STAPLEFORD
The parish of Stapleford, (fn. 1) which in 1980 covered
743 ha. (1,835 a.), (fn. 2) lies about seven km. south-east
of Cambridge. It stretches for some 1¼ km. between
the line of the Roman road called Wool street (fn. 3) to
the north and the river Granta to the south. Its
north-western and south-eastern boundaries mostly
follow old field and furlong divisions, and are fairly
straight. North-west of the village Stapleford once
shared with Great Shelford over 42 a. of intercommonable land called the Minglands. At its
inclosure in 1812 they were divided, 23½ a. being
allotted to landowners of Great Shelford and
assigned to that parish. (fn. 4) The soil lies upon alluvium
and river gravels along the low, flat ground near
the river, at c. 25 metres. Further north a chalk
down rises steadily from 30 metres to over 70 metres.
At its highest points it is partly overlaid with
glacial gravels.
The hill-fort called Wandlebury stands above a
slope at the south-east edge of the northern hilltop.
A timber faced rampart with a ditch 4 metres deep,
enclosing 6 ha. (13½ a.) was constructed there in the
third century B.C. Traces of habitation, including
burials, have been found. After a period of decay
the fort was strengthened, perhaps in the 1st century
A.D. as a stronghold for the Iceni against the Belgae,
with an inner rampart and ditch having a combined
height of c. 10 metres. The inner bank and ditch were
levelled in the 18th century, when Gogmagog House
was built there. Two new entrances, supplementing
the single ancient one, were then cut through the
outer rampart, which is largely preserved, the
ditch being still c. 1½ metres deep. (fn. 5)
From the 10th century to the 12th land pleas
were occasionally held at Wandlebury. (fn. 6) By 1200
a legend about a ghostly warrior had become linked
to the site. (fn. 7) By the 1570s the hills were named, as
later, after the legendary giant Gogmagog. (fn. 8) The
scholars of Cambridge were said in the 1620s to
have been formerly accustomed to cut, or recut,
on the turf the figure of a giant, perhaps when they
visited the hills for sports prohibited to them in
1574. The figure, apparently lying within the
ramparts, was still visible in the 1720s. (fn. 9) A tumulus
survives at Wormwood Hill, formerly Wyrmelawe,
'the dragon's barrow', south-east of the fort.
Another, near the Roman road, was destroyed in
1778. (fn. 10) In the mid 19th century extensive plantations were laid out round the hilltop. (fn. 11) Previously
Stapleford had had little timber. The high ground
in its northern part, comprising a quarter of the
parish, had been open heath land since the Middle
Ages. The land south of the main CambridgeHaverhill road, a turnpike between 1766 and 1876, (fn. 12)
lay mostly in arable open fields, cultivated on a
triennial rotation until inclosure.
The village grew up around a small patch of
gravel in the south-west corner of the parish, close
to a ford across the Granta, a post by which gave it
its name. (fn. 13) There were 20 peasants in 1086, (fn. 14) 19
taxpayers in 1327, (fn. 15) and 62 adults in 1377. (fn. 16) In 1524
there were 30 taxpayers, (fn. 17) and in 1563 28 households. (fn. 18) Although the population probably increased
to c. 190 in the early 17th century, (fn. 19) there were again
only c. 30 dwellings c. 1666, (fn. 20) and 140 adults in
1676. (fn. 21) In 1728 37 families had 150 members. (fn. 22)
By 1801 the population had grown to 235; there
were c. 100 more inhabitants by 1821, and c. 450
in all in the 1830s. From a temporary peak of 594
in 1871 numbers fell, most rapidly in the 1890s, to
409 in 1901. By 1921, at 514, they had nearly
recovered the level of 1891, and thereafter grew,
more rapidly after the Second World War, mainly
through immigration, to 636 in 1931, 831 in 1951,
and 1,548 in 1961. After a pause in the 1960s, growth
was resumed in the 1970s. (fn. 23)
The main village street (fn. 24) ran nearly parallel to the
Granta, slightly south-eastward, but turning due
east after a fork from which a branch led to a bridge
over the river. The section between the Great
Shelford boundary and the bridge, called latterly
London Road, formed part of the CambridgeChesterford turnpike between 1724 and 1870. (fn. 25)
From west of the fork the winding curves of Church
Lane or Street and the back lane ran northward
along the western edge of the village, past a small
green near which stood the church, to meet eventually the straighter Bar Lane, leading north from
the eastern part of the high street. Beside and
between the street and lanes lay a compact mass of
closes, irregularly disposed. East of Bar Lane lay
the village green, c 30 a. until inclosure. (fn. 26) Part of the
pond in it survived in 1980. South of the green was
the principal manor house, later Bury Farm. At
inclosure the Hills road, replacing an older green
way to the hill, was laid out running north-east from
Bury Farm towards the Haverhill turnpike; two
parallel ways were stopped and the old way east
beside the river towards Babraham was reduced to
a footpath.
At the north end of Bar Lane stands the 17thcentury Stapleford Hall, once a farmhouse, timber
framed and rethatched, with an original central
fireplace and chimney stack, and two later wings.
A few timber framed 17th- and 18th-century
cottages survive, one being dated 1686. (fn. 27) Two mid
18th-century cottages on Church Street were
restored c. 1977 by the Cambridgeshire Cottage
Improvement Society. (fn. 28) In 1740 the village had 9
farmhouses, 10 other houses, and 14 cottages. (fn. 29)
Eight cottages were destroyed by a fire in 1819. (fn. 30)
The 19th century saw much additional building,
which, with subdivision of existing houses, (fn. 31) raised
the number of dwellings in the parish from 58 in
1821, occupied by 82 families, to over 100 by 1851
and c. 125 in the 1870s. (fn. 32) Apart from the farmsteads
built after inclosure beside the Haverhill turnpike
for Heath and Gogmagog Farms, and usually inhabited by labourers until the 1860s, (fn. 33) there was
little building away from the village before 1900.
After the Great Eastern Railway had opened its
London–Cambridge line in 1845, (fn. 34) there was, however, some middle-class immigration. In 1812
William Atkinson, a fellow at Cambridge, already
occupied the Grove, at the fork near the bridge. (fn. 35)
From the 1840s several large houses, some still
classical in style, were built south of Mingle Lane,
which led from the church towards Shelford station,
and some fundholders and annuitants lived in the
village. By 1861 there were 36 houses on the high
street and a lane off it, 8 to the east along Bury End,
13 on Bar Lane, and 32 along Church Street, which
included Mingle Lane. (fn. 36) Shortly after 1900 four
Edwardian mansions were built in extensive gardens
on rising ground a little north-east of the village
known since the 13th century as Foxhill. (fn. 37) They
included Middlefield, later Mount Blow, designed
by Lutyens in 1908 for the legal scholar Henry Bond,
and occupied in the 1930s by the antiquary T. C.
