HARTFORD CUM SAPLEY
Hereforde (xi cent.); Hereford by Huntingdon,
Herford (xiii cent.); Hertford, Harford (xvi cent.).
The parish of Hartford covers 1,879 acres of which
12 acres are land covered by water. The soil is clay
with a subsoil of gravel which occasionally comes to
the surface and is worked in gravel pits. It is a
good corn-growing district, and nearly two-thirds of
the parish are arable land growing wheat and barley,
and the grass land by the river gives good pasture.
The parish is on the slope of the hill from Sapley in
the north-west about 145 ft. above the ordnance
datum, to the river Ouse in the south, which here
forms the parish boundary, where the height is about
33 ft.
The village is on the southern border of the parish
near the river along the road from Huntingdon to
Ramsey and St. Ives about a mile and a quarter from
Huntingdon station. The church is picturesquely
situated on the north bank of the Ouse and the
churchyard was frequently visited by the poet Cowper
when living at Huntingdon. Hartford House,
formerly Grove House, originally consisted of a red
brick house of early 18th century date. It was held in
1822 by Richard Bateman Robson and Elizabeth his
wife, from whom it passed to Sir Francis Thomas
Hammond. It went to the Desborough family in
1854, who added to the estates and enlarged the
house. The additions to the house have been pulled
down, but the old part is now the residence of
Mrs. Frith. Several modern houses have been built
on the estate.
The Manor House, on the north side of the road,
opposite Hartford House, is a half-timber house of
two stories, built probably by Robert Taylor,
lord of the manor, who died in 1608. It consists of a
main block with central porch carried up to the roof,
and a gabled wing on each side. It was much altered
and enlarged and the interior refitted in the 18th
century, possibly by the Cottons, who probably
built the Manor Farm to the north of it.
There is a Baptist Chapel in Sapley Lane which is
also used by the Congregationalists.
At Sapley there is a small mount and bailey castle,
the history of which is not known. (fn. 1) Roman coins
and other objects have been found in the parish. (fn. 2)
MANOR
In the Domesday Survey (1086),
Hartford is given under the lands of the
king and had been committed to the
charge of Ranulf brother of Ilger, a minister of the
crown. Edward the Confessor had held it and its
value had depreciated considerably since his time.
The manor was assessed at 15 hides and there were
then a priest, two churches, two mills and a considerable quantity of woodland. (fn. 3) At the time of the
Domesday Survey, Hartford included King's Ripton
(q.v.), which accounts for the return of the two
churches and mills. It was granted to St. Mary's
Priory, Huntingdon, by Henry I at a fee farm rent
of £12 by the year, (fn. 4) and was confirmed to that house
by Pope Eugenius III in 1147. (fn. 5) This grant was
again confirmed in 1253 and 1327. (fn. 6) In 1276 the
Prior of Huntingdon claimed view of frankpledge in
his manor of Hartford and presentments were made
as to obstructions in the river Ouse partially caused
by the prior's valuable mills, whereby ships could not
reach Huntingdon. (fn. 7) The manor continued to belong
to the Priory of St. Mary until the dissolution of that
house in 1538. (fn. 8) In 1542 with other lands it was
granted to Richard Williams alias Cromwell in
exchange for the manor of Brampton and other
property. (fn. 9) Before 1557 it had passed to Sir John
Huddleston, who died in that year seised of the manor,
leaving a wife Bridget and a son and heir Edmund. (fn. 10)
It seems to have followed the descent of the fee farm
rent issuing out of it (q.v.) (fn. 11) and to have been purchased
from Sir Edmund Huddleston by Robert Taylor,
who died in 1608 leaving a son Thomas. (fn. 12) In 1637
Elizabeth, widow of Thomas Taylor, and Daniel,
their son, conveyed the rent to John Weld. (fn. 13) The
title to the manor was evidently considered sufficiently defective for George and Thomas Whitmore
'the fishing grantees' to obtain a grant of it from the
crown in 1611. (fn. 14) John, father of John Weld, had
possibly taken the Whitmores' crown title, as he
died in 1623 seised of the manor, which had been
settled in 1620 on his wife Frances and his sons,
Humphrey, John, and George. (fn. 15) In 1642 Sir John
Weld, Frances Weld, widow, and Humphrey and
George Weld conveyed the manor to William Middleton. (fn. 16) Elizabeth, daughter of William Middleton,
married Thomas Bateman to whom the manor
passed. (fn. 17) Thomas Bateman and Elizabeth his wife
conveyed the manor with free fishing and view of
frankpledge to Richard Harris in 1652. (fn. 18) About
1701 it passed to Thomas Cotton, (fn. 19) and from him
to John Hart Cotton, who was holding in 1764, 1769
and 1771. (fn. 20) In 1782 he sold the manor with the
fishery in the Ouse to William Feuilleton of Brompton
Grove, Knightsbridge. (fn. 21) From Feuilleton the manor
seems to have passed early in the 19th century
to the Rev. Edward Maltby,
D.D., who held it from 1811
to 1822. Before 1829 it
passed to John Carstairs of
Stratford Green, Essex, whose
daughter and co-heir Johanna
Jane married in 1840 Sir
John Henry Pelly, second
bart. At his death in 1864,
Sir John left a son Sir Henry
Carstairs Pelly who married
in 1872 Lady Lilian Charteris.
