Parishes: Waltham St Lawrence

WALTHAM ST. LAWRENCE

Wealtham (x cent.); Lawrence Waltham (xv cent.).

The parish of Waltham St. Lawrence contains 3,939 acres of land; there are 1,090 acres of arable land, 1,598 of permanent pasture and 342 of woods and plantations. (fn. 1) The parish is low-lying, and near the village is only about 120 ft. above the ordnance datum; the highest ground (214 ft.) is in Billingbear Park, in the south of the parish. Billingbear Park, the property of Lord Braybrooke, and occupied by Mr. C. T. D. Crews, D.L., J.P., F.S.A., is a fine red brick Elizabethan mansion standing in a park of about 400 acres, which contains several ponds. The main portion of the house was built by Sir Henry Neville about1567. In 1669Cosmos Duke of Tuscany visited it and stayed two days, and one of his suite wrote an account of his visit. This MS. is still in existence, and contains an illustration showing the front of the house at that date, which is almost exactly as it is now. (fn. 2) Further north, not far from the village, a stream runs across the parish. The subsoil is chalk, Woolwich and Reading beds and London clay. No important road passes across the parish, but various cross-roads from Maidenhead, Here Hatch and Knowl Hill, Twyford and Southlake meet in the village. The Straight Mile is the name given to a road in the south of the parish. The Great Western railway crosses the northern part of the parish, but there is no station nearer than Twyford, 3 miles away. The village has been almost untouched by the modern builder and still retains much of the picturesqueness and beauty of an old-world settlement. Most of the houses and cottages are of some antiquity and of brick or half-timber, while the roofs are generally tiled. They are mainly grouped round an open space at the fork of the road, with the church on the north in a churchyard inclosed by a brick and flint wall, the entrance to which is on the south through a modern oak lych-gate. There is a fine yew tree in the churchyard, which is said to have been planted in 1635 by Thomas Wilkinson, then the rector. In the middle of the roadway, immediately in front of the church, a square, marked by four large elms, hollow with age, has been inclosed by a wooden fence to form a pound. At the northeast corner of the open space are two early 17th-century cottages of brick and half-timber construction with tiled roofs. They are two stories high and are separated from the Bell Inn by a cottage of similar construction, but plastered externally. The Bell Inn is a two-storied building apparently of 16th-century date, much modernized inside, and is built of brick and halftimber, though the walls have been partly plastered on the outside. The lower story is broken up by small projecting windows, while at each end of the upper floor is an overhanging square bay. The roof is tiled. On the opposite side of the road are two half-timber and brick cottages of some antiquity, and at the back of the church is a large old barn. Further south, standing back on the east side of the road to the church, are two 17th-century cottages, one story in height, with rough-cast walls and tiled roofs. A little further along the street is another old barn, built of half-timber and brickwork, while at the south end of the village on the same side is a row of halftimber cottages, to the north of which is a 17th-century brick house. At the south-east end of the village stands a two-storied 18th-century house of red bricks with a tiled roof.

The Manor House belongs to Mrs. Arthur Beale, and is the residence of Capt. Leslie Orme Wilson, D.S.O. Southlake Street or Shurlock Row, mentioned in 1261, (fn. 3) lies about 1½ miles from the village.

The Kennels of the Garth fox-hounds were until recently at Beenham Farm, but have been removed to Bracknell.

Interesting place-names are Waycock Hill, Blazes (a corruption of Borlases) and Paradise.

A few relics of the pre-Roman inhabitants of the parish have been found, but far more important discoveries have been made of the Romano-British period. (fn. 4)

Thomas Rodd the elder (1763–1822), a writer of poems and sermons, had a small property in Waltham St. Lawrence, which he afterwards sold and opened a book-shop. His son Thomas Rodd (1796–1849) was born at Waltham St. Lawrence and succeeded his father as a bookseller, being famous for his knowledge of books. (fn. 5) John Newbury (1713–67), a well-known publisher, who published for Dr. Johnson and Goldsmith, was the son of a small farmer of Waltham. He was one of the first to bring out children's books, and is buried in his native village. (fn. 6)

The parish was inclosed by Act of Parliament in 1803. (fn. 7)

There is a Primitive Methodist chapel at Southlake, erected in 1863.

