STANSTEAD ABBOTS
Stanstede (xi cent.); Stanstede Abbatis, Abbotts
or Abbot (xiv cent.); generally Stansted Abbots
after xvi cent.
Stanstead Abbots is a parish of 2,612 acres,
bounded on the north-west by the River Ash, which
joins the Lea in this parish, on the south-west by the
Lea and River Lea Navigation, and on the south by
the Stort. Owing to so many rivers there is a large
amount of permanent grass in the parish, about twofifths of the whole extent. (fn. 1) There are large patches
of wood in the higher part of the parish: Easneye
Wood on the north-west, Newgate Wood and Black
Bushes on the north-east. The parish lies on the
London Clay, the chief crops being wheat, barley and
beans.
The old church of St. James and the manor-house
of Stanstead Bury lie on high ground at some distance
to the south-east of the village, which is situated near
the river on the road to Hertford. The neighbourhood of Hertford and Ware probably brought a
considerable amount of traffic through Stanstead,
which may account for the seven burgesses there
recorded in the Domesday Survey. Stanstead never
had a market, as far as is known, nor is there any
specific mention of burgage tenure later, but a 14th(?)century conveyance of a messuage and land 'vendere,
dare, legare vel assignare' (fn. 2) may, perhaps, point to a
survival of privileged tenure. To remedy the inconvenient distance of the church from the village the
school was used as a chapel on Sundays in the 17th
century and served by a minister of its own. (fn. 3) It was
probably from this circumstance that Chapel Lane (so
called in 1712) (fn. 4) took its name.
The main street of the village is the High Street.
This at one end is continued as the road to Hertford, and at the other end makes an angle with the
Roydon road, which just past the village branches
north to Hunsdon and south to Roydon. At the
east end of the street is the old Clock School, a
17th-century two-storied building with a tiled roof.
The school was founded by Sir Edward Baesh as
a free grammar school for the sons of inhabitants
in 1635. Although it has been much altered
and repaired, the schoolroom on the ground floor
still has the original beams in the ceiling and oakmullioned windows. Under the Endowed Schools
Act of 1879 the endowment was separated from the
rest of Sir Edward Baesh's charities, and by a scheme
under the same Act was devoted, under the name of
the Baesh Scholarship Endowment, to maintaining two
scholarships of £10 in Ware Grammar School for boys
from elementary schools in Stanstead Abbots. When
Ware Grammar School was abolished these scholarships were made payable at Hertford Grammar School. (fn. 5)
The public elementary school opposite the corn-mill
was built in 1869 on a site presented by Mr. T. F.
Buxton. In the middle of the village is the Red Lion
Inn, an early 17th-century building much altered.
The date 1538, however, in modern form of figures
appears in the middle gable. The house is tiled and
has a projecting upper story and five gables; in spite of
the rough-cast with which it is coated, there is visible
some plaster ornament in low relief of early 17th-century date. Further along the Roydon road at the
bottom of Cat's Hill (Ketteshell, xiv cent.) are Sir
Edward Baesh's almshouses, built by the terms of his
will proved in 1653. They consist of six brick cottages
of two stories under one tiled roof and still retain the
original door-posts and moulded window frames of oak.
Netherfield, at the top of Cat's Hill, is the residence
of Mr. H. L. Prior, J.P. In the village are a number
of maltings, the manufacture of malt being the chief
industry here as at Ware. The corn-mill, probably
occupying the site of the mill mentioned in the
Domesday Survey, is situated in Roydon Road. The
present mill is a flour-mill, which succeeded an old
timber-mill burnt down some years ago. The Mill
Race is carried from the Lea through the town, and
joins the Lea again to the south of the village, but
the present mill is worked by gas power. In Chapel
Lane is St. Andrew's Church, built by Mr. T. F.
Buxton, consecrated in 1881, and constituted the
parish church in 1882, (fn. 6) and the chapel of the Countess
of Huntingdon's Connexion, dating from about 1809,
but rebuilt in 1874. (fn. 7) To the north of the church is
Hill House, the residence of Mr. B. Richardson, and
Warrax, that of Mr. E. H. Barlow. The vicarage in
the Roydon road is part of the Baesh trust, (fn. 8) and is
held on lease by the vicar.
