Bardsey (All Saints)
BARDSEY (All Saints), a parish, in the Lower
division of the wapentake of Skyrack, W. riding of
York; containing, with the townships of Bardsey-withRigton, Wothersome, and part of Wike, 469 inhabitants,
of whom 364 are in the township of Bardsey-with Rigton,
5 miles (S. W. by S.) from Wetherby, on the road to
Leeds. This parish, which comprises 2600 acres, contains some quarries of excellent stone for building, in
which are found many fossils; and abounds with pleasing scenery. The village is situated in the picturesque
vale of a small rivulet, near the Wetherby road; Rigton
lies on the opposite side of the valley. The living is a
discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at
£4. 1. 8.; net income, £270; patron and impropriator,
George Lane Fox, Esq. The church is an ancient
structure in the Norman style, of which it is an elegant
specimen: near it is a mound called Castle hill, the
supposed site of a Roman fortress. A school was endowed by Lord Bingley, in 1726, with 27 acres of land,
which produce £20 per annum. Congreve, the dramatist, thought to have been born at Bardsey-Grange,
was baptized here, in 1669.
Bardsley
BARDSLEY, an ecclesiastical district, in the parish
and union of Ashton-under-Lyne, hundred of Salford, S. division of the county of Lancaster, on the
road to Oldham; containing about 2500 inhabitants.
This district is in the Knott-Lanes division of the
parish; and the river Medlock, and the Manchester and
Oldham canal, both run through it. The surface is
elevated, and undulating; the soil tolerably good; and
the scenery picturesque. The population is mostly employed in coal-mines, which are wrought to a great
extent, the coal being of excellent quality; and stone is
also abundant in the neighbourhood. There are a cottonmill, and a large brewery. Bardsley House, overlooking the glen of the Medlock, is the seat of John Jonah
Harrop, Esq. Many generations of the Bardsley family
held the estate, under the lords of Ashton, by the feudal
payment of a rose and one penny, annually: the property subsequently came, by marriage, to the Tetlows;
and after having been out of the family for some time,
was again purchased in 1681 by Jonah Harrop. In the
glen is the house of Riversvale. The living is a perpetual
curacy, with an income of £150, and a residence;
patrons, the Trustees of Hulme's Charity. The church,
dedicated to the Holy Trinity, was built in 1844, at a
cost of £2000; it stands on an eminence, and is a cruciform structure in the Norman style, with a square
tower. The Primitive Methodists have a place of
worship; and excellent national schools have been built,
at a cost of £1400. Sixty gold coins of the reigns of
James and Charles I. were found in an old stable here,
in 1822.
Bardwell (St. Peter and St. Paul)
BARDWELL (St. Peter and St. Paul), a parish,
in the union of Thingoe, hundred of Blackbourn, W.
division of Suffolk, 2¼ miles (N. by E.) from Ixworth;
containing 826 inhabitants. The living is a rectory,
valued in the king's books at £7. 17. 1., and in the gift
of St. John's College, Oxford: the tithes have been
commuted for £780, and there are 33 acres of glebe.
The church is in the decorated style, and consists of a
nave and chancel, with a lofty embattled tower; in the
windows are several beautiful specimens of ancient
stained glass. There is a place of worship for Particular
Baptists. The Town estate, left by William Beetson
and others, consists of a building termed the Guildhall,
occupied by the poor, six cottages, and several pieces of
land containing 68 acres; yielding in the whole £87 per
annum.
Bare
BARE, a hamlet, in the township of Poulton, Bare,
and Torrisholme, parish of Lancaster, hundred of
Lonsdale south of the Sands, N. division of the county
of Lancaster, 3¼ miles (N. W. by N.) from Lancaster;
containing 120 inhabitants. Bare was a part of the
Saxon manor of "Haltune," and one of those places
whose tithes were granted by Roger de Poictou to the
priory of Lancaster. The hamlet comprises 230a. 1r. 18p.,
and is beautifully situated on the shore of Morecambe
bay, commanding fine views of the opposite shore of
Furness, Piel Castle, the Lake mountains, Ingleborough,
and the valley of the Lune. The soil on the hills is
light, and very favourable for early potatoes; in the
lower grounds it is rich clay and moss. The population is employed in fishing and agriculture. The Elms
is the beautiful seat of James Giles, Esq., M.A., mayor
of Lancaster in 1845-6. The air here is very salubrious
and bracing.