Sir Henry died in 1877 leaving
two daughters, Annie Evelyn
Pelly who married Captain
Thomas Rivers Bulkeley, killed in action in 1914,
and Constance Lilian Pelly who married in 1900
David twenty-seventh Earl of Crawford. (fn. 22) About
1918 the two sisters joined in selling the
manor to Mrs. Fanny E. Spearing and Mrs. Mary
F. Raynes.
Pelly of Upton. Or a bend engrailed azure between two trefoils vert with three martlets or upon the bend.
The fee farm rent of £12 reserved under the charter
of Henry I to St. Mary's Priory, Huntingdon, was
granted in 1358 to William de Risceby, the King's
yeoman, for life. (fn. 23) In 1377 this rent was confirmed
to William Gambon, yeoman of the chamber, for life,
and in 1400 to Thomas Daton. (fn. 24) In 1431, however,
10 marks out of the £12 rent were granted, as from
1419, to John, Lord Tiptoft and Powys, (fn. 25) who died
seised of it in 1443, leaving John his son and heir,
aged 16 years. (fn. 26) John the son was created Earl of
Worcester in 1449 and in 1468 granted 7 marks of the
10 marks to Henry Torkington for life. The Earl
was attainted and beheaded for high treason in 1470,
but his son Edward was restored and died a minor in
1485, seised of this rent. (fn. 27) On the partition of his
property the rent went to Joan, widow of Sir Edmund
Ingoldsthorpe, one of his heirs, (fn. 28) and on her death
in 1494 it passed to one of her heirs Isabel, wife of
William Huddleston. (fn. 29) From William and Isabel it
went to their son Sir John Huddleston, who died in
1530 seised of the rent. (fn. 30) He left a son John who
must have acquired the manor from Richard Williams
alias Cromwell before his death in 1557 (fn. 31) when the
rent would be practically extinguished. The rent
was, however, sold by Sir Edmund Huddlestone, son
of Sir John, to Robert Taylor, who died seised of it
in 1608, leaving a son Thomas. (fn. 32) In 1637 Elizabeth
Taylor of Nasing, co. Essex, widow of Thomas
Taylor of Much Parndon, co. Essex, and her son
Daniel Taylor, citizen and barber surgeon of London,
sold the rent to John Welde son of Sir John Welde
for £120. (fn. 33) From this date reference to the rent
ceases.
Tiptoft. Argent a saltire engrailed gules.
Huddleston. Gules fretty argent.
The FOREST OF SAPLEY, formerly a royal
forest, was extra parochial until in the last decade of
the 19th century it was included in the parish of
Hartford.