The south-west part of the parish between the
Lea and the Stort lies very low, and the Rye Meads
adjoining the Stort are liable to flood. Apparently
in the 15th century the state of flood was permanent,
for the district round the Rye House was then known
as the Isle of Rye. (fn. 9) The extent of the island,
which was imparked by Sir Andrew Ogard in 1443,
seems to have been about 157 acres, (fn. 10) from the Lea
on the west to the ditch running from the Stort to
the Lea on the east. It thus included Rye Farm,
about mid-way along this ditch, and the fields formerly
called the Warren, now used as a sewage farm for
Ware. (fn. 11) The lord of Rye Manor maintained a
bridge over the Lea, and he also kept up a causeway
through the Rye Meadows, which was used by
coaches, &c., travelling to and from Norfolk and
Suffolk (via Stortford) as a more direct way than the
main road, for the use of which they paid a toll
to the lord. (fn. 12) The present road across the meadows
was made by Sir Charles Booth, and the tolls are
now taken by the owners of the Netherfield estate.
The chief historical interest in Stanstead Abbots
attaches to the Rye House. Richard Rumbold, a
maltster and old army officer, one of the most
desperate of the conspirators in the famous plot
within a plot, was lessee of the Rye House in 1685.
One suggestion which he is said to have made for the
assassination of the king and Duke of York was to
blow up the playhouse when they were both inside;
a plan rejected by the other conspirators, who
probably remembered the failure of Guy Fawkes
in a similar attempt. When other proposals fell
through he suggested the use of the Rye House for
the murder, as from its lonely situation and high
inclosures it seemed to offer a suitable shelter for the
conspirators. Forty of these were to hide in the
Rye House and waylay the king on his return from
Newmarket. After the murder they were to
retire into the house, which, being guarded with a
moat and brick walls, could easily be defended
against the country people. (fn. 13) Travellers from Newmarket, after crossing the Rye Meadows, would have
to pass along a narrow lane with a thick hedge and
ditch on one side and a long range of buildings
belonging to the Rye House on the other, past
which were the moat and garden wall, and further on
a bridge over the Lea and another over the New
River. It was proposed to place a body of horse
and foot in the outer courtyard, who, when the king
and duke arrived, were to issue out into the lane, this
having been previously blocked by an overturned
cart. (fn. 14) The plan was frustrated by the unexpected
return of the king and Duke of York to London
owing to a fire at Newmarket, and before another
opportunity occurred the plot was revealed by Joseph
Keeling, one of the conspirators, and the king's
vengeance fell on the whole Whig party. (fn. 15) Rumbold
escaped, and fought in the rising in Scotland under
Argyle. He was taken prisoner when Argyle's
forces were routed, and although mortally wounded
was executed at Edinburgh, 'the pleasure of hanging
him,' as Macaulay said, being 'one which the conquerors could not bear to forego.' (fn. 16) The contemporary official account of the plot gives a plan of the
house. (fn. 17) North of the gatehouse, which occupies
the south-east angle of the site, were two small rooms
and a kitchen; on the west there was a small staircase, and next to it a hall 30 ft. by 24 ft. (fn. 18) In the
north-west angle was a well staircase. There was a
great parlour 35 ft. by 20 ft. at the west end and a
smaller one 17 ft. by 16 ft., also other apartments
and passages. The house was apparently built round
a court (claustrum) of brick, and outside had an
inner and outer court, the whole being surrounded
by a moat. (fn. 19) Of the main part of the building only
the gatehouse remains. This was used as a workhouse
for the parish before the Poor Law Act of 1834, when
the inmates were removed to Ware. In 1904 it was
acquired by Messrs. Christie & Co. (see Rye Manor).
It is now used as a show place, and an inn built in
the forecourt of the house is a famous resort of
excursionists and anglers. The 'great bed of Ware,'
apparently immortalized by the reference to it in
Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, was brought here from
the Saracen's Head at Ware. It bears the date 1463,
but it did not probably exist before the latter part of
the 16th century. It is a four-post bedstead of carved
oak, and measures 11 ft. square and 8 ft. high.
