A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



the 14th and 1 ;rh centuries, 4 but there is no sign of 

 separate borough presentments or of a corporate body. 

 A frequently recurring entry is that of payments ' for 

 whate-silver ' from the burgages. 5 The gild of St. 

 John the Baptist may have had some share in the 

 government of the town. The Brotherhood House 

 stood in the High Street of Ash well (see under gild). 

 The town was divided into five wards in the 15th 

 century, the name of one ward being ' Dokelake ' 

 Ward, and another High Street Ward. 6 The name 

 Chepyng Street occurs in the 16th century. 7 



In 1295 the Abbot of Westminster claimed the 

 right to hold a market by virtue of the original grant 

 of the manor by Edward the Confessor, 8 and it is 

 probable that the market dates back to that period. 

 The first mention of it is in 1 2 1 1 , when it is recorded 

 that ' the Abbot of Westminster rendered account 

 of 2 palfreys that the market of Ashwell may return 

 to Sunday from Saturday.' 8 In 1575 Queen Eliza- 

 beth granted to the Bishop of London the right to 

 hold a market weekly on Mondays. 10 It had lapsed 



— — ~z~ 



beth, ls but afterwards there appears to have been 

 only one fair, which was abolished by law in 1872. u 

 The High Street of the village runs in a north- 

 easterly direction parallel with Ashwell Street Way. 

 It contains some old houses, notably a cottage for- 

 merly the British Queen Inn, which was originally 

 built in the 15th century, but was much altered in 

 the 17th century. It is a timber-framed house with 

 a thatched roof. On the north side is a stone window 

 partially destroyed and in the kitchen is a moulded 

 oak beam. There are three or four 17th-century 

 houses of red brick or timber and plaster in this 

 street, one bearing the date 1681 and the figure of a 

 dolphin in the plaster. At right angles to it is Mill 

 Street, which runs past St. Mary's Church to the corn 

 mill. This is probably the water mill mentioned in 

 early extents of the manor. Close by the mill is a 

 brewery, and there is another to the south-west of 

 the village. Brewing is the chief industry besides 

 agriculture. 



:sidence of Mr. ]. W. Attwood, 

 is situated just beyond the 

 church. Elbrook House, to 

 the north of the village, is 

 the residence of Mr. E. S. 

 Fordham. At Ashwell End, 

 about half a mile north-west 

 of the church, is a 17th- 

 century farm-house of two 

 stories. It is of timber plas- 

 tered and decorated with 

 combed pargeting. 



Ralph Cudworth, divine 

 and author, was vicar of Ash- 

 well 1662 to 1688. u " 



Ashwell Bury, the 



in Ashwell Vii 



evidently 

 a market at Ashwell 

 manufacture of malt 

 tury. In 1637 the 

 plained that they 



The distance from 



vith Ashwell 

 three tim 

 worth.' « 

 Fairs Vi 

 in 1295, '■ 



■anted ti 



:cessfully 

 r times. But a thriving 

 ried on in the 17th cen- 

 ints of Hinxworth corn- 

 taxed in fair comparison 



'which has many rich maltsters and 

 much land and as good as Hti 



gram 



re chimed by the Abbot of Westi 

 by virtue of a grant of Henry III, 

 ', not extant. Three fain yearly 

 the Bishop of London by Queen 



The manor ol 

 MANORS A SH IV ELL, 

 originally part of 

 the demesne of the Crown, 

 was granted by Edward the 

 Confessor in his first charter 

 to the abbey of St. Peter, 

 Westminster, dated December 

 1066. ,5 The Domesday Sur- 

 vey records that of the 6 hides 

 at which Ashwell was assessed 

 the abbot himself held two 

 the manor at this date being 

 with land for twelve plough- 

 sufficient for six. Peter de 

 hide and Geoffrey de Mande- 

 s abbot. 16 There is nothing 

 larly worthy of note concerning this manor 

 during the period of nearly 500 years during which 

 it was held by the Abbots of Westminster. The 

 abbots possessed here, as in their other manors, the 

 privileges of free warren," view of frankpledge, assize 

 of bread and ale, pleas of namii vetiti, and exemption 

 from sheriffs tourn and from scot, geld, aid and 

 toll. 18 



and a half in demesne, 

 evidently a large one, 

 teams and meadow 

 Valognes held half a 



irgate of th- 

 panic 



* Mins. Accts. at Wc ? 



i'ife R. 13 John, 

 Pat. 17 Eli*, pt. 

 ■ R*p. Cms. en 

 170. 



Market 



Righ,, 



'.at. Mich. 36 Hen. 

 '. (Rec. Com.), 288. 



11 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1636-7, p. 40 

 u Plac.dtQuo W drr .{R cc . Com.) 

 11 Pat. 17EH1. pt. i, m . 1. 

 11 Z.W. Gaz. 28 June 1871, p. ; 

 '** Cfwick, op. cit. 779; Did. Nai 



200 



