GREAT BARFORD
Beranforda (viii cent.); Bereford (xi cent.); Barford
Magna (xii cent.).
Great Barford is a low-lying parish, with an area
of 2,843 acres, in the basin of the River Ouse. The
slope is from north-west to south-east, where the land
sinks as low as 77 ft. above the ordnance datum and is
liable to flood. Of the acreage, 1,527½ acres are
arable, 1,030 acres permanent grass and 3 acres woods
and plantations (fn. 1) ; there are also 25 acres of land
covered with water.
The soil and subsoil of the parish are both very
good gravel, which used to be worked in the Old
Gravel Pit to the east of the village. The crops produced are wheat, barley and oats; market gardening
is an increasing industry.
At the east end of the village the Ouse is crossed
by a bridge of seventeen arches, much restored with
brick chiefly on its western side, on which face it has
cutwaters on its intermediate piers. It contains workmanship of different ages, but the lower stonework
dates back to the 15th century, when a bridge was
built here, and became the subject of serious complaints on the part of the burgesses of Bedford, who
said it diverted trade from their town. (fn. 2) Leland
describes it as a bridge of '8 arches of stone near the
good uplandisch Towne of Berford.' (fn. 3) Traces of the
old water-mill are still to be seen on the river some
half mile south of the bridge. There used to be a
windmill in a field north of the cross-roads in this
parish, but now only the base remains. The upper
part was pulled down about three or four years ago.
The site is the property of Mr. Rudd Green.
The village is large and scattered, and is situated
on the south-eastern border of the parish. It contains
some good residences and cottages of every date and
style from the 17th century onwards. In the northern
part of the village, known as Green End, is the site
of Creakers Manor; the farm-house bearing this name
is comparatively modern. One of Lysons' correspondents, writing at the beginning of the last century,
relates that 'no part of Creakers House has been
occupied for forty or fifty years except by a labourer.' (fn. 4)
Green End Farm-house is an 18th-century brick
building, with traces of a moat near. Barford Hall,
the residence of John Arnold Whitchurch, is pleasantly
situated on a wooded hill about half a mile north-east
of the village. The parish church of All Saints stands
near the bridge in a beautifully kept graveyard.
Near the vicarage, which is adjacent, were till
recently to be discovered traces of the village pound.
Next to the vicarage stands an 18th-century brick
mansion.
Great Barford was inclosed by Act of Parliament in
1820. (fn. 5)
There is a Wesleyan chapel, built in 1824 and
rebuilt in 1903.
A very early reference to Barford may perhaps be
found in a charter by which Offa, King of Mercia,
in 792 confirmed various lands to the monastery of
St. Albans. (fn. 6) The charter purports to have been
granted in the place which is called 'Æt beranforda.'
The text of the charter is certainly spurious, but the
witnesses and dating clause may well have been taken
from a genuine instrument. Even so, however, the
identification with the present Barford cannot be
considered certain.
MANORS
In the Survey of 1086 Great Barford
was rated as a 10-hide vill, held by
Hugh de Beauchamp. (fn. 7) The descent
of the overlordships of all the sub-manors into which
the Domesday holding is subsequently divided follows
that of the barony of Bedford. Thus, of the five
manors found in this parish, the overlordships of
Birchfield and Veseys Manor follows the same descent
as that of Colmworth (q.v.), the former being held
in 1521 of Sir William Gascoigne. (fn. 8) After Veseys
Manor was granted to Higham Ferrers College no
further mention has been found of the overlordship.
The overlordship of Creakers Manor passed through
the Botetourts to the Latimers and Nevills, being last
mentioned in 1539. (fn. 9) Finally Netherbury Manor
was attached to that part of the Bedford barony
which passed to the Patishulls, (fn. 10) and by 1480 was
held by Margaret Duchess of Somerset. (fn. 11)
The four tenants in Great Barford mentioned in
Domesday were Rualon, who held 3 hides (fn. 12) ;
Wimund de Taissel, who held 52/3 hides (fn. 13) ; Tetband,
who held 1 hide and 3⅓ virgates (fn. 14) ; and Anschetil
the priest, who held 1½ hides. (fn. 15) With the exception
of the last, which became known as Veseys Manor,
none of these holdings can be identified with certainty
with the later manors that are found in Great Barford.