Lethbridge. (fn. 38)
Infilling along the old streets raised the number
of houses from 174 in 1931 to 254 by 1951; (fn. 39)
council housing spread along Hills Road, from its
junction with the back road, southwards to reach
Bury Farm by the 1960s. The village was rapidly
built up between 1950 and the early 1970s. By 1961
there were over 490 houses, and c. 140 were under
construction in 1973. (fn. 40) By 1980 groups of privately
developed houses along cul-de-sacs and crescents,
often closely set together, one estate c. 1975 being
planned to have 40 houses on 3 a., had covered
almost all the ancient closes of the village. Stapleford
village was thus virtually submerged in a single
built-up area with Great Shelford. Only in the
north-east quadrant, around Greenhedge Farm, was
much empty land left there in 1980. (fn. 41)
The main village inns, both on Church Street,
were the Rose and Crown, recorded from 1803, and
the Three Horseshoes, opened by a blacksmith by
1840 and renamed the Longbow after rebuilding c.
1976. Both were still open in 1980, as was the Tree
on Bar Lane, (fn. 42) recorded from 1895 and rebuilt in
1979. (fn. 43) The Dolphin on the high street flourished
c. 1860–1920. (fn. 44) In the 1870s the village feast was held
at the end of June. (fn. 45) About 1908 Dr. William
Collier built on Bar Lane a village hall and reading
room, which he gave to the parish in 1922. After
it was sold to the county council in 1966, the
villagers used for their social activities both the
former church school given c. 1950 as the Johnson
Memorial Hall, and rooms at the pavilion which
the village hall trustees had built by 1973 on the
recreation ground in the north-east of the village,
acquired by the parish council in 1936. (fn. 46) In the late
20th century the growing population was well
catered for by numerous societies, including sports,
social, and youth clubs, a horticultural society, and
an Umbrella club for music and drama. (fn. 47)
About 1900 most of the 230 a. west of Wandlebury
were incorporated into the course of the Gogmagog
Golf Club, formed in 1901, which still used the land
in 1980. (fn. 48) The former parish gravel pit off the Hills
road was in the 1970s controlled by the Cambridgeshire Naturalists' Trust as a small nature reserve. (fn. 49)
In the late 1970s a former slaughterhouse was being
converted for a museum of folk crafts. (fn. 50)
Manors.
The monks of Ely claimed that King
Edred had given the vill of Stapleford, c. 15 hides,
to their church c. 955, well before the abbey was
refounded; the actual grantee was perhaps Edred's
thegn Wulfstan. (fn. 51) Probably a little later one Alfstan
sold 2 hides at Stapleford to Ramsey abbey (Hunts.),
which later gave them by exchange to Ealdorman
Ethelwine's brother Alfwold. (fn. 52) Stapleford certainly
belonged to Ely by the 1030s, (fn. 53) and the abbot held
all the 10 hides there in 1066 and 1086. (fn. 54) About 1135
Bishop Niel assigned most of them to the prior and
monks, (fn. 55) who were granted free warren there in
1252. (fn. 56) In 1257 the priory bought out John le Moyne
of Shelford's claim to 1½ carucates there. (fn. 57) STAPLEFORD BURY remained a demesne manor of the
priory until the dissolution, (fn. 58) and was included in
1541 in the endowment of the dean and chapter of
Ely, (fn. 59) from whom it was transferred to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in 1870. (fn. 60)
From the late 16th century the Bury manor,
together with the impropriate rectory, were held on
a beneficial lease, which comprised not only the
demesne and great tithes, but also the assize and
copyhold rents and all royalties and court profits.
The dean and chapter reserved only the timber and
advowson. (fn. 61) From the 1630s even the courts were
held in the lessees' names. (fn. 62) In the 1570s the lease
was acquired by Edward Wood (d. 1599) of Fulbourn, (fn. 63) also lord of Sternes manor, with which it
passed until the 1650s. (fn. 64) Sir William Halton, lessee
from 1640, (fn. 65) bought the freehold shortly after 1650.
He soon mortgaged it, and had assigned the lease by
1658 to William Wakefield, (fn. 66) who retained possession
as lessee after 1660, in defiance of the mortgagee,
under the restored dean and chapter. (fn. 67) By 1663 the
lease had passed to Wakefield's widow Anne, lessee
until 1668, and perhaps, as Anne, widow of John
Wilkinson, one of the Six Clerks, in 1691. (fn. 68)
By 1697 the lease had been acquired by Arthur
Joscelyn (fn. 69) (d. 1719), and passed to his son Arthur
(d. s.p.m. 1740). (fn. 70) The latter's successors sold it to
Francis Godolphin, earl of Godolphin, who retained it until 1757. (fn. 71) It was next given to Dr.
William Collier, vicar since 1751 and son-in-law of
John Peter Allix, dean of Ely (d. 1758). Upon Dr.
Collier's death in 1787, (fn. 72) it descended to his daughter
Sarah. She married her cousin John Peter Allix of
Swaffham Prior (d. 1807) and retained it as a widow
until she died in 1836. (fn. 73) Trustees then held it for
her sons John Peter (d. s.p. 1848) and Col. Charles
Allix (d. 1862) and the latter's son Charles Peter.
In 1872 C. P. Allix agreed to surrender to the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners Bury farm (406 a.)
in exchange for the lordship of the Stapleford
manor and leaseholds at Swaffham. (fn. 74) The Stapleford
manorial rights had come by 1881 to Sarah Francis
of Quy Hall (d. 1897), widow of Clement Francis,
a Cambridge solicitor, and descended to their sons
T. M. Francis (d. s.p. 1931) and W. H. Francis (d.
1940), named as lord in the 1930s. (fn. 75) The Commissioners sold Bury farm in 1886 to W. S. Heffer,
its tenant by 1883, (fn. 76) who died in 1907. (fn. 77) Probably in
1913 (fn. 78) it was sold to G. R. C. Foster of Trumpington, (fn. 79) and in 1936 to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, still the owner in 1980. (fn. 80)
The Ely manor had in 1650 a manor house within
13 a. of closes at the south-east corner of the village
and a tithe barn by the church. The former, timber
framed and tiled, included a hall and parlour and
five chambers. In the 1660s it had 7 hearths. (fn. 81) The
house was rebuilt in brick in 1851. (fn. 82) Following fires
in 1879 and 1884 the farm buildings were replaced
by model ranges in brick. (fn. 83)
Probably before 1135 a fraction of the Ely estate
had been detached to form a manor held as ½ knight's
fee of the bishop of Ely until after 1600. (fn. 84) In 1212
it was held by William son of Simon, (fn. 85) c. 1236 by
William of Harston. (fn. 86) By 1258 it was held in
demesne by William de Aubigny, later lord of
Cainhoe (Beds.), (fn. 87) who died c. 1264. He left it to his
son (fn. 88) Simon, who held 108 a. at Stapleford at his
death in 1272. His heirs were his sisters, Isabel,
Christine who married Peter de la Stane, and Joan.