Easneye Wood (Isneye, Hysenhey, xiii cent.) in the
north-west of the parish contains a tumulus. This
was opened in 1899, but only calcined bones of preRoman date were found. (fn. 20) In 1253 the Abbot of
Waltham Holy Cross had licence to make two roads
through the wood in place of two other roads outside it, (fn. 21) and in 1332 another licence was obtained
for imparking it. (fn. 22) A lease of the lodge in the park
with the lands belonging, of the Lady Grove, Stanstead Grove alias Almond's Frith, and all the woods
in the manor of Stanstead Abbots was made to John
Rodes of this parish for fifty-seven years in 1526. (fn. 23)
The farm of these lands was granted with that of the
manor to Anne Boleyn in 1532. (fn. 24) In the reign of
Elizabeth John Raymond had a lease of Isney Park
together with the Great Farm of Stanstead. (fn. 25) When
the estate was acquired by Thomas Buxton (see manor
of Stanstead Abbots) Isney was still a thick wood.
He built the present house, now the residence of
Mr. J. H. Buxton, in 1869. (fn. 26) This house stands in a
park of 133 acres and is approached by an avenue of
trees nearly a mile long. In the abbot's manor were
also some lands called Joyses after a family of Joce who
had them in tenure in the 14th century. (fn. 27) In 1304
the abbot leased a dwelling-house and land assigned to
the pittancer of the convent to Master John de
Manhale, clerk, for life, (fn. 28) and in 1525 Roger Rodes
had a lease of the land called the Pitansry or Joyses
for twenty-one years at a rent of 5 marks payable to
the pittancer. (fn. 29) These lands came with the manor
to the Crown at the Dissolution and the name survives in Pitansey Meadow. (fn. 30) Other place-names
occurring about the 13th century are Danesthemaneswode, Sturtereshull, Newstrate, Bokkeberwefeld,
Alfladesfelde, Kyngesfeld and Alfeyesholsme. The
frequent occurrence of 'holms' in this parish is
noticeable.
Newgate, the site of which is marked by Newgate
Wood, was an estate held in the middle of the 15th
century by Andrew Ogard, lord of the manor of
Rye, and sold in 1558 by George Ogard to Robert
Grave. (fn. 31) Bonningtons, about 3 miles north-east
of the church, formerly belonging to the Calvert
family (see Hunsdon), who made the pond there,
and afterwards the seat of Mr. Salisbury Baxendale, (fn. 32)
is for the most part a modern two-storied house, but
has an east wing which may date from the 17th
century. In Moat Wood, on the north-east of the
parish, there are traces of a homestead moat, but
nothing is known of its history. (fn. 33)
One inhabitant of Stanstead Abbots of more than
local fame was Joyce Trappes, daughter of Robert
Trappes, a goldsmith of London, who married first
Henry Saxaye, a London merchant, and, secondly,
William Frankland of the manor of Rye. Her
memory is famous from her numerous gifts for educational endowment. Jointly with her son William,
who was a student at Gray's Inn, she founded junior
fellowships and scholarships at Caius and Emmanuel
Colleges, Cambridge. William, to whom there is a
brass in the church, was killed whilst riding an
unbroken horse in 1581, aged twenty-three. (fn. 34) In
memory of him his mother founded the free school at
Newport Pond, Essex, and by will of 1586 gave
money and houses to Brasenose College to increase
the emoluments of the principal and fellows and for
the foundation of a fellowship. Her name was
included in the grace after meat in the college hall,
and the principal and fellows of Brasenose erected a
monument to her memory in the church of St.
Leonard's, Foster Lane, where she was buried.
There is a portrait of her in the hall of Brasenose
College and another in the master's gallery in the
combination room at Caius College, Cambridge. (fn. 35)
Thomas Bradock (1576–1604), who translated Bishop
Jewell's confutation of the attack of Thomas Harding
on Jewell's Apologia Ecclesiae Anglicanae, was vicar of
Stanstead Abbots from 1591 to 1593. (fn. 36)
Valence. Burelly argent and azure an orle of martlets gules.
