STANSTEAD ST. MARGARET'S
The earliest name of this parish seems to be Thele
(Thele, xii cent.; Theele, xiii cent.; Le Ele, xiv cent.;
Theyle, the Yle, xvi cent.). At the end of the 13th
century it took an alternative name from the bridge
over the Lea and was called Pons de Thele, Punt de
Tyull, Pons Tegule or Pons Tegleri (fn. 1) (Pontherigg,
xiv cent.). In the 16th century it begins to be called
St. Margaret's Theale (Margarthele, 1535) and Stanstead Thele, the first from its church and the second
from the fact that the village of St. Margaret's adjoins
the village of Stanstead Abbots, from which it is divided
by the bridge over the Lea. Stanstead St. Margaret's
is a modern form of the name. The parish has also
been known by the name of Lea Vale and Old
Stanstead. (fn. 2)
Stanstead St. Margaret's is a small parish, containing only 407 acres. About one-half of it consists of
arable land and one-third of permanent grass, while
there are about 60 acres of woodland. (fn. 3) This lies
chiefly in the extreme west of the parish where
Golding's Wood is situated. The soil is mixed on
a subsoil of chalk and gravel. The River Lea forms
the eastern boundary of the parish. In 1858 a
bronze spear-head was found in the river here. (fn. 4)
In this part of the parish the land is about 100 ft.
above the ordnance datum and rises towards the
south-west to about 300 ft. The Great Eastern
railway has a station called St. Margaret's, lying
north of the village in the parish of Great Amwell.
Stanstead St. Margaret's seems to have been originally a part of the parish of Great Amwell, in the
middle of which it lies. There is no mention of it
in the Domesday Survey, but it had acquired a
separate parochial existence by the middle of the
13th century.
The bridge called in early records the Punt de
Tyall or Pons Tegule, from which the parish possibly
took one of its names, carries the main road to
Hertford over the Lea. There was a bridge here
early in the 12th century, when the manor of Stanstead Abbots (on the other side of the bridge) appears
under the name of 'manerium de Stanstede et Pontis
de Thele.' (fn. 5) In 1247–8 it was deposed that the men
of London had built a granary at Thele (ad Pontem
Tegule) in which they placed corn which they carried
to London in their own ships instead of in the king's
ships. (fn. 6) At the end of the 13th century the dues
from the bridge of Thele were taken by the warden
of Hertford Castle, and in 1299, in a suit brought
by the monastery of St. Albans against the warden
of that castle concerning tolls which he had taken in
St. Albans and Barnet, it was stated as an analogous
case that Henry III and his predecessors and William
de Valence Earl of Pembroke, whom Henry had appointed governor of the castle (q.v.) in 1250, had
always taken tolls at the bridge of Thele. (fn. 7) In 1331
Aymer de Valence Earl of Pembroke, governor of
the castle, died seised of the tolls of the bridge of
Thele, (fn. 8) and the bridge remained attached to the
castle until the death of Queen Isabella, when the
castle (q.v.) reverted to the Crown, and the king
in 1359–60 granted the bridge of Thele with the
bridge of Ware to John Lucas of Ware. (fn. 9) It was
afterwards acquired by John of Gaunt, to whom the
castle of Hertford (q.v.) was granted in 1360, and
descended with the castle, except for occasional
leases. (fn. 10) When in 1630 the castle and manor of
Hertford were finally alienated from the Crown, the
bridge of Thele passed with them to William Cecil
Earl of Salisbury. (fn. 11) The bridge was a wooden one
until 1873, when an iron bridge was built. (fn. 12)
The village of St. Margaret's is a continuation of
Stanstead Abbots, on the west side of the Lea, along
the road to Hertford. From this a road runs south
to meet the main road from London to Ware, which
passes through the parish on the west, and along this
road are situated the church and manor-house, with
St. Margaretsbury (so named only about twenty years
ago), now the residence of Mr. Septimus Croft, lying
to the west. At the junction of the two roads is a
pair of framed timber cottages with thatched roofs,
probably not earlier than the first half of the 19th
century.
MANOR
No record of THELE occurs in the
Domesday Survey, and it was probably
included at that date in the manor of
Hailey in Great Amwell. The woodland mentioned
in the extent of that manor in 1086 (fn. 13) may be the
woods in St. Margaret's, for Hailey itself is very bare.
