BROADWATER HUNDRED 



south side are Che arms of the Merchant Adventurers, 

 and on the north a shield of the Mercers' Company. 

 Southward a little lower down is a modern house 

 with a wing on the south side having an overhanging 

 upper story. In this wing is a gateway with a pair 

 of 1 5th-century panelled oak gates which are supposed 

 to have belonged to the hospital of St. Mary 

 Magdalene of Clothall, and were placed in their 

 present position in the 1 9th century. Two houses on 

 thesouthsideof White Horse Street, formerly occupied 

 by the postmaster, are ancient. That on the west has a 

 modern front of brick, but the back is a red brick 

 building of two stories with an attic probably of the 

 middle of the 1 6th century. The house is rectangular 

 in plan with a central chimney stack. A window of 

 three lights with chamfered brick jambs, mullions and 

 lintel has recently been discovered on the ground floor 

 on the west side of the house. There is an original 



BALDOCK 



Although described as a borough in the charter of 

 William Marshal Earl of Pembroke (1189-1219)/ 

 Baldock was never anything but a prosperous market 

 town. No evidence of burgage t 

 found, nor did Baldock ever send 1 

 liament. The inhabitants had appar- 

 jurisdiction, but in 1307 there v 

 were officers of the lord's court. 3 

 Jesus was founded in 1459, and, 

 wills, all the principal men and wome 

 were enrolled among its members. ] 

 siderable wealth, and After its dissolution its possessions 

 were sold in 1550 for £860, lu a very large sum for 

 that time. This fraternity probably took over some 

 of the town organizations, as similar gilds did else- 

 Like many other towns, Baldock is described in 

 1550 as a market town much decayed, wherein there 



lembers to Par- 

 ntly no separate 

 : two bailiffs who 

 The Gild of 

 is appears from 

 =n of the town 

 ft was of con- 



Olu House, Cemetery Road, Baldock 



stone fireplace in the attic. The house to the east 

 hat been much repaired, but was originally built at 

 the beginning of the 17th century. The back part 

 is of half-timber. There are original fireplaces and a 

 chimney stack. The houses in Church Street and 

 Norton Street are mostly of the 17th century, many 

 of them, including the Bull Inn, with overhanging 

 stories. A house at the corner of Church Street, now 

 divided into cottages, is a timber-framed house of the 

 early part of the 17th century. Carved brackets 

 support the projecting upper story, and in the south 

 front is a large gateway which has apparently been 

 heightened in the 18th century to permit the coaches 

 to pass underneath. It has two original chimney 

 stacks. 



lly abojt 400 ' housling people ' or com- 

 Lts." The town evidently regained its pros- 

 perity shortly afterwards, judging from the increased 

 number and importance of its fairs. 



In 1 1 99 King John granted to the Templars 

 the right of holding a yearly fair at Baldock on 

 St. Matthew's Day and for four days following " 

 (21-25 September), and this grant was confirmed in 

 1227 by Henry III. 13 In' 1492 two fairs were 

 granted to the Hospitallers at Baldock, one on the 

 vigil and feast of St. Matthew (20-21 September), 

 and the other on the vigil, feast and morrow of 

 St. James the Apostle 11 (24-26 July). In 1566 

 there was another alteration, three fairs being granted 

 to Thomas Revett on the feasts of St. James, 



' Dugdale, Man. vi, 820. 



* Cat. Put. 1307-13, p. 535. 



8 L. and P. Hm. VIII, xvi, g. 578 (18). 

 See Willi, Archdeaconry of St. Albans, 

 Stoneoam 115 c!.; Wallingford 3+d. ; 



P.C.C. 30 Bkmyr ; 3 5 Holder ; 7 Porch ; 

 ; Bennett, Sec. 



10 Pat. 4 Edw. VI, pt. iii, m. 7. Grant 

 to lohn Cock. 



» Chant. Cert. 10, no. 70 ; zj, no. 14.. 



67 



John, pt. 