Hastings. Or a sleave gules.
MANORS
Stanstead, later Stanstead Abbots, Stanstead Bury
The manor of STANSTEAD, called
later STANSTEAD ABBOTS, STANSTEAD BURY, and sometimes STANSTEAD BAESH, was held in 1086 as 17 hides by
Ranulf brother of Ilger. It was then composed of
two separate estates, one consisting of 11 hides which
had been held in the time of the Confessor by Alwin
of Godtone and which after the Conquest had been
given by Ralf Taillebois to Ranulf as a marriage
portion with his niece (one other hide which had
belonged to the estate he attached to his manor of
Hunsdon), and the other of 7 hides which had been
held by fourteen sokemen, four of them the men of
Anschil of Ware and the other ten the men of Alwin.
On Ranulf's estate in 1086 there were 13 hides in
demesne with two ploughs, whilst the tenants of the
manor had eight ploughs, although there was land
and also meadow for sixteen plough-teams. There
was pasture on the manor for the live stock of the vill,
woodland for a hundred swine, and a mill. Among
the tenants are mentioned seven burgesses, who paid
23s., including dues of meadow and wood. (fn. 37) With
other lands of Ranulf (fn. 38) Stanstead was acquired by
the Clares, lords of Chepstow and Earls of Pembroke, (fn. 39)
by whom it was held as two knights' fees. (fn. 40) After the
manor was acquired by Waltham (see below) Richard
de Clare released the abbey from all knight service,
and the king also released him from the same service. (fn. 41)
This Richard, son of Gilbert the first earl, left a
daughter Isabel de Clare, who married William
Marshal, afterwards Earl of Pembroke. His sons all
died without issue, and the rent from the manor
payable by the abbey to the overlords after the mesne
lordship lapsed descended to his daughter Joan, who
married Warin de Munchensy, and to her daughter
Joan, wife of William de Valence Earl of Pembroke. (fn. 42)
Through Isabella, sister and heir of Aymer son of
William de Valence and wife of John de Hastings, the
rent came to Laurence de Hastings, their son, created
Earl of Pembroke in 1339. (fn. 43) His grandson John
Earl of Pembroke died without issue, (fn. 44) his heir being
his kinsman Reginald de Grey de Ruthyn, who levied
a fine of the rent in 1400. (fn. 45) Philippa, widow of
John de Hastings and afterwards wife of Richard Earl
of Arundel, held, however, 44s. in dower (fn. 46) (i.e. onethird of £6 13s. 4d., or 10 marks), and later 5 marks
(one-half of £6 13s. 4d.) was in the possession of
Joan de Beauchamp, wife of Lord Abergavenny and
sister of Thomas Earl of Arundel son of the above
Richard (fn. 47) ; this descended to her son Richard Earl of
Worcester, to Richard's daughter Elizabeth de Beauchamp, who married Sir Edward Nevill, and to their
son George Nevill Lord Abergavenny. (fn. 48) After this
there seems to be no further trace of it.
Waltham Abbey. Argent a cross engrailed sable with five crosslets fitchy or thereon.