Hailey in 1086 was held by Geoffrey de Bech. (fn. 14) In
the early part of the 12th century it had come to
Ralph Pincerna, of whom it was held by the Buruns, (fn. 15)
and that the Buruns held land in Thele is evident,
for Roger de Burun granted a tenement on the banks
of Thele to the abbey of St. Albans. (fn. 16) In the reign
of Henry I Aubrey de Vere appears as mesne lord in
Hailey between Ralph Pincerna and the Buruns, (fn. 17)
which also tends to show that Thele was originally
included in Hailey, for Aubrey de Vere's descendants,
the Earls of Oxford, (fn. 18) appear as overlords of the manor
of THELE alias GOLDINGTONS (fn. 19) (Thele, xiii
cent.; Goldingtons Thele alias St. Margaret's Thele
alias Stanstead Thele, xvi cent.). By the end of the
13th century, apparently, the manor and advowson
had become divided among the following co-heirs
of a tenant under the Earls of Oxford: Lucy wife
of Henry Chacepork, (fn. 20) Alice wife of William le
Marchand, (fn. 21) Mabel wife of Nicholas le Mareschal,
and possibly Margaret wife of John de Lovetot.
Between 1274 and 1276 John de Lovetot and
Margaret his wife (fn. 22) seem to have acquired the
interests of the other co-heirs (fn. 23) and in 1277 obtained
a grant of free warren in their demesne lands here
and elsewhere. (fn. 24) They also received a quitclaim
from Mabel de Waunford in 1287, who held in
dower. (fn. 25) In 1281 John de Lovetot received a grant
of a weekly market at Thele on Thursday and an
annual fair there on the vigil, the feast and the
morrow of the Nativity of St. John Baptist and the
six days following. (fn. 26) Joan wife of Humphrey de
Bohun (lord of Ware) quitclaimed to John in 1281
all right to hold view of frankpledge, (fn. 27) and later he
claimed assize of bread and ale and gallows. (fn. 28)
In 1303 William de Goldington was holding a fee
of the Earl of Oxford, (fn. 29) half of which was in Bengeo, (fn. 30)
and the other half probably in Thele. William de
Goldington was holding the manor in 1313 (fn. 31) and
died seised before 3 February 1318–19. (fn. 32) He was
succeeded by his son John, (fn. 33) who received a grant of
free warren in his demesne lands of Thele in 1328 (fn. 34) and
settled the manor on himself and his wife Katherine
in tail in the following year. (fn. 35) He died about 1338,
when the manor remained with Katherine for life. (fn. 36)
She married as her second husband John Fermer, who
died holding the manor in her right in 1354. (fn. 37)
Accounts for the manor while it was in his hands
include the farm of the fishery, valued at 5s. 6d. (fn. 38)
Katherine died in 1358 and was succeeded by her
son John de Goldington, aged twenty-six. (fn. 39) He had
a son John Goldington, and the latter a son, also
John Goldington, (fn. 40) who died seised of the manor in
1419. (fn. 41) His son Thomas, then aged fifteen, (fn. 42) survived him only a short time and Thele passed to his
cousin and heir John Hinxworth of Ashwell, who was
holding it in 1423. (fn. 43) John Hinxworth released all
right in the manor in 1436 to John Fray and
others, (fn. 44) who appear to have been trustees for Sir
Andrew Ogard, kt., who died holding it jointly with
his wife Alice in 1454, leaving as his heir his son
Henry, aged four. (fn. 45) Henry Ogard was knighted,
and by his will proved in 1511 he left the manor of
Thele to his son Andrew, (fn. 46) who held it until his
death in March 1525–6, when it passed to his son
George. (fn. 47) In 1553 George Ogard leased the manor
of Thele to Thomas Fleminge of Stanstead for ninetynine years. He died shortly afterwards, bequeathing
the remainder of the lease to Agnes his wife, who
married John Thorowgood. (fn. 48)
In 1560 George Ogard sold the manor to William
Frankland, clothworker of London, (fn. 49) who died in
1576, leaving Goldingtons to his son William for life
with reversion to his nephew Hugh for life. (fn. 50) Hugh
died in January 1607, (fn. 51) and in 1623 William Frankland his nephew with Lucy his wife conveyed the
manor to Simon Adams, citizen and draper of
London. (fn. 52) Simon Adams in 1637 settled the manor
for the purpose of the payment of an annuity to
Sarah his wife, (fn. 53) and in 1651 his son Simon Adams
of Aston upon the Wall (co. Northants), clerk, sold
it together with the messuage lately built upon a
parcel of land called Quitchells alias Cutchills and
the right of feeding one cow on Amwell Marsh to
Henry Lawrence of St. Ives (co. Hunts.) for £1,090. (fn. 54)
This Henry Lawrence was a relative of Oliver Cromwell and a member of the Commonwealth Council
of State; his learning received the praise of Milton.