When 48 a. there were divided between them in
1273, the main undertenant, paying 10s. 6d. of 17s.
rent, was again a William of Harston. (fn. 89) The sisters
still held the fee jointly in 1302. (fn. 90) Lordship over
land there rented at £2 belonged to William Saffrey,
husband of Christine's daughter Margery, at his
death in 1325. William's son Brian, then aged 14 (fn. 91)
(d. 1349), held the fee in 1346 with Henry Steel, (fn. 92)
who held his portion, 67 a., for life of Hugh Pouger.
In 1347 Hugh assigned the reversion to his son
John. (fn. 93)
That manor, thereafter called STERNES,
probably belonged by 1417 to Walter Sterne (d.
after 1434). (fn. 94) Margaret Sterne was tenant in 1428. (fn. 95)
Robert Sterne (d. 1459) left two young sons Thomas
(d. s.p. 1461) and Henry (1449–69), whose son
Henry (b. 1468) (fn. 96) had his Stapleford lands in the
bishop of Ely's wardship c. 1483. (fn. 97) Henry died c.
1507, and his son Thomas, of age c. 1520, in 1525,
when his son Simon was aged two. Henry's widow
Anne, then holding Sternes for life, died in 1536,
when it passed to Thomas's widow Joan. (fn. 98) In 1575
Elizabeth and Thomas Sterne, perhaps Simon's
widow and son, sold Sternes to Edward Wood, (fn. 99)
who acquired two other Stapleford farms. Dying in
1599 he left them with the Bury lease to his son
John, (fn. 100) a clerk of the signet, knighted in 1603. (fn. 101) Sir
John Wood dispersed those lands by sale and mortgage. (fn. 102) In 1626 he sold Sternes to Henry North, who
in 1631 resold it to Sir William Halton (fn. 103) (d. 1639).
Halton's heir was his nephew William (cr. Bt. 1642,
d. 1662), from whom Sternes descended to his sons
Sir William (d. s.p. 1676) and Sir Thomas Halton
(d. 1726). (fn. 104) Thomas's son Sir William sold it in 1734
to Francis, 2nd earl of Godolphin (fn. 105) (d. s.p.m. 1766).
The earl left his Stapleford estate, including
Gogmagog House, to his cousin and heir male,
Francis Godolphin, Lord Godolphin (d. s.p. 1785). (fn. 106)
The latter devised the Gogmagog estate to Lord
Francis Godolphin Osborne, son of the second earl's
daughter Mary and Thomas Osborne, duke of
Leeds. (fn. 107) Lord Francis, M.P. for Cambridgeshire
1810–31 and created in 1832 Lord Godolphin of
Farnham Royal, died at Gogmagog House in 1850.
His son and heir, Thomas Godolphin Osborne, who
succeeded a cousin as 8th duke of Leeds in 1859,
also died there in 1872. Thomas's son George, the
next duke, died in 1895. His Stapleford land was
sold the same year to W. G. and J. L. Lyster, (fn. 108) and
bought in 1896 by S. G. S. Erskine, Lord Cardross,
from 1898 earl of Buchan, who sold it c. 1903. (fn. 109)
The next owner R. E. Alexander sold it in 1904. (fn. 110)
The purchaser, Harold William Stannus Gray
(K.B.E. 1938), made Gogmagog House his residence
and died in 1951. His son T. J. Gray (fn. 111) sold it in
1954. The house and surrounding woodland (110 a.)
were acquired, partly through his gift, by the Cambridge Preservation Society. (fn. 112)
Sternes manor house, reduced to a farmhouse,
still stood in the village in 1740, (fn. 113) probably where
Lord Francis's farmhouse stood at inclosure,
slightly west of the Bury manor, but possibly in a
5-a. close in the north of the village later called
Lordship Close. (fn. 114) The Godolphins and their successors, however, established their local seat within the
ramparts of Wandlebury. About 1685 James II had
had stables built there, of which part, of red brick,
survived in 1980, in the centre of a longer range. In
the mid 1720s the stables were leased from the dean
and chapter by Tregonwell Frampton (d. 1727),
keeper of the king's racehorses. They were then
little used. (fn. 115) In 1729 Lord Godolphin began to
build a large house there, completed by 1735. It had
a plain nine-bay front in grey brick, facing north,
with irregular offices to the south, where the approach was. The inner ramparts were levelled to
make its gardens. (fn. 116) Perhaps c. 1752 (fn. 117) a new block,
including stables and servants' quarters, was built
south-west of the house. A pedimented archway,
surmounted by a cupola and clock restored c. 1980,
leads into a south-facing courtyard between two
wings. Lord Godolphin's Arabian horse, the ancestor of most modern British racehorses, was
buried, aged 29, under the archway in 1753. (fn. 118) The
south range opposite was extended at both ends
soon after. (fn. 119) In the 19th century the house, which
was extended eastwards by six bays, was a frequent
residence of the Osbornes until the 1890s. (fn. 120) It was
demolished c. 1955, when the stables were converted for housing. (fn. 121)
The Colliers were established as landowners at
Stapleford from 1736, when Richard Collier bought
80 a. of freehold, (fn. 122) part of 160 a. owned in the 16th
century by the Drabbles of Flamstead (Herts.), and
bought in 1584 by Edward Wood. (fn. 123) Richard died
owning 115 a. in 1751. (fn. 124) His successors Richard and
Tregonwell Collier, probably brothers, owned after
inclosure 65 a. and 95 a. (fn. 125) Tregonwell left his land
c. 1821 to Richard's sons, (fn. 126) who between 1825 and
1870 bought up 160 a. of the 240 a. allotted to lesser
landowners at inclosure. (fn. 127) In 1865 Henry Collier,
the last brother, bought Heath farm (231 a.), which
he held on lease from the dean and chapter. (fn. 128) After
he died in 1870 those lands were divided between
his sons Henry, a clergyman (d. 1933) and Dr.
