BRADWELL
Bradewelle (xi cent.).
This parish covers 917 acres, which are devoted to
agriculture, with the exception of about one-sixth. (fn. 1)
The soil is light clay, the subsoil clay and stone, the
chief crops being wheat, oats, barley and beans. The
ground falls from about 300 ft. above
the ordnance datum in the south and
east to about 200 ft. in the north, the
land along the Ouse banks being liable
to floods.
In the south-west of the parish is
the scattered village of Old Bradwell,
thus called to distinguish it from the
modern red brick railway settlement to
the north. The church of St. Lawrence lies at the southern end of Old
Bradwell, with the Manor Farm a little
to the north. At a short distance to
the north-west is the Moat House, (fn. 2)
formerly the ancient manor-house. The
vicarage stands about 300 yards from
the church, on a road which leads past
the Methodist chapel and Bradwell
House (now in the occupation of Mrs.
Bellairs-Harries) to the school erected
in 1891 by the London and North
Western Railway Company.
New Bradwell, though annexed to
Stantonbury ecclesiastically, still forms
part of the parish for civil purposes. It is chiefly
inhabited by the men employed in the London and
North Western railway works at Wolverton. The
Wolverton and Newport Pagnell branch of this line,
which separates this railway settlement from the rest
of Bradwell, has a station here, opened in 1867,
while at its south-western end the parish is traversed
by the main line. The Grand Junction Canal passes
through the parish on the north. The church which
was erected for New Bradwell and Stantonbury
either lost or omitted to obtain the necessary
'instrument' for transferring the rights and privileges
of St. Peter's, Stantonbury, to St. James's, and a
special Act of Parliament had to be passed in 1909
for this purpose and to legalize 1,000 marriages
which had been celebrated there. New Bradwell
possesses also a Primitive Methodist chapel in Thompson Street, a Baptist chapel in North Street, a Gospel
hall in Caledonian Road, a school, and gasworks,
the property of the railway company. The church
and school were opened in 1860. At Corner Pin, the
extreme north-western corner of New Bradwell, an
interesting find of bronze implements was made in 1879,
on a site now occupied by the County Arms Hotel. (fn. 3)
The Stocks, Bradwell (now removed)
To the north-east of the village are the remains of
the earthworks of a small mount and bailey castle, of
the history of which nothing is known. It may have
been thrown up by a member of the baronial family
of Bayeux, who held one of the manors in Bradwell,
at the time of the 'anarchy' of Stephen's reign. The
castle never had any masonry defences, and its earthworks are now becoming indistinct.
Separated from Bradwell by the railway main line
is Bradwell Priory, formerly extra-parochial, (fn. 4) but now
a parish of 447 acres. It has a soil of cold clay, with
subsoil stone and clay, the chief crops grown here
being wheat, barley and beans. 'Bradwell Abbey,' a
mansion built out of the ruins of the Benedictine
monastery of St. Mary, now used as a farm-house,
contains some wainscoted, spacious and lofty rooms. (fn. 5)
There are remains of a moat and of the priory fishponds, and an avenue leads to the house, to the northeast of which the small chapel still survives, though
now disused and converted into a lumber store for
farm purposes. (fn. 6) A rental of the priory or manor
of Bradwell of some date between 1524 and 1531
describes a considerable range of buildings, the houses
of the inner court, the outer court, the gate-house,
the hall (55 ft. by 24 ft.), the chamber called the
King's Chamber, the prior's chamber, four low parlours, a dorter with five cells, chapter-house, cloisters,
and 'a little chapel without the church which may
not well be spared.' (fn. 7)
The chapel, referred to above, the only trace of the
priory buildings left in the time of Browne Willis, (fn. 8)
is a small rectangular building, measuring 17 ft. by
9 ft. 6 in., built of rubble partly coated with cement
and roofed with tiles. The east wall probably dates
from the 12th or 13th century, and has on the cast
face a 14th-century semi-octagonal respond with a
moulded capital, and the springers of an arch or
arcade which formed part of the conventual buildings
running eastward from this point, while a projection
at the northern end of the wall probably indicates its
original extension in that direction. The chapel
built against this wall dates from the mid-14th
century, and has in each of the north and south
walls a square-headed window, now blocked, of two
lights with tracery, and in the west wall a large threelight window with reticulated tracery in a pointed head.