On the death of the Protector he declared Richard
Cromwell his successor, but on the return of Charles II
he retired to Thele, where he died in 1664. (fn. 55)
The manor was soon afterwards sold to Thomas
Westrow, (fn. 56) and after his death in 1675 (fn. 57) it was
held by his widow Elizabeth. (fn. 58)
In 1689 it was purchased of
her by Francis Roston, who
was holding it in 1700. (fn. 59) It
passed to Richard Kynnesman
of Broughton (co. Northants), (fn. 60)
who sold it in 1714 to Spencer
Cowper of Hertford Castle
(co. Herts.). (fn. 61) On the death
of Spencer Cowper in 1727 (fn. 62)
the manor descended to his
son William Cowper, from
whom it passed to a son of
the same name, and from him
to his son, also William Cowper. (fn. 63) The latter died without issue in 1798, and the manor of Thele was inherited by his brother Charles, (fn. 64) on whose death it
passed to his sister Frances Cecilia. (fn. 65) She married
the Rev. Joseph Stephen Pratt, (fn. 66) and died in 1849,
when the manor descended to her son the Rev.
Charles Pratt, rector of St. Margaret's. (fn. 67) He held it
until his death, and in 1889 it was bought of his
executors by Mr. Septimus Croft, (fn. 68) who is the present
lord of the manor and resides at St. Margaretsbury.
Cowper. Argent three martlets gules and a chief engrailed gules with three rings or therein.
The site of the manor and the demesne lands of
the manor were sold separately from the manor by
George Ogard in 1559 to John Thorowgood and
Agnes his wife, who were then holding a lease of the
manor (fn. 69) (q.v.). John Thorowgood died in February
1568–9, and his lands descended to his son and heir
Thomas. (fn. 70) At the end of the 17th century the
capital messuage appears to have been divided
between co-heirs, for in 1685 Thomas Wale, citizen
and goldsmith of London, sold one-quarter and onethird of a quarter of it to Robert Peter the elder,
citizen and girdler of London. (fn. 71) In 1782 the site of
the manor was held by Anna Maria Lake, spinster. (fn. 72)
The manor-house on the west bank of the New
River, opposite to and a little south of the church,
has been much restored, but appears to date from
the 17th century. It is a timber-framed building
with a tiled roof. There are 18th-century iron gates
at the principal entrance. These are surmounted by
a shield charged with the arms of Lake with the coat
of augmentation, beneath which is the motto 'Un
Dieu un Roy un cœur.'
CHURCH
The church of ST. MARGARET
consists of chancel measuring internally
35 ft. by 19 ft., nave, which has no
structural division from the chancel, 32 ft. by 19 ft.,
and two modern north vestries, the westernmost containing a stair to the modern west gallery. The
walls are of flint rubble coated with cement and have
stone dressings. The roof is tiled. The church was
made collegiate about 1316. (fn. 73)
The nave was built in the early part of the 12th
century and the chancel about the middle of the
14th century; a north chapel and aisle were also
erected at this period, but these were subsequently
pulled down. The church is now a rectangular building with the two modern vestries on the north side.
In the east wall of the chancel is a 14th-century
window of four trefoiled lights with geometrical
tracery in the head; it has been much restored.
On each side of the window is a tall shallow
niche with cinquefoiled arch and crocketed canopy;
the sills are supported on grotesque heads. In the
north wall is a small and plain stone bracket, perhaps
for a light. In the sill of the easternmost window
in the south wall is a plain bowl of a piscina. On
the north side of the chancel are two bays of
arcading, now buried in the wall; part of one of
these columns was recently exposed during a restoration, but was covered up again. The columns were of
four engaged shafts separated by a roll moulding, the
capitals were moulded; the windows inserted in these
bays are modern. In the south wall of the chancel
are two 14th-century windows, each of two lights
with cusped opening in the head; between them is
a blocked 14th-century doorway; a slight break in
the wall to the west marks the junction of the 14th-century work with the original 12th-century wall.
There is no chancel arch.
On the north side of the nave two bays of the
arcade are buried in the wall; the apex of a third,
the westernmost arch, is exposed. It is of two wave-moulded orders, and forms the head of the doorway
to the gallery; in the built-up arches are inserted a
modern window and doorway. In the east end of
the south wall is a 14th-century window of two
lights with a cusped opening in the head, much restored; a little to the west of it, on the outside, are
the jamb stones and round arch of a narrow light,
now blocked, of the original 12th-century nave; the
arch is cut from a single stone.
The south doorway is of 14th-century date with arch of two
moulded orders and jambs with
hollow moulding between ogees
and fillets; parts of the stonework
have been renewed. The west
window is modern. The nave
roof retains three late 15th-century
trusses with king-posts and cambered tie-beams. Over the west
end is a small modern bellcote.