William Collier, a successful physician (d. 1935).
Heath farm was sold in 1896 to Caius College,
Cambridge, still its owner in 1980. The other two
Collier farms were for sale c. 1936. (fn. 129)
Economic History.
Of the ten hides in 1086
6½ belonged to the Ely demesne, upon which seven
slaves, and probably the four bordars, were employed but which had only four ploughteams; those
were assisted by the seven teams of the 16 villani.
The manor was still worth £13, as in 1066. (fn. 130) By
the early 13th century (fn. 131) there was much freehold
land. The Stapleford family held at least 2 yardlands
(c. 60 a.), until they were split up by sales in the mid
13th century, one purchaser taking 37 a., another
22 a. Much of that land was acquired c. 1300 (fn. 132) by
the prior of Ely. His demesne was also augmented
by other purchases of freehold, including three 15-a.
half-yardlands (fn. 133) and 25 a. from the Helgeys. (fn. 134) He
also bought up freemen's rights of common over the
demesne, and of foldage (fn. 135) and in 1258 took a 12-year
lease of the Aubigny demesne (108 a.). (fn. 136) Some
freeholders then owed one-day harvest boons. (fn. 137)
The customary tenements included five full and
eleven half-yardlands, besides seven cottars. By the
1410s, although some villeins were still personally
bondmen, all those holdings were nominally in
hand, (fn. 138) and in practice let out at rents of c. £22 8s. (fn. 139)
In 1650 copyhold rents still came to £22 2s. (fn. 140) In the
18th century there were still 250 a. of freehold
arable, besides the manors and glebes, and c. 450 a.
of copyhold. (fn. 141) The latter was heritable and alienable,
subject to fines at the lord's will, and could be leased
for up to three years. The dean and chapter required
their lessees, who actually received rents and fines,
not to demand unreasonable ones: the just level
was reckoned as one year's value of the land. (fn. 142)
The demesne, which in the 14th century had
comprised c. 330–345 a. of arable, was perhaps still
in hand in the 1390s, but at farm by 1410 for a rent
of £70, including the copyhold rents, equal to the
former income from direct management. By the
1470s the yield had fallen to £45–50. About 1530
the demesne rent by itself was £26. (fn. 143) The then lessee
was Robert Goodman, by far the wealthiest villager,
said to be worth £100 in 1522 and taxed on £50 in
1524. (fn. 144) At his death in 1532, when he bequeathed
£700 among his children, he left both that lease and
one of the Drabbles' 160 a. to his son John, who
still held the Bury farm when he died c. 1562. (fn. 145) The
next most prosperous farmer in 1524, taxed on
£46 13s. 4d., was probably farmer of Sternes, whose
demesne later comprised c. 185 a. By 1600 its lord
also had the Drabbles' land and another farm,
perhaps 70 a., formerly owned by the Reynolds
family, who had been taxed on £12 in 1524. The
other £30 10s. of goods assessed in 1524 had belonged to nine small yeomen, while 16 labourers
paid on their wages. (fn. 146)
Besides the closes around the village, 86 a. in 1740,
including Ely's Ancroft (14 a.) and Mill piece (20 a.)
at the south-west corner, and the meadows, 36 a.,
and Lammas land, 68 a., mostly beside the river,
Stapleford had arable fields stretching up to the
Haverhill turnpike, traditionally reckoned as c.
1,245 a. (fn. 147) Numerous fields and furlongs were recorded
in the 13th century, including Foxhill, Haukebarwe,
and Church fields close to the Shelford border, and
further east Coplowe and Wormelawe fields near
the heath, and Easthill and Longland near the
Babraham road. In 1340 100 a. of arable was lying
uncultivated. (fn. 148) Although three fields were once
mentioned in the 13th century, (fn. 149) few of the medieval
names were recorded in the 17th century and later,
and the arable was possibly re-arranged into three
large fields after 1400. It was perhaps then also that
290 a. of the demesne's nominal 340 a. was concentrated, as was recorded in 1650, into a few large
blocks, that ranged from one of 120 a., called the
Hundred Acres, north of the village, and two of 60 a.,
down to 30 a. and 20 a. By the early 17th century (fn. 150)
Church field (311 a.) stretched along the western
border north from the village to the heath. Eastward
the L-shaped Middle field (353 a.) running from the
common green east to the Babraham border partly
embraced Thistleburrow (by 1740 also Chalkpit,
and c. 1810 Mill) field (366 a.) in the north-east. A
triennial rotation was in force. In 1733 the demesne
had nominally 110 a. (really 70–75 a.) in each field,
and smaller holdings were likewise almost equally
divided between them at inclosure. (fn. 151)
The 120 sown acres delivered to the lessee c.
1410 included 80 a. of wheat, but only 40 a. of
barley. (fn. 152) The main peasant crop, however, was
probably barley. (fn. 153) Saffron was grown by 1544,
perhaps still in 1650. (fn. 154) In the 17th and 18th centuries
the smaller landowners used their common rights
over the arable mainly for cattle: only the manor
farms apparently still then had sheepflocks. In 1697
only those with land worth under £4 a year were
permitted to pasture cows on the balks, and then
not over 3 each, reduced to 2 in 1707. Cattle not put
in the common herd were not allowed on the
meadows after haymaking, nor on other commons,
apart from the village green, which was still being
collectively fenced round in the 1750s. (fn. 155) Some 90
cattle were kept c. 1812, when there were still 32
commonable messuages, including 14 cottages.
Turkeys were being raised by 1714: altogether c.
100 of them and 400 hens were kept c. 1812. (fn. 156)
The extensive heathland in the north until inclosure also included the hilltop south of the Haverhill
road as far as the parish chalkpit. It was probably
called the Moor in the 13th century, (fn. 157) and traditionally reckoned as 500 a. (fn. 158) and in 1740 as 547 a. (fn. 159)
It enabled many sheep to be kept. In 1086 there was
a flock of 120. (fn. 160) In the 13th century one large freeholder was entitled to a fold for 216, another to one
of 100 with his 25 a. (fn. 161) The farmer John Reynolds
bequeathed 400 sheep and 60 lambs in 1515. (fn. 162) About
1740 it was claimed that before 1500 there had been
three folds for 216 sheep each, the priory then
keeping 300. (fn. 163) After 1523 the Goodmans claimed to
have a copyhold sheep walk for 300 animals. From
the 1560s later Bury lessees opposed them, claiming
that the Goodmans had procured the copyhold
grant fraudulently, without the lord's authorization,
and had only kept so large a flock in right of their
demesne lease. Robert Goodman's grandson John,
however, probably won his case, (fn. 164) for in 1740 the
lords of Sternes had, besides their manor's sheep
walk for 300, recorded from 1575, a copyhold one
also for 300, attached to a half-yardland. (fn. 165) Both
estates were in the same hands from the late 16th
century, and in the early 18th century both were
leased by the Joscelyns who sublet to the actual
farmers but kept the whole sheep walk in hand; (fn. 166)
so for long no occasion for dispute over their
respective rights arose. In 1741, however, Lord
Godolphin obliged the dean and chapter to accept
a new settlement about the sheep walk and the heath,
which Ely had previously considered to be in their
sole ownership. They agreed to exercise sheep walk
for only 300 beasts each, and to divide the heath
equally between them, each taking 274 a. in severalty.