MANORS

In 940 King Edmund granted 30 'mansae' at Waltham to his thegn Ælfsige, who is said to have conveyed them to the abbey of Abingdon. (fn. 8) This land had returned to the Crown by 1006, when King Ethelred II held Waltham and gave 8 'mansae' there to his reeve Alfgar, in return for money. (fn. 9) The manor of WALTHAM, later known as WALTHAM ST. LAWRENCE, belonged to Queen Edith in the time of Edward the Confessor, (fn. 10) and after the Norman Conquest it was held by William I, thus forming part of the ancient demesne of the Crown. (fn. 11) From this time it followed the descent of the manor of Wargrave (fn. 12) (q.v.). Lord Braybrooke, however, did not sell this manor with Wargrave, and is the present owner.

Sir Henry Neville, who in 1552 obtained the grant of the manors of Wargrave, Waltham St. Lawrence and Warfield with their dependent manors, (fn. 13) settled at BILLINGBEAR (Pillingbere) in Waltham St. Lawrence. This place is first mentioned in the 13th century and later is often called the manor of Billingbear. (fn. 14) The Bishops of Winchester, some time during the 13th century, inclosed a large piece of the forest of Windsor, (fn. 15) lying mainly in the extreme south of Waltham St. Lawrence parish, but extending also into Binfield parish. The hedge of Billingbear is mentioned in 1208, in the time of Bishop Peter des Roches. (fn. 16) Some years later, however, the inclosure was attributed to Aymer de Lusignan (or Valence), (fn. 17) who held the see for six months in 1260, and it was maintained and enlarged by the succeeding bishops. In 1275 this inclosure was said to be to the damage of the king, but in 1284 Billingbear was quitclaimed by the Crown to the bishop. (fn. 18) After the manors of Waltham St. Lawrence and Billingbear were forfeited on the attainder of Cardinal Wolsey they remainted with the Crown (fn. 19) and were not alienated until Edward VI granted them to Henry Neville, (fn. 20) who, however, did not obtain final possession (fn. 21) until the reign of Elizabeth. (fn. 22) He was knighted in 1549 (fn. 23) and sat for Berkshire in three Parliaments. (fn. 24) He died in 1593 and was succeeded by his son Sir Henry Neville, a distinguished diplomatist and politician. He was born about 1564. After his father's death he lived at Billingbear, (fn. 25) and was at various times member of Parliament. (fn. 26) As ambassador to France he negotiated the treaty of Boulogne, but later becoming concerned in Essex's plot in 1600, was imprisoned in the Tower, from which he was not released until the accession of James I. Sir Henry died in 1615, (fn. 27) and his son Henry, knighted in 1609, (fn. 28) succeeded to his estates. The third Sir Henry Neville died in 1629, (fn. 29) leaving his son Richard as his heir. Billingbear, however, had been settled on his wife Elizabeth for her life (fn. 30); she afterwards married Sir John Thorowgood, and lived there until her death in 1669. (fn. 31) Richard Neville served with the royal forces in the Civil War and was at Oxford in 1646, (fn. 32) but afterwards compounded for his estates under the articles of surrender. (fn. 33) He died in 1674, (fn. 34) and his estates passed to his son John, (fn. 35) who was followed on his death without issue in 1677 (fn. 36) by his brother Richard. (fn. 37) The latter married Catherine, the only daughter and heir of Lord Grey of Wark, (fn. 38) and their second son Henry took the name of Grey. (fn. 39) Richard Neville died in 1717 (fn. 40) and was followed by his two sons Grey and Henry in succession. (fn. 41) The former was the member of Parliament for Abingdon in 1705 and Wallingford in 1708. (fn. 42) He died in 1723, (fn. 43) and, his only daughter having died in infancy, he was succeeded by his brother Henry, who was apparently in financial difficulties three years after inheriting the family property, and his disappearance and threat of suicide created some sensation in London. (fn. 44) He had married Elizabeth, the sister and co-heir of the third Lord Griffin of Braybrooke, (fn. 45) and Billingbear was settled on her for life. After the death of Henry Grey in 1740, she married John Earl of Portsmouth, but died childless in 1762. (fn. 46) Billingbear then passed to Richard Aldworth, the nephew of Henry Grey, he being the son of Henry's sister Catherine, (fn. 47) who had married Richard Aldworth, the impropriator of Wargrave rectory. (fn. 48) The new owner of Billingbear took the name of Aldworth-Neville the year he obtained the property. (fn. 49) He died in 1793 and was followed by his son Richard AldworthNeville. The latter changed his name to Griffin on succeeding his third cousin as Lord Braybrooke in 1797. (fn. 50) Billingbear is now the property of his greatgrandson the seventh Lord Braybrooke.

