BROADWATER HUNDRED 



arms of Benstede and Moyne, are small figures of 

 ' weepers ' all defaced. A much mutilated battle- 

 ment runs round the edge of the tomb. 



The altar tomb under the I 5 th-century eastern- 

 most arch also has recumbent figures of a knight and 

 i lady, possibly Edward de Benstede (d. 1432) and 

 Joan Thornbury his wife, who survived him. The 

 knight, whose feet rest on a lion facing outwards, is 

 clad in plate armour with a finely enriched basinet. 

 The elbow and knee-cops are fluted. He wears 

 plate gauntlets and has a misericorde attaciied to an 

 enriched baldric on the right side. His head rests 

 on a helm crested with a wolf's head. The sides of 

 the tomb have a series of niches with ogee-shaped 

 crocketed heads with foliated finials and a small 

 battlement around the edge. The niches are all 

 empty. 



In the wall between the two arches is a brass, the 

 upper half of a figure of a priest in a cope, probably 

 of the 15th century. 



In the nave on the east wall, to the north of the 

 chancel arch, are two brasses, with inscriptions to 

 William Clarke, 1591, and John Clarke, 1604. 



The font has a mid- 14th-century octagonal bowl 

 of Barnack stone, the alternate sides having engaged 

 on carved heads, which have been 

 stem is of the 15th century and has 



1 few fragments of ancient glass. In 

 <er the sedilia are three shields : the 

 tede impaling Or a lion azure with two 

 * all, for Thornbury ; the second is 

 ; the third is Benstede. In the nave 

 ields of Benstede and Moyne. Part 

 of the seating of the nave consists of 16th-century 

 benches, and there is a chair in the sanctuary of 

 about 1600. 



There are eight bells : (1), (2) and (4) by Mears, 

 1853 ; (3) by John Briant of Hertford, 1792 ; (5) 

 by Miles Grave, 1630 ; (6) by Pack & Chapman, 

 '777i (7) by an unknown founder, dated 1626; 

 (8) by John Waylett, 1724. 

 The plate includes a cup and paten of 1639. 

 The registers are in three books : (i) all entries 

 from 1538 to 1722 ; (ii) baptisms and burials from 

 1723 to 1812 and marriages from 1725 to 1752 ; 

 (iii) marriages from 1754 to iSra. 



A priest is mentioned at Ben- 

 JDFOtrSON ington in the Domesday Survey, 8 * so 

 there was probably a church there 

 before the Conquest. The advowson of the church 

 follows the descent of the manor until the time of 

 Charles Caesar, junior. 89 In 1718 the king pre- 



BEN INGTON 



sented, 9 " in 1719 Charles Caesar, in 1736 Rebecca 

 Knight, widow, and in I7S5 Edward 1'age for one 

 turn, 91 though he still held the advowson in 1817. 

 J. Clarke and others presented in 1822, but the 

 advowson apparently continued to belong to the lord 

 of the manor 93 until John Chesshyre sold it to 

 George Proctor some time before 1836. * The latter 

 presented until 1850, after which it was held by the 

 Rev. F. B. Pryor 86 until 1864, after which it passed 

 to the Rev. John Eade Pryor, who continued patron 

 until 1 88 1. Since then it has been in the gift of 

 the trustees of the Rev. William Mills, the present 

 rector, 98 



In 1638 the following closes belonged to and 

 adjoined the rectory : Barne Close, Stable Croft, 

 Washers' Close, Dockcroft, 'the Woode ' and 'the 

 litle Spring.'" 



Various places of meeting for Protestant Dissenters 

 were certified in Benington between 1810 and 

 1851.^ There is now a Primitive Methodist 

 chapel in the parish. 



The eleemosynary charities are 

 CHARITIES regulated by scheme of the Charity 

 Commissioners 8 May 1891. They 

 comprise the charities of :■ — 



1. George Gierke, will dated in 1556, being a 

 rent-charge of £2 iof. issuing out of Box bury Tithe, 

 Walkern, now vested in Mrs. Brand. 



2. Hugh Dodd and others, consisting of two 

 closes called Moor's Closes, containing 10 acres, let at 

 j£i2 a year, purchased with _£'4° previous to 16S1 ; 

 and £41 \6i. 2d. consols, with the official trustees, 

 producing £\ or. Sd. arising from sale of timber in 

 1814. 



3. Rev. Nathaniel Dodd, a former rector, con- 

 sisting of 2 acres known as Creedman's Mead, devised 

 by a codicil to will dated in 1661, and let at £4 a 

 year. 



4. John Kent, consisting of £zo 171. \d. consols, 

 with the official trustees, producing 10/. 413'. yearly, 

 representing a legacy by will about 1665. 



In 1909 clothing to the value of zs. 6d, was dis- 

 tributed among ten widows, and the balance in 

 bonuses to depositors of the coal club. 



Henry Dixon, by his will dated in 1693, devised 

 certain lands and hereditaments in Benington 

 and Munden in the county of Hertford, and at 

 Enfield in Middlesex and in St. Mildred's, London, 

 to the Drapers' Company, the rents and profits to be 

 applied in apprenticing {among others) poor boys of 

 Benington. A sum of £20 is given annually by the 

 Drapers' Company for an apprenticeship under the 

 terms of his wilt. 