Barford (St. Botolph)
BARFORD (St. Botolph), a parish, in the corporation and hundred of Forehoe, E. division of Norfolk,
3½ miles (N.) from Wymondham; containing 417 inhabitants. The parish comprises 1052a. 3r. 15p., of
which 852 acres are arable, 192 meadow and pasture,
and 8 woodland and plantations. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £4. 8. 4.;
patron and incumbent, the Rev. H. Francklin. The
tithes have been commuted for £350, one-half of which
is paid to the Dean and Chapter of Norwich, and the
other to the rector; the glebe comprises 31 acres,
equally divided between the Dean and Chapter and the
rector. The church is a small edifice, in the early and
later English styles, with a square tower. There is a
place of worship for Wesleyans.
Barford
BARFORD, an extra-parochial liberty, adjoining the
parish of Rushton, in the union of Kettering, hundred of Bothwell, N. division of the county of Northampton, 3 miles (N. by W.) from Kettering; containing
9 inhabitants. It comprises 360 acres, of a rich and
highly productive soil, and is intersected by the north
branch of the river Nene, and bounded by the road
from Kettering to Rockingham on the east.
Barford (St. John)
BARFORD (St. John), a chapelry, in the parish of
East Adderbury, union of Banbury, hundred of
Bloxham, county of Oxford, 2¾ miles (N. W. by W.)
from Deddington; containing 126 inhabitants, and comprising by computation 700 acres. The church is a
small edifice, with a tower within the square of the
nave, at the south-west corner, open to the church; the
doorway is of plain Norman design.
Barford (St. Peter)
BARFORD (St. Peter), a parish, in the Warwick
division of the hundred of Kington, union and county
of Warwick, 3 miles (S. by W.) from Warwick; containing 849 inhabitants. Barford was for three centuries the residence of the ancestors of Charles Thomas
Warde, Esq., now of Clopton, in the county. Of this
family was Rowley Warde, an eminent lawyer in the
reigns of James and Charles I., commonly called Old
Serjeant Warde, and in the parish register styled the
Right Worshipful Rowley Warde; who died at the age
of 96, about the year 1650. His son, Thomas Warde,
barrister at law, served as an officer in the army of
Charles at the battle of Edge Hill, and kept the royal
flag flying on the top of the church tower here, facing
his own house; which caused Cromwell's army after
the battle, on its march to Kenilworth Castle, eight
miles distant, to fire shots at the tower, the marks of
which still remain. The mill on the river Avon at Barford, now belonging to the Earl of Warwick, was either
granted or sold by Charles II. to this Thomas Warde,
he having been instrumental in obtaining for the king
and his royal father several sums of money to assist
them in their distress, in the rebellion. The parish is
pleasantly situated on the left bank of the Avon, which
flows through a finely varied tract of country from the
grounds of Warwick Castle; it comprises 1594 acres of
land, and the higher parts present very fine views.
The village contains several handsome houses.
The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at
£11. 11. 0½.; net income, £869; patron, John Mills,
Esq.: the tithes were commuted for land and a money
payment in 1760. Thomas Warde, Esq., an eminent
antiquary, sold the advowson for £500, in 1740, to the
Rev. John Mills. The old church was built in the reign
of Henry VI.; the late church in that of Henry VII.;
and the present edifice, which incorporates the ancient
tower, in 1844: it contains 604 sittings, and cost about
£2500. The windows are of painted glass: the eastern
one is in five compartments, embellished with figures of
the Four Evangelists and the patron saint; the colours
are peculiarly rich, and the effect of the whole window
striking and beautiful; it was executed at the cost of
the neighbouring families, to the memory of Jane, widow
of the late Charles Mills, Esq., and daughter of the Hon.
Wriothesley Digby. Under the chancel is a vault for
the family of Mills, to members of whom are five urns
on pedestals in the chancel wall. Formerly there was a
tomb to the memory of a rector of Wellesbourn, who
died about the year 1200; the tomb was long since
destroyed, but the inscription, on stone, has been built
into the wall of the church. Among other relics is a
curious tablet of freestone, part of a monument, which
the rector, the Rev. William Somerville, has had placed
in the wall of the vestry, with this inscription: "Here
lyeth the body of Thomas Warde, Gentleman, parson of
Barford, 2d son of Thomas and Martha Warde; he died
in 1532." A school here is endowed with about £48
per annum, arising from benefactions of John Beale in
1672, and the Rev. Thomas Dugard in 1677.