The low pointed doorway in the west wall has had
a richly moulded head and jamb shafts, all of which
are now considerably decayed. In the south wall is
a blocked pointed doorway with continuous mouldings
enriched with ball-flower ornament, and below the sill
of the south window is an ogee-headed piscina, now
without a bowl, while high in the wall at the southwest is a row of six quatrefoils which have perhaps
been reset. Near the north end of the east wall is a
large moulded niche with an ogee head, a label with
grotesque stops, flanking pinnacles, and inclosing
gable. The building has a semicircular plastered
ceiling of the 17th century with paintings of that
period now becoming indistinct.
Three hundred acres of land in Bradwell and
Wolverton were inclosed by the Prior of Bradwell for
pasture on 7 March 1506–7, (fn. 9) and 25 acres were inclosed,
imparked and stocked for game by Sir John Longville
in 1501, (fn. 10) probably at a subsequent date being occupied
as park lands by the owners of the Abbey Manor.
The parish was inclosed by an Act of Parliament of
1788; the award, dated 17 March 1789, is in the
custody of the clerk of the peace. (fn. 11)
Among place-names have been found Stony Hill
and Stubborn Hill Closes (fn. 12) ; Church Lane, Butler's
Lane (fn. 13) ; Seklo Hill (Close) and Grange Farm (fn. 14)
(xvi cent.); Lingard Pightle, Bear Close, Upper Monks
Meadow, Ferries Farm (fn. 15) (xviii cent.).
Manors
Before the Conquest an estate of 1½
hides in BRADWELL was held by Alviet,
a man of Queen Edith, who could sell. (fn. 16)
By 1086 this had passed into the possession of Walter
Giffard. (fn. 17) It was afterwards attached to the honour
of Giffard, (fn. 18) rights over Bradwell being claimed both
by the Earls of Gloucester (fn. 19) and their successors the
Earls of Stafford (fn. 20) and Dukes of Buckingham, (fn. 21) and
also by the Valences, Earls of Pembroke, (fn. 22) and their
descendants, the Talbots, Earls of Shrewsbury, (fn. 23) their
claims being acknowledged as late as 1460 (fn. 24) and
1614 (fn. 25) respectively.
There is no trace of any holder in fee of this estate
after the Domesday tenant Walter Achet until the first
quarter of the 13th century, when Peter Barre or Barry,
under Alexander de Redham, owned the manorial
rights. (fn. 26) In the subdivision of the Giffard honour,
which took place in 1245, (fn. 27) the greater part of Bradwell fell to the Valences, Earls of Pembroke, under
whom the Barrys continued to hold, and on the
death of Simon Barry before 1318 his son Robert
owed 20s. as relief to the Earl of Pembroke. (fn. 28) Philip
Aylesbury, to whom Robert Barry appears to have
transferred the manor, sued the earl for distraining
his cattle at Sladefurlong, Bradwell, alleging that the
relief had been paid. (fn. 29) This Philip Aylesbury, who
was returned as lord in 1316, (fn. 30) may have been a son
of the Walter Aylesbury by whom complaint was
made in 1307 that certain persons had forcibly
entered his house at Bradwell and carried away his
goods. (fn. 31) The Aylesbury; held this fee, (fn. 32) described
in 1418 as the manor of Bradwell near Moulsoe, (fn. 33)
with their manors of Drayton Bcauchamp, Milton
Keynes, and Broughton (q.v). After the death of
Hugh Aylesbury in 1423 it must have passed with
the two latter to the Staffords in spite of a quitclaim
three years later to the Chaworths, their co-heirs, (fn. 34)
since it continued to descend with Milton Keynes in
the Stafford family (fn. 35) until 1571, when Sir Humphrey
Stafford sold it to Michael Colles or Collys. (fn. 36) In
1603 Michael Colles, described as late of Elmdon
(co. Warwick), Mary his wife, and Humphrey his eldest
son and heir, sold the manor to Roger Fuller, then of
Great Brickhill, for £1,400. (fn. 37) Its appurtenances in
Bradwell and Stantonbury included six messuages, one
of which, adjoining the churchyard, was called Parker's
Place or the Over House. (fn. 38) Roger Fuller bequeathed
the manor to his younger son John in tail-male, with
remainder in default to another younger son Roger, and
