A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



the church with the exception of the west tower was 

 again rebuilt. 



The west tower is of 15th-century date with work 

 of the 17th century and renewed stonework of 1SS3; 

 it is of two siages with an embattled parapet and a 

 small leaded spire. The tower arch has been much 

 restored ; in the west doorway are two of the original 

 moulded jamb stones. 



The font, made by Wedgwood in 1 780, is interest- 

 ing and somewhat uncommon. It consists of a circular 

 bowl of basalt ware — a kind of black porcelain — 

 about 21 in. in diameter, the exterior ornamented 

 with festoons of drapery. The base is moulded ; it 

 stands on a square wooden pedestal which tapers 

 downwards. The sides are fluted and the upper 

 part is decorated with painted masks and festoons in 

 the Adam style. A small round cylinder of porcelain, 

 about 8 in. high, with moulded capital and base, 

 stands Inside the bowl to support a smaller basin for 

 the water. 



On the south aisle wall U a large monument to 

 William Priestley, 1 664, with twisted pilasters sup- 

 porting the cornice, on which are his arms. There 

 are also several 17th-century floor slabs. On the 

 south aisle wall is a brass to William Tooke, 1588, 

 and his wife Ales. The figures are kneeling at a 

 table. Behind the man are figures of nine sons, and 

 behind the woman three daughters. Above are three 

 shields of arms ; in the middle (1) the arms of Tooke 

 with their crest, a griffon's head party cheveronwise 

 razed and holding in its beak a sword erect ; (j) 

 Tooke impaling Barlee ; (3) Barlee quartering Bibbcs- 

 wonh. On a floor slab with shield of arms, with the 

 crest and arms of Tooke with quarterings, the inscrip- 

 tion is missing. On the south wall are three brasses 

 of shields, all similar ; quarterly: (l) France quarter- 

 ing England, all within a border quarterly of Eng- 

 land and France; (2) Courtenay ; (3) Say; (4.) 

 Reivers. According to a modern inscription under- 

 neath these brasses were taken from a gravestone below 

 in 1778. Thearmsare perhaps intended to represent 

 those of Henry Courtenay Marquess of Exeter, be- 

 There are six bells : the treble by Thomas Pack, 

 1769; the second and fourth {168;) and sixth 

 (i 68 1) by Richard Chandler ; the third (1 894) and 

 the fifth (i9°3) by Mean k Stainbank. 



The communion plate consists of cup and cover 

 paten, I 569; large paten, 1691; silver flagon, 1769; 

 baptismal dish, 1778; modern silver paten and glass 

 flagon. 



The registers before 1812 are as follows : (i) bap- 

 tisms, burials and marriages from 1653 to 1731 ; (ii) 

 baptisms and burials from 1729 to 1 761, marriages 

 1729 to 1751 ; (iii) baptisms and burials from 1762 

 to 1812 ; (iv) marriages from 1754 to 1 789 ; (v) 

 marriages from 1789 to 1795 ; (vi) marriages from 

 1795 to 1812. 



The advowson of the rectory hai 

 ADVOWSON always followed the descent of the 

 manor.'-" In 1630 Essendon was 

 described as a sequestered living worth £90 with the 

 living of Bayford. 98 In 171; 'be lord of the manor, 

 James Cecil Earl of Salisbury, presented." The 

 advowson remained with his descendants, and the 

 rectory of Essendon is in the gift of the Marquess of 

 Salisbury at the present day. 



There is evidence of Nonconformity in Essendon 

 during the 17th century. In 1646 George Stally- 

 brasse, who was rector of Essendon, signed the Hert- 

 fordshire ministers' petition to Parliament in favour 

 of the Covenant. In 1674 the churchwardens were 

 summoned before the archdeacon for neglect of duty, 

 and in 1682 it was reported that at Essendon they 

 lacked both surplice and prayer book. 100 In 1817 the 

 chapel of James Pond was certified as a place of 

 worship for Protestant Dissenters, and a Baptist chapel 

 was built in 1885. 



In 1761 Meliora Priestley, by a 

 CHARITIES codicil to her will proved in the 

 P.C.C. Z7 June, left £100, now 

 £133 6;. %d. consols, with the official trustees, the 

 annual dividends, amounting to £3 6/. Bd., to be 

 distributed to the poor in bread each month. 



In 179; Samuel Whitbread, by a codicil to his 

 will, bequeathed £533 61. Sd. 3 per cent, reduced 

 annuities, now represented by a like amount of consols, 

 with the official trustees, producing £14 10/. \od. a 

 year, of which .£5 a year is payable to the rector for 



during the year, and the residue in the distribution 

 of bread. A sum of £zoo consols has been set aside 

 as the ecclesiastical charity and ^"333 61. 8a'. consols 

 as the eleemosynary charity. 



HERTINGFORDBURY 



Herefordingberie (xi cent.} j Hert.ordburia, Hert- 

 fordingebyre, Hertford iggebiry (xiii cent.). 



The parish of Heningfordbury has an area of 

 2,644 atrK > of which 1,223 acres are arable land 

 and 750^ acres are permanent grass.' The greater 

 part of the parish lies at an altitude of over 200 ft. 

 above the ordnance datum, reaching 264 ft. in the 

 west, but in the east of the parish and along the 

 northern border, in the valleys of the Lea and Mim- 

 ram, the ground is below 200 ft. The road from 

 Hatfield to Hertford runs through the parish in an 

 easterly direction until it reaches St. Mary's Church, 

 where it turns off at right angles, and is joined 



by the road running due north from Bayford. The 

 village is situated at this corner and along the Hatfield 

 road to the north. The last house in the parish is 

 Epcombs, the residence of Mr. Charles Leslie, which 

 is just on the boundary between Heningfordbury and 

 St. Andrew, Hertford, but a few houses on the other 

 side of the boundary seem to belong to Hertingford- 

 bury. The mill stands a little south of it on the 

 same side of the road. The rector)' is situated to the 

 east of the village and north of the church. The 

 old parsonage, which stands in the middle of the village, 

 is an early 17th-century building of brick, most of it 

 plastered externally ; it is L-shaped on plan, and has 



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