Barford (St. Martin)
BARFORD (St. Martin), a parish, in the union of
Wilton, hundred of Cawden and Cadworth, Salisbury and Amesbury, and S. divisions of Wilts, 2½ miles
(W.) from Wilton; containing, with Grovely Wood,
extra-parochial, 599 inhabitants. It is situated on the
Shaftesbury road, and comprises 2246a. 3r. 2p. The
living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at
£24. 2. 8½., and in the patronage of All Souls' College,
Oxford: the tithes have been commuted for £627. 5., a
portion of which belongs to the church of Salisbury, and
a small part to the adjoining rectory of Baverstock; the
glebe consists of 92 acres.
Barford, Great (All Souls)
BARFORD, GREAT (All Souls), a parish, in the
hundred of Barford, union and county of Bedford,
6 miles (E. N. E.) from Bedford; containing 814 inhabitants. It is situated on the navigable river Ouse,
which forms its south-eastern boundary, and over which
is a neat bridge. The living is a discharged vicarage,
united to that of Roxton, and valued in the king's books
at £9: the tithes were commuted for land and a money
payment, in 1820. There is a place of worship for
Wesleyans.
Barford, Great (St. Michael)
BARFORD, GREAT (St. Michael), a parish, in
the union of Banbury, hundred of Wootton, county
of Oxford, 2½ miles (W. N. W.) from Deddington;
containing 370 inhabitants. The living is a perpetual
curacy, valued in the king's books at £6. 5.; net income, £67; patron and impropriator, John Hall, Esq.
The tithes were commuted for land and a money payment, in 1807. The church is rather peculiar in its
character, and striking in its appearance; it stands on a
high bank: the tower is placed at the east end of the
south aisle, and there is a very fine Norman doorway:
the edifice has no north aisle. A school, conducted on
the national system, was founded by the late William
Wilson, Esq., of Worton.
Barford, Little (St. Mary)
BARFORD, LITTLE (St. Mary), a parish, in the
union of St. Neot's, hundred of Biggleswade, county
of Bedford, 2½ miles (S. by W.) from St. Neot's; containing 190 inhabitants. This parish, which comprises
by computation 1240 acres, is situated on the river
Ouse, by which it is bounded on the west, and close to
the road from Biggleswade to St. Neot's; the soil in
some places, and especially near the river, is exceedingly
rich and productive. The living is a rectory, valued in
the king's books at £13. 16. 3., and in the patronage
and incumbency of the Rev. John Alington: the tithes
have been commuted for £250, and the glebe consists of
45 acres. The church is an ancient building, with a
Norman arch over the south door, and a curious wooden
screen between the nave and the chancel. Nicholas
Rowe, the dramatic writer, and poet-laureat to George I.,
was a native of the place.
Barforth
BARFORTH, a township, in the parish of Forcett,
union of Teesdale, wapentake of Gilling-West, N.
riding of York, 6 miles (E.) from Barnard Castle; containing 114 inhabitants. It is on the south bank of the
Tees, and comprises by computation 1750 acres: a ferry
crosses the river to the county of Durham. Within the
township are the inconsiderable remains of a village
called Old Richmond, formerly a Roman station; and
also the ruins of an ancient chapel.
Barfreyston (St. Mary)
BARFREYSTON (St. Mary), a parish, in the union
and hundred of Eastry, lathe of St. Augustine, E.
division of Kent, 5 miles (S. by E.) from Wingham;
containing 125 inhabitants. It comprises 500 acres,
chiefly arable. The living is a discharged rectory,
valued in the king's books at £7. 14.; net income, £160;
patrons, the President and Fellows of St. John's College,
Oxford. The church, which is supposed to be of the
date of the twelfth century, presents a fine specimen of
Norman architecture, especially in the southern porch,
which is richly ornamented with varied mouldings.
There are numerous tumuli in this and the adjoining
parishes.
Barham (St. Giles)
BARHAM (St. Giles), a parish, in the hundred of
Leightonstone, union and county of Huntingdon,
6 miles (N. N. E.) from Kimbolton; containing 107 inhabitants. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the
patronage of the Bishop of Ely; net income, £58.
Barham (St. John the Baptist)
BARHAM (St. John the Baptist), a parish, in the
union of Bridge, hundred of Kinghamford, lathe of
St. Augustine, E. division of Kent, 6½ miles (S. E. by
S.) from Canterbury; containing 1151 inhabitants. It
comprises by measurement 4470 acres, of which 2147
are arable, 1301 pasture, 998 woodland, and 24 acres
hops; and is celebrated for its pleasant and spacious
downs, on which the Canterbury races are held in August.