died on 8 December 1613. (fn. 39) In 1656 John Fuller
settled the manor on his son Roger, (fn. 40) on his marriage
with Anne Gilpin, (fn. 41) and they
made a further settlement in
1668. (fn. 42) Roger Fuller held
Bradwell till his death in May
1700, when he was succeeded
by his son another Roger. (fn. 43)
The latter appears to have
died without issue sometime
after 1707, leaving three sisters
as his co-heirs: Elizabeth,
married to Thomas Mercer
of Hackleton, in the parish of
Horton (co. Northampton),
and Ann and Mary Fuller, (fn. 44)
the two latter dying unmarried between 1732 and
1757. (fn. 45) They appear to have been described on a
tombstone in the churchyard as ladies of the manor, (fn. 46)
of which Browne Willis wrote that in 1757 the
Mercers, heirs of their sister Elizabeth, were sole
owners. (fn. 47) In 1776 (fn. 48) and 1783 (fn. 49) the manor was
held by Thomas Mercer, probably a son or grandson
of Thomas Mercer and of Elizabeth Fuller. In 1787
it was sold by Thomas Mercer and Sarah his wife to
William Bailey, (fn. 50) lord of the manor at the passing of
the Inclosure Act for the parish in the following
year, (fn. 51) and still lord when Lysons wrote, circa 1813. (fn. 52)
Before 1862 it had become the property of William
Selby Lowndes of Whaddon, (fn. 53) and is still held by
the Lowndes family with Whaddon (q.v.).
Fuller. Argent three bars and a quarter gules.
That part of the original manor which was annexed
by the Earl of Gloucester was obtained in fee by a
family of Bradwell, Hugh de Bradwell holding in
1386. (fn. 54) He had been replaced in 1392 by Thomas
de Bradwell, (fn. 55) still holding in 1399 (fn. 56) and 1403. (fn. 57)
In 1460 the heirs of Hugh de Bradwell were returned as lords of the fee. (fn. 58)
A manor of 2 hides and 3 virgates in BRADWELL, held before 1066 by two thegns, Sibi and
Godwin, men of Alric son of Goding, who could sell,
was entered in the Domesday Survey among the lands
of Miles Crispin, (fn. 59) and, as part of the honour of
Wallingford, (fn. 60) passed to the Earls of Cornwall, who
held it in the late 13th (fn. 61) and early 14th centuries, (fn. 62)
and from them to the Princes of Wales, Edward Prince
of Wales (the Black Prince) dying seised of a fee in
Bradwell in 1376. (fn. 63)
This manor was held in 1086 by a sub-tenant
William, (fn. 64) and part of it was obtained later by the
family of Bayeux (Baus, Bauis,
Baiois, Because, Beuhuse). In
a charter dating apparently
1151–4 William de Bayeux is
referred to as lord of part of
this estate. (fn. 65) William son of
Hugh de Bayeux granted land
in Bradwell, part of which
was held of the honour of
Newport, to the Prior of
Tickford and others in 1199 (fn. 66)
and 1202, (fn. 67) and, with the
consent of Maud his wife and
William his heir, granted
other lands to Bradwell
Priory. (fn. 68) Avis widow of William de Bayeux claimed
land in Bradwell as dower in 1230, (fn. 69) and Aumary de
Henton, who was responsible for the scutage in
1234, (fn. 70) may have been guardian of another William
de Bayeux who paid this scutage in the following
year. (fn. 71) He was perhaps identical with the William
de Bayeux who made a grant of land in 1241, (fn. 72) and
with the William de Bayeux described as heir of his
grandfather Hugh in 1274. (fn. 73) In 1284 William de
Bayeux, probably a son of the last William, was
returned as holding 11 virgates of land in Bradwell
under the Earl of Cornwall's sub-tenant, Hugh de
Filleberd, (fn. 74) this intermediary lordship not being
recorded, however, in 1302, when the holders in fee
were described as the heirs of William de Bayeux. (fn. 75)
By 1346 a small part of the holding had been
obtained by the Prior of Tickford, William de
Bayeux being in possession of the rest. (fn. 76) An order
was issued in 1348 for the arrest and imprisonment
in Bedford gaol of William de Bayeux of Bradwell,
indicted for many homicides and felonies, (fn. 77) and no
further record of the Bayeux family in Bradwell
exists. This fee was held by John Kimble in
1379, (fn. 78) but cannot be further traced.
