BIGGLESWADE HUNDRED 



BIGGLESWADE 



but with the recent introduction of foreign plait it 

 has now completely died out." Early in the nine- 

 teenth century white thread lace and edging were 

 manufactured here, but this industry has also dis- 

 appeared. Market gardening is, however, an impor- 

 tant modern development in this parish. 



The church of ST. ANDREW con- 

 CHURCH sists of a chancel $\it. by 2 3 ft. 4 in., 

 with modern north vestry and organ 

 chamber; nave 52 ft. 6 in. by 21ft. 2 in. with 

 north aisle 1 5 ft. 9 in. wide and south aisle 1 8 ft. 4 in.; 

 western tower 15 ft. 3 in. by 16 ft., and south porch. 

 The earliest part of the church appears to be at the 

 west end of the nave, where the eastern arch of the 

 tower shows details off. 1300, and is flanked by 

 buttresses which show signs of the rake of an earlier 

 roof to the nave. These buttresses are set symmetri- 

 cally with the centre line of the tower and not with 

 that of the present nave, the arcades of which date 

 from the fifteenth century. On the buttresses abut- 

 ting the tower arch remains of a raking weather 

 mould can be seen from the aisles, and give evidence 

 to the pitch of a former nave roof of earlier date than 

 the present arcade. 



No other features in the nave are earlier than 

 1340, to which date the south doorway and a blocked 

 window to the west of it belong. A south aisle, and 

 probably a north aisle, were in existence at this time, 

 but with the destruction of the older arcade or ar- 

 cades, and remodelling of the aisles in the fifteenth 

 century, their history has been lost. The chancel is 

 recorded to have been rebuilt between 1467 and 

 148 1, by John Ruding, archdeacon of Bedford, but 

 its details suggest a date nearly a hundred years 

 earlier, and it is probable that the rebuilding 

 was rather a remodelling of older work. Fisher ''* 

 gives a drawing of a misericorde seat with a cres- 

 cent between five scallops, evidently part of Ruding's 

 work. There have been modern restorations in 

 1832 and 1884, and the tower was rebuilt in 1720, 

 its east wall alone being preserved. The chancel has 

 an east window of seven lights in fifteenth-century 

 style, the stonework being modern. On the south are 

 three three-light windows in late fourteenth-century 

 style, much repaired, and below them is a contempo- 

 rary moulded string course. At the south-east of the 

 chancel is a piscina and three sedilia, also of the same 

 period ; none of this work can be so late as the 

 recorded rebuilding of 1467. There are no old fea- 

 tures in the north wall, against which a modern vestry 

 and organ chamber are built. The chancel arch of 

 two moulded orders is of the same date as the south 

 windows and has a pointed relieving arch above it. 

 The nave arcades are of four bays, c. 1450, with 

 moulded arches of two orders, and piers of engaged 

 half-round shafts and half-octagonal moulded capitals. 

 Above is a clearstory with four three-light square- 

 headed windows on each side, c. 1 500. The east 

 window of the north aisle is of four lights with late 

 fifteenth-century tracery, and now opens to the 

 organ chamber. In the north wall are two similar 

 windows, and near the west end of the aisle a door- 

 way, the external stonework of which has been 

 renewed. The west window of the aisle is of clumsy 

 Gothic detail inserted in a wider opening and is com- 



paratively modern. In the south aisle the east win- 

 dow is of four lights of late fifteenth-century detail. 

 In the south wall are two three-light windows, and 

 to the west of them a fourteenth-century south door- 

 way opening into a late fifteenth-century porch with 

 stone-vaulted ceiling and a parvise reached by a stair 

 at the south-west, and lighted by a three-light south 

 window. At the south-east of the porch is a contem- 

 porary opening, formerly a window, but now cut 

 down to make a doorway. West of the porch and 

 blocked by the parvise stair is an early fourteenth- 

 century window of which only the rear arch is now 

 visible, and the west window of the aisle is of late 

 fifteenth-century detail. The internal doorway to 

 the parvise stair remains, blocked with masonry. The 

 only old roof is that over the south aisle, which is of 

 the fifteenth century, with moulded timbers and 

 carved bosses showing traces of colouring ; on the 

 eastern boss is a pelican. All the wooden fittings of 

 the church are modern except the south door, which 

 is of the fifteenth century, '"' and the door to the rood 

 stair at the north-east angle of the south aisle, also of 

 the fifteenth century with tracery panels, and an open- 

 work iron lock-plate which has been backed with red 

 leather. At the south-east angle of the north aisle is a 

 plain piscina, and in the south aisle there is a square- 

 headed recess in the east wall, and a restored four- 

 teenth-century piscina at the south-east. 



The tower which, as has been said, was rebuilt in 

 1720, is of three stages, with an embattled parapet, 

 and a staircase at the north-east angle. The belfry 

 windows are four-centred and of very plain detail, and 

 the west window on the ground stage is modem, 

 copied from the south windows of the chancel. There 

 is a small blocked doorway in the south wall, and the 

 traces of the abutment of the former south wall can 

 be seen on the south-east buttress, showing that the 

 former tower was wider than the present. 



The font at the west end of the nave has a plain 

 bowl on an octagonal panelled stem with emblems of 

 the crucifixion carved on it. Against the north wall 

 of the chancel is a modern stone slab in which are 

 set fragments of the fine brass of John Ruding, arch- 

 deacon of Bedford, 148 1, a small drawing of the 

 complete brass hangs on the wall, showing its former 

 arrangement.*'*^ The figure stood under a canopy with 

 a small figure of death on the right side and an 

 inscription below in lines alternately incised and in 

 raised letters on an enamelled background, and a long 

 marginal inscription went round all four sides of the 

 stone. A considerable part of this is still preserved. 

 Scallops and crescents, being charges from the arms of 

 Ruding, occur in the inscription and on the slab. 

 There is also a head of St. John Baptist on the 

 charger, supported by angels ; he was no doubt the 

 archdeacon's patron saint. There is also a brass to 

 William Halsted, 1449, and his two wives, Isabel 

 and Alice. 



There are five bells, the first four by Thomas 

 Russell of Wooton, 1 721, and the tenor by Taylor 

 of St. Neots, 1806. 



The plate consists of a communion cup of 1781, 

 a paten and flagon of 1 842, and a second chalice of 

 1870 with a paten of 1868, both presented in 1876. 



The first volume of the registers contains burials 



87 Lysons, op. cit. i, $6. 



87» Collections for Beds. pi. cxiv. 



87 ''Fisher, op. cit. pL xvi gives re- 



mains of an inscription on this door, 

 mentioning John Tadelowe and Maud 

 his wife. 



213 



87= Gough, Sepulchral Monuments, ii, 

 272. An engraving and full descriptions 

 of the brass are here given. 



