BARTON IN THE CLAY
Bertona (xi. cent.); Bertuna (xii. cent.); Barthon
(xiii. cent.)
The parish of Barton has an area of 2,318 acres,
of which 1555½ are arable land, 731¼ permanent
grass and twenty-five are covered with woods and plantations; (fn. 1) the soil, which is strong clay with a subsoil of
clay and chalk, produces wheat, oats, barley, beans and
peas. The land rises from north to south, the lowest
point (193 ft.) above the ordnance datum being in the
north, while in the south, where the Barton Hills are
situated, an altitude of 543 ft. is reached. Among these
hills are several old gravel and chalk pits, which have
been worked for many years. The village of Barton
lies at the foot of the northern slope of these hills,
along the Bedford and Luton main road, with a few
houses on the branch roads to Sharpenhoe on the
west and Hexton on the east. There is an ancient
round-house or lock-up, a red-brick building with a lead
roof, but it has not been used for some years. The
church stands at a little distance to the south-east of
the village and, with the rectory and a group of small
houses on the west and north, forms a separate hamlet
known as Church End. The rectory house, in
part of considerable age, has a central hall and east
and west wings with late sixteenth-century wood
mullioned windows in the hall, and a staircase with
finials in the west wing. In the hall windows are
a number of fragments of old stained glass, some no
doubt from the church, and in the garden is what
looks like the panelled shaft of a fifteenth-century
pinnacle, which served till lately as a doorstep in the
village, until rescued by the present rector, the
Rev. J. H. Spokes.
The house is moated on the south and west, and
lies at the foot of the grass-grown chalk slopes, a
projecting spur to the south-east being terraced
in linches denoting ancient cultivation. The parish is
well watered, a number of springs rising at the foot of
the hills, and in the rectory garden the moat is fed by
a spring at its east end. A petrifying spring at
Barton, which turned wood into stone, is mentioned
in 1738 in the Atlas Geographicus. A hammer made
of a perforated quartzite pebble was found at Barton in
1903, together with a small drilled bead-like pebble of
translucent quartz. (fn. 2)
Among the place-names found in the parish are the
following:—Vancroft, (fn. 3) Bavlande Furlong, (fn. 4) Bery Lott,
Brayes Messuage, (fn. 5) Bridgend Messuage, (fn. 6) Penny's Bush,
Leet Wood and Stanley Wood.
The Inclosure Act for the parish was passed in
1809. (fn. 7)
Manors
The overlordship of BARTON was
vested in the crown at the date of
Domesday Survey and so remained until
the Dissolution when the manor itself was taken into
the hand of the king and annexed to the manor of
Ampthill in 1542, (fn. 8) being afterwards leased for short
periods only; the rights of overlordship must have
lapsed after 1628 (fn. 9) as there is no further mention
of them.
The manor, which belonged to the abbey of
Ramsey at the time of the great Survey, had been in
the possession of the abbots for some time previous to
that date. It was given to the abbey in 1044 by
Eadnoth, bishop of Dorchester; (fn. 10) and the grant was
confirmed by Edward the Confessor in 1066, (fn. 11) by
William the Conqueror in 1078, (fn. 12) and by Edward III
in 1334. (fn. 13) The manor was of considerable extent at
the time of the Domesday Survey for it was assessed
at 11 hides and was worth £10; the abbot claimed
12 acres more, held at that time by Nigel de Albini
and Walter the Fleming, of which the abbot had
been unjustly dispossessed by John des Roches. (fn. 14) The
annual value of the manor, which was again confirmed to the abbey of Ramsey in 1178 by the Pope
Alexander III, (fn. 15) was £26 at the beginning of the
thirteenth century. (fn. 16) The abbey, in 1201, received
a grant of free warren in its demesne lands of Barton, (fn. 17)
and was called upon to account for the exercise of
this right in 1286 and also in 1330 (fn. 18) and each time
justified its claim by the production of the charter of
Henry III. The value of the manor varied but little
during the thirteenth century as towards the close it
was worth £26 8s. 1¼d. (fn. 19) In 1336 it was leased
out at a yearly rent of £50, (fn. 20) and at the time of the
Dissolution the rents and farms within it amounted
to £60 6s. 6d. (fn. 21) The manor was enlarged by several
grants and purchases; in the middle of the thirteenth
century Abbot Hugh of Sulgrave granted to it, for the
upkeep of the shrine of St. Ives, the whole tenement purchased from Robert Peveril (fn. 22) and about the same date
John de Baxter released to the
abbey fields in Barton called
Bakeworthe and le Hacche. (fn. 23)
In 1278 82/3 acres of land were
purchased by the abbey from
Walter de la Haye and his wife
Matilda (fn. 24) and the same amount
was bought the next year from
Richard de Caddington and
his wife Sibyl. (fn. 25) The latter
also granted to the abbey one-third of a messuage and a croft
in Barton (fn. 26) and 3 messuages;
50 acres of land were given to
the abbey by Thomas Turford,
a mason, in 1354. (fn. 27) In 1301 permission was obtained
to let the manor for ten years, for the discharge of the
abbey's debts (fn. 28) and in 1336 it was leased out to Sir
William de Hale, Robert de Caddington and Master