The manor of BEENHAMS, which presumably took its name from the family of Beenham, who held land both in Beenham parish and Waltham St. Lawrence in the 13th century, was held of the Bishop of Winchesters as of his manor of Waltham St. Lawrence. In 1260–1 John Beenham and his wife Isabel granted a messuage and carucate of land in Beenham to Henry de la Stane for life, and the latter acknowledged that a messuage and carucate in Southlake and Waltham were the right of John and Isabel. (fn. 51) Adam Beenham and Gilbert Beenham, said to be the son and grandson respectively of John, succeeded him, Gilbert being in seisin in 1404. (fn. 52) In 1347 William Edenson, Bishop of Winchester, obtained a pardon for acquiring the rent of 15s. 4½d. in Southlake and Waltham St. Lawrence in mortmain from a Gilbert Beenham. (fn. 53) In 1404 the bishop obtained the annulment of a fine as to the tenements in Southlake and Waltham St. Lawrence levied by John Beenham, on the ground that, being part of the manor of Waltham St. Lawrence, they were ancient demesne of the Crown. (fn. 54) The Beenhams' tenement is not mentioned again till 1556, when Richard Warde held the manor, (fn. 55) where he had been settled certainly since 1539. (fn. 56) He died seised of Beenhams in 1577–8, and it passed to his son and heir Richard, (fn. 57) who sold it shortly afterwards to Richard Barnard. (fn. 58) Before 1592–3, however, the manor had passed to John Evelyn, who sold it in that year to Ralph Newbury. (fn. 59) The latter sold it in 1607 to John Balthazer, (fn. 60) from whom it passed to his daughter Anne, the wife of William Bell of Waltham St. Lawrence. (fn. 61) In 1637 Bell and his wife and their son Balthazer sold the manor of Beenhams, with other lands in the parish, purchased by William Bell, to Thomas Foote, citizen and grocer of London, (fn. 62) who later served the offices of sheriff and alderman, and was lord mayor in 1649–50. He was member for the City in Cromwell's Parliaments and was knighted by him in 1657. After the Protector's death he sat in the council of state, in the early months of 1659–60, and was created a baronet by Charles II in 1660. (fn. 63) He lived to a great age, being about ninety-six at the time of his death in 1687. (fn. 64) Beenhams passed to his daughter and co-heir Mary, the wife of Arthur Onslow. (fn. 65) By a special creation in 1674 Onslow succeeded to the baronetcy of his father-in-law, but only survived him a year. (fn. 66) His window sold Beenhams in 1703 (fn. 67) to Samuel Grave, and in 1752 it had passed into the hands of three heirs, who may possibly have been his daughters, Elizabeth Kell, a widow, Joanna the wife of Jeremiah Pepiatt, and Sophia the wife of Basil Herne. In 1761 (fn. 68) these co-heirs sold this property to Francis Wightwick, who left a contingent reversion to Pembroke College, Oxford. By the death of his nephew Francis Wightwick in 1843 the estate reverted to the college.