The number of sheep kept was to be cut by one for
each acre of heath inclosed. (fn. 167) Despite opposition
from the dean and chapter, parts of it were occasionally ploughed up by farmers, both c. 1720, (fn. 168)
and c. 1810 when the pretext was to improve the
pasture by sowing grass seed. Rather more than
600 sheep were then kept. (fn. 169)
In the 1660s only 3 of c. 30 dwellings had more
than four hearths, and 19 only one or two. (fn. 170) Several
18-a. and 30-a. half and full yardlands were then
still separately owned. (fn. 171) The last to survive independently, gradually enlarged by its owners the
Pamplyns from 18 a. to 40 a., was sold in 1810. (fn. 172)
Landholding became more concentrated from the
1680s. Thus Branson Peter (d. 1697) who occupied
the Bury farm and his son and namesake built up
an estate including 198 a. of copyhold arable and
16 a. of grass by 1700, when following mortgages
it passed to the Rumbolds. (fn. 173) Their heir Henry Hall
owned 217 a. in all in 1740. Of the 782 customary
acres then outside the manor farms and glebe 465 a.
were included in three large holdings of 115–217 a.,
and 233 a. in four of 40–70 a., the other 84 a.
belonging to eight smallholders. Of the seven larger
farms only one of 115 a. was farmed by its owner;
the rest were leased out by their non-resident
landlords, each, however, to a different farmer. (fn. 174)
About 1810 four owner-occupied farms comprised
c. 230 a.; the other six larger ones were leased from
outsiders. (fn. 175)
By 1800 innovations were being made in the
open-field husbandry: 214 a. were in 1811 under
grass and root crops, including 93 a. of turnips and
94 a., less than usual, of clover, trefoil, and coleseed,
besides cabbages and potatoes. (fn. 176) By 1807 a man
farming 120 a. was using threshing and chaff-cutting
machines. (fn. 177) An inclosure Act was obtained in 1812. (fn. 178)
The land was divided the same year, the award
being executed in 1814. (fn. 179) Of the 1,662 a. of fields
and commons involved, the dean and chapter,
besides 222 a. for tithes, were allotted 435 a. for
their manorial farm, and Sternes manor 405 a.:
those allotments included the 231 a. and 237 a. in
the west and east of the heath, which they already
held in severalty. The vicar received 140 a. Of the
remainder, five owners with 25–100 a. each shared
375 a., and six smaller ones 71 a., while 7 a. went to
eight others solely for common rights. (fn. 180)
Thereafter (fn. 181) the dean and chapter's Bury farm
comprised 406 a. east of the village, including in
1913 337 a. of arable. (fn. 182) By 1820 they had leased
their Heath farm (231 a.) separately to Tregonwell
and by 1845 to Henry Collier. (fn. 183) The Osbornes'
Gogmagog farm to the north-east was long run
mainly through farm bailiffs. By 1880 their 174 a.
south of the Haverhill road was leased to farmers:
one went bankrupt in 1892. (fn. 184) Of the 250 a. around
the house, including 55½ a. of woodland and 114 a.
of imparked grassland, still in hand in 1894, 166a.
had been added to the farm by 1904. (fn. 185) The smaller
holdings nearer the village, gradually consolidated
by the Colliers, were later divided into Vine farm
(175 a.) and Greenhedge farm (125 a.), west and
east of the Hills road. (fn. 186) Only the Heffers kept their
82 a. separate, until it was linked to Bury farm from
the 1880s. (fn. 187) In 1861 Henry Collier, farming 600 a.,
and William Baker of Bury farm, with 400 a.,
occupied over half the parish. (fn. 188) From the late 19th
century Stapleford usually had four substantial
farms. In 1955 four of 100–500 a. comprised
together 1,307 a., while eleven men, with under 40 a.
each, occupied 83 a. (fn. 189) Wheat and barley, and until
the 1920s oats, remained the principal corn crops.
The area under grass more than doubled from
176 a. in 1885 to 417 a. by 1905, partly perhaps
through the partial conversion of Heath farm to
a golf course, and was still over 380 a. in 1925. Sheep
farming remained important until after 1900. In
1814 the Gogmagog farm had 200 Sussex sheep, in
1885 1,060 grown sheep were kept, in 1905 nearly
500, and even in 1977 one farmer still had 350.
Vegetables, including mustard, were much grown
from the 1920s, when 11 a. of orchards were covered
with c. 3,250 apple trees. In 1955 there were 91 a.
of sugar beet, by 1977 c. 200 a. (fn. 190)
In 1830 there were 55 adult labourers and 31
under 20. (fn. 191) In the mid 19th century, despite
emigration, as in 1857 when up to 50 people left
for Australia, (fn. 192) there were still 55–60 adults available
for farmwork: the two largest farmers employed
35–40 men, the smaller ones 7 or more. (fn. 193) In 1873
30 such men's families were very poor, (fn. 194) and in
1893 nearly 30 labourers were out of work. (fn. 195) In 1925
c. 40 men were still employed in farming, but by
1977 full-time farmworkers, including the farmers,
numbered only eleven. (fn. 196)
Stapleford had few resident craftsmen beyond
those needed to assist farming. A tannery working
there by 1712 probably closed c. 1796. (fn. 197) There was
a cabinet maker in 1841. Such crafts as shoemaking
and tailoring were no longer recorded after the 1880s.
Of two smithies working in 1851, one in a forge
built on the waste before 1760, only the Gumbleys'
survived from the 1880s to the 1930s. Besides
bakers and butchers the village usually had two or
three shops in the 1850s as in 1960. In 1861 some
women were working at the Sawston paper mill. A
cycle maker's shop and taxidermist's, started by
1904, developed into a garage from the 1920s, and
there was a small builder's business from 1912. (fn. 198)
By 1895 English Fibre Industries had acquired a
rope factory on land at the south-west corner of the
parish; the works, stretching across the Great
Shelford boundary, were still open in the 1960s. (fn. 199)
By 1960 Stapleford was the headquarters of Shelford Building Supplies Ltd., (fn. 200) still open in 1980.