The earliest mention found of the family that
gives its name to the manor of VESEYS or VASEYS
is in 1190–1, when Jordan L'Enveise (fn. 16) owed
15 marks for having right of land in Barford against
Robert son of Ralph. (fn. 17) Jordan is also mentioned as
a witness to a grant of land at this time. (fn. 18) Robert
de Suppethorp followed Robert son of Ralph mentioned above and held 1½ hides here between 1250
and 1270, (fn. 19) but by 1302–3 had alienated his property to the L'Enveises, Walter L'Enveise holding a
quarter of a knight's fee in that year. (fn. 20) Walter and
his wife Agatha or Alice still held in 1316, (fn. 21) and
upon his death the property went with his wife to her
second husband, Sir Richard de Lacy. (fn. 22) She was
still holding this quarter of a knight's fee in 1346, (fn. 23)
between which date and 1424
the manor had become the
property of Edmund Brudenell and Alice his wife, (fn. 24) who
possibly was a daughter of
Alice L'Enveise. In that
year Edmund and his wife
alienated the manor 'called
Voysys, near Newenham,' to
Henry Archbishop of Canterbury, (fn. 25) who was the son of
Thomas Chicheley of Higham
Ferrers, co. Northants. (fn. 26) The
archbishop enfeoffed Hugh
Hasyldene and others with this quarter of a knight's
fee, (fn. 27) and they held it still in 1428. (fn. 28) Upon the
foundation, however, of the College of Higham
Ferrers in 1424, (fn. 29) Henry Chicheley granted the
manor of Veseys towards its support. (fn. 30) Eight years
previous to its dissolution the college had rents in
Barford to the value of £6 14s. 4d., (fn. 31) and held
Veseys till 1542, (fn. 32) when the manor was granted
to Robert Dacres of Cheshunt. (fn. 33) Robert died a
year after he had acquired the property, (fn. 34) and was
succeeded by George Dacres, who died seised of it in
1579. (fn. 35) It was then left by will to his third son
Robert.
L'Enveise. Gules a fesse dancetty ermine.
The manor appears to have been alienated during
the next generation to the family of Hatley, of whom
Robert Hatley, John Hatley and Anne his wife combined in 1630 to alienate this manor to George
Francklin. (fn. 36) The latter still held the property in
1653, (fn. 37) and one of the same name died in 1690, (fn. 38) and
was succeeded by Sir John Francklin, who died
without offspring in 1707. (fn. 39) Under his will the
property went to the Rev. John Francklin, a member
of a younger branch of the family, who left a fortune
of £20,000 at his death in 1731. (fn. 40) He was succeeded
by his son John, who became sheriff for Bedfordshire
a year before his death in 1740. (fn. 41) His son John
married in 1759, and at this time suffered a recovery
of the manor. (fn. 42) He, too, was made sheriff for the
county, and held Veseys till 1820. (fn. 43) His son Richard
succeeded him, and was in turn succeeded by his son
John, who died in 1858. The property then passed
to the latter's son, John Lisle Francklin, who holds it
at the present time.
The first mention of the family who give their
name to the manor of BRYTVILLES or BIRCHFIELD is in 1166, when Hugh de Bryteville held
one knight's fee in Bedfordshire. (fn. 44) Hugh's son William
was seised of the property in
1197, (fn. 45) and one of the same
name held it in the latter
part of the 13th century for
half a knight's fee and one-thirteenth part of a knight's
fee. (fn. 46) In 1275 John was
seised of it, (fn. 47) and by 1286 it
had passed to Hugh de Bryteville. (fn. 48) By 1316 it was the
property of Hugh's son
William, (fn. 49) who held it in
1330–1. (fn. 50) By 1342 Hugh
de Bryteville was in possession. (fn. 51) The family continued
resident in this parish till the
15th century, William Bryteville, the last member
of whom mention has been found, holding there in
1439. (fn. 52) Brytvilles Manor was subsequently alienated
to John Spencer of Cople, his son Robert dying
seised of the manor in 1521. (fn. 53) The descent of the
manor now follows that of Rowlands in Cople
(q.v.) (fn. 54) till 1691. In 1692 William Spencer suffered
a recovery of Birchfields (fn. 55) ; he appears to have alienated this property shortly afterwards, for by 1729 it
had passed to John Browning. (fn. 56) By 1789 the
Polhills of Howbury Hall (q.v.) had acquired
Birchfields, (fn. 57) and hold it to the present day.
Francklin of Great Barford. Argent a bend engrailed between two lions' heads razed gules with a dolphin between two martlets or on the bend.