At the beginning of the 12th century the manor
was held under the Earls of Pembroke by Roger de
Wancy, who mortgaged it to Bruno, a Jew of London,
for a debt of £280 17s. 4d. His son Michael de
Wancy, in order to obtain release from the debt, conveyed
half of the manor to the king
(Henry II), who granted it
in free alms to the Abbey of
Waltham Holy Cross. The
other half was also given to
the abbey by Michael at a
rent of £12. (fn. 49) The grant
was confirmed by William
Marshal, the overlord, with a
proviso that, if by escheat the
fee should come to him or his
successors, nothing should be
exacted from them except the
£12 reserved by Michael de
Wancy, (fn. 50) the services due to the overlord being extinguished as stated above. The rent was paid by
the abbey to Michael's heir Henry de Wancy, 'a
Norman,' who seems to have forfeited at the beginning of the reign of Henry III, when it was granted
by the king to Henry de St. Owen for his expenses
whilst in Gascony with the king's brother Richard
Earl of Cornwall. (fn. 51) Afterwards it was paid to the
overlords as above. (fn. 52)
In 1253 the abbey obtained a grant of free warren
in their demesne lands. (fn. 53) The liberties enjoyed by the
abbey in their lands were as full as 'royal power could
make them.' In Stanstead they had inter alia toll,
team, soc, sac, infangentheof, utfangentheof, chattels of
thieves, amercements of murders, pleas of namii vetiti,
free fishing in the Lea throughout their demesne
lands, and free warren. Their men were quit of
shires and hundreds, ward, scot, geld, sheriff's aids,
toll in markets and fairs and in crossing bridges,
roads and seas, and anyone accused had the right to
take his plea to the court at the Holy Cross and
answer there according to civil law. (fn. 54) In 1522 the
abbey leased the manor for sixty-one years (reserving
the manorial rights) to John Rodes of London and
his wife Margaret. (fn. 55) The manor was obtained from
the abbey by Henry VIII in 1531, who granted in
exchange the site of the monastery of Blackmore in
Essex, the priory manor and other lands. (fn. 56) The next
year the king gave the farm and reversion of the
manor to Anne Boleyn on her creation as Marchioness
of Pembroke. (fn. 57)
After the death of Anne Boleyn in 1532, Stanstead
Abbots remained in the Crown until 1559, when
Queen Elizabeth granted it to Edward Baesh of
London, (fn. 58) who in 1577 had licence to impark
300 acres of land there with a grant of free
warren. (fn. 59) Edward Baesh died in 1587, when the
manor descended to his son Ralph. The inscription
to Edward in the church calls him general surveyor
of victuals for the royal navy and marine affairs in
England and Ireland during the reigns of Henry VIII,
Edward VI, Mary and Elizabeth. Ralph died in
1598 and was succeeded by his son Edward. (fn. 60) On
the death of Edward in 1653 the manor passed to
his cousin Ralph, whose son Edward conveyed it in
1678 to Edward Byde and Ralph Skynner, (fn. 61) probably in trust for Thomas Feilde. Thomas was
knighted in 1681 (fn. 62) and died in 1689, when
Edmund his son succeeded. (fn. 63) Edmund's three
sons, Thomas, Edmund and Paul, held the manor
successively and died without issue. (fn. 64) It passed to
their cousin Thomas Feilde, rector of Eastwick, to
his son William Henry Feilde and to the latter's son
of the same name. (fn. 65) William Henry Feilde, jun.,
sold it to Philip Hollingsworth of Thundridge, who
bequeathed it to his sister. She directed that at her
death it should be sold for the benefit of the children
of Paul Meyers of Forty Hill, Enfield. It was bought
by Dr. Abraham Wilkinson of Enfield, whose son sold
it to Thomas Fowell Buxton. (fn. 66) Mr. Henry Buxton,
his grandson, is the present lord of the manor.
At the beginning of the 19th century the manorhouse of Stanstead Bury was the residence of Captain
Jocelyn, R.N., descended from Sir Robert Jocelyn,
bart., of Hyde Hall in Sawbridgeworth. He died in
1806 and was succeeded by his son Robert Salusbury
Jocelyn of Stanstead Bury. (fn. 67) Later the manor-house
was used as a hydropathic establishment, and is now
the property and residence of Mr. Spencer Trower. (fn. 68)
It is a building of two stories with attics, and is
partly built of brick and partly of timber framing
covered with cement. It was probably originally
a house of late 16th-century date, but it has been so
much altered and added to in the 17th and 18th
centuries that the old plan is lost. The west side is
the oldest part, and the cellar under this appears to be
the only 16th-century work remaining. In one of the
cellars is a blocked window in the east wall, probably
originally an outside wall; in the south wall of the
same cellar are two small triangular-headed niches,
similar to those at Watton Place, Wymondley Bury,
and other old houses in the county. In an angle on
the west front is a timber-framed staircase, cemented
externally, probably of 17th-century date. The
north, south and east fronts are mainly additions of
the early 18th century. In the window of a room
on the west side is some old heraldic glass; one portion shows a sheaf of corn flanked by the initials I.F.
