BIGGLESWADE HUNDRED 



SANDY 



1 3 ft. 2 in. ; all measurements being internal. The 

 whole church has been so much rebuilt and enlarged 

 in modern times that little of the old fabric remains. 

 The transepts and chancel arch were rebuilt and the 

 aisles enlarged in 1861, and the chancel has been re- 

 faced and the vestry and chapel added, so that little if 

 any old work is now to be seen there except the triple 

 sedilia and the piscina, which are of fifteenth-century 

 date. 



The nave has north and south arcades of one wide 

 and two narrow bays, the former opening to the 

 transepts ; the arches are of two chamfered orders, 

 and built of the dark ironstone common in the district, 

 which on account of its coarse texture does not admit of 

 much detail. They have unfortunately been pointed 

 with white mortar, with a most unhappy effect. 



The piers are octagonal, those of the north arcade 

 being modern with capitals of fourteenth-century de- 

 tail ; while those of the south arcade are of the 

 fifteenth century, except that of the eastern respond, 

 which is a modern imitation. The capitals and 

 pillars are of Totternhoe stone, but in the tower arch 

 both shafts and capitals are of ironstone of fifteenth- 

 century detail, and like the nave arches have been 

 pointed with white mortar within recent years. The 

 north aisle has no old work from which its original 

 date might be conjectured, and the south aisle is in 

 much the same state, except that the respond of the 

 arch opening to the transept is of the fifteenth century, 

 the arch itself being modern. The windows of both 

 aisles are modern and of fifteenth-century detail, and 

 those of the transepts, equally modern, are of fourteenth- 

 century detail. There is a re-used sixteenth-century 

 window in the modern north vestry. The roofs 

 throughout are new except that of the tower, which is 

 covered with lead bearing the dates of two repairs, one 

 of 1692, with the initials of churchwardens, E. S., 

 F.B. ; and the second of 1756, with the name of one 

 churchwarden, Wm. Randall. The tower itself has, 

 like the rest of the church, suiFered at the hands of 

 the restorer. It is of fifteenth-century character and 

 has a modern west window, and a south-east turret 

 staircase. It has eight buttresses, two of which are on 

 the east and project into the interior of the nave, but 

 are of the same detail as the external ones. 



The font has an interesting late fifteenth-century 

 base of dunch and a very rough bowl, which is im- 

 possible to date. An extremely well preserved frag- 

 ' ment of a panel of alabaster, representing Christ in 

 the Garden of Gethsemane, is set in the south wall of 

 the chancel in a glazed frame.*'' It is fifteenth-century 

 work of the Nottingham school, the details of the 

 colouring being unusually fresh and perfect, and was 

 discovered during the restoration of 186 1. 



The bells are six in number — the treble by Mears 

 & Stainbank, 1892 ; the second by John Eayre, 1769; 

 the third by Thos. Russell of Wootton 1723, recast 

 1892; the fourth by Chapman & Mears, 1852; 

 the fifth by Newcombe of Bedford, 1602, recast 



S5a Fisher, Coll. for Beds. pL cxiv, gives 

 drawings of other pieces of carving : part 

 of an entombment and a crucifixion, but 

 their material is not mentioned. 



66 Feet of F. Beds. 25 Hen. Ill, m. 24 ; 

 V.C.H. Bed!, i, 382. 



6' Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 35*. 



6S Chan. Inq. p.m. 16 Ric. II, pt. i, 

 No. 36. 



69 Vulor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv, 196. 



ro Pat. 32 Hen. VIII, pt. i. 



1892 ; and the tenor by Thos. Russell of Wootton, 

 1733. The bell frame is modern, and the belfry 

 generally in very good order. There is a chiming 

 clock. 



The plate consists of a silver chalice and paten, the 

 former given by Francis Walsall, rector in 166 1, and 

 the latter having the London date letter for 1739; 

 two modern silver-gilt chalices and cover patens, with 

 a flagon, all of 1867, and a spoon of 1869 ; and a 

 plated chalice and paten. 