The family of Burdelys, who gave their name
to the manor of BURDELYS or BULKELEYS
or NETHERBURY, can be traced to William de
Burdelys, who was succeded by his brother and heir
Hugh, (fn. 58) who died about 1250, (fn. 59) leaving Geoffrey de
Burdelys as heir to his estates. (fn. 60) Geoffrey died about
1263, (fn. 61) when John de Burdelys, his son and heir,
aged twenty-one years, succeeded him. (fn. 62) The latter
was proved in 1275 to have inclosed a path between
his house and the vill of Barford which was a right of
way. (fn. 63) From this date the descent of the manor
follows that of the manor of Burdelys in Stagsden (fn. 64)
(q.v.) until 1390–1, the only deviation in the descent
occurring in 1346, when Geoffrey Creaker was
proved seised of the manor, (fn. 65) probably as guardian to
John son of John de Burdelys, who was at that time a
minor. (fn. 66) In 1390 Edward atte Chaumbre conveyed
the manor of Burdelys to John and Thomas Malyns (fn. 67)
(or Malens) of Bromham, (fn. 68) the latter in 1402 granting
to John Morker and his heirs a moiety of the manor, (fn. 69)
which previous to 1480 had passed to John Fitz Jeffrey,
who died seised at that date, the manor having been
previously held by his father. (fn. 70) This family had its
seat in Clapham, (fn. 71) and the descent of the moiety
follows that of Clapham Manor (q.v.) (fn. 72) till 1561,
when the Fitz Jeffreys transferred the manor (which
at this time was called Netherbury (fn. 73) ) to Sir John
Mordaunt (fn. 74) of Turvey (q.v.). It was retained by
the Mordaunts until the early 17th century, when
they probably sold their estates in Netherbury to
Gideon Delawne of Roxton, who died seised of the
manor in 1644. (fn. 75) From this date till the present
day the descent of the manor follows that of Roxton
(q.v.), the family of Metcalfe first holding here in
1737 (fn. 76) till about 1850, when the property was
bought by the Delaps, who hold at the present
day. (fn. 77)
The manor of CREAKERS, CREWKERS or
WESTENDE
(fn. 78) derives its name from the Kentish
family of de Crevequer or de Crewker. (fn. 79) The alternative name of this manor originates from its position
in the north-west of the parish. It was a younger
line of the Crevequer family that came into Bedfordshire in the 13th century. Barford was probably
acquired by marriage, for
James de Crevequer, who is
mentioned as holding 2 hides
between 1250 and 1270 (fn. 80) in
Great Barford, had married
Matilda the daughter and coheir of Sir John de Bovil, (fn. 81)
who was proved to hold estates
in this county in 1225. (fn. 82)
James died before 1263, (fn. 83)
and Robert, his eldest son and
heir, may have succeeded to
the property for a short time, (fn. 84)
buthe died about the same time
as his father, (fn. 85) and was succeeded by his youngest brother
James. (fn. 86) The latter held the family property in
1302–3, (fn. 87) and by 1316 it had passed to his son
Stephen de Crevequer and Anne his wife, (fn. 88) who was
still holding it in 1330. (fn. 89) John, probably the son of
Stephen and Anne, was seised of the fee, which James
de Crevequer had once held, sixteen years later, (fn. 90) and
upon his death without issue in 1370 Stephen the
son of his brother Geoffrey succeeded to the property. (fn. 91)
Stephen died while under age in the same year, when
it descended to his younger brother, John Crevequer,
who entered into possession of what is now for the
first time called the manor on the attainment of his
majority in 1385. (fn. 92) The manor was held in 1428
by Stephen Crevequer, (fn. 93) and, although he is not
mentioned as actually holding Creakers at a subsequent date, his name is given in the list of Bedfordshire gentry for 1433. (fn. 94) Six years later he is
found in a list of many to whom pardons were
granted. (fn. 95)
Crevequer. Or a cross voided gules.
John Fitz Jeffrey of Great Barford is also given in
the list of 1433, (fn. 96) but his family probably did not
acquire the manor until later.