Bayeux. Gules two bars and in the chief three scallops argent.
The remainder of the Domesday manor of Miles
Crispin was later acquired in fee by the Bradwell
family, Robert de Bradwell exercising the manorial
rights circa 1151–4. (fn. 79) He appears to have been
succeeded by the Barry (Barre) family, a member of
which, Ralph Barry, probably at the end of the 12th
century, made a grant of land to Bradwell Priory
which was witnessed by a William de Bayeux. (fn. 80) The
relationship between the early members of this family
is obscure. Gerard Barry held land in Bradwell in
1230, (fn. 81) and Peter Barry held about the same date
under the honour of Giffard (see above). By 1284
the estate had come to Robert Barry, and was held
under him by Hugh Barry, (fn. 82) who in 1297 complained
that he had been assaulted by certain persons who
had broken into and burnt his house at Bradwell. (fn. 83)
The Barrys were lords of the neighbouring manor of
Stantonbury (q.v.), with which this holding may have
been amalgamated, for there is no trace of it after
the early 14th century. (fn. 84)
Three virgates in Bradwell held before the Conquest by Alward, a man of Goding, who could sell,
and later by William de Celsi, whom Ansculf, when
sheriff, unjustly dispossessed of his property, according
to the return made by the hundred in the Domesday
Survey, were at that date held by William Fitz Ansculf. (fn. 85)
The only other mention of this property occurs in the
middle of the 13th century, when it was described as
an eighth of a fee belonging to the honour of Dudley
(Newport Pagnell) and held by John Fitz Nicholas. (fn. 86)
The property held in Bradwell (fn. 87) by the priory
which Meinfelin, lord of Wolverton, founded in the
parish (fn. 88) was conveyed with the site and precincts at
the suppression of the priory in 1524 to Cardinal
Wolsey, (fn. 89) Sir John Longville, lord of Wolverton and
patron of the monastery, renouncing all right in the
same year. (fn. 90) It was soon after bestowed by the
cardinal as the manor of BRADWELL on the college
founded by him at Oxford. (fn. 91) After the cardinal's
death the possessions of the priory reverted to the
Crown, and were granted to the priory of Sheen in
exchange for the manors of Lewisham and Greenwich in 1531. (fn. 92) A rental for the 'Manor and Town
of Bradwell' taken about this time gives Thomas
Rowse as tenant at a yearly rental of £24 of the
manor-place and its demesnes, (fn. 93) the lease of which
was later obtained by the instrumentality of Thomas
Cromwell for William Wogan. (fn. 94)
Bradwell again reverted to the Crown at the surrender of Sheen Priory in 1539 (fn. 95) and a grant in fee
of the manor was made in 1543 to Arthur Longville. (fn. 96) He was son of Sir John Longville above
mentioned, who had died in 1541. (fn. 97) At Arthur
Longville's death in 1557 he was succeeded at Wolverton by his eldest son Henry, and at Bradwell by
his second son Arthur, (fn. 98) who in 1574–5 settled the
manor on himself and his wife Judith, with remainder
of a moiety to Judith as jointure. (fn. 99) He subsequently
bequeathed it to his son Thomas and his heirs male,
with contingent remainder in tail-male to his own
heirs; to his sister, Frances Heydon; and to Richard