An estate partly lying in the parish of Waltham St. Lawrence was known in the 17th century as the manor of HALL. Its history can be traced for several centuries, during which it was held by the lords of the neighbouring manor of Shottesbrook. The overlordship belonged to the Bishops of Winchester, with suit at their court of Wargrave in the 14th century, (fn. 69) and afterwards to Sir Henry Neville and his successors. (fn. 70) In 1343 (fn. 71) William Trussel obtained licence to alienate in mortmain 6½ acres of land here to the master and warden of the chantry he founded in Shottesbrook. (fn. 72) The Trussels (fn. 73) held Hall until the close of the 15th century, when Elizabeth Trussel inherited the family property. (fn. 74) She married John Earl of Oxford, (fn. 75) and her grandson Edward, the seventeenth earl, sold Hall to Thomas Noke in 1580. (fn. 76) It afterwards came into the possession of Richard Powle, who died seised of the manor of Hall in 1628, (fn. 77) this being the only time when the estate is described as a manor. Hall then passed to Henry Powle, kinsman of Richard Powle, (fn. 78) and it appears subsequently to have followed the descent of Shottesbrook Manor in Beynhurst Hundred (q.v.) without any break, Arthur Vansittart being the owner in 1722. (fn. 79)

CHURCHES

The church of ST. LAWRENCE consists of a chancel 24 ft. by 15 ft. 2 in., a north chapel (now used as an organ chamber) 20 ft. 11 in. by 8 ft. 11 in., to the north of which is a modern vestry, a south chapel 20 ft. 11 in. by 19 ft. 3 in., a nave about 53 ft. 10 in. by 15 ft. 6 in., a north aisle 58 ft. 6 in. by 8 ft. 6 in., a south aisle 57 ft. by 6 ft. 6 in., a west tower about 11 ft. by 9 ft., 1 in., and a modern south porch. These measurements are all internal.

The oldest parts of the present building are the walls of the nave, which are only 2 ft. thick and may be remnants of an 11th-century church consisting of a continuous nave and chancel. Additional evidence is found in the early character of the arches opening into the west ends of the aisles, which were added during the 12th century. The east wall of this early church probably stood a little to the east of the present chancel screen until the 13th century, when the existing chancel was built with aisles lining with those of the nave. This work was begun at the east end, and in consequence there is a break at the meeting with the side walls of the older chancel, and also with the north and south walls of the nave aisles, which were brought forward eastward soon after the addition was completed. Early in the 14th century the existing arcades at the east end of the nave were inserted in the walls of the original chancel and a west tower was built. In the middle of the 14th century the south aisle of the chancel was widened to form a chapel and new windows were inserted in both aisles, while early in the 16th century the tower was heightened. In recent years the building has been many times restored, first in 1847, when the south porch was added and the south wall of the south chapel rebuilt, next in 1888, and again in 1906, when the lych-gate was also erected.

The east window of the chancel is pointed and has restored tracery and mullions, but the plastered jambs are original. Above it is a modern circular light. Opening into the north chapel is a pointed arch springing from semi-octagonal responds with moulded capitals and bases; to the east is a small modern recess, and on the west are traces of a blocked pointed rood doorway. In the south wall are two modern recesses, and to the west of them a pointed arch to the south chapel like that opposite. Its east respond and capital are modern, and on the west the arch springs from the west wall of the chapel on which are returned an abacus and base like those to the responds of the opening on the north. The chancel arch is pointed, the outer order dying into the side walls and the inner one carried on modern corbels.