Robert de Bergh, rector of Houghton. (fn. 29) The abbey
continued to hold the manor until the dissolution of
the religious houses, when (fn. 30) it became crown property
and was leased for short terms to various persons. In
1550, the Princess Elizabeth was lady of the manor (fn. 31)
and apparently kept it in her hands until 1578, when
she granted it to William Worthington for twentyone years. (fn. 32) In 1601 the manor reverted to the
crown. (fn. 33) In 1612 Thomas, Viscount Fenton, surrendered the office of steward
of the manor, (fn. 34) which was then
conferred by James I upon
Lord Bruce. (fn. 35) In 1628 a grant
of the manor was made to Edward Ditchfield and others (fn. 36)
as trustees for the city of
London, who probably sold it
to Richard Norton, who was
lord of the manor in 1634. (fn. 37)
Barton in the Clay: The Rectory
Ramsey Abbey. Or a bend azure with three rams' heads argent cut off at the neck thereon having their horns or.
Norton. Azure a sleeve ermine.
The family of Norton retained the manor for many
years, and in 1709 it was in
the possession of Richard the son of Richard Norton, (fn. 38)
who alienated it to John Roberts of North Mimms.
The latter sold it to Robert Jenkin of Harpenden,
who in 1735 transferred his right to Edward Willes,
bishop of Bath and Wells, (fn. 39)
whose son, Mr. Edward Willes,
afterwards the Reverend Edward Willes, was holding the
manor in 1805. (fn. 40) The Reverend Edward Willes owned
the manorial rights during the
last half of the nineteenth
century, (fn. 41) and at his death
the lordship of the manor
was vested in his trustees, in
whose hands it still apparently
remains.
Willes. Argent a cheveron sable between three molets gules.
The site of the manor of
Barton was granted to Thomas Erazier, who died
seised of it in 1637, when Richard Norton was lord
of the manor; the site was held of the king as of the
manor of East Greenwich in socage. (fn. 42) There is no
further record of the descent of the site, which was
probably acquired by the Nortons.
Records of property owned by the crown in Barton are found from the thirteenth century, and from
this grants of small pieces of land were made which
were bestowed, as a reward for services, upon various
officials and servants for definite periods. In 1264
Thomas Fauconer received a grant from the king of
1 toft containing 3 acres and of 1 acre for the term
of his life. (fn. 43) John Broun, an under clerk of the
kitchen of King Henry VI, and Bartholomew Willesdon
held land in Barton from the king at a yearly rent
of 7s. 6d., which in 1461 was bestowed upon William
Pole, yeoman of the chamber, (fn. 44) and after his death in
1476 upon Thomas Master, to hold for his life. (fn. 45) In
1531 these lands were granted to Robert Pole, one
of the appositores ciborum of the king's chamber, (fn. 46)
and having reverted to the crown before 1536, by
reason of Robert Pole's death, they were granted out
again in that year to John Hyde, engrosser of the
Great Roll of the Exchequer, to hold for forty
years. (fn. 47)
In 1628 Edward Ditchfield and others were
granted a fee-farm rent issuing out of Barton manor,
of the value of £68 7s. 9½d., forming part of the
revenues of Ramsey Abbey. (fn. 48) This rent, by some
unknown means, had become in 1745 the property
of Sarah Burroughs, spinster, (fn. 49) who married Sir Thomas
Salusbury of Offley, and dying in 1804 left the feefarm rent to her husband's cousin, the Rev. Lynch
Burroughs or Lynch Salusbury, who sold it in 1808
to the lord of the manor, Edward Willes, for
£1,350. (fn. 50)
There was a mill attached to Barton manor which
at the time of the great Survey was worth 2s. (fn. 51)
Barton seems to have been well provided with mills,
no doubt on account of the numerous streams which
rise in the hills here. From time to time grants of
mills or interest in mills in Barton were made to the
abbey. The first grant on record took place between
1254 and 1267, when Abbot Hugh of Sulgrave gave
to the abbey, to be annexed to its manor, half a mill
bought of Robert Peveril. (fn. 52) About 1255 the abbey
owned three water-mills in Barton, of which two
were leased out at an annual rent of 2 marks, and
the third, retained in the custody of the abbey, was
worth 20s. (fn. 53) In 1278 Walter de la Haye and his
wife Matilda alienated one-sixth of a mill to the
abbey, (fn. 54) while in 1285 they conveyed a similar interest in a mill to Robert son of John. (fn. 55) The grant
of the third part of a mill was confirmed to the
almoner of the abbey by the abbot, William of
Gloucester, between 1278 and 1285, when it was
stated to have been the gift of Walter and Matilda
de la Haye and Richard and Sibyl of Caddington. (fn. 56)
In the reign of Edward III the abbey still held three
water-mills, (fn. 57) but in 1340 only one is mentioned,
rented at £1 16s. 8d. (fn. 58) In 1611 Felix Wilson was
granted a mill in Barton, which had formerly been
two 'under one roof,' belonging to Ramsey Abbey. (fn. 59)
There is now a small water-mill in Barton situated
near the village, and a windmill used to stand near
Jeremiah's Tree on Barton Hill, but it was burnt
about forty or fifty years ago. (fn. 60)
Church
The church of ST. NICHOLAS consists of a chancel, a nave with north
and south aisles, and a western tower.