Ruthall. (fn. 100) He died on 26 May 1594, and was
succeeded by Thomas, (fn. 101) who in July 1598 instituted
proceedings against Frances Heydon and George
Gascoigne, in connexion with the settlement on his
marriage with Nightingale daughter of George Gascoigne, (fn. 102) but came to an arrangement with them a
few months later. (fn. 103) He was certified a lunatic on
10 September 1599 and died on 3 January following. (fn. 104) On 3 May 1616 his son Arthur obtained
livery of the manor on the attainment of his
majority. (fn. 105) Eight months later he was attacked with
madness, (fn. 106) but evidently recovered, for on 10 August
1631 he settled the manor on his wife Alice, and
died at Bradwell thirteen days later, being survived
by Alice, and by his mother, then Nightingale
Windsor, widow, who held a third of the manor in
dower. (fn. 107) His son Thomas, who had livery of his
property on 20 February 1638–9, (fn. 108) was knighted by
Charles I in 1646. (fn. 109) In the same year he petitioned
to compound for his estates, (fn. 110) having already paid
£330 for his delinquency, after being taken prisoner
at Grafton House in December 1643. On being
informed that the County Committee at Aylesbury
'intended to sequester his estate, he went thither and
received a shot in his throat from a soldier of the
garrison, which damnified him £500.' On 18 September 1646 his fine was set at the sum of £800. (fn. 111)
It was doubtless his devotion to the Royalist cause
which forced him to part with the manor in 1650
to John Lawrence, jun., and Abraham Cullen, (fn. 112) the
transaction being completed in 1661 by the quitclaim
of rights by William, only son of Thomas Longville,
on the attainment of his majority. (fn. 113) Sir John
Lawrence, the purchaser of Bradwell, sold it in
1666 to Joseph Alston of Chelsea and his son
Joseph. (fn. 114) The elder Joseph was created a baronet as
of Chelsea and Bradwell Abbey in 1682, (fn. 115) and died
in May 1688, (fn. 116) his son Joseph, who had been sheriff
in 1670, (fn. 117) and who succeeded
him, dying in March of the
following year. (fn. 118) His son,
the third Sir Joseph Alston,
who was likewise Sheriff of
Buckinghamshire in 1702, (fn. 119)
made a settlement of the
manor on his marriage in
1690 with Penelope Evelyn, (fn. 120)
with whom he dealt with the
manor in 1705, (fn. 121) and again
in 1713, when their son, the
fourth Joseph Alston, was
joined with them. (fn. 122) The
third baronet was succeeded in 1716 by his son, the
fourth Sir Joseph, (fn. 123) who immediately sold Bradwell
to John Fuller, (fn. 124) described as of Bradwell Abbey
when sheriff of the county in 1723. (fn. 125) In that same
year John Fuller and his wife Esther sold the
manor to Edward Owen, (fn. 126) by whom it was conveyed
circa 1730 to Sir Charles Gounter Nicoll. (fn. 127) He was
lord of Olney Manor (q.v.), with which Bradwell
descended in the Earls of Dartmouth until sold by
the fifth earl, before 1862, (fn. 128) to the Mercers' Company, the present owners.
Alston, baronet. Azure ten stars or.
Legge, Earl of Dart-mouth. Azure a hart's head cabossed argent.
The Mercers. Gules a demi-virgin coming out of clouds proper clothed or with her hair loose crowned with an eastern crown and wreathed with roses, all in a border of clouds.