The living was till lately annexed to the rectory of
Bishopsbourne. Barham gives the title of Baron to the
family of Noel.
Barham (St. Mary)
BARHAM (St. Mary), a parish, in the union and
hundred of Bosmere and Claydon, E. division of
Suffolk, 4 miles (N. N. W.) from Ipswich; containing,
with the inmates of the union workhouse, 576 inhabitants. The parish comprises about 1500 acres, and is
bounded on the west by the navigable river Gipping.
Shrubland Hall, formerly the seat of a branch of the
Bacon family, descended from the Lord Keeper Bacon,
and now of Sir William F. F. Middleton, Bart., has been
greatly improved by the present proprietor, and is a
splendid residence. The living is a rectory, valued in
the king's books at £12. 10. 5.; net income, £342;
patrons, the family of Longe. The church is a handsome edifice, chiefly in the decorated style, consisting of
a nave and chancel with a square tower on the south
side, and the chancel contains many monuments to the
Bacons and Southwells. In a field called Chapel Field,
the floor of an ancient chapel was lately turned up by
the plough. A Roman road passed through Shrubland
Park; and in the year 1840 a Roman apartment six
feet square, and a bath five feet four inches long, two
feet nine inches deep, and three feet wide, were discovered. The late Duke of Gloucester resided at Shrubland when in command of the district.
Barholme (St. Martin)
BARHOLME (St. Martin), a parish, in the union
of Stamford, wapentake of Ness, parts of Kesteven,
county of Lincoln, 3¾ miles (W. by N.) from MarketDeeping; containing 165 inhabitants. This parish, including the hamlet of Stowe, comprises by measurement
1500 acres, of which 400 are in Stowe, and of the remainder, 1000 are arable and 100 pasture: the soil is
for the most part gravelly, and in some parts fen. The
living is a discharged vicarage, to which that of Stowe was
united in 1772, valued in the king's books at £5. 11. 8.;
net income, £147, arising from 70 acres of land allotted
on the inclosure in lieu of tithe; patrons and impropriators, the Governors of Oakham and Uppingham
schools. The church is an ancient structure, partly in
the Norman and early English styles, with a tower which,
from an inscription in verse, appears to have been
erected in 1648.
Barkby (St. Mary)
BARKBY (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of
Barrow-upon-Soar, hundred of East Goscote, N.
division of the county of Leicester, 5 miles (N. E.)
from Leicester; containing, with the chapelries of
Barkby-Thorp and North Thurmaston, 849 inhabitants,
of whom 70 are in Barkby-Thorp. The living is a
vicarage, valued in the king's books at £10; net income, £250; patron and impropriator, W. A. Pochin,
Esq. The tithes, with some exceptions, were commuted
for land in 1762. The church has been repewed.
Barkestone (St. Peter and St. Paul)
BARKESTONE (St. Peter and St. Paul), a parish,
in the union of Bingham, hundred of Framland, N.
division of the county of Leicester, 4 miles (W. N. W.)
from Belvoir Castle; containing 403 inhabitants. It
comprises about 2000 acres, and is intersected by the
Grantham and Nottingham canal: the soil is a darkcoloured tenacious clay, and the surface a gentle acclivity. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the
king's books at £7. 5. 5.; net income, £114; patron
and impropriator, the Duke of Rutland. The church
was partly rebuilt and enlarged, and entirely refitted, in
1840. Daniel Smith endowed a school for the instruction of sixteen boys and ten girls of the parishes of
Barkestone and Plungar, to which has been added a
national school; and another for 26 girls is supported
by the lady of the manor: a Sunday school is endowed
with £20 per annum.
Barkham (St. James)
BARKHAM (St James), a parish, in the union of
Wokingham, hundred of Charlton, county of Berks,
2 miles (S. W. by W.) from Wokingham; containing
248 inhabitants. It comprises 1362a. 1r. 5p., of which
743 acres are arable, 212 meadow and pasture, and 290
waste, common, and roads. The living is a rectory,
valued in the king's books at £5. 15. 7½., and in the
patronage of C. Leveson Gower, Esq.: the tithes have
been commuted for £368, and there are 22 acres of
glebe. The church, a neat building, has been lately repaired, and contains a small organ.
