A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



two moulded orders, the outer order bcingcontinuous 

 down the jambs, the inner having a shafted jamb with 

 moulded capitals and bases ; on the north and south 

 by arches of two chamfered order;, well within the 

 lines of the nave walls, dying on the wall under the 

 eastern ;ide of the tower ; and by the west wall of the 

 nave, which carries the west side of the tower. The 

 spaces thus formed between the tower and the north 

 and south walls of the nave are covered with lean-to 

 tiled roofs, the battlements on the walls of the chancel 

 and nave being stopped and returned against the ea-t 

 angles of the tower. A similar form of construction 

 may be found at the neighbouring church ofNewnham, 

 but not elsewhere in the county. 



The tower is of one stage above the roof, and has 

 no spire ; the parapet is plain. On each side of the 

 upper or belfry stage of the tower and in the west 

 wall of the nave is a two-light window with a quatre- 

 foiled head, all repaired with cement. 



The font is octagonal, of 15th-century date. The 

 sides of the basin are decorated with traceried panels. 

 Underneath are shields facing the four cardinal points ; 

 that on the east bears a saltire, that on the north a 

 cross, that on the west the instruments of the Passion, 

 and that on the south three crowns. 



There are some plain 1 ;th-ccntury benches in the 



In the east window are some remains of i;th- 

 century decorative glass, and in the south nave 

 window is p.irt of a kneeling figure in a blue gown 

 and the name William Makcley. 



There is a tablet on the south wall of the nave to 

 Francis Squire, 17?;, and a floor slab to Jame^ Flint, 

 1763. 



There is one bell, dated I 630, by Robert Oldfeild. 



The communion plate includes an engraved cup of 

 1569 and a paten of 1638. 



There is a transcript of parish registers from 

 October 1609 to 1725," but the existing registers 

 date only from 1726. Book (i) contains baptisms, 

 burials and marriages from 1726 to 1807 ; (ii) 

 baptisms and burials from 1808 to 1812. This last 

 book was designed for marriages also, but none were 

 solemnized in this parish during that period.'* 



In 1086 the nine villeins of 

 JDCOH'SON Caldccote with one priest had a 

 plough and a half. 1 * The advow=on 

 was probably attached to the manor from the first. The 

 patron in 1239 was Gerard de Furnivail," grandfather 

 of the Gerard who held the manor in Iz87.' v 

 Thenceforward the advowson descended with the 

 manor. The present patron is Mr. Wickham Inskip. 



No appropriation seems to have taken place while 

 the Abbots of St. Albans were patrons of the living. 

 A terrier of 1638 states that ' the custome for milch 

 cows is fourepence a piece for ghest cows twopence 

 for lambes whose number amounts not to a tyth 

 fourepence a piece and for weaneling calves but 

 half-pence.' Other dues to the parsonage were 

 ' the goring of two calves in the common and the 

 custome of paying two-pence for every plowe.' ** 

 In 1657 the living of Caldecote was worth £40 

 annually, and that of the adjoining parish of 

 Newnh'am only £1 7." As there were only thirty- 

 three families in all in the two parishes, the 

 churches were only three-quarters of a mile apart and 

 none of the houses at a great distance from either, it 

 was thought advisable to unite the two livings. The 

 sile of the advowsons by Robert Hale probably pre- 

 vented the execution of this plan. The present 

 rector holds both livings, and since 1894. service 

 has been held in either church alternately. The 

 rector lives at Newnham, and the old rectory- 

 house at Caldecote, which is near the church, is now 

 converted into a cottage. It dates from the end of 

 the 1 6th century, but little remains of the original 

 work except the moulded beams. 



The church terrier of 1638 mentions a 'parsonage 

 howse and yeardc,' a barn, a stable, and other out- 

 houses, and a ' plott of ground being in all by 

 estimation about the quantitie of three roodes of 

 grounde lying on the north side of the church and 

 compassed about on every side with high wayes save 

 only on the west side lyeth the cottage ground in 

 ye tenure of William Starre.' '" He was apparently 

 the churchwarden whose ' mark ' is subscribed to this 



There are no endowed charities. 



CLOTHALL 



Cladhele (jti cent.) ; Clahall or Clohall (xiii cent.) ; 

 Clothalc (xiv cent.). 



The parish of Clothall lies on the summit and 

 slopes of the chalk hills to the south-east of the town 

 of Baldock. It is a district of scattered farms and 

 homesteads. The church, with the rectory and 

 schools, lies to the south-east of the main road 

 from Buntingford to Baldock in a commanding 

 but somewhat isolated position on the eastern 

 slope of Hickman's Hill. A branch of the main 

 road here turns the summit of the hill at a 

 height of about 492 ft. above sea level, descending 





uptly northwards. Between Baldock and Clothall 

 urch lies Clothall Field, containing about 600 acres, 

 i-field' of open arable land famous for 

 ind divided into irregular strips by 'balks,' 

 or narrow banks of grass, sometimes grown with 

 bushes. 1 The strips are still divided among the three 

 chief landowners : the rector, the Marquess of Salis- 

 bury and Miss Cotton Browne.' On the hill-side the 

 scarped terraces, or ' lynches,' form a distinctive 

 feature of the parish. The high ridges between these 

 terraces have the appearance of artificial defences, 

 but are in reality due to the custom of turning the 



3*. 



3 Hvtt. Gen. and .1*iij, in, 3 

 * SUM. and Him. N. and Q. 

 B V.C.H. Hera, i, 3;;*. 



inclu. 



B Johnde R-dewell, 11 

 ar whether he prcscnte 



15. It 



<*Hert 





if Hern. Odit, Bund. 

 *' See the a; c t ..i- 

 The liit of patrc 



1 202 ana 110s incluaeJ in Lu=sar i li<t (ct. 

 Chan. Inq. p.m. file 4;, no. 9 [Edw. II] ; 

 Te,u d, A'™;V/[Rec. C.m.l, 354, 356). 



220 



» V.C.H. Htr. 



'■« Herts. Gen. and Am,3. ii, 114. 



1 Cf. the open field al Bygrave. 

 ' Inform, kindly jupplicd by the 

 A. R. Bucldand. 