All the fittings are modern.
Beside the stair to the gallery is
a slab with indents of a foliated
cross, shields and remains of an
illegible inscription; in the chancel is a slab with indents of a halffigure of a priest of 15th-century
date. There are several inscribed floor slabs to
members of the Lawrence and Cresset families of
17th-century date.
The single bell is by John Briant. The date on it
is 'mvcccxx.'
The communion plate consists of two cups, 1808, a
paten, 1713, also plate, stand and paten of Sheffield plate.
The registers before 1812 are as follows: (i) baptisms from 1697 to 1784, burials 1706 to 1784,
marriages 1703 to 1784; (ii) burials from 1772
to 1800, marriages 1774 to 1800.
ADVOWSON
The earliest record of the church
occurs in the year 1271 when it was
divided between the four heiresses as
already mentioned. (fn. 74) About 1316 Sir William de
Goldington, then lord of the manor, founded a
college of a warden and four chaplains who were
to celebrate mass at the altar of St. Mary in the
church of St. Margaret for the souls of Sir William
and of Margaret his wife, their heirs and ancestors, and
also for the soul of Robert de Vere Earl of Oxford,
his heirs and ancestors. Sir William endowed the
college with various lands in Thele, Amwell and
Bures Giffard and the advowsons of the churches of
Thele and Aldham. Licence to appropriate the
church, the revenues of which were said to be
insufficient for the support of a rector, was shortly
afterwards granted to the college. (fn. 75) The college
remained on this basis throughout the 14th century,
receiving a few other grants of land, (fn. 76) but by the
beginning of the 15th century it had become exceedingly poor, many of its lands had been alienated,
and it consisted of only one priest. (fn. 77) Accordingly in
1431 licence was granted for its lands to be alienated
to the hospital of St. Mary 'Elsyngspittel' in London,
the prior of which was to supply two regular canons
for the college of Thele. (fn. 78) On the dissolution of the
hospital in 1530 (fn. 79) the rectory of Thele came to the
Crown, and from this time it has been a lay donative.
In 1536 Henry VIII granted it to Roger Poten, the
late prior of the hospital, (fn. 80) and in 1539 he granted
the reversion of the rectory with the lands pertaining
to Richard Higham. (fn. 81) The following year Richard
Higham received licence to alienate it to Philip
Parys. (fn. 82) Philip was knighted at the coronation of
Queen Mary in 1553, (fn. 83) and died in 1558, when his
heir was his kinsman Robert Parys, aged five. (fn. 84) In
1561 the advowson was held by Ferdinand Parys of
Linton, co. Cambridge, who sold it in that year to
Nicholas Baesh. (fn. 85) In 1563 Nicholas settled the rectory
and mansion-house on his wife Dorothy and their heirs
male. (fn. 86) Nicholas Baesh died in February 1590–1 and
was succeeded by his son Edward, (fn. 87) who shortly afterwards sold the rectory to his mother, Dorothy, and
her second husband (fn. 88) Robert Booth. (fn. 89) After Dorothy's
death Robert mortgaged the rectory to Sir Reginald
Argall, kt., of Higham Hill, co. Essex, into whose
hands it finally passed. (fn. 90)
Plan of Stanstead St. Margaret's Church
The history of St. Margaret's rectory after this
date becomes very obscure. In 1626 it was held
by Dorothy Lacy, widow of Matthew Lacy of
Melton Mowbray, co. Leicester, and on her death
in that year it passed to her six daughters and
co-heirs. (fn. 91) They must have sold it, for in 1650 it
was held by Sir Thomas Stanley, kt., (fn. 92) but some time
afterwards it passed to the lord of the manor of
Goldingtons, and in 1684 was held together with
that manor by Thomas Westrow. (fn. 93) From this date
it has descended with the manor (fn. 94) (q.v.). In 1899
by an Act of Parliament abolishing all donatives it
became presentative. (fn. 95)
A meeting-place for Protestant Dissenters in the
parish was certified in 1700. (fn. 96)
CHARITIES
An unknown donor—as stated in
the Parliamentary Returns of 1786—gave land for teaching one child.
The land, known as Red Marsh, was sold in 1861
and the proceeds invested in £108 13s. 11d. consols,
with the official trustees, subsequently augmented by
accumulations to £153 15s. 6d. consols, producing
£3 16s. 8d. yearly, which is applied in paying the
apprenticeship premium for a poor boy, when there
is sufficient money for the purpose.
In 1908 a premium of £25 was paid.