William Fitz Jeffrey of Thurleigh, the first of this name to
hold Creakers, left by his first
wife a son John and a widow
Elizabeth, upon whom Blackborne Hall and Milton Ernest
were settled in 1511. (fn. 97) John
died in 1535, leaving 'all
lands in Barford, Renhold and
Ravensden for a priest to say
mass and to sing for my soul
for the space of two years.' (fn. 98)
His widow Joan retained
Creakers until her death in 1536, when it passed to
George Fitz Jeffrey, the half-brother of John
aforesaid, (fn. 99) who married as his first wife Jane
daughter of John Baptist, by whom he had six
sons. (fn. 100) His second wife Judith daughter of Richard
Throckmorton was alive at his death in 1575
and married three years later John the son of
Thomas Rolt of Milton Ernest. (fn. 101) George Fitz
Jeffrey left a son and heir of the same name,
knighted in 1606, to whom his stepmother Judith
and her second husband John Rolt transferred their
right in the manor in 1589. (fn. 102) He was buried here
in December 1618. His son George Rolt of Creakers
had predeceased him in 1616, and his widow Anna
was buried here in 1627. About this date the Fitz
Jeffreys disposed of their property by sale and are stated
to have left the county. (fn. 103) In 1686 David Chandler
and Anne his wife quitclaimed a third of the manor
to Henry Halsoll (fn. 104) and Edward Goodwin. (fn. 105) A
third part of this portion of the manor was owned in
1726 by Harry Mander, (fn. 106) who alienated it in 1738
to John Peck. (fn. 107) The Halseys are the next family
that are known to have held the manor, (fn. 108) and are
said to have sold it to Mr. Pedley of Great Barford
about 1770. (fn. 109) The latter's son William held it in
1801 (fn. 110) and still possessed it at the time when
Lysons wrote. (fn. 111) By 1820 Creakers had ceased to
exist as a manor, (fn. 112) but the Pedley family to whom it
belonged is still resident in this parish.
Fitz Jeffrey. Sable a bull passant or.
St. Neots Priory owned property in this parish
which later became known as BARFORD MANOR,
and appears to have originated in grants made by
Hugh and Geoffrey of Barford in the 13th century. (fn. 113)
In 1428 St. Neots was holding that portion of a
knight's fee in Great Barford which Gerard de Braybrook and Margaret de Longeville formerly held. (fn. 114)
Barford appears to have been granted to John Gostwick
some time previous to 1580–1, (fn. 115) and followed the
same descent as Willington (q.v.) till it was transferred to William Delaune in 1663, (fn. 116) after which it
followed the same descent as Netherbury.
The descent of the messuage held by the family of
de Bereford can be traced from the late 13th century
till 1428. When first mentioned Henry de Bereford held it as half a fee and one-fifteenth part of a
fee. (fn. 117) By 1275–6 it was the property of Humphrey
de Bereford, (fn. 118) and at the latter's death, within the
next twenty years, it descended to his son Henry, (fn. 119)
who held it in 1302–3 as half a knight's fee. (fn. 120)
Another Humphrey held it in 1316 (fn. 121) and another
Henry thirty years later. (fn. 122) The property was subsequently alienated to John Newman, who was proved
to hold it in 1428. (fn. 123)
Bushmead Priory had a small interest in this
parish, of which first mention is found in 1240–1. (fn. 124)
In 1534 the prior received £4 8s. in rent in
Barford. (fn. 125) In 1537 Sir William Gascoigne and
his heirs were granted this interest, (fn. 126) but in 1545
his son Sir John alienated it to Anthony Cockett
of London. (fn. 127) From the latter it descended to
Thomas Childe, junior, of London, (fn. 128) whose family
was still in Great Barford in 1603. (fn. 129)
The Prior of Chaucombe held rents in this parish
in 1291 to the value of £3 19s. 4d., (fn. 130) while views
of frankpledge were claimed at the same date by the
Knights Hospitallers as attached to their manor in
Bedford in 1286. (fn. 131) In 1385 the Prior of Newnham,
who held land in Barford, (fn. 132) was granted the right of
free warren for ever. (fn. 133)
In 1086 Anschil the priest held one mill which
was worth 7s. (fn. 134) and Rualon another, worth 22s. and
fourscore eels. (fn. 135) These came into the hands of
William Longespée, by whom they were granted in
1235 to the Prior of Pipewell. (fn. 136) Two years later
a mill was transferred by Simon de Patishull in this
parish to the Prior of Snetteshall. (fn. 137) In 1291 the
Abbot of Pipewell held three parts of a mill here. (fn. 138)
In 1546 Francis Fitz Jeffrey possessed the right of
free fishery in the Ouse. (fn. 139) Four new mills were
erected about 1586, and were held, together with
the 'ancient mills at Rafe Place,' by John Webster
at that date, (fn. 140) and by William Webster in 1603. (fn. 141)
Within the next six years the two water-mills, 'late
of the priory of Pipewell' and called 'Barford Mills,'
were held by Thomas Belle, who succeeded his father
John in 1609. (fn. 142) These mills were granted three
years later to William Lloyd and others, (fn. 143) and
Nicholas Spencer died seised of three water-mills here
in 1644. (fn. 144)
CHURCH
The church of ALL SAINTS has a
chancel 26 ft. 3 in. by 16 ft., a nave 61 ft.
by 21 ft. 2 in., north aisle 13 ft. 2 in.
wide, south aisle 11 ft. 5 in. wide, and a west tower
13 ft. 9 in. by 12 ft. 6 in.
