A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



on the ground, may have at one time inclosed the 

 church. The modern rectory- house stands on the 

 east of the church. The village lies to the north- 

 west of the church along a broad street, which was 

 evidently the market-place for the market which was 

 established here by the Somerys in the 13th century. 

 The attempt to make Bygrave a market town in com- 

 petition with Baldock, then a new town on the more 

 important site at the cross roads, was renewed by the 

 Thornburys two centuries later. Along the village 

 street are a few cottages and a house now called the 

 Manor House, occupied as a farm by Mr. C. E. E. 

 Cook. 



The village is immediately surrounded by its 

 inclosed pasture lands, which extend west and south- 

 west to the road running south- westward to BaldocL 

 The name ' Ploughed Warren ' applied to certain 

 arable land immediately east of a part of this road 

 suggests that it was originally grass land also, which 

 would make the pasture land more compact. On the 

 eastern side of the pasture surrounding the village 

 near the rectory is * Park Wood,' which possibly marks 

 the siteofthe inclosed lands attached to the Thornburys' 



Beyond the pasture land are the great common 

 fields which occupy not far short of 1,000 acres 

 undivided by hedge or fence. They stretch in every 

 direction upon the slopes which surround the village, 

 and consist of open arable land broken into irregular 

 strips of uneven size. There are two outlying farms 

 in addition to the Manor Farm, and the occupiers of 

 these, with other landowners, hold strips scattered 

 over the whole area of the field. Parallel strips lie 

 together in 'furlongs,' such as 'Miller's Furlong,' 

 shown on the plan. This and other 'furlongs' 

 generally abut on one of the broad field-paths. Where 

 there is no road the plough is turned on transverse 

 strips known as 'headlands.' In consequence the 

 owner of the 'headland' must wait until the adjacent 

 land is ploughed before ploughing his own. Some- 

 times the strips, and more often the furlongs, are 

 v grass banks known as ' balks. 1 

 ipecially in the neighbourhood of 

 growing on the balks have formed 

 . but for the most part a single furrow is 

 s the strip of one occupier from that of 

 The cottagers, as such, appear now 

 to have no common rights over the open fields ; but 

 each occupier of arable land grazes his cattle over the 

 whole field after harvest is gathered, the lord of the 

 manor also having a right of sheep-walk for one month 

 in May and October. This right is let with one of 

 the farms, but it is not exercised, for the other occupiers 

 purchase exemption. 1 



Bygrave has always possessed a very small popula- 

 tion. There are now about thirty-one houses, and 

 the population has increased between 1891 and 1901 

 from 99 to 148.' In 14.28 the whole parish was said 



nlys 



divided by n; 

 Here and thci 

 the village, bus 

 small hedges 

 all that divides 

 his neighbour. 



1 inhabitant householders/ The 

 : to the eastward extension of the 



town of Baldock around the station on the Cambridge 

 branch of the Great Northern railway, which skirts 

 the southern boundary of Bygrave, running parallel 

 with the Icknield Way. 



Near Baldock a small portion of the parish lies to 

 the west of the North Road. It consists of some 

 rough pasture, water-cress beds and rush-grown waste, 

 and is traversed by the River Ivel. There can be 

 little doubt that this extension over the Roman road, 

 which would otherwise be the obvious boundary of 

 the parish, was made by the early settlers with the 

 object of obtaining the water-power from the Ivel to 

 drive the manorial mill which certainly existed down 

 to the 17th century. The pathway from the village 

 which comes into the Roman road near to Blackhorse 

 Farm or Blackhorse Mill is still known as Miller's Way. 

 It was probably on this land to the west of the Roman 

 high road in the neighbourhood of Baldock that there 

 existed a glover's pit and ' Currier's ' pasture early in 

 the 17th century.* A part of Bygrave civil parish 

 was annexed to Baldock in 1881/ 



Athelstan Atheli 

 MANOR son of Ethelred 

 BYGRAVE from a. 

 restored it by his will." In the ti 

 fessor 'Lemar' (the same name 

 He was a man of Archbishop Stigand, but 

 his land without the archbishop' 



(born about 986), 



le Unready, took 



tain ' Leofmere,' but 



ofEdwardtheCon- 



Leofmere) 9 held it. 



.Id alienate 



In 1086, 



.ted 



however, Robert {de Limesey), the recently ci 

 Bishop of Chester and Lichfield, held the manor in 

 demesne. There were also two sokemen there holding 

 3 virgates which they had been unable to alienate in 

 the Confessor's time without the leave of the arch- 

 bishop. 10 Robert de Limesey probably held the manor 

 as his personal property, as he did North Mimms. 1 ' 

 Like that manor it became attached at an early date 

 to the honour of Gloucester." It is possible that 

 Limesey died without heirs, and that his lands were 

 granted to the Earls of Gloucester. Bygrave was 

 held of the honour by Miles de Somery as three 

 knights' fees and a half in lioi. In later records 

 the service due for Bygrave is variously stated as two 

 knights' fees," one fee, 11 and half a fee." The 

 honour was vested in the Crown by the marriage of 

 Anne, heiress of the Dcspenscrs, with Richard III, and 

 in 1678 a rent of one-tenth was still reserved to the 

 Crown." 



It seems possible that Miles de Somery had been 

 preceded by Elias de Somery. 18 Miles de Somery 

 evidently made sub-en feoffment of the manor to 

 another member of his family before his death, which 

 occurred before 1229," for in 1220 Hugh de Somery 

 conveyed Bygrave to John de Somery in consideration 

 of an annuity of 16 marks. s ° Upon the death of 

 Stephen, son and ultimate heir of Miles de Somery, 

 the service from Bygrave was assigned to his widow 