of a member of the Feilde family. There is also a
shield of arms with the date 1563 above. (fn. 69)
Stanstead Bury from the North-west
Rye
The manor of RYE may be identified with the
half hide which was held in 1086 by Geoffrey de
Bech. (fn. 70) There seems to be no further record of it
until 1443, but doubtless it followed the descent of
Thele in Hertford Hundred (q.v.), for in that year Sir
Andrew Ogard had licence to inclose the site of his
manor of Rye alias the Island of Rye and 50 acres of
land, 10 acres of meadow, 80 acres of pasture and 16
acres of wood within the island, to make a park and
have free warren, and to crenellate the house. (fn. 71) Sir
Andrew Ogard was by birth a Dane, who received
letters of denization in England in 1436. (fn. 72) He was
a 'knight, chamberlain, and councillor' of John Duke
of Bedford, the regent, (fn. 73) who granted him the
keepership of the castle of Prudhoe in Northumberland
and made him one of his executors. (fn. 74) Later he
was appointed captain of the castle and town of Caen
in Normandy. (fn. 75) He had estates in Norfolk and
Hertfordshire, and acted several times as J.P., commissioner, &c., for the latter county. (fn. 76) According to
a contemporary account the purchase of the manor of
Rye cost £1,100; the building of the inner court
with brick and of the rooms and inclosure (claustrum)
cost 11,000 marks, whilst the granary and storehouse
with 16 horses and 30 cows were worth 2,000
marks. It also relates that whilst in England Ogard
had a chapel in his house with priests, clerks, and
choristers. (fn. 77) Apparently his expenditure was on a
lavish scale, and he is known to have been very rich
when he died. This was in 1454, when his son
Henry was four years old. (fn. 78) The custody of the
heir was granted by Edward IV to Lawrence Bishop
of London, (fn. 79) and in 1463 the manor was granted
during the heir's minority to the king's brother,
George Duke of Clarence. (fn. 80)
Henry Ogard bequeathed the manor of Rye to his
son Andrew, (fn. 81) who died seised of it in 1526, leaving
a son and heir George. (fn. 82) In 1559 George Ogard (of
Ormesby, co. Norfolk) sold the manor to William
Frankland of London, clothworker. (fn. 83) He settled it on
himself and his intended wife Joyce Saxaye, whom he
married in February 1565–6. (fn. 84) William died in
1576 (fn. 85) and Joyce in 1587. (fn. 86) A settlement had been
made on William's eldest son William for life with
reversion to Hugh Frankland, his nephew, for life, and
then to the issue male of William. In 1606 Hugh
Frankland conveyed his interest in the manor to
William Frankland his nephew, William Frankland
the elder having died without issue. (fn. 87) In 1619
William Frankland and Lucy his wife sold it to Sir
Edward Baesh, together with the capital messuage
where William Frankland lived, the farm close by,
and fields called the Pond, Sayres Mead, Nunneholm,
the Little or Hither Park and the Further Park. (fn. 88)
The manor descended with Stanstead Abbots to the
Feildes. Miss Feilde, who inherited the property,
married Captain Upton, and soon afterwards the
estate was broken up. Part of it, the Netherfield
estate, was sold to Sir Charles Booth, bart., and
descended to his niece, who married Mr. H. L.
Prior. (fn. 89) The Rye House with 50 acres of land was
sold about 1864 to Mr. William Henry Teale, and
from him was acquired in 1904 by Messrs. Christie
& Co. (fn. 90)
CHURCHES
St. Andrew
The church of ST. ANDREW,
erected in 1881, superseded St.
James's as the parish church; it is
built of brick faced with dressed flint, and is a
cruciform building in 15th-century style.
St. James
The old church of ST. JAMES, which is still
used for services, consists of chancel as at present 10 ft.
long by 17 ft. wide, north chapel 41 ft. 6 in. by
15 ft. 6 in., nave as at present 69 ft. by 17 ft. 6 in.,
west tower and timber south porch, all internal
dimensions. The walls are chiefly of flint rubble,
but parts are of brick with stone dressings; the roofs
are tiled.