An unfinished toy factory near the rope works,
for sale in 1962, was perhaps occupied in 1976 by
J. & H. Corrugated Cases, who made palletised
packs. (fn. 201)
A mill was released to Ely priory in 1240. (fn. 202) About
1520 Thomas Sterne held of the priory by inheritance
Milldam meadow and perhaps an adjacent water
mill, (fn. 203) probably the copyhold water mill near Mill
piece still attached to Sternes manor in 1740. (fn. 204) It
had gone by 1812. Robert Willis, whose family were
in business at Stapleford as millwrights from the
1790s to the 1870s, built a tower windmill on an
open-field strip slightly north-east of the village
in 1804. He had to promise that its turning sails
should not frighten horses ploughing nearby. The
mill was mostly run by the Rawlings family, the
Willises' partners in business and marriage until
1884, when Dr. William Collier bought it. It
had closed by 1905, perhaps c. 1890. The sails
were stripped by 1939, the timber upper part
mostly went for firewood during the Second World
War, and the 10-ft. high brick base was removed
in 1961. (fn. 205)
Local Government.
In 1299 the prior of
Ely claimed to have view of frankpledge, the assize
of bread and of ale, infangthief, and a prison in
Stapleford. (fn. 206) A few court rolls survive for 1629–65, (fn. 207)
and court books from 1661 to 1937. (fn. 208) The courts,
still sometimes styled views of frankpledge, registered not only copyhold, but also, unusually,
freehold property transfers. Aletasters were still
appointed in the 1660s, constables from then to the
1720s, and haywards or pinders occasionally from
the 1690s until inclosure. (fn. 209) The courts continued
issuing agrarian bylaws until 1751, thereafter simply
confirming those already in force. (fn. 210) The leet's power
to make them with the lord's consent was noted in
1740. Then, (fn. 211) as in earlier conveyances, courts leet
were claimed for Sternes manor. (fn. 212) No evidence
survives of courts being held for it, however, and
no copyhold was held of it at inclosure.
Expenditure on the poor doubled from £55 in
1776 to £109, nearly all on outside relief, in 1803,
when 14 adults were regularly assisted. (fn. 213) About
1815 c. 18 people were permanently supported by
the parish, at a cost of nearly £200. (fn. 214) Such expense
rose to c. £325 c. 1820, and during the 1820s
usually ranged between £240 and £270, only twice
falling below £200. By 1834 it was again nearly
£325. (fn. 215) About 1830 large families received help
from the rates, and the labourers, of whom six were
unemployed, were allotted among the farmers in
proportion to the size of their farms. (fn. 216) From 1836
Stapleford was included in the Chesterton poor law
union. (fn. 217) From the 1890s it belonged to the Chesterton R.D., and from 1974 to the South Cambridgeshire district. (fn. 218)
Church.
Stapleford had a church, presumably
belonging to Ely priory, by the mid 12th century. (fn. 219)
In the early 13th it was worth up to £15. (fn. 220) It was
still served by a rector in 1258, (fn. 221) but, under a papal
bull of 1255, (fn. 222) the priory had appropriated it by c.
1276, when there was a vicarage. (fn. 223) The advowson
of it belonged to the prior and convent of Ely, (fn. 224)
from whom it passed to the dean and chapter, (fn. 225)
with whom it remained in the 1970s. (fn. 226) In 1544
Philip Parys of Linton had presented by grant of
the prior. (fn. 227)
Besides the small tithes the vicar had a house, a
4-a. grass close, and c. 50 a. of fieldland. (fn. 228) In the
18th century his glebe comprised 8 a. of grass and
48½ a. of arable. (fn. 229) In 1291 the vicar was taxed on
£4 3s. 4d. of the church's total income of £16 3s.
4d. (fn. 230) By the 1530s he was receiving also a pension
from the rectory of 2 qr. each of wheat and barley,
and £2. (fn. 231) The vicarage was worth nearly £8 in
1535, (fn. 232) and £40 in 1650, when the tithe of saffron
was equally divided between rectory and vicarage. (fn. 233)
By 1691 the cash pension had been increased to £22
a year, (fn. 234) so that the vicar had £70 yearly in 1728, (fn. 235)
and £80 by 1740. Standard cash payments were
then taken for most small tithes, £10 for those of
wool and lambs, and the glebe yielded £15. (fn. 236) At
inclosure the tithes were commuted for land: (fn. 237)
223 a. were allotted for the rectorial ones. The
vicar received 26 a. for his glebe and 115 a. for his
tithes and pensions. (fn. 238) By 1830 the living was worth
£181 net, (fn. 239) and in the 1870s £300–325 net, mostly
from the 142 a. of glebe. (fn. 240) By the 1910s it had fallen
by over a third, below £200. (fn. 241)
The vicarage house stood in 1740 in a 1½-a. close
slightly east of Bar Lane, by a lane between closes
later called Vicarage Lane. (fn. 242) It had 5 hearths in
1666. (fn. 243) From the early 18th century it was seldom
used by vicars, and, though kept in repair, was in
the 19th century mostly rented to labourers. (fn. 244)
Robert Hawthorn, vicar 1845–72, by 1851 had
acquired, and inhabited, the large Stapleford Lodge
south of Mingle Lane, which, however, his heirs
sold in 1872. (fn. 245) Later vicars had to live at Great
Shelford, or even Cambridge, until, after long
delays, the old cottage was sold in 1905, and a new
vicarage built with the proceeds in 1906 just west of
the church. (fn. 246) It was still the glebe house in 1980.
The 13th-century clergy were often local men.
One parson, Ralph, had probably two sons, to whom
he left land in the parish. (fn. 247) His successor Osbert
Helgey (fl. 1258) came from a prominent freeholding family. (fn. 248) Osbert's contemporary and probable
assistant Peter the chaplain similarly was son of
Stephen the priest, who had served in Ralph's
time. (fn. 249) Vicars were recorded from the 1270s. One
gave a cope in 1306. (fn. 250) Another in the 1370s spent
some time in the bishop's prison as a convicted
clerk, while a chaplain served the church. (fn. 251) That
vicar resigned in 1381. There were nine incumbents,
most of whom quitted Stapleford by exchanges,
between 1390 and 1420. (fn. 252) In the late 15th century
it was held by two canon lawyers. (fn. 253) Some early
16th-century villagers, including one vicar, left
substantial sums for temporary chantries. There was
a guild, probably in honour of St. Catherine; a
tabernacle over her altar in the church, perhaps
in the north chapel, was being made in 1503. (fn. 254) The
Crown sold the guildhall, mentioned in 1532, in
1569. (fn. 255)
A former monk of Ely, vicar from 1550, was
deprived in 1554 for having married. (fn. 256) A vicar
sometimes absent in 1561 had a curate by 1564. (fn. 257)
William Lee, 1577–1618, prospered enough to
found a grammar school at his native Batley (Yorks.