The east window of the north chapel is of the late 14th century, and is of three trefoiled lights with quatrefoiled spandrels under a square head. In the north wall is a modern pointed doorway into the vestry, and in the south wall to the east of the earch into the chancel is a small trefoiled piscina with a projecting basin. Between the north chapel and aisle is a 14th-century flying arch of two orders, the outer one springing from the face of the north wall and the inner carried on a corbel shaft. In the east wall of the south chapel are two late 14th-century windows, each of two trefoiled lights with tracery under square heads, and in the south wall is a large modern window with a pointed doorway to the west of it. Opening into the south aisle is a pointed arch of two chamfered orders with a semicircular attached shaft to the inner order on the south and a semioctagonal north respond, having a moulded capital and base, and abutting in a peculiar manner upon the south wall of the chancel. Along the east wall of the church, which is covered with rough-cast externally, are five modern brick buttresses, and there is a similar buttress at the north-east of the north chapel. The south wall of the south chapel is modern and of brick; the west wall is faced with flint.

The north arcade of the nave is of four bays. The two pointed eastern arches are of early 14th-century date and rest on an octagonal pier and responds to match, with moulded capitals and bases; the western arches are round and are of one square order with like pier and responds, having quirked and hollowchamfered abaci. The western arch springs from the wall. The south arcade is similar, but the abaci of the third bay are scalloped.

The north aisle has three north windows, each of two trefoiled lights with a quatrefoil under a pointed head. Only the jambs and heads of the two easternmost are of original 14th-century date, while the third appears to be entirely modern. Between the second and third windows is a pointed doorway with a continuous external chamfer, segmental rear arch, and modern external hood mould. In the west wall is a small trefoiled light, all modern but the inner jambs. The south aisle has three modern south windows like those of the north aisle, and probably in original 14th-century openings; between the second and third is a pointed and continuously moulded 14th-century doorway with an external label. The walls of the north aisle are covered with rough-cast, but those of the south aisle are faced with flint.

The tower is of flint with stone dressings and is in two stages with a modern brick embattled paraper and a chamfered plinth. At the west end, stopping at the level of the bell - chamber, are diagonal buttresses of two offsets, and at the southeast angle is an octagonal stair turret. The tower arch is pointed and is the full width of the tower; it is of two chamfered orders towards the nave, but on the west side the vertical face of the inner order is carried up flush with the face of the wall. The west doorway is a 16th-century insertion with much restored jambs, and has a four-centred head within a square containing moulding with roses in the spandrels. Above the doorway is a large early 14th-century window considerably restored. It is of three trefoiled lights with intersecting tracery inclosing large trefoils in a pointed head. The inner jambs have detached shafts with moulded capitals and bases supporting a moulded rear arch; on the outside the label has been cut off flush with the wall. Above this is a small modern trefoiled lights. The bell-chamber has two fourcentred lights in each wall, the pair on the east being blocked and covered by a clock face. On the south side of the tower is a sundial dated 1790.

The vestry is built of purple brick with stone dressings. The porch is of flint with stone dressings, and has a pointed entrance and diagonal buttresses at the angles. The roofs, which are tiled, are all modern, although the trusses are supported on original early 14th-century moulded corbels.

The hexagonal pulopit, which is in the Jacobean style, is modern, but the panelled and enriched back supporting the sounding-board is of the early 17th century and bears a shield with the date 1619 and the initials 'P.F.' The panelled and traceried octagonal font is of the 15th century, and the chancel screen, though otherwise modern, has some pieces of 14th-century tracery in the upper part. Under the west arch of the south arcade is a wrought-iron railing of late 17th-century work, and on the westernmost pier of each arcade is a small candle bracket of the same date and material. Some crosses are cut on the west face of the third pier of the south arcade, and on the first pier of the north arcade are traces of colour decoration.

There are two fine Jacobean chairs, one in the chancel and one in the north chapel, a late 17th-century stool, also in the north chapel, and a Sheraton table in the vestry.