When Henry II afforested the whole county he
excepted Waybridge, Sapley, and Herthey forests,
which had previously been royal demesne. (fn. 34) The
boundaries of Sapley Forest in 1300 were 'from
Sappelethorne as far as the ancient dyke extends
which separates the field and the wood, up to
the wood formerly belonging to Earl Simon, and
so along the same dyke to Silakesmede, and thence
going down to Herveswelle, excluding the grove
which is called the Canons' Grove, and so again
descending by the duct to Haselhul, and so ascending
towards the south until between the arable lands and
the covert as far as the road leading from Ripton to
Sapley and thence as the dyke extends between the
field and the covert to Sappelethorne.' (fn. 35)
The keepership of the forests of Waybridge and
Sapley carried with it the right to appoint lieutenants
for its execution. It was granted to John Lord Tiptoft
and Powys in 1406 (fn. 36) in exchange for the manor
of Stoke Harnyldon. (fn. 37) In 1417 the reversion of the
office was granted by Queen Joan to Sir William
Porter and confirmed in 1433. (fn. 38) Tiptoft died seised
of the keepership in 1443. (fn. 39) In 1461 the office was
granted to his son John Earl of Worcester and his
heirs. (fn. 40) On the death without issue of the earl's
son, Edward Earl of Worcester, and the partition of
his property in 1488, the keepership fell to Philippa,
widow of Thomas Lord Roos, whose son, Edmund
Lord Roos, died without issue. Her daughter
Eleanor had married Sir Robert Manners, kt., and
the office passed to the Manners family. Edward
Manners, third Earl of Rutland, conveyed it in 1580
to Sir Henry Williams alias Cromwell, kt., and Joan
his wife, with all profits and commodities belonging
to the office in Alconbury, Kings Ripton, Hartford,
Stukeley Magna, Ellington, and Woolley. (fn. 41)
The forests were already leased in 1542 to Sir
Richard Williams alias Cromwell (fn. 42) for 80 years.
From this lease we learn that the forests were about
seven miles in circuit, and that the number of deer
(does) to be kept up by the lessee was 100. (fn. 43) The
forests were granted in fee to Sir Edward North, kt.,
Chancellor of the Court of Augmentations, in 1543 (fn. 44)
and were conveyed by Roger second Baron North in
1565 to Henry Williams alias Cromwell son of Sir
Richard. (fn. 45) Thus Henry Cromwell became seised
in fee of the forest and the office of keeper. (fn. 46) In
1612, Sir Oliver Williams alias Cromwell, kt., of
Hinchinbrooke, with his brother Henry, of Upwood,
and his own son Henry, mortgaged the forest of
Sapley (without Waybridge) with the manor and
advowson of Warboys to Richard Sutton and John
Lane of London for £6,900. (fn. 47) After this the forest
passed to John Goldesburgh, who died in 1618 seised
of the forest and park of Sapley and a free fishery in
Huntingdon, Hartford, Alconbury, Weston, Ellington,
Brampton, Great Stukeley, Little Stukeley, Kings
Ripton and Abbots Ripton. (fn. 48) The following year
his son and heir John with Anthony Browne and
Elizabeth wife of Anthony conveyed the forest and
park to Alexander Temple and Thomas Slywright. (fn. 49)
Anthony Goldesburgh was holding this property in
1640, and in that year conveyed it to Adam Hill. (fn. 50) In
1672 Mathias Taylor and Elizabeth his wife conveyed
it to John Lowe. (fn. 51) It passed later to the Billiat
family. Joseph Billiat, of Syston in co. Lincoln,
and Hartfordhurst, co. Huntingdon, was lord of
Sapley at his death in 1892, and was succeeded by his
grandson, Joseph Billiat, now of Aisthorpe Hall,
co. Lincoln, and of Hartfordhurst, co. Huntingdon, who
is the present owner. (fn. 52)
Billiat. Quarterly fessewise battled vert and or a pen in bend sinister sable between two ducks or each holding in the beak a billet argent.
CHURCH
The church of
ALL SAINTS
consists of a
chancel (21¼ ft. by 13½ ft.),
modern organ chamber and
vestry on north of chancel
(20 ft. by 6 ft.), nave (37 ft. by
17½ ft.), north aisle (5 ft.
wide), south aisle (5 ft. wide),
west tower (11 ft. by 11 ft.)
and south porch. The walls
are of pebble and stone rubble
with stone dressings, and the
roofs are tiled.
Of the church mentioned in the Domesday Survey
(1086) nothing remains. The two arcades are of
the extreme end of the 12th century, the northern
perhaps slightly the earlier; the north and east walls
of the chancel may be of the same date. The tower
is of late 15th-century date. All the rest of the
church was rebuilt in 1861, and a further restoration
took place in 1885.
The chancel has a modern east window, but with
inner jambs and rear-arch of the 14th century.
The north wall has a modern arch and doorway to the
organ chamber and vestry; and the south wall has
two modern windows and a doorway. The chancel
arch is also modern.
The late 12th-century nave has arcades of four bays
on each side, but the western arches are modern;
the arches on the north are round and on the south
pointed, and all the columns are circular with moulded
capitals and bases.
The modern north aisle has a two-light window
opening into the organ chamber, and, in the north
wall, one three-light and two two-light windows and
a plain doorway.