It is very irregularly set out, the mean dimensions being as follows: Chancel 33 ft. 10 in. by
16 ft. 1½ in.; nave, 55 ft. 4½ in. by 18 ft. 1 in.; and
north and south aisles 8 ft. 2 in. wide. Previous to
the thirteenth century the church consisted of an
aisleless nave and a small chancel, perhaps of a somewhat irregular plan, whose setting out influenced all
the later developments of the building.
In the early part of the thirteenth century the
three eastern bays of the present south aisle were
added, the east wall of the aisle being some two or
three feet west of its present position. Somewhat
later in the thirteenth century, but before 1250, the
north aisle was built, the church being at the same
time lengthened westward, and a fourth bay in consequence added to the south aisle.
The new west wall of the nave seems to have been
set out parallel with the east wall, which was not at
right angles to the north and south walls, and in consequence it has a perceptible slope westward from the
north side. At the same time the chancel arch was
rebuilt, together with the chancel, but while the arch
was built on the old line, parts of the old east wall
of the nave being doubtless retained, the new chancel
was correctly set out with regard to its eastern wall
and the true axis of the church, with the consequence
that the north wall is a foot shorter than the south.
In the early part of the fourteenth century the south
aisle was lengthened eastward to allow more space
for the altar, and about the same time, and also
later in the same century, windows were inserted in
both aisles. The tower belongs to the middle of the
fifteenth century, and was set out from the west wall
of the nave and thus irregularly placed with regard
to the axis of the nave. The clearstory and present
roof are later additions, belonging to the end of the
fifteenth century.
Plan of Barton Church
The chancel has three modern single lights in its
east wall, of thirteenth-century detail with moulded
rear arches and jambs and an external label, said to
have replaced a window of fifteenth-century date,
and there are six similar windows in the chancel,
three on either side, but of plainer design. In all of
these the stonework is modern though the openings
are apparently old, and the same may be said of a
small low window at the south-west and of the
small south priest's door. At the east end of the
north wall is a tomb recess of the middle of the
thirteenth century, with an elaborately moulded segmental head and double shafted jambs with moulded
capitals and bases. In the south wall are two
trefoil-headed piscinae and triple sedilia in which
the two western seats are lower than the eastern one,
both sedilia and piscinae belonging to the same date
as the chancel, that is, the first half of the thirteenth
century. The chancel arch, also of the same date,
is two-centred and of two chamfered orders, with
half-octagonal responds and moulded bases and capitals. The angles of the jambs are chamfered, the
chamfers ending in a small undercut arched stop.
The north arcade of the nave is of four bays, with
pointed arches of two chamfered orders, circular
columns with moulded bases and capitals, and halfoctagonal responds with moulded capitals and bases of
the same form. The south arcade of the nave is of
two dates, the first three bays being early thirteenthcentury work, and the fourth of the same date as the
north arcade. The former have circular piers with
moulded capitals and bases and two-centred arches
of two chamfered orders, which are stopped with a
roll stop in the case of the middle arch. The
responds are of beautiful detail, with three clustered
shafts to the inner order, having early foliate capitals
with a common chamfered abacus, banded shafts, and
moulded bases. The fourth bay is of the same detail
as the north arcade. At the east end of this side of
the nave is the blocked upper door to the rood-loft,
and in line with it on the north wall a plain corbel
to support the front beam of the loft. The clearstory has three windows on each side, plain square
openings, with much modern stonework but old rear
arches. The low-pitched roof, of the same date, has
moulded principals, intermediates, rafters and purlins
with carved bosses at the intersections and jacks
resting on stone corbels carved into the form of heads.
