BROADWATER HUNDRED 



to members of the Shallcross family. There is in 

 the chancel a brass of John Pericnt, standard-bearer 

 to Richard II, Henry IV, and Henry V, and his 

 wife Joan Risain, who died in 14.15. The figures 

 are 5 ft. long. The man is in armour, and the 

 arms and part of the inscription remain. Another 

 brass of a knight in armour, with two symbols 

 of the Evangelists, is most probably that of his 

 son John Perient, who died in 1432. On the 

 same slab is an inscription to Thomas Robynson and 

 his wife, 1495. A brass of Thomas Hoore, 1495, 

 his wife, four sons and eight daughters, has an 

 four shields with a double-headed 

 s of Hoore, the Mercers' Company 

 :. There are also in the chancel 

 Robert, auditor of the Bishop 

 — (the date has not been filled 



shields 



after their decease it should return t 



inscription ; 

 eagle, the a 

 and a defaced c 

 .brasses of Willi 

 of Winchester, 

 in), his wife, 1484, and 1 

 shrouded and there i 



:ri prion : of John Perient, a small, undated in- 

 scription ; of Robert Battyl, 1552, his wife, four 

 sons and six daughters ; and of two daughters of 

 Sir Alexander Cave, 1637. 



The bells are three in number, the first and second 

 by Robert Oldfeild, 1605. 



The plate includes an engraved cup of 1563, a 

 paten of 1673 and a flagon of 1672. 



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

 from 1538 to 1731 ; {ii) baptisms and burials from 

 1731 to 1812 and marriages from 1731 to 1753 ; 

 (iil) marriages from 1758 to 1812. Book i has been 

 recovered since the return of 1830. 



The church was given to the 

 ADVOWSON abbeyof Walden, in Essex, by Geoffrey 

 de Mandeville, first Earl of Essex, the 

 founder of that monastery " and lord of the manor of 

 Digswell. The grant was confirmed by Alice de 

 Vere, 80 said to have been the sister or half-sister of 

 William de Mandeville, the third earl. 81 Geoffrey 

 Fitz Piers, who was Earl of Essex from 1 199 to 

 1213, 8 * laid claim to the advowson, and litigation 

 arose between him and the Abbot of Walden. It was 

 decided that the earl and his son Geoffrey should 

 present to the church during their lives, and that 



GRAVELEY 



abbot for 

 The advowson then remained to Walden 

 Abbey until the surrender of the abbot in 1538. 

 The church was never appropriated, and the living 

 was always a rectory. In 1538 the abbey, at the 

 earnest suit of Thomas Audley, then Lord Chan- 

 cellor, 8 ' was granted to him with all its possessions* 

 among which, however, Digswell advowson U not 

 mentioned." Although there is no record of any 

 grant, 58 the advowson seems to have been acquired by 

 the lords of the manor, for John Scdley was seised of 

 half of it at his death in i6c>5. 6 ' After that date 

 St descended with the manor until I 786,=° when it 

 was sold by Elizabeth Willis to Jane Pearce," who 

 left it by will to her nephew the Rev. Nathaniel 

 May, 9 * the patron in 181 1." In that year, however, 

 he sold it to Joshua Watson, to hold in trust for the 

 use of his brother the Rev. John Jamea Watson and 

 his heirs. 3 ' In 1829 the advowson was sold by 

 Dr. Watson to S. Everard, BS who again sold it late in 

 1836 to William Willoughby Prescott. 98 The latter 

 died in the same year, leaving it by will to his fourth 

 son, the Rev. George Edward Prescott, who was 

 patron and incumbent until 1888." His trustees 

 held the presentation from that date until 1900, 

 when it was acquired by Miss Wilshere M of the 

 Frythe, Welwyn, who is the present patron. 



In 1638 the parsonage of Digswell was said 

 to be 'sufficient and commodious for habitation.' 

 Adjoining there was 'one large nue barne thatched 

 and bourded on the outside, of length five bayes, 

 also one hay barne and stable nue built contein- 

 ing both fower bayes covered with tiles being all 

 under one roofe.' The glebe lands amounted to 

 40 acres. 83 



The parliamentary returns of 1786 

 CHARITIES mention certain tenements and land 

 held by the parish under a gift of 

 Thomas Shallcross and of a donor unknown, situated 

 respectively at Burnham Green and at Harmer Green. 

 Questions arose, however, as to the title of the parish 

 to the property at Burnham Green, but three small 

 tenements at Harmer Green were inhabited by three 

 poor families rent free. 



GRAVELEY 



Gravelai (xi cent.) j Gravele (xiv cent.). 



The parish of Graveley has an area of 1,837 acres, 

 of which 581I are arable land, 297J acres permanent 

 grass and 85J acres wood. 1 The elevation of the 

 parish is greatest in the east, where it attains a height 

 of over 460 ft. It slopes down towards the west, but 

 the level of the entire parish is over 300 ft., with the 

 exception of a small portion in the extreme south-west. 



The village of Graveley is on the west side of the 



parish and is situated between Stevenage and Baldock 

 on the Great North Road, which forms a part of the 

 western boundary of the parish. The church of St. 

 Mary lies a little way off the high road on the east 

 side, and just to the west of it is Graveley Hall, a 

 1 7th-century house refaced with brick, but having its 

 original chimney stacks. A little to the south of the 

 church is Graveley Bury, a 17th-century farm-house 

 with pargeted walls and tiled roof. The village has 



" Dugdjlt, Mm. n, 133 ; Had. MS. 

 3697, fol. 1. 

 "Ibid. foL 21 i. 

 81 G.E.C. CmpUte p H r Wl 

 88 Ibid. S 



61 Dnchv of Lane. D. Box A, no. 11, 

 M L.aniP. Hen, fill, «iii (,), ««, 

 84 Dki. Nat. Bhg. W,57S 



m L. and P. Ben. Fill, xiii (1), 



rationed in the inquisi- 



tion taken at hi. death (Chan. Inq. 

 p.m. [Ser. 2], Ixx, 3). 



68 In the survey of the property of the 

 abbey taken in 1535 Digswell it not 

 mentioned {Valor Eccl. [Rec. Com.], 

 vi). Hence it may have already been 

 alienated. 



» Ibid, eeb^iii, ,+c. 



*° Bacon, Liber Regis. 



" Com. PleaaD. Enr. Hil.52 Geo. Ill, 

 m. 72; P.C.C. 57 Kenyon. 



M Com. Kent D. Enr. 52 



m Inst. Bits. (P.R.O.). 



M Com. Pleae D.Enr. Hil. 52 Geo.II I, 



» Clirieat Guide ; C 



Broadwater Hand. 263. 



96 Cussans, loc. cit, ; 



■ Clergy Lht. ' 



am, op. c 

 -iW Guide. 



1 Statiatica from Bd. of Agric. (1905). 