On the north wall of the north chapel is an elaborate mural monument to Sir Henry Neville, who died 15 January 1593, and his wife Elizabeth, who died in 1573. The inscription states that she was daughter and sole heir of Sir John Gresham, kt., by Dame Frances sole heyer to S' Henry Thwaite knight,' and further records that Dame Frances is also buried here with Elizabeth Neville, the eldest daughter. It is of reddish marble, and the upper part is divided into two panels by three Corinthian columns which support an entablature; in the panels thus formed are the four kneeling figures of the knight, his wife Elizabeth, Dame Frances, and his daughter. In a niche in the west wall of the south aisle is a marble urn standing on a circular base, commemorating Katherine daughter of Sir Anthony Thomas, kt., who died in 1658. On the floor at the east end of the north aisle is a slab to Katherine and Anne, infant daughters of Richard Neville, who both died in 1686–7. On the west wall of the north aisle is a small but elaborate oval tablet of white marble erected by Samuel Lewis of 'Jamaica in America' in memory of his wife Dorothy, who died 6 February 1687, aged twenty-five, and of Mrs. Margaret Massey, her sister, who died 11 July 1681, aged twenty-four, 'Daughter of Major-Gen^le James Bannister, Born at Sarunam in America … The two nieces of Francis Wightwick Esq.' Above are the arms, Sable a cheveron between three trefoils argent impaling Argent a cross paty sable.

There is a ring of six bells by Thomas Mears & Sons, 1808, and a sanctus bell, which is probably of 15th-century date, without maker's mark or name. It is hung below a pent roof on the top of the tower and bears a meaningless inscription in Gothic capitals of different sizes. Scratched round the lip in small capitals is the following: 'The gieft of John Abeere of the hill 1681 and Heñ Boult + CW.'

The plate consists of a chalice of 1661. inscribed, 'For Lawrence Waltham Church Ex dono Humprydo Newberry ibidem Vicarius' (sic), with a cover paten of the same date, a paten of 1783 inscribed, 'The Gift of Thomas Beare to Waltham St. Lawrence, 1784,' a chalice of 1793, a plated silver flagon apparently of early 19th-century date, and a modern glass bottle with a silver stopper.

The registers previous to 1812 are as follows: (i) all entries 1559 to 1671; (ii) all 1671 to 1754, baptisms and burials to 1774; (iii) marriages (printed) 1754 to 1811; (iv) baptisms and burials 1774 to 1812. There is also a leather-bound volume entitled 'The Marriage Register Book belonging to ye Parish of Lawrence Waltham in ye County of Berks, March 25, 1754,' never used as a register, but converted into a churchwardens' account book.

The church of ALL SAINTS at Southlake is a small red brick cruciform building in the 'pointed' style with a western bellcote containing two bells. It is served from the parish church.

ADVOWSON

The advowson was held by Geoffrey de Mandeville, ancestor of the Earls of Essex, who granted it with a hide and a half of land and the chapel of Remenham to the priory of St. Mary of Hurley on its foundation about 1086. (fn. 80) It remained with the priory until the dissolution of the smaller monasteries. (fn. 81) A vicarage was ordained during the episcopate of Herbert le Poor (1194–1217), when the tithes of sheaves at Waltham and the oblations made on St. Lawrence's Day were assigned to the sacrist of Hurley Priory, the residue of the tithes being granted to the perpetual vicar. (fn. 82) In 1291 the church and vicarage were said not to be tithable. (fn. 83) In the following century there was a dispute between the priory and the vicar of Waltham St. Lawrence (fn. 84); the portion of the revenues of the church assigned to the latter had been augmented under a decision of the official of Canterbury, but the Prior and convent of Hurley evaded their obligation. The question was finally settled in 1370. The rectory and advowson of the vicarage were granted in 1536 by the king, amongst the possessions of Hurley Priory, to the abbey of Westminster in exchange for two London manors, and they were let at a yearly rental of £10 15s. 8d. (fn. 85) In 1541, after the dissolution of Westminster Abbey, (fn. 86) the rectory and advowson were granted in tail-male to Charles Howard, (fn. 87) but three years later he surrendered his patent and a new grant in fee was made to Leonard Chamberlain. (fn. 88) The new grantee alienated the rectory and advowson in the same year to William Lovelace and Griffin Barton, (fn. 89) the former of whom actually obtained seisin. He died seised, (fn. 90) and was succeeded by John Lovelace, who sold them to Richard Warde in 1566. (fn. 91) Warde's son, another Richard, aliented them to Henry Newbury and his wife Margaret in 1593–4, (fn. 92) by whom, three years later, they were granted to Francis Newbury. (fn. 93) He, in 1608, (fn. 94) sold them to Sir Henry Neville, the lord of the manor, (fn. 95) to whose successors the rectory and advowson have since belonged. (fn. 96) In 1631 the Crown presented to the living, (fn. 97) Richard Neville being a minor. Lord Braybrooke is the impropriator and patron at the present day.