Barking (St. Margaret)
BARKING (St. Margaret), a parish, and formerly a
market-town, in the union of Romford, hundred of
Becontree, S. division of Essex, 23 miles (S. W.) from
Chelmsford, and 7 (N. E.) from London; containing 8718
inhabitants, of whom 3751 are in the town of Barking,
exclusively of 987 men and boys engaged in the fishery,
who were at sea at the time of the enumeration. The
name of this place, formerly written Berking, is by some
deduced from the Saxon words Beorce, a birch-tree, and
Ing, a meadow; by others from Berg-Ing, signifying a
fortification in the meadows, probably from an ancient
intrenchment about a quarter of a mile on the road to
Ilford, of which there are still considerable vestiges. The
town derived its early importance from a very extensive
and distinguished abbey, founded in 670, by Erkenwald,
Bishop of London, for nuns of the Benedictine order,
and dedicated to the Virgin Mary, which was governed
by a long succession of abbesses, of whom many were
of noble, and some of royal, descent. In 870, Barking
was burnt by the Danes, the abbey destroyed, and many
of the nuns were massacred, and the rest dispersed;
but the abbey was afterwards rebuilt, about the year
970, by Edgar, whose queen, Elfrida, presided over it
after his decease; and at the Dissolution its revenue
amounted to £1084. 6. 2¾. Soon after the Conquest,
William retired to the town, till the completion of the
Tower of London, which he was then building to keep
the citizens in subjection; and here he was visited,
during the preparations for his coronation, by Edwin,
Earl of Mercia, and Morcar, Earl of Northumberland,
with many of the English nobles, who swore fealty to
him on the restoration of their estates.
The town is situated on the small river Roding,
which, after flowing in two branches, unites with the
Thames about two miles below: it is lighted with gas,
by a company recently formed. The inhabitants are
principally occupied in the fishery; a number of vessels
sail to the Dutch and Scottish coasts, and, on their return, the fish is forwarded to Billingsgate in smaller
vessels. There is a convenient wharf at Barking
creek, which is navigable to Ilford for vessels of
eighty tons' burthen, by which the neighbourhood is
supplied with coal and timber; and near it is a large
flour-mill, formerly belonging to the abbey. A fair is held
on Oct. 22nd. The upper part of the building which
was formerly the market-house, is appropriated to the
purpose of a town-hall: attached to it is a small prison.
The parish comprises a considerable portion of Hainault
forest, and is divided into four wards, namely, Barking
Town, Ripple, Great Ilford, and Chadwell: it is seven
miles in length from north to south, and about four in
breadth from east to west. The lands are fertile and
highly cultivated, and many hundred acres in the vicinity
are appropriated to the cultivation of potatoes for the
London market. The living is a vicarage, valued in
the king's books at £19. 8. 11½.; net income, about
£900; patrons and impropriators, the Warden and
Fellows of All Souls' College, Oxford. The church is a
handsome structure, with a lofty tower of stone; it
consists of a nave, a south aisle, two north aisles, and a
chancel, and contains some ancient monuments. A
church has been erected at Ilford, which is now an
ecclesiastical parish; and there are churches at Aldborough-Hatch and Barking-Side, and a chapel attached
to St. Mary's Hospital, Ilford. The dissenters have
several places of worship. Of the conventual buildings of
the abbey there now remains only the gateway, over
which is the chapel of the Holy Rood: the arch is
finely pointed, and enriched with deeply receding mouldings: above is a canopied niche under a fine window of
three lights, the whole forming a square embattled
tower, with an octagonal turret at one of the angles. It
is called the Fire-bell gate, from its having anciently
contained the curfew. Among the ruins of the abbey
have been found a fibula and a gold ring, on which were
engraved the Salutation of the Virgin, and the letters
I. M.
Barking (St. Mary)
BARKING (ST. MARY), a parish, in the union and
hundred of Bosmere and Claydon, E. division of
Suffolk; comprising the post-town of Needham-Market
and the hamlet of Dormsden, and containing 1931 inhabitants. It comprises 2940 acres, of which 50 are common or waste; and is traversed by the road from
Ipswich to Bury St. Edmund's, and bounded on the
north by the Stow-market and Ipswich navigation. The
living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at
£27. 10. 7½., and in the gift of the Earl of Ashburnham:
the tithes have been commuted for £800. The glebe
consists of about 4 acres, and is ornamented with three
very fine cedar-trees, brought from Mount Lebanon in
the year 1725; an excellent rectory-house was built in
1819. The church, which is picturesquely situated, is
chiefly in the later style, and consists of a nave, chancel,
and aisles, with an embattled tower. There is a chapel
of ease at Dormsden; also a church at Needham-Market,
forming a separate incumbency.