The registers are complete from 1538 (the earliest 

 entry being one of a burial on 10 November in 

 that year), with the exception of a couple of years. 

 The early portions were found by the present rector 

 in an old chest in loose sheets and carefully bound up. 

 The earliest mention that has been 

 JOrOPFSON found of the church of Sandy is in 

 1240, when it was granted by 

 William de Beauchamp to the priory of Caldwell.** 

 In 1291 the value of the church was ^13 6s. 8<^.,*' 

 and in 1392 the prior obtained a licence to appro- 

 priate the church, which was then valued at 20 

 marks.** At the Dissolution Sandy Rectory, worth 

 ^^2 2 1 3 J. 4</., became crown property,*' and was 

 granted in 1541 by Henry VIII to John Burgoyne,™ 

 who in 1586 alienated it with the advowson to 

 Richard Braithwayte and Thomas Spencer," from 

 whom they were purchased by John Spencer " who 

 owned Sandy manor, and until the death of Sir Philip 

 Monoux in 1809, they follovyed the same descent as 

 that manor" (q.v.). From 1 8 14 to 1829 George 

 Cooke Yarborough was presenting ; '* since that date 

 it has been held, by the Pyms who own Hasells 

 manor." 



The chantry of Sandy was founded by Roger de 

 Beauchamp in 1332 to provide daily masses for the 

 souls of himself and his ancestors in the chapel of St. 

 Mary at the altar of St. Nicholas in the church of St. 

 Swithun, and was endowed by him with 40 acres of 

 land, 2 acres of meadow, and 16s. rent in Sandy.™ 

 The advowson of this chantry was transferred by him, 

 together with Sandy manor, to John d'Engayne in 

 1347," and appears to have remained attached to this 

 manor, the last reference to it being in 1401 when it 

 was worth 40/.'* In 1 547 the possessions of this 

 chantry included a messuage called the Chantry House, 

 with 48 acres of arable land, and 2 acres of meadow, 

 let at a yearly rent of ^^15 os. zd., and stock worth 

 20J. in the hands of the churchwardens of Sandy for 

 an obit." In 1550 the Chantry House and land 

 attached were granted by the crown to John Hulston 

 and William Pendrid.^ 



Tempsford Chantry owned two messuages in Sandy 

 in the tenure of the churchwardens which were valued 

 at 30/'.,*' and the fraternity of Blunham, founded by 

 John Reynold, owned land in Sandy valued at 

 44^. loij'.*' 



There is a modern Baptist Chapel built in 1887, 

 an older Baptist Chapel of 1 854, now used as a Sunday 



71 Ibid. 32 Eliz. pt. 215 Feet of F. Beds. 

 East. 29 Eliz. 



7^ Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cclxii, No. 

 129. 



" Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.) ; Close 21 Chas. 



II, pt. 10, No. 24 5 Recov. R. Hil. 29-30 

 Chas. II ; East. 12 Geo. I ; Mich. 11 Geo. 



III. ^* Inst. Bks.(P.R.O.) ; Clerical Guide. 



75 Clergy List. 



76 Inq. a.q.d. file 213, No. 12 ; Line. 

 Epis. Reg. Bek, Inst. 



?' Abbrev. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), ii, 

 189 i Feet of F. Beds. 2i Edw. Ill, 

 m. 2. 



78 Ibid. Div. Cos. 28 Edw. Ill, No. 42; 

 Chan. Inq. p.m. 28 Edw. Ill, No. 29 ; 

 41 Edw. Ill, No. 25 ; I Hen. IV, No. 

 lo ; 2 Hen. IV, No. 15. 



79 Chant. Cert, i. No. 40. 

 8" Pat. 3 Edw. VI, pt. 10. 



81 Chant. Cert. Beds, i. No. 25. 

 83 Ibid. No. 4. 



