mainly 

 with the residence of the clergy, the letting of benefices and the condition 

 of the fabric and ornaments of the parish churches. At Hertingfordbury, 

 where the rectory was let to a layman, the obligation of the rector to repair 

 the chancel had been ignored just as it had been at Pirton, where, too, the 

 churchyard, the rector's freehold, was not properly inclosed. At Ardeley 

 the chancel was ruinous, but the rector seems to have been resident." It 

 may be that the word ' ruinous ' has in these returns a purely technical 

 meaning, but that something more than repairs was needed in these cases 

 seems evident from other entries. Thus at Little Wymondley the glass 

 windows in the chancel were broken, at Bayford the windows were ruinous 

 and at Ickleford the glass windows of the nave were broken and the lead of 

 the chancel roof defective. At Knebworth the tiling of the chancel was in 

 bad repair. Much the same tale is told with regard to ornaments. At 

 Offley the almost incredible statement is made that the vicar had no vestment 

 in so far " as alb, chasuble and fannel were concerned ; the cause of this 

 deficiency is perhaps implied in the remark that ' the vicar for the most part 

 serves at a hospital.' That this was not a unique instance is shown by 

 the fact that at Graveley there was no alb, alb cloth, or portiforium, but the 

 cure was not served by the rector in person. At King's Walden, where 

 the incumbent was perhaps non-resident," they had no ' reasonable ' albs ; at 

 Ickleford the surplice was not as it should have been. Much the same story 

 was told of Letchworth, where the rector was non-resident, the curate 

 inefficient and the books in need of repair. 



With this report maybe compared that made in 1530.^'''' The parishioners 

 of Gaddesden presented that their rector resided on another benefice in 

 Bedfordshire, and that the chancel was ruinous. The church of Aldenham 

 belonged to the Abbot and convent of Westminster, but they too had failed 

 to fulfil their obligations and the chancel was much ruined ; that it was 



^^ Among those who abjured in 151 1 were Andrew Randcl of Rickmansworth, his wife and father, 

 Thomas Gierke and his wife of Ware, and ' one Geldener about Hertford ' (Foxe, Acts and Monumenti 

 [ed. 1846], iv, 226). 



" At water's Visit. 15 1 8-19 (Line. Epis. Reg.). '^ Ibid. 



'^ Thomas Bray was resident vicar here in 1526 (Salter, op. cit. 178). " ' Usque.' 



" In 1526 it was in charge of a curate (Salter, op. cit. 176). 



'*'■' Visit, of Archd. of Huntingdon, 1530 (Line. Epis. Reg.). 



310 