Barkisland
BARKISLAND, a township, in the chapelry of Ripponden, parish and union of Halifax, wapentake of
Morley, W. riding of York, 5½ miles (S. W. by S.)
from Halifax; containing 2391 inhabitants. This township comprises by computation 2420 acres, of which
about 1000 were inclosed by act of parliament in 1814.
The soil is generally fertile, and much of the land has
been brought into a profitable state of cultivation; the
scenery is pleasingly diversified, and in some parts
embellished with wood: there are quarries of slate, and
of good building and flagstone. Barkisland Hall, the
ancient seat of the Gledhill family, is a stately mansion
in the old English style of domestic architecture, and
has long been the property of the Bolds of Bold Hall,
Lancashire. The village, consisting of one long street,
is pleasantly situated on the ridge of a hill sloping to
the south; and the township comprises part of the
village of Ripponden, and numerous scattered hamlets.
The inhabitants are partly employed in wool-combing,
and in the manufacture of the coarser kinds of woollen
cloth, which is carried on to a small extent. The
grammar school here, an ancient structure, was endowed
in 1657 with £200 by Mrs. Sarah Gledhill: a house for
the master was erected in 1780, with a good garden
attached to it; and the endowment now produces £40
per annum, which is paid to the master for teaching
twelve children.
Barkston
BARKSTON, a township, in the parish of Sherburn, Upper division of the wapentake of BarkstoneAsh, W. riding of York, 5 miles (S. by E.) from Tadcaster; containing 323 inhabitants. It comprises about
1130 acres, chiefly arable, and generally fertile land: the
road from Tadcaster to Pontefract intersects the township; and the York and North-Midland railway passes on
the east, and the Leeds and Selby railway on the south.
The tithes were commuted for land and money payments
in 1772. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans.
The hundred court was formerly held, probably under a
large ash-tree, in this village, and hence the name of the
wapentake of Barkstone-Ash.
Barkstone-in-the-Willows (St. Nicholas)
BARKSTONE-IN-THE-WILLOWS (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the union of Newark, wapentake of
Loveden, parts of Kesteven, county of Lincoln,
4 miles (N. N. E.) from Grantham; containing 413
inhabitants. It comprises by estimation 2083 acres, of
which 1331 are arable, 549 pasture or meadow, and 44
woodland; besides which, there are 65 acres, chiefly
arable, on which a small tithe-modus is payable: the
soil is light, varying from clay to sand. The river
Witham, which is scarcely navigable, passes through the
parish. A pleasure-fair is held in October. The living
is a rectory, in the patronage of the Prebendary of
North Grantham in the Cathedral of Salisbury, valued
in the king's books at £13. 7. 6.: the tithes have been
commuted for £610, and there are about 19 acres of
glebe. The church is supposed to have been built in the
reign of John. The Wesleyans have a place of worship.
There is a small endowment for a school; and an almshouse for six people is endowed with £43 per annum.
Barkway (St. Mary Magdalene)
BARKWAY (St. Mary Magdalene), a town and
parish, in the union of Royston, hundred of Edwinstree, county of Hertford, 4 miles (S. S. E.) from
Royston, 13¾ miles (N. N. E.) from Hertford, and 35
(N.) from London, on the road to Cambridge; containing, with the hamlets of Newsells and Nuthampstead,
1291 inhabitants. In the reign of Henry III. a grant of
a market now disused, and of a fair which is still held
on July 20th, was obtained for this place. Nearly
the whole town was destroyed by fire in the reign of
Elizabeth, and again in 1748. It is pleasantly situated
on rising ground, and consists principally of one street:
the houses in general are modern and neatly built, and
the inhabitants are well supplied with water. The
parish comprises chiefly arable land, with a large extent
of wood, and a small portion of pasture. The living is
a vicarage, consolidated in 1800 with the rectory of
Reed, and valued in the king's books at £14; the impropriation belongs to Mrs. Vernon Harcourt: the
tithes were commuted for land in 1801. The church
is a spacious structure combining various styles, with a
square embattled tower. There is a place of worship
for Independents; and a charity school for boys has an
endowment of £10 per annum.