The south aisle has an apparently ancient east
wall with no window in it; in the modern south
wall are three windows (two three-light and one
single-light) and a doorway which incorporates two
ancient jamb shafts; the modern west wall has a
single-light window.
The 15th-century tower has a two-centred arch
to the nave, a blocked four-centred doorway in the
west wall with a much restored three-light window
above it, and two-light belfry windows; it has
embattled parapets with crocketed pinnacles, and a
crocketed arch over the central embrasure on each
side. The stair-turret is at the south-west corner.
Under the tower is an early 17th-century chest.
The 13th-century font has a square bowl on a
circular central and four modern angle shafts.
Many old stones of 12th and 13th-century date
are built into the walls, and there are others in the
Rectory garden. (fn. 53)
There are six bells inscribed: 1. 'Robt. Taylor,
St. Neots, fecit, 1799. Y'; 2. 'Robt. Taylor, fecit,
1796. Leonard Waller and Charles Beaumont, Overseers'; 3. 'Robt. Taylor, fecit, 1796. Joseph Butt
and John Rippin, Churchwardens'; 4. 'Whilst thus
we join in cheerful sound let love and loyalty abound.
Taylor, fecit, 1796'; 5. 'The C. Wardens, the Overseers, Cauthorn Bleak and John Randal, the principal
paritioners when we was cast, 1796'; 6. 'I to the
Church the living call and to the grave do summon all.
Taylor, fecit, 1796. Joseph Butt and John Rippin,
Churchwardens.' In July 1552 there were five bells. (fn. 54)
The bells were rehung in 1895.
Hartford Church from the North-West
There are monuments to the following:—In the
chancel, to Jacob Julien Baumgartner, d. 1816;
Tryce Mary, his wife, d. 1815; Robert Jacob, their son,
d. 1810; and Tryce Mary Susanna, their daughter,
d. 1835; John Thomas Baumgartner, of Godmanchester, d. 1874; and Phillipa, his wife, d. 1882; the
Hon. Ursula [Cockburn Dickinson], daughter of Lord
Londesborough, d. 1880; and a window to Francis
Trevelyan Egerton Cockburn-Dickinson, d. 1885; and
Reginald Charles Coleridge, d. 1912. In the nave,
to John Sugar Thompson, d. 1846, and Susanna, his
wife, d. 1842; War Memorial, 1914–1918; and floor
slab to Robert Waller, d. 1730. In the north aisle,
to Mary wife of John Waller, d. 1745; and Emily
Lizette Gladwin, d. 1860, and a floor slab to E. L. G.,
1860. In the south aisle, to John Trotter, d. 1746,
and Elizabeth (Snagg), his wife, d. 1742; Leonard
Waller, d. 1794, and Mary, his wife,
d. 1764. In the tower, to the Rev. Viner
Snell, B.D., Rector of Doddington,
Cambs, d. 1751; Mary, his daughter,
d. 1735; Margaret (Hall), his wife,
d. 1794; and her sister, Mary Hall.
The registers are as follows: (i)
baptisms, marriages and burials, 21 Sept.
1538 to 30 March 1766; the last
marriage, 10 Oct. 1753; (ii) the official
marriage book, 8 Oct. 1754 to 15 Dec.
1812; (iii) baptisms and burials, 26
March 1766 to 15 Dec. 1812. The
usual modern books.
The church plate consists of the
following: A silver cup inscribed 'Hertford in Com. Huntingdon' and hall-marked for 1689–90; a silver standing
paten inscribed 'The gift of John
Waller, gent: for the use of the Church
of Harford in the County of Huntingdon
1748,' but it bears the hall-mark for
1749–50; a modern silver-gilt chalice
inscribed 'All Saints Church Hartford
Xmas 1906. In memoriam E.G.B. Priest.
Sep. 23, 1903—i.e. Edward Gripper
Banks, Rector, 1896–1903. It is hall-marked for 1903–4. A modern paten,
inscribed as above, but hall-marked for
1904–5; a small silver-gilt flagon, inscribed in memory of Reginald Charles
Coleridge, drowned in the Titanic, 15
April 1912; and hall-marked for 1912–13;
and a large plated flagon.
ADVOWSON
The advowson of the
church was held by
Huntingdon Priory until
the Dissolution, when it passed to the crown, who
continued to hold it (fn. 55) until in 1870 it was sold to
Miss Emily Ripley. In 1880 it was held by the
incumbent, the Rev. Geo. Cockburn-Dickinson,
M.A., and, at a later date, by him in conjunction
with the late Hon. Mrs. Cockburn-Dickinson's
children. It was held in 1896 by Major Beeching,
the present owner.