A free fishery was included among the appurtenances of Bradwell Manor in 1604 (fn. 129) and 1787. (fn. 130)
The rental of the priory manor of Bradwell of
1524–31 enumerates 'a pool called Westmar Hall
with a little narrow pool going forth of the same,'
and 'divers other pools now wasted and no fish.' (fn. 131)
A fishery called the Fresh Fishings was granted with
this manor to Arthur Longville in 1543. (fn. 132)
The Maide Milne, East Milne, and New Milne
occur in a rental of the priory of Bradwell of the reign
of Henry VI, (fn. 133) and the Maide Milne was included
among the appurtenances of the priory manor in
1524–31. (fn. 134) .
Church
The church of ST. LAWRENCE
consists of a chancel measuring internally
19 ft. 6 in. by 12 ft., nave 30 ft. by
15 ft., south aisle 10 ft. 6 in. wide, north porch, and
west tower 10 ft. 6 in. by 10 ft. It is built of rubble
with stone dressings, and the roofs are covered with
lead and tiles.
The nave, and probably the chancel, date from the
early 13th century; the south aisle, though originally
added at the same period, appears to have been rebuilt
and widened during the second half of the century.
The north porch was built in the 15th century, and
the tower, added probably about 1380, was rebuilt in
the 16th century, when the nave walls were heightened.
The whole fabric was restored in 1867–8 and again
in 1904.
The east window of the chancel is modern, but its
internal label, which was found in the walling when
the chancel arch was widened in 1868 and inserted
here, dates from the 13th century and is enriched
with nail-head ornament. There are two modern
windows on the south, and on the north are two
14th-century trefoiled lights, the western a low-side
window with an ogee head; the doorway between
them is modern. The pointed chancel arch was
rebuilt and widened in 1868, but the old stonework,
dating from the 13th century, was re-used. It springs
from chamfered abaci, upon which are the following
inscriptions in Lombardic capitals, 'Viginti: dies:
relaxac[i]onis: . . . .,' on the north, and 'H.: eccl[es]ia:
dedicata e. in: honore[m] S[an]c[t]i: Lavrencii: xi . . . .,' on
the south.
The nave opens to the aisle on the south by an
early 13th-century arcade of three pointed arches
with circular pillars having moulded bases and foliated
capitals, and plain responds with chamfered abaci;
the eastern capital is carved with plain water-leaf
ornament, while the other is more richly foliated
and has a carved head on the north side. On the
north is a pointed 14th-century doorway between
two modern windows, the eastern of which contains
some fragments of old glass. In the west wall, opening to the ground stage of the tower, is a pointed
arch with very thick stop-chamfered responds, which
appears to have been rebuilt in the 16th century.
There are three small clearstory windows on either
side, all of which are modern. The north porch has
been considerably restored.
The south-east window of the aisle, which is of
two trefoiled lights with tracery, dates from the second
half of the 13th century; immediately to the east of
it is a pointed piscina with a circular bowl of the
same period. The east window and the other window
in the south wall are modern, though their internal
jambs are old, while the four-light west window is
entirely modern. The round-headed south doorway is of the early 13th century, having been reset
when the aisle was rebuilt towards the end of the
century.
The tower is of two stages surmounted by a saddleback roof, and has a modern west window in the
ground stage, above which is a narrow trefoiled light
of the 14th century. The bell-chamber is lighted by
a 16th-century window of two transomed lights in a
square head in each of the gabled walls and by single
lights on the north and south.
The font has an old octagonal bowl, but the stem is
modern. In the tower is a floor slab to Sir Joseph
Alston of Bradwell Abbey, who died in 1688. The
communion table dates from the 17th century.
The tower contains a ring of six bells: the
treble and second both date from about 1300, and
are inscribed 'Michael: de: Uuymbis: me fecit';
the third was inscribed 'Richard Chandler made me
1700,' but was recast in 1909; and the fourth, which
is of the early 15th century and is inscribed 'Vox
Augustini Sonet In Aure Dei,' is by John Walgrave;
the fifth and tenor, by A. Bowell of Ipswich, were
added in 1909. A piece of bell framework dated 1652
and four old clappers now lie in the ground stage.
The communion plate includes a stand paten and
flagon of 1688. The registers begin in 1577.