W.R.), besides benefactions to Stapleford, (fn. 258) where
there is a brass to him. His successor Henry Taylor
retained the vicarage through all changes until his
death in 1661. (fn. 259) About 1680 the chancel east end
probably still had seating behind the communion
table, after the puritan manner. (fn. 260) Charles Beaumont,
who succeeded a brother in 1687, served until
1727. (fn. 261) In 1728 his successor was employing a
curate, paid a third of the vicarial income. (fn. 262) Thenceforth, until after 1800, the vicars, who included
James Bentham, 1733–7, the future historian of Ely
cathedral, were mostly non-resident. (fn. 263) William
Collier, 1751–87, usually lived on his other Ely
living of Swaffham Bulbeck, (fn. 264) and William Metcalf,
1788–1803, was also precentor of Ely. (fn. 265) Charles
Mulis, 1803–45, also held Pampisford and c. 1810
retired to Devon from illness. (fn. 266) All therefore
necessarily served Stapleford through curates, in
Mulis's time shared with Pampisford, who usually
were paid half the vicars' income. They occupied
the vicarage, held two Sunday services, preaching at
one, and administered the sacrament three or four
times a year. (fn. 267) In 1836 there were 30–40 communicants. (fn. 268) In the late 19th century, of some 200 church
people, enough to fill the 200 sittings, c. 40–50 were
communicants: an average of 25 regularly attended
the communions, held monthly by 1873. There was
a choir of 44 in 1897, when an organ was presented.
About 120 people were then neglecting all religious
worship. (fn. 269)
The church of ST. ANDREW, so named by
1500, (fn. 270) consists of a chancel, nave and aisles under
a single roof, with south porch and north chapel,
and west tower. In 1980 the chancel had recently
been refaced in Portland stone in place of clunch;
the rest of the church is of flint and field stones, and
the whole is heavily restored. The earliest surviving
part is the Norman chancel arch. An originally short,
squarish chancel was probably extended eastwards
in the 13th century: the lancets to the east are
wider than that to the west opposite the priest's
door. In the south-east angle is an elaborately
restored piscina. In the early 14th century two
2-light windows were inserted at the chancel west
end. Within older nave outer walls, retaining 13thcentury doorways and one lancet at the south aisle
west end, a five-bay arcade with double-chamfered
arches on octagonal piers was also inserted in the
early 14th century. There was perhaps a pause after
building the first two bays on the south side before
the rest was completed. The nave windows, mostly
square-headed with two lights, are also 14th-century.
Their much renewed tracery is more ogee-headed
towards the west. The probably contemporary
three-stage tower is buttressed and embattled, with
a short spire. In the 15th century the chancel
received a three-light east window, and a transeptal
chapel was built at the north aisle east end.
Fragments of a carved Anglo-Saxon tombslab
are preserved in the church. (fn. 271) The plain, octagonal
font is probably 13th-century. The rood screen and
an old wainscot pulpit survived in 1742, (fn. 272) and one
medieval stall front is still in the chancel. By 1579
the chancel windows were greatly decayed through
the default of the rectory lessee. (fn. 273) Parts of the roof
were still covered with often leaking thatch in 1604,
1660, and probably 1685. (fn. 274) No medieval stained
glass survived William Dowsing's destruction of 30
'superstitious pictures' in 1643. In 1742 Lord
Godolphin took the north chapel for his servants'
pew and erected one for himself across the chancel
steps. (fn. 275) The next lord paid for renewing the other
seating c. 1780, when the church was said to be in
decent repair. (fn. 276) The tower was substantially
repaired in 1803. (fn. 277) In 1866 W. M. Fawcett restored
the nave: its roof, floor, and furnishings were completely renewed, and some windows reopened. The
two-storey 14th-century south porch, which previously had a stepped gable, was entirely rebuilt. (fn. 278)
The chancel, poorly repaired for the Allixes c. 1859,
was carefully restored by Ewan Christian in 1873. (fn. 279)
A vestry added north of the nave north door in
1925 (fn. 280) was extended northwards in the 1970s, when
the tower was again restored, some mouldings
being renewed in pink brick. (fn. 281)
The church had two chalices c. 1276, (fn. 282) and two
of silver, one parcel gilt, in 1552. (fn. 283) A cup and paten
by Thomas Buttell were obtained c. 1570, and two
more patens were given in 1638 and, by the vicar,
in 1718. (fn. 284) In 1524 60 lambs were bequeathed for
making a bell frame. (fn. 285) The two bells in 1552 (fn. 286) were
probably the two medieval ones recast in 1845. In
1783 the vicar still held 1 a. to find ropes for them.
Two more were added in 1622, another in 1854.
All five were restored in 1911, when a sixth was
added. (fn. 287) The registers begin in 1557. (fn. 288)
The churchyard was closed in 1879, (fn. 289) whereupon
Dr. William Collier gave ½ a. slightly north-west of
the church for a cemetery, opened in 1880. (fn. 290) From
the 17th century the churchwardens had for church
repairs half, and from 1885 3/5, of the income of the
feoffees' charity estate. In the 18th century their
share came to £3, by the 1970s to c. £90. (fn. 291) The town
clerk's cottage sold by the Crown in 1569 (fn. 292) was
perhaps the cottage beside the church occupied ex
officio by the parish clerk in 1783. (fn. 293) Its site was
given in 1847 for building the National school, in
exchange for a ½-a. plot by the bridge over the
Granta, just across the Sawston boundary. The
Clerk's Piece, yielding £1–2 yearly and reckoned a
charity, was bought by the parish council in 1979 to
preserve the village children's customary access to
the river. (fn. 294)
Nonconformity.