At the foot of each jack is an eagle carved in wood,
with outspread wings, and over these the figures of
saints and apostles, while on the intermediates are
figures of angels bearing emblems of the crucifixion. The figures appear to be, on the north,
St. Peter, St. Philip, St. James, St. Andrew, St. Simon,
and St. Thomas; and on the south, St. Matthias, St.
Jude, St. Bartholomew, St. Matthew, St. John, and
St. Paul. The passion emblems are the cross, crown
of thorns, chalice, pincers, rod, pillar, hammer, nails,
spear and sponge.
The north aisle has a plain piscina at the southeast, and at the east end a two-light window of
c. 1350, with cinquefoiled heads and a quatrefoil with
flowing tracery over. In the north wall are two
similar windows, in the second of which are some
splendidly coloured fragments of fourteenth-century
glass, representing St. James, and west of these is the
blocked north door.
West of the door is a two-light window with
cinquefoiled heads and tracery over of fourteenthcentury detail, but modern date, and in the west wall
is a thirteenth-century lancet.
The south aisle has an east window of two lights
with modern tracery, beneath which is a thirteenthcentury coped stone. At the east end of the south
wall is a fourteenth-century piscina with a trefoiled
head, and west of this are three two-light windows
with modern tracery of fourteenth-century style, and
old rear arches, while the west window has been
blocked up. There are a few fragments of fifteenthcentury glass in the south windows, with the sacred
monogram and parts of canopies.
The tower arch is of three chamfered orders with half
octagonal moulded capitals and bases, and is of midfifteenth-century date, to which time the whole tower
belongs. The west window is of three lights with
cinquefoiled heads and modern tracery, and the west
door beneath it has a moulded head and jambs of two
continuous orders. The ground stage of the tower has
a ribbed stone vault without a bellway, for the reason
that the second stage has been used as a living-room.
This is reached by a stair at the south-east, and has a
fireplace in the east wall, and a large four-centred
doorway at the south-west. This opens to space, and
it is difficult to see that there has ever been any approach to it from the outside. Its chief use seems to
have been to serve as a bellway, to make up for the
absence of such an opening in the vault. The belfry
openings are of two uncusped lights with four centred
main heads, and the tower is crowned with an embattled parapet.
The font at the west end of the north aisle appears
to be a late twelfth-century circular font cut back in
the fifteenth century, and ornamented with quatrefoil
panels. The west face also bears an inscription noting
repairs in 1813. With the exception of the nave
roof, already noted, all the roofs are modern, and the
same applies to a large part of the seating. There
are, however, about eight rows of old seats with linen
pattern panels in the front and ends of sixteenth-century date, and in the north aisle some seventeenth-century seats of a similar style, but plainer, into which
a few bits of fifteenth-century tracery, probably the
remains of a screen, have been worked. On the north
wall of the chancel have been fixed the remains of the
brasses of two former rectors, one, a very interesting
specimen of early black letter smalls, to Philip de Lee
c. 1360, and the others, with a half-effigy in mass
vestments, to Richard Bray, c. 1370. There is also an
uninscribed brass, with the figure of a civilian, c. 1400.
There are eight bells, three being by Bowell of
Ipswich, 1904, three by Newcombe, 1604, one by
Russell of Wootton, 1743, and the tenor of 1699.
The plate consists of a cup of 1635, a standing paten
of 1849, and a plated flagon bought in 1824.
The first book of the registers contains all entries
from 1558 to 1724, and the second those from 1724
to 1779. The third book runs from 1779 to 1813.
There are also churchwardens' accounts from 1782,
and a parish book from 1797.
