A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



In [he cast wall of the north aisle is a three-light 

 window with a traceried head ; there are two windows 

 in the north wall and one in the nest wall, each of 

 two lights with tracerj' above, all of late I Jth- 

 century work, with repaired stonework. The north 

 doorway has a double ogee moulding with label and 

 defaced stops. At the east end are two damaged 

 carved stone brackets. There are some fragments of 



1 5th-centurv glass in one of the windows in the north 

 wall. In the north-west angle of the aide is a tall 

 locker, circular on plan internally, with a diameter of 



2 ft. 5 in. ; the recess has a pointed arched head, and 

 is about I z ft. in height ; it has a rebate for door, 

 and the iron hooks for the hinges remain ; it was 

 probably used to hold the processional cross and 

 staves. The roof of the aisle is modern, but a few old 



There is a three-light window in the east wall of 

 the south aisle, and two of two lights in the south 

 wall, all of modern stonework. A 1 5th-century 

 piscina, somewhat mutilated, remains at the east end 

 of the aisle. The south doorway, of I jfth-centiiry 

 date, has a moulded arch under a square head, with 

 traceried spandrels. The door is the original one of 

 oak, but has been restored. The west window of the 

 aisle is of two lights with a traceried head ; it is of 

 1 jth-ccntury work repaired. 



The entrance doorway to the south porch and the 

 side windows are modern ; it ha; a parvise over it, 

 approached by a turret stair in the nonh-west angle 

 outside, the door being in the south aisle. 



The west tower is of three stages, finished with an 

 embattled parapet. The tower arch is of three 

 moulded orders, with moulded capitals and bases to 

 the jambs. The west window is of two cinquefoiled 

 lights, with a six-foiled opening in its head. The 

 second stage is pierced by single lights in the west 

 and south ; the bell-chamber has, on each side, a 

 two-light opening with traceried head, much broken 

 and decayed. 



The lower part of the rood screen remains in situ ; 

 the panels are cusped, with carved spandrels, and 



retain their original paintings; two of them have 

 kings, with their names, Edmund and Edward, on 

 scrolls, the other two being bishops, unnamed. All 

 the other fittings are modern. 



In the churchyard, south of the church, is the 

 base of an octagonal stone cross of the 15th century. 

 Mr. F. J. Fordham gave a small piece of land for an 

 addition to the churchyard on the west side. 



There are five bells: the treble by R. Cailin, 

 174S (recast in i860) ; the second by Miles Graye, 

 16+j ; the third by John Briant, 1 790 (recast in 

 i860); the fourth and tenor by Miles Graye, 



16+2. 



The communion plate consists of paten, 1685, and 

 modern chalice and paten. 



The registers are in three books : (i) and (ii) 

 baptisms and burials 1538 to I 8 I 2, marriages 153S 

 to 1687, 1691 to 1753; (iii) marriages 175+ to 

 1 812. 



The patronage of the church was 

 JDFOU'SON originally attached to the manor of 

 Kelshall," and remained so until 

 1600, when the Bishop of Ely surrendered the manor 

 to the queen, " xl but retained the advowson in his own 

 hands. 1 " 1 It continued to be part of the possessions 

 of the see of Ely until i8;2, lu * when it was trans- 

 ferred to the Bi.hop of Oxford, 103 who in 1855 

 conveyed it to the Crown, 104 in whom it is at pre- 



In 1779 a meeting-place for Protestant Dissenters 

 was certified in Kel shall.™ 



The Poor's Land consists of a field 

 CHARITIES called Town Closes of about 8 acres, 

 and 8 a. I r. of land let in allotments, 

 together producing £12 51. yearly. In 1908 it. 6/. 

 per head was distributed to each labourer and his 

 wife and all in family under sixteen years of age, 

 and Z). bd. a head to five aged and infirm widows. 



Th»re is also a close of 2 a. 1 r. 5 P-, called the 

 Clerk's Close, the rent of which is payable to the 

 parish clerk, he paying land tax rates and tithe- 



RADWELL 



Radewelle (xi cent.) ; Redewell (xv cent.) ; Radi- 

 well (xvi cent.). 



The parish of Radwell Hes in the extreme north- 

 west of the county on the borders of Bedfordshire. 

 It is very small, containing only about 743 acres, of 

 which the gre.uer part is arable land and about one- 

 ninth permanent gras;. There are only 3^ acres of 

 woodland.' The chief crops are wheat, barley, beans 

 and turnips. The parish is on the chalk hills, but 

 lies comparatively low, rising nowhere more than 

 263 ft. above the ordnance datum. The River Ivel 

 flows through the south-west of the parish and forms 

 part of its western boundary, dividing it from 

 Norton. Radwell lies 2 miles north-west of Baldock, 

 at which town is its nearer railway station. The road 

 to Biggleswade, after passing through Baldock, runs 

 northward through Radwell and forms part of the 

 1 boundary of the pariih, which here coincides 



with the boundary between Hertfordshire and Bed- 

 fordshire. On the east the Cat Ditch forms part of 

 the boundary. 



The village lies in the south-west of the parish 

 between the road to Biggleswade and the River Ivel, 

 and along a lane which runs westward from the main 

 road to the river. On the north side of this lane 

 are the church and rectory ; a little to the west are 

 the corn mill and mill pond, probably occupying the 

 site of the mill mentioned in the Domesday Survey. 



Radwell House, the manor-house, and Bury Farm 

 are on the south side of the lane. These buildings 

 form the greater part of the village, which has always 

 been very small, the population in 1+28 being only 

 seven inhabitants. 11 In 1656 the people of Radwell 

 petitioned that they might be assis.ed in the repairing 

 of the Great North Road, which was then in great 

 decay, as the soil was so poor that the winter devoured 



19 Col. Pat. 14:1-9, p. 

 -«' Clc.se, 4.1 Eli*, pt. 

 « Add. MS. 5S47, p. 1 



r - Inn. Bks. fP.R.O.]. 



" Cubjim, op. cit. OJ,ty Hani. 138. 



» Ind. t,Lmd. Gas. 915. 



°» Urwick, op. cit. 798. 

 Statistics from Bd. of Agrlc. (1905). 

 1 fW. Aid,, ii, 454, 458. 