In 1728 there was one
Independent family. (fn. 295) The evangelist John Berridge,
curate at Stapleford 1749–55, preached there in
1759, attracting a crowd of 1,500. (fn. 296) In 1783 a third
of the inhabitants were Methodists or dissenters. (fn. 297)
Barns were registered for their worship in 1808 and
1838, and a house in 1809, (fn. 298) but in 1825 the many
dissenters mostly went to meeting houses elsewhere. (fn. 299)
About 1855 the Cambridge Particular Baptists
established a congregation at Stapleford. In 1863
Richard Headley, whose namesake, a farmer, had
provided the barn in 1808, conveyed to trustees the
site on Church Street, where their small chapel had
been built. (fn. 300) A grocer was perhaps its minister in
1871. (fn. 301) There were 50 dissenters in 1885, 200 in
1897. (fn. 302) The Providence Baptist chapel remained in
use until the 1970s, being slightly extended in 1947.
It had then no formal membership. In 1975,
following disagreement over church rules between
the small congregation which still worshipped there
and the Midland Strict Baptist Association, the
latter sold the chapel, which became a workshop
c. 1979. (fn. 303)
Education.
No school was established before
1800, (fn. 304) although in 1783 a few poor children learnt
to read. (fn. 305) A Sunday school at which the vicar
catechised in 1807 (fn. 306) probably closed c. 1810, but
was reopened in 1822, when it was maintained by
subscriptions and held in the church. In 1833 58
pupils of both sexes learnt to read there. A clergyman, perhaps the curate, had kept a boarding
school for 4 boys in 1815, as did the curate for 8 in
1833. By 1818 Lady Frances Osborne was supporting a small school for girls. It had then 12 pupils,
and in 1833, after remodelling in 1827, 34 girls who
received free teaching and clothing; 12 boys who
also attended were paid for by their parents. (fn. 307) In
1846 as a private school it had 13 pupils, all but 2
being girls. (fn. 308)
About 1845 the vicar opened at the old vicarage
a National day school supported by subscriptions
with nearly 80 pupils; 30 boys came to evening
classes. It was temporarily closed while the vicar
raised the £400 needed to erect a new schoolroom
for 102 built, with a teacher's house, with Gothic
details. It stood slightly east of the church, and was
opened in May 1847, with 110 children on the
books. Of the £47 income in 1855, mostly used to
pay the master, who also taught an evening school,
2/3 came from subscriptions, the rest from schoolpence, paid at a higher rate by tradesmen's children. (fn. 309) It was apparently enlarged c. 1860. (fn. 310) From
the 1850s to the 1870s about 60 of the 70–80 pupils
regularly attended. (fn. 311)
A school Board was formed in 1875. (fn. 312) When the
vicar, who had failed to secure election to it, declined
to let the National school to it at an acceptable rent,
Dr. William Collier gave a site west of Bar Lane,
upon which a board school was opened in 1878.
Built of red brick, somewhat in the 'Queen Anne'
style, it had separate mixed and infants' classrooms,
for 120 children in all. Average attendance was
then c. 60. (fn. 313) For a time the vicar struggled to carry
on the National school at his own expense; but it
languished, having by 1885 only 21 pupils, compared to the board school's 99, and finally closed
c. 1890. The building was long used for a Sunday
school. (fn. 314)
In the 1890s attendance at the board school rose
to 75, thereafter declining gradually to c. 55 between
1914 and 1927. (fn. 315) Evening schools held there,
teaching mainly handicrafts, flourished in the 1890s,
c. 25 people receiving instruction. (fn. 316) From 1930 the
older children went to Sawston village college, (fn. 317)
but the primary school still had over 70 pupils by
1938. (fn. 318) By 1960 numbers had reached 100, taught
by 5 teachers, (fn. 319) and the school was repeatedly
enlarged in 1955, 1963, and 1975, (fn. 320) to allow for
population growth and an overflow of children from
Great Shelford. By 1978 there were 340 pupils. (fn. 321)
The extensions gradually overran ½ a., given for
the village children's playground by Dr. William
Collier in 1930, and the county council had twice,
in 1958 and 1973, to provide fresh sites for it
further west. (fn. 322) In the 1970s the council converted
the old village hall, just south of the school, into
a centre for training teachers to teach mathematics. (fn. 323)
In 1974 it also built just to the north Greenhedge
school for 50 subnormal children. (fn. 324)
Charities for the Poor.
Edward Wood
(d. 1599) built on the waste a cottage for poor
widows. In his will he requested his successors as
Bury lessees to maintain it, installing new widows
to replace those who died. (fn. 325) It was probably the
8-hearth almshouse recorded in 1666, (fn. 326) and possibly
the town house mentioned in 1733, near the road
fork, ceded by the parish in 1812. (fn. 327)
The Stapleford Feoffees' charity estate probably
derives from lands held for the parish from the 16th
century. The 4 a. held with the town croft by the
churchwardens in 1569, though then sold by the
Crown, were probably recovered. Another 9 a.,
called the Task land, had been given mainly to
relieve the poor of paying the king's taxes, and,
when they were not levied, for the church and poor.
The vicar William Lee (d. 1617) gave his house and
land at Stapleford, half for the church, half for the
godly, honest, and diligent poor, but not idlers,
drunkards, and hedge breakers. The three charities,
resettled in trust in 1619–20, were gradually amalgamated. (fn. 328) In 1740 the property yielded altogether
£8 10s. The poor then received £7 in doles at
Easter, besides 10s. and 7 loaves at Christmas from
other bequests, in 1783 recently lost. (fn. 329)
The 16 a. allotted for the Church and Town land
at inclosure, besides a cottage, (fn. 330) yielded by the
1830s £24 a year: by an agreement of 1825 2/5 was
reserved for the church, 1/5 for the poor, while 2/5
might go to either; c. 10 a. of the land were let as
allotments. In practice, c. 1837, the church received
a third, and of the poor's share, c. £5 was given
yearly in indiscriminate doles, the rest partly for
apprenticeships. (fn. 331) About 1863 the churchwardens
had £22 8s., the poor only £5 12s. in doles. (fn. 332) In the
1870s the land was let in ½-a. allotments, and 2/3 of
the net income went to the church, only ⅓, £3 in
1884, to the poor. W. S. Heffer, who managed it,
being a dissenter and Radical, the vicar and vestry
questioned his stewardship in 1883. A Scheme of
1885 allotted 3/5 of the income to the Church Estate
Fund, 2/5 to the poor, whose share was usually given
until after 1910 in coal to up to 90 people. Although
much was spent in repairing the cottage, (fn. 333) the total
available income in the 1970s was c. £150, of which
£60 was often given in cash to up to 12 people. (fn. 334)
A War Memorial Fund, collected by 1922, of £85
invested to yield £3 15s., was meant to support sick,
poor villagers at a convalescent home at Hunstanton
(Norf.), which was entitled to the income in years
when no patients were sent there, as was usually
the case after 1950. (fn. 335)