An obit in the church of St. Lawrence, maintained by a grant of 5s. annual rent from certain lands in the parish, existed at the time of the dissolution of the chantries. (fn. 98)

CHARITIES

The following charities are regulated by a scheme of the Charity Commissioners dated 18 August 1864, namely:—

In 1652 Richard How, by deed, gave land at Finchampsted, one-fourth part of the rent to be employed in maintaining one or more poor child or children at school. The land was sold in 1904 and the proceeds invested in £600 consols, this parish being entitled to one-fourth part of the dividends amounting to £3 15s. a year (see under Workingham).

Michael Wandesford, founded by will 1712, endowment 2 acres in this parish, let at £6 a year, and £18 consols, representing part of proceeds of the sale in 1897 of land at Beenhams Heath, which had been acquired under the Inclosure Act, (fn. 99) applicable for educational purposes.

Francis Newbury, by deed 2 March 1608, settled a house and land for the benefit of the most poor and needy inhabitants. The endowment now consists of an inn known as 'The Bell' and 1 a. 3r. let at £85 per annum, vested in the People's Refreshment House Association, and £42 consols, representing the other part of proceeds of the sale above referred to.

Sir Thomas Foote's charity, founded by will, formerly included in the charities of St. Benet, Gracechurch Street, London. The share of this parish is represented by £56 4s. 6d. 2½ per cent. annuities, producing £1 8s. a year.

Mrs. Elizabeth Knight, as appears from a tablet in the church, by will, 1681, gave a rent-charge of 40s. issing out of land called Marsland, now the property of Mr. J. H. Bulkley, applicable for the benefit of poor widows.

Under the scheme above referred to the income of the educational foundation of Richard How and Michael Wandesford is applied mainly in payment of apprenticeship fees for teaching girls dressmaking, the net income of the charities of Francis Newbury and Sir Thomas Foote in grants to a nursing association and in aid of the funds of a clothing club, and in tickets to about fifty poor persons, being widows or sick or infirm, of the value of 5s. to 10s. each. The trustees are also empowered by the scheme to apply out of the same charities an annual sum not exceeding £20 towards the support of a school or schools for the benefit of the children of poor inhabitants of the parish. This option, however, is not exercised. The income of Elizabeth Knight's charity is divided among twenty poor widows in sums of 2s. each at Christmas.

In 1873 the Rev. Edwin James Parker, rector, by his will proved at London 16 May of the same year, bequeathed £300 consols, the dividends, amounting to £7 10s., to be applied towards payment of the current annual expenses of All Saints' Church.

The several sums of stock above mentioned are held by the official trustees.

The dispensary, at which a doctor attends twice weekly, was erected at the cost of Mr. W. L. Beale, on land conveyed by deed 4 December 1889. It is let at £14 a year, which is applied in the upkeep of the premises.