The earliest detail is of the 13th century, but it is
probable that the nave walls are older. The chancel
was built during that period and windows inserted in
the nave. The west tower is of early 15th-century
date, the south porch late in the same century, and
the north chapel was built of brick in 1577. The
original length of the nave was 47 ft., that of the
chancel being 32 ft., but at some period, probably
when the north chapel was built, they were altered
to their present dimensions. There is no chancel
arch or structural division between nave and chancel,
and externally one unbroken roof covers both, the
original chancel being marked internally by the lower
part of the rood screen, now forming the back of a
pew, and by the mouldings on the roof timbers.
The east window has three cinquefoiled lights
under a four-centred arch, and is of late 15th-century date. In the north wall is an arcade of four
bays opening into the north chapel. The three
western arches belong to the arcade erected in 1577.
They are pointed arches with double ogee mouldings
and with octagonal piers and responds and moulded
capitals and bases; the westernmost arch is narrower
than the other two. The easternmost arch has a
plain splay and square jambs, and probably was
opened at a later date. The whole of the arcade is
plastered. In the south wall are two windows of
two lights; they are of 15th-century date, but most
of the stonework is modern. There are traces of some
13th-century lancet windows in the wall. Near the
east wall is a double piscina with two splayed lancet
arches, and a ledge at the back which supported a
credence shelf; they belong to the 13th century.
On a stone in the east wall of the north chapel,
outside, is inscribed the date 1577; it was built by
Edward Baesh. In the east wall is a window of
three cinquefoiled lights under a four-centred arch,
and in the north wall are two windows of two lights
under square heads; all the windows have been
restored.
There are no window openings in the north wall
of the nave, but there are remains of a blocked north
doorway. The wall is not in a straight line from
chancel to tower, and appears to have been altered or
rebuilt at some period—perhaps when the chancel
was erected—in order to suit its width. In the south
wall are three windows of two cinquefoiled lights
with tracery; they are probably of 15th-century
work, but most of the stonework has been renewed.
The westernmost window appears to be a 13th-century lancet window enlarged in the 15th century;
parts of the inner splays of the earlier window remain.
The south doorway consists of two continuous splayed
orders and is of 13th-century date.
The 15th-century south porch is of plain open
timber work, the lower part of the sides is boarded,
the upper part open; the gabled front has a cusped
barge-board and the arch over the entrance is threecentred.
The roofs retain their 15th-century king-post
trusses and tie-beams, but the rafters are plastered.
The west tower is in two stages, with angle buttresses at the west; the parapet is embattled and the
wood spire is lead-covered. At the south-east angle
a projecting octagonal stair-turret rises to above the
parapet. The tower arch is of two moulded orders,
the outer order continuous, the inner stopping upon
shafted jambs with moulded capitals and bases. The
west doorway is of two moulded orders, the inner one
forming a pointed arch, the outer being carried
square over it. The west window is of three cinquefoiled lights with tracery in the head. The belfry
windows are of two lights.
The basin of the font is of 13th-century date; it
is circular, and on the rim are the original iron
staples for securing the cover; on the south-west side
is a small incised cross. The base appears to be of
13th-century date, reversed, but the octagonal stem
belongs to the 15th century.
The lower part of a 15th-century rood screen now
forms the back of a pew in the nave. Under the
tower arch is a screen made up from the 16th-century canopy formerly over the pulpit. (fn. 91)
The oak pulpit is of 16th-century work and the
communion table of the late 17th century; the high
plainly-panelled pews belong to the 18th century.
In the east window of the chapel are some remains
of old glass with the royal arms of Elizabeth's time
and the date 1573; in the north window are fragments of Baesh's arms with his motto 'Boulde in God'
and other lettering. On the north and east walls are
remains of painted inscriptions only partly legible.
In the chapel is the monument of Sir Edward
Baesh, died 1587; he is represented in armour, his
wife being opposite to him, both kneeling. Above
them is a round-arched canopy flanked by classical
columns supporting a cornice on which are his arms;
below are the kneeling figures of his children.
Stanstead Abbots Church: South Porch
On a slab against the south chancel wall is the
brass of a knight in armour of late 15th-century date.