Advowson
The advowson when first recorded
was shared between William de
Bayeux and Robert de Bradwell, by
whom it was bestowed about the middle of the 12th
century on Newport or Tickford Priory, this grant
being confirmed by the Bishops of Lincoln in the
12th and 13th centuries. (fn. 135) At the ordination of the
vicarage during the episcopate of Hugh of Wells, Bishop
of Lincoln (1209–35), the church was described as the
property of this monastery, (fn. 136) but in 1274 William de
Bayeux claimed the right to present, against the prior,
on the ground that his grandfather Hugh had presented Robert de Bradwell. (fn. 137) In the same year,
however, he acknowledged the advowson to be the
right of the prior. (fn. 138) The Priors of Tickford continued
to hold the advowson, which in the 14th century was
continually in the king's hands by reason of the war
with France and its ownership by an alien priory. (fn. 139)
After the suppression of Tickford Priory in 1525 (fn. 140)
the advowson was granted by the king to Cardinal
Wolsey for his college at Oxford, (fn. 141) Anne St. Leger,
daughter and co-heir of Thomas, late Earl of Ormond,
lord of Newport Pagnell, and George St. Leger, her
son and heir, renouncing any claim they might have
at the same time. (fn. 142) In September 1531 it was included
with Bradwell Manor in the exchange with Sheen, (fn. 143)
but a ratification of the arrangement in December of
that year makes no mention of the advowson. (fn. 144) It
was probably retained by the king, by whom it was
granted in September 1532 to Henry the Eighth's
College. (fn. 145) After the dissolution of the college in
1545 (fn. 146) the advowson reverted to the Crown, by which
it has since been held, (fn. 147) save for a temporary grant to
Samuel Jones in 1616. (fn. 148)
The Giffards bestowed the tithes of their demesnes
in Bradwell on the priory of St. Faith, Longueville,
in Normandy, this gift being confirmed by their
descendant, William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke. (fn. 149)
The rectory was included in the grant to Samuel
Jones in 1616, and has since descended with the
advowson.
The tithes were not commuted by the Inclosure
Act of 1788, (fn. 150) but before the middle of the 19th
century had been commuted for £250. (fn. 151)
The advowson of St. James's Church in New
Bradwell, a vicarage annexed to that of Stantonbury,
and which dates from 1860, is the property of Earl
Spencer.
Charities
The charity of Rev. James Hume,
founded by will, proved in the P.C.C.
20 March 1734, is regulated by a
scheme of the Charity Commissioners of 5 December
1899. The property consists of 8 acres of land at
Hockliffe, Bedfordshire, and £41 6s. 9d. consols with
the official trustees, arising from the sale of timber, producing together an income of £15 yearly. By the
scheme one-third of the net income is applicable in
prizes to school children, under the title of the
educational foundation of the Rev. James Hume,
another third is distributed among poor deserving
members of the Church of England, and the remaining third is applicable for the benefit of poor housekeepers and widows.
The Poor's Allotment.—By an Inclosure Award in
1789, 12 a. or. 35 p. of land in Furnace Corner and
3 a. 2 r. 17 p. on Seekley Hills were allotted in lieu
of the rights of the poor of cutting furze for fuel,
the income whereof, together with the rent of another
piece of land, containing 2 a. 2 r. 26 p., amounting
together to about £14 a year, is distributed in coal
to about eighty recipients.
About half an acre of land is also let to the poor
in allotments, producing £3 yearly, supposed to have
been derived from a gift of Alden Fuller in or about
1719. A moiety of the income is applicable in the
parish of Newton Longville.
The Public Footpaths Fund, which is regulated by
a scheme of the Charity Commissioners of 11 October
1907, consists of £34 5s. 10d. consols, with the
official trustees, arising from the sale of an allotment,
made under the Inclosure Award of 1789, for a public
stone and gravel-pit. The annual dividends of the
stock produce 17s., which is applicable for the maintenance of the public footpaths, under the control of
the Parish Council of Bradwell.