After the Dissolution the rectory was leased to
Sir Richard Cromwell, after whose death in 1544 Sir
Edward North agreed that John Baudes should have
the parsonage of Hartford. (fn. 56) The rectories of Stukeley
and Hartford were settled in 1559–60 (fn. 57) and 1579. (fn. 58)
In the latter year they were leased for 21 years to
Sir Henry Williams alias Cromwell, (fn. 59) and two years
later a fresh lease for life was granted to Dame
Joan, wife of Sir Henry, with remainder to Sir
Henry's sons, Oliver and Robert. (fn. 60) From these
leases all tithes from the demesne lands, formerly
occupied for the maintenance of hospitality by the
prior, as well as from lands called the Croftlands
which belonged to Hartford vicarage, from the rectory
barn of Hartford and a close and garden adjacent, and
also all mines and quarries, were excepted. These
tithes had been granted in 1577 to John Farnham,
gentleman pensioner, (fn. 61) who in 1583 sued Sir Henry
for them. Sir Henry maintained that the lands which
he held in Hartford were tithe free as having been
priory lands, and affirmed that other lands formerly
priory lands in the common fields of Huntingdon
and Stukeley were tithe free. It was stated in the
proceedings that, having a lease from the queen of the
parsonage of Hartford, Cromwell had 'neglected to
repair the chancel, which is in great ruin and decay,
very indecent and unmeet for the administration of the
sacraments, being both unthatched [un]glazed and
[un]paved, no place in it fit for any preacher or
minister to sit in.' (fn. 62) In 1590 the rectories and
churches of Stukeley and Hartford were sold for £860
to Sir Henry, (fn. 63) who settled them on Lady Susan, his
wife, and his son Oliver. (fn. 64) Oliver succeeded his
father in 1603, and in 1631 conveyed the rectory to
Richard Okely and Richard Owen. (fn. 65) In 1685 the
rectory had passed to Robert Bernard of Brampton. (fn. 66)
He, as Sir Robert Bernard, bart, with Walter St. John,
bart, Francis St. John, Thomas Browne and Mary,
his wife, Lucy Bernard, spinster, and Frances Bernard,
spinster, all connected with the Cromwells by marriage
as with himself, settled it in 1692. (fn. 67) The rectory
after this descended with the Bernards' manor of
Brampton and now belongs to the Duke of Manchester.
CHARITIES
The Rev. George Cockburn
Dickinson, by his will, proved
15 Feb. 1916, gave the sum of £180,
the interest to be applied towards the relief of sick
poor, regardless of creed or church attendance. The
endowment of the charity now consists of £189 9s. 5d.
5 per cent. War Stock 1929–47, with the Official
Trustees producing £9 9s. 6d. annually in dividends,
which are distributed by the vicar in accordance with
the directions contained in the will. In 1925 the income was distributed to 8 sick poor in milk and money.
Walter Thong, by his will dated 6 July 1716, gave
to the minister and churchwardens a rentcharge of
£4 per annum, issuing out of his estate in Hartford,
for the purpose of apprenticing poor boys of the
parish. The rentcharge was redeemed in 1907 by
the transfer to the Official Trustees of a sum of £160
Consols producing £4 yearly in dividends. By a
scheme of the Charity Commissioners dated 29 Oct.
1907 the original trusts were varied and provided,
inter alia, that the premiums to be paid upon the
apprenticing of a boy should be £10, and the amount
paid to a boy upon the expiration of the term of
apprenticeship should be £4, with power to the
trustees to increase those sums if sufficient income
available. In 1925 £10 was expended in apprenticing
and £12 in outfitting a boy. The vicar and churchwardens of the parish are the trustees of the charity.
Church Land. Out of the inclosure in this parish
an allotment of 6 a. 3 r. 32 p. was set out for the repairs
or service of the church in lieu of certain balks and
headlands in the open fields. The endowment now
consists of 7 acres of land in Hartford in the occupation of Mr. A. Fisher, at a yearly rental of £16,
which is applied by the vicar and churchwardens
towards church expenses.
John Banks, by his will, dated 19 November 1907,
gave to the minister, churchwardens and overseers a
rentcharge of £4 per annum issuing out of his estate
in Hartford to the poor of the parish. The land
charged is now in the occupation of Mr. G. Bath,
and the payment of £4 yearly is distributed in cash
and coals to poor people.