The church, which formerly consisted of chancel,
nave and west tower, has been rebuilt in 14th-century style, with the addition of aisles to the nave,
the only old work left standing being the 15th-century tower and the eastern angles of the nave.
The latter are very irregularly quoined with large
and small stones and are of uncertain date.
There is a new oak screen, and the chancel walls
are panelled.
The nave has arcades of four bays, with clustered
columns and with moulded capitals and bases. Above
is a clearstory of small quatrefoils; the nave roof,
which is 15th-century work re-used, is in five bays.
The aisles are lighted by square-headed windows
of three cinquefoiled lights, with tracery in 14th-century style, and there is a large south doorway,
forming the principal entrance.
The tower arch is in three chamfered orders, of
which the inner springs from an attached shaft with a
moulded capital and base; it is filled with a modern
wooden screen, glazed above. The tower is divided
externally by string-courses into five stages, and has
diagonal buttresses ending in crocketed pinnacles; it
is surmounted by a small octagonal spire covered
with lead.
The font dates from the 13th century, and has a
square bowl with the angles chamfered off, on a
square pedestal with angle shafts; it stands in the
south aisle to the west of the south door. On the
north wall of the chancel is an alabaster and black
marble monument to Thomas Ansell, 1591. It has
kneeling figures of Thomas Ansell and his wife
Elizabeth (Wheatley) face to face, under a cornice
carried by Corinthian columns; behind the man are
the effigies of four sons and behind his wife those of
seven daughters. Above are the arms: Gules a saltire
or between four bezants, for Ansell, and by the heads
of Thomas and his wife are respectively Ansell impaling two hands joined supporting a heart, for
Wheatley, and Wheatley alone. On the south wall
are the brass figures and inscriptions of John Fitz
Jeffrey, 1535, and his wife.
The bells were tuned, refitted and rehung in 1905.
There are five of them, all by Hugh Watts; the
tenor is of 1637, the rest of 1636.
The plate consists of a silver communion cup
of 1697, inscribed beneath the foot, 'The Parish of
Great Barford 1813,' over a
half-destroyed inscription,
'The Gift of Mr. David
Bosanquet to the French
Church in Threadneedle
Street, London A°Dni 1697';
a modern electro-plated flagon
and a silver standing paten.
The registers before 1813
are in four books: (i) all
entries 1564 to 1713; (ii)
the same, 1714 to 1764, the
marriages stopping at 1754;
(iii) marriages 1754 to 1812;
(iv) baptisms and burials 1764
to 1812.
ADVOWSON
In the reign
of Henry II
Simon de
Beauchamp granted the advowson of Great Barford to
the Prior of Newnham, (fn. 145)
who held it till the dissolution of the monastery in
1542. (fn. 146) Four years later the
advowson was granted
to Trinity College, Cambridge, (fn. 147) which still presents. (fn. 148)
CHARITIES
The Poor's
Land consists
of 3 acres, or
thereabouts, let at £2 10s. a
year, which is distributed in
coal on the average to thirty
recipients.
In 1843 Richard Francklin,
by will proved in the P.C.C.
on 22 June, bequeathed £200
consols, the dividends, subject
to keeping the testator's family
vault in the churchyard in
repair, to be applied in the
distribution of bread. In 1907 the annual dividend
of £5 was given in bread.
John Arnold, who died in 1864, by his will left
£1,000 to be invested and income applied in the
distribution of coals and clothing. The legacy was
invested in £1,113 0s. 6d. consols, producing
£27 16s. 4d. a year, which in 1907 was distributed
in blankets to thirty-five recipients and in coal to 115.
The two sums of consols are held by the official
trustees.
In 1827 W. Pedley by will left £100, the
interest to be applied in the purchase of books for
the Sunday school. The trust fund is on deposit
in the savings bank.
Great Barford Church from the South-west