Advowson
Barton church is not mentioned in
Domesday, and the first reference to
it occurs in 1178, when Pope Alexander III confirmed the manor with the church to the
abbey of Ramsey. (fn. 61) Probably, therefore, the advowson had been in the gift of the abbey for some time
before that date. The right of presentation continued
vested in the abbey until the Dissolution, (fn. 62) when it
was transferred to the crown. It had been previously
exercised by the crown in 1349, but this was merely
temporary, and occasioned by the voidance of Ramsey
Abbey. (fn. 63) In 1291 the value of the church was
£12, (fn. 64) which by 1535 had increased to £26 9s. 6d. (fn. 65)
The abbot of Ramsey received a pension of
20s. from the church, which was confirmed by
Hugh, bishop of Lincoln, at the end of the twelfth
century, and afterwards by Richard, bishop of Lincoln,
in 1262, and by Walter, archbishop of Canterbury, in
1319. (fn. 66) The pension continued to be paid till the
Dissolution, (fn. 67) and even for a short time afterwards
when the advowson belonged to the crown. (fn. 68) From
the reign of Henry VIII to the present day the right
of presentation to the church and rectory has belonged
to the crown, which has always presented with one
exception, in 1660, when the bishop of Ely collated. (fn. 69)
In 1638 the rector, Dr. Moore, was recalled to
personal residence at the parsonage, (fn. 70) and in 1645 he
was again absent about a year; (fn. 71) he was suspected of
delinquency, but the charges against him were not
proved, although he was called a delinquent in 1648. (fn. 72)
On his death in 1652 Richard Norton, who had
purchased the manor, conceiving the advowson to be
appendant, presented his son John to the rectory, (fn. 73)
but William Slater, a schoolmaster, petitioned the king
in 1660 for the rectory, on the ground that it had
been vacant since Dr. Moore's death. (fn. 74) It is not
known how the dispute was settled, but the rectory
was given to a third person, for in 1662 Thomas
Crawley was presented, (fn. 75) and it was probably on this
occasion that the bishop of Ely collated.
There are Baptist, Wesleyan, and Primitive Methodist chapels in the parish.
Charities
For the Free School, founded by deed
1807 by Edward Willes, augmented
by will of Thomas Wilshere, proved
P.C.C. 15 October, 1832 (£300 consols with the
official trustees), see article on 'Schools,' above.
The 'Town Lands' consist of 8 a. 1 r. 36 p.
awarded on the inclosure of the parish in 1809 in
lieu of other lands held from time immemorial, the
rents of which—as appears from entries in the old
books of the parish commencing in 1656—were applied
in defraying the general and common expenses of the
parish. By a scheme of the Charity Commissioners
dated 24 August, 1869, the trustees thereby appointed
were authorized to apply four fifth parts of the net
rents towards providing a competent schoolmistress,
and the residue of the income towards the general
support of the day and Sunday schools in the parish.
Barton-in-the-Clay Church
A sum of £651 16s. 8d. consols is held by the
official trustees in trust for this charity, being the
balance of £973 11s. consols, arising from the investment of moneys received in 1873 for digging coprolites, after providing a sum of £300 for the erection
of an infant school. The dividends are applicable
under a further scheme as to one moiety in the
establishment of annual scholarships not exceeding £4
each for boys and £3 for girls, being not less than
eleven years of age, attending the public elementary
schools, and the other moiety towards the salary of
any master or mistress or other teacher in such schools.
In 1905 the land, which was let to various allotment
holders, produced £12 13s. 10d., which, with the
dividends amounting to £16 5s. 8d., was, after payment of expenses of management, applied in the payment of £10 to the Bedfordshire County Council,
£10 5s. to the Sunday schools, and £8 2s. 10d. to 37
scholars in various sums.
The Poor's Estate formerly consisted of 3½ acres
with cottage and buildings thereon, at Sharpenhoe, in
the parish of Streatley, awarded on the inclosure of the
parish in respect of lands in the Streatley Field, understood to have been given by one Bodenham Rouse
for the poor, subject to the payment of 10s. for the
poor of Streatley, and 10s. for the poor of Hexton.
In 1901 the land was sold for a perpetual rent-charge
of £9, which—under the authority of an Order of
the Charity Commissioners of 27 November, 1903—became charged upon 6 a. 3 r. 21 p., with buildings
thereon, situate at Sharpenhoe, part of a farm known
as the Chantry Farm, recently purchased by the
Drapers' Company, London, and upon two pieces of
land in Streatley, known as 'Ellinghams,' containing
about 9 acres, belonging to the same company.
In 1905 the rent-charge of £9—after payment of
10s. to the parish of Streatley, and 10s. to Hexton—was applied in adding a bonus to the clothing and
blanket clubs, and in thirty-five coal tickets for
1½ cwt. each.
The Town Houses, formerly belonging to the
parish, were sold in 1852 for £109, of which £20
was applied towards the payment of a loan advanced
by the Public Works Loan Board, and balance invested in £88 3s. 4d. consols in the names of the
Guardians of the Luton Union for the benefit of the
parish.
Unknown Donor's Charity.—An annuity of 10s. is
paid out of the Barton manor estate, under the title
of Goldsmiths' Charity, and applied in the distribution
of tea.