On the chancel floor is the brass of William Saxaye,
who died in 1581; he is represented in robes and
with a ruff. On the nave floor near the pulpit is a
small brass of a man and woman with their hands
joined together; there is no inscription, but it is of
the middle of the 16th century. On a large slab is
a shield with the arms of Boteler, and on another a
shield of arms not identified. In the churchyard
near the porch is a mutilated coffin slab with remains
of a cross.
There are three bells: the treble by John Briant,
1790; the second inscribed 'God save the King,
1617'; the tenor of 1605, both by Robert Oldfeild.
The communion plate consists of one cup and
three patens, all of 1714.
The registers are in four books as follows: (i)
baptisms 1695 to 1774, burials 1678 to 1774; (ii)
marriages 1754 to 1772; (iii) baptisms and burials
1774 to 1812; (iv) marriages 1774 to 1812.
ADVOWSON
The advowson of the church of
St. James was given by Roger de
Wancy to the priory of Merton,
co. Surrey. (fn. 92) The priory also held a carucate of
land in right of the church, (fn. 93) which in 1291 was
assessed at £20. (fn. 94) The church was appropriated
and a vicarage ordained before the end of the 12th
century. (fn. 95) The tithes were leased out by the priory,
and after the Dissolution were granted for twenty-one
years to John Carye. (fn. 96) In 1553 the rectory and
advowson were granted to Thomas Sidney and
Nicholas Halswell, (fn. 97) probably trustees for Edward
Baesh. The advowson subsequently descended with
the manor (fn. 98) (q.v.) until 1847, when it was purchased
by W. K. Thomas, from whom it passed into the
hands of trustees. (fn. 99)
CHARITIES
The charity of Sir Edward Baesh,
founded by deed 10 November 1635,
and by his will proved in P.C.C.
28 May 1653, consists of the vicarage-house and
grounds containing 1 a. 33 p; land in Chapel Lane
containing 11 p. 3 yds., producing £2 yearly; almshouses with 30 p. of land; also the Railway Hotel,
let at £70 yearly; also property formerly described
as 'a piece of meadow ground called the Pitansey
Meadow alias Parentase,' now consisting of (a) gas
works, cottages and land containing 2 a. 3 r. 23 p.;
(b) maltings, private dwelling-house and pounds containing 2 a. 1 r. 31 p.; and (c) a meadow containing
3 a. 1 r. 7 p., the whole producing £43 yearly. Also
a rent-charge of £25 issuing out of the manor of
Stanstead Baesh; the block-house and yard containing 3 p. 5 yds., producing £7 16s. yearly, and land in
Netherfield Lane containing 2 a. 1 r. 15 p., producing
£3 yearly. The official trustees also hold the sum of
£219 2s. 5d. consols, producing £5 9s. 4d. yearly,
arising from sale of land and accumulations.
The vicarage-house and grounds and the land in
Chapel Lane designated the ecclesiastical charity of
Sir Edward Baesh is regulated by a scheme of the
Charity Commissioners dated 3 June 1902. The
vicarage-house is for the use of the vicar of Stanstead
Abbots, subject to the payment of 12d. yearly to the
non-ecclesiastical branch, and the yearly income
derived from the land in Chapel Lane is applied
towards the salary of the clerk to the parish church.
In 1908 the net income of the non-ecclesiastical
branch was applied in payment of 7s. weekly to the
six poor widows in the almshouses, and a premium of
£9 8s. was paid for apprenticing a poor boy.
Sir Edward Baesh by the above-mentioned deed
also gave a rent-charge of £20 out of the manor of
Stanstead Baesh for a schoolmaster of a free grammar
school in Stanstead. This sum is annually paid to
the governors of Hertford Grammar School. (fn. 100)
In 1802 Randle Cheney gave a sum of £20
3 per cent. reduced annuities, now a like sum of
consols in the name of the official trustees, producing
10s. yearly, the interest to be applied in the repair
of the tomb in the churchyard of the testator's wife
and any surplus to the poor.
The dividends are accumulated and distributed
from time to time among the poor.